#but that's not just progressive christians doing that?

[jkl-fff]

Alright, after an inexplicable hiatus of a couple months, I have returned to finally complete my watch of the Hammer Dracula films! (Don't know why I always have such a difficulty finishing things, even when I'm right near their ends. Perhaps it's because, on an unconscious level, I fear completing things. Perhaps because completing things means I have to allow them to pass out of my life and into the world, where I no longer have control of them. Perhaps because completing things means I have to find a new occupation for my time, as this one will no longer serve.) This last one, The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires, is astounding. Really astounding.

Credit where credit's due: I'm really impressed that they had the guts to try something so bold and different from the rest of the series (a kungfu Dracula movie actually set in China, partnered with a Hong Kong studio and featuring a majority cast of Asian actors). And for an exploitation film (it has no less than 3 scenes with many topless women, the most of this series) made in 1973, it had some surprisingly progressive moments. Specifically, it prominintely features a woman martial artist who is as capable as her 6 brothers (and more so than Van Helsing & his son). It features *2* interracial romances with no hint of negative judgment against them. Van Helsing is nothing but genuinely respectful and admiring of the Chinese characters (their knowledge as he always recognizes his own ignorance on matters of Asian vampires, their country's sophisticated culture, and their martial arts skills) from beginning to finish. And they touch on the interesting theological and worldbuilding question of Christian *and* Buddhist iconography both having power to repel vampires. Oh, also Van Helsing wears an adorable pith helmet in many scenes with a ludicrously long ribbon for no discernible reason. That's great.

But the rest of the film ... For one thing, where is Christopher Lee? The supposedly-Dracula is played by a guy who is obviously not him, and with make-up that looks more like he was supposed to play the Joker from the Adam West TV series. Up until he posseses (I guess) a Chinese guy, giving us supossedly-supposedly-Dracula with hilarious voiceovers that do *not* match his mouth or gesticulations. The 7 Golden Vampires are the most ridiculous looking monster costumes I've ever seen, their hoard of zombies are impossible to take seriously since they spend most of their time *skipping and bouncing* (an allusion to jiangshi legends?) and with a weird chattering in the music (representing evil laughter?), and the large group fight scenes are nonsensical (that's not how people fight in a group) and visually confusing (can't tell zombies from farmers). The martial arts choreography isn't the worst I've ever seen (except for the twin brothers who have to always fight while holding hands for some reason? and the vampire whose reaction to being fatally stabbed is to do a backflip?), but it isn't great either. And the weapons look like shiny toys.

Still, it was interesting to see a flip on gender at the end. The woman martial artist is captured and strapped to one of the topless bondage tables, yet frees herself (masculinizing her because of her combat skills?) while the Van Helsing boy (easily the least capable character in terms of combat skills) who rushed to rescue her is laid out on another topless bondage table and needs to be saved by someone competent (feminizing him?). And Dracula (true to form) has another weakass death scene where he gets easily impaled (hilariously easy given all the fight scenes the Golden Vampires performed) *by throwing himself at Van Helsing* and then slumping onto his own topless bondage table to die (also feminizing him?).

Interesting ideas, poor executions that make it just seem nuts.

Still, this was a lot of fun! Thanks again, OP, for compiling and sharing this list!

with dracula daily in full swing and the arrival of spoopy season, i thought i might spend my bedridden day collecting links for all to enjoy the entire hammer horror dracula canon. feel free to check out my pinned for my personal thoughts on watch order, etc.

starred movies i particularly recommend as they follow a timeline, with unstarred movies mostly being extraneous/filler (yet amusing nonetheless).

⭐️horror of dracula

⭐️ brides of dracula

dracula: prince of darkness

dracula has risen from the grave

taste the blood of dracula

scars of dracula

⭐️ dracula a.d. 1972

⭐️ the satanic rites of dracula

legend of the seven golden vampires

happy watching!

[n0vazsq]

Valentine | JMM3 x Reader

pairing . . . pepe marti x blind!date!reader

summary . . . Your best friend, Gaby, set you up with a blind date and is forcing you to go. Little did you know, it was with your celebrity crush, Pepe

request . . . yes!! based on this request!

word count . . . N/A

warnings . . . none!

faceclaim . . . christina nadin

alexavia yaps . . . HAPPY VALENTINES GANGALANG!!!!! so sorry if its short or lacks content but i have my scholarship exam tmrw and i need to study!! i might write a oneshot later today but until now ill only post this!! each post is kind of a monthly update of their relationship up until valentines!!

yourusername

liked by gabyprentice_, christian.mansell, yourbsf and 2.1K others

yourusername it's still november and my best friend is forcing me to go on a blind date so i can get a valentine Tagged: gabyprentice_

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gabyprentice_ you should thank me

yourusername no?

gabyprentice_ you really will after you see him

christian.mansell trust me y/n you will

yourusername WHO IS HE

gabyprentice_ it's called a blind date for a reason

christian.mansell i can't wait to see your reaction when you see who it is

gabyprentice_ neither can i

username1 so prettyyy

username2 the breakfast looks so good

username3 let us know who he is

yourusername i will once i know who he is myself

username3 the suspense is killing me omgg

username4 praying for y/n bc blind dates never end well

username5 i just know christian and gaby made y/n's life a living hell with this date

username6 WHAT IF ITS PEPE

username7 WAIT IT COULD BE

username8 woah

username9 y/n please post more updating us about the mystery date

yourbsf who's that gorgeous lady

yourusername me

yourbsf you can't be this beautiful also send me your reaction when you see the blind date

yourusername wow okay SO YOU KNOW WHO HE IS TOO??

gabyprentice_ we told her

yourusername AND NOT ME?

