#(ooc: sorry it took me so long to get this one out! major writers block yesterday)

[lostnfounder]

[The following is a transcript of a pursuit/interaction that took place between ex-Gazette reporter Ruth Shirbon and THE DEMON OF LOSTFIELD.] 

R: Alright, Demon, start talking. Why are you out of the underworld? What are you- HEY!

[The DEMON has grabbed the phone Ruth was using to record this conversation in its mouth because she made the mistake of putting it too close to its face. It glares at her.]

R: ... Can you give that back.

D: [Narrows its eyes.]

R: [Big sigh.] Can you give me my phone back, please?

D: [Opens its mouth and the phone clatters to the floor.]

R: Ughh. [Grimaces as they wipe the phone off on their jacket.] ... Thank you. Anyways. Why are you out of the underworld?

D: Oh, my god, man, I don't know what you're talking about. Just-

R: Answer the question!

D: I'm not from the underworld, man! What do you want from me!

R: If you don't- God, if you don't comply soon I'll have half a mind to march into Showfall and ask them myself.

D: ... What?

R: I know that's where you're from! Don't try to cover it up! You escaped the Facility through the window on the parking garage!

D: ... Yeah. Yeah, I did.

R: Aha!

D: Wait, so you're- This isn't... This isn't the... Facility, or whatever you called it?

R: [Still writing down this last admission.] Uhh... no? Does this look like a creepy abandoned mall place full of demons to you?

D: ... No. No, you're right, it-... If I don't explain myself you're gonna try to... go in there??

R: Uh... yeah, probably. I mean, I have evidence of the demonic crimes they're clearly committing now, and you were this easy to capture, and I'll probably need more evidence than this, so-

D: AGH! CURSES! I'VE BEEN FOILED!

R: WHAT?

D: YOU'RE RIGHT. I AM A DEMON. I LIED!

R: OH. OH! AHA! YES! I KNEW IT!! Nothing gets past the Lostfield Reporter!

D: I CAN'T BELIEVE I WAS CAPTURED BY A TEENAGER... WHO UNIRONICALLY WEARS PLAID...

R: Wh- HEY! THIS IS FLANNEL!!

D: YES, WELL. UH.

R: Alright then, Demon- [shining lamp light in its face. It squints.] Who are you, anyway?

D: A... A Demon. I. I thought that was established pretty well already.

R: No, what's your name? Or is it so terrible my feeble human brain couldn't pronounce it? Oooh, if I say it out loud will my brain explode? That would be so sick. Does that actually happen?

D: ... Uhm. Yeesss... sure... Let's go with that...

R: [Blink.]

D: ... Okay, fine, no, that's not what happens.

R: [Blink.]

D: What!

R: Go on! What is it! I can't just keep calling you 'Demon' with a capital D forever. Unless that's... literally your name, which I doubt.

D: Yeah, uh. It's Cha-aaaaaase. Chase.

R: ... Chase.

D: I heard my name?

R: A horrible demon creature from the underworld and your name is Chase.

C: Yes. Chase, uh... Bonk.

R: ...How is that spelled. Like. Weird letters, accents, please tell me there's at least a glottal stop in there.

C: How it sounds. Chase Bonk.

R: ... Yeah. Yeah, you know what. Sure. Alright... Chase, uh. Why are you out of the Facility?

C: I, uh. I... needed to find more... ah... slime. To eat.

R: You eat slime??

C: Yes. Also goop. Oh, and gunk. Sludge, sometimes, when I'm feeling like it. Goo's a hit or a miss, really, but-

R: Yes, okay, I get it. ...Do I need to feed your that, or-

C: NO! I mean, ah. You don't have to. [Quieter.] The- The yogurt was alright.

R: Thank god. Okay. I'll get more next time I go to the store-

C: Not the strawberry chunks one though that one sucked.

R: Oh, yeah it fucking does. [Writing.] No... strawberry... chunks, okay.

C: Can I have the Nintemdo again?

R: Nintendo.

C: Yeah, that's what I said. Can I?

R: No! I'm interrogating you!

C: I'll summon my ghouls on you.

R: ... You can do that?

C: Yes. Nintendo Snitch please.

R: Switch.

C: OOoooOOo, GHOULS, I SUMMON THEE-

R: RIGHT! OKAY! FINE! Just one more question--what was your job? Did you assist Showfall Media in their recent production?

C: Oh, good, that's easy. No, I didn't. I would remember something like that. But I... uh... it was my job to... uh... look at screens all day.

R: Right. Okay. That's... odd.

C: ... Can I have the-

R: Yes, right, sure, fine. Ending the transcript now. Let's hope I get more answers tomorrow.

C: Wait, tommo-

[hoodedboy79]

Hey. I just saw your post of the idea to write about Assassins Creed. It’s lovely to see someone who would write about the Assasins, like Bayek (he doesn’t get enough love). I don’t have anything particular in mind but I’d love to see some/or reactions of some kind of Bayek, Arno and/or any you feel comfortable with. Have a nice day :))

Being Best Friends With Them: Bayek, Arno & Jacob.

Just to start off with I'm sorry this took so long for me to do but I've got major writers block atm so these might be ass but I tried. Also Arno might be extra ooc cuz I only brought Unity a few days ago when it went on sale and haven't done more than the beginning yet so apologies in advance 😅

================

Bayek

• The most loyal, lifelong friend you're ever going to get right here.

• Even if you two don't see each other as often anymore after Bayek became a Medjay and started a family.

• Talking about him starting a family, you were one of the first people he told when he found out Aya was expecting.

• Invites you over regularly to eat dinner with him and his family, along with Hepzefa and Rabiah if they are free.

• He loves that his closest people get on so well.

• You accompanying him, Khemu and Chenzira on their hunting trips.

• As much as he wants to confide in you after Khemu's death and Aya's departure, he can't bring himself to. Not only because he doesn't want to speak about it when the wound is so fresh but he doesn't want to burden you with his feelings.

• So he doesn't say much to you before leaving to track down the Heron.

• When he eventually returns, and is in a slightly better headspace than before he left, he was happy to see you, and Hepzefa, waiting for him.

• You two have a lot to catch up on.

Arno

• Will silently judge every stupid decision you make, his face tells you exactly what he wants to say though to the point it doesn't feel as 'silent' anymore.

• He will help you clean up and or defend you from the consequences of said stupid decision though.

• The type to have clothes made for you, regardless of your social status.

• Depending on your personality, there's going to be a LOT of disagreements between you two due to Arno's stubbornness (and yours, potentially) but he's willing to come to a compromise with you after enough back and forth, he probably won't admit if he was wrong though.

• Arno never truly gets over Élise and has times where his grief rears it's head, sometimes he'll allow you to comfort him even if it's just by sitting in the same room in silence while you both get on with your own things or other times he'll avoid everyone completely and try to keep himself busy with random tasks till he feels ready to see people again.

