#and all other related characters :P

[blackjackkent]

Rakha gropes her way back to her bedroll, feverish, half-blind. The limited confidence with which she convinced Lae'zel not to kill her seems to be bleeding out, moment by moment. She is more acutely aware with each passing second that the worm is, in fact, taking control.

She is no stranger to restless nights, but for once tonight it is not the dreams of blood that have her twitching in her bedroll, but something far worse and more immediate. She drifts into delirious half-sleep, sweating and anxious and lost and infuriatingly helpless.

And she wakes... elsewhere.

She is conscious first of the chill. The air in camp was humid and warm, with a gentle breeze blowing between the tents, but here (wherever here is), there is no wind at all, and the temperature is at least twenty degrees cooler. The half-moon light around the goblin camp has been replaced by a suffusing pale blue glow that presses through Rakha's closed eyelids.

A voice, unfamiliar and soft, speaks almost next to her ear.

"I came just in time. You are transforming."

Rakha jumps, her eyes flashing open. She snaps her head to the side with all of her remaining strength, and looks up into the gentle gaze of a woman she has never seen before.

(A/N: One of the little joys of this game, I have found, is that this scene comes just late enough in Act 1 for you to have likely forgotten exactly what you did with the guardian's face during character creation. XD So then it gets to be a fun surprise! In this case, good job, past Roz. She's pretty!)

She's slender and pale. Pointed ears like Shadowheart's poke from under waves of thick auburn hair. Her face bears tattoos similar to the ones Rakha herself carries on her own face. And she is glowing all over with a power Rakha has never seen before. The air around her is thick with it.

She reaches out and rests the tips of her fingers against Rakha's cheek. And with that touch, the power flows down along her arm and into Rakha's skin, through her face and into her skull. And where the power passes... the pain eases.

Rakha groans softly. For a moment she focuses inward, feeling the fever ebb away, the ache in her hands and her chest starting to fade. The worm, as if lulled by some unheard sound, rests dormant in her temple. The beast, worn by the last few hours' torment, sits quiescent as well.

The sense of unexpected peace is absolute. She is still. She is calm.

She sits up slowly, turning her attention back to the stranger who has - it seems - saved her.

This is a dream, she decides after a moment's thought. The calm is real, but this place is not. It is the first dream she has had that did not smell of blood. The first to bring her face to face with someone living.

Is it possible that this woman is the source of those dreams? The face of the dark urge that has already driven her so many times?

No. The beast still sleeps. This is something else, someone else, a new touch inside her head.

The thought makes her shiver uncomfortably. "Back off," she mutters gruffly. "I have enough crawling around in my head already."

The woman draws back at once; her touch on Rakha's arm pulls away and she stands up. "Combative," she says, with a slow smile and a hint of amusement. "Good. You'll need to be."

She extends a hand. "Don't worry. You will not become a mind flayer. Not while I'm around. I'll protect you."

Rakha feels the dark urge stir drowsily in her head, the automatic instinct to lash out.

Imagine hacking the grabby paw off.

Narrator: Though the thought crosses your mind, it doesn't hold you, doesn't devour you, as your thoughts too often can.

Somehow that realization is more unnerving even than the close brush with ceremorphosis. The beast's everpresent background growl has been a constant since the moment she awoke. Everywhere except here...

The woman looks at her with a slight, sad smile - as if she knows exactly where Rakha's thoughts have gone. "Your compulsions will doom us all, if you do not work to stop them," she says gently. It is the softest, warmest voice Rakha has ever heard. "I can help."

Rakha reaches up cautiously and takes the woman's hand, lets herself be guided up onto her feet.

For the first time she properly looks around and registers the dreamscape she is inhabiting. At first glance, it appears to be some sort of garden courtyard, a stone circle surrounded by tall, grand columns and lined with grass and plants of all sorts.

And beyond it... is an infinite space. They are floating in a sea of stars, among many other smaller floating rocks and some much larger ones. And the Weave...

Gods... it's beautiful...

In her waking life, she sees the fabric of magic everywhere, a prismatic ripple underlaying the very skin of the world. But here... it is much stronger, a heavy, undulating texture of hues beyond naming, so thick she could reach out and bury herself within it even in the blank and empty parts of the air. It presses on her skin, not quite solid and not quite liquid, a comforting warmth like a blanket wrapped around her.

"We haven't much time," the strange visitor says, bringing Rakha sharply back to herself. "So listen closely. There is great potential within you. It comes from that parasite. Your instinct is to resist the power it gives, but you must accept it, nurture it. I will keep it from consuming you - but for the sake of both of us, you must learn to wield it."

