#gossip in the grain

[holdenreviews]

You Are the Best Thing - Ray LaMontagne

Happy 50th Birthday, Ray!

[ddarker-dreams]

I was going through your first contract hashtag and I was wondering what would happen to God Darling if they were to break their contract between them and Zhongli?

😰...

well. certainly nothing good will come of it.

zhongli's modus operandi centers around upholding contracts more so than 'fairness.' fairness is subjective, breaching the black and white terms of a contract agreed upon by both parties is not. at least from his perspective. still, he isn't heartless, even if he's given his heart to god darling. possessing such an object is a heavy burden. fracturing beneath its weight feels inevitable. if not today, then tomorrow, or the day after that.

however! zhongli considers himself reasonable. he laid everything out plainly, without using deceptive language or any other underhanded techniques. he could've, because having his beloved quite literally chained to his side is a tantalizing idea, but the archaic lord does value his spouse's well-being. he made concessions where he didn't have to. this was back when he wasn't renowned for his benevolence either. in his earlier days, yanwang dijun possessed far more sharp edges that have been sanded down by the time he adopted the alias zhongli.

owing to this, he'd feel profoundly hurt. it wouldn't show on his face or conduct. there'd just be this somber aura as he informs his spouse that they've breached the terms of their contract, and in doing so, incurred a predetermined punishment. this would be depriving them of the outside world — and its inhabitants — that they love so dearly. zhongli would create a domain where only he can come and go as he pleases. they wouldn't want for anything or be in squalid conditions. regardless, a cage is a cage, no matter how pretty it's decorated.

how long they have to remain in there depends on a few factors, such as how long they left liyue for, if they returned of their own volition or had to be dragged back, etc. one century is the sentence they're most likely to receive.

the sands of liyue's shores feel hard and cold in their absence.

[undying-love]

“I worked in the music industry briefly from 67-70 and I have seen for myself some very revealing things but I don't find it appropriate to dish it out here. One day it will be revealed, definitely not while Paul or Yoko is alive maybe soon after. The most I can say for now, is Yoko gave a very watered down version of the names the Apples' staff gave to Paul, though they also gave a very derogatory name for John as well." -User from Datalounge

[dalt0nyc0]

TvNotas Magazine featuring Ana de la Reguera y Tony Dalton. November 19th, 2019.

This is a tabloid filled with gossip however it is a magazine I own that features Tony so I figured I’d post it. It’s about their breakup and Tony not ready to get married.

[starboymuse]

https://www.tumblr.com/muncedes/770403290374651904/if-i-speak

Is it some other accounts that are fighting each other? Cause I saw that this morning and 😳

yeah like let’s make one thing abundantly clear - anyone who could ever possibly have any connection to joey b/his personal life would not be on tumblr sharing the details and anyone who takes a significant amount of time out of their day to threaten ppl with sharing their ip addresses or to portray themselves as a fake cancer patient needs to do some inner healing bc this is psychosis

[falllpoutboy]

Where the hell is J?! He hasn’t been spotted or papped anywhere in weeks. Can’t remember the last time we’ve gone this long without a sighting. I know he’s working on the Bruce biopic but we haven’t even had any recent NJ fan pics. Feels weird.

apparently he’s spending it with jeremy strong LMAOOO love it

[scarletjudgement]

HxH and HTTP Status Codes

The HTTP 403, 404, and 405 references in the Hunter Exam (as foreshadowing or character-summaries) is so sickening, but at the same time it's hard to deny that Togashi probably was referencing them, considering that the manga came out in 1998 while HTTP codes were a thing since 1992-1993 (and he spent a whole page explaining what the internet and computers were). It could definitely be a coincidence, but the definitions of what 403, 404, and 405 end up meaning is something we see as the stories have progressed.

For context, these are the Error Codes, and as the reader I think you may already guess and connect the dots on why I find the correlations so intriguing:

403 Forbidden: Leorio

The request contained valid data and was understood by the server, but the server is refusing action. (Wikipedia) The client does not have access rights to the content; that is, it is unauthorized, so the server is refusing to give the requested resource. Unlike 401 Unauthorized, the client's identity is known to the server... re-authenticating makes no difference. The access is tied to the application logic, such as insufficient rights to a resource. (Mozilla)

404 Not Found: Kurapika (We all know this)

The requested resource could not be found but may be available in the future. Subsequent requests by the client are permissible. (Wikipedia) A 404 status code only indicates that the resource is missing: not whether the absence is temporary or permanent. If a resource is permanently removed, use the 410 (Gone) status instead. (Mozilla)

405 Method Not Allowed: Gon (Though I think the name of the error can speak for itself)

The request method is known by the server but is not supported by the target resource. (Mozilla) A request method is not supported for the requested resource. (Wikipedia)

Further thoughts:

While it's possible that this can definitely be a stretch or a coincidence, it sure is an interesting way to look at it. And even if Togashi did not intend for these to connect, it makes me even more interested to continue reading HxH to see how long they'll connect until they're no longer applicable.

