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brf-rumortrackinganon · 2 months

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What do you think about the "kill notice" about the new Catherine pic? I looked at the picture, there doesn't seem to be any distortion or manipulation. Some filters have been used but nothing is misaligned or photoshopped in or out. No dodgy shadows. Wtf is with the reporters agreeing with it?? Is this a shady attempt to force Catherine to be out in the public sooner than she would like to be? Apparently the controversy is about her left hand and somewhere along Charlotte's left sleeve. Part of me feels it's because reporters know she is now well and are angry she isn't back to work and giving them content. But, the picture agencies pulled the pic, so what's with that?? Such an unnecessary controversy.

I think it’s much ado about nothing. A lot of what people are point out as edited can be explained away, such as:

Kids are wiggly so of course they’d be blurry.

It’s a still from a video or a Live Photo.

Kate isn’t wearing her rings because maybe her fingers are still swollen from all the post-op meds and steroids, or maybe she just doesn’t want to wear them.

It's a program/app on William’s phone that stitches together the best parts in a sequence of photos to fix a squirming kid. (Like Google’s Best Take feature, in which case it’s AI, not photoshop.)

But wait, what about that pap pic last week of Kate with all weight in her face looking unrecognizable, and now in this photo she looks like herself? It’s about camera angles and body positions. There’s a pose - I call it the goose pose - where if you tilt your upper body forward just slightly and push your head/chin all the way forward, the extra weight in your midsection, neck, and face disappears from the camera if the photo is being taken from the front. (When you do this pose and the picture is taken from the side, you look like a goose.)

It’s great that the wires all have standards and that they take it seriously but the “kill” request illustrates a bigger problem: that in todays age of photo editing, filters, and AI, is any photo we see real and original? Once you permit minor edits like removing dust (which is an AP allowance), it opens the door for other edits and who’s the authority to say what’s right or wrong? So it’s a sticky line.

The reporters are writing about it because they have nothing else to write about. The media makes a ton of money off Kate and the children (more than they care to admit) so of course they’re going to pick up on this and write about it. They’re desperate for Kate content because she sells.

[[Interrupting now to say that I've just seen the update from KP of Kate (scroll to the end) acknowledging the edits and apologizing for any issues. It's bullshit she had to do this but I understand why she did it: she's proud of her photography, it's her own picture she edited and not one from anyone else, and it's overshadowing the Commonwealth Service coverage.]]

I mean, it's no coincidence that a prolific royal fashion blogger notorious for bashing Kate while simultaneously profiting from her appearances and photographs announced she's taking a break to Easter. Other royal events are still happening. Other royals are still working. Other royal families are still working. But that doesn't matter: she makes her money from Kate and when Kate doesn't work, she can't make money. So why bother keeping up the blog?

Anyway, believe what you want to believe about the photograph, but just be ready for all of this to backfire. And trust me, it will backfire.

If it's true that the Sussex Squad is behind this, well, Meghan may work hard but karma works harder. Harry and Meghan's own photoshopping and photo-editing may become equally under fire: Harry's Friar Tuck bald spot is world famous and everyone knows about it, no matter how much photoshop they do.

If it's true that the media and social media is making this a bigger issue than it actually is (which it sounds like, given Kate's newest message), then reap the consequences of your actions: fewer pictures from Kate and fewer pictures of the Wales family. The chances are extraordinarily high that they'll stop sharing pictures of their family now. It's already happened - back in ye olde days, it was custom for the royal family to have a photo call during a ski holiday so the press pack could get their pictures and leave them alone. William and Kate did this in 2016 on a skiing holiday, and boom - immediate criticism. Now no more vacation photos.

If it's true that the reporters picked up on this to force Kate to returning to work sooner than expected, well, I hope Kate retreats further into the cocoon of privacy and doesn't give you the satisfaction of new birthday pictures.

If it's true that this is a sign of how shambolic KP's communications office is, then hopefully the right people learn the right lessons and make more professional decisions. We know Kate will. She always learns from her missteps, even if it takes some time.

If it's true that the wires and the press associations need to revise their rules because everyone edits, I hope they do. Trust me, there are more worrying matters about photo editing and AI manipulation to write and "kill" than a touched-up family photo of the future king's family posted to social media. This is not the hill to stake your professional reputation on.

But I guarantee you that the same people who are making a fuss about these photo edits that EVERYONE does are the same people who are moaning about the dearth of content from the Waleses and they're the same people who scream and shout when the Waleses don't do what they want them to do.

But at the end of the day, it's a family photo taken by a proud husband and dad, who probably made stupid cheesy jokes to make his kids laugh like that, which his wife and their mother edited to make sure everyone looks their best. Everyone does this. It's fucking normal.

It's much ado about fucking nothing and I hope that everyone, most especially the reporters, who fed into the hysteria understand what they've done. They've just signed the execution notice for Waleses family photos.

Kate's apology:

#ask #brf #waleses #theories

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bookjonsadaily · 14 days

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can you recommend some book jonsa fanfics? Not really that many on going in ao3

Hey anon!!!

Here are some more recs for you!!

the first are from nepobabyeurydice:

if you try to break me you will bleed by @dialux

time travel fic with Sansa, but it’s always the first fic I recommend to friends because the development of Jon and Sansa’s relationship from her holding all the cards, to him swearing herself to her, and then Sansa letting him see the whole deck is genuinely beautiful to read!

love exists in many forms by @dialux

In which Alayne Arryn, only daughter of Jon Arryn, commits suicide after her father dies in a failed attempt at rebellion, and her handmaiden, Sansa Stone, pretends to be her when faced with death. Sansa arrives at King’s Landing and finds herself betrothed to Prince Jon Targaryen; but their relationship is complicated by old secrets, new loves, and treason.

my head is bloody and unbowed by sadhippe

In which Robb’s baby survives, Sansa never marries Ramsay, and Jon is held captive at Dragonstone. Also more Tully’s and other Northern Conspiracy Faves!

and recs from visenyashill, who is going to do one of longer fic when they have the time and energy to actually read fic in a little bit, so these are mostly one shots-

in the midst of the ruins by iday

jonsa fic, post war for the dawn. while living out his days out of sight and out of mind, jon gets a raven from winterfell with only two words: "come home." so he does. brienne and podrick are also there. very cute, contained little story, and an older jonsa fic.

varg-hamr/wolfskin by undercovercaptain

this one gets rec-ed a lot but for good reason! a take on jon's ressurection and sansa as the girl in gray that i think is well done and also roughly what i predict will happen (leaving room for some crazy grrm-ness tho, obviously)

saw you in the snow by sleepingwithwolves

another girl in gray esque take but with bran coming to sansa in a weirwood dream as well as jon. i love this one a lot, i you will see i have a weakness for jonsa fic that features another starkling.

no smooth road by maybethrice

rickon pov where jon and sansa recall him from hiding on skagos when he’s twelve, to be the new lord of winterfell. it’s a “dany stops the long night” canon and i like it for delving into the difficult tie of the political situation.

ghosts by sansawolfbits

jon travels to the vale to meet with the lord protector and finds someone he didn't expect. very short but cute also myranda cameo.

i lost all signs so i got lost by tempisfugit

The five people who wanted Sansa for who she reminded them of and the one who just wanted her.

stealing by just_a_dram

jon steals sansa. this is the first jonsa fic i ever read and this author was super prolific with book canon jonsa in like....2016? ish? so if you're looking for book canon stuff, I would definitely start here!

a boy in his cups by greenhikingboots

a re-imagining of jon's first chapter in agot where he knows the truth of who he is and drunkenly proposes to sansa.

a stark in winterfell

it's not super romantic, more tortured than anything, about sansa needing an heir and seducing jon snow - and neither of them know about his true parentage.

