#emotionally charged

[aventurineswife]

Stages of Shadows |

R O U N D 1

The lights in the preparation room were dimmed, casting a soft, theatrical glow over the contestants as they moved about, adjusting to the discomfort of their new performance attire. In one corner stood Robin, dressed in an intricate outfit befitting her reputation, yet there was a subtle tension in her posture as she glanced over the stage setup, breathing in the heavy atmosphere of anticipation. She straightened her costume, fingers trailing over the ornate details that made her feel both regal and vulnerable.

Her eyes flickered across the room, finding [Name], who was calmly adjusting their own attire. Though they'd exchanged few words before, the air between them held a strange familiarity mixed with a new layer of rivalry, now that they knew the consequences of failure. [Name] glanced at Robin, catching her gaze just for a moment—a fleeting glance that held no warmth, only a steady, unreadable intensity that sent a chill down her spine.

Taking a breath, Robin tried to shake off the unease. She had performed countless times before audiences that adored her, but here, it was different. There was no adoration waiting for her out there—only judgment and the cold, detached gaze of the evaluators. The stakes were terrifyingly real.

A low chime echoed in the room, signaling that it was time. Robin swallowed, her heartbeat quickening. She could feel [Name]'s presence behind her, steady and unfazed. It was as if the world beyond the curtain had melted away, and only the stage and their impending judgment existed.

As they were called forward, Robin gave a final glance at [Name], finding in their expression something between confidence and quiet ruthlessness. This was it—their first round, the moment to prove themselves or be forgotten forever.

(Art by @zassyoku_DD on X)

On the stage, as the haunting notes began to fill the air, Robin and [Name] slipped into the music’s flow, voices weaving together in a bittersweet harmony that held the audience in rapt attention. Their voices rose and fell, merging effortlessly, blending vulnerability with strength, creating something beyond a competition. Each note seemed to bind them, transcending the stakes and the darkness looming at the edge of the stage.

The lights dimmed to an intimate glow, spotlighting the two of them as they sang. At that moment, their eyes met—two gazes locked, capturing a warmth that melted the cold tension of the competition. Robin’s nerves faded as [Name]'s eyes softened, reflecting gentleness. There was no calculation, no rivalry—only the connection between two souls bound by the intensity of this shared moment.

They sang the next verse, their voices intertwining with a vulnerability that was raw and tender. Without realizing it, they stepped closer, their hands brushing as they reached for the same note. A faint smile tugged at the corner of Robin’s lips, one that [Name] mirrored, as if they both understood something unspoken—that, for now, nothing else mattered. Winning, losing... it all faded away.

As Robin gazed into [Name]'s eyes, the final note lingered in the air, resonating softly in their hearts. Her gaze drifted for a split second to the scoreboard, the ominous numbers sealing her fate, before she looked back at [Name] with a serene acceptance.

Her lips curved into a gentle smile, and she whispered, so quietly it was barely a breath: “Please take care of my brother.”

For a moment, [Name] didn’t understand, still lost in the warmth of their shared performance, still captured by the closeness between them. But then, like a thunderclap, the words sank in. Their eyes widened just as something warm and wet splattered against their cheek—a spray of crimson that stole the air from their lungs. They staggered back, the weight of realization crashing down as they watched Robin’s body fall.

Time seemed to slow as they fell to their knees, numbness spreading through their limbs. The stage lights cast a stark glow over Robin’s form, her body lying still, surrounded by a pool of her own blood, a final soft smile gracing her face as though she’d found peace in her last moment.

A single trickle of red traced the curve of her lips, frozen in time.

[Name] reached out, trembling, their fingertips brushing the cold stage floor just inches from her. The crowd’s noise, the distant cheers, the indifferent faces of the judges—all blurred into a single, painful silence. The friend who had been beside them, who had shared this stage, was gone.

They could only stare, horror-stricken, the emptiness sinking deeper as Robin’s words echoed in their mind. The weight of her last request crushed them, etching itself into their heart like a scar: “Please take care of my brother.”

And in that moment, as the reality of her absence set in, [Name] felt their own smile fade, replaced by the raw, aching emptiness of loss.

The world around them felt distant, blurred at the edges, as if time itself had halted to mourn her passing. But reality crashed back all too soon—the firm grip of a guard’s hand yanked them upright, snapping a cold metal collar back around their neck. The sharp click of the lock echoed, sealing them back into the relentless, unyielding grip of the competition.

