#can’t go if I’m not actively at risk for anything because then I’d have to wait for a real long time and I know from experience that that’s

[steampunk-raven]

“why do i keep getting nosebleeds” - person who has been unable to consume liquid all day (and quite a bit of the weeks before)

[gyuzlyp]

marcus lopez relationship headcanons

⚠️ mentions of sexual activity, drug use, weapons, other nsfw content, and self harm. not intended for minors/people who can’t handle dark imagery.

“i live for danger. danger keeps me sane. it gets the adrenaline pumping, y’know? if i wasn’t constantly in danger, i’m not so sure i’d still be alive.”

• marcus is big on only doing things with you in private. after being with maria and saya and being so far in the eye of the kids at king’s dominion, he’s determined to keep the details of your relationship private.

• he likes it when you lead the way. he’s so used to trying to be a leader and be independent that he enjoys when you’re the more dominant.

• he. loves. date nights. getting out of the school to go get chinese food every once in a while is his favorite thing to do with you.

• lots of weed

• maybe some acid too

• he gets easily jealous, especially around the soto vatos, who can never seem to keep their eyes off of you.

• he’s willing to put himself in whatever way of harm he needs to keep you safe, even if it means possibly getting himself killed.

• big cuddler

• he likes when you talk about yourself and your day, even if it’s little things like how you had to wear mismatched socks because you couldn’t find a pair or how you accidentally put salt in your coffee instead of sugar

• you are his biggest priority

• he enjoys it rough in the bedroom, especially when he’s leading. he’s biggest on impact play and biting, but he’s also big on consent and won’t do anything if you tell him not to.

• he may not have a lot of money but he loves to spoil you when he gets the chance to. new shoes, hair clips, even a plant at one point.

• he gets you matching pocket knives for your birthday.

• he loves to break the rules with you. it gives him such a rush of adrenaline to be with you and have the risk of being caught while never actually getting caught.

• he gets flustered whenever you say “i love you”.

• whenever he’s turned on, he always mumbles “fuck” into your ear to let you know he’s hot and bothered.

[ryuichirou]

Noncon hc

Anonymous asked:

Trey with a rape kink is hot lol oops. Luckily for him Riddle is the perfect victim..among others.

Is there anyone else you headcanon has the same/similar kinks? 👀

Anonymous asked:

Who's most likely to rape someone? If u already made a rape fic I wanna see

I can’t believe that I triggered this Pandora box by mentioning Trey’s possible kink in one of the hc lists lol But I am glad I did! Thank you for your asks, Anons.

Of course and as always, it’s as possible for all of these boys to be that bad and also equally possible for them not to be, and for someone who loves darker themes and dub/noncon it’s interesting for me to write about it, because I have to fight the urge to yell ALL OF THEM and call it a day lol But also! I’ll try to think about it (kind of) rationally, so let’s go through the list!

(I’m only writing about the tops this time, not because I don’t think bottoms are incapable of raping, but rather because this particular set of bottoms isn’t, in my opinion. My bias, as always <3)

So yeah, three questions: who has this kink/actively thinks about it; who would actually do it; who has done it.

Ace – not really, I don’t think his mind goes that way at all. He did watch some porn with pretend rape before and thought that it’s kind of stupid and isn’t hot at all, but something did tingle in his brain and he did keep thinking about that one porn for weeks after watching it. Still, normally he wouldn’t do it...

Trey – just thought I’d mention this man so we could point at him and say “shame” once again. He is haunted by his kink. He hadn’t done anything yet though, and he doesn’t think he could. Who knows? It’s always a battle in Trey’s head.

Cater – he does have a little bit of this kink. The power and control aspect speak to him in a very unexpected (for Cater himself) manner. He isn’t as haunted by this kink as Trey, but he does fantasise about it sometimes... If it’s just in his head, it doesn’t hurt anyone, right?

Ruggie – nah, I don’t think he overlaps with this kink in any way shape of form.

Jack – no kink, but his instinct does take over sometimes, so there is always a risk that he could lose control and do something that could be at least described as dubcon. I think the deep shame that he is feeling over this could morph into weird enjoyment though, so maybe he’ll get himself into a Trey situation at some point...

Azul – he doesn’t really think about these things, so while he isn’t aware of it, he does have a kink. He is even more into power and control of it than Cater; in general, Azul is a sucker for destroying someone. But in practice, he would only do it if it’s a part of his twisted convoluted plan. Otherwise, it would just be a waste.

Jade and Floyd – I try not to write about both of them at the same time, but: yup. Both of them have it, both of them would do it, both of them has done it. Sometimes they act together, sometimes they do it separately. But they also don’t consider it as big of a deal as some other boys: in a lot of ways, it’s pretty much their default state...

Kalim – I know we all love darker twists for Kalim, but nah :) Look at him. He doesn’t have this desire to break, ruin and dominate. I wouldn’t call him 100% innocent, but I also don’t think he has either desire or guts to pull off something like that.

Rook – I will once again remind everyone that he explains his friendship with Trey by saying that birds of a feather flock together. No matter how much Trey insists that he is the normal one, neither of them are normal, and of course Rook finds the idea of rape hot in a sickly poetic way. Would he do it? Absolutely. Has he done it before? Well, that’s a secret...

Ortho – AI!Ortho doesn’t have kinks, but he does have phases during which he tries to mimic certain behaviours, so no one is 100% safe. For now though, he is a good boy! And human!Ortho probably wouldn’t necessarily have this kink, but he is one unstable boy, probably the closest to a yandere out of everyone in twst, so he could definitely do it. Although I think this would put him in a bit of a different category...

Sebek – this kink is a little sapling that is desperately trying to bloom in Sebek’s head, but he is pushing it down with all of his will. He doesn’t want to think about it and he doesn’t fully understand it, but it feels indecent. Not even because it’s non-consensual, but because it feels dirty... and makes him lose focus every time he is being extra aggressive with Silver during their sparring and Silver makes an unexpected sound or looks at him in confusion. Yeah, I think Sebek is capable of doing something like this at some point.

Lilia – yes, yes and yes. Well, he used to do a lot of fucked up shit when he was younger, and he does have the biggest body count in the entire cast, and he absolutely didn’t ask for consent every single time (with anyone other than royalty of course). I would even say he only started asking for consent relatively recently... But the more “consensual and proper” Lilia becomes, the more this desire cements itself as a kink in his brain. Is it nostalgia? He does fantasise a lot... especially when some brat pisses him off or acts in a way that is annoying <3

[arpstail]

Day 1827 of, these sharks live SUCH a tragic life

hi guys!!! I was just rereading castle swimm- OH MY GOD?

do they not usually get fed everyday…?????? (No, the answer is no..)

This is actually a point I’ve BEEN making, the sharks were starved, no question about it. I mean even hunting their food has a high risk of either lots of injuries, or actually DYING..

Walk with me for a second

INFACT??? THEY FEEL LUCKY WHEN NOBODY DIES WHILE HUNTING..??

Which this also implies that when they DO eat, it’s not a lot. That creature they killed was considered to be a big meal for everyone, which…hmm..REALLY..?

and I mean… And if we wanna go and be Marine biologist!!!! Sharks can go up to like six weeks without eating, and that’s just blue sharks! And ANOTHER FACT, sharks are omnivores so they can infact eat plants and stuff, however….have you seen the castle and the environment they live in…

the whole castle is actively…CRUMBLING.. and even the curse takes part in this. Going outside to hunt is basically life threatening, and I doubt they hunt often because of this. Especially considering the fact that their numbers are diminishing, there’s only a few hundred of them.

now obviously this may be a small..reach considering the portions they all get were pretty decent in size. though this doesn’t mean they get that daily, or often at all. And again future maybe marine biologist here! They’re sharks… they’re probably not eating to the recommended standard anyways.

There was actually some REALLY nice head canons that inspired me to share these from my notes a few months ago by @hopeful-puffin that shares most of my thoughts. (Please check it out they’re SO GOOD. I love you hopemwamwanmwah)

anyway

I actually thought I’d share a few of my own head canons as well! Not sure what more I could say I haven’t already.(I hope it’s ok to use this screen shot..)

I’ll make a more head canon centered post some other time hopefully maybe

I feel like siren not caring about food at all is really essential to his character considering the fact a large part of his character is centered around the guilt he carries. The worst part is? He can’t do anything to help, he isn’t allowed to. He can’t complain. And also taking into account that this guy has literally never gone outside for the first 18 years of his life???? This is literally the only thing he’s known. Hunting, to him, is life threatening no matter how skilled you are. He doesn’t know any other creatures other than 1 the ones brought to him and 2 the ones already in their environment. For siren, I’d imagine he doesn’t care what creature it is as long as it’ll feed the people.

now! Hold my hand for a moment.. picture this.

Seasons! Are there seasons in the castle swimmer universe? I mean..probably..I dunno, I’d have to go check after I post this.. BUT! Creatures are skittering around getting ready for..uhhh they’re equivalent to winter! So they aren’t obtainable at all this time of year.(assuming the sharks can’t hunt very far away, I mean they would surely die so) so..what do the sharks do? They can’t hunt, their resources are already as scarce enough as it is, and there really isn’t anything else around the castle..errrr..cave(?)

so what do they do? They have kids and elderly to feed! Sure they can could a bit without eating, but then what?

this is when it gets all edgy, and boo me all you want yeah IM CRINGE SURE WHATEVERRRRR

Sharks are known to eat each othe- NO DONT CLICK AWAY JUST HERE ME OUT… sharks can be!! Cannibalistic.! I’m sure you can tell where I’m going with this but I’m going to lay it flat just in case

The sharks resort to eating….,well I’m not sure if they’d be already dead, or dying, sharks. Either way! They’re suffering! They’re sharks! And they’re starved for food.

