haven't promoted this story in a minute because idk I got tired of tumblr and took a sort of break. Tomorrow I will be posting ch. 14, which is halfway through the story, so it's a great time to pick up...

The Hunter The Snake and the Fox

Rating: M | Category: M/M | Words: 27 081 | Chapters 13/28

Summary:

When Magister Dorian Pavus' expedition meets unexpectedly with a clan of unhappy Dalish elves, First Taren Lavellan may be the unhappiest among them. Unhappier still to be put to the task of helping to see his quest through. This is the tale of how a fortnight in the forests of the Free Marches can change everything.

And here's a long snippet from Ch. 3 for some Drama:

A sliver of light shone briefly in from a crack in the tent, and a leather-clad elf stomped through it. The elf barked something out towards the tent flap, and before Dorian could muster more than a groan, he stomped out again. Dorian blinked a few times after the fading blur of light.

Minutes went by. Possibly hours. Dorian’s head hurt. He tugged on the binds at his wrists, bending them uncomfortably this way and that. It only seemed to tighten them, so he stopped. His head began to clear. More time passed. He attempted to count the minutes. When the elf returned again, Dorian managed a few inquiring calls for attention. Things like, “Where are the others?”, and, “damnit, I’m talking to you!” His calls went ignored.

The elf poked his head back out into the bright daylight beyond the dark tent, and shouted something in grumpy Elvhen. Another elf soon pushed through the flap, they stomped grimly forward together, and then one on either side hoisted Dorian up by the elbows. 

Dorian’s legs were half asleep and still bound, painfully tingling with each jostling step as the two elves dragged him forward. He groaned. The elf on his right barked back something he was sure was an insult. His unwilling legs were dragged on.

Dorian did his best to make his case for answers and mercy as they went. “We have no qualms with you," he pleaded, " I know Tevinter hasn’t historically been kind to your people, but really, this expedition wants nothing to do with you, so if you’d simply let us go on our way…” 

Sharp grunt. 

“You’re making a huge mistake. Kill me, and you’d be inviting a war, do you have any idea who I am?” 

Angry Elvish epithet. 

“Dorian of house Pavus,” he said proudly, “ Magister Pavus as of recently, I have a fortune, you could be handsomely rewarded and —”

Big knife.

“— and a wife! And children! Please!” 

The big knife pressed closer to his throat. There was a bandage there already. 

“Alright! So I don’t have children, or a wife, but I am engaged, and —”

Dorian was shoved through a tent flap by the elf holding the knife, who wound up at his back as his second captor pushed his unstable and bound legs down into a kneel.

“Relax, shemlin,” said a low voice. 

Thank the Maker, Dorian thought, blinking now at the woven mat he’d been forced upon, its zigzagged pattern slowly coming into view in his still foggy vision. Finally, here was someone who spoke the Trade speech. King's Tongue, they called it in the south. Crude. In Tevinter, the nobility still had its own.  

Dorian’s eyes rose from the ground to take in warmly lit canvas walls draped in soft pelts and colourful woven blankets. He knelt near a smouldering fire pit. Smoke was rising up through a narrow hole in the tent’s roof. Through its haze, in a grand and intricately carved wooden seat, sat a man. The man stood, and Dorian watched leather-wrapped feet pace forward, around, circling him. There were more seats, less grand but still intricately carved, all around the fire pit. None sat in them except for one old woman. She sat still and proud, squinting at him through the smoke. 

Dorian lifted his gaze all the way up to the face of the man who was just now finishing his pacing examination of him. An elvhen mage stood before Dorian with his staff planted firmly on the ground between them. He was not tall, but stood in towering regalness over Dorian all the same. His posture was straight, his shoulders strongly set and covered with a heavy green cloak woven through with threads of blue and gold. He wore his deep auburn hair in a long, thick braid hung over one shoulder, and he held his carved, spiralling wooden staff in both hands, emanating power. 

“You are Master Pavus ,” said the standing elf, speaking down to him. 

“Master Pavus was my father,” Dorian replied, flashing the man a winning smile, “as I am evidently your prisoner, it seems only fitting that you simply call me Dorian.” 

DAFF tags list: @warpedlegacy @rakshadow @rosella-writes @effelants @bluewren @breninarthur @ar-lath-ma-cully @dreadfutures @ir0n-angel @inquisimer @crackinglamb @theluckywizard @nirikeehan @oxygenforthewicked @exalted-dawn-drabbles @melisusthewee @agentkatie @delicatefade @leggywillow @about2dance @plisuu

Start a Fight

Pairing: Lip Gallagher x Fem!Reader

Fandom: Shameless (US)

Summary: You’re taking Lip to a party to introduce him to your childhood friends. Well, ‘friends’ is a strong word.

Warnings: Slight cursing, bullying

*******

    “You know you don’t have to go to this thing, right?” Lip stopped you before you reached your front door.

    “I know...” you hesitated.

    He encouraged, “But...”

    “Can I be honest with you?”

    “‘Course you can. Always,” he concernedly stated.

    You blushed, “I kind of want to show off my hot boyfriend.”

    Lip chuckled, “Good. ‘Cuz I want to show off my hot girlfriend.

    You giggled as Lip lead you outside.

***

    “Lip, this is my friend Clara Foy,” you inwardly cringed at the word ‘friend’. Clara, this is my boyfriend, Phillip Gallagher.”

    Lip shook Clara’s hand and offered, “Please, call me Lip.”

    Clara smirked. She must’ve taken Lip’s words as a flirtation. “Nice to meet you, Phillip.” She made a show of the fact that she wasn’t calling him by his nickname. “Tell me, how did you end up with her?”

    There it was. Clara’s not-so-passive passive aggression. You were completely prepared to ignore it, just like you had since childhood, but Lip had other plans.

    “What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked, coming to your defense without a second thought.

    You weren’t the only one surprised by Lip’s question. Clara was standing there with her mouth open enough to catch a fly for a second too long before stammering, “Well I--that’s not what I--”

    “That’s not what you meant. Sure.” Lip rolled his eyes. “We all know what you meant, Claire.” You didn’t know whether he was intentionally calling her by the wrong name or pulling an Uno reverse card and calling her a nickname she didn’t ask to be called. He continued, “Now why don’t you go f--”

    “Why don’t you go away and leave Lip and I alone?” you corrected Clara on Lip’s name while simultaneously saving him from getting kicked out of the party.

    “Well if we were gonna leave anyway, why didn’t you let me say what I wanted to say?” Lip wondered, annoyed, but not at you.

    You rolled your eyes. “Because I’d like to be able to face those people at some other point in my life!”

    Lip smirked, “What? You want to tell them to fuck off yourself?”

    “Yeah, sure,” you chuckled.

    He shook his head. “Nah. You’ll get it up one day, baby. I promise.” He took your hand in his and brought the back of it up to his lips.

    “Thanks,” you giggled. “What made you lose it on Clara so fast?”

    Lip squinted at the sun for a moment. “Well, she’s the big one, right? You talk about them so much. A guy can only hear so much about his girlfriend being bullied without wanting to start a fight.

    “Sorry I talk about them so much...” you tried at an apology, but Lip wasn’t having it.

    He stopped walking, and put his hands on your shoulders. “Hey, don’t you ever apologize for talking to me about anything, especially bullying. I’ll always be here to listen...and maybe I’ll start a fight if you need it.”

    You laughed at that and you and Lip continued the short trek to your house.

*******

Author’s Note: Thank you so much for reading! Fill up that heart and reblog if you liked it. I would also really appreciate a comment, if you have the time. If you would like to read more, check out my masterlist. Have a nice day, night, or whatever time it is for you! <3 <3 <3

How to Participate

Welcome to the Exol Secret Santa!

I hope this year so far has seen everyone safe happy and healthy. With only a few months left in the year the time has rolled around again for our fandom gift exchange! The time frame has changed a bit from the last couple of years. Sign up is happening earlier so as to give participants a longer time frame to work with. For the list with important dates please refer to this post HERE.

There are a few guidelines and reminders I’d appreciate if you read before clicking the link to the sign up page.

All skill levels are welcome! All we ask is you try your best when creating your gift and that giftees remember that not all Santas will have the same skill level as some of the more popular posts that make the rounds. Everyone has to start somewhere and it’s truly the thought that counts!

Please check the important dates post and keep in mind that the check ins are not meant to pressure anybody but to ensure that every participant receives a gift of some sort. During the final check in however you will be asked for a screenshot of the post draft. If you are unable to provide one then it will be assumed that your gift is not finished and a back up Santa will be arranged for your giftee.

If you have not completed your gift by the designated date you are more than welcome to still post it once it’s finished. We will still reblog gift posts after the exchange weekend.

Remember, the festivities are about sharing and fostering new (or old as the case may be) friendships. Take the the time to spread some holiday cheer and get to know your giftee. You might make a new friend in the fandom!

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Following this blog is not required but you may wish to consider it so you can see what everyone’s made as it gets shared. And so you can participate in any further activities hosted by this blog.

Santas it is highly encouraged, though not required, to message your giftee through out the next few months, both as a way to get to know your fellow exol and as a way to learn what they might like for a gift. On the off chance you need help with ideas part of the form will include a prompt, but we do ask you make an effort first. The dates for requesting your giftees prompt will be posted on the important dates.

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Gift Posts must be in your drafts and ready to post by the deadline. This is to allow our back-up Santas time to make a gift if needed. Inability to provide a screenshot will be taken as the gift isn’t completed and a backup Santa will be contacted. As stated above you will be more than welcome to post on the gift exchange weekend or later if you wish to, we just want to avoid giftees getting that niggling little disappointment when others receive a gift and they didn’t. This rule is for everbodys benefit.

All gift posts must be tagged with the giftees blog name and @exols-silver-christmas . We ask you tag this blog so we can share the wonderful things you’ve made. We also ask that you use the organizational tag #exolss22 withing the first 5 tags.

Read the Important Dates post.

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Edits: 4+ small png or 2+ large png

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Fanfiction of anysort: 1k+ words

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You are of course more than welcome to go above and beyond the minimum requirements but that is solely dependent on your personal inclination and time availability. This is meant to be fun and a way to interact with each other and not a burden.

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deadly sins, an open sfw, nsf.w and dark friendly collaboration.

luxuria. gula. avaritia. acedia. ira. invidia. superbia. the more a thing is perfect, the more it feels pleasure and pain.

7oji's first collab and 200+ followers event

⠀⠀⠀⠀──── 18+ writers only. read warnings at the beginning of each work.

⠀⠀⠀⠀──── any fandoms, genres, and sfw works are welcome. unlimited amount of slots open for each sin.

⠀⠀⠀⠀──── no deadlines, open until further notice/when all spots are covered.

GUIDELINES

i want to leave this as open as possible for creative freedom, so any idea you get when you think about the sin is ok ! the deadly sins are just a prompt so let loose your imagination.

──── accepting fics and drabbles only. 500 minimum word count, no max (use read more). aging up characters is ok. sfw, suggestive and dark content, au's, and any genres are welcome. please write warnings at the beginning of your post and tag appropriately!

──── character repeats are accepted if it's for a different sin. for example, if i'm writing about toji for envy, you can still pick toji to write him under wrath. no double characters under the same sin, but repeating fandoms is ok.

──── to join

have an age indicator in your bio (18+, adult, 20s, your birth year, etc)

follow my blog and read my rules beforehand

send me an ask with your sin, character, fandom, and state if your piece will contain nsf.w and/or dark content. as an example:

❝ hey vic, could i please join the deadly sins collab with toji fushiguro from jjk for envy? it will be a nsf.w/dark piece! ❞

──── once you are accepted, i'll reply to your ask, edit this post, and tag you. you can reblog this post once that happens (or before, thank you for boosting this).

──── when posting your work, please use the tag #deadlysinscollab and tag me.

──── all updates or announcements will be on my blog under the tag #deadlysinscollab.

──── i encourage asking for an "extension" or dropping out whenever you feel like it, just dm me or send an ask to let me know! feel welcome to also change your character/sin if the other isn't taken.

please don't feel pressured as this is just for fun and i'm taking it lightly. i appreciate you communicating with me.

since i hit 1k notes on my favorite work, i thought about doing an event. i'm so excited to read your works 🖤

SINNERS

⠀⠀⠀⠀LUST. the souls here are punished by being blown about violently by strong winds, preventing them to find peace and rest.

──── takashi mitsuya◞⁺ tokyo revengers (nsfw and dark)▐ by @asmos-pet

────...

⠀⠀⠀⠀GLUTTONY. sinners here lie rotting away in a never-ending icy rain, overlooked by a worm-monster cerberus.

────...

⠀⠀⠀⠀GREED. the inhabitants here drag about heavy weights and boulders with their chests for all time.

──── gojo satoru◞⁺ jujutsu kaisen (nsfw and dark)▐ by @p-antomime

──── toji fushiguro◞⁺ jujutsu kaisen▐ by @tinami

────...

⠀⠀⠀⠀SLOTH. the slothful now show great vigor in running around the terrace here, shouting famous examples of slothful behavior and its contrary virtue.

────...

⠀⠀⠀⠀WRATH. the sinners here engage in wrathful fights on the surface of the river styx.

────...

⠀⠀⠀⠀ENVY. since they derived pleasure from seeing other people brought low, the envious are now deprived of sight in an atrocious manner: their eyes are sewn shut with iron wire.

──── toji fushiguro◞⁺ jujutsu kaisen (nsfw)▐ by @7oji

──── gojo satoru◞⁺ jujutsu kaisen (nsfw and dark)▐ by @beandaifuku

────...

⠀⠀⠀⠀PRIDE. as punishment for pride, penitents are bent double under the weight of a huge boulder, rendering them unable to challenge anyone with their defiant eyes.

──── gojo satoru & geto suguru◞⁺ jujutsu kaisen (nsfw)▐ by @nanamisbbygirl

──── toji fushiguro◞⁺ jujutsu kaisen ▐ by @rintha

────...

The Witch Hunt

This fic is a highly fictionalized account of true events. I wrote it as a way of coping with the discourse and said it would never be publicly posted. But thanks to an ask from @twinkleallnight (and her persistence that anything I write needs to be shared and enjoyed by all), and discussions with my boos, bears, and Coven sisters … here it is.

HUGE THANK YOU to @ao719 for the amazing moodboard.

Thank you to my writing sisters for re-reading this story and assuring me that it still makes sense.

For all who will read this fic, THANK YOU! Your time, efforts, and energy spent reading, commenting, and/or reblogging is greatly appreciated more than you know.

Please excuse any and all typos, missing/extraneous words, and/or grammatical errors. (I rushed through my final editing)

Only the Commoner and the King belong to Pixelberry.

Song Inspiration: Every Breath You Take, Scala/Kolacny Brothers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bt63b4x2Xec

Word Count: 3,546

Eastwick

Light years and many moons from Reality, there is an alternate universe called Fandom where both children and witches live. The witches are a large coven, and spend their days writing spells; incantations of love, lust, and laughter … sometimes of darkness. The spells are for their intended and beloved, and tell of the lives and adventures the sorceresses wish to experience with them.

The witches live in a corner of the Fandom known as Cordonia, in a small town called Eastwick; for the most part, they all got along well and were supportive of each other.  Within the coven were three sisters: Hilda, Zelma, and Glinda. The sisters lived together in a large Victorian house, complete with wraparound porch, bay windows, and spires. All three were well-known and well-liked throughout the coven.

Glinda was the most popular; her bright cheery smile and sweet personality made her a favorite throughout Eastwick.

Zelma was the friendliest; she knew nearly all the other witches, and read over their spells to ensure that nothing went wrong. One incorrect word or improper enunciation could twist the spell’s intention completely.

Hilda, who was also a wizardess, was the most empathetic; she offered hugs and a listening ear to the strays of the coven: The witches who either had no magic, or if they did, no idea how to use it. Her sisters were usually tolerant when Hilda brought home her newfound, friendless acquaintances … except for Apple Core. There was a reason the oldest citizen of Eastwick had never truly been a part of the coven, but Hilda insisted Apple Core just needed love.

The sisters were sitting at their kitchen table, writing spells for their love interests. Zelma was in love with the Commoner of Cordonia, as were many others; it did not deter her from sending her love spells into the universe, neither did it stop the Commoner from returning her affections.

Glinda and Hilda were in love with the King; as was the case with the Commoner, the sisters were in competition with many for his both his hand and his heart. Glinda had decided that she and Hilda would love different versions of the King so as not to make things awkward between them. Glinda fell in love with the blonde-haired, blue-eyed King, while Hilda’s King had dark hair, dark eyes, and Asian features.

“I love him so much,” Zelma murmured as she finished her spell, her eyes landing on a picture of the Commoner she had summoned in their crystal ball.

“And he loves you in return,” Glinda said while tapping her quill pen against her chin.

“He loves an alternate version of me. If he knew what I really looked like, he wouldn’t,” Zelma lamented.

“Our beloveds see our hearts and souls, not our outer appearances,” Hilda stated as she waved a wand over her spell of lust.

Silence as the sisters worked to finalize their spells before casting them into the Void. Suddenly, there was a jarring of the earth and a loud clap of thunder; it was so loud and sharp,  Glinda covered her ears as the house shook.

Zelma looked up, her eyes darting around the room, as if the source of the disruption was in their home.

“The Dark One is casting.” She looked at her sisters uneasily.

WestWorld

On the other side of Cordonia, in WestWorld, The Guardian’s head lifted at the sound of distant thunder. Her eyes fell to her glass of water, now slightly moving across the table from the remnants of the shaking earth. Her gaze narrowed.

