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the-bjd-community-confess · 3 years ago

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More Divaz confos

Mod: Round two of these, previously: link. There’s some interesting customer reviews in this batch (5 and 8) which may be useful to readers.

1.Vic3mage "the secret bjdivaz vip group is just pictures of boxes coming in and going out". Yeah, between the bitching about d0llshe, asking people to post on doa for them, dunking on ex-customers, posting pics of random doll parts that they can't identify which doll they're supposed to go with, whining about how little money they make, whining when ppl e-mail them, whining. Yeah, other than that it's just boxes, and alpacas u can buy off amazon anyway lol.

~Anonymous

2.The butthurt users crying and guilttripping under every Divaz confession who have never been seen before elsewhere on this blog are extremely unsuspicious and unproblematic and definitely unconnected to Divaz and unbiased in every possible way

~Anonymous

3.idk shit abt bjd1vas but v1cemage i can absolutely tell you the shit about ch0o is 100% accurate, fucker's got a long, long history of being an awful little man that stretches well beyond his involvement in the doll community. between the two i'd still trust bjd1vas over ch00 ch00 the fool any day!

~Anonymous

4.The Z3st and Div4s thing is really silly and both entities were being shady but did they really have to take the DZ waiting room down with them? :( He had even made a separate thread about it......

~Anonymous

5. RE: BJD Divaz

I’ve been a customer of BJD Divaz since they first started, when it was only run by Chart3rline. I even contacted other BJD companies trying to persuade them to work with Divaz as their US representative. Most declined because they didnt like D's commission fee, but I was able to persuade a few of them.

I asked them to purchase a doll off DOA because I couldnt afford the asking price, and while they did, I found out later that instead of agreeing to purchase the seller's price, they negotiated the price to be lower. This significantly cheaper price was not passed down to me. I paid the full price +the commission fee based on that full price. I am disappointed I was not told this. This is when I stopped viewing them as a "friend" and instead, as a business. I dont hold this against them, it’s context to what Im going to say later.

I’ve stopped purchasing from D after my recent order from them. This company usually takes 3 or less months to make a doll. I’ve ordered the doll from D and it took 11 months. They let me know it arrived to them in March and that it will be shipped soon, except it only shipped on July, and only after I sent them several "reminder" emails. Before people in the comments try to put the blame on me for not sending a reminder soon, please keep in mind that I acknowledged the email in March and confirmed everything and they keep stressing to not send them emails because they are busy, I’ve emailed once every month since. I’ve since switched to ACBJD and Ive been happy with communication and the dolls ordered. I imagine ACBJD gets the same amount of emails, but they dont berate their customers if they email more than once.

I regret when people wanted a D0llshe, but not deal with him, I always recommended D. I would warn people of ordering directly and instead go through D. They assured buyers they would be handling communication and all the efforts so they wouldnt worry, except they didn’t. A person that I’ve recommended D to, who surpassed 2 years, keeps messaging me for help because D wouldnt reply to their emails. She is respectful, sweet and a timid person, not a Karen. This person, emailed D without a reply so would email a week later, only to be told that their email would be pushed down to the bottom if emailed again. No response, so she goes to FB and IG, who both tell her to email because they arent the person running orders. Finally got a response that they would get their refund, after D0llshe sends D's payment, but minus the PP fees. 3 months later and theres no refund, only a promise of them getting it later. Why is the customer missing out on fees when they have no doll? Customer emails d0llshe and he says he cant offer refund, because they didn’t order through them, which is understandable, but when all options are out for a customer, do you blame them for chargebacks?

If anyone files a chargeback, D will be blacklisting them from every company they rep, as in blacklisting you from buying direct from those companies. I urge everyone who has negative experiences with D to email the companies they rep instead of venting on confession blogs, and writing your experiences on social media. Make it count and send letters to the companies they represent, and please provide proof because they will try to make you out to be a liar.

Speaking of, they made vague posts on cl0ver singing for charging paypal fees, and that they offer guarantees as an official dealer, except when offering refunds, to non delivered products I might add, they are keeping the fees, and offered no help with d0llshe, even before they ended their dealership with them. Someone on DOA was told to not email them unless the wait time surpassed 1.5 years. They are even so petty that they post screenshots with the full name and address (dox) of the customer on purpose and then delete it out a day later as if they just realized their "mistake".

Before you try to make excuses for them about the fires, keep in mind, I am dealing with a business. The lower price negotiation with the DOA sale, I am in no way obligated to give them a pass or treat them as a friend when they made it clear that our relationship is strictly business. Their issues, are not my issues. D0lk got dragged for not shipping in time, others, including artisans, got dragged for being so late with communication and sending back refunds for cancelled orders. Why does D get to be exempt?

The supporters are the worst part of this, because of instead of being honest so D can improve, they support them for being "real". For example, look how micemage words it, to make it seem like this criticism is from one person, when there are people on addicts who didn’t have good experience. Check the bjd dealers tag here, you will see the supporters in the comments going off on any and all criticism of D. Some have sane comments, but the majority are cult like and try to identify the person venting as if it’s one person. Addicts deletes threads with criticism asking people to instead direct it to their feedback group; which lets be honest, no one is going to do because its "not that bad", and most dont want to join a new group, which is mostly dead.

This is my first and last confession on D, I’ve emailed each company they rep and told them my experience as well as contacting the 3 month wait company, with screenshots of my order, how they handled it, and the excuse they used to put blame on the company for being so late (package arrived march to D, 4 months to be shipped is on D, not the company). I’m not using company or order details because I know they are petty enough to try to identify me and publicly shame me like they have to others. This and the threat of suing is why not many people like to go public with their experience. They just keep feedback neutral, move on and never deal with again.

~Anonymous

6. Listen, I can't take you seriously in regards to BJD!vas because you're posting on a confession blog. If you were serious, you would have posted in buyer beware groups, DoA reviews or the board to get things resolved, or you would have made a complaint to the BBB. And your language makes you come off more as someone with an agenda rather than someone who is trying to warn people. If shipping is the issue, stop buying with standard shipping and pay the extra price for express shipping. I saw one of you complain that it sat with them for 20 days; that's probably because you're not the only one and they more than likely have a queue to check and then ship out. Do mistakes happen? Yes, because we're human. I've been in this hobby for a few years now and it seems like most people know you're going to have to wait, sometimes even outside the expected wait time. And shipping something as big as a doll is a timely endeavor. I shouldn't have to say that.

My point is simply to stop complaining on an confession board and either take it to the places previously mentioned. Posting here behind the anonymous mask makes you sound like a petulant child who didn't get their way right away.

~Anonymous

7.My only issue with BJD Divaz is how I never get any updates. Every email, they tell me to join their facebook page for status updates. I dont have a FB and I dont want to create one. I bought my doll through their website, updates should be posted on their website, or they could send me an email. That isnt asking much.

~Anonymous

8. Since there seems to be a lot of either "completely negative everything sucks" or "everything was sunshine and rainbows" confessions about bjd!vaz I thought I'd chime in with a neutral review.

PROS

-They were always polite and professional in their emails, and gave me very detailed answers to my questions.

-I got exactly what I ordered, so no mix ups or missing parts or anything like that.

-I think them being forthcoming about personal issues (only one person on staff, illness, the flooding isue etc.) on social media is good, since it keeps customers updated as to why there might be delays.

-If you live in the US their shipping is very reasonable.

CONS

-Reply times were varied. Sometimes it could take over a week, sometimes a couple hours.

-My order took about 10mo which, when comparing to other people who ordered through the same company around the same time, was about 3x as long as if I bought it direct and 2x as long if I had gone through a different dealer. I get some of the waiting time is out of their control, but it was kind of ridiculous.

-They dont necessarily ship the same day they send you a tracking number. I wish they said something like, "Here's your tracking number, our pickup is Xday so it should start moving after that" just so I could be aware.

All in all no major complaints. I got my doll and all that. Their lone employee is clearly overwhelmed. I hope they hire another person, if only to give the one a break.

Truthfully, I most likely won't buy through them again. I'd rather pay the international shipping and go direct, than deal with the extensive wait time. I'd still recommend them to someone looking for a very long layaway, though. I paid in full, but if I had a 12mo layaway I would've never known they weren't ready to ship my doll until month 10.

~Anonymous

#BJD #ABJD #BJD Confessions #TrueBJDConfessions #BJD Dealers

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starkerxstarker · 4 years ago

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Peter’s Lip Piercing

Pairing: Peter Parker/Tony Stark

Rating: E

Words: 1776

Warnings: Just some smut

Summary: Peter gets his lip pierced on a whim. Unfortunately, that means no kissing or giving bl0wjobs until its healed. Good thing Tony has some ideas on what to do in the meantime.

