#//yeah no trouble! i will absolutely let you know if it ever becomes a problem

[kitakami-zorua-kin]

So I saw those truth things just now and while I'm not gonna force you to do that but I hope you will be honest about it, someone will force you anyway if they think you ain't I think but let's hope not, you said you like apples, have you ever liked at hydrapple or dipplin to see what they taste like? If yes what do they taste like? Also favorite type of apple and texture of apple? I like the ones that are crunchy and crisp in texture, with a nice balance of sweet and sour. Also apple pie.

Oys

//thanks for explaining the blaket thing, since I sign my posts you know when it's me, please don't hesitate to state when asks move into unsafe territory, I interact with a lot of people on and offline so I tend to loose track of such things, I will change course then.

I imagine working with superstition and outdated worldviews is fun, not so much if you have them though some, like the being direct trait I mentioned to Kieran, are useful for seeing who's a true friend for example and who is just one if its convenient.

Also now I'm excited to see where the purple element is coming from and where it's going.

Also excited if a little sad that Kieran's going away soon but I'm excited to meet Russet, I wanna ask him Q̴͔͗̀u̷͍̇͘ê̷̟̏s̵̤͚̎̆t̴͊��̣̱ȋ̴̝̕ô̶͈ǹ̷̝s̶͍͊ too.

... I appreciate it. Licked... It hadn't occurred to me, honestly. I know they smell very sweet, so it's probably a sweeter taste...? But I'm also pretty sure it'd stress Rufous out.. Rufous is my Hydrapple. I like Honeycrisp apples on their own, but... Tarter apples are definitely better for candy apples and things.

[blueberrymocha]

Hi ! I saw that u already made hxh headcanons on a reader who's always cold, could you do then headcanons of the main 4 (hxh) with a reader who is actually always really nice and sweet, friendly and polite? But gets absolutely feral and relentless when someone is rude or hurts their loved ones??

Ty ahead and have great day 💗💗💗

main 4 with a reader who goes feral when someone hurts their loved one

gon

✰ he adores how kind and sweet you usually are

✰ while he can get along with virtually anyone, he prefers friendlier people like you

✰ and he’d probably also rely on you to keep him in check and be the calmer one

✰ so when someone makes a rude comment towards him, he definitely doesn’t expect you to jump to his defense

✰ and if you got physical with someone, he’s even more shocked

✰ his biggest concern is stopping the disagreement, he just doesn’t want to watch you get hurt over something trivial

✰ so as much as he loves you defending him, he’ll tell you it’s not worth the trouble and to let it go

✰ don’t get me wrong though, he’s quite happy that you’re willing to do that for him in the first place

“i’m so lucky to have you by my side… but seriously where did that come from!?”

killua

✰ he finds this pretty intriguing

✰ because under normal circumstances, you’d never result to aggression/violence

✰ and yet when he’s involved… you immediately drop those hesitations to stand up for him

✰ now at first, he might jump to the conclusion that you think of him as weak

✰ so while he bandages a cut you got in the fight, he’ll bring it up

“idiot… why’d you have to get hurt for me anyway? i could’ve dealt with it on my own.”

✰ but once you explain things, he realizes he was overthinking it

✰ and when he does, he becomes the biggest cheerleader

“yeah! beat his ass y/n!”

✰ to be honest, it reminds him a lot of gon

✰ which would make him love it even more

✰ however, if you go too feral, he’ll probably get you to stop

✰ because at the end of the day, whatever the person did didn’t even matter to him

kurapika

✰ he himself would be more protective over someone sweet and kind

✰ the world can be very harsh and someone who’s polite to everyone would come across as naive to him

✰ which is also why he’s the most surprised of all when you get defensive

✰ you going crazy on someone for insulting him is just completely out of character in his mind

✰ that being said, if you can handle it yourself, he won’t stop you

✰ after all he’s the exact same way

✰ not to mention he’s honored you’d do so much for his sake

✰ if it got out of hand, he’d just tell you to lay off

✰ and once the two of you were alone, he’d make it clear he thought your actions were justified

✰ although, if something similar happened in the future, he’d remind you not to engage and try to cool you down

✰ mainly because he’d prefer you don’t get into any fights at all

leorio

✰ you’re giving him whiplash

✰ like he can’t understand how someone as sweet as you could switch up so quickly

✰ we all know that he’s no stranger to getting into arguments

✰ so if you’re merely defending him with words, he’s got no problem

✰ if you started fighting the person, he’s conflicted

✰ cause part of him is like

“punch him harder!”

✰ but his rational side will probably break up the fight

✰ if you ended up getting injured for him, he’s really flattered

✰ and of course he takes care of every injury

✰ but also “don’t do that ever again”

[typicalopposite]

thank youuu @bidisasterevankinard for the tag🫶

Still trudging along with chapter 7 of Tommy Mpreg!trying to get it done! Got like three-ish more parts to write 🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼 hoping to have it done soon!!

🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶

Tommy sniffles, resting his head on Evan’s shoulder. “Seven…” 

“Hmm?”

“She’s seven as of today, Uncle Buck. I’m actually a little offended for her.” 

Evan pulls back, eyes narrowed and mouth hanging open. “Okay, since when did you become such a brat?” 

Tommy shrugs, and smiles innocently. “Just been taking pointers from the biggest one I know,” he says, the smile turning to more of a smirk. 

“Mmm,” Evan hums, leaning in and kissing him. “I might be in trouble then.” He slides his hand down Tommy’s side, under the hem of his shirt, over his belly. “Think we got a little time before we need to leave?” he whispers in Tommy’s ear suggestively, before moving to kiss down his neck. 

Tommy sighs and shies away from Evan’s lips. “Not if we want to beat the lunch rush,” he says. 

“Okay, maybe after then.” He keeps his hold on Tommy’s waist, uses it to pull him back in for another kiss. 

See the thing is… It’s been a while. It’s been… more than a while actually. For many reasons. Work stress, holiday stress, pregnancy stress, family stress… stress from the fact that his body is stretched out in every direction and he knows there is absolutely nothing he can do to make it look even remotely attractive for his husband. It’s like as soon as they actually have a moment to themselves, that’s when his doubts start to kick in. He knows Evan loves him regardless… It's getting his brain to believe Evan is still attracted to him like this; when Evan is so hot it has Tommy’s brain short circuiting, meanwhile Tommy is just swollen, tired, and miserable because, well… that’s what he is now. 

“Yeah— yeah, maybe…” he says— he hopes because he needs it. Unfortunately he knows he will likely be tired after the party and isn’t going to feel up to it then, and Evan has a 48 starting tomorrow. He wishes it was as easy to get a quickie in but that is the other problem, finding a comfortable position hasn’t been doable ever since he really ‘he blew up’. 

(Okay, so yeah… maybe the body image issues are partially because he hasn’t yet let that remark from Mrs. Buckley go… and it sucks because he had really managed to stop being bothered by the weight gain, and Evan seeing it… Then here she comes and suddenly all he can think about is how far he has come from the toned muscular body that used to turn his husband on.) 

🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶

ok so that was more than even several sentences 🫣 lol

tagssss: @onthewaytosomewhere @30somethingautisticteacher @judymarch15 @mmso-notlikethat @somethingaboutfirefly

@bucksxkinard @sunnywithachanceofbi @herrmannhalsteadproduction @priincebutt @bangpop91 and everyone else who wants to play along

yall let me know if you want to be tagged in these or if you want me to stop 😂

[piedpiperart]

DC x SPN prompt idea

Sam and Dean get a tip about a haunted mansion from Bobby and they go check it out. It’s Drake Manor in Gotham City, which wouldn’t be a problem since no one was supposed to be living there. Except there was.

Sam and Dean meet Tim as they break into his house. Tim at first thinks they’re burglars but notices they’re carrying strange occult stuff. Tim looks at their stuff for a sec and just goes oh, are you here for the ghost?

And the boys, who had thought the kid was a) not alive or b) some sort of creature, are a bit thrown that this tiny child was left alone for months dealing with this ghost haunting his house.

Tim explains that he thinks she’s the ghost of his previous nanny before his parents fired her, but says she doesn’t do anything harmful, just tries to keep him company or get him to eat more often. She only breaks stuff when his parents are around but she stopped after it got him in trouble.

While Tim is sad for his ghost friend to be gone, he absolutely questions the heck out of Sam and Dean about all sorts of supernatural creatures and ghosts. Sam shows him ways to stay safe and avoid places with signs, etc. Dean teaches him how to fight and shoot weapons.

Tim is like seven or eight and pretty much blackmails Sam and Dean into teaching him how to be a hunter, and Tim ends up finding missions for them because he turns out to be a better hacker than Sam and Bobby. He gets the hunters money, sets up a network of information where hunters work together, and makes gadgets and gizmos for the guys to use against creatures.

Dean and Sam are worried about this small child alone in the house but think he’s better off there than as a hunter out in the real world. They don’t expect Tim to force his way into helping them, and every so often when they need help or info they call Tim then remind him to do homework or eat something.

Their road-trips now have frequent stops by Gotham, and even Bobby’s been able to make the trip to meet the lil guy who hacks his computer every week.

Tim also still knows Bruce is batman, and eventually becomes Robin, right. So he’s off doing that and keeping the whole supernatural world secret from Batman. Sam and Dean however, know the kid too well and eventually find out Tim is Robin. They may or may not take that well.

But! Since Tim is already aware of the ways of browsing the news and internet for crazy interesting cases and crimes, he comes across some posts about a potential zombie. Lo and behold- it’s Jason! So Tim calls Bruce and gets them sorted out. Maybe Talia still finds a way to kidnap him though, or Tim fights her on his own to keep Jason and loses, etc.

Either way, Tim ends up on the outs with the family still because he thinks he’s just filling in for Jason. So when his parents die and Tim is in need of a fake uncle? Who else would he call but Bobby!!

Just imagining Bruce and Bobby in the same room oh man. No doubt Alfred and Bobby would get along or absolutely hate each-other and no in between. I think Bobby would win in a fight against Alfred though. Just sayin.

Que Tim taking a call from Dean while he’s patrolling, thinking he’s alone as he details how to graphically kill someone, only to hang up and turn to see Jason standing right there.

Just, many shenanigans for how Tim seems a bit more unhinged than they thought. Like yeah Robin doesn’t kill, can’t kill when you work for Bats, but Tim Drake the Hunter made no such promises. Tim’s like ‘my first kill-‘ and freaks out the bats until he saves it by saying he’s talking about a game.

Sam and Dean come for a visit and Dick is suspicious. Tim goes on hunter missions and comes back with unexplained wounds. One of the bats might see him kill something and the guy turns to dust. Tim’s like no one will ever believe you.

As Tim drifts away from the bats he goes on trips with sam and Dean or helps bobby upgrade his tech. He lets Dean keep a batarang.

Maybe when Bruce is stuck in the time stream the first person he calls is Dean and Sam and Bobby. They’re like oh hey meet Cas, who then is like “Batman should not be allowed to alter the timeline” and just brings him back. He starts maybe using Cas for emergencies, or Dean tells Cas to keep an eye on tim only for him to step in whenever Tim seems in danger, even when he isn’t. Que Tim trying to convince Cas to wear a disguise when rescuing him in the field, etc..

Or maybe Tim makes a deal with a demon! He brings back Bruce but is fantastic at loopholes and gets out of hell card. Maybe Crowley is angry and takes his spleen just cuz. Dean is not happy.

Supernatural occurrences in the field happen and Tim solves it easily. No explanation. Maybe Constantine comes to solve it only to take one look at Tim and go “fuckin’ hunters, geez”. Or alternatively Tim corrects Constantine, saying stuff like you mispronounced (insert Latin word) or something like that.

Just, overall Tim shenanigans because if one of the bats had knowledge of the supernatural it would totally be Tim.

[flightfoot]

So I have no idea how asks work, I hope o am doing the right thing.

Sooooo any miraculous fan fiction suggestion? Maybe something chloe focused? Because I am basically running out of fic about that on ao3,butaybe maybe maybe you can help me? Thank you!!!!!!!!!!(oh and thank you even if you don't aswer oh and sorry if I am disturbing you!!!!!)

Have a nice day :)

I'm happy to help! I read a crapton of Miraculous fics so I can help. I'm glad you specified Chloe fics because well, I need something to go off of.

Oh yeah, it probably goes without saying if you know me at all, but none of these fics will demonize Alya, Adrien, the class, any of that sort. I don't tolerate those fics.

So first of all, @generalluxun really likes to write Chloe fics, so looking through his AO3 page is probably a good idea. I Won't Let You, which is a one-shot of Felix and Chloe talking at the Hawkmoth defeat party, empathizing with each other's circumstances, is a particular favorite of mine, if you want a taste.

Now onto the rest of the fic recs!

well somewhere along the way our words I must've gotten lost by @noirshitsuji

Beelya where Queen Bee visits the Césaire house after Alya writes an article about her fighting Mr. Pigeon alone. Normally Chloé would like the publicity but Alya had titled it ‘The Birds and the Bees’. After that she ends up coming back to complain about her mother. And her father. And about the fact that her oldest friend seems uncomfortable around her. Her visits becomes weekly, then almost nightly. (Don’t forget to include Chloé redemption (and some “Bee Movie” jokes).) * Alya isn’t quite sure how she ended up here, in a place where she isn’t even surprised Chloé would seek her out to talk about her dad, where she wouldn’t even mind her doing so, where she would expect it, where she would– (–thud. She might be in trouble.)

I loved seeing Alya's and Chloe's relationship grow and change through the years here, becoming closer and trusting each other more!

---

Can't Sleep Either, Huh? by EmeraldButterfly

Chloe gets up late at night. Turns out she’s not the only one who’s worried about Pollen. (AU where former Miraculous holders have an empathetic link with their kwamis)

This one's really short, but I love Zoe and Chloe comforting each other, since they can both feel what Pollen's going through at Monarch's hands over the link.

---

at our wedding by @anna-scribbles

“Chloé,” Adrien said slowly, “At our wedding, are we gonna have to…” “No!” Chloé shook her head firmly. “We don’t have to kiss. We can do whatever we want. It’s our wedding.” “Oh, good,” Adrien sighed. “You have to kiss at a wedding,” Félix argued. “I don’t have to do anything and you’re not the boss of me!” Chloé shouted. “Yeah!” Adrien grinned. He grabbed Chloé’s hand again. “Yeah, it’s our wedding.” // Adrien and Chloé, wedding planning through the years.

This one's great for seeing how Adrien's and Chloe's relationship in particular has changed over the years, though Felix is involved a lot as well.

---

Restorative Justice by @kasienda

Chloé has never been a fan of Ms. Bustier’s community building activities. In fact, she detests them. She doesn’t want to learn about the drab boring lives of her peers. And she absolutely can’t stand it when their confessions make her feel things. Feelings that she doesn’t even have names for. But when Adrien unknowingly shares his struggles with his double life, Chloé vows she will do anything to get Ladybug to set things right. Even if it means pissing off the heroine. Chloé was already mad at her anyway.

I love this, everyone sits down in a circle and talks about their feelings and problems and work on making things BETTER, on healing and fixing things.

---

This last one is a special treat, it's one of the best Miraculous fics I've ever read (and that is saying a LOT).

Hold Me By Both Hands by @angelofthequeers

“I know he said never to take you back,” Plagg mutters. “But he’d change his tune if he knew.” He looks Adrien straight in the eye and, more serious than Adrien’s ever seen him before, says, “There’s someone you gotta meet. He’s been looking for that book for ages.” How differently might the events of season 2 have gone if Adrien had also known of Master Fu from the start?

This is a rewrite of seasons 2 and 3, with Lila being active and sneakier, Adrien not being left in the dark, and everyone talking things out a lot more. I ADORE the interweaving plot threads of this fic, it's fairly episodic in nature and it packs a lot into its word count.

The single best plotline it has, and the one that shoots it up to the top of my list of best ML fics, is its Chloe Redemption plotline.

Basically, Adrien says he won't be friends with Chloe unless she starts treating people decently, and so, taking this to heart, she goes looking for help in learning how to do that because well, she doesn't want to lose Adrien. So naturally, she goes to Marinette.

Marinette helps, but there are no shortcuts here. If you've seen The Good Place, Chloe's character arc here is a lot like Eleanor's was there, with her not only needing to learn how to be nicer to people, but t find reasons to WANT to be a better person, outside of simply wanting to avoid a bad outcome. I literally wrote an essay about Chloe's character development in this fic, THAT'S how much I loved it.

Anyway, seriously, check this fic out!

[mcflymemes]

MURDER, SHE WROTE PROMPTS *  assorted dialogue from the television show

suppose you tell me what happened here last night.

i'm looking for motive.

back home, we have a saying. flowers that bloom too quickly are fair game for a late frost.

i don't want to alarm you, but something very sinister is going on here.

all right. we come to an understanding, or one of us doesn't leave here alive.

there are three things you can never have enough of in life: chocolate, friends, and the theatre.

a good guest is like halley's comet. seen and enjoyed seldom and briefly.

you can never nudge the moral compass far from its true north without losing something vital.

i've gotta talk to you.

half the country had reason to kill him.

they do say a new experience broadens the mind.

it's a job requirement.

lie down, dear. lie down. it's a dream, that's all.

that is a marvelously interesting recipe.

send me a copy of the book when it's finished?

you always do, don't you?

you must do quite well.

it's hard to know yourself.

were we ever that innocent?

uh, there's just one slight problem.

there will be two house seats waiting for you the next time you're in town.

in our business... you never know.

i was bored out of my mind.

you are trouble.

now you wait right here.

would you do me the honor of dining with me this evening?

time for you to get back to work.

out for some early morning air?

it's hard to know yourself, let alone another person.

not funny, friend.

funny thing about having your name in lights. when the power fails, you learn a lot about yourself and your "friends."

three more paragraphs and i can go to bed.

the party tonight? we're coming as our favorite fictional character.

i doubt that any of us despised him enough to kill him.

that's what you're all thinking, isn't it?

what's wrong with this phone?

who ever heard of framing someone with the wrong gun?

at least... i don't think i did.

well, how about a toast for later?

how soon can you get down here?

i don't know. i haven't made up my mind yet.

is that you?

look, it's an interesting puzzle. i'll give it a try.

i've got the name of a very good lawyer.

they've told me absolutely nothing about you.

i'm so sorry. i should have told you.

you haven't got a thing to wear.

you have my word on it.

i do believe you're offering me a job.

don't you go to the movies?

you've been seeing too many stephen king movies.

rudeness does not become you.

people do seem to enjoy it.

just as i suspected. when under stress, the english always head for the teapot.

i'm not used to being refused.

i haven't read any of them.

permit me the pleasure of educating you.

television is your business, not mine.

i don't usually give advice, but in this case, i say... go for it.

you must be a real book lover!

how good of you to come.

is there anything else you need?

they asked if maybe you wouldn't mind bending the truth just a little.

yeah, that's nice... but no thanks.

hey, isn't that something.

that isn't what i meant at all.

there's not much to tell.

now i may be wrong... but frankly, i doubt it.

we didn't have much in common.

i'm sorry honey, but we're just dying in here.

help is on the way!

i can be very persuasive.

how about a pair of pants?

i sure know how to pick 'em, don't i?

how could i refuse?

why don't you take some advice?

i haven't eaten a thing since breakfast.

slander can be an expensive indulgence.

[erikahenningsen]

hi! for Sometimes Mean Is What You Are, can I request a Cady/Regina angst where Regina has trouble trusting people after junior year? thx! love ur work!

Today is the day.

Today, Cady is going to tell Regina how she feels about her. No more excuses—she's going to do it.

Cady would be lying if she said she wasn't kind of terrified, but she feels like she's going to explode if she doesn't do it soon. Ever since she realizes she had feelings for Regina, she's barely been able to focus on anything else. Damian has called her out on more than one occasion for blatantly staring at Regina in the hallways or the cafeteria.

(She's already starting to go a little crazy, muttering "today is the day" to herself as she walks down the hall, not realizing it until Gretchen asks, "What's today?"

"Thursday," Karen helpfully supples.)

Cady basically invites herself over to Regina's house after school, wanting to be able to get the hell out of there if Regina punches her in the face or something. Not that she thinks that will happen, but it's always good to have an escape plan.

"I need to tell you something," Cady blurts the moment Regina's bedroom door is closed, before she can chicken out or throw up.

"Okay," Regina says, looking a little confused. She sits down on her bed and raises an eyebrow expectantly.

"I like you," Cady says, looking at a spot on the wall just over Regina's shoulder because that seems less scary. "Not as a friend. Well, I do like you as a friend, but also as more than a friend. Like, a lot. You're kind of all I can think about and it's kind of becoming a problem."

Cady chances a look at Regina. Regina looks blankly back at her.

"So... yeah," Cady finishes lamely. "I just... wanted to tell you."

Regina lets out a little scoff and rolls her eyes. "Right, okay."

Now Cady is confused. "Did you hear what I just said?"

"Uh, yeah," Regina says. "How stupid do you think I am?"

"What?" Cady asks, absolutely lost. Her stomach is starting to contract anxiously. "Regina, I just told you that I like you."

"And I don't believe you," Regina says coldly. "Nice try, but you can go now."

"I don't understand." Cady can't keep the desperation out of her tone. "Why would I make that up?"

Regina stands up, getting inches away from Cady's face. If she's trying to intimidate Cady, it's working.

"I thought we were done with the lies, but I see I was wrong," Regina says, eyes narrowing. "Really, this one's on me. Fool me once and all that. But I know better now, so you can get the fuck out of my house."

Regina's voice cracks, and she turns away from Cady, taking visibly deep breaths. Cady's chest physically hurts.

"No, Regina, please," Cady says. "I'm not lying. I swear. I'll go if you want me to go, but please believe me."

"Stop, okay?" Regina says, and she doesn't even sound angry. She just sounds... exhausted. She sits back down on her bed and drops her head into her hands. "I can't... this is too much. Not after I... for so long..."

For a moment, Cady considers cutting her losses and leaving. But... she's come this far.

"I like that you're never afraid to say what you think," Cady says. "And you're always making me laugh, even when I'm having a bad day. You're so protective of your friends, and you come to my mathletes competitions, even though you think they're boring. I like that you love to read, and I like that you read Shakespeare, even if you don't want anyone else to know you do."

Regina looks up at her, cautiously, her eyes red and watery.

"I love that we can hang out together and do nothing and still have fun, or talk for hours, and I love our bad movie marathons," Cady continues. "I still listen to the playlist you made for me when we first met. And you're the prettiest girl I've ever met. It's been really distracting."

Regina stares at her, and when she starts to smile, just a little, Cady's knees practically give out from the relief.

"And it's okay if you don't feel the same way, but please believe me. Okay?" Cady whispers.

"Okay," Regina says after a long moment.

And when Cady reaches out her hand, Regina takes it and squeezes.

[bookwyrminspiration]

the only part about legacy i liked is the scene where bronte is heavily implied to want sophie to become a councillor. other than that the entire experience was MISERABLE that book was. not fun

Correct! Bronte has been an absolute gem this book, between his you should become a councillor/not distract yourself with romance hints and saying he'd be proud if she was his daughter, he's the lone firefly keeping me light in this pitch black hell.

I will say I've also enjoyed Stina; she's not my favorite, but I can really appreciate her development and place in the story here--which makes it even more unfortunate when she gets undeveloped in Stellarlune for the sake of drama. Oh and Tam! He's been a delight, though unfortunately he is currently kidnapped so we're not seeing a lot of him.

Aside from that...I don't think there's anything else I'm enjoying. Smeyer once said that the further you get into a story, the more the possibilities of what it could be narrows into what it is, and the more people you lose who were attached to other possibilities that didn't come to fruition (paraphrased). Which I think might be happened here for me a little.

Because there is just so much talk about matchmaking and finding her parents and how she deserves this etc. etc. And about how difficult its turning out to be to be in a relationship. It's such a central part to the book and I simply do not give a shit! Both about how much its being focused on and how the characters are acting/being written. Yeah, Sophie, I'm sorry you're having relationship troubles, but you literally acknowledged what the mature, reasonable way to proceed was and then didn't do it. Twice. I'm not sympathetic to that

Also the way both Biana and Sophie are like..."would Fitz wait?" in terms of matchmaking when he has canonically said! twice!! that he would go at her pace, however long she needed. Like. Tell me you're being unfair to him and the issue is being forced without telling me you're being unfair to him and the issue is being forced. The whole book is just so unfair to Fitz. He's characterized and attentive and willing to go slow, even though matchmaking is important to him, and then the narrative turns around and makes a bio parent search necessary in connection to him? Rude. He's consistently trying to communicate and be supportive and Sophie's just doubting him and not returning the effort!! So I'm really not sympathetic to her plight. No, Fitz isn't perfect, but I'm upset about all this more

And when Sophie said she was getting really bad at juggling everything she was very very right. Her priorities are all out of order and she keeps ignoring other people, and I understand she's a busy person who deserves a break. But she's letting everything else slack for matchmaking? I cannot find it in me to care.

Listen. I know. I know that Sophie's only ever wanted to be normal and she hoped that's what matchmaking would be for her, one part of her life that was normal. It's just not a sentiment I resonate with so it doesn't really add to the book for me. It was important to her, I get it, and I'm sorry she doesn't get to be normal like she wants. But there are people relying on her, responsibilities she has agreed to and is failing to deliver on--which also brings me to Team Valiant and all that. They're reaching a stage where they're like "we need to work alongside the council, the black swan has always wanted to work with them" and maybe this is because I grew up with a shit government, but whenever I read that I roll my eyes. because like. fuck the council. they have total control and have consistently fucked up in the past, and overestimate their importance as naturally chosen to lead this world, while also wanting us to sympathize with the burden. it is under the council and their choices that these problems have come to pass, so if it were me I don't know if I'd make the same choices as the characters. and I don't think working alongside the council would've ever been my goal. like hooray if they want to do something that benefits our goals to fix everything in the end, I won't stop them, but also. that doesn't make them wonderful and reliable and mean we shouldn't continue to critique and fix things outside of them. like marx said

I think I could stand it more if there was a balance between all her matchmaking/parentage woes and everything else going on in the series, but it just feels overwhelming. And I really don't care. And I don't like how it's being explored and written. So this book has been very painful to read through.

This isn't everything, but its some of it. Fortunately I do quite like unlocked, so I'll have a brief reprieve of enjoyment before I dive into Stellarlune :)

[inkribbon796]

Egotober 2023 Day 23: Arachnophobic

Summary: Virgil is trying to sulk around town at night when he runs into someone else at night.

A/N: WARNING for spiders and a phobia being exploited.

Prompt: Web

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31

Virgil did his best, which was all Janus ever asked of him. It didn’t help with Dark slowly encroaching on their city.

He was wandering around, minding his own business and trying not to take it personal that Logan didn’t seem to have any free time. He definitely wasn’t taking it personally that Logan wasn’t trusting him with his super secret identity. Even if Virgil wasn’t being 100% honest with his own either.

While he was wandering he saw Pathos, one of Dark’s junior lieutenants, wandering around as well.

Virgil planned to sneak around but Patton turned around before he could slink away.

“Hey there, kiddo?” Patton smiled behind the puppy dog mask.

“Great,” Virgil said.

“What’s your name again?” Patton asked.

“Anxiety,” Virgil said. “It’s what I cause in people. I can make people feel bad.”

“Neat,” Patton said. “I can make people feel things too.”

And after he said that, a weight seemed to settle on top of Virgil. It wasn’t his usual anxious feeling, it was nothing.

It was absolutely nothing.

Which unsettled Virgil so deeply, more than he thought it would.

Desperately to make the void go away, Virgil sent out one of his spider familiars, a large one the size of a small dog. Spider web being made in their wake.

Virgil expected it to distract Pathos, something for him to destroy and give Virgil time to escape.

But Pathos let out a high pitched scream, and flinched away from Virgil’s spider, the void weight coming off of Virgil entirely.

At first Virgil wasn’t sure what happened but his familiar moved back in front of him and Pathos was clearly trying to get away.

Virgil smiled. “What? Big bad Network lieutenant doesn’t like spiders?”

“I really don’t,” Pathos said, hands in front of him and Virgil felt something trying to grab at him but so long as he kept the spider in Patton’s view, it could never fully take him over.

“They’re really quite awful, how they just—” Patton screamed when Virgil had his familiar fire web at the Lost One.

Virgil laughed.

And then a bat connected with his side, knocking him over.

“Back off!” The Author went over to grab Patton and drag him off. Leaving Virgil there instead of doing his usual writing them into one of his notebooks and exacting the suffering.

Using his star, Arthur got them moved to the house they were staying out.

Arthur turned Patton to look at him. “You okay? Need a bandaid? Need me to go back and kick his ass?”

“I could use a milkshake,” Patton mumbled.

“Yeah, no problem,” the Author said. He walked into the kitchen.

“How’d you know I was here?” Patton asked.

The Author stopped at the fridge, hand shaking. “I don’t know. I just didn’t want him to do something to you.”

“Well, thank you,” Patton said.

“Yeah, sure, whatever,” Arthur said and started pulling out stuff for milkshakes.

Patton got out of his costume and got into his fluffy pajamas, while Virgil was busy running back to Janus.

The two Lost Ones were busy drinking milkshakes, Patton in comfy clothes as they watched cartoons.

Arthur was busy disassociating for a bit as he stared at the screen. He hadn’t known where Patton was. Hadn’t known why he thought Patton was in trouble. He just knew it, and instead of using his star to get Dark’s attention and figure out why Patton was in trouble or where he was . . .

He was just there, and was down a victim.

For that moment Author had become something else and he wasn’t sure why that had happened or what he was. His eyes hurt too.

Author wasn’t sure why that was connected but it felt connected. And to hell if he was going to admit he couldn’t control his powers. His powers were the most powerful in the family. He wasn’t going to admit to Illinois or Dark that he couldn’t handle.

He would be fine.

The Author would be fine.

[staringdownabarrel]

So anyway, I saw Showgirls for the first time and I think it deserves a better reputation.

Let me put it this way. Let's say there's this movie from the '90s directed from Paul Verhoeven that got written off as dogshit at the time, but most of the critics were only looking at it on a very surface level, but anyone who digs deeper would realise there's a lot more happening here.

Most people who read that would go, "Oh yeah, you mean Starship Troopers, right?", and they'd be right to say that. That's absolutely a statement that applies to Starship Troopers and you should yell that from the hilltops if you have time. However, it also applies equally to Showgirls.

Because hey, this movie really does have a lot of social commentary. On one level, it's because the people who are drawn to sex work often aren't in the best socioeconomic positions--which is absolutely true, by the way. They often aren't. Even in the modern era when people are under the delusion that online sex work is the fast track to easy money, most people making content for OnlyFans are only making US$180 a month. Both back when the movie was made, a lot of people involved with sex work are/were probably doing some other thing plus sex work.

But also, I think the other aspect of this is a criticism of the American (and more broadly, the capitalist) dream in general. A lot of movies that are in the "underdog realises their dreams" genre tend to involve a character who has charisma, intelligence, and talent. Nomi doesn't have any of this. She has the bare minimum of intelligence and charisma required to get by as the main character in a movie, but she's never presented as being more talented than anyone else she's competing with.

In real life, a lot of the time when someone becomes successful, it's because they got lucky. I think Showgirls is a really good showcase of that, both because Nomi is marginally better at the nastier elements of the behind-the-scenes politics and because the managers tend to naturally like her a little more on a base level than some of her costars.

I think a lot of the trouble is that the backlash against this movie has been based around the sex. Like, when the movie came out, the critics were saying that it wasn't sexy enough, and that's informed how people think about it ever since. I don't really buy into that, though. I think that because a lot of the sex in this movie is centred around questions of consent--like, is this consensual under these circumstances? how about if they knew this is what would come next?--it's better if this isn't really a sexy movie in the same way some other sex thrillers from this period were.

Plus, I think this lack of sexiness tends to highlight some of the questions about the capitalist dream. If the sex isn't completely consensual for the sex worker who's on the verge of "making it", is it really consensual for the common worker of any variety who's about to "make it"? If you accept it isn't in this situation where the answers are a little more cut and dry than in other fields, what's the difference?

A lot of my response to Showgirls is based around how I tend to like Verhoeven's films in general. Part of the appeal of his movies, to me, is that while you can definitely interpret them through a left leaning lens, the main purpose of them is to encourage you to think a little. I think that's always been the problem with how people respond to this one. Even if they accept this is the general rule for a Verhoeven movie, they don't necessarily apply it to this one or go, "Oh, but this one doesn't count."

But anyway, I really liked Showgirls. I know basically nobody reads posts like these from me, but I'd highly encourage you all to go see it.

[todayisafridaynight]

Prior to sending the ask I was just guessing what matrophobia meant based on the root words but I looked it up after and went ohhhh and then you confirmed that extra dimension to it and I went OHHHHH

I think that gets to the heart of what I've been thinking about, that bittersweetness, because despite his best efforts... of course he could never end up anything like Yoko, but he still ended up with an abusive "household." Because in addition to Masato ending up how he did, he has to see those same situations play out, feel that same tension in the air between Jo and Ichi, over and over for almost a decade straight.

Like, in a way, he's forced to put himself in Toshio's shoes when that happens. He can't really get through to Jo, in the same way Toshio can't get through to Yoko, but he can try to step in before lasting damage is done, and he can try to make it bearable for his son. You know. Have a nice talk. Treat him to Peking duck. I'm SO normal about the (drawn-out) parallels of those scenes

So then with Jo... he kind of does become his father, even if he never wanted to (no one wants to), both through his ruinous neglect of Masato at birth and through how he comes to look at discipline and corporal punishment. I'm sure it's not lost on him in Masato's case (owww), but with Ichi, it's not like he has any reason to see him as his son... But How Far Can That Take You.

Because it's like, at the start, he was openly beating Ichi in front of Arakawa and not letting up much when Arakawa intervened. But then you have The Yubitsume Scene and Arakawa walking in on All That and... he looks sorry. Sorry for being caught, probably, but sorry nonetheless. Like... what changed between then and now... have you two had a Heartfelt Conversation... do you know where Arakawa got that scar... are you unable to change your "nature" even then...

Side note bro your SHOE is the size of his TORSO I promise you do not need to kick him with all the strength you've got like what the hell is this 😭😭😭

BUT ALL THAT ASIDE thank you so much for delving into the symbolism! Wonderful read. I don't really have an eye for symbolism, so that makes it all the more enjoyable to revisit the comic and everything with what you've gone into. I think a lot of your experiences resonate with mine, so conversely I'm not sure what others would take away from it, BUT I think there's enough there that's so insightful and evocative that it's effective without personal experience. I don't think there's anything I could add, so. Yeah. For once I am happy to sit back and take it all in... On that note, definitely looking forward to your next comic!

AUUUGH YEAAAH YEAHEYA HYEAH THAT EXACTLY OUUUGH OWIEE OWW.....

that's literally it though. like no extra notes. except The Obligatory Few i dont think it was an accident that arakawa is set up as the beginning of the game's 'protagonist' and planting that 'troubled family' taste first thing in our mind. i remember how i felt when i first saw arakawa walk in on jo and ichi and then arakawa taking ichi out for dinner i was just like🧍‍♂️Girl No The Cycle.... It's Continuing...... //screams// LIKE UGH IT WAS SO GOOD BUT ALSO OWWW STOPPP and then on the REPLAY it just hurts more cause with the added context to jo's character its like Oh No...... You're Your Father's Son....

and youre right: jo doesn't have an implicit reason to see how he treats ichi is wrong, hence he similarly doesnt have any reason to stop- not unless arakawa intervenes of course (and i will stand outside my window thinking of the possibility arakawa ever did try to have A Conversation with jo... arms folded behind my back and all like Man™️....)

oh but yeah, absolutely no problem ! im lowkey of an egotist so i do like to talk bout the stuff i make. More In Depth (though thats obvious considering the fuckin essays in the tags i always leave ☠️☠️) gerjlgaELKjg. so i was happy to explain ♪(´▽｀) !! what i like about symbolism is that it can be intentional or not, and the fun is always finding it just by chance. i cant explain it properly, but i just think its a neat 'seasoning' of sorts to drawings (❁´◡`❁)

[multifandomplushie]

I can fully understand your already giving up on any hope for a more complex depiction of Heaven in Hazbin Hotel, Adam in particular, since Viv really did screw up some really good development opportunities in Helluva Boss. But, I do think that, just from the potential-wise angle, Adam has some interesting material to work with and to make his character make sense.

Why is he sexist? His first gf left him for another (Adam pushed her away himself, but, since he was the first man ever created, at least some of the fault for his attitude towards Lilith likely lies in how the angels went about shaping his morality and behavior, or him being overly controlling was fabricated if we go by the theory that the story Charlie was told is just a lie told by Lucifer and Lilith to make themselves look like victims) and the second one disobeyed the will of their creator and induced Adam himself to do it together with her, which got them both in big trouble with Heaven and completely changed the order of things and faith of humanity.

P. S. Tbh, as a woman, I personally don't even find him that horrible of a "strawman misogynist" type. I've defenetly seen much worse and more shallow examples in other pieces of media (ex. dudes from High Guardian Spice) or Viv's other works (ex. Crimson from Helluva Boss). At least Adam, compared to these examples, in my opinion, feels entertaining enough thanks to his older Disney villains-like hamminess and a catchy af music number.

Why is he against the salvation for sinners and why he seems to enjoy wiping them out? There are quite a number of points that could brought into play:

- As you said here and in your post about Charlie's beliefs, many people in Hell are shown to be worthy of being there. So, it's relatively easy to sympathize with Adam and other angels being comfortable with having massacres of sinners - a number of these people are murders, killers, rapists and other vile things.

- As you noted, in actual beliefs Adam found redemption in God. Perhaps, the reason why he even managed to become an angel (in a high position no less), despite originally being a man who commited the first ever sin, is because that, after the Fall, he tried his absolute best to stay on God's good side? In that case, his line "Had their chance to behave better, now they boil in a pot" could be Adam's projecting his own life experience onto these humans. As if saying: "If I managed to live my human life as a law-abiding person and go to Haven, they could've too, but since they're in Hell, that means they've done bad enough things to deserve severe punishment." 

It could also explain why Adam has poor behavior as an angel: underneath the halo, wings, and white robe, it's still a flawed human being who might have had to bury even the most insignificant of his less than holy traits and desires in order to rehabilitate himself in the eyes of God after his act of disobedience, so now, when he managed to get into Heaven and take the position where hostile behavior is acceptable due to the nature of the work, he's finally letting out all the pumped up thoughts and feelings he's been carrying inside as this big inappropriate mess.

- The sin Adam commited was a big deal and the fact he butts in during Charlie and Lute's exchange about mistakes with a phrase "Yeah, I've never made a mistake in my fucking life", eventhough everyone knows he sure as heck did, could be an indicator of how much he wants to distance himself from that event, but the problem is that he passed the sin to all of his descendants - to all of humanity, which makes all of the sinners in Hell a result of that one mistake he did. And that could explain Adam being so hellbent on slaughtering sinners - he just wants to erase these constant reminders of fact he himself was not just a sinner, but the first sinner ever who, along with Eve, is a reason why people sin in the first place.

So, yeah, as you see, from what we've already got from Adam so far, there is a lot of potential for more than just a cartoony villain, but whether this potential will be unlocked by the show or it will be up to fandom to utilize this potential is yet to be seen. 

But, while I try to remain optimistic and hope that the reason behind angels being introduced in such a negative way is for Charlie to make the situation go from Heaven vs. Hell to Heaven 🤝 Hell, I can completely relate to the scepticism of the show's direction, since we've already had situations in Helluva Boss where Viv wasted potentials for characters to be more complex by fully turning them into strawmen and missed opportunities to make interesting conflicts by villainizing one side (to the point of gaslighting viewers into thinking their fair points are invalid) and completely justifying the other one (to the point of ignoring or sugarcoating their bad actions).

I Am Officially Disappointed With The Direction They Are Going With Heaven

Ever since the "Cherubs" episode happened, I wasn't confident that heaven would get as much nuance as the folks in hell and this shows with Adam I was right. It's really going to be the switch of heaven is just as evil or even more evil than hell, while hell is flawed but full of otherwise misunderstood people. This ignoring the fact that it's hell and many people there are show to be worthy of being there which includes Valentino and those guys in the aforementioned "Cherubs" episode.

I even was uneasy when the premise was first dropped and it was that heaven was sending these angels to slaughter which in my opinion always made no sense to me. If they don't care about sinners then why sent exterminators out and just make hell's king reside over them. Again it's questions like that made me realize that this world isn't as well thought of as Vivizepoop thinks it is. It also doesn't help the head exterminator is fuking Adam as in the ancestor of all humanity and the first sinner. I know in actual beliefs Adam did find redemption in God, but I wouldn't think enough to be made an angel because Angels biblically are purely created beings by God. Wouldn't he actually be vouching for more sinners to be saved since they are his descendants? It also doesn't help he's turned into a strawman misogynist because that's also original when depicting heaven.

And again revealing in the first fucking season that Charlie can visit heaven and that there is a war just reeks of rushed development. Instead of building up to it until probably the later seasons we are getting it all here, which makes you wonder what else can you do after that. After realizing that heaven isn't going to accept people in and having a war, where does it go from there. It really shows me Vivziepoop really doesn't think and just wants to get to the good stuff without earning it through slow development. This is why it's really going to be lackluster as heck.

Also it really feels like the focus on heaven will be like a shallow depiction thought of by one of those reddit atheists where they don't understand shit about theology but claim to be the best experts because they are former Christians. Just like with the goetia, she will cherry pick what she uses and then use her own interpretation. And from what I have seen how she interprets the sins, it's going to be a doozy especially if she does the cliche reverse and depicts all angels as evil with no depth.

All in all heaven is everything I was justifiably feared it will be and Vivziepoop will praised as so-called original when it's anything but that.

[certaincollectionlandblog]

Eddie Munson with a tall SO

Eddie sat at lunch with the hellfire club when his eyes caught sight of a pair of long sexy legs attached to a girl who had an even prettier face. She had her head thrown back mid laugh at something one of the cheerleaders had said. Eddie would have known if she was a cheerleader because Chrissy would have talked about you. Eddie wasn’t sure who she was, but he was determined to find out just exactly who she was. He in that very minute made you his new mission, who were you and how out of everyone in Hawkins did you catch his eye?

Eddie sat in his van after school working on planning the next campaign for the hellfire club when he heard the gym doors open and that angelic laugh he had heard at lunch again. His eyes jerked up to see you leaving the gym with some other girls who all had on basketball uniforms. He saw you wave goodbye to the girls and walk towards the sidewalk as the rest of the girls walked towards the parking lot. Before he could realize what came over him, he was out of the van and yelling “excuse me”. Before the words could even get fully outside of his mouth his face felt like it was on fire.

You turned around with a sweet smile and that angelic voice as you said an energetic “hello!”. Eddie caught off guard at the fact that you actually replied was caught looking at the way your mascara was a little roughed up and how your checks were flushed the most pretty of pinks.

“Hello? Eddie, are you okay?”

What the hell?! How did you know his name? Was he supposed to know yours? He didn’t think he knew you.

“What. Oh yeah I’m okay just a little dazed there for a second you know how school will rot your brain.”

You giggle. That darn giggle of yours is going to get him into trouble one day. You move closer standing directly in front of Eddie when he realizes that you’re actually taller than any girl he’s talked to. In fact you’re taller than him! It’s not that much of a difference, only a couple short inches.

“So… what did you yell at me for?” You say still giggling.

“Oh that. Yeah I saw you headed towards the sidewalk and was wondering if you needed a ride home after basketball?”

“Wow Eddie that’s really sweet! Yeah if you don’t mind that would be awesome!”

“Yeah no problem! Couldn’t let a pretty lady like you walk home all alone. I hate to say this, but I don’t know your name”.

“Oh silly me! It’s Y/N! I just figured you knew who I was. I went to the same middle school as you, except I was shorter then and about two years below you. We used to hangout sometimes in music room. Once we reached high school I started basketball and then I don’t remember us ever hanging our again.” You said sounding a little disheartened.

“Oh. Ohhh. That was you! What happened to you? You look so different? I didn’t even recognize you, I thought you moved away!”

“Eddie silly I grew up” you laughed.

“Yeah I can tell!” He threw his head back laughing.

The whole ride home you and Eddie reconnected and it felt like everything was right in the universe again. You and Eddie promised to hangout again, he even agreed to come see some of your games. After that night you and Eddie became inseparable. You and Eddie soon found yourselves becoming more than friends. He would get jealous at other guys who cheered for you at the games. Sometimes in those late hours of the night he wondered how your legs would feel wrapped around him and what it would be like to kiss all the way up them. By the time Christmas had rolled around you and Eddie had officially become a couple.

Eddie became obsessed with your butt and how conveniently places it was. So close he often slipped his hand into your back pockets when you were walking together. He worshiped your legs, but he absolutely adored your thighs. Nothing could stop Eddie once he started on his mission of marking your thighs up with love bites. The sex was incredible. Eddie felt like he was losing his mind every single time you two got it on.

You loved being able to kiss him at any time without having to lean up or bend down. It was perfect! Eddie treated you like an absolute queen! Worried about wearing heels out? No problem Eddie’s going to show you just how much he loves you in those heels as soon as he gets his hands on you.

Eddie loved every second he spent with you. More importantly Eddie loved every single inch of you too!

[hawkinsharlot]

Can you make an argyle fan fic where they go on a road trip together :)

of course!! i love this idea :D

(also i didn't read through this, sorry for any grammar errors!)

“wherever the road takes us”

word count; 2.5k

cw; weed use

Ever since you started your freshman year, it had been an ongoing joke in your family that you have had senior-itis since day one of high school. Honestly? This wasn't too far off from the truth, to be blunt. School was the biggest thorn in your side for as long as you could remember. Every aspect of the godforsaken place just made you cringe thinking back onto it. Getting up stupid early in the morning just to go to sit in a class room and try not to conk out as soon as the teacher started speaking. The lecture was like a goddamn horse tranquilizer, droning on and on for what seemed like hours.

All the days seemed to melt into one another into one giant glob of pure, oozing awful. How you made it this far was beyond your line of thinking, but just as soon as you thought about fleeing the country, there was a small glimmer of hope at the end of the looming tunnel of the school year.

Spring break.

God, how could you forget about spring break?! Was it the countless bowls and joints your lungs and brain had endured due to your stress, or the countless sleepless nights of homework? Who knew and who even cared? It's spring break now!

It took you absolutely no time to find your way to your friends once school had let out. Once that final bell rang, the outdoor corridors were full with eager students racing to get out of school and into some trouble. You were no exception among your peers, that was certain. There was always some sort of buzzing excitement that vibrated in the air when school let out for break. It seemed now that everyone could finally breathe, not just the students, but all the teachers too.

Taking a small shortcut through the back, you came to the parking of the school and spotted that old familiar pizza van. Your expression almost ached from how hard you had been grinning as you practically skipped on your feet over to the passenger side door. Flinging open the door, you found Argyle sitting there in a cloud of smoke before joining him in his little hotbox.

"God," you coughed, the smoke filling your lungs as you slammed the door shut behind you, "Already?" Your comment earned a laugh from Argyle as he nodded sluggishly. "It's break," he laughed again, shrugging a bit before leaning back, "speaking of break, man, are you all packed and ready? Can't have an adventure if you're not at least a few steps 'head," you nodded with his question, "I can grab it when we swing by my place, yeah?" Argyle nodded, a dimpled grin on his expression before he finally took the car out of park and started pulling out of the lot, "Sounds like a plan," and with that, one last stop before the week long trip.

~~~

By some divine luck, the trip back to your house went all smoothly as you and Argyle were now headed on your adventure.

Looking back, you don't even remember how the topic was brought up. It was during one of you and Argyle's late night smoke session that you both came upon the idea of a week long road trip. You didn't know all the fine details of the plan, but that's all part of the fun, right? Besides, ever since becoming friends with Argyle, you'd been trying your damn hardest to loosen up a bit and not be so hard on yourself about certain things. If a country wide road trip over spring break was the answer to your problems, then you just booked yourself a one way ticket to having all your issues solved.

You decided to pack light, only using a small backpack to hold all your clothing. All your... recreational things were nicely tucked away into a small tote bag, both of which were now safely tucked into the back of the van. With everything all packed and yourself in the front along side Argyle, your journey was now officially started.

"Look in the glove box if you get sick of my music," Argyle commented as you two made your way out of town and to wherever the wind would take you next. "There might be a Blondie tape in there if you look hard enough," he glanced to you as he spoke, a slight dimpled grin on his face. You couldn't help but grin at him, "Nah, this is perfect," because it was perfect! You couldn't hear this song without thinking of Argyle anymore. "Pass the dutchie" was one of those tunes the two of you never seemed to get tired of.

One of the bigger things you feared about this trip was running out of things to talk about. You weren't the most anxious person alive, sure, and you and Argyle had been friends for a little over two years now, but there was still that nagging feelings that the both of you would run out of things to talk about on the trip and resort to having to talk about things like the weather or some dumb shit like that. But now that you were actually here and on the road, that fear had completely vanished from your brain. You barely noticed how three hours seemingly melted away right in front of you. I guess when you're with the right person, everything seems better.

Three hours later, you found yourself nearing the Nevada boarder finally. You'd taken it upon yourself to be the navigator of this trip, making sure you don't end up too off course. "We should be in Nevada in the next hour or so." While looking for the Blondie tape, you found one of those huge ass maps in the glove compartment and spent the next half and hour pouring over the thing. The oddest things are interesting while high.

"Nevada? Isn't that where the government keeps all their aliens and spaceships and shit?" you laugh a little at his comment, nodding along, "Uh-huh, 'parently so. Why, wanna get abducted?"

He laughs a little, "No way! Who wants a little green man sticking a probe in all your holes? I'm not into that, man,"

You snorted, nearly choking on the soda you were taking a sip from. "Little green men?" You mention between coughing laughs, "Yeah man! And holes! It's freaky shit, dude,"

Sweet laughter came from the both of you as you drove on, going closer to the Nevada boarder, hopefully avoiding any little green men in the process.

~

It was another hour and a half before you finally crossed into Nevada. It's almost like the universe knew it too, letting you and Argyle arrive just in time to park the car a bit off road and enjoy the sunset together. Argyle opened the back of the van, giving you and him a nice little area to sit and pass a blunt while watching the sunset. Both of your highs had been wearing off slowly over the last few hours, so the blunt was a treat for the both of you

You weren't entirely sure if it was the weed or the lighting, but the entire evening seemed sweet and savory. Especially how the sunlight hit Argyle. You envied the sunlight in that moment, watching it kiss Argyle's dimpled cheek as it's vibrant rays made him glow. You watched the way he took a drag from the blunt, it was almost hypnotic.

"You want another hit?" His voice had broken you from your stupor, "I was gonna finish it off but then I saw the way you were lookin' at the thing," he gently passed it too you, his finger tips brushing yours as you quietly took another hit. Argyle smiled a bit as you took a drag. "Hittin' you pretty hard huh? You're all quiet," you passed the blunt back, scooting closer to him in the process. "Am I?" you grinned, laughing at nothing as you rested up against him, hugging his arm and resting your head on his shoulder. He didn't seem to mind, only smiling softly as he finished off the blunt and let the roach fall to the ground.

In that moment, there seemed to be some sort of shared feeling between you and Argyle. You both melted into one another as the sun bid it's last farewell and sank behind the Nevada mountains.

No words were shared as Argyle's hand rested on one of your arms that were wrapped around his. There you two sat in a plume of smoke, quietly enjoying one another's company before you'd be out on the road again. A part of you didn't want this to end, but you knew there'd be more opportunities like this on the road, right? Another few minutes of bliss had passed before you and Argyle got back on the road again.

~

It was back on the road! Conversations were a million times better when high, especially between you and Argyle. Leave it up to the both of you to find the most outlandish, niche topics to talk about and pick apart. Everything made sense in your states right now. Laughter between you two was plenty and rich. And sometimes painful, you couldn't remember the last time you had laughed this hard.

The topic landed back to Nevada again. You and Argyle couldn't help but count how many "alien jerky" signs you came across, and every single time, it sent you both into laughing fits. Life is rosy and warm at the moment, shamelessly laughing as your eyes land back onto Argyle. You always loved his dimples when he smiled or laughed, especially right now. You were calming down from your little laughing fit when you just couldn't seem to pull your gaze off of Argyle. His long, dark locks that framed his handsome face. You squint in the grainy darkness a bit, doing your best to make out any of the fine details of his face.

"You gonna fall asleep on me?" he joked a bit. "Who's gonna make sure I don't get lost?" you shook your head, now shamelessly staring at him. "Nah, I'm okay. I'm staying up to make sure you don't smoke all our weed." you smack his arm playfully.

Despite the weed, you managed to keep awake for the next few hours. Around the 5th or 6th hour into the trip, you decided it was time to call it a night and park in a spot at the nearest rest stop. It seemed to just be you guys there. Still in Nevada, there was seemingly nothing for miles and miles. Other than the flickering light of a near by light poll, it was nothing but darkness and the desert for what seemed like forever. It felt like you and Argyle were the only people on the planet.

The back of the van was cozy. The coarse shag carpet was covered with a nice layer of blankets and pillow to make sure you two slept soundly. A soft blanket was draped over your frame as you watched Argyle roll another blunt. No windows or doors open this time, you two were hot boxing this bitch. Your eyes settled on his focused expression as his fingers worked. He put the blunt between his lips and flicked a lighter. You watched him dreamily as the flickering flame lit up and illuminated his features for a few precious moments. The only light in the van now, besides the light sneaking in from the windows, was the dimly glowing blunt. His eyes landed on you as he exhaled the smoke, raising his brow to ask if you wanted a hit. Nodding, you scoot right up to him again, cuddling up against his side as you took the blunt.

The cuddling was natural for Argyle. He was never a person to push away someone who got all cozy with him. Especially someone like you. He didn't say anything about it, not ever. He only wrapped his arm around your waist and pulled you closer to him as he watched you take a hit.

Your attention was put towards drawing the smoke from the blunt. You didn't notice how Argyle looked at you, how his eyes traced over your features and settled at your lips. He blinked, those big brown eyes simply smitten as he sat there with is lips slightly parted. You exhale, the smoke unraveling from your lips as your eyes meet Argyle's again.

You give him a little grin, passing the blunt to him again before you lean in and give him a small peck on the cheek. It wasn't the first time you had ever done that, but it always made your heart beat out of your chest whenever you did. Little did you know, you had the same effect on your dear friend Argyle. He couldn't hide his smile as the arm around your waist pulled you closer into him.

He went in to return the favor, only, in his high state, he missed your cheek and kissed right at the corner of your mouth. A half-kiss.

You both immediately pause.

You didn't need light to know how flustered the both of you were right now. It took Argyle a moment before he was able to fumble a few words out.

"Sorry- I tried you know uhm... On your cheek," he made his best efforts to explain, but your grin only got wider and your face only got more heated. "You missed."

Argyle blinked a bit with confusion. "Huh?" the confusion seemingly knocked the embarrassment right out of him as he processed what you were saying. "Missed?" he echoed back

Hesitantly, you leaned in. Argyle didn't back away, only looking at you with those big brown puppy eyes as you leaned in and planted a gentle peck on his lips. He only looked back with even more confusion than before. Your heart dropped into your stomach for a split moment. Had you read him wrong? Was there something wrong that you did? Your mind was racing.

Before you knew it, you were practically sitting in Argyle's lap as you pulled you into his lap. His lips found their way to any part of your face they could. His lips were soft, covering your face and your lips as many times as you'd let him. You couldn't help but break into happy laughter as the kisses tickled your face, soon gaining enough confidence to kiss back when his lips found his way to yours once again. The blunt was already in the ashtray as he wrapped his arms around you in a warm embrace. Your hands rested right on his face, gently cupping him by his cheeks. You pulled away after a few more kisses, looking at him through a half lidded gaze.

"You wanted to do that too?" you chuckle, twirling a strand of his hair as you admired his face. He let his head go forward, nestling his face in the crook of your neck. You felt his lips sneak a few kisses on your soft skin.

"Why wouldn't I?" he was an absolute fiend for affection, planting more and more kisses on your neck. "You're like... You're you, you know?" You laugh softly, running your fingers through his hair. You only just discovered it, but Argyle loves being doted on. And you'd definitely be here to give the pretty boy all the love and attention he wants.

[kindnessinsilver]

I do have a 7 page writeup of all my thoughts that sort of fades out around the end with all the swords, but I never posted it.

Some of the interesting things I found is that I'm starting to be fond of cards that are traditionally seen as negative or problem children: the tower and 10 of Swords.

I appreciate your take on it! I didn't ever get to a full overview reading because I wore myself out on the specifics, and it's interesting to see someone else's perspective.

I will share my notes from Pillars of Virtues and Vices bc I found those enlightening:

Pillar of Virtues: The cards descending from above the eye from 14 to 17 are the first of the pillar of virtues. These are gifts and passions to be proud of; know the four virtues you are shown, that you may be proud of them. Descending from below the eye from 18 to 21 are likewise four cards in the pillar of virtues to know well; you should nourish them, as they are at present only seeds of virtues that may someday exist. Consider how these virtues might grow in your heart, and whether some should grow more than others.

Ace of Cups, Ace of Swords, The World, 2 of Swords

4 of Coins, The Moon, King of Cups, Knight of Swords

Virtues I already have: Looking for clarity and logic, the beginning stages of relationships and friendships, accomplishing my goals and finding spiritual fulfillment, making decisions and… taking my time, maybe?

I think I agree with this list, and I’m heartened to see the aces involved here. I definitely think I’m great at finding new friends and potential datemates. The follow-through could use some work.

Virtues to nurture: Frugality, sitting with uncertainty, finding fulfillment and joy in relationships specifically, “moving swiftly with ruthless logic.” Both of these ending on swords I don’t understand very well is definitely interesting. This might be saying I need to be more like the knight of swords: decisive, cutting into situations to find the truth without being held back by too much emotion/fear.

This set I also agree with.

Pillar of Vices: The cards that trail behind the eye, moving towards, through, and away from it on the flat plain from 22 to 29 are the pillar of vices; consider what lies in your past, and how it may make trouble for you in the future. Resolve to avoid these vices -- or if you cannot avoid them, to embrace and understand them. Not all vices are sins; some can be useful tools, and others may at least be useful weapons. Remember them as much as, if not more than, your virtues. Never let them guide you.

2 of Cups, The Lovers, 7 of Cups, 9 of Cups, The Chariot, Judgment, 7 of Coins, 5 of Wands

Man this whole set is a little rude and a lot overwhelming. Having the Lovers AND 2 of Cups in this same set is just… yeah, rude. Did you have to say the same thing twice to make sure I didn’t ignore it? As a vice, the Lovers is about unresolved duality inside myself and resisting wholeness. But maybe it’s also about me looking for the whole “other half” situation and that’s not something I need to find to be whole. Ah, looking at Maggie’s notes clears up the 2 of Cups possible meaning. “When you get into an all-consuming relationship like this, you need to remember who you are and what you believe in.” I have absolutely been guilty of folding myself inside a relationship, becoming small, and making my personality fit someone else. I need to keep an eye on that tendency.

7 of Cups is obvious, at least to me. This one comes up for me a lot. Unwise choices, leaping into choices to avoid the discomfort of not knowing. Getting caught up in having too many choices and getting stuck. (Just look at my shiny red sports car.) The Chariot (card 7 in the major arcana) fits in perfectly for me with this same idea. Not good at balance or self-control. See also 7 of Coins. Damn, beat a dead horse, won’t you?

9 of cups is absolutely not obvious. My only thought is that the cards are telling me I’m spending too much time looking for some perfect relationship that can’t exist. I don’t know if that’s one I’m ever going to get rid of entirely, so it’s definitely a harness situation.

Judgment: Am I too stuck in looking back at the past, or do I never do it?

5 of Wands: Seems to fit in with the 7s. This one though is about defending myself and my methods. Maybe I get too fighty?

The Four Royal Advisors - 1.1.23

So today I did a 78 card tarot spread for the first time, and in my infinite wisdom, I decided to use The Four Royal Advisors spread by @copperbadge

There is nothing wrong with this spread, to be clear. It’s just complex and I’m not as back in practice as I would like to be. I’ve been wanting to try this spread for a couple years, and this year I got back into tarot in a big way. This was the year, I was totally ready. (Spoiler: I was maybe not ready). There are a lot of really neat notes and useful resources provided for this that make a daunting prospect easier.

I used The Raven’s Prophecy tarot deck, art and guidebook by Maggie Stiefvater (surprising probably no one who has glanced at my blog in the past couple months.)

I’ll hopefully remember to post some more details at some point in the near future, but here we are, 4 hours, 1 meal, not enough breaks or water later. I have 5 typed pages of notes and that’s with unfinished thoughts on the Ascent and the Journey. I’m going to return to those tomorrow when I don’t hate everything about cards and words. 78 cards is a lot to process and read together when the biggest spread you’ve done is about 13.

[hitnran]

OBSESSIVE EX (gender neutral! reader)

how they deal with you having an obsessive ex

includes: ran, rindou

CW: obsessive behavior, cursing, stalking (ran), phone harassment (rindou), the haitani brothers lowkey kinda scary here (not to the reader) 💀 but i’m just trying to make it fit within their character

— RAN HAITANI

Getting into a relationship with someone like Ran, half of the charismatic brother duo that ruled Roppongi, almost means guaranteed safety wherever you go. His title itself is one that is feared when murmured. Whenever you two leave, he always has an eye and a hand on you. Ran knows well that even if he is feared, he can also be challenged and the last thing he wants is for you to get involved — you would make an easy target for his enemies.

You two were out together on a stroll around the city. Although there was nothing neither of you needed, Ran’s favorite thing is showing you off. Sometimes you start to feel similar to his younger brother, thinking that you’re just a shadow and only known as ‘Ran’s partner.’ But Ran’s intentions were opposite. He wanted everyone to know that it was him that belonged to you and it is him that people would have to deal with if you were ever tested.

As you two are walking, Ran noticed your eyes consistently checking itself to the side. He took note of that and eventually brushed it off since you stopped. But then he noticed that you were being especially keen and scanning the whole area.

“Are you okay, love?” Ran slightly hunches down, getting your attention as your face turns his way. He lightly smiles at you. “Did you see something you liked?”

You swallowed down hard. You could’ve sworn you saw a familiar face, but after trying to scan the area numerous times for the past few minutes, you thought it was just you being paranoid. The last thing you wanted was to worry Ran and cause a scene.

“I’m okay,” You shook your head, returning a light smile. You grabbed on his arm, this time a little tighter. “Let’s turn into this corner.”

Ran knows when you’re lying. He knew something made you uncomfortable, but he wasn’t going to force you to tell him. Instead, he’ll make it his own problem too and deal with it himself.

This area was his territory and everyone knew it. It was almost as if Roppongi, a city known for liveliness, calmed down ever so slightly if one or both of the brothers were out. Everyone’s gaze wound be kept low and their conversations would go mute as they walk by.

At that moment, Ran could feel a pair of eyes staring your way. He won’t make it obvious though.

“Love,” Ran called out to you. You looked up his direction and he placed a hand against your lower back. “Rindou’s gonna throw a fit if I don’t bring back food for him. How about you go into the restaurant and order first while I call him and ask what he wants?”

You felt at ease hearing that you two were finally going to be in somewhere indoors, but it made you nervous that he would be separated from you for just a little while.

“Don’t wanna bring something back he won’t like and have him complain,” Ran lightly laughed, trying to ease your clear discomfort. He placed a hand over your head. Taking out his phone to add to his act. “I’ll be quick.”

After some hesitation, you gave in. It was a public space after all, so it shouldn’t have been anything to worry too much about. He watched as you entered the place before turning around, sending chills to the person who had been following you two around this whole time.

“Would be a shame if I left them alone for too long, wouldn’t it?” Ran gave off a sinister grin, slowly walking towards the person. “Wouldn’t want anyone to take them away…especially someone like you.”

Ran knew who this person was. He was an obsessive ex of yours that just would not leave you alone and accept the separation despite it being years passed. He gulped hard, nervously stepping back, not thinking that he would get caught.

“You were so bold to even follow us in the first place, why so shy now?” Ran smirked, hiking up the sleeves of his sweatshirt. “This is the first time you’ve heard of me or something? I should introduce myself to you well and hard then.”

Almost ten minutes had passed since you’ve been waiting for Ran. You sat patiently and waited. Your best guess as to what’s taking him so long revolves around Rindou. Maybe he was complaining about how he wanted food from a different place or being picky about menu opinions. Just as you were about to raise yourself from your seat to check up on Ran, you saw him enter.

“Did I make you wait too long?” Ran appeared, seating himself in front of you. The worse case scenario you had in mind was that he got into a fight, but in front of you, he looked just as how you last saw him. “You know how Rindou is.”

Your chest became relaxed and you gave a small smile, shaking your head, “What did he want from here?”

“I didn’t even listen to what he said,” Ran teased, opening up his menu and leaning back against the chair. You felt his legs sandwich your calves from beneath the table. “He can order it himself. All my money is going to you today.”

And that was how Ran liked it. Although Ran wanted everyone to know that he belonged to you, he knew how important it was for others to know that you belonged to him too. The image of the face of your ex is burned so clearly into his brain — face all bloodied up, mauled almost, as he failed to even whisper for forgiveness.

“I think there’s only one way I’m gonna let you outta here alive,” Ran kicked his body down with force, hearing something shift in his jaw. He couldn’t give half a damn about it. “Do you know what that is?”

Your ex was visibly beaten and weak now, barely able to even blink or properly form a sentence. Though, with his adam’s apple slightly moving from fear, Ran took it as a response.

Grabbing him by his hair upward, Ran bent down, looking straight at him, “You’re gonna leave them alone and never show your goddamn face again. If it wasn’t fucked already before, it sure is now. I promise you I’ll know if you’re even barely visible or a mile away, I won’t hesitate to kill you.”

Ran thought it was so disgusting how someone like you could ever have your time wasted on someone low like this ex of yours. Even if Ran saw him and his brother above everyone else, he always put you above him.

“Maybe even after this, I’ll send one of my men to go and beat the shit out of you every day so you could suffer for as long as you’ve tried to bother Y/N.”

— RINDOU HAITANI

Rindou can’t even remember what it took for you two to even reach this state of your guys relationship. He convinced himself that it was Ran, his older brother who wouldn’t shut up about how he was going to take you if Rindou didn’t make a move.

It genuinely surprises himself even whenever he looks your way, observing every detail and soaking in the idea that you are someone he can call his.

You two were watching a movie, or rather, supposed to. Rindou was too focused on side-eyeing you every now and then. You caught him a few times, but he would brush it off with comments like “this movie is boring” or “I’m just checking to see if you fell asleep.”

He would snap himself out of a trance after hearing your phone ring beside you. You eyed it once, looking at the caller ID and ignoring it. It wasn’t enough to cause Rindou to worry - it’s not his problem if you just didn’t wanna answer a call, it was your guys’ time anyway.

But then it rang once more again. Your ringtone dragged itself out halfway through before Rindou slightly raised his hand from your hip, pointing to the phone on the side of the couch.

“You not gonna answer that?” He asked.

You shook your head, eyes focused on the TV, “It’s fine. It’s an unknown caller ID.”

Rindou shrugged, ignoring it once again, but after a few more calls and your phone receiving back to back text messages, it was starting to irk him. He was close to just grabbing your phone and answering the call himself, but you were quick to act before him, just shutting it off.

“It must be spam or something,” You sighed, sitting back down.

“Yeah, well whatever it is, good thing you shut that damn thing off. That shit was annoying,” Rindou sighed, curling his arms around you again. “Let’s change the movie too or something. This one is boring.”

One thing about dating Rindou is that he seems uninterested in absolutely everything he does. Although you avoid thinking like that when it comes to your relationship with him, you always remind yourself that Rindou is someone who deeply cares for you. He shows it very differently compared to others, but you know.

He can recall a memory from a few weeks ago where you kept getting calls in the middle of your guys’ date. It annoyed him, but not as much as it annoyed you. You’ve pressed the red decline button at least five times now, stressing over it and spilling out everything about your previous ex.

At the end of your rant, Rindou grabbed your phone, picking up the call and saying words as simple as “leave them alone.” It was so simple, but for the next few weeks, it was silent. You finally thought you were free of harassment thanks to your boyfriend, but recently, they’ve been coming back as unknown caller IDs and more frequent than before.

Halfway through the movie, Rindou felt your body become more loose and relaxed beneath him. Your breath became slower and more steady. You had fallen asleep. He thought it was ironic to have someone as angelic as you in the arms of someone like him - a gang member always involving himself in trouble, even just for fun.

He stared at your phone just a reach away and then back at you. The last thing Rindou wanted was for you to be uncomfortable, or really, anything that isn’t where you aren’t happy.

When you woke up, the TV was shut off and you felt a blanket drape over your body. You realized you had fallen asleep from earlier, but you were expecting to find your boyfriend with you as well. That was when the door swung open and you were greeted with Rindou.

“Rindou?” You slowly let out, still adjusting from waking up. “I didn’t know you left.”

He raised a bag up midway in the air, it’s a bag from a bakery you often bought from, “You kept murmuring about it in your sleep. Didn’t want you to wake up all grumpy.”

“I don’t wake up grumpy!” You protested, watching as he took his seat next to you and unpacking all of your favorites.

“Yeah, okay,” Rindou joked. He listened to you puffing out before wrapping yourself around his arm.

“Thank you though,” You murmured out of embarrassment - maybe he was half right.

“It’s nothing,” He replied, softening his face into a grin. “Must’ve been hungry though if it got you talking in your sleep and drooling on my arm.”

You didn’t even know about half of the things he does for you, but he didn’t mind it, because if you were happy, then that was all that mattered.

It made Rindou feel guilty to turn on your phone and look through it. It wasn’t something that he ever felt the need to do - he trusted you and it felt wrong if you weren’t aware that he was using it. Though, at this time, he felt like it was for the better.

While you were silently sleeping, he browsed through your texts. It’s that same person - your ex back again to bother you. Rindou scoffed, making sure it wasn’t loud enough to wake you up, but he was angry. He clicked his tongue whilst composing a message.

Rindou knew you would never be so stupid as to meet up with someone like this, especially not after already experiencing it once. It was a good thing that it was just Rindou posing as you though. How delighted your ex felt to have finally received a response to you - ‘Let’s meet up here.’

Rindou thought it was so pathetic. This guy had no idea what he looked like, let alone that you even had a boyfriend. So when Rindou’s immediate reaction upon seeing him was to throw a punch, he was shocked.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” Your ex cried out, trying his best to dodge his attacks but failing in between his words and attempts.

“Me?!” Rindou snapped, pushing him to the ground and twisting his arms. “Speak for yourself.”

The man beneath him screamed in pain, “I-I’ll call the cops on you and have you arrested!”

“Yeah? You think they’ll give me less time if I tell them I was just trying to teach a creep a lesson?” Rindou pulled back on his arms a little harder, tendons and muscles stretching themselves out of place.

“T-The hell are you talking about?!” He stuttered out.

“Don’t bitch around. Might end yourself up in there if you keep this act of yours up - I’ve been once before,” Rindou smirked, pulling back more and more on his arms. “It was fine for me. My big bro and I even got some respect while in there, so what’s gonna happen when they hear about your name from me? You’re fresh meat to them.”

“W-Who even are you?!”

Rindou scoffed, “The same guy who warned you once to leave Y/N alone. I should’ve honestly went to find you myself personally and beat the shit out of you, but I hate wasting my time.”

Your boyfriend let the man go. If his arms weren’t all bent out of place and dislocated, he’d be crawling away by now. It was a sight that Rindou would laugh at. Upon seeing that his phone had fallen out of his pocket, the same phone used to consistently harass you, Rindou stomped down hard, breaking it into bits and pieces.

“Don’t waste my time again. Next time you do, call the cops, I promise you I won’t care if they catch me killing you,” Rindou turned his back around.