angenoir: (Default)
2025-01-05 10:37 am

2025 — Fandom Snowflake Challenge, Day 3

Snowflake Challenge promotional banner featuring a snow-covered wooden cabin in a forest filled with pine trees dusted with snow. A snow-covered wooden fence sits in the foreground. Text: Snowflake Challenge January 1-31.
Snowflake Challenge promotional banner featuring a snow-covered wooden cabin in a forest filled with pine trees dusted with snow. A snow-covered wooden fence sits in the foreground. Text: Snowflake Challenge January 1-31.



Challenge #3

In your own space, talk about a fannish opinion you hold that has changed over time. Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

I think the opinion that has changed the most, honestly, has been my ability to watch shows like My Hero Academia and the like without going "why are they making children do this oh my god." As a teacher myself, it's harder and harder for me to accept that young children (you know the age, the fifteen to nineteen years-old protagonists) just have to save the world and there's not a thing the adults and mature people around them can do except cheer them on. Rewatching Bleach (or trying to) or Fullmetal Alchemist I'm constantly yelling at the television "He's a CHILD! You can't expect a child to do XYZ!" Anyway.

It's a fairly tame one, I suppose. I can't think of any other major opinion I have that has drastically changed, just gained nuance over the years. Some examples I can think of:

  • I've always preferred m/m ships over f/f ships. Now, with years of experience, I've identified my dislike was because most fandoms have little development of female characters and especially few connections between female characters and other characters in general, while giving men huge backstories, so it was easier for me to see connections between the men than women. I still don't always enjoy f/f ships, but good fanfic authors give me the connections and development I'm looking for and I no longer actively ignore f/f ships.
  • I've always believed Tony Stark to be right in Civil War, and while that hasn't changed, I've softened my stance on how angry I was at Steve Rogers' side. I don't agree with him at all, still, but I'm less inclined to want to see him grovel in stories lol
  • I've never tied authors to their work — i.e., when Joanne Kathleen wrote the HP series, I never really cared about them personally, just enjoyed playing in the world they created (especially when it was so poorly written that nothing was well-explained, giving me huge freedom to do my favorite thing: world-building). So when they came out as transphobic, and when I found a whole list of actors and writers who refused to support palestine — or actively worked to support israhell — it didn't detract from my ability to turn their work into something I can continue writing about, even if I don't engage with their new movies.
  • I've never enjoyed the propaganda slant of Marvel (it's why I liked Iron Man movies, they were all about the main character messing up and realizing it was his own people and flaws that made his problems, not some outside ooOooO scary terrorist) and what with the blatant cash grabbing of Disney and the terrible, terrible character of Sabra in the new Captain America movie, I'm just happy I divorced from caring about Marvel when I did, which was at Endgame with the terrible plot and writing. I tried to get into the Marvel series (I had loved Agent Carter when it came out) and started Falcon and the Winter Soldier, but it just seemed empty, and I watched the Kamala Khan series but it was... more than a little disappointing, from a Muslim perspective.

I honestly can't think of any other big opinions I have in fandom beyond, like, preferences and ignoring certain parts of canon to keep writing, or the like. And overall, growing older has only really enhanced my understanding of why I hate or dislike ABC.

angenoir: (Default)
2025-01-05 10:34 am

2025 — Fandom Snowflake Challenge, Day 2

Snowflake Challenge promotional banner featuring a mug of some indeterminate drink. The drink is obscured by marshmallows and an orange in the mug. Next to the mug are two gingerbread men cookies. The mug and cookies are on a white background of fluff and snowflakes, and green twigs or vines around the edges of the picture. Text: Snowflake Challenge January 1-31.
Snowflake Challenge promotional banner featuring a mug of some indeterminate drink. The drink is obscured by marshmallows and an orange in the mug. Next to the mug are two gingerbread men cookies. The mug and cookies are on a white background of fluff and snowflakes, and green twigs or vines around the edges of the picture. Text: Snowflake Challenge January 1-31.