Read on Ao3

NOTE: Because of tumblr constantly knocking my stuff out of the tags, bad words above the read more are minorly censored in an effort to keep it in the tags. Its annoying that tumblr is like this but everything is fully uncensored on the Ao3 link above.

Peter got it done on a whim. He had always been interested but never worked up the courage. That is, until today. He walked out of the tattoo and piercing shop with a swollen lip, a platinum stud, and a pamphlet on how to take care of the piercing.

The actual process hadn't hurt as much as he feared. Sure, it wasn't pleasant, but it was only a moment of pain and then it was done. The anxiety leading up to it was the worst part.

The man who did his piercing gave him a rundown of how to keep the piercing healthy while it healed. Notability, don't move the jewelry around, keep excellent oral hygiene, avoid spicy food. But one particular instruction stuck out to Peter. No kissing or giving oral séx until the piercing fully healed. Which would be at least three months. And that, to be honest, f-cking sucked.

Peter wasn't sure if he could survive three whole months without getting Tony's d!ck in his mouth, or even just getting to kiss his boyfriend.

The prospect of it became even more difficult when as soon as Peter walked in the door and Tony noticed the new addition to Peter's face, he looked like he wanted to absolutely devour him. Peter had to cover his own mouth and gently push Tony back. Peter immediately explains himself upon seeing the confusion in Tony's eyes at the rejection. "No kissing until it's fully healed. Or bl0wjobs. Bacteria could get the piercing infected."

Tony nods in understanding but still replies, "You come home looking like that and you're telling me I can't even kiss you?"

"For at least three months," Peter confirms with a grimace.

"Three months?!?!?" Tony repeats in disbelief. Whether that be about the lack of kissing or lack of head, Peter wasn't sure.

"Yeah..." he trails off awkwardly. "But do you like it?" Peter asks, hopeful for Tony's approval.

"Baby, I love it, "Tony replies low. "You're already sexy, but it makes me want to eat you up even more." Tony cups Peter's face in his hands and caresses his cheeks, careful to avoid disturbing his lip.

"Well..." Peter grins mischievously, "There's other places to kiss me besides my lips. And there's no rule about me receiving head."

Tony chuckles, "You little shit." Tony has to restrain himself from covering Peter's lips with his own and instead settles for dragging Peter off to the bedroom.

Peter stumbles as he’s pulled along, trying to kick his shoes off along the way before they hit the bed. Tony pushes Peter onto the bed and he settles himself back on the pillows carefully pulling his shirt off to avoid brushing his lip as Tony removes his own shirt with much less grace. With both their shirts discarded to the floor, Tony climbs onto the bed, over top Peter, caging him under him on all fours. Tony lets out a half aroused, half a frustrated groan, “God, I wish I could kiss the hell out of you right now.”

And before Peter can make any smart remark about how he can, just not the lips, Tony has already got with the program and is pressing warm lips and hot tongue to the center of Peter’s throat. Peter hums softly in satisfaction, which turns into a sharp gasp when Tony nips at his skin. Peter wraps his arms around Tony’s back pulling him closer to his body and Tony lets himself fall from his knees to slot one thigh between Peter’s.

Peter greedily ruts his quickly swelling cock up against the pressure of Tony’s leg as Tony kisses up Peter’s jaw, careful to give Peter’s lip ring ample room. Tony’s stubble is rough against Peter’s skin in contrast to Tony’s softer lips and it makes him shiver. Tony slowly makes his way back down to the side of Peter’s neck, where he draws a whine out of Peter by harshly sucking on Peter’s skin, no doubt leaving a blooming bruise behind, that he soothes with a lick and a gentle kiss before moving lower to Peter’s collarbone.

Peter wants nothing more than to pull Tony’s face up and feel Tony’s lips and tongue against his own, but since he can’t do that, what Tony is doing right now is pretty damn good. Tony moves south from Peter’s lovingly abused collarbone to his chest, planting wet kisses in a sort of spiral around Peter’s pecs before wrapping his lips around a nipple. The sensitive flesh hardens under the attention and Peter tangles his hands tightly in Tony’s hair, pulling with a breathy sigh. Tony grunts softly at the light pleasurable pain in his scalp, and laves his tongue over the nub, and worries it between his teeth before he pulls away, only to award Peter’s other nipple the same attention.

Appreciative groans and gasps are pulled from Peter with every new place Tony maps with his lips, teeth, and tongue. Tony works over Peter’s body, licking, kissing, sucking, and occasionally biting every piece of skin available to him, worshiping Peter’s body inch by inch, removing any clothing that dares get in his way. Kisses down Peter’s sternum, proper attention paid to each muscle in Peter’s well defined six-pack, hickeys sucked into his hip bones, tongue dragged along the crease of his v-lines, love bites bitten into his soft thighs.

By the time Tony actually touches Peter’s cock, Peter himself is an impatient, begging mess wriggling under Tony’s mouth and hands. It only takes one desperate whine of, “Please fucking suck me,” for Tony’s teasing, feather light kisses to the head and shaft to turn into Tony’s lips happily wrapped around Peter’s dick, giving him a thoroughly enthusiastic blowjob that has him coming not long after.

***

It's three months and four days later when Tony is greeted by Peter bounding in the door, back from his appointment at the body mod shop with the widest grin, and a new shiny hoop gracing his bottom lip, replacing his starting stud. Within moments Tony’s breath is knocked out of him with a soft “umph” as Peter enthusiastically crashes against his body and presses their lips together for the first time in months. And god, it feels good. Familiar. Except for the addition of the metal ring, firmer and cooler than the rest of Peter’s soft and demanding lips. It's definitely not the first time Tony has kissed someone with piercings, but this is Peter and it's been far too long since he’s gotten to feel his lover’s lips, so it’s intoxicating.

Soon Peter’s tongue is demanding entrance to Tony’s mouth which he immediately gives, swallowing Peter’s groan as his own tongue presses into Peter’s mouth as well. Peter’s hands frantically try to force their way under Tony’s shirt, grappling for bare skin as he starts to walk Tony backwards towards the bedroom, groaning against Tony’s lips, “God, I’ve fucking missed this”.

Tony can’t agree more as his back thumps against their bedroom door and he blindly reaches behind him to turn the handle, popping the door open. They stumble into the room while Peter’s hands have moved on to working at getting Tony’s pants out of the way with quick success and Tony kicks them off as they pool around his ankles. His legs hit the bed and he pulls Peter down with him as he falls back on the blankets. Their lips don’t separate until Tony pulls Peter’s shirt over his head, but before the shirt even hits the floor, their lips are already pressed back together, tongues clumsily dancing in feverish need.

They continue kissing, soaking each other up, Tony enjoying what he’s gone the past few torturous months without. Their hands blindly remove their remaining clothing, discarding it carelessly to be dealt with later. As soon as they’re both bare, Peter’s hand is wrapped around Tony’s cock, slowly stroking the length and for the first time since they hit the bed, Peter’s lips abandon Tony’s in favor of his neck.

Tony groans, his dick finally getting some attention as Peter kisses, sucks, and licks his way down Tony’s body in an imitation of the treatment Tony’s often given him over the months in lieu of being able to kiss properly. But unlike Tony, who would sometimes spend over thirty minutes worshiping every inch of Peter’s body, sans lips, before finally getting to Peter’s dick, neither of them have that kind of patience at the moment after being denied for months, and Peter’s face is level with Tony’s cock in only a few moments.

Peter only hesitates long enough to breathe out a reverent “finally” before wrapping his lips around the head of Tony’s cock and Tony drops his head back against the pillow letting out a loud moan of pleasure and relief. The wet heat of Peter’s mouth on him feeling like absolute heaven after going through the longest time without a blowjob in years.

Peter seems to be enjoying himself equally as much, letting out a dramatic groan around Tony’s cock before sinking his lips down and taking more of Tony into his mouth. Tony hums and groans lowly as Peter sets a bobbing pace, using his tongue in sinful ways that make Tony never want to go even a day without Peter’s skillful mouth on him again.

After going so long without, everything Peter does feels amazing. Peter’s tongue flicking at the head on the pull back and Tony bumping the back of Peter’s throat on the way in, Peter’s soft lips tight around his shaft, and even the smooth slide of the cool hoop of metal along Tony’s length are all building Tony up to an orgasm at record speed. It would be embarrassing in other circumstances, but for now Tony can’t even care because he’s waited well long enough for this. And if Peter’s lamenting over the lack of cum down his throat over the past few weeks is anything to go by, Peter won’t mind the expedited delivery of his prize either.