The weight of the collar pressed into their skin, a brutal reminder of their place here, as if the warmth of her last touch and her parting words were already slipping away. They didn’t struggle, didn’t fight; they simply stood, eyes still locked on Robin’s peaceful form lying amid the crimson stain on the stage. That faint smile she wore haunted them, searing into their memory as something to carry with them—a fragile comfort and a haunting wound all at once.

[Navigation]

[chaotic-orphan]

Whumptober No.3

Set up for Failure

Wrongfully arrested // fingerprints // “i warned you”

TWs in the extended tags

Ohhhhhhh kay, this one is really super fucking heavy? It’s really fucking dark, it’s emotional it’s very heavy, so just pre-warning to the — i did cry writing it? I don’t think I’ve ever done that so —

Do not read if you cannot handle grief and very intense pain and loss, please

*~*~*~*~*

Villain ran his hand through Vigilante’s hair who was kneeling beside his chair, every now and then catching the ends in a fist and tugging Vigilante’s head back so their eyes met with Vigilante’s throat exposed. Vigilante glared at Villain, but it’s not like he could do much with his hands cuffed in front of him.

“Are you ready for your surprise, pet?”

Vigilante just glared. Villain smiled. He loved the strong and silent types. Loved to watch them suffer even more. Make them crack, make them cry, but Vigilante? He was special. He was different.

He wanted Vigilante to speak.

Then, he wanted Vigilante to suffer.

Feel the same agony that he left Villain with.

The doors at the end of the hall opened and two Henchmen marched a half-conscious Hero in between them. Vigilante looked down, almost bored, and then, he lurched forwards. Villain tightened his hold in Vigilante’s hair until Vigilante was only able to look down his nose at Hero, eyes wide and filled with fear and Villain saw it all.

“See, darling? I told you, you’d love it.”

Hero peered ahead through bleary eyes. Their heart stuttered to a stop before life flooded their body and they ran forwards towards Vigilante.

“Vigilante?!” Hero cried, hobbling as a sob tore through their throat and the Henchmen had to yank Hero back to keep Hero between them. “You’re alive?!”

It was a heartfelt shriek, like a mother at a child’s funeral, a mix between pain that couldn’t be spoken and grief and sorrow, and a disbelieving surprise at the possibility that this could be happening to them. Why them? Why their child?

But Vigilante knew.

“Hero,” Vigilante croaked, his voice barely above a whisper. His voice sounded like shoes scuffing gravel from disuse. In all the time Villain held Vigilante prisoner, Vigilante never spoke, refused to scream or cry, became an emotionless shell of a human but seeing Hero… Vigilante forgot they could feel anything anymore.

How could— how did Villain know? They couldn’t know, Vigilante made sure to keep everything secret! That’s what he did, the last things he did before he went after Villain’s lover. He knew it was a suicide mission, but he— he protected every crumb, every minute detail about Hero, and Hero’s secret identity and their —

Hero fell to their knees, wailing. “I knew it. I knew you weren’t dead… I’ve been looking for so long,” Hero gasped and oh.

Oh.

He didn’t… Vigilante forgot the person he loved — the person who had his heart, his soul, his reason for living — was resourceful too. He was an idiot. He was such an idiot.

A breath on his cheek and Vigilante flinched. He actually flinched, shivering suddenly, desperate and he turned to look Villain in the eye, searching for any sliver of humanity left in him, but Vigilante had cut that out long ago.

Villain’s expression turned into a cold sneer, tears in his eyes as he glared down at Vigilante with the fury of a thousand gods and righteous men. Vigilante shook his head slightly, begging, silently pleading.

“Please,” he whispered. His voice like a recording of a broken man. Foreign and strange even to his own ears, he had forgotten what he sounded like, it was a shock— it would’ve been a shock if Hero hadn’t been marched in the door in chains, covered in blood.

Villain leaned in close, roughly grabbing Vigilante’s cheeks in one hand and squeezing them harshly, yanking his head towards Villain’s who was seething with a stolen hearted rage.

Every word was a dagger in Vigilante’s heart, a ripping of his chest and body and life, every syllable a death sentence, and spoken so softly, as if he was afraid he would split his larynx if he spoke above an inside voice, spittle flying, in Vigilante’s face as Villain kept his head wrenched back with his free hand in Vigilante’s hair.