Challenge #2

In your own space, talk about your fannish origin story. Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

I think the very earliest I remember really being in fandom and liking a story well enough to create my own fanfiction of it was, of all things, Robin Hood. I must have been... ten? Eleven? Creating a "children of Robin Hood" story, with a daughter of Robin, a son of Will, etc. I also vaguely remember creating a transformers spin off, and my first real story I wrote was a retelling / redo of Logan/Wolverine's origin story, except as teenagers because teenagers were cool to me when I was barely out of middle school.

But fandom and writing has always been something I've loved to do, and with practice and growth I eventually became really enamored of X-Men fanfiction while in early college. It was a weird branching for me — I was looking for something entirely different and ended up finding male slash fanfiction (lemon, is what it was called in that day and age) on a web page called LeDiableBlanc. (I'm tempted to see if that website is still up and running...)

It was home to a lot of fanfiction, all centered on Remy LeBeau / Gambit (my second or third fandom crush) and him with various other male X-Men, and it really had a formative effect on me, my writing, and what I liked to read and write. From there I fell into The Losers fanfiction, and then into Marvel (The Avengers, specifically). There were many other smaller fandoms (you can see my fandoms and pairings here, if you're so inclined) but those are the big ones that stuck with me — X-Men, The Losers, and Phase 1 and 2 of The Avengers.

(Oh my god, it's still around. I may just fall down the rabbit hole of rereading all these old fanfictions. Here is the main page of LeDiableBlanc, and here is the fanfiction page that enraptured seventeen to nineteen year old me.)

angenoir: (Default)
2025-01-05 10:30 am

2025 — Fandom Snowflake Challenge, Day 1

 Snowflake Challenge promotional banner featuring feet in snuggly socks, a mug of hot chocolate, a notebook with 'dreams' written on the cover, and a guitar. Text: Snowflake Challenge January 1-31. Snowflake Challenge promotional banner featuring feet in snuggly socks, a mug of hot chocolate, a notebook with 'dreams' written on the cover, and a guitar. Text: Snowflake Challenge January 1-31.

Snowflake Challenge promotional banner featuring feet in snuggly socks, a mug of hot chocolate, a notebook with 'dreams' written on the cover, and a guitar. Text: Snowflake Challenge January 1-31.




Challenge #1

Update your fandom information. Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

I'm going to link to last year's post, as I can't really find much difference between then and now, which is maybe a little depressing, but who knows.

But for reference, my fandom spaces that are active are:

Ao3: My writing

Tumblr: My (very old) blog

Less active (practically INactive), but existing, is here (livejournal), on dreamwidth, or on pillowfort.

My bio (which has not changed): 30-40 y.o. block | cis | pronouns: she/her | heterosexual | Arab-American (white-passing/white) | this author stands with Palestine 🇵🇸🍉🇵🇸

angenoir: (Default)
2019-01-05 06:39 pm

Fandom Snowflake Challenge - Day 5

Day 5 - community and/or platform recs

I have to say, I'm not a big... contributor, I guess you could say. I am a lurker. But I enjoy watching and following and lurking on quite a few communities.

The cap/ironman dreamwidth community is an amazing place and full of a lot of fun challenges for the fandom.

There is a wonderful prompt meme for drabbles and shorts, full of a lot of lesser known fandoms called fic promptly on dreamwidth that I wish I participated more in.

I found a really cool pillowfort community for marvel in general - a kinkmeme (so 18+ only, please).

I also follow a lot of fanartists and fanfic writers on patreon! There's Mauw, Ecchima, and lipeka, who are all amazing artists!

I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting, honestly. But tumblr, pillowfort, dreamwidth, and even discord (even though discord terrifies me) are great places to find communities.
angenoir: (Default)
2019-01-03 08:00 pm

Fandom Snowflake Challenge 2019 - Day 3




Day 3 - Touching moment in original canon

I've got to say, Iron Man is and always will be my favorite superhero. I love him to death, and I love what he represents - humanity, in essence: the intense narcissism to the intense love and care and hope humans can show. I think if I was going to pick any moment, I would pick the moment where he first faces Ivan Vanko, in the Monaco race.

