#ilu mari

[janumun]

no clear thoughts in this brain anymore except Alpha Zhongli in his rut for the first time after meeting his Omega, you, isolating himself lest he scares you, however, you find himself knocking at his door, late at night, greeted by a voice and octave lower than usual, dripping with thirst and the pain of losing the very last shred of self-control thrown out the window as you sit down next to him, putting your hand on his cheek in a worried gesture, only to feel the tip of his now prominent fangs against the tender skin of your wrist 🤭

MARIIIIII, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE 😵‍💫😵‍💫🤣💘 Don’t tempt me with getting back at you with thoughts of Omega Childe 🤣❗️

Content Warning for being suggestive/NSFW

Continuing from our line of thought in our last conversation, with a Zhongli and Reader who share feelings but have yet to confess to each other/the slow burn of it all, until it is no longer slow

Just imagining a reluctant Zhongli letting her in when he catches the worry radiating off of his omega her; the sour scorch of anxiety in the pheromones he scents off of the air around her.

His heart shudders at the mere thought of having been the cause of her worries, basal instincts immediately surrendering to her will, desperate to relieve that knit in between his beloved’s brow.

Ushering her in to allow her a seat within his guest quarters, instead of his personal office space like he usually does. The latter housing much more of her... vivid traces from when she often pays him visits on behalf of Hu Tao.

Zhongli does not think he could control himself were he to take her to that room, watch her sit herself from across him, at his desk. Fixating a look of worry for him, smelling like that.

Zhongli’s next breath gutters out of his throat, as if to shred apart the very graphic, obscene image that bursts across his lids; how he’d rather have that beautiful body unfurled across his desk, smooth that frown into pleasure with the slow press of fingers she’d graciously allow him to ease in between her legs—

The next sound that breaks from him is carnal, unhinged; he smothers it against an obsidian palm — unravelings of his power, bleeding onto his appearance, with the vulnerability that comes with his rut — before his control can shatter entirely.

“Zhongli?” Wrenching himself out of stupor to catch the question in her gaze, the way her eyes flitter momentarily across the seized tightness of his jaw, the jagged edge of his fangs clenched in a white, bared snarl; he realizes belated, the threat he must present to her gaze, wild and unfettered.

He needs his mind off of her body — now — before it is her clothes he cleaves off of her instead. The only shred — sliver — of sanity keeping him together: his several millennia lived, the iron will of control he’s had himself subjected to, century after century — nothing, no lover, before, however, has tested his patience as she does.

And...

Zhongli frowns, pressing himself back into the seat farthest, from across her, dark fingers curling irons across the arms of the chair, holding himself imprisoned.

And the fact that they have yet to be bonded, leashes him most.

A most inopportune time for her to have turned up at his doorstep when his rut is close at hand, and that too for personal business, but Zhongli knows he must remain civilized; the gentle man she knows him as, he wishes to remain untainted within her gaze, at the very least—

And so he asks her about her day, in an effort to turn her mind — and his — off his current “ill-health”, he assures her is no cause for worry. A decision that turns itself into swift, vicious vengeance upon Zhongli instead.

“I spent my morning with Scara— ahem, Wanderer. He wished to repay me for my earlier help with a neutralising antidote, I mentioned it once to you before, Zhongli.”

Whetted fingernails carve just that bit more deep into the wood beneath his arms.

That son of Beelzebub, the one who looks at her with the eyes of a man; a gaze that dares want for what he desires. How dare a mere doll ingress upon an Archon’s claim—

“...With him alone? Did that bard... Venti not promise to accompany you on your commissions today?”

She seems mildly perplexed at the line of questioning. Zhongli, however, is in no state to help himself.

“Venti had a task come up he had to attend to with Mari.” She answers, at last.

And then Zhongli spots it: a scent, a claim. An oddity not her own; he failed to notice earlier by fault of his lust fogged mind.

The teal, dangling earring — not hers — she skips delicate fingers, along her earlobe, as if it is a precious commodity.

And he begs, in silence, for her to not speak what he does not wish to hear in that moment. Sickening, as the scent across that jewelry on his omega her body tinkers at the cage of a large, gilded beast deep within him.

