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darkficsyouneveraskedfor · 6 months ago

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To a Tea 3

No tag lists. Do not send asks or DMs about updates. Review my pinned post for guidelines, masterlist, etc.

Part of the Sweet and Spicy AU

Warnings: this fic will include dark content such as dubcon/noncon, and other possible triggers. My warnings are not exhaustive, enter at your own risk.

18+ only. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: A demanding customer grows increasingly needy.

Character: Raymond Smith

The title is a pun, don’t @ me.

Please comment and reblog if it’s not too much. I always love getting to chat about these stories and hearing all your ideas! You all are wonderful and loved.

Six days in a row and you’re ready to keel over. Amid your busy schedule, you hadn’t a chance to fill your quickly dwindling cupboards and fridge. So, after a ten-hour shift on your feet, running all around the tables and between tea rooms, you expend the last of your strength on a quick trip to the shop.

It isn’t too far out of your way. It’s just a half-block away from your stop. You could wait until tomorrow, your day off, but you’re dying for a strawberry shortcake mochi before you tuck into bed. The rest of your night isn’t too unusual; you’ll be happy to fall asleep to an episode of the same old sitcom that you know by rote.

You yawn over the bask hooked over your elbow. You have your mochi and a few other staples to get you through; eggs, oat milk, and your favourite brand of granola. You rub your forehead as a stitch threatens to imprint itself permanently. Tomorrow you’ll do a proper shop.

You stop just before the cashier and peruse the discount shelf. Those chocolate-covered gummy worms are deadly. You shouldn’t.

You reach for the package, eyeing it up, blinking away another yawn. Those will only have you waking up with a sore tummy.

“You’d be better off with the dark chocolate, or even the peanuts,” someone says. The timbre is dulcet but firm, and strangely familiar.

You look over at the figure standing around the side of the shelves. You fear you might be hallucinating as you stare at Raymond. He has a square of protein chocolate in hand but sets it back where he got it, making certain it and every other bar is straight.

“Oh, hi?” You stammer.

The tea shop is busy and you’re certain you’ve probably crossed paths with at least one customer outside store hours, but never like this. If anything, you both look the other way and carry on. Instead, he’s intent on you, shifting to face you fully as he sets his shoulders, clutching his hands before him.

“Though I do suppose you’ve already got the ice cream, it hardly matters what else you add to your lot,” he muses.

You look in your basket then at him. Is he judging you? Mr. Black Tea, plain. You hang the bag back on the hook. As you do, he steps forward and you shuffle back on your heels. He pulls the bag in line with others, rescinding his hand with a flutter of fingers.

“If you’re in the mind for something sweet, there’s a place near here, it has a sticky toffee pudding more worth the expense,” he suggests.

You don’t know what to say. You haven’t seen him since he muttered about your apron strings. In the two weeks after, you assumed he might not come back. As particular as he is, you thought you’d gone egregiously over the line. And yet, you’d forgotten about him for all the other bodies passing through the door.

“Thanks, I’ll look into that,” you say.

“Mm,” he hums and his eyes flit up and down behind his lenses, “you sound different.”

“Do I?” You reach to scratch your neck.

“You look different too.”

You tilt your head and give a confused grimace, “well, I...” you glance down, “suppose I'm not wearing my apron.”

“Must be it,” he agrees, “you sound tired.”

“I guess... yeah,” you take a breath and let it out slowly.

It’s strange. He’s not a customer here, there is no need to please and yet you feel you must. You poke the tip of your tongue out then hide it behind your lips.

“Not in a bad way,” he assures you.

“Right, thanks,” you say in a fracture, “that’s nice, but uh, I... I’m just on my way home.”

“I know,” he says.

“...so then I’ll just be--” you point towards the checkout and falter, “what did you say?”

“Yes, down Trafalgar. I know. It’s late,” he peers over towards the transparent walls along the front of the shop, “these parts aren’t too safe this time of day.”

“Trafal--“ you begin but can’t finish, “Raymond.”

He blinks, his expression scarily placid.

“Details,” he says evenly, “it is best to keep note of them. It is dangerous not to mind them.” He raises a finger, “one might not notice the shadow that walks behind theirs or the window they left open in the kitchen.”

Your lip trembles as your heart sinks, “have you... have you been following me?”

“Following... that sounds sinister,” he gives a crooked expression, “no, no, I would consider it... I keep you safe.”

“Safe. From what, exactly?”

He narrows his eyes and his lips straighten thoughtfully.

“Well, from men like me.”

His words turn your blood to ice. Men like him. What does he mean?

“I...” you take a step back and he moves with you. You put your hand up to stop him as you still, “Raymond, do not come any closer.”

“You don’t understand, I wouldn’t hurt you,” he says, “that’s what makes me different. Not like those other men.”

“I mean it,” you warn him. “If you come any closer, I will make a scene.”

Your adrenaline courses through you. You’re awake now. The yawns have dissipated and your eyes are wide.

“Ah, and that’s where I am like the other men,” he shrugs, “it doesn’t matter if I come closer to you right now. Hardly matters. Because I can wait. I have waited. And when I...” he steps towards you and you put the basket between you, his stomach pressing against it, “come closer, you will not even see me coming.”

You stare at him, horrified. His blue eyes gleam and he reaches to straighten his glasses. He smirks and his brows draw up coyly. He leans in and you lean away. Then suddenly, he backs off and tugs his cuffs straight, then fixes his tie.

“Don’t forget to close your window,” he says as he spins on his heel, “wouldn’t want some nocturnal creature creeping in.”

You gape after him as he saunters off. You can’t quiet move as disbelief has you stuck to the spot. It’s all so sudden. So unexpected. How could you ever predict something like this? The uptight man from the tea shop, a stranger really, a face who disappeared for a whole fortnight, and he’s just shaken your entire world into disarray.

Men like him? You don’t even know who he is. Only his name and how he likes his tea.

#raymond smith #dark raymond smith #dark!raymond smith #raymond smith x reader #the gentlemen #series #drabble #au #sweet and spicy #to a tea

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myfirstgamejam · 4 months ago

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My First Game Jam 2024 is on!

The optional theme is: “Light”

Here’s a few tips and links to get the most out of the jam.

Make a dev log on the community!

A development blog is a blog in which a game developer or team talks about the process they’ve made over the course of the game’s creation. Maintaining a devblog keeps your audience in the know and helps facilitate productivity so you’ll have something to blog about. It also serves as a record of problems you encounter as well as the solutions you find for those problems.

Development logs are essentially the same thing, except we’ll be using the jam forums rather than a blog. However, you are free to use both the forums and your own blog as you develop your game.

Doing so is not necessary at all, but check out all the logs from last jam! In order to get the most out of your jam experience, it is vital that you interact with your fellow jammers and the community surrounding it. They’ll provide valuable feedback and support to help you along the way. So please, we encourage you to mingle, post in other logs, and of course post your own!

In addition, you are encouraged to add images and gifs. Here’s some programs to help facilitate that:

ScreenToGif

Licecap

Start your dev log today!

Respect your community!

Take a moment to review our code of conduct. We strive to create a safe, supportive, and productive environment, and we appreciate your efforts to make our community welcoming for everyone!

Post daily updates!

Post screenshots or fun mishaps to your dev log, twitter, tumblr, or your own blog to track your progress and get feedback. Tag your posts as #MyFirstGameJam so other jammers can find your work! To get the most exposure you can also tag #gamedev or #ScreenshotSaturday for Saturdays! Share your work and link back to your devlog to get feedback.

Manage your time and tasks!

We have a list of of useful time and task management tools for staying on top of your project. Set goals early and keep track of how fast it takes you to reach them!

Use our resources!

Still deciding on an engine? No problem. Check out this post to see what fits your project best or try the sortingh.at!

We have also started migrating our resource lists over to a new jam resources wiki! Here's some direct page links:

Unity resources

Godot resources

Gamemaker resources

RPGMaker resources

Ren'py resources

Twine resources

Free assets

Resources tag on blog

If you still have questions about the jam itself, take a look at our rules page!

Join the jam chat!

