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wolfjackle-creates · 1 year ago

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Bring Me Home Arc 2 Part 16

Happy WIP Wednesday everyone! Sorry I missed last week, but I think I should be good to get back on track going forward. Finished making most of the baby things I want to make for my soon-to-be nephew, so I'll be able to spend more time writing than crocheting again.

Story Summary: Tim and Danny are both neglected by parents who care more about their work than their families. They deal with this by spending too much time online and find each other playing MMORPGs. They keep up their friendship as Tim becomes Robin and Danny becomes Phantom and don't bother keeping secrets from each other.

First, Previous

Word Count: 1.4k

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An hour later, all eight of them were ensconced in the theater in Sam’s basement with a few pizzas and salads spread around them. Wulf again refused any and the rest dug in.

“All right, Tuck, we need to figure out what Walker’s up to. Can you ask Wulf?”

Tim watched as Tucker asked and Wulf responded. Then Tucker burst out laughing and slapped his knee.

Tim’s eyes narrowed. He wouldn’t.

Sam scoffed. “You have no idea what he said, do you?”

“Not a clue,” Tucker admitted.

Tim groaned.

Bart cocked his head. “Give me five minutes, I’ll be right back!”

Before Danny could even finish asking, “Where are you going?” Bart was gone.

Conner grabbed another slice of pizza and said, “He’s off to learn Esperanto. Hang tight and he’ll be right back.”

“How can he learn a language so fast?” asked Sam.

Tim swallowed. “He’s a speedster. His normal is faster than our brains can comprehend. He slows himself down so he can interact with us mere mortals. He’ll be back.”

Sure enough, in less than ten minutes, Bart was back among them. He repeated Tucker’s question. This time, when Wulf responded, the ghost was understood.

“So, Walker is pissed at Danny,” translated Bart. “And he totally wants to ruin your entire life and drag you back to his prison in the ghost zone. Apparently he and his guards are overshadowing a bunch of the people you’re close to in the town to trap you in their web of lies.”

Danny groaned and buried his face in his hands. “How do I fight against that? I can��t just soup them all! I don’t even know who all is overshadowed!”

Cassie butt in then. “We know some of them. Dash and your classmates are definitely overshadowed.”

“Your reputation improved thanks to the other night,” commented Conner. “That might help mitigate Walker’s plans.”

“Doubt it,” said Danny. “Most people think I’m a menace. One night of good publicity won’t turn them around. Especially not with my parents there to dirty my name.”

“Let’s prepare a press release,” suggested Tim. “I bet the Young Justice team could get themselves on the local news. And if we speak up for you, it might help.”

Danny exchanged looks with his two friends. Tucker shrugged, “Couldn’t hurt, dude.”

“Fine,” bit out Danny. “What else?”

Conner looked at Wulf curiously. “Bart, does Wulf know how we can get his collar off?”

“Oooh, good question.” Bart asked, but Wulf shook his head as he answered.

“Will he let me look at it?” asked Tucker.

“I might be able to help, too,” added Tim as he stepped closer and reached out to touch.

Before he could actually touch the collar, though, Wulf snarled at him and jumped back several feet. Tim held up his hands in apology and took a step back himself. “Sorry!”

Bart grinned at him. “He said don’t touch it.”

Tim grimaced and nodded. “Think I got that.”

Tucker was already typing away on one of his devices. “I’m gonna try something. Might help.”

And that’s when Wulf screamed out in pain and fell to the floor clawing at the collar.

“Shit!” shouted Tucker as he rushed forward. He managed to plug his device into a port on the collar. Electricity arced back along the connection, causing Tucker to yelp in pain and drop his PDA.

But a moment later, there was a beep and the collar fell to pieces.

Wulf looked down in shock, then up at all of them. “Mi libras?”

“You’re free, dude,” said Tucker.

Bart added something in Esperanto.

Wulf grinned at them, sharp teeth shining in the light. “Mi libras!” Then he turned and disappeared as he jumped through the wall.

Conner groaned and collapsed backwards. “Jerk couldn’t even stick around long enough to help us after everything we did for him.”

Tim sighed and sat down as well. “Well, we’ll figure it out ourselves. Just like we always do. So, operation Fix Danny’s Reputation. We’ll start with talking to the press. What else?”

“Can we write up op-eds describing what really happened in some of his ghost fights?” asked Cassie. “Set the record straight?”

“What if we make you easier to reach?” added Tim. “Get a number the police or the mayor can reach you at so you can show them you’re willing to work with them instead of just on your own?”

“Do you think that’ll work?” asked Danny.

Tim shrugged. “Worked for Batman. Don’t see why it wouldn’t help you.”

Danny sighed and rubbed a hand down his face. “Okay. Let’s do it.”

“Great,” said Tim. “I’ll send out some emails asking for interviews. And then we can start working on the op-eds. How about we split into three groups, Danny and me in one, the rest of you can split up how we like. Then we can go over the major ghost fights that have happened and write tell-all articles that don’t run the risk of spoiling Danny’s identity.”

Conner shrugged. “Sam, wanna work with me?”

Sam grinned. “You betcha.”

Bart disappeared and reappeared next to Tucker. “Tucker and I will work together, too!”

Cassie moved until she was next to Conner. “I call working with Sam and Kon.”

“Great. Now, Tuck, do you happen to know the best contact info for local reporters?” Tim pulled out his laptop and powered it on as he spoke.

“Give me five minutes and I’ll get it for you.”

Fifteen minutes later, Tim had sent out a dozen emails asking for interviews. As he and Tucker were working, Danny and Sam had gone through which ghost fights would be the best to write about and divided up the attacks between the three groups.

Once he was ready to start on the articles, Tim sat down next to Danny. “So, what are we starting with?”

Danny grinned. “We’re going to go over my first fight. The one with Lunch Lady. She wasn’t bad, but caused a lot of clean up for the school and wasted a lot of resources. Most people still don’t even know that was a ghost attack.”

“Great, let’s get started.”

Tim had heard about most of Danny’s fights before, but being next to him in person definitely made a difference. They were sitting with their arms pressed against each other so they could both see the computer screen and add or delete bits as they went. It was nice.

They’d been working for a few hours when Sam’s parents came down.

“Children!” called her mom.

Tim wasn’t the only one to hide a grimace at the term.

Jeremy Manson continued, “The mayor has instituted a curfew for the city due to all the ghosts. No one is allowed out on the streets after nine PM.”

Pamela Manson giggled. “And it’s nine PM now! So looks like you’ll all be staying here. Tim, dear, be sure to tell your father how seriously we took your safety. I don’t want any of you leaving the house until morning.”

Tim turned on his gala smile. “My dad is in a coma, I’m afraid. But I’ll be sure to tell Bruce just how considerate all the people of Amity have been.”

Jeremy let out a forced laugh. “Of course, our mistake. We wish our best to your father, as well. I hope his prognosis is good?”

Tim blinked at him. “He’s been in a coma for months.”

Pamela giggled again. “Of course, we knew that. Right, dear?” She smacked her husband lightly on the arm.

“Sure did!” he agreed. “Well, I hope to hear news of his miraculous recovery. I’m sure he is getting the best of care.”

“Of course he is,” agreed Tim. “I wouldn’t put up with anything less.”

A few more giggles and well wishes, then Pamela and Jeremy made a hasty retreat.

Once they were alone, Conner looked at him with concern. “Tim—”

“I’m fine, Conner.”

Before anyone else could try and say anything, his email beeped. Tim took the excuse and read it over. The most popular morning radio talk show wanted to have the Young Justice on. Tim grinned.

“We’re getting up early, guys. Radio interview at six AM.”

Cassie laughed. “I can do that, can you?”

Tim shrugged. “I just won’t go to sleep. Easier to stay up that late than drag myself out of bed that early.”

Conner shook his head. “You and your family are insane, Rob.”

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s get back to work.”

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This is where I definitely go off the rails of what happened in the show. But that's half the fun of an AU! Hope you like it.

I no longer tag for this fic, but if you want to be notified of updates, please check out the Subscription Post.

Scroll down to the next post on my blog to see the really cool birthday comic @stealingyourbones made for me!

#dpxdc #tim drake #danny fenton #will they be able to repair danny's rep before walker enacts his plan?#wait and find out!#there absolutely wont be any long term consequences to whats about to happen #nope #none at all #*evil laugh*

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moonyfr · 1 month ago

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HEAR ME OUT

I'm thinking about making a warriors x marauders au. Absolutely no idea of I'll ever actually get around to writing it, so I make no promises, but like... Would anyone even think about reading this??? Because it seems cool to me, as someone who used to be a MASSIVE warriors fan before I moved over to the marauders.

I have some small ideas of what would happen, and where the characters would start off and where they would end, etc. I'm going to write some of my thoughts under the cut :>

1. Black brothers angst, of course. They're both born in ShadowClan, but Sirius becomes close friends with James, who is from ThunderClan. They met on their respective borders because they'd both snuck out as apprentices, and something just clicked. They'd sneak out at night just to speak, hang out, fake fight.

At his first gathering, Sirius meets the rest of ThunderClan, and he feels like he fits in with then better than he ever did with ShadowClan. Nor sure on the specifics yet, but eventually Sirius ends up in ThunderClan, and Regulus stays in Shadow.

