#mine: treacherous

[chenfordspiral]

treacherous, ch. 6

It didn’t happen next time. 

They went on quite a few dates over the next two weeks, venturing from casual dinner dates at different lowkey and cozy restaurants and an evening stroll at the beach, to doing a Halloween themed escape room and going bowling where they’d realized just how competitive they both were. But somehow, he still hadn’t worked up the courage to kiss her. After he’d missed the moment at the end of their second date, it had just never felt like the right time. Or maybe he was just too careful and scared about crossing boundaries they’d both agreed on. 

They had plans for dinner and a movie tomorrow, so maybe that would be the day. 

Right now, though, he was bracing himself for what he was sure would be relentless teasing from Angela who was approaching the desk he’d sat down at to do paperwork. At least she came bearing gifts, if that second cup of coffee she was holding was indeed for him. 

“Sooo,” Angela started after, rather inelegantly, taking a seat next to him, “what’s up?”

“Mh?” 

“Anything you wanna… talk about? Or thank me for?”

keep reading here on AO3.

[wmnylander]

Dec 30, 2023

[finnickodaiir]

Speak Now or Red this or that. Mine or Everything Has Changed? Sparks Fly or Treacherous? Back to December or The Very First Night? Speak Now or Stay Stay Stay? Dear John or 10 min version of ATW? Mean or I Bet You Think About Me? The Story of Us or Sad Beautiful Tragic? Never Grow Up or Nothing New? Enchanted or Message in a Bottle? Haunted or The Moment I Knew? Last Kiss or 5 min version of All Too Well? Long Live or 22? Ours or Run? If This Was a Movie or Come Back... Be Here? Electric Touch or State of Grace? Castles Crumbling or The Lucky One? Foolish One or IKYWT? Timeless or Starlight? Speak Now or Red?

[mermaidinthecity]

Treacherous by Taylor Swift

[truthdarespinbottles]

Surprise Song Series #8: Speak Now // Treacherous

Art: Wooded Path by Claude Monet

[diduthinkihadforgotten]

i don’t know if i’m allowed to tell people or not. they’re asking what happened to us, why we don’t talk anymore.

i never know what to say, so i don’t.

what words could i align to make what we did sound less horrible? how could anyone forgive us for lying to them for months.

what will happen when everyone knows? it’ll come out eventually. when the levee breaks, when the mirror shatters, the catalyst comet hits, and everyone has to confront the gravity of what we hid.

i’m being cruel to you by going out of state for a month and a half. i’d stay longer if i could, i think. ideally i’d stay there until it all blows over.

you always said i was unreasonable like that.

i keep having this snapshot of a dream.

you’ve got your knife to my throat,

and you’re asking me what i thought was gonna happen. you’re laughing,

and you’ve got a cold look in your eyes that i was never on the receiving end of.

i wake up and think about that day we got high at the lake. you dared me to get in the water, as disgusting as it was. i forget why you were daring me to get in in the first place.

when i got out i changed my pants behind her car. you came back there with me and we chatted again about love.

you told me i’d been your favorite for a long, long time, and offered me a beer.

a few weeks later we were at the party, shooting pool and drinking better booze than anyone else there. we were building something, i think. i didn’t know we were until we built that sand structure at the beach.

when the party got too loud and i went to hide in her back seat, you followed me like a lost puppy.

i drunkenly whined about hating loud noises, despising half the people there.

you agreed and we fell asleep in the back seat with our heads on each others shoulders and your hands on my hips.

[librarycards]

I think my students either literally tune me out or actively don’t think I’ll give them zeros for plagiarizing but like that’s the one thing that I will 100% give zeroes for and not feel an ounce of regret about

[milkyberryjsk]

goig on an adventure (to the mall)

[swiftiesince2006]

out of focus eye to eye till the gravity’s too much

[outeremissary]

Top 5 Traitors

oh fuck yes

5. Kas the Bloody-Handed

Legacy pick (only one to make the final cut). You have had some contact with tabletop roleplaying game Dungeons and Dragons, so you may be familiar with the tale of Vecna: once upon a time, a powerful lich was betrayed by his trusted vampiric lieutenant, who cut off his hand and carved out his eye. Vecna is the most famous figure of this story, but as a kid reading through the relics in the 3.5 and AD&D books in the house, I was always fascinated by the vampire. Without Kas, the most iconic aspects of Vecna simply would not be: the Hand and Eye became the symbols of the lich's power in godhood and the clash between the two created the greatest myth of his existence. And Kas was related (at least in 3.5) to a wicked item as well- the Sword of Kas, a sentient blade dripping with its former master's malevolence and waiting to take control over its new wielder. Kas has a longer and richer publication history than just this (especially in 2e), but the bare basics of my pre-internet youth were enough to set wheels turning in my head. I was so fond of the idea of Kas and Vecna, former allies and now bitter enemies over some secret quarrel, that I made the focus of the campaign I ran in high school their history. We never quite got to Vecna, but the vengeful spirit of Kas did make an appearance, where he served as the party's mysterious and ominous adversary (and occasional ally).

