#no one saw this aside from a few people in dms

[shrooms-nd-lu]

Hey

Hey

Hey pinky @luimagines

✨twiddies✨

[ilovegeorgie]

who knows how long i’ve loved you?

george harrison x reader

genre: confort / fluff

warnings: self harm !

summary: george becomes concerned for a friend who has been struggling.

a/n: please be aware that this fic mentions self harm, i personally have been struggling with this for a while and know how bad it can get. if you are going through this, you are not alone, there’s a lot of people that care about you, my dms are open if you need to talk to someone :)

the soft hum of the guitar strings echoed through the quiet room, george’s fingers moved his guitar. it was a quiet evening, george has been playing for a while, but he couldn’t ignore the feeling that something was missing.

lately, he has been worried about one of his closest friends who was slipping further away from him, but he couldnt figure out why. He had known her for years, long before all of this "beatlemania" stuff was even a thing. they shared everything with eachother, but recently she has become distant, her pressence less vibrant and her laughter was quieter. george had come to realize that there was something different about her when she stopped acompanying the band to rehersals, she loved going and messing around with john and ringo.

it was late when george decided to visit her, he was seriously worried about her and despite the late hour, he couldn’t ignore the feeling that something was wrong. he grabbed his coat and stormed out of, heading to her flat, hoping that just seeing her would help put his mind at ease.

when he knocked on her door, there was no answer. he knocked again, a little harder this time, hoping that she was home. a few moments later the door opened slightly, and he finally saw the eyes he was long awaiting to see.

"george..?" her voice was soft, and there was a hint of surprise in her eyes, but there was something that george couldn’t place.

"darling" he said full of concern. "i was worried about you, can i please come in?"

she hesitated, looking down at the floor for a moment, then turning to see into the flat before nodding and stepping aside. "sure, come in" she said.

george stepped into her small apartment, the lights were dim, casting long shadows across the room. she had always kept her place neat and tidy, but it this time it seemed quieter, emptier. the silence between the two of them was thick, but george couldn’t just stand there, he knew something was wrong, and he needed to know what.

she sat down on the couch, loking down to the floor avoinding his gaze. her hands were clasped tightly in her lap, and george noticed her trembling. "darling.." he began, his voice low but full of concern. "ive been woried about you lately, i dont want to offend you or anything, but you’ve been acting... different lately. you know that you can talk to me about anything right?"

she stayed silent staring at the floor, biting her lip until she finally spoke, her voice barely above a whisper.

"look george, i’ve.. i’ve been going through some stuff" she admitted, her words trembling "i know that you and the boys have been recording lately and.. well, i just dont want to bother you with my stuff"

george sat down next to her, he wanted to say something to make her feel better, but didnt know what. he then gently placed his hand over hers. "darling, you will never be a bother to me" he said softly. "whatever it is, i’m here for you"

they locked eyes for a second before she quickly looked away again. "it’s just... its all too much right now, everything feels so heavy" she said, her voice cracking. george felt how his heart broke in that instant.

he placed his hand on her arm, trying to confort her. it was then when her sleeve shifted slightly, revealing a few marks along her wrist. george froze as his heart his clenched even more in his chest. her arm trembled slightly under his touch, as if she feared he might pull away, or worse, pity her, but he didn’t. instead, he tightened his grip on her arm, not wanting to let go.

“my darling, you don’t have to go through this alone, please. whatever’s going on… i’m here. you can trust me with everything, i’ll always be here for you” he said as her eyes filled with tears "i didn’t want you to see them… i didn’t want anyone to know"

george gently turned her arm over, his fingers tracing the scars. "you don’t have to hide them from me" he said quietly, his thumb brushing over her wrist "you don’t have to carry all of this by yourself. whatever it is… i want to help you"

she took a shaky breath "its just that.. sometimes.. i have all of this thoughts and it just becomes too much and... by doing this... it’s.. its the only way I know to make it stop. to feel something other than all of that".

"you’re not alone in this, okay? i promise that we’ll figure it out together. i’ll always be here with you no matter what”

she turned her head away shaking, george could tell she was trying to hold herself together and without thinking, he reached out and pulled her into a tight embrace, wrapping his arms around her as she cried. "i’m sorry," she whispered, her voice muffled against his chest "i just don’t know how to stop it"

"oh darling.." george whispered, his hand stroking her hair gently. as the night stretched on, her tears began to subside as she remained curled into georges embrace, her head resting on his shoulder. he gently shifted so they were lying on the couch, still wrapped in each other’s arms.

"i’ll stay with you. i’m not going anywhere." george whispered softly, his breath warm against her hair. she them turned her head slightly, just enough to look up at him. "why?" she asked softly. "why would you stay with me?"

"because I care about you" he said quietly. "i always have, and i know that i always will. you dont know how important you are to me"

[nemo-of-house-hamartia]

So, I finally got the approval from tumblr for the community, and I am setting it up, giving it a "cozy café during a mid-autumn afternoon" kind of vibe (I just wish I could actually add some music to go with it).

I started to line out a few guidelines, that you can read down here, so that you can still make a conscious and informed choice whether to request to join or not.

I would like to underline once more that my main goal for creating this community is to have a safe space for friends who can share about their ocs and their story in a safe, private setting, away from the more public eye of Tumblr, where anyone can stumble upon their posts (even ill intentioned people).

Also, for a starter, in order to join this community, I need to know you, aka I need to have interacted with you in some sort of capacity and for a length of time.

I am open to people inviting their friends in as well, if they want to, but if I don't know who these people are, the person already present in the community must vouch for them and their integrity of character.

This is of the utmost importance to me because, if you have been with me for a while, you know what I personally had experienced with my own OCs, and this is why, one of my top priority for this community, aside from having fun with you all, is to KEEP THE SPACE SAFE.

One last thing, and this is also important for me: this place is not a place for competition. I saw firsthand how things can go south when people start secondguessing and start comparing the quality of their own stuff with that of others, and the results were less than ideal, and the drama created by that, headache-worthy.

This community is a place for everyone to grow and thrive together, as a community of people who are in this together.

We all have our weaknesses, but this doesn't make any of us "less than".

We are here to grow, to learn from others, to help each other and to support each other, because we creators of OCs, more often than not, get the short end of the stick, and if *we* do not support one another, who will??

So, with this being said, I will leave the guidelines underneath.

If your final decision is to join this community, please let me know on THIS post here, so that I can send you all the invites tonight, as soon as I am back home.

Also, if you have any questions, feel free to send me a dm.

Other than that, SEE YOU ON THE OTHER SIDE!! :D

[octoberautumnbox]

Hello fellow Yuri enthusiast I would like to throw another thought in your head. Siblings Jooe and Yuri being he slut sisters you use and abuse ;) all the spitting choking and fucking these two polar opposite sisters.

Idk I saw those bikini pictures of jooe and she kinda looked like a thick yuri and now I want them both heh.

(idk which jooe pics anon send some in thru dm or imgur or smth pls and I'll edit this to add when u do!)

~~~

Her chains clack against the bedposts; you somehow keep forgetting that these handcuffs aren't the flimsy ones she can easily break free from. Fortunately, it seems she keeps forgetting too, and it only turns her on more as bruises develop on her wrists. Tears stream down her face and her incoherent babbling as you piston deep into her fuckhole only earn her more of her rough fucking.

"Guh, fuck, please, hurts, hu- AAHHHHHH!!" A well-timed slap of her tits brings her ever so close to the edge. You watch them bounce for you as you pound her into the bed harder and harder, and Jooe's consciousness steadily starts fading away once more.

"Please, shit, I'm-" she struggles to blurt out, each thrust seemingly hitting a reset button in her head. You knew what she was trying to say, but if she was gonna be a weak-willed slut like this she didn't deserve to get what she wants.

Just then, the door creaks open and Yuri strolls in with her towel. She's halfway through drying herself off, her own swimsuit still dripping with the poolwater onto your shared room's tiled floor.

"Oppa," she sing sweetly, "can I have a go after Unnie?" She kisses you delicately on the cheek, then on the lips with just the slightest bit of teasing tongue for you. It always turned them on to watch each other take your cock, and it looks like this was no exception.

"Of course, baby. Anything you like," you reply, almost faltering. Jooe reminds you of the job you're in the middle of, as her walls squeeze deliciously around your shaft and makes her pleasures known by the growing wet spot on the bed right under her sore and abused cunt.

"Oppa, please, I wanna cum, I'm so cl-- oh fuck, oh fuck, OH FUCK!! AAAAAHHHH" She delays her orgasm and resultant scream as long as she can, luckily just enough time for Yuri to shut the door and make the room soundproof again. Once she hears the door shut, she lets everything out, and her squirt escapes her poor hole. It splashes all over her crotch, glistening on her puffy pussy lips and coating your rock-hard cock to fuck her even better. You have to give her a moment of respite, else she might actually lose her mind and her ability to hold herself back when with other people.

Pulling out, the last few drops of her girlcum land on the sheets underneath her and she watches as your cock exits. Jooe also watches, her chains clacking again, as Yuri sweetly takes over with licks and pecks on your cock, determined to clean up every single trace of her elder sister before taking you on herself.

"Mm, yummy," she muses gleefully. "Ehehe, how does Oppa want me?"

"Hands on the headboard baby," guiding her to face away from you, right over her sister still cuffed to the bed. She follows immediately, her excitement showing as the crotch of her swimsuit gets wetter than the rest. In position, she looks back at you with love, nothing but a thin piece of fabric that left nearly nothing to the imagination the only thing between you and her perfect pussy.

You pull it aside and she moans cutely at the sensation of being exposed. Rubbing a finger against her puffy lips elicits more lewd sounds, followed by two, and three, before finally teasing her with your cock.

"My good girl, do you want it hard like your Unnie?" you ask gently. Yuri isn't one for rough fucking by default, and you've learned to make sure before taking her.

"Mmm, let's start slow, Oppa," she says as she guides your hand to her boobs, showing her Unnie how well you pleasure her little sister, "we have a show to put on, after all."

~~~

a/n: just a little warmup before I work on actual fics :DDDD

[ingravinoveritas]

After seeing all those stories of Georgia going shopping with David (I'm honestly surprised that David knows how to drive, I don't know why), I think David is fed up with so much video.