Rakha listens quietly. Her mind feels sharper, clearer than it has been in days, pulling together all the threads of this strange new development and weaving them together.

The visitor is here for the parasite. She knows about the beast, but that is not her primary concern - the tadpole and its transformation is.

The visitor does not want the worm to consume her - but she agrees that the powers it offers, of control and domination, are valuable.

She knows Rakha, too. That much is clear. She would not know about the compulsions, otherwise. And the tattoos... something connects them. Something reaching back into the abyss of her memory. That much is obvious.

A million questions surge to the forefront of her mind, every answer she has craved since the moment she woke up. But the visitor is not finished.

She gestures out into the starscape, and as Rakha follows the gesture her gaze comes to focus on an even more baffling sight - an enormous, skull-like form drifting among the other stones of that infinite sea. Around it, small forms of different-colored light weave and twist, striking out against each other with bursts of energy.

Gods. What is that?

"A fight for the fate of Faerun," the visitor says calmly, answering the question Rakha did not speak aloud. "A fight we are losing - for now. You can change that, but only if you embrace your potential."

Rakha's eyes narrow. We? She opens her mouth to ask a question - and then is cut off again by a low hum of energy that can be nothing other than a rising explosion.

The woman's face twists in something like a wordless curse. "I have to go," she mutters. "The enemy is closing in." A pause; her hand rests just for a moment on Rakha's shoulder. "I will be back."

Back where? Rakha wants to demand. Where are we? WHO ARE YOU?

But the blast surges up around them, and the woman's hands flash out, shielding them both and knocking Rakha backwards as her vision fades to white.

Wake now. You'll feel better. I promise...

-----

Rakha wakes, sitting bolt upright in her bunk. Her fingers press involuntarily to her face-- there are no tentacles, no changes at all. The fever has broken and her skin is cool. The threat has passed.

It was a dream, certainly - but it was also real. The visitor saved them - for despite her assertions to Lae'zel, they were surely on the edge of transforming. And if the visitor spoke true, she is also fighting some greater war. And she knows something about Rakha, about the compulsions of the dark urge.

"Fuck," she says with deep feeling, leaning her elbows on her knees and groaning. This was hard enough already without another new face in the mix.

And already, back in the waking world, she can feel the beast stirring again in her mind. We should have killed her. Should have ripped her apart when she offered her hand. We do not need her help or her touch or her war.

But she has answers... she must, she reminds herself firmly. We need to know what they are.

[dootznbootz]

I think some folks MAY have gotten the wrong idea about how I feel about Circe with some of my posts. So, to clear the air...

Homies, I love that fucked up sorceress.

I love how we're never given a reason why she turns people into animals. That's so funny and so awful. And another potion-making magic gal?!?! I love that she's just basically vibing on an island doing whatever she wants. I even love the fact that she scares Odysseus shitless! She's morally gray and that's why she's FUN.

I just sincerely hate when people try to girlboss her or have her be a victim of SA when she never was Looking at you, Miller. Especially when she was actually the one who coerced Odysseus in exchange for his men being transformed back into humans. And even then, while he was clearly afraid of her, (it's in the language of the Odyssey) she likely meant him no harm after a certain point. He just didn't know that.

Why does she need a reason to do awful things? Why can't she just be a goddess who does whatever she wants? That's the reason why I love her!!! She's fucked up!!! :D

I hate what the Telegony did to her as well! >:( You're telling me, this sorceress goddess, who makes potions (!!!) wouldn't have magic contraceptives??? Would WANT CHILDREN?!?! WITH THE PATHETIC WIFEMAN?! No. Fuck no. Eugammon of Cyrene, I have beef with you 🤬

Anyways!!! Understand all the "#anti circe" I have is simply Anti "Girlboss Circe" or the book. I genuinely think she's neat af as her morally gray, fucked up sorceress self and just get frustrated with...everything :'D

[bsotted]

ok well. unfortunate news: sometimes ur niche is so niche u've already niched the niche. this is exactly the same as the feeling of hitting the end of ur ship tag in ao3 🥲

*edit: sorry i accidentally named like every character ever in the tags so ppl are Seeing this post who dont have the benefit of so much as a single crumb of context. if i accidentally namedropped ur blorbo its bc of this post:

anyway. i was excited for recs bc i also enjoy this genre of fictional character. unfortunately as above the niche is niched, it turns out. at least for me, content enjoyer georg, who has apparently already seen or read everything anyone else has already seen or read except for a small handful of specific media properties that i do not wish to see or read for various personal reasons and also not literally everything ever... just the same things as everyone else has already seen and read... u get the idea. ok thnks 👍🏻

