#LIKE AS EVIDENCED BY HER FEELINGS FOR HER DAUGHTER

[crymeariveronceagain]

hi! so i was bored, so i decided to read Anna Karenina because you said it was good

i'm in love. it was so good

OMG OMG OMG BELOVED YESSSS

ISNT IT GREAT???? THE THEMES AND THE CONVERSATION IT STARTS AND THE INSIGHTS INTO THE MINDS OF BOTH MEN AND WOMEN AND THE FACT THAT TOLSTOY LOST LITERAL INTEREST IN IT AFTER THE FIRST COUPLE CHAPTERS??? LIKE HE WROTE IT WITHOUT CARING ABOUT IT???? AND HE WROTE THAT MASTERPIECE??? ITS SO GOOD!?!?!? ADKASDKSLKDJASKDSJ!!!!

Also dearest did you read that like just real quick? It took me two whole months lmao.

BUT ISNT IT SO GOOD???

[reignpage]

First Friend

Your daughter has an imaginary friend. 

The doctors, all six of them, explained that it’s normal for toddlers to have an over-active imagination, in fact, it’s a good sign. She must be really smart. And when the top paediatricians in the country tell you all is well, who are you to argue?

‘She’s only four, she’ll grow out of it,’ your mother-in-law says. 

And you’re inclined to believe her; she’s done this before, after all. 

Warm and welcoming, you never turn her away when she shows up at your door unannounced multiple times a week with various gifts: cookies, banana bread, baby clothes, groceries, and tonight, a bottle of wine. 

‘How are you?’ Her eyes are full of worry, and right as you open your mouth, she clarifies, ‘How are you really?’

You tell her you’re fine, that your daughter’s a handful and she’s the best distraction around. The woman doesn’t seem to believe you, instead she wordlessly pours you another glass, and you watch the red liquid swirl as if entranced. 

She’s been the greatest support you could ever have; radiating comfort, grace, and kindness, you know she’ll be a much better role model for your daughter than you will ever be, because no matter how hard you try, you can’t ever seem to replicate that patient smile she always has. 

‘My son loved you very much.’

You gulp the blood-red liquid down. 

Most times she doesn’t dare mention him, and you assume it was because it was just as painful for her as it is for you, but now you know it’s because she’s walking on eggshells, worried you will snap. 

It’s laughable, really. A woman with a variety of health problems, fighting a losing battle with time as evidenced by the wrinkles that map her face, is worried about you. She should worry about herself, if she knows what’s good for her.

Guilt starts to gnaw at you; you shouldn’t think about her like that. She’s been nothing but kind, picking up the pieces that you’ve left to fester, and taking charge every time you’ve stumbled. 

She may be your greatest supporter. 

She’s also the most painful reminder of what you stand to lose as a mother. 

Looser and calmer, you feel your inhibitions slip with every glass. your mind starts to wander, about a past life, and a man long gone, and everything that could have been. This always happened at night, when your daughter’s asleep, all the chores are done, and all that’s left to do is to watch the lights flicker in silence. 

‘I’m worried the imaginary friend’s a cause of, I don’t know, trauma or something.’

You hadn’t meant to say that. 

You aren’t supposed to say that.

She sighs. 

‘She’s too young to remember.’

That isn’t true, you almost say, but you don’t. She wouldn’t be able to bear it — her hands are shaking with both the burn of the loss and the coldness of the time ticking away in the distance. It’s likely she believes that as much as you do, maybe she repeats that mantra as often as she can, the way you do, and maybe she needs to believe in that, in something, to ease the sorrow. 

You don’t get that relief. 

Because you know your daughter has been affected by the sudden loss. Psychologically tainted. The doctors disagree but you’re a mother, you know these things. 

Otherwise, how can it be possible that she calls her imaginary friend something you’ve never taught her, something she never got to learn?

‘Dada Kenny.’

[yamujiburo]

Do you think you could info dump all that you know about Madame Boss and Mayomoto with drawings? I would love to know more about their dynamic and about young Giovanni with baby Jessie. Maybe Delia could ask Jessie about it in a comic? Would it be sad or nostalgic? Maybe both? Like a flashback or something would be cool! Anyway, love your art and everything that you do!! ❤️

I'm not sure I can get it out in just drawings (just because it's a lot) but I have quite a few I've already done if you wanna look through my tags~ I'll also explain a bit here with some of my old comics. Long post under the cut~

Canonically, Madame Boss is the founder of Team Rocket and Giovnanni's mother. Miyamoto was one of her elite agents and Jessie's mother. They're REALLY close as evidenced by how they talk to one another (ex. Madame Boss calling Miyamoto "Miyamoto chan", Miyamoto's informal way of speaking to Madame Boss despite her being her superior, their friendly banter, etc.). Madame Boss sends Miyamoto and two other Team Rocket members on a mission to find Mew, but she and the other members never return. Miyamoto's implied to still be alive, endlessly chasing Mew with Jessie as her north star and reason to keep going. Madame Boss passes away sometime between the radio drama and before the events of the first Pokémon Movie. You can listen to the whole drama here! Madame Boss and Miyamoto are primarily in the first part, but Miyamoto pops up at the end of each of the other parts at different periods of time.

This is more where my headcanons begin! Miyamoto, whose dub name I hc being (Calamity) Jane, joined Team Rocket mostly because of her not great circumstances. She works her way up the ladder quickly and impresses Madame Boss. They become close but at the time, Miyamoto was dating a charismatic performer/con man that MB, not so subtly, doesn't approve of. She was right to not approve as this man got Miyamoto pregnant but left her before he'd known.

Madame Boss, despite her penny pinching behavior (Team Rocket wasn't that big yet), does what she can to help out Miyamoto. They had to tread carefully though, they didn't want anyone thinking there was any sort of favoritism happening.

Jessie is born, and for a little while Miyamoto keeps her and raises her the best she can. On more short term missions she'd leave her with Madame Boss, who's not super fond of children, and would have her own son Giovanni watch her (or have another grunt in Team Rocket watch her). This wasn't sustainable, so Miyamoto quickly puts Jessie in foster care (the foster care part is canon). Miyamoto would still visit her daughter whenever she could.

Ultimately, Miyamoto was a very driven, one track minded woman. She would constantly go on missions and after discovering Mew, became obsessed. It was around this time Madame Boss was starting to catch feelings for Miyamoto. Miyamoto would play along but was not nearly as invested in their relationship is Madame Boss was. Not in a malicious or leading on sort of way, she just had a job she wanted to get done

When it was time for Miyamoto to go on the mission to actually find Mew, Madame Boss, while excited at the prospect of getting her hands on a legendary Pokémon and the money that came with that, began to worry in the days leading up to the mission and tried to get Miyamoto to stay. She offered to send a different team out. To her they were disposable, but Miyamoto wasn't. Miyamoto didn't take the offer, wanting the glory and money of finding Mew for herself (but also had a daughter she wanted to get back to and be able to provide for). She leaves and goes MIA

Madame Boss is brokenhearted and after several years of Miyamoto going missing, is not able to run Team Rocket, troubled by the immense amount of guilt and heartache, and Giovanni takes over. She remains in the organization, more so operating in the background. It was rare for agents to see her out and about. But years later she sees Jessie's joined Team Rocket as a trainee. She requests Viper and Giovanni keep an eye out for her. Viper doesn't know why but does as he's told. Giovanni understands, remembering Jessie as the little toddler he'd have to take care of many years ago as well as her mother Miyamoto, who he knew was very close to his mother.

Not too long after, Madame Boss passes away but Giovanni keeps his promise and continues to keep Jessie employed.

I don't think Jessie remembers much of her mom or anything from around this time. I don't think she even remembers her mom being in Team Rocket or Giovanni babysitting her. She just remembers her mother leaving and never coming back and holds some resentment, not knowing the context of why Miyamoto disappeared.

I've thought about doing a story where Miyamoto returns in my hanamusa au but I still gotta think it out more. It starts with Miyamoto stopping by Delia's restaurant and she and Delia talk, not knowing the little connection they have via Jessie.

[luveline]

Hii I adore your writing and am in desperate need of more single dad Spencer <333

many thanks, Anon in love :)

tysm!!

Spencer named his daughter Amanda because it means worthy of love. He told Emily he wanted there to be no confusion, that Amanda was loved from the very second she was born. You've been hopeless since you found out. 

"Amy, please stop," Spencer says, looking down between the picnic table and the white and red tablecloths, where Amanda sits in the grass beneath tying his shoelaces together. 

"Don't know what you're saying," Amy mumbles, frustrated as her fingers get caught in another knot. 

Spencer gives you a look you're all too thrilled to receive, like Amanda's cuteness has something to do with you. "Can you make her stop?" he asks. 

"I don't want to," you say, not whining but maybe close, "she's so sweet, who am I to stop her?" 

"You know, I'll fall if I stand up. She wants to see me in pain. Amy, you're exhibiting signs of a budding psychopath." He smiles at her lovingly. "I'm gonna fall when I stand up!" 