@electronic-chocolate @victorianlonging Okay, so...I have indeed seen all of the stories that are referenced here, and I think a couple of things can be true at the same time. But let's first get the visual up for anyone who hasn't seen it (all in one video, for ease of viewing):

The first thought that I had is how reminiscent this was of what we've seen recently, with Georgia filming David when he seemingly really doesn't want to be filmed (such as at that festival last month).

What also came to mind is something I think at least several of us thought of (if my DMs are any indication), which is that David is clearly, visibly annoyed. There's no real way to not notice it, with him looking incredulous in the car (though I did laugh when he said "I'm not dressed for this," given how adorable he looked without even realizing it), and then when she sets the tone by immediately using the word "content." There's no question that that's what the objective of this was: To have content of/with David that Georgia could post to garner attention.

Once they're in the store, we see him balling up the shopping bags in his hands, which to me came across as a sign of anxiety. And given how non-confrontational we know David is, it's almost amazing to hear him respond to Georgia's "Say hi!" with an immediate "Nope." And the whole thing sort of becomes what you might call a self-narrating zoo exhibit (or "self-paparazzi," as I recently heard someone aptly describe it) where David is literally just trying to shop for groceries while Georgia is sticking a camera in his face.

We also notice that at one point, David is recognized by some fans and stops to take a picture with them, which when you think about it is likely a regular occurrence, since he has one of the most famous faces in the country. But because that is the case, you'd also think he would feel a sense of relief when those interactions are over and he no longer has to be "on"...until he goes back to Georgia and she is filming him. And as good-natured as David is, there's no doubt that it must get a little tiring after a while.

All that said--and in the interest of providing a balanced perspective--it is possible that David was playing things up, to an extent, and perhaps even exaggerating some of the annoyance that we saw. And there was something else about this that stood out to me, and that deserves discussion: His shoes...

Yes, David was wearing gay pride Doc Martens. GAY PRIDE BOOTS, ladies and gentlemen and those of other gender persuasions. And when we realize this is the case, everything about this vlog/series of stories starts to gets very interesting. Because while the shoes were by no means the focal point of the Insta stories, Georgia had to know that David's eagle-eyed fans would clock them right away. And clock them they did (and I also noticed this pair of Pride-themed Doc Martens, and would not be at all surprised to learn that David owns a pair of those as well).

Leaving aside the fact that no straight man on this Earth--no matter how strong an ally--would wear those boots (I mean...come on), I almost saw this as a callback/follow up to Georgia's story from a few months ago where she appeared to use "their" pronouns when talking about David (rather than he/him). Much discussion was had at the time of this being a way to "test the waters" for David to start being more open about his sexuality/identity, and this almost feels like a continuation of that.

Having heard from queer followers of mine who are not fully out to their families/friends, it seems that it is not uncommon for folks in that position to wear things to drop little "hints" around people they are not ready to disclose to yet. And when you think about the number of "hints" from the last few months--the nonbinary pin, the pronoun Insta story, David getting emotional talking about Pride Month on that podcast, and now these new Insta stories wearing those boots--it makes you wonder if it's all building toward something.

Whatever the case may be, it's still difficult to overlook how uncomfortable David looked at times in those videos today--even if he was playing things up. For my part, I would genuinely rather never have Georgia post anything about David again than see him in her posts knowing that he is uncomfortable with it. I also agree that her hunger for content seems to be increasing, but I would also like to hope that if David did seriously ask Georgia to stop filming--for any reasons--that she would do so.

So I suppose we'll have to see what (if anything) this all leads to, and what will happen if/when she films him again. Happy as always to hear others' thoughts in the comments...

[something-tofightfor]

Fool's Gold 2: The Wonder in the Wait

Pairing: Pirate Oberyn Martell x Female Reader (with a twist)

Rating: M for now - but that will change later.

Word Count: 6,255

Summary: The longer you're on the ship, the more you learn about the man who rescued you - and the people you're surrounded by.

Some things make sense. Others make none. As more time passes, the line between the two blurs. Your growing comfort on the open sea and your blooming attraction to Daavos doesn't help anything.

Author's Note: Thank you to everyone that read the first two parts of this. I love this little world I'm building, and it's been a lot of fun to tweak Daavos' personality a little without making him unrecognizable.

If you want to talk about this story (or any of my others) please feel free to pop into my inbox or DMs!

Chapter title comes from "Valkyrie" by Caligula's Horse.

Fool's Gold Masterlist

You paused for long moments at the top of the stairs, just looking at what was in front of you. 

You’d expected a ship that was in less than perfect condition, something that might have needed serious repairs or polishing due to the time it spent on the sea and the nature of piracy. 

Instead, you saw grandeur everywhere you looked - gleaming bronze rails, polished carvings on the outer walls of the main cabin, and level decking with evenly cut boards beneath your feet. The design of the ship was sleek, and when you looked up at the sails, you had to blink at how large they were - and at the fact that they weren’t patched or mended. 

Instead, they were pristine and blood red, and though they weren’t fully extended, they were still puffy with the breeze. “We don’t sail at full speed overnight.” Daavos reached for you again, taking your elbow. “We’ll lower them again at first light.” You walked slowly with him across the deck, eyes scanning your surroundings. “My crew are very good at what they do.”

“Your ship is beautiful.” He held your hand as you took a few steps upward onto the deck at the bow, nodding politely at a young man that hurried by and briefly ducked his head as he greeted the two of you. “What is she called?”

He stopped beside you, letting go of your hand and then leaning forward to rest his elbows atop one of the railings. Daavos was quiet, and you took a few seconds to look at him, watching as the sea breeze ruffled the curls on his head. His profile was stunning - a proud, sloped nose, full lips that seemed to be set into a pout whenever he was deep in thought, his neck corded with muscle, but still slender. 

He was handsome, and you had the feeling that whenever the ship was docked, the women in whatever port they chose were falling over themselves just for the chance to interact with him. Unless he has a wife. He said there were women on board, but if she were here, he wouldn’t have put me in their room. You glanced down at your own hands, thinking. 

You didn’t wear a ring. You didn’t have any jewelry that bore a sigil with your belongings. Aside from the bottom of the dagger’s hilt and the strange stamped piece of metal, you’d seen nothing of yours that could even potentially connect you to a house or a family. 

There was always the possibility that you were poor, and that your husband and family were lowborn, which meant that you had nothing of real value to your name. But the material and style of your dress and boots - and the gold coins in them - told you otherwise. 

“You’re on the Sand Snake.” Daavos finally spoke, turning his head toward you. “The finest ship out of -” The Sand Snake? But … 

“This is Prince Oberyn Martell’s ship.” You straightened up, lips parting as your eyes widened. “It was captured after he -” After he died. Daavos stood up, too, angling his body toward yours, but leaving one elbow resting against the railing. “And that makes you the Blood Adder.” 

You took a step back, fear creeping through you for the first time. I knew there was going to be something to worry about. “So you have heard of me.” His smile was still there, and the amusement in his eyes had grown, but he didn’t move closer or attempt to keep you in place, even as you took another half step back. “This was the Prince’s ship. And I did take over as captain after he was ambushed.” He reached down, untucking the bottom of his shirt from his pants and lifting the material up to show you the skin of his abdomen. Despite your apprehension, you didn’t look away as he displayed a large, healed over scar, prominent on his right side. “But I earned it.” 

You knew the story of Oberyn Martell - and his fate - well. 

You didn’t know how or why you had the information, but as you kept quiet and studied Daavos’ face, you tried to think rationally. Let it come to you. After Oberyn’s victory against Gregor Clegane at Tyrion Lannister’s trial by combat, things had escalated quickly for the Dornishman. 

A week later, Tywin Lannister’s body had been found in one of the Red Keep’s towers. The only thing wrong with his appearance was a trickle of blood from his nose and mouth. The following day, an entire company of the Lannister army that was known to closely protect and serve Tywin was found poisoned, all of the men suffering greatly before their deaths according to eyewitnesses. 

There was no outright reason to suspect Oberyn, as he’d been seen with his lover Ellaria in a variety of places throughout the most likely times that the deaths had taken place. But Cersei hadn’t been willing to accept that she couldn’t pin the blame on him, though she’d let the Dornish Prince finish his stay in King’s Landing without incident. 

Weeks later, long after the Dornish entourage had returned home, she’d sailed a portion of her army down the coast and toward Dorne to intercept the Prince’s ship as he sailed north for Pentos. A clash on the open sea resulted in the death of the Prince, the capture of his ship, and a victory for the Queen Reagent, even if she was the only one keeping score. 

But you hadn’t known that pirates took part in the initial battle, and you told Daavos as much, your voice shaking slightly. “They did.” He scoffed. “Cersei Lannister was not willing to sacrifice more of her army than necessary, so she required the assistance of pirates.” He gestured to the ship, his smile almost spiteful. “I kept the name of the ship because when people see her? They remember what one Dornish man was willing to do for those he loves.” He pointed at himself. “And I am the Blood Adder to carry on in the Red Viper’s memory, because I understand what it means to honor those memories. I understand the importance of family and love and vengeance.”

“Did you kill him for this ship?” You held his gaze, setting your shoulders. “Prince Oberyn?” 

“No.” Daavos narrowed his eyes. “I did not.” He sighed. “She tasked one of her men with carrying that order out.” 

“They never found his body.” You chewed on the inside of your cheek, shaking your head. “I remember … the news came to us, and he was declared dead because …” You tapped your foot on the deck, thinking. “His armor. People that went to King’s Landing said that Prince Oberyn’s armor was displayed there as a trophy. And they wouldn’t have had the armor unless…” 

“So it seems that you do know some things.” Daavos raised a brow, lips parting to reveal his teeth through a smile. “Just not … anything about yourself.” 

“I know that I must have been on a ship.” You sighed, closing your eyes. “And I know that I had some coin, and a dagger that looks at least somewhat valuable.” He nodded, eyeing you. “I know that the style of my dress is … quality.” 

“The stitching is exquisite.” Daavos winked again, nodding back. “We found you by following a trail of debris floating on the water. With the currents, it seems …” He took a breath. “It seems likely that you set sail from Braavos or Gulltown.” 