They were so close their noses touched.

“I warned you,” Villain seethed. “Remember that? Remember how I begged you not to do it, Vigilante? Do you remember what you said? It had to be done.”

Vigilante dissolved into sobs. “Please, Villain. Please don’t do this. Please, please.” Vigilante pulled against the cuffs that were hooked to his ankles but he couldn’t move in any real way like this. He couldn’t defend Hero. He couldn’t get to Hero and even if he could he wouldn’t be able to stop Villain in his vengeance.

“Do you remember when I said those exact words to you?” Villain whispered, agony creasing every muscle in his face. “See how much comfort they bring you. You have nobody to blame but yourself, and trust me when I say: you will blame yourself.”

Villain slammed Vigilante back so he fell onto his side and he screamed: “WAIT!” Then a desperate: “HERO RUN!”

Vigilante righted himself, throwing himself forward, the small chain between his wrists and ankles pulled taut but he launched himself forwards, desperate and clawing and crying.

“Villain PLEASE! PLEASE DON’T DO THIS, Please! Hero, Hero! HERO I’M SORRY! Please don’t, please oh god, please!”

Hero seemed like they were already cast in the glow of heaven’s light, ethereal, serene, had Vigilante ever appreciated their beauty enough? The small dimple that appeared in their left cheek when they smiled, even now when their cheeks were flooded with tears, glistening, their eyes crinkled as they found Vigilante’s.

“I won’t die,” Hero told Vigilante softly, as he scrambled forward shaking his head. Don’t say those words. Don’t say those words! A soft breath as the henchmen released Hero’s arms. “I won’t die, my love, because you have my heart. You always have.”

“Hero— Hero, I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you run please, please, Villain. Let them go,” Vigilante wailed, desperation fuelling his movements, as he grunted between sobs, they were so close. Hero was so close if he wasn’t chained he could reach out and grab them and shield them with his body.

Villain appeared behind Hero, a hand on their hair pulling their head back. “You have my he—”

Hero choked on the words as Villain sliced a blade across their throat. Vigilante flinched as blood spurted and sprayed Vigilante as the carotid was sliced through.

Vigilante who was reaching for Hero, arms out as Hero fell, convulsing on the way down and Vigilante pressed his hands to the wound.

“Hero! Hero! HERO! HERO!” Vigilante cried, trying to staunch the bleeding with their shirt, their hands but the blood kept pooling and the stench of iron filled their nose, their mouth, their body. “Oh god, oh god, oh god Hero, no. No, no! NO! Hero— please, stay with me. Don’t leave me here. Take your heart. Take your heart I can’t— I don’t want it if you’re not here with me, Hero. Hero.”

Vigilante’s hands gripped Hero’s cheeks, trying to keep their eyes open. “Hero look at me, look at me baby, please.”

He was sta— his— the blood, oh god he was staining Hero’s face, their beautiful face and the more he tried to wipe it away the more the blood smeared and it was still pooling and spilling from the wound and Hero was dead. Hero was dead. Hero was dead and he was staining their face—

Hero.

Vigilante hunched over Hero’s body, sobs wracking through him like earthquakes, shattering every bone, every nerve, every source of light in his being.

A hand settled on his back. Vigilante stiffened, grabbing hold of Hero and not letting go. “You know,” Villain said, sniffing himself. “I’m happy Hero had your heart, Vigilante. It’s satisfying. It’s like killing you twice.”

“Kill me,” Vigilante whispered, no, begged, wailed, pleaded. It was all the same now. All this opaque too full emptiness that permeated his body, leaving an absence between his lungs, under his skin, in all the empty space that Hero filled. “Kill me too, please.”

The hand patted his back.

“Oh, no, Vigilante. You and I— we’re not meant to die young. We carry the weight of our past, no. Only the good die, and we’re too wicked to be taken yet. Trust me,” Villain said hollowly. “I’ve already tried to end my grief, but I won’t give you the chance.”

Villain leaned in closer, his hand going to the back of Vigilante’s neck and squeezing it. “You will live with your guilt until the gods decide it’s your time.”

[ruminate88]

Closure 🎶 (song about being ghosted)

I wrote this song whenever I learned that the closure has to come from inside of you.

