#i will use it as a tag however i am a hypocrite

[divine0]

Can we have tender plargos embrace with Argos slicing Mr. Plant's back open with a knife? 🥴

ask and you shall receive 🤲

[anothermonikan]

I need to stop listening to Tomodemo-Wonderz on repeat because I'm sure everyone in the household is sick of hearing me say 'Everybody Showtime!' every minute

[https-milo]

Hihi !! First time requesting, this is so awkward ..😭 but by any chance, could you do a Monoma Instagram (if you write for him, of course) thank you !! 🤍

hihi tysm for the request! i think I forgot to put Monoma on my list of characters 😭😭, but yes I can!!

DATING NEITO MONOMA INSTAGRAM!

details!

Instagram posts w/ comments while dating Neito Monoma!

a/n OBVIOUSLY these are just pictures off of interest, reader can be however you imagine!

(a little different from my usual insta posts)

main m. list / instagram m. list

y/ncantthink · 5w

1.9k likes liked by kendos.fist, tetsu.x4, deku_, ocha.uravity

y/ncantthink soft... soft launch?

ocha.uravity ???? CALL ME??? y/ncantthink ocha.uravity i cant say who it issss :(( ocha.uravity y/ncantthink why nottt :((( y/ncantthink ocha.uravity cause hes a hypocrite 👎👎

kendos.fist Oh! I know whooooooo ;) y/ncantthink kendos.fist SHUT UP PLEASE

monoma.copies whoever it is must be stupid, who would date someone from class A?! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

monoma.copies · 4w

800 likes liked by kendo.fists, tetsu.x4, ocha.uravity

monoma.copies Me. I would.

tagged: y/ncantthink

y/ncantthink you would what, sweetie 😊😊😊 monoma.copies y/ncantthink date someone from 🤢🤢class A🤢🤢 y/ncantthink monoma.copies hmmm I think your phone glitched and added some weird emojis :// monoma.copies y/ncantthink strange!! 😊😊

kendos.fist All Might gives his strongest soldiers (Y/n) his toughest battles (dating Monoma) y/ncantthink kendos.fist thank you Itsuka 🫶🫶 but Neito really isn't that bad!!

ocha.uravity hes got her defending him on the main 😭😭 y/ncantthink ocha.uravity im serious!! hes really not bad at all!

tetsu.x4 shes out on the frontlines after this post

y/ncantthink · 3w

1.9k likes liked by kendos.fist, ocha.uravity, deku_, tetsu.x4

y/ncantthink my pretty princess <3

tagged: monoma.copies

kendos.fist cant believe he let you take that 😭😭 y/ncantthink kendos.fist bc he's not a bad guy :(

monoma.copies we're such a cute couple (I'm the cuter one tho) y/ncantthink monoma.copies whatever you say, princess 🙄 chargebolt.dk monoma.copies ik ur playing...

tetsu.x4 you guys are so cute, i want to punch a wall RED.RIOT tetsu.x4 IKR!! Even if Monoma hates our class, its so cute that they're together!! hanta.fanta RED.RIOT you're joking...

deku_ i don't see anything wrong with the two being together..? am I missing something? chargebolt.dk deku_ he's always been a dick to our class. and now he's dating one of us? It doesn't make sense. deku_ chargebolt.dk kacchan is always a dick too, but we're all friends with him. I mean like whatever, but I think we should just let them live their lives.

monoma.copies · 2w

650 likes liked by tetsu.x4, deku_, kendos.fist

monoma.copies wish you guys would just hop off and let us be happy

tagged: y/ncantthink

y/ncantthink im sorry, I know most of them are my friends. I've been defending you and everything, idk what else to do monoma.copies y/ncantthink I don't blame you. you can't control them. thanks for defending me (even though your class sucks) y/ncantthink monoma.copies ofc <3 anytime

chargebolt.dk maybe we would if you weren't such a dick :D y/ncantthink chargebolt.dk Kaminari istg if you don't stfu hanta.fanta y/ncantthink don't tell me his personality is rubbing off on you... y/ncantthink hanta.fanta I literally don't want to hear from either of you. idk why you're being such dicks but I hope you choke on each other.

tetsu.x4 idk why everyone is hating, you two are so cute kendos.fist tetsu.x4 no fr, monoma has literally changed and became more bearable cause of y/n :///

RED.RIOT sorry for my classmates dude! You two just keep being you!!

deku_ idk what has gotten into some of us, but the majority of class A has nothing against you two

y/ncantthink · 1d ⭐ close friends

12 likes liked by ocha.uravity, deku_, chargebolt.dk

y/ncantthink i hope you guys are soooo happy!! he broke up with me because the CONSTANT comments ab how we "weren't good for each other" and "I could do so much better" got to him! I do not want to talk to either of you (you know who you are). I'm switching to shiketsu

kendos.fist im so sorry y/n. neito hasnt been much better. I can tell he misses you y/ncantthink kendos.fist I just wish things would've worked out :/

chargebolt.dk are you serious? dont switch schools dude. y/ncantthink chargebolt.dk nah fuck you and sero. i wont be seeing you ever *you have blocked this user*

ocha.uravity im so sorry babes. im going to miss you so much. please keep contact? y/ncantthink ocha.uravity ofc. ill miss you too

RED.RIOT im so sorry. i tried talking to them.

deku_ we're gonna miss you so much. im here if you need it and I wish you the best

© https-milo. please do not repost, steal, copy, or modify my works!

Thank you so much for reading <3

[octahyde]

Groomer in the TWST Fandom

The post in question is going around again, and as someone who was groomed in online fandoms in high school it makes me absolutely fucking livid that they got away with it the first time.

(Please note that I got Doom’s consent before posting this because it indirectly involves them.)

@_snooboots on twitter has publicly groomed minors.

Sno wrote a thread calling out another user, which I am seeing go around again. The thread has plenty of issues (in certain areas they can have legal action taken against them for cyberstalking, speaking from direct experience), but there’s one in particular that sticks out to me.

The most pressing and disturbing part, however, is that they tagged children in uncensored pornographic images.

(as you can see based on the first screenshot, the censorship in the second and third images were added by me.)

After posting several screenshots, many of which had sexual images along with this literal pornography, Sno ends it with tagging several minors (and one adult):

Note that Sno is 19. Also note that the youngest user tagged is fourteen years old, a literal middle schooler.

Though 16 and 19 may not seem like a major age difference where grooming can take place (in many contexts it isn’t!), there are still cases where it can be. Case in point: I started being groomed by a 19 year old online when I was 16, and it lead to horrible, horrible things happening to me once I turned 18.

The amount of similarities this thread has to my own experiences with being groomed at that age is, point blank, extremely fucking uncomfortable. Though mine was in a slightly different context (it being sent as a “joke”), it was still being told Look How Bad This Porn is. Likewise, if Sno really cared, they would have taken 10 seconds to censor the screenshots before posting, like how I did.

Again, it’s important to note: these images were originally posted on a private account where minors could not access them. They were only made publicly and exposed to children when Sno reposted them.

When called out for sending porn to real life minors, they chose to double down:

Apparently tagging children in a twitter thread with graphic, uncensored pornography because “they asked” is “the right thing”. (Note also that they admit they had also exposed these kids to this prior on a locked account, which is very Normal behavior and opens up the possibility that this isn’t the first time they’ve “called someone out” doing this, but that’s just speculation.)

And again, I would like to reiterate, which Sno themself corroborates in these screenshots: these images were originally posted on a locked account, where only adults Doom knew were allowed in. Sno was the one who posted these images publicly.

I’ve been angry and hurt by this since this thread was first posted. Doom deliberately kept these images away from children. In contrast, this person sent the images to children whom would never see them otherwise to “call them out”. Sno absolutely should not or have gotten away with this.

(Also, as a footnote: do not use this post to start some proshipper vs anti tribalism bullshit. While I’m not that anon, I do absolutely hate both sides equally and both do this kind of thing on a regular basis.)

(EDIT: not that it means much at this point but it was pointed out that I was kinda uhhhh a huge hypocrite with the original screenshot of the thread! That’s been censored now too.)

[aayakashii]

I wrote this in like 2 hours so I apologize if it's bad but!!! I was struck with inspiration and had to write it + I am a sucker for fics abt dancing because I'm a dancer so ✋️ ANYWAYS

Pairing: Romeo Lucci x MC

Tags: PINING; romeo doesnt accept his feelings; gender neutral MC; the song that is mentioned in this fic is this one

the house never loses

The casino had closed for the night.

Fragments of life were scattered on the floor – pieces of glass, candy wrappers, dirtied pills, crushed beer cans.

Romeo curled his lips in disgust.

Everyone was distasteful. Brute, graceless little things that only served to be his source of income. Couldn't even clean up after themselves, the mindless sheep, blinded by the possibility of being rich quickly.

He wasnt really one to judge, but at least he was smart.

He knew he had to win. He had to be the dealer, the house, no matter the situation. He would never be the customer.

That was how things fall apart.

You lose control, someone else pull the strings of your life and then you trip – and fall. And lose, lose, lose. One bet after the other, golden coins falling through the cracks of the floor underneath you, forever out of reach.

No, he couldn't be anything else besides the dealer, he wouldn't allow otherwise. He had his family as a bitter example of steps he should not follow.

Still, under this position of power, he saw all the grimy beings that walked on this godforsaken place – traitors and hypocrites that tried to hide their greed behind a mask – and he hated them all.

"Dirty pricks that can't even pick up after themselves", he thought, kicking another empty beer can.

He wouldn't clean it, however. Obviously. He had his pawns to do that for him and today, specifically, he had the worthless honor student do that job for him.

He sighed, massaging his forehead to ease the wrinkle between his brows.

"Honor, my ass", he mumbled, remembering how they messed up yet another prototype order earlier that day, which landed them the merciless job of cleaning the casino after it was closed.

Romeo clicked his tongue, remembering the faces of the rest of the staff once they realized they would have a night off at the expense of someone else.

In the end, it was a dog eat dog situation. He wouldn't be surprised if people started sabotaging them just to get more days off. He put this sudden conclusion at the back of his mind, patting himself on the back for being so smart and way ahead of everyone around him. Then, he stepped on a cigarette butt and stained the burgundy carpet with its ashes.

"Where the fuck is that basic bitch?" he groaned, kicking the cigarette butt under one of the poker tables, maneuvering faster between all the stools, readying himself to give them the scolding of a lifetime.

He expects excellency from himself – it's only natural he expects the same from everyone around him, although this habit always seems to leave him disappointed.

