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blazehedgehog · 8 months

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hey! regarding people who are politely declining to comment their opinions on your Frontiers video, i don't think it's anything personal – i think some people just find engaging with the greater Sonic discourse to be exhausting (myself included!) and would rather respect the opinions and personal space of others than engage in debate.

which brings me to my question: how do you handle it? you've been fielding comments and asks from rabid Sonic fans for so long, you seem to have it down to a science!

I can understand being exhausted with discourse, yeah. There are some things I'm like that with. But... I dunno, the response to the Sonic Frontiers in general is also a little weird and I'm starting to think I made a bad first impression with some of what I had to say. Some people are taking it personally in a way that it's not directed at them.

But -- and I do not say this disparagingly -- that's Sonic fans. I get it. It's not true so much these days, but ten years ago, twenty years ago, this industry loved to beat up on Sonic and especially Sonic fans, eventually. Some people don't see that I'm one of them too, which is also understandable, because not everybody knows me.

I'm weighing options on how to deal with that. I've said it before but doing follow-up "correction/comment response" videos seem to be a good idea, but I don't know if I should wait until the final DLC is out or try and get it released sometime next week.

As for how I handle it... I don't know. Maybe it just comes naturally. I remember way back when I first got on the internet, when I was on AOL, the big thing everybody was doing back then before blogs was Mailing Lists. "MLs" for short. People would send you a message like "I would like to subscribe to your ML," so you'd write down their email address, and once a week or so you'd send out this gigantic email that was practically its own whole website.

And I juggled two or three MLs, for Sonic, for Pokemon, for Sailor Moon. I'd attach files for MP3s, I'd do Q&A sections, the whole nine yards, and I was like... 15. And I'd get comments (email replies) from people telling me that they loved how natural I sounded. Apparently people running other MLs were pretty wooden and robotic with their writing style, but I was always very conversational and approachable. And the numbers bore that out; I remember having several mailing lists crest 100+ subscribers, which felt like a huge deal.

And it's weird, because if you met me in real life, I'm maybe the most quiet, reserved person on earth. I have to force myself to speak out. I live in a house with five other people and I will go days where the only thing I say to anyone is telling my nephews good night. I feel like I can't talk. Like I don't know how. Which is a whole other kettle of fish, especially when it comes to recording voice over for a video.

But you sit me down in front of a keyboard, or even maybe a phone to some degree, where I can type out my thoughts? I used to be able to type as fast as some people could speak. And literally as I write this right now, I am more or less mouthing the words, either physically or in my head, as I type them. Like I am saying them. It's all a stream of consciousness. That goes for things I write here on this blog and it goes for video scripts, too. It's always flowed as naturally as running water (maybe too naturally, for how rambly I can get).

I would love to have the confidence to speak in the same way I type, and I know I have the capacity for it. I just get too nervous in the moment.

And as for how I handle people who are rude or don't understand me or whatever, I mean I have theories, but ultimately I don't know.

Like, something I learned early on was to distinguish the difference between people who are actually angry and people who are just trying to hurt you for laughs. I remember, all the way back when I was in Kindergarten or First Grade, some kids on the school bus were trying to get a rise out of me and in my head I kept thinking "They're just trying to make me mad, so I won't give them the satisfaction." And I just went totally stonefaced. When I objectively refused to react, they left me alone.

A few years later, I had friends who turned out to be bitter enemies that may or may not have ruined my life, and again, I learned new skills to deal with baseless people who were just trying to make me angry. I learned how to cope with or avoid some of that.

(Until eventually the bomb went off, I beat a kid black and blue, and was nearly charged with assault at 13 years old.)

And then a few of my first internet friends were deeply stubborn people who reveled in their ability to be rude, frustrating assholes. And, again, I learned ways to avoid, cope with, or defuse those people.

(Until I got tired of dealing with them and cut them out of my life entirely.)

Like, compared to some of the things I've had to endure, some of the things "friends" have said or done to me, an angry internet comment feels like a stiff breeze.

And I also just love putting myself in someone else's shoes. Thinking about how they came to a different conclusion than I have. Ask people who knew me 20 years ago and they'll tell you I used to (and still sort of do) live by a mantra that all arguments start as misunderstandings. If two people come to terms with their differences in perspective then all problems can be solved.

So I learned that when someone has a problem with me or something I've said, I just need to explain it better, or explain it more. If the scope of what I said is too small, then I need to provide a bigger picture view of where I'm coming from. And 90% of the time that is a great way to solve a problem, to come to terms and say "Tell me where you're coming from and I'll tell you where I'm coming from and we can meet in the middle." You're being heard, they're being heard, everybody (usually) wins.

I always try to come at everything in good faith like that. Even anger comes from somewhere. Understanding that helps everyone.

(Now, I don't always have the energy for that. There was a twitter thread last week where I incited quite a bit of Discourse™ and I eventually became exhausted by the endless supply of people who were looking for cheap dunks, or were being weirdly rude, plus I was deep into deadline stress... I ended up getting kind of punchy in a way I'm not super proud of)

And I guess just... all of this stuff, it all just combines into my ability to mostly handle it.

Which is why it can feel so weird when people don't want to engage me.

#questions #skysometric #sonic the hedgehog #sega #sonic team

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quinloki · 1 year

Text

A Light Touch

Fem Reader x Eustass Kid

CW: language, assault, violence, sexual themes and situations, implications of non-con, loss of limbs, blood. 18+ Only.

Beginning - Table of Consent

Chapter 5: ApPEAsed

Your tongue is sticking out of your mouth in concentration as you try to utilize the chopsticks with your right hand. You know how to use them, but only left-handed, and this new orientation seems to be defeating you. You tried to just stab the food and shovel it into your mouth, but Kid was faster, and stopped you from doing that.

"I'm hungry." You insist, huffing even as you continued to try and do things the right way.

"It's incentive." Kid insists, between bites of food.

"Here, let me help a little." Killer offers, setting his container on the coffee table and shifting over by your right arm. "You know the theory, you just need to invert it." He takes the chop sticks out of your hands and starts from the basics. "This one is the one that you won't move," he says, placing it against your middle finger and locking it into place. "This is the one you hold like a pencil and move."

"Don't move that, move this," you repeat, focusing on getting your fingers to cooperate. Your tongue sticks out a bit again and you practice the motion a few times, making sure the right things move and the right things stay still. Your right hand had always felt like a rebel, but you were going to have to get along from here on out. "Will I be able to use chopsticks in my left hand when I get it?"

Kid grunts. "Yeah, with a lot of practice. Fine control can be a real bitch, and it's best to just expect you'll be ambidextrous by the end of this." He starts picking peas out of his food and setting them on yours. You hadn't even told him you weren't a fan, but he must've noticed you picking around them. "Your hand'll need maintenance and shit, so it's not like it'll be all good once you get it."

You start knocking peas away with a flick and Kid clears his throat. "Pick 'em up and move them that way, or suffer, Mouse."

"Bossy bastard, ain'tcha?" You grumble, picking up a single pea and moving it. In the time you get one off your food, Kid's put three more back on your plate. You growl a little, but keep at it, practicing the movements over and over. It only takes a couple minutes and you're out pacing Kid and actually managing a few bites of food before more peas show up.

"Effective," he corrects as you improve. "I'm an effective bastard."

"And a bossy one." Killer interjects and you laugh.

"Mm, is it safe to assume you'll get me to the court hearings... ah, along with trips to the prosthetic rehab?" Your face goes red, you feel like you're leaning on these guys too much. "I mean... I should probably sort out some sort of transportation for myself sooner rather than later."

"Don't sweat it, Mouse." Kid says, swallowing his latest mouthful of food. "It's an adjustment. When I offered to haul your tiny ass around, I was planning on doing so for a couple months at least. If you end up in another accident because you're not used to your hand, then yer back to square one and I've wasted my damned time."

"... Is that why you came back?" You question. You say it without really thinking about it, but you're going to have to address the whole Straw Hats thing sooner or later.

Kid side-eyes you for a moment and then grunts. "You're not actually a part of their crew, and they ain't even in the Metro proper right now. I just seem to keep running into people who know 'em and it's been nothing but a pain in my ass."

You can feel the mischief rising up in you as he says that, and with a grin splitting your face you pick up a pea and put it on his plate by throwing it. When it lands, you do it again, and again. You're trying your hardest to not giggle and ruin your streak.

"Thin ice, Mouse."

"Bullshit," you quip. "You're the one who decided to teach me this way, I think this is a perfectly acceptable outcome."

"Kid doesn't like peas either." Killer points out.

Your mouth goes wide as a glee-filled expression fills your face. Kid narrows his eyes and before you can react he flicks a pea into your open mouth.

"Ack!" gulp. "Augh!" Your suffering has Kid howling as your face goes red. It was, perhaps, not entirely undeserved. There are worse ways to eat a pea than accidentally swallowing one whole you guess. "Okay, I earned that."

"So, how are you managing so far?" Killer asks.

You make a face you can't hide. "I ruined almost an entire thing of eggs trying to make breakfast this morning, and ended up ordering in. I watched videos on how to do things one-handed, but I need kitchen utensils I've never had before and after this morning I wasn't exactly leaping at giving things a try."

"How's the stump?" Kid asks.

"I jammed it into the couch when I woke up this morning, trying to sit up, but it's not too bad."

"Mutant healing power not working?"

"Huh? Oh, no, it is. Does. Did." You hold up your left arm. Aside from the scars it doesn't even look raw anymore. "Just because it's visibly healed though, doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. It'll be tender for as long as it was supposed to be."

"That's a raw deal." Kid grumps.

You shrug. "The body heals, the mind takes it time, I guess."

The rest of your evening went well. Kid and Killer left, with plans to get you in the morning and take you out to breakfast. Whatever was prompting them to treat you so kindly, you were at least starting to get comfortable with accepting it.

When Monday rolled around even more news came in that made things better. Your work approved short term disability for a full 2 months, allowing time for rehabilitation with the new prosthetic. You also got a call from the job you were going to interview at before the accident. The secretary that spoke with you was very understanding and told you to feel free and reach back out when you were comfortable doing so. She insisted you not worry about any sort of timeline, noting that going through what you were going through was enough. There was no need to add concerns about losing an opportunity on top of that.

She also offered to send you information on private companies to help you find all the options you had for a new prosthetic. You thanked her for her time and assistance, and honestly thought you'd have to apply at that job now – if everyone was half as thoughtful and competent as Miss Violet was, you'd be in good company.

Monday afternoon Officer Coby called to inform you that the first hearing was Wednesday. He let you know when you'd need to be at the courthouse, the address and even offered to come pick you up. You declined the offer, saying that if Eustass needed to be there as well – and he did – that you already had a ride.

You were glad to have had all the good news happen earlier in the day, but afterward you sat on the couch and stared up at the ceiling after your call with Coby. The courthouse meant tension, and tension meant confrontation. You didn't have a visual concept of Vander Decken the Drunk, so you weren't sure what to expect, but you did know he had already declared he wasn't going to compensate you. Which means the hearing tomorrow was going to be a ball of bad vibes.

You phone rang after a bit and "RED" came up on the caller ID. You hit the speaker phone and grumbled some variety of greeting.

"Already heard then," Kid said on the other end with a gruff laugh. "We'll be by to pick you Wednesday." He assures you. "Need us to come over tonight?"

"Ah... hm." You look around your apartment, which suddenly looked very dull and dreary and empty. "Need's kind of a strong word."

"Oh?"

"It'd be nice," you admit, "but I can fend for myself if you got other things to deal with."

"One day girl, I'm going to get a word of greed out of you." Kid grumbles into the phone.

You laugh. "You might get sick of me long before that happens."

"Humph, we'll see. Get some rest, Mouse."

"Aye, aye captain."

You doze off on the couch after hanging up. You hadn't really intended to follow Kid's orders quite so literally, but the up and down of the day had apparently put you in the mood for a nap.

. . . .

A knock at the door pulls you out of your nap. You glance at the phone as you pull yourself out of the couch, and noticed that only about an hour had gone by. A second round of knocking happened, a little more forcefully than the first.

"Aye! I'm coming, hang the hell on." You grumble, opening the door and expecting to see Kid grinning back at you.

Instead, there's a tall lanky man who could only be described as greasy standing in front of your door. He wore an ill-fitting homburg style hat, and a cheap suit that was trying it's best to look tailored. His hands were gloved and the sunglasses he wore were mirrored.

"(Y/N)?" He questions. He's trying to sound neutral, but there's irritation in his tone.

You shake your head. "Nope, sorry." You answer flatly. There's something about this man that makes you wildly uncomfortable, and you don't know why.

You can't really make out his expression because of the glasses, and his lips aren't giving away much. After a moment of silence, you cock an eyebrow at him. "Good luck?"

"Yeah, sorry to be a bother, miss." He says finally, aggravation much more obvious in his voice as he turns away.

"No problem." You say as politely as you can muster and close the door. You keep your foot against it for a moment before you turn the lock on the door. You let the shiver you'd been suppressing run through you and go back to the couch.

You: Hey, can you come over after all?

Red: Just parked, Mouse.

You smile at the response. You can feel relief wash over you, just glad that no matter who the creep was, you weren't going to be alone for the next few hours.

Kid and Killer piled into your apartment after a moment and set bags on the kitchen counter.

"What prompted the text, Mouse?" Kid asks as Killer packed some pre-made meals into your fridge and freezer.

"Some greasy creep knocked on the door and wanted to know if I lived here." You admit. "He looked like if 'Skeezy' had a picture next to it in the dictionary, so I lied."

"Huh," Kid seemed amused.

"Hmmmm?" You prompt, giving him a look.

"Surprised you have some sense after all." Kid admits with a toothy grin. "You took to me an' Killer so fast I was a bit worried aboutcha." He ruffles your hair absently. "Keep expecting to come over and see you serving tea to some stranger or something."

You shove Kid's hand away with a indignate grin, but before you start bantering with him Killer interrupts.

"What did he look like?" Killer questions, he was tying his hair back and apparently getting ready to use your kitchen to cook for everyone. You liked watching Killer cook, not only was he really good at it, but his enjoyment of it was palpable. It was also the only time you saw the top half of the man's face.

"Greasy. Greasy hair, greasy skin. His cheap suit didn't really fit him, and the hat was just a poor choice. Past that though, hmmm... his hands were gloved, and he had mirrored sunglasses on." You close your eyes, trying to picture him again. "Hooked nose, goatee. I could point him out if I saw him again but describing him is tough."

"Five four, or six two?" Kid prompts. His tone and body language were disinterested, but there was something in his eyes that caught your attention, and made you realize they were worried.

"He seemed to fill the door, from my perspective." You admit. "Six five, maybe a little taller. You two gonna put up posters or something?"

Kid snorted and Killer's shoulders shook silently. "Nah, Mouse, just making sure we can keep an eye out."

"Aww, my knights in shining armor." You tease.

"Hydraulic powered, cold rolled steel armor," Kid corrects, purposefully smacking his prosthetic fingers together one after another, the force sending shudders up his arm.

Next Chapter

#A Light Touch #eustass x reader #one piece eustass kid #one piece fanfiction #reader insert

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the-whispers-of-death · 1 month

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why did you do this to me? now the oc thoughts are thoughting and i can't stop them

anyway

i think if Stone (a medic) met Johan (a "medic") i don't think they'd get along. i feel like Johan would have Stones hackles raising and paranoia spiking because he has this :} type smile but much more sinister like Stone, a man that doesn't smile meets a man that is constantly going :) in the most threatening way (that's not to mention Johans lack of morals. the man lost his lisence to medical malpractice for the sake of "curiosity" and has participated in human experimenting) i just feel like they wouldn't get along

now who Stone would get along with is Void. in his "after" Void actually goes to university to study astronomy so stars would be a common interest even with the dificulty in communication. he would also semi get along with Hazzard due to their like of animals. Hazzard is still a hater (no like seriously man lowkey highkey wants all of humanity dead, except him and his two people, but Romanas keeps thar side of Hazzard a secret and doesn't let that man be a hater out loud) but he would still respect his love for cats and teach him where the best places to scratch are so a cat would fall in love with you.

Romanas i feel could get along with anyone because he's an adaptable guy and can find common ground with most people. he would have problems with people who have really extreme views or extreme views that are opposite of his own extreme views (he can get nasty if he's passionate about something and people oppose it but he tries to not get into things like that for the sake of keeping peace)

now onto stone variants

if Selga ever met feral Stone he would be scared of him 100% percent. despite Selgas decent size and good strength he is rather emaciated and traumatized to the point of loosing intelligence (not to say he's stupid but lemme explain). while (to my understanding) feral Stone is still intelligent and verbal or semi verbal (correct me if im wrong) Selga just isn't. his "human" intelligence is very low and he's entirely non verbal (the most he can manage are half choked half sounds/half words, growls, hisses and other animal sounds). it's like an animal was given a slight brain boost and given a human shaped mech to pilot so if Selga (who is smaller and thinner than Stone) ever met feral Stone he'd react in fear-aggression. teeth bared, back arched (you can see his spine and ribs when he does that. Romanas and Boss are loosing hair and braincells trying to keep him healthy and well fed once Boss takes over the group). if any team mate was around Selga is glued to them and stand in front of them to "protect" them from feral Stone (if they faught Selga would put up a good fight but Stone would overpower him with weight alone. now if Selga was fully healed and in better mental condition that would be a whole different story)

Vaccine and Dartboard would try to goad feral Stone into play wrestling with them. they would nibble on him a little just to tease.

Diana would be a regular at baker Stones bakery for coffee and pastries for her and Johan (both have an insane sweet tooth)

Boss would take one look at Grim Reaper Stone and go "oh no.... that's a son that needs to be adopted" and would end up taming him like he tamed the rest of the merc group

DO NOT AND I REPEAT DO NOT LET JOHAN SEE EXPERIMENT STONE THAT MAN WOULD HAVE SPARKLY EYES AND THE MOST DIABOLICAL IDEAS AND QUESTIONS FOR POOR STONE JUST KEEP YOUR MANS SAFE TRUST ME ON THIS ONE

if Void was a few years younger (he's 19 in the "now") he would go to school with Saira and probably meet girl dad Stone. good thing that Void is actually very polite and friendly if a little strange. he doesn't make messes, doesn't antagonize people and always cleans up after himself (dad Stone also gets to meet Hazzard and Romanas because there's an "inside joke" in the group that they are Voids parents and in the "after" they all live together in one house)

vampire Stone would/should meet with blood homunculus Romanas (it's what he is in a monster au. either that or some eldritch monstrosity also blood related. i have a whole thing for a monster au) because Romanas could probably provide infinite blood (he needs to drain an entire creature of any kind to sustain himself but he doesn't need to do it often and any blood ingested is automatically turned into "human" blood)

werewolf Stone meeting mutated werewolf Hazzard would be interesting since Hazzards wolf form is kinda fucked up due to radiation. he's like thrice the size of a normal werewolf, teeth long and sharp, sometimes cutting through his lips and piercing the flesh of his jaw, radioactive drool spilling from his maw, spikes along his back, massive claws loaded with radioactive toxins. (that's all while he's in wolf form) despite all that Hazzard is pretty chill and wouldn't go attacking all willy nilly (hell if it wasn't so dangerous he would even play with pups but he can't without it being potentially dangerous :( )

Vendetta doesn't actually belong to the merc group. they're more of a solo act but they follow Romanas due to... circumstances. so it's a killer for hire working for other killers for hire

idk about criminal Stone or serial killer Stone. with criminal it's most likely that Romanas (or another oc simply known as "D") is a friend of mafia boss and is like a brother to him so that's how they meet.

Serial killer idk. someone from the merc group would try and recruit him but i bet he'd decline because mercs and morals don't mix all that well

i don't think any of your ocs would be that scared of any of mine (except maybe for Johan. and they'd have qualms about the LITERAL CANNIBALS the merc group had around. i bet they'd have some questions about wtf happened to Selga and wtf is up with Void)

hdjfgdidod i have a few more ocs that i forgot to introduce to you but i'll do it later my brain is rotting

First, I wanna know why Tumblr didn't notify me that I got this ask. SMH.

Second of all, yeah, Stone and Johan would not get along at all. Stone hates people who smile so much, he's so suspicious of people like that. He understands why that man got his medical license provoked and he's thinking about running far away from Johan as possible. His paranoia either makes him want to fight and kill or run, and in the case he'd rather run.

Stone actually has gone non-verbal in some situations, so he does know sign language. But it's American Sign Language. So if Void doesn't know that... Well, they could always communicate via a notepad, right?

He'd respect Hazzard not liking most people. He'd respectfully stay away because he's secretly polite like that.

I can't see a reason why Romanas and Stone wouldn't get along, so I'm assuming they're going to get along.

Feral!Stone is semi verbal, but he much prefers growling and snarling to communicate. Yeah, he'd see Selga as a threat. In that same respect, Vaccine and Dartboard might not want to play wrestle with him because while they might nibble on him, he might just straight-up take chunks out of them.

Baker!Stone would enjoy having Diana come into his bakery. He'd be happy to sell her any pastry she wants.

Grim Reaper!Stone would cry if Boss called him "son". Like yes, hello, teach me how to be my own person, please and thank you. He'd be Boss's now, no getting rid of him.

Experiment!Stone is running away from Johan just like how Canon!Stone but unfortunately for Canon!Stone, Experiment!Stone is faster and he will not be picking up Canon!Stone to help him escape Johan.

Girl Dad!Stone would enjoy Void. He'd be like "Can I adopt you?" Someone better stop this man from stealing Void from the team because he'd see a child that was just like how he was and he'd want to give him a happier life.

Vampire!Stone would absolutely love Romanas if Romanas provided him with infinite blood. He's a big boy so he needs a lot of blood.

Werewolf!Stone staring at mutated werewolf Hazzard and being like "I know he hates people, but would he kill me if I courted him??" Man needs to know when not to court someone.

If Romanas is someone who is close to the mafia boss and thus the mafia boss really likes him, Criminal!Stone will do everything in his power to protect him. He wants the mafia boss to be happy, always.

Serial Killer!Stone is staring at Johan (aka messed up morals man) and is like "I have to kill him." But yeah, he has too high morals to become a mercenary. Instead of running away like the other Stones, Serial Killer!Stone is running towards Johan because he will not back down when it comes to wiping people who have fucked up morals off the planet.

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zeciex · 6 months

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This is a bit late but if you allow me to I'd still like to give my opinion on your question about Aemond and him being OOC or less repressed than he should've been!! I personally like your version of him very much and think you've portrayed him really well so far! He's cunty and repressed enough. By trying to make him even more repressed than he already is, well, I think there's always the danger of going overboard with it(him being cuntier though…I don't have anything against that lmaoo). This is my personal opinion of course as I'm sure others will disagree but many authors mistakenly did this in the past and their Aemond came across as too emotionally constipated (and made him act quite stupidly at times lol), not to mention that in the process of that Alicent was also villainized, intentionally or not, as the sole cause of Aemond's repression since the line of thinking was that she indoctrinated him into only caring about duty and sometimes also into avidly following the Faith of the Seven thus giving a lot of religious meaning behind his behavior (as an addition I don't necessarily think that every author had something personal with Alicent and went out of their way to portray her negatively on purpose, but many readers are definitely very unfair and lash out against her all the time as if she isn't a medieval woman in a medieval time who acts accordingly and not like a modern day woman).

Again as a personal opinion, I do think this interpretation of Aemond being the most dutiful out there is a based a lot more on fanon rather than canon. Even in the show he provokes a scandal at the dinner by obviously going against his mother's wishes and I'd argue that chasing Luke on his war dragon is far from being the action of a dutiful son, even if he didn't intend to kill him. For someone who views himself as the dutiful son, as a reader of history and philosophy (this line was so hilarious, like he obviously thinks highly of himself) he had to realize that going after an envoy would be a bad idea because there's no way he ever though his mother would've ever been okay with the idea. But he put his own feelings and personal vendetta against Luke above duty and sadly we saw the result of that... He is no Aegon obviously as in someone who disregards everything about duty and goes out whoring and drinking but I also don't think he's someone who would blindly do everything his mother and grandfather tell him to do.

If we go by book canon, then he's even less dutiful especially when taking his relationship with Alys into account. While yes, a man (married or unmarried) taking a lover and fathering bastards isn't something out of the ordinary in their world, there is the possibility that he did marry her (personally, I doubt it and doubt the show will go with this version but you never know) like she implied to have happened. Point is, these aren't the actions of a dutiful man because by marrying a lowborn woman and a supposed witch he's endangering the alliance with the Baratheons, something Aegon/the Greens absolutely need so they can win the civil war. In conclusion, the fact that his actions and behavior are only driven by duty to his family are true only to a point. There's basis in both canons that he's perfectly capable of making decisions that go against duty. In your story for example I don't think it's going to be OOC for him if in the end he decides to make moves against Alicent's probable decision to betroth him to one of the Baratheon ladies and pushes for a marriage to Daenera instead (even if Daenera will be forced to marry him like you said it will happen? correct me if wrong) even if in the front of his family he will justify that decision as something good for the Greens (but we know better why he'll do it).

Ultimately, you, as an author, should write what you personally think is best for your story!! I mean what is the point in publishing something you don't feel satisfied with? Readers will come and go and not every single one of them will love every writing choice you make. Whether your Aemond (or any other character) acts like in canon or not is a very tricky question considering he's being put into new situations and meeting new characters and it's only natural there will always be some disagreement amongst readers because many of us interpret his character differently even in canon. Again, so far you've done great with his characterization especially considering the nature of your story - an Aemond x an OC/daughter of Rhaenyra pairing - which is also quite tricky in itself!! Due to the high numbers stories with this kind of pairing many tend to be formulaic lately (for example it's far more common to put all the pressure on Aemond and have him renounce his family, switch sides and swear allegiance to the Blacks just so he can get with the woman he allegedly loves while the opposite almost never happens - not that it would've been more realistic if that happened instead, just saying) but so far you've done great to differentiate your story and bring a more unique interpretation!

You don't understand how much this message means to me.

I've been in a slump lately with writing, and this really helps with giving me more of a perspective. Sometimes when I write something every day for so long, you kind of go blind to the characters and the writing itself, so hearing another perspective definitely helps.

And you're totally right! Aemond is dutiful and loyal and the 'good' son (I mean, we haven't seen Daeron, but I've heard he really is the GOOD son, ya know?)-- but we also see that he is easily riled up, he lets his emotions get the best of him, he is so set on revenge and taking what he considers his right that he goes blind to duty. He is reckless. And I think I work within that recklessness.

And I think that is also where the similarities between Aemond and Daenera reside. They both try to do their duty, they both contort themselves and try and be what is needed of them... But they're also very emotional and reckless. If they really were as dutiful as they believe themselves to be, then none of this would have happened. They wouldn't have started anything. But they did. And now they're facing the consequences.

Since we're nearing the show, I will be working towards Aemond falling in line with the depiction of the show (though I mean, he will also be MY Aemond, he's just going to be what he has to be.). He will be firmly team Green and Daenera firmly team Black, and that is something I will chip away at, though I will start with Daenera. BUT the seed of it has already been sown, and we will see it next chapter and see it watered and growing over the course of the rest of the story.

It's funny, because Aemond appears as this stoic, restrained and collected person, and he thinks himself like that, but we see him blow up multiple times and get all emotional and shit. So saying that he's totally repressed isn't quite true. He sows his emotions a lot, well, the bad emotions. And in, my story, I play with his internal struggle because 1. He hasn't seen what love should be like when growing up, and that shit leaves marks. 2. Such things as love has always been pushed aside for duty. 3. Love scares him, because its something he doesn't know or understand. Aemond very much loves Daenera, but he can't fully identify that, and even if somewhere deep inside of him he does, he can't accept it fully because that makes him weak. It is like handing over his heart. And then, at the same time, he acknowledges that he wants her. But because he hasn't seen/know love, and he doesn't understand it, he becomes possessive over it. He wants it like he wants the throne, like he wanted a dragon.

Sorry, I went on a tangent and I properly haven't made myself clear.

BUT!! This really helped me!! It put my Aemond into perspective and it helped me reconcile with my doubts about him.

--I also want to say that since I started this story, I've come to see Alicent in a more sympathetic light. I really like her character. That being said, given we follow Daenera a lot, the story will reflect her apprehension about her and such. And given Alicent's dislike of Daenera, we will see that reflected in their relationship as well. //I often think of how similar Daenera and Alicent really are. Neither would like the comparison.//

#A Vow of Blood #ask & answer

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chattingwiththelightkeeper · 2 years

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Faux Pas, Failures, And F*ck Ups

It feels that there is a common refrain from submissives who have decided to continue to explore the D/S lifestyle after making errors in judgment early in their exploration and this goes like “I cannot believe I did that” or “How could I have let someone treat me that way”. The wonderful thing about mistakes is that each one is a learning opportunity, although the trick is making the time to look at the past as well as approaching them as honestly as we can. It feels like people are far too willing to always focus blame on others rather than looking in the mirror and giving a fair shake to their culpability. So I am going to try to not screw this up as I chat about missteps and growth with the D/S lifestyle.

When it comes to lifestyle errors, after the fact I think it is natural, depending on the blunder to feel embarrassed or even ashamed by them. So this means that it can be very human to want to bury or hide them. It can be very unnatural to talk about them, to share them with others, but I think it is something that we must talk about in the lifestyle because others can learn from the mistakes of others. It is very common to see people repeating the same faux passes over and over. If you follow blogs, especially the ones that have an advice columnist feel to them, meaning they often answer a good deal of questions, it seems to me that the questions do vary a bit but often it is new versions of similar asks. In my opinion, as a whole people involved in this lifestyle need to take the time to talk about their own mistakes and also have it be a priority to take lessons learned by others and apply those lessons to their life.

Not only do I think that those of us in the D/S lifestyle need to do a better job of being open about what we have screwed up in our past, but I also want to talk specifically to dominants. There is a mythology that dominants are amazing, all-powerful, but this always reminds me of the Wizard of Oz because when the curtain is pulled back, there is a flawed human there. I believe that dominants, especially male d-types, are conditioned by societal pressures to keep their mistakes hidden, out of sight, and not something to talk about. Many dominants do learn from what they have mucked up in the past but it can feel a bit taboo to openly talk about them.

Since I brought up lifestyle mistakes and how I think we should be more open to telling our own, it is only fair that express what I believe are the three biggest ones.

The first is to be consistent. By consistent, I mean that in a long-term relationship, as a dominant it can become easy to let slide a lapse in judgment by a submissive. For example, the submissive comes forward, admits to shortcutting a guideline, and the dominant can see they are upset, the s-type appears to have learned, and the d-type knows that the act of admitting what happened is harder on the submissive than any correction they could impose so the d-type allows the incident to be uncorrected. What happens is consistent actions by the dominant evolve into a haphazard collection of responses and I believe part of being a d-type is to consistently lead. So I grew from this and I understand that I need to be consistent with holding a submissive accountable, even when I realize the s-type understands they have made an error.

Next, I have quickly jumped into a relationship and looked more at matching kinks and lifestyle desires to pick a partner rather than working to connect as people. No matter how perfectly people align with lifestyle desires, if they do not spark together, there is going to be nothing there to build a fire of mutual desire all relationships need to grow and prosper. When I learned this lesson, it also taught me that when you connect with a special someone, the most amazing thing tends to happen, the kinks, fetishes, and lifestyle desires that are mutually needed and wanted naturally fall into place.

Finally, all of us have lessons we have learned the hard way that is embarrassing to admit. Perhaps it is because it is a silly mistake, something we completely knew better than do but did anyway, or in my case, being purely stupid. It is not a news flash that honesty is one of the pillars needed to build any relationship but extra important here in D/S. So in a galaxy far far away and a long time ago, the submissive I was starting to build a relationship with, I felt was dishonest with me. So rather than be an adult, and address this right then, I was dumber than a box of rocks and lied in response to her perceived half-truth. This started a chain reaction of mistrust, that I never was adult enough to stop, which I am sure you can guess, ended in relationship failure. The simple lesson is that if I want to have an honest and open partnership, not only do I need to expect that from my person, but I also have to give the same to them.

I could continue sharing lessons I have learned as I have gone through life but doing so will take me away from the topic at hand. Everyone is going to make mistakes, no one is perfect, and in the lifestyle, I believe people need to be more forthcoming when talking about those times we have screwed up. By talking about our missteps, newer people are less likely to feel alone, that they have no one to talk to about mistakes, and the more people share the lessons they have learned the more the lifestyle can keep others from repeating the poor choices of others. In my opinion, the more we own our failures and discuss them, the more others in the lifestyle, both new and old hands, can learn without suffering that comes from learning the hard way.

As with all of my writings, please see this disclaimer.

©TLK2022

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argyrocratie · 1 year

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“Long before anyone formulated the ‘norm’, people attacked those who stole from them. At some point stealing came to be called wrong and as such was punished even by those who had not been robbed. Someone familiar with these contingencies, possibly from having been exposed to them, could then advise another person: “Don’t steal”. If he had sufficient prestige or authority, he would not need to describe the contingencies further. The stronger form.‘Thou shalt not steal’, as one of the Ten Commandments, suggests supernatural sanctions. Relevant social contingencies are implied by ‘You ought not to steal’, which could be translated, ‘If you tend to avoid punishment, avoid stealing’, or ‘Stealing is wrong, and wrong behaviour is punished.’ Such a statement is no more normative than ‘If coffee keeps you awake when you want to go to sleep, don’t drink it.’ A rule or law includes a statement of prevailing contingencies, natural or social. One may follow a rule or obey a law simply because of the contingencies to which the rule or law refers, but those who formulate rules and laws usually supply additional contingencies. A construction worker follows a rule by wearing a hard hat. The natural contingencies, which involve protection from falling objects, are not very effective, and the rule must therefore be enforced: those who do not wear hard hats will be discharged. There is no natural connection between wearing a hard hat and keeping a job; the contingency is maintained to support the natural but less effective contingencies involving protection from falling objects. A parallel argument could be made for any rule involving social contingencies. In the long run people behave more effectively if they have been told the truth, but the gains are too remote to affect the truth-teller, and additional contingencies are needed to maintain the behaviour. Telling the truth is therefore called good. It is the right thing to do, and telling lies is bad and wrong. The ‘norm’ is simply a statement of the contingencies.”

-BF Skinner, "Beyond Freedom & Dignity" (1971)

_ _ _

“Those who bring us up take care early to cure us of lying and to impress on us the principle that one must always tell the truth. If they made self-interest the basis for this rule, then everyone would readily understand how by lying he forfeits the confidence in him that he wants to awaken in others, and how correct the saying proves: No one believes a liar, even when he tells the truth. But at the same time, he would also feel that he had to meet with truth only those whom he has authorized to hear the truth. If a spy goes in disguise through the enemy camp and someone asks who he is, the questioners are certainly authorized to ask for his name, but the disguised man does not give them the right to learn the truth from him; he tells them what he wants, but not the correct thing. And yet morality demands: "You should not lie !" Morality entitles those people to expect the truth; but I do not entitle them to it, and I acknowledge only the right that I grant.

The police forced their way into a meeting of revolutionaries and asked the speaker for his name ; everyone knows that the police have the right to do this, but they don't have it from the revolutionary, because he is their enemy; he gives them a false name, and lies to them. And the police also don't act so foolishly as to count on the veracity of their enemies; on the contrary, they don't believe without further details, but rather "investigate" the person questioned if they can. Indeed, the state proceeds everywhere without belief against persons, because in their egoism it recognizes its natural enemy; it demands without exception an ID card, and those who can't identify themselves fall prey to an investigative inquisition. The state does not believe or trust the individual, and so presents itself to him in the code of behavior oflying; it trusts me only when it has convinced itself of the truth of my statement, for which often no other means remains to it but the oath. How clearly this also proves that the state does not count on our veracity and credibility, but rather on our interest, our selfishness; it relies on our not wanting to have a falling-out with God over a perjury.

Now imagine a French revolutionary in 1788, who among friends would let fall the well-known phrase : "The world will have no peace until the last king is hanged with the guts of the last priest." At that time the king still had all the power, and when the statement is be trayed by an accident, but without anyone being able to produce witnesses, they demand a confession of the defendant. Should he confess or not ? If he denies, he lies and is left: unpunished; if he confesses, he is honest and gets beheaded. If the truth is above all else for him, well then, he dies. Only a wretched poet could try to make a tragedy out of the end of his life ; because what interest is there in seeing how a person succumbs from cowardice? But if he had the courage not to be a slave of truth and honesty, he would ask something like this:

why do the judges need to know what I said among friends? If l'd wanted them to know it, then I would have said it to them, as I said it to my friends. I don't want them to know it. They force their way into my confidence when I haven't called them to it and made them my confidants; they will to learn what I will conceal. Well, come on then, you who will to break my will with your will, and try your arts. You can affiict me with torture, you can threaten me with hell and eternal damnation, you can wear me down so much that I make a false oath, but you shall not squeeze the truth out of me, since I will lie to you, because I have given you no claim and no right to my honesty. Let God, "who is truth;' look down ever so threateningly upon me, let lying come ever so hard to me, still I have the courage of the lie ; and even ifl were tired of my life, even if nothing seemed more welcome to me than your executioner's sword, you still would not have the pleasure of finding me a slave of truth who through your priestly arts you've made a traitor to his will. When I spoke those treasonous words, I willed that you would know nothing about them; I hold to the same will now, and don't let the curse of the lie frighten me.”

-Max Stirner, “the unique and its property” (1845)

#BF Skinner #Max Stirner #truth

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theharrowing · 8 months

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i just want to thank you for writing such fascinating and beautiful (and sexy, good lord) fics but i also want to thank you for not like....shaming people?.....if that's the right word?....for how they do or don't practice sex?

i have seen authors in notes be like "unprotected sex (be smart!)" or "unprotected sex (don't be stupid!) and it has rubbed me the wrong way and made me not respect them. same goes to referring to people who are tested for sti as "clean" i just......i don't know, i feel like here is some stigma around certain practices, and like, yeah we should practice safely, but it's not up for the fanfic author to teach me safe sex, and i don't want to be shamed by them either.

i don't know if this makes sense but it is something i don't see from you and it means a lot. i actually have an sti type infection, but i didn't got it from sex, but even seeing that kind of stuff makes me feel really shamed and i don't know, i think we can do better.

happy anniversary hah sorry if this got depressing!

HELLO, ANON!!! 🥰

first, thank you so much for reading and enjoying my works!!! i am so thrilled to have you here. 💜💜💜 please do not apologize for bringing up real topics. it's not depressing, and i think it is a worthy conversation.

i have actually talked in the past about this, but i don't do a good job tagging for things like this, so i have no idea how or where to find it lol.

i used to use "clean" as a term for characters who had been tested, with negative results. i never meant for the opposite to mean "dirty" but it was just the word i always saw. it took seeing a post saying "this is the message people send when they say this" that made me open my eyes and think "oh, shit! that is not the message i want to send." i have since stopped doing that and have done my best to go back through fics that i knew i used that to edit the language. (and if you, anyone, read one of my old fics and you see it used, please let me know so i can fix it!!!)

re: approaching unprotected sex, i agree that authors should also be a lot more mindful here. i would hate to see shit like "don't be stupid" lol that's so rude. i do think that it is nice of people to put little disclaimers, but...idk...i also don't think it's my responsibility to teach people how to have sex. and i know this is a topic some writers will disagree with me on, and i am in no way looking to change anyone's mind, i just don't feel that responsibility. yeah, like, sex education is a joke in some places, but also fanfic is not the place to learn about the basics of sex, either. but that's just my two cents.

i still put certain safe practices into my writing, like taking care to stretch before anal sex, and the importance of safe words, aftercare, etc. because i do like for positive examples to be set for bdsm and topics that maybe people don't casually know as much about before reading fic, but i also write characters who intentionally practice bdsm unsafely, and although i will warn for that, i am also hoping that people are still only reading my work as works of fiction.

all that being said, i did live a bdsm lifestyle and i am super open to having one-on-one discussions about safe practices and things like that. my inbox is always open for that kind of thing. please approach me for any questions rather than assume that what i write is the absolutely correct way!!! (maybe i'll even add a blurb about this on my already massive master list, idk.)

as long as we're all attempting to put our best intentions forward, i think we're doing ok. if writers wanna advise against unprotected sex, i hope they continue to do so (in a way that does not shame others.) 💜 thank you so much for reaching out, lovely!!!!

#lovely anon #2 year smutiversary 🎈#you've got mail 💌

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destinyimage · 1 year

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Attack the 7 Causes of Inflammation

I always try to study a problem thoroughly and then go about solving it in a comprehensive fashion.

That’s why I worked on a formulation to attack the major causes of inflammation. My anti-inflammation formulation is a combination of chicken bone-broth nutrients, collagen, and beneficial compounds blended with herbs, spices, and enzymes. I’m happy with the results, and I know many people who feel that they received relief from their issues with inflammation.

If you have been fortunate not to have inflammation, consider yourself blessed because it’s a big deal. Most people think inflammation is something that happens to your back after spending an entire Saturday morning digging up weeds, but I’m talking about more than that. My focus is on inflammation that occurs internally as well.

Every day of your life, your body wards off gazillions of germs, which break down your immune system and make you more susceptible to health problems. Every day of your life (or so it seems), little “ow-ees” happen—a badly stubbed toe, mosquito bite, slight sunburn, pulled muscle, or nick while shaving your legs (for you gals) or your face and neck (for you guys). Whenever any of these scenarios happen, the body mounts an instantaneous defense, sending cells and natural chemicals to assault those nasty flu germs or repair the slight gash in your skin. Scientifically speaking, this response is known as inflammation.

When inflammation occurs, the liver produces a protein known as high-sensitivity C-reactive protein. This natural chemical is released into the bloodstream to help the body fight flu germs, for example, or repair itself after you pull a splinter out of your index finger.

“Inflammation has become one of the hottest areas of medical research,” wrote Christine Gorman and Alice Park in Time magazine. “Hardly a week goes by without the publication of yet another study uncovering a new way that chronic inflammation does harm to the body. It destabilizes cholesterol deposits in the coronary arteries, leading to heart attacks….”

When I looked into producing an anti-inflammation formulation, I became aware that Stephen Rennard, M.D., chief of pulmonary medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, had conducted research on chicken soup—yes, good ol’ chicken soup—acting as an anti-inflammatory because of the way the homemade soup apparently reduced the inflammation that occurs when coughs and congestion strike the respiratory tract.

I’ve become a big fan of chicken soup for the soul, as well as soup stocks made from meat, chicken, or fish. So I have a question: Is old-fashioned chicken soup or soup stocks missing from your diet? Do you consume chicken soup or soup stocks regularly? Perhaps you should. Wonderful health benefits are to be derived from our traditional recipes. There’s a reason why Grandma Rose called chicken soup the “Jewish penicillin.”

While chicken soup is often consumed in winter, few people go out of their way to slurp up soup stocks, however. This means you’re missing out on the gelatinous substances like collagen found in soup stocks.

“A lamentable outcome of our modern meat processing techniques and our hurry-up throwaway lifestyle has been a decline in the use of meat, chicken and fish stocks,” said Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enig, Ph.D., in their groundbreaking book, Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats. “In days gone by, when the butcher sold meat on the bone rather than as individual filets and whole chickens rather than boneless breasts, our thrifty ancestors made use of every part of the animal by preparing stock, broth, or bouillon from the bony portions.” The authors added that stock “is also of great value because it supplies hydrophilic colloids to the diet. Raw food compounds are colloidal and tend to be hydrophilic, meaning that they attract liquids.”

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When cartilage deteriorates, you’re left with bone against bone. But one of the beauties of traditional diets is that soup stocks made from whole chickens aid in rebuilding and maintaining cartilage by supplying high-quality gelatin and collagen, which are rich sources of glycosamino-glycans like chondroitin sulfate.

One thing collagen does is draw water to the joints, which, in turn, helps with cushioning. So, do eat chicken and beef stock.

I highly recommend the collagens in organic chicken and beef, which is why I traveled to France to source the collagen in my anti-inflammation support formulation. I wanted to work with farmers who don’t farm chickens the way we typically do in America. The French farmers assured me that their chicken flocks received no antibiotics or mammalian remnants in their feed.

Whatever you eat or consume as a nutritional supplement, the integrity of the ingredients should be foremost in your mind.

One of the major causes of inflammation that gets overlooked is over-acidity in the body.

In fact, many experts consider over-acidity one of the major causes of inflammation, especially arthritic conditions. The body can only tolerate a small imbalance in blood pH, which is why alkalizing the body can be important for arthritis (especially gout) sufferers.

An interesting article in the European Journal of Nutrition stated that sodium chloride (NaCl) has been incorporated copiously into the contemporary diet, increasing the net systemic acid load imposed by the diet.

The researchers noted that their group “has shown that contemporary net acid-producing diets do indeed characteristically produce a low-grade systemic metabolic acidosis in otherwise healthy adult subjects, and that the degree of acidosis increases with age.”

In a Russian-language medical journal, researchers studied changes in joint fluid acid–base balance in sixty-five rheumatoid arthritis patients. They found increasing acidity to be correlated with the severity of joint damage and inflammation. Russian researchers determined that whole body potassium is significantly lower in older arthritics and can sink to almost half of normal in some cases. This again tells us that the body is in an overly acidic state.

My anti-inflammation support formulation was designed to aid correction of acidosis and ameliorate those conditions. I would argue that any level of acidosis may be unacceptable, and indeed, that a low-grade metabolic alkalosis may be the optimal acid–base state for humans. For this reason, I made sure there were fermented alfalfa grass juices in my formula because they contain alkaline-forming minerals to help reduce acidity. A compound known as Rhododendron caucasicum helps to reduce acidic deposits, particularly in gout. Rhododendron is used as an effective treatment for gout throughout Russia.

If you suffer from chronic low-grade infections, then please know that the arthritis-infection connection is now well established. Infections are clearly associated with the body’s inflammatory levels, which can be measured with a high-sensitivity C-reactive protein test. Many infections, however, do not manifest themselves as frank disease conditions such as the flu or common cold. They may simply cause minor symptoms like skin eruptions or fatigue or the more serious conditions such as arthritis and even heart disease.

In addition, compounds such as wild oregano concentrate and bayberry bark extract are premiere infection-fighting herbs that aid the body’s health against pathogens.

Some people have an overactive immune system. I learned that a unique herb known as cat’s claw has an almost intuitive ability to harmonize the body’s immune system, quell an overactive immune response, and stimulate an underactive system. Many types of autoimmune arthritis or related inflammatory conditions (such as lupus) result from immune system dysfunction.

Are you taking arthritis drugs? So-called COX-2-inhibiting drugs designed to maintain the pain-reducing properties of traditional but stomach-harsh nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have proven to be problematic. Synthetic COX-2 inhibitors like Celebrex and Vioxx were found to come with their own side effects such as gastrointestinal distress and increased risk of heart attacks and strokes. Vioxx was taken off the market in 2004 and Celebrex had to add a warning label, so the former was dangerous and the latter is still problematic.

Natural COX-2 inhibitors, on the other hand, are safe. They also are effective. For instance, oregano contains rosmarinic acid, which has been reported in laboratory studies to have significant COX-2 inhibiting properties comparable to medical drugs such as ibuprofen, naproxen, and aspirin. Ginger and turmeric are also natural COX-2 inhibitors.

“In experimental studies, [ginger] has been shown to inhibit both the cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase pathways and the production of prostaglandins, thromboxane, and leukotrienes, just as the NSAIDs do,” wrote James B. LaValle, R.Ph., N.M.D., C.C.N, author of The COX-2 Connection. “Yet its clear advantage is that no significant side effects have been reported, unlike the NSAIDs, which can have quite serious side effects associated with their use.”

Turmeric, closely related to ginger, is traditionally used to treat systemic inflammation. Researchers at New York Presbyterian Hospital and the Weill Medical College at Cornell University have shown that one of the major phytochemicals in turmeric has potent COX-2-inhibitory factors, as LaValle noted. Additional research at Vanderbilt University and the University of Leicester in England has further confirmed the powerful COX-2-inhibiting capabilities of this ancient herb.

Are you deficient in enzymes? Raw foods are an excellent source of enzymes and aid the body in maintaining the proper acid/alkaline balance, but most of us no longer consume adequate amounts of raw foods—vegetables, fruits, nuts, legumes, meats, and fish.

Of course, only the overly brave would consume raw meat due to the fear of bacterial contamination and mushy taste. (I’ve become a lover of raw fish in sushi, as have millions of Americans.) The downside of this precautionary approach to eating raw meats is that you can miss out on some of the most potent proteases.

Yet, enzymes can help to reduce circulating antibodies and have been shown to aid in all types of inflammatory processes. That’s why I’m a big fan of inflammation-fighting enzymes, including proteases for protein digestion, lipase for fat digestion, amylase for carbohydrate digestion, and cellulase for the digestion of plant fiber.

Bromelain, an enzyme found in the stalk of pineapples, is effective in reducing inflammation in living tissue. On the other hand, papain, the enzyme found in unripe papaya, is useful to reduce sites of inflammation where dead or diseased tissue has been lodged.

If you’re suffering from oxidative stress, then you’ll be glad to know that the use of antioxidants will be recognized someday as one of the most significant contributions to modern health practices. While it’s clear that you need basic vitamins and minerals as building blocks for structural support, antioxidants play an important role in fighting off the damaging effects of inflammation by quenching the devastating micro-cellular effects of free radicals that exert so much cumulative oxidative damage on joint tissues.

Another substance, Rhododendron caucasicum, is high in polyphenolic antioxidants that are similar to those found in green tea, grape seed, and pine bark extracts but is far more bioavailable. Turmeric and oregano are also powerful antioxidants that reduce oxidative stress.

Although we tend to think of inflammation almost solely in terms of arthritis, enhancing the body’s healing response in cases of trauma and sports injuries, heart and circulatory disease, and virtually all other inflammatory conditions is something you want to strive for. Let me remind you that the consumption of anti-inflammation foods and herbs can do a body good.

By all means, I encourage you to take up the anti-inflammatory lifestyle.

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lord-kiwi-the-wizard · 2 years

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A date with death

Sam was sitting outside at the Belldoor cafe enjoying a nice coffee. It tasted sweet yet bitter as he specifically order his with cocoa and sugar. The recent imports from Ankh were more abundant this year making goods cheaper.

Are you going to drink that?" His black robed companion sat expressionless with an untouched cup Infront of him.

"OH, NOT AT ALL. IT GOES RIGHT THROUGH ME."

"You ordered coffee just to look at it?"

"ITS A SOCIAL THING TO DO AT THESE NEW ESTABLISHMENTS."

Sam looked around and saw a few patrons watching and gossiping. No one could see death, expect a few trained individuals and those who are about to pass on that is. He probably looked like he lost the plot at this point.

"SO TELL ME. WHY THE FRIENDLY OUTING TODAY? NORMALLY WHEN YOU WISH TO SPEAK TO ME YOU DRAW A SMALL SUMMONING CIRCLE AND PREFORM THE RITUAL. PEOPLE DON'T NORMALLY SEND LETTER INVITATIONS."

"I feel kinda bad just involuntarily yanking you to the material realm whenever I want to pester you with questions"

Death picked up his coffee with the saucer and took a sip. The liquid seemingly disappearing rather than dripping helplessly down deaths spine.

"MOST TEND TO FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE"

His eye sockets seemly glowed a little brighter with that line causing a small child to cry and a pack of nearby cats to run amuck.

"well I was wondering why you, that is the physical embodiment of death, allow me so willingly to bring back those you claim."

Death steepled his boney fingers.

"MORE OFTEN THAN YOU THINK. PEOPLE ARE TAKEN FROM THIS WORLD BEFORE THEIR TIME."

"But isn't it their time when they die?"

"NOT ALWAYS"

"BELIEVE IT OR NOT MISS. ERICSSON. PEOPLE ARE ALL ON A TIMER MORE OR LESS. THE HUMAN SPIRIT IS STRONG BUT THEIR SOULS GROW FASTER AS A RESULT. EVENTUALLY IT OUTGROWS THEM AND THEIR SPIRIT HAS NOT GOT THE ENERGY TO KEEP IT TETHERED. SHOULD I REFUSE TO BREAK THAT TETHER THE SOUL WILL BEGIN TO ROT AND NEVER BECOME REBORN OR MOVE ON. YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE UNDEAD CORRECT?"

Sam looked at the boney face of death. He was a man then all but his skeleton rotted away a long time ago. But death is an ancient eternal much like the gods. Is he possibly an undead himself?

"you know I'm familiar with the undead."

"AND YOU KNOW WHY EVEN THE MILDLY INTELLIGENT ONES ARE SEEMINGLY INSANE?"

"years of isolation…"

Death looked grim, a common expression for him and one he was very good at.

"NO. THEIR SOULS EXCEED WHAT THEIR MINDS CAN HANDLE. AND THEY FORGET THEMSELVES IN THE AMALGAMATION OF THEIR LONG LIFE BLURRED TOGETHER INTO ONE... LONG... DREAM."

"So. You take their lives so their lives somehow mean something?"

Death got up from the table and began walking away, scythe in hand.

"MORE OR LESS"

"Where are you going?"

"WORK"

Suddenly there's a loud explosion down the street and a plume of black smoke begins wafting into the air. It's coming from the church.

#lorecraft: tales from drakken #story #my writing

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blowmother6 · 2 years

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6 Simple Techniques For Divorce

find a long distance relationship & divorce Marriage and separation are both common take ins. Children typically locate ways to prevent this conflict after they go into their twenties in several ways, from adult rejection to sex-related abuse and rape. It produces sense to concentrate highly on preventing these complications, and it assists to try to avoid all the difficulties that might remain just before the grow older of 30. The crucial point is to certainly never forget your partnership standing! Children who are currently married may determine to look at marriage as something they never ever had previously. Healthy marriages are really good for married couples’ psychological and bodily wellness. In simple fact, we should not be surprised that it has been advised that the majority of health and wellness concerns are resulted in by sex. We ought to not be surprised that men who are also a lot into women's bodies and have no recognition of what the problem with their bodies is are more vulnerable to soul ailment or weight problems. We must not question why many women who find treatment for health and wellness concerns that are not related to sexual activity really feel therefore severely. They are likewise really good for little ones; growing up in a happy property safeguards children coming from psychological, physical, educational and social concerns. When I acquire in to college with my youngsters, they take a liking to our class atmospheres and look after them, all the time. They're in my office, seeing updates at 6 in the early morning, and they're consistently there certainly for me. That goes up significantly. The most vital trait is being able to acquire along along with our schoolmates.

Breakup may influence well-being, with many people experiencing anxiety, isolation and seclusion, self-esteem problems, or various other psychological suffering. It is worth taking note that more than one-third of US marriages involve single grownups, accounting for 15% of all separations. 3. Threat of separation and psychological sickness It has been revealed that marriage is an important obstacle stopping the growth of depression and stress and anxiety conditions in the early years of lifestyle, regardless of the companion's marital status. Analysis on marriage and separation Healthy and balanced breakup: How to create your split as hassle-free as feasible Separation and divorce are mentally hard occasions, but it is possible to possess a healthy separation. The main causes of breakup are lifestyle adjustments. Commonly, individuals do not have a explanation to get rid of the partnership. Separating is a untidy divorce and will definitely come to be difficult for some individuals. It is occasionally required to get clear of the partnership and live to really feel a lot better. Pleased couples: How to maintain your connection healthy and balanced Always keep your romantic alliance in good working purchase by chatting openly, always keeping it appealing and finding aid if needed. 5. Make it simple You don't need to make believe your partnership is very easy or sophisticated. Rather, you only need to have some additional help and support coming from your companion or family members to create points correct. Listed here are a few ways to make points right… 1. Talk. You have different and unique characters. Producing stepfamilies operate Moms and dads of a mixed family members face lots of obstacle, but there are traits you may perform to make communication simpler and aid children change to their brand-new truth. Create a decision before you get there Before you get here, your youngster may experience overcome by their new experience. If they view a notification of "I simply provided you a chance," they might experience humiliated and baffled concerning what to assume! Answers to Your Inquiries Regarding Same-Sex Marriage Scientists have located that the emotional and social aspects of committed connections between same-sex companions mainly appear like those of heterosexual alliances, that residing in a condition where same-sex marriage is outlawed may lead to constant social tension and mental wellness problems, and that same-sex pairs are as in shape and qualified parents as heterosexual married couples. These results have implications for our understanding of same-sex marriage in Florida, where same-sex pairs are lawfully married.

#relationship #dating #divorce #date

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toyiron14 · 2 years

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The Divorce Definition & Meaning Diaries

Marital relationship & divorce Marriage and separation are both common take ins. Children typically find methods to steer clear of this problem after they enter their twenties in lots of means, coming from parental rejection to sexual abuse and statutory offense. It produces sense to concentrate heavily on preventing these problems, and it aids to try to avoid all the barriers that might continue to be before the age of 30. The necessary trait is to never ever neglect your relationship condition! Little ones who are currently married might make a decision to look at marriage as something they never possessed previously. Healthy marriages are great for married couples’ mental and bodily health and wellness. In reality, we should not be surprised that it has been advised that a lot of health issues are caused through sexual activity. We need to not be surprised that men who are too a lot into women's body systems and possess no awareness of what the issue along with their body systems is are even more susceptible to heart ailment or weight problems. We ought to not question why a lot of women who find treatment for health and wellness issues that are not related to sexual activity feel therefore extremely. They are also great for little ones; developing up in a happy property safeguards children from mental, bodily, instructional and social concerns. When I get right into school with my little ones, they take a liking to our classroom environments and look after them, all the time. They're in my office, seeing news at 6 in the morning, and they're regularly there for me. That goes up tremendously. Found Here is being capable to get along along with our friends. Separation may determine well-being, with several individuals experiencing clinical depression, being alone and seclusion, self-esteem difficulties, or other psychological suffering. It is worth taking note that additional than one-third of US marital relationships entail unmarried adults, accounting for 15% of all breakups. 3. Risk of separation and psychological health problem It has been presented that marital relationship is an important barrier stopping the progression of anxiety and anxiousness conditions in the early years of lifestyle, regardless of the partner's marital condition.

Investigation on relationship and divorce Healthy breakup: How to create your split as smooth as possible Separation and breakup are psychologically tough activities, but it is feasible to possess a healthy separation. The major source of breakup are life adjustments. Commonly, people do not have a factor to get free of the relationship. Divorcing is a untidy divorce and will certainly come to be challenging for some individuals. It is sometimes essential to get rid of the partnership and live to feel better. Delighted married couples: How to always keep your connection well-balanced Maintain your enchanting alliance in good working purchase through speaking candidly, always keeping it appealing and looking for aid if required. 5. Create it straightforward You don't need to make believe your connection is easy or complex. Rather, you merely need to have some added help and encouragement coming from your companion or loved ones to create factors ideal. Right here are a few ways to help make factors correct… 1. Speak. You have different and special individualities. Helping make stepfamilies function Moms and dads of a combined family members experience plenty of difficulty, but there are actually traits you can perform to produce interaction simpler and help little ones adjust to their brand-new fact. Help make a decision before you get there Before you get there, your child might experience overwhelmed through their brand-new encounter. If they observe a information of "I only provided you a odds," they may feel embarrassed and baffled regarding what to assume! Answers to Your Concerns Concerning Same-Sex Marriage Scientists have located that the mental and social components of committed partnerships between same-sex companions greatly appear like those of heterosexual collaborations, that living in a state where same-sex marriage is banned can easily lead to chronic social anxiety and psychological health complications, and that same-sex pairs are as toned and capable moms and dads as heterosexual couples. These findings possess effects for our understanding of same-sex marital relationship in Florida, where same-sex pairs are officially married.

#divorce #relationship #dating #date

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mypoisonedvine · 3 years

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𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙮 𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 (𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘐) || sub!bucky barnes x dominatrix!reader

𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙮 || every client is different, with different needs; but this client is, in every way, exceptional.

𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩 || 5k

𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 || smut (cnc), dom/sub relationship, ‘mistress’ title, pain kink, cockwarming, orgasm denial/control, use of a cockring, slapping, objectification/degradation, some angst and hurt/comfort, crying after sex, touchstarved!bucky

new parts posted on thursdays! join the taglist here

"And you can promise complete and total discretion?” the deep and husky voice on the other end of the line repeated, low enough that it was almost a whisper.

You laughed a little. “Of course,” you answered. Most clients were serious about privacy, but this guy was next level. He must be famous, you thought to yourself, or married. Or both.

But just as much as your clients wanted to keep you separate from their personal life, you would rather they know nothing about who you are. Of course it was always a risk, since nobody could hide their face and you had to work out of your apartment, but you did what you could to keep your job just that— a job.

You told your friends you were a consultant, because people didn’t question that. Sure, it was hard to keep up the lie sometimes when you got last-minute bookings and had to cancel plans, but it was worth it for the money these men were willing to pay.

And this new guy? He was shelling out all kinds of cash, on a long set of conditions. Including an NDA. You wouldn’t have given him up either way, but if the contract made him feel better (and made him pay more) then you were happy to sign it.

“So it’s all anonymous, then? No ID, no credit card…?” he pressed.

“I mean, if cash is easier for you—”

“It is.”

You were starting to worry that this was a major red flag, as if he didn’t want to be traceable back to you at all. It was almost a dealbreaker, until you glanced down at the legal pad you’d written his offer on and remembered that you couldn’t afford to turn him down. “Then cash is fine,” you decided, making a note to yourself to have 911 already dialed when he came by in case his aversion to ID was really about a desire to get away with something.

“When can we start?”

“Um, well the soonest I can do is tomorrow at seven” you explained.

"Great, I'll be there," he answered firmly, apparently about to hand up.

“Hey, hey, slow down!” you chuckled. “Can I at least get a name?”

“I didn’t think we needed to do names.”

“We don’t… but if you’re willing, I’d like to know something to call you.”

“James,” he answered after a tense pause. “James is fine.”

“Alright, James, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Upon opening the door, you instantly noticed three things about him: he was tall, he was big, and he was sexy.

You had sort of been hoping that his appearance wouldn’t match his voice, but it did, and it was going to make this so much harder. Maybe easier in a few ways, but overall worse. It was important that you didn’t get too emotionally invested with your clients.

His eyes were dragging over you like he was just as taken aback. Which was odd, because he must have seen your picture online before he called you.

“James,” you greeted. “Glad you made it.”

You stepped aside to let him enter, guiding him to take a seat in your living room. Before clients came by, you hid any signs of life and kept the space as neutral as possible, which was why the only furniture was the white couch he sat on, the black chair across from it, and a glass table in between.

You sat in the black chair and crossed your legs, noticing with pride the way his eyes studied your every move.

“It’s important that we have a discussion about boundaries and limits before this goes any further," you explained sternly, and he nodded slightly. "Tell me what you do and don't want."

“Uh, well, I guess I was just looking for… somebody who can administer, um, discipline… you know, someone who sets rules and enforces them. But could also be kind of, uh, sweet I guess, to. Not too sweet, just… not too mean either."

You smiled a little; he sounded right up your alley. "I can do that."

"You should know I… I have a… disability. My left arm it's, um, it's a prosthetic."

"How would you like me to accommodate that?"

"Just don't say anything about it, please. Treat it like a normal arm. And, uh, if you could ignore my scars, too…" he added awkwardly.

"Of course,” you nodded, “I would never want to make you feel insecure."

"Well, I mean, I'm not against degradation," he admitted sheepishly, making you smile a little.

"Right: that's different. Anything else you're distinctly not against?"

“I can take a lot of pain,” he explained matter-of-factly. “However much you think I can handle, double it. I wanna feel it.”

You could almost hear the words he wasn’t saying: I wanna feel something.

“Okay, we can do that. You’ve probably heard of the color system," you posited.

“I haven’t.”

"Oh." That threw you off slightly… how new was he to this scene? “Well, it’s traditionally green, yellow, red; like a stoplight. Red means stop. Yellow means proceed with caution. Green means continue.”

“Sounds simple enough.”

“Too simple for me, in fact. I have my own version: ‘red’ will make me stop what I’m doing, but only ‘black’ ends the scene entirely. And then there’s ‘blue.’ That means you want more.”

He smirked a little; a strong show of emotion compared to his stoicism so far. “I think I’ll use that one most.”

“Just don’t be afraid to use anything else, alright? I’d never be disappointed in you for safewording, or even just needing a break.”

He nodded. “Can we get to it then?”

“You’re rushing as always,” you laughed. “I’m not charging you for this part. We have plenty of time— don’t we?”

“Yes, but—” he sighed. “You look really… I walked in and, I guess I’m just really looking forward to this.”

You almost would’ve smiled at the compliment but you thankfully suppressed it. “And what is it that you’re looking forward to? What do you want me to do to you?”

His jaw tightened as he looked away from you. “Um, there’s a lot.”

“Enlighten me.”

“Ropes. Strongest you have. I can buy you stronger ones if you need them, for next time…”

He’s already thinking about next time? He’s already thinking about buying me things?

“Alright, I can do ropes: wrists and ankles? Or more than that?”

He seemed a bit confused by that question. “Is there anywhere else?”

“Torso,” you enumerated, “neck—” you stopped because you saw his reaction to that, and it made you smile a bit. “Okay, so maybe the neck is something to try. Do you like being choked?”

“I… I don’t know…” he sighed.

“Have you ever been choked before?”

“Not… sexually...”

You felt your eyebrows rise, but didn’t want to press; a story for another time, perhaps.

“We’ll have to discuss silent safewords and signals so you can tap out, but if you’d be willing to try it—”

“Yes.”

You laughed. “Eager, are we?”

He swallowed, and you wondered if you shouldn’t have let your ‘dom voice’ slip out in that moment… but he looked so good flustered like that. He adjusted himself slightly in his chair and you hoped he was already hard. And with that thought in mind, you couldn’t stop yourself from teasing him further.

“Do you like being called certain things?” you asked, voice lower as you leaned forward. “How do you feel about ‘pet’?”

He almost kept up his poker face, but his gaze faltered at the same time he moved in his chair again. “Um, ‘pet’ is okay.”

“Baby boy?”

“Not really my speed,” he shrugged.

You slipped out of your chair and stood up, approaching him slowly as the click of your heels echoed across the tile. He watched you with wide eyes and quickening breaths.

“What do you like? Tell me,” you demanded, though you kept your tone light.

“Uh,” he paused, watching your hand as it rested on his leg, “I like… I like being called a good boy.”

You grinned as you pulled your hand away, watching him tense up with disappointment. “I can do that,” you agreed, lifting his chin with a finger until he looked at you with those beautiful, desperate eyes, “if you actually are being a good boy for me.” “I will,” he promised quickly, “I’ll be so good.”

“Mmm, I bet you will,” you purred. “So willing to please…”

“Tell me how,” he sighed as your hand trailed from his chin down to his chest, slipping under the loose collar of his henley and rubbing his chest. “Tell me how to please you.”

“Well, for starters, I have a name, too: Mistress.”

He sighed like the wind had been knocked out of him, but nodded.

“And if I ask you a question, I expect you to answer ‘Yes, Mistress’ or ‘No, Mistress’. Is that clear?”

“Uh-huh,” he agreed before suddenly correcting himself, “um, yes, Mistress.”

“I’ll let you have that one,” you frowned, “but further infractions will be punished.”

“Yes, Mistress; I’m sorry, Mistress,” he moaned, melting under your touch as your hand moved down to rub his thigh through his jeans.

“Now, just for fun,” you smiled, leaning down until your lips were nearly brushing his ear, “tell me what you want.”

“Please touch me, Mistress,” he sighed.

“But I am touching you.”

“Touch my… touch my cock," he clarified, adorably embarrassed. "It’s so hard for you…”

“We’ll get to that eventually. Let’s go to the bedroom first, okay?”

However good he looked standing in your doorway half an hour ago, it was nothing compared to how he looked naked and hard and tied to your bed.

Yes, the prosthetic and the scars that attached it to his body were hard to ignore. He had failed to warn you that it was metal, so you couldn’t hide the slight shift of your face when it caught the light; you hoped he didn’t think it was a look of judgment or disgust, because you truly didn’t think it was anything upsetting. Maybe the scars were a little worrying… but they didn’t seem to bother him now, at least physically.

But truly, if anything was distracting about his body, it wasn’t the arm. It was his muscles— no wait, it had to be his cock, right? It’s tough to call: on one hand, his entire body was toned and hardened beyond the peak of human conditioning, his thick thighs making your mouth water already, his chiseled abs almost making you jealous; but on the other hand, between those lovely thighs and curving up against those perfect abs was a cock that rivalled anything you'd ever seen before, with a blue vein running up one side and a drip of precum rolling down the other.

You finally sauntered up to the bed and ran your fingers over the taught ropes, pretending to ignore him watching you impatiently. It was almost hotter knowing that he could pull out of the ropes if he really wanted to. More than most, he was choosing to submit to them and to you.

“How’s this knot feel? Too tight?” you hummed, tugging the rope just beside his wrist and watching his hand move limply with it.

“No, it’s good.”

You stepped back to the foot of the bed and stripped slowly, peeling off your black dress to reveal a matching lace set underneath. You left your heels on as you stepped out of the dress and kicked it aside.

Turning back to face him, James looked like he was all but drooling. You could see in his eyes how much he wished the ropes weren’t holding him back so he could run his hands all over your body.

But you could tell he craved being denied what he wanted, by the way his cock flexed of its own volition.

You let yourself smile as you crawled your way up the bed and over his body, like a panther stalking its prey, and boy did he look ready to be devoured.

"Are you scared?" you asked quietly. He shook his head. "Are you ready?"

He nodded. You sat up as you straddled him, positioned just right such that no part of you was really touching him, and watched with delight as he tugged against the ropes slightly to try to get closer.

"So needy," you grinned, somewhere between praising and scolding him. Your fingers ghosted over his chest and he shivered; he asked you to treat his prosthetic like a normal arm, so you dragged your nails down the metal and watched his eyes flutter shut. When you pulled your hand back and left him untouched again, he whined slightly.

“Aw, poor thing,” you pouted as you examined him, desperation emanating off of him in an invisible aura. “Your cock is all red and leaking… it must hurt, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, Mistress,” he groaned.

“What if I touch it a little?” you offered.

“Please…”

You traced your fingers lightly up and down his length, tickling the skin and giving him the least pressure that you could. He whimpered and you chuckled mockingly. “I said I’d touch it a little, sweet boy, are you not satisfied?”

He bucked up into your touch as best he could, causing you to pull your hand away. “Baby, please—”

You cut him off with a slap to the face, as hard as you could muster.

“Mistress!” he corrected with a whine. “Mistress, please… please wrap your hand around it.”

“Around what?”

“Around… my cock. Stroke me, please…”

“All you had to do was ask,” you grinned, finally tightening your hand around him and moving slowly up and down the shaft. His head fell back with a soft moan, just from that. Your teasing had certainly helped get him this worked up, but you knew it wasn't just that… he was plenty sensitive all on his own, apparently.

It made your mouth water.

"Does this feel good, James?" you asked huskily.

"S-so good," he whimpered, "please can you… stroke it a little faster, please, Mistress…"

"Hmm, not yet," you decided, feeling him tense up beneath you. "Relax," you instructed with a free hand rubbing his thigh gently.

You continued to teasingly stroke his length, never quite giving him the pressure or speed he needed to get closer to his release, savoring every whimper and whine and sigh from him along with the satisfying weight of his cock against your palm.

It felt like you'd never get tired of wielding so much power in your hand.

"Please," he sighed, "I need more…"

"You want me to stroke you faster?" you pressed, already knowing that wasn't what he meant. He shook his head and you grinned, leaning in closer but letting go of his cock.

Slowly, you let the lace covering your core rub up against his shaft, and his eyes nearly rolled back in his head. "Ohhhhh," he moaned, "oh fuck, Mistress…"

You grinned and kept rocking against him, easily feeling the warmth of him through your panties— meaning he, in turn, could feel the warmth of you. "How does it feel, baby?"

"Good," he choked out, "really, really good… fuck, I want more, I need more, please…"

"Are you my good boy, James?" you asked in a low purr. He nodded eagerly, Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed nothing. "Do you want to be inside me?" you finally whispered against his ear, letting a finger run lazily up his spine and feeling him shiver so hard it was more like he was convulsing.

"Please, Mistress, I'll do anything…"

You didn't touch all of your clients sexually, due in part to the fact that they usually wanted a lot more pain than pleasure. You'd only had sex with one or two of them, and it wasn't a routine thing. Before today you never would've imagined doing this with a first-time client, but to be completely honest… he was fucking hot. The kind of guy you'd be spreading your legs for instantly if you weren't at work and he wanted to buy you a drink or grab lunch. And he was here, at your disposal, begging you for more. How could you say no?

You pulled your panties aside and gripped his cock tightly to guide it to your entrance, studying his face twisted in anticipation before sinking down and watching him gasp and sigh all at once, somehow.

It took a lot of effort to hide your own pleasure when he was stretching you out so perfectly, but you managed to suppress the desire to moan and just smile at his fucked-out expression instead.

Finally, your hips met with his and you got to sit there and enjoy the look of dawning agony as he realized you were staying completely still.

“Move, please,” he sobbed, “oh god, Mistress, please move…”

“But I thought you wanted to be inside me? Isn’t this what you asked for?”

He whined and tried to wiggle his hips; all that got him was two hard slaps to the face.

“No whining,” you instructed through your teeth. “Good boys don’t whine.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he whimpered, “‘m your good boy, I promise.”

“I know you are,” you grinned, “or at least, I know you can be. Show me how good and patient you are.”

Reaching to the side a bit without getting off of him, you pulled a vibrator from your drawer. His eyes went a little wide when he saw it, and you laughed.

"Don't worry, this isn't for you. It's for me," you explained as you turned it on, inserting it between your body and his to touch the toy against your clit. He winced as you sighed contentedly. "Fuck, it feels good. Can you feel it on your cock?"

"A… a little…" he hissed.

"I bet it feels good for you too," you posited, "but not good enough to make you come."

After a little pause, he nodded breathlessly.

"Good," you smiled. "I just wanna come with your cock inside me. I wanna know how it feels to get off with my favorite toy while being full of my newest toy."

"Fuck," he groaned.

"Do you like that, pretty boy? Do you like me using your cock, being your Mistress' dumb little fucktoy?"

"Yes," he sobbed, hips shifting ever so slightly beneath you as he sought more stimulation from your flexing walls. Shifting the vibe to hit right on your clit, you cried out— and he did too, at the feeling of you tightening around him.

"God, you love being Mistress' dildo, don't you?"

He nodded, biting hard on his lip until you worried he'd hurt himself. He moaned again as another jolt of pleasure forced your channel to clench on his cock.

"You're making too much noise for a fucktoy, you need to be quiet."

He opened his mouth for a second, but closed it again and nodded instead.

"You can do it yourself right?" you pressed, seeing him nod. "You don't need me to gag that pretty mouth?"

He whined but shook his head, keeping his lips pressed together.

That went on for a few more moments as you teased yourself with the vibe, hoping to draw this out for the sake of his struggle. Wanting to up the ante, you took the vibe off your clit and turned it off for a moment. "I think this would feel better with a little lube… will you get it wet for me, James?"

You brought the toy to his lips and he eagerly wrapped them around it, sucking lightly on the silicone with those pretty lashes resting on his cheeks.

"There you go, that's a good boy," you praised, pulling the toy from his mouth, "that's my good boy…"

"Yours…" he repeated weakly, "wanna be good for you, just for you…"

This time when you turned it on and pressed it to your clit again, you instantly gasped and felt your walls bare down on him; turning up the vibration, you actually moaned aloud and saw him wince. "Oh, can you feel it now?" you asked tauntingly. He bit his lip and nodded.

It really wasn't even intentional but you felt your hips start to rock, making him gasp as his eyes shot open. For a guy who had been begging you to move not too long ago, he looked pretty overwhelmed by it now.

"Fuck, I'm gonna make myself come on your cock… do you wanna feel me come, baby?"

He seemed conflicted, which was exactly what you were going for. You wanted him to struggle, just enough, between his need to satisfy himself and his desire to please you. "I… I want to make you come, Mistress," he finally choked out, notably answering a slightly different question than the one you'd asked.

You smiled and leaned in to whisper in his ear: "Are you afraid that if you feel me come around you, you won't be able to hold back? That you might accidentally come inside me?"

He made a needy little groan and nodded.

"Don't worry, baby, I'm gonna help you," you promised sweetly, but of course as soon as he saw you grab a cockring from your drawer he changed his tune.

"N-no, Mistress, please," he begged with wide eyes, "I'll be good, just not that— don't put that on me."

You smirked and sat up, pulling off of him and slowly slipping the ring on his throbbing length as he quietly pleaded for mercy. He winced when you pushed it down to the base of him, his cheeks burning hot red now.

"Is it a little too tight, baby?" you cooed, grinning when he nodded. "Good."

You sank back down into him and let your hips grind on his, working your clit with the vibe and even kicking it up to the next highest setting. He jolted beneath you, clearly feeling the vibrations strongly now, and you let the view of his beautifully broken facial expression egg on your own climax.

"Mm, I'm close, baby," you whispered, "just stay still and let Mistress use you like a good little boy."

He made a small noise through his teeth but seemed to manage okay, even when your walls began to pulse rhythmically around him and your head fell back, your free hand palming at your breast through the lace bra just to add that last little edge of sensation.

"Oh fuck, fuck," you moaned, "that's my good boy…"

You shakily pulled the vibe away and turned it off, still a little numb on your clit but feeling your channel still rippling slightly with aftershocks; he seemed to feel them in spite of their subtlety, if the panting breaths that filled his muscular chest rapidly were any indication.

As slow as you could manage, you pulled your body off of him and sat back on his legs to stare at his cock. The remnants of your orgasm left plenty of lubrication to stroke it, focusing on the head which had turned almost purple now.

"M-Mistress," he groaned, writhing under your touch.

Amazingly, his cock was already flexing in your hand, and a growl of pride and hunger echoed in your chest.

“Oh fuck, can you come for me, James?” you moaned, pumping him so fast your hand was a blur. “Can you be my good boy and come right through the cockring?”

“Yes,” he sobbed, “gonna come, Mistress, please—”

“Come right now,” you demanded, watching his face instantly fall slack as he spurted out onto his own chest and stomach, cock flexing and pulsing in your hands as his legs quivered and his hips thrusted wildly.

And the tears were flowing soon after. You weren’t sure if it was sub drop or just the power of his release, but between weak sobs he whispered broken apologies.

“You did so good,” you cooed as you slipped off the ring and wrapped your arms around him, subtly trying to reach over to untie the ropes. But you didn’t need to; he flexed his arms and the restraints popped like floss. He embraced you in return as you let his head fall onto your chest. “You’re so good, it’s okay,” you continued, stroking his hair.

“I’m sorry,” he repeated again, breathing quickly and wetting you with his tears.

This, you realized, is what he had made you sign the contract to protect. It wasn’t that he was excessively embarrassed about his sexual proclivities, but that this was his space to be soft, and weak, and broken. Apparently he wasn’t ready for anyone else to know that he wasn’t steel all the way down.

“Shh, it’s okay… you’re okay…” you breathed, indulging him in this moment even though it was more intimate than you preferred to get with customers. Aftercare was an important part of your job, certainly, but so was enforcing boundaries.

He began to soothe as you kissed his forehead gently, whispering well-deserved affirmations and praise. As his breathing slowed and moved back to normal, he pulled back and looked up at you.

“I’m sorry,” he repeated one more time, but not as wavering as before, “I didn’t think I would… that was unexpected.”

“No, it’s somewhat normal,” you exaggerated slightly, “this kind of thing… it’s taxing, I pushed you to your limits. You were really tough, and it’s all very vulnerable.”

“Thanks,” he sighed, sniffling and wiping his eyes. “And sorry about your ropes,” he smiled as he noticed the frayed ends coming off of where his wrists were still tied.

“Let me help you get those off,” you smiled, loosening the knots and sliding the binds off of him, quickly massaging the places that the rope had constricted. “Blood flow’s okay?”

“Yep,” he nodded.

“You numb anywhere?” you pressed.

“Uh, just my dick. And my brain is all fuzzy…”

You smiled. “Can’t help the first one. Let me get you some water for the second.”

“No!” he yelped suddenly. “Um, don’t go yet, please…”

“Of course,” you smiled. “I’ll untie your ankles, then.”

He still seemed disappointed, as if he expected you to hug him for hours and never move. He let you go this time, though, and loosened his grip so you could slide down to the foot of the bed.

"Was that sort of what you were hoping for when you called me?" you asked as you untied the ropes slowly and took a moment to massage the skin underneath, hoping to restore any lost blood flow.

"So much better than what I was hoping for," he admitted with a breathless chuckle. "You're… really good."

"Well, thank you," you shrugged, "it comes with practice and experience. You held your own, too."

"I wish I could say that was from practice and experience. I didn't want to say anything before but I've, uh, never actually… been to a domme before."

You smiled slightly, coming back up and being pulled into another embrace. "Um, I'll admit I can kind of tell…" you mumbled.

"I'm not supposed to touch you like this," he realized quietly, relaxing his grip on you and pulling back. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's alright, just don't get too comfortable because we only have—" you glanced at the clock— "eight more minutes until you need to leave."

"I'll get up and get dressed soon," he offered with a sigh as you got up and quickly slipped on a robe, grabbing him a damp washcloth for the drying come on his torso.

You tilted your head as you watched him clean up, and you wanted to offer some touch that was a bit less intimate than a hug, so you found yourself blurting out: "do you like having your hair played with?"

"Um, I don't… I don't know," he admitted as he reached up to card his fingers through the hair in question. "No one else has ever really touched my hair before."

"Really?" you laughed, getting back on the bed to sit beside him. "It looks pretty luscious. I figured any girlfriend of yours would want to get her hands on it."

"Oh, well, the last time I had a girlfriend… it wasn't long then," he explained, and you kept on your best poker face. His hair looked like he'd been growing it out for at least two years, unless it grew crazy fast or something. How long had he been single? With a body like that you could barely believe that he was single now.

"Do you mind if I touch it?" you offered quietly, and once he gave you a nod you reached forward and combed your fingers through it, reaching deeper to scratch at his scalp, occasionally pulling the strands lightly into loose braid-like patterns that fell away almost immediately afterwards. He sank into your touch until you found yourself supporting his head against your chest, mindlessly playing with his hair until you noticed his eyes were shut, his breathing was slowed, and his body was limp on top of yours.

He fell asleep.

You laughed silently to yourself, realizing that you couldn't get him off of you without his cooperation since he was so heavy and you had no shot at lifting him. And, of course, his cooperation required his consciousness… which required waking him up.

And, for some reason, you couldn't bring yourself to do it. He just looked too peaceful, for a guy who had never seemed truly relaxed around you.

Was there any other way he could relax? Cause it kinda seemed like he really, really needed this. And you were in the business of meeting needs, to say the least.

So, with an apologetic text to your last client of the night that you needed to reschedule, you let James sleep on you as you closed your eyes and drifted off as well.

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes smut #sub!bucky barnes x domme!reader

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linkspooky · 3 years

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Yuji, Alone.

I have been saying in my past few meta that Yuji has a really unhealthy way of viewing both himself, and his relationships with others. Yuji is excellent at reading the feelings of others and empathizing with them, and at the same time terrible at processing his own emotions, a trait he shares with Geto who he is once again paralleling this chapter by choosing to stew in isolation rather than reach out for support.

Chapter 138 does an excellent job of showing how deep these issues run, which I will explain under the cut.

1. Yuji and Geto

If I were to explain the unhealthy mindset Yuji has by simplifying it down to one sentenence, simply stated it would be “I want to help others, but I don’t want to accept help from other people.”

Both Yuji and Geto are so motivated by empathy they feel like they are responsible for solving other people’s problems, and they often use other people rather than themselves as a reason to move. They’re actually selfless to a fault. In that, it’s a problem in their behavior. They do everything they do for other peope, so they have no idea what they themselves want. If Gojo is someone who has a strong self image, a strong set of beliefs, an idea of what he wants to do to the world, Geto and Yuji are people who try not to think about themselves at all.

Not only does Yuji almost never critically exam his own motivations, but he also doesn’t think of his relationships with other people.

This is something Yaga pointed out as a danger with Yuji’s way of going about things, all the way at the beginning of his arc. If you’re doing it because your grandpa told you so, then is it really something you want to do? When you die, is it going to be your grandpa’s fault too?

Yuji is someone who seems selfless on the surface, and to an extent he is, but just like Geto that’s not all there is to him. It’s something Gojo called out early on, Geto presented himself as someone selfless, motivated entirely by using his powers to protect others, but he was also doing so self righteously.

To clarify what I mean by self righteous, Geto believed that he was doing something because it was the objective right thing to do, but actually it was just his own personal feelings. That’s why after Riko’s death forced him to critically examine himself, he realized he didn’t want to follow the rules of Jujutsu Society.

Both Yuji and Geto pay attention to others, but also have the blinders on in regards to themselves, and that’s the parallel right there. Yuji says he is doing these things for other people, that his number one priority is to save them but that motivation is even deconstructed in the third chapter.

Yuji’s not actually doing this for purely altruistic reasons, but for selfish ones. He wanted to do something that nobody else could do. Yuji’s life was like a vaccuum before this point. He didn’t have any real friends, or anything he wanted to do. Suddenly he had a purpose basically gift wrapped and handed to him on his lap.

Basically, Yuji and Geto both have this schewed way of seeing other people. They thing other people exist to validate their own existences.

To put it simply. If Hidden Inventory Geto helps weak people than he’s valid. If Yuji helps people, then he’s valid.

Not only is the way they view themselves built around how they help other people, but at the same time all of their relationships are built up on this as well. Relationships that are built upon shaky foundations will crumble apart easily when tested.

Geto’s most important relationship was with Gojo, they had an intense chemistry and interaction with one another like they were made for each other. They were both good at naturally balancing each other out, Geto was the one who stood up to Gojo and acted like a tether, and Gojo ackonwledged Geto as his one and only.

However, the relationship was also built on the idea that Gojo needed Geto. Geto was only able to view his relationships with other people in that way. Geto, wants to take care of people, wants to help people. However, eventually, he was left behind by Gojo who no longer needed him as a partner in combat. On top of that, Geto awoke to a higher purpose in ridding the world of cursed energy. Geto wants to be needed by somebody in the same sense that Yuji does, so for Geto at least being needed to save the whole world in his eyes, was just more important than maintaining his relationship with Gojo.

Which is why both Geto and Yuji’s relationships fall apart. They are great at making relationshisps, but not at maintaining them. Attention is drawn to the fact that the trio has great chemistry with each other and get along well, but they’re also terrible at communicating with each other.

"The seats... in my life... How should I put this? I don't want my heart to be affected by people who don't have a place there. Does that sound cold? Well, I guess there are also guys like you who brings their own chair and takes a seat." Translation by Miho.

Almost literally, I don’t want anyone who’s not a part of my life to try to talk to me or tell me what to do. Also the reference that Yuji is kind of different because Yuji just kind of walked into her life unannounced and invited himself there (this is how Yuji forms relationships with everyone.)

All three of them go behind each other’s backs and keep secrets from one another. All three of them avoid direct confrontation, Nobara even says she doesn’t really want anyone else even trying to tell her how to live her life. The Origin of Obedience arc shows that Nobara, Yuji and Megumi are all good at fighting together as a team, but also questioning if they have a healthy friendship outside of that?

Any relationship takes work, confrontation, arguments and even just plain old talking about things. However, someone who is primarily insecure in their relationships will not be able to do things. Couples shouldn’t only argue, but couples who never argue is just as unhealthy. If you are so afraid that one argument is going to end a relationship, then your relationship was fragile to begin with.

Yuji and Geto experience conditional relatinoships. In the sense that, they are only allowed to have friends, if they are helpful to those friends. They themselves are never allowed to ask for help. It’s true that Gojo was kind of blind to Geto’s faults, but also Geto would have never asked for help. Gojo could not see, and Geto deliberately hid things from them.

Geto always makes his relationships on the condition that he is needed. When Gojo grew more independent, Geto took that as a sign that Gojo didn’t need him anymore and deliberately started to pull away.

Because, Geto isn’t ever allowed to be the one who needs someone else.

2. Avoidant Attachment

This is just a personal theory of mine, but I think Yuji’s issues might even center around the psychological idea of attachment theory. Especially it’s since deliberately mentioned to Junpei, that Yuji never met his mother.

Attachment theory is a complex idea, but basically it states that attachment to other people, that is the idea to form healthy relationships with family members, friends, romantic partners is learned instead of naturally present in us. It’s a skill people develop in their formative years.

Those who show patterns of problematic attachment in childhood will continue the behavior into adulthood unless it’s corrected, because attachment is a skill that’s developed the same as anything else. Of the four categories, Yuji and Geto most resemble this one.

Avoidant attachment: Children with an avoidant attachment tend to avoid parents or caregivers, showing no preference between a caregiver and a complete stranger. This attachment style might be a result of abusive or neglectful caregivers. Children who are punished for relying on a caregiver will learn to avoid seeking help in the future.

Which goes further to explain how they can be so empathic towards other people, and yet the same time completely unable to maintain close relationships with them. It’s because, they avoid people at the same time. They don’t seek out help when they need it, because, deep down they view themselves as unworthy of the help.

Geto did not immediately break after the trauma of losing Riko, it was the year of isolation after that where he slowly was consumed by his regrets. Geto got worse and worse over a period of time because he couldn’t handle his trauma in any healthy way, until he just completely snapped.

During that time he asked himself the same questions over and over again, but Geto wasn’t able to find any kind of healthy answer to his questions because, he didn’t reach out for anybody. It wasn’t just the trauma, it was the behavior after the trauma, the decision to isolate himself for over a year. No one does well in isolation. You need other people to grow or develop. If anything Geto stagnated. Geto’s central flaw was his self-righteousness. Rather than realizing he was wrong and trying to change this flaw of his, he just doubles down and becomes even more self righteous. He goes from believing he’s responsible for protecting all the weak people, to believing he’s a superior being tasked with eliminating all the weak people in the world. So, it’s not really that Geto changed, moreso that he stagnated because he cut off all his relationships with other people.

And isn’t Yuji doing the exact same thing right now? Yaga even points out this similaritiy between Geto and Yuji, that they try to carry every regret and burden they have on their own.

It’s not out of selflessness that they do this though, but rather insecurity. Geto didn’t come to Gojo with his problems, because he wanted to be the strongest alongside Gojo he didn’t want to be weak. He was deliberately avoiding Gojo.

I think it’s important to establish that Yuji wasn’t abandoned by his friends this chapter. Yuji is alone, because he chose to be alone. He’s alone because he’s avoiding both of his friends, because he’s so, so afraid the friendship will end because it’s based entirely on the condition that he be a helpful, good person.

It’s true that Yuji is genuinely worried about his friends getting hurt because of him, but look at his choices. He’s not really tackling the problem in a healthy way. He’s doing everything he can to avoid the problem, isolating himself, and just trying not to think about things. He could try to talk with Megumi and find a solution, but he’s not doing that because he’s insecure in his attachment to others.

I think his reaction to Choso pretty clearly illustrates this too. Yuji isn’t around his friends because he doesn’t want to be around them. Which is tragic, because Yuji is holding himself responsible for the mass murder which isn’t really his fault. However, Yuji saw his relationship with both Nobara and Megumi as conditional to begin with. He can only be friends with people he can help, and he can never receive help from them. It’s unhealthy to start with because relationships go both ways. Yuji is also, completely unresponsive to Choso.

Yes. Choso suddenly walking to him and delcaring them brothers is really weird. I don’t expect Yuji to just suddenly start getting along with him right away.

At the same time, Choso explains what the unconditional love between family is between Yuji, and Yuji just doesn’t get it, because he either hasn’t experienced enough of it, or his grandpa the only person that ever unconditionally loved him is gone. Yuji can’t understand Megumi’s love for him is unconditional,. because from the beginning he sees all relationships as conditional.

Yuji and Choso are facing opposite direcitons because they’re opposites. Choso is willing to hurt complete strangers too, but his love for his family is unconditional and he will do anything for them. Yuji will help complete strangers, but, he doesn’t really understand unconditional love, and even his love with his closest friends has a few conditions.

Which is why someone who appears on the surface as such a friendly guy who makes friends everywhere he goes, can call himself “a loner” because in Yuji’s mind he is. He doesn’t have friends, he has people who need him.

Which is just incredibly sad because Yuji doesn’t understand this. Yuji isolates himself thinking he’s doing it for the sake of his friends, but neither Megumi nor Nobara would want him to be alone.

#yuji itadori #megumi fushigoro #kugisaki nobara #suguru geto #choso #jjk meta #jujutsu kaisen meta #jjk 138 #jujutsu kaisen 138 #jujutsu kaisen

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raifenlf · 3 years

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Why Loki’s Sylvie Is A Mary Sue

So I am firmly in the camp that Sylvie on the Loki series was/is a Mary Sue. The last episode made me feel better and like maybe the show was doing a thing where they were faking you out that she was a Mary Sue only to show she was actually sort of a bad guy and I liked that. But all the recent interviews make me think the show wants to go back to her being a Mary Sue.

But I feel like when I call her out for being a Mary Sue people tell me what are you talking about, she’s not a Mary Sue, bad things happen to her, etc. But that doesn’t actually make her not a Mary Sue.

Also, before we start, I know some people find Mary Sue sexist. But I personally use the term for guys and girls. I don’t use the term to belittle women. I use the term to criticize a poorly written character.

And I know Mary Sue is often used to describe fanfic characters. But to me, this series is kind of like a fanfic because the writers took a character who had been in canon MCU material for ten years and then created characters around that character. So, I kind of review it like I would a fanfic. It’s very different than if the writers had created a brand new show with all of their own new characters.

Anyway, if you are not totally familiar with the Mary Sue term, then check this out:

I know the term Mary Sue probably means different things to different people. But I have always used these guidelines when I write my own fanfic to make sure my characters never come off as a Mary Sue.

This article really gives you a full scale of what a Mary Sue is. If you start reading it, you’ll immediately see why Sylvie is. But I’m going to take out the parts that most fit Sylvie just to highlight why I believe she is a Mary Sue. I apologize for this being so long.

Mary Sue Character Traits

Personality

Erm... what personality? The typical Mary Sue doesn't have one per se, because she isn't meant to be a character; rather, she's an entity by which the author makes cool stuff happen.

I feel like that is Sylvie in a nutshell. She doesn’t have a personality. I feel like even though she ate screentime, I still don’t really know her at all. The writers love to say she’s badass. That’s not a personality.

Sometimes when I am writing stories for fun and creating new characters, I like to take surveys as my fictional characters. Like the kind of surveys you’d see in a magazine, like personality types, what’s your dating style, etc. I figure if I don’t know what my character would do in any of those situations, then I need to keep working on my character. And if I was trying to fill out a survey pretending I was Sylvie I would have no idea what to answer because she doesn’t have a personality. She’s just “cool”.

What little personality a Mary Sue has isn't as important as how other characters react to it. No matter how shy or socially awkward Mary Sue is supposed to be, other characters will be inexplicably drawn to her

This is so Sylvie. Loki falls in love with her...why, exactly? He falls in love with her in the big Nexus event moment...why? Because she had a tough childhood? Mobius spends like two seconds with her in a car and goes from hating her to saying she’s his favorite Loki. For. No. Particular. Reason.

She's extremely persuasive; everyone finds her opinions to be better than their own

She enchants Hunter B-15 and then immediately Hunter B-15 makes it her whole entire life mission to back Sylvie up.

And occasionally she'll be a complete asshole...This can manifest itself in several ways...The author wants to write a badass but doesn't know how. This leads to a character who mistreats everyone around her and is never called out on her abrasive, casually abusive behavior.

Sylvie talked down to Loki and treated him like garbage for all of episode three, but it was never portrayed as a bad thing and we never got any impression Sylvie later felt bad for the way she treated Loki

The author doesn't know how to hold back the character, meaning that she will succeed at practically everything. This means that when she encounters rules or authority figures who would otherwise prevent her from doing what she wants to do, she rolls right through them (and they praise her for her "boldness" in defying regulations). If a bad guy is violent and aggressive, she can beat him by being more violent and aggressive (with all that entails). It's impossible for her to go overboard because she's protected by Protagonist-Centered Morality.

Sylvie is shown as a kid to immediately be able to grab a Tempad and run away. And she can kick ass way better than Loki, for no known reason. She is always able to fight back against the TVA when they attack her. And she can kill lots of innocent TVA agents but it’s okay because TVA bad, Sylvie good.

Skills

She will always be superior to the canon characters, regardless of what canon has established they can do or whether it makes any sense.

Whose skill was needed to defeat Alioth? Sylvie’s. Of course. Sylvie needed to teach Loki her skills in order for him to succeed (!). And again, she is literally called the superior Loki.

Relatedly, there's no effort to her skills. She never actually trains or learns anything to become more powerful; she just wins the Super Power Lottery, or is a freakish natural learner, or is just Inexplicably Awesome

We’re told Sylvie literally taught herself magic. She literally taught herself to enchant people. That. Makes. No. Sense. Like, I have so many questions. Like, why would it even occur to her to teach herself that? And how???????????? This is really lazy writing.

Canon Character Relationships

Mary Sue is often designed to hook up with another character, often as a form of Wish Fulfillment. This isn't that bad in and of itself (okay, it is kinda weird), but Mary Sue accomplishes this without any sense of realism. She just grabs her lover's attention straight away, and their relationship will never face any obstacles or tension; it's true love from the start and nothing else. The biggest giveaway is if the love interest is explicitly the author's favorite character, and she essentially "cures" him of all the angst that ails him (at the expense of his characterization).

Yeah, so...this one should be pretty obvious to anyone who watched the show. Loki literally falls in love with Sylvie immediately, and then he suddenly turns from “villain” to “hero” just because of loving her. And this was definitely at the expense of his characterization. And Loki just knows he falls in love with her. There’s not even any moments of hmm what do I feel for this person? It’s just true love, immediately.

She will be related to a canon character in some way. This (marginally) helps explain such phenomena as her being a Copy Cat Sue and other characters accepting her so easily.

Sylvie is a Loki variant. They use this to help explain why Loki is drawn to her and why their falling in love immediately “makes sense”.

Most characters give her more heed than they normally would. The good guys never stop praising her

Seriously, it was so over the top and OOC for Loki to gush over her. He literally tells her she’s amazing. They don’t even make it subtle.

Characters' previously established personalities change in reaction to her. Proud, arrogant gimps suddenly acknowledge her superiority in everything. Reckless youths will listen to all her advice. Responsible leaders will defer to her instead. Villains will obsess with her to the detriment of all else. Extremely competent characters will become stumbling buffoons who require her help to do anything. Sweet, mild-mannered characters whom the author doesn't like turn evil and insult her. They all become unnaturally focused on her in some way.

Again, Loki’s whole personality changed in reaction to her. He became a buffoon who needed her help to enchant the Alioth because of course he couldn’t do anything without her! Hunter B-15 goes from doing whatever the TVA said to fighting the TVA just because of Sylvie.

Story Elements

Mary Sue is without exception a single-person Spotlight-Stealing Squad. The entire story hinges on her existence; if you removed her, there would be no story.

Sylvie undoubtedly drove the whole story this season. It all became about HER meeting the TVA heads because of HER trauma. Loki’s life was only saved at the beginning because the TVA was trying to capture HER. And SHE was the one who started the whole multiverse (!).

Mary Sue is The Chosen One, even if the setting already has one. There are many ways she can accomplish this: she can be a Sailor Earth type who "shares" the position with the canon hero; she may be vaguely "destined to help the destined one fulfill their destiny" (i.e. do all the work except the final blow so that the prophecy is still technically correct); or the canon hero may be revealed to be a Fake Ultimate Hero all along. Being the Chosen One doesn't necessarily involve her being a God-Mode Sue, especially as authors become aware of the phenomenon and try to avoid it, but it does make her critically important to the world and allows her to continue stealing the spotlight without the "god mode" label.

HWR wanted Sylvie to come with Loki in the end, like she was chosen all along right alongside Loki. Like one of the most important characters in the entire MCU is now this character who we only met a few episodes ago.

Most Sues have an unusually Dark and Troubled Past. It's often used to create a Sympathetic Sue, but any type of Sue can have one

They tell us, over and over, how hard Sylvie’s life was because she was kidnapped by the TVA in order to create sympathy for her.

She almost never does anything wrong. In the rare instance that she does, it's usually; (a) a way for the author to disclaim her being a Mary Sue by introducing a single imperfection (that has no bearing on anything anyway), and (b) designed to show her smarts by making her feel instant remorse, and she'll be Easily Forgiven anyway:

So this one hopefully will not come true, as a lot can change between now and when the show is taped. But if the show goes on the way the behind the scenes team is talking, Sylvie immediately felt remorse for betraying Loki, and Loki has already forgiven her and is desperately looking for her. Ugh.

Alternatively, she is more than capable of doing something wrong, be it in general moral terms or something that goes against whatever code she abides by, and she maybe even frequently does so, but don't expect the other characters or the narrative to ever acknowledge or comment on it in any real capacity. If the other characters do call her out, expect them to be treated like they're the problem for daring to criticize her at all.

Mobius calls her out for killing people, but Sylvie immediately says he’s a bad person and then Mobius agrees, because, of course.

She will often suffer from Special Snowflake Syndrome; i.e., she has a trait or backstory that sets her apart from her group or race.

She is the only female Loki, thus making her the special one among all the Lokis in episode five.

Presentation

In visual media, the camera just can't stop staring at her.

The camera would follow her in fight scenes rather than Loki.

Mary Sue Tropes

Okay, so there are specific Mary Sue tropes that Sylvie is. One of those is Copy Cat Sue, which I think was referenced before.

Copy Cat Sue

A lot of fanfic writers...start to write something because of their passion for this character, but they find something about the character that doesn't mesh well. Maybe they're the wrong gender or are otherwise not close enough to the author's expectations...In any case, rather than put them through the Possession Sue process, they just get a Clone-O-Matic™ and out pops a Copy Cat Sue...the character might be intended as a replacement for the canon character, but without whatever icky traits the author hates. They'll then rob the spotlight, prove the canon character to be unworthy of his/her position, and either relegate the character to obsolescence or, perhaps, even remove them entirely.

Sylvie is basically a clone of Loki, she is a variant. But she absolutely robbed the spotlight of Loki’s, and they literally call her the superior Loki. I mean, they are literally not even being subtle about this. And there was a feeling by myself (and a lot of other viewers) that Sylvie might ultimately replace Loki in the MCU.

Black Hole Sue

Much like a black hole, this is a Mary Sue who "sucks in" the plot and characters to her. Characters will behave outside their personalities, logic will be defied, and rules will be broken for her sake.

Sylvie really does suck up all the plot and Loki definitely behaves outside of his personality just to fit the Sylvie show.

Jerk Sue

A Mary Sue who is mean or maybe even cruel, but are still treated as an ideal person.

Once again, Sylvie is basically a jerk all of episode three, but you’ve got Loki falling over himself to call her amazing in just the next episode.

Relationship Sue

A Mary Sue who exists to be the perfect mate for a specific character...this character has everything in the plot conspiring to enforce this One True Pairing...in Fanfiction, they are the perfect beloved of a canon character.

They literally have Mobius speculate that Loki falling in love with Sylvie is so extraordinary that it causes an entire Nexus event, that’s how huge this One True Pairing is (!). And Sylvie is the love interest of Loki, the only character who had been around before the beginning of the series

TLDR: Sylvie has all the tropes of a classic Mary Sue character. So calling Sylvie a Mary Sue isn’t being sexist or just randomly hating on the character. If you use common Mary Sue characteristics to examine the character, she just has too many of these characteristics to ignore.

#loki negativity #antisylvie #loki critical #loki criticism #antisylkie

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