#I find it all veeeery curious

[novelconcepts]

Obviously next week could prove this all dead-wrong, but I don’t think the trial’s quite over. I don’t believe the end of that episode actually took place, because I’m pretty sure we’re still firmly in the “punish Agatha” phase. Rio’s suddenly gone. Alice seems to be dead by Agatha’s hand, and no one—including Teen, who has always been on her side—seems primed to believe she was out of control. The others have been sucked beneath the power of the surrogate son who not only just told Agatha to fuck off, but went full-Wanda to do it. It just all seems too tailored to cut up any of the character progress Agatha’s made on the Road thus far. Getting harassed by her ghost mother and hearing her son’s voice don’t feel like a complete tear-down. This does. It feels like more trial.

[chuluoyi]

࿐ ࿔ 🕰️ 「 07:02 A.M 」

based on an ask but i can't find the post :') and i'm working on remarried empress au i promise :'D so please make do with this first. anyways, more domestic dad!gojo and reader ahead~

a part of gojo's love entries

“mph, so cold...”

satoru was awoken by the chill biting at his whole body as he realized he was naked from the waist up, and saw that you, vast asleep, were hogging the whole blanket to cocoon yourself.

this is why i’m freezing! but eh...

and then he really saw you. curling up with messy hair, lips adorably pursed even in your sleep, and overall, you looked so soft and vulnerable in his eyes.

mine, all mine... satoru didn’t need to blink to see you better but he did anyway, and the sight brought a fond smile to his face. you were rightly exhausted after last night and he quietly snickered to himself, thinking of your mewls. out of cuteness aggression, he hugged you along with your blanket and planted kisses on your face.

“mm, ahh...” you groaned, and he dived in to suck your neck.

your smooth skin and soft pants... gods, he just wanted to gobble you all over again—

“go... awaay...” but then you flipped your body away from him, mumbling and hiding your head under the blanket altogether.

satoru was left reeling at the refusal, heartbrokenly pouting, but then he heard the pitter patter of tiny steps and immediately looked at the door to find his cute son curiously opening the door and peeking his head inside.

ah, another one of his great blessings.

“hey you.” satoru grinned immediately as his toddler’s round blue eyes widened in slight surprise. “why are you awake so early? come here.”

“yaaay!” the munchkin cheered at the invitation and was really about to jump into the bed when he sat up to stop him. “shh, don't be too loud!”

“—?” his boy looked at him with a sad frown as he picked him up and placed him on the bed next to him.

“oh no, don’t be sad. just let mama sleep longer, yeah? she’s tired.”

“mm, why?”

“why? well, she didn’t get enough sleep, that’s why.”

“but you sleep together...?”

“hmm~ we played a game a bit before sleeping and it ate all her energy.”

satoru mentally did a victory pose as his minion no longer questioned him, but then his clear eyes were transfixed on his bare body. “papa, you nakey...?”

your curious son was adorable in every way. he inherited your natural cuteness and satoru wanted nothing more than indulging him but...

he suddenly engulfed him in a bear hug and squeezed him tightly, making him almost squeal.

“yes! and now i’m cold so you’re my new heater!”

“waaaaa nooo!”

it was a morning just like any other day, with his baby and his wife, and yet satoru knew that surely today was going to be a good day.

“minion, you do know i love you and your mama veeeery much, don’t you?~”

epilogue

it happened during breakfast. you were sitting your son in his high chair and about to prepare simple omelet for the three of you to share when you heard it—

“mamaaa, what game did you and papa play? wanna play too!” your innocent boy asked with gummy smile, and you cocked your head in confusion.

“game...?”

“papa said you played a game together... at night!”

you honestly couldn’t connect the dots together, so you turned to your husband for help... but satoru merely awkwardly chuckled to himself.

“papa said... the game makes you tired and ate your energy!”

tired? ate energy? the gears in your head were turning and you came to a conclusion so quick as you shot a glare at satoru.

“well, it is a game your papa really enjoys,” you scathingly replied, not looking away from him as he inwardly gulped. but oho, you were in no forgiving mood this morning and so you wickedly smirked.

“let’s try to ask him about it. so, papa, what did we play again, hmm?”

[rindouspuppygirl]

i would love to request mikey (and more toman characters if you write multiple) x tall reader?? nsfw but idm sfw or anything you prefer

MINORS DO NOT INTERACT

mikey x gender neutral! tall! reader nsfw headcanons as requested by anon~ (may revisit this later, too!) bottom/unspecified position reader and not too kinky:

hes creative and likes to switch up positions in bed, keep you both comfortable - more than - with the height difference!

youve tried taking him in every way imaginable... you on a table edge, him standing...

his favorite way to fuck you is holding you up, though... hes strong, yknow? especially pressing you against a wall, door... works great for spontaneous fucks, which is good, because mikey isnt patient

that said, he fucking loves going down on you. his fav way it to kneel on the ground while youre perched on the edge of the bed

i imagine mikey is preeetty sloppy with his oral, spitty and messy but the enthusiasm makes up for it

he probably moans and huffs as he goes down on you, so cute...

at first mikey struggled to figure out how to breathe during oral but he was so determined, he thinks its so sexy. your smell, taste, being surrounded by your gorgeous long legs...

ugh he loves playing with your chest, but his dirty little secret is he likes having his chest played with just as much!

hed probably be so clingy.... almost too much. youve had to leave SEVERAL group outings because he slides his hands down your sides, or touches your back, maybe runs his hands over your hips and your pelvis...

he loves picking out pretty outfits for you and buying you jewelry, often he even gets matching sets... its a way to show youre his and spoil you, all in one

and ruining you in an outfit he handpicked? well, thats nice...

he actually adores your height. you might think itd make him feel self conscious but he finds it hot, more than anything

top!reader and/or more kinky:

though, if you prefer topping (or just wanna try it out - be it strap or what) he is veeeery curious. maybe even a little embarrassed by how much he wants it

yeah lets not pretend he doesnt like fingering himself and have a collection of pretty gem anal plugs (or bunny tails~)

even if you dont penetrate him he doesnt mind, but he loves to show off... speaking of, he reaaally likes wearing lingerie

costume play/dress up in general is a huge kink for him

ohhh and if YOU can pick him up? god thats mikeys dream. hot as hell to him, tall people are so his type (just be careful or you might be giving him piggy back rides...)

he loves having control taken away... albeit, its hard. but he melts into it after a bit of back talk

if you dom him it might become his fav thing, subspace is like a dream for him and he is always the leader... finally just being a good boy and taking instructions? oh yes

that said, sub mikey is a total brat... at least at first. he likes to disobey, wants to see if you can handle him, if youll still punish bad behavior

he loves exhibitionism - as a sub and a dom

biiig into sex toys in general

if youre at work and he isnt busy, he might just leave some spicy voice memos, videos or pics.. be careful~

mikey is the type who loves shows of possession - you or mikey wearing a collar underneath high collared shirts when you can? fuck yes

[gogandmagog]

Do you think you can expound on what you meant by LMM showing her hand/Dean being condemned by cat aversion? I was skimming the Emily tag and came across your post. Just curious!

