#i do tho pity my daughters

[mariemariemaria]

i really dont know whats driving all the pro-corset nonsense but its so annoying. girls were put into corsets from young ages, sometimes before they even reached puberty. mothers were often the ones forcing their daughters to wear corsets even though they didn't want to and rebelled against it. honestly i think being critical of corsets is important when discussing today's insane beauty and weight standards for women. 'tiny waist' crazes came in and out of fashion and waist goals could be as small as 16 inches, which is insane and there's no way you're gonna convince me that that's healthy or normal or feminist. how is that any different to women having weight or thinness goals that prioritise their beauty over their health? how is the fluctuating fashion for different waist sizes any different to how different women's body shapes go in and out of fashion these days? body shapes which are so extreme that they are impossible to achieve without either starving yourself ('herorin chic') or getting surgery (bbls). i think we do a disservice to ourselves if we ignore the similarities and dont learn from history tbqh

[groovebunker]

@wild-fleurs

oh boy. do i have nanny related hills to die on. please, get a drink, sit down, settle in.

cc is a lesbian. that's it. she's a dyke. a homosexual. not just because i like lesbians. i just think her behaviour is easy to read as comp het bc why else would you be that interested in maxwell sheffield?

maxwell sheffield is history's greatest monster. i hate max. max is at best an absent father, a lackluster business partner and an awful boss. he's also a terrible husband who never, ever deserved fran fine. ever. he doesn't love fran, he loves the idea of her and the way he treats her after they get married makes me want to commit a murder.

fran should have dumped max after paris. that's it, that's the hill.

cc babcock, neuro divergent angel. my girl is autistic. that is an autistic babe. fran gives me big adhd vibes also.

you can fuck off if you think fran fine can't cook. nice jewish girl™ fran fine, daughter of sylvia fine, can't cook? are you fucking kidding me? this is one of the things about the show that pisses me off so fucking much, food is so much a part of fran's character - she's a caretaker, she's jewish - i refuse to believe that she cannot cook.

the fact that a show set in the 90s with two main characters who are broadway producers doesn't mention aids makes me want to scream. i know it's a comedy! i know they didn't do any very special episodes but still. a nod! please!

cc got done so dirty - lauren is so fucking funny and she could have done so much more with that role if fran drescher didn't need to be the funniest, prettiest woman in the room at all times (sorry fran, ily, but i know i'm right)

fran also did herself dirty. the voice jokes? the jokes about her weight? like girl, you're funnier and better than that. this is not a show which treats women well.

fran/cc is a better enemies to lovers than niles/cc. there was the possibility for development there!!! i will one day give a ted talk on it. fundamentally tho, i think it comes down to how enemies to lovers is based on obsession and cc is obsessed with fran (even if she says it's about getting rid of her) (she's lying). fran's less obsessed but i don't think fran sees cc as an enemy (bc fran has a functioning gaydar), fran kind of pities cc. but i think there is something there, something which could have at least developed into a friendship (if the show didn't hate women!!) and in my head, will always develop into romance.

i'm sure when i post this, one of my friends will remind me of another one of my hills but this is good to start with.

[robin-evry]

Hi, i really like your writings, so I was wondering if I could request a yuu based on Shuri Von Neuschwastein, if you don't know, she's a girl who was forced by her parents to marry very young (14) to a man who was twice her age, so she had to mature very quickly. When her husband dies, ( she was 16) she has to take care of everything and look after this man's children. She also had a very bad reputation since people believed that she only wanted this man's fortune¿ ☠️ Sooo maybe when Yuu was taken to Twisted Wonderland she was desperate to go back to take care of her family because she genuinely thought it was her responsibility to take care of them, and despite her age she is very mature so she could handle many things (It is not healthy for someone of her age to talk and act as if as if she were 30)

And no more because God, what a long message, an apology in advance because English is not my first language and I am doing it with a translator.

If you don't want to write this that's fine ‼️‼️

I've been wanting to read A Stepmother's Märchen manhwa for so long but I've been too busy to start it. PS : sorry for the long wait as well if it's not accurate

Anyway, ask and you shall receive

𝐓𝐖𝐒𝐓 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐀 𝐒𝐇𝐔𝐑𝐈 𝐕𝐎𝐍 𝐍𝐄𝐔𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐖𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐈𝐍!𝐘𝐔𝐔 🌷👨‍👩‍👦‍👦

Marchioness Shuri Von Neuschwanstein is one of the main characters of The Fantasie of a Stepmother manhwa. She is the second wife of Marquess Johannes von Neuschwanstein and the stepmother of his four children, Jeremy, Elias, Leon and Rachel. She is the current head of the Neuschwanstein Family. She is formerly of the Ighöfer Family. She is the daughter of lower Viscount Ighöfer and Stella von Ighöfer and the younger sister of Lucas von Ighöfer.

( English is not my first language )

Day 5 : Shuri Von Neuschwanstein!yuu

Shuri!yuu would be so desperate to go back home, every at the end of the day they would ask Crowley had he found a way back. To the point it really got in his nerve he told them to relax. And enjoy it NRC before they went back home

Would be a mother figure to grim. They would take care of him, feed him, give them food and just literally be motherly for him, grim would be so protective of them refusing any harm gets in their way.

A top student at NRC, even tho magic is pretty new but they adapted to the environment very quickly, they are able to get one of the highest scores in NRC competing with Azul and riddle. Professor trein treats shuri!yuu are like one of his daughters after learning about their past he is pretty concerned about them going back to their home due to how much they suffer so much.

The first years after learning about shuri!yuu being married when she was 14. They were shocked and asked if shes okay. When Ace and deuce ask about a former marquess and where are his whereabouts, shuri!yuu replied that he passed away from pneumonia and when they asked why, the first years looked at them like "because it's pedophilia".

But during their time shuri!yuu finally have time for themselves. They are finally free from the responsibility of a mother for the first time. They tried new hobbies, interests and for once they are free from responsibility but they keep reminding themselves they had to go back because of their responsibilities. But they will enjoy this moment of freedom before going back to work.

Cater will teach them how to use a cellphone, they start to post and take photos as a documentary for their time in twst, and it manages to gain popularity and gain many sponsorship, they ask for the help of vil because they don't know how to do these things.

Lilia will feel pity and respect for shuri!yuu ability to stay strong even at the age at a young age. No one at that age should experience being a mother at that age.

During their time NRC shuri!yuu finally have the time to enjoy their childhood and be free from their responsibility of being the leader of the house of Neuschwanstein.

And these scenes are being seen by Jeremy von Neuschwanstein after his stepmother has mysteriously disappeared and all searches have gone dried and the nobleman and woman have been saying good riddance, during one night a mirror in his bedroom emits a glow and when he takes a closer look at it. It's shuri!yuu sleeps peacefully at the ramshackle dorm with grim next to them.

he screamed and called for their name trying to get their attention towards the mirror until his voice dried. Everyday he goes to the mirror and looks at the mirror working like a one way mirror towards them, so close and yet so far. He saw them enjoying their life, laughing and the largest smile he ever saw more than when they were in here. He started to think it would be better for them to be there than here, in twst they would find true happiness and enjoy life for the first time, and they can marry whoever they want and love whoever they want. Right now he's just gonna be watching from the sidelines for now.

[chaostroberry1]

Hi, Could I request a platonic yandere story (or headcanons, whatever works best for you) for Adam's ror family? The reader is human and they decided to adopt her. I haven't seen much for this family and I really need more. Please and thank you very much 💗

Hello anon!! This is one lovely request. I'd love to ^

RoR!platonic!human!family × daughter reader

- I can say that there are many ways that they could have found you, but what I think would be so much funnier is that if Cain and Abel found you abandoned somewhere.

- maybe they were out adventuring until they heard baby noises, little crying. I have a feeling that Cain and his big brother instincts told him to go check it out. And boom, they find you, wrapped around very thin cloth, shivering.

- Cain told Abel to watch you so that he could get Adam. And off he went running. Abel really pitied you despite his age, what a poor thing you were. you were very small and in need of protection.

- once they got Adam to see you, he picked you up gently, cradling you around his arms while instructing the boys to get some leaves and tree branches, to make you a nest.

- he stared into your small little eyes, as eve came rushing, hearing the cries of a baby.

- They adored you so much, you were so weak. They needed to protect you no matter the cost.

- when you started growing older, the two siblings would take you out with them to watch them hunt or scavenger hunt for berries and other tasty fruit.

- your big brothers were so sweet, and very nice. You got scared because of a squirrel once, and they scared it off. Making you giggle happily.

- Eve would make you all desserts, or make you wear pretty clothing. Of course they wouldn't just have you wearing things like them, that means there would be people staring at your body. That's disgusting.

- instead, they give you a dress, and a flower crown. Like a mini princess, you were so cute. their cute little baby girl was growing up. (You were actually still five years old)

- anytime you went missing, everyone would go insane, like you were only out for a walk and eve is already rushing towards you and crying out your name, before squeezing you into the tightest hug ever, barely letting you breathe.

- Adam would scold you, before telling you to go eat berries cus he thought he was too harsh.

- Cain and Abel would cry too, blabbering nonsense like "my baby sister...Whaaa!!! We thought you were dead!!!"

- okay maybe that was too dramatic.

- what if you had a crush? Well. They don't like that. Eve would tell you to consider, and tell you all the littlest details on stuff that she found 'odd' about the person. Like how they dress, or their hair, the way they walk, a bald spot on their head- just basically anything to make you dislike them.

- Adam tho, protective father switch on. Mf is literally pouty about the fact that you had a crush on someone, saying that you were too young, and that you were still his little girl.

- Cain would go chasing the person away while holding a twig, like an angry dog. While Abel would cry to you like "why would you wanna leave us...we're your familyyy..."

- bro.

- but, you've gotten used to them. They love you very much and are only doing things like this for you because they love you.

- might as well just take it, right?

[phasesofpencils]

Yeah no Blitz is fully within his right to be pissed off about that "confession".

Blitz literally has no reason to believe that their relationship was anything other than transactional, their last meaningful interaction together was Ozzie's and we ALL know how that went. Even the episode directly before that Stolas is still calling Blitz his "impish little play thing". Blitz's argument that Stolas is "Springing this feelings bullshit on him" is completely justified because Stolas's feelings really do kinda feel like they spring up out of no where during the Ozzie's episode.

And plus we have been getting force fed Stolas's pity party about his horrible marriage, how he's loved Blitz since he was a kid [which A) always felt weird/unnecessary and like they were just blatantly trying to retcon his intentions and B) arguably might have even made it worse cus even back then Blitz didn't have a choice in it], how he now sees how wrong the deal is and how bad he feels and oh he loves him so much. But even if you see all that and sympathize with Stolas for it, BLITZ NEVER SAW THAT DEVELOPMENT!!!

Blitz only ever saw Stolas talking down to him by calling him shit like "itty bitty imp" and "impish little plaything", not taking him seriously when he tries to set boundaries with him and completely ignore every single request he makes to not come onto him in public and not humiliate him in front of everyone from strangers to Stolas's own fucking daughter.

