Shmeeee

After being kept as illegal hunting pets, three bonded cats are brought to Sunlight Sanctuary, where they become the subjects of a behavioural study on unprecedented interspecies relationships. Featuring snow leopard Zoey, king cheetah Rumi and caracal Mira. And head keeper Bobby of course! Epistolary style! And some POV.

More silly cat shenanigans. Chapter two is now out!

Mira: "Two Celines!?"

Zoey: "Is this heaven? I read a fic that was like this once."

Rumi: "Ew, Zoey. Why. Clearly one's a demon."

Mira: "Yeah but which one?"

Demon Imposter: "She is! Kill it! Obviously I'm the real Celine!"

Celine: "Oh really? Wonderful. Here."

*grabs a heavy folder out her bag and smacks the Demon in their face*

Celine: "These are the latest talents. Be sure to read through them carefully before signing anything. Oh and the PR reports because Zoey's last internet rant caused quite a stir. They're losing their shit. Even Bobby started crying. Have fun!"

*walks pass everyone and throws herself on Huntrix's couch, grabs Zoey's plush turtle, puts it on her face and immediately passes out.*

Polytrix and Demon Imposter:

Yo! I've been reading a TON of good stuff lately, so I figured I would compile a list (in no particular order) of my current faves for you to enjoy. I was gonna do one post for all four of my fandoms - KPDH, Critical Role, Overwatch, and RWBY - but this one got real long, real fast. I'll have separate posts next week for the other three!

Psst @ authors - if I missed you on this list, PLEASE drop your stuff in the comments for me to check out! I'm always on the hunt.

Feel like it goes without saying, but these are all rated E. Check tags as needed and enjoy ^_^

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

With that said, I do always liked when authors specify in their lil notes ‘hey btw they don’t talk about consent or do check in’s until they’re done with the scene but just so you know this is all consensual and talked about beforehand’ cause that’s not usually of my interest to read- I l o v e when there are little check ins during a scene, a certain number of taps here, a squeeze of hands there, asking for colors, if anything it takes me more into a scene than out of it because of how much comfort I get from things like that; knowing how much care and intent is being put into every move and word, how purposeful it all is

First chapters up

You see, she'd worked with children for years, of course she recognized a dessert made by a child, and of course Zoey knew how sad the child would be if someone refused to eat that dessert, even if it didn’t look edible.

Mira put her hand in front of her nose to avoid smelling that thing. She was willing to hurt Yuna and Rumi's feelings if necessary; she wouldn't put even a measly spoonful of it in her mouth.

"Heh..." Zoey chuckled nervously, and then began to scratch her head. "Hmm. I-It looks delicious, um, jelly, right?"

"It was the only dessert we managed to make," Rumi replied with a proud smile on her face.

Yuna stared at the three women through the gaps between the row of chairs, waiting to see if any of them would try the dessert they had made.

"We're already full—" Mira began to plead for herself and Zoey, wanting to avoid having to eat it at all costs, but Zoey's voice came out faster than she could finish the sentence.

"Um, just a little, yes? I bet it's delicious, but I've already eaten so much," Zoey let out another nervous squeak as she shifted on the stool and took the spoon and cup from Rumi's hand.

The problem wasn't just the jelly. The consistency was perfect, they made it right, really, it was shiny and everything else. The problem was what was inside, on top of, and around the jelly.

It was pink, probably strawberry flavored, and had broccoli inside, covered with spaghetti, marinara sauce, mashed potatoes, sausage, olives, a sandwich, pickles, and strawberries.

Mira refused, without even thinking twice. Nope. She wasn't eating that even if they paid her. She felt like throwing up just from the smell.

Yuna only refrained from whimpering because she saw Zoey willing to try her creation, a dessert made especially for that special dinner.

Zoey had a disgusted expression the whole time, but she closed her eyes and held her breath as she began to eat. She needed to please Yuna. She wanted to be part of that family and therefore had to make their child happy, even if it meant food poisoning.

"Wow, chef My Melody," Zoey managed to smile, though with tears in her eyes, after finishing a portion of the dessert. "It's deli-cious!"

Mira grimaced, noticing Zoey about to vomit at any moment.

"Rumi, why don't you and Yuna bring Zoey some water, please? I'll take her to the bathroom real quick, I think she needs to pee."

Mira held Zoey by the forearm and patted her back reassuredly, feeling sorry for her. Poor Zoey.

"You didn't need to eat that," Mira whispered when they were already far enough away from the children responsible for that special dessert.

And as soon as Zoey bent over the toilet, she began to vomit.

She held up a shaky thumb toward Mira as she threw everything up.

Welp. Things she did for love.

rumi is out of frame but she's here too

Mira: NO! Rumi: It's more like... like fostering a dog! Celine buys her things, and makes sure she gets fed, and she gets her vaccinations, but other than that they're just chilling in the same house

Mira: Never compare me to a dog again if you value your life.

XD

Rumi and Mira swiftly get into an argument over which one of them is the foster dog.

And Mira being like;

"You're actually adopted! You're like a little chihuahua who's old owner died and then got adopted by a single rich woman who dresses up her dogs in sweaters!"

And Rumi is like;

"CHIHUAHUA!?!?"

"Yeah, small and yappy and being carried around in a purse, Princess."

"Excuse you, *I'm* a pedigreed <fancy working dog>. *You're* a mutt she found behind a dumpster somewhere!"

"Hell yeah I am. I'm tough and scrappy and I don't have a genetic disposition for an anxiety disorder."

(Loud, offended gasp) "I don't have anxiety!"

And then Celine comes home and is immediately bombarded by two teenagers going;

"Rumi called me a dirty street mutt you found in a dumpster!"

Zoey’s old SoundCloud goes viral about once a year, it’s a common joke within the fans

Once someone commented ‘wow Huntrix dresses up so nice all the time!’ Unaware that for the last six months Mira has taken a picture of Rumi and Zoey in their off duty clothes and has been waiting for the moment to strike (she hopes that this will make Rumi and Zoey care about the pain their outfits put her in —- it doesn’t work)

Once while they were doing a road trip in the US (at Zoey’s insistence) Rumi and Mira accidentally tipped like 2000 bucks. It goes viral because Zoey happened to be on live when the sweet old lady that owned the bed and breakfast tried to give back the money because she knew they weren’t from the US and probably didn’t mean to do that.

(Rumi; dinner was 63.32 and Zoey said to round up then add 20%.

Mira; so like 82 ???…. That doesn’t seem right, that’s really low. Just give them the rest of the cash we got out when we went to the world’s largest paint ball.)

Rumi demolishing large amounts of food also goes viral multiple times, which leads to Mira and Zoey going viral with her when they try and say she eats exactly like they do

Mira and Zoey started arguing with Celine on Twitter because she bought out a failing restaurant that Rumi liked for her birthday and they were annoyed that she got there first. Turns out Celine has actually done this like ten times for all three of them.

Speaking of Celine, everytime she posts something it almost always goes viral. Whenever the ‘oh my god, give me one chance’ comments start coming, Huntrix fans have two memes, the one where Rumi is going to be their stepdaughter and the one where they’re like ‘be careful, Zoey will fight you for the title of Celine’s number one fan’

Once while they were on a show a random bug happened to get on stage and Rumi proceeded to become unskipable cutscene and told everyone all about it.

Years later when Mira gets asked how she managed to do so well at a trivia game, she simply posts the above video and a one of a compilation Zoey’s random facts.