• Would like to visit the theatre with you occasionally or just relax for once and have a discussion about art or the newest plays.

• Gossip duo 💅🏻

Jacob

• Sheer pandemonium.

• You two together brings the fear of God into people.

• Spending hours with him in the pub, whether it be indulging in drinking games, playing Whist (don't worry he won't drown you in the river if you beat him) or just chatting with the Rooks, Jacob will make sure you enjoy yourself and hopefully get you to stay just another hour (and buy another round).

• Tells Maxwell about you and eventually invites you to accompany them on one of their random outings.

• We all know how that eventually ends.

• Both of you teasing Evie about Henry. Jacob will definitely turn on you though if he finds out you are courting someone/being courted, it isn't just Evie he's willing to tease.

• He would find out as much as he could about the person that you're interested in, especially if their the one trying to court you. He's been betrayed by people close to him before and doesn't want you to go through the same thing if he can help it.

• He'll make almost everything a (friendly) competition with you; Who can climb this building faster? Who can kill the most Blighters in this random street fight? Who can escape the police quicker?, things like that. Evie will even sometimes join in, which usually ends with the twins bickering after she wins.

• You and Jacob really do share the same braincell at times fr.

==============

I haven't done any hc's in a hot minute and I can see why lol. Maybe I'll rewrite these one day or add to it I dunno.

[childish-ish]

Yoo! *hands you subway sandwich* I absolutely loved the soulmate AU with Micheal making choices for each other. And I was wondering (if you can/want) what would it be like for Billy Lenz.

hii *fucking devours subway sandwich* thank u so much i love u <3 i would love to write for him! sorry if hes ooc :<

sorry it took so long too, i thought it said lOOMIS AND I LOOK BACK AND IT SAYS LENZ LMFAAAOOOOOOOO then i procrastinated xd its super awkward and weird, im sorry!! i tried- i was on major fucking writers block!!

bro u made me eat a bug dont talk to me

soulmate au.. makin choices fo eachother..

billy lenz x reader

also, just imagine like. a party right before christmas and they dont call the police to help them rather do it themselves, but then 1 girl calls and they're on their way at the end.. ya dig? ALSO I KNOW ITS HIS HOME BUT I DIDNT HAVE AN IDEA SO xd

"Hello?" You answer the phone politely, looking over your notes before closing the book as you wait in silence for a reply on the other line. "Hellooo?" You drag out the 'o' in hello.

"Y/n? Hey, hows'it going. Listen i have this party goin' on and I know you don't have jack-shit to do, so, why don't you come on over?"

Barb! Ah, that bitch.. should i? You thought over the pros and cons as Barb waited impatiently on the other line.

soulmate chooses: go to party.

"Yeah, I'm coming. Streets?" You ask, opening your notebook back up, flipping to a blank page as Barb told you the address. You hang up on the girl and rip the piece of paper off, holding it between your teeth as you lift yourself from your cushioned chair, grabbing your coat that hung on the back and quickly stuffed the address in the pocket of your coat.

eat bug or do not eat bug.

You furrow your eyebrows at the choices. Before choosing 'do not eat the bug'. What the fuck?

Of course you would choose not to eat the fucking bug. You weren't a dick. But your fucking soulmate was. You were totally gonna beat their fucking ass for choosing such choices.

You sigh, grabbing your coat on the way out. Your necessities jingling in your pockets of said coat. You shove your hand in, dragging out your keys, turning around to lock your door. Sighing once more, as you enter your car and start the ignition. You pull out the address. "Can't be too hard, can it?" You mutter, finally pulling out of your driveway.

"Hello!" You wiggle your fingers as a small wave at the unrecognizable woman who opened the door. "Hello." Sge greeted back softly. "Are you a friend of Barbs'?"

"You betcha!"

"Well, I'm Jess! It's a pleasure to meet you.. come on in!" Jess opened the door wider. You see a few other girls chatting lively. A glass or a beer bottle in their hands. You follow Jess.

"Y/n! You made it! Good job." Barb greeted you, immediately handing you a beer you watched her pop open. You grab it, took a gulp, and thanked her.

You spot an ant crawling on the counter by you. Jess and Barb began to argue softly. Background noise.. You debate on whether to wipe it up and eat it. You shake your heads of the thoughts to rid of the possibility of your soulmate choosing-

eat the ant.

You growl under your breath, crushing the ant under your index finger and wiping it off on your tongue. You swallow it with your spit.

Im totally beating my soulmates fucking ass.. you thought angrily, chugging the rest of your piss-tasting beer. Chug, chug, chug! You cheer yourself on.

soulmate chooses: chug.

You chuckle before downing the rest of your cheap beer. Barb hands you another wordlessly. A smirk planted on her lips as she watches you down another.

"You should really slow down, Y/n."

"Eeh come on, Jess." Barb rolled her eyes, tossing an empty bottle into the trashcan. "Her soulmate probably made her chug." Barb defends poorly.

"I suppose.. how about you chug some water?"

"Yeah.. that'd be best. I'm already feeling a fucking buzz!" You laugh, being the lightweight you were.

Soon. You had awoke in a extremely comfortable bed with a small headache.

"It's so quiet.." You mutter to yourself. Dragging your hand over your face before quickly pulling away, realising you already had acne that was beginning to sprout. You stare at the ceiling, glancing at the window. Still night-time. You turn your head to the nightstand. The lamp was on. A small glass of water.

"Awh." You smile at the thought of one of the girls leaving a cup of water for you, quietly closing the door behind them. You immediately sit up and chug the water, tossing in the two pills that lied on a small napkin right next to it. You swallow, lathering the pills up in your spit.

You stretch your arms over your head, before falling back onto the plush mattress layered in bedding. You sigh, before finally deciding that it was time to get up and see what was going on downstairs. If you were even upstairs.. you cant tell. Maybe you were downstairs? You continued your train of thought as you closed the door behind you politely. Not bothering to take the glass with you.

You continue down the stairs, hand sliding down the railing as you slowly step down each step, before noticing the sticky, yet not sticky liquid your hand laid in. "The fuck? Strawberry syrup, L-O-L." You lift it up to your lips, licking. Clearly not thinking as the taste registered.

"Pennies. Blood? Oops." You wipe your fingers off on your shirt, quickly continuing down the stairs. "Baaarrrb?!" You call out, awkwardly. "Oh. Who's the shit-face drunk lying on the floor." You step closer towards the dining area. "Barb? You fucking drunk." You snicker.

soulmate chooses: kick her.

You do so. Not like you had any choice yourself. Kicking her lightly in the stomach, you step away. "What the fuck?!" You shriek, slapping the hand that was placed in your shoulder. You turn around to face a rugged man in a dark sweater and black pants. no shoes? Yet socks on his feet.. "Who are you?!"

