#risky post to make potentially

[thedupshadove]

Is "Too Sweet" a Houlihawk song? Discuss.

[nevermindirah]

Nile has a very bad, but very compelling, idea. Booker helps her think it through.

or, I've been feeling so devastated and angry and I wanted to fantasize for a moment about the crab rave.

[femmefaggot]

genuinely very very happy about maya still Do Not get me wrong. I simply wish... the world was better and less cruel. and that I was not complicit in that cruelty. and that honorspren in shadesmar werent such hypocrites.

[toxicanonymity]

that scream blurb that you posting about Ghostface being unconscious and the reader testing to see if he’s hard…. you have to make the full fic now pleaseee omg it was so good

Every inch

1.4k / m!ghostface x f!reader / from blurb.

SEQUELS | Slasher masterlist

Warnings/notes: I8+ noncon (ghostface unconscious) somnophilia. Based on the car scene from Scream II, but it's modern day (cell phones exist).  You can HC this as anyone but he's night walks coded if you read my other stuff.

Your skirt grazes his robe as you carefully stretch your right leg over the driver’s seat, trying not to touch him, trying not to wake him up.  It’s tricky crawling over Ghostface to get out of the car.  He smells faintly of weed and sweat.  You’ve never been close enough to smell him before. You’ve never been close to him at all for more than a few seconds, always with his knife in hand.  You hear him breathing behind the mask and assume he’s knocked out from the impact of the crash, but can't know for sure. 

He could be pretending for his own amusement, planning to taunt you then stab you at any moment. You’re going to have to open that car door sooner or later - it’s the only one left you haven’t tried.  It'll definitely make a noise. You hover there straddling him, delaying the inevitable. Straddling Ghostface, you think to yourself. Is this a nightmare? 

You slowly lower yourself into his lap, throbbing at the possibilities of what might await you.  Your heart pounds in your chest.  You put your hands on the edge of the seat to pull your body  closer and your heart nearly stops as  your inner thigh softly nudges  his hand.  But he doesn’t wake up – or if he does, he doesn’t show it.  Emboldened, you lower yourself a little more until your damp panties arrive at a warm bulge in his robe and your breath hitches.  He’s only somewhat hard,  but obviously packing.  He still doesn’t move.  His chest is rising and falling with his breaths.  You know he’s alive.  Unable to resist, you lower yourself a little more.  You tilt your hips and gently grind yourself against his package.  

What if the nightmare became a wet dream? It’s always turned you on, at least a little, but especially lately.  It’s been harder and harder to separate arousal from fear.  You’ve wondered if it was a sexual thing for him, the way he pursues you.  Stabbing is penetrative after all.  Does the thought of killing you turn him on? Would it turn him on to wake up to you straddling him?  After all, he’s only a man.  Why not, you think.  This could be your best chance to find out.  This might be the most power you’ll ever have in the situation.  You’re turned on thinking about it.  If you’re mere seconds from potential death, you have nothing to lose.  Plus you're curious what's under all this, and it's too risky to lift up his mask.

Fuck it feels good, and the fact that it’s Ghostface, the one who’s been stalking you, killing your friends, trying to kill you - that gives you such a rush.  The tables have turned.  You’re on top of him now.  You look around for his knife and it’s landed on the floorboard along with his voice changer.  You reach down to grab it then quickly stab it into the back of the driver’s seat at an angle so you can grab it if you need to but he won’t know where it is.  Then you return your crotch to his and a bolt of arousal slices through you when his hard package swells against you.  Holy shit he's hung. You slowly roll your hips against him, grinding into him, trying not to be too aggressive, but it’s hard to control yourself. 

-

His breathing changes and your heart jumps to your throat. You wonder, Is Ghostface seduceable? It might be your best shot if you're already getting his dick wet when he wakes up.  But there's always the chance he reacts violently, and now that you're up against him, it's clear you'd be no match for his strength.

Then you have a thought.  You carefully lift his gloved hand, and he doesn’t react.  You lift the dead weight of his heavy arm all the way above his mask, and he still just sits there, breathing.  You pin both his hands above his head, between the metal pegs of the headrest. His hands are large and the two of them together barely fit through the gap.  Then you slam down the headrest, pinning him there by his wrists.

His mask moves.  He seems to look at you.  Then a soft, low sigh.  You lower your crotch again and he’s harder.  You rub yourself against him slowly with your hands braced on the seat and have to stifle a moan in the shoulder of your dress as you grind against him and his cock swells even harder.  A soft groan muffled by his mask makes you wetter.  

You’re going to have to have him.  This is your chance and you can’t resist it.  Your inner thigh muscles begin to fatigue as you push yourself off his lap to hover again.  You lift up his robe, exposing PJ pants. Strange and not at all imposing, but convenient.  You arrange the robe behind his raging erection, then take a deep breath and pull down his waistband.  His stiff member stands at attention. You cover it with your warmth before the cool air wakes him up. A stab of desire shoots through your core as your wet panties meet his hard cock.  You rub yourself against him and your clit throbs.  Your core aches to be filled. 

You pull your panties to the side and nestle the swollen head of his cock at your entrance.  Then you sink down and fail to suppress your gasp at the stretch.  He moans but doesn’t move.  Your body makes way for him as you slide down and sheathe him entirely with your cunt.  His cock is nice and thick, it makes you feel so full.  It’s crazy this cock has been under the robe the entire time.  You wonder if you could just fuck from now on.  If he’d agree not to kill you - that is, if the threat of it doesn't turn him on.

You rise up, then sink down on him again, his size making you grateful for your ample wetness.  You lift and lower yourself and roll your hips into him. You try not to breathe too heavily as you feel it building in your lower belly.  You start to ride him less restrained, unable to resist fucking yourself on his nice, hard cock.  

-

His mask begins to move as though confused, and he grunts as he tugs at his arms,  unable to free them from the headrest.  He’s groggy and weak.  You’re not going to stop. You're too close to coming.  You greedily keep filling yourself to the brim with him.

His mask looks right at you. “Always wanted this cock,” ghostface says weakly, making your heart race.  “Knew it.”  Then it echoes from the voice changer on the floorboard.  Always wanted this cock.  Knew it.   He tugs at his hands more violently, then gives up.  

“Nasty girl,” he says, voice getting stronger.  Nasty Girl. 

He thrusts his hips up powerfully and you moan uninhibited. He thrashes his arms and stabs upward with his cock, bouncing you on his lap with the power of his hips.  Your whole body tingles and tenses, then you bite your own arm as your walls clamp down around him.  You come on his dick, then pull yourself off and he groans in frustration but has no way of getting you back.  

You open the car door and you’re torn about whether to make him come or leave him with blue balls.  You decide to jerk him off as a power move.  You kneel into the open door frame of the car.  You wrap your hand around his girth and fuck his fist.  “All ya had to do was ask,” he says.  All you had to do was ask.  You grab the voice changer and throw it down the street.  Now he's nothing but a man with his dick in your hand.

“Woulda given you every inch," he says. Maybe every inch of his blade.  He nods down to his crotch. "Now you know." His voice is coming back to full strength, smooth and low. It's a voice you can't quite place.

You know you should stab him while you have him tied down, but you're thinking with the wrong head now, unable to bear the thought of this cock going to waste. You slow your hand way down and edge him mercilessly.  His big, stiff cock twitches in your hand and you can tell he's dying for more.

You take your phone out of your bra and take a short video of him trying not to whimper, dick sprouting out of his unimposing pajama pants.  Then you finish him off and take a dick pic selfie with cum all over his robe.  You take the knife out of the back of the seat and leave him stuck in the car.

-

Thank you so much for reading and engaging. Even if you're reading this way later I would love to know your thoughts in a comment! Knowing what you liked helps me write more. 🖤🖤

[astrow1zar6]

Astro observations of players/ heartbreakers - 26

Libra placements: Libras really adore romantic attention (when single & sometimes even in a relationship) they will flirt with people they really have no attraction to for fun or cuz their bored. They have this amazing ability to make others feel really special just for them to be doing that to 5 others or just for it to be completely ingenuine. They can be so charming that you really believe they like you until you realize they don’t. Libras leave a lot of broken hearts behind them. They will say the most heart warming shit that will have you thinking they’re in love with you just to leave you for the cutie next door 😭 especially if you have libra in your sun, moon and rising.

5th house stellium’s: oh lord lol these people can be everywhere in terms of the heart. The 5th house is related to short love affairs. So you can imagine these people go thru a lot of potential partners in their life (unless afflicted or Saturns in the 5th). These people are very flirty they love the feeling of having new crushes and the LOVE the attention they get from their crush too. However, these people normally have a lot of crushes and never usually settles down with one. This can be a big baby maker placement especially if Jupiter and Venus are involved. I’ve seen men with a lot of 5th house placements that have babies with multiple women or have a lot of baby mommas. They tend to do very risky shit for fun just for it to backfire on them. They are part animals at heart and usually that’s where I notice they make most of their mistakes they end up regretting. They usually end up getting caught up in the heat of the moment when it comes to people their attracted to which can lead to a cheating problem.

Sagittarius suns: if you can get a Sagittarius to actually commit to you you won.. no but seriously they are not the best with commitment😭 when they feel a relationship is getting too close I notice they start to get cold feet and become really distant with their partner or do little things to self sabotage the relationship. They are very romantic very fast in the beginning of the relationship. Most Sagittarius’s move REALLY fast and are impulsive when getting in relationships. They usually try to commit too early having the other party believe they are in love with them just for them to back out the minute it gets to stabilized and that isn’t usually long. They can feel like their partners slow them down in some way and end up neglecting the relationship.

Scorpio Venus: now I really don’t believe all these posts saying “this this the most die heart loyal sign” cuz that’s complete bull crap and the people who know know😭 I’m mostly talking about the men in this situation but these men can be the biggest cheaters!! It’s honestly rare to see these people not cheat from what I’ve seen. They are really picky of the women they date and I notice the women they do pick to date they don’t really like them that much?? They go for people they have a very mild attraction to usually and for such intense people it’s something you wouldn’t expect. I believe Scorpio Venus do this as a way of control because when they are truly in love and with the right partner they become fiercely loyal and loving. But I don’t think they seek out those type of relationships because they are often extremely painful for them because of their intense emotions, when they are truly in love they feel like they have no control over themselves when in that state, so I think they find people they don’t love that deeply so they can be in complete control of themselves and their partner. Which is why they can be very possessive and jealous of their partner even while their sleeping around it’s a big control thing. But I believe once they find their soulmate it’s the complete opposite but that’s usually a challenge.

Pisces Venus: these are also extreme charmers like libra. Pisces is exalted here so they have the ability to be some of the most romantic loving partners, they will sweep you off your feet with the words and promises that they give you then outta no where where you think everything’s perfect between the two of you… he ghosts you. Then next thing you know you see him at the bar talking to another girl like nothing. These men tend to never quite know what they want and usually have wandering eyes for other females. The commitment line is usually really blurred for these people which is why they attract a lot of situationships no one knows what it really is.

Aqua Venus: these people play hot & cold soo much it can drive the person they’re talking to a little crazy. When they are unsure of the partner they tend to juggle them around until they decide. One minute they are so flirty and engaging and romantic towards you then the next they’re ignoring your texts, giving you really dry robotic responses. They put their partners thru a whirlwind to get to their heart. This can leave the other party feel like they are being stringed along (most likely they are) like Scorpio Venus they are very picky with their partners and settle for very authentic/unique people. They can like the most oddest people or just people you’d never expect them to date. You never know what’s going to melt these peoples heart. They really need someone who excites them. (Sn: I notice Scorpio and Aqua Venus’s actually make an amazing couple)

Uranus square Venus: one minute they wanna break up & meet other people the next they want you again and the cycle repeats. These are the kings & queens of on and off relationships 😂 they can never seem to make up their mind on if they’re ready to commit, they can be really unpredictable in love which can be pretty exhausting. One minute they’re in love the next they’re bored and cold towards you. U tend to have a lot of relationships come and go but can’t seem to get them stabilized. This can leave your partners feeling really confused & played.

Gemini Venus: they never really seem like they’re interested in anyone they’re dating. They are always trying to seek out attention from other people even when in a relationship. Their crushes are usually very superficial and fleeting. It takes A LOT to keep these people attention, you have to be very mentally stimulating and almost fascinate them to really get them hooked on you. But they are not easily impressed, they are really good at predicting people’s behaviors so it’s hard to find someone that really excites them. They enjoy things they can’t predict or keeps them guessing it lights up their curious minds (go for a Venus in aqua!).

P.S. just because you have any of the placements mentioned that doesn’t make you a player other placements obviously play a role! Just the most common ones I’ve observed 🐮

[aeternallis]

Colin's "entrapment" line was hard to listen to, but it was most definitely a sign of how unhinged he really is for Penelope.

Ok but for reals, I'm not sure how everyone else reacted when Colin said his now infamous "entrapment" line, but I just love how if one looks at this line a little more closely, it was definitely some semblance of an underhanded (and also a bit silly, lol) attempt to actually keep Penelope entrapped. Haha, the irony of it all. Idk, at least that was my read on it!

Like, it was definitely said in anger as well; he's hurting, and he’s hurting badly, so of course he wants to hit back in some way, however he can. Luke Newton absolutely meant it when he said that Colin reacts to the reveal in the worst way possible, alas.

My very first reaction to that scene: //pauses the screen to yell at Colin at 4am in the morning, “Entrapment????! If you feel trapped, then why the hell are you still going along with it, ya dumb ass!!!

Because really, think about it: Colin was definitely within his rights to call off the wedding, especially when he'd mentioned that Violet had noticed that he and Penelope had not seen each other for some time. It would have been the perfect time to reveal Penelope's secret to his mother, if indeed he felt entrapped by the LW of it all. Violet is family; if he wanted to still protect Penelope but no longer wanted to marry her, he would have been able to count on Violet's discretion. I'm sure she and Lady Danbury would have come up with some sort of plan to deal with the aftermath regarding the Bridgertons’ reputation, as we'd seen with Anthony and Edwina's botched wedding.

Furthermore, it would have probably been the better option to reveal it to her, since the existence of LW does put his family in danger; Penelope herself knows this. Every decision she makes post-LW reveal to Colin is due to the Bridgertons being in danger. Lady Danbury makes a point of this when she said in the last episode, “There is only one other person who loves the Bridgertons more than I.”

Eloise was able to keep the secret with no real consequences because although Penelope was her ex-bff, El still loves her, and besides that, nothing legal binds them as Colin's marriage to Penelope would.

Even when he was getting ready to talk to Benedict about getting funds to fulfill Cressida’s demands, he insisted on making up a lie to shield Penelope’s identity as LW. He knows more than anything that fulfilling a demand like this, all for the sake of his wife and at the cost of using a substantial amount of Bridgertons’ financial assets, may not put his marriage in the best light within his family. He doesn’t want to be forced to have to choose between his wife and his family, so he’s keen on keeping the lie going.

So for all intents and purposes, he doesn't tell his mother, or any of his other siblings (besides Eloise, who already knew); this in and of itself is hella fucking risky. The fact that Colin is willing to take this risk of withholding Penelope's secret identity from his family, the fact that he doesn't think to jeopardize this potentially risky betrothal—already goes to show the measure in regards to how much he wants Pen for his wife. We the audience know this because he waits until the very last minute to tell Violet, and even then, it's not Colin who chose to reveal it to her, but Penelope herself.

Another point: arguably, we can also say that Colin has a lot more wiggle room with his engagement to Penelope to call off the wedding, much more than he ever did with his engagement to Marina.

"A man of honor"? Exactly what "honor" are we talking about here? Colin claimed that he would have married Marina had she just told him the truth, yet when push came to shove and the truth of her pregnancy was revealed for all the world to know, he still chose to take the out Penelope gave him through LW. It’s easier to make a declaration like that when it’s all said and done. Lol Sure, he regretted it and apologized for his behavior later on, but he had made his choice regardless. Y’all can just feel Marina and Lady Danbury judging this dumb ass (affectionate) for dwelling in the past. Silly young man! XD What's stopping him this time around?

"We had been...intimate." Are you talking about the mirror scene, sir? Because let me assure you, you and Penelope have long been "intimate" way before you decided to buy a love nest and take her V-card the very next day you proposed to her. In fact, this is where the significance of their first kiss in 3.02 rings so, SO importantly and WHY it was vital that it was Penelope who asked and said that it would not have to mean anything. Colin knows Penelope would never use their first time together and/or the heated moment in the carriage as a way to entrap him. That first kiss alone should have already warranted that they get married, but Penelope makes it clear that it’s simply a favor, nothing more.