You considered his words. Either option was possible, based on what you knew about those ports. “Did you find anything from the ship? A name, a logbook, a piece of sail?” 

“We found wreckage. Some was just broken boards and beams, other pieces looked … burned.” He pointed at you with one ringed finger. “Those burns align with your burns; the ones on your back and shoulders? It stormed in the area a few days ago, we were sailing just behind the weather, so it is possible that -”

“Lightning.” You gasped, thinking back to your dream. “I dreamed about a lightning storm and the smell of burning, and -” 

“This is good.” Daavos smiled and then stepped closer, stopping when you held up a hand. “I am sorry.” He held up both hands, closing his eyes. “I understand that now that you know who I am, you are … afraid of me.” Not afraid, just … wary. “You have no reason to believe me, but I mean it when I say that as long as you are on this ship, you are just as important to me as any member of my crew.” He gestured to the space behind you, indicating the rest of the ship. “I mean you no harm, and neither do any of them. I only take lives when it is necessary.” 

“What happened to the Prince’s men?” You turned and looked at the crewmembers as they worked, listening as their laughter carried to you. “Did they just abandon ship when you became captain?”

“His crew was small on that journey, because it was supposed to be a simple one. Some of them were killed attempting to protect their Prince.” He sighed, finally looking away and staring out, over the water. “I gave others the option to disembark when we made land next so that they could make their way home. A few did that. Most chose to stay.” He looked back at you, his smile sad. “It is a big and beautiful world, and they, like myself, did not want to live and die in the same corner of it where they were born.” 

“They should call you Daavos the Merciful, not the Blood Adder.” You rolled your eyes, turning away from him and crossing your arms before you leaned forward, resting them on the railing. “If what you’re saying is true, you’re the least ruthless pirate on the Narrow Sea.” 

He laughed at your words, moving to stand next to you again and mirroring your position, though he kept space between you. “Don’t be fooled. I am ruthless. And I will defend myself and those that I protect. But cruelty for cruelty’s sake serves no purpose in this life. I am no Lannister.” 

The two of you watched the sea in silence for a long while, and you let your thoughts run free. 

His story rang true with what you knew of the Martells and Lannisters. You’d recognized the ship and figured out his name before he’d even confirmed who he was. His crew seemed happy, and the few women you’d seen on the decks and in the hallways below deck looked content and healthy as they moved freely throughout the ship. He’s not keeping them here against their will.  

It still didn’t seem like a typical pirate ship or crew, though you had nothing more than general knowledge to make your assumptions from. But the truth was that no matter how you felt, or what you thought, there was little you could do about your situation. I just need to make it to Tyrosh. That gives me time. 

“Thank you for rescuing me.”  You looked toward him, taking a deep breath. “Thank you for allowing your healer to treat my wounds. I …” You didn’t know if you actually wanted to admit to him how close you’d been to giving up, but decided that no matter what or who he was, he’d brought you on board and deserved to hear the truth. “If you hadn’t found me that day, I was … I was going to wait until sundown, when the sea beasts …” 

“Then I am very glad we saw your boat.” He cautiously reached over, letting his fingertips touch your hand but not pushing for more. “You may not know who you are or where you come from right now, but I’m certain that you have much to live for.” 

“Maybe.” You glanced down at your hands. “I have no jewelry. I have nothing with a house sigil on it. I don’t know who might be looking for me, or where I was going, or -”

“You remembered the lightning.” He nodded, brow furrowed. “You remembered the storm. The way you speak and the information you know tells me that you are educated, and not just in historical events. If you want my guess?” He leaned a little closer, and you did too, captivated by the cadence of his voice and the warmth in his expression. “I think you are from Braavos. And if that is the case, your ship not showing up where it is supposed to be when it is supposed to be there will be big news.”  

He was right. And it’s as good a guess as any. “I have enough to book passage on a ship from Tyrosh back to Braavos.” You shook your head and then covered your face with your hands. “Or … or any other city between here and Tyrosh. You could just … Pentos. You could drop me off in Pentos, and -”

“I could do that.” He sighed, lips turning downward and into a frown. “If it is what you want me to do. But Braavos is just my guess. And if I am wrong? If you make it back to the city and it turns out that you are not from there?” His mouth moved, but no words came out for long seconds. “A woman alone with little money has very few options for survival.” 

“Oh.” Your shoulders slumped and you hung your head, eyes cast down so that you could focus on the surface of the water as the ship slipped through it. He was right about that, too. And while you figured a man like Daavos had spent time in the pleasure houses and brothels in both Westeros and Essos, it seemed that the idea of someone being forced into the profession wasn’t something he agreed with. 

You wondered if he had sisters - or even close friends while growing up - that had been thrust into that lifestyle against their will. Or maybe he just … cares. “May I tell you something else?” 

You murmured a yes, blinking rapidly before you looked over at him. The sun was truly beginning to set, and the light caught him perfectly, highlighting the planes of his face and seeming to make him glow. The sight of him - like that - was distracting, but you forced yourself to pay attention to what he was saying, trying to push the feeling of attraction to the side. It is not the right time. 

“My healer told me some other things about you after she examined you.” He closed his eyes, sighing. “I was not present for any of this, I assure you. But she said that you seem to be healthy. You have few scars, and despite it being crusted with salt and blood from the wound, your hair was … Not matted. No insects. It was singed, but your dress was well made and maintained.” He cautiously touched your hand again, fingers trailing down to take your wrist before he flipped it over, exposing your palm. “There are only small calluses on your hands and feet.” 

He slipped his thumb up and over the heel of your hand and then circled it against your palm, his touch gentle. But wait a minute … From what you could see, his hands were smooth, too - or at least smoother than those of a pirate should have been. There was dirt beneath his nails, but they were well-kept. And so is his hair and his facial hair. 

He traced along one of the lines on your palm, following it up the center of your hand with the tips of two of his fingers, but he didn’t say anything else for almost a minute. “She checked you for … trauma.” You knew what he meant immediately, and instead of attempting to draw your hand away from his, you closed your fingers, trapping his beneath them. “I thought … I thought maybe something had happened, and someone left you in that boat, and …”

“Did she find anything?” You hadn’t even considered the fact that you’d been abused and then abandoned, and even though there was wreckage from what Daavos assumed was your ship, he’d been right to check. 

“She told me no on both accounts, but did not give details.” He pressed his palm to yours and then withdrew his hand, steepling his fingers together, arms hanging over the edge of the railing. “That is a good thing.” It is. “Today must be overwhelming for you, so I will finish the tour by showing you the rest of the ship’s interior. There is a washroom. There is a galley. If and when you are hungry, please find something to eat.” 

“Am I allowed to be out here?” You held a hand up, thumb pointing back and behind you. “Or would you prefer I stay below deck?” 

“You can go wherever you wish.” His smile widened, and you were happy to see it. “You are not a prisoner on the Sand Snake. She is yours to explore.” You thanked him again, and when you both stood up and backed away from the railing, it was you that reached for him, laying your hand on his arm and letting it rest there. 

“I’ll go with you to Tyrosh, Daavos. Pentos is … there’s no need to make a special stop for me.” 

“I’m glad to hear that.” He closed his eyes and nodded, the small smile never faltering. “And I’m sure we’ll enjoy each other’s company until we arrive.” 

— 

For the next few days, you got to know the ship and some of the crew. 

The weather was pleasant, and the further south you sailed, the warmer the days became. You saw Daavos multiple times each day, but he didn’t visit you in your room at all. You knew that he’d gone in, though, because the door of his wardrobe was unlocked one afternoon, and one of the drawers on his desk was opened the next, revealing stacks of papers and a few small books inside of it. 

You knew it was wrong of you, especially after he’d been so generous with allowing you to remain in the room even after you didn’t need to anymore. But you couldn’t stop yourself from reading the pages. 

Some of them were Prince Oberyn’s personal items. There were letters from his daughters and Ellaria, sketches of a beautiful woman that you assumed was his lover, and even a few folded pieces of paper that you opted not to read after finding that they were correspondence that he’d never been able to send to the woman before his death. 

There was also poetry, which you absolutely read, your eyes scanning the words on the page as your heart ached for the man that had inked them. You knew who Prince Oberyn was and what he was known for, and based on the pages in front of you, the rumors of his romantic nature had been true. 

But his feud with the Lannisters had snuffed out his life too soon, leaving a woman that was clearly devoted to him as well as all of his daughters without him. It’s not fair, you thought as you shuffled through the papers and put them back into the order you’d found them in. He won that trial outright and there was no proof that he was responsible for Tywin and the army’s deaths. 

There was another stack of papers in the drawer, and those were in a different handwriting, leading you to believe that they were Daavos’. Reading the words of a dead man were one thing, but prying into the life of a man that you knew personally was another, and so with only a quick glance, you pushed them away from you and then shut the drawer. 

It locked with a click, and you stood up, deciding to get some fresh air. 

Twilight was settling over the sea, which meant activity on the deck was light. Most of the crew were in the galley or their quarters and enjoying their nightly meal. You opted to stay on the main deck, settling yourself atop one of the crates there and leaning against the ones stacked behind it. 

Your hands and face were better - the salve Daavos had given you was nothing short of magic. Though the worst blisters were still present, they’d gotten much smaller and no longer hurt. 

Your back was better, too, the healer confirming that you were on the mend. All things considered, the previous days had been wonderful for you, and the fresh salt breeze was likely helping. 

But you still didn’t remember anything about your previous life. 

You’d asked a few of the crewmen if they recognized the symbol on the metal or the mark on the bottom of your dagger, but none of them could help you. You’d inquired as to whether or not they recognized your accent based on their travels, but aside from a vague “you sound like you’re from the North”, there’d been no progress there, either.

But you could read. And if you could read, it stood to reason that you could write, too. You were educated and your body was soft, making clear that you’d never had to do hard labor.  Your clothes and boots were made from fine materials, and were well made, on top of that. The confirmation that your body bore no signs of sexual trauma was a relief, too. 

All of that together told you that whoever you were and wherever you were from, you’d likely had a good life, or at the very least, a comfortable one. “And yet I’m happy here, too.” You sighed and closed your eyes, tipping your head back. 

