#and from there i decided i would not compliment peoples appearances either because we all have the bodies we have + im subjective

[friend-dogor]

Oliver Burkeman: There’s so much wisdom in this idea that’s been so prevalent in recent years — that one should praise children for their effort as much as for their attainment, so that they don’t get the idea that they’ve got to maintain a certain standard as a minimum for being acceptable. That doing what they can and bringing themselves to the task is the thing that really matters. And yet I wonder if that doesn’t reinforce the notion that, if something is worth doing, it’s going to feel difficult or grueling or hard in some sense. Ezra Klein: It’s interesting you bring up that wrinkle of modern parenting. To expand on what you’re saying: There’s a very influential school of thought right now among wealthy parents that you don’t want to ever praise children for innate qualities — “You’re smart,” or “You’re such a wonderful human being.” You want to praise them for trying — for their growth mind-set: “I saw that you really worked to do something nice” or “You’re doing such a good job trying hard at this.” What you’re trying to encourage in them is the effort. [Oliver Burkeman makes a noise of discomfort] I get it. And, like you, some part of me is completely repulsed. [Ezra Laughs.] Oliver Burkeman: If we knew how, I think what we would want to do as parents would be to guarantee that we were always just praising our children for being them — as opposed to either putting in the effort or demonstrating certain innate qualities.

a snippet from a recent episode of The Ezra Klein Show called "Burned Out? Start Here."

[kooruphobic]

WILL YOU BE MY VALENTINE? — armin arlert/reader

𓆩♡𓆪 tags : sub!armin, tease!reader, armin has a crush (on you), and is definitely helplessly in love, kissing, begging (slightly), vaginal sex, jean kirstein is a bitch, armin thinks about voueyrism(?), smut

𓆩♡𓆪 word count : 2.7k

𓆩♡𓆪 summary : armin has been pining after you for years. when the two of you end up alone in his room, he finally works up the courage to ask you to be his valentine. but in the end, he gets a little more than what he asked for.

Armin likes you. Everyone knows—Eren, Mikasa, Jean, Connie, Sasha—it’s a universal fact at this point. Even people who aren't in your close circle know.

He’s liked you for years. Ever since Eren introduced the two of you he fell in love at first sight. Armin wasn’t gifted with the courage to flirt with girls as Eren does, so he’s admired you from afar instead. Everyone notices how he looks at you and how he blushes when you get close to him. One time, when your entire friend group was hanging out, there were no more spots on the couch so you asked if you could sit on his lap as a joke. His entire face went completely red in seconds. He managed to choke out a quiet “yeah,” and for the few weeks following Armin had to face relentless teasing from the entire group. 

Truth be told, you knew what you were doing. You always know what you're doing. Even though he doesn't think you know, it's quite obvious to you that Armin has a crush. Teasing him when you all hang out together is probably one of your favorite pastimes. You enjoy the way he struggles to get out the right words when you compliment him or how his eyes go wide and his cheeks flush rosy-pink when you flirt. 

If you're being honest with yourself, you might also have a little crush on him. Armin is very pretty. You like his blonde hair and how his soft blue eyes compliment them. His smile is super cute, too. He’s always nice to you (probably because he likes you) but he’s always careful with what he says and has never done anything to make you uncomfortable. You would ask to date him, but you find no fun in making the first move. Imagining Armin being flustered as he’s confessing to you is something you picture almost every time you see him.

Today is the 14th of February. It's a day that people either love or hate: Valentine’s Day. Since nobody in the friend group is dating anyone, you decided to spend Valentine's Day with each other. Armin offered for everyone to come over to his place and you did. You all played games (almost losing friendship over an Uno match), ate, drank, and talked about stupid things. It was like any other typical hangout you guys had.

Or so Armin thought. With the way his friends are, he shouldn't have been surprised when they all left to go “pick up” something. Jean was the one who urged you to stay with Armin, insisting he couldn't just be left alone even though Armin kept telling you it was fine.

And now the two of you are in his room, sitting on the edge of the bed, talking about nothing in particular. 

“...And I always lose when we play anything card related. You guys are plotting against me or something,” you laugh softly, slightly tilting your head. You ask him a question but your words simply go through one ear and out the other. The only thing Armin can focus on is how pretty you look next to him. He eyes your chest and eventually trails down the rest of your body, practically undressing you with his eyes.

“Armin?”

You wave a hand in front of him, breaking him out of his trance. He realizes he’s been staring at you for a little too long, and he immediately begins coming up with one hundred different excuses for himself.

“I’m sorry, I just spaced out for—”

“What were you thinking about?”

You.

“I-I dunno. Just stuff, I guess.”

Armin’s cheeks are dusted rose-pink and he can feel the blood rush to his face. He’s praying you don't notice his flushed appearance (you do, though). You giggle at his sudden shy demeanor, despite him talking so confidently with you just a few minutes before.

“You can tell me, I won’t judge.”

You will judge. How can he possibly tell you straight-up he was thinking about you? 

“It's nothing, really. Did you ask something earlier?” he questions, trying to change the subject.

You smile. Earlier you asked if he had a valentine. You know the answer already, you just want to see him become a stuttering mess.

“I asked if you have a valentine.”

Armin's eyes widen for a second and he quickly looks around the room, finding something to focus on so he’s not looking at you. 

Of course, he doesn't have a valentine. He wants it to be you, but there's no way he has enough courage to do that. Armin has done the math. There's a ninety-nine-point-nine chance of him getting rejected, so it's kind of silly to confess knowing he’ll get his heart broken.

He’s heard it a million times from his friends every year: “Just do it. The worst she can say is no,” but that's just it. Every time a guy thinks the worst she can possibly say is “no” the outcome is the complete opposite and they get rejected in ways ten times worse. Armin doesn't have any personal experience with that, but he’s certainly seen what other guys have been through.

But then he starts thinking, what if you do say yes to him? What if the point one percent of you not rejecting him actually pulls through? Armin feels a small sense of confidence. It wouldn't hurt to confess…right? He’s liked you for years so why not just tell you and get it over with? He does have the perfect opportunity. Maybe watching Eren flirt with all those girls has given him some second-hand experience.

Armin stops staring at the pencil on his desk and returns his gaze to you. You still have your head tilted to the side, patiently waiting for an answer.

“...Yeah.”

The little confidence he had in himself left and was replaced with immediate regret. Why did he say that? He didn't even say it as a normal person would. His voice came out quiet and shaky. Where was he even going with this?

“Oh, really?” you smile again, a hint of amusement in your voice. “Who is it?”

“Well—”

“Is it someone I know?” you place a hand on his chest, pushing him back onto the bed. “Am I friends with them?”

Armin's heartbeat quickens tenfold, and instead of feeling the blood rush straight to his face, it goes straight to his dick. He’s hard and all you’ve done is put one hand on hand on him. 

You give him an innocent look and place a knee between his legs, acting as if you don't know what you're doing. 

“What's wrong, Armin? You're so quiet.”

What's wrong? What's wrong is that your knee is pressing against his hard-on and you're above him, hand still resting on his chest. There's no way you're doing this as a joke. It has to be on purpose, right? You're not just messing with him?

“You…you do know her,” he manages to say, closing his eyes and letting out a sharp breath.

 You lean forward and your lips ghost the shell of his ear. 

“Tell me about her then,” you whisper, “because it seems that you like her a lot.”

Armin swallows and places a shaky hand on top of yours, gazing at you with desire evident in his eyes. 

“She’s really pretty. I’ve liked her for a long time…” he trails off when you run your hand down his abs, but picks up again when you stop. “I haven't actually asked her yet.”

“Hmm. Why? Are you scared?” your voice takes on more of a sultry tone.

“N-no. Not exactly.”

“I think…” you tuck a stray strand of hair behind his ear, “that you should ask her right now.”

Armin looks up at you and stares. There's no way you're just joking. He’s used to your teasing—Armin always thinks it's just to mess with him—but you’ve never taken it this far. You have to like him too, right? Why would you go to these lengths just to mess with him? He realizes just how embarrassed he is and how embarrassing it would be if he really asked you to be his valentine. Armin would feel like he was in the sixth grade again, which is definitely not something he’d like to feel. 

You graze your lips against his, cupping his face with your hand. 

“C’mon, Armin. I know you like me. Just ask.”

He feels his face heat up again. For a second, he thinks he’s dreaming because there’s no possible way this could be real. But it is. It is real. It’s real and you’re telling him to ask you to be his valentine.

“Will you—will you be my valentine?”

He cringes slightly at his words but seeing the way you smile against his lips makes everything worth it.

“Of course I will.”

Armin swallows again as you stare at him for a few moments. He follows your eyes as they move down to his lips. As if asking for permission, you move forward ever so slightly. He thinks about it for a moment, wondering what would happen if the others came back and walked into the room. How would they react if they saw the two of you like this, your knee in between his thighs and faces so close you can feel each other's breath? They most definitely wouldn’t be surprised, but if you took it any further than a one-time thing…

He decides not to think about it any longer and closes his eyes, letting his lips find yours and kissing you. Armin kisses softly at first, but eventually, you start kissing back, and he loses himself. The kiss grows sloppier but it doesn’t matter to him. This is all he’s ever wanted. The number of times he’s fallen asleep fantasizing about your soft lips on his—he can’t even count them on his fingers anymore. Armin wraps his arm around your waist and pulls you closer to him. 

You taste sweet, a mix of chocolate and alcohol from earlier. It’s intoxicating. Everything about you is intoxicating. The way you smell, the way you feel, the way you touch. He hadn’t noticed you were running your hands down his body until you reached in between his thighs. Your hands lingered there, unmoving. He moans into the kiss, quiet but still loud enough that you hear. 

You kiss him for a few moments longer then break away. Armin is panting, his ears burning and eyes blown with lust. You’ve turned him into a mess with one kiss.

“Please,” is the only word he says, looking down at your hand still between his thighs. 

You tug his shirt, a sign for him to take it off, and he obliges. He throws it to the side carelessly, doing the same with his pants. 

You’ve seen Armin without a shirt before but you’ve never realized how good he looks. He has washboard abs, a slender waist, and a complimenting v-line—you can’t help but stare for a few seconds. You run your hands down his abs, trailing all the way down to his boxers. You hook your fingers around the waistband and pull them down, his hard cock lightly hitting his stomach. There’s already pre-cum leaking from his tip. 

“What do you want me to do, Armin?” you ask, wrapping your fingers around his length. 

He looks at you through half-lidded eyes. He doesn’t care what you do to him, he just wants more of you in any way possible. 

“Anything.”

You grin and pull your shirt off, then your shorts, then your bra. Besides your panties, you’re completely bare. Armin admires how perfect you look in front of him. He’s touched himself to the thought of you naked before, but nothing he imagined in that pretty little head of his amounted to how good you looked in person.

You go in for another kiss and soon enough he’s pushing inside of you, slowly enough to make sure he doesn’t hurt you. You moan into the kiss, rolling your hips onto his. 

“Wait—no condom?” 

“It’s ok. On the pill,” you intertwine your fingers with his and press your lips onto his again. Armin bottoms out into you and groans. You realize just how big Armin actually is. He places his hands around your waist and hugs you closer, holding you tight as if he’s scared he’ll lose you. 

You start moving up and down on his cock and eventually, Armin starts meeting you halfway. The two of you waste no time taking it slow, he’s desperate for you, and—even though you haven’t really shown it—you’re desperate for him. When Armin kissed you your thighs clenched, but he didn’t seem to notice. 

The room that was once filled with you and Armin’s innocent bickering and teasing was now filled with obscene sounds—from how he pistoned up into your wet pussy to his sweet whimpers—it turned on Armin so, so much.

You squeeze around him, enjoying his whimpers and breathy pants. And just as you were both chasing your high, coming close even though it hasn’t been that long, you hear the front door open and the sounds of your friend's laughter follow. Armin stops and looks at his closed bedroom door, a panicked expression on his face. A knock sounds on the door, Connie’s voice coming from the other side.

“Are you two good in there?”

Armin opens his mouth to answer but only a broken sob comes out as you slam your hips back down onto him. You continue, smiling down at him, acting like nothing is wrong. He looks at you with his eyes widened, biting his hand to stop himself from letting out any more sounds.

“Go on, answer him. You don’t want him to think there’s anything wrong, do you?” 

He grabs your waist with his free hand in an attempt to stop you, but he’s so weak from the pleasure that it does absolutely nothing. Tears prick at his eyes, from the embarrassment of being almost caught by one of his friends and how good he feels.

“I bet you secretly want it to happen. For Connie to come in here and see what we’re doing.”

You’re right, he does secretly want it to happen. He wants Connie to open the door and see the expression on his face at the sight of the two of you. He wants him to see the way you go down onto his cock, taking him so well and him enjoying everyone second of it. Armin isn’t even thinking straight anymore, purely driven by lust. He begins to thrust back up into you, tears rolling down his cheeks. Everything feels better than before; you feel impossibly tighter around him and he feels so good. There are no other words to describe it. 

“Hello?”

“We’re fine. Just give us a few moments, we’re talking about somethi—”

Armin stops mid-sentence because feels close, hips stuttering. He feels the way your pussy spasms around him and notices the way your eyes roll back. You’ve already come but he’s not done yet.

“I’m sorry,” is all he manages to choke out as he continues to push into you. He grabs your hips again and thrusts roughly, his rhythm growing messy and inconsistent. You’re overstimulated and you try to say something, but your jaw goes slack as he keeps going. He chases the high he was so close to earlier and finally reaches it, a string of broken sobs and moans coming spilling from his mouth. Armin’s loud and he knows it, but it doesn’t matter to him anymore. He pulls you into one final, messy kiss and closes his eyes, breath heavy. 

There’s a moment of silence and suddenly you hear roars of laughter through the door. 

“I fucking told you! You all owe me fifty dollars,” Jean’s voice echoes through the house, followed by a chorus of groans from the rest of your friends.

“You’re such a fucking bitch, dude.” Connie’s voice is clear at first, becoming quieter and muffled as he moves away from the bedroom door.

You look at Armin and he looks at you. You laugh and he gives you a shy, embarrassed smile.

“Oops.”

𓆩♡𓆪 note : this was supposed to be posted on valentines day. . .obviously. i posted it on ao3 on feb 15, and decided to post here too after awhile.

happy late valentines day!

[slaymitchabernathy]

Bills to Pay

“We also have this piece,” the salesman tells her, bringing out another box that holds an expensive looking necklace.

Soarynn tilts her head and considers it for a moment, then red ruby in the center of the ornate necklace is stunning, but it’s far too flashy.

She’s a simple woman, Soarynn Nightingale.

And simple women wear simple, classy pieces of jewelry. Simple as that.

She shakes her head and offers the man who’s been desperately trying to please her a soft smile, “It’s lovely, truly it is, but it’s just not what I’m looking for.”

The salesman slightly deflates but he nods, “Of course. If you’d be so kind as to take a seat over there,” he nods to a large mahogany table to their right, “then I can bring out some of our finer pieces.”

Soarynn nods once more and crosses the jewelry shop, her heels clicking on the marble floors. She takes a sip of the champagne they offered her when she first stepped foot in the establishment before taking a seat in the plush armchair.

Her legs instantly cross at the ankles as she surveys the shop that is mostly empty. Mostly empty because most people cannot afford the jewelry being sold here.

Soarynn had merely come here to browse when the salesman approached her and attached himself to her side, on a mission to find her the perfect piece to wear to an upcoming gala.

Nevermind the fact that he’ll make a generous commission should he complete the sale.

She’s getting good service either way. And good service is something a girl like her expects from places like this. Soarynn Nightingale is a blossoming young woman in her early twenties and she’s just getting used to the true finer things in life.

She used to think that the richest in Panem spent their money on things like new cars or fancy dresses. Now that she’s made her way to the top, it’s easy to differentiate between the classes of the elite.

New money spends their money on new cars and dresses, buying furniture from the most expensive stores and front row seats to the opera.

Old money—which Soarynn originates from—spends their money on things like quality champagne and education for their children. No need for front row seats when you already own a private box at the theatre.

Shopping in a jewelry store like this is a true display of wealth and Soarynn is well aware of that. Although she might have lost her parents during the war, they left her with a prosperous future along with her inheritance.

Enough money to provide for a lavish and comfortable lifestyle until she settled down and married.

The salesman appears once again, this time with a large looking case. Soarynn’s curiosity is piqued and she leans forward, letting out a small gasp when he opens the case and reveals gorgeous pieces of jewelry.

Exactly what she’s looking for really.

“Oh, they’re stunning,” she tells the man who grins as he takes a seat across from her, slipping on some gloves, “They really are,” he agrees.

He picks up several pieces for her to try on, rings, bracelets, necklaces. All of which already compliment the jewelry she’s currently wearing.

“I honestly think I’ll take it all,” Soarynn finally decides after quite some time has been spent examining the pieces. The salesman’s eyebrows slightly raise and he clears his throat, “Of course Ms. Nightingale. As for the means of payment, how would you like to make your purchase today?”

Soarynn looks over at the two glass doors that lead out onto one of the most luxurious streets in the Capitol, lined with more expensive stores such as this one.

“It’ll be here in a moment,” she says, admiring the new ring on her finger.

The salesman appears to be quite confused but Soarynn pays him no mind as he seems to realize she’s shown up without a wallet, or even a purse for that matter.

She really had stopped by just to look, but she couldn’t help herself!

“Ms. Nightingale, pardon my question, but do you have a…wallet with you? Or something to pay for all of this jewelry.”

Soarynn hums and brings the glass to her lips again, savoring the taste of champagne, “It’s not here yet,” she informs him.

“What’s not here yet?”

“My wallet.”

It’s as if his ears were burning because a moment later, Coriolanus Snow walks through the glass doors, his eyes immediately finding her.

Coriolanus Snow is a man who oozes authority. His commanding and strong demeanor cause those around him to view him as a leader, as someone you’d want to aling yourself with for a prosperous future.

It’s a good thing he’s her boyfriend.

He strides towards her and Soarynn takes a moment to admire her handsome boyfriend. He’s dressed in a heavy burgundy coat, his golden curls gelled back today. The scent of roses overwhelms her senses the moment he reaches her and leans down to press a kiss to her cheek.

“Hello my darling girl.”

Soarynn smiles up at him, “Hello Coryo.”

She then looks back at the salesman, “My wallet,” she elaborates, taking her boyfriend’s hand.

Coriolanus chuckles as he takes a seat next to her, pulling out his leather wallet, “Is that what you’re calling me these days darling?” Soarynn gives him a sly smile and nods, “A wonderful upgrade from when I used to call you my chauffeur.”

Coriolanus is ever insistent on taking care of Soarynn in all possible ways, which often includes having her driven from place to place. Soarynn doesn’t mind walking from place to place, but she must admit that it is rather nice to be driven places, putting her above others.

Coriolanus grins and shakes his head, his piercing blue eyes gazing down at the jewelry in front of them, “I thought you were just doing some window shopping today.” Soarynn sighs as if this whole ordeal has inconvenienced her, “I was, but then I popped inside and now I simply can’t leave empty handed.”

The salesman watches the young couple converse, seemingly nervous on whether or not he’s about to secure a sale. Coriolanus analyzes every individual piece of jewelry before finally nodding and pulling out his card, “We’ll take all of it.”

꧁ ꧂

Soft kisses on her neck cause Soarynn to giggle and push her boyfriend away, “Stop, I’m trying to focus,” she chides Coriolanus who is only further determined to kiss up and down her neck. She feels him grin against her sensitive skin, “I didn’t know that flipping through catalogs counted as working,” he lightly muses.

Soarynn swats at his arm and gives him a knowing look. Soarynn hasn’t worked a day in her life and since dating Coriolanus, he’s made sure that her every need has been taken care of. Should she try and get a job, he’d surely have a stroke.

Coriolanus Snow is a man who prides himself on not only being able to provide for himself, but his girlfriend as well, ensuring both of them live a life of comfortable luxury.

“Well someone has to keep this penthouse properly furnished,” she reminds him. She’s in the market for a new lamp for the living room. The old one was a victim of a rather unfortunate accident with Coriolanus and Petunia as the two main suspects.

Soarynn’s beloved cat Petunia had been swatting at Coriolanus one night when he was purposely trying to rile her up. They’ve always had a knack for lighting each others fuses and when she had lept onto the side table to get a better vantage point, both her and Coriolanus had freaked out and in the end, it cost them a lamp.

“The lamp was a necessary casualty,” he concludes, his large hand sliding up her thigh. Soarynn scoffs and side eyes him, “Necessary for what? To rile up Petunia and get on her last nerve?”

Coriolanus only offers her a boyish grin that lets her know that he has no remorse for riling up the cat, “Precisely,” he agrees, “what’s the fun in having a cat if you can’t play with them?”

Soarynn sighs and closes the catalog, she won’t be able to get much done with him being so touchy, “If you wanted an animal to play with, you should’ve gotten a dog.” They both know how much Coriolanus despises dogs, mostly due to the Dark Days causing most canines to develop rabies.

Coriolanus has told her the tale of him running into a rabid dog at the age of seven, absolutely terrified. He hasn’t been able to look at the animals the same way since. But he’s made the exception for cats it seems, or, at least for Petunia that is.

“But you’re so much more fun to play with,” he says, his hand finally reaching her covered core. Soarynn whimpers, the catalog slipping from her grasp and onto the floor. Her hips involuntarily buck into her boyfriend’s hand and that’s all he needs to feel before his lips are crashing onto hers.

Soarynn moans into the kiss, shopping long forgotten. “I hope you know how insatiable you are darling,” she says against his lips, all the while attempting to grind against his hand to get a better feeling.

Coriolanus chuckles and his other hand comes up to cup her face, “I’d say kissing me and letting me fuck you is the least you can do,” he counters, furthering the kiss by gently biting down on her bottom lip.

Soarynn moans when his fingers finally push the fabric of her panties aside and finally touch her soaking cunt. She’s always been so reactive to Coriolanus, to the point where it’s damn near embarrassing for her and utterly attractive to him.

“And why is that?” She asks with a sharp gasp following her question when she feels him sink two long fingers into her cunt. Coriolanus groans at the feeling and begins to slowly pump his fingers in and out of her, setting pace.

Coriolanus pulls away from the kiss and peppers her face with kisses, working his way down to her jaw.

Soarynn can feel her walls clenching around his fingers, her peak is growing nearer and nearer. The sounds she makes are more and more vulgar and desperate as she approaches her orgasm and she knows that Coriolanus is more than aware of her impending peak.

He uses his thumb to rub circles on her clit, sending Soarynn into a frenzy as she moans out her boyfriend’s name. Coriolanus latches onto her neck and sucks on the one particular spot that always leaves her weak in the knees and this time, triggers her orgasm.

All Soarynn sees for a moment is white before she’s finally coming back down to earth, heavily panting and twitching. His fingers are still in her, most likely waiting to go for another round.

Coriolanus Snow has never been an easily satisfied man.

He presses a kiss right under her ear before he finally answers her question, “Because I have bills to pay darling.”

| tumblr oneshot/drabble |

[nogenderbee]

May I request Kaeya, Childe, Diluc, and Itto walking in on their s/o fawning over them and saying she wishes to marry them one day?

Of course! Honestly it's just a super cute idea and I may had a little bit too much fun with it~ But either way, I hope you will enjoy it <3

Kaeya, Childe, Diluc, Itto with reader fawning over them

TagList: @bleachtheidiot - come get your people~

⊱ and here everyone would know that Kaeya is the cheesy one~ I mean... he still is but now you're the one fawning over him

⊱ first couple of times you say it, you catch him off guard and actually get a small blush from him

⊱ although he's quick to cover his blush with some cheeky comment on that, it's of course worth it all

"Oh my~ It's seems that you can't get enough of me today~ Well no need to worry because now, you surely got all my attention!"

⊱ he really thought it was only one time situation and that it actually will never repeat ever again but oh boy... how wrong was he!

⊱ your fawning over him only got stronger as the time passed but he also started to get used to it

⊱ if you do it in public, he'll act all smug and you can see that it's a big ego boost for him, and he'll always make sweet little comment about how much you love him and all right in front of people

⊱ if you to it in private tho, he'll quickly turn his attention on you and proceed to hug you tightly and spoil you with as many hugs and kisses as he can offer to you at the moment

⊱ if he has something to do, he'll simply get you on his lap while finishing his work and also giving you some deserved affection

"Now there, I'm a little bust but I'm sure we can make it work either way!"

⊱ you could expect anything from Childe to be honest... but with right choice of words, surely you can make him flustered

⊱ first few times you compliment him, he got catched a little off guard and his face turned into light shade of red while he tried his best to not stutter while speaking

"Huh?! Ah well... t-thank you! Well don't worry because I plan on staying with you my whole life!"

⊱ but to be honest, even if that compliment turned him into a mess, he still loved it and it boosted his ego

⊱ when you do it more and more often, he quickly gets used to it and now his reaction on them is just simple kiss and some 'thank you's

⊱ but there is one small difference in his reaction depending on if you tell him that in public or in private

⊱ if you tell him that in public, he'll be more flustered but still will respond with kiss, just more gentle

⊱ if you're in private tho, be ready for him to trap you in his arms and shower your whole face with kisses and maybe even tease you a bit

"Hehehe! Thanks, darling~ I'm really the only men you can think of, aren't I? Well... it goes both ways~"

⊱ you might think that Diluc would get flustered so easily and as you're not fully wrong, it's not easy to see through him

⊱ so when you tell him your compliment for the first time, he only smiles gently and depending if you're in public or in private, he may hide his face under his hand

⊱ truth is, a slight, basically not seenable blush appears on his face but he doesn't have a slight problem in speaking without stuttering or mixing up words

"Thank you, love. I wish to spend me future with you as well. Actually, I even thought of it not long time ago. Would you like to discuss everything together right now?"

⊱ when it continues, he surprisingly doesn't get used to it but it gets him more and more with every time

⊱ if you do that in public, he'll blush and stutter way more than he would in public, so it's easy to say that he ends his conversations as quick as he can when those words leave your mouth

⊱ in private tho, he still gets all blushing and stutters a lot but this time you have big chances to see bottom Diluc as little spoon and all

"Ah... those words seem to always get me... tell me, how do you even do it, my love?"

⊱ you really expected Itto to act all confident so you quickly decided that you have to make your words even flirtier if you want to get him flustered

⊱ but it turns out that you don't even have to try this much and his reaction still will be as flustered as he could be

⊱ even tho he act all smug about it, it's easy to see his blushing face and hear his stuttering

"O-Of course you love THE Arataki Itto! Who w-wouldn't want to spend their whole life with me?!"

⊱ when you start doing it more often, he slowly gets used to it and takes it easier but it still always makes him flustered

⊱ if you do it in public, he'll turn into blushing mess and will just laugh in nervousness and will try his best to come off cool but well... he kinda fails at it...

⊱ it just seems that your words have so much influence on him that he can't hide his true feelings no matter how hard he tries

⊱ if you tell him all that only in private tho, you can be sure he'll give you a big teddy bear hug both: because he wants to and because he doesn't want you to see how red his face is

"Oh, c'mon just let's hug for a while! What? Me?! Nooo! Of course I'm not doing it to hide my blush! Hahaha! Ha... Well... maybe I do-"

��⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉

[ghaazelle]

Alchemize your sorrow

⚛︎ Transmutation of energy is performed by everybody. It is transformative to transmute energy into another form, even magical. Some people allow it to destroy their lives, their relationships, and their own person. Like a chemical reaction, two reactants are added and they combine to form a completely different thing, which can either taste yummy or burn your skin.

                  We hear the world “alchemist” in movies, and we correlate it with a compliment, which is absolutely accurate. In simple terms, being an alchemist means you are put into a sh*tty situation, and you transform your feelings and/or reality into something of benefit to you and whomever you care about. 

⚛︎ I was watching Doctor who, and an episode about Vincent Van Gogh came about. I decided to invite my baby brother to watch with me(6 years old, but still my baby, and don’t tell him I called him that) Whilst his curiosity unraveled, he asked me “why are Gogh’s paintings so famous?”. I stayed quiet for a moment, taking in all of the dark stories I heard about his life and taking a look at the bright, peace-inducing and hopeful art he has created years before he took his own life. You would assume that a lonely, poor man with no emotional or social support would rather produce dark and miserable art. If he couldn’t avenge the universe for his miseries, he must have wanted to create heart-wrenching art, yeah? No. 

⚛︎ Van Gogh was an Alchemist, he desired to create for himself the life he wanted. For the hours of his day where he produced his art, he decided to manifest a world of brightness. His painting “Cafè Terrace At Night” displays his alchemy perfectly. He would draw the melancholic sceneries he saw in his hometown but would add life to them, and a spark of un-escapable happiness.

Subconsciously, we all know that alchemy Is important, and sometimes, it’s a method of survival. If the Palestinian people remained drowning in their miseries and losses every day without transpiring actions, they would’ve perished as a nation by now. Alchemy is Strength. 

Even something as mundane as baking a cake that ends up crumbling, instead of dwelling over it, you decide to make chocolate pudding out of the cake crumbs instead. Congratulations, You have alchemized your un-satisfactory situation.

⚛︎ What gives people inner peace is being able to perceive their own flaws, accept themselves despite of them, and if they can, they would alchemize those flaws into strength. For example, if a person is excessively emotional, to the point of misery and doubt and fear, they would celebrate the blessing of being able to feel. Despite the shadow of being a soul that carries their emotions on their sleeves, they’re offered the blessings of large empathy, creativity and presence in a world where connection is lost to screens and uneasiness.

Emotional people understand feelings. They become more emotionally intelligent by the day. To alchemize their situation, they will learn to put their shadow side to war. They would turn their anger into a piece of art, whether it be dancing or painting or playing chess, and when they cool down, they’ll calmly communicate their feelings, to themselves or others. If they feel insecure about their appearance, they would find out, intently, why? And despite of it, they will not cover their insecurity but allow it to be. And suddenly, they alchemized their insecurity from fear of being judged to confidence and poise, even if they still feel insecure on the inside.

⚛︎ Women often quote “ it turns me on when my man handles my attitude and manhandles me instead of arguing back or reacting”. Women find this attractive because men turn into alchemists when they manhandle their women and listen to her calmly when she’s reactive or bratty. That is because it is a strength that some of these men have. They can look at the bigger picture and understand that her emotions are getting a hold of her at the moment, and it is nothing but a passing moment, hour, or max a day. They understand that they are more rational than those problem. Some men start smiling and kissing their partners when they act bratty, or compliment her an extra little. If needed, these men will listen intently to her words during her episode and respond with reassuring responses to each of the points she made.

After that warm embrace of a man, I say a women would take a day max on a little issue that feels large in her mind because women indefinitely melt to being softly handled and listened to. At that point, the woman starts perceiving her initially horrible and “end of the world problem” as a little issue that is salvageable. At that point, she also is an alchemist. She turns her rage as appreciation and admiration for her man, that took her under his arms, with safety and patience. She shows and tells him that she appreciates him a little more, and acknowledges his strength. She reignites the passion in the relationship with her fun energy. With consistency, trust builds, and both the partner’s art of alchemy grows daily.

⚛︎ Both partners turn into alchemists since the man transformed his perception of her attitude into her need for care, and as a result, the woman transforms her negative feelings into an expression of calmness and appreciation for her man, which will make him feel respected by his woman and looked up to by her. She would feel safe, relaxed and optimistic again whilst he will feel victorious, respected and appreciated. They bond harmonically.

⚛︎ Alchemy is a choice, and an art to behold.

[thestrangerblog]

Hair care

Author's note: Here comes my first Percabeth fanfic, a fluffy little showverse story, because I haven't read the books yet. I think Annabeth needs a little pampering and Percy is there to do it.

I'm white, so forgive me if I got the hair care for black girls wrong, all I know about that is from Youtube Videos.

Hair Care

Percy had just taken a much needed shower after returning to camp from his quest to find the lightning bolt. He was on his way back to the Poseidon cabin when he ran into Annabeth who was on her way to the camp showers. Percy stopped in his tracks and couldn’t help but stare.

Annabeth had unbraided her hair which totally changed her appearance. Her hair was all over her head in a wild mess. To him it looked like a halo or a gigantic crown.

“Shut your mouth, seaweed-brain or you’ll start drooling when you’re awake, too.”

Only now did Percy realize that he had been staring open-mouthed at Annabeth. He took her advice and quickly shut his mouth, only to open it again a moment later to say something.

“You look... different.”

“I unbraided my hair so I can wash it,” Annabeth said with an eye-roll.

“I didn’t realize your hair looks like this naturally.”

Percy felt really dumb, but that wasn’t unusual in Annabeth’ company.

“What, messy and filthy?” she asked aggressively.

“No! No, that’s not... I swear I didn’t mean that!” Percy stuttered, slightly panicked. “There’s just... so much of it. It looks fluffy.”

“Fluffy?” Annabeth asked, raising an eyebrow. “What am I, a rabbit?”

But she sounded amused, not angry, so Percy assumed he hadn’t offended her.

Percy laughed. “No, you don’t give rabbit vibes. I think you’d be something more impressive. And smarter of course. An owl maybe, with being Athena’s daughter and all.”

“And you’d be a monkey. One of those tiny ones, maybe a lemur. Loud, annoying, silly, but somehow you not only get away with it, but people even bring you treats,” Annabeth said.

“I don’t know if this was an insult or a compliment.”

“A bit of both, I guess.”

Percy didn’t know what else to say, but also didn’t want to just go away. During the last week he and Annabeth had nearly always been together and he had a feeling that he would feel lonely without her in the big, empty Poseidon cabin.

“Speaking of treats. I still have some of the candies my mother gave me before I left for camp. She works at a candy shop and gets to take home free samples sometimes. Want to come over and share them with me after your shower? Maybe we could borrow a laptop from someone and watch a movie.”

Percy saw Annabeth visibly hesitating.

“I’d really like that, but it’ll take a while for me to be done in the showers and I’m pretty tired. I guess I would just fall asleep 5 minutes into the movie.”

Percy was surprised at that. He had only taken 10 minutes in the shower even though he needed to wash off a week’s dirt. He hadn’t thought Annabeth was the high maintenance type of girl who took forever in the bathroom. Considering that Percy had had enough near death experiences over the past week he decided not to voice his thoughts. But apparently that wasn’t necessary. Either his facial expression had given him away or Annabeth could read his mind.

The girl rolled her eyes. “My hair needs a lot more work to not look like a mess then yours, seaweed-brain. Getting the tangles out takes forever and needs more than just shampoo.”

“Oh.”

Should he have known that? Was it dumb or insensitive of him not to know that?

“I could help,” he offered spontaneously. “With the hair, not with the shower!” he quickly clarified, blushing.

After everything Annabeth had done for him he really wanted to give something back. And he was somehow fascinated with the way her hair looked unbraided and really wanted to know how it felt to touch it.

“You want to come with me into the girls restrooms?” she asked.

“No, you could just come to my cabin after your shower.”

“Do you have a sink in your cabin?” Annabeth asked.

Now it was Percy’s turn to give Annabeth an eye-roll, a deeply satisfying experience.

“I’m the son of Poseidon, wise-girl. I don’t need a sink, I can just get a bucket of water and make the water move like with a shower-head.”

“Really?” Annabeth asked, sounding impressed. She was impressed by him!

Percy shrugged. “I practiced a little when I was alone in the cabin and couldn’t sleep.”

“Okay, I’ll humor you and let you give me a demonstration. But no sea water. That will only make it worse.”

Percy got the bucket he had for his water experiments from his cabin and filled it with warm water in the boys shower. Annabeth arrived at his cabin only a few minutes later. She had changed her clothes, but her hair was dry, meaning she apparently hadn’t started with whatever washing routine she had.

“Okay, I have the water and I know how to use shampoo, but apart from that I’m pretty lost, so I’ll need a bit of help,” Percy admitted.

Annabeth nodded. She had lived in a cabin with siblings of both sexes and from different ethnicities for five years now (apparently her mother didn’t have a type), so she knew that hair care was much easier for white kids, especially for boys.

“Okay, so, my hair needs a lot of moisture. I actually start with a conditioner and a lot of water and then slowly detangle my hair, first with my fingers, then with a tangle teaser brush. Then I use shampoo, then conditioner again and in the end I put oil in my hair and leave it in.”

Percy nodded. “Doesn’t sound too difficult.

Annabeth laughed. “You won’t repeat that after you have started getting the tangles out.”

“Okay, I thought you could just sit in a chair, I stand behind you and put the water bucket next to us.”

“Sounds good to me,” Annabeth said.

Annabeth sat down and Percy stood behind the chair and let the water come out of the basket in a little fountain that went to Annabeth head and then back into the basket and up again in a circuit.

Annabeth looked impressed. “You really have practiced a lot.”

Percy shrugged. “Not really. It didn’t take long for me to get it right. Anything with water comes naturally to me. Would you like a blanket or something for your neck to be more comfortable?”

Annabeth looked surprised to be asked that, but nodded. “That would be nice, thank you.”

Percy rolled the blanket from his bed and put it at the back of the chair so Annabeth could lean back comfortably. He gently put his hands on her hair and guided it to get it soaked with water. It really was fluffy. When Annabeth’ hair was thoroughly wet which took surprisingly long Percy took the conditioner Annabeth had brought with her and gently started untangling Annabeth hair. She had been right, it really wasn’t that easy to detangle the thick strands, but Percy didn’t mind. He started at the neck and gently untangled Annabeth’ hair strand for strand. Then he carefully brushed her hair out. Then he put shampoo in his hands and gently lathered Annabeth’ hair with it. Now he could easily get through her locks with his fingers. He made sure that the shampoo got everywhere, gently massaging Annabeth scalp while foaming the shampoo. Annabeth had closed her eyes during the detangling and was now leaning back in the chair to give Percy better access. Her face didn’t have her usual cool and aloof expression, she looked emotional and to Percy’s surprise a tear escaped her. Annabeth had apparently noticed that, too and tensed. Percy, who had gotten good at fast reactions, let a bit of water run down Annabeth’ cheeks.

“Sorry,” Percy mumbled, making it look like an accident.

“It’s okay,” Annabeth said and relaxed again, now that she didn’t have to worry about controlling her reactions to the tender care anymore.

Now it was Percy who had to control himself when he realized how foreign tenderness must be to Annabeth. He took a deep breath to control his sudden anger at Annabeth’ family and concentrated on the task at hand. In this moment he swore to himself to give Annabeth as much affection as possible whenever he got a chance.

Percy washed away the shampoo with water before stopping his make-shift fountain and then put conditioner in Annabeth hair again, spreading it thoroughly. Then he applied the oil and rubbed Annabeth’ hair with the towel until it wasn’t dripping anymore.

Annabeth stood up and faced Percy, looking insecure and almost shy, what was so strange for her.

“Thank you, Percy.”

Percy smiled. “You’re welcome. If you want to, I can always do your hair when we are at camp. You can teach me how to braid, if you want.”

“You’d do that?” Annabeth asked, surprised,

Percy nodded and hoped that it didn’t look too eager. He really loved going through Annabeth hair with his fingers and he enjoyed being able to spend time alone with her.

“Yes, I’d like that.”

[sadnightforus]

THE FATED STARS (PJS) | SMAU

012 - THE RECORD STORE HANGOUT

Park Jongseong harbors the biggest crush on one of the most popular girls on the campus, you. You, being dared by your friend group to tweet and made a boyfriend application, initially started out as a joke, thinking that no one would applied it. Upon the tweet going viral and many applications being sent in, he decided that he would shoot his shot, even if he doesn’t know a single shit about what is the sun, moon, rising in astronomy. 

WARNINGS: cuss words in the smau part

A/N: it took me days to write this

TAGLIST: @hoondiors

PREVIOUS. | BACK TO MASTERLIST. | NEXT.

WRITTEN PART OF THE STORY BELOW!

WORD COUNT: 2796

WARNINGS: none

Jay gets to the record store faster than you expect him to.

 You see him outside of the store, through the glass window that showcases the wide range of musical collections that they’re selling. You decide not to alert him that you’re here and so you push the door to get into the shop, swiftly. 

 Intuitively, he quickly turns his head to look at you and he is mesmerized by your appearance. You look close to perfection, no you’re the perfection. 

He feels his face getting hot in your presence. 

“Wow.. it’s like you’re Aphrodite.” 

 Your little smile that you give to Jay as soon as you enter the shop is now replaced by the biggest surprised face and in a way, that manages to flatter your heart. You certainly haven’t received this kind of compliment before, which shocked you.

 In a way, you like the way that Jay openly expresses his longing for you.

“Thank you. You look like a Greek god himself, handsome.”

 And his face has a hue of redness all over due to this. But that makeup hides it. 

 Or so he thinks.

“Y-yeah.” He turns to look at you. “Do you want to take a look at these vinyls?” 

“Sure.” You nod, eyes glistening at the collection in front of you. 

 Truthfully, you haven’t been to this particular store in years now. The last time you went was when you were full of hope and aspirations in middle school (9th grade). You don’t know how and when you turn into a person who becomes reluctant to meet new people when you used to be quite a social butterfly. 

 You supposed that you’ve grown up and changed, but something tells you that it’s not entirely the reasoning behind your change of character. 

“I love The Smiths.” You voice out, mischievously referencing one of your favorite movies, 500 days of summer. 

“Hmm?” Either Jay is clueless or he’s playing along too. 

“I said I love The Smiths.” You repeat your words, this time increasingly louder but not enough to catch the attention of other people. However; you’re skeptical of the man in front of you who seems to not know what you’re referencing. “Wait, do you really not know who The Smiths are?” You then question the absurdity, finding it hard to believe a bit. 

“I do. But aren’t we quoting Tom and Summer?” He has a small smile tugs on his face, with eyes glint of hope as he looks at you. 

“Umm hmm.” You hum, satisfied.

“Do you listen to St. Vincent?” He asks. 

“I think you’re gay.” You point out, squint your eyes to analyze him and he swears he’s falling in love all over again. You nod as you reply with a “But yeah, I do.” 

“If I am a gay man, I would still be crushing on you.” He sasses and you have to completely suppress the ugliest gasp laughing you could’ve made for the sake of proper manners with his statement. 

“No way did you just say that.” You reply. “That’s like, a free conversion therapy.” You pretend to be offended by his comment. 

“It might be one.” He teases you. “Because you turn me from someone who has never been in love with someone before to literally losing my shit when I meet you.” He heartily confesses and you swear you almost fall to the ground because of the way he says it and of course, the eye contact that shows he means what he says.

“And you’ve been stuttering like crazy all this time when you met me because of what?” You gasp, noticing he’s getting bolder with each flirtatious response he sends your way.

 You have to one up him. You absolutely cannot let him win. 

 Then you have your lightbulb moment. 

 You will play a sick game, the one where you know will get him in a trance.

 You step closer to him, instead, facing him as you were previously standing beside him. Your face plant with a wicked smile, begin your work as you decide to do this and let your instincts win. 

 You’ll probably regret it later with the way you’d ask god why Jay is suddenly becoming an unbearable man to be around with the man he’d cling around for your attention around the campus later.

 But you won’t ever try to overthink this much ahead, because it just seems ridiculous when explaining it. 

 It starts off innocently enough, with your delicate fingers suddenly making their way on his arm, then your fingertips make contact with his skin, barely making it, as if to leave him wanting for more.

And you render him speechless with the way you come with this bold approach as his brain is not only blank and in a hazy state due to the constant stimulation of the ghosting yet such addictive electrifying sensation that sends chills from his skin down to his very skeleton and processes itself to his consciousness. 

 He swears he died and went to heaven that moment.

 And god, the eye contact you held with him was strong and intense. Your eyes never once divert to any other place other than directly into him, to thoroughly read his soul. To make him give his soul to you. 

 And that pretty smirk you have, knowing you win over him with this trick alone. 

“Do you like it?” You ask in a whispery tone, knowing it’ll get his head spinning. 

 This is nothing like other people had described, you turned his brain into a puddle of thoughtlessness, where the only thing he knows and aware of is you. 

 You. 

 You. 

 You. 

 You. 

 You who drive him insane and got him into this stupid mess. 

 He’s doomed from the start and with this heaven on earth experience too? How would he recover? 

“You okay?” 

 You taunt him, with a smirk on your face just as you pull away. And now he’s back to normal and he doesn’t know how to feel about that. 

“Um- uhm-…” He is wide eyed, shocked when things go back to normal. 

“I’m fine. Let’s continue looking for CDs.” 

 He considers slapping himself but that would make it too obvious. He eventually resorts to pinching himself on his arm just to make sure he’s not too far gone. 

 You both take a walk around the store, often stopping to talk about the artists you both enjoy. It’s evident that he enjoys music a lot, but so more of an rnb guy, while you’re more of a pop girl who occasionally enjoys everything in between. 

“Do you know Carly Rae Jepsen?” 

“I know her from ‘Call Me Maybe’ song. Maybe you should hit up my line.” He smirks. 

“Hey! Who told you to be that smooth?” You playfully slap his arm in a lighter way so it doesn’t hurt him. 

“But seriously, you should give her a try. Like ‘Want You In My Room’ is great.” You explain to him, pointing at the ‘Dedicated’ album. Truthfully, you’ve seen Mariah Carey’s album and you’ve been wanting to buy some as you haven’t had ‘Mariah Carey’, her debut album and some of her earlier works. 

“If I didn’t know any further, I’d say you’re flirting with me.”

“What if I really do, Park Jongseong?” 

“Then I wouldn’t mind.” 

“I’m gonna be honest with you right now, but I run out of pickup line responses. Let’s stick to talking about music.” You say, trying to avoid flirting with him because your heart is violently beating in your chest and you don’t like how he makes you blush so easily and so often. 

 It’s so infuriating that he gets the upperhand today. 

“You got that pickup generator installed in you?” He teases, aware of your awkwardness when stuck in or encounters romantic situations for way too long. 

“You make it sound like I got no bitches because all of my flirting tactics came from Reddit.” You pout, pretending to be offended by what he says. 

“I did not say that— Hold up…? You went on Reddit for love advice?” 

“Can you leave me and my lack of romance knowledge alone?” You beg for him to drop this because the more you talk, the more loser you seem to be. “I’m not a loser, I just haven’t dated in awhile.” You clarify, to sound less pathetic than you do. 

 He chuckles as he thinks to himself, you’re so fucking cute. 

“Okay, okay fine.” 

 Thank god that he decided to drop that. You don’t know when your breaking point will be if this is who you are dealing with today. 

 And you both didn’t talk much after that, only looking at the vinyls and albums that they display around the room. You came to discover that he does in fact, also listen to Kpop songs like you too, although you both are more heavily focused on the pop music scene. 

You pick up a vinyl from After Hours by The Weeknd. You don’t say anything as you walk to the counter, leaving Jay scandalized and afraid that you’re gonna walk out on him. You place the item for them to check it out, which brings you to a total of 50$.

 You quietly pay as you say your ‘thank you's' to the store owner then return back to your spot earlier, which now has some more people coming in and they seem to be a music lover too.

 You give it to Jay, monotonously saying “This is for you.” trying to hide the fact you thought of him when you listen to Abel Tesfaye. He looks shocked, at first, trying to refuse but initially gave up after a while and he utters out ‘Thank you’ so many times that you think you broke the poor man. And what’s wrong with spoiling a pretty boy like him anyway?

 He doesn’t need to know that you think of him in ways that would make your friends slam your head into the wall to knock back your senses.

 Then you look at the time on your phone.

 It’s now 7 pm and you suddenly realize how many hours you have been there. You both are so engrossed by the conversation you both are having that you didn’t check the time at all. 

 There’s no sunset that shines through the store’s glass window, but there’s a moon rising in the sky that flaunts its beauty for the world to see. 

 You’re almost starstruck until Jay taps your shoulder to get you out of your trance after he had noticed that you’ve been staring at the outside view for a good 5 minutes. 

“Hey Y/N.” His voice snaps you back to reality. “Do you wanna go to the restaurant nearby?” 

At the mention of the restaurant, your stomach quietly growls and you realize that you’re indeed, more hungrier than you realize. 

“Yes. That will be nice.” You nod. 

“I see you have been glancing over at that Daydream and Emotions vinyl.” He points out. “Give me that.” 

 You did just that without questioning why. 

“Wait, are you gonna pay-” 

 He’s faster than you as he’s already at the counter, checking both vinyls out as 60$ just casually rolling out. You didn’t forget that you saw multiple ONE OK ROCK’s albums too. That would make at least a total of 130$. 

 You don’t say anything as you observe him buying you vinyls. Once he’s done, you walk to him, not satisfied that he spends money on you. It almost makes you feel guilty because you want to pay for your own stuff too, but of course, he has to be such a douchebag about it by buying the missing thing from your collection. 

 Safe to say you’d be thinking of him when looking at the bought vinyls now. 

 That’s so annoying. 

 UGH. 

 You want to scream and kiss him but you mainly want to punch him, at least that’s what you think. 

“Here’s yours.” He hands you the vinyls and you shamefully accept it. You feel like a gold digger in the worst way possible and you want to flick the perfect forehead of his for that. “Let’s go to the restaurant.” 

 You chuckle then you put out your hand for him to hold as you say “Lead the way, Taurus boy.” 

 And he happily holds your hands as he searches for the restaurant nearby to occupy both your stomachs and minds on the busy street in Seoul city tonight. 

“I think I look totally out of place from this place.” You comment just as you sit down at the table, facing Jay. 

 You feel a bit intimidated because of this place but truthfully, you also love it if you happen to go there alone or with friends. Unfortunately, the place looks too elite for a broke college student like you. Everything in there is luxurious and you begin to think that you can’t afford this place even if you work hard your entire life. 

 You’re just being dramatic, it’s not too high class if you’re being realistic, but it’s expensive for a regular worker like you, especially if you don’t come from family who has too much money to spend on useless stuff. 

 You shrug, annoyed by your own train of thoughts as you look at Jay, flabbergasted that he chooses such an expensive place. 

“You don’t.” He shakes his head, disagreeing with you. He then hands you the menu on the table and you bow your head a bit as a gesture of saying ‘thank you’. 

“Call whatever food you want to.” He asks and you purposely pick the cheapest one off the menu because seeing the price kills your appetite. 

 A waiter approaches you both and she quickly takes notes of the food you both are ordering. It wasn’t long before she walks away in a fast paced to alert the chef, signaling that a new food has to be made again. 

 You didn’t forget to observe the way he treated her too and you’re almost impressed that he treats her nicer than your ex would when it comes to service workers. 

 Maybe it’s not a bad idea to go on a date with him at all.

“Do you know there’s a duck crossing the streets of Seattle right now?” He asks, trying to humor you a bit. You’re so shocked that you can’t help but laugh at the random question that is seemingly out of the blue.

“There’s no ducks.” You say. “But there’s butterflies roaming around someone’s house in Seattle.”

“Hey.” He disagrees. “It was in 2018 when some ducks were crossing the streets in west seattle. Are you calling me a liar?” He says it accusingly in a joking manner.

“I won’t believe that until there’s evidence to backup the statement.”

 And boy, did he pull out his phone to show you a video that his longtime friend sent to him about ducks being on the road from the westside of Seattle. And you can’t get mad at that, honestly.

“I always think of us, being ducks holding hands, crossing the street of Arizona- WAIT! I mean Seattle.”

 This time you hysterically laugh, trying to hold back your tears as he messes up his own new invented pickup line.

“Stop laughing! I’m kinda embarrassed!” He says, his ears flushed red and he can’t even look straight in the eyes.

“NOOO!!!” You disagree, shaking your head aggressively as your body rocking from laughing so much and your hand covers your mouth due to the infectious laughter you let out. “You’re funny when you’re a loser.”

“I think I’m cool!” He pouts slightly, tone sulking.

“You were cool, like totally out of kdrama cool in the bookstore and now you go back to say embarrassing things.” You shoot back. “But I like it.” You whisper, hoping he doesn’t catch that.

 He does. 

 He chooses not to comment on it.

 You both continuously showed each other cat reels until the food arrived and the first thing he did after the waiter had finished placing the meal onto the table was to be your personal photographer. You can’t reject the offer, after all, who’s nice enough to take a picture of a fRiEnD that you’re hanging out with?

And you snapped a few of his pictures back too, as a gesture of gratitude in return.

 Then, after the pictures taking session is over, you both enjoy your meal together, while having a conversation about everything that relates to yourselves personally.

 You can’t say you don’t like it when he makes you laugh from his pickup lines that he always messes it up along the way and the witty remarks that he suddenly feels confident to shoot back at you sometimes.

[horizon-verizon]

I came across a comment underneath a post related to Show!Rhaenys which stated that had she survived she wouldn't have objected to Addam and Alyn becoming Corlys' heirs. Now, while we will never find out whether she would have done so or not, I believe it won't be out of character for her. And it is not a compliment.

In the book, Corlys most probably pushed for Addam to be legitimized and named heir to Driftmark because Joffrey was betrothed to Lord Manderly's daughter as part of the marriage pact made by Jace. Now, the previous arrangement according to which Luke was to succeed him with Rhaena as his wife was advantageous because their children would have carried his name as well as his bloodline. That window was closed with Joff. So, he probably thought that he might as well have his biological son succeed him, if nothing else. He had also lost Rhaenys by then and was angry at Rhaenyra. She was not in a position to refuse his demand.

On the show, Rhaenys suggests the idea of supplanting Joffrey with Rhaena as if the succession of Driftmark is candy which they can take from one kid and hand over to the other. In other words, she was suggesting that they pressurize Rhaenyra to set her son aside knowing that she is dependent on their support. This makes her callous in a way that even Book!Corlys wasn't because neither does she have the excuse of grief nor is Joffrey betrothed to someone else in this continuity.

All Show!Rhaenys cared for were appearances. The appearance of being fair and just. The appearance of being right. She doesn't care if Rhaenyra or anyone else gets screwed in the process as long as she gets to maintain it.

She wanted Baela, and later Rhaena, to inherit Driftmark primarily out of her prejudice against Rhaenyra's sons. But if Corlys were to put forward a "true" Velaryon heir then she is exactly the kind of person who would advise Rhaena to sit back, marry Addam or Alyn and remain content as Consort because such is the order of things .

Aaaah...posts like this make it so painful for me, bc I don't want to keep saying "it's the writers, a Doylist reading of them fucking shit up is more salient for this bc the entire project is set against portraying misogyny as it is by making their women "good" and behaviorally subservient for their guiding-women-for-violent-men shit, thus most Watsonian readings don't address the integrity issue of HotD very well". But you're asking me for a more Watsonian reading.

On the show, Rhaenys suggests the idea of supplanting Joffrey with Rhaena as if the succession of Driftmark is candy which they can take from one kid and hand over to the other. In other words, she was suggesting that they pressurize Rhaenyra to set her son aside knowing that she is dependent on their support. This makes her callous in a way that even Book!Corlys wasn't because neither does she have the excuse of grief nor is Joffrey betrothed to someone else in this continuity.

It think one counterargument some people may have is either that Rhaenys doesn't owe Rhaenyra anything whether Rhaenyra did something to her or not OR that she is a lot like many imagine real medieval women would act. Second one is fair, until you see how she's still very different from her book self and much less disposed to use violence for the reason of trying to make women more pacific and imply those who don't are uniquely evil from men who do the same. First one is dumb bc it is she who decides to engage and rebuke Rhaenyra for thinking similar thoughts she may have thought before.

Neither of these things will ever endear me to show!Rhaenys in particular, because both display a condescendingly disengenuous claim of moral superiority form the show itself about what this war is about, which is that this war was not as inlfuenced or caused and directed by sexism as it was by aristocratic selfishnesss...which the War of the Five Kings and literally EVERY other war in ASoIaF is caused, so why do we care so much about the Dance and changing Rhaenyra's or Rhaenys' characters....these female characters? Why do we change Rhaena of Pentos to merge w/Nettles, make the man who supported his wife political claims and showed not hint of DOMESTIC VIOLENCE domestically abuse her (S1 epi 10)? Why make one of the rapists (Hugh the Hammer) more sympathetic by making him a down-on-his-luck family man with a sick child? Why turn a politically intelligent woman into one who take multiple baths and has sex with a Kingsguard with little development towards theat, and make this a feature of her character in the second season? Why add MORE gender violence against women in general (Aemma, Rhea Royce)?

she is exactly the kind of person who would advise Rhaena to sit back, marry Addam or Alyn and remain content as Consort because such is the order of things

Yeah...bc they wrote her that way. Just hateful, this rewrite. Can't take her (them) seriously, Rhaneys is their spokesperson, and the inspiration of Hilary Clinton really how Hess' personal feelings or views really shaped the characters instead of her knowing what F&B is and be willing to tell that. (I say Hess bc it is her who said she used Clinton as her inspo) And if she wasn't willing...never should have signed on.

[doodle-pops]

Ecthelion Celebrating Special Occasions with his S/O

Request: Headcanons for how Ecthelion would spend a special occasion, like Valentine’s or your birthday? (You pick whichever you find most interesting to write for lol).

A/N: I decided to write on more than one occasion :)

| Birthdays |

It is no joke that as Lord of a highly exquisite, classy and boogie house, Ecthelion will not spare you any expenses when it comes to such a special day in your life cycle. Knowing that mortals have such a short lifespan, you will receive a lavish birthday party once Idril and the other Lords have explained to criteria to him.

From the moment you awake, you will be greeted by him either in choosing to spend his morning with you curled up in bed or him presenting you with your first gift of the day along with breakfast. It would be a new formal attire, something you’ve been wanting for a long time, to wear for the first half of the day.

Next, he’ll openly indulge in a few relaxing activities, not forgetting to wish you a happy birthday and sing the traditional song. He’ll whip his harp out while you both sit in a secluded corner of his estate’s garden, and he’ll sing you ‘Happy Birthday’.

You can expect him to litter you in more affection—not so much physical because it’s Ecthelion we’re still talking about—like songs and poems along with a few praises and compliments with regards to your appearance.

Expect the usual bunch to wish you birthday greetings as he invites you to an extravagant lunch party with the other Lords, Idril was also invited. He wants your day to be filled with memories of having people who loved and adored you around, all to witness your smile.

When evening rolls around, this time between you both will be a private special moment. You’ve already received tons of gifts from him and everyone else, and now, Ecthelion wants to have you all to himself—aside from the specially invited musicians.

A beautiful dinner will be held in a secluded corner of the garden where his fountains are set in the background and the musicians playing a favourite song of yours. Small talk will be made, asking you about how you found your day to be and if it was to your liking.

He’ll engage in a romantic dance, serenading you under the stars and whispering how grateful he is for you existing in his life. This is the moment he becomes openly affectionate and swoops in to give you those once-in-a-lifetime kisses to never forget.

| Anniversaries |

His preparations for anniversaries aren’t different from your birthdays, if anything, a little more physical romantic atmosphere is added to the settings, and it is spent privately.

Whether is it a day spent indoors or outdoors or a mix of both, the entire layout is private. All his songs and gestures, even his gifts are mostly recommended to be kept confidential. As a married couple in this sense, but if you two are unmarried, he would still wish to celebrate this occasion, privately.

Something straightforward since you are both in Gondolin and there isn’t an opportunity to travel the world like we do here, he will make what you all are given do.

On some anniversaries, he bends the knee and spends the entire day conforming to your wishes and desires, on other anniversaries, it’s all about him surprising you with his lifetime wishes.

Pieces of jewellery, new apparel or a song he’d been working on for the special moment, Ecthelion is working his butt off to make the day enjoyable for you both. Sometimes, you spend the day in bed cuddling and romancing the bone a bit or swimming in his fountain and he joins you.

He figuratively and literally lets his hair down on a day that commemorates your undying love for one another. Being extravagant is a part of Ecthelion’s motto and lifestyle, so the gifts are going to come pouring in.

He does look forward every year to celebrating your anniversary together, it gives him something exciting and thrilling to look forward to. Furthermore, he’s always open to learning new information about your culture and traditions to better his gifts and performances.

Masterlist

Taglist: @eunoiaastralwings @noldorinpainter @ranhanabi777 @spidergirla5 @lilmelily @someoneinthestars @mysticmoomin @aconstructofamind @floraroselaughter @the-phantom-of-arda @rain-on-my-umbrella @singleteapot @wandererindreams @asianbutnotjapanese @justellie17 @justjane @silverose365 @bunson-burner

[return-to-twisted-wonderland]

💚anon - it's a lot.. tw eating disorders

[Livestream (107)]

Comment: How come you didn't show up on camera with the other girls for a while right after you all debuted?

Sakura: Uhm...I think it's about time I talk about it, then..and...explain why things are the way the are.

Comment: We're all here for you... we won't judge or anything.

Sakura: Briefly, the first few reasons I didn't show myself on camera, was because of the unfortunate news of Kaylee's passing and I didn't want people to have an opinion of who I am based on what I looked like.

Sakura: We live in a society that revolves around appearance. People can become famous just for their looks. People use appearances as an excuse not like someone—and fine if you don't like me or what I do, but if your only reason would be because you don't like the what I look like...then what kind argument is that?

Sakura: I used to be very shy and preferred to keep to myself. I still wanted to have privacy—but there's a main reason and I haven't told this story to anyone. Thing is, I don't tell people about my problems because I feel like I can handle them on my own...and I don't want to drag people into my messes. I don't want to hurt anyone, and if you knowing I'm hurt, hurts you, then I don't want to tell you when I'm hurting.

Sakura: It's not a secret. I don't think very highly of myself. I joke about it a lot, and I'm pretty open about it. When I was young, I actually had a lot of confidence. People gave me compliments and said nice things, and I believe them–and was proud of myself. But as I got older, I began having doubts. I started thinking that people were lying to me, or they said things and didn't really mean it. Words can't affect you when you don't let them—people say that all the time. But it's easy to forget it goes the same way with positive words as negative.

Sakura: That led me to telling myself I wasn't good enough, and I had to do better. My standards started slowly getting higher and higher without me realizing how bad it was getting. By my third year of being a trainee, I felt like I wasn't good enough for anything. Even though people would be telling me, "wow you're doing so great. You're so talented." I would say thank you, not to be rude, but it was one ear out the other. I didn't hear it.

Sakura: I went into I-Land with the same mindset—not feeling like I was good enough for anything. Standards for myself always getting higher, and that's the problem. I push myself so hard to get better at everything—I do improve. But it's still not enough for me. The bar keeps getting higher before I can grab it. Like climbing a staircase where the top keeps getting further away, and the ball and chain attached to your ankle getting heavier and heavier. But you keep trying.

Sakura: Eventually this branched out to more than just what I was doing. It started seeping into my self-image—which wasn't high in the first place thanks to the agency. It wasn't only telling me what I was doing wasn't enough—it started telling me I wasn't enough. And that's when I started wanting to fix it.

Sakura: I started eating less, trying to be happier with myself. I'm naturally very thin, and I've never had issues with weight before. But it was like a switch in my brain, that all of a sudden that wasn't good enough either. It became all I could think about. My whole day revolved around what I ate, what it was, when I ate, how many calories—every detail. I wanted complete control. I remember a specific day—all I let myself have was half an apple and 10 Cheerios. And I felt happy about it. "Look how in control I am," —but I wasn't.

Sakura: I was in this downward spiral. I built up fears and rules and my head got foggier and foggier everyday. Lack of nourishment prevented me from being able to think clearly, and I was making irrational decisions. I was telling myself this was what I had to do to be happy. Of course, it was extremely painful—starving myself. Eventually I decided I would go the entire day eating as close to nothing as possible, then eating a bunch at the end to stop the pain, followed by l erasing it. This whole awful cycle went on for several the entirety of I-Land to our debut. I don't even remember anything else I was doing in my life. It all just became a blur. The only thing I can truly remember looking back now, was just being so tired and cold and sad all the time. I wasn't able to see I was getting thinner and thinner. Nothing was good enough. My brain didn't let me see how horrible it was getting.

Sakura: I don't know what happened, but during the middle of I-Land, I was able to break through and tell myself this wasn't what I wanted. I didn't want to live like this anymore, and I had to get better.

Sakura: Before I go any further, I'd like to say that I believe people can be perfectly happy at any weight. I'm not saying these things in order to make anyone feel ashamed because weight shouldn't matter in general. It's about how you think of yourself and as long as you're relatively healthy and take care of yourself, I believe that's the most important thing. But this isn't as simple as just getting thinner. There's so much more to it, I wish I could express how toxic your mind becomed while dealing with these kinds of things.

Sakura: I was attempting recovery—completely on my own. I didn't tell anyone in my life what I was going through, and it was indescribably difficult. I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

Sakura: I didn't want anyone to see me. I felt like I was a disappointment to everyone and didn't deserve to be in front people. I could feel their judgment in my head. I didn't deserve food. I was unacceptable. I never wanted to leave my room and I probably wouldn't have.

Sakura: But there was one thing—our first stage as ShineAcle after we debuted. The final episode of I-Land was pre-recorded way long ago before things got so bad, because it was a lot of things to plan for our debut. I didn't want to let people down.

Sakura: I didn't know what to do. I was panicking—I wasn't ready. I wasn't back to normal yet, but the performance date was approaching so quickly and there wasn't any time to go back. I told myself this was my punishment. I did this to myself. So I put on a mask. And pretended to be fine.

Sakura: When we got back to the dorms, I flopped into bed and felt broken. Kaylee, who was my roommate, found me crying in my pillow. I told her everything, and she helped me. It was just me and her.

Sakura: I thought I could get better with my best friend on my side—but then the incident happened. That man took every bit of hope I had in me. After her cremation, I remember that I never left my room until a month later. It took a while, but the other members comforted me and I started healing.

Diamond_Boy: We love to see you getting better and thriving, Sakura-chan~

[vacantgodling]

👎💥👥👀🤥for anyone from paramour because i think it would be very good drama

honestly, looking at these slew of questions, narcissus (narci) spokes, hya’s third eldest sibling (so the one right above him) and main character of prim & provocative, is honestly the most on the nose and interesting choice bc yikes on bikes, her love life is a fright. by proxy we will be talking about her (ex) husband myrtus spokes because most of her trauma in love is his fault :DDDD

🤥Have they ever lied to make a relationship more viable? Did it end well, or blow up in their face?

myrtus lying about their relationship is the crux of what’s gone wrong with everything in their lives pff. tl;dr myrtus is a childhood friend of the second sibling in the gunn family, iberis, and the two of them went off to university together: iberis for science and medicine and myrtus for business. during their time at university, they made their relationship official but didn’t tell either of their families especially because myrtus’s family was getting sucked into the traditionalist movement at the time and started to become more and more adamant about myrtus marrying a natal woman basically. which yknow. iberis is not. tm.

to circumvent this issue (bc myrtus’s parents were pretty much threatening to disown him if he didn’t), tagetes meddled and offered the solution: marry narcissus and by doing so, you and iberis can still be “close” and continue ur relationship in secret—perhaps even having iberis move in with narci and myrtus while he gets his doctoral license. iberis isn’t happy with this arrangement At All, but myrtus feels caught between a rock and a hard place and decides to go through with the marriage to narci. it’s not too hard to convince her, as she’s familiar with myrtus and is excited that he’s “marrying her for love!” — and that’s the problem. myrtus never told narci (and neither did tagetes or iberis) that myrtus wasn’t in romantic love with her, and to put on a show for the spokes (myrtus’s parents) myrtus had to make it appear as though he had every intention of being in a “real” relationship with her, kids included.

it fucks narci up a LOT when she realizes the truth so i’d say this entire thing blew up in their faces which is why p&p even exists LMAO 😬

👎Do they have a relationship that’s a perfect example of “what not to do” in their life?

narci always looked at her parents (lonicera and clematis gunn) as an example of what not to have in a relationship. in the sense that… loni was always way too good for clematis and everyone knew it. the man cheated behind her back, embezzled her dowry funds, was everything but physically abusive, and couldn’t even be fucked to visit her as she was dying—instead sired a fourth child with another (unknown to narci) woman. a lot of times people assume narci is stupid—she’s not. she wishes she was stupid and acts accordingly. but she never wanted to be in a relationship where her husband disrespected her, and that’s honestly what hurt so much about myrtus being in love with someone else: he DID love narci, in a way, just not in the way she wanted and he was kind and caring towards her their whole relationship. she had the chance to have something her mother never had and yet somehow it wasn’t enough. it hurts her deeply <3

in terms of myrtus, not really. his parents are assholes but they compliment one another and didn’t always used to be like this—they used to be better people. so it’s not their relationship that he disavows, it’s moreso their political and mounting extreme religious beliefs that he doesn’t fuck with.

💥Did any of their relationships end catastrophically? What happened?

i mean, despite everything, myrtus tries not to end their relationship catastrophically. he gently tells narci and offers a divorce and still pays for everything for her even after being separated. somewhat out of guilt but mostly because he does care about her generally speaking and wants her to be well. it doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt her though and she uhhhh goes on a bender basically, which is all of what p&p is about her kinda getting emotionally fucked and trying to figure herself out after the fact.

myrtus and iberis’s lovers->fwb (cheating)-> lovers again was HORRIBLY messy and myrtus does regret that he didn’t try and stick up for himself to his family, though to be slightly fair he also had tagetes’s meddling in his ear during the situation. he’s a grown man tho and he could’ve said no, and it takes him a very very long time for iberis to forgive him, which p much plays out throughout lavendula’s book monochrome.

👀How do they feel about the concept of “love at first sight”? Do they believe in it?

neither of them believe in it. narci wishes she could because it’s super romantic but as she slowly learns she lowkey isn’t romantically inclined, she realizes that she sees people more as good friends or wants to be around people to be friendly versus like bc she is in Love with them. myrtus is too factual and skeptical to believe in that, though he definitely believes in attraction at first sight lol.

👥Are they jealous of any of their friends’ or family members’ relationships?

myrtus, not so much. no one has a good relationship in this circle until amon and hya eventually become a thing, but he’s not particularly close with either of them in canon enough for that to matter to him. with narci though—she’s always been jealous of her younger sister for a myriad of reasons, and the fact that lavendula is able to escape her shit marriage by finding someone who loves her for who she is (erecia) gets her uhHhhH peeved lol.

ask me romance & love questions!

[that-darn-clown]

laptop decided to freeze while writing this last time, so here we go again:

so. thought about Rewrite!Malhare and Help Wanted (OG) and that one "the haunted house loves you and doesn't want you to leave" post. also your original response to my ask going into detail on the plot of Help Wanted in the Rewrite where you said it was like if Purble Place wanted you dead.

like, if we can consider William's mental state at this point (had already been dead and stuck in a building, both alone in a backstage area with the door blocked off and surrounded by ghosts who either hated him or were terrified of him, and was now currently being tormented by his son in a hell of his son's creation with the occasional appearance of the other souls of his victims), He Likely Ain't Doing Too Hot. he's probably desperate for any positive human contact. mix this in with William still doubling down on the fact that he was a good father and having some control in his current situation, and you've got one unstable (in multiple ways) lil glitchy hare, who can swap between being a manipulative charismatic, silly guy to being fucking terrifying within seconds. (and is only 2% of Afton's soul in AI form but y'know)

so like. imagine this from the perspective of our three protagonists:

you're Vanessa. your abusive dad just kinda moved in with you, because you felt an obligation to take care of him. you escape to video games and the internet as a way to ignore your current...circumstances. you download these games by Fazbear Entertainment, the games constantly getting recommended to you as you browse the internet for some reason. then this...AI thing starts talking to you. you spend more and more time talking to it, and you hardly even realize it. it keeps making these...odd statements. it compliments your fursuit, a rabbit (makes sense). it seems to comfort you as you vent about your current life problems. then it gets worrying. it says things like "You remind me of my son, I think you two would get along! :)" and "Your father's terrible! I would've been a much better father to you than him." his suggestions keep getting more worried, and you've had to switch your sessions online with it to being during the night, since it's...oddly clingy. and, of course, the other two people in your house have to use the computer, too.

then, it starts suggesting that you kill.

starting with your father.

you're Summer. your girlfriend roommate has been acting weirder since her father moved in with you both. she's been on the computer for hours at a time. even weirder...the game pack she downloaded is on your account, too. you decide to investigate. you discover this...Thing, too. it's toying with you, you know it is. as to why...well, that's anyone's guess. it keeps messing with you, messing with your progress through the games. and you don't know why. you record audio logs, keeping track of all of this, but you hide them the best you can. it...starts asking questions. about her. "How long have you both known each other? :)" "Vanny doesn't seem to like her father here...is that why she comes to talk to me so often? :)" "Has Vanessa expressed any interest in murder before? :)" even worse, she's getting...weirder. and not in a good way. she seems more...volatile now.

you don't know what to do.

and, finally, you're Bill. you're surprised that you're even in this situation in the first place. you were honestly expecting her to slam the door in your face and tell you to fuck off, but...she doesn't, surprisingly. but you can tell things are tense. she's been getting on the computer more, playing these...well, to be blunt, they're kid's games. she's, what, 23 now? great, now they're on your account, too...wait, Fazbear Entertainment? that's a name you haven't heard in years...well, for good reason...you don't have the happiest memories with that place...but it's under new management now, so who knows? then...you come across IT. it's hostile to you, knowing things about your history that it just...shouldn't. with your daughter, with your brother...and it hits you. somehow, you're talking to your brother's killer. it keeps fucking with you, messing around with you as you try to get through these games, not letting you leave until you do it "right," all while practically taunting you, sometimes bringing up your brother's murder. you don't know why this thing doesn't just let you get through the games as fast as possible, if it hates you so much. it won't have to deal with you, then. even worse, your daughter is...hostile, now. she seems like she's about ready to snap at you any moment.

you don't feel safe in the house now.

(don't mind me. just rambling about random thoughts i had about this)

[okaysonny]

how easy is it for the crew heads to crush on you? (lookism)

A/N: i was contemplating...pondering...thinking...and i wanted to make a post about it. contains spoilers for the current story!

✦ imagine you don't like them back at this point + you're unaware of how they're feeling :')

1. ELI

out of all of them...he'd fall for you the easiest imo. it wouldn't take a lot 🥹 not much to expand on here, because we've seen it with crystal. (what a time that was)

he realises that he 'liked' crystal because of the reminders about heather, and thinks it's not exactly healthy for either of them. afterwards, he finds himself being drawn to you. not because you remind him of happier times, or someone else, you're just...great on your own.

being good with children + liking them is an (obvious) essential for him. if yenna is having fun with you, you'll have his heart pounding. he just wants someone kind and caring, someone who'll be there for him. you don't have to be the best thing since sliced bread.

because of the whole forgiveness scene with heather's mom, eli would feel less bad about liking you. he starts thinking that maybe he can be happy with someone. that he can feel another person's affection.

he would still feel guilty about heather. because is three years too soon to move on? but i can totally imagine some corny moment where she appears to him in a vision, saying: are you scared i'll be mad or something? don't worry, eli. be honest about how you feel. you deserve to be happy.

and then she walks off into the horizon 😭 it's the exact type of thing ptj would do.

if you love being around yenna, if you're nice to him, if you compliment him for shouldering the responsibilities...you'll have his cheeks red 24/7.

and yes! that doesn't necessarily mean you'd want a relationship with a child present...or that you'd even like him back...but eli decides to take a leap of faith.

2. JAKE

oh brother. he's a little more complex i feel. but yes, i did rank him 2nd 😅

buying him food is a good place to start. he's an absolute foodie. unfortunately, managing big deal's finances means his diet consists of energy drinks + instant noodles.

and if you see his eyes light up at the sight of a sweet treat and decide: maybe i'll do this regularly? well...then he'll take a liking to you. just slightly.

but no, food would obviously not be be enough 😭

jake has many insecurities about his father, and how he gets compared to him all the time. he does not want to be! the man was a hoe. but it is what it is. he's accepted he'll never escape those shackles. he sees it as punishment for getting involved in this life.

he's barely heard anyone praise him for him. sooo, if you genuinely compliment jake kim, not jake kim the leader, or jake kim, the son of gapryong... maybe you think he's funny, or that you love playing word chain with him, or that he's easy to talk to... things he didn't get from his father... he'll start getting tiny butterflies in his stomach.

jake is smooth with his words too! we saw it in the third affiliate. (when he was talking to the girls at the club 🫡) he doesn't have experience in dating, but you'd think he does with the way he talks. and as time goes on, his way with words is a disguise for something deeper.

something small, but i think he's into smart people! not necessarily in the street smart sense - the book smart sense. he admires that, because he was the exact opposite in school. if you're studious and humble about it, he'll find it really attractive.

jake isn't stupid btw, if he likes you, he'll know.

but getting him to like you isn't difficult, getting him to confess is what is. jake is very aware of how his position would impact a relationship. he'll have very little time to spend with you. and...he's not really someone you can bring home to your parents. (surprise mom and dad, i'm dating a gangster!) and for all he's done, he doesn't think he deserves it.

he also wants to keep you safe. aka eugene would use you as leverage 😭

so, he bites his tongue.

also, with jake you have to consider: do you know what he does? what he's done?

if you don't, and just think he has a regular job, then he'll try (and fail) to push you away. when that doesn't work...and he spends more and more time with you...he even thinks about coming clean. maybe you'll accept him and all the bad things he's done for his people. but in the end, he knows it's unrealistic. you wouldn't. because this isn't a romance movie.

if you do, well...that just makes it more clear to him that it's better not to say anything. you've seen what leading a crew is like, how much it takes up his time. it's better for him - and for you.

still, when jake thinks of the people he wants to protect, he can't help but picture your face too.

if this man likes you, it's an angsty ride of longing looks + gentle smiles.

3. JOHAN

johan and jake are interchangeable in rankings...but i just put him 3rd.

firstly, (and most importantly) be a dog person.

similarly to eli, i don't think it would take much. buying food is a nice start. unlike jake though, he's just a starved victorian child 💔

we sorta saw this in one night arc with jace...but do something nice for him, something you don't even think twice about, and he'll have it ingrained in his mind.

he likes generous people with nice smiles.

similarly to jake, he'd be very hesitant to profess any feelings. but for johan, it's because he's shy 😅 he hates the cliché's and confessions that come with relationships.

definitely expresses his feelings through actions first. he does stuff that he thinks will make you smile.

yes, he'd be studying for himself + his mother, but he also wants to see your reaction when he shows you the test he did well on. (he barely passed)

he's the silent protector type! just a cutie patootie tbh 🫰🏽

he's also still getting used to the idea of letting people in, so it's for hard for him to grasp romantic feelings.

but he will confess to you...eventually.

4. SAMUEL

samuel would never like you. his secret dream is making sweet italian love with jake in the big deal RV.

A/N: last post of 2024! 🎉 happy new year :) fingers crossed for a crystal resurgence in 2025🤞🏽

[anemia-rp]

It sure is true that people just prefer those who are easy to read or those that seem to have nothing to hide. Or they simply won't try to get to know someone on a deeper level so the picture they have of them won't get destroyed by the truth. I think it's more fun to take some time to really get to know someone and make them show sides of themselves they won't show to everyone. And maybe that's also why I enjoy being a challenge for others.

Being able to provide physical safety is something that will make people trust you more easily. I personally don't feel like I'm someone others are quick to trust or at all. That could be because of my looks or my attitude or both. But I'm sure I'll find out over time whether you're a backstabber or not. For myself I can just say if someone is loyal to me I'm loyal to them.

It's not easy to confront your inner demons and learn things about yourself you didn't think could be possibly true. I also think it's very likely you close the parts of yourself off even for yourself if it's something that will make you feel vulnerable. It can be scary to be yourself with all the good and the bad sides.

I was a human before and ever since the day I became a day goblin my needs pretty much stayed the same. I'm different but also the same in many ways and sometimes I don't know how to feel about that. And even though it sounds strange coming from my mouth I'm aware that I'm the maker of my own misery. Because I feel that's what I deserve. I was made to be hated and so I will continue down that path.

People only see what they want to see and in some cases we just pretend to be what others want to see. I decided to act like I'm walking on a wire and if someone should dare to set me on fire so to speak they won't be able to reach me. Maybe it's better to not let everyone see all of you. But sure things can be repetitive.

I told you because I could sense you're not human. Also maybe deep down inside I felt like taking the risk of revealing a secret just like that. It was possible you would have said I'm crazy for all I could know. But don't think I will tell you everything about me. It won't be happening.

Are you implying you're not completely sober right now. If so I will admit it's intriguing to get to experience a sober Fuji. But I will take whatever side you decided to show to me. I'm certain there will be a next time to see the other.

I'm sure there are people out there that hate rewards and I'm still undecided whether I like them or not.

True. I tend to keep a lot of my sides to myself to and most likely don't reveal them. However, guess those are the sides which are worth it to learn about the most. It's easy to see us as the bad, sadistic guys, huh? There's more to a psychopath even.

Yeah. They trust me - but what do they to show me I can trust them? Honestly speaking, I feel unsafe around a lot of people. The more submissive they are the unsafer I feel. It's probably your attitude. In fact I don't perceive you as a very dominant person but my standards are high.

Absolutely, man. I've got sides among me which are fucking scary to myself. I was so convinced I'm exclusively the guy which I show to public that I pushed all the uncomfortable truths away. But it's not healthy. Anyway, guess I'm my own monster. And you are yours, huh?

Don't resign in front of what you think is your fate. You always can change your own fate if you just want to. I know it's hard, but everyone gets what they deserve and if you think you deserve the worst the worst will come to you.

If I say someone is crazy then it's a compliment, nothing else. Anyway, I won't push you to reveal your secrets. I'll keep mine as well as long as I want to.

I'm mostly not completely sober but not really wasted either. You should see me bloated with blood like a tick, too. Anyway, you could try to see me as everything you would desire me to see. It's all about tickling something out. Yeah, guess I don't even appear sober right now.

You think that? But everyone likes a good dopamin rush.

[patchwork-crow-writes]

Well, okay then, if you insist! XD

On the subject of Kris being uncomfortable with Ralsei, I can definitely see that interpretation, though I would say that there are certain little snippets which suggest they might not be entirely uncomfortable with him. Take the scene with the mannequin in Chapter 2, where it asks you to "take a bite" of its clothes - when you select yes, it says that Kris "put [their] mouth against the mannequin's cheek", which is... interesting, isn't it? Because if Kris was genuinely uncomfortable/freaked out by Ralsei, they wouldn't interpret that prompt in that way, to make it look like they're kissing a likeness of him on the cheek. And I'm not going to use that as justification for them secretly being in love with him or anything, but it does at least show that they're comfortable with winding him up in that manner.

Another thing is that Ralsei tea only heals 60HP, compared to Noelle's 70 and Susie's 120. Now, I don't really know how those numbers really relate to each other (and let's be honest, nobody does), but 60 is not an insignificant number for someone you just met yesterday. And consider that Noelle's tea only heals 10 hp more, and the two of them have known each other since they were both children. It does suggest that there's more to these numbers than we might initially assume at first glance, and I think that people jumped onto the "Kris dislking Ralsei" idea because they saw that Ralsei's tea heals the least amount for them. I think about this from time to time, and I'm curious how these numbers might change as the chapters progress... if indeed the teas are still a valid item by that point in the game.

There's an argument to be made that Ralsei definitely makes them uncomfortable in his more... intense moments, for sure. They did just meet yesterday after all, and this guy is... kinda obsessed with them. At least, that's how it appears to us. And I think it's definitely possible that the idea of Ralsei being a childhood idealisation of Kris themself could play into that! It's very likely that Kris as a person has changed drastically from when they were a child to now, so obviously any visualisation of their "ideal self" would also change quite drastically too. Viewed in that prism, it becomes obvious why Ralsei acts the way he does around them - that's his literal purpose as a darkner, to improve their self-esteem in any way he can. To a certain extent I don't think he can help it; imagine encountering the person who created you as an idealised version of themselves, it'd be a bit like meeting God, I expect. I dunno, that idea fascinates me so much.

I think that people look at the whole dynamic between Kris and Ralsei rather unfavourably, either because they see it as the most wholesome uwu relationship ever that has nothing interesting to say, or they hyperfocus on the Ralsei/Asriel parallels and decide it's incest or something. And while yes, there is the question of how much of their interactions are just us as players forcing Kris down certain paths, or whether Ralsei is interacting more with Kris or with us as players, I think there's so much potential in how the relationship between these two characters might develop - will Ralsei's view of Kris be tarnished if/when he discovers they opened Chapter 3's dark fountain? Will we find out more about how he and Kris relate to each other? And if Ralsei is indeed an aspect of Kris that they abandoned or discarded as they grew up, then will that lead to a reconciliation of sorts, like you suggested with the "marriage as oneness" idea - or a divergence into their own identities, as two distinct and separate entities who nonetheless compliment and inform one another? Or perhaps it's not meant to be at all, and in order to move forwards, Kris will have to let Ralsei go back into the darkness, sundering any connection between them permanently?

...as you may or may not be able to tell, I am very, very Normal about all of this, haha! I hope you found my ramblings interesting and are not in any way regretting your decision! XD

“Are you… proposing?”

Merry Krismas!!!

(Edit: not a ship drawing but just in case I’ve tagged it as such!!!)

(It’s not Christmas-like but it’s based on the Snow Ring dialogue… Noelle is Christmas themed… please accept this;;;)

I personally enjoy the theory that Ralsei is Kris’s (childhood) ideal self, which is why they don’t like Ralsei all that much. It’s also why Ralsei likes Kris a lot and says some… questionable things, like flirting around the idea of marriage, despite looking like Asriel.

(Though to be fair, he is probably not all too used to social interactions…)

I also think he’s a boy because Kris wanted to be like Asriel. He’s probably also a prince because Kris wanted to be important…

I dunno. It’s an interesting theory I like!

Also I’m a “marriage = become one” kinda person, and I like the idea of Kris becoming uncomfortable at the thought of becoming their previous ideal self.

I know I’d be a little uncomfy;;;

[theveryworstthing]

So over on patreon Trevor asked for my take on the Addams Family and I grew up LOVING the Addams family movies so here we are. Instead of doing a straight up style interpretation, I decided to do a full on design challenge, using the characters as bases to make a black southern gothic Addams au. I actually drew the kids first, using the character bases of Wednesday and Pugsley to create some delightful kiddos I'm calling Sunday and Blanche. I of course then redesigned Gomez and Morticia into Carlisle and Mortesha.

The Addams have a very specific high aristocratic goth aesthetic (they've got a butler and nobody really works among other things) so in this re-imagining I wanted to go with vibes that run a little more middle class/upper middle class.  I thought it would be interesting to think about what would be considered weird and off-putting in an entirely different culture, and how being a big ol' goth is way less controversial than it used to be.

I tried to keep this short (HAHAHAHAHAHA) so I didn't spin off into an essay about villain coded families, black people in the horror genre, and normalcy as it pertains to social survival, but just...bits of that are in these designs and lore. Keep that in mind.

Also I made the kids twins because they've flip flopped in age so much in different media and also twins run in my family (i'm the daughter of one). And let's face it, I'm pulling a lot of their southern gothic traits from living as a southern goth so *shrug*.

10 thousand pounds of lore incoming loooooooooool.

The Parents

From the moment he saw her he knew that there was a 50/50 chance of him either never making it out of that swamp alive or marrying the figure that was creeping out from under the distant willow tree in a black cocktail dress. The third time she found him trussed up in one of her traps, he complimented her rope work and asked if she'd like to go out sometime after his head wound stopped bleeding.

Or while it was still bleeding.

If she was into that.

Some kids and a mysteriously burnt down Piggly Wiggly later, their love is still as strong and inescapable as a bear trap in a sink hole.

Carlisle Guillermo (now Addams through marriage but I wanted to give him two first names for a name since Gomez has two last names) makes a vaguely described living practicing ‘law’ around town. A loophole king, people come to him from miles around with contracts signed in blood, fights over chunks of hair buried in their rivals’ yard, dehydrated primate hands, memories that seemed like dreams until the evidence of their happenings became too real, and other regular Legal Items asking for counsel which he is all too happy to give. For a price. Sometimes that price is a homemade pie and sometimes it’s a million dollars, depends on who you are. Whatever you’re asked to pay it’s worth that price, and if you try to scam him out of work or he just plain doesn’t like you? Well. He knows how to twist a contract better than anything at the crossroads.

And he always gets his due.

He doesn’t just serve the local (living)humans though, there are many things that need proper legal representation in this day and age. You wouldn’t believe how many city councils try to build on sacred burial grounds even after he lets them know that his ghostly clients are totally gonna haunt the FUCK out of the ensuing shitty condos and curse their families for all eternity. At least 50% of his energy goes towards dealing with real estate bullshit.

Carl is an excitable and good natured(?) man who loves his family, cigars, dancing, and his many knife-based hobbies. People find him very charming once they get past the feeling that they’re talking to a sultry gator badly disguising itself as a human. I didn’t put a ton of deep thought into designing him, mostly I wanted to make a middle aged dude who looked like he would have been voted ‘most likely to smooch the literal devil’ in high school. Tbh he probably has, but no demonic ex’s can compare to his lovely wife~

Mortesha Addams(her name was already perfect so I just tweaked it)is a woman of many talents. A self proclaimed homemaker, she prides herself on a greenhouse full of Concerning Foliage, a beautiful wasp apiary, and a coop full of what are probably chickens that she keeps for what are probably eggs. She’s also an avid creator of the outsider art that can be seen around the estate. She has taken on the family business of selling her homemade goods in a little stall by the road just outside the swamp with her mom, and makes pretty good money doing so. A surprising amount of poison gets bought in quaint southern towns.

Speaking of poison, people who come out to the edge of the swamp to buy it are usually carrying a lot of secrets around, and Mortesha knows most of them. It’s not like she pries the truth out of people, it just so happens that many nervous hellos eventually turn into the tragic backstory power hour if she’s alone with a client for long enough. She supposes that’s just how people are. Despite the fact that the Addams are very active in the community (whether the community likes it or not) she especially, as a direct descendant of the first Addams matriarch, is seen as…Well not an outsider because the community feels A Certain Way about outsiders and despite it all the Addams are their people, but maybe something like an exception. They feel like whatever weirdness they’re hiding can’t be weirder than any given Addams, so they get a little loose with their words.

This is amusing to her, since Addams’ don’t naturally keep the kind dramatic secrets that their surface level prim and proper neighbors do. It’s much more fun to openly talk about those things.

Do they have a sadly decrepit yet terrifying grandma up in the attic? Yeah, like three. They got a tv, all the creepy porcelain dolls they could want, and they’re close to family. Where do you keep your gram-grams?

Any bodies buried on the property? Yeah some, but most are thrown to the gators.

Any creeping through the balmy summer night with ill intentions? Yeah dude, everyone loves a nice family stroll.

What about dangerous forbidden love? If an adult Addams isn’t incorporeal then they’re either queer or in a torrid romance with some person/thing mysteriously drawn to that awful swamp. Sometimes both at the same time. Most times actually.

Mortesha would know.

The current head of the Addams family is just as outgoing as her husband but a lot quieter and harder to read. She never really seems to get mad about much and always has a genteel smile for everyone whether they deserve it or not. A seven foot tall human shaped “Oh, bless your heart”. A perfectly composed Lady even when she’s, oh I dunno, burning down a Piggly Wiggly. You know. A regular southern mom. Chat her up at the hair salon for 50% off a jar of wasp honey with your next purchase of a mysterious but foreboding packet of herbs.

Designing her was pretty easy because I just drew a lankier Grace Jones and called it a day. I had some problems with her outfit simply because if we were going HARD southern gothic then she’d probably be wearing a white/cream dress with a fuller skirt but I thought keeping the silhouette and the black was more important. She’s supposed to be an anti southern gothic southern gothic character anyway. A woman who looks like she has a million secrets who is actually the most open person you could meet. For better or worse. The red hair came from a coloring error that I really ended up liking (my mom had red hair her whole childhood that only darkened up in high school so I can buy that an Addams can be naturally fire engine red) and the veil was to get more of that classic Morticia silhouette in there.

The Children

Sunday and Blanche are the twin children of Carlisle and Mortesha Addams. Some say the Addams clan got their cursed homestead when a wealthy local businessman made a deal with the devil and lost, leaving his grand mansion to his least favorite maid and cutting his losses once he realized that the swamp would do everything it could to drag the house into the water and take what was owed with its horrible curse. Others say that the family has just always squatted there and no one really cares because man, fuck that particular swamp. Have you been in there? Absolute horror show.

Anyway.

Blanche is the more outgoing sibling and quite the engineer/mad scientist in the making. He started going grey at 2 weeks old but considering he was also rocking some extra fingers, toes, and a tiny tail (he takes after his dad), his parents just put it on the 'not life threatening' pile and decided not to worry about it. He's the kind of smart that teachers find utterly infuriating, less a dog eagerly learning and obeying commands and more a hyena who keeps teaching itself how to pick locks. He has a few friends in his school's robotics club (which they honestly allowed him to make so the school could contain his... creations) but mostly hangs out with his sister exploring the swamp. They find all sorts of neat things in there! wedding rings, suspiciously lumpy garbage bags, cloaked cultists who can't read private property signs, it's an adventure every day!

Blanche is all about experimentation with his creations, his look, and his tether to this mortal coil. Is lipstick a cool thing to try? Let's find out. Can he get out of a strait jacket fast enough after being pushed into the depths of the swamp by his sister? let's find out. He's not dead yet and confused local doctors can attest to the fact that he's rarely attained more than a bad bruise so he's pretty set on continuing to kiss rattlesnakes on their cute little heads and have his sister practice her knife throwing at him until that fact changes.

Blanche is very much a country goth. Cowboy boots (customized by his mom), knife, and lighter are daily accessories. He likes to wear the crusty swamp jewelry they find (the rust adds a splash of color!) and despite appearances he does try to keep himself neat. He's just got  natural Grunge Colors and a tendency to wear clothes he likes until they fall apart. Pugsley always seemed the most modernly styled to me (which might just be because little boys clothes have been the same for a long time) so I wanted Blanche to be the most purposely fashionable Addams. Everyone else is goth by nature, but he's the only one truly familiar with goth as an alternative fashion.

I got really into designing Blanche because honestly, I find Pugsley to be the most boring member of the family. And he was hard to design! I had to mess with his vibe a lot to get him looking how I wanted. I know he's supposed to evoke an " 'evil' little boy next door who's parents never reign him in", but that's just goth Dennis The Menace.  I's 2020. We can at least go queer goth Calvin.

Sunday was much easier to design. Wednesday was my favorite as a child (of course) and I really wanted to keep the spirit of her look while adding things like billowy sleeves (it gets HOT down here), big poofy twists instead of braids, and a nice tie. She's a professional after all, been running the local pet cemetery since she was 6 and the previous groundskeeper met with an unfortunate accident after telling her that tarantulas don't have souls. Her specialty is creating beautiful naturalistic animal funerals similar to those that Maquenda (https://linktr.ee/artofmaquenda) makes, and she takes pride in creating miniature dioramas of her subjects after each burial which she uses as a kind of 3D catalog for future clients.

She really wants to try out her skills on humans one day. Well. Publicly try out her skills. Lotta random bodies float into the swamp. None of them have turned down her requests for diorama models so far. Most seem downright flattered. Plus, she usually figures out which graveyard/crime scene they floated over from and gets her parents to give them a lift back. She'll even help enact terrifying revenge from beyond the grave on whoever put them there if she's not, y'know, busy.

Besides arts, crafts, and pet based funerary arrangements, Sunday is an avid lover of archery (any ranged weapon really), books where little fantasy adventure animals die dramatic deaths, and history. She is That Kid who eagerly raises her hand when asked who Christopher Columbus was and ends up being sent out of class after 15 minutes for making 'a scene'. Her favorite party trick is just picking an item in the room and talking about how it relates to either some obscure historical figure with a buck wild life or a horrible disaster. At least one charity pancake breakfast ended with children in tears after her vivid description of the Great Molasses Flood of 1919.

Social-wise, while Wednesday is the girl that people ask to smile because they think she'd, "look so pretty", Sunday is rarely asked anything at all. People just kind of assume from her quiet nature (in between horrible history facts) that she's angry all the time and that she hates everyone. This is untrue. She hates some people but she's ambivalent to most everyone else and even downright friendly if you bother to talk to her like a person instead of a terrifying cryptid. Like, she IS a terrifying cryptid but she's also a little girl.  

That’s about it for now. One day I might do the other family members but for now I’m happy with the four I’ve redesigned. Making an au! Lurch in a family that doesn’t do butlers could be interesting. Over on patreon I put forth that he could just be Motesha’s mute little brother (similar bone structure) but Amy Crook had the nice idea of quote: “ a mysterious "cousin" that "helps around the house" whose origins are both long in the past and faintly unsettling. He's good for lifting heavy things, like that tank of propane you're about to throw into the burning Piggly Wiggly... “ which i now consider canon. Who's kid is he? How old is he? Not important. Anyone willing to commit arson with you is family.

Annnnyway.  This challenge was a lot of fun! I love indulging in AU’s.