Oddly enough, I’m surprised Colin doesn’t bring up the idea of a long engagement (yknow, as he initially wanted with Marina, but who’s keeping track at this point), considering that would have potentially benefitted their situation. 🤔 His dumb ass (affectionate) was more than willing to stick to the wedding schedule…huh.

Besides all that, I don’t think it’s the showrunners’ intent to “taint” those special moments between them by changing the context through Colin’s (very biased) POV; to believe that to be the case would be, imo, just a bad faith argument. The genre is romance, y’all; these intimacy scenes are on an entirely different pedestal.

Because remember, that “entrapment” line of Colin’s only came about due to Penelope starting the conversation with, “Are you going to call off the wedding?”

Didn’t it almost seem like an afterthought, that he just came up with it on the spot? Hahaha.

I can bet y’all Cressida’s fake ass €20,000 blackmail money that before they’d met up to discuss wedding breakfast plans with their mamas, it had probably never even occurred to Colin to cancel their wedding. Angry and furious as he was, it was never a question of whether or not he still wanted Penelope for a wife.

The fact that it’s Penelope who begins that conversation and opens that Pandora’s box possibility is so, so damn important. Because not only does it show how much Penelope truly loves him in that she would never trap him, it also shows her maturity, in that she’s willing to face the consequences of her actions. She’s willing to give Colin the choice to back out, heartbreaking as it would be to face it, even if she herself would not be the one to pursue that choice.

She gives him the choice a good number of times: the wedding breakfast plan scene, the wedding day itself when she hesitates on the aisle, and the annulment offer after the butterfly scene.

Penelope defends herself softly, but truthfully: she never meant to entrap him, because she really didn’t. And Colin knows this; he would not still love her and want her if he honestly believed she wanted to entrap him. Hell, even if she did, the audience knows it’s a desire that comes from a good place: she loves him, so of course she doesn’t want to lose him. She wants to marry him, because she loves him. That’s all there is to it.

But despite knowing this (imo, anyway), we can also say that this conversation may have contributed to Colin’s downward spiral during the majority of episode 7 and 8, and why he becomes hella fucking desperate to be “useful” to her.

Because unlike himself, Penelope has now begun to entertain the idea of living a life that doesn’t include him—at least, not as her husband. Penelope is brave and strong enough to let him go due to the pain she caused him for her lies and her actions as LW, and as for Colin…well…

(I love it, it’s the same conundrum that Anthony faced in S2: Kate is strong enough to leave him behind and return to India, but Anthony…well…)

TL;DR, Colin’s entrapment line was literally an excuse he gave himself to keep his betrothal to Penelope intact. It’s a line that works in two ways simultaneously: it’s a painful, childish, underhanded thing to say in order to hurt Penelope’s feelings, to get back at her for the anguish he’s suffered. Yet at the same time, it’s also another excuse he gives himself in order to push through with the marriage, to tie Penelope to himself forever.

Because unlike Penelope, the very idea of living without her as his wife, of not having her in his life, is and always will be an impossible notion for Colin to ever entertain.

[drdemonprince]

potentially triggering but ultimately harm reductionist statement about how people treat those with suicide ideation below, just a warning!

it's pretty fuckin rich that people tell suicidal people that they're "being selfish" by wanting to die, because it could not be more selfish to expect someone to just continue suffering through a life they do not want simply because their death would make them sad.

the people who say that kind of thing never want to offer any genuine help to the suicidal person that will change their life circumstances in a lasting way. they never want to house them, get them medical care, pay off their debts, introduce them to new friends, nurse them through a years-long trauma recovery process, get them a pet, drive them to a support group every week, buy them their groceries, clean their house, listen to them talk about their tough feelings for the millionth time.

lasting healing within a dramatically different and better life is never what they want for the suicidal person. they just want the person to not do anything that would make them sad. and not look too sad when they are around them, either, because even if they do white-knuckle their way through a painful existence, they are expected to also make it look easy.

but it's funny, isn't it, that by pushing away all thoughts of sadness, all thoughts of suicide, the person who says such a dismissive thing to the suicidal person is revealing how much they are on the brink of despair themselves. if, when faced with a suicidal person, your number one goal is to prevent their suicide for the sake of your own emotions rather than to improve circumstances for the suicidal person themselves, well, your own emotional grip on reality must be quite tenuous indeed. if you think the most important emotionally reality about a suicide is how it impacts you and not the person that has done it, well, you really must think that it's normal to expect other people to just constantly silently suffer for one another.

there's almost a bit of sick envy that i sometimes hear when people claim that they suicidal are "selfish." the statement almost seems to betray that everybody thinks of suicide at one point or another, that everyone has been in enough pain before that they've wished for it to end, but that since they have endured, they expect everyone else to endure the same for them, so that they don't slip into despair again as well.

it's so offensive because it is such a deeply missed opportunity. instead of batting away the statements of a suicidal person as if they were the greatest, most evil taboo, a person could really sit with them in their despair and say hey, I have felt that way too.

If only we lived in a world where acknowledgement of suicide ideation was not so taboo. Even psychologists and psychiatrists treat it as this untouchable thing, they freak out and jump into action and rob you of your body autonomy if you are willing to voice that you have thought of it. but virtually everyone has thought of it at one point or another, and some live with thoughts of it all the time forever but still have basically decent lives that they experience as worthwhile.

the legal apparatus that exists to prevent suicides at all costs have made it too risky for any kind of healthcare professional to allow the frank acknowledgement of suicide ideation to happen. hell, even the protections that have evolved online to supposedly "protect" suicidal people by filtering out content about suicide and redirecting those browsing for information about it to suicide prevention resourcse has, counterproductively, served to make the state of suicidality even more unspeakable. it cannot be spoken about, cannot be posted about, cannot be acknowledged, is not permitted, is never allowed to just be.

and that harms suicidal people so much.

we are so deeply selfish and cowardly in how we approach suicide and suicidal people.

[witchywithwhiskey]

tempting fate in the CEO's office

pairing: father's business rival CEO!bucky barnes x female reader

summary: you visit your boyfriend in his office to show off your new lingerie, and you end up playing a reckless game when he hast to join a conference call—a call that your father will be on.

warnings: 18+ content (minors dni!!!), smut, piv sex, creampie, cockwarming, dry humping, little bit of come play, light teasing, choking, light bdsm, semi-public sex, sex with the risk of being caught, exhibitionism, dirty talk, light degradation, praise kink, pet names (darling), unspecified age gap, fluff, established relationship

word count: 6,300ish

a/n: ok! this took me ages because i started writing it before moving and it was difficult to get back into it, but i'm pretty happy with how it turned out all things considered. this chapter is set in bucky's office because that was what won the poll i posted. it was fun to write, and i already started writing the next chapter, so i hope y'all enjoy!!

tempting fate in the park (part 1)

tempting fate on the terrace (part 2)

tempting fate in the CEO's office (part 3)

You’d done a lot of reckless things in your life—like wearing a dress with nothing underneath it to the park, or starting a secret relationship with your father’s biggest business rival—but walking into the busy lower Manhattan office building of CEO Bucky Barnes wearing nothing but a set of lingerie, a long trenchcoat and heels had to top the list.

Still, you didn’t feel any trepidation. Not even as the bottom hem of your jacket fluttered around your thighs, threatening to give anyone in the lobby a peak at the lacy undergarments you’d worn specifically for Bucky. But, though every step was a potential disaster—because if you did flash someone in the lobby your most intimate bits, it would surely get back to your father—you didn’t falter. 

The points of your heels clicked confidently against the marble floor of the lobby and a fearless smile curled your lips. You were having fun with your reckless behavior. Excitement and desire fizzled in your belly, making you feel like you were walking on air as you crossed the floor to the elevator bank that would take you up to the C-suite offices, where you knew Bucky would be.

While you rode the elevator, you couldn’t help but think about how Bucky would react when you walked into his office wearing only lingerie and a jacket. You could easily picture the way he’d look at you—his brilliant blue eyes darkening and his mouth curling into a smirk. And you couldn’t wait to tell him that he was the one to buy you the matching set. 

He’d given you his black Amex and told you to buy something pretty for yourself, despite the fact that you had plenty of money from your parents. You were your father’s daughter, after all, and he’s given you a generous allowance, even as an adult. But Bucky had insisted you spend his money for a change—so you decided you were going to insist he appreciate the pretty lingerie he’d paid for…while it was on your body.

Your smile deepened as the elevator doors slid open soundlessly and you walked into the lobby of the company’s C-suite, giddy excitement thrumming through your body. You couldn’t wait to see Bucky’s reaction to your outfit, but even more than that, you were excited to see your boyfriend.

It still felt a little strange to think of Bucky as your boyfriend. You’d known him as nothing more than your father’s hot business rival for so long, and your relationship was still so new and covert. Neither of you had told anyone about it yet. Everyone in both your circles of friends knew each other, and they all knew your father, so it was too risky. 

But Bucky was your boyfriend, and that knowledge made your heart beat faster in your chest, your smile widening even further.

You were still wearing your slightly goofy smile when you walked up to the desk where Bucky’s secretary sat. She was an older woman with kind eyes, and when you gave your name, recognition dawned in her expression. Her face creased with delicate crinkles as she offered you a genuine smile and waved you into Bucky’s office. 

As you were walking past, she made a comment that Bucky had given her strict orders to always allow you into his office. Your goofy, happy smile got even goofier and happier at that bit of information, and you pushed through the door into Bucky’s office.

The first thing that struck you about the space was how warm and cozy it felt despite the fact that two full walls were taken up by floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking New York City. The whole of Manhattan sprawled out at Bucky’s feet, and you couldn’t help but understand the city’s desire to do so. In your experience, being at Bucky’s feet was an enjoyable place to be.

You bit back a smirk as you looked around the office, taking in the dark wooden furnishings and gold accents. There were plush rugs beneath a small seating area off to one side and another under Bucky’s big desk, giving the space a homey feel that reminded you of his penthouse apartment. The office was professional, but it managed to feel like Bucky, and you couldn’t help but smile at that.

When you turned your attention to the CEO, you found him watching you as you took in his office for the first time. His blue eyes were sparkling and he had a pleased expression on his face.

“Darling,” Bucky rumbled as a greeting, a smile curling the corners of his mouth. 

He looked so handsome, wearing a slate gray suit with a black shirt beneath, the colors contrasting with his golden skin and dark brown beard. His blue eyes were two stars in the sky, and his mouth was a charming curve that made you ache to kiss him. 

When you didn’t respond—because you were too wrapped up in appreciating the attractiveness of your boyfriend—Bucky leaned back in his leather office chair. His eyes stayed fixed on you, his chin tilting up, and you couldn’t help but think he looked like a king lording over his court.

It made you want to kneel.

Instead, you murmured his name with a smile, “Jamie,” and strolled over to his desk, one hand playing with the belt of your jacket that was keeping it cinched around your waist. “I’m not interrupting, am I?” you asked innocently as you walked around his desk and stepped between his spread legs, your sassy smile making it clear you didn’t care if you were.

Bucky only seemed happy to see you, pushing closer in his chair so his hands could slip around the backs of your bare thighs, making you shiver as he murmured, “Never.” 

His head was tilted back a bit to meet your eyes, and his gaze was impossibly soft as he stared at you, making you feel hot and flustered all over—particularly between your thighs. To steady yourself, you slid your arms around his shoulders and ducked down to drop a kiss to his lips, smiling at the slight rasp of his beard. He tasted like coffee.

“Did you have a nice shopping trip?” Bucky asked, his voice quiet and warm in a way that made you want to melt into him. Your fingers idly played with the soft brown hair at the nape of his neck and his smile turned a little mischievous as he asked, “Did you buy yourself something pretty like I asked?” 

Impossibly, you’d forgotten the outfit you’d worn into Bucky’s office, but his question reminded you of the lacy lingerie that was hidden beneath your jacket. You smiled like the cat that got the cream and nodded at your boyfriend, fluttering your lashes at him as you asked a question of your own. 

“Do you want to see, Jamie?” You leaned back and played with the ends of the belt keeping your jacket tied tight around your body, enjoying the way Bucky’s eyes dipped curiously down to your hands. 

His gaze heated, a grin spreading across his face as he slid his hands up from your thighs to your belt. He paused before untying it, flicking his eyes up to yours. When you nodded, Bucky slowly undid the knot, his fingers brushing against your bare skin as he parted the jacket to see what you’d been hiding.

The sharp breath Bucky sucked in when he saw the pretty lingerie you wore, your curves swathed in lace that he’d paid for, was immensely satisfying. Bucky pushed the trenchcoat off your shoulders and let it fall to pool at your feet while his eyes roved over your body like they couldn’t get enough. 

Then his hands seemed to be everywhere—brushing against the sides of your breasts, smoothing over the curve of your waist, groping your plush hips. He touch you greedily as his eyes seemed to devour your appearance, taking in the way the lingerie clung to your body, the way it framed your breasts and barely covered your mound. 

The blue of his eyes had darkened to the color of the ocean by the time he returned his gaze to yours. All he said was, “Darling,” his voice little more than gravel, as if he was overcome by the sight of you in your new matching set. Your breath caught in your throat at the emotion swirling in Bucky’s eyes. “You’re gorgeous,” he rasped. 

A pleased heat spread through your chest, warming your cheeks, and you smiled happily at the sincerity in Bucky’s words. “Thank you, Jamie,” you murmured, ducking down to press another quick kiss to your boyfriend’s lips. 

But Bucky caught you around the back of your neck, murmuring, “C’mere,” before reeling you back in and deepening the kiss. He kissed you thoroughly, his hands sliding down your body to the backs of your thighs, and then he was pulling you into his lap, your knees on either side of his legs so you were straddling him in his leather chair.

So much of your bare skin brushed against Bucky’s suit, and though the fabric was soft, it was a reminder of how little clothing you were wearing. You shivered when Bucky’s fingers traced down your spine, pressing you flush to his chest, the lace of your lingerie teasing your nipples deliciously so that you whimpered into his mouth. 

By the time Bucky pulled away, your lips were swollen from his kisses and the wetness gathering between your thighs had dripped into your panties. When you squirmed on Bucky’s lap, rubbing your chest against his and enjoying the electric shocks of pleasure to your nipples, you felt his bulge press against your lace-covered core. You couldn’t help the little whine that escaped when you rubbed against the hot, hard length of him.

“Jamie,” you mewled, rocking against Bucky’s bulge, not caring in the least that his secretary was sitting just outside the office door. All that mattered was the way Bucky’s cock twitched when you whimpered his name.

“Darling,” Bucky groaned, pleasure soaking his tone—but there was a warning in his voice, too. When his hands grabbed your hips, he didn’t urge you on like you expected. He forced you to stop. You whined pitifully, leaning back to catch your boyfriend’s eye and pouting up at him. “I’m due on a call any minute,” he explained, a regretful look on his face.

You knew you should leave him to it. Bucky was a busy man, after all, and he needed to work—especially if he was going to buy you more expensive lingerie—which you hoped he would considering his reaction to seeing you in your new matching set. You knew it was still early in the afternoon and you should be content with the few moments you’d stolen of his time already.

But your reckless impulses were too loud to ignore, so instead of sliding off Bucky’s lap and putting your jacket back on, you pressed closer, your soft tits trapped against his hard chest. Your lips brushed the shell of Bucky’s ear as you leaned in, making him shudder beneath you.

“Why does that mean we have to stop?” you asked in a soft, sultry tone. Rolling your hips slowly, you rocked your lace-covered core against your boyfriend’s hard cock in a decadent drag that had both of you letting out little groans. “I’m all dressed up in the pretty lingerie you bought for me, why don’t you let me sit on your lap during your call.” 

You nipped at Bucky’s ear before pressing a kiss to his neck just beneath it, enjoying the rumble in his chest as he bit back a moan. 

“And since I’m on your lap, why don’t you let me keep your cock warm in my pussy—‘m so warm and wet for you, Jamie, and I promise I’ll be so quiet while you’re on your call.” 

Bucky chuckled, both of you knowing full well that you were lying, but he didn’t call you out on it like you expected. Instead, he went a different route, surprising you. 

“Are you sure, darling?” he purred, pressing a suckling kiss to the side of your neck that had your head tilting to the side to give him more access. You were so consumed by how good his soft mouth and rough beard felt against your skin that you almost missed his next words. “Every major CEO in the city is going to be on this call—including your father.”

You froze on Bucky’s lap, not even his mouth working against your neck distracting you from what he’d said. Despite your good sense—at least, what little was left of it with Bucky’s bulge pressing between your thighs—you knew you shouldn’t be thinking about tempting fate in a CEO’s office while he was on a call with your father and all their colleagues. But… Well, you wouldn’t be you if you didn’t enjoy the thrill the the idea gave you.