The crew were friendly, explaining the routines on the ship to you when you asked. You’d helped in the kitchen, chopping vegetables and slicing bread, even helping to cook meat. After the first few days on board, you’d woken up early in the morning, following the schedule of the majority of the crew. You would have helped more, earning your place among them, but they had been unwilling to let you. 

You assumed that was Daavos’ doing. While you appreciated the fact that he wanted you to get better before you overexerted yourself, you wondered how long that would last. Maybe until Tyrosh. You hoped that wasn’t the case, because there were still days to go until you docked there. 

“May I sit with you?” You opened your eyes at the sound of his voice, turning your head to the right. “We have not had time to speak today.” 

“Of course, Captain.” Scooting over, you left him room to sit beside you. “We’re what … three days out from Tyrosh?” He settled in, murmuring an agreement. 

“Maybe a little less.” He settled his hands on his lap, one thumb turning the ring on the other in a slow circle. “The winds change near Shipbreaker Bay, and we may be fortunate.” 

“I’m sure the crew will be happy to be on land for a few days.” He nodded, taking a deep breath. “What about you? Do you stay with the ship, or will you enjoy the city, too?” 

“The Three Sisters to Tyrosh is a short journey, so none of my crew are sea-weary.” There was a long pause, and when Daavos spoke again, you could tell that he was amused. “But if you’re asking what I believe you are asking, yes. I intend to make a few stops while we’re docked, and I’m sure they will, too.” You smiled, feeling your cheeks heat. Of course he understood my meaning. “After we inquire about you, of course.” 

“I can do that on my own.” You waved him off. “It shouldn’t take long. And I don’t want to cut your time short with … your business.” Daavos laughed, lifting one hand to press it to the center of his chest, and despite the slight embarrassment you felt at the subject of the conversation, you let yourself enjoy it. 

He laughed often, the sound carrying on the breeze to your ears throughout the days and in through your open window during the night. You looked forward to hearing it, but you enjoyed seeing him laugh even more, the corners of his eyes creased and a dimple appearing on one cheek. Daavos laughing usually made you want to join in, but that night, all you did was give him a small smile before lowering your head as you shook it back and forth. 

“I told you. I am responsible for you until I know that I don’t need to be any longer.” He reached over then, settling his hand on your knee and squeezing. “Us talking to a few people will not interfere with my business.” Daavos paused, and then sighed. “You still have not told me what you wish for me to use as your name.” 

Truthfully, you hadn’t given it much thought. The rest of the crew were happy to greet you without calling you anything, and you didn’t want to choose something quickly and then remain saddled with it if you never remembered who you really were. You told him as much, and Daavos didn’t reply at first - but when he did, his words stunned you. 

“What if I give you a name?” He looked over at you, waiting to see your response. You? But you don’t know me. How can you … “You were found by a Dornish ship with a Dornish crew, so it only seems right to carry that on and call you by a Dornish name.” 

“You know that much about Dorne? You could choose a -”

“I know a great many things about a great many people.” He nodded. “And I have spent more than enough time in Dorne to have an idea of the importance of the names they often use there.” 

“But I’m not -” 

“I won’t choose Nymeria. I promise.” He winked at you and that made you laugh, his lips curving upward at the sound. “Not Dyanne. Not Emarye. Not Arianne.” He sighed. “Meria? No, no, that is …” Daavos cocked his head to the side, furrowing his brows. “Myriah?” He nodded. “That might …” Myriah? “Myriah Martell and her brother united Dorne with the rest of Westeros by marrying Targaryens. It is a strong name. A good name. And if you agree, that is what I…” He swept one of his hands in a half circle to indicate the rest of the ship. “What we will call you for as long as you are with us.” 

You thought for a few minutes, letting his words sink in. It’s only temporary. Once I remember who I am, I won’t use that anymore. You didn’t mind the name - especially when it was coming from Daavos’ lips. “Alright.” You agreed, shifting so that you could face him. “I accept that.” 

Daavos got to his feet and spun to face you, his smile widening. “Well that was simple.” You stood, too, and when Daavos held out his hand, you took it, the man’s fingers closing around yours before he’d opened his mouth again. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Myriah.” 

You wanted to tell him the same, but before you could get the words out, he was lifting your hand and leaning forward, lips puckered. He kissed the back of it and didn’t pull away before raising his gaze to meet yours. Oh, he … this is … it shouldn’t be this enjoyable to … Daavos closed his eyes and squeezed your fingers before releasing them. “It’s…” You shook your head to clear it. “That is definitely not my actual name, so -”

“One down, endless possibilities to go.” He smiled again, and you joined him in laughter, deciding that in spite of the reservations you felt about your behavior - and what was appropriate with Daavos, you were going to try to be less harsh on yourself. At least while I’m on board. “Your help around the ship has been noticed.” He gestured for you to walk with him, and so you did, the two of you heading for the bow and then up the steps. “But you don’t need to work so hard. You are my guest, not a sailor.” 

“I’ve already kicked you out of your bedroom. I can’t just no nothing. I don’t like being idle.” You paused, turning to look at him. “Daavos, there’s a possibility that in a few days, I’ll find out where I came from and where I was supposed to go, and then you won’t have to worry about me offering help.” 

You felt disappointment gathering in your chest as you spoke the words, the emotion foreign for you. You wanted the truth, wanted to find yourself … but a small part of you wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the handsome man that had saved you from certain death. Handsome pirate… he’s not just a man. 

“Can I ask you a personal question?” He lifted a brow, one side of his mouth quirking upward, too. I’m going to take that as a yes. “Are you … married?” You crossed your arms and then uncrossed them, very aware that you could have been too forward with him. “I just wonder if you have someone waiting in a port somewhere, or if one of the women on board are -”

“None of the women on this ship are mine.” His smile widened, Daavos letting out a deep breath. “And as for a wife?” He looked off to his right, his expression faltering briefly. “She is my wife in all of the ways that matter to me, but I have not seen her for many months.” He looked back at you, and even though he was smiling, the expression was sad. “This life is not for her, but she understands that I am doing what I must do.” 

You weren’t surprised, but you were a little confused. In all the ways that matter? What does that mean? You were also somewhat disappointed, and there was no way for you to pretend otherwise. Of course he has someone. “Will you see her soon?”

“Very soon.” He grinned, putting a hand on his hip. “It is something that has been a long time coming, and I hope that she is just as excited as I am.” Why wouldn’t she be? You wondered if he was meeting her in Tyrosh - if she was one of the stops that he was planning on making once the ship docked. 

Before you could ask, though, the sound of a clanging bell rang out, startling you - and Daavos. “What is that? Why -”

“That is the signal for rough water. It means things might not be so smooth tonight.” He sighed. “Of course it happens after dark, but…” He muttered something under his breath that you didn’t catch, but when Daavos caught your eye again, the smile was back on his lips. “Let me walk you back to your room.” 

You agreed, thanking him. To your surprise, he offered you his arm to lead you across the deck and back toward he stairs, his hand settling over yours once you’d tucked it into the crook of his elbow. As the two of you walked together, you felt the ship sway beneath your feet. It was the first time since you’d been on board that you felt unsteady, but with Daavos next to you, you kept your balance. 

You made it to the door of your room and he stopped, pulling his arm free from yours. He didn’t say goodnight or turn to leave, though. “Thank you for making sure I got back safely.” You spoke quietly, the flickering lanterns casting light over both of you. “Will the waves make it hard for you to sleep tonight?” 

“No.” He leaned in. “Don’t worry about me.” He wet his lips, eyes searching your face for long moments. It should have made you uncomfortable, but instead you grew warm at the way his focus felt. He just told me he has someone. He just … stop. “You may want to douse the lantern in your room tonight. If it gets too rough, it -”

He was cut off by another lurch of the ship, but that one caused you to lose your balance. You stumbled forward a few steps, both hands rising and then coming to rest against his chest. Daavos reacted, too, his arms winding around you to keep you from falling over. “Oh! Daavos, I -” The ship rocked again, but he had his feet planted that time, and managed to keep you both steady. 

You should have moved. 

The proper thing to do would have been to pull yourself out of his arms and go into the bedroom … but you didn’t. Instead, you let him hold you, your eyes locked with his in the dim hallway. As the seconds ticked by, you felt his hands move, Daavos sliding one of them slowly up your back and pulling you even closer. 

You curled your fingers against his shirt, the material silky to the touch - and for a split second, wondered if his hair would be just as soft. Or his lips. Your eyes dropped to his mouth and lingered there. The desire that had been simmering since the moment you’d first woken up to see him through the gauzy sunlight filtering through his curtains overwhelmed your common sense. Kiss me. Please kiss me. 

 It was him that moved first, Daavos tilting his head to the side as he leaned in, palm flat against your back and his fingers spread wide. He’s going to kiss me. 

But it was you that stopped him, your mouth opening and somehow overpowering your body’s reaction to his proximity. “Please don’t.” He stopped moving immediately, both eyes widening. “You just … your wife. You -”

“There is so much that you do not know.” His lips twisted into a frown as he straightened up, but Daavos didn’t let go of you. “So much, and -”

“You’re right.” You felt the tears gathering and then blinked them away furiously, even as you pushed against his chest to put distance between you. “I know nothing about myself. I might have a husband that spends his time writing me poetry like the kind I found in your - in Oberyn’s room.” The tears fell and you watched Daavos’ face do the same, the man wincing at your words. “I might have someone that misses me the way that he missed Ellaria and his daughters when they were apart, but I don’t know.” 

He spoke then, saying your agreed-upon name and then stopping, head lowering as he shook it. It sounds strange to me, too. “You might. It would not surprise me.”

“But what I do know? Is that you just told me that you do have someone. And they’re waiting for you. And no matter how much I would like to let you kiss me, I will not risk losing your goodwill when it comes to my place on this ship.” You sucked in a breath, pushing on his chest again in frustration. That time, he let you go, taking a step back but not looking away as he let you see the hurt in his expression. “And I won’t hurt a woman I’ve never met by taking something that isn’t mine to take.” 

“I am sorry.” He swallowed, holding up one hand. “It was my mistake.” Your heart lurched at his admission, and you fought to keep your expression even. The ship swayed again, forcing you to reach out with one hand to brace yourself against the wall. Daavos looked away and over his shoulder before settling his attention back on you. “Please don’t think less of me.” 

