#and she knows it. it would've been all too easy to end up like B. and she sees a lot herself in it in the worst possible ways

[butrememberthesong]

actually on a similar note

[burningcheese-merchant]

If the Beasts/Ancients had signature pokémon (or were pokémon themselves) what do you think they would be? I just know White Lily needs to be a fairy type

Do you have the slightest idea how happy I am to have gotten this ask

Time to flex my encyclopedic knowledge + almost 20 years of playing Pokémon

(Note: gonna stick to just assigning types to them, if that's ok)

A N C I E N T S

Pure Vanilla as a Pokemon: Normal/Psychic (thought of Normal/Fairy, but I thought Psychic may suit him better bc of his magic + the Light of Truth + the association with intelligence/knowledge the Psychic type has always had)

Pure Vanilla as a trainer: The very first Pokemon that came to my mind was Audino. Something about Vanilla says he'd be an Audino guy. I'm not even sure what it is, Blissey would probably be slightly more fitting, but I keep imagining him being besties with an Audino and it's adorable to me

Hollyberry as a Pokemon: Normal/Fighting, I think (or perhaps Fairy/Fighting, because of Fairy's power over and invulnerability towards Dragon)

Hollyberry as a trainer: Hmm... Bastiodon kind of feels like the easy way out tbh. Tinkaton would be funny (but suits Princess a lot better imo). Chesnaught reflects her fighting style and personality pretty well... Chesnaught it is

Dark Cacao as a Pokemon: Dark/Fighting for sure (I considered Dark/Ice as well, but I just can't ignore the Fighting type for him. I feel like I'd be committing a crime if I did. Also, I don't think he's actually from the Great Icing Ridge? It's not super clear, but Might of the Ancients made it seem like he was a traveler from somewhere else. That could perhaps be used as justification for shelving the Ice type for him. (Also also you don't NEED to be Ice-type to live in cold places, plenty of other types seen in snowy biomes in Pokemon)

Dark Cacao as a trainer: Man would be rocking a Kingambit, change my mind

Golden Cheese as a Pokemon: Ground/Flying, duh. (Or maybe Rock/Flying? Ground seems better idk)

Golden Cheese as a trainer: It's hard. There are so many Pokemon that would suit her imo. Sableye. Diancie. Persian (Kantonian or Alolan, doesn't matter). Unfezant (female, the Pokedex repeatedly lists them as superior fliers). But... keeping with the lore of both CRK and Pokemon... I think, after she wakes up and reenters the world, all Golden should have is the one Sigilyph left in the entire desert, who chose to be loyal to her and the kingdom to the very end and beyond

Just want to note that Golden Cheese would be besties with Olivia and you cannot change my mind on that

White Lily as a Pokemon: Grass/Fairy with some Dark-type moves available in her movepool as a nod to her being Dark Enchantress, change my mind

White Lily as a trainer: FLORGES! WHITE FLOWER FORM! RAAAAHHHHHHH

B E A S T S

Shadow Milk as a Pokemon: Dark/Psychic, duh

Shadow Milk as a trainer: this one is tough tbh. Malamar? Banette? Zoroark (Unovan)? Probably Malamar due to its natural malevolence and hypnotism powers tbh (but the other two are so compelling... why did I limit myself to an ace for each of them...). Also, I think he would've had a Slowking as a hero

Eternal Sugar as a Pokemon: leaning towards Fairy/Poison, latter because I've already been imagining her as a succubus of some sort and Poison suits that better (yes I know she has wings, Flying is a basic bitch answer and not all winged Pokemon are classified as Flying-types)

Eternal Sugar as a trainer: Komala is right there... but so is Musharna :/ (lots of "dream eater" Pokemon would suit her probably. Which is funny bc most of those are Ghost-types lol)

Mystic Flour as a Pokemon: Psychic at the very least. Not sure about a second type though... (or just make her Mewtwo from the anime/movies, they've got the same genocidal emo attitude lol)

Mystic Flour as a trainer: Girlie gets an Espeon, the end. (Maybe she knew Jirachi once upon a time)

Burning Spice as a Pokemon: Fire/Fighting (thought of Fire/Dark too, but... same deal as with Cacao, if I didn't add Fighting I'd probably go to jail)

Burning Spice as a trainer: Incineroar Incineroar Incineroar Incineroar Incineroar Incineroar Incineroar- (he'd suck ass as a trainer though, just because I know he'd treat his Pokemon terribly, the same way he mistreats the Wild Spices...)

Silent Salt as a Pokemon: Dark/Steel. Like. Come on lol

Silent Salt as a trainer: Something else that would land me in prison is not giving Salt an Aegislash lol. Or maybe a Bisharp. And a Corviknight. (Perhaps he would have met Cobalion while he was still a hero)

I'M STARTING TO IMAGINE A POKEMON AU NOW. LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO ME. I'VE GOT, LIKE, EIGHT OTHER AUs I'M JUGGLING IN MY HEAD ALREADY. NOW I WANT TO MAKE UP ANGST FOR GOLDIE AND THAT SIGILYPH. WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS

(you can atone for your sins by asking me for full teams for each of these good-for-nothing short stacks)

[superkooku]

Who did Asclepius resurrect ?

A couple days ago, I discussed the idea of mortals defeating gods with @kill-me-with-a-spoon on a comment section of my "thoughts on Epic" post.

We talked about Diomedes and Perseus briefly, but then a third example came in : Asclepius.

And I find this specific mention interesting because I didn't think about it but it kinda makes sense 😂

He didn't defeat any god like the two former heroes, that being physically overwhelming them. Instead, he simply "cures" death, thus Thanatos' doing. Not only his, but the Fates' too considering they cut the thread of life. And he meddled with Hades' realm, something that he hated and we know how that ended.

(Hades hating doctors will never not be funny)

I made some research on him for personal projects and so I want to use it right now for personal ramblings about who exactly Asclepius resurrected.

@kill-me-with-a-spoon was pointing out that if, by technicality, he didn't interfere with Hades' domain if souls he resurrected didn't cross the Styx. And I've got to say, I think he did.

Also, I completely agree with the fact that they're still killable. They won't die from the same cause since Asclepius heals their injuries but he doesn't deify anyone.

If we look up different sources, here's the list of people he resurrected.

Hippolytus (according to Pausanias and latin sources like Pseudo-Hyginus or Ovid)

What makes this particularly interesting is that Artemis is the one who has this idea. It shows that portraying her as a man hater is completely wrong since she asks her male nephew to resurrect her male friend/devotee. It shows her bond with Hippolytus (his death was very unfair, so I get it) and with Apollo too, since she trusted her brother's son completely.

Then, it's just funny but in-character that Theseus isn't the one who has the idea to resurrect his son, because of course he wouldn't think about it 😂. It's even funnier if we take late sources stating that Asclepius was among the Argonauts. Because Theseus was too, so they knew each other personally and yet Theseus couldn't think about it.

Another detail : Hippolytus seems to forgive Theseus in Euripides' play, but NOT after coming back to life in Pausanias' version. Different versions, I know, but if we mix the two, then we could interpret that maybe all this time in the Underworld gave him the opportunity to think about it, or maybe, with a new chance to live, he doesn't want to stay with his father.

I get you, Hippolytus. Go have fun.

Capaneus (according to Stesichorus)

What's interesting here is how Capaneus died : he participated in Polynice's siege against Thebes but was killed... by Zeus. He was struck by lightning because of hubris.

And then Asclepius comes and resurrects this guy. All the more reasons for Zeus to be angered. That means he came in and decided to undo divine punishment, the same one that will be his own doom in the future. It's pretty chilling for me.

Lycurgus

So, there are a lot of Lycurguses in mythology.

In the beginning, I thought it was Lycurgus of Thrace, which would've been hilarious because if this guy comes back to life, he'll come back traumatized and insane (also, any grapevine would be the source of PTSD flashbacks). And again, that would've mean undoing divine punishments.

BUT it seems to be a separate Lycurgus that was resurrected. Not the one who offended Dionysus.

It's also not Admetus' brother of the same name, though the logical link would've been easy to make (because of Apollo's servitude and Admetus also being an Argonaut according to some sources).

Honestly, Wikipedia is the only place where the Lycurgus that Asclepius resurrected is distinguished. Even then, the article speaks of a probable case and lists Apollodorus as a source. So not even researchers are completely sure of which Lycurgus it was.

