#there was actually a story i've heard before

[thetadispatcher]

Nines studied the man a moment, even the lack of change in the other's expression was usable information for him in figuring out Bishop's motive. He wasn't shocked when he came to the conclusion the man was trying to get him to react for his own amusement, it seemed to be something a lot of humans tried to do.

Sure, some actually had good intentions behind it, but he found mainly he had to deal with the ones who made it their goal to see if they could piss him off. Unfortunately for Gavin, Nines enjoyed how his lack of reaction made the man rage so easily, it made basically having to babysit a grown man worth it.

"I know how to tell if a sibling murdered the other or not, possible motives, and how to get information out of them. Not how to act like one as that is not useful to solving a case." He had no need to understand sibling relationships beyond what was necessary to solve a case.

"Of course, our batteries can last way longer then a human's life span. And they may grow tired of the issue before then." Hugh responded with a nod, he had a feeling the problem would likely be forgotten quickly as there were more important issues surrounding android rights to deal with. And wasting time on a bunch of military units that weren't causing issues would be ridiculous.

Kelvin arrived after a few minutes, catching SIxty's attention as the other unit started to help him pack the boxes without acknowledging him. Sixty frowned a bit, showing he really didn't much care for Kelvin likely due to how the android seemed to ignore his existence to focus on his given task.

Sixty would rather talk to the other units, and with Kelvin he couldn't do that or get much of any feedback from him, something that annoyed him. But he never got physically upset with the other android as he understood it wasn't something Kelvin had any control over.

Strasky glanced at the new android, noting his odd clothes and the tactical vest that had a name tag attached to the front. He stopped himself from greeting the android as he noticed the blue cracks around his ear canal, which he felt meant he likely wouldn't be able to hear him.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Rook." Ellis said with a smile and a nod, glancing at Dan as the PL600 walked away to go speak with some of the construction units. He knew Dan could tell they'd do fine without him standing around as they were talking about a shared interest.

"Part of the Jet Grind Radio series. Yep, I've heard of it." He confirmed with a nod. "Hideki Naganuma does good music, very good. He did a song for Lethal League Blaze too, nothin' for the original Lethal League game." He noted, sure a game about hitting a ball back and forth probably wasn't exciting to some, but at least it had a good sound track to listen to.

"I haven't played Jet Set Radio yet, but it is on my list." Ellis slid the jack he was resting on under the nearby vehicle to start jacking it up, feeling he should work and talk at the same time.

"Right now, Pete an' I are doin' Hollow Knight together. For a game about bugs it's got a very good story, an' very interestin' boss fights." He felt Peter's poor explanation of the game might've made it far more interesting to him then it might normally be, but he was okay with that.

That brief show of emotion was met with the same look as before, as Bishop made sure to guard himself at the same time. That was subtle, he had to admit that. Perhaps Cyberlife had managed to create something worth the while.

"I suppose that's a limited sample. Although I would expect someone designed to do detective work would be provided with a deeper understanding of this sort of behavior."

Just because he personally chose not to act like a human being most of the time, it didn't mean he didn't understand how they acted. Then again, that might have just been another jab.

He looked back to his cards, "As they do. You can at least trust in the debate taking so long to get to a point that you might outlive the people involved."

That was what he did anyway.

"Ah, that works." Rook pulled out her phone, "Did you catch that, Willow?"

"Of course." Willow was already on the lookout. A rushing android should be hard to miss.

"Sorry about that. It's better to keep our guards up with Bishop around."

Then again they hadn't heard from the agent in a while. Rook followed Dan all the way to the garage. She didn't know what to expect, but it looked like the construction units looked friendly enough.

"Well, you should probably mention that hole in the wall you made." That seemed like something that should concern these androids.

While she was expecting to spot a familiar face, she could have never guessed who it actually was.

"Yeah, I'm new around here. I'm Rook, nice to meet you!" she replied with a smile, "Okay, that's good to know. I haven't played that game but I like Jet Set Radio. Do you know that one?"

[3hks]

Various Ways to End Your Story (But SPECIFIC)

How you end a story can make or break it, so it's REALLY important to end it in a way you find fitting! If you're looking for some ideas on this topic, you've come to the right place! Not only will I list the different types, but I'll detail them, break them down, and hopefully, include some that you've never thought/heard of before!

CIRCLE ENDING

Yes, I know, this is a pretty basic one; most people have heard of this ending before. However, that doesn't mean it's not a good way to end your novel!

As its name suggests, this is when the story circles back to the beginning, or at least references it, for an ending. It sounds basic, but there are a few different types of this!

I. Repeating the First Sentence

This is where your last sentence is a repeat (with none or few changes) of your very first sentence, which makes it super effective if you have a powerful first sentence!

II. Repeating the First Sentence (But Different)

As you can tell, this is nearly the same as the idea I mentioned above. The first and last sentence are the same, but the meanings of them differ because the readers have read through the whole story. When they re-read what was written, they'll see it through a different perspective.

For example: "He thinks it'd be amazing if he could fly like a bird."

At first, you might think that the character just finds it cool how birds can fly, and he wants that. But after reading, the readers might realize that there's a metaphorical meaning to "bird" or "fly", and they may realize that the character actually longs for freedom, peace, etc.

The point is, that ONE sentence takes on a different meaning despite remaining the same.