“I don’t.” Your heart was pounding, but what you said was the truth. You’d both gotten caught up in the moment - and you’d stopped yourself before crossing a line. “It happens. A moment of weakness, and nothing more.” Gesturing to the hallway behind him, you forced a smile. “Go. Check on your ship.” 

He thanked you and then turned away after giving you one final look. But before Daavos had taken more than a few steps, he stopped and looked back in your direction. “I was not just talking about you when I said there were things that you don’t know.” What does that even mean? “Sleep well.” 

Daavos turned away again and then disappeared into the darkness. You stared after him for long moments, trying to make sense of what he’d said - and what had almost happened between you. “I can do that inside.” 

You spoke to yourself, the sound of your voice forcing you into motion. Minutes later, you were inside of the room and in bed. You doused the lantern like Daavos had suggested, which plunged the room into almost total darkness and left you alone with your thoughts - and the memory of his touch.

Sleep evaded you for hours. It had little to do with the way the ship moved atop the water and everything to do with the way that the look of disappointment in Daavos’ eyes had mirrored what you felt as you pushed him away and heard him call the moment between you a mistake. 

—  

[hihelloheyhowdy]

They Don't Know About the "I Love You"s (Nagi x reader)

In which pro athlete!Nagi is discovered to be in a relationship with you, and refuses to deny it.

Nagi's publicist always told him what to do, who to talk to, and how to act. He felt like aside from constantly having to keep up with his 'genius' soccer plays, he also had to keep an act that'll allow him his career.

Football had become one of the very few things that brought him passion, and the ability to make a more than steady income from something he enjoyed. However he found himself hating being in the spot light.

One thing that he looked forward to was coming home to you at the end of the day, and sitting there as you ran your hand through his hair whispering a 'you did good today' or 'I'm proud of you'. It was moments like those where he felt himself keeping pushing forward despite becoming tired of it all.

When Reo's on his ass about practice, when everyone is complaining about how his goals were no longer as 'genius' as they should be, when the crowd seems to find him not entertaining enough, it all fades to nothing in your presence.

Because you're the only one who never wants anything from Nagi. All you've ever asked for in exchange for all your understanding and affection, is that in return. The most beautiful part about it, is that loving you came easy to Nagi.

He was willing to put in 'work', but he rarely felt that it made him tired. In fact every moment spent with you feels like tons of weights have been lifted off of him. You know Nagi, and you've seen him at his worst yet you still found it in you to love him.

So he couldn't stand there, and let you simply take the pressure that the public suddenly threw at you. An article came out of the two of you on a picnic date in the park. It was titled 'Star Footballer Nagi Seishiro Not As Single As He Lets On?"

It sickened him to his stomach when he saw people saying that you weren't 'attractive enough', or seemed to not be 'good enough' to be dating him according to their standards.

It couldn't be further from the truth. In Nagi's eyes you were gorgeous, and if anything he didn't deserve you. Always putting up with him when he was unmotivated, or snapped at you for no reason at all.

When you'd seen the article didn't think anything of it, but people quickly were able to identify you. Millions of dms and commented flooded in, and not all of them were sweet. You tried to ignore them, but with so many it was hard until you went on private.

The next morning you'd woken to having been tagged in a post made by Nagi last night a million times. It was a photo from that picnic date, one where he was kissing your cheek. There was a caption under it, and it read 'more than perfect for me, i love you'.

You felt your heart swell as you smiled as you looked down to the Nagi sleeping soundly next to you. You ran a hand softly through his hair as he seemed to lean into your touch. You whisper out a small 'I love you' into the air, even though he couldn't hear.

[austinslounge]

Reading that timeline, I can always tell when a shipper sends in a fake anonymous spotting of Austin and Kaia to Deumoxi. They always have to add they look happy together and still very much in love...with no pics provided ever.

Except when Austin and Kaia are actually photographed together they never look happy and in love. Shippers always blame the paparazzi for the miserable looks. Which is slightly ironic cause their girl Kaia is the one tipping off the paps.

But also, Austin will smile around the paps when he's with anyone else but Kaia. I don't think couple pics of Austin and Kaia go for that much money. If they did, I would think them playing it up for the cameras and looking in love would sell more 🤷🏻‍♀️

But even the girl on the plane was responding to comments on her Instagram and made the comment 'he's a man in love' and I just...I have a hard time believing it. Austin never shows she's happy with Kaia. We're constantly told how happy and in love he is with her, but never see it. I don't know if they agree in public to look miserable but in private they are super happy. I just don't think that's true.

Not to mention ALL the articles that have come out about them in the last few months alone. Now, L&S hasn't published anything in a few months now. But they kinda started the speculation that things were going wrong. Where there is smoke there is fire. I don't think people are checking on these two, outside the fandom, enough for the press to just making up false stories. People from both camps were feeding info to the press.

Which still makes me believe these two are on very borrowed time.

Yea girl, a lot of the sightings seem fake tbh. I always take sightings without pictures with a huge grain of salt. I even took the Kaia/Marcello restaurant sighting as possibly being fake until I saw actual pics of them together being all close at a party.

But yea, the "they look so in love!" claims are always sus to me lol. 😅 No offense, but aside from a red carpet event, when have we ever seen Austin and Kaia looking sooo in love?

Let's get real lol. 😅

Where have they looked so in love in public?

Because every time I see them in public, they're usually looking like this:

The strangest thing with Austin and Kaia is that unlike normal couples, they don't even look like they talk to each other while they're out. 👀 You rarely even see them interacting with each other or saying anything to each other while out and about. And I fully believe that DeuxMoi sighting that said they saw them at dinner together and they barely said one word to each other rofl 🤣 I believe it, because that's what we see in pictures also! Lol

As much as Austin loves to talk to people? It's just so strange. 🥴 At least other couples seem like they're caught in mid-sentence, or caught in a laugh while out with their significant other. But Austin and Kaia? Nope.

I could see if people stated in DM sightings that they spotted Dua and Callum out together, and they looked so in love. That would be very believable because we actually have plenty of proof of them looking absolutely drunk in love with each other out in public lol. 😄

But Austin and Kaia? Please. Lol

[poppyandzena]

Dude what is happening between you and Courtney Orchard? Why does she think you leaked her Discord? That doesn’t seem like you at all.

I was actually in Courtney's server before I knew Milena in November 2023. Over time I had concerns about moderation in regards to their Lily Orchard and PZ channels. As you know, Lily Orchard and Poppy Diabolique are impossible to talk about without addressing intense, traumatic sexual situations. I actually didn't realize there were minors there until I checked for ages in the intro channel. I felt really uncomfortable upon realizing and felt like I would contribute to the problem if I didn't personally do something. I officially ceased posting there on 11/30/2023. I think there's a few single posts scattered, but not in-depth convos like I used to have. And honestly I stopped even looking in there aside from brief glances.

[This is a DM. The context is me not posting in the pz or lily channels until the minors were barred from those channels.] Early March, 2024, I saw the tumblr of the pedophile involved with the PZ mess (the article) posted in the PZ chat that contained minors.

My words were "I oppose to this. You know how minors will be inclined to go and interact with these people. Minors should not be involved in investigating these situations." Because there was at least one minor who has been in that server "investigating" PZ since even before I made this blog (and they still are). Courtney told me I was "on thin ice" and said they were angry because I was directly challenging their authority. Another member told me off for "infantilizing a 15 year old." So I backed off, but held my stance. It just reinforced my discomfort I had in November.

In regards to screenshots, Milena recalled a post she made in the server about predicting Poppy's rape accusation against Noehflake. I was asked to save that for her, with only her post on that subject. I did also tell Milena about what they were saying about her in Courtney's server, because what was being discussed quickly spiraled into unsubstantiated pedo-jacketing and smearing, and I would want someone to inform me of those serious accusations were I in Milena's position. I would do that if it were anyone else. You don't have to like Milena, how she acts, or what she's done. I draw the line at those accusations. Even with Poppy, I'm not going to call her a pedophile without seeing actual, verifiable proof with my own eyes. Honestly, the environment in that server made me ill and my attempt to speak up about my discomfort was met with intense aggression. I think I was kicked on the day of Lux's stream but I don't know what Courtney was specifically mad about because I wasn't looking at the server. I just saw I was kicked and carried on with my day.

Courtney is entitled to their anger, but I am also entitled to the opinions I have for their treatment of that server.

I respect Courtney's story of what Poppy and Zena did to them, as well as their abuse at the hands of Lily Orchard. But I am not their friend and I don't agree with everything they do. No matter what, Courtney's experience with Poppy and Zena will stay archived on my blog under the #courtney tag so that those experiences won't be forgotten.

I simply ask to be left alone, and I do not want to contact or be contacted by them.

[toxintouch]

so I found your post about what if the cult that raised Unnamed MC was one of Vere's old cults and I just had a few thoughts. a Deicide Vere flavored thoughts.

(also I apologize in advance because this was a lot longer than I planned on it being lmao)

what if MC was meant to eventually be sacrificed? like, in an attempt to bring Vere back or something along those lines. and the MC knew they were going to be sacrificed; it probably played a decent factor in why they ran.

so how would MC react to finding out that Vere was the very deity that they grew up worshipping, had grown up knowing that they would eventually be sacrificed to him in a vain attempt to bring him back?

maybe the Devout Follower part of them hadn't been snuffed out by the time they met Vere. maybe all the old habits they tried to leave behind started to come back after being face-to-face with their god. maybe, in a scenario where something, or someone, would have to be sacrificed in order to remove the collar, they would decide to be almost exactly what the cult raised them to be: a sacrifice, but to free him instead of bringing him back?

or, alternatively, the Devout Follower part of them had been completely snuffed out by the time they met Vere. how would they react to finding out that, after all that running, they somehow managed to end up within arms reach of the very thing they had been running from? what if they choose to run again because of it, just up and leaving Eridia, leaving Vere still chained to the Senobium?

and of course: how would Vere react? MC being an ex-follower of his is one thing, but them being an ex-follower and an eventual sacrifice? someone who once fervently worshipped him and was, at least at some point in their life, fully willing to lay down their life for him with no guarantee it would even lead to anything?