At first, I didn’t understand closure at all and after he blocked me on every single social media account he owns, I realized how he was done with me, but I never got to say goodbye 🥺 the only choice I had then was to just walk away and I tried to be big and live my life but overtime it caught up to me and I realized he left a hole in my heart that never closes up seemingly. ❤️‍🩹

Healing truly takes time 🌹 I found that out the hard way and also found out that the deeper you “think” you love someone, the deeper the wound can be as well . Music is an expression for me and that’s where I feel most safe to be vulnerable. 🙏🏻🎶 take a listen for me?

Lyrics: Verse 1. Is it so wrong It’s been so long You wonder why now Why would I still reach out

Hook. You thought for sure You shut the door But you left so sudden Without a reason for me to understand Chorus. I’ve carried this burden with no closure from you It’s an emotional ride it’s something that I’m still working through They say the closure is inside and maybe they’re right I pray it’s true cuz there is no goodbyes with you

Verse 2. Just like a ghost You disappeared leaving me drowning in my tears Forcing me to move on

Hook 2. The truth i may never know Why you had to come and go What is the lesson here

Chorus.

[sillyshadow]

first kiss

bonus:

[danielleurbansblog]

Review: Specters in the Glass House

Synopsis: In 1921, Marian Arnold, the heiress to a brewing baron’s empire, seeks solace in the glass butterfly house on her family’s Wisconsin estate as Prohibition and the deaths of her parents cast a long shadow over her shrinking world. When Marian’s sanctuary is invaded by nightmarish visions, she grapples with the line between hallucinations of things to come and malevolent forces at play…

[blacktabbygames]

slay the princess deep lore protagonist reveal.

[secriden]

This line. God, this line! It has been eating me up inside for 2 days now, because let's not forget, this line isn't about love, it's about trust. And that has implications that make me want to scream.

It's a direct reference to this moment earlier in the episode:

At the start of this discussion, Style and Fadel still have a kind of playful air about their conversation:

Style: Oh? Not even me? Fadel: You're at 80% at best. I feel like you're hiding something from me in the 20%.

In this exchange, though, there's a sense that Fadel is issuing a challenge, like there's something specific which Style can do to gain Fadel's full trust. And while Style knows there are things he cannot (yet) reveal to Fadel, I think a part of him is determined to be as honest as he can be, which is why he issues a challenge of his own by asking for more specificity:

Style: What do I have to do to gain your complete trust?

Part of this question is a simultaneously inquisitive and deflective - What (and why) do you think I'm hiding (something) from you? - but there's also a moment after Style finishes speaking where he stills and goes quiet that feels... genuine, weighty. Or, as @airenyah has pointed out in her meta on Style in episode 4, the "grounded[ness]" in Style's demeanour is a signal that Style means what he's saying in the moment. Maybe about his own desire to be worthy of Fadel's trust, maybe about how he genuinely does want this relationship to be real in whatever way that matters to Fadel.

I think Fadel sensed that too, because the moment looses all the lightheartedness it had before. Fadel pauses, and then gets a look on his face that just... breaks my heart. There's a sombreness there, like he knows he's going to have to say something that makes him sad. Fadel looks away, and then down, before he seems to steel himself and says:

Fadel: It'll never happen. No matter how much you love someone, I just don't believe that you can completely lay yourself bare in front of them.

Fadel says this like it's fact. Like what he's expressing is something foundational and true and irrefutable. It's not even about his doubt in Style's honesty, because this statement has no qualifiers or conditions put on it to connect it to Style. Rather this is what Fadel fundamentally believes about relationships and trust: he finds the very concept of being fully known and still accepted an impossibility.

Sure, maybe this is because of the falling out (or betrayal or disappearance) associated with the former lover; but I also think it might be because Fadel is acutely aware not only that he's hiding a rather big and dark secret (not to mince words, but: actual literal premeditated murder), but also about what it implies about Fadel. Because being able to kill another human, coldly and clinically and without remorse, takes a certain type of person. Because, yes, Fadel has lived through an absolutely harrowing and traumatising event (his parents' murder), but it's also undeniable that it changed him. Because there's something about Fadel that twisted dark and which he never quite got back. There's an anger, a hurt that colours every moment of his life; that enables him to look a man in the eyes, smile politely, and pull a trigger.

