#genuine question is ficative like a different term and if so what does it mean?

[reefsuserboxes]

hello fellow system wanted to ask if I could get a this Peter Parker Ficative see’s Tony Stark as a parental figure. And a This Loki Ficative does not like Thor

if you can. Please and thank you!

no rush

:D

[j2hoes]

Foreign Exchanges. (Anthony Vaughn x Reader.)

Summary: Moving school in the middle of the year is never easy. Let alone from an entirely different country. Despite Y/N trying to garner the least amount of attention possible, she still manages to catch the eye of a certain brunette.

Word Count: 1.5k

Gif Not Mine . Requests are open!

Warnings: Mature language.

A/N: My first Ant fic and I’m debating making this a series but you’ll have to let me know what you think! Anyway just a short one to start us off but there’ll be more soon. Don’t forget requests are open!

“I’d like you all to offer a warm welcome to our new student Y/N Y/L/N, she’s moved here all the way from the UK! So let’s show her some of that Hartley spirit.” The teacher, who introduced herself as Jojo, announces to the class. All of them staring at me with blank stares. “Go ahead and say a few words.”

She nudges my shoulder gently before I can decline the offer. Encouraging smile on her face. There are no smiles from my classmates however, only bored faces who couldn’t be less interested in my arrival. For which I’m grateful. I’d seen this school on the news prior to my enrolment, I know these students are brutal. I mean, a sex map? Dad wasn’t too happy about sending me here though he didn’t really have a choice, no other schools were admitting students this late into the term.

“Um hi, I’m Y/N. It’s good to be here I guess.”

“Does anybody have any questions for Y/N?” Jojo offers, attempting to find a way for the class to get to me.

Numerous hands raise and I let out a groan internally. It’s bad enough that I’m stood at the front of the classroom like a new shiny toy but to now be subject to whatever ridiculous questions these teens can come up with is a new form of torture. One that I am really not looking forward to.

Jojo points to her first student, allowing them to be the first to ask. “Why don’t you have a proper British accent?” The girl seems genuinely curious, eyes focused on me as she combs her fingers through her orange hair. Stickers adorn her face along with colourful eyeshadow to match her bright outfit. She has a gentle aura surrounding her, which makes me relieved as I realise her question wasn’t meant in malice and more so pure interest. Maybe these kids won’t be so bad?

“Um, I think the accent you’re think of is the Queen’s English. There isn’t many people that talk like that really, maybe a few down south but I grew up in the North East. None of us talk posh.” I tell her, watching as she seems to take notes as I speak.

“Thank you Quinni, Spider what about you?” Jojo asks, pointing to the tall blonde that is hunched over at the back of the class.

His eyes flicker up to me, giving me the once over though he doesn’t seem too impressed by my presence.

“Yeah, what is it with you and all the other poms having bad teeth?” The boy pipes up, I notice the two boys next to him laugh. Though the one in the baggy outfit makes eye contact with me and a flash of guilt appears on his face.

“I don’t have bad teeth actually. Nobody I know does and to be perfectly honest, that stereotype is deeply rooted in classism and while the UK faces a major cost of living and wealth gap crisis, I don’t think it’s funny to joke about things like that. Do you?” I retort, causing h the pink haired girl and her friend to applaud my mini speech. Both offering cheers.

“Okay any more questions that aren’t going to cause arguments?” Jojo asks, a few hands lowering as they don’t want to get in trouble. “Yes, Amerie?”

“Do you miss home?”

“Yeah, yeah I really miss it.” I start, thinking of everything that I had to leave behind. I know this was the best decision for my family, but I do hold a slight resentment towards being here. “Don’t get me wrong, Sydney’s great and all, but I miss my friends, my house, my pets, I even miss the shitty pub from down the street.”

“Thank you Y/N, I feel like we’ve got to know you a little bit more now, so feel free to take a seat and we’ll get started.”

The only open seat is next to the girl that Jojo called Amerie. Smiling as I take my place, I open my notebook and begin to doodle swirls and other patterns across the page. Focusing on that rather than the subject being taught. It’s some form of sex education by the sounds of it. However, it seems very outdated and heteronormative. Nothing worth listening to anyway.

Upon hearing the bell ring, I begin to pack away my things and watch as a few students mutter things towards Amerie. “Map bitch.” “Cunt.” and “Crazy bitch.” Just to name a few. I realise that may be the reason she had nobody sat next to her and figure it may be best to avoid her if I want to stay under everybody’s radar.

Finding my locker, I begin to turn the lock with great difficulty. Back home, the numbers simply connect and the door clicks open, that doesn’t seem to be the case here though. Fiddling with the dial, I hear the bell signal the beginning of the next class and I huff, annoyed that I’m having this much trouble with a stupid locker.

As the hallways clears out, I continue to twist and pull at the lock. Bag dumped on the floor as I try with all my strength to pry the door open. With no such luck, I throw a quick kick to the locker beneath mine, leaving a dent in the door slightly. Slumping with my back again the metal, I find myself face to face with the boy in the baggy outfit.

Not previously noticing how cute he was, dark hair hidden beneath a beanie, a couple of curls escaping. Boyish grin plastered across his face and piercing brown eyes staring directly at me. I won’t even try to deny that Australia has one up on the Uk in terms of boys, they’re just so much cuter over here.

“What did the locker do to you?” He jokes, taking the slip of paper with the locker code out of my hand.

“Bloody thing won’t open.” I mumble, stepping out of the way as he demonstrates how to open it with ease. My cheeks tinged pink as I fear my outburst may have been unnecessary.

“I thought you Brits were supposed to be good at containing your emotions anyway.” He leans against the locker beside mine, watching me as I stuff countless books into the small space. Normally this would make me uncomfortable, yet there’s there’s something about him that makes me feel warm and calm.

“Nah we love our fair share of violence.” I tell him, smiling as I do so, remembering the amount of fights that used to take place on my estate daily. Providing free entertainment for all the neighbours. “We’re polite, but piss us off and we’ll knock you into next week.”

He laughs, folding his arms across his chest as I close the locker door. His eyes gaze over me as I turn to face him properly. Noticing the small cross necklace hanging from his neck, I can’t help but imagine what it would look like against his bare skin.

“You religious?” I ask, nodding towards the chain.

“Nah, I’m Ant.” He brushes off my question and tucks the necklace beneath his shirt. Clearly a touchy subject that perhaps I shouldn’t have brought up. So instead I attempt to lighten the mood.

“Ant?” The word escapes my mouth as a slight giggle, unable to hide the amusement his name brings. “And your mate’s called Spider?”

“Yeah, stupid right?” He chuckles, playing with the straps of his bag. Almost as if he’s nervous. “We’ve been best mates our entire lives. My real name’s Anthony but nobody calls me that. Same with Spider, his name’s Spencer. Kids started to call us Ant and Spider when we were like six, guess it just stuck.”

“That’s cute.”

Picking up my bag, I throw it over my shoulder. Figuring I should probably head to my next class despite being extremely late already.

“Hey, about Spider.” Ant reaches for my arm, clearly sensing that I’m about to leave. “I just wanted to apologise, he can be a bit of a dick but he’s a nice guy deep down.”

