#That's what makes these toxic men top tier

[simslegacy5083]

NSB (Straud Legacy) Gen 9

Today's (7/23/2024) Episode: Reaching For The Stars

When Peachy reached the Plumbob Pictures offices, he immediately understood why Theo’s upcoming paternity leave was such a big deal for him.

The studio exec smiled and waved, apologizing for not getting up to greet his guest. Heavily pregnant, he shifted uncomfortably in his seat, right leg propped up on one of the guest chairs and sporting a large walking boot.

“Thanks for coming in,” Theo said as he pushed a thick contract across the desk to Peachy. “My guys just got this little monster smashed together to cover your requests. We put the audience ratings required to produce your ongoing show idea, and for you to retain creative control, right there at the front. Then we’ve got the detailed guidelines for live shows capped off with all our usual legal boilerplate.”

As Peachy skimmed through the document, making sure he was happy with the key points, Theo continued in a more conversational tone. “You know, in a way, this is really your fault. Not the previous act cancelling, of course, but the pregnancy that made it harder for me to vet replacements quickly.”

Peachy glanced up with a dubious expression as Theo went on: ”I realized when I watched your set at the baby shower. I’d heard some of it before.”

Peachy listened with polite interest as the smooth executive described hearing his classic monologue on the experience of “Active Paternity” as a boy.

He couldn’t be sure how much of the story might just be a top tier salesman building a strong emotional connection, but it sounded sincere. It wasn’t the first time he’d heard that his famous act had inspired other young men who eventually decided to become fathers through science themselves.

One reason he’d kept refining the bit and similar skits on the humorous ups and downs of when manliness meets pregnancy and parenthood was to leave a legacy, a little more trail beaten through the forest of toxic masculinity for the fathers who came after him. 

He signed the contract with a flourish. “All right, its showtime! I’d say wish me luck, but it looks like you’ve got “Break A Leg” covered for me already.”

Peachy had been nervous the afternoon he'd performed for his agent and the crew at Limelight, but that was nothing compared to this! 

He made his way into the wings, stopping at a full-length mirror leaning against the wall near a rack of costumes to strike the silly superman pose that had helped bolster his confidence the evening before that pivotal dinner at Jack's place. Superman could be super pear shaped if he wanted. 

Now as ready as he'd ever be Peachy continued on, pasting on his brightest smile and waving his hands in the air as he grabbed the mic, prepared to wow the crowd like never before. On fire with his high-flying ideas of leaving a mark and with a bunch of new material to release, he felt electrified.

Hours later, with laughter and applause still ringing in his ears from hamming it up through the encore and closing credits, Peachy plopped back down in front of Theo. With his face feeling almost like the smile was stuck there, he told the exec: “Well, I sure did it, I just hope I didn’t overdo it!”

Theo typed away on his computer and sent a relieved smile back across the desk. “Early feedback is really positive, so it looks like your mini-series plan is a go.” He awkwardly shifted his booted leg back down from the other chair and under him, wincing. “Boy, I could really do without this issue.”

Peachy nodded sympathetically, the other sim’s situation being all too familiar. “I hear you; I ended up with a stress fracture in my last trimester. It gets better very quickly once you ‘lighten your load’ if you know what I mean. Well, assuming you have help with the baby so you can stay off it.”

“Oh yes! They’re a lifesaver already.” Theo patted his huge belly. “Can’t hardly reach anything below my little girl right now; can’t even put on the boot without help. Not a fracture fortunately, but a pothole I didn’t see left me with a bad sprain and mobility somewhat worse than a beached whale.”

He checked his computer again and whistled. “These ratings just keep climbing. I hope you’re ready for the big time".

Grinning from ear to ear Peachy nodded. Getting up to head home he replied, “You bet I am, and just in time too – any later and you would have had to summon me from the ever after! I’ll call you about next steps tomorrow afternoon, after a little celebration with my family.“

By the time he got home Peachy found the house quiet. On his way to find his wife he ran into his son. He was well aware Luigi was by no means his biggest fan, but even his boy offered him a hug by way of congratulations, thrilled for his success. 

Wishing him goodnight Peachy headed toward the sound of the television, excited to share his news with Valentina and plan the celebration of his second climb to the top of a career ladder.

View The Full Story of My Not So Berry Challenge Here

[saintsenara]

what is your opinion about snarry?

thank you for the ask, anon - and thank you for the almost identical ask anon 2.0!

i have always been someone who dabbles in snarry, and it is certainly a ship with some astonishingly talented writers. most of the stories which have prompted me to cry and stare blankly into the middle distance have been snarry, and the ship also produces some really top-tier filth when it comes to smut. as someone who herself contains multitudes, i like that.

and i think it has a pretty solid justification in both harry and snape’s canon characters - although i’m certainly not trying to claim it’s canon-compliant as a relationship. harry adores the half-blood prince because they are sincerely intellectually compatible, because they have a similar sense of humour, and because they have a shared reactivity and emotional volatility. harry empathises with - and even respects, on some occasions - snape well before the conclusion of deathly hallows and, since one of the things which makes me a tomarry girly is harry’s instinctive understanding of how voldemort’s childhood affected him, that’s a trope i love in snarry too. post-war, i think they are one of the pairings best equipped to help each other deal with the trauma of having been - in many senses - a pawn, and i think that snape is, really, the only person in harry’s life who could ever come close to appreciating what it means to have dumbledore send you out to your near-death.

and i have no objection to any of the common criticisms which one might hear against snarry. i literally don’t care about the student/teacher dynamic or the age difference - both because these aren’t real people, because taboos are hot, and because the complexity of the relationship provides a really interesting look at the power differential in and of itself. i am often struck by a trope i find in snarry in which snape’s feelings for harry are accompanied by so much self-loathing that he offers harry the upper hand in their power dynamic despite the fact that he is the younger partner. as someone regrettably committed to student/teacher riddledore - in which the age-gap-related power dynamic is generally not reversed - i find this a fascinating way of exploring the characters both within and outside of a romantic context. after all, the canonical snape is also someone whose relationships with the main men in his life - dumbledore and voldemort - is defined by subordination, and, in dumbledore’s case, outright humiliation and shame. that the snape of canon regards harry as someone who possesses power over him - his complaints about harry being rich and spoiled and arrogant not only make clear that he considers harry to have inherited the dynamic he had with james, but also that harry is inherently an insider [financially, in terms of having a pureblood name, etc.] to the wizarding world while he is an outcast. that can cause some exquisite toxicity - especially when the wizarding world finds out its golden hero is getting railed by a tenuously-acquitted death eater - but it can also result in a partnership which is surprisingly beautiful. after all, harry likes to save people, snape would like to be looked after, they make it work.

i also don’t object to the lily thing, largely because - as someone who writes harry regularly fucking his parents’ murderer - it seems quite tame in comparison. but also, it draws out a fanfiction theme which i am obsessed with - that there is a lost generation, of which snape [and sometimes sirius and lupin] is the only survivor. this is something i prefer in snack - and in post-1981 snily - but it’s there in snarry too. snape provides harry with a connection to a world he would be a stranger to otherwise. harry provides snape with a nostalgic mooring when he is buffeted by the grief of being the only one of his teenage acquaintances still alive.

i also like the idea of snape - as harry’s boyfriend - and petunia meeting. fucking your enemy’s nephew is iconic, there’s no two ways about it.

but, with this said, they can never be my otp. the man of snape’s dreams is, as we all know, lord voldemort. the man of harry’s dreams is the same. the destructive power of that triad has the potential to destroy the world.

[svartalfhild]

Svar Watches BBC Robin Hood for the First Time - Season 3

Some of you may have seen my reactions to Season 1 and Season 2, well, here's the epic conclusion:

Well I can tell you right off the bat that the production, especially the costumes, have gotten a major glow-up, holy shit.

Damn we're starting off in a dark place. I mean, I guess I expected that, but even so.

It's been 5 minutes and I already miss Will and Djaq.

Guy is so unhinged now and it hurts my heart, but it's so interesting to watch. Also, the costuming glow-up and Armitage doing his thing means that Guy is now, in some respects, even hotter than before. For this to really get out of hand for me, though, he has to get a good redemption arc. That would just be top👌tier👌shit👌. I have no goddamn clue how that could happen at this point, though. Won't hold my breath.

So now that Marian is fucking dead and Djaq is off having her happily ever after with Will, I'm guessing Tuck is going to be the new voice of reason.

Ohoho Guy going Fuck Everything Actually But Especially The Sheriff And Also My Life with maximum emo is fucking zesty.

I like Kate. Her being a love interest for Much is a bit out of left field, but I could be into it if the narrative does the work to sell it.

Man, the real villain in this show is toxic masculinity.

I love how every time a recurring female character is grieving, Little John is like "hello, I'm your emotional support giant".

Lara Pulver???? Fuck yeah!

Holy shit she's Guy's sister????? And she's Robin's new love interest???? That's a spicy meatball.

Gotta say, Guy, being shitty to your sister is rapidly losing you attractiveness points.

OH MY GOD GUY ACTUALLY GOT TO STAB THE SHERIFF I AM LIVING YES BITCH KILL YOUR ABUSER!!!!

Aw dunk he's still alive. Boo. Well, either way, Guy has fallen out of the hands of one abuser into another, who has even more power.

Toby Stephens as Prince John is brilliant. He's so flighty and detestable. And pathetic in the way that only rich men are. This is reminding me of the tantrums of the bird app destroyer.

So I see from Isabella's behaviour with Robin that getting overly attached to the first person who's nice to them is a Gisborne family trait. Also going all super backstabby survival mode when they get put in a tight spot.

Meg is fucking great and I am so here for the women-supporting-women of her introduction. I want her to be besties with Isabella, even though Isabella is duplicitous af (albeit kinda understandably so).

So, uh, fuck Thornton. It was bad enough hearing from Isabella that he's awful, but now that we get to see him, I am absolutely revolted.

Oh, oh, I love watching Meg call Guy the fuck out for his, well, everything, and he just has to sit there and take it cause they're in prison. Get his ass, girl.

Wait...oh my god...oh my god IS GUY ACTUALLY GONNA HAVE A REDEMPTION ARC???? YOU'RE KIDDING HOLY SHIT POP ALL THE BOTTLES LADS

Aw...aw, Meg. I'm crying with you, Guy. T_T

The way Isabella started this season with "I'm nothing like my brother; there's nothing about him that I want to be" and then she proceeded to become exactly like her brother.

God, the cinematic parallels between Guy and Isabella are so strong and so tragic. Both abused, both prone to thinking in extremes, both trying so desperately to protect themselves and making all the wrong choices. But it's interesting how Isabella is descending into evil the same way Guy did the moment she's given a crumb of power by an evil man, while Guy is trying to be better after hitting rock bottom and getting told what's what by a mouthy peasant girl.

Kate turning out to actually be Robin's love interest is honestly a bit boring, but predictable, I suppose.

Damn, that Backstory™ episode was wild and soapy as fuck but it sure did some heavy lifting with the plot to get Robin and Guy united at last. A fucking half-brother between them named Archer. Jesus christ.

Guy's father being a leper kinda brings new context to the Sheriff derisively calling Marian a leper all of the time. Must have been a real twist in the gut every time Guy heard it.

Robin and Guy going to rescue Archer is giving Thor and Loki "get help" energy and I love it so much. More of this please.

So I see being a tricky little bastard and a romantic is something Archer shares with his siblings.

Oh my god the symbolism of Guy riding a white horse now.

Aw, Allan. T_T So it's a Boromir end for you, huh.

I'm scared to watch the finale because I just know it's going to hurt my heart somehow. Let Guy stab the Sheriff again, please?

GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUYYYYYY *INCOHERENT SCREAMING AND CRYING*

"I lived in shame, but because of you, I die proud and free." I WILL NEVER BE OKAY AGAIN!!!!!!!! T_T

Yes, blow everything the fuck up. Die, assholes.

And there goes Robin too. God, I'll just be sobbing for the next several minutes, thanks.