Now another way this headcanon can go is a little bit more morally gray, as we’ve seen sirens parents be(um maybe?) not sure if I’ve already talked about my shoal theories here BUT ANYWAY! Picture this, sirens dad, canonically, is a nurse. And siren is just lets say like 7 or 8, before he leaves(or maybe this is what drives him to leave) regardless, it’s winter, and shoals family is starving . So..what does he do!! as lightly as I can put this, he just secretly feed them the remains of others. He has the ability to do it I mean he’s a nurse. He can like do that…I guess. Point is, sometimes (actually ALL the time) nurses are forced to do things others won’t agree with based of their morals. And in a situation where they were all desperate, this doesn’t seem that far out of the question. We ALL SAW THE END OF EPISODE 169.. castle swimmer has not shied away from being dark

If you made it this far I’m i love you.. MWAH! And hope if you too read this I LOVOVEEEVEVE what you do

Bonus cause I love him to death @linaisfunny @dumblond-ie

[ruewrote]

𝑎 𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑘 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔.

PAIRING: emily davis x gn!reader WARNINGS: the basement scene, no use of y/n GENRE: angst to comfort SONG INSPIRATION: space by the dolan twins WORD COUNT: 924 REQUESTED: yes NOTE: two in one day, in my active era?

navigation | ask | emily davis masterlist

the basement was cold, but the tension in the room froze you more than the air ever could. emily sat on the counter, her back pressed against the wall, blood seeping from the gash on her shoulder. everyone stood frozen, staring at her like she was already one of them.

mike held the gun, his knuckles white around the grip as he paced. “we can’t take any chances,” he said, his voice strained. “she’s been bitten.”

emily’s face was pale, her hands trembling as she clutched her arm. “i’m fine,” she snapped, though the quiver in her voice betrayed her fear. “it’s just a bite– it’s not even the same thing!”

“you don’t know that!” ashley shouted, her voice breaking. “what if you turn into one of those things? what if you kill us all?”

emily flinched at ashley’s words, her defiance cracking, and that was when you moved.

“enough!” you shouted, stepping between emily and mike’s shaking gun. your heart hammered in your chest, but you refused to let it show. “put the gun down, mike.”

mike’s eyes darted to you, confusion and frustration battling in his expression. “are you insane? she’s bitten! she could turn!”

“then i’ll deal with it if it happens,” you said firmly, using your body as a shield between emily and the barrel of the gun. “but i’m not letting you kill her over a maybe.”

ashley scoffed, throwing her arms up. “oh, great! and when she turns and bites you first, then what? you wanna play the hero, fine, but don’t drag us all down with you!”

you turned to glare at her. “would you shut the fuck up for five seconds? she’s not turning! we don’t even know how this works. what if it’s just a wound and nothing else?”

“and what if it’s not?” mike demanded, his voice low.

you looked him in the eye, your voice steady despite the turmoil swirling inside you. “then i’ll be the first one she bites. but i’d rather risk that than let you kill her because you’re scared.”

the room fell silent. no one could meet your gaze, not even mike.

emily’s voice broke through the silence, soft and trembling. “you don’t have to do this…”

you turned to her, your expression softening. “yes, i do.”

because you loved her. because even if she didn’t know it, even if she never would, you couldn’t stand by and watch her die.

she gave you a look. wide-eyed, disbelieving, and so painfully vulnerable that your chest ached. 

“why?”

you didn’t answer, not directly. you just leaned beside her, pressing a hand gently to her good shoulder. “you’re going to be fine, em. i won’t let anything happen to you.”

mike hesitated, his hand twitching on the gun. “you’re seriously going to risk all of us for her?”

you shot him a stern look over your shoulder. “this isn’t just about her. this is about all of us. if we start turning on each other, we might as well give up now. what do you think is gonna happen if you kill her and it turns out she was fine?”

mike’s jaw clenched, his confidence cracking under the weight of your words. ashley fidgeted beside him, opening her mouth as if to argue but ends up saying nothing.

emily’s voice, softer this time, broke the uneasy silence. “they’re right, mike. if you do this, you’ll never be able to take it back.”

he glanced at emily, then at you. slowly, reluctantly, he lowered the gun completely, his shoulders sagging. “fine,” he muttered, shoving the weapon into his jacket. “but if she starts showing signs…”

“she won’t,” you cut him off, your tone leaving no room for argument.

mike huffed, but he didn’t press the issue. instead, he stormed off to the other side of the room, muttering under his breath.

you exhaled, the tension in your chest loosening just enough for you to feel the ache in your limbs. turning back to emily, you checked on her. “how bad is it?”

she shrugged weakly, wincing at the movement. “it’s not great, but i’ve had worse.”

you frowned, brushing her hair out of her face. “we’ll get it cleaned up and wrapped. you’ll be okay.”

for the first time that night, emily let her guard down, her voice breaking as she whispered, “i thought he was really going to shoot me.”

your heart clenched at the vulnerability in her tone. you wanted to reach for her hand, to comfort her, but you settled for keeping your voice steady. “i wouldn’t let that happen.”

she looked up at you, her dark eyes searching yours for something. “why do you care so much?”

you froze, the question hitting harder than you expected. the truth was there, sitting on the tip of your tongue, but you couldn’t bring yourself to say it. not now. not here.

instead, you smiled faintly. “because you of all people don’t deserve this, you didn’t choose for it to happen to you.”

emily stares at you for a moment longer before a small, almost smile tugged at her lips. she leaned her head back against the wall, exhaling shakily.

the others didn’t say much after that. the tension remained, thick and suffocating, but no one dared to challenge you again. and as you sat beside emily, quietly tending to her wound, you knew you’d made the right choice.

even if she never knew how you really felt, at least she’d be alive to never know. that was enough for now.

comments and reblogs are appreciated ˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗ @antihuntress

© ruewrote 2024.

[storiesofoblivion]

hello tags! It's been a little while since I've been on here, but I'm ready to dive back into the writing scene and looking for some new writing partners on Discord! ♡ please only interact with me if you are 21 + only, also just a small fyi my activity can be a bit unpredictable depending on life stuff, but I’m always around to chat, plot, and create if I’m not writing!!! 

I’d love to brainstorm some MUMUs (small town, big big city, holiday resort, band, reality tv show, open for the options), but also happy to keep it small with a singular plot! i just want to get into musings, making some fun pinterest boards, playlists etc! i want all the angst, fluff, pain and smut. 

a few plots and tropes which I am begging for and some fcs are below, but i'm open to anything and everything!!! if you're interested, give this a like and i'll reach out or message me! ♡

yearning plot, I just watched the Industry and it gave me the need for a pair who love each other, they completely yearn for each other but they can't be together. if you want your heart to break, listen to the last goodbye by the kills. I have quite a few different thoughts for this, they meet when they're young and they yearn for each other, but life gets in the way and ultimately they don't end up together, they love each other but one of them choses the path which is right for them. We can have them go through the break up and then meet again years across the line where it’s a mix of vulnerability and guardedness as both muses confront their past, knowing that the connection they once had slipped through their fingers. There could be moments of warmth and nostalgia mixed with painful realisations about how much has changed. I just need the angst!!!!

the affair, they’re both trapped in unhappy relationships, finding solace in each other’s arms. But as the passion between them grows, so does the guilt and the looming sense that their affair will only lead to heartbreak—for everyone involved.

trapped in a marriage of convenience, they were never supposed to fall in love. Bound by a loveless marriage for political or financial reasons, one of them has secretly harboured feelings all along. Now, as tension rises and secrets unravel, those buried emotions threaten to tear them both apart.

divorced couple, they are always in each others lives, their is fighting, they can't escape, let's add kids to the mix for the coparenting 

the one who got away, this is slightly different to yearning because this couple aren't the same vibe it's a different font okay. They were madly in love in their early 20s, but life and ambition pulled them in different directions. Years later, they reconnect—both scarred from past relationships. There’s undeniable chemistry, but the fear of repeating history keeps them at a distance. Can they let go of their past mistakes and take a risk on love again, or are they doomed to drift apart once more?

the cost of fame, he’s an up-and-coming actor/musician etc, skyrocketing to fame, while she’s still living an ordinary life. They were high school sweethearts, but as his career takes off, the pressure of his public image and constant media attention start to tear their relationship apart. Will their love survive the world of flashing cameras and false rumours, or will fame turn him into someone she no longer recognises??? where will the angst take us??

fighter plot, after re-watching the creed I need a boxer plot so maybe something like in creed where is fighting his way to the top, but his girl can’t handle the fear of losing him to the sport etc 

a coffee shop meet-cute, or any meet-cute where it can be something like she's the regular at his coffee shop, always rushing in with a complicated order and a smile that lights up the place. He’s the barista who secretly gives her an extra shot of espresso to brighten her day. After months of shy glances and friendly small talk, a chance encounter outside of the café leads to a series of adorable, awkward dates full of laughs, misunderstandings, and the beginning of something real.

a classic holiday fake dating, one of them desperately needs a date for the family’s holiday reunion to avoid endless questions about their love life, so they convinces their co-worker (or best friend) to pretend to be their partner for the week. Cue romantic holiday moments, cute banter, and the unexpected realisation that maybe they’re not just pretending after all.

I just need anything that is enemies to lovers, anything that is friends to lovers, anything that is forbidden lovers, anything that is exes to lovers to exes again, give me the slowburn, just any of these tropes on repeat

i also do have a wanted plots tag which is here - this has not been updated in a while but i will always want these plots! 

some fcs i’ve been wanting to play or have has opposites are below, i'm not limited to them and open to any other options too!!! 

drew starkey

oliver jackson cohen 

paul mescal

harris dickinson 

milo ventimiglia

tom hardy

fabien frankel 

theo james

callum turner

dev patel 

josh o'connor

alexander skarsgard

boyd holbrook 

grace van patten

hannah dodd

phoebe dynevor

adria arjona

bruna marquezine 

aslihan malbora 

alisha boe

pinar deniz

taylor russell

greta onieogou 

lucy boynton

[z-i-a-f-o-x]

What is stopping you from going to a hospital? You don’t seem well and I don’t mean for that to come across as rude. It seems like you need significant help.

I talked a little bit about it on twitter, but it’s really a multitude of emotions and reasons..

Im no stranger to Depression or Suicidal Ideation. When I was a teenager I was Hospitalized and in Facilities multiple times for my own safety, and it was miserable, and was not helpful. Granted these were 5150’s (involuntary psychiatric hold by the State) vs. if I were to admit myself. So there is some trauma and negative associations there that I have with the effectiveness of institutions, at least in my case.