My arm tingles where he’s touching it, feeling the slightest of move of his fingers. As though my nerves are on fire. Suddenly hypersensitive to any little movement he makes. I know I shouldn’t be feeling things this intensely, hell, I’ve just met the guy. Yet he sparks an excitement in me that I haven’t felt in a while.

“Honestly it’s sound. You don’t need to apologise.” I assure him, offering a smile, I see his shoulders relax. “I can handle a prick like him any day.”

“Yeah you certainly shot him down quick.”

As he removes his hand from my arm, I’m quick to begin walking away. Cheesy grin on my face as I recall the interaction in my head despite it only happening seconds ago. I feel dizzy with excitement, my feet feel like they’re walking on clouds and I almost miss the shout from behind me as I go to turn the corner.

“Hey, do you wanna get high?”

[prettyboykatsuki-moved]

caleb is quite literally not mcs brother and it's not in any way reductive to his character to say so. they use brotherly terms bc it's just common in some cultures to do that— including chinese, japanese and korean, where those words that might be literally translated as "brother" are just as commonly, if not more, used as regular terms of endearment that don't exist in english. mcs weird feelings about it also makes sense if she just SEES him as a really close figure, stop tryna twist ur weird ass incest agenda as if you understand the source material better when ur literally just a slow ass westerner who doesn't understand the cultures ur tryna write within 💀 you guys just need to be euthanised i think

okay so. when the game, in canon text, has caleb's companion viper in all three languages except english localization, call him a siscon what do you think that means? what kind of relationship does someone having a sister complex indicate to you?

on another note and i do mean this genuinely: you don't have to interpret the story as incest if you don't want to. just like you don't need to read my fic or be annoying in my inbox about it 💀 telling me you think i need to be euthanized because you're uncomfortable with a very overt narrative theme that i expand on is insane bc you're doing that over pixels but well.

i didn't feel like this was worth answering but you 1. accusing me of being a westerner like im not literally asian disapora is insulting to me and 2. caleb and mc quite literally are adopted by the same person, and are canonically raised under the same roof. they refer to the same woman as grandma. if this does not read to you like a familial relationship ... 💀💀. all of my characterization is based on cn since its the original language the game is written in.

i don't think there is like. any reason to argue over the logistic use of honorifics. i come from a culture that uses honorfics. i know the way older brother can be used affectionately between people. but this is still SO questionable given the actual specifics of how caleb calls mc

it is additionally questionable because caleb also uses 家人 "jia ren" during bigger scenes which explicitly means family member (thank you mao for the translations). this kind of explicitly familial dialogue is also found again the original cn version of chapter 9. the localization butchers the original meaning and completely gets rid of the tragedy aspect. caleb essentially implies in that dialogue that their entire family was a lie, that the memories they had as a family were a farce and caleb did not feel the bond at all. this is the source of her devastation. go watch the cn translation done by a native speaker if u dont want to believe me 💀💀💀

your main argument seems to be that there is some great distinctive line between older brother figure and straight up older brother. and potentially if caleb was a neighbor or someone from a different family with a different guardian then this maybe would hold water.

but they are canonically raised in the same house, by the same person, adopted together. so either - you don't view adoptive siblings as a legitimate form of incest because it's not blood-related incest and you think that's somehow less taboo.

or you're genuinely implying that a person that you view as a sibling, who is raised with you, is on paper canonically adopted together with you from the same orphanage to the same person is, who you call your older brother and all of your friends view your sibling as affirmed in several cards in the original cn... is not actually your sibling but your childhood friend?

incest between people who are step-siblings or adoptive siblings is still incest. its taboo because the nature of the relationship is familial. the story literally uses forbidden fruit? do you think someone whose merely a vaguely older brother like figure warrants that level of intensity? like im crying.

no offense but i do understand the source material better than you also. like. sdkjfjfsdkldmfnksdfksjan

[balrogballs]

I came across that silm nobel prize argument you mentioned in yr tag. I’m not asking about the ship war stuff, I know you don’t do ship stuff but only if you don’t mind, I was interested in hearing yr thoughts on the accessibility stuff they were talking abt, like what makes a fanfic acessible. I was thinking of your post on making your AU acessible for a fanfic reader, and it made me think that the nobel prize OP was using the word inacessible in a wrong way?

I assume this refers to that ‘Silm writers are inaccessible & elitist compared to TROP writers, nobody wants to write an essay about the fanfic they read, flower shop AUs have more ‘real human emotion’ than thematically dense fic, it’s AO3 not the Nobel Prize longlist’ nonsense unless there’s another one floating about in which case jesus fucking christ lol

It’s an interesting one lol… I don’t follow the page or post about the show so I didn’t see it, but a bunch of people have DMed it to me across the last couple weeks, since while the OP was speaking in general or collective terms, I tick a few of their shitlist boxes in a rather obvious way lol. I’ve said variations of this across said DMs and other writers may have a different opinion but essentially:

I personally don’t treat ‘accessibility’ as a concern when it comes to fanfic, unless we’re talking disability accommodations like alt-text or not using emojis, or tagging for triggers. ‘Must be enjoyable for people who like a certain style of writing’ is not an accessibility requirement, it’s your Goodreads wishlist. I do not care about what you want Santa to bring you. Perhaps it’s because I’ve not been in fandom long enough but I genuinely cannot think of a response aside from ‘get a fucking grip lol’.

And re your question about my AU, what I meant there by adapting the story for a fanfic audience was that I toploaded it with regional context and diaspora eyes before getting into the actual narrative in a way I wouldn’t have done if (god forbid) I wrote it as a novel. That isn’t a comment on style or theme, it’s literally just because I’d expect that someone walking into a bookshop, picking up, and paying for a book about a Marxist madhouse in North Kerala full of intertextual elements so thinly veiled as to be practically wrapped in clingfilm, would be at least vaguely familiar with the genre and context.

This is something I would not assume of people scrolling through AO3, because there’s no reason to expect that, hence providing extra info, being conscious as to what I can’t presume people already know, putting some extra elbow grease into “world building”, translating within the text itself, answering questions about regional/historical context etc… it’s not an accessibility measure, I’d say it’s closer to providing an appendix/glossary.

I don’t know, like imo it’s kind of ridiculous to sit around shitting on people for writing narratives more complex than what you personally like, but that’s your space, preference and prerogative… go ham and shit away, it is your toilet, not mine.

My irritation is mostly with the language of “accessibility” and “elitism” and trying to make it sound like a societal ill by using such buzzwords. Yes, there may well be elitism or lorebros or whatever in a general fandom sense, but I don’t know what fanfic has to do with that.

The Silmarillion probably does have a higher concentration of whatever they mean by Nobel Prize fics but that’s not exactly due to some oppressive feudal fandom hierarchy, it’s literally just because the fanbase skews older and the source text is conducive to a certain style of literary writing being relatively popular… it’s not some big injustice, it’s pretty normal, generally speaking, for fanworks to reflect the style and tone of the source text regardless of how transformative they are, simply because the one thing most people in any given fandom share is their enjoyment of said source text.

I like to think of myself as being well read but there are tons of books ‘inaccessible’ to me beyond reading preferences. When I was at university I worked on regional literature but I always specified Malayalam rather than ‘South India’ even though the college used the latter as a tag, because I can’t read Tamil or Kannada etc—that doesn’t mean those languages are inaccessible languages. One’s experience as an individual is not a benchmark for something already as subjective as accessibility. I’m not exactly going to call the Dance Mums fanbase elitist gatekeepers for writing fanfiction just because I’ve never seen an episode of the show.