The person before you didn't answer before lifting up a single hand thay held a.. glass unicorn? The tip of the horn was covered in a red substance. You could only assume strawberry syrup once more.

"Murderer!" You shriek, grabbing the lamp next to you and chucked it at the offending man who barely dodged it. He screamed back in response before lunging at you; successfully tackling you to the carpet rug.

"I can't believe you, are my soulmate.. well no, i can." You place your index finger on your chin in a thoughtful manner as you stare at the ceiling. "Are you?"

"billy made you eat an ant." he snickers horridly in your ear.

As, Billy, with the biggest cock known to man, squabbled and licked the shell of your ear, muttering about pigs and boobs and pussies, you nod to yourself.

"I can just hand you over to the police, no problem." You hug yourself. "But could I, really? My soulmate. Who has killed people.. Barb. God, you fucking cunt!" You screech, rolling away from him, just to jump back on the wide-eyed motherfucker, wrapping your hands around his neck and your cunt being right over his crotch. Haha.

He gasped for air, short, uneven nails scratch at your hands.

Tables were turned, and you were back on the floor with Billy over you, screaming out profanities.

"I'm sorry, Billy." You apologize falsely. Tears streaming down to your ears, since, you were on the floor.. gravity? "You killed my friend, man. I didn't even know her that long!"

Billy leans over and licks the tears away. You flinch away, before he pulls you into his lap awkwardly, his head dipped down into the crevice of your neck and sniffed loudly before giggling to himself.

"Billy's pretty little pig. Billy's. Pretty pig. Pretty cunt. Pretty, pretty, pretty." He mutters, an odd sense of nostalgia washed over you, catching an odd scent that activated said nostalgia.

"Move bitch. Let me get fucking comfortable." You snap, pulling out of his hold and turning your body around to face him. Crotch to crotch as you wrap your legs above his own.. does this make sense? You wrap your legs around his and he crosses his legs, wrapping his arms around you tightly as you fiddle with his hair.

"Man, you are such a fucking dick. Making me do all those fucking things while i chose nice things for you.." You lay your head on his shoulder. Very much stinky, yes.

"We should dip though. Didn't one of the girls call the police while yo' dumb-fucking-ass was suffocating one?" You pull away, getting a good look at his face.

You wouldn't say he was.. handsome.. but you certainly wouldn't say he was ugly. His skin was.. a sickly pale yellow. His.. fuckimg huge brown eyes stared at you. His cracked lips were curled into a unnerving smile.

soulmate chooses: leave.

"Yeah. Let's go." You stand, offering him a hand.

Billy's blood coated calloused hand makes contact with your own. You gag, covering your lips with your free-hand. "Fucking disgusting." You mutter in disgust, enduring it for the sake of your new partner.

You shove Billy in the back of your car, slamming the door shut and sprinting to the other side, just to slip right before you put your hand on the door.

You swing it open angrily, sitting down and starting the ignition, ignoring Billy's giggles and mutters as he peers out the window like a little kid looking at snow for the first time.

break the window or tap obnoxiously.

You roll your eyes, the hint of a smile plastered onto your lips.

tap obnoxiously.

[bbq-hawks-wings]

Really long ask - Part 1: Hi, sorry for this long rant, but I just wanted to vent since I saw this latest story posted on AO3 and I am restraining myself on commenting on their story so I'm just letting my anger out here about it and other issues regarding fan-depiction of Hawks. It's vaguely related to your post on how DabiHawks or Dabi+Hawks stories make it all about Dabi and always made Hawks out to be the one who starts the problems in their relationship or is the one trying to get Dabi's

Content warning: passing mention of r*pe in a fanfiction.

LOOOONG post under the cut.

(Cont.)

Dabi's attentions when it's canon that it's the complete opposite. This latest story that came up in my feed was about Hawks "harassing" Dabi (who apparently has a backstory of r*pe) and Twice helps Dabi works out his feelings. Among the hoards of tags condemning Hawks, they decided to use "Hawks is very uncool in this fic heads up" so that's another one to add to my filters. I think I also have to block the "Dabi Needs a Hug" tags too bc he's always woobified like heck. 

I really want to read stories where Hawks interacts with Twice since they have a bond/drama with each other, but people have been adding Dabi and either making it seem like Hawks has been gaslighting Dabi in their "relationship" or with Twice. I can acknowledge stories where Hawks feels guilty for what he had to do or Twice being anger/betrayed over Hawks' actions since that is actually what happened; but I will not stand for Dabi claiming Hawks took advantage of Twice or Twice and Dabi having feelings for each other with Hawks in the way bc Dabi is a) the one who let Hawks in b) knew Twice is gullible and c) used Twice as bait. Even in the stories that are cute/causal+funny, Hawks is always the one who gets threatened with fire, harsh insults, or guilted into compliance but the seriousness of the first 2 are always brushed off and the third kinda makes me want it that Hawks doesn't have friends bc most people write him as a bad friend who only cares about his own problems (especially the ones that write Hawks like a celebrity/night club person). 

On writing Dabi, his issues always take priority over everything else, his family loves him, and the lov is always chill with him. He's usually written as the fun asshole/caretaker (bc of his big brother status or ablity to cook). Those factors aren't bad by itself, but it's extremely irritating when the writers/artists can give that level of care to Dabi, but just reduce Hawks to a meme who is a workaholic for the government/scared of punishment & not bc he really cares about the people he saves/helps. It's not like I hate the DabiHawks pairing, but the majority of the content (esp the recent ones), are frustrating to read & Hawks' character is usually written in bad out of character extremes. I am really mystified that I'm praying for canon content rather than fanmade most of the time.

Phew! After the back and forth it looks like we got to the end of that! (Or did we?! *Dun dun DUUUUN*) If not, though, feel free to keep the asks rolling. Lol Foxy and I are usually pretty happy to receive as many asks as people want to send even if it takes us a while, individually, to get to it. Now to finally address what you sent.

I find myself in a weird place when it comes to OOC fanfic because on the one hand people can write whatever they want, and I don’t really have a place to criticize them; but also when they blatantly and willingly misinterpret a character so they have grounds to bash on them it also leaves me acutely uncomfortable. I don’t think I’d call it “problematic” as much as a squick? Like, if they’re willing to blow past all the obvious proof to the contrary about their claims of a fictional character just because they hate them, then are they willing to do the same thing to a real person? Usually, those kinds of thoughts are pointlessly extreme, but we know those who unironically and/or unapologeticly call fans of the heroes “bootlickers” so... It’s like, ooc vent fics are also fine; and if you want to rewrite a character to fit the narrative scheme you’ve set up that’s cool as long as its tagged (“ooc [character]” or something) and/or just mention in the a/n that they knowingly and willingly mischaracterized them for the sake of the fic. Just. Don’t. Claim. It’s. Canon.