Only a few moments and a couple skillful maneuvers later, Tony is coming with a shout and Peter is swallowing it all with a groan and not wasting a drop. “Cumslut,” Tony teases affectionately as Peter pulls back, licking his lips.

“Maybe,” Peter concedes as he crawls back up the bed to be level with Tony, pressing a much softer, less frantic kiss to his lips than the ones they shared before. “So, I’m thinking about a tongue piercing next,” Peter says with a grin.

“Oh, hell no,” Tony responds, playfully swatting at Peter, “I’m never going that long without your mouth again.”

#starker #peter parker x tony stark #tony stark x peter parker #peter parker/tony stark #tony stark/peter parker #starker fic

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thebanguette · 4 years ago

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About

SCHEDULE Signups: Jan 16th — Feb 15th Creation Period: Feb 15th — May 31st Posting Time: May 31st* * see F.A.Q.

RULES

Be kind!

No bigotry of any kind on the server.

Let us know if your work will be delayed or you have to bow out.

Have fun!

Join our Server here

F.A.Q.

Q. Why is it called the Banguette?

A big bang… but smaller! A Banguette, if you will (and we will). Fandom big bangs are challenges involving any type of fanwork! The Banguette is a closed big bang, which means participants will sign up in advance, and commit to producing a certain number of words, amount of art, etc. by the final deadline.

Q. Can anyone sign up?

Absolutely! There’s no requirements other than committing to the targets; anyone and everyone is welcome, regardless of skill level. The only goal is to create, and to have fun doing it. And if you don’t quite feel ready to jump in as a creator, you’re more than welcome to volunteer as a beta, either written or visual – just let us know which!

Q. What day will the Banguette be?

The final deadline for completing your works will be 23:59 UTC on May 31st (don’t worry, we’ll have a couple of check-ins just to make sure everyone’s on track and having a good time). After the final deadline, everyone will start posting works from June 1st leading up to our grand finale on June 7th, using the tag #banguette on tumblr and/or tagging the zine’s account (@thebanguette)

Q. Do I have to post my work on tumblr?

Nope! Any hosting platform is fine; just give us a link. (Do note however, for visual work, that imgur’s ToS disallows image embedding on other sites, so Flickr is a better choice here.) In addition, we’ll be creating an AO3 collection for anyone who wants to post their written or visual work there.

Q. Can I collaborate with other creators?

Absolutely! We will provide a channel where you can pitch the idea you want to work on, and anyone interested can get in touch! There’s no rules on how many people can collaborate on one project, and you can collaborate on someone else’s project while also doing your own thing – they’ll count as separate entries.

Q. I need feedback on my work; who do I call?

A beta! We’ll provide a channel and a handy-dandy script on our discord server so you can quickly and easily describe what kind of piece you’re producing, and what sort of help you’re looking for. Unfortunately, we can’t guarantee a beta will be available to check your work; contact one of our Mods in that case. If you want to phone a friend from outside a server, that’s fine too – just remember to credit them properly! If rather than a Beta, you’re looking for some general feedback, both the #writers-zone and #artists-zone chats are open to discuss your ideas and pieces in detail. Everyone can give feedback on any piece shared on there! Just mind the rules (which you can find in #welcome).

Q. Are there restrictions on the type of content we can make?

As both minors and adults can participate in the Banguette, we ask that any NSFW content be clearly labelled, and we’ll be separating SFW and NSFW spaces on our discord server. Apart from that, there’s no restrictions on what type of content you can make: you have complete creative control.

Q. What are the requirements? 

Writers have to commit to producing at least one 5,000-word fic; there is no word count limit though, so feel free to let your imagination run wild! Artists must create at least one finished piece of art for the event - no restrictions on medium or size! Everyone can submit any number of works, as long as they’re ready by the May 31st deadline!

Q. How does posting work?

We’ll make a more detailed post once the Banguette starts, but the idea is to post in groups centered around a theme (e.g. “canon divergence/alternate universe”, or “les amis”) - one for each day of the Banguette’s week! It’s up to you which category you think fits your piece best, and if you’re making something that doesn’t quite fit into any category, no problem! Let us know and we’ll work with you to figure out the best posting date. We’ll release the full list of categories soon, so stay tuned!

if your question isn’t here, send us an ask!

#faq #schedule #rules #info #infodump #bang #banguette #the banguette #les mis #les misérables

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rarepair-haven · 4 years ago

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Can we ask to join the discord server? Do we dm for it or-

hey! i did already send u an invite, but i saved ur ask so i could explain how we hand out the invites for our server on this blog, and also a bit about how our server works in general!

so first off, if you didn’t know, yes! this blog has a discord server! it was created by mod galli and i, (mod fae), to be a safe haven for all ships!

to get an invite, all you need to do is ask us on this blog off anon! we won’t be posting invites (or perma-invites) publicly. this helps us ward against raids or other undesirables. (i have had someone asking me for an invite on my main blog, which was a bit strange to wake up to. i did give them their invite, but we prefer you to ask us here please!)

mod galli and i, (the admins of the server), are usually the ones who hand out invites! you’ll usually receive a dm from one of us on tumblr (galli is at @/gallifreyan-pal. i’m at @/faemytho!) if your dms aren’t open, or you dont feel comfortable having your messages open, don’t worry! we’ll save your ask and send it back privately with your invite!

before we send out an invite to you though, we do have to check and clear your blog, which is why getting invites out takes so long sometimes (we have to do our checks and clear you before we can send you your invite, after all!). our server is pro-ship, and we don’t want any fighting in the server. all our mods, for example, are pro-dreammare, which is a pretty controversial topic in this fandom. we’d just rather avoid shipping discourse by not letting it in at all. ((and a note, we won’t be posting or tolerating shipping discourse on this blog either. all people who attempt to instigate discourse will be blocked from the blog)).

we also check a few other things - like i said before, we don’t want any “undesirable” people in the server, so we check the blog of each person who asks to make sure we’re not letting in anyone who might start fights concerning certain ideologies or stir up political debates or trouble. most people who ask for invites do pass our checks pretty easily, though we are human and we do make mistakes sometimes. we do try our absolute best to keep the server a safe environment for everyone in it though!

basically, all you have to do is ask off anon! we take care of the rest!

a bit more about how our server works: when you get in, you have to introduce yourself before you can see the rest of the server! this means introducing yourself, telling us your age*, telling us your pronouns (we’re neo-pronoun friendly, and will make a pronoun role for you!), linking/telling your blog or other social media (somewhere online where people can find you, a little promotion, as a treat), and two optional last options, which are telling us your favorite ship and a fun fact about you. (you can check the pins in our intro channel to find a guide for our intro requirements!)

*your age is a requirement. if you feel uncomfortable telling the server, you may put “Minor” or “Adult”, but you will have to tell a specific number to any of the mods. this is for your own safety and everyone in the server’s safety (because minor could be from 13-17, which is a huge difference, and adult could be from 18 to anywhere beyond). we won’t share your age with anyone except for the mod team, but for safety, you will have to tell someone on the mod team. you won’t be allowed in unless you let us know! (and one last thing, a gentle reminder that you must be 13+ to be on discord).

these are our server rules; they cover pretty much everything you’ll need to know about how the server is run!

server participation does get rewarded, by the way! we’ll upgrade you to a full member if you participate in the server enough for long enough, and this comes with access to our promo channel

our current server is about two years old (though overall, the rarepair server has been around for about four years; we moved servers two years ago). we’ve been steadily growing since we created this blog three years ago, and we’re very close to 100 members in the server! i can say that our server is very very peaceful and positive, despite its size. it’s such a fantastic ship environment

so, this has been an rph discord server post! hope more of u guys will join us!!

-mod fae

#mod fae #fae says something

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kittenshift-17 · 4 years ago

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Hi! How are you? I love your writing! There’s absolutely nothing you put out that I don’t like. I hope you’re doing well and enjoying life. I have a question to ask you. I want to start publishing my own writing, but I’m pretty nervous about it. I want to start small, so I wanted to post on FFN first since it’s where I started reading, but the warnings when you first sign up are kinda intimidating 😂 Like no grammatical errors?!?And ratings! What if I write something too explicit?!? Also, do you think the community is welcoming and nice? Or will all (if any) reviews I get be flames? Please advise😂 Again, I’m a huge fan of yours and I hope you’re doing well.