2. Remus starts off as a loner. He's around, but usually not on clan territory, with his dad. His mom is dead. Then, when he's about... Still apprentice age but maybe a bit over 6 moons.... Maybe 8?? A badger attacks his dad, anyway. Lyall dies (for the plot), but he manages to fight the badger off well enough. Remus survives with severe injuries. On total accident, this just HAPPENED to be on ThunderClan territory, and the patrol that finds him isn't about to let the poor kid die, so he gets saved.

Kind of like Lightheart, he becomes a warrior after that, despite his injuries. Though that's after Sirius joins. Sirius will help. Not sure on the specifics, but that's the idea anyway.

3. Pandalily gonna be kinda like Mothwing and Leaf. Uhm. Forgot her name. The lesbian medicine cats, ANYWAY. they might not be endgame, because of the warrior laws and what not, but they're totally gonna have smth.

4. Rosier twins as Mothwing and Hawkfrost?? Kind of?? Not really, but oh well. They're half clan, part river, part shadow. Oooh wait no they'd be more like Tawnypelt and Bramblestar. They're born in Shadow but Panda moves to River pretty early on.

I have a bit more but I'm too tired to write it down now. It's been several years since I read these books so it wouldn't really follow that plotline (because I can't recall half of it) but like would anyone at all be interested in this?

Again, I make no promises to actually write this, it's just a cool idea I had

#fic ideas #warriors #warrior cats #erin hunter warriors #the marauders era #marauders au #the marauders fandom #dead gay wizards from the 70s #marauders fanfiction #marauders #james x regulus #jegulus #wolfstar #remus x sirius #black brothers #rosier twins #pandalily #pandora x lily

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lucky-clover-gazette · 7 months ago

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kings rising highlights & annotations

chapter 5

indented text is from the book. some quotes have commentary, some do not. some comments are serious, and some are definitely not. most of them will only make sense to people who have read the series. and, like, there are spoilers. so please read the books first if you're interested!

also: part of the reason i'm doing such a close reading is to study cs pacat's style, especially in terms of how she does romance and erotica. there are "craft notes" that might seem weird, like i'm being redundant or restating something rather than analyzing, but those are more things that i want to remember/take away from the writing!

i'm going to tag these longer posts with "sam reads capri" in case anyone wants to read them all at once.

this is a google doc i wrote with overall content warnings for the captive prince series. it's not perfect, but i do think it's important to include.

Meetings of this kind could take months to arrange; the speed at which it happened now was dizzying, if you did not know Laurent.

i like how damen has immediately fallen back into his book 1 & early book 2 habit of giving laurent backhanded compliments

He sat on the audience throne, with a single oak seat empty beside him and Nikandros standing behind him.

you know, damen, i can think of someone who has recent experience with oak chairs…

When prince met prince there were protocols to observe. You did not greet each other alone in a diaphanous tent. Or thrown to the ground in chains in a palace viewing chamber.

and yet, given the choice between protocol and hanging out with laurent in a tent… i think damen is seriously struggling with which he would truly prefer. if not already decided, in his heart

The last time Akielon and Veretian royalty had met ceremonially had been six years ago, at Marlas, when the Regent had surrendered to Damen’s father, King Theomedes. Out of respect to the Veretians, Damen had not been present, but he remembered the satisfaction of knowing that Veretian royalty was bending its knee to his father. He had liked it. He had probably liked it, he thought, about as much as his men disliked what was happening today, and for the same reasons.

“he had liked it.” ouch. but also showing the subjectivity of damen and laurent’s shared history

It was not like the ecstatic entries Laurent had made into the towns and villages of Vere. No one swooned or cheered or threw flowers at his feet. The camp was silent.

Laurent strolled in, beautifully;

He came down the path that was cleared for him, as though walking unmolested through an Akielon camp was simply his right.

because it is, because he made it so 💅

Damen’s own men watched as a man might watch his enemy sauntering into his house, unable to prevent it.

“sauntering” perfect word choice

‘My brother of Akielos,’ said Laurent.

i know the “brother” thing is part of the “language of kings,” but it’s extra awkward between laurent and damen because 1) damen killed laurent’s actual brother and 2) they’ve literally fucked

Everyone knew that in the Akielon language, princes of foreign nations addressed each other in the fraternal.

and everyone also knows that damen killed laurent’s brother, and that damen and laurent fucked, so it’s weird for them too!

‘Our brother of Vere,’ said Damen.

oooh, damianos has to use the royal “we” since he’s king, further removing himself from his individual identity as damen. part of the kingship/“kingdom or this” theme, which we’re seeing a lot in book 3, for obvious reasons

He recognised Guion, the Regent’s most loyal Councillor, who, sometime in the last three days, had switched sides.

don’t worry about it

Damen lifted his hand, offering it palm up, with fingers outstretched. Laurent lifted his own hand calmly, resting it atop Damen’s. Their fingers met. He could feel the eyes of every Akielon in the tent on him. They proceeded slowly. Laurent’s fingers rested infinitesimally above his own. He felt the moment when the men around him realised what was going to happen. Reaching the dais, they sat, facing outward, the twin oak seats now twin thrones.

of course they had to make this announcement in the most dramatic, shocking, and tense manner possible. like idk, someone could have explained the alliance with words first, just to make sure everyone’s on the same page when the two leaders sit down beside each other. i get that this wordless performance might simply be the appropriate protocol, but damen and laurent still somehow manage to make it feel inappropriate for the occasion.

‘We have called you here today to witness our accord,’ said Damen, in a clear voice that carried over the noise.

i think i read somewhere that pacat compared this scene to a wedding, and that would totally make sense, both with the way its written and the way damen and laurent are allergic to conventional romance story plot beats. like yeah, this WOULD be their wedding, wouldn’t it.

‘Today we mark the alliance of our nations against those pretenders and usurpers who seek to assail our thrones.’

same energy as suspended twitter user donald j trump saying “i would like to extend my best wishes to all, even the haters and losers, on this special date, september 11th.”

Laurent settled in as though the place had been made for him, and adopted the posture he typically favoured, one leg straight out before him, a fine-boned wrist balanced on the arm of the throne.

cunt (affectionate)

Explosions of outrage, furious exclamations, there were hands on the hilts of swords. Laurent did not look particularly concerned by this, or anything.

Coiled and personal, Laurent’s gift was a Veretian whip, made of gold.

i remember reading this for the first time and saying “GIRLLLL” out loud to my cat

He remembered Laurent’s hand giving a little tug on the rod, infuriating, more than that. He remembered having his legs kicked apart, his hands bound, the thick wood of the post against his chest, the lash about to fall on his back. He remembered Laurent, arranging himself against the opposite wall, settling his shoulders there, positioning himself to watch every slightest expression on Damen’s face. His gaze swung to Laurent. He knew he had flushed, he could feel the heat in his own cheeks. In front of the gathered generals, he couldn’t say, What have you done?

there is a strategic advantage to this move on laurent’s part (to be revealed in a minute), but it’s also just him being a petty bitch and trying to make damen flustered/triggered on the throne

Inside the tent, Akielon men and women were looking at one another questioningly, others craning their necks to see.

and actually, this gesture from laurent also tells damen something else: “you thought i was evil for flogging you, my brother’s killer? then refuse my offer for revenge against men who murdered your people, in front of your bloodthirsty nation who want to see it happen. where’s your moral high ground now, bitch.”

‘The whip and the men are Vere’s gift to Akielos,’ said Laurent, and then he turned his melting blue eyes on Damen. ‘The first fifty lashes are my gift to you.’

wouldn’t be the first time laurent gifted damen laurent lashes out of spite. which i’m sure laurent is very smug about, saying this now.

He couldn’t have stopped it, even if he had wanted to.

i do think some of laurent’s revenge here is putting damen in the same powerful/powerless position he (laurent) had been in for seven years in arles. just because laurent was a prince, doesn’t mean he wasn’t a captive too. ultimately, it was laurent's innate responsibility to his people, felt as a prince, that kept him from just leaving entirely. but in order to stay and survive, he had to play dirty and adapt with his uncle's depraved court.

now a king, damen finds himself similarly bound to his duties, in a time of war without the support of his father. and laurent gets some kind of satisfaction in reminding damen of this fall from grace by forcing him to endure the depravity of his own court.

A part of Damen’s mind recognised how perfectly this gift had been judged, the exquisite virtuosity of it: Laurent was delivering him a backhanded blow with one hand, and with the other, caressing his generals as a man scratches a dog under the chin.

isander foreshadowing. the ethical implications of that entire thing are going to be soooo tricky to unpack when i get to it

Damen heard himself say, ‘Vere is generous.’ ‘After all,’ Laurent held his gaze, ‘I remember what you like.’ The stripped men were tied down.

jesus FUCKING christ.

okay. here’s the thing. there’s literally no plausible interpretation of “i remember what you like” that makes this diplomatic or professional. the contrast of damen being so careful and disciplined with his language, and laurent just shooting out these insanely personal disses like it’s no big deal, is SOOOOOOO…

like. what the fuck is the audience thinking when they hear that line. it would be like watching a broadcast of two real-life world leaders doing a diplomatic ceremony, and one of them is like "i look forward to our partnership" and the other goes, at full volume and in the same exact tone of voice, "i know. you told me that last night."