And speaking of canon, as much as I’m sure Horikoshi knew Hawks and Dabi were going to end up shipped I think it’s obvious that he never was going to canonically write them ending up together, yet here comes the “canon must validate my headcanon” crowd calling him a bad writer because the author had some bigger narrative goal in mind than having two pretty anime boys kissing.

And the worst part to me is, I feel there’s a distinct slice of the DabiHawks crowd missing out on some of the possibilities of this ship by intentionally mischaracterizing them. Like, the aesthetic equal/opposite draw of the ship is phenomenal as it is and I don’t even ship them, but I can see a wide range of possible fics based solely on the principle that they are canonically incompatible!

At the end of the day, Dabi is a dime-a-dozen edgelord - that pain in the butt OC that so many newbie D&D players make that they think is so deep and dark and mature, but is about as cookie-cutter as they come. It’s not that this kind of character is unsalvageable or a hopeless Gary Stu character, just that they don’t often come across as compelling in and of themselves or that they need more than just selfish hatred to carry them through a series. Two kinds of edgelords that can be done well are the “Out of the Ashes” edgelord and “I’ll Pull You Into Hell With Me” edgelord. The first kind recognizes there’s more to life than their sad backstory and getting even and thus choose to aspire to more noble causes - think Joel from The Last of Us. The second recognizes they’re actively doing wrong and come to embrace it - being more concerned with getting what they want than taking the moral high ground - think Frank Castle, aka the Punisher - and even these darker, “unsaveable” kinds of edgelord antiheroes can have redeeming qualities such as meeting and helping a young hopeful and telling them, “I know I’m on the road to hell, so if you want to save yourself you’d better not follow me.”

Dabi actually has what he needs to become the second type right now (assuming he’s Touya) and could even evolve into the first not unlike Kratos from God of War, but that potential can’t be fully recognized until you admit that he’s fundamentally self-centered and a bad person as-is. He may have the tragic backstory complete with justifiable hate at his genuinely abusive father, but rather than using that as fuel to see that never happen to anyone else like it did him - he just wants to get even. He burns people alive, knowing well he’s participating in the same destruction that his father committed to make him what he is now. He doesn’t recognize any of the merits of hero society and is only concerned with burning it to ash. He could use what happened to his family to incite compassion in his heart and take others under his wing, but instead he uses people as a mean to his own ends. He isn’t even proper grimdark - he’s just your run of the mill egotistical megalomaniac with a punk aesthetic.

And that’s still a good character in the grand scheme of things, maybe just not alone! Moreso, it’s a good villain and EVEN BETTER when you put him next to Hawks who is at his core:

Fundamentally Hopepunk!

Hopepunk is about being good and kind as an act of rebellion against a cruel and unfair world no matter how bleak it gets or how badly you’re beaten down. Despite his own cruel past, Hawks still has a heart to help others for no other reason than to help them, he constantly changes the odds to save as many people as he can when he’d be given a pass for letting the cards fall where they will, and not only is his aim to “help others” but to make sure that there’ll never be need for heroes again. He’s an active rebel against the system fighting with kindness and goodness, fervently looking and listening for the next opportunity to do good.

In agreement with you, Hawks and Twice are interesting to explore because while Twice is an optimist looking to make the world a better place, he’s still a step or two removed from Hawks’ worldview because Twice refuses to let go of the “family” he found for himself while Hawks is willing to sacrifice himself for others. That dynamic is so interesting, and it’s what made them so initially compatible and subsequently heartbreaking in canon.

And it’s such a disappointment to see this unwaveringly earnest character reduced to “shitty fratboy” so often. For a lot of people newer to his character I can understand the confusion, but there really isn’t an excuse if you’ve been reading the series, and the possibilities for fics with this canon personality are just so much more interesting to explore, especially with Dabi as his sort-of opposite.

For DabiHawks to work well, you have to recognize that something has to give in either of them. Some of the juiciest, most angsty content is when you have two characters grow close together over commonalities only to be reminded that despite everything else they share, that One Thing will always keep them from truly being able to see eye-to-eye. Either Dabi has to grow past his hatred and relearn compassion and empathy, or Hawks has to lose grip of that hopeful vision he has and fall into despair. Both options are good to explore, but both require the acknowledgement that Dabi’s view of the world is fundamentally bleak and selfish, especially compared to Hawks’. For a supposed revolutionary out to change the world for the better whose a diamond in the rough with a heart of gold, that’s not exactly on-brand; and at the end of the day the issue is that some are unwilling to admit that what they wanted Dabi to be is likely not going to happen and they love that fake version Dabi more than they love what Hawks actually stands for which is why Hawks always gets the shaft in the end.

I still personally hold a bit of a grudge against the DaiHawks ship as a whole purely because, as you said, Dabi always seems to take priority over Hawks instead of letting the two build a dynamic together. Hawks is always the one who has to give, and the torture porn some have made him go through to “make the ship work” is downright disturbing to me. Even at its height DabiHawks content completely flooded the Hawks character tags on Tumblr with some of the same problems that have persisted to this day such as emphasizing their aesthetic as opposed to their dynamic and rampant mischaracterization.

Anyway, that’s my long-winded response. What do you think, @autumn-foxfire?

[nny11writes]

For the fic writer ask game: What’s a trope that you’d like to never hear about as long as you live, let alone write? (Feel free to rant :) )

Hahahaha, sorry were you looking for one trope? 

I’m usually so positive so now you’ve done it. You’ve unlocked me complaining about random shit that doesn’t usually matter. Because the damn busted wide the fuck open! Okay, so I’m going to approach this as outside of smut fics with intense kinks I can’t stand (vore, foot fetish, scat play, etc), because that’s me getting squicked and/or triggered and not just tropes that I wish would die in a fire.

My only disclaimer up front is that if you love most of these (hopefully it’ll be obvious which ones I will not forgive/excuse you from), that’s awesome! Go for it! Read it, write it, print it out to loving re-read and paste on the walls! Fandom is, in large part, about finding your niche and enjoying what you enjoy pretty much shamelessly. So I’m not passing judgement on anyone who enjoys reading or writing (most of) these.

CW: rape, sexual assault Also I’ve had a shit few days, so if you don’t want to read someone just being negative and bitching this is probably not the post for you friend. But it all below a cut so people can avoid!

Crossover Fics/Rule 50

My main gripe with this is that without fail a series I love get crossed over with a fandom I either don’t care about or hate. Every time I’ve tried to force myself to read one it’s never worked out for me. Sometimes fics aren’t properly tagged and I’m getting into the setting only for other characters from another fandom to suddenly show up and literally I instantly loose interest. The closest I got to writing a crossover fic, was on FF.net where I had all the characters I wrote for “talking to me” when I hit a big wall of writer’s block in the hopes that writing something so different and strange for me would help. It didn’t. It was interesting for 0.2 seconds to wonder how characters would interact, but then I instantly lost interest because I end up leaning so heavily of character tropes to make it work which, for me, isn’t fun to read or write.

