#also thank you op for setting boundaries

[drdemonprince]

I will generally honor a "do not reblog" tag if I see it, but I also find it a bit ridiculous for a person to make a public, rebloggable post on the reblogging website and expect people to know to not do it. Especially when you can, you know, turn reblogs off.

I will generally not honor a "DNI List" because I think it's completely ridiculous to expect a stranger on the internet to read through an exhaustive list of all the people the OP has some abstract beef with before one can like, reblog, or reply to a post on the like/reblog/replying website. Often I completely miss that a DNI exists altogether because I do not suffer from online moral puritanism (great thanks extended to all people who have ever criticized me online for wearing my nerves down to the bone), but if I do happen to see a person has an absurd DNI I will disregard it frequently out of spite.

of course some people's DNI's are so in your face and objectionable that I will block the person outright, which does have the side effect of honoring their DNI request, but that's not on purpose. it's just that i personally do not want a terf/gender essentialist/pro israel shitstain/ person who attacks horny people online for existing in my life.

boundaries are a thing YOU do, a thing YOU maintain for yourself, not something you can force another person to honor, and anyone who expects otherwise is setting themselves up for either a ton of failure or giving themselves ample opportunities to play at being the victim, which is of course often the point

[theresattrpgforthat]

As someone who designs games, are there any specific games you've read that do interesting things with the Forged in the Dark or Powered By The Apocalypse systems that get you excited to write your own stuff?

(Asking those two since Protect the Child is FitD, also excited to hear if another system is excited rant worthy)

My friend, thank you so much for giving me space to ramble lovingly about games and mechanics. I don’t know if anything suggested here will be new exactly, but I am relishing the chance to talk about how the games I’ve read and played have impacted my design journey.

This is going to be a walk-through of various games that have given me a lot of tools to work with. Right now my head is full of Protect the Child, so I'm not really thinking about any other design projects, but I hope you enjoy this nonetheless!

Brinkwood, by Far Horizons Co-Op, Slugblaster, by Wilkie’s Candy Lab, and Moth-Light, by Dissonance.

I knew of a few Forged in the Dark hacks before I heard about Brinkwood, but when I realized that the Masks were basically communal playbooks, my mind was blown. Both Slugblaster and Moth-Light appealed to me because of their setting, but when I read the rule-books I was also impressed by how they were able to take the base Forged in the Dark and change it to make the rules work for the proper genre and tone.

Brinkwood takes the playbooks with special powers and makes them communal. You can pick up a new set of powers every time but still play the same character, so you can have variety while still pursuing the same character’s storyline. Because the Masks are shared, the “crew playbook” doesn’t look the same as it does in a lot of other Blades hacks, as no matter what Masks you take, you’re still engaging in a rebellion against vampires. Brinkwood also gives the GM a lot of guidance on how to flavour the antagonists in a way that is challenging, interesting and dangerous, while also giving the players a way to veto any subject matter that bleeds too much into real-life boundaries. Honestly, I think Brinkwood probably directly influenced my game A Terrible Fate more than Protect the Child, but the initial moment of realizing how much you can play with the game was a really important step in my development.

Slugblaster re-organizes your dice resources as Boost & Kick, and shifts Stress into a currency (Trouble) that you have to spend, rather than a time bomb. This gives your characters more longevity and takes away a lot of the gritty trauma that works for Blades, but doesn’t make sense for hover-boarding teens. Additionally, Slugblaster gives agency of faction creation over to the players in a way that’s way more personalized than it is in Blades. Specific questions are meant to be answered by specific playbooks, which I think is a great way to speed up crew relationships, as well as ensuring that each player at the table has a piece of the world that they contribute to. When setting decisions are left up to the group as a nebulous whole, one player may have more say over setting creation just because they have the loudest voice or the most ideas. By giving specific choices to specific playbooks, you’re ensuring that each player has a piece of the world they can point to and claim as theirs.

Moth-Light takes the CATS safety tool and embeds it into Pact creation, allowing the genre and tone to shift the way the game is played slightly to reflect the kind of story the group wants to tell. The core setting is the same - a planet with gigantic bugs - but the ways the characters interact with the setting changes depending on the Pact that you choose. I think this is a genius way to give a group a way to use Safety Tools without them necessarily realizing it, and it ensure that the group enters the story on the same page. This mindset fuelled my choice to present the world-building as a series of questions for the players to answer, establishing some truths about the technology levels and the use of magic before players make their characters, setting some basic limitations to make sure folks are on the same page. Currently however, I don’t think I’ve achieved the seamless translation of CATS into a game-appropriate setting exercise - I’ve just ported CATS into the game.

External Containment Bureau, by Mythic Gazetteer.

External Containment Bureau minimizes a lot of their character options and does away with playbook options in order to make character creation customizable while still quick, and one of the primary ways they did this was by changing the way gear rules work in the game. In standard Blades, you can only use equipment to improve your Effect, but in ECB, you can use your equipment to add +1d or improve Effect. This is primarily because ECB doesn’t use stats in the way Blades does, but I liked the way that little tweak gave the player an additional resource.

Additionally, ECB doesn’t care about load. Instead, the character comes with some gear associated with their department, and a few gear slots that they can fill themselves. You can always have everything in your Gear section on you - the limitation is in what’s available. I really liked how the game provided a balance between gear that made sense for your department and gear that reflects the way the player wants to portray their character, so I did the same thing in Protect the Child.

Antiquarian Adventures, by acegiak

I heard about the way Stress works in Antiquarian Adventures when I was listening to the Dice Exploder podcast, and it sparked a lot of thoughts about what Stress can be used for, especially since I knew that I didn’t want to give the characters Trauma in Protect the Child. Thematically, it doesn’t make sense to imply that parenting is inherently traumatic, and I don’t want to cast the Child as a source of trauma for the parents.

Antiquarian Adventures solves this problem by allowing Stress to re-set every time you fill it, as long as the player is able to dictate how the character suffers some kind of setback or brings about some form of trouble as a result of getting too stressed out. The exact trouble is attached to the playbook, adding to the distinct flavour of each trope. In Protect the Child, I made sure to add one Reaction that was unique to the playbook, to reflect the same kind of thing.

Last Fleet, by Black Armada Games.

Last Fleet blew me away with the Pressure mechanic. It’s a physical manifestation of stress that exists in the setting, that doubles as both a player resource and a ticking clock. You can spend Pressure to give yourself a better chance at success, but once it hits its cap, your character is forced into a situation that that they cause themselves.

In many ways, Last Fleet is doing something similar to Antiquarian Adventures, but the one thing it adds is that it gives the player options in terms of how they’ll cause trouble. Some options overlap across playbooks, but each playbook has a unique collection that helps keep it somewhat distinct from the others. One of the best moments I had in play was when one of my players realized that he had the option to actually turn on the group - the reaction was like a little present he’d just unwrapped for the entire group, and it made for an extremely memorable moment for the table.

Last Fleet also inspired me to shorten the Stress Clock in Protect the Child. Base Blades has a 8-mark Stress track, but in early play-tests, I felt like it was difficult for anyone to fill up their clock in a single session. The Last Fleet Pressure track can only hold 5 marks of Pressure, and re-setting it doesn’t empty the track, but rather puts it at 2. I think that constant Stress provides a bit of a friction point for players, which is needed since it’s easier for players to achieve bigger dice pools in Protect the Child.

Beam Saber, by Austin Ramsey

When I was agonizing about how to encourage more roleplay between players, someone recommended that I read through Girl By Moonlight. Unfortunately, I don’t own a copy of Girl by Moonlight. I do, however, own a copy of Beam Saber, so when I decided to comb through other Blades games for relationship mechanics, I stumbled on the relationship clocks of Beam Saber.

In Beam Saber, you write down beliefs you have of each other character in the party, and attach each belief to a slice on a Connection clock. During downtime, you have the option to Cut Loose, which helps two Pilots relieve stress with each-other at the same time as filling the Connection clock. Filling the clock awards XP as well as provides the characters an opportunity to confront each-other about the way they see each-other.

