#and my fave brush was really starting to affect me

[alackofghosts]

have some misc doodles i couldn't make anything out of

[clarkeyhill]

Braids| George Clarke

Fluff. Sexual Innuendos

It was a lazy Sunday morning, and the sunlight poured through the windows, casting a warm glow over the flat. I stood infront of the mirror in the bedroom, deftly weaving my hair into a loose messy braid at the back of my head, you'd seen the style online partnered with a bow at the end. You figured you'd try it and if it looked well, it could potentially be your new fave hairstyle, after all it was practical; allowed you to shift your hair out of your face for errands or cooking.

I finished tying off the brain, slipping a little bow clip on the end from my drawers, grabbing my phone from the desk beside me, George, who was absentmindedly scrolling through TikTok looked up towards me.

"What's this?" He asked, his voice laced with intrigue

"What's what?" You ask

"That" he says pointing to the braid with a lazy smirk "the braid, I like it"

I raised my brow "you like it?" A playful smile tugging at my lips "why?" You added

George stood up and crossed the room, his movements slow and deliberate, like a predator closing in on his prey. He stopped behind you, his hands brushing lightly over your shoulders as his gaze lingered on your neck.

"It's different" he murmured, his fingers tracing the exposed skin where your braid started. "I can see your neck. It's...elegant"

You laughed softly, tilting your head slightly to the side. "You're being awfully poetic about a, braid"

"I meant it" he said, his voice lower now, with a teasing edge. One of his hands slid up to tug it slightly, testing its give. "It's cute and..functional"

"Functional?" You repeated, turning your head to give a curious look

He smirked, his fingers still toying with the braid "yeah, easy to grab..you know, when needed"

A flush crept your cheeks, you turn to see a mischievous look painted into his face "you're ridiculous" you said, though you couldn't help the grin that had made its way onto your face

"Ridiculously into this braid" he counted, giving it a gentle tug to punctuate his words "seriously though you should wear it more often"

You rolled your eyes playfully "what all the time?"

"All the time" George insisted. His hands sliding down to rest on your hips as he leaned closer. His lips brushed against the shell of your ear as he added in a low voice " I like having something to hold on to"

The combination of his touch and words sent a shiver down your spine, and you turned round to face him, your braid swinging over your shoulder. "I'll think about it" you said coyly, placing your hand on his chest.

George grinned, swatting his chest lightly before pulling him into a quick kiss "you're impossible, you know that, right?"

"Impossible to resist" he shot back, pulling you in closer with a cheeky grin.

The rest of the day passed in a haze of quiet affection, and true to his word, George couldn't keep his hands off your hair. Whether it was gently tugging on the end as he walked past or brushing his fingers over the back of your neck while you leaned against him on the sofa, he made it very clear how much he liked it.

And as you lay in bed that night, your head resting on his chest, George reached up one last time to play with the loose end of your braid. "You really do look good like this" he murmured sleepily, pressing a kiss to your head.

You smiled against his skin, already taking a mental to note to braid your hair again tomorrow.

-

🫶🏻

[zaimta]

Hey, can i request some friends to lovers relationship headcannons for Gray, Natsu and Loke from Fairy Tail with and fem!reader please

彡FRIENDS TO LOVERS

a/n- the crazy thing is this is a trope that would work for them the best, can you tell loke is my fave i went crazy on his

«────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ──────»«────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ──────»

GRAY

unfortunately for you since y’all are friends he always walkin around in his drawls, he simply does not care

he makes fun of you to no end, and don’t let you talk about something he could care less about either

“shh shh wait you hear that y/n?” he cups his ear “i don’t hear anything??” “you see because that’s the sound of someone who gives a fuck.” you rose a brow “i don’t hear any- oh.”

he thinks he’s so funny

he’s actually thee worst person to go to for relationship advice, if he openly does not like the person you’re dating and you come to him about your problems he’s like “break up with them” with no type of hesitation

at some point, you had to stop goin to him for relationship advice and only talk to him for a good rant

even if y’all are real tight he won’t tell you about ur, until he goes to that moon island and the memories resurface for him, then he’ll tell you all about it

but he’s not a big sentimental guy so it’s a little hard for him but you’re glad to know he could trust you

when he catches feelings for you he denies it terribly, he could catch himself starin at you too long and he snaps his neck in the other direction with a quickness

and don’t let anyone mention it either because it becomes even more obvious

“what are you talking about?? me and y/n? nah we’re just friends…” he says while watching you laugh with your friends with a smile

refuses to ask anyone for advice, he hopes to suffer quietly and move on

he’s the type to confess on accident, probably during a quest and you almost get hurt really bad and he saves you, you try to brush it off n make a joke out of it and he gets mad at you for it

“you could have died back there y/n. do you have any idea how that would have affected us at the guild?! how it would affect me!?” he sighs before continuing “you drive me so damn crazy you know that? i can’t live without you.”

he indirectly confesses to you with that and y’all are basically dating

unsurprisingly he acts the exact same, the only thing that changes is the fact that if he teases you too much you can shut him up with a kiss and he’s always like “oh?”, he is very aware of his effect on you and will continue to annoy you for more kisses

when he strips down it’s way more annoying than when y’all were just friends because he teases you about it

“are y’a that crazy about me that you’re embarrassed y/n?”

a good hit upside the head will do the trick just fine though

he still won’t be able to open up about things easily though, after years of constantly trying to brush things off it doesn’t come naturally to him, but he appreciates that you’re there to listen

NATSU

this trope was made for him actually

as his friend he would always drag you along to do all kinds of shit, he drags you along on quests 24/7 and trusts you to watch his back

if he starts a fight in the guild he always comes over to you smiling like an idiot whether he won or lost, constantly asking if you saw the new move he did or how cool he looked doin it

he’s at your house more than his own, he lives to annoy you first thing in the morning, he swears it’s funny but it’s not so funny anymore when he gets rocked for playing too much

he talks to you about igneel from time to time when something reminds him of his father or when he thinks of him just cause and he always tells you that igneel would love you if the two of you would meet each other

he’s not shy about his feelings towards you, he’s kinda obvious about them but not obnoxiously obvious about it, it’s clear to everyone else but not you because that’s just how he is

he would be around you more but it wouldn’t feel new because he was already around 24/7, but he would become slightly more touchy like throwing his arm around your shoulders n junk

he compliments you more too

“hey y/n! lookin good!”

eventually, y’all start jokingly flirting with each other, it goes on for a good while until you catch feelings. you try to ease up on the flirting but he keeps going so you admit that the flirting is getting to you and admit that you can’t flirt with him anymore if it’s not real and he says

“wait i thought we were already dating?”

once y’all are official things are more clear between the two of you, he screams “fun dates” guy so he loves going to nearby fairs with you on dates

he loves eating the food there and having you try some of the food

nap dates could be his thing too, you would have to talk him into it because staying still for long periods of time aint his thing, but when he comes over and he’s really tired he just wordlessly drags you into your bedroom and collapses on you and falls asleep immediately, run your fingers through his hair he loves that

his kisses have playful energy to them, you can feel him smiling into the kiss and it’s the cutest thing ever

when he tells you about igneel it’s different from when y’all were just friends, he talks about you meeting him, and him showing you off to his father knowing that he would love you as much as he does

LOKE

y'all would be real close, when he was interested in he would tell you immediately which happened literally every day, he would be like

"hey you see that girl over there? i think I'm gonna go talk to her"

and you would never be able to talk him out of it either

but at the same time, he would keep certain things from you like him being a celestial spirit, he was planning to never tell you about it till his time was up, as he feels his time fading he's filled with regret, instead of telling you how he felt he just ignored his feelings with other women and in the end he wasn't even able to tell you that he loved you

when lucy makes a contract with him, she insists that he goes and confesses his feelings for you

"we all know loke, y/n might not have noticed but we see the way you look at her…and ironically you don’t see the way she looks at you either” his eyes widen, and lucy extends her hand to him “go get her”

his confession is the sweetest thing ever

with encouragement from lucy, he wasted no time running back to the guild, he almost tripped a couple times from the brute force of his start but he didn’t care he needed to see you. he burst into the guild hall out of breath “where is y/n?!” he shouted. the other guild members crowed around loke wondering what happened, asking him about his new look, and wondering why he ran out of the guild earlier “there’s no time for that dammit where is y/n?” cana spoke over the crowd “she’s on her way home to i would go get her now before she moves on if i were you!”

he started running once again by the time he found you, you were a few steps from your house before he shouted “y/n!!” causing you to stop in your tracks at the sound of his voice “loke?” he ran up to you and sweeped you into a hug, he hugged you so tight as if you were going to disappear “i won’t leave you like that again i promise.”

the two of you share a kiss and he tells you everything, he talks about him being a celestial spirit, he tells you ab the previous wizard he made a contract with and why he made up the identity “loke”

from there he tells you his real name, and every time you say it he gets butterflies

as for y’all’s relationship he’s often out of the celestial world hanging out with you on days he’s not on lucy’s schedule

out of respect for lucy y’all never have anything planned on the days he’s contracted, and out of respect she doesn’t call him when she knows y’all are busy, she is y’all’s biggest supporter

when he’s seen around the guild he’s normally seen with you close by, his arm will always be around you one way or another whether it’s your shoulder or waist it’s gonna be there

as the king of the zodiacs, he often calls you “my queen”

he seems like the beach date type, but not during the day during the night time so y’all can see the stars, he points out his constellation

“if there’s ever a time i’m not able to be with you the stars will always be by your side.”

