#Not to say men can't or aren't attracted to these ladies

[auspicioustidings]

Based on this. You are in Finland full of self-loathing and the 141 needs a fat wife if they want to win some beer.

You aren't exactly on holiday in Finland. It should be your honeymoon but since you caught your groom balls deep in your maid of honour you instead have used it as an escape from the country. You just cannot be around the people you love right now, can't have them all look at you with all that pity. Even worse is that some of them probably don't even blame him. Your former best friend is a size 8, perfect hourglass figure. Your former partner is trim and decently fit. They look like they belong together more than you and him ever did.

You hate yourself. You hate looking in the mirror. You hate how clothes fit you. You deserved it you think.

"Not a chance MacTavish, that's my wife!"

"Away and biel yer heid, I saw her first!"

"Actually I saw her first!"

"I outrank all of you muppets so I think you'll find that is my wife!"

It's a racket in the little cafe but you don't pay much mind, still just staring out the window and wondering if you could ever deserve anything. One of the servers comes to take your empty cup and grins at you, telling you in her heavy accent that she would personally go for the one with the mask since he's the biggest. You don't understand when you look around and there are a lot of locals smiling happily over at you while four Greek Gods of men are having a scuffle, moving slowly in your direction. More people chip in, arguing about who you should pick, some lamenting that they would claim you themselves if they thought they could.

One big man does try, basically some Viking God, but he's playfully (you hope it's playful) spear tackled by the man with the mohawk before he laughs and backs off.

When Gaz with warmed cheeks and excitement in his eyes gets to you while Soap is busy with the viking and Ghost and Price are wrestling one another he asks if you'd do him the honour of being his wife. You nearly choke, but he explains that the wife carrying competition is today. You look around, bewildered, ask him why he wouldn't pick any of the other women in here given that they are all gorgeous slim things.

"Fuck all use to us, need a nice soft bird with lots of fat" says the man in the mask.

Price scowls and whacks his lieutenant upside the head because he sees how you look a second away from crying.

"You're gorgeous sweetheart, he didn't mean anything by it. The prize is the wife's weight in beer though, so he's right about a little lady not being much use."

You don't know what to say. You don't know if this is mortifying or not given that everyone around you seems to not be looking at you with sneers or laughing at you, but instead looking with soft smiles that convey fondness. They think this is adorable.

"Dinnae listen tae their nice soft birds and sweethearts! I'll be a better husband bonnie. I'm shorter aye bit look at the power in these legs, naw going tae drop ye. And I'll split that beer 50/50!"

And then they're arguing. The four of them are arguing and trying to put forward a case to you about why they would be the best husband. When it starts to get raunchy, you fluster and stop them. But fluster is something. It's not self loathing. It's been weeks since you felt anything but self loathing. So even though you are sure everyone can feel the heat rolling off of you in waves at how bashful you are under so much attention from such attractive men, you pick one (the others are devastated but vow that you're only a wife for the competition, that after they should get another shot at convincing you that they're the best option).

And they do. Even though the man you picked doesn't win (gets DQ'd actually since you are heavy and he decided that you were getting over that damn finish line so the four of them took turns) they take you out for drinks after. You think you feel humiliated that they couldn't carry you a long distance, but you don't have time to sit with the feeling because they drown it out with how warm and giddy they make you feel.

They insist that they will compete next year, so you have 365 days to pick a husband. When you make a quiet comment about how you'll lose weight by then so they can carry you the whole way, they nearly riot as they assure you that they would be a shit pick for husband if they didn't spent the year getting stronger so they can carry you just how you are. Plus they'll not be losing any beer thank you very much.

By the time the next wife carrying competition rolls around you are a different person. You're wearing clothes that fit instead of trying to hide your body. You laugh and flirt back with the barista instead of assuming they are making fun of you by flirting. And you don't care if your husband makes it over the finish line, just that you have fun and laugh and joke about the attempt. Of course it's not entirely certain who that husband is yet, got to keep them on their toes after all.

[kaibutsushidousha]

Kodaka April Fools tweets 2024

Lying just because it's April Fools' is so dull. Honestly painful to watch. Lying in general doesn't do you any good. In my younger days, I told every lie I could, saying some genuinely insane stuff about being a supreme leader of evil and whatnot, and thanks to that, now that I'm in my thirties, I got famous for all the wrong reasons and can't find a stable job because people think I'm associated with the yakuza... Sigh, I wanna deck my cringe younger self's face. Quit lying for fun while you can.

My classmates aren't doing great either. Thinking you're hot shit during your school days always comes back to bite you... My advice to my past self: slow and steady effort is worth more than any talent. Also, the part of life you spent larping with that silly horse laugh is not going to be one you'll want to remember later. I wish I could make that clear to him. White lies aren't a thing. Talent is never enough. My class is proof of that. Wanna know what my classmates are like now that we're in our thirties?

Akamatsu became a piano teacher. Her player skills capped off in her teens, it seems. But she's not that good at teaching so she's considered kinda mid at her job. And now she's struggling with the father of a student incessantly hitting on her. Tough world to live in.

Toujou opened a housekeeping company but she was too strict with her employees so everyone quit. And now she's doing everything on her own. Sucks to be in your thirties without any successors or employees. She's a prime example of how being so much better than anyone else doesn't do you any good. Well, she's always working for celebrities, so she's doing well financially, but I heard about some major court fight about a missing item under suspicion of theft from one of her clients. That can't be nice.

Yumeno got to her thirties still saying magic is real, so she's past the point of no return. She agrees that's an unhinged way to live, but she's too old to suddenly change gimmicks. Work takes her all over the country, but her gimmick doesn't allow her to publicly drink, so she has to get plastered alone in her hotel room after shows. I wish she could fix her life with real magic.

Harukawa? ...Haven't heard that name in a long time. Now she was a living edgy fantasy. The past tense was because I hadn't heard of her in a long time. I don't know the details, but apparently, she went to some war zone outside of Japan because her first love didn't want to date her. Takes some real edgelord to react to a broken heart like that, but if she's still alive, I have no idea how her thirties are treating her. My personal guess is that she's a mother of many.

Chabashira opened her Aikido school but is having a hard time attracting students. So she had the idea of starting an anti-sexual-harassment campaign that could double as advertisement, but thanks to her cluelessness when it comes to romance, she got canceled for mistakenly tossing men in regular couples. She's still doing the "degenerate males" bit in her thirties. Girl really needs to get on with the times. Rumor goes that she still downs huge packs of tequila bottles with Yumeno every now and then. Really don't think there's any salvaging her reputation.

Shirogane is an office lady still continuing her cosplay hobby on the side. She could be doing well if she knew how to keep her mouth shut but frequently rambles about cosplay history and etiquette, so no one likes having her around. Stay emotionally dependent on a single hobby long enough and your passion starts to close you off to others. That's her problem.

Angie was the most successful in the class! She made big money both on the art and the religion fronts. However, there were some controversies about her devotees selling counterfeits of her paintings at exorbitant prices and one magazine made a huge news coverage of it, which resulted in her catching the police's attention. She's been recently untraceable, with the rumors saying that she'll never be back to Japan.

Oh, and Iruma... Up until some point, she had the best life of all of us. She made big money off of her inventions' patents. So far so good. Things only started going off-rails after she married an ex-stripper. The two started a YouTube channel together. And later, her husband ran in last year's elections and lost big time. They got an awful debt from his election campaign and she had to get into side jobs to pay it off. And her husband? Disappeared. No word from Iruma herself about what happened. Tough world to live in.

No further updates from Kodaka in the past 3 hours, so I assume he went to sleep and will come back to tweet about the 7 remaining boys in the morning.

[wettestwraith]

I'm gonna be honest here there is already criticism about the barbie movie being like "oh you can do everything as long as you look good doing it" like im sorry wasn't there an entire scene with Gloria comforting Barbie about how abitrary the standards she holds herself up against and how it's utter bullshit that women have to keep their emotions under control at most times or you're called a hysterical bitch or how women have to be thin but they have to say they want to be 'healthy' and how you can't be "too attractive" because then you would be tempting men and other stuff like that did we watch the same movie? Barbie literally has an entire arc about how her life isn't perfect anymore, she isn't perfect anymore, and she tries to fix it but she realizes that she doesn't need to. In that one scene where Billie Eilish's "What Was I Made For?" plays in the background, we see that Barbie sees all the joy and hardships that humans go through and when she turns to an old lady and says "You're beautiful" it's because she sees how much this human has experienced in all her life, when Barbie goes into the real world she is overwhelmed by how Barbies didn't create the perfect world where women can freely be and do anything, she realizes that women aren't truly seen as actual people, but when she sees this old lady, who very likely experienced a lot of the things she's going through, sitting peacefully in a bus stop, she realizes that life is worth it. Being a human is worth it. Because being human is learning to love and care for yourself, being human means getting to experience what a home feels like, being human means having unlimited potential and to be the one that makes ideas and to have an ending, which is what makes it so special. What was she made for? Simply put, to live. The movie is telling little girls and women that your purpose in life doesn't have to be something great like writing an award-winning book or becoming a doctor for your life to have great value, being a woman simply means being human, it means that you should love and care for yourself and to simply live a life well-lived.

