#and then was chatting with folks on discord and had to save this

[quinloki]

Hi imma be greedy too :3

what about worked up, kinks, and another with Sabo/Marco pls and thank you Quin :3333

xD Alright, so I'm assuming Sabo and Marco are the request for Worked up and Kink as well, and then together for Another - or at least that's what I'mma go with

mdni, you know the drill, kinks will get kinky so you've been warned.

-:- Worked Up -:- What is your f/o like when turned on? Are they desperate, tense, barely restrained? How do they handle it?

Marco:

Barely restrained. This man's control is all about keeping himself under control, but once he's worked up he's already started to let go. He wants what he wants, how he wants, and if I've opened the doors for him there's no holding back.

He can cool off in an instant if I need it - but otherwise it's a need that simmers under the surface, flickering flames along his shoulders and fingers, shifting in his eyes. Others might have me feeling like I'm being hunted, but Marco doesn't give that kind of heads up.

It's almost a tangible thing, honestly.

Sabo:

Sabo gets a little desperate. He does trying to keep it under wraps, but if he's had to deal with it for any length of time, his patience is often thrown right out the window. Knowing he's like that, and teasing him further is usually a good way to get myself in trouble >.>

What can I say, hearing those leather gloves just creeeeeak with barely restrained need is a delicious sound.

-:- Kinks -:- are you or your f/o kinky? What kinds of kinks do you and your f/o like?

Marco:

Marco's kinky in the "open to anything" sense of the word. He might have a weakness for a few things like Breeding and roleplays - a solid appreciation for impact play and power play dynamics, but really he just likes knowing his partner(s) is/are enjoying things.

So with me he incorporates a lot of rope and dom/sub dynamics.

The best part is that there's not really a lot of hard No's with either of us, so most of the stuff we do is experimenting and trying new things. It's a helluva lot safer with his devil fruit, for him and me.

Sabo:

Sabo loves power dynamics. He leans more toward being the one in control, but he's also okay with relinquishing that to some extent. I've barely got a dominating bone in my body though, so it's a rare thing for him to be receiving.

Impact play, Edge Play, Sensory Play - there's some madness in him, but he's oh so careful when walking along lines. He's a cruel bastard sometimes, especially with over-stim and denial, but the pay-offs are worth it in my opinion.

-:- Another -:- have you ever considered including someone else in your activities? If so, who would it be?

Marco:

Marco's not against it at all. So long as the person I'm including or he is, is aware of all the appropriate boundaries - safe words, limits, etc.

He'll rarely take on a sub role in group dynamics, however, no matter who else is included. Izou, Rayleigh, Shakky, and maybe a couple others will get him to let go of the reins, but otherwise he'll maintain control.

Which can be a sight to see when you're including someone like Sabo, who likes control more than not, or Kid who doesn't have a submissive bone in his body (Marco'll joke that he'll shove one in his ass if it'll make him feel better.)

Sabo:

He's not against it, but he's not overly open with it either. With Sabo it has to be someone he's gotten to know and trust, and much like Marco the first few times he's not going to be keen on relinquishing control.

Marco, Ace and Law I feel are on his short list. When it's Ace or Law it's always a bit of a power struggle between him and them (I'm just here for the ride lol ) - but it's not really much of a competition when it's Marco. Though to rank it a little more clearly, Law doesn't want to give up control as much as Sabo, it can get heated (they communicate so heated in a good way), Ace is more likely to fold than to fold Sabo, but I don't think he really minds it. I think he just knows Sabo likes the challenge, and I crumble like a house of cards.

Spicy self-ship asks

[mychemicalnations]

What the fuck, NaNo???????

this is a long post, buckle up.

Okay, if you haven't heard anything about NaNoWriMo's statement about the use of AI in writing, I am both jealous of you and here to ruin that for you.

The folks over at National Novel Writing Month have released a statement (which you can read here) that explicitly says that being Anti-genAI is classist and ableist. My gut reaction is that this is a fucking asinine take -- poor and disabled people have been writing for longer than we've even had the electricity that powers AI -- but the more I think about it, the angrier I get about the anti-community sentiment that they seem to be pushing.

The claims that are made in this statement are either non-issues or something that AI does not actually fix. Yeah, not everyone can afford to hire an editor, but that is a large part of why writing communities exist both in-person and online. Exchange works with a friend and help each other out, find a discord server and ask there. Make use of a writing community. The same thing applies to ableism; Yeah, we all have different abilities and not everyone can "see" what might need improvement. So you share your work with another writer and get feedback from your community. Writing is a skill that needs to be honed and in order to do that, you have to be okay with being bad at it sometimes.

I'm not even sure I can say much about their "General access" paragraph because, like... AI is not going to fix the systemic issues with the publishing industry. It just won't. That entire paragraph gets half-way to a point and then falls on its ass into the void.

As if I wasn't angry enough, NaNoWriMo edited the statement about 8 hours ago to say "Note: we have edited this post by adding this paragraph to reflect our acknowledgment that there are bad actors in the AI space who are doing harm to writers and who are acting unethically."

This makes me want to throw my computer out a fucking window. Using AI in writing or any other art is inherently unethical because the language models being used are trained on works by people who did not consent to their work being used to train said AI. It is theft. It is plagiarism. Plain and simple. Chat-GPT was trained using the entirety of the New York Times archive, so when you use Chat-GPT, what it produces is based off of the work of NYT journalists (read about the resulting lawsuit here). It's not that there are "bad actors", the programs themselves are built on stealing writing. We've known this for what feels like ages now. This is such a bullshit edit and a fucking sad attempt at saving their asses.

I am someone that doesn't even use Grammarly anymore because they literally market themselves as an AI writing assistant and I'm not willing to risk my entire degree for an application that can't even handle vernacular and dialect and makes mid suggestions at best. Genuinely fuck off and block me if you support the use of AI in writing. Also, my block button is rated E for Everyone and I will use it liberally if anyone comes into my notes supporting genAI. Unless I am feel particularly combative, then you will feel the full weight of my academic and creative integrity. You have been warned.

[spnfanficpond]

Weekly Pond Newsletter

It's Daylight Saving Time again in the US! (It's coming for the rest of you soon enough.) Yes, it's that time of year when we lose an hour and all get cranky and have more heart attacks and car accidents. I wonder if we could Tulpa DST away, somehow? Like, if we all just thought about it hard enough all at the same time.... Of course, arranging the "at the same time" part of that would be a nightmare because of, you know, DST and time zones and such.

Old Business:

Poll results - Last week, we asked you all if you would be interested in learning about typesetting or fanbinding, and the answer was an overwhelming YES! We will keep this in mind and work on making this happen!

Monthly Prompt - The monthly prompt post went up and it's all about Sky and Water! Tag us in anything this inspires you to create so we can signal boost it!

Angel Fish Awards - The post for February went up, and the winner of the raffle was @spn-fanfic-reblog-writes!

SPN Rewatch: Fanfic Edition - We had another great chat, this time about the last two episodes in season 1! Check out the Archive masterlist for links to the docs for each episode to read all about it. Remember, if these ideas inspire you to write anything, let us know so we can signal boost it!

#TweetFicTues - Last week's prompts were:

New Business:

Steve Carlson Stageit today - Later today, Steve Carlson will be doing an online concert on Stageit! Click here for more info and to get tickets!

Conventions - AHBL is happening right now in Melbourne, and Creation Burbank is next weekend! So much new content from our cast! If you're attending a con and want to meet up with other Pondies, we have channels in our Discord server for that. Check them out!

Fishing For Treasures - Next weekend is FFT weekend here at the Pond, and the theme for March is CROSSOVER FICS! Drop your links in either the FFT channel in the Discord server or our inbox here by Friday, Midnight, EDT!

Manta Ray chat - Admin Michelle will be spending some time in the Discord server next weekend. Keep an eye out for announcements with the day and time!

St Patrick's Day is next weekend! Give us your favorite leprechaun or otherwise Irish-related fics in the replies and reblogs so we all can celebrate!

POLL - Since so many folks are interested in typesetting and/or fanbinding, and these seem like topics that would require video, would you all be okay with Zoom as a platform for these tutorials?

(Divider by @glygriffe!)

That's all for this week! To see all Pond events, and also other SPN-related things like conventions and online concerts, check out our Google calendar! Click here for a static view in Eastern US/Canada time (desktop only, no mobile app access, sadly), and click here to add our calendar to your own Google calendar! We try to keep it as up-to-date as possible. If there's something you want to see on the calendar that's not there (maybe a convention we missed, cast birthdays, or something similar), send us an ASK and let us know!

Hope you have a great week! - From your Admins and Manta Rays, @manawhaat, @mrswhozeewhatsis, @mariekoukie6661, @thoughtslikeaminefield, @spencereliotwinchester and @heavenssexiestangel!

[shantismurf]

Bagginshield Book Club Discussion #43:

On Adventures and Other Conduct Unbecoming of a Wizard by manic_intent

Please join us this Saturday, March 23rd at 11:00am CDT for our next story discussion. Please note this is an hour later than normal for US folks because our daylight savings time moves up before other countries. As if time zone calculations weren't hard enough already! We'll keep this later time on March 30th and go back to 10am CDT on April 2nd when the clocks change for those outside the US who do daylight savings time. 🤦🏼‍♀️

So! Magical March is really picking up steam now with the wonderfully unique On Adventures and Other Forms of Conduct Unbecoming of a Wizard by manic_intent. It's going to be so much fun! See you then! 💖

On Adventures and Other Forms of Conduct Unbecoming of a Wizard by manic_intent https://archiveofourown.org/works/620763 Rating: Explicit Length: 51,538 Warnings: none Notes: Very unique quest retelling, author tag of "That AU where Bilbo is a wizard" sums it up! Bilbo is one of the Istari and goes on the quest as normal but also very much not as normal haha Lots of magic bits as Bilbo is literally a wizard. This should be crack but then it turns into epicness and humor and scorching romance and love and so much amazingness. Summary: For as long as even the old Gaffer could remember there had been a wizard living in the hill at Bag End, overlooking the Shire. As wizards went, this one wasn't the wandering sort, always out to lure gentle folk out onto nasty adventures, or even the powerful kind, the sort that lived in high towers, reaching out into the ways of the world. --------

[thedreamcrosser]

The Art of Automatic Heritage

Made by friends and fans (like you!)

Commentary by Dream Crosser

When I heard that the game Stray was finally out I was only vaguely keeping an eye on it at the time. To me, it was that cat game that had been in development for a while, so when it came out I was not expecting to jump into it right away.

Boy, did I wish I should have played it sooner. When I finished playing it I had something of a raging itch to have more of the game. The lore of the world had me hook line and sinker, and I had to have some kind of outlet to let it out.

I could not draw, but I had an idea for a character that I was begging my twin sister to draw for me, just like we were in grade school again. She was in art collage at the time so she did not have much time for my raving, but a rough sketch was born and my itch was sated.

For a while at least… Beryl became my baby and soon I found myself writing about her to calm myself down in between the times I could sit down at work. All I wanted to do was to dive into this world so badly, so getting back into an old hobby seemed to be my saving grace.

Jumping on to Twitter I found that other people online were making their own OCs. I found one particularly friendly person and I just had to play along with their character. I made a cute role-play comment and out popped this cute picture by @Lenny_lazyDraw of their character Cleo with Beryl.

