#(feel free to point them out)

[cerise-grenadine]

Summer 1996, or later. Severus & Muireann are spending some time on the coast of France.

---

It was another of those bright, lazy summer mornings. A gentle warm breeze was coming through the open window, carrying scents of pine and salt, and the song of waves and joyful birds.

He had gotten up a bit earlier. She hazily remembered him planting a soft kiss on the corner of her lips as she was dozing back to sleep. A grin split open her freckled face as she stretched like a cat; she put on a light robe, shook the duvet and folded it back neatly to let the marine atmosphere freshen the sheets.

As she walked down the stairs, she caught a sweet and tasty whiff wafting from the kitchen. He was making pancakes again. She stopped as she reached the threshold, to take in the scene. He hadn’t noticed her come down, focused as he was on the pan. Somehow he had gotten flour on his cheek. From the hi-fi came Ferrat’s deep and mellow voice, and he was whistling along what was his favourite song these days.

Tout ce que j'ai failli perdre, tout ce qui m'est redonné Aujourd'hui me monte aux lèvres en cette fin de journée Pouvoir encore partager ma jeunesse, mes idées Avec l'amour retrouvé, que c'est beau, c'est beau la vie. Pouvoir encore te parler, pouvoir encore t'embrasser Te le dire et le chanter, oui c'est beau, c'est beau la vie !

He looked happy.

Rough translation:

All I nearly lost, all that is given back to me is coming to my lips tonight Still being able to share my youth, my ideas With the newfound love* How beautiful, how beautiful life is Still being able to talk to you, to kiss you, To tell you so and sing it, How beautiful, how beautiful life is!

*technically, the original text says "a love that has been found again"

Here is an explanation of the lyrics in English! And the other song he was listening to just before, do yourself a favour i beg you (it’s about young lovers on a sunny beach, bathing in the warm sea with thyme and pine and pebbles and birds and waves and-)

[ademmatta]

You love to see it

[alatismeni-theitsa]

@grahamrocks my knowledge and experience align with what theoutcastrogue said, and I think that's how Greeks and other people who had ancient gods in their culture understand ancient gods. If I say so myself that's an excellently-worded, and to-the-point post showing a natural understanding of how this religion and many ancient religions "worked".

OP wasn't entirely wrong, I mean, Zeus was indeed a king and many things went his way because of that. But the "gods are like their domains" thing doesn't stand. On the other hand, the more I read of theoutcastrogue's response, the more I thought "yes! that's it!". It's what I and most Greeks want to shout from the rooftops every time foreigners (those of whom usually don't have ancient gods in their current culture) make very convoluted attempts to understand the Greek gods and often filter them through their own modern lens. I think this happens either because they don't bother reading ancient texts at all, or that because they haven't read enough of them.

To be clear, any attempt to understand the Greek gods is commendable and honorable, and it's not always easy an easy process. Not everyone will get the ancient gods' concept immediately, especially if they are from a "new world" country. I saw the person was Greek after reading their post. (I read your second sentence after the post, if that makes sense 😅) In the beginning I was like "ooomg a USian who gets it??? Bravoo" xD This amazing (for me) answer to OP could have come from any foreigner and I wouldn't be phased. Also Greeks are, of course, not automatically experts, (I also have a lot to learn) but being raised in the culture gets your chances up for understanding the religion - if you are interested. Sadly very often, foreigners (mostly from north-westerners, sorry to repeat that again :// ) really don't get it. Some experience helps, alright?? 😅 And if you don't have it, you need to make up for it.

No one expects to visit Greece and automatically know its culture. It might take years for the person to feel at home with the customs and how Greeks view life. So how can anyone expect to inherently fathom the Greek philosophy of life and religion dating back 3.000-2.000 years ago? You can't just wing it and say "Poseidon was violent because the sea was violent" 🙄 There needs to be a good immersion! More so, if the person wants to follow and recreate parts of the religion. It needs to be immersive. And sooo many people don't do it. They just throw tarots and crystals and go like "ooh today the sun ray through the crystal is purple. I bet Apollo is pissed with me! Let me give him some offerings and see when my gut feeling will show me anything". Like... giiiiirl that's not how it works???