Hymen/Hymenaios : yeah, according to the Orphics, he resurrected some guy named Hymen, even though the only figure with this name is a god... it would've been very interesting to analyze if I had more details about it. Unfortunately, there aren't really.

Tyndareus

Glaucus : It's funny how Asclepius resurrects both Theseus AND Minos' son. Though that exploit is more often attributed to the prophet and healer Polyidos. I wonder if there was some untold teacher-student relationship between the two, since Asclepius is one of the inventors of medicine (with Chiron)

And then there's this woman :

This cracks me up, because this little story alone states that Asclepius as a GOD still resurrects the dead even though he was punished for it. Tbf, he probably had to explain this to Zeus, that he had to compensate his partners' mistake. Still, that's hilarious that not even divine might stopped him.

Don't tell me he didn't know what he was doing. He's a smart guy and his father is literally mr. God of prophecy. I like his audacity.

So, coming back to the initial subject, with the sheer number of mentioned names, I do think they had the time to be buried and cross the Styx (except Capaneus, who was probably turned into ashes lol).

Asclepius definetly meddled with Hades' domain, thus angering the god of the dead and he 100% provoked Zeus.

But, not all the gods were agaisnt him. If we take the version where he resurrects people with gorgon blood, then Athena, who gave it to him, was in favor of his operations.

Then, there is Artemis who asked him to bring back Hippolytus and finally, quite obviously, his n°1 supporter is his own father Apollo (oh god, I could make a whole new post rambling just about Apollo and Asclepius).

So yeah, I really like this myth for many reasons and this is one of them : how it's tied to many other stories, how different figures behave and react to Asclepius' antics, how it puts the system of life and death into questions, etc...

Anyways, if you have anything to comment on about this myth, don't hesitate. I'd love to discuss it more !

My main source about all of this was Theoi.

[darlingmisa]

hi! I had this nasty dirty thought about abby for a long time and I-I think.. you would write it perfectly [feel free to ignore me please, don't write it if it's not something you would like to explore, really 💌 and thank you for all the abby works they make me so happy 💌 she's my comfort person and you're such a good writer, it's so beautiful to read about her from you 🫂 but let's go back to the my dirty thoughts

public!sex with abby

like, reader and abby in public and in front of them this homophobic woman who notices their small interaction so she knows they're together ; reader is the only one who noticed the disgusted look on the woman's face so she brings abby's hand near her private parts (abby doesn't know she's doing it to have some nasty session with her and to give that person a full good dirty show)

ending up with them going back to abby's apartment and reader finally telling her what just happened = abby laughing and saying she would've done the same

okay this is too detailed maybe you don't like it but as I said, don't mind me if you don't feel like writing something about this 💌 have a good day/night 🫂 and sorry for bad eng!

Put on a Show...

cw... nsfw, female reader, public sex, a bit of aftercare, homophobia, reader being bold as hell

wc... 854

a/n... It makes me so happy to hear how much you love my writing! I've been trying to figure out how to write this for a while bc I was just so nervous but it was strangely easy and I reallyyy enjoyed writing this one!!

You and Abby were nestled in the corner of the small local coffee shop only a few minutes from your shared apartment. It was a weekly thing, a little evening date where the two of you could just relax and talk, a break between your busy schedules.

Abby had been holding your hand from across the table, gently running her thumb along your smooth skin as you talked. She was too caught up in the way your eyes sparkled and how your silky voice traveled through her ears to notice what had grabbed your attention a few minutes beforehand. The strange woman who had sat perfectly across the cafe, and the way she'd been eyeing you and your girlfriend the moment the two of you entered hand in hand. Sending you dirty looks, knowing you were looking right back.

Usually, you'd ignore the homophobic looks or even comments you'd get towards your relationship, but today felt different, something snapped, and you quickly moved to Abby's side of the booth, barely breaking eye contact with the lady.

Abby seemed a little confused, letting out a small "You okay?" as you pushed yourself against her side, and her confusion only grew when you quickly grabbed her hand and brought it to your thigh. This wasn't abnormal, but it also wasn't something you usually initiated, let alone in a public space. She wasn't one to complain though, as continued drawing small circles with her thumb into the plush of your thigh.

That worked for a bit. The lady seemed to go back to her work, ignoring the slight pda you had started just to piss her off a little. Everything went back to normal until you looked back up a few minutes later to see her staring once again. This time though, her stare held pure hatred, one so strong that made you shiver a little bit under her gaze.

Something in you told you to keep going, to go further with your actions. And so you did, you hushed Abby before she could even say anything as you inched her hand up to gently cup your mound. "What's all this sweetheart?" She mumbled in your ear, sending more heat down to your core. The way her warm breath hit your ear, combined with the risky feeling of doing something so raunchy in public made you wetter than ever.

Whining out a small, "Don't worry about it, Abs. Just touch me," You kept your hand on top of hers, making sure she wouldn't take away that delicious pressure as you slowly ground your hips into her hand. The friction caused you to let out a small moan, that was more of a huff of breath than anything.

"Quiet baby, if we're doing this you can't get us caught." Abby's voice seemed to be lower than before, and it shocked you to see how… into this, she was. Not once did she complain, letting you grind in her hand and get off in the little booth of the coffee shop, all while you continued eye contact with the lady who now looked extremely flustered.

Eventually, the woman had enough of watching you stifle your moans and roll your eyes to the back of your head when Abby rubbed that one spot just right. You watched her pack her things and leave with an aggravated sigh just as the tight coil in your stomach snapped. At this point, she was far forgotten, the only thing on your mind being Abby, Abby, Abby as you felt yourself soak through your jeans and right into the palm of her hand.

You laid your head against her broad shoulder, looking up into her eyes for the first time since you started this whole thing. "Home, please." was all you could get out, still working on catching your breath.

"Of course, princess" Was her only response, as she helped you stand on your, now weak and slightly wobbly, legs and walked you to the car. Abby quickly buckled you in before speeding home to get you cleaned up. and an explanation.

By the time you were back home, sitting on the bathroom counter with Abby gently cleaning between your legs like she always insisted, you were exhausted. Something about it being so public took a lot out of you, and you were fighting sleep at your girlfriend's soft and gentle touches.

"So," Abby began, "wanna tell me what that was about?" She had finished cleaning you up, now just holding your face up to keep your eyes on her. "That wasn't like you at all."

Your words came out in the form of a whine, sleep laced in each breath you took. "She kept staring… Looking so mean because we were together…" You averted your eyes, the ground below you becoming much more interesting. "It was like we were disgusting to her or something… so I showed her." Abby let out a small giggle, exhaustion taking over her features as well.

"So that's what it was about? If I had known I would've put on a little more of a show."

[zylophie]

Furina meeting someone in fontaine who somehow doesn't know them... Sounds refreshing and fluffy!

꒰⌗´͈ ᵕ ॣ`͈⌗꒱৩ — furina

✿ — ♬ ⌨️ᶻᶻᶻ : x/modmafuyu is typing... ✉!

✿ — ↻ SYNOPSIS : Furina meeting a fontainian(reader) who doesn't know her.

✿ — ♯ GENRE : Fluff(mostly), bittersweet

✿ — ⊜ CW : Nil

✿ — ↠ NOTE : Hi hi Anon~ Thank you for requesting~ I had a lot of fun making this fic and I hope you'll enjoy reading it ! I know you wanted fluff but I accidentally made a bittersweet ending. Hope that's alright!<3

Timeline would be Furina still acting out her role. So that this fic would not go too far out of character.

Just a warning, 4.2 spoilers.

[h/c] - hair color

[e/c] - eye color

✿ — ♪ REMINDER : reblogs & likes are appreciated, in doing so will motivate us to continue delivering stories to you, thank you for all of your supports ~ !

Extra: if you would like to request, click here and read the writing rules for each writer !

✿ — ♭ ⁿᵒʷ ᶜᵃˡˡⁱⁿᵍ... : ...No one

✿ — ► ᴺᴼᵂ ᴾᴸᴬᵞᴵᴺᴳ : Furina

CLICK CLACK CLICK!

A petite girl was seen running out of the Palais Mermonia in the Court of Fontaine. As she took off running as far as her legs could take her.