LOL, if you’ve read my stuff you’ll know I break the rules about no spelling/grammatical errors and about being too explicit right out the gate in pretty much every fic. People might comment occasionally, but the hard-fact is whomever mods on FFN is either super busy or doesn’t give a shit because even stories that are repeatedly reported for plagarism don’t get deleted unless the fans harass the theif into it... There was a massive purge a while back (maybe a decade ago now?) where anything explicit was removed without warning by the mods, but that was a long time ago and no one seems to give a damn anymore what’s published there.

But if you’re worried about those things, use Ao3. Over there you can publish anything (literally, anything, no matter how sick/gross/fucked up/explicit) and as long as you use the right tags, no one minds.

As for the community.... it depends on the fandom/ship.

I’ve found over time that the community over on AO3 is much more welcoming and much kinder for all fics that aren’t Harry Potter based, and that most just tend to be a bit kinder in general over there. FFN is okay for HP fics, but you’ve got to be careful about which ship. The Dramione & Romione shippers, for example, are extrememly unforgiving and if you’re not one of the top 10 writers of all time, you’ve got to have a hell of a story to claw your way onto their noticeboard in any positive light. I know the biggest reason people who publish HP fics for the dramione ship tend to pull them/quit writing them is because so many of the shippers tend to be vocally combative.

It takes a pretty thick skin to persevere when they’re prone to flaming anyone who publishes anything that’s less than perfect, and forget it if it’s trope-y and someone “famous” in the fandom has used that trope/plot device before because they’ll crucify you for a copy-cat. And those that don’t bother flaming tend to just.... ignore you? Lots of people might see their read-count climbing while the review count stays miniscule because so many just don’t bother reviewing with anything encouraging. Some do, of course, angels that they are amongst the riff-raff, but the vast majority won’t say anything - or if they do, it will be one short review at the end of an entire story. Most readers these days also really don’t like open WIPs and won’t even think about opening a story until it’s complete because they’ve “been burned too many times before” (insert eye-roll here). They’re all about binge-reading and instant gratification and have no concept of suspense building ( I blame streaming services for this).

I don’t want to discourage you, but I do want to warn you. I remember when I started out and I was hoping for reviews and all I got was squat and the occasional “Have you considered getting a beta?” kinds of comments (more eye-rolling). I don’t want to disillusion you to the idea of publishing and I hope you’ll try your hand at it despite my warnings about what you might encounter...

Realisitically, most people are nice until you do something to annoy them. If you answer every comment in your next chapter, you’ll get flamed (seriously, never do this, it drives me mental when it looks like there’s another half-page of chapter content to read but it’s just 50 comments replying to reviews. There’s a PM button for that, use it at your leisure without interfering with chapter/word counts, for the love of God). If you leave snarky author-notes responding to rude people? Flamed. If you abandon a story just when it gets good? Whining and flames. But for the most part, the nice readers will read and might comment, and the few assholes will flame and if you react, they’ll keep flaming because it’s how they get their jollies, and all in all it’s an experience in learning not to base your own self-worth on the opinions of others because you’ll find quite quicky that: a) there’s no pleasing everyone, b) most people are NOT as smart as they think they are, c) some angels walk among us, and they are to be cherished.

Regarding ratings.... I tend to just mark everything as M to be on the safe side unless it’s pure fluff with nothing suggestive. T if there’s kissing but no nudity/hanky-panky (the shippers get MAAAAD if you mark it M and then don’t give their thirsty asses the smut).

Good luck! Shoot me a link if/when you decided to bite the bullet and publish something.

xx-Kitten.

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kindergarten2zine · 4 years ago

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FAQ

What is a zine?

A zine is short for magazine or fanzine!

The Kinderzine is a fanzine produced for the game Kindergarten 2 by SmashGames, a non-official non-professional project by some dedicated, talented people in this fandom.

It will feature art and stories, and other content about the game + a small portion of fun fandom content like AUs, non-canon ships, and OCs. It will not be spoiler-free.

Overall, it functions mostly as an art book with some stories mixed in.

Will this be free or will I have to buy this zine?

It's completely free! There will be no money earned from this project in any way, and the link will be publicly posted on the intended release date for no cost at all.

What will contributors get out of this?

The satisfaction of doing a fun activity with wonderful people in the fandom! /hj

No but really, you get to take part in creating something really cool that you, me, and all of us can be proud of. You get to have your own finished work when this is all over, along with everyone else's!

No one will be getting paid in money, as this is a volunteer project and the zine is free. But all contributors will get access to the PDF link earlier than the public, and we all generally get to have fun together!

And I hear the skills it takes to work on a zine is a good thing to put on your resume /j

Is this zine digital or will there be physical copies?

Only digital. It will be a PDF on Google Drive, available to view and download at anyone's discretion.

There will be no printing of the Kinderzine, and no shipping of physical copies. There will be no merch (buttons, stickers, keychains, etc) available either; only this zine.

What are the zine specs?

1 full page (and front or back cover): 8.5 x 11 inches 1 half page: 8.5 x 5.5 inches 2 page spread: 17 x 11 inches 2 page connecting cover: 17 x 11 inches + 0.75 inch bleed (a bleed is a border around the image where that area will be cut off from the final (usually printed) product)

300 DPI | RGB (not CMYK) | Horizontal or vertical | you can add a bleed or not, but it's not going to be printed either way

You won't be yelled at or anything if you don't follow the DPI or colour guidelines, but it just makes it easier to put it into the editing software. Full-colour finished artwork is preferred (shading is not mandatory; flat colour is acceptable).

Will there be NSFW content?

This zine is PG13. Content of sexual nature is absolutely not permitted in any form.

Following the canon Kindergarten 2 game, there maybe be things like canon-typical blood, death, violence, or dark humour. These things along with anything else others may find to be 'sensitive topics' will be prefaced with appropriate trigger warnings.

How old do I have to be to apply?

As I said, the zine is PG13. Please be 13 years old or older, if you wish to apply.

If you are almost 13 in a few months or even a few days after the time of the application period, then you are still 12 during the application period and cannot apply. Sorry. If you lie about your age to get in, you will be kicked from the project immediately.

Can I apply for multiple roles?

Absolutely! But please note that the more roles you have, the less work you may have to do on one specific role, as your workload will be distributed across your other roles.

For example: if you are a mod and contributor, you might only be able to draw/write 1-2 things maximum depending on your mod position. Whereas someone who is only a contributor might be able to draw/write 2-3 things maximum, if they wish to do so.

How many contributors will be accepted?

Currently there isn't a specific amount of slots we need for artists or writers!

The amount of contributors required to make this zine happen at all, at the minimum is 11 applicants, regardless of artist or writer. But we would be incredibly happy to have more than that join this project. If there are way more applicants than needed, we may either try to find a way to fit you in, or have to unfortunately exclude some people. Only time will tell :’)

What is the schedule?

The current schedule can be found in [this link]! Dates may be changed in the future, and will be announced to contributors.

What if I need to drop out?

That's perfectly okay! Just please be sure to let one of the mods know as soon as possible so we have time to prepare any rearranging/reorganizing of zine content that might occur after your absence.

Can I post my WIPs/sketches/writing/finished pieces even if the zine isn't published yet?

Yeah that's fine! You own your content and are free to do what you want with it if you're that excited about it.

Can my piece include a ship/AU/OC/headcanon?

If it's one of the main mission/character pieces, then no.

Small headcanons are alright but if they're more obvious and non-canon-based you should talk to me about it first. Canon ships are allowed (Bob x Applegate, Lily x Nugget, Monty x Carla (even if it's kind of unrequited), etc). OCs can be in the background as a cameo, but they can't be the main focus of your work.

If you're doing an additional piece, then yes absolutely! Keep in mind, however, there will be limited slots for these additional pieces.

Can I submit older work created before the production of this zine?

Yes, as long as it fits the page specs, or you don't mind cropping the art so it fits the page specs to a smaller page size!

Older fanfics are fine as is, provided it's canon-based unless you're submitting it as an additional work.

Can I draw/write a different character/mission?

Please ask a mod about this. If we can find someone willing to switch with you, you can.

Don't switch with people more than once, and don't do it without talking to a mod first. If you are going to switch with anyone, you're only allowed to do that before the 2nd check-in date. Anything past that date is not allowed.

What exactly can we draw/write once we're assigned a specific character/mission?

Contributors have the creative freedom to make anything they want within the characters/missions that get assigned.

If that's too broad and you can't think of anything to draw/write, let one of the mods know and we can give you a more specific prompt.

Will there be extensions if I can't finish by the deadline?

Yes! Just let one of the mods know so we can expect your final work at a later date.

Your piece will still need to be finished before the graphics team finishes the early-access PDF. It's greatly preferred that you do finish by the deadline to make this easier for them to finish their job, but if you really can't, that option is available.