[lovelylovebug]

*You are a well-known ranger from Doriath and had been sent with the ambassadors to meet with the Noldoran princes for the first time*

Daeron: (Name) I know you love drama, but remember to behave yourself this time.

You: Relax, I'm not in the mood to cause drama. The faster we get this done, the faster we can go home.

Daeron: With you around, it can happen unexpectedly. I know you are supposed to protect us from harm, but you are also good at attracting trouble while keeping it away.

Daeron: We are now here.

You: Great we haven't been here for five seconds and the blond one already looks like a boasting ass.

*You arrive at the meeting place and see Celegorm talking about something. Your eyes are then caught upon someone behind him, and you feel yourself caught like a moth to a flame. You start approaching them.*

Celegorm: Relax brothers. These Sindaring elves do not seem any difficult to handle. I sway them to our side in no time.

Maglor: Brother, you can't even sway a turtle to like you.

Celegorm: Oh really? That Sindaring already looks enraptured by my beauty, and who wouldn't---!

*You swiftly walk past Celegorm and grab Maglor's hand as you kneel before him*

You: My good prince, I may not know your name, and you may not know mine, but I must say that you are perhaps one of the most beautiful men I have ever laid my eyes upon.

Celegorm: ???

Maglor: *faintly blushes*

Daeron: *shaking his head with a sight*

Maglor: Well, aren't you a bold one. We haven't even introduced ourselves and you already praise me with compliments. Are all Sindar elves like this, or do not simply train any restrain?

You: I always say what's on my mind. I had my doubts about your father being called the greatest craftsman ever known, but now I am convinced because you certainly are one of his finest creations.

Maglor also knelt in front of you and pulled his hand out of yours, only to cup your face with both of them. "You're well crafted too, my lady. In fact, I will dedicate my next song to you. But come now." He stood up again and pulled you with him in one elegant movement. "The sooner we're done here, the sooner we can escape and spend some time alone."

Maglor glanced back at Celegorm, who had merely pressed his lips into a thin line in anger.

[pompettepink]

Type of men NOT to date

Dating in the 2020's is so rough! It feels like so many people are just looking for hookups and too many women are getting forced into "situationships" in the hopes that "more" will come out of it, but "more" never happens. Ladies, save yourselves the heartache and leave these type of low level men ALONE

A man who asks "what you bring to the table"

He is thinking transactionally. He wants to know beforehand what act of service he can expect from you in the future. Whatever comes out of your mouth will be his checklist in the relationship and he WILL bring it up when you "fail to meet expectations".

A man who disrupts your peace

A man who is prone to fits of rage and refuses to seek help will take you down with him. He will actively work to destroy your self worth and possessions. Any man coming into your life MUST be giving you peace that is BETTER than the peace you find within yourself.

A man with low quality friends

There's a very high chance that if a man is in his mid to late 20s and is still friends with his highschool buddies they are actively holding him back. There needs to be far more substance in a male friendship than bonding over a band one time in a 10th grade science class. Having old time friends is amazing, but everyone in the friend group should be maturing at the same pace and having adult conversations and not just sharing their girlfriends nudes with the homies in the groupchat

A man who listens to Bro Podcasters

Self explanatory. There should be NO reason that a man sees value in anything a violent misogynist has to say. It is NOT NORMAL for a man to take lifestyle advice from broken men who are NOT living the lifestyle they're advocating for (monogamous long term relationship with the intention of marriage and providing for their wife and kids). Unless he is compiling information to loudly denounce those views and see those podcasters as an enemy of men, you have no business dating someone like that

A man who idolizes 50/50 relationships

Expecting your partner to go 50/50 with everything and anything is insecure and immature. In reality you can't ALWAYS split the bills. Sometimes things come up. Like card only payments, cash only payments, misplaced wallet, dead phone, payment deadline, accidents etc etc. If he expects every instance involving money to be split into two equal bills he WILL be resentful towards you if you fail to deliver. He should also be more than happy to spoil you when he can and pay in full

A man who struggles building relationships with women

You aren't going to be any different just because he's fucking you. And this isn't about a struggle that results from trauma (abusive mom). This is about ANY woman in his life. If he can't connect with his sisters and can't "really" explain "why", or if he's never had a female friend, that's a red flag. It's most likely that he can't build relationships with women who he isn't sexually attracted to, making him more likely to misconstrued any interaction with a pretty woman as grounds to cheat

An unkempt man

He doesn't need to be the world's best dresser, but he MUST care about his appearance. You two will be seen together constantly and in social settings others will view you as a single unit. You are doing a disservice to yourself by being with a man who has a hands-off attitude with the way he presents himself and always choices to go out with wrinkled stained clothes, dirty hair, a smelly outfit, and a wardrobe full of holes and filth

A man who moves too fast

Why is this man trying to get you into bed yet he doesn't even know your last name? Casual flings are totally fine and super appropriate for any adult to be a part of. But if you're looking to seriously date you HAVE to be picky. Even if your connection is magnetic off the bat restraint should be shown until the commitment is there. If you tell him you only want to have sex with a committed man and he gets mad, pressures you, or asks you to be official on the spot and then have sex afterwards, he just wants to orgasm, nothing more

A man who's all talk and no action

If a man talks about how close he feels to you, but doesn't try to commit, he's keeping you away from love. If a man romantically messages you everyday, but doesn't take you on a date, he's a pen pal. If he's always talking about going for a big promotion, but doesn't put in the work the position requires, he's just a job holder. Actions speak louder than words and if he wanted to, he would

A man who struggles with handling you

Far too many men couple up with talented, sexy, smart, extrovert women, then try to change them when they become official because they can't keep up with her. If she was a sexy dresser BEFORE you started dating, you should expect the same WHILE you're dating. If she was always having deeply intellectual conversations BEFORE you started dating, you should expect the same WHILE you're dating. If she had a large group of friends that she loved hanging out with BEFORE you started dating, you should expect the same WHILE you're dating. If he can't keep up with you then he shouldn't take up space in your circle

A man who is incompetent with chores

Need I say more? Chores aren't rocket science. If he can't cook a meal from start to finish you'll be forced to be his personal chef. If he can't do a load of laundry you'll be forced to be his laundromat. If he doesn't know how to sweep, mop, or vacuum you'll be forced to be his maid. Never choose to be a servant when well rounded men exist in the dating pool

A man who doesn't boast about you

He should be proud to have you as his partner. Everyone in his life should know that you two are dating. He should want to walk behind you and open doors for you so that everyone can see you before they see him. He should always want to hold your hand and feel disgusted when other people hit on him. If he says he "lives a private life" and doesn't want to post you on his social media or be seen kissing you in public it's because he doesn't want his wife and other girlfriend to catch him cheating

Never let anyone convince you that it's impossible to find a man of quality because "your standards are too high". You're the prize and for your sake you should never expect the bare minimum for love

[tkdrawz]

Some of the TMNT fandom (and, frankly, society) really ain't shit.🤦🏾‍♀️🤦🏾‍♀️🤦🏾‍♀️🤦🏾‍♀️

[From left to right: Princess Fiona (Ogress Form) (Shrek) Eep (The Croods) Gloria (Madagascar) Dijonay Jones (The Proud Family) Luisa Madrigal (Encanto) April O'Neil (TMNT Mutant Mayhem)]

These ladies are female protagonists in their respective franchises. All of them have different body types that contrast from the default thin, petite body type that we're used to seeing. And all of them are BEAUTIFUL! 💖

Three of these ladies became love interests that ended up in healthy relationships with partners who love them for who they are. Also, four of them are women of color. (idk if Fiona counts. While she is green, she started off white so... 50/50? 🤷🏾‍♀️) That part is especially relevant to this post because Twitter got me EFFED UP. I'M ON ONE, ON TWO, ON THREE TODAY!

So the concept art of Mutant Mayhem's April O'Neil was revealed by James A. Castillo, an artist who worked on the movie.

