#keeping up with lada

[hallowpen]

The Secret of Us and the allegory of the puzzle...

I think one of the major overarching themes in this series is that you cannot force something to fit where it doesn't want to belong. And the only way to 'complete' the picture, ideally, is to patiently allow the pieces to be put together in the way they're supposed to.

I really really want to talk about Lada and how much I resonated with her as a character. In order for me to do that, I have to explain some cultural insights that revolve around Lada's familial structure.

Funnily enough, I was recently discussing certain matrilineal cultures that exist in Thailand and how they perpetuate a lot of bigoted ideals... and that is shown beautifully in Lada's relationship with her parents and how they each react to her queerness. To me, it seemed clear that Lada's parents' marriage was born from matrilocal customs. And unfortunately, that's not really something you would be able to pick up on if you weren't Thai (or natively Asian in general). So... in these types of families, women hold a lot of authority, and that authority is passed on through the female line (which is why daughters are valued over sons). The wife would manage and have the final say regarding household matters, including how the children are raised... and the husband's duty would be to respect his wife. A mother and her daughter maintain a continuous relationship with one another as, should the daughter marry, her husband would come to stay with them until they have a family of their own (and sometimes even after). It's a good way to strengthen matrilineal kinship, but it puts enormous cultural pressure on the daughter who is raised with very high expectations... the most pressuring of which is to marry a man and to have natural born children. Should the daughter not 'fit' this mold, they are often ostracized from the family.

It gives new meaning to hearing Khun Russamee say, "Lada is the seed I've nurtured since birth," doesn't it? It's why she is so against accepting and understanding Lada and Earn's relationship. Because in her mind, there doesn't exist a future where two women can uphold these matrilineal customs... and so the only reason Earn must be pursuing Lada is for some form of exploitation (i.e. money). She justifies her cruel and queerphobic behavior to keep them apart as some form of misaligned protection of her daughter and her daughter's future... to keep her from being taken advantage of and to help her see reason. It doesn't excuse the behavior at all... but at least you can understand the motivation (no matter how terrible). These types of mothers exist in the reality of Thai society... it's not just some cliched villain narrative. I'm speaking from experience here (NOT MY MOM! I LOVE MY MOM... my mother's mother).

In Thailand, we hold strong to the notion of บุญคุณ ('bunkhun'). This notion perpetuates the idea that we owe an endless debt of gratitude to our parents. It's seen as our "moral obligation". (Similar ideas exist in other Asian countries, as well)

Lada has done everything right. She's loved and obeyed her mother, she's cultivated a successful career with intentions to take over from her parents' leadership of the hospital, she's set herself up to be able to support her family's needs... She cannot imagine a life where her mother could ever not support her or her choices. Her one "fault" is that she is in love with a woman and refuses to conform to her mother's insistent heteronormative intentions (I loved the juxtaposition of this against P'Nu's defeated acceptance btw). She's rightfully exhausted from all the pressure to 'fit' her mother's mold of the perfect daughter, and Earn recognizes that.

So when her mother falls ill, and Lada is expected to take responsibility, it makes sense from the perspective of her familial structure. When she sacrifices her happiness for her mother and Earn understands the reasons why... it makes sense. Khun Russamee only comes to believe that Earn truly does love Lada once Earn willingly steps away from their relationship to ease Lada's mother's expectations... it's twisted, but it makes sense. And Khun Russamee does apologize, for whatever the frik that's worth (I can only try so much guys 😞😞😞) It's just part of our ingrained culture to value family despite their abusive behaviors. And as much as I wish that weren't the case, these views remain an actual reality. So, it isn't dishonest to portray them.

...The point is, the final pieces of the puzzle could only come together once they were allowed to. And then we finally got our happy ending!!!

Could certain story elements stand to be improved? Yes... but they're no worse than anything we've seen from BL series. And I do believe as time goes on, with more and more GL content being made, the writing will get better and stronger (I hope 🤞🏾🤞🏾🤞🏾).

Despite the more problematic writing, Lingling and Orm were outstanding in their roles. Never have I seen two artists, in all of the Thai QL I've watched, be so in tune to their characters and their emotions. Everything from their dramatic scenes to their more subtle facial expressions were completely on point. It was a pleasure to witness... and the biggest draw for me as a viewer. Well done!!!

[captainkirkk]

✩ WEEKLY FIC ROUND-UP ✩

All the fics I’ve read and really enjoyed in the past week-ish. Reminder: This list features any and all ratings and themes. Please look at tags and warnings on ao3 before reading.

Marvel

how to return home by JBS_Forever

Flash Thompson is a good person, but not a great one, so when Peter Parker accidentally gets drunk at his house party, all he can do is say, “Shit.”

Or: the one where Flash is just trying to be a decent person and get a drunk Peter home. Peter, on the other hand, has different plans.

scandal of the century by joshriku

The headline reads:

STEAMY SEX TAPE BETWEEN MAGNETO AND PROFESSOR X LEAKED!

“All right,” Charles says. “I wouldn’t call it steamy, you know, that’s an exaggeration.”

“That is seriously not the point, Professor,” Jean answers.

(A sex tape is leaked. PR crisis ensues).

DC

two vigilantes carry a cake across gotham by JBS_Forever

Jason's had a nagging suspicion that Bruce keeps stalker-esque levels of tabs on all the places he’s lived, so when Tim Drake shows up at his apartment door, it takes only a half second for Jason to level his gun directly at Tim's stupid face and to say, bored, “Give me one reason not to shoot you.”

Honestly, he knew Bruce had a problem, but sending a bat to his doorstep? This is just ridiculous.

Or: in a scheming attempt to make them bond, Bruce forces Jason and Tim on what should be a simple quest: retrieve Alfred’s birthday cake from across town and make it back before the party.

But this is Gotham. And nothing is ever simple in Gotham.

racing on the thunder by merils

Fortunately or unfortunately, Clark Kent is kind of used to getting phone calls about his too-curious-for-her-own-good wife being held hostage somewhere. Superman usually handles it.