III. Returning to the Same Timeline

Unlike the first two, this one does not repeat the first sentence of your story. Instead, it references the beginning as a whole, often returning to the same timeline the narrator began at.

You can see this in works where the narrator is actually reciting the past (so they're speaking from the present), and around the end, they return to the present for final words.

ABRUPT ENDING

This is literally in the name--these next few conclusions are ones that are more abrupt. You'll see what I mean!

I. Cliffhanger

We've ALL heard of this, I'm sure. This is where the story ends at a point with high tension and suspense. While cliffhangers don't always have to be a quick ending, they technically leave the story unfinished, which I why I included this here.

All in all, this is good for maintaining interest and encouraging your readers to continue reading any sequels you might have!

II. Quick Ending

You might be thinking, 'what's the difference between the "quick ending" and the "abrupt ending"? The answer to that question is that the quick ending is the more general subcategory of the latter.

Basically, this is the ending where all--or at least most--loose ends are tied and there is a concrete resolution that satisfies your readers. However, there often is little insight to what your characters' futures may hold, since everything is ended often in a sentence or two.

Still, this is one of my all-time favorite ways to end a story because it can be very empowering if done right!

ALTERNATE PERSPECTIVE ENDINGS

I definitely feel like these are less common because they can get kind of off-track and they're hard to really fit in, but that just makes it more interesting!

I. Different Character's Perspective

I've honestly seen one author do this, and while I can't say it was my favorite conclusion, it was certainly fascinating to me.

This is where the story ends through the eyes of a side character, not the protagonist. Your stories actual resolution could have happened earlier, but the ending is from a different character's POV of a past, present, or future presented in a meaningful way.

II. Time Skip (Epilogue)

Out of these two subcategories, the 'time skip' ending is more popular for sure! If you have a more complex story (by that I mean one with a bigger cast, a lot of plot events, etc.), a time skip ending could be a good choice for you!

Usually, these time skips aren't just a couple of days or weeks, but often years or even decades. This is great if your protagonist has a super ambitious goal, and you want your readers to see what happens years after they reach it!

III. Reflection

This ending typically happens after a long time skip, where the narrator reflects upon their last actions/events that happened. Truthfully, I see this a lot more in stories that have sad or bittersweet endings, which we'll get into next!

IV. Flashback

If you're looking for a different one that ties back to the main character's past, this might be it! Instead of your story ending during the present or the future, in this case, your story ends in a meaningful flashback of a character. This is great if you want to emphasize how much the character changed and grew from their beginning!

EMOTIONAL ENDINGS

Let's talk about emotional endings, real quick!

I. Happy Endings

We all know about happy endings. Typically, the protagonist (and often their close friends/family) achieve their goal(s) and is satisfied with the results of their journey.

This is the most common story ending, emotion-wise, because it provides the readers with a good sense of closure and appeals to them!

II. Bittersweet Endings

This is where the resolution feels both happy and sad. Perhaps the protagonist achieved their goal(s) but lost things they valued along the way, or vice versa.

III. Tragic Endings

This ending can be both happy and sad, but there's definitely a lot more sadness than happiness. It can be like the one above (where they reach their goal but lose stuff/people they care about), or it can be a situation where the main character lost essentially everything.

"NON-CONCRETE" ENDING

I. Open-ended Ending

This is where the ending is up to interpretation! There might be suggestions of what happened, but it's ultimately unconfirmed, allowing the readers to draw their own conclusions.

Personally, I've never attempted this type of resolution (because I have a bad feeling it won't end well if I did), but it's pretty common!

II. New Beginning

This is where the story ends when the main character is starting a new life. Maybe they've moved to a new city, underwent changes as a person, and is escaping from their old life to start fresh.

This is one conclusion I see sometimes in dystopian novels!

III. False Victory

If you've ever watched a movie or read a book about a person whose goal is to make a HUGE impact on the world, you might've experienced this ending.

A "false victory" ending is where it seems like the protagonist has won, but the readers know that the victory itself is empty and/or temporary, with no permanent change.

Although, yes, this is technically a pretty concrete ending, it can leave readers--for lack of a better word--rather unsatisfied. However, that doesn't mean it's a bad choice!

EVOCATIVE ENDINGS

For this next section, I'll be talking about a few endings that I think heavily resonate with the readers--final words that your readers will remember.

I. Wordless Ending

Throughout the last few paragraphs of a resolution, there often is dialogue involved somewhere, and that's not a bad thing! I will never deny that dialogue is powerful, but so is the opposite.

This ending revolves around having no dialogue (and thoughts!). Instead, it focuses on imagery, the characters' actions, the setting, and literary devices to create a more immersive, beautiful ending!

II. Anonymous Hero

This one, in all honesty, this ending type applies to a more specific type of stories.

So basically, this is the situation in which your protagonist achieves their goal, normally a pretty impactful and important one at that, but no one actually knows it's them who accomplished this, resulting in their life returning to--more or less-normal than--their old one.

III. Proverbs, Quotes, Questions

We all know that we can begin a story with any of these options mentioned above (and more), but that doesn't mean we can't end them the same way! Granted, I do prefer the former, but there's undeniable charm in ending your work this way!

By making your last sentence(s) a quote, proverb, question, or even a poem (I like the idea of ending it in a couplet), it reemphasizes the theme of the story while providing resonant, beautiful final words.