Romeo's ears perked up as he stomped his way towards the back of the casino.

It housed the bar area, with a small stage for (now rare) jazz performances – after Sinostra was banned from leaving the campus, it also meant people from outside were also banned from coming in. Believe it or not, there aren't many jazz musicians among university students.

The bar stood behind matte glass doors that kept the sound muffled for those that wanted to drown their sorrows away after losing one too many games.

Romeo made his way to the entrance of the bar, as his ears picked up a few stray music notes coming from the inside of the place. He readied himself to scold whatever student was inside after closing hours – after all, if they wanted to use the space, then they should pay for it. It's only obvious.

He opened the door quietly, in order to catch them by surprise, squinting as he tried to assess who was inside despite the permanent mist of cigarette smoke that hung in the air.

The song came from a phone that stood on the bar counter, the words too jumbled and distorted by the busted speakers, but with a melancholy that touched him still.

He opened his mouth to call out whoever was inside, yet the words stuck on his tongue like cheap candy.

The first thing he saw were the arms.

The arms moved slowly, as if they were swimming in honey. Fingers grasped the thick air that surrounded them and seemed to mold it into a silk veil that surrounded their body.

Then, he saw the legs.

Softly, silently, they carried their body through slow twirls. They lifted one of them up, bare foot en pointe, landing it graciously to once again turn around themselves.

And finally, he saw their face.

Eyes half lidded in pure concentration, they saw nothing but the world they created for themselves as they danced.

The words died inside Romeo's mouth as he saw his worthless honor student dance to the song.

He gulped harshily as he watched them grab their own chest, suffering silently for some estranged lover they were probably seeing in their mind's eye as they danced.

Romeo felt his own heart race, his purple eyes going red and teary as he tried not to blink, so he wouldn't miss any moment. His stomach twisted inside out – or, at least, it was how he felt it – as he wondered if they were thinking of anyone specific while they looked so desperately in love.

His breath hitched at the thought and he discarded it in a pile of things he would rather not think about, on the corners of his mind.

They threw their arms out slowly, as if they wanted to hug the entire world – or fly away from it, only to lose it all while they bring their hands to their face, in theatrical despair.

Romeo wondered how it would feel to be the one in between their arms and loved so desperately, and the thought was too big, to persistent to be put aside.

His hands twitched as he tried to take a step inside and ask who was it that they thought of as they ran their hands on their lips and body, but as he heard the song grow into its highest peak, Romeo instinctively closed the door, before he could see whether or not that secret performance would have a happy ending or a sad one.

He rested his head against the glass, feeling the coolness of it spread on his flushed face.

Romeo put his hand against his heart, feeling the fast beats in contrast with the muffled and slow ending of the song inside, and breathed deeply, realizing he had been holding his breath like a predator does with a prey on the wild.

"Romeo?" their voice sounded shaky and scared, as if they had just been caught committing a crime. As if they were his prey.

Romeo cleared his throat and opened the door once again, this time fierce and quickly.

"Ah, there you are, you BB." they winced as he yelled the insulting abbreviation "I was looking for you. Didn't you see how dirty the casino is? You are supposed to clean everything, not just this place."

Romeo saw as they pursed their lips, looking down, an expression of annoyance and sadness making itself clear on their face.

"I- I know. I was just finishing here." They lied, dejected.

"Well. I expect this place to be spotless by tomorrow. I don't care if you need to spend all night here. Just do your job!"

"Yes, Romeo." they sighed loudly, picking up a broom, and then walked briskly past him, frustratingly avoiding him as much as possible.

Deep inside, however, he knew he couldn't possibly blame them. Not with the venom he spits on their face at every single encounter.

Romeo kept looking inside of the room, staring at the phone they left on the bar counter, consciously refusing to observe them as they walked somewhere else inside the casino.

He refused to look at them as they moved graciously between the tables; refused to think about the faint scent of vanilla mixed with cigarette and sweat on their body; refused to acknowledge his racing heart; and refused to look them in their eyes for too long.

Romeo refused to lose control of his own strings.

After all, he was the dealer, he was the house.

He wasn't supposed to lose.

[scoobydoodean]

it is interesting to me that sam is judgmental about dean’s eating habits, but, from what I remember, he’s fairly non-judgmental about his drinking habits in comparison. while sam goes through phases of wanting to eat “cleaner” he never wants to give up alcohol. do you think this indicates that sam is also pretty dependent on alcohol himself but less “showy” about this than dean who jokes about needing alcohol more often? or is it more that he knows it comes off as insanely hypocritical bc of his demon blood addiction where he went off the rails while dean is still functional even during periods of heavy drinking?

(Does Dean joke around about needing alcohol that often?)

Interesting question. I don't think hypocrisy has ever stopped a character in Supernatural from saying anything tbh. But I also don't think Sam sees anything wrong with the way Dean drinks most of the time. This is a man who tried to give Dean beer for breakfast when he was suicidal (13.05). And I think the reason he was offering Dean breakfast beer is also pretty key to understanding why Sam, for the most part, shuts the fuck up about Dean drinking: He isn't actually good at dealing with Dean not being okay. It scares him. I'll come back to that in a minute.

I think fanon sometimes makes more of Dean's relationship with alcohol than it is. I'm not saying there aren't points in the show where Dean is very obviously shown to have an alcohol problem. I'm not saying his relationship with alcohol is normal (though his relationship with alcohol is pretty normal prior to him going to hell). I am saying I think a chunk of fandom tends to think of Dean as someone who is more or less constantly buzzed for most of the series, and that's just not accurate. After hell, Dean begins drinking to fall asleep. He is binge drinking a significant amount before bed by mid season 5 after the Harvelle's deaths (5.11, 5.16). But it is to fall asleep and it cuts back to a glass or two a night by the beginning of season 6 after a hard fought struggle we get small references to between Dean and Lisa (6.01, 6.06). Dean would be dead on a hunt within a month if he was constantly day drinking, and the show notes to us specifically when Dean is so out of sorts he feels the need to do that (see: 6.06, where Dean drinks just to be able to stand being near Sam, after being assaulted the previous episode while Sam watched and smiled). A glass of whiskey or two before bed becomes Dean's new normal from season 6 onwards. When his drinking ticks up from that in one season or episode to another, there's a deeper problem going on that Dean is struggling through. I only mention this because when I actually think of points where Sam might say something to Dean about an uptick in drinking... it's not going to happen as often as fandom sometimes imagines.

Sam understands Dean's options as far as dealing with nightmares from decades of reality-bending torture are highly limited. Realistically, Dean has zero access to qualified professional support. Suppose Dean took sleeping pills instead of drinking to fall asleep. Would he actually be better off? Would he eventually abuse sleeping pills instead? Would that just put something in close proximity to him that he could even more easily overdose on? Because... Dean also isn't a stranger to suicidal ideation, and Sam is very aware of that, and I wager he gets a hell of a lot more antsy about the thought of Dean having constant access to sleeping pills than he does about Dean drinking a glass of whiskey or two before bed. In the fucked up world they live in, as far as Sam's concerned, Dean's relationship with alcohol is usually "under control" in a relative sense. I think Sam understands Dean's use of alcohol and he accepts it... and he isn't going to get judgy, because Sam isn't good at actually handling Dean not being okay. Dean not being able to cope scares Sam however he might pretend to play Mr. Therapist (see my tag: #bad therapist sam).

If Dean chooses to cope with nightmares and sleep disturbances using alcohol while still being functional during the day, Sam isn't going to say a word. When Dean's drinking gets bad, for example, in season 7 when Dean constantly carries around Bobby's flask, I seem to recollect Sam speaking up about it at least once—at least in vague terms? But we'll see when I get back into season 7. (All I remember right now is him joking that alcohol is a "vitamin" for Dean in 7.18). I really do think in general, as far as Sam as concerned, as long as Dean's drinking doesn't effect his job performance... it's all good. He generally isn't going to touch it with a ten foot pole—not even to joke.

It is true at the same time that Dean's relationship with food also is and continues to further develop into a coping mechanism. Dean eats when he's grieving or sad and when he wants comfort. Food makes Dean feel safe. However, Dean also eats when he's happy, and Sam's judgments when it comes to Dean's eating usually happen when Dean is happy eating instead of sad eating (or when Sam at least perceives him to be happy eating).

I think the specific connection between Dean's drinking and hell may also play a role here. Sam failed Dean deeply on the hell front and I think he knows it. I won't even mince words: it is Sam's fault that Dean never talks about hell. Dean was opening up between 4.08 and 4.11, but because of Sam's cruel turn in his framing of that traumatic experience, Dean's hell trauma is forever the silent looming thing that no one talks about. Not Sam, not Dean, not anybody. Getting judgy about Dean drinking to fall asleep could easily open cracks in Dean's own self-imposed wall and Sam is smart enough not to scratch at it. Not just for Dean's sake, but for his own, because that betrayal intersects deeply with Dean's broken trust in Sam in season 5, and if there is one thing Sam's ego absolutely cannot take, it's reminders of moments where he proved Dean could not trust him.

[blissfulip]

—Legion

On AO3

Priest!Viktor x F!demon!reader

Rating: Explicit

Tags: Priest Kink, Blasphemy, Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Self-Flagellation, Demon Sex, Demon Summoning, Demon/Human Relationships, demon reader, AU - Canon Divergence, Post medieval era, Dubious Science, Church Sex, Roman Catholicism, Catholic Guilt, Improper Use of Catholic Rituals, Shameless Smut, Masturbation, No use of Y/N, third person.

Cw: Handjob

Words: 2k

[A/N: Happy Easter Sunday lmao, also whoever picks up all of the 'easter eggs' (get it wink wink) gets a kith and hug from me (let me know if you want to be tagged or removed in future fic updates!)]

Tags: @ihopeinevergetsoberr @chemical-killjoy @jinxed-jk @bobobomao @queen-of-elves @thedustybunny @syren201 @thayfass @thehistoriangirl @hypocritic-trash-baby @zaunitearchives

Previous Next

III. 

Viktor stood frozen, the voice that whispered those words echoing against the walls of his head as he gazed upon the creature before him, a figure blindingly bright yet of simultaneously all-consuming darkness. The sight obscured his thoughts and left him adrift in a sea of terror. How could he have been so blind as to believe that he could command such power without consequence? Or rather, was it the naivete of believing nothing would come of it that turned against him? 