Also not to be an insufferable pedant but like… if someone wants to use ‘publishable standard’ as a negative term, they should probably look up what it means. Publishable standard just means that a work is fit for publication, it’s not meant to be a comment on genre, style or content. The Cat in the Hat is of publishable quality but that doesn’t mean Dr. Seuss should win the Booker.

Finally, I know the OP was speaking in general and refers to a ‘group’ of writers but speaking for myself, l’m sorry I simply cannot see how on earth a style of writing can make someone elitist: I don’t deny I’ve spent years with the academic silver spoon up my ass, I have openly acknowledged it on multiple occasions both joking and otherwise, and also do not deny that comes across in the way I write.

However, my blog is 80% pure shitposting. My AO3 page isn’t required reading. You do not have to enjoy my writing style in order to interact with me, you are allowed to find it insufferable because it often is insufferable. Hell, you can even tell me you hate it, preferences are subjective. There is no gatekeeping here. Nobody is holding quiz nights about 1970s India and beating people if they get a question wrong.

TLDR: yes, yes, fanfiction doesn’t have to be of a publishable standard because it’s people writing for fun yes, yes, elitism is bad, yes, yes, but that doesn’t mean ‘not writing a flowershop AU’ is some kind of systemic oppression against the AO3 proletariat lol.

Hope this went some way to answer your question!

[querulousmegapode]

Just, Drumknott is such a fascinating character.

Just the way that he’s described as having no discernible character and the fact that that’s a significant part of his professional persona that he’s cultivated. Just that he’s spent time turning himself as much into nothing as anything. That he moves silently, like a ghost, or is so quiet that people forget that he’s there. That he’s expected to listen in to conversations.

Just that so often he’s there in the background, mentioned as standing or sitting while Vetinari speaks.

He’s a ghost when Vetinari requires him to, dry and deadpan when Vetinari pulls him into their double act (especially with Moist), professional and sensible in most capacities.

But then in solo scenes you realise that he has so much character after all. Picking apart grammar in an entirely casual way when faced with a threat (when you say don’t nobody move), almost rude as he cuts off William (I think I don’t have to talk to you), embarrassed after getting stabbed, enthralled with the new steam engines. Even around Vetinari you get scenes like him agonising over misfiling that all show that he clearly *does* have this discernible character.

Just that his artifice has worked so well that it bleeds into everything. His attributes are essentially never described. He has no canon appearance. His discworld companion entry just mentions his lack of discernible character. We know essentially nothing about his life outside of work other than that he lives in the palace. In terms of family, all we know is that he has a singular nephew. Even William forgetting to ask for his age means that we know very little about him beyond him being ‘young’ (and that can’t possibly still be true by the end of the series).

Of course, a lot of that is stylistic, but I still find it interesting.

I also find it fascinating to consider those times that he appears colder. Part of his position involves appearing as a united front with Vetinari and Vetinari acts in certain ways to upkeep public opinion of him as a tyrant or just generally acts in morally questionable ways. This is, of course, half of what I like about him, but I keep finding myself considering Drumknott’s part in that.

Showing Moist the newspaper headline and commenting ‘innocently’, despite knowing that it’s likely going to make him fearful for his life. Arriving at the hanging and delivering the message about the false reprieve, again just toying with Moist. Standing there silently as Vetinari tells Mr Pump to break one of Moist’s fingers.

I’d love to get inside his head in that moment. Of course, Vetinari *doesn’t* break any of Moist’s fingers and I think he might be a different character if he had. But he can be ruthless and I’d love to know what Drumknott thinks about that. I presume he correctly guesses that Vetinari is teaching Moist a lesson.

He is, of course, very loyal and genuinely believes that Vetinari is not a tyrant. Working so closely beside him he is able to see past the persona that Vetinari puts up and in a scene where he is uncertain about Vetinari’s meaning he is described as usually being adept at understanding Vetinari (paraphrased).

I think for me this is a lot of the appeal of Vetiknott as a ship. These are both such deeply odd individuals, couched in layers and layers of artifice but ultimately they both understand each other. They understand putting Ankh Morpork first and devoting yourself to a life where you will never be thanked. Devoting yourself to a city that would much rather spit in your face than acknowledge your efforts. Being deposed and poisoned and shot for your troubles. Even Drumknott gets stabbed just for being there.

This is a dangerous, thankless, unrelenting job but every day they wake up and do it and that’s what I love about them.

I think that a quote from a DictionaryWrites fic sums this up best for me.

This is the best either of them could hope for.

[corviiids]

hello! how do you find consistent friends in fandom? as in, how do you find people who stick with you through different fandoms and listen and read your work. also, how long have you been writing for and how long did it take you to get so good at writing and character analysis.... your work is such an inspiration to me, genuinely one of my top 3 authors across ao3. i hope the writing goes well!

hey! this is really sweet, thank you very much for your lovely kind words. 💖

re: friendship: i don't mean to be a downer about this so i hope it doesn't come across this way, but i do think the concept of friends where you follow each other through all your fandoms and continue to read each other's work etc kind of... either doesn't exist or is just a rare phenomenon and not a 'type' of friend per se more than it is something that just happens out of luck. i am lucky enough to have friendships which have persisted through all of us changing fandoms, but the reason those friendships last is actually because we found connections that went beyond common interests. i think sharing a fandom/interest is great as an initial point of connection and a way to meet, but for a relationship to last, you need to have a deeper bond than both being into the same thing--so contrary to what you've asked about (oops sorry) those friendships im speaking of only last because we didn't follow each other into different fandoms, really. we didn't have to. along the same vein, i'd respectfully argue that it wouldn't be productive or fair of me to group 'reading my work' in as an element of friendship, so to speak--i definitely don't expect my friends to read my fic and vice versa, we all understand that we can support each other in our creative pursuits and lives in general / in the abstract without needing to be a fan of the same things or even necessarily being fans of each other's work (although of course it's always nice). i know this doesn't really answer your specific question but i hope it doesn't come across as pessimistic as it might sound. i truly and genuinely believe it's a positive thing that the idealised friendgroup traipsing through fandoms together doesn't really exist (or if it does exist, it's luck and not something to shoot for in itself), because this just tells me to look out for these great opportunities to form bonds that last beyond superficial interests.

in terms of how to make those friendships to begin with, im honestly even less help. my friendships kind of just happened to me. im actually quite terrible at reaching out to people and i am notoriously difficult to reach myself hahaha so honestly all the credit for my friendships goes to my friends for being patient and sticking with me despite that. i am honestly just very lucky in that i've been able to talk out loud into the void and have had wonderful people reach out to me because of it, but that's hardly a reliable strategy... i guess i'd encourage you to be more like my friends, who are the anime protagonists wielding the power of friendship to my prickly antagonist, or whatever. oh another thing to remember i guess is that some friendships just don't last this way and will stay within fandoms and may peter out, and that's ok. i don't consider those relationships less real or valuable for being less lasting.

re: writing: i want to caveat that i don't think i'm fairly able to say (or comfortable saying) that i'm particularly good at writing or character analysis, certainly not to an extent that i'd be willing to hold myself up as an example of it, but i really appreciate that you feel that way about my work and am incredibly honoured to be considered an inspiration in any capacity!!

