#AT THE ALTAR

[rocks-in-my-vodka]

i just realised season one is louis and lestat’s wedding. the first episode was the wedding and the last episode was the wedding dance. i feel sick

[toastedcatbread]

Sephiroth is such a dramatic bitch. Really scared his and Zack's followers just to spoil Cloud rotten lol

10,000% drama queen. Can't do anything normally.

Although, to be fair, I'm also not entirely convinced Cloud would have taken a break if Sephiroth didn't drag him back into bed. He has a bad habit of working himself to death. ☁️🐍

[howifeltabouthim]

She only saw Gideon . . . Gideon standing upright in front of the altar, Gideon smiling, Gideon with an expression she'd waited for all her life, the expression she knew was reflected on her own face . . .

Susie Yang, from White Ivy

[sidneyb16]

Okay so like I've been working on making a wedding themed activity game for sleepovers and self care nights, I wanna also make a card game with it and I need ideas for said card game so these are some of the questions and prompts I wanna add:

How would you describe your dream proposal?

What's your favorite TV/Movie wedding look?

What would your wedding cake look and taste like?

What are your top 3 honeymoon destinations?

What would be the song playing as you want down the Aisle?

Who is the first person you call to show off your engagement ring?

Imagine you are on an episode of TLC's "Say Yes to the Dress!" What is the theme for your wedding and what are you looking for in a dress?

What are some major details you plan on having for your big day? (Personalized place cards, live painter, DIY guest book, etc?)

Please don't attack me for these questions, I'm trying okay 😭😭

[emmaziadarcy]

Ilya Repin - Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan House of the Dragon - 2.01: A Son for a Son

[aquarines]

romance peaked here

[palmettoshenanigans]

Listen, you know why Andrew loves Neil? Why Neil Abram Josten was the one Andrew would allow into his inner space, to allow growing roots where Andrew keeps the remaining fragments of his heart?

Because hardly anyone respects Andrew's boundaries. Renee does. Bee does. Wymack does. Andrew respects his own boundaries to the point of enforcing them at knife point.

But Neil? Neil Abram Josten?

He views Andrew's boundaries as sacred.

Renee, Bee, and Wymack would view crossing Andrew's boundaries as disrespectful at best and a violation at worst. They earned his trust that way.

But NEIL???

Neil views crossing Andrew's boundaries as a fucking sin. As blasphemous. A devoted disciple would sooner spit in their God's face than Neil ever conceiving of crossing Andrew's boundaries.

Some people would look at you erecting brick walls covered in barbed wire and would start looking for a good crack to aim a sledgehammer. Some people would watch you lock a door and try knocking, just once, to see if you'll open it for them. And some people would watch you draw a line in the sand and never dream of stepping over it.

Neil parked his ass on the other side of Andrew's barbed wired multi-layered brick wall surrounding his concrete bunker and stayed there, running his mouth. And when Andrew revealed the hidden door, Neil smiled, stayed put, and kept talking.

Andrew didn't fall for Neil because Neil wouldn't come in.

He fell because Neil waited for Andrew to come out, waited for Andrew to extend his hand, and waited for Andrew to lead him inside by his own volition.

And that's why Neil was the one who earned Andrew's "Stay".

[whimsigothwitch]

Blessed Mabon witches

[idafloreak]

Moon and Sun

Oil on wood, both 11x14"

Ida Floreak 2023

I'll be participating in a sweet little show at Longue Vue House about Dandelions. These two pieces will be featured. Opening March 9 at 4:30 in New Orleans.

[god-of-annwn]

I just think that having altars to the gods in our homes is so beautiful. It’s a practise that’s been carried down for thousands of years no matter how hard people have tried to wipe it out.

[sweetm0uringlamb]

1 day until november 5th

[toastedcatbread]

I'm sorry, but I don't really find "At the Altar" to be very sexy or cute at all. I've been thinking for weeks how to phrase that doesn't sound like outright bashing, so I'll do my best. First of all, Cloud becoming blessed without even realizing it (lacking CONSENT), can't remember if he was even a child, and then Sephiroth coming around to collect his 'due' in sexual favors is just coersive and cringy. And later, Sephiroth outright killing everyone in his village because reasons??? and Cloud's all like, "Oh ALL RiGHT but don't you do it again~" is just?? mindboggling? Cloud would do anything for his people, for the ones he cares about, and sparing just a few isn't doing Cloud any favors. He'd want to save everyone he could, even if they weren't his biggest fans. There's a huge imbalance of power here that doesn't jive with 'loving, consenting relationships'. Cloud is subjected to painful, unrealistic sex because he has no CHOICE; and therefore, Sephiroth can't just fuck the living bejesus out of Cloud and woops, that's how love happens. It's unbelievable, it's really kind of rapey, and it really isn't for me. For a reader, I approached this story "Porn Without Plot", and that's fine, but there is some semblance of plot here, though it's so poorly presented that it's painful to read and it rarely deviates from, 'Sephiroth does something bad, but it all goes away because Cloud just loves getting dicked until he can't see straight' and because he's such a subserviant individual - which, canonically, he isn't. He wants to live for himself, in the end, find his own identity. I really hope you consider wrapping up the story soon, because even as I can't stand it, I'm hoping that somehow, really hope, that Cloud realizes how much he's been manipulated and gets away from Seph, because this is not the basis of a healthy relationship, at all, and it frightens and upsets me to my very core.

Sefikura, as a whole, has never been healthy or cute or wholesome. In canon, it's presented as a manipulative, dark, gritty, and horrendously co-dependent in a way no one can call healthy.

Listen, anon, you're entitled to your opinion on At the Altar just as anyone else is. I didn't write the story to explore any deep plot or dynamic. It's not meant to be fun or cute. It's really just a fantasy theme that I'm writing to practice writing sex, which I personally find difficult.

However, you're bleeding "real world" into fantasy at this point. No one today would disagree that, should something like this happen in real life, it would be horrific. Of COURSE, Cloud isn't subservient in canon, especially not to Sephiroth. Of COURSE he's trying to find his own identity in canon. They don't have gods or blessings or offerings in the actual FF7 storyline. In this world where humans identify themselves as "followers", things are different. Cloud is different. It's an AU and, at some point, it will deviate from "normal" Cloud's actions.

Stop comparing fanfiction with canon or real life. AUs exist as a genre and people write them to explore outside the box of canon. You don't have to like it, nor do you have to read it. I understand that you may like some of my other works, or maybe you don't, but I'm not really writing for clout or popularity in the fandom. If it's not to your taste, I'm sure there's plenty of other works out there that can scratch that itch for you.

If I'm perfectly honest, there's thousands, maybe millions of people reading on AO3. How in the world is anyone supposed to write something that satisfies every single reader anyway? It's impossible. So I don't aim for that. It write for various reasons and At the Altar just happens to be me practicing porn. It's not meant to be realistic or true to canon.

[apolloslyrics]

☀️Deities☀️

I see so many people criticizing others over their relationships, or lack thereof, with their deities, so here are some reminders:

Not having deities is okay.

Having just a devotional relationship with your deities is okay.

Having a working relationship with your deities is okay.

Playing games with your deities is okay.

Harmless jokes with your deities are okay.

Doing fun things with your deities is okay.

Doing devotional offerings for your deities is okay.

Giving physical offerings to your deities is okay.

Not being able to do certain offerings for deities is okay.

Having an altar for your deities is okay, no matter the size.

Not having an altar for your deities is okay.

Laughing with your deities is okay.

Crying with your deities is okay.

Having genuine conversations with your deities is okay.

Being unable to hear/see deities is okay.

Being able to hear/see deities is okay.

Not being able to communicate through divination is okay.

Using divination as a key element in communication is okay.

Not calling on deities during spellwork is okay.

Asking deities to help during spellwork is okay.

Asking deities for help in general is okay.

This is your relationship with your deities in your practice. Don't let anyone tell you what you can and can't do. 🫶

It's 2am, please forgive me if there are any mistakes!

[2000s-angell]

[drawerbread]

griddlehark wedding shenanigans