THEIR WHOLE DEAL WAS ABOUT SEX AND NOW STOLAS IS GETTING ANNOYED WITH BLITZ FOR "ALWAYS MAKING IT ABOUT SEX"????? MY BROTHER IN HELL YOU WERE THE ONE WHO MADE THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR THE FUCKING DEAL!!! YOU WERE THE ONE WHO MADE IT ABOUT SEX TO BEGIN WITH!!!!! You were literally just bemoaning how wrong and unfair the deal was, earlier that same episode you asked "if he's only here as a prisoner what kind of MONSTER does that make me?" but now that Blitz is calling you out on it suddenly it's "i didn't realise you thought so low of me😢" you have never given him a reason to think any higher of you. You say you "think so highly of him" and how you don't care about social status but everything you've down towards Blitz so far has shown otherwise. Even literally dismissing him like Blitz accused him of doing by throwing him out for the crime of making him upset. Stolas didn't deserve that Sorry Blitz was gonna give him anyway.

I can already tell that watching reactions to this episode is gonna he so frustrating, so many reaction channels i watch have been so deep in the Stolas UwU Soft Boi propaganda the season has been giving us so far and already get pissed off at Blitz for the crime of making Stolas sad. I'm at least glad for Sarcastic Chorus cus even tho he ships it he can still think critically enough about it to not just blindly coddle Stolas.

[cabin10diaries]

im so im so. obsessed with jason but specifically what other people think of him

reyna oh my beloved reyna <333 she knew him the best of everyone and then he disappeared, came back brand new? new friends, new girl, new person, and shes glad he's happy but where did HER jason go ? the one she trained with, spent years getting close with, spending all her time with? he was taken from her, and as happy as she is for the new jason he can never fill her heart the same

piper my lovely was basically coerced into a relationship built on false narratives with him, and she broke up bc that wasnt right !! what were they now? ofc, they were friends, but the tension of fake memories and fading feelings was still effective. it was so hard to talk to him but she wanted it to be easy again like in her fake memories

leo (this is valgraced bc im a valgrace truther ok?) hated him but loved him as a friend and more. jason was what leo wanted to be; respected, smart, listened to, not seeming like a burden. he wanted that so bad, which made him want jason, too. stuck between do i want my best friends boy or do i want to kill him and take his place? he was soo jealous but guilty of the jealousy bc it wasnt like it was jasons fault the way ppl treated the two differently. and jason was the same to leo, he wanted leos humor and be able to make a room laugh instead of having them glare at him for being to stern, even tho thats what he had been taught to do. they found a unique bond with each other by wanting aspects of each other while liking the parts they didnt want to be

cohort5/new rome [bar hazel and frank] etc looked up to him so much. he was their role model, their leader, their voice of reason, the person to turn to, THE guy. they basically idolized and dehumanized him to nothing but the boy who was raised to lead them, especially bc he was the son of jupiter. the first in so long, ofc he was important and special, why treat him like normal ?

percy ,,, he respected jason eventually. they clashed but they learned how to work through the clashing and fight alongside each other instead of against each other. they had similar yet dif personalities, percy fighting to be listened to while jason had been forced to speak. both leaders, respected, treated like leaders but in dif ways bc of the way their social groups functioned. they both wanted what each other had; percy wanted the stability of new rome, knowing he'd have people that would come back alive every summer. jason wanted the close bonds of camp halfblood without being put into a heavy spotlight

thalia loved him. he was her younger brother, how could she not? she pitied him, tho, from the way he lived in new rome. she knew the life well, being thrown into the spotlight and everything bc she herself was a daughter of zeus (like how chiron and camp treated her, esp if u compare it with how they treated percy after she came back) and hoped he would find a place better. her arms were always open for him but she had another life she wanted to live, too

octavian. pure hatred and jealousy. jason was everything he wanted. he was in leader positions, respected, listened to. octavian thought of him similarly to leo, but without the good bond. he despised jason because he wanted everything jason got just for being born from jupiter. it was unfair, and octavian decided to take advantage when jason disappeared. he wouldnt have another chance to take the spots that belonged to him

nico grew fond of him. he couldnt not have, esp after how jason treated him after the cupid incident. immediately showing his trust, backing him up, etc etc, it was finally someone nico could trust and talk to after years of running from camp and monsters and guilt of dead sisters and tense/awkward friend?ship with his very happily taken crush. nico found someone he could depend on, even if he didnt want to

beryl damn. she had some love for him. deep down, she knew she did, he was her son. but she couldnt focus on him, she had her life to take. her downfall started with thalia and zeus, jason made it worse. even if he was her son, the little love she had for him was so hard to find. too hard to even try. so, she left him, maybe hoping for a better life for him, or wanting to get rid of him. she knew both reasons were true

hedge isnt too talked about in general but he loved jason okay. the son he never had, before chuck. he was him and leos and pipers protector, and he would lay down his life for any of the three. they were his children, even if he no longer talks to them, theyll hold the spot in his heart

hazel and frank and annabeth had similar thoughts about jason. none were really close; hazel and frank looked up to jason like the rest of new rome, but could see him as a person because they actually talked to him. they thought positively about jason, he was friends with all three. even if they werent as close as tlh trio, they still liked jason. how could you not, after a war stuck with them? they think of jason like one does with a friend who used to be close, but grew apart simply because of time. they like him, but theyre not close

hera oh !! he was her son. he was her champion. he was hers, even if he was caused by the reoccuring infidelity of her husband. he was her champion and she loved him like a son. she had a genuine bond with him, one thats hard to form with a god and mortal/demigod. she was the better beryl, and him the better heracles

lesterpollo. he thinks of jason so. much. i firmly believe jason was a big big big part in lester changing, i mean, watching someone know they were going to die and WILLINGLY go into the situation? he had nothing but respect and admiration towards jason. jason was like a mentor to him, showing and reminding him of the right thing to do

[alcinas-big-ass-simp]

Hey

I read your answer so maybe something simple, I had a bad and a stressfull day at work, I just want to grab my plushie (yes even if Im an adult I keep my favorite plushie with me, its a wolf) and cry

How alcina and the girls will react at reader being like this and cheer them up

Have a nice weekend!

~ The Lady D and Bela comforting sad Reader ~

Note: I'm so sorry that you had a bad and stressful day at work dear but yes I can completely do this ask! Since you just said Alcina and the girls, I will be guessing you meant her and her daughters! And sorry for this taking so so so long tho—

• By the black god you had a stressful and terrible day at work, It brought your whole mood down

• All you wanted to do was go home and cuddle your favorite plushie that always brought you comfort in you're saddest times. It always somehow improved your mood and that's exactly what you did when you got home, you just grabbed your plushie and plopped in your Lover's bed crying.

• Their scent always was able to calm you down along with your plushie but they were not here right now but your favorite plushie was so that at least calmed you down at least a little bit... You were just laying in their bed with their blanket around you holding you tight like they would if they were here

• Even though you felt kind of lonely, you knew how much they had to do so you just sat there in deafening silence..

• Until you heard the door creek open?.

• Alcina didn't even know you were in her room until she ducked under the door frame and fixed her hat and then that's when she saw you crying under the covers of her bed with a,,,, plushie in your arms?... Specifically a [ Redacted ] plushie? Well the plushie is quite cute, she can't lie about that but never mind about that she was quite worried about why are you in her bed looking all sad

• Looking at the plushie and looking back at your face, she really didn't know how to act like everything stop for a little bit.. But then she looked back at the plushie you were holding, she has never seen this plush around the house?.. Were you hiding this plushie from her or something?

• Before she can even say anything to you, you made direct eye contact with her accidentally and by the black Gods, she could feel her dead heart break into a million pieces just from the look on your sad face, especially your red puffy eyes stained from crying.. it just took a couple seconds to even muster up a sentence to say to you

• “Draga,, What happened to you?. Did someone do or say something to you?” She said in the most softest voice she can possibly muster up at the moment, Alcina immediately assumes by default that your sadnesss was someone else's doing so she can slice them to death for even having the audacity to make you this sad

• I mean she's kind of right but kind of wrong?— “No, it was just work.. It kicked my ass....” You explained, your voice was barely above a whisper as you mumbled it into your plushie after you said that she gave you a look of pity and sat down at the end of the bed making sure not to touch you if you didn't want to be touched.

• If you want to be touched she won't mind at all! instantly taking you in her arms with your little plushie friend, Alcina always wants you to know that she can be a safe place so she will do all that she can to make you feel better with her touch if you want it. She will sit there holding you for hours and letting you cry or vent to her but she also won't mind sitting there in silence holding you

• She is the type to hold you in her arms like a baby and rock you back and forth until all of your troubles disappeared, she's so so motherly towards you at this time, Once you finish crying or venting in her arms tho, she will be praising you a whole bunch for being so strong for telling her and for letting out your emotions positively!

• And if you don't want physical contact at this time, She doesn't mind if she has to sit there for hours waiting for you to finally talk or vent to her about all of this, she doesn't mind sitting in peaceful Silence with you, if thats what helps you <3

• But in the end she really doesn't care about the plushie, if it helps you and you like it! She doesn't mind it being in her house. She maybe even get cute little outfits for it if you want! If you're happy she's happy <3

• Bela only came back to her room to get a book that she needed for something but well- all of that got through out of the window when she saw you on her bed crying like something just terrible happened. She honestly didn't even see the plushie that you were holding at the moment since all of her focus was on you!

• She could feel her heart clunch from seeing you all sad and depressed like this, she knew she needed to do something fast before it got worse or anything like that so she's slowly walked over to her bed, making sure that her footsteps were quiet and that she wasn't making any loud noise that could possibly spook you when you are already down in the dumps

• Once she got to her bed that you are all snuggled up in, she sat down on the side of the bed next to you. “Dear, Are you okay? Do you want to talk about it?” Bela made sure to have her voice soft as maybe to bring you more comfort in this situation. “No.. it was just that work today was terrible..” At your little explanation she nods, she's not going to pass for any more details

• “Would you like me to stay here and comfort you or leave you alone if you just need some alone time dear?” Bela also made sure to sound as polite as possible, wanting you to know that you have an option to have your own personal space If you need it to calm down so if you do need some time alone she will gladly give it to you and come back later with some food and a drink

• But if you want her to stay and comfort her she will also do that gladly! She's willing to do anything for you at that moment when you are clearly suffering, she's the type to put your head on her lap as she combs her fingers through your ruffled hair and sing a sweet calming melody for you since she's not really new to this cuz she's the oldest sister, Cassandra and Daniela normally always come to her for comfort since their mother is busy almost all the time

• And after everything is finally calms and settles down, that's when Bela will notice the plushie that you have all snuggled up in your arms, she was first confused about it but she just shrugged her shoulders since if it makes you happy and you love it, she won't care if you have it at all

--------

I could not think of anything else for the other two- I kind of just kept this in my draft because I couldn't finish it but I kept thinking I could but I officially gave up so- djhdhd sorryyy-

~ Masterlist ~

~ Request Guidelines ~

[helpimhyperfixating]

Family is who you choose

This is not a Jotaro x reader for once. It’s Jotaro being a good dad. You’re Jolyne’s best friend and come to her house for comfort. (I dunno how to tag it differently tho, sorry :()

This is unfinished, but I didn’t really plan on finishing it and it has enough meat so I might as well post it :3

Word Count: 1783

Knocking on the door, you had a hard time suppressing your emotions, simply keeping your quivering lips pressed together tightly as the details of the wood faded into blurs.