404 interests me because of "temporary unavailable" and "it may be available again in the future", so I wonder if that's applicable not only to Kurapika himself but to the Kurta Clan as well, considering we're entering the Dark Continent and I've already seen a theory on the Kurta Clan originating from the DC one way or another (reddit links)

Think of these as an allegory or metaphor

Mozilla page on HTTP Response Status Codes / Wikipedia page on HTTP Status Codes

[helloanxietyattack]

Alright fam, today is the day - Chapter 4 of Strictly Business is finally up.

Those of you who've been asking for this might start wishing you hadn't.

Title: "try to ignore all this blood on the floor" Summary: Katie and AJ have chat, I flirt with the fourth wall, and Jesse does his best to be sneaky. Vibes:

We're gearing up for a wild ride in more ways than one, which is perhaps my way of saying pretty please don't kill me before I write my first action scene.

It's been 84 years, so I'd highly recommend re-reading the whole story. I know I had to twice.

[crossbackpoke-check]

about to be sooo nosy so. my apologies. but. morgan frost? girlfriend? do share (or don’t! again this is so nosy i’m sorry)

for legal purposes i can neither confirm nor deny anything about morgan and his girlfriend but afaik i think he’s single right now? at one point (within the past four years 😭) he did for sure have a girlfriend and that is the extent of my wag knowledge

[taylorvaughnsaidso]

enty on his taylor date a woman (publically) challenge - while throwing cara under the bus. as usual.

[coolspacequips]

Reading some old beloved rp threads in an attempt to find inspiration and y'all...I just love Lance LMAO oh I miss writing him all the time he's so silly afhfwjafwfjwgwg g

I'm reading a stretch basically after he and Keith hook up for the first time, and the next day pidge is insisting at breakfast that she heard unusual sounds in the night

Lance strongly insists that it was the Castle settling at night and she was just up too long, Coran gets defensive about the Castle, and in the end Lance gets roped into Castle maintenance with Coran for the morning after putting his foot in his mouth LMAO

I'm just getting the giggles over this part oh u guys I miss the Coran and his fav space nephew fanon:

"Coran was quick to have Lance use his height and long arms to stick the sensors into 'creative' places. Creative, in Coran's case, tended to mean tricky and difficult. He even had to shimmy his way into a narrow space between some of the ship's workings down near the hangars, once Coran had assured him that it was safe. That is, until Lance was all the way inside and halfway to his destination, when he thought of several possible things that /might/ happen; 10,000 years was a long time for a piece of equipment to drift around, after all!

It was about then that Lance decided to call it quits."

[blorbocedes]

Can you guide me to the blind item?

@ another anon cite your sources

[corin-tuckers-left-one]

sources: 1 2

was anyone going to tell me that the pope's dressmaker posts dick and cock on instagram or was i supposed to find out for myself

[nezuscribe]

there’s been a couple nights where you and arranged!gojo have had to host little dinners at the estate to show face and let people know you two are still alive.

it’s before the big confession, when the two of you were becoming closer, so it was just pretend niceness hiding the tension for a couple hours.

you tried to talk to the people around the large dining room table, sitting near gojo as you listened in on the conversation, but it was better to just be a part of it rather than the center of the spotlight. gojo had become increasingly aware of the long looks people gave your way, the hushed talks behind the women’s hands. you didn’t notice, maybe you’d been jaded to it, but he did, and he was becoming more tense under their stares.

he noticed how you’d try to jump in and say something, but was instantly cut off by somebody else. gojo had told you before the dinner started that the two of you should hold hands, but you hadn’t let go of his, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to let go of you either. he’d give you an encouraging squeeze, one which you gave him a little smile to, but still clammed up, sitting back in your seat.

"want me to tell them to shut up?" he whispered to you, dropping his head near your ear so that nobody else could hear.

"no it's okay," you say with a laugh, waving it off, "i was just going to ask what cashmere is," you say, in relation to a previous story one of the girls was telling about cashmere moth, and how her entire closet was chewed to bits because of the creatures.

"it's a type of fabric," he explains gently, his eyes searching yours, "very soft," he adds with a little smile and yours grows wider.

"i'd like to see it," you comment, leaning a little bit closer to him.

"i'll have your closets full of cashemere by the morning if you'd like," he says, but you know deep down it could be a promise if you simply said yes.

but you giggle, shaking your head.

"no," you're looking up at him in that way that makes his tongue feel heavy, "the moths, they must be huge," you murmur and he snorts, squeezing your hand a little bit tighter in retaliation.

to be honest, gojo hated these dinners. these people he grew up with were dull and annoying, their conversations full of lame gossip and cheap jokes, and he’d much prefer your lively stories with just you, but they were a necessary evil.

when the servants had cleared the meal away and had begun setting up for dessert, he could feel the stare of one of the girls, anya, and the way her eyes squinted when he caught her looking. he saw the way she sneakily tipped her head back, chin pointing to the opening near some of the stone columns, and excused herself a couple seconds later, looking over her shoulder at him before she disappeared.

gojo knew anya. he’d fooled around with her a couple of times long before the two of you got married, but he found her a bit shallow and dim, nothing he found interesting. he looked over at you to see if you had seen her, but you were looking at your plate, moving some grains of uneaten rice around with your fork.

curiosity got the better of him, wondering what it was she wanted, and so he stood up, his chair scraping behind him as you let go of his hand, you, along with everybody else, looking at him as he excused himself to the washroom.

he walked briskly past the table, leaving through one of the openings of the stone columns, looking around until he say anya at the end of the hall, waiting for him.

“what?” he bit out, hushed, looking behind him to make sure that nobody had followed him out.

anya smiled, her teeth glimmering as he neared her, standing a safe distance away as she pouted slightly.

gojo winced. he forgot how her smile up close was unnerving, the way it wasn’t as soft or full of emotion like yours. her eyes, a deep hazel, glimmered as she took a step closer, her fingers reaching for his collar.

“i missed you,” she whispered, lips glossy as she peered up at him, her lashes batting against her cheeks as he felt his mother dry up, feeling a sudden air of nausea overtake him as he swatted her hand away.

he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“is that all you wanted to tell me?” he hissed out, knowing how stupid he sounded seeing how he had followed her out, surely expecting this.

“what?” anya tilts her head, “thought you’d like to hear it.”

gojo rolls his eyes, crossing his arms across his chest.

“i thought you had something important to say,” he shrugs, looking away, focusing on a crack, getting ready to leave until she laughs, shaking her head.

nobody said he was the brightest soldier in all the land. he’s not above some actually good gossip, but he had a feeling this ain’t about to be that.

“you’ve always loved gossip,” her eyes glimmer as she takes another tentative step closer, “is that why you married the center of it?”

his eyes narrow slightly, but she just sees him listening to her.

“come on,” anya snorts, her hand coming up to his face until she stops at his cold gaze, pulling her hand away, “we all know it’s not rank or looks that made you marry her.”

gojo feels his arms tighten, a vein bulging in his neck as he swallows thickly. he doesn’t say anything, wants to see how she continues, wants to see what everybody else thinks without saying it.

"i mean, your mother keeps saying it was reciprocal," she rolls her eyes, laughing mirthlessly, "but i know that's a lie. you look miserable whenever you're around her."

gojo feels his eyes twitch, his ring shining in the slivers of moonlight through the large, overarching windows.

"did you call me here to talk ill of my wife?" gojo bites out, but she can't sense his tone, giggling as she shoves him, his body not moving.

"drop the theatrics 'toru," he feels bile in his mouth at her sweetened words, "it's just me," she says, biting her lips as indiscreetly as she can, eyes raking over his toned body as she looks back up to his face, "but regardless, no, i had something else i wanted to tell you."

she sighs, her voice a little higher as if he wouldn't notice.

"i'm staying at the hostelry in the town near here for a couple of nights," she bats her eyes again, and suddenly gojo wonders if he had been insanely ill when he had slept with her those months ago because now he feels sick just looking at her, "if you wanted...i'm there for you."

he raises his white brow slightly.

"gods anya," he breaths deeply through his nose, his eyes darkened, "you have audacity if nothing else."

she smiles brightly, taking it as a compliment.

"i know," she winks, "i looked around the area, and nobody of import comes near there. i know you need it as bad as i do," her voice drops a little, eyes falling slightly to the ground, "people are talking. i know how lonely you must feel."

his nose wrinkles slightly in confusion.

"what are you talking about?"

anya looks at him briefly before looking away, shrugging.

"everybody knows you two don't share a room," she explains, "and how she's not even showing signs of pregnancy. is she frigid in bed? you know, some people are saying she's infertile."

gojo straightens up, a new look taking over his face that makes her voice die down.

"what? who's saying that? who's talking?" he presses, and she feels her mouth dry up, suddenly picking up on the fact that he doesn't seem to be at all interested in the deal she's trying to make.

he feels a sudden wave of mixed emotions washing over him.

are the maids taking? gods, that makes him feel even worse. it surely couldn't be yours, they care for you too much. but it must've been somebody who knows your situation, somebody who sees the way you live on different sides of the estate. gojo feels a sinking pit in his stomach. these rumors that are growing because of his own selfish actions, rumors at your own expense, ones you have no control over, by people you've been trying to befriend for ages.

he knows people look at you whenever you enter a room, hears their awfully concealed whispers. and despite the fact that you try to hide the hurt on your face, he sees the way you avade their glances, hide into yourself to act like it doesn't bother you.

are these whispers now because of him?

"i don't know," she mutters, annoyed, "everyone. you barely look at her. did your parents pay you to marry her? she must've been-"

"stop it." gojo warns, and she shuts her mouth, eyes shimmering with shock.

she looks like she's about to say something but stops, looking over his looming body at something.

"gojo? is that you?" another voice calls out, and he turns around, all the anger melting off of his face when he sees it's you, standing near the pillars as you try to find him.

you smile when you see him, still not seeing anya who's hidden behind him, and wave for him to come back.

"they're about to serve dessert," you say, trying to be as quiet as you can, "oh, are you with someone? sorry, i didn't mean to interrupt..." you trail off, your smile falling when anya shuffles around, making sure you see her behind him, your eyes widening.

gojo feels his world slipping beneath him as your shoulder drops, looking at him and then at anya, a somber look taking over your features. you look for another second, not knowing what to do. gojo feels like a fish, gaping silently at you, never looking back at anya, but you excuse yourself, going back to the dining hall without saying another word.

gojo stares aimlessly at the wall in front of him, not sparing his energy to look at the girl peering up at his face.

"get out," he murmurs, his voice low with timber.

"w-what?" she stammers, brows furrowing in confusion.

"get out before i call the guards," he snaps, looking at her from the side of his eyes, "fucking now anya, leave."

she looks up at him, swallowing thickly, but gets the memo that he's being serious. she scammers away, sniffling dramatically as she disappears through another hallway.

he drops his head into his hands, massaging his temples.

his eyes fall to his ring, the one that seems to be growing cold on his finger.

he feels his heart burn in his chest, every step feeling like he had stones tied to his feet as he makes his way back to the hall, hearing the edited clammer of the people welcoming him back, but there was only one person he cared about.

and you weren't looking at him.

in fact, you didn't speak to him that entire night. nor that following week.

gojo has almost bled to death before and has had arrows pierce his back and exit through his chest, but he'd rather experience that ten times again than feel the agonizing silence of the woman he's starting to love.

(second part)

[didhewinkback]

what was the hook up story

if you watch the movie i read that theres a scene where nicholas as fake harry has sex with anne in a hotel room and then immediately orders chicken fingers from room service. just replace fake harry with 2013 tmh tour harry and there ya go

[errantgoat]

Camelia is past the halfway point of act 3, I might be done this week if I find the time to indulge for an hour or two every day...since I'm not doing every side-quest, and definitely not House of Hope this time around.

Also why the eff I believed the rumors Wyll's questline got cut?! SLANDER. I haven't done it yet... (his and Astarion's are left for me to finish) but it triggered normally. Maybe some dialogue during the quest itself got cut? We shall see.

After that...Astarion's origin playthrough. THE FINAL ONE GODS. I'm so excited for it, you have no idea, but it will take an iron will on my part to not goodie-two shoes him and not reach for those optimal outcomes. He is so very selfish. I mean one can choose to act 'decently' while having ulterior motives but this asshole might be too bloodthirsty and smoothbrained for it. :P