Thank you for coming on this journey with me. I hope you enjoyed my screaming and crying. I hope you went "ohohoho just you wait girl" every time I saw or didn't see a twist coming.

[thattotalloserrain]

My Hate for April O’Neil (2012) Analysis

I want to be clear, even if I put my biases aside, there will still be things in my perspective that may not change. I wasn't a fan of April growing up. Now, as I'm older and more mature, I think I can conclude something better than "she's a b____."

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Throughout the entire franchise, this is the first time we see April as a teenager. In other adaptations, April was that supportive adult (female) character. (Where men loved the write about women, without women's input.)

This is also a 'children' audience show. (I think 12+) Still a show where adults and older teens or children can still enjoy it with that barrier. In a LOT of cases, children's shows wouldn't have top-tier writing on average. Let's just put that in perspective and understand the flaws (and pros) of the writing in the show.)

Flaws:

New York is very, very empty for being a city that never sleeps.

The love triangle with Donnie, Casey, and April

Or Romance in general

I’m sure there’s more but that’s the gist of it

Pros:

Fighting was top tier (still is)

CGI is still really good at the time (Don't look at the human hair)

Splinter's and Shredder's backstories (as well as Karai’s)

Balance between 'seriousness' and 'humor'

Now let's really start talking about April.

As stated in the beginning, April is the first time we actually see her as a teenager, and not in an adult supportive role. In season one, it just doesn't feel like she had any other purpose but to be a friend. Which... also seemed to be very lacking.

"April, you don't count. We saved your life, you have to like us." Mikey (New Friend, Old Enemy)

A lot of our (my) feelings towards her is the relationship between her and Donatello which... Growing up, I even thought it seemed super toxic. There is a clear understanding that Donatello in fact has a deep crush on April. (We'll get into his character analysis later in another post.) Then as we think April feels the same way, but THEN Casey gets in the picture. Even before that, she just off-handedly rejected Donnie's affection towards her even after planting a kiss on his cheek. (This girl can't be that oblivious to know how Donnie feels. I'd like to hope.)

This must make her such a horrible person right? Leading on our favorite purple turtle, just for him to get hurt over and over again, right? Even if they both might be at fault, April was the worst one, as we thought. She’s not the brightest, even with her hot redhead-temper. (As I am)

We forget how we even met April in the first place.

The Kraang. Oh Yes. The sweet, lovely, alien species that has actually been around on Earth for years, suddenly KIDNAPS HER AND HER FATHER. She was kidnapped! Yet of course, the turtles saved her but, her father still was with the Kraang until the end of season one (Sort of back.)

I am not saying that anyone should have a free pass for being not a nice person, but this is something we completely ignored. Trauma can literally affect you in so many ways without realizing it. From an outside perspective, we don't see any struggles with a person sometimes.

So of course April's feelings toward Donnie are a bit unstable, to say the least. She just lost her father, and she now is being taken care of by her aunt. April even says to Casey when he finds out about the guys, that she hadn't had anyone to talk to about them. (Season 2, Fungus Humungous) Have you ever been in that kind of situation before? I'd like to hope not. But to know no matter what you can say, you can't because no one would understand. Then mess that is the love triangle with Casey and Donnie just doesn't help anything because they were all going through the stress of the Kraang evasion.

April really isn't the horrible person I thought she was before, sure she still has a lot of flaws but yet that's what characters need to be able to feel alive, or be able to relate to them. The only thing she does that is questionable is not keeping any boundaries when she sets them, but breaks them herself. It’s hurting everyone.

I'm not going to get too in-depth with her powers. Yet I think it's interesting to point out how it's literally a symbol of her losing herself. She tends to feel so overshadowed and has a need for her powers to become more important and less useless to the team. It just became to a point where she couldn't ask for help before she could see herself needing it. And before she could ask help from the stress with it all… The person inside her that wasn’t her ended up potentially killing Donnie. That will put a lot more mental strain onto her.

So my conclusion…

I still don’t like April, I don’t like how the writers wrote her, I don’t like how she continues to make the problem worse because she’s asking for bad behavior when she tells Donnie and Casey to stop… But holy heck as I said before, this was the first adaptation that we saw April as a teenager, so I could imagine why it felt so off at first why I thought she wasn’t the best. I can see why the writers messed up so horribly at this one because they were probably used to the 80’s April where she was merely only know as today as the most- ehem, most romantically alluring to older guys (I’m not leaving out the ladies or the non-binaries.) Not saying that it was okay, but that’s just what happened.

So yeah, I don’t like her.

What do you guys think about her? After Mutant Mayham came out, I think she is definitely the worst of the three teen-April’s.

[hadeschan]

item # K22E41

RARE Pra Somdej Chao Khun Nor, Wat Thep Sirin, Pim Chedi, Pim Lang Sua, Nua Pong, Ok Wat Silakhantharam. A Buddha amulet with bas-relieves of a meditating Buddha seating on a 3 tiers platform, and the form of Buddha and the tiers is similar to a stupa or Chedi. In the back is with a Yant Nam Tao (cabalistic writings in gourd shape) or Yant Pakawamphee (Pra Pidta) or Yant Pra Sangkajai, a Tiger King, and a Yant Ma-a-u. Made from many types of holy powder including “Pong Pattawee That”, the holy powder from the private collection of Chao Khun Nor that contains Buddha and Arahant relics, holy powder crushed from broken Pra Somdej Bang Khun Phrom of Somdej Pra Buddhachan Toh of Wat Rakhang, and holy powder after making Pra Pong Kwong Kwan Wat Paknam of Luang Phor Sot of Paknam Phasi Charoen. Made by Chao Khun Udomsan Sophon of Wat Thep Sirinthrawat, Bangkok in BE 2513 (CE 1970), blessed / consecrated by Chao Khun Nor of Wat Thep Sirinthrawat at the temple of Wat Thep Sirinthrawat for Neuang Trimaat (3 months of Buddhist Lent) in BE 2513.

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The magic power of Tiger King Amulet fills you with courage, ambition and energy. You will soon be a natural leader and go-getter, yet it also makes people around you feel sensitive, loving and emotional. You will be very competitive, and you are not afraid of taking up any risk for achieving what you want. You would gain honesty, generosity from friends and passionate from lovers. Tiger tooth is also best for chasing ghost, warding off evil spirits, protection of bad luck, bad omen and unlock the spells.

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BEST FOR: Maha Am-naat, it provides Power of Authority to you, and improve your leadership qualities & skills. It helps make people who work under you follow your lead and encourage them to work hard for you, and it helps you have victory over your troubles. Yant Pra Pidta or Yant Pra Sangkajai signifies continuous growth and multiplication in wealth, money luck, and good fortune. Yant Pra Pidta or Yant Pra Sangkajai blinds people who are going to harm you. It casts magic charm and love spells on people around you. It creates confusion inducement to encourage customers to buy whatever you are selling. Yant Pra Pidta or Yant Pra Sangkajai also has a magic power of hypnosis, it turns you to a convincer, you could put any people around you under hypnosis, and take over their minds to do whatever you want. It has a tendency to draw positive energy. Klawklad Plodpai (it helps push you away from all danger), Kongkraphan (it makes you invulnerable to all weapon attack), Nang Nieow, a rock-hard skin that is completely impervious to damage with bludgeoning or piercing weapons. Maha-ut (it stops gun from shooting at you or misses its target), and Metta Maha Niyom (it makes people around you love you, be nice to you, and willing to support you for anything), Wealth Fetching, Maha Larp (it brings lucky wealth), Metta Maha Niyom (it makes people around you love you, be nice to you, and willing to support you for anything), Kaa Kaai Dee (it helps tempt your customers to buy whatever you are selling, and it helps attract new customers and then keep them coming back, Maha Sanay (it helps turn you to Prince Charming in the eyes of women/men). It warns danger coming ahead. And Ponggan Poot-pee pee-saat Kunsai Mondam Sa-niat jan-rai Sat Meepit (it helps ward off evil spirit, demon, bad ghost, bad omen, bad spell, curse, accursedness, black magic, misfortune, doom, and poisonous animals). This amulet helps protect you from manipulators, backstabbers, and toxic people.

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Yant Nam Tao

The Yant Nam Tao (cabalistic writings in gourd shape) or Yant Pakawamphee (Pra Pidta) or Yant  Pra Sangkajai was created by Somdej Pra Buddha Khosachan (Chareon Yannaworatain), an ex-abbot of Wat Thep Sirin between BE 2441 to BE 2494 (CE 1898 to CE 1951).

It is a formula of 3 lines of cabalistic writings with 6 ancient Khmer characters, the top one is A refers to Arahang or Buddha. The 2nd line is with U and Ma, U refers to Uttamatham, a Dharma, the truths that the Buddha revealed, and Ma that refers to Maha Sanggla, the community of Great Buddhist monks who follow the path of Buddha. The 3rd line is with Pa Ka A, the Pa refers to Buddha, the Ka refers to Khosa, and the A refers to Archan or Chan in short, these 3 characters means “Buddha Khosachan” himself who created this formula of cabalistic writings. And then, the 3 lines of cabalistic writings are put inside a frame of gourd shape or Pra Kawanphee or Pra Sangkajai.

Pra Pakawamphee or Pra Pidta (Closing Eyes Buddha) was an Arhat and a disciple of Lord Buddha whose appearance was charming and gorgeously handsome, and people always mistaken him to Buddha and offered him better offerings than other monks, so Pra Pakawamphee turned himself to a fat monk and sealed his face with his 2 hands when he was in his meditation (Pra Pidta / closing eyes Buddha), to blind people around him. So the gesture of Pra Pidta became type of amulet with magical influence to blind people around you with magic charm, and your gaiety and wit would enchanted them all…

Pra Sangkajai / Pra Sangkachai

In Thailand, Budai is sometimes confused with another similar monk widely respected in Thailand, Pra Sangkajai or Sangkachai. Pra Sangkajai, a Thai rendering of Maha Kaccana or Mahakaccayanathera, was a Buddhist Arhata (inSanskrit) or Arahant (in Pali) during the time of the Lord Buddha. Lord Buddha praised Pra Sangkadchai for his excellence in explaining sophisticated dharma(or dhamma) in an easily and correctly understandable manner. Pra Sangkajai (Maha Kaccana) also composed the Madhupinadika Sutra (Madhupindika Sutta MN 18).

One tale of the Thai folklore relates that he was so handsome that once even a man wanted him for a wife. To avoid a similar situation, Pra Sangkachai decided to transform himself into a fat monk. Another tale says he was so attractive that angels and men often compared him with the Buddha. He considered this inappropriate, so disguised himself in an unpleasantly fat body.

Although both Budai and Pra Sangkajai may be found in both Thai and Chinese temples, Pra Sangkajai is found more often in Thai temples, and Budai in Chinese temples. Two points to distinguish them from one another are:

1.Pra Sangkajai has a trace of hair on his head (looking similar to the Buddha’s) while Budai is clearly bald.

2.Pra Sangkajai wears the robes in Theravadin Buddhist fashion with the robes folded across one shoulder, leaving the other uncovered. Budai wears the robes in Chinese style, covering both arms but leaving the front part of the upper body uncovered.

The power of Yant Nam Tao or Yant Pakawamphee or Yant  Pra Sangkajai, it is believed that Yant Nam Tao creates a spell that makes people around you temporary blind to the charm of you. People will be kind to you, and support you no matter what. It brings continuous growth and multiplication in wealth, money luck, and good fortune. Maha Larp (it brings lucky wealth), Metta Maha Niyom (it makes people around you love you, be nice to you, and willing to support you for anything), Kaa Kaai Dee (it helps tempt your customers to buy whatever you are selling, and it helps attract new customers and then keep them coming back, Klawklad Plodpai (it pushes you away from all danger), Maha-ut (it helps stop gun from shooting at you).

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Yant Ma-a-u

The Ma-a-u Cabalistic Writings means “I take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Buddhist Monk”, also refers to the Three Jewels, Triple Gem, or Three Refuges are the supports in which a Buddhist takes refuge by means of a prayer or recitation at everyday life.

These Three Jewels are:

The Buddha, the fully enlightened one

The Dharma, the teachings expounded by the Buddha

The Buddhist Monk, the monks who practice the Dharma.

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CHAO KHUN NOR OF WAT THEP SIRINTHRAWAT

Chao Khun Norrarath Rachamanit (Chao Khun Nor) was born on Saturday, 5th Febuary BE2440 and was the eldest of the family of 5 children. He was in the first group of students of the 1st Official University of Kingdom Siam, later known as Chulalongkorn University. After completing his studies, Chao Khun Nor became an officer of the Royal House of King Rama VI. He became the closest attendant to the King and he was promoted to serve at the King’s chamber and attended to the King’s daily needs. After the death of the King Rama VI, Chao Khun Nor was devastated. He left the palace in BE 2468.

His parents wanted him to get married with a lady teacher after seeing Chao Khun Nor was in lament over the death of the King. However, before the marriage would be engaged, Chao Khun Nor told his parents that he wanted to enter monkshood.

Chao Khun Nor ordained on 23th March BE 2468 at Wat Thepsirintravas, a day before King Rama VI was cremated. He became a monk as thamboon (making a merit) for the King Rama VI. Chao Khun Nor was a devoted vegetarian who consumed only a meal a day and decided never to leave the monkshood. He was ordained by Somdej Phra Buddha Ko-sacharn (Charoen), who was also his preceptor. Phra Putwiriyaaigon, the abbot of Wat Sommanatwiharn and Phra Udon Seelahkon Wat Thepsirin were the Dhamma teachers.

STRICT OBSERVANCE OF THE 227 PRECEPTS

It is widely believed that Chao Khun Nor could accurately predict the future by looking at finger and palm prints. When the villagers heard of that ability, all of them flocked to the temple asking him to tell them their future but they were declined by Chao Khun Nor. Despite that, many people continued to visit Chao Khun Nor very often even though they know that they will most probably go back empty handed. They all came for an assortment of reasons ranging from offering presents, to seek a guidance about their problems and to ask Chao Khun Nor about their future lives. Chao Khun Nor was very uncomfortable, pity and sad with all these human beings.

When the villagers offered things to Chao Khun Nor, Chao Khun Nor advised them to bring those to other monks as he strictly observed the 227 provisions of moral precepts. Chao Khun Nor also mentioned that one would similarly accumulate merits when giving offerings to other monks. This made the villagers unhappy and felt that Chao Khun Nor looked down on them. They people brought the matter up to Somdej Phra Buddha Kosacharn (Charoen).

When Somdej Phra Buddha Kosacharn heard this, he asked Chao Khun Nor about this matter. Chao Khun Nor explained that the reason he did not accept the offerings or attendance from the villagers because he was ordained for the purpose of making a merit to King Rama VI. Besides that, he also needed to maintain good concentration in order to study the teachings of Buddhism. In order to succeed, he needed to have no connections to the outside world. All the people who came to visit him brought along the troubles of the world, which adversely affected his concentration. When Somdej Phra Buddha Kosacharn heard his reason, he sympathized and agreed with him.

Chao Khun Nor had strictly observed the 227 precepts, he did not accept any form of offerings from the villagers. The room in which he lived was very empty and consisted of only the basic necessities. There was even no electric lighting. Chao Khun Nor did all his readings in the daytime. When Chao Khun Nor went back to his room, he would lock the door and stay inside. No one ever knew what he did in his room and he never came out to receive guests. He never accepted anything from anyone with the exception of his nephew who would bring vegetarian food from his mother. Chao Khun Nor spent most of his time in his monk’s house.

At the temple, they placed some skeletons of dead people to aid the monks in the development of their insight. The intention was to remind the monks that the female body would eventually resemble this ugly state so that they will refrain from sex and impure thoughts as well as to reinforce the rule of impermanence. LP Parn of Wat Bang Nom Kho Ayutthaya also practiced in such a manner.

WATER AFTER WASHING CHAO KHUN NOR’S FEET COULD CURE SICKNESS

It is a daily routine for Chao Khun Nor to walk back to the monk’s house. There were 2 things that were significantly different with him. Firstly, he did not wear any slippers like the villagers and walked around barefeet. The second and most remarkable was that he always walked on tip-toes and his heels never touched the ground. No one knows why he walked like that but it was assumed that it was a kind exercise for his leg muscles. Before stepping into the monk’s house, he would wash his feet in a basin and dry them.

A village was hit by a deadly disease and one of the villagers was instructed to bring an empty bottle to Chao Khun Nor to ask for some holy water to try to cure his fellow villagers but was declined. The villager had no idea what to do and how to get holy water from CKN to appease the villagers. Out of desperation, he decided to take water from the basin used for washing Chao Khun Nor’s feet and brought it back to his place to give to the sick. Nobody knew the origins of the water and what it was used for. After those sick people drank the water which they thought was holy water given by Chao Khun Nor, all of them were miraculously cured. This greatly puzzled the man who brought back that water to the village.

When this rumor spread out, people who heard it, then all rushed towards Wat Thepsirin to ask Chao Khun Nor for this special holy water but he denied having given any to anyone much to their disappointment. When the villagers heard Chao Khun Nor’s reply, they were all very confused as to where the holy water came from.

The monk staying next to Chao Khun Nor couldn’t stand it anymore as more and more people flocked to the temple and decided to clarify to the villagers once and for all that Chao Khun Nor had never given any holy water to anyone. However, there was one man who came to beg for it but was declined. He also witnessed the same man taking the water from Chao Khun Nor’s feet washing basin but at that time, he did not know what the man was doing.

When the origins of the “holy water” was established, all the villages rushed to take water from the basin. Some waited around for it to be filled up and immediately emptied the basin. This made it a very hectic job for the person responsible for topping up the basin as he had to do it numerous times a day. Finally, the basin was placed in Chao Khun Nor’s room to stop all trouble.

MIRACLE AT THE AMULETS BLESSING CEREMONIES

There were reports of strange incidents happening when Chao Khun Nor made incantations. On the fateful day of Saturday, 25th April BE2513, a photographer was assigned to take photographs of him consecrating a batch of amulets and was busy snapping pictures of the long and elaborate process until it was finished. After the photographs were developed, there was something strange and remarkable about a picture in which Chao Khun Nor was sprinkling holy water on the amulets. The wooden brush that was used to sprinkle holy water emitted white light from its tip. There were many people who were present at the ceremony but the light was not seen by anyone there. It only showed up on the picture. Everyone was amazed as they could not find any logical explanation for this. However, everyone agreed that it could not have been caused by the actual physical sprinkling of holy water itself.

There was another strange incident on Saturday, 5th December BE 2513. There was a big ceremony at Wat Thepsirin and many people came to witness the event. Chao Khun Nor announced that it was going to be the last time he was going to make incantations for the blessing of amulets. In a photograph, the flames from the candles which were lined up directly in front of the principle Buddha statue were “swaying” as if there was a strong wind blowing. However, all the windows and doors were shut during that time and there was no wind at all. The flames should have been completely still. Everyone who was at the ceremony were astonished when the picture was shown. This particular picture was taken when Chao Khun Nor was making incantations in front of the principal Buddha image in a temple and Chao Khun Udomsarasophon was blessing the amulets with holy water.

Based on the pictorial evidence taken during the ceremony, there was widespread belief that the strange incidents were the result that Chao Khun Nor was already an arhat.

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DIMENSION: 3.70 cm high / 2.50 cm wide / 0.70 cm thick

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[anthonybialy]

For Beta or Worse

Society’s not improving under the stewardship of unpleasant guys pretending to be swell.  The future isn’t progressive.  Beta brutes embody the most unfortunate of tendencies in these prehistoric modern times while trying feebly to contain their cavemen urges.  Pretending to care is not a new trick.  Civilization is plagued by the toxic lack of masculinity.

I hate to be cynical in the assessment of faux sensitive fellows who express admiration for ladies by wallowing in the worst stereotypes of femininity.  Actually, I revel in it.  Jaded distrust should always remain a characteristic of every gender and especially the one who can rank Jackass movies.  

Prehistoric modern men engage in the worst sort of ulterior motive, namely an attempt to make ladies wrongly believe they’re worth a special hug.  Sucking up may not enable scoring.  The only thing that could be even more repulsive about their alleged game is pretending to be wholesome.  At least be honest about creepiness.

Showing how deeply concerned they are convinces nobody, including their intended conquests.  Enlightened dudes who don’t give in to troglodytical impulses are quite nasty in their rage.

The truly tolerant enjoy targeting anyone who dares not submit to current conventional wisdom, which is unconventional and unwise.  Enervated guys make a show of allegedly being allies, which is now defined as pandering paired with virtue-signaling.  They wish someone would print t-shirts that announce how sensitive they are so they could stop trying to stick out their chests.

Nurturing fellows illustrate the new style of grit by going after the most successful female author ever.  Impugning fictional wizard creator and real-world biology follower J.K. Rowling reflects dedication to adoring women so much that a man can become one just by declaring such.   The audacity to question the science of announcing a gender switcheroo is a far greater offense in these enlightened times than antiquated crimes like shoplifting and mugging.

The expect on spells committed the crime of noticing no magic can alter biology.  Science’s enemies flaunt how courageous they are on behalf of women by proclaiming joining their ranks is a decision.  Assailing those who wonder if the apparent delusion is really happening is one way to be accepting.  Sexist barbarians think men can’t infringe on womanhood by switching sides.

The only group of genetic males worse than embracers of genuinely phony empathy are fake alphas.  Alleged strength without righteous focus was bad enough at Limp Bizkit concerts.

Focusing on winning at all costs isn’t merely a wholesale misunderstanding of how a backbone functions: the lack of a noble guiding principle leads to humiliations like losing to Joe Biden.  It’d be much more amusing if everyone else didn’t have to endure results.

The feebleness of intended imposed changes offers the only consolation.  As with fuming crab Biden failing to implement his ghastly agenda, ineffectiveness is a blessing when it affects twerps.

Craving resolve without displaying it leads to regrettable results like flaccid bully Putin as some sort of vigorous adventurer.  For alpha males, they sure spend lots of time worshiping guys they think are dreamy.

Presidents leave legacies, often unfortunately.  Donald Trump of course typifies role-playing as a virile stud to those who enjoy being suckered.  The former steak salesman and federal executive has spent his lifetime portraying himself as the standard of manliness.

Doing what he thinks you think he should be is undoubtedly virile.  Focus on image like a true independently rugged human.  The perpetual pouter turned the inability to beat Joe freaking Biden into a flaccid riot.  Indignant broheims couldn’t even mount an insurrection properly.

The need to be ranked surely doesn’t mask overcompensation.  Allegedly charming specimens whine like vegans at steakhouses.  Constantly needing to proclaim they’re at the top tier is itself a sign of insecurity.  Players with tells never recognize any of them.

Like Three Stooges shorts, the plot isn’t tricky.  At least the male idiocy when Moe takes his frustration out on Larry’s ineptness is deliberate.  Testosterone lightweights act in a manner they perceive to be feminine, which is the most insulting treatment around.

Women can spot pandering in order to lamely try to seduce them.  Sometimes, the effort applies to convincing them to vote, which is even sleazier.  Presuming all women are cool with aborting the inconvenient is for cloaked predators in multiple senses.

Insincerity has never been truer.  The modern anti-roughhousing guy says whatever he thinks women want to hear.  Like how communism and fascism are alleged opposites that end up with identical tyranny, the false tough and truly delicate guys should form an alliance with a limp handshake.

Illiberal liberal fellows trade in ironic sexism.  Technical males seethe without possessing the physical strength or mental fortitude to act commendably.  They offer the best of both worlds otherwise.  Pretending pushups put to good use causes societal ills has led to anger without moral focus.  Emasculation somehow didn’t create strength.