If you're unable to finish before the graphics team finishes the final public-ready PDF, your work will, unfortunately, not be included in the zine at that point.

What if I'm a traditional or phone artist and don't know how to keep my art to the page specs?

Traditional artists should be able to either scan their art in high quality, or if taking a picture, take the picture as clear as possible with only/mostly your art within frame; the graphics team will try to take care of sizing.

Phone artists (or really any digital artists) can have canvas templates that are the correct specs, available to copy or download to draw over that I can personally provide for you (though I don't know yet how well this method will work).

If there are any more questions or you need more help, please contact a mod.

If your art is too small, you can try using http://waifu2x.udp.jp/ to enlarge it without hurting the quality too bad.

If it still doesn't fit the aspect ratios, the graphics team can still make it work so don't worry! We really, really prefer that everyone follow the page sizings as much as you can though, unless it's really impossible for you to do so.

Wait, there’s a Discord server? Can I join?

Only if you’re one of the artists or writers who is directly contributing to the zine! Sorry! It’s a private server where those who are directly involved in the zine will be invited.

If you’ve already sent in an application, you will be invited to the server on, or a few days before, the date that applications close. Which will be March 13th, as of writing this, so please be patient until then. The date that invites will be sent out may change, so keep an eye out for that too.

What if I don't have a Discord and can't join the Discord server?

That's perfectly fine! You don't have to make an account or join the server if you don't want to either.

As long as you have an e-mail, or a social media account that one of the mods have + the ability for us to private message you, we will keep you updated on anything Kinderzine related!

The server is really just a way for us all to communicate with each other, mods and contributors alike, and keep in touch with the mods more accessibly. But the important stuff will still be communicated with you, and if you contact a mod somewhere other than Discord, we'll get to your message as soon as possible.

Please direct any other questions not on the FAQ to either the Discord server’s #zine-questions channel, or this blog’s/my main blog’s ask box or private messages.

Inbox | @kg2hub Inbox

#faq

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yoispookyweek · 4 years ago

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Spooky Week FAQ’s

👻 What is Spooky Week?

Spooky Week is a week-long Yuri on Ice!!! themes event meant to help inspire content creators to create new content based on certain Halloween/Fall themed prompts

👻 Who can participate in this event?

Everyone is welcome to participate in this event! If you are someone who loves both Halloween and Yuri on Ice, then you are in the right place! This event welcomes all types of content creators, works in any language, as well as all ships and pairings!

👻 Do I need to sign up to participate?

Nope! No sign up is necessary for participation! Even if you stumble across this event late or in the middle of the event week, everyone is more than welcome to join in on the fun. All you need to do in order to participate is to post content based on the prompts with the event tags sometime during the event week!

👻 Are there any restrictions on what is created?

Nope, no restrictions! Feel free to create/write/draw/etc as much or as little as you’d like. Just be sure to use the appropriate tags when posting your creations! (Check out the rules page for more information about tagging/content warnings)

👻 Who are the mods for this event?

The mod for this year’s event is @mysticemerald (Mod Mystic)

👻 Where can I find a list of the prompts for this event?

Prompts will be released on August 22, 2020 so stay tuned for updates!

👻 Are there Special Tags that will be used for this event?

There sure are! Tags are one of the easiest ways for us to find the things you have created for this event. The tags that will be used this year are #yoi spooky week and #yoi spooky week 2020, but don’t be afraid to ‘@’ us too if you’re worried, we won’t see the post! Also, when posting your work, don’t forget to include the prompt (e.g. Day 1: Theme B) somewhere in the body of your post.

Please Note: the event tag has to be within the first five tags for it to work properly

👻 So, each day will have two prompts, does that mean I need to use both?

There is no need to use both prompts or to create something for both prompts if you don’t want to do so. However, if you would like to create something for each prompt, or even incorporate both prompts into one submission, you absolutely can!

👻 Do I have to post something for each day of the event?

Nope! It is totally up to you to decide which days and prompts you would like to create content for! You can even create multiple pieces for one prompt if you like!

👻 Since this is a Halloween themed event, do I have to create something spooky or scary?

The event prompts are merely guide points to help generate ideas and get you started. So, whatever you are inspired to create based on the prompts is absolutely perfect! Spooky, scary, fluffy, cute, you name it we accept and welcome it all!

👻 Can I participate even if I don’t have tumblr?

Of course, you can! We have our submissions open which allow users who don’t have a tumblr account or who wish to stay anonymous to still participate and share their work.

👻 I wasn’t able to finish my piece on the day of the prompt. Can I still post it?

Absolutely! We will be accepting all submissions until November 7th

👻 Will there be an AO3 collection for fic writers?

Yep, as the event week gets closer, we will post more information regarding the AO3 collection.

👻 Can we also submit artwork to the AO3 Collection?

Yeah absolutely! You are more than welcome to submit your artwork to the collection. Additionally, we will be publishing a Master List on November 8, 2020 linking all the works that were submitted.

👻 Are you going to create a master list post for the submitted works too?

Absolutely! We will be posting a master list on November 8th, one day after the event officially ends.

👻 What about twitter? Do you have a twitter page?

Yep, we sure do! Our twitter page is @yoispookyweek

Do you have a question or a concern that wasn’t addressed above? If so, please feel free to send us an ask!

About | Rules | Schedule | Event Prompts

#spooky week faq #faq #yoi spooky week #yoi spooky week 2020 #spooky week 2020 #Yuri on ice #yoi #links for mobile

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aelaer · 5 years ago

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Whumptober 31: Embrace

And somehow I've completed every prompt for @whumptober2019 with this final one here. Even more crazy, I basically completed NaNoWriMo with this series, only, you know, in October. The Google Doc all my fics live in for this series is at 51,299 words with the following fic's completion. Considering I was absolutely not attempting the challenge when I started this, I'm counting that as a complete NaNoWriMo, even if it does include a lot of the author's notes in that word count. Doesn't matter, it's still my writing!

So thank you very much to the mods for putting this together, because I would have never come up with all of these stories (which includes three series) otherwise.

I'll have the full list linked on my "bingo list" post, and the works have been slowly going up on AO3 for easier reading (and AO3 is only about a week behind at this point) - all the links will come probably in the next week or so. I'll reblog it when it's ready.

This one is the last one in the "demon" series within these prompt fills. If someone told me on the 2nd that my experimentation in first person would lead to this I wouldn't have believed them because I wouldn't have thought I was crazy enough to do every prompt while working a full time job on the freaking fly. *shakes head*

The series: Part One: 20 - Trembling Part Two: 22 - Alt 6 - Lost Part Three: 25 - Humiliation Part Four: 29 - Numb (and fanart(!!!!!) from dragonnan here, tw blood/wounds)

31. Embrace

Christine looked up at the Sanctum doors with a soft frown. Out of all the times she had been to Stephen's weird new home, this was the first time she could remember that she was coming without an advance notice of any sort.

The thing was, though, that after that… that thing (she really didn't like to think about it too much) over three months ago, Stephen had been acting odd. And even if they didn't tend to see each other more than once a month (and sometimes not even that), they kept in touch fairly consistently through texts. She knew he used her as a bit of a remaining connection to the so-called real world and she was happy to provide it. Besides, it was fun to share hospital gossip with him.

But for a while he had been very limited in his conversation until he stopped replying entirely two weeks ago. She texted Wong to see if he was especially busy "being a superhero" but he assured her that it's been relatively quiet since "the demon issue" (ugh, she really didn't want to think about it).

So here she was, come to figure out why the hell he was suddenly ghosting her.

After a moment of hesitation, Christine ascended the two steps up to the doors and firmly knocked upon them. After waiting for thirty seconds with no response, she bit her bottom lip and looked at her purse; maybe she should text someone, see if anyone was available—

Suddenly, the door opened… but she couldn't see anyone on the other side of it.

Magic house, right, she thought dryly as she stepped in. She knew a little bit of the weirdness that encompassed Stephen's new home, but generally speaking the building had acted like a proper, regular building every time she visited (and, to her own credit, she never went into any of the rooms that Stephen told her to leave alone. That made perfect sense to her, but apparently not everyone had her common sense, at least according to Wong).

Long story short, this was different.

"Uh, hello?" she called out into the empty foyer. "Stephen? Wong? … anyone?"

Yeah, it was completely empty. This was… this was definitely unusual.

Still, she had been at his house— the so-called Sanctum— enough times to remember where Stephen's study and the library were, so she decided to search those two rooms. Since the house had let her in, she figured she was more than welcome to.

If she wasn't, well, she'd blame the magic house.

