#the potential for something good is there I think even if they just want to further cash into DE's success

[indehed]

But let’s not forget the difference between queer baiting and, I guess let’s call it fan service. Look at what Xena did in the 90s… they had to hint, they had to imply, because they were getting around the likes of censorship or attitudes of parts of the audience. Creators may actually be on board sometimes but be stifled by executives… actors may be on board but be stifled by creators… they do the hinting or comments because they don’t have another way to show support for you and/or they know a lot of people want the ship and they think they’re doing you a solid by giving you something. Attitudes change slowly (at least TV execs think they do) so there was a time that we had to take what we could get. Times have changed, we get more explicit (in terms of more than just het relationships existing) media but execs, at least at certain companies, are still wary. So even today there is still a case for subtext but a lot of audiences demand explicit text - and we should, while respecting any honest creative vision.

But as the post says, and like I’ve said for years, the term is supposed to mean it as a deliberate strategy to advertise and get eyeballs and ratings even though they KNOW it’ll never be a thing. And many times I see people cry queer bait when it’s just fan service with good intentions and not some wider strategy to promise that they are ‘going there’ in an advertising technique.

I am, however, on the fence about whether it counts as queerbaiting when joking about the ship, either the characters in the thing itself or outside of it in interviews etc so long as it’s obvious that they are joking around.

Mcdanno is a prime example of that, with the creator and CBS marketing team joking or leaning into the ship, making online comments and using the hashtag, and then a character in the show using the ship name and making that element canon. But the main creator (Lenkov, euch) treated the whole thing as a joke or no homo and never had ANY intention of allowing it to be canon as he had his own endgame. On the other end of the spectrum, the actors involved talked honestly about their chemistry or how important their characters were to each other and we know they’d have been fine taking it further if for no other reason than the potential drama and acting challenge and that’s what they like to do. And then when one of those actors spoke out against Lenkov’s preferred het ship, he punished him by giving his character the exact line in the script that he said would be stupid and that he disagreed with.

I think my point is, let’s not sweep everything by a cast and crew into one basket - while a creator or marketing team queerbaits, others involved might be doing things honestly, innocently, or subversively as best they can to let certain fans know they agree with them but can only do so much.

seriously i wish people understood that queerbaiting has almost nothing to do with the actual content of a story. two men can gaze soulfully into each other’s eyes for 45 minutes straight and then at the end be like “oh yes my good pal friend no homo” and its still not anything more than homoerotic and kind of stupid writing.

queerbaiting is a marketing technique to get gay people to buy a ticket. it’s hemming and hawing whenever someone asks about subtext, giving long answers that don’t mean anything to sort of imply “maybe you just need to wait and find out. ;)” it’s interviews where the actors talk about how much they love that particular relationship, and they think they will ~surprise~ you with how it turns out. it’s every single trailer showing these two people almost kissing, even as the creators talk about how offended they are that anyone would think it’s gay.  it’s disney’s 65th First Gay Character that they sort of imply might actually be a main character this time but is yet another nameless asshole. it’s evil, because it’s completely deliberately misrepresenting the actual media just to make a buck.

[haniette]

right at the fingertips. // ln4

pairing | lando norris x fem!reader

genre | angst, friends to ???, childhood best friends au, unrequited love, hurt-comfort

word count | 2.1k

warnings | no use of y/n, panic attack, emotional distress, themes of regret and longing, jealousy, use of alcohol, slow burn heartbreak, cursing, crying.

inspired by: sombr — back to friends

summary: once, they were childhood best friends. but one missed chance has changed everything. at sixteen, she stayed silent, and he chose someone else. love slipped through her fingers—before she even realized it was there.

a/n: i am in my angst mood rn im sorry 😭😭 this is definitely NOT inspired by a real situation taken right from my life haha- :’) just thought it might be nice to somehow write about it as it had a potential lololo but still hope you’ll enjoy !!

Oh, how you wished you could turn back time and not come here tonight.

The house was alive. Music pulsed through the air, the bass thudding in time along with your heartbeat. Laughter and conversations overlapped, a chaotic mix of voices shouting over the noise. The smell of alcohol, sweat, and too-sweet perfume clung to the air, making everything feel thick and heavy.

Inside, people were packed together—red solo cups in their hands, pressed into corners and against the couches, bodies swaying in the rhythm of the music. The lights were dimmed, just bright enough to catch the occasional flash of a smile, the flicker of someone’s gaze across the room.

Somewhere in the kitchen, a game of beer pong was met with loud cheers. Someone else cranked the volume on the speaker, sending vibrations through the floorboards. And the others had a good time, partying on that Saturday night. The world around you was drenched in chaos, color, and movement.

But none of it mattered, because all of your focus was locked on him.

Lando was leaning against the wall, one hand holding his half-empty drink. But that view—breath-taking view—wasn’t what had your chest tightening, your stomach twisting into painful knots.

It was his phone.

The glow of the screen illuminated his face, reflecting in his slightly parted lips as he grinned down at whatever message he had just received. His thumb moved across the screen quickly, typing something before stopping, waiting. And then, the softest chuckle left him as his phone buzzed with a reply.

You didn’t need to see the name to know who it was. Olivia. His new girlfriend.

Something in you snapped. You tore your gaze away, the weight of it unbearable. It was like being punched in the ribs, the breath stolen from your lungs in one swift motion. You shouldn’t feel like this. You shouldn’t care. You shouldn’t want to walk over, snatch the phone out of his hands, demand why he was giving her the attention that used to belong to you.

But you did care. And you hated yourself for it.

Your chest felt tight, heat creeping up your neck as emotions you had spent months suppressing began to crawl back up. You couldn’t sit here and watch this. You couldn’t let yourself spiral in the middle of this suffocating, crowded room with the music reverbing through your body.

So you left. You didn’t think much about it—you just moved. You weaved through the group of bodies, ignoring the calls of your name, the outstretched hands trying to pull you back into conversation.

The second you stepped outside, the air felt different. It was sharp and cool, a stark contrast to the suffocating warmth inside. It bit at your skin, but you welcomed it—anything to ground you.

You walked around the house, your hands gripping the sleeves of your sweater, your heartbeat still uneven. You needed to escape, to be alone, to let the tension drain from your body before it consumed you.

A small ledge near the fence caught your eye. It wasn’t much—just a flat piece of concrete, probably some part of the foundation—but it was away from everyone. That was all that mattered. You sank onto it, pulling your knees up to your chest and tilting your head toward the sky.

The stars were scattered across the darkness, tiny pinpricks of light, so far away they barely seemed real. It was quiet here, save for the faint hum of cars in the distance and the muffled thumping of the music inside.

It should have been peaceful. But it wasn’t. Because no matter how hard you tried, you couldn’t push away the image of Lando’s smile. Not the one he used to give you. Not the one that made your chest warm and your stomach flutter.

No, the one he gave his phone. The one meant for her.

A lump formed in your throat. You clenched your jaw, forcing yourself to take slow, even breaths, but it didn’t stop the sting behind your eyes.

God, you were so fucking stupid.

How had you not realized it sooner? How had you been so blind when he was standing right in front of you, waiting—hoping—for you to see it?

A few months ago, he had literally told you.

“You know.. I think I might like you more than I expected.”

And you—stupid, teenager you—had just rolled your eyes, nudged his shoulder, and said something like, “Shut up, Lando. It’s not funny.”

You had waved it off like it was nothing just because it was Lando—always joking, always teasing. It had never even crossed your mind that he would have meant it.

But he had.

Yet, you hadn’t let yourself realize it, because you had never even considered the possibility that he could love you in the way you were now aching for him to.

And then, a few years later came the infamous Instagram post.

You were scrolling absentmindedly when the picture popped up on your feed. Just a casual picture of him and Olivia in his new car. Her legs draped over his lap, his hand resting on her knee like it had always belonged there. The caption was simple— an orange heart.

At first, you felt… weird. Off-balance, like the ground had slightly tilted underneath you. But then, a second later, as if someone had taken a knife and driven it straight through your ribs, you felt an unbearable pain. Your breath caught in your lungs, your stomach twisting in anxiety.

You reread the caption once. Twice. 

No.

No, he would have told you. Right..?

He would have told you. It wasn’t like Lando to not tell you about his secrets. You were sure he had told you about everything, yet it turned out not to be true.

You remembered how your hands had started trembling, how you had immediately called your best friend, breath shallow, chest tight, panic clawing at your throat.

“Hey, what’s up?” Her voice came through the speaker. You opened your mouth, but no words came out. You were shaking, and your chest felt tight. It felt like something was crushing your ribs.

“Hey—are you okay?”

“I didn’t know.. he never told me— … why didn’t he tell me?” You were choking on the air, first hot teardrops rolling down your cheeks.

“Oh, sweetheart...”

It wasn’t enough. The space felt too tight, your lungs too small. You collapsed onto your bed, clutching your chest as the world tilted. Your breath came in shallow gasps, and the room spun around you like a sickening carousel.

The screen of your phone still glowed in your hand, but you couldn’t focus on it anymore. The next picture of the post was the image of Lando and Olivia, their faces warm with affection, that kept spinning in your mind. You felt like a weight was pressing down on you, drowning you in a flood of emotions you couldn’t process.

Why didn’t he tell you?

You felt your heart pounding in your throat.

Why didn’t you see this coming?

Then the tears began to spill uncontrollably, hot and heavy. It wasn’t just the pain of losing him. It was the feeling of failure, of being too late, of missing every signal he’d sent and completely ignoring them.

The world felt so small now. So empty.

Your breath caught as you tried to force the panic back, but it wasn’t working. Your chest heaved. That’s when your phone buzzed again. You almost didn’t see it—didn’t want to see it. But when you finally gathered the courage to glance at the screen, you saw her name flash.

Olivia. And that was your breaking point.

You slammed your phone down and grabbed the blankets, pulling them tight over your head, suffocating yourself in the darkness. But then, through the haze of your panicked thoughts, your best friend’s voice cut through like a lifeline.

“Hey, calm down. Just breathe with me, okay? Focus on breathing, you’re okay. You’re going to be okay.”

You clung to her words like a drowning person reaching for a rope, and slowly, the trembling stopped. Slowly, your heartbeat returned to a more normal pace, but the pain—the ache—didn’t go away.

And the thought of Lando with someone else…

You squeezed your eyes shut and tried not to let the tears fall again. But even after the panic faded, the silence in your room felt deafening. You couldn’t stop thinking about him. 