Want to share your work or ask for help? Or even just take a break from dev? Join discord chat here! (Please note you must be at least 14 years old to join!) Feel free to say hi and share your work! If you need help with a specific skill or engine, you can @/Unity or @/2D Art to notify mentors. If you think you would like to help other people with some part of games–join us as a mentor! You can get notifications when someone has a question about engines or skills you have expertise in!

Here’s a quick guide to how you can become a mentor.

Heed advice from previous jammers

This jam we took the time to write up a quick summary of advice from previous jammers: Know how to scope.

You can read about the number one game jam killer here!

Take care of yourself!

Game-making can be exhausting as well as rewarding! You are more important than your work, and we compiled a list of helpful tools for getting the most out of you!

Aaaand good luck!

Game dev can be exciting, frustrating, and extremely rewarding. We hope to give you the tools to help you succeed in your goals in the next two weeks!

#announcement #game jam #game dev #indie games #indie dev

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nitunio · 6 months ago

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How would IDOLiSH7 cast mantain/use their undercover* Tumblr blogs!!! (pt 1)

* - so undercover that their fans/friends interact with them without knowing!!!

all under cut, i plan to do more because there's too many of them already!!!

Iori

organised blog with hashtags for Everything

has a sideblog for cute things, keeps main blog sharp and minimalistic

rare long media analysis posts

Yamato

reblogs and posts whenever feels like distracting himself

add tags to the post? No. (releases post into the wild)

the type to reblog with (PENIS TYPO) and such just to joke on others (namely Mitsuki)

Mitsuki

(turns off reblogs on a banger post)

mitsuki: "yeah so i went to visit my frien—" | the rest of pytag: "the visiterrrr"

always reblogs with an engaging reply /wall of tags

Tamaki

spams reblogs at odd times of day

following game update blogs, messages everyone about them

textposts about small things that he saw during the day or king pudding

Sougo

most intricately made pinned post with outstanding blog decor

makes gifsets and collages, posts scans and HD image uploads of indie bands, reviews albums whenever possible

is up to date with tumblr heritage posts and inside jokes

Nagi

main blog is fully dedicated to magicona (lots of textposts about merch, figurines, new releases etc.)

liveblogging about the new magicona episode rn!

adds a reply / wall of tags to reblogs but in a more endearing, nonsensical way (keymashes and such)

Riku

enjoys scrolling through "for you" section

mostly likes stuff, instead of reblogging sends directly to group chats and msgs

tags Tenn in tag games (to which the other always engages)

Gaku

another post about how great soba is

the author of the cringiest inspirational reblog additions you've ever read

shows memes from tumblr to everybody who's in his vicinity at the time of seeing the meme

Tenn

doesn't spend much time on tumblr, scrolls through blogs he's following to give likes/reblogs to

participates in tag games Riku tagged him in (Gaku tried tagging him too but he ignored)

allowed riku to pick out a url for him (for better or for worse)

Ryuu

genuinely fascinated about all the kinds of talented creators on the website, reblogs all

had his aroace awakening reading The Posts and going. Ohh.

texposts about things in his life he can't talk about on public accounts (keeps real names and faces out of it to not get identified)

Momo

gushes about Yuki. the married couple act is up to a 1000% except nobody knows its him, so he gets dubbed the toxic re:vale stan instead

vents out frustration by sending anon asks/hate to Ryou's blog

reblogs memes, cute images n gifs (fancams/fanart of Yuki too) sometimes also reblogging latest football news

does lots of (embarrassing) tag games and polls

Yuki

showed Momo the aforementioned toxic re:vale stan to which Momo was mortified

isn't on tumblr much, prefers the usual group chat, uses the website as his bookmark (for recipes, music, stuff to show Momo, etc)

sometimes catches himself scrolling through Banri's blog

Banri

the mutual that suddenly went off the radar after months of consistent posting

left a very organised blog with old re:vale posts (with a bit of other reblogs and personal text posts sprinkled in)

isn't on tumblr anymore (manages TakanashiPro's accounts on other sites, keeps it simple but professional)

#nitunio.txt #nitu i7 ramble #idolish7 #ainana #scheduled. im not online.#im gonna b away for a little longer so take this 👍

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piosplayhouse · 2 years ago

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Horse Isle 3: The Yandere Sim of Horse Games

(or, an extended study in how to hate your own playerbase as much as humanly possible)

(or, or, tldr there's pretty much no updated information on just how ridiculously bad this game is so here's a writeup on how I got banned and all the subsequent information I found during my time playing for documentation's sake)

Part I. The Backstory

My beloved followers will know that a few months ago I began playing Horse Isle 3, a horse-raising MMO surprisingly released in the year of our horse 2019 despite its 1997-era website and Runescape-esque graphics. Some of my play through (mostly just horse pictures) is chronicled in my tag #homophobic scum horse chronicles ¹ if you want to see how drippy my horses were before they killed me.

Now, don't get me wrong. I have endless respect for small teams of game devs that manage to create insanely impressive products-- which HI3's elaborate real-genetics breeding system, its main draw, certainly is. Coding is hard, modeling is hard, moderation is hard. Tip a coin to your local small indie teams that work hard to make incredible art.

However, HI3 is far from an admirable success story about a small dev team that triumphed over its obstacles.

The game is known for a variety of things, chief among them being the staff's rampant homophobia (which has earned it the moniker "the homophobic horse game"), hilariously uncharismatic mods (to the point where one of the main moderators, Connie, is mentioned by NAME in the majority of poor reviews of the game), the dev team's unrepentant rejection of criticism, and racism with a side of downplaying war crimes.

(Screenshots taken from Sitejabber, here)

Now, it's marketed as a game for ages 8+, which, as I've briefly talked about before, is unfortunately a rarity in today's hostile internet climate. I grew up on a variety of typical child friendly MMOs like ye olde Pixie Hollow and PetPet Park, and truly lament that so many of these have been shut down over the years. As such, I have no issue with strict rules or word filters in games, with the caveat that they are effective and genuinely intended to keep people safe. Kids are naive, and can and will say things that they shouldn't (I, for example, got kicked from a Minecraft server when I was 8 because I posted in chat that my mom told me sex wasn't a bad word. things happen). Filters are a very appropriate tool to aid manual moderation of chat features, especially in an environment where mistakes will be made.

However, HI3's, as shown below (words that are forbidden from chat are marked in red), are... questionably selective.

(Screenshot taken by Alice Ruppert, from here)

This appears to be attributed to the fact that along with having horrible moderators, HI3 also seems to have a remarkably horrible developer backend, which is a trend that you'll see pop up quite a lot in this post. Taken straight from the horse's (haha) mouth, the lead developer is the only person who seems to be able or willing to add to the filter list, and for whatever reason only wants to block the "most common inappropriate words"- because saying transgender is more of an issue than nazi and gulag I guess.

(Screenshot taken from Top R.'s Sitejabber review, here)

¹ I'm not sure how far this will reach out of my audience, and since people have already assumed weird stuff about me I thought I should probably clarify-- I'm not calling the game "homophobic scum" ghghg, my play through was focused on making horse versions of characters from a novel called "scum villain", so I took the scum and added horse (I actually have another tag for a different horse breeding game called "scum horse chronicles" so I needed to distinguish them easily but am not very good at tagging). That's it.

Part II. The Game

The game itself is, putting it simply, a mess at best and openly hostile towards newcomers at worst. The game's UI is comparable to your average petsite with 20 thousand things to click on but if you tried to navigate that while also watching the Pilgrim's Progress movie by Scott Cawthorn on 90% of your screen. This is a very good overview of what your experience first logging in will be like, with the added caveat that talking in global chat costs in game currency and that the game doesn't tell you this at ALL until you try to type in chat, and that depending when you log on it's entirely possible that you'll spawn into a completely dead town miles away from anyone who can help you, wilderness survivor-style.

To make things more complicated, information about the game is split between the game itself and the laughably horrible website/forums. Spectacularly enough, the forums, which provide vital game information and rule elaborations, cannot be searched in any way (not via Google or any hard-baked search bar) and are regularly purged by admins to erase evidence of scandals and poor moderation complaints.