[httpiastri]

paul aron's hair throughout the 2024 season 💁‍♂️

(also known as pt2 of jack being obsessed with a certain blonde curly-haired boy)

hello everyone and happy new year! i hope your 2024 has been lovely and that 2025 provides you with tons of joy and love. 💗

i'm back again with yet another paul hair appreciation post! i loved making it last year and so ive been thinking about it all year and collecting pics 🥰 last year i remember having to search really hard fo some of the pics – two weekends i even had only three pics 😭 but this year i've really had to kill my darlings because i've deleted so so many pics that i like just bcs i didn't want to make this too overwhelming... and i still ended up over 300 pictures..... 😶

last two things before we get started: the wind is my best friend nowadays because of how it affects his hair. so many pics here of his hair in all kinds of directions (and esp the gifs).... anD if you see any pic here that you want in it's original form, lmk and i'll post it for you!! i will keep the pics saved on my phone for a few days before i delete them to make space lol.

soooo hope you enjoy!! and check out last year's edition hereee if you want. 💗

‎‎ ‎

bahrain

some pics from before the season started (testing & media days) and some from the first weekend! very messy at times, esp after sessions, but very cute. feels like maybe this was before he started caring a lot abt his hair and how it looks even during the race weekends? if you get what i mean? like some weekends it looks a bit too perfect that it feels like he made sure it looked like that… maybe? anyways very cute!

‎‎ ‎

jeddah

pretty long hair? very cute!! also looked pretty light despite how dark it was there when they drove during the evening etc. the middle row from the prema lap from when he was talking to ollie 🫶

‎

melbourne

shorter than in jeddah so a little haircut? looks pretty thin also?? hmm but very curly 🥰 love the middle and most right pics in the top row also lmao, love mid-workout expressions 😁

‎

formula e

pics both from his tests and his race round in fe! his hair looks so fried in the top left pic eye 😭 it was very fly-y this weekend? wanted to escape everywhere all the time so i had tons of pics of little strands everywhere! curls go crazy 🥹

‎

imola

looks very dark here actually!! and kinda short also? love the little tips of the curls like that too aaaaa 😭 and the ways some certain individual curls are so spirally and just……. aaaaaa cute

‎

monaco

love the sight of his hair poking out of his cap/balaclava etc (first three pics) aaaaaa !!!! and his hair in the belvita pic 😭 looks like he has little horns :(( so messy and cute. and the post-race interview? it was high at the back that it looked like one of those old hairstyles??? idk what its called but i think you understand

‎

barcelona

also very dark despite the sun! 😯 and not super fluffy or cute etc but still yk very good hair. 😌

‎

spielberg

TOP LEFT PIC. THE LITTLE 🌱. I CANNOT TAKE THIS GUYS I JUST CANT. his hair after the sprint race was truly something new also…. i mean yes it was very warm so obvs very sweaty but damn it looks so crazy 😭 (stupidly enough i didnt put them together, but it's the top four pics on the right side and bottom two on the left side)

‎

silverstone

bad weekend race-wise but amaaazinnggggg weekend hair-wise. so so long curls, so curly, so poofy!! actually probably my favorite hair weekend. just so adorable. never needed to brush my fingers through his locks this much before….

‎

hungaroring

pole aron >>> everything 🥰 dont have a lot to say, i just adore the post-race messiness and esp in combination with his pink cute cheeks? also maybe i shouldnt comment his looks since this is a hair post buttt the middle pic on the left side? baby baby baby???? (and the middle middle pic still gives me nightmares ngl)

‎

spa

probably my second fave hair weekend? so so light!!! actually managed to sneak a pic i took of him into this 🥺 (the quality is terrible BUT i took it!! yay!!!!) i actually never watched this episode of "chasing the dream" until last night (was heartbroken bcs of the feature 🥲) and oh my goD it was such a good paul episode? so so many amazing paul shots?? of his hair yes but just him in general and his cute face and his smile?? his pretty baby blue eyes?!?!?!!!??!!!!! insane. will be watching it every night to have happy sweet dreams 🥰

‎

summer break

cowboy paul 🤠 hair looked a lot lighter after his italy visit but idk how much time he actually spent in the sun? considering his fair northern european skin? (like im also northern european so i know it's hard to keep your hair in the sun to bleach it and still keep your skin safe 🥲) it was SO hard to make this collage without spending five hours just staring at his abs, ngl.

‎

monza

why do the top four pics give me like… golf vibes? like he's sitting there trying to see if the ball went into the hole?? ANYWAYS. kinda dark considering how light it looked during the summer break?? but very defined curls. *chefs kiss*

‎

baku

not as curly as sometimes, just… very messy? kinda flat at times, pretty light and fluffy other times. very cute nonetheless <33 (also speaking of him and his hairline… some pics here are ruthless in that way aaaa)

‎

qatar

looove the way the hair curls around the cap he's wearing when he's out in the wind!! like he has some kind of fluffy padding in it yk?? b a b y. the pics of him right after the feature race are crazy, the hair is everywhere but i understand that he had other things to care about 😭

‎

abu dhabi

the pics on the far right are from a vid on the f2 story from that weekend and i was kinda heartbroken that i chose the collage format to only include his hair and not his facial expressions, because he was SO babyboy in that video. (it's still available in their story highlights! check it out if you havent seen it yet!!!) the curls are so defined and curly but so so pretty, like not very messy just !!! feels like maybe he properly styled them very well this weekend? because the curls look so perfect at times that im like "yeah he didnt just wake up like that". (and that's more than okay!!! 🥰) except for when he just got out of the car lmao like the bottom left pic. insane

‎

other breaks/postseason

mixed pics from random breaks, and pics from after the season (like his seat fitting with alpine)! some of the pics from the parc ferme photoshoot are also very very 🌱, like the top two on the column row! adorableeeee!! the curls also look definitely styled from the family's trip to rome? and the bottom two pics of the second and third column from some forest visit with karl, the hair was adorable :(

‎

gifs !!!

just some random gifs of his hair movement 🫶 as ive already said, i love the wind! thank you mother nature for your hard work!!! also paul running and his hair flopping up and down like a dog's ears will NEVER get old, just saying

if anyone made it this far, thank you for looking & reading!! hope you enjoyed and hope you're maybe at least somewhat near as obsessed as me <33

[autisticlancemcclain]

fic rec friday 10

welcome the the tenth fic rec friday! where, on friday, i rec five of my favourite fics.

1. A Rain-Check on Redamancy by @youraveragemushroom

Burnout these days usually came from working long nights at the Garrison. If Lance from five years ago could see himself today—working part-time to rebuild Earth and full-time as an instructor at the very same institution that gave him his crippling anxieties—he would probably shit a brick. Hell, five years ago he hadn’t even known aliens existed (although he always knew deep down that humans weren’t alone in the universe), and now he’s best friends with multiple! One of which had apparently texted him an hour ago.

Forgoing proper texting procedure due to fatigue and general doneness, Lance tapped on the icon to call back.

“Hello?” a familiar deep rasp answered from the other line.

“Hey, mullet,” Lance replied, pushing aside the papers in front of him to lay his head down on the desk. “What’s cooking?”

In which Lance finds himself ignoring how late it is and indulges himself in pining after Keith. Which becomes slightly more difficult when said object of his affections shows up in the middle of the night to rescue him from paperwork, stress, and the melancholy that came from being away from him.

the ‘god i wish you were here’ ‘look behind you’ trope will get to me EVERY single time idc. always makes me all stimmy bc its THE epitome of romance. this whole thing was so so romantic and full of parallels to the first episode to show how deep their relationship has gotten...i love me some romantic parallels fr

2. sweetheart by @jilliancares

“Sorry, babe,” Keith says. He even smiles, no doubt proud of himself.

And Lance knows it’s his fault. He started it, after all, but at least the biting term of endearment made sense when he was the one doing it. Keith had been talking to him like they were some old married couple. The kind who’ve been married too long and don’t love each other anymore and gripe over meaningless shit, only managing to piss each other off even further.