Damen felt his pulse speed up as he realised he was going to watch Laurent have ten men flayed alive in front of him.

although i do seem to recall damen saying to himself back in like book 2 that he’d seen plenty of akielion soldiers flayed (flogged? is it the same thing?) as punished, and even commanded it once or twice, so…

‘Furthermore,’ said Laurent, his voice pitched to carry, ‘Fortaine’s bounty is yours. Its physicians will tend to your wounded. Its storehouses will feed your men. The Akielon victory at Charcy was hard-won. All that Vere gained while you fought is yours, and it is deserved. I will not profit from any hardship that befalls the rightful King of Akielos or his people.’

laurent is so smart. he knows how to work a crowd, even when it’s full of people who despise him. and he’s not even breaking a sweat.

You will lose Straton. You will lose Makedon, Nikandros had said, but he hadn’t counted on the fact that Laurent would arrive, and begin, dangerously, to control everything.

Bloody and pulped, the men, who were no longer men, were cut from the whipping blocks. That took time too, because more than one handler was needed to lift each man, and no one was quite certain which of the men were unconscious and which were dead.

you know, maybe no one should flay or flog anyone else. like, as a general rule. have we thought of that?

Damen said, ‘We have a personal gift too.’

the return of the antagonistic lamen “yes, and!” one of the few things from book 1 i truly miss

(also, i’m glad damen didn’t come into this tableau full intending to be professional and respectful. like he planned some petty freak shit too, in advance. he is still ant with a bindle, but he has his pride. he’s always had pride, even as a slave, especially as a slave. and if damen can’t have laurent as a lover or a friend, he can at least “enjoy” engaging in weird mind games with him instead. in a way, it’s kind of enrichment for them both.)

Last night, in the evening darkness of the tent, he had pulled this gift from his packs and looked down at it, feeling its weight in his hands. Once or twice before, he had thought about this moment. In his most private thoughts, he’d imagined it happening with the two of them alone together.

okay, never mind, i massively overestimated the spiteful pettiness from damen here :( he wanted to do this in another way, lovingly and privately. he's only doing it here and now because he has to, in order to earn his army's respect. ant with a bindle, through and through.

it’s okay buddy, you can marry laurent again post-canon. and then you won’t even be figuratively divorced while doing it!

He hadn’t imagined it like this, the private made public, and painful. He didn’t have Laurent’s ability to hurt with what mattered most.

and that's why this series works. see my long essay about damen as the heart of the series in chapter 4.

‘Every man here knows that you kept us as a slave,’ said Damen. He said it loudly enough that all those gathered in the pavilion tent could hear. ‘We wear your cuff on our wrist. But today, the Prince of Vere will prove himself our equal.’

THE ROYAL “WE” 💀 💀 💀

you know, technically it was kastor, an akielion, who made damen a slave and gave him specifically to laurent. they didn’t even have slaves in vere before akielos gifted them one. just sayin

He gestured and one of his squires came forward. It was still wrapped in cloth. He felt the sudden tension in Laurent, though there was no outward change. Damen said, ‘You asked for it, once.’ The squire drew back the cloth to reveal a gold cuff. He felt rather than saw the tightness in Laurent. The cuff, unmistakably, was the twin to the one Damen wore, altered last night by a blacksmith for Laurent’s finer wrist. Damen said, ‘Wear it for me.’ For a moment he thought Laurent wasn’t going to do it. But in public, Laurent had no recourse to refusal. Laurent extended his hand. And then waited, palm outstretched, his eyes lifting to meet Damen’s. Laurent said, ‘Put it on me.’

the fact that this isn’t even damen being mean, but just painfully earnest and hurt and yearning, clearly not what laurent expected at all… :( damen is refusing to play dirty, no matter how hard laurent goads him. and he doesn’t even want to hurt laurent, in fact he almost seems to long for him. that’s probably what surprises and confuses this self-loathing mean girl era laurent the most. he keeps trying (and succeeding) to push damen away, but damen still refuses to push back.

also, lamen hr complaint #7, made by everyone present besides damen and laurent. nothing specific, but just a vague feeling of "uh, was it professional to make us watch and participate in this?" after the fact

Every pair of eyes in the tent was on him. Damen took Laurent’s wrist in his hand. He would have to unlace the fabric and push the sleeve back. He could feel the devouring gazes of the Akielons in the tent, as hungry for this as they had been for the whipping. Rumours of Damen’s enslavement in Vere had spread like fire through the camp. To see the Veretian Prince wear the gold cuff of a palace bed slave in turn was shocking, intimate, a symbol of Damen’s ownership.

i love how these books manage to make things unbelievably hot, even when they have nothing to do with sex. they might as well be fucking right now and it would feel less intimate and personal. which actually might be the entire point of the veretian pets and akielion slaves being so horny on main all the time, to serve as a contrast to the deep eroticism of this.

Laurent’s blue eyes remained cool, but under Damen’s thumb, Laurent’s pulse was rabbit fast.

laurent came here expecting to control a crowd, not to be emotionally compromised and vulnerable in front of one. and he’s probably even more flustered/upset about the fact that damen was able to make him feel and react like this so publicly, without even appearing to have malicious or vindictive intent. what laurent serves as poison, is what damen serves him back as medicine. and while laurent can handle an angry crowd just fine, he has no means with which to defend himself from damen’s endearing love and care.

He pushed back the fabric. It was more bare skin than Laurent had ever shown in public, on display to the entire tent.

“you look like a whore” <3

another accidental damen reverse card, calling back to the way damen was publicly exposed in book 1. not even meant to hurt laurent but still probably landing like revenge.

‘Help me regain my kingdom, and I’ll see you King of Vere.’ Damen fitted the cuff to Laurent’s left wrist.

his teeny tiny little wrist…

‘I’m overjoyed to wear a gift that reminds me of you,’ said Laurent.

he may be flustered, but he’s still That Bitch.

The cuff locked into place. He didn’t withdraw his wrist, just left it leaned on the arm of the throne, laces open and gold cuff in full view.

it’s like they have those matching t shirts that say “i’m hers” and “i’m his,” except damen’s would say “i’m his” and laurent’s would say “i’m terrified of attachment” and then “i’m his” in significantly smaller text

Horns were blown the length of the ranks, and refreshments were brought. All that had to happen now was for Damen to endure the rest of the welcoming ceremony, and at the end, sign their treaty.

damen and laurent just invented divorced marriage! truly trailblazers of their time

A series of display fights were performed, marking the occasion with disciplined choreography. Laurent watched with polite attention, and underneath that, possibly real attention, as it would suit him to catalogue Akielon fighting techniques.

they should have a homoerotic fight sequence instead of a first dance

Across from Makedon, Vannes was taking refreshments. Vannes had been the Regent’s Ambassador to the all-female court of the Vaskian Empress, who it was said ripped men apart with her leopards for public sport.

VANNES HIIIIIII VANNES!!!!! THE GIRLS ARE HEREEEEEEE!!!!!!

(can you tell that i'm getting tired of the almost entirely male cast)

He thought of the delicate dealings with the Vaskian clans that Laurent had engineered, all along their ride south. He said, ‘Are you going to tell me what won Vannes to your side?’ Laurent said, ‘It’s no secret. She is to be the first member of my Council.’

laurent feminism win. any person of any gender can be politically valuable.

(i have more complex thoughts on women in this series, which i’ve written about before. i do think laurent feels a genuine sense of solidarity with most women in this series, specifically the disempowered ones like loyse and the sex workers at the brothel. but vannes is a special case, because she’s cruel and sadistic just like the men in power, so i don’t think laurent promising her a place in his council has anything more to do with her gender than the fact that the misogynistic regent wouldn’t do the same.)

‘And Guion?’ ‘I threatened his sons. He took it seriously. I had already killed one of them.’

“i had already killed one of them.”

laurent says this flippantly, but it's kind of freudian slip. laurent admits here that he sees himself as directly responsible for aimeric’s suicide. which is… a very laurent thing to think, and then to weaponize against himself inside his own head. i think a big part of the reason laurent is able to take insults so carelessly, and even insult himself as a deflection, is that he knows that nobody knows him better than himself, and that he’s thought worse things of himself than anyone else possibly could.

‘If this is truly an alliance between equals,’ said Makedon, ‘it’s a pity we can’t see a display of Veretian fighting.’ You are seeing one right now and you don’t even know it, thought Damen.

wait the first dance thing was a joke, but maybe i just vaguely recalled it actually happening??

also, love that thought from damen. perfect read of the scene, although i think people are probably a little more aware of their freakiness than damen seems to assume.

‘Or a contest,’ Makedon said. ‘Veretian against Akielon.’ ‘Are you proposing to challenge Lady Vannes to a duel?’ said Laurent.

kind of a desperate thing for laurent to say. a weak snarky deflection, basically admitting that he does not want to fight damen in front of everyone right now.

Blue eyes met brown. Laurent was relaxed on the throne, and Damen was too aware of what Makedon saw: a youth, less than half his age; a princeling who shirked battle; a courtier with lazy, indoor elegance.

despite appearances, damen knows that laurent is an excellent fighter and a suitable match for himself. again with the backhanded compliment!!

‘But we are like brothers.’ Laurent smiled. Damen felt Laurent’s fingertips touch his; their fingers slid into one another.

