#The Great american Hot Dog Book

[artyandink]

Five-Star

Summary: You’ve been dating Dean Winchester, which is nothing short of a fever dream. A brilliant fever dream. But when you decide to test him on how much he wants you, you don’t get the answer you expected to have.

A/N - Welcome to the Karak Chaii-verse! I had an idea to write Dean with an Indian POC, since I’m one myself. Creds to @zepskies and her brilliant Midnight Espresso-verse, and you should definitely check that out. This is a small drabble that I thought up.

Your family had moved to the US around a year after you were born. That’s because the monsters in India were far more dangerous than in America due to the origination of them from the depths of Indian mythology, such as a rakshasa or arunasura, but you found that here was far more escalated.

At least, you’d found out when you met the Winchesters.

You came from a long line of crazy good Indian hunters, so you were already a great one yourself. Back in India, your parents would pose as part of the CBI, but you had to resort to finding someone who could make you a believable FBI badge once you turned eighteen and got into hunting solo, which was around 1997. There you met Bobby Singer, who hooked you up with what he called the ‘All-American Hunting Kit’, which consisted of an array of fake IDs and a lore book. You were glad your training, done by your dad, was done by the intensity of monsters in India rather than here, otherwise it’d be harder to get by.

On a hunt for a vampire and wraith hybrid in Grant Pass, Oregon, you came across the Winchesters, the shorter of the two having dubbed the hybrid ‘Jefferson Starships’. That man was Dean, and you were taken by his charming, goofy attitude that switched to an attractive sort of intensity when faced with imminent danger. You just didn’t expect ‘imminent danger’ to be the mother of all monsters.

Once your parents had found out that you were hanging out with the Winchesters, who were at the centre of any and all supernatural trouble in America, they sent you a thousand calls telling you to get your ass out of there before you got killed. You being you, you didn’t listen. Not when you knew that you’d get withdrawal symptoms from not seeing the million dollar smile of Dean Winchester, which quickly won you over (and his lips too, which knew damn well what they were doing).

As for Sam, you quickly saw him as your little brother figure, who also helped you manage your unruly hair by recommending the right hair products that you now had stocked up. You’d both nerd over monsters, you’d tell him about all the ones you’d encountered in India while Sam told you stories about all that he and his brother had gone through.

Which was no less than a lot. And you thought India was a harder place to live, by what your parents told you. Here there’s the friggin’ Apocalypse.

Dean was obviously your favourite Winchester. He’d told you he really liked you about two years and a half after you met amid averting eyes and stammered words as he spewed compliment after compliment, standing there in the Bunker’s kitchen like a nervous melon in his grey robe, black shorts with hot dogs on them and black undershirt with fuzzy hair.

You’d cut his nervous ramblings off by pulling him in by the lapel of his robe, lips puckered in surprise as they met yours as the tangy taste of cherry and sweet, buttery pie crust flooded your taste buds and even more so when Dean quickly took control of the kiss, hands tangling in your hair and grabbing at soft curves like his life depended on it.

One thing Dean loved about you was your cooking. Your mom had taught you a wide array of Indian dishes that you could cook, and the moment the first bite of your rajma and rice graced Dean’s mouth, it was hook, line and sinker. You’d taught him how to eat chole bhature, roti and sabzi and which masala was which so he could know what the hell did you put to make him fall for you over and over again.

You were scrolling on your YouTube shorts one day when you came across a video of a woman asking her husband what his favourite snack was to see if he’d say her or not. You didn’t look like the definition of a snack right now, with your unwashed hair tied up in a bun that your mom taught you to do with no hair tie whatsoever in grey sweatpants, Dean’s undershirt and fuzzy mismatched socks, but you decided to try it out anyway as Dean came into the bunker’s living room, approaching you from behind with a delicate yet possessive cup of your chin and a kiss to your temple.

“Hey, sweetheart.” He greeted in that low voice of his that was effortlessly seductive even when he wasn’t trying, his hand sliding down to comfortingly rub over your chest and shoulder as he passed by. “Doin’ ok?” He sat down beside you, arm around your shoulder as his fingers began to play with your hair, warm green eyes trained on you.

You nodded, setting your phone aside. “Doing alright, yeah.” Then you decided to try out the question. “Dil, what’s your favourite snack?” You called Dean dil sometimes because it meant heart in Hindi, and he had yours.

The question got a chuckle out of him as he jerked his head to the right in amusement. “Awh, sweet girl, that’s hardly fair. I’d say beef jerky, but that new thing you, uh, introduced me to really raised the bar.” His brow furrowed in thought for a moment in contrast to the large grin on his face. “The aloo whatzitsname.”

“Aloo lachha.” You corrected with a giggle, barely holding back the urge to say what the answer was.

“Yeah, that. Or, uh, pie, but that’s a dessert and not a snack. Maybe that rajma stuff, but that’s a meal.” He continued rambling on any and all snacks he’d added to his palette since meeting you, until a bout of laughter from you slowed his roll. “What? What’s so funny, huh?”

“So… your favourite snack isn’t me.” You teased with a smirk, which got the cogs in his head turning. “You failed, sorry, honey.”

The words got a raise of his eyebrow and a slow and subtle roving of his eyes down your body and a bite of his lip. To him, you looked absolutely delicious. Like the best thing at a five star restaurant.

He stood up with a low grunt, facing you before grabbing you by your hips, hoisting you up so fast that you had to wrap your sweatpant-clad legs around his waist with a small shriek. “See, baby, that’s where you’re wrong.”

He leaned forward, capturing your lips in a bruising kiss that bordered on reverence and somehow the intention to devour at the same time, which had you moaning already. His tongue slipped into your mouth, briefly getting a taste and giving you the distinct flavour of the aloo chaat you had made for lunch mixed with beer before he pulled back and nipped your bottom lip, groaning at the feeling of your fingers now tugging at his hair.

“You…” Dean paused for a breath and a low chuckle, staring at you hungrily. “You are the whole damn buffet.”

TAGLIST:

@k-slla @hobby27 @supernatural-jackles

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

Book Report: Royal Audience

Welcome to another semi-recurring feature, where I read the royal books so you don’t have to.

A new royal book has recently been published. This one I found at my library in the “new books”/“this just in” section.

It’s about the Special Relationship between the US and the UK, focusing mainly on The Queen’s relationship with the POTUS.

There’s a lot of history and international politics discussed, but I found it an easy, enjoyable read. I do wish the photographs had been in color instead of black and white so it’d be easier to see the details, which are often discussed in the text. One thing that quickly became clear while reading is that of the men whom are considered The Queen’s favorites, the only thing they all have in common is that they gave attention to and supported the whole family at-large, like hosting Charles or Anne, being friendly with Margaret, giving opportunities for Philip to visit solo, etc. The POTUSes that just gave attention to The Queen and Philip weren’t as successful as nurturing the Special Relationship.

So without further ado, anecdotes about The Queen’s Presidents:

Hoover: The Queen never formally met him “in office,” but she sat next to him at dinner once in the ‘50s.

Wilson: The Queen never met him but he did visit George V at Windsor Castle (the first POTUS invited to Windsor) and that visit set the tone for many of the POTUSes’ visits to The Queen.

FDR: Another POTUS that The Queen never met, but her parents did. George VI and the Queen Mother were the first reigning monarchs to visit the US in 1939 and it was a smashing success. While the Americans have always had an affinity for the BRF, it was this tour (in which FDR and Eleanor served the royals their first hot dogs) that cemented how much Americans supported, or would show up for, the royals if/when they came to visit:

As the Washington Post once wrote, “She’s not our queen but before we’re through with her, she’ll probably think she is” and as Obama once quipped to Charles: “it’s fair to say that the American people are quite fond of the royal family…they like them much better than they like their own politicians.”

Truman was POTUS when Elizabeth and Philip had their first official tour of the US in October 1951 as Duchess and Duke of Edinburgh. The trip, conducted as part of a visit to Canada, was delayed due to King George’s lung surgery and resulted in Elizabeth and Philip taking the BRF’s first international flight. Apparently everyone was so nervous about the flight that the Royal Navy deployed battleships every 700 nautical miles across the Atlantic just in case. By taking the flight, the royals were only a week behind schedule and they sailed home with 97 pieces of luggage.

Eisenhower: the Eisenhower were considered family friends by the royals. He remains the only POTUS to be invited to Balmoral and Elizabeth sent him her personal recipe for drop scones which - yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus - is published in the book, for all you home bakers. The Queen made her first state visit to the US under Eisenhower coinciding with the 350th anniversary of the Jamestown Colony (a trip Her Majesty would repeat 50 years later for the 400th anniversary and made me late to school but that’s another story for later). This state visit is what finally knocked Sputnik off the American front pages.

Kennedy: If you watched the Kennedy episodes of The Crown’s Season 2, you can skip this chapter. Kennedy once met a young Princess Elizabeth though, when his father was the US ambassador.

Johnson: The Queen never met Johnson in person. LBJ didn’t like traveling and preferred to focus on domestic affairs and Vietnam. But Princess Margaret did meet LBJ while on a visit to the US, which is also chronicled on The Crown, which the author takes great pains to mention is fiction because Margaret and LBJ never actually did kiss 🙄. LBJ and The Queen were friendly in letters though.

Nixon: hosted The Queen’s very first Thanksgiving dinner when he visited London in November 1958 (while Eisenhower’s VP) to open the American Memorial Chapel at St. Paul’s Cathedral. The Queen’s acceptance of the invitation to Thanksgiving dinner caused such a consternation because Nixon hadn’t lacked a tuxedo that all the men in the American delegation who had traveled with him and worked at the embassy were measured to find someone from whom Nixon could borrow a tuxedo. Nixon’s visit to Buckingham Palace in February 1969 was the first time that color film was used at the palace.

Ford: hosted The Queen and Philip during the US’s bicentennial celebrations. It is considered to be one of The Queen’s most successful visits/tours. The tour was in July 1976 and if you know East Coast summer weather, you have an idea already what the weather was like. First there were rough seas that made even Philip seasick (they flew from London to Bermuda, then sailed on Britannia from Bermuda to Philly). Then there was humid muggy heat in Philly that The Queen was fanning herself often. And then in DC, it was even swampier with daytime temps of 100F in the shade. The bicentennial visit later became the theme of The Queen’s 1976 Christmas message - reconciliation.

Carter: Carter was the POTUS most considered to be The Queen’s peer since they were closest in age, and that’s about the only thing they had in common. He horribly offended The Queen Mother by kissing her at the G7, hosted Princess Anne on her first solo trip to the US (wherein she shocked the press by being more like Philip in her temperament than The Queen), and personally lobbied Westminster Abbey to include his favorite poet - Dylan Thomas - in Poets Corner. His wife, Rosalyn, is the only FLOTUS The Queen didn’t meet.

Reagan: After Eisenhower, probably the POTUS The Queen was closest to, over their shared love of horses. Their relationship reminds me of the classic “introvert adopted by extroverts” trope (albeit in its own unique way). The Reagans’ first trip to the UK was chaotic in its planning with offenses left and right that made Margaret Thatcher reel. Charles and Nancy had a wonderful relationship and were close for the rest of her life.

Bush 41: Bush (another peer who of similar demographics to The Queen; they were just a few years apart in age, he served in WW2 with a career that reminded her of Philip’s, each had four surviving children, their eldest sons were relatively the same age) was favorite POTUS #3 after Eisenhower and Reagan. The relationship started off rocky, but it was Pickles - a puppy from the Bushes’ dog given to a friend whom The Queen had visited - that smoothed everything over and the two couples got along well. The Queen’s official visit under Bush 41 began with the infamous ‘talking hat’ speech and saw her take in her first baseball game. It was proposed that Philip should throw the first pitch out but The Queen nixed it, though she did join Bush for a little walkabout on the field before the game started. (Boo. I would’ve rather liked to see Philip throw the first pitch. I bet he’d have thrown a strike without any practice.)