And people are DRAGGING HIM LEFT AND RIGHT! Being disrespectful to both him and April's design. I can tell you right now not even a third of those quotes aren't positive! There is a vast difference between criticism and insults:

💛"I do not like this design. Besides the color yellow and her red/ginger hair, she simply doesn't read as April O'Neil." That's criticism. This expresses disproval of the design without any vulgarities.

💔"Rethink your entire career. "Artist" my ass! This shit is garbage! She looks like she sleeps in a van and smokes so much weed she reeks of it. You failed." That's disrespect. And I don't think I need to tell you why.

Normally, I tend not to discuss such sensitive topics on my blog (religion, politics, discrimination of ANY kind, etc.) for my sanity and out of respect for others with opposing views. But today, I will make an exception.

I would love to include Luisa, who alongside April was mocked and disrespected heavily for her appearance, but I wanted to speak on this matter from the perspective of a plus-sized African American woman. Luisa comes from an completely different background whose culture and standards I am not entirely familiar with. I can't speak on what I don't know. Respectfully.💜

In the black community, women are faced with colorism, texturism, constant comparison, and body image negativity on a daily basis. And a good amount of it comes from our own community! Our shade, our 4C hair, our weight, our attractiveness, our lifestyle! It's brutal out here!😭😭😭

However, in terms of media a plus-sized black girl is seen as ghetto, loud, and undesirable with a side of attitude. The best example I can think of is Dijonay from The Proud Family.

This is the show I grew up on! The theme song, the characters, the Suga Mama, ICONIC! I love Dijonay to pieces, but as I grew up I realize that she was, in some aspects, a negative portrayal. She was always chasing instead of being "the chase". She was a horrible friend to Penny. And she sucumbed to a lot of negative stereotypes with barely any redeeming qualities. And this was very disheartening considering that she was the darkest one in the group. And the heaviest. And as a little chubby wubby in the 2000s with THIS as my representation? I have to give the writers a bit of the side eye. Was she any better in The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder? To that I would say.... meh. I love her in the reboot, but they could do so much more with her in my opinion. I still haven't seen them address the issue of colorism. 👀

While she is not a human, Gloria is voiced by a black woman (Jada Pinkett Smith) and imitates the sass of a black woman so... yeah. She's included. Gloria was persued by two men. One was the suave, flexing hippo Motto Motto. And the other was her friend/neighbor from her childhood Melman. She chose the latter for good reason of course. Now in Madagascar, Gloria wasn't mocked or criticized for her weight. In fact, hippos are known for their weight. However, she was seemingly fetishized for it. By Motto Motto to be exact. And being fetishized is NOT better than being ridiculed.

Unlike Dijonay, April was the chase, a love interest for Leonardo. I admit, I was SHOCKED that she was gonna be persued. Let alone that the writers wanted to try another Turtle/April pairing considering how April and Donnie went...😬. Now her backlash was on a completely different level. One that I wasn't even prepared for....

While Gloria and Dijonay are original characters, Mutant Mayhem's April O'Neil is a different interpretation of the character that has existed since the 80's. The same can be said for the Turtles, Splinter, literally everybody else! Every show and movie for that matter! And with every story, she changes. Design, motivation, relationships/dynamics, even race as of lately. All of it changes. And change isn't bad. In my opinion, it keeps things fresh and interesting instead of spoon feeding us the same story and concepts over and over again. Change challenges us. Change motivates us. However, some people don't like change nor want to accept it and adjust. And that's life. That's just the way it is. But change is necessary in order to progress.

She wasn't bad in the movie AT ALL. I absolutely adored her! And the dynamic between her and Leo wasn't akward or uncomfortable at all. It was handled really well. Ayo Ediberi did an incredible job bringing her to life! (GOD, I loved her in The Bear! Shameless plug lol)

That being said, I understand some of the sensitivity that fans have when a character changes so drastically you can barely recongnize them anymore beyond the bare minimun. (See also Sonic Boom's Knuckles) But the blatant discrimination, rude comments, and the boldness, THE AUDACITY, that some of these nasty Twitter fingers with their dirty fingernails have to type such disrespect to the artist that I can't repeat up here was wild af. Like, I can't believe we have to share a planet with some of them! Uggh!😷(But that's Twitter 24/7 so what's new?) Her and Rise April don't deserve the hate they get. You don't have to like them. Art is subjective. But to insult and harrass the artists and the people who look like the characters, then mask it under the umbrella of "tHaTs mY oPiNiOn" is 🐱. I said what I said. And I will say that shit again.

Also, just because she's black doesn't mean we can't have another white April O'Neil ever again. We know goodness well they could make another iteration of TMNT and make her white if they wanted to. Heck, I encourage them to explore other races and cultures too! New York is full of them! And it's not like all the other versions of April up and vanished. You can watch them anytime on Hulu, Netflix, Paramount Plus, etc.

One more point I'd like to make is that I am an African American woman who is currently on a weight loss journey. As a plus-sized girl, I had incredibly low self-esteem and picked up toxic, unhealthy eating habits from starving myself to overeating BECAUSE I starved myself. Also, I have experienced both sides from being disrespected and made fun of to being complimented and persued. I was at my biggest weight 2 years ago and I have made incredible progress to lose weight since then. People can lose weight. It is achievable! I went to school with some people who were way bigger than me that lost the weight by senior year! Just because she's big in this movie doesn't mean she can't lose weight by the sequel. Like I've said before, it's not wrong to encourage health and fitness!💪🏾 In life, they call this a glow up. A "remember how you treated them in high school" type of comeback. People can, and are allowed to, change. And it's not wrong to embrace your body and the skin you're in. It's all relative!💖

This post isn't to convince you to change your mind. And it won't make the bullies go away. I can't change the world overnight, nor am I trying to. At the end of the day, you're the consumer. It's your choice. Your prefrence. I can't tell you how to think.

I just wanted to spread a bit of awareness that plus sized people exist. And they will always exist. Everyone is deserving of representation in media in all facets. No matter their shape, size, shade, or sexuality. There are so many people from different walks of life who deserve to be seen and on screen. And the amount of visibility for black girls this year alone is amazing! And I want the same for other women of color, too!

Don't let this trash ass society and the people in it who prefer AI/robots over human beings, fake over real, and bad over good tell you otherwise. YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL. YES I AM TALKING TO YOU. YOU ARE AMAZING! YOU DESERVE ALL THE GOOD THINGS IN LIFE AND MORE. YOUR STORY CAN CHANGE LIVES. BEING A GOOD, HARD WORKING PERSON DOES PAY OFF IN THE LONG RUN! YOU ABSOLUTELY MATTER IN THIS LIFE AND THE NEXT. WE SEE YOU. I SEE YOU. AND I ADORE YOU. RAISE YOUR SELF ESTEEM, ADJUST YOUR CROWN, WEAR IT PROUD, AND DO YOUR BEST!

Be good to one another. Take care.

💙 -TK

[xxgoblin-dumplingxx]

Hi, just wanted to let you know that I am obsessed with werewolf Bruce just like I am with literally every other character you write??? Your work has a power over me that I can’t fight (not that I want to lmao)

I really hope this is one of the good days (since healing is never linear) 💛 please take whatever time you need and do whatever you need to do to prioritize yourself rn

"Let us see you home," Cass said, taking your arm. "It's too late to call a cab."

"Oh no I couldn't, I have-"

"Don't be silly," Steph said, taking your other arm. "Jason would you go and get wraps and-"

"I think Dick has already gone to get them," he said easily. He'd tried to stop Steph from running over you a few times but, in this case, he agreed. A sweet-faced young miss should not be seeing herself home.

"Wonderful," she said. "I'll just go make our excuses before they have time to bring out more of that dreadful cake."

Stephanie made her way through the crush easily, dragging Cass with her to make her way to the host and hostess, ready to smile and dimple and plead exhaustion after a lovely evening of dancing.

"I really can make my own way home," you tell Jason, not looking at him. "It isn't necessary."

"We'll humor Stephanie," he said, smiling just a little. "Besides, if word got back to our father that we didn't accompany you home after we monopolized your time all evening, he'd be furious."

"I don't- I- I had a lovely time," you assure him, feeling too warm suddenly. You aren't looking at him but you can feel him looking at you.

Before Jason could respond, he's saved by a sudden surge in the crowd. Some rowdy boys home from college. Pulling some sort of escapade, if the giggles and shrieks and raucous laughter were any indication. But when it sent a gentleman,a rather portly man a full head shorter than you toppling into you, spilling his drink down the bosom of your dress- as his face pressed into your chest- it was all he could do you pull you out of the way. Letting him hit the floor as you fumbled with your handkerchief, dabbing uselessly at the port that was staining the rose-pink fabric.