The very essence of his faith fractured—that earth-shattering feeling that had become all too common for him that day—threatened by this insidious presence. What had he unleashed upon the world? What horrors awaited him in the wake of his hubris? Viktor trembled, and his soul lay bare before the abyss, but something sinister took him out of this blossoming meltdown; she, the creature, looked familiar.

And achingly so, yet her form eluded him like a half-remembered dream. Faces swirled in the depths of his memory, merging and shifting like shadows cast by a flickering flame, but he was unable to put a finger on them.

"Do you not recognize me, Viktor?" Her voice cut through the air, eerily sweet.

Viktor recoiled in horror at the sound of his own name coming out of her mouth, the weight of her words crashing down upon him. 

“I manifest to you as a reflection of your own desires, an amalgamation of every soul you have ever yearned for, sweet human.” She hissed as she offered Viktor a hand to help him stand, her touch oddly warm as they both sat on the bed. “Do you not see it? That young woman from the bakery, or the one you always look at for a tad too long while you buy turnips? You don’t even like turnips,” she smiled slightly. “What about that woman who comes to confess every week? The one with the slightly hoarse voice that you love, even that tan young man with the green eyes,. Yes, yes, I know about him too; I am him too.”

“Who…what are you?” He asked amidst a short-lived surge of bravery.

“My name is Legion,” she said with an off-putting tone of irony, “for we are many... or however that verse goes. Mawkishly sentimental if you ask me.” She chuckled and seemed to deflate in disappointment at her attempt at humor not being acknowledged. She sighed in oddly human-like resignation, “I don’t have a name, Viktor, but I know yours , and you know what I am.”

"I seek nothing from the likes of you, Demon, you don’t know me." he declared, though doubt gnawed at him.

"You do, and it is the truth that I know you; your biggest fear is to remain ignorant and blind to the truths that lie beyond the veil of your mortal existence; I can feel it. " She whispered against his ear. 

"You are but a trick of the darkness; I will not succumb to your temptations."

"Oh, but Viktor, you already have ," she purred. "You summoned me here, drawn by your own curiosity. Your anger simmers beneath that stoic surface, against the silence of the heavens and the absence of answers to your prayers. But I answered, so why direct your anger at me ?"

“I have faith in Him; God will intercede in my favor.” He said, covering his face ith both hands, afraid his expression would betray something that confirmed her accusations.

“Yet you question his wisdom and his justice. You resent his silence, you doubt .”

“I love Him, and I will repent; I will.”

“Why? Faith without cynicism is a hollow shell. Will you let yourself be domesticated like a beast? A man of science like yourself?”

The spark of courage grew into embers inside Viktor’s chest at the mention of his work. Although he remained silent, not wanting to concede, she saw it in him, just like she experienced every emotion that grew within the transparent exterior that contained his soul.

“Embrace this fire, and you will obtain what you seek.” She said, gently laying a hand over Viktor’s. 

His shoulders slumped in resignation, but even as he acquiesced to her demands, a seed of guilt still remained. What would God think of him now for consorting with a creature of darkness? Would he be cast aside and condemned for eternity for his folly?

"What do you fear, judgement?” Viktor nodded.

“Your god is nothing but an egregore," she declared, her voice a whisper. "A figment of mortal imagination, born from the collective beliefs of humanity, he only has power over you if you allow it."

“God is my shepherd, He…” He started to recite, but his voice betrayed him.

“Yahweh, Tetragrammaton, Adonai, El, Elohim, Shaddai, Tzevaot… it does not matter who you so fervently pray to! Ancient egregores hold no power over the ancient gods.” She started saying in a firm tone, her volume high in affront. “And you, my sweet, are so unfortunately Christ hunted…a lot of work to be done.” She continued, her voice tuning back down to her previously silky tone.

Viktor's breath caught in his throat, but simultaneously, the weight of her words lifted a heavy chain that had previously hung around his neck. Although this—his God’s identity and how much power He held—seemed to be a point of contention between him and his conscience, every word she uttered seemed to confirm things he had been long thinking about. But the smell of culpability Viktor emanated was pungent, and what she saw in his heart was a whirlwind.

She was proud that he had let himself be guided by his urges, that he had, even if only for a small moment, felt true freedom in pleasure. She felt his fear when he remembered he would need to face father Isidore and then she felt his rage. He felt so strongly against him that for a second she imagined he would be nothing short of a monster, his robust yet sweet face was an interesting sight to find framed in Viktor’s memory. 

She felt sympathy and sadness and confusion, she felt worried for the young girl with the twin braids just like Viktor had, and felt intrigued as to how she had come in possession of her coin, but what mattered most to her in that moment was one problematic sensation; despondency. Viktor was close to giving up, he had nearly decided rage was useless and so was science.

“Let’s begin by working on the heavy guilt you carry.” She said, after a long silence. Viktor noticed an unsettling tenderness in her eyes when he, for the first time, looked directly into them. 

“I made a vow.” He answered, his voice breaking as it turned into a whisper.

"Do not let the chains of guilt bind you, Viktor," she murmured. "The church may preach of purity and righteousness, but it is built upon a foundation of hypocrisy, and you don’t need me to tell you as much.”

“I know of the behavior of some members of the clergy, but why should...”

“I don’t speak of individual transgressions; the church as an institution seeks to negate eroticism and sexuality, yet it embraces them in its most sacred rites.”

The deeply puzzled expression in Viktor’s face prompted her to elaborate.

“Think about the things you do during sacrament; think of the smell of incense, the touching of beads, the kissing of sacred objects, the rubbing of oils... Think about consuming the physical body of the idol you adore, and think about what it makes you feel—enlightenment, apotheosis. Remember the deep pleasure you extracted from the pain of self-penitence? It’s nearly devine, is it not? That necessity to envelop all senses?” 

Viktor nodded.

“And that feeling you get of being close to god in a way that nothing else will get you to—that sensation of being outside the perception of time and space—have you experienced it?”

“I have, in prayer.”

“Can I show you what true ecstasy feels like? One that starts and culminates in yourself without any divine intervention? 

And once again, Viktor simply nodded. The air crackled with a tension thick enough to suffocate him, his breath shallow and rapid. A rush of anticipation surged through him, mingling with a primal curiosity that threatened to consume him whole as she slithered behind him. The shift of weight on the mattress gave him a strange awareness of the materiality of what was taking place, and the hot breath on the left side of his neck caused the last string of sanity holding him together to loosen. 

For a second, he wondered if she was nothing but a very sly yet human woman that had somehow found a way into his room, but that idea was quickly quenched as both of her hands slowly glided along the sides of his still-clothed thighs, emanating that unnatural white glow that was clearly not of mortal nature. 

Her touch was delicate and warm, her nails slowly creeping up to the hem of his cassock as she pulled it up to reveal the trousers underneath. If Viktor had any idea of what she planned on doing, he would have been of more help, adjusting to make his clothing easier to remove, but unaware of what awaited him, he sat there immobile. 

After some mild struggle, she managed to get to the stubborn clasp, and the slight accidental touches ignited a fire within Viktor's veins, sending tendrils of heat coursing through his body. Soon enough, there was nothing in between them, and the cold air that came into contact with the streak of viscosity that had dampened his underpants sent goosebumps across his arms. 

She hadn’t even made her way to his cock yet, but with each gentle caress around his stomach and thighs, Viktor's senses were heightened to a fever pitch, his body aflame with a hunger that burned brighter than any candle. With the first feather touch along his shaft, he felt as if he were teetering on the edge of a precipice, poised on the brink of a pleasure so exquisite it bordered on agony. 

And then, with a slow and deliberate motion, her hand closed around him, sending shockwaves of ecstasy racing through every fiber of his being. A guttural moan escaped his lips as she began to move, her rhythm mechanic and intoxicating. With every teasing stroke, Viktor's breath hitched, his body responding eagerly to her touch. 

"Ah…God!" he gasped, his voice a hoarse whisper of longing. 

She froze on her tracks, drawing out a protesting whine from Viktor. “Do not call upon his name now; at this moment, you belong to me .” She spoke, her voice still sweet but laced with a tinge of resentment.

Viktor's mind swam in a haze, his thoughts fragmented and disjointed as he desperately nodded in agreement, before she resumed the pace of her moment. And then Viktor felt himself hurtling his head back onto her shoulder, his world reduced to nothing. She gently removed the sweat-drenched pieces of hair from his forehead and whispered words in a language he could not understand while her hand continued its path down to his neck and back. 

 For a second, he felt a reminder of the stinging pain on his shoulder blades, and then it faded. As he reached the climax of his arousal, he cried out desperate pleas, only this time to her and himself, finally surrendering to this intoxicating embrace. After letting him breathe for a while, she took one of his hands in hers and placed the copper coin on it. Viktor knew he was bound to her now.

And in that moment, there was no room for guilt or shame, only the unquenchable thirst for more.

[going-to-ikea-for-the-fries]

I'm sorry for the way I acted and spoke.

No ifs, and, or buts about it. Not gonna try to justify the way I acted.

I was aggressive and uncouth, and I know I definitely hurt people, if nothing else, by being aggressive.

I didn't mean to start a "witch hunt" on any of the blogs involved in the screenshot post, including @soapskneebrace , @groguspicklejar and @glossysoap .

But I know that I *am* guilty of causing a commotion and causing people to view those blogs in a bad light.

I deeply regret the fact I was aggressive, that I caused a commotion/"witch hunt" and that I basically "broadcasted" a bad image of these blogs to my followers (and anyone else who saw my account/posts on the dashboard).

That was wrong of me and I won't try to justify it for any reason. I was blinded by my hurt, but that doesn't make what I did any better, nor does it suddenly make me innocent.

This makes me a gigantic hypocrite, because I did not realize, in my anger/revolt, that I was guilty of doing to these blogs the same thing I was accusing them of doing to Myka.

I apologize if my actions caused anyone to go harass any of the three of you and, especially, the ones that have had to turn off their anon asks, because I assume you got some hate as well. I didn't intend to encourage anyone to speak to you in a disrespectful way, if that was the case.

I don't think any of the blogs involved are bad people. I don't think they're evil. I only wanted them to recognize a bad behavior. Their behavior doesn't suddenly make them bad people. They made a mistake. And I don't want any one of them to think I believe they're a bad person.

My actions came from a place of hurt, worry, and, especially, frustration, at the belief that someone (Myka) who was already not doing well mentally was shown so much disgust and hatred that they were driven to a point of harming themselves for it.

Not just that, but it also frightened me, very much so, to see people be so callous about someone taking their life. I felt like those blogs should take accountability because realistically their actions still hurt another human being. But that doesn't mean they/you deserve harassment or to be treated poorly.