Like, just write fusion! I like fusion! I’m currently writing a SPOP-SW fusion! It allows me to play with characters in a fun world that I already understand, but without the frustration of characters becoming more 2D or very OOC (or both) to force them to interact with one another. Rage Fics

Honestly? If you write and post rage fics, fuck you. Full stop. Fuck you. 

I’m about to tangent, but I swear it’s related. This is the equivalent of someone tagging a character or ship or fandom they hate in a post bashing them or blasting them to hell and back. Fucking beyond rude and obnoxious. That’s what rage fics are cranked up to 11. You are 100% allowed to hate on fandom/character/ship/trope/whatever the fuck, but when you do that shit you are forcing people who enjoy the media to see/interact with your BS because you fucking tagged it to show up where we are. A great example here in SPOP is Catra. I love her! I understand why some people don’t, and they’re 100% allowed to hate her and resent that so many people like her. Recently I went to the Catra tag to find art and fic, maybe some of the top notch meta this fandom puts out if I was lucky, and got stuck seeing post after post after meta post comparing her to another character in the show to explain why she’s an awful person, badly written character, and anyone who likes her (but didn’t like the poster’s fave) was an idiot/asshole/troll/bitch/dumbass and you know what? I went from having a decent time decompressing after a shitty day at work to getting fucking sent around the sun with stress. Like, bro, I’m here to ENJOY myself thanks, and when you tag things I go to for fun and fluff when I’m out of spoons and ready to snap to ranting about hating it, you make me want to scream.

Y’all don’t know how many people are lucky that I write up responses in word so I can get it out of my system and then just DELETE the whole fucking thing. Rage fic is that same fucking set up, but instead of being a relatively quick post (where I can block the poster here on tumblr), it’s a fanfic that people are going to continue to click into over and over and over again for fun only to get body slammed. There’s no way to warn people on AO3 if something is a rage fic beyond not leaving a kudos and dropping a comment. I don’t know a lot of people who read comments first so it doesn’t always work. 

If you post rage fics, grow up. Stop that shit. Fuck you. Instead, try not purposefully interacting with fandom that makes you so mad that you think doing this is an appropriate reaction. Block tags, block users, regulate comments, go whole fucking hog. You should be able to enjoy fandom too! But if you can’t do that without tearing down other people in fandom then you make me want to beat you over the head until you self-isolate to play by yourself in a different sandbox. Seriously. Fuck you if you do this.

Troll Fics

Did you think I came on strong for rage fics? This is worse. 

If you do this? Fuck you. You get NOTHING but my pure rage and if I find this shit I will report you however I can and then shout from the rooftops about it. And I’m sure if you do write troll fics because you enjoy being purposefully offensive and triggering then you’re probably delighted that my reaction to just thinking about this is wishing I had the power to fuck up your life. 

Like, the ONLY thing I can say for rage fic is that at least typically the person writing it actually enjoys some aspect of the fandom or fandom in general. 

Troll fics are just meant to be offensive on purpose and if you write and post that you’re a bad person. No exceptions. You can make different choices and work to become a better person or a good person, but right now, right this second as you do it? You’re a bad person. You should probably figure out why you get so much joy out of posting things with the sole purpose of hurting/triggering/being cruel to others. And you might need help to do that. I legit think you should reach out to people with different opinions from your own to try and break out of it. Get a therapist. Do fucking something worthwhile, because posting troll fics is not worth anyone’s while. Fuck you. Rape as a Backstory

I hope I don’t have to fucking explain why this makes me want to literally explode. I’m purposefully not writing that as R*pe so that people with rape tagged don’t see this.

If you think that rape is the only way to push your story forward or is a great way to give a character “free and easy trauma”, literally stop. Just. Fucking. Stop. There are other ways. Really look at your work, really think about /why/ it’s so important to you that the character /has/ to be raped. Most of the time the real answer is you don’t have a reason you just chose it because you either don’t care, think it’s not a big deal, or never considered other possibilities. There are stories where rape does need to be included, stories that address the topic kindly and/or tag appropriately for it. I’ve read some of these that were really amazing, both short (<1k) and long (>100k) because the author actually took a hot second to address the topic in an intelligent way. Whether that was to dive into how it’s harmful, address their own trauma, or (honestly) even for the smut porn of it but with all the proper tags on it. If you have it to be purely enjoyed by yourself and/or others with dubcon or noncon kinks, cool, good for you, TAG IT APPROPRIATELY. Fucking bless writers who still use “Dead Dove/Do Not Eat” tags y’all are doing great work. But the vast majority using this trope? 

They aren’t that, they aren’t anything like that at all, they aren’t always tagged correctly or at all and that’s by design, it’s often for shock value or a quick ‘well that’s why they’re anti-social’, it’s sometimes used as an excuse for one character to swear off sex until the “right person” comes along to “cure them”, and they shouldn’t have ever been posted.

Redemption Equals Sex/Sexual Karma

I know this is spring boarding a bit, but please stop writing these two tropes. 

I’m exhausted  y’all. And not just because I’m asexual. This trope is disgusting and usually comes with heaps of sexism, racism, and homophobia. If you want to write smut please just write the fucking smut. I’m literally posting smut fic and am planning to work on another one tonight! JUST WRITE SMUT WITHOUT MAKING IT DISGUSTINGLY ANTI-MINORITY GROUPS AND PLAYING INTO HARMFUL STEREOTYPES.  If bad guys become good(ish) guys because a woman saw past their barriers, took care of them, are a surrogate mother, and then had wild and kinky sex with them then it’s a bad fic. Likewise, if a character is punished for having sex, or is sexually assaulted to show that they’re now bad then it’s a bad fic.

If a character’s suffering is rewarded with sex to “cure” them and “make them better” then it’s a bad fic.

There are so many ways that this shit becomes a seriously harmful fic.

Please. Please, stop doing this. I am on my knees. Stop!

I am sick of ‘Draco’s in Leather Pants’ (can’t fucking believe I’m whipping that term out again holy shit what year is it) getting redeemed because they slept with someone and now found a reason to care. Sex leading someone on the path towards redemption is so EXTREMELY rarely handled in a way that’s well done. Just. Don’t. Be an unapologetic villain lover, slap them in an AU where they aren’t a pure villain, but don’t do this. Like I wrote above, I’m also just sick of (usually, but not always) dudes who put rape in to punish (usually, but not always) female characters or to punish weak/pushover characters (usually, but not always males). And equally tired of traumatized characters “casting off their shackles” to enjoy wild and kinky sex because someone with a magic dick/strap/fingers/tongue “showed them it’s okay” and “made it all better”.

Just, don’t. Be a fucking decent human being and don’t.

Character/Reader Fics

I...I really just don’t get this? It’s very uncomfortable to me and I’m assuming that’s due to me being aroace, I can’t read them and if I try to I either become so uncomfortable I stop or so rage filled I stop. 