-----------------FLASHBACK-----------------

"...Miss Furina, I do hope you know the prophecy will come sooner or later. Even if Fontaine hasn't experience any deleterious flooding.. yet.. We must act fast to ensure all our citizen are safe and won't live in fear. Who knows how long till they believe in those 'rumors'"

"I do know that! ...I promise I'm doing something useful to help everyone."

"I can clearly sense that you are hiding something from me. Please, just tell me what is it that you are covering up."

"I-I'm telling you! I'm not hiding anything. I am your archon, could you PLEASE stop doubting me?!"

...

-------------------------------------------------

'How much longer..'

pant pant pant

'So lonely..'

pant pant pant

'Please let this show end..'

THUD

The petite girl collided with the ground due to exhaustion. She began looking around, upon seeing no one, she felt a little relieved to see that no one had spotted her being in a mess from earlier.

..Well probably except for the Chief of Justice.

'..Way to go Furina, if he wasn't already suspicious of me, he definitely is now..'

As the girl slowly picked herself up from the ground and continued to wandered mindlessly, wanting to get her mind off things for a bit.

Furina strolled leisurely while admiring the scenery upon her. She usually doesn't have time to be curious and as carefree while playing the role of the archon.

'Where am I anyways? I've.. Never been out of the city before'

As Furina came across a sunny and bright view. Where the sun is beaming while waves crash into one another, accompanied by golden rocks.

Although it is an unfamiliar surrounding, Furina only felt comfort feeling the breeze of the atmosphere as she slowly trotted over to the sea.

'What is this place? I've never been here but it feels really easy to relax..'

As Furina slowly took in the sunlight and windy zephyr and sighed. If only she could adventure and explore the world even more..

Being lost in thought, the petite girl did not notice someone in the distance sneaking up behind her.

'..It's really hard being an ar-'

"BOO!"

"AHHH?!"

Furina out of instinct, quickly lifted her arms into a defensive pose to shield her from whatever is coming after her.

"Ahaha! You should've seen the look on your face."

As Furina slowly opened her eyes, she saw a unfamiliar [h/c] person with [e/c] eyes. Realising they were a fontainian, she immediately cleared her throat.

"What look? I was preparing to attack you, you're lucky I took the flight response or else I would've seriously injured you!"

Furina folded her arms looking really displeased with whoever scared her.

"Ahaha.. Sorry, you just looked a little bit depressed. Anyways, I'm [name], nice to meet you. Now, may I ask why such a beautiful lady was looking quite down?"

"B-beautiful?!"

"Mhm! I've heard my friends say that the hydro archon was really pretty. At this rate I might mistake you as them!"

[Name] looking quite content with their response, giving a close-eyed smile.

"Ahem! A-Anyways, to answer your question. I was simply dreading about my workload. I'm fine, don't worry about it."

"Oh really? Guess it isn't a big issue. I'm glad."

'They're glad? I'm just some stranger though, I'm not sure why they're that relieved..'

"So, how's the beach? Pretty relaxing huh? I usually come here after I run my errands."

"Oh.. So this is called a beach, I've never seen one my whole life until today. It really isn't that bad at all to spend a day off here."

Furina then turned her view back to the waves, wanting to treasure this moment before returning to her dull stage.

Suddenly Furina felt something. Only to turn to see [name] placing a rainbow flower in her hair.

"Eh?! What's up with the sudden flowers?! Forget that, how did you even get them?!"

"I did mention I run errands, and that is when I go flower hunting to find beautiful flowers to add to my garden. I decided to give this rainbow flower to you as a gift. It's fitting for a beauty like you~!"

"W-wha-"

"Also, just want to ask, do you work for the hydro archon? You called me a mortal, surely the hydro archon must've have cute colleauges!"

"..."

[Even-More-Fluff Ending] - Optional to read

"Do you not know who the hydro archon is?"

"..Not really, I live on the country side, but I do hear adventurers say that she is dazzling and charismatic. Although it fits into your description.. Surely I'm not talking to the hydro archon."

"...Yeah you're right, I'm not the hydro archon ahahaha! I-I'm her coworker. Yep, pleasure serving under her!"

'God damnit Furina! What are you doing?!'

'...'

'Maybe they are the person I can confide in.. However I know that's impossible, but it does feel nice to not need to put my guard up as high..'

[Bittersweet Ending: continuation of Even-More-Fluff Ending] - Optional to read

When Furina returned to her office in Palais Mermonia. She sat in her chair recounting her recent encounter with [name]. Hoping to see her again.

So she began having meetups with [name] more frequently. Of course, this caught onto Neuvilette's attention since Furina never leaves the city much. So he decided to follow her on one eventful day.

Only to see the archon with a mortal. He didn't know much about this other person that was with Furina so he decided to interrupt their conversation.

"Miss Furina?"

"Huh?! Neuvilette?! W-What are you doing here?"

"Well the hydro archon has been frequently leaving the city for quite a while so I wanted to check it out. Whose this other person you're with?"

"W-wait.. Furina?! You're the hydro archon?!"

[Name] stared in disbelief, immediately apologising for their rude behaviour towards her.

'Well there goes my identity.. Oh well it was pretty fun while it lasted."

[soulnottainted]

How about :3c for whichever romantic f/o this fits best: “God. You look adorable/etc. (when you’re blushing).” | AND/OR | A smiles fondly when B starts to blush and draws them closer, allowing them to hide in their embrace. (-dragonsmooch)

@dragonsmooch @jocelynships @featherstiitch

FIRST DRABBLE WITH BORIS! It took me a couple hours to write this and I hope you'll like it! Some dialogue my friend Adam aka featherstiich threw at me last night and I needed to incorperate it somehow too!

tw: slight mentions of alcohol, smoking, death

A heavy sigh escaped the PI as he took a long drag of his cigarette, papers and notes scattered on his desk. If he wasn't an investigator, he would've looked like a maniac: the scattered papers plus the rings under his eyes from lack of sleep would suggest it so easily if he was spotted on the street. For the most part though, he was stuck inside his tiny office which he split for the other half being his living quarters. Five of the eight totems he had collected thus far. Who knows what hell would be unleashed if they were all put together. That wouldn't happen though, as Boris made the decision early on, that once all of them were found, they'd be hidden some place to not fall into the wrong hands.

In the meantime, it was a doozy of a time trying to locate totem number six. A guy name Sly Tony mentioned that he captured something in his basement. Boris though he was off his rocker, but come tomorrow night he would see what was going on over there. If Sly was truly telling the truth, the creature could lead Boris to the next totem perhaps. But tonight however...

A few soft knocks came from the door, which made Shuster almost jump out of his chair.

Damn, take it easy, will ya, you ol' geezer? It's just the door, just loud enough that a baby could've knocked! God, I need sleep.

His lanky form begged him not to get up, but his brain insisted otherwise. It was either a client who was at the door, or one of the employees from Louie's down the street, who liked their regular so much that they offered to deliver his pizza pies to his door whenever he called for one. Not many had that luxury, and Boris didn't have many of 'em, so he would take that luxury any day. Disheveled, he went to answer the door, not even bothering to grab his coat or hat for appearance's sake. That would've been a mistake because of who was on the other end of the wall. Before he could turn the knob, he heard.

"Boris?"

When Boris heard who it was, it snapped him out of his zombie-like state like he had been hit by lightning. He scrambled to grab his trench coat, almost knocking the coat hanger down in the process and threw his hat on. He tried not to turn to cause suspicion by his guest, but Boris hurried over to a small mirror on top of his sink to adjust his tie, to not look like a man who had been up for almost 48 hours trying to get close to a lead, thriving off of coffee alone.

"Just a minute, doll!" he called, "Almost ready!"

"No rush," he heard her insist back through the door.

Dammit, he forgot. Out of all things to forget...

What day of the week even was it? She said it was for Fri...Oh. It was Friday already. Shuster you sonnofa, she's a one-in-a-million gal and you forgot you had a date with 'er! Don't make her wait any longer!

With one last look and pulling down his fedora a tad, he turned and made his way to the door for a second time, this time opening it to reveal her. And oh...she was a beauty!

"Hello Boris," the soft, quiet, but light voice swirled the PI's mind before warming his heart. Kelsey bashfully clasped her gloved hands across her stomach. She wore a dark green coat with brass buttons overtop a hint of a mint dress underneath. Matching earrings adorned her, silver cat eye glasses framing her rounded face.

Being exhausted didn't let a grin differ a centimeter from Boris' lips at the sight of her, "You're prettier than Miss Monroe." A slightly calloused hand made its way to gently cup her cheek, the detective stepping closer to have Kelsey hid in his much taller shadow.

A soft laugh made both her dimples show, as well as a slight blush washing over them as she brushed the compliment off, "I'll never beat the likes of Miss Marylin." Ever since he met her and before that, she had insecurities of her bigger body. Unfortunately, sometimes, it gnawed and ate at her, any compliments passing her by like a taxi ignoring a patron who desperately needed a ride home.

"No?" Boris asked surprisingly taken aback, before the hand that held her cheek went to lift up her small chin to look into his eyes, "You look adorable, stunning, when you blush. You give her a run for her money, Angelcake. Plus, your beautiful figure in front of me? I don't know how you haven't been kissed to death yet, doll. It surprises the hell out of me, that's for damn sure."

There we go. That made her cheeks bright pink!

Shuster chuckled softly. He found out it didn't take much to make her this way, but it was endearing to him. Many women wanted Boris over the years, making themselves known to him so quickly and longingly, but he was never interested. Temptation was something that he didn't mess around with. Sure temptation could overthrow him when it came with a slug of whisky and another cigarette, but when it came to dames, he never bit the bullet.

It was ironic however that Kelsey and Boris had met at the hell hole of temptation, the Kitty Kat Club. A seductive voice insisted from inside the club to Boris who was smoking against the brick wall outside, to come on inside and dance with her. People had been disappearing from the club for awhile at that point, and Boris knew for certain that the lure the woman gave him was one step in the process for never being seen again.

And then Kelsey with a few of her friends could be heard, about to go into the club. Clearly Kelsey didn't want to be there, but she wanted to appease her friends who wanted her to have fun, let loose, and drink. Once the group went inside, the detective watched from afar, sneaking into the club to see what would happen. One of the seductive women who ran the club handed her a drink and Kelsey took the slightest sip.

Then things took a turn, as Kelsey screamed for help before passing out. The drink had been laced with a sleeping agent and the beautiful women around her, including her friends, transformed into she-devils, ready to pounce and devour their newest victim. Luckily Boris took care of the she-devils one by one, also spotting the fifth totem, a vase, on the liquor shelf behind the bar. When it was dead silent, surrounded by the bodies of the supernatural women and also the dead victims that had been the audience for the singer Madame Murie, the detective ran over to the latest victim. He checked her pulse. She was alive. Scooping her up into his arms and then retrieving the totem that belonged to the Strengoit legion, he brought them back to his office. From there, Boris took care of Kelsey until the affects of the poison wore off.

The rest was history, as Kelsey befriended Boris, knowing now that supernatural evil existed. There wasn't any turning back now, and Boris led her into that understanding together. And then he fell for her...oh so quickly. He didn't think it would ever happen. Now the two were on their 6th official date, among the many times Kelsey would stop by his office on the way to the laundromat or the market every week.

"I'm surprised you didn't fall for one of the She-Devils that night," Kelsey said quietly, awkwardly smiling, the insecurity in her voice despite the PI's sickeningly sweet words making her cheeks go into a reddish tone.

"She-Devils?" he responded, putting a hand on his hip, the bottom of trench coat giving a slight sway as he did so, "Angelcake, at least try and say someone possible. They're the farthest thing from ya— "

Then he leaned closer to her face, just near the tip of her ear, hands holding her shoulders so she couldn't hide in his coat just yet, knowing she would try and do so. Shuster's voice became almost whisper in tone, "and that's why I love you so much. You've got a golden soul under that sunshine smile and body. They had nothing. "

He could hear Kelsey's breath hitch, which made him hum in amusement at her sweetness.

"Yeah," she responded, finally remembering to breathe, "Yeah you're right..."

As predicted, Kelsey tried to get closer and hide her face in the crook of Boris' coat, and at a moment's decision, he let her right on in.

"I mean...they tried to drug and kill me," Kelsey continued, murmuring into the fabric, "Those...Those broads from below never stood a chance."

The sudden insult from her made the PI laugh out loud, making it reverberate and echo as Kelsey had her ear pressed to his chest. His arms wrapped strongly around her figure before he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "See? That's the kinda self talk I wanna hear from now on, hon." Then he opened his coat so he could reach down and peck her cheek, which made her giggle slightly. "Now doll, you ready to take a walk on the town?"

"Mm. But Boris?"

"Yeah doll?"

"When we get back, you're gonna sleep. I can smell the amount of coffee under here. And I'm gonna stay just to make sure that you do."

"Is that a threat?"

"No, but if you don't get any sleep, I won't visit for two weeks."

"Well damn," the lanky detective patted her back as the two huddled together just outside his door, holding her close to him in his embrace, "That would be quite the let down, wouldn't it? Well...alright. I guess I fold my cards."

Not even a second later, his hand cradled the back of her head, lifting it to kiss Kelsey ever so softly.

"Thank you," the petite lady pulled back, smiling up at him, with all the care in the world, her blush in all that time now red as a tomato, "Now lead the way. You know the city better than I do."

Boris kept an arm wrapped both her shoulders as he led her down the stairs and out the front door, and then down the front steps outside. He gave her a wink and another kiss on the head, "You got it, Angelcake, you got it."

The two of them walked into the night, lit by the soft glow of the street lamps. Uncertainty flooded Boris' future, but he knew that if this lovely lady stayed in his life, things would look up. They already have. Whatever happened with the totems, Boris would make sure Kelsey stayed as far away from that whole situation as possible, when the time were to come. For now, his mind had been fully taken off the case for the first time in a long while. It would do him good to do so. He was a good man, but also a mad man for what he had gotten himself into with all the mess of the damn totems. Kelsey offered him sanity, just by her company being alongside him: that was a deal he could never refuse.

[tired-gae]

these violent delights have violent ends - a Lokius Oneshot

Written for 2023 Fictober prompt #29, "That's all? Easy."

Fandom: Loki (TV)

Rating: Gen

No warnings!

Summary:

Mobius is one of the strangest mortals Loki has ever met.

He's simultaneously the most snarky individual he's had the pleasure of meeting (barring, perhaps, Tony Stark) and also somehow the most patient anyone has ever been with Loki.

He smells faintly of saltwater and cigarette smoke, despite having never smoked a day in his life.

He can be cruel when he needs to, but he is an exceedingly emotional man. He's not built for the power he has. He works hard to hide it.

And Loki, despite himself, is hopelessly in love with him.

Originally posted: October 19th, 2023

Wordcount: 704

Mobius is one of the strangest mortals Loki has ever met. He's simultaneously the most snarky individual he's had the pleasure of meeting (barring, perhaps, Tony Stark) and also somehow the most patient anyone has ever been with Loki. He smells faintly of saltwater and cigarette smoke, despite having never smoked a day in his life. He knows far too many things about Loki for comfort, and yet Loki finds that he's more comfortable around the man than he has any right to be. Mobius puts him at ease, and the feeling of his hand on Loki's shoulder tugs far too many heartstrings. Shortly after he'd told the man that he'd never had candy before, (a small and unintentional lie, as Alfheim had various confectionary treats he had enjoyed as a child, none of them resembling Kablooie in the slightest) he'd bought Loki a pack of M&Ms out of a vending machine stationed outside the courtroom. He'd shoved the bag in his pocket at the time, and Mobius had warned him, "Those'll melt if you leave 'em in there too long." (They didn't. His Jotunn nature is good for something, at least.) He's infatuated with jet skis, a Midgardian invention which Loki can now recite a number of facts about due to Mobius's ramblings about them. He can be cruel when he needs to, but he is an exceedingly emotional man. He's not built for the power he has. He works hard to hide it. And Loki, despite himself, is hopelessly in love with him. He isn't sure what to do with the feeling, at first. It scares him, to be in love. It's a weakness, a vulnerability. And while it seems like those are popping up a dime a dozen these days, being in love is a new one. He thought he'd experienced it in the past, short-lived dalliances with boys in Asgard (Fandral being a memorable example), but nothing had been like this. And the worst part? Loki caught a glimpse of tousled grey hair around the corner, rushing towards it. When he rounds the corner he drinks in the sight of Mobius's face, missing the lack of recognition in his eyes in his relief.

"We made a terrible mistake." He didn't realize it until he'd lost him. B-15's eyes flicked between the two of them when the elevator doors opened. "Mobius. Loki." She greeted both of them, as she did often now. It was odd to find one without the other these days.

Mobius gave her a mock salute. She didn't react, and he sighed, dropping his hand. "Alright, lay it on me, what's going on?"

She adjusted her tie, putting a hand on her hip where her pruning stick used to be. She looked overworked, but everyone did nowadays. You don't rebuild an institution from the ground up easily. "Casey requested your help. Both of you. Apparently he's been trying to repair a Tempad and something's been messing him up." She turned away from the elevator and began to walk away. The two of them rushed out of the elevator to catch up. "I would've just sent him to Ouroboros, but he's busy."

"That's all? Easy." Mobius murmured, a smile playing on his lips. He bumped shoulders with Loki as they walked behind B-15, and Loki grinned back. Loki isn't scared that Mobius won't like him back. "You're the god of mischief, right?" Mobius asks him rhetorically, and Loki tilts his head, smiling at him over the pie that he was pretending to enjoy for Mobius's sake. (Well, maybe he is. Just a little bit.) "You're the problem." X-5 tells him, and he can see Mobius shift on his feet in his peripheral, clearly wanting to deny, wanting to comfort - but not wanting to interrupt whatever fragile machinations he's sure Loki's attempting. Loki is scared that Mobius will never like him back, but he's far more scared that one day, he will.

Because inevitably, he will hurt him. Loki walks away. It isn't the first time he's done it. But he walks away all the same. He'll bring the man a slice of pie, later, while they're waiting for the world to end. He's never been skilled at apologies.

[littlehen]

My very elderly cat is poorly at the moment, ramble under cut

Our 17yo cat is really poorly, she recently got diagnosed with skin cancer and she has deteriorated much faster than anyone had predicted. This past week she has gradually given up eating entirely. She just sits in her basket and it's obviously a struggle to even turn round, but she keeps trying to turn round because she can't get comfortable. She is still drinking from the water bowl next to her basket but today she wet her bed, I had to change her bedding and she just looked so tired and wobbly while I was doing it. If it was down to me, we would've euthanised her last week. But she's not my cat, she's my brother's cat, and they love each other so much. The only time she looks alert or purrs is when he walks into the room. This is giving him the impression that she's better than she is, and he is finding it very hard to let go.

My dad and I were having a conversation about it, and he said there's no point her getting worse over the next couple of weeks and then us having to euthanise her at Christmas. That wouldn't benefit anyone, it would be even sadder for my brother. Dad: I think we should probably make an appointment this week. I mean, if it were done when 'tis done… Me: …then 'twere well it were done quickly? Dad: Exactly. Me: It's quite poor taste to have this conversation where she can hear us, really.

We did feel like the Macbeths, having this discussion about ending my brother's cat's life while he was sleeping. But the only way to stop her suffering is to persuade my brother that the time has come. I had a hard conversation with him this evening. Brother: Are you going to call the vet tomorrow? Me: Ah yes. Yes we were talking about this earlier... Brother: I was thinking perhaps we could get her some painkillers, maybe if she felt better then we could persuade her to eat, and then she would start to improve again! Me: …why don't we see what the vet advises? Then we had a discussion and I think he started to come round to the idea. Him: I mean I don't want to come home from work tomorrow and find that she's even worse. And the next day, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow. Me: …creeps in this petty pace from day to day. Yes I think we have to do the right thing by her. (I can't believe both my brother and my dad quoted Macbeth at me today, we are such a family of nerds.)

We've also discussed how the actual appointment should probably be attended by me, with my brother saying his goodbyes at home. I think actually being in the room when it happens would be too hard for him, he'd be really screwed up about it. It won't be easy for me either, but I think I can handle it better, because I adore my cats but I'm not as attached to his cat. I feel more like she's an animal I'm responsible for and I don't want her to suffer, but she's never shown me much affection even though I've tried over the years - she only cares about my brother and nobody else. She has always been a grumpy creature and not a very rewarding pet, frankly. She hits the dog whenever he walks past, which is rather undeserved because he's never posed any kind of threat to her.

It's hard to see this fierce and feisty old duchess quietly passing away in her basket day by day, but it's harder still to see my brother hoping against hope that she's going to get better. It's not going to happen. The vet told us that her cancer wasn't practical to treat - as the only way to treat it was a) cut off the tumours, well there are so many lumps all over her, he said I'd have to start taking off her ears etc 'you'd have no cat left' (our vet knows his stuff, but he is not famed for his bedside manner), and b) chemotherapy, he said 6 months of chemo is exhausting for a human but it's a shorter proportion of a human life - it's a much bigger slice of a cat's life, and when that cat is 85 in human years, why put them through it? He recommended letting nature take its course (at that stage she was still very lively, albeit sprouting little lumps) until we get to a point where she's clearly suffering (which is now). I don't know, maybe my brother's right and we should look at pain management first. I'll see what the vet says.

My brother said, 'You won't... do anything tomorrow will you?' I said, 'No I won't arrange anything without you being okay with it.' I think he was worried he'd come home from work tomorrow and I'd be like, surprise! it is done! It's one thing to suggest he doesn't attend the appointment if he doesn't feel up to it, but come on, I wouldn't do that to either of them.

Also I am so so STRESSED at work right now. I don't want to go into it, but the other day I got into my car and just burst into tears. It's hard that this is all happening at the same time. I feel like running away to Australia.

[monards]

i still think the way the general idea of symbiotic relationships as a can be applied to both of magnolia's most prevalent relationships in the game makes me sooo emotional.

Magnolias and Doves are entirely different organisms; so obviously they have no relationship in that regard, however they still benefit each other in a ton of different ways. Doves often nest on the branches of magnolia trees; and can help with things such as seed dispersal and tend to drive pests and other insects away from the tree; helping its growth-- but obviously, they can come and go as they please, and aren't really confined to one tree or place. And even more; Doves and many other birds don't have any real impact on Magnolia trees and other similar plants. And that relationship is SO well demonstrated between Magnolia and Dove!!!!!! Dove was never confined to Magnolia; we know she has interests and beliefs outside of her, and has in all insistences we've seen her explicitly established that she doesn't full heartedly agree with everything Magnolia does in one way or another, be it through her saying Magnolia had been too harsh with Orion, was being too secretive & suspicious, and attempting to finally have her arrested for her crimes; showing that she still very wells has a separate code of ethics, morals and beliefs in spite of whatever Magnolia herself may have believed or followed at any point. Plus, Dove never had any true and huge lasting impact on Magnolia. Dove, as long as she was married to Magnolia, did manage to help her. But that was purely situational. Since, even if Magnolia was likely far more composed and morally-there while with Dove; that definitely went STRAIGHT out the window the moment they got a divorce and she ended up leaving all her coworkers to die, while going along to become a mass murderer, too. Even though Dove did have some effect on Magnolia, most of those real changes were transient and for the most part only manifested in Magnolia's relationship with Mint.

Mint is an invasive species; meaning as a whole, they're hard to get rid of and more often than not leave lasting effects on the fauna and environment around them. And that's EXACTLY what happened between Mint and Magnolia!!!!! Mint, unlike Dove, dug his way into Magnolia's life. While Dove would always be on the surface and need to worm her way in herself; Mint would already have 'roots' in the ground and be able to far easily effect Magnolia as a whole. And he did!!!!!!! We know that having Mint obviously changed Magnolia,, a lot. She obviously mellowed out a lot; and Dove herself notes that Magnolia would've never taken this course of action if Mint hadn't been someone she explicitly loved and was in some way attached to; a DIRECT contrast to her generally easy abandonment of Dove in their divorce. Even more, in both endings, Magnolia WILLINGLY changes a great amount just for Mint-- with in Ending A, her sacrificing the chance she could very well be caught or worse by leaving to the city to give Mint a better life, and Ending B where she gives up Mint to live with Dove- despite how much she loved and was attached to him- because she knew she would never provide him the life he deserved; when we know that previously, Magnolia would've never sacrificed that much for someone. As seen through a certain ex-wife she has, (cough cough)

[alyssainalaska]

Hello

Hi, it's me.

My name is Alyssa and I don't know why I'm making this. Maybe to keep myself honest, or check back on my progress, or stay motivated or retain some memory or something. If you're reading this, you're probably either me in the future or my mom. Hey ladies.

Anyway, I moved to Southeast Alaska from North Carolina about two years ago. I got here with the intention of getting into seasonal work for a few months while I got away from a nasty relationship and figured myself out again. I had become a way-too-skinny helpless stranger to myself and sitting behind a desk wasn't really helping me untangle any of that. I was a crunchy little sad shell of who I used to be and I didn't like her at all. Honestly, she was an idiot anyway.

I knew when I was a kid I wouldn't thrive at a desk job. I used to announce that I would "never work at a desk," but whatever I hoped to do instead changed by the day. I abandoned that little girl ideology for awhile, but I'm happy to share that she's back and more obstinate than ever. The fiery little Junie B. Jones girl in me has the wheel once again. God help us all.

I did the whole "thing" you're supposed to do-- went to school, graduated on time-ish, rented my own place, got a big girl job and set to work typing my big girl emails. And then I typed more. And more. And eventually every day I would come to work, chip away at my emails, give some tours, and go home. Sometimes I'd get to do it from home, what a treat. Emails from the comfort of my living room until my (now ex)boyfriend moved in and then I was relegated to emails from my bedroom. I lived paycheck to paycheck supporting us both, even for awhile after we broke up, and I moved that man out of my house by myself (his shoulder was broken, wah) on the day that my grandmother died. He borrowed his other girlfriend's car to pick his stuff up and didn't bother taking out any of hers before letting me load up his. "This is my boss's car, I swear" (it was not.) Everything was like that. No wound unsalted.

While I wish that would've been the end to that nightmare, it, at the very least, served as a good motivator to work on getting both the hell and the fuck out of there. It took me a couple of months, but i finally balls'd up and started interviewing for seasonal work around the country. My first job in Alaska told me I could bring my dog and wouldn't have a roommate. Easy sell for me. I accepted the job a week and a half before starting, gave my almost two-weeks notice, moved out of my apartment, and came to Alaska with nothing but a single suitcase, a backpack, and my Labrador in a crate. Fuck it.

It's been almost two years now, and hell yeah to that. A couple of months into my summer job, I started applying to winter work. The first job I was offered was to coordinate tours for a dogsled kennel in the interior. Winter in Interior Alaska, why not.

I loved it, I took up cross country skiing, I learned how to drive in the snow and then how to drive a dog team, why not.

I've found that people have so much more grit here. They are so much more capable and self sufficient and live in stark contrast to the culture of abundance and over-convenience I came from. I realized I don't know anything about anything, actually, and I'd like to become much more self sufficient, especially in light of our current political climate. I'd like to homestead one day and I'll need to learn a ton of new skills before I can.

I used to think there was a lot I just wasn't capable of. Stuff I didn't understand and that nobody was going to teach me. But when I first came to Alaska I found a totally different perspective of women. I met the first man in my life who ever assumed that I was capable of something. He invited me along to chop wood with him and I brought a book, thinking I was just there for good company. Ha. Back home, I've seen men raise their eyebrows at me upon learning I could drive a side by side down a flat dirt trail or build a fire (even literally with a lighter). To say my book stayed in the truck is an understatement. This man handed me a pair of earplugs and a fucking CHAINSAW. "I don't know how to use a chainsaw," "Yeah, I'm going to teach you."

This is not a love story about the chainsaw boy. It's a love story about me and my own damn self. I chainsawed my little heart out, and when I was handed an axe to break up the rounds we'd just made, I chopped my little heart out too. We stayed at it for hours. I didn't complain but I didn't move fast either. I couldn't even walk the next day. It was the first time anyone ever assumed I could before they assumed I couldn't. I believed him and then proved him right, and myself wrong. It was earth-shattering to me to remember that whatever I don't know how to do, I can just learn. I know that sounds so dumb. But at that point in my life, I really believed I wasn't capable of much at all.

Now, all that is to say that I'm on a mission. I want to learn as much as I can and become as self-sufficient as I can become. Politically, this country is pretty fucking scary right now and I'd like to be reliant on less conveniences. I want to learn how to grow my own food. Raise chickens. Maintain a property. Buy a 4-Wheeler. Do I want to give up my Nespresso? No, not at all, and I don't plan to. And if you told my dad that I was going to learn all of this as an act of resistance or in pursuit of proving men wrong one day, he'd probably tell you that's the only reason I do anything. Maybe that's true.

There's somewhere between Manicured Nespresso Lover and Barefoot Crunchy Witch Woman that I want to land in. I don't want to be alt-anything, I believe in vaccines and science and getting shit done yourself if you can, and if you're qualified. I also believe that in this country, right now, it can't hurt to be skilled and self sufficient.

I'm renting a dry cabin (no running water, outhouse girlie!) in a pretty populated area, so there is certainly a limit to the projects I can take on, but someday I'll have the land to fuck shit up much worse, so I have plenty of time to nail down some basics. After all, I just learned how to check my heating oil levels in my house and that felt like some pretty big stuff to me. Baby steps.

Anyway, I guess I figured out why I'm starting this blog. If I can do it, you can do it. I'm genuinely not even very smart. Even if "you" is just me in the future reading this. We can for sure learn some stuff, and that's the whole aim.

[ominous-faechild]

✦ Crow's Character Asks and Quotes ✦

commissioned art by Neige; here's her instagram!

Would you do something illegal if you were getting paid a large sum of money? (You can choose the illegal thing)

Crow: I mean, aren't I already being paid to do illegal things for lots of money? Breaking and entering, very consensual information-gathering, theft of evidence, falsification of identity, planting of evidence when and where necessary... wait, who's asking again? Change of answer: I would never. 😘

What is your favorite non-human creature in the world and why? (Gods count)

Crow: That's easy! My familiar, Aria! I don't care if she's connected to me, she's not human--and don't you dare make a joke about me not being human either! I am cursed, not something else! And why do I love her? I mean--is she my favorite non-human creature? Well... there's a lot of reasons. For one, she's my familiar. Like, she chose me. Even if she's a crow, too, because she's taken on a bit of my curse... I mean, that's my fault isn't it? Ha... no, I think she's fine. She's still able to sing, and that seems to be enough for her. I guess I like that about her, too. Eh, this is all too gushy. Next question!

If you were forced to kill one person you have met, who would it be? (Not yourself)

Crow: *looks at the people they've gotten thrown into prison* Yeeeeaaaaah, there's a lot of options there. You really want me to pick one? Look, I already only spared them because it was against the law and my father would've been upset about it. If I'm going to go against their wishes... I'm going to pick a lot more than just one. 😉

"What's your relationship with your family like?"

Crow: Oh, my father's great, yeah. ... What, you were expecting more of an answer?

"Do you have any hobbies? if so, what ones?"

Crow: Psh, nothing as boring as reading. (*Precariously leaning back against a bulging doorway. There's a creak and then--CRASH!!!*) SHIT--

(*Furiously opens the door. An endless pile of books comes falling out. Except... they're all related to their cases? Huh. Is their hobby... working?*) Yep. That's my hobby. Working. Tell my dad that, would ya? 😘 (Oh I think we see something deeper in the closet--) NO!!! DON'T YOU DARE-- (*we zoom in to see countless artistic collages made out of cut-outs from pictures in their books and magazines.*)

...

(*Crow, face burning, melts into the shadows and hides in shame.* But??? That's a cool hobby??? WAIT, COME BACK, AZA--)

"Do you dream often? what about?"

Crow: Ha, no. Do most people remember their dreams? (They're lying. They remember. Their dreams center around failure. Failure, and a desperation to prove themself.)

"What is the one thing you would not wish on your greatest adversary?"

Crow: A pointless end. If you have to die, you should die for something. Something meaningful. Something you care about.

"What's your relationship with your family like?"

Crow: Sike!!! Bet you thought I wasn't going to answer this question. 😘 How cruel of you to think so lowly of me!!! 😭

I wasn't kidding, my father's great, I love him. He taught me everything I know about--detective work and all, heh! We don't always see each other because he's usually working on cases, but he's given me everything I need to succeed in life and I'm thankful to him for that. So hopefully I'll make him proud on this case with Frey! 😉😊

✦ Quotes ✦

"Move over! I wanna watch too."

Crow: *teleported through shadows to get to a better vantage point* Crow: "Excusez-moi!" *at the same time as slapping them aside with their wing* (note: they are not French.)

"A little help, please?"

Crow: "Ey! Over here! HELP!"

"Unhand me!"

Crow: *combat mode: engaged. Duck into their own shadows and teleport to get a moment to process the scene before reacting further.* Crow: *calmly, making eye contact* "you have less than five seconds to let go of me. Five. Four--"

"Okay, someone has to come up with a plan!"

Crow: *deadpan* "Don't make me break out Plan B. Trust me, you do NOT want Plan B."

Original posts: Asks 1, Asks 2, Quotes ALL ABOUT CROW HERE! (note: will be uploaded soon!)

Divider from @cafekitsune

[unproduciblesmackdown]

billions sure seemed to settle on the people with Less Power who have in-universe supporting roles to the more powerful players ultimately doing better than the central men do (and not quoting hitler & raring to launch nuclear attacks as much, so nice job) & deserving to walk away, but where then it's like okay & so what about the people with less power than Them who had supporting roles to Them. so the pyramid scheme here crumbles as each more burdened tier may fall alway, is the extension. & billions is like oh no no it isn't. because the people in a lower tier than These [better than the central men] parties have less power b/c that's what they Deserve, of course. then you can turn to all the instances of billions, with the central men it knows are shit & refuse to change, having those central men express "other people have less power than me b/c that's what they Deserve, of course," and billions like "oh god. sickos. not true, & we're freeing those people these guys wrongly think are inferior" like okay and whoosh lightning fast swap that [central men / their support network] juxtaposition with [that support network / the Lower Ranking people who work with Them] and nope billions is just going "no yeah This power imbalance is objective & righteous. the Winners deserve to do whatever they want" like you do see how it falls apart (they do not, presumably)

and that as always the pyramid scheme is also a sierpiński triangle b/c you look at any point & zoom in & as always when [well a hierarchy is objective] is thee way, as soon as you have multiple people in a situation there must be an establishing of the hierarchy in that situation. and there we go in the finale where it's like the [s1 yay axe wags wendy sooo cool even if i guess don't let people die] continues and like taylor in s2 did get in in time with enough thought & with enough intention that the character be in Juxtaposition with everything s1ly, and they belong to the adequately deserving group of characters in the end and certainly with Any effort at giving them some focus, but they cannot disrupt their Deservingness by disrupting the Deserved Hierarchy and i.e. Not deferring to wags, wendy, axe. taylor & sacker (& philip) team would've had this wrapped up in two to four episodes; instead we have way too much focus on wags & wendy not doing anything except getting in the way, or being sooo cool, & at least taylor interacting w/axe was more characterful material for taylor, but they don't even really get to criticize anyone for getting in the way or being sooo cool terrible now or prior, like, okay look just ask axe why he's not being as totally epic as you know he truly is, and don't be helming this shit that's always Actually been most relevant to this once-newcomer character who was written to inherently contrast with all the s1 epicness, wonder why that relevance is. step aside and let our hero wendy through please while we all kneel & clap & think about our inferiority to her

then just bonus mentions like that i guess rian was supposed to also be contrasting but she just turns out yet another bog standard axe cap bully who happens to so totally be a woman, we remind you, yet different from bonnie in that she also is less overtly aggressive, despite this she's So deserving but not so much that they ever made room for something besides [if you removed her from the series it'd be so easy to make it so that pretty much nothing changes] despite that she was supposed to be like, relevant. even better we have our beloved ben kim who billions cared to have in every episode (if some eps cut post production?) and who was here in s1 but to first illustrate like where my 50something fellas at these damn young whippersnappers think they're sooo smart but NO only axe. which is why he deserves to be epic boss boy. and later on it's like well yes he's lower tier than these other characters but it's because he's Too nice. to truly become a winner you simply need to Believe you are one & act accordingly confident (i.e. it's still Deserved, his fault, he needs to step up & stop acting Like he belongs in loserdom) and we like get any material for him here & there & eventually tuk (zoom in on Multiple People, tuk is lower tier than ben, presumably billions considers that once again this is indeed Deserved) and in the end well he's still here, hooray, still so Unstrategic and An Pussy so we all see that, though we may pity him, his lower tier status is still brought upon himself, and hey also we need people to fill in the ranks for epic boss boy again so come stand over here okay thanks byeee

[synergysilhouette]

Choices Review: Queen B

Heads up, thoroughbreds! This should've been a GOC book for sure: female bullies are a thing for guys, too, and we can care about fashion, popularity, and seduction.

Book 1 follows your adventures as a transfer student to one of the most prestigious colleges in the country--so of course everyone has to be rich, stuck-up, and status-obsessed. Oh, and it comes with a popularity contest known as "The T" which you must climb in order to overthrow mean girl Poppy Sinclair (who looks like Regina George, but could never). You're joined by several allies (if you can afford them), your roommate Zoe, and your professor. Sounds easy enough, right? You can be flirty, be mean, be kind, and it'll show at certain points of the story. But while it is fun, it isn't without some drawbacks, in my opinion. I already ranted about how manipulative MC is to their professor, who doubles as their LI, but in case you missed it: she is the WORST. The professor flirted with her at a bar before knowing she was a student, and shuts it down when they find out. If you choose to romance them, MC essentially guilt-trips them into a relationship by saying "I'd never want to ruin your career," despite not really having done or said anything to show it. You desperately try to get them to open up, and when they finally do, you find out someone tries to implicate you being in a relationship with them (even if it's not true), and you cut them off without explanation in order to spare them--AKA doing exactly what you didn't want them doing and then getting mad when they want to see you. It's super unfair, and it kind of sucks if you only romance men, because they're the only male LI option (a rare situation in Choices for multi- LI books), and you're doing them SO wrong. As for Poppy, she's a Regina George clone, but a pale imitation. Based on this story, I think using Courtney Shayne would've been better, and it'd give her an edge. Is it too much to ask for a multi-faceted mean girl who could be into academics or athletics? Possibly being the product of an affair doesn't make you all that interesting, Poppy. Zoe and Carter are just fun times, though; no notes for them! I'm SUPER curious as to why MC would be hanging out with their professor at the end of the book during vacation if they're not romantically involved, ngl. I feel like that should've taken into account who we romanced.

Book 2 is more of book 1 redux: your professor is under investigation this time around, and there's a new queen on the horizon who wants to take us down along with Poppy, who occasionally sides with us to take her down. The new baddie on the scene keeps their identity a secret, hidden amongst your new friends, but it was pretty obvious to me who it was--she didn't try hard enough. Perhaps it's because "mean girl" stories are generally one-and-done rather than being a series, but this just felt like they were trying to recapture the same story as book 1: sex, drama, and popularity, with no real variant for it. I don't really have much to say about it, looking back on it. It was just kind of...eh. Pretty to look at, but lacking in interesting content. And don't think I forgot how they called Professor Kingsley thicc in book 1 and then said they "lacked volume" when they tried twerking (cringe to the MAX; idc if you're one of my favorite Chocies LIs).

Overall, it was a fun ride, but the sequel did more of the same thing. It didn't really do anything new or crazy. Call me when you've got something rave-worthy.

Kisses,

SS

[tuiyla]

speaking of Quinn and religion, one thing that's always baffled me is that I do think S1 wants to set up the black comedy of the "Queen of the Chastity Ball" getting knocked up, and it's supposed to be a whole commentary on celibacy, religious hypocrisy, etc. But I've never fully understood why they didn't truly lean into that? Because what the rest of Quinn's arc through S3 shows us is that honestly she's NOT a hypocrite about this. She believed in waiting. She was sincere in her faith. Her big slip-up was super dubious and a one time thing. For how much we've been told we were meant to hate Quinn in S1, I wonder why RIB didn't have her sleeping with the entire football team except Finn, having her play the nice girl around her parents then being knowingly cynical about using her religion as a disguise. It would still even work to contrast her with Santana, one being unapologetically sexual, the other hanging onto her pristine rep while doing the exact same things privately. It would've been such an easy way to make sure the audience sees her as the villain and tbh, might have better fit the dark humor of S1. That they didn't go that path is more proof to me that RM was ALWAYS writing Quinn as an empathetic character, even if he wasn't aware of it.