Sorry for another long post but I can't stress enough how exhausting these "takes" on the gods online can be. I don't want to dump on OP for a two-year old post, it's just that I went in and read the comments and I got so disappointed. People will eat up anything just because it sounds cool, and without doing any further reading, will shout at you on Twitter because you dare correct them. It's like someone insisting the sea is rough like sand without ever seeing the sea in their lives, and they develop complex theories in order to justify their opinion. And then someone else says "hmm have you considered the sea is green like blades of grass because both are moving??" and they continue their "intellectual" and "deep conversation" as you scream "pleeeaase just go see the freaking seaaa, see for yourseeelves!! touch it!! it's right there behind that hiiiill!" 😂

I’m not a classicist, but I suspect one of the reasons so many of the Greek gods are portrayed so unflatteringly was less because they were seen as villains than because they represented their domains.  Of course Zeus sometimes misuses his power, that’s what a king does.  Of course Artemis’s wrath is wild and painful, that’s what nature can be.  Of course Hades snatched away a young girl from her mother’s arms, that’s what death does.  This is one of the reasons callout posts for some gods comparing them negatively to ‘nicer’ gods are kind of missing the point.

[inkskinned]

no, but really, we need to talk about the casual objectification that has become the fallback discourse of the internet: if you're pretty and dressed nicely, you're a slut. and if you're even vaguely outside of their body standard, you're fucking disgusting.

too-frequently, people position sex workers as being "the problem". they sneer you're addicted to pornography, you don't know what a real woman looks like. but real women are in pornography. the real bodies on display are not the issue here: the issue is that other people feel extremely confident when commenting on someone's physique.

2000's super-thin is slowly worming its way back into the public ideal. recently i saw someone get told to "go for a run", despite the fact she was on the thinner side of average. not that it would ever be appropriate to say that: but it's kind of like sticker shock when you see it. people think that is fat? holy shit. do they just have no idea about things?

but what are you going to do about it? that's the problem, right. because chances are - you're a normal person. we can say normalize carrying fat on your body, but we are not the billion-dollar diet industry. we are not the billion-dollar fashion industry. we are just, like. people. who are trying to make content on the internet, without being treated shittily.

as someone who has been on both sides of things: you are treated better when you are thin and pretty. this is statistically correct. i am not saying that you cannot be bullied for being thin; i'm saying there are objective institutional biases against certain bodytypes. there are videos of men and women who lost weight all saying: i now know for a fact exactly how much worse you're treated. in the comments, some asshole inevitably says something akin to you deserved to be dehumanized when you were fat.

which means that ... the easiest thing to do is be pretty and thin. it is the path of least resistance, because of course it is, because any time you post a picture of yourself without a thigh gap, someone immediately comments something like you need to try a diet.

the other half is also dehumanizing though, huh, just in a different way. when i put on makeup and nice clothes, i am told i slept my way to the top as a professional. do you know how many women in STEM have told me they purposefully dress to "unimpress" because they already struggle to be taken seriously and if they're ever considered pretty - it for some reason takes away from their authority.

so they make it seem like it's your fault. you, existing in a body - it's your fault! if you didn't want shitty comments, don't have a body. they position us against each other like chess pieces; vying for male attention we don't even need.

and i can be an authority on this unless you think i'm fat and unattractive. when i am pretty and thin, i'm an activist. when i am just a normal person who makes a good point: i am immediately dismissed. nobody fucking believes you if you're not seen as attractive. you literally lose value. you cease to exist.

but the whole time, it feels like - is anyone actually grounded the fuck in reality? the line of "pretty and thin" keeps shifting. nobody seems to understand what "a normal weight" even looks like, because it's not something that exists - you cannot tell a person's health by looking at their body. even if you think you could tell that, even if you're sure a person is dangerously overweight - people are not your dolls. they do not need to be dressed up or displayed properly to soothe your aesthetics. you aren't concerned for them, you're stealing their agency. you don't get to say if they're "allowed" to take pictures and post them on the internet - you don't get to tell them how to exist.

people hide behind "the obesity epidemic" without any actual qualifications. they crow things about "normalizing unhealthiness".

but it's bullshit. i have visible abs. there is a pair of parallel lines on my body, even when i'm relaxed; where my obliques meet my abdominal wall. i am proud of this because it means i'm strong, because i overcame an eating disorder only to be ripped as fuck. it is genetic and physical luck that i even get any definition, i'm pleased as punch.

but it does mean that my abdominal wall sticks out a little bit. the other day i posted a video of myself dancing, and, for a moment, my shirt slipped. you could see a little bit of my stomach. i was cartwheeling to the floor. moments before this, i'd had my foot over my head.