I have passive suicidal thoughts all the time; if you asked me at any given time if I’d opt out even when I’m “happy” I’d say yes. It’s just the brokenness of my mind. Those thoughts may be concerning to some, but it’s become background noise to me. It’s the times I get very low and the thoughts turn into compulsions that are the issue, but they aren’t triggered necessarily by anything in particular. They come on suddenly, intensely, and out of nowhere — so I guess my anxiety and thought process is fearing that I’d admit myself and be my usual passive self (which I know how to cope with on my own) when it’s the times of crisis that I’m really at risk.

To a mentally healthy person, it’s a no brainer to just go to the hospital and seek help for any issue you have. For someone whose brain chemistry is like mine, it’s not that simple. When I’m actively wanting to hurt myself, my focus is completely on that impulse and not on how to fix it. In those moments I’ve already made up my mind and it doesn’t feel like I can be unconvinced. In those moments, there is no finding the solution because I believe I already have. There is no wanting to help myself, there is just the goal I can’t stop fixating on. The times when I need the help the most, are the times I’m the least likely to reach out for it. I tend to self-isolate and shut down and not want to talk about how bad it is.. when I’m really bad, it feels impossible to put it into words for someone to listen. But especially to a professional vs. venting to my friends and in my safe spaces.

It really is just riding it out and waiting for the thoughts to slow down and mellow. And I’ve coped this far in my Life through those lows mainly by distraction, distraction, distraction, and focusing on the pain I’d leave my loved ones in. Because the impulses go away if I’m strong enough to just wait them out, it makes me question how much help a facility would be vs. what I’m already doing. It would basically be just an extra set of eyes on me to make sure nothing happens, while giving me the time I need.. and frankly part of me feels like it would be a waste of money.

In the past when I was hospitalized, I was isolated from outside Life. No connections to family or friends or access to my phone or internet.. and those are all things I derive nearly all my joy from. I don’t know if that would be the same situation as an adult.. but the idea scares me. It scares me to lose contact with the people I push on for, even if it’s only temporary. It scares me the isolation could make me more depressed, which I can’t really afford.

So ultimately, to answer your question — irrational fear and anxiety of the unknown, in combination of not believing it’s bad enough and not wanting to save myself enough. I don’t really have the answer yet on how to get myself to the point of believing I’m worth helping.

There are other options too though, like out-patient programs I’m considering more and more.

[danielfuckingricciardo]

Why Anita Driver should be Stopped - An Essay(ish) Post

Hi. So I don’t often do long posts like this, you probably know me as a fic writer and shitposter, but this situation has been irking me since I first read about it and so I only felt it right to explain why.

First off, I wanna say that I understand what she’s doing (I’m going to refer to Anita as she/her throughout this though I have no clue on the author’s actual gender identity). I think she’s very intelligent, using pastiche and parody to create content tailored towards a certain specific audience.

But as someone who knows their fandom history, and has moved in fanfiction circles for over 10 years, the attention one specific book I’m not going to refer to by title because I may throw up in my mouth a little, has received has me very worried for F1 RPF writers as a whole.

RPF has always been a main stay of fanfiction culture. Though there are many ‘antis’ who think it’s wrong and inappropriate to write about real people, RPF fandoms, think One Direction, BTS etc have always been some of the biggest out there.

And I’m sure you’ve seen as popular fan works such as the ‘After’ series by Anna Todd and ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ by E.L. James have transitioned from fan work into published original novels.

Because of this, fan works are booming. Fanfiction is less of a dirty little secret now, confined to locked sites and email chains, but is something that many people know about even if they don’t consume it themselves.

And so, enter Anita Driver. Capitalising on the BookTok trend of ‘spicy’ fiction (what I would call erotica), the author has taken it upon herself to self publish a novel in that similar style but using Daniel Ricciardo not just as inspiration, but as the main protagonist.

I get what she’s trying to do, I really do. I can see that it’s parody, it’s not meant to be taken seriously, but firstly it’s illegal and secondly it really puts fanfiction communities at risk.

Part One: Defamation

Legally, you can’t take someone else’s identity and profit off of it without their explicit consent to do so. There’s a reason Harry Styles became Hardin Scott, and Edward Cullen became Christian Grey. That’s someone else’s intellectual property, or their identity. You cannot legally make a profit out of that. The subject could quite easily build a lawsuit against the author, and the author would have no grounds for defence. There’s a reason AO3 do not allow you to share fundraising links or anything else similar to that, and it’s to protect themselves and the authors against possible lawsuits.

I’d also just like to add that there’s plenty of erotic F1 inspired books out there. I haven’t read them myself but I know that the ‘Dirty Air’ series draws inspiration from current drivers on the grid, but doesn’t explicitly mention anyone real by name! Every character is the intellectual property of the author, it is original fiction that can safely make a profit.

By using Daniel Ricciardo’s image and personality, Anita Driver is putting herself at risk, in this case, not for theft of intellectual property, but of defamation. I haven’t read the book, of course I haven’t read the book, but I can easily believe that the content within could be considered to be defamatory as it may damage public perceptions of him. Now I’m no expert on law, I took a semester of media law and that’s it, but people have definitely sued for less.

In U.K. law (which I’m going off because I know the most about it) “A statement is not defamatory unless its publication has caused or is likely to cause serious harm to the reputation of the claimant.” (x) It could easily be said that portraying Daniel in this way would cause damage to his reputation. We know his image isn’t squeaky clean, but having this book using his name could easily lead people to believe that he was in some way associated with its production. I don’t think anyone would like their public perception to be that they actively encourage and fund the production of erotica about them.

In a lawsuit, Amazon could also be held liable for this, as their website is the main distribution platform for the book, and Anita Driver is a pseudonym and and an unknown.

“It is a defence for the operator to show that it was not the operator who posted the statement on the website. The defence is defeated if the claimant shows that it was not possible for the claimant to identify the person who posted the statement.” (x) If Anita Driver remains anonymous, Amazon could easily be held liable in a court case. Because of this, it would be in their best interests to remove the book to avoid this. (I do not like Amazon, and while they would easily be able to fight the court case with their billions, it would be much easier for them to remove the book and avoid any possible cases.)

So honestly, it is easy to see why this book is a danger to the author. Now I’m not saying that Daniel would necessarily sue. I think he’d probably just laugh it off even if it does make him feel uncomfortable (which it probably does, it would me!) because he has more important things to do. But I honestly don’t know how F1 and Liberty Media might react to this, they would definitely be more likely considering Daniel’s Reputation in turn reflects their own.

Part Two: Danger to Fan Works

This leads me in nicely to part two, actually, because legal threats against fanfiction writers have been a real problem to various communities over the years. Anne Rice, creator of the ‘Interview with a Vampire’ series, had all works purged from the internet in the early 2000s, and threatened writers with legal action if they continued to post fanfiction.

Fanfiction has always been a niche. It’s a small part of the internet for those who want to put their blorbos in situations, or just to think about them fucking nasty. But fan works haven’t always been accepted. Many people still look down on fanfiction, particularly those feature OCs (original characters) or reader inserts.

Anita Driver’s book would be more at home on Wattpad than Kindle Unlimited. It is a fan work. It is written by fans, for fans, and should be kept to that specific audience (without paying for it of course, because as I said, it’s very illegal!)

A work of fanfiction being a book is nothing new, as I mentioned earlier, the ‘After’ series and ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ started out life as fanfiction. But when published, they were no longer fanfiction, they became original works of their own.

Putting fan works out in the open like that only threatens the F1 RPF community. It leaves us open, vulnerable, more so than normal. Sites like AO3 can only protect us to a certain extent, we can lock fics, sure, but that only stops those who don’t have an account from accessing our works.

If this one book is out there, who knows what may happen next. All it takes is for someone to say ‘I don’t want works featuring me published online and I will threaten a lawsuit’ and we’re back to email chains and password locked neocities webpages.

So it genuinely makes me worry.

And with the recent development of Dax Shepard sharing the book with Daniel himself, I feel that it’s all just too close. Fanfiction is never meant to be seen or read by its original subjects. Sure, they may actively seek it out if they want to, but unless they explicitly consent to it, they shouldn’t be seeing it. Daniel has had no say in the matter, it seems. It is being forced on him, which is going to look bad for the fanfiction community as a whole.

Part Three: Conclusion

Honestly, I don’t know whether I’m just being overly freaked out by this whole thing, I hope it just nicely blows over, the book disappears from people’s minds and we get to just keep our niche little side of the internet safe. But part of me is scared.

I’m scared for what may come, if the book is popular, will people try and emulate it? Will people start ripping fics from Tumblr/AO3/Wattpad to sell on Amazon to make a quick buck off the back of this? And will we have another Anne Rice type situation which kills the community completely?

I don’t know. And that’s what worries me. I hope that this whole thing blows over, that Daniel isn’t too freaked out, and that Anita Driver stops using ai image generators to make her book covers (Lance has waaay too many fingers on her most recent one. Caught you out babes x)

This is the end, for now. I suppose I’ll probably add to this if there are any more developments, and if anyone has anything to add (maybe some better law knowledge because mine is basic) please feel free!

Thanks for reading.

[maochira]

IN THE SPOTLIGHT; First Selection; chapter 3: you can’t start from where i am

Blue Lock x transmasc!reader; reader is currently referred to with fem terms and pronouns until they discover they’re transmasc; series masterlist

Blue Lock; block five. Team Z’s monitor room. 1 am.

“You really did great in today’s match against Team Y”, Chigiri compliments as he replays the footage, “Sometimes I envy you.”

“Huh? Why’s that?” You tilt your head. To be honest, despite rewatching match footage with him every night, there’s barely anything you know about Chigiri. All he does is talk about you, rather than about himself. The way he does it comes off as if he’s actively avoiding to share anything about his own life.

“You aren’t exactly competing with everyone else the same way.” Chigiri pauses for a moment to turn his head in your direction. “I mean, everyone else is competing to be part of the national team. For you that’s kind of given… Since you’re the only girl here.”