She does not spare Zhongli that mercy.

“He gifted me this earring, as a token of our friendship, although he wasn’t very forthcoming with his feelings, as usual.” She smiles. “It is a beautiful thing, isn’t it? Wanderer requested, well, more like, ordered me to keep it on at all times, that silly man.”

Zhongli feels that exact moment of time his fingers jam at, in poor imitation of reigning in a long fled control — and fail — splintering through the arms of his chair.

[limogifs]

[roseofcards90]

hi roseee 18, 20 and 13 i want the beef

HIII MARI THANK U FOR THE ASK!!! :D

13: Pokemon character you HATE

Obligatory Ghetsis answer because he's a shitty character with no depth, but also Lysandre??? I don't hate him necessarily, but he's kinda just...there as an antagonist 😭 also I don't get a lot of his popularity surrounding him

18: Who would your partner pokemon be?

Ooooh! I would say Ampharos, Luxray, Togekiss, or Serperior!

20: Pokemon that creeps you out

FUCKING SHIINOTIC 😭 THOSE DEAD ASS EYES WHEN I FIRST SAW THIS THING I WAS LIKE WHAT

[ashes-in-a-jar]

Happy 1st of october

To Magnus archives women especially

[bigassbowlingballhead]

A royal carriage waited at the gatehouse of St James's Palace to take the king, accompanied by Charles and George, to Windsor, where the ceremony was to take place. But just as they were about to depart, James instructed George to perform a slight errand', which meant he would be unable to accompany them. Sensing a snub, George asked what was wrong, at which point James burst into tears and declared himself the unhappiest man alive, treated with ingratitude by those dearest to him. With the scene unfolding in public, in front of servants and lords shifting uneasily in their livery and robes, George stood at the carriage door and began to weep. He protested his innocence and demanded to know the charges made against him. But the king closed the door on him and commanded his coachman to drive off, leaving George to watch the carriage disappear into St James's Park.

Why are the gays so dramatic…

Left him standing there CRYING?? So fucking dramatic.

OH Please let this be included. Imagine babygirl standing there watching the carriage disappear and his big gay eyes just leaking down his face

[karasmassivedong]

last bit of hater totoko/nya inspired by @thebardisabird 💖 cant stop thinking about 'hateration' totoko, hope this is vaguely legible enough 😅

[fairyhaos]

🍓🌵☁️ for the ask game!!🫶

aaaa mary!!!! thanku for sending things in omg i didn't think anyone would do it im sending hearts your way rn 😔🫶

🍓: why did you start writing fanfiction?

here on user fairyhaos, i started writing bc i absolutely adored those funny platonic headcanons and i wanted to write my own! gradually, i moved from friendship bracelets + tripping over sidewalks to the more romantic stuff i now write, along with the occasional oneshots thrown in here and there but the og platonic funnies have my heart <3

🌵: share the link to a playlist you love

coming of age ost vibes was a playlist i made that originally only had 20 by svt on it before i decided i Needed to make it a whole thing and i found out i knew way more coming of age-esque songs than i originally thought! we won't talk about the fact it's mostly rookie svt songs tho. they were the most youth coded group i know tbh

☁️: why did you choose your username?

im a biiiggggg lover of the idea of fairy!minghao lmao and so. user fairyhaos was born. also bc i was stuck staring at the "choose a user!!! 😁" page of tumblr for too long, panicked, and just input the first thing that came to my mind and stuck with it haha

and if anyone wants to know, my ao3 user is kind of like. a konglish pun bc it makes use of beom (as in beomgyu) and 봄 (bom, aka spring) in korean and i think it's the best thing ever

writers ask game!

[laufire]

coach (snippy): if it had been me [who stole food], what? would you eat me?

mari (threatening): *starts walking towards him*

[cherubgorearchived]

it's not a how 2005 fic or update, but please give my house of 1000 corpses fic a read!

[shallowseeker]

I love First Blood and Stuck in the Middle with You as Mary-focused episodes.

I think Stuck in the Middle With You is an incredibly Mary harming-her-family-by-trying-to-save them through line. And despite Cas’s deathbed words, it’s actually a lot about Mary clocking Dean.