[hussyknee]

Stayed up till 5am to finish it and I don't regret it in the least. It's not the kind of shocking plot twist one would read a murder mystery for, but it feels like KJC chose the emotional resolution that is her brand over an A-for-Effort Christiesque ending. I suppose that answers the question of whether she's clever enough to do a real whodunit well; i.e, clever enough to know she couldn't do it as well as a whodunit writer and retain the feeling of a whodunit without trying to be one. Readers want authentic vibes, not authenticity.

The other great gratification of KJC's books is that she always sets up and validates my political and moral conclusions. In this case, the fact that rich white men are always the worst and and asking to be murdered, liberals are the vilest, most poisonous bigots, and that just because you're dead doesn't mean you're the real victim. It's almost a mediation on restorative justice vs punitive; the ways legal justice is created to punish all the wrong people. More anarchists should write murder mysteries.

I'm extremely pleased and full of tender, aching feelings for Jem (despite the fact that my intrusive thoughts keep trying to cast Martin Freeman in the role) and Nicky (who may or may not have survived the story). The book is coloured by Jem's disabled, working-class vulnerability and values, raw betrayal and confusion and bitterness of wasted life and promise, and quiet but profound trauma. It's also top-tier disability representation. The pain and self-consciousness and anxiety of Jem's club foot creates a throbbing tempo throughout the book, from trembling fatigue to dull pain to flaring agony. At one point he decides to open a door that a murderer could be hiding inside because he's shaking with exhaustion at the top of a slippery flight of stairs and there's no way he could escape anyway. Idk whether non-disabled people also have those matter-of-fact, fatalistic "I'm-going-to-die-anyway" choices but it hit me in the ribcage as a disabled person. I could feel in my marrow the choices he has to make between his dwindling money, sparing his foot and calculating his physical vulnerability at every point. Most times there is no "responsible choice", there's just a picking one of two or three bad options and hoping for the best. It's what made the consciousness that it didn't have to be like this, he could have completed his degree and found financial security, purpose, confidence, self-respect and love, so inescapable.

And yet it never became toxic and gangrenous the way Tobey's bitterness did. Because it wasn't about what Jem felt the world owed him, but what he felt his friends owed each other. He wanted back his ability to care about people and trust them, he wanted his friends' characters restored, he wanted justice for his friend who had treated him the foulest possible way. He wanted, most of all, to know his heart hadn't chosen wrong. That's what gives you such a deep and aching investment in these characters.

I think that's what made this book so deeply emotionally satisfying in a way a simple whodunit wouldn't have been: the raw, honest emotional core that begs for love and healing and gets it.

(No HEA my foot.)

Edit: what do you mean St. Anselm's is a fictional Oxford college?? All the history and atmosphere and descriptions are wholecloth bullshit?? There's entire fantasy franchises with less involved world building than what KJC gave this place!

Gave up on Cat Sebastian after seven books (I'll go back and try her 20th century period novels later since I'm told they might be better) and started reading KJ Charles's new Death in the Spires instead. Instantly grabbed by the heart, mind and balls (or whatever the female anatomy equivalent would be). No plodding, skimming or patience necessary. Already blown through 75 pages. If I had this much chemistry on every date with another human being I might actually marry them, and my jaded and divorced ass does not say that lightly.

It's a bit of a departure this time because it's a murder mystery set in the Edwardian era (which includes the 1890s for me personally bc if there's cars around Victoria is as good as dead) rather than yet another 19th century romance. The protagonist is queer and the vibe is def Be Gay Do Crimes but Charles has taken care to plaster everywhere that this is NOT a guaranteed HEA. Idk whether that means we're going to be left with an uneasy, reeling Agatha Christie ending or it just went without saying because why would a murder mystery have a HEA? I'm really interested to see whether Charles can pull it off though. She's the kind of confident and intelligent plotter that makes you think could write clever whodunits, so this feels like putting her money where her mouth gave the impression it might be. I don't know how but the Christie vibes are hella strong in this one, and the pacing is, as ever, a study in excellence.

[respectthepetty]

Todd loves Black and knows it.

That's why he was hurt when Black told him to kill him.

That's why he could never kill Black.

That's why he was upset that Black rarely visited and when he did, he was injured.

That's why when he saw Black instead of White standing in front of him, he smiled.

That's why he always smiled.

That's why he wanted to give Black the world.

That's why he let him in each time.

That's why he told the guards to leave.

Black loves Todd but doesn't know it.

That's why he couldn't.

[manifestingunicorn]

ARI 2.0| New era, new me

This post is inspired by @cleostoohot post. I will be updating these weekly and will try to post success stories+ proof as much as possible

Personal:

1. Poo’s self concept

2. No toxicity in my life whatsoever

3. Things always going according to my way

4. All my manifestations showing up consistently and instantly, no matter what.

5. Pretty privilege wherever i go ✅

6. Getting sufficient sleep no matter how many hours i sleep for

7. Acing every manifestation challenge that i take part in

Appearance:

1. Being the hottest girl of Uni

2. Perfect hourglass body

3. 36C boobs

4. Bubblebutt

5. Glowing skin

Relationships:

1. Clarity over my love life✅

2. My besties flying down to my city to see me

3. My parents being extremely liberal with me and always supporting me

4. More and more friends who love and respect me in my uni ✅

Academic/financial

1. Being extremely smart in studies

2. Amazing money making opportunities coming my way always

3. Working at a top tier firm

4. My family and I being a money magnet

5. My family always spoiling me with money

6. An 8 pointer

7. Sufficient attendance

Luxury:

1. Owning an SM bag

2. A family trip to Bangkok

3. Random men spoiling me with flowers and luxury because they find me too pretty

Magical:

1. Being able to speak to butterflies

[sukirichi]

personal disaster

Toji took the personal invitation to be your personal disaster.

REQUEST. toxic toji + enemies to greater enemies + toji railing reader in front of someone they’re seeing because he doesn’t want to see you happy but he doesn’t want to “keep” you either

PAIRINGS. toxic toji x reader x mafia! leader noritoshi kamo (he’s just witnessing the fun, dw)

CONTENT/WARNINGS: rough sex, slight bloodplay, violence, toxic toji, toxic and abusive relationships, choking, begging kink (you’ll be surprised in what way), degradation, mass murder, mentions of blood, cuckolding, overstimulation, reader is kind of crazy, hate fucking, neck slicing, IT’S DARK okay? unedited too, sorry for typos and grammatical errors 

WC: 3.5k+

masterlist !

Your arm looped with your fiancé’s, his possessive arm wrapped around your waist. He glared at everyone who stared at you with a lust filled gaze, his cold eyes alone enough to send his people staring at the ground with a tug of their jackets to hide their erection. You almost felt bad for them, knowing that they always saw how your pussy took Noritoshi’s cock so well, but that was it.

They could only see but never had a taste of the specimen you were because you were the mafia leader’s fiancé, soon to be the Queen of his empire while you sat pretty next to him, getting richer and richer with each passing second before you fulfilled your duty and birthed him an heir.

Noritoshi wasn’t in a rush, though. He was a man of sensual pleasure, wanting to take his time with you and getting to know you, and take his time he did.

There was not a day that he didn’t have you moaning under his silk sheets, wrists already chafed from the handcuffs he insisted on using you, simply because he was a man who liked to exert dominance and craved being in power. You never denied him – how could you when all you had to do was spread your legs and you got that coin?

You were beyond a slut for him, however, and this much was clear when Noritoshi announced that you were his and his only.

When even that didn’t deter the curious hands of his people from pumping their cocks at the thought of you, Noritoshi have had enough. He roughly slammed his lips to yours before he melted at the sweetness of your lips, soon turning gentle before he slipped a ring inside your finger to make it official.

Noritoshi, dramatic as ever, wanted everyone to know about this engagement as loudly as he could without opening his mouth.

Your fiancé had a flare for the theatrics, which was why he didn’t blink an eye as he got you an expensive designer dress, hand-stitched, and flaunting you around – flaunting his soon to be wife hanging off of his arm proudly.

He guided you into his limousine until you reached a night sky nightclub that was notorious for its luxury. Not even the richest people belonging in the top tier of society could afford a single ticket, much less a private room. Noritoshi made the right choice by walking with you down the hallways, the walls transitioning from a glossy black to a velvet tint, leading into one of the VIP rooms that was already surrounded by his guards.

The whole way there, Noritoshi didn’t loosen his grip on you, making sure his hand was cupping your ass to flash your ring and his.

Several envious gazes and curious ones later, followed by hushed whispers before the pair of you disappeared behind the double doors, Noritoshi loosened up in his seat, satisfied that he’d marked his territory successfully.

Noritoshi uncapped a bottle of fine whiskey served by a shivering waiter, while you sat next to him, legs crossed enough that the poor blushing waiter flushed at the sight of your bare cunt.

You checked your nails, smirking at the velvet black acrylics Noritoshi was generous enough to let you borrow his black card for. The dress you wore was infinitely superb too, the bust firm enough to push your breasts high enough that the outline of your cleavage was just a step away from exposing your nipples – a tease, as always – just as how Noritoshi wanted.

He was like that; always dangling the treasure right in front of people’s mouths as they salivated in hunger, then bringing it back to his grasp just before they took a bite.

How Noritoshi, you thought.

Out of nowhere, muffled gunshots could be heard from the outside, your eyes cat-like as they glared at the door, waiting for people to burst through. Not a second later, one of your guards rudely invited himself in, pushing the curtain that hid a secret exit as he started babbling nonsense about a madman or something.

“What’s wrong?” Noritoshi asked calmly over his glass, swirling the glass with a satisfying clink. “What’s all the commotion about?”

“Sir, you need to leave! There’s an assassin here and he’s easily taking our men down!”

“Assassin?” he scoffed with a pinch of his brow. “What do you mean assassin? This is a private nightclub – isn’t our security tough?”

“Yes, sir, but he’s easily overpowering us—”

“This assassin you speak of,” you stopped inspecting your nails, placing them over your knee instead. A smirk painted your bold red lips when the guard’s eyes trailed downwards to your shaven cunt, his Adam’s apple bobbing at the sight before he turned away, stiffening harder once he met Noritoshi’s glare. “Is he tall, dark, has a scar running down in his lip and has a crazy look in his eye?”

“Y-yes, that’s exactly him.”

“Do you know who he is, darling?”

You scrunched your noise, uncrossing your legs out of poor mercy to this man. He looked like he’d faint soon – seriously, didn’t Noritoshi have enough sluts for his men to fuck? “An old friend of mine, although I could hardly call him that when he took everything from me,” eyes darkening at the memory of him, you pushed yourself off the velvet cushions of the couch, swiping at the gun strapped to your thigh. “You should leave, Toshi. I’ll handle him.”

“You’ll handle him? It’s unsafe – we need to leave—”

Sigh, he always worried too much over you. It was so easy for him to forget you lived an equally dark life prior meeting him, so you pressed your lips against his, making sure to mark the edges red to remind him he had nothing to worry about. As always, it shut Noritoshi up, his hands coming up to caress at your ass.  

“He won’t hurt me,” you assured, palms laid flat on his chest. “Now go.”

Noritoshi wasn’t given a chance when you nodded at his guard, who got the message and dragged his boss away rather harshly behind the curtain. Smirking, you made your way outside, adrenaline rushing through your veins and heat seeping into your core. This night just got a lot more interesting.

Your fun was spoiled, however, when you were met with blood stained walls and limbs torn everywhere. A sneer made its way to your face, not because you were disgusted by the sight, but because he was still as boring and upfront as ever.

He never let you had your fun.

“Toji,” you greeted the tall man sitting on top of the pile of bodies, brows raised because it’s been a long time and he still hadn’t changed. He still wore the exact same fitted black shirt that looked like it would rip into pieces at each of his movements, which to your surprise, never did. “Still as messy as ever, huh?” you clicked your tongue, bunching your dress up with your fists as you stepped over the bodies, making sure not to slip from the sea of blood. “Jeez. You’re not even the least bit concerned about the cleaners.”

“Sweetheart,” he crooned, mirroring your smug expression as he jumped down his throne of corpses, roughly tilting your chin up so you could look him in the eye.

Even with high heels, Toji effortlessly towered over you, reminding you again and again of the strength difference. Though you held your ground pretty well, and he knew this too, otherwise he wouldn’t have struggled so much in his mercenary work the moment you came.

“It’s so nice to see you again – or is that what you wanted me to say?” Your lips stretched for a sinister laugh, Toji beating you to it when his strong hands came to wrap around your neck, slamming you on the wall hard enough he blurred in your vision for a moment. You kept chuckling through the lack of air, tongue darting out to lick the blood of his knuckles. Toji growled, “Don’t think I’ve forgotten what you’ve done to me, bitch. You ruined my pretty face with those nails of yours.”

“Can’t blame a woman, Toji, you weren’t letting me cum.”

“To be fair, you were leaving me after you killed all my clients when I kindly asked you to keep your hands to yourself,” Toji sneered, head darting down to rip the diamond necklace Noritoshi got you onto the ground. You whined upon seeing the crystals scatter onto the floor, millions worth now dipped in blood. What a fucking shame. “But you’ve always been a naughty little minx, aren’t you? You just can’t keep your hands off of beautiful men.”

“Trust me, Toji, what’s inside their pockets are a lot prettier than faces,” you giggled as your hand came up to trace the scar on his lips, eyes narrowed into appreciative slits. “Nothing would ever be prettier than this.”

“Is it still a face you want to sit on?”

“Fuck, yes,” you admitted, pushing yourself off the wall to wrap your legs around him.

The momentum took Toji by surprise, forgetting that you were just as strong as him as he staggered two steps backwards. His grip tightened on your hip to steady you both, the sharp blade of his weapon poking against your thigh threateningly.

It didn’t bother you, and you only nuzzled your nose against his almost affectionately, staring him in the eyes as you mumbled, “I fucking missed you.”

“Then why did you leave?” he grunted while grinding you down on his cock, hissing for a split second when your killer heels dug into his lower back. He could feel blood leaking from how the shoe pierced him, but he made no move to push you away, enticing you to kiss the corners of his lips to worship his scar. He was so beautiful, sinfully gorgeous that you always lost your mind around him.

He was your end, your ruin, your destruction – and you left in a poor attempt to keep your heart safe.

“How long has it been since I had my hands on you, huh, pretty thing? Six months, maybe more? Time gets so blurry when I’m not buried in your tight cunt,” Toji buried his nose in the crook of your neck, using the blade of his sword to tear your dress open, leaving your lower half revealed to him.

“Oh, you asshole, that was expensive!”

“Don’t give a fuck, baby,” he rolled his eyes, and of course he didn’t. Toji wasn’t any better than you; both your minds were always clouded and hazy with sex. “You smell different. Got another man?”

“Hmm, and he’s much better than you are,” Your words ticked Toji off, knowing full well he always hated it whenever you poked at his ego. Toji was a man of many things, and every time you implied that he wasn’t something, you could expect that he would fuck you so hard you wouldn’t be able to feel your legs for days. Now that was exactly what you wanted, so you kept going, your nails travelling under his shirt to leave more scratches at his already ruined back – all thanks to you. “He’s rich, classy, handsome, praises me instead of calls me a little slut—”

“Aren’t you?”

“I am,” you agreed shamelessly with a sultry laugh, looking back at him with a devious glint in your eye. “But I like being worshipped every now and then.”

“Haven’t I done that enough? You talk as if I never made you feel good.”

“Oh, don’t get me wrong, nothing can still compare to your cock, Toji,” Your other hand shoved itself down his pants to feel him, soft pants leaving those pretty mouth of yours when felt his cock bare, the tip already wet with pre-cum.

Of fucking course Toji executed his missions on commando mode – he couldn’t be bothered to keep his fat cock imprisoned.

“But he’s richer. And he’s willing to marry me, breed me until I’m swollen with his children and pamper me afterwards. He’s willing to make me his.”

“You fucking slut,” Toji shoved his tongue inside your mouth, the moans spilling from your lips to his only encouraging him to align his huge length onto your already dripping cunt – always so wet and ready to be filled by him – before he slammed you all the way down. The sudden stretch had you biting on his tongue to muffle your moan, Toji’s hands bruising as he cupped your ass. Toji clenched his jaw upon feeling your walls embrace him warmly, his breaths ragged and faint.

It made your chest swell with pride at the thought that only you could make the infamous Fushiguro Toji this disarranged.

“What is it with you sticking to alpha males all the fucking time?”

“A princess wants her throne beside a handsome prince, Toji. Just because your family didn’t like you, doesn’t mean mine did too. I grew up being told fairy tales while you ran rampant in the streets,” you bit back, the sinister laugh painting the blood red walls dark because you knew Toji better than anyone, and one of the things that always set him off like a bomb was the mention of his abusive family.

You couldn’t wait to see how he would ruin you, and you moaned loudly when Toji grabbed your jaw until your cheeks were squished, the cold of his blade held against your throat sending a shiver down your spine.

“Are you the slightest bit aware of how much I want to kill you right now? Slice your lovely neck and fuck you while you suffocate in your own blood?” You gasped as you felt warm liquid slowly bleed out from the slightest cut, your blood sliding down your chest and under the leftover materials of your dress. Toji used his bare hands to rip the dress apart, your tits bouncing the moment they were freed from its confines.

The guttural groan that echoed from his throat was pure animalistic, similar to the carnal thrusts of his dick that pummelled into you. He pushed you flat on your back until your skin pricked with the shards of glass on the bar countertops, the pain only adding to your pleasure.

Toji kept you locked underneath his arm, his hands choking the air out of you while you clenched around him repeatedly, your walls sucking him in tight enough that Toji lost rhythm in his thrusts. “Only you would like that, Toji,” you choked out in a broken gasp, the man above you growling when you picked up a broken wine glass to push his hands off of you.

Blood coated both your bodies as Toji drove his dick deeper, hitting all the spots that only he could ever reach.

“I’m a man of rare taste.”

“So fucking rare,” you teased. Toji’s middle finger and thumb met once they wrapped around your neck, pulling you off the table to bounce you on his cock, using only his masculine virility and raw strength to fuck you good.

The sudden change of position had the tip of his cock pressing into your most sensitive spots, Toji’s angry grunts sinful yet so erotic as your bumpy walls kissed the veins of his cock.

Toji suddenly wrapped an arm under your breasts, flipping you over until you were met by the sight of Noritoshi standing still outside his VIP room, his gun aimed at the both of you. “Uh-uh – I wouldn’t do that if I were you, pretty boy,” he warned, his words taking a huge hit on Noritoshi when his arm wavered. “One cut is all I need and your lovely fiancé’s body would be swimming in her own blood. Now, you wouldn’t want to waste such a beauty, right?”

“Y/N!” he suddenly dropped his gun, hands raised in surrender beside his head. If Toji wasn’t driving his dick like a fucking animal, you would’ve broken Noritoshi’s nose, ashamed that he surrendered so easily. Noritoshi’s dark eyes turned to Toji’s, heat seeping off of him in waves. “I will never forgive you for what you’re doing!”

“Wasn’t asking for forgiveness, shorty,” Toji pressed, using two fingers to split your lips open, giving Noritoshi the show of his life as Toji’s fat cock stretched you open completely, your puffy lips wrapped around his swollen length.

You knew you looked so dirty right now, skin covered in blood, wearing nothing but your black heels that accentuated your legs while Toji split your body in half.

A strangled moan was pulled from you when Toji hitched one of your legs, his arm hooked behind your knee, completely exposing yourself to Noritoshi. Even though you couldn’t see yourself, the squelching of your pussy taking in Toji’s cream filled dick was so pornographic you couldn’t help the heightening of your arousal, breasts bouncing as Toji kept up his relentless pounding.

“Come on, sweetheart, let him see how much I’m stretching you out. Watch as she loses herself around my fact cock like the fucking whore she is,” Toji laughed, silencing your incoherent fucked out mumbled by shoving a thumb through your lips, smearing your lipstick to the side as if you weren’t a mess already.  “Oh, look at his face. You don’t mean to tell me he doesn’t know how filthy you are, huh, sweetheart?”

“Shut the fuck up.”

“What the fuck did you say to me?” Toji slapped your ass, your walls clenching around him on instinct. Noritoshi’s eyes widened when you only moaned in response, the blissful smile on his ace rendering him silent. “Not so threatening now, huh, Kamo?” Toji leered, snickering at the apparent tent growing in your fiance’s pants.

It was absolutely sickening that he got off at the sight of his pretty little fiancé be used by some other man, but Toji respected all kinks, even if he didn’t have much respect for Noritoshi to begin with.

“Come on, sweetheart. Scream for me. Say my fucking name like you always used to. Let’s show this pretty boy here how awful you are before he regrets being with you,” Toji snapped his hips harder into you, causing you to see stars that mixed with the sight of Noritoshi falling onto his knees, your name a plead for his lips.

Toji’s cock only twitched at the sight of seeing someone so helpless, to see the infamous powerful Kamo leader beg for Toji to save you and let you go.

He always knew he had a begging kink, but he didn’t think it would come in this form.

“T-Toshi—” you moaned out, eyes snapped shut. You couldn’t think anymore, the only sounds filling your ears were Noritoshi’s cries and Toji’s ragged pants in your ear, his hand pressing down on the apparent bulge of your lower stomach every time he bottomed out.

“I said, say my fucking name.”

“Toji, Toji, fuck!” you leaned backwards and placed your head on his shoulder while he grabbed your hair to kiss you, that familiar heat beginning to form in your core. Unable to help it, your moans fell left and right, loud enough that it drowned out Noritoshi’s pleads. Toji laughed at both of you – called you the dumbest lovers alive – so he kissed you, more tongue and teeth than lips, his thrusts sloppy and desperate. “Oh, oh fuck, yes, yes, right there, oh!”

“You can never fuck her like I do. You can never make her feel good like I do. See how she’s moaning so pretty for me? You can never have her.”

“You’re so fucking unfair,” you cried out, hands tugging at his hair. Toji never let up for even a moment as his thrusts slowed; the new pace he set slow yet deep. Toji pulled out his cock slowly to make you feel him inch by inch, your walls licking at his cock vein by vein until only the tip was left inside, before thrusting full into you in one swift movement of his hips. “You can’t just break up with me and – fuck – tell me I can’t be with others.”

“I own you, sweetheart – I’m your personal disaster,” Toji taunted, large hands groping at your breast when your eyes snapped open, his last final thrusts turning your pussy to mush.

You came around him, hard and overwhelmingly so. Your hands wrapped around his bicep to steady your shaking legs, his name spoken like a prayer with malicious tone as if to curse him. Toji pushed you off his cock until you fell on the floor, his rough hands grabbing at your jaw again to face him, thick spurts of his cum painting your face.

Taking them all in like a good girl, Toji swiped his length over the slope of your nose and pushed the still hard cock through your lips. His hands gripped your head tight as he fucked into your mouth, nothing but anger shown through that scarred face while your jaw fell slack and sore.

“And I’ll break you over and over again until you’re reminded that you’re mine.”

[argonianprince]

I obviously don't know the guy personally so none of this is fact or whatever

BUT

As a queer person I've seen so many queer people with white dude friends who are blatantly toxic in a lot of ways, including being more subtly homophobic. Have these guys around can make people feel validated because the top -tier type of human is acknowledging them, and I've seen people ignore a LOT of horrible behavior to keep these guys around. Not saying that that is what's happening here, but I'm not going to judge this guy based on this person's positive interactions with him. I think it's gross that he didn't pay her for her editing work. Even if she insisted, he could have at least been like "well have lunch, on me, for your time" or something. So taking a first hand account with a grain of salt. I also still think it's awful that he uses his kids in videos in the way described.

But anyway someone who says "this character can't have gay relationships in fandom because they only had straight relationships in canon" has a very weak grasp of the fundamentals of both fandom, and human sexuality. A bi (or whatever) woman who only dates men is still bi. Especially in the case of a character who was created in the 1930's, and then made a lot of money and was continually marketed to kids. Nancy Drew books were probably written by queer people at points along her cannon existence who couldn't write her as anything but straight, and taking away fans' interpretations of her is definitely homophobic, if not to the character than to the queer fans who see themselves in her, or look up to her and wish she resembled them in that way. We had a queer character in the last Nancy Drew game to be created by the original HerInteractive team; who knows what would have happened in the future. Maybe a throwaway line about Nancy (or Bess or George or Ned or Frank or Joe) thinking that a same-gender person was cute. Who knows. It wouldn't have directly conflicted with canon at all.

Okay my partner just made a GREAT point

By his logic, Nancy can't be shipped with anyone, because she only dated Ned in the source material. So why didn't he say "it's not okay to ship her with anyone except Ned??" That is just homophobic for real. Why is it only girls that fans "shouldn't" ship her with?? Not even low key gross to say. Also anyone who thinks they are the arbitor of fandom is delusional, that's completely ridiculous to say even if he had written 50 Nancy Drew books. The more I think about it the more I dislike his behavior and rhetoric

does anyone else have beef with arglephumph. Idk why I don't like him but he just makes me angry

[silkgonerough]

Astrology Observation/rants? #1

❤️I’ve noticed that people who have venus unaspected in their chart are incredibly attractive idk why???

👸Moon trine/conjunct venus is such a nice placement to have in regards to people in general but especially to the opposite sex. I feel like ppl tend to treat you more gently and kindly bc of it’s feminine energy. It gives a prince/princess charm to the natives mannerisms bc they’re so kind and warm! Men with this placement are kind of babied and seen in higher regards by women (especially older women!!) and the women are kind of protected and nurtured through men. This also goes both ways where women with this placement probably have amazing relationships with other women and the guys are that one friend who has a lowkey bromance with all of his friends lol,, It’s rlly hard to see these ppl in a malefic or fearful light.

🙎‍♀️Moon in Scorpio females have eyes that can pierce through your soul

💆Men with Aquarius venus and Capricorn Mars are top tier

👄Women with Scorpio venus are usually very pretty and sexy and known for their sex appeal if famous

💅Capricorn + gemini venus or rising women are really pretty and make great models

👯‍♀️Lilith in eighth house is considered a sex symbol placement (Brigitte Bardot, Elvis Presley, Angelina Jolie, Sophia Loren)

🤔I would say gemini and virgo risings are the hardest signs to identify because of their mercurial rulership and mutability unlike Pisces and Sagittarius where there are clear distinctions in facial features and physique because of the Jupiter/Neptune affect (long legs, round faces, prominent forehead and eyes) gemini and virgo can easily be dominated by other planets in contact with the ascendant or first house but both signs give someone a very youthful doll like glow

🧠People tend to shit on hard Saturn contacts but I find that with time they usually evolve beautifully and the aspect can become a huge benefic but only with hard work. Saturn is the only planet that rewards for perseverance and patience but it’s always worth it

🥰Leo and Virgo’s are actually really similar in what they expect from themselves and others. They both just want to be appreciated and considered important to those around them.

👩‍🦳No matter what signs are involved sun conjunct venus always has a very feminine and pleasent face usually with a prominent forehead,, they’re also rlly well captured in photographs!

🤳Mars square Neptune probably had a period where they may have read a lot of dirty fanficton or fantasized about weird concepts sexually

🌝Leo moons are WAY more of attention seekers then leo suns im sorry but it’s like their emotional well-being depends on the amount of attention they get whereas Leo suns don’t necessarily ask for it bc they just attract it naturally with their aura (this isn’t every leo moon ofc just the ones I’ve observed)

🤦‍♂️I think Virgo suns are more critical of those around them and how that affects who they are whereas Virgo moons tend to be more critical of themselves and how their actions affect their surroundings

🦵I’ve noticed Mars in the 1st house females are usually rlly toned and skinny with long legs

💃Mars in Virgo is known as being prudish or like a not sexy placement of Mars and I rlly beg to differ, I swear every person that the general public’s been obsessed with when it comes to being hot has this (Dylan O brien, Austin Butler, Idris Alba, Blake Lively, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Felton, Ariana grande, Johnny depp, Britney Spears?!! there’s so many more u guys need to get on this)

🥴Aries moons are all about talking the talk but I swear half the time are not walking the walk and when they do they’ve talked shit to about 6 ppl already and waited for like a week before telling u how they feel

🤡Pisces moons (myself being one) can be so fucking stupid when it comes to liking someone I swear. We tend to make excuses for them and cling to whatever image we’ve set up in our head on who they are. Once evolved though it’s way easier for us to see ppl for who they are off the bat without going through the emotional distress!

😒I can confirm that we attract whatever signs in our eighth house mines in Aries and I swear to god not a year has gone by where an Aries man hasn’t infiltrated my life

👗people who have venus in the second house are the definition of quality over quantity!! always dressed so well with the cutest jewelry. They’re style carries libra energy :)

🥺Aries sun men are some of the most sensitive ppl I’ve ever met!! I didn’t realize it at first but they’re rlly soft and uwu. I don’t know how to explain it but think of Eren from AOT or Natsu from Fairy Tail! They’re kind of like a cheeky kid you want to protect at all costs

🤝I think a lot of square aspects can work in your favor if there’s a specific trine or conjunct aspect that’s energy can balance it out once activated if that makes sense ? Like for example I have venus square neptune and I used to put myself in alot of unnecessary painful situation bc I had a problem with deluding myself when it came to liking someone. Yet I was always aware that the person was not right for me or the situation was toxic bc of my sun conjunct pluto. The Sun/Pluto aspect has kind of forced me to be more aware of the venus/neptune affect and I’ve grown a lot stronger through those painful plutonic experiences in love and I can see through other people’s intentions for what they are with ease. I think that sun/pluto helped cancel out my delusion by making me go through a lot of intense experiences to finally understand what I was doing and see things for what they were.

🧛🏽‍♀️Going off of that I don’t care what anyone else says I LOVE MY PLUTO ASPECTS and trust me their pretty shitty (sun conjunct pluto, moon square pluto, pluto square asc). I’ve been put into some rlly crazy situations for only being 18 but I can go into the world with a lot more awareness of who I am and the people around me. I like the intensity they bring and the forcefulness of change in my habits and life. Pluto has made me a rlly strong person in terms of persevering through life and it’s challenges. I thank pluto for that.

👩🏽‍🤝‍👨🏼👨🏾‍🤝‍👨🏻👩🏿‍🤝‍👩🏼I think one of my favorite placements I have that is also super favorable in others is Jupiter in the 11th house! This may seem kind of random but the amount of opportunities and cool experiences I’ve been given through my friends and social circles is something I’m soo thankful for🙏 Friendship and just being a friendly person in general is something I’ve always found luck and happiness in and it’s so rewarding to have so many ppl like and support u for who u are! Making friends with ppl online and making friends from friends is super easy with this placement as well💞

[gaykey]

any recs for shows in mandarin? i study chinese and need something new to watch

ummmmm, i'm gonna rec bls lol, because i mainly watch bls these days, but, i assume that's what you're after if you've come to me.

i juuuuuust finished about youth, a really sweet and emotional taiwanese bl. it's pretty short and flown under the radar, but it's lovely.

here's the trailer~

soft and sweet teen romance, that also deals with issues like parental pressure, maintaining friendships, getting out of bad relationships ect.

the actors are all great, and they have really good chemistry. the only issue i really have, is i would have liked it to be longer and a bit more in-depth, but an overall good watch if you're looking for a short little coming of age romance type thing.

i will always ALWAYS rec we best love. it's one of my ult bls. top tier. mwah! i adore it.

i talk about we best love a lot, so you might already know about it? but, it's so good. another coming of age romance, enemies to lovers but really it's unrequited love, but, it evolves into more. emotional and heartfelt. beautifully acted. amazing chemistry. an all-rounder. i love it so much.

there are two seasons, so watch both! here's the trailer for the first season.

the history series.

the history series are kinda of like, a bl cinematic universe lol. lots of different stories but set within the same universe, and sometimes, you'll get a little cameo from characters from other seasons.

i'll rec my fave ones for you.

history 3: make our days count

this one's a doozy! i rewatched it recently and forgot how much i love it. an emotional one. school setting, enemies to lovers, coming of age. and i don't want to spoil but the ending will blindside you...

both pairings are great, top-notch chemistry. the tensionnnn. i love the family dynamics in this, and actually, that can be said for all the ones i've recced here. it's an element of a story that really resonates with me, so when it's done well. mwah!

trailer here

history 4: close to you

now.........this one. on the one side, i absolutely adore the main pairing in this (the ones on the poster ^), and the friendship between the 3 main characters. they're older men in their late 20's, who work at a wedding planning agency, and i love bls that feature older characters who are successful, and more mature ect. and their friendship is so genuine and loving.

however......the other couple in this show are incredibly toxic & triggering. like, i would genuinely reccomend just skipping their scenes entirely.

i'm always hesitant about reccing this show, but other than the b couple, it's a really good watch.

the a couple, licheng & muren have a lovely friends to lovers realtionship, that is heartfelt and emotional and sweet for the most part.

so? idk, you decide if you wanna watch it or not.

so, there are my faves, i think, and i'll just drop a few honourable mentions to the list, without descriptions, that you can check out if you feel like:

history 3: trapped

be loved in house: i do

plus & minus

soooo, i hope this is alright! ♡ let me know if you watch any and how you found them!

[murder-raven13]

My Haikyuu Ships pt. 1

A/N: I figured out the keep reading thing!!! Just took a month

This is a list of my Haikyuu ships. I’ll add an explanation for some if I have one. There is no rhyme or reason to the order of this list. 

Warning(s): cursing, minor spoilers (manga & anime), not proofread, loooooong

Word Count: 1,786

Part 2 Part 3

Hinata x Kageyama

Kageyama struggles with communication and understanding others. Hinata, on the other hand, overcommunicates and has a knack for understanding people, even if he doesn’t realize that he does. Plus, Kageyama has struggled to find connections with people because of his zeal for volleyball. This on top of his trouble with communication made it hard for him to make friends. But Hinata matches Kageyama in his zeal and covers Kageyama’s communication weakness well, all while Kageyama gives Hinata a proper volleyball outlet and pushes him to constantly strive to be his best, so I think they’re neat together. 

Hinata x Kenma

Again, Kenma is someone that’s not the best at communication, with a little dose of social anxiety on the side. He’s a lot softer than Kageyama and struggles with communication because he thinks too much (which is the opposite of Kageyama lol). Hinata makes him feel comfortable enough that he can communicate without overthinking himself into a hole. And Kenma, for Hinata, gives him a way to talk and an honest opinion when he needs it. 

Atsumu x Suna

I will take not shit for ship. They are so cute together. During the match Inarizaki played against Karasuno, Atsumu and Suna bantered and, during the flashbacks, Suna and Atsumu were shown to have a pretty good relationship. Plus, Suna is a pretty laid back person and Atsumu is obviously the kind of person that would overwork himself to death or push forward without thinking of the consequences. Suna is a brutally honest person, but I feel like he struggles a bit with moving forward because it’s hard for him to feel motivated. So, Suna can keep Atsumu from going too far and Atsumu can help motivate Suna to move forward when he doesn’t feel like he can. 

Kageyama x Tsukishima [as adults]

Honestly, I don’t even have a good reason for this. They would be dysfunctional because they suck at feelings. Tsukishima never actually says what he means because he’s high key scared of being vulnerable. And Kageyama sucks at communication (but, after Suga’s advice, he takes a much more direct approach to handling Tsukishima, which I feel is what Tsukishima would need in a relationship) and he also sucks at reading body language (particularly Tsukishima’s) which I feel would be something he would need to be with Tsukishima. But Tsukishima would force Kageyama to begin to think more critically in order to keep up with him and Kageyama would force Tsukishima to be more forthcoming with his emotions, even if just because Tsukishima would have to up his passion levels to keep up with Kageyama. So, if they could figure it out, I think they would be a very good couple. If they didn’t though, I feel they would be lowkey toxic. 

Daichi x Suga

Can you watch Haikyuu and not ship these two??? Daichi is very calm, collected, and stable. And that’s a good balance with Suga, who’s an instigator, a meddler, and a worrier. They both care a lot and their very attentive, but they’re opposites in that Suga is a chaotic little monster with an angel face. So they would be a good balance when it came to a relationship. Plus, they would be the sappiest motherfuckers alive together, so, they’re kind of like a comfort, fluff ship. 

Nishinoya x Asahi 

This another one where I ship because they are opposites. Noya is extremely brazen and confident. Asahi is extremely the exact opposite; he’s shy and awkward and self-conscious. Noya, in canon, gets onto Asahi for being self-degrading and hypes him up when he feels Asahi needs it. And Asahi is someone Noya looks up to because he’s strong, even though he struggles, and someone he wants to see succeed. Asahi forces Noya to calm down and allows him to actually feel afraid. One of the reasons Noya understands Asahi so much is because he struggled with being scared when he was younger. So, I feel like Asahi can feel comfortable with Noya because he knows that Noya understands and, at the same time, knows that Noya managed to overcome his fear, which is probably really comforting. Overall, they’re fucking cute and I c a n n o t

Hinata x Tsukishima

They would be so cute, please. Tsukishima is so mean because he’s a big baby and Hinata straight up does not care. It’s also canon [from during the practice match with Seijoh] that Hinata doesn’t like seeing Tsukishima picked on or struggling [he legit offered himself in Tsukki’s place]. Hinata is a big ball of bright emotion and energy where Tsukishima is more clam and reserved, but Hinata has the ability to draw real emotion out of Tsukishima. They’re another two that would balance well. They’re relationship would be a lot of teasing and mocking, though [they have about 3 million inside jokes and Tsukishima revels in leaving people confused with them]. 

Kiyoko x Tanaka

Please, this man proposed the first time he saw her. And he legit stayed dedicated, but never overstepped Kiyoko’s boundaries. He never harassed her or did anything to make her feel uncomfortable. And Kiyoko was never mean to Tanaka, even when she rejected or ignored him. They had a stable relationship because Tanaka’s a goddamn gentlemen [can you tell I simp for this man?] and Kiyoko knows it. She fell in love with him over time because of how respectful and thoughtful Tanaka was. Plus, she’s seen firsthand, for years, the dedication and passion in Tanaka’s character, which is a good contrast to her colder, calmer personality. She gives Tanaka stability and Tanaka gives her passion and comfortability. The fact that this ship is canon gives me life. 

Nishinoya and Tanaka

The level of chaos in this ship, oml. Two disasters. Absolute mess all the time. They love each other so much and they’re both like walking hype-men. Literally no insecurities in this relationship. They are the two most dedicated boys in existence. And they like to have fun, so they’re constantly challenging each other, which keeps their relationship fun and growing; it never really settles, no matter how long they’ve been together because they’re always finding something new to love about the other. They would go on adventures together. So cute. 

Kuroo x Kenma

They’re childhood friends. It is law. Kuroo is so smart and so serious and so caring. He makes sure that Kenma isn’t neglecting himself for his games. And he made sure that Kenma got involved with the team so that he would have friends when Kuroo was gone. And Kenma lets Kuroo delve into his passions and gives him a safe place to relax and be goofy. Kenma is so aloof, but also really caring as well and he’s always paying attention, so he would know immediately when Kuroo was pushing himself too far and needed to let off steam [y’all remember that scene where he asked Kuroo if he wanted to level up (go play volleyball) after they lost a game because he couldn’t just sit and game knowing that Kuroo was upset over the loss? yeah that shit]. And Kuroo gives Kenma somewhere safe and secure where he can be himself without worrying about anything else. 

Kuroo x Tsukishima

This is one of my favorite ships. They’re both ridiculously smart, so the conversations and witty sass between these two is literal gold-tier shit. Tsukishima never lets himself be goofy and I feel like, the longer that went on, the more it would wear on him mentally. Kuroo, on the other hand, knows the important of not being serious all the time. So, he would bring Tsukishima out of his shell and give him a safe space to be a dorky as he wanted. And Kuroo could talk all the Chemistry and science he wanted and Tsukishima would be able to keep up with him. They would constantly be challenging each other intellectually and they would know so much random shit because of it. Definitely the couple that has trivia date nights just to see who’s smarter. They would be such a well-rounded couple because they would balance and push each not just intellectually, but in every aspect of their lives. I can see them being the couple where one has an exam and the other just brings them coffee or tea, gently mocking and praising them until they can find it in themselves to study and get everything done. The one that doesn’t have the exam or big project at work would do the house chores, quietly, though, so the other could focus on what they needed to do. They would know just when the other needed space and when they needed a distraction or comfort. They just...would know each other so well and I-

Bokuto x Akaashi

[Did you think I wasn’t going to do this one?] Bokuto and Akaashi are both passionate and dedicated. Akaashi is a lot more emotionally stable, but he’s also an extreme overthinker. Man overthinks everything. Bokuto, on the other hand, is an under thinker that functions almost purely on his emotions. So, overthinker + under thinker = the perfect amount of thinking. That combined with the fact that Akaashi is emotionally intelligent, but not emotionally expressive means that Bokuto, who is emotionally intelligent and extremely expressive, can help maintain the right amount of communication in their relationship. 

Iwaizumi x Oikawa

I wasn’t kidding when I said this was law for childhood friends. I meant that shit. Oikawa is manipulative, calculating, and extremely driven. But he has no concept of his own limitations or elects to ignore them because he wants to improve. Oikawa is really insecure, too, because he’s constantly trying so hard, pushing himself further than he can go, and it’s still never been enough to make him the best. Because of his fangirls and his desire to be the best, Oikawa is constantly making himself seem perfect, which means hiding parts of his personality at times. And he’s the type of person that has control over his emotions because he’s pretty methodical when it comes to his goals; he’s willing to literally do whatever it takes to succeed at what he wants. Iwaizumi, on the other hand, has known him long enough that Oikawa can literally not be perfect with him. Oikawa has to be real around Iwaizumi, who knows and acknowledges his true personality in its entirety, even going as far as to point out Oikawa’s flaws constantly, to remind Oikawa that he knows him and stays anyway. They make damn good outlets for each other and they know each better than anyone else, which means that they are, quite literally, each other’s safe space. 

I have more ships, of course, but this post is already long as shit, so I’ll post those in a part 2 

[hexalt]

CW for discussion of suicide

- She's the crazy ex-girlfriend - What? No, I'm not. - She's the crazy ex-girlfriend - That's a sexist term! - She's the crazy ex-girlfriend - Can you guys stop singing for just a second? - She's so broken insiiiiiide! - The situation's a lot more nuanced than that!

There’s the essay! You get it now. JK.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is the culmination of Rachel Bloom’s YouTube channel (and the song “Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury” in particular where she combined her lifelong obsession with musical theatre and sketch comedy and Aline Brosh McKenna stumbling onto Bloom’s channel one night while having an idea for a television show that subverted the tropes in scripts she’d been writing like The Devil Wears Prada and 27 Dresses.

The show begins with a flashback to teenage Rebecca Bunch (played by Bloom) at summer camp performing in South Pacific. She leaves summer camp gushing about the performance, holding hands with the guy she spent all summer with, Josh Chan. He says it was fun for the time, but it’s time to get back to real life. We flash forward to the present in New York, Rebecca’s world muted in greys and blues with clothing as conservative as her hair.

She’s become a top tier lawyer, a career that she doesn’t enjoy but was pushed into by her overprotective, controlling mother. She’s just found out she’s being promoted to junior partner, and that’s just objectively, on paper fantastic, right?! ...So why isn’t she happy? She goes out onto the streets in the midst of a panic attack, spilling her pills all over the ground, and suddenly sees an ad for butter asking, “When was the last time you were truly happy?” A literal arrow and beam of sunlight then point to none other than Josh Chan. She strikes up a conversation with him where he tells her he’s been trying to make it in New York but doesn’t like it, so he’s moving back to his hometown, West Covina, California, where everyone is just...happy.

The word echoes in her mind, and she absorbs it like a pill. She decides to break free of the hold others have had over her life and turns down the promotion of her mother’s dreams. I didn’t realize the show was a musical when I started it, and it’s at this point that Rebecca is breaking out into its first song, “West Covina”. It’s a parody of the extravagant, classic Broadway numbers filled with a children’s marching band whose funding gets cut, locals joining Rebecca in synchronized song and dance, and finishing with her being lifted into the sky while sitting on a giant pretzel. This was the moment I realized there was something special here.

With this introduction, the stage has been set for the premise of the show. Each season was planned with an overall theme. Season one is all about denial, season two is about being obsessed with love and losing yourself in it, season three is about the spiral and hitting rock bottom, and season four is about renewal and starting from scratch. You can see this from how the theme songs change every year, each being the musical thesis for that season.

We start the show with a bunch of cliché characters: the crazy ex-girlfriend; her quirky sidekick; the hot love interest; his bitchy girlfriend; and his sarcastic best friend who’s clearly a much better match for the heroine. The magic of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is that no one in West Covina is the sum of their tropes. As Rachel says herself, “People aren’t badly written, people are made of specificities.”

The show is revolutionary for the authenticity with which it explores various topics but for the sake of this piece, we’ll discuss mental health, gender, Jewish identity, and sexuality. All topics that Bloom has dug into in her previous works but none better than here.

Simply from the title, many may be put off, but this is a story that has always been about deconstructing stereotypes. Rather than being called The Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, where the story would be from an outsider’s perspective, this story is from that woman’s point of view because the point isn’t to demonize Rebecca, it’s to understand her. Even if you hate her for all the awful things she’s doing.

The musical numbers are shown to be in Rebecca’s imagination, and she tells us they’re how she processes the world, but as she starts healing in the final season, she isn’t the lead singer so often anymore and other characters get to have their own problems and starring roles. When she does have a song, it’s because she’s backsliding into her former patterns.

While a lot of media will have characters that seem to have some sort of vague disorder, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend goes a step further and actually diagnoses Rebecca with Borderline Personality Disorder, while giving her an earnest, soaring anthem. She’s excited and relieved to finally have words for what’s plagued her whole life.

When diagnosing Rebecca, the show’s team consulted with doctors and psychiatrists to give her a proper diagnosis that ended up resonating with many who share it. BPD is a demonized and misunderstood disorder, and I’ve heard that for many, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is the first honest and kind depiction they’ve seen of it in media. Where the taboo of mental illness often leads people to not get any help, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend says there is freedom and healing in identifying and sharing these parts of yourself with others.

Media often uses suicide for comedy or romanticizes it, but Crazy Ex-Girlfriend explored what’s going through someone’s mind to reach that bottomless pit. Its climactic episode is written by Jack Dolgen (Bloom’s long-time musical collaborator, co-songwriter and writer for the show) who’s dealt with suicidal ideation. Many misunderstood suicide as the person simply wanting to die for no reason, but Rebecca tells her best friend, “I didn’t even want to die. I just wanted the pain to stop. It’s like I was out of stories to tell myself that things would be okay.”

Bloom has never shied away from heavy topics. The show discusses in song the horrors of what women do to their bodies and self-esteem to conform to beauty standards, the contradiction of girl power songs that tell you to “Put Yourself First” but make sure you look good for men while doing it, and the importance of women bonding over how terrible straight men are are near and dear to her heart. This is a show that centers marginalized women, pokes fun at the misogyny they go through, and ultimately tells us the love story we thought was going to happen wasn’t between a woman and some guy but between her and her best friend.

I probably haven’t watched enough Jewish TV or film, but to me, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is the most unapologetic and relatable Jewish portrayal I’ve seen overall. From Rebecca’s relationship with her toxic, controlling mother (if anyone ever wants to know what my mother’s like, I send them “Where’s the Bathroom”) to Patti Lupone’s Rabbi Shari answering a Rebecca that doesn’t believe in God, “Always questioning! That is the true spirit of the Jewish people,” the Jewish voices behind the show are clear.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend continues to challenge our perceptions when a middle-aged man with an ex-wife and daughter realizes he’s bisexual and comes out in a Huey Lewis saxophone reverie. The hyper-feminine mean girl breaks up with her boyfriend and realizes the reason she was so obsessed with getting him to commit to her is the same reason she’s so scared to have female friends. She was suffering under the weight of compulsory heterosexuality, but thanks to Rebecca, she eventually finds love and friendship with women.

This thread is woven throughout the show. Many of the characters tell Rebecca when she’s at her lowest of how their lives would’ve never changed for the better if it wasn’t for her. She was a tornado that blew through West Covina, but instead of leaving destruction in her wake, she blew apart their façades, forcing true introspection into what made them happy too.

Rebecca’s story is that of a woman who felt hopeless, who felt no love or happiness in her life, when that’s all she’s ever wanted. She tried desperately to fill that void through validation from her parents and random men, things romantic comedies had taught her matter most but came up empty. She tried on a multitude of identities through the musical numbers in her mind, seeing herself as the hero and villain of the story, and eventually realized she’s neither because life doesn’t make narrative sense.

It takes her a long time but eventually she sees that all the things she thought would solve her problems can’t actually bring her happiness. What does is the real family she finds in West Covina, the town she moved to on a whim, and finally having agency over herself to use her own voice and tell her story through music.

The first words spoken by Rebecca are, “When I sang my solo, I felt, like, a really palpable connection with the audience.” Her last words are, “This is a song I wrote.” This connection with the audience that brought her such joy is something she finally gets when she gets to perform her story not to us, the TV audience, but to her loved ones in West Covina. Rebecca (and Rachel) always felt like an outcast, West Covina (and creating the show) showed her how cathartic it is to find others who understand you.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is the prologue to Rebecca’s life and the radical story of someone getting better. She didn’t need to change her entire being to find acceptance and happiness, she needed to embrace herself and accept love and help from others who truly cared for her. Community is what she always needed and community is what ultimately saved her.

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P.S. If you have Spotify... I also process life through music, so I made some playlists related to the show because what better way to express my deep affection for it than through song?

CXG parodies, references, and is inspired by a lot of music from all kinds of genres, musicals, and musicians. Same goes for the videos themselves. I gathered all of them into one giant playlist along with the show’s songs.

A Rebecca Bunch mix that goes through her character arc from season 1 to 4.

I’m shamelessly a fan of Greg x Rebecca, so this is a mega mix of themselves and their relationship throughout the show.

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I’m in a TV group where we wrote essays on our favorite shows of the 2010s, so here is mine on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, I realized I forgot to ever post it. Also wrote one for Schitt’s Creek.

[traincat]

Hi traincat! Hope you're doing well. I figured since you have an extensive knowledge on all things Spider-Man, you would know your way around his rogues! I wanted to ask if you have a favorite or one that you find most compelling and why. Thanks a million!

I think my answers for which rogues are my favorites and which I find most compelling and which are widely viewed as the best and why are all pretty wildly different. I do think the popular assessment that Spider-Man has one of the best rogues galleries in Marvel canon is true. Like, I think the absolute best Spider-Main villain story -- the one that gives you the best sense of the villain as a character and also the one that works best at uniting villain and is Kraven’s Last Hunt, which is just incredible on every level. (Content warning for suicide.)

(Web of Spider-Man #32) Also, like, in terms of design, Kraven is great. Love a big Russian game hunter perpetually bare chested and wearing leopard print cropped leggings. That’s not something you get sick of. Only Kraven Sr. for me, though -- I’m less fond of his son, although I think the whole family affairs in Grim Hunt and Scarlet Spider v2 are pretty fun.

On the other hand, though, I think that some of the biggest villains in Spider-Man’s gallery, namely Norman Osborn and Doc Ock, are overused, although I know why they’re overused and it’s because they’re really good villains. (But also you can only make people pay for the same story so many times with only minor variations before it starts to get old.) I think Norman and Peter are pretty perfect opposites, whereas Otto and Peter are mirror images -- although I think generally Norman stories pull off that opposite nature better than Otto stories reveal him as a mirrored image of Peter. 

I think it’s interesting that Otto is kind of the first “big” villain Peter encounters -- he makes his debut in ASM #3, so there are villains that come before him, but they’re like, the Vulture and the Chameleon. And there are great Vulture stories -- love that flying octogenarian -- but like, I would not put the Vulture in the absolute top tier Spider-Man villains. And the Chameleon is a freak.

Same, girl. (Web of Spider-Man #65) 

More villain talk beneath the cut.

By comparison, Otto is the first villain to actually serve Peter a real defeat, the first one to humble him. So I think it’s interesting that they come from very similar backgrounds -- both geniuses, both lonely as children, both people who were in danger of becoming very solitary, isolated adults, which Otto did and which Peter did not. They had a mother figure who verged on at times or was actually smothering in her affections, and a salt of the earth type father figure. And Otto gains his powers after suffering an accident with radiation much the same way Peter does. It’s one of the things that disappoints me about Superior Spider-Man, because I don’t think it plays into the idea of Otto and Peter as mirrored images of each other nearly as much as it could have. Even Otto’s Parker Industries originally showed up in a “bad” version of Peter’s life, where he never got bit by the spider and instead becomes a CEO:

(Sensational Spider-Man #41) “You prove yourself to everyone -- except yourself.” Which is what Otto is continually trying to do, and which is what he always falls short of. So it’s interesting that there’s kind of all this set up here and that the actual comics sort of continually fall short of it. 

Green Goblin stories live up to their rep a little better, in my opinion, and they’re better at playing into those parallels. Norman and Peter are both self-made men, but Norman is rich and Peter is not. Peter accepts responsibility and fault; Norman does not. Norman’s life is devoid of women, while Peter’s is full of it. If Norman and Peter are both studies in masculinity, then Norman’s is toxic and Peter’s is not. Peter is capable of growth; Norman is entrenched in this role he’s made for himself -- he is not capable of sustained growth beyond the role he’s made for himself. There’s a reason I think Norman gets used so much and it’s because it’s a heady dynamic to kind of play into -- especially when you go with the relatively more recent angle of things where Norman kind of views Peter as the perfect heir, worthy where Harry is not. Honestly, it’s a good time whenever you’re involving Harry in the mix at all, as someone caught between these two very powerful figures and how the tug-of-war there for ownership of him is just completely soul destroying. 

(Spectacular Spider-Man #180)

But I do think Norman is overused, and it’s gotten a point where in Amazing Spider-Man #800 it was like -- oh, what, he’s going to kill Flash? He’s going to kill someone else Peter loves? He’s killed like half the main-main cast at this point. He’s behind the murder of Peter and Mary Jane’s baby, he’s responsible for Ben Reilly’s death, he killed Gwen Stacy, Harry’s death goes directly back to him, he’s kidnapped May and Mary Jane and Flash and blah blah blah it’s JUST TOO MUCH. It can’t always be this one guy! You can’t just bring him back every 50 issues like “this time Norman Osborn’s gone too far” when he went too far in the ‘70s. Everything since then has just been trying to recapture the moment he threw Gwen Stacy off the bridge. It’s exhausting. I’m begging Spider-Man, as it starts hyping up yet another Norman story for ASM #850, to do something new.

In comparison to Norman, I think Harry’s run as the Green Goblin is fairly flawlessly executed as far as villain stories go, especially in its final hour. Spectacular Spider-Man #200 is really one of my favorite single issues of all time. Harry has the pathos that Norman really never does -- you can feel for Harry in a way that you can’t feel for Norman. And it’s because Harry loves Peter -- really, truly loves him -- that his acts of villainy take on that special edge of cruelty. It doesn’t just hurt Peter that these things are being done; it hurts Peter that these are being done and that it’s Harry doing them and that, in a lot of ways, they both blame Peter for why Harry is doing them, even if at the end of the day it’s in no way Peter’s fault. And then there’s the utterly perfect moment as Harry dies in Spectacular Spider-Man #200, that his act of triumph is that he can’t bring himself to kill Peter, because he loves him too much. It’s perfect. I live in fear they’re going to make Harry a villain again and try to replicate it only to fall painfully short. 

I think the Jackal is actually underutilized because he is in my honest opinion the scariest Spider-Man villain, or at the very least the creepiest. Where Norman can only dream of remaking Spider-Man in his own image, the Jackal actually does that with Ben Reilly -- and, to a lesser extent, with Kaine, his first damaged clone. He’s a good lurker, too, less show-y than either Otto or Norman. He lurked in the background for a while. And in a series where I think you can pick a lot of the villains apart as men who take advantage of their power, having the Jackal be a college professor whose villainous career stems from his obsession with one of his students fits right in. And he’s just creepy. He’s upsetting! The things he does to the clones -- both the Peter and Gwen clones, although I think the comics are not so great at letting the Gwen clones shine as individual characters, which is something I wish someone would actually do something about -- are very upsetting, especially since you can extrapolate from a lot of Kaine’s stories and the things we know bother him and how he’s consistently paralleled against Janine Godbe, that both Kaine and the Gwen clones were sexually abused by the Jackal. (Spider-Man’s not typically shy about examining darker subjects, and while we can only extrapolate from canon with Kaine, it’s extremely there on the surface with the Gwen clones. I mean, he married one.) And honestly, the villain who’s whole schtick is cloning makes more sense as someone who can repeatedly come back from anything than Norman’s deal of Corrupt Businessman Surprisingly Hard To Kill. I’ve said before that Peter appears to have a bit of a loophole in his personal moral code when it comes to violence that either has no consequences or lessened consequences, like when he cuts loose against Wolverine, someone who has a healing factor, or when he buried the Juggernaut, supposedly indestructible, in concrete. The Jackal as someone who could and has clone himself repeatedly opens up similar doorways -- what’s to stop Peter from cutting loose if the Jackal isn’t confined to this one body? There’s a lot to play with there and a lot more interesting spaces to go than, say, having to invent increasingly poor excuses for why Peter hasn’t taken more permanent action with Norman if Norman is always going to return to do harm to someone beloved to Peter.

Finally, I’m in a weird spot with personal favorite villains because honestly my instinct is to say the Lizard. And that’s an issue because of one fairly recent storyline and everything that’s spun out from it: Shed (Amazing Spider-Man #630-633), the storyline where Curt Connors loses all control over the Lizard, kills, and partially devours his son Billy. Like, I LIKE grim dark Spider-Man comics, and Shed is honestly too much for me -- not because of the Lizard’s actions, but because in the story Peter fails to save Billy. And I say not because of the Lizard’s actions because I think, as fun as a giant lizard man in purple pants and a lab coat can be, I think Curt Connors makes for one hell of a supervillain metaphor for domestic violence. 

(ASM #365)

(Spectacular Spider-Man v2 #13) And it’s very compelling. There’s a lot of things to explore down that alley. But once you actually go as far as having the Lizard kill his son, you can’t take that back. And the problem is, that’s what Spider-Man comics have tried to do post-Shed. It feels weird and deeply out of character to have writers assume that Peter could forgive the murder of any child, let alone a child he knew, and have him continue his relationship with Curt Connors. It’s a weird message to go “yeah, he ate his kid, but he wasn’t in control, and he made up for it via cloning, so we’re all good now.” Like imagine trying to spin that in any horror movie. It doesn’t work -- that your villain kills his kid and then clones him and pretends everything is okay now would be the plot of the horror movie. Spider-Man is a series fundamentally built on the fact that actions have consequences, and sometimes those consequences are utterly unfixable. Peter can’t go back and intercept the burglar to prevent Uncle Ben’s death. He can’t clone Uncle Ben and wipe that incident out of history. So to have a story like Shed in continuity as something that doesn’t alter Peter’s perception of Curt Connors forever doesn’t work.

Anyway that’s why my favorite villain is the Shocker. Love that quilted bastard.