She ventured first towards the library, careful not to touch anything sitting on the shelves or hanging on the walls. Even with her familiarity with the Sanctum, many of the items in the building's collection continued to look rather otherworldly or just felt outright wrong to her.

(Christine had learned early on, maybe her second or third time within the Sanctum, that they had a surprising amount of dangerous things on display for aesthetic purposes. At her remark about that, Stephen had pointed out that they didn't exactly have any children within the Sanctum to worry about. Wong later said that having magical items on display was a fantastic litmus test to weed out any really idiotic and self-destructive novices and apprentices, though that the test had somehow failed with Stephen. Stephen had flipped the bird at that remark, but she had seen it was in good nature, and it definitely made her happy to see the somewhat reclusive man making friends with his new cult.)

The library doors were closed. She knocked, then tried the handle; it opened and she peeked into a library that still looked like it was stuck somewhere in the nineteenth century. It was completely empty.

Now that she thought about it, it was a little weird she had yet to run into anyone. While Stephen's new home was rather empty the first few months he was there, it did not become uncommon to see the occasional passerby, though only a few people stopped to talk with her when she was with Stephen. When she really thought about it, she couldn't actually remember the last time she hadn't seen other people in the Sanctum.

Weird.

Christine shut the library doors again and started towards Stephen's study. It was closer to his bedroom (which she only knew because she came over to bring him soup when he had to cancel a meetup because he was sick, thank you very much), so she went up a level and headed there.

Stephen's study door was closed, too. She knocked and heard some sort of noise just beyond the door. Christine waited, but when nothing happened, she knocked again. "Stephen? It's me. Can I come in?"

Silence. She frowned and tried the door, but it didn't budge. "C'mon, Stephen. Even if you don't want to see me, at least reply to me." Even though she tried to pretend to be genuinely unbothered, the silent treatment did sting. He was meant to be a friend, after all.

The knob on the door jiggled and it opened, but all she saw in the small gap was shades of red. Why was the Cloak opening the door? Was Stephen hurt? At that alarming thought, Christine pushed the door fully open, the Cloak sweeping aside to give her full access of the room.

Stephen was… Stephen was sitting in the air, meditating, it looked like. Her shoulders relaxed when she saw he was okay, but her lips began to downturn as she stepped a bit closer. There were dark shadows under his eyes and it appeared like he had lost a bit of weight. Didn't Wong say that things were currently calm and uneventful? At the moment, Stephen looked something like he did after the alien invasion in 2012, only somehow worse. (She had, of course, seen even worse than this, but she refused to think back on the months after the accident. He was a different man, a much different man now.)

Christine took a couple steps back so she didn't startle him when he came back from wherever he went to when he was meditating. "Is he okay?" she whispered to the Cloak. It still astounded her how communicative the fabric could be.

And she really didn't like how it down-turned to bow its collar, only to end up shrugging its shoulders in a gesture that spoke of uncertainty. Her frown deepened and she went back to watching him and, finally accepting that he might take a while, asked the Cloak, "Are there any books here in English that are safe for me to read?" The Cloak tapped at several options, and she picked one at random to read.

It turned out it was about souls, of all things. She had keyed in that they were very much real things after… after everything that happened with the world in the last few years, but beyond that she only had a vague grasp of what it was, or what she thought it was, from the occasional visit to church as a kid.

The first five pages of the book were both incredibly dry and fascinating at the same time. It reminded her of many medical textbooks; no wonder Stephen was so good at this magic stuff, if this was the tone of the material in all his books. Christine settled down into a rather plush loveseat and got comfortable; her record for waiting on Stephen to "come back" was forty-five minutes, and during that wait Wong had proved to be surprisingly entertaining, funny, and kind. If anything, getting to know him better had made Christine feel a lot better about Stephen's very strange (hah) new role in life.

This time it was just after twenty minutes when she heard Stephen say in clear confusion, "Christine?"

She looked up from the book; he was now standing and his expression matched his tone. She offered a smile. "Oh, there you are."

"What are you doing here?"

If she didn't know him better, she might have been a bit miffed by that greeting. However, she did know him, knew him very well, and he sounded honestly puzzled. Still, she was more than happy to respond to bluntness with bluntness. "I came here to see why you're ghosting me."

Stephen looked startled by the accusation. "I'm not ghosting you— or certainly not intentionally. I've been too busy to check on my phone in a couple weeks."

"No, you haven't," Christine countered, and her comment surprised him so much that she was able to continue without interruption. "I asked Wong if things were busy and if you all were overworked with your jobs. He told me it's been so quiet that he finally got to catch up on the last two seasons of 90 Day Fiance and the newest season of Botched, and I still can't believe he enjoys trash TV so much."

He blinked and shook his head. "I knew you two talked sometimes, but— but that's not the point." He walked over to his desk; the Cloak followed him halfway before stopping in the middle of the room, and turned from him to her, and then back to him. He rounded the desk and flipped through several pieces of paper, looking them over as he said, "It's been quiet, yes, but that doesn't mean that I haven't been busy. There is always work to be done and I just don't have time for other things."

She narrowed her eyes at him and placed the book down before standing. The Cloak was again facing her as she took a couple steps forward. "Other things like the occasional break? Talking with friends? Sleeping?"

Stephen narrowed his eyes at her. "I've been sleeping just fine, thank you."

"Stephen, I can see the dark circles around your eyes from here. You're not hiding it from anyone."

He blinked and quickly strode over to a small mirror on the wall, back to her. "Fuck," he muttered under his breath, but it was quiet enough in the room to hear. When he turned back around, the bags were completely gone and he looked fully refreshed.

Christine gaped. "You're using magic to hide your exhaustion? I can't believe you!" Actually, on second thought, she could very, very much believe he would do something like this. As one of his friends, he drove her absolutely insane sometimes.

"I do what I must," he retorted. "I am still relatively new to my position and there is entirely too much to do and learn, and I cannot show any faltering to the students of Kamar-Taj."

"What about your peers?" she retorted right back. "What about Wong or, or any of the others, these Masters? Does anyone know what you actually look like or what you're putting yourself through?"

"There is no need for them to," Stephen answered, lips pressed into a thin line. "Now if you'll excuse me, I do have work I need to do, as enjoyable as this little conversation has been."

Christine recognized that biting sarcasm a mile away. She pulled out her phone and looked for Wong in her contacts.

"What are you doing?" Now he sounded alarmed.

"Telling Wong that you need a damn babysitter," she snapped.

She managed to type a couple words of her text before she heard sparks and then a golden rope wrapped around her right wrist. It didn't hurt, but its sudden appearance caused Christine to drop her phone in surprise. Her eyes shot up at Stephen, who looked just as shocked as her by its presence in his hand. A beat later and the magic rope was gone and Stephen was stumbling backwards, clear horror in his eyes.

Okay, that was… not good he did it in the first place, but clearly he realized that and looked on the verge of panic. She pushed the issue to the side to talk about later and instead addressed what was in front of her right at this moment. "Hey, hey," she said slowly, calmly. She left her phone on the floor and took two slow steps forward. "It's okay, Stephen. You didn't hurt me. Not even a mark, see?" She lifted her wrist to show him. "It's alright."

"That was not alright," he said. He made it to the back wall and leaned heavily against it. "That was not alright at all."

"I am not angry at you," she answered slowly in a slow, calm voice. "Everything is okay."

"No it's not," he gasped, as if struggling for air. He slid down the wall until he was sitting, and Christine finished crossing the distance between them to sit a few feet away. He stared off for a moment, then met her eyes. "I could've hurt you."

"You didn't," she reminded him.

He shook his head. "But I— Christine, this is why we can't— I can't see you anymore. I only bring danger whether it's through my own actions or due to who I am."

"You are not completely yourself right now," she reminded him gently. "You're clearly exhausted, and even then you caught your temper immediately. That's a vast improvement from a few years ago." He snorted in self-derision, and she pressed on. "As for who you are, I've known for years that there might be risks. I'm okay with that."

"I'm not," he whispered.

She offered him a small smile. "You don't get to decide who wants to be your friend, Stephen. And I know you and your level of stubbornness, but you know I can be just as stubborn if I want to be. And you're worth the effort."

He closed his eyes and shuddered. "I'm not so sure I am."

"You are," she retorted a bit more strongly. Lips downturned in thought, she considered his words. "Is this about that… that demon thing that happened three months ago?" Come to think of it, that did about match the timing when he started seeming a bit off, at least in texting habits.

Stephen pressed his lips together. "That should have never happened. I failed to place basic protection about you and it was a gross oversight on my part."