The lights inside the house were on so you knew someone was home as you waited, pulling your own jacket sleeves down until it felt like they would split at the seams.

“….o-“

“Yeah, yeah!”

Jolyne’s voice was heard from inside as she yelled to whoever was talking to her, all the while she approached the door on the other side. Hearing that, your heart thudded as you tried to compose yourself, sniffling as you tried to prepare for what you were going to say.

Before you knew it, the door was pulled open and before you stood your best- and childhood friend, Jolyne.

“Y/N! What are you doing here, you- Are you okay?” Her confusion instantly turned to concern as she took notice of your appearance.

Looking up at her, her genuine and worried expression caused your brittle wall to crumble as your face screwed up, a choked sob leaving you as you frantically shook your head no.

“Come in, come inside.” Instantly wrapping her arm around your shoulders, with her left she held your hands as she led you inside. “Dad!” Shouting out for the older man, you looked up to see him sitting at the dining table across the room, plates of half-finished food set up on it while he got up from the table, a frown on his face.

It was clear you had caught the Kujo family during one of their late-night dinners.

Having long since been a familiar face to the man in purple, seeing the state you were in he instantly went into concern mode, similarly to his daughter.

“Y/N? What’s going on?”

“I-“ You started, trying hard not to make any actual noise while the tears kept blurring your vision, both the ravens around you taking notice.

“Dad, can you-?” Jolyne didn’t even have to finish her sentence as Jotaro already nodded, humming a short hum as he walked out of the room and into the kitchen while Jolyne led you over to the table and sat you at the head.

“I’m sorry.” You whimpered, rubbing at your eyes as you tried to calm yourself.

“No, it’s okay. Tell me what happened.” Her voice was soft as she once more grabbed your hands, giving them a reassuring squeeze that made a pitiful sob-chuckle leave you.

“It’s him, what else?” Your throat felt thick and your voice nasal as you spoke, pulling one hand out of your friend’s hold to instead burrow into your jacket pocket.

“I swear to god I’m going to smash his face into concrete - no offence.” Jolyne brazenly huffed before looking down at you, not wanting to upset you further.

“None taken.” You chuckled wetly again, sniffling after as you pulled out your phone, clicking it on and typing in your password. “You remember how he never showed up for my graduation? No explanation, nothing?”

“I do.” Jolyne nodded a little tentatively and you turned your phone around, handing it to her with the messenger app open.

“I decided ‘Why not stick up for myself for once?‘” You mumbled, watching as the girl took your phone, her eyes starting to skim the texts.

“What the fuck?” Jolyne’s voice was an angry whisper, her brows furrowing. “He’s blaming you?!”

“What’s going on?”

Walking out of the kitchen, carrying three mugs, Jotaro came over, placing them down in front of their designated spots one by one and sliding away the plates of food while he looked between the two of you.

“Her father is blaming her!”

Furrowing his brows in confusion, the man slowly sat down, looking at the phone his daughter was waving around before looking at you, a silent ask for permission. You nodded and motioned for him to go ahead while you slid the cup he just put down closer to yourself, seeing the large mug filled to the brim with hot cocoa.

“I’m sorry for interrupting your dinner.” You mumbled, looking at the half-eaten plates of curry.

“Don’t worry, you couldn’t know dad was being an ass and working late again.” Jolyne smiled, bumping her shoulder into yours, which earned her a half-hearted glare from Jotaro.

“I was in my study. You could just as easily have notified me or made dinner yourself.”

“Nuh-uh, it’s your day to cook. I ain’t touching that kitchen on a Thursday.” Jolyne huffed, pulling up her nose to which Jotaro deadpanned.

“Jolyne, you barely cook the others days.”

Sputtering a bit, the girl pulled your chair closer to her, as if in an attempt to get you on her side, both physically as well as in the mock fight. “I cook at least once a week!”

“And I six times, where is your point.” Jotaro hummed, finishing reading the texts as he then put your phone down on the table, upside down.

“Y/N loves it when I cook.” Jolyne huffed, engulfing you in her arms and hugging your head into her chest, giving you no choice but to let her, a fond smile spreading on your face.

You knew they were probably bantering like this on purpose to get your mind off of things, but you also didn’t care. It was working.

With how often you came to the Kujo residence, this had become like a second home to you, and seeing how the father-and-daughter-duo squabbled always worked to make you smile.

“Y/N, have you eaten yet?”

The deep baritone breaking through your thoughts, you looked up from Jolyne’s chokehold to see Jotaro’s eyes on you, soft and calm.

“Well.. no but I’m not really hungry, it’s alright.”

The man nodded softly before shoving your mug a bit closer to you. “Here, take this with you. Go take a shower, kid. Decompress. You can talk to us after.”

“Hot cocoa in the shower? You have gone soft, old man.” Jolyne teased and the marine biologist sighed.

“No, they can drink it while you get some spare clothes.” Jotaro clarified, raising an eyebrow.

Narrowing her eyes, Jolyne looked at her father for a moment before getting up, taking you with her as she turned around and walked towards the stairs, looking back and sticking her tongue out at the older man one last time as if that was supposed to make her win their stand off.

Looking back as well, Jotaro’s eyes crossed with yours and you waved at him while Jolyne dragged you along, him putting his hand up as well as he shook his head with an amused huff at his daughter’s pettiness.

-

Stretching a bit, Jotaro cracked his neck a little before looking down. Your phone was still on the table from when he placed it there. Reaching out, he took hold of it and turned it around, touching the screen that had gone a shade darker to prevent it from shutting off as his eyes once more glid over the texts between you and your father.

For years you and him had been on thin ice, Jolyne having ranted about the stupid shit that asshole - in Jotaro’s eyes - did to you. Not to mention the few times you’d actually come to him to talk as well.

Having known you for coming close to two decades now, having watched you grow up, Jotaro held a fondness for you similar to what he felt for his own daughter. And thus, reading these texts, he felt his blood boil.

Back when you were still a child, somewhere under the age of ten - he couldn’t remember - your parents got divorced. He’d never truly liked your father yet after the divorce resulting from him cheating, the man showed his true colours. Every time he came to pick you up from Jotaro’s house, he ignored the marine biologist and his daughter other than a ‘thanks’ or ‘good evening’. It never failed to make Jotaro want to throttle him, especially seeing how reluctant you always were to go.

As the years passed, reluctance turned to fear until eventually there was a fallout and you decided to stop living with your dad altogether.

Sighing, Jotaro absentmindedly scrolled through the texts again, only to furrow his brow when he scrolled a little too far up. It was a bit of a breach of privacy but he couldn’t help it as he saw the texts that caused you to speak out against your father in the first place.

‘Hey, dad. Did you stop paying my monthly allowance?’

‘Yes, I did.’

‘Why?’

‘Because you graduated and are over 18.’

‘But you can’t do that… You and mom settled on it in the divorce contract. Until I’ve graduated college you can’t just stop.’

‘I don’t want to talk about this over text.’

Gritting his teeth, Jotaro put down your phone right as Jolyne came walking back in.

“What’s up, dad?” She asked, her brows furrowing.

Waving his hand a bit, Jotaro grunted in dismissal. “I’ll discuss it once Y/N is back down.”

Nodding softly, Jolyne then slid the mug in front of her closer, looking inside before softly chuckling. “Hot cocoa while we eat curry, really?”

“Oh shut it.” Jotaro huffed as he looked to the side, a blush appearing on his face. “It is Y/N’s comfort drink.”

Smiling softly, Jolyne then reached out, grabbing onto the man’s arm. “I know. Thank you, dad.”

Looking back, he nodded softly, placing his hand over hers and giving it a small squeeze.

It took about twenty minutes for you to calm down enough that you felt presentable and wouldn’t break down at the first mention, dressed in a mix of Jolyne’s and Jotaro’s clothes - Jolyne having forgotten to properly do her laundry, causing in a shortage of clean clothes and forcing her to borrow from her dad’s closet for you.

Walking inside the living room, you were met with the Kujo’s sitting at the table, plates of food in front of themselves while they were quietly talking, all the while a third plate sat at the head of the table, waiting for you.

“Ohh.. you really didn’t have to, I’m really not hungry.” You smiled awkwardly as you walked over, yet the both of them just looked at you while Jotaro pushed your chair out with his foot.

“Sit. You need to eat, c’mon.”

Chewing the inside of your cheek you nodded and just sat down. You had to admit, it smelled absolutely divine. Jotaro never failed to make something delicious whenever he cooked and it was always something you looked forward to whenever you stayed for a sleepover.

-

That’s all I had. But given the title you can guess how this was gonna end :3

[aneurinallday]

Green Eyes

Chapter 8: Monaghan Boy

When Thomas opened his eyes again, dawn was peeking through the curtains and he was alone in the bed. Alec was no longer at his side.

His weary brain accepted the situation with no surprise. Perhaps Alec had already got what he’d wanted - the wallet and gold pocket-watch from Thomas’s coat and the jewellery from Grace’s vanity table - and fled into the night. Perhaps this whole thing had been one long, elaborate trick to worm his way into Thomas Shelby’s trust. Or perhaps he was just an early bird.

Thomas rose and, in his underwear, crossed the landing to the guest bedroom. Knocking on the door, he received no answer. Upon opening it, he was greeted by the sight of Alec’s bed stripped bare. Linen was such an odd thing to steal, that for a moment Thomas simply stood there and stared at the naked bed.

Was the baby still here? Or had Alec left her behind, now that she’d served her purpose of gaining Thomas’s sympathy?

Heading to the nursery, he found Alec curled up on the floor, at the foot of the crib where Clara still slumbered. He’d piled the pillows and duvet into a cosy nest, and was fast asleep.

Then Thomas’s brain fully awoke, and he realised the pointlessness of his own cynicism. It had been Alec’s first night in an unfamiliar house, in a strange bed, in the care of a powerful man whose intentions he couldn’t be sure of - all while worrying about the safety of his six-month-old daughter. A little restlessness was inevitable.

Thomas heard the distant sounds of the servants beginning their morning routine, starting with cleaning the downstairs fireplaces. Soon they would be preparing breakfast.

Sighing, he reached down to adjust the duvet over Alec’s shoulders. The young man stirred and mumbled, but didn’t wake. Thomas drew the sheer curtains closed around the crib, and left.