I’m sooo cracking up and embarrassed right now, because while I do fr believe that... I’m not exactly sure I can wholly defend it. Or even remotely ask anyone else to consider getting onboard with that kind of intense inferring. But I’m going to do my best to have a go at it (🥴) and attempt to explain where my head was at with all that, while also letting it be a lesson to myself to not just be out here saying things sometimes, lol.

Also as a small sidenote: I tried to find the post you might be referencing, and I’m all but certain it must’ve been a very old conversation with @no-where-new-hero, but it must’ve also predated my searchable tagging practices because alas, I cannot find it. So… I’m already sorry-in-advance if I veer off into unrelated areas or miss the ‘ask’ mark completely. But I think you mean that at some point I said Maud “showed her hand” early in the Emily series by having Dean Priest say that he wouldn’t keep a cat. I’ll double check, but I think his exact quote is: “I like cats but I never keep one.”

Which, to a casual reader... doesn’t mean a whole lot. Yet when I look back at this, as a non-casual reader, after many re-reads and a little bit of Maud experience, I do kind of now recognise that as a tell. At least it’s a proper LMM red flag. Especially when we experience and feel the depth of cat symbolism and heavy-handed cat presence in the Emily series. And of Emily. How Emily is repeatedly and often assigned a cat-like nature + appearance in the narrative and by other characters in the book. She’s told at school that she has cat ears, and she’s even nicknamed “puss” by Cousin Jimmy. Emily’s Wind Woman purrs. It’s everywhere in Emily. If we advance even a bit further, into broad and ancient symbolism, we can also reflect on timeless and universal cat symbolism… the cat alignment with femininity. The same way dogs are aligned and representative of masculinity.

So when we consider all of this and juxtapose Dean’s statement against Montgomery’s men that did get their girls, I think it speaks even louder. Teddy had Smoke and Buttercup. Barney had Good Luck and Banjo. Cats are so important to Maud and her stories that she has Gilbert (the son of a cat lady, eventual owner of the First Mate, and saviour of Ingleside housecat the Shrimp) mention them in his finally-accepted proposal to Anne. He says, “I dream of a home with a hearth-fire in it, a cat and dog, the footsteps of friends—and you!” (Which P.S. is even a veeeery interesting order, in my veeeery-stretched opinion. A cat, then a dog. The feminine before the masculine. You before me, Gilbert says.)

To me... Emily is the cat that Dean will never keep. Much later, when their engagement is dissolving, he says, “… Perhaps that is why I couldn’t keep you.” Which is lowkey full circle. (If you squint.)

[greenaswildfire]

I was thinking... (spoilers, spoilers everywhere)

the writing decision of focusing so much on the fact that Aegon's parts were burnt root and stem is probably related to the future alliance with the Baratheons, right?

If they don't change it (lmao), almost at the end of the Dance Alicent comes up with a marriage pact, this time with Aegon instead of Aemond, and Boros's daughter. But with Aegon's inability to produce heirs, how will that work now? Will this alliance still hold?

Oh well, they'll probably use it as an excuse to justify Boros betraying the Greens. Because nope, if TB is betrayed, the Greens must also have at least one betrayal to make up for the huge difference of loyalties :)

In terms of important Houses I can't remember any house betraying the Greens (Great Houses, not others like House Peake or Fossoway). I consider quite curious how, in terms of Black side, House Arryn and House Stark took their sweet time to help them. These two Houses pulled a Late Lord Frey, way before Walder frey was even born lmao

And it's not even secret that Rhaenyra's mother was an Arryn, everybody knew House Arryn would side with the Blacks anyway, the realm knew House Arryn would be a rebel House and still, Jeyne Arryn is shown as very cautious, letting Rhaenyra fend for herself instead of helping her. (Can't blame her though, she was probably the only actually smart woman in this show who wasn't butchered by plot in order to prop Rhaenyra up)

And I won't even mention the Starks. With the reddit leaks I'm very, VEEEERY curious to see the reason behind this late help. Everything depends on whose version will prevail, Condal's or Hess's.

If we take these two houses into account, we have: Strong, Stark, Velaryon, Arryn (and maybe Blackwoods?) betraying the Blacks for their own purposes, not to mention Rosby who made very clear Rhaenyra's hypocrisy, but I doubt they mention anything about this House, right? :D

And when it comes to the Greens... only the Tullys and the Brackens (but as far as we know, their leader was burned by Daemon for refusing to bend the knee, so maaaaaybe they won't even remember them in S3?).

5 (maybe 6) vs 1 (maybe 2), woah, quite a difference in loyalties, even more considering how the Green side has always been the one with less support and dragons.

The thing is: iirc, the allies that betrayed the Greens weren't motivated by distrust in them, or the crown's misdeeds against them (like what happened with Arryn, Stark and Velaryons in TB). It was due to circunstances and manipulation tactics, otherwise, they would have stayed loyal to the greens.

Team Black NATURALLY doesn't inspire loyalty.

So they thought "how can we balance things and make the Blacks look like they inspire more loyalty than the greens???? Oh! How about find a way to shake the Green alliance with Boros Baratheon? Between a Green eunuch with a crown and Rhaenyra's two boys, Boros has more chances of power with her than with Aegon.

Condal, Hess, you can't fool us. We can predict all your moves.

Such a shame though, because by the looks of things it won't even be someone from TG who is going to kill her (if that ever happens in this fanfic of theirs), is most likely someone from TB itself because they simply have no enemies anymore.

Which is far worse PR move for a team who loves to boast about "how Aegon was poisoned by his own allies" :) Hackondal and Mess are stuck with this ending, unlessss they bring back Sunfyre and follow the book. But Rhaenyra, killed by a TG? Naah, it wouldn't be tragic girlboss enough for her. I place my bets on TB.

[doberbutts]

Please feel free to ignore this ask if you feel it would bring any drama towards you-- that said, I am curious, why do you have a mostly negative view of protection dogs? Honestly, not sure where I stand. Idea wise, I don't really care, *however*... the amount of people with "working dogs" that I feel have absolute no idea what they have or how to safely manage their bitesport dogs is high enough, that I imagine there's just as high a percentage of people with "protection dogs", which makes me veeeery uncomfortable. I like the idea of having a dog that would genuinely be able to protect me, but at the same time, I view them the same as a weapon, and the idea of other people having one *who should have no business handling one* makes me. Eugh. I hope that makes sense.

I have a mostly negative view towards *personal* protection dogs. Not all protection dogs, just PPDs.

The reasoning is multifaceted but the largest portion is due to the fact that many people who say they want a PPD actually want a gun. They have an idea in their heads about what PPDs do and what they are capable of and that is honestly mostly fantasy and nonsense in this era. If [general] you are so concerned about being attacked that you need a dog to bite someone at a moment's notice, what you need is to take some self defense classes, get your conceal carry license, and buy yourself a suitable weapon.

Put simply, an aggressor that sees a dog at your side (esp of guardian breeds known for this sort of temperament) and still chooses to attack is prepared for the dog. Some quick work with a gun or a knife and you have just spent 5-10k on a dog's corpse and have no ability to fight back. All the training in the world does not make a dog immune to bullets or blades between the ribs. What will you do when your dog is dead and your aggressor is still coming for you?

