#but if you say 'hand touching is Inherently romantic' the only thing i'm thinking is 'ah youve forgotten children exist i see'

[brittlebutch]

only thing i dislike about the 'hand touching is an intimate act for vulcans' thing is when people treat it as if it is Always and Unilaterally romantic/sexual, simply because i Refuse to believe that vulcan parents do not hold their children's hands

[nohasslecastle]

As much as I love spreading the "Sister Beatrice top agenda", I do not think Beatrice would behave anywhere near confident on her first time with Ava.

First of all, it's my headcanon that before Beatrice became a nun she didn't actually get to live or experience a lot, so everything she could have learned in her teenage years, she actually didn't, because her parents were too strict, and she was just too afraid to stand up against them.

Her parents sent her to that boarding school probably because at some point she admitted she had romantic feelings for one of her friends, but that was it, Beatrice is oblivious to love, and relationships, and, of course, to sex.

Add that to the fact that Beatrice is a perfectionist, with a great fear of failure, a control freak that gets overwhelmed when she feels she can't handle the results of any given situation she's involved with... Beatrice doesn't quite know how she should behave around Ava, and the not knowing... that terrifies her.

It's not that she's worried Ava would make fun of her, of course, she would never. But there's just something inherently annoying about not being able to BE good at something, specially when the only way to learn 'that something' is... actually doing it. But, will she be able to be good enough for her? Will she be able to be what she thinks Ava deserves?

When Ava comes back, Beatrice doesn't immediately kiss her, she doesn't jump into a relationship with Ava and certainly she doesn't jump straight to bed with her, simply because she has absolutely no idea how to do it without making it weird. So, of course, their comeback kiss is started by Ava, their "what are we?" conversation is started by Ava, and their first time... guess what? Also started by Ava.

I picture this: after the re-encounter they didn't have much time to talk about what had happened between them, they were once again in survival mode and it's only one day after a big fight that they finally and unintentionally find themselves alone. Everything that happened is weightening on Beatrice and she's pretty much gay panicking every time Ava gets too close to her.

It's not that she doesn't want her, on the contrary she wants her so much she's overwhelmed by a feeling she had never felt before, or at least, not in a very long time and certainly not with enough maturity to understand it. When they last kissed it was a life or death situation, now they are just staring into each other's eyes, something clearly in the air, but everytime she tries to say anything, something holds her back.

Ava tries to give her space. Ava is everything that Beatrice is not. She's reckless, and a risk taker, and if she fails so what? she tries again. However, Ava is aware she closed a line last time... not only on Beatrice's vows but on a restriction she had put on herself. Ava is trying to make things right and Beatrice knows it but at the same time she's begging, begging, Ava to push her, because that's how they work right?

At some point the silence becomes too unbearable and Beatrice is frustrated. She hates that she can't be as resolved as she is in most of her activities and Ava is... kind of having fun at it, looking at the perfect sister Beatrice losing her shit it's fun, it's so unlike her it's amusing.

Ava is laughing and that only makes Beatrice's frustration grow. At some point Beatrice apologizes to Ava "I'm sorry, I really don't know what I'm doing and I hate it" and that's Ava's cue to do what she always does... push her a bit, give her courage. Ava walks slowy towards her "I don't need you to be an expert at this, Bea" she takes Beatrice's hands into hers "remember what I told you before I left? You don't need to be so perfect all the time." She lifts her hand to Bea's cheek and Bea gulps. She watches Bea lean into her touch, close her eyes, she brings her other hand to her chest and she can feel how fast her heart is beating "I only need you to be yourself." She says. And Bea opens her eyes and looks at her.

Ava leans close to her, slowly, giving her time to adjust to the intrusion and when she's a breath from her lips she whispers "can I kiss you again?", looking at her eyes again waiting for an answer. Beatrice would simply nod because, let's be honest, that woman is incapable to form a simple thought when Ava is *that* close to her.

And when they kiss... it's shy, and it's tame, and honestly, Beatrice doesn't know what to do with her hands. Ava would guide them, maybe to her hips "you can touch me" she would state. Ava would open her mouth, begging for *more*, she would let Bea's hair down, touch her shoulders, then her chest, she would find that first button and unpop it. Bea would startle at that, only for a moment, only because she isn't used to it, but looking at Ava, with her lips swollen, panting, big eyes... she would push that thought aside. She would kiss her again and this time she would allow herself to touch Ava, gently, but more determined.

Ava would start walking backwards, as if saying "take me to bed" and Bea would walk slowly before her, with her eyes closed, trying to focus only on Ava's lips because maybe that way she would be able to shut up all the insecurities. They would stumble on their way to the bed and Bea would try to say "I'm sorry" while Ava would put a finger on her lips and just laugh, and say a terrible pun to her. Being there Bea would doubt until she doesn't anymore, until she stops thinking and Ava becomes the only thing she's worried at.

[moraxsthrone]

Kaeya fluff? Hell yeah

Imagine being the one person Kaeya leans on. For real, this man trusts no one and thought he would trust no one until you showed up. Now here he is, venting about his rough day at work while you run your fingers through his hair, reminding him just how much you love him. Maybe it's just me, but I think this man would MELT if you told him you want him romantically. Like, he's proud of how he can make you scream his name and all but having you say that you would be with him even without that? The man's dead, you killed him, but maybe he'll come back to you for a kiss ;)

Sorry, I don't think this is what you were asking for, but hope you like it anyhow?

anonnnnnn??? this is PERFECT!! it's even better than what i wanted?? skskskskssss. bless you, child, for leaving such a sweet delicacy in my ask box! 🥹💙

CW/NOTES — mention of sex but otherwise sfw. themes of low self-worth, abandonment issues, imposter syndrome (kaeya, not reader). fluff/comfort. gn! reader.

no, hun, it's not just you. you see, i've got quite a soft spot for lowkey insecure kaeya. it only makes sense??

i touched on this in my previous post, but i think kaeya secretly worries that you'll come to your senses one day and decide that being with him is more trouble than he's worth? he's scared shitless that he's inherently disposable (after what his bio father - and later, diluc - did to him) and probably suffers from a massive case of imposter syndrome when you tell him you're in love with him.

i think a big reason why he "peacocks" so much is bc he knows he's beautiful on the outside but thinks he's ugly on the inside and not worth sticking around for. beneath that cocky façade, there's a little boy who's terrified of being left all alone again. so he overcompensates by using his good looks and charming smile to win ppl over bc deep down he thinks that's all he's got going for him. of course you want to fuck him, he thinks. who doesn't?

but YOOOO when you touch his soul and kiss his scars, and you hold his heart in your hands like it's the most precious thing you've ever held? <i'm trying not to fucking cry here 😅> you hold it so close to your own heart and take care of it like it's yours (it is now, as far as he's concerned btw), kaeya fucking freaks the fuck out. he knows how to lose people. he's all too familiar with being discarded and abandoned.

but what he's NOT used to is being seen, accepted, and loved for exactly who he is, right to his very core. the first time you spend the night with him without having sex, he doesn't even sleep. he just lies there and watches you as tears blur his vision. he holds you and breathes in the scent of your hair as he kisses the top of your sleepy head, quietly thanking his stars for you and hoping his sniffling doesn't wake you up.

he'll know how it feels to be loved unconditionally and it's all bc of you. trust, this man will never step out of your relationship or do anything else to jeopardize what he has with you.

you're his home now, his center.

you're his present and his future.

you're his whole fucking life, his everything.

you're his person, the one who has his head in your lap, slowly brushing the tangles out of his hair with your fingers, leaning down to kiss his forehead and reminding him how much you love him. even and especially on his bad days when he needs that reminder the most.

[spirit-meets-the-b0ne]

In the middle of my HotD rewatch

The gyroscope of interpretation on this show has been at the forefront of my rewatch along with now having read some of the script and read/watched cast interviews.

This one inference made by Olivia Cooke (via Sarah Hess) has plagued me for the first few episodes.

Now, now I know these waters are really muddy what with a few obvious conceptual things: "isn't this queer baiting" "if it wasn't it wouldn't be good sapphic representation anyway" "this is an actors interpretation" blah blah blah. I'm not arguing any of that.

Just that Olivia's head canon held against this scene hits SO MUCH HARDER

Because I gotta say MY GOD imagine how that strikes Alicent if at some point her mother caught them together. Before they even really knew what they were doing (objectively to the tune of they were 13/14 not fully clear on platonic/romantic love) her mother impressed upon them it was wrong. When they denied and in some way or another Alicent/Rhaenyra saying "she never touched me." Only for Alicent to hear it echoed back to her years later like this... Knowing that even in her naïveté she would recognize the truth. That Alicent’s mother, naturally, kept this contained. Which honestly plays more to truly making Alicent more complex by the way she saw what “scandal” her mother covered up for her only for her to act out some perversion of this with Aegon when she’s a mother. A learned behavior twisted in the worst way, because that's what she knew.

Listen I fully understand that this show is NOT taking this angle even though there seems to be a huge division between what some writers and actors are playing to and the editors at HBO imaginably being like "what's all this gay shit?" BUT

I think it's part of what this show missed about TRAGEDY and I mean come on you want drama???? These girlies were ready to hand it to you on a silver plater! In this context I needed:

Rhaenyra being devastated by the news that Alicent was going to be marrying her father. The sheer heartbreak of “this can’t be happening” and knowing she would have lost Alicent to a husband but not THIS. Show her with Syrax, confiding in her dragon because now she has no other friend to talk to - I’m just saying if they were going with the context of “Fire & Blood itself is an unreliable narrator and only shows certain people’s views” - then a scene like this disrupts nothing. Tell me how when they prayed together and Alicent told her to "kneel with me" that part of Rhaenyra prayed for that world where they flew off on dragon back and ate cake.

Alicent being devastated - having her heart torn in two, crying behind every closed door knowing she was going to break the heart of her best friend. The deleted scene does give a peak of that being the case - but again it could/should have been included. Show me Alicent begging Rhaenyra to forgive her and desperately saying she loves her. I think one of the things that Team Green argues the most could have been explored by this avenue, Alicent is a victim of her marriage - it would be inherently more compelling if in the process she is also losing the closest thing to a "first love" she had. Show me Alicent at her desk writing letters to Rhae once a week and then ceremoniously burning them in the braziers. Alicent leaning more into religion as a means of getting out from under her repressed desires and past actions.

Show me both women struggling in their adulthood to even remember why they held "such childhood affections" for each other. Knock the fucking wind out of me with a line like, "the worst part of it all was that they only ever wanted to love each other."

To me one of the worst parts of this production (of which there's a few) has got to be this was the apex of completely missed opportunities to explore. In the premise of "going by unreliable sources" their queerness would be suppressed information. I even think it plays into the dynamic between Rhae-Alicent-Criston in a kind of "Jennifer's Body" way where Rhae was really only interested in him as the object of Alicent's desires which I believe is made a little clearer in the books. A kind of "see this could have been us if you didn't marry my bag-of-bones father" for Rhaenyra who clearly had no aversion to consorts.

I'm sorry to go on this rant, and yes I KNOW - the counter arguments for many of these points. I would even argue some of them further such as the sapphic representation not being invalidated simply because both women do end up with men in the source material. If this was the case then why was "Portrait of a Lady on Fire" received so well? This at the very least to say if they made Alicent and Rhaenyra explicitly queer it would still be less controversial than what the queer men on that show got … Still its not even to say "it's a better way" to explore more of Rhaenyra and Alicent's characters but its at least A WAY to do it. More than we got. Surely both sides could agree on that.

Sorry, now I'm just being pedantic. As a queer woman naturally I have a bias but I still think this was objectively a missed opportunity to explore. Both girl's back stories could have been enriched and tbh a lot of HOTD fans I know also had the same complaint that the time skip came in too early. I think it also makes things less likely to be so divisive between TG and TB when you look at the central pillars of this conflict. You can truly grieve for Alicent and Rhaenyra and what they lost already while on the verge of losing it all. Anyway, I gotta go cry about my divorced lesbian war wives.

[rerinko]

On the History of the Term Compulsory Heterosexuality

The history of the term compet started in a 1980 essay written by feminist lesbian author Adrienne Rich entitled “Compulsory Heterosexuality and the Lesbian experience”. In this essay I believe she lays out a lot of amazing points and really puts in the groundwork for the term compulsory heterosexuality. It has been over 40 years since her original essay was written and while I think a lot of points still stand the time, some I have a hard time agreeing with.

One of the main contentions I have with Adrienne Rich’s is how she frames lesbianism. I do agree that lesbianism is inherently anti patriarchy because we are the only sexuality to not center men in any way. To some extent I can understand the argument that lesbianism is inherently political. The same way I believe my existence as a Jewish is also a political statement. After thousands of years of genocide we then Jewish people are still here. The same can be said about any group that has experienced genocide. But I don't identify as Jewish as a political statement. I AM Jewish and that is the political stamens. She also believes we shouldn't use the term “lesbianism” as a stigmatized clinical term. Nevertheless I disagree with the notion that you can also identify as a lesbian as a political statement. As of late there have been many movements to decenter men. The main one coming to mind as of late is the 4B movement. The 4B movement started in Korea and the 4Bs are the 4 things they agree to never do with men. Bi or 비 means no in this context.

비섹스 Biseksu - No sex with men

비출산 Bichulsan - No having kids with men

비연애 Biyeonae - No dating men

비혼 Bihon - No marrying men

You can choose not to center men in your life while still being straight or bisexual. My identity as a lesbian and my lack of attraction to men exists outside of the patriarchy. I find it really demeaning and belittling to the lesbian experience to say people who are attracted to men can choose to be a lesbian or adopt that title because of lifestyle choices they made. This idea of the lesbian continuum where every woman experiences or that lesbianism is an extension of feminism I can't agree with. I feel like we do all share a sisterhood as a result of being victims of the patriarchy but I don't believe that is lesbianism or the correct term to refer to that. She says that people can exist on the lesbian continuum without wanting to ever touch another woman’s genitals and I don't believe that's what being a lesbian is. Straight and bisexual women do exist and what good is there in erasing their identities?

I also hate the idea that heterosexuality isn't natural. Obviously the idea that everyone is naturally heterosexual is wrong but the same way being gay is natural being straight is natural. Wanting connection and a community, romantic connection even sex is natural. I feel like this unintentionally feeds into shaming women about their sexuality and slut shaming. I agree that heterosexuality Isn't inherent to all women but it is of some and that’s okay. As a lesbian I feel proud when I see women talking about how much they love or are attracted to men sexually. For so long women were expected to be pure, to never think about things like sex and now we're finally at a stage where women are accepting their sexualities even if they are straight. At the same time I'm proud of any straight women who takes part in movements like 4B who chooses to actively decenter men in their life but that doesn't make them a lesbian. Women's sexuality has always been about men. They're supposed to be sexual when they're told and pure when they're told. Women choosing to take their sexuality into their own hands and doing what they actually want to do no matter what that is, is progress.

The 4B movement is not perfect, it is riddled with TERFS (Trans exclusionary radical feminist). I think a lot of feminist movements are inherently flawed because they focus on one subset of people. Intersectional feminism is amazing because it gives space to every single intersection of identities. As I've gotten older I've realized that I think a lot of people need to realize that not everything is for them and not everything is about them. I am an Ashkenazi Jewish lesbian. I can only relate to people who share those same traits and most people who do share one trait with me don't share all of them. You are not going to relate to everyone's experience or oppression but you can still hold space for them and let them speak. You are not going to relate to everyone's feelings or what they want to do in life but you can still respect them.

A key flaw I find in a lot of radical feminist movements is they care too much about things people do that have no direct impact on them. How does a trans woman existing affect a cis woman negatively in any way? Another extension of this is the discussions I see around plastic surgery. Why are we so quick to blame women for trying to fit in and live in a society that can be so harsh? So many women will victim shame other women in the guise of feminism. If a woman chooses to be a stay at home Mom logically we can understand no decision can be made in a bubble outside of patriarchy but we can still respect her decision if that’s what makes her happy. Choice feminism is not being freed from the patriarchy nor am I trying to say it's good but shaming women for making choices that don't negatively impact anyone else isn't any better. Shaming women for trying to survive in a society that wants us perfect or dead is counterproductive. I got into an argument with someone on TikTok and they were saying that by shaving our bodies we're trying to resemble children and therefore it's appealing to pedophiles. In addition it's imposed by the patriarchy and we wouldn't do it without societal pressure. Before I tackle the parts about patriarchy I want to talk about the pedophilic aspect. First of all I find it weird to say that people who are attracted to grown women are pedophilic because they're shaved. Pedophiles aren't attracted to adult women and adult women don't instantly look like children because they shave their vulva. Women like Belle Delphine who do actively try to appeal to pedophiles don't just shave their vulva. They wear children's clothes, diapers, wear fake braces, suck on teethers and make baby noises. You should never conflate that with a grown woman shaving. I am autistic and since I started growing body hair I have compulsively shaved. I have very very bad sensory issues and the feeling of my body hair rubbing on fabrics, even me rubbing my legs together and feeling body hair makes me literally shiver. When I brought this up to her she responded with a few points. The first was “why did sensory issues not exist 50 years ago.” I explained that 50 years ago many people did not know the vocabulary to properly explain their experience. The idea that women can even have autism has only recently been accepted. She also asked me why the hair I had sensory issues only applied to the hair below my eyes. It doesn't apply to hair just below my eyes. I can't have bangs because I don't like the feeling and I'm currently in the process of growing them out. Sometimes I style bangs for pictures or videos but so quickly I usually pin my bangs back and put my hair up in a clip. If I wear a hood I have to always put my hair up because I don't like how hair under clothing feels. That’s actually the reason why I usually never wear hoods or hats. Her response to this was to tell me to get help. I say this all to make the point that your experience is not everyone else's. Just because you've never heard of something before doesn't mean it doesn't exist and it doesn't happen.

I hate this idea that “because it hurts my feelings it's bad” not everything is about you. If someone loses weight it's not because they hate all fat people. If someone gets a nose job it's not because they think all people with a nose similar to theirs are ugly. Most insecurities are personal and when they make these choices they aren't thinking about other people and what they look like, they're thinking about themselves only. If you see someone change something about themselves and you get mad at it it's probably because you have an insecurity of your own you need to work on. This also applies to people who bully people. If you go out of your way to bully someone for being fat and ugly you're probably projecting how you feel onto them. Secure people don't feel the need to belittle people who probably already have a hard time in society.

Women are so diverse and have such a diverse set of experiences yet one we all have is the impact

of the patriarchy. Yet some women will shame other women for actually being impacted by the patriarchy. Shaming people because they don't live the exact same lifestyle you do is just so wrong. To move forward and dismantle the patriarchy we need to target the men and sometimes the women who actively perpetuate and keep the patriarchy alive. The woman who took ozempic isn't your enemy, it's the men who told her she needed to be skinny to be attractive. 40 years after “Compulsory Heterosexuality and the Lesbian Experience” was published a lot of issues brought up in the essay are still sadly prominently issues. Sexual violence, forced marriges, discrimination against women in job fields, access to birth control and abortion and how they get judged based on their looks and there's only one way to be a woman and only one way to dress and present yourself as a woman. I find it very sad how in 40 years people pretend there has been so much progress but in reality nothing has changed. I also agree with the fact that compulsory heterosexuality is only something women (people raised as women) can experience due to the fact throughout history women have to have a husband to get anywhere or be anyone. I think a lot of gay men will conflate compulsory heterosexuality with adapting to live in a just heteronormative society but in fact it's about adapting to live in a heteronormative and misogynistic patriarchal society which Adrienne Rich explained really well. Men have freedom, women only have the freedom men give them. Women have been consistently limited by who they marry. Because the heteronormative society is also a misogynistic society where women are second class to men. Saying compulsory heterosexuality is a lesbian only experience isn't to undermine the experience of gay men but to highlight the experience of lesbian women.

