#edited to add the Read More

[creampuffqueen]

listen as much as i would have loved more romance in the yangchen novels i have to say it is extremely iconic of f.c yee to write a set of novels where the sapphic relationship is an undeniable, major plot point and then write another set of novels where the straight relationship is left up to interpretation

[army-of-bee-assassins]

it's been said before and i'll say it again: image descriptions are not meant to be added later by other people. they are meant to be written by op and included within the op.

[thelassoway]

Jason Sudeikis as Ted Lasso Seasons 1-3 » T-shirts

[randomminty]

This post goes out to the ilima and mina switched types theory believers

[public-trans-it-deactivated20240]

i was a trans man until after a lot of build up of doubting myself, i finally realized that we are putting ourselves further into boxes by not accepting that we are the biological sex that we are and we can do WHATEVER we want at the same time.

clothes and makeup and certain interests do not equal gender.

and not liking being a woman is an unfortunately natural symptom of puberty and/or experiencing society’s deeply ingrained misogyny. and everyone deserves support for those problems.

but we can all fight together against gender social constructs in a healthy way without prescribing people hormones and invasive cosmetic surgery to make them more like the sex they “should” be according to… social constructs…. and help them be comfortable in who they are

Alright. Its been like 9 fucking months that I have been staring down this ask. What better time than to give TERFs some nuance than right in the middle of a fucking hate campaign going on where people (well... singular person probably) are calling me a TERF. This wont backfire.

This post arrived in my inbox shortly after I made another post about gender, and just how fucking weird it can be, and how I genuinely believed every single person on this planet has a fascinating relationship with gender, and so much nuance and personal identity in theirs. Even cis people. Even TERFs. In the tags, I even begrudgingly encouraged TERFs to talk about their gender on that post if they wanted. I genuinely think that TERFs do have really cool relationships with gender. As I mentioned in those tags, the quickest way to explode a group of TERFs is to get them to start talking about their own relationships with gender, and see how vastly different it is, and watching them stab each other in the back over it. So I told them to ramble away about how they view gender, as long as they stayed the fuck away from the rest of the blog WHICH THIS ANON CLEARLY FUCKING IGNORED.

But... this anon does bring up another topic I want to talk about.

Detransition.

Read More

I am a huge supporter of detransitioning. This is... surprisingly... not a very common stance in the trans community, and it breaks my fucking heart. Like, I get it. I understand why. A LOT of detransitioners, like the person in this ask, end up weaponizing their feelings of gender against other trans people.

My support of transition comes from the intersection of two very central beliefs of mine:

Everyone should explore their gender without feeling a need to commit! This is a pretty common belief in the trans community! Damn near universal in fact! We even have a fun little term we use for people who decide to play around with gender, only to end up a bit closer to where they started and being perfectly happy with that: Cis+. Someone who is cis, but at least put in the work to understand the trans experience, and actually CHOOSE to remain Cis instead of just defaulting to it with societal pressure. Many trans people are much more comfortable around 'Cis+' people, because they know these are people who have taken the time and put in the work of being an ally. Self examination isn't easy, especially not publicly, and doing so is genuinely one of the strongest ways a Cis person could ever show their support.

It is never too late to transition. This is also a pretty common belief in the trans community! It is... sadly not quite as universal though. But it is something very important that needs to be said. You could be 80 years old, sitting in a retirement home, and go "You know what? I think I'd rather wear a dress and be treated like a lady. I don't want to be buried as a man." And I think every single trans person should have that freedom!

I was discussing this with @thydungeongal the other day, far more paraphrased than this post, and she said something incredible that has been knocking around in my head ever since.

"Gender is an ongoing process"

Those five words they said to me sum up my feelings far more than this entire post could. Gender IS an ongoing process. My gender has changed SO MUCH over the past three decades. From the straightjacket of assigned gender that I was once forced into; to the very stylish and still lovable finely tailored suit of femininity that grew a little too stuffy to wear constantly, even though I do still enjoy it and try it on from time to time; to the wonderful and freeing losely fitting clothing of being aegogender, finally feeling free to be myself and just act naturally and feel natural without having to keep up an appearance!

And I think, there is no length of time you can try out being trans, and trying out new genders, before eventually coming to the realization you were cis all along. Even if you started HRT. Even if you got SRS. Heck, I don't even think you should have to call yourself trans to do either of those things in the first place, why would I be upset that someone did them and then realized they weren't trans? No single moment in your life should EVER lock your gender in place into some unchanging, set in stone thing.

So I support detransitioners completely, with my entire heart. They deserve just as much support as every other 'Cis+' person out there.

So anon, while many people may hate you and lash out at you for detransitioning, I want you to know, that I am not one of them. It sounds like your detransition might have been forced by peer pressure, which is heart breaking to hear. No one should ever force their own gender expectations on another. I hope that wasn't the case. I hope you came to the decision yourself, after realizing whats right for you. I will never give you hate for your detransition.

I WILL ABSOLUTELY GIVE YOU HATE FOR BEING A FUCKING TERF THOUGH. YOUR OWN EXPERIENCE WITH GENDER DOES NOT GIVE YOU THE RIGHT TO POLICE THE GENDER OF OTHERS, FUCK OFF. GET THE FUCK OFF MY BLOG, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!

[backmarkerr]

please....can u speak on the conspiracy

So the conspiracy (more like a theory, really) is that Kimi was pushed out of the team starting in 2008 to make way for Fernando, who was more appealing to the big sponsor coming in. Before you click out thinking "Max, that's stupid, no team would throw a championship for a sponsor." I agree! But keep in mind that they didn't throw the championship, they fully expected to win the WDC with Felipe (and almost did) and did in fact win the WCC in 2008 with Felipe and Kimi despite everything. But there were really suspicious things going on. So with that in mind...

It's 2008. Kimi has just won Malaysia, the second race of the season. Three days after his win, there's this:

.

Ok, kinda weird, but whatever. F1 runs on rumours, right? Suggesting that Kimi might retire when he's doing so well is silly. And in the article they seem to be pretty ambivalent over whether it would be Felipe or Kimi to leave.

Fast forward to Spain two races later. Kimi scores his second win of the season and takes the championship lead. The season is shaping up pretty well for the defence of the title, you’d think this would be a good time for him, but again, the story du jour is Ferrari wanting Alonso in Kimi’s seat for 2009.

[x] I guess now we know at least Massa's seat is secure...?

If you’re like me, that sounds stupid. The reigning champion just won the last GP and his contract runs until the end of 2010, so this media narrative makes no sense. Something pretty catastrophic would have to happen for that to ever come to fruition, right?

So anyway, he gets a first row start in Monaco. Great, that's almost a surefire win/points, right? Wrong, he got a drive-through penalty due to the team not fitting the wheels to the car on time before the race start. Not a great race and he ends up outside of the points. Lewis is now ahead in the WDC by 3 points. Not really a disaster, but...

[x] what on earth...

[x] again the talk of retirement.... I mean, it's weird, right?

Zero points in Canada due to being rear-ended in the pitlane, which the team can’t control. Then he’s back to being neck to neck with his teammate and Lewis by the time the British GP is done in early July, with all three drivers on 48 points. Good news, right? Just gotta stay on track and not fuck it up somehow.

[x] sigh... (this one's a little harder to source as it was printed media, but I've seen this exact interview quoted in different pages)

So anyway, they change his front suspension for the next race in Germany. Kimi has always been very sensitive to changes in the car, so he knew something was wrong. Ferrari (via Michael, who was then head of development) say he's just not adapting well to the upgrades. Maybe, sure, but why aren't you bringing upgrades that are geared towards your world champion?

(an interesting remark from Mark Hughes here if you scroll down to the comments, which adds weight to Kimi not being listened to when it came to car development in 2008)

Bar a podium in Hungary, Kimi scores 0 points in 4 out of the next 5 races. It takes until either Monza or Singapore (hello crashgate!) for Ferrari to put his suspension back as it was.

He proceeds to get 3 podiums in the remaining 3 races but it’s not enough to catch up. By Singapore he was already 27 points behind his teammate (reminder this is the old points system) and very much expected to play the supporting role. In the penultimate race in China he very obviously gave up P2 to his teammate:

"I know what the team expects." [x] / [x]

Yet the narrative in the media and from Ferrari themselves is that his motivation is bad and he's not assertive. It was so pervasive that to this day people still parrot it and say he just didn’t care after 2007, despite Kimi always stating he was fully committed and clearly getting annoyed whenever journalists asked about his motivation even years later.

Montezemolo at the end of 2008 even 'joked' that "Kimi in the recent races was replaced two or three times by a friend, but next year he'll be back." Basically saying that Kimi wasn't really present, you know? An interesting thing to say when this absent driver scored 18 points in the last 3 races (three consecutive P3s), while the one who was amazing and had the team's full backing scored 20 (P7, P2, P1).

A whole 2 points' difference, maybe someone should hire that "friend"...

So why did they do this?

Well, the theory is that Santander (I promise this isn’t like the dumb Sainztander takes) wanted a Spanish-Brazilian lineup due to financial interests (Spanish bank, big market in South America with a looming IPO in Brazil), so Kimi was basically being pressured out of the team from early 2008 onwards. Like I said at the start, the team weren’t really throwing away 2008, as they expected to win the WCC with both drivers (they did) and Massa to be able to win the WDC, which would of course be beneficial for their new sponsor. And he almost did. Almost.

[x] they're not in charge of driver selection but this specific driver line-up would good for them. (this archived copy of the article is from 2010, but the text makes it clear it's from 2009)

Of course at this point we have to wonder if a team like Ferrari would bow down to a sponsor's demands. I can't tell you what the internal considerations were or how much money was on the line, but it's also not like Santander were telling them to get rid of Kimi for a bad driver, you know? Fernando is a great driver, so from Ferrari's perspective they were just trading a great driver for another great driver who also appealed to this huge sponsor, and an Alonso-Massa line-up would be solid. And with the previous talk that Ferrari and Alonso had already inked a deal in 2008... It's just difficult to believe there isn't a grain of truth here.

So the alleged initial plan of having Alonso in 2009 was foiled when Kimi activated the renewal option in his contract. It was then that he was bought out of his last year (apparently paid for by Santander).

[from the book The Unknown Kimi Raikkonen]

As we can see, by the end Kimi was also fed up with what was going on, especially people pointing the finger at him and at his motivation, and his frustration is very clear in interviews like here at 2.35 and here:

Publicly, Ferrari said they wanted someone more in line with how Michael used to be (ironic since Montezemolo allegedly didn’t like how Michael made the team his), who could communicate with the team and give better feedback (ironic when Todt, Dyer, Stella and others said Kimi was very clear and precise.) Kimi himself has always stated that he wasn’t the issue, that his motivation was never lacking and that the real reason he was pushed out was politics and money.

[x]

[x]

If it had only been the mechanical stuff, I’d be willing to chalk it up to just bad luck and incompetence. Shit happens. But with all the rumours around it even before things went bad on the track and Kimi stating that his work and performance weren't the reason he was let go it becomes impossible for me to think there wasn’t an actual push going on to replace him.

Hell, even famed Ferrari fanboy Sebastian Vettel didn't think it was realistic for Kimi to return to Ferrary in 2014 precisely because Kimi isn't one for "bullshit" and "politics". Why would he choose to say that specifically? And according to Finnish media Kimi’s 2014 Ferrari negotiations included Montezemolo personally apologising to him. Now why would he apologise if they hadn’t done something wrong?

Personally I think Kimi's "certain people did certain things" refers to this. He never trashed anyone and always said he had no ill-feelings. And I believe him. But it doesn't mean nothing happened, lest we forget how well he handled Lotus not paying him.

The thing that really bothers me is that Kimi got the reputation for having low motivation and not caring about what he was doing (I heard that take just last month from an F1 youtuber, how Fernando was hired in 2010 because Kimi had mentally checked out 🙄), when obviously someone who wasn’t motivated and didn’t care would have simply called it quits under these circumstances. Instead he got P3 in the standings in 2008 (I know he’s talented, but he must have been trying at least a little), trained hard to lose enough weight to use KERS in 2009 (why would he do that if he didn’t care) and took the team’s only win that year despite the car being shit. Interestingly, pundits acknowledged his good performance complicated things when it came to Ferrari’s rumoured hiring of Alonso. So imagine how much more complicated things would have been had Kimi done better in 2008?

Anyway, this is long, but if you want something longer then I definitely recommend this post here. You might not agree completely with the original authors (there are parts where I wish there was more info), but I think they offer a lot of good research and information regarding the overall situation back in 2008/2009, and it's a good jump-off point for your own research.

But yeah. 2008 could have been everything. Or at least better.

[godsfavoritescientist]

I'm curious because it seems like The Book of Bill made his character sympathetic to a lot more people. Let's see if my theory is right!

[viiinz]

there's something about Dostoyevsky characters suddenly bursting into tears that just hits different

[lesovyart]

im so obsessed w them that I made fanart AND my own playlist

[hrokkall]

Saw a post the other day asking how P03 is able to see; my best guess is something like this.

I actually inspected P03′s 3D model for this which I don’t usually do (and then I proceeded to draw it off-model anyway. Whoops) but even outside of its hypothetical camera-vision, there’s a few other things of note:

P03 seems to have a lot of large vents (or at least things that look like some sort of ventilation/cooling). Two major ones on the chest, three on the top of the head (with potentially another on the side of its head), and one on the underside of its base (though that one might be for the hologram projection it uses to float). My best guess is that it’s because his factory is built right by the water where there would be a TON of moisture in the air. For that reason, some of them have got to be exhausts to make sure all of the air circulating in his torso is dry. That or he just overheats extremely easily I guess, but I’m leaning towards the humidity explanation (or it could be a combination of the two).

Its “eyes” are somewhere on the front of its face; whether it sees through a camera or just through the eyes on the screen via video game magic is up for debate, but it turns to face the player when they stand up so its vision probably isn’t on the sides of its head or something.

Similarly, P03 has some sort of sensitivity to touch (he reacts to Leshy’s hands gripping his monitor before Leshy says anything). I don’t think any “touch sensors” would be externally visible though.

Presumably (based on the ending to Act 3) P03′s head isn’t just a monitor, there’s vital systems in there as well (otherwise tearing its head off wouldn’t do anything to disrupt its upload/its ability to function). My best guess is that his power supply is in his chest so it would be the equivalent of just... unplugging your computer while it’s trying to preform updates.

The wire it uses to connect to the modules to update cards in Act 3 seems to come from either its neck or its torso, but in act 2 it’s very visibly on the side of the head. Granted the act 2 sprites are all pretty different from the Scrybes’ 3D models so that’s not an outlier.

