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seonghwaddict · 1 year ago

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save a horse, ride your best friend — song mingi

in which your best friend can’t believe you’ve never ridden a dick before, so he takes it upon himself to teach you.

best friend!song mingi x fem!reader. requested by anon. genre. slight fluff. smut. best friends to friends with benefits. warnings. explicit sexual content mdni, inexperienced!reader, thigh riding, fingering, use of a dildo, big dick!mingi, multiple orgasms, unprotected, creampie, swearing, nicknames (baby, angel, pretty). wc. 4k. rating. mature.

lilo’s notes. this was requested a while ago but i’ve been putting it off because… i’ve never written anything about toys being used so uh, i was worried about the pacing and stuff. i wasn’t sure if you meant for them to be in an established relationship, so i went for the fwb route. IMPORTANT!!!! i lost access to my google account bc of a stupid mistake, if you sent in a request through my google form and would still like me to see it, please send it as an ask <33 i remember a few of them, but do send yours in just in case!!

listening to. need to know, doja cat // if u think i’m pretty, artemas // moonlight, kali uchis

masterlist.

it was a regular saturday evening. you were on a video call with your best friend, mingi, talking about anything that came to mind as you each ate a bowl of ramen as if you were really in the same room. he really only lived a couple buildings away, a two minute walk at most, but actually joining you in your apartment didn’t cross his mind until something interesting was brought up.

you weren’t sure what led to the conversation, but somehow it steered into the direction of something less innocent as you found yourself talking about an embarrassing date you’d gone on a while ago. recounting the story, laughing together, soon turned into a conversation about what each of you like in bed.

“oh, it’s just amazing,” mingi laughed as he gulped down a mouthful of water, momentarily pausing his rambling about how much he loves it when someone rides his dick. he ran a his hand through his short, washed-out pink hair, “honestly, my favourite thing ever since it probably feels just as good for whoever is, y’know, riding.”

based on everything he’s said so far, you came to the conclusion that he was more into giving than receiving, that he got off on seeing all the pleasure he can give his partner. so, it made sense he’d choose to mention the fact that riding him would feel good. not that you would know.

“can i admit something?”

he looked up from his bowl, sharp eyes looking almost hopeful as he nodded.

you looked around your kitchen jokingly, pretending to make sure no one sense was listened as you leaned closer a whispered, your hand cupping the side of your mouth.

“i’ve never done that before.”

his jaw dropped at that, letting out a small laugh. “you’re kidding.”

“no, really,” you insisted, going back to eating casually as if you were having the most normal conversation in the world with your best friend, “i really haven’t done… much, so i can’t confirm or deny your theory.”

“huh.” he leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms as he thought for a moment. his head tilted and it was then that you felt how warm your cheeks felt, how your thighs were pressed together under the counter. of course, he was well aware of the fact that you had much less experience than him, only knowing about two people you had slept with. but damn. he clicked his tongue and shook his head ever so slightly. “that won’t do.”

furrowing your eyebrows, you opened your mouth to ask him what he had meant by that. he beat you to it before you could get a word out.

“i can… teach you, if you want?”

you blinked at your screen, resting your wrist on your countertop and gripping your chopsticks a little too hard. a silence followed his offer, though it wasn’t awkward. in fact, he could see you genuinely considering it as you thought it over. eventually, you gave him a tiny nod.

“i mean,” you shrugged, shifting your eyes away shyly, “sure, i guess. why not?”

he grinned, trying to hide it as he shoved a mouthful of noodles into his mouth and shoved his bowl aside. he chewed, swallowed then got up and made sure to bring his phone with him. you recognised his hallways then bedroom as he walked through his apartment. “i’ll be there in like 15, i need to buy something on the way. just wait there, and where something comfortable and… um, accessible.”

you nodded, despite your confusion, and he hung up. accessible? you looked down at your clothing—or rather, lack thereof. since you were home and not expecting anyone, you’d settled on wearing just a shirt you stole from mingi that was too large for him and much larger for you, and panties. you lifted the hem of the worn shirt, assessing how much of your dignity you’d lose if he saw your pink hello kitty undergarments that you only wore if you were doing laundry.

you could already hear him giggling at the sight.

groaning and cursing under your breath, you dropped the shirt and sped to your bedroom to dig through your closet in hopes of finding something a little more appealing. after making a mess of one of your closet’s drawers, you finally pulled out a pair of less offensive panties. they were made of soft cotton; a muted light blue with thin white lace trim, the cut shaped more like a bikini than what you call your grandma underwear.

deciding they were flattering enough, you slipped off your hello kitty pair—ignoring the embarrassing amount of wetness creating a wet patch right where it was pressed against your core—and replaced it with the new pair. as you untwisted the waistband and adjusted it to fit properly, your doorbell rang and you froze on the spot before pulling yourself together and heading to open the door.

the walk to the door felt abnormally long as you stumbled over on wobbly knees. admittedly, you were a little nervous. sure, there have been times where you wanted to do some more than friendly activities with mingi, but you never actually thought it was happen. yet here you were, opening the door for him so he could come in and show you what being a cowgirl feels like.

“hey,” he greeted you softly, stepping into your home and closing the door behind him. you noticed a small plastic bag in his hand, eying it curiously as you watched him kick off his shoes and hang up his coat. once that was of the way, he took one of your hands in your free one and pulled you to where he knew your bedroom was.

once there, he set the bag down on your bedside table and dragged you to stand between his knees as he took a seat on the edge of your bed. he looked you over, lingering on the familiar t-shirt.

“so you’re the one that took this shirt, huh?” he quirked an eyebrow, glancing up at you as he released your hand and brought both of his to your hips. his thumbs caressed the curve of your waist over the shirt. “it was my favourite.”

you laughed softly, “clearly you didn’t care enough if i was able to keep it for three years without you noticing.”

“you little thief.” his nose scrunched as he glared at you jokingly, giving you a gentle squeeze.

“if you really want it back, you can always take it.”

“nah, it’s fine, keep it. it looks cuter on you anyway.” he took a breath and gave you another once over, humming appreciatively when he moved his hands up higher, dragging the shirt with it until he caught a glimpse of your panties. you tensed, caught off guard by how close he felt. “i need you to relax a little, how about i help you loosen up, yeah?”

you nodded, averting your gaze but returning it to him when you felt him pull you onto his lap. he slotted one of his legs between yours, easing you down to straddle his thigh. his hands ran up and down your sides and few times before resting on your bare thighs, your breath stuttered and he held back a smile.

“are you still okay with this?” he asked quietly, absentmindedly playing with the hem of his your shirt. “if i do anything that makes you uncomfortable, just tell me and i’ll stop immediately and we can just watch a movie or something, okay?” when you only nodded, he continued, “i need you to say it, please.”

“i’m okay with this,” you muttered in return, resting you hands on his biceps, “and i’ll let you know if i need you to stop.”

“good, now…” without waiting any longer, he leaned forward to attach his lips to your neck, his hands slowly beginning to rock you back and forth on his lap.

you sucked in a sharp breath and clung into his arms a little tighter, your stomach fluttering at the feeling of your clothed cunt on his firm thigh, your panties dragging against your clit with ease thanks to how wet you already were. he lifted you slightly as he pulled you towards him, pushing you down as he pushed, the varying pressure making your lips part in a soft whimper. he nearly groaned at the sound, moving his lips right below your ear.

“you know,” he rasped between the licks and kisses, “i can’t deny that i’ve wanted to fuck you for a long, long time now.”

“r-really?”

mingi chuckled as he pulled back to look at your face, half surprised and half needy. he noticed that if he relaxed his hands, you’d continue grinding against his thigh.

“yeah, really. i mean, look at you,” he glanced down, one of his hands lifting the hem of your shirt to watch you ride his thigh slowly, a dark wet patch forming right where your leaking pussy sat. he bit his lip, “you look so perfect… and i bet you’d feel perfect, too.”

you nearly whined at that, fucking yourself on his thigh just a little faster as he sucked a dark mark right above your collarbone before returning to mutter dirty words into your ear.

“i know practically everything about you and your cute little body, you know. better than anyone else,” one of his hands inched it’s way up your thighs, brushing against the edge of your panties, “i’ll make you feel so good, angel, i promise.”

“mingi?” you whimpered, prompting him to lean back a little to look at you with a curious tilt of his head and a raised brow. “if you don’t shut up and kiss me right now, i might lose my mind so… please.”

his beautifully plump lips stretched into a smile as he wasted no time in practically pouncing forward and smashing his lips against yours. it started a little slow as you got acquainted with each other, despite the fact you could feel a nearing orgasm as a knot in your stomach drew tighter with each roll of your hips, but soon the kiss turned hungry.

he groaned into your mouth as you let his tongue explore, making you let out a quiet moan. mingi knew he wouldn’t be able to kiss anyone ever again. you, his best friend of all people, had the most inviting lips he’s ever felt. so inviting, so perfect and so soft. he thought everything about was soft. his hand slipped just under the edge of your panties as his other one made your grinds slow down.

you didn’t mind the slow pace, knowing just a few more rocks of your hips would have you tipping over the edge. but he evidently had other plans as he finally made your hips still completely. you pulled away from his lips with a pout. if you were trying to make him feel bad, it backfired terribly.

all he could think of as he looks at your swollen, red, wet, pouty lips is how much prettier they’d look wrapped around his cock. but he could save that for another time.

“there’s no need to rush, baby,” he chuckled, wiping some saliva away from your bottom lip.

eventually, when he was sure you had calmed down enough, he lifted you off his lap a little and turned to lay you down on your back, pressed against the comfortable mattress as he kneeled on the edge. he gripped your knees and bent them, pushing them closer to your chest with his eyes zeroed in on where your slick was leaking through your panties.

with one hand keeping your knees together and elevated, he ran his other over the fabric, pressing down on where he knew your clot would be and elicit a sweet little moan as you squirmed beneath him. he thought you were so cute like this, you looked so flustered as he gave you nothing but featherlight touches where you needed him most. for now.