[lazyrezi]

You know, tolkien was on another one when writing specifically from Sam's point of view.

I'm sorry, but "he longed only for his master, for one sight of his face or one touch of his hand"???? That shit is SO romantic I might die.

And while in all of lotr there is a lot of platonic love expressed between men (love to see it!) even physical touch there is such a stark difference between the way it is written for pippin and merry versus frodo and sam. Sam's devotion is on another level, and you might say that is because frodo is his master but like. If anything that explains it less!!! He is frodo's gardener and sure they are friendly but I don't know about you but I would not weep so hard for my employer or be willing to die for them.

This whole passage, btw is basically sam, rescuing frodo from the top of a tower, which even at the time of tolkien writing lotr was already established as very much, not a platonic move. Think of any other story where our protagonist (ignore that frodo is also our protagonist for a minute he is the love interest right now) goes up against an enemy, ready to die just to get to the very top of the tower in hope to save someone they love. That shit is not platonic. It COULD BE. It isn't, tho.

The thing is the way merry and pippin were written specifically is a great example of how platonic love is portrayed in the books otherwise. Let me tell you, the two of them do not long for each other's touch ONCE. Pippin thinks of merry often, and Merry wishes pippin were there with him, and they both hope against hope they will see each other again, and it is very sweet, don't get me wrong. But they way it is written inherently reads platonic, whereas any time we see Sam's perspective, it is fuelled with such an intense longing/devotion that is unexplainable by their circumstances.

At this point in the story it actually does not make any sense for sam to risk his life/the capture of the ring/the END of their quest for frodo who for all we know might already be dead. Sam has the ring he is just as capable of delivering it to mordor, yet he chases orcs and exerts a LOT of energy just to get a chance at rescuing frodo. WHAT EVEN IS THIS??? this is more romantic than any romance books I have ever read!

[dukeofdelirium]

https://www.tumblr.com/dukeofdelirium/760911562701701120/do-you-just-have-those-characters-that-you-see?source=share

You're so real for this...2024 and I still see people said, "Aw how cute it is between Light and Misa or (any female characters)...."

See, even for someone who don't really like shipping, since the first I watch Death Note anime, then read the manga, I can't get it if people don't ship Light with L...

When I found your blog : Lawlight & Kataang shipper, yes? Kindred spirit...See, when I tell people I ship Kataang, most people will be 😁😆🥰🤩 but then I said I'm Lawlight shipper, people be like 😑😭🙁☹

Like, why people can't love 2 very different ships, right?

So, in ATLA, are you Zuko/Mai or Zuko/Sokka shipper or neither? Why?

Right?? I don’t get it fr. Shipping Light with Misa specifically is like.. LMFAO I CANTTTT he literally hates her so much but it isn’t even that he hates her, he actively avoids all sorts of intimacy with her and when he Does do something, he only does so to continue using her as a pawn. I mean, the only reason he even kept her alive was bc he didn’t have a choice in the first place bc of Rem. And like, his avoidance and internal rejection of her and other women isn’t even a “Kira” thing, bc he still did so when he was memoryless and we also know he avoided dating girls pre death note/Kira persona bc he said he was “waiting until college” etc. So there’s a clear canonical pattern of Light avoiding romantic relationships with women. Which on its own would be like ok whatever, but at the same time there is a clear pattern of an active interest in male characters even when they are equal to the female characters such as Takada vs Mikami. There’s also the fact he shows no discomfort whenever L touches him specifically during Yotsuba arc, and also the fact that in the manga he asked one of his friends to send him a holiday card to which his friend replied “I only send them to girls” which is essentially stating this is a romantic gesture and Light did just ask for it.

I mean, I could go on and on but there is quite a lot of gay coding going on in the manga and then of course in the anime and subsequent DN adaptations (minus the Netflix movie that we shall pretend doesn’t exist)

I don’t rlly get the hatred toward Lawlight tbh? It’s pretty weird, because their relationship is like… 90% of the appeal of Death Note imo. But to each their own I suppose. Personally, I just think there is a lot of canonical justification and intentional gay coding/subtext to warrant it.

If Ohba didn’t want us to ship lawlight then perhaps they shouldn’t have written them to be some sort of fucked up soulmate pair who complete each other and perhaps they shouldn’t have make jokes hinting at L and Light having a homosexual undertone to their relationship and PERHAPS they shouldn’t have had an entire story arc where L literally handcuffs himself to Light for 100 days straight and where they share an UNMONITORED room…. LMFAOOO that right there was 100000% ship tease idc what anyone says. Ohba knew what they were doing idgaf

And yeah I know about the kataang stuff. It’s weird for me too. See Lawlight is my OTP hands down. Kataang is a strong second contender. I love both pairings about the same but in very different ways. It’s funny because they’re very drastically different pairings of course, but that also is the stories themselves and the narratives.

Kataang is about the most wholesome ship you could ship meanwhile Lawlight is inherently fucked up butttttttttt Death Note itself is a fairly mature story dealing with inherently fucked up subject matter and characters so there’s rlly no avoiding that.

I don’t rlly care what someone thinks of my ship preferences, the only thing that annoys me is antis who misrepresent canon like with Kataang or antis with Lawlight who basically say we’re bad ppl for shipping it. Like as if Lawlight isn’t a huge ship in anime/manga lol. Truly one of the forefathers of toxic yaoi 🤣

As for who I ship Zuko with: I do ship Maiko though I’ll say I’m not hugely invested in the pairing. I don’t have much to say on it other than I enjoy their scenes in the show and I think they are a nice couple. I don’t care for Zuko and Sokka, I think it’s kind of in that same category as zvtara and I don’t care for that ship at all.

I actually ship Zuko with Aang lol. Like Zuko and Aang when they’re older, I can get behind zukaang 100% in part because they are like that kindred spirit thing similar to lawlight to me. I really enjoy that aspect of their relationship and I again think canonically, zukaang would be plausible if it weren’t for maiko and kataang.

Anyway, thanks for the message! Hope this answered your question :)

[foxwitchaine]

Which is your most loved character in Miraculous Ladybug?

Buckle up, buddy, it's gonna be a while. Or not, given how the showrunners treat the cast. Let's just say that before Season 3 aired (cough, Chameleon, cough) I was rather indifferent to most of the cast. But now that it's been about five seasons going on six, I've got a better understanding of who (read: what the writers want) the characters are. All the pomp and circumstance aside, let's get to it

1.) Marinette Dupain-Cheng

I'm cheating a little, I know. But girlie gets so much crap thrown at her in the show, I just had to give her a little love. Never mind the fact the writers seem to have it out for her just for existing (which is a whole other can of worms I won't touch). Matter of the fact is, I see myself a lot in Marinette. I too stress myself out by overthinking the simplest things and need my partner Rafe to help bring me down to earth. I think Marinette is an excellent protagonist who is treated unfairly by both the fandom at times and the writers. But mostly the writers.

At the same time, though, I won't sugarcoat her flaws. Flaws are what makes characters feel human. No, they don't need to do things that sink them to unlikable levels (the stalking allegations towards Marinette by the fandom). But little mistakes like talking before thinking, missing the mood of the room, not always checking the time, things like that we do every day. What I can't wrap my head around is why the writers have given her Qrow Branwen levels of bad luck in her everyday life. It's very Wattpad-levels of writing skill (I say this knowing full well I've published The Wolves in the Woods on Wattpad).

Marinette deserves better than what the writers have done to her.

2.) Luka Couffaine

I won't lie. I was rather lukewarm to Luka when he was first introduced. He didn't quite make an impression on me when he first debuted. However, in light of the recent red flags shown by the canon love interest Adrien, he's unironically proven himself to be a better match for Marinette. It might just be me personally, but I'm not fond of overly aggressive suitors. I like men (yes, men; age myself, why don't I) who treat their women with respect. Which includes taking "no" for an answer. Luka is a strange case where the secondary love interest fits the MC better than the canon love interest. And for that, I place the blame entirely on the writing team.

Because seriously. How do you make a secondary love interest match your heroine better than the official one? It's mind-boggling.

And again, thanks to the writing of the show, Luka's personality is pretty much a blank slate. What little there is, the fandom has pretty much turned into a better character than what we see on the show. I find it very telling overall that the fandom prefers Luka over Adrien when it comes to matching Marinette with someone.

3.) Juleka Couffaine

Yet another one who was done so dirty by the writers. Juleka, alongside Rose, is one of the few classmates who I don't like reading about in salt fics since, like most of Bustier's class, she's not inherently a bad kid. She, like so many of the other female teenagers in the show, get the short end of the stick in terms of writing (I can't be the only one seeing a pattern here). I find Juleka's aspiration to be a model despite her shyness to be a very compelling storyline... in the right hands, given what we saw in Reflektdoll. Again, had it not been for Alya wrecking things, we could have seen a plot where Juleka got to come out of her shell on her own. It's a pretty logical next step after overcoming her photo curse in Reflekta, but the writing team is allergic to writing compelling female characters.

I also really love her relationship with her brother Luka. But then again, I'm a sucker for well-written sibling love.

What many writers, not just in Miraculous Ladybug, miss is that male-female relationships don't always have to be romantic. More often than not, you can write a really compelling male-female relationship without going the romance route. Like best friends, siblings from another mother, heck even adult friendships.

There were so many ways they could've handled Juleka's character instead of what they did.

4.) Kagami Tsurugi

Speaking of patterns I've noticed...

Jokes aside, Kagami is another one done dirty by the writers. And it all boils down to the fact she was literally created to be Adrien's substitute girlfriend. I wish I was kidding. I can feel the bile in my throat as I write this out. Kagami ties with Marinette on "most screwed over by the writers" alongside Chloe, but I'd rather see them be friends and ditch Adrien altogether.

Why can't female love rivals be friends instead of bitter enemies. But then again, female rivalries tend to be rather nasty in real life, too. See how many women competed against each other for the position of queen in olden times. Or queen consort. Whatever position of power there was available to women at the time. Or whatever accomplishment there was to be had. Anyways, this isn't the first time girls have been pitted against each other for a guy in fiction, and it unfortunately may not be the last.

Just like Marinette, Kagami deserved better than what the writers did to her.

5.) Nathalie Sancoeur

She's an icon. What can I say? Nonsensical "romance" with Gabriel aside, Nathalie's one of the few female characters who stands out from the Miraculous Ladybug cast without the aid of a man. I know. Very telling, isn't it. Not just her design, but her personality, too. I find Nathalie to be more of a charismatic villain than Gabriel, tellingly enough. It's not just how she helps him commit acts of evil. But how she's very cool and level-headed in what she does. Even her kinder acts, such as convincing Gabriel to let Adrien attend school (wow, not doing yourself many favors, Gabe) are met with cool indifference.

If that's not a recipe for an iconic villainess, I don't know what is. But like everything else, she was butchered by the writing team.

Seriously. Do they have something against strong women or something? I've never seen a supposed girl power show treat their female characters with such contempt before. Even allegedly problematic shows like Puella Magi Madoka Magica didn't have this problem (I say allegedly because it's subject to opinions I might not share).

Honorable Mentions

None this time, because MLB has very few actually likable characters.

[mamamittens]

Hi! i'm a avid reader of fanfic and I recently saw some post about purity culture. What is purity culture?

This is a bit... Of an odd ask for me, but I'll try my best as someone who has grown up in the Bible Belt of America where purity culture is thick.

Uh, content warning for purity culture, rape, rape culture, and sex. It's complicated and quite unpleasant to get into, but I'll try not to drag down the conversation too much. It'll be a bit messy though, because it is a very large topic and I likely won't be able to cover a lot of it here without it being unwieldy or heavy to read.

Purity culture is in reference to... Well, it's a bit complicated and expansive, but at its root it's at least associated with Abrahamic faith practices based on sex and virginity.

Depending on where you live, you've likely already seen or experienced instances of it. Typically applied almost exclusively to girls and women, in fact.

Where it's viewed as an inherent value of a person based on their sexual activity (even perceived sexual activity). Wherein any 'sexual' act devalues someone, even if they don't quite say it so openly.

Like girls who have had a lot of boyfriends or are rumored to 'put out' a lot or are 'easy'. They're usually looked down on more than, say, the pious good girl that waits till marriage for sex. Depending on the extent, even kissing or thinking about romantic/sexual relationships are seen as sinful and requiring penance to 'earn back' their once 'pristine' purity.

This standard is rarely, if ever, applied to men and boys by the way.

An example would be the weird conference my school took us on at the end of elementary. It had a few seminars about self defense, the D.A.R.E program (say no to drugs thing), and the ending was a big speech about abstinence. Which is the most common way to perpetuate purity culture instead of education about sex, safe sex, and pregnancy.

There, there was what I believe to be a pastor, who gave a demonstration about why it was important to save yourself for marriage.

His chosen metaphor was a bar of chocolate (others include chewing gum or even cars), where the point he was trying to get across was that you wouldn't want a chocolate bar a lot of people have handled. That it gets gross and melts and is generally unappealing--he hilariously had to lick it cause the boy he chose to help demonstrate didn't give a shit about bare hands touching the chocolate bar.

There was also some weird part about how things get boring the more you do them and you naturally want to eventually get further and further. From holding hands until, before you know it, you're having sex cause you just can't get that rush from holding hands anymore.

I don't know. It was weird all around.

Anyway, my mom was horrified when I told her and that was all I needed to know it was bullshit.

In hindsight, the obvious conclusion is that the pastor was implying that people will think you're gross and won't want to be around you if you sleep with someone you're not married to.

On the surface it doesn't seem so bad, but the toxicity only grows when you realize things are rarely ever so simple.

Because there aren't exceptions in purity culture for abuse or rape. Or for the very real case where a relationship you thought was forever turns into just... A few years. If that. You're not suddenly lesser because you were sexually abused or thought you'd be with someone for the rest of your life.

But purity culture insists you must be. You, typically in this case, being a girl or woman because "boys will be boys" and "men have needs". Because your body, your purity and virginity, was supposed to be a "gift" to your husband, not something to be passed around lightly. Your body was, in the eyes of purity culture, never really yours to do with as you please.

For the unfortunate, purity culture is a toxic downward spiral you won't ever be viewed compassionately through. And for those that play along, they turn into commodities and vilified for not giving into their partners "urges" in many cases. Being called a prude, frigid, or uptight.

It's contradicting and unfair, toxic even for the men that barely need to worry about it to start with. Because sex in purity culture is a hot commodity and a need which mystifies a very common aspect of human relationships. Leading to unwise decisions or unfortunate circumstances such as teen pregnancy, rape, and sexual abuse in extreme cases.

Because purity culture also doesn't like to... Talk about sex in even the basic terms. "Leads to sin" as it were, but if you don't know anything about sex, how do you know you've had it? How are you supposed to realize you can get pregnant or contract an STD? If all you know is that sex is "something for husbands and wives to share" involving "special parts" how can you know when your naivete is being taken advantage of? How can you ask for help if you only know to call your parts (dick, vagina, whatever equipment you're working with) vague pleasantries like "butterfly" and "fishing pole" or whatever? So saying someone touched your "butterfly" or "fishing pole" sounds so innocuous, why would they be alarmed?

And it doesn't have to be just sex, by the way. Clothing and style choices also can be judged harshly in purity culture. I've seen girls be called whores for using tampons, dying their hair, reading romance novels, having guy friends, or wearing tank tops. Anything viewed as "promiscuous" or even vaguely "sexually appealing" can be used as an excuse to denounce your value under purity culture. Depending on how uh... Conservative in their belief they are. Hell, some girls are considered whores just for who their family is.

Or even your sexual attraction/orientation but that's like, an even bigger and more complicated can of worms based on where/when/and what type you're talking about.

I hope this helps and I absolutely encourage you to research more on the topic because I am only one person from a fairly laid back household on the topic of religion and sex. I know there are at least TedTalks on the matter, and even documentaries but fair warning, it can get pretty dark pretty quick.

[sometimesiwritethings]

Okay...so wow!

You mentioned things I hadn't thought about before and so let's talk about it.

1. Corruption- absolutely

I mean, I'm inexperienced myself so it kind of goes hand in hand.

Plus most people who are attracted to the idea of an inexperienced partner will definitely have a corruption kink so I feel it's just something that automatically comes with the package.

2. Dollification- absolutely

I love makeup and fashion in itself and so the idea of having someone who loves putting makeup/ or lets me put makeup on them is just such a rich fantasy in my mind.

Plus I'm a very visual person so seeing the make-up run and eyeshadow smeared just adds to the beauty of it.

3. Shibari/bondage- Nahh

Idk why rope bunny was so high on the list because I've never actually been attracted by the idea of it.

I wouldn't mind using restraints but rope itself just seems kind of... scary tbh.

4. Dacryphilia- kinda??

I feel crying during sex is very cathartic and intimate, to be so overwhelmed and just lost in each others touches (god I'm such a romantic).

So idk if that counts because it's not sexually arousing per say but it's just a beautiful shared moment of vulnerability.

5. Experimentalism- 100%

Like I said, I'm very inexperienced (the last person I made out with was 3 years ago)

When I mean inexperienced, I MEAN inexperienced.

Oral and fingers are the closest I've come too for physical intimacy.

The likelihood that at my age my partner will be more experienced than me is quite high.

So, I wouldn't be opposed to trying out ideas they're into and just exploring different kinks/fantasies.

I've received a lot of comments about how I write such accurate smut when I have limited experience and it's just because I've taken the time to experiment on myself with toys, smut, audio porn etc.

R.I.P Professor Cal, you brought me comfort on some very lonely nights.

So yeah, let me know what you think!

And I'm glad you loved the fic, I loved writing it.

It's fun being mommy's precious little bunny isn't it? 🐰🐰🫶🫶

i'm interested in knowing which kinks i brought up that you hadn't really thought about before

so seems like i was 4/5 with my analysis (cause yes i would still count you having a ✨nuanced✨ interest in dacryphilia). and the only one I got completely wrong was based on incorrect data from the chart you shared, lol

though i am surprised cause shibari sounds right up your alley! it's very artistic and pairs really well with dollifciation, and shibari is one of the few forms of bondage that doesn't necessarily have to be restrictive either! there are some really intricate designs that allow a person to still have full range of movement. but i can understand being intimidated by ropes

ropes are probably the restraint i'm most comfortable with, personally. i don't like metal cuffs because they can't be cut off in an emergency like rope can, and while i love the feel of leather restraints they're also much pricier to cut. there's also all different kinds of rope that feel very pleasant on the skin, like silk or cotton rope, and it can be dyed to come in a variety of colors

circling back to the corruption kink, it's def gonna be more common in people who specifically seek out inexperienced partners. but it's not inherent to all of them. there's plenty of people who are also inexperienced themselves who are looking for a partner with similar levels of experience or those who are more vanilla and not looking corrupt anyone, lol

but from the sound of it, you have a lot more experience than you give yourself credit for! you have a lot of experience with solo exploration, and things like oral or fingering def count as experience as well

aasdghjjk ;-; yes it's fun being mommy's precious little bunny

[stop-stealing-my-username]

I think there's something especially sinister about the idea that asexuals "withholding sex" is abusive, because it's such a twisted and warped portrayal of what withholding intimacy actually looks like, and skewing what abusive behaviour looks like is super dangerous for everyone.

Asexuals often have to have an even more thorough conversation on boundaries and limits than allosexuals (someone please correct me if that term is wrong it's been a while). They have to state outright "I have no interest/a very limited interest in sex" when they enter a relationship because sex is an expected part of a romantic monogamous relationship for most people. When you have that conversation, the partner knows what they are signing up for.

Stating outright "I don't want to have sex", "I may never want to have sex", "I don't want to be touched", or "I never want to have sex ever" is boundary setting, it is not withholding intimacy.