The range of motion in P03′s arm seems pretty similar to a human arm; he has a ball-and-socket joint on the shoulder and a hinge joint on his elbow plus separate segments for the “wrist” and “hand”. The only thing it probably can’t do is twist its forearm.

I don’t have any idea what either of the cranks do. The head crank moves when it changes its expression so it might have something to do with its display, but the arm crank is only shown doing anything on the G0lly Uberbot hologram. My best guess is that P03 used to have a lot more built-in functions but ended up removing them in order to operate faster so a lot of the buttons and switches on it are just vestigial leftovers. (The idea of the arm crank being able to function as a hand-crank motor in a pinch is really funny though. Spin it a few times when P03 is out of power and you can generate just enough battery for it to tell you to fuck off then go back into sleep mode again).

I have no idea how the levitation works either. It’s cool and that’s why it works. No need to get more complicated than that.

[cordeliawhohung]

People are so fucking outrageous you take some time for yourself that you told us you were taking and now they're up in your asks demanding stuff tell them to pay you for it, sincerely someone who doesn't mind waiting for whatever you post

on god i literally spent the last few days driving hours on end and just got back yesterday, today is my first full day back home. and i've been traveling out of town for the outreach clinic i have to work at the next few weeks, and even then i've still been writing allskdjf

lmfao i don't want to shit on that anon too much, and i'm def not trying to be rude or anything, but i'm also going to hijack your ask real quick to address stuff since i do have quite a few new followers.

while some users might not mind questions regarding when someone is updating/if they have anything planned for an ongoing series, and things like that, i specifically have it in my rules to please not do that, which is why i got a little short with them even though they arguably weren't being rude or malicious (unlike a few anons in the past have when asking things like that). this one is especially annoying because it's been literally eight days since i last updated for that, and i have other series i've been working on! like even though i'm not posting for it, i've still written a couple thousand words for pet!au, and i just finished a chapter for in limbo i'll have up for early access here in a bit, and then on tumblr probably tomorrow or wednesday.

but mostly, the reason why i specifically request that people don't ask if i have plans/when i'm updating/if i'm updating something is because i literally have an irl life. i've been pretty open recently about how i've been traveling and the work i've been doing, it's not a secret or anything lmao. it just feels... tone deaf, you know? like you come into my inbox not talking about the work, or what you like about it, or otherwise engaging with it, but just to ask if i'm giving you more, like i didn't just do that a week ago. hell, even if it's been months or years that's still rude imo because if you like something enough, then you'd probably be doing more than just asking for more, ya know? at least that's how it comes across to me. and like i said before, some people really don't care, which is why i made sure to specify it in my rules, because i do care. it ruins my mood to write and create because then it feels like a chore and people are waiting on me just to consume it and then beg for more rather than tell me what they actually enjoyed about the work lmao.

anyway, no hard feelings against that anon at all, i'm sure they didn't mean anything by it, so please don't show them any hate or anything. but just use this as a reminder to read the rules of the blogs you interact with please. or at least don't be surprised when you do something that irks them and then they're annoyed at you because of it lmao.

sorry about the rant in the tags

[the-whumpening]

The Pet Tiger, #12 [nsfwhump AU]

Prev | Masterpost | Next

CW: Dehumanization, pet whump, pet training, magic whump, brainwashing/hypnosis, “it” as a demeaning pronoun, reference to previous/future noncon, choking, emotional manipulation, Ozmund is a BULLY

-

12: Rules

With a tug of Ash’s leash, Ozmund leads him from his study out into the winding halls of the manor. Ash very nearly stands to walk behind him, but some fuzzy part of his brain thinks better of it, instead allowing his sore hands and knees to scurry along the polished wooden floors. Ozmund tuts affectionately at the sight.

“See? You’re already learning. A pet is below its owner, isn’t it? That’s why you walk on all fours, little tiger cub.” He scratches Ash’s hair, the splinters of ice in his spine mingling with the warmth of the fog filling his head. Please, more! (Please, stop!)

But, to Ash’s surprise, even between the warring needs for praise and control battling in his thoughts, the point sticks: he’s learned his first rule.

I am a pet. Pets are meant to crawl.

As Ozmund leads Ash in a tight heel along the corridors, he continues his explanation. “Like I said before, pet, I am a very busy man. I’m sure you’d imagine the life of an accomplished wizard to be leisurely and glamorous, but truthfully, it can be incredibly boring. I can barely squeeze in time for my own research with all the dilettantes and politicians clamoring for my attention. And that’s where we’re headed now: I have an important meeting to attend to this afternoon, and you are going to accompany me.”

At the hesitant tilt of Ash’s head—me? How could I possibly help?—Ozmund laughs. “Not for your keen intellect, naturally! No, no; you’re coming along for entertainment. Just something pretty to look at.”

Just to look at, not to touch? Ash silently sighs in relief. But as his muscles finally start to unclench, Ozmund continues.