“alive brothers, to be precise. not that i’d know anything about having one of those, right, husband?”

side note, i 100% see post-canon laurent calling damen “husband” just as much as his actual name. it’s the perfect mix of condescending, performative, affectionate, and possessive. between them it would almost feel like an inside joke, which we all know damen and laurent enjoy. perfect.

He knew from long experience when Laurent was repressing everything into a single hard kernel of distaste.

for a second i was like, “why is laurent so against this, when he’s a good fighter?” but then i remembered that he got fucking stabbed in the shoulder like two days ago

Heralds brought the document, ink on paper, written in two languages, side by side so that neither one was atop the other. It was simply worded. It did not contain endless clauses and subclauses. It was a brief declaration: Vere and Akielos, united against their usurpers, allied in friendship and common cause.

not the marriage certificate…

He signed it. Laurent signed it. Damianos V and Laurent R, with a big loopy L.

oh of COURSE laurent makes a big loopy L, and of course damen makes specific note of it.

also, help. what the fuck do the letters stand for. they don’t have last names. i thought “V” could be like a roman numeral or something, but what the fuck is “R.” i know i could look this up and probably figure it out on my own, and so i will momentarily, but i did just want to say here that i’m stumped.

okay, got it. apparently R stands for “roi,” the french word for king, and v stands for “vasileus,” the greek word for king. fair enough!

‘To our wondrous union,’ said Laurent.

CUNT

And the Akielons were filing out too, the officers and the generals, the dismissed slaves, until he was alone with Nikandros, whose eyes were on him, furious, and with all the flat knowledge of an old friend.

nik private twitter vent #9, he livetweeted the lamen divorce wedding. also, a note on the nik private twitter bit: damen follows him, and is just happy that nik has a space to express himself :)

‘You gave him Delpha,’ said Nikandros. ‘It wasn’t—’ ‘A bedding gift?’ said Nikandros. ‘You go too far.’

to be fair, laurent would totally be down to negotiate land ownership with weird sex games

‘Do I? I remember Ianestra. And Ianora,’ said Nikandros. ‘And Eunides’s daughter. And Kyra the girl from the village—’

HE HAS A LIST.

‘That’s enough. I won’t talk about this.’

nikandros: why does the prince of vere call you babygirl damen: that’s enough. i won’t talk about this

‘You don’t need to talk, I have seen him,’ said Nikandros. ‘I don’t care what you’ve seen. It’s not what you think.’

nikandros saw that laurent was blonde and immediately heard the vine boom sound effect

‘I think he is beautiful and unobtainable, when your whole life, you’ve never had a refusal,’ said Nikandros.

not wrong, but not right either. damen genuinely loves and respects laurent, like as person and not just as a fuck. and pretty much anyone damen has wanted to have sex with in life has immediately agreed, because he’s a prince. being disinterested in sex without deep personal connection, and being a prince himself, laurent is different from damen's previous partners. he's less unobtainable, and more just, like, evenly-matched.

‘You have committed Akielos to an alliance because the Prince of Vere has blue eyes and blond hair.’

… multiple things can be true. those aren’t the only reasons.

damen likes blondes #9

And then, in a terrible voice, ‘How many times does Akielos have to suffer because you can’t keep your—’

nik private twitter vent #10:

Damen was angry, he wanted to smash the glass beneath his fingers. To let the pain of the glass cut into him.

having a “hurt” by nine inch nails moment. a “no children” by the mountain goats moment. yeah, i should make the lamen divorce playlists

‘Do you think—for a moment that I’d . . . Nothing,’ he said, ‘is more important to me than Akielos.’

i don’t want to be neglectful of the “kingdom or this” theme, because it does come up a lot. it’s just that, at this point, i don’t have much to add.

‘He is the Prince of Vere! He doesn’t care about Akielos! Are you saying you aren’t swayed by the thought of having him? Open your eyes, Damianos!’

nikandros, the slave sex user, should shut the fuck up about damen yearning for his “unobtainable” equal. damen isn’t the only one here with a blind spot.

‘You want him. It’s natural. He looks like one of the statues Nereus has in his garden, and he’s a prince of your own rank. He dislikes you, but dislike can have its own appeal,’ said Nikandros. ‘So bed him. Satisfy your curiosity. Then, when you have seen that mounting one blond is much like mounting another, move on.’

this is fucking infuriating. laurent is so much more than his pretty appearance, and a lot of his insecurity and problems with vulnerability revolve around the way people view him as a sexual object. his relationship with damen was founded on mutual respect and personal understanding. and damen knows this, and i’m sure he’s infuriated too. looking forward to his response.

The silence went on a moment too long.

looking forward to his response.

He had no intention of putting any of it in words. I told him I was a slave, and he pretended to believe me. I kissed him on the battlements. He had his servants bring me to his bed. It was our last night together, and he gave himself to me. He knew all the while it happened that I was the man who killed his brother.

right, damen is still confused by laurent more than anything else at this point. he doesn’t know where either of them stand. the only thing he recalls here is a sense of disorientation, trying to align what he’s learned about laurent’s internal workings with the way he’d interacted with damen physically and emotionally. and the puzzle pieces don’t fit, so he doesn’t want to think or talk about it. and he doesn’t really blame nikandros for his confusion or crass description of laurent, because damen still doesn’t understand how laurent could have even allowed any of the sexual things between them to happen in the first place.

also, unfortunately, i think we can gather from the way nikandros speaks here that damen has spoken this way about partners in the past. and that’s probably part of why it doesn’t bother him as viscerally as it bothers me.

‘Yes I lay with him,’ said Damen. ‘It was one night. He barely relaxed the whole time. I will admit I—wanted him.

and this probably isn’t how damen is used to talking about sexual partners, so it comes out awkward and insecure and weirdly earnest. better than being a douchebag, so i’m calling it character development.

'But he is the Prince of Vere and I am the King of Akielos. This is a political alliance. He approaches it without emotion. So do I.’

ngl this is frustrating, esp when i’m reading so slowly and taking notes… not a problem with the writing at all, but just 😬 😬 😬 how many times do i have to point out that these two men are emotionally unintelligent and needlessly evasive before they figure out their shit, put down their defenses, and talk to each other

‘It’s not the same.’ ‘Laurent is not Jokaste?’

😬 😬 😬

i am trying not to waste too much of my time with this scene but he’s wrong, we all know nik is wrong by implying they’re the same because we know laurent better than nik does etc etc etc oh my god this is exactly why there’s a trial scene at the end and damen gets to be laurent’s defense attorney isn’t it

‘I do. I know,’ said Damen, ‘who he is, and that it means I cannot have him.’

you’re literally a king, if anyone is qualified to CHANGE THAT it’s you

‘No. Listen Damianos. You trust blindly. You see the world in absolutes—if you believe someone a foe, nothing will dissuade you from arming up to fight. But when you give your affections . . . When you give a man your loyalty, your faith in him is unswerving. You would fight for him with your last breath, you would hear no word spoken against him, and you would go to the grave with his spear in your side.’

this is true, at least. nik knows damianos well, he just doesn’t know laurent or our damen. but as i myself have commented, damianos and damen are ultimately both the same guy, even though he’s evolved throughout the series.

‘And are you so different?’ said Damen. ‘I know what it means that you are riding with me. I know that if I am wrong you will lose everything.’

“i will fight for him just as you fight for me, so i suppose that makes us both noble fools.”

He said, ‘The Prince of Vere.’ When he looked at Damen again, it was a sidelong glance under his raised brows, and for a moment they were boys again, on the sawdust, throwing spears that fell six feet short of the men’s hide targets.

“i can’t believe you hit that.”

‘Can you imagine,’ said Nikandros, ‘what your father would say if he knew?’

this feels more playful than the previous conversation, a bit lighter. both an admonishment and like a “ooooooh you’re so baaaaad >:)”

‘Yes,’ said Damen. ‘Which girl from the village was called Kyra?’ ‘They all were. Damianos. You can’t trust him.’

having a hard time reading this. my best interpretation: damen’s question is a reference to the chillest part of the previous conversation, nik’s list, in order to un-harsh the vibe. poking fun at nik for keeping a list, and poking fun at himself for having a type.

nik’s response is still pretty unchill, implying that all the people on that list are interchangeable and harmless. unlike laurent, who damen needs to get over because he’s untrustworthy and dangerous, despite also being pretty and blonde.

‘I know that.’ He finished the wine. Outside, there were hours of daylight left, and work to be done.

damen has been pretty consistently self-aware about the fact that he can’t trust laurent to be entirely honest about his intentions or plans, but he (damen) still cares for him (laurent) regardless. and he’s been living with that conflict and just kind of saying “this is fine” like the dog in that meme. this scene, i think, is nikandros basically walking into the room and trying to extinguish the fire. which nik is uniquely capable of doing, because he understands damen enough to notice the things that his friend is ignoring.