What’s this odd pressure that always appears in your chest as soon as someone refers to you as a girl?

Due to the lack of a response from your side, Chigiri continues to fill the silence.

“You’re still competing to become the world’s best striker. But for you it’s more like-“

“But there’s still that rule that if I got eliminated at any point, I have no chance at being part of the national team.”

“You really think they’d do that?” An amused chuckle between Chigiri’s words. “I doubt they’d forever ban Japan’s Supernova even if you lost here.”

“I’m not risking to find that out, though. I’ll end up on the top of Blue Lock anyways.”

Chigiri can’t help but smile at your determination. “Wouldn’t expect anything else from the Supernova.”

“But what about you? You always seem so… nonchalant about everything that’s happening.”

Hopefully you finally get Chigiri to open up at least a little bit. He’s definitely hiding something.

“…I’d rather not talk about it.”

“I won’t tell the others, I promise. I just want to know more about you.”

Chigiri doesn’t immediately give in. But after a few minutes you finally crack his shell.

“Alright, alright…” Chigiri sighs and leans back, focusing his eyes on the big screen in front of you two rather than looking at you. “Growing up, I used to be the best player no matter who I played with. I mean, I was only on girls teams so a part of me thought maybe it’s just because none of my teammates were interested in becoming a great player in the future. Honestly, I’ve never met a girl who’s competitive in soccer until I met you. But anyways, when I started high school I started on their boys team and…”

Chigiri goes on to tell you about his injury, how long it took him to recover and how he hasn’t allowed himself to run at full speed ever since.

But one thing he said is stuck in your mind the most.

“Why did you only play on girls teams until high school?”

“I grew up as a girl.” Your confused expression amuses Chigiri. “What I’m saying is that I’m trans.”

“…OHHHHH.” You mentally facepalm as the realization hits you. Everything makes sense now. Not only his backstory, but also the way he’s been behaving around you and the rest of the team. You always thought he was just shy, but now it makes sense that he would always - just like you - look for another room to change his clothes and always was the last one to take a shower when everyone else was already in bed.

You decided to ask no further questions to avoid making him uncomfortable. At that point you got too tired anyways and ended up going to sleep.

You can’t help but wonder, is Chigiri bothered by the nicknames he’s constantly referred to, like “princess”? He never seemed to mind them. But some part of you wonders…

If he isn’t bothered by the nicknames and teasing, why do you feel so odd every time someone points out that you’re a girl?

[razorblade180]

Up In Smoke

Part two of Thief’s Gambit<-

Carmine was a lot of things. Talented, strong, capable, and yet she knew despite all those things that she had several failings. For starters, and most importantly, constructive conversation. An hour had passed and yet Carmine couldn’t stop replaying her conversation with Mona. There was next to nothing she knew that would talk that girl out of whatever her intentions were, but that didn’t make Carmine feel any better as she looked over the city. Just what prompted Mona to ask for a favor that would require, to a degree, willful negligence? Nothing good. That much was certain.

“Why can’t things ever be simple?” She sighed. If only she had a lead to go on. Carmine wanted to ponder further but her scroll began blinking. Sure enough, it was Aero. Mona must’ve gone through with leaving like she said. Carmine answered the call. “Hello?”

“Carmine! Where are you right now?” He said with urgency.

“Patrolling. Is something the matter?”

“Mona quit the gang out of nowhere. Said her time with it was done and that she had better things to do.”

“Can you really be surprised? She’s always been a loose cannon. If you weren’t reigning her in then who knows how deep her antics would go.”

“Look, I know you don’t like her but Mona isn’t as terrible as you make her. Yeah she’s troubled but who wouldn’t be in her predicament. I mean you’ve met her mother.”

That was an interaction Carmine wishes she could forget. “Yeah, yeah I have. I don’t blame Mona for how she is in life. I blame her for choosing not to change.”

“That’s…”

She could hear Aero sigh in defeat. “Hey, you’re a good person for trying to help her. It’s what makes you, you. It’s pointless to tell you not to worry over this but-”

“She’s not my responsibility. I swear you and my mom say that as if I told you she was. What’s so hard to understand about wanting to keep a person in your life despite the risks. I help because I care.”

“And now you sound like my mom.”

“Is that supposed to be terrible?”

“No…never. It just means we’re never going to convince each other on certain topics.” Carmine frowned.

“Is that really how you feel?” Aero could tell her attitude became a little somber.

“I don’t know. Maybe? All I know is you’re gonna get hurt moving through problems the way you do. I’ll never say your way isn’t beautiful in its own right, but as long as you’re someone I cherish, don’t expect me to watch you approach a fire without trying to put it out myself. I’d rather take the burn then let you feel the flames.”

Carmine waited for a response but the call ended. She almost felt insulted until she heard the flap of powerful wings behind her. Aero landed with a neutral expression on his face. He was clearly bothered.

“If that’s how you feel then you don’t give yourself enough credit when it comes to being kind, even if it’s selfish.”

“I’m a selfish person.”

Aero rolled his eyes. “I don’t think you believe that. Not for a second. Sounds like to me you’re-”

“Why’d you call me? I know it wasn’t to have some debate on ideals and values.”

Of course Carmine would push back the moment the topic moves to her. Whatever. Aero was used to it by now and she was right anyways. “I called you to ask if you’ve seen Mona. Figured between patrol and all your flowers, you’d know something.”

“That’s not quite how my flowers work. And you’re wrong.” Carmine turned back towards the city lights. What’s one more potential burn? “Haven’t seen her. If anything she might actively be avoiding me if she has something planned.”

Aero came up beside her and sat down, his thoughts brewing. “I just can’t make sense of what’s changed.”

“…You’re not the only one. Whatever is going on, we’ll just have to wait.”

“So you’re helping me?”

“Like I said, I’m not letting you walk into fire if I can help it. Not that I wouldn’t help anyways. Mona has never been the quickest troublemaker.” Carmine squinted as she remembered the sword of destruction incident.

Aero let out a small chuckle. “Heh, I wouldn’t be so sure. You’d be surprised just how many times there’s something missing that nobody was even looking for.”

That was true. Credit is given where credit is due. Never underestimate The Gem of the Slums. “Guess we should keep our eyes peeled then.”

Oh how little did they both know. The dazzling lights of the city they watched over were suddenly drowned out by bright, blinding lights to their left. Their heads turned in silence as the sight of three brilliant pillars flames rose into the sky. Carmine and Aero had yet to process the sight, until the thunderous boom came. Buildings rattled and wind whipped as the shockwave hit them into reality. The sound of alarms began to play as Carmine’s eyes widened.

Aero still needed a second. “Wh…what the-”

“Ambulance.” Carmine uttered, her feet pulling her closer to the explosion. “Call emergency services!”

Aero watched her run off. He pulled out his scroll and followed suit.

Carmine looked over her shoulder. “Don’t follow me!”

“Oh you can not be serious!? I know we were just talking about burns but-”

“Not that! Fly up you idiot! Let them know how far and fast the flames spread! You’ll be our eyes in the sky. Go!” She commanded.

Aero spread his condor wings out and shot straight up into the sky with a single flap. His call came through as he gazed upon an unforgettable sight of a growing sea of red and orange. “H-hello!? There’s been an explosion. The slums, it’s…it’s burning away…”

xxxxxxx

Inside the chaos Carmine’s clones in the area had hit the streets running the second they bloomed, barreling past those who fled in fear of blazing death; a few of their progress came to a screeching halt as they made it to the edge of the crisis. It was worse up close. The slums became like a gateway to hell. Blistering flames made the air sting while her eyes watered from smoke. Now was the worst time to be wearing contacts but Carmine would have to endure. After all, this clearly wasn’t an accident. The slums weren’t the most well kept but even she could tell that the fire was spreading abnormally fast. There’s no way Mona did this, right? What would be the point? However, if it wasn’t her then the likelihood of this catastrophe being far more evil in nature was high. Carmine could only think of one group sick enough for it.

Through the flames, several more clones came running out with civilians to hand off to the others.

“Did you see anyone suspicious!?” One asked to another as she took an injured woman.

“No, and all I’ve heard is fire, sirens and people. I’m going back in.”

They both nodded, carrying out their job. As one of them went back towards a the flames, she heard a voice yell.

“Carmine!” It cried out from her right.

Petals blew by, sweeping her feet off the ground and away from fall debris. The girl looked at both her arms, feeling the grip of her mother on them.

Ruby breathed in relief. “Stay sharp.”

Carmine shook her off. “Don’t worry about me. I’m just a clone! There’s people still in there.”

“I know and less of you means less saved, so stay sharp.” Ruby emphasized. “Where’s the real you?”

“On her way.”

“Let her know to not show up.”

“What!? You just said-”

“I know what I said! But I need the real you headed towards the west gate. I’ll stay here and help with the victims. You deal with the panic they bring.”

Carmine’s eyes widened. The west gate leads to near endless dunes and is home to some of Vacou’s most unsavory creatures. Some of those monsters lay in wait on the call of their master. Carmine nodded before turning around, but was quickly held by her wrist.

Ruby turned her back around and stared deep into the gaze she knew her actual daughter could see. “I’m trusting you Carmine. If you see Cinder, Neo…or Dustin, then you call me first and foremost.” Her voice trembled slightly. “Okay?”

xxxxxx

Halfway to the chaos, Carmine stopped her rooftop run. She felt a tightness tug at her chest suddenly as she saw what she needed to see. With a slow yet shaky breath, Carmine steeled herself. She booked it towards the west gate without a moment to lose.

“Understood!” She said with conviction. It wasn’t often the two of them worked together. Carmine was going to make it a good experience. Her blade, Stamen, was brought out as soon as she exited the city. As she crossed over a sand dune, the vast desert greeted her with dozens of scarlet eyes looming in the distance; and they were only beginning to grow in number as they lurked.

“Sorry guys, but you should’ve stayed out of sight!” Carmine stomped down with her right foot and leaped forward, leaving a patch of ten roses where she took off.

Upon landing, she took another leap to advance far right. Again, ten roses were left behind. Carmine stopped advancing after landing to the left, clapping her hands together to manifest two glowing red roses before throwing them up in the air.