(or how would he react to the "MC just fucking leaves" scenario specifically? sure, Normal/Canon Vere would be going through it, especially if him and MC were close, but Deicide Vere? yeah I think that would be his breaking point)

I don't mind the length at all!! I'm the last person who would ever complain, many ppl will attest to my long DMs, etc. In fact, thank you for taking the time to write out your ask and tysm taking an interest in my beloved Deicide Flavored Vere! ˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗ Sorry it took all day to respond, I wanted to be able to set aside proper time to read your message and consider! :3 You're picking up what I was thinking abt for sure with your sacrifice train of thought! Though I'll admit I was thinking more of MC being a less literal sacrifice - chosen as the conduit or the one who is supposed to find Vere and bring him back to his people now that he has disappeared.

Oh, but the literal sacrifice angle is juicy. And less convoluted/more clear than how I was trying to make the pieces fit, when I made that post? I let myself get stuck on the thought that I wanted MC to feel...fashioned for Vere, but I was thinking, perhaps, too logically & not cult-y enough, lol.

✦ Perhaps MC thought - when they were a child? - that they would be alive to meet Vere when he came back, but once they became older they realized that: no, they were to be a sacrifice to bring him back. They had to be ready to die for him. And they are only acting as Oracle in stead of their deity until they become strong enough to divine his return, which they (via the cult's teachings) believe will require them to sacrifice themself to him, to die...

But once they realize that their curse is a curse and not a god-given ability that's been granted to them... What else isn't true?

✦ Or perhaps they realize that to be a sacrifice is to die for their god at the same time they realize the truth about their hands, like you suggested, and they knew that they had to flee for the sake of their life and for the sake of finding freedom. They finally saw the gilded cage they had been kept in.

I definitely want to further explore the branching thoughts & paths of Sacrifice!Unnamed grappling with their Devotion vs Apostasy, but I don't want to keep you waiting too long for an answer so I will just resolve to make relevant posts as I consider more/write more! Until then:

✦ I think, even if they want to say that they have left all of their devotion to their god behind...old habits die hard. Things slip through the cracks. No matter how tightly you think you've closed the door, a sliver of a shadow can still find its way into the room where you thought you were safe and alone.

✦ In this MC's mind, they have always been Vere's.

✦ And Vere... [incoming POV shift to match the original Deicide fic]

His own autonomy is important to him, yes, but he's a hypocrite at heart. He's a glutton. He craves power. And he craves you.

He didn't put the collar on his own neck.

But you did.

You belong to him; you were made for him.

You devoted yourself to him, chained yourself willingly and he's not about to allow you to take all the oaths and prayers and the sweet, secret whispers you've given to him back.

(Oh, but he’d have been a kind god to you. Eventually. In that other time, that fictional reality where life is fair. You can earn his kindness, but never his mercy. It isn't in him to be merciful.)

You can't take your devotion back. He has a taste for it now. The only way he's letting it die is if he devours it whole.

And how had he not recognized the taste of himself already on you? How had he failed to notice, so distracted by your enticing promise, that he'd already laid claim? He's been woven into your life from the very start. He didn't even have to go to your town to demand you. You came to him.

(He'll reward them, still, the dregs of his followers – a quick death when he kills them for leaving their hand prints all over what they knew was his, for the suffering they inflicted on you that was his to mete out – suffering that was his to bless you will, as punishment or otherwise.)

And the depth of your devotion? That presses into him, something tender and cutting, unfamiliar or at least long forgotten. He'll reward you once he's satisfied with your repentance. Once you've renewed your faith in all the ways he sees fit.

(How shall be react to your willingness to die for him? It's been so long since he's had something to lose...)

✦ Deicide!Vere is such a mess of feelings. I think he would have a lot of trouble deciding what to do about Sacrifice!MC being willing (currently or previously) to die for him.

✦ The complexity of the matter is that: Were it anyone else, he wouldn't hesitate. He'd be pleased to throw them into harm's way if it meant being free. But Deicide!Vere has been lonely, searching for something - someone - like him for so long. I think he sees the potential of Sacrifice!MC as the one person outside of himself that he could really treasure. (AKA love) They're the "thing" he wanted most, before he lost his freedom. Being confronted with a situation where he may have to sacrifice one of his greatest desires for the other? Even he's not sure what he would do, if the situation arose as such. So he pushes that thought and that feeling away. My vision of Vere is that, though he is somewhat scheming, he is also impulsive and driven by hedonism. For regular Vere, I'm sure he pushes it away until it has to be an impulse decision. For Deicide Vere? This is the shittiest, no-win scenario. Low luck stat really comin' thru.

✦ Re: MC just fucking leaves scenario: I think you're right that something about that breaks him. The rejection. The idea that they've found him unworthy, not the other way around. But most of all: the abandonment. That they would leave him to suffer, presumably forever.

He's their god, yet it's them who's sentenced him to hell.

✦ Another thought I often consider: MC succeeds in removing his collar and even manages to survive doing it. But they don't chose to stay with him. He's been mistrusting of them, too cold and harsh and unwilling to see them as an equal (or at least: unwilling to admit that he does). And so, they lay the collar at his feet and leave. One last supplication, the final prayer from their lips being: "Goodbye, Vere." And the door is firmly shut, this time. He's free but he's back where he started. Searching. Alone. (He knows they're out there somewhere, but they've surpassed him in order to free him. If he hides in the shadow, they hide - they live in the places that match their golden veins, and he can't find them there.)

✦ He thought he could find them anywhere. But he's lost their scent....

I know my reply was a little bit messy, but hopefully I've answered in a way that was fun to read! and maybe even scratched some of the Deicide!Vere itch for anyone who, like me, is constantly infected. Ty again for joining me in my little brainrot corner!

p.s. lmk if i didn't answer/can answer anything more specific that u were hoping for an answer to, it's been kinda a week for my brain!

[hologramcowboy]

Debunking fandom rumors: Erin and Jensen

It has come to my attention that someone is creating multiple accounts and posing as ITK while claiming that Erin and Jensen have hooked up or have a love story. It seems some bloggers and users actually adopted this person's narrative without digging deeper and asking for evidence. My reason for this post is I have received asks and dms from people actually falling for these rumors and the stories behind them make absolutely no sense and there is zero evidence. I have also received warnings from the people who have, thankfully, not fallen for them and had things to share about the person responsible. There is a huge difference between speculating about your fav celeb and full on gaslighting people with made-up stories.

The story seems to vary a bit from person to person as it gets passed down by the people who have been misinformed. The web is so spun some have adopted these claims as truth. Let's debunk a few of those versions. Please note that I don't know them by heart and so they aren't super precise but the claim behind them is the same:

You may have heard that Erin posted about Austin and then deleted the post. - An actress going to Austin could be about an infinite number of events, from art to auditions to modeling etc. There is absolutely nothing out of the ordinary there because Austin is bustling with entertainment industry opportunities. Jensen was in the process of moving to Connecticut, moving involves preparing everything not just the actual move. If someone keeps insisting Erin was there for Jensen then please ask them for clear evidence and you will soon find there is none.

You may have been told that some woman who worked on set for the Boys caught Erin and Jensen in the act. - First off, Erin and Jensen barely intersected each other on set. Secondly, on-set crew signs NDAs. Thirdly, no professional actor would risk getting fired over flirting or anything related, that's a super fast way to get fired. A set is a professional environment. Most of all, people who are a part of the crew don't have so much access to the stars. They may get to interact and be around them when doing make-up, costume and other set-related situations but actors have their own designated areas and security is tight. Aside from this, rumors on a set travel at lightning speed and yet no such rumors about the cast ever surfaced. I can also add the fact that actors are trained to create chemistry and so they use various exercises to achieve this. Often, people end up believing they are in love precisely due to the powerful chemistry those exercises generate. Don't believe me? Cool, have a look here.

Some friend of a friend saw Erin in Jensen's lap in some social media post. All that was visible was the beard. 🤣🤦🏼‍♀- The beard belonged to Jai Courtney. No Jensen was involved.

Erin and Jensen got matching tattoos - In reality, Jai tattooed Erin's ankle, which had zero to do with Jensen. Here's a pic:

These are just a few examples, in some cases, the person sharing these rumors claims to be Jensen's hookup and that Jensen confided to her that he is involved with Erin. The person responsible for sharing these stories has multiple sock accounts and is posing as multiple people. The person has even resorted to stealing someone's online pictures to pose as that friend so as to differentiate one of her sock accounts from her original one.

Aside from this, this person has also taken to SM to harass the actors in their comment sections, in an attempt to make it seem as if the rumors have taken off. They have not.

Neither Jensen nor Danneel nor Erin deserved to be harassed over made-up stories. To avoid doxxing anyone involved, I have made this a general post to bring you awareness and give the person responsible a chance to reassess their actions and do the right thing. As mentioned in my disclaimer, I want to strongly remind everyone that anything you read online or on my blog or any other blog should be taken with a huge grain of salt. Just as when people contact you claiming they are Misha, Jensen etc. ask them for evidence and once they fail to provide it report and block. If someone contacts you to share gossip, stay grounded, ask questions, ask for supporting evidence and details, and make your own decision rather than adopting someone's idea of the truth. It's one thing to entertain a rumor and quite another to harass real-life people over adopting these rumors as truth. Gossip can be fun and entertaining but it should never, ever cross the line into slander, impersonation and other violations. Let's keep in mind that there are teenagers with naive perspectives, fans who suffer from erotomania or other mental disorders or people who simply lack information who might all fall victim to these machinations and suffer consequences. We all play a part in keeping fandom safe so let's exercise caution. Please stay safe online and help others do the same. I am feeling kinda tired so I apologize for not being able to compose this post as clearly as I wanted, feel free to DM me if anything is unclear.

[theprettynosferatu]

State of the Blog, August 2024

Friends, kinksters, secret crushes:

Thank you for coming. Well, the blog is starting to get moving again after my 4 month absence, and I hope to keep up production! I already wrote a new story and I'm working on a second!

Patr¿on:

Which means the Patr¿on people are getting the library fed a bit! I mean, it's already quite massive, but I'm so glad to be creating once more.