with that disclaimer made, i'll do my best to answer for whatever it's worth. i've liked writing ever since i was a very little kid, but i will credit any actual progress i've made in developing the skill to writing fanfic because i think that being able to focus on building character and logical flow in plot progression over other things like creating characters, worldbuilding, inventing plots wholesale, etc--which has allowed me to sort of expedite those skills in particular and which i think are helpful in writing more broadly. (this also answers the 'character analysis' part specifically--when you don't have to/get to invent a character, you have to spend more time taking them apart.) anyway, i started writing fic about twelve or thirteen years ago, and there have been periods within that where i've progressed faster or slower depending what's going on in my life haha. i do think time played a massive role in any skill developments i've made, but i also know people take less time or more time to make similar progress (caveat again: progression is subjective, this is very approximate), so i think the other key ingredient besides time is engagement. if it's helpful, i went into that a little bit more here, but as stated i have a lot more to learn and would never present myself as an expert lol

[the-bar-sinister]

feel free to ignore bc i'm an anti but i promise this isn't harassment

been showing interest (against my will) in learning abt this and im just curious. how does loli stuff not equal ped? /genq

and do picky proshippers exist? (those with lots of icks, like not liking anything of animals etc)

scared this response will turn me into a proshipper /hj but ik if it does i'll feel like a freak and go confessing to family and lose relationships w ppl i love LMAO

Hey, pal. I'll answer this in the spirit it's sent, because it seems like you genuinely want to learn and understand.

I'm going to answer your questions in reverse order, because it makes the most sense to do so.

"Are there picky proshippers?"

My pal, my friend, my buddy. "Proshipper" does not mean someone who enjoys dark content, at all. And it certainly doesn't mean "person who enjoys all dark content without exception."

"Proshipper" means someone who doesn't criticize other people for their fictional relationships because they know that they're fictional.

There are LOTS of "picky proshippers". I would dare say that all proshippers are picky in one way or another. The difference between a proshipper and an anti is that a proshipper simply avoids content that they don't want to see. They block, filter, and ignore ships and other content that make them uncomfortable.

There are proshippers who are uncomfortable with shipcest, or with age gaps, or with noncon content, etc.

I'm PERSONALLY very picky. I don't want to see any content that has noncon in it. I'm very picky about what dubcon I consume. I'm extremely squicked out by forced gender content, and by pregnency, and by genderswap fic.

And I just do my best to avoid it.

As for "how does loli not equal pedo"-

First let me make it really clear that I am first of all, personally uncomfortable with a lot of the content that gets labeled "loli", and I am second of all, uncomfortable with using the term "loli" in discussions of what content should or shouldn't be censored, because the people who are agressively "Anti-loli" tend to hold a lot of anti-Japanese racist sentiment.

So this is a difficult subject for me to address.

Let me say clearly that the answer is because fictional under age content is fictional.

It's no worse to be interested in fictional underage sex content than it is to be interested in fictional murder content, or fictional theft content.

It's all pretend. It's make believe. It's not real. Liking something in fiction doesn't mean you have any interest in it in real life.

I hope this answers your question. Please feel free to ask follow up questions if the spirit takes you.

[wayfayrr]

aaaaaaahhh all i can think of is like- most isekai fics I've seen for some reason [i mean understandably] the reader is wearing their pajamas, but after visiting the modern world they can finally show the chain what they actually like wearing, [i can see this going in so many ways, depending on who is reacting, and especially depending on what aesthetic the reader likes to dress in. for the sake of the request ill keep it as dark academia, cause i love it so muchhhh [not so much in the summer, but i make it work lol] with time? [just imagining reader with a tie and just wearing business casual w a trenchcoat frrrrrrrr- might draw this kind of thing and send it to you lol]

Anon I hope you know this ask had me in an absolute chokehold. OUJDFNBJNF ✨I LIVE FOR DARK ACADEMIA AESTHETICS!!!✨ My trenchcoat is one of my favourite things I own. So I get your pain in summer as well 🥹

“Hey Time, have you seen Wild anywhere? He borrowed my laptop and I really need it back.”

“I haven’t sorry [nam]-... Is that what you wear normally? You look incredible.”

“Pretty much, yeah? Why, is there an issue with it?”

Time’s blushing. Is what I’m wearing really that impressive because I know he’s not blushing over what I’m wearing being revealing. A trenchcoat that goes down to my calves with the rest of my clothes? Does he just think I’m attractive or something? 

“No, no issue. You look good in it, it’s just very different to what you arrived in Hyrule wearing.”

“I know, like I said then those were my pyjamas. These are my casual clothes.”

Well, his blush has only gotten worse from that, so he is clearly struggling with how my clothes look on me. Dark academia doesn’t exist in Hyrule I know that, but really he’s struggling far more than anyone else has with my fashion sense. 

“Do you think you could help me choose some clothes like that? I’d like to match wit.. I think that style would suit me.”

“If you’d like, we can go shopping for you later. After I get my laptop back and finish off this report I have due.”

Laughing at how he's stumbling over himself to ask me these questions simply isn't an option, no matter how hard it is to hold myself back. He's asking so genuinely and so sweetly and who knows maybe getting some new clothes could help him adjust to this world more easily, I mean it certainly helped me when I was in Hyrule. How different could it be for time?

It didn't take too long to find wild after talking to time, and even less to finish off the work I had to do, now it’s just down to taking time shopping.

“So you want to look like you belong with a shot of espresso in an artisanal coffee shop while writing a research paper?”

“I only know what half of those words mean [name.], even less with how you’re using them.”

“Right, sorry. I’m still getting used to all of the differences in our cultures. Hopefully, you’ll get more used to the terms we use here sooner rather than later. Ready to go out though?”

“I am, it’ll be nice to get some new clothes. Not that I’m complaining about the excuse to wear yours.”

The nearest place that sells things like these isn’t exactly the closest to where I live, making it the perfect opportunity to adjust Time to my world’s transport. Well, more than he’s already seen anyway. Actually, now that I’m thinking about this, what size clothing even is he? Not that it’s an issue but not knowing a vague size is gonna mean he’s going to have to try on a lot of different fits. Then finding the right colours for him is a whole different challenge… And we’re already here… Time to find out the answers to those questions of mine.

“Where would you like to start?”

“A coat exactly like yours perhaps?”

“I don’t see why not. Any colour in mind or just the same style?”

A shrug was NOT what I wanted as an answer, but he does know what he wants which means that I’ve got somewhere to start. Trench Coats are somewhat pricey but with how some of the others are chipping in towards living costs now there’s no issue with spending out occasionally. He seems to be gravitating more towards things that are similar to mine, isn’t that charming? He sees something he likes on me then decides that’s what he wants for himself hopefully, he just stays away from the expensive ones. 

“You ready to try those on then, old man?”

“Just a moment more love, I can’t find quite the right colour yet.”

He just… How red is my face right now? It has to be crimson, doesn’t it? That’s the first time Time’s ever called me something like that naturally it’s when he’s looking at clothes like my own, is he trying to kill me with his charms?