And it was that side of you that prompted you to purr in your boyfriend’s ear, “I’m sure, Jamie,” as you melted back against his chest. A wicked smirk curled your lips as you issued a challenge to the CEO, “In fact, I’m sure that if one of us is going to give us away to my father, it won’t be me.”  

The chuckle Bucky let out was practically sinister, and your hips squirmed reflexively, grinding your wet slit against his hard cock through your clothes. You managed to hold back the soft moan that wanted to escape, and you were proud of yourself. But then Bucky issued a challenge of his own that had you scurrying.

“Well, then, you’ve got about five minutes to get my cock out, darling,” Bucky said, sounding like he relished giving you a deadline and making you hurry. “Or your sweet moans as I’m stretching out that tight little hole of yours are bound to give you away in an instant.”

Desire flushed hot through your body as you scrambled to reach between your bodies and undo Bucky’s pants. He leaned back in his chair and held your gaze, his blue eyes darkening when you pulled down his zipper, both of you smiling at each other. Reaching into his slacks, you pulled Bucky’s cock free, giving him a quick, appreciative stroke and nearly purring at the velvet-wrapped steel in your hand. 

“Hurry, darling,” Bucky drawled, an unrepentant smirk curling his mouth as his eyes went hooded. “Only a few minutes left before I join this call with your father.”

As you lined yourself up with Bucky’s cock, he reached for the phone on his desk. The robotic musical notes of his fingers dialing felt like a ticking clock and your heart beat faster in your chest. Hooking a finger around the lace covering your dripping slit, you pulled your panties to the side so you could sink down on your boyfriend’s hard length.

A loud, filthy moan squeezed free from your lungs, your head tipping back in bliss as you impaled yourself on Bucky’s perfect cock. It felt as exquisite as it always did, Bucky’s thick girth stretching out your tight little hole as he slid inside you. Your moan turned into a high keening sound as you pushed down further on him, the sound filling his office.

The rumble of Bucky’s laughter teased your ears, but as you lifted yourself up only to slide down further on his stiff length, the sound dissolved into a low groan. Lifting your head, you locked eyes with Bucky while you lowered yourself down on the final few inches of his cock, both of you watching each other as your expressions contorted in pleasure. It felt divine to share the moment with Bucky, and it was made all the sweeter with the impending call dangling over your heads.

Your boyfriend wrapped his hand around the front of your throat and reeled you in for a hot, messy kiss, shoving his tongue in your mouth and taking possession of you in a matter of seconds. His lips were demanding, his tongue forceful, and it made all thoughts flee from your mind. You were desire incarnate and you were consumed by the feeling of Bucky inside you, around you, everywhere.

By the time Bucky pulled away, you were panting for more, your hips rocking impatiently on his cock. But Bucky pressed a steadying hand to your lower back, urging you to still, and then he tapped a button on the phone on his desk, his voice drifting past your ear and sounding exactly as he normally did.

“Good afternoon, gentlemen,” Bucky rumbled smoothly, sounding every bit like the polished CEO that he was. Meanwhile, you pressed your mouth against Bucky’s neck to muffle the heavy breaths that you were still dragging in, willing your heart to slow down from its excited pace. 

But as you calmed, you were able to take stock of your predicament. You were seated on Bucky’s lap, his cock buried in your cunt while you wore nothing more than lingerie and he was still dressed mostly in his suit. To make matters more complicated, he’d just joined a conference call that your father would also be on. You’d perhaps gone far past tempting fate in the CEO’s office, but you couldn’t bring yourself to regret the decisions that had led you to that moment.

Not when there was some fun to be had with your boyfriend. 

While the men on the call greeted each other and talked about their latest golf games, the state of the new Yankees season, and their families—in that order—you focused entirely on Bucky. Looping your arms tighter around his shoulders, you tucked your face into the crook of his neck. Your mouth found the pulse point at the side of his throat, just above the collar of his shirt, and you began sucking softly on the spot that you knew would drive him wild before long.

But then your father’s voice sounded from the speaker on Bucky’s phone—the all too familiar sound of him apologizing for being late—and your entire body clenched tight with surprise and more than a little deviant thrill. When your pussy clutched Bucky’s cock hard, it wrung a strangled sound from the boyfriend your father had no idea you had.

“Y’alright there, Barnes?” your father asked jovially, a tiny hint of the ire he actually felt toward his fellow CEO in his tone. Your father may have hated Bucky, but he knew how to keep up appearances. Mostly.

However, if he ever found out about your relationship with Bucky… You shuddered to think about it.

“Yeah,” your boyfriend responded easily, his hand rubbing soothing circles on your lower back that had you relaxing in his arms. “Just some whiskey down the wrong pipe.”

You bit your lip to suppress the urge to make a snarky remark about taking his cock down your pipe and instead listened as the men on the call all chuckled good-naturedly. Your father’s jocular tone cut through the din as it subsided.

“Hope you’re not getting sick, Barnes,” he said, sounding friendly enough. But there was an undercurrent of malice in his words that made it sound like he was actually hoping for the opposite. Then, as you wondered whether everyone on the call could hear the antagonism in your father’s voice, he dropped all pretenses as he commented, “Though I suppose you don’t have to worry about a girlfriend or wife nagging you to get some rest.” He paused for a moment, like he was relishing his next jab. “You can just call one of your bimbos to take care of you, maybe they’ll take pity on you and give you a discount on their hourly rate.” 

It took every ounce of your self-control not to groan at your father’s comment, but it seemed at least some of the other CEOs on the call didn’t have as tight a grip on their willpower. Frustrated huffs and annoyed groans sounded from the speaker, and you could’ve sworn you hear someone mutter, “Not this again.”

You nearly snorted at the comment, but kept quiet, kissing Bucky’s neck in reassurance that you didn’t take your father’s words to heart. The decision to keep your relationship a secret from your father was one you’d made together, and you knew those kinds of comments were par for the course for Bucky. After all, he was a hot, rich and presumedly single CEO. Of course your father would make an insinuation that he paid for sex. 

But Bucky wasn’t ruffled in the slightest by your father’s dig. If anything, he sank deeper into his plush leather office chair, one of his hands resting possessively against your lower back. Your lips curled and you smirked against Bucky’s neck, nuzzling into him as you felt his cock shift inside you. You squeezed him with your inner walls and he let out a nearly silent snort before responding to your father.

“Don’t worry about me, chief,” he drawled, a little bit of patronizing humor in his tone, especially when he used the nickname to mock your father. “I’m well taken care of.” Bucky’s hand smoothed up and down your spine, making you purr softly in his ear. You could hear the pleased smile in his tone as he went on. “By the way, how’s the family?”

You nearly choked on a laugh, biting down on Bucky’s shoulder through his jacket and shirt to muffle the sound, as your father grumbled and grudgingly muttered, “They’re fine, Barnes, thank you for asking.” His voice was so stiff, and he was so clearly disappointed Bucky hadn’t risen to his bait, that he was clearly trying to save face in front of all the other CEOs. 

You smirked to yourself, leaning up so you could murmur in Bucky’s ear, “Mm, some of us are much better than fine.” Your voice was barely a whisper so you knew the men on the call wouldn’t hear, but Bucky squeezed your hip in warning, which only made you snicker softly. In retaliation, you clenched your pussy around his cock, making your boyfriend grunt quietly.

Bucky’s other hand wrapped around your throat and he gently pushed you back until you were able to see his face. You’d half expected him to be glaring at you for trying to get him to make a noise that would get the attention of the call, but you should’ve known your boyfriend better—he was just as reckless as you. 

Instead of a glare, Bucky’s expression was one of amusement, his blue eyes dancing with mischief and his mouth curved into a smirk that you wanted to lick right off his face. “You’re playing with fire, darling,” Bucky mouthed, but there was no real warning in his words. If anything, it made you want to try harder to get him to make a sound that would get the attention of the other CEOs.

As the business part of the conference call finally began, Bucky made a show of settling back into his chair, reclining his head and giving you a challenging look. An impish smile curled your lips and you rolled your hips. You watched Bucky’s eyes droop in pleasure, his mouth falling open on a silent moan, and a shiver raced down your spine as you began riding his cock. 

You’d intended to torture him by slowly rising up and sinking back down on his hard length, but your boyfriend looked too delicious just sitting there with that smirk on his face. You ducked forward, flicking your tongue against the corner of his mouth, biting back a moan as you tasted him. His beard rasped against your tongue and a burning need flared to life in your chest. You trailed your mouth along his jaw, biting into his beard like you wanted to devour him whole. 

All the while, you rocked your hips as fast as you dared, which wan’t nearly fast enough. Bucky felt good inside you, but your every movement, your every breath was restrained. It made everything hotter, but it also meant you couldn’t truly let yourself give in to the pleasure of him. 

You needed more, you needed Bucky to fuck you. 

Whimpering into Bucky’s beard to muffle the sound, you whined his name in the quietest voice you could manage, “Jamie.” 

Bucky’s hand slipped around the front of your throat, his fingers digging into the sides in a way that made you clench around his cock, your lips parting in a silent moan. Pressing his mouth to your ear, he growled, “Hush, darling, or do you want me to make you be quiet?”

It took you the briefest of seconds to answer his question, your hips bouncing on his lap as you chanted, “Make me, sir, make me.”

“Perfect, filthy girl,” Bucky rumbled in your ear moments before he was standing up and laying you down on his desk as soundlessly as possible. 

All the men on the conference call heard were the rustling of papers, which you knew wouldn’t be out of place, and you had to bite your lip to stop from giggling. Your head was close to the speaker phone and you glanced at it before looking back at Bucky, a challenge in the way you narrowed your eyes and smirked at him. 

Your boyfriend grinned and mouthed the words, “Be quiet, darling,” before pressing a finger to his lips. Then he pulled his hips back and slammed forward, burying his cock in your slick cunt so forcefully, you had to slap both your hands over your mouth to stop from moaning. 

Between one breath and the next, Bucky’s hand was around your throat, pinning you to the hard wooden desk beneath you, his fingers squeezing into the sides of your neck and cutting off all any sound that could even think to dare escaping your lips. Your eyes popped open and you stared up at your boyfriend, spreading your legs wide so he could push deeper into your cunt, the tip of his cock grinding against a spot inside you that made you gush with arousal.

Your face was slack with pleasure, your mouth hanging open as you sucked in tiny, silent breaths, your eyes heavy-lidded as you kept your gaze fixed on Bucky above you. He felt so good inside you, so perfect, his hand around your throat choking you and heightening every sensation in your body.

When you heard Bucky’s name come through the phone, you nearly wailed in protest that someone would try to steal your boyfriend’s attention from you. But Bucky never relented, never stopped fucking you or choking you, slowly pushing you toward your release while he responded to the men on the phone with an even voice. You were too far gone to pay attention to what was being said, but Bucky seemed to know what he was saying, so you left him to it and instead focused on the unrelenting pleasure of his cock.

Eventually, you registered that Bucky was offering his farewells to the CEOs on the other end of the line, and you realized the conference call was coming to an end. If you’d been able to make any sound, you would’ve squeaked happily. Bucky reached across your body and hung up the phone. 

Then your boyfriend was curling over you, his face close to yours, his expression twisting into one of depraved delight as he started pounding into you harder, faster, fucking you ruthlessly on his desk. 

“Did you enjoy that, darling?” he growled, the arousal in his voice making him sound even more gravelly than normal. “Did you enjoy getting fucked on my desk while every CEO in New York City—including your father, who hates me—was on the phone?”

Bucky’s hand around your throat relented enough for you to speak, but you didn’t have any words left in your brain. Not when you could hear the wet sounds of your cunt while he fucked you. All you could do was moan, long and loud, the sound swirling around the two of you and filling the massive space of the luxurious office.

“You’re a temptress, the filthiest fucking girl I’ve ever met,” Bucky rasped, dragging his mouth along your jaw and nipping at your skin as he fucked you harder, grinding against your clit with every thrust. “You’re fucking perfect—you were so good for me, darling, taking my cock so well and staying so quiet for me.”

“Jamie,” you whined, carding your fingers through his soft brown hair and tugging his mouth to yours for a messy kiss. “Jamie, Jamie, Jamie,” you babbled into his mouth, sucking on his tongue and driving him to pound into you relentlessly while you whimpered at how good it felt to finally make some noise. 

“I know, I know,” Bucky rumbled in a warm, pleased tone, and you felt him smirk against your cheek. “My cock feels so good in your tight cunt, doesn’t it, darling?” He rocked into you, hitting that spot inside you and grinding against your clit at the same time, making you cry out sharply. “Yeah, I thought so,” he said, chuckling huskily in your ear. 

If it didn’t feel so good, you might’ve hit him, but the pleasure coiling tight in your body had you too wound up to care. Thankfully, your boyfriend had no interest in making you wait to come. In fact, he was eager for it as well.

“Mm, you’ve been so good for me,” Bucky rumbled, keeping up that impossibly perfect pace of his thrusts. “Come on my cock, darling, want to feel you milking me with your perfect pussy.”

His words washed over you at the same moment that he thrust deep inside and you were helpless to resist the pleasure. Your release crashed over you, Bucky’s hand squeezing your throat in time to choke off the scream that wanted to be let loose. Instead, your mouth opened wide on the silent sound and your body clenched tight, your back arching up off the desk as wave after wave of pleasure consumed you. 

“That’s it, darling, fuck,” Bucky growled, fucking you through your release, his voice going tight as your cunt clenched down hard on his cock. “Gonna come deep in this perfect pussy, and send you home with my come dripping into your new panties,” he rumbled, his thrusts turning wild as he rutted into your still fluttering core. “You’re gonna wait for me in my penthouse, and when I get home, I’m fucking you again in your pretty new lingerie. Gonna show you how much I love seeing you covered in lace and dripping my come.”

Impossibly, your deeply satisifed body tightened in excitement at your boyfriend’s words, and you suddenly couldn’t wait for what he promised. The fact that you’d never been to his penthouse without him was the furthest thing from your mind in that moment. 

“Jamie,” you cried softly before you pulled him down for another kiss. Your legs wrapped around the backs of his thighs and you held him inside you so he could only grind into your cunt. The sounds your bodies made were lewd and obscene, but they were drowned out by the pleasured moans coming from your mouths as you devoured each other.

A moment later, Bucky wrenched free from your mouth as he came with a loud groan. His cock twitched inside you while he filled you up with his warm, sticky come, and all you could do was smile dazedly. Your bodies writhed together as you eked out as much pleasure from your releases as possible, your mouths finding each other again and kissing to muffle your whimpers and groans. 

Together, you caught your breath, and finally settled. Bucky pulled back to stare down at you, a pleased smirk curling one side of his mouth. Then he leaned down, capturing your lips in a slow, lazy kiss. You grabbed his face and held him close, kissing the hell out of him while his cock softened inside you.

As you continued making out on your CEO boyfriend’s desk, you heard Bucky open and close a drawer. But it wasn’t until he pulled away and held up a key that you saw what he’d procured from the drawer. You stared at the little scrap of metal, the magnitude of what it meant making you suddenly uncertain. 

You gave Bucky a questioning look. He smiled affectionately down at you, brushing a kiss to your cheek before explaining. 

“It’s a key to my penthouse,” he said, his voice soft and gentle. “I want you to have it.”

Your eyes widened when he confirmed your suspicions, and though you wanted to reach for the key, you held back. “Are you sure, Jamie?” you asked, trying and failing to hide the waver in your voice. You tried to cover it up by barreling on, “We haven’t even told anyone we’re together.” When Bucky just watched you patiently, you tried for a joke. “What about all your bimbos?”

As soon as the words were past your lips, you wanted to take them back, and you slapped a hand over you mouth as if you could actually stuff the question back into your mouth. It shamed you that you’d repeated your father’s dig at Bucky, but before you could apologize, your boyfriend was carefully prying your hand away from your mouth so he could press a sweet kiss to your lips.

“You and I both know there never have, and never will be any bimbos in my life,” Bucky murmured, pressing his forehead to yours. He was so close, you had to close your eyes, which was a relief because there were suddenly tears swimming in them. “You also know that we decide how we want our relationship to move forward and when we want to tell our families.” He let out a soft exhale. “If you want to tell them before we take this step, just say the word, darling.”

With your eyes closed and Bucky’s warm skin pressing against yours, his familiar and comforting scent filling your nose, you let yourself think about it. You knew you’d have to tell your father about your relationship with Bucky eventually. After all, every time you pictured your future, he was a part of it. But you weren’t quite ready yet. You were still having too much fun with just you and Bucky knowing about your relationship.

“Not yet,” you said, your voice barely a whisper. 

“OK,” he said before giving you a reassuring kiss. “Will you take the key?”

