vaaynn

[vaaynn]

the alone mission but soaps a shark and the shadows started definning him u_u

[vaaynn]

I jumped in the comments of this but figured I would format my reply to be a bit more readable. Here are some Corvosider one-shot fics to fulfill your rugged assassin meets eldritch twink dreams 🙂‍↕️🙏💜:

There Are No Stars We Cross To Find Each Other by @ladyhoneydarlinglove (6.7k, 1/1). Beautifully written pining and existential romance. My favourite Corvosider fic of all.

Rust, Dust, Silver Heart by jet_hiker (13.7k, 1/1). Wonderfully written pining and psyche entanglement.

Saltwater by asteratos (1.1k, 1/1). Delightfully written vengeance served hot.

Green by Esgoda (1.8k, 1/1). Beautifully written gratuitous smut (explicit).

And finally, Abyssal by aelanthaenn ( @uncontrol-freak )(36.4k, 24/?). Not a one shot but still a gorgeous AU which I think deserves more attention (explicit).

lowkey everything i've seen about dishonoured makes it seem like it was synthesised in a lab to make me go crazy but every time i try to watch a playthrough it immediately gives me a headache

[vaaynn]

And of course, a teaser from a different upcoming project for my fellow Arthur and Flare fanatics 🙂‍↕️🤲.

[vaaynn]

A teaser from one of the larger upcoming projects I've been working on 🙂‍↕️🤲.

[vaaynn]

[vaaynn]

- Self-Saboteur -

+ Quinmir | explicit | 1/2 | 2.2k

+ Amir's been dicking around with the KIM operating system so that now, it not only supports voice calls, but can also send images to other users. This, of course, is great for reconnaissance. No other reasons.

[🔗]

[vaaynn]

ghost who works with abused dogs because he can relate to their fear and anger and soap who's terrified of dogs but needs a service animal after he gets shot

ghost who's covered in just as many bite scars and scratches as he is scars from his childhood and the military, but he never holds it against a single dog

he knows what it's like to feel trapped and think you only have one way out

he sits through the barking and the lunges, steadily gets closer as he gently talks with each dog, apologises when he moves too quick and gets bitten because it's always his fault, never the dog's. no one bites for no reason

the pride he feels when he gets to share their blanket for the first time is only matched by the day of their adoption

it’s soap's friend’s idea to bring him to check out a dog to foster while his service dog goes through training. he knows he's uncomfortable around dogs - he never made a production out of it but you can only duck around someone so they’re in between you and a dog so many times before they pick something up - but he just thinks he's not used to them and being around one will be enough to calm him down

soap knows he needs a service animal; both for medical reasons and help with every day tasks but also for emotional regulation. he pings from depression to apathy to white hot rage so quick it exhausts him; he's so tired of blowing up at people just because he can't keep his head on straight

he needs a service dog

but just hearing the barking from outside has him so on edge, he's almost sick from it

a volunteer shows them all the dogs available to foster. his friend gushes over every single one; cooing about how cute and sweet they look, just darling things, encouraging them to jump up on their barrier and play tug with their toys, and “come on soap, say hello”

soap keeps his distance, smiling thinly as the volunteer introduces each dog

but ghost happens to be in one of the kennels working with his latest trouble case

and he can plainly see how terrified soap is, no matter how well he thinks he’s hiding it

he flinches at every bark, his hands fisted at his sides, but his friend just doesn't notice; too occupied with the lab mix he’s playing with. ghost can see just how tight he's winding up, the tension creeping up his spine, his “smile” twitching uncontrollably, and it doesn't surprise him in the slightest when he finally snaps at his friend to “just fuck off, alright!” after he keeps pushing him to get closer to the dogs

the abrupt silence is tight and judgmental; the friend giving him a wild look. soap gives a short apology, still angry even though if anyone just took the time to look, it’d be clear he doesn't want to be, and storms out while his friend apologises to the volunteer; dripping with shame and embarrassment that sets ghost's teeth on edge

he could've stopped a dozen times before soap blew up, should've seen the warning signs that he was getting overwhelmed and afraid long before he got to that point

he spreads out a few treats for his dog, both a reward for his patience and an apology for prematurely ending their time together, slowly getting to his feet. he heads outside to find soap in the alley beside the shelter, swearing at himself under his breath and looking seconds away from punching the brick

and when soap snaps, “enjoying the show?”, squaring up with his teeth bared, ghost just leans back against the wall; open and non-threatening and waits for soap to come to him

just ghost who knows what it's like to be angry and afraid and has the patience to help soap feel more in control of himself, never flinching from his bark or his involuntary bite, as well as help him through his fear in time for his service dog

[vaaynn]

please help me- i used to be pretty smart but i’m having so much trouble grasping the concept of diegetic vs non-diegetic bdsm!

gfkjldghfd okay first of all I'm sorry for the confusion, if you're not finding anything on the phrase it's because I made it up and absolutely nobody but me ever uses it, but I haven't found a better way to express what I'm trying to say so I keep using it. but now you've given me an excuse to ramble on about some shit that is only relevant to me and my deeply inefficient way of talking and by god I'm going to take it.

SO. the way diegetic and non-diegetic are normally used is to talk about music and sound design in movies/tv shows. in case you aren't familiar with that concept, here's a rundown:

diegetic sound is sound that happens within the world of the movie/show and can be acknowledged by the characters, like a song playing on the stereo during a driving scene, or sung on stage in Phantom of the Opera. it's also most other sounds that happen in a movie, like the sounds of traffic in a city scene, or a thunderclap, or a marching band passing by. or one of the three stock horse sounds they use in every movie with a horse in it even though horses don't really vocalize much in real life, but that's beside the point, the horse is supposed to be actually making that noise within the movie's world and the characters can hear it whinnying.

non-diegetic sound is any sound that doesn't exist in the world of the movie/show and can't be perceived by the characters. this includes things like laugh tracks and most soundtrack music. when Duel of Fates plays in Star Wars during the lightsaber fight for dramatic effect, that's non-diegetic. it exists to the audience, but the characters don't know their fight is being backed by sick ass music and, sadly, can't hear it.

the lines can get blurry between the two, you've probably seen the film trope where the clearly non-diegetic music in the title sequence fades out to the same music, now diegetic and playing from the character's car stereo. and then there are things like Phantom of the Opera as mentioned above, where the soundtrack is also part of the plot, but Phantom of the Opera does also have segments of non-diegetic music: the Phantom probably does not have an entire orchestra and some guy with an electric guitar hiding down in his sewer just waiting for someone to break into song, but both of those show up in the songs they sing down there.

now, on to how I apply this to bdsm in fiction.

if I'm referring to diegetic bdsm what I mean is that the bdsm is acknowledged for what it is in-world. the characters themselves are roleplaying whatever scenarios their scenes involve and are operating with knowledge of real life rules/safety practices. if there's cnc depicted, it will be apparent at some point, usually right away, that both characters actually are fully consenting and it's all just a planned scene, and you'll often see on-screen negotiation and aftercare, and elements of the story may involve the kink community wherever the characters are. Love and Leashes is a great example of this, 50 Shades and Bonding are terrible examples of this, but they all feature characters that know they're doing bdsm and are intentional about it.

if I'm talking about non-diegetic bdsm, I'm referring to a story that portrays certain kinks without the direct acknowledgement that the characters are doing bdsm. this would be something like Captive Prince, or Phantom of the Opera again, or the vast majority of bodice ripper type stories where an innocent woman is kidnapped by a pirate king or something and totally doesn't want to be ravished but then it turns out he's so cool and sexy and good at ravishing that she decides she's into it and becomes his pirate consort or whatever it is that happens at the end of those books. the characters don't know they're playing out a cnc or D/s fantasy, and in-universe it's often straight up noncon or dubcon rather than cnc at all. the thing about entirely non-diegetic bdsm is that it's almost always Problematic™ in some way if you're not willing to meet the story where it's at, but as long as you're not judging it by the standards of diegetic bdsm, it's just providing the reader the same thing that a partner in a scene would: the illusion of whatever risk or taboo floats your boat, sometimes to extremes that can't be replicated in real life due to safety, practicality, physics, the law, vampires not being real, etc. it's consensual by default because it's already pretend; the characters are vehicles for the story and not actually people who can be hurt, and the reader chose to pick up the book and is aware that nothing in it is real, so it's all good.

this difference is where people tend to get hung up in the discourse, from what I've observed. which is why I started using this phrasing, because I think it's very crucial to be able to differentiate which one you're talking about if you try to have a conversation with someone about the portrayal of bdsm in media. it would also, frankly, be useful for tagging, because sometimes when you're in the mood for non-diegetic bodice ripper shit you'd call the police over in real life, it can get really annoying to read paragraphs of negotiation and check-ins that break the illusion of the scene and so on, and the opposite can be jarring too.

it's very possible to blur these together the same way Phantom of the Opera blurs its diegetic and non-diegetic music as well. this leaves you even more open to being misunderstood by people reading in bad faith, but it can also be really fun to play with. @not-poignant writes fantastic fanfic, novels, and original serials on ao3 that pull this off really well, if you're okay with some dark shit in your fiction I would highly recommend their work. some of it does get really fucking dark in places though, just like. be advised. read the tags and all that.

but yeah, spontaneous writer plug aside, that's what I mean.

[vaaynn]

- Penchant for the Weakspot -

+ Quinthur | explicit | 2/2 | 9.1k

+ Despite Dr Entrati's warnings about the Helminth serum and its effects, Quincy realises that Arthur still hasn't changed a damn bit.

[🔗]

[vaaynn]

TIME LOOP

[vaaynn]

- Self-Saboteur -

+ Quinmir | explicit | 1/2 | 2.2k

+ Amir's been dicking around with the KIM operating system so that now, it not only supports voice calls, but can also send images to other users. This, of course, is great for reconnaissance. No other reasons.

[🔗]

[vaaynn]

How it feels to find a fanfic where your favorite character is going through literally the worst horrors you can imagine

[vaaynn]

Part ii is now up!

- Self-Saboteur -

+ Quinmir | explicit | 2/2 | 7.0k

- Self-Saboteur -

+ Quinmir | explicit | 1/2 | 2.2k

+ Amir's been dicking around with the KIM operating system so that now, it not only supports voice calls, but can also send images to other users. This, of course, is great for reconnaissance. No other reasons.

[🔗]

[vaaynn]

Not to alarm anyone but part ii is done and ready to be posted this weekend 👀☕

Self-Saboteur part ii excerpt // I had hoped to finish this chapter in time for the new update, but alas 😔✊

[vaaynn]

if I could write a proper sentence I'd never shut up about how well written quincy is (the way that his death/survival scene from the quest parallels the scene he talks about after the "make me hate" you talk for example?)

[vaaynn]

Self-Saboteur part ii excerpt // I had hoped to finish this chapter in time for the new update, but alas 😔✊

[vaaynn]

waving my freak flag at half mast to indicate there has been a pervert tragedy