First, she has her little backward glance at Cas and Dean in First Blood, happy that she got them back and eyeing Dean and Cas with an odd little gaze. First Blood was also her big come-to-Jesus moment after realizing she was putting ever-friggin-thing on Cas unfairly. (Using Cas almost as a surrogate partner-John-replacement-confidante.) But then, she realized that Cas was not as invincible as first appeared.

(Which led her to BMoL cause they’re expendable and she wants to keep her close fam all safe by taking on the world and destroying all the monsters, like how Samuel in SPNwin wants to protect Mary by eradicating all the monsters by locking them in a box.)

Anyway, in SITMWY, then there’s this scene when the camera zooms in on Dean’s behavior with the waitress, while Cas’s view remains a mid-neutral camera, because Dean is the one Mary’s actually clocking. At first I thought she was disgusted/annoyed with Dean, but if that were the case the camera would pull back, not ultra zoom in like she’s trying to puzzle him out. Mary is clocking poor “tryhard Dean” in this scene, not Cas.

I have more thoughts maybe on Mary but it deserves a play-by-play.

[miru-p]

HAPPY BDAY @unclemimibags !!!

[bloomsberries]

R͎͇͎I͇̻̙S͔̼͖E̦̟̝

HOLY SHIT

[luuletus-ee]

- Tarmo Selter

[cbrownjc]

So it really seems like Armand is Alice - or Daniel's lost memories of Armand have been conflated with his memories of Alice, or something. I'd be really interested to know your thoughts on how much Louis knows? We see malicious triumph from him but (I think) not really an awareness that this specific memory has heavy shades of Armand in it, more like he was happy to weaponise any terrible memory of Daniel's that came to hand.

But how could Louis not know? If Armand and Daniel were together in the past I bet Louis knew about it and probably still does?

(Also your Tumblr is amazing and fascinating and ILU)

Hello! I'm glad you like my Tumblr and thank you for the amazingly kind words! *hugs* 💕

So, Armand & Daniel and Louis. Now, my gut feeling at the moment is that Louis knows a lot about what happened between Armand and Daniel. But possibly not everything.

Or, more directly, I do think it's possible that Louis doesn't fully know how serious it really got between Armand and Daniel; that Armand and Daniel actually truly, deeply, and sincerely fell in love with each other. I may be wrong about that (as I've only had a chance to watch the episode once so far), but there are some little things that are making me think that for now.

The main reason is that we now have an answer for why Louis has called Daniel "our boy" before. (Which he hasn't done this season yet, but I'm sure it's coming.) IMO the reason was indirectly revealed in the scene when Real Rashid brought out the pictures . . . and what Louis and Armand both said about who some of the pictures were of: which is that they were pictures of young human men that were kept with Louis and Armand -- in their company -- for a period of time.

These two -- Louis and Armand -- would basically add a third into their relationship at one time or another. And that they did so a LOT more than once. And that it was something that was always initiated by Louis -- probably because it was something that was Louis' idea to do in the first place, back when they first did so with whomever the first young man they pulled in was.

We don't know how long these young men were kept with them, but I don't think it's wrong to guess that some were kept for rather long periods. It was Louis who would draw these young men into them . . . then some would be drained dry at some point if they weren't just let go.

And Daniel was basically set to be the next in the long line of young men that Louis and Armand would do this with. That is what was initially happening that night at Polynesian Mary's. With Louis, once again, being the one to draw the young man -- in this case, Daniel -- in.

But what made everything different this time -- and what made Daniel different from all the young men that had come before him wrt this -- was that first interview. And I think Assad hinted in an interview during the press tour as to why Armand steps in and saves Daniel's life when Louis attacks Daniel. And that reason is that during that interview, Daniel is able to understand and connect with Louis in a way that Armand hasn't been able to during all their years together. And so becomes fascinated by Daniel because of that.

And I don't think I'm guessing that Armand never became fascinated in such a way with any of the other young men that Louis lured into a triad with them. (Or, if Armand ever did, it was a very fleeting thing).

So, I think in this instance, the third that was lured in by Louis actually ended up fully capturing Armand's attention and, eventually, his heart. And while, as with all the other young men they had done this with before, Daniel was very much "our boy" for both him and Armand in Louis' eyes . . . there were deeper emotions that were growing between Armand and Daniel during that time that Louis just didn't really see -- or that maybe Armand kept Louis from seeing.

Because remember, Armand is much more skilled at the Mind Gift than Louis is. And Louis, very possibly, might have still been under the veil that -- in the books -- his mind gets clouded over by Armand after they first leave Paris.

So there are many reasons Louis may not have fully noticed everything that was happening between Armand and Daniel during however long Daniel was with them. (And, IMO, it is very much looking like it was at least 12 years, which was the length of the whole Devil's Minion saga -- before Daniel was finally turned -- in the book QotD).

Louis knows some things I feel sure of. Like, Louis knows Armand and Daniel had sex because . . . yeah. Armand and Louis weren't just pulling in young human men to be a third with them to play cards or something. 😏 But I'm not sure that Louis knows about the full emotional depth (and heartbreak) of everything that went down between Armand and Daniel.

So yeah, Louis knows about Armand & Daniel -- because he was the one to draw Daniel in to be a third with him and Armand in the first place. But I don't think Louis knows just how deeply and emotionally serious it really got between them. And maybe it's mostly because Armand just kept that part of it from Louis.

As to the Alice = Armand thing and if Louis knows that. . . again I'm not sure. It is one reason I kind of still sort of lean toward the idea that Alice is a real person, but many things about her have been merged with Armand in Daniel's mind. And Louis doesn't actually know which is which.

However . . . Louis could very well know how serious it got between Armand and Daniel, and that Alice isn't real and just really is Armand; and Louis just did what he did -- emotionally going in on Daniel like that -- because Louis really just wanted to hurt Daniel in that way because Daniel had hurt him in the same way just by asking about Lestat like that. Louis does have a very sadistic streak in him, I think that has been very well-established. And it would just be the simplest answer too for it all as well.

[equallyshaw]

ᴅᴀʏ ᴇʟᴇᴠᴇɴ: ʜᴀᴘᴘʏ ʜᴏʟɪᴅᴀʏꜱ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴜɢʜᴇꜱ- ʙᴀʀᴢᴀʟ ꜰᴀᴍɪʟʏ - ᴍᴀᴛ ʙᴀʀᴢᴀʟ x ᴏᴄ ʜᴜɢʜᴇꜱ

social media addition

↳ part of holidays with equallyshaw.

↳ the blurb itself

@mirandabarzal: annual hughes-barzal holiday trip did not disappoint

tags: matbarzal, jackhughes, _quinnhughes, lhughes_06, elblue6

211k likes, 98.9k comments.

—

@/matbarzal: love you my beautiful wife

↳ @/lianabarzal: yuck

↳ @/lhughes_06: yuck indeed

↳ @mirandabarzal: ilu hun

@/jackhughes: the gang back together 🤪

↳ @/trevorzegras: just missing me

↳ @mirandabarzal: not a chance lmao

@/_quinnhughes: I just know dad was glaring at jack

↳ @mirandabarzal: no he was, it was when he was talking about his recent driving experience

↳ @/lhughes_06: I thought dad was gonna kill him

↳ @mirandabarzal: me too

@/taryntkachuk: theo and marie getting too big 🥲

↳ @/matbarzal: ik its not fair!

↳ @mirandabarzal: not fair in the slightest

@/titobeauv91: miss my fav nice and nephew ):

↳ @mirandabarzal: maybe I take a trip to chicago ??👀

↳ @/titobeauv91: I vote yes !!!

↳ @/matbarzal: gonna need all the pics in the world

@/elblue6: such a great trip! cant wait to go back (:

↳ @/matbarzal: same here mama hughes!

@fan01: so I guess the rumors arent true...they arent separating lmao

↳ @fan02: they could be who knows, they may just be putting out a united front ?