"You won't!" 

"I will! I will, and then Y/N's gonna be embarrassed to be seen with me, and you're gonna have a dad covered in bruises." Spencer pouts at her. You love how he winds her up, how he talks to her like she's a little grown up and the charming way she responds, big words in little tones. 

"You're beautiful no matter what, dad," Amy says. 

It's too practised to be natural. Spencer must say it to Amy often for her to know it off by heart. You swoon like a cheap tent in a hurricane, casting your gaze around Rossi's huge garden for saving. Everyone has purposefully left you to suffer here in paradise, uncaring when Spencer torments you with all his loveliness.

His daughter is worse, climbing up onto the bench between you and Spencer before widening her eyes at you. She looks sort of like Spencer but perhaps more like her mother. Whoever that is must be pretty, and good at giving puppy dog eyes. 

"Do you want something?" you ask her, attempting to sound like JJ does when she talks to her. You're wobbly but getting there, evidenced by the honey-thick smile you've earned. 

"Can I sit on your lap?" she asks. 

You open your arms obediently. She's slight like her dad and doesn't feel like she weighs much as she sits on your thighs, her face smushed into your cardigan. 

"Is everything okay?" you ask, bringing your hand up behind her back automatically. You're not sure if you should be hugging her but Spencer doesn't protest. 

"Can I asked you something?" 

"Sure, you can ask me." You turn your head to expose your ear. 

Amy grins and leans up, whispering, "Can we go get– can we get jelly, please? Pink jelly." 

"Does Uncle Rossi have jelly?" Spencer asks. 

"Yeah, daddy, I saw it in the kitchen." 

"I can't come, I'll fall. Will you take her, please?" Spencer asks with a frown. "It's a lot of knots." 

"Yeah, I can take her. I don't mind. Come on, honey, let's go look."

Amy jumps down off of your lap but waits for you, holding out her hand. You take it and she leads you past your coworkers crowding a hot grill to Rossi's patio doors. It's cooler inside, and you've no need for your sunglasses. You put them on the table next to covered bowls of pasta and salad, poking at lids and tin foil curiously. "Which one did you see the jelly in?" 

"I don't think there's jelly. I want to ask you a secret question." 

You look down at Any with wide eyes. "What question is that, honey?" 

"Are you and my dad in love?"

You laugh sudden enough to make you cough, looking down at Spencer's little girl totally speechless. Smarts are genetic for sure. She asks huge questions. 

"Why do you think that?" you ask, trying for gentle and sounding strangled.

"Because you're really nice to dad and he told me that you're pretty and funny and you'd definitely play Cracker Cards with me." 

"He said that?" 

"Yes!" she says, looking up at you with a smile. "Are you going to get married?" 

You rub your face. Ten minutes later and you're carrying Amy on your hip as she carries a big bowl of pasta, a metal fork in her hands. Spencer has opted to take his shoes off completely and untie the knots, but he seems to have made little progress. "That's not jelly," he says. 

"We couldn't find it." 

"Are you okay?" Spencer asks, abandoning his shoes to put his hand behind your arm and shoulder. 

"I'm okay. Are you okay, Amy?" you ask. 

Amy stabs a piece of pasta with her fork with a big smile on her little face. "I think I said the wrong thing, dad." 

"What did you say?" he asks, looking between you both in concern. "I'm sorry, we're working on context clues." 

"It's okay. It wasn't wrong, it's just, I wasn't expecting it," you say. 

"Well, what did she say?" 

You shrug, "It wasn't really–" 

"I asked her if she'd want marry you, dad, and about the photo of you at the christmas party. It was nice!" Amy insists. 

Spencer flushes with a bright red blush instantaneously. It's shocking how fast his cheeks blossom considering the sun's been out for hours now. He laughs nervously. "I see." 

"Amy!" Hotch calls. "Sweetheart, do you want a hotdog?" 

Amy pushes the bowl of cold pasta you'd made her onto Spencer's lap. "Yes, please," she says, hopping off of the bench. 

You and Spencer meet eyes and swiftly look away. There's something between you both, longing and long looks, too much affection, excuses to be near one another. You really do like him, and maybe he likes you, but you aren't ready to deal with it now. 

"Do you want to go get a hotdog too?" Spencer asks. 

"Yep." You jump up. "Good idea." 

Maybe you can confess your feelings at the next family barbecue. (Probably not.) 

[onehelluvafan]

Will Stolas lose his immortality?

I’ve seen several mentions of Mission: Weeaboo-boo being a parallel to Blitz’s first encounter with Stolas (as an adult), which I can totally get behind. Right out the gate we have the “you were here to ravish me” similarity as well as Blitz “sneaking in, under the cover of night.”

I've also seen the hypothesis that Emberlynn's fan fiction includes an element of foreshadowing for what’s going to happen in the climax of Season 2.

Her episode is also the only one of the shorts with that "ticking" sound during the content warning, which lends further credence to the idea that it is tied in with the main plot somehow, even if merely thematically.

This got me pondering the possible parallels related to Emberlynn's functional immortality against demonkind and her decision to give it up in order to "be with Blitz."

Which now has me wondering—is Stolas going to have to give up his immortality to be with Blitz? Or lose it due to the illegal arrangement they've had going on?

Or, leaning into the idea that her episode is merely a reflection of how Blitz views his relationship with Stolas, could it simply be a parallel to the fact that Stolas has already been in mortal danger as a result of choosing to be with Blitz? And that Blitz feels responsible for Stolas' “undoing?”

We’re shown in Ghostfuckers that one of Blitz’s fears is that Millie could have died during any of the missions from episodes 1-4 of season one. Couple that with the fact that he believes that he “makes everyone’s lives worse,” it’s reasonable to assume that he not only fears, but feels responsible for her life being in mortal danger during their missions.

Whether he cared more about Stolas or the arrangement when he stopped the first assassination attempt, Striker was without the angelic weapon when he fled, which Moxxie had expressed complete shock in Striker's ability to have in the first place.

I think that Blitz allowed his cognitive dissonance to convince himself that Striker was no longer a threat without this weapon. Because deep down, he may have been afraid that telling Stolas about the assassination attempt might not be a neutral event for him. That he didn’t even want to contemplate the idea that he might actually care beyond the loss of their "arrangement."

In the very next episode, Truth Seekers, we see these feelings forced to the surface during his drug-induced hallucination—with Stolas at the top of a long flight of stairs, saying, “Are you afraid to love people, Blitzy?”

With the knowledge that he’s afraid that he makes “everyone’s lives worse,” it adds layers to many Stolitz scenes that follow throughout the series. Data points that someone like Blitz could easily see as evidence of that very fear. “Proof” that he’s responsible for Stolas’ life “falling apart.”

- He knew that Stolas was married as evidenced by his “Sorry, I fucked your husband” after their first night together. Stolas was clearly not only consenting to sex with Blitz, but was expressing a joyous desperation for it. Despite this, it was actually the “first ever friend” comment that caused Blitz to hesitate and return to Stolas, which we now know was a soft spot for him due to his experience with Fizz. But it was Blitz’s choice to stay or go, and staying is what kicked off the arrangement, is the reason for the sexual nature of its terms, and caused a domino effect that impacted Stolas’ entire life, including his family.

- When the two of them were being roasted at Ozzie’s, it wasn’t Stolas’ perspective that was showcased for Blitz, but Ozzie and Wally Wackford’s. Not only does the narrative begin early with Wally’s “Are you sleeping with an imp?!” but it’s followed up by Ozzie’s “My dark lord, how the mighty do fall,” and continues with Stolas being called out for “giving up” his wife and daughter specifically for his choice to be with Blitz. And the way that the narrative plays out, it almost sounds like his downfall was less for cheating than it was for sleeping with an imp.

Either way, seeing Stolas hide his face behind the menu likely “confirmed” multiple things for Blitz. That despite Stolas’ “public” flirting in front of other imps, when confronted by someone actually associated with Stolas’ upper class society, Blitz was reduced to being an embarrassment for Stolas.

Believing that, left no room for even a glimmer of hope that they could be anything more than what they already were: a prince who enjoyed “sleeping with an imp” and was apparently paying a pretty steep price for it.

- Then there’s Octavia. In Loo Loo Land, Stolas takes her to the theme park but spends most of his time flirting with Blitz. Not only does she comment on this in front of Blitz, but he’s there to witness when she’s finally had enough and storms off, mad at her father. In Seeing Stars, Octavia came to I.M.P., stole the grimoire, and disappeared with it. Why? Because her father was so wrapped up in the divorce, that she felt angry and neglected.

- In Full Moon, his fight with Stolas took them through part of the palace. This is very likely the first time he’s seen it since he was apprehended at the “Not Divorced” party, and what has it become? When he came back into Stolas’ life, it was bright, vibrant, and full of people. That night in Full Moon, it was dark, muted, and the only person visible in his photos were of Via.

While Blitz may have inferred at the time that Stolas’ marriage wasn’t in a good place, he doesn’t know just how miserable Stolas was in the life he had before. From Blitz’s perspective, he may have appeared fairly content overall when they first reconnected.

Compare that to Apology Tour, which Blitz sees as the natural outcome of what people experience when they are around him long enough.

Data point after data point, to feed into the idea that Stolas’ life has been “ruined,” just by Blitz being in it. His marriage ended, his relationship with his daughter was negatively impacted, and by Ghostfuckers, someone had tried to kill him twice.

I don't think Blitz is aware that Stella is the one who has been putting out the hits, but I could see him internalizing the idea that if Stolas had died during the second attempt, it would have been his fault. Because not only had he chosen not to warn Stolas that someone was trying to assassinate him, he was also the person that Stolas had reached out to for help and he had let M&M go in his stead.

It is after this attempt on Stolas’ life that we see Blitz absolutely shook by the idea that Stolas not only could be hurt, but that he was hurt and had almost died.

This is also several months after the night at Ozzie’s, when he had first begun to realize that, painful as it was, he may care for Stolas after all. Months during which they hadn’t seen each other and he had time to actually miss their time together.

Between that and finding out that he can actually get hurt, I can see Stolas becoming one of the people that Blitz feels the desire to protect. Unfortunately, this also seems to come with the anxiety of being responsible for what he perceives as the “collateral damage” of being associated with him.

Finally, in Truth Seekers, where the "ticking" began, Stolas had exposed himself via "real" demonic power to the D.H.O.R.K.S. and by extension, the living world. But the only reason he was there and got himself caught on camera is because he came to rescue Blitz.

This could be linked to the scene where we see Blitz attempting to protect and defend Stolas against someone. My bet is on Paimon, who, while ranking below the 7 Sins in power, is still depicted as a fairly powerful being. Stolas had not only exposed their existence to the living world, but had showcased his power in his attempt to scare the agents into submission. We know there’s going to be consequences for that, as well as for the divorce, and I expect Paimon will have a part to play, one way or another.

Stolas mentioned in Seeing Stars that without the grimoire, his powers are rather limited. I assumed that the worst outcome for him at the end of Season 2 was being stripped of his status and grimoire, which would vastly reduce his raw power as well as the power his position in society affords him.

Obviously, the actual worst-case scenario would be the loss of his life, which it's assumed Blitz is trying to protect him from in the snippet from the trailer. But it didn't occur to me until now that even with my own certainty that he'll survive the Season 2 climax, there was a third possible outcome... that along with his power and status, Stolas could also be stripped of his immortality.

[valacirya]

Indis appreciation post!

Disclaimer: All the canon info is taken from Morgoth's Ring and Peoples of Middle Earth. Also, this isn't a character analysis/meta. It's just a list of stuff I love (plus some headcanons) about one of my favorite characters in the legendarium.

1. She's athletic and outdoorsy. We're told that Indis is "exceedingly swift of foot" and that "she walked often alone in the fields and friths of the Valar, turning her thought to things that grow untended." When Finwe sees her, she's chilling on a mountainside. I love that she's associated with nature, specifically the wilderness. She parallels Feanor in her exploration of Aman and interest in the imperfect. Also, this is purely self-indulgent but ever since reading HoME for the first time, I've pictured Indis as tall and broad, and muscular beneath a layer of fat.

2. She doesn't let her unrequited love affect her life. "There was ever light and mirth about her." She's not the pining, languishing princess stereotype. She goes on. She doesn't let it make her bitter or depressed, and she is so restrained that only Mandos and possibly Ingwe are aware of her feelings.

3. Part of her attraction to Finwe is intellectual. In HoME we're told that his "mastery of words delighted her." Considering that Indis is also a poet/composer ("wove words into song") and that the Vanyar enjoy linguistics, it makes sense. It's also just really cute.

4. She's politically minded. Her reasoning for pronouncing 's' instead of 'th' is: "I have joined the Noldor, and I will speak as they do." This is the right thing to do to gain the respect of the Noldor and their acceptance of her authority. I also think she makes a statement with Fingolfin and Finarfin's mother-names. Arakano ("high chieftain") and Ingoldo ("the Noldo, eminent among the kindred") are not only powerful, prophetic names, they're also strikingly similar to Ingwe ("chief of chieftains") who is the High King not just of the Vanyar, but all Eldar. What a power move.

5. She's able to balance her own culture with the culture she marries into. Indis integrates into Noldorin society easily while remaining Vanyarin at her core, as is evidenced by Finwe saying that "above all her heart now yearns for the halls of Ingwe and the peace of the Vanyar." Her sons also respect and are proud of their mixed heritage; Finarfin "loved the Vanyar, his mother's people" and is said to be like them (as are Finrod and Galadriel), and Fingolfin's daughter-in-law is Vanyarin (plus the Nolofinweans have a special connection to Manwe).

6. She gets an awesome prophecy about her line. "But I say unto you that the children of Indis shall also be great, and the Tale of Arda more glorious because of their coming. And from them shall spring things so fair that no tears shall dim their beauty; in whose being the Valar, and the Kindreds both of Elves and of Men that are to come shall all have part, and in whose deeds they shall rejoice. So that, long hence when all that here is, and seemeth yet fair and impregnable, shall nonetheless have faded and passed away, the Light of Aman shall not wholly cease among the free peoples of Arda until the end." Fuck yeah.

7. Her name means "valiant woman." This is the only definition given in Morgoth's Ring, I believe. I highly prefer it over the "bride" meaning because it's a badass name and is similar to Artanis ("noble woman") and Astaldo ("the valiant"). A headcanon that I'm particularly attached to is that Indis's mother-name is Indome, meaning "will of Eru."

8. She's popular with most of the Noldor. We're told that "Finwe, King of the Noldor, wedded Indis, sister of Ingwe; and the Vanyar and Noldor for the most part rejoiced." The majority of the Noldor also follow Fingolfin and Finarfin instead of Feanor.

9. She's friends with Nerdanel. HoME states that Nerdanel went to "abide with Indis, whom she had ever esteemed."

10. She gets pissed off at Finwe when he sides with Feanor. So much so that he thinks she won't want to see him if he's re-embodied. I know this is from his perspective but I'm inclined to agree. [However, this is still very presumptive of him, and his comment that "Indis parted from me without death" is super shitty. Eugh.]

11. She's close to her kids. Finarfin takes after her, Fingolfin passes on the name she gave him, Findis lives with her, Lalwen goes by the name she gave her. Finwe also says that "she hath dear children to comfort her."

So there we have it! What little info we get about Indis is pretty awesome. And this is just a list; I could write a whole essay on her fortitude and unconventionality and my numerous headcanons about her.

[dragonanon]

Y’all I need Jesus 😭 My mind is running wild with an idea that’s a bit of Hellaverse and One Piece crossover.

——

As a succubus working under Asmodeus, your job is to basically portal up to the human world and spread lust amongst the humans. You’re damn good at your job as evidenced by the fact that your numbers always exceed the minimum quota you’re given, so as one of the top employees you have the privilege of getting to be much closer with Asmodeus and Fizzaroli than most other demons working for them; they’re honestly more like father figures to you rather than your superiors, and you welcome being their lowkey unofficially adopted daughter.

Between your excellent work performance and the love and support of your unofficial dads, life is pretty damn easy and straightforward for you…until it isn’t.

You don’t know how the hell it happened, you had been in human disguise on Earth and drumming up some nice lust in a small village, literally just doing you job as normal. Your markvictim, a slim blond with facial hair, had been one of the EASIEST people to ensnare in a long time. You barely had to say “hello” before the man already had hearts in his eyes and was practically falling at your feet, and when you invited him to go someplace private for a bit of “fun”, he damn near died on the spot due to blood loss from a massive nosebleed. Needless to say, you quickly had him in bed and oozing with yummy lust for you.

From there it all happened so fast(let’s be real here, it was probably Luffy’s fault lol), one thing led to another and after a series of shenanigans, your true form and identity are revealed to a group of humans, a group of pirates to be exact…Sure you knew that taking such an easy target would have SOME consequence, but fuck man!

Now standing before the “straw hat pirates”, as they call themselves, in your true demonic form with horns, wings, and tail all out for the whole world to see, you’re stared at in a cocktail mixture of awe, fear, and curiosity by all these humans. With the uncomfortable silence hanging in the air, you feel more naked and vulnerable than you ever have been in your entire life. And as a succubus, that’s saying quite a lot!

You’re in quite the predicament here, and your fear only grows as you realize just how completely and utterly fucked you are here. You can’t just fuck off back to Hell when there’s a whole gaggle of humans running around that now knows about the existence of Demons and Hell, but you can’t exactly kill any of them either. Not just because you’re SEVERELY outnumbered, but you’d ALSO get into some pretty deep shit with your dads.

So that leaves you with one option, offer a deal and hope to Lucifer that they accept. With that plan in mind, a green haired man you’d later come to know as “Zoro”, FINALLY breaks the agonizing silence with a simple question; “What the fuck are you?” and with that, you get to work setting this admittedly ridiculous plan into motion.

As calmly as you can, you explain that you’re a succubus; a demon from Hell just here to do her job of getting people to be horny on main. From there, you explain the predicament you’re all in right now, how you can’t just leave them to their devices because they all know, and have seen too much now. They all seem to tense for a moment as one of them, a man with a long nose who you’d later know as “Usopp”, asks in a shaky voice if you’re going to kill them now. They all breathe a sigh of relief and Usopp actually sobs when you clarify that no, that’s not happening. “I couldn’t kill you all even if I wanted to. Not only do you have me completely outnumbered, but even if I did succeed somehow, it would land me in MAJOR hot water with my bosses. So yeah, I’m not doing that.”

A red headed woman who later introduced herself as “Nami”, responds by asking what it is you plan to do then. This whole time, you’ve noticed that she’s been eyeing the hell out of your Asmodean crystal; a huge magenta jewel set in the center of a beautiful golden cuff that encases nearly half of your left forearm. It was a gift from Asmodeus himself on your first day of work, and it hasn’t left your arm since. You know damn well what the glint of greed in one’s eyes looks like, and you’re all too happy to use that to your advantage.

“Well, given that I can’t leave you all alone and death isn’t an option, I’d like to make a proposal; You all keep your mouths shut about what you’ve seen and learned, and let me continue my work as needed and in peace. You’re not to utter even a peep to another soul not already in this room. In exchange…You’ll have a succubus eternally at your service~”

This prompts the captain who you’ve been told is named “Luffy”, an admittedly boyishly cute man in your humble opinion, to speak up and ask what exactly you mean. Up to this point, he’d just been staring at you in slack jawed awe, but your proposal seemed to bring him back to reality and now he had to sate his growing curiosity and excitement.

A playful smirk paints itself on your black lips as you begin to elaborate, your fangs poking out ever so slightly as you speak. “Well hon, being a succubus, I have MANY powers at my disposal~ You’ve already seen that I can disguise myself as one of you humans, AND charm my way into getting whatever I want from humans. But that’s BARELY scratching the surface of what I’m capable of~ For starters, I can change my disguise as I see fit, what you all saw was just one of the millions of different appearances I can take.” To back up this claim, you quickly cycle through a few different human disguises you’ve used throughout the years; completely changing your form into at least 12 completely different women of all different shapes, sizes, and races. With your point having been made, you shift back to your Demon form and continue.

“That combined with my charming powers means I can EASILY spy and obtain any information you want~ But more than that, I can INSTANTLY take you anywhere you could possibly want.”

That last bit seemed to really pique everyone’s interest, especially Luffy’s; his eyes sparkled with curiosity and excitement as he asked you how that was possible.

“Time to make the hard sale here.” You think to yourself. With a smile, you raise your left arm and with a flourish of your right hand, show off your Asmodean crystal. You have to bite back a laugh as Luffy audibly “oohs” and “ahhs” at the glowing magenta stone while Nami practically salivates over it.

“With this lovely thing right here~ This bad boy is an Asmodean crystal; a mystical jewel bestowed upon me as a succubus working for Asmodeus. With it, I can open a direct portal to ANYWHERE in Hell AND the Human world~”

Zoro is quick to call bullshit, but you’re more than willing to prove otherwise as you respond by asking for a destination, anywhere in the entire world. The green haired man huffs in amusement, and sarcastically suggests an island clear on the other side of the world.

Smirking, you hold your crystal clad arm up close you and with quick, firm, rub of your right hand, the crystal glows brightly and suddenly shoots out a bright beam of light that stops just shy of hitting the wall before a large, diamond shaped portal appears. The edges of the portal glow brightly and the aforementioned island is now CLEARLY visible to everyone in the room.

With a shit eating grin, you strut up to Zoro, who seems bewildered by what he’s seeing as gets up close to check out the portal. With a giggle, you give him a hearty shove, causing him to fall through with a shout and you hop through after him, completely ignoring the concerned shouts of the remaining crew as the portal snaps shut behind you, blinking out of existence like it was never there to begin with.

The room devolves into chaos, with Luffy whining about how it’s not fair that he didn’t get to go too, while Nami yells at him for not being more concerned about Zoro just disappearing.

After a few minutes, the portal reappears with a flash, and out of it hops you followed closely by a noticeably paler Zoro, much to Sanji’s disappointment. The portal disappears again whilst Zoro goes to sit down, and just says “She’s not fucking joking, she really CAN go anywhere.”

The room erupts into chaos again, this time however, Luffy is practically on top of you, demanding you join his crew right now.

You’re a bit taken aback, you’d expected you’d have to list at least a LITTLE more of what you’re capable of to win them over, but this was not an unwelcome surprise in the slightest.

“Are you sure you’re willing to accept my proposition so quickly? I haven’t even finished telling you what all I can-“

Luffy interrupts you before you can finish your sentence saying that there’d be plenty of time for you to talk about your powers later, right now he just wants to start teleporting to different places.

You smile, fangs on full display. “Guess it’s a deal then~ It’ll be a pleasure working with y-“

You’re cut off again, this time by Luffy stretching his limbs around you in a tight hug whilst rambling about all the different places he wants to go right now.

As you’re stood in the middle of everyone buzzing with excitement and curiosity, all you can think to yourself is “What in the Seven Rings have I gotten myself into??”

[thequeer07puss]

On Hera and Zeus’s marriage: a rant

I’ve seen a lot people get mad at Zeus because his application of marriage in mythology is a bit more flexible than what we’re used to, while misunderstanding the theological and cultural realities that surround it

The Native Hera and the Foreign Zeus

Long ago, before what is now known as the Greek pantheon was a thing, the Greeks worshipped the goddess now known as Hera, and she was their main goddess. Some time later, another group of people, recognisable as derived from Proto-Indo-European descent through their worship of a sky father (Zeus), either conquered or merged with the existing culture of the time.

These two groups, to avoid too violent of a clash while merging, made their patron deities spouses to make the transition more smooth for everyone, effectively breaking the Proto-Indo-European pattern of sky god-earth goddess duos, while still being present to a lesser extent in the form Demeter’s brief marriage with Zeus.

Divine marriage

Now, we all know Zeus in his myths was quite a womaniser, both because of his function as an All-Father, and as his function as the representation of Ancient Greek patriarchal society where men could have as many extramarital affairs and women could not. Note the fact that this was completely allowed and accepted in Ancient Greece, and that other male deities with known spouses still slept around without their wives getting angry (eg Poseidon and Dionysus).

Why is that so? One could simply dismiss this by saying that Hera is just “being jealous”, but the answer is deeper than the surface level.

The marriage of Zeus and Hera is meant to be egalitarian, meaning that they occupy the same position and receive the same amount of honour in Olympian society, and Hera, as defender and mistress of Olympus, has to constantly check whether or not there is a breach of that egalitarian semi-open marriage or an attack on her honours as both queen of the gods and equal partner of Zeus.

Now, Hera is well-known for her fury against Zeus’s mistresses, and while this may seem funny/tragic to people, it’s not rlly ALL of them that had that treatment. The only ones of Zeus’s mistresses (that I know of) that received any kind of attack from Hera were Leto, Alcmene and Semele. (This ill reputation of Hera as a jealous wife might mostly be due to Heracles, but we’ll get back to him later)

Leto and Semele

Leto was one of Zeus’s previous wives before Hera came in power, and she conceived her children, Apollo and Artemis after Zeus and Hera got married (UPG). Semele was a mortal princess from a very important family line, who Zeus took a liking to and came down to often, even swearing to her on the river Styx to give her anything she wanted. This could tickle Hera the wrong way for 2 reasons: Leto, a previous queen, and Semele, a mortal, may have started to feel proud of Zeus’s special attention, and that their children (Apollo & Artemis, and Dionysus respectively) were destined to eventually enter her home due to them being very important. The first point could just be a reminder of Hera’s supremacy as Queen of Heaven, and sends a clear message: “Just because the King gives you special favours doesn’t mean you are above, or better than me”.

The trials that face Heracles, Apollon and Dionysus (ie madness followed by redemption, Python, and a period of madness respectively) could therefore be tests to prove their worth and proof that Zeus did not waste his time and energy making children unfit to integrate the Olympian family without some pushback. Zeus famously spent 3 days conceiving Heracles, whose famous fate at the hands of Hera could be seen as trials in her honour, as evidenced by his name which means “the glory of Hera”. When he ascends to Olympus, he even goes as far as marrying Hera’s daughter, Hebe.

Conclusion

Hera is not a jealous wife, and her marriage with Zeus is certainly not dysfunctional. They love each other deeply (see: the foundation myth of the Daidala festival) and their relationship is certainly not something to be questioned or made fun of. Honouring Hera properly means honouring Zeus, and vice-versa.

On that note, I wish you all a happy Theogamia.

[herefortheships]

I looooved Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, and I absolutely adore how much Beetlejuice swoons over Lydia at times, (blowing kisses and dancing with her in the air) however, I’m not exactly sure WHY he fell in love with her? Is it because when they talked the first time he felt sympathetic towards her feelings of loneliness? Is it because she is different than others for her tastes and interests? Is it her bravery, (as she is not scared as him as normal people are, didn’t even faint when he did his scary face! I think she’s more wary of his powers and potential danger) is it her kindness and patience towards others? (Like dealing with Rory?) I wanna know your opinion!

I probably answered a similar question already, but I can talk about this all the time (and who knows if my thoughts have changed and maybe I say something different lol). I so love to muse over this one 💜✨.

Headcanons ahead! There is also this post I talked about this topic (probably rambled way too much in that one lol).

I just want to center this post on which qualities I personally think made Betelgeuse fall in love with Lydia, not necessarily the how or when it happened.

Truly the first thing Betelgeuse noticed about Lydia was her dark and mysterious looks. He's attracted to dark, goth ladies as evidenced by Delores, and here came this beautiful young woman, all dressed in black, with dark hair and mysterious eyes which carried a tangible loneliness in them he probably identified with. He was intrigued.

But it wasn't her beauty, what captured and secured his affection.

There is something that Lydia has that Delores never had, and that something started piercing through his heart, making him fall in love. Lydia is gentle and kind; she's a caring soul, willing to make a sacrifice for those she loves. She may be a dark and mysterious lady, but she has a big, caring heart. And (headcanon of mine) Betelgeuse, who has always desired a loving relationship, was attracted to the warmth of that heart like a moth to the light.

Lydia knows she's strange and unusual, and she doesn't mind things that are strange and unusual. She doesn't mind ugly and scary things; where others would turn away in disgust, Lydia would look with curiosity and without judgement. And she's sweet and innocent, despite her dark, gothic looks.

She had just the heart to take him in and allow him to experience that love he's craved for so long.

As an adult, Lydia is demure and sensible--perhaps a little too much, which makes Betelgeuse want to show up in her life and protect her (example, protecting her from Rory and scaring the living shits out of him for being the pos he was to her).

Lydia is also brave and willing to put up a fight. In fact she was willing to protest him during their first wedding attempt. Perhaps in hundreds of years he wasn't faced with someone who was willing to fight him back or to look upon him without fear or disgust. Lydia didn't flinch at seeing him, when she first saw him in the model; she just asked him if he was a ghost, too. She didn't turn her face away with disgust or run away scared at the sight of him. I imagine he would have done things differently back in '88, if he'd have seen things more clearly.

Just being herself endeared Lydia to Betelgeuse.

And then, watching her for over 30 years, he saw her as a mom, displaying all those qualities he was always so fond of, but amplified in the love and care for her daughter 🥹. And he saw how the men in her life didn't appreciate her, too. His heart must have been breaking as he was desperate to make contact again. He couldn't manifest in the world of the living freely or appear in front of her without being summoned, so he tried and tried to get her to see him so he could make contact and maybe make her say his name. I imagine he must have wanted to break into her life and scoop her away from the undeserving men who instead of valuing her, either took her for granted or took advantage of her. He knows how special she is. He knows how her heart and her mind works. He simply loves everything about her.

Anyway I am lowkey starting to write a fanfic here, so I'll stop 😆. But these are some reasons why I think he loves her. 💚

[fernhelm]

opinions on the black sister relationships? i love your character posts sm!

i’m blowing you a kiss!

i love thinking about them…sorry this took so long, i was busy lounging and watching killing eve. i might type up something about the dynamic between the three of them, but i broke them down into pairs here.

bella & cissa ♛

i made a webweave here that basically sums up my thoughts on bellacissa. i do think cissa thinks she’s a fanatic and completely bonkers, but she’d defend her anyway. narcissa appreciates that in their patriarchal fucked up family, bella is carving her own path—she isn’t docile or ladylike at all. so cissa takes some vicious pleasure in how unleashed bella is. conversely, bellatrix has a deep-seeded jealousy FOR narcissa, who is at least able to play the part of the perfect pure blood woman in a way bellatrix never could. my vision is that druella has contempt for bella but pays a lot of attention to narcissa. once druella is dead, bella sees narcissa as both her baby and her mother in a way, and she resents both. but i won’t get into bella here she deserves her own post.

bella & andy ♞

the hardest relationship for me is bella and andy. my belief is that these two are one year apart in age, like irish twins. we know from dh that they’re basically identical. I think they were pitted against each other a lot. they both end up teaching each other how conditional someone caring for you can be. it’s obvious that andy leaving really wounds bella (as evidenced by the ferocity with which she wants to kill ted and tonks), so there is a degree of power andy hold over her emotionally. bella is both the terrorist and the protector in the home. she goes after both her sisters, but it’s with the ultimate goal of making them strong enough to face anything that’s thrown at them…andy doesn’t want to change her or save her—she knows all the dark, evil parts of her and grapples with all the times bella showed her tenderness or turned her rage against someone else for her sake. i think they can read each other’s body language perfectly, but don’t understand each other’s minds at all. once they’re older they fight all the time, verbally if not with magic, and it would start with bella making some pointed jabs to get her attention and andy curating a biting response without looking up from her magazine and just like that they’re dueling. but once it’s over and they’re panting on the floor, bella would kick her leg and they’d smirk at each other a bit. or one of them would storm out. i do think that andy did bella’s hair for every event they attended between the ages of 8 and 16. huh, i guess i have more to say about them than i thought i did.

andy & cissa ♝

narcissa spends years stepping in the footprints andy has left behind. before she figures out who she is, she’s just a ghost of andy. she learns all her best defenses from her. i don’t think andy feels very bad about leaving her behind. i don’t think she’d try to convince narcissa to go with her either. she would miss her so much, but she’d grieve her like she’s dead. i don’t see her as a person who holds on to a lot of regrets. and she’s in love! she wants to run away and forget every bad thing that ever happened to her! is that a crime? narcissa thinks it is. growing up andy was her strongest ally, and she takes it as the ultimate betrayal when she leaves. similarly to regulus, she looks down on andy and maligns her whenever her name comes up, but it’s a cover up for how hurt she is. andy knows all the reasons that narcissa thinks she’s trapped in the life she leads, but she still thinks ‘if you want out, get out.’

daughters 1, 2, 3 ♙

fairy tales often follow a 1 2 3 format because it’s easy to remember a moral lesson tied up with a bow when it comes in a set of three (three billy goats, beauty and the beast, the peverell brothers). it goes bad bad good. so it’s super interesting that the ostensibly “good” one, andy, is the middle child. she is bookended by two death eater sisters. which raises the question: what went wrong (or right) with her? and for the others too—narcissa in canon is primarily draco’s mother, but giving her andromeda AND bellatrix as sisters raises all kinds of questions about her upbringing and interpersonal relationships. bellatrix chases and scolds narcissa at the beginning of half-blood prince, and she’s not particularly scary at all. the terrifying evil bitch who killed sirius calls her sister cissy? three sisters who mean vastly different things to harry, but we never get the three of them in a room, so so much is left to the imagination. lots to play with. good things come in threes!

[eggingtontoast]

Hi there! I have not interacted much in the Hatchetfield fandom, but I've talked endlessly about Hatchetfield in the @blinkysrewatchparty discord server. My name is Egg and I have a problem. I'm obsessed with a side character. A side character named Karen Chasity.

Below is most of the contents of what is a five page document about how I interpret her as a character. A lot of it is headcanon, because we simply don't have enough information about her. Again, I have a problem. Enjoy.

My Karen Chasity Problem: How I approach Karen as a character. (SFW EDITION kinda.)

[Disclaimer: Within this document I discuss Karen’s interaction with characters such as Girl Jeri(from now on referred to as Jeri), Detective Shapiro (NPMD), and Doug(Mariah’s cop from TGWDLM). At the time of writing, I’ve written Karen in ships with these three, so there will be mention of each briefly, though it is not the main focus.]

Karen's main theme is first and foremost restraint.

To lesser extent there is also repression and control.

 She is the most uptight/serious of all the Chasity household. (As evidenced in NPMD, she does not make jokes like Mark, nor does she fly off the handle like Grace) 

This is not to say she is completely stone faced, she does have instances where she emotes quite a bit, but (in my opinion) it feels exaggerated for comedic effect (because it's a comedy musical/scene where her dang daughter is breaking apart)

Her conversation with just Mark about her concerns with Grace not acting her usual self says a lot here

She is obviously someone who cares for her loved ones, though she may not bring up those concerns with the person in question. She is caring, in a quiet way. In NPMD there is a time skip between Dirty Girl to Max's death to Grace waking up after Richie's death. We know that Grace has been acting off for at least that amount of time. This gives Karen a time frame to notice that change in behavior.

NPMD is a blip in the rest of their lives, time wise. I’m interested in the Karen Chasity that isn’t worrying over her daughter, the Karen Chasity that isn’t rife with paranoia during a townwide lockdown.

Karen’s secondary theme is devotion.

She is literally religious.

There is an argument for this if we do take into account the dinner scene with the Chasity household and how she nods along with Mark talking about the Holy Ghost, as well as how quick she checks Grace’s temperature. This is all also said by the above section. 

While I choose not to use a character’s… characterization in musical numbers too much, it’s clear that Karen, without her restraint (In Hatchet Town), still cares deeply about her loved ones. Sure, she may be rife with paranoia in that song but she still emphasizes the safety of the children in her part. She still cares, even if in that song it’s far too much.

She gives to others far more than she gets back.

Maybe this entire thing is rendered moot by the above section. This isn’t a formal document, fuck it.

Karen's slight mid-west(?) accent popping out when she talks to Grace

This is more prominent when she tells Grace she's gonna be late to being early for school (emphasis on "oo" noises, elongation and shortening of syllables. Monophthongal [e:] and [o:] present in both minnesota and michigan among other places) 

It’s probably because Hatchetfield is placed in Michigan, but no one else does this in the Hatchetfield universe. It could be another thing played up for comedy? I choose to see this as Karen playing up her maternal role. I could headcanon this as her drawing from her own mother? 

If we go with this, this could reference back to the headcanon/idea of “Karen’s family was a big influence on herself and despite wanting to move away from that connection, Karen is someone very much from her background.”

The accent itself makes her sound different than from the initial Chasity household scene, maybe it’s just nothing idk. 

“...beautiful old house” particularly has her pronouncing the “o” in old and house as more round and wide instead of that tighter “o” later on when she says “school”

Potentially trans-atlantic accent during first Chasity scene in NPMD (the fuck am I saying)

Mark kinda does this too, could be just vocal direction being older film for that more “classic nuclear family” feel

Consistently speaks kind of sing-songy in the show, though I don’t prescribe to that being her natural speaking tone.

(quick aside: you could probably replace Curt and Kim with muppet versions of themselves as the Chasitys and it wouldn’t change anything about the show, it would be funny)

Okay let’s move on from the fucking voice thing

We know very little about the Chasitys aside from Grace, but that’s because she’s appeared the most out of all of them. 

Therefore, I am playing fast and loose with how I characterize Karen.

I write her as a queer woman, who has been closeted for a very long time.

So Karen is restrained. 

An entire theme with the Chasitys is their repression due to religion. It’s not hard to simply write any of them as extremely closeted because of this. 

Therefore, Karen is uptight. 

The stressors of maintaining the image of a heterosexual, pure, Christian woman on a day to day basis would grate on anyone, especially if they are queer. Any singular slip up in a community like a church the Chasitys go to, could mean social death. 

Karen’s humor is subtle.

She doesn’t outwardly make jokes like Mark, or has unhinged, comedic reactions like Grace. If anything, Karen is the straight man in the comedy of the Chasity household. She is the baseline Mark and Grace work off of, stable and secure.

When writing Karen I tend to make her a little more deadpan than canon. She is such an over the top character in NPMD, it’s hard for me to write that in a believable way. I tend to make characters a little more grounded. If a musical is loud and bright, I’m writing them in a stage play, or a movie.

Because of this, I’m taking that one Smokey the Bear line from Abstinence Camp and saying Karen said that in the most deadpan voice that Grace simply did not realize it was a joke.

Karen has body language tells

We see her wringing her hands together as she walks toward Mark in NPMD, expressing her concern for Grace.

Furthermore, she nods quietly and hums when listening to others(Chasity dinner table conversation, Grace bedroom conversation, etc.)

I like to imagine that while she might be “playing a role” as a mother/church woman/pristine Chasity she still exemplifies some of these bodily tells. Just in a more restrained way. She pulls toward her own body instead of gesturing outward. In NPMD she leans and curls in on herself, to present more demure. 

In my own writing, I contrast this with how she acts outside of the context of her church, or with Grace. Because I see her and Mark as mutual beards, as best friends, she is able to drop that facade of a demure housewife and stand straighter(lol) and taller. Her shoulders are not hunched in on themselves, they are pushed back. What we see in NPMD is a role she plays in her day to day, but is not necessarily her authentic self.

Again this is like heavy headcanon and this is also the SFW version of the document sorry guys you have to be at least 18 to get the full context lmao tough shit

Karen is someone who says a lot with her hands(and to an extent, her eyes), Even as someone who may not gesture overtly. She holds them together, points, accents her speech with them. Karen's hands are the way she interacts with the world when she doesn't verbally talk much.

Karen is controlling.

Maybe this feels a little obvious. She is controlling with herself and how she presents herself. She is caught in a web of her own making, and this can extend to who she associates herself with. If this becomes too much it’s horribly unhealthy. It is the fear of her truths coming out that keep her from going too far. 

This manifests with how she approaches Jeri at first, and how she starts making packed lunches for Doug and Shapiro. It’s a sliding scale of when control is acceptable. 

As well as volunteering for church business and around town. Karen is a busy woman because if she is left idle she doesn’t know what else to do. She does not know how to relax.

Karen is afraid.

Her repression and restraint stem from the fear of ostracization. From her church, her community, and her own family. 

While I’m operating on the idea of her and Mark being mutual beards (their marriage being a lavender one) I imagine she is afraid of the way Grace would react if she found out her mother -someone whom Grace obviously looks toward for guidance and help- is queer.

The same goes for her church. She’s presented herself as a heterosexual woman for so long (due to her and Mark’s safety as two queer people coming from conservative families) that she is stuck in that role. She immerses herself in aforementioned church activities and volunteer work to maintain that label, and that level of safety.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Dean Obeidallah at The Dean's Report:

A mother and her two young children playing in a pool on a hot day in a suburb of Dallas should be a time for fun and merriment. And it was, that is until 42-year-old Elizabeth Wolf, a white woman from the area, saw that the mother was wearing a hijab and the children were Brown. At that point, Wolf questioned the mother about where she was from and made statements about her not being American, as well as “other racial statements.”

A visibly angry Wolf then grabbed the 6-year-old boy, causing a scratch on his finger as he pulled away. At that point—as the police reported--“The mother began helping her son when Wolf grabbed her 3-year-old daughter and forced her underwater.”  The mother “was able to pull her daughter from the water. Her daughter had been yelling for help and was coughing up water.”  That is when “Wolf also snatched the mother’s headscarf off and beat her with it,” as the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) reported. A witness, Emma Aziz, who was at the pool that same day with her 7-year-old was interviewed by local Fox affiliate said she heard the mother screaming as she watched Wolf plunge the 3 year-old child’s head underwater. Aziz recalled the mother saying, “Help me! She’s killing my baby, she’s killing my baby!'” The attack ended--as the mother identified only as Mrs. H explained--when an African American man helped rescue her daughter from the attacker and more people gathered. The attacker reportedly shouted to a bystander who was calming the mother down, “Tell her I will kill her, and I will kill her whole family.”

In a statement shared by CAIR, the mother “Mrs. H” said, “We are American citizens, originally from Palestine, and I don’t know where to go to feel safe with my kids,” adding that amid Israel’s war in Gaza, she and her family were “facing that hate here.” This is what a hate crime looks like. People attacked simply because of their race, religion or ethnicity.  If the family in the pool were white, this doesn’t happen. Period. The Euless Police Department –where the attack took place—did promptly arrest Wolf that day but for public intoxication. Four days later, though, on May 23, the Tarrant County criminal district attorney’s did file charges of attempted capital murder and injury to a child against Wolf.

However, despite Wolf’s actions clearly being fueled by bigotry—as evidenced from her comments-- she was not formally charged with a hate crime. That is why this past Saturday, the Dallas chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) held a press conference demanding the DA also charge with hate crimes. CAIR leaders also called for Wolf’s bail—that was set at only $40,000—to be raised given the seriousness of the crimes.

[...] The attack by Wolf on the Palestinian mother and her children reminds us of the barbaric incident last October in the suburbs of Chicago. That is when 6-year-old Muslim American child Wadea Al-Fayoume was killed by an older white man who had spewed anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian hate before stabbing the child to death—and stabbing his mother as well. As the killer’s wife told the police after the arrest, he "listens to conservative talk radio on a regular basis" and became obsessed with the war between Hamas and Israel. The killer was charged with hate crimes in addition to murder and attempted murder.

And in November, three Palestinian-American college students were walking on the streets of Vermont while wearing keffiyehs and speaking Arabic when Jason Eaton, 48, came down the porch of a home, pulled out a pistol and shot them.  Eaton said nothing before shooting the three. While Eaton was charged with three counts of attempted murder, despite demands by the community, he was not charged with hate crimes. Obviously, Eaton—like Wolf—targeted these three because of who they were. In the case of Wolf’s attack on the Palestinian children and mother, the public pressure appears to be having the impact demanded.  In other cases, though, the public pressure may not always result in the desired outcome but at least it still raises awareness about the issues.

Elizabeth Wolf drowned a mother and her two kids in an Euless, Texas public pool based on the fact they were Palestinian Muslims.

This hate crime being perpetrated is part of a long line of American anti-Palestinian/anti-Muslim bigotry.

See Also:

Let's Address This: A Woman Is Out On Bail After Attempted Murder Of A Palestinian American Child

[taihua]

Very interested to know what made it seem like Feng Xin didn’t love the present Jian Lan. He couldn’t seem to let her go. Though I do agree that Jian Lan has completely moved on

I agree that he didn't want to let her go, but I don't think it's because he still loved her--to me, it's pretty clearly about his sense of guilt that he wasn't there to take care of her.

There's also the fact that he didn't recognize her the first time he saw her, and even when she's without her heavy makeup, he's still not exactly... idk. Kind?

But words got stuck in his throat, because before when Jian Lan was Lan Chang and covered herself in heavy makeup, looking like a wench, he really didn’t recognize her. It couldn’t be helped. Feng Xin still looked exactly the same as he did once upon a time, but Jian Lan’s transformation truly was too great. Looks, makeup, manners, speech, class…even if her blood parents were to stand before her they might not recognize their precious daughter. Feng Xin was astonished. “…It’s you. It really is you. It has to be you! …I thought you married, and were living well. How did you…how did you become this way…” (Chapter 141)

It's reminiscent of the way he refused to let Xie Lian do certain jobs in Book 4 because he thought it wasn't suitable for someone of his status; while I think it's going too far to say that he's classist, I do think that he expects a certain standard from the people close to him. Also evidenced by the fact that his relationship with Jian Lan involved him wanting to get her out of the brothel. Even then, he wasn't willing to meet her where she was and accept what had happened to her, which I think paints their love story in a different light.

In Feng Xin's words: “But I was never annoyed with you! I wanted to redeem you!” (Chapter 214)

He's the "I can fix her" meme. Which wouldn't even be so bad if it wasn't contrasted against Hua Cheng loving the worst parts of Xie Lian and still accepting him. Feng Xin doesn't do that with Jian Lan, so his love feels contingent on her changing.

Which is incidentally how he feels about Cuocuo, too:

“Can you really take him for your own son?” “As long as it can return to the right path, how can I not?”

Once again, it's conditional. He doesn't accept Cuocuo unless he can become something else.

Also in Chapter 214, you have Jian Lan berating him for not fulfilling his duties as a father: "

“How? Isn’t it because of you?! ‘It’s the father’s fault for only raising without educating’ , if it wasn’t for you slacking off on your duty as the father, would your own son have been dug out from his mother’s womb to be made into something like this?"

I always like this line because it shows they're both meant to be educated enough to understand Confucian ideals, and even as far as she's fallen, Jian Lan still throws this back at him. So when Feng Xin asks her to stay, he doesn't even mention loving her--he only mentions feeling obligated:

“Come…come back,” Feng Xin begged, “I’m still…sigh, I still feel I, I…I want to take care of both of you. I should take care of both of you. I have a duty, I’ve promised you.”

Notice the hesitations, too. He's stuttering worse than Mu Qing and "f-f-friends" here, which casts the "I want to take care of both of you" under some serious doubt, imo.

And besides all that, I think it's just the fact that he doesn't seem happy to see her at any point! His behavior around her is anxious and stressed. When she leaves him in his palace, he's emotionally drained. He's the type to laugh out loud at jokes and sing when he's happy, but she just leaves him feeling anxious and depressed--which is partly because of what happened to her, but I also don't see any evidence that he's excited to see the love of his life again.

[acupofqueercoffee]

“Cinnamon Cookie”

Lady Lesso x Pregnant Reader

Request by @anonymous

hi, i love your style of writing 🫶🏻 can you write a one shot with lesso and preg reader, you know some fluff and maybe some smut if you want bc i have i think for stuff like this 🫠 thank u have a nice day 🧚‍♀️🧚‍♀️

awww thank you so much buddy!i’ve been writing quite a lot of smutty fics lately, so i took a purely fluffy route with this one (づ ๑˃̵　ᴗ　˂̵) づ

Request by @chaoticeruditefansie

hiii! please can we have some more content about lady lesso + her daughter? the fluff is so comforting <3

the only daughter whom i’ve had lesso parent thus far as far as i’m aware is her fur baby cookie, so i hope that’s who you’re talking about. this isn’t much but i hope you’ll still find it agreeable o(>ω<)o

━━━━━━━ ▼・ᴥ・▼ ━━━━━━━

Her babies have grown.

Cookie, but a fluffy little thing the size of her palms then, though equally fluffy, is presently not only big enough to intimidate, but has also earned the title of big sister.

Cinnamon, Cookie’s little sibling, too, is thriving in their own way, as evidenced by the round of your belly that gets plumper and plumper with every soft press of Lesso’s lips.

To think that in the beginning she has been baffled by the swelling of your stomach which has stood at the mere size of a coconut. Oh, how she has matured as a mother. Now, gingerly caressing your belly that is pleasantly reminiscent of a watermelon, she is flooded with delight and awe. It is the indication, after all, that the little life inside of you is actively flourishing.

As lips make a delicate descent onto your stomach, tracing constellations amongst clusters of opal lines with unconditional reverence, a pair of enchanting green eyes map your features, equally as reverential. But of course, in the end, Lesso is the one to be bewitched by you, oh beautiful, beautiful you who only continue to look the more radiant, the riper the pregnancy becomes.

“I wish they’d have your eyes.” Your voice comes with a sweet kiss to one corner of her eyebrow.

“And your smiles.” Hers, with a kiss to the corner of your mouth, fingertips softly outlining the arch of succulent flesh. “Your lips.”

“Your wit.” The soft touch of your finger on the tip of her nose is followed by the press of silky smooth lips. Your murmur tickles her ear. “And your eloquence.”

She brushes a thumb along the bone of your cheek. “Your diligence.”

And then, you are smiling oh so mesmerisingly, simultaneously bringing her hand to your belly.

“Ah! Do you feel it?”

How can she not?

Although this will not be the first time the baby has made themselves known, the experience of feeling their energetic little kicks beneath the palm of her hand never falls short of miraculous.

“Cookie, here, come feel your baby sibling.”

On the arch of your belly, two hands and a big, fluffy paw silently wait with bated breath for the new member of your little family to give a greeting from the other side.

“There it is again!”

You beam happily while Lesso, with a blossoming smile on her lips, frantically nods.

“Cookie, did you feel it?”

Seemingly sharing her mothers’ giddy excitement, Cookie the fur baby, does a jolly little circle, trotting on her four legs, before climbing into Lesso’s lap. Her nose boops your protruding belly, and despite the ridiculousness of the notion, Lesso can only see it as the bonding of her two beloved children.

Cinnamon and Cookie; together, they make Cinnamon Cookie.

Although admittedly, Cinnamon may sound unusual for a child name, there lies a deeper meaning behind it.

On a particularly fine day when the sun’s golden rays have been bathing your home in a wonderful glow, a craving for sweetmeats has unusually struck you. Lesso, being the doting wife and the enthusiastic mother that she is, has taken it upon herself to quench your needs. Her impeccably-baked goods that has warm cinnamon oozing in your mouth has earned you a kick from the inside. Such has been the very first greeting from the little fella who is residing in your womb.

“Cinnamon! Let’s call them Cinnamon.” Your suggestion has been made with a dazzle in your eyes, a blossom on your lips, and who is she to deny you of such innocent glee?

Lesso’s little bundle of joy has cultivated a delightful habit of knocking on your belly. Every day, it is how they greet you as if telling their family to eagerly await their arrival, and oh how they do; building furnitures and decorating a room for them as well as whispering sweet nothings and lullabying them to sleep. Lesso wants nothing more than to welcome her little darling into the world where alongside you and Cookie, she will cherish them to the moon and back.

━━━━━━━ ▼・ᴥ・▼ ━━━━━━━

[kingedmundsroyalmurder]

Blue Castle Book Club 2.0 - Chapter 7

Oh the rosebush. Look, the first time I read this book I assumed that the great metaphor of the rosebush was that it wasn’t actually a rosebush at all and was in fact a perfectly healthy plant of some other variety that couldn’t possibly live up to the challenge of being something it just wasn’t.

Later story events prove this headcanon wrong, but I honestly like my version better.

Valancy meanwhile doesn’t care about why the rosebush won’t bloom, she just knows that it’s yet another disappointment in a lifetime of disappointments. And she can’t bear it anymore. She can’t bear to lie to herself that she doesn’t want love and she can’t bear to lie to herself that the rosebush will one day bloom. She’s done everything she can for the rosebush, has asked for advice and applied it diligently, but nothing has worked. She is not permitted to do the same for herself, of course, but the implication is clear: even if Valancy had tried to, for instance, take cues from Olive and try to make herself attractive and desirable, it would not have worked. (Which is why I like the metaphor so much more if it’s not actually a rosebush, in the end, but I digress.)

Of course, if the rosebush is a metaphor for Valancy’s emotional life, then what does it say about what she wants to do to herself that she tries to destroy the bush? This book does not so much as hint at self-harm, of course, but one does have to wonder.

And, naturally, like Valancy herself, Mrs. Fredrick sees the rosebush as hers. Valancy is her daughter which means that Valancy is her property which means that anything of Valancy’s is actually Mrs. Fredrick’s by transitive property. It’s why Valancy isn’t allowed to change anything in her room or have her own opinions or do anything without permission. And certainly Valancy isn’t allowed to destroy anything, especially not something in the front yard that will be seen.

Mrs. Stirling expresses her anger via the silent treatment. This is clearly her habit, and has been since Valancy was a child, as evidenced by the line about Cousin Stickles seeing to Valancy’s bringing-up. You bring up a child, which is the only thing Valancy will ever be in this house, no matter how old she gets.

Cousin Stickles also either genuinely can’t put two and two together about why Mrs. Fredrick is mad or, more likely, enjoys hearing herself talk like the rest of the Stirlings do and liked the sound of asking Valancy what she’d done to her poor mother.

Valancy goes to the post office and finds a letter, proving that Dr. Trent didn’t forget about her despite the urgency of his situation. Because Mrs. Stirling is sulking, Valancy has the freedom to take her letter upstairs and read it unbothered. She can’t help but feel guilty about this deception, but not guilty enough to not do it, which is a step forward for her. And then all feelings of guilt go out the window when she reads Dr. Trent’s letter and learns that she is going to die.

(An attentive reader will pick up on the discrepancy in the letter, but it’s subtle and not commented upon at all by the text. I certainly did not notice it my first time through, and I vaguely knew the spoiler going in.)

And the moment Valancy realizes she is going to die the world suddenly becomes worth living in. This is the first entrancing description we’ve gotten of anything (except the Blue Castle) all book:

“Outside was a world drowned in the light of a spring afternoon—skies entrancingly blue, winds perfumed and free, lovely, soft, blue hazes at the end of every street. Over at the railway station a group of young girls was waiting for a train; she heard their gay laughter as they chattered and joked. The train roared in and roared out again.”

The world is pretty and filled with life and color and sound and we have only just now noticed this when Valancy has been told that she has only a year left to live in it. When she was going to live to a hundred everything was bleak and harsh. Now that she will barely hit thirty, things are entrancing and lovely and gay.

Valancy has to go to dinner and she finds she can’t bear her family any longer. And so, for the first time in her life, armed with the certainty that nothing she does any longer will have lasting consequences, she begins to rebel.

Colors mentioned:

Grey-bearded

Sealed with crimson

Livery of gold and blue

Fierce black hand

Black, positive writing

Face ghost-white

Skies entrancingly blue

Blue hazes

Yellower

We’re starting to get colors that aren’t strictly utilitarian! Crimson and livery of gold and blue are blue castle colors, but the entrancingly blue sky is in the real world!

And the rosebush does not get a single color. Not green, not brown, not red or white or pink, nothing, not even a hope for flowers or a despair that there are none. Valancy is colorless and so the rosebush does not get a single color associated with it.

[whumpsmith-participates]

Medwhump May 2024

Day 13 - "You've been very sick"

TW: Minor whumpee (17), hospital setting, hospital equipment, bacterial infection, resistant bacteria, meningitis

@medwhumpmay

"...Erick? ....Daddy....think...waking up..."

Erick had never had so much trouble opening his eyes before. It felt like his eyelids had been weighed down and glued shut with dried up eye-gunk. He couldn't lift his arm to rub his eyes either, his limbs felt weighed down as well. But they were also resting on a soft mattress, so he wasn't too bothered. He was comfortable...until he wasn't.

As he slowly returned to the land of consciousness, he started noticing all the uncomfortable things. The increasingly itchy feeling on the inside of his right, lower arm; the irritation and raw feeling in his nose; the slight cramp in his middle finger which he couldn't bend to alleviate for some reason; the light tickle over his chest.

He finally gathered enough strength to pry his eyes open, only to be met by a very blurry figure hovering over him. A waterfall of brown hair cascaded down, causing the tickle on his chest and someone's face and name came to mind.

"...Jaime?"

"Hey dumbass."

Yup, that was definitely Jaime. Erick smiled, but only briefly, the movement feeling like it took more effort than opening his eyes, but it was worth it. He was glad to see Jaime, even if he wasn't entirely sure what was going on yet.

Jaime Fetcher was Fetch's daughter. She was roughly the same age as Erick, and they'd always gotten along well. It probably helped that Jaime had no idea what her father actually did for a living and how Erick ended up living with him, but also because she was just a very nice person.

Fetch had told Jaime the same cover story that they had told anyone; that Erick was the son of an estranged relative and he'd taken him in to get him out of a bad situation. They'd been introduced as cousins, but Jaime had always treated Erick like a sibling.

She didn't live with Fetch, so he didn't get to see her often enough. She lived with her aunt in a sleepy town in Kansas, much to Jaime's chagrin. She didn't get along with her aunt, and she and her friends were treated as outcasts simply for being...different.

To be honest, when they first met, Erick wasn't entirely sure what to think either. She was the type of girl that he'd rather avoid at first glance; ripped jeans, fishnets, steel-toed boots, leather jacket, studded bracelets, dark makeup, black nailpolish, a new piercing every time he saw her...

But her tough exterior was just that. On the inside she was a massive softie, as evidenced by the somewhat teary smile she returned, her gentle grip on his hand, the soft tone in her voice...

"Take it easy," she said, "you've been very sick..."

"I'm fine," Erick said reflexively, "wait...what?"

His eyesight was finally beginning to catch up. He could see Jaime more clearly now, as well as the room around them. Brown, paneled walls, suspended ceiling with light panels, large windows letting in a lot of light...

"W-where am I?"

"Hospital."

Erick hadn't even noticed Fetch until now, as if he'd suddenly appeared at the foot of the bed. Erick gaped at him, then looked down, noticing the pale blue sheets covering him, the pulse ox clip on his middle finger, the IV line in his arm. He reached up, feeling another tube run past his nose and tucked behind his ears.

"You had meningitis, dude, you could've died!" Jaime said.

"I...what?"

"It's a bacterial infection that affects the membranes and such around your brain," Fetch explained, "to make things worse you managed to get a drug resistant kind too. It was out of my hands, so I took you to hospital."

"But..."

"Don't worry about it," Fetch said, "how are you feeling?"

"...I don't know," Erick admitted, "I don't even remember...how long was I out?"

"You slept for like three days, dude," Jaime said, "I only arrived yesterday and you didn't even notice."

"T-three days?" Erick asked, surprised.

"I got back from picking up your prescription and found you passed out on the floor," Fetch said, "but they didn't work as fast as they should, and you didn't regain consciousness. I took you to the ER and thankfully they diagnosed the problem fast, and the secondary treatment did what the first couldn't."

"...okay," Erick slowly said, struggling to keep up.

"Daddy, he's still tired," Jaime said, "battling infection takes a lot out of you. Besides, you said it affected the brain. He's a little dumber now~"

"Hey!" Erick said, pouting a bit.

"Just kidding~" Jaime said, pressing a kiss on his forehead, "I'll go find a nurse to let them know you've woken up."

She smiled and headed off, leaving Erick alone with her father. He looked back up at the man, before glancing around the room.

"Won't you...get in trouble?" he quietly asked.

"I already called Tito," Fetch said, "don't worry about it. Just focus on recovering. You'll probably be out of here by the end of today or tomorrow morning."

"Did you...did you call Jaime so they wouldn't question our cover?" Erick asked.

"No, but her being here definitely helped avoid suspicion," Fetch said, "no, she called asking for money for a new piercing, and noticed something was up. I told her the truth and she came right over."

"I hope she wasn't too worried," Erick said, "she'd never let me live it down..."

"Neither will I," Fetch said.

"You were worried~?"

"Do you have any idea how much all of this is going to cost me?" Fetch said, "even if Tito can foot the bill or make it go away some other way, he's going to ask me to do stupid jobs to repay him for it!"

"Whatever happened to just focusing on recovery?" Erick asked.

"You need to focus on your recovery so you can start repaying me for all the trouble you make me go through! Fucking meningitis...were you not vaccinated as a kid? Now I have to try and dig up your records to check! When Jaime gets back, I'm taking a smoke break!"

"Yes sir," Erick just said.

"And drink some water, you need to get your gastro-intestinal system back up and running," Fetch continued.

Erick just nodded and complied. It seemed Fetch really had been worried.

Wah, finally got the chance to introduce Jaime!

This part is kind of a continuation of Day 11 - Passing out

Masterlist Main Account

Taglist for the dynamic duo: @lavndvrr