Now, something you will find to be generally people's biggest issue with HI3 is their strict no "date-speak" rule, which sounds ok on paper but is worded *just* vaguely enough to give the moderators full jurisdiction over whether or not they think you're breaking the rules. Selective moderation is a major theme in the HI3 chronicle, but it is perhaps most documented with regards to this rule, because what the hell does "boyfriend/girlfriend talk" even mean?? Outside of vagueness, this rule has also been scrutinized extensively by others due to the fact that a pair of previous moderators were openly married with the igns "FrogLips" and "MrsFrogLips". I don't personally think this is super condemning, since kids usually address adults by Mr/Ms etc whether or not they know they're in a relationship, but regardless it's clear that the complete lack of elaboration on what this rule means can be easily manipulated to lodge any number of complaints against people.

(Screenshot from the Horse Isle website rules page, here)

What I will say, however, is that this rule would probably hold more water if the game wasn't literally about breeding horses.

You can pimp out your horses, you can pay others to breed your mares, you can put any number of special (real life currency-bought) amulets on your horses to make them more fertile/have twins/give birth faster. I paid $1000 to castrate Jiang Cheng. The word "stud" (which btw, is another word for a black butch lesbian) is used constantly. Perhaps most shockingly, horse inbreeding is very common and accepted among the community, to the point that it is explicitly mentioned and EXPLAINED in the game guide; the only penalization for it is that your incest product foal will have a lower intelligence stat. Call me old-fashioned, but I feel as though implementing and acknowledging that horses can breed with their own relatives is hmm perhaps more harmful than another player saying the word gay, but what do I know.

(Screenshot from the Horse Isle website game guide page, here (only accessible with an account))

Well, you might ask, after you breed and sell a horse, is there any way to put a brand on it so you know it's from your ranch? That's where the "prefix" system comes in. Prefixes are bolded titles that appear in front of a horses name in lists and in the overworld, and are described in the official game guide as follows:

(Screenshot from the same Horse Isle website game guide page as linked previously)

I think you can toggle them off if you don't want to see them, though I could be wrong. They're basically just 1-5 letter titles you can put on your own horses (nobody else's, importantly). There's no way to search prefixes, and you won't see them in game unless either a horse with a prefix is listed in auctions or you actually encounter someone in-game and see their horse.

In fact, I would learn later that not even the moderators monitor the prefixes, and apparently have no way to mass-delete them. At all.

(Image taken from an anonymous friend)

Now, it's not unusual that a game as complicated as HI3 would inevitably have a pretty taxing server-side code. Millions of multifaceted assets and features is really nothing to scoff at. However, the notion that your lead developer has to perform a manual search in the game's code to delete the equivalent of a stamp from every instance individually is hilarious. I'm not going to pretend to be a game developer, but there HAS to be a better way of coding a feature that intakes user-generated content that should probably be monitored regularly than that, right? Or, at least, there should be a robust filter system that could prevent any issues from occurring before they would need to be fixed so tediously. You might think.

On December 29th, 2022, I discovered how to register a prefix. It's very common to headcanon the characters I was naming my horses after as transgender, and I thought it would be cute to attach "TRANS" to my horses as a nod to this. However, a filter blocked the word. I was disappointed, but not surprised², and then tried to think of another word that was under 5 letters. To my complete and gay surprise, "GAY" was not filtered out, and henceforth, this worked as my prefix.

As you can see on the popup here, there are scant guidelines for what the requirements for a prefix should be. And, in this moment of apparently utter foolishness, I was under the impression that since "GAY" was NOT filtered out despite there clearly being a filter on this function, it was ok to register. Possibly it's not filtered because it's a synonym for "happy", I thought, which is also cute because I do like when horses are happy. Perhaps the staff had learned from their past criticism and had loosened the restrictions slightly because they felt restructuring was appropriate now that gay marriage is legal in the US, I imagined.

(My original post)³

What I could not imagine, however, was that the only reason the word wasn't filtered out, despite being possibly the most common sexuality-related word, was just because the lead dev couldn't be assed to add it to the filter list. And that apparently I was supposed to know this because it would lead to a permanent ban on my second offense with no warning.

² Hence typing "eat shit lol". Admittedly childish of me, but I didn't put a lot of thought into the post because it was just part of a casual silly live blog I was doing to blow off steam. The "if I get banned" tag surprisingly was not referencing "GAY", as I genuinely thought I was in the clear for that for reasons stated above, but because I tried to register "TRANS" and then posted about it online. You don't have to believe me, but I feel the need to defend myself since some people have wildly extrapolated that my actions were malicious instead of just a split second decision I made because I was bored one morning.

³ Despite the pop-up box saying that prefixes cannot be removed, they actually can at any time, given only that the person that owns the prefix unregisters the horse from it. The unregistering mechanic is for whatever reason not told to the player upon registering the prefix, but is mentioned in the official game guide linked above.

Part III. The Ban, The Report

I will preface this section by saying that I played the game normally. I do like being outrageous sometimes for my followers' entertainment, but I really don't like dragging random people into my antics if they aren't interested. Because of this, I really didn't interact with other players unless we were mutuals on some other platform. I rarely used the chat feature except to participate in server-wide events that required team participation, and I typically just explored on my own for fun. In general I think I was a pretty ok player, objectively, which lines up with my user trust score.

You see, the way moderators of HI3 allegedly keep track of rule breaking is through a "user trust score" with points added if you use features in the game, help people, etc, and points deducted if you violate rules. Anecdotally I've heard that around the -10 total points mark is when moderators put you on a sort of list to be monitored for suspension or punishment, which is pretty reasonable.

By the time I was banned, I had a score of +31. The -10 offset was a part of this debacle. The only thing I had ever done in the game which warranted any kind of violation was, as you will soon see, literally just naming about 30 of my own horses "GAY", a sin egregious enough to apparently offset about 200 hours worth of playtime with no issues.

Because of this, I was a little bit confused on multiple levels. For one, I had never even seen a moderator in game, nor been informed of discipline at any time before. On top of that, their permanent ban notification is extremely strange and vague. The text pop up when you try to log in just reads "Account currently banned -1 minutes ().", which is probably just copied straight from the server-side code for things and just wasn't translated into user-side comprehensibility. You'll also notice there is a "()" section in the notification, which I would assume is where they put the reason for bans, except for the fact that mine was completely blank.

The website which allegedly would hold more info just repeated a near identical code: "BANNED! -1min. Reason:".

So, with nothing else to go off of, I messaged support on the jankiest help center submissions I've ever seen on a website with this:

"Insisting" and "total disregard" are very strong words to use for a situation in which I just typed a word into a textbox because the game let me, I'd think, which is why I tried to reason with her. The prefixes mentioned in my message are well-known amongst the userbase and are much older and wider-spread than mine, so I would think that there would be at least some sort of precedent for this. The "geldings and yearlings" reasoning was mostly a joke, but also intended to express that the nature of an acronym (as the majority of prefixes seemed to be) is that it can be interpreted in many ways. Intent was thrown around a lot when I was discussing the issues of prefixes with other users, and it seemed to have been used to excuse previous behavior in situations where mods liked the users in question better.

I also cannot emphasize enough how much they did not warn me about my prefix being removed. When I logged in and saw my horses' names did not include it, I was suspicious that the moderators removed it just because of the history of their behavior. However, I had no hard evidence because they did not inform me at ALL. Not through in-game mail systems, not through server messages, not through the website. Complete radio silence except for the addition of an unexplained "-10" to my user score. I did complain to some people that I thought it was removed, but a combination of things suggested that it wasn't a huge deal, so I mostly let it lie. For one, I had over 100 hours of playtime and was mildly worried that one of my chat messages had been flagged without my knowledge. For another, my profile text had also mysteriously disappeared, probably because of a glitch, so who knows what could happen in this game. Lastly, I went to the prefix registry again just to check and hilariously enough, they didn't actually block "GAY" from the database. Yeah, they apparently individually deleted it from all of my horses, but couldn't be assed to add such an "inappropriate" word to their filter system.

So I just registered it again and publicly told people that I would do it again if the mods didn't actually tell me to stop. I didn't really care about the prefix because to me, the feature was purely cosmetic. All I wanted was transparency from the staff.

Well, anyway, I assume Connie couldn't think of a comeback, so she just closed my report. I was annoyed because quite literally none of my questions were answered and she didn't even refer to anything in specifics. It would take less than 1 second to type the number of the rule I violated, but I guess that was too much work for her.

I tried to give them as many outs as possible to just apologize about poor communication, but they didn't even take the bare minimum. I would also like to mention that this support ticket process is the ONLY way to directly communicate with any staff. There's no ability to upload files or images on this system, and no email listed that you could contact. So essentially, there's no way to give actual evidence for anything you say even if you want to.

Kat, who is known as the slightly-more-reasonable-but-still-pretty-bad mod then picked up the case. Her response actually provided specific information, which made it leagues above Connie's, but still included some very strange elements for sure.

The notion that this game is intended for a worldwide audience is especially funny to me because you would really think if they cared about other countries they wouldn't violate their own rule one by using a slur for Europe's largest ethnic minority, but ok. It's a weird hill to die on considering how USA-dominated the staff's opinions towards rules are (Connie justifies the usage of a slur for Rromani people based off the opinion of a single roommate she had who reclaimed it, Joe defends a store in-game being called "The Gulag" because Americans don't think gulags are that bad (discussed and cited in the conclusions section)). But then again, picking and choosing what parts of other countries' customs you want to respect is very American, which is why I think they should add an extra star rating for its patrioticness on the website.

As I mentioned before, the prefixes I included in my response are definitely older and more commonly-used than mine, so I'm not sure how they wouldn't have seen them before. This comment also ties back to the suggestion that the moderators have very little control or insight over a distinct feature of their game, which is not a great thing to admit so casually.

Kat has a strange habit of immediately contradicting herself in the same paragraph, as can be seen here. "The glitches never happen and bugs were quickly fixed, but games still have bugs". "People that break the rules usually write in to ask what was wrong, but most people usually never ask". At this point I think we can confidently say that they don't even make an attempt to proofread any of their responses, to be honest.

Her 7th paragraph has one of my favorite lines in this exchange. "If we had to notify players every time we made moderator changes to their account we would spend 24 hours a day" is giving huge Yandere Dev "stop emailing me because I have to spend 24 hours a day reading all my emails instead of coding" energy. You really have to wonder why these people that seem to hate moderating so much are moderators.

You can tell by my response, but I do not like the use of "most" and "usually" in this at all. What's your standard isn't others' standards, and this is a topic which needs to be navigated gently, especially when kids are concerned. I never played the previous Horse Isles. I had no experience with the mod team, or with violations, or with anything because no one bothered to take five seconds to send me a message. No, I did not know that you would permaban me for typing a word that's in one of the most popular traditional Christmas songs in a place were only people who interacted with me would be able to see it. Most games would not do this. To take a lackadaisical approach to your literal job of community management because you want people to moderate themselves is contradictory to your claims of keeping children safe.

I will admit I was being a bit cheeky here as a subtle hint that perhaps they should take feedback, but I also would have taken a genuine response. I try my best to be as polite as possible to tech support staff because not everyone is! But they're people too and a simple thank you is worth a lot in customer service, even virtual. But Kat... you're not really giving me anything to work with here! If anyone reading this has feedback for how I could've rephrased things, feel free to comment them honestly. I actually ran drafts of these messages through a few people before sending them to make sure I was as concise and polite as possible, even if support clearly wasn't interested in reciprocating the effort ("following out rules using the the GAY to begin with"...?).

Part IV. The Backlash

I won't go too into depth in this section because it's more personal than documentarian, so feel free to skip to the next section if you want!

After this, the girlies were not happy with me. The one saving grace of HI3 that I've heard pop up over and over again is that the community is great. And a lot of users are! Don't think I'm disparaging people who play the game because I'm not-- it's a really fun experience with the right people. I was in a Discord server with a lot of people who were extremely helpful and kind.

However, within the community, there's also a pervasive culture of silence. According to Alice Ruppert of The Mane Quest, a lot of people will refuse to go public with their complaints about the staff due to fear of retribution, which I feel is unfortunate but understandable. There's a pressure to shut up and eat your food lest you be seen as someone causing controversy for the sake of it and ruining the sanctity of the game, which is an attitude explicitly encouraged by the staff (discussed more in the next section).

I liveblogged my entire correspondence with the support team to a group of other players for the 2 days I talked to them, and did have a lot of acceptance from people who appreciated someone speaking out. After the 2020 Mane Quest article, public information had sort of just gone dark as the community was pushed further into niche seclusion, despite things not improving at all. However, towards the end of my messaging, a group of people that I had never even spoken to or seen online before accused me of a variety of things ranging from "displaying my sexuality to children" (note: all I ever did was name my horses "GAY". I never once talked about my own sexuality in-game, nor did I say the word in chat ever) to "joining the server to cause drama" to "mocking the lgbt community by throwing around the word gay" (actually I'll attach a picture of this one even though I don't want to put people on blast in this section just because its so funny).

I think most of this can be attributed to the game having gained such a notoriety that longtime players, especially those with strong nostalgic feelings, have become completely desensitized to it. And this compounds with the fact that the game is so niche it doesn't yet have a good alternative to turn to to create a toxic cocktail where people tell themselves that they have to be loyal to the staff to play this one of a kind game-- and that anyone who doesn't follow them just doesn't understand. It's really sad, honestly.

Part V. Conclusions

I don't necessarily think the devs of HI3 are legitimately consciously homophobic-- unfortunately LGBT rights are still controversial amongst the largely southern and rural population of horse enthusiasts, and I could understand if they felt it necessary to skim the line towards conservatism to maintain a userbase. It's cowardly and dumb but it's not a sin to do what you have to do to survive in a capitalistic hellscape as cutthroat as the game industry.

However, what I do think the devs are is power-hungry and hypocritical. They have failed at every turn at community management because they're unwilling to admit they make mistakes, instead choosing to issue non-apologies like "[we] regret you guys got so upset and did not realize neither our true intentions nor motivations nor the whole situation [that we said it's ok that a player has a shop called The Gulag because it's 'not direct or violent']". To respond this way to a userbase filled allegedly with young children as a fully grown adult with a wife and kids is laughably out of touch. 'Sorry your fee-fees were hurt by our adult moderator responding to a serious complaint about inappropriate user-generated content with "lol", but actually you just misunderstood us and we're going to ban anyone who brings this up again' is the sort of response you'd see from the teenage mod team of an Undertale amino, not the supposedly responsible head dev of a 'rare oasis of kid friendly content'.

Telling an audience of impressionable kids that the fact that their feelings are hurt is their fault for not intuiting the intentions of 40+ year old adults is unbelievably toxic, and it's no wonder why people are so nostalgia-bound to feverishly shut down criticism about the games. They've been guilt-tripped into believing the mod team can do no wrong and any controversy, even if valid, that springs up is just extrapolated by people that haven't been laboriously groomed to know what the mod team wants to hear.

Countless times throughout my time researching and playing the game, the number one advice I've heard has always been "suck up to the mods or they won't do anything for you". It's crystal clear that the moderators care more about the joy they get from having power over some 200 users who will kiss their ass if they say a buzzword more than they care about you, your child, or the game itself.

It's essentially a model scam Kickstarter's wet dream, a game propelled to release and popularity by its singular defining feature and left to fester on the shelf as the only game in its niche market. Because of this, I believe there's truly no better way to describe HI3, with its messy backend, refusal to improve, narcissistic moderators, broken features, poor visuals, and inefficiency than as the Yandere Simulator of horse games.

#img descriptions in alt text!#lmk if there's any way I can make this more accessible! It's my first time writing something this long on tumblr :)#long post #really long posts #long posts #really long post #essay #hi3 #horse isle 3 #horse isle #fandom drama #hobby drama #discourse #homophobic scum horse chronicles

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harrydracompreg · 8 months ago

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2024 MPREG Fest—Submission Guidelines

Submission time is getting closer, and we've been thrilled to learn a few of you are wanting to submit like yesterday!

The due date for submissions this year is 21 April 2024 which is just under five weeks away.

We will check in with you all again about 10 days out from your due date to see how you're coming along. Our email and DM are always open if you need to chat with us.

POSTING YOUR WORK TO THE AO3 COLLECTION

Please avoid posting draft works to the collection. This can often lead to confusion when it's time to release them. Please preview your works on your personal AO3 prior to adding the Mod account as co-creator. Once the work has been submitted to the fest, no more changes are to be made without contacting the Mods to discuss.

Once you're happy that your work is displayed correctly, go ahead and add the Mod account and post the work to the collection. The collection link is here: 2024 Collection.

♥ All fics will be posted to AO3, regardless of length

♥ All artwork will be posted to AO3, unless the artist specifies otherwise.

♥ All podfic works will be posted to AO3, unless the recording artist specifies otherwise.

We do recommend that all participating creators get an AO3 Account. If you do not have, or cannot create an AO3 account, we will work something out. Talk to the Mods.

SO WHAT DO I DO?

Post to the Collection On or before 21 April 2024, go to the 2024 Collection and click Post to Collection.

AO3 has further directions on making a post to a collection (ignore the challenge references). Tick the Add co-authors? box, and add the Mod ID hdmpregmod as the co-author. This ensures we can proofread all entries, keep the end-notes uniform and actually post the works as part of the fest. Once the fest concludes, the co-creator status will be removed, but the works will remain within the Collection.

Use Archive Warnings If your work contains graphic depictions of violence, major character death, rape/non-con, and/or under-age content, you must include these warnings in the header content, and utilise the appropriate archive warnings on AO3.

Add Content Tags You may add relevant AO3 tags to describe the content of your work. Readers may follow tags to assist them to find new works. Please refrain from excessive use of free-form tags that do not describe the work or its content (e.g. "omg I cannot deal"). Once the fest is finished, you may add these. Unless it is a secret or critical plot point, it is recommended to tag the pregnant character(s). This has been a polarising point in previous years, and it's best that readers are informed where possible. The Mods will review the content tags, and may make minor adjustments if deemed necessary. Larger changes will be made in consultation with the creator.

Add Creator's Notes This is a great place to include your prompt details and a shout-out to your beta readers and/or cheer-leaders. Please be sure to use initials if naming them would reveal who you are; and remember to update it after the fest reveals.

The Mods will use the foot-notes to add some fest information.

Hit Submit! AO3 is sorted. No more changes are to be made to the work on AO3. The Mods will do their thing, once we know the work has arrived, so...

Create your Header Jump on into our Work Submission Form in AirTable for a glorious HTML-free header submission experience.

You will need the 5-digit submission code that we gave you on your prompt allocation email, and the email address that we sent it to. You'll find it right here:

We are offering a submission form for automated headers again this year. When it's time to submit your creation, you'll need this code [your code here 12345]. Make sure you don't lose it!

The form will ask you a few questions about the work, and most stuff you can copy and paste from AO3.

If you feel like kicking it old-school you can also email your HTML header details using the form(s) below to the Mods.

Wait, Anticipate, Enjoy Your submitted work(s) will be listed as Unrevealed Mystery Works in the Collection. Nobody but you and the Mods will be able to see the entry before its posting date in the fest. At posting time, the Mods will update the date of the work so that it receives maximum exposure. Please do not change it again. All creators will appear as Anonymous until the fest is revealed. While hype is definitely welcomed and encouraged; it is poor form to de-anon works before a fest is revealed. Do not cross-post, reply to AO3-comments, or otherwise claim ownership of an anonymous work until after 16 June 2024. It's only a few weeks, just be patient.

CLOSING NOTES

For more information or context please refer to the 2024 H/D MPREG Fest Rules and Information Post.

If you have questions or concerns that aren't addressed here please get in touch with the Mods. We're available on tumblr, discord, or via email.

Ready for another awesome season, sassy_cissa and timothysboxers H/D MPREG MODS

HEADER INFORMATION

Submissions, Header Information and artworks can be sent to [email protected] at any time on or before the submission date, 21 April 2024. Please include the word 'Submission', your AO3 username, and prompt number in the email's subject line. (e.g. Submission, timothysboxers, Prompt 102) Complete the header for reveals—the Mods will anonymise it.

The fic header is here:

Title: Author: (if applicable – all name info will be removed to protect your anonymity) Also please provide your AO3 and/or tumblr name (indicate which is which) Prompt: Please copy/paste the prompt here or you may summarize the prompt if it was long Word Count: (Remember that the minimum is 2,000 words!) Rating: (G to NC-17) Contains (Highlight to view): Warn for possible triggers and squicks. No need to warn for mpreg, sex or slash! Story spoilers may be included inside this code if you prefer. Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended. Who is pregnant?: Optional - but recommended Story spoilers may be included inside this code if you prefer. (If you prefer to not include this information, please let the mods know who is pregnant when you email your header) Notes: (You may put your beta’s name/initials here along with any other notes.) Summary: (from AO3)

***

The art header is here:

Title: Artist: (will be removed to protect your anonymity) Also please provide your AO3 and/or tumblr name (indicate which is which) Prompt: Please copy/paste the prompt here or feel free to summarize it if it was long Art Medium: Rating: (G to NC-17) Contains (Highlight to view): Warn for possible triggers and squicks. No need to warn for mpreg, sex or slash! Any spoilers may be included inside this code if you prefer. Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended. Who is pregnant?: Optional but recommended Story spoilers may be included inside this code if you prefer. (If you prefer to not include this information, please let the mods know who is pregnant when you email your header) Notes: (You may put your beta’s name/initials here along with any other notes.) Summary: (from AO3)

***

The podfic header is here:

Podfic: Author: Reader: Length: Rating: Summary: (from AO3) Contains (Highlight to view): Warn for possible triggers and squicks. No need to warn for mpreg, sex or slash! Any spoilers may be included inside this code if you prefer. Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended. Who is pregnant?: Optional but recommended Story spoilers may be included inside this code if you prefer. (If you prefer to not include this information, please let the mods know who is pregnant when you email your header) Notes: (You may put your beta’s name/initials here along with any other notes.) Link to Story: (AO3) Download Link to Podfic:

***

#mod post #sticky #fest:mod announcements #fest:submission info #2024 mpreg fest #drarry #drarry mpreg #hdmpreg #excited #fest:header info

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never-not-ever · 3 months ago

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First Week Outpatient

August 1st-7th

So I discharged around 1pm on that Thursday. For weeks prior I had been taking useless junk home so that on my day of discharge I wouldn’t be walking the hall with ten thousand bags drawing attention to me. I just wanted to leave quietly and not make a big deal about it.

I had to stop at my PACT teams office for my meds. I have a therapist, psychiatrist, case manager and a nurse on my team there. My nurse packs my meds for me in a weekly pill organizer. I’ve always told my IP doctor to not discharge me with a months supply of meds and it just so happened to work out that with PACT they offer the weekly medication pickup. So I went straight there and then headed home because I had a virtual appointment with my therapist at 4.

After that me and my Nana drove my nephew back home in NH cause he had been staying at my Nana’s. On the way back home I stopped to get groceries and was panicking so much in the store. I still remember what stoplight we were at when it became 8:00. Staring at the time I kept thinking I should be back at McLean, this is the latest time you have to return from a pass. This isn’t right. I shouldn’t be outside right now. It’s too dark. That day felt like a pass. I remember freaking out in my kitchen that night, hyperventilating and trying to calm myself down saying “you’re going to be back on the campus tomorrow, less than 24 hours, it’s going to be okay, it's going to be okay”.

Anyways, Jesus, if I write so much nonsense these updates are going to be essays. Stick to the important stuff!! Okay so I started PHP the next day on Friday. I’ll add these in the tags but I’ll post a warning here too. There’s going to be talk of drinking and self harm and restricting. So partial was Friday and then Saturday night I got drunk and self harmed for the first time in over 6 weeks. I bought a 6 pack of White Claw and the whole 6 was just the right amount to get blissfully drunk and escape for a bit. Alcohol affects me differently after having weight loss surgery so I honestly don't know if 6 is the standard or way too much?

Monday I told my program psychiatrist and she wanted to look at my arm but I didn’t have extra bandaids so she told me to bring some the next day. I also met with my program therapist and we talked about starting a diary card and what to track. I told her how since I’ve been home I’m not hungry/eating and I’m not complaining. Saturday when I got drunk all I had that day was applesauce around lunchtime. So I mentioned the word “restricting” and tried to give the short version of my fucked up body image, losing (necessary) weight, losing it in a healthy way and also unhealthy ways at times, that I’ve never been diagnosed with an eating disorder but I know I have a fucked up relationship with food and my body….

So later that evening I got a phone call from disability. I should have applied back in September but instead I didn’t apply until April. They said it could take 6 months before I get a decision on my application. For months I kept checking online to see how much of my application had been looked at it. I needed money and felt like such a financial burden on my Nana. I had just borrowed money from her to pay my phone bill and an hour later disability called asking more questions that I’ve already answered in the past. She said she was the final person to review my application and that she’d be making a decision soon. If my application gets approved then I could be seeing a check within the next 4 weeks...

The following morning I checked my bank account and saw an ungodly amount of money, like two months worth of paychecks from my old job. I could actually pay my Nana back for all the money she’s given me while inpatient and afford to buy stuff to redo my apartment. And after seeing this money in my account I cried, not tears of joy but because I realized that even with this financial issue being lifted it still didn’t change how badly I wanted to end my life. Obviously money doesn’t buy happiness but like that money lifted a huge weight off my chest and it still didn’t matter. My passive SI, self harm urges and depression was shit when I discharged and it was just slowly getting worse.

So back to the timeline. So that "money thing" happened Tuesday morning. I brought bandaids to PHP and mind you I didn’t know what my arm looked like. I didn’t know if it was bad, I just slapped bandaids on it Saturday night and never looked at it again until that day when my doctor looked at it. It was so triggering seeing it. I'm going to get real descriptive here but I've never been able to cut over scars before. Maybe it's what I use but still I've basically run out of room on my go to arm. But drunk I was able to do it and deep. Two cuts, and obviously too much time had passed for me to get stitches but she still wanted me to go to Urgent Care after the program just to make sure it wasn’t infected. I felt like I was wasting their time. Going 3 days later just to get it re-bandaged… the nurse was so nice but the doctor seemed irritated. I think I spent almost 2 hours there, so pointless. They gave me a prescription for an ointment for my arm and they put in my chart that it “could have used stitches”. I never picked up the ointment.

Wednesday when I met with my psychiatrist she brought that up and said that if it happened again she wanted me to get seen right away.

11:19am Wed “I feel strange today. Maybe strange is the wrong word, disconnected? Empty, low, low energy. I can stare at the floor and get lost in my head.”

I started “seeing” my new therapist in the beginning of July but it was always virtual until that day. At 4 I had my first in person appointment and after the day being weird and shitty I was looking forward to it. But it was horrible.

So on the way home I went shopping. Dropped a couple hundred at Aerie and American Eagle and this was the start to my spending sprees. I FaceTimed with that friend I texted and it was a nice ending to the crappy day.

#personal #update #tw self harm #tw suicidality #tw ed #tw restricting #tw drinking #tw alchohol mention #IP to OP #bpd #self harm #depression #suicidal

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barbwritesstuff · 2 years ago

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I posted 2,206 times in 2022

That's 372 more posts than 2021!

1,047 posts created (47%)

1,159 posts reblogged (53%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@threewolfboon

@barbwritesstuff

@thebibliosphere

@weirdwerewolf-deactivated

@unpretty

I tagged 136 of my posts in 2022

#fanart - 10 posts

#which celebs give you paranormal vibes? - 8 posts

#not werewolves - 7 posts

#oc - 6 posts

#werewolves - 6 posts

#for the sergi fanclub - 6 posts

#youtube - 6 posts

#submission - 5 posts

#writing - 5 posts

#werewolf - 5 posts

Longest Tag: 111 characters

#i had to make some aggressive editoral changes to my first book both before and after signing with my publisher

My Top Posts in 2022:

I made a fake Classic Penguin Books cover for Blood Moon. No one liked it over on twitter, so now I'm giving it to you, a much more deserving audience.

I am an artist.

270 notes - Posted July 8, 2022

414 notes - Posted March 26, 2022

A Sad but Happy but Sad Update

Hello everyone. I hope you’re all having a wonderful evening and that the full moon is shining as brightly and beautifully where you are as it is here.

This full moon is a bitter sweet one for me. After close to two years of development, Blood Moon is finished. It is time to submit it to Hosted Games. That, unfortunately, means it’s also time to take down the public demo. I have removed the game from Dashingdon and will send the files to Hosted Games, hopefully soon (there are still a few pieces of art I’m waiting for, but I don't think that will take too long).

I wish I had more to say but I’m a little lost for words right now… I suppose I’ll just say what I always say, which is thank you. This community has been absolutely incredible and I couldn’t be more grateful for all the help and support I’ve received over the last couple of years. Without this community, Blood Moon would not be the game it is today.

Thank you for playing. I hope you’ve enjoyed your time running with wolves. I couldn’t have asked for a better pack of players.

🐺💙

In the meantime, I hope you guys will stick around. You can find me in all the usual places.

My email is BarbaraTrueloveWrites[at]gmail[dot]com.

My Twitter is @barbwritesstuff

If you like, you can support me either by leaving a tip on KoFi page or by buying my book, Crying Wolf by Barbara Truelove.

Next full moon I'd like to do a little cover reveal for Blood Moon's cover art. I hope to see you guys around for that. I'd also like to share some other writing projects I'm working on, if anyone is interested in that.

Oh and... eh... the final word count for Blood Moon is 442,290 (excluding commands). If you're wondering where those extra words come from... it's because I caved to all the anon messages and gave Sergi a sex scene. You just can't read it yet. Sorry about that.

453 notes - Posted September 10, 2022

Okay... so I've been thinking... werewolf slang.

What are some words or phrases that you think werewolves would use? Here's some ideas I've had:

"Stray" - a werewolf without a pack. Eg, 'There is a stray wandering around the edge of our territory'.

"Moon mad" - a werewolf who goes totally berserk under the light of the full moon. Eg, 'Some of us just can't control anymore, especially in old age. My old man went moon mad near the end.'

"Showing fur" - to transform either fully or partially into wolf form. Eg, 'Frank had to leave quick. He got angry and started showing fur.'

"Pup" - a minor insult typically coming from an older werewolf and directed at a younger one. Eg, 'Back up a step, pup. You're out of line'.

"Cub" - a werewolf child. Similar to the human word 'kid'. Eg, "Who's going to pick the cubs up from school?"

Feel free to add your own! I want this post to turn into a werewolf urban dictionary.

See the full post

894 notes - Posted February 8, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

9,304 notes - Posted April 22, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #Tumblr roasting me for not knowing how to tag #The shame of 2 of my top 5s being reposts #I'm so sorry

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thecoffeelorian · 1 year ago

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Fandom: Good Omens Title: Sanctuary Rating: General Chapter: 002 P.O.V.: Anthony J. Crowley Word Count: 1,187 Brief Description: After 6,000 years of working for Hell, Crowley's schedule is suddenly and miraculously open... Other Notes: Rebooted this old story as of 08/01/2023. Hopefully, there won't be any more unexpected catastrophes coming along to interrupt my progress. Other Links: AO3

Part One Quick Message: Please like this post if you would like for me to tag you in my future updates! Thanks!

Once upon a time, there was a serpent, and the serpent met an angel...

Today's a bit like waking up from a bad dream. The worst dream that anyone alive or dead could ever think to have, perhaps, let alone think about trying to live through. The one where darkness and cold is normal; leading humanity astray is encouraged; and everyone from the most toxic workplace in myth or legend hates each other with the fire of a thousand suns.