"Congratulations, you're human," Christine deadpanned, then softened it with a small smile and added, "no matter how much you'd like to think otherwise." He took another shuddering breath and leaned his head back against the wall. In the corner of her eye she saw the Cloak hovering, as if anxious. And she definitely understood that feeling.

But this, this was a start. "Stephen," she said softly, "I think it's time you told us what exactly happened after you got me back home." He stilled, and she couldn't quite read him, but she said, "Please, Stephen. Let your friends back in." She reached out and laid a hand on his calf.

Again he shuddered and, after a moment, he slowly nodded. She gave him a small, encouraging smile before offering her hand. He took it and together they got back up on their feet.

She led him to the loveseat and had him sit down. She sat beside him and asked, "Is it okay if I have Wong join us? Or will that be too hard?"

Stephen closed his eyes and again pressed his lips together, but a moment later responded, "You can call him. He probably deserves an explanation as well."

Christine gently squeezed his forearm, then stood up and went for her dropped phone. She abandoned the text and tried calling Wong instead.

He picked up on the third ring. "Christine," he said in greeting. He didn't sound surprised (she wasn't sure if he ever allowed himself to sound surprised), but she'd like to think that he at least knew she wasn't calling for no good reason. They texted, not called. That was what they did.

"Hey Wong, are you busy?"

"Not with anything I cannot finish later," he replied. "Do you need something?"

"Not me," she answered, walking back to Stephen. He had his head bowed. She placed a supportive hand on his shoulder. "It's Stephen. He could use another friend here, if you don't mind."

A pause that, again, she couldn't read. "Certainly," he answered. "Where are you?"

"In his study. And um, if it wouldn't be too much to ask, could you make that tea of yours?" He made really good tea.

"I can," he answered, and with that he hung up. Succinct, as always.

"He'll probably be here as soon as the tea's ready," she said as she sat back down beside him. "I like his tea."

Stephen slowly nodded. "It's very good tea," he muttered.

Christine peered at his face. "Are you going to wear the mask around him?" she asked.

He exhaled, long and slow. "Not much point if we're having this conversation, is there?"

"It's okay to be human, Stephen."

He shot her a grim smile, and slowly the mask that covered his exhausted face dissipated. The Cloak closed the distance it had to the couch and hovered at Stephen's side.

A couple minutes later, a portal opened straight from the kitchen and Wong floated a tea tray into the study before following it in. The golden sparks disappeared behind him and he turned to look at the two of them on the couch. He stared at Stephen for a moment, then exhaled. "I suspected something," he muttered, almost as if to himself. He let the tray settle on the table in front of the loveseat and summoned the chair from the corner of the room to sit across from it, and from them. Wong settled in the seat and poured out three mugs of tea, keeping Stephen's only partially full. He gave them both their cups wordlessly, then sat back and looked at Stephen with silent, but unjudging expectation.

The man in question huffed as he grabbed the mug and took a short sip. "Now all I need is a blanket to get real cozy," he muttered.

The Cloak, in turn, twisted its way between Stephen's arms and legs and settled across both his and Christine's laps.

She laughed softly at his slight frown at the garment and patted the red fabric on her lap. "Good Cloak."

They fell into a patient silence after that, both Christine and Wong quietly drinking their tea as Stephen gathered his words. She could see his struggle in his small microexpressions that she had only learned after knowing him so well after so many years. Wong, she suspected, could read him nearly as well, if not equally.

Eventually he cleared his throat and began to speak. "In return for Christine to get back safely to Earth, I agreed with the demon Mephisto to play games of his choosing for the next twenty-four hours…"

Christine listened in growing horror as he described each game, seeing how this creature had somehow known about Stephen's innate need to protect and rescue innocents and how he dangled souls that, no matter their decisions, he would certainly see as people taken advantage of in desperate, awful times. Throughout his recollection she occasionally looked at Wong; the man's expression was completely frozen in a soft frown. She had a feeling that it was a mechanism to keep the absolute horror off his face. Goodness knew that she was doing her best to appear supportive and sympathetic as opposed to absolutely horrified.

It only got more difficult as Stephen's account went on. By the time he finally got to where he was let go back to Earth with the six souls he managed to save, her free hand was gripping the Cloak so tightly that she felt that she might rip through it, were it not the Cloak.

"I've replayed those hours time and again in my head," he muttered as he stared down at his shaking hands; the quivering had incrementally increased throughout the tale. "All I can think about is all the ways I could have done more, done better, saved more innocents. It was only due to his whims that I was able to save any."

"Oh, Stephen." She leaned towards him and, without asking for permission, engulfed him in a large hug. She felt the Cloak wrap around her side and she was sure it was pressing against Stephen on the other side.

She felt him let go for a moment and indulge in the embrace before pulling away, and she let go and gave him his space again. She watched him as he looked up to Wong, who had managed to keep his amazing poker face with only the slight frown throughout the conversation. "Wong," Stephen started, "I couldn't— I couldn't bear telling the other Masters about my failures in my first real test as Sorcerer Supreme. And I promise you, I've been doing everything in my power to bridge the gaps that remain in my knowledge and power so that I may be more capable in meeting such threats, whether I have the aid of the Vishanti or not."

Wong exhaled and clasped his hands together. "The experience you call a failure, Stephen, is what all of us consider a success," he started. Stephen immediately opened his mouth to argue, but Wong quickly said, "Let me finish, and try to listen to my words and not the doubt that plagues your mind as I speak." He leaned forward. "When you first left with the demon that refused to name itself, we thought it a lesser one that a sorcerer of your caliber could deal with, even on its own plane of existence. Any one of us present would have been able to, though it would not necessarily be easy. It was with that thought in mind that we left you with advice rather than protests, though Master Hamir was correct in his suspicions that the demon was unusually more powerful than those we've encountered in recent memory.

"I know you have been doing a lot of research on demonology, Stephen, and what information we have upon the greater demons known as the Hell-Lords. There is a reason that, despite thousands of years of collecting knowledge, what we know of them is so little. Hell-Lords are very powerful due to the number of souls they have attained over the uncounted millennia in which sentient, reasoning lifeforms have existed. They gather more souls to be ever the strongest, but they are not desperate for every sentient being they come across. Hell-Lords are unlike lesser demons in that they will kill if they don't think the person's soul is worth the effort."

Christine grabbed at the Cloak again and looked again to Stephen; he, in turn, was looking at her with a tight expression.

They both turned to Wong as the man continued, "Had we known this was one of the Hell-Lords, we would have done as much as we could to stop you, perhaps even by force— though I doubt that would have worked in our favour. So we would have seen you off and declared you dead, more than likely."

Stephen's brow furrowed. "Dead? Immediately? Why?"

"The last time a Sorcerer Supreme fought a Hell-Lord within their own domain and lived was the first one in Agamotto. The last time anyone encountered one was the Ancient One in Germany at the end of WWII. From what I understand there were three Hell-Lords present in the spring of 1945 in that country, but as they were upon Earth's plane, they were manageable. Facing one in its own dimension is unprecedented in modern history. That you were able to play its games with enough wit to not only survive, but to also bring back six souls that would have otherwise been lost, is a great victory."

Christine watched as Stephen's gaze fell to his hands, still trembling. "It did not feel like a victory," he mumbled. "Each test, each game I failed in some manner."

Wong shook his head. "Each test was specifically designed to take advantage of what Mephisto would consider your weaknesses, though I assure you your passion for the soul of the individual is considered one of your greatest strengths by all of us." Stephen lifted his head in surprise, but Wong continued on. "Consider this: if it had been Hamir in your place, one of his tests would have involved something that would give a person with two hands a distinct advantage. If it had been Minoru, you know there would have been something with spiders." Stephen's lips twitched upward, and Wong raised his brow pointedly. "The point, Stephen, is that this demon is known as a deceptive trickster. He twisted his so-called games to place you in the worst possible position and keep you in a position of doubt."

"Out of all of this, what I do find concerning," Wong admitted, "is that he knew you so well. It is possible that he has been watching you for some time."

Stephen's brow furrowed. "Why would he do that?"

"It is hard to say," he answered. "Demons are soulless creatures with no concept of time beyond the souls which they trick and enslave. It is thought that some have some greater perception of the wider multiverse and their realities; it is possible that Mephisto has some small knowledge from that."

Christine did not like where this conversation was going, and there was still one rather important thing to address at that time. "I think what you should get out of this, Stephen," she started, "is that you are most certainly not a failure. You can't be so hard on yourself."

He gave her an imploring look, as if willing her to understand him. "I have a great responsibility to this world and I cannot—"

"No, she's completely right," Wong interrupted. "Kamar-Taj calls for devotion wholly to defending reality, but you can't do that if you're half-dead from exhaustion."