I would also like to add that Gaz erasure *is* a real thing and I whole-heartedly agree that there are plenty of situations of that in the fandom. Have seen them myself and even Activision often excludes Gaz from their own materials. I don't support Gaz erasure in any way.

My hashtag was in poor taste and I know it can and likely will be taken out of context. I enjoy Gaz as a character, love him, and did not intend to ever make it seem like I ever believed Gaz erasure didn't exist. My hashtag, however, spreads a harmful narrative and viewpoint that I don't believe. That is not what I meant when I used it but it is what ended up happening, and for that I'm deeply ashamed.

All I was trying to do with the hashtag was call attention to the misinterpretation of the original post, because it was never meant to exclude Gaz in the first place. The hashtag wasn't meant to say Gaz erasure doesn't exist.

I understand how disgusting that tag is and how easily it can/will be misconstrued, as well as the fact it will give way for bad people to say bad/toxic things about Gaz as a character. I will be deleting the hashtag off all my posts and I appreciate wholeheartedly that you all called me out on my use of that hashtag. You were all correct, and my behavior was wrong.

That being said, I try to be an honest person. I'm not gonna delete any of the posts I made, nor any of the asks I've answered, much less the first post I made explaining my actions. I don't think it would be fair or right of me to delete them and wash my hands of them or act like it didn't happen. I want to be held accountable for this. It happened, I'm sorry, and I'm not going to delete them and hide.

Finally, you're free to call me gullible for believing sheheal when it comes to Myka's death, and I will embrace that, because I'd rather have stood by them and have it be proven to not be true/be a hoax, versus not have stood by them and have it be proven true and feel like I was complicit in it. I know it's selfish of me to want to ease my conscious or feel less guilt, but I don't want to be a cynic about someone's death or pain.

I hope you're all okay, this was not an easy situation to deal with, for anyone involved and I hope you all have support systems in place and ways of clearing your heads. I hope you're all healthy and safe.

All of you are welcome to reach out to me if you need to. We can discuss it more because none of us acted alone and I don't want any of you to feel alone.

[aidenknow]

Aiden’s Response towards the Grooming Allegations

There have been posts going around in the OFF game tag and its variants by a user named @diehardpizzer (AKA @molochzmeat (formerly @diehardpizzer)/@molochsden (formerly @doodlefortress)), who started spreading posts of accusations toward me (and my other friends) of allegations such as stalking, harassment, grooming, lying etc. For this post, I am going to make a response to the case regarding the grooming accusations. The reasons I focus on this specific allegation first is because 1.) Fort often uses this accusation to deflect their offence after they were exposed for lesbiphobia, transphobia, racism, talking over minorities, ableism, and also grooming, stalking, harassment and mocking of someone’s suicide and there are instances that they still keep doing with that behaviour even after being criticized, 2.) some of the information on the accusations are taken out of context or given with improper or no explanation. This leads to more harm than good not only to me but also to other people, both directly and indirectly

First and foremost, the reason I do not want to resolve with Fortress is because of their behaviour. They have repeatedly been shown to be aggressive and manipulative towards anyone who is not aligned with their ideals or anyone who goes against them. They also twist other people’s words and situations, whether it’s in situations they were involved in or not, through accusations without proper evidence or evidence that has been taken out of context. They would also throw people under the bus with hypocritical accusations towards people who disagree with them. They aren’t a good person to make proper arguments or reasoning with, let alone the fact that this person is a blatant liar that makes poorly written arguments.

I was recently getting stalked and harrassed by Fort (and they still do along with stalking and putting unnecessary accusations towards a minor) after I vented regarding the misinformation and the negligence in Fort’s part of accusing me and my friends, especially with the mentions of my late friend’s suicide and disrespecting his death. Many people have advised me to not interact and instead block them, which I did especially due to the rise of their stalking and hostile behaviour from them. And with that, I will block them immediately if they ever interact with my posts including their multiple alt accounts. No hesitation. They have already disrespected my boundaries despite the fact they are included in my DNI list, and they are doing this out of malice and spite as they admitted to it.

Secondly, please read this post thoroughly and take this information I provided based on your judgement once you finish reading the whole post. Necessary questions that need clarifications are appreciated. Unwanted comments of insult and harassment will be NOT be tolerated.

Lastly, I am not fluent in English, so expect some grammatical errors and poorly worded sentences. However, I will keep my words formally and professionally to ensure credibility while trying to keep my words clear and concise. Additionally, I asked a few people to proofread this response, specifically people who were either witnesses or aware of what happened during the incident.

There are two allegations that I am going to clarify and debunk which will be explained under the cut

TW for mentions of grooming and suicide

Allegation #1: Sending NSFW art to a minor

I had already talked and debunked this allegation last year from this post. However, I am going to bring it back as I am planning to further explain the situation based on this allegation while also criticizing the person who originally accused me with this allegation.

Before this happened, I was planning to share art (that my friend shared with me in DMs) with the server and I was unsure whether or not it was appropriate to share it (the art in question is 2 men making out on the floor with one being clothed while the other is in boxer pants, because that character is Boxxer) since the server had become strict in terms of sharing artwork. I deemed it as suggestive but leaned towards SFW only because of the sounds they made while making out (breathing and giggling only, no moaning). I mentioned it in the server regarding the art and 2 adults asked me to send the art that I hesitated to send in the server to their DMs to check. The 15-year-old was present at the time to ask me for the art too. However, I nodded a yes only to the 2 adults who wanted to see it, the minor’s request on the other hand was ignored.

The image that is being shown is the evidence that had been spread around publicly. The one being spread around did not do the name censoring properly so I did the name censoring via colour coding. The user in white is a 15-year-old while the users in purple and red one are the adults

The two images shown above are cropped to clarify who were the people I was referring to when I accepted the request to send it to their DMs

These screenshots were taken by a friend who still remains in the server even after it was closed down. To the people wondering who are the people uncensored here, EitoFZ is Eito, who was the person marked in red, Ms. Know-It-All is me (AidenKnow), and 🥞 is Brass who is marked in purple. The only user that remains censored is the 15-year-old. The reason I left the others uncensored will be explained later

When I said “Alrighty” to the 15-year-old, I only agreed on the idea of sending the art to the DMs and spoiling the picture. It does not mean that I am accepting to share the art with the minor. I said this because I suspect that there was a possibility that someone untrustworthy (who is still in the server since the server is closed and inactive but not deleted) will screenshot some of the messages and take some of it out of context without proof

Let’s compare the DMs I had with the 15-year-old VS the DMs I had with the 2 adults (Eito and Brass). Focus on the dates of the DMs in the screenshots taken by me

Here are the screenshots of the DMs between me and the 15-year-old to prove that I did not send the art to them. The context of the DMs is not significant for this allegation, however I may or may not talk about it regarding the context in the future posts

No message deletion took place in the DMs since me and the 15-year-old rarely talked in the DMs and were only active in the servers we were in. The only dates shown in the DMs were 16th March and 16th May which were the only dates that were between the incident where they took place. If there is proof where message deletion took place, there should have been responses from her, yet this is not the case as it never happened

And here are the screenshots of the DMs between me and the 2 adults (Eito and Brass respectively)

Yes, this was the art that people were calling “NSFW”, when in actuality it is not NSFW at all, thus the being reason I did not censor the art when I sent it to the 2 adults

Also note that the date from these 2 screenshots that I provided are marked as “2nd May” (02/05/2023) while the messages in the server are marked as “1st May” (05/01/2023). The dates shown are also formatted differently. This is because I live in Asia when taking these screenshots while the screenshots taken by my friend is from the opposite side of the Earth

You might be wondering why I did not censor 2 of the people's names (Eito and Brass); EitoFZ is the person who runs @CoolExposingAcc (formerly @EitoFZ) on Twitter, while Brass is our late friend who died from suicide last year. Brass will be relevant in the next allegation that I am about to explain later (and possibly, in a future post regarding Brass’ suicide)

Eito was the person who accused me of sending “NSFW” artwork to minor that being the 15-year-old. He did see what the “NSFW” art in question looked like, but he ruled it out as NSFW anyway, when that was not the case. Nevertheless, he did not interrogate or question the “victim” to confirm whether the “NSFW” artwork that was sent was true or false. This is one of the accuser’s proofs of negligence when it came to compiling and providing proof to confirm the accusations.

This is the same person who accused my friends and I for fetishizing Nazis despite the fact that he did not provide evidence to back up the accusation, let alone the fact that we never had conversations related to Nazi or the Axis powers. The only conversations we had that is close to that topic was us talking about history of World Wars in general and soldiers of Allied Powers, because military and war history are our interests. There is no point of accusing us with baseless accusations where there could be harmful consequences when they themselves have already failed to provide sufficient evidence to support it, let alone the fact that they provided none. On top of that, the accusers are irresponsible for not interrogating the people involved in the incident especially the person in focus that being the 15-year-old.

To conclude this case, was the art that I was hesitant to share ever posted in the server? No, because I never got answers from either of the 2 adults. Thus, I did not post it.

Allegation #2: April Fools Birthday Art

The 2nd allegation took place in a different server where I sent art for someone’s birthday. This can be shown by the colour of my server display name and the lack of icons next to the display name (unlike the previous allegation where the icon can be seen)

Before I debunk this allegation, let me put in the definitions of grooming from reliable sources in terms of actions related to this context:

Grooming (Noun) - 3. The action of attempting to form a relationship with a child or young person, with the intention of sexually assaulting them or inducing them to commit an illegal act such as selling drugs or joining a terrorist organization. (Google’s English dictionary)

Groom (Verb) - 3. Form a relationship with (a child or young person) with the intention of sexually assaulting them or inducing them to commit an illegal act such as selling drugs or joining a terrorist organization. (Google’s English Dictionary)

Grooming (Noun) - 4. An act or instance of engaging in behaviours or practices intended to gradually condition or emotionally manipulate a victim over time, as through friendship, gifts, flattery, etc., in order to entrap the person in a sexually abusive or predatory relationship (Dictionary.com)

Grooming is when someone builds a relationship, trust and emotional connection with a child or young person so they can manipulate, exploit and abuse them. Children and young people who are groomed can be sexually abused, exploited or trafficked. (NPSCC)

Grooming describes the preparatory stage of child sexual abuse and exploitation, often undertaken to gain the trust and/or compliance of the child or young person and to establish secrecy and silence to avoid disclosure. A child or young person’s parents/carers or other significant adults (including organisations) may also be groomed by someone intending to harm a child. (Bravehearts)

Based on the original accuser (Eito) who provided the screenshot, both he and Fortress included, claimed that this was considered to be grooming due to my response to a 15-year-old, a different person from the previous allegation. However, whether or not that it is true, I will speak out my side of the story based on the screenshot being shown.