You couldn’t stop thinking about the way he hadn’t chosen you. You hadn’t let yourself believe it.

And now? Now, you have lost your chance.

Your eyes burned. You blinked up at the sky, desperate to keep the tears at bay, but the ache in your chest was suffocating. You had let him slip away, straight into the arms of someone else. And now, all you could do was sit here, under the same stars that had once witnessed your late-night conversations, your laughter, your unspoken moments—and mourn.

“Thought I’d find you here.”

Your breath caught as you stiffened at the sound of an oddly familiar voice, your pulse hammering in your ears.

Lando stood a few feet away, hands shoved in the pockets of his hoodie, curls slightly tousled like he had been running his fingers through them. His expression was unreadable—soft, curious, maybe a little concerned.

“You left.” He said simply, taking a step closer to where you sat, observing your face.

You swallowed, forcing your voice to stay steady. “Just needed some air. Got a bit overstimulated.” He hummed in response, nodding slightly. 

Lando took another step forward, then crouched in front of you, resting his forearms on his knees. His eyes flickered across your face, studying you. “You okay?”

No.

“Just tired, I guess.” You murmured, turning your head away to break the eye contact between you two.

He exhaled, shifting his weight. His gaze was soft while searching yours. “Hey, talk to me. What happened? You’ve been very distant lately.”

Your stomach clenched at his mention of the last few weeks. You hesitated, then chose your words carefully. “You have a girlfriend now, Lando. I didn’t want to interfere or anything.”

Lando scoffed, shaking his head slightly. “That’s nonsense.”

“Is it?” You questioned, finally looking at him again and meeting his hurt but also frustrated gaze. 

Lando’s jaw tightened, but then he sighed. “You’re my best friend. You’ve been in my life for ten years now, and I’ve only known Olivia for eight months. There’s a difference in who I prioritize.”

The words struck something deep inside you, something raw and aching. And suddenly, you hated how much you wanted to believe him and his words.

But it didn’t matter. She was the one he eventually chose, and not you.

Your breath hitched as his words settled over you like a weight, heavy and suffocating.

“Does she know that?” You asked softly while playing with the sleeve of your sweater.

He hesitated for a while before answering, and for the first time that night, you saw something flicker in his eyes—uncertainty. But then, he shook his head slightly, brushing the thought away. “It’s not like that.”

Your chest ached. Because it was. And you had no right to say it, no right to fight it, no right to want him to see what was so obvious to you now. But it was too late.

The weight of it all—the regret, the longing, the unbearable ache—crashed over you in waves, and before you could stop it, the first tear slipped down your cheek.

Lando’s eyes widened slightly, and then, without hesitation, he reached forward, wrapping his arms around you and pulling you into him.

“You’re crying.” He murmured, amusement lacing his voice, like he was trying to lighten the moment.

But if only he knew. If only he understood that you weren’t crying because of the exhaustion, the school stress, or anything else. You were crying because of him. Because he had once been right there, waiting for you to notice him. And now, he was right here, too—arms wrapped around you, heartbeat steady beneath your cheek—but still just out of your reach.

“Lando, come take a shot with us!”

The distant call snapped the moment in half. Lando turned his head toward the noise, and for a second, you thought he would go. Thought he would untangle himself from you, get up, and leave you alone with the mess of feelings suffocating your chest.

But he didn’t.

Instead, he exhaled, tightening his grip around you slightly. “Not now,” He called back. “I need to stay here for a bit. Drink without me.”

That dickhead. How could he play with your heart and mind like that?

Closing your eyes, you pressed your face into the fabric of his hoodie, breathing in the familiar scent of him that you missed so much.

So close — right at the fingertips. But still, somehow, not yours.

© haniette | 2025, all rights reserved.

reuploads and likes are highly appreciated ♡

[hotchnerwrites]

I loved your fic Warmth!! You write caretaker Hotch so well, I would love to read more cute or caring moments where Hotch is looking out for a shy reader!!! Little things like giving his jacket, watching closely on cases, the sweet stuff!! you killed it

Soft Spot

Pairing: Aaron Hotchner x BAU!reader

Word Count: 1k

Warnings: SFW, fluff, no use of (y/n), no continuous plot it's fragmented stories tbh

A/N: Thank you so much!!! So very glad you enjoyed Warmth <3 I spent all day indulgently dreaming of the things he'd do OMGGG anyways this is the product. It was supposed to be a 5+1 but i think a headcanon-inspired style suited this story better where you kinda see fragments of their daily interactions. I hope you like it and it's what you imagined!!! Enjoy reading, mwah mwah mwah <3

My requests are open! Send me stuff :)

You didn’t want to be a burden. You liked putting people first. It felt good to be in a caretaker role yourself. You liked bringing Reid his coffee loaded with ten packets of sugar. You liked bringing Garcia collectables for her desk. You liked giving Rossi your chair if the room was one too short. It didn’t matter that it sometimes came at the cost of your discomfort. You’d never liked being the centre of attention anyway.

But perhaps that begged the age-old question— who cared for the caretaker?

●・○・●・○・●・

The first time it happened was on the jet. 

It was a late-night flight, nothing new. But the AC in the cabin must have malfunctioned that day. It was brutally chilly, and since you were returning from a case in Florida, you had nothing but summer clothes. Your tea wasn’t doing much, so you occasionally walked the length of the cabin, trying to be quiet so the others could sleep. It hadn’t even crossed your mind to ask for something as simple as a jacket.

But Hotch saw. 

He didn’t look up from his paperwork— he just held it out as you passed his seat again. His arm barred you from dodging past, so you reluctantly draped it over your shoulders. Just five minutes, then you’d return it.

Maybe he heard your thoughts because right then, he said, “Keep it on.” It wasn’t a polite request; he had already decided for you.

But it’s Hotch so you listen.

No one questioned where you got the jacket from when the jet landed. But you catch JJ’s faint smile from the corner of your eye when she sees the jacket hanging from your desk chair the next day.

Hotch never asked for it back.

●・○・●・○・●・

You’re a great agent in terms of fieldwork. The whole team trusted you. Of course, you wouldn’t be there if they didn’t, but it felt nice to realise that nevertheless. 

But blind trust didn’t mean Hotch wouldn’t watch you like a hawk.

It was probably just a coincidence. You always ended up paired with him when heading into dangerous situations. He never hovered or anything, he always let you do your thing. But it was the way he positioned himself slightly ahead of you when clearing rooms, a silent wall between you and any potential threats,

And then there were the crime scene situations. You could hold it together; your poker face an acquired skill. But some cases hit home. You never let it show too much, but Hotch noticed when your fingers curled into tight fists, shoulders going rigid.

He never called you out on it, or put you on the spot.

Instead, his voice came through the comms before you and Morgan breached a suspect’s house. “Be careful.”

He said it to both of you, but somehow, you knew it was meant for you.

And later, when the case was over, and you were sitting on the back of an ambulance with a shallow cut on your arm from a scuffle, he was there.

"Does it hurt?" he asked, voice low.

You shook your head. “No. It’s fine.”

He didn’t argue, but he sat next to you long after the paramedic finished patching you up.

●・○・●・○・●・

You didn’t even realise when it started.

One morning, you had walked into the bullpen, and there had been a steaming hot cup of coffee on your desk. Just the way you took it. You blinked at it, confused, but you assumed Garcia was behind it.

But it happened again the next day. Then the day after. And again the following day.

It was never a big thing or a grand gesture. Just a simple takeaway cup with your order etched into the side. When you finally thanked Garcia, she looked utterly bemused.

“Oh, sugar. That’s not me,” she’d said, a grin stretching across her face.

No way.

So the next time it happened, you glanced towards Hotch’s office. Sure enough, he was already looking at you. But he never said a word. He didn’t even smile. He just looked down at his files and kept writing.

You sipped the coffee at your desk slowly, savouring every sip, willing it to last longer. The warmth spreading across your chest had nothing to do with the drink.

●・○・●・○・●・

The rain had been terrible all week. Sick of fighting your way through public transport where everything was slippery and wet, you had treated yourself to an Uber. You didn’t have an umbrella while you waited, so you stood under the awning in front of the building. You’d make a run for it when the car showed up.

As you scanned the road in front of you for your designated car, a black umbrella swung open over your head.

You turned, startled, only to find Hotch standing behind you, holding it up without a word. His coat was getting wetter, but he didn’t look like he cared.

“You’ll get soaked,” you said, noting how he had angled it more over you than himself.

“I’ll be all right,” he replied simply.

And that was that.

He waited till your car came, and then he helped you get in, ensuring not a drop touched your head as you bundled yourself into the backseat. 

It wasn’t until you were almost at your front door that you realised— he’d never had an umbrella with him when he came to work this morning.

Hotch had taken the time to find one— just for you.

●・○・●・○・●・

The Denver case was a disaster. 

Too many close calls. Too many what-ifs.

Sleep was difficult that night. You stared at the ceiling of your hotel room, letting yourself dissociate. But a buzz from your phone snapped you out of your reverie. When you checked your screen, there was just one text message.

You did well today. - A.H.

You stared at those four words for too long. No over-the-top reassurances, no unnecessary fluff. Just an acknowledgement.

You never responded, but the next morning on the jet, he caught your eye and nodded, ever so slightly. Like he knew you saw the message. Like he knew it helped.

And maybe, just maybe, it had eased your worries a bit that day.

Thank you for reading! I appreciate any likes/comments/reblogs/follows. Constructive criticism is welcome. Do not plagiarise my content and/or post it anywhere without crediting me.

Dividers by @/cafekitsune

[slut4thebroken]

Just Business

── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

Pairing | Robert Fischer x dom!reader

Summary | He’s a brat and deserves way worse than this tbh.

Warnings | Smut, non con more like dubcon tbh, heavy misandry🤭, humiliation, degradation, light praise, cunnilingus, brat taming.

Words | 2.4 k

Notes | Idk this was originally supposed to be way more non con-y than it turned out lol.

Ao3 link | <3

Masterlist

You had an appointment with Robert Fischer at 2pm… An hour later and you were still waiting. Finally his secretary brought you into his office. 

“Ah, yes— The potential partner. Let’s hear it then.” He sighed leaning back in his chair. You sat down on the chair in front of his desk, trying to mask your anger. 

“Our meeting was supposed to be at 2.”

“Yes, well, something came up.” You already didn’t like him…

“If this is the way you treat your business partners, I don’t think we’ll be a good fit,” you started, but he cut you off. 

“I thought they were sending someone to go over the proposal— not an assistant.” He huffed. You clenched your jaw as you stared at him, holding back your emotions. 

“The man you spoke to on the phone who scheduled the meeting was my assistant.” That made him scoff. “You know what? Thank you for your time, Mr. Fischer, but I don’t think we’re a good fit for each other.” You said, standing up. 

He let you get halfway across the room before he stopped you. “Wait.” He sighed. “I... apologize for my lack of professionalism. Please continue with your proposal.” Even though you wanted to leave, you forced yourself to sit back down. 

As you spoke, Robert seemed to have a hard time paying attention. There were rumors that he was a nepo baby through and through, but you didn’t think he’d actually be unqualified… You were handing him printed notes as you explained that detailed the numbers and what not. However, it didn’t really seem like he even understood what was on the papers… 

“Mr. Fischer,” you said impatiently when he, once again, was just staring out the window.

“Sorry.” He cleared his throat, looking at you again. 

“Am I boring you?” You asked plainly, reaching the limit of your patience. 

“Not you… Just.. the content…” You couldn’t believe how incompetent this man was. Sighing heavily, you closed your eyes for a moment to compose yourself. 

“Is there anyone else I can meet with? Your father perhaps?” 

“He doesn’t handle this kind of stuff.”

“Clearly you don’t either.” You scoffed before you could help it. 

“I handle it just fine.” He suddenly snapped, getting defensive. “Usually I meet with men who just talk to me, not give a whole presentation like a robot. And I’m not constantly distracted by their tits.” He spat, glancing at your chest for a few seconds before meeting your gaze again.  

You raised your brows, giving him an unimpressed look. “Hm…” You finally hummed, getting lost in thought. Robert was surprisingly misogynistic for how… non-dominant he seemed to be. 

“What?” And he just kept getting brattier… You finally stood up, but you didn’t gather your things to leave. Instead, you slowly rounded the desk until you were standing next to his chair. He turned to face you, looking both confused and irritated. Placing one hand on the back of his chair and leaning down into his space, you used your other hand to grab his cheeks, holding him still. 

“Listen closely, Mr. Fischer because I’m only going to say this once.” You told him, your voice low and stern— almost sensual… He almost seemed shocked, but he hid it fairly well. “My boss wants this partnership to work out. Based on the way you asked me to stay, I’m assuming your father feels the same. I’ve laid out all of the facts for you, but since you can’t seem to understand, I’m going to change the terms of the deal.” He frowned when you blatantly insulted his intelligence. 

“You’re going to prove to me that you want it— that you’re willing to work for it. If I’m satisfied, then we’ll move forward with this partnership. If not, well… I’m sure your daddy will be very disappointed.” 

You felt his cheeks tense under your fingers when he clenched his jaw. “How am I supposed to do that?” He scoffed, his bratty attitude still going strong. You released him and straightened up, looking down your nose at him. 

“Get on your knees.”

“Excuse me?” He choked out, staring at you with wide eyes. 

“Get on your fucking knees or I’m leaving.” You said harshly. He hesitated for a moment, then clenched his jaw again. Finally, he moved to the floor, kneeling at your feet. “There you go…” You cooed mockingly, making him scowl. You walked around him to take his place in the chair. “Face me.” He huffed, but turned around toward you. 

“Have you figured it out yet or do I need to spell it out for you?” He watched the way you settled back into the chair, your legs spread as wide as your pencil skirt would allow. 

“You… Are you insane? I’m not fucking doing that!” 

“No?” You cooed, tilting your head as you looked down at him. “Fine. I’ll leave and I’ll tell my assistant to call your daddy— tell him why this deal didn’t go through.” Despite your words, you didn’t move, giving him another chance. “Or…” Your voice lowered and you leaned forward, reaching out to grab his tie. He let out a choked sound when you yanked on it, pulling him closer. “You can be a good little boy and put that bratty mouth of yours to good use.”

“H-How dare you? Coming here— to a building with my fucking name on it— calling me bratty? I should be contacting your superiors.” He scoffed, making you smirk. Even with the outburst, you could tell he was already crumbling. 

“I wouldn’t call you bratty if you’d stop behaving like a brat.” You said plainly, only making him more angry. “Listen, Robert,” you sneered patronizingly, “either you eat me out or I leave. You don’t have any other options.” 

“No! Are you even hearing yourself?” He yelled, making you sigh. “I- I have a girlfriend. I’m not just going to cheat on her because you’re blackmailing me.” 

“Blackmailing? Please,” you scoffed, “I’m not blackmailing you. And I’d hardly call this cheating.” 

“Then what the fuck would you call it?” He asked in disbelief.  

You hummed softly in thought as you considered it for a moment. “Business.” You all but shrugged. He watched with wide eyes as you grabbed the hem of your skirt and lifted it up above your hips, showing your panties. “Get to it, Robert. You’ve already made me late for another meeting, you don’t want to be the reason I miss a second one today.” 

He gaped at you, his gaze shifting between your eyes and your crotch. “You’re fucking insane.” He finally said. 

“No. I just actually earned my position and I have plenty of experience with bratty men who are used to getting everything they want.” He clenched his jaw and the tips of his ears tinged red with anger. “I won’t tell you again, Robert. You have five seconds to start or I’m leaving.”

Robert let out a heavy breath through his nose, but moved forward reluctantly, practically seething in rage at the fact that you were sitting in his chair in his office in ‘his’ building, demanding he service you sexually. And yet…

He pulled your panties to the side and got to work. At his clear attitude and lack of enthusiasm, you sighed in annoyance. 

“I thought this was obvious, but if you do a shitty job, this deal isn’t going through.” You told him. 

“Fuck you.” He gritted… but obeyed nonetheless. You let out a pleased moan when he dragged his tongue up your folds to your clit before sucking the swollen bud into his mouth. 

“There you go…” You cooed mockingly, spreading your legs wider for him. He rolled his eyes, but didn’t bother with a retort. “God you’re fucking pathetic.” You muttered, looking away from him, bored. You examined his desk, snorting a laugh at the online game that was on his computer screen. At the sight of the coffee cup, you picked it up and took off the lid to smell it— black with sugar… not your favorite, but after sitting in that lobby for over an hour, you deserved a pick-me-up. 

When he heard you drinking, he pulled back. “Are you fucking serious?”

“Three, two,” and just like that, he was back between your legs. You scoffed a laugh and took another sip of the coffee. “Only a man would be so pathetic and incompetent, he has to eat me out just to make a simple business deal.” You muttered to yourself, loud enough that he could hear though. With the exception of Robert, you made a mental note to tell your boss to stop giving you all the stupid potential business partners. 

“At least you’re pretty though.” You sighed, running your freehand through his hair, making his eyes snap up to your face. God- his eyes… So fucking pretty— They’d probably look even more pretty all glossy with tears… “I swear, if you weren’t such a dick, I’d take you to dinner instead of making you eat me out like a common whore.” You frowned, feeling almost disappointed. “But maybe you’re only a dick because I haven’t put you in your place yet.” 

He tried to pull back, but you just grabbed his hair and yanked him forward again, burying his face in your pussy— You were mostly talking outloud to yourself anyway, so he didn’t need to worry about doing something as silly as talking back. 

“I’ll wait and see what your attitude is like after you make me come all over your face, then I’ll decide whether I should have my assistant set up dinner or not.” You decided. Robert tried to speak, but you were holding him against your cunt too firmly. “Shh… You’re so much prettier when you’re not running your mouth, sweetheart.” The way his cheeks went bright red made you grin sadistically. 

“Use a finger.” You commanded, getting antsy for your orgasm already. Robert huffed, but used the hand that wasn’t holding your panties to slide a finger inside you. “Good boy.” You smiled. He let out a quiet sound when you started petting his hair again. 

“You should feel lucky, you know. I’ve been so busy recently that I’ve barely had any time to get off for almost two weeks straight so I’m already getting close.” He let out another muffled sound in response, slipping a second finger inside you. “Oh, look at you… Such a good boy taking initiative.” You cooed mockingly. Was he just trying to get this over with faster? Maybe… But you didn’t really care. You’d have plenty more opportunities for Robert to take his time now that you were going to be business partners. 

The constant suction on your clit with the way his fingers curled inside you made your back arch off the chair, pushing your hips down onto his face. Robert might’ve been a spoiled brat, but damn if he wasn’t amazing at eating pussy…

“God- you look so fucking pathetic with your pretty face buried in my pussy… and you love it, don’t you?” He grunted something unintelligible, but it wasn’t an obvious denial, at least. “Yeah you do.” You chuckled. 

“C’mon, Robert… Be a good boy and make me come— make your daddy proud and secure this partnership all on your own like a big boy.” You couldn’t help but smirk as you patronized him, but he didn’t get angry or try to pull away. He just let out another sound and started sucking and licking more enthusiastically. 

You brought your other hand down to his head as well, holding him firmly against your cunt. Your toes were curling in your heels as the pleasure continued building, until finally it all snapped. 

You bit your lip to stifle a moan, knowing you couldn’t be too loud since you were still in an unlocked office. Robert whimpered when you forced his face against your pussy hard enough to squish his nose against your pubic bone and limit his breathing. Despite that, he never stopped sucking on your clit or moving his fingers inside you. Your cunt was gushing and pulsing around his digits, your clit throbbing in his mouth as waves of pleasure rolled through you, and nonsensical praises left your lips. 

“Fucking hell… I needed that more than I thought I did.” You said through a breath, panting heavily. As you sagged back into the chair, you loosened your grip on him, but didn’t let go completely, you just let him pull back a tiny bit. He was also panting, the lower half of his face almost completely drenched, his cheeks a dark pink, and his eyes glazed over with what you assumed was lust. 

“You were better at that than I thought you’d be…” You told him, but he barely reacted. “Take your fingers out and suck them clean.” You ordered, wanting to test whether he was still just out of it, or if you actually broke him down already. 

He carefully extracted his fingers, then put them in his mouth, his eyes fluttering as he sucked off your arousal. 

“Huh.” You said to yourself, slightly shocked— That was way too easy… As another test, you picked up his coffee cup and took another sip, making sure he was watching. 

He just licked his lips, then cleared his throat. “…Are you going through with the partnership?” He managed to say, and you couldn’t hold back a smirk in time. 

“I need to think about it some more. My assistant will call you tomorrow to arrange dinner plans. I’ll give you my decision then.” You finally released his hair and ran your fingers through it a little, trying to smooth it out so it didn’t look like he just had his head buried between your legs… “Do you have anything you want to say to me for giving you another chance?” 

“Thank you.” Your smirk turned into a pleased smile and you cupped his cheek, brushing your thumb over his bottom lip. 

“You’re welcome, sweetheart. Keep being a good boy and I’m sure this partnership will work out just fine.” He nodded dumbly in response and you stood up, fixing your panties and pulling your skirt back down. Robert just stared up at you, almost in a trance, and watched in awe. 

“Oh, and, Robert?” You leaned down a little, taking his warm cheeks in your hand to make sure you had his full attention. “The next time you think you can get away with being a brat to me, you’ll be doing much worse than just eating me out.” You smiled sweetly, making his poor, fucked out little head lag as he struggled to understand the real meaning behind your words.

(Also yes, I already started part 2 lol)

[tealvenetianmask]

Why Stolas's Story Is a Neurodivergent Story

And what that means for what's ahead.

Like a lot of fans, I see Stolas as autistic. This isn't a diagnosis post. But yes, something something special interests, dinosaur arms, persistent difficulty fitting in with his own social class, anxiety about social situations, frequent difficulty reading people and/or noticing others' emotions (especially when caught up in his own thoughts), masking, etc. etc. etc.

I want to talk about how Stolas's character arc tells a really well written (and potentially very uplifting) story about what it's like to be neurodivergent.

So what would be in my ideal neurodivergent story? Well I'd rather stay away from true utopia and have it reflect what it feels like to be neurodivergent in society today. So the character would struggle, not because their traits are bad, but because society isn't built for them. As the story progresses, the character might find happiness in unexpected ways and begin to look beyond society's rigid expectations for what a "good life" looks like. And then, hopefully, after some twists and turns, this character reaches a kind of self-acceptance where they are more themselves than ever, proud of who they are, and maybe even able to help change their society for the better.

Stolas's character arc IS this story.

Act 1: It's hard trying to fit into a neurotypical world.

Stolas is taught to mask his true emotions and follow strict social expectations as a child. He isn't living in just ANY neurotypical culture. The Goetia are old and set in their ways, and have rigid expectations for what one does and does not do. He's playing the social game on "hard mode" from the beginning.

I think one thing that helps make Stolas high masking is the way in which his special interests are socially acceptable within his social sphere. Stars and plants? Books? Well he's a nerd, and no one wants to be his friend, but of course a guy with his particular destiny-assigned-in-childhood would like things like that.

Stolas develops a few different types of masks. One is the "I'm fine" mask where he pretends not to be emotionally affected by what's going on around him.

The other is this sort of "powerful" mask. A character who is in control of everything and plays into his society's ideas of how a Goetia should interact with the rest of the world. It usually means acting demeaning toward Blitz in order to preserve the facade of what a powerful prince of Hell is supposed to be. And he's conscious of putting on an act when he uses it.

But anyway, the masks cover up a person who is deeply unhappy in his prescribed role and doing his best to act correctly for others . . . his father's expectations and then his daughter's wellbeing, instead of for himself. I like that HB has him STILL not fit in among the Goetia despite his best efforts. It's an experience that a lot of neurodivergent people know too well.

By the way, I LOVE how Mastermind brings us Stolas doing something truly subversive with this "powerful" mask, playing into his society's expectations in order to, in a small way, undermine their power. BUT that's me getting ahead of myself.

Act 2: The neurodivergent character learns that there are other ways to be.

I think that Stolas has been dipping his talons into this part of his story for two seasons now but has been hesitant to envision himself as anything but a prince of hell. We're going to see him fully engulfed in working through these questions in Season 3 because of his banishment.

Blitz is of course the major catalyst for Stolas questioning his commitment to conformity and acting outright rebellious at times.

I think it's neat that Blitz is so clearly neurodivergent himself. We tend to find each other . . . if you're reading this and are neurodivergent, take a look at your closest friends. And these two share a kind of chemistry and appreciation for one another that most of Hell seems not to see in them.

BUT until he's banished, Stolas doesn't really reach for a situation where he doesn't need to act out his prescribed role. Even when he pursues a relationship with Blitz in earnest, he does so with the expectation that he'll somehow balance this relationship with satisfying the expectations of his upper-class peers.

Act 3: Radical Self-Acceptance?? Hopefully!

Now we can only speculate.

I think that despite realizing that he wants something else, Stolas still fundamentally believes that something is wrong with him. He doesn't understand yet that his enthusiasm for his interests and his emotiveness, for instance, are part of what makes him wonderful. He doesn't see yet that being different might even help him change a society that is deeply flawed.

I can't wait to see Stolas truly have fun in Imp City, and do things there that he's truly proud of.

Whatever happens with his literal powers, he might figure out that he's most powerful when he doesn't act like a "powerful prince" but instead acts like himself and proudly questions his society.

And there's a lot of "The Circus" in this post because @akirathedramaqueen and I had a major brainstorm while we were rewatching that episode. More new ideas about old material to come soon hopefully!

This post is a follow-up on this literal fever ramble from yesterday about Blitz as a neurodivergent character. And yes, I think neurodivergent stories map onto queer stories quite nicely.

[cj-the-random-artist]

Hi!! First, I wanted to say that your AU is one of my favorites and has inspired me, so thank you so much for sharing it <3

About the sketch requests... I'd like to know what it would be like if Narinder chose an outfit for the Lamb and vice versa (it doesn't have to be anything very detailed)

Hello hello!!! I'm so glad you like my AU, that makes me incredibly happy and I really appreciate that so much :D

For the sketch... I'll admit I spent a ton of time thinking about this. And it took a while for me to figure out what I wanted to do for this one, but here are the outfits I landed on:

(Don't look too closely at the eyes I'm still debating if they look good or not lmfao)

For Lambert's outfit... I think Narinder would want them to be comfortable first and foremost, but also kind of in some ways... like resemble his old death god robes. In my mind, he gave up those robes partly to renounce his old self, but also because he felt it wasn't befitting of him to be wearing such robes when he had lost his crown. Secretly, he wants Lambert to feel as though they are allowed to embrace their title as the god of death, and I think perhaps, if he was deciding what they would wear, he would want them to dress in something suitable of their title. That said, the cut is also quite different, and they're also wearing some cool flowy pants under there. I think Lambert would potentially actually like this outfit, but would struggle to feel good about wearing it largely because they don't feel comfortable with their title or position, but they would probably still like wearing it from time to time.

For Narinder's outfit, this is kind of what I envision Lambert picking for him. It's mostly just supposed to be similar to his earlier robes, particularly with the shirt he's wearing, but I also see Lambert wanting him to have a more like... overtly ceremonial robe kind of thing?? He's kind of already in semi-ceremonial robes anyways but I kind of think that was a matter of compromise?? I'll get more into those reasons in the rest of this paragraph. But I do think that if Narinder was to be given this outfit, he would wear it in this more like casual off-the-shoulder way, specifically because he doesn't want to be perceived as overly important anymore. Like he does love being Lambert's right hand and partner, and he loves the little bit of status and respect that goes along with that, but he also isn't super interested in being like, an Important Religious Figure among the cultists, so if he's handed Important Religious Robes he's gonna wear them casually even if it means wearing them like... that. But Lambert's not gonna argue, he'll wear what they picked for him however he wants lol

I hope this works for the request!! I rotated this idea for like. Hours and hours before coming up with anything that was actually good or interesting, because I'd never really thought about this before?? So this was very very interesting to sketch and I had a great time drawing this :D

[butterflydm]

WoT 3x04 Deep Dive (book spoilers addition)

We made it! We achieved Rhuidean. This show keeps taking things that I feel have to be unfilmable and doing the impossible with them. Spoilers through 3x04 of the show and A Memory of Light for the books.

This is actually relatively short, because I was able to cover most thoughts in the show spoilers only post!

The idea that the best "weapon" is one that is not solely a weapon but can be used for other things was also a big focus of Perrin's storyline in the books (...even though axes can absolutely be used as tools, so I think the show did a good move by attaching the idea of 'axe as weapon' to his violence via killing Laila instead of making it just an inherent property of axes), but we also see it echoed in Rand & Mat, and in the Aiel as a whole. A sword is only ever a sword, but a bow or a spear can put food on the table. Perrin used an axe for violence, but he's used a hammer for creation.

So. Rand touching his ear in this talk with Lan.

The reason that I mention this is because Josha has read the books and knows them well so... check out his hands after he says, "There are so many things I can't be" in this opening conversation with Lan. In the books, Rand thumbing his ear is a tell that "Lews Therin" is also present in that moment. In the books, it was usually used when "Lews Therin" was finding a woman attractive but Rand didn't want to attach that feeling to himself, but the show might use it more generally. It might be that Rand has done this before on the show, but this is the first time it's really stood out to me. Is Rand attaching his nostalgia for home to LTT so that he doesn't have to feel it himself?

They are definitely making Rand a lot more open to the Aiel in the show, which fits with how he is trying less to be "hard" than he was at this point in the books. That Rand believed that he needed to use the Aiel as a tool and tried to keep his emotional distance because of it. This Rand does still see the Aiel as a potential tool, but he also sees the potential of a connection there too.

In the books, the romantic relationship between Rand and Aviendha was treated (at first) as a "binding cord" between Rand and the Aiel (by the Wise Ones, for sure) and that kind of dropped away as the books went on and we spent so long with Rand and Aviendha separated, and it ended up being Aviendha's first-sister relationship with Elayne that became more of a binding cord. I wonder if the show is going to keep that connection between Rand and Aviendha more present in the show. Much like we see Rand and Moiraine share a moment after they've both been through a trial of Rhuidean, Rand and Aviendha shared a moment as well, and the show may build on that (hopefully! It looks like they're sitting near each other in one of the shots in the promo for 3x05).

Something I noticed in the books, and something that I wonder if the show will follow, is that we never meet any clan chiefs or Wise Ones who are Darkfriends (please correct me if I'm wrong). Given that the columns seem to be almost alive, in how they are described, and how clearly the moments that it shows people must have been plucked out by a purpose, I wonder if the columns also weed out Darkfriends. They were created by Aes Sedai in the books, and by one specific Aes Sedai (Latra) in the show. We meet selfish or short-sighted or even cruel Wise Ones and clan chiefs, but I don't think any of them are ever shown to be Darkfriends.

One thing that is likely certain is that no one is allowed to be a clan chief if they don't have Aiel blood (and it probably has to be the father's blood, due to how the columns appear to work). Wise Ones... might be more flexible. Difficult to say. I imagine that adopting from outside the Aiel is pretty uncommon -- I suspect that Melindhra and Tigraine will be shown to be exceptions rather than a general rule -- so it likely doesn't come up much.

They don't mention here that gai'shain only serve for a year and a day, but I am currently assuming that it's still true because... I mean, you'd end up with a pretty large portion of your people who are gai'shain.

Lan's Aiel nickname honestly makes so much more sense to me in the context of Melindhra being a Malkieri child adopted by a Wise Ones and them having more awareness of Lan and what happened to Malkier. In the books, we never really get a reason why they admire him so much.

The Rand & Aviendha scenes were such a delight in this episode! Hopefully we'll get more of them interacting in 3x05, though I'm hoping that it's the Randgwene break-up episode, so we might not have time for much Avirand, because all sorts of other plotlines will be going on with the Two Rivers and with Tanchico (and I think I saw a hint of the White Tower in the trailer too, so four different main plotlines and locations).

If Rand & Egwene do break up in 3x05, then we might get another good moment like this one between Rand & Aviendha in 3x06, since I'm kinda expecting us to get the attack on Cold Rocks Hold in that episode ("the shadow in the night" sounds like a good name for that event) and Aviendha & Rand do get a moment there in the books. I think the show would keep it around the same level as they got in this episode, since the Randgwene breakup (fingers crossed) would still be pretty fresh, but the way this episode separated Rand & Egwene made me feel hopeful for a sooner rather than later break up (well, it's still kinda later, since we're already in the second half of the season, but you know what I mean).

The show leaning hard on Rand & Aviendha both having a duty to the Aiel people. And as we saw with Rand & Moiraine, going to Rhuidean can help bridge gaps, which we already saw a hint of in the final Rand & Aviendha scene.

And the cords of duty are something that Rand, Aviendha, and Elayne can all share -- we had that scene with Elayne and Rand in 3x01, and Elayne also told Aviendha that she did believe that Rand would accept his duty to her people, and she encouraged Rand along that path as well. So, if we get s4, it really does feel like we could see Avirandlayne coming together naturally as Elayne helps Rand adjust to wetlander political rule, as Aviendha continues to help with Aiel cultural knowledge.

I mentioned a caveat to the whole "the Taardad seem the most invested in the Car'a'carn in the show" thing in my other post and it's about the Maidens, of course. The Maidens, as a society, also have a huge reason to be extremely invested in having the Car'a'carn be found. In having a son of a Maiden finally return to them. I do hope that they'll go into that in either 3x05 or 3x06 (I will cry if we get the Maidens telling Rand that they want to carry his honor).

I wonder if we're going to have a lot fewer Wise Ones than we had in the books (where the Shaido alone had something like two hundred who could channel?). I think I read that the number of Aiel clans is eight now (which matches how many Aes Sedai it takes to shield & gentle even the strongest male channeler)? So that's only eight men at a time who have gone through the columns. They may have also cut down on the number of Wise Ones per clan so that the numbers aren't quite so disproportionate to each other. That's a lot fewer people to carry the legacy of the Aiel's past than we have in the books. And it'll be a much stronger break when Rand reveals that past to everyone.

Do we know if Aram is in the next episode? I am really wondering when we're going to get our present-day follow-up to Lewin breaking the Way of the Leaf -- will it be in the next episode, during Perrin's 'daring rescue' (as said in the summary for 3x05) or will it be in 3x07 (Goldeneyes, where we are getting the Battle of the Two Rivers)?

Because we have some kidnapped girls (Mat's sisters) and we have Perrin, who wants to save them without hurting anyone. For Lewin, it wasn't possible to save them without death. There is no salvation without destruction. How will it go for Perrin? Will there be a cost?

And Ila, who is Aram's grandmother... how closely will her reaction to Aram be to the way that Adan and Lewin's mother react to him here?

How much is the show going to break our hearts over Aram?

I do think introducing more genetic diversity to the Aiel that we see really helps combat the weird "generational servant" vibe that Jordan brought to the da'shain Aiel in the books (which... was it intentional? Jordan never really does enough with it for me to be certain). In the show, it's not that redheads specifically were all servants, it's that of the dedicated Aiel who left at Latra's request, at least one of the main bloodlines that survived to make it to the Waste were redheads, because they went though a couple of harsh population bottlenecks to get there.

The show making it so that the male Aes Sedai of the Age of Legends dressed primarily in black just feels so !!! when it comes to Rand designing the Asha'man uniform later on. Whether he realizes it or not, he's dressing them like Aes Sedai. (I can't remember if this is also a book thing or not)

Aaah, this long moment when Aviendha stares into Rand's eyes before she looks away and gets up to leave. The tension between them. It's so perfect.

That's really all I have for additional book spoiler thoughts. Most of it I could cover without needing them.

[hollowed-theory-hall]

Hello! How are you?

Basically, I have seen this in many spaces where people are anti hp (the series and the mc), they bring up the fact that harry isn't a great mc because by the end of the series he made/brought no changes in the wizarding world. He didn't change the system, didn't do anything about the house elf slavery, (they mention the fact that after the war harry contemplates asking kreacher to bring him a sandwich!! and that he wasn't as passionate about freeing them as Hermione was), and so on, I don't remember everything.

Mostly, they mention that he becomes a ministry lapdog and ended up joining the same system which oppressed him (like you, i hate that he becomes an auror btw) and by the end of the series everything is the same and he didn't bring any monumental change like he doesn't have the power or interest to do so.

So, my questions to you are - what are your thoughts on these opinions?? Do you think it's poor writing by jkr?? Or it wasn't relevant to the core plot?

I don't really like speculating what JKR was thinking when she wrote something, because I have no way of actually knowing, but book 7, in certain parts, always felt to me like she was ready to move on and wanted to be done with it.

I think by the time she got to writing book 7, she just kinda wanted the writing process to be over already. So, book 7 has always been a mixed bag for me — when it's good, it's really good, but it also has moments that drag and are utter stupidity.

I think the epilogue is a bit of that race to be done with it already.

Like, there is a fan theory she wrote the epilogue before the book, and honestly, I can belive that.

But, I think the Harry becoming an auror isn't bad writing in the books — it's bad writing post-books. Sure, the epilogue implies the system didn't change as much as it should have (Albus worrying about being sorted into Slytherin, Ron confounding muggles with no consequences, Percy's treatment, etc.), but I think it wouldn't have been as egregious and offensive as it is to most fans who dislike it if it wasn’t for a lot of JKR's periphery canon she wrote that added a lot of details about the characters' futures that just made everything worse (plus the CC play).

Without the epilogue, the ending of DH doesn't say anything about what Harry would do. Yes, he isn't passionate about freeing house elves, but this isn't new and is true to his character. He isn't perfect, and that's not bad writing, it's staying consistent with his characterization up to this point. The ending without the epilogue leaves the reader off with plenty of potential to work with for their imagination and write fic about Harry's future. I actually like the end note of the series pre-epilogue because it fits. It works with Harry as a character who just wants something simple to eat and go to bed. He isn't concerned with instating new policies and shit, because it would be out of character for him to concern himself over these things in that moment. Harry is not a politician and he never wanted to be one. I feel like the fandom expects a lot from Harry that would be out of character for him to do without external factors pushing him into a political role. (Don't get me wrong, he'd be a decent politician, but that would be because he won't play the same game as everyone else. And he'd never choose to be a politician without being forced/pressured/otherwise convinced into the position).

The epilogue itself, while, closing off some options and proving the wizarding world still has many many issues, doesn't actually mention the Golden Trio's (or Ginny's) professions and still leaves us with a lot of open room for interpretation. Harry isn't stated to be an auror in the epilogue — it's JKR's writings after the books that made him an auror and Hermione a minister and kinda butchered Ron altogether (book 7 started the job of butchering Ron's character, though...). Even if the epilogue doesn't paint the best picture of the future of the WW, it's still open enough to work with if you really want to. It's the stuff she published after the books that made everything about the wizarding world's (and Harry's) future so much worse for me.

I do think, the epilogue is bad writing in that it doesn't add to the story and I think makes book 7 (and the whole series) worse overall, but I would've hated it less if it wasn't for all the information she added in after the fact (that didn't actually add anything, just ruin and destroy).

And a lot of her periphery canon writing show how much she doesn't remember from her books. I talked about it when it comes to fahion and the term "warlock", but she tends to, not really know her own world building and she contradicts herself a lot. This tendency is at it's worst with book 7 Wandlore, a lot of her Pottermore articles, and, of course, the Fantastic Beasts films and CC (some of her commentary in the Hogwarts Library books collection as well). So, I take any periphery canon stuff as additional to the books and optional depending on if they make sense with the books' canon or not.

So, I'd say, the problems for me are more with post-books stuff, and not the content of the books themselves. Becouse yeah, Harry mentioned wanting to be an auror in years 5 and 6, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't change his mind once he realizes what it entails

15-16 year old Harry talking about wanting to be an auror actually fits his character. Not because I think the job would be great for him, but because of his low self-worth. Moody/Barty told him he has the talent to be an auror and Harry is ridiculously insecure in himself. When one of the first adults to tell him he is talented and good at things to his face told him he'd make a good auror — of course that's what Harry would focus on!

Even if Moody/Barty was discovered to be a Death Eater later, he was still someone Harry looked up to. Harry who thinks he isn't particularly good at anything:

“Well, I’m not going to tell you,” said Moody gruffly. “I don’t show favoritism, me. I’m just going to give you some good, general advice. And the first bit is — play to your strengths.” “I haven’t got any,” said Harry, before he could stop himself. “Excuse me,” growled Moody, “you’ve got strengths if I say you’ve got them. Think now. What are you best at?”

(GoF, Ch20)

Was told he'd be good at something (being an auror) — so it makes sense he'd want to pursue it initially. I think Harry is likely to not want to stay as an auror though. I love to headcanon him as an auror program dropout, honestly. That he starts and then leaves. Which is possible with book 7 canon (including the epilogue).

The books actually don't contradict some changes or changes-in-progress in the WW (including the epilogue). It's just been 19 years, not even a whole generation, big systematic changes rarely happen this quickly, so while some of the patterns are worrying, you can work with it, I think the epilogue is bad, but it's not the worst that happened to HP books.

The worse problem is that JKR kept writing contradictory things instead of leaving the books be once they were done.

(Not that the books don't have their moments of contradicting themselves, they do. There are plot contrivances, stuff that makes zero sense, and plenty of plot holes, but when it comes to Harry's future and the WW's future as a whole, the books are not the main culprit here, the epilogue was a witness that did nothing to help at the scene of the crime at best).

[frenchy-and-the-sea]

OC Tag Game

saw @dragonologist-phd do this and put out an open tag so I figured I'd introduce the sad mushroom lady that I talk way too much about!

I'll tag @nuclearanomaly, @vargonautic, @urdnotgrunt, @dovahgarbage, @girlwonderers, @themilokin, @star-graze, @starlightsylph, @blujayonthewing, @parad0xymoron, @merrigelblogs, @ramblerogue, @msnoblesix, @ghilegab and anyone else who wants to do this! I literally only picked like the top folks I see in my activity feed but y'all know I love a good OC chat. Please feel free to join!

(art by @/ryuichifoxe, design by @/arlohawthorne)

— GENERAL

Name: Elowyn "Wyn" Bannon

Alias: Wyn is her nickname, but it's also what she chooses to introduce herself as. Elowyn is just too long!

Gender: Cis(ish) woman. I think she's probably got some gnc fuckery going on somewhere but honestly she's got a job (surviving Barovia) so she doesn't really care about that rn

Age: 31

Spoken Language: Common, Elvish, Infernal

Sexual Orientation: Bisexual

Occupation: Formerly? Wandering cleric of the grave, offeror of last rites, funeral planner and overall aid to the living left behind. Now? Barovia tour guide to a bunch of idiots that she unfortunately has gotten to care a lot about. (And the rogue.)

—FAVOURITE

Colour: Dark green or dark blue! Ideal is that phtalo green color honestly

Entertainment: One of Wyn's guilty pleasures wrt her station is that she actually really loves professional live music. She isn't much of a theater person, but she has a singular love for orchestra or ballet performances, and absolutely has invited wannabe suitors out to see a show strictly as an excuse to make the trip. (And if she genuinely likes them? Well, those boxes ARE pretty dark...)

Pastime: Hiking, especially when it takes her out to scenic locales that she can paint. Painting was always her preferred excuse for carving out some time alone, and she much preferred the effort of getting OUT somewhere over hiding away in her studio. It was always too easy for someone to interrupt her at the family house.

Food: Poached pears, especially over yogurt or some kind of vanilla custard. Sprinkle some cinnamon granola over them and Wyn is in heaven.

Drink: A strong roasted oolong tea, or coffee. She's fine with alcohol when the situation calls for it - and admittedly, there have been MANY situations lately that have called for it - but she still mostly prefers the company of a drink with a different kind of bite.

— HAVE THEY...

Passed University: Technically no, but Wyn did get something close to a university education. Her parents were insistent that she be well-schooled, even if they wouldn't let her follow her brother to one of the actual colleges.

Had Sex: Enthusiastically, yes.

Had Sex in Public: Not really. Wyn has gotten a little handsy in public, sure, but she still requires a closed door when clothes start coming off.

Got Tattoos: Not yet, but she's not opposed to the idea.

Got Piercings: Quite a few ear piercings, but that's it. So far, anyway.

Got Scarred: Yes! Wyn has a nasty one where her neck joins her shoulder from a fight with one of the Viscountesses that got out of hand.

Had a Broken Heart: Oh, big time. Wyn learned early how to spot potential suitors who were only trying to use her as a status upgrade, or were just interested in a turn with the local devilspawn, but there was one lad who showed a genuine attraction to her, and Wyn began spending a lot of time with him. Unfortunately, he was also deeply ashamed of that attraction, and put a lot of effort into hiding their courtship from, uh, everyone that he could. Wyn dropped him the moment she found out, but her affection for him had been genuine too, and she spent a good long while afterwards nursing her hurt feelings.

— ARE THEY...

A Cuddler: More than she would ever admit. Wyn holds herself at a certain distance from most people unless she has petitioned them for an evening, but given time to cultivate some trust, she is extremely physically affectionate. She likes to be the big spoon. :>

Scared Easily: Of certain things, yes. Wyn is easily put off by wanton violence, and people that are capable of it tend to scare her pretty badly, but things like ghosts? Monsters? Death? It takes quite a lot of effort for things like THAT to get to her.

Jealous Easily: Not unless she has been given due cause to believe that something truly does belong to her. She tends not to covet items or skills very much, and she doesn't really lay claim to people often enough to be called easily jealous, but she WILL defend whatever has been deemed unequivocally hers.

Trustworthy: M...mostly... Wyn doesn't often choose to break covenant with people, but she might go into a bargain with the intention of betrayal. That is NOT outside of the realm of possibility. Usually, though, she's true to her word.

— FAMILY...

Siblings: Her late brother, Atticus. He was her favorite person in the whole wide world, and she tried to move heaven and earth to bring him back.

Parents: Her mother and father, Analyn and Maxim Bannon, who Wyn has a...strained relationship with. She's pretty sure they're not looking for her.

Children: Actively not something Wyn is trying to pursue. She's already been told that she's going to die early, and even if she wanted children, she wouldn't subject them to that.

Pets: Never something that was allowed in the Bannon household. I don't know if Wyn would have even asked. She does hold a special reserve of fondness for the party wizard's familiar, a raven aptly named Lenore, which is probably as close as Wyn will ever get to a proper pet.

[bi-lesbian]

As a Bi-lesbian, do you take offense to Semibisexual like many others?

It WAS made by trolls. But some try to reclaim it. I’m going on a journey of labels, and some just seem wrong to me.

So many say bi-lesbian is biphobic, and they also say Semibisexual is biphobic. Do you have a sense of empathy for this label? I’m leaning towards dislike of it. Unlike Bi-lesbian, it doesn’t have historical significance at all. It’s purely at the start was a troll sexuality.

tbh i havent heard of semibisexual before (or if i did, i just forgot)- but regardless of its origins, if theres people who want to reclaim it, use it for themselves, and feel properly described by it in whatever way they define it, then good for them!

a term having history is nice for being able to see people in the past with experiences like your own, see how the term came about and why and all the details of its past, and to show people who view anything new as inferior that 'Hey, this has actually been around for a while, and isnt going away.' but to be honest, i truly dont give a shit if a term as historical significance or not- if people find their own significance in it, then i think theres value to it. including if its history is unsavory.

plus, semi-bi sounds easily like something some may use as shorthand for their split attraction, something along the lines of being heteroflexible or homoflexible, perhaps something related to abrosexuality- it really doesnt seem like a far-fetched idea to me that some may identify with it.

overall though, its not my or anyone elses place to dictate what other people identify with. if someone isnt labeling other people something they do not identify with, and is just using it for themselves, then its their business, and their business alone. they can label themselves and define them however they want, period.

and frankly, even if someone is trolling when they say they identify as a certain thing, im just going to respond with "okay" or ignore them. because 1. trolls WANT to get a rise out of people, do not give them what they want 2. some people do genuinely have identities that seem troll-like because their identity is simply not understandable to you (yet or potentially ever) or they are reclaiming it from trolls, and i just do not care to shift through to make judgements about others lives that ultimately dont affect me, and play the game of "what is or is not genuine/valid." truly, Who Give A Fuck, i got other shit to do.

plus, me criticizing identifying with something originating from trolls would be pretty hypocritical anyways, considering i identify with terms like dyke, fag, queer, etc. ill always support people taking terms from shitty people and making it positive for themselves.

[robin-evry]

Hello! Great to have you back!

So, I was wondering if I could request Ori!Yuu from Ori and the Will of the Wisps with all of his abilities, you can write them as is or humanoid- whichever you want, really.

And if you have no idea who I'm talking about or what Ori can do- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEadwXjlqy0&pp=ygUrb3JpIGFuZCB0aGUgd2lsbCBvZiB0aGUgd2lzcHMgYWxsIGFiaWxpdGllcw%3D%3D -Just use this as a reference for Ori's active abilities.

Also please note that Ori also has passive abilities being, Wall Jump (Pretty much just crawls on anything), Double Jump, Bash (Allows Ori to push themselves away from various objects and enemies, knocking them in the opposite direction), Grapple (Allows Ori to pull themselves in a straight line to various objects and enemies), Glide with a feather, Dash (Allows Ori to charge quickly left or right, even in the air), Swim Dash (Allows Ori to Dash underwater, or near the surface of the water to launch into the air), Burrow (Allows Ori to burrow through sand and snow), Ancestral Light (Grants Ori a 25% damage boost (x2)), and Water Breath (Allows Ori to breathe underwater)

I am very aware this a very large ask, so please know that you don't have to do it, I was just curious of what it would be like if Ori was in Twisted Wonderland.

Please get good sleep, eat as best as you can, and hydrate, it is very important!

Nah I don't mind, I'm happy that you feel safe to express your ideas towards me as well thank you for showing concerned 🤗🤗

I hope this match the character sorry if there's any mistake I mader

𝐓𝐖𝐒𝐓 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐎𝐑𝐈!𝐘𝐔𝐔 🪐💫

Ori is the titular protagonist of Ori and the Blind Forest, a Spirit who is separated from their biological and adoptive family and is thrust into a journey to save the forest of Nibel from a dangerous Decay spreading throughout the land.

During the first week ori!yuu would disguise themselves as human but their true form traits sometimes appear, like their disguise would tend to become translucent for a period of time due to exhaustion of overusing.

The student body would be suspicious over them theorizing between whether or not their human or not or simply a ghost or spirit walking amongst them.

Grim is slightly wary of them at first, thinking they might be a ghost trying to trick him, but he eventually sticks by them, seeing them as a reliable guide.

When I was searching for data about the character, ori in the game doesn't speak so it depends on your perspective if you want ori!yuu mute or not.

Ori!yuu is mute, always talking using gesture, expression and action but since they are waking up in nrc, Crowley decided to give them a small drawing pad for them to use to speak with students as well giving them a book of sign languages.

A very gentle individual rarely gets mad as well literally no one in nrc have beef with them because why would you want to have beef with this gentle person.

But also due to this revelation many students view them as weak which annoys them a lot. But they prove their strength during an overblot battle.

Ori!yuu is able to use spirit magic I mean they are one technically, they are able to use the magic around their area towards it's purest form so they technically don't use spells.

So basically they aren't able to use spells like deuce cauldron one or create something, they are only able to use energy like magic as well as elemental ones. But due to the magic they are using is pure it's by far more powerful due to it being it's original state. Example ace is able to use wind magic blasting it knocking an opponent meanwhile ori!yuu is able to use wind magic towards it's full potential able to create a large gust of win blowing everything.

So basically meanwhile students are able to control a small portion of water using magic but ori!yuu magic allowed them to control large bodies of water like rivers and oceans able to manipulate waves.

People would consider ori!yuu to be a nature spirit having a connection with nature causing them to able manipulate the area towards it full extant.

Small glowing motes (wisps) appear around them when they are deep in thought, acting like extensions of their emotions.

Animals and spirits in Twisted Wonderland seem to trust them instinctively, and ghosts often linger around them. As well the magic around them to grow more purer as if being cleansed by their presence

Would use their grapple ability to get towards places that are complicated to go if you don't have a broom or unable to fly, would use this ability as a transportation allowing them to go to classes earlier compare the others as well grabbing stuff from a far away. They are surprisingly agile, seeming to drift through the air rather than fly traditionally.

As well if there's a lot of people hurrying to get to lunch or a large crowd that prevents them from going to class they use their grapple ability to pull themselves and walk in the walls and jump down up Infront shocking many students.

Despite being mute, Ori!Yuu takes notes in glowing script that fades after a few minutes. Some teachers (like Crewel) insist they write things down normally, while others (like Trein) don’t mind their magical method.

Since they can’t speak, they take oral exams through written answers or use magic to project their responses. Crowley had to make a special exception for them.

They don’t eat much, if at all. When they do, they seem more interested in the sensation rather than the taste. Trey is constantly trying to get them to eat more. They rarely eat due to them absorbing the magic in the area and they count it as food.

Ori!Yuu is oddly good at following the Queen’s rules… except for disappearing randomly, which drives Riddle insane.

Rook is completely obsessed with studying them, calling them a "phantom of mystique" and trying to track their movements.

Students like magical creatures like faes are able to understand what ori!yuu is and they would held communication towards the topic of magic, Lilia is very fond of them as well as malleus.

[twst-hottest-takes]

Something that has been annoying me about the fandom as of late? Apologists immediately ravenous defending and coddling Malleus whenever someone says that he should've been held accountable after the events of Book 7, especially since his actions weren't contained, being known to the public, and he is a fucking prince with an image to uphold. (Him getting his horn sliced off doesn't count, because the narrative treats it like a good thing.)

Malleus' treatment by this section of the fandom reminds me of the "Griffith did nothing wrong" meme you see floating around in the anime community. Except it's completely unironic. These people love him so much that they don't want to have the game treat his actions realistically or have any fallout over what he did.

Yes, your fave did something wrong. That's okay. Malleus has flaws just like everything else.

No one is saying that Malleus should've sent to the Shadow Realm for eternity for what he did. Just that having him make actual steps to amend those broken relationships and not hand waving his actions by having everyone unrealistically off the hook would've been nice. Him inviting the people of the town, STYKS and all of the others he hurt to that party at the end instead of a few NRC boys would've been a start.

Hell, ALL of the characters should've gotten this treatment a long time ago. Me and a lot of others aren't saying this just about him. The lack of any meaningful consequences hurts Malleus and everyone else, because it makes it so the characters can't learn from their actions and grow like well written ones should.

I'll reiterate that all of the Overblotters should have gotten more consequences, Malleus just happens to be the one we're dealing with right now.

I had my long screed about this already, but the fact of the matter is that what Malleus got is the bare minimum of what he deserved. Malleus was overblotted for days in game and a year's worth of game updates so I think it's worth mentioning that people would be more upset because of how long it lasted and how many more people got affected, and of course the fact that Crowley couldn't just sweep this one under the rug so the public didn't see.

But do you want my hot take response to this hot take?

. . .

Some of us come across as being harsher on Malleus because we're jealous that he got some half-decent writing and so much potential for character growth. Some people are too caught up in the consequences calling it "dismemberment" and "disability" to realize that he's the first Overblotter to actually have a tangible character change. And as Anon pointed out, it's a net positive, not even treated like a punishment in the story so it becomes a different kind of frustrating.

(Like, Riddle at least has the resolve to become better, but we don't really get to see much on that front. Everyone else is basically given the choice to learn a lesson and change to be better, but since they're villains and the game has a status quo to keep up they just choose to stay terrible people and it sucks. ["Terrible People" being a relative term.] You get what I mean though? Everyone should feel bad or have consequences that affect them moving forward and change the trajectory of their characters because acting like their Overblots had no effect on them is LAAAAAAMMMEE.)

Thank you for your take.

(With some luck this will be the last bit on this topic for a while.)

[tenpintsof-sundrop]

Omg you have no idea how excited I am for the new George fic, a NOVEL!?! You spoil us, you truly do. May I please see the tiniest of snippets? Don't wanna ask for too much !!

Yeah, it's so wild to consider that I wrote a novel in a week, but a short novel (or a novella) is 40k and the fic is 50k in total lmao. Because once I started writing these characters, I couldn't stop. Also, I have even started working on a companion piece for this fic with ideas that I wanted to use but couldn't find a place for in the main fic. So... I might be releasing two fics in this verse. Who knows. I am just soooo obsessed with this George x Slytherin Reader dynamic

I'm Not Angry (Anymore) - George Weasley x Fem!Slytherin!Reader (Enemies to Lovers) - FANFIC PREVIEW

Warnings: There's not much in the way of warnings for this small section, but the fuller fic will have more emotions, more elements of angst - including themes of blood purity, family betrayal, and all the themes that come with the war times in Harry Potter (death, torture, killing people due to personal prejudice); the longer version of the fic will also have smut - a lot of it. This section only has some descriptions of slightly creepy masks, the horrors of working in retail, and Fred being rude toward the reader character being her back. Also, the reader character goes by she/her pronouns, but most of the pronouns used throughout the fic will be you/yours.

Word Count: 1,700

If you want to see the full fic when it comes out in a few weeks, go over to my writing blog @sundrop-writes and follow me there (but it will be reblogged to this blog as well, so you can follow me here if you want to)

...

“Um, excuse me, Miss?” 

You were distracted away from your work when someone called for your attention - you had been opening and unpacking a new box of Screaming Yo-Yos, but you put that aside for now. You looked up and put on your best (rather fake) customer service smile, the shelf in front of you still half empty, only halfway done as you abandoned it to help the customer. 

You rose up from your back-aching kneeling position on the floor and wiped your hands on your apron - an ugly, obnoxiously bright orange one with the Weasley W on the chest, your uniform. A bit of public embarrassment to go along with the forced nicety that you had to participate in while doing the job. You straightened yourself to better speak to the person - a woman in her forties who most definitely wasn’t the regular clientele for the shop. 

“Yes?” You said, your voice bright in a very forced way, your fake smile continuing to beam toward her as she responded with a grin. 

“My son absolutely loves this sort of stuff, and I was wondering if this would be a good gift for his birthday?” She asked, gesturing toward a large fireworks display behind her. 

Your eyes wandered toward the obligatory ‘must be at least sixteen years old to purchase’ sign that the twins had put on the fireworks display. One that Hermione had been down their throats about adding after multiple of her first and second year students had nearly taken fingers off from lighting the fireworks and then holding onto them as they exploded, despite the clear instructions on the packaging. 

“How old is your son?” You asked, trying to sound politely curious rather than cautious. You knew better than to scare away a potential customer. 

“He’s ten. About to turn eleven. I wanted to get him something for his big day.” She said, clearly beaming with pride. 

“Those are a bit, uh… advanced.” You said, choosing your words very carefully. “I think I know something much better for someone his age.” 

You put a gentle hand on her shoulder and guided her over to a section of products that the twins had recently come out with - animal themed masks with animated, moving features that made genuine, loud animal sounds when the wearer put them on. They were a big hit with younger kids, especially for sneaking up behind people and scaring them with a loud sound. Even if you found the display to be loud and annoying, you did have to admit that it was adorable to see smaller kids put the masks on and get so excited to become their favourite animal. 

“Morph-O-Masks.” You said, motioning toward the display with an outstretched, showy arm that felt far too familiar of your red-haired bosses. They were rubbing off on you in a painfully obvious way. “They make genuine animal sounds, have moving tongues and ears, and we just released a Hungarian Horntail-” 

“Oh my little Gareth would love this one,” 

The woman said, clearly excited, picking up the classic lion mask with the large, furry mane and the mouth that opened wide to let out a loud, realistic roar. 

“He’s been hoping to get into Gryffindor, just like his father. I didn’t go to Hogwarts myself. I’m American, you see, so I went to Salem. But I moved here when my Walter proposed. And we had sweet little Gareth a few months later. Fat little baby, he was-” 

“That is our best seller,” You commented with a nod, trying to gently cut off the woman’s rambling. 

“Thank you so much, dear.” The woman thanked you, and much to your internal annoyance - she then pulled you in for a tight hug. 

You rolled your eyes sharply over her shoulder, your fake smile dropping into a harsh scowl where she couldn’t see, and you were simply thankful when the hug lasted no more than a three count (because you most definitely were counting in your head). When she pulled away, you directed her to the cash register where Fred was waiting and got back to stocking the yo-yos. 

Your thankfulness quickly ended the moment you turned around and found the other twin waiting for you. George was lingering behind you, a shit-eating grin plastered across his face. 

“‘That’s our best seller’,” He repeated your words, mocking you in a girlish tone that did not at all sound like you. 

“Shut up,” You griped, rolling your eyes again, shoving your hands sharply into the pockets of your apron in order to resist the urge to hit him. You had to force yourself to remember that it wasn’t your school days anymore, and you couldn’t afford to lose your job as much as you could afford to lose a few house points over your petty squabbling. 

“No, really, that was great.” He continued on, still grinning with an intense satisfaction - it made you want to slap him. Not because you didn’t like to see him smiling, but because it felt like he was mocking you. “You’re finally settling into the job now, eh?” 

“It’s work,” You shrugged, eager to end the conversation. 

You attempted to move around him to get back to unpacking the yo-yos - but with the isles cramped so tightly together and with his body so stupidly broad, he easily blocked your way as he leaned in closer, forcing you to take a step back as he moved to grab something off the Morph-O-Mask display. 

You hated that you caught a whiff of his cologne along the way, during the moment that you were a bit too close to him as he moved toward the display and you couldn’t move away fast enough. The scent was far too strong, a cedarwood and lavender that you hated, and even so, his hard day’s work was causing the slightest bit of sweat to seep through - it was truly awful.

(That’s what you told yourself, anyway.) 

“I see you still haven’t sold any of the serpents yet.” He chimed, holding up a scaly bright green serpent mask from the display. “If this was a house war, I would say that Gryffindor is winning,” 

You knew that it was no coincidence that the original line of masks had consisted of a golden yellow lion, a green serpent, a bronze eagle, and a black and white badger (one that let out a very terrifying snarl and had rather creepy beady red eyes - that was the reason you hadn’t sold many of those, not due to any lack of loyalty from Hufflepuffs). It wasn’t your fault that kids were more attracted to the ones that came in the secondary release - different types of dragons, a spider with snapping fangs and dozens of eyes, even the black cat that purred and flicked its ears sold out more often than the serpent. 

“Did you consider the inherent bias?” You posed, tilting your head at him. “This is a shop owned by two Gryffindors, therefore you are bound to have more Gryffindor customers - especially due to the bias of your grassroots marketing back at Hogwarts, which only took place primarily within Gryffindor Tower,” 

George’s face knit with intense thought as you explained this, and you were glad that for once, he was pensive and taking in your words, rather than cutting you off with some kind of joke. 

“And even unconsciously, you put more care and thought into the design of the lion mask, so it did turn out to be the best one,” You hated to admit it, but it was true. 

Between the quality of the fur and the intense beauty of the eyes - the way it raised its mouth and let out the deep intimidating roar - it was beautiful.

“And it’s the one you have used primarily for marketing,” You pointed to the front window, where the lion mask was on a stand advertising the new product. “It’s like you set up the serpent to fail. And then you blame it on a poor stock girl for not shilling it hard enough,” 

You ground intense sarcasm into your final words, taking the green mask from his hands and tossing it back onto the shelf with the others, finally skirting around him as he stood there shocked into silence. He was genuinely impressed by the amount of thought you had put into it. He finally snapped out of his shock by the time you had knelt back down beside the box of yo-yos, continuing to neatly stock the shelf with them. 

“Well, perhaps next time we should consult a Slytherin for further research and development,” He said, giving you a grin. 

“Let me know when you find one who’s willing to donate her time,” You replied, brisk and cool, grabbing the finally empty cardboard box from the yo-yos and shuffling back to the storage room, thankful to have an excuse to finally flee away from George and escape the conversation. 

You were behind the thick wood of the storage room door by the time that George wandered over to the front counter. 

“That was smooth.” Fred breathed out, entirely sarcastic. 

“Oi, that was the longest we’ve ever gone without her insulting me. I am making progress.” George replied. 

“Yeah, at this point, you’ll be going on your first date in your fifties and be married by the time I have grandchildren,” Fred joked. 

“You don’t even know if Angelina wants kids,” George prodded, eager to navigate around the subject of his pathetic crush. 

“Yeah, but at least I know she wants me. At least I’m not hung up on some stone cold Slytherin bit-” 

“Hey!” George chastised, knowing that he would have easily hurled that kind of language at you during your school days, understanding why Fred rolled his eyes. “Maybe I like cold.” 

“Then go stick your cock in the ice box,” Fred sighed. “Maybe it’ll help you get over this nonsense so you can actually pick someone who’s good for you.” 

George didn’t say anything further, not daring to voice the words to a brother who just couldn’t understand. There was no one else for him, no one else who lived in his heart - no one else but you.

...

NOTE - This is just a small preview of a longer fic that will come out later. If you want to see the full fic when it comes out, go and follow my writing blog, or follow me here, as I will reblog the fic here when it's posed.

[walkingstackofbooks]

Great response to that salty Jezri ask - but I'll be honest, I think it's funny when Jezri fans charge that a lack of interest in the ship is misogyny. Most people I've known outside the Internet who have watched DS9 are not into shipping and fandom at all, and they also think the Julian/Ezri romance was really half-assed and the actors didn't have much chemistry. You don't have to be a Garashir fan to feel that way. And Ezri was a character with a lot of potential where the writers often failed to deliver on that potential, one of the ways being in tying up so much of her storylines in the question of which of these three guys who was into Jadzia she is going to pick... There is misogyny in slash fandom, but along with how ridiculous it is to be jumpy about someone not writing your preferred character as the focus in ONE fanfic, I think people often accuse slash fiction writers when the real problem is a show itself that was underinvested in its female characters. DS9 did at least give Kira one of its strongest character arcs, but other than that it tended to sell the women rather short and define them around their romances. Fanfiction writers who would prefer to focus on Julian or Garak (who was better developed as a character than either Dax despite not even being a series regular! and I say this as a Jadzia stan myself) are responding to what the show gave us more than anything.

I'm someone who has often really enjoyed what the fandom has done with Ezri, and has written a lot about her in my own fanfic. But I think some people don't want to acknowledge how much it's been the fandom doing that work, not the original show. (Also, as I said in replies, the point of your fic seemed to be about the issues with Jezri - and most of it was from Ezri's perspective? Weird place to mention that it was "undermining" her. Female characters not being perfect people is not "undermining" them, and honestly, the tendency to put women on a pedestal is not really any more sexist than demonizing them. But her just not being attracted to the "best" version of Julian Bashir doesn't even make her that terrible of a person in my opinion? She wants someone who she can rescue - okay that defines a lot of people. And I love loquacious hyperfixation Julian but as someone who shares those traits with him, I also know they can be irritating to a lot of people. Can't say I've never been irritated by a fellow autistic people going on about something I don't personally care about, even!)

I mean, I LOVE Jezri. I think it's really cute, I think they're adorable friends and it makes total sense they're tumbling into each other's arms - I don't think they're a made-to-last romance, but what they have is very sweet, and I always got the feeling that Julian was one of her friends who most saw her as Ezri, and not as Jadzia. I don't get the "they don't have chemistry" thing, because they made each other laugh, and were good at comforting each other, and I just love them.

(Misogyny of wrapping all her storylines up in "who's she gonna pick?" though - yeaaaa. I hate that Jezri happens because of that. Gah.)

Yeah, there's always going to be that criticism. I mean, I do think it's partially valid - there are a whole bunch of fanfics that do treat Ezri terribly to get her out of the way of the ship. But at the same time, most of those do skew older in writing date - and if that's what you have a problem with, make your own post, right?

Though, tbh, idk what their problem was. I've realised I wrote a different fic where Julian breaks down about his confused feelings for an off-screen Ezri that it could have been about. I've made a number of headcanon-y posts about Ezri being aro and not realising and having trouble interpreting Jadzia's allo feelings through an aro lens, so it could also be good old-fashioned aphobia 🤷‍♀️ Or, you know, maybe they were just taking out their frustration at the lack of their ship in this fandom in a really bad way (I get it, but just block the Garashir tag for a couple of days when you're getting burnt out by it, y'know? 😅)

I dunno, it's a weird one. I mean, for one thing, all my fics to date - one promptfill aside - are gen, unless they're explicit darkfic. For another, I want to write angsty Julian-centred h/c, and what I like about Jezri is that it's sweet and fluffy, so even if I were writing romance I'd probably go somewhere else.

Sorry, this has definitely become a ramble, but thanks for the ask!

(Honestly, if it was that fic, the point of it wasn't even to say that Ezri was at fault for Julian's quieter side! It's only a short, rushed thing, so maybe fair enough if it comes across that way - but the main point was that Julian's been depressed for a very long time, and is still depressed, and it's not Ezri's fault for not noticing, because she's only known him as a quieter, more reserved guy... And hinting at endgame Mikoshir, too, sure, but that's never exclusive...)

[chaifootsteps]

I was with my hs sweetheart for almost 5 years. We lived together and went through a lot together. Ultimately, it ended because of his refusal to keep steady employment, clean up after himself, and just refuse to do the bare minimum like laundry and wash dirty dishes. For the time we lived together I had to work shit retail jobs that paid me minimum wage. During that time I didn't really spend money on myself since it was bills or buy him something nice since my dumbass loved him.

Well, after leaving him i instantly transformed and was thriving in less than a month after leaving him. Unfortunately, someone i assumed was just a friend assumed I was going to throw my pussy at him and be his wife. Not once did we ever have a conversation related to romance and not once did that fucker ever try helping me when he knew my ex was abusing me. Somehow he built this fantasy in his mind we were going to be together and I was going to do everything I did for my ex for him. Well, dude expected me to be his sugar mommy on my minimum wage job when I returned back to community college so I wouldn't have to work for shit pay anymore.

I got treated like shit by him for not being able to spend thousands on him because how dare I do that for a guy I was with for 5 years. Keep in mind, it hadn't been two months since I left my ex when this happened. So while I'm trying to ignore that guy, I'm talking and trying to get potential new romantic partners.

He threw a fucking fit and starting treating me more like shit. I think 4 months passed and I finally found a guy I really liked. He finds out and cries so I kindly explain to him how he's done nothing but treat me like shit.

Guess what he says?

That it's because he's a "tsundere", that's why he did things like fat shame me (I wasn't overweight or even close to being overweight!), make fun of me for never having any money, call me ugly, and just do a bunch of shit to me that confused me on why he somehow wanted to be with me.

So anyways, I ended up sucking that other guys dick and he ended up bragging about it to a friend who was friends with that "tsundere" and oh my god. He cried and harassed me nonstop for that to the point I had to delete all my social media and I was so glad I didn't give him my new number I got after I left my ex.

So yeah, that's the time a "tsundere" expected me to go running to him after leaving my hs sweetheart. How dare I try finding someone who was actually nice to me.

You're an anon after my own heart, Anon. Fuck those guys and good on you for leaving them both to wallow in their pissbaby tears.

[theconstitutionisgayculture]

Even if the act itself was consensual, which BTW you can never tell for sure that it was, the recording AND UPLOADING of it might not have been. And in any case, I DO think it’s immoral to watch and therefore endorse content that belongs to the category in which rape is rampant even if not all of it is rape. It’s simply impossible to decouple porn from rape. Sadly, much like opiates, porn is also impossible to eradicate. Red taping it to hell and back is the only way.

And this is why I can't take these kinds of anti-porn arguments seriously or in good ffith. You clearly just want something you're morally against to be banned. Just because the potential for abuse exists doesn't mean you must assume that abuse is happening. This is the same "logic" used to ban guns because they might be used in a shooting, or to ban "hate speech" because it might incite violence.

If you don't support banning those things because abuse might happen, then your morals are conditional and you just want to impose your personal tastes on everyone else under the guise of morality.