You gave Bucky’s question the thought it deserved and realized you liked the idea of having a key to his place. There were nights when you couldn’t see him because you’d already gone home to your brownstone in Brooklyn before he’d gotten out of a late meeting. If you had a key to his place—and carte blanche from his secretary to go into his office—then you could see him whenever you wanted.

You liked that idea. You liked that idea a lot. 

But, because you were you, you couldn’t give Bucky a simple answer. So instead, you said, “I don’t really have a lot of pockets in this outfit.” 

Bucky pulled back and you opened your eyes to find your boyfriend grinning down at you, happiness sparkling in his blue eyes. You watched as those eyes darkened while he tucked the key into your bra. When the cool metal brushed against your nipple, you gasped quietly, your body clenching lightly around his half-hard cock. 

“Your new lingerie is pretty and comes in handy, darling,” Bucky commented lightly, bending down to kiss you as he eased himself from your body. He swallowed your groan, then stood up and smoothed your panties back over your pussy. He stared hungrily at the juncture of your thighs and you wondered if your combined releases were already leaving a wet spot. 

Before you could ask, Bucky shook himself and he turned his focus to helping you up from his desk. He made sure the key stayed securely in your bra, tweaking your nipple in the process, then stooped to grab your jacket. He held it open for you to step into, then tied the belt tightly around your waist. Last, he pulled you in for a kiss.

“I’ll be back this evening,” he murmured against your lips. “Make yourself at home, darling.” His words were nearly a purr and you shivered in delight at just how much you enjoyed hearing them. 

You were excited to spent the rest of the afternoon luxuriating in everything Bucky’s penthouse had to offer—maybe you’d even ask the concierge for some ice cream and cones—but when you pulled away from your boyfriend, you suddenly felt bereft. Your heart panged in your chest and you gave Bucky a bittersweet smile.

“It won’t feel like home until you get there,” you said softly, pushing up onto your tiptoes to kiss him. “So hurry home, Jamie.” 

Bucky’s hands flexed on your hips, like he was struggling to let you go, but finally you eased away from him and his hands dropped to his sides. Reluctantly, you turned and began walking across Bucky’s office. At the door, you paused and looked back. 

Bucky was still staring at you like he didn’t want to let you leave, but you’d both had enough of tempting fate in the CEO’s office for one afternoon. You gave him one last smile and waved, the key to his penthouse warming against your skin as you slipped out. You comforted yourself with the knowledge that you’d get to see Bucky later. 

As you walked past Bucky’s secretary’s empty desk to the elevator, all you could think was that you had a key to your boyfriend’s apartment. You had a key to your boyfriend’s penthouse apartment—and you couldn’t wait for him to come home to you that night.

Maybe, eventually, he’d come home to you every night.

tempting fate in the park (part 1)

tempting fate on the terrace (part 2)

tempting fate in the CEO's office (part 3)

[mariahcarreyyy]

Hi!!! I absolutely adore your writing!!! Could I please request prompt number 8 from the angst dialogue list for Charles Leclerc? Thank you!!!

# prompt no.8, "what do you want from me? to throw away all i've worked for?" // "all i'm asking for is your time."

mariahcarreyyy's 2k celebration announcement post

Change was something you did not lightly graze over or dismiss with a nonchalant wave of your hand. It slowly seeped inside the cracks of your monaco apartment walls, finding solace in your discomfort. But once even a portion of it was there, there was no denying its presence.

Not when the dent of Charles' curves is no longer easy to trace; yours was everpresent, wallowing and growing familiar with the ache in your bones every time you'd wake up to an cold, empty bed.

Not when, despite being allocated time off from work, Charles had let his job consume him. Nipping at his heart and head, wrapped in a frantic worry of not living up to his potential. Lately, it was as if it held greater priority than the peace you'd once been able to bring him.

He's slouched on his chair, fingers tightly wrapped around the wheel of the simulator; his movements are jerky yet cautious, risky, yet he is all but willing. Standing at the burgundy doorframe, you felt like you'd regressed to the age of a toddler—thrashing in your father's hold, begging for an ounce of attention, of care.

"Charles?"

The word drifts away, following the breeze of the opened window, swirling in the starry night sky. He does not answer. That's fine, nothing new. Your lips part to the shape of his name again, timid and picking dutifully at your fingertips. An exhasperated huff escapes his mouth, latching on to the side of his headphones and not-so-lightly placing them on the table.

With gritted teeth and a slight crane to his neck, barely allowing you to enter his peripheral vision, he mutters, "Yes, y/n?"

"Dinner's ready," you house your bottom lip between your teeth, waiting patiently for the dismissive 'not hungry right now' that would roll off his tongue in mere moments.

And Charles does not fail you or your expectations. He motions a hand to his simulator, sending you a pitiful excuse of a sorry smile that makes your palms furl into fists.

"Charles, I said—"

"I know what you said, mon amour," he sighs, and the pet name feels foreign on his tongue and bitter to your ears. "'Can't leave the sim."

Any shame you have left dwindles next to your bruised ego and non-existent dignity.

"One dinner, Charles, 'won't even take twenty minutes out of your day." Your voice is small, directed towards the back of his head, satisfaction pricking at your heart when his hands freeze, sending him crashing through the virtual track.

Desperate, do you even care anymore?

Abruptly, he stands up, arms extended on the table, to steady himself. The shift in atmosphere made you gnaw at your lip harder, and the metallic crimson made you wince. Your feet are glued to the floor.

Charles turns, standing up right to face you. He looks normal, you realize. You've been trying to figure out how to breathewithout him near you, and he looks normal.

"What do you want from me? To throw away all I've worked for?" He raises a predatory brow, malice dripping from his tongue. "Eat, y/n. I'll probably order something later, but I'm not wasting my time with—with."

He makes a vague gesture with his hand.

With you, is left unspoken.

"All I'm asking for is your time." You meet his hard stare and refrain from cowering at the sight. "But it's obvious you don't give a fuck to at least give me that."

You don't run, but you'd never walked so frantically out of a room before. A small part of you is waiting for Charles to scurry behind you, shouting a 'wait! wait, y/n!'. Which would probably not grant him immediate forgiveness but perhaps warm the shivers coursing through your body.

He doesn't.

[sinkovia]

-`♡´- ANON ASK -`♡´-

Anon requested that the ask be posted after the fic.

Pairings: SImon Riley x GN!Reader

Warnings: Angst.

As the days passed by, your once perfect relationship with Simon began to fracture. It seemed as though the idyllic days you once shared were slipping away, replaced by a constant tension that hung heavy in the air.

The source of the arguments seems to stem from your "nagging," as Simon puts it. But to you, it's an expression of love and fear - a desperate attempt to hold onto something precious in a world where loss and danger lurk around every corner.

From the beginning, you both understood the risks in your line of work, but it's only recently that the reality of those risks has begun to weigh heavily on your heart.

You've voiced your fears to Simon, your desire to retire together and find solace in a life far removed from the dangers of combat. But each time you broach the subject, Simon's reaction is the same - cold, defensive, and laced with hurtful words that cut deep. It's a cycle that plays out time and time again: he pushes you away with his sharp words, only to come crawling back the next day, remorseful and apologetic.

In those moments of reconciliation, he speaks to you with tenderness and warmth, promising that he's always careful on missions and that this is the life he wants. He reassures you that perhaps, in a few years' time, he could think about settling down. And each time, you find yourself giving in, desperate to believe that his words hold truth.

But as the fear and dread of losing him creep back in, the same arguments resurface, and the cycle repeats itself endlessly, leaving you trapped in a loop of hope and despair. 

The tension in your life reaches a boiling point when you're summoned to the briefing room, where Captain Price lays out the details of a harrowing mission. Your heart sinks as you realize the gravity of the task at hand - infiltrating the heart of Makarov's forces, your fluency in Russian making you the only person who could do it. It's a suicide mission, with slim chances of success and even slimmer chances of survival.

As Captain Price outlines the high-risk, high-reward nature of the operation, your mind races with conflicting emotions. On one hand, success could mean a significant blow to Makarov's forces, potentially saving countless lives and shifting the tide of the war. On the other hand, the thought of risking your life - and potentially throwing away any chance of a future with Simon - fills you with fear.

You weigh the options carefully, torn between duty and personal desire. The stakes couldn't be higher, and the choice before you feels like a cruel test of loyalty and sacrifice. As you leave the briefing room, the weight of the decision hangs heavy on your shoulders, uncertainty clouding your thoughts as you grapple with the choice before you.

You step into your shared apartment, the weight of the impending conversation heavy on your shoulders. Simon is seated on the couch, absorbed in the television. With a heavy sigh, you make your way over and take a seat next to him, steeling yourself for what's to come.

"We need to talk, Si,"

Simon sighs and reaches to turn off the TV, a resigned expression crossing his features. "Here we go again," he mutters under his breath.

Your heart sinks at his dismissive tone, but you push forward nonetheless. “Price gave me a solo mission,” you watch his reaction closely.

Simon quirks a brow but remains silent, prompting you to continue. “He wants me to infiltrate Makarov's forces,”

“Sounds risky,” Simon comments, his tone neutral as he leans back on the couch, crossing his arms. You take a deep breath, "It's a suicide mission," you confess, locking eyes with him, searching for any sign of understanding or concern.

Silence hangs in the air as you wait for his response, “When do you leave?” he asks, his response devoid of the emotion you had hoped for.

Does he even hear you? Does he even care?

“Did you hear what I said? It’s a suicide mission. Do you even care Simon?” you press, desperation creeping into your voice.

Simon releases a frustrated breath, irritation evident in his demeanor. “Of course, I fucking care, y/n. But like I've said a million times before, we chose this profession. We know the risks that come with our job. Any of our missions could easily turn into a suicide mission.”

Your heart sinks at his callous response, the weight of his words hitting you like a punch to the gut. “And if I died on a mission, would you be okay with that? With living without me? With going on with life without me?!” you challenge, tears welling in your eyes.

“Seeing how you're always fucking nagging me, yeah, maybe I’d be okay with that!” Simon's harsh words cut through you like a knife, leaving you reeling in disbelief.

Your lip quivers, and you shake your head, unable to comprehend the cruelty of his words. “You're being mean. You don’t mean that Si, I know you don’t,” you protest, your voice barely above a whisper.

“I do. I mean every fucking word,” Simon retorts, his voice rising in anger. “Do you know how easy it would be to find someone else who will give me what I want? I can never get peace when you're around. We are done, y/n. Don't bother coming home after your mission.”

The finality of his words crushes you, leaving you speechless and broken. With tears streaming down your face, you cover your mouth with your hand, muffling the sobs that threaten to escape. Simon turns on his heel and storms out of the apartment, leaving you alone in the wake of his harsh words. 

With a heavy heart, you rise from the couch and make your way to your room, your mind consumed by the weight of the decision ahead. As you gather the necessities for the mission, a wave of despair washes over you.

If Simon wasn't in your life, what else did you have to live for? There had been multiple missions you had turned down in the past, knowing they were nothing but one-way trips. But now, without Simon by your side, there was nothing holding you back.

Stepping into Price’s office, you steel yourself for the conversation ahead. You inform him of your decision to go through with the mission, his surprise is evident, but he and Laswell offer words of encouragement, instilling in you a sense of hope. With your skills as an infiltrator and your Russian background, they assure you that you stand a fighting chance. After all, who would suspect one of their own?

Despite the uncertainty and the weight of the task ahead, a glimmer of hope begins to flicker within you. Within a matter of hours, you find yourself on a plane headed to Russia, the gravity of your decision weighing heavily on your mind. Simon however remains oblivious to your departure, unaware of the path you've chosen. 

Back at home, he returns that night with your favorite takeout and a bouquet of flowers, his heart heavy with remorse and determination. With each step, he replays his apology in his head, rehearsing the words he's been meaning to say. He knows he's messed up, and he's desperate to make things right. He wants to change, to be a better man for you.

Simon's mind swirls with thoughts of seeking therapy, of learning to control his temper and his sharp tongue. He knows he's hurt you deeply with his words, words he never truly meant. He loves you more than anything, and he's willing to do whatever it takes to prove it. But as he steps into the house, the atmosphere is heavy with silence. The air feels cold and unwelcoming.

“Y/n?” He calls out for you, his voice tinged with concern, but there's no response.

Worry gnaws at him as he wanders through the darkened rooms, searching for any sign of you. Finally, he enters the bedroom, and his heart sinks as he sees a note lying on the bed, illuminated by the faint light filtering in through the window. With trembling hands, he picks up the note, his heart pounding in his chest as he reads your words. 

Simon,

By the time you read this, I'll be on a plane to Russia. I've made the decision to go through with it, despite the risks, and I wanted you to know why.

I've heard your words echoing in my mind, the ones about finding someone else who will give you what you want, about never getting peace when I'm around. And so, I've decided to honor your wishes. Once I finish this mission, I'll find my own place, and you won't have to deal with my constant nagging anymore. Your life will finally be at peace, just as you've always wanted.

I want you to know that I've always turned down these types of missions in the past. This isn't the first time Price has offered them to me. But if I had known sooner that you didn't care whether I went on them or not, I would have gone sooner. I'm sorry for making your life so miserable, for not realizing sooner that I was the problem.

I hope that you find peace now, Simon. I hope that you find someone who can give you what you want, someone who can make you happy. You deserve that much, at least.

Take care of yourself.

Yours always, Y/n

With each word, his heart sinks deeper, the weight of your words bearing down on him with crushing force. Tears blur his vision as he reads your farewell, your words cutting through him like a knife. The realization of the pain he's caused you hits him like a tidal wave, leaving him gasping for air as guilt gnaws at his conscience.

When he reaches the part where you promise to honor his wish and stay out of his life after your mission, Simon's heart shatters into a million pieces. The thought of you willingly walking away from him, all because of his own hurtful words and actions, is almost too much to bear.

He crumples the letter in his trembling hands, his shoulders shaking with silent sobs as he struggles to come to terms with the magnitude of his mistakes. The weight of regret hangs heavy in the air as he realizes the depth of the love he's lost, the love he may never have the chance to regain if you don’t come back from the mission.

The suicide mission.

In that moment, he breaks down completely, the full weight of his actions crashing over him like a tidal wave. Seeing how much he's hurt you, how much he's pushed you away to point that you accepted the mission, shatters him to his core.

With each tear that falls, Simon's resolve crumbles, replaced by a deep and profound sense of regret. He wishes he could turn back time, take back the hurtful words he's spoken, and hold you close, promising to never let you go. But it's too late now, and all he can do is sit in silence, praying to a higher form to keep you safe, to let you come back to him alive.

The next day, Simon walked into Price’s office, his heart heavy with worry and anticipation. He needed to know more about your mission, to find any shred of information that could ease his growing anxiety.

Price informed Simon that you had landed in Russia in the early morning hours. However, he delivered the news that communication would be sparse for at least a month. They had scheduled calls planned for updates on the mission status, but they would have to wait until the designated time for you to radio in.

Simon listened intently, understanding the protocol, but inside, fear and dread gnawed at him. The thought of you out there, alone and potentially in danger, filled him with a sense of helplessness.

As the first month passed, Simon waited patiently in the room with Price, every passing minute feeling like an eternity. But as the hours stretched on, there was no sign of communication from you. No Morse code, no call, no comm. Just silence.

Panic began to set in as Simon grappled with the uncertainty of your situation. He couldn't shake the feeling of unease, the nagging worry that something had gone terribly wrong. But Price remained steadfast in his confidence, assuring Simon that these things happened often, that perhaps you hadn't found the right opportunity to relay a message.

Despite Price's reassurances, Simon couldn't shake the sense of foreboding that gripped him. With each passing day, his fear for your safety only grew stronger, overshadowing any hope he tried to hold onto. But he knew he had to stay strong, to keep faith that you would return safely from your mission.

Month after month passed, and still, there was no word from you. Simon waited patiently by the phone in the comms room center, his heart heavy with worry and uncertainty. He refused to give up on you, clinging to the hope that you would come back to him, despite Price declaring you M.I.A.

Even as Price tried to reason with him, pointing out that none of your mission objectives had been completed in the time you had been gone, Simon remained steadfast in his belief that you were still out there, somewhere, fighting to return to him.

Even as the years passed Simon couldn't bring himself to accept the possibility that you might truly be gone, vanished from his life and the world forever. The thought of living in a world without you was unbearable, and Simon couldn't bear to entertain it.

The last words he had spoken to you echoed in his mind, haunting him with their cruelty. How could he have been so callous, so blind to the pain he was causing you? 

Was this fate's cruel work, forcing him to confront the consequences of his actions? Was this punishment for his harsh words, for pushing you away when he should have pulled you close? Was this what he truly wanted, to be left alone in a world without you?

