#and there is a different relationship with tourism here than there i think

[anonymusbosch]

partly want to message local people on iNat to be like "hello would you like to hike together" but I start typing a message and it's like. I don't know the local flora and fauna At All. I barely speak Spanish. I WILL get altitude sickness at 9,000 ft. I don't have a car. Do you want to drag my pathetic ass around for fun.

and I think maybe perhaps I should, in this case, simply Not

[yuri-for-businesswomen]

i think it is very telling that the best documented case of women buying sex from men are white western women going on vacation in west african countries such as gambia to prey on impoverished and usually younger black men. it highlights that prostitution - any prostitution - is an exertion of power from a more privileged group against a less privileged group. that prostitution is a system that profits from and reinforces oppression and inequality. here, the axis of oppression is not sex, but race. its a symptom of neocolonialism, like most sex tourism.

nonetheless i always have to laugh when the articles, documentaries and research desperately try to act like female and male sex buyers are exactly the same - usually the argument hinges on the fact that the motivation is the same, companionship and sexual gratification. but male sex buyers are motivated by so much more: fetish, sadism, violence, domination. this does not tend to be the case with women. also, unwanted penetration is a different level of violence, having something inserted in you. female sex buyers dont request painful acts such as deepthroat or anal. there are no brothels full with men, the men dont have pimps, and usually in the case of female sex tourists, the arrangement is loose: companionship and sex with no fixed payment but pleasantries, gifts and such. additionally, women dont tend to be able to physically overpower men, or get off on enacting violence like hitting and choking. men who prostitute themselves for women are also less stigmatised than those who do so for men, or prostituted women. and more men sell themselves to other men than to women. and: women who buy sex tend to be single, while the relationship status of a man is no indicator of likelihood to buy sex.

female sex buyers highlight that besides sex, economic class and race determine who is prostituted and who buys sex. that prostitution is an issue of intersectional inequality. and that misogyny is still the key motor of prostitution: male sex buyers are any age, any class, any race, because any man can be a misogynist. but women only become sex buyers under specific conditions; for example motivated by racist fetishisation. another key factor here is gender. buying sex is considered masculine, but women buying sex break with gender norms. consider also the orgasm gap: most women are not satisfied by their male sexual partners. hypothetically it would make more sense for women to be the majority of sex buyers to enforce sexual satisfaction they lack in consensual sexual relationships. yet privileged women who lack sexual satisfaction are more likely to prostitute or otherwise objectify themselves than buying sex.

any form of female-on-male prostitution has its male-on-female (and sometimes male-on-male) equivalent that is more violent and more common. meanwhile many forms of prostitution dont have a female-on-male version, for example prostitution in brothels. men prostituting themselves for women are at a lot less risk for physical violence and abuse or being trafficked. there is even a phenomenon of heterosexual men having to prostitute themselves for men because there is just not enough demand from women. and female-on-female prostitition is almost unheard of, if anything this occurs in a male-female-female constellation. there are no gangbang parties with one or two men and groups of women.

people are so obsessed with pretending like women as consumers in the sex industry - whether that be as sex buyers, porn watchers or stripshow enjoyers - are just the same as men when there are clear differences. gender relations are always relevant in a patriarchal system and reversed roles dont produce the same outcomes.

[cerealxperimentslain]

let me show you an example of liberal zionist dishonesty and intentional misinterpretation

ID: a post by @transmascpetewentz:

“>oh look a new leftist youtuber who seems cool!

>checks their blog

>sees a video about "colonialism"

>asks them if they are talking about real colonialism or are just being antisemitic

>"what's the difference?"

>pulls out a chart explaining the difference between anti colonialism and antisemitism

>"it's a good video sir"

>look inside

>it's a 2 hour long rant about how (((they))) are in so many positions of power/are well respected for being good at their jobs and how that is allegedly bad because of palestine”

End ID.

taken at face value, this post would seem to point out a leftist youtuber who made a video of a half baked rant of nothing but antisemitic conspiracy theories. that would be bad, if that were the case. but since he so graciously mentioned the youtuber in question, i went and looked her up. Dr. Fatima has 12 videos total, and only one of them mentions colonialism in the title or thumbnail, this one:

i highly highly recommend watching the whole video (it is captioned), but it is quite long so the tldr is: this is a video mostly about the building of telescopes on colonised Hawai’ian land, specifically the sacred mountain Mauna Kea, and how scientific pursuit is not exempt from perpetuating colonialism. Dr. Fatima also talks about the genocide in Gaza, and the colonisation of Palestine, to contextualise and draw parallels between the two situations (Hawai’i & Palestine). Here’s a quote from two hours and ten minutes into the video:

“I spent SO much time back in grad school trying to understand why so many of my colleagues, who I knew to be reasonable and intelligent, seemed so wholly unperturbed at what our field [astronomy] was doing. And in recent months I found myself asking the exact same question about Palestine.”

this person either didn’t watch the video, or he did watch the video and didn’t understand a word that was said. there’s also the possibility that he did watch the video and understood perfectly what it was about, and maliciously decided to wildly mischaracterise the video to discourage his followers from watching it, or any of Dr. Fatima’s other videos.

because there is no good faith explanation for how you get “it's a 2 hour long rant about how (((they))) are in so many positions of power/are well respected for being good at their jobs and how that is allegedly bad because of palestine” from this:

Transcript:

“So I think we have enough context now that I can just come out and say the thesis of this video: the plan to build TMT on Mauna Kea, as well as the building of the telescopes that preceded it, is inherently colonial. Hawaii is a settler society where the self-determination of the native population that was nearly genocided out of existence is secondary to the utility their land brings to the United States, primarily as a military outpost, but also whatever else it can be useful for. At one point that was plantations, today it’s generally tourism, but on Mauna Kea, it is astronomy. The land the telescopes are on make them inseparable from the colonial power that controls that land. And this dynamic is underscored by the consistency of objections to their building by Indigenous voices.

And here is the really hard a to swallow part: any benefit astronomers careers gain from the use of telescopes on that land comes at the direct cost of indigenous people's alienation from it. If you think I'm being unfair because Hawaii's colonization already happened and building one more telescope doesn't change anything, you're still paying more attention to made up things like property laws and the American government than the material conditions of people's access and relationship to land. Calling the police to arrest native elders who are just standing on their land so we can build another telescope is not dissimilar to Israel bombing the shit out of Palestinians just living on their land so it can build another settlement. And if you think I'm being dramatic by comparing genocide in Palestine to building a telescope, then you're still paying more attention to the purported intention of astronomers than the long standing, violent, exploitative and still present colonial institutions that grant them power. (e.g. the police, the military, universities, government agencies, etc) Colonization is an ongoing process and the difference between Hawaii and Palestine is that in the former, there aren't enough indigenous people left to pose an existential threat to settlers, and the latter, the indigenous population is still the slight majority. Or at least they still were as of this 2018 report. [98] Honestly, this year might tip it.

And if you think I'm exaggerating the connection between the two, please remember that the United States government is involved in both far off places for exactly the same reason: their use as military outposts, one in the Middle East and one in the Pacific. That is the joint cause of both of these conflicts today: the geopolitical interests of Western imperialism. This is why you might have seen those multi-nation calls for liberation recently: Free Palestine, Free Sudan, Free Congo, Free Haiti, Free Hawaii, and beyond— not as separate issues, but as different interconnected manifestations of the same problem.”

End transcript.

in using this video to be anti-palestinian, he is also being incredibly racist and anti-indigenous by downplaying the colonisation of Hawai’i. implying that the desecration of the sacred land of a colonised people doesn’t count as “real colonialism”, interpreting “scientists in the imperial core shouldn’t participate in exploitative and colonialist practices” fucking somehow as “being good at their jobs and that is allegedly bad”. i guess?? honestly i have no fucking idea what that last paragraph in the post is even supposed to be about.

like i keep wondering if i somehow have the wrong video, but i don’t know of any other leftist youtubers called dr. Fatima who made a video over two hours long about colonialism that brings up Palestine. the more obvious explanation is that he just made shit up

i guess this bit 37 minutes into the video probably hit too close to home

ID: a quote in front of a green background:

"Let me be clear: Antisemitism in the U.S. is a real and dangerous phenomenon, most pressingly from the alt-right white-supremacist politics that have become alarmingly mainstream since 2016. To contend against these and other antisemitic forces with clarity and purpose, we must put aside all fabricated and weaponized charges of "antisemitism" that serve to silence criticism of Israeli policy and its sponsors in the U.S."

--Bernie Steinberg

End ID.

[scarlettlillies]

Hetalia- Selfoss

What's this? Lilly posting a new fic so soon after the last one? It's more likely than you think.

This was an old Nordipalooza submission from 2020 that I ended up discarding during the event. The prompt from this was 'Sweden, Iceland - Folklore'. Back when I was researching for this prompt, I ended up on a tourism website that talked about how a town called Selfoss was supposedly haunted by ghosts so I knew immediately that's where I wanted to set the story. I was having a hard time getting started though and after two incomplete drafts, I tossed them and picked a different prompt. This weekend I finally decided to finish them off.

Sweden and Iceland sadly don't have a lot of interaction but I get the feeling that Ice is most comfortable with Sweden just on the sole fact that he doesn't treat him like a child. Therefore he gets to be a bit more relaxed and not always cool and reserved like he is with the rest of the Nordics. I hope Hima expands on their relationship in a future strip.

Also, I hope I'm not the only person who headcanons both Ice and Nor as photographers! They've got some of the best places for a hobby like that. :D

If you'd prefer to read this fic on Ao3 instead, you can check it out here.

Hope you all enjoy it! Summary: During a trip to see the northern lights near the Icelandic town of Selfoss, Sweden couldn’t shake off the feeling that he was being watched.

----

No matter how much he tried, Sweden couldn’t shake off the feeling that he was being watched.

He questioned if it was all in his head. Hundreds of people, mainly avid photographers, were gathered here by the river near the town of Selfoss to catch a glimpse of the northern lights. Iceland stood across from him and didn’t seem to have a care in the world. He was too focused on setting up his equipment and running a few test shots with his camera pointed toward the skies. The boy had a good head on his shoulders. If anyone could sense if something was off, it would be him.

Yes, it was definitely all in his head. The ghost museum they had visited in Stokkseyri must have let his imagination get ahead of itself.

The show of lights slowly began and Sweden tried to keep his mind occupied by splitting his attention between the skies and his fellow Nordic. Sitting on a reddish-brown fleece blanket, Sweden felt over-dressed with his heavy navy blue peacoat and black leather gloves. After leaving the museum earlier in the day, he was struck with a chill that he couldn’t shake off. Meanwhile, Iceland was dressed lightly in a brown spring jacket with no gloves at all. Almost everyone else wore similar clothing.

“Aren’t ya cold?”

“Not at all. I’m surprised you are though. Don’t tell me you can’t handle a little cold in your old age Sví!”

Sweden rolled his eyes but the comment got the both of them chuckling. With just the two of them together, Iceland seemed more laid-back and less hesitant to hide his playful side. He’s sure Iceland doesn’t mean to, but Sweden noticed over the years that Iceland would quickly become uncomfortable and reclusive whenever Denmark and Norway (and to some degree Finland too) became overbearing with their ‘big brother’ personalities. He just wanted to be treated like an adult alongside the rest of them.

He understands that well. After all, Denmark did it to him when they were small children—despite the three of them frequently arguing over who was the oldest. Those arguments died the moment Iceland entered their lives.

So Sweden does just that. He still dotes on him—albeit more subtly than the others do. But in return, he is rewarded to hear more in-depth things about Iceland’s life. Just on this trip alone, he has heard of the late-night calls with Indonesia, the camping trip in Hiiumaa with the Baltics, and the coffee dates with Liechtenstein in Vaduz. He felt grateful that Iceland could trust him like that.

Snap. Snap. Snap.

The colours quickly grew more intense. Shades of green, blue, and purple danced across the sky and their colours reflected against the river below. Loud gasps of delight erupted from the crowd on the ground. Iceland was mesmerized by the sight. Even though he had seen this millions of times, it never failed to put his mind at ease. Any worries he had about his life would immediately wash away. With a hand placed on his left shoulder, Sweden surprised Iceland by coming up close at his side. The average person would never be able to tell, but he could see that tiny grin form on Sweden’s face. He was just as ecstatic to see the lights as he was.

“Gettin’ some good shots?”

“Yeah,” he nodded before he returned his focus to the camera. “The multicoloured lights always make the best shots.”

Sweden tucked his hands into his coat pockets. He watched him work and noted how meticulous Iceland was with each shot. Seeing him like this reminded him so much of Norway, right down to the focused but elated expressions. Norway was also a photographer who loved to shoot landscapes just like him. But Sweden would never dare say that out loud. Iceland would quickly get annoyed whenever comparisons arose between him and his brother, even as a joke.

We’re nothing alike. Don’t say dumb things like that.

He kept his comments to himself and continued staring up at the skies. He didn’t need to ruin the perfect day they’d had together.

The lights had lasted for around twenty minutes when dark clouds began rolling through. Everyone in the crowd knew it was their sign to call it a night. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. The camera Iceland had been using throughout their trip had begun flashing a warning that the battery was running low. Sweden helped him pack his equipment and get the bags into Iceland’s trunk. The blanket Sweden used earlier remained unfolded and got tossed into the backseat. With everything packed, they were ready for the hour’s drive back to Reykjavík.

But there it was again. That feeling that someone was watching. Sweden was so certain about it.

“What’s wrong?” Iceland asked. Sweden was leaning against the open passenger door as he searched around the pitch-black landscape. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for, just that it was something.

“We’re bein’ watched…”

“Huh? From what?”

“Dunno but—”

Laughter.

A child’s laughter.

It was such a high-pitched noise that rang inside his ears. He hated that he couldn’t see where it was coming from. There were no streetlights in this part of the country. The only light visible came from the inside of Iceland’s car and the headlights of others as many began driving away from the scene and onto the main road.

Sweden’s frustrations hit a boiling point. He reached into the glove compartment and pulled out a black flashlight. He slowly made his way toward the river. Iceland tried to call him back however Sweden ignored his pleas. A frustrated sigh fell from his lips, “I'm never taking you to that ghost museum ever again,” He had no choice but to follow behind him.

Sweden hadn’t noticed earlier that the water was much lower than he had anticipated. Boulders of various shapes and sizes poked through the water, especially along the shoreline. He swung his flashlight around and didn't see anything out of the ordinary. The mysterious sounds of laughter from before had also disappeared. Was it his mind playing tricks on him again?

“Did ya happen to hear a child laughin’ earlier?”

“A child?” Iceland pondered, “The crowd was mostly full of photographers but I’m sure I saw a few families with small kids there. Maybe it was that you were hearing?”

Sweden made a disgruntled grunt as he appeared furious with himself. He hated how out of character this was for him. He could never recall a moment in time when he acted this paranoid before.

But on the furthest rock to his left, his flashlight picked up something stuck against one of the boulders. The two men investigated and discovered it was a small grey blanket. They had wondered if it was forgotten by one of the families from earlier. Upon closer inspection though, they noticed it was covered in mud, the material looked faded, and the bottom tip of the blanket had been submerged into the water. It was clear it had been here for some time.

“Sví, we should go. There’s no one here,” Iceland said as he tugged on Sweden’s arm. “We have a long drive ahead of us.”

It looked as if Sweden had finally come to his senses and the two men walked back to the car. But Iceland took one more look over his shoulder. Near the river, a small child stood there in a white gown. A short blond boy, possibly no older than three, hugged the dirty grey blanket that Sweden discovered earlier. Iceland put a finger to his lips and shook his head. The little boy’s smile turned to an angry frown and disappeared towards the water.

Iceland was open to sharing many things about his life with Sweden. But the stories of the spirits that inhabited this part of his home were not one of them. No one needed to know he could see things that mortals could not. He was determined to keep it that way.

[popfizzles]

Honestly I'd like a refresher on who ur Mario ocs are! Take this as an opportunity to give a brief run down of each of the main ocs in ur mario story

UHH okay but all the art i repost will be. very very old bc i haven't posted TNMS seriously/regularly since. 2019?? so uh you've been warned.

LONG POST AND OLD ART AHEAD.

I've put it under a read more for the sake of everyone's dashboards.

And before I start: I started writing and working on The New Mario Story (TNMS) way back in high school as a joke and it's turned into this huge passion project/stress ball thing for me. A lot of it is arbitrary for no reason other than it made me happy when I made it! So try not to think too hard about it all <:) I know I don't.

anyway the gist of it is Mario is a younger, thin and lanky greenhorn type of guy instead of the experienced older plumber you're used to (perhaps a younger version of the Mario we know, or maybe someone completely different altogether?). He's completely clueless when it comes to the world around him; I wanted him to have the vibe of someone young, booting up their very first Mario game in their life.

[Original Post]

With this new Mario came a new Peach, and a new Boswer!

[Original Post 1] [Original Post 2]

Prince Pitt Toadstool is the current monarch in charge of the Mushroom Kingdom. He's professional and graceful for the most part, but he's also admittedly antsy and more hands-on with his kingdom than he should be. He walks the streets of Toad Town often, and will take trips to nearby towns and cities when there's issues (much to the dismay of his advisor, Toadsworth). He wants to be available at all times for his subjects!!

But, since the Mushroom Kingdom houses a lot of valuable resources and is responsible for so much political power, Toadstool becomes a large target.

Specifically so, his presence is interesting to the Bowsella, the Koopa Queen, ruler of the Koopa Kingdom.

[Original Post]

The two kingdoms have been at ends for who knows however long. There have been wars in the past, fighting over land and resources. There's even been talk of an arranged marriage between Bowsella and Toadstool to merge the two kingdoms together.

Of course, this trouble is all with her subjects in mind! The Koopa Kingdom occupies a lot of harsh crag and volcanic terrain, so resources like food and tourism are hard to come by. It's for the good of her people. The end justifies the means, after all.

I also made designs for the Toad Brigade and the Koopalings!

[Original Post]

There are a few others that are less recognizable, however. My favorite would have to be Saul Toad.

[Original Post]

Saul Toad (or, Saul T. for short) is Mario's roommate. He acts as a sort of mentor to Mario, and teaches him the ropes of what it means to exist in this world.

He's a chain-smoking, retired veteran; who knows WAY more than you think about everything and anything. He constantly lies about his age, and keeps his past to himself. The most Mario knows is that Saul used to work as a castle guardsman. After he retired, he followed his dream of becoming a bar owner.

However, Toad Town is not the bustling adventurer's hub it used to be, and business is rough.

There's also some smaller subplots here and there, about characters I'd want to get attached to Mario and join him in adventures. You can tell I take a lot of inspiration from the older Paper Mario games (and the partner system) the more you break apart these things to their bare essentials!

The most fleshed out one would be about Teal (who is a Shy Guy), and her abusive boyfriend, Edward (a Big Bandit).