As my fanfiction began to take form I began to chat more and more online with others of the fandom. To be honest, you guys have been the ones to keep me company for a long time, and I want to reassure you all that while I am not on the internet that much anymore I am still alive and well and still thinking about you all on the physical side of life. But as for my time on fanfiction, I also took some time on Discord. Discord for me was a place where I could have real conversations with people. If it was not face-to-face it was through text, and there was no pressure to have likes and to post pictures. You could truly be anonymous and somebody at the same time.

I was invited to a roleplay server called TheStraycord by none other than ThemSoundwaves. It started on the unofficial Stray server with us talking each other's ears off and finding we had some things in common. A love for writing, dubstep, and the silly. When she invited me over to TheStraycord I immediately made myself comfortable and dove into a role play. I was on that server every day, and soon I caught the eye of none other than a “Dumbfoundbot.”

Also known as ViralPenny on Twitter, Dumbfoundbot surprisingly loved the characters that I created, not knowing that I have made fanfiction of my beloveds. On Twitter, they asked for OCs that they could draw for people. My twin sister and I both volunteered and found later our characters had their portrait done.

I would not be surprised if he heard me scream in delight from my home in Florida all the way in the Philippines, because he for sure did not stop. Before I knew it a picture of Whitney was made as well.

Folks, to say I died would not be enough to express how happy I was. I could tell the feeling was mutual for the artist because when we were finished with the roleplay these art pieces popped in chat.

And they are adorable!

What a week that had been! I am glad that happened as well because for some reason this series of events kicked off my twin sisters’ inspiration like none other. Not only did she get into her Stray Oc character more over time, but she finally did a full-color character sheet of Beryl.

Just in time to show it off on her graduation day as well. And while I hope she draws more I hope even more that she draws for herself. Even her sketches I adore. Here is one she did on chapter 5.

While things have slowed down a bit, that being the Stray fandom on A03 and currently my time on this fandom, life in the real world has sped up. Having my first child and recovering from major surgery had taken a number out of me. But I am glad that everyone else is still moving forward. Heck, I am especially happy that ThemSoundWaves is finding time to draw as well. She gave me a phenomenal take on Dr.Mike and I look forward to adding his description more to future chapters.

Artists, I love all of your art. Please continue to love what you do and don’t let what is going on in the world stop you from doing what you love, especially with this AI nonsense going around. As for my readers, please go check out and support these artists. They deserve all of their hard work to be rewarded.

Automatic Heritage will continue. The next chapter is about to be completed, it just needs some time. I do know that this project will continue as long as I can see that there is interest, that being kudos and comments. Not that I am holding this story over my reader's head, but that I am going to use this as a way to see that there are people interested and to stay faithful to the few that are. No point in forcing myself to write when there is no activity.

Thank you again my friends, and may the sun shine warm upon your face.

*closes document* “ah… that should be it…” *gets notification from Discord* *opens Discord*

*screams in cute robot*

Art done by @Jesterdysphoria on X (aka twitter)

[countercharmda]

okay! so, i've mentioned it a couple of times, but i think sometime this week i will be doing some cleanup here. ( expect this around december 1st. ) this will include my inbox, my drafts, my posts, my likes, and my follower count. i will probably also be changing my url to the new one i have saved then! it's gonna be very fun and nifty.

the short of it is that i will be softblocking ( or hardblocking, if preferred ) folks who have not expressed interest in writing ic or chatting ooc. if you just got here and are panicking for xyz reason? worry not! here is my interest tracker if you're a bit too nervous to reach out ooc. this meme is also good, if you would like me to come up with some ideas! ( i will hopefully get to these in a timely manner ). and of course, if this feels too much like an ultimatum or a stressor for you, then you are genuinely more than welcome to softblock ( or hardblock ) me and continue on with your day. please curate your space! NOTE: neither of these are required if we are already talking or plotting ooc!

the long of it...will be under the cut, because i am ultimately feeling a little bit rambly.

i've been trying to figure out how to approach my larger following of people who have not reached out to me, and i think this is a good start. i've only been in this rpc for two months and so much i feel like has happened already, and one of the best things to come from it is watching this turn into...more of a community if that makes sense. i like seeing what all is going on with my mutuals and stuff on the dash. i'm aware this is a very chronically online take, but in my defense i have been...chronically online since i have been a child, and i don't believe in dismissing online friendships. i like having people to send memes to in discord dms and tumblr ims, i like feeling like i can talk to people. as mentioned in m a n y posts on this blog, i'm a chatty guy! this is why i mention that i won't cut a mutual if we're not writing ic, because i think talking ooc is just as important -- if not more, sometimes.

simultaneously, though, i find myself feeling anxious about being overlooked or forgotten. this is an insecurity i've had for my whole life. while i'm more confident nowadays that i am, in fact, the shit, i still don't want to feel this way in a hobby -- and i don't want any of my mutuals to feel this way, either. i think that if i cut my follower count down and shift my priorities in this way, then it'll help lessen this feeling for both parties.

i also want to stress that this is a hobby, and i do not want anyone to feel like they owe me anything ic or ooc. i work a hectic job, i have chores to do, and i might even be going back to college in january. there will always be real life obligations that are more important than writing blorbos on the internet. i will never intentionally make you feel guilty for not having the spoons to reach out to me. if you still uncomfortable with this post or this change, that is completely okay, and i encourage you to softblock ( or hardblock ) me. i want you to feel comfortable enough to have fun!

[clood]

20 questions for fic writers

tagged by @storybookprincess, @hxhhasmysoul, and @subdee—given the triple tag by such lovely folks i can't just not xD

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

44

2. What’s your total ao3 word count?

211,669

3. What fandoms do you write for?

so far i have only written for hunter x hunter, even though i haven't written and posted much for it (or anything) this year. i am soooo close to catching up with one piece and i want to write zosan and shuggy and when i do it's over for everyone. it's been the only other thing in a long time that has tempted me to write fanfiction!

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

similarly to subdee, most of my top kudos-ed fics are some of the very first things i wrote for the hxh fandom and the fics i am most known for still xD

however, similarly to liv, i don't love looking at my stats by kudos lmao. instead i shall list my current 5 favorites, regardless of their kudos standing heehee

housewarming: leorio and kurapika have planned a small dinner with their friends to christen their new home, though it does not go exactly as planned. aka the only happy leopika i have written to date xD including any and all wips

until death: after finding the nostrade boss dead, kurapika must make a decision that could change the course of his life, and, perhaps, someone else's. this is a criminally underrated fic, in my not so humble opinion!!!

just a little fun: leorio finds himself drawn to a stranger at a club and ends up with just a little more than he's bargained for. I HAD SO MUCH FUN WITH THIS ONE LOL

where are you roaming?: Gon has been sent by his father, the illustrious ghost hunter Ging Freecss, to investigate the Zoldyck Manor and its many instances of poltergeist activity. What he finds is nothing at all like the stories he's heard. this one is always always always going to be a favorite, i love it so much

night watchman: Gon has nightmares and Killua saves him from them. (aka five times Killua was there to save Gon from himself and one time he wasn't) a Clood Classic (TM) that will always have a special place in my heart. she's dramatic. she's second person. she's one of the first ones i ever wrote

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

oh god i try to. basically i will be staring at my inbox for a week after i post something so i can reply right away, but then comments on fics i haven't recently posted remain as unread emails so that the notification haunts me. i have some i need to respond to now.. actually..

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

by far it has to be until death. that whole fic is angst city usa and the ending is no exception xD

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

hmmm a lot if not most of my fics have a happy ending... i vote housewarming for sappiest, arms unfolding for most classically romantic, and long lost for most heartwarming.

8. Do you get hate on fic?

if anyone does hate on me, they do it in the private confines of their discord chats, and this is how i would prefer it to stay. closest i've gotten i think is once someone was annoyed that i probably wasn't going to make gon and ghost-killua get it on and then i guess they got embarrassed that i replied to that comment and they deleted it hajdkshajdhak

9. Do you write smut?

i have written precisely one smut fic: hands on a clock, hands on your hips. i was so embarrassed about it i published it anon originally then decided that was stupid and un-anoned it. however i will be writing buggy/shanks smut soon because detachable hands has me thinking all sorts of thoughts.

10. Do you write crossovers?

crossovers are not really my thing, never have been!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

nah, i am not famous (tm)

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

no but i think i would cry if i did!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

i actually have—as part of a greed island server event! spirit astray, september leaves, havoc in the hot springs, and hacker say what were written with kessya, shal, and hanamii as part of a 4-person fic exchange event :)

14. What’s your all-time favourite ship?

the nostalgia for my 2021 killugon days is screaming that the only answer is killugon...

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but probably won’t?

the only wip that's live on ao3 is chip aisle, which i think someday maybe i could be persuaded to finish. i was on an idol au kick when i started it and it was originally just gonna be a oneshot, but then another greed island card led to another couple chapters.. maybe someday.

16. What are your writing strengths?

unsure if this is a strength but i can write some fat ass sentences. and nice chunky paragraphs every now and then. i like to focus on the little details in a scene too, which i think is fun.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

i suck at planning ahead and outlining. i feel like i end up patching a lot of plot holes because of it lol. i also feel like i can be repetitive and long-winded sometimes

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

i'm on the fence about it, honestly. it has situations where it could fit, but i don't think i have encountered one yet in my own writing where it didn't feel awkward or forced to have it.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

DELTORA QUEST ON FANFICTION DOT NET BABEY!!!!

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

i think where are you roaming? is my all-time favorite. i just love it so much, i think i did a good job with the world/situaion-building even though there are definitely some of those plothole patches i mentioned earlier.

i believe i'm supposed to tag 20 people but i am simply not capable of sending a notification to 20 people's inboxes so... @extratt413, @chubsthehamster, @shalnarkonice, @fireolin, anyone who used a blue mug today to drink their coffee, and anyone else who wants to do this you can say i tagged you!!

[outrunningthedark]

The amount of posts I've had to see about how the sperm donor arc is actually brilliant storytelling and you just don't get it yet but wait and see till 6b!! is making me honestly sick. I love going to your blog to be reminded that it's ok to dislike this arc (and that I don't need to write several long posts defending this opinion). (also I've been unfollowing so many people because I simply cannot stand this forced positivity.

My latest take (one I haven't really discussed before): a reason for the toxic positivity is because if everyone who is losing faith in the show and disliking storylines/characters actually did stop watching...How would those ratings look? Would certain actors be a "lock" for the future, or would they contemplate other opportunities just in case? What would the fandom look like? Weeding out the "fakes" is good and all, but if a fandom needs to only have like-minded people for it to be "fun"...will there be content to reblog outside of the same...five-to-ten accounts? And how many fans will actually be able to reblog it? These content creators complain about the ratio now...what do they expect if they manage to "kick out" the majority who don't fall in line with their thinking? The one thing I agree with from that side of fandom is that people should know better than to complain in the inbox of someone who doesn't want to hear it (I have my limits, too. Like when I explain something three different times and get asked again. That's why the ask tag exists, babes.) But they're not showing maturity, either, by giving that person the attention they want just because it's an opportunity to feel "smart" and have their mutuals be like "go OFF, bestie!! so true!!" (It's very high school, which is understandable because many people haven't let go of their high school experience!) I guarantee that the folks pushing the toxic positivity have complaints they save for discord/group chats/PMs solely because they don't want to be accused of "killing the vibe" or "inviting drama". They only put out what they want people to see (to read) and create this image of being above it all, especially if they're "fandom elders" who think they're supposed to be knowledgeable. As for the "wait and see" advice? Agreed - when we're in-season and only have to wait those seven days to find out if something is going to be addressed. But during the midseason or full season finales? What then? What is there to talk about besides what just occurred in canon? What would they like the fandom to do? Die and come back to life in the spring and fall?