“don’t get all shy on me now,” he cooed as he glanced up and noticed you covering your face with your hands, “let me see you, pretty.”

he didn’t continue his touches until you finally removed your hands, giving him a nice view of your abused lips and round eyes, pupils blown wide with lust in a way that had something stirring in his abdomen. and his pants.

he let down your knees for a moment so both of his hands could slip under the waistband of your panties, slowly pulling them down your legs. he actually moaned when he saw the strings of arousal clutching onto the fabric as he dragged it away, snapping when he got too far.

“you’re so pretty, baby,” he murmured, watching your entrance squeeze around nothing, making more slick drip out.

after tossing it aside, he wasted no time in getting your knees back to the previous position and running his fingers through your folds.

“oh, fuck,” he groaned, eyes squeezing shut for a moment as you let out a moan when he tapped against your clit, “you’re soaked.”

he glanced up at you, wanting to see your face as he slowly pushed in too fingers and catching a glimpse of your hard nipples poking through your shirt. your face contorted for s fraction of s second before relaxing, your head tipping back against the mattress as you let out a whine.

he choked back a moan at the tight walls around his middle and ring fingers, the fingers of his other hand digging into your thighs. “sh-shit… you’re so tight. i’m gonna have to stretch you out first, okay?”

you nodded mindlessly, too distracted by his fingers prodding at your sweet spot to care about any words he may have said. but you furrowed your eyebrows and lifted your head when you felt both his hands leave you, finding him reaching for the bag. your curiosity outweighed your disappointment as he pulled something out.

it was a dildo. about as thick and long as the biggest person you had before, and made of what looked to be transparent silicon. your insides tightened at the sight, somehow the thought of him seemingly buying this just for you turning you on even more.

he returned to kneeling at the edge of your bed, leaning down to loop his arm around your waist and lift you up to place a pillow under your hips before letting lay back down.

“couldn’t find one my size, but this should be fine,” he held the dildo and ran the tip through your pussy, collecting wetness as you shuddered, “my cock will just have to stretch you the rest of the way.”

you breath hitched at the implication of his words. so he was bigger than that? your thighs pressed together at the thought of being completely stuffed by him. he chuckled, separating your knees enough for him to have a clear view of your pussy, pulsing and dripping and begging for his attention.

he began slipping the toy into you, filling you up inch by inch and watching your needy hole stretch around it and swallow it up. the sight had him choking back a moan, biting down on his bottom lip.

the stretch had your back arching and pushing yourself against it desperately, feeling like that alone could get you to finish. it only took a few deep strokes for your pussy to get used to the size, squeezing and writhing around it until you couldn’t handle it anymore. your arousal coated it quickly and seeped out with each stroke, squelching sounds filling the room that shot straight to his dick.

when you finally came, your toes curled and your body twitched as you let out a string of and whines and moans, little curses slipping between. he watched with fascination as you came undone right beneath him, not wanting to wait any longer to be inside you. he shoved the toy deep inside you, leaving it there as he leaned back for a moment to discard his clothes, slipping his hoodie and sweatpants off.

when you were brought back to your senses, you found yourself on his lap again, straddling his hips this time as he sat with his back against your headboard. you felt his erectile straining against his boxers and pressing against your core. you couldn’t help but rock your hips against his slowly.

“do you ever ride your pillow?” he asked suddenly, voice dropped what felt like two octaves lower than his regular tone. your eyes widened at the question but you nodded. he nodded too, his hands finding your ass and helping you grind against his clothes length. “this is a lot like that, except you have something in you… and it’s more of an up and down movement… and i’m obviously not a pillow… still, there’s really no right way to do it, just go slow and you’ll figure out what works and what doesn’t. plus, i’m here to guide you.”

he gave your ass a squeeze as if to punctuate his sentence, massaging the soft flesh in his palms. when you felt ready, you dropped your hands from his shoulders to his boxers, palming his length a few times before hooking your fingers into the fabric and dragging it down until his cock sprung out.

he definitely wasn’t lying when he said it would stretch you more than the already-big dildo. he was definitely a lot bigger than anyone else you’ve been with, well over average. you nearly dropped at the sight, wrapping your hand around him and jerking him off, eyes fixated on the angry red tip leaking precum as you passed your thumb over it.

the muscles of his abs rippled and squeezed as your worked your hands on his cock, his head thrown back against the headboard and letting out stuttering moans. all the sounds he made encourage you to sit up on your knees, guiding him through your folds and whimpering as you finally sank down on him carefully.

the two of you moaned at the same time, him at how well you squeezed around him and you at how well he stretched you. you stopped when you reached just halfway, unsure whether or not you’d be able to fit more. his hips jerked slightly as his hands squeezed your hips.

“come on, baby,” he moaned softly, looking up at you with encouraging eyes, “just a little more… we can make it fit, right? just breathe.”

you nodded and as you took a deep breath, he used his hold on your to sink you further down until he finally bottomed out. he cursed silently, the back of his head finding the headboard again as you whined and dropped yours onto his shoulder.

you felt his tip pushing against your cervix, the new feeling making a lump form in your throat as you blinked back tears. this time it took a while to get used to the stretch before you tried grinding back and forth. it was slow, almost painfully so. he was amazed that despite stretching you with two different things, you were still so unbelievably tight, hugging him in a death grip as your raised your hips an inch before dropping down again.

your soft noises were muffled by his shoulder as your hands rested on his biceps, panting and squeezing gently as every inch of him dragged against the sensitive spongy patch in your walls every time you grinded on him. soon enough you were able to lift yourself to his tip and drop all the way down, your wetness letting him slip in and out with ease.

still, you kept the pace torturously slow, savouring each bounce and grind. his hands had left your hips at some point, exploring your body under your shirt, massaging your breasts and tweaking your nipples. he lifted the fabric but kept it on your as he watched your tits bounce temptingly, your puffy pink nipples making his mouth water as he pushed himself forward to take one into his mouth.

your hips stuttered as he sucked and nibbled at your nipples, throwing your head back and arching into his touch as your grinds grew sloppy. he felt your decreasing pace, using the hand that wasn’t teasing your other breast to guide your hips once more. he angled you slightly differently in a way that made your clit press against his pelvis each time he bottomed out, the speed of your grinds picking up quickly as his hips bucked up to meet yours.

his lips detached from your bruised breasts with a popping sound as he leaned up to capture your lips in his once again. it wasn’t much of a kiss, more teeth and tongue and moans and groans than anything else as you swallowed each other’s sounds.

you finished first, pushing yourself down hard and stilling, filling yourself with his throbbing cock and pressing your clit against him. he held you tightly, burying his face in your neck to suck at all the spot he knew would get your to writhe. many tickling fights contributed to his knowledge on all your sensitive spots.

your body twitched as you returned to bouncing on his length, your juices looking at his base. the overstimulation burned a little, making your thighs and knees quiver, but you were determined to get him to finish too. and by the looks of it, it shouldn’t take much longer.

“shit, baby,” he said, halfway between a whimper and a moan, fingertips digging into your hips as he threw his head back in bliss, “‘m so close— fuck, you feel s-so good.”

his chest rose and fell with shallow breaths, bottom lip caught between his teeth. his cheeks and the tip of his ears flushed a deep red, his plush lips a few shades darker and coated in your mixed saliva from your kisses. as you adjusted the angle of your hips, something in him snapped, grabbing your hips tighter and taking over. he took over your movements, thrusting his hips up desperately as you fell forward onto his chest with the sudden change in intensity. his tip pushed itself against your g-spot continually, another knot tightening in your stomach.

the wet sounds of your cunt and your skin slapping against his egged him on until finally he felt like he couldn’t hold back any longer.

“baby, p-please— fuck— please, can i cum i-inside you?” he begged through a groan, “i— please, angel, i-i can’t wait any longer.”

you nodded against his chest with a whine, you were on the pill anyway. not a second later, he released into you, filling you up with stuttering hips. he pulled you down, flush against him and keeping you there as he emptied himself with softly muttered curses, his head dropping to press open-mouthed kisses to your shoulder.

it felt new to you, the warmth making you squirm until you came again without warning. it was much weaker this time but still enough to make you shake in his arms, panting softly after letting out a strangled moan against his skin.

after a few long moments of trying to recover from the shared orgasm, he lifted his head, one of his hands cupping your chin to tilt your head to look at him.

“so,” he started, lips stretched into a smile, “how’d that feel?”

“fucking amazing.” you rolled your eyes at how smug he looked after your confession, not protesting as he leaned forward to kiss you.

this one was much softer than the previous kisses you shared, much more tender. it was a lot shorter too, he pulled away first to rest his forehead against yours.

“yeah?” he whispered, kissing the corner of your lips, “just wait until i hit it from the back.”

networks. @cromernet @wonderlandnet @cultofdionysusnet @pirateeznet

permanent taglist. @ad0rechuu @sankatchu @mlink64 @yeosangsbb @seonghwasbbgirl @likexaxdaydream @dreamingofyeo @yalyallic @yunhoswrldddd @coffee-addict-kitten @thunderous-wolf @chngbnwf

#cromernet #wonderlandnet #cultofdionysusnet #pirateeznet #ateez #ateez x reader #song mingi smut #mingi x reader #mingi reactions #mingi imagines #mingi smut #mingi fluff #mingi angst #ateez imagines #ateez reactions #ateez fluff #ateez smut

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c1nnamxniris · 2 months ago

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How I used Psych-k to reprogram my limiting beliefs

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What is Psych-k?

͏˚˖𓍢ִ໋☕️ Psych-k is a process which changes subconscious beliefs that limits a person’s potential. It involves reshaping your beliefs into thoughts that can positively impact your life.

͏˚˖𓍢ִ໋☕️ This relates to manifestation because psych-k can help you identify limiting beliefs and reprogram these into thoughts that will benefit you.

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Affirmations I used

͏˚˖𓍢ִ໋☕️ Some of the affirmations that I’ve used include:

I let go of every limiting belief I have that no longer serves me

I let go of every doubt I have that no longer serves me

I do not identify with struggle anymore

I’m allowed to believe new things about myself now

Circumstances don’t matter to me, I’ll still manifest anything I want

I manifest instantly

͏˚˖𓍢ִ໋☕️ I do want to mention that a few of these affirmations came from @princessaffirms's why are you DEFENDING your LIMITING beliefs post. It's really insightful and I do recommend reading this if you want more information about limiting beliefs.

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My personal experience

͏˚˖𓍢ִ໋☕️ First and foremost, before we go into the psych-k sessions and what to expect, I really recommend you do a test to see where you fall.

͏˚˖𓍢ִ໋☕️ There is many different tests you could do, but me personally I have done the o-ring test. Basically, you form a “O” with your thumb and the other finger, you should use your non-dominant hand with this. Then you would form a ring with your dominant hand and gently pull on the “O-ring.” Then say a limiting belief that you have out loud and do the test.

͏˚˖𓍢ִ໋☕️ Here’s a video that details this -> ☕️

͏˚˖𓍢ִ໋☕️ If it’s a strong response, the ring would not break apart. However, a weak response means the ring would break apart. If you produced a weak response, do this test again and ask your subconscious mind if you can integrate a new belief into them. If you have a weak response, I recommend you write it out using a journal or any writing program like Google Docs or Notes app. Basically with how I did it, I would write down a limiting belief but then I would provide a counterargument for that limiting belief.

͏˚˖𓍢ִ໋☕️ Here's an example: "Manifesting takes forever for me." -> "Manifesting is instant for me."

͏˚˖𓍢ִ໋☕️ Then I would write down all of my limiting beliefs and provide counterarguments for each one. Afterwards, I would do the test again and ask your subconscious mind if you can integrate a new belief. If you get a weak response, keep going and write out limiting beliefs that you have. If you have a strong response, you can test proceed to the session.

͏˚˖𓍢ִ໋☕️ Now here's how I approach my psych-k sessions. First, I would create affirmations that I can use, these affirmations will basically be what you use during your sessions. Then I would record these affirmations using the Parrot app. Although I primarily use the Parrot app, you can also say these affirmations out loud. Then afterwards, I would find somewhere that is calm and you know there wouldn't be any distractions. Next, establish a position you would use, I personally did this position (here) but I crossed my legs instead of my ankles. I would want to add that you should do all 4 combinations to reach all the different parts of the brain. Then set a time limit, I personally reach for 5 minutes per combination but you can do more than that if you choose. Then after setting a time limit, I would start the session, whether that's looping your affirmations on Parrot or say them out loud.

͏˚˖𓍢ִ໋☕️ After the session, First I would do this, that way you are saving the belief, Then I would do the O-ring test again and move on with your day. Now even with one session, you can produce a strong response, but you can do more sessions to solidify your beliefs if you choose to.

͏˚˖𓍢ִ໋☕️ In my experience, after doing this, I noticed that manifestation wasn't a struggle for me anymore. I allowed myself to integrate this new belief into my subconscious mind and ever since I have gotten amazing results. So, please if you want to reprogram your beliefs, try this out and you will never look back!

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Resources I’ve used

͏˚˖𓍢ִ໋☕️ Here is some resources I've personally used when starting my journey.

͏˚˖𓍢ִ໋☕️ Rewire Your Brain: PSYCH K Explained

͏˚˖𓍢ִ໋☕️ PSYCH-K by @chaisshitposts

͏˚˖𓍢ִ໋☕️ 4 MINTUE Reprogramming of the 'SUBCONSCIOUS MIND"

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#psych k #psych-k #manifestation #loablr #loa tumblr #loa blog #master manifestor #loa success #law of assumption #loassumption #subliminals #limiting beliefs #c1nnamxniris

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thegreatyin · 2 months ago

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What, precisely, is fallen London, and how can I play it? Ive been told it's a browser game, will it work on my phones browser or only my computer's?

SWEEPS EVERYTHING OFF MY DESK. SLAMS MY HANDS ON THE COUNTER. you're in luck because advertising this game is apparently my specialty.

fallen london is a free browser game that works on anything with an internet connection!! laptops, phones, tablets, the decade old 3ds you have stashed in the back of your closet- if you can open a web browser, you can run fallen london. the UI obviously differs between desktop and mobile, and desktop has the benefit of extensions that can make your life marginally easier, but that's all a strictly optional affair.

as for the game's actual contents; fallen london is a text-based horror game closely reminiscent of classic "choose your own adventure" books. you play as a new arrival to an alternate history version of victorian london that now flourishes in a deep, dark, marvelous (and more than slightly eldritch!) cavern known as "the neath", with the goal of making your name and ultimately pursuing one of the four possible ambitions that brought you here to begin with. along the way you encounter a wide variety of strange and inexplicable things, including but not limited to;

men with the faces of squid (who are not truly men)

actual real soul-stealing devils (who originate from Actual Real Hell, which is also london's next door neighbor)

snakes that are eternally bound to the realm beyond mirrors (who have an infamous feud with sapient talking cats)

treacheries of time, law, and all that which the gods hold dear (including the ability to bypass death itself)

sirens who are convinced they're dead (in a place where, as stated, death is easily bypassed)

sentient landmasses that get REALLY annoyed if you don't pay your taxes on time (and are also single and ready to mingle)

fabric that is not fabric (which is held in quite high value by certain giant bat monsters)

spiders that eat eyeballs (but are, fortunately, easily distracted by shakespeare)

genres of colors you didn't think possible (in seven fantastical flavors!)

batkissing (not canonically, but in our hearts)

batfucking (this is, somehow, marginally more canon than the above thing)

batmarriage (no.)

batdivorce (in comically large spades)

The Hat Man (who's in love with and yearns to become like a sentient island)

gay people (a lot of them)

trans people (also a lot of them)

doomed love, in all possible forms (as well as those who try and collect it)

this thing (this thing)

and last- but certainly not least-

a pitiful hope that perhaps, just perhaps, all shall one day be well. (even when you know it won't be.)

it's a game with lore as deep as the ocean, and a staggering wordcount (4.5 million!) to boot. it's not perfect, but it's something i've grown to love deeply, and in my experience? if it doesn't click for you, that's understandable. but if it clicks for you, it really does click for you. i recommend it to anyone and everyone who so much as looks its way. who knows! it may just surprise you 🦇☀️🦀🌃

as a further incentive, here are some out-of-context items and excerpts:

as stated, you can play it right now for free at fallen london dot com. there is a subscription and a small bounty of microtransactions on offer if you want to support the development team, but at no point is this ever required, and you will be playing for years before you reach the end of stuff to accomplish. all major content updates are free and available to all players, and FOMO to this day remains virtually non-existent. as once again stated, the browser specs are non-existent. if you can run google, you can run fallen london.

so head on down!! give the neath a try!! follow admiralty orders and dump a bunch of bombs directly into the zee (underground sea) whilst accidentally waking up a giant grieving sea urchin that screams fire and violently pursues your demise!! (that's what we're all doing right now, anyway.)

if the browser game isn't for you, there's also other outlets with which to explore the universe. you can find the spinoff games Sunless Seas, Sunless Skies, and Mask of The Rose available to purchase right now on steam, and there's recently been a very successful kickstarter to adapt the game into a TTRPG. it looks very cool so far. im very very very excited for it :)

in lieu of having to come up with a conclusion for this ask, im instead going to direct you to the MoTR stupendium song (which you'll find linked below). it says far more and advertises far better than i could ever dream of. also, it's a straight bop, and "all ends/swords pens" has lived rent-free in my brain for months.

youtube

welcome to the neath, delicious friend. we hope you enjoy your stay ❤️

#ask #fallen london #long post

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ao3topshipsbracket · 6 months ago

Text

Top Femslash Ships Bracket: Seeding

As promised, we're back with a new bracket! However, we're doing things a little differently this time. Rather than taking the data for seeding directly from a ranked list, we want you guys to be a part of the seeding process!

> Here is the Femslash Bracket Seeding Survey! <

This survey contains a list of over 100 ships, pulled from centreoftheselights's AO3 ship stats for 2023 and 2024, and Tumblr's year in review, as well as a few submissions that are not on either list but are considered iconic or historically important. It asks two questions: which ships have you heard of, and which ships do you view positively? The final seeding for the bracket will be based on a ratio of these numbers, from which we will rank the top 96!

A few notes regarding this survey:

Please answer as honestly as you can! Yes, that does mean going through a long list of ships twice in order to check all the relevant boxes, but such is the price we pay for accurate data.

Please only submit the survey once! While we normally delight in voter fraud, artificially boosting your favorite ship in this survey will only skew the results with no benefit; in fact, it could potentially hurt your chances in the actual bracket!

Do, however, feel free to reblog this post so we get a larger sample size.

The form does require that you be logged into a Google account; however, we are not collecting email addresses, and responses will be fully anonymous.

As always, this poll is a celebration of fandom and fandom history; we're aware that there are certain issues with many of the listed pairings and sources, but they are a part of that history. Please do not take this as an endorsement, and refrain from harassment.

We will be collecting responses until December 22, at 11:59 pm EST.

Take the survey here!

And, if you'd like to review the ships before you click through, here's the full list below the cut (listed alphabetically by source)

The 100 - Clarke Griffin/Lexa

Adventure Time - Princess Bubblegum/Marceline

Aespa (Band) - Kim Minjeong | Winter/Yu Jimin | Karina

Agatha All Along (TV) - Agatha Harkness/Rio Vidal

Agent Carter (TV) - Peggy Carter/Angie Martinelli

Agents of SHIELD (TV) - Jemma Simmons/Skye | Daisy Johnson

The Amazing Digital Circus - Pomni/Ragatha

Amphibia - Anne Boonchuy/Sasha Waybright

Amphibia - Anne Boonchuy/Marcy Wu

Arcane: League of Legends - Caitlyn/Vi

Attack on Titan - Mikasa Ackerman/Annie Leonhart

Attack on Titan - Krista Lenz | Historia Reiss/Ymir

Avatar: The Last Airbender - Azula/Ty Lee

Avatar: Legend of Korra - Korra/Asami Sato

Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Faith Lehane/Buffy Summers

Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Tara Maclay/Willow Rosenberg

Carmilla (Web Series) - Laura Hollis/Carmilla Kearnstein

Carol (2015) - Carol Aird/Therese Belivet

Criminal Minds - Jennifer "JJ" Jareau/Emily Prentiss

Critical Role - Beauregard Lionett/Yasha

Critical Role - Laudna/Imogen Temult

DC's Legends of Tomorrow - Sara Lance/Ava Sharpe

DC Universe - Pamela Isley | Poison Ivy/Harleen Quinzel | Harley Quinn

The Devil Wears Prada - Miranda Priestly/Andrea Sachs

Doctor Who - Thirteenth Doctor/Yasmin Khan

Dungeon Meshi - Marcille Donato/Falin Touden

Frozen - Anna/Elsa

Game of Thrones - Sansa Stark/Margaery Tyrell

Genshin Impact - Beidou/Ningguang

Genshin Impact - Raiden Ei | Baal/Yae Miko

Ghostbusters (2016) - Erin Gilbert/Jillian Holtzmann

Glee - Rachel Berry/Quinn Fabray

Glee - Santana Lopez/Brittany S. Pierce

Grey's Anatomy - Meredith Grey/Addison Montgomery

Haikyuu!! - Shimizu Kiyoko/Yachi Hitoka

Harry Potter - Hermione Granger/Pansy Parkinson

Harry Potter - Luna Lovegood/Ginny Weasley

The Haunting of Bly Manor (TV) - Dani Clayton/Jamie Taylor

Hawkeye (TV 2021) - Yelena Belova/Kate Bishop

Hazbin Hotel - Charlie Magne | Morningstar/Vaggie

Holby City - Serena Campbell/Bernie Wolfe

Homestuck - Rose Lalonde/Kanaya Maryam

Homestuck - Terezi Pyrope/Vriska Serket

House of the Dragon (TV) - Alicent Hightower/Rhaenyra Targaryen

Jujutsu Kaisen - Kugisaki Nobara/Zenin Maki

Killing Eve - Eve Polastri/Villanelle

The Last of Us - Dina/Ellie

Legacies (TV 2018) - Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman

Legacies (TV 2018) - Penelope Park/Josie Saltzman

Life is Strange - Rachel Amber/Chloe Price

Life is Strange - Maxine "Max" Caufield/Chloe Price

LIttle Witch Academia - Diana Cavendish/Atsuko "Akko" Kagari

The Locked Tomb - Gideon Nav/Harrowhark Nonagesimus

Marvel Cinematic Universe - Maria Hill/Natasha Romanov

Marvel Cinematic Universe - Wanda Maximoff/Natasha Romanov

Mass Effect Trilogy - Female Shepard/Liara T'Soni

Merlin (TV) - Gwen/Morgana

Miraculous Ladybug - Juleka Couffaine/Rose Lavillant

Motherland: Fort Salem (TV) - Raelle Collar/Scylla Ramshorn

My Hero Academia - Jirou Kyouka/Yaoyorozu Momo

My Hero Academia - Toga Himiko/Uraraka Ochako

Naruto - Haruno Sakura/Yamanaka Ino

NCIS: Hawai'i - Lucy Tara/Kate Whistler

The Old Guard (Movie 2020) - Andy | Andromache of Scythia/Quynh | Noriko

Once Upon a Time - Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan

Orphan Black - Delphine Cormier/Cosima Niehaus

Overwatch - Fareeha "Pharah" Amari/Angela "Mercy" Ziegler

Overwatch - Lena "Tracer" Oxton/Widowmaker | Amelie Lacroix

The Owl House - Amity Blight/Luz Noceda

Person of Interest - Root | Samantha Groves/Sameen Shaw

Pitch Perfect (Movies) - Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell

Pokemon - Hanako | Delia Ketchum/Musashi | Jessie

Power Rangers (2017) - Kimberly Hart/Trini

Project SEKAI - Akiyama Mizuki/Shinonome Ena

Project SEKAI - Azusawa Kohane/Shiraishi An

Puella Magi Madoka Magica - Akemi Homura/Kaname Madoka

Revolutionary Girl Utena - Himemiya Anthy/Tenjou Utena

Riverdale (TV 2017) - Cheryl Blossom/Toni Topaz

Rizzoli & Isles - Maura Isles/Jane Rizzoli

RWBY - Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long

RWBY - Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee

Sailor Moon - Kaiou Michiru | Sailor Neptune/Tenoh Haruka | Sailor Uranus

Shadowhunters (TV) - Clary Fray/Isabelle Lightwood

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power - Adora/Catra

Splatoon (Video Games) - Marina/Pearl

Star Trek: Voyager - Kathryn Janeway/Seven of Nine

Station 19 - Maya Bishop/Carina DeLuca

Steven Universe - Lapis Lazuli/Peridot

Steven Universe - Ruby/Sapphire

Stranger Things - Robin Buckley/Nancy Wheeler

Stranger Things - Eleven | Jane Hopper/Maxine "Max" Mayfield

Supergirl - Alex Danvers/Maggie Sawyer

Supergirl - Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor

Teen Wolf - Allison Argent/Lydia Martin

Undertale - Alphys/Undyne

Warehouse 13 - Myka Bering/Helena "H.G." Wells

Warrior Nun - Sister Beatrice/Ava Silva

Wednesday (2022) - Wednesday Addams/Enid Sinclair

Wicked - Schwartz/Holzman - Elphaba Thropp/Galinda Upland

The Wilds (TV 2020) - Shelby Goodkind/Toni Shalifoe

Women's Association Football | Soccer RPF - Tobin Heath/Christen Press

Wynonna Earp - Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught

Xena: Warrior Princess - Gabrielle/Xena

#announcement #polls

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transmutationisms · 10 months ago

Text

Art raffle for Mohammed: prints by @horreurscopes!

Alex (horreurscopes) is very generously offering these 8 gorgeous original prints to benefit Mohammed Iwais's gofundme campaign!

Mohammed @mohdiwais lives with his family in Gaza, where they have now endured 8 displacements since October 7. As of writing this (29 Aug.), his family has been separated in their most recent displacement, and half of them are sleeping on the streets. Mohammed is the provider for his siblings and their children, and his family also has injured and sick members. He wants to evacuate his most vulnerable family members as soon as possible; in the meantime, necessities like food and medicine are exorbitantly expensive in Gaza right now. verified by @/90-ghost and more details about the family here.

Raffle entries are 150 SEK (approx. $15 USD) each. You can enter as many times as you like, and the raffle will close at midnight PDT on 12 September (that's two weeks to enter!).

All of these prints can be shipped internationally.

To enter, submit proof of your donation (with date, amount, and campaign name visible) to this google form; if you have any issues you can email proof to [email protected] instead.

Mohammed's Gofundme link; donate now!

More details and additional photos of the prints available under the cut:

The raffle will close at end of day (midnight PDT, UTC -7) on 12 September.

I will then randomly draw 8 winners, and you'll choose which print you want. Winners choose in the order I drew them, so not all winners will be able to choose from all three designs.

I'll contact winners by your method of choice (tumblr url or email address); make sure you respond within 48 hours, or you forfeit your win and I'll have to re-draw!

If you have any problems with the submission form, you can also email entries to [email protected]. Make sure all donation receipts have the donation amount, date, and campaign name visible. You can email them as attachments or inline images.

Sizes vary by design, but each is a few inches larger than standard US letter size. Measurements are shown in the first set of photos :-)

Additional photos:

#raffles for palestine #interview with the vampire #iwtv #artists on tumblr #wlw art #art #mohdiwais

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mesetacadre · 3 months ago

Note

Does every single european country benefit from imperialism? Even a country like ireland?

Yes, to varying degrees. Ireland specifically is a good example because despite being fully integrated in the EU and being the fiscal headquarters of many companies like Google, it is perceived as still being an oppressed nation. In part because of the confusions created around the national question in certain European countries by the third international in its VI Congress, and partly because a large portion of "leftists" don't bother actually analyzing the current state of imperialist relations, its past as a colony of the UK has given it a good reputation to this day.

The EU is nothing more and nothing less than an organism for coordinating the imperialists of Europe and for making a more efficient use and distribution of imperialist spoils. It is not in NATO but it still has a close relationship of cooperation with it. What the UK and French monopolies get out of mining in the Congo, Ireland and the rest of the EU take part in, more or less directly.

The strongest argument could be made about the Balkans, which have a more peripheral situation wrt the EU and NATO. The monopolies of minor powers such as Austria and Sweden often carry out operations in these countries with a lot of similarities to, say, Sub-Saharan Africa, and within the EU these countries have been a stable source of a cheap workforce for decades, such as Romanians in Spain. To some extent, though, they do still recieve some benefit. The relations within the higher strata of the imperialist pyramid might be at times very unequal and predatory, but it's still the imperialist pyramid. Similarly to how minorities of the imperial core still are beneficiaries of imperialism in some form or another.

#ask #anon

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robertreich · 1 year ago

Video

youtube

Who’s to Blame for Out-Of-Control Corporate Power?

One man is especially to blame for why corporate power is out of control. And I knew him! He was my professor, then my boss. His name… Robert Bork.

Robert Bork was a notorious conservative who believed the only legitimate purpose of antitrust — that is, anti-monopoly — law is to lower prices for consumers, no matter how big corporations get. His philosophy came to dominate the federal courts and conservative economics.

I met him in 1971, when I took his antitrust class at Yale Law School. He was a large, imposing man, with a red beard and a perpetual scowl. He seemed impatient and bored with me and my classmates, who included Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham, as we challenged him repeatedly on his antitrust views.

We argued with Bork that ever-expanding corporations had too much power. Not only could they undercut rivals with lower prices and suppress wages, but they were using their spoils to influence our politics with campaign contributions. Wasn’t this cause for greater antitrust enforcement?

He had a retort for everything. Undercutting rival businesses with lower prices was a good thing because consumers like lower prices. Suppressing wages didn’t matter because employees are always free to find better jobs. He argued that courts could not possibly measure political power, so why should that matter?

Even in my mid-20s, I knew this was hogwash.

But Bork’s ideology began to spread. A few years after I took his class, he wrote a book called The Antitrust Paradox summarizing his ideas. The book heavily influenced Ronald Reagan and later helped form a basic tenet of Reaganomics — the bogus theory that says government should get out of the way and allow corporations to do as they please, including growing as big and powerful as they want.

Despite our law school sparring, Bork later gave me a job in the Department of Justice when he was solicitor general for Gerald Ford. Even though we didn’t agree on much, I enjoyed his wry sense of humor. I respected his intellect. Hell, I even came to like him.