And at this point in their relationship, Fadel's understanding of Style is that he's... well, kind of innocent. Especially in comparison to Fadel and Bison, and even Kant.

Style, who easily reveals facts about his life which Fadel already knows (winning a car tuning competition), making Fadel doubt his own instincts about Style hiding secrets. Style, who also reveals the things Fadel doesn't know, like the tender and secret pain of a mother lost to cancer (which, now that I think about it, Fadel may also know) and his worries about a father who "lost his bearings for a bit" (which he probably doesn't). Style, who tries to comfort Fadel in his own loss by offering a safe space and a sympathetic ear.

Style, who doesn't just see Fadel for his tragedy, but is asking to be given the chance to accept all of Fadel as a person. Style, who not only wants but has the capacity, to be the only person Fadel needs to rely on. Style who, despite the sea of differences between them, understands Fadel on a level that is so very foundational.

I'm going to slightly segue and mention something that may not resonate with everyone, but really hit me in the gut this episode: because I lost my father when I was 16 after he battled cancer for 2 painful years. And this revelation about Style has totally shifted and coloured everything Style has done in a new light for me. Because not only does this totally explain Style's sometimes almost stubbornly childish demeanour (it's common in adults who've had to 'grow up' too early), but also why Style shows seemingly random flashes of insight and maturity when they are most crucial. Notably, Style has this almost instinctive sense of when he needs to back off a sore point with Fadel that I couldn't quite put my finger on until this episode.

I've seen a few jokes about Style's awkward subject change, but I've actually got a friend who I hold very dear to my heart who was one of the only people to give me a sense of normalcy and comfort when my dad was on his last few days and then at his funeral. And part of that was the instinctive way she would know when I needed to just. Not be a grieving daughter for a few minutes. To get a small respite from the overwhelming hopelessness and sense of impending loss. To get a moment to breathe and gather my strength, because knowing I was never going to see my dad again, or hear his voice, or hold his hand was tearing me apart back then. Sometimes she'd talk to me about college drama, sometimes she'd introduce a new kpop video to me, sometimes she'd just ask me what I wanted to eat and take me to go have a meal with her. And sometimes there really just isn't anything else to say other than "I'm sorry." Nothing you say - nothing you can say - is going to ever, ever make this grief go away, and in most cases, it was better when people (especially those who couldn't really understand) didn't try.

And I think if you look at Fadel very closely, there's a moment of genuine surprise (Fadel wasn't expecting the subject change at all) and then... something that looks like fondness mixed with exhausted relief. Because I don't think Fadel was ready to talk about his parents yet. This was honesty he wasn't ready to give Style, mostly prompted because Style himself had willingly been so vulnerable that a part of Fadel wanted to reciprocate. But further down that path lies not only his darkest memories, but also the connection to the part of his life he is not willing to share with Style yet. So this subject change is a relief, it's a blessing, but it's also Style knowing when he shouldn't push any further with Fadel's fragile heart.

Which brings me back to how well the episode's theme of trust (both deserved and undeserved) was woven in this episode. This is true on multiple levels and characters but I'm not even going to attempt to touch Kant in this post because... Lord, that is beyond me at the moment. Someone else needs to do that, pretty please, so I can reblog it and scream.

It starts, somewhat unexpectedly, with Fadel asking for entrance into the intimate spaces of Style's life.

So, this episode was not about Fadel's fear of his own feelings, desires, or even affection for Style - that appears to be fully addressed in episode 4. I think that's why we see Fadel be so physically affectionate and indulgent of Style in this episode. He's come to terms with his lust for Style's body (hence his comfort in initiating sex), he's accepted Style as his boyfriend and so can enjoy Style's playful teasing (still reluctantly, but Fadel is still an introvert even if he's mostly enjoying Style's rambunctious nature), and give into Style's (and Bison's and Kant's) cajoling with relatively little fuss.

He's even comfortable toying with the edges of revealing his darker and more sinister side by reminding Style implicitly about how violent Fadel has the potential to be. Recall that Fadel knows Style knows some of his capacity for violence; he just doesn't know how very thoroughly Style is aware of the full scale of this truth. It does help that Style evidences no actual fear and, in fact, looks positively euphoric. Like, buddy, pal, dearest one... please control yourself.