CONCLUSION

If you made it all the way here (or skipped here), thank you for reaching the end! Remember that you can shape endings however you want! You don't have to pick only one of these and stick with it--combine them! Actually, I think several of these resolutions overlap each other.

If you have sent me a question/request, I PROMSE I haven't forgot! I'm getting to it (albeit very slowly), so I thank you for your patience; your support means everything to me!

Comment any other endings you can think of! I'd love to see what you guys come up with!

Happy writing~

3hks <3

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Pluralistic is five

I'm on a 20+ city book tour for my new novel PICKS AND SHOVELS. Catch me in SEATTLE TONIGHT (Feb 19) for with DAN SAVAGE, and in TORONTO on SUNDAY (Feb 23) at Another Story Books. More tour dates here.

Five years and two weeks ago, I parted ways with Boing Boing, a website I co-own and wrote for virtually every day for 19 years ago. Two weeks later – five years ago from today – I started my own blog, Pluralistic, which is, therefore, half a decade old, as of today.

I've written an annual rumination on this most years since.

Here's the fourth anniversary post (on blogging as a way to organize thoughts for big, ambitious, synthetic works):

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/20/fore/#synthesis

The third (on writing without analytics):

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/19/drei-drei-drei/#now-we-are-three

The second (on "post own site, share everywhere," AKA "POSSE"):

https://pluralistic.net/2022/02/19/now-we-are-two/#two-much-posse

I wasn't sure what I would write about today, but I figured it out yesterday, in the car, driving to my book-launch event with Wil Wheaton at LA's Diesel Books (tonight's event is in Seattle, with Dan Savage):

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cory-doctorow-with-dan-savage-picks-and-shovels-a-martin-hench-novel-tickets-1106741957989

I was listening to the always excellent Know Your Enemy podcast, where the hosts were interviewing Chris Hayes:

https://know-your-enemy-1682b684.simplecast.com/episodes/pay-attention-w-chris-hayes-OA3C8ZMp

The occasion was the publication of Hayes's new book, The Sirens' Call, about the way technology interacts with our attention:

https://sirenscallbook.com

The interview was fascinating, and steered clear of moral panic about computers rotting our brains (shades of Socrates' possibly apocryphal statements that reading, rather than memorizing, was destroying young peoples' critical faculties). Instead, Hayes talked about how empty it feels to read an algorithmic feed, how our attention gets caught up by it, sometimes for longer than we planned, and then afterward, we feel like our attention and time were poorly spent. He talked about how reflective experiences – like reading a book with his kid before school – are shattered by pocket-buzzes as news articles came in. And he talked about how satisfying it was to pay protracted attention to something important, and how hard that was.

Listening to Hayes's description, I realized two things: first, he was absolutely right, those are terrible things; and second, I barely experience them (though, when I do, it makes me feel awful). Both of these are intimately bound up with my blogging and social media habits.

15 years ago, I published "Writing in the Age of Distraction," an article about preserving your attention in a digital world so you could get writing done. We live in a very different world, but the advice still holds up:

https://www.locusmag.com/Features/2009/01/cory-doctorow-writing-in-age-of.html

In particular, I advised readers to turn off all their alerts. This is something I've done since before the smartphone era, tracking down the preferences that kept programs like AIM, Apple Mail and Google Reader from popping up an alert when a new item appeared. This is absolutely fundamental and should be non-negotiable. When I heard Hayes describe how his phone buzzes in his pocket whenever there is breaking news, I was actually shocked. Do people really allow their devices to interrupt them on a random reinforcement schedule? I mean, no wonder the internet makes people go crazy. I'm not a big believer in BF Skinner, but I think it's well established that any stimulus that occurs at random intervals is impossible to get used to, and shocks you anew every time it recurs.

Rather than letting myself get pocket-buzzed by the news, I have an RSS reader. You should use an RSS reader, seriously:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/16/keep-it-really-simple-stupid/#read-receipts-are-you-kidding-me-seriously-fuck-that-noise

I periodically check in with my reader to see what stories have been posted. The experience of choosing to look at the news is profoundly different from having the news blasted at you. I still don't always choose wisely – I'm as guilty of scrolling my phone when I could be doing something more ultimately satisfying as anyone else – but the affect of being in charge of when and how I consume current events is the opposite of the feeling of being at the beck-and-call of any fool headline writer who hits "publish."

This is even more important in the age of smartphones. Whenever you install an app, turn off its notifications. If you forget and an app pushes you an update ("Hi, this is the app you used to pay your parking meter that one time! We're having a 2% off sale on parking spots in a different city from the one you're in now and we wanted to make sure you stopped whatever you were doing and found out about it RIGHT NOW!") then turn off notifications for that app. Consider deleting it. Your phone should buzz when you're expecting a call, or an important message.

Note I said important message. I also turn off notifications for most of the apps I use that have a direct-messaging function. I check in with my group chats periodically, but I never get interrupted by friends across town or across the world posting photos of lunch or kvetching about the guy who farted next to them on the subway. I look at those chats when I'm taking a break, not when I'm trying to get stuff done. It's really nice to stay on top of your friends' lives without feeling low-grade resentment for how they interrupted your creative fog with a ganked Tiktok video of a zoomer making fun of a boomer for getting mad at a millennial for quoting Osama bin Laden. There's times when it makes sense to turn on group-chat notifications – like when you're on a group outing and trying to locate one another – but the rest of the time, turn it off.