See, he's just himself there. He doesn't have the suit, and yet he tries to stop Vanko without it. When he gets the suit, he's clearly on the ropes, but he doesn't fly away. He doesn't back down. He doesn't fly away, he adapts and drags Vanko close, and even when Vanko's spitting poison he's thinking, calculating. Because he's dying here, and yet he's still trying so hard. He's trying to figure out how Vanko could have replicated the arc reactor, he's trying to minimize casualties, he's always pushing so hard and it's just an amazing scene that really reflects his humanity.




(I've also got to add that the most thrilling and stunning intro of any superhero was Thor in Thor: Ragnarok, when he comes slamming down from where Hela had him. That's just - that's just pure poetry, man. In those few minutes, I am a Thor fangirl through and through.


)

angenoir: (Default)
2019-01-03 07:15 pm

Fandom Snowflake Challenge - Day 2






Day 2 - Fanfic Rec

There are so many fics that I love, and quite a few that I revisit, but I'll try to pick some that I really, really love, from different fandoms.

The Losers (2010)

The Sniper at the Gates of Heaven, by JoeLawson

Sherlock Holmes (2009)

Observations on Sentinels and Guides in Victorian London, by RyuuzaKochou


And then unfinished stories that I love and return to in hopes that more has been written:

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Born from the Earth, by venusm

Overwatch (Video Games)

Ghost Stories On Route 66, by Nagaina


Also I'll just say anything from sciencefictioness, Nagaina, ficlicious, sabremc, storm_petrel, and tisfan is absolutely stunning and I love revisiting their pages and going over stories that I particularly love.
angenoir: (Default)
2019-01-03 07:05 pm

Fandom Snowflake Challenge 2019 - Day 1




Day 1 - Your Happy Place

If I were to pick a happy place... I think it'd have to be listening to music. Even at work, when things are going badly enough to make me want to cry, if I can pull away on a break and put on music I can normally calm myself down.

The safest place, I would say, is my room. I am still one of those people who are living with their parents because I never developed enough independence to do anything on my own, so the house is not mine, but the room is mine.
angenoir: (Default)
2019-01-03 05:34 pm
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Lesson #002 I've Learned As A Teacher

This was something I developed over time, and I wish someone had mentioned this to me at the very beginning as a teacher. (Maybe teachers learn this in school, and my just jumping into the field sans appropriate degree is the problem.)

Document, document, document. I'll get to behavior documentation later; I am talking about grades.

Who doesn't document grades? says most people, me among them as I started teaching.

Turns out, I didn't document enough. Our school is broken up into 6-week grading periods, giving us 6 grading periods in total (36 weeks is one school year). I would diligently record grades, more or less upload them in time, and never had a problem.

Until one of my students (a low student, yes, and the parents knew it, but still) got a 65% instead of the 70~ ish they had been coasting by with the previous three grading periods.

The parents demanded to know why there wasn't any warning. Which, as a teacher, I will tell you flat out honestly it is an extremely obvious and appropriate question to ask, but also that I am so freaking run down trying to grade tests and build tests, and assign homework and collect homework, trying to input all the grades and make sure everything in the class is running smoothly, I just honestly did not stop to think that "hmm, it's about halfway through the grading period — I ought to look through the current grade averages, identify the students who are in danger of failing this grading period, and alert their parents."

Looking back on it, it seems so effing obvious, but it really was something no one had ever told me as a new teacher, and so it is the first thing you should start out with: always, always, always alert parents to everything happening. Parents will either thank you for amazing communication or delete the email — but at least you have proof that you did alert someone that something was happening.
angenoir: (iron man)
2017-09-19 11:45 pm

Lesson #001 I've Learned as a Teacher

Okay, so this is both extremely common sense, but also really important to remember because it's EASY to forget. Don't ever, ever, get into a battle of wills with a student. Your job is to be the adult in any situation. This means no matter how stubborn the student, no matter how frustrating, getting into a fight — it can be physical (as I did accidentally, when trying to take away a toy a student was playing with) or verbal, as I thankfully have never done but I've heard other teachers do - is a surefire way to lose control of the classroom.