“The Witches!” she hissed.

WestWorld was where the children of Cordonia lived. There were some adults:  survivors of trauma and abuse from their previous worlds, but the majority of the residents were children. The Guardian lived there to ensure the under-aged residents were properly housed, clothed and fed. She shielded them from the Witches, whose sorcery and magic were misunderstood by WestWorld.

The Guardian and her Army believed in love and light; no sex was needed for that. Angst and strife were not needed for that. Darkness definitely was not needed. So, the Guardian warned the children constantly not to venture into Eastwick and to never, under any circumstances, read the spells that were cast into the Void from the other side.

And now, the Witches were casting darkness into the Void … again. Dark magic was the only thing that would have such far reaching effects.

The Guardian retrieved an ornate gold box from her cupboards and removed the lid to reveal her crystal ball. She chanted as she waved her hands over the ball, summoning up a spell to inform her of what was happening.

The Dark One appeared in the glass, looking rather smug and pleased; her image faded, to be replaced by the parchment containing her spell. The Guardian fell into her chair, her eyes wide with shock as she read what the Dark One had cast.

The Guardian felt her stomach churn; the children would most certainly want to see what had caused such a disruption in their world. Normally, the citizens of West World were content to read their tales of otherworldly creatures from a time long past, or of the single mothers who loved their childen beyond measure.

But they were children, and they were curious.

And now Dark One was once again summoning the Guardian’s charges to the other side.

The Guardian rose hastily from the table, and ran through the halls calling for her Generals.

One Week Later

Eastwick

The Dark One sat in her living room, her eyes fixed on her Book of Spells, searching for an answer, a solution.

Something.

The Guardian and her Army were calling for the Dark One’s head. They wanted her banished from all of Cordonia, and her spells erased from existence.

The Dark One shook her head to herself.  

That was unacceptable.

The Dark One was in love with the Commoner; she always had been since she first laid eyes on him. However, The Dark One knew she would never stand out in the sea of spells filled with love and lust. She didn’t speak that language.

No, she needed to speak to the Commoner soul to soul.

She focused not on his perfection, but his flaws and insecurities. She sought out the Commoner’s dark side that no one wanted to hear of or speak to. The Dark One offered the Commoner her broken pieces, her sorrow and hurt … and he was finally accepting them.

He was falling for her.

And she refused to let anyone stop them from being together.

With a small sigh, The Dark One sipped from her glass filled with hibiscus wine. This was not her first run- in with The Guardian. When The Dark One cast her first appeal to the Commoner’s dark side, her spell was met with resistance from both Eastwick and Westworld. She had taken a day away from the coven, not in shame, but to consider whether to remove her spell. If it inspired such strong feelings from her fellow witches, would it repel the Commoner?

But it did not.

He began looking her way. He urged her to tell him more about herself; he whispered more of his secrets in her ear. And The Dark One decided not to remove her spell simply because others were jealous the Commoner’s attentions were turning to her.

But now, The Guardian was viciously attacking her, over simple spells! There were threats of her murder if she did not comply with The Guardian’s request. Her sister witches, save for a few, were silent. The chosen to do battle with WestWorld fought alone; however The Dark One was given suggestions, instructions, and encouragements in private:

Listen to their concerns.

Perhaps you need to not cast so many spells.

Just stand down for a little while; it will blow over. The battles always do.

The Dark One thumbed slowly through her Book; her eyes took in the words that her soul had spilled. Her blood, sweat, and tears covered every page. And she knew what she had to do. She would step away from the coven; not because The Guardian told her to, but to protect the innocent.

It meant leaving the Commoner behind and The Dark One wasn’t sure she could do that. She had finally captured his attention and found her understanding.

But she would try.

She just had to do one last thing …

That night in Cordonia the earth shook, and the thunder clapped loudly and incessantly as The Dark One released nearly all her spells into the Void.

The Three Sisters

At the home of The Three Sisters, Zelma fretted as the house shook and dark clouds covered the sky.

“She’s been casting nonstop for a week! They’re threatening to kill her! And now what is she doing? The Void cannot handle so much dark energy.” Zelma stopped pacing to angrily throw her hands in the air. “She’s going to make it so none of us can cast!”

Glinda poured hot tea into three delicate teacups. “Perhaps we can appeal to The Guardian.”

“She won’t listen to us! With The Dark One being so unreasonable, The Guardian will set her sights on us. I’ve dealt with WestWorld once and I’m not eager to be once more tossed into that fray,” Hilda argued as she added honey and lemon to her fragrant beverage.

“If we use our powers of invisibility, she may. I see others from both sides are appealing to her in that manner.”

Zelma and Hilda barely heard their sister; they were watching the crystal ball reveal spell after spell flying past, flurries of parchment and ink whisking before them as if in a windstorm.

“Stop it! Stop the ball!” Hilda yelled.

With a frown of confusion, Glinda waved her hands over the sphere and froze the image. The sisters read the spell before them, eyes widening at the darkness it revealed. When they finished reading, they looked at each other, each trying to process what they just read.

Hilda straightened up. “This…this is not good. Perhaps I will approach the Guardian. I see where she has let the children read one of my spells. She praised it.”

“Perhaps … “Zelma said doubtfully as she reached for her cup.

The knock on the door startled the trio. Glancing at the clock, Glinda wondered aloud who it could be at this hour. Hilda went to the door; she was the oldest and viewed herself as her sisters’ protector. She pulled open the door to see Apple Core.

Apple Core was an outcast amongst the witches. She was without magic, and very demanding of members of the Coven. Apple Core had no true home and only one friend.

“Hello, dearie,” the outcast croaked.

“Good evening,” Hilda responded politely.

She noticed the older woman’s threadbare cloak and cracked, dry lips. Hilda stepped aside, pulling the door open wider as she did so.

“Please, come in. Perhaps partake in a glass of water? And a bowl of brew?”

Apple Core smiled thinly as she entered the household; she ignored Glinda and Zelma rolling their eyes at each other.

“The Dark One is releasing her magic quite freely tonight,” Apple Core remarked as she settled into a wooden rocking chair.

Glinda went to fetch water and brew for their visitor. Zelma and Hilda sat side by side on the sofa.

“Yes, she is. I plan to reach out to The Guardian as she and I are on friendly terms.” Hilda smoothed down her dress.

Apple Core looked at her quizzically. “Why on earth would you think that?”

“She has let the children read one of my spells.” Hilda said with a hint of pride.

WestWorld never allowed a spell to be voluntarily brought into their corner of Fandom.

“Your spell has been removed and cast out of WestWorld. The Guardian has discovered that you are mutuals with The Dark One, and therefore are guilty by association. In fact, all three of you are now on The Guardian’s blacklist.”

Glinda was returning with the sustenance for the visitor and heard the last part of the statement; her voice held an edge when she spoke.

“What are you talking about? I was never mutuals with The Dark One, and Zelma broke ties with her months ago! Hilda has maintained ties with The Dark One, but in name only!”

“This has become so much more than a push to banish The Dark One. And I fear now, even if she leaves, the damage has been done. Deep damage,” Apple Core said cryptically.

Her eyes fell to her bowl and the glass of water; she greedily licked her lips. “The best thing to do … frankly, the only thing … is to deflect The Guardian’s anger and ire back where it belongs. On The Dark One.”

“But how?” Glinda sat next to her sisters.

Apple Core slurped her brew directly from the bowl; splashes of broth splattered both Apple Core’s dark cloak and the silver spoon still sitting on the tray. Her eyes rolled over to the three sisters. “I can only point you in the direction, I cannot lead you.”

Hilda spoke slowly and thoughtfully. “The spell we just read; perhaps that will be enough to redirect The Guardian. I can speak to her invisibly. It can’t hurt.”

“Have you ever used the Spell of Invisibility?” Glinda asked, scoffing slightly.

“Hmmmm, once?” Hilda shrugged.

Glinda shook her head impatiently. “I’ll show you!”

Apple Core finished her meal and rose from her chair. “Your secret is safe with me, dearies. Just know, I have seen many battles fought between the two sides, and this one is going to be far worse than the others before. And a word of caution … The Dark One has even more spells; she just isn’t releasing them yet.”

“MORE spells?” Zelma exclaimed, wondering just how many spells The Dark One had. She rose to  usher Apple Core to the door where she bid the woman a good evening, watching Apple Core’s dark cloak billow behind her as the outcast made her way back to a hut on the outskirts of Eastwick.

Two Weeks Later

Eastwick

Zelma was sobbing as her sisters tried to comfort her. The battle with WestWorld was intensifying at a rapid rate.

Hilda’s attempts to divert The Guardian had failed: The Guardian had already read every spell The Dark One had cast into the void, which led her to seek out who among the Witches approved of such an abuse of power. The Guardian’s research went back over a year and was helped along by several informants, all invisible and anonymous to her but she had her ideas as to who the people were.

Names filled her ears, portions of spells and those who supported them crossed her desk. Her lips tightened a tad more with every name she came across. The Guardian needed a plan; a plan to end this once and for all.

This was so much bigger than simply The Dark One.

Zelma had wanted to approach The Guardian with news that one of the informants was bogus, and a spy for both sides. But in her haste and eagerness, she forgot to cloak herself with the Spell of Invisibility.

The Guardian’s lips had curved in a slightly cruel smile when the two women faced each other in their crystal balls. The Guardian knew who Zelma was; Zelma found out who the Guardian was. The witch flushed beet red and began to stammer, but The Guardian waved her hands and both balls went dark.

Zelma panicked. She knew about the Blacklist and didn’t want to be on it. Zelma didn’t want to be in WestWorld’s crosshairs at all.

She saw what had happened to Hilda; she saw what they were doing to The Dark One. Zelma immediately wrote a letter of apology to both the Coven and WestWorld. She tried to scrub any traces of her affiliation with The Dark One; but still, they remained.

The Guardian refused to listen to Zelma’s apologies and excuses. Moreover, she was angered by the outpouring of love and support for Zelma. But The Guardian held the upper hand, and she did not hesitate to use it.

Zelma was blacklisted and outed.

Her best friend in the coven had her spell creating abilities revoked.

Yet another friend wrote an appeal to both sides, asking to come to a consensus as to the best way to protect the children. She too was outed and blacklisted.

The only concession made by The Guardian was to restore spell creating privileges and to assure Zelma that she was in good company:  Her sisters, along with many others, would be joining her on the list.

Invisibly, Glinda, Hilda, and several others from the coven reached out to The Guardian; they were either ignored, or met with dismissiveness. Hilda’s plea was met with acknowledgement she raised valid points, but The Guardian would not waver on her decision.

This was for the children.

The sisters and their friends were both resigned to and relieved at their fate. Perhaps this Blacklist would be a good thing. They were buoyed by their fellow Witches requesting to be added to the list.

WestWorld and Eastwick rarely interacted; another layer of separation may be the best thing.

WestWorld

The Guardian’s head was in her hands, her fingers splayed across her face. Everything was going to hell in a handbasket, so quickly.

Too quickly.

It wasn’t supposed to go this way.

The Guardian had started her crusade with one mission in mind: banishment of The Dark One. But that hussy hadn’t left; she had barricaded herself inside of her home after releasing hundreds of spells into the Void. For days on end, all that crossed anyone’s path were dark, potentially triggering spells. The Guardian was truly puzzled how one witch could have so.many.spells. just waiting to be cast. And for the Commoner’s love at that; for the King … The Guardian could see that.

At least it was over.

Then began the influx of invisible, anonymous visitors. The Guardian knew they weren’t all witches, at least in the beginning. The Spell of Invisibility was available to all the citizens of Fandom.

Hour upon hour, The Guardian heard words of support and encouragement; tales of trauma; grateful sobs … all from people with no names or faces.

The Guardian knew she was doing the right thing; she and her Army were protecting those who were defenseless. The Dark One was simply the tip of the iceberg. All the dark spells had to go, and the ones who wrote them had to be outed, at the very least.

A new plan formulated in her mind, and her generals agreed with it.

The Blacklist would include the witch’s names, their addresses, and a list of the offensive spells.

And that is when the others began to visit.

They came while The Guardian slept; they came while she was preparing her meals. One came while she was bathing. All told her she was self-serving, trying to draw attention to herself and WestWorld.

That her plan of the Blacklist was simply telling the children where to go.

That they too were traumatized, and this is how they chose to cope.

The others told her they warned the children not to read their spells because the words they spoke were not for young eyes.

They told her to reach out to the people being put on the list, to walk in their shoes for a day or so.

The Guardian’s brain felt as if it were about to explode from too many voices and too much information.

She argued that she had reached out to the Witches; they had blocked their portals to her.

The Witches said that was an untruth.

The Guardian said she was doing what was best: Providing the children with the witches’ addresses and providing them access to their portals was to protect the children and survivors.

The Witches countered The Guardian was readying her Army to attack them. The children had already used their invisibility and anonymity to bully them to the point of encouraging the witches to commit suicide.

The Guardian said she was making Fandom a safe and nurturing environment for all.

The Witches scoffed at that, arguing that was why they lived in Eastwick and the children lived in WestWorld. It was neither safe nor healthy for either side to interact with each other.

It was all too much; this is not what was supposed to happen. Despite what it looked like, she was not looking to start a war.

But one was underway.

And to make everything even worse, The Dark One was casting spells again.

With a slightly trembling hand, she reached for her glass of water as she popped an aspirin in her mouth. The knock on her portal startled her; water sloshed from the glass and onto her frock.

She raised her head as the witch stepped over the threshold. It was Hilda.

A smile on her face, but a serious look in her eyes, Hilda sat uninvited at the table with The Guardian.

“We need to talk.”

Tagging:  @sirbeepsalot @jared2612 @ao719 @burnsoslow @bbrandy2002 @ofpixelsandscribbles @debramcg1106 @marietrinmimi @merridithsmiscellany-blog @queenjilian @texaskitten30 @glaimtruelovealways @indiacater @forthebrokenheartedthings @kingliam2019 @bebepac @zaffrenotes @liyanin @liamxs-world @choiceslife @ac27dj @the-soot-sprite @gnatbrain @anotherbeingsworld @atha68 @hopelessromanticmonie @amandablink @mom2000aggie @cmestrella @iaminlovewithtrr @shewillreadyou @starrystarrytrouble @liamrhysstalker2020 @alyssalauren @queenrileyrose @ladyangel70 @yourmajesty09 @gkittylove99 @neotericthemis @twinkleallnight @umccall71 @superharriet @lodberg @charlotteg234 @sweatyrysconnoisseur @mainstreetreader @busywoman @gabesmommie1130 @jessiembruno @darley1101 @txemrn @tessa-liam @phoenixrising308 @beezm @gardeningourmet @lovingchoices14 @thegreentwin​

See You Again [2]

Fandom(s): Tokyo Ghoul

Relationship(s): Uta & reader.

Summary: in the sound of silence, we found sanctuary. in every word unspoken, love.

Warning(s): Angst, unspoken feelings. Pre-canon events but also very ambiguous timeline-wise. Disturbing mental imagery. Canon typical gore.

This little series was never meant to have a happy ending, so no screaming at me. I’ll accept your appreciation for my love of angst in reblogs, likes, comments or tears. 

Seriously though, in all honesty, I hurt myself as I wrote this. 

I dunno, I might indulge that impulsive urge of mine and write a one shot where they actually get together. Most likely not though, so no one hold their breath ahahaha.

[i.]

~

A smart person would never have returned to the little out of the way mask shop in the 4th Ward. You’d have chalked up the experience as weird and as common sense dictated, forgotten all about it. 

That is the safer route, the sane option.

So of course, you decided to be stupid. You kept coming back to the shop, although you were careful with how you planned your visits, spacing them out in between sight seeing and being a general tourist. 

The added bonus of your frequent visits being that although Uta’s face didn’t really change much expression-wise, you got the feeling that he was always a little surprised to see you.

“Do you really like it here that much?” 

Pulling the oni mask away from your face, you glanced at Uta who stood a good distance away from you, hand in pocket, hip cocked against the edge of the counter. “What’s that now?”

“I said, ‘do you really like it here that much?’” Uta repeated himself, red on black eyes intently trained on your face. “This is the second time this week you’ve come by without buying anything.”

“Oof.” You exaggeratedly clutched at your chest. “That hurt, Uta-san. With how frequently I come by here, one would think you’d treat me as more than a customer. We’re friends now.”

“We’re not.”

The words are stated so bluntly and again, you clutch at your chest, miming being struck by an arrow. Uta didn’t respond to your joking around and playing, just stared at you. So, you cut the crap, reaching into your back pocket with a mock pout. “How much for this mask? I think it suits me.”

“10504.50 yen.” At the sight of your suddenly wide eyes and dropped jaw, Uta’s blank expression cracked, he smiled slightly and just for a split second. “Also, the mask doesn’t suit you.”

You turned your back to him, carefully returning the oni mask to the display it’d been set up on. The next second you turned around, you nearly jumped out of your skin at how close Uta is now. “Hey now! Shit, you need a bell or something.”

“It’s not my fault you don’t pay attention.” 

You can’t even pull off your comedic routine and drop your head in an ‘ashamed’ manner because you’d probably most likely hit your head against his chest, he’s standing that close. Before you could ask him to either back up and inquire what was his reason for being in your personal space, a tattooed finger reached out, lightly touching your chin, encouraging you to look up, so that’s what you did.

“...I can create a mask for you. Something that suits you.” He’s now adjusting your face, the faintest touch causing you to move this way and that. 