Withholding intimacy is a real abusive tactic, but it doesn't only apply to sex; it applies to hugs, kissing, hand holding, cuddling, dates, eating together, sharing a bed, etc. Withholding intimacy doesn't involve setting boundaries, it's never "I don't want to do this because I'm uncomfortable with it or simply don't want to", the intent is "you did something that I think you need to be punished for, therefore I will withhold any and all intimacy that I know you crave until you start acting the way that I want".

Withholding intimacy is about *punishing and controlling the victim*

An asexual who doesn't WANT to have sex isn't "withholding" sex any more than a straight woman who says "not tonight honey" to her husband, and suggesting that ANYONE "tough it out" is suggesting that they flatten their own boundaries for someone else and endure actual abuse; y'all who say this shit are no better than the Christians who say shit like it being a woman's duty to please her husband regardless of what she wants.

Additionally, if you enter a relationship with an asexual who has explicitly stated their boundaries and you try to ignore them, *you are the abuser here*

I'm putting "abusive" and "withholding intimacy" up on the top shelf til we learn what they mean

***Quick edit (feb 1st) because I had an afterthought that's kinda important; withholding intimacy isn't only in regards to physical intimacy (I'd wager that it's not what most people experience when their partner is withholding intimacy even though it's the first thing that comes to mind), emotional intimacy can be withheld too.

Giving someone the "cold shoulder" (ignoring when they speak, refusing to acknowledge them being in the room, etc) after an argument, for example is withholding intimacy; the intent is to punish and isolate the victim, to tell them "you don't matter, you don't deserve to be loved", and it's very blatent.

While intimacy can be weaponized, it's important to make the distinction between that and not wanting to engage in intimacy, because they are not the same fucking thing; insisting that they are blurs what is actually abusive (dangerous for everyone), and paints the false narrative of asexual people being inherently abusive for *checks notes* communicating that they don't want to have sex. As with all aphobia, the argument falls apart when you think about it for more than five seconds.

Also this goes without saying but you are never fucking owed sex from someone and this bullshit aounds like incel rhetoric.

Sorry if I rambled to the point of derailing but this is something that I have a lot of thoughts on and really fucking bothers me because it's being directed at people who are literally doing nothing wrong and if anything are far more likely to face abuse (re: "tough it out") than to be the abuser.

Anyway that's my TEDtalk

ngl I'm gonna need this site to stop right the fuck now with whatever rising aphobia has decided to suddenly skyrocket in the last month of 2023

[aerithisms]

No one except reylos themselves took the ship seriously until Rian Johnson said, “[rey and kylo touching hands] was the closest thing to a sex scene in Star Wars”. Like they had no leg to stand on, most people assumed they were related then the director of tlj said “yeah FUCK Han and Leia making out, this 30 yo man and this barely legal girl who looks nearly identical to all his female family are HORNY for each other”

And the reylos started talking about how great it would be when that touch/their one kiss Got Rey Pregnant so she could carry on the Skywalker bloodline bc. Obviously that’s her purpose in this story. Family movie!

JJA said nothing supportive of shipping them two after tfa and several comments seemed to Shut It Down. Even after TROS he kept saying things that made it seem weird like still comparing them to family/describing the kiss as being about gratitude

Like it pretty much seems like RJ’s intent was to set up an Epic Tragic Love Story (though I don’t think he had any direction in mind post tlj) and TRoS had them kiss bc of that

i should say i'm not interested in a "my star wars director is better than yours" debate. as i said i like both tfa and tlj, i like both johnson and abrams, and i think most of the things i disliked about tros - including reylo - are likely to have come from higher ups rather than abrams himself. i don't get a romantic vibe from them in tfa either.

but imo there is a difference between johnson saying "yes there is romantic/sexual tension between rey and kylo in tlj" and him saying "i think the presence of that tension is good and healthy". depiction is not endorsement and i think their dynamic in tlj is presented as intentionally toxic. i don't think johnson had kylo tell rey that having unremarkable parents made her "nothing" with the intent that we were supposed to find that endearing.

re: him saying it's more sexual than han and leia i have to be honest i just do not care. this is the website where everyone's always talking about The Inherent Eroticism Of Hands so if he thinks that's more erotic than making out then i don't think that's unreasonable, regardless of whether you agree with him or not. i think it's a pretty innocuous comment, and as for reylos making weirdo pregnancy theories about it, johnson does not have control over that so i don't see how that's his fault or relevant to his choices in the movie itself. i don't think a writer exploring a thorny relationship in their work is responsible for fans acting up about it. the reylos were already that weird after tfa, whether people took them seriously or not, and i don't think their presence should've stopped johnson from writing the story how he wanted to.

ultimately i don't deny that there is a romantic tension between kylo and rey in tlj, i just think it isn't being depicted as a healthy thing. i do think it is an interesting thing though and i liked the way it was explored. i think creating a connection between the hero and the villain makes for a more compelling conflict (the disappointment and betrayal of rey having believed he could change only for him to refuse is a more interesting cause of hatred for rey than him just being evil) and i liked how rey ultimately reunites with her true friends after flirting (literally) with the dark side and rejecting it. for me the idea of the separated arcs of our main trio in tlj is that they all must make mistakes and grow from them, and they come out the other side stronger and ready to be united. i don't think it necessarily succeeds at that with everyone, but i thought it did with rey.

i'm also gonna draw a line under this because it's been a few days and i don't want to run the risk of this dragging out if i get more asks about it. i appreciate the ask though and ofc understand that we disagree.

[ffsg0jo]

- l i t t l e t h i n g s t h e y l o v e a b o u t y o u -

jjk x gn reader [maki,, panda,, inumaki,, yuta,, toji]

part 1,, part 2

WARNINGS: feet, little bit suggestive -- masterlist

a/n: i decided to make a part 2 because i thought it was kinda cute and i wanted to do it for everyone else! i hope you enjoy reading this as well and, as always, feel free to leave suggestions in my ask box!! also some of these aren't supposed to be inherently romantic (like panda's, who i envisioned as platonic), but you can see them however you want to!!

MAKI : these are my headcanons and i can write whatever i want so I'm just gonna say it. she loves how your second toe is longer that your big toe. when she first saw you sockless and realised your second toe was longer she couldn't help but let out a laugh. it was the silliest thing in the world but it cracked her. she always teases you for having a longer second toe, but she loves it so much and thinks its very cool. later that week you found out inumaki also had a longer second toe and you both decided to start a long toe society, excluding gojo even though he sent you photographic evidence of his longer middle toe. that bitch is too desperate for his own good.

PANDA : panda loves the way you lean into him and his warmth whenever you're tired or sleepy. it'd be a day where you're all up bright and early, sparring with each other and you've literally got out of bed and just about managed to get changed and brush your teeth. your eyes are barely open but you still stagger towards panda and just let yourself fall forward, face first into his soft plush figure. he places a paw on your back to keep you steady and just relishes in your warmth, the same way you do in his. he finds it adorable and he loves a good cuddle with you <33

INUMAKI : he loves the way you're not afraid to stand up for what you think is right and what you believe in. he finds it incredibly admirable and when he sees you verbally berating someone for being disrespectful he's always there behind you like 'go bestiee,, that's my best frannn'. he's honestly in awe of how unashamedly 'you' you are. inumaki has seen a lot of people being totally useless despite having voices they can use to help and try and make things right, so the fact you're so committed and stand by what you think is right is something he respects and loves about you. go you!!

YUTA : the fact that you actually exist and not just some spirit yuta loves how soft and warm your hands are. he knows that no matter the weather your hands radiate the warmth and heat he's been craving ever since he first laid his eyes on you. so when you bless him by slotting your hand into his, he holds it gently, careful not to hurt you and savours the warmth, praying that you never let go. and when you do eventually end up letting go his hand follows yours and he all of sudden feels extremely cold and empty. please hold this man's hand. he deserves it so so much.

TOJI : id say your ass, but we both know that ass ain't little. toji loves the way you dote on him. throughout his childhood and life toji hasn't really had anyone dote on him the same way you do. you'd wake up before toji leaves for a mission and pack him food for the next however many days and he's touched by it, but also a little scared. like you're packing lunches for an assassin, there must be a loose screw somewhere. anyways toji loves how much you care about him and he appreciates it. a lot. and he makes sure to show you how much he appreciates you as well ;)

© ffsg0jo 2022 — do not plagiarise, repost, modify, or translate any of my work, in any way shape or form; i will piss in your cereal if you do. all work belongs to me and me only.

taglist:: @dukina @cupidines @sinumaki @awwhstheic @em9503 @thegojosimpehe @serxeinxx -- feel free to join my taglist here <33

[franki-lew-yo]

The Romantic (2009, R, Gothic Fantasy/Horror), aka the most forgotten animated film in the world

What if I told you there was a movie under serious threat of becoming lost media with no clear reason as to WHY it's been lost other than no one has apparently watched it besides me and a few people on Reddit? What if I told you that movie wasn't half bad and would no doubt have some interest peeked if anyone DID know about it?

The name of that movie is The Romantic.

It was released in 2009 and it's Rated R for nudity and sex scenes [insert Robbie Rotten meme here], though none of it too graphic. It was a pet project created by animator Michael P. Heneghan, originally starting as a flash project for his animation class before he expanded it into a feature film. The film was inspired by movies such as The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth, but what I see every time I look at it is a touch of Jhonen Vasquez, Tim Burton, and Roman Dirge- the guy behind Lenore the Cute Little Dead Girl. It's flash animation especially remind me of the puppet-rigged toons of the 2000s (again like Salad Fingers or Lenore). It's not bad, it's just not inherently 'feature film' quality flash, nor is it exceptionally artistic like Sita Sings the Blues in it's simplicity. Like, really, if you happen to find this thing it's not the worst animated project at all it's just amateur for a professional production. I've seen worse flash movies. Heck, if The Romantic were released in separate parts on youtube or Newgrounds as a series (ala Homestuck) I'm sure it would have been really successful and totally in it's element. But it wasn't.

Because next to no one has seen it and I'm lucky to have not only ever seen it when it was available for free but have also found it recently (hush hush, I ain't telling you how) I'm going to actually give you all a plot synopsis under the cut. There will be some details I leave out and I think I've spelled some characters names wrong. It's a bit of a surrealist film as well, so you might need some things explained.