“Of course, pets are always a good tool for making connections with an associate. When they’re distracted playing with a pet, it’s quite easy to sway them to do whatever you like. Even after your disastrous performance last night, I’ve already received correspondence from several influential guests approving my requests—and asking to see you again.”

Ozmund stops short of a doorway, the abrupt change pushing Ash back onto his heels. He bends at the waist to lock his eyes on Ash’s once again.

“Some of my visitors will hurt you. Is that understood? Nod for me, pet.” Ash nods, hiding the lump forming in his throat. “It is not a pet’s job to decide who may touch them or how. A good pet will endure anything I permit my guests to do. As you are still healing from last night, I will not allow anyone to harm you today. Instead, you will stay beside me, and I will tell you what to do. Nod if you understand.”

He nods again. Although he’s grateful for the reprieve, Ash can’t help but wonder why Ozmund even cares at all, given that he had no problem causing the injuries in the first place. Is it somehow . . . guilt? Does even Ozmund have a limit to his cruelty? If he does, Ash can’t begin to fathom exactly where that line lies.

Satisfied with their one-sided talk, Ozmund leads Ash into a comfortable sitting room, where a pair of Weavers are already waiting.

“Ah, there you are, Greenthorn,” one says, raising his teacup in greeting. “And who’s this fellow? May I?” The lanky, bald cultist sets down his tea and reaches a hand out as if beckoning a stray cat.

Ash looks to Ozmund for instruction; just like last night, Ozmund’s expression has solidified into a mask of perfect, placid calm. This guest’s impatience has clearly irked him.

“Apologies for the delay,” Ozmund smoothly replies. “Last night’s events have thrown my schedule into disarray; I’m sure you understand.” He snaps and points to the ground—Ash obediently sits back on his haunches—then places the length of Ash’s leash into his mouth. “Take your leash, pet, and go say hello.”

As Ash shakily crawls towards the man’s open hand, Ozmund continues, “This is my latest acquisition. He’s still in training, so please forgive his . . . imperfect habits. Do be gentle with him; he was used quite thoroughly yesterday.”

Though the memory of the night before makes Ash’s stomach turn, his muddy brain sinks deeper into the docile fog. I am a pet, he reminds himself. My Master decides when, how, and by whom my body is used, even if it hurts.

His knees scrubbed tender from the rug, Ash presents himself for the Weaver. He drops his leash into the man’s outstretched hand and ducks his eyes, murmuring a quiet, “Hello, sir.”

Delighted, the man coos, “Oh, look at that! Aren’t you precious?” He scratches Ash’s hair and rubs his ears—not too rough, just the same as petting a cat.

Through the haze of affection, Ash notices the Weaver’s companion. They seem . . . displeased. Disgusted, even. Something about their glare makes his stomach ache; has he done something wrong?

At the man’s continued praise, his companion finally speaks up. “We don’t have time for you to play with that thing, Valen. I don’t know how you can even stand to touch it.” He shudders. “Honestly, Greenthorn—this whole half-breed business is . . . disturbing. This isn’t where our donations go to, is it?”

Valen rolls his eyes and gives Ash his leash back. With a gentle pat on his backside, he ushers Ash to Ozmund once more. “Go on back to Master, little one.”

As Ash returns to Ozmund’s side, he can feel the tension in the air become thicker and thicker. He bites back a whimper as Ozmund strokes his fingers through Ash’s hair—his nails scratch Ash’s scalp with each pass, as if using Ash to relieve his anger.

Ozmund chuckles, but the darkness never leaves his eyes. “Of course not, Mr. Crane. I am perfectly capable of financing my own personal research. Now”—he leans forward, an intimidating aura emanating off him in waves—“do you wish to continue insulting both my integrity and my property, or would you rather discuss our business civilly? I’m sure your Loomer would love to hear about the outcome of this meeting.”

Valen shoots an anxious glance to Crane, who only sputters and huffs in response. Placing a hand on his companion’s shoulder, Valen answers for him. “Excuse my colleague, Mr. Greenthorn; he sometimes speaks without thinking. What he meant to say is that we’re excited to hear about the progress of our project.”

Satisfied, Ozmund relaxes back into his chair, his hand on Ash blissfully loose and gentle. As they settle back into business talk, it doesn’t take long for Ash to tune out the dull conversation, only listening for potential commands.

I am a pet. My job is to be pretty and sit still and do what my Master tells me to.

The meeting drags on for hours. After being so disoriented all day, Ash is surprised to catch pink rays of sunset through the windows—is it that late in the day already? The fog in his head had slowly lifted over the afternoon, but he still feels out of sorts. However, the loud rumbling in his belly confirms it, and Ozmund chuckles at the sound.

“Hungry, little cat?” He glances to the complex, magical timepiece hanging on the wall. “I’m afraid we’ll have to call this meeting finished, gentlemen. I’ll be sure to have someone send along any documents you need as they show you out.”