“May I have this dance?”

Both roses turned to clones and joined both their hands before crossing their arms to form a cross. Carmine jumped and landed one foot right on their hands as they slingshot her towards the center of the madness. There was no time to be subtle in her approach but she couldn’t abandon safety either. Carmine put her weapon into scythe mode mid flight then spun like a saw, cutting clean through several beowulves upon entry.

Her feet slid across the sand towards four more Grimm she decapitated in one swoop before lunging backwards with her scythe spinning overhead and slashing down into a Taijitu’s head that was ready to strike. A pull of her trigger brought the blade ripping out of the flesh and carving up through the ground to cut a medium sized DeathStalker up the middle. The loud demonic screech from behind made Carmine backflip and land on an attacking Nevermore that was quickly grounded by the two clones stabbing their swords in each wing then landing perched on the respective hilts with guns trained on approaching threats.

Anger, fear, hostility, and more. Carmine kept those emotions at the forefront of her mind to draw the masses of Grimm her way to slow their advance to the kingdom. Meanwhile, the twenty roses in total she left on the outside had fully bloomed into clones that not only held the line of defense, but actually pushed it back aggressively. Inexperienced Grimm weren’t an issue and were quick to rush to their demise, but that wasn’t the case for Sand Dwellers. Those pesky land swimming sharks always loved to pounce when least expected.

“What a pain.” She hissed, minding her footing. Carmine sliced through several more monsters before retreating back onto the pinned Nevermore. Ironically it was the safest spot to sand. Until…

“REEEEEARRRRGH!”

It was like a deafening screech into the night. The cry in return wasn’t any better.

“AAAAEEEEGGHHH!!!!”

Carmine gasped. That was not a Nevermore. Thinking fast, Carmine placed a rose on her scythe and tossed it as hard as she could into the sky. Two ominous arms came slithering out rapidly through the hoard and grabbed Carmine from each side before reeling her in. The girl dug her heels into the sand as she was forcibly getting dragged closer and closer towards a galloping Nucklevee with its horse’s mouth wide open.

Carmine cracked a nervous smirk. “Well if it isn’t my favorite of the trash? Let me get a good look at ya!”

Her scythe came flying down, severing the right arm while a second scythe belonging to the clone cut the left; the benefit of sharing sight went both ways as long as Carmine concentrated. Thankfully getting dragged meant not worrying about moving or searching. Now free, she quickly jumped to avoid the bite, landing on the horse’s armored head to flip over the humanoid body. Carmine grabbed both horns on the way down to yank its head towards the broken moon.

The clone from the sky came tumbling down along the ground, grabbing a scythe along the way and springing up over the horse to deliver a slash that lobbed off the main head to kill it instantly. It would’ve been a brief moment of triumph if teeth didn’t sprout out from the sand around the dying horse she stood and on.

“Shit.”

The jaws of a massive Sand Dweller came chomping, swallowing the Nucklevee and Carmine whole as it shot out of the sand into the sky. As it headed back to the ground to crush its victims under the weight of desert dunes, light gleamed through from its gills. It’s black and white skin turned gray, solidifying into rigid stone that shattered the instant it nose dived to the ground; the entire beast was reduced to rubble with only the girl remaining, her body kneeling with scythe in both hands and glimmering eyes that rivaled the moon’s radiance.

It was beyond risky to remove her contacts, especially in this unknown situation. Even so, it wasn’t much of a choice in this situation. From what she gathered however, so far there wasn’t another soul out here. Time to make good use of that while she could. Carmine slowly reached in her pocket and pressed a button on her scroll before readying herself. The Grimm around her stood on guard, ceasing their overly aggressive behavior as Carmine stood up.

“Don’t get scared now. The fight just started.”

xxxxxx

Ruby continued to successfully evacuate people when her scroll began pinging.

“What is it now!?” She winced, trying to juggle the mess.

Another Carmine clone came by with kids to put in the safe zone. “Don’t worry, I pinged everyone my location.”

“Having trouble?”

“More like I’m not testing my luck.” She points to her eyes, watching Ruby’s jaw open slightly. “Hey, I said I’m fine. There’s just a lot. Where’s dad?”

Ruby got back to helping. “At home guarding your brother and the house in case this attack was meant for us. For hell’s sake, where’s the backup!?” She yelled.

“Calm down!” Carmine kicked down a door for a few people to escape. “They’re-”

“Over here!!” Yelled a familiar voice.

Ruby and the clone looked over their shoulder to see Ilia arrive with firefighters carrying hoses and buckets of water in the area.

“Sorry it took so long. I was helping with moving some ice dust.” She pointed to the rooftops.

From multiple angles, a handful of rose clones with crisp blue tipped hair came charging in and releasing ice from above and inside the blaze while the firefighters worked their way in.

“Ilia, you’re a sight for sore eyes.” Ruby sighed. The base clones and I have already made safer pathways inside. We’ll guide the firemen through them. Can you please help Car-”

“No need.” Ilia flashed a message from her son that was sent several previous minutes before even Carmine pinged everyone. “It’s hard not to see the Grimm approaching where Aero is, or the person confronting them. Help should be there any minute now.”

The clone didn’t know what to think. Looks like she may have been read like a book. Honestly, what was the boy doing, prioritizing her in a situation like this? He better be back to reporting fires.

“Seriously…”

xxxxx

“…What am I going to do with him?” Carmine smiled, staring down a crazed Alpha Beringel among several recently made statues.

The beast leaped into the sky for a ground pound. Carmine was a second away from adding him to the scenery then saw a shadow accompanied by three lights run along the ground. The girl let her gaze soften.

Her body relaxed for a moment as she sighed, “Finally.”

The Beringel reeled its fists back to strike but was greeted with a dive kick in the face by Sun, followed by three clone kicks that sent the ape plummeting into its companions. The man landed with his copies around Carmine in a defensive stance with their staves at the ready.

“Hey kiddo! Having fun?”

“Oh ya know, keeping busy. These guys are lucky they’re dealing with me after a full day of work. I had them on the ropes.”

“Heh, I actually believe that. Your defensive line is holding strong! Take a breath.”

“Okay.” Carmine complied. Physically speaking, she hadn’t taken many hits but that was thanks to the constant strings of attacks. While effective, it didn’t leave much room to catch her breath. With Sun however, that changed. The man went straight to business crushing through armor and providing better spacing. Carmine wasn’t about to play damsel though; not by a long shot. A stomp made five more clones to help him out.

“What happened to taking a breather?”

“This is me breathing.” Carmine didn’t move an inch outside of the circular defense they had made. “I’d feel like shit if I had to tell Aero his dad got hurt saving me after he sent you.”

“Oh? You know about that?”

“Not the hardest thing to figure out. In total, there’s twenty eight rose clones here that were made tonight. Between your clones and the two of us…”

“We have this shit handled.” He gave a thumbs up in her direction. “Save the rest of your aura for yourself. Remember, this isn’t a one man show. The entire kingdom is acting and reinforcements will be here in five minutes at most. All we have to do is keep the pressure on.”

“Pressure is the one thing I’m good at.” Carmine switched back to sword form and kept her eyes keen to any opportunities. Although, what Sun said brought concern. Not a one man show, yet Carmine couldn’t help but wonder if the incident was made by one. If Cinder was part of this, she would’ve been seen by now; that goes for Neo and Dustin too. They wouldn’t have allowed help to come to her, and she could sense no disturbance near the garden at home. It could only make the girl think of one assumption.

“Mona…” she uttered to herself. Whatever this was all about, Carmine hadn’t the foggiest idea. She just knew Mona was going to answer for it. Nothing in Vacou was worth stealing that warranted this level of chaos aside from the Sword of Destruction; and the girl managed to steal that with far less effort and potential casualties. Carmine wanted to ponder more, but the Grimm weren’t going to let her do so easily and attacked.

“Screw it. I’ll think later.” Carmine rejoined the battle.

Everyone from civilians to the civil servants of the kingdom helped to quell this incident and protect their own. What Carmine, Aero, and the other heroes failed to realize was what was longed for has already been stolen away; and it wouldn’t be known until the dust began to settle.

xxxxx

Off at an old abandoned factory, a woman tied to a chair finally had a bag roughly removed from her head so she can stare in the dim eyes she had made long ago.

“Hey sleepyhead. Hope you’re not concussed~” Mona said dryly, spinning a butterfly knife as she stumbled backwards and slid her back down a pillar. “I think we’re overdue for a talk. Ya know, like most mothers to daughters about life.” She stabbed the knife into the floor. “How about we change that?”

[love-kurdt]

Swooping, Sloping, Cursive Letters: 36

word count: 688

PLEASE READ THIS IS ME TRYING FIRST, AS THIS STORY RELIES HEAVILY UPON THE CONTEXT OF TIMT

September 29, 1990

Dear Will,

This past month and a half has been nothing but absolute chaos. First off, I finally had my official gay bar initiation! I was invited back in August by my friend Alexis and some of our other friends from our Gender Studies elective course, which was good, because at least I’d be around people I knew. They ordered me this neon blue cocktail I can’t remember the name of, probably because I chugged it so fast (just kidding, I think it was called a Blue Lagoon), and I was instantly picked up by the Prettiest of Pretty Boys™. He introduced himself as Wes Butler, and we had sex in the storage closet of the bar. It was actually my first time “topping” (I put topping in quotations because you can’t really top if you’re both standing). But it was cramped, it was hot in a bad way, it was messy, and it ended quicker than it began. It was not a good time. Moral of the story: I don’t do closets. I spent my whole life in one, and lost you in the process.