When teachers are in a classroom and a student decides to defy your authority, don't get into a 'I'm the teacher, you have to do it.' For me (with private school kids, who are waaaay more concerned about their grades than normal kids, or so I've heard, but I have no real experience with), I make it very clear that they are responsible for their own learning. If I have a student who's refusing to write, I simply say, "Don't be surprised if your grade suffers; this is what I'm grading today. You must get it done before class is over. You may not take it home as homework."


Read more... )
angenoir: (iron man)
2017-07-30 11:13 pm

100 Lessons I've Learned as a Walk-On Teacher

I'm trying this - trying to post, like, tips and tricks and things I've learned as a teacher. For this, though, there needs to be a bit of background -

When I graduated from college, I had two degrees that were fairly useless: Creative Writing and Political Science. Eventually, I chose to go to graduate school, but when the classes part of my graduate schooling ended and the scholarship ran out, I needed something. At the exact same time, my mother, who worked at a private religious school, had been mentioning that they were looking for teachers. I decided to try, with no teaching certificate and no training beyond watching (and aiding) my mother as a teacher since I was in 3rd grade.

Now, the thing about religious schools (Muslims ones, at least) is that they pay crap. Like, easily less than half the starting salary for a teacher. But it was a salary, which was more than I had. They also accept almost anyone. (Almost.) So I got the job, and that was 3 years ago.

I love teaching, but I came in with nothing but what I watched my mom do, and what I call 'common sense.' I've gone to countless seminars on teaching, and in all of them they all seem to be just... reminders? Like, they're things we should already know and that make sense to do, but they're good reminders.

So, that being said, I'm going to try and compile a list of 100 things I've learned as someone who just, very literally, walked into teaching. This year, my goal will be to get my certification, and I hope by the time I have it, I'll have finished this list.
angenoir: (iron man)
2017-01-16 07:19 pm

Snowflake Challenge, January 15th 2017



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Day 15

In your own space, write a love letter to Fandom in general, to a particular fandom, to a trope, a relationship, a character, or to your flist/circle/followers. Share you love and squee as loud as you want to. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so



So. A love letter to fandom. Here goes.

Dear fandom,

And it is all fandom, in general. I mean, from the first dirty stories I started reading, which led me to find X-Men slash fanfic, which led me to try Harry/Draco slash fanfic, which led me to Lightning on the Wave -

Which seriously led me to see that fanfic is, is more than just dirty stories. It isn't something hidden underneath the covers and shameful. I mean, I'm still not going to go crowing to the rooftops I write soft (and hard) core porn - but that there was something more there. It led me to practice my writing, and it improved my creative writing. It helped me better my ideas, hone my plots. The stories I read became a part of me, and I loved it. They taught me more and more about the wider world, and it led me to tumblr, which opened many more doors for me. Became a lot more knowledgeable. A lot more understanding. A lot more aware.

So thank you, fandom. Thank you for all that you've done for me, and for making me a better person, and for giving me my greatest escape. Thank you for introducing me to many different genres, to different plots. For introducing me to many different and amazing and interesting people. Thank you.

~AngeNoir 
angenoir: (iron man)
2017-01-16 06:24 pm
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Snowflake Challenge, January 14th 2017


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Day 14
Go forth and commit an act of kindness. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it, tell us about it if you’re comfortable doing so.


An act of kindness... well, leaving comments or interacting with people? It's sad to say that I think that's the only way I'm actively kind. I mean, my mom came in with groceries and I did nothing... I can text that fellow teacher, send her that link to those free online resources. Act of kindness.
angenoir: (iron man)
2017-01-16 06:18 pm

Snowflake Challenge, January 13th 2017


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Day 13
In your own space, write about a moment in fandom that meant a lot to you.  Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.


A moment in fandom... I mean, there's so many different moments with (surprise, surprise) Tony Stark. But I have to say, the one sticking out to me most is Tony, holding Rhodey on that ground.

If there's one thing I love, more than anything else, it's the family aspect of Tony and Rhodey. It's the way Tony yells at Ant-Man to 'let go of my Rhodey' - it's the way that Rhodey hugged Tony tight to his chest after finding him in that desert. It's the way that Tony and Rhodey stood back-to-back to defeat those drones; the way that they interacted with each other in just a few glances at the congressional hearing. And so to see, in Captain America: Winter Soldier, Rhodey plummeting to the ground, Tony trying to pour on speed to catch him before he hit, Sam also heading for Rhodey, both of them loving this powerful, dedicated man who stood by his convictions.

That one moment - Tony hitting Sam in the gut, dropping him, huddled over Rhodey's still, silent form, staring out into nothing, realizing how much he could lose right now...

I love Tony Stark. I never loved him more than in that moment. That moment is the biggest out of - out of every MCU movie, every moment. That one stands the clearest and brightest in my mind.
angenoir: (iron man)
2017-01-16 05:54 pm
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Snowflake Challenge, January 12th 2017




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Day 12

In your own space, post a rec for fannish spaces and resources - comms, challenges, twitters, tumblrs, etc. Tell us about where you hang out. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.


These are particular challenges and the like that I personally love. :)

(if you haven't figured out how much I love Tony by now...)
angenoir: (iron man)
2017-01-16 05:32 pm

Snowflake Challenge, January 11th 2017


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Day 11
In your own space, talk about a creator. Show us why you think they are amazing. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.


So, I don't know if I talked about this author before. (I mean, in the context of raving; I'm sure I've mentioned them before.) But really, honestly, the person who both influenced my career path into politics and definitely opened my world in terms of slash fanfiction - as a legitimate, okay field to be in, not a dirty secret (which is what I, as a super-religious kid, had seen it as before) - and really sparked my love for AUs is Lightning on the Wave.

This amazing, stunning author put so much goddamned effort into their stories. Like - I can't even believe. They wrote their own Harry Potter books, and I mean that one-hUNDRED PERCENT literally. They had stories that were just as long if not longer than the books, just as intricate and well-crafted as the real series. This is absolutely beautiful. There is nothing I loved better than those stories. I literally went to high school with no sleep at all because I was finishing another chapter of this story.

And the interesting thing is that it's not just politics - it's right and wrong, ethics and morality, light and dark. It's a real discussion into what is really 'evil' and what isn't. It portrays a lot of characters in new light, takes small characters and blows them large. As much as I love Sirius Black, this really turns his story on its head, turns the idea of what is "good" on its head, and I just - if you have hours to devote to this series, I highly recommend it. There is such a wealth and depth in this series - beautiful, Stunning.
angenoir: (iron man)
2017-01-16 04:45 pm

Snowflake Challenge, January 10th 2017



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Day 10

In your own space, share your love for a trope, cliché, kink, motif, or theme. (More than one is okay, too.) Tell us about it, tell us why you love it, give us some examples and recs. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.



Okay so like I absolutely loVE A/B/O. I really really do. I think it has to do with the fact that werewolves are my thing, and the two are very close. I really like the porn aspect, obviously, but also - the casual intimacy, the nuzzling behaviors, the protective instincts and knowing you were valued to your alpha - all of that really presses all my buttons. You can often find that in Sentinel/Guide fics, too - which is also why I'll add a Sherlock and Losers rec that are just amazing.

Another beautiful trope is miscommunication/misunderstandings. I love it when two idiots in love just don't talk to one another. (I love it in my fanfic, and the angst that comes with it - not so much in reality or even in movies I watch, when talking about adults who are supposed to be adults) [Also most Steve/Bucky/Tony stories use this trope and it gets me eVERY TIME]
angenoir: (iron man)
2017-01-15 10:14 pm
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Snowflake Challenge, January 9th 2017


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DAY 9:

Send feedback to two fannish people — they can be anyone you want: a writer who’s made you happy, a moderator of your favorite exchange (not us!), a fanartist you avidly follow… There are so many possibilities. Just let someone know you appreciate their work.



This is so much better than the last challenge honestly. And since I'm trying to leave more feedback on stories I read anyway, here I go. Taking a break from trying to catch up on all of these challenges to go read.

(This will probably also be the last post about these challenges today, sorry. I'll finish the rest tomorrow. I'm almost done anyway.)
angenoir: (iron man)
2017-01-15 09:51 pm

Snowflake Challenge, January 8th 2017


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Day 8

In your own space, make a list of at least 3 things that you like about yourself. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.



ahahaha

Something I like about myself.

Well that's going to be harder since it seems like I just hate myself more as time goes by but here goes.

  • I'm a pretty decent writer.

  • I really do enjoy teaching and I think I'm pretty good at it.

  • ... I don't really yell at the kids? I mean, sometimes I have to shout students down, and I do use sarcasm with them sometimes, but I definitely don't harangue them the way I've heard other teachers do

angenoir: (iron man)
2017-01-15 09:36 pm

Snowflake Challenge, January 7th 2017



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Day 7

In your own space, create a fanwork. Make a drabble, a ficlet, a podfic, or an icon, art or meta or a rec list. Arts and crafts. Draft a critical essay about a particular media. Put together a picspam or a fanmix. Write a review of a Broadway show, a movie, a concert, a poetry reading, a museum trip, a you-should-be-listening-to-this-band essay. Compose some limericks, haikus, free-form poetry, 5-word stories. Document a particular bit of real person canon. Take some pictures. Draw a stick-figure comic. Create something. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.


To make something that's not excessively long but also can count... I'm really bad at this. At writing short stories (that make sense on their own, at least).

Title: Empty Houses
Word Count: 599 words.
Characters: Tony Stark
Pairings: James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark
Warnings: n/a

Read more... )
angenoir: (iron man)
2017-01-15 07:49 pm

Snowflake Challenge, January 6th 2017


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Day 06

In your own space, create a list of at least three fannish things you'd love to receive, something you've wanted but were afraid to ask for - a fannish wish-list of sorts. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your wish-list if you feel comfortable doing so. Maybe someone will grant a wish. Check out other people's posts. Maybe you will grant a wish. If any wishes are granted, we'd love it if you link them to this post.


I mean, I'm always open for someone reading my generic "will always want to read" page on tumblr, or going through my dear creator letters and making me something. I'm also one hundred percent aware that I'm a freak who can't ask for something normal or easy. But why not?

(I'm probably going to write these ideas myself eventually, if anyone looks at this and goes 'ooh, I wish I could but it's too specific,' since I'm aware that it's highly specific and there's like a 0.000001% of it ever happening)

  • An Avatar: the Last Airbender fusion with Avengers, with Tony an airbender who can fly, Natasha and Clint waterbenders, Bruce and Thor firebenders, and Steve, the avatar, and his friend Bucky (either a bender or not) as earthbenders.

  • A fic that protrays the aftermath of Captain America: Civil War in a way that doesn't have Tony forgiving Steve too easily but also acknowledges his own fuck-ups without excusing them away. And that absolutely does not have the avengers back as a team since honestly I'm still beyond pissed at Steve and I don't think there really can be any team unless he manages to bend somehow and realizes - without other people having to tell him what he did wrong - what he did.

  • A fic where one of the partners (normally the sub or the bottom, but you can make it whoever you want) is ashamed of what they like/want, and the top picks up on that and uses derogatory language but does not mistreat their partner. For example, the sub is needy and the dom calls him ‘my needy slut’ and says things like ‘just gagging for it’ but during aftercare the dom reassures the sub that it’s fine for the sub to be needy, that he doesn’t think any less of the sub for it. (this is normally coupled with a parental/authority figure or society treating subs as if they’re helpless/sluts and the sub is trying to get over this kind of thinking mentally while still liking/craving such treatment)