"Here," he said quickly, taking his jacket off and wrapping it around your shoulders. "Good grief," he said to the man on the floor,"what's the matter with you?" Please don't cry, he thought, when he heard you sniffle. He hated it when women cried.

"Sorry, my boy-"

"I'm not the one you should apologize to," he said gruffly. "Ladies don't come to parties to be-"

"Mr. Todd," you say quietly, "I don't think anyone saw."

"That's not the point," he hissed.

"Please- I- I'd like to go home. I- just. Before the stain has time to set."

"Alright," he said, taking your arm gently, and ushering you through the crowd. It wasn't often he was grateful for his size- he felt like a brute compared to his brothers. Or even the other men who were well- smaller. But. In this case, it was an advantage. Even in your gown, so long as he kept you by the wall and moved quickly, everyone was too busy looking at him to notice you.

"I'm sorry, you must think I'm very foolish," you murmur, accepting the clean handkerchief he offered.

"No," he protested. "It's not often-"

"Jason!" Steph said demanded Arriving with Cass and Dick, "What have you done to my new friend?"

"Nothing!" he protested, "I-"

"He rescued me from what could have been a very ugly scene if anyone had seen Genevieve's uncle fall into my well- and he spilled his drink on me."

"Ugh," Steph huffed, "People who can't hold their liquor should not be allowed to drink in public."

"And on that note," Dick said, noting Stephanie's latest pronouncement had attracted attention, "I think it's time to see the ladies home before father starts sending out telegrams."

[differentnighttale]

Comphet affects ALL queer people

(This might be tricky and controversial to write,advise me, and dm me for removal )

Tw:homophobia discussed.

I'm noticed that there's a lot of people who didn't know that they were queer because of the expectations and beliefs that were formed and socialized as they grew.

For one :I live in West Africa.

I was recently scrolling through my Tumblr, and I recently found out that aro and ace people feel compulsory heterosexuality and romantic.

I didn't know that one initially,I only knew it for lesbians.

First of all what is it ?

Comphet is when society makes you feel pressured to live and follow heterosexual,allo, and patriarchal to live in even though you aren't straight or allo or heterosexual.

But in other words,it is what society conditions woman /femme leaning people that you need to be attracted to men and it's the norm and society expects you to be straight but you aren't.

Be feminine,get married, have kids and blah and blah.(Not saying it's wrong,but is what society expects you)

That's what society's programs you believe are the correct way of life.

I have an example:

So many ladies don't know that they are queer because of what I listed in the first paragraph:beliefs and religion and society.

For one :my society is heavily religious and demonsies being gay.Its a crime.

I recently chatted with my mom and noticed that she herself doesn't get attracted to other men, and she didn't get crushes as she grew up, but she's only attracted to one guy:my Dad.

See where I'm going with this.

My mom sees this as normal, and I suspect heavily that she's in the aro or ace spectrum, but she's super reglious and very anti gay so she would never really see it.

I've hanged out in Queer spaces where I found out that some of the users, their moms who are in heterosexual marriages ,are in love with their female friends, but due to society.They would never ever know.

Young aro/aces are taught that they are supposed to have crushes on people and feel the other way of people but they never do.

Young aros could end up choosing their crushes, especially on the other gender because they feel conditioned too and to feel like "everyone else" but they aren't like everyone else which the typical straight allo goes through.

They are aromatic.

Young aces are taught to like people the other way, but in reality, they don't, and that's okay.

But that's what society expects to be attracted to people the other way, and if you don't that's not normal.

Not everyone wants to be married or have children or explore others the other way.Others want to be with their partners in a romantic relationship, and others only want to be in another way relationship and that's okay.

Now here's the tricky bit:

If I'm wrong,pls dm and advise me.

Now, here's how society expects people who are trans and in the trans umbrella.

Society expects people to be the gender assigned as birth and must follow the traditional norms and stuff.

For example, a young trans girl whose currently AMAB might think they are gay because they are attracted to men, but in reality, they are actually a girl and can't think anything But their attraction isn't gay and society believes that once you are a guy ,you can't be anything but it.

See where am going with this.

And vice versa for Trans boys, too.They know their attraction either is gay or bi, but they didn't experience it like others, and there's something different or missing.

People who are non binary and in the umbrella are expected to follow it, but meanwhile, they are neither or all of it or they move from one gender to another (genderfluid) but is suppose to be stagnant.

(If anyone wants to add on,please text me and comment and improve and even for removal.)

I wrote this by observation in queer spaces, and my mom was my main influence to write it.

Just like me as I kid,my mom always told me that being gay was wrong and stuff and even as I grew I knew that my mom knew my first kiss,not a dude , but the thing I also knew I also liked guys too so here I am.

Thank you.

And ciao for now.

[canirove]

In The Name of Love | Chapter 1

Summary: The plan that night was just to have fun and try to forget. And Valeria (or Val as everyone calls her) did forget. But what she didn't expect, was to do it with someone younger than her. Someone who also happened to be a football player, and from her team's sworn enemy: Pedri González.

Little warning: there is an age gap in this story. Throughout it I don't mention any exact number, but in my head she was like 28/29.

Author’s note: Me, a Real Madrid supporter, writing for a Barça player? Yep, it's happening 😅 It all started as a joke with a friend who is currenlty obsessed with him and other Barça players, then I got carried away... and here we are. Hope you like it, and thank you for reading! 💜

Next chapter

Masterlist

"Stop checking that photo, Val."

"I wasn't checking it" I say, quickly putting my phone down.

"Of course you weren't" Silvia says, rolling her eyes. "We are here to forget about all that, remember? Let's focus on it."

"Ok..." I sigh, taking a sip of my beer.

"Great. What do you think about them?" Silvia says, nodding towards the group of men to my left.

"Eww, no."

"And what about… them? The ones ordering a drink. They look quite decent."

"And posh."

"They do, don't they? And we are trying to forget about a posh guy, so they aren't an option. What about… Oh! Them!" she says, nodding towards someone to my right. "I thought the cute one had left, but looks like he only went to the bathroom or something."

"Who?"

"That guy over there, the one with the Adidas t-shirt. He hasn't been able to keep his eyes from you since we arrived."

"Yeah, sure" I snort.

"He is looking at you again."

"Silvia!" 

"What?"

"Why did you wave at him?"

"Why not? He is really cute. His friend too."

"I don't trust you and what you find… fuck" I say as I turn around.

"He's a hottie, uh?" she smirks.

"I know who that is."

"You do? Is that why he has been looking at you?"

"I don't know him in person, but I know who he is."

"What?" Silvia asks with a confused look.

"That's…"

"Hello" a male voice says next to us. 

"Hi" she replies with a big smile. 

"I hope we aren't bothering you. I saw you waving and I just…"

"No, it's fine. It's fine. My friend here was actually telling me that she knows you!"

"Silvia!" I hiss.

"What? You do know him, don't you? Though she said something weird about not doing it in person. Do you follow each other on Instagram or something?"

"I wish" he chuckles. 

"Ok, now I am completely lost."

"Silvia, you are talking to Pedri."

"Who?"

"The Barça player" I sigh.

"Pedri? I don't remember hearing you talk about a Pedri."

"Because when I've done it, I haven't said nice things about him."

"Ouch!" he laughs, reminding us that he is standing next to us.

"I'm a Real Madrid supporter. Sorry" I shrug, finally daring to look at him. But he doesn't look like the Pedri I remembered from our last game against Barça. He seems to have gotten rid of the stupid haircut, and looks like he is trying to grow a beard. He looks less like the kid he actually is, and more like a man, kind of… attractive? And the way he is looking at me, the smirk on his face… Fuck. He is attractive. 

"Bro, she is gonna be a tough one" his friend laughs. 

"You are gonna have to let me buy you a drink. I won't see the end of it if you say no" Pedri says, trying to give me puppy eyes.

"Are you allowed to buy alcohol?" I ask.

"Why wouldn't he? I see football players getting drunk all the time" Silvia says.

"It's not because of his job. It's because of his age."

"What?" she laughs.

"How old do you think he is?"

"I don't know… Twenty something?" 

"Without the something" I say, crossing my arms over my chest. "He is a kid."

"Really?"

"I am not a kid" he replies, also crossing his arms and trying to look offended.

"Yes, you are. And I don't accept alcohol from kids."

"Oh, c'mon. As if you were an old lady or something" he laughs. "You can't be older than 25."

"Oh my God" I laugh, Silvia joining me. 

"What? What is so funny?" he asks.

"You" I say, trying to contain my giggles. "You are so innocent."

"Now that is something funny" his friend chuckles.

"Ok, fine. You aren't 25" Pedri says. "26 then?"

"I'm too old for you. Let's just leave it there."