If you thought that experience was weird, let me tell you about this nerd rave I went to last Friday. Some acquaintance from one of my lit courses told me about it after class, saying it was at a beat up old house on the edge of campus, at five o’clock. When I showed up, it was like I’d entered the drama club room at Hawkins High. Dim lighting, red ambiance, and about a dozen different fantasy and sci-fi related activities happening throughout the house. I was so overwhelmed, and I had no idea where the hell to begin. Despite my love for writing fantasy, I’ve tried not to interact with anything remotely nerdy at the risk of it reminding me of you and sending me into a downward mental spiral. I’m scared that one day, if the spiral is spiraly enough, I won’t be able to come back from it. But anyway, this guy came up to me and said “Is it me or do you not have a clue what’s going on, either?” I turned to face him, and my eyes nearly fell out of my fucking skull, because I was either hallucinating, or Eddie Munson had come back from the dead. We immediately sparked a conversation about how we were just normal dudes who like literature and D&D, and felt incredibly out of place amongst all the cosplayers, almost like it was a convention. I don’t know how exactly we got from Point A to Point Z, but within half an hour of meeting Walker Brooks, he was fucking me into his Lord of the Rings bedsheets. Out of nowhere, he started talking to me in Elvish– I actually looked up and translated the phrase he used most frequently, “N- a man boui an ada.” It means, “Be a good boy for Daddy.” Yeah… yikes. I won't be seeing him again.

It’s no wonder why I keep going back to Wyatt. When we hook up, it’s like he erases all the other bad experiences. He’s so gentle with me, which is honestly what I crave the most. I just want affection. I just want love, while most of the other guys I’ve been with only want to get their dicks wet. But Wyatt is different– he cares about me. He’s my friend, above all else. And because he’s my friend, he offers to listen whenever I need to talk, no matter what. I think he knows my entire life story up until this point. Which means he knows about you and everything that happened last year. Don’t worry, he doesn’t hate you. He just… isn’t your biggest fan. It doesn’t matter what he thinks of you, though, because you’ll never have any reason to cross paths with each other. If, by some miracle, a reason does emerge, I won’t hesitate to introduce you two. 

But it’s just pathetic for me to hope at all at this point. So I won’t. Hope, I mean.

Love,

Mike

-

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[bluejaysandblackbats]

You're Just Like Quicksand

Fandom: DC Comics, Batfam, Batman Beyond

Summary: Jason Todd is ready to go into semi-retirement after fifteen years working with troubled youth, but one case in particular forces him to confront the sins of his youth and painful memories from his past. (TW // Character Self Harm Mention in this chapter)

Chapters: 11/?

Characters: Jason Todd, Terry McGinnis, Warren McGinnis, Mary McGinnis, Matt McGinnis, Bruce Wayne, Original Character(s)

Relationship(s): TBA

Additional Tags: Protective Jason Todd, Good Sibling Jason Todd, Retired Jason Todd, Multiple POV, Hurt/Comfort, Parent-Child Relationships, Canon Divergent AU, Angst, Mourning Jason Todd

Chapter Eleven: Second Chances (Jason Todd's POV)

Terry’s a great kid, but I couldn’t relax without watching them from my phone during the meeting. The mayor was as stressed as most people would imagine the mayor of Gotham to be. He kept clearing his throat and asking me if I needed something. “So, you want at-risk teens partnering with politicians and top executives and—.” 

“What’s wrong with that? Most executives I know have the money and resources to make their criminal histories and academic failings disappear. These kids don’t bother trying because they understand it’s not what you know it’s who you know. The least we can do to clean up this city is to ensure these kids get to know people willing to be their bridge to a better life,” I interrupted. The mayor was a pushover, and he barely knew politics. He got stuck being mayor of Gotham because no one else wanted the headache. I knew if I made him look like a classist prick on camera, he’d fold. “I came from nothing. If it hadn’t been for my father adopting me, I don’t know where I’d be today.”

I glanced at my phone and smiled at Terry cradling Avery-Marie while she sucked her thumb. “I’ve already lined up individuals interested in letting kids shadow them… And it isn’t just top execs and politicians. There are blue-collar positions as well as white. I want them to cycle through all sorts of careers. Low-income and at-risk kids deserve to know they have options no matter where they come from. I’ve known people who came from nothing, went to community colleges, and worked their way up. I handpicked individuals that these kids could relate to. I’m meticulous and active in my business, so I’d drop in to supervise… It’s all in the plans I sent you. Did you have a chance to read through?” I knew he didn’t. He skimmed it at best. “My programs have a high success rate. Literacy and graduation rates are up. We’re funding therapy, tattoo removal, gas detoxing, and—.” 

“What about your more dangerous clients?” the mayor asked. I swallowed hard. I knew he wanted to allude to the incident... And it triggered me. It was my greatest shame. I had tunnel vision, and I couldn’t hear anything outside of my children screaming. My assistant touched my shoulder. 

“Right,” I replied, “I’ve since started screening which specific kids I want to be involved in the pilot program. I’ve met each child, looked at their files, and they volunteered to do a psychological screening. I believe in second chances. I believe in people. I’ve been hurt a lot in my life, but I refuse to allow that to be my excuse for turning my back on the children here. If a city shows love to its children, I guarantee that some of them will love us in return. We can’t put an end to the city’s problems, but we can minimize the causes.” I couldn’t buckle on the issue. We went back and forth until he had no choice but to greenlight my program. 

I left the meeting feeling sick to my stomach. I splashed my face in the sink, trying to drown out the sounds of my kids’ screams. My phone rang, pulling me out of the fog. I answered without looking. “Hello?” I answered. 

“Dad… Hey, um—. Hey, Dad,” his voice shook. 

“Andrew? Hi, Drewby,” I smiled. I hadn’t heard from Andrew since the incident. He’d gone off the grid and I lost him. I didn’t know if he was dead or alive. “What’s going on?” 

“Dad, I’m in the hospital,” Andrew replied. 

“Which one?” I questioned. 

“I’ll send you the location… We should probably talk more in person. Are you busy?” Andrew replied.

“Never too busy, Drewby. Send me the location, and I’ll be there,” I answered. 

“I gotta go, but I’ll be here… And uh, I don’t have anywhere to—. That’s not your problem—.” 

“It is my problem… I’m always gonna be your dad. I didn’t quit because you grew up,” I reassured him, “I’ll see you in a minute.” Andrew hung up and texted me. 

I drove straight there, stopping to call Terry. “Hey, Terry, I’ll be a little late. Something came up,” I explained, “Are you guys okay?”

“Yeah, Avie’s great. She fell asleep on my lap, so I’m stuck watching TV… How’d your thing go?” Terry asked.

“I got everything I wanted,” I replied, “And Terry, thanks so much for helping me out. I owe you extra for watching her longer than planned.”

“No problem,” Terry replied. We exchanged goodbyes, and I entered the building and let security check me. 

I put my phone, wallet, keys, and belt in the basket before signing in at the front desk. “Is Andrew Todd here?” I questioned. The man at the desk hesitated. 

“Can I see ID?” he asked. I gave him my ID and let him scan it. “He put your name on his medical release form.”

“Can you tell me what happened?” I asked. He pressed a button on the computer and I heard a gate click. 

“He had a psychotic episode in the Gotham City Mall,” the man answered. Vague. Andrew had no history of mental illness. He had his troubles, but he never struggled with anything like that.

Andrew came out, and my breath caught. I hadn’t seen him in five years. But, I would’ve known my son anywhere. I reached for him, hesitating before asking to hug him. Andrew wouldn’t look me in the eye, but I couldn’t stop smiling. He opened his arms, and I hugged him. “Where’ve you been?” I asked. I shook my head before he could answer and took his bag. “Are you hungry, Drewby?” 

Andrew nodded. “Can I come home for a little while?” Andrew asked. I smoothed his hair down.

“Of course. Of course, you can come home,” I answered. I went into autopilot with him. I let him in the car, and he buckled in while I dropped his bag in the back seat. “Can we talk about what happened? Or do you wanna eat first?” 

“I tried to drown myself in the fountain… I think I got pretty close,” Andrew answered. He seemed distant, but I didn’t push him for a reaction. “Do you remember when Mom died?” 

It would’ve been a random question had any of my other kids asked, but Andrew was with her when she died. He was home sick from school, and she took a nap with him and never woke up. Andrew called me in tears, and it was devastating. I remembered him begging them not to zip her up in a body bag. He insisted she wouldn’t be able to breathe. “I remember,” I whispered. 

“I never told you what her last words were. I thought it would hurt you,” Andrew mumbled. He stroked his hand with his ring and middle fingers. It was something his mother used to do when Avery dissociated. 

“Will you tell me now?” I asked. It’d been eighteen years since. If he wanted to hurt me, he would’ve done it five years ago during the incident. Andrew nodded.

“I was scared because I thought you and Mom were getting a divorce, so I asked her… And before she went to sleep, she said, she couldn’t live without you and that I didn’t need to worry because she loved us… Her exact words: Daddy drives me crazy, but I can’t live without him. You don’t have to worry about our family breaking up. We love you, Drewby ,” Andrew replied. I choked back tears. “I like that moment. It was the last time I felt like everything would be okay.”

I couldn’t speak. What would I tell him ? How could I explain to him what changed in five years? How could I tell him about his niece and Avery and—? How could I explain Terry? Even if he wasn’t the kid I mentored five years ago, I couldn’t explain him to Andrew. It felt like a betrayal… But how could I lie?

[xx-slug-xx]

//cw- self harm and substance abuse mentions

“Using dark fiction to cope is self harm!”

Self harm is self destructive by nature. It actively causes physical and/or mental harm to the person. That’s why self sabotage is also a form of self harm. Self harm can be done by simply trying to get yourself fired from your job for no other reason than the fact that you feel like you don’t deserve it. It can also be in the form of becoming distant from loved ones. Self harm isn’t always about hurting yourself physically, but I don’t feel like I need to really explain that part too much. If you do something that you know will cause mental or physical harm to you, but do it anyway, it’s self harm.

It’s true that not all coping mechanisms are healthy, but it really depends on how someone is using the coping mechanism as well as the coping mechanism itself. If someone is smoking weed to cope, that’s valid and there’s tons of research that tells us that it can be beneficial. However, if someone is using weed to cope, is having panic attacks because of their personal reaction to weed, and is struggling financially because of how much weed they are smoking, then it’s absolutely not healthy. Specifically for that person though. But I can’t tell someone how to live their lives. I can recognize it’s unhealthy and give people advise, but their struggle with their mental health isn’t any less valid because they are not coping in a healthy way. I’m also not going to assume that everyone who smokes weed to cope will react to weed the same way, and have the same financial struggles, that this individual is experiencing.

