#It’s obviously not something I think I can enforce or would even want to enforce if I could

[eddis-not-eeddis]

Girls, I love you, you are all precious to me. But please do tag your Taylor Swift posting. I understand you are excited, I love that for you, I fully support your going bananas. But please tag it if you can.

[bobbin-buckley]

Hi! Could you write some jealous gp!caitlyn headcanons? <3

G!P Caitlyn Kirammin Headcanons

G!P Caitlyn Kirammin x Fem!Reader

Warnings: G!p Caitlyn, basically just headcanons and smut but fluff too, jealous Caitlyn, all mentioned! breeding kink, public sex, praising, orgasm denial

Caitlyn

You

꧁~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~꧂

-To start off with, I’d say she’s packing a lot. She’s big. I would say at least seven inches

-For awhile Caitlyn never told you that she was ‘different’, than other girls for awhile even when dating. She didn’t want to scare you off or anything, honestly she was a bit insecure about her size. To you was it too big or too small?

-Now after having sex with her for the first time, you felt like you were on top of the clouds. With how big she was she could reach pretty deep in you

-When Caitlyn heard about your past dating experiences, she was pretty jealous that other people have dated you before her. So every time you guys have sex she’s all about making you hers, pounding deeper without thought

-Her hands grip your hips possessively when she makes deep thrusts, she wants to claim you.

-There have been times where she’s admit about wanting to breed you, which really turned you on

“Cmon baby, take it.”

“You can take this big cock right? Fuck you’re so pretty under me..”

“Maybe I outta’ stuff you with my cum, breed this pretty pussy.”

-When you both went to a party together for the first time, you were wearing a pretty revealing outfit that made her rethink the decision of bringing you to that party. She knew damn well other people’s eyes would be on you

-She was right. Lots of men and women were eying you, all dreaming to fuck you but Caitlyn would never even let them talk to you. She was surprisingly possessive, but you found it hot

-After a couple of hours at the party she couldn’t handle it anymore, it surprised you she waited that long.

-Throughout the party you had teased her, talked to other men and women. That bulge growing in her pants whenever you did something that turned her on. She hates it when you put on a show for others

-One time you nearly did a strip tease to someone else because you were drunk af, she dragged you away to a bathroom and fucked you out of jealousy. You’ll never forget that night

-Now after a night of you teasing her, making her jealous and desperate she’ll either fuck you until you can’t take it anymore, crying for her to stop. (Obviously she’ll stop once you give her the red light that it’s too much). Or she’ll deny every orgasm and have you make her cum instead

“Such a slut teasing me in front of everyone, you think you can just show off to everyone?”

“Mmhh…make me cum baby, and maybe…maybe I’ll let you cum too.”

-During a family meeting, you were talking with her mother for most of the time. It was very typical of Cassandra to be questioning you and talking with you the entire family party.

-She was jealous of how your attention wasn’t on her, thankfully she was wearing a dress so her hardening cock wasn’t visible. That’s how jealous and desperate she was

-Now you weren’t always the one being punished, she would get punished by you from being so impatient

-The first time that happened, you’ve never seen Caitlyn so…submissive. She may come off as a silly but concentrating woman when it comes to being an Enforcer but damn she’s honestly so hot as a bottom when she is

-Teasing her swollen tip as you tell her how bad she’s been, how she should be more patient next time.

-Your lips tease her tip too, licking it and chuckling when she whimpers for more

-Sometimes if you’re nice enough you’ll ride her but it becomes slowly and painful as you deny her orgasms when she’s close.

“See who’s the desperate slut now? How does it feel being denied?”

“Nuh uh, didn’t say you could cum just yet.”

“D-darling please…I-I’m sorry,”

“F-fuck…wanna cum so bad..”

“Not yet, cupcake.”

꧁~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~꧂

[perpetuallyfive]

God, I'm so happy with what they did with Maddie Nolen.

I'm sure there will be plenty of people mad because obviously there was a weird backlash over a character who has sex with one half a ship, so I'm sure some people worry this will lead those people to feel justified in their initial response.

But ignoring people who can't emotionally regulate for a second, because those childish impulses aren't worth dictating the fun things a narrative can do: Maddie is SO INTERESTING as a character and she fills in a lot of the questions people seemed to have about the rest of the season.

Consider for a moment that it wasn't Caitlyn who convinced Vi to be an Enforcer. It was Maddie.

I know that some people took this line to be about Zaunites, a sort of obvious connection to the very racist idea of "one of the good ones," but since Maddie is talking about Marcus and his betrayal of the Enforcers just before this, I'm pretty sure her framing here is something else. The point she's making is specifically targeted at Vi's own beliefs and weaknesses, her desire to protect. That seems clear to me now with all we know about Maddie's capacity for manipulation.

She's not saying, "You're good, for a poor."

She's saying, "Wow, I agree with you, the Enforcers are really bad; it's so upsetting. I think you might be the only one who can change it, but only if you join us." This is what convinces Vi to do something she never thought she would.

Well, this and the fact that Caitlyn believes in her so much which, again, is information she gets fed to her directly from Maddie. It even seems like Maddie seeks her out just to say this, which on first viewing felt oddly convenient. Wow, Vi just happens to meet this naive girl who just happens to say exactly what she needs to hear to do something so out of character.

Except obviously none of it was coincidence. Everyone already knew how much Vi meant to Caitlyn and getting Caitlyn under control would require either controlling Vi or removing her from the equation. This was a push in that direction.

Then there's her more obvious role as the spy in Caitlyn's bed, there to reassure her that the Noxians are only trying to keep all of them safe. Then when Caitlyn expresses larger doubts, she's immediately ready to lay out an alternative. You could just give up, Maddie seems to whisper gently in her ear. Just reestablish things as they were before.

But she knows Caitlyn isn't going to go for that. She's not going to go back to the council as it was, because it's only going to remind her of the empty place her mother left behind. Maddie knows that Caitlyn isn't going to take this offer, which is precisely why she suggests it. She frames quitting as the only clear alternative to going along with everything Ambessa wants because she knows that Caitlyn will refuse, which leads her right back into alignment with Ambessa. She makes continued obedience into an active choice that Caitlyn affirms she's making.

Even Maddie's comments that suggest direct opposition to Ambessa — "you're our leader... I follow you" — are designed to frame herself and her true leader in direct opposition, just as Ambessa's own warning about entanglements is there to further that point. They both make a point of reminding Caitlyn that they are her true ally, isolating her further from anyone who isn't the devil and (other) devil on her shoulders.

This way Maddie and Ambessa can both tug at Caitlyn, pulling in what feels to her like opposite directions, all so that she lands precisely where they wanted her all along but with the illusion of active agency.

And look, I'm not saying my read on her is gospel, because I think they intentionally gave us enough room to really speculate and wonder about her, someone who could have been just a background nothing character but ends up being such a huge part of the second season. That's so interesting!

I especially love that she comes across as really naive and innocent, just some poor little thing swept up in the fervor, when in reality she's a true believer who has been manipulating things to go her way from the start.

[yrrtyrrtwhenihrrthrrt]

Why does everyone assume Vander would be rowdy, fun, cool and lenient parent while Silco would be soft and nurturing but the disciplinarian and overprotective one. Their parenting style is canonically the OPPOSITE to this.

Vander is shown on-screen disciplining his children for going against his rules. He's not particularly strict (I don't think any parents in Zaun are tbh I think children just kinda roam unattended a LOT) but he does have rules and expect them to be followed. He has that Stern Dad voice down to a science. He has that "I'm not mad I'm disappointed also you're grounded" vibe down pat, and he scolds them because he is worried about their safety. This is a man who is taking childrearing seriously. He's also shown being very soft and loving with them. His little smile when he gives Powder juice. How gently he encourages Mylo when he successfully lockpicks the cuffs. He is soft and nurturing. He is protective. He is gentle but authoritative.

Silco meanwhile allows Jinx to do whatever she wants. You can argue he disciplined her when he yelled at her for killing those enforcers but 1- she committed a literal massive terrorist attack that derailed ALL of his plans and he's acting like she stole his car or something and 2- what we see is not the same practiced discipline that we see from Vander. This is not a man who has established a relationship where he is the Parent and she is the Child and must follow his rules. He is emotional, almost childish, acting more like her friend or colleague being pissed off than her dad. He is not protective, he lets her play with bombs and do all sorts of dangerous shit. He cares about her safety, he's obviously distraught when she's hurt, but he cares about her freedom more. He lets her fuck up constantly without repercussions. He lets her dress and act however she wants no matter how poorly it reflects on him because her freedom mattered more to him than anything in the entire world-- more than his own, more than his dream, more than his life, and more than her safety. He also appears a lot stiffer when it comes to expressing affection, even though his love for her is obvious, he lacks Vander's warmth.

This isn't to say Silco would be a worse father or anything, rather that he is objectively the "fun dad" who lets his kids do what they want, has absolutely zero backbone, and isn't as good at expressing affection but makes sure his kids know they are loved by him.

What I'm saying is Vander is so obviously Primary Caregiver and I don't know how people mix the two up.

Just kidding! I do know. It's the classic Forcing Hetero Gender Norms Onto A Gay Couple! You know, because Silco is small and dainty, and small/dainty = woman and woman = mommy and mommy = "does all the parenting work" = nurturing, affectionate, strict and protective.

Meanwhile Vander is a Big Strong Masc Man we know That = "Real Man" (vomit) = father = "gets to be the raucous fun parent and doesn't have to actually do any real parenting" (again vomit)

[princesssmars]

you sometimes forget how… slightly obsessive, violet could be. nsfw.

when you were younger you had a love hate relationship with her tendency to become so completely fixated on something. staying up for hours at night thinking about their next score, holding a grudge for years against anyone who got piss drunk and pissed off vander in the bar, planning and fidgeting over the perfect way to ask you out for weeks before you finally took the step yourself.

even if it got her into danger, got her and her siblings into a temporary struggle that made your heart stall with the thought of nearly losing them, you always reminded her that you thought her fixation on things was cute, and a useful tool about half of the time.

(you even said that the trait reminded you of powder, always blabbering to you for as long as she could talk about her new ideas for gadgets and bombs. the girl was overjoyed in sharing something in common with her big sister, immediately climbing on her back to ramble about something new.)

but then you actually you lost her. you lost all of them. and you wished you had told her that that insecurity she had, all the insecurities she had, were stupid and inconsequential to how perfect you thought she was.

but maybe you’ll get the chance to tell her (and tell jinx that yeah, you were right, i did start seeing ghosts too) because a scarily realistic replica of your ex is standing in front of you and before you can shoo it away she’s hugging you so tight you think your ribs will break.

you follow as ekko gives her the tour of the firelights base, admiring each and every way she’s changed. she’s taller, obviously stronger, wearing a prison uniform that you don’t if you’re allowed to say looks good on her and a red jacket she stole from some guy because of course she did. you stifle a laugh as she tells the story and she smiles at you, indiscreetly wrapping your hand in hers.

it’s obvious by the look on his face ekko is so going to tease you about this later, but you don’t get a chance to care when she turns to you and ask where she and her enforcer friend can sleep. and janna knows you want to offer for her to sleep with you, but it’s been years and you don’t want to make her uncomfortable so you lead her and caitlyn to the newbie dorms.

but it seems like you’ve forgotten just how damn stubborn she is, because not even half an hour later a loud banging at your draws you from your bed, her flushed and nervous face shocking you into silence.

she asks to come in, but with her it’s always more like a demand then a question. you try to ignore the burning feeling of her eyes trained on you as you lead her to your bed, rolling your eyes as she aggressively flops back onto it.

“holy fuck, i haven’t been on something this soft in years. i think i’m gonna fall asleep right now.”

“i wouldn’t be mad if you did.” well, you’d be a little upset. you have so much to talk to her about everything, anything that’s happened since she disappeared. granted a lot of it was bad but there were still a few things you think would cheer her up. she’d already told you enthusiastic she was to eat jerichos again, just wait till she found out that-

you must of zoned out for a minute because you’re shocked back to reality by soft lips pressed to yours, vi’s bandaged hand cupping your cheek like you’ll fade into dust if she lets go. you mentally kick yourself in the head for not responding quicker when she pulls away and looks at you with that sad puppy look she gets.

“i, i’m sorry. it’s just, you were staring at me for a while! and it’s been so long since i’ve seen you and i don’t even know what we are or if we’re still girlfriends but you’re even more beautiful than the last time i saw you-“

you cup both of her cheeks in your hands,(maybe a little too hard) give her a second to back away if she wants, and pull her back in. her arms wrap around your waist and she lets out a whimper when your hand travels to the back of her neck to pull her closer and closer-

and now it’s around one hour? maybe two? it’s a while later, and as her hand travels back into you for the fourth time, yeah, you’re starting to remember how obsessive she could be.

“vi, baby - oh my gods, y’know you can slow down!” your voice pitches when her fingers, her beautiful long and big fingers push up against that spot inside you, her other hand keeping your hips down when you involuntarily raise them off the sheets.

“don’t think i can, princess.” she groans into your breast as she sucks another path of bruises down your chest, slate eyes amused at how your hands grip the bed like it stole from you, how your mouth opens so cutely before you bite your lips to hold back your sounds.

her mouth finally closes around your clit and the increased sensitivity from your past orgasms combined with the almost growling sound she makes when she tastes you sends you right over the edge, thighs clamping around her head as she carries you through it.

the rubbing of her rough hands over your thighs and her gentle words of praise merry drag you into the beginnings of a soft slumber.

until you can feel the damn brute lift your legs onto her shoulders and stick her tongue inside you, laughing at your shocked squeal and resumed grip on her hair.

“besides, we’ve gotta make up for lost time, don’t we?”

writing a drabble based on the fic you’re writing instead of finish the fic i’m such a genius like 😍😍 glad her tag is coming back but i want content coming out like a factory line ok everyone get to work 🙏🏽

[championari]

So I’m constantly thinking about Charles and how he could eventually meet Edwin with his feelings.

Here’s something I realized: Charles, despite constantly talking about things he miss, things he wants, he actually has a complicated relationship with desire as a concept.

How I would put it is by taking Supernatural as an example. There’s an episode in Season 5 where the boys meet Famine, a horseman of the apocalypse. However, Dean is not at all affected by him. It’s because due to being the older brother, and a Hunter, Dean was never allowed to consider acting on or even having desire for anything.

You can see where I’m going with this. Charles, like Dean, doesn’t actually believe he should want anything, due to “not being good enough”.

This is something actually touched on subtly in the show through the acting. When Niko says, “I know what it’s like to want something you can’t have.” Edwin directly looks at The Cat King’s bracelet, while Charles stares off into space. When Tragic Mick describes Angie’s light as enforcing a sense of yearning, Edwin looks at Charles, while again, Charles looks off blankly (can’t access screenshots right now). Edwin knows what he wants but is scared of it, while Charles doesn’t know what he wants because he can’t allow himself to consider it. This gives an entirely new meaning to Charles’ hatred of the Cat King. A supernatural entity who describes his kingdom as being about “want and pleasure”. Thomas is the encapsulation of everything Charles was never allowed to have. Charles chases after things that he knows he can’t have, romancing a living girl despite knowing she will eventually leave. Charles can’t consider returning Edwin’s feelings because that would mean he’s been running away from what’s been in front of him the whole time. That what he wanted was always there, at his lowest point, when he thought he deserved it least.

Returning Edwin’s feelings means he was already enough. And Charles can’t imagine that yet.

While I would obviously adore an interaction between Charles and Desire of The Endless, ultimately I don’t think it would do anything. Like Dean, Charles might be completely unaffected by them because he’s spent most of his existence building walls around his desires. Edwin was completely blindsided by Thomas because he never even considered having to think about Desire due to having no attraction to women and that being the dominant narrative of his time. Charles pursues Crystal because he still wants to feel like he has a chance at “normal life” (which as I said is self-punishment by throwing himself at something he knows he can’t have). To accept that he’s in love with Edwin would mean no longer pursuing a living person. Edwin would be it for him, which he kind of already gets but it hasn’t fully sunk in yet. Just like his death

There's also this exchange that drives me nuts:

"You gave up tranquil eternity…for your friend?" "Does that sound like someone who belongs in Hell?"

THIS. MAKES. ME. INSANE. Because Charles, like he always does when confronted with his own wants, completely avoids it. He doesn't respond to The Night Nurse's obvious confusion as to why he ran from Death, and instead turns the conversation back to Edwin. He makes it all about what Edwin deserves, not what Charles saw in Edwin that led him to make that choice. You could say this is practical as time is of the essence, but I think that's the point. Charles throws away the chance to explain his viewpoint on their first meeting, the consequences of his choice to run from Death with a boy he just met and knew for a few hours, and instead remains single-minded on Edwin's safety. Like when Edwin reasonably questioned, "Why are you getting angry?" when he began freaking out over Thomas getting close to Edwin, he says nothing.

There's just so much happening in that head that I can't stop thinking about.

[calware]

oo ooo i saw your posts on june and vriska in rapid succession so i wanted to ask: what makes vriska a trans character? if you can’t articulate it yourself, can you lead me to someone who can?

sorry it took me so long to respond to this; it's just that there's truly so much to say. WARNING this post is so so long

vriska being a trans woman has been incorporated in official homestuck works like pesterquest and homestuck 2, which i could start with, but i think it's better to start with how it was conceived of by fans. i've only been around the fandom since mid-2019, so i can't give a very detailed overview of anything before that year, but i can tell you that for years, fans have picked up on themes from her character that resemble and represent the experiences of trans women and transfemininity overall. because of this, i'm going to be linking quite a few posts from others, both because i would otherwise just be repeating something someone else has said but also because it's these readings that have influenced my own reading of the text. this is a topic that is, at times, very subjective, and because of that, i think it's important to recognize that everyone has a slightly different reading—even if it all adds up to the same conclusion—and i want to be able to show the ideas that my reading stems from

before i get into the transfem reading of her, we have to first be on the same page on what her character is telling us within the story. in general, vriska is an incredibly complex and nuanced character, so there is a lot to jump into right off the bat. the fairly surface-level understanding we can get from vriska is that from birth, she was intentionally and deliberately molded into a weapon by the people around her. this leads to a lot of problems, obviously, but focusing on how this affects her is the important part here. she faces daily expectations on how to behave and feel; she's supposed to kill for survival, and she's supposed to like it, to the point where she's desensitized to it. this leads to her not growing healthily; she desperately wants to be more mature than she really is, she struggles to maintain friendships, etc.

Everything about what's happening here is wildly overcompensatory, meant to repair damage she's done without really having to face what it is she actually did. Aradia's extremely passive nature as a ghost makes her an easy target for this kind of overbearing attention. Because what Vriska seems to want most is acknowledgement, and more importantly, to foster strong reactions. Good or bad, love or hatred, this seems to be what she demands from everyone. So for that reason, Aradia's impassivity seems to add fuel to Vriska's sycophantic need to make amends. Not caring much one way or another about what Vriska does is guaranteed to drive Vriska crazy. Neutrality is insufferable to her because it makes her feel irrelevant. Being irrelevant is her biggest fear and ultimate enemy. She struggles to keep herself in the spotlight, and when the narrative is finally done with her and tosses her into the gutter, she fights her way back into relevance. Fighting against the forces of narrative marginalization completely define her entire batshit arc, from her introduction here all the way to the end of Homestuck. – Author Commentary

more notably, on friendships, she lashes out (as she has only been taught to do), which drives others away from her. then, when she doesn't know how to cope with the loss, she lashes out further, creating a vicious cycle

she also looks at the hardships she (along with everyone else) endures and has accepted them as "normal life"

she enforces that on others (tavros, most blatantly) as 1) the only way she knows how to "help" and 2) out of anger for others finding peace when she is unable to. with all of this together, she is consistently regarded in bad faith by others (both in and out of the story), becoming more and more isolated

it's only when terezi (through john) gives her a second chance that she's able to break the initial cycle

now, if you've never thought about it before, you might be wondering, "what does this have to do with her gender" and to that i will remind you that most aspects of alternian society are heavily gendered. for example, lord english/doc scratch's oppressive influence on the planet is a pretty strong symbol for the patriarchy, and practically every instance of oppression on alternia goes hand-in-hand with misogyny in some way. another one of these aspects is the castes themselves; highbloods specifically are referred to as male-dominated castes, putting vriska in a masculine context, something she strongly pushes back against. she leans into femininity with desperation (i.e., asking kanaya to sew a dress for her mindfang/summoner roleplay). and, to that point, she idolizes her ancestor in both her ruthlessness AND femininity. going even further, she does this to the point where she forces herself into a specific conventional feminine ideal—not because it's what she wants to be, but because it's what she thinks a woman should be. she struggles hard with her role not just in the cerulean caste, but also as a woman. as she does with her caste, she consistently fails to live up to gender expectations, unable to be a woman "correctly" in the eyes of society. it's a bootstrap paradox. again, these things go hand-in-hand. now, that's a pretty broad overview of everything, but this post is already pretty long, so we're going to move on

now we can look at it through a transfeminine lens, asking "what would a transfem reading of the character add to what already exists?" there probably isn't anything i could say that hasn't already been said by victoria (doomsdaydicecascader) so i'll link her thoughts here

another analyst i feel is crucial to include is valerie (stabvariation), who has a collection of posts on their own transfem vriska reading. make sure to click through all of them and come back here (this is an older blog of theirs btw, their listed pronouns are outdated, they go by they/them). the reason i bring up valerie in particular is that during the 2019 toblerone hunt, someone found one of the toblerones and, in continuation of the june reveal, saw an opportunity to pitch transfem vriska to the current team (they mention an essay, but i'm not sure if it was ever completed as i was never able to find it). that last post by valerie is the pitch; we can assume that it worked because 7 days later, vriska's pesterquest route was released with some pretty direct indications to her being a trans woman. this is where we leave the Fandom zone and enter the Official zone. we are no longer being subjective and are now being objective

(which to me means that their posts hold some significant weight, in my mind. and, even if it was by coincidence, and this had been written into the story in advance, i think they make good points and that they're worth including)

outside of pesterquest, vriska's now-official transfemininity has been given some nods in HSBC with the hell-tier rungs:

now, nods are nice, but the meat/significance/message/etc of this implication is once again on the reader to extract from the text (back to the subjective zone). for example, ado (gendertrickster) posted a reading on how vriska's recent developments as a character intersect with her being trans, which to me makes me think about the demonization of transfemininity throughout our society and the stigma that surrounds trans women... especially in the context of caring for children due to stereotypes of being predatory, & the fact that she's done the work to improve herself and break the cycle adds another layer to her development as the new kids' pseudo-guardian. vriska being a trans woman changes the context of this development significantly, making it 100 times more meaningful to her arc overall. and i'm sure that there are other things to add to this as well, but hopefully by now you get the point

something i want to mention before i wrap this post up is that i place emphasis on subjectivity/objectivity and what originates from the fans vs. official content not because i see subjective/fan readings as necessarily lesser than what's officially stated or what's word of god. i'd argue that they both have their own unique strengths. i think that there's a lot of power in being able to form your own perception of a work of fiction, or where readers build off of each other's ideas. what does it mean to YOU? granted, most of the time, fandom takes just kind of suck. but i think that this is one of those special cases where people came together to make a really meaningful reading of an already significant and impactful character. the stength of something being official (or even "canon") is that it's an undeniable representation of a marginalized community, something else that holds power on its own. but i want to recognize that it doesn't mean much without you being able to look at the text, read between the lines, and decide what you think it MEANS (let alone deciding if those official works are actually "good"..... frankly i think vriska's pq route could have been better). anyway i just wanted to elaborate on my thought process with the way i wrote this post & view these sorts of discussions in general)

did anyone actually read this extremely long post? (and yes, the linked posts do count). if you made it all the way down here i'm giving you an award

[slut4thebroken]

Headcanons for what kind of porn/erotic content Cillian's characters enjoy? I'm particularly interested in Tommy, Crane, and Neil.

(Cillian Murphy, Emmett, Jackson Rippner, Jonathan Crane, Lenny Miller, Neil Lewis, Raymond Leon, Robert Capa, Robert Fischer, Tommy Shelby)

18+ minors go away 🤺 non con/dark content

Cillian Murphy - Vanilla 😔🤚(if he even watches it at all… Like, yall can’t convince me that that man actually watches porn lol)

Emmett - (pre apocalypse) Doesn’t have a whole lot of time for masturbating nowadays but every once in a while when he’s alone he likes watching some age gap stuff, probably anal, but definitely cunnilingus. Lesbian stuff is probably his favorite— especially a young woman eating another woman’s cunt though.

Jackson Rippner - Dark dark dark dark dark. Probably a lot of misogyny, female domination/humiliation, slave/master stuff, hardcore punishments, non con, painal, etc. The worst part though is that he definitely isn’t the kind of guy who watches that purely for fantasy reasons. Like he 100% would do all of that if given the chance and probably has done some of it.

Jonathan Crane - If anyone checked this man’s search history… the cops would be called immediately. Like he probably watches dark porn on sketchy websites that make it really hard to tell if the video is just a skit or actually real (it’s probably real)… Specific categories though: fear play (obviously) and probably like medical torture shit.

Lenny Miller - Honestly?…… probably like.. law enforcement roleplay shit. Or those videos where the girl attempts to steal something and the security guy says he won’t have her arrested if she fucks him lol. But if we’re being more broad: power play stuff, lots of tit fucking, and anal. Also daddy kink.

Neil Lewis - I don’t think he really has a specific niche thing that he watches. Like as long as the girl has tits I feel like he’ll pretty much always be satisfied with it. He never really watches hard core dom/sub videos, but sometimes he’ll accidentally come across a female dominant video. That was how he learned he’s a switch lol. (Also he’ll sometimes come across a really weird fetish and get grossed out at first, but not stop watching and eventually realize he’s into it lol.)

Raymond Leon - Power imbalance, daddy kink, age gap (I’m maybe projecting lol). If he ever has time to watch porn though, I don’t think he’s really taking his time and watching a bunch of stuff. He probably finds something that makes him come pretty quickly and then just watches that a lot before finding a new one. I also doubt he’s into those like 30+ minute long videos that have an entire plot (it’s just a waste of time lol).

Robert Capa - Misogyny lol. He also seems like he likes face fucking a lot for some reason. (Idk why I’m having such a hard time with this one lol) He probably prefers “homemade” stuff rather than stuff made on an actual set. And also stealth recording for some reason. Like those videos where the guy is filming while hitting it from the back, but not using the flash so it’s not obvious whether the woman actually knows or not.

Robert Fischer - If anyone asks him… his answer is always the same: just the normal kind of porn. Which is sometimes true. But his search history is mostly findom, dominatrix, and male humiliation. Sometimes he’ll even listen to f4m erotic audios and get off with a pretty voice in his ear praising him (but also degrading and humiliating him lol) and telling him how to touch himself and when (if) he’s allowed to come.

Tommy Shelby - I don’t know I kinda feel like he rarely ever masturbates because he can literally fuck whoever he wants so he doesn’t really consume very much erotic content… Like if he just wants to get off really quick at work or something I feel like he’d lowkey just use his imagination.

[chainmail-butch]

i was talking to a friend who's a trans woman about this. she used to be really weird about butch trans women, but ended up being butch herself. she told me she was adverse to it because "it was like watching someone leave their house completely naked. you feel maybe a little embarrassed for them but you're mostly scared for how other people are going to treat them too. [she] thought "well, [she'd] be embarrassed doing the same and maybe they were having a hard time passing. but then finding out they're doing it on purpose, [she] thought that they were making a joke of being trans, like they were enforcing the stereotype of just saying you were a woman despite not making any effort to look like one. [she] was confused as to why anyone would do that, especially when she'd been having a hard time being treated well even though she did everything to make herself like a cis girl." she hated having to put in so much effort into looking feminine but did it because she was sure that's just what you had to do. obviously, probably regardless of how she looked, she was going to be treated like shit on the principal of being trans and after actually talking to butches and thinking about it more, she decided to just dress how she felt comfortable and still be proud of being a woman.

That's very interesting to hear. That is the consistent impression I've gotten from well meaning trans women.

I had to wrestle with the whole, "declaring myself a woman without making the effort," thing. When I first transitioned I put on dresses, tried on makeup, and got cute jackets. None of it felt right. I knew, entirely, that I was a woman. But doing all of the things women were supposed to be doing made me feel even worse than when I had lived as a man, which is saying something.

I eventually figured out that there is plenty of effort to being a butch woman. There are still styles, there are still pieces of gendered clothing, there are still gendered actions, they're just hidden in plain sight. They're all the things I wanted to do and all the ways that I wanted to be perceived that I couldn't understand until someone (Leslie Feinberg) held a mirror to my face (SBB) and said Butch. Then it all clicked.

I've been doing HRT for three full years now. I've been socially transitioned for three full years now. It is work. It is a challenge. It is walking out of the house with nothing but your soul and what you choose to armor it with. For some women the armor is a dress and a full face of makeup. For me its leather and boots.

I love my sisters deeply. I love women deeply. I love womanhood deeply. But my womanhood is also deliberately not womanhood. My selfish desire is a world where I can be exactly who I am without having to justify it to every woman, trans or cis, that crosses my path. But that's not gonna happen any time soon.

As so many butches, cis and trans, have said, It is a difficult road to walk and I have no choice but to walk it.

[yaknowlikenyah]

Controversial opinion time. Outside of the legal problems, teenagers seeing a horny picture or post is not the end of the world. A large part of the puritanical views on sex is that before you turn 18, you're supposed to be "pure" and shielded from the world and all the "dirty" sex out there. That's just not realistic when most teens start really developing their sexuality or being sexually active at like- 15-16.

Personally, while I'm not Comfortable with the idea of people under 18 interacting towards me in a sexual way (or even under 20 really because of personal preferences) I wish it was more socially acceptable for someone coming into themselves sexually to ask questions about things like kink or protective measures during sex.

And honestly? Kids are gonna find that shit! They're going to search it out. Hell, I got interested in bdsm at like, 14 and a LARGE part of my sexual education was self taught from the internet and old sites on bdsm etiquette.

When all your sexual knowledge is hidden behind an 18+ barrier, minors start lying about their age! You get teenagers writing that they're in their 20's in their bios so they don't get blocked and it breeds more danger because now they're interacting with adults under false pretenses which, ignoring any sort of predatory angle, means that things like roleplay can be initiated without full knowledge and consent from both parties.

But I think it's GOOD when kids can learn while still admitting that they're kids. I think it's GOOD that a kid could come to you and you as an adult could enforce your own boundaries and set an example. Circling back to my own experiences, a large part of why I walked out on a high school boyfriend instead of letting him aggressively pressure me into sex and push my boundaries was that I read all those bdsm sites. I learned about consent in a stricter sense than what was taught in public schools, and it let me know that wasn't right and that It wasn't right for him to push more than what I was comfortable with. Having that knowledge of kink Helped!!

That 18+ barrier is part of why it's so easy to be taken advantage of by people who 'finally treat you like an adult' and acknowledge you as more than just a pure thing that needs to be protected. It's why you get kids thinking that any sort of kinky sex or weird kink is Wrong and Bad and Makes you a bad person. That's why you get trans and gay people labled as 'Pedophiles' just for talking to kids about their own experiences with sexual and personal identity.

It's obviously a grey area and not something that people will agree or be comfortable with, but it's something to think about. I would rather a kid be able to come to me as a person for kink knowledge and advice and be able to be honest about it in an informed, appropriate way than I would want a kid to rush into things as soon as they turn 18 without knowing the safety.

[teamsasukes]

Was Itachi's forehead poke to Sasuke a sign of distancing himself and not wanting Sasuke to get involved, rather than just a mere sign of affection? I saw a few people talk about that and how it's weird that Sasuke does that to his family considering the original meaning.

yes, you've got an accurate handle on the original meaning of the Forehead Poke. fundamentally it is an expression of distance that itachi wields at times when he cannot be with sasuke. and it seems to be a throughline of his childhood: sasuke asks itachi to do something as mundane as train together but itachi continually refuses on account of his duties as a shinobi.

it is not a gesture devoid of love -- it's not as though itachi ever delights in dismissing sasuke (on the contrary, he is always regretful). but there's a cruelty in the uncertainty of it all: the most direct translation is "maybe next time", so itachi fails to provide even an assurance that they can, like, hang out next week or something. this chasm between them is then widened by itachi promising, on the night of the massacre, that he might allow a final battle between them if sasuke ever proves competent enough to bother fighting, leaving sasuke in protracted pursuit of the looming specter of his older brother.

this distance is really only bridged (barely) in their final scene when itachi lays bare the truth of his motives, his regrets (which are lacking, to put it mildly, but for sasuke this is nonetheless momentous), and his unconditional pride in and love for his little brother. the Forehead Poke is notably absent here because textually, the enforced distance wrt sasuke is framed as itachi's greatest wrong. (seriously, itachi says something to the effect of: i shouldn't have done All That because maybe you, my 7-year-old brother, could have brought change to our clan... thereby reducing inconvenience for konoha, of course. the paucity of virtue in massacring the uchiha doesn't really register for him even during this reconciliation, and it's deliberate... because the author doesn't see it as much of an issue either!)

anyway, it might seem odd for sasuke to repeat this gesture with sakura in chapter 699, then, particularly because it seems to be invoked in a manner identical to itachi in his neglect. kind of an odd way to signify a happy ending for these characters, right...?

well, it works for me solely because it is not identical! and naruto's english dub is my worst enemy. i would grab a couple of manga panel screenshots in the original japanese to prove it, but it's easier for me to just plug these scenes from the anime. here is an itachi Forehead Poke (0:51) and here is sakura seeing sasuke off at the konoha gate (0:33). there's a subtle but meaningful distinction in the phrasing: "mata kondo da" vs. "mata kondo na". which, in effect, alter the meaning from "maybe next time" to:

(there's an excellent tumblr post from years ago which performs a substantive analysis of the japanese in both contexts, but eludes me now. pls send if any of you have a link to it!)

so personally i adore its inclusion in chapter 699 specifically. it obviously carries a great deal of weight for sasuke and it's meaningful he chooses to express it to sakura specifically despite leaving the entire team behind -- in lots of ways, and more than any other character, i think for sasuke, sakura is the anti-itachi. (that would require another post to elucidate.) so not only is it an expression of regret at unintended distance, but, more crucially, it's a promise of return. i think it's incredibly sweet that sasuke can repurpose the gesture from something soul-rending to something hopeful.

(also deserving of another post lol but this scene also achieves a neat and, crucially, subversive callback to sakura's foundational insecurities... it's like poetry it rhymes)

all that said, i understand why it reads as something different once we are then given the context of chapter 700 and gaiden... i dislike both of these installments, primarily for the implication that distance becomes a love language, so to speak, between sasuke and sakura/sarada. these relationships are ruled by distance and sasuke accepts it. it's disappointing! his journey to learn about more of the world in chapter 699 jibed with the character's arc until that point. this does not.

my unpopular take is i think this has just about nothing to do with sakura or the sasusaku relationship and everything to do with authorial outlook on sasuke's actions in part 2. and for the record, i maintain that these crimes ultimately amount to very little -- violence and death are occupational hazards if one is a shinobi. konoha is also foregrounded by a cold calculus on the worth of human lives; i'm sure sasuke's indispensable role in saving the world outweighs the killing of a few samurai. i just think kishimoto needs sasuke to atone, somehow, forever, via endless service to the village. and he also cannot sensibly write a kakashi- or naruto-headed government that would impose any meaningful punishment, so sasuke is relegated to a state of permanent rootlessness in some dumbass quest. it's a sacrifice on his part, but contrived for a number of reasons, chief among them being that the sasuke we came to know in the original series would literally never internalize konoha's ideals in this manner. so even though the Forehead Poke in gaiden and boruto retains the elements of promise and anticipation of eventual reconciliation, it feels kind of... lame and weightless. there is a superficial signal at growth but materially, for the parties on the receiving end of the Forehead Poke, very little seems to change.

frankly, i think we are meant to view sasuke's love as noble (and sasuke himself as penitent, suggested by the ascetic quality of his life). sasuke is still doing things differently than itachi, insufficient though it may be: he is honest about the reason for his travels, he does not rush to dismiss sarada when she needs emotional support, his motives are selfless rather than selfish (sasuke guards against the threat of the otsutsuki; itachi... wanted sasuke to kill him, in no small part as a desperate ploy to end his own suffering, notwithstanding the subsequent damage that would be inflicted on his thoroughly traumatized little brother). gaiden is surprisingly candid about the distance as a source of distress for sarada, sakura, and even sasuke, but by the end everyone understands why it must be as it is. the state above all! (you'll notice even itachi's apology to sasuke held this precept intact... there is a reason the series closes with sasuke accepting his old hitai-ate.) it is admittedly vexing, considering the totality of evidence here, to see sasuke's nomadic status in boruto pinned on how much he hates his dumb bitch wife and not, you know. the shockingly bad politics underpinning the narrative.

i appreciate the attempts of sasuke enjoyers to explain his distance as natural aversion to konoha, but this isn't canonically backed by any interiority (which seems to be absent in boruto-era team 7 at large) and moreover it requires miscommunication between sasuke and sakura (or even naruto) so great as to be unbelievable. i've accepted that post-pt2 sasuke is an unfortunate victim of kishomoto's nationalist views. his weird takes on how a man like sasuke would behave in a loving relationship and likely desire for a continued revenue stream don't help either. yes i will weep forever...

TLDR: i think the Forehead Poke fits in chapter 699 precisely because it diverges from itachi's. i resent its recurrence suggesting distance from loved ones is an inevitable condition of sasuke's life to which he's stoically acquiescent.

[shanastoryteller]

so, here's some long meta that no one cares about for 5.14 my bloody valentine and dean's relationship with sam's demon blood addiction

ok far be it for me to defend s5 dean, but i actually think the criticism of dean in 5.14 my bloody valentine is too harsh

the thing i think dean messed up on is not reassuring sam that his sudden desire for demon blood isn't his fault and he doesn't need to be ashamed of it because it's literally because of famine. the horseman is making everyone crave something so badly they kill themselves, including castiel, an actual angel of the lord who can't overcome his desire for red meat to the point that he's literally on all fours in front of famine scarfing down hamburger, not a care in the world while famine is getting read to eat a soul and do who knows what with dean

the thing is sam is so obviously embarrassed and ashamed, especially considering how earlier in the season dean was a huge dick about it, saying he couldn't trust if sam was really clean and didn't want it anymore, ect. if anything, the way sam reacts to the cravings, before they know what's going on, shows that he really had pretty much moved past it - even that low level of craving he had in the beginning was different enough to be noticeable.

the "i think i'm hungry for it" "hungry for what?" "you know." "demon blood? are you kidding me?" exchange is something else i see brought up - but i don't think dean is saying demon blood out loud to be a dick, to push the point and enforce sam's shame like i've seen people say about this moment. i think he's scared of sam's addiction and that jesus, are you fucking kidding me tone isn't really about sam

the thing is dean has decided that sam's addiction has made him a different person, that it wasn't really him and what he did while under the influence wasn't his fault. in 5.11 sam interrupted when they're telling the shrink about the apocalypse so they can get committed, dean says of sam starting the apocalypse, "my brother's not a bad guy, he was just high" and he could be just saying that, but if everything else they were saying was true, so i think this is too - this is how dean is rationalizing it. which is better than when he was saying sam was solely responsible for it, but it's still not great

it's just another way to absolve himself of responsibility and deny sam his autonomy

the thing is that demon blood is not portrayed as a 1:1 with real life substance addiction - it's actually portrayed to be much less damaging (something something about how sam managed to go off demon blood on his own, without the panic room, definitely once but possibly twice - after dean comes back from hell, and after killing lilith, but that's not what we're talking about rn), and sam's addiction doesn't seem to really change his personality. the only time this is even sort of true is when he's going through withdrawals, and even then it's an intense focus to get demon blood - and then he's back to baseline, which is not even a little bit how real addiction works

sam doesn't kill lilith because he's high. he kills lilith because that's been the goal the whole time, because he and dean were both led to believe that would stop the apocalypse, not start it. the tunnel vision revenge to kill lilith also isn't addiction related - i've talked about before how i think it's partially motivated by his desire to see if he really could have killed lilith and saved dean from his deal before, but beyond that - sam having tunnel vision revenge tendencies after someone he loves is taken from him is canon. see the entirety of season 1 after jessica. the only thing that snaps him out of it is the threat of losing dean in 2.01. this is just a facet of who he is

sam didn't go after lilith alone because he was high - it's because dean and bobby lied to him and betrayed him and locked him up and left him to die in the panic room. then when dean tracks him down again, despite sam very clearly not wanting him to do that, fresh off demon blood, he still asks dean to join him. he still wants to do this together. he doesn't want to fight. bobby warns dean to be good to sam, but he's so angry that he pushes and pushes sam until he throws a punch. after that first punch, sam hesitates. he still doesn't want to fight dean. he stands there, doing nothing, waiting to see what dean's going to do - hoping, maybe, that dean will do what he did back when dean lost his temper and punched sam in 2.03 - nothing. instead, dean starts up the fight again, and when sam leaves, throws dad's words back at him

dean talks about sam trusting a demon over his brother, but the thing is dean agrees to go after lilith with sam - as long as he leaves ruby behind, even though ruby is the one that knows where lilith is. also, he trusted an angel over his brother, and that sounds more reasonable on paper, but the the thing is they were both manipulated by ruby/cas.

the reason sam went after lilith alone is because that's what dean pushed him to do. it's not because he was high. saying it was about that absolves sam of his responsibility, sure, but it also absolves dean of the part he played too. worse, dean may say it, but sam knows better. he knows the demon blood doesn't effect him that way and you can see it on his face when dean says it. so he's stuck between not arguing against that and taking responsibility for his actions, something he's done over and over again and he clearly views as part of his penance, or saying something and risk rocking the tentative truce he has with dean, the brother he loves and really the only person he has left in the world. so of course he lets it lie

(a sympathetic interpretation of this is actually because dean doesn't know his voicemail was changed and the sam he knows wouldn't have still gone after lilith without him after receiving it - and he's right, which is why the angels changed it. so he has to justify it as sam being high, because it's the only way sam going after lilith after hearing him say they're still family and he shouldn't have said those things and he's sorry makes sense - but we've already veered off topic as is)

dean views sam's decision to leave him (his biggest fear/weakness) and his drinking of demon blood to be inextricably linked. additionally, sam has made it clear again and again how he doesn't want to be on demon blood anymore, and now he's craving it again. his first reaction is to tell cas to get sam out of here - but it's too late, because famine already infected him

dean is pretty clearly starting to panic here - it's right there in his voice, in the "then what do we do?" and in the look of desperate fear when he turns to face his brother when sam says "you go and cut that bastard's finger off" (which has the ring, the source of his power, and will get rid of everyone's cravings)

i will say i think this is actually a pretty nice moment for their relationship. sam tells him what to do, how to handle this - and dean pretty visibly calms down, turns to cas and says, "you heard him"

even while being pulled towards demon blood, he lets sam make the call. he doesn't insist cas take him somewhere else anyway, he doesn't dismiss sam of not being in his right mind - he does what sam says

which includes handcuffing him

sam is the one that asks to be restrained while dean and cas go after famine. he says to make it good, but dean only handcuffs him to the sink - i was like, come on, the teenagers that captured sam in 5.12 do a better job of tying him up than that

then dean and cas go after famine and cas is too busy shoving hamburger down his throat to do anything and there's like a dozen demons and a literal horseman in front of him. dean's screwed

except famine sent demons after sam, who kills them and drinks their blood. this is not anymore sam than the virgin who ate her lover was herself or the guy who hadn't had alcohol in 20 years and then drank himself to death was himself. sam so far had resisted his cravings in their entirety, not even licking the blade with demon blood, no matter how clearly he wanted to, which is something no one else has been shown able to do

sam shows up, mouth still bloody, and dean's horrified. famine says that sam has nothing to fear and offers him the blood of the dozen demons surrounding them while dean begs him not to do it

cas, mr "i'm an angel, i can stop whenever i want to" is still eating meat off the ground at this point. that's how powerful famine's pull is. and cas's craving is just based on his vessel liking red meat

sam says no

he uses his powers to pull the demons out of the vessels, making their blood useless to him. famine eats the souls instead and sam uses his powers to pull all the souls that famine has eaten out of him, leaving him powerless. sam's powers saving the day again (samhain, alistair) but it's a power he didn't want to use - a power he wouldn't have needed to use, if castiel had a will equal to his own

the next scene is the one people tend to judge dean for pretty harshly, but i'm going to offer a counterargument to that

sam's in the panic room again while dean and cas are outside. i do think a sam that asked to be locked down and refused famine pulling at him drink demon blood did go in there willingly, while he was still in his right mind - before the withdrawal hits. he's calling out - saying "no, please! don't! dean! cas! are you there? dean, help me!"

cas says, "that's not him in there. not really." dean says, "i know" and cas tries to say that sam just has to get it out of his system, then he'll be - and dean walks away, saying he needs some air

a lot of people take dean and cas's exchange to mean that once again sam isn't sam when he's on demon blood - when he's high - and leaving him to suffer alone as a form of punishment/weakness

but i don't think so - and i'm pretty hard on s5 dean's treatment of sam

the thing is, sam just refused famine and pointedly didn't give in to his cravings when cas did. he saved dean, choosing him over demon blood, the thing that in dean's view he hadn't done before

and dean is powerless to do anything for him in return

i think sam is hallucinating in the panic room just then, just like he did the first time. and just like before, when he's hallucinating and detoxing he's using his powers, throwing things around the room. there's no reason to think this time is any different than last time. which means 1. even if dean or cas were in there, there's a decent chance sam wouldn't be able to tell. and 2. it's not safe for them, or at least dean to be in there. maybe cas could, but he's low on mojo and frankly i think sam's powers are strong enough to knock an angel around pretty good if he wanted to

sam's not asking to be let out. he's asking for his brother (which is actually another good sign for their relationship, i think, because last time he hallucinated dean saying he hates him and this time, even addled, he believes that dean would be there and helping him if he could) and i think it's pretty clearly killing dean that he can't go and help him. it's actually specifically because sam isn't asking to be let out that i think the hallucination/powers explanation makes more sense than anything else, because if dean being in there really would provide some sort of comfort to sam, i think he'd be there. there's not really an explanation for why he wouldn't that tracks with the rest of his behavior this episode

when he gets outside, he tosses his drink aside and cries. he prays to the god he doesn't believe in "please. i can't... i need some help. please?"

dean doesn't suffer from any cravings because of famine and famine tells him that's because he's dead inside. this is very obviously not true. one, because dean has show real enjoyment in food and drink and sex in previous episodes so deciding right at this moment that it doesn't exist doesn't really make any sense, and for another - sam is, as always, still able to pull emotions from him that he's shoved down. hell, if anything, famine should have given him a craving for his brother and dean should have spent the whole episode trying to not lie on top of him like a cat

(my personal explanation for this that isn't bad writing is that dean's real craving is just for some numbness, that he's tired of feeling everything he's repressing all the time - and then when famine discovers he's here he purposely doesn't pull any deeper as a way to fuck with dean's head, to break his spirit, to make him that much more likely to say yes to michael and give them the apocalypse they want so badly)

dean is so low at this moment i think because he couldn't protect sam, couldn't help him, and it's a canon component of his character that failing to protect/save sam is gutting for him (shtriga and cold oak as stand out examples but also, like, see: the whole damn show)

he locked sam up and left him helpless for when demons come after him. watch his face when he famine says he sent the demons for sam to consume - it's panichorrorguilt. sam asked him to do it, it's not his fault, but he put those handcuffs on sam and he blames himself for it. then sam has to save his ass using his powers, again, and dean can't do anything but listen to him suffer

sam did the thing that dean asked of him, he picked dean over demon blood, first by asking to be restrained and sending them after famine, then again when he refuses to drink the demons famine offers him

and dean couldn't do anything for him

he couldn't stop the demons that famine sent to his brother, he couldn't stop famine in time to make sam's artificial cravings go away, he can't even help his brother when he's calling out for him

sam trusted him and he failed

(i do not actually think this is his fault - what was he supposed to do? he did everything he could. it just wasn't enough. but even if it wasn't in dean's nature to blame himself for things he shouldn't - and not blame himself for things he should - the cold facts of the situation are crushing enough)

what's he supposed to do now?

they stopped famine. it should be a victory. this is a battle won in the war of stopping the apocalypse. but dean breaks down in a way the actual losses haven't pulled from him because dean of the one track mind really only has one concern, one question, and in that area, this was a loss, not a victory

how does he save his brother?

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Just like how kalim embodies scarabia's mindfulness in his own way, how do you think other boys embodies their respective dorms spirit?

For the sake of ease and consistency, I will be using the official TWST localization's terms for each dorm's core value.

Please note: these are my personal interpretations; even the definitions of each dorm’s “spirit” is not explicitly defined within official TWST materials, so I’ll be running with my own definitions before covering each NRC student. Additionally, since I’ll be covering 22 characters in this post I may not have time to get into painstaking detail for each one.

***Main story spoilers (including late book 7) below the cut!!***

The Queen of Hearts' Spirit of Strictness

Literally speaking, strictness refers to following rules or beliefs exactly. There is rigid enforcement of these rules or beliefs, and very few, if any, exceptions or mercy granted.

Right off the bat, it’s easy to see how Riddle aligns with the spirit of strictness. He is the embodiment the law in Heartslabyul, serving as both judge and executioner to his students. Riddle insists that the rules—no matter how nonsensical—be followed, and he does not hesitate to unleash his wrath and collar those who step out of line. He is strictness itself. Beyond book 1, we do see Riddle trying to be more patient and flexible—however, the fact remains that he upholds rules and continues to have trouble with circumstances where he has to think independently or without a set of instructions to refer to.

Trey is known for frequently indulging others and behaving in a manner which some may call kind. The twist here is that Trey’s strictness is present in the “big brother” role he adopts when dealing with his peers. He’s generally more lenient than Riddle, but Trey often alludes to the fact that he shouldn’t be underestimated or thought of as a nice guy. There are moments when Trey gives others their comeuppance for misbehaving (such as in his dorm uniform vignettes, where he deprives first years of cake for complaining about his same-y baked goods). The thing is, most don’t see it coming because he’s typically so… nice. When he wants to be stern and put his foot down, he certainly can—it just isn’t something that happens a lot, since he’s more mild-mannered than his classmates.

Cater is strict with his public image, specifically how his peers view him. This is most obviously seen in his obsession with social media. He's constantly taking pictures and posting, being heavily involved on Magicam—a space where he can control the narrative about the type of person he is and the life he has. Cater keeps up this front in real life as well, acting cheery and sociable with his classmates while masking a far less motivated and sad side to his character. (This is implied in his Lab Wear vignettes, where a mandrake he infuses with his own magic becomes gloomy and huddles into itself.) There are occasions when Cater expresses that he is lonely or that he wishes he had more friends growing up, but he never fully opens up about his true nature. He strictly keeps that part of himself locked up tight and is seemingly afraid of what others would think of that persona.

Like Cater, Deuce is strict with himself. In Deuce's case, this arises from a past of delinquency and the desire to reform and to be an honors student that his mom can be proud of. Because of these goals, Deuce tries very hard to excel in class (but often falls short) and to behave in a way that he believes honors students would. This means changing the way he looks (he let his natural hair color come back in; it used to be bleached blonde), the way he speaks (not using foul language), the way he dresses, and, most importantly, the way he acts. Of course, his temper gets the best of him at times and his delinquent self bubbles back up (like in book 1 when the eggs were ruined), and Deuce is currently working on better repressing that.

Ace is probably the most carefree and the least stereotypically "strict" of the Heartslabyul group. Instead of having a focus on enforcing rules, Ace is usually the one breaking or defying them. How, then, does he embody the Queen of Hearts' spirit of strictness? I believe it comes through in some of Ace's most iconic scenes: the ones where he is calling others out on their bull crap. Time and time again, it's Ace that is bluntly telling others what they're doing or saying is hypocritical or wrong, or that they haven't truly taken accountability. He does this no matter who he is facing, be that his own dorm leader (book 1), an undead bride (Ghost Marriage), or Malleus Draconia himself (Endless Halloween Night). Ace has his own set of morals and beliefs, and he speaks them loud and clear without imposing as harshly as Riddle does.

The King of Beasts' Spirit of Persistence

Persistence is when one continues their course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition. In other words, there is an obstacle in the way of achieving a goal, and one persists in the face of that obstacle.

Leona is a somewhat strange case to make for persistence because initially he comes off as a very lazy character. We quickly learn that though he appears unmotivated, he’s comfortable scheming and thinking multiple steps ahead to cut out difficult or unnecessary work. There’s no doubt that Leona has had a challenging childhood, feeling like he was always being compared to his brother and never recognized for his own talents. We feel the effects of Leona losing this hope as late as book 6, when Leona says that Jamil is capable of change, unlike himself. Some fans even speculate that Leona’s dialogue implies he has fallen into depression as a result of frequently being dismissed and put down in spite of his efforts to be seen. Even when Leona is dealing with such trauma, he cooks up a plot to return his dorm to glory and to support its future. He, the lowly second born prince, wants to prove himself and his team of misfits, as being worthy of respect and admiration. When the plans fall through, Leona is quick to give up (which seems to go against the idea of Savanaclaw’s persistence). However, I would say this is part of his character growth in book 2. Later in the main story, Leona also throws in the towel quickly—but it doesn’t contradict his development; he knows when to strategically retreat in book 6.

Ruggie comes from an extremely impoverished background. He has had perhaps the least “cushy” life out of the entire NRC cast. Even so, Ruggie was able to study and work hard enough to earn decent grades, get multiple part-time jobs, and pick up many useful survival skills. He’s street smart and knows that what he lacks in strength he can make up for by sticking to someone who is strong (Leona). (Their relationship is mutually beneficial!!) Ruggie knows that just having money isn’t sustainable in the long run, so he’s hauling ass now to make something of not only himself, but also for all the people in the slums.

Jack embodies persistence through the events of book 2. At first, Jack tries to get Leona to see reason by letting him know that he genuinely is a figure Jack admires. He’s put in a moral dilemma when Leona argues that even if they play dirty, he has good intentions. If Jack interferes, he is messing with the future job prospects of his dorm members. Jack wrestles with the question before ultimately coming to the conclusion that he has to tell others about it—and, what’s more, put his own pride as a lone wolf aside to confront Leona and stop to his machinations.

The Sea Witch's Spirit of Benevolence

Benevolence may refer to meaning well or general kindness and compassion. It involves a willingness to help others and caring for them.

Azul, being at the head of the operations at Octavinelle, passes himself off as a benevolent man who will listen to your woes and grant your wishes. In fact, he does—but at a price. The shady ring he’s running is NOT wholly benevolent; the deals can definitely come across as malevolent in book 3 (when Azul wrote the contracts in such a way that the loopholes could fuck clients over). The deals themselves (assuming no foul play), however, are neutral since both parties agree to the terms. Contracts are written with the idea that they will benefit the clients. And Azul is, of course, also seeking out benefits for himself, as that is the nature of business dealings.

Jade represents a kind of benevolence associated with acts of service. He’s Azul’s right-hand man and information broker—furthermore, much of how Jade presents himself alludes to being a butler or some other supportive role. Jade just generally behaves in a way which benefits others. He acts demure and servile, then uses the trust he has gained through service to ply what he wants out of others. Jade does it so sweetly and so expertly that his prey don’t usually notice, or willfully overlook it, being far too impressed by his abilities to fixate on his ulterior motives. This strategy works even on notoriously stern individuals such as Vil (Jade Dorm Uniform vignettes).

Floyd gives “free hugs” :) is… well, ironically, the “kindest” of the trio in a weird way. While this is highly dependent on his mood, the fact of the matter is that Floyd is the easiest to read in terms of “telegraphing” his actions. If he’s in a bad mood, he usually will not hide it. You know what you’re signing up for as soon as you see him. He also typically doesn’t put forth an effort to manipulate or to scheme like Azul or Jade would; Floyd would prefer to be direct and get it over with already. That, in a sense, is the mercy that he offers: something swift and plain to see.

The Sorcerer of the Sands' Spirit of Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a state of being aware of oneself and the present moment. A mindful individual can aknowledge and accept one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations. Mindfulness may also extend to being aware of others and perceiving their own states of being.

Kalim is not viewed as the most intelligent or crafty of leaders, but where he shines is in his ability to welcome and to bond with his dorm mates. His emotional intelligence is extremely high, which proves itself to be a useful skill in getting to know others and to earn their trust. Kalim has made a name for himself in Scarabia because he is always there to listen and lend a helping hand to his dormmates. He is unabashedly open about his own emotions too, crying when he is sad and trying hard when he is frustrated or dissatisfied. He often asks to know what is wrong when he senses upset within his classmates and wants to do what he can to rectify those situations. This is peak mindfulness--not only is Kalim acutely aware of his own emotional state, but he's also pretty consistent with sensing those in others (the one big exception here, of course, is Jamil). Sometimes Kalim can be blindsided by his own blind faith in others or his overeagerness causing him to blurt things out unintentionally. He's definitely not perfect in this regard--however, there's plenty of room and willingness to grow and to learn (something which Kalim has expressed both in book 5 and in birthday vignettes).

Jamil more readily fits in with a less savory interpretation of mindfulness. He thinks ahead and uses what he knows of others to manipulate them or put himself in an advantageous position. This notably occurs in book 4 (when Jamil plans to use the feedback of Yuu and the Scarabia members to dethrone Kalim), as well as in events (like Beans Day, where he plans to entrap Kalim when Kalim cooks a fragrant lunch that Jamil purposefully packed for him). He uses what he notices or knows about others (Azul’s shadiness, rumors about Lilia being a bad cook) to avoid interactions which could be less than beneficial to him. Jamil’s main fault is that he fails to recognize people’s strengths (something which Leona calls him out for in book 6), and instead focuses mainly on their weaknesses, shortcomings, and how those could be exploited (mostly because he’s in a position where he cannot outright act in certain ways without suffering some consequences). Jamil is aware of these potential consequences and finds or plans workarounds for them. However, he is also mindful in a more conventional sense too. He’s usually the competent one in Scarabia’s leadership and fulfills the organizational tasks that Kalim doesn’t. The duo is like sun and moon; they balance each other out.

The Beautiful Queen's Spirit of Tenacity

Simply put, tenacity is determination and endurance. One is persistent in maintaining, adhering to, or seeking something valued or desired. Each of the members of Pomefiore knows what they want, and they are stubborn in their pursuit of it.

Vil makes it clear in book 5 that he wants to win VDC/SDC, thereby proving to himself and to the world that he is capable of more than playing the part of a “villain”. He already had high standards for himself prior to book 5 (exercising, doing skincare, maintaining a healthy diet, etc.), but you can see how single minded Vil is toward this one goal. He drives his team members hard and even cancels a major job offer from his manager so he can dedicate all his time and energy into seizing the win. And how many times has Vil lost in the past??? Countless, I bet. Yet here he is, trying again and again, even when he knows that happy endings aren’t guaranteed and his efforts may not bear fruit after all.

Rook pursues any and all things beautiful!! He used to just be content admiring beauty, but with Vil’s prompting, Rook soon also found value in beautifying himself. It means Rook can also put beauty out into the world, and helps him better appreciate other works of art. This man is infamous around campus for his… admittedly creepy and unnerving habits. He follows people around, documents them in photographs, memorizes their personal details, etc. His keen eye has also earned him praise though—Vil can comfortably rely on him for honest feedback, and Neige recognizes him as a dedicated member of his fan club. Rook is nothing if not determined and dedicated to his craft.

Epel is tenacious too, but in a way that Vil would not approve of in all circumstances. Epel is stubborn in his thinking and refuses to let go of his hometown roots. He’s very proud of where he comes from, so he puts up a fight with Vil when Vil demands that Epel address his upperclassmen more politely. Epel sees the command as a threat to himself, and a challenge to the hometown he loves. Additionally, it takes Epel a while to reevaluate his deeply ingrained views on gender norms. He’s all-around very strong-headed!

The King of the Underworld's Spirit of Diligence

Diligence is when one is involved in careful and persistent work or effort. This principle generally governs all of STYX, the blot research organization operated by the Shroud family. Their job is a thankless one—they do such important work, yet it isn’t recognized by the general public due to STYX’s secretive nature.

Idia, as the temporary acting director of STYX in book 6, gets involved in their research. There’s many Phantoms kept in the STYX facility, so there are many safety precautions in place and care taken to ensure no one is harmed. (Ironically, it was Idia’s lack of diligence that led to Ortho’s passing.) Outside of book 6, one can say that Idia has a diligent personality, at least when it comes to his hyperfixations. He becomes dedicated to media that captures his interests to the point where it actually incentivizes him to leave his room (Ghost Marriage) and overcome his meek stutter to speak confidently and lecture people (first Halloween event, his Dorm Uniform vignettes, etc.).

I believe Ortho is diligent in being Idia’s emotional support both before and after Ortho is officially recognized as a separate student. He cheers Idia on and encourages him to touch grass socialize, wishing nothing but the best for his big brother! Ortho wasn’t always like this either; he used to be quite stiff and monotone, and had to learn how to emulate emotions by carefully observing and absorbing media. His motivation in book 6 is also fueled by diligence—Ortho worries about what he can do to support Idia’s wishes, and this is ultimately what drives him to taking over STYX and unleashing the Phantoms. Then, in Fairy Gala: What If, Ortho stubbornly tries to come up with his own ideas regarding the theme of evolution rather than rely on others for answers. He works hard to developing his own concept and is able to put on a show-stopping performance with it!

The Thorn Fairy's Spirit of Nobility

To be noble can refer to strength of character, mind, and/or literal position, birth, rank, or social status. No matter which definition you go with, I think they could all apply to the members of Diasomnia.

Regarding noble status, Malleus and Silver are both princes. Lilia and Sebek may not be nobles themselves, but they (in addition to Silver) serve royalty and have close personal connections to people in high places, be it via friends or via family. Diasomnia is very well-connected.

Beyond superficial nobility, one can say that those in Diasomnia are noble in character as well. To begin with, Lilia has sacrificed himself for his country on multiple occasions. This isn’t limited to going to battle, but also ferrying his princess’s egg to safety, traveling the world for knowledge on dragon eggs, and going so far as to give up his own life force to hatch Malleus. And what does Lilia get for all of this? Banished from the capital, screamed at, shunned—all because he is a nobody, a bat of no status. Despite this, Lilia does not become bitter nor hateful, he instead opens his heart and mind to the world and seeks to instill others with the same wisdom. Through all the tragedies he suffered, Lilia rose stronger than ever rather than sinking to the same levels as the narrow minded senators that rebuked him.

Silver is, perhaps, the most overtly noble in character. He extols the virtues of listening and getting along with others, often serving as the peacemaker between parties (typically between Sebek and their peers, but we’ve also seen Silver smoothing things out between all of NRC and diurnal fae). He also assumes the best of others and is ready to leap into action to protect them at a moment’s notice. His kind and gentle nature attracts many forest animals to him, who can likely sense the purity of Silver’s heart.

Sebek’s brand of nobility isn’t geared at others in general but rather is pinpointed on one person (that being Malleus). He is noble in the sense that he dedicates himself to his prince. It’s no secret that practically everything Sebek does is to “live up” to perceived standards so as to not shame Malleus or the Draconia royal family—from doing well academically to dressing neatly and throwing himself into training… Sebek’s passion and eagerness is what makes him stand out. It could also be said that he fiercely defends his friends and those who have earned his respect (albeit maybe not worded in the most tactful ways). That, too, in a sense, is honorable.

Finally, we have Malleus. What can be said about him that hasn’t already been said? He is the prince of a nation, so there are many people looking to him for leadership. As such, Malleus must always conduct himself in a manner that puts his country’s best face forward and expects the same of others. Indeed, he reprimands Sebek for behaving in poor taste and instructs him to apologize to Leona, the prince of another nation. However, what is most telling about Malleus is his impetus for Overblotting. He deludes himself into thinking “this is what is best for everyone”. In his mind, he frames forcing everyone into dream states so they can stay forever and have their happily ever afters as the “good” and “noble” thing to do. He’s definitely not doing this for himself, he argues, it’s a gift for everyone. And throughout book 7, Malleus tries to gaslight others into this belief too 💀 when bro’s already convinced himself of this and refuses to see otherwise—

[bloodstained-ballgowns]

i just rewatched ‘the woman who fell to earth’ a couple of days ago for the first time since it aired back in 2018 and the more i think about it, the more i like it.

thirteen is the only doctor for whom i feel a tangible, rose-tinted nostalgia. she wasn’t my first doctor, but she was the first doctor i watched live, the first doctor that i spent an actual extended period of time with over the episode rollout. her intro episode has middling parts (as can be expected with most episodes of Who) but there’s also so much good that i really want to highlight.

first of all, there are some really great character dynamics set up here. much more interesting than i remember, tbh. ryan is a guy who loves mechanics but is stuck in a warehouse job he hates, a guy who obviously wants to connect to people, a guy who by the end of the episode has lost both his mother and grandmother in the space of a couple of years and the step-grandfather he didn’t really want is all he has left (minus his absent father). that’s interesting.

yaz has a keen sense of justice and this raw, intense yearning to help people, to do something worthwhile, something more - the way she has chosen to express that is through law enforcement, but it’s not quite giving her the satisfaction she wants. that’s interesting.

graham’s experience with cancer means that he constantly feels like he’s living on borrowed time. meeting grace gave him purpose, gave him family, gave him the will to fight when he fought it was all but over, but now grace is gone. he and ryan aren’t related, but they’re family, and now they’ve got to figure out how to care for each other without the very lynchpin that brought them together. once again with feeling: interesting!

“i’m just a traveller. sometimes i see things that need fixing. i do what i can.” i like that they circle back to the ‘just some guy’ portrayal of the doctor here, both because it’s the one i’m partial to and because it feeds particularly well into the whole ‘the doctor is an unreliable narrator’ aspect, especially in the wake of the increased deification in the moffat era. it's a nice set up, even if it gets completely overhauled circa series 12/13. in fact, having thirteen keep this as a persistent attitude throughout the Timeless Child of it all could have been really effective re: her reticence with her companions and refusal to address or deal with her past.

the scene where thirteen builds her sonic screwdriver might be one of my favourite sequences in nuwho. i love that it’s a hybrid of alien tech and sheffield steel. i also love that they highlight the ‘mad inventor’ side of the doctor here (her teleportation circuit is based around a microwave?) and wish that they had carried it forward more. it would have been the perfect basis for her to bond with ryan over. jodie also pulls off the humour of the episode well, considering the significant shift from moffat dialogue.

i enjoy thirteen's outfit: the vibrancy of it as mirroring her childish excitability, but also as another part of the mask - if i dress all colourful then maybe i can ignore/outrun/masquerade my great capacity for darkness! etc etc. the shopping trip with yaz and ryan is a bit shoe-horned in at the end but it's cute that she finds it in a charity shop. (back in 2018 i bought a t-shirt with a couple of stripes across the chest solely because it remotely resembled the one she wore lol. nerd from a young age, me.) jodie also looks soo hot in capaldi's outfit though so a spin on the traditional suit would also have been appreciated.

some miscellaneous points: i like that she tells Karl off (“you had no right to do that”) right after saving him. i like that she gets it wrong at first and makes it clear that she’s working on the fly. she’s following her instinct, and that instinct is to help people. doctor who has been beautiful before but the cinematography takes such a huge step this era. “it’s been a long time since i bought women’s clothes” i am choosing to believe this is about river thank you and good night.

[eriochromatic]

I have a question

What is Silco to Vi ? Only a care taker or even a father figure like in canon with Jinx *gasp* will she call him someday dad too ? 😱

(I'm assuming this is about my AU otherwise it would make no sense LMFAO)

yeah I would say he's definitely a father figure to Vi, but obviously their relationship is vastly different from Silco and Powder/Jinx in canon… Silco still sees himself in Vi but in the "hotblooded revolutionary ready to throw hands at topside" way rather than "I got betrayed by someone who was supposed to protect me" for Powder,,

I think in canon Silco was definitely projecting all his trauma w/ Vander onto Powder's relationship with Vi (I don't blame Silco though bc parents just want to help their children in any way they can, Silco thought by forging a new identity he was able to "get past that" so that's what he taught Powder) but if Silco is dealing with Vi instead, I don't think he'd do that since it's not relevant. Since Vi's older, it's not gonna be as easy to influence her compared to Powder who was like 10 or something.

We never get to see exactly what Silco tells Jinx about Vander (beyond that short conversation in the river where it seems he's still pretty bitter and Jinx is totally over him reiterating the same thing over and over again lol). Vi has a lot more memories with Vander compared to Powder (she would probably be Vander defender #1), so I feel like during those talks rather than Silco focusing on how Vander betrayed him specifically, he would focus on the fact that Vander in a certain way betrayed all of Zaun by making that deal w/ the enforcers. Vi was already sort of feeling that in s1e2 when Vander refused to fight the enforcers, Silco would definitely play into that frustration bc I mean, he still felt the same way. I think after the first few arguments about Vander both Silco and Vi would be on the same page of basically Vander being a good man but a stagnant leader who was too comfortable w/ the status quo (which is basically my point of view as well HAHAHA)

As for specifically calling him dad idk though HAHA I guess that's just not rlly a word I think the characters would use in the sense that like. Vi, Jinx (also Mylo) calls Vander "their father" but doesn't use the term "Dad" for him directly, they just call him Vander. I think it would be the same here where if you ask Vi who Silco is to her she'd probably say something like "he's like my father" (I don't think she'd directly say "he's my dad" since it would be too painful and she probably has emotional baggage abt erasing Vander and Connol's memories or smth idk) but the sentiment is still there. Same thing w/ Silco tbh like he'd obviously see Vi as his daughter but he would never say it out loud (unless he was pushed to the brink like the canon situation where he calls Jinx his daughter LMFAO hopefully that never happens to him). I think they would both outwardly downplay how much they actually care for each other

[heretyc]

think ya could write being married to coyle

You got it! 👉😎👉

Coyle is, obviously, obsessed with American values. If you're an all American spouse, he will brag about you to high heaven, I swear it. Only a man as great as him can have someone as great as you. Your wedding, obviously, had an American flag, and he wore his uniform, because that's Coyle for you.

This man is incredibly possessive; he won't let disgusting commies go near you. Expect to have him near you at all times, and if he has to be away for some reason, he'll give you a baton like his.

He believes that men should be the dominant one of the relationship, so he will be the one providing. He makes sure you don't lift a single finger, what kind of husband would he be if he made you do dirty work??

During trials he's a guard dog, through and through. No ex-cop should think about going near his spouse if they want to live and remain electrocuted. This is especially the case with Barbi; he gets real pissed if that little shit thinks about you in ways Coyle doesn't like.

He loves to call you honey and darlin'. Your name is never used unless he's angry.

Submitting to him is all he wants, but if you manage to dom him, he swears he'll get back at you. Your neck will pretty much be swollen and purple afterwards, and the other ex-cops question why you can't walk properly...

He's a shoulder to cry on when you need it, but he believes that you should be strong in the face of issues. He'll quote something deep. And if you really need his help, he won't deny you. If he can use his precious baton, even better.

He's religious to some extent, but he uses the Lord's name in vain fucking 24/7, so he doesn't care if you say "oh my god" or something. That'd be mighty contradictory.

While he likes to enforce "laws", he'll look the other way if you break one...for justice purposes. Killing a guy because he disrespected the American way of living is okay, hell, he does it all the time!

He'd hug you if not for the large ass Pontiac battery strapped to him lmfao. He takes it off first. You don't wanna fry, do you?