‘You’ve spent a morning with him and you’re warning me off. Just wait,’ said Damen, ‘until you’ve spent a full day with him.’ ‘You mean that he improves with time?’ ‘Not exactly,’ said Damen.

damen loves his blonde nightmare malewife so much <3 nik is going to scream into a paper bag

#capri #sam reads capri #captive prince #kings rising #damen of akielos #laurent of vere #lamen #nikandros of delpha #is that his name idk i yell at him in this one #you can see in the way i comment on male side characters like nik and jord that i get pretty tired of all the men in these books lol #damen and laurent are enough for me to deal with

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massharp1971 · 1 month ago

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Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers! Spread the self-love 💞

Oooh, thanks for the ask! Gosh. This is going to be hard. I have to do this without looking through the list because I'll die of indecision otherwise.

1. Unbroken 16K, M rating

“I’ll protect you. All of you,” he said, because he thought that was what was expected, but much as he desperately wanted it to be true, he knew this wasn’t a storybook. His heart clenched painfully at the thought of something happening to Rodney.

“Dumbass,” Rodney said in between still slightly panicky breaths. “Go read the SGC reports and then come back and tell me who usually saves who. Spoilers: It’s science. It’s always science… still, I appreciate the thought. I believe you want that to be true.”

This fic never fails to get enthusiastic reactions from the readers that venture in. It's not an easy read, as it's about trauma and all the layers of it that go unaddressed in the show. It was one of those stories that demanded to be written. it's ultimately a healing story and one that chimes for a lot of folks.

2. Awakenings >100K, E rating

‘Hi, Mer McKay, PhD, PhD, autistic, genius, gender ambivalent, queer and kinky as fuck, compulsive over-sharer.’ Some people think this is just a smut fic, but what I like is the story - what would happen if McKay knew he was autistic and queer and had come to terms with himself more? Well, in this case, it changes the entire timeline. There are some tough bits about trauma in there too, but it's mainly about John having a sexual awakening, thanks to McKay. Lots of polyamorous and kinky fun and games. Also, of course, a mcsheppy love story.

I'm currently writing the third main part of the series and horribly stuck, but if I'd actually published it, that would be my favourite.

3. Home for Christmas 25K, M rating

He went into another store, intent on buying novelty socks or something equally silly, when suddenly he caught the strains of Judy Garland and the most heartrending Christmas song ever written.

>Someday soon we all will be together If the fates allow Until then, >we'll have to muddle through somehow

John had no resistance anymore – the tears spilled easier than rain in a monsoon, and there was no choice but to duck out of the store and hide himself behind a convenient pillar while he sobbed, not even mustering a shred of masculine indignation to be getting weepy over Judy Garland. Yeah, he was a sad old queer and he didn’t much care anymore who knew it. He didn’t have to care and he didn’t have the energy left.

I wrote this for secret santa but felt it was a bit bleak, having poured all my difficult xmas feels into the fic, but looking back i feel like it might be my perfect xmas fic. It balances the sweetness of Christmas with the reasons we need the lights to chase off the darkest times.

4. Just Friends series 7K, M rating

They talk and they talk. Into the night. John wishes he’d learned to use his mouth for something other than sucking cock long ago.

“I had it all wrong. I thought you just settled…”

Rodney frowns. “For what?”

“For the look of it… power couple. I thought you chose,” he says.

They’re in his room, sprawled against each other, the mood sad.

“I didn’t let myself think you were trapped. Didn’t know how beat she had you.”

“Yes well I pretended to myself,” Rodney says. “Easier to believe the cage is comfortable than dash yourself to pieces on the bars.”

It started as a simple fic, but then the fic needed some follow-up and I ended up writing a whole lot of drabbles. Sharing here because I'm super proud of how drabble-writing developed me as a writer and I love the soft way it all turned out. Expect lots of gentle, sprawling found family and polyam vibes with a mcsheppy centre. It starts with Keller's canonical controlling intensity developing into a truly toxic relationship for Rodney.

5. Time's come to live a real life 4.5K, E rating

“You act like we played a game and you won, and Jen’s the prize,” Ronon says. “Maybe it’s connected to what you just said. You acting like you finally got the rules of this game figured out. Only I’m not an Earther and I don’t play by your rules. To me, whatever game you’re playing? It’s not real.”

Mcdex, with background shepdex, sheplorne and mcshep and kellerdex feels. Ronon can't understand what jennifer and rodney are trying to do with one another and he shakes rodney into a wake-up call. A more Keller-charitable fic about why McKeller is bullshit.

tagging @notenufcaffeine, @sgatazmy, @acrowbyanyothername, @wonkyelk, @dedkake

#self recs #asks #fic recs #sga #sga fanfic

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someprettyname · 7 months ago

Text

🥁TA-DA!!🥁

Making my best friend i.e @moonlightjo rate blue lock boys just by their looks part 1 (do we make her rate other boys and coaches? Anri?) 😌↕️

no but the ratings are HILARIOUS I've been cackling for the past half hour send help

Her initial thoughts : "Heyyyy. I'll rate them but I have taken an overview and OOF I CANNOT RATE ANY ONE OF THEM LESS THAN 9 OR 10 LIKE WHAT??!??!?!!"

Hehe lmaooo pretty boys they are ikr?!

Anyways.

Let's start this ladies and gentlemen, I'll be using the same photos i sent her ☕💆🏻‍♀️✨

I tried my best to not be partial with the fanarts cough Kaiser cough okay?

Ratings under the cut 😌↕️ texts in purple are my thoughts and that's pretty obvious ik shh

1) Alexis Ness

Cute very cute. But looks like he would ACTUALLY kill me 😭. (Accurate vibe typing pt.1) Like that is a killer smile, literally. (He's just a Lil silly, don't go near kaiser you'll be good ^_^)

7/10

2) Tsurugi Zantetsu

OH MY GOD IDK WHAT I HAVE FOR HOT MEN IN GLASSES BUT OOF. LIKE SIR WHY ARE YOU NOT STEPPING ON ME RIGHT NOW? (He's too respectful for that actually 😔)

10/10. (Yes I'll send her the sauna photos dw)

3) Kurona Ranze

HOTTTTT. and cute at the same time somehow. Looks freaky (that's an interesting vision)...I like it 😏.

8/10

4) Karasu Tabito

OOOOOOOOHHHH. HOTTTTT!!!!! Looks like he would bully me (he has a feet kink by the way 👍🏻 and a voice kink he'd love you lmao) but i would still want him to fuck me so 🤷🏻‍♀️.

9/10.

5) Kunigami Rensuke.

Oooh that is a damn good picture of him. Like he looks so innocent and cute 🤌 (who will tell her? Sigh) but also is SO HOT. I would actually wanna date him. (I'm so proud of my woman.)

9/10

6) Barou Shoei

Looks like he would tie me up in a dungeon....and i would like it. (You would love it, yes. Accurate vibe typing pt2 lmaoooo) Smash all the way dude 🤌.

8/10

7) Shidou Ryusei

NOW THIS ONE LOOKS LIKE HE WOULD ACTUALLY KILL ME 😭. (He would <3 accurate vibe typing pt3) But ik he won't. SO DAMN HOT AGHHHHH.

8/10

8) Chigiri Hyoma.

He is so pretty 🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌 GIVING ME TRUE BI PANIC OOF- (again, HOW do you vibe type so accurately. You witch? Pt4)

10/10. (DAMN LILY. I'M SO PROUD OF YOU MY SWEETHEART.)

9) Nagi Seishiro

Ooooohh looking cool, nonchalant. I don't think I have seen a lot of him. Or if I have then not in this outfit. (Yeah guys dw I'll make sure to torcher her with hot nagi panels <3)

8/10.

10) Reo Mikage

Prettyyyyy (yeah pretty gay he is). So many pretty boys on here man. Damn he's wearing chains and shit.

8/10

11) Isagi Yoichi

He's giving main character (he is I think? 😭) Oh he looks like a determined boy. A very beautiful boy.

8/10. (How TF did she even catch that. Accurate vibe typing pt5)

12) Itoshi Sae.

What a gaze 🤌 ENOUGH TO MELT ME UP OOF-

9/10

13) Itoshi Rin

HOTTTTTT!!! Like in this picture he is really giving webtoon Suho.

8.5/10

14) Bachira Meguru

Ooh looks very passionate about his game. (Accurate vibe typing pt6 HOW DID SHE DO IT THIS TIME) Looks like he could kill me. LOVE IT.

8/10 (who will tell her about the demons)

15) The infamous (yes I've pestered her thirsting over him in the past more than once LMAO SORRY) Michael Kaiser.

He is like actually so sexy. Like that is a sexy man 🤌🤌🤌🤌. THE TATTOOS ESPECIALLY IN THE SECOND PIC. So damn hot.

10/10 (chapter 260's waiting for you sweets)

P.S - No offense to these beautiful men. These ratings are solely based on their looks and how I felt about them. The ratings just made sense to my brain when writing it down. They might and will most definitely change in the future I think. And just because I rated someone low doesn't mean I would fuck them....(🤷🏻‍♀️😭)

Thank you for this opportunity. Regards.

🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷

Hehe that's it for today ladies and gentlemen, see ya! 😂❤️

[divider from @/enchanthings]

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zepskies · 1 month ago

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Happy New Year!!! 💖💖 Can I ask for the game #2, #11, #20, & #28? How you have a safe, healthy, and wonderful one!!! 😊

Happy New Year, friend!! 💓💫💓 Yes of course!! (And I hope you have an awesome 2025. 💖)

#2. A piece you're proud of and why

God, I could have so many answers for this, mainly because I wrote a LOT in 2024. 😂 I'm going to cheat a little bit and give you two stories that you might not expect. Not because they were wildly popular when I published them (they weren't), but because I genuinely put my heart and soul into them and got to explore something new with representation, diversity, and storytelling. 💜

Dream With Me (18+)

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Plus-sized Latina!Reader

Summary: When your asshole ex-boyfriend calls for help on a case, you have a tough decision to make. But Dean isn’t going to let you do anything alone. AKA: The last hunt you, Sam, and Dean will ever go on together.