a guy slid into my DMs. a row of vomiting emojis prefaced: you should really lose some weight before you think about dancing.

i stared at it for a long time. there was a time when i would have been triggered by this, where it would have encouraged me to starve myself. i would have ignored the fact i'm flexible, agile, good at jumping: i would have lost the weight for a stranger's passing comment. i would have found myself and my body fucking disgusting.

and for what? to please what? because why? so that he can exist in this world without an unchallenged eyeball? what would my self-hatred even accomplish? usually i write paragraphs. obviously. on this particular occasion, in this body i've been at war with for ages: i just felt exhausted.

it shouldn't be even worth saying. it shouldn't be hard to explain. all of this emotional turmoil when he cannot even comprehend the most basic truth: i am not an object on display for him.

[keferon]

*clasps your shoulders gently and looks you straight in the eye*

Keferon. Please read Ninth by Kyn on AO3. I think you would love it very much. It has a large chapter count, but don't be intimidated, it's very easy to get into. It is currently unfinished, but is being updated regularly.

You are the seventh person that recommended this fic to me so ahahahaha yeah

I’m doing great Help I hate some parts of it but I love the other parts I’m spinning in the blender

…..I made the moodboard….

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

In the world of heavy metals, love is denser than hate!

[vagueconfusion]

[turtleblogatlast]

One of the earliest examples of Leo’s “I’ll do my own thing to accomplish our goal without discussing it with my team first” is in episode one. It’s super, super quick, and ultimately inconsequential, but it subtly sets up a great precedent that I think is very interesting.

When the boys need to grab the medallion from Splinter without Splinter noticing, Raph, Mikey, and Donnie huddle together with Raph taking the lead in trying to devise a plan to get the mystic device. Meanwhile, Leo slinks away and grabs the device by clocking the situation (by knowing his father well enough to predict his actions - something he does with each family member multiple times in the series) and making a move on his own.

It works out perfectly fine, and is ultimately the best move, and it’s honestly okay that he didn’t consult everyone for something so small when it’s such a non issue to get it, but it nicely sets up how this tends to go in the series, including how it goes in the movie.

To be honest episode one is actually really good at setting up a lot of things for each character in the long run, this is just one example that caught my attention, as small and unassuming as it is.

[faaun]

last night i got home kind of tipsy and very much in tears and my mother told me the force you exert to keep someone in your life is proportional to the force with which they will leave your life. if you have to fight tooth and claw to keep them, their leaving will be just as hard, just as harsh, and just as definite.

[art-soboro]

my turn to draw cute contextless kemonomimis of despicable people

[daily-hanamura]

[m-for-now]

Headcanon that Leo has the song "Honey, i'm good" in his distraction working playlist and whenever it comes on, he refers to Festus as the "somebody at home" when that line comes on and him and Festus just have a nice little time enjoying a silly little song

[mueritos]

i hope we continue to see more protests within the US military. i see a lot of leftists and folks who are anti-military who have such an open disdain for the people who are in the military, yet neglect to considering the conditions this country makes to produce ideology, poverty, and the illusion of choice to make all kinds of people choose to enlist in the military. You ever see those videos of ROTC kids recording each other asking why they joined the military and everyone's like, "healthcare", "it helped me go to college", "I was bored" or "free ptsd lol". I hate to remind everyone but folks who are in the military are people, too, and they are the same victims and perpetrators of violence as the rest of you, we have all been shallowly conditioned to view each other as enemies just because one person is wearing army greens and the other is not.

some of the biggest anti-war advocates are those who engaged in war. Veterans who genuinely believed they were protecting the US against "terrorism" come back with blood on their hands, and they choose to realize that it was US imperialism that forced them to carry out violence, instead of doubling down and shielding themselves from the fact that they too are capable of atrocities... This is a class of people who are intentionally conditioned to be as poor and as ideologically aligned to US imperialism so that the military has a never-ending pool to send their youth to destroy other country's youth. The only people I have ever heard say "do not join the military" are those who ARE military.

This is in no way to ever excuse or explain away any of the atrocious war crimes and violence this industry and its people have committed against others. What I am saying is that we absolutely cannot cast aside the individuals who have been victimized within US imperialism, even if they are wearing army greens. I was speaking with my Palestinian classmate last week and another classmate--a member of the US air force-- walked up to me and struck up a conversation. My military classmate showed me her new bird, bid both of us goodbye, and left. My Palestinian classmate asked me if I was close with her, and I said we talked quite often, and she said, "I never met a person who's in the military. I still hate the military, but I never knew that they did, too. I didn't realize that they were also victims."