Without waiting for a reply, Ozmund sees himself out, dragging Ash alongside. After a brief whispered exchange with a servant, he nudges Ash along into the dining room and takes his place at the head of the table. Ash kneels beside him—anxiety grows in his gut as the fog in his head clears—and Ozmund removes his leash.

“That’s a good boy,” Ozmund murmurs, distracted. “You did well, little cat—though much wasn’t asked of you, to be fair. And with that meeting out of the way, we can get back to your routine.” He smirks and pets Ash’s hair teasingly. “It seems your body already knows when to expect dinner, so that’s good. You’ll be having your evening meals with me every night, though you’ll usually have breakfast with Faye. Typically, I host guests at dinner, so your presence may be required. Ah, here we are—”

A small swarm of servants descend upon the table, artfully depositing gorgeous china plates full of fragrant food in front of Ozmund. Ash averts his gaze; he can’t be sure he’ll be allowed anything at all, and the smells are torture enough. But as he ducks his head, the scent only grows. One of the servants has placed a plate in front of him on the floor—shallow and rimmed, like a bowl one would use to feed a cat. The bowl is overflowing with juicy meat and vegetables, all chopped into fine, bite-sized pieces and swimming in a thick broth.

Is this . . . for me? Am I allowed to eat it? Is this a trick? Ash turns the possibilities over in his mind, disturbed at the ease with which he submitted to Ozmund earlier. Of course he lies; of course he sets traps. Why did I think he wouldn’t?

As most of the servants retreat back into the kitchen, Ash braves a glance in Ozmund’s direction.

“Yes, that’s for you, little cat,” Ozmund confirms, smirking knowingly. “If I provide you food, I expect you to eat it without question. I even had the staff cut it up so nicely for you. Isn’t that thoughtful? I imagine it would be difficult to eat from your bowl otherwise.”

Of course there’s a catch. Ash raises an eyebrow; he knows better than to speak out of turn now, especially with food on the line. Ozmund sighs, placing a hand on top of Ash’s head.

“Pets don’t use forks and knives, do they? That’s just silly. And they don’t use their hands like a person, either. So how does a pet eat, darling?” His hand trails to the back of Ash’s neck, brushing his hair behind his ears along the way. “Show your Master how a good pet eats.”

With one firm motion, Ozmund presses Ash’s head down to the bowl, forcing him down onto his belly with his hips in the air. His face lands squarely in his food dish; he sputters and bucks his neck, desperate for air. When Ozmund finally releases him, Ash can’t restrain the baleful, watery glare in his eyes.

Ozmund only laughs.

“Oh, look at you,” he coos, using the cloth napkin from his lap to clean the mess from Ash’s face. “Poor thing. You’ll get the hang of it, my love. It’s in your nature, after all.” Once Ash is clean, Ozmund kisses his forehead and breathes into him, “Go on and eat, kitten. We still have much to discuss.”

Just as before, Ozmund’s saccharine-sweet breath leaves Ash feeling woozy and confused. He returns to his pet bowl, savoring his meal without complaint or hesitance. Absently, he acknowledges how easy it is to eat with the pieces cut so small. Maybe he should be a little grateful . . .

“Now, today has been quite easy,” Ozmund continues, his plate somehow emptying despite never seeming to lift his fork. “Most days will be quite a bit more busy, and you will be expected to keep up. In the morning, Faye will retrieve you for breakfast and grooming. Then you’ll accompany me as you did today until dinner. After dinner is training and readying you for your nightly duties. Faye will typically handle those as well. You will then be delivered back to my quarters—or wherever I should need you—and I shall return you to your bed when you’re dismissed. Do you have any questions?”

Ash’s foggy brain tries its best to keep up with the deluge of information, but something keeps sticking. He can guess well enough what “nightly duties” are expected of him—as much as he loathes the thought—but what does Ozmund mean by “training?” Wary, he raises his head, but he can’t find the strength to speak. Is he even allowed to?

I am a pet. I do not speak unless prompted.

Chuckling, Ozmund pats Ash’s head sympathetically. “You may speak, pet. But remember your manners.”

As if commanded, Ash’s voice returns to him, albeit shaky and weak. “T-Training, Master?”

Ozmund clicks his tongue in disappointment. “Have you forgotten already, love?” His hand glides down Ash’s neck to the golden chain around his throat. It slowly cinches tighter and tighter under Ozmund’s touch, pressing the sides of Ash’s throat until his vision turns fuzzy. “Have I been going too easy on you? Is even this little rest undoing all our hard work? Think back, darling, to your first days here as my pet. Go on.”

All at once, the heavy cloud over Ash’s thoughts dissipates, and he can think clearly again. The memory rushes back—the heavy iron collar squeezing his throat; the foreign, intrusive plug in his ass; the first time he was brought to his knees before Ozmund; the bitter taste of the word “Master” on his lips. Although that same formal “training” had been halted while Ash recovered from his week locked in his cage, he realizes now that Ozmund had never truly let it go. At every opportunity, he gives Ash the same one-word commands as before, and Ash stupidly follows along each time, always promising himself it’ll be the last.

He’s been tricking me—brainwashing me! Is that why I’ve been out of it all day? Is he using a spell to keep me dumb and tame?

“Y-you . . . You-you—!” Ash sputters, scrambling to pull away from Ozmund’s grasp, though some unseen, untenable force seems to stay latched onto his psyche.

“Me? Me?” Ozmund taunts. “’Me’ what, little cat? Is it me that makes you kneel so beautifully when I say sit?”

Without thinking, Ash falls back on his haunches, his bare ass resting on his heels and his chest pushed up and out. He grinds his jaw in shame. It’s a reflex; it’s just a trick. It doesn’t mean anything.

Ozmund doesn’t let up, though. “No, I didn’t think so. Is it me that forces your plump little lips apart when I say open?”

Again, Ash’s body acts against his will. His jaw drops wide, his tongue lolling wet and lustful above his still-bruised lip. He can feel the dulling in his eyes and the slip of his consciousness—his mind is fighting to be anywhere but here.

“Look at you: dumb and obedient, as you should be. It’s in your nature, pet.” Ozmund’s hand cups his cheek, his thumb pressing into Ash’s drooping mouth. “It’s just domestication, love. All these instincts—they’re ingrained deep within you. Everyone can see it; even Evius knew it.”

No. That can’t be true. And yet, Ash can’t help but recall how wild and undignified he was when he and Evius first met; did Evius see through him even then? Did he only think of Ash as a pet, too? Something to be tamed or coddled—not quite a person at all. It’s not true . . . Is it?

“You just need a little push”—Ozmund forces his thumb further into Ash’s mouth, pressing on his tongue—“to perfect those skills, to hone your nature. But don’t worry, that’s why I’m here. I’ll mold you into exactly who you’re meant to be.”

Ash doesn’t know what to believe. His head is too full of fog and conflicting thoughts; he stumbles blindly down each path as he tries to latch onto something, anything. But all he can manage to grasp is the thorny, painful reality:

I am a pet. No, I’m not! I am. I am . . . just an animal.

-

Taglist: @whumped-by-glitter @lumpofsand @corbytheking @scoundrelwithboba

@tired-human09 @darke-phoenix515

-

A/N: Idk, I'm not in love with this chapter, but I think it's important to still let go and post it even if it's not perfect. There's definitely important stuff here, but I'm just not in love with how it all shook out. I do have plans for this little mini-arc though, so that'll unfold in the next couple chapters.

[ghostorbz]

INVADER ZIM HEADCANONS BECAUSE. YAAAYYYYY

!! some zadr !!

Main characters:

-Irken show affection by entangling their antenna together. So Zim wraps his antenna around Dibs hair spike

-Zim shoplifts candy from the store (and Dibs fridge) other times he gets Gir to steal stuff

-Once Dib ate cup noodles for 3 weeks straight. He hasn't done it since

-Dib still has the snarl beast

-He's also very good at drawing, most of his drawings being of him and Zim

-Dib probably gets dizzy when he stands up too fast

-Gaz and Tak like playing games together, Tak is super bad at them though

-Gaz is really into robotics, that's why Professor Membrane doesn't pressure her into science like he does with Dib. In fact she programmed her "security" plushies all by herself

-Gaz HAS and WILL doxx people

-Gir and MiMi are very lady and the tramp coded

-Gir would be best friends with Jenny Wakeman

-Gir CONSTANTLY steals drinks, not only from people he knows either. Like in a restaurant he will just take a big sip of someones drink and walk away

Other characters:

-Zita is a theater kid, she puts the most effort in school plays compared to everyone else

-Carl has literally anything and everything in his beanie. Need a spare pencil? He's got it. Need a notebook? It's in there. Need a bag of chips? You know he has it. But he won't ever give it to you. Like Pinkie Pie except Carl isn't helpful

-Gretchen actually can tell really good jokes, she just doesn't tell them

-Jessica and Letty are lesbian I swear to god they are

-Poonchy is a lot like Tobias from the amazing world of gumball except maybe a little less mean

-Mr. Elliot is Ms. Bitters son, he likes being around her so he got the same job as her (despite her protests)

-Mr. Dwicky probably killed that guy in the vents. Among us imposter ass

-Miyuki and Sporks tallest uniforms seem to be slightly different than Red and Purples, the slight adjustments are there to prevent Zims monsters from eating them

General:

-Hugs from behind are very beloved since you're basically hugging their PAK which is like, their everything

-Irken relationships are heavily looked down upon until they are officialized

-Tallest DNA is used for reproduction by being put in a lil tube until a smeet develops

-Tallest colors are passed down (I don't reaaally headcanon this but I think it's a cute idea)

(Not super invader zim related, but it's one of my favorite headcanons)

-Alien hominid landed on earth after the Irken empire took over his planet. He really hates Zim

(I DON'T KNOW A LOT ABOUT ALIEN HOMINID so like, sorry if I'm ignoring already established lore idk)

[myspideytorchstash]

[sea-buns]

not really, but I suppose that’s just a difference of opinion. I do think that gorgug’s nightmare sequence was one of the weakest, especially with how it shifted topics (being dead, small spaces, not being able to escape a stereotype, because if any of these had been expanded on that would’ve been great), but I do think a lot of gorgug’s character revolves around feeling in-between, or too much one thing and not another and trying to close that gap. The best one for me was deffo the sphinx tho, I interpreted it as not *just* about him being dumb, but rather like. You’re big and dumb and strong and your main job is getting angry and hitting shit with an axe. You went to a community of gnomes and they gave you a better axe, and you loved it. You are uniquely dumb, unlike those who have come before you, because you cannot solve a specific kind of puzzle while a sphinx talks at you. You are the reason your parents cut contact, and from the beginning you were unsuited for their home. Your extended family predicted that you would grow to know only rage, and here you are, a barbarian. You, from this perspective, are not proving them wrong.

I do think that that whole sequence does reveal that he’s afraid of like. Being that stereotype? And then going yeah sure I’m stupid eat me, then moving forward and clawing your way into understanding anyways

Ahhh I see. Yeah I think I did misunderstand your first ask a bit lol

I did really love a lot of the topics his sequence brought up. Like I've read some incredibly well-written fanfics that covered the ways that claustrophobia, and imposter syndrome, and being dead have affected him. But like you said, if they had just honed in on at least one, rather than hopping back and forth, it could have done so much for that section. Cuz, personally, I don't feel like we saw Gorgug be significantly affected by any of those. At least not in a way that felt complete and satisfying.

I really like what you said about his character being "in-between". I totally agree. Kinda circles back to how his parents trying to help him calm his rage was actually stifling him.

Your family needs you to calm down; you've broken another bedchairdoorappliance. Your teacher wants you to rage; he says anger is good but you don't understand. You sing to try and calm yourself, you're always trying to be kind to others; they only use it to hurt you more and all you can do is get angry back. Your friends need you to rage. You don't have the power to protect them socially, but this you can do. You try not to rage outside of a fight, but.... they don't seem to be that bothered when you do. In fact, you watch them provoke physical confrontation when they're mad on many occasions.

(Oops dipped a biiiit into the pot of how important friendship is to his character. Did not mean to lol it's just one of my fav things about him so it's kinda subconscious I guess)

But yeah! He's also in such a limbo this season as well! You can't do this you're too angry, you're not smart enough for that, you don't rage right.

Also realllyy like your interpretation of his trial. The angle you described it at was really interesting.

I don't think stereotype is the right word, though. I would say... he's afraid of becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy? I'm assuming based on your own "stereotype?" that you weren't sure about the word either.

I don't think Gorgug is, or would ever be, afraid of being a "stereotype". Like I don't think he gives a shit about the stereotype that orcs/half-orcs/barbarians only know anger and destruction. I think he's afraid of being a self-fulfilling prophecy of all the things people say that he is. Stupid, mindless, destructive, etc. To pull from what you said here (which it wont let me copy paste on mobile god fucking damnit)

"Your extended family predicted that you would grow to know only rage, and here you are, a barbarian. You, from this perspective, are not proving them wrong."

"Stereotype" for sure applies to his racist extended family. They fucking breathe stereotypes like oxygen. But the bit where his afraid of becoming what everyone says he is, I think "self-fulfilling prophecy" suits that much better. He believes he can be more than that, he knows he can, but it doesn't change the fact that they are technically right.

Okay and the giving in but then "clawing your way into understanding anyways" actually goes so hard lol. Anon, you are so right. From that pov, it's not so much a give up as it is an acknowledgment before he essentially puts the subject on ice.

Rings back a bit to the start of fhjy to me. That dread of seeing the email of school starting back up again, and the terrible sinking pit in your stomach of avoidance, because the time has come to really unpack all that. There was something specific Zac said in his little Gorgug recap before the season started that was about, like, the dread of having to figure out who the fuck you're gonna be when everyone around you seems to have their shit together. That. That hit hard lmao but the experience that he's covered is very true to Gorgug, I think.

I totally misunderstood your first ask! Though I'm happy you sent another cuz I understand a lot better, I think. And tbh I've never had the opportunity to discuss that section of fantasy high with anyone? I wasn't on tumblr or watching d20 when it first aired so I missed these specific topics. Always been v interested in what others thought of his part. Maybe I should put the vods on in the bg next time I'm play sdv. Give em a relisten. And man. The fact that I'm out here quoting your message brings me back to english class so hard. Shocked I don't hate it. Actually having a topic you give half a shit about does wonders huh lmao

Thanks for the ask! You have altered my perspective and I appreciate it. It's like how sometimes you gotta read something out loud to understand it. If all I have is the walls of my own skull, I can only get so far.

[dazaistabletop]

Eyepatch dilf died so quick in the anime. Bsd manga readers at least had a month to theorize who he was or make a shrine or whatever we do, but in the anime he-