But even in the depths of his despair, Simon clung to a sliver of hope, refusing to let go of the belief that you would come back to him. He would wait for you, for as long as it took, holding onto the hope that one day, you would return to him and his world would be whole again.

Anon Ask- simon x reader but they are both in the military and reader gets assigned on a suicide mission but has a choice to go or not. reader and simon fight and then they decide to go. feel free not to do this no pressure!!! but if you will dont post the ask until after to make it a little angsty surprise!

[aealzx]

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Update Post

Prologue | AO3

Previous Next

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“DA-NI! DA-NI!”

“C’MON JON LET’S GOOOO!”

“You’re pretty sure you can get ectoplasm by accessing this Liminal Realm directly then? There’s no other option?” Bruce was trying to ignore the robust cheering from the rest of the kids while he caught up on the situation with Raven and Dick. Apparently Danielle and Jon had ended up in an arm wrestle contest, on which several of the children had bet their desserts that night on who would win. But while the feats of metahuman skill were something to be noted, Bruce was more interested in the report Raven had already given the eldest two of his kids.

“C’MON DANI YOU MADE HIM BUDGE WIN ME THAT BROWNIE!” Stephanie was barely keeping herself from shaking the younger girl.

“JON! DON’T LET ME DOWN LITTLE MAN!” Duke’s mild panic turned into a cheer alongside Tim when Jon forced the two hands back to the center. They seemed to be evenly matched, but it was hard to tell if that was the truth or if there were other factors in play. Jon’s abilities were still only starting to manifest, so no one knew his full potential just yet. But Danielle also was arguably not running at her full capacity after months of being half starved for both her human side and ghost side.

“Yes, but not here. Even with Dani’s presence the Liminal Realm could still reject us. I can keep myself from being hurt if there’s a violent rejection, but I’d rather not have to worry about my surroundings too,” Raven confirmed, also trying not to be distracted by the competition. “The only alternatives I can think of are trying to find a hotspot, which the others have failed to do in the past two months. Or try to purify any existing samples.”

“Neither option is viable,” Bruce grumbled slightly. Opening a gateway to the Liminal Realm sounded like a disaster in the making to him, but it was still a better option than anything else they had. “Do you have a location in mind?”

“There’s an island near the one the Titan’s tower is on that we’ve used before for people with more risky abilities. We’ll be close enough to the facility that any complications should be easy to manage as well,” Raven suggested, earning a hesitantly agreeing hum and nod from Bruce.

Before Bruce could verbally answer, a loud cracking noise of splintering wood followed by several shouts of despair and surprise alerted them of the arm wrestle being interrupted by the table snapping under Danielle and Jon’s strength. The two kids half toppled over as quick hands from the surrounding cheerleaders snatched a hold of them to keep them from hitting the ground.

“NOOO! WHO WAS WINNING?” Tim practically wailed as Duke, Stephanie and Sam helped the competitors regain their footing.

“Obviously not the table,” Danielle quipped, flexing and shaking her hand a little now that it was free of the stress she had put it under.

Jon could only snort and laugh at the comment, also shaking his hand. “I dunno. You are pretty strong though. Maybe we really are tied this time?”

“A true test of strength would involve more than a childish match with only one limb in play,” Damian interjected, looking at the broken table in disappointment.

“Yeah I don’t think a fight to the death is something I’d be willing to sign up for though, Damian,” Jon winced with a nervous chuckle, knowing by now the only contests Damian seemed to find worthy were ones where people got more than a little hurt.

“I don’t think it would work in the first place considering one of us is already half dead, too,” Danielle added, raising her hands in a shrug, earning a snort from Stephanie.

“That’s what you’re worried about?” Tucker half whispered, looking at Danielle incredulously.

The mild banter subsided when Bruce and Raven took that as their chance to get back to business, walking closer to the group and catching their attention.

“Oh! Hey Raven! You’re here earlier than I thought you’d be. We already milked the Batcow, and brushed her and Goliath. But you could still brush them a little more if you wanted,” Jon offered, gesturing to a bucket of fresh milk that had luckily been set aside on a different table with the brushes.

“...I’m good, thank you,” Raven politely declined, mildly amused. Jon was still quite the farm boy at heart.

“We’re actually here to see if Danielle would be willing to help us in another attempt to get some ectoplasm for Danny,” Bruce explained, shifting his gaze to the girl in question.

“Oh? Sure thing. Of course. What do you need?” Danielle agreed readily, easily stepping forward to join them. “Jazz already gave permission I guess?”

“With the condition that we keep you safe,” Dick confirmed with a nod. “Raven was able to figure out which Realm the ectoplasm you guys run off of comes from, and is going to try to open a gateway to it. Apparently you being there is supposed to make it play nicely instead of blowing up in our faces.”

“...Another Realm?” Stephanie asked, having not missed how Sam and Tucker’s demeanor changed at the mention of it. They seemed a little nervous now. Hiding something.

“The Realm Between Realms,” Raven clarified, also feeling the shift in their guest’s emotions. “They know it as the Infinite Realm, and Danny and Dani have close ties to it that should make it more receptive to my attempt to draw energy from it.”

“Excuse me?” Sam couldn’t help blurting, taking a defensive step towards Danielle as semi recent memories of the GIW trying to use Danny as a battery to access the Infinite Realms flooded her mind.

“We’re not going to try anything that might damage the Realm,” Dick spoke up quickly, raising his hands to placate Sam. “We know how important it is for that Realm to remain intact. That’s why Raven wants to try everything she can to not cause problems with it.”

It was a surprising response to hear, and both Sam and Tucker couldn’t find an immediate answer. So Raven tried to explain a little further. “Both Danny and Dani are beings that should be easily accepted and favored by other realms. And since the ectoplasm in their system originates from the Liminal Realm I expect it recognizes them as one of its own. But with them also being half alive, our Realm also accepts them as one if its own. They’re a perfect bridge between realms.”

“Okay, so it’s like big sister asking the favorite child to ask mom and dad for a favor, got it,” Danielle reworded in her own way. “So what do I need to do? Am I the one supposed to open the portal? You don’t think I can build one do you? Because we absolutely would have tried that already if I knew how,” she prodded, feeling a little nervous now that she was thinking she had to do this on her own.

“Wait- Dani, are you sure? The last time a portal was opened…,” Sam cautioned, still uneasy as a different memory came to her.

“Hey, which one of us is the lab experiment?” Danielle reminded them, gesturing between the two of them. “I got this. I know my limits,” she assured, ignoring the brief looks of deep concern from Bruce and his family.

“...She is remarkably well adjusted to being a clone,” Tim muttered quietly to Stephanie.

“Either that or she uses humor to cope like some people we know,” Stephanie muttered back. They should have known Danielle probably didn’t have the happiest first while of her life. None of the other clones they knew had been created for benign reasons after all.

“I’ll be the one creating a temporary portal. You’ll just have to come with me to a safer area, and stand where I tell you to,” Raven explained, not sure how she wanted to react to the girl. It was hard to be too worried about someone who didn’t seem to have any concerns at all right then.

“Stand there?” Danielle repeated, waiting for a nod from Raven before inevitably shrugging. “Sounds easy enough. Lead the way then, oh temporary big sister,” she agreed, opening her hands to show she was willing to follow.

The term caught Raven off guard, so she didn’t respond before Sam interrupted again. This time it wasn’t to stop them. “I want to go too. If that’s alright,” Sam half requested, half insisted. “The last time we left Dani on her own she got shot,” she added to hopefully persuade them into letting her come. That was only part of the reason though. She was really just curious to see how Raven was going to open a portal to the Infinite Realms when as far as she knew the only ones that had managed to do that before were Danny and Jazz’s parents. And for them it almost seemed to have been an accident.

“That shouldn’t be a problem. As long as you listen to what I tell you,” Raven agreed. One more person shouldn’t be a problem. She preferred to not have a crowd, but she was getting used to it after staying with the Teen Titans for so long. Everyone seemed to like being in each others’ business there, even if it was just to watch each other train.

“Can I come too?” Jon asked, raising his hand and taking Sam’s permission as a chance that he could be included.

“Oh, me too, me too,” Stephanie added, also raising her hand halfway. And with her request Duke raised his hand as well, and Tucker quickly added his to the group too.

With three more people wanting to join, and having no real reason to decline since she knew telling them it might be dangerous would do nothing to deter them, Raven sighed. “Very well. Just don’t do anything unless you’re told to,” she relented, quickly gesturing to open a portal of her own to transport them to her desired location. Maybe if she got this over with quick enough she could avoid any more tag alongs.

Humming in content at being given permission, Stephanie followed the others as they filed through the intra realm portal. Danielle walked through the dark gateway easily enough, but Tucker definitely hesitated and latched onto Sam as they passed, just in case they ended up separated. Duke also seemed quite excited to be able to participate, following as Jon rushed through the portal. Then as Raven moved to follow them last she had to pause as Damian wordlessly stepped in line with her.

“...Someone has to keep an eye on the children,” was all Damian offered when Raven paused to look at him expectantly. It earned a tiny, amused smile from Raven as she sighed slightly again and allowed him to follow her. Her reaction only proved Damian’s thought that she seemed to be in a good mood considering she was letting so many people possibly annoy her by tagging along.

___

Once they reached the area Raven had in mind it had taken some time for her to direct people to where they needed to be. Originally she had only planned on having Danielle there, and maybe one other person to help if needed. But with everyone who had wanted to come she found it could actually be potentially beneficial for Sam and Tucker to have accompanied them. They had the same liminal saturated state of existence that Jazz did, which might sway the bargain more in their favor.

After leading the group to a clearing in the trees, Raven had pointed to a spot for Danielle to stand. And after confirming that Sam and Tucker were willing to help Raven also directed them to their own positions. Three evenly spread points on an invisible circle about 20 meters in radius. And while they were a little confused about the command to just stand in place and not move unless they were in danger, the three seemed willing enough to participate in the ritual. The rest of the tag alongs Raven had ordered to remain hidden behind the surrounding foliage or boulders. Just in case.

“If everyone is ready, I’ll begin,” Raven prompted, taking her own position in the middle of the circle as her traditional uniform replaced her casual attire in shadowy wisps. The feat earned a series of soft, excited noises from the Phantom kids, but they obediently stayed where they had been put. And after Danielle gave a thumbs up around the four liter jar she was holding, shifting into her ghost form for good measure, Raven nodded once before raising vertically into the air.

To be fair the three from Amity weren’t used to non ghost people being able to do anything supernatural. So when Raven’s form lifted so easily in the air, her cloak flaring out behind her as the glow of four eyes flashed under her hood they were naturally captivated. Even more so as Raven raised her hands out to her sides momentarily before gracefully pulling them towards herself in an alternating cup above and below a space in front of her torso.

That was when the hauntingly familiar sensation started to spread over Danielle’s form. The way the realm natives shuddered and started looking around anxiously, and Sam and Tucker glanced at their surroundings in curious familiarity betrayed that they felt the same thing. The creeping eeriness that tended to saturate burial sites, or other spaces not quite completely in one realm. Places people had come to call liminal spaces. Where things that shouldn’t happen did, or didn’t. Just unbelievable enough to make people think they hadn’t actually experienced what they thought they had.

To Danielle, Sam and Tucker it felt like home.

As the spine crawling sensation grew to an almost suffocating invisible smog the space between Raven’s hands suddenly cracked. Green lines splitting from a point between her palms as the realm broke into another, pieces of the space splitting off and either falling into the growing hole or peeling away and dissipating. It looked the same as the breaking mirror effect the G.I.W.’s machines had caused more than two months ago. But this time it didn’t feel disastrous. The broken hole stayed relatively small, and Danielle felt something different brush over her like the caress of fog billowing gently passed her. Her breath momentarily fanned out in front of her, and she couldn’t help responding as it felt like something was beckoning her. Her own feet left the weak confines of the grass tickling her shoes as she floated up to a point halfway between the ground and where Raven was. She’d only moved up, and not broken the circle, and her movement felt accepted.

And with the acceptance a very familiar orb of brightly glowing green bloomed out from the cracked plane. Raven seemed to be struggling to hold the connection between realms, but Danielle couldn’t help the small gasp as the orb condensed slightly, a slow stream of ectoplasm cascading down to pool on Raven’s lower hand before continuing its descent. Raven grimaced when the substance touched her skin, but held her place. A little extra magic plucked the jar from Danielle’s grasp and brought it under the falling stream, catching the gift bestowed on them from the Liminal Realm.

They had been optimistic with the size of the jar. But they would still accept the smaller amount given to them. It took many, long, borderline agonizing minutes for the glass jar to fill. When it wasn’t quite halfway full the stream of ectoplasm thinned, and Raven pushed to hold the connection a bit longer before giving in and pulling her hands away.

No need to push their luck. 

As soon as her position changed there was a sound of a single crack splitting glass and the break between realms sealed with the rapid filling of paint spilling across marble. The jar was returned to Danielle’s hands, and Raven’s form dropped just a little too quickly back to the ground. She wasn’t all that hurt, but it was still enough of a drop that Jon darted out from their source of cover and leapt into the air high enough to catch her. Their landing wasn’t the most graceful considering she was taller than him, but it still helped, and she simply pressed a hand to her head for a moment after Jon gently set her down.

“Are you alright?” the lad asked, as Damian almost skidded to Raven’s side as well, resting a hand on her shoulder as the rest of the group followed.

“I’m fine,” Raven assured. “Just drained.” She almost felt like she’d lost a liter of blood, but she knew the sensation would pass. She just needed to take it easy for a bit. But she was more concerned about the results of their endeavor, and looked over to where Danielle was openly staring at the jar in her hands.

When it was clear that Raven just needed rest, Jon couldn’t help spilling his excitement from what he’d seen. “That. Was. AWESOME!” he gushed while Stephanie and Duke approached Danielle.

“...Is that the stuff?” Stephanie asked, resting her hands on her knees as she leaned over to peer at the glowing green goop.

Danielle was a bit stunned silent, not quite able to believe that she was finally holding two liters of rich, pure ectoplasm that seemed to be just slightly a higher concentration than what her parents gave her at home. But at Stephanie’s question she finally breathed a confirmation. “... Yes.”

That seemed to break the stillness in her own mind as well, for the rush of excitement suddenly crashed into her brain and she started shaking slightly. “Yes! Oh my goooosh, it issss,” she blurted, quickly setting the jar on the ground so she didn’t accidentally spill it as she abruptly started pumping her fists and jumping up and down. “YES! YES! YES! FINALLY!!! FFFFFF- AAAAAHHHHHHH!!” Danielle couldn’t help screaming in her excitement, leaping forward to tackle Sam and Tucker as soon as they were close enough and bursting into a fit of laughter. “WE HAVE SOME! IT’S ECTOPLASM!!” she cheered between contagious laughing that quickly spread to her friends.

“They got some?!”

“Oh heck yes! Finally! Oh my gosh!”

Sam and Tucker joined Danielle in her elated rambles, wrapping their arms around her and allowing themselves to be slung around by each other’s jumping and swaying.

Raven couldn’t help the tiny laugh that escaped her at the kids’ reactions, and even Damian cracked a smile. “Thank you,” the lad expressed, giving Raven’s shoulder a light squeeze before standing and offering her a hand to help her up.

“No problem,” Raven accepted, taking Damian’s hand and using it to steady herself once she got to her feet as well.

“Dude, this looks like the green stuff you were bleeding when Deathstroke shot you,” Duke commented, peering at the contents of the jar.

“That’s because it’s pretty much the same stuff,” Danielle snorted, slightly breathless from all her hollering. “It’s just not claimed. Ghost blood can’t really be shared between ghosts, but this stuff doesn't belong to any ghost, so its free game,” she explained a little more, then quickly reached over and slapped Duke’s hand away from reaching into the jar. “Ah! Don’t touch. It’s poison to regular humans.”

Being told it was poison to him was enough for Duke to yank his hand back where it belongs, pulling away from the toxic substance. “Fair enough. Guess I’ll let you carry it back home then,” he relented, keeping away from the substance.

Do you have enough strength to take us back to the manor? Or should I summon our own ride?” Damian asked, looking at Raven but ready to use his phone to call one of their flying vehicles if necessary.

“If you don’t mind me sticking around for a while, I can take us back,” Raven agreed.

“Stay as long as you like,” Stephanie assured, giving a thumbs up.

“Says the one that doesn’t even live there,” Duke snorted, amused, and folded his arms.

“What? But I thought you were adopted like the rest?” Sam asked, face scrunching slightly in confusion.

“Only for legalities,” Stephanie clarified. “It was just to get the social workers off my back. I actually still live with my mom, and there’s no way in hell I’m ever calling Bruce dad.”

“Ah. Fair enough,” Sam nodded, not going to pry any further.

It was enough of a delay for Raven to build up a little more energy to open a short distance portal for them to take back to the Wayne manor, and once it was open the group was quick to file through.

_____

“JAZZ!!” Danielle’s holler came immediately after she emerged from Raven’s portal into the manor foyer. She wasted no time bothering with the stairs, simply turning intangible with the jar in her hands and zipping through the floor and walls to Danny’s room. “JAZZ, HOLY CRAP!”

The others chuckled at Danielle’s antics, figuring she and her friends could take care of delivering the good news well enough. Duke excused himself to go fetch Bruce, and Damian and Jon followed Raven to the closest couch to sit. Stephanie followed Sam and Tucker up the stairs, but they ended up having to quickly dodge out of the way as Jazz came bolting passed them. The eldest girl was quick to hunt Raven down, and when she found them Jazz immediately threw her arms around the girl.

“THANK YOU!” Jazz blurted, hugging Raven tightly despite her surprised stiffness. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

Raven wasn’t sure how to react, but managed to bring herself to lower her half raised hand to Jazz’s back, giving her a small pat. “You’re welcome.”

“Jazz! Come on! Leslie is here!” Danielle was calling down the stairs, leaning over the railing so far she was at risk of falling off.

“Coming!” Jazz called back, giving Raven one more quick hug and thank you before excusing herself to run back upstairs.

The rest of that day held much lighter spirits than the manor had seen in awhile. After some explanation from Jazz about how Danny and Danielle usually absorbed ectoplasm Leslie had opted to try an IV, especially when the ectoplasm seemed to dilute well enough into a liquid with the saline water. The kids had hung out in the room for a little while once the IV was in place, but eventually their excitement was too much to be confined in the small room. They ended up outside again, burning off their energy in simple but active games with the other residents of the manor. Danielle and Jon made for an interesting sports game among the kids, and Bruce was pleased to see Jazz participating for once while he and Leslie took care of monitoring Danny this time.

“Well, it looks like this is working better than I thought it would,” Leslie commented after some time of silence, having just given Danny a routine check up. Even without being a doctor Bruce could tell Danny was doing much better than when he’d first seen the boy. His skin wasn’t ghastly pale anymore, his heart rate had finally reached a normal range, and his breathing was slow and even.

“Indeed,” Bruce agreed, reaching over to confirm his own suspicion by gently taking Danny’s hand for a moment. As he’d thought, the boy was now warm to the touch instead of icy cold. Maybe a little too warm now, but that was to be expected. He still had a fever, but that would be much easier to manage than a self induced cryo stasis.

Hopefully the lad would be able to wake up soon now.

_______________________

An obnoxiously long post because I honestly just didn't want to draw a second picture for this section X'DD

Also me covering up for my oopsie not knowing Stephanie wasn't actually adopted by Bruce. Please accept my apology in the form of an in story excuse |P

I spammed Twin Fates by Sawano Hiroyuki while writing the second half of this one

_______________________

Tag list: @galaxy-sharks-and-bottled-ships, @starscreamlover, @nerdynonnativenarnian, @dragongoblet, @megacharizardx99

@bellathecatastrophe, @cj-ghostemoji-destielpie, @asexual-insomniac, @wolfeyedwitch, @tkiesai, 

@fanaroff, @raven1508, @nebulainajar, @serasvictoria02, @oliocelottafanfics,

@honeysuckletook, @omniithe-deer, @wolf-under-the-stars, @gingernutcalo, @that-random-fangirl,

@op-sys-chaos, @kirasigncomics, @ehobep

[freckliedan]

i know TIT shows don't start until next month, but i want to start posting about this early: what covid safety precautions are you guys planning on taking?

this community prides itself on being a welcoming and safe place for neurodivergent and mentally ill fans, which rules! phannies are one of the kindest groups of fans i've known, and that's a lived type of kindness—people act on it, we aren't just talk.

so that's why i'm mentioning this now! there are a lot of physical disabilities that both frequently co-occur with neurodivergence and that make potentially getting covid more dangerous. and covid cases are at an extreme high right now.

it would suck very bad if going to TIT caused people to get sick or die. it would suck if dan and phil got sick from being around us, both because of the impacts on them and because of any potentially cancelled shows.

so how are we going to take care of each other? i have several points of action i'm planning on, but i hope you guys are thinking about it too.

my longer term steps: i still wear a kn-95 every time i leave the house, and i still have not caught covid. even though i know my level of caution has good success rates i am planning on minimizing risky behaviors for the week/two weeks before my show. + i'm up to date on my boosters.

my personal steps day of: i'm planning on using a preventative nasal spray before TIT too; with the nasal spray, i may be comfortable with removing my mask for a picture during my m&g. i might not; i plan on decorating my mask to match my outfit—possibly decorating a cloth mask to wear OVER my kn-95.

i think it would be very cool if we started decorating masks and posting about that the way we've been doing bracelets!

my community-focused steps: i'll be bringing extra masks with me, too, to hand out in case anyone wants them; might have half of those include cat whiskers as decoration. i'm also making this post, and i'm going to talk about it in the discord servers i'm in.

in conclusion.

wearing a mask is an easy way to make us disabled phannies feel safe and cared for and included in this fandom! please consider it even if it's not something you find important in your day to day life. (though it's never too late to start masking for the protection of disabled people in your day to day life, too).

[mostlysignssomeportents]

The surprising truth about data-driven dictatorships

Here’s the “dictator’s dilemma”: they want to block their country’s frustrated elites from mobilizing against them, so they censor public communications; but they also want to know what their people truly believe, so they can head off simmering resentments before they boil over into regime-toppling revolutions.

These two strategies are in tension: the more you censor, the less you know about the true feelings of your citizens and the easier it will be to miss serious problems until they spill over into the streets (think: the fall of the Berlin Wall or Tunisia before the Arab Spring). Dictators try to square this circle with things like private opinion polling or petition systems, but these capture a small slice of the potentially destabiziling moods circulating in the body politic.

Enter AI: back in 2018, Yuval Harari proposed that AI would supercharge dictatorships by mining and summarizing the public mood — as captured on social media — allowing dictators to tack into serious discontent and diffuse it before it erupted into unequenchable wildfire:

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/10/yuval-noah-harari-technology-tyranny/568330/

Harari wrote that “the desire to concentrate all information and power in one place may become [dictators] decisive advantage in the 21st century.” But other political scientists sharply disagreed. Last year, Henry Farrell, Jeremy Wallace and Abraham Newman published a thoroughgoing rebuttal to Harari in Foreign Affairs:

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/world/spirals-delusion-artificial-intelligence-decision-making

They argued that — like everyone who gets excited about AI, only to have their hopes dashed — dictators seeking to use AI to understand the public mood would run into serious training data bias problems. After all, people living under dictatorships know that spouting off about their discontent and desire for change is a risky business, so they will self-censor on social media. That’s true even if a person isn’t afraid of retaliation: if you know that using certain words or phrases in a post will get it autoblocked by a censorbot, what’s the point of trying to use those words?

The phrase “Garbage In, Garbage Out” dates back to 1957. That’s how long we’ve known that a computer that operates on bad data will barf up bad conclusions. But this is a very inconvenient truth for AI weirdos: having given up on manually assembling training data based on careful human judgment with multiple review steps, the AI industry “pivoted” to mass ingestion of scraped data from the whole internet.

But adding more unreliable data to an unreliable dataset doesn’t improve its reliability. GIGO is the iron law of computing, and you can’t repeal it by shoveling more garbage into the top of the training funnel:

https://memex.craphound.com/2018/05/29/garbage-in-garbage-out-machine-learning-has-not-repealed-the-iron-law-of-computer-science/

When it comes to “AI” that’s used for decision support — that is, when an algorithm tells humans what to do and they do it — then you get something worse than Garbage In, Garbage Out — you get Garbage In, Garbage Out, Garbage Back In Again. That’s when the AI spits out something wrong, and then another AI sucks up that wrong conclusion and uses it to generate more conclusions.

To see this in action, consider the deeply flawed predictive policing systems that cities around the world rely on. These systems suck up crime data from the cops, then predict where crime is going to be, and send cops to those “hotspots” to do things like throw Black kids up against a wall and make them turn out their pockets, or pull over drivers and search their cars after pretending to have smelled cannabis.

The problem here is that “crime the police detected” isn’t the same as “crime.” You only find crime where you look for it. For example, there are far more incidents of domestic abuse reported in apartment buildings than in fully detached homes. That’s not because apartment dwellers are more likely to be wife-beaters: it’s because domestic abuse is most often reported by a neighbor who hears it through the walls.

So if your cops practice racially biased policing (I know, this is hard to imagine, but stay with me /s), then the crime they detect will already be a function of bias. If you only ever throw Black kids up against a wall and turn out their pockets, then every knife and dime-bag you find in someone’s pockets will come from some Black kid the cops decided to harass.

That’s life without AI. But now let’s throw in predictive policing: feed your “knives found in pockets” data to an algorithm and ask it to predict where there are more knives in pockets, and it will send you back to that Black neighborhood and tell you do throw even more Black kids up against a wall and search their pockets. The more you do this, the more knives you’ll find, and the more you’ll go back and do it again.

This is what Patrick Ball from the Human Rights Data Analysis Group calls “empiricism washing”: take a biased procedure and feed it to an algorithm, and then you get to go and do more biased procedures, and whenever anyone accuses you of bias, you can insist that you’re just following an empirical conclusion of a neutral algorithm, because “math can’t be racist.”

HRDAG has done excellent work on this, finding a natural experiment that makes the problem of GIGOGBI crystal clear. The National Survey On Drug Use and Health produces the gold standard snapshot of drug use in America. Kristian Lum and William Isaac took Oakland’s drug arrest data from 2010 and asked Predpol, a leading predictive policing product, to predict where Oakland’s 2011 drug use would take place.

[Image ID: (a) Number of drug arrests made by Oakland police department, 2010. (1) West Oakland, (2) International Boulevard. (b) Estimated number of drug users, based on 2011 National Survey on Drug Use and Health]

Then, they compared those predictions to the outcomes of the 2011 survey, which shows where actual drug use took place. The two maps couldn’t be more different:

https://rss.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1740-9713.2016.00960.x

Predpol told cops to go and look for drug use in a predominantly Black, working class neighborhood. Meanwhile the NSDUH survey showed the actual drug use took place all over Oakland, with a higher concentration in the Berkeley-neighboring student neighborhood.

What’s even more vivid is what happens when you simulate running Predpol on the new arrest data that would be generated by cops following its recommendations. If the cops went to that Black neighborhood and found more drugs there and told Predpol about it, the recommendation gets stronger and more confident.

In other words, GIGOGBI is a system for concentrating bias. Even trace amounts of bias in the original training data get refined and magnified when they are output though a decision support system that directs humans to go an act on that output. Algorithms are to bias what centrifuges are to radioactive ore: a way to turn minute amounts of bias into pluripotent, indestructible toxic waste.

There’s a great name for an AI that’s trained on an AI’s output, courtesy of Jathan Sadowski: “Habsburg AI.”

And that brings me back to the Dictator’s Dilemma. If your citizens are self-censoring in order to avoid retaliation or algorithmic shadowbanning, then the AI you train on their posts in order to find out what they’re really thinking will steer you in the opposite direction, so you make bad policies that make people angrier and destabilize things more.

Or at least, that was Farrell(et al)’s theory. And for many years, that’s where the debate over AI and dictatorship has stalled: theory vs theory. But now, there’s some empirical data on this, thanks to the “The Digital Dictator’s Dilemma,” a new paper from UCSD PhD candidate Eddie Yang:

https://www.eddieyang.net/research/DDD.pdf

Yang figured out a way to test these dueling hypotheses. He got 10 million Chinese social media posts from the start of the pandemic, before companies like Weibo were required to censor certain pandemic-related posts as politically sensitive. Yang treats these posts as a robust snapshot of public opinion: because there was no censorship of pandemic-related chatter, Chinese users were free to post anything they wanted without having to self-censor for fear of retaliation or deletion.

Next, Yang acquired the censorship model used by a real Chinese social media company to decide which posts should be blocked. Using this, he was able to determine which of the posts in the original set would be censored today in China.

That means that Yang knows that the “real” sentiment in the Chinese social media snapshot is, and what Chinese authorities would believe it to be if Chinese users were self-censoring all the posts that would be flagged by censorware today.

From here, Yang was able to play with the knobs, and determine how “preference-falsification” (when users lie about their feelings) and self-censorship would give a dictatorship a misleading view of public sentiment. What he finds is that the more repressive a regime is — the more people are incentivized to falsify or censor their views — the worse the system gets at uncovering the true public mood.

What’s more, adding additional (bad) data to the system doesn’t fix this “missing data” problem. GIGO remains an iron law of computing in this context, too.

But it gets better (or worse, I guess): Yang models a “crisis” scenario in which users stop self-censoring and start articulating their true views (because they’ve run out of fucks to give). This is the most dangerous moment for a dictator, and depending on the dictatorship handles it, they either get another decade or rule, or they wake up with guillotines on their lawns.

But “crisis” is where AI performs the worst. Trained on the “status quo” data where users are continuously self-censoring and preference-falsifying, AI has no clue how to handle the unvarnished truth. Both its recommendations about what to censor and its summaries of public sentiment are the least accurate when crisis erupts.

But here’s an interesting wrinkle: Yang scraped a bunch of Chinese users’ posts from Twitter — which the Chinese government doesn’t get to censor (yet) or spy on (yet) — and fed them to the model. He hypothesized that when Chinese users post to American social media, they don’t self-censor or preference-falsify, so this data should help the model improve its accuracy.

He was right — the model got significantly better once it ingested data from Twitter than when it was working solely from Weibo posts. And Yang notes that dictatorships all over the world are widely understood to be scraping western/northern social media.

But even though Twitter data improved the model’s accuracy, it was still wildly inaccurate, compared to the same model trained on a full set of un-self-censored, un-falsified data. GIGO is not an option, it’s the law (of computing).

Writing about the study on Crooked Timber, Farrell notes that as the world fills up with “garbage and noise” (he invokes Philip K Dick’s delighted coinage “gubbish”), “approximately correct knowledge becomes the scarce and valuable resource.”

https://crookedtimber.org/2023/07/25/51610/

This “probably approximately correct knowledge” comes from humans, not LLMs or AI, and so “the social applications of machine learning in non-authoritarian societies are just as parasitic on these forms of human knowledge production as authoritarian governments.”

The Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers’ Workshop summer fundraiser is almost over! I am an alum, instructor and volunteer board member for this nonprofit workshop whose alums include Octavia Butler, Kim Stanley Robinson, Bruce Sterling, Nalo Hopkinson, Kameron Hurley, Nnedi Okorafor, Lucius Shepard, and Ted Chiang! Your donations will help us subsidize tuition for students, making Clarion — and sf/f — more accessible for all kinds of writers.

Libro.fm is the indie-bookstore-friendly, DRM-free audiobook alternative to Audible, the Amazon-owned monopolist that locks every book you buy to Amazon forever. When you buy a book on Libro, they share some of the purchase price with a local indie bookstore of your choosing (Libro is the best partner I have in selling my own DRM-free audiobooks!). As of today, Libro is even better, because it’s available in five new territories and currencies: Canada, the UK, the EU, Australia and New Zealand!

[Image ID: An altered image of the Nuremberg rally, with ranked lines of soldiers facing a towering figure in a many-ribboned soldier's coat. He wears a high-peaked cap with a microchip in place of insignia. His head has been replaced with the menacing red eye of HAL9000 from Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey.' The sky behind him is filled with a 'code waterfall' from 'The Matrix.']

Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

 — 

Raimond Spekking (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Acer_Extensa_5220_-_Columbia_MB_06236-1N_-_Intel_Celeron_M_530_-_SLA2G_-_in_Socket_479-5029.jpg

CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en

 — 

Russian Airborne Troops (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vladislav_Achalov_at_the_Airborne_Troops_Day_in_Moscow_%E2%80%93_August_2,_2008.jpg

“Soldiers of Russia” Cultural Center (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Col._Leonid_Khabarov_in_an_everyday_service_uniform.JPG

CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en

[sirgogington]

This might be a little unorganized and is definitely an unpopular opinion in this community, but I'm going to say it anyway. Feel free to unfollow. I wasn't going to post about it, but honestly I am so upset for George in this situation. I want to preface that I am a 28 year old female so maybe my thinking is a little different due to that.

The more I read about people's reactions to the George situation the more angry I feel. George was being accused of sexual assault, and the consensus is "he fucked up and should have asked for consent."

My bold take is that I have little sympathy for Caiti. She is a woman who regrets flirting with George, which she has the right to. But her story really made it seem like George randomly started touching her inappropriately, forced her to drink more when she was already drunk, purposely preyed on her because she was 18, and followed her out of the room to the elevator.

None of these things happened. She was drunk beforehand and her friends that she went to Dreams room with wanted to play drinking games. George didn't randomly start touching her. They were sitting together on the couch playing a game with the rest of the group and mutually decided to start cuddling. Caiti got up multiple times and would always come back and cuddle with George. Over the hour of cuddling they were flirting with each other, playfighting etc. When cuddling George started with his hands on her hips above her clothes, and then after he assumed she was comfortable with what he was doing, given the previous signals of her laughing, smiling, and coming back to cuddle with him then he placed his hands on her waist under her clothes. He said he would slowly move them up after awhile. She didn't show any signs of being uncomfortable. She could have pushed his hand away or told him she was uncomfortable with that, but she didn't. She could of left if she felt uncomfortable or sat somewhere else, but she didn't. She also didn't have to walk with George to the elevator, but she did. She didn't have to keep in contact with him afterwards but again she did. It's no wonder why George was understandably confused, and assumed everyone had had a fun night that night, and was blindsided by these accusations. George said that he made a joke about the elevator being broken, but saw when she wasn't open to getting in the elevator with her then he backed off.

Her friends also knowingly put her this situation. They left her unattended while she was drunk in the hotel room with Dream and George and whoever else was left. Going to a drinking social at 18 is a risky situation in the first place, this is why in college I avoided frat parties because I knew what could potentially happen if I went.

George literally did not do anything wrong, and people are painting him as a monster. Now that Caiti did this stream he has lost a lot of his fanbase and friends for no reason, because God forbid you support George. If you support George you must hate woman, because he's evil. Like people have said this could have all been handled privately. Just simple communication like "hey I actually regret what happened at Vidcon, and I didn't actually like that you were cuddling me looking back" or something along those lines. If George is a decent person which it seems like he is he would say okay and apologize most likely, and they could have not had this nasty drama for no reason.

I believe there is non-verbal consent, and most people in that type of situation would rely on that more than verbal consent. They test things like George was doing and slowly progress things. He could have asked if she was okay with it, but she was showing all the signs over the 3 hours that she was. He's not making you stay if you get uncomfortable. Where non-verbal consent doesn't work is if George would have groped her after a half our of flirting. That would absolutely be wrong, and need to be apologized for.

George was defensive in his video because he needed to be. After being accused of all these things you didn't do, and Caiti leaving out details you would be defensive to. She made him out to look really bad. She blew the situation way out of proportion and George has to suffer due to this. I really think that George didn't need to post the extra apology tweet, that the livestream would of been enough to show that he had no malicious intentions and was sorry that Caiti felt strongly about what had happened.

The whole support victims things in this situation makes me upset as well. There were no victims because there was no sexual assault. Yet if you don't say I 100% support the victim then suddenly your evil and hate woman. Without there being a victim it seems dumb to put that but if you don't then you're follower count also takes a hit as a content creator. George didn't fuck up, he acted in a way most men would, and probably even in a more gentleman like way to be honest.

It also upset me as someone who has experienced very real sexual assault. The guy was 25 and I was 18. I didn't want anything sexual/romantic with him because I could see the age gap, and told him that. He invited me to his apartment which I thought would be innocent because I presented my boundaries, but then he started taking off my clothes and telling me I was okay with it over and over until I believed him and let it happen, while feeling really uncomfortable. My body language did not show any interest, just confusion. I remember answering "I don't know" when he asked for consent to touch me, but he would just keep asking until I said okay. He purposely preyed on the younger women because he knew they were easier to coerce and more vulnerable. Looking back I didn't really knew where I stood on hook up culture. He convinced me he could teach me a few things that I could use with my sexual partners in the future. Luckily it never progressed to him taking my virginity. He bragged about how many girls he had slept with, and how many he had took their virginity. I would have been just a number to him. I am so much more than just a number. (he did a lot of other sexual things with me after coercing me into saying okay. Stuff I can detail if you care to know. I remember saying out loud that I was glad that I still had my virginity and I'm glad he didn't take it afterall. Not purposely leaving out, but it was way more than Caiti had experienced with George. For my situation there was a high likelihood it would happen again to another girl like me, and I remember wanting to warn them. It's different because my attacker did have malicious intents even though he disguised it as me consenting.) Being in the mindset I am now I would have never let any of it happen, but I am much more in tune with my thoughts and opinions on things. I would have noticed all the red flags and I would have never put myself in a 1 on 1 situation with an older guy like that or any guy unless I were dating them.

Outside the fandom I've noticed that a lot of people agree with me in this. It's just within the fandom that people are of this support the victim mindset, even when said victim turns out to not have been a victim of anything. I don't know if it's different with younger people that you have to ask for verbal consent for everything, but it just seems dumb. Everyone was also drunk and not thinking straight so sober minded Georgenotfound would have probably asked for consent before he moved his hands up. It's hard to know. I think other content creators probably do agree with me, but they aren't able to have their own opinions, which to me seems gross and fake. We can't genuinely know how content creators feel on certain issues because if were to tell what they truly thought and it wasn't the majority consensus then they risk their viewership which is also twisted.

[guxciestone]

‍🍭 ❛ ASTEROID TALENT (33154) ༉‧₊˚ ☆

(through the signs, houses, and aspects)

♡🌺

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- @hughjassoo

hi 🌷 i wanted to focus more on asteroids, not just for the sake of others to understand it, but also myself. i got my inspiration from this post, it really helped with me to elaborate on my description for each placement, so credits to the user who made it :)

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ㅤㅤ༉‧₊˚.

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Asteroid Talent (33154) is the asteroid of abilities, natural gifts you’ve had ever since you were born. This asteroid can show what you tend to have a knack in, and where you seem to activate it in your life. And because of this knack, talent can also indicate what you appear to attract the most in your life.

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♡ through the signs ♡

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talent in aries

Individuals with this placement tend to have athletic abilities and perfect health. Perhaps they were naturally good at sports from a young age and were gifted with a strong, muscular, lean and energetic body. Good stamina and physical strength could also be promised. These people could also have potential to acquire natural entrepreneurial and enterprising skills; talent for being a good leader or running a business. If placed smoothly in the chart, these individuals could have significantly good self-confidence and barely struggle to take initiative in their goals and projects. Very independent people who have no problem taking charge, making them great team leaders. In troublesome situations, they tend to have a lot of willpower to fight through, no matter the circumstance. Whatever their talent is, it brings them passion and excitement. There is also a possibility that these individuals might attract opportunities in which they have to instruct or lead group of people and take risky chances.

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talent in taurus

These people tend to be extremely talented in money matters. More than likely, they are someone who is money savvy and knows how to properly handle their materials. Therefore, it is more likely that these Individuals are well-off financially or are on a path to becoming stable. The types to know how to preserve food and supplies in their home to the utmost quantity and save money. Anything involving finances or business negotiations could be something they are particularly interested in or good at, not just because of their relationship with money, but also usually because of their calm and reflective personality that allows them to make decisions effectively. Another possibility is that they could be someone who is good at exerting art or comfort into their environment. These type of people could be talented at interior design, taking care of animals or plant owning because they know exactly what type of environment someone or something would feel and be best live in. And that’s why careers involving art, design or nature would be strong areas for them. They could be talented in decoration, music, or cooking food.

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talent in gemini

These individuals tend to be intelligent and well-rounded people who are often academically gifted. They might’ve done great in school and took honors, AP, or DE classes. They could be talented in writing. Love to do creative writing prompts or even desire to blog or write a book. Most likely, they are crafty people who have a natural ability of making things from scratch—the types to love making model levees in science class. They are often good communicators and teammates. Charming and friendly personalities who are always fun to be around. These individuals tend to flourish in areas of journaling, reporting, communications, and construction. These people love hands-on activities. They are persuasive people who can easily get people on their side, and they adore debating with others. Their charm is often witty and playful, and they are a good time. Tend to be social and adaptive so it’s easy to also get along with others. These people are likely to attract opportunities in which they can express themselves verbally, speak out and tell their story; or use their knack for craft to create something completely effective and useful. They can also gravitate towards different communities.

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talent in cancer

People who tend to be sensitive and in tune with their emotions. They are often talented in homely activities such as cooking, cleaning, and taking care of children. They might often attract opportunities in which they have to look after others. They know how to manage emotions and their mental health extremely well, and can often excel in careers such as nursing, therapy, and childcare. There could also be a talent for sewing or knitting; creating something useful from scratch similar to Talent in Gemini. They can do well with using their resources to create their necessities. Others tend to be comfortable with this person and open up to them subconsciously due to their salutary nature. They are often understanding and good listeners, very patient too. They may notice children gravitate towards them and love being around them, they are like angels on their earth. And not to mention, their amazing intuition and always knowing how to read the room.

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talent in leo

In conclusion, the Beyoncé’s of this asteroid. They are individuals who are confident with huge energy that can grab the attention of almost anyone when they walk in a room. No matter what they want to be, they hold natural star power, and they are destined for fame and popularity. The types to start a social media that instantly pops off because they are meant for it. The “It Girls/Boys”. These people are often talented in music, dancing, entertainment, sports, social media influencing, anything that gives these individuals a chance to perform. Their charm is impeccable, and they are often good at persuasion and alluring others to pursue their own desires. They can be good social climbers. We cannot forget how undeniably creative these people are, often cultivating outstanding ideas for their passion or goals, easily making them successful people. And they have such a dashing vibration and magnetic personality that they can be a good time to be around, similar to Talent in Gemini, but more in your face. Of course, these individuals love attention in anything they do.

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talent in virgo

Very articulate and intelligent individuals who are often credible in a lot of things. First off, they tend to be organized in how they go about their goals, routines, and pursuits. They might take good care of their home, clothes, and materials; and they could have a clean and ordered routine. These types of people could be lifestyle influencers due to their specific practices. They are the types to have a checklist of their New Years’ Resolutions or what they need to do in a day. They are disciplined and more than likely, they’ll get the work done. They might have a incredible health because they take good care of themselves in that sense—they know what foods they should and should not eat, what skincare to use, etc. Because they are so good at taking care of themselves, they are also great at taking care of others. That is why these individuals can thrive in careers involving critical thinking, organization, and hospitality (such as a nurse, dentist, or a food nutritionist) In other cases, cooking is something they are good at because they follow directions accordingly. They can be professional and highly-qualified individuals who tend to be talented in a bunch of things to their desire due to their well-roundedness, similar to Talent in Gemini. They are good at collaboration and can be a good helper as well. Definitely someone you’d want in times of need.

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talent in libra

The people with this placement tend to be tactful, charming, and attractive individuals. They are often very understanding towards others and their opinions, which makes them talented in resolving arguments and conflicts. They get along well with others and hold immaculate amounts of charisma; they know how to attract fulfilling relationships with other people. Because of that, they are also very collaborative and often thrive in business partnerships and teamwork-like activities. People like these can do well in careers such as therapy (such as a relationship therapist), mediation (such as a yoga teacher), and law. These individuals prioritize romance, love, and balance; so it is possible that they are also excellent at dating advice and helping others resolve things. Furthermore, they have an eye for beauty—they could be talented in art, makeup, design, and decoration. A career to think of is wedding planning, nursing, and since they prioritize physical appearances and the superficial, becoming a plastic surgeon and dentist is possible. They tend to attract opportunities and situations in which they have to mediate and solve problems with solutions. Not to mention, being blessed with physical attractiveness and facial symmetry is also something they could have acquired.

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talent in scorpio

These individuals tend to be alluring, powerful, private, and enchanting. They are genuine and honest people who are often good at keeping secrets. Additionally, they know how to make others trust them and dig up their most darkest and personal parts of their mind and soul. It is important to emphasize that they can have amazing intuition and they might've had a strong gut feeling ever since they were a child. Careers or hobbies such as psychology, metaphysics, the occult, therapy, tarot, and astrology are possible. Moreover, they could have a sexually attractive and seductive personality—which can make them thrive in careers involving sex work, etc. There is also a talent for being intimate with others, they know how to dive deep into one's deepest desires and impulses, which can be scary to some people. These people tend to attract situations and opportunities in which they have to analyze and plunge into someone's psyche, whether that be someone else or even themselves.

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talent in sagittarius

These individuals may have noticed that ever since they were born, they had an intelligent and questioning nature at heart. Perhaps they were the ones who genuinely liked going to school and learning different types of subjects and concepts. Their optimism and easygoing personality easily allow them to attract an abundant amount of opportunities and circumstances into their life, which makes them extremely lucky individuals. They are also philosophical who are always wiling to expand their knowledge and learn new things, whether that be around religion, theology, history, art, and more. They might be particular interested in careers involving travel, science, houses of worship (such as church), and mentoring. They are also willing to teach what they have learned, which makes them proficient in careers involving teaching. Specifically, being talented in learning new languages and studying different cultures are possible. These individuals love variety, so it isn't farfetched for these people to have a variety of skills and talents similar to Talent in Gemini. Talent in Sagittarius individuals tend to attract situations in which they are accustoming to new knowledge or diversity—they might meet people from different cultures and countries at some point in life.

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talent in capricorn

These people tend to be rather responsible, serious, and mature individuals who strive to be successful in life. They prioritize their career, status, and image; and whatever they desire to do, they'll do whatever it takes to achieve it. From a young age, these individuals could have been great bosses and leaders—independent and was always on top of their obligations. Because of this, that makes these individuals reliable and efficient people to be around. They do not mind being in charge because they find that being in charge works best for the,, which makes sense for them to partake in careers involving leadership (being a CEO or manager) or careers involving heavy workloads. These people also prioritize their materials and finances because it co-exists with their image, so careers involving money, jewelry, and stocks are possible. They are also very professional and know how to have practical manners. People with this placement are often good at social climbing and working things up the social/economical/product ladder, not just for themselves, but for other people. Therefore, careers involving social media marketing, real estate, and brand management would work well for them because they are good at analyzing trends and patterns and easily execute products or people out successfully for sales or an image. Talent in Capricorn individuals tend to attract opportunities in which they have to take control and manipulate something or someone for wealth and/or success.

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talent in aquarius

First off, these people are highly intelligent, innovative, and unique individuals who have potential to use their talent to better the world, whatever it is. Ever since they were young, they might have had a knack for something that was considered weird or different from other talents or hobbies. Over time, they've or they will learn to utilize it for the better. Because of their tendency to worry for others and their selfless and thoughtful nature, careers involving humanity, charity, and serving a purpose for the sake of others are possible. These people may have been extremely intelligent when it came to complex and highly articulated topics, which it means careers involving science, computer science, biology, technology, and mechanics are likely. Let's not forget that these people are often collaborate similar to Talent in Libra and get along well with others all due to their electrifying nature and wit. They want to serve and beer the world for others; they want to make others happy and satisfied and they'll do anything for that to be possible. Becoming a social media influencer, zoologist, donor, scientist, or doctor is likely as well. These individuals can attract opportunities and situations in which they have to connect and help others in some way.

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talent in pisces

Individuals with this placement tend to have kind, friendly, and compassionate personalities who have a keen sense of intuition. Additionally, they can be wise and hold a lot of unknown spiritual knowledge. They are usually in touch with things beyond the 3D. Due to this, they are often selfless and care a lot about others. They are very instinctive and often knows how to what feels right for themselves and others. This means careers in charity and giving, nursing, therapy, and children are possible. A specific career that is going through is massage therapy. In other cases, unconventional— often shunned on careers such as witchery, astrology, and tarot can be likely as well. This is an underrated opinion, but the beauty these people hold are out-of-this-world (literally) The definition of majesty and dreaminess. There could also be a talent for seeing things differently than other people; and not to mention, these people can be very creative, artistic, and beautiful. Therefore, careers involving modeling, photography, music, fashion, makeup, and painting are what they could prefer doing.

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♡ through the houses ♡

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talent in the 1st

Their talent may be what they are known for, or it’s something that people find visible about them on the first impression. They could have picked up their talent during early childhood and are naturally proficient at it. Whatever it may be, their talent can easily make them popular and noticeable by others. These individuals shouldn’t be afraid to show what they are capable of and what skills they have. Their talent might have something to do with their appearance, health, vitality, personal image, or body. In other cases, they could notice a huge jump in their confidence when using their skill; it can give them a sense of self and help them get into touch with who they truly are.

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talent in the 2nd

Whatever their talent may be, it could give them a sense of self-worth and morals. It could also tie to their values and what they prioritize in their life. Specific additional skills that come in mind are business, modeling, managing, food, makeup, animals/nature, and the arts and decoration. They should expect money and financial abundance and stability to come through when using this particular talent. The talent could also be associated with one’s body or body movements and flow as well, such as dancing (like ballet) This knack can give this individual a sense of comfort and safety too, and it can easily ground them similar to Talent in the 1st.

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talent in the 3rd

This talent may a talent that requires a lot of skill and learning; it could be a talent is considered difficult to become proficient in (talents that come in mind are the playing instruments, language learning, and engineering) This individual could’ve picked up this ability in their school years and adolescence. Their knack could also give them something to talk about with their peers, and easily allow them to make new friends. It’s not a surprise that these individuals can be versatile and talented in many things similar to Talent in the 6th. They are critical people, and they are often very intelligent. Other subjects that come in mind are science, writing, researching, and math.

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talent in the 4th

Individuals with this placement could have a talent or skill that makes them feel “at home” or safe within themselves. Which gives the notion that the talent could have derived from their childhood or it is a childhood hobby, similar to Talent in the 1st. This particular talent awakens their true inner child. They could have also inherited their ability from the mother or family members, it might’ve been passed down generations. The talent may be common in the family or it is something of family value and pride. In a specific case, there could a family business that might get passed down to this person; or this individual has a family speciality or order to fulfill due to their talent. Whatever their talent may be, these people might need to use it in circumstances in which they need to protect or secure the people around them and their environment. Additionally, these individuals may have a talent for running a family/home and taking care of children.

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talent in the 5th

Their talent may be something they genuinely enjoy doing; it could even be their hobby. These individuals find entertainment, fun, and pleasure through their talent. Furthermore, these people might adore children or they tend to get along well with them often. Working at daycares, children’s help centers, and even school might be delightful for them. In other cases, Their future child(ren) may have a special talent that needs to be shown to the world. These individuals are magnetic, confident, and often a good time; they might have a significant allure that pulls others to them and that allow them to manipulate. They could have a skill of being good at flirtation and sexual matters. The need to perform is very strong with this placement too.

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talent in the 6th

These individuals are responsible, thoughtful, and organized people. Perhaps they take care of their health very well; they always seem to know what foods to eat, vitamins to take, how much physical activity they should do, or when to clean their homes. They often have immense amounts knowledge in regards to health and nutrition, which sets them out for careers involving food and wellbeing (such as nutritionist, nurse, or house cleaners) Although they take good care of themselves, they take good care of others as well. These individuals may do well taking care of small animals and pets, which can make careers involving similar fit well for them—careers such as veterinarian, biologist, animal shelter workers, and much more. Not to mention, these people are very useful and often have multiple talents and abilities. Whatever their talent may be, it gives them a sense of discipline, usefulness and order.

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talent in the 7th

Due to their meditative and cooperative nature, these individuals may often find that they resort to talents or activities that involve interpersonal relationships with others. Whatever their talent may be, it gives them a sense of balance and fulfillment from others. Talents regarding social floating, networking, and charming others are possible. Because of their huge impulse for balance, they might partake in careers involving similar, such as law or the judicial system. Their talent may be something that other profit or benefit from.

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talent in the 8th

Their talent allows them to be in touch with themselves and their soul; their talent allows them to express their authentic self. These individuals aren’t afraid to dive into the taboo and scary areas of life. They may notice that they have a strong intuition or gut feeling, as though they have the impulse of knowing what’s right or wrong for them. These people may have a talent in disregarded subjects such as the occult and metaphysics. In a specific case, due to their intuition and their ability to see things what they are actually are, they might be intrigued by ghost hunting or communicating with the dead. Not to mention, they are often very good at connecting with others at a deep and unfathomable level. Their allure and sexual attractiveness is key. In other cases, these individuals may be good in anything involving sexual activity. They could have been outcasted or ridiculed for their talent as well. Inheriting their talent from a loved one is also possible.

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talent in the 9th

This individual’s talent may open up their minds, expand their horizons and allow them to learn. These people might’ve done incredibly well in college or other forms of higher education, and it might be something they particularly enjoy. Not to mention, they are highly philosophical who want to learn more about this talent or skill, and there’s a time in which they are “done” learning. Hobbies involving learning languages, studying religion, spirituality, and theology are possible. They may have picked up this talent in their college or young adult years.

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talent in the 10th

This individual’s talent may allow them to make a name or reputation for themselves; In other cases, a good following on social media platforms. If not, these people may just like to display their talent to the media or public in some way. That is why careers such as social media influencer would be a good for them. Also, due to their huge awareness of how to make things and people climb the social/demand ladder, careers such as advertising and social media managing is also possible. Whatever their talent may be, it gives them a sense of structure, discipline, maturity, and even fame and popularity in extreme cases.

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talent in the 11th

They may use their talent for the betterment of the world and society, and it also gives them a sense of purpose and usefulness to humanity. Additionally, their talent may allow these individuals to connect with their others, which makes it possible for these people to make friends through their talent or attract friends who have this similar talent. Other careers or talents could be social media influencers, socialites, charity officers, and social work. In other cases, this person may have found their talent through friends or social connections.

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talent in the 12th

Their talent may be a skill they may not know they have or they may hide it from other people. In other cases, these individuals may have been ridiculed or teased for having their talent. Which could indicate that these people can have an often ostracized hobby such as tarot, spirituality, astrology, flexibility, or impersonation. These individuals may use their talent as a source of spiritual expression; it may them get in touch with their deeper selves, similar to Talent in the 8th.

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♡ through the aspects ♡

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sun-talent

Their talent could be the source of their identity, pride, and ego. In a developed sense, these individuals use their talent(s) to attract attention and fame from others; it is important for them to use their abilities to find themselves and blossom their personality to its best. In other cases, their talent can be beneficial for their career and monetary gain. In an undeveloped sense, they could surround their entire character around their talent, which can be harmful as it can cause them to struggle with finding their place outside of it. It is also the case that these people can be susceptible to turning arrogant due to their talent as well. Either way it goes, these individuals may be very good at their talent, it is all about controlling their ego and making sure they have a structured, confident, and balanced character around it. On a positive note, these people are often very good at attracting attention from others; their presence is undeniable and this is the “star power” aspect for sure.

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moon-talent

Their talent is what they use to emotionally express themselves. Talents involving venting, releasing, and expressing their feelings are often beneficial for these people; such as music, poetry, and writing. These individuals may be extremely well at implementing emotion into their talent. They need to use this particular ability to allow themselves to get through hard times and emotionally rejuvenate and relieve themselves. In undeveloped cases, these individuals could become extremely emotionally dependent on this talent, and it’s important that they don’t try to distract themselves from their turmoil through it. Additionally, these individuals are very sensitive and know how to get in touch with their environment. They are extremely intuitive.

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mercury-talent

Their talent could be a way of mentally expressing themselves and communicating with others; it may even be their natural way of thought. These individuals often know how to speak through their abilities, and it makes them better at talking with other people. It may even be a subject they love talking about when making friends or connections. In a dynamic case, some might struggle with communicating through their talent or they don’t know how to convey through it correctly. Perhaps they brush people off the wrong way and get scrutinized/ostracized by others due to this struggle. They are often versatile people too, and can adapt to multiple circumstances and newfound abilities; and not to mention, extremely intelligent.

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venus-talent

Their talent is related to beauty, the arts, money, and their interpersonal relationships. They may attract partners who have a similar talent, or they attract suitors through their talent. Expressing their talent may be a way of how they feel attractive, or they find their talent to be a beautiful thing to invest in. Furthermore, these individuals have the ability to lure others in through what they are good at. They could often be talented in venusian-related areas such as money, modeling, decoration, art, and much more. In other cases, these people might struggle to find their talent to be a beautiful thing; perhaps they feel their talent makes them “weird” or less attractive to other people, which is not true. Or the other way around, they struggle to utilize their talent for the sake of beauty and pleasure, which can make the talent less enjoyable in some cases.

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mars-talent

Their talent may be a source of passion and drive; perhaps they are often encouraged to improve their skill in what they do. In other cases, their talent may be just a source of motivation for them to do things. These people are naturally hardworking and strong-willed people, and whatever is thrown their away, they fight through it. In a dynamic sense, these individuals may struggle with having the ambition to get better at their talent, or they may not be the best at going after their goals in general. Dancers, performers and athletes may have this aspect.

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jupiter-talent

A talent brings these individuals good luck, new perspectives, new opportunities, expansion, and a positive outlook on life. They may be extremely skilled at this talent, and they could even become famous or well-known from it as well. These people are often intelligent and insightful with full of open-mindedness, which can indicate good karma. Not to mention, they are very influential people and their abilities or talents inspire and influence others. In a dynamic case, these individuals may develop a huge ego or believe they can take on everything at once due to their expertise in a specific talent. They may even become lazy and not build off of their ability or bring their talent to good and helpful use. It is important they don’t loose sight of what is important. They need to make to use their talent to teach and bring abundance to their and others lives, and not take it for granted. Additionally, their talent may give them hope, faith, and happiness in some way.

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saturn-talent

The talent may be more of a study to these individuals; there is a structured way of how they approach this talent as well. It wouldn’t be surprised if these individuals took this ability very seriously, either because of they feel the need to be perfect at it, or they want to monetize and make a career from it. These people may be great at managing, whether that be from money, resources, information, and much more. They are very responsible, and this is a great aspect for being good at setting and disciplining oneself to goals and aspirations. In other cases, these individuals may need to be careful of developing vast perfectionism dealing with their talent. Due to the fact that some of these people may want to make their talent a career, they will need to make sure they do not develop vast perfectionism.

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uranus-talent

These individuals may have a sporadic and individualistic way of expressing their talent; in other cases, perhaps their talent is what makes them unique and stand out from others. They may even have a weird talent! They can be interested in technology, computer science, automobiles, astrology, or many more subjects. They may use their talent to connect with others, make a difference, or make friends. In a harsher case, these individuals may be dubious and unpredictable with their talent, which can make them hasty people who can make easily make mistakes if not careful. They have to make sure not to let their pride get in the way as well as their excessive need to ride their own wave.

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neptune-talent

The talent may create an illusion about the native; or there is a illusion surrounding their abilities. Either way, there is confusion surrounding their talents. It is possible that they may be confused about what makes them special, in a sense what they are particularly good at. They may be the types to experiment with skills to see what works for them or where they have the most potential. In other cases, these individuals’ talent may create a certain image of the native. Perhaps people may glamorize them, or they may glamorize themselves to a huge extent for their talent. Additionally, these people are often good at sensing the unseen or unknown; they are extremely intuitive. They may be talented in art, film, acting, singing, writing (such as poetry) and much more. In minor cases, they may great at doing magic. Not to mention, these people are magical and have a fairytale-like quality to themselves. Whatever they do, it takes them out of this world. In dynamic cases, these individuals may use this talent to escape from reality.

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pluto-talent

The talent gives this individual a sense of power; their talent may allow them to transform, rebirth, and learn about themselves on a deep, soul level. These people may lean back onto their talent during hard times or times where they feel lost in life—which can be useful to help them get back to calm waters. In a dynamic case, these individuals may need to be careful of depending on their talent for dominance, control, or toxicity (such as using the talent for evil things) In hard times, they may depend on this talent vastly to the point where it could even become an addiction or an escape from their life circumstances) These people are talented in leadership positions and handling difficult situations.

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ascendant-talent

The talent may affect how the native is seen by others. In positive cases, the individual may even be popular or well-received for their talent. They may even gain fame. Perhaps their talent may be fashion, makeup, beauty, athletics, anything that involves the physical and how they appear to others. These people value making sure people know what they are capable of, and usually they aren’t afraid of showing what they are good at, which also makes high confidence a trait for them. In harsher cases, these individuals may struggle demonstrating their talent or ability to other people, which can make them feel as though they aren’t expressing themselves to the highest degree (similar to sun square ascendant) or they struggle to fully bring out their abilities due to confidence issues, a blockage in their inner child, or etc.

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midheaven-talent

The talent may affect how the native is viewed by others, particularly in their career image. They may make money or acquire fame and popularity from their talent. In positive cases, these individual can be viewed as prodigies at their workplace; people may depend on them to get the work done or they look to them as an expert, which can also indicate being well-respected. In harsher cases, these individuals may want to monetize and make an image off of their talent, but they may struggle to do so for any reason. These people can be business owners, masterminds, and managers.

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[queerly-autistic]

Right, I think it's time for some positivity, and also a reality check (and I mean that in the most loving way possible) regarding the campaign to save OFMD. I've seen a lot of people saying 'it's been nearly a month, we should have been picked up by now', and whilst, yes, some cancelled shows have received very quick movement to other streamers, it's absolutely not the story for all of them. We've seen numerous shows follow different journeys from cancellation to pick-up, and there's no way of knowing what journey we might be going on.

Are we in the fast lane where we get picked up the next month (lookin' at you, Lucifer and The Expanse)? The middling lane where it takes months for a pick-up deal to be hashed out (lookin' at you, One Day At A Time, The Tourist, and Warrior)? The slow lane where we keep pushing for years and then eventually crowdfund a film (lookin' at you Veronica Mars)?

I think we have to consider the fact that OFMD being cancelled was a last minute thing that blindsided the cast and crew (and shocked people across the industry). So we're going into it in a different position to other shows that had maybe had a hint/suggestion that cancellation was coming before it happened. This is because if there are rumours of cancellation circling, it gives a chance for feelers to be put out to other networks/by other networks before the actual cancellation is confirmed. That didn't happen here. Which is important.

It's not just wham bam thank you ma'am and now you've been picked up by Netflix (or insert streamer of your choice). It's a negotiation. It's a process. It takes time. There is a very good reason that people heavily suspect that Brooklyn 99 had already been picked up before the cancellation was officially announced, and that the cancelled-to-new-home-in-24-hours thing was pretty much just a marketing stunt. No way was that all negotiated to the point of announcement within a day,

There are many reasons why any potential pick-up elsewhere might take a bit more time. For example, if David is (hopefully) juggling interest from multiple different networks, then that has to be hashed out and negotiated to make sure the best deal is reached for everyone. Also, OFMD is potentially a more complicated show to negotiate than we imagine: at a very basic level, it has a large ensemble (a large international ensemble), which would need to be discussed and negotiated, and it's filmed in New Zealand, which would need to be discussed and negotiated. That doesn't work against it in terms of 'it's more complicated, so it won't be picked up' but it could very well mean that the time needed to negotiate a pick-up is longer.

Remember: One Day At A Time had a much smaller cast (which wasn't an international cast) and it basically had one single studio set (being a sitcom), and that took three months to be saved.

I chatted with my friend, also a fan, who has worked in television production previously and is currently working as a screenwriter, and she confirmed just how much time, discussion and negotiation this stuff takes. She basically said: yep, this all takes time and this is very normal. And this is coming from someone who is very firmly in the 'I am refusing to get my hopes up because I can't bear to get hurt again' camp of trying to save the show.

On that note, I think it's important to address David's silence, because I've seen a few people panicking about that. There's a very good chance that if he is in negotiations right now (and I do not know if he is, he might not be!) then there would be a lot he wouldn't be able to talk about. And he knows that we dissect every single syllable of his posts, so posting anything would be risky. Negotiations are tricky things that involve juggling multiple balls (and torches and knives and chainsaws), and a lot of push-and-pull, back-and-forth, variables-upon-variables, and so going silent on social media would be absolutely what I would expect from him if that was happening.

It's eerie for us because we had a burst of activity from David, a lot of noise and a lot of confidence, and then...nothing. That's jarring, and anxiety-inducing. But I want us to think of it this way: David did a big post about being back in New York, about things looking up, and then he went uncharacteristically silent, which is what would happen if things were going on that he couldn't talk about. I have no idea what, if anything, might be going on, but it's important not to see this as a bad thing.

As someone on Twitter, who also works in the industry (they work as an actor) said the other day: in this business, no news is good news.

(also important to note: if he suddenly reappears on social media, that also doesn't mean that any negotiations have fallen through, and we should all panic; anything could be happening, and I know we're little anxiety gremlins - me included, bigly - but until we are definitively told that this is over and there's no hope, then it's not over and there is hope)

There's no way of knowing what is going on, or how long whatever is (or isn't) going on might take. This might be a sprint, but it could just as easily be a marathon. The show not being picked up immediately does not mean there is no hope, as we have seen with numerous other shows. Look at fandoms like Shadow and Bone, who are still fighting tooth and nail for their show because they refuse to give up on it. They haven't given up, and neither should we.

We need to decide if we love OFMD enough to fight for it long-term, to settle in for a long battle, and keep pushing for as long as it takes. And I think, as difficult as it might be, we all know that this show, and its cast and crew, is worth it.