↳ @fan03: check mat's post lol

@holl.horvat: unfazed queen

↳ @/sydneymartin: I wanna be her when i grow up

↳ @mirandahughes: I could say the same about yall 🤍

_

@ / mat barzal: annual hughes-barzal holiday trip was one for the book

Tags: mirandabarzal, jackhughes, lhughes_6 & _quinnhughes

102k likes, 23.4k comments.

—

@/elblue6: the last one 🥺

↳ @mirandabarzal: cuties

@/lhughes_06: we clean up nice

↳ @/jackhughes: no fr

↳ @/matbarzal: gotta dress up for success

↳ @/_quinnhughes: and you still lost the 'hardest shot' at the driving range...

↳ @/matbarzal: If I dont recall..ive won 3 times in 5 years so

↳ @/lhughes_06: tides are turning

↳ @/jackhughes: trust we will beat you again and again

@/lianabarzal: 3rd and 4th 🥺

↳ @mirandabarzal: my favs

@/mattymarts17: I already know theo is gonna be better at golf than you

↳ @mirandabarzal: Unfortunately he has three uncles waiting in the wings to perfect his game

↳ @/jackhughes: you'd be correct

@/tysonjost: mom and dad's night out

↳ @mirandabarzal: 🤫

↳ @/matbarzal: 😈😈

↳ @mirandabarzal: ew gross

tags: @toasttt11 @jayda12 @jackhues @dancerbailey3 @cuttergauthier

[lambergeier]

2023 bookpost 🥳🥳🥳

43 books read this year! about 2/3rds of last year's number, but i fell off pace in summer and for the last two months and never actually have a target or care about my pace anyways, so 43 is a good solid number imho. as last year, full list with light commentary below, recs are bolded:

JANUARY

Neuromancer by William Gibson

The Browns of California: The Family Dynasty that Transformed a State and Shaped a Nation by Miriam Pawel (i am punished for my desire to learn more about the two governors brown's effects on the state of california with: family hagiography. should have known tbh)

Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman (SOOOOOO GOOD. apocalyptic/religious horror in 1350's france during the black plauge. for fans of the terror, and fans of people who are in love but for whom the love won't alwayshelp!)

The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel (hilary ilu u were one of the greatest novelists of the past hundred years it was an honor to be alive at the same time as you. this could have been 200 pages shorter. ilu tho)

Did Ye Hear Mammy Died? by Seamas O’Reilly (short, sweet childhood memoir of the irish writer/comedian who, famously, tweeted that story about meeting the president of ireland on ketamine.)

FEBRUARY

Either/Or by Elif Bautman (girls can i tell you. i didn't realize this was a sequel until like 100 pages into the book. that was on me.)

Two Doctors Gorski by Isaac Fellman (ah mr fellman. lol)

The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka (really cool piece of fiction, first half told from the collective viewpoint of a group of regulars at a public swimming pool, second half about the one specific swimmer who's losing her independence to dementia. short, packs a punch)

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (UNDEFEATED!)

One Man’s Terrorist: a Political History of the IRA by Peter Finn

Nightcrawlers by Leila Mottley (love to see local 22yos succeed wildly. does NOT mean this book was good god bless)

MARCH

The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa

The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy

Stella Maris by Cormac McCarthy (to be clear, if you are not a cormac mccarthy fan, these books will not make you his fan. they are very much about this man's incredible hopelessness regarding a world that has invented and used the atomic bomb. what can be redeemed, etc etc. i loved them, despite a major part of the plot being consensual sibling incest, they were beautiful and phenomenal, they were not light reading)

APRIL

A Smile in his Lifetime by Joseph Hansen

Glory by NoViolet Bulawayo (cannot recommend the audiobook highly enough. emma read the paper copy to catch up to where i was in the audiobook so we could listen together on a car trip, and she agreesTM that the audiobook is the way to go)

MAY

Barbarian Days by William Finnegan

The Dark Lord of Derkholm by Dianna Wynne Jones

JUNE

We Don’t Know Ourselves by Fintan O’Toole (really really really cool nonfiction about ireland since the 1950s, part autobiography, more parts cultural history of a very quickly changing nation. fascinating to read this within 12 months of finn's one man's terrorist, which was a very leftist history of the IRA, and keefe's say nothing, which was an only very slightly leftist history of the IRA that was most interested in like, how compelling the history is (not a drag on it). o'toole not as big on the IRA as the other two! understandable!)

JULY

The Binding by Bridget Collins

The War That Killed Achilles by Caroline Alexander (for all fans of the history of the story of the illiad!!! short and passionate!)

Flux by Jinwoo Chong (solid new debut scifi - who thought it could still happen!)

I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jeanette McCurdy

The Witch King by Martha Wells (this book sucked ass!!! have mentioned this several times already this year!!!)

An Oral History of the New York Commune, 2052–2072 by Eman Abdelhadi and M. E. O'Brien (some things about this book were fun, many were infuriating, absolute worst had to be the insistence that in the future: therapy would solve even more problems that it does today :))

The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt (see my beautiful wife's post on the subject)

Stay True by Hua Hsu (beautiful, deserves the pulitzer, not 100% my thing but still very good)

AUGUST

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (the voice was hard to get used to for the first 50 pages, but i ended up really liking this tbh. i've never read copperfield, so not sure if that improved the experience)

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

The Boys by Katie Hafner (a mistake to read this, but at least the twist was funny! there wasn't anything else in the book, but only a partial waste of time at the end)

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin (finally read this, which has truly polarized my extended social circle, but i ended up liking it. i didn't always get what it was doing 100% of the time, and didn't so much feel compelled to find out, but i tore through it and will always be a sucker for a story about that doesn't fix you but does keep you alive. can see both sides of this debate)

American Overdose: The Opioid Tragedy in Three Acts by Chris McGreal (we have to kill every sackler. solid history of the epidemic. EVERY sackler.)

SEPTEMBER

The Season by Kristen Richardson (half-baked history of the debutante social ritual. but, not like there's many other histories of the subject!)

All the Horses of Iceland by Sarah Tolmie

Big Swiss by Jen Beagin (funny, contained extensive dirtbag lesbian behaviors, but lacked some heft at the end)

In Memoriam by Alice Winn (do you s2b2? do you want some solid, tome-like origfic? do you want all of those things and also siegfried sassoon rpf? well great news!)

Now We Shall Be Entirely Free by Andrew Miller (pleaseeeeeee tell me if you have read this or do read this it was SOOOOOO GOOD and i had NEVER heard of this guy before!!! fantastically written prose, everything builds with infinite dread to a single horrible punchline, i am still wowed thinking about it)

The Trees by Percival Everett (haha hey wanna get fucked up. dark dark dark comedy)

OCTOBER

Flowers from the Storm by Laura Kinsale (really enjoyable if slightly overlong romance novel that i got off a rec list for historical romances with disabled love interests. does a really good interesting job of giving the love interest full breadth and agency despite severe processing impairment following a stroke)

Mobility by Linda Kiesling

The Rachel Incident by Rachel O’Donahughe

NOVEMBER

NO BOOK NOVEMBER MFS

DECEMBER

Not Even the Dead by Juan Gómez Bárcena (would also like to know if anyone else has read this so we can try and figure out what the fuck was going on right at the end!! also the fact that this is primarily about mexican history, written by a spaniard, with the specter of the US very prominent in the book is like. hm i would love to be able to read some mexican press reviews of this lol)

When Crack Was King: A People's History of a Misunderstood Era by Donovan X. Ramsey (picked this up following the opioid book, which discussed but didn't go deep on how the country's reaction to the opioid epidemic was so vastly different from the crack epidemic. put a lot of stuff into context lmao.)

WAIT AT SOME POINT THIS YEAR I REREAD RUMO AND HIS MIRACULOUS ADVENTURES BY WALTER MOERS. I DON'T KNOW WHEN. DIDN'T WRITE IT DOWN. BUT I DID REREAD IT. 44 BOOKS. shout out to mr. moers for writing some extremely fucking creepy books for teenagers <3

okay i was gonna do more about like general trends and vibes of this year's books, also about the four books i am still reading rn lol, but i have been typing for soooooooooooo long so i'm just gonna reblog with more thots in the morning. stay prepared everyone