This is a 3-part mini series set in the Midnight Espresso-verse. ☕ It's set in the dreaded 15x20 (or the time gap within In Bad Weather).

The ME-verse is always going to be special to me. Yes, it's a Latina reader and I get to express my culture through her. Yes, she's plus-sized (and I am too) so I get to incorporate some of my experiences and ideas there. But the ME-verse allows me to give Dean the loving relationship I wish he would've gotten on the show.

And Dream With Me was putting a definitive pin on their story, while still leaving room for more in the future if/when I come back to them. 💗

The Honorable Choice (18+)

Pairing: Dean Winchester x OFC

Summary: June 1872. Captain Dean Winchester of the U.S. Cavalry is tasked with one job: break a wild mustang. He just didn’t expect the woman who infiltrates his camp, intent on freeing her tribe’s horse.

This was the first OFC story I had written in a long time, but also a risk in the sense that I was writing about a culture that wasn't my own (the Lakota people), in a different time period, and Dean and other SPN characters in a Western AU. So I actually did a lot of research for this story for the sake of respectfulness and authenticity.

I also got to post this story in November, which I found out is Native American Indian Heritage Month. Which is a small tidbit, but I thought it was cool that it happened that way, since I didn't plan it. 😂

I got so into this story that I actually wrote a sequel called Outlander (Part 1 coming out on Friday!).

#11. Fandom you'd like to create more for next year

Oooh great question! I feel like I'm going to get more into Russell Shaw (Tracker) in 2024, definitely more Soldier Boy/Ben (The Boys), but I'm also looking forward to Countdown and what Jensen will bring to Mark Meachum. 💖

Also, I know I'm late as hell, but you might remember that I teased the possibility of my writing for Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit fandom with these characters who I've read a lot of fanfic about over the years: Eomer, Aragorn, Thranduil, and Haldir. 💚

#20. Something that made you laugh

Lol I'm watching old SPN con clips and this compilation always make me cackle:

youtube

#28. A song that relates to one of your creations

Ooh I love this question!! I'm big on music inspo -- music often fuels my writing sessions, so you'll often see on my fic posts a "song inspo" at the top.

For Break Me Down (Soldier Boy x Reader), I created a whole music playlist, but the two songs that really capture it as a whole are "If I Didn't Care" (Amy Adams version) and "All My Livin Time" by Radio Company.

I actually created music playlists for a few of my series:

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lelianasbong · 1 year ago

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One thing I'd really love to see re/wyllstarion in some capacity (might have to just write it myself someday) is how like. Yes wyll is a monsterfucker and to some extent astarion being a vampire is hot to him and he's canonically monsterfucker adjacent at the very least HOWEVER. i feel like the thing a lot of people miss (or it's just me idk) about astarion is that he's straight up Not Good at being a sexy vampire he's not good at being a cool dominating creature of the night like. There's a whole scene about how cringe and practiced all his lines are he's notoriously whiny and campy and unstable and ngl he's not the kind of person i can see actually dominating anyone (mostly just for the safety of all involved but that's neither here nor there) ANYWAYS my point is: 24 year old virgin wyll ravengard who satisfied himself wih fantasies up to this point finally stumbles across a sexy vampire he could live those fantasies out with only to come to the shocking realization that 1. wyll himself is somehow the better seductor 2. they're both bottoms

That last bit lmfao 💀💀 Woe!

You know, I think Wyll actually *is* a little taken in by the oooh suave vampire bit, more than anyone else in camp (I say this as someone who personally is 1000% invested in cringe and whiny Realstarion vs. Generic Vampire Fantasy Guy even if Astarion has fun LARPing the latter) if only because of 1) all those times Wyll calls him charming behind his back and 2) "elegant bearing, saucy voice - I should've seen [that he was a vampire], the signs were all there!" (I will never, ever get over this line. what the fuck. THIS was what clued you in vis-à-vis the vampirism? Not the fangs or the red eyes or the puncture wounds..? WYLLIAM!!? we need to talk).

BUT I see your vision, anon. I do. Wyll IS the better seducer, he HAS the greater rizz. He's batting .400 on pickup lines, Astarion's 10 CHA simply cannot compete with Wyll's princely gigachad energy.

Wyll would definitely have to adjust his expectations, but I like to think that's part of the fantasy - the romantic ideal - for him. To be the guy who uncovers the humanity beneath the (sexy) monster facade. Getting to the soft squishy center of someone like Astarion or Lae'zel, etc. would feel soo, sooo rewarding to someone like Wyll, who by all accounts is deeply attracted to people with sharp teeth... but craves the pomp and pageantry of courtship and a deep and tender connection.

#good food anon #ty <3 #wyllstarion #bloodpact #baldur's gate 3 #anon #asks #wyll ravengard #astarion ancunin

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altraviolet · 3 months ago

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Out of curiosity, do you have any tips for writing a long multichapter fic?? I have recently come up with a fic idea that I realize is going to take... multiple chapters. How do you stay motivated/what's your process for planning? Tysm for answering and if you've answered before sorry! Do you have a tag for your writing advice?

Hi!

I have a lot of tips :)

I do have a tag for writing advice. It's "writing advice." My writing advice is on my pinned post and I just double checked and made sure all the posts under "Writing Advice" are properly tagged. There's a post there that talks about my organization, which is something you've asked about, but you may find other helpful info there as well. If, after you read the answer to your ask and all the writing advice posts, you still have questions, feel free to hit up the ask box again :)

Cut for length!

>How do you stay motivated?

Sometimes I don't, honestly. People who read TEG while it was being updated know this xD There were a few times when 6 months passed between chapters, and then 3 chapters would be updated within a week. Since it's fanfic - it doesn't have due dates or deadlines and you're not getting paid - all that motivation really does need to come from inside. And if it's too draining? Then maybe fic doesn't get written that day.

I can honestly tell you that motivation on TEG waxed and waned quite a bit. It didn't help that right as I started posting it, the pandemic hit. Seeing as how we in the US are about to embark on a newly destructive four years, I say: if you don't have have the motivation, if you're really drained, don't push yourself. Fic is supposed to be fun. There were a lot of times TEG really wasn't fun, but I pushed through it because I felt a lot of pressure to do so.

That might not be helpful, lol. But I'm giving you permission to go easy on yourself.

But, let's say you don't want to go easy. Here are ways you can stay motivated:

the story won't get completed unless you complete it. so if you want to see it done, you HAVE to do it. logical and sound reasoning. there is no escape. get to work. call this the Shockwave Motivation Method, lol

excitement. oooh if you're excited about your fic, that will help a lot. getting to write out the scenes you're most looking forward to may help you get through the boring scenes [note: if you the writer find a scene boring, the reader probably will, too. consider changing or removing that scene]. this is probably the most healthy and enjoyable way to keep yourself motivated while writing fanfic

watch videos/read books about writing. or podcasts, or whatever kinda thing you like. absorbing information about writing will help you feel more knowledgeable and confident, even if just a teeny tiny bit

related to 3: go back and read/watch the canon that you adore. rekindle your love for it. remember why you want to write the fic that you're writing

spite? let's be brutally honest, here: if you read something popular that you think sucks, and you think you can do a way better job at it, prove it >D write that thing. show everyone that Premise X can actually be done well, and you're the one who's gonna do it well

schedules? some people do well with scheduling. actually this is what pro novelists do: they have word count goals they meet extremely regularly. if you write 500 words a day, you'll have ~2 novels a year done. make some goals and stick to them. self-imposed deadlines will stick as much as you can make them stick, which is why they don't work for everyone, but the people who can use this method WILL get results

There are tons of videos out there about any/all of these methods (especially scheduling/word goal/sprints related topics). I highly recommend you check some out. It comes down to this: you gotta write in order for the thing to be written. Anything you need to do to get that done is what needs to be done. Barring, like, you know. Illegal stuff. lol

Oftentimes for me, starting is the hardest part. If I can get my damn brain to start, then things will usually flow.

One thing I've found recently that helped jumpstart brainstorming (which isn't the exact same thing as Motivation To Do The Entire Writing Process, but bear with me) was changing the way I usually get my thoughts down. I always type at my desktop into a word processor. That way everything is digital: easy to move around, delete, duplicate, etc etc. For the new fic I'm working on, idk, I just felt like writing on paper with lots of different colored pens. It was soooo fun. I got these pens. Paper Mate Ink Joy Gel 0.7. I'm heckin' not sponsored but I LOVE these pens. They're super vibrant and actually dry pretty quick, and they're pretty. I love them so much I got another 10 pack of just the purple color xD [Note: the pens are thicker than normal gel/ballpoint pens. If you have arthritis or other hand issues, they might be too big to be comfy.] What I enjoyed was being able to write "Rodimus" in red pen and then writing a bunch of stuff about him, then drawing a line, writing "Soundwave" in blue pen and writing a bunch of stuff about him. Which sounds incredibly trite but the colors made me happy, and the full effect on the page lends itself to another layer of organization. I found I couldn't get myself to sit at the computer and write, so I wrote in a notebook. I'd show you some pics of how nice it all looks, but it's spoilers for the next fic.

tl;dr if the current literal method of writing isn't working, try another one. One of my good fic writing buddies goes for walks and takes her phone and records snippets and thoughts as they come to her. Maybe there's a method that will spark your motivation out there :)

Okay hopefully that helped with the motivation question. I didn't get super personal about it - I don't mind, and can, if asked - but let's keep moving.