Now, there are people I need to hear from urgently, who do get to buzz my pockets when something important comes up – people I'm working on a project with, say, or my wife and kid. But I also have all those people trained to send me emails unless it's urgent. You know the norm we have about calling someone out of the blue being kind of gross and rude? That's how you should feel about making someone's pocket buzz, unless it's important. Send those people emails.

I visit my email in between other tasks and clear out my inbox. If that sounds impossible, I have some suggestions for how to manage it:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/dec/21/keeping-email-address-secret-spambots

Tldr? Get you some mail rules:

add everyone you correspond with to an address book called "people I know"

filter emails from anyone in the "people I know" address book into a high priority inbox, which you just treat as your regular inbox

look at the unfiltered inbox (full of people you've never corresponded with) every day or two and reply to messages that need replying (and those people will thereafter be filtered into the "people I know" inbox)

filter any message containing the world "unsubscribe" into a folder called "mailing lists"

if you're subscribed to mailing lists that you feel you can't leave because it would be impolite, filter them into a folder called "mailing lists" unless the message contains your name (so you can reply promptly if someone mentions you on the list)

The point here is to manage your attention. You decide when you want to get non-urgent communications, and mail-app automation automatically flags the stuff that you are most likely to want to see. For extra credit: adopt a "suspense file" that lets you manage other peoples' emails to you:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/26/one-weird-trick/#todo

Now, let's talk about algorithmic feeds. Lots of phosphors have been spilled on this subject, and critics of The Algorithm have an unfortunately propensity to buy into the self aggrandizement of soi-dissant evil sorcerer tech bros who claim they can "hack your dopamine loops" by programming an algorithmic feed. I think this is bullshit. Mind-control rays are nonsense, whether they are being promoted by Rasputin or a repentant Prodigal Tech Bro:

https://conversationalist.org/2020/03/05/the-prodigal-techbro/

But I hate algorithmic feeds. To explain why, I should explain how much I love non-algorithmic feeds. I follow a lot of people on several social media services, and I almost never feel the need to look at trending topics, suggested posts, or anything resembling the "For You" feed. Sure, there's times when I want to turn on the ole social TV and see what's on – the digital equivalent of leaving the TV on in a hotel room while I unpack and iron my suit – but those times are rare.

Mostly what I get is a feed of the things that my friends think are noteworthy enough to share. Some of that stuff is "OC" (material they've posted themselves), but the majority of it is stuff they're boosting from the feeds of their friends. Now, I say friend but I don't know the majority of the people I follow. I have a parasocial relationship (these get an undeserved bad rap) with them.

We're "friends" in the sense that I think they have interesting taste. There's people I've followed for more than a decade without exchanging a single explicit communication. I think they're cool, and I repost the cool stuff they post, so the people who follow me can see it. Reposting is a way of collaborating with other people who've opted into sharing their attention-management with you:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/05/27/probably/

Reposting with a comment? Even better – you're telling people why to pay attention to that thing, or, more importantly, why they can safely ignore it if it's not their thing (what Bruce Sterling memorably calls an "attention conservation notice"). This is why Mastodon's decision not to implement quote-tweeting (over a misplaced squeamishness about "dunk culture") was such a catastrophic own-goal. If you're building a social network without an algorithmic suggestion feed (yay), you absolutely can't afford to block a feature that lets people annotate the material they boost into other people's timelines:

https://fediversereport.com/fediverse-report-104/

Remember how I said the affect of going to read the news is totally different (and infinitely superior) to the affect of having the news pushed to you? Same goes for the difference between getting a feed of things boosted and written by people you've chosen to follow, and getting a feed of things chosen by an algorithm. This is for reasons far more profound than the mere fact that algorithms use poor signals to choose those posts (e.g. "do a lot of people seem to be arguing about this post?").

For me, the problem with algorithmic feeds is the same as the problem with AI art. The point of art is to communicate something, and art consists of thousands of micro-decisions made by someone intending to communicate something, which gives it a richness and a texture that can make art arresting and profound. Prompting an AI to draw you a picture consists of just a few decisions, orders of magnitude fewer communicative acts than are embodied in a human-drawn illustration, even if you refine the image through many subsequent prompts. What you get is something "soulless" – a thing that seems to involve many decisions, but almost all of them were made by a machine that had no communicative intent.

This is the definition of "uncanniness," which is "the seeming of intention without intending anything." Most of the "meaning" in an AI illustration is "meaning that does not stem from organizing intention":

https://pluralistic.net/2024/05/13/spooky-action-at-a-close-up/#invisible-hand

The same is true of an algorithmic feed. When someone you follow – a person – posts or boosts something into their feed, there is a human intention. It is a communicative act. It can be very communicative, even if it's just a boost, provided the person adds some context with their own commentary or quoting. It can be just a little communicative, too – a momentary thumbpress on the boost button. But either way, to read a feed populated by people, rather than machines, is to be showered with the communicative intent of people whom you have chosen to hear from. Perhaps you chose unwisely and followed someone whose communications are banal or offensive or repetitious. Unfollow them.