Once President Reagan appointed Bork as an appeals court judge, his rulings further dismantled antitrust. And while his later Supreme Court nomination failed, his influence over the courts continued to grow.

Bork’s legacy is the enormous corporate power we see today, whether it’s Ticketmaster and Live Nation consolidating control over live performances, Kroger and Albertsons dominating the grocery market, or Amazon, Google, and Meta taking over the tech world.

It’s not just these high-profile companies either: in most industries, a handful of companies now control more of their markets than they did twenty years ago.

This corporate concentration costs the typical American household an estimated extra $5,000 per year. Companies have been able to jack up prices without losing customers to competitors because there is often no meaningful competition.

And huge corporations also have the power to suppress wages because workers have fewer employers from whom to get better jobs.

And how can we forget the massive flow of money these corporate giants are funneling into politics, rigging our democracy in their favor?

But the tide is beginning to turn under the Biden Administration. The Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission are fighting the monopolization of America in court, and proposing new merger guidelines to protect consumers, workers, and society.

It’s the implementation of the view that I and my law school classmates argued for back in the 1970s — one that sees corporate concentration as a problem that outweighs any theoretical benefits Bork claimed might exist.

Robert Bork would likely regard the Biden administration’s antitrust efforts with the same disdain he had for my arguments in his class all those years ago. But instead of a few outspoken law students, Bork’s philosophy is now being challenged by the full force of the federal government.

The public is waking up to the outsized power corporations wield over our economy and democracy. It’s about time.

#youtube #corporations #power #Robert Bork #economy #history #video #videos

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moodient · 1 month ago

Text

Chrysanthemum

pairing: ambessa + reader

a//n: finally GOOGLE DOCS HAS RELEASE ME FROM JAIL!! ENJOY!!

tw: character death!

Synopsis: Reader owns a flower shop called, “My Little Rose” passed down by her mother who unfortunately passed away. Ambessa who is an extreme property investor, offers to buy your flower shop but it's all you have of your mother' shop so of course you reject it, and it becomes a bet between you two, but little did you know, every time Ambessa came to visit, the chrysanthemums would bloom.

chapter one: my dormant seedling

My Little Rose was my favorite place to go when I was a kid. The interior was nothing more than floral, hanging pots all over the ceilings, bookshelves filled the spaces. Smelling the flowers as the seasons pass by, snowdrops and hellebores for the winter. The cold air kissed your nose and your cheeks as the door constantly opened and closed. Your mom used to make you your favorite hot drink as you admired the flowers, sitting on a couch that was close to the register. You watched as your mom worked, helping customers with her warm and gentle smile and pleasant and her professional ideas. As she waved them goodbye, she told you to come over, and she placed you on the table.

“Is it yummy?” She asked you, smiling at you with warmth, tenderly, loving. You nodded with your eyes filled with innocence and joy. You took another sip of your drink, it’s warm, sweet, strong and it fills your heart with happiness. If you could live in this moment over and over again you would.

Cherry blossoms and primrose for spring, your mom would take you to her favorite garden, holding your hand, walking slowly so your legs can keep up. You were now a teenager, looking at the flowers, fascinated and enticed. You didn’t even know how amazed and in love with flowers you truly were, softly touching their delicate petals, smelling their sweet aroma and pleasant pollen. Your mother watched you interact with the flowers, how gentle you were, analyzing their size, their colors, and their stems. With this, she gets an idea and slowly starts teaching you the flowers in the garden.

“You see these small flowers on the tree; these are cherry blossoms. they’re small, yes but it’s very beautiful, isn’t it?” She explains while pointing up at the tree, with colorful petals that decorated the bud of it. It was a perfect display, naturally cultivated and blooming.

You nodded as you studied its form. She holds your hand tight and walks along the sidewalk leading to the next flowers, a small bush that is covered in all types of colorful flowers, white, pink, purple, red, and blue. They’re eye-catching and precious, keeping your eyes satisfied and pleased. You let go of your mom’s hand and ran towards them.

“They’re so pretty mama!” You giggled, leaning and looking at their beautiful petals. Your mom walks close to you kissing your cheek, as she watches your excitement. She looks over to the left and quickly sits up. Calling you over, she walks you to her one of favorite flowers.

“Ah! This one is the Lily of the Valley, the scent is sweet and look how cute the head is!” she exclaimed with excitement, lifting the small flower with her finger, gently. You get close, taking closer examinations of it, it looks like small upside-down cups, the scent sugary sweet but tastes bitter, the stems tall and flowers decorated them.

You always enjoyed times like this with your mother, her infatuation with flowers never failed to surprise you, she was like an encyclopedia of all things floral. Different species of flowers of all varieties, flowers that are safe but are unappealing to the eye, dangerous ones that are beautiful, poisonous ones, even flowers that have health benefits. She knew all of them without a doubt.

For the summer, sunflowers and peonies. It was a hot day like no other, a hot summer day at your family’s vacation. It wasn’t anything extravagant, but it has its charm. It was rustic, old but beautiful. You came here from time to time, whenever you needed to be away from the people. a break from the world, this was the place to be. You and your mother would sit in the backyard, viewing the city from afar, eating your favorite fruit chilled. As you sat there, you remember seeing sunflowers and peonies spread all over the field.

“Mom! Can we take photos with the sunflowers?” You asked, excited with a handful of fruit in your mouth, it’s sweet, cold, and refreshing. Your mom glanced at you with a face full of fruit and she laughed. She licked her thumb and wiped the juice on the corner of your mouth and licked it.

“Sure, honey.” is all you needed to hear before you ran back in the house. grabbing the camera clumsily, almost slipping but you catch the camera quickly. Your mom was already ready waiting outside, with a bag of bottled water, a small blanket and even some small props. Already jumping out the door, you grab your mother’s hand and start to walk down the trail towards the meadows.

“Raise your hand a little more, sweetie!” Your mom exclaimed, looking through the camera with one eye, capturing the moment. You were facing away from the camera, looking at the sunset. Wearing a floppy hat, holding the front up with your left hand. She quickly moves towards you, lifting your hand so it’s the absolute perfect shot. It may not seem like much to you, but it meant to your mother. Seeing you like this, flowers that accentuated your aura, that lightened your mood, that made you smile when they bloomed in front of you or made you sad when they died, it made it all worthwhile for her.

Now, Fall... Dahlias and Chrysanthemums. Rain harshly fell to the ground and the wind blew in your face, making your face flinch back, and your goosebumps rise. Tears fell down your face as you looked at the gravestone. It’s your mother. It’s her name and a description on the bottom.

Mother, lover, friend, and supporter. May she rest in peace.

You held a bouquet of her favorite flowers. Daffodils, forget-me-nots and of course, white roses. It was wrapped in a pretty beige wrapping with pearls that decorated the wrapping paper in your hands, as they trembled. Your eyes bloodshot red, tear ducts dry and your throat completely closed from the crying and screams you let out. Your black attire is completely drenched in the world’s sadness, and cold from the world’s freezing heart. You walk close to her tombstone, kneeling to gently place her flowers down. You kiss the stone and close your eyes, having quick flashbacks of your mother, all the winters, the springs, the summers, and the fall.

“I’ll visit you every week, mother. I swear it.” You said, standing up, slowly walking away from the tombstone where your loved one was placed. You looked back one more time, eyes becoming weary and watery once more. Feeling regret and remorse, wishing you had more time. Another time to remember her, the sweet memories, the flowers... The flowers? The Flowers! You quickly ran back to the flower shop, My Little Rose. Unlocking the door, to see the flowers were still in good condition, you quickly took off your drenched jacket, and got to work, watering flowers, checking temperatures of the soil. Perfect, all the places are called for, in perfect condition, except for one. The chrysanthemums, soil was bone-dry, the petals falling apart, so you decided to start new with them, you quickly emptied the pot holding the flowers that have been dried away and ran quickly to grab new seedling and soil, placing the new soil and the dormant seedlings in the pot, and added some water.

You cleaned up the rest of the flower shop, sweeping and mopping the floor, organizing wrapping papers and sorting the pretty accessories you can add. It tools hours and hours to reorganize the backroom, putting all the seeds in alphabetical order, putting away all the unused flowerpots, fixing and cleaning the gardening tools. As you moved the tools, you found a photo album, but when you opened it, you were completely shocked. Photos of you from when you were little and it even had descriptions on them. One of them, you were a baby, freshly born into the world, the writing underneath said, “my little love bud~” Another one, you were a toddler, you were eating some sort of cake, fingers gripping cake and frosting and a singular candle that was recently blown out. Underneath it is written, "my blossoming one year old.” You continued to look through it, you didn’t even notice you were crying until you saw a droplet touch the image. You wipe your eyes as you continue until you back up, holding a sheet of paper, a letter from your mom, it’s not much written but the context is important.

“Hello my little bloom,

By the time you read this, I’ll be long gone but don’t worry about me. I’ll be watching you from above, protecting you and watching over your footsteps. You’re probably wondering what to do with the store. Honestly, honey. I want you to focus on you. However, the property is now yours, but I want you to enjoy your life and live it and if you need to sell the flower shop, please do it. Stay healthy and breathe life. I love you, My Little Rose. Stay beautiful and floral. -Mother

You honestly didn’t know what to do, to keep the shop or to sell it and use the money to keep yourself afloat. But you couldn’t just give it all up, your mom worked so hard for this shop, even the days that she didn’t feel well or was suffering from fevers and flus. You quickly got in contact with your mom’s former property broker, explaining what happened. She wishes you condolences and explains what will happen. Property is now in your name, but there’s a problem, your mother had debts, a lot and now that she’s gone. And you barely had money yourself, thinking, panicking, heavy breathing. You concluded the call, trying to think of ideas, plans, something that could give you money to at least keep yourself afloat.

You’re in your head deep, lost in thoughts. Getting up, you walk back and forth, still lost. You didn’t even know that someone was watching you, an extremely tall woman, perfect dark skin decorated with scars and grey hair, due to stress and naturally with age. Wearing a dark red vest and dress pants, black close toed shoes, gold accessories. Her aura alone screams money, dominance, and power. It scares you at first, chills down your spine, she taps her foot and looks down at her very expensive watch. Her narrow hazel eyes glared at you with impatience and disappointment, waiting for you to introduce yourself or at least, respond.

“Uhm, hello. Welcome to My Little Rose, unfortunately the shop is closed for the week.” You said to her, rubbing the back of your neck. You easily shrunk in her aura, like a lion to a mouse. She walks close to the counter, pulling up a business card from her vest pocket. It reads, “Ambessa Medarda, owner of Medarda Properties.” with her phone number, email and even her fax number. You looked at her confused and left it on the counter.

“Hello, my name is Ambessa Medarda, owner of Medarda Properties. It’s very… nice to meet you.” She says, voice as smooth of butter, tone rich but deep. She speaks with purpose, and every movement is direct. She holds her hand out to shake yours and of course, you put your hand together with her. Her hand completely takes over yours, engulfing it into a firm grasp and shake.

“Ambessa Medarda, nice to meet you but I don’t understand why you’re... here.” You said as you slowly realized, she’s here to buy your property. Right here and right now. You’re not going to lie, you did have thoughts of selling it, but you felt that all those memories would just disappear, the good memories and the bad ones. All of that would be gone. Forgotten, under a new name and appearance. The times of you accidentally overwatering the plants and your mom reassuring you to the point that nothing felt like it mattered, decorating your first bouquet for a wedding and the bride absolutely loved it. Even the time a guy had a crush on you and he asked you out by making you make your own bouquet and him asking you with that same bouquet, of course you declined but it was still a core memory for you. All of that would be gone, with a couple signatures and a handshake.

She sighs, and pulls out a folder, opening it, it’s a contract. It’s thin, a few pages but enough for you to be concerned. She also pulls out a pen and a small red paint. This all was happening too fast for you, you were now heavy breathing, heart beating faster than you can count. You slammed your hand on the counter, stopping Ambessa in her tracks. This is the first time someone has stopped her and it kind of throws her for a loop.

“I’m sorry, but I refuse to sign this.” You glared at her, not being able to control your emotions. Your mother just passed away a couple of days ago, and now this rich hungry property pig comes by and tries to buy the property.

She frowns and glares at you, taking back the pen and paint. She then pulls out another paper, markings of how downhill the payments were on the flower shop, the amount were at a constant decrease. Sure, she didn’t have a constant flow in customers, but she did make a lot of money. Especially because she grows her own flowers and makes the bouquet special to the client. You were pretty shocked to actually see it, especially because your mother never talked about it.

“I’m sorry, miss. But you’re too far in paying back your loan and certain bills. If you don’t pay another loan, the government will just take it. But I’m giving you an ultimatum, if you sell the flower shop to me, I promise you’ll be able to visit the shop or whatever it may change to.” Ambessa said, hand now on the counter, looking down at you. You can’t. You can’t give this up, you barely even had a start, but fuck the government and hell no to Ambessa Medarda.

“How much time do I have left... And how much do I need to make?” You asked, looking back up at her, eyes filled with determination and filled with purpose. Ambessa smiled and closed her eyes, shaking her head. She pulls out her phone, doing quick calculations and equations. After a few seconds, she shows you her phone. It’s 10,000 dollars... 10 thousand... dollars.

“You have until April.” she says, crossing her arms and looking at the calendar. You whipped your head to look at the calendar, it is now November. That’s at least five months for you to make a large amount of money. You took a deep breath as you walked into the lion's den, you had tons of battles to fight, putting on your war face. You held your hand out, waiting to shake hers.

“If I make 10,000 dollars, is it possible for all the debt to be repaid?” You asked. Ambessa’s eyes glowed a golden color, hazing over her eyes as she smirks.

If you make 10,000 dollars, I’ll pay the rest of your debts and I’ll leave you alone.” She says grabbing your hand, shaking it roughly. But then she pulls you close, feeling her body on yours.

“But if you lose, you and your property are all mine.” She says seductively in your eyes, your face now flushed, and eyes glazed with a shyness but not afraid. You never realized how much mass she has, not only is she curvy but her muscles have pierced her clothing, with certain veins popping through. She pulls you away and takes the contract back but leaves the business card. She starts making her way out the door, opening it and looking back at you.

“I’ll see you later, little one.” She says as she closes the door, and her entire aura has left the building. You didn’t even realize what the fuck you’ve done but you’re in it now and you have to make your mother proud and prove Ambessa wrong. But holy fuck, you’re in deep shit now.

#moodie 💫#ambessa medarda #ambessa x reader #arcane ambessa #ambessa x you #ambessa medarda x reader

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eringobragh420 · 10 months ago

Text

˚ · . good form

➺ pairing — damian priest ♥︎ f!reader ➺ summary — damian’s girlfriend loves teasing him, and sometimes she loves the punishment for teasing him, but this punishment? ➺ words — 1.3k ➺ warnings — nsfw. thigh-riding, spanking, daddy kink, unprotected p in v, cum 18+ ➺ notes — spanish translations are at the end of the story provided by google translate. ➺ taglist — if you'd like to be added, please click here! ➺ requested by — @rripleyfan. hope you enjoy!

➺ MASTERLIST ➺ DAMIAN PRIEST MASTERLIST

➺ if you enjoy my writing, please consider donating toward my IVF journey!

“Papi, please,” she whines, “I can’t do this anymore.”

“Sure you can,” Damian replies, though it seems he’s paying more attention to his phone than his writhing girlfriend. In fact, both her hands are planted on his pectoral muscles, and she’d give up her first born if he’d just take the damn thing off, but both his arms are bent in front of her, the phone between his hands blocking at least some of her from his view. “I think this one might be my favorite.” He turns the phone so she can see the picture he’s referring to.

It’s the one she sent him a few days ago. She’s wearing one of his shirts in the photo, one he’d cut the sleeves and most of the sides out of. The shirt is bunched in the middle of her chest, her breasts poking out through the huge sleeve holes. She’s on her knees in front of a full length mirror, phone in her hand and in front of her face.

“So sexy,” Damian comments, turning the screen back toward himself.

“Papi,” she breathes, reminding him of the her that’s here now and the precarious situation she’s in. A position she’ll never admit she got herself into, maybe on purpose. “Please? I swear I’ll never do it again if you just let me cum.”

“Oh, we both know that’s not true,” her boyfriend replies. He sets the phone down on the table beside them. “Don’t we?” She chooses not to answer, instead continuing to roll her hips in the most torturous rhythm, bare, drenched pussy benefiting from the friction, but it’s not near enough. “Don’t we?” Damian firmly repeats his question.

“Yes,” she rasps, hands fisting his shirt. Her eyes roll back and her head lolls, tiny bolts of electricity originating from between her legs launch themselves throughout her body and she shudders.

“Because you like it, don’t you? Faster.” She almost misses the command, and wishes she had, but she picks up the pace regardless. “You like when I open those pictures when I’m around other people … isn’t that right?”

“Yes.”

“Open your eyes. Look at me.”

Obeying, her eyes fall on the man under her. Damian Priest. His hair is pulled back, beard immaculate, dressed in a simple black t-shirt, black jeans. She’s made his shirt tighter by clenching it in her hands, consequently outlining every muscle in his broad chest. She gasps, jaw dropping, because sometimes he does that to her just by being beautiful. Christ, she’s not gonna last.

“Now look at you,” he growls, nodding toward the mirror on the wall.

She turns her head, unprepared for what she sees. Damian, in all his hugeness and black wardrobe is a stark contrast to the much smaller, completely nude, woman set atop his right thigh, rutting against his jeans like a horny teenager. His dominance, and the difference in sizes, and Damian’s sexy … everything … is more than enough to shove her right over the edge. She doesn’t mean to fall, but she falls just the same, eyes closing, trembling as the orgasm washes over her. She breathes an obscenity, maybe even her boyfriend’s name, she’s not sure. Afraid to open her eyes, her hips come to a slow stop, pussy still contracting, and her hands release Damian’s shirt. She waits for him to speak, but hears nothing. Waits for him to touch her, but there’s no movement. Not knowing and knowing the expression he’s wearing are equally terrifying, but the not knowing is killing her, and so her lids slowly rise.

Damian is glaring, he’s fucking glaring, like she’s Dominik Mysterio or something, and she knows he’s trying to be imposing, but the man is never not sexy. So while (more) punishment is certainly in order, there’s a small part of her that’s looking forward to it. However, under the weight of Damian’s angry eyes, she begins to curl in on herself, one thigh rising at an attempt to close her legs.

“Over my knees now,” Damian grumbles.

Slowly she stands, still hyper aware of her nakedness, especially when her boyfriend’s dark eyes follow her every move. She hesitates only a moment, but it’s enough for Damian to tilt his head, daring her to resist further. The wet spot she’s left on his black jeans is impressive, as is the small pool of her cum, some of which sticks to her still sodden pussy. Damian licks his lips, shaking his head, and he sits up in the chair, curling his fingers. Though reluctant, she moves with purpose as she crawls across Damian’s thighs this time. She feels the wet spot on her skin as she lies down, careful not to crush her breasts between his leg and her chest.

Damian’s rough palm glides over her soft, bouncy ass cheeks, and she holds her breath as she waits for the blows to come. “Count ‘em out,” he orders before the first slap echoes throughout the room. Her body jerks and she has to readjust her position to keep from crashing to the floor.

“One,” she says. Smack. “Two.”

The spanks become increasingly more painful as she counts higher and higher. She's squirming now, much the same as when he wouldn't let her cum, hands clawing at his jeans.

“En español,” Damian interrupts. She takes a few moments to answer because suddenly she's forgotten what number she's on. By the time she opens her mouth to reply, Damian says, “Let's start again. En español.”

She gets the numbers right this time, without hesitation, but her ass is still raw and she's on the verge of tears when she finally reaches diez. Damian’s arms are around her suddenly and he's standing and she's in the air. He deposits her on the bed, positioning her onto her hands and knees, and she hears the familiar sound of a belt being unbuckled. Completely at his mercy, she feels him slowly enter her from behind, hands gripping her sore ass cheeks to remind her that this isn't about her pleasure. Although she would argue that fact the minute he slips inside her pussy.

“Fuck,” Damian sighs, easily settling into a rhythm that has the bed knocking against the wall. She fists the blankets and presses her knees into the mattress to keep from shifting forward. Damian’s belt buckle digs into her skin because he hasn't bothered to disrobe. “Count ‘em again.”