>what's your process for planning?

Oh boy. Okay. My process will probably not work for you, because it is a MESS. I can describe it for you: maybe something in it will help.

First, please read this post: I've been curious what program(s) you write with and how you manage the organizational part of writing such long works.

That post explains how I organize medium and long length fics. It answers your question from the organizational aspect. There are screenshots xD Here's the tl;dr from the top of that post:

tl;dr I currently write in a free word processor called OpenOffice. I use Headings to generate an index and use that to navigate around a single document. I have multiple documents that each serve a different purpose- at the minimum, there's a doc for the story, Notes, and Graveyard.

And here is the broad summary from the bottom of that post:

To be really honest with you, I enjoy this system because it keeps things broadly organized, but within the docs there is a lot of messy stuff happening. I think of things, jot them down. Forget them. Rethink of them again later, jot them down. Now I have 2 scattered, slightly differently phrased similar ideas. If I think of things while at work, I scribble them madly onto scraps of paper and take them home, then try to fit them into the Notes somewhere. (Then I tape all the little papers into a notebook like a weirdo, lol, but I can't let them go!) I also have a ton of notes in my phone for when I think of stuff while in bed. I move it into Notes or write it into scenes as needed.

I write scenes out of order. I try to make timelines. I write more scenes: the timeline is no longer correct. I try to make a new timeline. I write more scenes. There are words everywhere and I just do my best :'D

The way I wrote TEG partially included keeping everything in it in my head. Obviously not every single sentence verbatim, but, when I was writing it, I knew exact phrases (the phrases are starting to fade, nearly a year later now). So if I was writing a future chapter and wanted to go back and double check what an earlier chapter said, I would do a search for the phrases I knew were in that scene. Towards the end of writing TEG my brain literally hurt. This isn't a method I advise, lol, but it works for me. I've tried to be more organized in the approach for my next fic, but it's already spiraling words over various docs and journals and I even have an ornate diagram going on in Photoshop right now.

You may already know the terms "planner vs pantser" or "gardener" or... whatever the other terms are. There's a spectrum of approaches to planning for writing, with "planner" on one end and "pantser" on the other. Planners do what you think they do: write intricate timelines, write chapters in the order they occur in, stick very strictly to the plan. Pantsers (from "fly by the seat of your pants") just start writing. Haphazardly. Pantsers tend to have to do a lot more editing at the end.

Most people fall within this spectrum somewhere, and many are towards one end for one story, then maybe flop on down to the other end for another story. There are a zillion videos about "planners vs pantsers," so that's another subject you could look into watching. If you know you're definitely on the planning side, you can search for videos by people who are also planners, and may have hints for you.

I'm definitely a pantser that tries really really hard to plan and stay organized. And, interestingly, as a fic goes on, it becomes way easier to plan for me. So maybe it would be more accurate to say: the brainstorming stage and writing the beginning and middle are more pantsy, and writing the end is more planny, for me. It could be any kinda thing for you :) once you know, you'll be able to work to your own strengths.

Hopefully you found something helpful in all the above. Check out the links, find some videos, relax, and dive in. If you have more specific questions, feel free to send 'em.

Happy writing! :)

#ask #anonymous #writing advice #motivation #planning #long post

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lancer-the-blue · 4 months ago

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Going to finally watch the full Ninjago Dragon's Rising season 1 and 2 since everything's out rn and live blog throughout the experience

1.30 in and man the animation is crazy, Arin is already pretty compelling. Really good vibe so far

*"Jay the Lightning Ninja!" nooooooooo, not this foreshadowing!

Kais voice was weeeeeird there for a sec... ohhh that's Arin my bad

Oooh as someone who is obsessed over the map of ninjago ngl that's a sick map of the Merge, I need a copy as a map nerd

OMG THAT SEAGULL WAS A REFERENCE TO ZANES FALCON

Arin with Lloyd's hood is so cute! *i need to draw that*

I need those rottweiler dogs as fig accessories

"It's called having money, which isn't exactly our situation" moood Sora mooood

"Wannabe ninja go!" Damn the writing this season is snappy af

Just noticed how fucking gorgeous the backgrounds are in this season like damnnnn

"Who doesn't like pie?" Feels like a reference to Cole and cake but that might be me looking waaay to much into it

Kingdom of Imperium smashed up against Ninjago does looks snazzy I agree Arin

"And the perfect chance to meet me" dawwww that's so cute

Ooooh it's called the crossroads, nice

"My bff, my fam" ☠ never did I *ever* expect that from Ninjago

I agree having your own penthouse is pretty cool, damn Sora is so relentlessly shsmeless I fucking adore her

Noticing again how *clean* the animation looks, the inside of the room is so highly rendered wow

"Whennn we win" gods damn it Sora you fucking rock!

"And invite everyone else who lost their parents to live with us" noooo gods noo the feels, jesus these kids are putting me through it

Damn I'm sensing potential arc tension between Arin and Sora after that earthquake exchange

First time actually seeing Lord Ras on screen and not through fanart he's giving me Chima reject /lh

Golden helm horn guy with the autism yeeeees relatable

*Omg gimmie frog faced minifigure it's a whole mood will be my sigfig*

Quick serious question tho, is the frog person and Ras' spieces from Chima tho? Lord Ras is giving me Sir Fanger vibes

I LOVE LABO, will not ask about mom noted tho

OMG THAT SCENE PAYING WITH THE PIE DIDN'T HAVE TO HIT *THAT* HARD

Ngl love seeing the random Hypnobrai walk around is peak

Dawwww baby riyuuuu

"Labu avoids hazards" awwwww

Sora being peak again about money

RIYU AWWWWW

"The things they'll do to him" oh gods what does that say about jay...

"What would the ninja do?" "LET'S SAVE THAT DRAGON"

OH NO NOT LUBO GIVING A RESENTFUL MOTHER SPEECH

The scene with Riyu giving Sora powers is sick. Need to draw that

That grey haired raz goon is pretty, funny top 7 ninjago evil side bitches

Need to draw Arin doing Spinjitzu like that that was also sick

Damnnnn Raz was intense, "hunt down your entire family" I don't think ninjago ever got *that* explicitly threatening

"Runs on dragon power" ngl that's a little bit too goofy for me

Arin hyping up Sora is goals ngl

Uuuuh Sora roasting the ninja that's funny

Lloyd coming in that last second was low key kinda unexpected, was thinking it would happen in part 2 but still cool tho

Annnnnd we're done with Ep 1 S1, on to Ep 2!

Rating solid 8/10, writing and pacing was cleannnn. One of the best season openings

#ninjago #ninjago dragons rising #liveblogging #ninjago dr spoilers #ninjago dr s1

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airasora · 4 months ago

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Oooh I want the last anon but I’d LOVE to hear more about your thoughts on AI. I currently consider myself pretty neutral but positive leaning with it and am curious as to what the pros are in your opinion! I’ve only really learned about it through chat bots and the medical technology so far!

Thank you for asking and wanting to learn more about it! I will try not to ramble on for too long, but there is A LOT to talk about when it comes to such an expansive subject as AI, so this post is gonna be a little long.

I have made a little index here so anyone can read about the exact part about AI they might be interested in without having to go through the whole thing, so here goes:

How does AI work?

A few current types of AI (ex. chatgpt, suno, leonardo.)

AI that has existed for ages, but no one calls it AI or don't even know it's AI (ex. Customer Service chat bots)

Future types of AI (ex. Sora)

What I have been using AI for

Final personal thoughts

1. How does AI work?

AI works by learning from data. Think of it like teaching a child to recognize patterns.

Training: AI is given a lot of examples (data) to learn from. For example, if you're teaching an AI to recognize cats, you show it many pictures of cats and say, "This is a cat."

Learning Patterns: The AI analyzes the data and looks for patterns or features that make something a "cat," like fur, whiskers, or pointy ears.

Improving: With enough examples, the AI gets better at recognizing cats (or whatever it's being trained for) and can start making decisions or predictions on new data it hasn't seen before.

Training Never Stops: The more data AI is exposed to, the more it can learn and improve.

In short: AI "works" by being trained with lots of examples, learning patterns, and then applying that knowledge to new situations.

Remember this for point 5 about copyright, theft and controversy later!

2. Current types of AI

The most notable current examples include:

ChatGPT: A large language model (LLM) that can generate human-like text, assist with creative writing, answer questions, and even act as a personal assistant

ChatGPT has completely replaced Google for me because chatGPT can Google stuff for you. When you have to research something on Google, you have to look through multiple links and sites usually, but chatGPT can do that for you, which saves you time and makes it far more organized.