When the incident took place, I only uploaded the art there and left it at that. I did this to most of the servers I was in and I rarely talked in that server shown in the screenshot. That was when I got pinged a few minutes later, which was a reply to a caption of the meme. The only response I provided was with a crying emoji and then gibberish keysmash. If it was grooming, there would be signs of establishing trust towards the minor in question and coercion or manipulation that must taken place to be considered as grooming. However, as I said, I rarely talked in that server & just uploaded the art there just like in other servers I’m not really active in, and when someone replied, all I could do was react with an emoji, give a gibberish comment and that was it.

If the staff found this art inappropriate, they should have taken action sooner by contacting me privately or pinging me about the art instead of doing the latter and accusing me of grooming. I do not know if there was a continuation from this since this took place from a different server and my friend cannot access it, but since they focused on the part that is being specifically cropped, I could only explain what is being shown instead.

Fort referred the one on the cupcake as “cum”, despite the fact I did not mention anything that it is, nor have visible implication that it is. The only thing I could say is that yes, it was inspired by the meme, however I used pictures of actual Visco’s cakes instead as reference. Actual semen would look cloudy with white patches and yellowish hue. The one I rendered in the art has a bluish hue almost like water, which led to me personally commented that it looks like hard water when I finished rendering it. For your information, the way that I rendered semen is not how I did for the art that was being shown. Because if it was cum, I wouldn’t be posting it publicly in the first place. At the same time, I do not like drawing unsanitary things such as putting actual semen with food in the mix. Additionally, if Fort said that the one on the cake is semen, then the one on his face would be considered as semen to him, which is not. That is actually sweat. The whole thing is poorly rendered and coloured in on purpose because it was also for April Fools.

However, I already stopped making this kind of art for April Fools to the courtesy of Brass’ passing, because I consider this as something disrespectful to him and it did not age well with the unexpected news of his suicide received from his friends who are witnesses. With that, I stopped making it out of respect for his death and apologize to the people who were close friends or associated with Brass.

——

I really do not like tagging this post with OFF related tags because it will clog it up with content that is unrelated to the tag but since Fort is using the tags to get reach within the OFF fandom, I have no choice but to do it too, along with tagging their user handles of their alt account (@diehardpizzer/@diehardp1zzer), their main account (@molochzmeat, formerly @diehardpizzer) and their art account (@molochsden, formerly @doodlefortress).

As I said from the 2nd point of my opening, please base your judgement from the information I presented here. Do not take into account with haste. Questions for clarification are appreciated. Insults and harassment are not tolerated and will be blocked immediately.

Edit: Already removed those unrelated tags and again, I will begin to block accounts if they don’t have the benefit of following according to what is being said at the beginning and the end of the post

[peonycats]

So I was recently informed that my latest post caused someone to accuse me of posting Chinese imperialism apologia, specifically for my tag comment that says: "If you accuse me of being hypocritical because I'm so anal about tying the nations to their states when it comes to the West but shy away when it comes to China, 1) you clearly don't know how Sinophobia works and 2) I ain't no coward."

Now, it may perplex you how people can accuse me of being a CCP apologist for a post where I called China a slut and specifically noted China's poor treatment of Uyghurs, but unfortunately, it's not the first time I've received accusations of being pro-CCP despite no supporting evidence.

I know I don't talk a lot about my personal life or internal goings-on on this blog, but I want to say this- I'm not completely unaffected by these frequent accusations. It hurts to see me being reduced to my Chineseness. My Chineseness being weaponized to discredit me as a wumao feels incredibly dehumanizing, and it hurts even more to see people believe those accusations. 

To give you my background, I was raised in a fairly nationalist household; my grandfather was born as an illiterate peasant and consequently came to hold very pro-Mao beliefs. From an early age, I often came to verbal blows with my parents (and my extended family) over these beliefs and argued frequently with them over Taiwan, Tibet's annexation, and China's policies towards minorities. I remember representing Kazakhstan for Model United Nations and was assigned to write a paper on the Kazakh reaction towards China’s unlawful detention of Uyghurs. Just mentioning this simple fact to my parents sparked a heated “debate” where they accused me of being brainwashed by Western propaganda, and that I was incapable of understanding China’s actions because I was born in the US.

I haven’t brought up any of this because I’m a private person by nature, and I felt that my posts should speak for themselves about my political beliefs. And yet, I find myself in the position of where I need to bring this up in order to defend myself from accusations of supporting Chinese imperialism, for disagreeing with another person, or calling something sinophobic/promoting sinophobia.

Sinophobia overlaps with other forms of racism, especially anti-Asian racism when other Asians are mistaken to be Chinese. However, we have to recognize that the specificity of China itself in "mistaken to be Chinese" is also what distinguishes Sinophobia from the more general anti-Asian racism. It indicates a designation of China as a prominent actor on the world stage, and most importantly- an inherently antagonistic one. The symbolism of China being inherently antagonistic is what justifies the conflation of Chinese people with the Chinese state; if China is by nature antagonistic then Chinese people must subsequently be extensions of the Chinese government, and every action they do must be politicized.

What are the implications when the fandom gives the okay to depictions of America hanging out with countries that the actual USA has fraught history with, but as soon as China does the same, questions and concerns arise about “making light” of China’s irl actions? That China can’t be disassociated with his state the same way other imperialist powers are in the fandom?

Bear in mind, I am saying this as someone who personally interprets all the nations as inherently political entities. China is no exception to this- my most recent post was parodying an Onion article about Biden and Xi, where Alfred and Yao literally take on the roles of their heads of state. I am the last person who shies away from politicizing all the nations. 

Rather, I am pointing out how China is being exceptionalized from wider fandom trends of depoliticizing the characters; I find this pattern troubling, as over-politicizing a Western nation (like America) does not have the same implications as over-politicizing China. 

The latter reflects dangerous trends on how Chinese people, especially Chinese communities abroad, are perceived, how we’re expected to answer for and answer to the Chinese government and its actions, and how, at best, we’re dismissed as being simply brainwashed, and how at worst, we’re seen as enemies of the populace, threats to national integrity. When we are seen to be “acting out of line,” we are viewed as perpetual outsiders, agents of a foreign regime. The same judgment is not levied towards white Americans, even those who live in America, vote in America, and benefit from American imperialism. 

I witnessed the dramatic rise in anti-Asian hate crimes and Sinophobic rhetoric during the COVID-19 pandemic: I was living in Atlanta during the 2020 spa shootings and I didn’t leave my dorm room for a week afterward. I worried over my mother, who every week, went to shop at local Chinese grocery stores in the area. I heard people spread conspiracy theories about how the virus was engineered by the Chinese government and spread by Chinese in the West as part of some grand conspiracy to ensure Chinese global dominance. All of this, led me to become conscious (in a way I hadn’t been before) of how conflating Chinese people with the Chinese government was frequently employed by bigots to mask their violent prejudice under the guise of “being anti-CCP.”

As a result, being Chinese diaspora is an emotionally fraught experience. Not only are we under constant scrutiny by others, but Chinese Mainlander diaspora specifically like myself face rejection when we choose to go against our families’ beliefs. But despite that, despite me being born and raised in the United States and living with this sort of bigotry all my life, it still cuts me deeply to see someone so quickly accuse me of supporting Chinese imperialist actions, despite me never posting in favor of the CCP in the past, simply because I pointed out how sinophobia manifests. It cuts even deeper to see people, people I know, agree with that assessment, and how I have to go out and publicly reveal details of my personal life to try and exonerate myself. 

It really does hurt.

[sociallyrepressed]

alright heaven forbid I come to the defense of a rich white man whose watch is out of my tax bracket and at the risk of sounding parasocial, let’s discuss the response to the events of today, and how we can change our outlook in the future:

1. The public response on Twitter and in the comments of Instagram are not okay. You are allowed to feel strongly about some things but to go to a public space and wish harm on a person is too far. If you are focused so negatively on the shortcomings of someone you dislike that you cannot focus on the success of someone you do like, then you are only working to make yourself and others negative (“hating ___ makes me happy” no, being negative makes you happy, which does not make you a happy or enjoyable person).

Since the fandom is bad at relegating emotions and focusing on the positive, here are some exercises:

instead of “____ is a waste of a seat”—> try “my driver worked to get into f1 and be where he is, I’m proud of him!”

instead of “____ did so horrible, my driver is way better” —> try “my driver had such a good race!”

instead of “I hate ___ he should crash/leave the sport” —> try “I’m not a fan of this driver, I like ___ more and root for him in the races”

in no situation is it okay to send death threats/imply a driver should die/propose suicide to a driver. neither is it okay to make racist comments about drivers. ever. if you are so affected that you enjoy sending these types of messages, I am afraid no post on the internet can help you because the type of help you need requires a degree.

I bring these up today because of the backlash Lando received post-race, but these types of comments have been present in all of Formula 1 history, and never has it been okay.

However, if you want to hate in the privacy of your mind or with friends, go for it, bringing it into public platforms makes it uncomfortable for everyone, and takes the fun out of a fandom.

2. Context! Critical thinking! Being able to think critically in a given situation is a very important skill to have in life. Things are not split-line black and white. In today’s example, a couple of sentences in Lando’s post-race interview were taken out of context and misunderstood. Rather than checking out the original source (in which he was clearly discussing the misfortune of his own pit stop and how the timing of the red flag was luck) and forming their own opinions, many people jumped on the bandwagon, which is uninformed and harmful. Doing this without research makes you gullible, which is not a useful life skill.

Lando has since made glowing remarks about Max, it’s okay if you relax and enjoy the results of the race.

[edit because I see people disgruntled about McLaren pitwall having Oscar and Lando swap “when Lando didn’t even do anything”. Oscar had a ten second penalty and they need to protect positions. Lando and Oscar are solid teammates.]:

Key Takeaways and Disclaimers: I will admit it would be very hypocritical if I posted this while following several blogs who dislike some drivers, however they are polite haters. But. If there is nothing else you understand or agree with from this post take away this: fandom is supposed to be fun and enjoyable- the drivers are the ones doing the hard work! We’re supposed to sit back and observe! However, to keep fandoms enjoyable and enjoyably safe I encourage hating with etiquette. What does this mean? It means using anti- tags, filtering posts, not using crude or offensive language, and not making comments that would get you arrested if said to someone of authority (death threats, racist comments, etc). This was a very exciting race with an unexpected podium! It’s what racing is about, so let’s keep things fun and fresh.