The one where

(hope is nowhere to be found)

only evil grows, and in the absence of light, air, and water, no less. The one where, perhaps, Humanity itself has grown so used to its own evil side that it no longer needs any external devils, because it'sss so willing to embrace its own destruction. But only, obviously, with a small nudge in the wrong direction first.

This has been his life, his very nature, up until a few days ago.

Hell itself would have demanded nothing less from one of its own, after all, whether or not he actually showed up at the old office from time to time. In fact, up until a week ago, he just might have been their unofficial top employee.

After that same week had come and gone, though...?

Well, perhaps he should start here--he's suddenly rooted to this little spit of land out in the eastern edge of the Atlantic Ocean. Attached, maybe, or something pretty close to it if he's got his comparisons right.

Also, there are no more eternal bonfires to lick at his scales, no freezing beams of false sunlight to watch his every move, no thousand thousand Dukes of Hell to give him a negative performance review...and oh yeah, absolutely no schedules for the next six thousand years, if not more.

Or so they might have him believe.

Outside, the weather promises a dry, warm day, especially since Adam still seems to be in charge of that department somehow. Perhaps it's better if he is, given how other humans at least three times his age would have played fast and loose with their own climates otherwise. Under his watch, though, it's nothing short of ideal: minimal allergy levels all across the spectrum; high air quality from the Islands to the Channel; no measured risks for those with pre-existing conditions; and the humidity isn't rising above ten percent.

And if that didn't miraculously add up to what appears to be the perfect day, there's just one more thing to consider.

Aziraphale's joining him back at the flat.

That's right. Aziraphale. Back at the flat. Alone...with him.

"Isn't this perfect?"

Correction--alone, and fidgety, and having the sense of

(still existing in Their crosshairs)

getting rolled off of the white cliffs of Dover in a barrel so large, it can carry both himself and half a dozen wasps’ nests, thus making the chance of being stung at least once rise by at least 600%.

And wouldn’t he know it, all of those imaginary wasps are just dying to start a row with him.

"Nh...what now?"

Not that ‘Zira’s noticed yet, though

(”zira”? of all of the nicknames available on Earth, you go with zira?)

, because he’s too busy marveling at the blessed absence of greenhouse gasses. Yeah. No pollution equals no Pollution, and that means the entire Human race can breathe.

"The outdoors, Crowley! The weather! Oh, it's almost as if someone's keeping the storms away, just for us..."

But can all of this be considered too bloody perfect, though...? Is it really all that much of a good thing that he’s opening the car door for Aziraphale right now, here, with seemingly no other Angels or Demons around to sabotage things? Are they really on their way to enjoy just one more drink, and maybe also a good deal of planning for the future besides? Is this really the first trouble-free day in his existence, never mind zero days since he went up to the surface, and never planned to return?

Or is one of them poised to drop the spiritual equivalent of mop water onto his path tomorrow, and not bother putting up a single wet floor sign...?!

"Right. Us. Yeah, really good..."

The Car seems to disagree with this sentiment, because It doesn’t hesitate to offer up ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ as ambiance. Apparently, It is more than prepared to leave, and just might be willing to go a mite slower than 120 miles per hour so as not to ruin the moment.

Traitor.

Apparently, It's also not thinking twice about nudging him along as well, because as soon as Aziraphale's comfortably seated, It wiggles the corresponding door in order to rope him into closing it.

"...I just...can't handle it, this thing, called love..."

He does, of course, but not without those waspish-thoughtish-things taking a lap or two around his track of consciousness.

They're about to indulge in just one more drink, and maybe also a good deal of planning for the future besides.

Their future.

Together.

It's these many factors that should be adding up to the first trouble-free day in his life. Zero days since he went up to the surface, and never planned to return.

"...It swings, it jives, it shakes all over like a jellyfish..."

Unfortunately, he's not yet done looking over his own shoulder. He can still see those flies buzzing around the lawns, even as he's turning the old key into the ignition. Their flies. They're probably not done with him after all, even though he's expecting to be sacked any time now. Maybe They're somewhere out there right now, just waiting for him to turn around before They decide to go for the bloody jugular. And yet--

"Oh, my--do you see the size of that cloud?"

--And yet, apparently, They don’t seem to be alone in Their continued attempts to screw up his existence. Oh, no, They were just getting started. Only this time, They've decided to drag in a bit of extra muscle, because of course, They would be the ones to unofficially arrange an official rematch.

Well, well, well.

Little did any of Them know that he wasn't going to be taken by surprise a second time.

"A cloud. Seriously. Is that all You've got?"

"Well, I'm not in charge of the weather, so I imagine that--wait, what?!"

Ha. He knew exactly how to deal with "clouds", never mind pillars of fire, pillars of salt, disembodied voices, talking donkeys, the sudden onset of blindness, speechlessness, accidental deaths, beheadings, and on rare occasions, the unexpected insane king or emperor.

In other words, it would take so much more than one meteorological anomaly to take him down, thank Nobody very much.

"Hold on tight, angel. It's about to become really bumpy..."

In fact, if his inferences were correct, and Somebody on either side was thinking of waving another Great Flood or Bubonic Plague in his direction to try and steer him off course...then it just might be time for that Somebody to learn a very, very tough lesson.

Nobody. Interrupts. The alcohol.

#good omens #good omens fanfiction #aziraphale #anthony j crowley #go aziraphale #go anthony j. crowley #autistic aziraphale #autistic anthony j crowley #actuallyautistic #good omens: sanctuary #aziracrow #minors DNI.

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darkficsyouneveraskedfor · 8 months ago

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No tag lists. Do not send asks or DMs about updates. Review my pinned post for guidelines, masterlist, etc.

Warnings: this fic will include dark content such as noncon/dubcon, power imbalance, and possible untagged elements. My warnings are not exhaustive, enter at your own risk.

This is a dark!fic and explicit. 18+ only. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: Your relationship with your boss takes an unpredictable turn.

Characters: Nick Fowler

Note: some more Nicky for the girlies.

As per usual, I humbly request your thoughts! Reblogs are always appreciated and welcomed, not only do I see them easier but it lets other people see my work. I will do my best to answer all I can. I’m trying to get better at keeping up so thanks everyone for staying with me.

Your feedback will help in this and future works (and WiPs, I haven’t forgotten those!) Please do not just put ‘more’. I will block you.

I love you all immensely. Take care. 💖

Back to usual.

You say goodbye to Joey with an especially clingy hug. She’ll be gone back to campus by the time you get home. Her short visits always leave you a bit sad.

You arrive at Nick’s place and let yourself in. The remnants of the prior day’s get together are still littered over the dining room table and throughout the front room. There’s more in the kitchen.

You gather the empty glasses and a few bottles with varying amounts of liquid still inside. You scrape plates into the pin and sweep napkins in after them. You fill the sink with warm soapy water to wash it all when you hear the soft but clumsy pad of feet on the stairs. They’re too light to be Nick.

You have the coffee brewing in anticipation of your boss’ hangover. The aroma wafts into the air as the machine clicks. A figure appears in the doorway and you turn to greet the woman in her sleek but wrinkled dress. This isn’t unexpected either.

“Good morning,” you greet her stunned eyes as she blanches.

“Um, I’m sorry, I was only–”

“Coffee?” You offer her as you open the cupboard, “look like you need it.”

“N-no, I… should go. Is there a Starbucks around here?” She croaks.

“No need, I can do lattes,” you offer, “he’s got this ridiculously expensive machine.”

“Er,” she looks down at the heels dangling from her hand then back to you, “sorry, are you… do you live…”

“I work for Mr. Fowler. Just the maid,” you assure her. Her assumption fills your chest with an unspent laugh. You’re far too old for Nick. Besides, the concept is ridiculous.

“Oh…” her single syllable dangles.

You pour her a cup and turn to offer it to her. Her mouth slants in a guilty smile. She shambles forward and accepts the mug.

“You take sugar, cream? Maybe some Advil?” You suggest.

“Oat milk? And yes please, my head is pounding.”

“Right, he has almond milk,” you open another cupboard and pluck out the ibuprofen, “or whole milk.”

“Almond is fine,” she accepts as you rattle the bottle.

“One or two, hon,” you ask as you approach her again.

“Two, please,” she inhales the scent of the coffee and sighs, rubbing her eye socket before extending her hand to take the tablet, “the whole bottle if I could.”

“Ugh, yeah, I don’t miss those days,” you hum and cap the bottle.

You put it away and go into the large fridge, taking out the carton of almond milk for the woman. You take it to her as she approaches the island to clink down the coffee. You watch as she adds the milk and takes a slender spoon from you to stir it in. She takes her first sip and moans before tossing back the pills.

“Coffee good?” You prompt proudly.

“Oh, yeah,” she looks up at you, “yeah, it’s great.”

“Took me a while to master the beast,” you point to the machine. “I finally got my ristretto down, too.”

She gives a nervous laugh and gulps again, wiping her lips with the back of her hand, “you’re nice… really nice. Why?”

You blink at her question. It makes you wonder, was Nick not nice? That’s not really any of your concern.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” You shrug and turn to the full sink, “you’re a guest.” You plunge your hands in and scrub the porcelain, “plus, you kinda remind me of my daughter. I’d like someone to treat her nicely too.”

“Ah,” she accepts, “that’s really sweet.”

“It’s human, I hope,” you open up the dishwasher to slide in each plate.

“You really… didn’t have to make me coffee,” she murmurs.

You peek over at her as she stares into the depths. She seems sad but that might just be the hangover. You continue your work as you reply.

“It was already on. If you’re hungry–”

“Please, no, that’s okay,” she declines with a wave, “I think… I think I’ll just finish this and get an uber. Maybe go call my mom.”

“Well, you let me know if you need anything before you go,” you chime as you hook glasses into the top rack of the dishwasher.

You finish the dishes and grab a damp cloth to go wipe the table down. You stop by a few other surfaces to clear away rings from the finish and return to the kitchen. As you enter from the dining room, Nick appears in the other.

The woman faces him as she grabs her shoes, “hi.”

He growls and lumbers over to the coffee machine. He sees the mug waiting for him and peers into its empty body. You clutch the cloth in your hand as you watch his naked back tense. He wears nothing more than a pair of briefs. At most, you’ve seen him shirtless when he needs some stitches.

“More coffee?” You offer the woman.

“No, I should go,” she peeks at him nervously.

“Alright, well, you take care,” you bid her and take her cup.

“Thanks,” she says and skulks to the door, “bye, Nick.”

“Mmm,” he flicks his fingers at her as he pours himself a cup.

You narrow your eyes at his shoulder blades. That wasn’t very polite. Well, it isn’t your job to be his mother, even if it feels like it sometimes.

You put the almond milk away as he turns to lean in the corner of the counter. He presses the porcelain to his forehead and groans. You shake out the cloth over the sink and rinse it out.

“You have a daughter,” he states plainly. A question but not really.

“I do,” you answer evenly.

“I didn’t know that,” he says.

You shrug, “guess it never came up.”

"You’ve worked for me for three years…” he mutters.

“You never asked,” you say lightly, “it’s fine.”

He lowers the cup and slurps loudly. He swishes the coffee around before he swallows thickly.

“Your husband okay with you working twelves?”

You chuckle, “sir, really, it’s fine.”

His curiosity is not usual. You stick to the expected, the manageable. You don’t stray outside the lines. You’re friendly but you’re not overfamiliar. He always seemed to prefer that. He enjoyed talking about himself far more.

“You were busy yesterday,” he shifts his weight to one foot, his muscled chest rippling.

“I suppose as busy as you,” you roll in the racks of the dishwasher and add soap before closing it up.

“I… interrupted your plans?”

“Sir, it’s fine, I had a good day off and now I’m back,” you insist, “are there any other messes I need to worry about?”

He tilts his head and exhales deeply. His cheek dimples as he considers you. The cut on his head is exposed but not as bad as it was, though the bruise under his eyes has only gotten darker.

He scoffs as a smirk slants his lips, “sure. You could change my bed sheets.”

“Sure,” you accept breezily, repressing the glimmer of concern at the base of your skull.

Something about his response seems trite, as if he means to insult you. You’re an adult, you’re less than shocked at his after hours play. By now, you’re quite used to it. He’s in his prime, he’s well off, and he’s handsome by anyone’s measure.

“You could try some witch hazel,” you touch your cheek then point at his, “for the bruising.”

“I can handle it,” he retorts and pushes himself away from the counter, “enough chattering. Get to work.”

🥃

You knock on the office door and wait for an answer. The little device you keep clipped to your belt is still buzzing with Nick’s demand. He calls to you from within and you enter.

“Sir?” You greet him.

“What took you so long?” He growls.

He’s in a foul mood. He has been all day. He can be gruff, you’re used to that, but today, he just seems prickly. His romp must not have been much fun. Come to think of it, his partner had been all too eager to flee.

You shake away the intrusive thoughts and clear your throat, “I was in the laundry room. Sorry.”

“My head is pounding,” he rubs his temples.

“Right, sir, I’ll bring you Advil and some water–”

“Don’t treat me like a child,” he snarls.

“Yes, sir.”

“I’m sure I’m a lot older than your daughter, so cut it out.”

“I wasn’t– sir, I’m sorry.”

“Go, get the pills,” he shoos you, “and call Rhonda.”

You nod and leave him. Wow. You don’t think he’s ever spoken to you like that. The mention of Joey also puts you off. Why is he so concerned? Most people could look at you and assume you have a kid or too. At your age, with your hips…

You go downstairs to retrieve the Advil and a tall glass of water. You climb back upstairs and follow the airy hall down to your office. As you enter, he sits with his head in his hands, his elbows on the desk. You don’t say a word as you set down the glass and pills.

He doesn’t move. You back away slowly and pull out your cell phone. You’ll call the masseuse, she should be able to work out the tension.

As you get to the door, he growls and his chair squeaks.

“You said something, about witch hazel,” he snarls.

“Uh, yes,” you face him, “it’ll take down the bruising.”

He narrows his eyes, the gesture tweaking his swollen cheek. Even battered, he isn’t unattractive. And the woman in his kitchen was just as gorgeous. So you find it hard to fathom why he’s in such a mood.

“Would you like me to get it for you, sir?” You ask, trying not to sound too pandering.

“Sure, whatever.”

You sweep away and go down the hall to the cabinet. You keep everything stocked well. Part of your job is inventory. You’ll have to go through the liquor bottles later and see what needs replenishing too.

You return to him with the witch hazel and a bag of cotton balls. You place them on his desk as he leans his head against the chairback, his eyes closed. You step back on your heel and his eyes pop open.

“Would you mind?” He motions to his face.

“Sure,” you take the cotton balls and pull one out.

You uncap the dark bottle and dampen the cotton with the liquid. His eyes close again as you sidle closer and you dab gently along his cheek. He flinches, just once, then stills. It must be cold.

His eyes flick open again and startle you as you retract your touch. Awkwardly, you move away and gather up the bottle and bag of cotton balls. He’s quiet as he leans forward to grab the bottle of pills.

“I should’ve guessed,” he says as he shakes two tablets out, “that’s what I do. I read people. You’re a mother, for sure. She’s older, isn’t she? College? You had her young–”

“Sir,” you sniff, uncomfortable.

“Just the one. And you didn’t answer me when I talked about your husband so he must be out of the picture. Divorced. About the time you came around here, huh? You need the job after the messy break up,” he suggests as he wags his finger with a knowing grin, “probably another woman, huh?”

You blink. You’ll let him think what he wants. His opinion of your marriage isn’t important. It won’t do to correct him anyway. He doesn’t really seem to care, he just wants to wound. You just can’t figure out what you’ve done to deserve it.

#nick fowler #dark nick fowler #dark!nick fowler #nick fowler x reader #fic #dark fic #dark!fic #series #blurred lines #the 355

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