"Well, I don't care about how old you are" he shrugs.

"But I do."

"Oh, c'mon, it's just a drink and a chat. There is nothing illegal about that."

"But I support Real Madrid and you play for Barça. I'm pretty sure that is illegal."

"Another excuse" he says, rolling his eyes.

"It isn't an excuse, it's a fact."

"It is an excuse" he repeats, moving closer. "You are just afraid you may end up fancying someone younger and from the enemy."

"Afraid? Please" I snort.

"Then let me buy you that drink."

"If I say yes, will you leave me alone once I've finished it?"

"If that's what you want… But you'll probably want more" he smirks.

"Yeah, sure" I reply, trying to ignore the way my stomach has reacted to that smile. Again. "Silvia, do you… Wait, where is she? And your friend?"

"Looks like they left us alone."

"I'm killing her the moment I find her."

"Or thanking her."

"Why do you keep insisting? Why are you flirting with me instead of those teenagers over there?"

"Because they don't interest me. You do."

"Me? Why?"

"I don't know" Pedri shrugs. "But the moment you walked in, I couldn't keep my eyes from you. You are different from the others."

"Has that pickup line ever worked before?" I chuckle.

"I'm telling you the truth."

"And I'm 25" I laugh.

"You do look 25. And they look so good" he says, looking at me from head to toe, making my cheeks get warm. 

"Are you buying me that drink or not?" I say, trying to stop whatever he is doing to me.

"Yes, sure" he smirks. "Another beer?"

"Please" I reply, taking a big breath when he turns his back to me to go order, trying to compose myself. Why is a kid making me feel… things?

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

"So, how did you end up here tonight?" Pedri asks me once he is back with our drinks.

"Silvia wanted to go out to help me forget about something."

"Have you?"

"Have I what?"

"Forgotten about that something."

"I… I actually have, yes. Having a kid trying to flirt with me has helped. Cheers to that" I say before drinking.

"Cheers" he chuckles. "But I am not a kid."

"That's what you keep saying, but I don't believe you."

"I'm drinking alcohol and have a driving license."

"Not enough."

"Do you want me to show you that I'm not a kid, then?" he asks, arching a perfect eyebrow. 

"Yeah, why not" I shrug.

"You asked for it" he says, quickly moving around the small table where we were standing and showing up by my side, his hands cupping my face before kissing me.

He is kissing me. Fucking Pedri González is kissing me. And for some reason, I am not slapping his face. For some really odd reason, I am kissing him back, getting completely lost on what is happening.

"Is this enough to prove to you that I am not a kid or do I have to keep going?" he asks, resting his forehead on mine and trying really hard not to smile.

"Not enough" I hear myself saying.

"Ok" he replies, this time fully smiling before kissing me. And, again, I feel myself getting lost on the way his lips and his tongue feel on mine, on his hands on my face, mine resting on his chest. It feels like something completely new and exciting, but also familiar and somehow peaceful. As if we had known each other our whole lives and hadn't met just a minute ago. 

"And now?" Pedri whispers against my lips when we finally manage to stop.

"Now what?" 

"Do you still think I am a kid?"

"A teenager."

"What?" he laughs. 

"You've gone from kid to teenager, congratulations."

"I am not a teenager either."

"You actually are. Scientists say that the teenage years end in your twenties, so" I shrug.

"Ok, fine" he laughs again, moving one of his thumbs over my cheek. "You are hot."

"Thank you?"

"I didn't mean it like that" he chuckles. "You are hot, but you also feel hot."

"Oh. I… I actually do feel a bit hot, yes."

"Do you want to go outside and have some fresh air? I know a place where no one will bother us."

"Ok" I say, letting him take my hand and guide me outside.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

"I had never seen the city like this. It's beautiful" I say as I look at Barcelona's skyline. "How did you find this place?" 

"A security guy from the club brought me here after someone recognized me and things got a bit crazy."

"He brought you to the rooftop?"

"Yep" Pedri says. "Weird, but it was exactly what I needed to calm down."

"Was it too bad? What happened that day, I mean."

"I'm pretty sure I had a panic attack. I suddenly found myself surrounded by too many people with phones flashing everywhere, arms and hands all over me. It was too much."

"I'm sorry" I say, giving his hand a little squeeze. We hadn't let go yet. I hadn't.

"Thank you… Wait, I don't know your name."

"What?"

"I just realized I haven't asked you your name."

"I guess you were so busy putting your tongue down my throat that you forgot to ask."

"I didn't hear you complaining" he smiles. 

"Yeah, whatever."

"And?"

"And what?" I ask.

"Your name. Are you going to tell me or not?"

"You'll have to earn it."

"Earn it? How?"

"I don't know" I shrug. "But I'm sure you can think of something."

"I… I actually can, yes. And it is something that will also show you that I am not a teenager even if scientists say so."

"Enlighten me" I say, my words turning into a whisper when I notice the way he is looking at me.

"My pleasure" he replies, guiding me towards a picnic table. Why is there a picnic table on the rooftop of a club? I don't know. 

"What… what are you doing?" I ask when he lifts me up and sits me on the table.

"What do you think?" he smirks, sitting between my legs and caressing the inside of my knee, the feeling making me shudder.

"We are on a rooftop."

"And?"

"What if someone comes in? Or sees us? Or… fuck" I gasp when he kisses my inner thigh.

"No one will bother us."

"How do you know? Have you done this before? Is this where you take all the girls you pick up downstairs?"

"You are the first person I've brought here" he says, meeting my eyes before kissing my thigh again.

"Am I?"

"You are" he says, slowly lifting my dress. 

"Should I feel flattered?"

"Definitely. I told you you aren't like the others."

"Yeah, because I'm way older" I chuckle.

"Tonight you are 25. And when I'm done with this, so will I."

"Yeah, well. We'll see" I say, biting my lower lip and trying to stay calm despite the way my skin is burning under his touch or what I am feeling… there.

"May I, then?" Pedri asks, his fingers playing with the hem of my underwear.

"Yes" I nod, my eyes focused on his as he pulls it down.

"Try not to forget about your name" he smirks.

"Why would I… Fuck" I gasp when I feel his tongue, everything that he does after making me forget about my name, but not his. 

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

"Morning."

"Good morning" Silvia yawns. "What is all this?"

"Breakfast" I smile.

"You made breakfast?" 

"Yep."

"Why?"

"I don't know. I was in the mood for it" I shrug.

"You were in the mood for it, uh?" she chuckles. "You should fuck a teenager more often if this is what I get in return. It looks amazing."

"I didn't fuck a teenager" I say, rolling my eyes.

"Ok, fine. He did it all while you just had the best orgasm of your life."

"It wasn't the best."

"Top 3?" Silvia smirks.

"Whatever" I say, pouring myself some coffee.

"Are you seeing him again?"

"No way. One mistake is enough."

"Mistake?" she laughs. "Girl, look at you. You are glowing and haven't been able to stop smiling since you said goodbye to him. That doesn't look like a mistake to me."

"He is a kid, Silvia. And a football player. He is like a walking red flag."

"But I'm not asking you to marry him or anything. I'm just telling you to have fun for once in your life."

"Are you calling me boring?"

"When it comes to your relationships, yes, you are boring. This is the most interesting thing you've done since you became single, and he managed to make you forget about you know what, didn't he?"

"He did, yes" I sigh. "But it probably is because I was too busy freaking out about the fact that I had made out with a teen who happens to be a football star and I didn't have time to think about anything else."

"You were too busy thinking about the way he was making you feel, not his age or his job. That's good, you know?"

"That's crazy, Silvia. And dangerous."

"That's good. If he has managed to make you feel like this just with what he did last night, imagine what he can do when he actually fucks you."

"That isn't going to happen, tho."

"Why not?"

"Because he is Pedri! The Pedri! And he plays for Barça!"

"And?" she shrugs.

"Urgh."

"I think you should meet again. He definitely fancies you."

"He doesn't. He just sees me as a challenge because I'm older and support Real Madrid, and if he gets to fuck me he'll be able to brag about it with his friends."

"Did he tell you that?"

"No."

"Then you don't know if that's what he feels" Silvia shrugs again. "And what if that's the case, uh? I'm sure it'll be worth it."

"Oh, yes. Being treated like I'm just a piece of meat by a bunch of teenagers is so worth it" I reply, rolling my eyes.

"But you will also be using him, Val. He gets to brag, you get to be railed. I think it is worth it."

"It is madness, that's what it is. Now can we please eat our breakfast and change the topic of conversation?"

"Yeah, sure" Silvia says when my phone starts ringing. "Oh my God, is that him? Did we manifest it?"

"It's my mum. He probably is still sleeping like the baby he is. Hello, mum" I say, picking up.

"Valeria! Why hadn't you told me that Marc got engaged!"

"I forgot" I shrug.

"You forgot? He is your ex boyfriend!"

"Maybe that's why I forgot?"

"I thought you had remained as friends."

"And we have."

"Then?"

"Then what, mum?"

"Then why didn't you tell me!"

"Because I forgot, I already told you!" 

"There is no need to yell, Valeria."

"I'm sorry, mum. I'm not in the best mood right now" I sigh.

"Oh, my poor thing. Knowing that you are the only one in your group of friends who isn't married or in a serious relationship can't be easy."

"I don't care about that, mum" I say.

"Well, you should! I want grandchildren, Valeria!"

"I have to go, mum."

"Where?"

"Silvia is calling me, she needs my help with something. Bye."

"But…"

"Bye" I say before hanging up.

"That was rude, Val."

"I'm sorry, ok? But she can be so annoying. Who cares if… Fuck."

"Uh?"

"He just texted me" I say, my eyes fixed on the notification on my phone, my heart suddenly beating way too fast. 

"Who did?"

"Pedri just texted me."

"No way!" Silvia says, quickly moving to stand next to me. "What does he say?"

"If I'm free later today."

"Well, you are."

"Weren't we going to…"

"No, that's been canceled. You are going out with him and hopefully get railed so you can forget about your mum and everything she just said."

"Silvia..."

"You are going, Val. End of the story." 

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

"I thought you wouldn't come."

"Why not?"

"Because I am a teenager who plays for Barça and that's illegal?" Pedri laughs. 

"Yeah, well. I needed to get out of the house and stop thinking, and you somehow manage to help me with that."

"And is that something good or bad?"

"Silvia says it's good. I don't know yet."

"Then I'll guess we'll have to keep hanging out until you make up your mind" he smiles.

"Maybe... We'll see. I had never been here before."

"That's because this is my secret place."

"Another one?" I chuckle.

"Another one. When you become so famous you can't step outside without being recognized, you somehow manage to find spots where no one can find you, places that are just for yourself."

"It must suck. Not being able to do normal things anymore, I mean. I don't know if I could be able to handle it."

"It sucks, yeah" he sighs. "But then I come here and I forget about everything. It's just me and the sea."

"Look at us, both looking for something that helps us forget" I laugh. "We are so sad."

"But now we have something in common" Pedri winks.

"I guess" I giggle. I giggled? Why did I giggle? "Anyway" I say, clearing my throat. "Can we go down to the beach?"

"Of course. There is a path over there."

"Then let's go" I say, taking his hand on mine and starting to walk.  

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

"You are going to end up falling into the water if you keep playing like that" Pedri says with a cheeky smile.

"Lucky me, there is a young man next to me that will come to my rescue" I smirk, jumping when another wave threatens to touch me.

"Oh, now I am a young man?" 

"You've earned it for bringing me here. This beach is perfect."

"I still feel like a kid when you talk about all these rewards, tho." 

"That's my inner teacher speaking" I shrug.

"Is that what you do for a living?"

"Yep. This year I will be teaching 6-years-old."

"And I can tell you love it."

"Uh?"

"Your smile. It says it all" he says, looking at me in a way that makes me feel all fuzzy inside.

"Yeah, umm… Should we go for a swim?" I blurt out.

"Now?" Pedri chuckles.

"Yes, now."

"But we don't have swimsuits."

"But we do have underwear, don't we?" I say, taking off my t-shirt. "We do, right?"

"Yes, we do" he laughs. 

"Then c'mon" I smile. "You are an island boy, you must be aching to go into the sea and just swim."

"You know what… you are right" he says, taking off his t-shirt too and making me stare at him. I just can't help it. Because a kid should not have those arms and that torso and those things on his hips that go all the way down to… 

"Liking what you see?"

"What?" 

"You are staring" he says with a teasing smile.

"I was just thinking and not looking anywhere in particular."

"Yeah, sure."

"I was" I insist, getting rid of my skirt. "And now you are the one staring" I say when I look up at him again.

"Yes, I am. I really like what I'm seeing."

"Great, cool. Shall we?"

"After you" Pedri smiles, making me feel his eyes on me as I turn around. He is checking me out. He definitely is. Why did I think this was a good idea? Swimming in the sea in my underwear. What the hell? 

"Oh, shit" I hiss, the water feeling colder than I expected.

"You are going too slow!"

"What?"

"Too slow!" he says behind me, lifting me in the air and throwing me over his shoulder.

"Pedri!" 

"This is how you do it!" he laughs before jumping with me into the water.

"It is so fucking cold" I laugh when I make it back to the surface, his head popping next to me.

"It isn't that cold, stop complaining" he says while splashing me.

"It is" I reply, splashing him back. 

"Maybe this will help" he smirks, grabbing me by the waist and pulling me closer to him.

"Still cold" I reply, putting my arms around his neck.

"What about this" he says before kissing me. It is a short kiss, but it is enough to make me feel my cheeks getting warm.

"That is definitely working" I giggle. Again. Why am I behaving like the teenager here? 

"Should I keep going, then?" he asks, trying to hide a smile. 

"You should. You definitely should" I say before his lips are on mine once again.

[gauloiseblue]

The Garden

Since that day, he's been seeing her more often. Sometimes on his way to the town, or running into her at the market. Maybe that's the perk of being a neighbor

He also runs more often with Liv—Olivia as he becomes a regular at her bakery

She's already a chatty girl from the start, but after knowing he didn't think of (name) as a bad person, it seemed to increase twofold

She talks a lot about her; what she's like when she first moved, her story about the bakery, how it took 3 years before they became friends, and how she taught her how to make sourdough, because she seemed to have fun making them

There's also heavier stories about her, when the rumors were affecting their friendship, and how long it took her to take down the wall she built, until they could talk like they used to. Though it's no longer there, she did feel like she has changed, and she couldn't do anything about it

One day, the subject of the talk comes to the shop when she's talking to him, and ends up giving her an earful, telling her she shouldn't bother a buyer. But he quickly says he doesn't mind, which earns him a dirty look from her

He wants to believe her, and that his neighbor is simply misunderstood. But he's a rational man, and he'd like to see her from many perspectives before truly believes in her words

The second person who believes her as a good person is Mr. Harris. He talks quite a deal of her, whenever he picks up fresh milk from him

"She's too nice sometimes, it's almost like I'm taking advantage of her kindness."

He tells him the story of the bull, and how he didn't have enough money to buy it from the auction, and he told her about it when she asked him whether he wanted to join the auction or not. Which, to his surprise, she delivered the bull the next day, saying she likes him, but can't possibly keep him, so she gave the bull to him.

He then proceeds to tell him how she loves the cows in his farm, and that he let her named one of the baby cows. He also gave her his products for free, and that he'd share anything his friends gave him to her

There's a lot of people, especially kids who like her. But when it comes to kids, they only like her because she's like a lady santa claus

She'd scold them if they ask for money, or anything for the purpose of showing off. If they genuinely want it, she'll give it to them without many question

But what amuses him, is how they ask for it. They're very straightforward, they'll just ask her if she's really a santa claus, and mention the thing they want. If their answer satisfy her, she'll buy it for them, if not, she'll close the door

The way they told him about her is like telling a legend

As for the adults, they usually thought that she's kind, just reserved

He keeps track of the info, and tries to piece them together. He told himself he's not trying to figure her out, he's just trying to understand her. Though deep in his heart, he knew he said it to justified his actions

Months have passed, and he begins to see a clearer picture. It's likely that her job is related to arts, possibly an artist herself, or a curator, judging by her preference, and how much money she had earned

He also guessed about her status from the lack of a ring in her finger. She might’ve been married at some point, but not anymore. There also aren't many men in the village who take interest in her, even if they do, they won't really do anything about it. Country men avoid scandals like city boys avoiding responsibility

That's what he thought, until he finally saw the gardener

He met him one day, after finishing his morning jog. He saw a young man working on the flowering trees around her garden, and he decided to say hi

He's very attractive, and his eyes still possess a childlike innocence. He almost looks like a small pup, which seems like the complete opposite of her

They talk for a while, before they turn their head towards the door, which is opened before the owner of the garden steps out. She seems surprised to see him talking with the boy, but she welcomes him nevertheless

He didn't miss to see the boy's eye lights up at the sight of her

"Have you had breakfast?" She asked him, and he shook his head, "Do join us, then"

He never really eat after exercise, but he can't resist the offer for a cup of tea

They all settle in the dining room, which has a pretty wine cellar, and extensive collections of liquors. He takes one of them to examine it

"You like to drink?"

"Not really." She replied, "Most of them are just for collection."

"That's a shame," He hums, "It's a good whiskey."

"You may take it if you want."

He turns his head in surprise, "What?"

"Well, you said it's a good whiskey." She looks at him after setting the table

He shakes his head, "It is, but I don’t drink anymore."

She mutters a small 'oh', before taking a seat. The young man follows afterwards before he does

Today's menu seems to include poached eggs and spinach, with yellow sauce on top. The boy quickly digs in, as well as talking about the garden's condition, and anything that crossed his mind

She only gives short answers to all of his babbles, almost as if she's putting a barrier between them. It's even more striking as she mostly keeps her conversation with him, leaving the boy out subtly.

Once the boy finishes, he excuses himself to work for a little bit before going to him. After he leaves the room, he turns his attention to her

"He likes you."

She then groans, "I know, it's giving me headaches."

"Why'd you keep him around, then?"

"It's not like I have a choice."

She begins to tell him about his situation, from the start until now. He likes flowers, but his family didn't have enough space for his hobby, for a reason that they're farmers, and an acre of land can produce a bag's worth of potatoes, so they couldn't really afford wasting it. One day, when he walked on this road, he saw her house with withering trees and decided to knock on the door.

"Of course I couldn't refuse him, I wanted to see the flowers, but I didn't know how." She sighs, "He didn't want to receive any payment from me, so I told him he could buy anything he needed. That's the least thing I can do for him."

"When did you realize he has something for you?" He asked

"I'm not sure." She bit her lips, "I did have my suspicion early on, but after his visits became more frequent for no other reason than meeting me, I knew I was right."

"You gonna do something about it?"

"Maybe. But I wouldn't wish to burn the garden just to push him out of my life." She mused, "He had taken care of them for so long, it'd be cruel of me if I took it away from him."

He rubs his chin as he thinks, "Perhaps you can hire a real gardener to replace him?"

"I'll think about it." She leans back on her chair, "It's a shame, though. It's nice to have him around."

"Then don't do anything about it. Let it happen."

She laughs as she catches what he means, "I don't think it's appropriate for me to do."

She talks about his desire to go to a business school, so he could expand the business once he takes over. But his parents can't really afford it, so he decided not to pursue it. She then encouraged him to apply for a scholarship, and helped him to get it, which was a success. Now he's in the 2nd years

"No wonder he likes you." He commented

"He shouldn't be." She frowns, "I'm almost the same age as her mother, he shouldn't have any feelings towards me."

"Well, that's because you don't look like one."

She lets out a small laugh, "I'm flattered, thank you."

They talk for a bit, before he excuses himself. On the way out of her garden, he finds the boy working on the potted plants, before they both hear a song softly plays from one of the windows

The boy smiles as he tugs on the withered leaves, and all of the sudden, a single thought strikes him

He doesn't love the garden. He loves the owner

《 Prev | Next 》

[thequietman214]

This was the most recent posting of someone I'm following. Her advice is very sound and can be used by men and women accordingly. I have this to say to these young ladies who were writing to her with regards to not having a boyfriend and wishing they had one and all that other fun happy jazz.

Don't be in a hurry to grow up. Enjoy your youth. Once you graduate high school, start college, move out of your parent's house into your own apartment, and all that other sorted stuff, you become an adult. You're going to have to adult 24/7/365. And there will be times when you don't feel like adulting on a particular day. Got a news flash. You don't have an option. That is, of course, if you have a desire to have a roof over your head and food on the table. Enjoy this time of your life it will never come again. You have so much to experience before you have a boyfriend. You can't begin to imagine it.

Most boys your age are falling all over themselves to attract your attention for all the wrong reasons. Their hormones are raging, and they're trying to assert themselves as grown men when they don't know the first thing about it. These aren't the guys you want in your life. They might be okay as friends, but don't let it get any further than that.

Don't try the dressing up to look older thing. It doesn't work. Dress your age. It's okay to be your age right now. It's not okay to look all grown up and trying to experience growing up things when you are ill-prepared for them. A lot of people might try to tell you that yeah, you're prepared far more than you realize, but basically, they are full of piss and wind to put it as politely as I can. Sidney poitier, in the movie he did back in the '60s entitled To Sir With Love, had this to say on the subject; " No good man wants a woman in his life who dresses trampy. And only the worst kind of man does." This by far is the best advice for dressing according to your age. Of course if you want something a little more recent, I think Fonzie in an episode of Happy Days way back when, had this to say to Joni when she tried to look all grown up and almost got into a lot of trouble for it. He said, "Shortcake, when you put out an advertisement, someone's going to answer that ad." And when they do answer that ad, it may not be the person you want answering that ad and bad things could happen.

You shouldn't have to try so hard to attract a guy anyway. That's not your job. Your job, as crazy as this may sound, is to be attracted by the guy who looks the most interesting. Guys are supposed to be the ones that fall over themselves, making idiots of themselves, just to attract your attention because they see something in you they want in their life. And yes, guys have done some really, really dumb things to get a girl's attention. But that's what we do best. And why and how you go for it every time, only got himself has that answer and he's not talking. He likes a good secret.

To put it simply young ladies, enjoy life. The right guy will come along at the right time. Just be patient. As someone once said, "Patience is a sterling virtue. I wish I had more of it." And as you grow your patience as far as waiting for the right guy to pop into your life at the right moment, so will your wisdom to know when that happens.

[boreal-sea]

I'm seeing a couple of posts saying "how dare you criticize past adaptations of Dracula, of COURSE you can't exactly precisely adapt a book into a movie, there's not though time!"

And like, that's such an unfair and inaccurate grasp of what people are criticizing. Folks aren't mad that certain plot points may have to be cut, or that certain scenes have to be cut, or that certain characters may have to be combined.

We're pissed off that Lucy and Mina are always written as sluts who want Dracula to drink their blood, especially Lucy. Like. That is the one main criticism I see. It's not a problem if Lucy's love triangle plot is cut for time, it IS annoying that so many adaptations sexualize her instead of portraying her as innocent and terrified. And again, if it was just one or two adaptations doing this, it would be alright - but it's SO MANY. Same goes for Mina. Sometimes they play her off as the "good girl" to contrast her with the naughty too-sexual Lucy, who got what was coming to her for being such a slut and leading on three different men. Other times, she's literally just as attracted to Dracula as Lucy was.

Like I'm not saying you can't make the blood sucking creepy and erotic. But Mina and Lucy don't have to be willing for that to happen. Horror itself is erotic! The struggle of prey can be erotic. Mind control can be erotic! IDK, when adaptations insist that Lucy and Mina wanted it, I just kinda feel like they're being written by people who want the movie to be sexy, but who don't actually find the concept of fictional predator/prey dynamics to be sexy, so they have to soften it by making the ladies willing participants instead of victims.

And maybe part of that is also an urge to portray Dracula as less monstrous? No no, he's not a monster who steals the life of unwilling victims, silly girls think vampires are sexy, so they came to him willingly! Which just loops back around to victim blaming again.

Maybe the idea of a monster who could come in the night and slowly kill the woman you love so dearly, who has done nothing wrong, who doesn't deserve to die, who is so kind and sweet, is too horrifying for some people? So they have to justify her death somehow. Maybe it's just me, but if the plot of Dracula is too horrifying for you in its base form, perhaps you should not be adapting it.

[kitkatopinions]

Sometimes I think of how people will see the most shallow bit of feminism and girl power in media and then treat it like the height of progressiveness and act like that piece of media is now incapable of being misogynistic.

Like I don't actually have a problem with some of the obvious girl power stuff - things like girls standing up to people who say they can't fight, or girls being confronted by guys who are like rating the attractiveness of them and their friends, or 'you should smile more' stuff, or things like that. Every time I see someone post about how 'we should be past that' and how 'everyone gets it' I also see both women expressing how it helped them and also terrible men talking about how they think it's overdramatic and lying and anti-men, so like... Yeah, we do still need some of this kind of obvious girl power, no we haven't actually progressed past men out and out saying they think women belong in the kitchen or should serve men or something, it actually is totally realistic and empowering to many real life women to see a female character openly stand up for herself and show up men and stuff.

But also that sort of on the nose shallow level stuff is often used in a very performative way, and there's often deeper levels of misogyny at play that writers usually don't seem to bother to deconstruct. And the willingness to only pay attention to shallow level stuff and call that good enough is in my opinion actually detrimental, especially when that's then used to try to shut up the women that are rightfully trying to criticize deeper misogyny.

A female character standing up to a male character that says girls can't fight might be and often is still not given a narrative outside of a love interest.

A female character being the main protagonist might still be shuffled to the side to give more attention to a male character, or not be allowed to be really flawed and therefore less of a real relatable character.

A confident and feisty female character might still be objectified and made specifically for male audiences to sexualize, designed to be sexy for men or just written in a way that's meant to be palatable for them (such as stripping femininity from a female character who is involved in action.)

A female character in a position of power might still be treated like a jealous power hungry bitch or a sad cat lady who secretly longs for a husband and babies, or be 'in a position of power' in name only and not actually be that big of a threat, or do nothing, or be propped up as the important bad guy only for the media to reveal that really, she's nothing compared to this new eleventh hour male threat.

A female character who stands up to one male character might still be written to wind up in a relationship with a male character that treats her like crap and acts entitled to her and yet it's still framed as romantic, or will be pressured into a romantic relationship with no one acknowledging it as weird or bad, or just is written to never really challenge her male friends.

A female character might be allowed to be non-feminine and dismiss beauty standards but she might then be portrayed as having no female friends and being not like other girls and meanwhile women who are more traditionally feminine are put down and men who aren't traditionally masculine are mocked and treated like they're weak and lesser. A female character might be allowed to be non-feminine and dismiss beauty standards, but she might be confined to not going over a certain line, like a female character who is portrayed as strong but not allowed to become muscled, or a female character who doesn't like make up and fashion but is still designed in an 'appealing' way and might have a 'oh no she has to dress all girly and hot against her will and the men will exclaim over her' moment.

Female characters might be given any of the above only for it to feel like the writers punish them for it. Brutally murdering them, having them tortured, having their friends turn against them, or even just the writing around them feeling snarky and pointed. Like a writer making a female character say something right and having a different character be like 'uh-huh, you're probably right like always.' Or a writer making a female character show up the boys in her combat training class only to then have her get brutally beaten on the field like her confidence must be destroyed or proven wrong or something.

Female characters might have everything technically right on paper, and yet be written in thin, spiritless ways that give them no real growth, dismiss their personal narratives, or are just dry like you can tell the writers don't actually want to be writing for the character and don't really care that much about them. Sometimes the misogyny is in the fact that other characters are allowed to have growth arcs and learn and change and go after their goals and make mistakes and forge important connections that are actually relevant, while the female characters that are meant to be important/badass/feminist icons are just a lot thinner and aren't given that same attention and just feel like they're around because the writers feel like they have to be.

I need people to understand that misogyny in media is rampant and that writers rarely seem to be interested in deconstructing their biases, and I need people to understand that the only types of misogyny in media aren't 'women characters only exist to be nameless sexy club girls' and 'women characters only exist to be teary damsel princesses in need of saving.' There's much deeper forms of misogyny in media.

And it's really very frustrating to try to talk about misogyny in various pieces of media and have people hold up shallow level performative stuff and be like 'But if they were misogynistic, they wouldn't have done this, checkmate.' Like, no, that's just the profitable bare minimum people think will get women off their backs. Even when it's meant sincerely (and again, I'm not saying it's always inherently bad) it's most often accompanied by some form of deeper level misogyny.

(Also radfems and terfs leave me alone, DNI, you guys are also really fucking terrible at writing women characters and I swear you've all got misogyny that leaks into that shit too.)

[icycoldninja]

Can you write a reader who’s androgynously pretty like Marie Joseph Sanson from Innocent Rogue?

Pinterest: https://pin.it/2pUbvhXDf

Depends on who she’s talking with she can act accordingly as well:

+ as elegant as a one woman should be when talking with men

+ as devilishly charming a gentleman would act around the ladies

And it doesn’t help when she either looks like a handsome woman or a beautiful man according to some people

The clothes she wear even makes it harder to guess her actual gender, ranging from Fedoras, trench coats, leather jackets, bell sleeves blouses, etc… basically 1920’s and 1930’s fashion

P/S: Hope u have a nice week

Thank you, you too!

Sparda boys + V x Androgynously pretty!Reader headcannons

¤ Dante ¤

-Dante couldn't tell whether you were a man or a woman, and became very confused. Was he falling for a lovely lady or a femboy? He had no idea.

-The fact that you can switch between personalities astounds him. You're just full of wonders, aren't you?

-Of course, Dante will act along accordingly, treating you as either his bro or girlfriend depending on who you're currently pretending to be.

-Whether you tell him you're actually a girl or not is irrelevant, he doesn't care.

-Loves your clothes and thinks they're so unique, which makes sense because he wasn't born anytime near the era they were popular in.

-He once stole one of your dress shirts and pretended to be a fancy rich aristocrat, jousting at nothing with the Rebellion.

■ Vergil ■

-Vergil, the refined gentleman, thought you were also a refined gentleman.

-He couldn't figure out why, but he was strangely attracted to you, and it wasn't because he was slowly turning gay. Somehow, his instincts knew you were a woman, and so, trusting those instincts, Vergil let himself get caught up in a relationship with you.

-He thinks you're quite gorgeous, whatever you happen to be, and although he's curious about what's really under those old fashioned clothes, he simultaneously doesn't care.

-It's a paradox of an existence, but Vergil likes it. You're full of mystery and intrigue, just like him.

-He sometimes borrows your trench coats when his is in the wash.

-Really wants to do your hair in the morning but is too embarrassed to say so.

□ Nero □

-Nero knew you were a woman from the moment he met you. Sure, you were androgynous looking, a great performer and all that, but Nero knew. Don't ask him how, he just knows.

-Thinks you dress like an old grandma.

-Saw you pretending to be a guy once to chat up some ladies for whatever reason and decided to be your wingman, just for fun. Then he got those ladies interested in you, so interested in fact, that they wanted to take you home.

-The expression of pure desperation on your face as you frantically searched for a way to let them down softly was priceless. Nero snapped a picture of it and it's now his lockscreen.

-Once borrowed one of your coats because it was cold and realized your clothes are actually very comfortable.

-Thinks you're beautiful in every sense of the word.

● V ●

-V thought you were some kind of demon who had the power to shapeshift. How could you pull off looking like a boy and a girl so flawlessly?

-He thinks you're beautiful when you're masquerading as a man and just as pretty when you're dressed as a woman, which you are.

-V compares you to certain poems he reads, because he's just so inspired and enamored by you, he just can't help it.

-Thinks your clothes are unique, kind of like his.

-Speaking of clothes, he likes to trade with you. Sometimes you'll wear his clothes and he'll wear yours.

-Thinks your eyes are the most charming things he's ever seen--and he's right.

[snobgoblin]

Such as yourself going through a self discovery journey do you think ace has? Either with gender or sexuality or both?

oooooh ok this is interesting... honestly I don't think he's ever had a gender crisis, he seems really happy being a guy and hasn't really shown a desire for anything else... I guess he could be transmasc but as cool as that would be canonically speaking I just don't think that's true for a lot of reasons. now sexuality is where it gets interesting... so we really haven't seen ppg Ace show any desire for romance outside of manipulation (playing into Buttercup's crush on him, then of course that time in the comics where he sang in the boy band and played into the You Can Fix Me... I'm A Bad Boy aspect to get his ratings up) and both of these instances were with women... BUT there's another thing. in Gorillaz, Ace also like??? grabbed Jamie's ass? I would say he's stealing his wallet but like... that's palm to cheek action there's no disputing it (ah sorry for the cropping I can't find the full image atm) of course, Gorillaz Ace is clingy, he is also shown touching Noodle and 2-D, but that was on the arm for both of them. this seems more. intimate

and this would lead me to believe that he does express a desire for men... and I do think he expresses a desire for women too! I don't see any reason you'd have a shirt with pinup girls all over it unless you like... liked girls... (suppose it could be ironically but I'm gonna go ahead and say it's not)

then, of course, he called Sedusa "hot" in Aspirations, further cementing he finds women attractive

and with all this said- I think it's safe to say that at the very least Ace is queer, there is evidence to be made(? wording?) for him liking men and women... but I don't think he would necessarily know the term bisexual, or identify as anything. I would say he struggled with his feelings for a long time... (I could go into detail why I think that is but this is already pretty long) Internalized Homophobia and all that basically, but I don't think that he ever had a moment where he was like "I am bisexual" I think he just kinda went "yeah I like a guy sometimes. so what. don't mind the ladies, either" idk it just seems like him not to worry too much about labeling himself- we know Murdoc and Noodle are actually the same way (to my knowledge 2-D and Russel have never elaborated on their sexualities) but this could also be biased because I hate assigning sexualities to characters that aren't ocs... I just find it limiting and a little bit disrespectful to unlabeled people (why do we feel the need to put everyone in boxes?) all I know is this guy likes guys and gals!