yourbsf its a BLIND date

yourusername i will ram your head into the wall 😊

username10 you shoud update us every month until valentines so we can see the relationship progress

username11 yess omg pls do that y/n

username12 man i love you for this

yourusername ill think about it

username13 how can someone be so prettyyyy

username14 this blind date lucky asf bc anyone is BLESSED if they just get one look at y/n

username15 meow

username16 real

username17 screaming crying throwing up why coyldnt it be me

username18 this is pinterest aesthetic coded

username19 SO PRETTYYYYYYYY

username18 queen

username19 fr fr

username20 MY HEART CANT TAKE THIS SHIT I NEED TO KNOW WHO MYSTERY MAN IS

yourusername

liked by gabyprentice_, christian.mansell, yourbsf and 2.2K others

yourusername best dinner date i've ever had (i'm not talking about the food) Tagged: pepemartiofficial

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username21 EH???

username22 HER CELEBITY CRUSH LMFAO

username23 i feel like she wont be hating christian and gavby so much anymore

username24 HOW ARE THEY BOTH SO PRETTYYYY

username25 my kind of love frrr

username26 no.1 couple argument closed

username27 sigh i wish i was a wag

pepemartiofficial i'm glad you enjoyed it!

yourusername i had so much fun!! thank you for not leaving me when i panicked

pepemartiofficial maybe we can both have a redemption? next week?

yourusername i'd love that!

gabyprentice_ i'll text you each others numbers <3

yourusername we already exchanged them

username28 MR MARTI i was NOT aware of your game

username29 i live for these updates

username30 y/n me on my KNEES

username31 what id pay to be pepe

christian.mansell didn't go so bad, did it?

yourusername SHUT UP you could've matched us like way sooner

christian.mansell it was fun seeing you panic

yourusername SHUT UP

christian.mansell so violent and for what?

username32 OKAY OKAY I SEE THE VISION

username33 shes so pretty omgggg

username34 idk if i want to be y/n or pepe

username35 holy shit hes gorgeous

username36 came here for pepe stayed for y/n

yourbsf woah youre so hot

yourusername youre hotter

yourbsf nahhh youre way hotter

yourusername yk who is hotter than all of us

yourbsf oh god not again

yourusername i texted you the name 😈

yourbsf i was expecting it

christian.mansell 🏃🏃

yourbsf what are you running to...?

christian.mansell the y/n blind date plan gc

yourusername WHAT

yourusername add me i want to see what you three are saying about me

gabyprentice_ no way

yourusername come on guys i just want to see

yourbsf nuh uh

christian.mansell don't even try i'm saying no

yourusername sigh i deserve better friends

gabyprentice_ reminder that we set you up on this date

yourusername yeah yeah i said im grateful

yourbsf you better be

username37 man i love them

username38 HELP THE GC LORE IS INSANE

username39 did yourbsf just expose them or

username40 i feel like im intruding reading the comments between them

NEW NOTIFICATION: pepemartiofficial has started following you !

pepemartiofficial

liked by christian.mansell, yourusername, isackhadjar and 122K others

pepemartiofficial barcelona in december 🤍

click to view all comments

username41 A SOFT LAUNCH??? EH????

username42 THE PICS??? EXCLUSIVE SUBSCRIPTION??? EXCUSE ME???

username43 how is he so good looking

username44 the face card is INSANE

username45 I NEED THIS SO BADLY UGHHHHHHH

username46 STOP WHO IS THIS

username47 need a boyfriend like him

christian.mansell i see the soft launch vision

pepemartiofficial okay christian

sebasmontoya58 hes getting brave with it

christian.mansell yes he is

sebasmontoya58 our little boy is growing up 😭

pepemartiofficial 🤨

mariboya64 he probably forgot about us now

christian.mansell he wont hang out with us like he used to

sebasmontoya58 he'll be acting more mature

mariboya64 now he'll ditch us for dates like this

pepemartiofficial no

sebasmontoya58 another man fallen down along christian and me

mariboya64 okay sebastian

christian.mansell HELP

pepemartiofficial you know our girlfriends created a gc and are planning against us

sebasmontoya58 yeah i'm in it

christian.mansell WHAT??? i'm forcing gaby and y/n to let me join

username48 who tf is y/n

username49 idk maybe she's mari's gf??

username50 her insta is yourusername she's pepe's gf

username51 if my bf aint like this ion want him

yourbsf ill admit this is actually cute

pepemartiofficial thank you!!

yourusername we're not cute we're hot

yourbsf you're both tho

pepemartiofficial true

gabyprentice_ why'd you have to ruin such a beautiful and innocent moment

pepemartiofficial life

yourusername WORDS 🗣️ 💯🙏❗

username52 legit can't decide if i should cry or clap

username53 oh how i need this more than oxygen

username54 so um whens the wedding

username55 whens the hard launch more like

username56 y/n fans living the life we knew about this before all of you

username57 im sighing dreamily at these pictures

username58 THE PICS.

username59 giggling blushing and kicking my feet

username60 when will pepe post more y/n sigh

yourusername how are you so gorgeous

pepemartiofficial i should be asking YOU that

yourusername omg i'm blushing you flatter me

pepemartiofficial shouldn't be flattery if it's the truth

yourusername love youuuu

pepemartiofficial love you more

NEW NOTIFICATION: user171, user89, user514 and 102K others have started following you !