Then you have the sticky situation of the fact that even in castle law ans stand your ground states, while it is legal for YOU to kill someone who is attacking you, your dog is not similarly protected. You may not be jailed, but a dog that bites or kills in defense of handler is susceptible to being taken and euthanized for being a dangerous dog. Once again you have just spent thousands of dollars on a corpse.

Unfortunately there are plenty of charlatans out there willing to take your money to train your dog and they may or may not do good work- though in my experience it can be difficult to find someone who actually is capable of doing good work and even harder to afford that person as they know their value is very high. But most do not warn people that they are throwing a lot of money at a problem that can be solved with less than half the amount of cash and not have to live through the experience of your would-be assailant killing your dog in front of you.

Lastly, it is a largely unregulated industry, so there is no standardization of training, no safety precautions, and no consequences when something inevidibly goes wrong. There are no certifications to prove quality. There is very little recourse for those who are harmed by the practice of bad actors. Anyone can claim they know what they're doing and while that is a repeating problem with all dog training- because it's not regulated at all in this country- there is a significant difference in danger of someone who's bad at training teaching a dog how to sit vs someone who's bad at training teaching a dog how to attack people.

[achaotichuman]

Cursed Daughter

Day 1 of @sjmvillainweek !! The prompts for today are Origins/Sacrifice. I have decided (decided? it more or less happened tbh) to combine the two! This one shot is focusing on Ianthe from ACOTAR

Ianthe was born with a debt owed. Cursed by the Cauldron, clearly. It was told to her over and over.

For Day 1 of SJM Villain Week on Tumblr (Prompts Origin/Sacrifice) Before the fifty years of Amarantha, before Ianthe had been made High Priestess. What had the childhood of the serpent-like villainess been like? What had happened to twist her into what she is now?

Read on AO3 or below the cut!

What’s more wrong; that I too wish to be great?

Or my mother wished she’d had a son

And even if I can’t be the one

Maybe I could at least help make way for him

Until the day that he comes

Her father’s hand was a loving touch and a curse upon her skin, a branding mark and a constant reminder. His eyes would bore into her own as he spoke his words low and stern. When he sent her into the trenches with the other children, and told her she had to be great. To make up for how she was born, and what she did to her mother when she came into the world. It was her sin to bear, her debt to fill. She was her family's ruin, so she had to be their victory. 

Her two eldest sisters, born perfect without a flaw to them. Without a fleeting thought behind their eyes either. Her parents had hoped and prayed to the Mother that the final child would be a son and if it was not, they would try again and again until the Goddess blessed them. 

But Ianthe was a curse before she had even taken her first breath. Born too early, dragging nails down her mother’s insides and nearly killing her. Stealing away her ability to carry children again, crying for months without end, driving her family nearly entirely mad. 

Her father, her sisters, they all hated her from the moment she came into the world. When she made her mother miserable, when she wouldn’t eat or wouldn’t sleep. Bringing them constant pain and suffering, and all through it, she was born female. 

Useless to them. Her sisters could be married off. But she, last-born, and the ugliest of the lot. She was without worth. 

Ianthe was born with a debt owed. Cursed by the Cauldron, clearly. It was told to her over and over. Even when her mother held her with her thin arms and her teary eyes that never went away, stroking her hair and telling her she was worth more than anything, Ianthe saw the pain she had caused. Her sisters told her of the time when her mother was full of life, her skin not pasty, her body plumb, her smile bright and unrestrained. They told her, shamed her, for how she had taken that from her. 

Her father did what he had to do. Lied, extorted and threw others underneath him to pave his way to the top. Through it he kept her sisters protected from it all, but took her with him. Taught her the art of cunning manipulation, how to use others for her gain. Her intelligence was all she had to use, so she had to weaponize it, her father told her. 

And he pushed her in the direction of the youngest son of Spring. Older than her by centuries, but kind, sweet, naive. 

“Easy,” Her father had said. 

And so, Ianthe knew what her purpose was. 

______

“And that is how you hold it! Place the bow here and then you can pull it veeeery gently and you should make this note here-” Tamlin instructed the young girl. 

Ianthe bit her tongue as she struggled to hold the fiddle properly. It was strange and odd to her. But after finding the Prince in the gardens playing it, she had grown curious about the instrument. 

Tamlin kept one hand on hers as he gently pulled and a slow note was drawn. Ianthe allowed the actions, letting Tamlin guide her. 

“Alright, your turn.” He said, letting go and stepping back. 

Ianthe nodded, placing her hands exactly as he had, and… pulled. 

A loud screeching noise screamed from the fiddle like it was in pain. Ianthe flinched and stopped immediately. 

“I can’t do it.” She spat through gritted teeth. 

“It takes time.” Tamlin gently removed the fiddle from her hands, “Here watch.”

Tamlin instructed her. He was patient. He was kind. 

And gods she hated it. 

He was too nice, he was too good, he was too pure. 

Worst of all, he saw her. 

Hated by his brothers and father like she was. He saw the signs. Her father’s hand too rough on her shoulder. The red marks where he grabbed her, or where her sisters pinched and pushed her. 

“I’m here.” Tamlin had said, “When you need to talk, if you need to. You don’t need to. But I am here.”

The worst part was that he kept to his word. He was there. He was always there. It was fucking infuriating. 

She was supposed to use him. He was supposed to be her ticket to the top, and instead he was teaching her his favourite hobby and making her talk about emotions without making her. 

At another time. 

“One of my brothers will be High lord,” he had said, before quietly adding, “I hope.”

They were sitting on the branches of a tall oak tree. Ianthe had been told all her life the wilderness was for brutes and dogs, but Tamlin convinced her one day to come out with him and showed her his favourite spot in the trees, hidden away from everyone. 

“What if you do end up High lord?” She asked. 

He shrugged, “I don’t know.”

She picked at some of the bark, swinging her legs back and forth. Her father didn’t let her own any kind of pants or tunics, saying she was already unbecoming enough, she didn’t need to ruin herself further by dressing like a male. So, Tamlin insisted she borrow some of his old clothes when her father was not around. 

“I think I’ll run.” Tamlin said, “I know one of my brother’s will be High lord, so when they are, I will run. I will go off with the travelling minstrels and I will play in all the world.”

Ianthe stared at him. Watched his hopeful face. 

Hate writhed in her heart, curdling with shame. 

Maybe that was what she hated the most. 

The fact that despite him being exactly like her. He could hope. 

_____

Tamlin did become High lord. 

She saw him seated on that throne. With a grief in his eyes she had never seen. 

When he turned his gaze towards her, she felt something like joy spark in her chest. 

And for the first time, she felt something else. 

Something like hope. 

But his eyes stayed stony, and he looked away. 

He cared for her no longer. 

And Ianthe’s heart shattered for the last time. 

She had failed. 

Truly and completely failed. Failed her family. Failed to pay her debts. 

And somehow the worst of it all, was that the only friend she had ever known was gone. 

______

The Gods haven’t spoken for a while now. Still she listens, she asks her questions, delivers the requests of the people. Offers the prayers, the incense. The wine is poured out into a cup of stone, and when it drips down the sides of the altar, it looks like the blood of the Maiden who had been slaughtered here all those millenia ago, when Spring first formed. When the Maiden of steel and bloom had come to Spring, betrayed by her fair lover and stabbed through the heart. Left to bleed into the earth.

Magic was born from the anger, the hurt, the spite and the wrath of her death, it had bloomed like the Spring that blossomed from the deathly months of Winter. Spring had been born into the world as the Fae Lands formed. 

It was a story Ianthe had heard a thousand times before, it was one of her favourite tales. 

She went through the usual rituals with practised ease, her work was what kept the heart of the land beating. What kept her Court locked in eternal Spring. They provided the Mother with gifts of appreciation and servitude and she kept the rose buds blooming, the rain sprinkling on the land, and the crops growing. 

The wine stained her fingertips and the edges of her robes. She gave a silent sigh. 

It had been a year since Tamlin had taken to the throne. Her father was never pleased anymore. Before she had been able to calm his anger with her constant stream of accomplishments. But now, a lowly Priestess with nothing and no one to her name. She was nothing more than a hollow shell of what could have been. 

As she said a prayer over the altar, the final one. She whispered something small, something for herself. 

“...And please, I beg of the Mother, I humbly ask for alleviation of my troubled heart, so that I may serve you fully.”

“Priestess!” Someone called as she left the temple. Ianthe quickly followed after them. 

My name is Brutus and my name means heavy

So with a heavy heart

I’ll guide this dagger into the heart of my enemy

My whole life you were a teacher and a friend to me

Please know that my actions are not motivated only by envy

The day went on, and the work continued. Ianthe was pulled in every which way, going from person to place. Her feet ached and her throat was sore as the sun began to set and her stomach began to growl. 

Eventually, finally, Ianthe was able to return to her own rooms. Closing the door swiftly, she felt for the door handle behind her and locked it. Only then, did she release her breath, sliding to the floor. 

Her room was warm, the fire was lit. Ianthe shrugged off her robes, simply remaining in her undergarments as she finally flopped onto the soft covers of her bed. Face buried in a pillow, it wasn’t long before she was slipping in and out of unconsciousness, the room around her becoming nothing more than a distant blur. 

There was the sudden feeling of falling. 

She awoke with a gasp. Eyes tearing open to see nothing but dark forest. Her knees were buried in cold, wet dirt. Rocks and roots pushed up against her bare knees. Chills ran up and down her body, Ianthe looked down to notice she was entirely naked. Her heart pounded, racking against her ribs, panting, breathing in the damp, earthy smell of the thick wood around her.

The trees entirely blocked out the sky. They were bigger than any she had ever seen. The trunks so massive she could not see her way around them. The roots stuck up from the ground and formed the shape of portals. The ground was covered by thick layers of moss and decay. 

She had been here before… the intense gripping feeling of the forest, like a thousand eyes stared down onto her was familiar, the stillness to the air, the silence so thick she could cut through it. It was all familiar. But she couldn’t place when she had last been here, what had happened. 

It had to be a dream, Ianthe reasoned. A incredibly vivid dream. 

But surely, surely, dreams were not meant to be so realistic. She shouldn’t be able to feel the blood dribbling down her knees from when she had hit the ground. The stinging pain, the cold, the cold dark earth. It shouldn’t be this real. 

After several minutes of standing there. Ianthe decided there wasn’t much other to be down except to keep walking. So she began to hike through the woods. Pushing her way through thick brush, branches that reached out like hands, dragging over her skin, leaving red lines in their wake. 

The wood continued to deepen. It seemed to continue on and on, forever, and forever. 

Hours may have slipped away from her, days or weeks. She never grew weary and her stomach did not grumble, there was no other sound than her footsteps and the breaking of the foliage she shoved aside. 

“You’ve been here a while.” Someone, something, whispered from all around her. 

Ianthe felt each hair stand up, she went entirely still. 

“Why have you come to my land, little one? What aches your young heart?” It asked, voice sliding down her skin, sending chills down her spine. 

“My Priestess.” It called again when she didn’t respond, “What troubles you so?”

“Who are you?” She asked. 

“You do not remember the last time you were here.” It noted. 

“But you were a child then.” It added, “Children do not remember things.”

“A spirit,” She whispered, “The Spirit.”

The Springs Spirit was in the land, in the forests, the never-ending fields, the rain and the sky. 

And now, it spoke to her. 

“What is on your mind, young one?” It asked her. 

“Why did you bring me here?” She asked. 

“Bring you here?” It seemed to laugh, and the world seemed to flutter with it, “You came here, my Priestess. The troubles weigh down on you, you ask in your prayers for them to be alleviated. So, tell me.”

In a breath-taking display of light and warmth, something appeared. It wrapped around the bough of a tree, its long neck snaking through the branches, head dropping down to face her. 

The serpent, with its void black eyes, and shimmering scales of near blinding light stared into her, “What troubles my favourite creation?”

“How…” She murmured. 

She had asked. 

In her prayers during the ceremonies. 

She had asked for the alleviation of her constant aching heart. 

“I cannot…” She struggled to find the words as she faced the serpent. 

“My dear,” it whispered, “Tell me.”

Tears sprung from her eyes, “I cannot continue to go on like this.”

“Why not, my dear Priestess?”

“Because I have beared this curse for too long,” Tears fell hot down her face, “The shame, the guilt, I was supposed to use the High lord. I was supposed to make him mine, so that I would carry his offspring and bring prosperity to my people and victory for my family. To fill the debts I owe.”

Her whole body shook as she began to sob. Here in this forest, in this place between time, space and reality. Bear as the day she was born, as the day she cursed her mother. 

“Instead he holds my heart in another way, and I do not his. I have failed my father, my sisters and my mother.”

It cocked its head, “The High lord…” it mused, “New as a rose bloom and bright as the morning sun. His magic is a new song to me.”

It slithered back up into the branches of the trees, “He is…” It murmured, “Delectable. His power will feed the lands for centuries to come.”

She sniffled, trying to wipe the ugly tears from her face. 

“I see you need help, my priestess.” It murmured, “To see yourself for what you really are.”

“Here is what I will do,” It said, “When you wake, you will go to the High Priestess’ bedchambers. She will be in a deep slumber. You are to take the bejewelled dagger she keeps in her bedside drawer and you will slit her throat.”

Ianthe felt her entire body begin to shake. 

“You will take the bloodied knife and cut your own palm. Leave the body to be found by the other Priestesses and go to the Pool of Starlight. After you fully submerge yourself, you will come up new as a rose bloom and bright as the morning sun. When the ritual comes for a new High Priestess to be chosen, the light will shine down upon you. And then, you will gain favour with your High lord.”

Ianthe’s world was spinning, turning inside and out. She felt like she might be sick, or excited, or both, she did not know.

“What is the price?” She asked. 

“The price,” The spirit mused. 

It slid further down from the branch and faced her once more as it whispered, “Your heart will harden over entirely. You will become the essence of what you try to be, cold, cruel and cunning. You will become like the snakes on their bellies, finding their way into the heart of a hen’s house. You will become the new song that sings for me, you will crave power and I will feed upon it.”

The Price…

The shining eyes of her mother, the approval of her father, finally a smile from her sisters. 

Tamlin finally looking at her like she wasn’t just part of the crowd again. 

“Deal.” She whispered. 

Maybe she had already been convinced, long before she came here. 

Everything began to blur. Nothing clear, not true, not real. The only real thing she heard was the serpent's laughter as her feet gave out and she fell down and down. 

And down.

And down. 

Maybe long ago she had been convinced of this. 

The price seemed like nothing at all. 

Feeling only the basking of glory and the craving of victory in exchange for all her stupid, fucking emotions. 

It was an easy deal really. 

It seemed too easy. 

Briefly, for a moment she remembered. 

Her mother had always been someone religious. Had wanted to be a Priestess, had worshipped the Goddess with all her heart and soul. It didn’t make sense to Ianthe why her dear mother had been inflicted with a cursed daughter for all her servitude. 

But as Ianthe fell she remembered. 

The dreams she had as a child, the serpent's whispering in her eyes that made her cry. The feeling of its scales coiling around her. The touch of its greedy body. Danger flashed in her mind. She could not stop crying because of it. 

Not cursed.

She had visions. She had dreams. She could see the divine. Peer between the curtains of this realm and the higher ones. She alone was the one with enough power to contact those of Higher Order. 

It just took a push. It took taking away the fear she held to see her gift for what it really was. 

Cauldron-Blessed.

Ianthe did as she was instructed. 

It was easy to slip into the High Priestess’ bedchambers. Her door had been unlocked that night, by what everyone would say was a stroke of horrible luck, but she knew divine intervention when she saw it. 

The dagger was where The Spirit said it was be. 

Her blood was warm, it dribbled out of her bubbling throat as her eyes shot open and she began to silently choke. 

Desperately she reached out to grab Ianthe, but Ianthe, with the hard toils of her labour, the carrying of jugs of water and wine, was stronger. She pinned the High Priestess down, and held her there until her chest ceased its movements, her eyes rolled back and her heart began to stop. 

She slit her palm, and let the blood of the knife trickle into the open wound. Before turning and fleeing before anyone could find her. 

It was a short trip to the Pool of Starlight but it could not have gone fast enough. She ran and ran and ran, tripping over and bruising her knees but she scrambled forward still. Until she saw that still, dark lake. 

Ianthe didn’t even remove her robes before diving in. 

All went entirely still. As she hung in the darkness, swallowed by the starlight. 

It filled her lungs and her skin began to warm. Her chest tingled and she felt like something was erupting inside her very core. Her being undoing and retying. Everything disappeared and reappeared, flashing in and out of existence as reality contorted itself. 

Finally, she raced for the surface. 

Ianthe broke the water's tension. And it was like breathing air for the very first time. 

This time, her birth was not with pain, crying and screaming. 

It was with her joyous laughter, as the golden morning sun shone down upon her face, and the sweet smell of roses filled her lungs with every deep, rich breath of new air. 

She opened her eyes to this new world. New and unbound. Beautifully remade. 

And this time. 

A deep hungering ignited within her. One that would not be filled. 

A never-ending chasm replaced where her too big heart had been. 

She knew what she craved and she knew what she had to do. 

This. 

This was her new purpose. 

I always knew I could the one

Though I feel the endless pain of being

And I am scorched by the sun

Of humble origins and born of the cursed sex.

-Brutus by the Buttress

[hamartiologic]

Pandora Oración Ylaya (she/he) —

An amicable but distant student who prides himself on opportunities afforded to him through his work and effort. Known to be strict but otherwise reliable, Pandora's earned herself a campus image of a studious academic with no ill sentiments towards others, so long as they carry their fair? share of responsibilities. In actuality, Pandora fosters connections with others for the sake of getting ahead and deliberately keeps his more harsh tendencies tempered to make sure his wide array of opportunities isn't extinguished by fraught interpersonal relationships, even if he thinks the upkeep a chore. Even still, she is a social butterfly at heart and is especially more open and honest with those close to her or those who already know too much.

Harbors a guilt complex towards certain behaviors she has around Milo, trying to will away her compulsion to b̶͍̙͌r̵̘͎̋e̸̡̅̏a̷̺̓͊k̸͎̮̀̍ him, even though the rush she gets from seeing him follow her around and seemingly caring for only her is a high she never wants to rid herself of. In his mind, Pandora calls this a sinful schadenfreude. Despite her internal conflict, she wants Milo to be able to save himself. Though being a savior with such a devout believer wouldn't be so bad either, right...?

Within Pandora's box lies many secrets and contradictions. She'll try and try to keep it closed for the sake of herself, but the extrication of the contents inside is but an inevitability.

Pandora was chosen as the name with consideration of his role as an Eris-adjacent character, and thus, I wanted to keep the mythology inspiration. Other options included Eros, Apollo, and Psyche. I think the myth offers a fun amount of symbolism. Like the myth, this Pandora is essentially artificial, at least in terms of the image she builds. His namesake is also described as a "beautiful evil" and carrying "sheer guile." She's also given a deceitful nature and power of speech, among other gifts. I think the box in the mythos represents this Pandora's capacity as an individual—for both the negative traits that attempt to escape and manifest in his daily life and for the good that rests within the vessel. An expansive array of possibilities making themselves known once the box is opened. (I'm cooking up parallels wink wink nudge nudge.) I find the other readings of the box's symbolism just as curious and just as fitting as well—that being of curiosity and pursuit of knowledge in opening the box, as well as the trials of life and the hope and tenacity that is required to overcome it kept safely within.

Oración means prayer. Pandora is not particularly religious, though she was raised to be. She answers to no god but herself—though acknowledging herself as such makes her guilt complex kick in. He'll try to deny it, but the idea of Milo being his one and only believer is one that he entertains every now and then...

Ylaya is from ilaya, which, among other things, means to set something free in Tagalog. Fitting for the mythology of Pandora, but it can also refer to his own desire to live freely. Additionally, allowing Milo to go his own way despite her desires.

Though I'm still working out details, I've pretty much decided that V!Milo is a veeeery miniscule possibility for Pandora. She's very much focused on puppeteering social interactions to make things go her way when the need arises—I'm sure you can see where I'm going with this. I'll have to think about this more, but it's safe to say that all Pandomilos I am to talk about are with either Pre-Milo or M!Milo(-adjacent) in mind.

Other tidbits

4'11". It's the Filipino genes.

Pursuing a degree in the arts.

Genderfluid and bisexual, though she presents herself as a girl just so she doesn't have to explain herself.

Though he's had a fair share of admirers, he's rejected each one—of which includes Ryan. Pandora makes fun of Ryan on the regular and regards him as someone entertaining as a result of his reactions towards her.

Despite his academic standing, he actually has an incredibly hard time focusing on what he needs to do. Additionally, he is cursed with being sleepy all the time.

She takes charge in group projects but always aims to do less work. He isn't as reliable as everyone thinks he is, but his way of getting away with it scot-free is by always being there to pester her groupmates and offering to help them out—which is to say, they'll do all the heavylifting while she just pretties it up. Work smarter, not harder.

She is always looking for an excuse to karaoke. It's one of her favorite things in the world.

ACG nerd. His room has manga and limited editions of games. Not like he'll let his classmates know.

She is self-absorbed, self-important, and self-obsessed. Loving herself is one of her hobbies. If loving yourself was a job, she'd be employee of the year.

[mushigima]

Ghost headcanons because I love me a mysterious masked man

König headcanons can be found here.

-> a very literal man. A lot of people around him might think he’s a mystery but they’re just blinded by the mask - if you actually interact with him on a daily basis you’ll quickly find out that he’s very straightforward and transparent at and off work.

-> also starting off strong with the fact that I believe he’s generally not a jealous person, not even in a relationship. I do think he has his insecurities and he def gets in his sappy moods once in a while but generally knows that yearning for things he has no influence on is very contra productive. Tries his best to always stay in the moment and to not get into his head too much (because he usually does).

-> But on the other hand I can see him being a tat…possessive... Being possessive doesn’t translate into him being very emotionally reactive about it tho. Makes sure that his fears of losing what’s ‘his’ stay fears and realizes them as purely imagined. Again, I think he knows very well that he’s an avoidant person. However, if he gets insecure and therefore struggles with possessiveness, it starts with a flicker and then a spark: usually hes good at catching it. It won’t start a fire within him. But if it does he’s getting into his head, being suspicious. Will translate into on and off behavior or him being more closed off at worst.

-> 100% clenches his jaws at night. Ghost is a certified neurotic, change my mind. Integrates specific rituals to sort out his mind in his routine if it’s possible (are all of these so called rituals healthy?? Not so much but as long as it keeps the thoughts into place he’s fine with it). Has tried out certain fidget toys like those small fidget cubes and has kept them near his bedside table or in his pockets from once in a while.

-> This one is a bit goofy but I can see him being the type to snore so loud the whole house will wake up when he’s drunk and passes out.

-> Also the type to push his body beyond belief and proves the hypothesis that under adrenaline humans are more capable of what we think of. Will rase the bar constantly and earns a lot of admiration for his dedication.

-> Actually really enjoys reading. Mystery, thriller, but also folklore and philosophy books. Could also listen to a few ‘work and grind’ podcasts or audiobooks when he feels his mental health and stress levels are kicking lmao but generally finds comfort in the dark and mysterious. Definitely has studied stoicism at one point in his life but knows that his temper gets the best of him.

-> Listens to ambience music and rain sounds, also uses them to help him fall asleep when insomnia is hitting hard.

-> If he ever catches genuine interest for something its becoming a niche/special interest he’ll be very particular about. Really enjoys learning and doing research until having a good grasp of the topic/skill. This might also be due to him being just a liiiiittle bit competitive.

-> That being said if he’s not doing his job he’s actually the curious type but is just very good at not acting out on impulses. If he feels save he would roam around a store for a while and look at every object, but the military (and life to an extent too) kinda excorcised the ‘child-like’ qualities out of him. If you’re lucky you see them possess this 6’4 man once in a while and he’ll be gone, lost in his thoughts thinking about this and that, observing nick-nacks like a crow that found a shiny silver spoon lol.

-> Deep, deep down is veeeery sentimental. Has no pictures in his apartment except for a box with a few pics of the boys and him underneath his bed. Reminds him of things he deems as important. Would keep one special item of yours at his place that he keeps looking at once in a while.

-> Don’t look at me but I believe this man has a wide knowledge of birds. Is very fond of them. A nerd and not ashamed of it (but no one really knows, except for soap maybe). Used to spend his time watching birds as a child, still enjoys looking at them when he’s out on a mission and has a bit of free time. Is actually comforted by their presence. He’s equally amused by their funny nature, impressed by their intelligence and also very emo about the fact that he was jealous of their ability to be free and go wherever when he was younger.

-> He’s a silent learner. Learns by observing. Especially people. He could notice that you might have some sort underlying communication issue that affects your dynamic and weeks later he comes back from the shadows and is actually tending towards your needs. Things just run smoother now and you wonder why. Will absolutely not change character and personality for you or bend himself in every direction to please someone, but is quiet aware of his own short comings. He also likes to solve problems before things escalate. He might also be a liiittle bit of a control freak.

-> That being said he is very stubborn if he wants to change and work on himself or not. If he’s comfortable sitting in his own misery because it hasn’t negatively effected his life so far why should he? His red flag is thinking that having intimate connections with people can exist without him getting changed by them in the slightest. Commitmophobe tendencies are triggered by the consequences of genuine intimacy.

-> he’s either a Capricorn, Sagittarius or Scorpio change my mind!!!!! (you can’t)

-> Yes, he is indeed a cuddly person!!! I will die on this hill, it only really shows when time and place is appropriate and he will be subtle about it but will start mewling when you hold him and stroke his back gently, intertwine your fingers and make sure to lock your legs around his!!!! Loves becoming a human pretzel with you when he has time to relax fully, but especially when you’re about to go to bed. He’s also a big fan of you laying on top of him, will start holding you or caressing you right away. He does it all the time, absentminded. Reads a book? One hand is in your hair, combing softly through it. You’re waiting in line at the grocery store?? At first you didn’t notice but his hand found yours and now his thumb is tracing circles on your hand. Def very subtle in public but enough to let you taste his sweet affection once in a while.

-> This one is one of my favs but he’s a dude that’s not getting embarrassed. Not only because most things are simply normal but because he doesn’t care. He has to make sure none of his team mates die at work you think he cares about dirty kitchen dishes?????? A pimple?????? A burp or fart?????? You must be joking if you’d think he’d waste his time thinking about these meaningless things when existential dread is all that fills up his mind.

-> Enjoys playing card games. It takes him a while to get warm but he is keen on winning. But almost always looses in the last round coming out second. Enjoys the fact that it’s a team activity the most.

[bloggingboutburgers]

Hello! I want to get better at French, and I love music. But I don't want to listen to the top pop artists, I'd rather listen to something closer to folk music. I'd also like to not listen to a song and find that it's just about sex after looking up the translation. Do you have any recommendations?

I'll try! Though I hope you'll like them, it's always tough to recommend music to people 🙈 But I have pretty unusual tastes in French music (for my age) so here are some personal favorites. Can't guarantee there won't be songs with romance/sex mentions in 'em but I know for a fact there's a variety! Also not all of them are necessary folk, but they're not pop, so hopefully that helps TwT

Tété (this one might be closest to what you're looking for)

Joni Île: Very indie singer that an acquaintance told me about. Lyrics can be tough to understand (veeeery punny/playing on sounds) and hard to find to begin with, but if you can understand them they're typically about insecurities shown in a fairly soft way

Claude Nougaro (more on the jazz/LATAM music-inspired side)

Alain Souchon & Laurent Voulzy (these often work as a duo, though my personal favorite is Alain Souchon, the lyrics are quite slang-y but very true to life imo)

Francis Cabrel (not actually a favorite of mine but could be close to what you're seeking, and a good introduction to some other, less internationally typical French accents)

Véronique Sanson

-M- (and also his father Louis Chedid is pretty cool too)

Yannick Noah

I could go on but these are some that come to mind rn – hopefully there'll be some you like in there! (And ofc if anyone wants to chime in with personal recos in the notes, please do, I'm always curious too 👀)

[leffee]

okay this is probably a selfish question (just a little bit,,), and i’m already a bit nervous to ask. but i’m curious. you mentioned scout kerry being your 2nd fave after scarletta, and that made me wonder.

do you have a ranked list? if so, i would like to ask for any other faves you might have among my designs. cause like, design is subjective, and different people will have different favs and stuff. so i wanna hear about yours, explanations and all. I guess a top 5 or so will do?

okthasallbyeandsorryifyoudontwannaanswerthat’sfinetoo-

Why, of course I will do it, happily so. I will do top 5 first:

Scarletta Redd, of course. What is there not to like about her design? To me, it's pretty much perfect. I just love that she has those three main colors going on that are all in all not often seen together I think. Plus it's not that it's 90% red and 5% black and white (beige more like? Idk) but all of those colors are in pretty equal amount, it's not something that you often see with character design. Also her hair, oh her hair! I love this hairstyle plus I love that her hair is two-colored, that's also not something many other characters have. Plus her clothes, my goodness. I genuinely don't care about most clothes, I have absolutely 0 knowledge about the names of clothes aside from the very basic ones and I think fashion is the most boring thing ever, but man! Her outfit, everything about it is just so good. I love high boots like her (It's all Ishimaru Kiyotaka's fault btw, google him if you want to/need to, I used to be obsessed with the boy and he has those kinds of boots). Her two-colored stocking look so good too, and her kinda ripped skirt mm yes! And her uhhh top? Yeah, idk this is basically just a bunch of saying that X is cool xD but I genuinely think so. And her sleeves! Well, actually I'm not sure if those are supposed to be sleeves or just really long gloves, but yes, I love gloves like that. In fact, fingerless gloves of any kind are probably one of my favourite possible pieces of clothing, there's a reason why my Vinnie has them. My reason for liking her design this much is basically just a combination of the colors, clothes, and her hair :).

Yeah, Scout Kerry - A lot of my liking of her human design comes from her slit eyes, I am so serious about liking those sort of eyes. My anthro Vinnie has them :). Anyway, aside from that, cause while that is a big part I also love everything about this design, her eye color is veeeery pretty and its intensity contrasts nicely with the rest of her colors that are much lighter. I think this trench coat is so good and pretty, and of course of course, she has gloves! Yipee! Not to mention that I absolutely love how her hair is shaped to look like cat's ears for well, obvious reasons. I guess this doesn't really count towards your human design of her because that is just her canon self, but I love how stoic yet curious she looks, like she already knows she's gonna kill you, just wondering which way would be the most exciting.

Shivers - me when short, ginger-haired boy: Yipee! Okay, okay, but to say more, yeah, I love ginger hair on characters, so what? And his eye color is very similar to Scout's and you already know I like hers. He has bandaids!!! I love those on characters in general, but my absolute favourite are the bandaids on his arms ohohoh boy. I would say here the same logic applies as for gloves, because those bandaids basically just look like gloves, don't they? On top of this he wears silly T-shirts and I love those kinds of T-shirts! Like half of my T-shirts are silly T-shirts. I just never liked one-colored T-shirts no matter how fancy or objectively pretty they were, I could not wear something like that, so I love his T-shirt. He also has eyebags and as I repeated multiple times, I do genuinely find eyebags so attractive.

Sugar Sprinkles - her canon design is my favourite amongst all the pets so no wonder her human design is also one of my favourites. I mean girl has sprinkles in her hair!!! That would pretty much be enough to beat almost anyone. I just really like the hair style you gave her plus this pink hue blends so good with the lower white. Also, guess what? Yup, she has fingerless gloves so of course she automatically gets bonus points from me. However, my favourite part of her design is her sweater, I love sweaters and hers just looks so cozy and so candy-colored if that even makes sense. What I mean is that she in general looks comfortable and cozy and I love that about her.

My boy! Hurray, he's here! So Vinnie - I mostly just really really love his hair. In this one post where I judged everyone's hair I said that Vinnie's canon hair is too slick for me to like it that much, but I also said that his hair but literally just ruffled, like during Hanging by a Thread, is so good. And many people who humanized him draw him with his normal slick hair, which you know, I personally wasn't the biggest fan of, but yours? Oh, yours is exactly what I like, it's his pompadour yet ruffled and I think it looks so good 🤤. Not counting his hair I love the band-aid you added for his redesign, of course, I think it looks so cute on him sepcifically, I'm so serious about this. plus of course the freckles, I love freckles and they just fit him so much I just can't. Sure, I'm definitely probably biased ohhh but it that so wrong? It's Vinnie and he looks cute, of course I like it.

Those are detailed explanations for the top 5 but aside from them my other faves are:

Russell - love his hair and his fang

Zoe - Zoe

Digby - love his tall, athletic with bearded persona going on

Minka - like her aroace bracelets and especially the ribbons that imitate a tail (or at least I assume so)

Grown up Biskit twins - I really like their golden accesiories and honestly just everything else, they look so good

Vinnie Miku - it's Vinnie and Hatsune Miku in one what what else do I need to say?? SEEEEEEKAI WOOOOO

[quincyhorst]

It's the Nº100 post on this account, and I want to celebrate it by sharing something special. Here's all the best images I could find of the Inazuma Season 3 DVD Box poster, a bonus item which I'm still searching for better pics of. Noneteless as a celebration I want to share what I've found so far :D

(Also, yes, 2/3 of these pictures are upscaled using Waifu2x, so some things will look wonky. If you want to see the original images without it, tell me and I'll post them too)

The above pic mainly focuses on the center part of the poster; but as you can see the left and right ones do not show on its fullest. I've found photos of both sides, though the quality is veeeery worse:

Like I've said, I'm still yet to find any decent picture of it, so this is all I have for now. But I hope it is a good start.

Also, if anyone's curious on researching by themselves... Be careful. Google images has this weird thing with japanese shopping products, where pictures of items in search results will lead to strange and VERY unrelated URLs. Some examples? The 1st pic was hosted on some site named "gokuburger.fr" (France?) , the 2nd in "rauquen.cl" (Chilean web domain) and the 3rd one in "Bodegas San Valero" (Zaragoza, Spain). Yeah, I have ZERO idea how those images got there. All I know is that I once clicked in a link similar to those and I got redirected with a page with a fake "Allow notifs" pop-up. I've managed to escape, but it is not worth the risk.

That's everything for now. Thank you all :D

[legionofpotatoes]

Hi Legion! Long time lurker and lover of your art and tags here. I always read your tags and I'm really interested in your thoughts & views on love and relationships, so I'm curious to know where you got those ideas from. Are there any videos, terms, or books you could recommend? It really resonated with me and since I'm a huge nerd my first instinct is to find more sources haha. Thank you so much!

This ask genuinely made me sit with myself and think long and hard about how my views on that stuff really formed, something I maybe took for granted a lil bit. So thanks, and I'm sorry that I can't give a nerdy answer here! It is difficult to point to specific sources, it's more of a lived-experience type thing. It truly is The Question Of All Time lmao. And boy did it get me thinking back.

I'll put my ramble under the cut if this is not interesting or what you're after, but I enjoyed the introspection still! Thank you!

My context is entirely unremarkable (middle class cishet white guy from eastern europe), but if I had to point to one thing that is the bottleneck of my views on love and relationships, I genuinely think it could be traced to my insane early childhood nat20 roll to avoid toxic masculinity pipelines. I truly believe in my bones that if I had been seduced by that stuff - and legitimately all but maybe two of my childhood friends were - I'd be a completely different, colder, worse person today. I credit only luck in that.

Where I'm from, boys of my generation were set on a very specific path very early on that was pointed veeeery far away from "love". All wrapped up in warped orthodox christianity and crypto-nationalist sentiments, stemming from our incredibly disillusioned post-soviet parent figures constantly running in survival mode. So like, I legitimately don't remember how I managed to avoid those circles and behavior patterns, and the truth is that I probably sometimes didn't? I certainly made stupid mistakes in my early teens, but I had the luxury of making them outside of the public eye of social media. More luck.

There's other alchemy of course - as a child of divorce I got a real early up-close look at the ugly results of mistrust and toxic "love", and a lot of my life back then was rebelling against that. Not that the parenting itself was always bad - my mother turned me to the arts and to stories, which eventually led me to fandom that I can now identify as a much healthier outlet for my frustrations than whatever my peers were doing with their nighttime brawls. It led me to a very crystallized idea of what I really wanted from life - not glory or patriotism or ambition, but a quiet life with the ones I loved.

That is also around the time when I let go of teenage lust as my north star and started fostering friendships instead; because like, relationships are bonds and connections, nothing more or less. Sexuality and romantic love can take as big or as small of a role in that as the parties desire, and they're entirely ornamental to the value of linking your experience with another living, breathing human. Realizing the divinity and beauty in that changes almost everything in an instant. And it is such a goofy-ass thing to say, but yeah, for a lost idiot dude like me, fandom helped me see that. Even the raunchiest fics were ultimately about belonging and emotional nakedness, and I learned to desire that more than anything else. I am trying so hard to point to something specific here, but I honestly don't know with way back then. Bioware's found family-ass games/fanfics were a big one later on, but there were so many other communities before. My memory's just bad.

But knowing I wanted love was one thing, and being a healthier, more empathetic person ready to actually get that was a whole other trek. Made a few more dumb interpersonal mistakes. And then I met my current partner, now over twelve years ago, and realized there was a version of me reflected in her eyes that I could truly chase and grow into. This all sounds super melodramatic but it was more of a terrifying thought at the time, stoking self-doubt and real worry that I was leading her into a mistake. But of course that was all a symptom of terminal self-awareness. We were in our early 20s, mature enough not to play childish emotional games, and young enough to go on that growth journey together. More luck. Found that gentle peace I had yearned for with her., and I count my lucky stars to this day.

In short, everything about my understanding of love and relationships is rooted in personal circumstance + massive amounts of luck, and especially that early course-correction away from toxic dudeness. Nothing extracurricular. And then just more and more luck piled on with time, culminating with my lovely bean. So in that sense I'm the worst person to ask this question! And times have really changed irt internet culture and fandom so I can't even point at that part as an action point either.

But if nothing else, I believe that storytelling is the ultimate shortcut in getting our dumb teenage brains over the precipice of pride and control, and towards the gentle pursuit of love in all its forms. I think that's worth articulating over and over again. Thanks for reading this long and I promise I usually interpret asks like a normal person! This is an exception!!! a big question if there ever was one

[despair-to-future-arcs]

Well the higher ups can go cry and ocean for all we care, they now either have the choice of rebuilding the school from the ground up or just keep the rubble there. Maybe make a memorial in its place.

Indeed and if they ask, will say Junko planted those bombs; all that matters is that we got something for the investigation.

*opens her bag and pulls out the letter and notebook* Still... I do wonder who Ryoko is, I never her that name before; maybe I should read it and then check the laptop.

Now let's see...

*Kyoko opens the envelope and discovers a USB and a letter which reads it*...

----------------------------------------------------------------------

'To whoever discover this letter or maybe it's Kyoko, congrats!

You were able to find all the clues I lay about and were determined to learn the truth given how stubborn you are.

Now I bet your veeeery curious why I did all this or maybe your super curious of how I got away with it or how I convince a bunch of people to join my cause... well, I guess you'll need to put the USB into the laptop and I'm sure that's where things will be explain...

I know many think I did because I was bored or whatever reason you can think of, but I had my reasons deep down and I want to explain them all but I can't as there isn't a lot of paper, ah... how despairful to think about that I'm happy to write this to you, whoever is reading this... still, best of luck - you need it.

With Despairful love, Junko Enoshima ❥'

----------------------------------------------------------------------

*has the USB* So she wants me to plug this in, huh?

*puts the USB into the evelope and pulls out the notebook*

Seems Ryoko Otonashi is here and some line... a password?

*as flipping through the pages, a image fell out* Huh? This is...?

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...Who is that? I never seen her before?

[shae-s-heartsong]

good omens s2 random thoughts

the fact that some (not a lot but some) people think or at least thought that aziraphale as really happy at the very end of the series just confuses me so much - HOW can you believe that? i mean i'm autistic but i can tell the smile he was putting on his face was FORCED. baby angel is literally CHARGING this smile like fjzjnf and it's even less understandable for me given the AMOUNT of times in series 2 we got to see him ACTUALLY smile or jubilant -- come on make efforts ?? and also, i saw a few people (but they are rare, honestly globally people are pretty smart here) misinterpreting his choice at the end, and it just confuses me too - HAVE YOU WATCHED THE SERIES?? it's a choice he's made WILLINGLY not because he was poisoned or directly threatened. not understing that is not understanding his character arc or himself at ALL

i can't get over the fact that crowley canonically listens to take me to church jfnerhkvk but also, their entire playlists??? HELP

to me it is really impressive how much series 2 makes sense in terms of plot, character development and psychology. i find it just AMAZING. i could write entire character studies and honestly i dont know whats stopping me to do it right now (yes i do its laziness) because i would have a LOT to say (though nothing that hasn't been said already i think)

i'm veeeery curious about the second coming. i think the minisode's themes (death, life after death) help to foreshadow it but aside from that idk what will happen exactly.

if I can clearly imagine what aziraphale's character arc will be in the next series, i have a little bit more difficulties to imagine what crowley's will be. i'm a bit afraid that in the beggining it will be difficult, and i mean that's likely to happen, even if i'm fairly sure that everything will end for the best. but before that? what will happen to my precious, adorable little crowley??? what is he going to do? if you have ideas on that share!!! (im desperate)

[ofthepuzzle]

//What book are you reading? Just curious

// Hello there! I’m actually happy I got this ask. I’m currently reading The Inheritance Games. A RL friend introduced me to the series and I looked at a brief summary of the first book. It’s about a girl who is unexpectedly left a billion-dollar fortune by a mysterious philanthropist. And the family who should rightfully inherit the money is furious. They’re trying to understand why she, a stranger, was the chosen one to inherit the most fortune. She is also very, veeeery good at games and unraveling mysteries. So it’s her journey to discover sordid secrets about the family history. I find the series to be intriguing. When games are involved I’m always hooked, especially when they’re mystery-solving. The main character has to prevail over all of the hardships on her path. It kind of reminds me of Atem in a sense. I suppose that's the type of main character I'm drawn to. Hope you find this interesting as well!