“No!” she hollers, finishing with a squeak when the man behind her slaps an already sensitive ass cheek. She collapses, chest and face bouncing on the mattress.

“¿Qué?” Damian replies. He wraps her hair around his fist and pulls her back up onto her hands. She whines, biting her lip, bucking her hips with each of his thrusts, dripping cunt clenching around his cock.

“I said, in English or Spanish?” she corrects breathlessly.

“Eso es lo que pensé,” Damian mumbles. “En español.” He emphasizes with a spank.

“Uno,” she starts at the beginning, learning her lesson from last time.

Damian doesn’t make it to ten before he explodes inside of her. She waits patiently for him to finish planting his seed, satisfied smirk on her lips. He eventually pulls out, and she collapses onto the cloud-like comforter. Damian crawls next to her on his side, and she turns her head to face him.

“My ass hurts,” she whines, giggling.

Damian grins. He traces the tips of his fingers along the warm, pink skin, her muscles twitching from the sensitivity, and Damian nods fondly as her ass jiggles. She loves how it tickles her nerves, calming the angry ones from the spanking. “Well, your ass asked for it,” he says.

“But you liked the pictures!”

“Of course I did. I don’t like when I can’t just come home and teach you a lesson. I had to do a show, take a flight, deal with a layover, another flight, and a drive home. My dick could have fallen off!”

She rolls her eyes. “How do you say dramatic in Spanish?”

Damian growls, jaw muscles clenching. He grabs the back of her neck and their lips collide, and they both know she’ll do it again. It’s only a matter of time.

➺ Papi — Daddy ➺ En español — In Spanish ➺ Diez — Ten ➺ Qué — What ➺ Eso es lo que pensé — That’s what I thought ➺ Uno — One

#wwe fanfiction #wwe imagine #damian priest x reader #wwe x reader #damian priest #damian priest smut #smut #damian priest fanfic #damian priest imagine #damian priest fanfiction #wwe fic #wwe fandom #wwe smut

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sharksandsquirrelsandsnakes-ohmy · 6 months ago

Text

The Human Bit the Werewolf?

Chapter 1: The Bite of 2013

Masterlist | AO3 | Chapter 2

Stiles chews on things almost compulsively, always has.

He has a binky as a toddler that had to be ripped away crying and screaming even though he'd chew through them. He chewed the lid to every sippy cup he had and the straw to every cup after.

It was funny at first, they'd call him a little chipmunk or a bunny. When it inevitably got annoying, people made thinnly veiled insults about being like a poorly trained doy or a goat.

As a kid, he chewed on the loose-hanging bit of his backpack straps. He was once gifted a cross necklace and he'd always put it in his mouth to fidget with until his dad took it away during church. He chewed on his erasers. When they were taken away, he'd chew on the metal bit of his pencils, and then he'd start chewing on the pencil itself when they took that. If they ever took his pencils, he'd start chewing on his nails or his shirt.

He still chews on his pencils. In fact, he tends to rip the clip off the mechanical ones to chew on them. He’d stick the jeep key in his mouth and rub it between his teeth. At least now, teachers don't freak out if he has gum.

It'd always been like that. Stiles didn’t really know why or what drove it, probably his ADHD since he's never had an original experience in his life(barring the supernatural). That was only half of it, though.

Then there was the biting. And, if Stiles had been a werewolf, things would have gone awry much sooner.

He often got the urge to bite things or people he cared for– after many hors of stressed googling, he figured out it was probably just a form of cuteness aggression his brain didn't properly filter. That said, he used to regularly bite his parents and Scott when he was little, before he was taught not to.

Then he started dating Malia and it got worse. He stuffed the urge down for a while, chewing his pen or nails instead.

The first time he did bite her– it was more of a nip really– it was done playfully when they were talking and joking after having sex. He really thought he’d fucked up when she pinned him against the bed on reflex. Then she told him to do it again.

She'd tell him to bite her while they had sex so he, of course, thought it was a kink thing. When Malia would catch him staring at her and chewing on his pens, she'd glare at him. Apparently, she got annoyed with him and, in a very Malia way of dealing with things, pinned him down against his bed and interrogated him about it.

"Why do you only bite me when we have sex?"

"Wha—"

"I know you want to do it more often, so why don't you," she asked, glaring down at Stiles.

"You want me to bite you more," Stiles asked, shear confusion in his voice.

"Obviously, dumbass," Malia scoffed.

Stiles might he an idiot at times, but he's not too stupid to do what he's told, especially when it benefits him too. And, sure, it was weird the first few times he did it, but it also didn't at all. He’d occasionally just take Malia's hand in his and bring it to his mouth and nip at her fingers.

It was weirdly normal, an easy habit to fall into. The only thing that made it weird was when people stared at them for it, and Malia was quick to remedy that.

When they broke up, Stiles found himself back at square one, chewing his pencils and trying to ignore his brain. It mostly resulted in a lot of teeth grinding.

Stiles started to notice the need to chewnon something got worse around the pack. He tried to chalk it up to his subconscious reacting to Malia, which he knew was bull shit. He knew what it was, who it was.

When Derek would cross his arms and flex just perfect to frame the muscles in his arms and chest or when he'd use the hem of his shirt to wipe sweat off his face, showing off his ab-muscles, or when he'd wipe blood off his face with the back of his hand, or raise his eyebrows at Stiles in annoyance, or– honestly– just exist in the mear vicinity of Stiles, it was like he teeth itched to bite him. Just a little nip, as a treat, ya know? Sometimes the irony of it would hit him, Stiles wanting to bite the werewolf when it should be the other way around. Then again, Stiles had rather regularly bitten Malia, the were-coyote while they dated.

Stiles had problems. Psychological problems.

One late night of blurry-eyed research, Derek snuck in through Stiles's open window and found him asleep at his desk with about a million b's typed into the search bar. He sighed to himself and tried to wake Stiles up. He at least wanted to get the idiot to sleep in bed rather than hunched over the desk.

"Stiles, wake up," Derek whispered, not wanted to alert sheriff of his presence.

Stiles hummed and looked at Derek tiredly.

"Come on, let's get you to bed,"Derek grumbled, lifting Stiles out of the chair so he was standing up even though Derek was supporting most of his weight.

"Thankks Der," Stiles mumbled, letting himself be guided to bed. "Ya know, you’re cute when your nice," he hummed, not fully grasping how much he'd regret it later.

Derek didn't say anything more, rather he tried to ignore the sleepy mumblings.

"So cute I could just..." Stiles clicked his teeth together in a mock bite.

In his tired state, he fully missed how Derek’s face turned red. He tossed the blankets aside and plopped Stiles down on the bed. He didn't stick around much longer, deciding he'd get the info he came for second-hand from Scott.

Stiles noticed how Derek was pointedly absent absent in the next few days. If he wanted information from Stiles, he'd ask Scott or one of the betas to ask. Stiles could text Derek about something and would be lucky to receive a one word text back.

He remembered Derek swinging by and talking some but not about what. He was sure his big mouth was ruining things again, just not how bad.

Slowly, very slowly, Derek started being willing– and able– to be around again. Still, the others ketp giving him weird looks. He also noticed that Derek would look away everytime Stiles looked at his, as if he’d been caught staring.

Of course, things couldn't possibly be normal for more than five minutes in Beacon Hills and especially not with their little group. Inevitable, things went to Hell.

Stiles couldn’t have even told you what it was they'd been fighting– some goat or bull creature with horns. He remembered the horns because he'd gotten the business end of them and a matching concussion. Really, all he remembered was sitting on the cold bathroom floor, watching Derek’s muscle move under his skin as he patched up Isaac or Scott, maybe Jackson.

That bitting itch– pun intended– grew in his head and Stiles just... leaned forward and bit Derek’s arm. His skin was salty with sweat and he could feel the hair against his skin.

He didn’t realize how quiet or still it had gotten when he leaned back. He didn't realize for a while.

"Stiles, did you just bite me," Derek asked as if he couldn't believe what had just happened. He was caught between concern and confusion and arousal but was really trying to stick with concern.

"I did," Stiles asked back, surprised he'd acted on the thought. "Shit, sorry dude. I tend to— I don't know why... Fuck, my head hurts," he sighed, trying to form a coherent explanation.

Before Stiles could figure out how to put things into words, Scott was driving him to the hospital.

And, once again, Derek was avoiding him, only worse! Stiles couldn’t get an answer through text. Derek was never there whe the pack met up. When Stiles tried to stop by the loft to talk, Derek was never there. On top of which, Stiles swore he'd see Derek out of the corner of his eye but there was nobody there when he looked. He was genuinely starting to feel crazy.

He was sure he'd fucked up really bad when goddamn Peter showed up at the school to talk to him.

"Stiles, let's go for a walk," Peter said in his fake nice, higher than thou, tone.

"I’m not supposed to talk to creepy mass murders," Stiles said back, walking towards the jeep instead.

"Now, don't you want to know why my dear nephew has been avoiding you," Peter goaded and Stiles begrudgingly stopped walking. "I must say, you are a rather forward one. I didn’t expect it, though it seems quite obvious in hindsight," he mused.

Stiles shook his head. "What are you talking about?"

"From what I understand, you bit my dear nephew without forewarning and in front of everyone. Might as well have stuck your hand in his pocket and kissed him as well," Peter teased.

"Whoa, whoa whoa, what the Hell are you talking about," Stiles asked, starting to get a little freaked out.

"What, do you not do that anymore," Peter asked rhetorically. "I always thought putting your hand in someone else's pocket was rather uncomfortable, but it was a blatant sign that you were together."

"God, I know what the pocket thing means," Stiles said, squeezing the bridge of his nose. "But why are you bringing it up?"

"I know you're not a complete idiot. That's why you're not dead... Yet," Peter added. "You dated Malia so I'm sure you understand why biting Derek was such an ordeal."

"Not, I actually don't. Explaining things isn't exactly Malia's strong suit," Stiles shot back, internally kicking himself seconds after remembering Peter was Malia's birth father. "That didn't sound right. I—"

"Stop digging the hole now," Peter told him, holding a hand up. "Malia didn't tell you, and it was never anything you came across in your research?"

"Obviously not."

"Oh, dear boy," Peter said with a slimey smirk, "biting for us is the equivalent of announcing someone is your partner. However, I'm even more curious why you did it now..."

Stiles decided quickly he was not elaborating on the why. "So, I basically told everyone - including him - that Derek and I are dating, and he immediately had me swept off the ER and is now avoiding me? Nope, still weird," he said and walked off.

Peter, having not expected this turn of events and having no more cards to play, let him walk away. "Well, this will be interesting..."

#stiles chews on things as an adhd stim #this also happens to come with the need to bite things and people #i also have the random urge to bite people #it's a love bite #adhd love language if you will #stiles stilinski #derek hale #sterek #teen wolf #scott mcall #malia tate #peter hale #incorrect teen wolf quotes #teen wolf fanfiction #sterek fanfiction #derek and stiles #my fics

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copperbadge · 2 years ago

Text

Time To Build The 2023 Fandom Small Business Shopping Directory!

Every year I put up a poll asking small business owners, artists, and crafters to share what they make and where they sell it, so that our fannish (and fandom-adjacent) community can shop “local” for the holiday season, supporting their fellow creators.

If you make things to sell or run a small business where people can shop, fill out the form linked above to tell us all about it!

Above and beyond the usual sorts of things you'd give as gifts, feel free to include services you think people would wish to give as gifts (eg tarot readings), and authors should feel free to link to their book sales pages. There are also ways to indicate that you take commissions, so don't let the fact that you are commission-only stop you!

Shoppers who want to see the directory can go here to find out who’s selling what, and where.

Both shoppers and creators, please feel free to reblog this to your readerships or tag folks who might benefit.

Sometimes google polls and sheets can be very special, so if there are any access issues let me know. Also if you filled out the form but something needs correcting, feel free to get in touch via my asks or [email protected] and I can go in and fix it for you.

I'll be reblogging this a couple of times in the next few weeks so both sellers and shoppers have the best chance of seeing it. The results sheet is stable so you can also bookmark that if you know you want to shop but want to wait and see what people are adding.

Happy selling, happy shopping!

#holiday shopping #fandom shopping

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ekingston · 5 months ago

Note

Hello! So sorry to bother, but have you had any updates on the Word-Stream/Speechify situation?

Just one: like I posted on Xitter and Bluesky last night, as of yesterday afternoon, the links to individual works as they were listed on WordStream are gone from both Google and Bing. Hurray, right? Surely we’re all sick of this whole debacle and there’s far more important things to worry about. If all is well that ends well, surely there’s no need to still be angry.

Well, I am. Here’s why:

When I checked on Wednesday, the links to my own work on WordStream were still listed. So rather than it taking a week after Cliff Weitzman first hid the fanwork from view, it took a little over a week from the moment he first promised privately that they would be deleted. Which, fine. Perhaps Cliff didn’t really know what he was talking about when he gave that timeframe. Or maybe he told a little white lie to create the impression that he always intended to do the right thing. It seems more likely to me, though, that Cliff still believed—even after the backlash he received—that he would get away with honoring only individual takedown requests. Or worse, that he needed just a little bit more time with the stolen material to figure out an alternative way to profit off it—preferably without us noticing, this time.

But who knows? I certainly don’t! All we can do is speculate, because publicly, Cliff Weitzman has remained completely silent on his copyright infringements. All we got was the initial justifications he and his sockpuppet accounts used in comments on the original Reddit and Tumblr posts. After those were so understandably ill-received, Cliff only ever communicated with a few individual authors who contacted him directly and repeatedly, blocking people who addressed the issue on Twitter and quietly distancing himself from WordStream by deleting a blog he’d posted to Speechify.com dated December 20th—where Cliff promoted WordStream’s platform specifically to fanfiction readers. (See my enormous timeline post for details and screenshots of said posts before they were taken down.)

And this is why I’m still angry: As long as Cliff Weitzman faces no real consequences for his actions, he won’t see a need to own up to his mistake; and as long as he’s able to delay taking responsibility, this isn’t over. This didn’t end well.

After all, wasn’t this the next-best scenario for Cliff, second only to him turning WordStream into a (for him) effortless, infinite money-making machine? He took something we provided for free and fed it to AI so he could more easily put it behind a paywall; we found out and protested; Cliff quietly erased all evidence of his crime; and we went—almost equally quietly—away.

I want to make sure you know that I continue to be genuinely amazed and intensely grateful for how quickly the news about WordStream’s copyright infringement was shared—and continues to be shared—throughout fandom, on tumblr in particular. If it hadn’t been for our collective outcry here and on Reddit, WordStream would very likely still be up in its original form, and Weitzman would be reaping the benefits (those subscription prices were steep) today.

But it’s been frustrating to see that, with the exception of mentions in articles on Substack and Fansplaining (the latter of which is a particularly awesome and thorough read on fandom’s decontextualization) and a Fanlore listing, our outrage never really spilled out beyond the safely insulated, out-of-the-way spaces that are tumblr, a handful of subreddits and bluesky. And I believe that—unfortunately—we are collectively responsible for that part, as well.

Most of us seemed content to only spread the word by circulating the same two posts on tumblr. (Have we all given up completely on every other social media platform? Am I the only remaining straggler?) And soon after Cliff Weitzman hid WordStream’s fanfiction category from view, our interest in the issue took a sharp dive even there. Are we genuinely deceived into believing the issue has been fully resolved? Do we truly fail to realize that Weitzman’s refusal to admit that what he did was wrong left the door wide open for the next greed-driven tech bro to wander through? Or is the true naivety in thinking that, as a community, we can keep this kind of attack on fandom from happening again? Has our disillusionment already gotten that bad?

However the situation spins out from here, Cliff’s actions will set a precedent. If we fail to show Cliff and his ilk that attempts to profit off fandom’s unpaid labor have consequences, their tech companies will keep trying until something eventually sticks. They might be a little smarter about it next time; obscure their sources a bit better, maybe leave the titles and the authors’ names off. Or maybe they’ll go a bolder route: maybe next time they cross the line they’ll do it boldly enough for IP holders to take notice and stop tolerating fanwork entirely.

Doesn’t that make you angry, too?

There’s this whole other mess of thoughts I would love to be able to untangle about how commercial influence is contributing to the steady erosion of fandom’s foundations, but I’m tired, and other people have said it all much more eloquently than I ever could. Seriously, go read that article on Fansplaining. Or listen to the podcast version of it. Better yet, as long as you’re wearing your noise-canceling headphones, go listen to a podfic of one of your favorite fandoms’ works, and enjoy the collaborative joy and creativity of the people who Cliff Weitzman refuses to believe exist. (In one of Speechify’s other blogs, Cliff claims there are only 272 podfics on AO3. Would you like to run that ChatGPT prompt again, Cliff?). Honestly, much like Cliff Weitzman’s infuriating denial of the fact that fandom fucking has this covered, thank you very much, there’s so. Many. More. Things for us to talk about. There’s the connotations of WordStream’s dubious ‘upload’ button, for instance, or the fact that the app scraped (and in some cases, allegedly, still lists) copyright-protected original fiction as well, or WordStream’s complete lack of contact information, which is illegal for an internationally operating app. And oh! Has anyone reported more thoroughly on Cliff’s app’s options to ‘simplify’ or ‘modernize’ uploaded works, or—my own very favorite abomination—to translate them into something Cliff calls ‘Gen-Z Language’? Much like his atrocious AI book covers, it would be hilarious, if it didn’t make steam come out of my ears.

Anyway, there it is. I highly recommend you do all of that. And then, if you aren’t familiar with it already, go do some research re: fair use and your rights as the copyright owner of your works. A good number of people commenting on this controversy expressed stunned surprise or fearful hesitation about claiming any sort of ownership of their fanfiction. The more informed we are about our rights, the more willing we will be to defend them.

Please don’t stop writing or sharing your work. If you can’t bring yourself to work on your WIPs today (trust me, I get it), post about this situation instead. Tweets, skeets, whateverthefucks—about WordStream’s theft, about how this reflects on Speechify’s already shady business practices, about how Cliff’s actions and justifications have personally affected you. You’re welcome to share or copy my posts on these platforms, but since Cliff already blocked me, I very much prefer you post your own. If you do, call Cliff Weitzman by his full name and tag or include both WordStream and Speechify to ensure Weitzman will recognize he has both a personal as well as a professional stake in handling the situation with integrity. Leave your concerns in reviews on the Speechify app. (We weren’t provided with a more appropriate place to put them, after all!) Consider calling for a Speechify boycott until Cliff accepts accountability for his actions.

Do avoid making exaggerated claims, and don’t call for physical retaliation against Cliff’s person or his property. We don’t want to give him or Speechify even the weakest of grounds to claim defamation or threats of violence. Focus on the facts: they’re incriminating enough by themselves. Show Cliff that we’re determined to keep bringing up his company’s wrongdoings in public spaces until he demonstrates that he understands why taking these freely shared fanworks and monetizing them was wrong, and takes steps to ensure it won’t happen again.

One last thing—and this is really more of a general reminder—please stop suggesting I handle this situation for you. People have come to me asking for action items. The resulting flashbacks to my days as an office assistant were extremely upsetting. In all seriousness, casting me as some sort of coordinator or driving force behind this backlash actively hurts the cause. Not only does it downplay fandom’s collective efforts, it also makes our message extremely vulnerable. It would be all too easy for Cliff to silence one singular source. Wikipedia will not maintain mentions of this controversy as long as it leads only to Easter Kingston’s attempt to summarize what happened as it was happening. You only know my name because I stumbled upon WordStream’s theft and decided to get my friends involved. I am not more knowledgeable, more skilled or more angrily invested in this issue than you are (or can, or should, be). I draw pictures and I write stories and I worry about the shift I’m seeing in fandom after having been on this ride for even a few pre-livejournal rounds.

I’m not going to stop doing any of those things. But I am going to allow myself to step away for a bit, make my wife dinner, and catch up on our shows.

I trust you’ve got it from here.

#word-stream #cliff weitzman #plagiarism #speechify #AO3 #writers on tumblr #fanfiction #independent authors #web scraping #fandom activism #ask me things!#(which is my ask tag please don’t send me asks about things i’ve already answered in the main post)#anonymous

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