And yet something very, very telling is the way the show makes it a point to depict Fadel very deliberately getting drunk during the double date. Even before the date has started, Fadel looks to be about half a beer in and we see him constantly drinking, drinking, drinking during the whole date. From the conversation about trust he has with Style while Kant and Bison are being off key and adorable about it, to after Kant leaves and Bison gets worried. And we've seen Fadel cope with emotional and mental distress with alcohol before, so we know that Fadel is internally fighting some kind of very intense battle even as he is also very clearly enjoying moments with Style on this date (most notably when they're dancing by the bowling lanes and when Style asks him to go home with him).

So here's my take: rather than being about love, this is about Fadel fighting to hold onto his own philosophy on relationships and trust. Because as much as I do believe Fadel believes he's telling the truth when he tells Style that 100% trust is "impossible", I think it's clear that's not what he wants.

What he wants is to finish this last job so that the only thing he can't be honest about with Style will finally stop being a factor in his life. What he wants is to fully and completely reciprocate the openness Style seems to be giving Fadel. What he wants is to switch off his brain and let his heart lead for once, to stop fighting a battle he has no desire to win anymore, only he can't. Trust (not love) is Fadel's final frontier, and one which he can't quite give up in spite of himself.

Which is why I think Fadel intentionally gets himself drunk here. Because he wants to let his guard down around Style. He wants to open himself fully, he wants to "lay himself bare" for Style, he wants Style to know the full truth and accept him anyway - and he gets so close, but can't quite get there - because he doesn't know that Style already has.

When Style says this, Fadel thinks it's empty words, not knowing that Style has long passed the bar Fadel thinks is insurmountable. And just like Style was able to offer safety and reassurance to the vulnerability Fadel was showing in episode 4, Style instinctively gets to the core of Fadel's darkest fears again:

Style: One day, I'll be your 100%.

This isn't (just) a promise that Style will wear Fadel's stubbornness down, or that Style will be worthy of Fadel's 100% (which, already, has me in tears, ngl). Beyond that, this is Style promising Fadel isn't ruined for this; that it isn't too late, that whatever hurts and wounds Fadel has can be made whole again. That the kind of honest and all-encompassing and unconditional trust which Fadel says is impossible can, in fact, be his. That Fadel still has the capacity to trust and be trusted the way he so desperately, painfully longs for.

I know a lot of people have said Style in this episode is writing cheques he has no ability to honour, but I think it's more layered than that. Because in a very significant and profound way, Style is wholly deserving of Fadel's trust. Because in all the ways that Fadel has ever known he should want, Style actually IS worthy of his trust. Style knows the truth Fadel is hiding, knows what this man is capable of, knows the danger of being in his arms, knows the likely nonexistent future Fadel has to offer him -- and wants him anyway. Style is a man who would stare into Fadel’s darkness and reach out first. Strip away the complication of Kant being blackmailed and dragging Style into his mission, and Style is literally perfect for Fadel. He is exactly what Fadel wants (and possibly has wanted for a very long time). He is, in fact, exactly what Fadel needs to ever experience anything beyond the shadow of a life he's had so far.

But oh, the cruel narrative means that Style is also, simultaneously, painfully undeserving of Fadel's trust; and this is something Style is very much aware of. I think that's why he's trying so very hard to be worthy in all the other ways he can be. Style's awareness of what Fadel is hiding enables Style to (counterintuitively) be completely honest about his feelings for and about Fadel even as he cannot reveal his motivations. So he gives Fadel as much honesty as he can: offers the vulnerability of his own pain and hurts; the comfort of his true understanding and acceptance.

And just as Fadel's vulnerability in the abandoned factory was met with Style choosing a form of physical connection that prioritised Fadel's pleasure (it's made very clear that Style is jerking Fadel off and that all his focus in that moment was on Fadel, not his own pleasure), so too is this moment met with Style very intentionally choosing to worship Fadel's body with all the tenderness and genuine emotional weight that Style wanted Fadel to have in their first time in the storeroom.

Because, crucially, this was Style giving Fadel the chance to lay himself at least physically bare. This is the closest either of them can get to full honesty with the secrets they both are keeping. It's why Style tries so very hard to show the care and adoration and genuine feelings he has for Fadel. Why he makes sure that the vulnerability of Fadel getting himself as drunk and as relaxed and as trusting as Fadel can allow himself to be is tied only to gentleness and tenderness and pleasure.