#book jonsa #fanfic #do i dare tag this with vs haha #jonsa #fanfiction

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inkblot22 · 2 months

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Can You Keep A Little Secret?

JFC this took me longer than usual I'm so sorry anon. I sort of explained it before, but I didn't exactly use your prompt, based on ineptitude on my part. After I finish reading Oshi no Ko, I might try again! Line divider by @/cafekitsune.

This fic is aimed towards sort of everyone, but the reader possesses afab features (they don't come into play until later, this chapter has no mention of them.) You'll understand what I mean by it being for everyone if you read the first paragraph or so. It has to do with suspending your belief/ employing your imagination.

TW for: lots of confusion, semi-shy reader, creep behavior, mention of death, mention of lobotomy/grippy sock jail, reincarnation. These warnings will get worse, and this takes place when all characters are 18+.

Waking up was never your favorite part of the day, but that feeling increases tenfold when you wake up in someone else’s body. You know for sure you didn’t look like this last week, and the name on your ID is similar to your own, but you don’t recognize the face in the mirror. Whoever you’re inhabiting has a few similar features to your own, but your skin was never this dewy, your eyes never so… hollow and strange.

When you looked up your name, you found out that you, or your body, at least, had died in your sleep. When you looked up the name on that ID, you found out that you’re the child of some big business man and a prolific model, and you apparently dabble in acting. Your dad isn’t your dad, but he calls you every night to make sure you’re settling into your “new” apartment. Your mom isn’t your mom, but she has popped by once or twice to ask you how you’ve been and make you really good food. She mentioned last night that your acting instructor was worried, since you hadn’t attended your Thursday classes, and also that your agent has been trying to contact you. You didn’t know you had an agent.

When you called your agent, who was literally just titled “Agent” in your new phone, she sounded relieved then irritated, chiding you for living the high life too fast. She said you weren’t popular or loved enough to go on week-long benders, and then she mentioned that she had a job for you and she’d see you on Thursday. According to this phone that isn’t yours, Thursday was tomorrow.

You made a night of getting prepared- slathering on the fancy face masks, trying on various outfits, scrolling through the pictures on the phone of your new body in the past, painting your really gorgeous nails- and then you went to sleep and woke up to a phone call from your new dad.

“Hi, sweetheart!”

“Uh… hi, Dad…” You mumbled. You didn’t know him from Adam, but there was no point in being rude to him.

He pauses, and then he speaks slowly, “Did you hear from your agent, honey?”

“Yeah- yeah I did, uh, I have acting class in a little, and she said she has a job for me.”

“Oh, I’m glad to hear it! You know you can always visit me if something is wrong, okay? Just call me or Devin and he’ll come get you as soon as possible.”

You don’t know who Devin is, but you don’t point it out, “Of course. Thank you, dad.”

There was another pause. This one stretches out for a while and then he mumbles, “Okay… love you, sweetpea.”

“Uh… love you too. I’ll call you when I get back home?”

“Sure thing. Bye bye.”

The call ends with a click and you hop in the shower, trying to scrub away the confusion. You pair the lotion with a body spray that makes you smell like a summer afternoon in an apple orchard, and then you dress yourself in a soft off the shoulder sweater dress with a pair of tights with little sequins and gems sewn onto the sheer black material. You pull your hair back, tied at the nape of your neck, and roll on some lip gloss. You grab your bag, which isn’t your bag, and stroll out, walking down the street to get to the talent agency.

The receptionist looks at you in some measure of shock and greets you kindly. You smile and wave. He looks even more confused as you clomp into the stairwell. Once you get to the third floor, mildly out of breath, you hurry to room 3-5 and silently slide into the back.

You’re not sure why you’re acting so covert, as the class hasn’t even started. A woman with dark hair strolls in and flinches when she sees you sitting there, your new name tumbling from her lips with confusion.

“Hello.” You hope that she’s the instructor, “How are you?”

She looks at you like you grew two heads and forces a smile, “Oh, I’m well, dear. Give me a moment to look outside.”

She clicks to the window in her heels and opens the blinds looking around wildly before she turns back to you.

“Well, nothing’s on fire and there’s a distinct lack of flying pigs, so I guess you’re finally serious about getting better at acting?”

“Uh… I…?” You don’t know how to respond, “I didn’t realize I’d been late so often.”

“Late? Half the time you didn’t even show up. The only person worse than you is-”

The door behind you opens. You clench your hands to stop the shaking you just realized you were struggling with, and turn slightly in your seat to see a willowy young man, tousled lavender hair being haphazardly smoothed by his slender hands.

The instructor snorts, “Speak of the devil. Hello, Mr. Felmier.”

He smiles, but it’s a bit too calculated. When he speaks, his voice is soft, almost artificial, “Ah ha… Good morning, Angie.”

Angie, evidently, rolls her eyes and takes a seat at the front of the room, crossing her long legs, and tilts her head skeptically, “Sure. If a satellite doesn’t crash in this room and kill us all in the middle of class, I’ll be shocked.”

“Mr. Felmier” walks over and smiles at you. It seems even more strained than before, and keeps eye contact with you as he points to the chair next to you, his voice high and sweet, “Mind if I sit here?”

“Oh, of course not. I don’t own that chair, haha!” You joke.

His face twitches, some micro expression that you’re just observant enough to notice, but not to see, and he takes a seat. Angie gets up and leaves and you look out the window. You can feel eyes on you, and when you turn to look at him, his face is impassive save for a slight narrowing of his eyes. You look down at yourself and pat your cheeks, suddenly nervous.

“Oh, no, is there something on me?” You ask.

He doesn’t immediately respond, his eyes blinking so fast that if he hadn’t done it twice you would have never seen the movement, and then he gives you that sweet, plastic smile, “Oh, no. Your makeup is different than usual. It looks nice. Pretty.”

“I- I’m only wearing lipgloss, so I guess that’s why. Thank you.”

He nods slowly, and tilts his head, still smiling as though he’s trained to do so, “After we’re done here, did you want to go get brunch together?”

You’re about to say no. You don’t remember him, because this is not your life you’re living, but if you did know him, you’d decline anyway. Something feels funny about him. You don’t really have to decline, though, since you have to go down to floor 2 and see your agent afterwards anyway, “Oh, uh, I’m so sorry. I have to do something after.”

“I can wait.”

“I don’t want to put you out. Maybe another time?”

His eyebrows pinch together ever so slightly and his smile doesn’t strain, but it feels wrong as he leans his elbow on the back of his chair to better face you, “Did you hear the news from Mirelle?”

“What news?” You don’t know who Mirelle is.

“Oh, you’re meeting with her afterwards, aren’t you?” He smooths the hair along your temple so it is slicked behind your ear, “Are you wearing that perfume I got you? You said you hated it.”

Okay, so whoevers body this was definitely knew this man, and now you don’t even know his full name. Judging from the way he’s speaking to you, you were friends at least. Your lashes flutter and you look away from him.

“I- I’m sorry. It smells very nice.” You don’t know how you’re supposed to be acting. The irony of waiting for an acting class while not knowing what your role here happens to be is not lost on you.

Felmier sits up like you insulted him and his voice is quiet, so quiet and tense that you don’t think you’re supposed to hear him, “Interesting.”

You glance at him again, “What?”

“I didn’t say anything. You like that bagel place down the street, don’t you? After you see Mirelle, meet me in the lobby. I think we should have a chat.” Although he is smiling, his voice doesn’t leave any room for argument as he turns back to the front.