Most importantly, follow the people who are followed by the people you follow. If someone whose taste you like pleases or interests you time and again by promoting something by a stranger to your attention, then bring that stranger closer by making them someone you follow, too. Do this, again and again, and build a constellation of people who make you smile or make you think. Just the act of boosting and virtually handling the things those people make and boost gets that stuff into your skin and your thoughts:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/07/31/divination/

This is the good kind of filter bubble – the bubble of "people who interest me." I'm not saying that it's a sin to read an algorithmic feed, but relying on algorithmic feeds is a recipe for feeling empty, and regretful of your misspent attention. This is true even when the algorithm is good at its job, as with Tiktok, whose whole appeal is to take your hands off the wheel and give total control over to the autopilot. Even when an algorithm makes many good guesses about what you'll like, seeing something you like isn't as nice, as pleasing, as useful, as seeing that same thing as the result of someone else's intention.

And, of course, once you let the app drive, you become a soft target for the cupidity and deceptions of the app's makers. Tiktok, for example, uses its "heating tool" to selectively boost things into your feed – not because they think you'll like it, but because they want to trick the person whose content they're boosting into thinking that Tiktok is a good place to distribute their work through:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/21/potemkin-ai/#hey-guys

The value of an algorithmic feed – of an intermediated feed – is to help you build your disintermediated, human feed. Find people you like through the algorithm, follow them, then stop letting the algorithm drive.

And the human feed you consume is input for the human feed you create, the stream of communicative acts you commit in order to say to the world, "This is what feels good to spend my attention on. If this makes you feel good, too, then please follow me, and you will sit downstream of my communicative acts, as I sit downstream of the communicative acts of so many others."

The more communicative the feeds you emit are, the more reward you will reap. First, because interrogating your own attention – "why was this thing interesting?" – is a clarifying and mnemonic act, that lets you get more back from the attention you pay. And second, because the more you communicate about those attentive insights, the more people you will find who are truly Your People, a community that goes beyond "I follow this stranger" and gets into the realm of "this stranger and I are on the same side in a world of great peril and worry":

https://pluralistic.net/2021/05/09/the-memex-method/

Which brings me back to this blog and my fifth bloggaversary. Because a blog is a feed, but one that is far heavier on communications than a stream of boosted posts. Five years into this iteration of my blogging life (and 24 years into my blogging life overall), blogging remains one of the most powerful, clarifying and uplifting parts of my day.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2025/02/19/gimme-five/#jeffty

[waterparksdrama]

has anyone got a summary of daph or jawn’s lives i can’t find anything abt them anywhere

i don't think i can even summarize jawn's live without getting angry or just repeat him talking in circles trying to victim blame and embarrass daphne with intimate information along with his friend who was getting very inappropriately giggly with (you kinda catch a. weird vibe from them together i think you can put two and two together especially with the information daphne gives later). his friend literally says "there are actual victims out there and i cant stand when people pretend to be a victim when they're not". like ????? she was also consistently feeding him things to say typed out on her phone and they would continue their whisper sessions. daphne went live during this and jawn's demeanor went dark as he was presumably told what she was saying through a phone call.

he went on a second stream without his friend about an hour later where he can't keep his story straight and shares more irrelevant and intimate information while shedding crocodile tears before finally logging off.

this is a photo of jawn uh...crying during the second stream.

now for daphne's live, it also contains incredibly sensitive information and she had tears down her face throughout and someone in the room comforting her as she spoke. i do not want her to feel that we are putting words in her mouth and i don't think it's right to show her in such distress so i will provide the transcript of what she said below as i feel it is important that these are her words and her story below the cut:

Daphne: --cry on here, so please forgive me. This has been something that I have sat on for a very, very long time and it really, really hurts to see people that were previously a part of my life, like Melanie [the friend who joined Jawn on stream] and Miranda talked down so quickly of me when they were there. For a lot of it.

And they saw the things that happened, or heard at least about some of the things that happened to me.

Jawn never physically abused me. And I will say that up front. And I'm very, very sorry if that is the impression that anybody got. But there are many types of abuse, like emotional and mental abuse. And that is something that I had to go through for an extremely long amount of time.

And I don't tell a lot of people about it for a very long time. And I opened up to Melanie and she sympathized with me and felt terrible for me and even encouraged me to leave Jawn. Somebody that she knew longer--she knew Jawn longer than she knew me, and she even encouraged me to leave the situation, and I did.

And then whenever I did leave, I had no more support from her and no more support for Miranda and a lot of people that were in Jawn's inner circle. This is not information that I ever wanted to share, because honestly, it is embarrassing for me and it is still very, very sensitive.

Jawn cheated on me countless times. Was the worst--I can't believe I have to say this out loud.

[friend]: You sure you want to?

Daphne: I have to, he's dragging me online. I have to. And Melanie's over there speaking a bunch of bullshit.

[friend]: Okay, well, share what you're comfortable with.

Daphne: Jawn and I were going to have a child back in 2022.

And…I ultimately made the decision to not keep the child because of the things that were happening in our relationship. And during that time, he was talking to other women and emotionally cheating on me, which was a consistent pattern of his for years.

And during that time, I've never felt so alone and so isolated from somebody that I thought I could love and somebody that I had their support going through with this decision on. And I have never felt so degraded in my entire life, except for when that happened.

There are many other instances of things that he's done, like he's--he's sent videos of me to his friends of us being intimate together. That is--I hate--I hate that I had to do this. I thought it could be very vague and just leave it at that, but clearly that's not the case.

And I--I wanted to move forward, being friends with him. And I thought. That maybe we could get back together. And I know he's talking about that, but it's making me seem fucking stupid. But when you're in a cycle for really bad relationship, I stayed. I thought that things would change and they just never did.