I don’t mind 2nd person stories, but most of the ones I see are character/reader fics and it’s...like, it’s just bad. Not “cringe” just enjoyable for me. I can’t explain why I hate this so much considering I do enjoy some 2nd person fics. Idk, I really don’t have the words to explain why these bother me so much. :\

I ain’t got an alternative, if you like these you like them, and if you don’t you just don’t. Thank you for tagging so I can avoid. Have fun on your own! Song Fics and/or Audio/Sound Cue Fics

Sorry guys, I just hate it. I can’t really read a fic and listen to music at the same time, it becomes background noise 100% and detracts from both for audio cue fics.

Fuck, just realized I don’t know if people know what those are. Audio/Sound cue fics are fics where you’re reading along and all the sudden there’s a link or URL that you’re supposed to follow to help set up the next scene/enhance it. Hate it. Hate, hate, hate. It detracts from your story and makes it weaker while being annoying and breaking me the reader out of my enjoyment of your story. Hate! Telling me in the A/N that this (or these) are the song(s) you listened to while writing, song(s) you based the story on, or even that you think they’re good songs to get you in the mood for the story is totally okay! I’ll probably ignore it unless I went head over heels for it, in which case I WILL go back and listen to all of them. (Why hello Rhythm and Blues, you punched me in the face and I now listen to every song even vaguely mentioned in the story or A/N, you’re that good, it’s so fucking good guys, I can’t stop talking about this fucking series it’s just so good?????????) Song fics are also typically in this boat for me. And I want to be really clear, not fics where a character is singing in the fic with lyrics written out. That doesn’t bother me, that song is now effectively part of the story and draws me in. But if it’s paragraphs of description before suddenly cutting it’s annoying. Why, oh why, do I put up with this misery? Still looking for a reason For now it is a mystery to me Why, oh why, do I put up with this misery? Still looking for a reason But for now it's ancient history to me

So yeah I’m making an example to complain about the example. 

But question. 

Was that needed? 

All I did was make overly explicit my feelings in this text that was already there in what I’d written. Song fics feel to me like writers who aren’t confident that their writing is good/understandable/relatable and so they are desperately throwing someone else’s creation into their own in the hopes the reader will get it. Friend, I promise you, we’ll get it without the song! The song lyrics detract when they’re just floating out there, and have taken goods fics and made them frustrating. Either that or you think you’re so amazing that your shit don’t stink and the rest of us idiots can choke because of your brilliance. I’ve found several song fics that if I copy and paste them into a word document and delete the song out, I really enjoyed the fic itself on it’s own merits in a way I literally couldn’t with the lyrics in there. Again, if you are weaving music into your fic, weave it in. Have characters sing, write the lyrics out as a character is listening to the music, quote the song in your fic (preferably without it being super obvious. I’m not saying my take on that was the best, but I did write a Catradora fic on giftly request based on a song and I 100% used lyrics from it in my prose and built my whole plot around it without breaking out to quote the song explicitly), just do something that’s not, like, punching me in the face because “clearly I couldn’t get it” or from a fear that “they won’t understand”. At best you seem insecure and unsure about your story, which is fantastic without the song. At worst it seems like you’re saying your fic is so beyond the average reader that we would never understand your vision without someone else’s original content in it.

[controloffandoms]

All By Myself (P.P./SM)

Prompt: For Jordan’s Title Challenge, “All To Myself”, plus “Do you think I liked hurting you?” + “Hurting you was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.” from THIS Prompt List.

Pairing: Peter Parker x Banner!Reader

Words: 2119

Warnings: swearing? (Idk if I used swear words, but it’s possible...and most likely did happen), abandonment (sort of), slightly depressed reader

Notes: Jordan’s challenge is literally the only thing allowing me to write right now...it’s helping with my writer’s block, so thank you Jordan! As in the previous Peter one shot I did, we are pretending that Tony is still alive because that’s the only ending I accept. :)

After note: Some characters may be a little OOC from what you’ve seen in comics/movies/etc

You sighed as you entered the Avenger’s headquarters. Each day it got harder and harder to show up for training and debriefings and fun get togethers. How could you enjoy spending time with the old members of the team and the new members when you were working against them? Nick Fury had specifically asked you to monitor the members of the Avengers and the junior members and report back to him about any concerns. These concerns could range anywhere from them not being ready to go out in the field to someone possibly working for another agency. You were, essentially, a mole. 

The worst part was keeping it from Peter, your best friend. No matter how many times you told Fury that there were no problems with him, he still wouldn’t let you tell the hyper young adult. You looked at the statues of the fallen Avengers and let another quiet sigh leave your mouth. You didn’t know how much longer you could keep this up. 

You found the gathered members of the team in the debrief room. Quietly taking your seat, you gave your father, Bruce Banner, a small smile. He returned the smile as the remaining members filed into the room. Peter took his seat next to you, flashing a bright smile. You gave him, what you hoped, was a convincing smile back. 

No one really knew why they were here. You had just gotten a message to come to the compound and meet in the debriefing room. Usually the message was sent by Tony Stark, Sam Wilson, or your father but this message hadn’t come from any of them. As Nick Fury entered, you felt yourself tense up. 

“Seems everyone’s here, we can get started,” he stated.

“Director, four members have yet to arrive,” Sam interrupted.

“I purposely didn’t call them to this meeting. If you will give me time to explain what this is all about, I can tell you why they aren’t here.” At the nods of those gathered, he continued. “It has been brought to my attention that there was information leaking about past and future cases that the team has dealt with. It seemed the information was sold to the highest bidder. This information included identities and files on those in the team. Because of the security breach, I entrusted only one other person with this knowledge in order to find the leak or leaks. Over the course of the past seven months, she has been feeding us information, big or small for me to file away and figure out who the possible leaks were. 

“I’m proud to say that because of her information we have found the four leaks. They are being dealt with as we speak. Everyone in this room has been cleared. With you being cleared, we can resume our regular activities including mission briefings and debriefings. Throughout the screening process, I have only given missions to those I thought trustworthy along with someone to watch over them to make sure nothing was leaked from those within the mission team. That is no longer needed.

“For the future, let us do a proper screening of those we decide to bring into the team. I don’t want a repeat of the past events. No more bringing in someone without the proper channels. That being said, we have four missions. Get into teams, pour over the information, get a plan together, and execute the mission.”

_____________________

You ran a hand over your face as you entered the compound after the successful mission. While it had been a successful mission, it had been filled with people shooting at the team, surprise weapons that didn’t look like much but kicked one hell of a punch, and jackasses that just made the job harder. You were tired. The stress filled months prior were catching up to you. 

As you walked into the debriefing room, all talking stopped. You looked up to see everyone staring at you with a mixture of glares and sadness. As the rest of your team piled through the door, they stopped. “Did we miss something,” Peter asked. 

“We thought about what Fury said during the debrief earlier. He had someone here constantly giving information to him, no matter how small it was. Anything we said or did while this person was around was fair game to be mentioned to Fury,” Sam stated.

“He said that they were always put on the mission with the teams to make sure none of the members leaked information, so we went through the records for the past seven months and guess who was involved in some way on all of them,” Wanda stalked closer. 

Your body tensed slightly. Fury had promised you that none of this would fall on you. That you were safe as long as you did as he said. “I can’t believe that you would break our trust like that, kid. Especially mine. I helped raise you, (Y/N),” Tony’s voice held a resentment you had never heard before.

“It wasn’t like I had a say in it. When Nick Fury tells you to do something or else, you tend to do it,” you finally responded. 

“What, you couldn’t tell me? I’m your father,” Bruce’s voice rose as he spoke. 

You looked away from him and responded calmly. “If you had been a leak, you would have gotten word out to everyone what I was doing. I was told I couldn’t tell anyone. I didn’t want to do it. I told him ‘no’ multiple times, but he doesn’t take no for an answer. I’m sorry if you feel betrayed by it.”

“You thought I was a leak,” Peter finally spoke from behind you.

“Of course I didn’t,” you turned to face him. “All I ever told Fury about you was that you weren’t the leak. I only told him good things about you because you don’t do anything wrong.”

“But if I had stepped out of line just once, you would have told him about it?”

“Peter-”

“Wow...I actually thought we were friends.”

“Peter-”

“No, I don’t want to hear it (Y/N). Some of the things I told you, I said them in confidence and you most likely told Fury everything. I can’t trust you after that.”

Before you could respond, he walked out. “I never reported everything to him. After the first three months, I focused in on ten people. Two months after that I had it down to the four that Fury was talking about today.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that we trusted you and you betrayed that trust,” Wanda responded.

“If it wasn’t me, it was bound to be someone else.”

“So you just took one for the team,” Sam scoffed. 

“I did what I had to do,” even to you, your responses sounded dull and bland. You were just so tired...so, so tired. 

“I think that’s all of the answers we needed. Majority voted to relieve you of your place on the team. Take whatever you’ve left here and don’t come back, kid,” Tony sighed.

It took you a second to process what Tony had said. Your mouth opened in a protest, but quickly shut itself at the looks you saw on the faces of the original members’ faces. You nodded and turned, leaving the room and the people in it behind. If they couldn’t see the big picture, there was no use in you arguing with them.

__________________

Four Weeks Later

You took a deep breath and knocked on the door of the apartment. It had been four weeks since you last saw him. Four weeks since he walked out without a proper explanation. Four weeks since you last talked to him. You heard someone behind the door and assumed they were looking through the peephole. “Go away,” it was muffled through the door, but you knew it was Peter. 

“Knocking was really only a formality. I can break down the door if that’s what you want me to do,” you responded. You had to talk to him...had to explain to him. These past weeks had been killing you.

You couldn’t hear anything happening behind the door. You held your breath as you hoped he would at least let you explain better than you had previously before trying to kick you out. Slowly, the door opened and Peter’s frame filled the gap. His arms crossed and he leaned against the door jam. “You have two minutes.”

You nodded. “Should we go inside so that not just anyone can hear this?” He moved slightly to let you in. You moved to sit on the couch and he followed, standing in front of you. “You remember when I did that stupid thing ten months ago where my identity almost got out along with some high priority SHIELD secrets? And we thought that Fury hadn’t found out? Well, he knew about it. Two months later, when he came to me the first time about reporting in on everyone on the team, I told him no. I didn’t stay to hear any more of his speech. 

“He followed up a couple of days later and did his whole pitch again. This time he mentioned that I owed him because he let a lot of my mistakes slide in the past. Again, I turned him down. A week later, he comes back when it was just me in the lab. He says everything he did the last session and adds in details of my huge stupidity those few months before. He says that if that got out, I wouldn’t work with the team anymore. I was going to tell him to go to hell, but then he mentioned how much of a danger these leaks were to you and the team. He went into detail about it saying that you could get captured or killed, that because of all of the secrets getting out, no one would be safe. He told me that I could help prevent that. He told me that none of it would fall back on me. Told me he would take the heat.”

You paused for a second to gage Peter’s reaction. His mouth was turned into a frown and he was avoiding looking directly at you. “After those first few months, I kept telling him that you weren’t the leak. I kept asking if I could tell you. The reason I gave him was that it would go by faster if two people were looking for the leaks, but the real reason is because I hated not telling you everything. He told me that I had to keep it all to myself. Said if I didn’t, I’d hurt everyone I cared about because the leaks would probably hear about it. I’m sorry Peter.” 

It was silent while you let everything sink in. You found yourself wringing your hands anxiously. Peter turned away from you and walked over to the kitchen, shaking his head. “So you just followed his orders blindly? When have you ever blindly followed orders? When given orders you’re more like Mr. Stark, you take them into consideration and then do your own thing. What hurt the most was the fact that you didn’t trust me enough to tell me. You know that I wouldn’t tell anyone else,” he growled out. 

“Do you think I liked lying to you? Do you think I like hurting you? Lying to and hurting you were the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. I never meant for you to find out the way you did...I care about you Peter. I wanted to tell you myself...I was planning on telling everyone after the leaks were taken care of,” you took a shaky breath, “I’m sorry.”

“I am too.” He was silent as he placed his hands on the counter, leaning on it. He tapped his fingers on the counter before looking at you directly for the first time since you’d shown up. “That’s a lot of information to take in. I need to think about it a while. I think it would be best if you left, I’m expecting some of the team over soon.”

You held his gaze before looking away, keeping your tears at bay as you nodded. Slowly, you stood up and walked to the door. “I hope that even if you don’t forgive me for everything, we could maybe start over later on. I understand things will never be completely the same...but I would hate to lose you forever.”

You opened the door and walked out, not looking back as your tears started to fall. It was official, at least for now, you were all by yourself.

Marvel Fam

@marvelite1998

[bertievi]

Mun ramble and it's a biggie! Sorry!

I woke up and had this strange twisty time thing where I was convinced that I was still part of that group I've mentioned before on here and was mad at myself for not having left already. It was a wired ass feeling! 

Until that hand over of power from the first admin onto the new plot, everything felt like it had been fine and dandy. We were all friends, sent Christmas cards, talked on whats*app and sk*ype until the early hours, you know the general rp experience after years of writing together and helping to build a world and develop characters so much that I was convinced my muse would remain a pernament muse. He's since gone, alas but he truly was my best developed muse because I played him for hours on end in realtime chat, night after night after night. He had so much backstory, elements the show didn't explore that were fundamental parts of his nature, it was great fun! 

Thinking back though, while the IC was five years worth of pages and pages of rping every night, the OOC was horrendously toxic. I was in this group through my uni years, I worked in retail through uni too which left me limited time as it was to actually do university work, but I felt like I needed to rp for my sanity’s sake. Unfortunately this sort of dependency on the group meant I was the coward who turned a blind eye when the admin, who I thought of as a close friend, turned on fellow group members viciously. She would vague about a characters actions that were, well in character and rage out when her victim picked up on it. 

Her plot was a good one, don't get me wrong she was a brilliant writer, but when things didn't go her way or someone disagreed with something she said in the OOC she would disappear for a couple of hours or even days, which is just a no-no for an admin of a realtime group. When she returned, she would sulk with this person, ignore all attempts of their apology and then after a few days say she was sorry herself and insist that the whole thing be dropped without discussion, which naturally deprived the other person of even defending themselves.

She was matriarch of the group and it was probably a missed opportunity to study the psychology of an online hierarchy because damn did I fall into that mentality. I was beta and didn't want to risk losing that position in the group. What's terrifying, it's only in looking back do I realise this even happened at all. I'm mad at myself for not seeing it sooner or doing something about it! 

As the years went on though, she had turned on me once or twice, she and another of her favourites would discuss my character’s actions in the public chat in full view of me and everyone else, making up reasons for his behaviour that I did not agree with but spent too long going without saying a word for fear of this sulking retaliation. Lord, if you did argue it out she would do all she could to guilt trip you into believing that it was you who was at fault, not the character or her for not allowing you to defend your characters actions. We lost over ten people to this retaliation and quite often at points in the plot where it would impact on how things would work out. If the other Mun beat her to the vanishing act, she would post some gabble about how she was upset and had to step back for a bit before doing so. This seemingly turned her into the victim and people, including myself, were on her side when this happened. 

Those that did leave, she would then claim they had been abusive to her in private messaging, demanding even in texting or generally a psycho that she was glad to be rid of and that the group was now a safer place to write in. I didn't notice at the time but quite often those that she argued with the most didn't actually announce they were leaving. It was only after getting admin passage in the chat itself that I could see they had since been blocked, though even in messaging them via whats*app they did not respond to me. Which in hindsight was completely understandable since it seemed as if I was entirely on the admins side. But these accusations of abuse would last for the duration of the chats life, convincing people after years of talking with them that these stories had to be true.

Of course as time passed, I became wise to this act and when I saw the tension building between her and another Mun, I would warn them and then message the admin privately. This allowed her to rant about this other Mun via a private message instead of in the main group for all to see, this prevented OOC drama so often that people just seemed happier and we seemed to grow closer as a group. We lost no one during this time, people could come to me if there was an issue and I would offer them advice on how to fix it or confront the admin myself and make it seem like I had noticed it before the other Mun had said anything. Though by happy accident, this was the start of a shift in power. 

When I was online, others felt as if they could talk more about their characters, what they were doing and how they were reacting. As an admin to the chat, I gave all of them the power to delete their posts, to re-write them, and as the original plot drew to a close, I was nominated to run the next plot, all of which I ran by the original admin (without revealing method) to which she agreed. My plot needed certain things to happen in order to work, but they were things I could put in the daily starters and when I retired to bed, the plot could easily continue without me while the characters worked on putting the pieces together. I had a muse in the ‘good guys’ group to pick up on things they missed when they consulted with him if they were really stuck on the clues and puzzles. The chat was never quiet, people were writing near constantly but there was always time to catch up on what had happened, things at least felt to me like they were much less pressured.

As my plot got to what was basically the the first major turn in events though,  one brave soul the former admin turned on publicly while I was asleep, told her she wasn't the admin anymore and didn't get to throw her weight around about how a character that wasn't hers should behave... well things took a serious turn in the wrong chat! 

The plot took off with eight people, one of which was a new comer to the group. After this incident, I began to notice that there was much less discussion in the OOC chat, that what was said was more about solving the puzzles of my plot rather than anything it used to be regarding personal things be they good or bad. The new comers character was a little problematic with the plot but I tried to adapt to allow them to play, though they wined OOC that I was hindering their muse... but they couldn't just find my villain because they were an angel... no one even knew who the villain was. I started to notice that the former admin and the afore mentioned favourite would be online together in the chat at ungodly hours, the chat silent but informing me of activity on the page regardless, which was informing me of private messaging. I could sense a tension and a shift. One person which used to bubble with excitement when she had cracked part of a code stopped talking to me altogether, chatting in the group but not to me. 

Two of the others said they were involved in another plot on tumblr and left suddenly and together. Another stopped interacting in the OOC chat completely, just focused entirely on the IC and nothing else until she stopped signing in too. Down to five members I wondered what had gone wrong and asked the remaining what they thought. Apparently the main concern was that my mastermind villain was human and therefore couldn't possibly be best their inhuman muses in a game of cat and mouse, that regardless of the muses intelligence, a power to locate anyone existed and they would use it even though they didn't actually know who they were looking for... and that's was it, that was their reasoning. I explained that they were up against Moriarty, that the NPCs they had met were all former muses of mine adapted to the plot and that Moriarty had buried himself in a hierarchy and hidden behind his reputation, they had actually met him several times and confided in him which of course he had used to cover his tracks. This was not liked at all and an argument erupted over  Moriarty as a character.

Now... I have always been fairly good at spotting a writing style. I used to be able to identify an online user by how they wrote very easily, less so now because there are soooo many people. But in a group of five, including myself noticing that two of the four I was talking to were the same person was... well, startling. The admin had created another identity, a new muse and had joined the group, the false Mun had been invited in by the former admin so really I should have put the pieces together sooner. I can't think why she would have done it, I allowed for multiple muses from the same Mun so there was no reason for IC purposes, which meant there was only OOC reasons.

I'm not that much of a wiz at computers but given the resources I had as admin of the group, I could look up an IP address and low and behold! I was right. Bizarrely the former admin defended me against her alter ego but I had already seen it was her behind both names. The two others, the afore mentioned favourite and the Mun which used to message me about cracking the codes were what were left. I was falsely outnumbered. I warned the code cracker what was happening and then set the plot up to finish in the IC before walking away. Years worth of writing wasted and gone because of one poisonous person.

I'm not proud of what I allowed to happen in the past, I don't like that I never confronted the former admin head on and I hate that I let her beat me. I know for a fact the chat is still open, likely I am another name on her ‘psycho’ list and will be discussed for years to come by people who don't even know me and are going on the admins words alone. I had once considered her a friend but if I have advice for you all it's that some people are simply looking to control not just your character but your online presence too, even friends are selfish and it is SO EASY to fall into a mentality that what's happening is normal. 

If this sounds familiar, don't make my mistake, stick up for yourself and walk away from that crap. My experience changed me, I'm less trusting but I sure as hell am determined never to let that happen again,  not to me nor anyone I see on the dash.