[Original Post 1] [Original Post 2]

Teal is in a dangerously abusive relationship with Edward (who owns a pawn shop in the seedier part of Toad Town). She's pretty meek and shy on her own, but slowly finds her voice and stands up for herself with Mario's influence.

Plus you know.

A few other quirky world building aspects, like the topic of blood;

[Original Post]

Or the topic of Mario's brother, or rather, his lack of one.

[Original Post]

And this is just scratching the surface of everything, so PLEASE do not hesitate to ask for more specifics or even about anything I may have missed!!

and again thank you for going through this long ass post my bad i talked for like two and a half hours it feels like HKLSDHJKSDHGK

[whenthechickencry]

Umineko EP5. Part 1

Props to Battler for finally trying to understand her, but reminding the person who gave up on everything due to not seeing room for understanding that you do, in fact, not understand her is a choice Battler.

Bernkastel and Lambda are not really wrong here, per se. This game, while having Sayo with differing main motivations than other times, does in fact provide a lot of hints. But also promising to understand someone and then being like "we will give you training wheels" by a third party does seem pretty bad.

Again though, she literally does in fact do that despite the framing as if she's just saying this to mock Battler.

Yeah, this is the best way to describe it, the murderer and the rules are the same but the *motivations* behind it are a bit messed up, still I think showing you someone else's interpretation of Sayo's trauma does help in getting a full picture of her...

The contrast between episode 4 ending with Battler going about how he's gonna kill her she's evil die etc to a guilt-ridden Battler trying really hard to understand her is quite interesting.... one big push made him give up on understanding her and another big push put his mind into understanding her. To be fair, the ending of EP4 was a huge degradation of his character. He was gradually being pushed into this direction, otherwise.

I am sure one person who realized they were never in the same room with Battler before this had a heart attack during this scene.

Hiiiiiii!

Natsuhi is about the only person in the world who would be legitimately weeping at Kinzo dying, it's kind of insane how much of a tryhard she is at keeping her Kinzo headcannons in order to not hate him. It's kind of funny Nanjo says like 3 times Kinzo held no regrets.... seems at first he is just saying that but it is quite true.

Narsuhi's magic doesn't stop at Kinzo, either, she has a whole writing of Krauss and this strong, silently brooding man destroyed by his father's death deep down when he is in fact thinking about how tf to not lose his dad's wealth rn.

lol

Natsuhi is a lot smarter and more competent than Krauss but Natsuhi feels emmasculated and ridiculed by this so he would rather trust a man scamming him than the woman he married. Natsuhi, despite being constantly discarded and lied to and treated as lesser writes headcanons where she is her husband's only ally and he really appreciates her help and respects her secretly even if he fucks up. He will still lie to her about the gold for a couple extra years after she saves his ass here btw.

god man this scene hits so differently now. I was Natsuhi during an abusive relationship during the time crypto and scams were becoming popular. I was the person begging someone to not use the last of their money on moon tourism and getting mistreated in result.

A very heartbreaking thing in both this scene and the one where Rosa reveals her thoughts about her husband leaving her is that Natsuhi and Rosa decide they are both fundamentally at fault for the errors of the men in their lives. They struggle with men being the ones at fault because they were always taught women were the issue.

Even after revealing to Natsuhi they might lose the literal place where she lives, he refuses to give all the information to her, fuck you Krauss.

Natsuhi is letting him off as something he couldn't have predicted but he literally could. He knew Kinzo was dying. Man is old.

Natsuhi I think it's more productive if you take these thoughts of self-blame and put them into murdering Krauss.

"Had become" as opposed to choosing to.... can't bury your true thoughts that deep I guess. Also stop demonizing yourself, does are completely fair thoughts not dark at all!

this kind of would have actually worked, which is funny with how desperate he is being. I mean, it might get complicated with Sayo, but.

I don't remember if it was Beatrice or who that said Natsuhi had no propensity for magic but they were so very wrong. Natsuhi is the Witch of Rebirth, a witch who can change someone's soul into whatever form she desires (in her head).

Natsuhi can't admit that Kinzo and Krauss are bad husbands because that would make her a bad wife.... Kinzo can, though.

Again, Natsuhi is very attuned to magic.... I might be delusional but I think Sayo and Natsuhi could have gotten along, if things were different.

It's interesting how fantasy Kinzo has said this for both Natsuhi and Kyrie. I don't think Kyrie is as desperate to be acknowledged for her efforts as Natsuhi is, but, it does show a certain discomfort about how the men in their lives control them, I think.

I can't help at magic being used this shamelessly, lol. Genji probably went to consult with Sayo right away about this lol. Kumasawa and Nanjo probably feel conflicted enough about Kinzo to just take the money without much guilt.

This scene shows us Kanon and Shannon were told I guess, Natsuhi doesn't really like them so I guess she just felt obligated to do that, though. With them being one winged servants and all.

It is kind of sad that it sees that Kinzo's wife only really exists in Natsuhi's world.... because she can relate to her. And with all the info we have, relating to her isn't exactly a sign of happiness.

.....well. You sure did know her when Beatrice was young but not vice versa I guess.

This is an answer arc, as you can tell by the game handing you answers. Thanks Lambdadelta for magic 101! You can tell killing Beatrice has made Battler do his homework, too. He's come a long way between episodes.

Battler is kind of smugly going "Heh, your easy mystery gave me answers" and it's like.... yes. That's what she is trying to do in fact Battler! It's really obvious in reply that it's really just Bern, not Lambda, that fucking hates Beato.

Lambda's not really wrong here, even if she's coming more from the angle that "anything fictional is a waste of time", which is wrong obviously.

....And the one pointing out this way of fighting is hurting Beato is Lambdadelta, again. It's really obvious she is partial to Beatrice, in her own way.

"Kumasawa, you really are quite an actress. All that panic in the corridor made it seem like Father really was there." Again, this is an answer arc. Where else has Kumasawa shown weird, overreacting terror?

[princelythirsts]

Are you still answering the f/o crossover thing? 👉👈 if so

F/o is Lucille Sharpe from crimson peak, S/I is Ianthe (undisclosed last name)

Relationship dynamic: rocky start, as Ianthe was a high society friend of Ediths from America. Things improve(? Kinda of) when they travel to England on their way to visit family in Europe, and offer to hire workers to repair Allerdale hall. They end up getting snowed in and things turn out differently than the movie lol

Occupation: s/I is a painter from a wealthy family (that's actually a crossover with another self ship universe lol) and Lucille is unemployed because women weren't expected to work in the same way

In short, s/I also has a dark secret related to their families wealth, so when they discover Lucille and Thomas's murder thing, they kind just shrug. The incest was weird, but again. Family secrets, I guess.

(Also Edith and Thomas are happy and in love in my ship-verse. With the company of S/I, she learns that she isn't 'losing' Thomas to her and while they don't exactly get her explicit blessing, she's more comfortable accepting Edith as family)

From @vampyrolesbos

YEA I’m still taking these! I just take a long time to answer them bc I tend to overthink them 😅 I haven’t seen the film in a while

I love this turn of events, and I’m sure Edith and Thomas are glad for it too. Lucille especially for getting someone sweet who looks past some of her… past choices.

This is a fun one to put in the Harlots verse due to all the juicy relationships - I think there was a lot more pressure for upper class women to marry in the Georgian era, so people might find it odd that Lucille would stay single and have an artist in her employ after a fateful winter.

Then again, their family is pretty isolated, so people might not hear about it, or care enough to gossip. I can see Ianthe taking wealthy clients for portraits.

I think most likely I could see their paths crossing if Phemie and Charles wanted a portrait and ended up spending some time with the artist and their … very generous patron. Who they live with and want to spend the rest of their life with.

There’s also the option of them all meeting on a fancy holiday to France or something.

Phemie would leap for the chance to connect with them - he is a noble too, it’s only natural they’d get along!

… There’s also the very delicious parallel between Phemie and Lucille as people who claim nobility (or even are nobility) but have to pretend to not be broke as hell. Phemie copes by getting a rich boyfriend, at least. I don’t know if it would ever be revealed - ie their double lives when it comes to wealth / reputation - but Lucille might not take kindly to Phemie’s advice to just get a sugar daddy, of course.

I typically have Phemie as a Connection since Charles is Social, sure, but less so, and very sheltered. I think Phemie and Ianthe would both be used to mixing with people across class lines in a way that Charles and Lucille wouldn’t. (Courtesans 🤝 Artists)

I am intrigued about the dark secret with Ianthe’s wealth, I’d like to see how it could factor in here!

Charles isn’t exactly hiding where his wealth is from, but if they’re meeting in another country where he’s not well known (and is currently trying to change for the better), he might not advertise exactly what his business is.

So they’re all very posh rich people with dark secrets who appreciate art! I’m not sure what 1700s tourism was like in Europe but they could go to operas and art galleries together, maybe share some gossip on the way

Tell me about your selfship and I’ll tell you what it would be like if our ships interacted in a crossover / AU!

[mkaugust]

Also! In regards to your autumn tag rant thing; it's really funny to see the difference between Europe and the USA. Where I live, Halloween isn't a thing. At all. It's slowly coming over from the US, but it's been years and still nothing really happened to make it as big of a thing as it is over there.

Hell, pumpkin anything didn't become a mainstream thing until late 2018. Halloween candles? Never heard of them. Those yellow orange white triangle candy things? No clue what they taste like or why it's such a love/hate topic.

I'm not even sure pumpkin fields exist here? They sure feel fake and made up.

This is giving 0 extra knowledge, but I just find the cultural difference so cool.

I fear my chaotic energy last night gave the wrong impression. I'm not actually a big autumn person 🤣 it's a really big deal here (see: capitalism, tourism). But I basically just like apples a lot... Y'all ever had an apple crisp?? Or apple cookies?? Are people aware apple varieties are much more complex than just green and red? But yeah I have a complicated relationship with Halloween even 😂

But YES Britt it is SO fascinating to me to see the cultural differences play out it's sooo fun I am loving it and really welcome hearing more about what autumn is actually like, what the season actually means to other people! It is so cool!

Side note, I am team candy corn but it does get old fast. I think other people think it is too waxy? Idk I never understood the arguments against it. It is weird though, I'll give you that.

[handelplayssims]

Thoughts on the Upcoming Expansion, Growing Together.

Let me be upfront here on what I am primarly about here. I’m primarly about interesting gameplay experiences within the Sims 4. So most of what Growing Together is selling is family gameplay. Something I do consider a core aspect of the Sims 4 with it’s generational play.

I will say that the milestone and more defined family relationships do actually intregue me, as someone who does want better definition between my familial relationships.

But systems, while nice, aren’t as big of a lure into a game by themselves. You won’t know how they’ll shake out until you pay them yourself, like Fame or Lifestyles.

The biggest draw for me is the world itself, honestly. Does the world have a different vibe than any of the others out there? And uhhhhh, this is the suburban housing area. Which is hiliarious to me because this is supposed to be based on San Francisco, even more so than San Myshuno, which tries to be the every city. Instead, as Simmers has pointed out, it’s more akin to the aflluent suburbs surrounding the city.

...so I’m also going to do the thing that I do with Del Sol Valley and make every home that doesn’t have someone in it into a rental lot.

But to counter that, is that I need to have reasons to have my Sims come and visit. And a library and a rec center aren’t exactly that in my mind. There is the movie theater but I would more use that as a date area if I remember it.

There’s three vacent lots. One in the suburbs area will be made residental, the one in the downtown area will be made into a Nightclub, (It’s San Fran, the gayest city. IT NEEDS A NIGHTCLUB!) and that last one in the park area will be made into a proper park to leap off into that water area. Either National Park or normal park would work fine for me. Hilariously in my mind, the only mark of tourism is that nightclub. Don’t know if I’ll use it much for vacations, especially since I rarely think of doing vacations in the first place. -shrug-

Either or, in terms of purchasing, it’s below High School Years, as I want more teen activities and the playable school.

[wahlpaper]

The Floating Feldmans Review

The Floating Feldmans by Elyssa Friedland

CW: Cancer, Off-Page Death, Family Stress, Toxic Relationships, Vomit, Tourism and Cruise Culture, References to Harry Potter, Drinking, Underage Drinking, Drugs, Fire, Injury, Violence, Internalized Fatphobia, Money Problems, Self Esteem Issues

4.5/5

I'll be honest, I only added The Floating Feldmans by Elyssa Friedland to my TBR because it's Jewish and had a fun cover. I only decided to read it because I asked my friend to pick a book at random from my list while I was on hold for Radio Silence by Alice Oseman. This book is a casual read. It's not there to change your life or hook you into a series. There are either 9 or no main characters depending on how you look at it, and it feels a little light for some of the serious matters addressed. It's not my kind of genre, but if I was going to read a casual story, I'm glad it was this one. It's progressive, it's Jewish, and it's a little queer too!

The Floating Feldmans centers around a cruise being taken for Annette Feldman's 70th birthday. Her family is practically estranged and highly dysfunctional, but her husband has cancer and she's not sure how much time they have left to bring the family back together. Everyone has at least one secret and a whole lot of feelings about other members of the family. Will the Feldman descendants and the charming cruise director be able to make this a good vacation for Annette? Should they?

This book is structured in a mostly-linear fashion. The prologue contains a scene most of the way through the story, but it then pops back in time to the start. From there it goes forward as best it can. There are vivid flashbacks throughout, telling stories from anytime in the lives of the characters. As this story is told from 9 different points of view, sometimes the chapters overlap in time. I like a unique story structure that I can still follow and that's absolutely what Friedland has created here. I normally don't do well with a lot of POV characters, but the structure kept me engaged with the characters and helped me to keep track of the plot.

The Jewish representation in The Floating Feldmans is gentle but not barren. It isn't important to the plot, but it's woven into the personality of the book. Yiddish is used, characters have Jewish names, gefilte fish is mentioned a few times, and Jewish holidays/celebrations are brought up. While I don't think anyone was mentioned as keeping kosher, it did initially matter to Annette that her daughter married a Christian man. I would say that this book was written for a Jewish reader, even if it can be enjoyed by those of other religions. It assumes you'll get the cultural references.

When I put The Floating Feldmans on my TBR, I had no idea that there was queer content within! So this is me telling you about it! One of the 9 main characters is the cruise director, Julian. He's worked on the ship for over a decade and loves his job, but he's skittish when it comes to his personal life. His boyfriend wants to get married, but Julian isn't sure that's for him. I wasn't fully rooting for their relationship because of this, but I knew I liked Julian from the start. His character arc was one of my favorites in the novel.

I mentioned previously that The Floating Feldmans isn't a life changing story, but that it is progressive and addresses some serious matters. It's a character driven book that centers around the vacation more than a specific plot. Included and handled well were a shopping addiction, poor communication between husband and wife, cancer, self image issues, college application stress, a problematic secret relationship, and more. You'll find that nothing is idealized, it's all told with realism.

The Floating Feldmans by Elyssa Friedland isn't the right genre for everyone, but if you're looking for a cool-down book or prefer casual reads in general, I highly recommend it. You'll be treated to silly adventures, lots of family drama, and a book that can make you laugh. Are you ready to set sail?

[yersina]

shj as That Guy in the company who’s constantly subtly bragging about his wife. it doesn’t matter what you’re actually talking about, he’ll manage to fit in an anecdote about her. (yes, he knows exactly what he’s doing and every single comment he makes is meticulously calculated for maximum annoyance.)

“oh, it’s raining? here’s an umbrella. no, no, i’m okay, my wife is picking me up. the kids had to go to a doctor’s appt today, so they took the car.” shj 100% means that hyj had to take their menagerie of pets to the vet but if you took a different meaning from that, well that’s not his problem.

brings lunch to work sometimes which are obviously a display of his marital superiority because they’re absolutely adorable and sometimes have little cartoon faces on the food (sometimes hyj has time in the mornings, okay? he learned how to when yoohyun was in school and it feels more weird not to now)

yoojin is actually living his dreams of being the ultimate freeloader w the amt of money shj makes so all he really does is work part time at a daycare and pet shelter and sometimes pet sits for people

speaking of pets, aforementioned menagerie is constantly fluctuating but currently consists of their kitten/cat peace and unspecified bird chirpie

this obviously means that shj can insert himself into any animal related conversation w the tidbit that “oh! my wife works with animals for a living”. no, shj himself doesn’t know the first thing about raising pets. no, he does not give a shit that he has 0 advice to give. he’s just here to make people uncomfortable and enjoy himself in the process.

hyj btw has completely given up on getting shj to call him anything other than his wife (sentence structure being different in korean also means that pronouns are less of an issue, but that’s a whole separate thing)

one day, shj forgets his lunch at home so hyj goes to the company to drop it off and their department goes insane trying to figure out who he is

(more schemes by shj or genuine mistake? you decide)

hyj is ofc completely baffled by their confusion and so insists that he’s really just there to deliver the lunch, and completely neglects to mention what his actual relationship to shj is

shj wears the wedding band but hyj keeps his on a chain bc he works w children and animals and it’s not the best idea to have valuable jewelry on his hands, so half of the department, geniuses that they are, jump straight to “OH MY GOD THE BOSS IS HAVING AN AFFAIR”

shj knows about this. shj knows everything. he finds it hilarious.

kang soyoung, the bravest, newest, and also most stupid, decides to ask her boss what his relationship to the person who dropped off lunch for him is and gets a response of “we’re very close”. which is true—hyj is probably the person that shj is closest to but ksy immediately thinks “oh fuck we were right??” she Does Not pause to consider any other possibilities.

(shj expresses to hyj later that he would be much better about hiding an affair than this. hyj is Unimpressed.)

some time later, shj asks for recommendations for a scenic date spot to take his wife to and ksy, being an outdoorsy adventurous type of person, immediately has an itemized list ready for him

by complete coincidence shj&hyj and ksy&her girlfriend end up at one of the locations at the same time, each on their own dates

ksy ofc ends up seeing shj w hyj and has the devastating realization that shj is indeed cheating on his wife w hyj

she does manage to overhear (eavesdrop) a very confusing conversation about tourism. shj monologues about the place they’re at and abt 5% of what he’s saying is actually true. (this 5% is on accident—if shj had his way, it’d be 0%)

ksy doesn’t really mean to confront them, but she ends up running into them at the gift shop or whatever while her girlfriend is in the bathroom and she starts talking very pointedly about shj’s wife

“i was the one who recommended this place to boss! he’d asked us where to bring his wife on a date, you know. oh did you know that she works with animals? she’d like this kind of scenic outdoors-y date, wouldn’t she?”

hyj is SO confused

“uh. yeah, i did enjoy myself,” he says, wondering why he’s explaining himself to this random woman. “i appreciate it. it’s our anniversary.”

cue blue screen of death

ksy, when she figures it out, is embarrassed enough that she seriously contemplates transferring departments just so she won’t have to see shj ever again

shj is very satisfied—his wife is happy, he planned a successful anniversary, his employee is currently dying from her own embarrassment. his day is complete.

[imerdwarf]

Sworn To Secrecy

Requested by @imagine-all-the-fandoms: Hey colleague ❤️ I really love your writing! So I also thought to send you an idea 😊 The reader is Bucky’s girlfriend but just a normal civilian and he keeps it a secret at the compound. One day she visits him but crosses the other Avengers and Sam is immediately flirting with you but Bucky just comes, swoops you in his arms and kisses you. The others are shocked and confused and later that day they finally tell them they’ve been together for a while now and they are all happy for you two? 😊

Pairing: Avenger!Bucky x Civilian!Reader (Modern AU)

Warnings: Absolutely none! Just a lot of fluff 🥰

Author's Notes: Thank you so much my dear friend for sending in this beautiful request, I hope you like it and please let me know if there's anything you want me to change! 💜

Your phone vibrated in the palm of your hand and your smile reached both corners of your eyes when you saw the name light up your screen.

Bucky: I can't wait to see you, how long until you get here?

Your fingers flew quickly over the touch sensitive keyboard to reply back, without any typos might I add.

Y/N: I'm five minutes away. Patience! ;)

The wind blew in your face as you tilted your head upwards and sighed. Your relationship with Bucky Barnes was absolutely not the easiest thing in the world. He had made you sworn to secrecy about it, to protect yourself and him from potential haters and enemies.

You were grateful that you were able to spend a lot of time together when he didn't have month-long missions to go on. The sunny afternoons were spent in your small apartment on the couch watching movies with a blanket draped over the two of you, often accompanied by a hot chocolate made from his secret recipe.

Everything about Bucky screamed safety; his big beefy frame, bulging biceps that he just knew you loved and deliberately bought small sizes to show them off, his thick thighs were a dream for you whenever you draped your legs over them to get comfortable. Nothing about him scared you, not even that matte black and gold Wakandan inspired arm of his. It did wonders when you were burning up with fevers.

You met Bucky by chance at a coffee shop in Brooklyn. It was a cliché moment when you accidentally turned around too quickly and spilled your hot drink over his white shirt. Endless apologies spilled from your lips while Bucky was too busy admiring your beautiful features that your words simply fell on deaf ears. To Bucky, it felt as though time had temporarily stopped ticking, and the only people in the coffee shop at that moment was you and him.

The two of you exchanged numbers with your promises of buying him a brand new shirt to replace the one you ruined. You texted each other every second of every day. The more you talked, the easier and the flirty-er the texts became.

A month after the coffee shop incident, you almost keeled over when he finally asked you to be his girlfriend. He regretted he couldn't take you on a date because of his status, and that never really bothered you.

You didn't date him because he was a popular avenger, with a staggering 100 million followers on his Instagram. For your protection, he couldn't follow you either, but that too didn't bother you. You dated him because you loved his personality and you loved him.

You zig-zagged past the oncoming pedestrians as the tower came into view. Outside of the gates there was already a crowd of people hoping to catch a glimpse of the avengers.

The security guard in the booth next to the gate was trying to reason with the crowd, sadly a building this well known attracted all kinds of attention and tourism. You were told that people from Australia would come to visit.

You approached the guard with a friendly smile. "Good afternoon sir," you greeted politely, pulling some I.D out from your purse.

"Good afternoon! Are you expected here today?" The guard smiled but looked over your shoulder to see the crowd was now taking pictures of the front of the tower. He shooed them away and brought his attention back to you.

"Yes, Sergeant James Barnes is expecting me." The way his name rolled off your tongue was like drops of honey. Smooth and sweet.

The guard checked the list of visitors expected today and hummed with a smile.

"So he is. So what you do is, go to the front desk with your visitor badge and they'll direct you to his floor."

With a quiet thanks and holding on tightly to the badge, you walk through the screeching iron gates. Your shoes crunch underneath the gravel and the wind howls through the trees that gives off extra privacy.

The lady at reception greets you warmly and you relax when you give her your name and show her your visitor badge as directed by the security guard.

"Take the elevator and go to floor 13. Sergeant Barnes is currently in a meeting but he won't be too long." Another thank you passes through your lips as you head off towards the glass and chrome elevator.

The ride up to the 13 floors was agonisingly slow. Classical music filled the emptiness of the elevator. The glass casing gave you a beautiful view overlooking the grounds of the compound. A rose garden of all different shades of roses up the far left of the green garden surrounded by cherry blossoms and hydrangeas. Benches scattered across the grounds that you hoped to one day have the pleasure of sitting on and watch the bumblebees.

This was another reason Bucky loved you so much, you were so passionate and kind against wildlife and nature.

Finally, after god knows how long you've been staring out into the garden daydreaming, the elevator doors ding open and you're greeted with a muscular blond God with a red Cape hung over his back and a creepy wide grin on his face. His scruffy hair made you think he hadn't washed it in a few days.

"I was expecting someone else, but hello!" His voice seemed to boom throughout the space of whatever room this actually was. Some kind of hallway, but you're pretty sure you would hear his voice from all the way from that beautiful garden.

"Uh hello!" You stuttered, taken by surprise that there would be other people here.

"I am Thor, the God of Thunder!" His arms went wide and so did his smile. Your mouth gaped open and closed when you recognised the name. Thor. God of thunder. Of course, you read about these gods and how he ruled Asgard. Or was set to.

"Thor! Of course," you chuckled nervously, stretching your hand out in front of you, "I'm Y/N."

"It's a pleasure to meet you! Please follow me and allow me to introduce you to my mortal friends," you chuckled at that line, and adjusted your sweater.

"Friends, mortals! We have a guest, this is Y/N, A human of Earth." Thor stepped aside and your eyes widened; you were only standing in the same room as the avengers, the same people Bucky spoke so highly of. Thor told you the names of the people in front of you, everyone was there and you wondered where the hell Bucky was.

Tony was the first one to step forward and looked you up and down by moving his tinted glasses to the bridge of his nose. You relaxed when he smiled, but only slightly. You realised they had not asked why some stranger was standing in their living room.

"You know who I am?" Tony asked smugly, his arms folded over his chest.

You nodded, your eyes flickered down his chest, his arc reactor lit up in a bright blue. You almost reached out to touch it but stopped yourself before you could.

"Uh yes. You're Tony I believe?" You blushed under their gazes. Bucky told you they were the best people, but to you they were very intimidating.

"Very good. What brings you to my tower?"

"I'm here to see—"

"Wow! Who is this?" A voice yelled out from behind you. A guy you recognised as Sam, or Falcon, or Birdbrain as Bucky liked to call him.

"Y/N!" Thor answered before you could, the rest of the avengers took a seat on the couch.

"Yeah, hi," a small laugh came out and it made your cheeks heat up when his eyes raked over your form.

"My, my. You are gorgeous!" He kept that grin on his lips as he stepped closer. His over-sprayed cologne was suffocating you. "Beautiful, just perfect, just—"

"Mine!" Bucky yelled from the doorway as he stormed past Sam to get to you. You bit your lip to hide the growing grin and failed, he swooped you up in his arms, your legs instantly wrapped around his waist as he spun the two of you around and kissed you.

Cat calls sounded from the couch and you smiled into the kiss. When you pulled away for air, the expressions on everyone's faces told you they needed and wanted an explanation.

You could only imagine the questions they wanted to ask; how did you know Bucky Barnes? How did a soldier and an assassin manage to keep a relationship so hidden under the eyes of a mind-reader and a super intelligent spy? How did Bucky not slip up to Steve about having a girlfriend? All valid questions of course.

Bucky lowered you back down on your feet and pressed his forehead against yours. Without giving the team an answer, he slipped his hand in yours and pulled you away, leaving the superheroes with confusion etched upon their faces.

Bucky gave you a thorough tour of the tower. He showed you the gym, the kitchen where he made you his favourite sandwich, he even showed you his room. It was painted in a light blue with white curtains and blinds, thick, soft cream carpet covered the floor and his bed was as soft as a cloud. It was a lot more comfortable than your bed, that's for sure.

Later that day, Tony ordered a takeout and invited everyone to the dining room to eat, including you. The way Bucky's hand was slung protectively around your shoulder didn't go amiss by anyone in the room. It was when he finally sat down did the questions start.

"Alright, what's the deal with you two? Is this a prank? Is he paying you darling?" Sam fired off first, pointing his fork at the two of you opposite him.

Bucky glared at him from calling you 'darling', from where you were sat you could hear the heavy breathing. Your hand slipped into your lap and into his, giving his thigh a firm squeeze to keep calm.

"Y/N is not being paid!" Bucky defended, outraged he could even think such a thing.

You cleared your throat and took a sip of water before speaking, "it's true and I understand it's a shock but Bucky is actually my boyfriend and has been for the past couple of months," you smiled, proud of the fact you were in a relationship with this man and it was no longer secret.

"How the hell did that happen?" Tony queried, waving his chopsticks in the air, flabbergasted by the whole situation.

"What, you think I'm not capable of meeting people?" Bucky challenged, not really enjoying the interrogation which was the whole reason he didn't want to say anything at the beginning.

"Well of course I wouldn't be surprised if it was Capsicle here but it's you," Tony snorted.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Bucky was yelling and turning red with anger when Nat sought the opportunity to take the heat off the two men.

"So, Y/N. Tell us about yourself."

Tags: @smokeybluebrooke-lyn @pinkdiamond1016

[alisonsfics]

Outsmarted the King

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Reader

Summary: The BAU is discussing a case and then Y/N proves she may know more than Spencer does.

Word Count: 1.5k

Warnings: Mentions of victimology, no actual description of a crime though. All the facts that I mention are completely made up.

The day had begun like so many other days. The BAU was working a new case in Sacramento, California.

The team was all gathered in a room that the local police station had set up. “Maybe we’re looking at this wrong. There is no connection between any of these victims. They’re different races, genders, religions. Maybe there is a connection that we aren’t seeing” Hotch said, sounding frustrated.

The team hadn’t gotten anywhere. There were no suspects and not even a single witness.

“Reid, does Sacramento get many tourists?” Hotch asked, turning to Reid. “Not many, most of the people in Sacramento are locals. They have a large agricultural industry, meaning a large percentage of their population is farmers that are kept here for work” Reid stated.

You thought for a second about an article you had read on the jet. It was about the increased amount of tourism in Sacramento.

“Actually, that’s not true. Tourism populations have been increasing in Sacramento over the last couple of years” You corrected, not trying to offend Reid, but trying to make sure the team had all the correct information.

You saw Morgan’s eyebrows raise, as he glanced towards Emily. “Did she just?” Emily whispered. Morgan slowly nodded.

You looked over toward Reid, trying to gauge his reaction. It wasn’t often that Reid was corrected. Hotch looked unsure of what to do. “Garcia, look up tourism populations” Hotch said, to Penelope, who was already on the phone.

“I just did sir, Y/N is right” she said, sounding stunned. “Maybe that’s the unsub’s motive. He’s a local, he’s lived here his whole life. He feels a connection to Sacramento. He notices more and more tourists coming and he feels threatened, like they’re going to take away his small town” Morgan suggested.

“That’s it, that’s the connection. All three of your victims were visiting Sacramento, from out of town” Garcia said, on speaker. “So we’re looking at a local, who’s lived here his whole life. He’s involved in the community. We need to go back through our suspect pool” Hotch said, exiting the room.

“You’ve got guts” Morgan whispered in your ear, as he followed Hotch out of the room. You looked towards Reid, he displayed no emotion. He quietly left the room. “You did it Y/N, you beat the king” Emily said, patting your back as she followed the others.

You wondered if you had just destroyed your relationship with Reid. Was he offended or simply disappointed that he didn’t know something?

It was nearing the end of the day, Reid hadn’t spoken to you all day. Hotch had just called and told the team that him and Rossi knew who the unsub was, and they were going to bring him in.

The whole team waited anxiously around the phones, waiting for some word that Rossi and Hotch had got the guy.

Then the front doors of the police station opened and in came Hotch. He was followed by Rossi, who had the guy in handcuffs. The whole team breathed a sigh of relief. Emily and Morgan walked over to Hotch, to figure out how they knew who the unsub was.

You peeked over your shoulder and saw Reid alone, in the separate room the police had set up for the team. “Go talk to him” JJ said, giving you a weak smile. You stood up and took a deep breath.

You carefully walked in the room. Reid didn’t even look up at you. He was too busy reading through files.

“Hey Reid” you said, trying to get him to at least look at you. “Yeah?” He said, still engrossed in what he was doing. “We got him, Rossi and Hotch just brought him in” you told him.

Reid looked up finally. There was still no expression on his face, just a vague glance. “I have to go ask Hotch about something, I’ll be back” Reid said, walking right past you. He didn’t even acknowledge what you said.

You sighed, feeling stunned. You had figured that Reid would be mad at you. You just didn’t think the silent treatment was his style.

The door opened again and JJ walked in this time. “Has Reid ever been mad at you?” You asked JJ. “Uhhh, no not really. It’s kind of hard to make Reid mad” JJ said. She didn’t know how to help you, but she wanted to try.

“I never thought he would give me the silent treatment” You said, still confused. “Just give him time. He always knows everything, all the time. This might be a lot for him” JJ said, encouragingly.

“Yeah, I bet you’re right” you said, starting to pack up all the team’s files. “He’s still Reid, and he can’t stay mad at you forever. You two are practically inseparable” JJ told you.

The whole team was sitting on the jet, riding back to DC. It was quiet, most of the team was either sleeping, reading, or listening to music.

You spotted Spencer, sitting by himself. He was just staring out the window. “Go try and talk to him” Emily whispered in your ear. She was sitting right next to you.

You sighed and then stood up. You carefully walked over to him, trying not to wake anyone up. You didn’t want to startle him, he seemed really spaced out.

You lightly placed your hand on his forearm, still standing. His eyes flicked over to meet yours. “Can I sit?” You asked him, softly. He gave you a small smile and nodded.

You sat down, across from him. “So what’re you thinking about?” You whispered. “I’m gonna go get some coffee” Reid said, standing up. You sighed again to yourself.

How long would it take for Reid to talk to you again?

Then, a split second later, Reid reappeared by your side. You felt him lightly tap your shoulder. You turned to look over at him. “Do you want some?” He asked me, kindly. “Yeah, that’d be great” you said, smiling to yourself.

It was a small step, but it was a step in the right direction. You couldn’t help but have a smile appear on your face.

What you didn’t know was Morgan was watching this whole encounter. And now he had the biggest smirk on his face as he saw you with the expression of pure love. He also saw that same look on Reid’s face, as he went to grab the coffee.

For a while, Morgan had known that Reid and you had some repressed feelings for each other. He was always trying to convince the rest of the team of it.

Reid came back to your seats and handed you a lukewarm cup of coffee. “Thank you” you said, sincerely. Reid gave you a half-hearted smile.

“Do you wanna talk about...” you began to ask, but before you could finish Reid shook his head no.

Looks like you were back on thin ice. Reid didn’t talk to you for the whole rest of the flight. He didn’t even look in your direction.

The jet landed and JJ and Rossi went straight to their cars to go home and go to bed. You walked into the bullpen with the rest of the team.

You started to collect the rest of your stuff from desk that you needed to take home. You had put it all in your bag, when you saw Spencer walking over towards the kitchen. You hooked your arm through your bag and followed Reid.

“I give up” you told him, as he poured sugar in a cup of coffee. “What do you mean?” He asked you, looking over at you in a concerned manner. “Whatever this anger you have towards me, I’m sorry. I’m sorry if I made you upset. But I hate this silent treatment, it’s horrible. You’re my best friend Spence” you confessed to him.

“Mad at you? I’m not mad at you” Reid said, confused. “But, I corrected you” you said, shocked. “Yeah, well I was wrong” he said, matter-of-factly. “But you haven’t talked to me since. You’ve barely said a word to me” you told him.

“I was just thinking. If you hadn’t been there, we wouldn’t of caught the unsub. If the team had just relied on my information, we would have had the profile wrong. My lack of knowledge could have messed up the team. I wasn’t mad at you, rather impressed” he said, looking you in the eye.

“You, Spencer Reid, were impressed by me? You better be careful or I might get an inflated ego” you joked with him. “I’m always impressed by you. You’re funny, smart, pretty, and a good leader” he said, like it was a fact that you should’ve known.

“You think I’m pretty?” I asked him, smirking to myself. “What? I didn’t say that” Reid said, with panic written on his face. He clearly hadn’t meant to reveal that. “Don’t worry, you’re not too bad yourself, pretty boy” you teased, loving to watch him flustered.

“I...um” he said, completely at a loss for words. “Do you want to have dinner tomorrow?” you asked him, making the move he didn’t want to make. “I would really like that” he sheepishly admitted.

taglist: OPEN

Let me know if you want to be added to my taglist for all my imagines or for a specific character!!

Requests OPEN

[justthehiddleswrites]

Accidentally Married | Tom Hiddleston x OFC | Chapter 6 | Having a bit too fun with our charming Captain America?

A/N:  Tom makes certain comments about an ex (who is unnamed).  It is a fictional girlfriend, take from it what you will.  Keep your hate to yourself.  

SERIES MASTERLIST HERE

Pairing: Tom Hiddleston x OFC (Molly Bishop)

Summary: Tom is stuck in a news cycle from hell; Molly is stuck in the dead end job of bartending with a pile of student and credit debt.  Tom has an idea to solve all their problems.  Get married, get the paparazzi off his back, divorce after a year and Tom pays off Molly’s debts.  Tom has everything figured out, that is until he sees Molly as more than a just a friend and so does someone else.  In this vying for affections who will win, the handsome Brit or the boy from Boston?

This Chapter: As Molly and Chris become friends, Tom becomes jealous and makes a terrible mistake. 

Warnings: fake marriage, smut (vaginal sex), mentions of:  child abuse/neglect, foster care, substance abuse, cheating.

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-

Tom came home carrying an enormous bouquet of lilies and roses he purchased on the way home. He bubbled with anxiety and excitement. His talk with Benedict had done him wonders. Until he opened the door to an empty house. He called out for Molly a few times but got no response. There was also no note. He slumped in a kitchen chair. His phone buzzed.

I’m on my way home. Sorry I didn’t leave a note. Hope you aren’t worried. I promise I’m fine!

Tom smiled at the message. He didn’t know why, but something gnawed at the back of his mind. He scrambled to his feet as he overheard the door opening.

“Tom?” Molly yelled into the house.

“In the kitchen, darling!” He fidgeted with the flowers behind his back. As he stared at the floor, a wide grin grew on his face.

“Molly, I…” His face fell as Evans walked in behind Molly.

“Look who stopped by and took me to lunch!” Molly squeaked.

Chris slung an arm over Molly’s shoulders. Tom’s fist clenched around the flowers behind his back.

“I hope you don’t mind me stealing your girl, Tom.” Chris smirked. “She said you were out to lunch with Benedict.”

“Not at all, Chris.” Tom lied. “I’m glad you could keep my wife company.”

“Pleasure was all mine, pal. She is,” Chris gazed down at Molly with a look that made Tom want to leap across the kitchen counter and strangle Chris. “a pretty special girl.”

“Chris!” Molly smacked his hand. “You are too kind. Thank you for a lovely lunch.” She squeezed his torso.

“And don’t forget about tomorrow. We will find decent margaritas in this city if it kills us.”

“You’re on. But you know I have discerning taste when it comes to my liquor.”

“That makes two of us.”

Molly and Chris giggled. “Let me show you out, Chris.” Tom offered.

Molly smiled over at Tom and noticed his hand behind his back.

“What’s that, darling?”

“What?” Tom’s brows knitted.

“Behind your back.” Molly strolled towards him and peeked around Tom. “Are those for me?”

Tom pulled the flowers out. “They are. I thought you might want them to brighten up the house.”

Molly gasped at the beautiful arrangement. “They are stunning, love.” She wrapped an arm around Tom’s neck and pecked his lips. “Thank you. I love them.”

Tom leaned down for another kiss, slipping his tongue into her mouth when Molly sighed.

Chris cleared his throat and hooked his thumb towards the front of the house.

“I’ll just see myself out.”

Molly pulled back. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” Tom trailed kisses down her neck, tickling her skin. She giggled as Chris waved and walked away.

“What has gotten into you?” she teased as she pushed Tom back.

“Just selling the relationship. We are newly married.” Tom commented, kissing her cheek.

“Oh.”

Tom’s answer disappointed Molly. Somewhere deep inside, that place she never admits to having Molly wanted Tom to want her for more than just a PR stunt. She wanted him to love her as much as he pretended to. But it seemed clear Tom was content on keeping things professional.

“That is the plan, after all?”

“Yeah.” Molly shook her head. “So how was lunch with Ben?”

“Good. You’re going out with Chris again?” Tom’s heart sank further down as he shelved plans to tell Molly how he felt. Evans ruined that.

“He is staying in town for a few days and with you doing auditions and meetings tomorrow, Chris thought I could use some company.” She went to grab a vase for the flowers.

“I bet he did.” Tom muttered.

“What’s that?” Molly twisted her head around.

“I said how nice of him.”

Molly smiled. “It is. He is so funny too! The stories he tells.”

Tom inhaled sharply. “Think you can pry yourself from the Captain to go out to dinner with me tomorrow night?”

“Anything for you.” She cupped his cheek. “Now what would you like for dinner tonight?”

“Whatever you would like, love. I don’t have much of an appetite.”

Molly marched over to him and placed the back of her hand on his forehead. “That is the second time you have said something like that. Are you sure you’re not sick?”

Tom pulled back. “I’m fine. There’s no need to fuss.”

Molly pursed her lips. “After you drove me to urgent care, filled my prescriptions, let me sleep in your bed, and took care of my every need for three days, you can bet your sweet ass I’m fussing.” She touched his forehead again. “Hmm. I can’t tell if you have a fever. Go lie down in the living room and I’ll bring you dinner.”

“But I…”

“Go!” She jabbed a finger at the door. “I will not have you getting sick on my hands.”

Tom held up his hands in defeat. “Yes, ma’am.”

Molly came in with a steaming bowl of a beef stew she whipped up with leftovers in the fridge and on the side some thick slices of a crusty bread she picked up a few days ago. A heavy slash of butter on top. She arranged it on a tray for Tom.

“Arms and knees up.” she commanded. Tom complied, tucking up his knees. Molly set down the tray and then settled into the spot once occupied by Tom’s feet. “Eat up.”

Tom blew onto a spoonful before taking a bite. He moaned as he swallowed. “That is exquisite, Molly. What is it?”

“Leftover stew.” Molly took a bite herself.

“You made this with the leftovers?”

“You learn to get creative with the spice cabinet.”

“Foster care?” Tom asked quietly, teeth crunching through the crust of the bread.

“College. Financial aid only goes so far. I couldn’t let food go to waste. I became famous or rather infamous in the dorm freshman year with what I could with a microwave. A modern witch, they called me.”

“You have certainly bewitched me, darling.” Tom commented without thinking. “With your cooking.” he covered. “You are a genius in that kitchen. I will have to learn some of the recipes before year’s end.”

Molly gazed up at him, pained. He was already talking about when all of this was over. Tom quickly changed the subject.

“Tell more about college. I imagine it was rather different from my experience.” Tom ate another spoonful of stew, warming his insides.

“Where did you matriculate?” Molly teased in a haughty tone.

“Cambridge.”

She let loose a low whistle. “You really are Mr. Fancy Pants.”

“With a degree in Classics.”

Molly giggled. “And I thought a tourism degree was useless.”

“Enough about me. I’m boring. Tell me about you.”

-

They talked about college, about how hard summers were when the dorms closed and Molly would couch surf while working summer jobs.

“I had amazing friends.” she whispered. “I am forever in their debt.”

Tom reached over and pulled her to his chest. “I am so sorry you had to go through that.”

“I’m not.” She snuggled against him. “Our experiences make us who we are. The good and the bad. I would have preferred an easier life. I would prefer not to freeze every time someone raises their voice, but that’s not me.” she sighed and the tears fell onto Tom’s shirt.

Tom smoothed down Molly’s hair. “I’m sorry to upset you. Let’s talk about happy things.”

“What are those?” she chuckled softly.

“How about this?” He stared down at her tucked under the crook of his arm. “Tell me about some of the craziest things you’ve seen as a bartender in Vegas?”

Molly laughed. “How about the one about the guy who peed on a blackjack table?”

“This I must hear.” Tom chuckled.

-

Tom woke up on the couch that next morning. Molly’s messy bun tickling his chin.

“Molly…” He groaned as he sat up. “… I have to get up, darling.”

Molly burrowed deeper into Tom’s chest and he couldn’t help but wrap his arms around her. He kissed her temple. She hummed and sighed. Tom’s stomach clenched.

“Time to wake up. I need to shower.”

She slowly woke and stared at Tom, realizing the compromising position of their bodies. Molly scrambled away, blushing.

“So sorry.” She sat up. “I don’t want to keep you waiting.”

Tom cleared his throat. “I still have time.” Tom sat up and fiddled his hands in his lap. “You could always come with me. We could grab some lunch. You can see all of my ‘hard work’.” Tom gazed at her hopefully.

“I…” Molly pondered the offer. “can’t. I would only be in the way. And I have plans with Chris.”

“Chris, right.” Tom stood abruptly. “We wouldn’t want you to miss that.”

Molly gave a strained smile. “I already committed. But we are still having dinner?”

“Dinner, indeed. I’ll meet you at the restaurant at 6:30 p.m.”

Molly stood and hugged him. “I’ll be there with bells on.”

-

There was a knock on the door exactly when Chris said he would come by. Molly opened the door to find Chris leaned against the frame in jeans and a henley. A devastating combination.

“Hey babe, I have an Uber and a list of five Mexican restaurants with great promise. Ready to find the perfect margarita?”

“I am.” She stepped out with a smile. Chris slung his arm over her shoulder. Molly leaned in for a bit. Just long enough for a camera to click.

-

“That first place was awful!” Molly howled in the back of the Uber as they made their way to the next place.

Chris laughed next to her. “I never knew they could make tortillas out of rubber.”

Molly’s phone buzzed. It was Luke. She switched off the phone.

“Anything important?” Chris leaned over to glance at the screen.

“Just Luke. Tom’s publicist. It is probably just something about an upcoming event. I’ll ring him back later.” Molly shrugged before tucking the phone back into her purse. “Now an important question.”

“Which is?”

“Strawberry or Lime?”

“Lime all the way.”

“A purist, I like that.”

Chris burst into laughter.

-

Tom struggled against his sour disposition through most of his auditions and lunch. It wasn’t until he got to the restaurant for dinner Tom listened to Luke’s voicemail. Which led him to googling himself for the first time in years.

“Fuck!” He hissed louder than he wanted to, drawing the attention of a nearby couple. He forced a smile and gave a small wave.

Molly slipped into the chair. “Sorry, I’m a bit late. I lost track of time and then traffic.”

Tom’s fists clenched. “Having a bit too fun with our charming Captain America?” He spit at her.

Molly blinked at him. “What do you mean by that? I was with Chris. He seems like a nice guy.”

“And you are such a friendly girl.” Tom continued to speak in a clipped tone.

“Tom, what’s wrong?” She reached out for Tom’s hand, but he pulled it back.

“This is what’s wrong.” Tom slid his phone over to her.

Molly scrolled through the pictures with increasing horror. The headlines read: Hiddleston Marriage on the Rocks? Tom’s New Bride Steps Out with Captain America Himself.

“I… I…” Molly sputtered, handing the phone back. Hot tears hit her cheeks.

Tom threw his napkin down. “We’re leaving. Keep a smile on as we leave and when we get home. No need to give the paparazzi more fodder.”

Molly stood in a daze and Tom snatched her elbow roughly to lead her out of the restaurant. As they walked outside, Tom leaned in.

“Wrap your arm around my waist and laugh like I said something funny.”

Molly snaked her arm around him and Tom pulled her tight against him. They both threw their heads back in laughter until they got into the taxi, where Tom’s expression fell into a cold mask.

Molly sniffled with stifled sobs the entire way home. Tom took no effort to sooth her. He was… cold and detached. They repeated the charade from the restaurant up the stairs to the front door. Tom had to hold back from slamming the door.

“How could you have been so stupid?!” Tom hissed, slamming his keys onto the table.

“Don’t call me stupid. I was just going out with a friend.”

“A handsome movie star!”

“Not unlike my husband! In fact, Chris called you a close friend.” Molly raised her voice.

“He would say anything to take you from me!” Tom yelled.

Molly froze and her head dropped, shoulders hunching forward. “Please don’t yell at me.”

“How else am I to make you understand, Molly?!” Tom continued to shout like someone crazed. He gestured wildly in the air. “You are forbidden to see him.”

“I want out.” Molly sobbed.

“What?” Tom snapped out of it. He glanced at Molly, only to see the damage he had done. Molly was all but curled in on herself. She sobbed freely, shoulders shaking. “Molly, I…”

“Don’t touch me.” She turned from his hand, reaching out to her. “Why is Chris different from your sister?”

“Because Emma isn’t trying to steal you from me.”

Molly chuckled. “You’re fucking jealous?! How rich! Chris is a nice guy! I used to say the same about you. I used to…” her voice trailed off.

“Used to what?” Tom sniped, tears of anger and hurt filling his own eyes. “Take pity on me? Poor Tom with shit taste in women?! Has to pay a girl to pretend to be his wife for the papers?!”

Molly reared back and slapped him. Tom held his cheek.

“Don’t you fucking dare!” Molly screeched. “I’m leaving. Don’t worry, I’ll pay you back.”

“Molly, please…” Tom begged.

“Fuck off, Tom!” Molly pushed past him. “I thought we were…” she sobbed. “But I guess not. It’s my own fucking fault.”

“What’s your fault, Molly?” Tom asked. “What’s your fault?”

“It doesn’t matter.” Molly cried, defeated. “I was clearly wrong about you.”

“Wrong how?” Tom’s heart shattered as she walked away, returning with a small bag.

“Goodbye, Tom. Don’t worry, I’ll be discrete. Wouldn’t want to tarnish your good guy image?” she sneered before heading to the door.

“Where will you go?” Tom grew more desperate as the reality of his actions set in.

“Away from you. Other than that, I don’t much care.” The front door slammed behind her.

Tom collapsed onto the couch and his head fell into his hands. “Fuck, fuck, fuck. FUCK!” he screamed into the void of his empty house.

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

Do you think there is a particular reason most of the Volturi Guard are not paired off, even though they'd have a more chances than most (regularly meeting other vampires, other guard members, the secretaries, etc.)? To my knowledge the only pairs in the guard are Chelsea and Afton and then Jane and Alec's sibling relationship.

Well, first, I don't believe in mates. Demetri's actually a very good argument for my point, now that I think about it.

Demetri's job is to meet and greet as many people as he can to build his mental network of vampires. He's been doing this for a thousand years. And you want me to believe that, in all that time of purposefully meeting vampires, he didn't do the eye-contact thing and go "THEM!"

Which brings me to the point I wanted to make here: it doesn't work like that. Demetri may be meeting and greeting people, but he's working, and he's employed by the Volturi. Oh, he may get along with people well enough, but it's complicated.

Marrying Demetri or even Felix would be marrying someone who is always on the road and always working. That's hard on any relationship and would be a lot of baggage for someone trying to get into a relationship with them.

More, while they might briefly chat, when would they really get to know one another? The Volturi probably only swing by once in a blue moon and most vampires don't have that long of lifespans (and if they do are probably paired off by the time Demetri and co. come around).

The Volturi are very busy people. Renata's always on duty and doesn't really have time to go out and meet people, Demetri's meeting and greeting but never stays around for long, Felix is always beating people up, Jane and Alec are there to destroy you, Heidi has her hands full with her fake tourism scheme, Corin's getting the wives high, Chelsea's making sure everyone gets along and occasionally going out for recruitment (and is already married at that), no one really has free time. Except Afton.

So, they don't really have time to date and it's likely not high on their list of priorities.

Covens, in the vampire world, are in part to establish community. They're generally very small but it's to stave off the loneliness/provide security. The Volturi have a very old and very established community with a high sense of belonging to it, I think for the most part they're not lonely, and if they are they don't think the solution would exist elsewhere.

More, a new person would be bringing that new person to the Volturi. Sure, Eleazar left, but for the ones there a choice would have to be presented to dating partner of "Look, you're going to have to live in Italy with the Volturi, we go decades of long distance, or this just isn't going to work". I imagine most vampires are down for that and Volturi guard members are very aware of that.

And there's just such a cultural difference, how do you even really connect to a nomad as someone in the Volturi? You lead such different lives, you wouldn't even really know what to talk about.

As for the secretaries, I think they're viewed as fellow (mostly temporary) employees. They're not seen as dating material. Humans generally aren't unless you get to know them very well (Edward is weird).

And with each other, it'd just make work complicated, plus it just seems that none of them have that kind of relationship with each other. Which is fine.

[tema-makes-art-sometimes]

Your 2p designs are really cool! :00 What was your process on designing them?

thank you aaaaaaaaaaaaaa

I love them very much.

It's not very fancy I'm gonna be honest with you, and they're kind of different. There's honestly a process, but it takes ages and ages and all of my 2ps are at different stages of work.

I also just want to note, while I try to maintain historical president and research, they are less based on the countries and more based into being mirrors or character foils to their 1ps. More character, less historical nation.

One day I'd love to talk about specific 2p's and their importance to their narrative foil in their 1p's and how the 1p's mirror and foil them back-- but uh, that's for another ask ^^''

But yeah here's my process.

---

Part 1: I look at the 1p Nation itself, and break down their basic attributes. Their appearance, personality, history, etc. After I break it down I usually go 'Okay, what if this character was [X]' and then I continue to think about it from there.

Part 2: I do some research into the country itself and different things about it, its culture, food, tourism etc. While I am not an expert and it's honestly very very surface level, I'm mostly shooting for major cultural phenomenons, popular media, food, fashion, major traditions and anything that I should avoid.

Part 3: I continue to flesh out their concept with this new info, and start writing them in things to get a feel for the deeper parts of their psyche and personality. Things sometimes change in this stage, like their look, their personality, etc. (for example: Hanna/2p Hungary went from a gentle mother, to a y*ndere madwoman, to a dominatrix with trauma in the span of 2017-2022, just by using her in practice.)

Part 4: This is the longest stage, its just use. Use, use, use. Interaction with others, RP, ficlets, coded shenanigans, art pieces, headcanons, vocal rps from joke concepts. Me just making them, finding media pieces that I tie to them, etc. It's the longest and where major and minor beats of the character really start locking into place, and where alternate concepts of their personality can come up. Like AU's where I take their inner personality panel and start turning switches and dials and seeing what happens, or seeing what would have to happen to have a character stoop to certain levels (madness, murder, etc.)

Part 5: By this stage they've become a solid character I use often, like Lutz or Alexander. 2p's I've had for over seven years and have changed slowly as I have, with dynamic pasts and future character growth opportunities and alternate world versions where their personalities are different, but are still distinctly them.

This is a really watered down version of what I go through, and isn't even this rigid, sometimes characters go from one to three to two to four its weird. doesnt take into account other people shifting their personalities and arrows in life either-- Example, Lutzlex (Alex and Lutz as a ship) was never a major thing in my lore until my discord group latched onto it and the more I rp'd concepts for it the more I fell in love with it. And because their relationship went from a past foot note into something major it critically changed both of their personalities in a major way.

Lemme throw you an Example! I'll use Akio, because I remember his origin the best for some reason.

Akio was one that took me a while to characterize, cause at the start of it, he was the fanon 2p Japan, and then he dropped off for years because I had other friends who rp'd him better than me, so I just used theirs or would interact with theirs so often I didn't need my own.

But when I did start deeply analyzing him, I started with a simple concept.

What if Kiku hadn't been characterized as a shut-in? How would that have effected his relationship with his neighbors? America? Netherlands? How would the Isolation Period have effected his psyche? Does he fear it happening again? Is is afraid of his government? etc. etc.

So that's where Akio started. As I worked with that personality more and more, he started to have major beats. Being very bluntly honest against Kiku's constant obfuscation of his feelings. Making himself very distinct from his government, staying out of the country as often as he could, being afraid of enclosed spaces/locked rooms, and almost never talking to Kiku.

Time passed, his personality got rubbed down, he was given a lot more energy, but less chaotic and more just, chasing the trends. He became a social media and kawaii fiend, undercut with the constant worry of reconnecting with his traditions or past at more than a surface level out of a buried trauma response.

I got away from the whole family asia thing (I was stupid, obv.) and made it more of Akio trying to be very social with his neighbors, but they find it grating because you know, Japanese history in the South Pacific and Asia. I don't need to explain that. His relationship with China has changed but at the same time it hasn't at all. Bohai thinking he's rather close with Akio, but Akio just not wanting anything to do with him.

And it leads all the way to now, where Akio is. As this Bio I have for him goes:

Akio’s energy can simply be described as ‘shut up I do what I want’. A free thinking, energetic, sassy Japanese man who has decided to leave old habits and beliefs behind to fully immerse himself in the modern world. The negative side of this is he finds himself not well grounded and with a deeply embedded anxiety of being pulled back to the past again. He’s good at reading the room and will tell you exactly what he’s thinking or feeling without any hesitation. Some people consider it crass and others appreciate his honesty. Despite his loud nature, has a lot of repressed fear toward his own country and even the other Japan for reasons he doesn’t often discuss.

Long winded explanation and example aside, it's not that intensive I don't think? Some of them are still very very surface level for my taste, and I live in constant fear of them not being historical-y or nation-y enough for people. But I guess with my 2p's- and just my personifications in general- I like to think about them more as characters and less like personifications because it's more fun that way.

But yeah! I hope this makes somewhat of a lick of sense, and that people are not terrified or overwhelmed by the text! I noticed the cool color feature is there now, so I thought to add some in places to splash attention and make it a little less of a slog to look at! I hope this was informative I guess ^^;;