[vkelleyart]

Thoughts on fandom: inclusion and engagement.

(Art credit to the kindhearted @penpanoply​!)

There’s been some stuff floating around on Tumblr about strife in the CO/WS fandom, and though I haven’t been explicitly named-dropped on anything public, my DMs have been... active. lol Rather than rehash what’s been said already, I just want to impart a little wisdom and perspective in the hopes it may soothe frayed feelings and offer a way ahead for cultivating a respectful community. As someone who has been an active participant in online fandoms since the mid-’90s, which was the advent of online fandom content creation (shout out to my fellow X-Philes!), and who has also spent a chunk of her professional life managing social media for the federal government and for activist groups, I can promise you it’s all gonna be okay.

Here’s some context for why strife happens and what we can do to create a more inclusive and communicative fandom environment. 

1) It sounds cliché, but fandoms go through growing pains. 

In the case of the Simon Snow fandom, what was once a small and cozy space untouched by cataclysmic events (such as the release of *gasp* a sequel) has grown exponentially in a relatively short amount of time following the release of Wayward Son. Newcomers are eager to find a home in this space at the same time as folks who’ve been here a while may be consciously or unconsciously wary about widening their circle, and It’s important to remember that this is not necessarily an expression of bad behavior on either side but just human psychology doing its thing. 

The byproduct, however, is that tension and stress builds over time from the lack of meaningful communication across the divide, which subsequently fuels misunderstandings. Ironically, the interfaces we use to communicate don’t help with this because any existing communication about the tension happens in tiny vacuums until a trigger goes off and bad feelings go public. 

Way Ahead: These moments of destabilization are opportunities to see where we can be more self aware about how we engage with fandom and the kind of community we want to be. Can you promote, support, or befriend someone trying to gain a foothold? If yes, please do! Each person must reach their own decision about what they can do within the confines of their available energy, health, and time, but a little self awareness goes a long way as long as you’re honest with yourself and others if applicable about what you can contribute. Anyone who judges you for it isn’t worth the strife.

2) In a fandom comprised of vulnerable/marginalized people, it’s more accurate to say that cliques are “bubbles of trust.”

This one's important. Just by nature of the source material, the CO/WS fandom includes fans with a wide array of backgrounds and experiences, especially when it comes to those who identify with the characters’ queerness, mental illness, and/or trauma. I really believe––based on individual conversations/group chats––that the difficult lived experiences that so many of our fandom peers have endured has produced one of the most open, aware, and accepting fandoms I’ve had the pleasure of participating in. Our vulnerability is, in a real way, our strength.

That said, a community of survivors also has the side effect of cultivating small circles of engagement that I call “bubbles of trust.” When you’re a survivor of abuse, marginalization, mental illness, fill-in-the-blank, it’s often quite hard to risk casting a wide net and expanding your circle to include new faces––which can subsequently be internalized by equally sensitive and vulnerable newcomers as rejection, judgement, or inadequacy.

Way Ahead: First of all, there may indeed be gatekeeping and exclusion going on. But before internalizing someone’s cagey behavior as gatekeeping or purposely exclusionary, ask yourself if you have all the information. Many people are private (I include myself in this assessment) because life has regrettably taught them to be this way, and so they may insulate themselves to a small group of people who have earned their trust. Some people might also triggered by certain content (case in point: smut triggers my anxiety) so they don’t engage with it. Others might have something in their pasts that define how they handle certain subjects (for example, a person of color should not be tone policed for getting angry when confronted with a racialized microagression, however accidental it was). You just don’t know what you don’t know. 

The solution here is to regularly check your privilege and ask questions in a private space if you sense you’re being treated unfairly by someone. If you go public with your grievances in hopes of mobilizing the mob, you may accidentally find yourself stepping into the role of the aggressor instead of the victim.

3) Social Media is not built to help you get engagement. It’s built to help itself make money off of you.

Repeat after me: Hits/likes are not a measurable indicator of talent or worth. There are ridiculously talented folks on Tumblr and elsewhere who, for whatever reason, haven’t had their viral moment, and it’s not their fault. Loads of factors come into play where things like likes, reblogs, and comments are concerned, among them being posting frequency, subject matter, the time of day, the day of the week, the week of the month, the month of the year, the current administration, the stock exchange, the concentration of middle class users, who just won the Superbowl, a madman trying to steal an election and undermine the democratic process, a PANDEMIC, do you get where I’m going with this?? lol

At the end of the day, my humble successes have been helped along by good luck, good timing, high profile signal boosters, and an absurd amount of work. (This is why I try to signal boost new work whenever I get a chance over at @vkelleyshares.) 

So while you cannot control Tumblr’s interface, trends at large, or your fellow users, here’s what you can do to ensure you give your work the best possible chance of exposure.

Have an image ready to go with your post. Tumblr is a visual platform (no matter what it says about being good for text). Not good with images? Set up a Canva.com account and get access to free graphic software with a gazillion templates to create whatever attractive image you want to attach to your post.

Keep the outward facing text brief and easy on the eyes. Too long and eyes will glaze over. Put excess text behind a “read more.”

You may think you’re being cute when you do this, but don’t put yourself down in your posts. (Don’t put yourself down in general, of course.) Doing so acts as engagement repellant. If you don’t believe in your work, no one else will.

Related: Be your best cheerleader. Confidence is a magnet, and if you don’t have it, go ahead and fake it until you start to convince yourself you are worth the buzz. So promote yourself! You have gifts that only you can impart. Use that knowledge to fuel everything you do from your art/fiction writing to your outreach with other content creators, and by golly, if someone’s done it already, acknowledge that contribution and then tell the world that this is YOUR unique take on it.

Treat your fellow fandom creators as human beings, not art/fiction/content boosting machines. I cannot count how many times I’ve had folks slide into my DMs with offers of friendship only to disappear once they realize I’m not available to draw a picture for their fic. It hurts because it’s manipulative and it makes me want to hole up and not signal boost anyone. Creators who truly support each other will not give off a transactional vibe. I want to help you reach more people, but not if that’s all I’m good for in your eyes. 

The long and short of it: Lead with compassion, do your best with the opportunities at  your disposal, and remember that fandom belongs to everyone in it. ❤️

What saves a fandom made of sensitive and vulnerable souls from imploding when it goes through growing pains is radical compassion from those who can offer it. Begin with the assumption that your fellow fandomers are not trying to harm you, and wade into the water knowing that your insight into the lives of your peers is limited by default and you may need to temper your words or actions accordingly. If you’re a content creator, save compassion for yourself as well, as there are indeed challenges to gaining an audience, and lack of engagement does not mean you lack talent or skill. Be your best advocate, and if you have the bandwidth to lift up a fellow creator and make a new friend, please, go ahead do it! 

And finally, fandom belongs to everyone, and no one has a monopoly on characters, tropes, or themes. Create and consume what you love (with respect for your more vulnerable peers), and bask in the variety, my friends!

That’s all I’ve got in my head at the moment, although I’m sure there’s more I’m forgetting. Thanks so much to @penpanoply for letting me use her art for this and to everyone else, hang in there and try not to judge each other too harshly. These are unprecedented times, and most of us are doing our best in circumstances that are pushing us to our limits. 

As always, if you have questions or want to sound off on anything, shoot me a message or an ask, or ping me on Discord. It might take me a second to respond (thanks, Covid) but I’ll get to it! Love, love, and more love to all.

[romijuli]

All the things you reblog about dnd make it seem so cool and fun! But,, I don't have anyone I could play with and have no idea where to start

Have any tips on how to start? And if there's a way to play without meeting up in person?

Hi anon!!! Honestly, finding people to play with is possibly the hardest part of dnd, hehe. That and getting schedules to line up. (I got really lucky with my current campaigns; my bf is always ready for dnd, and some idle discussion about dnd on a discord server led to my other campaign!)

So, uh, I guess these are Chel’s (not-so) Hot Tips For Dnd! Or any ttrpg really cause like. There are SO MANY out there that deserve some love :3 (apologies for potential lack of coherence it is like 11pm where I’m at so I’m SLEEPY)

Okay so for starters we’re answering out of order but: I’ve actually been in only one campaign that met up in person! Most of my dnd experience has been virtual, whether over discord voice chat (several old campaigns) or zoom (my paladin’s campaign) or just a regular old text channel (my bard’s campaign). There are plenty of options for it if you can’t meet in person or just would prefer not to; actually, doing it virtually makes things a LOT easier in terms of getting a party together. Hell, you could even trash the whole “schedules lining up” part of it and just make it a play-by-post situation a la regular old RP. I’ve had a few campaigns that did that! (Rip telecodnd which I think is TECHNICALLY just on a really long hiatus but)

Dnd is becoming semi-cool nowadays—thank you actual play podcasts!—so odds are that any nerd-adjacent community you’re involved with has at least one person with dnd experience and a couple others who would be interested. Other than that, I believe there are discord servers and the like dedicated to helping people find folks interested in a campaign, but I don’t personally have experience with those so I can’t really speak to that.

Hardest or second-hardest aspect of getting a campaign together: figuring out who’s running it, honestly. DMing is hard; I have a little bit of experience with it in dnd and there are so many things to keep track of, but if someone in your potential group has some Cool Story Ideas in mind and the patience to herd three to six players, it might be for them! And if you’re lacking in Cool Story Ideas, god knows there are plenty of adventure modules online that you can run.

Speaking of which, you can find pretty much everything you need online without having to buy a single book. PIRATING IS YOUR FRIEND, REALLY. Wizards of the Coast is owned by hasbro they earn enough.

Talk about expectations and things before you start playing!!!! Stuff like topics you don’t want addressed, preferred roleplay-versus-just-monster-hunting, etc etc. it’ll save you a LOT of problems in the long run.

If you wanna get a feel for how dnd works ahead of time, there are plenty of podcasts available featuring people playing it! Critical Role is pretty well known and has plenty of material to work with, The Adventure Zone is generally sillier but shows off how Fucking Weird you can get with it (note; this is specifically about the Balance arc, I haven’t listened to the rest yet and I know that the second season actually isn’t dnd at all!), and Dimension 20 uses dnd to get REALLY neat with settings and concepts. And there are plenty more out there that I’m not familiar with!

Honestly just mucking around with character concepts ahead of time. Get weird with it!

Anyone who says you’re ‘playing wrong’ is a jerk.

[deniigi]

anyways the discord has fucked me up 6 ways to hell.

Have some Sam/Ned/Peter/Johnny/MJ

Because we couldn’t pick a ship and we discovered Sam/Ned, and now we’re all devastated by it.

Title: Anenome’s an Enemy

Summary: The polycule welcomes Sam into its ranks.

Notes: So the polycule consists of Ned, Peter and MJ who are all romantically involved and established. Peter is also in an on/off relationship with Johnny, but Johnny is just friends with Ned and MJ. Oh. And these are Inimitable Verse characters.

--

It started with Ned and MJ reading the texts from the groupchat in order to psychoanalyze Peter’s teammates.

This was not new.

Peter let them read the bullshit fairly regularly. It was only fair that they got to see what he was giggling about.

What was new was Ned asking who BT was.