And for the people that stuck by me during my hiatus: THANK YOU. You truly don't know what it means to me. You saved my bacon more than once.

To be honest, I'm not promoting the patr¿on again yet here aside from tags on images. I don't feel comfortable doing so just yet. I'm still finding my balance again, juggling real life work and kink work. This is why I haven't opened commissions either, but I'm hoping to soon.

Also, let me offer an explanation and a little bit of a secret. My content was a bit... spicy there- so if you sign up, wait for me to dm you (it usually takes me less than 24 hours) on how to access the library.

As for the secret... I have never, ever revoked access after a patr¿n stopped subscribing. I'm not goddamn Netflix. As far as I'm concerned, any support for me is a donation. Those than can do it more or for longer are greatly appreciated and kinda make up for those that fall on hard times: but I hope you do it because you care about my work and kink, not because you fear losing access to the library, because you won't.

I'm building kink socialism over here!

AI Sucks Ass and Not in A Fun Way and I'm a Hypocrite.

Let's address this elephant in the room. You have surely noticed I'm using AI for captions. I hate it. I hate that I haven't found a better way yet.

The reason is this: as I've explained before, long ago in the before-times, I just used pics of people that were available online. Mainly sex workers. I didn't think much of it, as I saw captioning as inherently transformative. Well, that bit of a legal leaf ignored something rather big: what the sex workers wanted. And it took sex workers on my own discord having a serious chat to make me change my stubborn mind. There is a consent issue: what if I use a pic of someone and transform it into a sort of maledom, misogyny kink pic? They never consented to being the face of that kink! Maybe they hate it!

I have worked together with swers to make captions they'd feel fine with and promote their work as well as mine. The problem there is the ravenous appetite of the algorithm, which demands more and more content. Sex workers are people, and chatting with me, deciding to trust me, working together is something I truly cherish. It's also a very slow process. Sex work is hard and takes up a lot of time!

And so we land on the current day. I try to make the blog more text-based these days but captions are a part of the content and have been since the beginning. Does it suck? Yes. absolutely. I mean, some of the pics turn out pretty cool, but it's just... icky to use it. It has been trained on scrubbed data from all over, without compensation. It is a bad thing.

But it might be the less-bad option. God, I hate "lesser of two evils" shit and the point may come when I don't feel comfortable doing captions at all, aside from a few ones starring followers who want to be captioned.

We'll see how I feel after a while.

For now, I'm just happy to be back here, with all of you. I hope I can provide some kinky entertainment.

And again, thank you all for sticking around. You're the reason I'm still here, every one of you. Stay safe, stay proud.

[dontforgetyourmedstoday]

So you just steal artwork and don't care? Got it. Either that or my ask asking about sources from your posts on April 8th disappeared. Or I guess you could be off tumblr and not have been here for two weeks.

Hi Anon,

I'm assuming this is you:

If it is, yes, I did see your last ask - but life has been a bit shit lately and frankly, I didn't have the emotional bandwidth to deal with an accusatory email that gave me absolutely no details about what you were upset about so I could investigate. So today, despite it being an incredibly long and shit one that isn't over I'm going to reply.

*Takes a deep breath* From this point forward I'm going to assume that, like me, you are just a real-live human with feelings that get hurt and not someone who just likes to yell at people on the internet. So let me apologise that I have used your artwork without attribution, it was in no way my intention. Please take this apology as someone who was just trying to amuse themselves and perhaps help some other people out by reminding them to take their meds too. I absolutely suck at art-type things so in my mind, no one would think I did them or was claiming the actual 'art' part of them as mine. I realise now this is the internet, you guys don't know me, and so I should have been clearer that nearly all of these are edits. (There are a few waaaaay back I actually drew myself). Looking at the 7th, 8th & 9th of April (allowing for time zones and assuming that's when you saw your artwork). All of them except one have a link at the bottom of the image that links back to where I sourced the original image - I don't know if this is visible on mobile so I'll show it below (the bit circled in red)

So I'm assuming this one is yours:

It seems that one doesn't have the link. I don't know why. I haven't made any new reminders for this blog in ages (again - life) - it seems like most of the ones from early April this year were originally posted back in 2021. I got briefly excited about this blog again a few months ago and loaded up a bunch of old ones so this blog was still functional for the people that find it helpful. Going back I have noticed that others seem to not have credit either. It is possible I made a mistake and forgot to add them. It's also possible that Tumblr has a had a glitch/error/weirdness which means it's disappeared. I also used a bunch of images from the editing app I was using to add the reminder message and I wish I could remember what the site was called because I cannot for the life of me remember. Honestly, who knows. I have deleted the post(s) with that image - if it's not the right one please let me know.

I have always gone out of my way to ensure that anything I use is either free use, or non-commercial under Creative Commons. As an aside, I'm an academic and a person who has artist friends and my partner runs a business where our customers are largely designers and artists, so I do actually do my best to give credit. Am I perfect - no I'm not. Part of the reason I stopped making new posts was because of difficulty giving credit even on images that were non-attribution and finding images where I knew what the attribution requirements were (along with trying to remember everything everyone asked me to tag, and doing the image descriptions etc.) If anyone else finds something of theirs in one of my posts and there isn't credit attached please either dm me or send an ask and let me know which post and how you would like to be credited and I'll add it in. If you want it removed, I'm happy to do that too.

Sorry for the long post, hope it helps to clear things up. Finally, let me take this opportunity to say

"Don't forget your meds today my friends"

[penguinwriter24]

Chapter 17 : Marry Me? [ EN ]

TW : a little angst at the beginning but mainly fluff.

A/N : There you go, the story of Edmund Pevensie and Dahlia ends after seventeen weeks...

Thank you to everyone who took the time to read this short FanFiction. Don't hesitate to tell me what you think of it either in the comments or on my DM or on my Instagram account (irishlassiewattpad).

Hoping to see you again for the next adventure!

Annstas Peidith.

--

Edmund

A few years later

Edmund got off his horse, he tied it not far from the house and then he walked towards the door. His hands started shaking, he took several deep breaths to try to calm himself down. He had led several battalions in war and he had never backed down from a fight, he had rarely felt fear, but there he was terrified. His future depended on this interview.

Edmund made sure his outfit did not have any unwanted wrinkles, he ran his hand through his hair to make sure his hairstyle was proper before knocking on the door of the cottage. He has to wait two minutes before the mistress of the house opens the door for him.

“Good morning, your Majesty.”

“Good morning to you, too. Can I come in?”

“Oh, yes, of course!”

The hostess stepped aside to let Edmund pass. She closed the door behind him and led him into the living room.

“Do you want me to bring you a cup of tea, your Majesty?”

“Gladly, thank you” Edmund smiled at her kindly.

Edmund watched the mistress of the house running in all directions to try to order the house a little, she had not expected to receive a visit and even less the one of the King of Narnia. He smiled to himself, she reminded him so much of his own mother, she was also disturbed when she received unexpected visitors.

Finally, the hostess put the cup of tea down in front of Edmund.

“My husband should be arriving soon.” she announced.

She knew very well why Edmund was there. He had been coming to visit her and her husband for almost a year now and he always came for the same thing.Secretly, it saddened her to see him like this, she knew why he was there and she also knew that he would leave with the same answer as always.

While waiting for the husband to return, Edmund sipped his tea while helping to tidy up the house a bit. No matter how much she said she could manage on her own, Edmund was not listening to her. It also had to be said that while he was occupying his mind, he was not thinking about the fact that Dahlia's father was once again going to refuse that he marry her.

The first time he had refused, he had said that the way he dressed was not worthy of a man of his rank. The second time, it had been his hairstyle that was the problem. The third - and so far it was the only one that had made sense to Edmund - he had refused because he did not want Dahlia to end up like all the previous Queens (sad, unhappy and abandoned ). The fourth time — and Edmund had nearly choked on his sip of tea when he heard it — Dahlia's father had said no because he saw no point in giving his blessing for the marriage knowing that at the first opportunity, Edmund would take a mistress and end up having Dahlia exiled. And, the fifth time, the excuse for the refusal had been the fact that the Pevensies tended to disappear and he did not want that for his daughter.

Edmund understood some of the reasons given by Dahlia's father, but Edmund was frustrated that he did not want to give him a chance. Not once had Edmund given him a valid reason to doubt him and his love for Dahlia. Everyone saw it and for the people it was really only a matter of time before they got married and started a family of their own. Besides, for some Narnians, it was shocking to find that Dahlia still did not have a ring on her ring finger.

Dahlia's father entered the cottage, he heard Edmund's voice before he saw him and he sighed.

“Will you never let go?”

Dahlia's father had never really addresed him formally, and it had never bothered Edmund, either.

“No, Sir. I will not let it go.”

“Don't you think it's time to stop interfering with their happiness?”

Dahlia's mother pleaded on her behalf. If it were up to her, Edmund and Dahlia would have been married a long time ago.

“No! He will not marry our daughter!”

Edmund decided enough was enough. He had been patient and accommodating enough. He had taken all the harsh and hurtful words that Dahlia's father had thrown in his face without ever flinching, he had always nodded before leaving as he had arrived. But not this time. This time he would leave Dahlia's parents' house with a positive response.

“With all due respect, sir, I must inform you of one thing.”

“What is it, boy?”

Edmund stood up and faced Dahlia's father, holding her gaze, he would not let Dahlia’s father intimidate him.

“Whether you agree or not I will marry her. I checked, no law forces me to have your agreement to put a ring on her finger, I just do it because it is important for your daughter and I would do anything for her. So either you give me your blessing and you will be invited to the wedding, or I decide to abuse my power and override your advice to marry her without you by her side for the most important day of her life. It's up to you.”

“You wouldn’t dare.” affirmed wrongly Dahlia’s father.

“Try me.”

The two men looked each other straight in the eye. Dahlia's father wanted to see if Edmund was serious, he wanted to see if he found any sincerity in the young King's eyes and that's exactly what he found there. In addition to determination. Whatever happened, when Edmund left this house, he would propose, whether Dahlia's father liked it or not, that was no longer his problem.

Behind Edmund, there was Dahlia's mother who was begging her husband to accept Edmund's proposal. Poor thing did not want to miss such an event in her daughter's life, they already had missed enough in her life without having to add that too to the list.