If my Palestinian classmate--one who is actively watching her own community die--can understand that it is not individuals who are the problem but it is in fact systems, US imperialism, white supremacy, capitalism...why can't we all? And she has EVERY reason to hate any individual military member. A lot of online activism just creates more barriers. if your optics look bad, complicated, or contradictory, you are cast aside. Everyone has got the be the perfect activist, you can never make a mistake or share a half-baked thought, you should always believe every word from a marginalized persons mouth (because being marginalized doesn't mean you're not entrenched in white supremacy too!) and you should never question what you see...Do you know what you sound like? The very imperialists who are convincing poor whites to vote against themselves. Perfectionism is white supremacy. Black & white thinking is white supremacy.

I'd rather have a military member who genuinely believed in the US imperialism machine but was disillusioned after being deployed as my comrade than some leftist who cherishes the performance of "being a good person". I don't want "good people" in our movements. I want humans who care. I want humans who make mistakes and who learn from them. I want humans who accept the messiness of a person. I want humans who hold others accountable and allow themselves to take responsibility for their actions. I want people who change for themselves and others.

fight systems, not individual people. we can change each other, but if we're too preoccupied looking like the World's Perfect Activists, we will only consume each other alive. Connect to your fellow humans, forever and always.

[1singulargrape]

This post has been living in my head ever since I saw it and what was supposed to be a prompt I wanted to store in my drafts ended up writing itself. Hope you enjoy!

Yuuji walks in to Sukuna sitting on the porch. His back is turned to the young man, something taking all of his attention.

Yuuji approached and understood immediately: it's a small ball of white with patches of orange and black spread around its fur. The kitty looked to be old enough to be weaned but still small; a few months old at best.

It was rubbing its head along Sukuna's hands, purring loudly. It meows needily when the caresses start to slow down and receives some chin scratches for it. If Yuuji had looked at Sukuna's face at that moment he could have caught the laughter in his eyes.

"I didn't know you liked cats". Yuuji sat beside him and brought his hand to the bite size lawnmower in front of them. The kitty sniffed at his fingers before rubbing itself with more fervor, demanding affection from the newcomer.

"...I never said I didn't." Sukuna's right eyes didn't leave the critter as he turned to look at Yuuji. "Besides, she's the one that dared to approach me. I had to at least entertain her bravery," he ran a finger down the kitten's spine, scratching the base of her tail; her butt wiggled with the movement. She tried turning around for more headpats but the hand had already retreated. "And she reminds me of you."

Yuuji turned to look at the other man "I don't see the resemblance."

"Watch."

Sukuna brought one of his hands to the kitten's face with his index finger extended. The kitty looked at it as if she had never seen it before and tried sniffing it, but before she could complete her investigations the finger moved and quickly pressed between her eyes. She went cross-eyed and blinked her big green eyes, hears perked up, while retracting her neck; she landed on her butt, bewilderment evident on the feline's face.

Yuuji wasn't impressed. He moved his hand under the cat and lifted it to his torso, "How does that remind you of me."

But while Yuuji was looking at his furry friend to make sure she was comfortable in his arms, a finger suddenly appeared in his vision, the boy went cross-eyed for a moment and when it left he blinked, once, having leaned back without noticing.

Before the embarrassment could catch up to him he wanted to berate his companion, but the words died out in his throat when he heard...

A soft chuckle made him look to his right and he saw Sukuna, smiling, his chest stuttering to the rhythm of his laughter. His face was relaxed yet happy, without any hint of malice or mockery. He was simply having fun, albeit to Yuuji's expense, but the younger man had never seen his companion so openly content before.

All of Yuuji's annoyance disappeared, and he smiled softly.

When he saw Yuuji's face, Sukuna went silent and his expression morphed back to his usual neutral frown.

"What are you looking at brat?" came the delayed question.

"Nothing. I'm just happy to see you." Yuuji was still holding the kitten who was trying to grab the collar of his shirt. The small claws were sharp but he paid it no mind.

"So, what's her name?" he asked, pulling free a claw that was stuck in the fabric.

"Cat."

"Cat?"

"Yes, until further notice." Sukuna placed an arm behind Yuuji and leaned towards him. He brought a hand closer and started playing with Cat again. The kitten was on her back and fiercely answered all of the man's "attacks" with vigorous biting and scratching. Although she could never do any real damage, Sukuna soon retreated, abdicating for now.

He was still leaning on Yuuji's shoulder when the other spoke up, "With the name you gave yourself, I thought you'd be a bit more talented at this." Cat was trying to paw his face now. "Even I could come up with a better name."

Sukuna narrowed his eyes at him for a moment. He then scoffed and stood up, "I highly doubt that."

He picked up a plate Yuuji hadn't noticed before, it was empty save for a few fishbones. "For now go walk our little guest. And buy more fresh fish and meat while you're at it." A small pause. "No canned food, her palate is far too refined for that processed junk," he added with disdain.

Yuuji frankly doubted that a stray that probably lived off vermin and thrown leftovers and was most likely infected with some kind of parasite would mind, but he addressed another issue first.

"You don't walk a cat? They just do their thing and you clean up after them." Cat was trying to jump out of Yuuji's arms. She was looking at the plate Sukuna was holding, forgetting she emptied it earlier. To emphasize her point she started meowing at him.

"I will not lower myself to pick up animal waste, and I better not find anything staining this propriety, so you take care of it." He punctuated his sentence by turning around and heading towards the living room.

"Sure Your Highness. Anything else this lowly servant could do for you?"

Yuuji didn't actually expect the other man to stop. Sukuna turned around and leaned against the doorway, bringing a hand to his chin thoughtfully, "She'll need a place to sleep. Don't get one of those plastic baskets, a fluffy pillow seems more appropriate. As for the bowls I'll accept ceramic or glass. Do whatever you want with the litter, so long as it doesn't smell."

And with that he disappeared inside before Yuuji could protest being made into the errand boy again.

...well, he did ask.

Yuuji stood up with a huff. He held Cat in front of him and she only stared back with her big empty eyes, "It's always like that with him, he does whatever he wants and leaves the gross part to me. But don't worry, I'll make sure he learns how to take good care of you too." Yuuji flashed a beaming smile towards Cat who showed no reaction, then sighed and went back to petting her. She seemed to have spent a lot of energy already and would hopefully rest in Yuuji's front pocket.

He headed towards the entrance making a mental list of everything Sukuna asked and a few extra things that will come in handy. He'll have to go to an animal store for good quality products. And book a visit to the vet. An unexpected spending for sure but thinking about Sukuna's smile and laughter earlier told Yuuji it was worth it.

///

Late in the night, Yuuji was heading back to his (empty) bed after getting some water.

Sukuna had been holed up in his study all evening with Cat doing god-knows-what.

Since he already knew sleep would not come back to him easily, he decided it wouldn't hurt to take a peek inside the room.

His companion was was sitting on the floor (again?) with Cat's head peeking out from behind his frame. She was sound asleep on his thigh, her soft purring barely reaching Yuuji's ears.

Brand new toys were littered around the room and sheets of paper surrounded of the man, all with lines upon lines of ink with what looked like annotations and crossed out words. He tapped the end of a brush on his knee, and another hand was near his head. Although Yuuji couldn't see his face, he knew he was deep in thoughts.

Yuuji smiled and headed back to their bed knowing he would most likely spend the rest of the night alone.

After all, choosing a name for his first daughter was something Sukuna would do with the upmost care.

[overclock-00]

i spend way too much time looking at chaos and nyx's design and i enjoy finding all of the little similarities that symbolize their relationship as parent & child.

maximizing their joint slay by wearing matching earrings and gems on their foreheads.

the purple wispy things floating around nyx as well as the circular parts of the gold collar she wears resemble whatever body horror chaos has going on. and this one might be a reach but it looks like ??? chaos is wearing rings on their left hand just like nyx is.

this one wasn't as obvious to me but chaos' first design has black bat wings sprouting from their head while nyx has them on her shoulders.

the wings change drastically with their second design but one thing that remains similar is that one of their wings reflects the void. or maybe its just made of void ???

they both have little faces on their clothes! these little faces were prevalent in chaos' first design as well but they're smaller in their 2nd design and the ones on the buttons match nyx's really well.

the gemstones on their chest (also retained from chaos' first design) is the most obvious similarity here but also the gold collar thingy that chaos now wears to match nyx. and not to mention the makeup!!

[emily-mooon]

​You’ve seen MLP and Muppet Byler, now get ready for Care Bears Byler!