[sol-draws-sometimes]

Maybe it’s my fear of not being believed but I literally can’t do comedy where the other person isn’t being believed. Straight up, at first I would get stressed when the Human Centipede clip was going around. Like, do you know how terrifying it is to be in a wild ass date where you think you’re in danger and the waiter notices but has they have to open their mouth so now you have lie. Or the Elmo Rocko memes like, OF COURSE ELMO’S DISTRESSED! I WOULD BE TOO! LIKE EVERYONE IS TELLING YOU THIS ROCK IS REAL WHEN IT’S NOT(and like yah I’m sure there’s nuance to the situation but like COME ON).

Or Bibi from La Familia Peluche, I remember liking the show as kid and I still do but like, fuck man, the borderline emotional abuse than girl goes through IS WILD. LIKE EVERYONE FUCKING TELLING YOU THAT YOU’RE NOT NORMAL AND FEELING LIKE YOU’RE GOING CRAZY. I remember rewatching La Familia Peluche in Highschool and like fuck man, that period episode. Or to this day I remember the scene where they were serving food and she started to eat first and her family chastised her so she stops but then they make her feel back cause she already started so now she just continue to eat it and like I’ve literally been in a similar situation. And for those who haven’t watched the show, the whole shitck is that this is an absurd world where everyone works on a different level and Bibi’s the only who reacts normally to our eyes(the comedic straight man to alot of the jokes), which leads to the iconic line “Bibi porque no eres una niña normal”(Bibi why aren’t you a normal girl) that is said in every episode. Which from a dramatic irony perspective that we the audience know she’s the only normal person, makes it a funny joke, but if you think about it too hard, it’s so fucking sad, I just can’t help but not fully enjoy the show cause I just constantly feel bad for her.

Fuck even watching HALF LIFE VR BUT THE AI IS SELF AWARE FUCKS WITH ME! Like yes I very much enjoy the series! But, most of the time I’m just feeling bad for Gordon, like fuck man, I’d react the same way, wouldn’t you. Like ESPECIALLY BENRY! MAN DID HE STRESS ME OUT! I genuinely felt so bad for Gordon!

And then this slides into how I can’t enjoy alot of comedy(especially cringe humor) cause even though I understand the joke and think it funny on paper, I just end up feeling too bad for the character to actually enjoy. And it’s awful because I’ll STILL watch the shows because I’m invested in the characters not the humor if that makes sense??? (Oh, Community/The Office, the hate love relationship I have with you).

Anyway, yes I’m so fun to watch comedy with, I literally can’t be in the same room from some scenes. And yes, all my favorite characters follow the Only Sane Man trope, why’d you ask?

[fitzrove]

Started watching a "problem with greek myth retellings" video and it began with a blurb montage like "Condemned by the misogynist guys of history, this is the true girlboss feminist story of [A WOMAN]" and like. brb writing one of those about crown prince rudolf. It's ok he's like a misunderstood girlboss to me<3

[falindankovsky]

Srry to annoy u but can i ask about ur healers bounds?

You aren’t being annoying dw!!!! But I can do a quick very basic summary of Falin’s bounds just for you!! But also because grips you by the shoulders I love talking about my sillies I love it. Anyhow Calling them the Renaissance because Ya know rebirth….reanimation?? It works!! Also this answer took me like two weeks to write….this is….yipeeee!!

Mia: a spirit medium whose body and mind is slowly getting pushed to the breaking point by their abilities to channel and communicate with the dead. (They act as an alternative adoptive parent to Grace.) Mia is also one of his bounds that can die in his route for reason unrelated to the pest

Vera: a young girl with a connection to the haruspex who chooses to wears a rabbit mask she believes her resemble to her late parents as a curse that she shall suffer the same untimely death as her parents before her. She believes if she can be reborn her curse will cease.

Ann: a so called clairvoyant that came into town after the younger burakh’s departure, they claim to have been born from Lara ravel’s wish for a companion. They often have painful visions of tragedies weeks before they should occur leading them to stare at a lamp in order to dull their senses believing it represses their ability.

Ludovica: The son of a military man who was killed in the line of duty but not before his father’s name was tarnished leading to his family all being marked to death. He came to the town to escape this fate though he harbors a deep seeded guilt for not facing his death honestly 

Ava: A Mysophobic young adult who believes that the pest is all his fault and that she could have prevented it had she never came to this town. The only people she allows in her home is Anna and the healer she’s a bound to. Other then that her only form of communication is via letters she hands off to Anna for delivery for she doesn’t trust anyone assigned with mail duties in this town fearing they’ll read her letters.

Willow: you already know who she is canonically so no further context needed

Harker: a so called prophet who will only give out those prophecies for a price, most people in town regard him as a scam artist. Though he might just have the same mystics as a mistress has. Either way Katarzyna is trying to convince the governor to have him hanged for his theft. He’s also Vera’s adoptive parent having taken her in after the first outbreak.

Katarzyna: a former circus performer (not that one however) who claims to have no knowledge on how it burned down and has a distaste for anyone she views as a liar she believes the only redemption is in death.

[trobeds]

community enjoyers of tumblr reblog w ur (current) top 3 episodes & why u love them

[vsirin]

where is the support for readers who turned to a 958 page novel in order to 1) postpone the inevitable "i can't decide what to read next" reading slump and 2) not have to deal with the challenge of saying goodbye to a familiar setting and characters, but who are now 2 weeks out from finishing said book, can't fathom opening any other book, and miss the characters who, due to the 958 pages, are more dear than any other characters ever have been? send help

[bitchesgate3]

mizora fans are the only safe side of the fandom for me

[hypermascbishounen]

The thing about a lot of the purity culture stuff is how it's also propped up by the anti-intelectualism. Which is how you get people earnestly Charlie-day-cork-board style arguing why anything they don't like has incest subtext, while insulting anyone who actually cares about analyzing real incest subtext.

It's also hard to do any serious analysis of the state of queer works, when the well has been so thoroughly poisoned between prople policing who gets to write/enjoy it, vs writers who see regular engagement with the premise of their writing as a threat.

[indigo6f00ff]

funny update a couple of months later for People Who Want to Know: i dont have the car that got me into this Incredibly Minor Accident anymore. while after the accident, i did have to get the brakes serviced (wow, they were faulty, who knew!), it proceeded to have Several More Issues, such as: the transmission being fucked up and Trouble With Turns. i still drove it regardless because i needed that shit to get to college but eventually the radiator fan stopped working on it (where it would start overheating if the car wasn't moving (if the car was moving then air could still blow over the engine, cooling it down)) and My Mother deemed it too dangerous to drive. RIP to the shitty 2012 jeep liberty hand-me-down with 200k miles that led to the creation of the Kim Moment(TM).

need to share an experience i had 30 minutes ago

(edit: thanks to @walks-the-ages for providing and reminding me to put alt text, sorry it slips my mind alot lol)

[tojbnuy]

just something really small for gumi day! i’ll probably make another one with megumi being older :p

‘mama, daddy keeps touching my cake’

‘toji!’

‘snitch.’

the only thing you had left to do was light little megumi’s candles. the living room was brightly decorated, toji had blown way too many balloons and nanami was on his way with yuuji and nobara.

‘when can i open presents?’

‘you can open one now and the rest later how about that?’

you didn’t have to tell him twice, megumi was running as fast as his little legs could carry him and diving into his pile of presents. toji didn’t care about his own birthday but when it came to yours and his sons he found he really enjoyed buying presents. you had both gotten him an assortment of things, race cars, colouring books, puzzles and some plushies.

megumi opened the first one he touched and you saw the moment he realised it was a helicopter, his usual blank expression becoming a little grin.

‘damn he’s got the soul of a 60 year old.’

‘toji shut up, baby do you like it?’

and true to his (and his dads character) all little megumi did was nod his head and hold his new helicopter very close to his chest. that was a win in your eyes.

‘that one’s actually from your dad, megs.’

well you had given him the idea and toji had gone off on a mission to purchase anything helicopter related. the man in question was busy cleaning up the ripped up wrapping paper, he was laid down on the floor with his legs spread all the way out and his head rested on his arm.

he wasn’t expecting it, small hands grabbing his face and a wet little kiss being pressed into his cheek.

‘thank you daddy’ and then he was squealing with joy as his dad held him upside down and tickled his belly.

‘wait toji look at me?’

‘no.’

there were tears in his eyes. your big strong boyfriend was crying because his toddler kissed him.

‘why’s daddy crying?’

‘i’m not crying brat. gimme another kiss.’

and you sat and watched as megumi gave his dad another peck on his stubbly chin. their matching grumpy faces whilst embracing each other was always so cute to watch.

‘can mama have a kiss now too?’

a/n : this is entirely based off my nephew lmao. also i’ll probably be making this + my other papa toj and baby megs fics into a little series. a day in the fushiguro household!!!

[cupiare]

started off really enjoying a fairly honorable defeat but the drama is getting a bit dreadful i won’t lie

[raekensluver]

ᴋɪɴᴋᴛᴏʙᴇʀ 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟺 ˎˊ˗

hiii! since it's getting close to october- that means kinktober season! this is my first ever kinktober event, so don't be too mean to me...stay alert for updates! if you want to be apart of my taglist for this event- reply down below!

ᴏᴠᴇʀᴠɪᴇᴡ ˎˊ˗

- minors dni! for others- please read the warnings and tags before reading- don't like, don't read!

- all fics will be dom!male!character x sub!fem!reader.

- all characters i write for are 18+ and consenting adults!!!

- all posts relating to this years kinktober event will be tagged as 'mara's kinktober '24'

ᴍᴀsᴛᴇʀʟɪsᴛ ˎˊ˗

ᴡᴇᴇᴋ ᴏɴᴇ ˎˊ˗

- ᴏᴄᴛᴏʙᴇʀ 𝟶𝟶𝟷.

praise kink | spencer reid x fem!reader | contains: nsfw 18+, no use of y/n, unprotected sex, vaginal sex, creampie, praise kink, porn without plot.

- ᴏᴄᴛᴏʙᴇʀ 𝟶𝟶𝟹.

exhibitionism | theodore nott x fem!reader | contains: nsfw 18+, no use of y/n, unprotected sex, semi-public sex, vaginal sex, exhibitionism, degradation, name calling (whore/slut), porn without plot.

- ᴏᴄᴛᴏʙᴇʀ 𝟶𝟶𝟻.

period sex | rafe cameron x fem!reader | contains: nsfw 18+, no use of y/n, oral sex (fem receiving), fingering, unprotected sex, mentions of period blood, porn without plot.

ᴡᴇᴇᴋ ᴛᴡᴏ ˎˊ˗

- ᴏᴄᴛᴏʙᴇʀ 𝟶𝟶𝟽.

thigh riding | aaron hotchner x fem!reader | contains: nsfw 18+, no use of y/n, thigh riding, praising, porn without plot.

- ᴏᴄᴛᴏʙᴇʀ 𝟶𝟶𝟿.

piss kink | jj maybank x inexperienced!fem!reader | contains: nsfw 18+, no use of y/n, piss kink, holding/pee desperation, wetting, vaginal sex, teasing/light degradation.

- ᴏᴄᴛᴏʙᴇʀ 𝟶𝟷𝟷.

face sitting | james potter x fem!reader | contains: nsfw 18+, no use of y/n, face sitting, oral (f recieving), porn without plot.

ᴡᴇᴇᴋ ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ ˎˊ˗

- ᴏᴄᴛᴏʙᴇʀ 𝟶𝟷𝟹.

squirting | patrick zwieg x fem!reader | contains: nsfw 18+, no use of y/n, female ejaculation (squirting), name calling (slut), fingering.

- ᴏᴄᴛᴏʙᴇʀ 𝟶𝟷𝟻.

mirror sex | spencer reid x fem!reader | contains: nsfw 18+, no use of y/n, mirror sex, vaginal sex, p in v from behind, choking.

- ᴏᴄᴛᴏʙᴇʀ 𝟶𝟷𝟽.

blindfold/sensory deprivation | theodore nott x fem!reader | contains: nsfw 18+, no use of y/n, unprotected sex, sensory depravation, blindfold use, spit play.

- ᴏᴄᴛᴏʙᴇʀ 𝟶𝟷𝟿.

dacryphilia | patrick zwieg x fem!reader | contains: nsfw 18+, no use of y/n, unprotected sex, vaginal sex, porn without plot.

ᴡᴇᴇᴋ ғᴏᴜʀ ˎˊ˗

- ᴏᴄᴛᴏʙᴇʀ 𝟶𝟸𝟷.

hand kink | george weasley x fem!reader | contains: nsfw 18+, no use of y/n, hand kink, mild exhibitionism, fingering, teasing, dirty talk.

- ᴏᴄᴛᴏʙᴇʀ 𝟶𝟸𝟹.

phone sex | art donaldson x fem!reader | contains: nsfw 18+, no use of y/n, phone sex, mutual masturbation, pet names (baby, pretty, good girl), porn without plot.

- ᴏᴄᴛᴏʙᴇʀ 𝟶𝟸𝟻.

body worship | spencer reid x fem!reader | contains: nsfw 18+, no use of y/n, body worship, oral (f recieving), porn without plot.

ᴡᴇᴇᴋ ғɪᴠᴇ ˎˊ˗

- ᴏᴄᴛᴏʙᴇʀ 𝟶𝟸𝟽.

desperation | fred weasley x fem!reader | contains: nsfw 18+, no use of y/n, handjob, blowjob, praise kink, porn without plot.

- ᴏᴄᴛᴏʙᴇʀ 𝟶𝟸𝟿.

[file not found]

- ᴏᴄᴛᴏʙᴇʀ 𝟶𝟹𝟷.

innocence/corruption kink | tashi duncan x art donaldson x fem!reader | contains: nsfw 18+, no use of y/n, unprotected sex, fmf threesome, corruption/innocence kink, vaginal sex, creampie, unprotected sex, praise kink, porn without plot.

layout inspo/creds to: gogogodzilla and sytoran

[charminglygrouped]

For the past several years (and perhaps longer) in the P&P fandom I've seen a lot of people who want to rehabilitate Mrs. Bennet: like, sure, she's uncouth and seems greedy, but it's because she cares so much about her daughters' futures; her situation is actually really stressful and uncertain and she's powerless to change it and her husband makes fun of her, and so it's natural that it would cause her to be anxious all the time; maybe she doesn't have the intelligence or social awareness to understand that her behaviour is actually harming her daughters' prospects, but at least her heart is in the right place.

I'm usually not the type of person who argues that fandom is actually being too nice to a female character, but in this case I don't buy the counter-narrative (which I think is popular enough at this point to be fanon / a narrative in itself) about Mrs. Bennet.

For one thing, she was never really powerless in this situation. These people are rich even for gentry. Mr. Bennet's income was always good, at 2,000 pounds per annum (even though I can't believe he isn't neglecting some practices that could raise it higher). Mrs. Bennet had 4,000 pounds from her parents and a further 1,000 from Mr. Bennet. Invested in the 4 per cents (for example), this is 200 pounds per year in pin money that Mrs. Bennet could spend without touching the principle of her dowry, and without affecting Mr. Bennet's income. This is more than some people's entire yearly incomes.

The picture of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet that we get in P&P is not of people who are helpless against their circumstances, but of people who are extraordinarily neglectful. We're told that:

Mr. Bennet had very often wished, before this period of his life, that, instead of spending his whole income, he had laid by an annual sum, for the better provision of his children, and of his wife, if she survived him. [...] When first Mr. Bennet had married, economy was held to be perfectly useless; for, of course, they were to have a son. This son was to join in cutting off the entail, as soon as he should be of age, and the widow and younger children would by that means be provided for. Five daughters successively entered the world, but yet the son was to come; and Mrs. Bennet, for many years after Lydia’s birth, had been certain that he would. This event had at last been despaired of, but it was then too late to be saving. Mrs. Bennet had no turn for economy; and her husband’s love of independence had alone prevented their exceeding their income.

We also know that the "continual presents in money which passed to [Lydia] through her mother’s hands," plus her allowance and food, amount to about 90 pounds per year. Rather than saving up from the beginning in case the entail is not broken, rather than beginning to save once it's clear a son will not arrive, rather than making Jane's dowry the full 5,000 from her mother (which would be something) and saving up for the younger girls' dowries thereafter—which is what would be typical, and that's why Lady Catherine was so shocked that all the girls were out at once—Mrs. Bennet's housekeeping, dress, the girls' allowance, presents of money over and above their allowance, plus whatever Mr. Bennet is spending money on (and other expenses relating to servants, carriages, maintenance &c. which are unavoidable), add up to their entire income. The only reason why Mrs. Bennet doesn't overspend even that is that that's where Mr. Bennet puts his foot down.

Mrs. Bennet is actively harming her daughters' prospects, not even of marriage, but of living respectably if they don't marry, because she doesn't have the temperance not to spend all of the income that is allotted to her. It is the role of the woman in a marriage to take charge of the housekeeping, servants, cooking, furniture, and all expenses relating thereto (plus certain attentions to her tenants and any living in genteel poverty in the area, though presumably this will depend on her income and whether there's a parish church with a parson's wife who's doing some of these things). She's an adult who should be competent to manage these things in a reasoned way without needing to be dictated to.

It is supposed to be the role of the woman in a marriage to take charge of her daughters' education—and yet Mrs. Bennet did not hire a governess, and Elizabeth says that she didn't spend much time teaching her daughters anything (it's not clear to what degree she's educated herself). Granted, the girls did have masters—but, from the sounds of things, that was only if they requested them. No one was required to learn much of anything, which will probably further harm the marriage prospects of the girls who "chose to be idle."

I think the "point" of Mrs. Bennet is that she is one half of one type of bad marriage which the novel illustrates, in contrast with the Gardiners' marriage. These marriages are two possible models for the Bennet daughters to look to. At one point, Elizabeth's prospective marriage is explicitly compared to her parents', with her in the role of her father: Mr. Bennet says "My child, let me not have the grief of seeing you unable to respect your partner in life" (emphasis original).

We might wonder whether Elizabeth saw herself potentially in the role of her father, in a marriage that was very intellectually unequal, when she rejected Mr. Collins; or whether she also saw herself in the role of her mother, married to a man who insults and doesn't respect her, when she rejected Mr. Darcy. Ultimately, she accepts Mr. Darcy after she realises that he is nothing like her father; that he is diligent in attending to his responsibilities, and that he does evidently respect her mind.

This isn't me defending Mr. Bennet, who is also a bad parent and a bad spouse. I do, however, find it a little disturbing when people suggest that Mr. Bennet is at fault for not controlling or curtailing his wife. His wife is a grown woman. Surely we don't actually believe that a situation where a man is legally in complete control over his wife, merely because he is a man and she is a woman, is in any way natural, moral, or just? (This also goes for people who suggest that Mr. Bingley needs to get his sister 'in line' 😬😬😬.)

Mrs. Bennet should be competent to manage her household and her daughters. Given that she's not, yes, Mr. Bennet, according to Georgian and Victorian ideas of the role of a man in a marriage, "should" have stepped in and started dictating to her. But I don't really think that's what Austen is suggesting went wrong here. The models of good marriages we have—the Gardiners, the Bingleys and Darcys after their weddings—are all ones in which the women were basically sensible people to begin with. In the latter two cases, we are told of particular ways in which the men stand to benefit from some mental quality of their future spouse (Elizabeth's good humour and ease in company; Jane's steadiness and determination).

The ideal which some Georgians had of a husband's role being to shape his wife's intellect doesn't seem to be what's being advocated here. If Mr. Bennet made a mistake, it was in marrying a silly, selfish, ill-tempered woman to begin with, not in failing to browbeat her into submission once he found out that she was silly, selfish, and ill-tempered. The idea is that you should choose your spouse carefully. But that message doesn't work if Mrs. Bennet is just a woman in a difficult situation who has her heart in the right place.

[flufftober]

🍂 🍃 Hello and welcome to our fourth annual Flufftober 🍂 🍃

We’re so excited to be back and have you here once again!

As always, let’s fill the month of October with as much fluff as possible 🥰 for that to happen, you can either use our 31 regular prompts or enjoy a little challenge 😏

Below the cut, you'll find all our rules, posting info, and all the prompts in writing. If you have any more questions, please feel free to send us an ask.

And now, for the challenge...

Prompt Extras

We love to see how many of you get inspired by our prompts every year - be it by the original list or the Prompt Extras. Once again we're offering you that option and you're more than welcome to replace prompts from the original list if they don't work for you for whatever reason - no explanation needed.

As has become tradition, we offer you last year's top five fan favorites (as voted in the end survey). In addition to that, we also offer a little challenge: five angsty prompts for you to turn fluffy!

If you don't want to replace any prompt from the original list but still love the additional ones - or you simply want to challenge yourself even further - you can also mix them all together!

So in whichever way you use these Prompt Extras, have fun with them and go wild 💚

We hope you like these prompts, and now

Happy Creating 🥳

Standard Blog Rules & FAQ

Addendum: We do not allow AI creations of any kind.

(Due to previous asks, we made sure to add more points to this section - while they're not new rules, they're newer to this list, so you'll find them colored green)

No inc*st or p*dophilia - we can’t keep you from writing it or creating art for it but it won’t be reblogged. No inc*st: This rule does not apply to distant cousins and such, as you might find in the LotR fandom (or basically in all of European Monarchy). The line we draw is at direct blood relations (siblings, parents, kids) and/or legal guardianship. No p*dophilia: This rule does not rule out fandoms that feature teenagers such as Harry Potter, Heartstoppers, Hunger Games, etc. It also doesn't mean you can't write about their time together as teenagers! It's aimed at ships in which one is a minor and the other is not - but since even that has grey areas, the rule is this: if you keep it SFW, all is good and allowed, we don't care; if it turns NSFW, be mindful of the legalities of the world/society/times your characters live in.

No hate or ship bashing - we’re all different and we all love different things. As long as it doesn’t go against rule #1, it’s allowed.

Tag correctly! Trigger warnings (including cheating!), ships, ratings, (pure) smut, etc - it’s all fine as long as you tag it.

There’s absolutely no word count restriction, write as little or as much as you like.

In regards to art, anything goes: drawings, paintings, collages, mood boards, gif sets, videos, playlists… the sky’s the limit (though not really…). If you would like to create a podfic, the fic you're using does not have to be new - your creation will be new!

You can mix and mash different mediums however you like, be it within one prompt or on different days.

While we can’t force you to write fluff or create fluffy art, please try to keep in mind that this is a fluff event 😉 that, of course, doesn't mean you can't combine it with angsty/whumpy prompts - hurt/comfort is absolutely welcome!

You can start creating as soon as you see this - but please refrain from posting before the respective day.

If you post early, we will schedule your post for the correct day; if you use multiple prompts in one creation, we will post on the earliest day you used.

You can participate on as many days as you like, even if it’s just one; you can also create multiple entries for the same day.

You can replace as many original prompts as you like with our prompt extras; you can also combine them with the original prompts or create for them in addition, that's completely up to you.

It’s okay to write one story/a series for all the prompts.

You do not have to stick to one character, ship, or even one fandom - switch as often as you like to or even write for multiple ships for one day.

The ship does not have to be a romantic one! Friendship and family feels are more than welcome (but this is not a way to get around rule #1!)

Original works as well as OCs in fandoms are welcome! But please make sure to mark these clearly, either in the tags or the post itself. We're not familiar with all fandoms (though we're definitely learning a lot!), so we're not always sure what might be an OC and what might be such an unknown side character not even Google can find them...

Reader insert fics (for example "character x reader") as well as RPFs are absolutely allowed.

Other languages are also welcome - just make sure to clearly mark the day and fandom so that we can still easily reblog.

This event can be combined with other events as long as the other event allows it.

Late entries are always welcome, even if it is months or years later.

All fandoms and ships are welcome - fanon and canon - as long as they’re of age (in case you want to add smut) and not related.

Posting

Posting to tumblr

Please use the tag #flufftober2024 Please make sure there is NO SPACE between flufftober and 2024! We will NOT be checking the other tag this year!

Since tags are sometimes wonky, make sure to also mention us with @flufftober in your post

We will try to catch them all, but please don't be mad if we miss a post or if it gets reblogged a bit late

If you're absolutely certain a post has slipped past us, feel free to send an ask with the link to your post

To make reblogging easier for us, make sure to add the following tags: #flufftober2024 #day [xy] #[fandom] #[ship and/or main character(s)]

If you're using a prompt extra tag it as #alt [number]

Posting to ao3

You can add your creation to the collection Flufftober 2024 (either as flufftober2024 or as flufftober_2024)

Late entries are always welcome, on tumblr as well as the ao3 collection! Neither will close - but like always, reblogs will become less regular the more months have passed...

Prompts

1. Lost Pet Meet Cute

2. “Left. Other left!”

3. Favorite Scent

4. Market Day

5. Acorn, Chestnut, Pine Cone

6. Mistaken Identity

7. Hoodie Weather

8. Chopping & Piling Wood

9. “Don’t do that!” - “But…”

10. Bet, Game, Contest

11. Ingredients & Spells

12. “This is spooky.” - “Really?”

13. Attic, Cellar, Hidden Room

14. Fantasy AU/Mundane AU

15. “What are you wearing?” - “It’s laundry day!”

16. Yes, No, Maybe

17. Only One Bed

18. Bewitched

19. Yarn

20. Paw

21. Bonfire

22. Heirloom

23. Stormy Night

24. Comfort Food

25. Haunted House

26. “I can’t find it.”

27. Afternoon Stroll

28. Lucky Charm

29. Time Capsule

30. “Forever?”

31. Make a Wish

Prompt Extras

Last Year's Favorites

Alt 1: “I’ve got you”

Alt 2: Rainy Day

Alt 3: “Wait you love me?” - “I always have”

Alt 4: “I hate it” - “No, you don’t”

Alt 5: Porch Swing

Challenge "Make it Fluffy!"

Alt 6: Gravestone

Alt 7: Getting Revenge

Alt 8: Written but never sent

Alt 9: Suddenly Severed Communication

Alt 10: Rejected, Betrayed, Exiled, Left Behind