“Aww! That’s nice of you, Uta-sa-”

“The base color would be silver, perhaps. And the eyes would sewn shut, the better to hide your grief and... the anger.” He’s musing aloud, words quiet and almost a whisper, but you heard him. Part of you think it’s deliberate, that he’s making fun of you, mocking you.

And it worked. 

You reached a hand up, setting it upon his wrist. Uta blinked, staring down at your hand, then his unique gaze switched to you, and he.... for a lack of better words, it’s like he snapped out of that artist’s mode. He dropped his hand and took one step out of your personal bubble then another and another before whirling around and started walking away. 

He lifted a hand in farewell, waving it about in a sort of shooing manner.

“Come back again in two to three weeks.”

That should have been the end of you and his interactions. 

Regardless of how intriguing he is, he’d pressed on one of your triggers, maybe even on purpose, and you already had too short of a life to put up with the bullshit. Then again, maybe it was for that reason entirely that you decided that you were gonna keep seeing him, even after he finished the mask, to annoy him to death of course.

Until he told you upfront to go away, you wouldn’t. That’s what you decided.

And with that resolution settled in your head, you could go about your business. You enjoyed the sights, the food, and although your judgement said it’d be a bad idea, you had a couple of one night stands. The first is a lawyer that you’re like pretty sure has kids and a wife, and the other is a stressed college kid. 

The experience left you unsatisfied and irritated. 

Since your last encounter with Uta had been...awkward and strained, you decided to bring a peace offering. Cream puffs for yourself with green tea and a cup of black coffee for him. You’d picked up on the fact that he liked the beverage without sugar and cream like the total heathen he is. You idly wondered if he even enjoyed sweet things or maybe he was one of those weird folks who liked sour and spicy stuff all the time.

The fact that you’re even thinking about this and it didn’t sink in as odd or out of place until the moment you crossed the threshold of HYSY Studios, taking note of the fact that the place is as gloomy and empty of customers as always. 

“’Ey! Uta, where you at!?” 

There’s a vibration against your leg. You juggle the items in your hold carefully before tugging out your cellphone and entering the passcode to unlock the phone. The most recent text message you’d received from Uta about four minutes ago informed you of the fact that he’s in the back of the studio, like the very, very back, where all the unused and returned masks were. Now the only reason you knew all this information is because of how often you pestered Uta about it. 

You’re at an impasse. 

You could do as he asked and bring your treat to him while you were at it or you could wait and avoid the potential jump scare that Uta was totally capable of inflicting upon you. 

‘To go or not to go, that is the question.’ 

Everything pointed to the clear conclusion that no, you absolutely should not go back there. Every horror movie cliché ended with the female protagonist being killed or gravely injured because she was so stupid as to go in the dark, alone, by herself. 

‘Uta isn’t a killer though.’ That’s what you tried to tell yourself, the argument weak and pitiful in your brain. 

You did not know this man well enough to be in the back where it wouldn’t be easy access to the front door, where you couldn’t bolt if he did something strange. However, you did own a mini taser and always carried mace, just as a precaution, so... 

So....

Slowly, reluctantly, you did as he instructed, every warning and life training you’d received up to this point in your life sending out red neon signs telling you to wait, not be an idiot, to please please stay where you are. And you ignored all those survival instincts, heading deeper into the studio, your footfalls loud and eerie the further in you went. 

Until you find him. 

He’s apparently unfazed by your belated presence, focus wholly consumed with his work. Red on black eyes glanced at you for but a moment and what you carried and then at the coffee. “There’s a mini fridge, leave everything there, except the coffee. I’m almost done.” 

Having some mild experience with artists and creative sorts, you avoid looking at the mask he’s working on, instead setting down the coffee in an empty space he vaguely gestured to. 

Then you walk the short distance to where the only mini fridge in the room is, reaching out, you pull it open. And it’s the scent that alerts you; the fresh tang of blood. It’s too late to stop yourself and you see it, everything. The jar of eyeballs, the carefully wrapped packages of ‘meat’. 

‘I’m in a back room with the potential copycat Jeffery Dahmer or...or....’ 

You’re not an idiot, all these little things you’d casually dismissed because you hadn’t cared enough to pay attention, to see... And now here you are. Here you are. 

Fuck.

Swallowing, you calm and dampen the inner voice sCREAMING, then casually as possible, grip wobbling only slightly, do you put your treat inside the mini fridge right alongside the human body parts and flesh, then close the door, turning around. 

Uta is still hard at work on the mask but his movements are slowing down.

As if nothing is amiss, you stride over just as he finally pauses to take a sip of coffee. “This is one of the ways that you make masks. Really. That’s interesting…” And you meant it too. Legs crossed, you leaned against the table, watching the mask maker in his element.

He smiles at you in that enigmatic way. “Thank you.” 

The visit continues without much else in the way of incidents and subtly unsubtle revelations. 

You don’t really talk and Uta doesn’t make you. 

Less than twenty minutes later, once he deems the mask complete, he stands up and stretches, arms raising overhead, revealing an expanse of creamy, pale, lean and muscled torso. 

Glancing away a beat too late, you catch Uta as he smiles, again, the smile lengthens into a smirk. He reaches out and plucks up the half mask delicately, taking a step towards you and your heart traitorously lurches in your chest. 

Self-preservation makes you want to run as he comes closer, closer, closer...

Logic keeps you rooted in place as he carefully puts the mask on you. Tattooed fingers brush the strands of hair away from the nape of your neck, lingering as he feels the flutter of your pulse beneath his fingertips. 

“Your heart is racing like a hummingbird.” he muses. You stare out at him from beneath the safety of the mask, the bone surprisingly not pinching or cutting your skin. “And here I thought nothing could scare you.”

“Unfortunately fear makes up the majority of the human psyche.” You can’t help the quip, tone dry. “But you’re my friend, so it’s fine.” 

That last comment causes Uta to blink and stare at you in blatant surprise for a minute or two. Then he pulls himself together and shakes his head, a chuckle rumbling through his chest. “...I suppose we are friends.”

“Cool. So how much for the mask?” You reach up, about to remove it but Uta swatted at your hands, the action hard enough to sting but not leave damage. You still squawk indignantly anyway.

“It’s free. Creating it got me out of my block, so thank you.” Bringing out a cellphone, he takes a couple pictures with you, making you turn, pose, and pretty much just show off. 

Once he’s done, he snags your tea and cream puffs out the fridge, then walks you to the front of the studio, giving a small wave goodbye. Brain swimming with what you just learned, amazed that he hadn’t just killed you straight off, you glance at the chilled green tea in your hand then after mentally shrugging to yourself, you take a sip and shove a cream puff in your mouth. 

Hell, after the day you’ve had, you deserve to be rewarded.

Time passes, as it inevitably does. 

You receive more calls from Kiani, from other friends and family members, but you are resolute in staying in Japan. 

Much to your surprise, you’d actually gotten comfortable being there. Though that might have had something to do with Uta, who you continue to visit, and if he’s surprised or put out, none of that shows on his face. It’s fun to drag him places, to be around him, and you can laugh at his jokes, even the deadpan, making-fun-of-humanity ones. 

He even lets you meet his other ghoul friends, Itori and Renji. 

Through it all, these changes and fun things, your health slowly, steadily, gets worse even as you and Uta get closer, muddling about in a rather confusing grey area of friends...and more...

As always, the two of you are hanging out, this time you’d dragged him to an amusement park, and he held onto some of the prizes you won, gamely snapped a couple photos of you in ridiculous poses and making silly faces, etc. 

It felt like a date.

Like, you’re returning from a date.

When that thought ran through your brain, you automatically looked at Uta, catching sight of his profile in the light of the setting sun and your heart clenched as you realized that he’s beautiful. 

It’s with difficulty that you manage to look away but not before he catches you staring from the corner of his eye. “You’re always looking at me… Yet, you never try and get closer…” Uta’s hands are in his pockets and he is barely a foot away. “Does fear keep you at a distance…” He took a step forward. 

Coming almost uncomfortably close. 

“Or is there another….” 

Without conscious thought, you tilt your head up and your lips meet his. 

The contact is light, barely a graze, and there’s the cool sensation of his lip ring...it’s odd but hardly distracting. Your heart is beating like a jack rabbit in your chest and you know this isn’t good for you.

 As you go to pull away, to disconnect, that’s when Uta finally, finally, responds.

He places a hand on the back of your neck, keeping you close before tilting his head, leaned in and kissed you again. 

There’s nothing teasing or patient about it. He nipped your bottom lip, barely waiting for you to part your lips before his tongue twined and stroked, expertly playing with your own, and you felt a zing of excitement travel down you spine as your tongue lightly grazed his tongue ring. 

Your right hand goes to his shoulder, squeezing, holding on desperately as your legs threaten to give out. 

Effortlessly, Uta holds you up, his other hand going to the dip of your back, and when you break the kiss to get some air into your burning lungs, Uta peppers feather light kisses down the column of your throat, sucking a spot just behind your ear. Only when you gasp his name, a mere whisper of a breath really, only then, does he finally stop.

Uta tops that....bombardment off with a light kiss to your forehead, lingering. Then he murmurs into your ear, “That’s how you kiss me from now on.” 

With his piece said, as if he hadn’t pretty much swept you off your feet and left you stuck in LaLa Land, Uta brushed a hand down his shirt, straightening out imaginary wrinkles, before he walked away. It took a few seconds for your brain to reboot and then you hurried after him, chastising him for being mean.

There are a hundred different words that lingered on the edge and never escape your mouth. A thousand questions you never got the answer to. 

There are no more kisses between you and Uta. 

You pass away in your sleep that night December 31, 2XXX at 11:59 P.M. alone in your rented hotel room, dreaming of an impossible reality; of happiness between yourself and the ghoul who for a brief moment, made you feel important, seen, and desired. 

Almost as if he could love you.

An Examination of Joss Whedon

On February 11th, Charisma Carpenter made a post on her Instagram account detailing mistreatment she experienced on the sets of Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Carpenter worked on both shows from 1996 to 2004 and attributes this mistreatment to show creator Joss Whedon.

On the same day, I made a post on my Tumblr and my WordPress accounts regarding my stance on this topic. I felt it was important for me to post something quickly due to the large number of Buffyverse followers and mutuals on my Tumblr.

I was overwhelmed by the likes, reblogs, and comments this post received in less than twenty-four hours. I’m so glad so many people support Charisma Carpenter and others who are speaking out about their experiences.

Workplace mistreatment is insidious, and too often the systems in place to mediate these situations are designed to protect the employer rather than the person experiencing mistreatment. This happens everywhere in every industry. When people in the public eye draw attention to these issues it helps bring awareness to everyone and encourages societal change.

In today’s climate, social media moves faster than legal or internal HR systems. This means, more often than not, accusations spread, opinions form, and action is taken long before any investigation can occur. Because of this, it’s important for people to seek out the facts themselves in order to stay informed or make decisions about who in fandom they choose to support or not.

I’m going to go through various tid-bits I’ve seen over the past twenty-five years regarding Joss Whedon’s behavior, which prompted my quick response to Charisma Carpenter’s post. I feel it’s important to share this with those who may be new to the fandom, or those who doubt Charisma Carpenter’s claims and those of others.

The Bronze

Before there was Twitter, there was The Bronze.

The Bronze was the official online gathering place of Buffyverse fans. Joss Whedon and others involved with the shows occasionally popped in and posted, interacting with the fans. There was speculation about the trajectory of the show, discussion about lore, fan theories, and behind the scenes rumors.

I didn’t learn about these forums until I was in high school (from 2002 to 2006) and I never posted. I just read up on the fun factoids I could find. I wasn’t a heavy Internet user back then. We had one computer in my house and it was shared with my parents. I was only allowed on for so much time per day, yada yada.

I think Buffy the Vampire Slayer was one of the first shows – if not the first – to utilize this kind of creator/fan interaction. It wasn’t a regular thing back then.

The vibe of these forums was very laidback. When someone directly involved with Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel posted (known as a V.I.P.) it was with a very casual, unmoderated tone. There was no screenshotting every word to be saved for later. Someone from the media couldn’t grab a comment made and spread it across the Internet in real time. There were mailing lists – collections of email addresses for people who wanted updates on show spoilers or particular non-show activities of various actors. Fan letters were still a thing – actual snail mail letters you could send to actors and writers of the shows. Things moved slowly, and there wasn’t as much transparency as there is on the Internet today with sites like Instagram and Twitter.

In a series of posts made on November 6th, 2001, Joss Whedon reacted to the airing of the musical episode, “Once More with Feeling.” He called it “the biggest undertaking of my life,” but expressed his appreciation toward the UPN network, the cast, and crew – particularly Anthony Head, Amber Benson, and James Marsters. He calls Anthony Head “the golden throat” and writes of James Marsters, “And James, who always tells me to do everything I dream of, then brings that intense voice and those cheekbones along for the ride.”

All he writes about Amber Benson is, “Amber… just, you know… Amber….”

Alarmingly absent from his praise is star Sarah Michelle Gellar, who “went back and forth” over whether or not to sing in the episode. “I’m not a singer,” she told EW. She didn’t feel prepared enough and “didn’t feel confident.” As someone who broke out of her comfort zone and pulled off a wonderful leading performance, Gellar was certainly deserving of some acknowledgment.

Seemingly realizing he neglected to mention Marti Noxon, Whedon tacked on, “Do you know anyone that hot who can run a show? Do you? I don’t think so. What a voice.” At the time, alongside comments about James Marsters’ cheekbones and being “a little gay” for Anthony Head, this seemed to be an attempt at an edgy complement (though a little cringey). Marti Noxon was a new showrunner for Buffy, taking over for Joss. Referring to her as hot rather than praising her work is a little demeaning, in my opinion, particularly when it was up to him to make sure she was respected and taken seriously in filling his shoes.

On May 22nd, 2002, Whedon posted about “the gay thing” – probably not for the first time. Regarding some fan reactions to the death of Tara Maclay, Joss wrote, “I knew some people would be angry with me for destroying the only gay couple on the show, but the idea that I COULDN’T kill Tara because she was gay is as offensive to me as the idea that I DID kill her because she was gay. Willow’s story was not about being gay. It was about weakness, addiction, loss… the way life hits you in the gut right when you think you’re back on your feet.”

Keep in mind, at the time, Willow was one of the first gay main characters – if not THE first – on a major primetime show in the sci-fi/fantasy genre. Having a gay couple on a major show like this was not a regular thing, which made the shocking death of Tara and the dark turn of Willow particularly hard-hitting. While Whedon isn’t saying anything particularly inflammatory here, it does show a sort of crass attitude toward the removal of this representation from the show, which had become so important to so many fans – and still is now.

There’s not a lot of meaty information to be found that I could dig up, but I wanted to give people an idea of this landscape back in the day. I picked out those particular Joss Whedon posts because they show a very casual disregard for the women involved in the shows – an insidious and subtle thing, but it’s there.

Fighting with Buffy

Jeff Pruitt was a stunt coordinator on Buffy the Vampire Slayer from 1997 to 2000. He also happened to be romantically involved with Sarah Michelle Gellar’s stunt double, Sophia Crawford. Both would exit the show by its fifth season. According to Pruitt, it was not an amicable exit.

Pruitt claims he and Crawford were treated badly on the set, that Crawford was “one never ending injury” and she had “reached the end of her rope.” He said that they were threatened and blackballed when they made attempts to leave before the 100th episode. They got an opportunity to work on Dark Angel, but the people at Dark Angel supposedly received a phone call from “someone high up at their studio” and were told not to hire Pruitt and Crawford. He suspects this was to keep Sophia Crawford from leaving Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Their firing was unceremonious, according to Pruitt. “Sophia was told point blank that she was being fired because she knew too much about things,” he claimed. He said Joss Whedon and Jane Espenson threatened Crawford, saying if she spoke about what happened on set she’d “never work in this town again.”

Jeff Pruitt spoke about “sneaky politics” behind the scenes, saying “there was something weird going on” in the months leading up to his and Crawford’s exit. Pruitt claims Sarah Michelle Gellar was a “spoiled starlett” and that she was “out to get” him and Crawford. He attributes statements he made in private emails that were later read by Joss Whedon to his firing.

It’s worth noting that many people have stated that Sarah Michelle Gellar is undeserving of a “diva” label. When asked in 2004 what it was like working with Sarah Michelle Gellar, Julie Benz said, “She’s extremely talented and generous. Her reputation is just completely untrue. Unfortunately in Hollywood if you’re young and female and you have an opinion you get labeled a diva or something…else. Sarah’s an amazing talent, but she got labeled.”

In a 2013 interview on Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live, Alyson Hannigan answered a series of rapid-fire questions about Buffy the Vampire Slayer. When asked who was the most “annoyed” by the end of the show, she said, “Sarah,” referring to Sarah Michelle Gellar. When the audience booed, Hannigan clarified, “Well, she had a big career going, and it was a lot of work.” When asked when Gellar started to “hate” the show, Hannigan quickly said season three. In a later interview for Huffpost Live, Hannigan clarified her comments further. “[Sarah Michelle Gellar] worked her butt off,” she stated. “She worked eighteen-hour days for years.” Hannigan said she wouldn’t have classified Gellar as “annoyed,” saying, “she was super professional.”

Honestly, I’m Team Sarah on this one. I couldn’t find corroborating sources for Jeff Pruitt’s claims of her “diva” behavior, but I found several sources stating otherwise. Gellar did confirm during a cast reunion that she may have oversold her stunt experience, which ultimately would have meant more work for her stunt double and the stunt coordinator. It seems to me like this set everything on a bad foot with that team. But, the reasons Jeff Pruitt and Sophia Crawford gave for their exit had little-to-nothing to do with Gellar.

Vincent Kartheiser

Vincent Kartheiser played Connor on Angel, and he did a number of interviews talking about his experience on the show. I picked his interviews because I’ve always found him to be very candid and he doesn’t seem to shy away from uncomfortable answers to questions. A few of his answers provide a little insight into the mood on the set at times, and Charisma Carpenter’s attitude.

When Charisma Carpenter was pregnant on the show, she had a storyline that heavily involved Connor, so the two spent a lot of time working together on set. He was asked about her pregnancy and how it affected filming. In a 2003 interview for BBC Cult, Kartheiser said of Carpenter, “she was a great sport and would suck up the pain even though you could see that she was in it.”

In another interview for Angel Magazine from the same year, he said Carpenter had “an abundance of energy for a working, pregnant lady who, right in the heart of her pregnancy, they put her in so much.”

It’s worth noting Vincent Kartheiser had his own issues with the show. “What really made me interested in Angel was the idea that as a show, it changed so much and all the characters could change so much,” he told Angel Magazine. “It wasn’t that clichéd kind of ‘show up, do your thing, go home’ all the time.” Unfortunately, the potential that interested him never came to fruition for his character. “As the season went on, we never really got to deal with the relationship problems between me and David,” Kartheiser said, referring to David Boreanaz as Angel. “I never really got the opportunity to bond with any other characters.” He expressed a feeling that there was nowhere for his character to go and that Connor’s motivations seemed to change from week to week. “There were parts of the season I didn’t have the opportunity to stretch,” he explained, “that it felt like I was doing the same scene over and over.”

Vincent Kartheiser did a later interview with Giantmag.com where he reiterated some of these frustrations. For him, the character of Connor started to get stale early on. “Every week I’d show up and have a scene with Cordelia,” he said, “then Angel would show up and I’d have some sort of conflict with him. There’d be a couple of fight scenes where I’d fight with them even though I didn’t want to and then I would sulk and leave. That to me was every episode.” He felt the writers had written Connor “into a corner” and that fans responded poorly to him.

When comparing his experience on Angel to his experience playing Pete Campbell on Mad Men, Kartheiser expressed a lackluster feeling on the set of Angel. “There was a real sense on Angel that people were just doing a job,” Kartheiser said of the set. “The grips, the DP, even the directors would kind of just show up, do their job and go home.” This atmosphere is a direct contrast to what had attracted Vincent Kartheiser to the show in the first place. “On Mad Men we also have Matthew Weiner on set all the time whereas Joss [Whedon] was hardly ever on Angel,” Kartheiser explained. “I think Joss was doing Firefly at that point and was in love with his next project. I had a friend who filmed a few episodes in the first season of Angel and said everyone was invested and there was crazy energy, so maybe I just came into it late.”

Kartheiser also delved deeper into his frustrations over the direction (or lack thereof) of his character. “I let them know right off the bat that some of the choices they were making [about Conner] were wrong,” he said. “I showed up to play that character and I had a lot of ideas. And they didn’t like any of those ideas.” As a result, Kartheiser said he got “jaded” and “angry” at the show. “I felt like it wasn’t a collaboration, that the people I was working with didn’t care to take risks.”

In hindsight, he went on to say, “I was never a fan of Buffy, I’ll say it straight out. I was never a fan of Angel. I always found it hard to say Joss’ words.”

From all these comments, both from the beginning of Vincent Kartheiser’s journey as Connor, and from a few years after the show ended, it seems like he was excited for the opportunity, but ultimately disappointed with the overall experience. He also revealed how uncomfortable Charisma Carpenter had to be during filming while she was pregnant, but noted her energy and attitude were never a problem.

Farewell Cordelia

Prior to Charisma Carpenter’s official exit from Angel, her character arc had taken a very strange turn and Cordelia had been ominously left in a coma. Concern grew when Charisma Carpenter was not included in the cast of season 5. In a 2003 interview with TV Guide Online, Joss Whedon stated, “The Angel/Cordelia [love story] had gone pretty much as far as we wanted to take it” and that it wasn’t popular with the fans. “It just seemed like a good time for certain people to move on,” he continued. “Not completely, obviously. I’m hoping that we’ll get Charisma to do some episodes as Cordelia sometime during the year.”

TV Guide asked, “Isn’t that a disservice to fans who invested all those years in the character and her redemption? It seems an odd thing to do to the show’s leading lady.” Whedon responded, “That’s a fluctuating concept, the leading lady thing. And it is a little odd. Some choices are ultimately kind of controversial about who stays and who goes and who we focus on. But obviously, we had to have her out of a bunch of episodes toward the end of the year because she was having a baby… so what we had [leading] up to it wasn’t a dynamic I wanted to play out that much.” When asked if things were left on good terms with Charisma Carpenter, Joss Whedon stated he wouldn’t discuss that in an interview.

From Charisma Carpenter’s perspective, she was uncomfortable with Cordelia’s storyline prior to her coma and her death. “It was creepy,” she said of Cordelia’s relationship with Connor. “Connor was Angel’s son and half my age.” Carpenter stated it was important for her to return to wrap up the character’s storyline. “We didn’t want to just leave Cordelia in a coma,” she stated. “Whatever happens after this, I’m open. But it’s just best this story be [resolved] now. Otherwise, it’s a disservice to the fans of our show.” When pressed regarding whether or not she’d return to the show, Carpenter replied, “I don’t think it’ll be necessary. You never say never. However, at this point in time, I don’t see a future for her.” She continued with, “I feel like Joss feels – the Cordelia stories have been told. There were no other directions to go with her.”

Carpenter’s final appearance as Cordelia was an emotional experience. “We’ve been crying for the last two days,” she said in a behind-the-scenes interview. “I’m so physically drained.” She wasn’t the only one affected, either. “The director was crying, the crew was crying, we were crying,” she said. She called it a sad goodbye personally, professionally, and story-wise.

Working with Joss Whedon

Over the years, Joss Whedon gained a reputation for being unconventional to work with. Many actors from the Buffyverse have said they were unhappy with their characters’ creative paths. Sarah Michelle Gellar felt season six “betrayed” who Buffy was, saying she had to be “talked off a ledge” a number of times during filming.

Nicholas Brendon felt the character of Xander was “underrated,” particularly during season seven. “Joss did have a talk with Sarah and I because he was kind of contemplating the idea of Xander and Buffy ending up together at the end of season seven,” Brendon told AV Club. “We were both for it, but then that never came to fruition and I lost my eye.”

On an episode of Michael Rosenbaum’s Inside of You podcast, James Marsters said he was “terrified” of Joss Whedon. “I wasn’t designed to be a romantic character,” he explained. “The audience reacted that way to it. And I remember [Joss Whedon] backed me up against a wall one day, and he was just like, ‘I don’t care how popular you are, kid. You’re dead! You hear me? You’re dead! Dead!” Rosenbaum asked, “Was he kidding around?” and Marsters replied, “No. Hell, no.” Marsters also said he had “open wounds” on his scalp from over-using bleach on his roots every eight days to keep the roots from growing out.

Multiple actors from Angel have talked about Whedon’s habit of making actors squirm. David Boreanaz spoke about how he learned about the Angel spinoff during a twentieth anniversary cast reunion. “I got a phone call that Joss wanted to talk to me,” Boreanaz recalled. “The only thing he said was, ‘I want you to come into my office tomorrow,’ and I’m like, ‘I’m fired.’” He described having a night of “angst” and spent the following day working on some flashback scenes. When he finally met with Whedon at lunch it took some time for Whedon to tell him his character was getting a spin-off. Alexis Denisof expressed a similar knee-jerk feeling of “uh-oh,” but had an idea the spin-off was filming. However, Amy Acker had a similar story to what Boreanaz experienced when she was told about her character Fred’s transformation into Illyria. “It seems to be an echo of, like, ‘Hey, can you meet me for coffee tomorrow?’ and I’m like, ‘Ohh, they’re firing me!’ And we sat down to coffee and he said, ‘I just wanted you to know I’m killing Fred.’ And he waited, like, really a long time.” Charisma Carpenter chimed in, “He likes to do that!” Acker was then informed she would still be on the show as Illyria.

Charisma Carpenter and Marti Noxon have shared their own stories about Joss’s “You’re fired, just kidding” stories. Seth Green quipped “He did that to me too, but it took.”

Whedon’s View of Women

While Joss Whedon considers his writing to be feminist, his portrayal of women as well as other statements he’s made contradict this. In 2013, he gave a speech for Equality Now about his dislike of the word “feminist.” While this speech earned him some acclaim, it also earned him some backlash from the feminist community. This was mainly because he claimed it’s natural for people to be equal, and to add “-ist” to the end of the word “feminist” implies that people’s natural state is to be unequal. This stance was seen as disrespectful to Feminism as a movement, for some.

Joss Whedon received wide criticism for his portrayal of women in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. One critic, Scott Mendelson, talked about Whedon’s portrayal of Scarlet Witch and Black Widow in Avengers: Age of Ultron. “Scarlet Witch eventually has to be coaxed into bravery by one of the male heroes,” Mendelson writes of Elizabeth’s Olson’s character. Mendelson was even less thrilled with Scarlet Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff. “Maybe I shouldn’t be annoyed that the only major female character’s primary arc is a theoretically unrequited pining for a nice guy with major anger issues,” he writes, “or that said character briefly gets captured by the villain in the second act and tossed in a cage for no reason other than to be rescued by her male compatriots.” Backlash over this film caused Whedon to quit Twitter. In an article for Gizmodo, writers Meredith Woerner and Katharine Trendacosta point out that Joss Whedon teased a “killer” backstory for Natasha Romanoff. “Instead of an assassin constantly struggling with finding moral lines she didn’t know existed, we got a woman who feels incomplete because she cannot have babies,” Woerner and Trendacosta concluded.

In 2017, Whedon’s ex-wife Kai Cole wrote a blog for The Wrap stating, “he used his relationship with me as a shield, both during and after our marriage, so no one would question his relationships with other women or scrutinize his writing as anything other than feminist.”

Cole alleges Whedon wrote her a letter in which he said, “When I was running ‘Buffy,’ I was surrounded by beautiful, needy, aggressive young women… As a guilty man I knew the only way to hide was to act as though I were righteous… In many ways I was the HEIGHT of normal, in this culture. We’re taught to be providers and companions and at the same time, to conquer and acquire — specifically sexually — and I was pulling off both!” At the end of her essay, Cole wrote, “I want the people who worship him to know he is human, and the organizations giving him awards for his feminist work, to think twice in the future about honoring a man who does not practice what he preaches.”

In response to Kai Cole’s letter, Laura M. Browning wrote in an AV Club article, “I was sad, but not shocked—maybe a little embarrassed I hadn’t looked more closely at some very clear problems in his work… His work has plenty of male gaze and women in refrigerators and some narratively pointless rape scenes—it’s all right there, in hundreds of hours of television and film—but boy, it sure is a lot more comfortable to listen to a guy tell you he’s a feminist than listen to a lot of women telling you he’s not.”

Whedon’s veneer of feminism has been cracking for several years.

Recent Allegations

Actor Ray Fisher claimed Joss Whedon behaved inappropriately on the set of Justice League, tweeting, “Joss Wheadon’s on-set treatment of the cast and crew of Justice League was gross, abusive, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable.” Fisher also accused Geoff Johns and Jon Berg of enabling Whedon’s behavior. An investigation was done by Warner Brothers and co-stars Jason Mamoa and Kiersey Clemons publicly supported Fisher. Ultimately, the investigation concluded and “remedial action” was taken. The action taken has not been specified.

Shortly after, Joss Whedon exited the HBO series The Nevers, which Fisher attributes to his own claims.

Team Charisma

Those who have shown support to Charisma Carpenter include: Sarah Michelle Gellar Ray Fisher J. August Richards Michelle Trachtenberg Amber Benson Eliza Dushku Jose Molina Marti Noxon Emma Caulfield James Marsters Anthony Head Clare Kramer James C. Leary Sophia Crawford David Boreanaz Amy Acker Julie Benz Danny Strong Adam Busch Tom Lenk Nicholas Brendon Jeff Mariotte

Others who have written about Joss Whedon or come out to support those coming forward:

Courtney Enlow Nell Scovell Glen Mazzara

My Conclusion

As I stated in my previous post on this topic, I stand with Team Charisma. It is not okay for a person in a position of power over others in the workplace to misuse that power in an inappropriate or abusive manner. No matter how talented that person may be and how beloved the work may be.

Okay, doing this over here because my main tumblr is usually a place for me to vibe and I don’t want all the bullshit tied to that account, but basically: I’m really angry and disappointed with the dndads cast for how they’ve put a lot of the minors in their fanbase in danger. Everything below is a repost from twitter (with permission from the OP, crypticjoy), and I’ll link the thread in a reblog. 

Under a cut because it’s long and potentially triggering (content warnings for grooming, sexualizing minors, and sexual assault)

[OP tagged the relevant cast accounts; I added slashes here bc I’m not sure if those same urls exist on tumblr and I don’t want to be randomly tagging people over here]

5:49 PM Sep 5, 2020

“I don’t usually do this, but: the way that the cast of @/dungeonsanddads engages with their audience is actively dangerous to minors, and they need to get it together. (cw for discussion of grooming, sexualizing minors, sexual assault)

First off, there are some iffy jokes and situations in the podcast itself. I’m not going to get into all of it right here, but have a google doc: [doc will also be linked in reblog]

Yes, the kids in #dndads are fictional, but that doesn’t mean this stuff doesn’t affect real kids listening. a. it normalizes talking/joking about kids in that way and b. There’s a lot of inconsistancy and confusion on the lines they draw--

Paeden saying “baby” is weird but Ron sitting in Terry Jr’s lap isn’t? I’m confused. You know who the fuck relies on that type of confusion and unclarity? Fucking predators

And I’m not saying every in-character decision has to be perfectly moral or acceptable, but the way the cast, out of character, discuss what’s weird and what’s not sends a lot of mixed messages. And that’s legitimately dangerous.

So then you take all of this, and you add a patron discord server that lets nsfw discussions run virtually unchecked--you create a fandom space that allows adults to discuss kinks, and porn searches, and just, all this other stuff, with teenagers...

... and it becomes a breeding ground for grooming and abuse.

The creators aren’t responsible for babysitting their fanbase or for how people engage with their content outside of their spaces (though, again, I’d urge them to be very careful about what kind of messages they’re sending)

But  they ARE responsible for taking basic steps to keep the spaces that THEY create and engage with safe.

“But the rules for the server say 18+!” The rules say you have to be 18 *or have parental permission.* They also say to keep things PG-13. That’s vastly different than establishing something as an adult-only/nsfw space.

“Minors shouldn’t be joining/listening anyway!” The cast can’t control who listens and neither can I, but there’s a difference between knowing teens are listening to you discuss sex with your adult friends vs facilitating conversations between teens and adults on those topics.

“If people are uncomfortable they can just leave.” First off, this situation isn’t just uncomfortable, it’s unSAFE. Second: fuck that. It’s not on minors to set and maintain boundaries about this stuff; a lot of them literally do not know how

Not because they’re stupid, but because they’re young and inexperienced. It’s the responsibility of adults to set and enforce healthy boundaries around sexual discussions, and this particular group of adults has done a fucking terrible job

(Maybe don’t encourage listeners to DM you about kinks! Maybe especially don’t do that when you’ve communicated, intentionally or not, that making and escalating sexual jokes is a really good way to get a reaction from you guys)

I get that they didn’t expect to have so many young listeners, but to be aware of that fact and make no adjustments whatsoever is irresponsible and it WILL lead to someone getting hurt. Does their “young, thirsty, female” audience only exist to them when they can laugh about it?

And let’s be absolutely 1000% clear: this isn’t an issue they’re unaware of. The stuff I’m talking about is an ongoing problem with how their server is run, but it came to a head with one specific situation very recently:

They released a bonus, patron-exclusive episode about the dads taking the bdsm test. Given the general state of the server, I was worried about where those discussions might lead, so before it dropped, I reached out to @/anthony_burch to express my concern

He told me he raised the issue with @/fwong and Ashley, meaning at least three members of the dndads team were aware of the situation, and decided it didn’t warrant any type of preemptive action on their part

(alternatively, it means Anthony lied, which would be a whole separate issue)

[Image ID: a discord DM conversation from Sep 1, 2020, between a crossed out username and reverendanthony. It reads: 

OP: heyyyyy have you guys considered that releasing an episode focused on the bdsm test is almost inevitably going to lead to a bunch of 15 year olds sharing their results in your server because you might want to get ahead of that before someone gets hurt

reverendanthony: oh holy shit, really good idea

OP: thanks, I know it's easy to veer into that territory just because of the nature of your show but I wanted to bring it to your attention because I figured you don't want to create a situation that's like, actively dangerous (and for the record I'm willing to discuss what I think would make it safer but I'm also not going to assume you want/need my input, obviously you can handle it however you see fit)

reverendanthony: No, thank you for bring it up, I really appreciate it -- I just raised the issue with Freddie and Ashley

OP: Good to know, thank you /End ID]

I’m not overreacting. I have seen this shit happen, to my friends and to myself, and watching the dndads cast take absolutely no meaningful action to prevent situations like that from occurring directly under their noses makes me fucking livid

I can guarantee that the #dungeonsanddaddies fanbase includes both predators and survivors of abuse, grooming, etc (including those currently living through it), and I need them to think very, very hard about which group they’re prioritizing.

And I need that choice to be evident through more than just their words, because it doesn’t fucking matter how much you “really appreciate” that I brought up my concerns if you do fuck-all to address them.

It doesn’t matter how many times you say the word “consent” if apparently everyone was okay that “Darryl gets sexually assaulted” was almost a plot point played for laughs.

(His dare from Scam  would have been rape, straight up. Just because no one said the word doesn’t mean it wasn’t coercive and gross).

I’d like to think the @/dungeonsanddads cast isn’t intentionally encouraging abuse, but they’re sure as hell enabling it, and they needed to get their shit together ages ago, because they’re not the ones their negligence hurts.”

Quote retweet by OP 6:51 PM Sep 7, 2020

“So, they updated the rules for the patron server, but I want to be really clear that from my perspective, it’s way too little, way too late. 

The new rules don’t adequately address the core issues and they certainly don’t absolve the cast of the harm they’ve already caused. 

[Tweet includes 2 screenshots: one of a bot asking people to click thumbs up to confirm they’re 18+ (or have a parent’s permission) and agree to the rules, and one that includes two of the rules. It reads: 

“This is an 18+ space. Them’s the rules: per Patreon’s policy, you must be 18+ or have parental permission.

Use language as if you’re at your parents dinner table. Don’t get people in trouble because of your SPICY POSTS. Keep conversation polite. NSFW content is not allowed!”]

(and before anyone says I should bring up my concerns privately, a quick refresher on how well that went last time I did it:) 

[links back to the “(alternatively, it means Anthony lied . . .)” tweet from the original thread]

So hey, @/fwong, some thoughts:

1.The rules are vague and unclear: what /exactly/ do you mean when you say “NSFW content is not allowed!” when the content of your show itself is so often nsfw? And how are you planning to enforce this?

Does it mean you’ll shut down the MBIC conversation that is literally just kink discussion? I need you to be clear on where the line is, because, again, predators rely on that confusion. Don’t give them a gray area to play in. 

For an example of a more clear policy, it’s pretty easy to say, “yep, ‘Henry gets pegged’ sure is a sentence we said on our show and you don’t have to pretend it’s not, but if you’d like to discuss it in any more detail at all, you need to move”

2. Remember how I said I needed to be clear on whether you’re prioritizing survivors or predators? While I doubt it was intentional, the language you’re using here is prioritizing predators.

It’s not “don’t get people in trouble,” it’s “don’t make people uncomfortable.” It’s “we all have a responsibility to make sure this space is safe for everyone, especially the younger members of the community.”

You’re setting people up to be afraid of expressing concerns for fear of “getting people in trouble” or “inciting unnecessary drama.” Even if it’s not what YOU meant, it’s very easy for those words to be manipulated, so +

You absolutely have to be explicitly clear that if someone expresses their discomfort, you’ve got their back. Being safe is more important than being polite. 

3. I need every cast member to take responsibility for their own actions. I’ve gotten no indication from any of you that you understand the ways in which the in-show things I brought up were harmful.

Acknowledging that harm is important not just because of the immediate effects of that content, but also because it implicitly sets an example for how similar complaints should be dealt with going forward.

When someone says “hey, I was uncomfortable that you seem fine with the Glennary ship, because she reads as very young to me,” I don’t need a dissertation on how the perception of characters can evolve due to your improvisational nature

I need to hear “oh, I interpreted her differently, but you’re right, we should have been more clear, and I’m sorry for making you uncomfortable.” Because your responses to your own mistakes set the tone for any other situations like that going forward.

How comfortable is someone going to be with coming to you, or Ash, or any of the mods about someone making them uncomfortable if they’ve seen that when people call YOU out, they’re argued with and shut down?

Don’t tell people you’ve “made it clear that you won’t go there” when they tell you that you ARE there. Listen to them and do better. 

Set the expectation that people will be respected when they raise their concerns. “If you want to come at me you have to bring the heat” is not an appropriate response on a subject that made people genuinely uncomfortable. 

In essence: set people up to be supported and protected, not dismissed. 

[It’s like a matriosche of tweets over here. This one links to another thread, also by crypticjoy. That thread reads:

A non-comprehensive guide to keeping discord servers safe for minors:

1. Make designated channels for nsfw/18+ discussion. Generally speaking, this is a lot more effective than banning those discussions altogether, because it’s a lot easier to say “hey, can you move this conversation?” than “hey, I need you to stop”

In fandom spaces, it’s usually a good idea to have separate channels for talking about nsfw fiction vs discussing your personal sex lives.

2. Give everyone minor/adult roles; make sure your 18+ channels are locked to people who don’t have an adult role. It’s important that there’s more of a barrier there than just checking a box.

3. NSFW channels shouldn’t necessarily be a free-for-all; be aware of people’s boundaries and respect them (for example, r*pe jokes aren’t funny or okay, even if you’re not making them around kids)

4. Explicitly state in your rules that people should feel free to come to mods if anyone is making them uncomfortable. Actually listen to people and resolve the situation if they do approach you.

5. Make it clear that creepy behavior via DMs or other means is also not tolerated--you can’t control what people do outside your server, but you can make the choice to not allow people like that in your space

6. Make sure mods are on top of things BEFORE people have to say anything; sometimes being a mod means being willing to be the “asshole” who shuts things down before they get out of hand, even if they’re not asked.

Be generally aware of signals that people are uncomfortable or that things are escalating too far, and address those situations sooner rather than later.

*It should be noted that safety involves a lot of components beyond just containing nsfw discussions; this thread just happens to be focused on that one specific element.

oh also! It's a good idea to provide resources on grooming so people know what to look out for [links to some resources; again, this’ll be in the reblog]]

So, @/dungeonsanddads, if you’re interested in anything beyond just having a flimsy excuse you can point to to cover your own ass, I’m gonna need you to try again.

Sorry I can’t be nicer about it, but I’ve given so many benefits of the doubt I could be running a successful charity, and this isn’t an issue I’m willing to drop. 

10:02 PM

Thought I was done but actually I've got a few more questions: to what extent were @/HeyBethMay, @/WillBCampos, and @/mattLarnold included in conversations about this issue/the new rules? Is this something your whole team is involved in?

Have you discussed what you're doing on a team and individual basis to keep your fan interactions safe, and are you on the same page about how much it matters? Are you holding each other accountable? Is everyone okay with where this ended up?”

Snake-Imposed Self-Care

Fandom: Sanders Sides Ship: Thomceit Words: 2,425 Rating: M for Mature/X for Explicit/A for Adult (only read if you’re 18+) Warnings: reptile anatomy, smut Characters: Character!Thomas, Janus Sanders Additional Tags: fluff, “self-care” and by that I mean Janus is the one taking care of c!Thomas, handjobs, mutual (?) handjobs, Janus teaches Thomas how to touch him, thigh worship A/N: This is based on prompts sent to me by @theprincey​ and an Anon. I decided to combine the two (pictured) into one story. Enjoy :) Also, Janus’ lies are shown in bold. Please remember, reblogs get a lot farther than likes so if you really like my work, consider reblogging. Thank you! Feel free to send me a Thomas X Sides prompt! (only send NSFW if you’re 18+) 

Working out obviously had its benefits, but Thomas was regretting it as he had apparently pulled a muscle in his shoulders. Or maybe it was the way he sat for hours at a time working on editing, but he’d rather blame the exercise than the job he loved so much. His eyes were on the TV- Parks and Recreation, again- but his mind was on the pain as he tried to contort his arms like a pretzel to massage away the pain and he was struggling with it, gradually getting more and more frustrated.  Cue Janus. The half-reptile Side appeared at Thomas’ side, startling him. “Oh. Hi, Janus.”  “You know why I’m here, don’t you?” “At this point, I’m afraid to ask.”  Janus rolled his eyes a little to himself. “Thomas, you’re in pain. In a way that suggests you’re not taking proper care of yourself. You once knew me as ‘Deceit’, but I happen to also be your sense of self-preservation. Things like this are my responsibility.”  Thomas huffed softly. “Sure, I get that. I’m trying to take care of myself. But it’s my shoulder that’s bothering me and I can’t seem to--”  “You need a shoulder massage. Well, I can help.” Thomas turned to properly look at Janus finally. “You... you’ll do that for me?”

“Of course. Thomas, it’s... it’s just my job, I don’t care about you at all outside of that. As my host.” 

Nodding softly, Thomas turned his back to Janus a little. “Okay. Thank you, Janus.”  Janus hummed softly as if to nonverbally say ‘Don’t mention it’ and he moved in nearer to Thomas, closing his eyes briefly as he took in the inviting heat radiating from Thomas’ body. He placed his hands on Thomas’ shoulders and hesitated a moment before withdrawing his hands; he carefully, hesitantly removed his gloves and leaned over, placing them neatly on the coffee table out of the way. Thomas noticed but he said nothing, fearing making Janus self-conscious or insecure about it, but it makes his heart flip. 

Taking a breath at this new state of vulnerability, Janus put his hands on Thomas’ shoulders again, starting with a gentle pressure and being rewarded with a soft hum. He kept up this way for a moment before pressing into the muscles a bit more firmly, working them loose with dedication and care.  Thomas groaned quietly at the relief it brought. He couldn’t remember the last time anyone did this for him and Janus was particularly good at it.  With Thomas distracted and facing away from him, Janus let out another pair of arms to work on the rest of Thomas’ back, working deep into the muscles and loosening knots, releasing tension. Thomas noticed there seemed to be more than two hands touching him, but he felt so wonderful that he couldn’t bring himself to be repulsed or even really care. He closed his eyes and let Janus do what he’d offered to do, relaxing and groaning softly at Janus’ touch.  An innocent shoulder rub, maybe, but the sounds Thomas was making, even as soft as they were, caused Janus’ mind to wander a bit to the other ways he could take care of Thomas, relieve him, soothe his stressed and tense body and mind... It was only when he noticed that he was, in fact, erect that he withdrew his hands from Thomas’ body and moved away a bit, clearing his throat and putting his gloves back on as he returned to a two-armed form. “Well, then, Thomas... That should do it. I’ll be going then.”  A soft, warm hand wrapped around Janus’ own, still ungloved, and the Side turned to give his host a puzzled look. “Thank you, Janus... I appreciate you always taking care of me. You don’t... have to go if you don’t want to.” The air between them seemed to buzz silently with a warmth Janus was... not unfamiliar with, but unused to. Silent, save for the sounds of their breathing, though Janus wondered if the beat he heard was Thomas’ heart or his own. Loud, heavy, persistent, quickening by the passing second. Janus wasn’t sure which of them moved first, but they were pressed together, sealed by their lips and Thomas tasted of watermelon Jolly Rancher and strawberry lip balm, too sweet and not sweet enough at the same time. Addicting, comforting, enticing.  Together, they moved both too quickly and too slowly. A bowler hat and capelet landed on the floor, joining a pair of patent leather shoes and yellow gloves. Thomas made patient, steady work of the closures on Janus’ shirt and pushed it off his shoulders. It was Janus’ instinct to recoil, to hide, but when Thomas appeared unafraid and instead delicately ran his fingers over the scales on the left side of Janus’ body, Janus sighed, releasing the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.  Seeming to have noticed Janus’ unspoken insecurity, Thomas captured his lips again gently as if in reassurance, making Janus melt. When they parted from their kiss again, Janus carefully, and with Thomas’ silent encouragement, pulled the T-shirt he was wearing up over his head and pressed slow kisses to Thomas’ soft, smooth, warm skin, moving down his beautiful neck and across his collarbone.  Thomas was receptive to Janus’ attention, making the sweetest sounds, encouraging the Side and running gentle fingers through his hair, down the scaly half of his back. Janus pulled away almost reluctantly. “May I touch you,” he asked, not wanting to go any further without Thomas’ explicit consent.  “God, Janus, yes please...”  Janus smirked a little, his eyes brighter than usual, as he opened the button and drew down the zipper of Thomas’ jeans, working them off his hips and thighs as if unwrapping a present. And it was, in a way, a gift: this intimacy, this trust, this affection; just the two of them and no one else. Just a Side and his gorgeous, generous, warm Host.  Thomas leaned back against the arm of the old sofa that so often seemed so uncomfortable and yet now was the most comfortable place in the world. He spread his legs and the sound that left Janus- desperate and awed- made him laugh softly. Hands- one of them scaled- caressed the outsides of Thomas’ thighs as softly trembling lips pressed reverent kisses of adoration to the insides. A forked tongue made an occasional appearance to taste the warm flesh of the human’s thighs; teeth grazed and sank in gently and love bites began blooming over the pale skin, leaving barely an inch untouched, unappreciated.  Neither of them had any idea how long Janus’ brazen worship of Thomas’ thighs had gone on, but it left Thomas squirming. Unwilling to let Thomas go another moment uncared for, Janus finally sat up and curled his fingers in the elastic waistband of Thomas’ boxers, pulling them down and off, discarding them on the floor with the rest of their garments. Thomas flushed as he was fully exposed, his cock hard and pink, twitching occasionally with need and throbbing in time with his elevated pulse.  “I’m going to take care of you, Thomas,” Janus promised. With a snap of fingers, a bottle of lubricant appeared in Janus’ left hand and he poured a small amount into the palm of his right hand, setting the bottle on the coffee table. He was left handed, but he felt Thomas would be more comfortable being touched with flesh than scales. He wrapped his hand around Thomas’ cock and began slowly, gently stroking him, finding a good pace and establishing a rhythm. Thomas’ head fell back against the arm of the couch and he moaned softly, but encouragingly. The sound ignited Janus’ own blood, but he remained patient. Thomas was his priority. He gave a slow, experimental twist of his wrist and Thomas’ cried out in unmistakable pleasure.  Soon, Janus had sped up and established a rhythm that had Thomas’ moaning and his breath hitching as his thighs tremored with euphoria. He moved steadily and quickly from head to base and back again, twisting his wrist on occasion, enjoying how much that made Thomas gasp.  “Ja-Janus... I’m... I’m close, I’m gonna...”  “Shh. I’ve got you. I’m taking care of you. Let yourself go for me, Thomas.”  And let go he did. Thomas went slack against the sofa, moaning out almost constantly between panting breaths. Janus watched with delight as his face flushed bright red and the muscles in his stomach and thighs tensed just before he came, arching slightly off the couch cushions, toes curling as he moaned loudly, unrestrained. “Janus... oh! Oh... ffffuck... Janus...” Thomas’ hands clenched into fists and relaxed again and he pushed his fingers into his own hair, unsure what else to do with them as the waves of his orgasm continued to pulsate through his body. His moans finally quietened as his orgasm began to subside and Janus finally stopped stroking him, not wanting to push him too far into overstimulation.  Slowly, Thomas opened his eyes to stare up at his ceiling, his mind whirling and his heart racing, pounding heavily against his ribs as he tried to catch his breath. Janus smirked to himself as he cleaned off his hand and gently, carefully cleaned Thomas’ stomach, cock, and thighs. “Can I touch you now?”  The question caught Janus off guard. “What?”  Thomas sat up and looked at Janus, repeating his question: “May I touch you? I... I want to return the favor.” “Well, Thomas, I was supposed to be taking care of you. Self-care, you know.” “I know, but... I *want* to.”  “I...” Janus sighed. “Okay, but... there’s something you need to know.” He didn’t see a way around this. He could either tell Thomas and prepare the man, or Thomas could be unpleasantly surprised. Either way, it was likely to frighten him off. And this way was easier to accept rejection. He took a deep breath. “My anatomy is... not... average.”  Thomas neither moved nor spoke.  “You see, because I am half snake, I have... a... ‘hemipenis’. It is not scaled. It’s made of flesh, same as yours, but... it looks...” Janus ran a hand through his hair, huffing in frustration at his own nervousness. “It looks like I have two. They are... identical. They sh-share a... base and... an internal... system, though I do still have external testicles. They are... well, for lack of better description, they are side by side. I just... didn’t want to scare you off.”  “Oh.” Thomas took a second to process this information, not sure what he should have expected. This felt a little like a paper bag marked Dead Dove, Do Not Eat that contained an actual dead dove. Janus was half snake. Of course he would be different. “Okay,” he said at last.  “Okay?” Thomas nodded. “I think you might have to teach me how to touch you, but I still want to, Janus.”  A little blown away, Janus nodded and leaned in for another kiss. Thomas cupped both sides of his head gently and held him there a moment longer before they parted again. Janus removed his own slacks and underwear, revealing his hemipenis. The scales on the left side of his body continued down to his toes, but just as he’d said, his cocks and testicles showed no sign of ever having had scales. The human half of him was hairless much to Thomas’ surprise, but it wasn’t anything more than surprising, and he’d already been prepared for the surprise.  “Wow,” Thomas whispered. “And you can use both at once?”  “Yes. It feels best that way.” Janus gently took Thomas’ hand, but he didn’t move beyond that. “You still want to touch me?” Thomas licked his lips and nodded once more. “More than anything.”  “Then, I will teach you.” Cautiously, in case he still decided to recoil and retreat, Janus guided Thomas’ hand to his cocks and showed him just how to touch them, stroking first one, then the other. He then taught Thomas how to take both of them into one hand with a firm grip and stroke.  At first, Thomas’ touch was barely there, uncertain and insecure much like Janus himself in that moment, but he built confidence and started a rhythm like he’d done this a dozen or so times before. Janus moaned softly and mostly let his hand fall away since it was clear Thomas could handle it on his own. “Yes, Thomas... Mm, that’s it, darling. You’re doing... ooh-- perfectly...” He moved his hand down, touching the delicate folds of skin between his cocks at the base, stroking them and moaning loudly as it increased his pleasure fivefold.  Awed, Thomas couldn’t look away; he watched his own hand moving over Janus’ cocks, aided by a generous amount of leaking precome. He watched Janus touch himself in what was evidently a very sensitive area. It was thrilling to experience something so new, so unheard of, and it caused a shiver to run down his spine.  “Kiss me, Thomas. Please. I long to taste you again.” Without hesitation, Thomas captured Janus’ lips with his own once again, swallowing down his sweet, indulgent moans as he continued stroking his cocks, speeding up steadily. The feeling of Janus’ forked tongue brushing against his lips and then moving into his mouth and gently moving against his tongue made Thomas moan softly. Janus’ free arm wrapped around his waist, holding him close even as he broke the kiss. “I’m very nearly there, Thomas. Please... please don’t stop.”  Thomas continued determinedly, stroking Janus’ cocks firmly and quickly until the Side began to tense and moan louder between gentle gasps for breath. “Oh god, Thomas... Oh--” Janus lifted his hips from the sofa, his eyes rolling back and falling shut as he came hard, making twice as much mess as Thomas as he spilled over Thomas’ hand, his own hand and thighs, and his own stomach. He let out one last moan and shuddered as the final wave of his orgasm passed through him like a tidal wave. Thomas slowed to a stop before gently releasing Janus’ cocks.  Lazy and orgasm-dizzy, Janus waved his hand, making the mess disappear from both of them without a trace and he gave Thomas a sleepy smile. “That was marvelous, darling.” He pulled Thomas in for a soft, sweet kiss. “Thank you for letting me take care of you.”  “Thank you for being willing to be taken care of in return. You’re important to me, Janus. I love you.” 

What the fuck is the deal with "ankle-beez"? They seem to be the biggest Steven Universe blog around. Every other SU blog I know (even the world's only proshipper Connverse normie, picturejasper20) reblogs from them.

They're also the world's biggest hypocrite.

They make analysis posts about the real message of SU, about love and forgiveness, against revenge and that sort of stuff.

At the same time, they are a hardcore anti-shipper bully.

They sent me gore and death threats last year when I was 17, for shipping Stevinel. Said "yer a pedo kill yerself!!11" (okay, that's paraphrased).

What's wrong with Stevinel?

Is it that Steven is "a minuh and not ready for sexual relationships"? Then, why is Connie, a human fourteen-year-old in-universe, ready for sexual relationships when it's with Steven? Why is Steven ready for it with Connie?

This leads me to believe it's the stated "aGe GaP!!11". In that case, Greg/Rose, which ankle-beez likes, is child rape (he wuz twenty an she wuz twentythousand!) That's fucking stupid. Kataang and Bubbline are "child rape" too, by those standards. Stating an exaggerated number next to a supernatural, non-aging, cartoon character does not child rape make. Is Katara a "necrophile" for having kids with Aang, a so-called "hundred-and-forty-something-year-old" character? Because 140-year-old men are all known to be dead? Is everyone who's read the Bible a Child Rapist™️, because the eternal, ageless God impregnated the thirteen-year-old Virgin Mary, as part of the biblical canon leading to the birth of Our Saviour Jesus Christ?

Also, by the same fucking stupid standards they use to call Spinel an "aDulT", Steven is one too. Gems don't fucking age. They're robots. If I have a 200-year-old baby doll, it's still a baby doll. Dolls don't age. Since Steven's gemstone (and with it, Pink's/his memories) has been around for 20000 years, he is "an adult", an "elderly man".

That brings me to the next point: one cannot "ship pedophilia". I wish I could "ship" mental disorders. I wish my autism, ADHD, OCD, Tourette's, depression and paranoia were as simple as fictional "ships".

More or less, "pedo" hysteria is NOT about protecting chilluns. When a child is murdered, nobody bats an eye. When child-on-child sexual abuse occurs, the same applies. Also, when an adult is raped. It's not about healing sexually abused children, or preventing rape. When adult-on-child sexual abuse occurs, the emphasis in media is never about helping the kid. It's always about torturing and murdering the "pedo" (sexual abuser). Basically, because nobody cares when there's no "pedo" to punish, it's not about protecting children, it's about hating people with mental disorders. Apparently, because I turned 18 two days ago, I lose my human right not to be raped.

What "paedophilia" actually is, is a mental disorder characterised by a greater level of arousal towards prepubescent individuals to pubescent ones. You cannot support or oppose it - you cannot be convicted for it or commit it - it's a disorder. Something you're pretty much born with and can't change. Conflating it with rape is like conflating "schizophrenia" with serial murder. While schizophrenic individuals have a higher murder risk compared to the general population, nobody ever says "commit schizophrenia" when talking about murder.

Fandom discourse is not a PhD. You cannot diagnose me with a disorder from the DSM-5 for writing the wrong fanfiction. You cannot convict me of a crime for it, either.

The most common anti argument that fanfic/hentai/whatever "encourages pedophilia". You cannot encourage a disorder. I will not magically sprout mental illness from reading fanfic. If you mean it ""encourages child rape"", if I were to rape someone, I could not blame reading a fanfic. Rape is caused by far deeper issues than having read a stupid fanfic.

Rick/Morty is canon in the multiverse, and Morty is a fictional teenager (who wishes incest porn had more mainstream appeal) with Rick, his equally fictional grandfather. So, who is raped by this? Nobody. Again, if you rape someone, you can't say Rick x Morty incest fanfic made you do it.

ALL ships are fine. Even stupid shit like Rick/Morty. Stevinel, though, isn't even of that kind. It's literally no worse than Bubbline, Kataang and Gregrose, all of which are canon to their shows.

So, what is it? "She """tried""" to kill him"? Strange. When Steven lets his shield down, Spinel could just blow him to fucking bits with that city-sized, injector-smashing fist of hers. She doesn't. SU's definition of "try" means "stop yourself". "Try" suggests someone else has to stop you with force, and that didn't happen, in which case, Steven "tried" to kill Greg in Mr. Universe, White (and with her, every Gem) in Homeworld Bound, and Connie in Buddle Buddies and every episode where he gets Connie into fights, and, and EVERYONE in Laser Light Cannon, Little Graduation and I am My Monster. He also "actually murdered" Jasper in Fragments by the standards (mind you, shattering isn't lethal and the Diamonds did nothing wrong).

Anti-shippers have implanted this stupid idea that non-aging things age as humans into my head. The idea is there to virtue-signal against MUH EBIL PEEDOUGHS. Now, I have paranoid thoughts about being a child rapist when I cuddle naked with a pillow that's been manufactured one year ago. Pillows don't age. But, in antis' heads, they do.

Why am I supposed to think of Spinel as an elderly woman? The character who is shorter, less mature and higher-pitched than Steven, sobs like a baby, plays peekaboo and gets adopted at the end of the movie?

It just disturbs me, honestly, how anklebeez can understand the show's message against violence and for healing, while literally murdering real children (and adults) for the rights of fictional ones, by bullying into suicide.

Why are they so popular? Anyway, I accidentally got carried away and wrote a masterpost when I meant for a quick ask. Hope you appreciate it.

Also, what determines whether a cartoon character is okay to "sexualise" or not?

Stated number? Then I can draw a stickman with a dick, then write the number 15 next to him, then you're a Child Rapist™️ for having looked at the image?

Height? Then is why is R34 of Madeline from Celeste, Sans and Amethyst, okay, when it's not okay for Steven and Hat Kid?

The word "kid"? Then, kill any teenager with a crush on a cartoon of Kid Cudi, I guess?

Don't harass ankle-beez. It's not worth it. Revenge is pointless. Never, though, have I been so confused by someone's self-contradictions.

Seriously.

Wow, this is huge, I didn’t know they allowed asks to get this long now, lol.

Um, but no comment on all of this since it’s just a rant, lol. But I don’t disagree.

Hello, I’m that same anon, and I apologize, I thought it was clear from my emojis that my comment was out of concern, not judgement or hate. I’m not a writer or a creative person of any sort, I simply just use to be a fan/follower of yours because you posted the best Neji content out here. And quite frankly, I do send you encouragements on your posts, both as anon and on my blog in your comments and by liking and reblogging, because I appreciate your writing and I go through your entire masterlist all of the time. I was not trying to be rude or rush you or anything, I was ONLY worried that you were losing interest in this fandom or you seemed down lately. That’s it. Sorry.

I’m also very sensitive, so I may or may not have teared up a little at you yelling at me, I wish I never sent it I’m really sorry, I just wanted to make sure you were okay.

Look, you are really into the writing that I post, I get it, I really do! In fact I really appreciate that you enjoy what I post! I understand that your intent was not to be demanding or malicious but you also need to understand the place where I am coming from. And I understand it’s upsetting when a creator you enjoy following suddenly stops and/or moves onto something else. But at the same time even if that were the case, which in this it’s not, that is my choice and my choice alone.

You send me encouragement posts - That’s great! I really appreciate and I thank you for that, I really do. I am understanding where you are coming from so all I ask is that you take the same consideration for me on that post where I expressed my feelings on the particular wording and shortness of the original ask. 

I was not trying to be rude or rush you or anything, I was ONLY worried that you were losing interest in this fandom or you seemed down lately. - Again, I acknowledge and appreciate that! But the thing I was trying to get you to understand is that concern was in no way communicated in the original ask sent. “You don’t write anymore 🥺” At no point in the this ask could I have interpreted this as “I’m worried about you.” or “Hey, I really like your Neji content, do you mind if I ask if you still plan on writing for him.” Do you understand that I had absolutely no context for your thoughts here because it is in no way mentioned in the ask? I am not going to know you mean any of these things unless you say it! And I promise if it was worded in such a way I would have appreciated it a lot! 

I’m not a writer or a creative person - That’s okay, all I ask is for a) please try and be careful about how you send asks in future so they don’t get misinterpreted/come across as demanding. b) pay attention to what creators and writers say and listen. That’s all I ask. All I wanted was for you (and others who send similar messages) to understand how disheartening it is for writers/creators to be demanded, constantly get asks that are about writing more without any regards to them as a person and just basically get taken for granted. Again, while that may not have been your intent, you need to understand that it’s the way it is interpreted. 

The original ask in question- “You don’t write anymore 🥺” - At no point do you mention being avid reader, liking my content, asking about my well being (As you stated above was your initial concern). It’s not even phrased as a question, it’s just a statement. So naturally, I felt composed to point out that as a statement it is in fact not true that I don’t write anymore. I post a lot considering how little time I have to write! You can understand why such a comment would upset me considering the circumstances. And even if it was posed as a question it still comes across quite blunt with no regards to me as the writer but rather the product I produce. I know you thought the emojis were enough to interpret you meaning behind the words but they aren’t, only saying exactly what you mean would have allowed for clear understanding. 

Again, I appreciate that you seem to understand that you shouldn’t have sent it and I am sorry to have upset you. But I do want to say I was not yelling at you or was any of this personal at all. It comes from years of constantly getting asks like this that really upset me. I apologise for upsetting you but I think you also need to understand that me expressing my emotions on that ask is completely valid and in no way is an attack on you. To say otherwise would be to invalidate my feelings which is not fair. 

I do appreciate the concern and the apology. I thank you for inquiring about my well being and to be honest, I do write every day. I may jump from fandom to fandom and write whatever I feel inspiration for but I do write. I’m quite run down and usually write on the fumes I have left but as it is something I enjoy I don’t plan to stop. All I hope for you to understand you on why I felt this way and why it needed drawing attention to. 💖

Hi, I'm so sorry but I'm about to dump a million asks on you. I really wanted to reply to that post about writing for Javier but my anxiety is destroying me. I don't mind if you wanna post these in a reply on there instead, or just keep them to yourself. It just means a lot if someone listens. Okay here i go:

Please don't take this as me being mad at you, I just wanted to share a perspective that was missed in that writing for Javier post. Your advice was good, but it was kinda only written for people who don't write about Javier because they don't want to be called racist. I don't write for Javier because there are still "bad apples" in the fandom. If I block them they can still see my posts on other people’s blogs and just the idea of them reading my writing makes me so upset I feel sick because I can’t control the lense they view my writing with.

And I’m really not trying to be shady but I’ve seen you and some other people in the replies for that post be kinda supportive of some of those “bad apples”. I don’t judge you for it, I follow you and I think you’re great. Maybe you just don’t know they’re bad apples, either because tumblr moves fast and it’s easy to miss things or maybe you just genuinely don’t understand why what they do is wrong.

But if you see people of colour, especially Latinx people, upset about Javier content they’re probably offended for a good reason. They’re also being made feel unwelcome in their safe space. And the fandom might be really important to them considering a lot of other media is literally talking shit about them constantly. It may seem like they’re upset about something “small” to you, but they’ve learned to notice the “small” things because they’re often the tip of a racist iceberg.

In some contexts being able to notice that stuff can literally be life saving, it pays to be hyper vigilant. But if they’re reaching out asking you to make changes instead of avoiding you, it’s because they think you can do better. And usually they’re not asking for much, just for people to be more aware when they’re writing for Javier. Like you said, just try to write for his character traits and not because of stereotypes you might have absorbed.

It’s a challenge though because Javier’s character was founded on stereotypes, the entire original game was. It pays to put a bit more effort in, just like rockstar did the second time around. He IS passionate but I don’t think they ever used the word passionate to describe him in rdr2 (maybe I’m wrong) I kinda wish writers would avoid it too when they write for Javier.

Even when it’s a perfectly fine use of the word, I just automatically slam the breaks when I see “passionate” used to describe latinx people. I can still get back into reading and enjoy the fic, but I’d enjoy it even more if I didn’t have the abrupt pauses. And it’s a pretty small change to make that can make a huge difference and also be a good creative exercise.

The other thing I wish writers would avoid is peppering “Mexican” all over the place. Like don’t erase his race where it’s relevant, but when someone throws in a random “the Mexican sat down” or whatever it almost always comes across as fetishising. There are so many adjectives in the world, ask yourself why you automatically go to that one. Or just use his name a lot, it might be “annoying” for some readers but it’s not gonna legitimately hurt someone like coming across as fetishising might.

-♥-

I just want to say thank you so much for reaching out to me about this. I deeply appreciate your perspective and insights, especially on enlightening me to things I hadn’t thought about. I want to give you the prior understanding that I am not American/Mexican, I have never been to America/Mexico and I’m not educated on American relations/media/perspectives relating to Latinx people. At least, not in the way that people who live and experience that are. Please understand that when I express my thoughts, feelings and opinions. I only have my perspective as a British woman.

For this reason, I am more than happy to listen to constructive criticism and insights from Latinx people, especially if what I’m doing directly harms them or makes them feel unsafe. Fandom is a safe space, especially my blog. I will never be offended or defensive about it so long as I’m treated with mutual respect. I’m in a position only to learn and better myself as much as possible. That’s why I’m here.

As for “bad apples” in the fandom, I admit that I don’t know who they are. If I do something supportive of them, please don’t be afraid to let me know! I will listen to you. I try my best to be vigilant and thoughtful, but I’m not as educated as I should be. I’m aware of that. Any enlightenment is appreciated by me. I’ll just state that I’m not, and never will be, interested in drama or attacking anyone.

I agree that Javier’s character was based on stereotypes. I actually omitted that point from my original reblog post because I didn’t want to draw too much attention to it. He’s still got a lot of stereotypes attached to him in RDR2. But I don’t like to view him through the “lens” of a stereotype, I try to expand on his character as much as possible to counteract that and I think that’s what writers should do. We don’t have to lean into the stereotypes we’re given. But he is the character they wrote, and we can only do so much while staying “true” to him.

The “mexican” descriptor is a thing I’ve also learnt to avoid (by digesting posts I’ve seen about that!) and think it should be applied to every writer. It’s ok only in contexts where it matters. I also hate the use of slurs in fics, especially when they aren’t given the weight they actually carry. Always puts me off. It’s rare, but I have seen it and I hate it. I will also omit the use of the word “passionate” in my fics/conversations about Javier, thank you for telling me about that!

I have no issue with people expressing their thoughts/feelings/opinions about how people write/interact regarding Javier. In fact, I wholeheartedly encourage and support it! I will always reblog posts like that. What I do have an issue with, is how those posts are worded. I’m never going to support, like or reblog a post that is aggressive, demeaning or offensive about any topic. Even if it’s coming from a good intention.

As for your reluctance to write Javier because of “bad apples” seeing it through the wrong lens, you are never going to be able to control who sees your posts. I see posts from people on my dash who I don’t like and who make me unhappy any time I see them - even though they are blocked. Tumblr has an awful blocking system. I completely understand why you feel that way and wouldn’t want to do it.

But I think you should do it for the “good apples”. You should do it for you. There is no way to stop people interpreting what you create differently from your intentions. That’s just one of the laws of creating. Don’t let that hold you back. If anything, set the example that you want to see. Be the “good apple” and to counteract the rot the “bad apples” bring. You have that power and you should actively embrace it.

Thank you again for speaking to me about this, I hope my response was okay. If you like, I can post your asks as a separate post on their own. Please just let me know ♥

How To Motivate, Encourage, and Inspire Writers - A Masterpost

Hey guys! I am reposting this guide because it got mysteriously deleted. This version includes some new additions and advice for readers.

This is meant to be a guide to help people give valuable, inspiring feedback, as well as how to send in prompts and requests that are more likely to be used. Remember that these are simply suggestions designed to help YOU as a reader get more of what you want. <3

Please let me know if you have anything to add, as this post was a collaborative effort and it can only get better with more input.  

*

What Readers Can Do

1. Like and reblog the stories you enjoy. Fanfic authors don’t get paid. Their only “currency” is notes and feedback. Seeing the notes climb, as silly as it may seem, is a huge motivator to write more. If you are shy about using your main blog for this, you can always create a sideblog and reblog the fic you like there. Authors will notice this and it’s also a great record when you want to go back to fic that you enjoy!

2. Positive feedback! A simple “I love this” or “I can’t wait for more” is great if that’s all you have to say, as well as general writer appreciation, but even better...

3. Comment with specifics. What did you like about the story or writing style? You can talk about the plot itself, characterization, dialogue, the writer’s voice or sense of humor, how the story made you feel, what you’d like to see more of...anything, even the smallest detail, that made you enjoy reading it. Nothing is more motivating for a writer than knowing that their hard work is appreciated.

Some examples of great comments with places to fill in the blanks with specifics. Feel free to use all or part of these as templates when you want to send a comment but you’re not sure where to begin:

[Author Name] - your last fic was so [complimentary adjective]! You really [description of something they did well]. Can’t wait for your next [story/chapter].

[Author Name] - I love [Title] so much! I especially love [part you enjoyed].

I hope we get more of [Title] from [Author Name]. It is [complimentary adjective].

Just read [Title] and [exclamation]! I am [emotion or state of mind].

I really loved [Title] by [Author Name]! My favorite part was probably [specific impactful theme or moment in fic], because it really made me feel [emotional response].

I am [emotion or state of mind] over [Title] by [Author Name]. It was so [descriptive adjective] when [describe moment in story].

Some more examples of really great, detailed, inspiring comments.

4. Start an actual dialogue with an author. As mentioned above, reblogging with comments (even just in the tags) is great. You can also send asks directly to their blogs, DM them, or send additional asks when they respond. Authors may have questions for you, and being able to interact can easily spark something or help them find direction where they were stuck. You can find a list of authors’ sideblogs here if you want to send messages directly to them.

5. Direct requests and prompts to specific writers who you enjoy. Start with why you like them and then explain your idea or request. By doing that, they will start off knowing that they are appreciated, making them way more likely to get excited by your suggestion. Try to phrase things in an open-ended and positive way. “I’d love to see how you would handle [prompt situation/pairing/suggestion]” or “here’s an idea, I think you could do something really cool with it.” The more detailed and supportive your prompt is, the more likely it is that someone will get excited and inspired by it. If your request is for “more” of something that exists, include a reason why you like that story, author, etc. If your request is for something different, talk about something else you liked and why.

Examples of how to send in requests and prompts to specific writers, or include a compliment:

[Author Name(s)] is/are awesome and I would love for them to write more [ship or thing you love].

I would give anything for more [ship or request], especially if it’s similar to [Title(s)], they are my favorite!

I love [Author Name]’s style so much, and I’d be so happy if they wrote [ship/thing you want from them].

I wonder how [Author Name] or [Author Name] would handle [idea]? I would love to read that!

[Title] by [Author Name] is so [positive adjective]! It makes me really want them to try [idea] because I bet they would [motivating phrase like “kill it!”].

[Author Name] - have you ever considered writing [prompt]? [Motivating sentence like “I would die for that!”] 

I really love [ship], especially [story title(s)/author name(s)]. I would love to see one where [prompt].

6. Creating artwork, edits, moodboards, or anything inspired by a story you like. This is like, the PINNACLE for most writers. Knowing that someone connected to something you wrote enough to take time out of their day to create something inspired by your story. It’s like drugs. ART IS DRUGS PASS IT ON.

7. If you are a writer, comment on other writers’ stories! You know more than anyone how hard they worked, so please show your fellow authors some love.

Demotivators

1. Anything that sounds aggressive or demanding. You catch more flies with honey.

2. Complaining about the lack of a certain ship, ESPECIALLY if ANYTHING featuring that ship has been posted in the last month of so. Writers are reading these comments, especially if they have posted recently. Can you imagine how demoralizing it is to post a story and then 3 days later, read a comment bemoaning how there’s NOTHING from that ship, that ship is dead, etc? Like this, written about one of the most popular, enduring ships in the fandom with some of the most prolific, talented writers here:

Don’t be that anon. ^

3. Begging and whining, especially for something extremely vague - this sounds way less cute than you think, and reading something like “I will die if I don’t get more [ship]” is more annoying than inspiring. Especially if, as stated above, the thing you are dying over already exists.

4. Giving nothing at all. Most of the writers expect to at least see their work is noticed. If there are no responses at all, they can’t provide you with anything new. And worst case scenario, they lose the motivation to finish it because they think no one is interested.

Notes From Some Writers (and Readers!)

“I’m famously horrendously bad at abandoning fics but about 95% of my will to continue to keep writing is because I know other people are reading and interested that I keep writing, and I’m sure that’s how a lot of other writers operate too. We’re all fuelled by positive reinforcement, so please tell us! Oh, and btw, commenting just to get mad at lack of updates is not encouragement and is actually super irritating and stressful. Just so ya know.” - Edith

“Having an artist come to you and say ‘Hey, I was inspired by your story’ is FANTASTIC. And also encouraging because someone has taken time to create something and say ‘hey, I really liked the thing you made’. It becomes a cycle.” - Kitschy

“Take a look anywhere, on AQ or ao3 or any other platforms. You’ll see (on ao3), probably at most, 10:1 ratio for hits to kudos, alone. There are even less comments. On AQ, probably a 10:1 ratio for likes to reblogs, and the most popular fics only have a little over 100 notes period. Now, consider that it can take a writer months to be happy with a fic they submit. This takes countless hours. Fiction writers, in real life, get money for their work. We get nothing. Nothing, that is, except whatever appreciation you can give us. If we put work and our hearts and souls into something and get nothing, we question our talent, our abilities, our devotion. We refresh the pages where our works are posted constantly, hoping for some feedback, some appreciation, and most readers only read the fiction and give no feedback or appreciation whatsoever.

“All you, as a reader, have to do to make us happy is take 1 to fifteen minutes out of your day to leave a comment, send an ask, send a message to a sideblog. Leave commentary in the tags if you reblog. Any reaction at all. It is all we get for the work we put in.” - Miss Bianca

“My 2 cents I guess is just to get into a habit of acknowledging works that you like. Even for me I'll read stuff and really enjoy it but forget to comment or like it so I'm gonna work on it and I’d like everyone else do it as well. Once people get in the habit of commenting and liking it becomes second nature and with that kind of positive environment it allows writers to grow.” - MissChimKi

“Going back in time, my first work was posted two years ago, and the last comment I got was a huge thank you for writing such a good story and the emotions of that reader, it’s the kind of tiny little things that give me fuel to keep writing.” - Saiphl

“I once wrote 5000 words in a day simply because someone told me that they were reading my smut in church. So, extreme enthusiasm is awesome, but don’t feel like you have to exaggerate and say ‘this is the best thing I ever read.’ A simple ‘I am going to hell...I was in a church service reading Exposed chapter 9’ is more than enough!” - Veronica

“Something that motivates me as a writer is when readers pick out parts of my fic to say why they enjoyed them. Advice for readers would be to never think you’re complimenting too much! I’ve seen some readers cut their asks short because they don’t want to gush too much. As writers we love praise and attention, we’re like Tinkerbell really!” - Vixen

What It Can Feel Like To a Writer to Read the Asks (Inspired by @artificialeevee )

A Hallmark Celebration | Writing Challenge

This is a thank you to everyone who has followed, supported or even just liked something on my blog. I wouldn’t be celebrating 400 followers today if it wasn’t for all of you. 400 isn’t a lot to other people but it means so much to me. When I set up this blog I wasn’t even 100% sure that people would even like my writing or if my writing was up to par with some of the other writing that I had witnessed here.

Now about 2 years later, 400 of you are being incredible and supporting me consistently even though I’ve been away recovering and going through the process of getting a book published. Which wouldn’t have been possible were it not for the people who encouraged me about my writing since the beginning. All of you have been my rock and my support as a writer and I can’t thank you enough for that but I can give you a writing challenge.

When I started writing here it was other people sharing my work, giving me feedback and loving on it that got me to where I am. So I want to give back to everyone, whether you’re a new writer here or you’ve been writing longer than I have, I hope you have fun and challenge yourself to write something fun.

RULES AND INFORMATION

Give the list a scan and send me an ask with the following: your prompt, your pairing (______ x reader/character), and if you know what the genre ( fluff, angst, etc) is going to be, let me know as well.

You don’t have to be following me to participate, it’d be highly appreciated if you wanted to! It would also mean the world if you could reblog this even if you decide to not participate, just to signal boost it! 

This challenge isn’t only limited to one fandom rather five because I, as a writing blog, am multifandom. You can write for Marvel (All Marver whether it’s Netflix, Fox, Sony, the MCU or even the comics, go wild!), Sherlock, Merlin (because I recently rewatched it.) and Supernatural, DC (All DC applies here too!). If you’re not sure if you can write for a certain character, hit me up and ask.  Or if you want to write for someone not in these fandoms let me know also and it might just be okay.

Keep whatever you write legal, don’t write smut if you’re underage, and no incest! Include the right warnings. I can’t stress this enough. Make sure your warnings are very clearly stated at the start of your fic and that you’re using correct tags! Please be considerate of the dash and the tag that you’re posting in. 

If your fic is long (I’d consider long upwards of 500 words) put it under a ‘read more’.

This challenge will be running from today (June 24), until October 2nd 11:59 pm GMT. I know summer is the peak of all these challenges so I thought I’d give people plenty of time to have a chance to join in with all the other challenges happening. You can join in at any time so long as you post by October 2nd.

I will be compiling all fics that have been submitted with a link to them. If you do a series, please make a masterlist for just that series so I can link the masterlist. 

Once you have posted, please make sure to tag me in it. I want to be able to track down every fic submitted to share them. Tumblr has been fickle lately with tags so you can also use the tag: #ahallmarkcelebrationchallenge that way I can track the tag and everything that appears in it. If all else fails, your fic doesn’t appear in the tags and Tumblr won’t allow you to tag me. Please send me a message with a link to your fic if I haven’t reblogged/liked your fic within the first two days.

If you have any other questions at all don’t be shy and have the most fun writing!!

PROMPTS

“I don’t know that you need a matchmaker as much as you need an introduction.”

“Deceptively simple, yet brilliant.”

“I believe _____ could use all the help he/she can get.”

“I’m not interested in promises, only results.”

“If my instinct is right, there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“Food always helps men think.”

“No Tiara?” “No, they wouldn’t let me take it through customs.”

“Keeping people at arms length is an occupational hazard.”

“You should put a window in that wall you’ve put up.”  ( Matt Murdock/Bucky Barnes x Reader @littledarlinwrites angst)

“Just the man I was looking.”

“There’s a fine line between being helpful and being deceitful.”

“Oh, thank goodness…I accept your apology.” “That wasn’t an apology.”

“Try walking a mile in my shoes.” “I would but the limo’s so close.”

“Duty calls, a ribbon that needs to be cut apparently.”

“Look at you! You’re a nice guy after all.”

“He/She deserves someone who loves him/her.” “Like you do?”

“From baby steps to giant leaps.”

“How come you’re still in bed?” “I love _____”

“Love has a way of doing that. At times it makes fools of us all but the real fool is the one who fails to heed its calling.”

“Let me guess your prince awaits?” “Yes and impatiently.”

“Leave the big picture stuff to me.”

“I’ve known you since seventh grade. I know you better than you know you.”

“_____ has no integrity.”

“I can’t work for _____ if this is how I’m going to be treated.”

“It’s like I’m unstoppable!”

“My ‘baby blue eyes’?” “Uh, I don’t know, they’re more aquamarine to me.”

“I guess when you’re a kazillionaire you figure you can treat people any way you want.”

“Huh…surprise?”

“Did you go all the way to the North Pole for that Cocoa?”

“I was a girl scout for seven consecutive years and knots were my favourite.”

“When I chose what I wanted, my wishes, from _____’s perspective the magic died.”

“You are so refreshingly honest.”

“I beg your pardon.” “Pardon denied.”

“I can’t go back to the person I was. I won’t.”

“He’s just a client, he doesn’t have to be your friend.”

“What if I told you I wanted you to stay?” ( Mycroft x Cop!Reader @livy1391​ angst )

“Are you ready for the best day of your life?”

“If I had a boyfriend this is exactly the wedding I’d want.” ( Wanda x Reader @19mrs-rogers18​ fluff )

How can I like someone so much personally, but dislike them so much professionally.”

“I’m on the hook for everything.”

PLOT/AU PROMPTS

**Take these as an initial premise, workshop them as much as makes you comfortable**

A commitment-phobe takes the job as a busy single parent’s nanny. ( Bucky Barnes x Reader @itsjamesstan angsty fluff )

A delve into family history leads an up and coming journalist to an unexpected helper.

Always helping those around in getting their happily ever after, a couple doesn’t realise their own relationship slipping away.

An unsuspecting baker’s mother orchestrates their meet-cute with a doctor after failed attempts of trying to set them up on blind dates.

A wedding planner is set to plan their cousin/close friend’s wedding when their cousin/close friend’s PI ex comes back in their lives to check whether or not the groom is cheating.

I decided to trial the plot/au prompts with a few. If demand is there I’ll as more as for now I hope you have fun and thank you once again for all the support and follows!!

all the love, mk x

I’m tagging people who liked the initial post: @lokeystan | @hannahspanner98 | @germansarechill | @justmasblack | @simple-live | @heyitsaznfangirl | @littledarlinhavefaithinme | @izzy10718 | @tahliamalfoydepp | @paperlessbook | @winterxblogger | @speguttibiach | @hallow-hazel | @msknight10 | @we-flower-fan | @onemore2morrow | @friedskeletoncopexpert | @fanderrawr | @fanfictionsilove | @lexipumpkins | @infinitelylizzie | @meddowstaylah | @livy1391 | @unknownwonder | @deanlovespiebabyandmeloljkiwish | @seppys-return-to-madness | @19mrs-rogers18 | @permanentlyconfused221b | @mybabyboytony | @adefectivedetective | @prettyxlittlexwriter | @volklana

Death Of The Lie  ||  Chapter 16: Goodbyes

AUTHORS: @fandom-and-feminism​​ & @fadingcoast​

Summary: Odin and his daughter Hela are the perfect conquerors of the universe. The nine realms fall one after the other into their clutch. After Odin takes a second wife and has a son with her, he doesn’t need Hela anymore. Hela abandons her father and ends up marrying Laufey, a sworn enemy of the Aesir people. Not long after, she becomes pregnant with Laufey’s child. Odin cannot let that son be born, but against all odds, the boy survives. Odin is forced to bring him back to Asgard to be raised as his own until he could make further use of him. The half-Jotun-half-Aesir boy grows up to look and act a lot like his mother, which disturbs Odin, and makes him treat the boy horribly. Odin’s lies are deep and complex, but one day the boy will find out the truth about everything he is.

PAIRING: None RATING: Teen

MASTERLIST

Feedback is always appreciated and reblogs are encouraged!!

Chapter 16: Goodbyes

Loki spent another decade as a woman before he finally figured out how to turn back to his original form and stay that way, much to Sigyn’s dismay. He took shape shifting very seriously after that incident and decided not to go against his tutor’s instructions ever again, though from time to time he was known to shift back and forth whenever he felt like it.

Once he had mastered the art of transfiguration and moved on to advanced projections and illusions, and even inter-realm teleportation, Loki found himself completely buried in his studies. He was grateful to have Sigyn and Freyr to help him and remind him of what the Alfar had always known, that one must balance work with leisure. Though Loki kept his visits to Asgard short due to Thor's manner becoming more like the Allfather's, he still appreciated the time he got to spend with his mother and the bond they shared with his growing magic.

The years passed with increasing speed as Loki came into himself, his powers stronger and more advanced than anyone anticipated, his physique finally becoming more proportioned with his long legs and arms as he trained in close combat, and his sleek black hair reaching his waist by the time he was ready to graduate from the Sanctum. No longer was Loki the knobby-kneed princeling learning magic tricks.

After Loki's graduation ceremonies were completed, during his final summer season on Alfheim, he was pulled aside for a meeting with the King on his last evening in the castle.

“Ah, my dear Loki! Come on in,” Freyr greeted him brightly. Loki bowed and, following the king’s instruction, sat across the tea table from him. “How are you doing?”

“I’m--” For all his renewed wits, Loki couldn’t bring himself to lie to the king. “I-- wish I didn’t have to leave.” He wrung his fingers, trying to properly articulate himself. “I wish there was a way to thank you for all you’ve done for me.”

King Frèyr smiled warmly. “Well, there is a way you could come back one day, if you so desire.”

“What do you mean?” Loki asked.

“I mean marriage, my dear.”

Loki hoped he didn't look as shocked as he felt. “What?!”

“I know Sigyn is very fond of you,” the King stated simply. “You’ve grown close during your years here and after seeing the way you communicate with her, I couldn’t possibly think of a better match for my princess.”

“I-I don’t think I’m her type, if I’m honest,” Loki said, slightly uncomfortable.

“I know my daughter’s type, Loki,” King Frèyr said with a small smile. “She has yet to be able to lie to me.” Loki’s eyes went wide with surprise. “But I also know my daughter will fulfill her duties as a princess. And that includes marriage.”

Loki just stared in stunned silence. This was beyond any of his expectations, ever! Back on Asgard he was always the spare. No one ever paid any attention to him or what he did, unless he messed up or otherwise did something that singled him out as an other. Everyone’s eyes were set on Thor, and who he would choose. He was the worthy one, he was who got all the women parading in front of him.

Suddenly overwhelmed, Loki put a hand on his chest. “Me?” he whispered. “Are you sure?”

“You’ve made quite the impression in the people of Alfheim, my boy.” The King poured some wine for himself and took a long sip before continuing. “I think I can speak for them all when I say how much they appreciate you. You’ve been a bridge between ourselves and Asgard. A connection the elves haven’t felt in a long time. They would be most pleased to have you as their ruler.”

“What about my -”

“Worry not, dear boy, I have already spoken to your mother and she is delighted with the idea,” Freyr assured him. “She will speak to your father and smooth things over. Asgard has its future king, and Alfheim needs hers. I can think of no one better for the job.”

“And can you speak for Sigyn too?” Loki asked cautiously.

“I am sure Sigyn would agree with me.” He smiled knowingly. “But of course, it is not necessary to give an answer immediately. You both are still young and have many things to see before you settle down and get married. My time is not yet up. When you are ready, Alfheim will always be here to welcome you back home.”

Loki let that last word circle around in his head for a moment. Home…

“I’ll be leaving late this evening so I won’t be here to see you off tomorrow,” Freyr said, interrupting his thoughts, “but Sigyn will probably get up shortly after dawn and the two of you can take the guards to the Bifrost site whenever you’re ready to leave.” The King arose and circled the table, leaning down with his arms wide to hug Loki around his shoulders. At a loss for words, Loki hugged him back silently.

Loki was dismissed after that and he walked, stunned, to Sigyn's room to talk to her about it. Together they sat on her bed and Sigyn braided his hair as she waited patiently for him to talk.

“Your father and I had the most awkward conversation,” Loki finally said, staring at his hands as Sigyn finished off the fourth braid in his long hair. “He thinks we should get married. Later, that is,” he added quickly.

Sigyn sighed, her hands slowing. “Yeah, we had that conversation too.”

Loki looked at Sigyn curiously. “Do you agree?”

“I’m not particularly against it,” she admitted with a chuckle. Loki pushed her slightly with his shoulder. “Thing is, as far as my options go, you are… not a bad one.”

“Is that a compliment?”

“It is!” Sigyn giggled. “You’re fun, intelligent, powerful… My father loves you, Alfheim respects you. You’re much better than any other options I see in my future. And you’re my best friend,” she added, taking Loki’s hand in hers. “Father always says that marriage starts with friendship, that it’s stronger than a lover’s love. I love you like I’d love a brother.”

Loki smiled softly at her words. It meant a lot, coming from her, and he felt much the same about her. Over the years he had grown closer to her and saw her as more of a sibling than Thor ever was to him. Perhaps one day he could learn to love her as more than that, but as far as the prospects for his future, one with Sigyn was better than what he could have imagined for himself.

“And you can turn into a woman,” Sigyn teased, interrupting his thoughts. “I’m not getting another betrothed who can actually do that.”

Loki laughed loudly at that, and squeezed Sigyn’s hand. “Then I guess I have to do this right, don’t I?” He smirked, getting down on one knee in front of Sigyn, who shook her head and covered her face with her palm, breaking down into hysterics. “Princess Sigyn of Alfheim, will you marry me?”

Sigyn calmed her giggles long enough to say, “Prince Loki of Asgard, yes I will. Though you seem to be lacking one particularly important item.” She held her hand in front of his face for emphasis.

“Of course!” Loki chuckled and pulled one of the rings holding his braid from his hair, sliding it on Sigyn’s fourth finger. The gold spiral ring was a bit loose on her slender finger but it would work.

Both of them laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation, but felt strangely comfortable as they settled down, the pair sitting back on Sigyn's bed. Loki laid his head down in Sigyn's lap and sighed, looking out her massive window that overlooked the gardens. The sun was starting to set, with tinges of orange and red coloring the clouds, another reminder that his time in this beautiful realm was coming to a close.

“I can't believe this time tomorrow I'll be back in my old room,” Loki lamented. “Back to reality, back to being second best.” He craned his neck to look up at Sigyn, who was staring out the window too. Her amber eyes gleamed with unshed tears. “At least it's not forever, right?”

Sigyn nodded and squeezed his hand. “Right.”

.-

Loki was awakened at dawn by Gwyn's fussing and blubbering as soon as she walked in his room. She apologized profusely and broke down in sentimental tears as Loki arose from his bed and stretched. Placing his breakfast tray on his desk, Gwyn took a look around the almost empty room and let out a shaky breath.

“Oh my dear boy,” she wailed, walking over to Loki and standing on her toes to place her hands on Loki's cheeks, “I've clothed you and bathed you and watched you grow and now you're a bona fide Prince! You and the Princess will make such beautiful babies!” Before Loki could push past his shock that Gwyn was privy to information about his unofficial engagement to Sigyn, she pulled him down until she could kiss him on each cheek. “Promise you won't forget your old maid, huh?” she whispered with a barely concealed sniffle. Tears trailed down her plump cheeks and she dabbed them away with her apron.

Loki smiled and offered her an enthusiastic nod. “How could I forget someone who is practically like a mother to me?”

“The queen is a great woman, lad, but she never had your hair looking quite like this, now did she?” Loki shook his head, his smile fading slightly. “Now eat, you have a long day ahead of you since you’re going home later.”

Home... 

Gwyn kissed him on the top of his head when he sat down at the now-empty desk to eat, and wouldn’t leave until he took a bite of bread. As soon as the door closed again Loki put the bread back on the tray, no longer interested in it, and took in a slow breath. His eyes wandered to the space on the desk to the left of the chair, and he pictured a handsome blond young man sitting there with his legs dangling over the side, begging him not to leave. From there he looked to the bed just over his shoulder and had to push away the memory of the many nights he spent there with the same young man wrapped in his arms. Loki had to fight the cold feeling spreading from his chest as he made himself look elsewhere and settled on the bay window.

There had been so much ice, so much pain… Many others had had their share of time in his room since then, yet none of them had been able to erase that. Except one.

The chill in his blood warmed when he thought of who had brought him back to himself. She was like a sister to him, but more than that. Kind, beautiful, reserved yet assertive, and ever patient, Sigyn had been there for him at his lowest moments since the day he came to Alfheim. She would make a fine Queen one day, and it brought Loki a measure of peace to think he would be her King when that day came.

There are worse ways to spend a few thousand years, Loki reminded himself. A smile spread across his face as he imagined coming back here and knowing he could stay forever.

It shall be worth the wait.

After a long sigh and a determined nod, Loki finished his breakfast while watching the sun come up over the trees. The gentle bubbling of the river and the delicate chirping of birds kept him company until it was fully bright outside, and he knew the time to leave was soon. There was no point in delaying the inevitable, and it would be quite a long task to unpack everything once he got back to Asgard, even using his magic.

As if on cue, rapid footsteps echoed down the hall and got louder as they came closer to his room. Loki was on his feet with his arms outstretched before Sigyn even got the door open, and she bounded across the room and leapt into Loki’s arms, knocking him to the floor with a surprised oof!

“Morning!” Sigyn sang brightly, brushing the hair out of Loki’s eyes. They both laughed and she helped him stand back up.

Before he could say anything she wrapped her arms around his chest and held him tight against her.

“I've decided you're staying,” she mumbled against his chest.

Loki pulled her away gently by her shoulders, giving her a sad smile. “If only I could, I would,” he said. “Being apart from this realm will not be easy. But when I return, I will be that much happier for it.” He wiped away her tears with his tunic sleeve and took her hand. “Let's go to the Bifrost site before I risk interrealm diplomacy and change my mind.”

Sigyn nodded solemnly. She channeled her seidr and weaved it seamlessly with Loki's in their joined hands, and together they vanished his various trunks to Asgard and teleported to the landing site. When they touched ground again she let go of him, though reluctantly.

Loki turned to step onto the stone circle, and hesitated, turning to her again. “I know I’m not a woman right now, but… could I kiss you one last time?”

“You can…” she said, leaning in, “but promise me it won’t be the last time.”

He pressed his lips to hers and lingered there, his fingers weaving through her soft hair. When he pulled away his heart was pounding like it hadn't in ages. Finally he made himself step onto the platform, turning away from Sigyn not to see the silent tears she was failing to hold back.

“I'm ready, Heimdall,” he said, so quietly it was nearly a whisper.

Despite the obvious sadness surrounding this very moment, for the first time in probably his entire life, Loki was heading home with hope in his heart.

<< Chapter 15  –  Chapter 17 >>

.-

@igotloki @xalgaliareptx  @christy-winchester @silverhart93 @claiming-loyalty-to-loki @honeybournehippy @unseelie1963 @mischievousbellerina @manager-of-mischief @angryowlet @thelittlestlittlecutiepie

Some recommendations for showing your appreciation for fic

I never know how to make this post, largely because I write fic and so I don’t want it to come across as a “do this for me.”  But I see my peers and friends routinely stating that they don’t know how their fics are being recieved and feel as though they are shouting their fic into a void and that it is wildly disheartening.  

So since I had time on my hands this morning, I’m writing up some suggestions for you.  This is long.  I’m not putting it under a cut for Reasons. 

Tumblr

Reblog fic.

That’s the biggest one.  Hitting like feels great.  I, as your fic writer, enjoy it when my fic is liked.  I, as an author, get really excited when someone is recommending my fic.  

Reblogging is not just showing your appreciation; it is recommending it to the people who follow you.  It’s a double whammy.  

Most fic readers like fic recommendations.  There’s a lot of fic out there, and so someone saying “Hi, I liked this and enjoy it, you might too” is really appreciated as a reader who is trying to figure out what to do.

Comment on fic.

Commenting is a great way to show support for a fic and an author.  It’s talking to them and showing your appreciation for their work.  It can be finger mashing, it can be something longer.  Tumblr comment culture tends to rely on sending shorter notes, but I’ve never seen an author complain about getting a long comment ever in my life.

Tag Commentaries - One of the things I like about tumblr is that tag culture has turned, over the years, into a way to add some subtle commentary while reblogging.  So you can tag things functionally (#fic is my functional reblogged fic tag), and then add anything you want in the tags.  Adding a simple “I loved this” in the tags makes an author feel great and might motivate them to write more.

Replies - Replying to the fic is another great way to show an author you liked their story.  The author (and the person you might be getting the reblog from) will get a notification of what you are saying on their post.  So even if you don’t follow the author, you can still say you appreciate their work.

Reblog additions - You can also add your own commentary to the caption of the fic as you see fit!  Different fandoms have different conventions on this, and authors have different preferences.  Similar to replies, the author will get a notification in their activity feed that you’ve said something and be able to check it out.

Sending asks or DMs - This is another way to reach out to an author and let them know you liked their story.  It’s more private and personal, which means it happens rarely.   But especially if you’re shy, sending a nice anon (especially when most people’s associations with anons are p r e t t y   n a s t y, can be really a day-brightener).

Some general recommendations

Commenting is hard, especially when you don’t know what to say but have a lot of good feelings about a fic.  

Things not to do:  “When are you going to update?” / “More please!” - Sometimes this can be well recieved; other times it can have the opposite effect.  Some authors might take it well, others might take it as demanding and it might kill the joy they have in their story and so, far from getting the update you want, you won’t get anything at all. Recommended alternatives: saying what you liked to make you want more from the story.

Tone is a tricky thing to navigate generally online.  Something that might sound right in your head might be read very differently by the reader, so sometimes comments that are well-meant can come across as sarcastic/caustic and thus insulting when the author is reading them.  Be mindful and aware--we know you don’t mean that, but that doesn’t mean your words don’t hurt unintentionally.

Didn’t like something?  Or something grated you?  The author got canon wrong?  Take a deep breath.  It’s just fanfiction and you are not entitled to their work.  If they are not asking for critical feedback, your providing some unsolicited is crossing lines in an editorial process that you might not be aware of as a non-writer.  Just take a deep breath and keep scrolling.

Something as simple as a “this was great!” can go a long way.  If you want to go even further than that, pick a line you liked or a moment and say that you liked it.

Like fic.

If you’re not going to reblog fic but you enjoy it, I strongly recommend hitting the like button.  Not everyone uses the like button on this website the same way.  (I use tumblr across multiple devices and so I hit like on most posts I reblog just to remember that I’ve already seen the post; I know not everyone does this though.)  But if you’re someone who uses the like button fairly liberally, this is a strong move.

Following.

Obviously--you get to choose who you follow.  But if you like a fic, check out the author’s blog, and consider giving them a follow.  

There are also frequently fic-amassing blogs within larger fandoms.  Those are good ones to check out too!

AO3(/FF.N/Other Platforms)

These are mostly recommendations based on AO3, though some may apply to other fic publishing platforms.

Comments

I’m not going to type all that up again.  I’d say the suggestions I made in the tumblr comment section apply across all platforms.

@longlivefeedback​ has a comment builder tool if you want help with writing a longer comment.

The only other point I’d say is there’s not time-limit on when to give a comment.  Someone posted the fic three years ago?  Five years ago?  Drop a note!  I’ve never seen an author complain about getting a comment on an old fic.  On the contrary, most of them are thrilled when it happens.

Kudos

Kudos are not like the tumblr like function.  They aren’t a way to save a fic you like--they are an easy way to show appreciation for a fic you’ve read.  If you liked it, and don’t regret the time spent reading, I recommend hitting the kudos button.  Most authors have daily emails turned on with Kudos updates from fics on AO3 and will get a note saying a fic got a kudos.  That feels good: some read their fic and enjoyed reading their fic.

Bookmarks

You can have both private and public bookmarks on AO3.  

Private is good for things you....might want to keep private (like that kinky fucking porn that you really enjoyed and might...want to...find....again later....) (Or whatever else you want to keep private.)

Public will appear on your AO3 profile.  If someone is checking out your profile, they might see bookmarks as recommendations of good fic they might enjoy.  Since AO3 doesn’t have a reblog function, this is as close as you can get to having a catered fic recs section on that platform.

You can add additional tags and commentaries to your bookmarks as you’re saving them, allowing you to organize as you see fit.  Additional commentaries are something the author can also see and which might make their day in the way a comment might.

Cross-Platform

A lot of authors have multiple platforms they engage with.  Some will post directly to AO3 (or another platform), some will post to both tumblr and AO3.

If you find something on AO3 that you enjoy, a good number of authors will link--either in their profile or in their fics--how you can find them on tumblr.  If you want to spread an AO3 fic you find to your followers, see if the author has an original post they made about the fic that you can reblog--that way the author knows what traction their fic is getting, and where it’s coming from.  (We like to know that shit.  Trust me.)

If the author doesn’t have a post you can find, I strongly recommend @-mentioning them here on tumblr so they get a notification and know that they’re getting recommended.

If you’re making a post that lists out AO3 recs and you put the AO3 author handle--but know that the author has a tumblr, please also @-mention their tumblr.  They love knowing they’re getting recommended.

If you see an author you follow is posting a lot of tumblr fic, check out their AO3--they might have more!  If you don’t see a link for their profile on their blog, ask after it!  Chances are you’ll make them feel warm and fuzzy because that’s an ask that says “I love your writing.  Is there more of it I can check out?”   Even if they don’t have an account on AO3, you might get links to more fic for you to check out.

Some Notes for Authors

I read (and reblogged) a post a while back that talks about social media and fic writing.  The thing that’s hard about all this is that, even if AO3 doesn’t feel like a social media (we all know that Tumblr is one, for better and for worse) that doesn’t mean it’s not still beholden to some of the same laws that affect all web platforms, regardless of content or purpose.

I’m gonna quote the first post that I linked above (thank you @obotligtnyfiken for adding info to that post):

1 % are very active. They are the fans. They create their own content (hello, fanfic!), they cheer you on, they protest. 9 % may respond when you ask them to do something, but they will not take initiative. And they will not engage every time. 90 % will never engage, whatever you do.

Let me first say: it sucks to think about your fic in terms of marketing standards when you might not have any experience in marketing.  Considering what a success rate is based on what social media success is considered to be rather than the more nuanced forms of “I got a bunch of reviews and they were heartening” sucks.  But if you’re looking at hit counts and kudos counts, the above is important to bear in mind: most of your readers might enjoy but not engage because that’s how internet users engage with internet content across the board.  (Think about all that stuff you see on Facebook because you follow a page.  You might see it.  You might even appreciate the information.  You might not hit the like button.)  It sucks that the same is true of fic but...the same is true of fic.  

Readers: You’re reading this.  You see what authors are balancing when they’re posting their fic online.  Please be mindful.  And I encourage you to engage with things you like.  Don’t be that silent 90%!

Because of this, bearing in mind that if you have a 10% kudos:hit ratio on your fic, that’s doing pretty well.  

@longlivefeedback​ has a good breakdown of how the AO3 hit counter works.  I recommend checking it out since it was more protective of authors than I had initially thought.  

People are engaging with your fic, despite the fact that 90% of people don’t necessarily engage with content on the internet that they might still enjoy.  If you’re writing a chaptered fic, that number might get skewed so the percentage seems even lower.  

That being said, there are still ways that a hit:kudos ratio might get skewed in ways that might actually be kinder to your fic than you think: let’s say that someone goes back and rereads your fic after a few weeks or months or years (or days tbh).  You’ll get fresh hits from that.  They might not necessarily say anything--they left a kudos and a comment last time.  They gave their feedback.  But you’re still getting hits from them.

Readers: authors welcome “I’m rereading this and still love it” reviews.  If you’re reading through this section and want to support your authors, be aware of all the different feedback inputs they’re contending with, and what seem like happy fun fic time to you might come across as “no one likes my stuff,” to them which could be flatly untrue.