I feel like a lot of fantis who cry about how exposing yourself to dark fiction is self harm got it wrong though. The people who use dark fic to cope are able to gain something positive from it. It is what works for them. It’s self expression in the form of art and I think that’s beautiful. However, I see so many fantis purposely exposing themselves to dark content that’s properly tagged. They know what’s going to happen, they read the warnings, they know how they will react to this sort of content, but they still choose to expose themselves to content that they know they’ll have a bad reaction to. This, by deffiniton, is self harm. It baffles my mind that fantis keep pointing fingers at people who use dark fic to cope, meanwhile, they’re pointing three more at themselves. If anyone is harming themselves with dark fiction, it’s fantis.

I’m concerned by this honestly, if anything else. Mostly because I’m 90% sure most fantis don’t realize it’s self harm. I’m positive that fantis are projecting onto those who do use dark fiction to cope though. Mostly because they can’t imagine getting any benefits out of this coping mechanism, only negative reactions to it, and assume it must be true for everyone else too. I feel bad for them, too a point, as I’m obviously not excusing a lot their actions they do in response to seeing said dark fiction. But then again, starting drama with people and risking getting doxxed and harassed could be a form of self sabotage too. Overall, I’d argue that being involved in pointless internet drama and arguments is self harm just because of how much of a negative affect it has on people. Surrounding one’s self in constant negativity is definitely not healthy.

(Side note: anyone who harasses and has doxxed a fanti still isn’t cool imo, but that’s not the point of this post lol. But when you start drama online, it’s always a risk regardless and I wanted to mention it)

[revserrayyu]

2.7 Penacony thoughts [part 2]

**Spoiler warning** for everything up until Sunday returns to the stage at the Grand Theater. At the time of writing this, I’ve already finished all of the 2.7 story and may reference events that happen a bit later, so just be wary of that.

Surprisingly, it doesn’t feel like it’s been all that long since we’ve last seen of Yukong, but I’m still so happy and relieved to see her again! I probably mentioned it before but I adore Dawn’s performance as Yukong so much.. her voice is gorgeous.

Thank god Fugue does remember her too. I was a bit worried when we were all out shopping and no gift was mentioned for Yukong. Fugue did say some shopping was done beforehand so I’m gonna blissfully assume a gift for our ace pilot was bought offscreen.

Man, I can’t imagine how she must’ve felt upon hearing the news that Tingyun is okay and to come meet her. Probably had to be the biggest relief in the world along with the most bizarre sense of wonder, like we did a full sky burial for this girl and grieved over her, what do you mean she’s alive and how?? True emotional whiplash. Anyways, we once again give our thanks to Ruan Mei.

I can easily imagine a young Tingyun asking Yukong to arm wrestle and having the latter win each and every time. Maybe it even continued when she got a bit older and Yukong still managed to win then too. But Yeah, Fugue’s new body and the never healing scars, both physical and mental, is definitely something to get used to.

I’d normally have such great faith in Bailu to be able to heal anything, as well as Lingsha now that she’s around the Luofu too, but if they couldn’t heal Jiaoqiu’s eyes or even help Feixiao’s moon rage then I think it’s safe to have a little doubt that our healers could magically fix anyone. I’d love if that were the case though.

Fugue’s hesitance to return home is a surprise but honestly I can’t blame her. Who would want to return to a place where they got taken control over and practically died? And if the suspect is still wandering around the other Xianzhou ships, then I still wouldn’t feel all that safe either, regardless on how far away these ships are from each other.

I do love that her decision isn’t made entirely out of fear though, like she mainly wants to use her new second life as a hidden ace up the Alliance’s sleeve to get a slight advantage over the enemy in any way possible.

I’m pleased that Yukong eventually agrees to this sort of plan too. While they both think they’ve already endured enough pain from these wars and stay out of the upcoming fights, they much rather put a stop to them all if possible.

Eventually the conversation takes a lighter and much appreciated turn as the ladies go up to the front of the ship to see one random Tingyun clone in complete awe of the sky when Fugue reminisces about one of her first flights with Yukong and sweet lord.. my heart!! Look at how dang cute she is! And how Yukong remains stunningly gorgeous as always! We didn’t need further confirmation that it was young Tingyun in Yukong’s splash art but I’m so happy this exists because it’s such a wholesome scene! I’d love it if we could get artwork referencing everyone’s splash arts like this one day.

I’m happy that Tingyun managed to find a way to keep traveling the skies even without becoming a pilot or fighter and getting over her fears to become completely fascinated by flying. Talk about being adaptable.

Fugue about to enter her revenge arc and I’m here for it. You go girl! Go team up with Feixiao! She wants to go rampage after what happened to Jiaoqiu too!

So we then flip over to the siblings and they chat for a bit. Sunday still has the intellitron disguise active since he doesn’t want to pit Robin at risk by being seen with him as a fugitive, but she starts putting the pieces together a little bit regardless. You can hide your face, sir, but your ideals and emotions are a bit harder to mask.

I think it’s sweet that Sunday’s wish right now isn’t to have a meaningful conversation with Robin (though it kind of is anyway), but rather just to be in her presence for a little while longer before he’s set to leave Penacony for good.

How they’re both not even trying to be subtle by giving each other advice or reassurance so this goodbye doesn’t hurt as much.. aaahh.

Robin is so precious, believing in him so strongly. I get why Sunday chooses to stay incognito during this conversation but ohhh what I wouldn’t give for these siblings to just hug and cry endlessly as they start the next chapter of their lives on different paths!

Of course this darn dove had to make a return once more.

First off, she’s beautiful! Secondly, is that bird with the blue wing supposed to resemble Sunday and this is Robin learning to let him go?? Someone hold me I may be the one who is about to cry!

The way she knew the entire time that it was him!! Oh my god sweetie, props to you for not breaking down during that whole scene because who knows when you’ll both be able to see each other again! She handled all that emotion so well. She’s strong indeed because I’m feeling close to shambles and that’s not even my brother who left.

Huzzah, more Welt lore! And not that he did all that much this patch, but I’m debating on using that free five star selector for him since he’s the only standard banner character I’m still missing.. or I could just get E2 Bronya so I don’t have to worry about building up a whole new unit. We’ll see.

Welt is so perceptive because I truly thought Wonweek was just a regular pepeshi. I didn’t even begin to imagine the small dude would’ve also been you know who under another disguise.

I shall save the grand performance for the next and final post.

[queenharumiura]

Opening pandora's box to ask Neo about her thoughts about the Dying Will Flames 8)

[Neo's game time] ||Accepting||

I won't go into my entire HC on the flames and why characters have certain flames and such, because that is exclusive to talking one on one on discord or something. (It takes actual hours of active typing or talking- so yeah)

I will just talk about a few things here and there 8) Just a random mush of thoughts and HC's

Hmm… where to start? There are a lot of thoughts and understandings that I have, and many HC’s as well. I suppose to start things off, I’ll talk about a detail that I feel a lot of people tend to forget or misunderstand. Certainly, there is a chance that I’m wrong on the premise of fan-translations and the like- but from my understanding and reading into things:

Every single person has inside of their body all of the dying will flame types. These dying will flames course through the veins of every living person and they are called the ‘hadou’. (I’m too lazy to search for the chapter number, but know that it’s in the TYL arc, future Yams who explains this) The way to ignite the flames is to harmonize with the hadou, have a ring that is compatible with the ring, and you must have the determination to actually ignite it. The harmonization and the determination is a difficult thing to do, hence not everyone is able to even ignite their flames.

Secondly, if you don’t have enough of that hadou coursing through your veins, you can’t really ignite it to begin with. As such people have a main flame that they can ignite and sometimes they’ll have sub-flames that they can ignite. I’ve seen many people mistakenly believe that you are born with the flame that you can ignite and that’s it- and I’m here to say that I absolutely disagree with that statement. IF that was the case, it does not explain why Xanxus who originally had pure sky flames could later have an infected sky flame with the storm element to make the ‘rage’ flame.

It wouldn’t explain how Hibari could later ignite the Mist flame after ‘he studied it so hard out of spite that he grew to understand it so he could ignite the mist flam, ironically’. If it were the case that you had to be born only with the select flame type, then Gokudera should’ve been considered a monster or a freak of nature and that’s not true. We know canonically that Gokudera is a genius. IF you need to understand/harmonize with a flame to be able to ignite it, it makes perfect sense that Gokudera is able to ignite so many of the flame types BECAUSE he is a genius. He is a hard worker to boot, so he would’ve practiced to find a way to ignite the various flames he wanted to.

Why not the Sky and the mist flame? Gokudera doesn’t really fit with the mist element on the basis of the way he acts and thinks. It’s not very compatible with him, and he would’ve stayed away form even trying to ignite the sky flame because it is a symbol of being a boss, and he wouldn’t dare risk anything feeling like he’s trying to usurp Tsuna’s place.  

This would also be a good explanation why for why Rasiel and Belpehgor don’t use the sky flame, even though they are quite literally royalty, a rank of power and authority. By all means, you’d imagine they would have the sky flame, but why don’t they? They don’t really care for actually ruling over things. They care more for destroying things or showing off their skills. Belphegor especially cares for gore and just being a chaos gremlin. Storm fits him PERFECTLY.

Everyone has the hadou running through their veins, but like stated in canon: everyone has a different amount of each flames. Think of it like a fingerprint, where everyone has a different level of flames coursing through their veins, where some are dominant and some are smaller in amount. If the amount is so small, it can’t really be ignited. This is what would prevent someone from being so OP that they could ignite all the flames, I’d imagine.

I do believe that Lal Mirch is another good example of the fact that everyone has different flame types in their veins. She was originally to be the rain arcobaleno but then after Colonello pushes her out of the way, her incomplete pacifier ‘changed’ her dominant flame typing to be the mist and cloud. I do love how it is the mist and the cloud because they are related to rain. You can’t have rain without clouds, and the mist is really like rain that hasn’t fallen yet. Clever, clever.