“Very well! But at the first sign of misfortune or sadness, I come to pick up my baby.”

“She stopped being a baby a long time ago, but I agree with your terms.”

The two men shook hands to seal the deal. Edmund finished his cup of tea before going over to Dahlia's mother, he took her hand in his before bowing slightly in front of her and kissing her hand, she still wasn't used to receiving such a gesture of respect.

“I’m looking forward to seeing you again, my Lady.”

Then he left. He remounted his horse before returning to Cair Paravel. Now that he had the agreement of Dahlia's father, he had to come up with a plan. He had to go to the blacksmith to make him the most beautiful of rings; then he had to decide where he would propose to her. And, he had to think of a plan B in case Dahlia refused — he doubted it, but the possibility couldn't be ruled out — he wanted to be prepared for all eventualities.

It had taken the blacksmith three days to make the perfect ring, Edmund had gone to get it in person, a purse filled with silver coins, it was well worth the price Edmund was going to pay. He admired it for long seconds, it was thin, the front of the ring looked like two flower stems that twisted with each other and some precious stones were scattered on the two fragments of the ring. Edmund gave the leather purse to the blacksmith, whose eyes wided at the amount of money the King had just given him.

“Thank you so much.” thanked Edmund for the job well done.

“Thank you, your Majesty.”

Edmund left the forge with the jewel which he put away in the satchel attached to the saddle of his horse. He got back on horseback and returned to the Palace. He put the ring away in a safe place.

Edmund went to see Glenstorm who had become his general, he sometimes even assumed the role of ambassador when Edmund could not go to an area of Narnia because he was already taken elsewhere.

“Glenstorm I need you to do me a favor.”

“Yes, your Majesty?”

“Tomorrow I have to leave, can you attend the various meetings in my place and train the new soldiers of the Royal Guard?3

“I can, yes.”

“Thank you.”

Edmund sighed in relief. He then went to Dahlia's quarters.

“Edmund!” squealed Dahlia.

Dahlia hurried over to him and kissed him tenderly on the cheek. Before she could ask him what he was doing there, Edmund spoke up.

“Tomorrow, you and I, we will spend the day together. In the morning, we will go for a horseback ride. At noon we will picnic near this waterfall that you find so beautiful and in the afternoon, we will pick some of the pretty flowers that adorn the field near the waterfall.”

“Oh, and in what honor?”

“DO I need a particular reason to treat you like the Queen you are ?”

“I guess no.”

Dahlia blushed whenever Edmund used the term “Queen” to refer to her; if it were up to him, he would use this little word from morning until night if he was not afraid that it would lose all meaning after a while. And, he wanted the day it became real, the word would keep its special meaning.

“Be ready to go at the first light of day, sweet.”

“Promise.”

“Oh and put your prettiest dress on, tomorrow.” he winked at her before he left the room.

The next day could not have come sooner; Edmund had not been able to sleep a wink all night, he had been far too nervous to sleep.

Instead of a horseback ride, Edmund and Dahlia had walked quietly beside their respective horses. So it had taken them longer than expected to reach the waterfall, but that had not been a problem, it was always more time spent together, they did not know when the next time they could pass would be. so much time alone with each other. Every moment spent alone together was to be cherished and was truly a miracle.

“So, are you going to tell me why we’re here? You’re trying again to break up with me, right?”

“No! No! I promise.”

Edmund avoided the question as much as possible, but Dahlia was the stubborn type, she was not going to give up so soon. She kept trying to pull the worms out of him.

“You know, it’s really hard to surprise you? You litteraly destroy what I planned.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“It doesn’t matter. I suppose it’s no longer worth the wait, is it?”

It was a rhetorical question but Dahlia muttered a slight "yes" anyway. Edmund got up and fetched the ring he had slipped into the saddlebag that was still attached to the saddle. He took a deep breath before turning to go back to Dahlia.

“Every moment pulls me away from you, lovely friend, and every moment I find less strength to bear being away from you. You are the perpetual object of my thought; my imagination is exhausted looking for what you do...I haven't spent a day without loving you; I haven't had a cup of tea without cursing the glory and ambition that keep me away from the soul of my life. In the midst of business, at the head of the troops, traveling through the camps, my adorable Dahlia is alone in my heart, occupies my mind, absorbs my thoughts. My soul is sad; my heart is a slave, and my imagination frightens me…”

Edmund presented her with the engagement ring while looking her straight in the eyes.

“I offer it to you as a token of my love, I want to spend eternity with you, by your side. Will you marry me?

THE END.

[my-mt-heart]

When you say reviews will lean into the positives, what do you mean? Your post leads me to believe there aren't many if any positives. You said there are a few people you trust, who else do you recommend? I like to read more than one opinion before deciding. Thanks for providing a safe space!!!

If most of the reviewers also fall into the target audience, they’re more likely to have a positive outlook on the show. We saw this happen with Dead City. A lot of the reviewers were Negan fans who could enjoy the redemption arc, but the numbers showed the GA wasn’t vibing with it. I don’t know for sure what the initial reception will be this time mainly because I don’t know who the fuck le spinoff is targeting aside from not Carylers, but I’d still be prepared for a lot of praise anyway.

The other thing is the vast majority of reviewers don’t work for major media outlets, so there’s more pressure to give as much positive feedback as possible. And I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that necessarily or that it’s all a big lie. There are just other factors I’d put more stock into as far as determining the (objective) success of the show.

But as far as determining whether the show is a good fit for you personally, you have to find voices that understand your needs as a fan. If you want a Caryler’s POV, Sarah ( @lighteneverything ) would be my top choice. I trust her to address all of the concerns Carylers have and to be honest about it. But I also understand even Carylers will have different opinions, so do whatever research you need to.

I asked a couple friends with more industry experience than me to weigh in too just to help me talk about whatever big-picture things I need to at the end of the season. They aren’t going to write their own reviews.

Rough times are ahead, and I know it’s already been a long ass year and half, so please take care of yourselves. I’m definitely offering my inbox/DM’s as a safe space if needed and I know other fans are here to help too. AMC is going to have their work cut out for them regaining our trust 🙄🖕

[misc-obeyme]

Hello hello CC! Long time no see, 🦀🐚 here.

Just saw that you’re gonna run a short dnd campaign and wanted to crash through and wish you a nice session with the party!

I’ve really been wanting to get into Dnd but can’t really find a group to do it with. If I introduce it to my friends I’ll probably end up as the one running the campaign and I’m not too sure whether I’ll be able to do that given that I’m new, so I’ve mostly been listening to dnd podcasts during work.

It’s just fun to see someone else trying Dnd. If you don’t me asking; since you’re running the game, did you create the campaign or are you using a premade one? I can definitely see you maybe writing one if inspiration struck…

So again, have a nice session and hope you’ve been doing great during these past few months.

Oh, welcome back, 🦀🐚 anon!

Ahhhh DnD! Thank you, it was indeed a lovely session!

I will say that the thing about podcasts is that they really go heavy on the roleplaying element of DnD. I haven't listened to a ton of them, but I do feel like part of the point is to make it entertaining enough for other people to listen? And really you can kinda do whatever you want when it comes to some of this stuff. My group is super chill so I'm not sure we do the same level of like... acting lol.

Well, lemme tell you a bit about my personal experience so that some of what I'm saying makes sense!

I started playing probably... five or so years ago? Our usual group has six players, plus the DM, which is not usually me. That's a lot, but the interest levels between the party members vary. So there are about four of us who are really into it (aside from the DM) and two of us who are not as into it, but play because they like the friend group. They enjoy combat more than roleplaying and because there are so many party members, we tend to spend a lot of our sessions in combat. It's also big stretches of time between when we play because you know, adults with lives and what not.

So the rest of us were like what if we run a smaller, separate campaign just for fun so we can play a little more frequently?

And then it was like well... our DM has been DMing for years, you think he wants a break??

And someone was like yo CC you're creative, you'd be a good DM!

And I was like... yeah okay fine! LOL!

This wasn't my first time DMing, but it has been years. And then people got sick, so I ended up with a party of only two people lol. I had to fudge some numbers but they made it through the campaign.

Anyway, all of this is to say that I found it surprisingly easy to DM. I thought it was gonna be super difficult, but it really isn't that hard at all.

I used a premade campaign that I found for free online. This was because I was kinda just getting my feet wet, you know? I think I'd rather run a homebrew campaign, where I get to make everything up. But I'll probably do a few more premade modules with the full group just to get into the swing of things.

The biggest challenge is to roll with the nonsense players throw at you. For instance, this story started out with a sheep holding a Scroll of Speak with Animals because it wanted to talk to the party (it wasn't really a sheep, but a cursed wizard). Well, it runs up to the party and immediately one of my players is like, "Can I lasso it and ride it like a pony?"

And I was like... sigh. Roll an acrobatics check.

They didn't even notice the scroll before they wanted to lasso that poor sheep. And since my player was a halfling, they could actually ride it, so I was just like okay, sure why not lol.

I swear players just really enjoy coming up with the most bonkers response they can think of because of the DM's reaction lol.

Anyway, I totally get if you're nervous to DM, but I promise it's not as hard as it seems. And if you're playing with other people who are new, they tend to be more lenient and you can all learn together. Like there were a few times where I had to ask my players about rules 'cause I forgot them.

There's a starter pack that you can get that has a whole campaign and dice and like a booklet of rules and stuff. I think it has premade characters too iirc? It's pretty good for if you want to try it out with your friends without committing to buying all the books and stuff.

My group used to play in person and our DM had one of those grid white board style maps and he'd draw out every dungeon every session. We had little figures for our characters and tons of dice! I have some really pretty purpley blue sparkly dice...

But now we play on roll20.net online because I moved across the country. If you're planning on playing virtually, you can use roll20 for free. It has built in modules you can use, but you can also just upload your own maps and stuff.

ANYWAY. Wow I rambled a lot about that, huh? Sorry about that, I guess I had a lot to say about it! But I felt like it was kind of a unique situation what with the two groups and stuff.

If nothing else, you can also check local gamer stores or sometimes independent book stores. They often run DnD campaigns that anyone can join. I think there are also online campaigns you can join on roll20 and possibly other places, too! I hope you're able to find some people to play with!