You stand up, leaving your purse in your seat, and walk to the window, looking out of it for a moment until Angie strolls back in. She clicks her tongue and you walk back to your seat.

“It’s just you two? Now I’m really expecting a freak accident. Well, let’s get started.”

Acting class was… interesting. Since it was just the three of you, Angie had you read lines from a script and act out some kind of argument. She seemed pleased with your performance, but Felmier kept stumbling over his lines and making the wrong expression. He seemed tense by the time the two hour long session was over. You didn’t want to follow that thread, and besides, you had somewhere to be. You went down the stairs again and bumped into a woman with silver hair, who looked at you just as confused as everyone else had been, and smiled sweetly, genuinely.

“Hey, you. You’re a bit early.” She says.

“Uh, yeah. I guess so? I don’t know.” You guessed this was supposed to be Mirelle, your agent, maybe.

“It’s a good change, babe. Why don’t you come into my office?” She doesn’t really ask, since she’s already leading you over.

She takes a seat behind her desk and you take a seat in front of her, and she taps away at her computer for a moment before she says something.

“You remember Epel? Epel Felmier?”

“Uh, yeah, I guess so.”

“Oh? You ‘guess so’? Not that the two of you are constantly arguing, or anything.” She smirks, glancing away from her monitor to look at you, “Regardless, I’ve got something that will help with your little PR nightmare last month. What were you thinking?”

“Uh, I’m sorry.”

Her eyes narrow a fraction, but whatever she was thinking is ignored, “You and Epel are gonna be collaborating on an upcoming short film. Hopefully the two of you don’t get into another screaming match.”

“Um. Yeah. Hopefully.” All this new information and these new people are making your head spin. You don’t want to start panicking- you did enough of that last week- but you’re already exhausted. You wonder if there’s a back entrance to this building so you can just sneak out and don’t have to talk to Epel again. You don’t think you can mentally handle him talking to you over a cup of coffee.

Your agent, Mirelle, is looking at you expectantly, like she just said something. Your heart jumps into your throat, then sinks to your gut and you clear your throat quietly, shifting in your chair.

She laughs airily, “Oh, you didn’t hear a word I just said, did you?”

You shake your head, and she laughs again.

“I just said that production starts Monday. Try not to do anything crazy. This project is monumentally important for your public image.”

“Okay. Sorry for causing so much trouble in the past.” You mutter, standing up.

She shrugs with a happy little grin, “Oh, you’re young. Maybe you’ll grow out of it.”

You just nod. How are you supposed to even respond to that? If you get mad, you’ll probably get hysterical, and if you get hysterical, that is a one way ticket to a stay in grippy sock jail or a lobotomy. Rich people are different, and even though you’re living in some rich person’s body, you did not live this life for longer than a week.

You purposely walk to the other staircase. Most buildings have two for fire safety. Your eyes water as you pause on the stairs and you sigh before you start descending them.

Just as you get to the exit, your hand on the door, you hear a voice behind you, “Hey.”

It scares you out of your skin. You jump and spin and squawk, only to meet the wicked smile of Epel. It doesn’t reach his round blue eyes. He tilts his head from side to side, slowly, as if appraising you, and then he starts walking towards you and you push back against the door, opening it ever so slightly. He stops his motion and looks a tad surprised.

Then his eyes narrow, “Come back in.”

His voice sounds different, rougher. You don’t really want to, but it’s hot outside and you figure from all the odd looks and reactions you’ve gotten, running would be too erratic for this poor person’s life you’ve taken over.

When you close the door and remain leaned against it, Epel’s face relaxes. You didn’t even realize he was making any sort of tense expression. He glances at the spandrel, the area beneath the stairs, and sighs.

“You hit your head last week? That why you were missin’?” Yeah, he’s speaking entirely differently. He has a sort of charming country twang to his voice, an underlying roughness that makes him seem even more boyish than before.

“Huh?”

“‘Huh?’” He mocks, looking back at you. He looks like he might cry, but his eyes are angry, “That all you got to say? For years you’ve told me that I don’t mean shit, and now you’re actin’ like you don’t even know me.”

He is right. You don’t know him at all. Even though you’re still in the cool building, you begin to sweat. You don’t know what to say to this without going through the experiences you’ve had in the past week, so you decide you don’t have to, especially since it seems like he may get aggressive if you say the wrong thing.

You lean hard against the aptly named panic bar, turn on your heel once outside, and take off running. It dawns on you a little late that he might be following, or, seven forbid, that he knows where you live, so you take a different route as dictated by your GPS and call your new father as soon as you get in the building.

It’s the middle of the work day, so he obviously doesn’t pick up. You unlock the apartment door and pant breathlessly, leaving a hasty voicemail, “O-oh, great seven- ugh- okay, hi, Dad. I told you I’d call you when I get home, so that’s what I’m doing. Hope I didn’t disrupt a meeting or whatever. Call me back, bye.”

You flop face down on the bed and groan, rolling onto your back as the ringtone that you would never choose goes off. In bold white letters on the screen, it says “Bumpkin Boy” with no other indication of who it might be. You pick up.

The voice on the other end sounds heated, a quiet mocking lilt to it, “Bet you went home, huh?”

Your blood runs cold and your very ability to speak is ripped from your lips.

“S’okay. You don’t have to talk. I could pay you a little visit, see what it’s like to live like a nepo baby for a day, but I think…” He pauses, and when he next speaks you hear the smile in his voice, “I think I’ll just wait for Monday, since you owe me a coffee date, don’t you?”

He hangs up after that. You stand up and double-check that you’ve locked the door before you hide in your closet and try not to start hyperventilating. You can’t even beat yourself up for this one. These circumstances are entirely out of your control.

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duplicityvn · 12 days

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Welcome to Duplicity!

Below you’ll find links to tags and the new itch page (once part 1 releases; tags will be added as they’re posted). You’ll also find some general information about the game and what to expect from here on.

As per usual, this game is a horror romance. It won’t feature any NSFW scenes, but it is not safe for minors. Minors DNI with this blog or the game.

Game Summary:

It’s been several years since you’ve been home, and a lot has changed. After failing to meet the strict deadlines of your former publishing house, your contract was terminated and you were left to fend for yourself. Once a prolific and popular author of romance and adventure stories, you’re now forced to move back home to live in your best friend’s apartment as their roommate. Struggling to figure out the next book in your series, you’re faced with many life-changing events, such as having to go back to work a customer service job you thought you’d left behind.

As you navigate this new chapter in your life, you’ll meet friends, old and new, and perhaps finally experience your own romantic tale… Just don’t trust everyone you meet.

(potential) Tag List:

#duplicityvn - general tag to encompass everything

#duplicitydevlogs - tag for dev-specific posts like progress and updates

#duplicity asks - tag for asks submitted to the blog

#duplicity griffin - Griffin specific tag

#duplicity tris - Tris specific tag

#duplicity taipan - Taipan specific tag

#duplicity dell - Dell specific tag

#duplicity nina - Nina specific tag

#duplicity savoy - Savoy specific tag

#duplicity riley - Riley specific tag

#duplicity melon - Melon specific tag

#duplicity mags - Mags specific tag

#duplicity all - general tag when everyone is involved in one post

#duplicity lore - tag for lore related to characters or settings

Here’s some potential questions I might get that I’m proactively answering now:

Why was the old blog deleted?

-I had a bad experience in the community and wanted to remove myself from it completely. I also had no idea where the game direction was going. Honestly, it started out with me wanting to make a yandere game with no understanding of what was going to happen really.

Why are you continuing with Duplicity?

-Duplicity originally stemmed from vague ideas about a horror romance I had started writing three years ago. Really, only some of the character names were similar. Once I started to feel like I wanted to come back and resume with development, I knew it needed a complete overhaul. So I went back to that old story and started piecing it together so it would work for a visual novel!

What changed and what can we expect?

-In the original demo, the game’s MC was around 20 years old. This has changed to player preference of anywhere between 25-30. Why? Because I’ve been wanting to see older characters in yandere visual novels, and just in VNs in general. I also don’t feel comfortable writing younger characters anymore. The characters’ ages will change depending on yours as well, which will be explained later. The only characters who have set ages are Mags and Melon.

-Speaking of characters, Sophie is no longer part of the story. I didn’t think about it at the time but I don’t want a minor to be included in this story when she’s not directly related to anyone, like a sister or a niece or something. In her place are several new characters: Nina, Savoy, and Melon.

-The game will be released in 3 parts instead of on a day-to-day basis. Part one will be mostly introductory but lengthy, part two will probably be the longest, and part three will mostly be focused on the endings of each route.

-The game will have more than just Griffin’s route. There are currently 9 endings I’m in the process of planning.

-As of the publishing of this post, everything previously known to the game is no longer canon, except for a few things.

What kind of asks can we send?

-Asks pertaining to the game and its characters and settings are all completely fine. In fact, it’ll probably help me develop the characters even better.

-NSFW asks are allowed! While there might not be NSFW in the base game (still juggling around the idea of a paid NSFW version), I am happy to write little fics if people are wanting them. I love writing, give me prompts!

-Hateful, derogatory, or other such topics that are sent to this blog will not be tolerated nor published. I wish to promote a safe space for everyone, and I won’t pay attention to any negativity.

-Silly and nonsensical asks are also allowed if they aren’t negative in context.

Alright this was long lmao but I hope it encompasses the general idea of what to expect from here on out! I’m not putting myself on a publishing schedule and I will update as frequently or as little as I do. I’m an anxious bean and can only do so much.

#duplicityvn #i hope everyone will like the new version ;3;#visual novels #yandere #male yandere #yandere visual novel #yandere vn #male yandere vn

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acrossthewavesoftime · 3 months

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Please tell me if you're seeing this, too. Today I found out that the Archives of Ontario digitised more of the pictorial material in their Simcoe family fonds collection, and among tons of sketches and watercolours by the lifelong prolific Elizabeth and some that weren't in her style, but may have been works by friends or her children, there are these three silhouettes:

To state the obvious, the sitters seem to have been portrayed by the same artist, and were a group of two women and a gentleman.

The two women, wearing a simlar bun-like hairstyle, also share similar facial features; both have the same chin and nose. Only the volume of the hair, the softer line between chin and neck in the first woman and the suggestion of a sheer shawl imply that she may be older than the second lady.

The gentleman is rather portly with more than a hint of a double chin and wears a queued wig.

Now, I was curious as to who these people could be, and...

Could they be Samuel Graves, Margaret Graves and Elizabeth Simcoe?

The hairline of the wig rising from the forehead at an almost right angle and chin seem very similar. I'm not quite sure about the nose, but that might have to do with the shadows in the portrait.

Same pointy chin, same rather remarkable nose.

Sadly I have, save for an almost cartoonishly exaggerated doodle of her as an old woman, never seen another portrait of any sort of Margaret Graves.

However, assuming that I could be correct and these are Samuel and his adoptive niece, then it would only make sense for the second woman to be Margaret. Besides, Elisabeth had, save for two paternal aunts, no female relatives of whom you'd expect any sort of facial resemblance. Why would any of the two paternal aunts be depicted with Elizabeth's maternal aunt's husband?

If I'm correct here, and the three are The Three, then these silhouettes were probably made by Mary Anne Burges during one of her extended stays with the Graves' whenever she needed to escape her somewhat troublesome home life. If Mary Anne is the artist, these would have had to have been made prior to 30 December 1782, when Elizabeth (then still Gwillim) married her uncle's godson, a certain John Graves Simcoe. In that case, the Archives of Ontario would be wrong by a full decade, having dated the silhouettes to the 1790s.

Now, I could be wrong of course, because naturally I want my theory to be true, but if I were correct, that would be quite exciting.

Please do tell me what you think!

#samuel graves #margaret graves #elizabeth simcoe #18th century #hisitory #british history #silhouette #archives of ontario #r rambles

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teachugger69 · 2 months

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milestones!!

y’all i worked so hard on that shitty ass graphic design so you better read this

summary: relationships have important times that stand out (like firsts and special days!!) soo i’m bored and figured i could write what i think spencer reid would be like in some scenarios 😈😈 MUHEHEHEHE please don’t cancel or doxx me because you disagree with one of my ideas!! but i would like to hear more abt it 🙏🏽🙏🏽😏

(reader is afab for a small portion but mostly gn. also, please do not interact with if you’re a minor.)

meeting

when spencer first saw you he thought you were so incredibly beautiful (AND THEN WHEN HE SPOKE TO YOU HE ALMOST PASSED AWAY) his 187 IQ going poof in an instant just from hearing you speak, voice incredibly velvety to his ears. being up close to you made him able to take in your facial features. his eyes would travel down your face as you spoke with him, taking into consideration each and every detail as if he was analyzing a sculpture in a lavish museum. (he has a staring problem.) spencer seriously considered shaking your hand… like that’s how much he was drawn to you #what?? #zing

getting to know you personally/pals??

actually giggling bc this guy loveddd to ask you all sorts of questions. like he wanted to figure you out because he thought you were fascinating and you would be like?? spencer literally take a look at you? YOU’RE the special one… tf? every single time he could he made sure he learned more about you- almost as if he was studying you up bc there was a huge exam the next morning abt u!! he’d be so desperate bro like actual little kindergarten kid behavior on his behalf. im talking asking about all sorts of things from your favorite color or food or author. (also at some point definitely had matching bracelets or a “book club” between just the two of you.) of course, he was aware he sounded kinda silly, it was worth it. growing up he didn’t ever have a close friendship like y’all’s where he didn’t care what he did and was able to just have fun. thus, he rambled more often than usual because you allowed him to express himself freely- he found himself being able to show who he really was (rather than just masking.) he adored talking to his best friend, cherishing the conversations and always awaited the next one impatiently. (you would let him talk about like genghis khan and he would let you talk about like bagels) knowing you was a cure he didn’t know he needed.

realizing he is genuinely failing in love with you

this boy legit is a genius but cannot understand his emotions AT ALL. he may know why he feels a certain way from a textbook point of view, but he can’t really understand them all too well (maybe that’s just a me thing...) BUT one thing he did know… was that he loved you. he knew for sure that he platonically loved you, yes- but nah that man was falling head over heels before he could even realize. he noticed how he felt bored without you- even when he’s alone at his apartment which is literally his haven. he noticed how the smallest and most minuscule things made him think about you (he always found a way to tie anything back to you, duh.) also he writes about you SO much in his letters to his mom, bruh. it gets to the point where writing about anything else seemed like a chore. to him, the best part was being able to fawn over you in these letters. it felt so nice to let some feeling off of his chest. the longest part in the letters are totally about you and he writes in disgustingly prolific detail. diana literally feels like she knows everything about you- both your appearance (down to tiniest marks on your pretty skin that he described for her) and your personality that he loved oh so much (she loves you. like legit KNOWS YALL ARE PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER. ik she definitely knew spencer was in luv before he himself knew. simply because mothers always know.) he felt safe and comfortable around you #securityblanket jeezzz BRO NEEDED YOU. but for some reason he felt guilty for falling in love with you?? extremely self doubtful, of course, he settles for not telling you cause like?? you’re only friends? he feels so bad for seeing you that way and he feels sad like omg they will never love me :((

first date/kiss??