[allthingswhumpyandangsty]

Have you ever heard of dead dove fics with a happy ending? I’m new to fanfiction & I’m currently writing a story that’s (based on its plot so far at least) very dead dove at certain points, but very light and fluffy at others…I genuinely love writing both, but I worry the tone will be too inconsistent. Do you think it could work writing both darker and dead dove narratives with fluff in a single story?

I don’t see why you can’t write it if it’s what you, as the writer, want. creative writing is a form of art and art is all about freedom; you as the artist should be able to create and express your art however you want. as I’ve said before here, you are the main priority of your works. write whatever you want. there’s no rule. 

but as to answer your question, Dead Dove with a happy ending is actually not that uncommon. so yes, I’ve heard of it before. and I’ve read ones that are so beautifully and professionally written. because Dead Dove doesn’t equal ‘tragic ending’. the term Dead Dove only means ‘hey, this work contains content that is heavily triggering and can be seen as outright disturbing, offensive and morally messed up, so proceed at your own risk. you have been warned’.

basically the purpose of Dead Dove: Do Not Eat tag is to tell people that 'they have been warned', therefore they cannot blame or get mad at the authors for writing these morally fucked up things, because the authors did warn them that it was gonna be Dead Dove, and they chose to read the works anyway.

Dead Dove: Do Not Eat tag does not mean "this entire story is going to be a devastating, offensive and morally disturbing". it actually means "hey, you have been warned." — it's also the author's responsibility to tag the actual warning of their work, what the nature of the work is that it needs to be tagged as Dead Dove (non-con, drug use, blood and gore, violence, etc), and not just tag it as 'Dead Dove' without other tags to state why the work is tagged as Dead Dove.

if some parts of your work is Dead Dove then you can and should tag the work as such, but that doesn’t mean your entire work has to all be Dead Dove. just like how a movie can and often has various types of scenes that leave the audience feeling different type of things and moods throughout that one film. a film that falls within drama category can have scenes that make the audience laugh, and a horror film can have scene that isn’t about ghosts or demons. and they all can still have a happy ending. a Dead Dove fic doesn’t have to be just Dead Dove throughout the entire story. 

[unwhitewashthebadbatch]

hii i have quite a few questions, and im genuinely trying to learn so i hope these aren't offensive, even if i know i dont know too much :3 (also apologies if im incoherent, im currently dead on my feet lol) I was already aware of the whitewashing in TCW and TBB before reading your carrd, but after, it has explained/revealed more things and raised a few questions from me.

So, one is Omega. Obviously nothing justifies the fact that she is white, but shouldn't the blonde hair be excused? Didn't Jango Fett have a canonical sister who was blonde? So Jango does carry the genes for blonde hair (even if, in him, they're "turned off")- which is how Rex and the few other background clones we see have blonde hair. This is where I saw it in the carrd which is what raised my concern/question: "She's 100% Jango, lacking the genetic modifications that all other clones have... Omega has light skin and blonde hair, although the team didn't go the standard route and give her blue eyes like they have done with some clones. If she is a perfect clone of Jango, why is she blonde?"

The other questions I have are from an article that was linked in the carrd: Star Wars: A Tale of Racism. I did know that various Asian cultures/designs/etc were used in the creation of Star Wars, particularly with the Jedi (I learned this through learning where Obi-Wan Kenobi's name was inspired from)- I just would like to know- how is that bad? If other cultures are used as inspirations for various fictional cultures/races/places/etc? Is it not a good thing, in that it's showing representation and such? I mean, taking any culture and using it as a inspiration for a person/place that is only portrayed negatively is bad of course, and I can see why in the instances that it was used that way it is wrong, but (coming back to the original), for instance, what about the Jedi? The Jedi are portrayed in Star Wars as the objective good guys, who can still make mistakes, because they're not perfect. So how is that cultural appropriation? I was under the impression that cultural appropriation is when someone, who is not a part of that group/culture/etc, takes something from that group/culture/etc and uses it either in a negative manner or without credit. Because otherwise it's representation(?). Like, if I wanted to dress up as someone who had a disability that I didn't have or was from a different culture than me, because I liked that character, and if I tried to portray it respectfully/realistically, wouldn't that be representation? Or would it be cultural appropriation?

Also, another question, particularly from the Crosshair carrd, regarding how TBB/Crosshair deals with regular clones. Within the current animation/canon, because of their appearances, I can understand how their interactions/treatments can be racist. However, if, say in a fic or personal revising of their appearances in your head, you fix the colors and appearances to be, still different/modified but accurate to being actual clones of Jango, wouldn't those beliefs change? It would go from, instead of a white man picking on a POC man because of a sense of genetic superiority, a POC man picking on a POC man because of a sense of genetic superiority. Not to say that they are "superior", but they were supposed to be genetically enhanced, far above the average clone. And question on the term "regs". It was mentioned in on of the carrd's that there is often a stereotype that POC people are infantilized, and in Star Wars, regarding the clones, it can come out as them not being able to make their own culture, needing someone to help them with it. Wouldn't "regs" be a part of that culture? It is what a clone who was enhanced far beyond the regular enhancments would call a clone who has only had the regular dose. It's like how the clones call Jango Fett "Prime".

If these were offensive I'm so sorry, I'm trying to learn/understand, and I figure I might as well ask the question that could be offensive and then be corrected instead of just keeping the offensive ideas without correction. <3 :D

Hello! Thanks for sending this ask! I'll answer your queries to the best of my ability.

For question one: First, I want to clear up a misconception regarding Rex and other clones. Their hair isn't naturally blonde -- in canon, Rex bleaches, though it's popular fanon that he's a natural blonde. As for Jango's canonical blonde sister -- what's less important than the in-universe reasons for why a character trait exists is the real life (out of universe) explanation. In writing, when a character is meant to be portrayed as "pure" or "innocent", it isn't uncommon to make them blonde (and a girl, but that's for a different post). The simple fact of the matter is that the creators of the Bad Batch factored blondeness into Omega's appearance of innocence and her allegedly being a "pure" clone of Jango.

In terms of how genes work, they have to be expressed the same way in order for one set to be a copy of another's. Imagine a series of lights switches on a wall. If the first half are off and the second half are on, can you change the orientation and then say that it's really the same just because the same number of light switches is present? I'm not a geneticist by any means, but mere presence of genes isn't enough. They have to be expressed the same way. Which then loops us back to the question of why pure, innocent, morally upright Omega, who is a pure genetic copy of a brown man with black hair, ends up blonde.

(In all honesty, as much as Jango has a canon blonde sister, I don't think anyone's ever cared enough about her to do that level of digging and design a new character inspired/partly justified by her, but I digress).

For question two, on cultural appropriation: CA doesn't just have to be attached to negative portrayals for it to be CA! Here is where we ask ourselves why George Lucas and other writers/creators of the Jedi were so comfortable being "inspired" by various Eastern Asian cultures without ever including Asians in prominent positions in their works. Using a real life culture as inspiration in itself isn't bad, but how one goes about it -- taking the appearance without including the people -- is where that "representation" gets into CA territory.

Especially considering how for the longest time, characters who were Asian in Star Wars were portrayed more negatively than positively, many Asian fans weren't/aren't thrilled to have their culture undergird so much of Star Wars while their faces are nowhere to be seen.