As we know, from the final arc, the dying will flames are really energy forces that sustain life of all living things on earth. The only reason why they are called the Dying Will flames of the Sky, Cloud, Mist, Rain, Storm, Sun, and Lightning is LITERALLY because of the Vongola. People also forget about this fact. It was the Vongola that dubbed these flame types the names and then used these to categorize the guardians as ‘roles’.

Knowing that the flames are what sustains life, it makes sense that when you have such a strong will to complete something, even if it would kill you (hence dying will), that the flames can just burst forth. It makes sense! You’re basically willing to burn through your life force to get something done. Do I think that someone who uses a lot of dying will flame can die sooner rather than later? It is possible. I believe that is why some of the Sky Arcobaleno had such short lives, because many of them were also the keepers of the Mare Rings as well.

They had to protect not just 1 but 2 of the tri-ni-sette. That’s a lot of responsibility and energy consumption. The Arcobaleno especially are always fueling their pacifiers with flames to keep them lit. When they die, the pacifiers burn out and go dull. I personally believe that the curse has them cursed into baby forms because the younger you are, the more vitality and potential that your cells have. Babies grow so fast and can heal quite quickly from a lot of injuries, so keeping their bodies young not only reduces the amount of energy they need to expel on the daily, but it can keep them pretty healthy.

I sincerely doubt they were transformed into true babies, hence they were still able to enjoy things like coffee, having excellent reflexes like their adult forms, etc.

Anyways, going back to the fact that the flames are the literal power source of life, I believe that is the reason why the first generation Vongola are within the Vongola Rings themselves. They actually split off a part of their souls/dying will flames to supplant them into the rings. It doesn’t really matter if the guardians do so, but each of the bosses must. Hence you’ll see a figment of each of the past bosses within the ring who come forth during “the trial”. This is because the Vongola were trusted to be the protectors of the Vongola rings, a part of the tri-ni-sette. The other reason is because Giotto wanted to vow that his line would one day reunite with Cozart’s line.

What better way to do that than to put a bit of his soul into the ring so he can literally test every successor. If they don’t contain his bloodline, the flames of the ring would burst forth and burn the person- as we’ve seen with Xanxus. Cozart must have done the same with his own ring, hence the two boss rings always had a reaction to each other. The boss rings are special for that reason.

I feel like stopping there, so I’ll stop here! Any specific questions about the dying will flames, I’ll be open to answering them. ^^

[theredpharaoah]

I’m playing the last mission in the base game rn(I was trying to max out all my skills and gear and then I had a 2-3 week bout of intense depression). Couple of things:

1. When you take down the air turrets, the Aranahe Ikran riders do this love where they have their Ikran grab a helicopter and like swing it or something - we need that for our Ikran. The aerial takedown is so flip-floppy. The prompt barely ever shows up for me. Even when I use the screech it doesn’t seem to disorient them 95% of the time for the skill to work. The screech and the wing buffeting thing inflicts damage on ground enemies, but I wish we could trigger the wing buffeting ability ourselves. Anyways, an ability like that should’ve been put in the rider skill tree. Because most of the skill tree for the ikran is just stamina and fishing which is not giving.

2. Also more aerial maneuvering abilities or something for the ikran would’ve been cool, cuz I got jumped by a mating pair of stormgliders(what are the odd lmao? I’d never seen that before) on my way here, and I could’t even try and spot where they were in the sky to see how I should move for an attack. They wouldn’t land and every time I tried to get on my Ikran and even just leave the area, they’d gag me. I couldn’t fast travel cuz the last quest locks that. I eventually managed to get one to land after it unsat me from my Ikran and killed it. The other landed a ways away after unseating me for like the 6th time and I got in the air and killed that with my bow. And I know we have that barrel roll thing, but I think the game could’ve REALLY benefited from some sort of hovering mechanic. Especially when it came to shooting RDA Soldiers or specific parts of a base or tower. That or some sort of slow-mo thing.

3. I wish our Ikran could do more? Like I’m getting attacked by 4 thanators and 6 vioerwolves and it’s just sitting there in the thick of it. With how the bond is presented and whatnot; it looks comical that she just doesn’t care at all. And the Ikran seems to be just as ferocious on the ground as it is in the air. Similarly, I wish we could at least use aerial takedown on the Stormgliders. I use screech but it doesn’t seem to do anything at all to them. But maybe I’m missing, because I can’t risk getting too close without the Stormglider unseating me. I wish moving our camera didn’t seem to stop the flight momentum of the Ikran. I know I can still have it move forward but I can’t maintain speed, and most of the time the ikran does that abrupt brake thing instead. I think a locking on mechanism like in Elden Ring could help. I RARELY use that in Elden Ring. And when I do, it’s a mix of locking on and…free fighting? Is that what it’s called? When you use that lock-on mechanism in Elden Ring, you’re stuck in a sort of orbit around your target. So when you go to far from it, you’ll begin to circle them instead of going further out. I hope I’m explaining that well.

Furthermore, I wish that our Ikran was more like Zomey in that early mission when we get on the ground. Maybe some sort of button or prompt that’s like “Do you want to call your Ikran to help?” would pop up. Enlisting their help would be up to us - because enlisting them in a base with active turrets wouldn’t be a good idea obviously.

4. I wish there missions created specifically for Ikran and Direhorse riding. I really feel like the Direhorse riding mechanic was underwhelming. Why ride a Direhorse when I can fly on an Ikran instead. I tried fighting on one once and it didn’t go well. I’m not the best at the game, but I think it’s more than a skill issue. I mean Direhorses take a bit of damage and they’ll throw you from their back. I also feel like while the bond should be temporary, it would make more sense if specific horses at least seemed to become ingratiated towards us or something. I think I took the Hunting Lodge and a lot of little drills and extractors with my Ikran, but I think when I tried again they’d introduced those turrets that pretty much made those impossible. It would be cool if we get to a base they put a choice on the screen that was like “Infiltration or Aerial Assault” and we could fight that version. This would only be for the bases that aren’t as important to the story. The important bases would have to be evenly split into Aerial Assault Bases and Infiltration Bases. And they’d probably want to make it so that both bases would still allow for some degree of the opposite. Like I know that some people probably would get inside the base and then call their Ikran - does that work without taking down the turrets first?

5. I think the Apex rider skill should’ve been Toruk - it think that’s what it’s called when you get to temporarily bond with more hostile creatures; Thanators, Great Leonopteryx, etc. I think Stormgliders are too dumb to be bonded to? They explicitly state they’re not that smart so idk? I think social creatures should be able to be bonded to off rip, which would explain why Ikran are so easy to bond to - they’re extremely social. I think this should extend to Viperwolves, Cloaked Panthers, and Echo Stalkers especially. And tbh, Stormgliders stay in mates pairs and we have a quest where one goes crazy after losing her mate. But I understand why they wouldn’t want to necessarily allow for bonding to larger flying animals, as the Ikran/Navi bond is the signature - and in my opinion - the best bond. I just wish we could show that the Ikran and the Navi together really rule the skies. Having such an intimate connection should mean they become more intelligent as well and think more creatively and complexly when it comes to battle and sociality. I would love if they had something in the lore about the difference in brain activity and behavior between bonded Ikran, their descendants, and wild Ikran and their descendants.

On the ground-side of things, I really wish we could raise some baby Viperwolves and have a pack of hunting dogs. Also, the Thanators seem pretty social. I think I’ve only seen a mating pair with regular Thanators, but I’ve seen 4 feral Thanators running in a pack very often. And a quest where we heal ferals by re-establishing their connection to Eywa would be cool. Maybe the Kamentire and us set up some sort of reserve and capture them to administer a cure we helped them devise.

6. Skills. I feel like the skills were kind of boring. I would’ve loved more spiritual skills and a far more extensive spiritual side to the game. I would’ve loved skill trees for Olo’eyktan and Tsahik. I also would’ve loved if we’d been able to choose whether we wanted to rule jointly, or run the Sarentu like Anufi. I don’t like how our character does everything and is treated like a lackey by everyone. Character development would’ve been us taking on a leadership role as the story progressed. The Survivor Skill tree was the best for me, and long with The Hunter, the most useful. I think the Warrior skill tree demands way too many skill points with a subpar pay-off - especially the Apex ability. The Ancestor Skills are alright, but the Fast Travel skill and The Tarsyu Network skill just seem very lazy to me. Drop Impact doesn’t seem intuitive or natural at all to me and I don’t it ever worked the few times I did try to use it. I think Eject was cool but becomes pretty much useless around mid-game, as they had some sort of bar over their opening in the AMP suit. Some even when I did try and use it, I couldn’t.

7. Controversial; I think the inventory should be larger and there should be some way of better telling what’s needed and what isn’t at your level. I’m constantly having to drop things - and that’s been since the beginning. I didn’t know until late game that the stashes everywhere were synced so I didn’t want to use those - as I didn’t feel like having to remember which specific stash I used and fly back to it. I wish we could create our own designs too. Also, the Sarentu set should be the strongest armor in the game. The story is all about us rediscovering our heritage.

8. The story is very lazy. The game relies a lot on the world and the players’ love of the world(especially the Ikran). The dialogue is also childish and horrible. It reads like a Playhouse Disney level TV show - with the way our character talks at least. I would’ve liked some sort of relationship section to the game. Meaning, like a page with people we’ve met and maybe a bar, for how we’re feeling towards them. Depending on where we have that set, our dialogue and overall tone when interacting with that character would change. And of course, I would love a romance option.

9. Doing the Sarentu Clan was cool but I’m over the “last of my clan” plotlines tbh. I would’ve liked us playing like an activist who infiltrated the RDA, took an Avatar, and then worked to help the Na’vi destroy them. I think this type of character would’ve fit our character’s lackey treatment way better. As this character is literally there to listen and help wherever they can - not to lead and speak over the Navi. I’d also love for this character to really interrogate Jake Sully’s character.

10. The game becomes WAY too easy pretty early on. I tired to do the level 18 Laser base as like a level 7, and that was the most frustrated and fun I had with the game I think. I’m in Mercer’s base rn, and it’s way too easy. I’m just now taking down the air turrets so maybe it gets harder later, but idk yet.

That’s all for now