yourusername

liked by pepemartiofficial, gabyprentice_, christian.mansell and 102K others

yourusername january 2025 life updates: 1. me and the 6 foot skyscraper are still together, 2. i might have a chance at getting a valentine, 3. my gallery is full of pictures of pepe, 4. me, gaby, pepe and christian have went on 17 double dates in 2024 Tagged: pepemartiofficial

click to view all comments

username61 how to kms no borax no glue

username62 people DIED (i'm people)

username63 THE LOOK OF LOVE

username64 THE RUSH OF BLOOD

username65 THE SHES WITH ME IS THE GALLIC SHURG

username66 its not a want its a NEED

username67 17 double dates in two months is crazy

username68 i just KNOW their kids will be BEAUTIFUL

username69 face card never declined

username70 and never will

mariboya64 don't go stealing around our best friend like gaby did with christian

sebasmontoya58 i dislike wags always stealing our friends

yourusername im just the girlfriend 😔

gabyprentice_ me too 😔

littlefoxhermes i see

sebasmontoya58 no wait i'm sorry

pepemartiofficial haha

username72 Y/N FINALLY GOT THE VALENTINE SHE WANTED!!!!!

username73 y/n x gaby

username74 the otp fr

username75 the lack of pepe is concerning

username76 fr like WHERE IS HEEEEEE

pepemartiofficial add more photos of your beautiful face

yourusername i want to see YOUR beautiful race

pepemartiofficial running

username77 there he is

yourbsf please please please don't force me to get a date for valentines i promise i had nothing to do with you getting spray painted on the street on 17th may

yourusername sorry?

username78 SPRAY PAINTED???

username79 theyre more chaotic than we thought oh my god

username80 aww y/n looks so cute

chirstian.mansell is he giving a presenation

pepemartiofficial no i was describing my love for her

yourusername oh...😊 josep maria marti you make me blush

yourbsf pepe? what did we talk about?

pepemartiofficial im sorry pls dont kill me

yourbsf i wont just because you take photos of my beautful girl

yourusername i love you your/bsf/name

yourbsf love you too y/n

yourusername i love you so much pepe 🤍

pepemartiofficial love you more mi linda

yourusername

liked by pepemartiofficial, gabyprentice_, christian.mansell and 106K others

yourusername i blinked and suddenly i had a valentine Tagged: pepemartiofficial

click to view all comments

username81 deleting all my socials after this

username82 they are SOULMATES vro

username83 this screams 'forever and always'

username84 Y/N FINALLY GOT THE VALENTINE SHE WANTED AND DESERVED

username85 legit fairytale vibes

username86 imagine being this in love

gabyprentice_ to think this all started with a blind date

christian.mansell it's crazy

yourbsf and now they can't be seperated for more than 15 minutes

username87 LAUFEY!!!!!!!!

username88 i am JEALOUS, ENVIOUS, GREEN.

username89 i mean they were bound to meet sooner or later bc of christian being a mutual friend

username90 they ARE the main characters

username91 FRR like everyone else is just a side character

username92 alexa play 'that should be me' by justin bieber

yourbsf my girl finally got the valentine she deserved

yourusername all thanks to you, christian and gaby <33 love you guys smm

yourbsf np bby <33 love youuuu

gabyprentice_ we love you more!!

christian.mansell 🥹 y/n being mature for once

username93 HSHSHSH MY FAVVV SONG

username94 STOP I CANT WAIT TO SEE HER IN THE PADDOCK

username95 if they break up then love isnt real

gabyprentice_ you two deserve it! take care of my little sister pepe

yourusername GABYYYY STOP

pepemartiofficial will do

yourusername i love my life

pepemartiofficial and i love you

username96 i just know they are each other's ride or dies

username97 where to buy a pepe asking for a friend

username98 if i could id just take over one of their bodies to experience this love

username99 im waiting for the fics

username100 straight out of romeo and juliet

yourusername i love you so so so much 🤍 you are everything to me mr marti

pepemartiofficial youre my everything too, te amo más de lo que las palabras pueden decir (I love you more than words can say)

yourusername STOP IM GOING TO CRY 🫶🥹 I LOVE YOU SO SO SO MUCH

pepemartiofficial I LOVE YOU MORE THAN EVERYTHING MI LINDA

yourusername has posted a new story !

caption: best valentines date 🫶🤍 te amo mucho my love mi hermoso 🤍

click to view all messages

username101 HAPPY VALENTINESSS

username102 im screaming this is so romantic

username103 he could do so much better than you

username104 i wish i was a wag

username105 so prettyyyyy

pepemartiofficial i love you so much mi linda 🤍

yourusername i love so much more hermoso 🤍🤍

pepemartiofficial forever

yourusername and always

fin.

taglist . . . @barcapix ,, @f1lover55 ,, @ilovebarcaaaa ,, @httpsdana ,, @hwalllllllelujah ,, @parkerloves ,, @paucubarsisimp ,, @justaf1girl ,, @awritingtree ,, @freyathehuntress (lmk if you want to join the taglist!)

[cherrycheolkat]

• no blueberries, feat. mingyu, pt. 1 •

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ .𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ .𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ .𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ .𖥔 ݁ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ .𖥔 ݁ ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ .𖥔 ݁

pairing: kim mingyu x f!reader x christian yu (dpr ian - i use 'ian' - you'll see in part ii)

word count: 4.1K

genre: fake dating, college au, college student!mingyu, college student!reader, fluff, f2l, idiots, idiots in love, angst, pining, denial of feelings, exes to lovers, study abroad, established open relationship (reader x ian), rivalry (low key)

summary: mingyu was just your lab partner and study buddy for several semesters, but lately things seem to have changed, and maybe everyone else has noticed, but for the most part, neither of you even think about what you are to one another until mingyu asks you to be his 'fake' date for a long weekend trip so he can avoid an ex, the biggest problem is realizing that there's nothing fake about your relationship but when mingyu won't even talk about what you are to each other, you start to think things might be over before they even really start

warnings: explicit language, mentions of anxiety, sexually suggestive situations, drinking, established open relationship

a/n: they are literally idiots in love but they're so dumb they almost don't deserve a happy ending - i am screaming at them ;-; ooof writing part ii...and well, i need to update this with additional characters and genres...oops (if you don't know - i am not a planning writing - i just go where the characters take me - they get their shit together - trust the process) besides it's named for a dpr ian song anyway, might as well include him for his dilf status and the accent

xx kat

[part ii - in progress]

♡ if you would like to be tagged in my upcoming posts, go [here]

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ .𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ .𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ .𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ .𖥔 ݁ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ .𖥔 ݁ ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ .𖥔 ݁

“please, y/n,” he was definitely begging now. 

she rolled her eyes, “dude, she’s your ex - you’re over her, just go and be normal, okay?” she was a bit annoyed at this point because he was over her, wasn't he, she wondered.

he whined softly, “seriously, just come with me, pretend you’re into me for like four days - i can’t deal with her, you know, alone,” she watched him stare at his textbook, looking fully embarrassed. 

she blinked quickly wondering how she was the friend being enlisted for this - to her they were mainly lab partners and study buddies. she had no clue how he had decided they were close enough to even bring this idea up. but she did feel bad. even as lab partners, she knew his ex was genuinely horrible, as in her entire personality was “gaslight, gate keep, girl boss” - as though those were positive things no less. 

she sighed, “i thought it was kind of a couples thing? since almost everyone is part of a couple,” she trailed off. 

he nodded, “yeah, it is, but she’s going alone - she told someone her whole goal is to fuck me one more time,” he mumbled the last part, blushing hard, “apparently, she ‘misses’ that,” he rolled his eyes, looking miserable. 

even she was shocked to hear that. it was certainly a new low. 

“that’s - that’s really shitty,” she sighed, not knowing what else to say. 

she watched him nod, still staring at his textbook, thumbing the edges of the page. she bit her lip gently, “can i think about it for a bit?”

he nodded, glancing up at her. she couldn’t help but notice how glossy his eyes looked - she worried he was on the verge of crying. she wasn’t equipped to deal with a crying mingyu. happy? sure. drunk? yes. whiny and ridiculous? no problem. 

but to see him on the verge of tearing up because he was worried or stressed or whatever, that was beyond her friendship scope. but to be fair, fake dating probably was too. even if she knew some people did mistake them for a couple. that really wasn’t the point.

the point was the longer they sat there fake studying, she knew what she was going to do. she couldn’t sit back while he went off to a terrible trip to the lake where he might be the target of his ex’s sexcapades. she knew he hadn’t dated since her, which would just be a point againts him - she could easily imagine, ‘oh baby, you haven’t even tried since me?’ - gross, she thought. besides, if he were gone for the break, she wasn’t really sure what she would do anyway. 

the standard was for them to study friday afternoon, and then they would usually met up at a party or something and would duck out for food when either of them got bored and go back to y/n's to watch tv and pass out. saturday was fairly similar, but sunday was more like study, and then they kind of always ordered food and watched tv or something. sometimes he slept on the couch - something her roommate would roll her eyes at whenever possible, espeically since ‘sometimes’ seemed to translate to almost every sunday. 

she had finally told him to just bring clothes so he would't be late for monday morning practices anymore. her roommate had wondered loudly why mingyu didn't just move into y/n's room and get a tiny corner of the closet already. she had ignored that unnecessary commentary. 

she groaned inwardly, “okay, fine - i’ll go with you, but you owe me,” you whispered. 

he glanced up, “really?”

she ignored that he sounded a little too happy and nodded, “yes, if it means you can avoid her insanity for the long weekend,” she tried to feel confident about the decision. 

luckily, she knew there was nothing between them. they’re only lab partners and maybe friends, at best, she tried to assure herself and ignore every other thought she had. 

⋆˙⟡

she truly hated packing for anything, and this trip was no exception. the only slight difference was mingyu hanging out on her bed while she packed this time. she wasn’t sure if he was nervous or what, but he kept shifting around on her bed - it reminded her of a puppy rolling around in the hope that someone would rub its stomach. she tried not to laugh at the mental image of him rolling around in search of belly rubs. instead, she tried to focus on what to pack. 

it was still warm enough to go swimming, despite the fact that it was ‘fall’ break, so she tried to decide on swimsuits. ultimately, she just packed them all - they were basically underwear anyway, she reasoned. 

“are we sharing a room?”

“yeah, you know, since we’re together and ‘finally admitting it’ - is that really what jeonghan said?” he asked. he had been annoyed about that response for at least two hours. 

“i literally showed you his text,” she mumbled as she hunted for friends-who-are-fake-dating appropriate sleepwear, aka her most oversized tshirts, sleep shorts that were as un-sexy as possible, and a few sweatshirts in case it was cold.

he sighed, “okay, but that’s such a flippant answer,” he complained. 

she snorted, “‘flippant’?”

“yes!”

she grinned, wondering when he started using words like ‘flippant’ in normal conversations. mingyu was one of those guys who she hadn’t taken seriously when she first met him - he was fun at parties, but when he wanted to study together, she had been seriously skeptical. but then she saw their first exam grades post and realized how well he had ranked. she had wondered if it was just his personality or if he actively worked to hide the fact that he was that smart. 

it hadn’t really mattered though since they had been studying together since then. something she distinctly remembered being an issue for his ex - katie had genuinely hated y/n and wasn’t quiet about it. it was maybe the only time she had seen mingyu fully lose his mind over something - she had never heard the words ‘get fucked’ said quiet so intensely, especially since that they were sitting in the library at the time. 

she sighed, “don’t you think it might be a little obvious for us to show up together?”

“not really - she always said we had some weird thing, so why not let her be right,” his voice was concerningly normal. 

she had been thinking about the fact that it was kind of a petty move. actually, there were loads of reasons she could think of for not going, including almost every scenario from a horror movie - she was not discounting serial killers in masks waiting in the woods. but her main concern was being confronted by katie - it just felt like a needlessly stressful way to spend her fall break.

“okay, but i mean, you couldn’t think of anyone else?"

he sighed, “like who? i hang out with you, i go out with you - you make sense,” his voice was soft, but he still sounded just a little disappointed that she was asking him…again. 

she rolled her eyes, “we could just hang out like normal and avoid this.”

she glanced at him, watching him mull over what she had said and not for the first time either. to be fair, her anxiety was only growing. she left him to go pretend to be discerning about how much of her skincare she was packing, even though she was blindly grabbing everything from her counter. when she walked back into her room, he was sitting up.

“even if she’s there, the trip is just to have fun and not be on campus - you know, a break at joshua’s nice lake house,” he didn’t look at her as he explained. 

she stared for a moment and turned back to her already exploding suitcase, “you only asked me because of her,” she felt like it was very obvious why she was going, but she heard him mumble something, which she ignored. instead, she violently jammed her clothes and toiletries into her bag. 

she absolutely hated that knowing katie would be there made her feel a tiny bit competitive - she had purposefully picked all of her smallest swimsuits - she had even gone to get waxed for this, something she definitely would never admit to anyone. she had even dragged out her status luggage bag - the one her step-mom had given her two christmases ago that made her cringe. there was also the little, tiny mean voice in the back of her mind that had always thought katie had never been good enough for mingyu anyway - she wasn’t especially cute, and her voice drove y/n up the walls - not to mention she was kind of dumb and objectively sucked at beer pong. y/n would also never admit that she used to play them on purpose just to beat them because she was good at beer pong. 

she jumped when mingyu touched her arm, “fuck, what?” 

she hadn’t even noticed that he was lying on his side, watching her jam everything into her bag.

“you don’t have to go,” he whispered. 

she swooped all of her hair off her shoulders in annoyance, mostly because there was something about the way he whispered, with this weird tenderness, that made her feel way too quivery. it wasn’t fair because she knew she never affected him like that. she just shook her head. she was totally fine with everything. plus, she didn’t believe him for a moment that she could just stay. she knew in her gut that she had moved something in their friendship past a boundary that she hadn’t even noticed, and now, she couldn’t just take it back without suffering the consequences. 

⋆˙⟡

she was glad she was driving. she could at least focus on the road, plus they were the ones tasked with stopping at the liquor store, so she only had to deal with mingyu and seungcheol - she only wondered briefly why no one cared that seungcheol was solo for the long weekend. actually, it only annoyed her slightly that mingyu had left that fact out - she knew he could have spent the entire break with seungcheol, no problem, which only made her wonder why he really asked her. worse was her wondering why it seemed to matter that mingyu sounded disappointed at the idea of her not going, accepting but unhappy - not like he had been when she said ‘yes’. 

she walked through the store, mainly looking for the things she wanted. her ideal party weekend was starting her day off with something bubbly and moving on to liquor by lunch. she wasn’t really paying attention to the cases of beer, tequila, and vodka mingyu and seungcheol were collecting. instead, she was in line to pay for her stuff and some edible gummy candies she noticed last minute - she grabbed several of those. she could’ve kicked herself for not asking her roommate’s girlfriend for some weed before she left. she waited next to her car for them to come out, answering a few texts. she ignored the ones from mingyu. she couldn’t help that she was from a family of people who completely avoided their emotions, plus she could see the message preview - it wasn’t anything life-changing. 

when they came out, she wasn’t super shocked by the very full cart or the fact that they practically filled the back of her suv - they had to move their bags into the seat with seungcheol. it was like half the soccer team, their girlfriends, and friends for five nights, after all. the team wasn’t known for holding back at any of their parties - the rule was ‘no empties.’ she could only hope that the people getting food were grabbing enough to balance everything out. 

the rest of the drive was uneventful. it was pretty though - even if it still looked like summer and not a bit like fall. 

the house was a massive hunk of glass overlooking the lake. everything was very modern and sleek inside. she had been imagining something a little more cozy, less brutal. but that didn’t really matter, especially when they started divvying up the rooms - she and mingyu had a room that shared a bathroom with seungcheol’s room. and it hit her immediatly, mingyu was staying in seungcheol’s room. she wasn’t sure why it annoyed her, but it did, especially when she planned to be sharing a room with him. 

she starfished out on the bed - her bed - and decided she would probably go home the next day. there was literally no reason for her to be here, and there probably never had been. also, sharing the bathroom with two whole ass guys just sounded miserable. she sat up after a few moments of moping, remembering the edibles she had - she ate three and dropped back onto the bed. she wasn’t planning on coming out of her room. mingyu could get fucked, she decided. 

it was seungcheol who was leaning over when she woke up with a yelp, “what the fuck?” her heart was pounding. 

he laughed, “sorry, mingyu wondered if you were okay, so i came to check,” he raised an eyebrow, “you seem alive, though,” he concluded.

she rolled her eyes, “thanks for the astute diagnosis, dr. choi,” she murmured and fell back onto the bed.

he laughed, “seriously though, you good?”

she exhaled loudly, “is he like standing in the bathroom or something?”

seungcheol shook his head.

“liar,” she groaned and rolled over, “i’m going home in the morning, so he can stop feeling whatever way he’s feeling.”

seungcheol looked surprised, “you’re just heading back? isn’t this like the first time you’ve like been somewhere together?”

she shrugged, “and?” your annoyance was definitely coming through, loud and clear.

seungcheol nodded, “right, you two have weird vibes, but look, i need him out of my room - my date is here, and i actually want to spend time with her.”

she could only roll her eyes, “so four people and one bathroom - this is only getting better,” she sighed, “i should just go home now.”

seungcheol shrugged, “whatever, just say it’s okay for him to come in here, so he stops whining in my room - it’s seriously killing my mood.”

“okay, whatever, i don’t care.” 

this was truly going downhill as far as she was concerned. and why would mingyu be whining to seungcheol anyway, she wondered. she heard him come into the room, but she didn’t move. even when he sat on the bed, she stayed still. 

“are you really leaving?”

she pressed her lips together, thinking, “probably not, but seriously, why did you even ask me?” 

she had maybe run out of whatever annoyance she had felt before at being woken up out of nowhere, plus her edibles were wearing off. she sat up so she was next to him, “just tell me what this is - like i’m a buffer, right? but you didn’t tell anyone that i was just coming along, you told them we’re dating, and that comes with like expectations,” she trailed off. 

“since when do you care about expectations?”

she wondered if smacking him would be too strong of a reaction. 

this was all such a bad idea. she was going to have a shit weekend and probably lose her friend in the process. 

⋆˙⟡

the rest of the night was uneventful, with everyone filtering in and no one eating at the same time. she grabbed food and something to drink and mostly avoided conversation, especially if it had to do with her and mingyu. 

she also decided if she pretended this was like a retreat, she could just focus on swimming and hiking since, according to her phone, there were some great trails around. and obeying her fake retreat rules, she grabbed some extra water and headed to bed early - she needed to sleep if she was going to go for a sunrise swim. she was glad that she brought a sleep mask and ear plugs.

her only problem was mingyu’s texts. he hadn’t answered her question about why he asked her or explained why he went nuclear and told everyone they were dating. she had thoughts on what was going on, but she was as bad as he was. even lying in bed, in her not sexy at all clothes, her brain was in overdrive thinking about him in ways she didn’t want to be, especially since her phone kept going off. she knew he was thinking about her, even if it was this pretend, fake way - it didn’t matter. she pulled her pillow over her head to try to drown out the telltale buzzing. she refused to check her phone. 

even when she finally heard the sounds of people going to bed. she cringed at the idea of seungcheol fucking. her gut reaction was that man would be loud. 

she heard the footsteps outside their door, “come on mingyu - baby, just come to my room - you know you want to,” she sat up, knowing the voice immediately. 

“no, i told you i’m not” — she heard the sudden wet sounds of a kiss.

“fuck, katie, stop - what are you not hearing?” she could hear the edge in his voice. 

she sighed, she was technically there to help him avoid this kind of thing. she got out of bed and pulled off her sleep shorts, so she was clearly down to just her panties and tshirt, and tossed her sleep mask. 

she walked to the door and opened it slowly, “gyu?” she made sure sleep was thick in her voice, as she pouted up at him adn tugged his shirt sleeve, “come to bed,” she whispered, biting her lower lip gently. 

she didn’t even look at katie, just him.

he looked at her, “hey, baby,” he didn’t miss a beat, pulling away from katie as fast as he could and walking into their room after her, closing and locking the door. 

she walked back over to the bed and flopped back onto the soft mattress, “helpful enough?” she asked. 

the low light from outside was enough for her to see him nod, “sorry we woke you up,” his voice was soft. 

she shook her head, “it’s fine, just come to bed - i want to swim in the morning,” she was already happily back under the duvet. 

he was gone long enough for her to doze, but she opened her eyes when she heard him, “do you literally mean come to bed?”

she turned over and threw the covers back and patted the spot next to her. he still looked uncertain. she sighed and moved so she was on her knees - she grabbed his hand, “how much more of an invitation do you need?”

“you didn’t even check my messages,” his voice was so small - he sounded hurt. 

she tried to find some answer in the way he was looking at her. but there was nothing besides the fact that she had hurt his feelings. ignoring him was the only thing she knew genuinely drove him nuts - he had told her when they were strictly lab partners how much he hated it - how much it annoyed him. she rarely ignored him. but she had tonight, mainly because her own thoughts were kind of fucked, seeing his stream of conciousness texts would have made it worse.

“so let me apologize,” she whispered, pulling his hand gently - it wasn’t lost on her that he was just in his underwear. 

he let her pull him into bed, and she straddled him, reaching down to smooth his hair back from his face, “what hurts, baby?” 

he touched his lips - she nodded, leaning down to kiss him softly. she held his jaw gently and kissed him slowly. she moaned faintly when she felt his hands ghost along her lower back and under her shirt. his hands were so warm, she shivered. she deepened their kiss, tracing her fingers through his hair as she did, loving how soft his hair was. they stayed that way, making out like it was the only thing in the world that mattered. even when she felt one of his hands slide down over the curve of her ass to trace his fingers under the hem of her panties, she didn’t break the kiss. she wasn’t worried about where his hands might wander. there were only so many things he could touch. 

when she finally pulled away to breathe, she still played with his hair, “so, tell me what we’re doing, mingyu - so we both know, please.”

she could feel his hands on the backs of her thighs - he squeezed her thighs lightly, “what we do every weekend, y/n,” his voice was low.

she bit her lip softly, thinking about the weekend before, letting all her memories bubble to the top. her favorite part was the way he had held her back against his chest, leaning down to kiss her while he fucked her from below. 

she shook her head gently, “just say it - tell me the way you told everyone else,” she murmured. 

she waited for anything besides silence before sitting up and shaking her head. she moved to her side of the bed. she didn’t understand how they had gone so fluidly from one thing to another without really talking about it at all. but then again, that was maybe exactly how it happened - they hadn’t called it anything - it was just what they did. and she hadn’t cared about what it was anymore than he had until he brought it up - until he told people what they were. but somehow, that was the fake part - actually calling it a relationship wasn’t real, even though they had clearly been more than friends or anything else for months. 

⋆˙⟡

she went to sleep purely for spite. and when she woke up with her alarm, she slipped out of bed, grabbed her swimsuit and went to change. it was when she walked out of the bathroom and by the bed that she felt him grab her hand gently, “are you really going out?”

she nodded, “yeah, why shouldn’t i do the stuff i want?”

“i didn’t say you shouldn’t,” he let go of her, sighing as he shifted around under the duvet. 

she didn’t repsond, instead, she just grabbed her stuff and went quietly through the house and out the back. she walked along the dock, pausing at the end for a moment before jumping into the cool waters. even when she surfaced, she couldn’t get him out of her mind. she floated, thinking about the fact that whatever they were was only nameless when they were alone. she laughed to herself. 

she got out when she started to feel chilly. she dried off and walked back to the house. she poked around the kitchen to find something for breakfast and some ice - she had kept her own drinks in their room, knowing they would be gone otherwise. 

she went back to their room, bypassing the bed in favor of going onto the balcony they had. she hadn’t looked at it the night before. she only went back in to grab a bottle of champagne. she popped the cork, not really caring that it wasn’t chilled yet. she sipped it before sticking the bottle in the ice she had gotten. she ate fruit and some leftover steak she had found in the fridge. she scrolled through her socials. 

a few of her friends had messaged to ask if she were really dating mingyu - her blanket response was easy, ‘no.’ 

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ .𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ .𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ .𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ .𖥔 ݁ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ .𖥔 ݁ ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ .𖥔 ݁

a/n: told you they are dumb af...trust the process, yes they're about to be messy af...but i only write happy endings

♡ kat

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ .𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ .𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ .𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ .𖥔 ݁ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ .𖥔 ݁ ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ .𖥔 ݁

tag list: @syluslittlecrows

if you want to be tagged, go [here] my [master list] if you want to read more

[wraith-caller]

two things i have a hard time grasping wrt fandom's perspective on the golden order are: 1)"its radagon's" and 2)"it's conservative/traditionalist". sometimes i encounter people who seem to think the erdtree and the golden order are significantly distinct from each other. that there was an age of the erdtree without the golden order, and that marika governed the erdtree era while radagon was the force behind the golden order. Marika herself says: "The Erdtree governs all. The choice is thine. Become one with the Order. Or divest thyself of it." Corhyn says: "The Erdtree, heart of the Golden Order, lies before our very eyes!" as well as this when given certain prayer books, "Its incantations bear no lineage from the Erdtree. My interests lie solely in the Golden Order." A spirit NPC says: "Ohh, Erdtree, great Erdtree. The Golden Order itself, unwavering, stretched to the sky." Protection of the Erdtree says: "In the beginning, everything was in opposition to the Erdtree. But through countless victories in war, it became the embodiment of Order."

They are inextricably intertwined, not separate from each other. There being an 'age of the erdtree' does not necessarily say that, after it ended, marika surrendered power to 'radagon's golden order.' These ages are a simple fact of the progression of time and the notable cultural shifts, not new ownership. The golden order is marika's work and vision, and she has been at its helm throughout its existence until the Shattering and her imprisonment. Even then, she is still nominatively in charge. you are vying to become her consort, not radagon's.

radagon is never shown to usurp marika in some way. if anything, he is her pawn (he literally becomes a tool of the golden order in our boss fight with the elden beast...). he wages war for her in liurnia. he returns to her when she calls, leaving behind all other obligations he has to his family. she calls him her 'leal dog' and notes he is beneath her - not a god, not until she makes it so. he does exactly as she demands in one of her echoes, researching and exploring the depths of the golden order in search of its fundamentals. he is not the cruel and callous leash of the greater will placed upon a helpless, rebellious woman. he is her. he is maybe the only one she can trust at a time when she is beginning to have some kind of reservations about the order she has built, or the power it serves. this ties into the frustrations about the golden order being some traditional, conservative society, which has never made sense to me. one i frequently see is that sex is looked down on or people are purposefully robbed of the desire to have it by marika. it's hard to imagine sex is some scorned taboo when the woman has had god knows how many kids with at least two husbands, rennala and radagon also had kids, and we know by godrick's existence that children are still born under the order for multiple generations. then we have melina outright tell us that births still happen. and sex is clearly still on people's minds: look at mohg's "sharing a bedchamber" with miquella, everything tanith and rykard had going on, fia and rogier, seluvis' pervy self, varre's flirtatious relationship with the PC. the idea that the order/marika has turned everyone sexless is not supported by anything in game(even the cut turtle neck item simply says the urge has 'waned', not disappeared, which could have way more to do with being alive for 1000 years straight than marika turning the horny switch to 'off'). it just feels like another attempt at turning the golden order into a generic christian oppressor, which is way more boring than what it actually is. same goes for the insistence that marika is just a helpless figurehead being controlled by radagon/the greater will and that this is a society where women are to be seen but not heard. marika waged multiple wars to found her order, and had her own vision for the elden ring itself, a world without death. we can even see why she'd design it this way with the background provided by the dlc. women warriors are commonplace in this world, not exceptions, and they achieve the same honors as men in war. the order itself places specifically women in positions of importance within their society/religion - the finger maidens have the important task of providing guidance and strength to tarnished. the finger reader crones interpret the holy words of the two fingers and by extension the greater will, and are found en masse just beside marika's own bedroom and the elden throne itself, not denigrated or seen as 'lesser' but heralded as respected figures. the same goes for caria, which appears to be just as matriarchal a society as the golden order's, never even mentioning kings or princes in their history.

tl;dr: the golden order is all marika's and she doesn't care if people fuck.

[glacierruler]

:/

...

I really need to find a better church...

I just don't know if there are any

[not-so-superheroine]

Jesus is my older brother, not my dad.

other christians don't seem to feel the same?

am i missing something where he insists on such a thing except perhaps with actual little children?

[toubledrouble]

You know what we should bring back?

Older christianity. I mean the anti government, anti military, community based christianity. The one that cared the most about peace, equality, mercy, kindness, and radical love. The one with shared property. The one that didn't conform to society but instead existed mostly outside of it. The one where noone considered one sin worse than another because in the end, we are all sinners trying our best to be better.

[deservedgrace]

i think the thing i wish christians that come across my posts knew the most is that when i'm talking about harmful doctrine, 99.9% of the time i'm processing the harm of this specific doctrine. i'm not having a conversation about theology or alternate interpretations or talking about this in a theoretical philosophical way. i'm talking about actual beliefs i grew up with and the actual harm that they've done. i don't benefit from theological conversations about interpretations because i don't hold any belief in christianity at all, haven't for years, and have absolutely no intention of returning. i especially do not hold the belief of the harmful doctrine i'm talking about.

it is... disrespectful and/or derailing the conversation to tell me it's incorrect (irrelevant, i'm talking about harm caused by this belief, not whether it's correct or not), to tell me to just forget it and focus on the "right" interpretation (dismissive and irrelevant to the post AND me, someone no longer involved in christianity with no interest in changing that), to ridicule me about how i could have possibly believed this (i was raised with no outside perspectives and no way to access them so i had no way to determine they were wrong), to insist i'm lying (9/10 times there are many people in the notes confirming they had the same exact experience), to tell me you've never seen anything like this ever in your entire life (i'm glad you can't relate, i still experienced it), to diminish the harm it caused (you don't get to decide what hurt me), to try to convince me to stop talking about it (why are you more concerned about me shedding light on harm in your communities than the actual harm in your communities?), to tell me that isn't real christianity so my trauma doesn't count (would you tell me that the abuse i sustained from my partner "doesn't count" because "that's not how a real partner treats their spouse?"), or just generally dismissing my experience for whatever reason.

i hold grace for the fact that a lot of these people are coming across my posts in the wild and often don't have any other context of me and my experience and that a lot of people are trying to help. but it doesn't make the experience itself less rude or disruptive to me.

i'm not saying these conversations don't have their place. these can be really valuable intra-community discussions; but i am not part of said community. i would 10000x prefer for every christian that comments something about how their interpretation is the right one on my posts to find a christian that actually holds the belief i'm referencing and talk to them about it instead. that is an actual way you can promote change and help people. i personally do not benefit from these conversations but talking to people with harmful beliefs about healthier interpretations can stop them from harming people in the present or plant a seed for change later. that can help people who are being harmed right now or prevent people from being harmed in the future. if my posts stir something in you and you feel the pull to help i am begging you to put your efforts toward helping people who are actively being harmed by said beliefs. they're not as rare as you think and a lot more people than you think are being harmed by them. they are not going to listen to me, known apostate, about it... but they might listen to you, a fellow christian.

[nobodysdaydreams]

One of my favorite things about being Christian is being able to say joyfully, genuinely, and hopefully to all my enemies “See you in heaven!” because in a world of “see you in hell” and “kys” and “the world would be better without you” I’d choose “never give up on yourself, this world is better with you in it, it is never too late for you to embrace the God-given goodness inside you, and I would be so excited to discover I was spending eternity with you” every single time.

[psalms-and-spells]

My friends at church joke with me that I want to “Become Catholic for the vibes” but like y’all I’m so close. Forget theology for a moment.

I have been craving a more purposeful way to practice Christianity which is why I have started to dabble in witchcraft but also like… I want a community of people to fast with and be purposeful with and you just aren’t really gonna get that from a non-denominational church ya know.

(It’s weird because theology wise I am like… the opposite of catholic. Then again that never stopped my Grandma who was one of the most catholic people I knew. I think I just inherited my Grandma’s belief system genuinely but she just kinda rolled with it and I’m not a ‘roll with it’ kind of person)

[francy-sketches]

hotd twitter is turning me into a reddit atheist istg

[wesleyaninaditch]

U.S. churches have a responsibility to protect their neighbors using whatever resources they have available. If you’re part of a church, I pray you are having those conversations.

However, I encourage you to do so in a way that will make it harder for bad actors and fascist collaborators to target your church. If the reaction to Bishop Budde is any indication, Christian Nationalists are more than willing to attack “progressive” (i.e. faithful) Christians who refuse to worship their particular golden calf.

In general, the internet is just not secure or meaningfully anonymous for the vast majority of people. Keep sensitive information offline wherever possible. That doesn’t mean you should stay offline entirely; Christians should be loud in their opposition to evil.

A solid heuristic is this: the internet is for your words. The real world is for your actions. Don’t mix them.

[mars-and-the-theoi]

God gives His toughest battles to His strongest soldiers (Being a Quaker who believes strongly in simplicity and simple living and no overconsumption in a Capitalist society)

[demonic-shadowlucifer]

by the way i kinda want to talk about the whole "christians arent oppressed" and "oooh christians wanna be oppressed so bad" stuff because i do feel strongly about it because of how much history it ignores lmfao ...because, yes. but actually no. Long ago, the Romans... actually did not like Christianity! Oh no. They despised them, especially Nero, who hated them so much he called for their execution. Eventually though Rome decided "actually yeah Christianity is cool". And that's not all!

Christians, especially Jehovah's Witnesses, weren't safe during WW2 neither! Oh no. Jehovah's Witnesses, while not persecuted as badly as Jewish folks, were still targeted and faced discrimination by the Nazis. And many were also unlucky enough to end up in concentration camps as well. Not to mention the fact that Christians are currently being targeted in other countries, such as North Korea. Oh yeah! Don't think America's getting out of this one neither! Black Christians especially aren't safe. In 2015, a black church in Charleston, South Carolina (particularly Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal) was shot up, killing 9 African Americans, including state senator Clementa C. Pinckney. And going further back in 1963, 15th Street Baptist Church, the first black church in Birmingham, Alabama, was bombed by members of the KKK, with four children, the youngest being 11, killed as a result.

So yes, Christians *have* been oppressed before. ...Just not in the way evangelicals want you to believe.

[toubledrouble]

"fuck the rich and the government" but like in a christian way yk