Peter had thought that they’d met at Matt and Foggy’s wedding, but Ned couldn’t remember Sam being there, and, to be fair, Peter had noticed that Sam had an extraordinary ability to blend himself into the background when there were multiple people having a conversation.

MJ barely remembered Sam, too, for that reason precisely, so Peter asked Sam if he could send a selfie ‘for the home team to admire.’

Sam said that he wasn’t comfortable with that.

It was super surprising.

Peter apologized for asking and Sam waved it off, saying that he just didn’t know how to take selfies for anyone besides his sister and friends and he just didn’t want to screw it up. Which was code for ‘I am actually really fucking uncomfortable with this whole thing; please don’t ask me why I’m saying no.’

Peter dropped it.

MJ didn’t forget about it, though, and so he had to explain that Blindspot was a little camera shy.

Ha.

Get it?

Because Blindspot?

Ned told him that it was kind of weird that Sam didn’t want to take a picture for him when he was cool taking them for his other friends; MJ said that it was probably because he didn’t want her and Ned to see his face and Ned relented a little bit.

“We’ve already met him, though?” he pointed out. “Surely that was worse in this scenario?”

Well. In Sam’s world, it was probably better, actually, Peter thought. In real life, he could smile and duck out of sight and stay out of range. A picture was forever.

“He’s probably got a reason,” MJ continued. “Or his folks were probably those ‘put it on the internet and it never goes away’ types.”

Uh.

Probably?

“I think,” Peter said quietly, because he didn’t actually know—because Sam never actually said the words out loud—“That he might be undocumented?”

He got two sets of eyes his way immediately.

“Oh,” Ned said. “That’s completely understandable then.”

“Yikes,” MJ said. “Does he need help? I’ve got some stuff saved if he needs legal stuff.”

No. No, Peter thought that Sam probably knew more about his situation than any of them did. He knew what kind of help he needed and he might take offense at links or brochures passed his way, so he shrugged and told the others that Sam probably had the situation under control.

The other two dropped the subject after saying that the next time Sam was in the area, they should all get dinner or something.

Peter extended this invite to Sam and got back a simple ‘thanks 🙂’.

Sam didn’t talk to him for the rest of the week.

 --

 At about week two of radio silence in the chat and in personal texts, Peter asked Matt if he’d overstepped.

Matt didn’t answer the question. What he said was that, as far as he could tell, Sam was okay at work and in their training. He noted that Sam went through cycles of being very open and chatty and then withdrawing into himself for days and weeks at a time. He left it at that.

He didn’t say ‘he has been violently reminded about all the shit he can’t do and is protecting himself from you and your ilk.’

He didn’t say that.

But Peter still felt it.

 --

 SM: hey BT, hope you’re okay. Didn’t mean to overstep the other day. Sorry about that. Let me know if you need anything.

BT: I’m okay

BT: I’ll let you know.

BT: ❤

 --

 MJ told Peter that he was blowing things out of proportion.

“If Matt says he goes through cycles, then he goes through cycles, Peter,” She scolded. “Matt can’t lie for shit. Not about people he cares about.”

…Right.

But what if—

What if—

“I just feel like shit because I don’t know how to make him feel better,” Peter admitted. “I feel like I broke his trust or something.”

“He’s not not talking to you,” MJ said. “He’s just not info-dumping. And you don’t know his life, it might not have been you making him feel bad. The world doesn’t revolve around you and your mistakes, you know.”

Right, right.

Yeah, he knew.

 --

 PP: hey matt did I fuck up?

MM: ?

PP: I think I fucked up. can you tell Sam I’m really really sorry?

MM: Sammy’s fine?

MM: He’s discovered jalapeño Cheetos and he and foggy are making my life hell.

MM: they’re both very cheerful right now.

MM: did something happen?

PP: I think so? I asked him for a picture a while ago for Ned and MJ and he hasn’t spoken to me in 2 weeks. I mean like really spoken. I said sorry but I’m not getting back more than 5 word responses

MM: ah

MM: he’s okay Peter

PP: is he really tho??

MM: lol

MM: yeah buddy he’s okay

PP: what is ‘lol???’

MM: lol

PP: Matt.

MM: I’m a confidante I cannot say. But it is very cute.

PP: ????

PP: Matt I’m spiraling

PP: can you just like tell me I haven’t single handedly ruined our friendship?

MM: HA

PP: MATT

MM: no can do. You’ll have to ask him, friend.

PP: god when did you turn into such a dad?

MM: when I got all these fuckin kids I didn’t ask for. Fuck off squirt

PP: I hate you too

MM: ❤

 --

 Johnny held Peter’s face between two palms and told him he was being a dramatic piece of shit and it was Johnny’s turn this month.

Johnny was offended.

Peter made sad sounds at him until he relented and agreed to come sit at the table with MJ to psychoanalyze all Peter’s Bad Friend behaviors.

Johnny did not like to sit at the table with MJ, mostly because MJ kept stabbing him with her eyes, but he came along and gave Ned a big hug in the doorway.

MJ stabbed him with her eyes for that, too.

Johnny paged through the texts Peter had screenshotted and printed out and tossed on the table with a collection of pens and after a while, blinked once and jerked his head up suddenly to stare into MJ’s eyes.

MJ glared at him languidly.

Peter sat on his hands, all highlighters and pen privileges having been revoked after the second guilt spiral two minutes ago, and looked between them, back and forth.

They said nothing to him.

They spoke only in narrowing eyes and squirming eyebrows.

Peter hated when they did shit like this.

“Peter,” MJ finally said after a good three minutes of awkward silence. “When you went back west to stay with Matt and Fogs, where did you stay?”

Where?

Well, their house?

“Where in their house?” MJ asked like she already knew the answer. She tangled a hand into her hair in exasperation. Johnny brought both hands up to his face to hide a huge smile.

Wh—

Where?

In the house?

Well, Angel and Louis had taken the couch and Ellie and Wade had been in the guest bedroom, so he’d stayed in Sam’s room with him.

Ned sighed loudly from the couch. His typing slowed down as he slouched lower and lower into the cushions.

Peter didn’t get it.

Why was everyone staring at him?

“Buddy,” Johnny said kindly. “You’re so fucking stupid, you make me look smart.”

“You are smart,” Peter said. “Why am I stupid?”

MJ held out her hand for his phone. He gave it to her without question.

 --

 PP: hey matt its MJ.

PP: does Sam have a crush on Peter?

MM: I don’t know MJ, does he?

 --

 MJ held the phone up to Peter’s face while Johnny shriek-giggled into his palms.

Peter felt a little like jelly.

All wobbly and shit.

“He likes me?” he blurted out.

MJ blinked slowly. Johnny pounded a fist against the table, wheezing.

“He thinks you want a picture for your friends,” he said. “He thinks you’ve friendzoned him. Oh my god. Peter.”

WHAT WHAT WHAT

“Give me that,” Peter said, snatching his phone.

 --

 PP: matt this is peter this is not a drill

PP: he likes me??? Like likes-likes? Or just likes?

MM: why do you children keep asking me stupid questions?

MM: ask each other stupid questions

 --

 No.

“What do I do?” Peter asked the other two.

Johnny hummed and poked at his chin. MJ leaned over towards the couch with an outstretched hand. Ned took it in a show of moral support.

Once she’d powered back up, MJ turned back to Peter with infinite patience.

“Do you like him too?” she asked.

Did he—did he like Sam?

Well, obviously he liked Sam. Sam was funny and brilliant and always down to get in a bit of trouble. He was sensitive to others and he picked himself back up every time shit hit him.

He was warm.

His energy was warm. And welcoming. And he seemed to constantly be fighting that.

But he was Matt’s. Not in that way.

Like, he was Matt’s apprentice. Functionally, he was Matt’s apprentice, but actually, even back when Peter had just met him, he’d known that Sam was more than that to Matt.

Sam denied it. Matt denied it. But they were very, very close. Closer than Peter had been allowed to be with Matt.

Matt would fight to the death for Peter, Peter knew this; there had been a few close calls over the years. But Matt gave off this weird vibe with Sam.

It was a buzz. Peter felt it low in his neck. Humming.

The Spidey Sense didn’t like Matt being behind him when Peter was with Sam. It thought he was a threat.

And that? That was not normal. Matt had stood behind Peter for more than a decade and never, not once, had the Spidey Sense reacted that way to him.

Peter had told Wade about it and Wade’s eyes had softened. He’d clasped Peter’s shoulder and said that he was ‘touched as hell,’ which Peter didn’t understand at first.

He kind of got it more now.

Sam was Matt’s. What he was exactly wasn’t super clear. But Matt was willing and ready not just to die, but potentially to torture, for Sam and he didn’t fucking like anyone being too close to him—especially not another vigilante.

Sam was off limits.

Touch him and suffer the consequences.

That message was loud and clear.

So even if Peter thought that Sam was warm and brilliant and so easy to sink into, it didn’t matter.

Johnny and MJ and Ned considered this by drumming fingers on noses and chins and making humming sounds.

“Red seems okay with BT having a crush on you, though?” Johnny said. “He’s joking about it, after all. Maybe he just doesn’t want you to make the first move? You do kind of have a track record, Peter.”

That made a lot of sense actually.

“So what, I have to wait for Sam to say something or to get over me?” Peter asked.

“Pretty much,” MJ said. “Unless anyone else has a better idea?”

No one did.

Man, bummer.

 --

 Sam came back into contact a few days later like nothing had happened. He was concerned about definitions of seals. He needed people to help him work through them. Evidently, Matt, Foggy, and Kirsten hadn’t done the job.

Matt said nothing about no one, which was infuriating as always.

And so it went.

 --

 BT: heyyyyyyyyyyyyy peter

SM: lol hey you what’s up?

BT: m drunk

SM: oh word?

BT: Leilani told me no to taext no one butttttt I hate meself so here we are

SM: Leilani?

BT: fremd

SM: dude red said you finish all your girlfriends drinks?

BT: is my scared duty

BT: scared

BT: sacred

SM: sam you’re like 140 pounds

BT: 😘

SM: okay sure I’m proud of you. how many did you chug

BT: hey teach says that you’re a people eater is that true?

SM: people eater? No. I am spider

BT: hello spider I am dog

SM: ASDF:SAfasFDf

BT: no like he says that you go through people a lot

SM: I have a lot of exes

BT: oh neat

BT: I have none exes

SM: what?? Really??

BT: rly

SM: have you ever dated someone?

BT: I don’t date

BT: fuck em and leave em

SM: oh

SM: does that work for you?

BT: easy

SM: wow okay

BT: I don’t want to be your ex. Can we just fuck and say notging about it?

BT: nothing

BT: like it doesn’t have to matter

BT: donst have to go anwhere

SM: yeah. I’m down with that, I guess?

BT: !!!!

SM: I mean if you are. Next time we’re in the same area we can do smth

BT: nice

BT: I think Imma puke

SM: uh?? Don’t puke in bed

SM: BT?

SM: Sam?

BT: did not we’re good hey thanks

BT: that’s cool of you.

BT: I promise Ima a good lay ❤

SM: you could be more than that too, you know?

BT: Good night!!!

 --

 MJ held her face as Peter straddled her hips with his phone two inches from her nose.  

Ned snickered.

“Help me,” MJ begged of him.

He shook his head. Peter shook his phone.

“Friend,” he said.

“Fuckbuddy,” MJ told him. “Don’t fall in love with him, Peter.”

Too fuckin’ late, babe.

Ned started shaking with laughter.

 --

 Once.