That’s why Lance called him dear. Because it made sense in the situation. It was a calculated insult. A strategic jab.

Keith, on the other hand, is weaponizing the term of endearment without any rhyme or reason, simply to get back at Lance.

Or: Keith and Lance have gotten into the habit of using pet names as condescending insults. They're not really terms of endearment.

ooooooo god endearments going from sarcastic to desperately genuine and the inherent hopelessness in that....whew boy. its def a Concept that u indulge and then you have to clutch ur stomach. i remember reading this as i was getting ready and brushing my teeth and the cliff scene made me gasp out loud and stop just to i could pay Full Complete Attention

3. don’t speak the language by @goldengalaxies

“More importantly” Lance says. “I am currently having a breakdown in this lift because look at him- I am so incredibly gay.”

“Lance!” Hunk buries his face in his hands. “He could speak English you know, your skills of deduction are really not that good.”

Lance ignores his warning in favour of groaning dramatically. “Oh, Dios mio, Hunk, he’s so gorgeous. Look at those muscles. He could probably bench press me.” Lance fanned himself. “Oh my God, fencing is my new favourite sport, fuck swimming.”

(or the one where Lance thirsts after a random guy in the lift who he thinks can’t speak English. lance is very wrong and hunk is very much done with his shit.)

let me tell u about this fuckin FIC. it’s hilarious, but i first read it before i meticulously started storing and bookmarking my fave fics, so when i wanted to reread it i couldnt find it. but i KNEW it was hilarious so i spent fckn hours looking for it, and it took me hours too bc i coulnt figure out which tags to filter. but it was WORTH IT. the entire concept of this fic is hilarious and makes me laugh. amazing work.

4. Whose bright idea was this? by IronScript

When Lance is captured during a mission with the MFE pilots, he wakes up aboard Haggar's ship, though the witch herself isn't there, so he figures why waste an opportunity? Then he finds something that he definitely hadn't expected.

All the while, he has no idea that back at the Garrison, his team and a few select others are watching his every move.

bro the idea that the team is panicked for lance’s safety and they desperately organise a rescue mission for him terrified that hes getting tortured and losing hope but by the time they find him he’s already got one foot out the door and has rescued himself is ENDLESSLY funny to me. like he really said ‘damsel in distress who’ and i love him for that lmao

5. Garfle! Warfle! Snick! by IronScript

How the game show episode actually should have happened.

I'll admit to being a Lance stan, but even people who don't like him seem to agree that he was really fucked over in this episode. So here's my attempt at it. Is it more realistic than what actually happened? I like to think so.

another ironscript fic bc they nail bamf lance. this is how the gameshow WOULD have gone if vld gave a shit about their characters like actually. like yes of course the team is proud of each other and capable of acknowledging mistakes. of course keith knows lance’s worth. of course lance is a badass. of course the team knows wtf theyre doing. love to read this when i get mad about the game show

that’s it for today!! i’ll see y’all back next friday for the next fic rec post!!!

[iviarellereads]

Wheel of Time full series spoiler thoughts on TDR 25-34

A probably semi-regular weekly bonus to my reread blog, since sometimes you realize things on reread that just make you need to yell in a full spoiler space.

Ha, he DID set up the hedgehog that gets Perrin and Faile later. That's adorable.

And also, Chesmal FUCKING Emry. She who might have been another Semirhage.

I believe the justification for Lanfear urging the girls on to Tear is that she wants Rand to be absolutely equipped to take out Be'lal and she might even expect Ishy. She believes she can handle Rand from there. Do you think she was right? What grade would you give her on the plan and the execution thereof?

Some of the visits while the girls are scrubbing DO seem obvious in nature, but what was Verin's game? She was always playing 12 dimensional chess even when she did the simplest thing…

Fun to see the Aiel trick of finding what you need in TAR, performed accidentally, a couple books before it's mentioned.

If this reread and really having to dig into more of the times that the characters, the three I named in my chapter 29 bit in particular, are lying to themselves or the reader… if this is how I start to not hate Mat's character, I'm gonna have to seriously consider quitting the fandom. (That's hyperbole and a lie, I have trouble hating Mat's character ever since the show made him a wet cat instead of a Han Solo.)

So many double, triple, quadruple fakeouts to make you doubt your opinion of anyone in this series. The Gray Man in Sheriam's bed… to what purpose? Was one of the Forsaken scaring her off the tasks assigned her by another? Was she trying to brush away suspicion on herself?

I do love that Laras gets shown to be actually really good later. Well, as good as one can be, working in a system like the White Tower. We get the line about her not being party to breaking a woman's spirit here, true, but she's still coming off as so strict and kinda hateful. Seeing everything she does later, helping Siuan and Leane to escape, and offering to help Egg, and I'm sure she knew more about Verin's request for sweet tea than either of them ever let on.

Good to see that Mat's roguishness still only holds charm for me if I apply his show backstory and characterization. I haven't fallen THAT far as to be a book-Mat fan yet. (I kid, I joke, I make funnies. Some of my good friends are Mat lovers. But I'm just not destined to join y'all.)

“Next you could try telling the Lord Captain Commander of the Whitecloaks he should marry the Amyrlin Seat.” Well it's not quite predicting what will happen in the end, but Egg is still very much caught up in the fantasy of being with Galad, so it made me grin anyway.

I don't particularly care for Gaul, really, I'm far more interested in what Bain and Chiad have going on, but hooray for a fan fave showing up. I do feel for everyone who mourned that this first appearance's show adaptation was changed to Aviendha. It's more important to establish her as one of the extremely core characters who actually really affects the plot later, but Gaul gets so little in the story besides lurking next to Perrin for the remaining 11 books, and they took away his intro. ;~;

I will not hear any Faile hate in the comments, though. My poor knife wife queen whose character was mostly assassinated by being only seen through Perrin's nose for her first six books.

[irithnova]

hi! how did your interest in hetalia begin? also, with mongolia as well. <3

Hello! :D

Well I became interested in hetalia when I first kind of started secondary school (UK) soo I think around 13 or something I became interested in hetalia? Then at 13/14 is when I first started getting interested in the country of Mongolia, so I guess me liking aph Mongolia was just a natural marriage between the two interests haha.

I guess I started to like hetalia because I've always been a history nerd and an anime/manga fan, and I've always liked learning about different cultures, so hetalia seemed like the perfect manga/anime for me. Admittedly, Mongolia wasn't immediately my fave character, Russia was my first favourite character. I was also a weird kid and a lot of my weird friends liked hetalia too! (I say weird in a good way).

When it comes to being interested in the country of Mongolia, I think it was because I got really tired of learning about European history. Not that I only focussed on European history when it came to my different historical obsessions lol I mean I had a huge ancient Egypt phase, but I wanted more. I've heard about the Mongols and their impact on European history but it was mostly to do with the spread of the black death (the UK wasn't affected by the Mongol invasions). Also when I was obsessed with Russia (still kind of am..) there were more mentions of the Mongols so I was like eh why not.

When I started to do more research on Mongolia's history, the more fascinated I became with it. I've always had an affinity towards cultures that were labelled as "barbaric" by its neighbours (I'm not saying I view the Mongols as barbaric, not at all, just that they were labelled that way), which explains my pretty huge Scottish history phase lol.

I was impressed by what they were able to achieve despite being the underdogs at the time, and the unique nomadic culture of Mongolia further drew me in to being interested in the country and it's history. Even beyond the empire era and before the empire era, Mongolian history is incredibly interesting.

The secrecy that Mongolian history is shrouded in before they came onto the world stage because of the lack of records to do with the Mongols, the huge Mongolic/Turkic empires that came before the Mongols, what the true origins of the Mongols are, Mongolia during the Ming and Qing dynasties, mass conversion to Buddhism, Mongolia's fight for independence in the 20th century and transition from communism to capitalism, and Mongolia today, it's all just so alluring.

Mongolian culture also really drew me in. It seemed so different from my own and I couldn't help but just, idk, keep on reading about it haha.

With all of this in mind, I guess this is why I'm so interested in aph Mongolia as a character. Going about characterising a man (or woman if you prefer) with such a rich and complicated history was a challenge I was willing to take up, and the more I learn about Mongolian history and culture (bc you never stop learning! ) the more and more complex he becomes.

Many hetalia fans in the past have just brushed him off as some brute and basically used him as the local villain of the week in a lot of their fics (I mean some still do it today but it's not as bad as it used to be...) and it frustrates me to no end because it just reeks of typical anti-Mongolian sentiment. There's nothing wrong with making him the bad guy in fics, everyone is free to show the dark sides of nations in their fics or art etc (I have a fanfiction myself where he is acting like an asshole, empire era).

But as I said before, the way in which Mongolia is characterised in a lot of fics (because it's usually fics) is just blatantly racist and/or ignorant towards Mongolian history and culture, and the writers would never depict another nation is such an unflattering manner, so yeah they're just using Mongolia as a cheap villain or they cheapen the character of Mongolia into a caricature as a grab for an easy one dimensional villain, which is a huge disservice to the history and people of Mongolia.

Even now, I'm still trying to be kind of careful with how I characterise Mongolia, because ignorance doesn't have to be blatant in order for it to still shine through. In the past, I've seen people hypermasculinise Mongolia and other central Asian characters. Listen, there's nothing wrong with headcanoning a character as being more on the masc side, I headcanon Mongolia to be more masc too!

But the issue comes from when people completely have a lack of nuance when it comes to masculinity in Mongolia and central Asia, and it really runs the risk of depicting them as barbaric and backwards. I've noticed how in the past, some people would hyperfeminise East Asian countries (more often than not, China) and in turn, hypermasculinise Mongolia, and it paints a pretty ugly picture when these same writers/artists make headcanons or art or whatnot.

Another thing I'm being careful with is how I headcanon Mongolia and technology. I know it's a joke amongst people that he can't even turn on a computer (and to those who joke ab this dw I'm aware it's a joke) but it becomes an issue when people unironically go around saying stuff like that, in my opinion (I don't think he's a technology wizard but c'mon he's not completely disconnected from technology to the point where he can't even use a laptop properly).

Some people tend to romanticise the rurality of Mongols and paint them as being a "happy, simple people" who are "too good for technology/capitalism." and this is just the classic "noble savage" trope all over again, just seen through a hetalia lens.

Of course, the nomadic lifestyle, generous hospitality and connection to nature is inseparable from Mongolian culture, and I would never try to deny or argue against that, it's one of the main reasons why I admire Mongolian culture so much in the first place! But going around perpetuating the noble savage stereotype only feeds into silly ideas outsiders have about Mongolian people. I've seen Westerners say crap like they're surprised that Mongolia has restaurants and wifi! And one of my Mongolian friends had an American literally say very boldly to them "I thought Mongolians still lived like cavemen" ⁉️⁉️

So yeah, I do hope my depiction/interpretation of Mongolia is thoughtful dhdsjd sorry I did kind of go off on a tangent. I'm aware that this is hetalia and it's not supposed to be a serious anime but am passionate and I hope I didn't come off too strong 😨

I think people's downright awful/racist depictions of aph Mongolia has only made me more passionate about him because I want to prove them so wrong haha! And it's the same with the actual nation. If anyone tries to argue with me about how the Mongol empire sucked because they were just "muhh barbarians" I will absolutely argue with them about it lol.

But thank you for the ask!! 🙏😳

[universal-kitty]

Got a delivery for one [Rendacted] (lol kidding on the delivery bit, but I do have some questions regarding the tall weeb)! Uh... How about Apple Pie, Shortcake, Flan, Muffin + Brownie (from the sweet-themed self ship asks)?

Due to the source of this ask: Minors/Ageless blogs DNI! You will be blocked. 💖

🍭 Sweet Themed Selfship Asks

Apple pie: How does your f/o sleep? Do they snooze soundly next to you or do they toss and turn etc?

Ren tosses a bit less than I do! I'm the one who wiggles around the bed, completely rotating, in some cases. By comparison, Ren... He rolls a bit in his sleep. Sometimes clings overly much to the blankets... But it's pretty normal.

Over the years, hover, they flop around less and start clinging more. (As their brain catches up to the fact we're dating!! We sleep in the same bed!!! They may or may not still be losing their mind over this.)

Shortcake: What’s your f/o’s love language? (physical affection, giving gifts, etc)

He has to pick one???? That would be. Impossible for them. The most I can say is this: they typically like gift-giving the most.

There's something very rewarding about getting an item that reminds me of them/they know I'd really like, getting to give it to me, and watching my eyes light up in delight!! It's almost as good as the praise I croon to him for thinking of me and getting something so sweet~

Second closest is physical affection. He would happily live life toting me around in an arm, if it was possible. (And I didn't have such a strong urge to wander here, there, and everywhere.)

Flan: How does your f/o comfort you when you’re upset?

Depends! Ren knows I'm pretty attached to fictional characters, so they're not above dressing up as one on a whim to try and utilize that. If that wouldn't help or it doesn't, that's when they're pulling out every stop. Doesn't matter what I want; if I want it, he'll make it happen.

I want a rare plushie? Okay, buying it (or stealing one) first thing. Expedited shipping, if bought. Would a shopping trip help? Anything I want, they'll buy. Fuck the final price and any guilt; they'll spoil me rotten if it makes I can crack a smile later.

Shit, he'd book a flight for the soonest one to Japan if it would make me happy. Road trip; anything. Anything that makes me sad is a fuckin' crime on this planet and he'll do anything to make the pain better/ease off.

Muffin: What does your f/o’s laugh sound like?

The first ask that's different depending on who!! :D SO! For Ren (Haruko cosplay), it's a light, airy laugh. They're trying to come off as sweet and a little shy, although those with sharp ears can notice it may sound kinda...off. Not deceptive- if it's over something I say, it's still rings quite sincere!- but... It's off.

This also ties with any other fave he cosplays as; it will mimic the character they're aiming for, but with more or less of that fake-feeling vibe.

[Rendacted]'s true laugh is kinda scratchy, low...but the more he laughs, the louder- and lighter- it gets! Basically, he's that person who laughs low to start- like chuckles- but will get into a much more classically "handsome" laugh as he lets loose.

Seeing him smile was a rarity before- still is when it comes to his walls dropping in full- but it's become more common with us dating. 💕

Brownie: What’s your f/o’s favorite part of you?

...They would CRY to have to pick one. How are they supposed to pick?! Those pretty, dark green eyes, that got the shape of flowers in them? The dark brown hair they get to help brush every morning? What about the cute, soft hands that hold theirs every day?! There's also the subtle collarbones, the neck they love to mark, the tummy they kiss very often, the thighs-

...Ren wouldn't stop gushing for anything the second the topic would come up. Don't let him start if you know what's good for you.

[luveline]

hi love i just wanna start by saying ur writing is pure gold and it makes me so happy!!! could i request a steve one where he comes over at night but you're asleep and accidentally wakes you up and feels really bad and then turns into fluff/cuddles

thank you! soft boyfriend steve and sleepy cuddles might be my fave thing in the whole world now after this, fem reader wc:1k

"Hey," Steve says, breathless and rained on standing at your doorstep. 

You blink at him through tired eyes. "Hi." 

"Can I come in?" he asks, amused.

"Of course you can, I'm sorry." You shake yourself, trying to diminish some of the fatigue still clouding your brain. 

Steve steps into your house and out of the rain with a grateful smile, pulling down the hood of his jacket. He takes your face into his cold hand briefly to press a soft kiss into the apple of your cheek, chin ducked towards his chest to get a good look at you. 

"You were sleeping?" he asks, tapping under your chin with his knuckle before pulling back. 

He starts to strip out of his wet outerwear and toes off his shoes at the same time, kicking them haphazardly against the wall. 

You struggle to respond, sleep addled brain distracted by his affection. "Uh, for a bit. I was so tired after work, I was waiting for you and…" 

Steve throws his jacket over the coat rack and bumps your hip with his. "Robin needed a ride home." He's still wearing his Family Video uniform, the plain polo with his bulky name tag and the vest that makes you laugh. His hand is slightly warmer as he catches your fingertips and encourages you back to your room. 

You intertwine your fingers with his and let yourself be pulled along, eyes dry and throat scratchy from your nap being cut short. Steve less than kindly shoves you back into your messy bed as he searches your room for something soft to wear. 

"Why don't you own sweatpants?" he asks, digging through the bottom of your closet for where his clothes sometimes end up. "Ah ha!" 

You watch with half-lidded eyes, curled up like a sad snail as he strips out of his tight jeans. Tired though greedy, you can't help but gaze at his thighs, his naked chest as he changes. 

"My eyes are up here," he calls. 

You snap your gaze to his face and grin sheepishly. "Steve, you can't strip tease me. I'm tired." 

"I wasn't teasing." Finally dressed he climbs over your legs to his self-proclaimed side of the bed, legs stretched out in front of him. You turn on your side to face him. "Just stripping. Not my fault you can't keep your eyes to yourself." 

You huff at him and close your eyes, best pleased when you feel his head dipping towards you, the heat of his nearness putting you at ease. 

"Sorry for waking you up," he murmurs, hand protective over the hill of your shoulder. He smooths his palm down your arm and rubs the skin until his hand has worked under your short sleeve. 

"There are worse things to wake up to," you murmur back, trying to suppress a smile. 

"Yeah?" Steve asks. 

His lips are warm as he presses a slightly open kiss to your skin, the tip of his nose brushing you so lightly it tickles. Goosebumps emerge and he quickly wipes them away with a rougher press of his hand. 

"You need a key." 

Steve slides down onto his back though he uses his elbow to hover over you, the mattress crushed under the point of his arm. "I so do," he agrees excitedly, "d'you ever see Risky Business?" 

"Not so you can turn my home into a brothel! So you don't have to knock." 

"That's a good idea, so I won't have to wake you up," he says, sounding achingly apologetic. Then, in the small silence, "Though I'd hate to enable your laziness." 

"Is that how it is?" you ask. 

"Yeah," he says, working his arm carefully under the breadth of your shoulders, hand coming up around the top of your chest as he pulls your body into his. "That's exactly how it is, baby." 

His other arm comes over your waist. You cover his hand with yours over the bump of your tummy, too tired to be mortified that he's squeezing the softness there. He makes a sound of contentment into your neck and you make the same, happy for about five seconds before you change your mind. 

You turn in the circle of his arms, legs a tangle as you wrap your arms around his neck. 

"Oh," he says, laughing, "somebody missed me." 

"So much," you agree, working your face into the juncture of his neck, his hair brushing your cheek. 

"I missed you too," he says, light and quiet and happy. 

"You smell really nice. And you give the best hugs," you tell him, eyes closed tight, one hand drifting away from his neck and towards the broadness of his back, the ridge of his shoulder blade. You feel for his shapes and planes.

"Normally I'd agree with you, I would," he begins in a familiar tone, about to say something adorable but hiding it behind sarcasm and theatrics. "You're usually right, god bless, but I actually give the second best hugs. You're still taking gold in that sport, baby." 

You melt at his teasing and how his voice grows warmed towards the end, 'baby' a sticky endearment that fills your entire torso with butterflies. 

"Seoul 1988," you comment. 

Steve chuckles and his arms pull you closer, his leg weaving between yours. "That would be sweet. Telling all the nerds down at FV that my girlfriend's an Olympic level athlete. 'Hey, that's awesome, what sport does she do?'" he acts out, his lips touching the crown of your head with each word. "Oh, you know, she cuddles." 

You wrinkle your nose at him. "Awful." 

"You're right. Cuddling doesn't sound very impressive, but saying, like, 'she's really warm and soft, and her hands are never cold, she smells like a flower and you never want to leave' doesn't sound cool either." 

You press your lips to his neck in a terrible excuse for a kiss, ridiculously affectionate but also unbearably tired. "We'll have to have our own Olympics so you can win a few medals too. Best boyfriend, nicest boyfriend, prettiest boyfriend, boyfriend with the nicest hair, the nicest eyes, the biggest-" 

"Alright, that's enough." 

"-heart," you finish, peeking up at him. "Why, what'd you think I was gonna say?" 

Steve glares at you but it quickly dissolves as you begin peppering slow, clumsy kisses up the column of his throat, over his jaw and then, to the corner of his mouth. He turns his face to align your lips properly, giving you a chaste but firm kiss. He pulls back, thinks better, gives you a second and a third, all quick and sweet. 

[nifaswriting]

hello hello!! i just found your blog recently but i already adore your writing! the "love is" series is definitely one of my faves <33 could i ask for a scenario or headcanons for law with a m!s/o who's just as touch starved as he is? (law definitely tries to hide that about himself though-) ty and have a nice day!! ;w;/

Hello dearest ! I apologize for the delay, I got extremely busy && life is being so stressful recently, I just didn't have the time && motivation to write before now, but your little ask made me so happy && I always love writing for Law, he's one of my favorites ! ♡ Thank you so much for your kind words !

I made you some headcanons && a little thing at the end, I hope you'll like it ! Please, enjoy && have a wonderful day yourself ! ♡

Law with a touch starved m!s/o :

These two are unbelievable, really, and Law almost completely denying that he is touch starved just leaves everyone like

"Captain, are you serious ?"

The crew can't with them anymore : the longing silent stares they exchange all the time && the way their fingers brush sometimes are getting too much to handle to the point they all rather leave them alone

Law has a hard time being overly affectionate in front of others anyway, even though he'd love to

He just can't ! mostly because, be real, he has a reputation to keep and a very long broom up his ass

But once they're alone, oh my lord

He is unable to detach himself from his boyfriend, even for a short minute, he wants all the affection he has to give

Of course, he's finding all the right excuses to avoid any suspicion

"I'm just tired && you're comfortable." when he lies on him or "I'm cold && you're oddly warm." when he keeps the other man close at night

He's horrible with expressing how he feels, but good thing he's easier to read than it seems

Oh, I'm talking about Law, but his dear lover is no better !

I was talking about fingers brushing, well he's more than likely the one initiating them

Sometimes, they're sitting next to each other && their hands are close && his lover hesitates for a mere second before just

Going for it because he really really wants to hold Law's hand && he can’t stop himself

Law usually flinches slightly when their skins touch before relaxing && sometimes he even is the one intertwining their fingers ♡

"FOR ROGER'S SAKE, JUST KISS ALREADY" -> Me, Penguin, Shachi, && all the Heart Pirates

Speaking about kisses... They last forever with these two, really

One of them just starts kissing the other && it’s over for the next forty minutes, even longer sometimes

Just... very long kissing && make out sessions...

They just both want it so bad, they can’t stop ♡

Late night. the time when all secrets unveiled along with the deepest, strongest && most burning desires. And love... There in the darkness, chest to chest, heart to heart, mouths running against one another, soft, gentle. It’s only a mere touch, then suddenly it deepens, gets passionate before becoming a delicate brush again. That’s just how it has been for the past twenty minutes, and none of them seem to get bored of it. They could go for hours, days, spend entire evenings in each other’s arms, kissing, cuddling. So simple yet it means so much to them. The clearest solution to all that missed affection. “Law...” it’s only a whisper of the surgeon’s name between two breaths taken, enough to send shivers down his spine. “(Name).” is replied with the same intensity, the same loving voice. “Are you alright ?” There’s a smile brightening the other male’s face. Whoever said Trafalgar Law wasn’t a good guy probably never tried to know him all that well. Because, as subtle as it is, the so called Surgeon of Death appears to be the most caring person (Name) has ever known in his entire life. Who would have known ? “I’m good.” he responds, humming as his lips linger against Law’s cheek. “I love you.” Said cheek gets tinted with the softest pink hue at that. Hopefully, the darkness is shielding Law’s embarrasment, though it wouldn’t be too much of a problem if it was to be revealed. Not when he’s with him. “I love you too.” Everything just feels right.

[caramellahoney]

M A S T E R L I S T

DNI : PROSHIPPERS , MADRIGALCEST , RACISTS , ANTI-LGBTQ

Feel free to message me if any of the links are wrong/not working!

CAMILO MADRIGAL ;

PERSONAL FAVES:

“the day hell freezes over..” (link) <𝟯

“I suggest you step back, amigo. Wouldn’t want you to get in the way.” A voice spoke, tone sugar-sweet. Camilo’s eyes met with a familiar annoying shade of brown and he scowled: Santiago De Leon.

PART TWO

“this was it.” (link) <𝟯

When he was fifteen, Camilo promised you that he would marry you one day. Now you were both 23 and he wasn’t one to break a promise.

"future daughter in law" (link) <3

“This night has to be perfect and it’s not perfect! Camilo’s girlfriend is coming over and we have to make this right. What if I accidentally make it rain and she gets mad, she’ll leave Camilo and there won’t be a wedding or grandkids or-or-”

"two birds on a wire." (link)<3

“Never leave me.”

“I never have and never will.”

SHORT STORIES:

“personal hair brush.” (link) <𝟯

"You're the one begging for my affection. I'm your personal hair brush at this point." Camilo let out a breath of air, laughing lightly as he pressed a kiss on the nape of your neck.

“careful!” (link) <𝟯

Camilo was well aware of your clumsy and accident-prone tendencies, and he’d be lying if he said it didn’t worry him to death.

“casate conmigo por favor.” (link) <𝟯

"Cásate conmigo por favor." Those were the words imprinted onto your arm, the first words your soulmate would say to you.

"take my hand, dance with me under the rain." (link) <3

His eyes darted between her form and the rain, an idea popping up in his mind.

“flustered” (link)  <𝟯

Camilo was usually the one who swept his lover off their feet, what if they did the same to him?

“soft kiss” (link)  <𝟯

“Can I kiss you?” Camilo whispered softly, stepping closer to his partner.

“it's ok, mi vida” (link)  <𝟯

Overworked and Stressed reader! Camilo has noticed that you were more fatigued, downbeat, and distressed than usual.

"wait no wait--." (link) <3

Camilo couldn't stop staring at you, maybe it was his overprotective behavior but you looked really cute in his ruana.

“unspoken love” (link) <𝟯 

Shy reader! Your eyes were his favorite part of you because those bright orbs held so much unspoken love in them. They spoke all the words that your lips couldn't.

“sunshine boy” (link) <𝟯

You were used to the hushed whispers of people around you. The weary side glances kids would throw at you whenever you passed by. It was hard when everyone only saw the worst on you. Everyone but him, your sunshine boy.

“if I could tell her” (link) <𝟯

Camilo shapeshifts into Mirabel to try and prank you but instead finds out that you like him back. So, disguised as Mirabel, he tells you all the things he wishes he could.

“can you say it again?” (link) <𝟯

Selectively mute! Reader gets mocked and Camilo runs around to make her feel better.

“he wasn’t dreaming” (link) <///3

“Please don’t hurt me like this.” Camilo muttered. GN! Reader moves away because of her father's work. 

“ when the sun loves the moon ” (link)  <𝟯

Quiet and Introverted reader! ...the sun had noticed how bright the moon glowed. And at that moment, it didn't take a genius to know that the sun loved the moon.

“she sings like a nightingale.” (link) <𝟯

Camilo's breath hitched, he's heard from people that you could sing well but he never actually heard you before. His fingers fumbled on the strings, accidentally playing the wrong tune.

LONGER READS :

"MIRACLE" ; Husband! Dad! Camilo x Reader

PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 | PART 5 ; The villagers start running, belongings in hand- holding each other close. Alma looks behind her-terrified. Memories of her past race through her head yet there is no time to reminisce because they had to leave. Right now.

"don't let it slip" (link) <3

Camilo asks his tio Bruno to read his future and finds an interesting vision about him and his lover.

"don't let it slip" PT.2 (link) <3 Bruno tries not to let the secret slip but Dolores is acting a little suspicious during dinner

“listen to the whispers” (link) <///3

Suppressing negative emotions and replacing them with happy thoughts. She listened to his reassurances and drowned herself in his love and affection. However, as the years went by, her resilience grew weak and she found herself feeling more and more disconnected.

“listen to the whispers" PT.2 (link)  <3

“ connect-the-freckles. .” (link) <𝟯

You brought your finger up to trace his freckles, an amazing idea popping up in your mind. Connect-the-freckles.

“ connect-the-freckles. ” PT.2 (link) <𝟯

“nice guy” (link)  <𝟯

Camilo wasn’t a violent person- he swears. If there was ever a situation where he could talk it out instead of fighting then he would. Or so he thought..?

“nice guy” PT.2 (link)  <𝟯

CARLOS MADRIGAL ;

SHORT READS:

“menace” (link) <𝟯

Carlos Madrigal fights for you!

Carlos scoffed and wiped the blood off. Your boyfriend rolled his shoulders and quickly squared up again. "Bring it on, puta."

[bitchinbarzal]

1,000 FOLLOWER CELLY

to celebrate hitting a thousand followers I wanted to do a little something for you all 🎈 as always please read the rules, failure to follow these will result in your request being deleted!

these are the people I write for & if you have anyone you wish to ask I write for that’s not on the list please do, I probably won’t say no!

as always, please when requesting add the entire prompt not just the number as this is easier for me - ex. 1 “what are you doing up so early?” With X player! Failure to comply will have me delete your request!

happy requesting! 🫶🏼🤍

1. "what are you doing up so early?'

2.. "vou should be in bed." "and vou should be there with me."

5. "just five more minutes? please?"

6. "you never look prettier than you do first thing in the day. must be something in the sunlight."

7. "if i had my way, we'd never leave this bed."

9. " love it when your voice is the first thing i hear in the morning."

10. "c'mon, we don't really need to get up yet."

11. "what possessed you to wake me up at this ungodly hour?!"

12. "what are you doing here?"

13. "come to bed. please?"

14. "thank you for picking me up- i know it's late."

15. "don't worry, i'll always come get you."

16. "i didn't have anywhere else to go."

17. "i'm sorry, i didn't mean to wake you."

18. "go back to sleep, it's okay."

19. "i've got you now, nothing's going to happen to you while i'm here"

20. "nightmares again?"
"here, you can sleep in my shirt."

21. "you're freezing, come here."
"here, take my jacket."
"you need to eat. you'll feel better after it."

22. "I just can't be with you like this anymore."

23. "you know that i love you."

24. "i'm not yours to call babe!"

25. "and she won't even look at you?"

26. "at this point, i've got nothing to lose."

27. "don't bother me anymore."
"i don't wanna just kiss."

28. "don't you dare touch me."

29. "you're not broken and vou never have been."

30. "you know i love you, don't you?" "like i could ever forget."

31. "stop that. right now." "stop what?" "being so nice to me. it's confusing!"

32. "what are you smiling at?" "nothing. nothing, it's just... two hours ago you were hating my guts, and now you've got your head on my lap and my hands in your hair. you've gotta admit, it's a little funny."
"tell me what i can do to fix this. please."

33. "you have to stop seeing them.", "Why?" "they treat you like shit. i can't stand seeing them walk all over you like this."

34. "god, do you even hear yourself?! you never treated me any better!"

35. "don't leave me alone. please."

36. pacing around while debating whether or not you should text them after they've left the house for a bit

37. forgetting about the argument after a while and going in for a hug, kiss, or any other form of affection that is a force of habit

38. needing to go to an event after a party and having to pretend as if they aren't angry with one another the entire time

39. "i don't want to go to bed angry...can we please talk about this?"

40. catching the other one crying shortly after and immediately feeling an overwhelming wave of guilt crash onto you.

41. "hey...uh, the dinner's here.."

42. painful silence hanging over the room when both of you want to start talking things out but are just waiting for the other to speak first

43. when one tries to pretend like the argument didn't even happen after a few hours, which could either anger the other more or cause them to brush it off all the same

44. "…. you still mad?"

45. feeling guilty so you perform an act of kindness (ex: making them their fave food) as an indirect apology

46. ranting to friends or a relative about the other, only for them to agree and call you out on your wrongdoings

47. "i didn't kick you out. all i said was that i needed some space.."

48. texting them because you feel a little too embarrassed/nervous to see them face-to-face again

49. trying to apologize but only sparking up another argument

50. "vou missed me?" "of course i did..."

51. "why are you staring at me?" “you're pretty.."

52. "this song reminds me of you."

53. "seeing you is always my favorite part of my day."

54. "come on, dance with me!"

55. "aw, sweetheart you know you don't have to ask...come here."

56. "i said i love you, you heard me." "oh i know, i just want to hear you say it again."
"you're my favorite person."

57. "I love everything about you."

[volkswagonblues]

2022 in review - my fave books I read this year:

[a subjective list]

In the Dream House, by Carmen Maria Machado

I was surprised when I flipped back in my notebooks and realised I really did only read it this year. A brief summary: Machado wrote this as a sort of autofiction about an ex-girlfriend. It was not a good relationship, to put it simply. It was a very bad one. The dream house that Machado imagined for herself became a prison. I think it captures the heart of abusive relationships, which is that it fucks with you so much that its nearly impossible piece it together in a clear narrative. Every incident of rage, cruelty, deceit -- it boils down to a “they said, I said” event, which Machado captures deftly by making every chapter a different genre. I wish I have the brilliance to do justice to how smart and how “crafty” this book is, but let me put it this way: I once lent this to a friend on vacation, and she blew off a day of waterfall watching and hiking in Yosemite to finish reading.

Sea of Poppies trilogy, by Amitav Ghosh

Trilogy of historical novels set around the First Opium War. Ghosh is an Indian writer with an interest in the lives of how the opium trade affected the lives of Indian and Chinese people at the time. It’s just -- really nice to read a historical novel that’s not from a white POV, but that’s also not afraid to paint the Indian and Chinese characters a comedic brush. There are crossdressing mystics and conniving merchants and campy oil painters, and so even though the subject matter is depressing as hell, but I would still describe it as a hilarious picaresque.

The Lying Life of Adults, by Elena Ferrante

It’s one of those books that I didn’t really enjoy reading, yet I couldn’t put it down and thought about for a long time afterwards. Ferrante has a knack for creating this very specific type of female character who sits in their world like a massive planetary body, pulling everything else in the narrative into their gravitational field. I like that a lot. It’s one thing to write a strong/interesting/3d blah blah blah female character, but another to write a female character who moves the entire book’s people and events through her sheer force of presence.

Ducks, by Kate Beaton

Dude. Just read it. READ IT.

-- “Ambrose--were you a fisherman, before?”

-- “I’m still a fisherman. I’m just here.”

Landing, by Emma Donoghue

Very cute queer love story about a Dublin air hostess and a butch small-town Ontario museum curator. What can I say, I think Slammerkin or The Wonder are objectively better writing, but this one is just cuter and hits me with that fresh early 00′s nostalgia.

Orwell’s Roses, by Rebecca Solnit

“Plants made the world, over and over...Think of the Carboniferous as a sixty-million-year inhale by plants, sucking carbon dioxide from the sky, and the last two hundred years as a monstrous human-engineered exhale, undoing what the plants did so long ago.”

The Woks of Life cookbook

Okay, first time that a cookbook made it to my top of the year list. But my god, it’s more than a cookbook -- the whole Leung family wrote it together, and there’s pages and pages of their family history, including the dad’s recollections of growing up working in a Chinese restaurant in the Catskills, driving home every week from New York as an adult to help with the weekend rush. I’ve made the stirfry cabbage and drypot cauliflower and the shrimp thing with the frozen peas and DAMN. no joke people think im a cooking genius

The Memory Police, by Yoko Ogawa

It’s not a pyrotechnic novel, but a gentle, haunting one. On an unnamed island, things faded from the islanders’ memories: photographs, roses, perfume, birds, lighthouses. After awhile, people themselves start to fade away. I think of it as a COVID novel, even though it was written in the mid 90s.

[lovemeian]

favourite marks with meian.

[ 1:29 am ]

husband!meian shūgo x f!reader + when i say wildly self-indulgent i mean it with my whole ass heart. this is why i don’t write often for my ults & faves, bc i just can’t. i can’t. wrote this at 1am bc im loopy and wildly emotion enough to do it. + indulgent fluff! kinda suggestive? not really just kithes + this is the only ficlet with proper case cos i wrote it on google docs lmao !

+ edited @10 am and made myself blush lmao

wc: 892.

masterlist ; re-blogs are for cuties !

Meian’s smile is straight lines and half curves. Its dark eyes glittering with fondness. It’s unnerving to some because it’s wholly sincere. He wouldn’t be smiling otherwise. Not even when the person he’s talking to is someone he didn’t like; his smile is too tight, eyes too bland.

So you always know that when he smiles, he means it.

And the straight trajectory of that affection is unnerving because it is bottomless.

It’s this smile, this look, that frames his gaze as he watches you get ready; fingers sliding down his dress shirt, as he crosses his arms and leans against the bathroom door.

As you test the diamond drop earrings against your look for tonight, you catch his eyes against the mirror. He winks.

“Oh, what’re you looking at, handsome?” You twist your ankles, suddenly very conscious of your movements, your appearance, your very person— and start drumming your nails on your lap.

Years into this marriage, and the gaze of the very man you vowed to, in front of god and everyone else, still makes you blush. Nervous.  On your behalf, Meian Shugo owns an impenetrable gaze. Not one to shy away, and absolutely enjoyed flustering you.

“Well.” He moves from his position toward you, slow and steady, and almost casual if it wasn’t for the fact that it was deliberate. Your spine straightens as he stands just behind you, hands now in his pockets. He was so close, you could smell his cologne and feel his warmth. He’s standing a mere inch away but he’s conscious of that space. He makes you conscious of that space.

Your eyes narrow at him.

“If I’m going to be totally honest. . . a siren call.”

Your eyebrows fly up, heart stuttering. “You’re a massive flirt.”

He chuckles, crowding around you as you try not to squirm, as he reaches for the earrings you were testing earlier. He pulls your hair back, fingertips light over your skin, your collarbone and ear, as he keeps your gaze, smiling innocently as he matches the earring against your own.

“Yes?”

You clear your throat. “Yes. Thank you.”

He fits one to your ear, rubbing your earlobe before you slap his thigh. He laughs before he fits the other one, cradling your chin before he tilts it up to look at him upside down— dark eyes glittering new milky ways, grin matching mischief and adoration in a mosaic blend — before he kisses your forehead. Your nose.

Then your lips.

Nothing more than a peck, but when you both pull away, you snort. Fingers brushing over his lip.

“I knew I should’ve worn kiss-proof lipstick. You got some on your chin, darling.”

He looks back to your vanity, and you smirk at the little red on his bottom lip and chin. “I don’t really mind,” he hums, fond of the imprint that lines his favourite pair of lips. “As much as I love the ring on my finger, my favourite proof to wear that I’m yours is anything you make with your mouth on my skin.”

You exhale through your nose, eyes closing briefly. “I’m proud of you for tonight, and I know we’re trying to look pretty for your sponsors, so I’m going to cut back on calling you a dumbass to six times tonight—”

He grins. “I appreciate that.”

You meet his gaze, mouth twitching. “But you need to meet me halfway, Shugo. Or I’m going to stay with Kotarou all night.”

His eyes narrow ever so slightly. Your husband is not a jealous man. He’s the six foot five Captain of the MSBY Jackals who is your number one fan even when you two are in an argument.  You aren’t going anywhere.

But he’s still a man, and despite knowing you; how much you love tracing patterns on his back, have his favourite kind of coffee in the back of your eyelids, and know how much he loved doing puzzles because it’s something he did with his grandfather, indulging him on free days with a random playlist crooning in the house— and knowing his teammate wouldn’t even dream of it — the scene smokes into a thought in his head. You, standing beside someone else, with enthusiastic Kotarou no less. His arms around your shoulders, your waist; your smile, soft and proud, that has always been reserved for him, dancing on your lips as you gaze at—

He inhales deeply, kissing your forehead again before he straightens up. “That was mean.”

“You really went into your head a little there, huh?” You stand up, turning to him as you fit yourself in his space. Even unconscious, even asleep, his arms wound around yours. You fit here perfectly, as if this has always been your spot to claim. Your palms on his chest rise to his neck, his jaw; thumb rubbing on his bottom lip, to that crinkled little space between his eyebrows.

“You know Kou adores you.”

“Of course he does, I’m adorable.”

He laughs. “Of course you are.”

“But I adore you.”

“Hm?” His arms tighten, smirk forming. “Do you?”

You snort. “I wouldn’t have taken your surname otherwise.”

“Mrs. Meian,” he murmurs, leaning down to kiss your jaw, your ear, that nice little spot on your neck that makes you giggle. “My favourite mark on you.”

this is so self-indulgent im going to d i e

made by lavi <3

taglist: @asaitashi​, @jadasz​, @encrytpta​, @kenmaslov3r​, @wuyaiscrow​, @omiikeii​, @sakusasimpbot​, @jesssobs​, @iworshipyelena​, @uhhkims​, @fiona782​, @sxturn-stars​, @roanniee​, @admiringlove​, @bbyhaji​, @ebiharachan​,

[dameronology]

pancakes & promises {finnick odair}

ok i don’t normally write for the hunger games but here is some morning fluff for 2 of my faves, @karasong​ & @megmeg-chan​ (based on meg’s request). i hope you enjoy💕

warnings: none...except swearing 

The mornings were always one of Finnick’s favourite times.

Things were quiet; calm and quell, worlds away from his hectic past and tainted memories. Finnick was never without a charming smile or flirty comment but behind his endearing exterior, there was a vortex of dark memories. The warm blue eyes you often caught staring at you had seen worlds of pain. The large hands that were the source of half his affection had once wielded weapons. He’d become so used to the noise - of the arena, of the war, of his own thoughts - that the silence was almost strange. He’d spent years trying to escape it, trying to fill it with the sound of gentle music and white noise and the low fuzz of the radio but nothing had worked. 

Then there was you. Between his arms underneath cover of the darks, head buried in his neck as you gently snored. The tickle of your breath against his bare skin and hands softly gripping onto his arms was an anchor. With your legs tangled underneath the sheets with his and your warmth beside him, he wasn’t afraid of the silence anymore. If anything, it was something he began to appreciate. It was a sign of change - change for the better. Most of which had been brought on your presence in his life. You were a barrier to the past, really. A definitive and constant existence intertwined with his that protected him from the bad parts of history. It was contained nicely in two parts: before you and after you. It was the latter he was so desperately holding onto, more than willing to throw the other into the abyss. 

Finnick had woken that morning as usual; naturally, thanks to the sunlight leaking through the blinds. If you weren’t wrapped up in his arms, usually thanks to your tendency to roll away in the night, he’d reach out for you without thinking. Instead of being met with your warm skin, his fingers came into contact with the sheets. They were cold - you must have been gone a while. He immediately sat up, a frown etched on his features. You were never gone. Why were you gone?

Then he heard you - in the kitchen, kettle going and singing quietly. That was another thing he wasn’t used to: domesticity. Someone to look after him, instead of it constantly being the other way around. Finnick made a point to care for you and look out for you, and he would have done it even if you’d completely denied him of love, but you didn’t. It was a relationship of equals. And equals didn’t often come along in these times.

Wrapping the sheet around his waist, he slipped out of bed and padded through to the kitchen. You were stood by the cooker, his shirt hanging off of your shoulders and a song playing quietly on the radio. 

It was one of those moments he couldn’t really explain; it was so simple, so domestic and sweet, but one he was happy to stay in forever. He’d experienced everything else in life - moments of heroic grandeur, moments of great loss - but somehow, it was the little things he wanted to hold onto. The sight of you in the morning; the smell of your body wash on your skin after a shower; the feeling of your soft hands tracing the scars that littered his skin. It was normal to remember all the big flashpoint moments, but what about all the tiny ones in between? The things that interconnected all the different eras of his life? Ones like this, where nothing in particular was happening, but that were so worth holding onto.

He leant against the door frame, watching you for a moment. Finnick didn’t want to disturb you - or maybe he wanted to savour the moment. He woke up to you every morning but he wanted to remember each and individual single day. That was something he’d come to learn, having been reminded of his mortality so many times. He’d be damned if he was going to hold onto the moments that made him stare death in the face and tell it to back the fuck down so many times. 

The floor-boards beneath creaked slightly as he re-adjusted himself, causing you to jump slightly. You glanced over your shoulder at him, a smile playing on your lips as your eyes caught his. The morning sun was coming from through the kitchen window, pouring over you in a way that you made you seem almost other worldy. It was fitting, really.

‘G’morning.’ You greeted him through a mouthful of pancakes. ‘I made pancakes. Or I tried to make pancakes.’

His eyes followed your hand as you gestured up to the ceiling. There two or three half cooked pancakes stuck up there, clearly hanging on with all their might. 

‘What’s with the splatters on the wall?’ Finnick raised an eyebrow at you.

‘Oh, those ones hit the ceiling fan.’ You bit your lip to suppress a laugh, eyes falling to the floor. You could feel your cheeks heating up his intense gaze, even as a grin broke across his face. 

‘You never cook.’ Finnick said. He made his way over towards you, broad arms snaking around your waist as he pulled you into him. ‘The oven in this house is purely for decoration.’

‘I wanted to surprise you.’ You admitted. ‘I know you love pancakes and it’s been a while since we’d had them. Thought it might be a nice thing to wake up to.’

He could have sworn that his heart stopped at that. Finnick had spent so much of his life running from people, watching his own back and constantly looking over his shoulder. To have someone to actually do things for him, to (try and) cook for him with his favourite food in mind? The feeling was still entirely new to him. You were still entirely new to him. You did things for him without even thinking about just...because. Your love for him was reason enough. 

A silence fell over you for a moment as he just stared at you, intense blue gaze holding your own. He still couldn’t believe that you were real, even with your hands resting on his shoulders and your presence right before his eyes. The funny thing was that it wasn’t like the moment was particularly special, or big, or even interesting. It was just you and him in the kitchen, something which was quite mundane, truth be told. But maybe that was it: the fact it was mundane. His entire life had been so fucking crazy, so filled with panic and blunder and change, that to have something constant enough to even be considered mundane? That in itself was extraordinary. You were extraordinary. 

‘Hey.’ You gently brushed your hand over his cheek. ‘You’re staring.’

‘Yeah, I know. At you.’ He replied.

‘Okay, maybe let me rephrase that.’ You softly laughed. ‘Why are you staring?’

‘I just...’ he trailed off, biting his lip for a moment. ‘I just really love you.’

‘I love you too, Fin.’ You leant forwards, brushing your lips against his. 

Finnick was a good kisser; you knew that better than anyone. Somehow, every kiss felt like your first. His lips were always soft, always warm and welcoming. That, paired with his hands on your hips and the way he ran them up and down your sides, was enough to make you forget the entire world around you. He was enough to make you forget the entire world around you. As far as you cared - and as far as you wanted to care - it was just you and him, and nobody else. You were the center of his universe and he wasn’t willing to let anybody else in.

‘Oh, shit.’ You suddenly pulled away when the pancake on the stove started to spit smoke. ‘This one was gonna be good! And you distracted me!’

‘Darling, I always distract you.’ His cocky grin returned as he leant against the counter beside you. 

‘You were being so soft a minute ago.’ You quipped, jokingly rolling your eyes. 

‘I can be both.’ He grabbed your arm, yanking you back towards him. He wrapped his arms around your waist, 

‘I liked it when you were confessing your love for me.’ You softly murmured, pressing your forehead to his.

‘Want me to do it again?’

‘I certainly won’t complain.’

‘Okay.’ His grin faded to a thoughtful smile. ‘I love you so much that it’s almost overwhelming. In fact, it might be completely overwhelming but I don’t even mind.’

‘That’s better.’ You pressed another kiss to his lips. ‘And I love you too, so much that it is also almost overwhelming.’

‘Almost?’ Finnick quipped. ‘I’d argue I’m entirely overwhelming-’

‘- I also fell in love with your humbleness.’ You shot back. 

‘I will accept your declaration of almost overwhelming love so long as you promise it’s forever.’ He replied. He knew how cheesy he was being, but it was one of the things he was good at.

‘Of course.’ You grinned. ‘Forever?’

‘Forever.’ 

[hamliet]

Have not seen you mention CFC lately, what are your thoughts like since the last ask you replied about the novel?

I remember you were not quite happy with how things where going. What about now? Have they turned for the better, the worse, or remained the same?

I need to catch up! I'm reading like every couple days, at least once a week. So, what I'm saying is a bit behind, but...

The story has unfortunately completely lost me. It's not entirely surprising because imo both of Meatbun's prior novels have had the third act be their weakest: they tend to get overly complicated and the twists become so many that it loses some of the emotional resonance, because there's not space to breathe and let it sink in. She's upfront that it's melodrama from the get-go, so I didn't expect anything else, but imo this tendency weakens her stories' literary value because it becomes hard to invest in repeat sacrifices; then again, she seems to just be going for enjoyment more than anything, so good for her! I can just also state from my perspective what I think.

I'm gonna finish CFC, obviously, but unlike 2ha or Yuwu, I'll just say bluntly that it's a badly written book, which I find a huge shame because I really, really love the ideas, the alchemical symbolism, the concepts, and for the first 180+ chapters, the character developments. He Yu's sacrifices, Xie Qingcheng's suffering... they just don't mean anything anymore because the previous ones didn't build anywhere meaningful.

The plot and the character arcs rely on baiting--"but wait, it's not what it seems!"--which actually could be a fascinating meta commentary, thematically speaking, on the worldbuilding and questions of reality. However, these ideas (which I do think are brilliant) are weakened because of the retconning of previous developments.

These developments are unfortunately about things that do have real world resonance, and it becomes hard for me to detach when it feels like they're being handled poorly and with a distinct lack of sensitivity (sexual assault, mental illness, pregnancy). I know people will say, as I've seen on Twitter, but she said it's a work of fiction and isn't real! Yes, I know that, and I'm by no means saying she shouldn't write it or people shouldn't enjoy it or seeing that as an attack. Not at all. I'm just saying that no story occurs in a vacuum, and for me and me alone, I'm finding some of the implications really uncomfortable. (For the record, I've said this about many of my favorite stories when they handle issues... badly. I can handle this and still enjoy a story and think it's otherwise well-done literarily speaking, but imo chapter 203 truly did ruin the entire story's writing because it was an issue within the book itself for over 180 chapters because Meatbun made it one.)

And again, people will be like but she said from the start it's about an evil gong! Yes, she did. But she wrote something that was, as is similar in her previous works, an evil dude who starts grappling for redemption and reconciling with his wrongs. I've not stated this before, but I actually started the novel not expecting this kind of soul-searching character development. I thought it was gonna be full-out "brush it aside," and was more reading out of curiosity than out of investment/analysis. I was pleasantly surprised to find out it wasn't. And I got attached to that idea, because it was 180+ chapters of asking the difficult moral questions, of making this a serious concept in the text itself. He Yu was (and still is) my fave character (he's the most interesting imo).

This is a risk that comes with serial fiction: authors can change things (aka retcon), or mislead, but misleading for half a year is a long time (plus the fact that the downhill spiral coincides perfectly with her leaving JJWXC, like BNHA's own issues starting with the new editor, kind of speaks for itself). The degree to which a medium (such as serialization) affects a story's literary value is very debatable. I'm repeating myself ad nauseum now.

Anyways, it's badly written, and it's just a shame. No hate to Meatbun though; I wish her all the best, and think she has tremendous talent.