I liked the idea of using time together as a chance to relieve stress. As far as I understand, this moment of connection is also seen in Girl by Moonlight, but I decided to limit the amount of stress you could relieve in Protect the Child because I’m still operating under the ethos I was introduced to in Last Fleet - I want to keep the characters under a lot of pressure, making room for them to make terrible decisions, and therefore giving them room to grow.

Lady Blackbird, by John Harper.

I returned to Lady Blackbird when I realized that the way I’ve set up runs in PtC means that it may be hard for players to do things like engage in long-term projects, or train for XP in a regular Downtime session. I also noticed that it was hard to get the players to roleplay with each-other with the way that Downtime is written in base Blades - it’s often navigated through in a very procedural way. Finally, I wanted to make the game a bit more one-shot friendly, with a way to present a Downtime-like section partway through the game without bogging down play too much.

Lady Blackbird has moments in between Action scenes where it explicitly encourages players to engage in flashbacks or character interactions in ways that allow them to clear conditions and provide a bit of exposition into their backstory. This, coupled with the Impressions in Beam Saber, gave me the tools to both encourage the players to role-play while also giving them the tools to foster relationships with each-other.

Right now, Rest Stops only have two moves: Bond with the Child and Bond with Each-Other. By reducing both of your options to moments where your character interacts with other characters, and encouraging both of these options to reflect your character’s ideals and history, I’m hoping to provide some of the maintenance of Downtime while encouraging the role-play that happens in Lady Blackbird. Longer downtime actions are relegated to Time Passes, which will only come up in campaign play.

I still haven’t perfected this stage though. For example, I haven’t figured out what to do about wounds.

Apocalypse Keys, by Rae Nedjadi / @temporalhiccup.

It’s kind of hard to quantify or describe the influence Apocalypse Keys had on my design, but I’ll give it a shot.

In Apocalypse Keys, your character never has to fail. There’s always options to give yourself a success, it’s just a question of how much you want to sacrifice parts of who your character is in order to get what you want. Apocalypse Keys is itself an amalgamation of a number of different mechanics from various places, such as the way you use tokens to improve your rolls, as originally found in Libretè, or the Theorize roll, popularized in Brindlewood Bay but originating in Codex: Moonlight.

The character playbooks are also centred on different struggles that the player has decided to wrestle with. The Summoned has a lot of moments centred on fighting destiny, while the Last wrestles with grief and loss. Some of the themes in these playbooks give you a lot of freedom to explore struggles and traumas that affect people in real life, but are flavoured in a way to give your monsters great power and extremely interesting backstories.

Finally, the way your character looks is completely up to you, and is irrelevant to the things your character can do. If you want a thousand glowing eyes, it doesn’t matter which playbook you choose. If you want to be the spirit of all werewolves that came before you, it doesn’t matter which playbook you choose. If you want to carry a golden spear that can listen to the regrets of the restless dead, I don’t think it matters what playbook you choose. I think that there’s a bit of a carryover from what I love about Changeling: the Lost to be found in Apocalypse Keys, in that your character’s origin and presentation can be as varied as whatever you can imagine, and can fit into the themes of whatever playbook you decide to wrestle with.

Protect the Child doesn’t directly borrow any mechanics from Apocalypse Keys, but I think the ethos behind the design is there. I want the players to experience the same creative freedom, while tying down specific themes to specific playbooks. I want to enable conversations about real issues that affect real people, while allowing the table to situate those issues in whatever setting makes the most sense for the group. I want the players to feel powerful, and at the same time recognize that the biggest obstacles to being good parent are generally incredibly personal.

I also admire the way that Nedjadi designs, from the rigorous play testing, to the purposeful openness about his inspirations, to his careful documentation of who has inspired him and where his ideas came from. I think being able to provide a clear through-line to the ways your were influenced by other design works is good for the historians of our hobby, and it also reinforces a culture in which game designers influence and allow themselves to be influenced by each-other.

[incorrecttowerofgodquotes]

Tower of God S2 OP Analysis (Spoilers)

The opening starts with Bam sinking after being pushed down by Rachel, before eventually being overtaken by a red light, one in which we can see the Thorn hidden in.

In this Wangnan shot, there’s a number of items littered around, with the most important being the ring and crown, signifying his status as the self proclaimed “future king of the tower.” Nia shows up after Lurker bursts in, signifying his true allegiance. There’s also a banner to a ramen place behind him

Bam is wildly reaching for his old Test floor friends as they continue without him. As Bam rips the page, we see a singular star which breaks the rest of the image, showing how Bam’s happiness with his friends was sacrificed just for Rachel’s obsession with the stars. (The lyrics here are “Even if I reach out, I can’t touch it”)

Here we see Horyang, Cassano, and Sophia, as well as the tubes Horyang and Cassano were trapped in when becoming living Ignition weapons. The wings sit upon each’s respective shoulders. (The lyrics here are “getting hurt”)

This is the money shot, so many details. There’s a rip between Khun and Rachel while curtains act as a border, showcasing that everything between the two is an act. Ran, Nobic, Dann, and Gyetang sit on Khun’s side while Apple and Micheal sit on Rachel’s side, hinting at their betrayal. Khun’s side also has an eye watching Rachel, a crown to signify his desire to become the head of his family, and a masquerade mask to show that he’s putting on a mask in front of Rachel, but one she’s able to see through. Rachel’s side has mouths showing how she lies, and a bloody knife to represent her stabbing Khun in the back and Dan in the legs. (The lyrics here are “betrayal”)

Jinsung and Hwaryun stand before a bunch of faceless FUG followers, though we can see Karaka lurking in the background to the left.

Here we see all five princesses we’ve come to know. Yuri, Maschenny, and Repellista are within the boundaries created by Jahad while Anaak and Endorsi are passing the boundary. There’s also a lizard sticker on Anaak’s side and a butterfly on Endorsi’s. (The lyrics here are “it’s painful”)

We cycle through all the important test admins before eventually settling on Hansung and Augusgus as the colors shift and chains in the background disappear. This shows their allegiance to FUG.

This shot (Ehwa) isn’t important I just like it. But we do get to see some important settings such as Repellista’s palace, the 21st Floor Whie Cichlid, and a house (though I can’t quite tell whether it’s Khun’s or S&S’s). (The lyrics here are “Burning red fire, blazing emotions”)

Prince and Miseng pass by, each in monochrome up until they finally notice each other, both giving a small smile towards the other

These shots with Viole are pretty quick but there's a good amount of meaning, so I’ll number them off.

1. The two rings Wangnan and Karaka bear (The lyrics here are “Bonds and a wishing heart, they become the key”)

2. This is Rachel’s wheelchair (thank you @ylge-alt on Twitter). Yellow daisies represent friendship and positivity

3. The scratched off name sheet

4. Nia’s dead body

5. The treasure chest and key containing the sweets from the Floor 28 test

6. This shinsu test machine showing Viole’s number in first place

7. A plate of sweet and sour pork

8. Arkraptor��s earring

9. A bloody knife and an apple with a bite taken out of it, once again referencing Dann getting his feet stabbed

As we reach the chorus, we climb up a pair of stairs as Headon welcomes us and here we go through each arc Viole bears witness to before ending on Khun standing in the entrance to Arlene’s hand.

Finally, we end on Team Sweet and Sour standing together on the stairs that rise even higher, with Wangnan especially excited at continuing his climb.

[alexandriastark76]

What is haunting alison or whatever it was in your tags?

Thank you for asking! I’ve been waiting to rant about this for a while now!

Beware though, dear OP cause we go into a deep dive about abusive behaviours, non consensual acts, stalking, obsessive behaviour, psychological manipulation, gaslighting, rape, and overall graphic themes which (sarcastically) is dark romance for you.

Please do not go further if you are a minor or are triggered by heavy topics like these

Stay safe <3

So, Haunting Adeline is a mature themed book written by H. D. Carlton.

According to the summary at the back, this is what you get:

The Diamond.

Death walks alongside me but the reaper is no match for me. I'm trapped in a world full of monsters dressed as men, and those who aren't as they seem. They won't keep me forever. I no longer recognize the person I've become. And I'm fighting to find my way back to the beast who hunts me in the night. They call me a diamond. But they've only created an angel of death.

The Hunter.

I was born a predator, with ruthlessness ingrained in my bones, when what's mine is stolen from me in the night, like a diamond hidden within a fortress. I find that I can no longer contain the beast. Blood will paint the ground as I tear apart this world to find her, and bring her back to where she belongs. No one will escape my wrath, especially not those who have betrayed me.

(In my opinion, this already gets very cliche but let’s carry on I guess)

Actual summary however, is:

The book is about how Adeline forms a “relationship” with her stalker while she discovers who killed her great-grandmother (who also had a stalker), while from the stalker's point of view, he is looking for an organization that kills children while stalking and searching.

This isn’t bad, per se, but it is a very hypocritical setting for what happens later on.

Now, as we move onwards with the book, we see that Adeline Reilly lives in her gran’s house where she is being stalked by her stalker Zade Meadows. She seemingly goes on date (and has sex) with a guy who (she doesn’t know about it though) is a very intimately involved personnel in a child trafficking ring. Zade knows this, so, he kills him (if i recall correctly), cuts his hand off and mails it to Adeline with a rose and warns her to not go on a date anymore.

This happens a couple of times, her doing things (not specifically just going on dates, because she doesn’t go on dates anymore either) that grates him, and so on.

Direct excerpts:

This isn’t disturbing, at least according to the range of ‘dark romance’.

But this is where it gets bad.

One day, Zade comes over blinded by rage that Adeline let another man touch what is “his” aka Adeline herself (let’s not even talk about how dehumanising that is), and rapes her.

And I’m saying rape, because there is no other word with which you can describe it.

He walks in dead of the night, holds her at gunpoint and forces her to undress and then forces himself on her. And proceeds to assault her with that very gun.

Excerpt if you want:

This is where shit gets disturbing and frankly, disgusting, even by the dark romance standards.

Note that I keep saying the dark romance standards because readers have a habit to excuse such behaviours and actions by claiming that it is “dark romance” this is what means to read “dark” romance. That such disturbing themes are going to be there, and we should’ve “read the trigger warnings”.

Now, one might wonder, that there should not be any issue with CNC, but, let’s go back.

The question that rises is, is it truly CNC?

CNC is a kink among the BDSM community, which features Consensual Non Consent.

CNC, is a role play of sorts, which has pre-discussed boundaries, safewords, and proper communication between the people taking part in it. Which, might I remind, did not happen.

Zade storms in, there is no discussion, and assaults the girl who he calls “his” by the way.

Common argument against this made by fans are, “Adeline liked it, so it isn’t actually non consent.” Does reading Exhibit 5 make you feel like she liked it? She literally describes it as:

“My body is full of rage, humiliation, and shame—I know this. But it’s like my brain can’t process those emotions, so it’s just choosing to feel nothing at all.

Is this what trauma does? Knowing you’ve been violated but your body chooses to go numb instead?”

I beg your finest pardon but this does not sound like a person having enjoyed a deliberate sexual assault.

Finally we come to the topic that what is the issue of people with this book.

People, fans, readers, are not only idolising this behaviour (stalking, the apparent “CNC” and the rough way of assault) and before anyone comes to blab that “no one is idolising this blah blah blah”— one simple search on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and the BikerTok apparently with Haunting Adeline edits will show you how much teenage girls and other people are fawning over a rapist. (If you still have doubts that Zade is not a rapist simply on the account that he helped trafficking victims, then you need to seriously re evaluate your moralities)

Such toxic/stalking behaviours have been labelled “sexy and hot” which frankly disgusts me that there are so many young people seeing this and becoming susceptible to abuse and toxicity.

No one wants to ban this book, we simply want people to stop romanticising it. What he does is not right, and to hold that shitty behaviour on high accord simply because the Stockholm Syndrome setting sets a rapist and his victim together, does not make it right. Real life stalkers are not pretty or sexy, why should we not hold the fictional ones accountable and then?

People will torch up actual morally grey characters for much less and then go lust over a fucking rapist.

Just because other readers are holding him accountable and criticising him does not make them snowflakes, it makes you look like a fan blind to the pretty privilege.

Booktok has developed a bad reputation because of readers like these, and considering most of the booktok does act as an apologist, it isn’t wrong to say that most of the booktok is ignorant to such characters and their atrocities.

In conclusion, we don’t want to censor the book, or criticise rhetoric writer for writing themes like these, it isn’t the worst of the “dark romance”, we simply want the author to tag it properly (it was NOT CNC) and for readers to not romanticise a rapist.

Hope that answers your question OP! Also, note that when I said You so many times, it was simply about the fans of this book series.

<3

[slutforpringles]

Me 🤝🏼 Daniel

Sometimes I pretend not to see people when my social battery is drained or if I'm feeling particularly anxious, and almost always it's got nothing to do with the person I'm avoiding and everything to do with how I feel in that moment. I honestly don't get why this is such a big deal and don't think there's anything wrong with someone doing this - especially for celebrities that probably get so tired of being 'on' all the time and are probably so over people constantly stopping them and saying hi, asking for a picture etc. I think everyone should be free to set their own boundaries and protect themselves 🤷🏻‍♀️ (Also this is not a criticism of OP, thank you for translating the interview)

[loverontheleft]

No, Now (revised)

No, Now (Revised)

Brendon x reader.

Warnings: what is technically public sex, oral sex (both), fingering, language, things of that nature.

Word count: 2.4k ➡️ 4.3k

-||-

“Come with me.” Your voice is low as your eyes dart around the ‘step and repeat’ area of the red carpet.

Zack and the photographers nearby are all miraculously distracted; you seize the opportunity and grab Brendon’s sleeve, tugging him after you. Instead of going straight down the red carpet and finding your seats inside, you drag him around the edge of the backdrop. You’re not sure what your plan is exactly, but you know going into the award show’s seating area isn’t part of it, and getting your husband alone is. You’ll figure out the rest as you go.

“Darlin, I think we’re supposed to still be—”

“Hush, Urie.” He shuts up, eying you appreciatively; he loves when you get bossy and demanding. Suddenly, you spy a set of double doors marked ‘Crew Only.’ You glance around you to double check that no one is watching; once you’re confident you’re being unobserved, you walk toward it briskly, bringing Brendon with you, thanks to your firm grip on his jacket cuff.

The hallway in which you’ve found yourselves is dark, but you can see the bright glow of stage lights up ahead. “Act natural. Don’t draw attention.” You pause, looking over his gray jacket with metallic detailing and how it’s catching the tiny amount of light in the space and shimmering. “Any more attention, Disco boy,” you amend, grinning when he laughs. You cast a look around and spy a dressing room door hanging open. “Yeah. That’ll work.”

You lead the way, your fingers interlocked with his; once inside, you kick the door closed and push him up against it. “Baby,” Brendon groans, “I don’t think this is my—”

You press your lips to his. “I love you, but please, shut up,” you murmur against his mouth and he nods; he brings both hands to your face and eagerly returns the kiss. While he’s engrossed, your fingers start fumbling with his belt, jerking it out of place and letting it hit the floor.

“Darlin’, wait — you know I love you too, and I love how much you need— but we should probably just — sweet fuck your mouth is good— I don’t think we should— we probably shouldn’t actually—in here right now— oh god, fuck, your hand—” he’s cut off by his own groan of pleasure at the feeling of your hand urgently stroking his dick through his pants. The tone of Brendon’s words against your mouth and the way his cock throbs against your palm both reveal his desperation and arousal, so you don’t feel at all bad for ignoring his feeble protests.

Besides, the two of you have always prioritized each other and being alone or intimate, and you both love knowing how badly the other needs you. Granted, you’ve also always tried to respect work boundaries; however, the way you rationalize it, it’s not like you’re keeping him from a meeting or a performance right now. It’s just the photo op, and they’ve all gotten their shots already. Now it’s your turn to have him, and you intend to.

“No, now. Need you right now, B.” You pull back from the kiss to glance down and undo his pants, unzipping them roughly. He groans your name; you bite back a moan and shove them down by the waistband, your eyes heavy with want. He cups your face in one hand tenderly, and you press a soft kiss to his palm before dropping to your knees in front of him. Satisfied with the way he’s staring at you desperately, you mouth over his briefs, teasing him with your hot breath and relishing the dull thud of his head against the door.

“Baby, what on earth has gotten into—”

“Regrettably, nothing has gotten into me yet, but rest assured, I plan to fix that by getting your cock into my mouth in the next ten seconds.”

“Why—”

You roll your eyes at him affectionately from your kneeling position on the floor. “You’re really not going to let me suck your dick until you get answers, huh?” He laughs a little and shakes his head, making you sigh in mock-exasperation. “Because Bren, you’re fucking incredible and gorgeous and so damn sexy, and I’ve been eying you since four this afternoon when you got dressed. Trust me, if I could’ve kicked everyone out of the hotel room and shoved you down on the bed then, I would’ve. If I could’ve blown you until you were grabbing at the back of my head and fucking my mouth, I would’ve. If I could’ve sucked your cock while you called me your good girl and told me you were going to come, told me you needed me to swallow for you, you know I would’ve. But I couldn’t. And now we’re here, and everyone is staring at you. No one can take their eyes off of you; you look so damn good. They all want you. But I’m the only one who gets you, and I want you. Now.” You’re breathing hard, and you slide your hands up his thighs, biting your lip as you meet his eyes. “Was that enough of an answer? Can I just have you now, Brendon? Please?”

“Jesus— as if I’m really gonna say no to my perfect wife after all that. And she’s down on her knees for me with her gorgeous face and those eyes that drive me absolutely wild? Fuck, I’m the luckiest man.”

You grin and yank his underwear down, closing your mouth over his hard cock. “Love getting you like this,” you moan, pulling back to delicately lick him, one hand encircling the base while the other rests flat on his thigh. “Love feeling you on my tongue. We both know you’re gonna come hard, and I’m gonna take it all for you,” you tell him before closing your mouth over him again. You’re glad you chose to straighten your hair; he’s got both of his hands in it, and he’s tugging slightly the way he knows you like when you’re going down on him. If you had curled it, it wouldn’t be half as easy to fix when you’re done with him.

“God, sweetheart, don’t stop— yeah, suck just like that, baby— I fucking love how you…damn, take my whole cock in your mouth— holy fuck, that’s so good, rubbing with your tongue — so good; you’re so good for me,” he sighs, watching you through hooded eyes. You nod slightly, taking him deeper and pressing in close so the swell of your breasts pushes against him; you can feel him twitch in your mouth, and his grip on your hair is tightening as he moans and rocks his hips forward. You know he’s close already.

The doorknob shakes, followed by hesitant knocking, and you both freeze, staring at each other in horror. If it weren’t such a bad situation to be caught in, with your lips tight around the base of his cock and his balls in your hand, you’re sure you’d find it all quite funny. A tentative voice comes through the door. “Mr. Urie? Mrs. Urie? Uh…if you’re in here...they sent me to look for you.”

Maybe it will be funny later, you tell yourself, but right now, you scramble to your feet, backing away. Brendon tucks his cock back into place with a low groan and yanks his pants up, giving you a playfully scolding look as he checks the full-length mirror to see how obvious his erection is. Satisfied that it won’t be anyone’s first observation, he grabs his belt. The fantasy flashes before your eyes; you cling to him now, one hand rubbing over his cock, and you whisper in his ear how you want him to shove you back down to your knees, bind your wrists behind your back with the belt the way he does at home when you both want it rougher, and fuck your mouth til he comes all over your tongue and tits. It would be so easy to ignore the person at the door and, as you point out, even easier to come in your mouth.

His eyes close for a moment, and you can feel his cock throbbing. Just when you’re debating if you should make him come in his pants, Brendon looks at you desperately, and you sigh in resignation. You know, realistically, you can’t stay in this room any longer. You gesture at the door for him to open it. Instead, Brendon wipes a thumb along your lower lip, and you realize he’s fixing your lipstick. You resist the urge to take his thumb in your mouth and suck—it would only be a tease for you both. Satisfied with his quick clean up, he slides his belt into place and unlocks the door.

The young woman standing there looks petrified, and the clipboard in her hands is trembling. “I’m— I’m sorr—it’s just—they’re trying to get everyone seated now, and they told me I had to—I’m really sorry for, uh…interrupting you,” she stammers, and you feel awful for putting her in this position. Your stomach twists a little when you see the ‘Intern’ badge dangling from her neck. She definitely doesn’t get paid enough to be tasked with keeping you two from fucking. She’s still shaking; this definitely wasn’t what you had in mind when you dragged your husband out of the press area for a quick blowjob.

Brendon takes your hand and smiles gently at her. He’s always been skilled at diffusing tension, and you smile too. Her shoulders visibly relax. “Of course. Lead the way,” Brendon says kindly, and she nods frantically, setting off at a quick pace.

When you’re seated, you squeeze his hand, and he turns to you, his eyes sparkling in amusement. “I’m sorry,” you whisper and he shrugs, still grinning as if it wasn’t a big deal. “No,” you continue, “that was all my fault. I’m really sorry.”

Brendon shakes his head a little. “Don’t even stress about it, babydoll. Was so hot, having you need me like that, and it could have ended far worse. She didn’t actually see anything, but she got enough to have a great story to brag to the other interns who got stuck stuffing gift bags.” He laughs softly, stroking your hand. “I promise I’m not worried, so you shouldn’t be worried.” When you nod, accepting this, his hand slips from yours to high on your upper thigh, where he lets it rest possessively. His fingers flex, and he leans in close. “But you’ll be finishing that later, yeah?” He nuzzles your neck, and you blush, nodding. “Good,” he murmurs. “Fucking love seeing you down on your knees, your sweet mouth full of my cock.”

-||-

The crowd is screaming, the band is rushing off-stage, and his whole face is glowing: performing gives him such a rush. You’re waiting in the wings, and he hurtles toward you with a look of deep intent in his eyes. Brendon grabs you full-force, kissing you hard and pressing you against him with one hand on the small of your back and the other tangled in your hair. “Need you, pretty baby,” he whispers against your lips, and you cling to him. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been together, it always makes your knees weak when he says that. “Now,” Brendon adds through the desperate kisses, as if that wasn’t already clear.

He takes your hand to lead the way, and you can hear the protesting of the stage manager behind you. The man gives up quickly though, instead barking into his headset that they need two seat fillers for the Uries. Getting people to fill in your now-empty seats sounds like a begrudging acceptance of Brendon’s plan, and you both smile triumphantly at each other. Let everyone else gossip all they want; the only opinions you two care about are each other’s.

Brendon pulls you into the dressing room he used earlier to change from the red-carpet wear to his stage suit. He’s barely got the door fully closed and his suit jacket off before you’re on your knees and snapping his belt open. You get his pants down just enough, practically panting at the thought of getting him in your mouth.

His urgency matches yours; he wraps a hand around his erection and presses the head of that perfect cock against your lips. You both moan a little when you press a soft kiss to his shining tip. His hips rock forward, and you grin up at him.

Brendon is breathing hard, his cock already leaking precum; you’ve got your lips just barely parted to tease him. The head of his cock rests on your lower lip while he strokes over himself urgently.

You love watching Brendon touch himself, love wondering what he’s thinking about when his eyes go dark, his head rolls back, and his grip on his cock tightens. Part of you wants to let him get himself off, because he’d come all over your mouth, chin, and cleavage. Instead, you open your mouth slightly, tongue sliding over his length as he presses forward gently, his hands back in your hair. “Yeah, baby, you look so damn hot like this,” he groans, caressing the back of your head, but not pushing or urging you. “Such a good girl, down on her knees for me and letting me —shit, that’s so good. You’re so damn good; suck for me, baby—fuck yeah, just like that, keep sucking my cock.”

You whimper around him, eyelashes fluttering; he knows what his praise does to you. Brendon’s not usually one for blowjobs—it’s not that he dislikes them by any means—it’s just that, as he says, he gets off on getting you off. You definitely appreciate and take full advantage of that, but sometimes you just want your husband’s cock in your mouth; you want to make him come undone and leave him groaning your name the way he does to you. You feel so proud of yourself in the moments after, when you get to rock back and take him in: sprawled on your bed, face flushed, chest heaving, and body limp after he’s come in your mouth. He always catches you by the wrist and guides you down to lay against him, and he buries his face in your neck, breathing hard and murmuring soft praise. As much as you love the stream of dirty talk while you’re blowing him, there’s something so wonderful about him stroking a thumb over your hip, nuzzling you sweetly, and pressing soft kisses along your skin.

Now, you let one hand curl around the base of his cock while the other wanders down between your legs to rub small circles on your clit; going down on each other gets you both so worked up. You’re grateful for your choice in dresses, because if you hadn’t gone with this wrap dress, the fabric wouldn’t have opened around your spread knees.

“Playing with your clit is my job, babydoll,” Brendon tells you with a touch of feigned jealousy, watching your fingers fly over yourself. You slow down but don’t stop, your eyes daring him to scold you.

He’s about to say something else when his mouth drops open and his hand tightens around the curve of the back of your neck. You’ve decided to tease him a bit; you’re repeatedly swallowing around his length, tormenting him with the repetitive tightening of your throat. You know this might make him come, and you have mixed feelings about that. On the one hand, you do want him to come. You want him to feel incredible. On the other hand, you don’t want to stop. You love blowing him, and you love the way he reacts every time you do. But, back on the first hand, it’s probably time to wrap this interlude up before you get caught again, so you really need him to come.

You’re not actually sure how long you’ve been on your knees, but you can’t get enough of him. You’re both making small, soft noises of pleasure as you give him the leeway to rock into your mouth. The feeling of his cock sliding over your tongue and nudging the back of your throat always makes you wild; with both of his hands on the back of your head while his hips thrust forward, Brendon’s fucking your mouth slowly, but his urgency is building. You move your hand to press flat against his stomach; you can feel his breathing getting shallow, and his muscles are tensing.

Since he dragged you back here, there’s been at least four explosions of applause; you’re figuring it’s been maybe ten, fifteen minutes. You’re probably running out of time before another poor intern is sent to find the two of you.

You regretfully move away from your clit and cup his balls in your slick hand, squeezing gently and pushing them up against him while you take his cock deep again, nose pressed to his pelvis.

“God, baby, I’m gonna come; that’s gonna make me come if you keep—rolling them like that, shit,” he tells you a little breathlessly, his hands tugging at your hair. “Gonna come in your mouth, I’m gonna—oh fuck—you’ll swallow for me, baby?”

You nod, meeting his eyes; when he looks at you, he swears softly, hips twitching forward once more as he finishes. You moan in satisfaction as you swallow, making small, pleased noises and running a hand over his thigh, the other stroking him through his peak, encouraging him to fill your mouth.

“Oh fuck,” he pants, tipping his hips back when he can’t take it any longer. You swallow once more, licking idly at the corners of your mouth to collect every drop. Brendon’s above you, watching intently as he zips himself away, and he runs a hand through his hair before dropping to his knees so he’s level with you. “Goddamn, I love you so fucking much,” he murmurs, kissing you hard. “My best girl, my perfect girl, mine.”

You moan into his mouth that you’re his, and you grab one of his hands to pull it down between your legs and rock eagerly against his fingers. You know you don’t have the time, but you can’t help it. “I fucking love this wet pussy,” he adds as he rubs two fingers against you before sliding them in, muffling your cry of pleasure when he crushes his lips to yours.

Brendon brings his fingers back after a moment, letting the tip of his tongue trace them as he runs his other hand through your hair and stares at you desperately. “God, I need more. Need to taste you, get this perfect cunt all over my face,” he whispers, and you feel yourself get even wetter.

“Bren, we don’t have time; they’re gonna be looking for us— well, for you, anyway. Isn’t your category soon? I can wait. I should wait. We should get back.”

He shrugs as he hauls you to your feet and carries you over to the couch, gently reclining you with his hand still supporting your head. “Don’t care. Need you now,” he insists.

You start to protest again, but he squashes your arguments when he kisses your lips lightly and moves down your jawline, your neck, and to the swell of your breasts in the deep V of your dress. His fingers toy with the tie of your dress, biting his lip. “Need you, pretty baby. Can I have you? All wrapped up in this dress like a present for me…can I have you, honey?” You nod, and he swiftly pulls the tie, the shimmery material slipping and sliding off of your body, leaving you exposed for him. “Damn,” he murmurs, running a hand along your side and tugging your panties down. “Hate that I have to make this quick. I’ll make it up to you later, I promise. Still gonna get you riding my face, coming on my tongue now though.”

And with that, he’s off the couch and onto his knees between your legs, dipping his head down to run his tongue across you while both hands massage your hips and thighs, encouraging you to drape your legs over his shoulders and let him make you feel good, let him take care of you the way you both love. You’re breathless; his mouth is so warm and wet, his tongue just slipping from side to side. He’s teasing, and he tugs you forward by the hips and shifts slightly so his chin presses against you.

Your man has always fucked with every part of himself: he groans and opens his mouth wider to push his tongue deep into you while he rubs at your clit, sighing happily when your hips rock forward, giving him more. You’ve got a hand in his hair, tugging slightly but mostly keeping him pressed against you. “Yeah B, like that,” you whimper as he switches, fingers thrusting deep and tongue rolling over your clit softly. “Oh fuck,” you whisper when he spreads his fingers, rotating them slightly and he looks up at you, eyes sparkling. “Feels good,” you tell him and he winks at you, adjusting his jaw to press his chin against you more, letting you grind in place. As much as you love your clit getting attention, you’ve always loved firm pressure a bit lower, and he gives you that. “Bren, I‘m so close,” you sigh, and he makes an encouraging noise, letting his eyes slip shut to focus on you.

“Want you to come all over my face,” Brendon murmurs, and his fingers, still working you hard, suddenly curl inside you, rubbing and pressing; you shriek, feeling yourself come hard on his fingers and mouth.

“Fuck yes—soak my face, honey,” he groans, tongue slipping from your clit to lap at you; his thumb quickly replaces his tongue, keeping the pressure light but pulsing over your clit. A low moan slips from you, and he gives you one more slow stroke with his tongue, dragging it over you before sitting back on his heels. Once he’s rocked back, he licks his lips and wipes a hand over his face, smirking when you blush.

“Shit, I’m sorry,” you say, and he looks at you incredulously.

“Baby, I told you to come on my face, and I did everything in my power to make sure you would. There’s no need to apologize.” You blush deeper, shifting as he runs his tongue over each finger. “Don’t wanna miss a single drop,” he says with a satisfied smile, and you laugh, feeling how slick your inner thighs are. You run two fingers across them before offering your fingers to him, moaning softly when he sucks at them greedily. “Fuck, honey,” he manages to say around your fingers before sucking hard again.

“You’re so fucking sexy,” you whisper, watching his heavy eyes darken at the taste and the way his full lips slide off your fingers. You’re both breathing heavily, and he pushes himself up, crawling over you and settling between your thighs, chest to chest, his lips seeking yours. “Love you so much,” you murmur, and he repeats it back to you, smoothing your hair.

It would have been a sweet moment if there hadn’t been a rapid knocking at the door. “Mr. Urie, we really need you; your category is coming up and the seat fillers simply can’t fill in for your close-up reaction shot.” The stage manager sounds incredibly annoyed, and it makes you wonder if he’s been trying to get your attention for a while and just couldn’t, thanks to all of the moaning and squealing Brendon was coaxing from you. Now though, you both scramble up from the couch.

“Sounds like we’re in trouble,” Brendon says with a lazy smile, re-tying your dress and pulling his jacket on, adjusting the collar in the mirror and dabbing at his mouth and chin with a tissue. He gives you a once over, and you nod, studying him. His hair is disheveled, but it could pass for getting messed up while on stage. He opens the door, but you push it shut again, kissing him hard and sliding a hand down to squeeze his cock.

“I want more later. Want your cock in me later.”

He nods, teeth catching your lower lip and tugging gently. “Oh believe me honey, you’ll get more. You’re going to get everything I can give you.” Brendon opens the door; the stage manager gives you both a cold stare, turning and beckoning over his shoulder as he sets off at a brisk pace.

When you get back to your seats, the man gives you both a stern look. “No more sneaking off. You’re both going to be professional adults, sit here nicely for the camera, and not give me a stress-induced heart attack.”

None of it was a question. You try to hide your grin, but Brendon openly laughs. When the man’s face darkens, you both promise, and the stage manager stalks off to leave you both simmering in your shame. The only flaw in his plan is that you’re never ashamed of how badly you want Brendon or what you’ll do to get him.

Brendon’s hand creeps up your thigh, rubbing soft circles over it. He leans over, breath hot on your neck and his voice low. “Just you wait until I can get you in the car. I have so much more planned for you and your sweet pussy. Earlier was just an appetizer, and honey, you know I’m still hungry.”

[krpgarden]

shooting my shot! i've been itching to set up some 1x1 discord servers with 25+ writing partners! i strictly write oc and usually stick to mxf for rom ( would love if we could switch! ), but would love to explore plots other than rom too! i write para style threads that range from 200-300wc and reply relatively quickly, between a couple hours to a week depending on how busy i am irl! i would say i'm pretty literate and can provide writing samples if needed. would love it if my partner is on a similar level, both in terms of reply speed and literacy!

i love worldbuilding and will often create pinterest boards and playlists especially if i'm really into the pairing! i also love plotting in depth and can talk for hours about hypotheticals! my approach is to plot a lot, and thread the scenarios that come up in plotting that we feel would be fun to explore! when writing threads, i usually also let my muses decide how they're going to react and am open to the thread deviating from what we've plotted. i hope my partner has the same approach too!

more important than anything, i would appreciate a partner who can understand and establish boundaries maturely. i am a very communicative person and would love my partner to be the same! sometimes, plots don't work out and that's ok! i would hate to put in a lot of effort to plotting, setting up the server, and worldbuilding, only to get lackluster replies or worse, ghosted. i would love a partner who communicated with me if they didn't vibe with things and i will do the same, no offense taken!

fc wise, i tend to write kactors and third/fourth gen idols. i do have random pairings that i really love and would like to write, and likewise if you had a pairing you enjoyed writing, i'd be happy to write that for you too! that said, i don't believe that fcs are the be all to end all, and i also tend to stay away from same group pairings.

if you're interested, please like this and i'll message you! thank you so much, and thank you krpgarden for this lovely platform! ♡

hey there, thank you so much for your message! 💚

friends, if you're interested in this 1x1 idea, please like this post so the op can reach out to you! 💚

[sh1-n0bu]

i saw the aven x sister post... op's fucked up (not sure if this is bad but they reblogged a post abt how women fantasise abt rape)

i wanted to see how bad their acc was and it was horrible /gen

i occasionally do dabble in non con (pretty sure my post abt requesting for non con fics was evidenced by that) but op was trying to justify it, pretty sure bout that (i MAY be wrong)

last anon was correct on the point abt differencing fiction n reality, but honestly, there are lines that need to be set somewhere, you cant just say absolutely no dark content should be allowed neither should you say there should be no filter on many many dark fics

despite my post abt wanting to see my boundaries for non con ideas, im starting to want to delete them all together tbh, i dont want to trigger anyone nor do i want to make someone's day worse (you get what i mean idk how to describe it properly)

also the aven x sister account has written worse stuff, i did a quick skim on their blog... im pretty sure they have a incest kink...

ah… just what i was fearing. i can’t find the writers blog, it isn’t popping up when i search for it. and i genuinely have no interest in finding the original writer either. i genuinely give up tbh. its too damn late here and i have life outside of trying to reason with anons. cant wait to see what kind of shit would be in my inbox tomorrow morning

but yeah, thanks for notifying me abt it star. and i hope u stay safe

[cloudcountry]

on the content creator post: SO TRUE ABOUT THE CHEATING JOKES BEING HORRIBLE. ESPECIALLY IN SELF-SHIP SPACES!!

There are jokes about people saying they'll steal someone's F/O (its even worse if the character has a rabid following of insane fans)

Sometimes people will be commenting on a self-ship post to pair themselves with the same character as OP- like, please make a new post

-And then some people say some boundary pushing things about sharing F/O's (sometimes even treating it as if they're in a poly relationship with them and OP sharing the F/O which can be so uncomfortable???-)

LITERALLY THIS OMGGG THANK YOU FOR THIS

i have a lot of thoughts about this so i will try to organize them. and a LOT of personal experiences.

when i first started out and was really fixated on twst, i didnt really mind that everyone only knew me for azul. i loved him a lot and i still do, so i was okay with it!! but then i started getting into other fandoms and immediately became worried because i was the azul kisser and if i stepped outside that role i thought i'd be met with resistance. it was like azul was my whole personality.

and yk what i wasnt wrong!!! because when i first started talking isaac the immediate reaction wasnt "oh hey thats cool," it was "AUBURN YOURE CHEATING ON AZUL???" and that just. Oh that made me feel really bad.

NOW I WILL SAY i kept telling people i didnt like the cheating jokes and everyone stopped immediately. so thank you guys for that ^^ but it still doesnt erase the fact that azul and me are like a set that cant be separated on here, and while thats very endearing and sweet, it also made me feel very confined.

ANOTEHR THING. ive had people tell me they'd steal azul away from me before and back then i tried my best not to let it show how much that hurt my feelings. but WOW did it hurt. it made me feel like i had to compete to earn the affection of a guy that doesnt even exist, even though we all could have just been normal and liked him together. thats why "fighting over azul" has been added to my icky boundaries list. you cant steal him away from me, just like i cant steal him away from you. other people like azul. im just one person in a crowd. "stealing" is pointless and childish and just hurts other people's feelings.

im getting so many emotional releases today. but you're 100% correct rubia. its exhausting.

[theprodigalpragmatist]

The OP of that "DNIs are bad" post is a Zionist btw. Which sheds a whole new very disgusting light onto that post.

Thank you for pointing out that op is a zionist, I am staunchly anti-zionist and do not by any means align my beliefs on that front with theirs. I am also aware that their zionism does colour the perception of that post and may have played a part in their posting it, and I will be deleting the post because of this!

However, my opinion on the content of that post outside of those implications (which I do take seriously, but it is not in the frame that I read it in) remains the same. go forth and DNI to your hearts content! i'm not going to stop you! in fact, there is a good basis for it, especially with setting boundaries between adults and minors. but the world is a big, vast place; certain parts of it will not fit exactly the way you want. block people! block tags! cultivate it as much as you can but please understand that this is not a private experience, it's a shared space. in real life you can ask your friends not to say a certain word, not to act a certain way, but to expect that from the world at large does not necessarily mean it is something that can be achieved

[killervibe]

I trust your opinion on The Flash most of all, so how did you feel about Cecile’s character trajectory? I was not a fan of what they did with her character, but I also thought the level of hate she ended up getting seemed unjustified? Everything from the way she was dealing with her grief over Joe’s death during Armageddon to her getting a super suit, she was torn apart for. I never understood the hyper-focus on her in later seasons, but I also think the hate the she gets is insane.

Thank you for asking me this. I'm actually excited to write another Flash essay-response. I missed this.

In short, yes, I found Cecile's meta arc frustrating and confusing but I do not hate her character nor do I have an issue with a middle-aged hero existing.

The problem and fandom obsession with Cecile is multifaceted. She was a doomed character of inherently flawed writing, but her fall from grace through fandom's eyes is nothing short of misogynoir.

The Seal ??? you're going to compare a black woman to an animal for your satisfaction? In a world where black women are constantly described as animalistic and primitive? There is only one character who gets just as much ceaseless vitriolic hate as Cecile and that is Iris.

First and foremost, I would like to raise that where I have seen the absolute worst treatment towards Cecile and Dani N is Twitter--I left Flash Twitter 5 years ago (though I was never truly fully on it) because of the sheer racial animosity I felt on there as a biracial person. I've read so much disgusting racialized hate towards Dani N (including from fans of Candice and Iris, no less and it saddens me to see the community disillusioned into believing that to be protective of a black lead means that any other black character is an enemy destined to be pitted against her) especially in terms of questioning or diminishing her blackness. It was disgusting and it still is.

The problem with empaths/telepaths/mind control powers is that they become limitless very quickly when no boundaries are set in place. Her powers were confusing and used for exceedingly expository purposes that felt like a cop-out the longer it went on. I cannot tell you how many times I have lost my understanding of the "science" plots in the last 3 and a half seasons and that is a good chunk of Cecile's meta problems.

Season 4 worked because Cecile's powers were bounded to her pregnancy. She served as an adequate neutralizer against The Thinker which was needed at the time. Her powers should've had an expiry date and ended when Jenna was born. Or, more accurately, her powers should've been Jenna's. Cecile's powers manifested upon Jenna's conception, it would've served that the source of her abilities came from the baby, not herself. Without going into too much detail, this could've nicely allowed Nora (and Bart) to have family closer in age to be a part of their eventual Flash Fam team roster. Of course, it didn't pan out that way. They needed to give Cecile's powers concrete limits without evolving or "levelling up" in a way that overshadows the titular character. This is a given! They gave her everything and it was ridiculous, empath/telepathy/mind possession/emotive projection - like yeah. It's too much. It's annoying and it's too much!

In Stargirl, the Brainwaves were eliminated early on in the series because they were OP. Those writers were cognizant of that fact and woven in a compelling story that served to ensure that the empath/mind control characters were set in their place without overthrowing the entire capacity of the main heroes of the show.

Cecile made a great lawyer, but she failed spectacularly at all of her crucial lawyering post s3.

And it's a writing problem. Lazy effort went into how to include any in-universe plausible legal processes in this show. S4 Barry trial and S7 KF trial are glaringly obvious examples like this. But we should have known that the majority of the responsibility of these flaws lays in the hands of the writers inability to do justice to ANY of their female characters, which goes exponentially for the black women. So of course I am not surprised that they blundered with Cecile as she was promoted from supporting to main cast.

Nora Allen? Murdered (x150). Tess Morgan, the founder of STAR LABS name? Murdered & never revived unlike the 500 Wells. Linda? Disappeared. Francine? Dead. Tina McGee? Disappeared. Jesse? Erased from existence. Caitlin/Killer Frost/Crystal Frost/Khione? Murdered three times, reduced to repetitive abusive love interest storylines and retconned storylines into oblivion. Cynthia? Murdered. Kamilla? Treated like dirt & disappeared. Marlize? Same. Sue? Disappeared. Joanie? Disappeared. Jenna? Disappeared. Carla and Cisco's mom? Both also awful. Meena? Disappeared. Alexa? Who? Esperanza? Murdered. Allegra was okay ish, and I know there are more (Ralph's mom, Becky Sharpe, but really, I think I've made my point...) but that literally leaves us with Cecile, Iris, and Nora I/II as our black female leads who had to face the brunt of the worst writing (and most hatred when it was their "time" to shine).

This show cannot execute motherhood properly. It refuses to. See: Iris s5 and literally every mother to ever mother on this show except for Nora Allen...

But also, both the creators and the fandom seem to hold this ideology that motherhood is the end all and be all of life and value? Show runners have said again and again that The Flash would have to end when Iris is pregnant because that's when it's "over" ??? I did not understand that when it was first said and I still do not understand that. This concept of femininity directly tied to the merit associated to motherhood is a good chunk of the reasoning behind people claim to hate Cecile--Because she is a superhero who has sacrificed as a single mother and now struggles with balancing her desires vs her obligations? Cecile, who has been written as a black woman who canonically struggled to society's standards of excellence causing her stress and anguish to the point of mental break? I appreciated the s7 psycho-pirate and mental health struggles she had - so I wasn't horrified to see that she struggled with grief in s8's plot. The type of mental health issues that these storylines explored is a real lived experience that many women have, and I find it fascinating that there is this double standard here. This is a superhero show. Like...we're hating her for, what, exactly? For being a superhero and wanting to help people?

I mourn Cecile's "downfall" because she was a great addition to the West family as a supportive cast. I mourn the fact that Iris and Cecile never really had a great relationship despite both being mains. I mourn the fact that she was given more weight than Iris in the last season instead of supporting and encouraging her. Because that's why her role was elevated in the last season, to replace Joe in his absence as Iris' number #1 cheerleader. But it never properly translated that way and that is a shame. That said, her role in the show shouldn't have been strictly reduced to "Mother" and "Grandmother" --That isn't fair. I adored the way she spoke to Nora I in s5 but she did deserve to go on adventures the same way Joe has since s1. Why shouldn't she? I think this is what Eric Wallace was trying to achieve and I applaud him for the idea but have to criticize the execution. The show has failed her in her area of expertise of being a successful lawyer, mocked her by putting her through a pregnancy for a child they couldn't commit to, and then kicked her character into the lion's den for death by turning her into an OP'd meta at the mercy of a prejudiced fanbase already notoriously well-known for mistreating black talent. This could've easily been avoided with more clever solutions that positions Barry--the creator of Gideon--as the focus and true mastermind behind Team Flash plans.

[junewild]

how Do you approach touching people? i like hugging and holding hands and shoulder pats and all that a lot but i never know how to initiate anything without it being too much so i never do :( if thats what you were referring to in that one post

this is a great question! i meant it more along the lines of "the specific ways i touch people that make them [general and specific] feel good," but "how to even approach doing that???" is also a super good thing to talk about. i'm just gonna go through it as a step-by-step process.

step zero: decide who you'd like to touch! maybe that's nobody! maybe that's only people you are family with and/or want to be romantic/sexual with! maybe that's those and/or close friends! maybe that's all your friends! maybe that's everyone in the world! that's up to you.

plus: do not be afraid to set boundaries. if someone touches you and you don't like it, say "hey, i'd prefer it if you didn't touch me. thanks for being considerate!" this clearly states your feelings and desires and also makes it clear that they are not being considerate if they continue to touch you. remember that you can set boundaries at any time with any person.

it's okay to like SPECIFIC kinds of touch/places to touch and not others!

with that out of the way, let's move on!

step one: don't be afraid to ask! "hey, are you a touchy person? i tend to be very affectionate with people, but if that ever makes you uncomfortable please let me know! i won't be upset." (<- op is very autistic. but i HAVE found that this works pretty well with most people)

if they say "no, sorry!" respect that and don't touch them.

if they say "yeah! i love touch!" or "that doesn't make me uncomfortable!" then you have a green light! move to step two.

step two: break the touch barrier! i realize this sounds like a weird pickup game talking point, but there's something to be said for assessing someone's level of comfort with baby steps. hold your hand up for a high-five or fist-bump. knock elbows with them while you're walking together. poke them in the shoulder or elbow them gently or poke them with a foot (if you're sitting down) when they make a goofy joke. brush something off their shirt. lean an elbow or shoulder on them when you're relaxing near each other. lean your head against them for a second when you're sitting next to each other.

there are two ways of doing this:

if you have romantic and/or sexual intentions, make your movements a little slower and more intentional. maybe touch them more firmly. maybe glance at their eyes and away while you're doing it, or lower your eyelids modestly. you are communicating "i like your body and i would like to touch it more, if you're okay with that." if they make prolonged eye contact, smile, blush, move into your touch, or touch you back in a similar way, they like it and would like you to do more of it. if they frown, knit their eyebrows together, put a hand up, wave your hands away, or step back, they don't like it and would like you to stop.

if you have platonic intentions, do it quickly, casually, and matter-of-factly. keep your touch light. laugh while you do it. you are communicating "i consider you delightful and close and i am comfortable in your presence." again, if they laugh happily, move into your touch, or touch you back in a similar way, they like it and are okay with you continuing it. if they laugh anxiously, look uncomfortable, or move away, stop doing it and/or say "oops, sorry! you didn't seem to like that so i won't do it again."

especially at first, keep your touches to specific areas. shoulders are best. arms and hands are okay. backs are good, but stay on the top half. chests are usually fine for people who could be topless on instagram. avoid the face, stomach, groin/inner legs, and low back/ass.

be careful about tickling. some people are fine with it. some people (me) will turn into a werewolf and eat you. do not tickle unless you know which kind of person you are touching.

step three: practice! be brave and try it with new people. keep doing it with old people! eventually, these movements will start feeling natural and comfortable to you. even trying them with new people will feel less scary because you have muscle memory.

step four: have fun with your touching! ❤️

[secondsonaym]

It's 1 AM. I can't sleep.

So instead I'm going to get something off my chest again, because it feels like people have forgotten their manners a bit.

I can see what you tag on my posts. Even if you don't reblog it from me. They show up in my notifications, and yes, I get many notes a day, so I see a lot of tags. Some of these tags... Are not very appreciated.

Now, I'm about to show the tag that was pretty much the straw that broke the camel's back for this, but let me get some things out of the way.

1. Do not find this person and go after them. They are not the sole reason I am upset. They are not the first, and they likely won't be the last, but they are the most recent example.

2. I don't often speak up about this stuff, because I've been conditioned to think every instance I try to set boundaries and let my discomfort be known, I am acting unreasonable. Even now I feel like I am going too far, but it's at the point I want my discomfort to be known rather than sit in silent suffering.

With that out of the way, let's get into it.

In my time running this blog, I've seen all manner of tags. Most I enjoy and smile at, happy to see people enjoying what I put out.

But some others... Frustrate me.

This is one such tag that isn't very appreciated.

Star is my OC. And there are certain things you just don't say about people's OCs, especially in this manner.

The OP sees your tags. You and the OP don't know each other. Regardless of your intent, your tags do not exist completely unperceived now, and what you think might just be a fun silly little comment becomes a backhanded snide remark.

It's a general (albeit unspoken) rule in the OC-making 'community' that you do not compare people's OCs to other existing characters, period. Yes, I can see the similarities between Star and Amy. Do I appreciate the comment? No. Because Star is a lot more than just a lovestruck cute girl wielding a large hammer.

But this comment isn't the only one I've received of a similar vein.

I've had MANY people comment about her wool being purple or quoting the 'why he ourple' meme. And what really bugs me about these comments is that, in-game, you can make followers any color of the rainbow. So why is it such a big deal that my OC has purple wool? You surely can't expect everyone's OC version of the Lamb to only have white wool, right?

I'm thankful and happy to have received so much positive feedback and attention when it comes to Star. She's quickly become an OC near and dear to my heart, and I'm happy to keep sharing her with you all, alongside my ideas for the story I'm putting her in.

But sharing one's OC publicly to this extent is also a very vulnerable position.

Am I demanding everyone love Star? Hell no. I don't think she's the best OC to grace this side of the internet by a long shot, I am being VERY self-indulgent with her when it comes down to it.

But people need to maybe think before they comment regarding other people's OCs. Just like being overly familiar to random people on the internet isn't great, making comments like this unprompted about a character that somebody is clearly putting a lot of energy into sharing with people is... Well, even if unintentional, it's rude.

Again, the Amy Rose comment isn't the only one I'm frustrated about, this has been something I've basically had to put up with since day one of this blog.

If you don't like my OC, there's blocking and filtering and all that jazz. I don't care.

But please be more considerate of what you say, and the context in which you say it.

[c-nstellati-ns]

Why can't gay men and enbies just have a space to themselves? Like I'm sorry but cis women especially have such a long track record of fetishizing us/excluding us from our own spaces.

Not to mention the way they find ways to infantalize us.

This blog makes me feel like a person. I'm so tired of being reduced to uwu soft boy content because I'm gay. It happens with bi men too. Literally any mlm relationship actually.

Something not being for you isn't terf rhetoric. Also love to see you throw that word around because excluding transfems is literally op viewing transfems as women. You really didn't stop to think before you posted that, this is the opposite of terf ideology.

Sbdusgsjsbs I'm so sorry to go on a rant but I'm tired of seeing such entitlement when we set boundaries.

-tired anon.

thank you. it's so fucking crazy to me bc i can bet you my left ballsack that they're white women too 💀💀 they're the ones being transphobic in the process of "calling me out" too like? im literally trans?

[athousandbyeol]

true that nitpicking everything everything forcebook does as 'romantic' is kind of absurd from my pov also coz there are times when i see romanticised fanedits of FB (not their characters) and be like *scrunched up confused face* isn't that just normal between best friends and yes as you said "everyone is open to ship or support their favourite artists. but there must be boundaries set. after all, we're all humans." THERE MUST BE BOUNDARIES SET. and ive said this before (replied to one of the tweets) that even though i am happy and love the fact that my babies are getting the love support recognition they deserve (COZ THEY FREAKING DESERVE IT WAS SO LONG OVERDUE) i also wanna gatekeep them knowing how toxic and invasive the growing fandom would get further down the line (ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY GAIN MORE RECOGNITION including exposure to fans from other fandoms FROM P'JOJO'S ONLY FRIENDS coz let's be real its the most awaited series of 2023) and we have plenty of evidences for the same and i don't want that for them they are precious babies (yes they are grown men and my age I WILL BABY THEM) they don't deserve this kind of shit

thank you for listening to my rant again and thank you for your time and your reply and your tag (ive never been called cute on the internet by a stranger - i mean it in a good way) I am just too chicken to talk non-anonymously my social interaction skills are other negative scale i either talk too much and make things awkward or talk nothing and make things awkard anyways thank you again

my tag for you #thankyouforyourtime #youarecutetoo #iwillfollowyoursuggestedblogprofiles

agreed, op. honestly. honestly. i do understand if they nitpick every interaction forcebook shares and idealise it as 'romantic'. i guess many are still not familiar with skinship among many actors/actresses in gmmtv (and generally in thai/k-pop entertainment industry). i think it's quite common in thai/k-pop society for men to be touchy with each other. maybe some find this new and they can't help but think "two guys can't just be friends," when in fact they can. shipping is fun and sometimes i like to indulge in these delusions too but that's just that and i have to know when to stop. because whatever it is in our heads isn't what they are in reality. we don't know everything about them so it's best not to assume and accept them as they are. that's more than enough.

op, i feel like almost all foxmochis want to gatekeep forcebook from toxicity because like you said, we know how ugly it can be once these people lay their hands on forcebook :( although it's good for them to be recognised and loved (i think only friends will be one of their many breakthrough roles because it's so different from their previous projects), we can't help but feel anxious... just because... these two are wonderful people and we can't bear seeing them as victims of unhealthy shipping shenanigans and baseless rumours. i hope that won't happen. it may look impossible, but i hope it won't.

no problem :) i'm open to listening to anyone's thoughts, especially when it comes to the actors i like. you can hit my inbox anytime (if talking to me privately makes you feel queasy. i totally understand that!) because i like knowing what goes on in every pretty head out there. and of course, you are cute. :)

yeah, feel free to follow them. i hope we can have fun together, especially when only friends start airing. until then, take care, op. :)

[tittyinfinity]

Thank you!

There is a difference between saying, “oh I’m so sorry, I didn’t pick up on you setting boundaries - I’ll try to do better” and “I have ADHD so I’m not taking responsibility for my action - you just have to deal with me”.

Exactly!!! There's a difference between someone not being clear about their boundaries and someone explicitly telling you them.

While it's not your fault that someone's disrespecting your boundaries, you also have to be clear about them!! I should add that to the OP actually.

But yeah making excuses for it instead of trying to work on your behavior is 100% not okay mo matter who you are.