ChatGPT has multiple different chats that other people have "trained" for you and that you can use freely. Those chat include chats meant for traveling, for generating images, for math, for law help, help creating gaming codes, read handwritten letters for you, and so much more.

Perplexity is a "side tool" you can use to fact check pretty much anything. For example, if chatGPT happens to say something you're unsure is actually factually true or where you feel the AI is being biased, you can ask perplexity for help and it will fact check it for you!

Suno: This AI specializes in generating music and audio, offering tools that allow users to create soundscapes with minimal input

This, along with chatGPT, is the AI I have been using the most. In short, suno makes music for you - with or without vocals. Essentially, you can write some lyrics for it (or not, if you want instrumental music), tell it what genre you want and the title and then bam, it will generate you two songs based on the information you've given it. You can generate 10 songs per day for free if you aren't subscribed.

I will talk more about Suno during point 6. Just as a little teaser; I made a song inspired by Hollina lol.

Leonardo AI: A creative tool focused on generating digital art, designs, and assets for games, movies, and other visual media

Now THIS is one of the first examples of controversial AIs. You see, while chatGPT can also generate images for you, it will not generate an image for you if there is copyright issues with it. For example, if you were to ask chatGPT to generate a picture of Donald Trump or Ariel from The Little Mermaid, it will tell you that it can't generate a picture of them due to them being a public figure or a copyrighted character. It will, however, give a suggestion for how you can create a similar image.

Leonardo.AI is a bit more... lenient here. Which is where a lot of controversial issues come in because it can, if you know how to use it, make very convincing images.

ChatGPT's answers:

Leonardo.AI's answers:

I will talk more about the copyright, theft and audio issues during point 5.

3. AI that has existed for ages, but that no one calls AI

While the latest wave of AI tools often steals the spotlight, the truth is that AI has been embedded in our technology for years, albeit under different names. Here are a few examples:

Customer Service Chatbots

Professional Editing Softwares

Spam filters

Virtual assistance

Recommendation systems

Credit Card Fraud Detection

Smart home devices

Autocorrect and predictive text

Navigation systems

Photo tagging on social media

Search engines

Personalized ads

The quiet presence of AI in such areas shows that AI isn't just a future-forward trend but has long been shaping our everyday experiences, often behind the scenes.

4. Future types of AI

One of the most anticipated types of AI that has yet to be released is Sora, a video AI tool that is an artificial intelligence system created by Google DeepMind. It’s designed to help computers better understand and generate human language. Think of it like a super-smart computer assistant that can read, write, and even understand complex sentences. Sora AI can answer questions, translate languages, summarize information, and even help with tasks like writing or solving problems.

Unlike traditional AI systems that mostly focus on text or images, Sora AI can create short videos from text descriptions or prompts. This involves combining several technologies like natural language understanding, image generation, and video processing.

In simple terms, it can take an idea or description (like "a cat playing in a garden") and generate a video that matches that idea. It's a big leap in AI technology because creating videos requires understanding motion, scenes, and how things change over time, which is much more complex than generating a single image or text.

The thing about Sora AI is that it's already ready to be released, but Google DeepMind will not release it until the presidential election in America is finished. This is because the developers are rightfully worried that people could use Sora AI to generate fake videos that could portray the presidential candidates doing or saying something that is absolutely fake - and because Sora is as good as it is, regular people will not be capable of seeing that it is AI.

This is obviously both incredible and absolutely terrifying. Once Sora is released, the topic of AI will be brought up even more and it'll take time before the common non-AI user will be able to tell when something is AI or real.

Just to mention two other future AIs:

Medical AI: The healthcare industry is investing heavily in AI to assist with diagnostics, predictive analytics, and personalized treatment plans. AI will soon be an indispensable tool for doctors, capable of analyzing complex medical data faster and more accurately than ever before.

AI in Autonomous Systems: Whether it’s in self-driving cars or AI-powered drones, we are on the cusp of a new era where machines can make autonomous decisions with little to no human intervention.

5. Copyright, art theft and controversies

While AI opens up a world of opportunities, it has also sparked heated debates and legal battles, particularly in the realm of intellectual property:

Copyright Concerns: AI tools like image generators and music composition software often rely on large datasets of pre-existing work. This raises questions about who owns the final product: the creator of the tool, the user of the AI, or the original artist whose work was used as input?

Art Theft: Some artists have accused AI platforms of "stealing" their style by training on their publicly available art without permission. This has led to protests and discussions about fair use in the digital age.

Job Replacement: AI’s ability to perform tasks traditionally done by humans raises concerns about job displacement. For example, freelance writers, graphic designers, and customer service reps could see their roles significantly altered or replaced as AI continues to improve.

Data Privacy: With AI systems often requiring massive amounts of user data to function, privacy advocates have raised alarms about how this data is collected, stored, and used.

People think AI steals art because AI models are often trained on large datasets that include artwork without the artists' permission. This can feel like copying or using their work without credit. There is truth to the concern, as the use of this art can sometimes violate copyright laws or artistic rights, but there's a few things that's important to remember:

Where did artists learn to draw? They learned to draw through tutorials, from art teachers or other artists, etc., right?

If an artist's personal style is then influenced by someone else's art style are they then also copying that person?

Is every artist who has been taught how to draw by a teacher just copying the teacher?

If a literary teacher, or a beta reader, reads through a piece of fiction you wrote and gives you suggestions on how to make your work better, do they then have copyright for your work as well for helping you?

Don't get me wrong, like I showed earlier when I compared chatGPT with leonardo.ai there are absolutely some AIs that are straight up copying and stealing art - but claiming all picture generative AIs are stealing artists' work is like saying

every fashion designer is stealing from fabric makers because they didn't weave the cloth, or

every chef is stealing from farmers because they didn't grow the ingredients themselves, or

every DJ is stealing from musicians because they mix pre-existing sounds

What i'm trying to get at here is that it's not as black and white as people think or want it to be. AI is nuanced and has its flaws, but so does everything else. The best we can do is learn and keep developing and evolving AI so we can shape it into being as positive as possible. And the way to do that is to sit down and learn about it.

6. What I have been using AI for

Little ways chatGPT makes my day easier

I wanted to test how good chatGPT was at reading "bad" handwriting so I posted a picture of my handwriting to it, and it read it perfectly and even gave a cheeky little answer. This means that I can use chatGPT to not only help me read handwritten notes, but can also type out stuff for me I would otherwise have to spend time typing down on my own.

I've also started asking chatGPT to write hashtags for me for when I post on instagram and TikTok. It saves me time and it can think of hashtags I wouldn't have thought of myself.

You might all also be aware that I often receive bodyshaming online for simply existing and being fat. At least three times, I have used chatGPT to help me write a sassy comeback to someone harassing me online. It helped me detach myself from the hateful words being thrown at me and help me stand my ground.

And, as my final example, I also use chatGPT for when I can't remember a word I'm looking for or want an alternative. The amazing thing about chatGPT is that you can just talk to it like a normal person, which makes it easier to convey what it is you need help with.

Custom chatGPTs

I created a custom chatGPT for my mom with knitting recipes where she can upload pictures to the chat and ask it to try and find the actual knitting recipe online or even make one on its on that could look like the vibe she's going for. For example, she had just finished knitting a sweater where the recipe failed to mention to her what size the knitting needles she had to use, which resulted in her doing it wrong the first time and having to start over.

When she uploaded a picture of the sweater along with the recipe she had followed, chatGPT DID tell her what knitting needle she had to use. So, in short, if she had used her customized chatGPT before knitting the sweater, chatGPT would have saved her the annoyance of using the wrong size because chatGPT could SEE what size needle she had to use - despite the recipe not mentioning it anywhere.

I also created a custom chatGPT for my mom about diabetes. I uploaded her information, her blood work results, etc. so it basically knows everything about not just her condition, but about HER body specifically so it can give her the best advice possible for whenever she has a question about something.

And, finally, the thing you might have skipped STRAIGHT to after seeing the index...

My(un)official angsty ballad sung by Holli to Lina created with suno.ai

Let you be my wings

7. Final personal thoughts

While AI is absolutely far from perfect, we cannot deny how useful it has already become. The pros, in my opinion, outweigh the cons - as long as people stay updated and knowledgeable on the subject. People will always be scared of what they don't know or understand, yet humanity has to evolve and keep developing. People were scared and angry during the Industrial Revolution too, where the fear of job loss was at an all time high - ironically ALSO because of machines.

There are some key differences of course, but it was the overall same fears people had back then as people have now with AI. I brought this up with one of my AI teachers, who quoted:

"AI will not replace you, but a person using AI will."

While both eras involve fears of obsolescence, AI poses a broader challenge across various sectors, and adapting may demand more advanced skills than during industrialism. However, like industrialism, AI may lead to innovations that ultimately benefit society. And I, personally, see more pros than cons.

And THAT is my very long explanation to why my bio says "AI positive 🤖"

As a final thing, for anyone wanting to stay updated on AI and how it's progressing overall, I recommend a YouTube channel by Matt Wolfe. He was my AI teacher's recommended YouTube channel for anyone who wants to stay updated on AI:

youtube

#ai #ai positive #ai negative #ai pros and cons #ramble #ai in everyday life #ai impact #ai ethics #future of ai #sora #chatgpt #leonardo.ai #suno #the ai conversation

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