ideally, i daydream about it being impromptu. like i’m just imagining it being very intimate like maybe at his apartment and your playing chess or baking or watching movies or simply just hanging out for the comfort of each other. (it’s totally meant to only be platonic tho…)but y’all get a little closer and snuggle up?? you’re like… “spencer… i like you.”h in a little petrified whisper bc it’s scary to admit and he’s definitely like WHAT THE FUCK internally but on the outside he’s just starting into your soul with his own widened puppy dog eyes and is STUNNED. 😧 it gets so bad bro almost seems like he’s going nonverbal or having a shut down and you’re like FRICK UHHHH and you just kiss him 😜🥺 (need to have my y/n moment.) this literally ruins him like bro he’s mush atp and RED. and you’re like “OMG IM SO SORRY- i shouldn’t have done that i’m so sorry if i made you uncomfortable spe-“ and BRO CUTS YOU OFF BY WHISPERING WITH THAT ONE SWEET VOICE WE ALL KNOW N LOVE GOING LIKE “shh it’s okay, i feel the same way.” (or a sassy but caring “shut up”) he softly cups your face and KISSESSSS YOU like it’s so desperate and makes both of y’all’s lips swell and flush. it definitely isn’t rough or long but it is passionate and kinda messy. (bro was WAITING FOR THIS MOMENT he was NOT gonna miss out)

sex 🤡 *afab!reader sorry :( im not assigned male at birth so i would have written something super dumb and anatomically wrong . this is for your own good. i didn’t go much into detail, though.*

first time is after a makeout session which have become a habit. but this time y’all were READY. after an awkward little ask to make sure y’all both wanted to move onto this point in your relationship, it was off to the bedroom! you unbuttoned his shirt agonizingly slow as he felt himself growing harder and harder by the second. once you’re both undressed, he gulps like the loser nerd he is because he’s going insane by just looking at you. first person to make a move is you, gently guiding his hands to touch you. “you’re beautiful.” he whispered nervously as his slender fingers traced your skin. you would realize that he is very much loser virgin nerd so you’re like let me guide you baby. N HE’S LIKE UHH OKAY!!(you ride him let’s be fr that man isn’t gonna be able to top) def finishes early because he’s super fucking sensitive but you assure him it’s okay and he helps you finish soon after aswell. (in my head this is baby version of spencer and he’s very careful because he prioritizes your safety so i imagine he makes sure to use a condom at least for a while early on until he wants to try it without.) oh and the aftercare is amazing like he tells you facts to make sure you’re safe and he’s like clinging onto you thanking you like a million times every minute.

first time saying he loves you

for a decent amount of time BUT NAH. he knows he loves you, so why wouldn’t he tell you? it’s very early on, and he does it super nonchalant but he planned it and was working up the courage for so long like he was freaking out hit you smile and and time you love him back and he’s like… oh yeah. also addicted to telling you after the first time seriously cannot go a day without reminding you.

okayyy that’s all im gonna write because im already bored #snooze 😴 i wanna write fics but i feel like i write stupid as fuck so this is just me dipping my toes in the water 😳😈

#spencer reid #spencer reid x reader #criminal minds

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magentagalaxies · 6 months

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Kids in the Archive: Special Announcement

For today's Kids in the Archive entry, I thought I'd switch it up and try something a little different by responding to a piece of fan mail from the first year the show was on the air. And if you did send the kids in the hall fan mail in the late 80s/early 90s - don't worry i didn't actually read any of it aside from this letter, because while this fan was not writing to me specifically (how could she, i was over a decade away from being born when this was sent) i think i might have some information that's uniquely suited to answer her inquiry:

Lucky for both of us, Kat Kvill, they did bring Buddy back. Many times. For you see, Kat, Buddy's powers cannot be contained to one monologue. Even after a prolific run on The Kids in the Hall, Buddy still reappeared in his own autobiography:

surrealist independent webseries,

multitudes of live performances,

and even nearly came to primetime as a cartoon:

what's that, kat kvill? how do i know this? you see, i am the foremost expert on buddy cole's legendary career. documenting buddy's history and unearthing these many lifetimes that may have become lost media has been my passion project for the past year. the real-life tale behind our favorite lounge lizard must be told...

and I'm here to announce that soon you all can be part of that story.

Crowdfunding for The Buddy Cole Documentary launches on Indigogo on Thursday, November 16th, 2023

stay tuned for more updates from myself as well as my executive producers bruce mcculloch and paul bellini as we commence launch week!

in addition to helping support a young queer filmmaker give this comedy icon his proper place in the history books, the crowdfunding campaign also features a multitude of exclusive prizes you can only get from donating to this film: from exclusive behind-the-scenes footage and videos of never-released buddy cole material to personalized thank you messages from the kids in the hall and a chance to virtually attend buddy cole's happy hour, we are taking every opportunity to immerse supporters in the wonderfully queer world of buddy cole. so pull up a seat at the bar, this is one story you don't want to miss.

#kids in the hall #scott thompson #kith #queer #paul bellini #buddy cole #bruce mcculloch #the buddy cole documentary #buddy cole documentary #the kids in the hall #independent film #queer filmmaker #kids in the archive #queer comedian

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realmspod · 10 months

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Sup, Tumblr! We're Realms of Peril & Glory! (RPG geddit?)

We're an actual play with slick production, short episodes, new systems and all👏the👏drama👏you can eat.

🦷(9/10 dentists recommend as part of a healthy diet)

Our core cast of seven supremely talented roleplayers is ready to whisk you away on daring adventures and thrilling journeys. Zack, Maddy, James, Naomi, Pip, Liz and Laura bring the light and joy of a group of friends playing at the table with the pure brilliance of practiced performers and storytellers crafting a tale just for you.

Meet pristine goth @maddyisabstract 🕸️ known for everyone’s favourite nervous student necromancer Isadora, they’re a soft spoken scot with a heart for the underdog and has never been successfully convicted of raising the dead 💀 You probably know Maddy from their astounding work as GM on Chapter & Multiverse or their prolific work on streams like Girls Run These Worlds and Actual Play UK!

You know her as the sad girl under your bed, it’s @naomithinksit! Her infamous chicken nugget wizard from the estate Monty is the boy everyone loves to hate! 🍗

She always top level jokes, london facts and makes choices that punch you in the gut when you least expect it. 🤜 She's the Secret of St. Kilda's killer writer ready to bring the action!

Head lad @zackfg is GM, Scheduler and Technician - is there anything he can’t do?? (Yes– whisper🤫)

He writes mad intricate mysteries that will keep you guessing, wonderful world building and twists that will knock your tits/socks clean off! 🫥 You might know Zack from his work on audio dramas like the sci-fi EPIC The Orphans, or as the producer for Dob, Merilwen, Corazon, and Prudence along with Everyone Else in the World in Oxventure!

It’s the most lovable grump Pip Gladwin. 🥰Crack through his hard shell and meet the gooey charismatic guy within, a versatile player who can bring light and humour to the darkest of characters. His withering looks can kill at 100ft. 😨

You'll know Pip from his stellar voice acting work in Wooden Overcoats, Doctor Who Redacted and more!

What happens when an immovable object meets and unstoppable force? Laura. 💣💥

Laura Girling is the master of playing the most chaotic characters absolutely straight, while everyone else loses their goddam minds. 🤫 Her hair is so big because it’s full of secrets.

It’s our musical maestro James Barbarossa! Co-creator with Zack and genius composer.