I can't speak to "dressing up as" a disabled person since I myself am not disabled, and I don't want to draw any incorrect conclusions about you, but I would say in general that you dressing up as someone from a group you're not part of doesn't fit the definition of representation. Representation must represent the people/culture.

For the third question, regarding Crosshair: If one chooses to redesign the Bad Batch but keep their superiority complex, then yes appearance of their beliefs would change. I want to make sure I'm understanding you correctly here -- it seems like you're saying that within the bounds of the Star Wars universe, Crosshair is/looks racist because he's a white(washed) man picking on men of color. I want to be clear that 99% of our critiques of the series and designs come from a real-world view, in which we analyze, question, and call out the optics of the Bad Batch with the understanding that that were all writing and design decisions that human writers made.

So within the context of the show, it's not really white man versus man of color because those distinctions don't exist in the Star Wars universe. However, they DO exist in our world, and that is where our critique lies. If Crosshair were redesigned and still a jerk, to us he'd look like a regular jerk, not a racist jerk. In the show, he's a jerk either way. It's actually 100% possible to keep the Batch's false sense of superiority and not come out with a bigoted work. I hope I tackled what your confusion was here!

For the final question, about regs: "Regs" can absolutely be part of the Batch's own subculture of clone culture, as it's a reflection of both their willful separation from greater clone society and their false sense of superiority over the rest of the clones. In the context of the show, the term is used derisively and apparently with justification, as the Bad Batch's belief in their genetic superiority is never challenged throughout the three-season run of the show. Ultimately, it comes down to how the word "regs" is used and portrayed in the show/writing.

I hope I answered all your questions! Admittedly, it's been quite some time since I've had to answer a question about #UnwhitewashTBB and I worry I may have assumed some information is common knowledge when it's not. If there's anything you're still confused about, don't hesitate to reach out! Have a nice day!

~ Mod CH

[bdafic]

How have you been?

I appreciate this -- it's very kind to ask. I'm putting the answer under a cut because it's an honest one, and I get that not everyone is comfy reading about more serious medical/health stuff.

Not great!

Some years back, I suffered a pretty significant brain hemorrhage that resulted in permanent damage. I had a smaller one about a year ago, and possibly another in the summer. This is all due to a genetic condition.

I made a good recovery, but part of that was (is) accepting that I will never go back to being the person I was. And that really fucking sucks. Among other things, my short-term memory, speaking, word-finding, reading, and short-term memory are all severely impacted. I am bursting with the desire to create, but much of the time it feels like my hands are bound and my mouth taped shut. Writing is something I was always pretty good at -- I've been doing it since childhood -- and it's demoralizing to see it ripped away so easily.

I would love to be more connected to fandom spaces, but it's hard to feel comfortable talking to people. It's embarrassing to repeat myself, forget shit, talk too much, mix up words, say things the wrong way... People on the internet are not known for extending grace and patience. What I miss the most is being able to read tons of other works and leave comments. Nowadays I have to use a voice reader, take notes, frequent breaks, constantly restart chapters, and potentially wait ages for another 'good' day. I genuinely get a lot of joy out of uplifting others, but it's deeply uncomfortable to do all of that and then spend the next week worrying that I still managed to mess it up somehow. I was already weird and autistic before any of this and let me tell you brain damage has not improved things!

Currently, I am awaiting surgery for a different thing relating to the same genetic condition. My body is not digesting food, and it causes a lot of pain. As a bonus, malnutrition also messes with your brain function. This, too, sucks.

(For the record, my wife has instructions on how to update this account if anything more permanent were to happen to me).

I think about my writing almost every day. I try to pick at my drafts whenever I can make my words work. It's cliché, but every time I get a comment or someone like you comes by and asks me a question, it feels very revitalizing. It tells me I was once capable of creating something that someone else thought was kinda neat. Maybe I still am. I'm fairly unknown in this fandom and very rarely get asks or a bunch of comments or anything, so every time an AO3 email comes in it is a genuinely wonderful surprise. The one perk of brain damage is that I may forget to archive the email and then get to experience that wonderful surprise several times over!

(If I have ever replied to a comment twice: I'm very sorry. I will do it again).

I hope this does not discourage anyone from leaving one, because I regularly go back and re-read them. They mean a lot to me, especially right now. I don't have anyone to talk to about Dragon Age and fic, and I am not comfortable with the people in my life knowing how many hundreds of hours I have spent thinking about elves having sex, so it's really nice to live in a world where I can gush with someone else for a moment.

Thanks for taking the time to ask.

[stellar-constellations]

Hi! I just wanted to let you know that I binged your Star Patient series in one go and I love how you write! I was so immersed I actually got so disappointed when I realized I hit the end of the uploaded chapters haha. I'm really loving Reader's character in terms of how she deals with the verrrrry questionable obstacles coming her way, girlie needs a break to just cuddle it out with Andrew or something. Anyway yeah I just wanted to drop by and let you know I'm absolutely eating your writing :D

Thank you so much! It means so much to know people enjoy the personality I chose for reader! I honestly love writing her.

I didn't want a Mary Sue type of reader, or a reader who just seems like a replacement of Ashley (I'm getting real tired of seeing these rip-offs of Ashley, she has her own charm nobody can compete with).

I wanted a reader with her own psychological issues and problems, this series is for Andrew, who is from the psychological game genre! It only made sense having a unique character to go with him! I wanted to match the game's elements and have the reader just like it; battling with her morals and if what she's doing is right, just in a different type of context and setting.

Reader's obstacles and drama in her life is just crazy, but we embrace the crazy. It'll be boring just reading the same thing you've already seen inside of the TCOAAL game, so I wanted to flesh out my own plot and characters. Reader might not be everyone's cup of tea, but she's mine and I love her.

Honestly, I'm still trying to understand Andrew's personality because of how complex it is (I simp for this man so hard, we need more fics of him). Andrew is such a pain in the ass to write sometimes, but I really love him for it, so please bear with me if he seems out of character, because he is! He's my own version of Andrew I wrote for this story, so he's not going to be canon, just like how the timeline and characters aren't canon either.

She really does need to sit back and take a breather with Andrew, but her trust issues refuse to and we'll see why in later chapters~

I've been hinting the introduction of a new character, and chapter 6 will have plenty hints of that, so I'm really excited for their eventual release since it'll really spice up the story and characters. It's a yandere story, after all.

Slight spoiler for chapter 6 down below, if you didn’t already piece this out:

I don't know if anyone has pieced this out yet, but our reader is bipolar (hence part of the psychological aspects of her), and it's something we'll see more of in chapter 6 and onwards. I'm going to do my absolute best to not make her a stereotype of the typical bipolar stereotype (0-100 real fast, sudden mood shifts, etc). I don't want it to feel like anybody is being targeted or portrayed inaccurately, nor to do I want it to feel as the disorder is glamorized/romantized. I want reader to feel like a real person, just like how disorders (especially mental) are real too.

I'm definitely going to have to update my warnings because I'll be honest, the plot is being written as I write along and I don't want to trigger anyone or have unsuspecting readers read something they weren't expecting, so make sure to reread my warnings when chapter 6 is out!

I genuinely didn't believe many people would care much about this series, and I wrote it for fun, but it's such a wonderful surprise seeing people engage in my stories and ideas, you're apart of this journey just as much as I am.

Chapter 6 is currently at 6,000+ words and still has a lot more to go through, so it'll be a long chapter! Thank you my stars, for your support, patience, and giving me motivation!

The Andrew "Andy" Graves complete masterlist

Inbox is currently OPEN for questions about the story and new plotlines/ideas, temporarily closed for requests!

[evansbby]

hi!!

first of all, i want to say i’m really sorry you’re getting unneeded criticism esp on a fic thats literally posted on tumblr dot com (???)

i’m not really sure why people are suddenly up in arms about it being too dark especially since its already been established in the first part.…

secondly, as someone who’s been following you for years, read all of your works, and regularly comes back for seconds, tcr knocked the absolute wind out of me!!! i was in no way unacquainted to the angst your works have but oh boy!! here i thought i couldn’t hate anyone more than wg!ari i was wrong!! i wanted to whack steve so bad for treating her like that 😭

the way you wrote him very differently to your characters is very interesting to me! in your previous soft dark fics, we can at least see a view redeemable qualities of ari/steve sprinkled in with asshole moves and yet somehow at the end you managed to make us forgive them 😭

in tcr steve is just straight up an amalgamation of entitlement and a massive ego (from his big dick) and you definitely wanted us to hate him from the start. he was constantly mean besides the few sentences where he seems to SLIIIIGHTLY have remorse or sympathy towards us (and then he’s horny again HORNDOG!!!). and i KNOOOW his jealousy is gonna be very explosive, like manslaughter kind of explosive.

i definitely have 0 clue where this fic is going and for me that’s also what will keep me hooked, because i’m interested in seeing how it plays out, how the reader is going to change or adapt, or how steve is going to change and adapt. i’m interested if there’s anything more going on with tony, for someone described as a drunk he’s still highly perceptive, clearly more aware than everybody else. i’m also interested in what’s going on with bucky, would he help us if he knew how steve was treating her?

there’s so many questions i have that i hope one day will get answered!! you’re a talented writer and always able to evoke such emotional responses from me, be it happy or sad, and it’s always a treat when you post.

i hope you continue to write, whether this story or another, because while i know the hate gets so loud and overwhelming, just know you also have a group of people who love the work that you create and always excited to read from you.

anyways, sorry for rambling! all this to say i hope you feel better soon, take a break if you need to, i love your work, and stay safe always 💖

- 🧢

Omg ily sooo much thank you for leaving such an amazing review! 🥺✨🙌🏼 and also your kind and supportive words mean the world bestie!

Haha yep, tcr!Steve is a bajillion times worse that wg!Ari! In fact, I think wg!Ari is one of the nicer male leads I’ve written 💀 which says a lot lmao.

I don’t think this Steve had any remorse or sympathy for reader like he was quite ruthless, but what I will say is he does seem to hold her in very high regard in terms of her being (in his opinion) better than like every other woman on earth 😂 so that’s SOMETHING the bar is in hell lol

Also yeah!!! Steve is literally SUCH a big horny horndog in this fic like he’s literally INSATIABLE to the point where he cannot control himself lmao. Only with reader tho.

And yes, Tony is super perceptive! But would anyone even believe him? When his credibility has gone down so much and Steve is basically considered God in the eyes of the public and their colleagues?? And yep, I agree it’s interesting whether Bucky would help reader if he knew what was truly going on. I guess it depends on whether he’s genuinely a good person or if his loyalty for Steve would win through 😭😭

Thank you so so much for your kind and supportive words! You’re right, the hate will be loud but it doesn’t matter when the love is so much louder! Thanks so much bestie! 🥺🥺🤎

[rivalsforlife]

ok I'm in a bitchy mood I'll just say it. with the obligatory "I'm posting on the internet" disclaimer that a) this is a Personal Rant to express my Personal Feelings and is not intended as an attack on anyone else or their personal feelings and b) at the end of the day I have no intention or desire to do any gatekeepy things anyone can do whatever they want.

but I find it so incredibly baffling how many times I see aroace things that seem to be operating under a completely different definition of aroace than I am. I was like "maybe I'm overreacting" and then check the tag to see if I'm the only one feeling like this and getting hit with some ask blog where someone is describing their experience of feeling lonely and wishing they weren't aroace and wishing they could have romantic feelings with the response of "some aroace people want to have relationships!" like that isn't The Problem. saw a post going around talking about "loveless aroaces" and "non-partnering aroaces" being valid and asked "what is that supposed to mean" and the definition is basically what I thought being aroace was this entire time. which is having an incapability of feeling romantic love, and not wanting to be in a relationship.

it's like sometimes I go onto ao3 and see ship fics tagged with one or both of the characters being aroace and sometimes these are basically the same as a romantic fic but with some kind of "not liking traditional romantic norms" which is a perfectly fine thing to be but I feel is a different thing from Not Feeling Attraction which is what I thought this was the entire time.

the thing about being aroace is that I am not going to be in a romantic relationship because I don't desire to be in a romantic relationship. I find it personally difficult to wrap my head around the idea of qprs and honestly don't find the possibility of being in one myself likely, because the odds of me finding another aroace person who I would feel comfortable living with long term are incredibly small. being aroace was totally fine when I was a teenager who could see my friends every day and could laugh at them having romantic troubles knowing I wouldn't have to go through that, but it is significantly less fun when your real-life friend group dwindles down to "one person who takes several days to respond to your texts" and you are facing the frankly terrifying prospect of being totally alone for the rest of your life. and it's worse when you have social anxiety to begin with, making finding friends a challenge. and it's definitely worse when you're having to grapple with the question of "am I actually aroace or am I just so severely socially stunted that I can't form genuine relationships with other people".

and that feeling of isolation isn't helped when you go to the people who claim to feel the same way you do, but then a lot of them actually mean "I don't like romantic social norms, here is the person I want to spend the rest of my life with but we don't consider it a romantic thing," or "I don't experience attraction, but at the end of the day I'd be happy being in a relationship with someone who was in love with me and can reciprocate in a way they'd be satisfied with despite not having an active desire to", or "I experience attraction so rarely but it does happen to me sometimes, so don't worry!". and then you see the specific posts saying that you actually are an even nicher microlabel that people *in the community of people who don't experience romantic attraction* apparently have a problem with.

"Non-partnering aroace" "loveless aroace" isn't that just being aroace?? have they changed the definition when I wasn't looking so that isn't the default anymore????? am I losing it completely??? do I need to turn off the internet and go to bed instead of obsessing about the things other people do that is ultimately irrelevant to how I live my life???

[lithopus]

Your latest chapter of hard edged, hard earned was PHENOMENAL. I really enjoyed reading it, especially the way you wrote Kaveh’s altered mental state during the dumbification near the end of the chapter! That being said, can we expect dumbication to be a recurring kink throughout the rest of the fic and/or one in any of your future or current on-going works? 👀

Thank you so much! I'm really glad you enjoyed the chapter and how that scene handled Kaveh's mental state. It was a little tricky for me to portray the dumbification kink with him while still making everything seem believable and in character, especially near the end where he's essentially…doing the kink to himself, sort of? (I'm not sure how to phrase it. Like, it's one thing when Alhaitham is talking to Kaveh like he's a dumb pet—since Kaveh can react to an external "dumbifying" force there—but it wasn't as easy when I wrote the part where Kaveh independently does most of the "dumbifying" in his own head.)