"I'm not—"

"You wouldn't be using glamour if it wasn't an issue," Wong pointed out, and Stephen had nothing to retort to that. "And," he added, "the occasional lunch or ice cream break is not only permitted, but encouraged to retain one's sanity and reminder as to why we do what we do."

Stephen gave him a long look. "Are you saying you do it for ice cream?"

"And so that reality TV may flourish unhindered," Wong replied, and Christine quickly covered a surprised laugh. "If there are indeed areas you believe you may be lacking in knowledge, all the Masters will be more than willing to assist you, though I feel that you are equal if not more knowledgeable in most fields. But we can talk about that tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? Why tomorrow?"

"Because you look absolutely awful and clearly need to sleep for the next twenty-four hours," he retorted.

Stephen frowned. "I'm awake and functioning."

Christine wrinkled her nose. "Barely. Get some sleep!"

The Cloak lifted itself off their laps and waited expectantly beside the study door, causing its keeper to make a face at it.

Wong stood up and walked over to him, offering him a hand. "Listen to your friends. We can discuss more details about what happened and where we need to go tomorrow, but for now, you need to rest. No matter what you have been telling yourself, you do deserve it."

He hesitated, but for only a couple seconds before taking Wong's proffered hand and letting his friend hoist him up. "Don't let me sleep too long," Stephen muttered.

"You're sleeping for the next week if you have to," Wong retorted.

"I can get some drugs that would do that," Christine quipped as she got to her feet.

"No need; we have spells that can do the same, but thank you for the offer all the same."

"You're both terrible," Stephen moaned as he trudged to the door. The Cloak fit itself snugly across his shoulders.

"You're welcome," she said in return, and he glanced at her with a soft, but very warm smile that still made her heart do things that it shouldn't do, all these years later. Damn that man. "I'll text you."

"You'll hear from me," he promised, and then he turned and let Wong and the Cloak usher him towards his bedroom for some much-needed sleep and, for the first time in a long time, a peaceful time of rest.

—————

(Anndddd the series is done! Wooow. Whoda thought this was going to be a thing, because I certainly didn't.

You can take the headcanon that Wong is an enthusiastic fan of trashy reality TV shows from my cold dead hands. Definitely inspired by my two co-workers I work with the most, though I have had the occasional reality TV show binge watch.)

#whumptober2019 #no.31 #embrace #stephen strange #doctor strange #christine palmer #wong #doctor strange fanfic #genre: angst #genre: friendship #my writing #my fanfiction

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marvelbang · 5 years ago

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2020 Guidelines

So, what's allowed here?

The easy answer to that is: pretty much anything! We're open to slash, het, and gen, no matter your pairing preference. If you want to write Steve/Tony or Charles/Erik, that's awesome, and if you've got a great idea for an epic Natasha/Pepper or Emma/Scott, that's perfectly acceptable as well. You can base your story off of any medium - so whether you’re a diehard comic fan, into cartoons, or someone who loves the movies, you can participate! The only thing explicitly not allowed is pedophilia for the sake of pedophilia - if it's a plot point, it's okay, but we're not going to post stories that have sexual situations involving children (for our purposes, anyone under the age of 16). If you have a question about your pairing or specific idea, leave a note in the page-a-mod post, and we'll discuss it with you on a case-by-case basis.

Stories and art have to be new. If you've written something that's 10k already, awesome! That's a huge accomplishment, and we're really happy for you. However, this is a chance to create something new, so if your story has been posted elsewhere, it doesn't qualify for this challenge.

Sequels to stories you've written are acceptable! If you write a sequel, be sure to link back to the original story, so people can read that as well.

What about crossovers, fusions, and AUs?

The only requirement for this bang is that the primary focus of your story be on a character from the Marvel Universe. If you want to write Wolverine in Ancient Rome or Spiderman as a new member of the Hawaii Five-0 task force, you are more than welcome to. However, if you want to write a crossover that focuses on Harry Potter being a new member of the Avengers, this is not the place for it. The focus must be on a Marvel character. Crossovers with other comics fandoms are allowed, but the focus has to be on the Marvel character.

What are the requirements for fic?

Your story has to be at least 10,000 words, and there's no maximum limit. You can work with a co-author or a group, if you're more comfortable; the word count will be 10k no matter how many authors work on it.

You'll also need a beta reader for your story. If you have your own, that's awesome! If not, we'll be having channels on our Marvel Bang Discord Server devoted to helping people find betas. This is non-negotiable. You have to have a beta reader. If you want to have more than one person beta read your story, that's fine, too. One is a minimum, not a maximum. :)

What if I've already posted part of a fic? Can I finish it for this challenge?

The purpose of this bang is to unveil a completed piece on your posting date, however we are okay with you finishing your piece as long as you have not posted more than 2000 words of it and don't post any more until your posting date. Since this bang has a minimum word count of 10,000 words we are asking that no more than 2000 words be posted prior to signing up so that at least 80% of the fic is new.

Please note that the 2000 word limit still holds no matter how long your fic is - even if you complete a 100k epic, you can only submit it for this fest if you've published less than 2000 words of it before signing up for this challenge.

What counts as art?

Lots of things! Traditional art, digital art, manips, and fanmixes (with 8 songs and cover art) are all fine. Vids are also an acceptable form of art. If you want to check that what you have in mind is appropriate, or leave a note in the page-a- mod post. We'll discuss it on a case-by-case basis.

I'm interested, but I'm not sure what to write.

There will be a prompt thread on the Marvel Bang Discord server. Anyone can leave a prompt, and anyone can take a prompt. If six authors choose to write from the same prompt, that's totally fine. If someone wants to mash three prompts together, that's also fine. If someone wants to use half of a prompt, that's fine. Sensing a trend yet? :)

Where can I post my story?

The stories must be posted on AO3 and linked into the 2020 Marvel BB Collection. There will be a link provided and instructions for how to post to AO3 when it is closer to posting time. If you do not have an AO3 account, it is simple to get one. Here is the link: AO3 Invite. There's a queue, but it usually takes no more than a week to get your account. If you don't have an account, it'd be a good idea to get one as soon as you can. Lastly, don't post your story - or even parts of it - before the challenge goes live.

Will every story have art?

As it stands, we are aiming for every author that wants art to be matched with an artist. Some people want to sign up as a solo participant and don't want to work with an author/artist and other people want to work with a specific author/artist.

What if too many artists sign up for the amount of stories written?/What if I want to create for more than one story?

If we have five authors sign up with ten artists, well, stories will be double-claimed. Authors are also allowed to claim multiple stories. We'll work this out to the absolute best of our abilities :)

Can I sign up as an author and an artist?

If you want to, more power to you!

Can I sign up to write more than one story?

Sure! You can sign-up to write up to two different stories for this challenge. If you do want to write two stories make sure to sign-up separately for both. If you have to drop one or both make sure to tell us before rough drafts are due so that you don't leave an artist hanging. If you have to drop either story after you have turned in the rough draft you will be banned from next year's challenge.

Can I sign up with a co-author?

You can work with a co-author or a group, if you're more comfortable. But remember the word count will still be 10k no matter how many authors work on it. Just make sure to sign up all authors on the sign up sheet and have everyone join the comm. The limit of two stories per author still stands even if all the stories are co-written.

What if I can't finish my story in time?

That's fine! We understand that sometimes the muses won't cooperate or life gets too hectic. You are free to drop out of the challenge with no penalty any time before you turn in your rough draft, just let us know. You are also welcome to participate as a solo author and not submit your stories for an artist claim. That way if you finish it you can post and if not there will be no penalty. However, if you have to drop out after an artist has claimed your story, you will be banned from participating in next year's bang. We don't want to leave any artists hanging if we can help it.

What is a solo author/artist?

A solo author/artist is someone who want the structure of a fanwork challenge without having to work with someone else to create an accompanying fanwork. By working alone you don't have to worry about whether you complete your project or not because you won't have a partner depending on you. You can also decide to do your own art or find your own partner to work with. Basically we won't be matching you with an artist or an author, but you can still have a fic with art if you arrange it yourself. You can also work on other kinds of projects like podfic if you desire.

Do I have to join LJ/DW/Discord/Tumblr to participate?

The short answer is no. You don't have to join any particular social media platform, except for AO3, in order to participate. However if you want to keep up with bang updates and take part in the more social aspect of this challenge you will want to follow us on the platform of your choice. Discord in particular is where we will be having our prompt post, beta finding help, writing support, word sprints, etc. so you may want to join up there.

I still have questions! Where can I ask them?

There's a Page-A-Mod post here. Just leave a comment there and a mod will get back to you.

#marvel bang

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