Conner Kent gets a phone call meant for Clark Kent, who is Superman, who is currently in space. Uh.... Have no fear, Superboy is here!

What could possibly go wrong?

Original Works

Halfway Home for Wayward Mages by hoebiwan

Part 24 of mage in a wolf pack (This whole series kills me)

He wouldn’t mind it if Lada collared him, if Khalida or Dimitri collared him, because none of them have forced him to hurt anyone, whether human or wolf. They mostly just want him to—

Live, Jaime. Live.

In which the wolves rescue Jaime, but he doesn't realize he's free.

the sin eater by whitegeraniums (puertoricansuperman)

Part 25 of mage in a wolf pack

Lada, alpha of the Hearthstone wolf pack, finds herself in possession of a captured, broken werewolf hunter.

ATLA

Keeping Ones Head Down by ApoplecticAtPeace

Part 3 of May You be Noticed by The Fire Lord

Bao lost his ability to walk when he was 19. Despite the prejudice of many Fire Nation citizens, he got a job as an accountant in the Royal palace, in the Department of Education. After 11 years of working quietly, keeping his head down and allowing his work to be claimed by others, he expected nothing to change when Fire Lord Zuko took the throne. He didn't expect the entire department to be reformed under the new Minister Shu-Lin, and Bao's overlooked position with it.

Clone Wars

Something in the heart beat like a drum by CombatBootsandDreams

Most Jedi only have to take three formal sexual education classes. Obi-Wan, in all their blessed biology has to take five.

Or: Obi-Wan growing up in a galaxy where Stewjoni are Succubi. This changes very little--but it does make certain things a hell of lot more interesting.

A Stewjoni are succubus au that has way less to do with sex, & is more about logistics, medical problems, and cuddling. Featuring Qui-Gon being an excellent master, codywan, aromantic Quinlan Vos, Obi-Wan using he/they/she pronouns, and plenty of costume changes.

[romanceclub-confessionss]

Confession:

Boris is the virtual embodiment of the worse side of rc fandom and rc itself to an extent. Wanting an absolute monster to be a li just because he's blond, blue eyed man yet will berate poc lis for the same thing (Vincent, Shen, and Greg are the biggest example of this). It's like *certain* players could only like problematic lis if they're white or white-passing but can't keep the same energy for non-white and female ones. Adding female lis to keep up appearances and pushing them to the side for convenience (Alice and Jester really improved with their recent stories, though. Elena also did well with Fel). Making the white!Stephanie the "canon" sprite and straightwashed her for the sos book. Not putting black!Lada on rc's discussing the highlight posts. Making Volot race-of-choice li when originally it wasn't intended to be that. Black/brown characters being the only ones who get k*lled or can be k*lled most of the times. So much for being inclusive. Feels like the Ls negate the Ws RC did in 2024.

link to rc discussion post highlights

link to sos book

[fayromance]

Thinking about the age symbolism and human sacrifice in two of Alice's stories — Arcanum & ATHWTU

In season 3 of Arcanum there was a whole subplot about young beautiful women being sacrificed and left in the woods in the "Sleeping Beauty" state. Their bodies later would be used to make the Immortality Potion. All those women were 27 — Selena's own age. In fact, it was one of the demands of the sacrifice — that sacrificial woman should be exactly 27 years of age. Also the person who was supervising this whole process of selecting victims is Josephine — an older woman who holds all the power in that small town and everyone's terrified of her (sounds kinda similar to someone we know from ATHWTU, doesn't it?)

And now in And The Haze Will Take Us they keep bringing up the fact that Lada is 18 (as well as her now deceased twin, Vereya) and the symbolic significance of it: Lada starts hearing the Call at this age, same as Ozar who started having visions at 18; the High Priestess says Lada reminds her of herself at that age.

Lada turned 18 the night of the Spring Equinox, the same night her sister mysteriously died. And all the hell broke loose in that village after that — with the Sacred Oak losing its foliage, the Leshy luring people in unusually close to the village and, finally, an all-out attack by Koscheis. What's more, the previous attack which decimated the village's population (and left my poor boy Volot an orphan 🤧) also happened 18 years ago — the night the girls were born.

Furthermore, Novak's father willingly left the village and stepped into the Haze (taking his young son with him) exactly 18 years ago

All of this makes me think there's some sort of cycle in this village that happens every 18 years: Koscheis attack the village and the priests have to resort to human sacrifice to appease the gods and gain their protection. If Novak's father (who was a priest himself) hypothetically sacrificed himself and his child by walking into the Haze, this might be the reason the attacks have stopped for 18 years.

But now the cycle started again and a new sacrifice is necessary. The High Priestess practically won't shut up about having to sacrifice one human to save many.

Now, going back to Volot stabbing Lada in this update... What if this is a vision of the future where Lada becomes that sacrifice under certain circumstances (like her stats, relationships, special choices)? And with her blood spilled, the cycle will be complete — for another 18 years.

That being said, I really, really hope it doesn't come to this. Even on the Reality path where Lada seems to be very loyal to the gods and ready to give up a lot to win their favor. It will literally crush my soul — having to see how my beloved Volot kills my precious girl 🥺💔 And although I believe he won't hurt her if you improve romantic or friendly relationship with him, it would still hurt to see that on other paths

PS the ease with which the High Priestess speaks of human sacrifices, makes me think she's done this before. Probably to her own sister that she lost when they were young and now seems to mourn (which is another parallel to 18-year-old Lada and Vereya). Honestly, if I had my way, we'd go ahead and liberate the village from this woman's fanaticism and tyranny 😑

[dragonsareawesome123]

"Later in the evening, Lada will pick me up. Tonight, the girl gang has a meeting." "Okay, but tell P'Lada to keep it down a bit."

Love Senior (2023-2024) dir. Ying Manassanun Su Episode 7

[a-d-nox]

perun, god of thunder and war (asteroid 4250)

paid reading options: astrology menu & cartomancy menu

enjoy my work? help me continue creating by tipping on ko-fi or paypal. your support keeps the magic alive!

Perun's mother was the goddess of love and joy, Lada, and his father was the god of fire, Svarog. Perun is the leader god in Slavic mythos. He was associated with thunder, purification, and law and order. The signs of his presents are seen in lightning. It's heard in the clacking of stones when the ground shakes, bellows of bulls and goats, and the rumble of thunder. And it is felt in the bite of an ax's blade. Perun would ride across the sky pulled by fire breathing horses or goats to create the sound of thunder. One of the critical tales is the underworld god, Veles, stealing Perun's cattle or wife, Mokosz. Perun was so enraged that he struck Veles with lightning - Veles fled and went into hiding for quite some time as he shifted from animal to tree to person. Perun defeated Veles and sent him back to the underworld. This battle is said to occur yearly when the seasons change - the dry season is when Veles steals from Perun, the storms are the fight, while rain was the symbol of Perun's victory. IN MY OPINION Perun in a chart can represent a) where others look up to you, b) where you are a voice of reason, c) where you are powerful, and/or d) where you triumph against all odds.

i encourage you to look into the aspects of perun along with the sign, degree, and house placement. for the more advanced astrologers, take a look at the persona chart of perun AND/OR add the other characters involved to see how they support or impede perun!

OTHER RELATED ASTEROIDS: lada (2832) and svarog (506074)!

have ideas for new content? please use my “suggest a post topic” button!

return to nox's guide to metaphysics

return to the masterlist of celtic myths & legends

[blueberryforestelf]

Russian Influence in Moral Orel:

Okay so a while ago I just finished watching Moral Orel and I noticed that there were some connections between it and Russian culture. I also noticed that the show had just become popular in Russia and there are dubbed episodes available on VK. Even though Moral Orel is an American TV show and the creator of the show is of Greek descent, here are some connections on the show that linked to Russian culture and social cues:

The heavy alcoholism on the show: Clay and most of the people in Moralton are straight-up alcoholics, and even Bloberta was an alcoholic before she met Clay. Of course, alcohol is a significant part of Russian culture and the country has the highest consumption of alcohol in the world. Not only are alcoholic beverages are consumed in high amounts, but is also very much socially accepted and encouraged. Even underaged children are encouraged to drink. In the episode Maturity, Orel thought drinking would make him “wise and mature” like his father and in Help young Bloberta stated that drinking alcohol “makes us better people”.

There’s a city in Russia called Orel.

Orel means “Eagle” in Russian (and other Slavic languages). So in the Russian dub Orel’s name is Eagle.

Ms. Censordoll loves pickled eggs and keeps a jar full of them in her library. Russian cuisine consists of a lot of pickled foods, including pickled eggs, cabbage, potatoes, fish, watermelon, etc.

If you notice in the Puppington household, you’ll see an oriental carpet on the living room floor. Oriented carpets are very common in Russian households and are often on floors or hung on walls.

Clay’s reckless driving and Russia is famous for its many reckless drivers and very frequent traffic accidents (I just had to add this to the list lol)

Clay’s car looks like a Lada (a Russian brand of cars).

The “depressing”, conservative, perfectionistic, and collective culture of Moralton is quite similar to that of Russian culture. The entire town is centered around a church which literally controls everything in the town and how it operates. The people are fed Christian propaganda and are not allowed to think differently or do things differently than what is socially acceptable, otherwise they would be outcasted and have to face harsh consequences. This pretty much relates to Russia’s Soviet/Communist Era of when housing, stores, businesses, etc. were all controlled by the government and not the people. People were not allowed to solely own their own property or businesses, and if they were to speak up about problems and issues facing their economy or speak out against propaganda or the government, they would would face the harsh and legal consequences (i.e. prison camp or deportation). Moralton is quite similar to that, except it’s in the United States where people have more freedom to do want they want and express themselves.

Many people in Moralton tend to be “cold”, reserved, strict, and cynical, which is a common stereotype among Russians.

The townspeople’s love for classical arts, music, and theatre, like in the School Pageant episode. Also Bloberta comes from a family of choir singers/musicians and her singing voice is similar to that of an opera singer. Russians are known for their love for classical and opera music as it is a very significant part of their culture. I’ve met many Russians who come from a family of musicians, are talented musicians outside of their occupation, or happen to own a musical instrument in their homes.

Moral Orel is a satire that explores the hypocrisy of religious and social institutions with a touch of dark humor and irony, which is similar to the works of Russian authors like Fyodor Dostoevsky, who used similar techniques to critique religious and social mores.

Moral Orel is a stop-motion animated series and Russians are very fond of stop-motion animation as it has a rich history in Russian media and cinema. Famous Russian animators such as Roman Kachanov, Ladislas Starevich and Ivan Ivanov-Vano were pioneers of stop-motion media during the Soviet Era. Many beloved animated films and shows made during the Soviet Era were stop-motion animated. Also a lot of stop-motion animated media known today (such as Coraline, Corpse Bride, Isle of Dogs, etc.) are becoming very popular in Russia. Also, Orel loves making little stop-motion movies!

Thanks for reading! 😁

[foulfeast]

🌧️🏳️🛴 for Pluto!!! <3

🌻 random in-character questions

🌧️ "When outside during the rain, do you use a raincoat, an umbrella, or something else? Do you enjoy rain?

"Am I on my way somewhere? To visit a friend, to make a house call? Then it's a certain yes, of course, I wouldn't want to drag uninvited water into anyones house.

I have a rather nice oilskin coat and a large umbrella, both, for that!

For the most part, though, no, I wear what I usually wear. This has to do with my work.

Mostly."

🏳️ "What will make you give up?"

"Now, why would I ever do that? Heh!

If something needs fixing, it has to be fixed, or it'll keep causing problems."

kani note: not many things- but they can be distracted from a problem by presenting them with an another one!

🛴 "What's your preferred way of getting somewhere - own car, public transport, a bicycle, or something else? How well do you follow the traffic rules?"

"Oh, I will always walk given the chance. A good walk will clear your head, and often you'll come across something interesting anyways.

Though I see how worried My dear Moon gets, so I let them drive me around in their little lada most of the time. As much as it starts, that is. "

When asked why Pluto doesn't drive themself, My Moon shuddered and shook their head, asking the viewer to talk about ANYTHING else.

[hsrlanedefencesquad]

Ok so I've finally played the haze story and the premier was ok, nothing special, nothing bad about it (same way I've always felt about alice's other books so maybe this writing style just doesn't resonate with me) but I still have high hopes for this story...it has so much opportunity to get better

Things I didn't like:

Alice should have explored on Lada and veraya's relationship more, they didn't feel close to me, so much so that I wasn't moved by the sister's death at all

Dragan - what's this guy's problem??? No seriously, I hate this "boy is mean to you because he secretly likes you" CHILDISH ASS TROPE. It's not even a sort of dislike that I can digest from a red flag, no he is full on being mean and insulting & looks like he hates mc with every fiber of his being (I mean he literally clenches his jaw when he sees her coming) I don't like this (and this is coming from someone who loves romancing red flags) I really hope he has a GREAT excuse for why he acts that way other than he has a secret crush on her or else that would be stupid and I will use all my diamonds in making him miserable anyway I can

I was really expecting better from an RC writer not to do this annoying ass trope ESPECIALLY because GOE has already done it and it was no less ANNOYING...like what's going on with the "Boy is mean to you because he secretly likes you & you think he is in love with your dead twin sister but he is actually in love with you" trope?? Did Alice just take inspiration from anastasia's cas route or did a book recently blow up in book twt that had this trope, making other authors go crazy & venture into it or what?! Stop it, it's annoying & childish 🫵🏾

It's just been 2 episodes and I can already see that Lada has little to no backbone, why did anastasia write Lada being in love with that dragan idiot as the canon?? No like even on the determined/stubbornness path....Lada just keeps blushing like a fool thinking about dragan immediately after the idiot says the most insulting thing about her ever, even when I hadn't taken diamond choices with him, she was already blushing?? I hate my mcs being canonically in love with a character especially when said character is a jerk

Not only that but she also seems pathetic over him too, she obsesses over any little interaction her twin sister has with him, EVEN IN HER DEATH & FUNERAL, like what??? your sister just died and the main thing that made you finally drop a tear was whether dragan's gift was sincere or because he liked your sister so he gave you a gift because she asked.....like I would have been able to accept her having a crush on that idiot if she hated herself for it too or had strong internal monologues struggling with liking someone who despises her, like girl have some dignity please. I don't think I have found any mc so pathetic (in how she treats her romantic feelings aspect) in just 2 episodes.....plus she just feels so empty written (yes it has only been 2 episodes so we can't know much about her but still) it feels like there isn't even anything to know about her and please don't bring up lane because that is a very differently written character, she is written as cold and apathetic but we still could feel out her personality but lada? she isn't even described as being cold or empty, just average yet she still feels so.....meh

(I will humbly offer my apologies and give Alice all the praise if she progresses in the upcoming episodes, please note this isn't my analysis for the WHOLE story just this 2 little episodes so yes I do know there is still room for more and I am excitedly waiting on it. This is not a hate post)

Good thing I can say about Lada is that all her sprites are pretty and even though she feels bad about being average compared to her sister, she doesn't go the pick-me "woe is me, oh look at me I'm not like other girls route or develop some grudge or inferiority complex towards her sister for being better that her, No she accepts the way she is and instead find something else she loves doing that makes her whole)

The races

I either don't have eyes or I'm delusional because let me tell you, I haven't seen ONE black character in this story yet that was all the russians could complain of, either racists are that obsessed with black people that they pretty much see them every where, they aren't or there are some hidden characters that maybe I didn't see because where are the black people everyone was talking about? Only black person I saw was the opportunity to choose your mc's sprite

Infact, the race that I kept on seeing was asian (this also seemed weird to me but I googled it and it says slavic people extended to some parts of asia so they rightfully belong there & I don't really know what the russians have to complain about)

[spicyvampire]

Lada unknowingly matching Wisanu and Tan is so funny, like u sent the perfect person girl keep it up

[nomorefstogive]

Our Dearest Sin (Cross Posted on Ao3)

Well, well, well, here we are again ladies, gentlemen, and all things that lie betwixt the two, another rabbit hole to dive headfirst into and another project that will likely not be fully completed till at last we are laid to rest under the cold earth in colder stone. 

This is a trip into the bleak and despair filled world of Path To Nowhere, a land of sinners, Corruptors and Maniacs. A land of Black rings and of shadow Cabals that threaten to upend all there is and all there will be in a vain pursuit of their own goals.

But dear friends, none of these are why we are here.

No, we are here my esteemed comrades to instead indulge in some comfort and fluff, with the occasional sprinkling of angst for extra seasoning here and there, along with the occasional dark and warped and horrifically brutal moments for that extra kick, in the form of some oneshots featuring the wonderful Sinners of this world and the lovely Female Chief of Minos, though we likewise have ideas for a ficlet series with a female OC or reader insert for some of the ideas we have, though that might end up benign adapted for the Chief instead as well, we will have to see. 

A bit of a tidbit before we begin, we are a shameless yuri fan and simp, so expect most of these to be about the ladies of PTN, though the men will likewise get their days in the sun…maybe…probably…okay there is somewhere between a 0.01% and 70.0% chance they will be covered in platonic or friendly manners okay?

As a final note, this fic was inspired by Ota1612’s own Path to Nowhere fic, alongside Prisoner_of_Sin's own fic as well, links will be below this paragraph.

Ota1612’s Fic: https://archiveofourown.org/works/50373349/chapters/127266175 

Prisoner_of_Sin’s fic: https://archiveofourown.org/works/49781623/chapters/125660485 

That said, this project is something of an experiment in seeing if we can keep each entry below 10k words, that said we do not have much faith in that happening lol. 

With all of that said, let us begin our dive down this rabbit hole shall we?

Please note that you are all free to make use of any of the ideas you see in this story, so long as due credit is given and we are informed about them so that we can see what you have created as well. 

P.S. This Female Chief will be named Persephone, we were originally going to use our own Chief’s name, Lada, but we like the idea of using Persephone as a name for this female Chief a great deal more. 

Now, with all of that said and done, let us begin shall we?

Our first Chapter is devoted to the wonderful topkurorights, featuring Langley and the female Chief, so here we go.

Female Chief Pampering Langley After Work

It came to her slowly, like the slowly spreading venom of a serpent, that thing known as awareness that aimed to pull her forth from the tranquility that she had been savoring despite her valiant attempts to turn and flee from it and retreat into the merciful embrace of that quite dark stillness once more.

Yet in vain were each of her efforts,for no matter how grand and terrible the struggle she raged against it, and no matter how desperately she clawed at the darkness in pursuit of returning to its tranquil embrace, she found herself pulled forth from the safe cocoon of stillness and quiet and into a hazy fog of awakening. 

First to come to her was Touch, and with it there came to her the sensation of warmth gathered beneath her head, a pleasant sensation that seeped into her scalp and made her long to keep her eyes closed for longer still, and one that was made all the more intense by the feather light caress of soothing warmth and silken smoothness that carded across her brow before it dipped to cup her cheek, a softness that put shame to her sheets and blankets and made her long to burrow into its embrace.

Second to come to her awakening senses was Scent, something floral and soothing, a flower, whose name evaded her, and a faintest of hints of lavender, and below it further still was something not quite recognizable to her, something that combined with the floral aroma into something that resonated within her mind as the smell of something dearly beloved and cherished and made her shift to nuzzle closer to the source of it, allowing the soothing smell to ease her once more. 

Third to greet her awakening form was Sound, the distant echo of thunder resounding above the gentle pitter patter of rain, yet neither of these came to her as strongly as a low humming sound that caressed her ears as the gentlest whispers of wind, and yet still it echoed in her ears in a way that nearly drowned out the roar of the thunder and the crack of lightning. 

And at last, there came that moment when she was made to relinquish the soothing blanket of darkness and to wearily open her eyes, her vision foggy with sleep and yet present weariness that yet tried to bid her return to the embrace of the dreaming realm, though still, even with blurred vision, she could make out something that made her heart throb within her chest.

For looking down at her with blue-gray eyes that seemed to shine as they gazed down at her slowly awakening form, a small smile curling the edges of delicate lips as her humming stopped for but a moment as she leaned in, her proximity making Langley close her eyes to avoid getting any of the locks of gray hair that softly tickled her skin in her eyes as lips ever so gently caressed her forehead for a moment longer than a heartbeat. 

The scent of before was heady this close, intoxicating and enthralling, bidding her to close her eyes and nuzzle into the pale neck that lay before her, idly ghosting her own lips over the pulse point that steadily beat below the ever so gentle skin, the taste of the smooth skin making her hum as a low sigh left the lips of the one who now began to pull back from her.

Lowly, and quite pitifully in hindsight, did Langley whimper as she tried to chase the woman that was moving back from her, trying to cox her to lean back in with an unintelligible warble and lidded eyes, her acts making the woman holding her chuckle lightly.

“You are always so adorable when you are sleepy.” There came to her ears these softly chuckled words as the hand that had stilled in its gentle massage of her scalp resumed it caressing, nails lightly caressing her scalp in such a way that Langley felt the desire to close her eyes and savor the sensation once more, only to force herself to remain awake.

“What…what time…what time is it ‘Sephone?” Sleepily and near unintelligibly there came these words from the lips of the Spider of Paradeisos as she tried to sit up, only for a hand to gently place itself on the center of her chest and push her back down to rest her head on what she now knew to be soft thighs, the hand caressing her scalp pausing to tile her head and coax it into nuzzling into her abdomen, an invitation eagerly accepted. 

A low hum left Persephone’s lips as she gently lifted her hand from Langley’s chest and began to softly stroke her neck up to her cheek, her thumb idly putting the slightest bit of pressure on the corner of Langley's lips, after softly caressing them for but a moment, the pressure making Langley part her lips and take the digit into her mouth, the action making Langley let out a low purr of content while a slight sigh of pleasure leave Persephone’s lips.

For a moment longer there was silence as Langley silently enjoyed the scent and warmth of her lover, the additional sensation and taste of her digit in her mouth only serving to further lull her into closing her eyes once more, though she yet stubbornly resisted until at last she heard her lover softly purr to her-

“Time to sleep dear, we don’t have any work today so you can rest a bit longer. So close your eyes and rest, I’ll be here when you wake up.” 

The words yet still lingering in the air, Persephone leaned down and gently placed her lips to Langley’s forehead for a moment, before she softly tilted her head such that she could elan down and gently ghost her lips over Langley’s own  for but a second before she pulled back with a small smile as she saw Langley close her eyes and begin to drift off to sleep once more.

Sighing softly, Persephone tilted her head back and closed her own eyes as she continued softly stroking Langley’s hair, allowing the gentle caress of her lover’s breath against her clothed abdomen to caress her as she began to slowly slip into unconsciousness herself, yet leaving her thumb in Langley’s mouth for her to suckly upon ever so gently as they both got some much deserved rest.

Fin

1,078 Words…Holy Shit that is the shortest thing I have ever written…How in the hell did…you know what? I’m not complaining, I feel that this short little oneshot can be ended here, though if anyone feels otherwise please let me know and I might go back and edit it a bit.

That said, this is but the start of this merry journey, though I feel I must remind you all that I have many other projects I am working on, and as such cannot promise regular or cohesive updates for this fic in the future.

But, with all of that said and done, I hope you all take care and stay safe,

See you in the next chapter.

[clatterbane]

This shit is making me a little nervous, ngl. Maybe an hour ago, I went ahead and ate this pretty yummy tteokbokki cup (with some added kimchi and cheese), which I had actually been holding off on because it usually it is likely to hit my blood sugar like a truck even with loading up on plenty of insulin beforehand. Normally I would start out with 4 units in advance, and be prepared to get like 2-4 more units in later to cover that amount of concentrated particularly high glycemic rice carbs. By this time after eating it, I would likely be reaching for the insulin as the graph is shooting up into the red above the top range lines there. It's enough of a PITA that I just haven't felt like dealing with that enough to eat the thing.

But, tonight? One unit in advance just because it felt like maybe I shouldn't push my luck that hard to go totally without, and this is what the graph is doing:

(That's a new sensor put on yesterday, and it's wanting to be particularly noisy in the readings. Just ignore the aggravating spikiness of that line. I have double checked by finger sticks to calibrate, and it is accurate enough down the middle.)

Going by recent experience, I may actually need to grab a sweet snack before long, to keep that one freaking unit of insulin for a carb-dense meal from crashing my blood sugar right about when I want to go to bed.

Yeah, my three (3) remaining beta cells have apparently all decided to wake up at the same time recently, and go back to work cranking out their own insulin specifically in response to eating. And particularly later in the day. They seem to be night owls too.

It's apparently not unusual for later-onset folks like me to keep some level of insulin production going for longer. Which can change unpredictably.

Don't know if you can even call it a "honeymoon" at this point, since I do seem to be Stubborn Beta Cells Georg. They are still pulling this shit over 15 years in. That's kinda how the extended NHS medical negligence didn't just flat out kill me much faster. Kept limping along with just enough production to keep me progressively sicker and developing complications but only half-dead until that huge crash. Don't know how they managed it, or how they are this persistent even after it looked like they had finally keeled over for good. But, they're still going enough normally that I the endo has been surprised at how relatively little insulin I do normally need.

Some decent backup does seem to have let them recover enough to occasionally come back to work part time, though. This is just the biggest effort they've put in again so far. It's fucking weird.

Impossible to tell when that stubborn handful of beta cells will decide to go back on strike again, of course. But yeah, may as well take advantage of it while it lasts. Thus the post-midnight rice cake snack to begin with!

Maybe I should go ahead and cook some of the real deal over the weekend. I bought some tteokbokki a while back, because I do love it, but hadn't quite psyched myself up to fix it yet. May go for a cheesy variation, because why not.

Not my pic, but it is making me hungry.

[laylauganda]

Hanahaki disease.

For my two best friends. Hanahaki disease is a strong metaphor for untold and hidden feelings, you keep inside you until the rose petals inside you start to smother you and slowly kill you. In this story, the disease is more like a legend and you could never expect to actually get it.

There are gonna be POV’s for each one of us. Enjoy, i love you girls♡

School is draining and absolutely tiring. One thing’s good, being able to be with them.

The three girls named Lada, Sushi- a nickname she has for so long and Naty. Such a good friends, knowing each other since elementary school, always promising not to leave each other’s side. They would tell each other everything, right?

To better understand the story, there has to be POV’s.

Sushi’s POV:

I had a reason to go to school, well.. was it dumb

Of course my friend group was awesome but more people started adding in and I missed my big three. Me, Lada and Naty were divided into different classes and in my class..

there was a boy

Not just any boy, the guy who made me laugh my ass off from afar and who I absolutely adored. His name was Han and was he beautiful.. the big boba eyes and his chaotic behaviour was something everyone would say makes him gorgeous, right? The problem is that I never really talked to him, he’s popular in boy’s side of the classroom and he probably can’t even talk to women..

Today it was biology and we had to make pairs for our project, well that’s what i thought

“So, students! I am gonna make the pairs for you!” Said the teacher and i sighed.

‘is she fucking me? I was planning to be with my friend’ i thought in my head.

i looked around the class, worried.

“Okay! You are gonna get paper with a number, 1-15. If you match a number, that means you’re in a pair for the project!” the teacher said

i forgot to mention, it’s a project you can’t do in classes but in your free time, just great.

the teacher started walking from desk to desk, handing papers. “It better be someone smart, miss. I am a busy man” he said, obviously the one speaking was Han. He always seemed to try make everyone laugh.

i got the paper and i unfolded it. four.. okay, that is my lucky number after all.

i looked around the classroom, seeing pair of hands flash up. “Who’s my four!?”

are you kidding me? Out of all of them I GOT THE MOST HANDSOME AND ANTI-WOMEN GUY?

he stood there with proud nod and smirk, Han’s eyes quickly searching for his match.

I raise my hands slowly. “me?” I say with more like quiet voice. Han’s boba eyes shoot in my direction, smirk on his face. He got up from his desk, making his way to mine until-

“Ehm.. sit down everyone! You will talk about your project after class!” the teacher said. she really pisses me off these days

I look at Han with apologetic eyes and the teacher turns away from us. he sticks his tongue playfully at the teacher and i giggle quietly.Han proudly smiles to himself, probably because he made a girl laugh.

after class i pack my things

tap tap.. i feel fingers tapping my shoulder. I quickly look up with a shocked gasp. Oh.. it’s him

“hey! I am han and I heard we got the project together” han says with a bright smile. “you’re…”

“my name is Sushi.. a nickname for Sofie” i say. Han nods and pulls out his hands to get a handshake with me.

“okay, Sushi it is…” Han says as he nervously looks around.

“Should we exchange numbers? We can talk about the project and stuff” i say to save the situation and Han nods, handing me his phone whole i hand him mine.

me and Han decided to meet on Saturday at my place. Exact time was 4pm, not too late and not too early. Since we exchanged numbers, han seems like he doesn’t take it too seriosly. It would be okay if this wasn’t the project making half of our final grade.

4:30 PM… where is he? Should i text him?

5 PM.. is he okay? Where the fuck is-

“I’m at your door” a text message pops up. After an hour? Too early.

i open the door for him. he smiles at me and waved a little as he gets in my house. Weird.

“Where can i sit?” he asks and i point at the sofa. “Here, please make yourself at home” i say.

“You know, you could be on time the next time” i say, still confused. Han nods and looks down.

“Yeah.. sorry, i had some things that needed to be taken care of” he says. “Do you have plans for this project?” He adds.

i nod and show him my ideas, he doesn’t really care about the project but.. atleast he’s funny.

“This one looks like weed, seriosly!” han says with a giggle. i die with laughter.

“WHAT?” I say with loud chuckles, it was a picture of a cell that has chlorophyll inside.

the night was long, full of his stupid jokes i for some reason love so much. Han joined me in actually working on that project, occasionaly stealing my ipad so he can write it in himself, ending up with a fight over my own device.

i catched myself looking at him with glued eyes. How can such an autistic boy be so attractive and cute?

meetings happened and after two more, next was at his place, next week. The week i was supposed to meet my friends. I decided to finish the project already, even though these meetings are gonna be something i will miss so much.

“What’s up, sexy. Whatcha doing here?” han says while smirking and blowing me a kiss, him ending up laughing at his own joke on the floor.

we eventually sit in his bed, laughing more than working.

“lock in, yeah?” Han says, compressing a laugh, slightly looking in my direction and bursting out with laughter.

“CAN YOU STOP?” I say, trying not to pee my pants as he keeps adding the jokes up.

“Then you no talking now” han says and he covers my mouth with his palm, signalling to be quiet, i roll my eyes. He was the yapping one this whole time, WDYM?

the meeting today was different.. atleast for me. Ifelt more close, clicking with the same stupid humour. But han.. was complicated. He was a mood maker for sure, but.. does he even care?

He was really nice, yes but also.. he never talks about his inner thoughts. I wonder if he would even see me as a friend.

“I think this is enough!” han says happily, looking at the project we made.

“See? It wasn’t that big of a pain in the ass” i say with raised eyebrows, happy he actually helped a lot.

“I think the every five minutes burst outs were the key. and that’s my pleasure, don’t thank me!” Han proudly says and pats my head.

“I wasn’t planning to but-“ i chuckle as han gasps with a fake upset sound. Shaking his head in disbelief.

It became a comfortable silence, something so soothing I could fall asleep. I heard Han’ breathing and maybe even birds outside, but that was possibly my imagination making me remember this moment forever. I got the balls to speak.

“Is this the last time we actually hang out together?” I asked, leaning onto his shoulder. Feeling han’s hand brush my back but quickly put away confused me.

“I- i would want to hang out later too… we can, for sure” han says. Han thinks she’s a great friend and a gorgeous one too.

After a few minutes, i decided to go home. Driving from Han’s house to mine. Noticing a notebook i accidentaly took away from him. I’ll give it back later

Next day in school:

the day was starting good and i was excited more than ever. It was for him of course. That’s what friends feel like.

I sat down in my seat, Han greeting me with a bright smile and wave. The class started and the day went well.

Before the last class, Han asked me if i wanted to just hang out while he worked on some texts. Han had a little band at the school with his friends. Of course i couldn’t say no. The class was torture, maths. After surviving the killingly slowly ticking 45 minutes Han sat next to me.

After few minutes i spoke up. “You can sing right?” I smirked at him.

“I am a god at singing, wanna hear?” He asked and i nodded. Hearing him sing almost made my sob. He had such a beautiful voice. I guess i’d never change my mind about Han being talented.

suddenly a girl was standing in the doorway. Clapping loudly. “Wow! Han, you have such a nice voice!” the girl says. what does she want?

“Thank you, i have an inspo for lyrics loss but i guess singing stayed with me today” han said proudly with a smirk.

“How about i’ll be your inspo?” The girls says with a almost annoying giggle, god i hate these.

“Careful, i can’t decline these offers!” Han says jokingly.

why doesn’t he talk to me like that? Why do i even care right? He’s just a friend. Nothing else. Just Han.

“You okay? You look pretty bored” han asks. I look at him with straight face.

you say that after smiling like an idiot at that girl

“Everything’s fine, i just wish you could actually focus on work instead of other things” i said, immediately regretting it.

“Was this something against me?” Han says carefully.

yes, idiot.

“Not at all.. why would it? I gotta get home early today” i say quickly, leaving him confused.

why would he look at her like that? He would never say anything like this to me neither look at me like that.

I arrive home, laying in my bed.

is he not just a.. friend to me?

*Cough, cough*

i decide to drink some water to ease up.

Two weeks later:

i was laying in my bed again, thinking about Han.

He wouldn’t want me like that, he wouldn’t get it

*cough, cough*.. this coughing is getting a bit of annoying. am i sick or something?

i cough again, opening my eyes slowly to see two rose petals in my hand.

what the fuck?

[lizard-reads-the-world]

Book Review: The Conqueror's Saga by Kiersten White (🇷🇴  Romania)

[image 1: book trilogy covers: And I Darken, Now I Rise, Bright We Burn. On each cover a spear slashes through an object: a flower, a necklace, a pomegranate; image 2: map showing modern Romania; image 3: the view from Poenari castle in Romania - the walls of a stone fortress drop away to a steep mountainous landscape covered in green; source: wikimedia]

And I Darken; Now I Rise; Bright We Burn

Author: Kiersten White

YA World Challenge for 🇷🇴 Romania

I've seen some criticism of this series by Romanian reviewers, one of which is Lada's name (which I agree is odd), and others that are to be expected when you take a national hero (Vlad the Impaler), gender-flip him, and write him in love with the leader of an empire that oppressed your nation for centuries. So it's important to acknowledge this series as pure fiction. It did have me flipping through Wikipedias of the the real historical characters mentioned, many of whom I had never learned about before.

While much of the series (1 and 2 especially) take place in the Ottoman Empire (modern Turkey), the series follows the point of view of two siblings from Wallachia, a historical region of the modern state of Romania.

Review

Lada and her brother Radu are left as hostages of the Ottoman Empire as children to keep their father "loyal" as a vassal. I loved Lada's character from the beginning: strong-willed, possessive, brutal even as a child, and "ugly". The character-building was expert and the way the author weaves relationships and motivations in a complex tapestry, against a backdrop of a rich world.

And I Darken builds the siblings' relationship with the future sultan Mehmed, setting up that messy love triangle, and a scheme to get Mehmed on the throne. While Radu falls for Islam, Lada is never not wholly dedicated to Wallachia.

With Now I Rise, oh lord, the gay angst!... dear Radu. With Lada gone off to find support for her kingdom, Radu is left with his angst. We see the battle of Constantinople, and interconnected politics around Eastern Europe as Lada raises her army and searches for allies.

Bright We Burn, and Lada is ready to go full-on Impaler. The action was great, until... the entire climax and ending. I felt the finale really cheated Lada and did not serve her character. I didn't feel that book 3 lived up to its title. (And god, what a cringe epilogue!)

I have such mixed feelings about this series because it is incredibly well-written and engaging throughout, with an epic world and depth of character. But I dislike the ending the more I think about it. Without spoilers, I can just say that I think the whole feminist theme built up through the book fell apart in the end.

Books 1-2 I would have rated 4.5 stars, but Book 3 ultimately pulled the rating down.

Other reps: #muslim #gay #m/f #lesbian side characters #orthodox christian

Genres: #alternate history #drama #romance #adventure #war

★  ★  ★    3 stars

SPOILER rant under the cut:

In Book 2, the gunpowder lady said something to Radu - that Lada would be the type to go out with fire. With a title called Bright We Burn, I fully expected to see Lada going down as brightly and destructively as a meteorite, taking herself out with everything. What a disappointment.

The ending and Lada's forced 'submission' to Radu, by him taking away every last thing she had, under the guise of *compassion*, quite rankled me. It took away all the independence of her character that the series had built up from the beginning, and replaced it with nothing.

And. The. Kid. That epilogue. No, just no. I hate that such a promising series had to end with the cisheteronormative notion that "you must bear progeny to have a legacy". Fuck that. It completely threw away everything that Lada was just to have this "oh cute she acts like her mother" moment. 🤮 That and Radu vandalizing the church floor with his weak, misogynist scratchings.

It could have been so much better.

[em-nikolaev]

The Duality of "Strong Female Character No. 2"

So, I'm re-reading the Conqueror's Saga by Kiersten White for what must be the thousandth time, and I keep comparing it (irrationally) to another series I'm re-reading, that being the shades of magic. The main line of connection I've been able to draw between them are the female characters featured within, both SOM and TCS have 'strong female characters' in a historical setting, but they are so very different in how they are written.

I'll confess, I don't like Lila Bard, she gets on my nerves, for the longest time I didn't really relise why, but now I have a thesis, so buckle in.

Lila is NOT a strong female character, she's manipulative, cruel, a bit misogynist, and selfish, which, on it's own would be fine, we love flawed characters in this household, but the problem is, it's never acknowledged in any real way during the series how her actions harm others, and even herself. Her views are validated and rewarded without consequence, I mean, there are moments when she feels some semblance of guilt, but it's never more than a fleeting thought, I'd like to make it clear, I understand why people like her, and that's completely fine, she's a strong woman with a knife and an absurd amount of confidence and that's awesome, but I can't help but feel that her presence in the SOM is bringing the series down, feel free to disagree, I'd love to be proven otherwise, but as it stands, I don't think the character of Lila Bard is a good one, especially in comparison to Lada, who is a similar character in a lot of ways, they are both forced to act more like men for safety and power, they are both strong willed and dangerous women, but the thing that I think raises And I Darken and subsequent books above and beyond in their writing is the way Lada interacts with other women, as well as how she reacts to the world and her own actions.

At first Lada and Lila are quite similar, Lada thinks of women as weak and powerless, likely due to how her mother abandoned her to a situation that ultimately resulted in both her and her brother's captivity (not a spoiler, it happens pretty early on, if you haven't read And I Darken I can't recommend it more, It's great) but as the story progresses her view is challenged, she meets many different women in a similar situation to her and she ends up seeing how femininity and their womanhood can be just as powerful as the control which she has found with blunt force and cruelty, but she finds that, for the very same reason those women were able to leverage their femininity, she was not able to, Lada is not beautiful, she is not "court smart", and she is not patient, these are faults which she understands, much in the way that the women around her understand that they too have faults in that they do not have the physical strength or strategy to fight numerous battles, all this to say, Lada is different than (some not even all) the women around her, that does not make her better or worse, just different, whereas with Lila, she's "not like other girls" because she's perceived as better, breaking even the very laws of the established universe to express that she is special.

I'm really interested in hearing anyone's thoughts if you've read either of these books, I would also like to say that I really enjoyed the Shades of Magic series aside from the grievances I stated above, and am not saying that I think V. E. Schwab is a bad writer,

With that I conclude my long winded essay, don't forget to drink water, eat food, and sleep!

[helloenee]

The Secret of Us episode 3 - in which Earn gets told off and Lada fantasizes about sweet kisses.

Earn... ate a banana... to be admitted to the ER to get attention from her ex-gf. She really deserved to be told off by literally everyone for such a stupid stunt. And they did! Did she take it to heart? I hope so. Please don't do such stupid things. Alas, love makes you foolish.

Tan is such a good friend. :( I wonder about how Lada and Tan knew each other. Childhood friends? They even went to study abroad in the same university.

The break-up depression flashback is so freaking sad. :( And again, Tan is such a good friend. No wonder he was so protective of Lada.

Lada was so depressed because she never knew the real reason that Earn broke up with her. Well! She still doesn't! Because even now, Earn never told her "sorry I fucked up. this is why I broke up with you. can you forgive me? also your mom was kind of a bitch". Whennnn will this conversation happen? Shouldn't you warn Lada about her mom not having her best interests? Speaking of, I haven't seen Lada's mom since Episode 1.

Earn is determined to earn Lada back. You go, gal.

But I also wonder, where is her line for giving up on this pursuit? She's getting told no over and over again. At this point Lada's friend is telling her off for harassing Lada and not respecting her boundaries. But it's the little moments that keep her going. The hand protecting her head from the table. The worried Doc when she was in the ER. That it's obvious that Lada still cares about her even if she tries to deny it.

Lada hesitating at the door and daydreaming a whole kissing sequence is the funniest thing. Oh, Lada.

Engfah is definitely... uh... making things messier. I love mess.

Parallels between Engfah and Earn. Both are pursuing their romantic interests. Both aren't getting what they want right now. Both are still determined! Engfah is much messier. And touchier. But Earn is kind of touchy back? Skinship is confusing.