Spoilers ahead:

The Romantic is set in an autumnal, surrealist world inhabited by humans and monsters and ruled by three gods; Po the goddess of love; Pik the god of Hate; and Pjorrc the god of time though Pjorrc was made to live inside a pumpkin moon as everything he touched rabidly aged and died.

((Tapestry art featuring the main three gods of the film.))

A young man (called “Romance” or “The Romantic” by the other characters) performs a bull sacrifice in order to summon Abbledepopa, the unseen creator of the other gods and ‘storyteller’ of the world. The sacrifice does not conjure Abbledepopa but, when Romance spares a monster that was ready to eat him, the monster tells him of a profit named Patience. Patience is a foul-mouthed dwarf living alone with an army of babies who points Romance in the direction of Po.

((Romance outside of Patience's house.))

Romance wants the god’s help because he has fallen out of love with his girlfriend. Po grants him his desire and restores his love only for Romance to return home and find his girlfriend with another man. Blinded by heartache and rage, Romance kills her. He then swears vengeance on the gods for ‘making’ him do it. In the midst of this vow, a corrupt prophet called Fat Daddy kills the queen of Vauxhaul (Romance's home) and her guards, and forges a new body for his newborn son with their bodies. Fat Daddy rallies the townsfolk behind him in supposedly finding the Queen’s murder into follow a new religion called "The Poetic End".

((Romance (right) besides the monster he spared at the beginning of the movie.))

Patience accompanies Romance on his quest and tells him to take Po’s mask, which hides her true face, once he kills her. Romance buys Po’s trust by weaving her a tapestry that tells her story: in the dawn of time Po and Pjorrc were in love. However, Pjorrc gradually became distant and Po became resentful when their daughter, Love, earned Po's original title as the god of romance and love.

In the present day, Romance sleeps with Po for over a year before finally killing her and taking her mask. He and Patience return to his home of Vauxhul only to be chased out by Fat Daddy’s personal army. They flee to Marshallton, the town nearest to the god Pik.

((Romance's hometown of Vauxhul. ))

The king of Marshallton, King Crookie, tells Romance of a prophecy he, Patience, Fat Daddy and all the gods are a part of and that the world is soon to change. Romance then fights and successfully kills Pik when he shows the god of hate his reflection in a mirror King Crookie gave him, but not before losing his hand to Pik.

When Romance comes down the mountain he learns from Patience that nine years have passed since his fight with Pik began. Patience reveals to Romance what Pik saw in the mirror that allowed Romance to take the killing blow; after Love had grown up and married, Po asked Pik to tell her where her husband was always running off to. Pik reluctantly revealed Pjorrc was disguising himself as a human and married a mortal woman. Po found Pjorrc and his pregnant second wife, forcing Pjorrc to leave his human family behind, but not before asking his wife to name their son “Patience”. In retaliation for his treachery, Po proceeded to sleep with fifty men and produce the fifty bastard children in Patience’s house.

((Fat Daddy, the main villain.))

Marshallton and the entire rest of the world has fallen to the rule of Fat Daddy, who captures Romance and Patience. Fat Daddy tortures Patience into telling him how to get to Pjorrc but is unable to convince Romance to take part in his ‘new world’ or give him Po’s mask. Romance and Patience escape and leave the village to be torn apart by the fifty babies Po had, now transformed into veracious monsters after Patience didn’t feed them for the past ten years. Romance confronts Patience when he realizes the latter is Pjorrc’s son. Patience calls Romance out on his mantra of vengeance and points out that all his decisions are his own, not the gods, and instructs him to seek Love herself in Po’s basement. Patience then attempts to confront Pjorrc but is cornered and killed by Fat Daddy before he can do so.

In Po’s basement, Romance finds Love nailed to a wall, her face torn off and half eaten by her deformed husband. Love tells Romance that Po ripped off her daughter’s face in rage over Pjorrc’s infidelity and Pjorrc did not intervene fast enough. Po then threw Love into her basement, turned Love’s husband into a monster, and wore her daughter’s face as a mask - which Romance had broken into pieces moments ago after Patience had shown him his face in King Crookie’s mirror. Romance then finds Pjorrc hanging himself. As he dies, Pjorrc tells Romance to take the hand Fat Daddy had cut off and sew it onto himself, which will in turn help Romance defeat Abbledepopa.

Romance traverses the wasteland and does not find Abbledepopa, but instead a golden loom. Having seen all the destruction he and others had caused, Romance sits upon the loom and accepts his fate as the new ‘storyteller’ of the world, as he begins weaving a new one...

---

I mentioned before the animation quality of the film and why maybe that caused people to overlook it. The only other thing I could complain about on a technical level with The Romantic is it's sound design. Some of the voices and music is a little too quiet and so all these key details I had to go through the film a few times to really piece together. But that leads me to the thing I like about this movie and I'm sure others would to: the lore.

It's very hard to create a new fantasy world w it's own customs, religions, history and rules out of the blue as any YA Harry Potter/Hunger Games ripoff book could tell you. The Romantic is so unique in how it handles the pantheon and culture of these three gods and their kin; really only four or five characters throughout the entire story aren't connected to the gods or prophecy in some way, as there's the main three gods, Abbeldepappa, and the prophets Patience, Love and Fat Daddy, who make up your main cast besides Romance. There's a lot that's intentionally left unexplained and other info that must be explained, like Pjorrc and Po's marriage and Romance's feelings towards the gods, if we want to understand the former. The movie is paced pretty well and knows when to follow up on what, it's just that again some of those animation and editting shortcomings might make it hard to understand...but I don't think THAT hard. Look, if someone can enjoy Starchaser: The Legend of Orin or even better surrealist world-building films ((Fantastic Planet comes to mind)), then I say there's no reason The Romantic wouldn't have a following. There's no other way I can articulate why and what doesn't work about the story except just to recommend you watch it yourselves, but before I get into that I want to talk themes...because I love the themes and tone of The Romantic.

I revisited The Romantic a week before I made myself watch Centaurworld and The Owl House for the first time...and what a week that was~! The Romantic has the vibe of those kinds of shows along with Adventure Time and Infinity Train ((so I hear, I haven't watched the latter)). It's surreal and you'll only marvel at 'woooah wut an acid trip' for so long before you get into the vibe of the universe. It also reminded me substantially of the Broadway musical Hadestown and not just because this movie is also a self-contained, somewhat self aware fable about the relationships between humans and gods - it's very raw in how the characters talk. It's very emotional and blunt in how kind and how cruel they can be, and it doesn't make excuses or really worships any one of them. Romance himself is the world's most likable Incel: he murders a woman he thought he needed to love and blames his emotions on the gods of those passions...except the gods AREN'T the manifestations of love, time, and hate - they simply dictate and oversee it in the lives of men. It's a dynamic I really like in religious works where Gods are powerful but not all knowing or puppet masters to everyone's design- they have morality too and there is only so much you can blame and get from them.

"You made your gods into excuses and your excuses into gods!"

-Patience. This here is a cool quote. I like this quote.

No matter what, The Romantic is not gonna be a film for everyone. We all have our tastes - I think I'm drawn to it and accepting because I've come to love these kind of worlds that used to keep me up at night - these trippy 70s inspired fantasy landscapes given a whole Avatar: The Last Airbender degree of worldbuilding and character worth. It also doesn't feel exploitive in it's violence, it's sexuality, it's grimmness - it doesn't feel like it's trying to hard or going over the top because it happens to be an adult animated film, something that I love in movies like 9 or Hair High but really turns me off in stuff like Sausage Party or Wizards. Whatever go watch The Romantic...

if you can.

-----

When I first saw this film in 2016 it was actually very accessible and was even uploaded to youtube by the creator himself. I don't know WHAT happened to Michael P. Heneghan, but simply put, the man's disappeared...like...REALLY disappeared.

Lookit his IMDB. He has The Romantic and a wapping two other projects to his name. His Twitter isn't very helpful either. He last updated in early 2020 and he says next to nothing about The Romantic. It's so odd that he would one day be happy with the film enough to host it on Vimeo and Youtube but then just cop out.

According to a Reddit user: "On Valentines Day 2011, Heneghan released the film for free online through all kinds of platforms including direct download, bittorrent, Vimeo, and even directly through Archive.org. He even joked about releasing a 300 gig uncompressed version.

I know I watched it on Vimeo probably as recently as 2016. Now I can't find it anywhere. The website is dead, the Vimeo video went private, even the archive.org version has been taken down. It really looks like he wanted to wipe it off the face of the internet. His newer website mentions it, but again, the Vimeo link is dead and even that website is closed for business."

It's weeeird. What happened Michael?

And yes, obviously, other people worked on the movie.

No - I can't find out anything about them either.

I'm betting on three theories at the moment: 1) this film is an SCP or some Candle Cove weirdness with only me and a handful of people ANYWHERE remembering it, 2) something weird is going on w Michael Heneghan and it involves too something about this film. It was a scam or a scheme or a hidden agenda weirdness, 3) Heneghan's doing okay he just doesn't like this film anymore and wants it hidden while he takes a break.

Look, I get it Michael! What was once our life's worth can become cringe as you improve as an artist - you're not the person making the stuff you were ten years ago...but you should still have the film kept alive somehow. Someway.

I'm seriously the only person to have ever made fan art of this movie on the internet. That just doesn't happen, and I don't think I like being in a fandom of one. The Romantic is a testament to the power of design and storytelling > animation quality itself. Too often I see people equate good animation with smooth animation, with a budget with squash and stretch. These animations are good but art is diverse and there's so many kinds of films out there, the value of the medium can't just be in one style/form. There's a lot of honestly wonderful pieces of art out there if you know where to look and you're willing to see where it leads you.

Don't let The Romantic be the most forgotten movie of all time. Reblog this post. Show it to your friends. PM the animation community reviewer people like Saberspark and someone who isn't Saberspark and smuggle them a copy.

Keep telling the story...