He writes amazing original music that give realms it’s trademark ~vibes~ 🎷 If that wasn’t enough he does voices, gm’s and plays with a talent for turning the absurd into the sublime.

James is a voice actor and composer whose work has been featured on podcasts like The Orphans and the Call of Cthulhu Mystery Program!

No table is complete without @LizxCampbell🎲She’s the chameleon player every GM dreams of, finding the keys to move the story, making gorgeous exciting characters and actually taking notes. Real notes. 📝

There’s no sharper mind and no-one more collaborative than Liz.🎉

All together we are Realms of Peril & Glory, your next Actual Play obsession!

What are you waiting for?! 💫 Grab your dice and let’s go explore the Realms of Peril & Glory together! We’ll see you there! 🥰🔗Just go to RealmsPod.com/about to find out more!

#actual play #podcast #realms of peril & glory #realms of peril and glory #realmspod #wooden overcoats #pip gladwin #doctor who redacted #maddy searle #chapter & multiverse #chapter and multiverse #Zack FG #oxventure #The Orphans #audio drama #the secret of st kilda #tsosk

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kaatiba · 9 months

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reVamped Vignettes ⤅ a WIP introduction

Laika, a werewolf, lives in an old manor house that is either sentient or haunted, along with a debonair dwarf, a recalcitrant selkie, a shy orc, and a grubby cryptid of an elf. That's a lot of personalities for one house—and then one night she stumbles on a miserable vampire named Kyle, who's just been kicked out of his nest by his sire. Laika might have a bite just as bad as her bark, but she's not so heartless as to let a vampire face sunrise with only his snapback for protection…so she invites him over. These are their (mis)adventures.

[content] - [inspo]

Characters

→ Laika | a female werewolf, named unironically after the famous dog. Grumpy, tall, could bench-press a truck. Secretly as sweet as her sweet tooth. → Kyle | a vampire, disturbingly and sincerely committed to the fratboy aesthetic. Scared of the dark. Turns into a bat when startled. A Disaster™. → Aurelius | a dwarf and a prolific author of poetry. Extremely and genuinely charming. Equally handsome. A veritable font of patience. → Orla | a selkie, transformed half the sunroom she lives in into an underwater habitat perfect for her seal form. Will bite you. Will not warn you about it. A silversmith, runs an online store selling her jewellery and knives. → Mogdur | goes by Mog, an orc, very shy, very large, very gentle. An artist who likes working on his webcomic and gifting people with his sketches of them. → Thistle | an elf, though he's often mistaken for a very pretty gnome. Never formally moved in; they found him in the back garden digging a hole and he just stuck around after that. His actual government name is Ben. He won't answer to it.

Author's Notes

I've been calling this WIP 5 for literal years and as per usual with my story ideas, I had only characters and a vibe and no plot in sight. But today @tracle0 asked me about it and in the course of talking to them, I realized...I don't actually need a plot? I can just write a series of interconnected stories featuring this cast of characters? So that's what I'll be doing and I'm excited for it! Technically this is more of a concept than a WIP, because I don't really feel ready to work on it. Still, I wanted to put this intro post together and see what happens with it! Knowing me I'll probably produce bits and bobs for it here and there. Let me know if you'd like to join the taglist!

general writing taglist: @muddshadow, @lockejhaven, @tracle0, @anonymousfoz

#wip intro #kaatibawrites #rvv.wip #writeblr intro #writeblr community #muslim writer #muslim writeblr #this'll be slice of life urban fantasy and maybe some dark comedy as well as a HINT of romance #not the main point of the wip #just because i am a romantic #long post #kaatiba.edits

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cc-tinslebee · 10 months

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Me and The Devil

Chapter 2: Hello Satan

a snapshot of Mickey’s life before becoming Ghostface and the resurgence of a murder victim that is not his

This was not how he expected his Wednesday night to go. Just an easy kill, a quick buck before he went home, that’s all he asked for. Now he had to hunt down the idiot who was in the woods after midnight.

Of those to come before and after, Mickey was the most prolific, he was the most qualified. He had knocked off seventeen people since he was fifteen, and he had gotten away with every single one.

Billy Loomis eat your heart out.

He rushes through the forest. His eyes dart all over, searching, scanning.

He wasn't an amateur.

And just when pounding fear's about to set in, their movement crosses into his line of sight again. His Peeping Tom makes a run for the clearing the forest fades into. He's holding onto the hope that getting closer to civility will save him.

His stalker glances behind him as Mickey emerges from the shadows of the forest, closer than before. He lets out a terrible, horrified yelp and he collides into the shoulder of a young woman, knocking him onto his ass.

He crawls backwards, chest heaving violently as his focus darts between them. He scrambles upright, almost barely catching himself before slipping again. "Please, miss," he pleads, knowing how easily Mickey could kill her too, "He's-" But it's no use; he's a jumbled mess. Neither of them can make out his pleas.

When the girl's eyes finally drift up to him, there's nothing recognizable in her eyes, not fear, not curiosity. She doesn't move an inch, not even as Mickey's boots hit the pine needle-matted ground hard as he stalks forward. The moonlight rains down on her, her ghostly, perfectly pale features bathing in it. He can tell that her blonde bob is supposed to be perfectly straight and tidy, but it's not. Her hair is frayed with dirt and bits of leaves sticking out, like she had just crawled out from the earth.

If it weren't for all those files his college benefactor sent him, he might say he almost recognized her from somewhere.

Now, if you're anything like me, you're probably thinking, "This girl was on the news. For getting murdered. In California."

But then again, if you're anything like me, you probably have more important things than a pretty dead girl in the woods.

continue reading here

#mickey altieri #scream #scream 2 #casey becker #Mickey Altieri fanfic #scream fanfic #sheila hammond #joel hammond #santa clarita diet #timothy olyphant #drew barrymore #fanfic #ao3 #mickey and casey

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under-wcrlds · 2 years

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circus (1)

—pairing; childe x f!reader

Inspired by this post by @gentleman-diluc

—tags; angst, showoff childe, reader has no vision, reader is not fatui

—warnings; blood, possessiveness

Part two

With the increase in daylight hours that heralded summer in Snezhnaya the Fatui's training seemed to grow ever later. Even in the frozen, wind-whipped landscape, preparations never eased it seemed. You could still hear the shouts and grunts echoing late into the evening and even after your shift finished. Military service was a compulsory requirement for every Snezhnayan in order to protect Snezhnaya and serve the Tsaritsa. You were just grateful that your duty to the Tsaritsa remained in Snezhnaya. You weren't a smooth talker like Childe, you would have never made it as a diplomat. Instead, your service to Her Majesty mainly consisted of taking stock of medical supplies, paperwork and patching up Childe's most recent sparring victim. As such, it was unusual for you to finish before the rest of the compound and even rarer for you to catch a glimpse of Childe in action.

You weren't sure if being stationed to Childe's devision was a blessing or a curse. He had haunted your memories like a ghost for so long after his disappearance into the ranks of the Fatui without so much as a word. You still dreamed about the devastated look on Tonia's face when she broke the news to you. He was so unfamiliar from the timid boy you'd grown up with that it wasn't hard to adjust to calling him by his new name. He was like a different person and you still hadn't made up your mind about Childe.

You'd fretted alongside his sisters for so many years, watched Tuecer wait by the door for days on end, that it was impossible to reconcile him with his letters. It was for the best that his sisters remained in the dark about the reckless abandon that drove his combat, it would only make them worry more than they already did.

His arrogance should have been undesirable but even that, he seemed to wear perfectly. Despite his prolific swordsmanship, his charm was more dangerous than anything else about him. You were almost glad that your schedules conflicted, keeping you out of the grasp of his smooth words. If anything, the part that frustrated you the most was the way he relished in flustering you. The glint in his eye, the smirk that painted its way across his features whenever he said just enough to make you blush was worse than anything else.

Still, you couldn't deny your curiosity. It was his combat skills that had made him so highly regarded. His title of Harbinger was not for nought. You would be lying if you said you didn't care to witness it firsthand. At least, that was the thought that you chose to acknowledge as you followed the sound of clanging metal, determined to push aside the small part of you that wanted desperately to watch a sweaty Childe destroy anyone in his path.

The large marquee was flimsy protection from the sheer cold but the sparring kept most of those inside warm enough, you swore you caught steam wafting off the foreheads of the pair nearest to you. Unsurprisingly, the clashing of steel and grunts of pain were peppered by Childe's laughter emanating from the centre of it all. Weaving through the writhing mass of sparring pairs, it didn't take you long to spot him, his bright hair giving his location away easily. A small number of Fatui had gathered to watch and you edged in behind them, careful not to let yourself be noticed lest Childe make some foul joke about himself at your expense.

The sparring itself was not interesting in its close contest, more its lack of contest. Childe was cocky as ever, avoiding attack with a simple movement of his head without even lifting a finger, smirking all the while. You hated the way you found yourself admiring the way that grin suited his face, eyes tracing his jawline up to where it met his neck and watching the muscles there flexing with each movement. You should have known Childe, being the egomaniac he was, would sense eyes on him. He always seemed highly attuned to when someone was looking at him in such a way, or at least he always seemed to catch you looking. If anything his grin only seemed to widen as he watched your lousy attempt to cover for yourself, snapping your gaze away from him and desperately willing the heat in your cheeks to stop rising.

He seemed to have bored from his opponent, tripping and disarming him easily with a sigh. His eyes, however, did not reflect his boredom, that malevolent glint in them always hinted at trouble.

"What fun is a battle without a little challenge? Is this the best Her Majesty's army has to offer?" Childe motioned for the soldiers in front of you. "You've been over there slacking. Why don't you show me what you're made of?"

Even for a Harbinger a dozen opponents seemed like a lot and you were successful at taming the flutter of nerves in your chest before they gave you away. Childe, however, didn't seem to bat an eye, in fact his gaze lingered on you as the crowd of Fatui stepped up. It was an honour for a Fatui to be invited to spar with a Harbinger, even so, they seemed nervous to strike first. Childe's eyes never left yours and you could see the irritation flicker there.

"Are you all too cowardly to try to strike me?"

His voice had lowered, his boyish amusement seeming to have faded. You had become acutely aware what this was to Childe, the battlefield his territory and he was going to prove it to you. It was as if he had been waiting for this moment, the moment when you naively wandered into his liar out of curiosity, the moment he could finally show you how powerful he'd truly become in his absence. Your fear rose again, but not for Childe, for the Fatui. You had seen Childe's handiwork before, but now, with Childe acting like he had something to prove? You were scared those wounds were ones not even a god could heal.

He was merciless, relishing in the thrill of battle, his eyes locked on yours. He'd been craving this for so long, for you to bear witness to him. You'd known him as Ajax, that weak, scared boy. He wanted to rip that image apart. Ajax was dead, Childe had killed him, and now he needed to show you who he really was. No longer weak, but a Fatui Harbinger. No one could stand in his way now. The fact that you still remembered Ajax infuriated him. Ajax was a coward. Ajax had hid from older boys when they came for him after school. Ajax ran away from things and hid from bullies. Ajax would never have had the courage to tell the girl he loved. Childe didn't need to tell her anything, he already new. Childe made her blush and stare and left her speechless. This was the final piece, you needed to stop denying it and see him for what he had become. Childe, the Tsaritsa's weapon of destruction. Tonight he would finally show you how strong he'd become.

He didn't even need his Foul Legacy form, Agents and Skirmishers could hardly pose a challenge to someone as skilled as Childe. He was rougher than he should have been with his own men, but the thrill of each victory was addictive. The ease with which they fell equal in both disappointment and satisfaction. The image of you spending late nights patching up his opponents infuriated and only spurred him on. It was too easy and over far too quickly until only Childe remained standing, lone in a mass of groaning bodies.

You weren't sure how to feel, watching Childe so effortlessly and mercilessly decimate a dozen of his strongest warriors. There was a fire in his eyes when he met yours, one you were tempted to shy away from.

"I guess I have my work cut out for me tonight." It was the best you could muster, humour an attempt to shield yourself from the intensity.

"No." His gaze was boring into you as he stepped over the Fatui closest to him and toward your trembling form. "You tend to me tonight."

Any protest died in your throat, you didn't dare when he was like this, an intensity devoid of boyish charm that you had never seen before.

Part two Here

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godsweakestsoldier · 8 months

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Hello I am here to enquire about that extremely fucked up thought you had about academic Ava regarding Beatrice. Would those thoughts perhaps be featured in a text post? A story? A ficlet? Short novel? Essay? Will us the general public ever find out?

I cannot begin to describe the range of emotions I went through when seeing this. All of which happened in the span of five minutes. I love the vaguely threatening undertones of this, anon. But the answer, in short, is the general public may eventually find out.

As of right now, it only lives on in the text post and haunts the general subconscious. I am not as prolific as the wonderful Casper, I don’t think I’ll ever write a 50k chapter (let’s be real it’s really a novel). Please go check and hype them up, they are lovely. If I ever get time to work on my wips, it may spill over into them. But until that far distant future, I can only offer my fucked up thoughts and promise that there’s more where that came from.

What I can offer now is Beatrice finding one of the academic journals after the events. Finding it tucked underneath the pillow on Ava’s side of their shared bed (old habits die hard, just like Bea’s draw to prayer). Beatrice sinking into the bed, gingerly turning the pages to find Ava’s handwriting sprawled in the margins with blue ink. Of a hastily drawn heart next to her name on the first page where she had inscribed it. Words underlined in various colors, arrows pointing to reminders to ask Bea to explain certain topics. Beatrice finding the letter neatly folded in the middle, a bookmark of sorts. Sunrise washing her in pink as she reads the words, ‘I’m doing this so you can live your life, so live it’.

#someday I’ll post my works #until that day I live to haunt you all #I’m coming for you #warrior nun #random thoughts with anaïs #avatrice #anon #my asks

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authoralexharvey · 8 months

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hi what does asmlp stand for, I've only been following you for a little bit and I can't figure it out lol

Oh yeah no worries! ASMLP is the shorthand/tag for my novel, A Sharper, More Lasting Pain. A project I've dubbed "sapphic fantasy dark academia" that features two alternating plot lines.

The first follows Nadia, a woman trying to coast her way through magic college while dealing with a mysterious--and then named and terminal--illness. Her life changes when she meets Simone, someone who is not content to just let her slack her way through life and who desperately wants to get to the bottom of her illness and find a cure. Unfortunately for the both of them, a catastrophic event tears their lives apart.

The second plot line follows Simone, a nonbinary Caster and prolific student, right after the catastrophic event. While at first their girlfriend's whereabouts are a total mystery, a serious of progressing obstacles prevent them from learning the truth. Their biggest obstacle? Etienne, Nadia's best friend and someone who was recently almost killed in a monster attack.

I'll find my WIP intro and share it after this but the tl;Dr is this is for fans of the D&D wizard class, magic schools, Bloodborne, and people who routinely think about the tragedy of the Radium Girls and get upset over it.

Hope this answers your question!

#alex has the floor #asmlp

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acrossthewavesoftime · 6 months

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hiiiiiiii Radegonde 😤😤 can we get a prince and heretic post 🤑🤑 i need everyone here to know about Renée my angel (also more propaganda for mrs bowen🤌🤌🤌)

That, my friend, I can do! You wanted a post on Marjorie Bowen's work with a focus on Renée le Meung, the protagonist of two of Bowen's novels, which you shall have!

The author

Margaret Gabrielle Vere Long, also known as Marjorie Bowen. Photograph, cropped, undated, presumably 1910s, around the time she wrote her Dutch history novels.

Marjorie Bowen was the pen name of British writer Margaret Gabrielle Vere Long (1885-1952), whose novels were, in her time, quite well-read and critically acclaimed (she, for instance, received fan mail from one Arthur Conan Doyle), but are largely forgotten today. Under several pen names, the most prolific being that of Marjorie Bowen, Vere Long published novels and short stories ranging in genre from crime to ghost stories, to contemporary and historical fiction, with the latter making up the most extensive category of her work.

She published her first novel, The Viper of Milan, in 1906. Her first as much as her later later novels showcase her unique style of writing, which relies on rich, opulent, yet purple-prose-free descriptions that allow the setting to come to life, and a great deal of historical reasearch, into which she manages to weave a gripping fictional plot.

Marjorie Bowen and Dutch history: The William of Orange series

Following the successful launch of The Viper of Milan, Bowen published The Master of Stair (American title: The Glen O'Weeping) in 1907. This is the first novel featuring, if you will, a cameo appearance of the subject of her later, and perhaps best-known triology of novels on William of Orange (1650-1702). Revolving around the Glencoe Massacre, William, then King William III, features as some sort of antagonist to the hero of the story. While not coming across as well-written and multi-dimensional as in later novels, it is evident that Bowen had an interest in William III, which she, three years and much research later, would put to paper in another project, the William of Orange triology.

From 1910 to 1911, Bowen, published her arguably most famous work, the William of Orange triology (I Will Maintain (1910); Defender of the Faith and God and the King (both 1911)), which went through a double-digit number of editions in the 1910s alone.

While Bowen is strongly sympathetic to her protagonist, William of Orange (1650-1702), to the point that she may have somewhat identified with him on account of her 'outsider' nature within her own family, something she saw reflected in the historical William of Orange (see e. g. Tibbets, John C.: The Furies of Marjorie Bowen (2019), p. 70, which includes an analysis of the series including potential autobiographic links), whom she researched with astonishing detail, she does not necessarily write William as a sympathetic character, which given the time of Bowen's writing her series would presumably have been an expected characterisation within the idiological frame of British imperialism (which does show in other ways, Bowen and her books being a product of their time), but rather depicts him as a flawed, driven and profoundly lonely man who in the end leaves the reader to question if perhaps he overreached his initial achievements, and personal happiness, in a quest for ever more and ultimately inobtainable glory.

Another interesting feature of the series is Bowen's realistic depiction of William of Orange's chronic illnesses, particularly his asthma.

The novels' most striking quality is however that William of Orange was written as what we might call distinctly neurodivergent and very likely asexual, which is intriguing, taking into account that even the term autism was not yet introduced into scientific language until 1911, when the second and third novels were published.

Three years after the release of volume 2 and 3 of the William of Orange triology, Bowen, presumably as a sort of prequel to the William of Orange novels, turned her head to write two novels about the first William of Orange (1533-1584), great-grandfather to the man she portrayed in the 1910-1911 triology through his youngest son Frederick William, and the latter's son, another William.

Prince and Heretic (1914) and William, by Grace of God (1916) (...and Renée)

The face Renée le Meung cannot resist

This time, the focus lies not so much on a historical figure cast as main character as on a fictional protagonist who skirts the edges of (this) William's orbit: her name is Renée le Meung, a young, exiled Dutchwoman orphaned by the religious persecution of the counter-reformation in the Spanish Netherlands who earns her upkeep by working in the household of princess Anna of Saxony, a wilful, vain and youthfully immature German princess set to marry William of Orange.

It is in Anna's retinue that Renée comes into some measure of contact with William whom she is at first infatuated, then downright obsessed with, both romantically, and increasingly politically as the tensions between William of Orange and the Spanish Habsburgs are about to culminate in the Eighty Years' War.

With her prequel duology to the William (III) of Orange series, Bowen followed a very similar recipe as with the novels in the triology; again, her main character is a socially isolated, lonely orphan mainly carried through life by their personal faith who sees themself as being not like their peers.

Renée's character can, somewhat tongue-in-the-cheek, be summed up as what would happen if Victor Hugo's Éponine Thénardier had been a 16th century monarchist with access to that one Radiohead song (you know the one).

Over the course of two novels, Renée's life from young adulthood to middle age is laid out, her fortunes, by her own choice, ever-intertwined with those of William of Orange.

She endures physical abuse at the hands of his first wife, endears herself to William's mother, jealously eyes his subsequent wives, some of whom she ends up working for, travels around to be close to him, and gives up on a number of opportunties that would have allowed her the possibilities of a less strenuous life, perhaps even love, and a family of her own.

Oh, the awkwardness of almost confessing your crush to... his mother!

Her most outlandish show of devotion to the man she idolises comes into being when she adopts an orphaned baby whose father died in a battle William also lost two brothers in, and whom the local and rather patriotic parson had christened Wilhelmina in honour of William.

Ironically, Renée's life seems to take a turn for the healthier once she takes on the responsibility of caring for little Wilhelmina; she starts socialising, no longer considers herself lonely as she has developed a newfound interest in life, and dotes on her foster daughter- only to, at the next possible moment, slink off to stand under William's window in the small hours of the morning again once the opportunity materialises (but not without arranging for a child minder for her daughter in the mean time).

Renée is very normal. Very normal. Nothing to see here.

Sadly however, things cannot go on like this forever...

Final thoughts

Bowen's novels are enjoyably written historical fiction and easily accessible being in the public domain. They're products of their time, of course, but Bowen surprises the reader by her choice of main characters who often astonish, rather than confirm the reader's expectations of the genre: her main characters are autistic war criminals and celebrity-stalking single mothers in thorougly-researched and sumptuously described historical settings, offering a refreshing take on the genre.

When they were first published, Bowen's novels were marketed as "historical romances", which could not be further from the truth; while love, and the humanity and self-discovery inherent in loving another person are themes explored with both Renée and William III in the 5 Dutch history novels, Renée's unrequited devotion to the man she loves remains unspoken, unacted upon, and only in the third volume of the triology does romantic love feature for William III through the experience of losing his wife, and having to live with the knowledge that he made many mistakes in an initially difficult relationship.

While I am personally not averse to the odd historical romance novel, I enjoy the fact that Bowen's historical fiction veers off the beaten path here: her novels are not so much about finding a perfect happily-ever-after, but living in a world of difficulty, and the different shapes relationships, and consequentially, love, can take over time, and how they alter the people involved; William III discovers that life is about more than conquering and sticking it to France as he, looking back on their marriage, at last seeks Mary II's forgiveness for his past behaviour around her when they were newlyweds and Renée, through all odds, gains the attention, and, within the possibilities of their vastly different social status, even confidence and friendship of the man she secretly loves.

If William III's quest for glory, and Renée le Meung's quest for love (or at least being close to the man she loves) have one thing in common, it is that in the end, a goal, the fantasy of a happy end, inobtainable even perhaps, does not matter so much as the path life sends one on, and what we choose to make of it.

I can only warmly recommend Bowen from the comparatively few novels of hers I have read so far!

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