[lansplaining]

i have my issues with NMJ and i do think he is somewhat hypocritical, however i really think people in the tags of that poll are misunderstanding his relationship to his society. jin guangshan is the 'i use my privilege to insulate myself, there are different rules for me (and the people i like) than for the little people.' NMJ is the 'i am part of the class that made these rules and thus they were designed with me in mind and i fit them perfectly with very little effort, so i never think about when they might not apply' guy.

[gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan]

Where Secrets Hide

Author's note: Zaarius in Husbandry... @sleepyfan-blog and I were talking about... things. :)

Past =-= Next

Warnings: Addiction, drug withdrawal, drug use, making drugs, selling drugs, uh, so, Zaarius can use his Slannesh poison to make drugs. Has before, will do so even on Ancient Terra. Drug Claw Guy comes back into play. Let me know if I need to add any more warnings.

Summary: Zaarius is delighted to find out that some of his Clients are on Ancient Terra as well. And oh wonderful they are craving his goods and have been in withdrawal for a while. Some of them can be Quite Rude, but know to behave when he's the only reliable source that won't make it worse or more interesting and stays in one city.

Tagged: @barn-anon, @bleedingichorhearts, @c-u-c-koo-4-40k, @egrets-not-regrets, @kit-williams,

Tagged continued: @sleepyfan-blog, @whorety-k, @ms--lobotomy @bispecsual @thevoidscreams

Tagged continued: @i-am-a-dragon34, @gra93fruit-blog

Zaarius had intergrated as best he could with this Chaos War Band, it was one of the larger ones. They mainly stayed in one city within this part of the continent of Ancient Terra.

There were several Loyalist, Renegade, and Chaos Bases in this large settlement. At first he'd been terribly sulky about the fact that the rules limited him on his expression of worship for his Deity Slannesh.

However, over the months, he'd met, to his delight some of his customers, souls he'd thought died or gone to another source of Delights. Having some of his more Loyal customers find him again, had been… temperamental.

After all, some of them were quite… complicated in their emotional reactions to their needs and desires. The Cravings that could only be satiated with his concoctions that he makes with his poisons that he'd been blessed with by Slannesh themself.

He'd not been the one to give them the low level poisons, turned drugs that they craved. But, he is one of the Known ones, in certain, circles, to be able and willing to make such Delights.

For a price, of course, nothing comes free after all, and besides, his discretion and the fact that he doesn't put in additives, unless specifically requested to, makes him a… Safer alternative then some of his more capricious and mercurial brothers.

He was humming to himself, he'd been making the next large order for one of his more temperamental, and particular clients. The high-handed and arrogant fucker did pay him very well for his services, the poison he craves, and his silence on this matter.

His discretion and his time that he's owed. He packages the Delights he's made for this particular client in a particular way. He writes the Loyal Captain's name on the carefully packaged and wrapped in brown paper Delights.

He'd found out that the particular titration level that this one preferred went excellently in chocolate. He'd made a set of chocolates in various fruit flavors as a Treat, as well as adding in the Delights.

The rest of the Delights are in the normal, boring method, a variation of rations. Getting put on ration making had been dreadfully annoying in how dull it was to make.

But, needs must, with maintaining his clientele's delicate sensibilities and getting the poison to them in a form that wasn't a glowing liquid that all but screamed the truth for all to see. Honestly, Loyalists could be such hypocrites at time!

All that damnation and disgust and hatred for Chaos, and yet, they can come to crave and need it all the same. It was … such a delicious contradiction.

He couldn't stop the wicked smile that curled round his mouth as his Chaos sharpened teeth would cause base line humans to pause as he allowed himself to chortle.

He's in civilian clothes, as a way to be more incognito, granted he's still a Chaos Marine, and still Very Noticeable, but it allowed his clients to pretend it what was happening was more… innocent in nature than what it truly was.

Hura was out of the Chaos Base, tending to some of the Loyalists for some reasons or another that he'd not been told. He shrugs a little as he heads to the location that one of his Loyal clients had requested, he wait at for the drop off.

He hums to himself a song, an earworm that he'd heard on the Radio that his darling bonded had on while they worked on cleaning their domicile.

He was, eventually, going to move in with his human. But they were still at the beginning stages of their relationship, and they tended to be a bit shy around him sometimes.

As much as the distance between himself and his Bonded ached at times, he approved, even if it made him sulk, of their caution. And it made him preen, yes, he is a very dangerous sentient creature, isn't he?

He is also magnificent and ever seeking Perfection in all of it's forms that he wants to attain. He straightens up as he hears the swift marching of Ceramite booted feet and he turns to glance and gives a friendly smile to one of his Loyal clients.

"Greetings," Zaarius purrs to the Holy Captain. "It's been a while hasn't it dear?"

"Slanneshi whore," The Loyal Captain says scowling fiercely at Zaarius. "How dare you foul this place with your very presence."

"That was rude," Zaarius says, his smile fading as he scowls at the blue eyed bastard, "And here I thought you were craving some hand made Delights."

He sees the way the Loyal Captain twitches as he mentions the word Delights. Sees the way the fire, brimstone, rage, and a whole lot of bluster fades from the others eyes. Zaarius gives him a pleasant smile and sees the way the other's hands shake minutely.

"Darling, how long has it been since you were able to have Delights?" Zaarius coos to the other Space Marine.

"I have been on Ancient Terra for a few years," He says gruffly, clenching his hands into fists a couple of times as he scowls at Zaarius and then their surroundings, "None of the other Slanneshi whores who were Noble Space Marines, have quite the right… recipe."

"You flatter me darling~" Zaarius cooes, almost flattered by the others words. "Now, do you have what I requested for payment?"

"Yes," The Loyalist says with a grumble as he pulls out a satchel and eyes him and the paper bag with the desperate gleam of someone who's unraveling at the seams. The pain of the start of Falling to Slannesh can tear at the soul and be agonizing, and not in a way that could bring Pleasure and Excess in a way that could be enjoyed.

"Why don't you snack on these Delightful Chocolates?" Zaarius says, carefully pulling out the extra Treat that he made. "Don't worry, I have your whole order properly made into rations for you. But since this is the first time, in what seems like a long time, since you've tasted Delight, I thought something excessively delicious would help."

The Loyalist stares at him sharply, assessingly as he looks between the box of chocolates and the surrounding area, and at the descreetely packaged brown paper bag full of Delights. He huffs a sigh and shoves a hand out for the box of homemade Delightful chocolates.

"Now, now," Zaarius tutted, "what do we say before taking something?"

"Give it Whore," the Loyalist Captain snarls at him.

"Hm.. Cute, but no," Zaarius says shakingh his head, "Some manners are in order, darling one."

He sees the way the other grinds his teeth and the way his ears go a charming bright red as his stone face gives away nothing, although his blue eyes darken with rage as the Captain huffs out, "please give me what I ordered.'

Zaarius hands over the box of Delightful chocolates with another grin, "See, was that so hard?"

He gets a steely eyed glare as the other opens up the box of chocolate and swiftly eats one of the chocolates. Zaarius sees the way the other's body posture relaxes, the subtle shaking and trembling subsiding and he seems to stabilize with a relieved sigh.

"Feeling better, darling?" Zaarius asks with a coo in his voice.

The other Space Marine glares at him again, and he only chuckles at the other. He continues to look over the satchel of requested payment, seeing everything is in order. He carefully hands over the rest of the Order of Delights that the Loyal Captain had ordered. Zaarius had been told by some of the other brothers and cousins who have been on Terra for a lot longer that Falling to Chaos can still happen on Ancient Terra, but it was much harder, and the process as a result was much slower.

Zaarius wondered just how much more perfect and interesting this particular Captain was going to become as his slow desent into Slaanesh's embrace happened. He alos wonders if anyone has noticed that this bastard is falling, while it has been slowed, it is still happening. Some had hypothesized that there might be a way to stop The Fall, at least on Ancient Terra.

Not that he's seen or heard of such a thing happening. but one of the many oddities and curiousities that is being upon Ancient Holy Terra. He calls out to the Captain, "make sure to send be a Vox message when you need your next dose. I usually reside within this city for large cycles of time."

"That is good to know," The Captain says his back turned to him, "As you know, I am part of a wandering band of Loyalists."

"You know," Zaarius says slyly, voice like silk and sin, "If you have some brothers in that band who are Curious, allow them a taste of the Delightful chocolate. I'd be willing to give you, and anyone you recommend for my… Services a discount."

"I am not desperate," The Captain snarls, "And I won't allow your disgusting Chaos Taint to twist those of weaker wills."

"Very well then," Zaarius says with a shrug, "It is still an offer on the table, you only need to be bold enough to sieze is darling."

The Captain gives him one, last snarl and parting words that are rude, vicious and cruel. Likely to make the loyalist feel better about going to a Slanneshi cock whore puppet for something that he definingly is addicted to but is pretending that he isn't for his own peace of mind. Or something. Over the next several days he greets some more of his clients, and they are more or less the same amount of polite to him as that Dear Captain was. None are so highly ranked as Him. But they are still wonderful souls that are starting to walk the path to Excessive Delights that is the Fall to the youngest of the Four.

[authormars]

Rant!

Don't read this if you don't want to. I am just very angry and needed to get my feelings out. It has nothing to do with Dialuci or headcanons like my normal content, it is simply me being angry at an anon.

If you want to read more, don't say I didn't warn you

The Barbatos Gossip Section is so funny to me. I like to yell my thoughts into the void there, but recently people have been blowing up about people complaining about there not being a whole lot of x male reader content (I am one of those complainers, but look at the tag fam. It's almost all women)

People kept saying "It's an otome game! It's for women" and people fought back saying "MC is genderless for a reason! They're inclusive!" (A point I totally agree with, as a masc person)

The thing that genuinely pisses me off though is the point of "You want to see it, go write it yourself" and I know it's stupid to get pissed over, but it seriously does, as a writer myself.

Some people just want to see representations of themselves in fanfiction, the place we go for representation when the og media doesn't give us that! Some people don't have the luxury of being able to write! A very close friend of mine has dysgraphia, in which they basically cannot write or keep a coherent story in their head. Some people don't have the time to write! Some people want to have a story with a reader that is male and that is hard to find in the x reader tag, especially with characters like Lucifer (I know from experience)

Also, the Barbatos Gossip Section is a place to complain! Stop getting on people's backs for complaining there! A particular anon called it, and I'm quoting directly here, "Look, I understand that OM mc is genderless, but I see those who complain about there being way too many female mc content. They need to realize how hypocritical they’re being. They’re acting like the mc has to only be gn, or male, and when they are gn they have to be masculine. Yet, when there is female mc, or the gn mc is feminine they get offended, and complain."

When has anyone ever gotten mad at this? Most of the people, including myself, understand that x female reader is always going to be common. The only thing we ask is that more people make MC more inclusive (for example, when writing a GN!MCxCharacter smut, doing two chapters for people with either parts, which I have seen done before)

They also called those people mysogynistic. They said, quoting from the post, "To those that do that, you give off heavy misogynistic vibes. Like being male is okay, but being female is the end all. The mc can be who the player is, how is that hard to comprehend for you."

The thing that pisses me off most of all, however, was how they ended it. "Lastly, Otome games are created for girls/women. Be grateful that there are games like OM that has a genderless mc." The arrogance of this anon alone pisses me off to no level. She acts (I can say that, based on the ask where she implied she was female) like all the masc people in the community don't matter.

The link is here for people who don't want to be searching for the post

Don't mind my rant, this ask just pissed me off to no end.

Please don't send hate to this person if you find out who she is. I am merely one very angry masc obey me fan who hates when people say things that aren't true.

If it pleases you, write/read x female reader fics. If you want, write/read x male reader fics. If x gender neutral reader is your jam, read it! I'm not here to police anyone's actions. I merely want to say that I, personally, desperately crave bottom Mammon fics :p

I'm a whore for bottom brothers

[purgemarchlockdown]

...the more I think about it the more I actually do get bothered with the Amane voting discourse on the end of the guilty voters.

Not even cause their voting guilty. Like- I don't care too much about that really, vote how you want and stuff, but how...accusatory a lot of them can get.

Not to heavily generalize a group of people, but one of the reasons why I didn't talk about it too much was cause I'd go into the tag and see another complaint about Inno Amane voters being on their moral high horse and being unnecessarily aggressive.

It's why I try my best whenever I talk about it to be clear I don't think guilty voters are bad people or anything. I'm not going to base someone's sense of morality on what they vote on the interactive anime mv series, I just won't.

However...I am starting to get bothered about how defensive and even hypocritical a lot of the discourse can get on the guilty voters side.

Firstly: A big argument I tend to see get thrown around is that "she can actually hurt people stop treating her like she's harmless" which...yes, from what I've seen a lot of inno voters (Including me!) agree with that and just find that:

1. There's an exaggeration of the actual danger and the security of a guilty verdict.

and 2. Find that there's a double standard here, where Amane is being treated as more dangerous even though other characters are equally, if not more so, than her.

(A Lot of these people point out that she killed an adult and I'd like to point that it's Highly Likely she used the Taser, or uh stun gun actually and that the attack had the element of surprise, two things that are not present in T2.)

Second thing: Positioning yourself as more reasonable than inno voters because unlike them your looking at the issue objectively and without attacking people...is a moral high horse! That's literally the definition of a moral high horse!

If I'm on a moral high horse for pointing out that her situation with the audience uncomfortably parallels with her abusive situation then guilty voters Should Also Be Considered To Be on a moral high house for believing that I'm downplaying the amount of danger I'm putting the prisoner in by doing so!

It's not like both points are bad anyway! If someone presented me with information that Amane could genuinely hurt someone in a way much worse than I anticipated then I'll accept that. I'm voting her inno Knowing about the possible danger. Not blindly believing she's harmless (which a lot of these guilty voters say inno voters are doing!)

Third thing: Sorry I will actually be Really pretentious here. Throw tomatoes at me now- How come when we reach the 12 year old abused child that's when people start acting like Milgram ISNT commentating on social issues?

I swear this is a thing- when we reach Amane people start talking about how the inno voters are taking it too seriously or are being too aggressive or again, are on their moral high horse when half the time its...engaging with the themes. Yamanaka said in an interview he wanted to make the audience be apart of the story and everything!

The Interview in Question:

Yamanaka: That's a difficult question... I'm always conscious of emotional control in my work, but in “MILGRAM”, the content has more live feeling to it. So the story progresses realistically based on the presence of the audience. I think I used a different brain than I have been using to create works up until now, I see it as necessary to think very three-dimensionally. I'm currently trying to turn the audience into characters in my work.

It's like pointing out the uncomfortable themes in her story when your an inno voter is the same as calling yourself "smarter" than guilty voters. Which is Weird when those themes Are such a big part of her story.

Or, alternatively, somehow, pointing out those themes means your disrespecting Amane since she didn't want to be treated like a child even though, again, those themes are such a major part of her story!

I was really trying to engage with this in good faith and now I'm fucking pissed that I spent a month worrying about being too aggressive and mean without realizing that a lot of the guilty voters I was hearing this from were doing the Same Fucking Thing!

[blissfulip]

—Legion

On AO3

Priest!Viktor x F!demon!reader

Rating: Explicit

Tags: Priest Kink, Blasphemy, Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Self-Flagellation, Demon Sex, Demon Summoning, Demon/Human Relationships, demon reader, AU - Canon Divergence, Post medieval era, Dubious Science, Church Sex, Roman Catholicism, Catholic Guilt, Improper Use of Catholic Rituals, Shameless Smut, Masturbation, No use of Y/N, third person.

Cw: mentions of Child SA, allusions to the witch trials

Words: 3.1k

[A/N: Sorry for making the bishop so annoying I made myself angry proof-reading this lmao (let me know if you want to be tagged or removed in future fic updates!)]

Tags: @ihopeinevergetsoberr @chemical-killjoy @jinxed-jk @bobobomao @queen-of-elves @thedustybunny @syren201 @thayfass @thehistoriangirl @hypocritic-trash-baby @zaunitearchives

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II.

Noon had started to crack, and Viktor sat still at the edge of his bed, his left leg throbbing with a persistent ache and guilt consuming him as he grappled with the weight of his recent actions. His mind swirled in a tumult of self-condemnation and regret as the looming certainty of facing Father Isidore when he would eventually be called up to the kitchen for lunch weighed over him.

How could he, entrusted with the guidance of others, find himself so lost in the labyrinth of his own sin? It was so easy, too, to feel like the absolutions he offered were hollow, his own inability to forgive himself casting a shadow over the sanctity of his role. And amidst this turmoil, the relentless ache in his left leg—probably due to kneeling for a prolonged stretch of time, but that in the wake of what he had just done felt more akin to divine punishment—served as a reminder of his frailty, both physical and spiritual. 

But pain is purification, suffering gives way to redemption, and penitence is salvation, so isn’t pleasure the correct response after all? If martyrdom is the ultimate act of love, then why shouldn’t agony be met with enjoyment? That was the lie Viktor soothed himself with before deciding to be a step ahead of the altar boys and make his way to the kitchen. 

-----------------------------

His leg protested with each step, but it seemed insignificant compared to the stinging feeling on his back now that he had the rough fabric rubbing against it. What lingered wasn’t nearly as pleasant as before; however, he felt undeserving of making a fuss about it, it being a punishment—ironically—for a self-inflicted punishment that he shouldn’t have delighted in. 

As he entered, the comforting scent of freshly brewed coffee greeted him, mingling with the faint aroma of incense that clung to his robes and clashing with the uninviting presence of Father Isidore, who sat at the table, steaming cup in hand. 

“Viktor, my son,” he exclaimed in a voice that sounded sweet and as sticky and treacherous as molasses, “I trust you have...repented.”

Viktor clenched his jaw, a wave of trepidation washing over him as he felt his judgmental gaze on him. Viktor severely disliked the special way Father Isidore enunciated; emphasis on certain words never seemed like enough for him; he always made it a point to hiss and spit; his lips thinned out and tense like he was holding in a growl. It didn’t match his childlike guise, and this made Viktor weary of him ever since he was a kid. 

“I have,” he replied tersely, taking a seat opposite his superior’s robust presence. 

"It seems, however, that some of us struggle more than others with the concept of self-control," he remarked, his words dripping with a subtle veil of aggression.

Viktor's stomach churned with resentment. "I am aware of my shortcomings, Father," he retorted, his voice tinged with bitterness. 

“Don’t misunderstand me, son. It is never my intention to prohibit your studies or peg your enthusiasm for learning; you know our monastery has always valued knowledge of the great arts.”

“Until it challenges one of your universal truths, that is.”

“Precisely, are you trying to imply we should challenge the dogma?” 

Viktor stayed silent. 

“Tell me, do you think you are above us all?” 

“Of course I don’t, father.” but he did, and this whole lecture was starting to get old. 

“Then you must clearly think you are above sin. So holy and pure that you are able to read such heretic words and not be tempted by them?” He said this as he got closer to Viktor, his face slowly turning beet red: “unde et corda filiorum hominum implentur malitia et contemptu in vita sua et post haec ad inferos deducentur.”

And then he did the same eyebrow raise he used to do when Viktor was a child, and he was testing his knowledge of the scripture. Viktor sighed, partly in defeat but mostly in annoyance. 

“‘Hence the hearts of the sons of men are filled with malice and contempt in their lives, and after this they are brought down to hell’,” he answered as he instinctively leaned back on the chair, the scorching sensation reminding him why it was a terrible idea. 

“I can tell you are in pain; why must you still be so stubborn, even when you are enduring your penitence on the flesh?” 

“I see no malice in curiosity.”

“Even when you intentionally seek the words of miscreants, knowing full well the danger it presents?”

“I don’t seek dangerous ideals; the universe is, and I simply try to understand it.”

“You are lost, Viktor.” Father Isidore’s lips curled up into a grin of contempt, a show of mockery that made it clear his concern for Viktor’s soul came from a place of scorn. 

“Temptatio vos non adprehendat nisi humana, something something, and God will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear and, eh, I forgot what comes after,” Viktor recited, quiet but defiant. 

“To me, you are nothing but a test of resilience, Viktor. If I have to tear you down myself to build you back up as a God-honoring servant, I will.” He said this as he visibly struggled to disguise his frustration. “Come, I would like you to meet someone.”

--------------------------------

As they made their way through the narrow streets of the small town, the bustling activity of the market greeted them. Vibrant stalls lined the cobblestone paths, their displays of fresh produce and handmade goods drawing Viktor’s attention. All the while, he wondered who this mysterious person and possible weapon of torture would be. 

Father Isidore walked with an air of authority, his presence commanding respect as he exchanged warm greetings with anyone who crossed their path. Soon they came upon an elderly woman sitting by a small table, adorned with a meager assortment of goods. Her weathered face bore the deep lines of a life well-lived, yet her eyes sparkled with a warmth that belied her frailty. She smiled weakly as they approached, her gnarled hands clasped tightly in her lap.

"Good morning, Father!" called out an elderly woman, her face lighting up with a smile as she approached. "Blessings be upon you." 

He gave back a smile that could've fooled anyone, but Viktor couldn't shake the feeling that there was something calculated in his demeanor. "And to you as well, my dear," Father Isidore replied, his tone tinged with a hint of forced sincerity. "How are you faring today?"

"Oh, just getting by as best I can, Father," she replied, her voice barely above a whisper. "Times have been hard, but the Lord provides."

"Indeed, He does, and speaking of such, have you been able to fulfill your tithe to the church this month?”

The elderly woman's smile faltered slightly, her gaze dropping to her lap as she fidgeted with the worn fabric of her apron. "I... I'm afraid not, Father," she admitted, her voice barely audible. "Things have been tight lately, with the harvest being poor and all."

His expression hardened imperceptibly, though his tone remained gentle as he pressed the issue. "I understand, my dear," he continued. "But you must remember the importance of supporting the church, especially in these trying times. Perhaps there is something else you could sacrifice to ensure your tithe is met."

Viktor watched in silent anger as the elderly woman's shoulders slumped in resignation, her eyes downcast as she nodded in reluctant agreement. Despite his own discomfort, he couldn't help but feel a surge of rage at the ease with which Father Isidore exploited the vulnerability of this woman for the sake of the church's coffers.

“If I may, Lucida,” Viktor interjected. Different from his superior, he knew the members of their community; he had taken time to know them and had offered his friendship along with his guidance. “You must be forgetting; your daughter has already come to offer lithe on behalf of your family.”

This was a lie, but be it because Lucida’s age was betraying her memory or because she had taken the hint of what Viktor was doing, it didn’t matter. Her mouth shaped into a round O as she nodded at both of them. Father Isidor looked at Viktor with suspicion but did not press the issue any further either, simply dragging Viktor by his free arm to continue on their way. 

A modest house was nestled along the path. Father Isidore announced himself with a drawn-out knock on the solid wood of the door, and the figure of a weary woman appeared as the door peered open. When she saw the men, her feeble demeanor swiftly morphed into visible uneasiness. 

Viktor knew her; she had been at the cathedral at least once, and multiple times she had made herself present at Viktor’s masses in the small town parish. She had never reacted this way to him before, so Viktor knew it was the man beside him who was causing this woman concern. 

“Father Isidore, I’m sorry; I did not expect to see you here,” she cried out, trying to hide the tremble in her voice. 

“Fret not, dear; I haven’t come to collect her yet; I simply wanted Viktor to meet her.” He scrutinized the inside of the house from where he stood before gently pushing the woman aside to enter the house, uninvited. Viktor gave her quiet apologies and small awkward smiles, following close behind him when she gave him a sign to invite him in. 

The woman took them to the other side of the small house; there, the threshold of what seemed to have been a door in the past separated this expanse from the rest of the house. In the dimly lit chamber, a young teenage girl sat on the edge of her bed, her long black twin braids cascading down her shoulders like a dark veil, so dark that if you looked at it under the right light, it might even look blue.

Her posture was slumped, and her slender frame seemed to wilt under an invisible weight. The room around her felt heavy with silence, broken only by the faint sound of her shallow breaths. She looked up to look at them as the three entered, but her once vibrant eyes, now dulled and distant, gazed blankly ahead, unfocused and unseeing. 

“Darling, Father Isidore has come to see you; will you say hi to him and his friend?” Her mother asked delicately as she sat down on the bed next to her. Viktor was stumped; he didn’t remember seeing this girl at any of the functions before or around the town as he ran errands. The girl’s hands lay limply in her lap, fingers absentmindedly tracing patterns on the faded bedspread as she looked at Father Isidore. 

And very subtly, her once empty gaze welled up with noticeable rage. 

“What do you want, sheep?” Her voice sounded so sweet, yet her words were so filled with venom.

“Careful now; I’m not here to take you yet, but I might change my mind if you decide to get nervy with me.” 

She squinted slightly before giving Father Isidore an empty smirk and snapping her head quickly to look directly at Viktor. “Are you in trouble too? I’m only ever used as an example.” 

“I-eh, I’m not sure.” Viktor pondered her words for a short second: “An example?”

“For what not to do.” She scoffed; she now seemed unaffected by their presence, giggling at Viktor’s confused expression, like he had told her a joke. “What did you do? Illegal medicine?” she asked, and she continued when she received no response. “You’re a priest; did you lay with a woman? Oh, oh, oh, a man, perhaps?”

The amusement in her tone was not enough to cut the tension in the air. Viktor wondered why no one seemed to care about what she was saying, but he figured Father Isidore was attempting to make a point out of this, and her mother was too afraid to do anything that might upset the bishop. 

“I would ask you if you touched a child, but they care considerably less about that than they do about banned...That’s it, isn’t it? You—” She said, now wiggling her feet like she had reverted to an earlier stage of her life. “—are a man of science; I can see in your eyes that you know what heliocentrism is.” She giggled her way through those words and looked at Viktor with wide eyes, awaiting a response. 

A tense silence hung in the air, broken only by the soft shuffle of feet on the worn floorboards as the mother stood by the door, her expression wrought with fear, while Father Isidore's features were etched with thinly veiled frustration.

Suddenly, the girl spoke, her voice soft but tinged with defiance. "You can't stop me, fawner," she said, her words cutting through the heavy silence like a knife. "I won't let you."

Father Isidore's eyes narrowed, his lips pressed into a thin line, as he shot the girl a warning glare. "Enough," he admonished. "You know the consequences of disobedience, and you know what awaits you; don’t make an effort to rush your departure."

With a sense of urgency, the mother hurriedly ushered them toward the door, pleading and apologizing on her daughter’s behalf, and in the onslaught of their departure, Viktor felt a small object slip into his hand. Startled, he glanced down only to see the girl’s swift fingers pressing something into his palm and a pair of brazen eyes that quickly snuck back onto the bed, unnoticed. 

He didn’t dare to look, not as long as he had eyes on him, so he clenched his fist around it, as if something told him he ought not to lose it. Viktor's mind raced with questions, his confusion mounting with each hurried step as they silently walked the path back to the parish. As they climbed the small steps to go inside the building, the bishop spoke. 

“She is being taken to undergo a trial for witchcraft, but I’m sure what you saw made that evident.”

“She doesn’t look like a witch.”

“What do witches look like, son?”

“Wretched, evil, hateful...”

“And is it not evil to go against the dogma of our faith? Is it not wretched to seek deranged ideals like ‘heliocentrism’ and ‘geokinesis’, mad, truly mad things for someone who is fearful of God to believe, and especially wicked for a woman to believe?”

Viktor did not answer. 

“God has great plans for you, Viktor. Do not stray from your path, and you’ll be able to avoid an end like hers” He said, punctuating the last word with a hefty—and ignobly intentional—pat on his back. 

The wounds, still fresh and tender, protested vehemently against the sudden contact, each movement a reminder of the agony that plagued him. He visibly winced and took a sharp breath through gritted teeth, doing his best to suppress the urge to cry out in pain. But it wasn't just the physical discomfort that gnawed at him. Beneath the surface, a simmering anger had been bubbling. 

-----------------------------------

Alone again in the confines of his quarters, Viktor sank to his knees in front of the small wooden crucifix that adorned the wall. His hands trembled as he clasped them together in prayer, his lips moving silently in fervent entreaty. 

“Pater Noster qui es in caelis, sanctificetur nomen tuum…” He began automatically, but he didn’t know what he had prayed for. 

When the prayer ended, there was silence.

“Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum, benedicta tu in mulieribus…” He started once again, perhaps a mother would pity him.

Silence. 

Anger burned within him like a smoldering ember. The rotund face of Father Isidore plagued his inner thoughts. How could a man of God, a shepherd of the faithful, wield his power with such callous disregard?

But beneath the anger lay a deeper, more insidious emotion: guilt. Guilt for his own weakness, for his depravity, for his inability to rise above the turmoil and find solace in his faith. With a frustrated sigh, Viktor bowed his head lower, his hands clenching into fists as he fought to contain the tempest raging within him. 

"Why?" he whispered, his voice barely audible in the silence of the room. "Why do I pray, day after day, only to be met with silence? Have I been forsaken, abandoned by the very God I serve?"

But as the echoes of his words faded into the darkness, there came no answer, and in that moment of profound solitude, Viktor felt more alone than ever before, until he remembered the small object he had managed to slip into his robes. 

A brass coin, small and thin enough that he could break it with his bare hands if he was not careful. It appeared to have worn off with time, the original color having faded into a dark green, corroded shade. As he held it up to the dim candlelight, the symbol etched into its surface seemed to shimmer—a circle with small letters around its circumference that he couldn’t read. In it there was a smaller circle, and inside of it, even smaller, a strange swirly shape with five triangles on its flat top and a cross in the very center. 

He knew, deep inside, that he recognized what he knew to be the symbol of a creature of darkness and forbidden knowledge. His instincts screamed at him to cast it aside, to rid himself of its tainted influence, but a curious fascination held him captive. In a surge of frustration and desperation, Viktor closed his eyes and clasped the coin tightly in his hands, his lips moving in silent prayer.

“God has failed me; let this be the time I am acknowledged.” For a long moment, nothing happened. The silence stretched on, broken only by the soft whisper of his own breath. But then, just as Viktor's hope began to wane, he felt a strange warmth emanating from the coin, spreading through his fingertips. 

Like a heavy shroud enveloping the room, suffusing the air with palpable tension, the atmosphere shifted, thickening with an otherworldly energy that seemed to hum with ancient power. A chill ran down Viktor's spine when he felt a small hand on his shoulder. As he summoned the courage to gaze upon the figure behind him, he found himself confronted by a sight that defied all comprehension.

The figure of a woman, alluring and terrible but terrifyingly familiar, stood before him. A surge of primal terror mixed with a morbid fascination compelled him to stand his ground, and then he heard her voice. 

“Curious, very curious.” She whispered.