Clinton: Clinton prioritized the relationship with Blair more than with The Queen, which ended up salvaging the Special Relationship after Blair’s predecessor (John Major) practically blew it up by getting involved in the 1992 POTUS election when he/his government campaigned for Bush. But Clinton came around to The Queen in the end. Clinton is notably the first president who was younger than The Queen and I suspect his presidency marked a change in how The Queen approached the special relationship.

And also, there’s a very good chance that this chapter illustrates Meghan’s obsession with Hillary Clinton - Diana and Hillary had a good enough friendship, even if only a working relationship, that Diana co-chaired a White House breakfast with Hillary. The book also points out that much of Diana’s post-BRF work in the US took place in the Clinton administration, so now I’m wondering if perhaps Meghan sees the Clintons as a partial extension of Diana’s network and that’s why she tries so hard with Hillary. (And also there’s the obvious that Hillary knew/met Diana so maybe Meghan has been trying to court Hillary to be part of the “Meghan is just like Diana” fan club.)

Bush 43: had the first official full state visit of The Queen’s reign, which was also only the second state visit by a US President (Wilson in 1918). There were significant security concerns due to the War on Terror and this is also when the Daily Mail’s reporter was a footman for 2 months; the reporter broke his own cover to report on the state visit. The Queen had her final state visit to the US in May 2007 as part of the celebrations for the 400th anniversary of Jamestown. (Her visit was the unofficial kickoff to the official celebrations, which began the week after.)

I didn’t know this, but The Queen personally donated a significant sum to the 9/11 memorial funds. Also The Queen enjoys Mexican food. A lady after my own heart!

Obama: Obama’s relationship with Britain began cool, owing to family tragedy closely connected with British colonialism in Kenya. He and the PM at the time, Brown, didn’t seem to get on, but The Queen stepped in and it’s thought her gentleness with the Obamas is what softened Obama’s consideration of the British. I do believe that Obama was the first head of state to see The Queen as more a grandmotherly figure and that helped boost The Queen’s global reputation (Bush 43 and Clinton saw her as motherly, and everyone through Bush 41 saw her as a contemporary/peer).

In the epilogue, the author writes that he believes Obama was favorite POTUS #4. I think the Obamas had a special friendship with The Queen, but sometimes I feel like it was more of mentorship, with The Queen showing them a generous kindness they weren’t expecting that led to both of them learning from her what it means to be diplomatic without losing sense of themselves.

Trump: His working visit in 2018 and the state visit in 2019 both were preceded by chaos and politics. A lot of people looked to The Queen’s symbolism in her outfits for how she felt about him. Trump held The Queen in high esteem, which she seemed to reciprocate diplomatically, but he had waffling views on Britain itself and that seemed to affect how the Special Relationship was managed (ie one day they were allies, the next day, Trump was assailing the mayor of London on Twitter).

Biden: No one quite knew what to do with him. He had proud Irish heritage so everyone thought he wouldn’t regard Britain well, but at the same time, Biden was outspoken against Brexit and Boris Johnson, which aligned with mainstream feelings of the day, so they weren’t sure how the wind was going to blow. But the Special Relationship prevailed, with Biden in a unique position that saw him speaking more about the generosity and the humanity of The Queen given what was happening to her - first the COVID protocols, then Oprah interview, then Philip’s passing, then her own illness.

(Biden is in the “Queen as motherly” club with Clinton and Bush 43.)

[mssr-crumpled-paper]

Gale and revolution

Maybe a hot take and people might throw tomatoes at me but I can't get this out of my head after reading THG.

I found it really hard to relate or even sympathize with Peeta because for me, reading the books, Peeta didn't exist as a character outside of his relationship with Katniss.

But Gale, on the other hand, did.

It was obvious to me from the beginning that Peeta was a character made with the intention for everyone to adore him. And don't get me wrong, Peeta is great. Too great. Perfect and flawless like a sterile version of a human person. And I can only assume that since we're seeing him from Katniss's perspective, along with her very obvious crush on the bread boy, that he's very idealic in her mind.

Gale, on the other hand, immediately gets sorta dogged on in the narrative like 5 pages in. He gets mad at Madge for being more privileged, for being well-fed, well-raised, well-dressed, and all other well-verb'ed that he never got to experience. From the perspective of someone who grew up lower middle class, I related immediately to Gale first. He was flawed, and understandable, and real in the most uncensored way possible.

He was brutal, he was angry, and violent, and that made SENSE to me (not that it's not fucked up). Maybe it's because my country has only VERY RECENTLY suffered from American imperialism, but I understand completely his need for violence, retribution, and revenge. And considering this was written during the War on Terror, the kid to extremist pipeline allegory is not missed. In that way, Gale exists outside of the context of Katniss. Gale exists within the context of his people, systemic oppression, and a revolution.

Peeta however was none of that. He wasn't a revolutionary by any means (but of course he wasn't, he was a child). But he seemed almost lacking in that sense of community with his people. This may be because Peeta grew up fed, still. He ate bread, no matter how stale, and he only had 5 slips of his own name in the games. He's a compassionate person, very much so, but only insofar as his immediate surrounding. Peeta could be kind because being kind and passive doesn't cost him his family. It almost, but ultimately doesn't cost him Katniss.

Gale had to care for his own family, Katniss's family during the Games, and became the only other person providing hunted game for the district's market. He got his district out of the burning rubble. He watched family, and friends, and people he's cared about his whole life die in a fire. For a boy who's only know to hunt with his own two hands, how can one expect gentleness.

So when, inevitably, people view Gale explicitly and exclusively through his relationship with Katniss, it robs Gale of being his own character: a brother, a son, a victim, a revolutionary, a child. And I think that's a shitty way to view him LOL.

[skylarsblue]

✦Call of Duty Bio Headcanons✦

(I know they have canon ages and heights and stuff, but listen. It's fiction, and I think I know better(/j). You can disagree, but these are my opinions. Also, obviously, not all of the info has changed.)

✧John Price✧

Age: 42 y.o Height: 6'2" Pronouns: He/Him Sexuality: "Sexy-Is-Sexy" (Or Pansexual) Middle Name: Samuel Likes: Whiskey, vintage radios, old westerns, horses, & mint ice cream. Dislikes: Streaming services, cigarettes(ironic), spicy food, dust, & cottage cheese. Birthday: January 1st Zodiac: Capricorn -Trivia- -Allergic to cats and didn't know until he moved out because his mother had like, four. Grew up around them his entire childhood and was honestly devastated when he realized they make him sick cause he loves'em. -He was definitely a fuck boy in high school/college. Not an asshole one, he made his intentions up front and he was overall sweet, but he didn't wanna be tied down. Ironic given how he ended up wanting the exact opposite later on. -Wishes he took better care of his teeth as a kid. They look great now but he has five fillings in his molars and one (now replaced), silver tooth all the way in the back. Phobia: Amenisphobia; The fear of amnesia Neuro...: Neurotypical

✧Kyle "Gaz" Garrick✧

Age: 26 y.o Height: 6'0" Pronouns: He/Him (I heavily support the trans!Gaz HC) Sexuality: Bisexual w/ a male preference Middle Name: Dylin Likes: Hot chocolate, the smell of lavender, coconut, licorice toffee, & nostalgic music. Dislikes: Milk, politics(irony again), Winter, grocery shopping, & spiders. Birthday: September 5th Zodiac: Virgo -Trivia- -Second oldest of four children, the only boy. He's a family man when it comes to his siblings, but not so much when it comes to his parents. Barely present father and a stressed out mother create for a shaky relationship with them. -Cannot cook to save his life. Man lives off of delivery, MREs, and cup noodles. He knows like...four dishes, and most of them are really simple. -Struggles decorating and making outfits cause he likes tons of different aesthetics. Everything from Scene Kid(for his inner teen) to streetwear. His version of housed decor are a bunch of plants. (Fake so they don't die when he's on deployment) Phobia: Arachnophobia; fear of arachnids/spiders. Neuro...: Neurodivergent (Dyslexia)

✧Johnny "Soap" MacTavish✧

Age: 29 y.o Height: 5'8" Pronouns: He/Him Sexuality: Omnisexual Middle Name: Neil (heh) Likes: Knickknacks, loud music, punk aesthetic, chickens, & football(aka Soccer for us pathetic Americans). Dislikes: Silence, sitting still, vague answers, being told what to do, & big dogs. Birthday: August 12th Zodiac: Leo -Trivia- -Constantly on & off with a caffeine addiction. He'll do really good about just drinking water, then he'll have one energy drink and he's fucked it all up again. -The scar on his chin is from a dog, the scar in his eyebrow is from a fight he got in as a teenager. He got in a lot of trouble as a teen. -Borderline pyromaniac, honestly. Hyperfixated on fire as a kid and now he's really happy to be a bombtech. Bro loves blowing shit up. Phobia: Cynophobia; fear of dogs. Neuro...: Neurodivergent (ADHD, hyperlexia)

✧Simon "Ghost" Riley✧

Age: 36 y.o Height: 6'4" Pronouns: He/It (Using "it" makes him seem more ominous, which he thinks is fun) Sexuality: Gay or Homoflexible, demisexual/demiromantic probably Middle Name: Achilles Likes: Birds, alternative indie music, dark chocolate, Victorian architecture, & murder mystery books. Dislikes: Snakes, graveyards, the dark(when it's completely pitch black), 99% of physical touch, & fluorescent lights. Birthday: December 30th Zodiac: Capricorn -Trivia- -He'll never admit it but he loves babies. They're super tiny and super cute, and Simon's heart always melts when one's around. Alas, he's also terrified of scaring them or getting attached, so he avoids babies as best he can. Can't have people thinking he's soft. -Makes the best steak in Manchester. Sometimes his seasoning is bland but the meat itself is perfection, you won't find any better. Melts in your mouth every time. It's a steak equivalent of 6 orgasms. It IS an orgasm. He makes great fucking steak. -Isn't fond of pure silence like Soap, but he doesn't often wanna fill it with loud sounds. He has a playlist of softer, more instrumental songs for this. Or he'll listen to nature sounds. He likes quiet, just not silent. Phobia: Taphephobia; the fear of being buried alive. Neuro...: Neurodivergent (Autistic, dyscalculia)

✧Alejandro Vargas✧

Age: 38 y.o Height: 5'11" Pronouns: He/Him Sexuality: Bisexual (Maybe Poly? He's not sure) Middle Name: N/A Likes: Hot drinks, the smell of roses, his nieces/nephews, physical affection, & cowboy hats. Dislikes: Sweaty palms, tourist-y Americans, caramel sauce, white-lies, & the feeling of glue. Birthday: March 25th Zodiac: Aries -Trivia- -Was with Valeria for awhile, but differences, stress, and Valeria discovering she was pretty gay broke them up. They had some tension, but he wasn't bitter towards her. Until she betrayed them, of course. -Was actually the last of his friend group to lose his virginity. He's a passionate, flirty man, but he's not throwing that kind of trust out willy-nilly. He had a few relationships but didn't reach that point until he was like, 19, about to turn 20. He asked a friend to share the moment with him. ...a close friend. -Cannot function in the cold at all. And his definition of cold is 21 degrees Celsius. (70 Fahrenheit for us Americans) He layers and complains all day, he's got a fuckin' heated blanket. A heated blanket owner in fucking MEXICO. Phobia: Coulrophobia; the fear of clowns Neuro...: Neurotypical

✧Rodolfo "Rudy" Parra✧

Age: 38 y.o Height: 5'9" Pronouns: He/Him Sexuality: Bisexual (Also maybe poly but he's very hesitant about it) Middle Name: N/A Likes: Ice baths, windchimes, baked sweets(mostly pie), clean handwriting, & naps on the couch. Dislikes: Cutting onions, heavy blankets, confrontation(with like, loved ones. Not on duty, obviously), slow walkers, & reptiles. Birthday: June 20th Zodiac: Gemini -Trivia- -Super good at singing, but he never does, because he's embarrassed. His mother would often encourage him to sing when he was younger at family gatherings, and now he cringes when someone hears him sing and comments on it. -His house is full of fans. Some rooms have more than one. They're running basically all the time, as well as the AC. Sometimes he has to get a family member to go home and turn them off when he's on a long mission. -He knew Alejandro before Alejandro knew him. When they were kids, Rudy was shy and had some problems with his health(exercise induced asthma mostly), so he didn't go out of his way to befriend other kids much. But he was a people watcher, and Alejandro was the most fun to watch. They actually met because one of Alejandro's friends pointed it out and called him creepy, only for Alejandro to defend him. Then they became super close friends! Phobia: Bufonophobia; the fear of toads Neuro...: Neurodivergent (Autistic, echolalia)

✧Valeria Garza✧

Age: 39 y.o Height: 5'7" Pronouns: She/It Sexuality: Sapphic Demiromantic Middle Name: N/A Likes: Expensive paintings, perfect nail-polish, sandalwood incense, lemon water, & flowers. Dislikes: Shaving, back-talk, tiny text on documents or books, chunky rings, & pineapple. Birthday: January 23rd Zodiac: Aquarius -Trivia- -Has a pull to religious imagery in a darker light because of religious trauma. Roman Catholicism is quite common in Mexico, but her parents were really heavy about it. To the point it makes Valeria bitter over it. She has a rocky relationship with God, but finds Mary comforting. Because when she was brought to church, but wanted to hide, she'd hide beside a Mary statue in a corner. -She has an odd sleep schedule. She often only gets four hours of sleep, but she doesn't seem to be tired at any point. In fact, the more sleep she gets, the more lethargic she is that day. -Her first girlfriend was when she was still in the military. A traveling medic from Italy. Unfortunately, the flame came and went thanks to the medic having to leave. Valeria has moved on, but she does mourn their lost time sometimes and has a little dream of meeting her again one day. Though she knows that's not practical. Phobia: Ecclesiophobia; the fear of church Neuro...: Neurotypical

✧Alex Keller✧

Age: 36 y.o Height: 6'1" Pronouns: He/Him Sexuality: Heteroflexible Middle Name: Sebastian (he's embarrassed about this) Likes: Golden retrievers, bad jokes, most seafood, provolone cheese, & hummus. Dislikes: Thanksgiving, the sound of rubbing styrofoam, being told to "do what he wants"(makes him feel aimless), tobacco smell, & overzealousness. (He likes simplicity...excluding his tattoos) Birthday: December 2nd Zodiac: Sagittarius -Trivia- -He doesn't really talk to his family excluding holidays. BUT, he will always keep in contact with his older sister, and his niece by proxy. They're the only two that made him feel wanted in his family. He wasn't abused in his mind, but he wasn't paid attention to much either. He always seemed overshadowed by something/someone, and as he got older, he got tired of feeling like an outcast in his own family. So he slowly drifted away and he goes on the guidance of orders he receives. -Probably born in a small town in a place like Utah. He's got small-town-mid-south manners. But I like to imagine he spent a lot of his time in California too, he seems like he'd enjoy the sun and the ocean. -Picks up languages really quick, somehow. At least, when he's around people that speak it. If he had to learn purely from books, he'd have choppy speech at best. He's fluent in English, Spanish, and Arabic. Also, knows a bit of ASL, but he's still working on that one. Phobia: Lilapsophobia; the fear of hurricanes/tornadoes Neuro...: Neurodivergent (Hyperlexia, SPD)

✧Farah Ahmed Karim✧

Age: 30 y.o Height: 5'5" Pronouns: She/Her Sexuality: Aliquaromantic Demi-Bisexual Middle Name: N/A Likes: Poppies, motorcycles, pretty much any food with chickpeas, super spicy stuff, and the sky at dusk. Dislikes: Overly salty things, riddles, genuine cockiness, the feeling of rust(that includes on spoons...), & long winded responses. Birthday: July 1st Zodiac: Cancer -Trivia- -Keeps her hair long despite the fact it's annoying to deal with sometimes. Purely for sentimental reasons. To her, it represents the growth she's had as a person. A far cry from the buzz-cut she was forced into when under someone else's control. So she refuses to cut it. -She will never use it, and she despises it, but she's semi-fluent in Russian. Being around it for so long made her pick it up. It works well if she needs to translate, but she'll be caught dead before she speaks Russian. -Honestly can't cook for shit. She doesn't know what the hell she's doing in the kitchen and basically relies on MREs or the skills of others. She's not a picky eater though, and she'll always finish what's put in front of her, even if she's not fond of it. Phobia: Agniophobia; fear of choking Neuro...: Neurotypical

✧Konig✧

Age: 28 y.o Height: 6'10" Pronouns: He/They Sexuality: Bisexual Middle Name: Obercht (Bonus)Last Name: Badubrecht Likes: Making bracelets, boxing(watching or doing), soda, heavy metal, & fresh bread. Dislikes: Certain kinds of wool, small cars, low doorframes, having to go to the medic, & the smell of hay. Birthday: March 9th Zodiac: Pisces -Trivia- -Was bullied all through high school for various things. His demeanor, his size, his hair(which was long), his cleft lip scar, etc. It took until he hit the largest growth spurt he ever had in secondary school when people began to stop poking fun, but instead avoid him. He maybe had 2-3 actual friends in his entire life before the military. And even now he mostly has acquaintances, not friends. -Doesn't talk to his mother, she was overbearing and cruel, mostly because Konig looks a lot like his father. He doesn't really talk to his father much because the man is hard to talk to. He's not completely cut off, but they are estranged. Konig's grandma hears from him almost every day, sometimes twice a day. She's a badass in her 90s who has never done him wrong, and he would blow up the entire world if anything happened to her. -Sometimes Konig gets comments that say he's got multiple personalities. (By uneducated people, clearly) Because he seems to switch dramatically between modes depending on time, place, and circumstance. Sometimes he's childish and giggly, cute even. Sometimes he's silent, unreadable, and withdrawn. And on the battlefield he's...inhuman, terrifying, and nothing short of bloodthirsty. Phobia: Equinophobia; the fear of horses. Neuro...: Neurodivergent (autistic)

[mykneeshurt]

hi!! happy new year!! 💗

I love ur writing, and I was thinking to drop this request;

so may request some hc’s of cod task force 141 (+ alejandro, könig, graves and rudy) :))

feel free to skip this if youre busy, just wondering, happy new year :)

Sorry this one took me some time, I got too in my head about it. It was so hard to not be bitchy to Graves lmfao, Soap is my favourite enjoy! SFW. Let me know if you want NSFW ones

Price 🥃

He supports Liverpool FC, no I won’t hear any different

His favourite non-alcoholic drink is ‘builders tea’

Glenfiddich 18 is his Whisky of choice

Favourite colour is khaki green

Is the father figure of the group, strong, reliable, approachable (everything my dad wasn’t lmfao, I still love him)

He wears a plain t-shirt pyjamas to bed, sleeps on his side, one arm under his head, absolutely snores

His favourite breed of dog is a Collie, or any working dog he can walk for miles for in the country side

He absolutely loves Bargain Hunt on TV

His favourite smell is fresh gingerbread

He’d make an excellent grandfather tbh

Soap 🧼

Despite being Scottish he supports Blackburn FC, an underdog (I refuse to comment on the Celtic vs Rangers, far too much history there. And I’m Welsh, it ent for me to say haah)

He absolutely loves winding the boys up about being English

His text tone is SCOTLAND FOREVVAAAA *aggressive bagpipes*

Soap 100% sleeps in the buff

His favourite dog would be a Labrador, nice active family friendly dog

He’s a chatterbox but a good listener when he needs to be, will often give some surprisingly good advice

He’s an iPhone wanker

Absolutely a mummy’s boy, would do anything for her - he’d love to pay off her mortgage for her

His favourite smell is the cheesy paws of his dog for real

He’s not a morning person, he loves a lie in when he can

Ghost 💀

Ghost supports Manchester City, he just gives me those vibes ok?

His favourite weather is rain/storms

When he’s home from a mission he’s a bath guy, he showers all the time on base, so when he’s home it’s hot ass bath with an audio book and his bourbon

He has two cats that his neighbour looks after when he’s away, two British blue shorthairs. Called Foxtrot and Whiskey

He also loves rabbits

He loves helping beginners at the gym

His favourite tv show is The Simpsons, something easy and colourful to watch to distract him from what he’s seen

He smells like Dior Suvage (anything musky and heavy)

He’s ambidextrous

He loves a cooked dinner, beef, roast potatoes, all the veg, stuffing and all the Yorkshire puddings

He’s got his tongue pierced, I’ve seen the fan art. You can’t tell me other wise.

Gaz 🇬🇧

He gives me Arsenal vibes, so he supports them

But also supports Chicago Bears in American Football

He’s gentle, reserved so he’d have a rat as a pet, highly intelligent

Fish and chips with curry sauce is his favourite meal, a proper British geeza

He smells fresh, think a bright spring day, fresh linen and cut grass

He loves the sunshine

He’s a keen gardener, grows his own herbs and vegetables

His house is spotless, minimalist, but has a huge book collection

He loves caramel lattes despite the banter from the boys, he has a sweet tooth

Loves meeting the boys down the pub on a Sunday for a carvery

Alejandro 🌹

He’s an excellent cook, his favourite hobby when not on a mission is trying out new recipes for Los Vaqueros

This man sleeps in silk sheets, tell me he doesn’t?

He’s fiercely loyal his country, he loves Mexico and is passionate about it through and through

He’s got a great sense of humour, enjoys making people laugh

He runs marathons for charity in his spare time

His favourite subject in school was history

If you’re sad this man gives the best hugs, he’ll make you a strong ass coffee and give one hell of a pep talk

His favourite smell is fresh cocoa beans, always stealing the nibs to eat

Him and Rudy have film nights with their families when they’re home

He’s 100% a girl dad, teaches her how to shoot with nerf guns in the garden

Rudy ❤️

He has a German Vizsla called Pollito, because her legs look like chicken drumsticks

He 100% has an android phone

He’s an armature photographer in his spare time, he loves nature

He and Alejandro have personalised ringtones for each other

His favourite food is Seafood paella

He owns a small farm, sells the produce to the local area, he loves animals

He once won a poetry competition

His favourite colour is orange

Sorry but he wears lynx Africa (I like it sue me)

He likes to game in his spare time, anything from farm simulator to RPGs

König 👑

He loves drawing, anything creative, he’ll draw/paint the Austrian countryside to de-stress

He grew up on a small farm in the Austrian mountains, he has a very close family

He doesn’t like large crowds, worried people stare at him because of his height, feels claustrophobic sometimes

He bites his nails when his hands aren’t busy or covered by gloves

He’s a cat guy 100%

He’s left handed, 100% a lefty but holds his gun right handed (its a struggle, I’m left handed)

He’d like a family one day, he’s got a lot of love to give

He smells like leather, sandalwood and vanilla

He loves eating raw cookie dough, vanilla and chocolate chip

He holds the record for the hardest punch in his home town

Graves 🇺🇸

His favourite holiday is July 4th, he does a huge fireworks display whenever he’s home

His favourite food is Gumbo

He smells like Paco Rabane Invictus

He’s got 3 Dobermans, whom he loves with all his heart. Ben, Jacob and Molly

He has a white picket fence - obviously

He doesn’t have a good relationship with his father, daddy forced him into the army to gain approval

He sleeps in red plaid pyjamas and has matching slippers

He’s fluent in French, he learnt it to pick up girls

He loves hiking in his spare time, with his 3 dogs

He runs support groups for veterans on a Thursday a local library

[sgtmickeyslaughter]

WEEKLY TAG WEDNESDAY

happy wednesday everyone! thanks for tagging me @lingy910y @energievie @creepkinginc @heymrspatel @thepupperino

Name: gigi

Age: 24

Astrological sign: such a virgo i was born on the first day of the season, right on time

Upon which continent do you reside: north america

Tell us how you're feeling right now using 3-5 emojis: 😴☁️🧿

What's your favorite flavor of gum? wrigleys doublemint

What's the last movie you watched? the little hours, it was very funny but not what i was expecting

What was your worst subject in high school? biology and chemistry, i liked the big ideas and theories but could not care less about the minutia

What's the job you stayed at for the shortest period of time? in highschool i worked at this coffee shop opened by this greek couple who were like, we want to pay everyone fairly which was great but then hired about ten more people than they needed so we all got fired about 3 months in

What's your favorite thing to do at an amusement park? im very scared of rides but i used to love the big swinging thing when i was young and fearless. ive actually never been to an amusment park, just my hometowns county fair so i loved the livestock show, art show, and good food

What condiments go on top of the perfect hot dog (meat or plant-based)? the works

Cincinnati chili, thoughts? hmmm dont really know what that is, i dont like chili usually but i do love obscure regional american dishes so ill say neutral thoughts for now

Do you sleep with a plushie? i have a few stuffed animals, a couple bunnies and a teddy bear and i sleep with them when im sad

How do you feel about thunderstorms? i like them from a distance, when they start doing a little too much i get nervous

What's the last animal you touched? i saw my dad's dog when i was out west last week, she called me the devil to my face for not letting her eat garbage from the ground!

Grab the nearest item with words on it that ISNT a book and tell me the final word: sennelier (watercolors)

Have you ever forgotten to do an assignment until the night before its due? no, see question 3

@iansw0rld @mmmichyyy @spookygingerr @mickittotheman @jrooc

@ian-galagher @mickeym4ndy @doshiart @gallawitchxx @mickeysgaymom

@softmick @deathclassic @blue-disco-lights @em-harlsnow @mybrainismelted

[wizardiest-wizard-of-oz]

if anyone wants I have a musicals playlist that's over 200 hours that has I think around 205 musicals here's an alphabetized list let me know if I'm missing any I should add (I don't like Andrew lloyd Webber musicals and I'm also not a huge fan of jukebox musicals more specifically mamma Mia) and if anyone wants a link please ask me

13

21 Chump Street

25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

35MM

36 Questions

42nd Street

The Addams Family

Aida

Aladdin

Alice by Heart

Allegro

Amelie

Anastasia

Ani

Annie Get Your Gun

Annie

Anything Goes

Avenue Q

Back to the Future

Bat Boy

Beauty and the Beast

Beetlejuice

Be More Chill

The Big One-Oh

Billy Elliot

Black Friday

Bombshell

Bonnie and Clyde

Book of Mormon

Brigadoon

Bring it On

Once More With Feeling (Buffy musical)

Bugsy Malone

Bye Bye Birdie

Cabaret

Camelot

Carousel

Carrie

Catch Me if You Can

A Catered Affair

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Chess

Chicago

A Chorus Line

Cinderella (Rodgers and Hammerstein)

The Colour Purple

Come From Away

Company

Crybaby

Curtains

Damn Yankees

Days of Wine and Roses

Dear Evan Hansen

Desperate Measures

Dog Man

Dreamgirls

Dreamland

Dr Horrible's Sing Along Blog

Drowsy Chaperone

Duolingo on Ice

Elegies

Epic (all released sagas)

Everybody's Talking About Jamie

Falsettoland

Falsettos Revival

Firebringer

Flora the Red Menace

Follies

Fosse

Frankenstein

Frozen

Fun Home

Funny Girl

A Funny Thing Happened

A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder

Grand Hotel

Grease

The Great American Trailer Park

Grey Gardens

Gutenberg

Guys and Dolls

The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals

G*psy

Hadestown (broadway)

Hadestown (off broadway)

Hairspray

Hair

Hamilton

Harmony

Heathers

Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Hello Dolly

Honk

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (this one is just for Patrick page)

How to Dance in Ohio

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Hunchback of Notre Dame

In the Green

In the Heights

Into the Woods

In Trousers

It Shoulda Been You

Jekyll and Hyde

Kimberly Akimo

The King and I

Kinky Boots

Kiss of the Spider Woman

Legally Blonde

Lempicka

Les Miserables (english and french)

The Lightning Thief

The Lion King

Little Do They Know

The Little Mermaid

A Little Night Music

Little Shop of Horrors (english and german)

Little Women

Lizard Boy

Love in Hate Nation

Love's Labours Lost

Mad Ones

Make Me a Song

Mame

A Man of No Importance

March of the Falsettos

Marguerite

Martin Guerre

Mary Poppins

Matilda

Mean Girls

Merrily We Roll Along

Miss Saigon

Monty Python's Spamalot

The Music Man

My Fair Lady

My Heart Says Go

My Son's a Queer (But What Can You Do)

The Mystery of Edwin Drood

Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812

Nerdy Prudes Must Die (I only have one song because I'm waiting to watch it with my friend before adding more)

A New Brain

Newsies

New York, New York

Next to Normal

Nightmare Time

Nine

Octet

Oklahoma

Oliver

Once On This Island

Once Upon a Mattress

Only Murders in the Building (Death Rattle Dazzle)

The Pyjama Game

Parade

Pippin

The Prince of Egypt

Prodigal

The Producers

The Prom

Ragtime

Ride the Cyclone

The Rink

The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Schmigadoon

Schmicago

Scottsburo Boys

Seussical

She Loves Me

Sherlock

Shrek

Shucked

Six

Smash

Some Like it Hot

Something Rotten

The Sound of Music

South Pacific

Spiderman Turn off the Dark

The Spitfire Grill

Spongebob

Spring Awakening

Starship

State Fair

Sunday in the Park with George

Superhero

Sweeney Todd

Sweet Charity

The Theory of Relativity

Thoroughly Modern Millie

Tick Tick Boom

The Time Traveller's Wife

The Trail to Oregon

Twisted

Urinetown

A VHS Christmas Carol

The Visit

Waitress

Wait Wait Don't Kill Me

West Side Story

Wicked

Water for Elephants

Wizard of Oz

The Wiz

Zombie Prom

Zorba

[fandxmslxt69]

*cha chas in*

Ok...let's do some book recs, since I'm on a book kick!

Tropes I love-

Arranged Marriage

Grumpy x Sunshine

And There was One (1) Bed!!

He Falls Harder

Not a trope, but gorgeous writing

Things that give me the ick in books, including triggers: female protagonists who aren't like other girls , cheating (there are a few rare exceptions like White Horse, Black Nights by Evie Marceau, either way, if the main couple cheats on or with each other especially if one party already has a loving supportive partner/spouse, I will burn the book down and rate it one star), suicide, when cats or dogs die.

HI :DDDD

im FINALLY getting out of the reading slump so LETS DO THIS EEEE!!!

first of all LOOOOOOOOOVE the tropes you're into!!! those are my prime ones too!!!

My first rec would be any Ana Huang book - she's a well known romance author and her books are what really got me into romance!!!!! For specific tropes like marriage of convenience/fake dating & grump x sunshine, I would mostly suggest:

Twisted Lies. Fake dating. Billionaire. TW: there's a subplot of the female lead being stalked, the male lead is...of a questionable moral ground lmao.

King of Wrath (its her second series). MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE. grump and sunshine hehehe <33 (HE'S SOOOO GRUMPY IT MAKES ME FERAL???) again, billionaires. looots of "dont touch my wife >:(" hot sex is a must in all Ana Huang books and she DEFINITELY delivers in this one???? again, morally questionable male lead

There's also Lauren Asher who has 2 finished series, and is currently one book (with the second coming SO SOON) into her third!!! Her first series is an F1 romance series so if you're into that, def check it out. but for the tropes you like, I would go for:

Terms and Conditions (book 2 of the Dreamland Billionaire series). Marriage of convenience. you cannot get more grump x sunshine than this one!!!!! DONT TOUCH MY WIFEEEEEEEEEEEE. so so so good and juicy and its soooo freaking!!! i cant describe it!!! but its so beautiful and the characters are amazing and the romance is just PEAKKK.

if you're into something more dark (like...dark.) then:

Twisted by Emily McIntire: first of all ALL her books are DELICIOUS - this book specifically is part of her Never After series, which is currently 5 books (with the 6th on the way!!) based on Disney/Fairy Tale stories, but its like...what if the villain got the girl??yknow??? its NOT retellings, it just uses concepts and vibes! For instance, Twisted is Aladdin "based", using concepts like the magic lamp, character dynamics and overall vibes!! its a DARK. i must make it clear, DARK!!! marriage of convenience enemies (toxic kind) to lovers vibe. its DARK. so the romance is a little messed up but its SO FLIPPING GOOOOOD

All her books are great if you want to look into them. 10/10 10/10

ONE BED TROPES???

The American Roommate Experiment by Elena Armas. She does have a book before that but its not very good so ignore it. THIS ONE. THIIIIIIS ONE!!!!!!! its not fake dating...EXACTLY....BUT. our lead girl wrote a hit romance novel (under a fake name) and is CERTAIN she'll only ever be a one hit wonder bc she cant seem to write a second one to secure herself a contract deal!!! her best friend's cousin needs to crash somewhere and so she offers her place (actually her best friend's place bc her place is damaged or smth) turns out this cousin happens to be the guy who was SUPPOSED to be her date to her best friend's wedding!!!!! but he ditched. anyway they get into an arrangement where she lets him stay with her, he helps her to "rekindle the flame" and get back into touch with romance via....practice dates (WE ALL KNOW HOW THOSE GO???) anyway SOOOO CUTE SOOO FLUFFY hot smut, 10/10 5 star book. one bed trope bc they. share a bed.

i need to note that in all the previously mentioned books, he ALWAYS falls harder. ALWAYS. and i love most of these bc the female leads are SO relatable (delusional (like me), know a gorgeous man when they see one, funny as hell)

anyway yeah thats what i've got!!! all those authors are AMAZING and have books to satisfy any trope you are hungry for, so if you pick up any of these recs and actually enjoy them, i hope you read more of their work <333

[dantesleftball]

Nero…getting outed by Dante. Then Nero gets royal treatment from the twins. I really need to work on my titles

Fanfic/drabble/random idea inspired by yourdailywritingprompt on tiktok!

If you are confused about their ages, I wrote this as if dmc5 happened much sooner after dmc4 than it canonically did. Think Nero is around 18 in this.

It was a great idea. A glorious one, if Dante can say so himself. It's July after all, the weather so hot it could practically melt the skin off your bones. In this kind of unbearable heat, Dante had the bright idea to bring his family to a water park. Just to cool off. And if he got to dunk his adorable nephew into a big body of water? That's just a bonus.

So, off Dante went, proposing the idea to his brother and that random kid that just hangs around the Devil May Cry. He's met with instantaneous rejection, even having to dodge a miscellaneous projectile that definitely did not come flying from Vergil. But somehow, through some miracle, the two ended up accompanying Dante to the park with the promise of ice cream to Nero and cleaning the house for a whole week to Vergil.

The idea of a water park didn't sit right with Nero. Not at all. A place where he was expected to wear minimal clothing, probably take his shirt off and out himself in front of his father and uncle? He had no idea where his family stood on that topic, and he wasn't about to risk losing the good relationship he finally has with them over a stupid water park… And why was Dante eyeing him like that?

He figured that arguing against the prospect would only make him look more suspicious so he had to settle on going, but keeping his shirt on and staying very clear of the water. His binder does it's job rather perfectly under normal circumstances, but if his white shirt were to get soaked…yeah he'd rather not think about that.

The park was surprisingly vacant upon their arrival. There were a few other families alongside them and a few elderly couples, but other than that it was pretty empty. Weird, guess people usually avoid the mid-day sunburn huh? Nero took the chance to find a nice place in the shade to set down their bags while Vergil pulled out his leather bound book and sat on a sunbed. He looked around to see Dante immediately take off his shirt and jump into one of the pools that had a clear sign up with "Jumping Prohibited". He waited out the small waves his uncle created and sat down on the edge of the pool, his legs soaked up to the knee.

"You're not going in?" Dante floated towards him and shook his head like a wet dog, leaving a grimace on Nero's face.

"...Nah, I'm not a fan of swimming. I'll leave all the pink eye to you."

"Ha, ha, what a courtesy. Fine, if you don't swim, at least drag your old man over here for me? God knows he hasn't had a moment to relax since we came back from hell."

"Are you sure making him swim around in a large body of water is going to relax him?"

"...Just bring him over?"

Nero sighed but got up from his spot and started walking towards Vergil, still very much wearing his coat and reading his book. In like 30 degrees weather (we're using celsius here, but since I'm not an asshole that's like 86 f for you americans).

"…Uh-"

"Go tell Dante that I'm not walking all that way for him to just pull me into that despicable public pool and make a fool of me. I am just fine sitting here until he gets tired of swimming around like an excitable dog."

"And why don't you go tell him yourself?"

Vergil peers over the edge of the book up at Nero and glares at his question. For all he's trying to look intimidating, it takes all of the son's willpower to not laugh and point out how much he looks like a grumpy cat.

"I won't be your message boy."

"Nero you're killing me. You're killing your father."

"...You're insufferable."

Nero shook his head and turned on his heels, walking back to where Dante is happily floating on his stomach. With his head under the water. Huh, was it always that easy to get rid of him?

He stretched his leg out over the edge of the pool and shoved his uncle's side, effectively pushing him under the water and sending him into a small panic, flailing his arms and trying to stand upright.

"Remind me why we're keeping you around?"

"Because that one still hasn't paid child support." He gestured over his shoulder back at Vergil, who, sensing the mention, glared at them like the upset cat he was once again.

"And why won't mister grumpy pants come here and cool off instead of dying in that godforsaken coat of his?"

"Beats me. Probably doesn't like the water. I'm not going in either, you'll have to be the wet dog of this crew. Kinda like Scooby Doo."

"Don't you Scooby Doo my ass, I'm not worthy of that title." Dante looked over at Nero with a worrying look that had the teen scoot back a step, but before he could retort, Dante moved to get out of the pool.

"Come on, let's convince your dad the water isn't evil."

Nero nodded and got up from the edge of the pool, eyeing Dante suspiciously for a moment. When the older one didn't give any sign that he was up to any stupid pranks, Nero had made the fatal mistake of turning his back on his uncle.

Almost as soon as the kid turned around, Dante charged towards him and picked him up easily from underneath his arms, hoisting him up into the air.

"Dante, put me the fuck down right now. I'm not joking. Dante put me down. I'll start kicking where you don't want me to kick, Dante, put me the fuck down now!"

And true to his uncle personality, Dante did not put him down. Instead, he turned around and dangled Nero over the edge of the pool for a few moments with a shit eating grin on his face.

"D'aww, is the big bad Nero scared to get his hair wet? Ouch, hey, watch it, don't bite my arm!"

"Dude, put me down, this isn't fucking funny you old fart-"

"That's it, have a good dunk."

And with that, Dante dropped the teen into the pool, only a sliver of remorse passing through his mind at the possibility that maybe Nero didn't know how to swim. But that's stupid, even if he can't swim, Dante would just dive in to get him out.

But to his surprise, the kid did know how to swim. In fact, he knew how to swim so well that he was out of the water and trying to hurry back into the changing rooms as quickly as possible. He exchanged a confused look with Vergil, who only seemed even more pissed at the fact that he had upset his son. Oops. Dante raised his hands and shrugged, nodding his head in the direction of the disappearing teen who…seemed to be shaking? Had the water been that cold? He walked back towards his twin with a worried expression.

"Uh…is Nero okay?"

"You just threw him into the pool."

"Yeah but that's something that makes you get out and push the other person in! It's supposed to be fun, not make the kid run with his tail between his legs. Why would that upset him so much?"

Vergil sighed and lowered his book, thinking about his son's behavior.

"...You really are thick skulled. Maybe he doesn't like being surprised or picked up. Give him some time for now. I'll go see what's wrong if he doesn't come back in a few minutes."

With that, Dante went to sit on the opposite sunbed, sulking. When five, then ten minutes passed, Vergil put his book down completely and got up from his seat, looking around the park. Without a word, he started in the direction of the changing rooms, then knocked slowly on the door. When he received no response, he pushed the door, confused to find the room empty. That is, until his hearing picked up a small sniffling sound coming from the bathroom. He sighed once more and took the few steps towards the cramped room, giving the door a couple of tentative knocks.

"Nero? Are you in there?"

The sniffling abruptly stopped and he heard the shuffling sounds of someone hurrying to make themselves presentable.

"Uh, yeah, I am!"

"Is…is everything okay?"

"Yep, better than ever! I'll be out in a few minutes, don't wait for me. I'm sure Dante is going to push you in next so be careful."

Vergil clicked his tongue. It was clear the kid wasn't okay, he was trying to divert his attention from himself and he seemed to lack a certain annoyance towards the man who just threw him into the pool and made him cry. He was so going to strangle Dante.

"Your uncle and I were thinking of leaving soon, actually. Nero, why are you crying?"

Nero cursed silently the damn demonic hearing that picked up on every little detail. He pinched his nose bridge and tried not to sound extremely annoyed the next time he spoke.

"Look, I'll be out in a few, okay? You go back to Dante."

"Nero, I would like to know if you were hurt in any way. Can I come in?"

"No! Don't-" he took a moment to clear his throat, his stupid voice breaking in the worst moment. "Don't come in. I'm fine. Just leave me alone."

"...Nero. While I respect your privacy, I am worried. I need to see that you are unharmed."

"Please. Please don't."

"Can you please come out, Nero?"

"..."

The soft click of the door was the only response that met Vergil as his son stepped out of the bathroom, visibly soaked to the bone but otherwise safe. While looking him over, Vergil realized why his son insisted on not coming out of the bathroom. His gaze left that area and when he looked into the teen's eyes, the dams broke. Nero's eyes were bloodshot, fearful and…tired. Tired of hiding himself, perhaps? Tired of people overstepping his boundaries? Tired of…himself?

The next thing Nero did was to sink down to the floor and bring his knees up to meet his forehead. There was no use in muffling his sobs now but he did it anyway. It was over now. What little he managed to mend the relationship with his father was for absolute naught, Vergil would visibly cringe at the confession, maybe even physically recoil and, if he wasn't trying to keep himself from breaking apart, he would have laughed at the image. He was going to reject him, maybe leave him behind a second time, why not? People have all sorts of reactions to this kind of stuff, he was expecting it, he was ready for it, nothing would hurt him if he just expected it-

And yet, what he hadn't expected was for Vergil, for his father, to sit down next to him and pull him into his side for a hug. Nero didn't even manage to flinch or fight it, in fact, he was grateful for the warmth and comfort. He mindlessly leaned into his father's hug and hid his face in the other's chest, much like an overwhelmed child.

Vergil pulled his son closer, his hand on the back of the teen's head. Truth be told, he had no idea if Nero understood his actions, if he understood that he did not care for what he used to be or what his body looked like. All he knew was that he had a son, and things would stay that way, unless Nero decided to change that. His son's shaking made a piece of his heart break so he kissed his temple in hopes it would help the both of them.

After Nero had calmed down some more, Vergil used the Yamato to quickly teleport the both of them back to the Devil May Cry. He made sure his son was wrapped into the softest blanket they had lying around and the hot chocolate he made was the right temperature before he left to bring Dante back. He had half a mind to let him figure out how to get back on his own, but Nero had asked him to bring him back and, well, there's only so much a man can resist is there?

As soon as he saw him, however, Vergil took it upon himself to smack his twin upside the head for the idiocy he had displayed that day. Dante yelped, rubbed his head and apologized to Vergil for hurting Nero. He tried to inquire as to why what he did had upset the kid so bad but Vergil only scoffed before slicing the space matter with his blade.

"It's up to him to decide if he wants to tell you or not. Your responsibility is to apologize. And you will, but not tonight. Let him rest."

"I have to say, Vergil, for all your cold exterior you make a pretty good dad."

"Step through the portal, Dante."

Vergil even had the courtesy to teleport the younger twin straight to his own room and avoid having the kid face him again that evening. For the rest of the night, the older twin sat with his son on the couch, watching the shittiest movies Nero could find and refilling his hot chocolate before the teen could even realize his cup was empty. Once he had fallen asleep, Vergil made sure to carry him back into his room. Carefully, as to not wake him up, he tucked his son into bed and kissed his forehead before leaving the room.

I was going to write more but this was getting pretty long so! I decided to split it into two parts. I'm probably going to write Dante's part anyways, but let me know if you'd like to read it!

[farharbour]

oc interview

i was tagged by @hibernationsuit, thank u!! 🫂💖 i'll tag umm @mercuryislove @reaperkiller & @bisexualocs! don't feel obligated to do it though lol. anyone else who wants to do this can just say i tagged u, idm :)

i'm doing this for jess because i'm predictable asf:

name: jesse diresta

nickname(s): jess, blue (by piper, it annoys him but not enough to ask her to stop using it)

gender: trans man (he/him)

star sign(s): cap sun (cusp) + pisces moon + virgo rising (yes i picked his star signs first then gave him a birthday to match nghfjdhdf)

height: 6' / 183 cm.

orientation: bisexual / polyamorous but he's not weird about it

nationality/ethnicity: american (italian; his nana (maternal grandmother) immigrated from italy)

fave fruit: kiwifruit, but honestly post-war he's just happy to get any fresh produce at all LOL

fave season: spring for sure! winter is very hard on him emotionally & there's something comforting about the warmth and life that the spring brings. somewhere in there there's a metaphor about growth healing and rebirth or w/e

fave flower: poppies

fave scent: allspice, sandalwood, lemon-scented disinfectant/hand sanitizer (unnecessarily specific, sowwy)

coffee, tea, or hot chocolate: black coffee. it's different post-war and harder to make a good batch even with pre-war beans but he'll still never take it with sugar

avg. hours of sleep: between 4-6

dog or cat person: neither, he's a fish person NHFDFNDHFD

dream trip: he'd always wanted to go visit italy but unfortunately that's not in the cards for him because of the whole. y'know. apocalypse thing.

fave fictional character: any dostoevsky protagonist (his fave book is probably the brothers kramazov) (king of reading!). he also has a soft spot for the silver shroud since that was terri's ult favourite character/series.

number of blankets they sleep with: just one! he runs cold but nick always gives off enough ambient heat for him to be comfy with a single blanket

random fact: he's not that great at hacking terminals, he's just super lucky with guessing the correct passcode and passes it off as pure skill if anyone asks / tangential thought: sometimes he messes up an easy terminal on purpose or acts like it's harder than it actually is just so he can watch nick do it for him and swoon over how smart and talented he is when he very well could have done the same thing LOL and nick knows when he does it too obviously but he plays along. it's flirting

[houseofbrat]

I can’t believe people are getting worked up over Tom Bower’s new article in the DM. 

@helenaaurellia​ was right. Bower is being misleading with his article on Charles, and his hatred of Charles is very obvious. Charles is the only one whose “cheating” matters in the world according to Bower. Diana’s cheating--which happened before Charles’--doesn’t even merit a mention in his column. James Gilby? Barry Mannakee? Who? 

Why let the facts get in the way of the story in Bower’s column. 

This paragraph right here should tell you that Bower is just having fun with the current circus:

As someone who has climbed the very greasy pole that leads to success in the dog-eat-dog world of American television, Meghan can smell weakness a mile off and Charles positively reeks of it.

Harry’s wife was never a success in American television. Bower knows it but is instead choosing to be misleading. Harry’s wife only got her fifth billing on a basic cable show via husband named Trevor. “Climbed the very greasy pole”? As if! Even Harvey Weinstein wouldn’t have anything to do with her! 

And Harry’s wife cannot “smell weakness a mile off.” She’s a crazed lunatic, even by Hollywood standards. Harry’s wife just is bombarding the royal rota reporters with her statements, which Fleet Street goes on to print because they know they can get people worked up over things that aren’t going to even happen.

If Bower was really being honest, he’d say that Harry’s book promotion is great for everyone who writes about the British royal family. Now everyone is paying attention to what the reporters have to say. It’s a royal beat reporter’s dream because currently they’re in hot demand! 

Continuing The Circus is in the best interests of Tom Bower. That’s why he wrote his column. Three to four weeks from now, life will have moved on. The Circus will have moved to another town, and what was once an outrage to certain people will be unimportant. 

So many people are proving themselves to be suckers these days, just as I said earlier today. 

[creedslove]

Mari! Can you tell us a bit about your country? I've never been there before.

Where is everyone else from?

Absolutely my love! What exactly do you want to know about it?!

I am from Brazil, I live in the south of the country, which means that when it's hot IT IS HOT and when it's cold IT IS COLD 😄

Well, Brazil is really big, and unfortunately I haven't been able to travel through it but there's incredible, fascinating and beautiful places around the country, just as there are bad places too; there's a lot of crime in here and some negative stuff, but I guess there's that everywhere in the world 😢

Brazilian people are overall very nice and outgoing, we can be very warm and friendly and something I'm particularly very proud of is that we take showers everyday and we have the habit of brushing our teeth like at least three times a day and stuff like that, I know it sounds dumb but there's places in the world some people don't do that and it's just so ?????????!!!!!!!!!!

The country's passion is pretty much soccer and soap opera (I'm addicted to soap operas and I binge watch them like most people binge watch series on netflix; I don't mean to brag, but our soap operas are the best in the world, the quality of production, screenwriting and acting is very noticeable) our cinema is incredible and well, I take you have watched narcos, so you are family with our man wagner moura right?

We also have very diverse music, there's music for everyone, all the genres and kinds... You name it, we got it!

Our food is THE BEST in the world!!! We have so many typical dishes that are just breathtakingly delicious and we also improve a lot of foreign recipes, such as strogonoff that came from russia and ours is much better or a simple hot dog (my american friends, us, people from brazil pity you all whenever we see your hot dog, because ours is WAY bigger and full of a bunch of delicious ingredients xD)

Our literature is also top notch, I confess that I don't really read the classics very much such as Machado de Assis or José de Alencar, but I do love Augusto dos Anjos and his poetry (he's published only one book called 'me' and it's wholesale) and of course, one of my favorite authors of all time, the controversial Nelson Rodrigues 😍

And well baby, I would be glad to reply to any other questions you have about my country! And about people who follow me are from all around the world! I know for a fact I have American, european, latin american people following me and such :) what about you? Where are you from?

Forgive me if I forgot some place or if I wrote anything wrong or added something I shouldn't have, I have never been great at geography and I haven't had a geography class in almost ten years so cut me some slack xD

[anticidic]

What are your top 10 (or top 7) favorite media ever (can be anime/manga, tv series, books, movies, etc)? Why love them? Thanks ⭐

P.s

I've seen that ask a few times, and compare to other people, I think you have read the most books from the authors of BSD (that is so cool). As someone who grew up reading classic books and then got into anime/manga, I don't find many people in animanga fandom who also love reading books, so glad to find your blog. When you said, you've read from all Guild members, I got excited on my own (sorry).

I really love reading. 😅 I had to do a lot of analyses back in school on books like Of Mice and Men, Great Expectations, The Great Gatsby, and some of Shakespeare's works and it kinda just opened the floodgates to me enjoying all kinds of classics. Poe and Lovecraft were some of my favorite authors because I was really drawn to gothic horror and the cosmic elements of Lovecraft's works. I was also obsessed with horror for a hot minute and Stephen King still holds a place in my heart.

I legitimately got into bsd because of my love for books. Characters as real life authors with abilities named after their works? Sounds cool, I'm in! And I've been here ever since. It pushed me to read works beyond American/European authors. I just think some of the parallels are super neat, like the Nathaniel vs Akutagawa "Diablo" bit, and Dazai's frequent mentions of Dostoevsky in his works.

1. Bungo Stray Dogs

Self-explanatory, I think, after what I said above. I like the literary parallels and the foundation of the world is really neat to get into and think about.

2. Good Omens (show)

Angel/demon motifs? Hell yeah. I love religious themes in works, and I like the balance Good Omens strikes with that and its comedic aspects.

3. Scrubs

This is mostly from a comfort angle. Some of it is like black comedy? with the bleak jokes that are made in relation to medicine.

4. Haikyuu!!

I didn't think sports anime could get a grip on me, but here we are. I just kinda fell out of my hyperfixation with it a few years ago, but I still come back to it every once in a while. Really good character development, some legitimately tense moments in some of the matches like all the Karasuno vs Aoba Johsai, and I liked the Karasuno vs Inarizaki arcs the most.

5. Tokyo Ghoul

I actually completely forgot about how much I loved this series, which is both weird and concerning, but ANYWAY. It had really neat world-building and set a good precedence for an interesting narrative in Kaneki, but I think the ending is what eventually turned me away. Leading up to the first part of :re was a treat. Just a shame what happened to it.

6. Seraph of the End

Another old hyperfixation but still holds a place in my heart. I haven't read it in a HOT minute, I think I stopped catching up with what was going on a few years ago. But this also had a really interesting premise and the idea that kids were immune to the thing that wiped out most of the population was pretty cool. I liked the relationship between Mikaela and Yuichirou especially when they were on opposite sides of the war and Mikaela having to grapple with being a vampire and not wanting to feed on people.

7. Supernatural

Came for the story, stayed for the memes. Another old favorite of mine that I sometimes go back to now and then just because it's neat. The supernatural elements and, again, religious themes drew me in. A lot of the ideas I've gotten for plots I used in writing came from watching this. 👀 Paranormal themes is something I like exploring a lot and I still haven't gotten tired of it.

I was asked about favorite books before, so I decided not to include any of them. Thanks for the ask, anon!! ✨

[badass-at-fandoming]

Werewolf Books & Movie Recs

I commented on this post with werewolf book and movie recs, and I wanted to cross-post it here because it was so fun to make!

The original post mentions Teen Wolf, American Werewolf in London, Ginger Snaps, Dog Soldiers, Van Helsing movies, Disney's Werewolf-By-Night special, Wolfwalkers, Dungeon Meshi/Delicious in the Dungeon, After Dark Webtoon, Night Class comic, Bisclavret, Trick R Treat, Werewolf Fever, Strippers VS Werewolves, and Bad Moon.

Books (links to Storygraph)

Kitty Norville series by Carrie Vaugh - tries to have a more realistic take on werewolves and pack dynamics. A kickass radio DJ heroine, the fall of the Masquerade, and various horror show adventures

Her Wolf in the Wild by Rien Gray - butch biker werewolf romance in the American Southwest by an author with a golden touch. I love everything they write!

Queer Werewolves Destroy Capitalism by MJ Lyons - smutty m/m erotica collection with two stories featuring a werewolf and his trans mage boyfriend destroying capitalism

The Alchemy of Moonlight by David Ferraro - A YA gay gothic romance wherein a marquis disguises himself as a servant and discovers his new employers have a very furry secret

Wolfsong by TJ Klune - this one has been recommended to the moon and back, but for good reason! Ox is reunited with a mysterious boy and it's time to solve a murder.

Mead Mishaps series, Book 2: That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf by Kimberly Lemming - I ADORE this series. Bloody and cozy with delicious world-building, great humor, and hot smut. You can read it out of order, but after one you'll likely want to read them all.

Bored Gay Werewolf by Tony Santorella - New Adult coming of age where a gay slacker werewolf gets a life coach who is a little too helpful

Squad graphic novel by Maggie Tokuda-Hall and Lisa Sterle - a YA coming-of-age about a girl who joins a werewolf pack that dedicates itself to eating one rapist every month.

Find even more on Book Riot's 8 Werewolf Books From Around the World, 50 Must Read Werewolf Romance Books, Leaders of the Pack

Movies (links to IMDB)

As Boas Maneiras (2017) - Brazilian lesbian film about a nanny who falls for her employer while also growing increasingly worried about the child growing inside

The Wolfman (1941) - Lon Chaney Jr's many appearances as Larry Talbot are really great to help understand the popularization of the werewolf as uncontrolled id. His films are the ancestor of American Werewolf in London, Ginger Snaps, and Van Helsing movies. Also, yanno, they're easy to find online or at libraries. As a product of its time, there are anti-Romani slurs and racist language, so take care while watching

My Animal (2023) - sapphic werewolf horror/romance where young love brings out the animal within

Bloodthirsty (2020) - an indie singer joins colleagues on a remote retreat to create new music, but starts having dreams of hunger and the hunt.

Jack and Diane (2012) - Two young sapphic women meet in New York and sparks fly. Except when Jack informs Diane that she plans to move soon, Diane's possessive nature turns hairy.

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 7.16

Holidays

Accountant and Auditor Day (Ukraine)

Artificial Intelligence Appreciation Day

Assata Shakur Day

Atomic Bomb Day

Catcher in the Rye Day

Closet Space Appreciation Day

DC Day

Dixie Cup Day

Elderly Women Day (Kiribati)

Engineer’s Day (Honduras)

Festival of Convivial Tools

Fiesta de La Tirana (Tarapacá Region, Chile)

Guinea Pig Appreciation Day

Harela (Uttarakhand, India)

Holocaust Memorial Day (France)

International Disability Awareness Day

International Drag Day

International Juggling Day

Islamic Calendar Day

Lady of Carmen Day (Chile)

La Paz Day (Bolivia)

National Atomic Veterans Day

National Change Your Font Day

National D.R.E.S.S. Syndrome Day

National Emily Day

National Geordie Day (UK)

National Jerry Day

National Peace Day (Dia de la Paz; Bolivia)

National Stick Shift Day

National Take the Stairs Day

National Wedding Invitation Day

No Kissing Day

Order of the Arrow Day (BSA)

Parking Meter Day

Parks Day (Canada)

Reading Together Day (UK)

Rural Transit Day

716 Day

Talk to a Telemarketer Day

Tare Day (French Republic)

Trinity Test Day

Urs Shah-I-Hamdan Sahib (Kashmir, India)

Val d’hie Roundup Anniversary Day

World PR Day

World Snake Day

World Wizkid Day (Nigeria)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Fresh Spinach Day

Hot Coal Chicken Day (Peru)

Hot Dog Night

Ice Cream Cone Day

National Cherry Day (UK)

National Corn Fritter Day

National Funnel Cake Day

National Personal Chef Day [also 2.26]

Independence & Related Days

Custosia (Declared; 2017) [unrecognized]

La Paz Day (Bolivia)

Manu’s Cession Day (American Samoa)

Ozamiz City Charter Day (Philippines)

3rd Tuesday in July

National Children’s Book Day (Philippines) [3rd Tuesday]

Taco Tuesday [Every Tuesday]

Weekly Holidays beginning July 16 (3rd Week of July)

Prime Days (Amazon) [thru 7.17]

Festivals Beginning July 16, 2024

Beanpole Days (Pequot Lakes, Minnesota) [thru 7.17]

Fiesta Topeka (Topeka, Kansas) [thru 7.20]

Les Escales du Cargo (Arles, France) [thru 7.21]

Feast Days

Andrea del Sarto (Artology)

Asalha Puja Day (Buddhist Lent begins)

Athenogenes (Christian; Martyr)

Bobby Henderson Day (Pastafarian; Saint)

Charles Sheeler (Artology)

Day of Erzulie Dantor (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Dr. Doom Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Display of the Embarrassing Swimsuits (Church of the SubGenius)

Elembiuos (a.k.a. Clam-time; Celtic Book of Days)

Eustathius of Antioch (Christian; Saint)

Feast of the Commemoration of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Carmelite Order; Christian)

First Sermon of Lord Buddha (Bhutan)

Flight of Muhammad (the Hegira; 622)

Fulrad (Christian; Saint)

Gergetoba (Day of Spiritual Love; Georgia)

Gondulphus of Tongeren (Christian; Saint)

Great Schism Anniversary Day (1054)

Harela (Day of Green; Hinduism)

Hejira (First Day of Islamic Calendar; 622) [original date]

Helier (a.k.a. Elier; Christian; Saint)

Immolation Day (Ancient Greece)

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (Artology)

Joshua Reynolds (Artology)

Mary Magdalen Postel (Christian; Saint & Virgin)

Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Christian)

Petal-Hopping for Non-Starters (Shamanism)

Phoebe Cates Day (Humanism)

Reineldis (Christian; Saint & Virgin)

Robert Sheckley (Writerism)

Rotary Doozer (Muppetism)

Saut d’Eau Waterfall Pilgrimage (Voodoo; Haiti; Everyday Wicca)

Skip This Day Day (Pastafarian)

Solstitium XI (Pagan)

Tony Kushner (Writerism)

The Troubadours (Positivist; Saint)

Vardavar (Pagan Prank Day; Armenia) [14 Weeks after Easter]

Zoot (Muppetism)

Islamic Lunar Holidays

Ashura (Islamic) [Begins at Sundown; Muharram 9-10] (a.k.a. ... 

Achoura (Algeria)

Ashorra (Parts of India)

Ashoura (Lebanon)

Ashura Holiday (Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia)

Muharram (Parts of India)

Remembrance of Muharram

Tamkharit (Senegal)

Tamxarit (Gambia)

Tasoua Hosseini (Iran)

Tasu’a

Yaum-e-Ashur (Pakistan)

Yawmul Ashura (Gambia)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Butsumetsu (仏滅 Japan) [Unlucky all day.]

Prime Number Day: 197 [45 of 72]

Premieres

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, by Diana Ross (Song; 1970)

Alice’s Restaurant Massacree, by Arlo Guthrie (Song; 1976)

Akira (Anime Film; 1988)

Ant-Man (Film; 2015)

Barney Bear and the Uninvited Pest (MGM Cartoon; 1943)

The Big Bite (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1966)

The Blair Witch Project (Film; 1999)

The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger (Novel; 1951)

Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio), by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Opera; 1782)

Dragon Around (Disney Cartoon; 1954)

Drop Dead Gorgeous (Film; 1999)

Eyes Wide Shut (Film; 1999)

False Hare (WB LT Cartoon; 1964)

Free Willy (Film; 1993)

From Up on Poppy Hill (Studio Ghibli Animated Film; 2011)

George of the Jungle (Film; 1997)

The Half-Blood Prince, by J.K. Rowling (Novel; 2005) [Harry Potter #6]

Happy Birthdaze (Fleischer/Famous Popeye Cartoon; 1943)

Hocus Pocus (Film; 1993)

Inception (Film; 2010)

Indian Serenade (Color Rhapsody Cartoon; 1937)

Lost and Foundry (Fleischer Popeye Cartoon; 1937)

The Moonstone, by Wilkie Collins (Novel; 1868)

Mouse and Garden (WB LT Cartoon; 1960)

The Office Boy (Ub Iwerks Cartoon; 1932)

Once A Day, by Connie Smith (Song; 1964)

Piano Sonata, by Béla Bartók (Piano Sonata; 1927)

Poison Ivy, recorded by The Coasters (Song; 1959)

Pom Poko (Studio Ghibli Animated Film; 1994)

Punch (UK Weekly Satire Magazine; 1842)

Schmigadoon! (TV Series; 2021)

Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll (TV Series; 2015)

Space Jam: A New Legacy (Animated Film; 2021)

Space Race (Video Game; 1973)

Stargate: Atlantis (TV Series; 2004)

The Timid Pup (Color Rhapsody Cartoon; 1940)

Topper (Film; 1937)

What a Lion (MGM Cartoon; 1938)

Today’s Name Days

Carmen, Irmgard, Maria (Austria)

Yulian, Yuliana, Yuliya (Bulgaria)

Elvira, Karmela (Croatia)

Luboš (Czech Republic)

Tychos (Denmark)

Rein, Reinhold, Reino, Reinu, Reinut, Rinaldo, Ronald (Estonia)

Reino, Rene (Finland)

Elvire (France)

Carmen, Irmgard (Germany)

Valter (Hungary)

Maria, Vitaliano (Italy)

Hermīne, Rasulite (Latvia)

Danguolė, Faustas, Vaigaudas (Lithuania)

Sanna, Susanne (Norway)

Andrzej, Benedykt, Dziersław, Dzierżysław, Eustachiusz, Eustachy, Faust, Maria Magdalena, Marika, Ostap, Ruta, Stefan (Poland)

Drahomíra (Slovakia)

Carmen (Spain)

Reine, Reinhold (Sweden)

Ruth, Valentina, Valia (Ukraine)

Carmel, Carmela, Carmelo, Carmen, Shelby, Sherman, Sherwood (USA)

Carma, Carmel, Carmela, Carmelita, Carmella, Camelo, Carmélo, Carmen, Carmencita, Carmi, Carmie, Carmina, Carmine, Karmen, Phoebe (Universal)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 198 of 2024; 170 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 2 of Week 29 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Tinne (Holly) [Day 10 of 28]

Chinese: Month 6 (Xin-Wei), Day 11 (Xin-Si)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 10 Tammuz 5784

Islamic: 9 Muharram 1446

J Cal: 18 Red; Foursday [18 of 30]

Julian: 3 July 2024

Moon: 75%: Waxing Gibbous

Positivist: 1 Dante (8th Month) [The Troubadours]

Runic Half Month: Ur (Primal Strength) [Day 8 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 27 of 94)

Week: 3rd Week of July

Zodiac: Cancer (Day 26 of 31)

Calendar Changes

Dante (Modern Epic Poetry) [Month 8 of 13; Positivist]

[blackswaneuroparedux]

Treat Your S(h)elf: Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield (1998)

At Thermopylae, a rocky mountain pass in northern Greece, the feared and admired Spartan soldiers stood three hundred strong. Theirs was a suicide mission, to hold the pass against the invading millions of the mighty Persian army.

Day after bloody day they withstood the terrible onslaught, buying time for the Greeks to rally their forces. Born into a cult of spiritual courage, physical endurance, and unmatched battle skill, the Spartans would be remembered for the greatest military stand in history–one that would not end until the rocks were awash with blood, leaving only one gravely injured Spartan squire to tell the tale….

- Steven Pressfield, Gates of Fire (1998)

This is one of my favourite books on war I’ve ever read. I took my dog-eared copy with me last year when I went with ex-military veterans friends to climb Olympus and hike around Greece. One of the places we stopped was Thermopylae - where you can still bathe in the hot springs as the ancient Spartans and Athenians did before their monumental battle with the Persians. The very recent death of the last king of Greece, King Constantine II of the Hellenes, made me think of my trip to Greece last year and of one of the books I read on that trip. I thought I might share some of my rambling thoughts I had written down at the time, and also since then, about the retelling of one historical turning point in our western civilisation that has now entered into myth.

In 1998 was the year Frank Miller’s iconic comic graphic novel 300 about the the Battle of Thermopylae – where a tiny Greek force led by 300 Spartans held out for three days against an immense Persian invasion in 480BC - was published to great critical acclaim. Zack Snyder highly stylised slick film version of Miller’s 300 defied audience and studio expectations when it stormed the box office with Spartan-like ferocity back in 2007. Its mix of ancient history, comic-book iconography and sound-bite dialogue immediately found its way into the verbal and visual lexicon of contemporary pop culture; but things could have been very different. In 1998 Miller’s publication overshadowed the publication of Steven Pressfield’s more conventional historical novel, Gates of Fire, took its name from the eponymous battlefield, Thermopylae (referred to in 300 as ‘the hot gates’).

Pressfield, an ex-Marine soldier, had worked as a screenwriter creating disposable action-movie scripts for the likes of Steven Seagal and Dolph Lundgren in the late 1980s and early 1990s before writing his first novel, The Legend of Bagger Vance, which was adapted into the Will Smith film of the same name. It too won critical acclaim and was a huge best seller. George Clooney’s film production company bought the rights and David Self (screenwriter of 13 Days and Road to Perdition) was brought in to adapt it. Bruce Willis was dying to be in it and iconic director Michael Mann signed on the direct it. Instead the film went into development hell before Snyder’s film stole a march on Mann’s version to come out first in 2007.

As a Classicist and ex-veteran I found Both Miller’s comic graphic novel and Snyder’s film a severe guilty pleasure. But I have to say I found reading Steven Pressfield’s brilliant novel deeply satisfying on many more levels.

The book I remember well as an American special forces chap I knew out in Afghanistan gave it to me to read because I was complaining I was fast running out of things to read between missions. I loved it.

Like a good officer I passed the book along to others in my corps - rank and file - and within a month or two it had been passed around a fair bit. It led to endless arguments about the Greeks and the Western way of war in and out of the cockpit with my brother/sister aviators and crew as well other officers and the men.

For the soldiers on the ground the book felt more visceral. As a fellow brother British infantry officer said the depictions of phalanx warfare raised his blood pressure at how well he and his men could relate. I never felt more Spartan than I did I sitting on my arse baking in the sun of Afghan red dust mornings. We all related to this story one way or another - the sand, sweat, blood, feelings of combat, and thoughts of mortality.

Most book reviewers loved the book. “Does for (Thermopylae) what Charles Frazier did for the Civil War in Cold Mountain’, enthused author Pat Conroy. The New York Times praised the book’s ‘feel of authenticity from beginning to end.’ Author Nelson DeMille  admired the ‘mastery, authority and psychological insight.’ Sarah Broadhurst, in The Bookseller, particularly wanted to recommend the book to women: “ Although it has a male feel to it, it will appeal to both sexes, as my two readers and I can testify. In fact, it is a great example of the rebirth of the historical novel, which I am sure is on its way.” Where people quibbled, it was usually about the violence of some of the descriptions, or on small errors of fact. The Times called it ‘a story of blood, biffing and bonking, thigh deep in blood, terror-piss and entrails’ but acknowledged that ‘their heroism still makes the hairs at the back of the neck bristle’. The Times Literary Supplement sniped at Pressfield for confusing two different Greek cities called Argos, and for what it called ‘phallocentric discourse’, but also called the book ‘a monument to the important twentieth-century art of pace.’

The novel stands out in the way it makes everything come alive from the soldiers' training, the scenes of actual battle, and most particularly the scenes after or between battles. The discussions of fear, and of how officers and soldiers should behave are particularly poignant and also felt very real to those of us who have experienced war first hand. What I found pleasantly surprising was how well written it was with its very strong portrayals of women as secondary characters. With nearly all military books women are often relegated to the background but here I found some of the strongest depictions of women in this genre. The women don't fight in the battles, yet are courageous and compassionate, intelligent and influential.

Many readers will be familiar with the broad strokes of the story of the battle. But it’s worth recapping here for those that don’t. In 480 BC, King Xerxes lead a Persian army of between one and two million into Greece. The Spartan King Leonidas lead 300 Knights and some 700 Thespaian allies to the narrow pass at Thermopylae, in order to hold the Persians back as long as possible. They proceeded to hold the pass for 7 days. These 300 Spartans died to a man defending the pass against a force of over a million and the epitaph provided to them by the poet Simonides, "Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, that here obedient to their laws we lie", is perhaps the most famous in history. Their example rallied and inspired all of Greece and eventually the Persians were defeated in the naval battle at Salamis and on land at Plataea.

The story is told from the point of view of its narrator Xeones of Astakos, a helot, a slave of the Spartans, and has his own conflicted feelings about Spartan society. He is taken, wounded, before Xerxes, and asked to explain “who were these foemen, who had taken with them to the house of the dead ten or, as some reports said, as many as twenty for every one of their own fallen?” In Xeones’ own words, therefore, we get the story of his life; from when his own city is destroyed, to when he comes to Sparta as a slave, to the time when he finally comes to stand beside the Spartiate in the fateful battle. As the sole survivor among the Spartans, Xerxes wishes Xeones to tell his story to the Persian court historian Gobartes. Xeones starts with the tale of how he came to Sparta. As a youth, his village of Astakos is destroyed and his family slaughtered, but he and the cousin he loves, Diomache, escape. As they wander the countryside, Diomache is raped by soldiers and Xeones is crucified after stealing a chicken, although Diomache saves him from death. Thrown into despair, because his hands are so damaged that he can never wield a sword, Xeones heads off by himself to die. But he experiences a visitation from the Archer god Apollo Far Striker and realizes he can still wield a bow. When Diomache, who is also distraught after being violated by the soldiers, takes off, Xeones heads to Sparta where he hopes to join the army.

The middle section of the book, which is at a much slower pace, deals with his life in Sparta and the training techniques used by the Spartans to create what was one of the most formidable fighting forces the world has ever seen. Eventually he becomes the squire of one of the 300 knights who are chosen for Thermopylae.

The final section, on the battle itself, depicts wholesale slaughter accompanied by acts of ineffable courage. It also relates two of the great lines of all time. When Xerxes offers to spare the Spartans lives if they will surrender their arms, Leonidas is reputed to have snarled, "come and get them." And upon being told that the Persians have so many bowmen that the cloud of arrows would blot out the sun, one of the Spartans says, "good, then we'll have our battle in the shade."

Pressfield being an ex-Marine grunt himself gives a very convincing grunt’s-eye-view of the battle and of Spartan society to create a fantastically blood pumping engaging tale. Pressfield sets himself the task of explaining Spartan culture to us in all its glory, humour, brutality and philosophy. To do so, he draws on his personal experience as a US infantryman, as well being strongly versed in Classics. The result is a fascinating tale, on one level a war story written with great pace and excitement, on another a ruminative tale of man’s capacity for honour, heroism, and self-sacrifice.

As a Classicist (since confirmed by Pressfield in many interviews) he makes excellent use of the ancient historical sources (such as they are). The most useful sources seem to be Herodotus first, his pages about the battle.  Plutarch’s Lives of various Spartans — Lycurgus, Agesilaus, Lysander, etc - can be discerned strongly as the section of his Moralia called Sayings of the Spartans and Sayings of the Spartan Women.  Xenophon of course was the best contemporaneous eyewitness to real Spartan society. Constitution of the Lacedaemonians, the Cyropaedia and even the Anabasis greatly help Pressfield pepper history with authentic detail.  Diodorus’ version of the battle added the thought of the night raid (which The 300 Spartans also had) and Pressfield takes that from him.  Pressfield has said that he didn’t consult recent archaeology, other than going to Sparta myself and checking out the ruins of Artemis, Orthia and so forth.

But still huge gaps remained. This is where Pressfield the ex-Marine and the well educated novelist come together. There was much detail that he needed to consciously to make up and make it sound plausible and even true. For instance, the concept of phobologia, the Science of Fear. That’s completely invented, yet Pressfield, as a Marine veteran, absolutely felt certain the Spartans, like every other warrior race, must have had something like that, a religious-philosophical doctrine of warfare understanding the principles of their culture, probably a sort of cult-like initiatory situation.  

Pressfield in one interview admitted that the speech that Alexandros recites holding his shield —  “This is my shield, I bear it before me into battle, etc.” — was a fictional invention based upon his own experience in the US Marine Corps, where Marines recite, “This is my rifle. There are many other like it, but this one is mine, etc.” Another huge fictional detail that he made central to the story was the prominence of the squire in hoplite battle.  Again he based this on pure instinct and common sense.  He thought the relationship must be much like that of a professional golfer to his caddie.  Pressfield firms believes that the bonds formed between man and batman in the course of bloody warfare must have been intimate on a level second only to husband and wife, and maybe more intimate.  The ancient sources make nothing of this, because they just passed it over as obvious, but I fully agree with Pressman. It’s an inspired insight. The fact that squires and armour bearers voluntarily stayed to die at Thermopylae says volumes.  (Also a squire was the perfect fly-on-the-wall narrator, like Midshipman Byam in Mutiny on the Bounty.)  Further I could not imagine that squires would stand idly by, watching their men fight.  They must have served as auxiliaries, not only dashing in and out of the field evacuating the wounded, but getting in their blows as light infantrymen whenever they could.  I suspect that, as prominent as Pressfield made their roles in Gates, if we could beam ourselves back and witness actual ancient battle, the part of the squire/auxiliary was even bigger than one might imagine.

The book then is not merely about the immortal stand at Thermopylae but delves into the Spartan lifestyle, how they achieved such military cohesion, how they viewed themselves and the world, what made them willing to march off to a suicide mission — it’s one thing to find oneself in such a situation, it’s quite another to jockey to be chosen for it, to know days ahead of time that this is it, you’re heading to your death and to do it unflinchingly. It’s about what binds men together in a group — what makes them willing to die for others. I think Dienekes’ thoughtful analysis of fear and how the opposite of fear isn’t bravery but love, tells it all. Love of a messmate, a family, a city.

Indeed as Pressfield shows the spartans would carry their shields on the left side of their body which allowed them to cover the blind spot of the warrior fighting next to them. Commanders would arrange it so that family members and friends were placed next to each other within the formation. The belief was that warriors would be less likely to abandon their comrades if they were fighting next to someone they deeply cared about. Love conquers fear.

Now the story isn’t perfect, there are some pacing issues when the plot seems to go extra slow, and there are time jumps that can feel a bit awkward. Some periods of our main protagonist’s life, that would be interesting, are just skipped.

In my opinion, the book balances fiction and facts quite nicely, not making the Spartans some over the top super heroes, like the movie “300” did.

The thing that I liked the most is the whole theme of the book: honour, the duty to your city and people, and the strength of the mind. The Spartans didn’t see war as a fun way of killing people, it was an inevitable fact of life. They didn’t kill fear, they learned to embrace it, keep it locked until the very last moment.

Now it’s a bit harder to judge characters in a book like this because some of them are based on real people and some of them are fictional. But what I will say is that these people feel real, grounded to the situation they are in.

I was very taken by the portrayal of Leonidas, the Spartan king who commanded at Thermopylae. One of the most stirring speeches in the book is addressed to Xerxes, the King of Persia, and contrasts Xerxes with Leonidas: "I will tell His Majesty what a king is. A king does not abide within his tent while his men bleed and die upon the field. A king does not dine while his men go hungry, nor sleep when they stand at watch upon the wall. A king does not command his men's loyalty through fear nor purchase it with gold; he earns their love by the sweat of his back and the pains he endures for their sake….”

I also appreciated the inclusion of the women of Sparta — no shirkers themselves. They would be the first ones out shaming the men into doing their duty for their city (and that’s what it was all about for these people — the survival of the city first) if that was what was needed. I have to say I shed a tear when Leonidas confessed his criteria for selection of the 300. So much is said about Spartan men but the women kicked ass in a time and place where women were almost never seen and certainly never heard from. The first female Olympic champion was a Spartan princess called Kynisca, in 392 BC. She was also the first woman to become a champion horse trainer when her horses and chariot competed and won in the Ancient Olympic Games. Twice.

Arete is in some ways the most powerful character in the book. She is very well written.  She just popped forth, full-grown from the brow of Zeus.  I liked her a lot.  Whether or not Sparta was a “good” place for women I can’t say.  Certainly it would be fascinating as hell to beam back there and see, for real, how they lived and what they were like.  It seems likely Pressfield drew inspiration of Arete from Plutarch’s Sayings of the Spartan Women. These, if you’ve ever read them, are unbelievably hard-core.  For example, here’s one: A messenger returns from a battle to inform a Spartan mother (Plutarch gives her name but I’ve forgotten it) that all five of her sons have just perished honourably fighting the enemy.  She asks this only: “Were we victorious?” The courier replies yes.  “Then I am happy,” says the mother and turns for home. Here’s another: A messenger returns from another battle to tell another mother that one of her sons has been killed, facing the enemy.  “He is my son,” she says.  Her other son, the messenger continues, is still alive but ran from the enemy. “He is not my son,” she replies. Pressfield doesn’t see Arete quite that hard-core but certainly someone tough as nails who imbibed the Spartan mythos even more than the men and lived it.  Pressfield admits in one of his interviews that this was all instinct, he could be wrong, but itt just was what felt right to him.

Before I had gone through Sandhurst after university I didn’t really condone crude language or lewd humour but it’s one of the ways that my stint in the army and especially out on a battlefield deployment changed me a little. I confess that I loved the sometimes crude humour - they’re soldiers in a time of war and you do or say whatever will get you through. Battle (especially foxhole) humour has a dark gallows feel and it’s entirely acceptable and authentic - just ask any veteran of any war. The battle descriptions are graphic - very graphic but not much worse than what’s in the Iliad. And we are talking about a battle in which thousands died by sword, spear, arrow and other various messy methods.

I also enjoyed how the book has a pleasing prose aesthetic that imitates the style of Homer. For the non-Classicist it may take a little bit of getting used to and slow down their reading but it sounds melodious to the ear.

Overall Pressman gives us a pulsating story in which the characters are not either super evil villains that cartoonishly want to “take over the world” or superheroes that can’t make mistakes. The author doesn’t take a side in this story, war is war, and people are people. They make mistakes, get angry or jealous, they do bad things in the name of good and vice versa. The book is not about good and evil, it’s about how different people and cultures understand the order, stability, good and even our minds and dreams. The enemies here aren’t some sort of Oriental magic freaks from far away lands, they are just men made in flesh and blood. Sure wanting to control more land or have more people serving them, but that’s everyone I know in the history of rise and fall of civilisations.

Was the Spartan defence of the Hot Gates worth it?  

Clearly, yes. Cultures, if not civilisations, are nearly always rubbing up against each other and even clashing where they can’t bridge differences. I think Pressfield has it right when he said, “What the defence meant to me was this: its significance was metaphorical rather than literal.  We are all in a battle that will end with our deaths and, like the Spartans at Thermopylae, we know it.  The question is how do we deal with it.  They answered by being true to their calling, to their brothers and sisters, and to their ideals.  Early in the book there’s a passage where the Persian historian is narrating; he’s speaking of King Xerxes and his interest in the fallen Spartans.  Xerxes says of them: “He knew they feared death, as all men.  By what philosophy did their minds embrace it?”

In two of my favourite passages, Pressfield has his protagonist explain why sacrifice is so beautiful to the Greeks (or to anyone who has honour), "In one way only have the gods permitted mortals to surpass them. Man may give that which the gods cannot, all he possesses, his life”. This is a very profoundly moving insight.

Pressfield goes further and tries to answer a much deeper question as to why men fight and perhaps this is where it’s the ex-Marine and not the novelist in Pressfield who is talking, "Forget country. Forget king. Forget wife and children and freedom. Forget every concept, however noble, that you imagine you fight for here today. Act for this alone: for the man who stands at your shoulder."

Amen to that.

At the end of the book, I would have probably stranded there fighting side by side with them against the Persians. Because at that point, they were my friends, comrades, and heroes. It was when I put the book down that I realised that I already had the humble privilege of serving with my fellow brother and sister officers and soldiers of whom all were comrades, many were friends, and a few were unspoken heroes.

Does the battle of Thermopylae provide any lessons to us?

That is harder to discern because it depends on what values we already hold dear. Sparta was a small, compact, basically tribal society where every citizen (forgetting about the helots for the time being) was vitally needed and where warfare was hand-to-hand and absolutely communal, with your own brothers, uncles, father and friends fighting beside you, so if you acted the coward, there was no hiding it.  The modern world of anonymity, mass culture, commercialism, shamelessness, indulgence of sensual desires, worship of money couldn’t be farther.  The Spartan society is like a culture from the moon.

On an individual and interior basis, I think, can we take lessons that might help us.  Self-discipline, loyalty, grit, hard work, perseverance, honour, humility, respect, and compassion.  

On a societal level Spartans were not selfish and didn’t worship the cult of individualism as we do today. It was all about the group. In our age when civil strife, economic hardship, and effects of a unrelenting pandemic erode our trust in our political and civil institutions and set neighbour against neighbour because of the political or religious beliefs they might hold, the only thing we have left to fall back on is just our individual selves. It’s every man for himself. The Spartans would balk at such selfish individualism. The strength (and ultimately the effectiveness) of the Spartan phalanx was encapsulated in the “next man up” approach. If a warrior was injured or killed on the outer edge of the formation, the next man behind them would step up and take their place. The integrity of the group’s formation was protected at all costs, because without the strength of the phalanx to protect them, each man on had little chance of surviving the battle on his own. In a real sense, they had each other’s backs. They had the cohesion of a collective spirit. They were in it for each other together.

It’s not a bad thing in this day and age to be a little bit “spartan,” don’t you think?