It happened once.

Kirsten was in New York for reasons. She brought backup in the form of Sam and some of his coworkers. They were on a 3 day mission, then Sam was catching a train to go help Clint out with a case down in Florida on Matt’s request.

Three days was plenty of time to get up to some shenanigans.

And Sam’s sides were tight. Strong.

Weirdly flexible?

“You’re great,” Sam told him immediately after their ‘shenanigans.’ “I’m leaving.”

Woah, woah, woah, there cowboy.

What’s the rush?

Sam, already back in his black hoodie, blinked owlishly and then squinted.

“Is this not how this works?” he asked.

Uuuuuuuh.

No?

“Stay,” Peter told him, pulling at his sweater. “Have dinner with me and my partners. They want to meet you.”

Sam smiled at him.

It was a bitter one.

“I’ve gotta jet, Pete,” he said. “For real. Thanks, though. Tell them I said hi.”

When he left Peter felt a little like slamming his hand against the bedside table. But that would shatter the bedside table, so he laid back and let the self-loathing begin.

 --

 Johnny thought that Sam was maybe a little insecure and so Peter should chill the fuck out.

“He’s probably never been with a polyamorous person,” he told Peter. “He might be trying to respect MJ and Ned.”

That made sense.

Too much sense.

“And anyways, your agreement was ‘fuck and leave,’” Johnny said. “If you want more than that you’re gonna have to—”

Don’t say it.

“You’re gonna have to—”

Stop singing.

“You’re gonna have to communicate, boo-bear.”

Fuck off.

No words. Only unrequited feelings and misery.

Johnny laughed.

“You’re a mess,” he said.

Whatever.

 --

 Okay, but once is happenstance, twice is a coincidence, and three times is a pattern, no?

Matt sent a text to Peter that said simply ‘I will end you.’

That was basically proof, right?

That was Matt’s shovel talk, right??

MJ and Ned stared at him in horror.

“I think, Peter,” MJ said, “This is a warning.”

Yeah, a shovel talk. Peter had been through infinite shovel talks.

“Maybe you should talk to BT,” MJ said.

“Rephrasing that,” Ned said. “You should definitely talk to BT.”

Okay, fine.

 --

 SM: hey sam

SM: what are we doing, man?

SM: Matt’s threatening to end me

BT: ignore him he’s got zero right

SM: are you sure?

BT: I thought we weren’t talking about this

SM: I kinda want to talk about it?

BT: 🙂 I don’t

SM: oh

SM: sorry

SM: I thought that maybe there was just something more there?

BT: there isn’t. Sorry Peter.

SM: …are you sure?

BT: yes

SM: you’re kind of not giving me confidence that you’re sure, sam. Not enough emojis.

BT: I don’t want to talk

BT: thanks for trying tho!

BT: it means a lot ❤

SM: is it okay if I talk then?

BT: I will not stop you

SM: okay great because I’m kinda? Falling? For you?

SM: like you’re really cute? And funny? And insanely smart and really nice and super good at everything you do? And you have your ideals and you don’t waver?

SM: and idk if you know anything about me or my people that that’s uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh

SM: how to say

SM: my type

BT: I’m not a type 🙂

SM: no, obviously you’re a person. And I just.

SM: I’ve got love disease

BT: don’t say that word

SM: okay?

SM: are you uncomfortable?

BT: yes

BT: profoundly

SM: okay sorry I’ll stop

BT: peter I like you but I can’t be anything more to you

SM: ?? Why not??

BT: why not????

BT: because DD is my teacher, okay?? And you’re his mentee/brother/teammate whatever.

BT: and I’m not ruining what I have with him because I can’t control my fucking emotions.

BT: this is my shot.

BT: I only have one.

BT: and you’re great. You’re amazing. But I can’t throw it away.

SM: oh

SM: no yeah. That’s fair.

SM: sorry I didn’t mean to push

BT: its fine

SM: is that why you don’t date?

BT: I don’t date because no one cares.

SM: sam that’s not true

BT: can we just? Not?

SM: no? On this thing? No? People care about you? And they would be lucky to have you if you wanted them?

BT: I don’t want them

SM: are you aro?

BT: idk what that means

SM: Aromantic? You don’t feel romantic attraction?

BT: I still don’t know what that means

SM: okay well if you are, then that’s totally cool just so you know.

BT: I’m sorry

SM: don’t be sorry, you’re fine. I was the one pushing.

BT: no this is how it always goes. I’m sorry. I’m just gonna step back if that’s okay

SM: ? you don’t have to. Lol. If you think a rejection is the kind of thing to put a dent in my relationships with people, you got another thing coming pal.

BT: I didn’t mean it like that

SM: it’s okay if you did

SM: but sam you also know that it’s okay to be known a little bit, right?

BT: its not.

 --

 Hhhhhhhhhhng.

“Peter,” Ned said. “Bud, look at me.”

Peter did--with maximum misery.

“I love you,” Ned said. “You are cornering this guy.”

FFFFFFFFfffffffffffffffffuck.

“I’m never texting again,” Peter said.

“Bro, chill,” Ned said. “He likes you, okay? He literally said that. And he also said that he doesn’t want to fuck things up with his teacher. We know that Matt’s polyamorous. We know that he gets it. But does BT know that? Have they actually talked about this kind of thing? Hell no. Matt won’t talk to Foggy about romantic shit, why would he talk to BT about it?”

Fffffffffffffffffffffair point.

“Dramatic,” Ned scolded. “Here, let me try.”

Beg your pardon, sir?

“I just want to calm him down,” Ned said. “You know, apologize for my idiot’s pressure.”

Ah.

Right.

Phone’s all yours then.

 --

 PP: hi BT, this is Ned. I’m peter’s bf.

PP: listen man I just want to say that you’re completely fine. Don’t worry about this stuff too much. Me and MJ don’t mind you two hanging out and doing stuff. We’ve already talked through a lot of this for another guy.

PP: but also like, if you like Peter, that’s okay? He’s infuriatingly likeable. I know, I’ve been here since 3rd grade. If that feels weird to you, though, it might help if you talked to Matt about Kirsten and how they came to be.

PP: it’s okay

PP: whatever you decide, I promise: it’s okay. And you seem super nice and you make my partner really happy (fuckin dopey tbh) so if you ever just want to come and chill, that’s totally good. We’d like to meet you at some point, but no pressure if that makes you uncomfortable.

PP: I’ll be honest, BT, I don’t know much about you.

PP: MJ’s started following you on twitter tho and she says youre funny af. So if you want to join the nerdcrowd over here (unless you’re startrek trash) you’ll always be welcome to our place.

PP: anyways sorry that Peter’s Like That™

PP: he never learned how to quit

PP: hope you get a moment to chill and process dude. –Ned

Read 12:24

BT: are you sure?

PP: oh hey. About what?

BT: all of it?

PP: yeah man I’m sure. MJ is too, she’s just on Peter-beating duty rn so she can’t come to the phone

BT: ok

PP: hey are you shy?

BT: what? No. why do you ask?

PP: no reason. you just seem a little shy.

BT: ☹

PP: lol

PP: you okay?

BT: yes

PP: you want to process?

BT: no

PP: have you already processed?

BT: how do you know that?

PP: because you’re shy and I used to be more shy so you probably either talked it out to yourself or you called your mom or bff or something

BT: I don’t have

BT: sry yeah I talked it out with foggy

PP: you don’t have a mom?

BT: …or a bff. But there is foggy. He’s been helpful.

PP: dude how do you not have a bff? You need a bff

BT: I have plenty of friends ☹

PP: but no bff

BT: AND a sister

PP: but no bff

BT: I COULD have a bff. I just choose not to. For style.

PP: lolololol

PP: peter’s right you’re cute. Okay I’ve gotta give him back his phone before he implodes. Nice talking to you.

BT: okay byeee

 --

Peter straddled Ned and held the phone two inches from his face.

This was witchcraft.

Dark magic.

The least he could do was share.

“I literally just took the pressure off, dude, I don’t know what’s hard about this,” Ned said while MJ watched them over the back of the couch like a cat.

“Teach me your ways, sorcerer,” Peter said.

Ned grabbed his elbow.

“You will never attain my power,” he said.

Peter dropped his full weight on top of him.

 --

 Sam came around eventually.

Peter’s heart fucking stopped. Johnny clapped for him when the text came in that said, ‘DD says he doesn’t mind and he’s already doled out threats. So? Do you maybe want to start over?’

Peter screamed.

Johnny took his phone from him and let him scream better.

“I want to seeeee,” Johnny hummed. “Give us a picture, Blindspot. Are you a little hottie?”

“Shortie,” Peter whimpered.

The phone went down and Johnny’s head came up.

“That’s deadly,” he said.

“I know,” Peter told him.

 --

 Sam was…how to say.

Light touch.

Skittish.

Not good with even the slightest bit of pressure.

Peter hadn’t realized how much of a front he put up in front of other people until he tried to get him talking about shit that mattered and only then did he fully realize the extent to which Sam was exactly like Matt.

Trying to steer him towards emotions and negotiation and heartfelt discussion was like telling a fish that it could only swim one direction.

Sam’s reaction in every case was ‘okay that’s fine, let’s never mention this again--also I’m not going to do that; you just do what you want to me and I’ll figure everything else out on my own.’

Mind boggling.

Zero skills in that department.

Ned thought it was absolutely adorable.

MJ thought it was funny as fuck.

“Matt is useless,” Peter told them. “Absolutely useless. He’s done this shit for twenty fucking years and he’s just letting Sam work it out on his own?”

“Maybe that’s his teaching method?” Ned pointed out.

No, it absolutely was his teaching method. But that was the problem.

Fuck.

“Sam,” Peter said on the phone a while later, “Listen, buddy. I recognize that you are allergic to feelings, but this is what we have to do to get what we want.”

Sam hung up.

Dude.

“Threatened,” Ned said. “Come on. Gimme.”

 --

 Ned accused Peter of not telling him that Sam was Chinese. Peter told him that Sam’s twitter was literally half-written in Chinese.

Ned accused MJ of not telling him that Sam was Chinese and MJ said simply ‘my bad’ and got away with that shit, like she always did.

Unbelievable.

Johnny asked if Sam was interested in a superhero-sandwich and Peter got to take his aggression out on his pressure points.

Still, though, Peter was kind of glad that Ned was leading the charge on this. Firstly, because Ned so rarely stepped into these things with authority and it was really warming and lovely to see him so interested in bringing another person into their polycule. And secondly because Ned had the lightest touch of them all.

Peter, MJ, and Johnny were all helmet heads wielding hammers. The only thing keeping them from self-destruction were all the YIELD signs they’d set around their circle.

Ned typically just waded in between them all to tug Peter and MJ out of the battlezone and into a semblance of humanity.

So it was nice—no, it was cute that Ned was developing a little crush on Sam.

MJ thought so, too.

“I do love fresh meat to tenderize,” she said.

Peter stared.

“That is not the vibe we’re going for,” he reminded her.

MJ waved him off.  

 --

 “Peter.”

What’d he do now?

Ned held the phone seriously out to him.

“Tell Sam I want a picture of him to put on the wall next to my mirror,” he said.

Peter blinked.

“That’s creepy, dude,” he said.

“It will make him laugh and he’s still not comfortable sharing yet,” Ned said. “But he trusts you more than me.”

Ah.

Right.

Okay sure.

Peter texted.

Sam sent back only eye emojis.

Ah.

“So,” Peter said while Ned tapped a foot impatiently on the kitchen linoleum. “There’s something you should know.”

Ned cocked his head at him.

 --

 “Dude,” MJ said. “That’s wild.”

Sam’s eyes were, uh, how to say.

Inhuman.

Johnny shrieked, took the phone and climbed into Peter’s lap.

“He’s so cute, Peter, bring him home, I’ll be so nice,” he pleaded.

Johnny was not the one who was going to need reminders to be nice.

“How does he see?” Ned asked.

Uhhhhhhh.

Oh, you know…

Not well.

Johnny lowered the phone.

“He’s blind?” he asked.

“Not blind,” Peter said. “But low vision.”

The room seemed to go quiet for a minute.

“Is Matt his—”

“No,” Peter sighed.

“Are you sure?” MJ asked. “These coincidences are stacking.”

“No,” Peter repeated. “His dad’s Chinese. He was born in Fuzhou, I think.”

“Oh,” MJ said.

“So he can’t see very well,” Ned repeated.

“He does okay in daytime,” Peter said. “And he does best with high contrast. But like, pictures can be hard sometimes if they’re too light or too dark. He doesn’t really ask for much help, but he and Matt kinda puzzle over stuff if you’re not careful. And if you’re extra not careful, they’ll make their own memes and they’ll be full of blind jokes.”

The room held still for another moment.

“Okay, so what do we need to do?” Ned asked.

 --

 The first time the others met Sam, Peter had to chase him down the hall and even then, it was only via Matt’s aid that he was placed back in Peter’s apartment.

Matt pointed a finger at Sam’s eye and told him that he was to stay ‘right fuckin here’ until he was done at the courthouse.

“Do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars,” Matt said as Sam tried and failed to bite that finger. “I want an intact paralegal by the end of this trip, and I will not have an intact paralegal if you go around gettin’ noticed by the fuckin’ Irish, yes?”

“I can take ‘em,” Sam said.

Matt sneered.

“I don’t know why I bother,” he said. “Stay. Those are orders.”

“Fuck your orders,” Sam shot back at him, to the horror of everyone else in the room.

“Yeah, yeah, ‘fuck your orders,’ whatever,” Matt said. “Stay put.”

Sam bared his teeth after him.

Only when the door closed, did he finally give notice that other people were in the room. Johnny lit up.

“You’re short and angry,��� he said.

Sam rounded on him.

 --

 MJ loved Sam now.

MJ told everyone else to get out, Sam was the only person who mattered.

Johnny thought that Matt needed to come back and take his rabid dog with him. Sam told him to stay out of his face and they wouldn’t have any more problems, but, seeing as Johnny was incapable of not adding fuel to fire, Peter kept him behind himself for the time being.

Ned was probably the person in the most shock of Sam, however.

Peter forgot how Sam came off to other people.

Very unassuming. Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. His prosthetics hid his black sclera, and even if he did tend to lift his face towards the light more often than other people, he did it so subtly, you’d think he was nodding along to a tune in his head.

Sam looked like your friend.

Your neighbor. Your classmate. The one with the baby face, you know.

His hair was getting longer, Peter noticed. He pointed it out and Sam softened enough to tell him that he was going for something a little more hipster.

“If I let it keep going, it’ll start swooping,” he told Peter. “The swoop is very in right now, Peter.”

Peter believed him.

He had no idea what that meant. But he believed him.

“You know what’s not in?” Johnny asked. “Friendly fire.”

Sad sneered at him.

“I ain’t know you from Adam,” he snapped.

Ned lifted a fist to his face in a sign that Peter recognized well and it took everything in him not to smirk and start teasing.

“Okay, let’s start over,” Peter said. “Sam, these are my friends, or, uh. Our polycule, if you will.”

He had Sam’s attention now.

“Polycule?” he asked.

Indeed.

“’Cause it’s shaped like a molecule,” MJ said. “And everyone here is also a nerd.”

Sam looked at her.

“You’re MJ,” he said.

“You’re Blindspot,” MJ said. “What makes you blind?”

“The trauma,” Sam said without missing a beat.

Peter waved Johnny off and set his hands on Sam’s shoulders.

“Sam’s made an invisibility suit,” he said.

He had everyone’s attention now.

“You did what?” Ned said.

Sam blinked and then shrugged a shoulder.

“What, like it’s hard?” he asked.

Oh yeah.

He was gonna fit in fine.

[spnfanficpond]

Weekly Pond Newsletter

Halloween is almost here! Do you have your costume ready? Are you or have you ever dressed up as an SPN character? Share pics if you've got 'em!

Old Business:

Manta Ray chat postponed. Admin MJ had to postpone her scheduled chat due to adulting. Please keep her in your thoughts as she continues to brave the real world as an adult who adults very adultly. Adulting sucks but is necessary, sometimes.

The New Member Spotlight post is late due to some technical difficulties. We're working through them and trying to rebuild! Hopefully, it will be posted soon!

Last week's #TweetFicTues prompts were:

New Business:

SPN Rewatch: Fanfic Edition - 1x03 and 1x04. We had a good chat yesterday in the Discord server about the episodes Dead In The Water and Phantom Traveler. We decided to add thematic docs to the Archives in addition to the docs for each episode. These docs are listed at the bottom of the masterlist doc after all the episodes. So far, we have added, John's Parenting, Dean's trauma - mutism, Sam's trauma - anger, Sam underestimating Dean, and Dean is Smart™. Some of these are still under construction, but keep checking back for updates! Click here to access the masterlist and find links to the new docs!

Fishing for Treasures at the @fanficocean is next weekend. November's theme is Gen fics! No romance here! If you're in other fandoms and you're looking for fics that don't include smut or focus on relationships that are not romantic, check out the Ocean's blog next weekend. If you write gen fics for other fandoms, submit links to your fics for the Ocean to reblog by midnight Friday, Eastern US/Canadian time!

#SPNJAX is next weekend! If you're going to the con and want to find fellow Pondies to meet up with, head into our Discord server and the channel we have created for the con. Arrange meetups, find a roommate, or share ideas for photo ops and autographs. You can even ask questions and get answers from con veterans!

Manta Ray in the Discord server. On Saturday, Admin Michelle will be in the discord server just hanging out! Feel free to come on in and get help with fic ideas (she breeds plot bunnies in her backyard), vent about editing, or ask questions about the Pond.

Paul Carella on Lounges.tv later today. Paul is trying out a new platform, so head on over, create a free account, and enjoy some fun and good music! Click here for more information and to get tickets.

Jason Manns on UrsaLive for another Tuesday Tunesday! This week, it's going to be extra early for the US folks, but more accessible for those in Europe and further east. Click here for more information and to participate!

Daylight Savings Time ends in the US next weekend! For some in other parts of the world, it ended this weekend. For others, they don't mess with this shit and never have to worry about changing all of their clocks, the lazy bastards. 🤣 No matter what, be sure to double-check time zones and DST specifications when making plans with your international friends! (We use TimeZoneConverter to make our posts, which tells us about national holidays and DST and other cool stuff that helps us schedule things!)

(Divider by @glygriffe!)

That's all for this week! To see all Pond events, and also other SPN-related things like conventions and online concerts, check out our Google calendar! Click here for a static view in Eastern US/Canada time (desktop only, no mobile app access, sadly), and click here to add our calendar to your own Google calendar! We try to keep it as up to date as possible. If there's something you want to see on the calendar that's not there (maybe a convention we missed, or cast birthdays, or something similar), send us an ASK and let us know!

Hope you have a great week! - From your Admins and Manta Rays, @manawhaat, @mrswhozeewhatsis, @mariekoukie6661, @thoughtslikeaminefield, @katbratsupernaturalwhore and @heavenssexiestangel!

[twokinkybeans]

Popsicle [Starker]

Summary:  Tony sees Peter at a kink club; bound, blindfolded, gagged and whipped and Tony... God, it messes with his head. It sure makes working in the lab with Peter a whole lot more difficult.

Prompt: Written for the following prompt by @Kaydu on AO3/Discord (so all credits for this amazing idea go to her)! Post resurrection Tony runs into Peter at night unintentionally. At a kink club. Blindfolded and gagged and being whipped across the back while mounted on a St Andrews cross and then forced in his knees to suck off the Dom where he is humiliated by slurs and insults and Peter doesn’t know at first that Tony saw him there doing that until after a few weeks of Tony acting particularly odd in the lab working together.

Warnings: Nff, kink, bdsm-themes. Mostly Peter and Tony just really like each other. Peter Parker is depicted as an adult.

Find on AO3 here!

-

Popsicle: Tony knows this is probably not one of his brightest ideas but he really needs to blow off some steam. He’s not here looking for a hook-up; not that he’d decline if someone were to offer it of course. He just needs a change of scenery. And this, well, this is his favorite scenery. When Tony walks into the club an instant smile works its way onto his face. The familiar sounds surround him. The slow, sensual beat of the music playing in the background, but also the moans, the happy chatter, the whips cracking in the distance. It’s home to Tony.

He heads straight for the bar and orders a strawberry daiquiri like he always does. It’s nice, the sweet sting of the fruit mixed with the bitterness of the alcohol. He doesn’t want to start on the club’s fine selection of whiskey right away.

Tony ignores the way the bartender looks at him when he orders. He’s used to the stares by now. People don’t know how to treat him anymore. After almost dying to save the world, they simply are too impressed or scared or weirded out by him. He doesn’t like the godlike devotion some people have decided to give him, doesn’t like how he makes conversations fall silent where he passes. But, he decided a couple of months ago, he won’t allow himself to succumb to the feeling. He’s got his little Avengers family to keep him company. If this is the price he has to pay for saving the world, he’ll happily endure it. He has the idle hope that things might return to their previous way of being, and until then, he’ll try to pretend they are. One of the things he used to do was residing at the bar in this particular club and enjoy the scenes unfold in front of him. So that’s exactly what he’ll do today.

There’s actually quite the number of scenes going on right now - the biggest one happening on the stage in the middle of the room. A familiar-faced Domme, a regular probably, is teaching a shibari workshop. Her sub, a sweet-looking young woman is definitely enjoying both the ropes and the public’s attention. They even let some of the folks in the audience try their way around the knots as well. Then, in the back and the sides of the room, there are some smaller scenes taking place. Wax play, not one of Tony’s favorites, and some bootlicking, also not one of his favorites. No. Tony’s attention is drawn by the scene taking place almost in front of him. A cute, young twink is bound to the St. Andrew’s cross. The sub’s back showing angry lines of where the heavy flogger had kissed the skin. The boy is shivering, moaning, pleading for more through the gag that’s in his mouth. He’s blindfolded, too. The Dom, a tall, muscular blonde grins as he gives into the subs pleas more than happily and lowers the flogger once more. Tony shifts on the barstool to give his already growing erection a little more space while he keeps watching. God, the sub… He looks amazing. Not too tall, strong muscles gliding underneath the smooth skin every time he arches his back. Tony loves the cute, firm little butt too. If he were the one holding the flogger he’d definitely redden the pale cheeks some more. As would he give special attention to those probably very sensitive thighs. With his legs spread in the cross like that, Tony doesn’t even need a lot of imagination to see how pretty his legs would shake. The twink sure reminds him of… No.

Tony’s nostrils flare slightly and he sips at his drink in an attempt to cool himself down just a little. Ever since defeating Thanos a little over a year ago, he hadn’t gotten laid once. With people being squeamish around him he had no chance, and even if people weren’t weirded out by him, they were by the fact that he had a fully operative, natural-looking prosthetic arm. The neurofeedback allowed it to work as a regular arm- so much even Tony tends to forget it’s a fake one. He sighs. He hasn’t even shared a simple kiss with someone since it happened. His body doesn’t like it. It’s starting to protest the lack of touch. Maybe he should find himself someone tonight after all. Get it out of his system. He knows it’s idle hope, but the thought is nice.

Tony finishes his drink and is just about to make his way into the more crowded area, when the Dom in front of him unties his sub. The boy turns around, and-

Tony blinks. Once. Twice. A third time. He can feel the blood drain from his face and somehow simultaneously rush south. There, right there, is no one other than Peter fucking Parker. His friend. His colleague. His mentee. Tony has to bite back a moan because everything about Peter makes him want to claim him for himself. His disheveled hair, his rapidly rising and falling chest, his hard cock… not too big but standing up hard and proud between his legs. He’s still blindfolded though. And a ring gag is causing him to drool all over his chest. He looks so fucking filthy. Tony has no clue how to deal with this. How to deal with… Goddammit. He thought he was over his attraction to Peter. The 21-year old and he hadn’t been able to meet much lately and it’d done wonders to Tony’s unhealthy crush.

Guess he fooled himself.

He’s frozen in place. He would never interrupt a scene. Never. No matter how much he wants to do it right now, he is not going to break the rule he set for himself all these years ago. Plus, it’s club policy. Peter obviously consented to this scene and Tony interrupting would only cause embarrassment for all parties involved and could throw the boy into the deep end of a sub drop. No. All he can do is watch. Watch and pray Peter never finds out.

---

Making sure Peter never finds out didn’t seem too difficult of a task. Tony is soon proven otherwise though. Working with the kid has never been as challenging. Every time Tony lays his eyes on him he remembers Peter’s mouth working around the other Dom’s shaft. Eagerly sucking and worshipping it without fail. The image is branded into Tony’s mind. He can’t unsee it, no matter how hard he tries.

Today, Tony is certain the universe is taking its revenge on him somehow. Making him pay for all the bad things he’s done in his past, probably. Peter is naked. Naked. Right there. Right in front of him. Sucking on a fucking popsicle almost the same way he sucked on the man’s cock that day. He’s chatting happily, making innocent jokes and laughing as Tony works his way through the suit to find the one error that Peter can’t seem to fix by himself. Friday hasn’t detected anything wrong so the glitch is probably a crack somewhere in the nano sections. He’s trying to find it, really, but Tony has never had this little focus before in his entire life. He stares at the suit. At his own fingers checking and rechecking every fiber of the supple yet strong material to find the crack. So far, no luck. He forces himself to not look at Peter. To try to ignore him. To-

“Mr. Stark?” Tony looks up instantly and mentally curses himself for his lack of self-restraint. “Mmh?” Peter sucks on the popsicle, licking off the drops threatening to fall off, before he speaks again. “Am I… Annoying you? Should I go and wait somewhere else until you’re done? I don’t want to disturb you and-” “No. Stay.”

The words are out of Tony’s mouth before he realizes his mistake. He stays silent. Doesn’t even try to cover up because he knows it’s no use. Instead, he lowers the fabric of the suit and rests his hands on the surface- waiting for Peter to speak. It takes a while. “Mr. Stark…” Peter starts and puts the popsicle down onto the plate he used not more than an hour ago for his daily 5-layer sandwich lunch. “I… I should’ve told you. I’m so sorry.” “What?” Tony asks, thoroughly confused. Out of everything Peter could’ve said, this is not what he expected. Peter fiddles with his hands and drops his gaze to the floor. “I know you saw me.”

Tony’s brains sure as fuck short circuit right there and then. What? Peter continues before he has a chance to speak. “My Spider-senses. They recognize people that I’m close to. I… I knew you were watching me, eh, the entire time.” “Peter-” “I liked it. I liked that you were there. Made me try extra hard.” Peter licks his lips and stands up from his chair then, slowly striding towards Tony who is increasingly intimidated by the boldness of the boy. “I could sense how hard you were.” Another step closer. “How your breathing increased over time.” Closer. “How you rushed off after I made the Dom come in my mouth.” Peter hops onto the research table and his legs dangle playfully in the air. Tony can’t help but notice the slowly growing cock between the boy’s legs and he gulps.

“Peter,” he repeats, his mind startled and scattered and entranced by the plain sexiness in front of him. “Don’t you want to do the same to me, Sir?” Tony growls. Actually growls. Low, the sound reverberating deep in his throat. He bridges the gap between them and raises Peter’s chin in a rough but careful motion. “Are you a hundred percent certain you want to do this with me?” “Please,” Peter begs and Tony’s gone. His right hand finds its way into Peter’s messy hair instantly. Grabbing a good handful of those chestnut curls. The other hand wraps around Peter’s waist to drag him closer. Peter lets out a high-pitched moan, bucking his hips up. The moan is muffled when their lips crash together in one swift motion. Tony claims it. Claims it all. Suckling on Peter’s lower lip, tilting the boy’s head in the exact right angle. “S-sir, please. Please I need you so bad,” Peter babbles into Tony mouth and Tony’s entire system surges forward. His abdomen tingling with an increasing need to pound this sweet sub into oblivion. He can’t believe Peter has known all these weeks, all these weeks of innocent teasing and playfulness- god. The popsicle sure hadn’t been an accident. And the suit…

“The suit, pretty Pete, is it broken at all?” “N-no!” Peter squeaks and Tony grins, pulling back slightly. He moves a loose strand back behind Peter’s ear and basks in the hungry gaze right in front of him. “You little bastard,” Tony laughs and yanks Peter’s head back with a controlled motion. Peter gasps, his cock twitches, and his hands dig into the metal surface beneath him. “Everything for you, Sir. I did everything for you.” “Nngh, such a good boy. So eager to get my cock aren’t ya?” “Yeah, need it. I need it so bad.”

Tony carefully releases his grip on Peter before he moves his hands down hastily to undo the fly of his now way too tight jeans. He curses, muttering under his breath, as he slides it down. God, never in his life had he been more grateful for the weird habit of not wearing shoes inside the lab. Peter in return, shifts to lay down face-up on the table. His head tilted to the side and oh fuck oh fuck Tony knows exactly what he’s offering right there. He kicks his boxers off too and strokes his achingly hard cock a few times to release some of the tension that had been building up over the course of merely a minute. Peter follows the motions with his eyes and bites on his bottom lip. He then looks up at Tony with the most innocent and at the same time filthy gaze Tony has ever seen in his entire life. This boy will be his undoing. “Open up, baby,” Tony grunts and Peter complies right away. His lips part in a perfect seductive O-shape and Tony takes a step closer, his cock now dangling in front of Peter’s face. “Come on, suck it honey.”

Peter has to crane his neck even more to properly reach it and he does exactly that. Tony’s legs nearly give out when the soft, hot, wet lips wrap themselves around his way too sensitive flesh. His pelvic floor muscles jerk involuntarily- his dick twitching as a result of it. It only makes Peter moan and slide down onto the shaft more. His tongue is fucking heaven, smooth as velvet and so hot, playfully circling the head of his cock. Around, up and down, the tip of Peter’s tongue teasing the slit and Tony can literally feel precum oozing onto the boy’s tongue. “God, aren’t you a filthy little thing,” Tony breathes. His voice is rough and shaky and he loves how it has Peter’s cheeks flush a bright red. “You like having your mouth stuffed?”

The boy nods as much as his current position allows him to and it sets off yet another heatwave throughout Tony’s abdomen. He knows he won’t last long. Not with Peter, beautiful, innocent, perfect Peter who looks so content pleasuring his newfound Dom. Tony decides the boy deserves the same amount of pleasure he himself is experiencing right now. While one hand reaches up to Peter’s neck to support it and keep it from straining, the other moves towards Peter’s hard and now leaking cock. His calloused fingers wrap around Peter’s delicate skin and he slowly moves it down. Peter’s uncut, and the movement allows for the beautiful pink head to be revealed. Peter’s hips buck into the touch, the kid’s nostrils flaring wide as he chases the pleasure given to him. “You deserve this, pretty boy, deserve to have your cock milked by me. You’ve wanted it for so long now, so take everything I’ve chosen to give you.” Tony has never been this vocal during sex but the words just keep coming and coming without stop. “Gonna show me every inch of your pleasure as I’ll make you cum. It’s mine. You’re mine. My sweet, sweet Peter.” “M-m!” Peter whimpers around Tony’s cock still pounding into his mouth relentlessly. Tony moans out loud, his hips and hand speeding up in the same rhythm. He’s desperate. Desperate for release. Desperate to see Peter’s eyes roll back as white stripes of cum stain his ripped abdomen. He wants Peter filthy and used and then coddle him back to reality.

“You close yet? Ready to show me how adorably your cock will surrender to me?” Peter hollows his cheeks now, sucking and looking up at Tony teary-eyed with happiness and belonging. Tony feels equally surprised by how well their bodies seem to fit together, as if they’d never done anything but this. As if it were meant to be. For a short moment, Tony pulls his cock out of Peter’s mouth. The cold air makes it sting a little and he loves how Peter’s head moves forward in a futile attempt to chase it. “Beg for it, Peter. For everything,” Tony hisses and Peter doesn’t even need a second to think before he complies to Tony’s order. More than he ever deemed possible from the supposedly innocent young adult. “Please please please Sir, please, I want to taste your cum in my mouth. Want it to drip past my cheek because I can’t take it all. Want to show you how amazingly good you make me feel, want to gift you with my cum. Please, Sir. Please take everything you want from me. Plea-”

Tony shoves his cock back past Peter’s lips and enjoys how it muffles the rest of the boy’s plea. His hand around Peter’s cock speeds up. Faster, and faster, as he pounds faster into Peter’s mouth as well. The movements fall into a steady rhythm that has both men lose their minds in ecstasy. “Peter-Peter, I’m so close. Gonna fill you up so nicely. I’ll give you exactly what you so desperately want. Want my cum to mix with your drool and watch how it slips past your plump lips.” Tony just- god. Oh god. He can’t. He can’t stop it anymore. His dick tenses, jerks. An all-consuming pleasure starting at the base surges through his entire cock, drawing his balls tight and he collapses forward as wave after wave after wave flows through his entire being. Hot spurts of come stain Peter’s wet tongue and the boy is whimpering like mad, the sound echoing right through him like a song stuck on repeat. For a moment, Tony is completely disoriented. The boy’s suckles slow down as his cock softens up inside the kid’s mouth. The gentle, kissy feel of it has Tony shiver.

“F-fuck,” he chokes out and lets his thighs now rest against the edge of the metal table to support himself while his hand still pumps Peter’s cock like a fucking machine. Peter’s legs are shaky, too. Toes curling and uncurling to release the tension that is so obviously building inside his body. He’s wound tight like a spring ready to jump into action. It’s only a matter or seconds now. The boy’s whimpers and whines and breathy gasps are mingling together into a sweet symphony of plain and simple bliss and Tony wishes this moment would never ever end. But his desire to make Peter lose it wins out. “Come for me, boy. Show me how desperate you have been for me all this time. Give it to me all, I’ve got you. I’ve got you. Lose it baby, and I’ll catch you.”