Alright alright, not gonna put off answering this because it's an amazing topic I wanna keep discussing or as long as y'all have thoughts.

Completely agree, they never lean into it. Not nearly as much as this ostensibly satire show should have. I often think about that, the deliberate irony of framing Quinn as ultra-religious and having her be the president of a damn Celibacy Club just to have her get knocked up. After having sex once, too. A better show would have a) leaned in and b) examined how society treats those who cross the madonna-whore threshold. Even in terms of the cheerleading stereotypes that the Unholy Trinity all check, it's ultimately Quinn who gets portrayed as a whore because she's the one with "evidence" that she's had sex. Brittana are much, much more promiscuous, yeah, but there's something about teen pregnancy as the ultimate symbol of sexual transgression. But, like you say, Quinn wasn't actually a hypocrite about all this.

I think she was also scarred from the pregnancy emotionally, understandably, but the only times she uses her sexuality after this in high school are when she's clearly unhinged. I.e. trying to make another baby with Puck. She wants to take things slow with Sam, completely understands Joe's perspective, and I for one seriously doubt Fuinn ever actually had sex. All that happened with Beth's conception was Puck taking advantage of her. But Glee season 1 just,,, does not get this. They so badly want Quinn to be this hypocritical bitch who cheats on her boyfriend and gets knocked up and isn't all that virginal after all. But even if we didn't see the actual scene, and oh boy do we, that narrative would still be dubious. Simply put, Quinn isn't the character Glee thinks they're writing.

I've said this so many times in so many ways but the bottom line remains the same. The writers did not know what kind of character they were writing. And there's a lot to be said about how RM reacted to that, goddammit I still haven't talked about that Rolling Stone interview, but at the end of the day we just have these facts within the show itself. And this is how I try to explain my frustrations with season 1 to people. Later seasons Quinn is a whole convo, too, but s1 always feels particularly insidious to me.

In terms of how you would have written it, yeah I think that would have worked better with what they were trying to do. There's still the contrast to Brittana so a chance for Quinn's redemption, but this villanizing would at least make more sense. She really would be a hypocrite and not just... a victim. But no, instead they wrote the story of a clear victim. I don't give a fuck if she happens to be rude to Finn and lie to him, yeah that's messed up but the dude is also actively cheating on her, so. Lest we feel too bad for him. It just sucks so much that RM was so, so unaware of the Quinn he was writing. Makes season 1 in particular incredibly frustrating to me, I can't believe there are people out there who consider this to be her best season. Why do you hate her so much?

[stillness138]

finally got the time to yap about hotd

so people are upset and disappointed with how chood and bleese were done. i will admit to having only read an extensive summary of the book, but i didn't mind it. i'll get back to it but first some general thoughts tm

but reading different reactions and comparing them to mine kinda made me think about how this show adapts the source material in general. i really, really like the show, despite it having specific points i definitely disliked or was also disappointed with (especially in episode 9). because i think it is overall a great adaptation. and not necessarily of the text of Fire&Blood - a text that is harder to adapt to begin with because, as people seem to keep forgetting, it is told exclusively by in-world characters with their individual biases - but rather of the themes, topics and messages this story (and really asoiaf as a whole) is trying to convey.

and people seem to have lost sight of those a little bit too. this thing is about an oppresive, unsustainable patriarchal system that harms just about everyone in and around it. the most drastic change - Alicent being Rhaenyra's childhood best friend - is an excellent piece of adaptation because it allows them to say so much about the topic at hand, more than George did. [a side point, but this fandom, just like the witcher one, should also take a step back from treating grrm as someone who can never err and whose word is holy. the man has a morbid interest in writing child torture porn to illustrate a point he already made 3 books ago. he aint special, and he sure isn't the best thing since sliced bread.] [but actually, on this topic, the choices of where to have nudity, sex, sexual abuse, violence and gore are also made with thought in this show and my god is that so refreshing to see, ESPECIALLY in this universe.]

i would've done the first episode of season 2 differently, would've only set b&ch up at the end and built tension through the whole of the next episode, but i obviously haven't seen the rest of the season. no one has save for unenthused journalists but throwing hands in the air about the lack of this or that is kinda silly. it's literally just the first episode. i'm ready to do the stanczyk and eat my words if i'm wrong, but stuff like pact of ice&fire, how alicole came to be, even more reactions to Luke's death, why the castle was completely devoid of guards,.. may yet be subjects in conversations later on.

the ep manages to have a unifying theme, that being parents' relationships to their (deceased) children, and it gets that across well enough. yes there should have been more of Aegon and Helaena's time with their kids but also, this would've never reached the level of setup the red wedding had. they're not really comparable.

another opinion i've seen and disagree with is that b&ch is portrayed as an oopsie. what do you think Daemon answered to "and if we don't find Aemond?" and why do you think "does she look like a son to you" is said? they knew what they were doing. if anything, their surprise is to how easy it was to get to Helaena. and that is set up too. if Aegon took her seriously, like, ever (this is something he exhibits all the way back in the Driftmark episode), maybe there would be at least some guards. she foresaw the danger and he could've attempted doing something about it or at the very least ease his sister/wife's worries, but he was too busy using Jaehaerys to humiliate Tyland Lannister. [truly the dad to end all dads in this series.] i want to see Aegon wracked with guilt over it, because he definitely directly underestimated the situation.

he is also left with either his wild card brother or his daughter to name the new heir. where have we seen that before. and the not so secret third option is to put Helaena through another pregnancy to hopefully get a son out of it. that's what Maelor would be forced to live with. knowing that he only exists because of a terrible tragedy and the system's requirements for a suitable heir.

i do agree that the show leans towards Rhaenyra's team quite a bit, but i don't think they're being too sanitized. again i'm ready to be the fool, but Daemon has 9 more episodes to openly admit to ordering Jaehaerys's murder.

if the bag was fumbled on anything, it was delivery, but not adaptation itself. this isn't the show of women screaming in horror as men threaten to assault their six year old children. it is a show about a system that manifests as an abuse cycle and ends in tragedy one way or another, and that can be conveyed in a number of ways.

[addictwoapen]

hatred of the name or hatred of the thing itself

i've always hated my name. Brooke never felt like an accurate representation of who I am and my personhood. It never seemed true, always something removed from myself. When I introduce myself as Brooke, I feel detached. Like I'm looking into myself from the outside.

I don't know where the hatred of the name came from, but it did stem from a few literary characters named Brooke who were always mean and rude and generally disliked. I didn't want to be her and felt I was fated to end up the same.

There have been countless times I've asked my parents how they came up with my name. It isn't a family one, my middle name unremarkable as well. Not Marie but another M regardless. They refrained from Elizabeth as a middle name because my initials would have been B-E-Z (be easy) and I don't think my dad wanted his only daughter to be construed as a slut.

But there is no fun history behind my name. My brothers both have generic names as well. Nothing fun, nothing familial, nothing with lots of thought.

I think for someone who feels all too much all the time I wanted my name to mean more than it does. Just a name picked from a list that didn't sound horrible with my father's last name.

Not that my grandparents have outstanding names, one Diane and one Joanne, but I think I would've liked to be a Diane. If I ever wanted kids I would name my daughter after Diane. She's a strong woman with a fierce intelligence and curiosity that has never left her in her 83 years. I would want to pass that onto my daughter, I think.

I don't know what Lauren wanted to pass onto Brooke with that name. I don't know if she thought that much about it, but I wish she did.

The legacy of "brooke" is relating to a "brook" or a small stream. With some origins in the 18th century. However, a pretty name for a body of water turned into "babbling brook". I've heard this insult well into adulthood from men who don't like the fact that I'm not softspoken or quiet about my opinions.

Maybe Brooke doesn't feel like a big enough name for me. It feels too small for my personality (which has been described as "big", although I'm still unsure if that's a character flaw or not). And I wish my name was more reflective of who I am. Kind and forgiving, but not forgetful. Smart and reflective, but abrasive at times. Sarcastic and funny, sometimes witty when I want to be (or when I've had a few drinks). I contain multitudes and I don't feel my name is reflected in that.