#IM SO FUCKING NORMAL ABOUT THEM

[category-five-human-disaster]

they should get married, burn down the RCM, consummate their marriage upon its ashes, and fuck off into the sunset your honor

[zorkaya-moved]

" it's not about trusting , it's about ... "

and there's a hesitation the way he draws his words , attempts to piece them together so they would make sense as the architect's arms find themselves at home around the waist he has held so many times before , felt up and embraced in moments he'd deem himself useless and weak. tender are the kisses kave places against the top of bright, cold locks, fingers tracing the front of zarina's stomach and heavy is the heart sinking within the chest pressing against her back as kaveh seeks comfort in the closest person he has come to a sanctuary; "... guilt."

for it is about guilt, the kind that festers and allows itself to brew away within a weary heart that wishes nothing but to part with a past lived and completed. it is not with a light heart he tucks away the most broken pieces of his story from zarina, covers up the stains of a ghost whose presence have lingered a little too long for everyone's taste, her name a burden to the son who simply wished to aid and to ensure her pride.

how can he find it in him to speak ill of the one who --- and he sinks further into the locks of his love, arms tightening as they remain within her house, zarina's frame locked within the architect's embrace; "... you say you'd love every part of me, and i believe it, but..."

it's hard for one who has loved hard unconditionally as long as kaveh.

"... how," and there's a tint of genuine disbelief in how he words himself, face seeking the comfort of zarina's neck, wounded as kaveh tends to her body as a shelter, "how can you say that? every promise, every confessiong of your love, i believe them and i believe them with all my heart, yet... there will always be a part of me asking how and why, why do you waste your love on me ? i have nothing to offer you, except my time, my heart, myself; is that really enough for someone as grand as you ?"

could he, truly, ever be enough for anyone?

he had always been too much for faranak.

hollow marron sinks close, the architect breathing into thick hair. "the harder i love, the further people slip away from me; i'm scared that you'll see just what you deserve, what you need, and that i'm not in either category... which, in truth... would be okay, as i've been taught that i don't amount for much, that i don't have the right to claim someone's time, and yet..."

a small breath.

"with you..." a kiss is placed upon her shoulder; "--- with you i find myself yearning to claim all of you, all the time, every day and as much as i want, zarina."

@avaere

Understanding of emotions is essential to her gains, to reaching her goals, and to manipulation of them like puppet strings. However, true understanding and empathy do not require any malicious desires behind them. Tender emotions and genuine understanding of another requires another skillset Sokolova knows herself not to possess to the perfect conditions, it’s not a sharp blade because it mustn’t be a blade - it must be a shield. A shield to protect those who she cares about, loves, and wishes to keep safe. It’s why these discussions almost make her feel desperate in an attempt to figure out, to understand, to support without any malice. Cynicism is on the tip of her tongue, bitterness of the world forever etched into her skin like invisible scars. 

It doesn’t feel good to study him. It doesn’t feel good to try and pick apart each and every thread of his mind. She can, she could have figured out everything on her own with pulling strings and using more underhanded tactics but she didn’t. Out of her love and respect for the architect, she tried countless times to repress said skills and to try and willingly avoid her gaze to give space. After all, analysis of others and her observations will be invasive and she always found pleasure in breaking apart walls others built around themselves to expose their core. Sokolova cannot allow herself to do the same with Kaveh, she couldn’t. It would mean her love and trust in him are not true, but those feelings are true and she did everything to secure the privacy Kaveh deserved. As much as she wished to understand the reason behind his distance, behind his sad smiles, behind his tension, behind his maroon eyes that would gloss over certain topics. 

Like their conversation prior. Her back faced him as she would cross her arms under her chest, tense from sadness over not understanding but also worry. Worry for him, worry for his well-being, worry for his emotional state, worry for what she could not help with and did not know where to offer a gentle touch and where to be stricter. If there was anything she ever wished for as much as her brothers’ happiness and safety, it was Kaveh’s happiness and safety. There are only three people in Teyvat she’d ever - without hesitation - give everything. Well, not like Victor needed anything from her anymore and Aleksey is now growing up to be independent. Those reasons are the biggest driving point for her to prioritize Kaveh and their relationship, slowly stepping away from black markets and cruelty to have more time to bask in the presence of her Sun. 

The Sun that finally shows new colors, opening up about his inner mind works. She hears him and she almost wishes she could look at his face, but Zarina stops herself. This atmosphere feels too fragile, too fleeting and maybe it’s better if she does not look him in the eyes to let him speak. Finally, to let him share and open up.

Guilt. 

The word will forever be memorized by the listener as she immediately relaxes when Kaveh approaches, wrapping his hands around her and brings her closer. It means safety, it means comfort, it means he seeks her out and it puts her at peace. She does not dare to interrupt him, listening attentively to each whisper, each soft confession, each change in his tone. If she cannot see his eyes, his voice will be what she pays sharp attention to. But each word spoken makes her heart clench and it hurts, it hurts like never before. She has never cared about others outside of her family, and Kaveh became one of the most important people to her. Her Sun is capable, is strong, is kind, but also is hiding so much pain within him that makes her wish to keep him protected from the world. But she cannot, the damage has been done already and Sokolova can only listen to understand everything, to hope to understand how to make his future just a bit better, just a bit brighter, just a bit safer. 

Guilt, the poison of mind just like envy and jealousy. Guilt, the corrosion of self-esteem and destroyer of peace. Who has led him to this view of himself? Who has harmed him so deeply that those old wounds continue to bleed and remind him of that disgusting emotion? Guilt is a weapon against one-self, guilt is a weapon and a weapon will always harm. 

It must be hard to speak those words out. Kaveh may not see her expressions, but her eyebrows are furrowed and her lips are pressed together in concern. Her silence may be present but only to let the architect talk without interruptions. It feels too fragile, she doesn’t wish for his sense of safety to speak about his hardships to be broken away. They’ve encouraged each other to feel safe in each other’s company, to feel comfortable, to share. They will learn, with time, how to open up more. But right now, these words from Kaveh are priceless and will never be forgotten. 

The bravery it takes to speak out about such innermost vulnerabilities… 

To show she cares and listens (and encourages him to continue), Sokolova places her hand atop of his as he continues to speak. There is no need to say anything out loud, not yet, not when he is confessing what he has on his heart, the heavy burden that must have never been lifted. He is no Atlas, he must never carry such a heavy load on his shoulders alone, not forever. Preferably, not ever. 

She cannot hold back a soft gasp at the hint of disbelief in his ‘how’. Another question returns: Just how badly was he hurt by someone he cared about in the past? To have so little love for himself when he gives out so much to her, to others, to the world? The world takes it and takes it, but never seems to return it to the architect. Who dared to make him doubt how wonderful, gentle, special and warm he is? All the questions circle in her mind, her hold on his hand tightens just a bit but relaxes immediately. His mind will continue to tell him he doesn’t deserve this, she deducts and closes her eyes, hiding away the pained gleam in them. Pained for him, for his broken pieces he finally shows and she finds herself only loving him more instead. 

He does not see himself worthy of happiness. He does not believe he deserves the comfort, safety and love he has now. That’s how his words sound and someone has made him believe in all of that. A human heart is known to her, she knows what strings to pull to make it come undone or break it into billions of pieces. Someone has done this to him and it seems that person remains alive and well. They live as he suffers, but the golden eyes - upon their opening - have a gleam of sharpness to them, a desire to find and hunt down the one who has casted such doubts upon him. She is aware, by now, who that person might be but what matters now is the current, the present. The one who keeps her close, hugging her and seemingly finding solace in her presence. 

Her soul responds to his words, to the broken images her mind creates in order to make the full picture. How lonely he must’ve been. How hurt he must’ve been. How denied he must’ve been to feel this way when he holds her close, when she tells him he’s all she needs, when they smile at each other and spend night or day together. Is this what love can bring? An emotion so strong that brings more others to itself, she’s never felt so strongly before. Her aching heart yearns to comfort him, to hold him close, to let him know he’s everything and more. More than this world deserves. 

If the world cannot handle it, she’d gladly turn it all around for him. But… Kaveh is a kind soul, too kind for his own good. 

That’s why her fingers caress his arms that are wrapped around her waist. She can feel his heart beating on her back, their closeness is evident and always present. His touch is warm and his voice is all she concentrates on to not allow even the smallest detail to escape her. It must be painful to expose yourself and your vulnerabilities, it’s something she can understand, going through the same when she confessed her own mindset and concerns. But this? It feels deeper, heavier. Because Kaveh cares. He cares and he loves so much. 

Who made him believe that doing anything for him is wasteful? How dare they make him believe he was a waste at all?

It’s hard to stay silent when he tells she’d stop loving him when she finds ‘what she needs’. 

“Kaveh,” her voice is raspy but also broken when she says his name, a soft whisper that encompasses the feeling of shattering. It hurts to hear him view himself in such a manner. Is this why he would distance himself? Is this why he didn’t want to say and open up? Is this why he had such a hard time claiming each other’s love in public? She remembers how she would tell him about her confidence in speaking of how he was hers, but prior she believed he might’ve been shy (finding it rather cute) but now the pieces are connected and her heart almost drops. 

There is no pity in her gaze that reflected pain and worry, there’s only a desire to love and embrace him, to simply be there for him to prove whoever made him believe these lies wrong over and over again. 

And yet, she must remain quiet for a bit longer. 

" with you i find myself yearning to claim all of you, all the time, every day and as much as i want, zarina."

Is it supposed to make her cry? Because she feels tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. She never cries, she never allows herself to cry in front of others, and she never showcases such a weak sight of herself before others. Not her brothers, not her team, not even Kaveh. Ah, she did cry in front of him once, didn’t she? That’s not the point. The point is that his words and his honesty becomes everything she could’ve ever asked from him. The world cannot weigh the same as his words to her here and now, becoming the most essential wish of hers to understand him and to know just a bit what he feels. This is trust, no matter how painful and tough it is, but it is truth and trust. It is vulnerability and it is bravery. He’s so strong, her pride and love for him soar so high into the skies above Celestia. 

But right now, she swallows and breathes in. No tears must be shed, not now. 

“Thank you.” For telling me everything. For being honest. For doing this when it was so hard. 

It must’ve been so hard… 

“It must’ve been…” She finally speaks out, willing the tears and the emotions away. He makes her feel, makes her human, makes her experience all of this for the first time in her life. He made the worst person in Teyvat fall for him, wishing to be better with him and for him. Just a bit. Just a tiny bit. “It must’ve been so hard to say.”

Her free hand rises to let her fingers run through his blonde locks before sliding lower to let her fingertips caress his cheek. She may not see his expression, but she wishes to show him through touch how much love there will always be there for him, and him alone. This sweetness, this softness, this adoration and this love will only ever belong to him. 

“I cannot erase the feeling of guilt or make the voices go away,” she begins, wishing to give him her answer without going on a tangent. “But I will stay, I will be here by your side until you wish for that to stop. I will stay to always answer your how and why. How can I love you so much? Because you are yourself. Why do I keep loving you? Because every day you make my dream a reality, a dream I’ve tucked away as a child,” a small smile appears on her face as she leans back against him just a bit. “I will prove teachings of the past to be wrong over and over again. Be it minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years.” 

“My love is never wasted, it is an emotion of mine that nurtures and blossoms only because of you,” her poetic words may not truly be understood at this moment, but it feels right to say. “The more you give me, the more it blooms. The more you give me, the bigger the garden of my adoration grows,” she can only hope she can give them the flowers back as a showcase of her eternal love for him, eternal wish to be in his heart. Oh how she wishes for him to claim her, to wish for everything she is to be his and his alone. Someday, perhaps, someday he can loudly and confidently say it. “You offer me everything no one else have offered me before. I believed I’ve had everything I ever wished for: money, authority, knowledge, but it all felt… hollow. But you? You’ve made that hollowness disappear. You made the cold go away.”

He makes her heart beat instead of standing still, metaphorically speaking. 

“I, too, worry that my love for you will be too much for you sometimes,” she decides to say, her smile turning smaller and slightly pained. “I worry I’ll drown you in it and you’ll find me suffocating,” she lets out a strained chuckle, it feels shameful to admit how she is worried about her own love being too much. Even if she understands it’s out of her wish to not ‘drown’ him maliciously by accident. “And I love you so because I can see that you are everything I ever wished for, ever since I was a little girl in the snowy mountains of Snezhnaya. Everything I need, everything I want, everything and more, so much more than I could've ever wished for. I’ll never stop craving your love, your presence, you saying my name. I'm getting too greedy, too needy for you.”

The harder he loved, the further people slipped away from him? How lucky she is because she is addicted to his love, in love with his love and in love with him. His love is what keeps her garden of emotions alive, what keeps her as a human alive, and what will keep her as a human alive. If it’ll all disappear, she’ll wilt as cold and frigidness would return, erasing everything that makes her feel like a human again. It’ll return to the bitterness, the void, the hunger. The harder he'll love her, the stronger her response will be to embrace him, to kiss him, to love him, to wish for him to claim everything she is for himself.

“If you are worried, you can always ask me. If you are concerned, you can confide in me. If you feel you are too much, you can ask it out loud and my answer will always be the same: you are never too much. You are you, simply and wonderfully you. The one I want, the one I love.” Everything she needs, wants, dreams and more. So much more. “And every day, I’ll remind you that my time, my heart, my everything can be claimed by you. You may not feel right to claim right now, but I’ll always remind you that all I offer you belongs rightfully to you. Because you are you, and I only want you by my side, and I wish only to be by your side.”

Even if it takes years, she will not stop the little reminders, the softer whispers, the gentler touches and the loving gazes. Every how and why will be answered in a loving manner, with hands held and even kisses shared. And, hopefully, one day he’ll 

“I love you, Kaveh. Thank you for opening up about your feelings.”

It only makes her love him more and makes her wish to love him more. Would it be alright to hold back less in loving him? Would it be alright to be even more affectionate and adoring? Would it let him know he, too, can love her stronger? Time will tell, but it’s them who can make a difference. By talking, by opening up, by speaking out loud, by sharing.

[the-mpreg-guy]

the hill that i will die on is that cas would have never said he loved dean if he had to deal with the consequences of it afterwards, meanwhile dean (who was SUPPOSED to tell cas he loved him in the original crypt scene script) would have eventually worked up to saying it without external pressure

[nullshocked]

Acherye was a mistake because we're listening to Brand New while I edit and every song is now dealing me 6d12 psychic damage.

[yuri-cosmos]

fuck they wearing lab coats for they sit on computers all day

[ravenrambles6229]

me thinking about plastic ninjas

[immortal-cataclysm]

Bedsibs "and then you became the moon" amv like if u agree

[peanutseagle]

guys i think they might be dating

[puppyeared]

these two are so interesting to me

characters belong to @canisalbus

[linkedin-offficial]

youll never guess where ive been

[p4nishers]

i cant get over the ball being so CLEARLY all for crowley i can't get over aziraphale trying to woo him with a WHOLE FUCKING BALL because that's what he knows that's what romance IS for him because he's been wanting to dance with crowley ever since dancing was invented and he's so stuck in time with the way he dresses and talks and he still thinks a dance is the high of romance AND HE MADE A WHOLE ENTIRE FUCKING BALL FOR CROWLEY JUST SO HE COULD DANCE WITH HIM like now it's so fucking obvious he gave away his BOOKS without a second thought and it was all for crowley he organised a whole JANE AUSTEN THEME BALL just so he could have an excuse to finally dance with the love of his life and i can't get over this i'm shaking my fists and pacing up and down he did not give a single fuck about anything other than dancing with crowley and HE BARELY TOUCHED OTHER PEOPLE'S HANDS WHILE HIS WHOLE FUCKING PALM WAS PRESSED TO CROWLEY'S AND i need to lie down

[lizardpersonyknow]

It's so incredibly funny to me that somehow some people think Tim is a boring straightlace and Jason is deranged and unhinged

Like Jason at his worst is a murderous crime lord who also has a moral conscience, protects children and sex workers, works to make the worst parts of Gotham safer and wants to know that his dad cares

Tim at his worst on the other hand.... Rampant murder with NO morals, becomes Batman and uses the gun that killed Bruce's parents, dictator, takes over like half of America, goes back in time like a couple times to tell his younger self that this is their inevitable end just to fuck with HIMSELF

Jason at his best is the happy robin, loves school, cares for sex workers becomes a crime lord to help make sure the people who are addicted aren't being given toxic shit

Tim at his best is entirely unhinged, stalking Batman and Robin through the streets, blackmailing Batman, all the young justice shenanigans, creating a fake uncle to avoid adoption, beefing with a like 9 year old (deserved imo 9 year olds are MEAN), lies to everyone including batman and take pride in it

Like besties one is exponentially more of a black sheep and it isn't the drug lord, it's the heroic sidekick of batman

Yes Jason is still out on the streets wildin and feral but I don't think people give enough credit to how normal he is for his background

Yes Tim is CEO but he's also been 17 for years and probably has taken cocaine to see what it felt like

[bacchuschucklefuck]

while teen while goblin while aroace while injured while doing your best

[electoons]

I love the college of winterhold. everyone there is casually deranged and there's like an alarming number of students and staff who threaten you immediately when they meet you. it's always one of the first questlines I do. which makes it even funnier when you get made the arch-mage of the college. I'm level 12 and got through this questline knowing exactly 3 spells. what do you mean you want me to lead the college. this school CANNOT be an accredited institution

[huginsmemory]

On ad astra per aspera ✨

Can we talk about the repeated use of ad astra per aspera? Cause uhhhh it shows up twice, once on the website and once in the Book of Bill, and OH BOY this has connotations, both for Bill and Ford's relation in the literal and figurative meaning on the word, and for Bill's own history:

(extra addition added 16/09/2024! 🌝 )

First, in the website (if I recall correctly) if the phrase ad astra per aspera is inputted into the computer, you get the two pages on Bill's 'funeral':

And within, in the pages, at the very end before signing there names is the phrase itself (highlighted in red) .

Secondly, a joke version of it is seen in the Book Of Bill, specifically on the night where Bill and Ford fucked 'one thing led to another':

In this one, it's clearly a joke off of aspirin used for his hangover, used again to close the entry.

Now the phrase ad astra per aspera itself means 'through suffering to the stars', which also has... wider connotations then just these two piece alone, which I'll unpack later. But first, the interesting choice of connection of these two pieces;

Both times the phrases occur, they occur closing the entry; a bit too much of a coincidence to me (and in this fandom there is no such thing as a coincidence). Considering that the 'one thing led to another' night is a night that was important to their relationship as it hints at the intimacy they had with each other, it showing up again in Ford's 'funeral' entry about Bill feels very much like an allusion to that night. Especially considering in the funeral entry Ford is very open about how much he cared about Bill, with how he at one point "considered him the centre of his life". The entry from Ford reads as someone who is moving on, and part of this is acknowledgement of the grief and sadness for the more positive part of the abusive relationship that he lost. As a result, having him acknowledge the intimacy of their relationship, it makes sense for him to tongue in cheek allude back to his first writing down of the phrase, where they were quite clearly implied to fuck be intimate.

While it alludes to their Bill and Ford's intimacy, the literal and metaphorical meaning of the phrase also rings true here; through suffering to the stars. If we talk literally, then through Ford's relationship with Bill, something that ultimately was full of suffering, he built the portal, and ended up wandering the myriad worlds out there in space; one may say out there among the stars. He literally was out there wandering the stars as a result of suffering.

Now metaphorically, the phrase means through suffering/adversity one gains beautiful/worthwhile things. Considering this entry is Ford moving on from Bill, this is very apt; again, their relationship caused Ford immense suffering, and as he is now letting that relationship and suffering go, he's instead prioritizing creating healthy relationships with Stanley, the other twins and Fiddleford (the something beautiful and worthwhile part!). In fact, the entry on Bill's funeral is half on him strengthening his relationship with Mabel, the shooting star, another layer of wordplay; case in point about the healthy relationships. He's weathered through his abusive relationship, to discover and create a loving family.

It doesn't quite end there however; although that's fairly it for specifically Ford and Bill's relationship, we also haven't talked about what the stars mean to Bill himself. Which, well; it's very clearly implied that Bill accidentally killed everyone in his dimension in an attempt to show his parents (and other people in his dimension) the stars. And on top of that, to quote; "I looked up and saw the stars. And I was ready to become one of them". Which he then in a way, becomes, considering the page in journal 3 on constellations, in which Ford remarks that one of his favourite constellations is the constellation 'William' (obviously Bill). It's a bittersweet immortalization of himself after everything that occurs around trying to see the stars for Bill.

So I find it very interesting that for Ford, a phrase about suffering and stars is something he ends up correlating to his relationship with Bill, considering that to Bill, to get to the stars is something he deeply suffered for as a result. It's also important to note that Bill's suffering was something that occurred out of love, and ultimately an attempt to be understood and create a deeper relationship with his parents where they could trust him. And then for Ford, all this while later, to look up to the stars (to see them) and to see the Bill constellation and go 'oh that's one of my favourites' is fulfillment. Because Ford during that time trusted and cared deeply for Bill, fulfilling that relationship of trust, love and understanding(at least surface level, considering the way they banter together), that Bill had yearned for when he was younger and killed his plane.

So all in all(tldr): ad aspera per astra, (through suffering the stars), is quite the fun phrase to unpack in regards to Bill and Ford's relationship, considering the deliberate reference to the phrase on the entry about the night 'where one thing led to another' and Bill's funeral entry. The phrase is a combination of references; tongue in cheek allusion to the intimacy, but also references to the literal (space fugitive) and figurative (abusive relationship, to loving family again pipeline) hardships Ford endured as a result of the relationship. There is also irony in the way that Ford seems to correlate this phrase about suffering and stars with Bill and his relationship, considering that out of an effort to be understood and share the stars with his parents, Bill accidentally killed his whole dimension; later he also made a constellation of himself. As well, as Ford says that one of his favourite constellations is a constellation that's clearly Bill in Journal 3, it alludes to that Bill's wish to show his parents the stars and be recognized is fulfilled by Ford (pre-portal incident that is).

EDIT: extra details added on the constellation piece as of Aug 14 2024 (less than 24 hours after og posting, because I'm deranged). Big thanks to @bowl-o-nudel for the nudge :)

Edit (16/09/2024): I've had a few people say that the saying has appeared in Journal 3 multiple times, and having reread journal 3, to my delight it is indeed correct! And oh the CONTEXT they give. The two instances are those seem below; the first appearance in the title page of Journal 3, and second time is a page from when the twins graduate.

As well as all the parallels of how the phrase is applied for both Bill and Ford, as @zoizyboigy suggested, it seems to be a phrase that Ford takes as his own motto. It seems to be a highly personal motto to him; after all, they all are written around important turning moments in Ford's life; graduating, the journals which where to be his ticket to fame, fucking a triangle finding acceptance and intimacy with Bill , and lastly, moving on in his life from Bill and his destructive obsession with recognition. 

And it makes sense WHY this motto is one that is highly personal to Ford; the first time it is seen chronologically is when he's graduating, chosen when he believes he's going to be accepted into the university. It's a motto he chose because he was excited, because he thought he was already through his suffering and arriving to the stars of his fancy university, where validation and acceptance would abound; only that doesn't happen, and the suffering part within the motto is the only thing that's accurate, especially as that's when he rejects Stan. It's a motto chosen in celebration, that becomes a reminder of the failure to become someone who is accepted and important (and his prioritization of validation over relationships); it's now something he holds that reminds him of the validation he believes he deserves and he obsessively chases. 

And that's why you see it in the journal pages, because these journals are going to change his life, he's going to become finally a person of importance and be accepted with the information he's compiled in the journals. And in the same way, you see it after Bill (and interdimensional being of ancient knowledge) and him are intimate; he's become someone of importance to Bill, he's been accepted by Bill, even attractive to Bill (romance Ford seems to have terrible luck in).

And that's why you see it at the end of Ford's farewell to Bill; it's another turning point, it's Ford letting his obsession with world validation go which characterized it's meaning from the beginning, Ford letting go of his relationship with Bill, which it also came to mean, and instead celebrates his acceptance within his family and the strengthening of those bonds, and of prioritizing healthy, loving relationships.

Ps, if you enjoyed this meta post, I've also made another one, on exceptionalism!

[heartorbit]

i just wanted to draw the ave mujica outfits .