Peter’s body literally trashes on the cold surface. The pent-up neediness finally finding a way to release itself. Peter cries out, his eyes open wide as his lower body shakes with every single eruption. The cum stains his hard chest and stomach beautifully. Tony watches mesmerized. He’s seen Peter in the club, but that’d been nothing. Absolutely nothing compared to the view in front of him right now. “M-Mr. Stark, Mr. Stark, Mr. Stark,” Peter mumbles, moaning, repeating the name over and over again until finally his body goes entirely limp. Tony sucks in a sharp breath, carefully unwrapping his now sticky fingers from his hold on Peter. He moves his hand up, trailing, smearing the cum even further across the smooth skin of the boy’s chest. All the way up to his nipples and more, until Peter’s soft and reddened lips suck a hint of his own cum from Tony’s fingers. “Hey baby,” Tony murmurs. His free hand has crept up to Peter’s face to caress his cheek gently. Peter shivers underneath the touch and another, soft, weak moan rises from his chest. “Mmmm,” he breathes. “-‘m feeling so nice.” Peter’s speech is clearly slow and slurred and Tony smiles down at the boy happily. He feels fulfilled in a way he’s never experienced before. “Good boy,” Tony replies sweetly and he leans in. Carefully, he presses his lips on top of Peter’s forehead. Kissing the skin again, and again. Gentle. Caring. His body filled with a need to protect and spoil this beautiful creature now that he’s no longer caught up with the need to release. “Come, lemme carry you upstairs.”

Peter perks up at that. “Y-your bedroom?” “Yes, why?” “Mmmmh, nothing. Nothing. I’m just very very very happy.” Peter giggles and rolls to his side a little. Tony cracks a smile. He knows what Peter meant. Knows that Peter knows that Tony has a strict rule of not taking people to his bedroom. It’s an unspoken promise. Something they’ll discuss later. Not now. Now, he’s going to spoil this boy to no end, wrap him in the softest blankets and whisper sweet nothings into his ear until he’s fully back on Earth. He slides his arms underneath Peter’s unresisting figure and lifts him up bridal style. The boy nuzzles his face into Tony’s neck. Cum is dripping from him, against Tony’s shirt and onto the floor but he couldn’t care less. “Mr. Stark?” “Yes, sweetness?” “You owe me another popsicle.”

Tony laughs.

[ponyguru]

Pony Discord!

Hey guys! So probably at least a year? two years? ago, I advertised my pony discord, and it was only ever really intended as a sort of spot for my personal pony-pals to meet up and chat. But I guess a lot of the fandom is moving to Discord now, so I’ve had more and more people asking to join! Which normally would be like, great!

Unfortunately, if you follow my blog you know I had a run in with the N*zi side of the fandom last year, and we had an issue with a scammer showing up in the group too. Plus, the whole ‘I had to take a year off because my job was so crazy’ thing! So the group has had invites closed for the last couple months as a result, just because I wasn’t sure how best to combat brigaiding.

I’m going to add some rules to the group, and I’ll post them here when I open invites again; for now, you’ll have to get an invite through me directly, for safety’s sake, and you’ll need to have some kind of social media so I can tell you’re not a N*zi. It’s also going to be a strictly 18+ group, not because it’s NSFW but for safety and maturity issues. (We do cuss sometimes and topics can occasionally go NSFW, but that’s not the purpose of the chat!)

We have a really chill and great group of people in the chat, and above all I wanna preserve our fun vibe! But if you’d like to join in the fun vibe, watch this space!

Keep in mind, our group is a pro-LGBT, pro-BLM, anti-racist and anti-N*zi space! We don’t discuss a ton of politics, but I’ll just put that out there to save some folks some time!

[lucidpantone]

Modified anon: Do you have discord? There is a skam groupchat on there. Check out what -------- is saying about you?

hi anon. I’ave heard but not read but I got the cliff notes version of what people have been saying. You’re the 4th person to flag the chatter to me. Thank you for feeling like you needed to inform me. It’s a bit weird that there is a whole group chat occurring about my personal life and trying to uncover personal details about me or head-canoning those details but I can’t really control others ya know? However this highlights one thing which is I was right not to expose personal details about myself on the blog because the one time I have which was celebrating closing on my apt people weaponized an achievement that I consider a milestone in my life and something that anyone should be rightfully proud of to ridicule me and assume things about my life that aren’t even remotely true. 

So all I gotta say to this. Ladies especially those who are woc dragging me or inciting a conversation that seeks to uncover personal details about me (to do what exactly with? Dox me?) or generate presumptions about my life. You have never even had a conversation with me.  What are you doing?? Also every time I hear a brown/black sister is buying property, getting promoted in a job, buying herself a pair of boobs, botox or hair extensions, or generally just making boss moves maybe lets not sit there as women and call those women liars, lacking dignity or tearing into them for their age (or making passive comments that imply I did some shady shit on the side to garner things ). I didn’t I worked really hard for the last few years in grueling jobs that almost broke me to be able to save up to buy a place and even then because my generation has been so screwed over by unrealistic housing prices I could only do it because a pandemic collapsed the NY market and my father helped me out greatly. I wouldn't have been able to do it on my own because sadly the game is rigged against us. Especially single women of color who strive to succeed.  Also folks I am not 40 years old am in my early 30′s (and damn well proud of it!) but if I was 40 what would be the issue? 

Last thing, its a shame this has happened because let me tell you there is some wonderful women in their late 20′s and early 30′s in the tag (not publicly). There is a doctor, an attorney, a teacher, a marketing exec and an array of really funny well educated women who just use tumblr as a form of decompression(oh and they own homes too btw) because in the working adult world women are always expected to be on and you cant really ever just be your fun silly self without getting judged or exploiting a vulnerability. So sadly this occurrences makes me and probably those other women not really want to exchange thoughts in fear of getting Doxed or called a liar or judged. Its a shame because women should all collectively aim at creating spaces in where we can exchange thought. Whether it be: “Hey, you mentioned you get laser whats it like am curious?” or “Am applying into grad school and you went there right? can you read my essay see what you think?” or “Hey am queer and you’re pretty open about having alot of sexual partners from different genders?What kind of protection do you use with different gendered partners to prevent from STI, STDS?”. These are all questions I was always open to answering but now I just feel like I have to close myself off and that really sucks and also I love your guys support too. 

For example I was gonna make a whole side blog detailing my whole renovation adventure for my new place(it a complete dump a total  fixer upper fyi). A light hearted comical  side blog being like “oh so your a single girl who is going to attempt to renovate without past experience and no man!!”. Read my blog detailing everything you should not do because I did it! hahahaha. I thought it would be a cute journey to share with you guys but now its like okay. Well i guess I cant because am paranoid if I show you to much of my building your just gonna dox me. Like this sucks and am honestly really bummed about this because I wanted to share this with you guys. Plus you could help me pick out wall paint or kitchen hardware and it just be a fun light hearted thing. Anyhow..... I know these people talking about me are the few not the many and trust me I know how many wonderful people are on tumblr. They are so many amazing people I would have never met any other way. Anyways lets not end on a bad note and buy the discord posse some shots. God knows they need the alcohol to cleanse their soul!

[topweeklyupdate]

TØP Weekly Update #134: Hey Kids (5/15/20)

Howdy, folks! Last Friday, your boy had the chance to either spend time with his girlfriend that he hadn’t seen in a month due to a global pandemic or spend two hours writing an update on the goings-on in the Twenty One Pilots world. It really wasn’t that hard a choice. I hope ya’ll understand.

But boy if it wasn’t a rough time to sign off, because there was so, so much content to go through. So much that I won’t even be able to list it all here to my usual level of depth. But I’ll do my absolute best to sum up everything that’s gone down the last few weeks. 

Zane Lowe on Beats 1. What else is there to say? Two hours of Tyler Joseph talking to one of the most artist-focused interviewers of our time, listening to his favorite artists and going in-depth about his process. From hearing him talk about how Ben Folds’ albums taught him how “the piano returns back the energy you give it” to him showing his pretty deep knowledge the cyclical history of music, there’s a lot to satisfy a guy who gets a little sad every time that Tyler says he barely listens to new music anymore. He talks about going out on a limb with “Jumpsuit” and getting “frustrated” when picking apart Radiohead. He shares really small artists that Zane has never heard of. They watch a clip of his first ever performance. He talks about making formative memories with Death Cab as the soundtrack in the same way that we all did with Twenty One Pilots.

And speaking of new music: Tyler mentioned in this interview (as well as a few other places) that he is actively working on a record right now that will come out “sooner than we planned on releasing a record”. He elaborated that it’s probably not going to be part of the Dema story, emphasizing that our presence at live shows is too important in shaping that and that this will most likely be a sort of ‘in-between’ project. I’d love to go in-depth speculating what that project will look like... but there’s just too much. We’ll save that for a less busy week.

Zane Lowe didn’t give us the only sweet bit of Tyler content from the last few weeks. Tyler dropped into a Zoom chat with the Columbus Music Commission. Tyler’s contribution is great, but the whole 1.5 hour conversation is really worth listening to, as managers Chris Woltman and Brad Gibson have a lot of great stories to share about how they got the band started in the early days, and exec Peter Ganbarg gives great insight into how they got involved. Tyler himself acknowledges that the band doesn’t happen without these men. Really, really fascinating stuff.

One of the most special bits of Tyler content was even more direct: a Q&A he participated in with Mark on Discord Clique. This was Tyler at his most relaxed and honest: sarcastic, funny, hilarious, and genuinely kind. He teased us that we haven’t found everything about Dema yet, and talked about projects like the original “Migraine” video that never saw the light of day. Perhaps most significantly, he finally talks about just what exactly the religion of Vialism is: a worship of self-glorifying suicide. Tyler talks about how “Neon Gravestones” was the only song he received real push-back from the label on because of the content.

There have been more than a few other interviews with the band over the last two weeks. There’s not really much in them that’s new, but there are some good details about diaper changing, and it’s always nice to hear Josh’s voice. This one with Josh is really very good because the interviewer has a mutual friend and goes out of his way “to avoid monotonous questions”- we get info about how he built his first home studio, how he takes care of his body, and- most importantly- what his favorite pizza crust size is. He even calls back when the call drops- what a sweetheart. Over with ol’ pal Stryker, Tyler talks about Rosie’s disinterest in his talent and ranks his own songs.

The chart trajectory of “Level of Concern” has been a little interesting. On the one hand, it reached Alternative #1 faster than any song since “Jumpsuit”. That said, it doesn’t seem like it’s going to become a massive hit, as it’s been falling down the Hot 100 pretty steadily and tons of Covid-related songs from more mainstream artists have been steadily streaming out. But that’s ok- as I’ve said countless times since the release of Trench and will continue to say until the sun burns out, they made their money, now they making their art.

Besides, Trench went Platinum this week, and Blurryface has been on the Billboard 200 for five years. Just saying- they’ll be fine.

Tyler and Jenna have continued to be pretty open about their time at home with Rosie. After sharing a picture of his latest hairstyle, Tyler went nuts on Instagram and recreated old Vines. Josh is in the filmmaking mood too, as he’s been trying to launch his TikTok career with videos about apple cutters or something.

Whew. I know that’s not even close to everything. I know that Tyler’s dad’s been giving a bunch of interviews to Pop Song Professor about old music, and I haven’t even had time to watch them. I know there’s details and morsels from all of those interviews I’ve yet to pick out. Listen, homies, I’ve got papers to write and grade. I’ve given y’all plenty to chew on... until next week.

Power to the local dreamer.

|-/