Come breakfast time, Thomas was sitting at the head of the table, staring at Grace’s empty seat while the servants bustled about. A hearty breakfast was being laid out: honeyed porridge, fried bacon, butterflied kippers, poached eggs, rich Ethiopian coffee, and crispy toast with butter, marmalade, and jam. Thomas touched none of it.

Alec entered, carrying Clara in his arms, both of them freshly bathed and dressed.

“Morning, Mister Shelby,” he said brightly.

Thomas didn’t answer. Behind him loomed an ostentatiously large painting, framed in gold, of him posing with a pale grey horse on a grassy hilltop. In the background stood Arrow House in all its splendour. Alec gazed up at it but didn’t comment upon it.

“Where should I sit?”

“Wherever the food is.”

Alec dropped into the nearest seat, his eyes already devouring breakfast. Bouncing Clara with his right arm, he grabbed a rasher of bacon with his left hand and ate it in two bites.

“Are you doing anything today?” he asked.

“Not that I know of.”

“You’re not heading into Birmingham for work?”

“I like to work from home.”

“Maybe we can do something together.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know.” Alec sipped his coffee and grimaced - it was unsweetened. He used a tiny pair of tongs to pick up a sugar cube and carefully drop it in the cup. “It’s your decision. What do you enjoy?”

“I enjoy the uninterrupted thoughts that come with sitting alone.”

The servants quietly filed out of the room, until only one remained: a rather severe-looking middle-aged woman who regarded Alec with an odd mixture of pity and distrust.

“Alec, this is Frances, the housekeeper. She runs this whole fucking place, and she’s going to keep running it long after we’re all dead. Frances, this is Alec. He’s my...guest.”

“Good morning, Mister…?” Frances questioned.

“Oh, just Alec. Just Alec will do.” The young man offered Clara a spoonful of porridge, which she refused.

“I can take the little one, Mister Alec,” Frances offered.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to be a bother.”

“It’s no bother - I’ve had four kids and I just had a grandkid, so I’m well-practiced. You don’t mind me sitting down, do you, Mister Shelby?”

Thomas shrugged with complete indifference.

Somewhat reluctantly, Alec handed the baby over. His eyes followed Frances as she perched on a chair a respectful distance away, murmuring affectionately as she coaxed the porridge into Clara.

Then Alec remembered his own hunger. With his arms now free, he began to eat hungrily, helping himself to a portion of everything.

“Aren’t you going to eat anything?” he asked as he served himself poached eggs.

“No.” Thomas lit a cigarette.

For a time, the pair sat in silence. Thomas smoked while Alec ate. Finally, Alec spoke.

“Will I meet your son today?”

“No.”

“Tomorrow?”

“No. He’s away.”

“Where?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“I’m just curious,” Alec said, alternating salty bites of kipper with sweet bites of jam-laden toast. “You’ve never really talked about him.”

“He’s staying with his aunt and cousins.”

“Why? Does he not like being here?”

“What kind of fucking question is that?”

“Well, if there are other people living here, I can’t avoid them forever, can I? I need to be prepared so I know how to behave.”

Thomas considered him for a moment longer, then looked away, taking another puff of his cigarette.

“You won’t meet Charlie,” he said without making eye contact. His tone was noticeably colder than before. “He’s had a hard enough time adjusting to his mother’s death without knowing there’s a whore sleeping in his father’s bed. And a whore with a kid, to boot.”

“You think he’ll be jealous of Clara?”

“Jealous, no. Confused, yes. Bringing another child into a household...It sends out a certain signal.”

“So you’re ashamed of us?” Alec’s words were at odds with his smile, “You really didn’t think this through, did you?”

Mercifully, they were interrupted by Frances returning, holding a happy and well-fed baby.

“She’s missing you, Mister Alec.”

“Is that right? Are you missing me, Clara? Come here, my little one,” Alec cooed, his arms outstretched to receive her, “You’re my sweet little one, aren’t you?”

Thomas couldn’t remember the last time his son had greeted him with affection.

“Right,” he said, dousing his cigarette in his untouched coffee. “I’m going to get some fresh air. Go play the piano or whatever the fuck you want to do.”

Donning his coat, cap, and black leather gloves, Thomas headed out to the stables and paddocks. After checking on the new colt, he took Grace’s Secret out for a ride around the estate. Outdoors was where he felt the most awake, the most alive - the trees and grass and breeze seemed to sharpen his senses, and for a while, the horse underneath him was the only thing that mattered - not money, not business, not the Shelby name, not Alec, not any of them.

“Good girl,” he murmured as he patted her grey neck. “You’re my best girl.”

As he dismounted and led her back to her stall, he heard Alec’s voice calling from the direction of the house.

“Mister Shelby?”

Thomas glanced around to see the young man approaching, wearing a slim waistcoat over his white shirt. He looked under-dressed for the outdoors. “I wanted to say sorry for speaking to you that way. I didn’t mean to offend you. I talk too - ”

“Talk too much. I know. You said it before, back at the club. Where’s the kid?”

“She’s taking a nap. The maids are watching her - they love her already.”

Alec reached his side and leaned against the wooden door-frame of the stall.

“I hope you don’t think I’m ungrateful -  I’m not,” said Alec, “I am very grateful. It’s just…a lot’s happened. Last week I was turning tricks, wondering if I was going to make rent, and now I’m living with one of the richest businessmen in the country. It’s a lot to take in, you know?”

“I know.”

“What I’m trying to say is, I’m scared.”

“You’ve got nothing to be scared of.”

“I do, though. If you offend me, I can grin and bear it. If I offend you, you can put me back on the street. I don’t hold any of the cards here.”

“There are no cards.”

“You only say that because you’re the one holding them.”

“Alec,” Thomas sighed, “I’m not as changeable as you seem to think I am. I told you I’d look after you, so that’s what I’m going to do. I’m not going to go back on my word.”

“Even if we quarrel?”

“Even if we quarrel.”

Alec smiled for a moment, then turned his gaze to the pale horse that Thomas was stabling.

“Is that the horse from the painting?”

“Yes.”

“It must be your favourite then.”

“She is.” Thomas patted the horse’s pale flank. “She’s a fine animal.”

“Can I pet her?”

“So that’s the real reason why you came out here, eh? Go ahead.”

Alec reached out and, with uncertain fingertips, gently stroked the mare’s head.

“She’s not a little sparrow. You can scratch her harder. Do it behind the ears, she likes that.”

“Does she have a name?”

“Grace’s Secret.”

“Will you take me riding on her?”

“No.”

Disappointment crossed Alec’s face.

“But that one - ” Thomas pointed to a black stallion in the neighbouring stall. “I’ll take you out on that one. Bear with me.”

Thomas fetched the horse’s tack from where it hung on the wall, and began to saddle him while Alec stood back and watched.

“What’s his name?” the singer asked.

“Monaghan Boy.”

“That sounds Irish. Is he from Ireland?”

“No, but my father’s side of the family was. They were Travellers.”

“And your mother’s side?”

“Romani.”

“Did you grow up in a caravan?”

“I grew up everywhere. Caravans, boats, the back-streets of Birmingham.”

“Why did your family stop travelling?”

“Because we wanted to be rich,” said Thomas honestly, “And you can’t get rich from the back of a caravan. If you don’t own properties, people think you don’t exist.”

He finished fastening the horse’s bridle, making sure the buckles were secure but not tight.

“Right. Hop on.”

“I don’t know how.”

“Come here.” Thomas beckoned him nearer.

Alec approached the horse. He looked eager at first, but once he was up-close, he seemed to realise how huge the stallion was - its head the size of his torso, its hooves the diameter of dinner plates. He hesitated and took a half-step back.

“Don’t be nervous,” said Thomas, “Stand here, where I’m standing. One foot in the stirrup, swing the other leg over.”

“What if he throws me?”

“He won’t move, don’t worry.”

Alec obeyed. When the time came to take his other foot off the ground, he faltered, as if fearing that the horse might collapse under his weight. Then he took a deep breath and hoisted himself into the saddle.

“There we go. Shift up a bit,” Thomas instructed, “You’re too far forward.”

“What do I hold onto?”

“The saddle. You can hold his mane, but don’t pull it hard.” He glanced down at Alec’s shoes. “Do you own a pair of boots?”

“No.”

“I’ll have to buy you some if you’re going to be spending time outdoors. Those aren’t fit for the fields. Ready?”

Alec found his balance and nodded.

“I’m ready.”

Thomas clicked his tongue in command. When the animal began to move, Alec instinctively tightened his legs for purchase.

“No need to squeeze,” said Thomas, “Relax. You’ll put him on edge.”

Guiding the horse by the reins, Thomas led him out of the stables and around the perimeter of the paddock. He could almost feel Alec’s nervousness ebbing away, his body slowly relaxing as he acclimated to horseback. The happiness on his face was a precious thing.

“He’s my lucky horse, you know,” said Thomas. “He can’t ever lose a race.”

“Really?”

“Mhm. He got a spell put on him by a Chinese witch. She blew her magic red powder on him and everything.”

“And that made him lucky?” said the young man sceptically.

“No,” Thomas replied, “But it made everyone else think he was. And that’s the important thing. If you make people think you have fate on your side, they start doubting themselves. Because how can they win if you can’t lose?”

“So you just trick people? That’s how you win all your races?”

“Not exactly. Every good lie needs a bit of truth to keep it from falling apart. He might not be a magic horse, but he’s fucking fast. Aren’t you, Boy?”

Monaghan Boy snorted and flicked his black mane. Alec stroked him hesitantly.

“Sit up straight,” Thomas reminded him. “Eyes forward.”

Alec did so and looked around, enjoying the view from atop the animal.

“Can we go out on the fields?” he asked.

“No. You’re not ready for the terrain. We’ll stick to flat ground for now.”

The implication of future lessons put a grin on Alec’s face. After a full circle around the paddock, they arrived back at the stable.

“Not bad,” said Thomas, “You managed not to fall.”

“How do I get off?” Alec laughed.

“Turn your back to me.”

Rather awkwardly, Alec swung his right leg up and over the horse’s back so that he was balancing on only the left stirrup, clinging onto the saddle for purchase. Thomas supported him from behind, clasping him firmly by the waist and guiding him to the ground. With both feet safely on the earth, Alec turned to face him.

“Thank you for the lesson, Mister Shelby,” he said.

Before Thomas’s gloved hands could withdraw, Alec caught them, keeping them on his waist.

“You don’t need to be ashamed of me,” he said, “I can turn into something to be proud of. I can and I will.”

“I’m not asha - ” Thomas began, but then Alec’s mouth was on his, silencing him with a kiss.

He’d forgotten how sweet Alec tasted, how soft yet commanding his lips were, and how much he’d missed them on his skin. He stood motionless, as if spellbound, as the rosy glow of the Arcadia came flooding back to envelop him.

Monaghan Boy waited patiently, his long black tail swatting away the occasional fly that buzzed on his flanks.

All too soon, Alec released him from the kiss, green eyes soaking in Thomas’s expression.

“I can be very good for you,” he said. “All you have to do is be good for me too.”

Stifling a laugh, he darted out of the stable and hurried back to the house. Thomas watched him go, still arrested by the taste, still unmoving, as if by remaining in place he could somehow keep the ghost of Alec’s kiss from dissipating.

Looking out across the fields and gardens with a newfound clarity, he saw how happy Alec would be here - how happy both of them would be together. He realised he hadn’t made a mistake at all, but one of the best decisions of his life.

[nysus-temple]

Dionysus' lesser-known myths [or perhaps you do know them, but i will tell you about them anyway]

Some of these myths have already been shown in my blog, but i decided to bring some of them up again in a more elaborated way, plus some new too. Perhaps you've heard of them, perhaps you haven't, but i can tell you i haven't seen them much around here.

And my job isn't reading your minds, it's about writting essays, so here we go.

1. Ampelos (Αμπελος):

According to Nonnus of Panopolis, Ampelos was a satyr (tho not many art represents him as such) who loved Dionysus, and was loved by him as well. Not much of a surprise, since we do know many gods had male lovers.

The problem is that, we're still talking about a satyr, we know how those guys are and act. According to Nonnus, Ampelos was riding a bull while mocking Selene, angrily, she sent a gadfly to sting the bull. The bull ran and threw Ampelos all over the place. Nonnus describes it as a very gore-like death.

Dionysus, upset, ended up turning Ampelos' corpse into a grape vine, and from there, he created wine with his blood... THANKFULY, it was the blood.

Roman mosaic with Ampelos and Bacchus.

2. Midas (Μίδας):

"But Nysus, everybody knows Midas" yes yes, but do you KNOW the actual Greek myths? Or do you know the later, VERY later-on version that appears in Wikipedia? Midas never turned his daughter into gold in the folklore, for example.

Midas was a foreign king who married a greek woman, he was the king of Phrygia, and according to Pausanias, he had a daughter named Zoe. I have absolutely nothing about her except this.

Anyways, going to the important part: Silenus, a companion of Dionysus who used to be one of his foster fathers, got lost while he was... Kind of drunk ( come on, Dionysus can't keep an eye on everyone 24/7 ). Some peasants found him and took him to King Midas, who, as a very loyal follower of Dionysus, recognized Silenus and took care of him. When Dionysus arrived in order to take him back, he thanked Midas and said he would give him in return anything that he wished for... And here it comes: Midas wished to be able to turn everything that he touched to gold, and Dionysus agreed, even though he felt sorry he hadn't thought of it twice.

Midas was happy turning stuff into gold, obviously. But when he touched food and it turned into gold as well and he was unable to eat, he returned to Dionysus asking him to turn it back to normal.

Surprisingly, Dionysus didn't say "no" or "live with the consequences"; he told him to wash himself in the river Pactolus, and, good enough, the gold thingy dissappeared.

I don't have this myth fully narrated by a Greek, instead, from a latin author. The good thing tho, thanks to Herodotus and Pausanias, i know it's realiable.

Monument dedicated to Midas, in the old Prhygia ( now part of Turkey )

3. The Minyades (Μινυάδες):

According to Plutarch, king Minyas had three daughters ( whose names i honestly don't know, they appear in Ovid's Metamorphosis ). He tells that Dionysus appeared in the form of a maiden to invite them to the Dionysian Mysteries, since the rest of the women had already gone there. And they declined, politely, but still declined. This is one of those moments in which we see Dionysus' weak points, no justified anger. They neglected the cult, but had nothing against it anyways.

Still, for him, that wasn't enough.

He drove them mad, like very. Something that for Plutarch was even worse than death, apparently. They even killed their own children and ate them (yikes) dismembering them like Dionysus was once dismembered. The sisters were wandering around the mountains, without Dionysus caring at all.

Until finally, Hermes took pity on them, and turned them into bats, freeing them from the madness.

One of the Minyades showing the dismembered body of her son - Étienne-Barthélémy Garnier

4. Zeus' lighting bolts

This one is short, so i'll get to the point.

We all know what Nonnus' was up to when writing about Dionysus. He said in his work that Zeus recognized him (when being Zagreus) as his heir. Since when he was still a little kid, he was able to climb to his throne and to hold Zeus' lightning bolts. Of course, then the very well-known myth of Hera calling the titants to dismember Dionysus arrives here, since she wanted no heir to the throne.

Things happen, you know.

5. Lykurgos (Λυκοῦργος):

Remember when i talked about this guy in the anger essay? Wellp, here he is again, it's the same, but i'll elaborate on him a bit more.

He was a thracian king, and when he heard that Dionysus was going to Thracia, he ordered to trap all of his female followers in a prison.

Yes, only the women. I guess no men followed Dionysus in Thracia during his reign, not like i can ask him about it.

OF COURSE Pentheus 2.0 would imprison the FOLLOWERS of the god of MADNESS. Of course...

Dionysus got angry ( what a surprise ) and sent a drought towards Thracia + making Lykurgos go mad. It's not Dionysus if he doesn't punish you by making you go mad.

He then proceed to tell the people that the only way to stop that punishment was by killing Lykurgos, and, well, they did. They all killed him, and were freed from the punishment.

Dionysus then stopped the drought, he kept his word, indeed.

Lykurgos attacking his own wife after being induced into madness

6. The punishment of the titans

You think they got away? No, the fuck, of course they didn't.

After Zeus' found out what had happened to Dionysus (Zagreus), he imprisoned them in Tartatus, which caused Gaia to be all sad again, since many of her children had already been imprisoned there. What she did was, as scary as Gaia has always been, burning down everything she could.

The only way Zeus could take pity on her in order to stop that, was by sending a flood.

7. Coresus (Κόρησος):

Callirhoe was a Calydonian woman who scorned Coresus, a priest of Dionysus, who threatened to afflict all the women of Calydon with insanity as the good Dionysus priest he was.

The way to stop this was with a sacrifice, to kill the woman who scorned him. Coresus was ordered to sacrifice her, but he killed himself instead since apparently, he was in love with her and couldn't do it.

Callirhoe was overcome with remorse, and cut her throat at a spring that later received her name.

As always.

Coresus sacrificing himself to save Callirhoe - Jean-Honoré Fragonard

8. The Frogs (Βάτραχοι):

At this point, this isn't lesser-known anymore, and i'm not the biggest fan of Aristophanes' work (i love Euripides way too much, oops) but i'll still summarize what Dionysus has to do with this play.

Dionysus, as the god of theatre he is, wanted to bring back to life one of the great tragedy authors. And he descends to Hades for that, it's a way to mock his connection with it, this is still a comedy.

And after a poetry slam, Aeschylus is chosen in preference to Euripides. Smh, fucking Aristophanes, way to put your preferences.

9. Orpheus' death:

I'm not gonna elaborate on this one THAT much, since i wanna save it for the Apollo & Dionysus essay i have unfinished, which was the second most voted one and it might take more time to finish it.

In any case, do you know all these modern retellings in which they paint Dionysus as the "chill, calm, who only wants to party" dude? And Apollo as the "feral, envious, angry" dude? Well, ya'll are wrong...

Dionysus killed Orpheus due to his jealousy of Apollo's worship. I'm leaving you with this sentence, wait for the other essay to know why Dionysus and Apollo are so complex in terms of feelings. Or, at least, i will try to elaborate on it.

Apollo welcoming Dionysus to the sanctuary of Delphi, which they shared.

10. Dionysus IS physically incapable of getting drunk, live with it:

SHOCK i know. So if i see any of ya'll saying he's drunk 24/7, you better have your testament written.

NONNUS OF PANOPOLIS. DIONYSIACA. LITERAL TEXT: "Only to Dionysus gave Rhea the amethyst that saves the drinker from the chains of madness."

Yes, obviously going for scientifict facts, this doesn't work. It was believed in this world that the amethyst would prevent people from getting drunk. But this is mythology, Dionysus is a god, he can't get drunk even if he wanted to. And it's not like he should, he needs to keep an eye on his followers 24/7. Or do we want to remember what happened to Silenus?

Dude, how the hell do i have to tell you all, that in all text in which people were drinking for honoring Dionysus, they always stopped saying "he wouldn't like to see us this way" HE DOESN'T WANT YA'LL DO GET DRUNK. THAT'S NOT HOW HIS MADNESS WORKED

No. The women in the Bacchae are not ✨girlboss slaaaaay✨ they were feral women. The madness Dionysus used to punish Pentheus and the Theban women is NOT something you should idealize. Euripides didn't want ya'll to call him an icon because "omg the Bacchae is so progresive" GUYS... NO. IT'S NOT ABOUT THAT. It's about showing Dionysus' wrath. Of showing why like with any other god, he's feared.

The Greek gods are not your free playground OC's. You can't invent their sexualities or gender identities just for yourself. They're important figures of a culture and country that still lives. If you want an icon to feel identify with, create one. But don't go around there saying Dionysus is genderfluid JUST because you like seeing him young. No.

I know, personally, genderfluid people, and all of them agree THIS is wrong. I already had the whole pronouns drama with Dionysus, don't start over again with this. Please.

* AHEM * In any case... Hope you enjoyed !

I needed to work A LOT for this essay, since most of these myths weren't listed with sources. Whenever you wanna write a guide about folkore or anything similar, please, list your sources ! i don't want anyone else to go through the pain of needing to research though the catacombs of information JUST to confirm one sentence. Because i went trhough that, there's a reason why i've been researching about Dionysus for more than three years already and i still don't have everything. Thanks for your support and essay requests as always, it makes me INCREDIBLY happy to see so many of you willing to learn about a figure that has been so underappreciated and reduced into nothing like Dionysus, and who is still being misinterpreted to this day.

As always, reblogs would be very appreciated, it's the way people can find my blog for something else than copypaste incorrect quotes, and i always appreciate that kind of support. Of course i do this "por amor al arte" as i would say in Spanish, but still takes time and effort and i'm just a university student. I still will need A LOT of time to be able to work into something more accesible to everyone for the Greek folklore.

For now, this small Tumblr pieces is what i can give. But as always, thank you and χαίρε Διό��υσον 🍇

[autisticdiluc]

yandere simulator ramble (mostly ab ayano)

see my thing is with yandere sim obviously there are a bunch of problems from alex himself being the developer, the panty shots in the game (because even tho it's used as blackmail with info-chan and sold to those who want it or wtv there could be a way easier way to blackmail the girls for points), the depiction that the bullies are gyaru giving the impression most gyaru's are mean/bullies, the fact that oh everyone is 18 even though they clearly arent?? amongst other things

yet even then there's something still addicting about the game especially with ayano being a yandere, or to consider: someone with obsessive love disorder (the highest 'level' or intensity of this). even then, although obviously everyone in the aishi family just has to be a yandere, it was gonna be obvious that ayano was gonna be one too right?

First Part: Emotions

ryoba fed into the mindset that ayano needed that special someone to be complete so she could finally feel something and she's 'reassuring' ayano that she, ryoba, was the same way when she was younger as well until she found jokichi. ayano, as a child, knew something was wrong with her. there is no doubt that something continues to be wrong with her especially after her own mother teaches her to get rid of blood to use it later to "get rid of future obstacles." Obstacles which refer to the rivals; rivals who are just girls that have a crush on taro (minus muja kina and mida rana because theyre just creeps i fear). even so ryoba's words lingered in ayano's mind. that was ayano's reason to live - something to look for. which btw is kinda fucked up cause she's a child thinking this but also fair anyway,,

Jokichi has attempted to make ayano's life better. he has tried to be a good father; he has tried to be the best that he can be in order to make his daughter feel normal. but with how ayano is - how she is broken from the start - it was impossible. it didn't help that ryoba encouraged the behaviour almost, saying she was exactly the same as ayano AND how she wasn't worried at all. jokichi didn't like that but ayano is nothing but an empty girl. however, what i find interesting is that she felt pity for her father. despite everything she felt pity, and that!! is an emotion!! why i find this interesting is how she can feel something for someone else but not for herself. as a result of her pity, she began to act like other children pretending to be normal and happy for jokichi, despite how she knew that he didnt really believe her happiness himself.

and then!! ayano began to pretend all the time. to stop the bullying, to fit in with everyone because it was simply more convenient even if ayano didn't really care if it happened or not. she had friends (though she didnt care about them) and she had a routine established by pretending all the time. she grew resentful of being 'broken'. as funny as that is because she was supposed to broken, yet, she felt emotions to a mild degree. resentment (some might also say bitterness) is like more complex emotion rather than your typical joy sadness etc but it's still an emotion. and ayano WANTS to feel and have emotions anyway. she craves it, ayano longs to feel, its almost painful itself because she can't experience it to a high degree. HOWEVER!!!!!!!!!! as small as it is she's felt emotion: she's felt pity and bitterness and she wants and wants and thats so interesting. what's even more interesting is her length to have emotions. in her lore video, she is seen killing a cat to see if she felt something like guilty or remorse but nothing happened. this is where it (chronologcally) is seen that ayano is willing to do extreme things to see if she could feel something, so it's not a surprise when she's willing to kill her 'rivals' to keep taro.

now ayano is described as someone who has no personality, no hobbies, no true friends, nothing, just an empty husk of a person. however, when she meets taro that changes drastically. she has clearer and obvious emotions; she finally has the feelings she always wanted. although, i believe that she wouldn't react to having feelings the best especially after finding osana talking to taro etc etc. if you lived your entire life having no emotions (not any major or obvious ones anyway) until you find your someone (someone who you've been dreaming of, waiting for, needing) and all the emotions finally comes crashing down all at once,, don't you think you'd be more than a bit overwhelmed? she's been missing out on all the sensations people had since birth. she's always felt incomplete and then all of a sudden she meets taro and it fits like a missing puzzle piece finally being placed down. it was clear that taro made her feel happy, wanting love and all positive emotions. although, now that she has emotions: she's going to have to experience the 'bad' ones too. she'll experience anger, annoyance, fear, anxiety, jealousy, desperation, envy, hatred etc etc.

as soon as she sees osana talk to taro yeah you can tell she feels all the negative emotions all at once. she finally has emotions, she finally can experience what everyone else takes for granted, but osana comes in and threatens her. osana talks to taro, has a crush on him, and that sends a spike of fear and anger through ayano because ayano should not be stripped away of her newly found emotions. she needs the emotions. and as a result she needs taro because he is the one allowing her to feel this way. she's in love with the emotions. it's not love that she has for taro, not really, but she is obsessed. she has the overwhelming obsessive desire to protect and possess taro (which is literally the description of obsessive love disorder). she needs taro like how she needs air now that she's met him.

as i said like 3 paragraphs above she's going to be overwhelmed, like it or not, and whenever people are overwhelmed they tend to take an unnecessarily drastic and extreme path because when you're overwhelmed you aren't in the best mindset. ayano is still a human even if she was "broken" before. she makes mistakes and she's going to be overwhelmed by her emotions for a while especially because she feels like she's is almost dead when she's not near taro. taro is a trigger for her essentially. when he's near, the overwhelming feelings all come back. she felt dead before, now she doesn't and these feelings repeat over and over every time she's away from taro and when she goes near him again.

on another note, although ayano "has" taro currently, (in the sense she knows where he is, he's just in her reach and he's so close to being hers; the only thing stopping that is that he doesn't know completely acknowledges her, AND there are her 'rivals') she still feels broken and incomplete when not near him as mentioned. yet, this incomplete feeling hurts MORE because she knows who her someone is. im going to bring up the fact that ryoba and jokichi went to the states for a 'vacation' (to kill the journalist) without warning. i find it interesting because ayano is most likely to experience negative emotions more intensely than before. taro has brought the emotions to light so i believe she still feels them when she's not near him but it's so mild that it's barely there. despite that, there is no doubt that negative emotions are easier to feel. ayano was shown to be angry that osana has a crush on taro (and she wasn't near taro at the time) after finding out from info chan in the opening cutscene,, in fact she was at home meaning she was not close to taro at all. as i mentioned before though taro is almost like a trigger so its most likely just that. but even then the intensity of negative emotions she could feel may be easier to give into. so.... going with an idea that they are easier to give into, it's easier to feel even when not around taro. i believe the feeling of loneliness is something that is practically overtaking ayano's very mind.

ayano has always been lonely, before she met taro and after. she's been lonely in the sense that she never had been able to connect with her peers on a genuine note. lonely in the sense that jokichi only worried about her wanting her to be normal and ryoba was the opposite, not worrying at all. lonely in the sense she always felt incomplete, lonely cause she knew she wasnt normal, lonely because she needed to be fixed, lonely because nobody other than her mother and all those who suffered from the "aishi conditon" would understand her. and even though those with the "aishi condition" would understand, most have already found their someone (or killed themselves, some have been hypothesized to live even without their special someone, yet, theres no canon proof of that i think) so they werent "broken" anymore. and speaking of the those finding their someone it is highly likely that ryoba devoted more of her time to jokichi than she did to ayano. the reason i believe this is because although ryoba has jokichi, she needs him to love her as well. gonna leave it there because i can make a whole different ramble on that alone but!!! ryoba and jokichi are away in the states currently. so if ayano did feel lonely before, she's going to feel lonely in that empty house. a house too big with your own thoughts, own freedom and doing whatever the hell you want. ryoba actively encouraged ayano to do whatever she needed to do to get rid of the 'obstacles' in her life if she found her special someone. its no surprise with the eliminations you can do one of them is torturing your rivals (or even just mind breaking a random student). (On a side note Japanese houses don't typically have built in basements so ryoba had to literally custom add that)

anyway I bring forth another thing: neglect. however I'm going to go into detail with this with the second part: OLD

Second Part: Obsessive Love Disorder

Obsessive Love Disorder is something that Ayano has. Obsessive Love Disorder as said earlier is a disorder where a person feels obsessive over another person and feels the need to protect them. this isn't really looked at as an 'actual' disorder to psychologist but i couldn't give two bare fucks about that. let's break it down with SOME of the symptoms of OLD:

overwhelming attention to someone

obsessive thoughts

feeling the need to protect the person you're in love with

possessive thoughts and actions

extreme jealousy over interpersonal relationships

low self-esteem

may not take rejection lightly/easily

ignoring personal boundaries

overly controlling

being overwhelmed with emotions about a person that is disrupts your daily function

threatening the other if they leave

monitoring the others actions

blurring or crossing boundaries

anxiety

inability to tolerate time away

most if not all of these things can be easily associated to ayano's behavior. ayano stalks taro, occasionally fantasizes that he kidnaps her, dislikes all the girls who try and talk to taro, wants him all to herself, feels dead when he's not near, follows him home so she can spend more time 'protecting' him, cannot see a life without him (evidenced by 'snap' ending as when she kills him, she kills herself not long after), her first interaction with him shows her finally feeling emotions and as i said she's going to feel overwhelmed with them, anger and anxiety that a 'rival' may be able to take taro away from her, based on ryoba where she tortured jokichi i doubt that ayano would take lightly is taro tried to leave her, finally rejection results in quite literally being heartbroken AND snap so it's obviously not taken easily nor lightly etc etc

anyway!! those are some examples that relate to the symptoms now here are two of the many causes.

some of y'all (if anyone reads this actually but the group council in my head will suffice) may not like this one but number 1 is neglect.

neglect is one of those things that can be in several forms. the more common forms would be emotional neglect (AND!! physical neglect), e.g. not telling your child you're leaving to go away to take care of some 'business' until you're already gone. (even worse when the business is to kill a man but yk). with this neglect you're emotionally unavailable (and in this case also physically). to understand better emotional neglect it is when a child does not receive the stimulation and nurturing they need. ayano has not received stimulation or the necessary nurturing from ryoba because ryoba fully heartedly believes that all ayano needs is that special someone. in a sense, she is right but she was actively neglecting ayano by not helping her instead just repeating that someone will come to complete and fix her. (it must be remembered that not all neglect is intentional, but it happens anyway) as said in the example it can also be physical neglect as ryoba left a teen all by herself in a house whilst indirectly promoting the use of the basement through vague post cards and childhood lessons.

(And yes! Encouraging negative behavior is neglect because you do not care what happens to those around you!)

another form of neglect that ayano experienced was medical neglect. this form of neglect isn't as obvious but can be picked up in ayano's lore video. at the very beginning, it is stated that her first memories are that of hospitals, doctors and everything medical wise. this was most definitely jokichi's work as the best ryoba has stated on the matter was how they were similar and how ayano will find her someone to complete her. now later (but before ayano pretends) the hospital etc weren't mentioned again. it can be thought and implied that ryoba decided it was a waste to focus medically on ayano because she'll simply find her someone to cure her later. this can be thought out to be medical neglect because there could've been a small chance if ayano kept doing, if she visited more happy places there's a possibility something could've changed. even then this neglect isn't so obvious so it's easy to ignore. to add on though teaching your child how to clean up blood for not so good reasons is encouraging negative behavior and could be a contribution to her messed up mindset.

another reason would be delusional jealousy. this is inhibited by an instance or things that are false. this delusional jealousy can also make one believe someone is in love with them even if there are obvious signs that is not the case.

okay for this reason I believe the delusion itself is fostered by the fact that ayano needs taro so she believes he must need her. it's a common mindset even without OLD that if someone needs something, others must need it too making possessiveness and jealousy to form. because the game isn't complete and is likely not going to be complete in the next decade, it's hard to tell if taro would actually like ayano as a genuine person. (and I would say that it's kind of obvious that he doesn't but in game taro is a pussy? if you even stand near him for more than 5 seconds he's like "oh she's strange" "stay back get away from me!!" even when ayano isn't doing anything?? like in game I wouldn't be close enough where the pink love thing pops up and taro would still be like "get away from me!!!") but if ayano hypothetically talked to him like all of her rivals, then taro would maybe like her.

once again these two are not the only ones that can be associated with ayano but these are the only ones I wanted to discuss.

anyway ending this section to go to the next important one!! drumroll... Pacifist vs Murderer

Third Part: The Endings

this is the third part of my rant that consists of pacifist ayano vs murderer ayano which could be "Good Ending" Ayano and "Bad Ending" Ayano.

starting off with something a good bunch of yan sim fans don't actually agree on is that pacifist ayano is a completely different person than murderer ayano.

and you might be thinking "wrap it up luca,, pacifist is different than a murderer no shit"

but really it's more than that. pacifist ayano is different because she actually truly expresses her emotions when she's a pacifist. even if you gossip about the rivals or expell them where they don't show up to school anymore, ayano can be seen as a person who expresses her emotions because she's so much more than a murderer. this is even more vividly seen if you befriend the rivals. once again this is based off the two rivals that are out, osana and amai. if you decide to befriend osana and she comes to your house in the morning, there is the infamous talk where osana talks about her stalker and how she can't believe that someone could fall in love without knowing them. this, to ayano and the player itself, can be associated with ayano herself especially considering how she 'loves' taro without knowing him and has stalked him. now when ayano decides not to betray osana, giving her normal tea, it can be seen how desperate ayano is to keep taro without actually harming osana. osana may like taro, but ayano needs him. the desperation expressed through the befriend route shows the most human ayano ever. this desperation and longing for taro is carried through the same befriending route with amai (although her conversation involves jabs at having a "rival" and "eliminating" them).

the most human and realest part of ayano is when she befriends the rivals and begs them not to confess to taro. (if it isn't obvious I love the pacifist ending because I like the raw desperation and human form of ayano compared to the murderer route)

in contrast to pacifist ayano, when ayano murders the rivals, her sanity obviously decreases. unlike in game where you can giggle or go near taro to increase your sanity, it's not that easy irl.

keep in mind if ayano doesn't increase her sanity and it goes below 20% then ayano starts hallucinating and murdering those around her. even if ayano could realistically easily increase her sanity after killing a rival that is to show that ayano will only be a murderer (something the headmaster and megami saikou thinks her to be). if ayano were kill and regain her sanity quickly she is as broken as people think her to be. she is truly nothing but an empty husk who follows her mother. she may have emotions but she isn't someone you can love. she isn't someone who can be seen as a human. like ryoba, ayano would most likely follow the path that ryoba led where ayano simply kidnaps taro at the end torturing him and making him her husband. as said earlier, negative emotions are easier to form so it would be easy to give in to the pestering intrusive thoughts to kill her rivals. it's the quickest way out and it's the true emotionless thing most want her to be. being violent seems to be the easiest way out and most often people take that route, however, in the very end ayano simply follows her mother's path of decay and destruction. murderer ayano is easier to conform, though, is that the real ayano? is she someone who can't be proven not to be broken? another thing is that if ayano does go this route and she doesn't get caught, all she ends up doing is create a cycle. she continues down the path that ryoba had laid out for her since the beginning. (which honestly is the lousiest route and ending to take because people just loveee the trope of repeating the cycle)

personally I don't care much for the murderer ending but I will admit it is interesting to see how ayano spirals and ultimately decides to kill off every single one of her rivals.

the next two endings are going to be briefly the genocide ending and "snap" ending.

genocide ending is simply the ending where ayano is a murderer but instead of just applying that to just her rivals she does it to the entire school minus taro. it's the 'darkest' ending depending on how you look at it because it proves that ayano couldn't stand anyone else coming between her and taro. she needed taro all to herself and she did just that by killing every single person in the school all in the first day of the week (minus the headmaster, taro, infochan and the guidance counsellor). in this ending you can tell that ayano's sanity is completely gone by the way she says "so..i killed them all" in the cutscene that plays. ayano says it in such a manic and inhuman way its obvious that she doesn't regret it now that she can have taro all for herself. at the very end of the cutscene it pans to taro being in the basement tied up. this is where its clear that ayano follows ryoba completely (if not surpassing her in terms of violent nature and sense due to how she killed every one instead of just her rivals) to keep taro as her senpai.

and finally, snap ending. Snap ending is by far the most interesting one in terms of endings. Before ayano kills taro with the knife, when she walks to every student she kills them with her bare hands. in this ending I believe that she's more "broken" than her other endings. she's given up on this world and she's willing to take out others who get in her way (literally). the others are so terrified to the point where they can't even move, they just watch until it's their turn. ayano feels nothing but heartbreak and there's no other option but to kill taro then herself. even before she kills herself with the same knife she used to stab him, the insistence of voices saying "do it" continue to loop giving her no other option but to join taro. this ending is so interesting because it shows how ayano physically cannot live without taro and how she's willing to make sure that nobody else has him. another thing interesting about it is the trope of "if you die, I die". this trope is placed into things like Romeo and Juliet where Juliet pretends to die and Romeo kills himself to "join" her. when Juliet wakes up and finds Romeo dead she soon follows killing herself actually to join him.

anyway I think I'll stop for now cause I've been at this for hours LOL

The End (for now..)

idk I like yan sim a lot and I love ayano's character (I doubt yandere dev was smart enough to do it on purpose but whatever.) Ayano is literally my girl and I love her so much ❤️❤️ ayano is just a girl she can do many wrongs and ill support her anyway

[conchaceptive]

the theory that lady ito is mizu's biological mother isn't TOO crazy...

- she DOES look like mizu

- mizu is perfect in all of our eyes but it's acknowledged that lady ito does sick evil shit. and mizu like kills people and stuff but what if the urge for violence is genetic

mizu has every right to kill people but lady ito is just twisted. i hope we see more of her character ( i dont think many people are talking about it ) and im pretty damn sure we will, seeing as she plays a big role behind the shogunate.

and let me not say just twisted, cos there are reasons why people dont act right. i wanna see what made HER fucked up. if i could pity fowler for his famine story i sure as hell could sympathize with lady ito should we get the chance to know of her earlier years in s2 or the next coming seasons ( tho it would make sense for s2 seeing as akemi's gonna be doing bosslady stuff. lady ito is gonna be in vry close proximity to akemi ).

in one of the posts about this theory, someone said that she could have had that maid take care of mizu so that she can save face... but if you think about it. she also had wanted mizu to LIVE. if it turns out to be true it'd be so. GOOD cos it'd further present how women get so hurt and fucked up by men and a male-led society, and in different ways. there's so many ways to get angry and so many ways to be angry but it's so fucking simple cos it comes down to one thing and that's how men are not shit. we've seen the angry daughter and i love it and you love it. but we'd be fed so fucking goooooodddd if they gave us a strict mother. cos every strict mother has been an angry daughter. if it turns out to be true, i want to see what made lady ito fucking angry.

yadayada all those prosy textposts on this websites about the complexity of mothers and daughters and mothers and daughters and HOW and WHAT and WHY mothers and daughters that break my heart stupid. but bes stans need to open their eyes and open their mouths so they can let ladyitoisactuallymizu'smom truthers COOOOK .

or i may be on a real ass note like delusional

but do you see my vision

[eliziarts]

It really gets me how you can't say shit about Helluva Boss (or Hazbin Hotel for that matter) to actually critique without fans getting buthurt, and the only people agreeing with you people who just hate Vivzipop (for the record i dont lol). But here are my gripes that I wish people were actually talking about (btw I really *want* to love Helluva Boss and none of this is mean-spirited, just things I've noticed that I wish the team would fix, or I believe are beyond fixing):

1. The very confused tone. I know a lot of people deflect any criticism from the show by saying 'oh but it's a comedy you shouldn't take it too seriously'. Here's the thing- it's literally taking itself too seriously. There's a balance that a show can have between dark elements and humor, but Helluva Boss consistently tries to tackle very, VERY heavy subjects. This combined with the Brandon Rodgers-essque d!ck joke comedy doesn't.. work. At least not in the way they're attempting. I think the most egregious example of this is the scene in the latest episode when Moxie's dad is literally threatening to kill him if he doesn't follow through with an arranged marriage... immeadiatly followed by Moxie walking though a hall of wall d!ldos. It kind of says, 'hey, we were taking this really seriously 2 seconds ago, but jk actually now you should laugh!'

Juxtaposition doesn't work if it actively confuses its audience on what to feel. I'm not sure how much influence Vivzie and Brandon have on the outcome of the show vs the rest of the writing team, but it seems like Brandon's humor and Vivzie's tendency to write melodramatic soap opera scenes just aren't really meshing together quite right. I wish it had more similar pacing and tone shifts that HH had, because it felt more sudden in a purposeful way, rather than 'we're too lazy to find a good transition between these two scenes.'

2. Why does Vivziepop never write interesting female characters? I know this is talked about a bit more, but it's growing increasingly prevalent in Helluva Boss. We still haven't gotten an episode focused on any of the female leads that's actually about *them*.

Millie is practically nonexistent without her relationship to Moxie. Even the episode where we meet her family, it doesn't give us any insight about her. Every time she goes feral(tm) it's either to save her husband or it's part of a group fight. The only backstory we got for Loona was there to service Blitzo's character, and show us *his* reaction. The only things we've seen with Octavia were put there to help us learn more about Stolas. Even in the scene where they only had Loona and Octavia on the screen, it didn't feel like it was about them at all. It didn't feel like the scene existed to show us them bonding about their shitty dads. It felt like the scene was there to once again ask the audience to give Blitzo and Stolas pity points. Which- brings me to my next problem.

3. Its justifications of abuse. I know they're in hell. Most of them should be shitty people, and they are! But I wish the story would stop trying to pretend they're not. Helluva Boss keeps doing this thing where it draws a line between 'good' abuse and 'bad' abuse. And this kind of completely changed Stolas and Blitzo's relationship. Ik some people may like this change but I personally don't.

Earlier on, we were made to believe Stolas kind of fucked up by cheating on his wife. Not only did this affect Stella (tho ofc we later learn it's due to image reasons) but his daughter as well. It's just generally an uncomfortable and tricky situation. And I liked it! It was interesting and had levels of nuance. However, now that we know that he was basically being abused by Stella this entire time, and met Blitzo when they were kids (which is a WHOLE OTHER UNCOMFORTABLE CAN OF WORMS LMAO) the audience no longer feels like Stolas did anything wrong. Now his actions feel justified.

As much as I loved his confrontational scene with Stella the first time I watched it, as I know many people did, I also know that it kind of ruined any sense of nuance that whole situation had. Now, Stolas suddenly has been absolved from any previously implied mistakes. And, Stella is portrayed as this 1 dimensional cruel monster.

Which brings me to the point of abuse in this show. It's a very prevalent theme, and it's a heavy one for a show branded as a sit-com to portray (hard, but not impossible). But it fails on the end that it doesn't stay consistent in its condemnation of it. Every time a character does something 'bad', as soon as we find out there is a reason for this bad behavior, the show suddenly makes it seem like we should feel bad for them and that their actions are justified because they're a broken person. See: the narrative around Stolas' affair suddenly being changed as soon as we find out he was being abused by Stella.

Inconsistent emotional consequences in writing is lazy for sure. But the real problem is when it gets to the abuse side of things, it can actually become harmful. It's implied that Blitzo had an emotionally abusive relationship with Verosika. But ohh we know he had a fucked up childhood and has fear of forming emotional bonds so! Geuss it's okay! But when it comes to Stella, she's just downright mean, 1 dimensional, and literally says she's doing things for no reason other than to make Stolas suffer.

It's important to note that every single time a character gets a *reason* for their assholery, it becomes a *justification* in the way the show frames it. But whenever a character doesn't have a reason for being as asshole, like Stella (at least not one that's shown), that's where the show then draws the line.

This is harmful! Hate to break it to you but the bulk of abusive people out there were abused themselves. They have multitudes of reasons for why they are the way they are. But that doesn't excuse their actions! And I really hate that this is the standard of framing Helluva Boss has set up for their show because now, no matter how bad a character's actions are, they can slap on a sad backstory and suddenly make that character a sympathetic one.

Yeah but anyways idk. If you read all of that I thank you for taking ur time to listen to my 2 cents. The last episode I really enjoyed was the Ozzie's one and I'm just kinda bummed at a lot of this stuff I mentioned.

[bigbumder96]

account introduction thing!!!??

ngl i feel a bit goofy doing this🙁

general:

name: darcie

age: im a minor😭

gender: girl (she/her :3 )

sexuality: lesbian

from/live in: england unfortunately😣 east london specifically, or essex depending on if u focus on the postcode or the london borough😭 officially its east london tho

interests:

tv shows:

- the inbetweeners

- white gold

- station 19 (still have to catch up on the latest episode lmao

- 9-1-1 (also still have to catch up one episode😭)

- fresh meat

- ted lasso

- heartbreak high (both the old version and the reboot !!! i dont prefer one over the other, although i do tend to post about the 90s one more lmaooo)

- friday night dinner

- this country

- call the midwife

- ackley bridge

- baby reindeer (i wouldnt exactly call it an interest, this show fucking traumatised me, but i watched it like last week😭)

- phoenix rise

- moment of eighteen (a k-drama btw!!)

- move to heaven (also a k-drama!!)

- there she goes

- benidorm

- skins (only gen 2 tho im afraid😞)

- the inBESTigators (dont judge lmfao😭😭😭)

- little lunch (i cant theyre js both such good shows)

- dodo (a cartoon)

- taskmaster (only season eight tho for the icon joe thomas‼️)

- mr bigstuff

- supacell

im currently watching derry girls and jamie johnson atm !!

films:

- the shawshank redemption

- the green mile

- goodbye charlie bright (my absolute fav omg)

- the business

- the football factory (theyre making the sequel to this at my school im so happy i love nick love films😍i didnt see nick love himself tho💔)

- good will hunting

- bohemian rhapsody

- dead mans shoes

- ferris buellers day off

- harry brown

- little miss sunshine

- the inbetweeners movie

- the inbetweeners 2

- white chicks

- the basketball diaries

- mid90s

- spiderman: into the spider-verse

- spiderman: across the spider-verse

music:

- alex g (fav song: too many to put here, but if i had to pick then prolly the whole race, trick, and rules album, as well as hope (the song) and bobby (also the song)😭)

- tv girl (fav song: better in the dark, louise, and daughter of a cop)

- the fratellis (fav song: for the girl)

- the killers (fav song: read my mind and andy youre a star)

- the smiths (fav song: girl afraid, bigmouth strikes again, and this night has opened my eyes. guys i swr i liked them songs before they got popular im acc rly annoyed at the tiktofication of bigmouth strikes again and this night has opened my eyes😣)

- queen (fav song: spread your wings and long away)

- the stone roses (fav song: i wanna be adored and made of stone. basic i know😣😣)

my ALL-TIME FAV - the jam (fav song: when youre young, eton rifles, pity poor alfie / strangle, david watts)

- oasis (live forever. icba to type ‘fav song’ anymore😭)

- mitski (why didnt you stop me, goodbye my danish sweetheart, me and my husband, your best american girl, once more to see you, etcetera…)

extras:

- im into football and i am a big arsenal fan !!!! my fav player is def martin ødegaard, and i may or may not be one of those deluded emile smith-rowe fans who think that hes gonna have a huge comeback and be like he was two seasons ago🤫🤫🤫

(edit: im gonna kms he left arsenal🙁)

i also support england as a country (obviously) plus a tad bit of dagenham amd redbridge, because they are my local ! (before you call me a glory hunter, ive supported arsenal since i was 3 because thats what my mum and grandparents support!!! also its a bit hard to support your local when not all the games are televised and you cant afford a season ticket, not to mention i had no clue who dagenham and redbridge were when i was choosing a football team, because i had no clue how leagues worked and i didnt gaf about football tbh💀)

- i like webtoons! my fav is jacksons diary, our walk home, and crystal city killers😱 (please does anyone have any cute wlw webtoon recs im so desperate)

- in year seven my drama teacher made us watch a play (on the screen, not irl) called slowtime but we didnt get to finish it💔my teacher spoiled the ending but i didnt care and tracked down the rest of that video bcs slowtime is such a good play i love everything abt it😍

- last year i was obsessed with this book series called football academy (written by tom palmer) and it was genuinely so good but there was nobody myp age cuz it was for kids💔i dont rly read them anymore, but the interest is still there if someone by chance has read them please contact me and have a conversation with me about it🙏🙏🙏

- i also have a very obscure interest about london boroughs??? like i dont even know a lot about them, i just love talking about/watching videos about london boroughs... i blame the lb guy on tiktok

i apologise as this was very long, and i probably wont even post that much😭 sorry for the yapping tho🙏🙏🙏

[acaciapines]

susie DOES have complicated family issues in canon! it mightve been a while since you replayed chapter one but it's heavily implied that susie has neglectful parents and that the king of spades acts just like them.

oh yeah i know! her bio-parents are for sure still around lol, i've just not solidified my ideas for them yet. the way i'm thinking about writing her as of now (with the caveat that none of this is set in stone yet lol and in the very likely event that chapters 3 + 4 drop while im writing this i might change things up even more) is that she has at least one living biological parent...probably her father bc of spade king lol. but she was removed from his custody and placed into the foster system until he cleans up his act, but like, its implied he probably wont do that and would rather just Not deal with his daughter. (she was 100% neglected but i'll need to do a lot more researching and thinking before i fully have an idea as to what this life looked like)

so susie bounces around foster homes (for a time goes to the same middle school as kris! tho idk if this is before or after she's placed in foster care lol, even with her dad im sure they also tended to move around a lot, and i think its real fun if the one part of her life where things were good was with her dad, and so she hates that she was removed right when things were okay and she actually had a friend), and ends up in hometown as alphys's foster kid. i was thinking about the reasons WHY alyphs is fostering maybe having something to do with the amagamates, like, whatever that was in this universe leading alphys to wanting to get into fostering? but again. not solidified.

basically i think it would be a really interesting relationship....susie Does Not Ever see alphys as a mom lol, and for a long time they actually are very much Not public about this in school for. i think obvious reasons. its only revealed because noelle finds out from toriel (not on purpose toriel probably just accidentally said something and noelle put the pieces together) which im sure leads to drama between the two of them + ralsei, but!! the entire idea here is that a lot of this story deals with parental relationships, and what it means to like, be a parent. pretty much all the major parental players here didnt really 100% choose to have a kid, and they all react to that in very different ways.

so like, for susie's dad, it would be not only did he not choose to be a parent, he like, fully did not even bother to step up in even a small way. he just Sucked. but he's still susie's dad and i dont think she likes people pitying her, so she doesnt really like alphys and would rather get out of foster care and back to her dad even if he Sucks. but then contrasted against him we do have alphys who tries, and probably even dess but this is Not a post about dess i wont get into dess here.

but!! these are all very messy and half-formed ideas right now. for all i talk about this au i literally will not even start writing it for A While so a lot of my ideas are in that nebulous 'anything could change' stage.

[mr-independent]

What time is it y'all? That's right! It's time for me to procrastinate moving house by doing more rewatch notes. I dedicate this to the 4 of you who have been liking every single one of these posts almost immediately after they're up. Love y'all ❤️

Without further Ado: EP 9 - the introduction of Roy 'The Grouch' Kent, aka the '~ooooo Rebecca's in trooouuuble~' episode

-- Roy is literally Oscar the Grouch and i love it. Obviously in this metaphor Ted is Elmo and Dani is Abby or Rosita? No i will not be taking any questions.

-- Ted literally seeing Roy beating himself up and saying to himself 'Kent can self correct, no need to add to the pity party' and honestly yeah that's the best way to go about it. Trust your players to trust themselves (i think they say this outright later? That Ted sees the players like his kids bc he can't direct them during the match, just teach them in training and hope they learned to make the right decisions on the pitch)

-- little girls are mysterious silly and powerful, that's exactly right.

-- ah yes the No Secrets Are Secret kit room. One of my fav tropes actually.

-- Trent Crimm, The Daily Planet ❤️ sorry no notes I'm in love with this silver haired queer and mentally kick my feet and wrap a phone cord around my finger whenever he comes up

-- teeth marks on your butt you have to pay for? Beard absolutely spent the first free night he had in Richmond finding the best bdsm club

-- Rebecca talks like Ted when she's nervous and that's fucking hilarious to me

-- Higgins has an oral fixation, fine, but so does whoever wrote this episode. The teeth marks in the butt, the nibbled pen caps, etc etc

-- this series really is the Rebecca gets her ass handed to her every episode. Rupert is nearly 70 and having a child just to spite her? Fucking rough. Does start the foundation for the fertility stuff in the newest series tho

-- Rebecca set up the interview with Trent.....setting a guy up huh? Wonder if she knew Trent was gay?

-- Ted forgiving Rebecca for her bullshit is just him forgiving himself!! Letting himself be angry and sad and upset about his divorce by letting Rebecca be shitty and be forgiven!!! I love an emotionally healthy apology scene

-- fuck i forgot about Higgins goatee it's fucking hideous who let him do that

-- everyone reacting to Roy's problems with some variation of 'stop being a whiny little bitch' is so fucking funny

-- also Keeley met Phoebe five seconds ago and already they're partners in crime ❤️

-- the pub boys comforting Beard is so cute. It really shows that as much as they razz the coaches they really do care about them as people

-- Beard saying that relegation means they've accomplished nothing..... Idk what that says yet that he stays in Richmond once they do get relegated but it's gotta say something

-- drunk Ted is so fucking funny. They should let him get drunk more often. *Chest bump* 'rest in peace Socrates?'

-- ITS THE TRENT CRIMM DAUGHTER EPISODE he told her weeks ago he'd bring biscuits. He met Trent's daughter before the end of their first season. This is a revelation and also adorable. Also puts Ted's words at the front of the episode in a different perspective. The last little girl he probably talked to was Trent's daughter, who is apparently silly mysterious and powerful which. Still true. Still fair