[friend]: You're just getting supported.

Daphne: I know, but I just…But I don't know what else to say. Well, he never physically abused me. There was a lot of emotional abuse, but I endured for years. And he's never treated me with respect or ever been honest with me about a lot of things.

And I hate this is--I hate that I have to be doing this right now. I thought that just by posting a story in response to…in response to the stream last night, that that would be enough. But clearly it wasn't.

I don't think I need to say anything else, so I'll keep this brief, but that's all I have to say at this time. And it's unfortunate that it came to this point, and I did give him a time limit to say something because--we have been on a break, and I told him that if boundaries had been crossed again, which they were, that--*light chuckle of disbelief*

[friend]: Literally every boundary that's ever broken--

Daphne: Every boundary ever, ever broken…that I would no longer be able to support him and defend him and do all these things which in the midst of all of this, I continued to support and defend his character, including the grooming allegations which I still stand by. He never groomed me. That is not that was not anything--a part of any--like none of that ever happened.

But in the midst of all of it, this is just where we're at. So I'm very sorry that this had to happen. And I'm sorry to anyone else involved in this, but *reads comment* "And I sent threats to his friends?" What the fuck? *light laughter of disbelief* I don't send threats to his friends, what are they talking about?

[friend]: Yes. We agree he shouldn't be airing out this business like this. That's why this live happened. Thank you, everyone, for sending mostly love. Some very, untruthful, random things are being sprinkled in here, but mostly love for our girl.

Daphne: *reads comment* What blackmail?

[friend]: And I have no idea what that is about. But…we appreciate your support. And Daphne is the best person on the face of this earth and all love. And just want to move on. That's all.

Daphne: I only ever wanted to be able to remain friends with him and keep--keep things good between us.

[friend]: And we see that he's showing text messages and everything. And at the end of the day, I don't think anyone wants to see the back and forth of a tulmultuous relationship. So let's just put it out that it's not fun for anyone that's not mature, that's not adult. Let's move forward. That's not what we're going to be doing. *reads comment* Thank you Daph. Other Daph.

Daphne: Um, yeah. Thank you guys. Okay. I don't have anything else to say.

[friend]: You don't have to say anything else.

Daphne: *lightly* Bye.

[pastasuccubus]

Xelzaz is my overall favorite follower because he's not just fully platonic, but intelligent. Just ignore his racially insensitive questions to Khajiit DBs lmfao they genuinely come from a place of ignorance and they're pretty funny. He really knows how to make you feel guilty for considering doing Daedric quests. He's the group mom.

Inigo goes into every save, because he's my comfort bankie, and I can't imagine what my life would be like if I hadn't stumbled across his mod when I was severely depressed. He's fully platonic, like Xelzaz, but DAMN is he simple sometimes lmao. He's creative, at least.

Taliesin is a character that I want to see grow---he's my butterfly. I see his exploration into Skyrim to be the caterpillar finally coming out of his chrysalis, and it doesn't matter to me if he's actually a moth. Then he's a beautiful moth with a sweet personality. I saw Dynamite124's sneakpeak at his new dialogue, and that line would actually make my face red (I barely reacted to his more scandalous dialogue lol).

I enjoy Lucien's flaws, because the nuance and the stories he both actively and passively tells are fun. Nepo baby learning how to finally make friends, and all that. I've made a whole posts about him before lol, I don't just yell at him for collecting 306 firewood.

I accidentally romanced Auri once, which was mortifying because I was still in the closet back then, and my dad was in the room. I got that 'tism rizz, ig. When more time passes, I might actually do her romance route again---just intentionally this time as someone who's now out and proud.

I also accidentally romanced Gore once, which was not my intention at all. Idk what's wrong with me, I keep on thinking I'm being platonic, then 'oops, romance.' Only reason I'm in my irl relationship is because I stumbled into it, but I actually had a crush on him back this time. I'll legit see the word 'date' and assume that it's platonic.

I like Remiel's platonic route, but I've also accidentally romanced her before. There's definitely something wrong with me lmao. She's a great character, and she's dense---just like me frfr.

Intentionally romanced Kaidan on pre-extended edition and community revoiced. Tbh, I prefer the revoiced, it's less buggy and the dialogue hits its marks better.

They're all my favorite, in some way---

Except Bishop, I tried playing with him once, years ago, after I heard some online hype about him, and I was incredibly uncomfortable as a then fresh-faced 18 year old. He reminded me too much of the lecherous men I often used to see in customer service---just with a younger face. Everything about him screams cycle of abuse, over-sexualization, misogyny, and the way he demeans the DB is disgusting. My ethics don't stand by him as a character and I really wonder what was going on in the heads of the people who made his mod.

I would like to throw in Recorder as a follower mod I enjoyed, I only ever went platonic route with her. I have heard some online criticism, but I don't know much about it tbh.

I'm planning on installing Val Serano pepper or whatever his name is. I can't remember who has interaction dialogue with him though.

Varrick is also a mod I keep on meaning to install. When I first saw the name, I got excited because I thought that someone had successfully made a functioning Dragon Age 2: Varric mod. He's the best character in that whole damn game---which he should be, cuz he's the one recounting the whole story to Cassandra. But back to the Skyrim Varrick lol. I would love to have an old man on my team, getting up to shenanigans.

Everytime I try one a new one pops up in my reccomended! So I got curious

Please reblog for a bigger sample!!!!

[official-penis-posts]

hey, anon asking about my partner preferring to eat me out above literally everything else. i wanted to say thank you for replying and also for everyone in the comments of the OP sharing their stories about cishet male partners with similar tastes/functions.

unfortunately all of my prior experience with penises have been the extremely penis-centric version. male pleasure was always put at the utmost, and getting hard and having him ejaculate was always felt to be the priority of sex. i never got head unless i was going to give it back. it sucked a lot, and i really didn't feel good. therefore my only experiences have been with "PIV is the goal" sex.

and then i met him. (which, wow, never heard of a service top before and that sounds spot on to what he likes.) we've had multiple conversations about my worry that I'm not doing anything for him, and he's always enthusiastically assured me that he wants nothing more than to be used for my pleasure. he's never mentioned being upset about his dick-- in fact he's said that he gets hard way more often and for way longer around me than ever before.

he said when i touched him it felt great, but i didn't make him cum (and he honestly looks harder after/during pleasuring me than when i try to do things to him.) it's an odd juxtaposition, feeling selfish and like i'm having all the fun and feeling wildly lucky that he is the way he is. but thinking about it, i know i've been very horny without being wet, so surely the same can be happening for him. beyond that, he's always the one going down or pulling me onto his face-- definitely not the behavior of someone who feels unsatisfied or pressured.

TLDR; thank you all for sharing and helping me challenge some anxieties about being a bad/underperforming partner :,) <3

Hey it sounds like everything is just fine with you and your partner, and it’s actually societal expectations that’s fucked up. Enjoy!!!

[gold-rhine]

lets give it up for the real MVP of this skip patch, the traveler anecdotes event or whatever its called, its actually REALLY GOOD??

these kind of slice of life moments showing characters in cute and silly situations of their daily lives, exploring sides we've only heard before but didnt really interact with, having the storylines progress and take interesting turns and event interact with other storylines. fischl dictionary, diona's hunting adventures, rosa's moment with venti, xq's horrible handwriting gags, zhongli buying light novels for hu tao, etc. there were so many gems and i dont think i've played thru all of them yet. i dont event care much about some of these characters, like diona, but her plotline was entertaining anyway, esp payoff. and i also neutral to positive on qiqi and yao yao, but their storyline actually affected me and was much better, subtler and bittersweet than raiden and her dead oni friend story in the event, and they didnt get no fancy animations.

they should FOR REAL make this a permanent thing and for all characters, maybe just one character per day or even per week if its too much writing, but this lowkey fluffy episodes are so engaging and make characters feel like people actually having lives.

[bookloover35]

Between Pages And Moments- Steve Harrington x fem reader.

You were in the library, as you always were when the school bell rang, pulling out a new book from the shelf and curling up in a quiet corner to lose yourself in a new world. The pages felt like home—each one a comfort, each word a friend. You liked it this way, alone in your bubble of books.

But that was before Steve Harrington came into your life.

It started innocently enough. You were reading in the school courtyard one afternoon when you heard a familiar voice.

"Hey, bookworm."

You looked up, surprised to find Steve Harrington standing above you. His signature smile was there, but it was different. Not the playful, cocky grin you were used to, but something softer, more genuine.

"Hi, Steve," you replied, shifting in your seat. "What's up?"

He scratched the back of his head, clearly uncomfortable. "Uh, I was wondering if you'd help me with something."

You raised an eyebrow. Steve Harrington, asking for help? Now that was new. "With what?"

"English," he muttered. "I know, it's embarrassing, but I've been slacking on the reading for this one book... and I heard you're like, the expert around here."

Your heart skipped a beat. Steve Harrington, the guy everyone talked about, asking you for help with books? You tried to hide your surprise, nodding slowly. "I can definitely help with that."

He grinned, and it was like the sun breaking through clouds. "Awesome. Thanks."

Over the next few weeks, Steve began meeting you during lunch breaks or after school. He would sit with you in the library, trying his best to get through the chapters. At first, it was awkward. He fumbled over words, and you patiently explained the context, the symbolism, the meaning behind things. You found yourself enjoying his company more than you'd thought possible. Steve was funny in his own way, and you loved how he genuinely tried to understand the stories, even if he was more of a "movie guy" than a bookworm like you.

One afternoon, as the sun set, casting a golden glow through the library windows, Steve glanced at you with a smile that made your heart flutter. He'd finally gotten through one of the books you'd recommended, and to your surprise, he seemed really invested in the story.

"You know," Steve said, leaning back in his chair, "I didn't get why people liked reading before. I mean, I got the whole 'escape into a new world' thing, but I didn't think it could be this... fun?"

You smiled, pushing your glasses up your nose as you looked at him. "Books can do that. They make you see the world in a different way. It's like—" You paused, thinking for a moment. "It's like you're living another life for a while."

Steve's eyes softened, and he leaned forward. "Yeah, I get it now."

You looked down at the book you were reading, a little embarrassed. "You know, I'm glad you're here. It's... it's nice having someone to talk to about it."

Steve chuckled, a light blush coloring his cheeks. "I didn't think I'd be the one talking to you about books, but here we are."

For a moment, the two of you sat in comfortable silence, the only sound the rustle of pages and the occasional creak of a chair. You hadn't realized how much you enjoyed his presence until then. It was easy, effortless—like something that should have always been there.

Finally, Steve spoke again, his tone quieter this time. "I'm glad I met you, you know? Not just for the books... but because you actually see me. Not the stupid jock or the 'king of Hawkins High.' You see the real me."

Your heart warmed, and you looked up at him, meeting his gaze. "I've always seen the real you, Steve."

He smiled, his hand reaching out to gently touch yours. It was a small, simple gesture, but it meant everything. You felt the connection deepen—something more than friendship, something that had been slowly building over time.

"I think," Steve started, his voice low, "that I might like to read more, if it means spending more time with you."

You grinned, your heart racing. "I'd be happy to teach you."

And so, between the pages of books and stolen moments in the library, a new chapter began—one filled with laughter, love, and stories that brought you both closer together.

[bookshelf-in-progress]

Once again, I am SO EXCITED to show you guys a retelling, but unfortunately I have to write it first.

[bubblegum-gf]

videos from the gay chicken universe

[queenlucythevaliant]

'Yes, that old oak with which I saw eye to eye was here in this forest,' thought Prince Andrei. 'But whereabouts?' he wondered again, looking at the left side of the road and, without realizing, without recognizing it, admiring the very oak he sought. The old oak, quite transfigured, spread out a canopy of dark, sappy green, and seemed to swoon and sway in the rays of the evening sun. There was nothing to be seen now of knotted fingers and scars, of old doubts and sorrows. Through the rough, century-old bark, even where there were no twigs, leaves had sprouted, so juicy, so young that it was hard to believe that aged veteran had borne them.

'Yes, it is the same oak,' thought Prince Andrei, and all at once he was seized by an irrational, spring-like feeling of joy and renewal. All the best moments of his life of a sudden rose to his memory. Austerlitz, with that lofty sky, the reproachful look on his dead wife's face, Pierre at the ferry, that girl thrilled by the beauty of the night, and that night itself and the moon and ... everything suddenly crowded back into his mind.

'No, life is not over at thirty-one,' Prince Andrei decided all at once, finally and irrevocably. 'It is not enough for me to know what I have in me- everyone else must know it too: Pierre, and that young girl who wanted to fly away into the sky; all of them must learn to know me, in order that my life may not be lived for myself alone.

From War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

[asleepinawell]

every time i overhead smash something with my giant hammer i imagine it's this pop up

[a-quiet-autumn]

i have not listened to hamilton in like a week why is he STILL HERE

read the tags if you want to see me talk about musicals for a little TOO long

[katyspersonal]

I know we don't talk and there's stuff we may not agree with. But I am truly sorry you've dealt with a lot of drama over fictional crap. And I'm sorry if my posts in the past ever contributed to that. Hope you have a better day.

Hey... That's all fine, don't worry! After all, it takes a lot of time and Insight to realise that Gehrman is a very gentle and respectful man and Godrick is an absolute gigachad kdkdkshdffhhgfds /lh /lh

But yeah, on a serious note. It was quite frustrating to find out the real motivation under all that... mess was something so pathetic, but at the same time this is what happens when people make engagement with media and fandoms a moral, political act. Not necessarily a problem, after all, I was the one who concluded that the way a fan judges fictional characters and other fans will very well reveal how cruel they are to real people who do something bad, or how much they will forgive based on personal sympathies. And my mad ravings about caring about female characters! I think the problem comes when a fan is so insecure that they have nothing else besides this defence of ideals through fandomry. If your only way to assert yourself is to be a good guy punishing the bad guys, and that mad raving loredigger discovers there is NO bad guy, what is left of you?

This is why it is crucial to have passion for nurturing rather than for undermining! I think if you speak like this, you've found this truth too? This is true that I don't know you very much (mutual-in-law thing), but to be honest.. you didn't poison my fandom experience at all? I tend to never be aware about discourse until someone basically calls me for help fhdhgsdgdfs Can't scout the fandom tag regularly!

But not only it actually was a quite long ago I saw a "negative" post from you, but also I've seen through the posts that my friends liked or reblogged from you that you've actually became very eager person to defend people's passion and interests! I think the post that particularly got stuck with me was when you resented seeing someone's light die after some Redditor asshole "well aktualy"'d a thing they were excited about creating (not exact wording but maybe you remember too)? Like... you are fine, man. At that point I realised that you were a good fan and in the end valued people's creativity and passion over personal preferences. That you never wanted to be THAT guy, even if your interpretation could not be further from someone else's. Coming to terms with what actually matters in fandomry is very mature and I am happy to see this attitude!

I am still glad that you messaged me about this though; I did not expect this, but thank you! I think I will continue getting involved in fictional discourse because my autistic senses cannot ignore factually incorrect takes with a clear insidious motive, and.. eh, sooner or later, I'll piss off the wrong guy again. Don't feel bad for me when it inevitably happens :p I've accepted the shortcomings when I decided to be the debate guy. Simply laughing at some gremlin starting a discourse with the girls in DMs and not stressing over it is only funny until I realise that newer fans could get misinformed right off the bat.

[nyxypoo]

live laugh love my local library

[valiant-portabella-pirkko]

alright, time for some post-beta screens:

Inventor Irvyn - Engineer (Holosmith)

Glaucia Razetalon - Revenant (Renegade)

Postumus Skyslicer - Ranger (Soulbeast)

and a bonus dabbing Ruju that absolutely nobody asked for: