#(at least not after the marriage)

[wombywoo]

civvies

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Council of lovefools.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[myokk]

Being this close to her mother, Eloise was struck by their physical similarities. As a young girl, it had been impossible to see, but now that she was a young woman they were striking. She felt as if she were looking in a mirror, but a twisted mirror: everything that was warm about her appearance was turned cold in her mother: hazel eyes to a frigid silver, unruly brown hair to straight black; her mother’s skin was somehow even more pale than Eloise’s, as if she were cut from marble. Everything soft about Eloise was made sharp in her mother, and Eloise wondered what had made her this way. She was terrified that in twenty years’ time, the two of them would be indistinguishable.

Had Elladora Black always been like this? Eloise couldn’t imagine any time when her mother might have smiled, or even huffed in quiet laughter. No moments where she had been caught staring at her husband with love and warmth in her eyes. Eloise had only ever known her as an ambitious, cold woman who was always striving towards some goal, even if it was known only to her.

Someone couldn’t spend their whole life like that, could they? Even growing up at the manor, Eloise had always had Leo to confide in and love unconditionally. Had her mother ever had something - or someone - like that?

“Soon, we will be the family we were always meant to be,” Eloise’s mother said, causing Eloise to startle out of her thoughts and stare her mother in the eyes. They were filled with longing. They were mesmerizing. Eloise shivered under the intensity, but couldn’t tear her eyes away. “Soon, we will be back on our way to being the most prominent pureblood family in Britain, with the help of you and your brother. You can’t fail us. You can’t.”

From chapter 23 of my fic, Before It Felt Like A Sin

this post is dedicated to @elliecutte the only other person who is as crazy about Elladora Black as I am😌🙏

[brainrot-jikan]

yunli/yanqing won't leave my brain, they dislike each other sooo much there's so much potential. consider: arranged marriage au.

yunli begrudgingly agrees but then she meets yanqing and he's weak bodied and weak willed and always running from fights and just the WORST. so she tries to get out of it but her grandfather reminds her a swordsman doesn't go back on their word, so that route's out because she's too prideful to back down. but what she's NOT too prideful to do is to formally object to the marriage in the same way an outside suitor would:

challenge yanqing to a duel over her own hand in marriage.

that's absolutely not what that rule is there for, but when yunli says, "oh really? where's the rule that says i can't, huh?" they can't find one. so everyone involved tells yanqing to just not accept the duel because it's barely legitimate anyway, it won't reflect badly on him… except he absolutely accepts the duel because he's PISSED she's calling his strength and honor into question and marrying this girl wasn't even his idea in the first place, who does she think she is? so he agrees in the heat of the moment, and then realizes later that he's being pulled into her childish pace and he's embarrassed, but he can't back down now. and how dare she be so selfish, their union is for the good of other people, and he'd be a perfectly good husband! he's capable and well mannered and smart and has a good job and has a good reputation, and look at HER, no manners and always saying the first rude thing that comes to mind and she doesn't even wear SHOES. HE should be the one objecting to this marriage.

but he's too responsible, and the reasons they're getting married are good and honorable and will help tie their people together or whatever, blah blah you know the trope. so instead of getting married, they start to prepare for their duel, and everyone around them is just so, so tired

[puppyeared]

Was nobody gonna warn me that I would fall a little bit in love with every character in Stardew

[wonder-worker]

I've been thinking about the tragedy of Elizabeth Woodville living to see the end of her family name.

I don't mean her family with her husband, which lived on through her daughter and grandson. I mean her own.

Her sisters died, one by one, many of them after 1485. When Elizabeth died, only Katherine was left, and she would die before the turn of the century as well.

All her brothers died, too. Lewis died in childhood. John was executed. Anthony was murdered. Lionel died suddenly in the peak of Richard's reign, unable to see his niece become queen. Edward perished at war. Richard died in grieving peace. For all the violence and judgement the family endured, it was "an accident of biology" that ended their line: none of the brothers left heirs, and the Woodville name was extinguished. We know the family was aware of this. We know they mourned it, too:

“Buy a bell to be a tenor at Grafton to the bells now there, for a remembrance of the last of my blood.”

Elizabeth lived through the deposition and death of her young sons, and lived to see the end of her own family name. It must have been such a haunting loss, on both sides.

[swordmaid]

i am wide awake thinking about that post canon jb au again when I should be sleeping …!!! such is the nature of the jbrainrot…

[mylittleredgirl]

i'm so charmed by the letter trapper gets back from his wife in "kim"

louise mcintyre is hilarious actually

[tricoufamily]

a current day nils and a 90s college student nils who's way too intense about his internship walk into a bar

[blackknight-100]

So I was rereading the Dushyanta and Shakuntala story, and I just noticed the worst thing ever. Every mortal couple in Hindu Mythology that anyone ever called the "definition of true love" has been sundered from one another in at least one version, and usually this involves the woman being innocent and the man being either duty-bound or a jerk.

Krishna has to leave Vrindavan and Radha for Mathura. I whole-heartedly believe this was inevitable unless Radha left Vrindavan, so I don't take Krishna-slander regarding this but. They never really get together together after that so Idk tbh.

Rama, of course, does the whole Agni-Pariksha thing, even if we don't take the Uttar Kand, and if we do, he goes from reputation-obsessed questionable man to utter jerk who absolutely doesn't deserve to be called Purushottam.

And although Kalidasa did an excellent job of making Dushyanta and Shakuntala's story one of star-crossed lovers, in most other cases, Dushtyanta (in an effort to pull a Rama) outright lies and calls Shakuntala a harlot in open court when she asks him to help raise their son. The only good thing about that "love" story is the ABSOLUTE Tongue-Lashing (TM) Shakuntala gives him. Other than that, it's basically a man coercing a sheltered woman into doing the deed, later trying to humiliate her in public when asked to take accountability, and then passing it off as 'upholding her reputation.'

Honestly, we have so many good love stories I did not expect these to be the benchmark of love 🥲🫠

[eternal-echoes]

Several people have pointed out Twilight's interrupted thoughts here and were wondering what Twilight was going to say before Anya and Yuri cut off his train of thought.

I think I can speculate to what they are.

In both cases, Twilight seems to allude to his job as a spy. In the cruise arc, Twilight saying "And that's why I -" was in silent response to Yor saying, "I hope this peace can last forever" which is the reason why he became a spy and in the Winston Wheeler arc, he was saying, "which is why-" after he was reflecting on his defeat from Wheeler, who was much stronger than him, while also looking at Yor's beautiful face. Tbh, he was looking at Yor in both cases.

It's been running theme in the series that he's not aware of his own feelings for Yor (and Anya) and anything he does for them he just say that "it's for the mission." But what if he's actually aware of his own developing feelings for Yor, as evidence from his conversation with Franky after Franky's failed date with Monica.

He knows his romantic feelings for Yor are there, but as a spy and people who live in the shadows, he has to suppress them for the sake of the better world. So when he was drinking with Franky that time, he tried to nip his developing feelings for Yor. He tried to flush them away with alcohol. Because if he trusts someone, it could end his life.

As a spy working towards world peace, that is one thing he cannot afford to lose.

Also considering that in the last arc, Fiona pointed out that he's been losing his edge:

This is due to that he got beaten up by Wheeler after he duked it out with Yuri, which wasn't just physically exhausting but also emotionally draining as well BECAUSE of Yuri's relationship with Yor - what he loves about Yor (excellent mothering) and what he admires about the Briar sibling (sibling bond) - he almost destroyed.

He was so weak during his fight with Wheeler because of Yor.

Because he cannot afford to lose his life because as a spy working on Operation Strix that would risk losing the peace between East and West, which prevents children from crying - which is the whole reason he became a spy in the first place, he would have to make a huge sacrifice in order to keep aligning himself with that goal. And that sacrifice would be sacrificing his own happiness - the possibility of being with Yor - which means completely eradicating his feelings for Yor.

Because before he thought he can just get away with burying them down and maybe keeping a little bit of it alive. But maybe this time, he would be more like Fiona - being stone-faced for the rest of his life. He would kill his own heart to be a better spy. Someone who won't be defeated by Wheeler again.

So I think what he was going to say is:

Cruise arc: "And that's why I... (can’t be with you, because I have to focus on preserving a world where there are no wars.)"

Winston Wheeler arc: "But the thing is, Yor... I live in a world in which only the perfect survive. Which is why - (I cannot let these romantic feelings for you to keep developing.)"

Or something along those lines. At least something about referring to his relationship with Yor.

Idk if anyone wants to chime in and add anything?

[danmeichael]

see chu wanning was an engineering major who started in that field because he genuinely wanted to do things to make the world better. mo ran has an engineering minor because he thinks professor chu wanning, teaching the engineering course, is hot but he would in fact be a business major because he actually doesn't give a fuck about any other person on earth.

[mermaidsirennikita]

Y'all are TRULY sleeping on Hyacinth by S.M. LaViolette. Like, I really enjoyed Phoebe (first book in the series), but Hyacinth is on another level. It features:

--a scarred libertine duke

--a neurodivergent heroine (23 to his 36) who happens to be KILLER at playing cards (in part because she's counting them) and sneaks out at night to play them while dressed as a very awkward young man

--a very casual interest in kink from her that makes him (a kinky man) go "O_O"

--a shockingly fabulous scene in which he tries to get her to admit she's a girl by taking her to a brothel, making her watch two people fuck while sitting beside him, and rattling off like 75 slang phrases for "jerking it" before being like "there's nothing WRONG with it bOY MEN MASTURBATE IN FRONT OF EACH OTHER ALLLL THE TIME" and starting to pull his dick out

--her: "AHHHH NO--YES? NO!"

--RIDING CROPS!

--so MUCH begging from this man, SO. MUCH. BEGGING.

--they're switches, your honor

--squirmy carriage BJs

[palaceoftears]

Magnificent Century Rewatch: One Picspam per Episode

Episode 17: The Double Joy

-My dear mother used to say "walk barefoot on earth and it shall take away all your troubles and sorrows, earth shall give you happiness and joy"

-Your mother spoke well, one can only find peace in earth. But I'm not sure if it is on earth or in it.

[wonder-worker]

people really do not know what they're talking about when it comes to Elizabeth Woodville's social status, huh?

[marzipanandminutiae]

You posted about getting married young, and I just wanna say thank you? I got really lucky and met THE woman when we were 17, and engagement is in the horizon for us at 22, 23. Sometimes it gets to me when people say we're wasting our youth, it's nice having someone batting for us

Also love the pfp, carmilla fans are still alive and well and if you've got any fanfic recs lmk

Congrats! I hope it works out for you. (I would say "girl" at 17, not "woman," but I assume it's just a random word choice since it sounds like you're the same age, so not a big deal.)

While I of course don't advocate for child marriage- ie marriage below age 18, and really I think 20+ is wiser -the whole "date around or you're Wasting Your Youth!!!" narrative pisses me off, like I said. I grew up with that shoved down my throat to the point where I believed my own desires to just meet the right girl and stay with her forever were just youthful romanticism; that I'd "mature" and want to date more people instead of wanting to settle down. (And for some people that is the trajectory! And that's fine! Just...not everyone.)

When your mother got so lost in the Swinging Sixties sauce during her own teen years that she goes too far the opposite way of most parents, I guess?

Yeah, someone might regret a young marriage. But they might regret ANY marriage- that's just a risk you take when you get married. Trusting people to know their own minds in relationships that present no actual red flags is important, even for teenagers. Teaching young people not to trust their own (harmless) emotions and desires for their lives because it doesn't match what you'd have them do seems horribly backwards to me. It's a dangerous precedent to set for them.

When I was 16, I thought I'd be perfectly happy if I married a girl I met at that age- when we were older, of course. Now I'm 30, and guess what? I still think that. I would have been satisfied. Hell, I wish that had happened. It's not right for everybody, but it would have been right for me.

I hope things work out for you two!