Because Style actually knows that Fadel can't (and shouldn't) trust him in the way Fadel truly wishes to.

And as much as I believe that Style genuinely means this from the bottom of his heart, the horrifying full truth is that it is Style that has the metaphorical knife hovering over Fadel's chest. He is the one with the capacity to actually give Fadel a new scar that would truly matter. He is, in fact, the only one Fadel wants to fully trust -- and this, along with Style's compromised heart, makes it so that the circumstances will doom them both.

[littlegeecko]

Ouuhhhhggg flynns pretty smileeeee and carl's art skillssss am i right

[cloverplover]

walking is still honest // against me!

[xylathesilkwing]

I think what bothers me about the live-action HTTYD movie as someone who was VIOLENTLY obsessed with it as a kid and considers it life changing is that a lot of the elements from the behind the scenes animations that happened to work just. Won’t hit as different.

Like wdym toothless’ eye being open as he’s tied down wasn’t intentional, and was actually a mistake in the animation?? What do you mean toothless’ hesitation before meeting Hiccup’s hand was actually an error? What do you mean artists researched air dynamics and how wings would react in wind just to make an accurate dragon model?? Stuff like that made the first movie so beautiful, and I have doubts the new one will hit the same. Nostalgia may be a factor in this of course, but because of how recent it will be little animated errors that made a movie unique and obviously human-made won’t be there and it makes me a little sad.

[pilkypills]

LOVE when the camera does a close-up of Thorin’s face during the confrontation on the ramparts. Guy in the intimidating crown who is largely responsible for the mess they’re all in is making the saddest and most pathetic wet cat face you can imagine. Oh my god hes fucking crying. What a weiner.

[lover-of-mine]

no seriously the last 100 words i just wrote need to be released into the wild and i know i wont do it after the episode so send good vibes

someone send writing faries my way because if i don't finish this today i wont post it and i kinda want to post it oaksaspokasokasa

[ruminate88]

This 🥺😭❤️‍🩹🙏🏻 I wasn’t perfect I KNOW I made mistakes with Andrew. The way I disrespected my ownself being nasty with him trying to fulfill my own lust and sexual appetite with him but oh gosh I cared so much about Andrew too even after we broke up and he called me from work, I answered and he said nothing and I was like, “Andrew!!!! Are you there???? Are you okay??? What’s going on???????” 😭😭😭 I mean, he already broke me so much, he already watched me go through a suicide attack… He KNEW I was hurting so badly over him and he just wanted the constant attention STILL. So he called me just to hear my voice cuz he knew at that point I was moving on from him. 😔

but I wouldn’t have had to move on, if he’d been able to just be honest and tell me what’s really going on with him but then I guess it wouldn’t be “control” or “manipulation” if he could be honest. Plus, he didn’t wanna pick just one women. Little boy thought he needed 10 women at once. There’s been kings all through out history like him who selfishly had so many women at once and yet it wasn’t enough. Not enough gold or silver. Not enough servants to kiss their feet. 😝 but okay…. I hope he’s been doing better since me. I hope the very very best for him! I just want God to help Andrew be safe, healthy, happy and free. Be faithful to one women that loves you more than I could ever dream to. I mean obviously I didn’t know the real you so I can’t say I loved you wholeheartedly. I loved the mask you wore and obviously I think you’re a gorgeous man, Andrew, on the outside only. I couldn’t ever trust you though if you showed back up in my life. You would have to spend the rest of your life proving to me you’ve changed 😓

maybe guys like Andrew don’t believe they need change. Maybe they like who they are 🤪😳 that’s his business but I mean, I just see the world so differently. I see the world through the eyes of “you don’t hurt people on purpose” and “people make mistakes but you should want good for people not harm”. I mean, if I’m wrong, then so be it. I’m not gonna risk it though. God help us all please 🙏🏻

[danielleurbansblog]

Review: How to End a Love Story

Synopsis: Two writers with a complicated history end up working on the same TV show… Can they write themselves a new ending? A sexy and emotional enemies-to-lovers romance guaranteed to pull on your heartstrings and give you a book hangover from brilliant new voice Yulin Kuang. Helen Zhang hasn’t seen Grant Shepard once in the thirteen years since the tragic accident that bound their lives…

[mellidee]

"I think about losing you and I can't stand it."

----

I think about Illos a lot...

[elderwisp]

𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘰𝘵