#in other news why in the absolute fuck does the read more link not work anymore????

[zlut4rina]

𝑳𝒊𝒎𝒐 𝑹𝒊𝒅𝒊𝒏'

Storyline: After inviting you to a party with some of her 'New Friends' things, take an 'Expected' twist.

Parirings: CuckG!p!Giselle x Femreader x G!p!Aespa

Warnings: Smut, Sex w Strangers, Cucking/Cuckholding, Exhibition, Voyeurism, Ciotus, Handjobs, Oral, Anal, prob a bunch more 🙏

Note: Cuckselle has been on my mind for so long, I need her in my life 💔🥀 I had to rewrite this a billion times bru omfg

Word Count: 2k

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You and your girlfriend had a strange relationship. When explaining it to those who couldn’t keep their ears to themselves, they’d all assume. They’d say you’re a cheater, or a bad girlfriend. They even have the audacity to say if they were in your girlfriends shoes, they’d leave you behind. Disgusting, really. Although it doesn’t bother you as much, it does make you think for a while. It’s not long till you're snapped out of that trance. It was your relationship. You could do whatever you wanted, especially with a girl like Giselle.

You're currently getting ready for a night out with her. She’d woke you up this morning to tell you of a party her ‘New Friends’ invited her to. You never met her friends before, surprised she even had any with the way she locks herself up with you. Sometimes you’d even almost applaud when she went out on her own. She was stuck to you, tighter than glue. But you loved her. Sure, you had an interesting way of showing it, but she’s not going anywhere soon, so why not take the advantage.

“Do we really have to be out so late? I have work tomorrow y’know” you scoffed while fixing the silver necklace she bought you months ago. It fits you perfectly, so she says. She stood there behind you, twirling her fingertips together. “I…. You don’t have to go.. I just.. if you want to” you could practically hear the fear in her words. She was so pathetic when it came to you. You hardly even spoke to her today, and she’s acting like this. “Oh I’ll go, just hope this isn’t a waste of time again” You turned around on your heel and smiled sarcastically at her. She gulped and nodded, nothing new. She was so easy, yet so hard to read. Was she afraid of you? Or afraid of losing you? Either way, it drove you mad, in such a good way. Absolutely loving the amount of control you had over her, you controlled her everyday daily life, even when you aren’t around.

She made sure she did everything to your liking, even if it meant going against herself. Because she loved it, from the perspective of an outsider they’d assume she’s was being abused or manipulated. They’d think she needed help or wasn’t in a happy place. But Giselle was in paradise. Most people she dated never understood her ‘desires’ or took it too far. To clear the air, Giselle’s a Cuck. It's this thing where she enjoys an unfaithful partner. This meaning she has a sexually unfaithful partner. To some eyes it’s cheating, is it really cheating if she tells you at 11 o’clock at night. “You can fuck her if you want” While sitting on her bed scrolling through both of your friends Instagram accounts for some reason. That statement caught you so off guard. But you didn’t question her, she didn’t look like she wanted to be questioned either. That night forward you have been, having sex with other people. She knew though, she even offered to watch as well. You didn’t understand at first, but having freedom like this was something you didn’t ask about.

Finally, finishing up your outfit, you take a look and a quick spin to check yourself out. Giselle stared at you for a while, her hand rubbing the package she had down below as she pulled out her phone. “They’re pulling up around now babe” she spoke, still staring at her screen. You smiled and turned to her, linking your arms together as you walked out of the house. Your jaw dropped at the sight of an all blacked out limo. ‘That’s them?” You stretched put the words in excitement. Giselle nodded at you. What seemed to be like a body guard or a butler came out of the drivers seat and held the door for you two. As soon as you entered, you felt your entire body shake from the loud bass of the music, along with Giselle’s friends who screamed for her.

“Hey you made it!’ one of them said above the loud music, reaching to shake Giselle’s hand. They turned their head to you and nodded. “Who’s this pretty lady?” They smiled at you then to your girlfriend. “That’s my girlfriend, y/n” she held your hand tightly, rubbing your knuckles with her thumb. You smiled at her friends. It was three of them, all pretty girls. They all introduced themselves to you one by one after. You settled in quite nicely. They were all welcoming, charming too. Something about them, though, it was off, not an uncomfortable feeling. It felt like they were all staring at you. You even caught one of them licking their lips while looking at your thighs. You weren’t at all uncomfortable with it. You were used to strangers eyeing you up all the time. What really catches your attention is that once Giselle got up to grab another drink, they all moved to your side of the limo.

You were sandwiched between the three girls. The older one with short hair caressed your thigh, dangerously moving up beneath your dress. The girl on your other side wasted no time in cupping one of your breasts. Since there were three, you expected to feel another hand on you, but instead, she got up and made her way towards Giselle, whispering something in the older girls ear before she left. She spoke to her as if to keep her away from the scene behind her back. The two girls messaging your body took the initiative and started to understand you. The older pulled your panties down, while the other pulled your dress off your shoulders. “Seems like you want this doll” The read head spoke into your ear. There was honestly no backing out now. You weren’t going to even if the chance occurred.

Karina swiftly unbuttoned her pants and pulled her semi hard cock out, swinging it around while looking at you with hungry hooded eyes. You gulped seeing how thick it was. Suddenly your hand moved, making it’s way to winter bulge. You instinctively took her cock out and stroked it, doing the same to the other girl next to you. That’s when Nings distraction wore off, Giselle turned and saw the scene before her. She just walked to the other side of the limo while sipping her alcohol. She wasn’t angry or anything like that, this was normal for you two. The girls seeing her reaction, they were a little surprised but that soon disappeared knowing the outcome that could have with you.

While you stroked the other two girls off, Ning made her way in front of you. Her cock in one hand and the other reaching for the top of your head. She pulled you down onto her cock, making you take her all the way down your throat. Giselle seemingly having her view blocked she scooted over just a bit, that’s when she met your eyes with hers. Her expression was cute, but during times like this you couldn’t care less about her. Not in an evil way, just, you were just enjoying yourself, and you knew she was more than glad to have helped.

Ning trusted into your mouth like you were a toy. There was no other way to describe you right now anyway. The two girls you were stroking started groping you. Playing and fondling your boobs. Rubbing your clothed and wet pussy through the fabric of your panties. That’s when Ning finally pulled out of your mouth. Karina and Winter both sat up, manhandling you to get on all fours on the couch. Giselle watched in awe, feeling her own erection approaching. She rubbed herself through her jeans, biting her lip at the sight. The other girls stripped you completely, tossing your clothes around like trash. Winter and Ning positioned themselves behind you, while Karina made her way to your face. She looked over at Giselle who was watching intensely, she smirked a bit seeing her reaction. “You let your girl get fucked like this all the time?” Karina spoke, Slapping your lips with her hard pink tip. Giselle nodded weakly as she pulled out her throbbing member, stroking it slowly with her mouth hung and her eyes wide, fixated on your body.

The group of girls all laughed amongst each other. “This bitch is braindead, honestly” Winter spoke up, Slapping your ass as she did. You whined at the connection, still trying to hold yourself up. Ning rubbed her hot tip through your folds, poking at your clit and sending shivers through your body. Giselle looked at you with such loving, watery eyes as she stroked herself. Seeing you happy and enjoying yourself meant so much to her. Winter giggled and grabbed a bottle of alcohol. She took a sip and shared some with the girl next to her. They both looked at each other with sinister grins on their faces. Karina tilted her head at them. “What?” she said with a smile, enjoying the way the two were acting. In seconds winter poured the alcoholic drink down your spine. As she did so Ning inserted herself into your soaked pussy.

She let out a low groan as she put her full length into you as the drink dripped from your body. Karina watched in awe, a slight smirk appeared in her face as she cupped your chin. Making you look up at her, “Open.” You stuck your tongue out for her. She smiled and slowly entered your warm wet mouth. Winter still focused in the drink leaned over and licked the juice off your back. Setting the bottle down behind her on the table and angled her tip to your tight hole. She watched as Ning slowly penetrated you from below, groaning at how tight you hugged her. She smiled, then spat on her hand and stroked herself off before pushing her tip inside. You moaned against Karina’s length, shutting your eye tightly due to the sensation.

Ning and Winter both held each side of your hips as they thrusted into you. Matching each other’s pace perfectly, creating an overwhelming new feeling. Giselle’s pants were at her knees by this time, watching in such awe. Her eyes glossy and her bottom lip red. You looked so pretty like this. It was almost too much for her, but who is she to tell you how to enjoy yourself? As much as she wanted to join in and have some of you, too. The car was filled with moans and slapping skin, all mixed with the loud bass of music. The smell of alcohol and sex were strong and heavy in the atmosphere, thick enough to see. Your eyes were teary, opening and closing your lids occasionally due to the feeling from behind and the roughness from the girl in front. “Fuck your soooo good” Karina spoke with her head hung back. One hand in the back of your head as her hips swayed back and forth.

Giselle was covered in her own semen, her hand sticky and her shirt soaked. Who knows how many times she’s came watching you, who cares either, your both having the time of your life right now. In her mind she’s just imagining fucking you that good too. It’s been so long since you two fucked one on one, sure she was okay with all of this but she did miss you, a lot. Last time you guys had sex she basically had to beg you, she blew her off so much her loser ass got even more turned on, so of course she kept asking till you finally gave in. In your words it was worst than mediocre, but to her it felt like your first time all over again. You were too disgusted to even pretend that it felt good, you were silent most the time. Soft whines and sighs where all you let out when it git interesting. Meanwhile she was a moaning mess, marking you while humping into you without rhythm.

Now here she is, solo stroking while watching you have the reaction she so wished you had with her. The way the girls toyed and marked your body the same she did, but getting a completely different reaction. Your moans were loud, but muffled by the older friends cock in your mouth. The Chinese girl playing with your clit as your wet silky folds rubbing her thick cock. The smaller girl of the three making you see starts with her large girth penetrating your ass. She even got bold and spanked you a few times while whispering dirty things to you and herself. They were everything Giselle needed, for you. She didn’t know if she wanted to be them or be just like them.

The way Ning toyed with your clit so well made you grind your ass back onto the two girls. Taking notice of this they laughed to each other. “What a whore.” Ning said to the girl next to her. She grinned, pulling her cock completely out then slamming it back in. The force pushed Karina deeper down your throat, causing you to choke. Karina let out a loud airy groan. “Fuck!” She held your head with both her hands now and started pounding into your mouth, her hips colliding with your face with force. You put one of your hands on her hip to balance yourself and give you a little comfort. “Fuck I’m gonna paint this bitches entire mouth.” She said staring at your struggle to take her. She then turned her head to Giselle, who was completely covered in sperm. “How’s that sound?” Giselle still in a trance from the scene in front of her nodded brainless. “Please.”

“You heard her” a large grin appeared on Karina’s face. The other two girls quickened their pace inside you, desperate to coat your insides. You and the girls moaned in symphony as your bodies rocked together. They all soon came at the same time inside of you. Karina pushed your head completely down her length, not caring if you could take it all or not. She shot hot loads down your throat. You swallowed it all due to the lack of air. Gripping her hip tightly as she let go inside you. Winter dumped what felt like a never ending stream of cum inside your ass. So much to the point it spilled out and smeared in her cock. Ning was so deep into your womb, you were sure if you weren’t taking pills your get pregnant. Even your own orgasm hit you hard. Your body shaking and trembling due to the release and the warm sensation filling your insides.

Giselle let out her final strings of cum on herself. From the looks of it she came about six times without properly asking. Even if you did ask, she wouldn’t know either. Her main focus was her beautiful girl painting a new picture for her. Just as everyone was coming down from their high. The car stopped, signaling they’ve arrived at their desired destination. “Your so coming every time we go out.” Karina said to Giselle, a hand on her shoulder as she fixes her hair.

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This was originally 5k but I shortened it bc it was mostly plot 🥀🙏

[enviedear]

hey Olivia talk about Jason and love letters pls

i can never say no to you, not like i'd say no to rambling about jason lmao!! link here to what inspired this <3

swing by my askbox 🧸ྀི

basically, i think believe that jason would be not only the best at writing love letters but also the most genuine about it. to him, they come from a place of utter devotion. in my hc, i think he'd just really struggle with getting his words out. he hates the way they sound, that they never fully convey what he means, that he stops himself more than he allows himself to speak, and mostly, he cannot handle the pressure of a time constraint. even if someone were to give him all the time in the world to open up, his chest would still get tight and his throat would feel scratchy and raw. jason todd is a victim of analysis paralysis there i said it.

no—he NEEDS another outlet, another form of communication. so he writes. he always loved reading, annotating in the margins—now he does it to his own words. At first, he doesn't even count what he writes as love letters. he's not waxing poetry, he's just explaining his fucked up perspective because you deserve to know. you deserve to be privy to whatever's going on in his head. he fails (for a while) to understand that is love, the very crux of it. the devotion to spend his free time explaining what his mouth refuses to say is love in its purest form.

his words are sweet too, no matter what he's writing. he knows his audience, you. his letters always start the same, with the salutation of 'sweetheart' and an "i love you." sometimes, all that's written is a long run-on about how he feels, how overwhelmed he is. other times, it's reminders of how much you mean to him, how happy you make him. and of course, quotes.

i am a firm believer that jason todd quotes his favorite books (modern and classic) so you better assume he's throwing in quotes that remind him of you. things like "what does money matter? love is more than money." from dorian grey after you had confessed to feeling bad about him spending money on you, or "If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more." from emma after an argument rooted in his apprehension for sharing, and "I will live in thy heart, die in thy lap, and be buried in thy eyes." makes a common appearance. you're unsure as to why he quotes shakespeare so much, especially that line—but he's not. he knows it's the truest cohesion of words he could possibly find to explain to you just how crucial you are to him. detrimental even.

but it's not always super intense—a lot of the times it's simple letters. letters hung up on the fridge, on the dryer, in your car, even scattered little love notes in your purse/wallet. things like, "washed your clothes. you really need new leggings, i put money on the counter." / "changed your oil. remind me again in six months. i love you." / "missed you this morning. i'm coming home with dinner, your favorite. i love you."

where other men fail to find a form of communication that works for them, jason todd exceeds. besides, he's seen death once and he's not meeting it again without you knowing just how much he absolutely adores you. if he can't be here forever to give you the love he's practically overflowing with, at least the letters can outlive him. he'd like to be remembered that way—just by his saccharine sentiments for you

🖇️ masterlist | askbox | recent works

[ladysarai]

10 Star Wars Fic Recs for Fanworks Day!

So, today is International Fanworks Day! I saw this post for Feedback Fest 2025, asking for comments "recommending 10 fanworks. Tell everyone why you love these works and why they should check them out." And because I am ~EXTRA~, I decided to make a Tumblr post for this.

But then I realized I could not keep it to 10 recs total and decided to do two posts--one for Inception, and one for Star Wars. There is NO rhyme or reason to the fics recommended here, other than "this is a story I linked to @nutterzoi and told her to go read RIGHT NOW and then when I saw the link I thought 'oh I should read that again'."

Here be my Star Wars fic recs! They are all prequel era, because I have a problem and that problem is named Obi-Wan Kenobi. Recs under the cut!

Trail Markers by @ooboowoonkoonooboo: A modern AU, which I was super hesitant at first, because to be honest? I have been taking my fandom faves and shoving them into Star Wars AUs for the last, oh, almost 30 years. But this was about high altitude climbing! And Codywan! And a special interest of mine is absolutely high altitude climbing and Everest, and here they are climbing Annapurna. (What's even more impressive is that the author ACTUALLY DID THEIR TREK, which. Is probably why it's just so amazingly excellent.) But the writing is fantastic and emotional and the backstory of Cody and his brothers kept me reading when I should have been doing other things. I have not been able to stop thinking about this story since I read it.

New Growth by @outpastthemoat: I was a Jedi Apprentice fan back in The Day, and have a new fixation with Melida/Daan (because look. As an adult, thinking about Qui-Gon abandoning a 13 year old Obi-Wan on a wartorn planet where adults are fighting and killing their own children is really fucked up, and I like the exploration of that). ANYWAY, I have read a BUNCH of post-Melida/Daan fics, but this is my favorite, and from Qui-Gon's POV. He is such a complicated character with a lot of flaws and I love that about him, but he's also a Good Man. Having a Padawan is like having a plant, and the fic includes this line: “No child is ever low-maintenance,” Tahl returns. “You just weren’t paying attention.” I absolutely adore Qui-Gon needing to think of Obi-Wan as a plant in order to realize what he needs to do to help him.

The More I Live the More I See this Life is Not About Me by K_R_Closson: A fic in which Clone Wars General Obi-Wan Kenobi touches a Sith artifact and turns into his 13 year old post Melida/Daan self. (I mentioned the fixation, right?) It's so good, with excellent clone POV (hi Cody ilu), and the tension that comes with knowing they need Obi-Wan to be his adult self again but seeing the boy who doesn't want to be General Kenobi. The conflict that Cody and the clones have regarding forcing someone to do a thing they don't want to and the parallel with their own lives is just. Chef's kiss.

After the War by antheiasilva: It is Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan, so if that's not your jam, be warned. But it's not generally mine either and I love this story to pieces. It's set after the war, in a world where Qui-Gon lived, and it has a really amazing concept for how they defeated Palpatine. It also really does not shy away from showing the PTSD Obi-Wan would and should have after the war. But like: Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, Anakin, Padme, Ahsoka and the baby twins all living together in Naboo's Lake District. Come on now. Bonus points for the complicated relationship they all have with the Jedi Order, too. It's just full of found family feels.

Patron Saint by @andthepeople: SO FREAKING GOOD. It's an always-female Obi-Wan AU, and I am obsessed with how being female does and does not change who Obi-Wan is and how she manages her role as a Jedi Master and council member and General. The relationship between Obi-Wan and her troops is the heart of the story and the love they all have for each other is just. GUH. Please read this story. The ending is fabulous and has Obi-Wan pulling a Jean Grey Phoenix X2 move that just. I can see it. Everything about this is perfect. (Also it's Codywan.)

And I Fear Nothing by @fox-trot: Unfinished, and that is heartbreaking, because this story is so good. I literally read it all in one six hour sitting, and it's another fic that won't leave my brain alone now. Obi-Wan is on Tatooine with Luke, Leia, Cody and Rex (and later, perhaps a few others). It's all Found Family and PTSD and how they all heal and hurt each other. I love it unconditionally.

The Legend of Liob by killbothtwins: Honestly one of the most entertaining and hilarious stories I have read in a LONG time. A photojournalist is posted to the 212th to help with PR for the war. Someone (Boil) impulsively creates an imaginary trooper, and things spiral out of control from there. But this imaginary trooper does save the day! In just about every single way. It's got great humor, amazing clone and Obi-Wan characterization, and a fabulous plot. Do yourself a favor and read it.

Silent (and So Near) by @tessiete: Another story I have not been able to stop thinking about since reading it. It does say Chapter 1/6, but idk if more will be written or not. I personally do hope so! It's SO well written, and full of emotions. Qui-Gon lived through Naboo, and now the Clone Wars have come and he is NOT interested in being a General. Just. Qui-Gon's feelings and thoughts are so fascinating to me, and his relationship with Obi-Wan and Anakin, guh. The lengths that Obi-Wan goes to to keep Qui-Gon safe from himself. The river stone. Anakin's attitude. I am obsessed with this version of Qui-Gon, tbh.

[to speak of precious evenings] by @cillyscribbles: OH I love this story. First of all, the way with words is just. Beautiful. But taking the "Cody and Obi-Wan get drunk together and talk" plot and turning it into this is a talent. It's beautiful.

Every Shadow by @kenobster: SO. VERY. GOOD. Unfinished, and I hope that it won't stay that way, but just as an FYI. I swear, this is the post Zygerria fic I need. Everyone's trauma after that arc is here and they are all hot messes having terrible times. But it's done well, and the writing is amazing. Do heed the warnings, but nothing explicit is in the fic. This is another story I can't stop thinking about.

[prescotted]

here is a huge and unnecessary post about josh and chris because i like to talk about them and i like to make huge metas for no reason: this was technically like five posts i just made into one, so enjoy, fam. some of the hyperlinks link to my writing blog's posts, those are also mine for reference.

i've always argued that josh and chris have this very strong bond. i want to start by saying i absolutely adore their friendship. i think it's so important overall to the story, so any inferences we receive are mostly probably by some artists on the team that can get away with it. especially with the remake, seeing fan reactions now, it wasn't hard to slip chris 4 josh in there but notice it's not like chris <3 josh or chris + josh, it's still sort of vague enough that like "yeah, i'm here for you, bro!" or "i like you". i think it's intentionally vague to affirm some but not really piss anyone else off. chris is a goofy guy, and also we now know that's josh's truck for sure. makes sense. it's been there a while.

i've talked about all of that in multiple different posts. if you want to read them: chris 4 josh which goes over other relationships with josh and how i see ships with him, etc, and also is more "fair" and less biased towards "climbing class" or what i now just call "chris 4 josh" (and subsequently all my ship tags now follow that for consistency) bc i kinda like that better? climbing class always was a little goofy for my tastes personally, but they are goofy, so it does work, but also ... there's no real connection between them and the climbing class line, it's just kind of a joke? but i get it, there's not a lot of content, but i am here to petition for chris 4 josh as the new ship name. also ... just kind of weird that jossam shippers don't call it "bathing bird" as their ship name? or actually thirty love is a better ship name tbh. go with that. thirty love. not my ship, but there are better names than jossam, i think.

how does everyone in the ud group know each other?

a question about why josh "victimizes chris" and how their relationship should be viewed more critically.

i think josh has other friend groups and the ud kids aren't his main posse, but chris is his best friend.

i've harped on and on about how chris is the main champion for josh's mental health ... that he is the one that truly knows "the most" about josh, despite josh lying to him, too. josh lies to everyone. he's never been really honest with people, always divulging a sort of half-truth or version of himself (his best self) for people to consume more easily.

also, let's give chris some credit here, because he gets shit on a lot for being so inactive in the basement scene.

but think about what he has gone through compared to, say, mike. shocking, right? because mike is doing so much! but what has mike been doing before all of this? before jessica gets taken? having a great fucking time. he's scaring his friends, having snowball fights, getting catty in the lodge with matt if you choose to do-so or just watching his two love interests have at it, jokes with jess all the way there, has a scary moment and runs, then gets to try and fuck her all before getting into his more serious character arc. this is all purposeful, i'm not mad at mike for this. we need this to happen to him, right? to show that he's actually super capable, cares, and will go the distance. mike is the man you want going after you, no question. he is insane for going so hard after jessica, and continuing to pursue onward instead of going back. insane in a good way. i can see why he thinks he can be president.

but chris ... by comparison? not going so great. he's worried about josh, he's already had to climb over the wall before sam, has had to encourage sam to come, has to assuage her this is a good idea, all while trying to check in on josh, trying to have fun, trying to be a good guy with ashley, trying to be the funny guy, having to go through the lodge because josh told him to with a lighter, gets attacked by a wolverine, gets made fun of all while trying to be fun about it himself, goes through the whole ouija thing, goes through the whole basement thing, goes through the saw choice, goes through trying to find sam, goes through having to choose between himself and ashley, goes through josh's reveal, goes through having to tie josh up, goes through having to go back for josh as the only one willing to do so, sees josh might be gone and dead, sees the stranger die, gets attacked, and then almost dies before he gets to the basement? he is honestly exhausted. let someone else have the trauma stick. it's not his time anymore. he deserves to be more inactive towards the end. he just carried the game for us.

but josh cares for chris, chris cares for josh. i won't repeat all my other metas because this is a new meta.

when chris is told that josh's body can't be recovered? he's all but about to cry. he's had to lose josh so many times. he really thought josh might pull it out of the hat again just one last time. that he could be alive.

i've mentioned i think for the remake both endings for sam and josh are just outright lame. josh because it detracts from his narrative, sam because it's just plot holes for days and is unnecessary. as a roleplayer or fanfic writer? good stuff, mostly for josh, but as an actual game that isn't catering to the 1-10% of roleplayers and fanfic writers out there? bad decision. josh deserves redemption, but the horror of it all is that he cannot achieve it, instead being consumed by the same thing that consumed his sister(s). josh is doomed by the narrative more than anyone else because the narrative is mostly his story and the story of his family. you're not there for any reason other than josh as the player, he's called us here so we have answered his call (to greatness).

in the beta, josh outright denies sam, who is outright coming onto him. this isn't a sam comparison post btw, that's not what this is. but in the beta, he's still very devoted to chris, even more openly kind of too much. in the game we get, that angle is sort of scrapped entirely. josh and sam have their dynamic, chris and josh are best friends, sam and chris seemed to have some implied thing (ik i write her as a lesbian but i am a slave to canon, folks, chris could very well have been her intended love interest lmao), and chris likes ashley, and thus ashley likes chris. we get a structure of intentional coupling: josh and sam are single, ash and chris are the will they / won't they, and then we have the other four paired together kind of interchangeably (ik matt and jess aren't canon, but there's kind of an implied history with how easily they go after each other, at least in a friend way). this helps not isolate non-couple players. it's a game mechanic thing.

but what's interesting is how josh, who has a lot of front-facing conversations with chris, looks at him?

he's always got a kind of ... i don't want to say tenderness, but definitely a more authentic way of being, even when acting. he is acting to these kids as himself, which is why josh is so believable. josh plays josh very well.

he's looking at chris. in the original, it's the same, but much harder to see (model placement, camera placement, lighting, shading, etc). here, it's much more upfront and obvious, even without my psd. josh looks chris up and down, bites his lip, and nods. that's a very specific way to look at someone. i'll leave that up to you to interpret.

and just more pics of josh smiling at chris i guess.

to me, i think josh probably liked chris, felt it wasn't received, encouraged him to date ashley, got mad about it, then got mad at chris for still liking ashley even after the prank, and sort of maybe punished him a bit for that but mostly made chris "his hero" for "his movie". you don't make someone your hero without really having an infinity for them, romantic or not.

chris has always valued josh as his highest even seeing him at his lowest. saying josh isn't on his meds if you don't find all the right clues isn't something was in hannah's diary, that is something chris knows about josh.

i think chris has come to the closest to knowing the real josh. he's the only one, i think, who notices when he's gone.

josh's sexuality is a whole other post, but i always tend to (when i play) go with "women make me uncomfortable" based on how he acts with his sisters, sam, ashley, chris, mike, matt, emily, and jess respectively. but in theory, the option 'men make me uncomfortable' is also correct (and canon). in short: everyone makes josh uncomfortable.

when josh tells chris to shut up and chris just does, i think that really should tell us what we need to know.

josh is great to goof with, but don't piss him off. chris knows to listen to josh if josh is being serious with him ... because josh is never serious about anything.

chris will submit to josh's more forceful will and doesn't seem to really care if josh basically demeans him (too much, there's a limit, chris isn't a total pushover or anything). it's not a nice way to tell your friend to be quiet, no one likes being told to shut up (in a non-playful way).

he's likely also being gracious to josh because of the situation. chris is more willing to "take it" from josh in that way because josh is going through a lot. i don't think josh is outright mean to chris, he doesn't bully him too bad (just calls him a big boy and teases him), but josh can act kind of stressed out sometimes, which i think chris accepts and tries to sort of help josh "feel better" through ... but can't really do anything about it. he's not in that position. he's just his friend. what can he do?

josh and chris have codependency, but chris and josh act very autonomously outside of each other. josh doesn't need chris to help him with the prank, he does that alone. chris doesn't need josh to spend time with ashley, he does that a lot by himself, likely a point of contention, and also awkward when the three of them hang (yet somehow kind of cool, because they keep doing it).

i would argue "josh needs chris more than chris needs josh" ... on the surface. when looking at their relationship, chris i think very much sees himself as needing josh. josh, for him, was a cooler "older kid" who arguably isn't even that much older (chris only moved ahead one grade, he's literally the same age as sam and hannah and beth, like), but when you're that age, even a year feels like a lifetime. josh provides chris a confidence in himself he cannot seem to achieve on his own ... until josh pushes him to. just like josh pushes chris to achieve confidence with ashley in the game, something josh himself says that chris needs.

for josh, chris is what keeps him "normal". things aren't so bad when his friend is around. so he needs him around all the time to keep things from not getting bad.

josh has all these things going on: rich kid, mentally ill, incidents at school, a sort of semi-unstable home life in the sense that i describe his parents as very "presently absent" or "absently present" depending on how you think about it ig. they are there but they are not. josh has them but he doesn't. he's always had his sisters, though, and then they're not there, so he has chris, because chris has always been there, and he can't have anything happen to him, right? that would just make josh fall apart.

but he clearly loves his sisters more than anything: josh was planning to "join them", so he was prepared to leave chris behind, something that chris struggles with. if josh dies, what will he do?

chris is inherently, in my mind, stronger than josh. he can withstand more than josh can while remaining sound, logical, and stable. josh is great in normal situations, but not in bad ones. chris is good at keeping josh from falling apart, but he's just one guy, and josh's problems are bigger than them.

and actually, last part about chris and josh, because i didn't even feel like it was worth mentioning directly but i guess i realized this matters a lot to people's view: their stats.

josh and chris always have the highest stats with each other basically no matter what you do. sure, they can drop a bit if you choose ash over josh because josh will remember that, but ... it's very marginal by comparison to how drastically relationships (and traits) can change.

but josh is always the highest stat for chris and chris for josh (chris 4 josh, you could say).

okay, that's actually a little unfair: what i should say is generally chris views ash and josh pretty similarly, which is interesting on its own, but for josh, chris is his highest stat.

viewing josh and ash the same is actually a major contention point for josh, i think. how can chris view her so highly so quickly (perceived to josh as quickly, it's dependent on how long you think ashley has known them) by comparison to josh ... who has been there since he was like 8. that's just tough to swallow, no matter what context you put on it or derive. that hurts josh. chris isn't meaning to hurt him.

because this is a choice-based game, ashley can actually have a better relationship with chris than josh. i'm not here to go against chris/ash, btw. generally, i find them cute together, i think there's a lot to be said, and i view it fairly. i'm also a huge ashley/josh shipper as well as i like them as an ot3, so my tastes are all over, but looking just at the game and not at my feelings ...

chris is very conflicted on how important he needs to value ashley to him as someone he wants to be with romantically and josh to him as someone he likely is viewing a lot as an older brother / best friend, whereas josh views chris differently (you decide - romantic, almost like family he's losing now to ashley, losing his bestie, whatever, it's different for josh). to chris, he's very stable in how he feels about josh, which explains why really it's what happens to josh or what josh does (not a lot in-game lbr) to chris (as josh, not his persona) that can sway chris. with ashley, it's all over the place, they have such an intentional up-and-down dynamic. it's for us to decide if they get together, that's part of their trope (will they, won't they).

josh is feeling like a third wheel here. it's his house half the time, and he's the third wheel? ouch.

also, i accept this, too: this game is glitchy. many people have reported doing something as ashley and like her honesty will go up for some and down for others and they capture it and it's there as both, so what do we do with that?

for me, just as a writer, that is all game mechanics. i guess it's good insight? but it's messy, hard to keep up with, and not the best imo. it's great for a game! bad for us when the game glitches. but also, again, i think it just shows how people can react to others, how your choices are making a difference, etc.

this is kind of why i don't eff with the stats too much tbh. it's just (to me) not sound proof. if it was, more people would comment that sam's stats are super low with everyone, lowest with mike and jess likely bc they got together and it's in bad taste, and like ... that speaks to me.

additionally, i don’t think chris just submits to josh all the time — he isn’t afraid to like, kind of stand up for himself, but you can tell especially in that year between and coming back he’s more compliant so josh can have a good time. josh denies chris asking if he’s okay, telling him not to do that (something chris probably does a lot). if josh wants to indulge “like they used to”, then chris will oblige him. he lets josh shut him down fast, then tell him what to do (i love game mechanic josh lmao do this so i can do this ok?) — chris isn’t necessarily josh’s submissive but josh is the dominant one between them generally. he calls the shots, he’s the cool one, he’s the older bro trope.

[bizarrelittlemew]

Hello - just for the record, I do not know the person you’ve tagged in your post. I’ve not seen their blog. I found the gif on an image search. It’s also incredibly easy to create a gif from a video clip. So I don’t know how you expected me to know that one individual owned this particular gif. It would have been so much more helpful if you’d have just told me about it directly and given me their name instead of creating this passive aggressive, condescending post at my expense. A total stranger whose experiences and motivations you do not know. I only finished the show two days ago, and wanted to share my thoughts about it. That was all.

if it’s so easy, you should’ve made your own 🙃

OR if you absolutely needed a gif to "share your thoughts," you could’ve used tumblr’s Add GIF function. it’s right there.

listen, i was actually trying to be nice because i could see you were new, so i wanted to inform about fandom etiquette. i also gave you a link to a post explaining very gently why and how to credit gifmakers. but if you’re going to be rude and disrespectful in my inbox about it, i won't sugarcoat it anymore.

i did a reverse image source and found the post where the gif was from very quickly. i even linked it to you and you still put “google image” as a source?! (i see now that you've changed it to actually say their username but it was not like that this morning). you need to understand that the fact that you "do not know them" or "haven't seen their posts" (i linked the post to you in my reblog btw) does not change the fact that you posted something they made and the appropriate thing is to give them credit. i literally did the work of finding the source for you. proper credit is a username and/or a link to the original post, not where you "found it." the fact that a gif shows up in a google image search doesn’t erase the actual source or make it less shitty to reupload without credit.

i don’t tell people to credit gifmakers as a judgement of their character, so i don’t give one single fuck about motivations or excuses. i ASSUME people don’t know how much work goes into editing the kind of gif you stole because there is this culture of treating gifs like they just appear out of thin air instead of being created by A PERSON, usually a fellow fan. all i’m looking for is “thanks, i’ve added the credit!” and not this kind of bullshit because your feelings were hurt by being gently called out. i went into this thinking “oh they probably just don’t know how much work goes into it” but when you double down instead of accepting the help, you lose the benefit of the doubt.

you are also talking to a stranger btw, one who has put time and effort (for YEARS) into creating gifs. the type of gifs you see here in gifsets on tumblr are fanworks. there is a difference between plopping a video clip into an online gif converter and spending hours in photoshop making pretty gifsets to share with other fans. shitting on the people who make them is gonna make them stop sharing and creating, and make fandom worse for everyone. no one likes seeing their fanworks stolen, no matter if it’s fanart, fanfic, video edits, or yes, gifs. but if you’d actually read the post i linked you, you’d already know the feelings a lot of tumblr gifmakers share around this and wouldn’t have sent me this ask

i have several reasons for adding the source in a reblog to the post instead of writing privately. first, it attaches the actual source to the post, which is the main point for me. second, private messages can easily be ignored. third, i have had people ask me about fandom etiquette before and thus take this kind of thing as an opportunity to bring attention to the importance of giving proper credit (and i got a very lovely ask thanking me for it too, so this does help). although MOST often, i just let it go because it’s not worth the energy when people react like you do

i’d advice you to open your mind a little and listen when people tell you that you could do a small thing to make fandom less shitty instead of immediately taking it as a personal attack, because i genuinely wrote it assuming you just didn’t know and i wanted to inform you before you stepped on someone’s toes. but now you’ve stomped all over mine so here you go, we’re skipping straight past passive aggression to just aggression ✌️

[physics-of-one-piece]

Oh gosh thank you for the tag physics, I'll make a post about my wips too, all art of course, but before I do that I need to know more aboit this one:

"I’ll build castles for you, my love (look at me, not my brother)"

All of the wips sound lovely, can't wait for them🫶

Aaaaa, @skullfacedlady I can't wait to see what you're working on! 💕🫶🏻❤️

Oh, "I'll build castles for you, my love (look at me not my brother)"

(sighs wistfully)

This is my baby. The original. The LEGEND. The one that started it all with the Rosinante's Wife!Reader trope. Where to even start with this one? First, I'd like to link all the posts I've made up until now about this fic, it includes scenes, as well, if you want to read them.

Snippets of Doflamingo x Reader in the fic ie first ever post of the fic, the og, the LEGEND

Things Doflamingo does & says in "I’ll build castles for you, my love"

Things Rosinante does/says in the fic + Rosinante’s thoughts before he dies scene snippet

Rosinante’s Crew (Crow Corps), scenes with them + scene of Doflamingo interacting with them after Rosi’s death

More scenes from the fic, including Rosinante x Reader Scene, Rosinante & Law Scene, Doflamingo x Reader Scene

Another Doflamingo x Reader scene from the fic

How Doffy shows acts of care for Reader by providing financially for her in the fic (though this is overall for his character)

Now, let's start on explaining some more about it. The title is inspired by that thought I had when I looked at these two Donquixotes side-by-side. Like. Reaaally looked. They look very similar to each other. Their faces are nearly exactly the same at FIRST GLANCE (they have distinctive differences but a normal person wouldn't notice that from a simple glance). Usually people would say Rosinante looks like Doflamingo, except here, you meet Rosinante first.

So to you, Doflamingo resembles Rosinante when his hair is down. It's only a second, but your eyes completely change for that split moment when you think he's Rosinante. And Doflamingo notices this - it's very easily noticeable. And it fckn... Annoys him. A lot 🤣. Bcs Doflamingo was never told "oh you look like your brother" it was Rosinante who always experienced that sentence. So it's a real punch in the gut for Doffy, including his pride. Especially as he falls in love with Reader. Reader has (understandably) preconceptions about Doflamingo. So Doflamingo needs to break that preconcepted image Reader has of him so she can truly see him. It's a new experience for him.

The fic, originally, at its first outline, was only Doflamingo x Reader. But then I wanted to flesh out the entire story and Rosinante & Law happened, and they became their own chapters, and fit into the story so well, and it was my first attempt at Rosinante x Reader and damn it pulled on my heartstrings.

The Doflamingo in this fic is the Dressrosa Takeover Doflamingo (he hasn't taken over Dressrosa yet at all when he meets Reader, he simply cuts his hair short and changes his entire style after entering the Grand Line in this fic)

Why?

BECAUSE I ADORE HIM. He is HANDSOME AS HELL. WOW. JUST. WOW. And I needed to write sth with him and the idea just came. He still has a bit of his upward spikes, so when they go down they cover his forehead probably exactly like Rosinante's. And that fucks up your mind. It's an absolute mindfuck.

The story can be separated in 4 Arcs, which are for now the chapter titles.

The Marine - Chapter 1

Rosinante x Reader - it spans throughs years of Rosinante's life in the marines + meeting Reader & getting married, ends with him going on the Donquixote Pirates Mission

The Sick Boy - Chapter 2

There are 3 weeks of emptiness between when Doflamingo tells Rosinante about the Op-Op Fruit and Minion Island. These three weeks are all in Chapter 2, where Rosinante takes Law to you so you two can care for him and keep him alive. It focuses on Law, Rosinante's death (the only Minion Island scene for now), and Law's journey back to you to tell you the truth of what happened - with a polar bear and two boys sneaking into the submarine with him on the way 🤣. It ends with Rosinante's funeral and Law officially forming the Heart Pirates. ❤️‍🔥

The Warlord - Chapter 3

Doflamingo x Reader - This one is finally very much Reader's POV focused, with a bit of Doflamingo's POV as well. This part covers the next nine months of Reader's pregnancy, and Doflamingo's visits to Marineford during the weekends. There are so many things here — fluff, angst, hurt/comfort, domestic life, humor, Doflamingo singing while he cooks in a pink apron with a flamingo drawn on it with "Kiss the flamingo 🦩"... Doflamingo knocking on your window drenched like a pink cat and stripping naked while your back is turned, Doflamingo being an absolute demon you should not mess with (but you do) but also a soft three meter meow meow 🥺. Also the best support during pregnancy. Seriously. He's great at that part. Also. Doflamingo's charming smiles. Doflamingo's puppy eyes. Doflamingo's. Fucking. Puppy eyes. Damn him (I say lovingly)

The King - Chapter 4

Doflamingo x Reader - Follows post-childbirth after Reader & Rosinante's child is born, and the next two years of Doflamingo & Reader raising the child and eventually the fall of Dressrosa and Doflamingo becoming its king... I can't say too much for this one cus I don't want to spoil it too much, but... It's good. So good. And is the last chapter of the story with a Happy Ending for Doflamingo x Reader. Also, 100% will try to write some smut for this chap, bcs I neeeed it at this point. 😩

Here is the summary I made for Doflamingo's Part ie The Warlord Part when I first thought this would just be a one-shot (ha, fool!)

Summary: To Donquixote Doflamingo, family is everything. A month after Rosinante’s death, Vergo delivers him damning information after he’d ordered a full deep dive into Rosinante’s fourteen years of absence — his brother had gotten married years ago. And not only that, his brother’s wife is pregnant. Doflamingo does something both impertinent and bold, just as any pirate — he enters the Grand Line with one goal — become a warlord, meet you, and be there for you during your pregnancy. He makes history, stealing and robbing Heavenly Tributes almost every few days, conquering the Grand Line and its underworld — and is made a warlord the next month.

As the pink flowers on the single pink cherry blossom tree in Marineford sway in the wind, so do the pink feathers of Doflamingo’s coat as he steps foot on Marineford a few days later to attend a meeting with the higher-ups — and meet you.

You don't need the curse of his protection or his blood money, or want him in your child’s life — your husband would roll in his grave. However, as a former Celestial Dragon and now a warlord, Doflamingo gains permission to visit you on weekends in Marineford, and not even Fleet Admiral Sengoku can do anything about him as the orders come from "up high". The newly appointed warlord is just as your husband described him as - stubborn, sadistic, enjoys mocking people, laughs at their suffering, and a manipulating schemer. As the warlord forces you to spend more time with him, you realise there is more to the older Donquixote than your late husband told you.

I'm trying to figure out which scene to send...

How about... The first meeting?

Excerpt:

You were about to tell Tsuru they brought the wrong pirate to meet you, but then, your gaze reached his face. You inhaled sharply, the thought coming before you could stop it because of the eerie similarity of the chin and cheeks, and for a split second you thought it was…

Rosinante.

But his skin was tanned, a bronze colour. And his smile... It was all wrong.

That wasn’t your husband’s smile. It was too sharp, too wide, too wicked.

Doflamingo was taller than Rosinante, but gangly and long-limbed like him. He was bigger than on his wanted poster. His hair was no longer long and uplifted like a dragon’s head, but instead the spikes were shortened, sticking upward.

Your heart picked up its beat, dread spreading in your stomach.

Evil emanated from every fibre of his being.

“There you are.” said Doflamingo victoriously, smiling all the way.

***

For what song would fit the fic... (Giggles evilly)

This one, Doffy is thinking this one 24/7

I don’t want to let your body go 🎶

Be my queen, I'll be your king 🎶

We'll be rulers I'll give you everything 🎶

I'll be your king, you'll be my queen 🎶

Unbelievers get down on your knees 🎶

We can rule the world 🎶

So be my girl 🎶

Thank you for the ask! Can't wait to see what you're working on! ❤️❤️❤️

Taglist: @fanaticsnail @queenmimi2817 @daydreamer-in-training

[the-dark-parade]

WARNINGS! THIS STORY CONTAINS... angst + fluff + lilia×fem reader

A/N: Dear souls, my apologies. I have not finished the previous fic yet, and I'm already starting in the next. For the moment, that is paused. Yet again, I hope my work pleases you. If you are not comfortable with this, feel free to leave. If you would like a version with male reader instead, please request it. Likes, comments and reblogs are very much appreciated.

(inspired by @solxamber so you should def read their stories)

Now, the parade completely skips its first destination, and goes to the second!

Part 1,

THE RANT. and how hell began

(if only I didn't read that story...)

-----

"So girlie pop, have you SEEN the new fic going around lately? Like I've been going cray cray over it, and I swear, it's worth it!" My friend gushed, then proceeding to send you the link to it on AO3.

You internally rolled my eyes, already knowing that it's definitely going to be shit. She always does this, recommending you things that are 'top tier' just for them to have 0 kudos or comments other than the one she gives.

You sighed, thinking of just humoring her...

You hoped for the nth time that this wasn't another one of those random shitty fics she found in the sea of fanfictions.

So you clicked open the link.

And guess what you found?

You found the one, the only, (well not the one and only, but you get the gag) the shittest fanfiction of shit fanfiction.

Not the shittest of the shittest, but the writing kinda was.

There were spelling mistakes and bad grammar and usually you would be fine with that. As an experienced A03 and manga reader, you already prepared yourself for such things. But there was at least one. Every. Ten. Words. Or less.

It drove you crazy. And don't even get started on the plot.

Magical fantasy. It's a magical fantasy, you get that right? And by the way, it's medieval. Not that it's a bad thing, you love that troupe!

(live laugh love medieval novels)

BUT.

BUT!!!

Why... WHY WERE THERE FUCKING BOMBS AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERING BLOODY TANKS AND NUCLEAR BOMBS?!?!

Like what the fuck-

Ahem.

Anyways, the main gist of it was that you have the POV of the main character whose name is not even mentioned at all! At all!!

Like you'll think there would be at least 1 scene where it pops out but spoiler alert! It doesn't.

And he's called, what, the Knight of Dawn? The Dawn Knight?!

What kind of cringy-ahhh name and title is that?!

Like okay man, I get that you're being emotionally manipulated by Mr. Humpty Dumpty fatty pants WHOSE NAME WAS EVEN MENTIONED.

"Henrick Istvan" more like a Hen-ick isn't van. Simply disgusting.

You just have to applaud the author's skill for writing horrible characters.

Manipulator, ugly, fat (not fat-shaming he's just that ugly and fat), too ambitious, etc etc etc.

The Knight of Dawn - you're just calling him KOD cause why not - life was absolute hell.

For this guy and his guy, he fought the faes. He went head on to fight the faes and battle in the war as the war commander on the first lines.

He fought, trained, sharpened his weapon, cut down his enemies, maybe some spicy times with his wife, but that was all.

His personality was so...

He forgave Humpty Dumpty for disrespecting and guilt tripping him so many times, so much that you would puke rainbows and sunshines like he was in the story by now!

Classic "too kind and innocent" main character.

All in all, that book was absolutely shit. It was so repetitive, yet you couldn't stop myself from clicking the next chapter.

Well, you suppose there was another reason too, and that said reason was how the chapter flipped to the faes point of view every few chapters.

They were.. much, much, much crueller than the KOD.

But it was natural, knowing they were the villains in the story.

Yet your heart couldn't help but to get drawn to them every word, dynamic, expression and behaviour they said and did.

You may have gotten obsessed with the right hand man of the main villain herself, but switching topics...

And what came next was absolutely jaw-dropping. And not in a good way.

After the tanks came, soon they made a bomb.

A BOMB.

A LITERAL, ACTUAL, BOMB.

And of course, the enemies were wiped out.

The book ended anticlimactically.

The buildup, the plot devices, everything!

All gone.

Man, what was the author thinking?!

And then the story ended there.

RIGHT THEN AND THERE.

From that, you had gotten SO ANGRY that your blood pressure spiked, and-

...

...

...am I dreaming?

This is an unfamiliar ceiling.

A/N: dear souls, stay tuned for part 2! Thank you for reading if you read.

[vaspider]

It seems like you might be having a bad day? That AITA post was a really lighthearted promo and faux links ala Rick Rolls are an established part of internet sillies. It wasn’t malicious and the subject they linked to is free.

You’re generally a more level headed person so I was surprised to see how aggressive you got. But based on your reaction the author is getting doxxed which does feel unfair given the nature of the post.

Okay, no. Absolutely not.

First of all: This is the last thing I'm saying about that post. Anybody trying to continue this conversation with me in any way after this response will be blocked.

We're not doing that nonsense up there. We're not doing the "Spider is responsible for someone else's behavior" thing. I've been very, very clear that I don't endorse harassment or doxxing, and I've also been very clear that I'm not responsible for what other people do. Saying, "I don't like deceptive links, and this has done the opposite of interesting me, it's upset me and made me not want to read this; heads-up, y'all, this isn't a legit AITA post," which is all I ever said, really, isn't in any way an incitement of doxxing or harassment, and it's absolutely shitty of you to try to lay that at my feet.

Are deceptive links (commonly called "RickRolls" even when they don't link to the Rick Astley video) a fun and hilarious part of internet culture? Not really, actually. Most links on the internet that don't lead to where they say they lead aren't fun and cheerful little "memes" (the post wasn't a meme, but we'll use the word the OP used) inviting people to read a free queer book: they're usually part of social engineering phishing campaigns.

What makes the original RickRoll sometimes acceptable is a) the fact that you immediately know you've been "got" because an Original RickRoll is unmistakable after the first time you experience it, b) the link serves as a punchline to a specific kind of internet joke, usually along the lines of "click this link for news that seems too good to be true," which reinforces the idea that you have to be careful about believing what you see online, and c) it's unique. It actually isn't funny, cute, or cool to put deceptive links up online, with the possible exception of a well-executed Original RickRoll. That's the entire point of why Original RickRolls work.

Deceptive linking is a behavior that is illegal in some jurisdictions & is also grounds for banning from a lot of sites, including, wait for it:

Deceptive or Fraudulent Links. Don't post deceptive or fraudulent links in your posts. This includes giving links misleading descriptions, putting the wrong “source” field in a post, setting misleading click-through links on images, or embedding links to interstitial or pop-up ads.

Tumblr.

Got that? It's actually against the fucking rules here. It's really, really clearly written in Tumblr's User Guidelines section of the Terms of Service. You know, the rules everybody is supposed to be following to be here?

So, no, I'm not "having a bad day," except that people keep being asshats to me for saying, "I don't think it's cool that you did this thing (that breaks the ToS on the site and uses a technique commonly used for spearphishing) to promote your book, actually," doubling down on it by trying to shame me by using the fact that it's a queer book as an emotional lever, and now I've got this ask both trying to make me responsible for other people's behavior and acting like me saying "hey, this isn't cool, and no, that response isn't cool either," and then blocking the person and moving on with my life is somehow not "levelheaded."

tl;dr:

Deceptive linking is against TOS, actually.

I'm not responsible for other people's bad behavior. I did not invite or incite that behavior. I just said "this thing you did isn't okay."

I have expressly disavowed doxxing and harassment for years, both because it's shit and because I've been a repeat victim of it.

How dare you, actually.

I blocked the OP after my second response. I'm not going to talk about this anymore. Anyone sending me any further asks about the subject whatsoever or attempting to continue this conversation with me in any way will simply be blocked.

Fuck's sake.

[bookvvitch]

♡ Kissed By The Baddest Villain ♡

Link To Masterlist

WC: ~3,000

CW: dirty talk, heavy petting, fem dom. Proof read but no beta.

Ch 5: Practice Makes Perfect

Today is different than most days, in that you and one other individual have been tasked with pulling the information out of a couple of guards who may have overheard a conversation about UA high school. One person is to come with you for your own protection, the “muscle” so to speak, while the others hang back at the hideout. You get why they need only two people for this mission. Sending in the entire league would be messy, difficult to coordinate, and would more than likely blow your cover due to the lack of stealth involved. There isn’t much of a reason for them to muddle things up that way when Kurogiri can warp them to your location at the drop of a hat. That part is no mystery to you. 

What you don’t understand is why you’ve entered the den to see everyone drawing straws over who had to escort you to the location. 

“Looks like you’re comin’ with me today, doll face,” Dabi’s voice trails hotly through his teeth as he shows you the short straw he’s drawn. 

The others are all quiet, tempering their pissy attitudes, which you mistake for their relief that they don’t have to babysit the weakest link in the League Of Villains chain. It’s not lost on you that you don’t offer much in the way of capabilities compared to the others. Sure, your quirk is useful, and you have many positive attributes which you’ve cultivated throughout your entire life spent in villainy—however, you’re aware that you aren’t super agile, or strong, or even particularly able to defend yourself outside of who you’re using your quirk on. And now Dabi has, quite literally, drawn the short straw and must perform as your defense himself. How humiliating.

Dabi flips his middle finger at everyone behind his back as you two walk out the door. 

He gets to spend essentially the entire day with you now. 

Fortunately, the pair of you are stealthy enough that the guards don’t hear you coming. You aren’t what you would consider to be a graceful person, nor are you particularly light on your feet, but you know how to avoid getting caught. You’ve seen too many others get their asses handed to them making even the faintest of noises trying to get to your parents, so you’re aware of what to listen for, where to position your feet, what to avoid. This makes it so easy to sneak up on these two that it’s almost laughable. They’ve been left out here like sitting ducks. 

Your quirk only works on one person at a time, so Dabi handles the larger of the guards as you work on his counterpart. First thing he mentions is his Grandma. Yeesh. It feels kind of fucked up to do him this way, but he’s not cracking in dreamland, so you’re going to have to use dear old granny as leverage. It takes over an hour for him to finally relent, but it does eventually do the trick. You almost want to say sorry for the things you made him see. Grandma’s melting eyeballs don’t exactly just leave your thoughts once they’ve been shown to you. 

Regardless, you got the information you needed. UA is planning a training camp for the upcoming season when the new recruits are in. That’s plenty of time to get the Vanguard Action Squad together and even more time to plan. The others will be pleased with what you’re bringing back for them. 

“Think Shigaraki will be happy with what we were able to get from those guys?” Your attempt at smalltalk appears to be falling flat as Dabi rolls his eyes. 

“Dunno,” his timbre is smoky and low, “Don’t really care, either,”

He comes closer to you as your footsteps echo throughout the alley, warmth radiating from him to an alarming degree. There’s always heat coming off of him, but this time, he’s absolutely sweltering, leaving scorch marks in his wake. It’s concerning to say the least. 

“You seem warmer than usual,” you say, slowing your pace.

“I just watched you make some motherfucker see his grandma burning in hell and you’re worried about me being warm?” He replies sardonically.

Your gate pauses, brows flexed.

“I'm serious. I can feel you from all the way over here. Did you get hurt?” You ask him, searching his form for any obvious signs of damage. 

He looks to the side opposite of you, pale skin becoming flushed, “No more than usual,”

You grab his hand, leaning against an old brick building to examine the areas most affected by his flames. The touch feels something akin to sensual, your fingers tracing over the lines of his palm, eyes narrowed in concentration as your lips part to reveal the smallest click of your tongue. He taps his foot anxiously, tugging slightly to encourage you to drop his hand. This touch is too much. Too much, and not enough. 

“Quit worrying about me. It’s nothing. My hands just get kinda hot when I use my quirk for too long, and that guy was a fighter,” 

“You have blisters here. I saw you touch the pavement you’d heated up, so I figured something like this would happen,” your brows pinch, “We should really run some cool water over them. It’ll help,”

“Psh. That won’t do shit, doll. Might as well kiss it better if all you’re gonna do is ru—“

The words catch in his throat as you lift his hand to your mouth, pressing a soft peck to the center of his palm. You smile up at him as if you’ve done something simple, mundane, like you changed a coffee filter so he wouldn’t have to. 

“Better?”

He can feel the entire world coming to a screeching halt. His eyes are so wide you’re worried they may be about to pop out of their sockets entirely, his whole body bristling, voice faltering in choked stutters before any syllables can string together into a coherent thought. After several seconds of regaining his composure, he jerks his hand away from you, stuffing it into his pocket, the healthy skin of his cheeks bright pink. 

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s just go,” he murmurs under his breath. 

Fuck. He’s such an idiot. Why didn’t he kiss your hand back or something? Why can’t his heart calm down enough to sweep you off of your feet? Now you’re both heading back to the bar where all of those other puds are going to fumble over your attention just like he is right now. 

One day they won’t, though. 

One day, someone is going to grow a set of balls, and ask you out. 

Dabi’s eyes linger along your body, taking in the curve of your waist, the way you look in those leggings you’ve poured yourself into. Goddamn. If a member of the league doesn’t ask you out, someone on the street sure as hell will. 

“Hey. Yumemi,” his voice cuts into the air, dense and ice-cold, a stark counter to his raging heat. 

“Hmm?” You turn to look at him. 

Your hair is all caught up in the wind, eyes hazy and aglow, like moonlight coming gauzy through the treetops. 

“Don’t dress like this again,”

His command has you taken aback, a gasp caught behind your lips, the small bubble of air clinging to the roof of your mouth. 

“And why is that?” You cross your arms as you question him. 

He watches the way your hip pops out when you become irritated, your attempts to thwart his comment only adding to how adorable you look. Your lips are pursed and nudged to one side, brows lifted in annoyance, one leg jutted out to keep him from walking any further in front of you. Dabi averts his gaze, cutting his eyes to the ground to keep from letting your irises burn holes into his own.

“C’mon. Don’t make me say it,” he swallows the lump in his throat. 

Just tell her she looks good. 

Just tell her she looks good. 

Just tell her she looks good.

“You… I don’t like when you’re dressed like that,”

Sweet Mary mother of my ass, why is that what came out?

You scoff, “You sound like my father. I’ll tell you the same thing I tell him—get over it,”

The rest of the trip home is silent, aside from the arsenal of screams running through Dabi’s head.

When you arrive back at the bar, you’re immediately slinking into your room, giving a polite wave to the rest of the group. Toga follows suit, grinning at Dabi on the way. 

“What did he do?” She asks, taking a seat next to you on the bed. 

“He told me he doesn’t like when I’m dressed like this,” you sigh deeply, “Straight up told me not to dress like this again. Can you fucking believe that, Toga?”

Her smile bears the points of her fangs when she says, “I can believe it,”

“I just… I don’t understand,” you fall back, exasperated, “I’ve actually asked them if they dislike me, and they’ve said that they don’t. Then they do things like this. They tell me they don’t like how I dress, or jump away if I show any sort of even friendly affection, and they’re constantly fighting any time I’m around. I think they’re just trying to spare my feelings or something,”

Toga smoothes the pleats of her skirt, tossing around the dichotomy she’s faced with: the internal struggle within her of whether or not to let you in on the secret game she’s been playing. Fortunately for you, she can’t keep a secret to save her life, even if said secret is partially her own. It’s a truth she knows for gospel. She’d might as well share it.

“Mimi, listen. They’re my best friends. I know them better than I know anyone else. But since you’re my best friend, too, I’m gonna be real honest with you,” she exhales sharply, eyes glinting, the steel in her gaze enough to cut you open, “They wanna bang you and don’t know what to do with themselves,”

“W-what?!” Your voice squeaks, startled to the bone, and you nearly jump from the bed in response.

“Mhm,” her voice ticks up at the end of her phrase, “Half of them have never even kissed a girl and I bet none of them have had any relationships at all. I bet Dabi hasn’t even had sex before. I know Spinner and Shigaraki haven’t. I asked once and they got all defensive. But they’ve all been after you since day one. I’ve been watching it all from the sidelines. I’m surprised that I kept it to myself for this long, I usually can’t,” She rolls around on your bed in a fit of giggles with the way that your expression gives way from confusion to shock. 

You smear your face with both hands.

“So what are you gonna do?” Her voice is laced with something heavy and eager as she leans in to inspect your face more closely.

“I.. I don’t know. I’ve never been in this situation before,”

“You could always make them make the decision for you,” 

“Meaning…?”

Toga balls her fists and places them at her chest, closing her eyes, “If it were me, and this were Izuku and Ochaco, I would jump all over them. We’d all kiss and cuddle and do other relationship things,” golden eyes flicker open, “But you have something I don’t,”

“I do?” Your face screws up with the question.

She nods her head, “Subtlety,”

“Subtlety.. Hmm… Oh,” your eyes snap wide, “subtlety,” 

Alright. Yeah. You can be subtle.

You’re nervous when entering the den, Toga grinning broadly behind you, her mouth stretched impossibly taut across her face. The butterflies are overtaking your belly when she skips over to the couch, leaving you to your own devices. You make your way to the kitchen for a much-needed glass of water, desperate to ease your nerves after the news you’ve just received. It’s a small room sequestered in the back of the bar with little in the way of appliances, snug, hardly a facility at all. The oven is half the size of what you’re used to and the refrigerator is so minuscule that it sits atop the counter, which Mr. Compress is leaning against, his mask already removed to eat an onigiri.

“My, Yumemi, you look as though you’ve seen a ghost,” he tells you between bites. 

“Sorry, I just.. uh…” you think back to what Toga told you a few minutes prior, wrangling in some confidence as you join him at the counter, “Dabi said something to me earlier,”

“Of course he did,” Atsuhiro scoffs.

He pats your hand, the scarlet of his glove the same as the heat festering within you.

You swallow hard.

“Yeah. He said he doesn’t like the way I dress,”

“I can’t say I’m surprised,”

You look at him through your lashes, “Do you like the way I dress?”

He stiffens—in more ways than one—at the husky tone your voice has taken.

Time stretches on, the tight quarters closing in, stirring you up even more.

“I.. I think you always dress quite well,” he says after several heartbeats, and you hum to yourself, pleased with the red hue of his face. 

With a quick glance over his entirety, and a note to yourself at how well his figure is cut in his attire, you open your mouth, lolling your tongue out to receive some of his food. He knows the drill by now. Knows that his compliance has always been appreciated but not required. However, tonight, it feels like much more of a demand. It feels as though he’s the subservient role this time. 

Atsuhiro pinches the pickled plum from his onigiri between his thumb and index finger, and instead of allowing him to drop it into your mouth, you lick it from his fingertips. His breath hitches at the back of his throat. What is happening? You’ve always been so ingenue, and now you’re sucking at his fingers? 

You are absolutely beyond enjoying this. You release his fingers with a pop, and he grips the counter with both hands, eyes wide and near-frantic. Toga was right. They don’t know what to do.

“Anything else you wanna feed me while we’re in here?” The look you give him borders on smug. 

You fucking love how flustered he is right now. 

God, you should’ve tried this weeks ago. 

“L-like what?” The question shakes from him like a branch in the wind. 

You lean into him, a surreptitious flicker in your gaze, “I’m sure you’ll think of something. Let me know when you do,”

Atsuhiro lets out a jumble of sounds not too dissimilar from a sentence as he crumples further against the countertop. It isn't terribly often that he's left without words. In fact, he could count on one hand how many times that's been the case. But never has it taken him quite so offgaurd. This encounter has been intense.

You saunter out of the kitchen, leaving him there, wide-eyed and sweaty. 

Holy shit. 

Holy fucking shit. 

That felt… really good. 

————

You can’t sleep for the rest of the night. You’re too pent up, too high off of the experience from earlier. The way he looked at you, the wilderness in his eyes, the way the perspiration dotted his brow—it’s too much for you to handle. You can’t quiet your mind enough to rest. So here you are, watching TV in the dead of night, pleading with the universe for more. The rest of the league is, to your knowledge, asleep. But the universe has heard your plea. Spinner emerges from his room, somewhat shocked to see you still up and about. 

“O-oh, Yumemi, hey. Are you having trouble sleeping, too?” He stammers, voice strained. 

“Yeah,” you pat the spot next to you on the couch, “Care to keep me company?”

Spinner shuffles in his place, then nods gently, forgoing whatever had initially led him into the den to sit with you. He keeps himself pressed to the farthest side, sunk into the crux of the arm, hands clasped together and knee bouncing, anxiety seeping from his every pore. 

“What, uh.. What’re you watchin’?” The words don’t come naturally to him, the stress apparent in his tone. 

“Mmm, nothing too interesting. I’d rather talk to be honest,” 

“To me?”

“If that’s okay,”

“Y-yeah, of course, I just… uhm, what did ya wanna talk about?”

“Well, Toga said something really interesting to me earlier,” you scoot closer to him, and he tenses, his stomach folding in on itself. 

His throat bobs with his swallow, “She did?”

“Mhm. She said you’ve never kissed anyone before,”

“What?! Fuck, Toga—“

“Is it true?”

From Spinner’s neck to his face washes in a pretty shade of pink, “I mean..” His eyes dart around the room before he relents, “Y-yeah. I guess so,”

“You could practice on me if you wanted,”

The room falls silent aside from the thumping of his heart, pulse in his hands, his mind scrambling to regain sentience.

“This.. This is… D-did Dabi put you up to this?” He cannot fathom a world in which this is an actual offer. 

From you. 

“No,” you say softly, placing a hand on his bicep, the twitching of his muscles able to be felt through his hoodie, “I just thought that, y’know, maybe you wanted to kiss me. For practice. It doesn’t have to be anything serious,”

“I h-haven’t ever—I—well, I-I don’t—“

“We don’t have to, if you don’t want me to be your first kiss,” in spite of feeling somewhat dejected, you understand if this isn’t how he wants his first encounter with a woman to go. Maybe he wants his first kiss to be more meaningful than what you’re offering him right now.

“It’s not that!” He jolts, “I just.. I won’t be very good at it if.. i-if we do,”

So Toga hadn’t steered you wrong. 

It really is all of them that are interested.

You giggle, “That’s why it’s practice,”

Spinner attempts to muffle a yelp as you climb atop him, straddling his waist, plush thighs caging him in. 

“Ready?” You ask him, patting his cheek.

He shakes fiercely enough that he can feel his bones rattling, barely able to finish nodding before you close the space between the two of you entirely, and he lets out a little grunt in surprise with the way that your body slots against him. You ghost your lips across his, plant your hands onto his heaving chest, his heart beating so harshly you can feel it beneath your palms. Gently, you lave your tongue into his mouth, careful not to overstimulate him. A curse leaves him as you part to see the look on his face, and you’re glad you’ve done so. His eyes are heavy, glassy, almost pained that you’ve separated from him this soon. He licks his lips, tasting what’s left of you, his breaths shallow, quick and noisy as a camera’s shutter. 

He’s a fucking mess. 

For the first time, you can sense the prowess of your sexuality coursing through you, neurotoxic, electrifying. 

“Are you finished, or do you think you need more practice?” You catch your bottom lip between your teeth, run your fingertips down his neck in featherlight strokes. 

“More,” he gasps, “I n-need more practice,”

Satisfied with his answer, you press your mouths into a deeper kiss, one that’s hungry, heavy, hot. Naturally, he lets you take the lead. You devour the opportunity with great rapture. He moans into your mouth softly, tentatively, as if he’s struggling to keep these sounds from gushing out of him. It’s cute. Especially when he hovers two shaking hands above your hips. 

“Touch me. Let me hear you. It’s all part of the experience when you kiss like this,” you whisper into the corner of his mouth. 

“Okay, I’ll—ahh—“ his voice cuts into a groan when you lower yourself further onto his lap, and his hands instinctually grip your waist, claws pricking at the skin on either side. 

“See?” You grind up and down the straining length that throbs in his sweatpants, “Doesn’t that feel better, Spinner?”

He tosses his head back onto the couch, his hair mussed behind him, and ruts into you in sloppy, inexperienced movements. 

“Can.. Can you call me Shuuichi?” The words come out so faint that they’re barely audible. 

You grin, grazing the length of his cock so that it rubs your aching clit, and he chokes on a whine that tumbles from his throat. 

“Does it feel better, Shuuichi?”

He melts at the sound of his name, eyes fluttering, brow tilted up into an expression that can only be described as euphoric. All he’s able to muster up is yet another nod of his head, barely holding on to the ever growing tension that’s building within his core. You’ve become incredibly aware of how close he is to cumming in his pants, so you ease the heavy petting, focusing more on the tangle of teeth and tongue that your kiss has evolved into. You nip at his lower lip, eliciting something between a growl and a groan from him. 

Spinner is already almost there. He’s right on the edge, panting, whimpering, cock pulsing against the pressure betwixt your thighs as he trembles and grips your hips fervently. You have a few options. You could let him cum in his pants, watch him unravel here underneath you. Then there’s the next selection of you escalating things, riding him outright, maybe sucking him off. He feels big through his clothes, and though you’re sure he wouldn’t last long, you’re pretty positive he would be a good fuck. 

Or…

“Well, Shuuichi,” you part from him with a wet smack of your lips, plopping back onto the cushion opposite to him once more, “That’s what kissing is like,”

He clutches his still-heaving chest, hair thoroughly ruffled, his currant eyes half-lidded and glazed with desire. 

His mind having been properly disconnected from his body, he asks, “Could we practice more?”

With great difficulty, you stifle a snicker, catch it in your mouth before it can touch the air around you. He really wants you. It was so easy to get him there, so fucking hot to see how pent up you can make him. You want to fuck him. You really do. 

But you want to play with him a little more before you get there.

“Another time. We’ll practice more later. I think I’m gonna go to bed right now, though. Night, Shuuichi,” you say this as nonchalant as you can, traipsing to your room, listening intently at the way he exhales slowly and deeply to calm himself as you exit.

You really like the art of subtlety.

[alpaca-clouds]

Astarion, Sexuality, and Polyamory

I have not written an Astarion analysis for a bit. But there is actually something I kinda want to explore more for Astarion. Because I actually think there is one aspect that does not get explored enough - specifically in spawn endings. (I do not think it is quite that relevant to ascended endings, because Ascended Astarion is never gonna admit to it.)

I am not telling anyone anything new that a lot of Astarion's arc is about reclaiming his personhood, and also his sexuality, after Cazador stripped his personhood from him, and controlled his sexuality for two freaking centuries. We also do know that for an elf Astarion was still a minor when Cazador turned him. While we don't know exactly for how long he was a vampire, we know it was roughly 200 years - and the official age puts him at 268 right now. So he was not 100 years, which is when elves usually come of age. (Which also explains why he has a name that very much sounds like an elvish child name.)

We do know that usually elves are quite sexually liberal and yes, elves that are physically grown but not considered adults by elven standards will usually still fuck a lot. Because they are fucking hippies. It does stand to reason that Astarion hence had some sexual experience prior to being turned. But still, given how young he was in comparison to an elvish lifespan... The majority of his sexual experience was controlled by Cazador in one way or another.

Ironically we do not even know whether Cazador himself ever directly raped any of his spawn. We know he tortured them, but headcanoning Cazador as demi or ace works perfectly fine with the infomation we are given.

Given that during the two hundred years Astarion was with Cazador he did not have a lot of actually consensual sex, and most sex he had was always about him trying to seduce the next victim to accompany him to Cazador, it does stand to reason that Astarion does know a lot about technique in terms of sex... But - and that is the thing I would love to see explored a lot more - actually does not really know what he himself likes. Because to him nothing he was forced to do was ever really enjoyable, was it? Because it was forced onto him.

This is also where the last Astarion post I made comes to play. Aka how the Astarion romance arc gets a nice bow at the end on the graveyard. It is one of those gamey-thingies, where the character arc gets fully resolved, because it kinda has to - even though realistically it would probably take months for a person to get to that point.

I still think, though, it is an underexplored theme. How Astarion actually needs to learn that sex can be something that he had can do for himself, that can (but does not have to) be about connection to someone else, and which can offer a context to give up control - but does not necessarily need to. And I just like the idea of him getting to learn again what he actually likes.

To me this is particularly interesting because I read Astarion in a way that he links a lot of his self-worth to his seductiveness, but actually seems also very naive when it comes to sex.

This also brings me to the other aspect: The polyamory option. Astarion in the game does not have a problem with the polyamory with Halsin. However, his first reaction is: "It is not because we have not in a while, is it?" His big insecurity in there is: "Oh, we have not fucked, now they don't want me anymore." If you assure him though, that it is not about that, he will be fine with it.

Again, I would in a way argue that there is also once more the "tie a little bow around it" thing happening, given that the game just wanted a proper happy ending there. I am absolutely sure that Astarion is in general fine with polyamory (especially given that Faerûn is not as mononormative as the real world is - so it is not like a super foreign concept), but I do think he is in general just insecure about his own relationship to a romanced partner. Because let's face it: The man struggles with a lot of insecurity and self-hatred, because of what he has done and was made to do.

And realistically speaking, that might well come through if there was something polyamorous happening. (And let's be clear: Anything polyamorous, because let's not be limited by the sparse options canon provides.) Because while I think Astarion is absolutely able to feel compersion, I also think he will never the less always compare himself to whatever other partner(s) his partner has. Because the man really, really needs some lessons in self-love again.

I talk about it a low, how yes, Astarion is the character from the game I write about most - but he is actually not my favorite character. Like, non-companion NPCs included he is still in the Top 10, but more like number 6 or 7 probably. But I love writing about him, because... Well, I love writing about people healing from trauma because it allows me to project *coughs* and there is just no character for this like Astarion. And I do love to write different characters healing in different ways. Astarion's way is probably the most messy one, though.

Funnily enough in my stuff he does end up in a polycule too. But at first it is mostly about him realizing, that Tav still has feelings for his ex-girlfriend. And yes, in the end it is Astarion who sets them up to get back together. Before he gets his own scaly boyfriend a bit later. But that is all stuff that happens more than 18 months post canon, where he got a chance to heal a bit from all the shit. He is not fine, but he is a lot better than before.

Ironically I do think that at some point later on he is also going to get with Halsin. But that might be like 10 or 20 years in the future. Not an immediate thing.

[i-sveikata]

listening to the “do i wanna know” cover by hozier and it’s making me think of your petevegas SO bad im sad now

like god. “do i wanna know if this feeling goes both ways / sad to see you go, was kinda hoping that you’d stay / darling we both know that the nights were mainly made for saying things that you can’t say tomorrow day / crawling back to you”

it reminds me so much of the push/pull dynamic between them and how they just can’t stay away from one another. they will always be drawn to each other from now on, their lives are too intrinsically linked (and they’re too in love lets be fr) to separate now.

LIKE? “busy being yours to fall for somebody new / now I’ve thought it through/ crawling back to you” is absolutely the vibe of the whole pete with the stranger in the bathroom scene. im soooo excited to read it and to have him finally realise the true extent of his feelings for Vegas

Oh noice I haven’t heard that cover but do I wanna know is SUCH a sexy song lmao.

Ooooh I love that yes their dynamic is very push and pull and lol literally I was having this thought about them whilst I was driving to work this morning but they literally have their hooks in each other!!!

And it’s funny because obvs from Pete’s side he’s bewildered by this because he was never trying to hook Vegas at all!! That was never his intention- there was no intention for that whatsoever. But meanwhile you have Vegas who fucked around with no intention beyond cruelty and then literally found out there are better things than that and now wants his hooks buried in Pete so deeply that others would be able to tell JUST by looking at him that he belongs with Vegas. For them first out it’s wildly about instinct and then it slowly shifts into intention where Vegas wants this to be everything and Pete just wants to explore this desire and stare into the dark place and follow it through without flinching or running away. They both got on the ride at different times but now neither of them have any plans of getting off!! Whether consciously or not.

Yes you’re so right they could absolutely not separate now without being wounded by it (in slightly different ways but wounded all the same)

Yesssss that moment is going to be very crucial for Pete finally making the subconscious conscious in a way that he’s been otherwise avoiding. Like that situation forces him to bring his feelings (beyond the physical) to the forefront of their relationship and finally acknowledge that it has a real place there- even though we all know he’s been subconsciously acting on those feelings for a long while now. That moment is Pete finally looking in the mirror and realising exactly what he doesn’t want (with the stranger) and by default why that means he only wants it with Vegas instead.

It’s a very big moment for Pete because even though he is more shy/ reserved that moment will make it impossible for him to deny his feelings in any believable way anymore. And we all know he’s had that escape hatch sitting there ready for a while now in case he ever needed to back out and deny everything and protect himself. But Pete finally taking that step means he’s locking the escape hatch so if he ever did want to end things he won’t be able to fall back on a ‘denial of feelings’ excuse. He’s really placing his faith in Vegas there and even though he’s annoyed by the reality of the situation- still measuring it as a loss and win game, man does Vegas absolutely come in and deliver everything he’s asking for ;) no wonder they half destroy the bathroom stall by the time they’re finished with each other lmao

[harukamitsuki]

I'm procrastinating writing at the moment, so I decided to create a list of the things I hate about Voltron, a show I can't help but love and rewatch 200+ times. I mean. I've been pretty damn vocal about one thing in particular, but I should probably remind people I hate other things too so...

This list will be long, so read more under the cut!

1 - Okay, let's just get the obvious one out of the way: Lance. Reasons why can be seen here, here and here. The first link really goes into the details, the second one is more confusion as to why people think Lance is treated the worst, and the last is more why Lance would be horrible as Black Paladin. MOVING ON TO NEW POINTS!

2 - The ships. Specifically... ahem... Klance, Sheith, Allurance, Lotorance (Lotor/Lance), Shidge (Shiro/Pidge), Shance (Shiro/Lance). Those, in my opinion, are the top offenders. I've explained my grievances with Sheith in a post here. It's not that it's paedophillia, it's the bond. As for the rest, while I dabbled a bit in Klance and Allurance in the aforementioned posts against Lance, I've yet to actually explain.

First of all, the fans are awful. Tip: If you keep trying to force people to like your ship instead of letting them get to their own conclusions, they're just going to hate that ship even more. This isn't a Voltron-specific thing, but it's still rampant.

Second of all, Lance doesn't treat either of them well. He's constantly antagonising Keith, even when Keith stops biting back in season two. The closest he gets to respecting Keith is telling him to suck it up when he's upset that the Black Lion chose him. Keith does try to be amicable to Lance, but it doesn't work because Lance is always picking a fight.

And Allura. Lance is constantly ignoring her boundaries and invading them. There isn't a single moment where they're alone together and they feel like friends, much less pining, before season seven. The only time is when Allura encourages Lance to take up Red, and he didn't even notice she was upset that Red rejected her. In fact, Lance just keeps talking about himself and how he was rejected, ignoring how Allura was rejected twice, and by the Lion her father piloted. Allura also never reacts well to Lance's flirting, always ignoring him and frowning when he does. If Allura, at least, used to laugh at his terrible attempts at flirting, maybe I could try to believe it.

Third, general grievances with these ships.

Lotorance. Lance hated Lotor from the get-go. They barely have a scene together without Lance glaring at him. If they shared some sort of chemistry outside of Lance hating him from afar, and if the writers didn't make Lotor a twist villain for no reason, then maybe. As of now, I only like it as a complete crack ship.

Shidge. Pidge is fifteen. Shiro is twenty-five. You do the damn math.

Shance. I can definitely see Shiro being Lance's bi awakening, if I believed canon Lance was bi. (Canon Lance was straighter than a chopping board, but fanon Lance is a walking bi flag). But them being together? Ignoring that Lance is 17 and Shiro is 25, if you can do that, it wouldn't feel like a healthy relationship. Lance is blinded by hero worship and, from his canon personality, he likely wouldn't realise if Shiro isn't faring well or would just constantly pile his troubles onto him without thinking about if Shiro could handle it. So, yeah, don't like this ship.

So, yeah. I don't like any of the popular ships, which is surprising. I don't hate all of them. I do like Kallura, (should have been canon), and Shallura, (surprising, because I really do like gay!Shiro), and Shunk, (who doesn't, honestly?). But I tend to prefer the nicher ones. Katt (Keith/Matt), Heith (Hunk/Keith), Hance (Hunk/Lance)...

3 - The writing. Usually, I would respect the writers because it's hard as fuck to plan and write an entire series, but they just kept missing. They would set up so many interesting plots and ideas, only to do absolutely nothing with them. This, in and of itself, is not enough to make me lose respect, but that's not all. Plot holes, terrible escalations, too slow pacing, (slow burns are good - great, even - but not when things are supposed to be happening), horrible romances... It's to the point where, for a long while, I avoided the show and only read the fanfiction. There are so many people who don't watch the show, only exposed through fanfiction and social media posts, because the writing just isn't good.

The writers get things right few times. I'm sorry, but if your entire job is to write a coherent, well-thought out story, why did they do such a bag job at it? I'll tell you why - they let the fans control what they did. Shiro was never supposed to come back. He was supposed to die at the end of season two and never come back, but the fans wanted him back so guess what? The writers brought him back! In doing so, they cut right into Keith's character arc and made him go through it off-screen. The fans built Lance up as the main character and fan-favourite? Well, the writers just decide to hand him everything. Reward him for being the fan-favourite and then ruin his character by never making him work for what he got.

The writers decide to pull a J.K.Rowling and went 'aw, yeah, Lance is bisexual!' despite him never showing an interest in a guy throughout the entire show, other than being a big fan of Shiro. They throw in gay!Shiro at the literal last minute with some background character who only ever had one line. Thanks, DreamWorks. It's not like you could've just let Adam live so Shiro could be going home to SOMEONE.

Unexpected things always happen. An actor being unavailable, a sudden irl event making it so the episode you planned would appear tone-deaf, the joke you wrote was less funny and more offensive... So on and so forth. Sometimes you have no choice but to change what you have planned because delaying it would just make the studio and the fans mad. Just... TRY to make it make sense. And don't fold to the fans, dammit. Shiro should have stayed dead because he just doesn't do anything when Allura and Keith saved him. The main character should have stayed as an ensemble, rather than pushing Lance as the central focus, because it would have left less reasons for me to hate Lance and give other, specifically Hunk, the development they deserved.

The show also never adresses traumatising shit, (*cough cough* Keith's sacrifice attempt *cough cough*), but that can be forgiven because it was aimed at children. I do, however, like that LM corrected an interviewer when they asked about Keith 'attempting to kill himself'. It was quickly corrected to 'sacrificing himself' because that's what it was! I'm sick of people acting like he was suicidal because he wasn't. He was actively scared of what he was going to do, i.e. sacrifice his life for everyone's sake. He tried to do it for the greater good. Would you call one of the many who died during wars suicidal? No. You would call them noble and heroic for their sacrifice, because that's what they are. That is what Keith was trying to do. He saw the only way out and decided one life in exchange for the many is a damn good deal and took it. Saying he was depressed and suicidal is undermining the actions he took.

So, yeah. In my eyes, the writers did two good things. Correcting the mistake belief that Keith was suicidal, and creating this shit-fest of a show. (God, I love/hate Voltron).

4 - How Pidge is treated by the fandom. Pidge is so mean. She's rude and callous and selfish and that's okay. What's not okay is acting like these traits make her a queen. She's rude, fine. She's callous, fine. She's selfish, fine. She's incredible for this? Um, no? Stop treating her like she's just sassy. She's mean. I mean, not long after Shiro's death/disappearance, she calls Keith, who is mourning Shiro so deeply, a 'loner'. Without even getting to know him. She just deems him a loner, even though Keith is just so genuinely kind?

Don't get me wrong. I love Pidge. She's great and she's an absolute joy to write. I admire her tenacity in trying to find her missing family members while also able to put the universe before them. Watching her break down about Matt when she thinks he's dead is so utterly heartbreaking because I really did like her.

But acting as if she's perfect because of this? No way.

(Also, I refer to Pidge as 'she/her' only in these posts. I much prefer gender neutral or trans Pidge.)

5 - Hunk's treatment. He deserved SO MUCH BETTER! This sweet, precious boy. He's the only one who reacted approppriately to becoming a child solider. He's an anxious, terrified kid and he's still able to swallow that fear and fight on because there are people, people like Shay, who have no idea what freedom means and if the sky is blue.

He's the only one who has to find and fight for his family when they get back to Earth, which makes me sad. Very sad. He cares so much about his friends. Even if he's scared, he'll still put himself in danger for them.

But the narrative treats him like garbage, reducing him to the comedic, fat joke, while Lance never treats him like a best friend. He deserved so much more than what he was given.

6 - The people in charge were so obsessed with doing every character dirty. They wanted to keep Shiro death, wanted to kill Keith after admitting to not knowing where they were going with him, tried to kill Hunk who did nothing wrong to deserve this, and actually killed Allura off when they realised Allurance would not work in the long-term because Lance would not be able to part from Earth for so long while Allura would not be able to stay confined to Earth at all.

7 - Lance fans would hate him if he was white.

[ladysarai]

10 Inception Fics for Fanworks Day!

So apparently today is International Fanworks Day! I saw this post for Feedback Fest 2025, asking for comments "recommending 10 fanworks. Tell everyone why you love these works and why they should check them out." And because I am EXTRA, I decided to make a Tumblr post for this.

But then I realized I could not keep it to 10 recs total and decided to do two posts--one for Inception, and one for Star Wars. There is NO rhyme or reason to the fics recommended here, other than "this is a story I linked to @nutterzoi and told her to go read RIGHT NOW and then when I saw the link I thought 'oh I should read that again'."

This is my Inception rec post! 10 fics I loved enough to shove at my bestie, and then read multiple times, under the cut. ...They're all Arthur/Eames, because that's my jam. Also there might be a lot more AUs than I planned, but the fandom is just that good at writing AUs. Enjoy!

The Only Living Boy in New York by witling: the very first Arthur/Eames stuck in Limbo fic I ever read, and still an eternal favorite.

2. The Boy who Spoke with Ghosts by AvocadoLove: amazing AU in which the little boy from The Sixth Sense grows up to be Arthur. Arthur has to constantly deal with seeing ghosts, including Mal and a little girl who follows Eames around. So good.

3. Patience, a Steady Hand by Helenish: the Viking AU everyone recs, and for good reason, wow. I think I've read it like 3 times now, and am due for a reread. There is non-con, so beware, but also like... Vikings. So. I didn't know I needed an Arthur/Eames Viking AU, but I did and so do you.

4. Pulled Thread by @strangegeology: I have lost count how many times I have read this fic. It's Arthur and Eames trying to figure themselves out in their relationship, and it makes me cry every time I read it because these idiots love each other so much but are so stupid about it and stuck in their own heads sometimes. Also there is fabulous cat.

5. Nobody Knew Me at Home Anymore by enjambament: This fic is fucking BEAUTIFUL. In which Eames moves in next door when Arthur is 11, and they grow up together and then fall apart and then meet up again, and I have Big Feels. My very favorite "they grew up together" fic. Overdue for a reread.

6. I've Got Nothing to do Today but Smile (The Only Boy in New York) by gyzym: THE Coffee Shop AU, recced a zillion times, for good reason. In fact, it is the fic that sold me on Coffee Shop AUs because I never understood the appeal, but it's about so much more than the coffee shop but the coffee shop is essential. Do yourself a favor and read it.

7. Like No Other (Pretty Damned Good as You Are) by @darlingandmreames: Absolutely the VERY BEST daemon AU Inception fic I have ever come across. I adore the choices for both Arthur and Eames and how well their daemons reflect them. It's just. *chef's kiss*

8. All the Rules to Break by foxxcub: Another AU, where Arthur and Eames were former partners in Chicago PD and now Eames is an FBI Agent and there's a serial killer a little obsessed with Arthur. As I told Zoe "WELP, you have to read this one." Because it's fabulous.

9. Ne Me Quitte Pas by Black Betty: WWII AU, and my message to Zoe said "RUN. DO NOT WALK. RUN, and READ THIS." It's so emotional and bittersweet and full of longing and worry and just. Wonderful.

10. The Devil Takes His Own by kiyala: AN AU CROSSOVER WITH Mira Grant's Newsflesh series! And it does not even require a knowledge of the series, because it stands on its own and explains enough anyway. Basically, the Inception crew are reporters in a post-zombie apocalypse world. Super well written and original and please give it a read.

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 4/2/2024

in which i try to clean two different boxes with varying success

new people: hello! the tuesdaypost is a weekly roundup of stuff i've been listening, reading, watching, playing, and making. it is NOT a recommendation series, although i sometimes dabble in critique. when im firing on all cylinders i ask "what is the core concept of this? does it succeed in what i think it's trying to do and what it says it's doing?is it well-made but i dislike it/beautiful but not for me? why? what parts Really Work?"

if you are into purity culture, yelling at other people about the problematic media they consume, or are under 18 i am going to have very little patience for you.

listening

now that i live in houston i am legally obliged to loop the new beyonce album 24/7. there is absolutely truly nobody fucking doing it like her. every song is a multimedia art piece. goddamn do i miss the album as a tool to convey a specific concept/listening order/flow. sometimes (chappell roan most recently comes to mind, although it does feel unfair to compare anyone to beyonce) every individual song is pretty good but the listening experience if you sit down and listen all the way through the album is unpleasant and choppy. not so here. NEVER here.

my favorite like Dance Number is YA YA (it samples nancy sinatra's boots! and the beach boys' good vibrations! wildly different tones despite coming out a year apart!)

the one that goes on four different character/tone playlists is BODYGUARD.

great early roundup of influences, samples, and collaborators. delighted to see five fingers for marseilles listed, a rocky but underrated south african neo-western free on tubi rn for americans

-

reading

also very texas-relevant with the recent pornhub lawsuits! pornhub and sex tech (among other things) have been samantha cole's beat for almost ten years. i trust her to report sensitively and not for like. shock clicks

this site has a free paywall (sign up with your email for a link to the full article) so bots have a harder time scraping articles: this is a journalist-founded site with only the four founders running it and writing articles. while annoying i do think this is a reasonable measure

The platform still has problems, but after years of critical reporting and a litany of legal and reputational consequences, Pornhub is now more heavily moderated than any other porn platform, and most major social media platforms, for that matter. A growing list of age verification laws has put Pornhub in a position where it is compelled to block access to its site in seven states and counting. In theory, these laws are designed to prevent children from being able to access pornography online. In reality, what is going to happen is that children are going to end up on pornographic sites that don’t care what the law says, and where some of the most harmful content that exists online is actively promoted to them.

she's also got a new limited series podcast with CBC about the rise and fall of pornhub, which was fascinating and kept me company during an extremely early morning drive

-

watching

i'm lukewarm about this one but i spend a lot of time getting there, much like this movie

ive been watching a lot of frankly dogshit thrillers, which has made me wonder: what's the deal with supervillans? where did they come from? and thence arrived at the prototypical film Dr Mabuse the Gambler (1922, dir. Lang). the four and a half hour cut on Kanopy is two normal-length movies superglued together, which makes sense as a streaming product but it is sort of a terrifying runtime and took me three days to get through.

sometimes, as we know, i get a real bee in my bonnet about visiting the early versions of things. dr mabuse is the blueprint for every james bond and mission impossible villain, or really any shadowy supervillain with power over [INDUSTRY] or [THE MARKET]. it is a four and a half hour long cat and mouse game through lavish, eccentric sets between mabuse and prosecutor wenk. it has some trouble sustaining itself bc it is four and a half hours long but does deliver on the cat and mouse aspects. this letterboxed review has interesting things to say about the political climate of 1922 germany and how lang subverts the formula of the pulp serial.

really the film opens with mabuse yelling at his cocaine-addicted assistant, but the film properly gets going with mabuse's henchmen stealing a trade agreement (nothing really carbon dates a movie more than a missing trade agreement. vanishingly few post-early-30s movies have missing trade agreements as plot points) and then he crashes the stock market. for fun and profit.

however. i think every time you see an evil man who is a banker or stockbroker or generally uses money as power you have to interrogate whether it's antisemitic. the answer here is "maybe" but i'm not sure if intent matters when contemporary nazi critics were eager to hold mabuse up as "this is the typical jewish criminal". (sorry about the link directly to wikipedia, it's been touch finding online sources for this section). mabuse is not specifically jewish, but there are certainly elements of stereotype. i am still not good at being presented with "this movie has a shadowy behind the scenes figure manipulating the government and all the money ever" and going "hey wait a minute".

after that tremendous glaring caveat, for which i read more contemporary reviews and reviews in general than i ever read for movies in these posts, is it good? eh. a contemporary VARIETY review remarked (and i largely agree)

The direction of Fritz Lang has moments – but Lang somewhat negates his good technical effects by twenty forty-word captions of a ludicrous unconciseness.

the night scenes are particularly well done, and imo are better than many modern night scenes--other contemporary reviews remarked

In this film the techniques of the film camera (Carl Hoffmann’s brilliant photography) are brought to perfection. The problem of how to film lit-up streets at night has been solved for the first time. It is unbelievably impressive to see the glaring lights of speeding cars flash through the night or the rapid passing of an elevated train of the initially blurred, then gradually focussed glimpse through a pair of opera glasses on to the variety stage, the nuances of light and shade—these things alone prove the value of film documentary.

look at this shit! filmed from within the cars! in 1922!!!

this film asks you to believe hypnotism is real and really effective, so i don't think it's that big of a leap when it asks you to believe in ghosts. i don't understand that quibble from contemporary viewers. there are several on screen suicides with like. specific methods. which is not currently regarded as good filmmaking practice. im curious to know what contemporary audiences thought but couldn't immediately turn anything up, and wading through masters’ theses on cinematic suicide is a little beyond my current mental health.

if i were a more content-minded woman this would turn into a clickbait video essay about the antisemitic origins of every supervillan. however i am unqualified and untalented at video editing and i'm sure there are forty theses on this already. this movie is a hard sell to anyone jewish or employed. it is also a stunning example of cutting-edge film technology and part of the genesis of the modern supervillan. Fritz Lang films tend to fall in the category of “movies i am happy to see once and feel no need to revisit”.

-

playing

playing what is effectively the same game three times back to back (breath of the wild, tears of the kingdom, genshin impact) has sort of burned me out on open world games with a focus on battle skill progression and stumbling across little puzzles in the overworld. i have to get itch.io up and running on this pc and find the most linear jankiest possible one-sitting indie thing. or several of them. i might try the solo ttrpg Gentleman Bandit i seem to have acquired in one of the giant charity bundles

brief breath of the wild update bc i don't want to pull screenshots off my switch: i have gotten to the boss fight for the gerudo and goron regions, have not completed them bc my focus in this game is NOT hearts, and am in the middle of the zora temple. despite the quality of life improvements and new regions in totk i think i prefer botw: progression is a bit easier, there are fewer mmo-style hub quests and repeatable quests. things like the stable photos are cute but very repetitive, so are the sign bracing puzzles, and the sky crystal quests for sky shrines feel VERY samey. also dislike how the CLEAR OUT: [REGION] quests with the monster suppression squads reset at the blood moon.

anyway! to genshin! there was an exceptionally fun little event with a surprisingly involved management sim tacked onto the game??? you make and sell potions fulfilling different requirements, and can eventually stock travelling merchants all over the continent. the actual act of making the potions was this block-filling 1010! style thing (screenshot from polygon)

the new region, a port town and tea-growing area called Chenyu Vale, is maybe the prettiest one in the game so far? it's the one that feels the most picturesque and Designed, like this is one huge mansion garden studded with follies. they also added background chatter and noise in the cities and towns, which really startled me and makes them feels much more lived in! this is a fun trick to avoid putting in a thousand NPCs and making everyone's framerate crash. the less stuff in your game, the less shit can go wrong.

also pulled for and got chiyori, a geo-aligned seamstress (and sometime spy???) swordswoman who has what i can only call domme voice

-

making

ok now we'll talk about boxes. i was rearranging my kitchen, as unemployed women are known to do, and noticed this recipe box i picked up back in mass was disgusting. the finish is starting to fail but it was genuinely grody and last summer i packed my kitchen in a blind panic inside an hour and did not have time to address it. i have never seen a recipe box at an estate sale before or since and it made me desperately sad.

it was full of a lot of stuff.

i went at it with a somewhat inadvisable combination of things: wood soap didn't budge it, so i dampened a paper towel in vinegar and wiped it down in the vain hope it would do something. the thing that worked, and would be inadvisable for anything veneered or less densely textured, was baking soda paste and the scrubby side of a sponge. it still smells Very musty even after 48h of loose baking soda inside with several changes, but that might be partly the recipe cards' fault. i would like to refinish this at some point but i don't have polyurethane on hand and the fun little project budget is empty until further notice/i get a job.

the hinge did rust a bit despite my best efforts but that has since been lightly steel wooled and oiled. a well loved object! it's possible the lady who died just fucking sucked and that's why literally her entire estate including many other things families usually keep was on sale, but i would like to think perhaps she simply had no other family? a well loved/used object even if all the recipes are for semi-horrifying fifties new england recipes.

the other box, pre-acids but post-washing: this topp trading card box with seven episode one packets of cards was intact with the original seal. i have verified it was not worth much more than the $5 i paid for it with the trading card obsessed man in my best friend's husband's friendgroup. i bought this three months ago but the man was unavailable to open it until uhhh last week. some sort of liquid got inside it at some point and it was super corroded. i was going to store embroidery floss in here but even with all my powers (barkeepers friend. brasso.) i cannot completely remove the corrosion. it's not corroded Through but it looks bad and feels rough. so it goes. it'll probably hold the tiedown straps in my car bc that plastic bucket is rapidly failing

[ao3cassandraic]

I'm a little confused, what trouble did the Internet Archive get into exactly?

By this I mean, is it going down? Or is it just dealing with politics behind the scenes?

(I occasionally find the Internet Archive to be useful, so I hope it doesn't disappear)

Okay, so, it helps to have context here. First, IA.

IA has its fingers in several pies:

the Wayback Machine (and allied services such as Archive-It) for website preservation

software (including game) preservation

print digitization, which started (I think) as an add-on to software preservation (because manuals matter!) and expanded to pretty much whatever print IA could get its hands on

a lending system for the above digitized collection, known as the "Open Library"

lately, machine-learning tools intended to operate over its digitized-print collections (it's still building this out, I've seen some of the grant applications) -- nothing generative-AI-like yet that I know of, however

A lot of this work is only dubiously and uncertainly within the scope of US copyright. (N.b. IANAL, IANYL, I am certainly not Internet Archive's lawyer, TINLA.) IA takes refuge largely in audacity, and in the centrality of the Wayback Machine to web preservation generally. So they have been known to pull the "if we lose this legal case totally unrelated to web preservation and have to pay gonzo fines, Wayback is in peril!" ripcord.

Is this true? Hell if I know, I don't audit IA's books. I doubt it, though.

What they're in trouble for -- what an appeals court shot them all the way down for yesterday -- is what they did with their Open Library of digitized print books, many of them in-copyright, during COVID lockdown. And to understand all that, we have to untangle some things about US copyright. Ugh, somebody hand me a read-more link.

Why can libraries lend print books, vinyl, cassettes, CDs, and DVDs in the US? Because of a legal doctrine called "the first sale right," which goes like this: if you have a legally-produced physical object containing copyrighted material, you can do whatever the fuck you want with that physical object with zero copyright implications --other than reproduce/copy or perform it (which does have copyright implications, complex ones).

You can (yes) burn it. You can lend it to a friend, or an enemy, or a random stranger. You can give it away. You can throw it away. You can resell it. You can hang it on your wall or in your window. You can make an art installation with it. And the copyright owner cannot win a copyright-based lawsuit over any of this, even if they hate what you're doing! Even if it competes with them selling new copies (as the resale market absolutely does, and as some jerkfaced copyright owners -- usually corporations, not authors! -- love to complain that libraries do)!

Here's the thing, though, and it's an important thing so I'm gonna big-type it:

The right of first sale does not apply to anything digital ever.

Not ebooks (digitized or born-digital, doesn't matter). Not streaming anything. Not paywalled online news or research.

When libraries offer these to patrons, it's through contracts with publishers or aggregators. Long story short, a lot of these contracts are ridiculously restrictive (not to mention expensive) to the point of cartoonish evil, but it's what we have to work with.

The idea behind Controlled Digital Lending is "if libraries purchased a physical item legally, we should get to lend the item to one person at a time as we always have, and it shouldn't actually matter whether what we lend is the physical item or a digital version of it, as long as only one or the other is out to a patron at a given time."

Which is an untested legal theory! I can't tell you whether it's legal! Nobody can! The case law doesn't exist! Yeah yeah, there's relevant past cases in both directions having to do with accessibility or Google Books or whatever, but a specific precedential ruling on CDL is not a thing that presently exists.

No, not even now. Because what IA did with its Open Library during lockdown, and got slapped down for by the court, is not CDL as defined above. IA didn't hold to one-person-at-a-time-per-book. They tried to make a fair-use argument for what they actually did (that is, not for actual CDL), and the court was not having it.

The thing is, IA's stumblebummed legal fuckup means that actual CDL, as actual libraries (n.b. the IA is not an actual library or an actual archives, I will happily die on this hill, I loathe IA like poison and do not want to admit them to my profession, IA people have dissed me and my work TO MY ACTUAL PHYSICAL FACE and they only love libraries or librarians when trying to hide behind us) were trying to design and implement it, now faces additional legal hurdles. Any court looking at an actual CDL program has to take into account IA getting slapped down. And that's if we can even find a library or library consortium with deep enough pockets and hardcore enough legal representation to even defend such a case.

The thing also is, IA just issued Big Publishing a gilt-edged invitation to use this precedent to sue actual libraries, especially academic libraries, over other things we do. (I'm gonna pass over exactly what in silence because I do not want to give those fuckers ideas, but... there have been past lawsuits, look 'em up.) THANKS, BREWSTER. THANKS EVER SO. Asshole.

For a calmer take than mine, check out Library Futures, which to their credit has not given up all hope for CDL.

This IS the short version of all this nonsense, believe me. I used to teach a whole entire three-credit graduate-level course in the long version. (Which IA would doubtless diss to my face if they knew about it.)

[theygotlost]

Annotations for le Vimes playlist

hi. read this if you care

YOUTUBE VERSION if you want to listen without spotify

1. The Fool / Neutral Milk Hotel

A little instrumental preamble before the playlist proper. musically, I think it captures the state of Vimes at the beginning of Guards! Guards!. It sounds like a processional fanfare fit for a guard, but cacophonous and lilting, as if the band were stumbling drunk.

2. Wasted on the Senate Floor / Emperor X

Another Guards! Song, though the frantic energy reflects the chaotic excitement of the watch series and Discworld as a whole (and the excitement I get from reading it heehee). The title/refrain is pretty straightforward, just replace “senate floor” with “oblong office”. 

Some other pertinent lyrics:

That feels million to one [a million to one chance??? perhaps???]

Republican watchman from Virginia wraps his fist in a flag To punch our lights out

We've got bloody eyes but we're feeling good Causing confusion in the neighborhood

3. We Live in a Dump / They Might be Giants

I have to put a TMBG song in my discworld playlist, I simply must! Pretty much all the lyrics to this one are relevant, but the pre-chorus specifically fits well with the rank trying to get Vimes out of his drunken stupor and Vimes being dismissed from the watch, both of which happen in Guards! And Men at Arms.

Why be realistic? Don't wake me from my dream I was individualistic They kicked me off the team

4. Grace Cathedral Hill / The Decemberists

How Vimes experiences Ankh-Morpork. There’s a tenderness and melancholy to this song, since Vimes does have a sort of affection for the city despite how terrible it is.

All dust and stone and moribund

The air, it stunk of fish and beer

The suggestion of CMOT dibbler: 

We were both a little hungry So we went to get a hot dog

The pilgrims, pills, and tourists here Will sink fifty-three bucks to buy A brand new halo

This could be Sibyl, who knows!!

Sweet on a green-eyed girl All fiery Irish clip and curl All brine and piss and vinegar

I know “piss and vinegar” is an expression describing her personality (Vimes is really more the one full of piss and vinegar), but taken literally it would also accurately describe the smell of the city.

5. Dirty Old Town / Ewan Maccoll

A continuation of the themes from the previous song. I originally had the cover by the Pogues in here for the longest time, but I decided to replace it with the original from 1949 because it brings a more interesting color (the clarinet!!).

6. Precinct 41 Major Crime Unit / Sea Power

Another instrumental interlude, this time from the Disco Elysium soundtrack. Discworld and Disco Elysium are so closely linked in my mind, Vimes absolutely has Harry’s skillset inside his brain and you CANNOT convince me otherwise. As the title suggests this song is the theme for Harry’s police precinct, and I totally imagine it playing during an intense moment with the Watch.

7. Hurricane Drunk / Florence + the Machine

Yeah yeah I know it’s sooo easy to fill my playlist with songs about alcoholism. Well if the boot fits! Plus:

No walls can keep me protected No sleep, nothing in between me and the rain

Pretty good imagery here of Vimes’ night patrols and/or passing out in the gutter.

8. Down by the Water / The Decemberists

The river Ankh, if we’re using a generous definition of the term “water”.

9. Cap in Hand / The Proclaimers

FUUUCK the nobility!!!

10. Average Working Man / Panicland

FUCK the nobility… 2!!! He's���God's message to the high class folk!!!! This is a perfect song for encapsulating Vimes’ RAGEEE

11. This Night / Black Lab

This one’s about the Summoning Dark/”The Beast”:

There are things, I have done There's a place, I have gone There's a beast and I let it run Now it's running my way

And then there’s this: 

So take this night And wrap it around me like a sheet I know I'm not forgiven But I need a place to sleep So take this night And lay me down on the street I know I'm not forgiven but I hope That I'll be given some peace

From Jingo:

He was, temporarily, a happy man. He was cold, wet and alone, trying to keep out of the worst of the weather at three o’clock on a ferocious morning. He’d spent some of the best nights of his life like this. At such times you could just…sort of hunch your shoulders like this and let your head pull in like this and you became a little hutch of warmth and peace, the rain banging on your helmet, the mind just ticking over, sorting out the world…

12. Get Better / Frank Turner

Vimes’ character is all about learning from mistakes and making an effort to become a better person. All the lyrics are relevant, but here’s the chorus:

I'm trying to get better 'cause I haven't been my best She took a plain black marker, started writing on my chest She drew a line across the middle of my broken heart And said "Come on now, let's fix this mess" We could get better because we're not dead yet

ILY SYBIL!!!!!

13. Damn These Vampires / The Mountain Goats

In terms of the song order of this playlist, this is the calm before the storm, the darkness before the dawn; Just one last quick interlude before the main event.

Crawl 'til dawn On my hands and knees Goddamn these vampires For what they've done to me

I admit this whole song is a little bit of a stretch, but the refrain is a nod to Vimes’ attitude toward vampires that’s addressed in Thud!. He spends some time crawling around like a beast in that book too.

14. Blossoms / The Amazing Devil

The crown jewel, the piece de resistance of this playlist! The Night Watch song of all time!!! I don’t feel like I need to break down the lyrics here since I already made this piece illustrating all the relevant lyrics. ✌ Ugh the emotional intensity of this one is really the important part. Leave it to the amazing devil to write Epic Music. 

15. Caesar / The Oh Hellos

This song also has a very Epic feeling to it so I have it riding on the high of Blossoms, but it’s less energetic so I think of it as a cooldown. I always thought the title referred to Julius Caesar, but Genius lyrics is telling me it’s actually about Jesus. whatevarrrr. Because I thought it was about the assassination of a monarch, I connected it with Old Stoneface. Compare:

Hear on the wind how the pendulum swings Feel how the winter succumbs to the spring Over the palisade morning will break Rise up to meet it, oh sleeper awake

With Jingo:

He had always wondered how Old Stoneface had felt, that frosty morning when he picked up the axe that had no legal blessing because the King wouldn’t recognize a court even if a jury could be found, that frosty morning when he prepared to sever what people thought was a link between men and deity

16. Untitled / The Long Winters

Just a lil silly one to take us out on a cheerful note! I admit this one doesn’t make much sense because it’s about living in a rural area and not an urban center like Ankh-Morpork but… I gotta get back to my shanty town!! And I’ve put a lot of folk music on this playlist bc even though he’s not a country boy VImes has some very folksy salt-of-the-earth sensibilities. Just let me have this one