[spring-lxcked]

The crooked smile caught on William's face only grew, the skin between his eyebrows furrowing. "I disagree. Unless you think that me expecting more compliments afterward would be a horrible burden." Then again, William could feel the hypothetical stroke to his ego even without a real compliment, the faint rise of pulse. Perhaps Henry wasn't wrong but, well, William would never admit that.

He zeroed in on every change in Henry's expression, every flicker of emotion. He was not blind to the fluster or the nerves. In combination, it was all enough to shift his expression into something both warmer and more predatory. Hard and soft; gentle smile and sharp eyes. He was always hunting for it—any and every sign that he was getting under Henry's skin, driving his way into his mind. "I'm only speaking the truth." Slivers of it, but truth nonetheless. He knew better than to press too hard, slit himself open and let everything slither out into the open. He couldn't risk scaring Henry off. He treated him a bit like a frightened animal in these moments of affection, without the lust to hide behind.

"Heartfelt is right." But so much for not pressing too hard. William, always so in control of himself, could turn into a fool around Henry. Not a flicker of concern crossed over him, however, expression smooth as he leaned back on his palms. He resisted the urge to touch again, to press back into his space once more. Always drawn to his partner, friend, something. He could wait for either invitation or action. "I'm more than just a pretty lay, after all. You understand that, right?" William wasn't opposed to a warm body, but being just that to Henry would never be satisfactory. Not that he had ever truly hidden that fact.

His lips curled over sharp teeth at the invitation, William resisting every urge to instantly scramble off the desk. He couldn't hide the pleasure in getting what he wanted, however. He truly took his time sliding off of the desk and stepping right into Henry's space. Hands on either of Henry's shoulders, he pressed once knee into the chair beside him, then the other. He settled himself there straddling Henry, although with less of the heat the position usually would have elicited. No, this time he pressed close, nose buried into the crook of Henry's neck. He was breathing him in, no attempt made to hide it. Something inherently him. Henry. His, any moment William could indulge in this nearness.

"I know," he teased, leaning back to show off the smirk settling onto his mouth. "You don't need to tell me—even if I wish you would. I see how you look at me." One hand was trailing up the nape of Henry's neck, twisting the curls at the back of his head around his fingers. "I know you probably think I'm just full of pretty words, but I mean everything I say." The confession, more open than any of his previous words, was finished with William leaning forward, his lips pressed to Henry's. The hunger of the touch was missing, instead left as a soft, lingering thing. Undeniably romantic, even if the meaning was dulled by William sitting back and asking with a grin, "I truly am getting in the way of your work, aren't I? Should I go?"

𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥'𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧' 𝐢𝐭 - & that's to put it lightly. it seems he's gained all of the fellow engineer's starry-eyed attention. & while there are obvious benefits... (like the ego-boost). you ever get the feeling someone's waiting in line to one-up you? but, there's also -- a tough pill to swallow. harder to ignore when it's more than stolen moments in a broom closet, or underneath the other's desk. these were real displays of affection separate from their excursions, & henry is having a harder & harder time being able to process it all. 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲? they can't be anything, can they? shit he'd assume will isn't an idiot, if he didn't already know better. he had to see this was a bad idea. although he's come to infer & accept certain things about will. he likely isn't worried about being caught.

he can't exactly work, with will's ass half-perched over his paperwork, but that's neither here nor there. coffee at least undisturbed, the tired father ran a little bit ragged. his short curls askew, with his glasses pushed up. hands folded in his lap, with an ankle atop his knee. [...] his beard is itchy -- hyper aware of how far he's let it grown in. so he strokes it, absentmindedly. ass tilting chair backward just slightly, with a rock.

he scrunches his eyebrows to off-set his chuckle - teeth peering with a shake of his head. 𝐠𝐨𝐝𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐧 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐦. he looks down. "right." he muses. taking the excuse before his eyes peer back upward. trying to avoid his gaze, henry? "& then i'll never live down said compliment..."

--- & that's when he finds the man leaning over him, with his chin in his hands. feeling every compression of his coarse stubble, as the thumb drags across. 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐳𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐟 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞. brows twisted in surprise. gripping his thick, hairy arm with the opposite hand.

he's downright flabbergasted at the attention. not sure he's ever been fawned over like this before. it makes him blush. settling expression a gooey one, though still just a slight smile. one brow narrowed, while the other one quirked. "well it seems you can wax poetic just fine." he murmurs.

he grunts. shaking his head & looking in his lap at the loss of contact. huffing, & scratching the back of his neck. both feet bracing with legs slightly spread, as he leans into will's scent. "you always were a sore winner. but i suppose i can't argue with such heartfelt expressions."

"c'mere." he cocks his head for invitation into his lap. something that doesn't necessarily have to be sexual. just.. wants him close. doesn't question why. he knows will will do it. "for the record you're not so bad yourself."

[slashingdisneypasta]

Human!Freddy Krueger x Fem!Reader || Oneshot

Title: What The Fuck Now, Freddy!?

Notes:

This is not inherently romantic, at all. Or sexual. Just... Freddy being a bastard, and you are caught in the crosshairs- and are forever linked with him because of it.

I've been listening to Lizzie, a lot lately- and this is inspired by 'What The Fuck Now, Lizzie!?'

Also- I'm thinking this will have a part 2. Due to the ending not being quite enough. Maybe a part for the court proceedings!

Plot: Many will know the story of that terrible day Krueger essentially snapped- killing his wife, Loretta Krueger. She saw the basement, they say, and he didn't like that. Their daughter saw the whole thing and suffered a traumatic response to seeing the sight of her mother, strangled to death, by her father- and forgot the whole thing.

But if she were to remember something, one day.

She may remember something no one knows about that day, aside from Freddy himself.

She may remember, that someone else was there.

She may remember you.

//

Alternatively- you're being blackmailed by Freddy who found out you, another supposedly Plain Jane in Loretta's 'mothers club', is cheating on your husband and calls you up to help deal with the mess he made. Because who else did he have?

Warnings: Okay lemme see, its basically a potluck of triggers. Hm. Murder, swearing, cheating (You, on your husband. Not with Freddy), getting rid of a body, a child gets traumatised (Obviously, Kathy/Maggie), Freddy himself, mention of the basement and all that entails, reader with a very questionable moral compass. Look, I think if you can watch Freddy's Dead, you're good here.

I'm just heading out the door, to go grocery shopping - or, at least, that's the story I tell my husband. When really I don't do the grocery shop until the day after tomorrow. He never notices... - when the phone rings. By very nearly tripping over my feet in my endeavour to catch it before the ringing stops, I manage pick up the phone with very little injury besides an achy, slightly twisted ankle. "Hi! Hi, sorry, I'm here. Hello?"

Pouting, I sit down at the kitchen table; Rubbing my poor ankle to sooth the pain, which would soon diminish anyway. Still- I'm sorry, ankle. I'll try to chill.

When the voice on the other end reveals who it is who's called the house, I lose all need to be pleasant. Damn. I really need to memorise this goddamn number... so I can not answer it. "Whatcha wearin'?"

"Thank god Harrison didn't answer this, you fuck." I deeply roll my eyes. Thank god Har's out. No, this is not my mister, not the man I was going to meet just now- but its bad, enough. In an entirely different way. Its stupid, blackmailing, son of a... hundred maniacs. "What do you want?"

"What a way to answer the phone, Y/N. Gee, seems like every time I we talk, I'm learning how you really aren't in the right place, are you? Cheating on your poor husband, swearing... These aren't really signs of the perfect suburban house wife, is it?" Gritting my teeth, I keep from lashing out. I've learned, if you stay real quiet, Freddy wont have anything to pull from and will get bored quick. "Why so silent, hm?"

"... " Oh, fuck me. I cant help it. "Wondering where you get off judging me on being 'suburban', actually."

"Anywhere I like, thanks."

Oh... oh. Gross?

He doesn't see the disgust tearing my face into two perfect halves right now, but my silence must be enough as he laughs. The sound is directly into the phone, and harsh on my poor eardrums. Ugh... "Oh for gods sake... What are we? Fourteen years old?? Come on- why'd you call?"

"Uhhhh... " Quickly, midway through that drawn out 'um' sound, Freddy's voice transitions, and gets a whole lot darker. Something deep in his chest dislodging, to make it so. Perhaps, his heart. "Well... you might wanna come and see for yourself."

"Uh, I don't think so. I have somewhere to be right now- "

"Oh well you don't, anymore." And its clear what he isn't saying- or else I'll tell Harrison about Carter and set your life on fire. "Tell your boy toy you're takin' a reign check for the day. I think you'll last. In fact... after you come over here, you might be out of the game for a couple a hours at least- maybe days."

Hold on, hold on Freddy what the fuck- "What!?"

"... Believe it or not, I didn't actually mean for that one."

Moron.

~

Nevertheless, no matter how just... off setting, Freddy is, I had to when he asked. I had to jump when he said so.

Because if not, then he would tear my life apart.

So here I am, about to knock on that big red door he lives behind, wondering what I'm walking into. Where's Loretta? Where's Kathy? How long will the visit be? I told Carter I'd be an hour or two late- any longer and I wont see him at all today. Which would absolutely suck.

Just after my knuckles come down on the wood the first time, a hand comes down on my shoulder and I immediately jump out of my skin... then slowly look around.

There's Freddy, a cheeky grin on his face. It does nothing to set my nerves at ease. "Ugh... Why are you out here?"

"We're going to the backyard. Lets go." Taking me by the shoulders, he marches me around the side of the house, instead of through it for some reason, and into the familiar backyard. I've been here numerous times, as Loretta likes to hold our club meetings here - Barbecue's, tea's... that sort of thing. Just to let the kids play together and so the adults can enjoy some adult conversation. Its a nice yard... but depending on what her horrid husband is about to show me, it may not be considered as such anymore... - , but I'm now starting to develop a sick feeling in my stomach.

Honestly- I don't know much about Freddy at all. Yes, I went to school with him, but that doesn't mean much when he was a freaky loner kid the whole time. I remember he killed the class hamster once- that's about the only splash he ever made in the news pool; But it definitely stuck.

Yes, Loretta cleaned up his image a fair bit since getting married, but now he's blackmailing me, and as far as I know I'm now alone with him.

Suspicious of him suddenly, I slip out of his grip with a dirty look flashed his way. Don't touch me.

He just rolls his eyes, leading me around some hedges.

And then everything stops.

Him, me, the air; The air around me, the breeze, the breath in my throat.

There lays Loretta, on the ground. If I was really really naïve, I could imagine she were sleeping... or passed out, at least, due to the way she's sprawled out. No one would lay down like that willingly.

But... her eyes are open.

For a moment I'm tempted to kneel down; Take a closer look. Find out how, myself. Is she bleeding anywhere that I cant see now? Are her lips turning blue? If I moved some short red hair out of the way- would their be marks on her neck yet?

But then I come to my senses...

And freak. The fuck. O u t.

"What, the fuck, did you do!?" I whip around, looking at Freddy now which entirely new eyes. I mean, before I sure wasn't fond- but now I'm filled with something new, looking at him. Something a lot worse, something that makes me want to run. Run, and hide, and stay there.

And all these, even though he hasn't really changed. He still wears a mischievous smirk, stony blue eyes eating up my reactions... like always. But this time its just so so much worse. "Made some dead weight- now you're gonna help me get rid of it. So!" Finally, though its been only a matter of seconds, he turns his gaze off of me and I'm glad. That gaze is far too heavy. "Ideas?"

Only for a moment am I lost for words, struggling to push anything out. "I... I'm sorry??"

His gaze returns to mine, but this time my eyes are hard as his are dark. "Help. Me. Get rid of her. Fucking. Body. Or do you want your dirty laundry aired for the whole community to hear?"

Before I can help myself, I let out a sharp laugh, only succeeding in making Freddy's scowl deeper. "Freddy- this secret's a lot bigger, then mine. Sure, I might get divorced- but you're going to prison!" Does he get that? He's g o i n g to j a i l. Crossing my arms, I try to avoid looking at my ex-friend's body. I cant. "I'm sure as hell not gonna be in there with you, for being an accomplice."

I really cant look at her... I can only focus on Freddy. And that takes a lot of energy- its taking everything in me, in fact. Everything I have. But I have to. If its him or her, there's no choice.

But... then a creepy smile spreads across his face- a vast polarity to the frustrated glower of before. It makes my blood run cold.

"Ohhhh..." He looks almost ferocious, even in his composed state. Like a monster. Like any moment a fanged, inhuman creature is going to burst out of him and I'm going to wake up, and this will have been a nightmare. A horrible nightmare. The kind where that creature haunts me for a long time, after its over. After this over.

He's going to haunt me.

"You must think this is my first time... " My heart turns to ice, mouth hanging a little open... what the fuck have I found myself a part of!? Suddenly all the children's disappearances on the news lately come to the forefront of my brain... "Sweetheart, give a man his dues. I'm a hard working kinda guy... " I watch his gaze flicker to a door - the back door? No... The basement door, - and when a filthy smirk pulls at his mouth, my heart flies up into my throat. God, it makes me feel sick. I want to be violently ill. "My first was my adoptive Dad... pretty sick, huh?"

The fact that he didn't say anything about the basement, makes my imagination go wild. I swallow it down, though.

I just need to get out of here, and never think about this again.

And to do that I need to help Freddy get rid of this goddamn body- and... probably... testify at court... As the panic starts to finally rise up in my, right up to fill my throat, I immediately take in a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Okay... " No time to freak out. Now's the time for action.

Gaze flickering to Loretta again, I try to acclimatise to the sight. I think its a lost cause, though. "How did you get rid of him? Your Dad?"

"No, that's not gonna work. He was a drunk dead beat, and I just had to tell the police some guy's he owed money to came over to the house." Freddy grins happily at the memory, but then just as quickly, scowls at his poor deceased wife's body- that certainly cant fight back. I just tack this onto the long list of reasons I hate him. "Lore's such a goddamn goody goody- we cant do the same thing. You don't think I woulda thought of that??"

"Hey." I snap, hands braced on my hips as I flash a glare his way. "This is not the time to get defensive!"

"Whatever... "

Then- suddenly, something occurs to me. Confused, I look around; A deeply horrified feeling disturbing my stomach. "Hold on... Where's your daughter?" Seeing no sign of her anywhere, I definitely start to panic again- especially when I look to Freddy and just see a pert look in his eyes as he looks back at me, a smile that strikes something horrid inside me. My eyes narrow. "You sick fuck- where the fuck is she!??"

"Under the bed."

"What the fuck does that mean!?" I exclaim, frustrated and freaking out. He did not- he did not! Killing your spouse is one thing, but the kid?? Your own kid??

I don't wait around for him to be cryptic some more, and rush right into the house to look for her. Under the bed, under the bed, under the fucking bed...? Which fucking bed!? Forcing ferocity out of my voice, I carefully call out to Kathy. Hoping to god she answers. I try to sound normal. Maybe a little bit cheerful; Excited.

But my voice wobbles.

"Kathy?? Sweetheart, its Y/N! Are you hiding? I have something for you... " ?? You have something for her, Y/N?? God... now you have to figure out some kind of treat.

You know what? Whatever. We'll figure that out later.

Lets just hope we aren't searching for a corpse. I'd definitely be sick, seeing a child... the way Loretta is...

Shaking my head and clenching my fists, I try to focus on Kathy.

I check under the bed in the guest room because it comes into view first and she isn't there, then her bedroom and she isn't there either... and get a sick feeling as soon as I enter the last bedroom. Freddy's and Loretta's.

God, I've never been in here before but its like a museum peace now. A horrible one. Like if you would walk into the Titanic... or the Borden house.

"Kathy? You in here?" Flicking on the light I kneel down on the ground, and check under the bed.

And something immediately crashes over me, as the sight of her covering her eyes down there. It isn't exactly relief, because this whole situation is still phenomenally fucked up for her, but I am selfishly glad to not have to see her body... crumpled, just like her mother.

"Hey sweetheart," My voice quivers slightly now, but I quickly swallow. No. No. Now, you must be strong Y/N. "Its just me. Your Daddy was looking for you, and couldn't find you! It got him worried!"

"I... I don't wanna see Daddy. He hurt Mommy." Kathy doesn't remove her hands from her face, and stays firmly by the wall- too far away for anyone to grab. My heart sinks.

Slowly straightening up again, I try to take that piece of information in. Turning to the doorway, I see Freddy there. he must have followed me. I didn't even notice. Slowly, and quietly ferociously, I say; "She saw?!"

He has the good sense to look embarrassed, even if it is just to make fun of me. "It was spur of the moment... " He shrugs. "I didn't have time to get a babysitter!"

What a fucking excuse. For gods sake.

I'm definitely dealing with a psycho- if that was even a question before now.

Swiftly, I look down under the bed again, because I'm afraid that if I continue to engage with him- I'll scream, and I'll lose my breath, and I'll scare Kathy even more. She's at the forefront of my mind; That's all I can think about.

But what to do with her after I get her out from under this bed, I don't know. I cant give her back to her father... but I cant hand her over to the police either because that would involve telling them about Loretta, and... Freddy will definitely kill me, for that.

This is a nightmare of a situation.

I'm just opening my mouth to say something - what, I don't know yet, - when she speaks, instead. "Is he there?"

"... Yes." I wont lie to her; That would be treating her with not nearly as much respect as she deserves.

When she takes a deep breath and rubs her eyes, as if just trying to keep herself together, my heart clenches. God... and to think I might not have picks up Freddy's call today. I would have been leaving her with this. For the first time today, I'm morbidly glad I came.

She speaks in that loud, hissy way that kids think is a whisper. "Can he... can you please make him go away?"

Immediately I straighten back up and look to Freddy again, my eyebrows raised halfway up my forehead. Like well? "Get out."

"I don't think you're in a position to make demands here, bi- "

"Do you want Kathy to live down there now!??" I snap, trying not to be scared. Not really feeling scared, actually. Just happy to have a reason to tell him to get the hell away from me.

A deep frown creases his mouth, deeply unhappy about the situation, but steps back. I only hear him step out of the way of the door, but its good enough. Quickly, I get up and close the door - fighting with myself not to slam it, - and lock it.

Then I return to the floor, and see this time Kathy has uncovered her eyes. She looks so small, smaller then she actually is, and she looks like she's shaking. Little red bows and piggy tails in her hair are messy from crawling under the bed. "He's gone, sweetheart. And I locked the door."

She just nods, so I take the silence as a chance to offer my hand to her. "Take my hand, sweetie? Come on out from under the bed. Its cold down there, and no one wants you getting sick." I need to upkeep the family friend bit, I need to sound caring and collected. I need her to trust me.

Her big eyes, not Loretta's colour or Freddy's, look nervous as hell. And she shakes her head.

Taking a deep breath, and I conjure all the sincerity as I can. And mean it. My eyes soften and I try really hard, to resent myself as someone trustworthy- which is hard, seeing as I've never really been that. I mean, I'm cheating on my husband. I told Carter today the same lie I told Harrison when i knew I was going to be late. The only person I think who knows the truth behind all my lies is Freddy. That says something about a person, that the only person who knows them is a psychopath.

But I want to, I need to, be good for this little girl. And there's no time for me turn my life around so it has to start with this. How fucked is that?

"... I promise, I'll take care of you. He wont hurt you."

After a few whole minutes, in which I stay silent because yes she's a child, but she's still thinking, she crawls over and takes my hand, letting me lead her out. Crawling into my lap as I cross my legs under her, she buries her face in my shirt- hiding. "You promise?"

Taking a deep breath, because I've really done it now, I offer my pinky for her to see if she turned her head. I know Freddy's listening to all of this through the wall, but I try not to freak out. "Pinky swear?"

"Pinky swear." She peaks out from my shirt, and curls her little finger around mine. Okay... "Y/N... I'm scared."

"Yeah... Me too, sweetie."

What am I going to do?