And, good question 🤔 My full answer is below the "keep reading" cut, lol.

For “hard-edged, hard-earned” specifically:

It's still there subtly, but more along the lines of the breakfast scene. That is, Alhaitham will reinforce that Kaveh shouldn't/can't do any thinking, and that Kaveh needs to just mindlessly follow Alhaitham's orders. In Chapter 3, for example, there's more pet play stuff where Alhaitham urges Kaveh to act more like an animal—and if Kaveh seems to hesitate because he feels awkward, Alhaitham will remind him that he's a brainless pet, not a thinking human, and that he should stop thinking and do what he's told.

All consensually, of course—if Kaveh was genuinely uncomfortable and not just mildly embarrassed, he'd safeword and Alhaitham would stop. Kaveh specifically wants Alhaitham to help him get into this headspace, so Alhaitham is trying different pre-negotiated tactics to "nudge" Kaveh in that direction. (I know that should go without saying, but it's been two years and there are still people unfamiliar with dom/sub roleplay who insist that Alhaitham and Kaveh are being toxic and trying to abusively control each other in my dom/sub fics, so 🤷‍♂️ At this point, I suspect it's bad faith ignorance rather than a legitimate misunderstanding, but I'll keep clarifying the consent issue on the off-chance that it's a genuine mistake.)

Anyway, in this particular fic, there won't be much dumbification that resembles that end of Chapter 2, but it's still a recurring theme during the remaining punishments. That said, I haven't written the rest of the fic—I've only outlined it and jotted down notes—so it's always possible that Kaveh could start acting that way again if it feels like a natural direction for whatever scene I'm writing!

For future or in-progress fics:

Maybe? I mean, I'd prefer to wrap up my existing wips and not start any new ones, since I'm getting a bit burned out with fanfiction stuff, so…well, if I'm looking at current wips, that would basically be “testing, testing” and the roleplay one-shot that's loosely connected to Chapter 5.

For “testing, testing”—I'd say there's maybe a bit of dumbification, but it's more along the lines of the “hard-edged, hard-earned” pet play. In “testing, testing” Kaveh and Alhaitham are fond of the dom/sub dynamic where Kaveh acts as if Alhaitham solely exists to worship his dick and then frames Alhaitham's intelligence in those terms. For degradation, Kaveh might act like Alhaitham's intelligence is useless/nonexistent, since Alhaitham's "primary purpose" is to pleasure cock, not to do academic research; for praise, Kaveh might compliment Alhaitham for doing something "clever" while submitting to Kaveh or pleasuring him. (For example, the praise kink during the last scene in Chapter 5.)

For the roleplay one-shot, it's more of the same, I think. Alhaitham is roleplaying something nonhuman in that fic, which naturally results in him being treated like he's incapable of thinking/communicating, and his narration reflects that concept. E.g., there's a line in my rough draft where Alhaitham thinks to himself how he "can't help that he's a drooling dumb little thing".

I do also have an outline for a fic that involves some dumbification elements—but the scenes in that fic have a different "flavor" compared to the end of Chapter 2, since the fic concept involves Alhaitham gently encouraging Kaveh to stop thinking and just let himself feel pleasure (as opposed to Kaveh being degraded until he thinks he's a "stupid slut"). And that wouldn't be a quick or easy fic to write, so it's currently not on my to-do list.

Otherwise, I'm not sure. I'm actually very interested in writing the kink—despite not writing it as much as something like finger sucking, which people frequently associate me with 😂—but…hm, I'm not sure how to articulate this next part.

That is, some of the most "compelling" dumbification scenarios in erotica—by which I mean, scenarios that can strongly showcase the kink and demonstrate the aspects that make it arousing—would involve certain elements that don't suit the way I write Haikavetham. To write those scenarios, I'd either need to involve NPCs or write an original work instead of fanfiction, which I'm technically not opposed to doing…but as of now, I'm not interested in that sort of erotic writing project. Never say never, though, I guess.

I digress! Hopefully that sort of answered your question, lol. Thank you for the ask!

[tirkdi]

I don't know why but I've been imagining this a lot for some weird reason. If somehow darklina do end up together just SOMEHOW do you think at one point they'll get bored of each other? Will darkling's obsession with Alina eventually wear out? maybe Alina will want to try something else with someone else. How would darkling react to that? He's possessive as fuck but sometimes I wonder he would understand that unlike him, Alina never really got to be truly free and explore things for herself. I mean I don't think he'll let Alina go lol but do you think aat some point in centuries they might open their relationship?

This is such a hard question because when we're talking about immortals, I tend to believe that almost everything is possible, so this is where metas trying to answer the question (as opposed to fics) get tricky. Is it possible? Totally. Is it likely? Hard to say. I think the question we're getting at is – what are the conditions under which it might happen?

I'm taking the premise of this question to be that somehow, probably during R&R, they get together and rule Ravka (why not?). So we're dealing with not-quite-end-of-R&R Darkling & Alina. It will take them a while to work themselves into a relationship in the first place, and there are a lot of ways that could shake out. But assuming they get there, to a place that is respectful and reciprocal (if not gentle and loving), how long would that feel like 'enough' for Alina, and in what ways?

There are a few things going on here that I'll call out. One thing, to your point of he wouldn't let Alina go, is that we have an example of what an extremely long-lived relationship looks like for him already: Baghra. When the trilogy starts, he's like 800 years old and still living with his mom! Whenever we see them together they're fighting, but they don't leave each other, and right up until the second before she did it, he couldn't fathom that Baghra would jump off a mountain rather than just coming home with him. Similarly, I think it's unlikely that he'd stop needing Alina at any point. At the same time, Alina is different than him – but I do think it's reasonable/probably correct to envision an Alina who never needs him as much as he needs her, even a gazillion years later.

Another question then would be, at what point will Alina feel like she wants (and, importantly, deserves) happiness/something more? There's some character work that has to shake out there, because I'm having a hard time envisioning an Alina that ended up with Aleks at the end of R&R doing anything but being really hard on both of them for many, many years. How does she develop from there? Depending on the setup, I could see his and Alina's relationship getting to a point where they fight like he did with Baghra, but also similarly neither of them has any intention of ever leaving the other. Balance sounds nice in theory, but can be tricky to implement! Their relationship might end up less like a balance and more like a seesaw.

So then, there's the question of – is Alina looking for someone other than him to make her happy or to piss him off? The pissing him off seems pretty straightforward (and I think we have some fics like that that I've seen?). Assuming she isn't doing it to upset him, that she genuinely wants more than him, then I think there's the question of are we talking about sex or are we talking about a relationship with someone else? I do think you could come up with a setup where eventually he'd come to terms with sex, reassuring himself about how the Zoya lookalikes he sees leaving Alina's room in the morning are going to die in like a minute anyway, he doesn't even have to do anything.

I could also see a setup where you could make a power dynamic like that that he'd even enjoy, if he let himself. I think a lot about the Oscar Wilde quote: "Everything in the world is about sex, except sex. Sex is about power." If he allowed himself to acknowledge that he liked the ... humiliation? one area of his life where he was not in control? ... then I could also see him being into it, as long as he felt secure enough in the relationship between the two of them. And that right there is the whole reason we (or at least I) love this ship – their power dynamic is endlessly fascinating and there are so many different ways it could go