4. Goro Akechi

I am told it is "very unsurprising" I am an Akechi fan. I really don't think anything else needs to be said about this one.

3. Alcibiades from real life

If you aren't familiar with the Athenian Alcibiades, he is my all time favorite historical figure. I think due to Assassin's Creed a lot of people know him now (fascinating choice with the white hair in that game), but he's a person so interesting he altered the trajectory of my life. Alcibiades was a younger contemporary of the famous Socrates (this is relevant. put a pin in it), living at the end of what many consider the Classical period of Ancient Greek history. He is one of the most famous students of Socrates, but he wasn't a philosopher. No, young, noble Alcibiades, nephew of Pericles, was a politician. Famous for his wild hedonism, keen intellect, and blinding charisma, he became a major populist leader in Athens in the early years of the Peloponnesian War and won a fairly significant command in Sicily. However, shortly before he was set to leave for Sicily, Alcibiades and peers were accused of defacing the hermai, protective statues of Hermes distributed throughout the city, rendering the hermai impotent in their function (two common beliefs about how they were defaced are that either the noses or penises were broken off- both prominent features on the simplistic phallic statues). The defacing of the hermai was a major act of impiety and an ill omen for the campaign.

Under scrutiny in the wake of these grave accusations Alcibiades ultimately decided to flee justice and defect to Sparta- if you're not familiar with the Peloponnesian War, it was fought between Athens and allies (many unwilling) and Sparta and allies (somewhat less coerced?). Up to this point, the war hadn't been going too poorly for Athens despite significant setbacks due to a plague in the early years and the death of Pericles. As an informant and strategist, Alcibiades turned the tide. Athens was put on the defensive and it seemed likely that Sparta had the edge needed to actually win against its wealthy foe (and as a side note the Sicilian campaign ended in disaster- some speculate that Alcibiades could have averted this if he had retained his command). Unfortunately, in the midst of these giddy successes Alcibiades fell out of favor with the king of Sparta when it was suspected that he had seduced the king's wife; some accounts go so far as to say there were rumors that King Agis's son was actually fathered by Alcibiades. In a bad position, Alcibiades fled once more, this time to Persia; the historian Thucydides claims that under new patronage Alcibiades embarked on a campaign of political and economic revenge against Sparta by ruining its relationship with Persian allies.

With both Sparta and Athens now in a disadvantaged state, Alcibiades persuaded the leaders of Athens to welcome him back and give him military command (as well as the curb democracy in the city-state and make him a part of the oligarchy). Once more, the war seemed to shift. Sparta stalled under wishy washy leadership while Athenian efforts saw some success thanks to the excellent leadership from now two time traitor Alcibiades. At the height of this, Sparta attempted to petition for peace and was denied. But it was the man's nature to be dogged by scandals wherever he went: ultimately political upheavals resulted in the installation of a less friendly government and he was driven from the city by enemies yet again after a major defeat. After that, he wound up an exile in the Achaemenid Empire once more; at one point he reportedly attempted to offer advice and aid to Athenian troops he recognized as being in a poor position, but was dismissed (these forces were annihilated by their foes). Ultimately he played no further significant part in the war. Athens lost and a Spartan puppet state was installed.

However, there was one final part Alcibiades had to play in history! You may recall in paragraph one I mentioned Socrates. You may also know that Socrates was condemned for corrupting the youths of Athens and compelled to drink poison to carry out his own execution. Well, as it happens, one theory about what exactly was happening with that charge is that Socrates was specifically scapegoated for teaching Alcibiades, a dangerous enemy of Athens. Whether or not this is true (Socrates was an unpopular asshole in other ways) I feel that when you read Alcibiades as written in works like Plato's Symposium you can feel the tension of Alcibiades' ruined post-war reputation and how it reflected back on his acquaintances. The Alcibiades of the Symposium is vivacious, careless, sexual, and dangerously defiant of social order. He delivers the final speech in the work and when he finishes his followers cause the entire dinner party to collapse into disorder and be broken up. And at age 18, I was so enamored with this bizarre ending to the work that I decided I had to study Ancient Greek history to understand everything about the world that produced that scene. When I wrote my honors thesis to complete my bachelor's degree, Alcibiades provided the frame of my introductory chapter: even though I had planned not to center him, in the end he became my mission statement.

As it happens, most of my relatives never read past that first chapter, so I'm glad he was lively enough to impress... At any rate, he's quite special to me. If I could meet any one historical figure this would be the one. Basic bitch answer, I know, but hey. He had a real impact on me.

2. Tristian

(Spoilers up to the end of the quest Betrayer's Flight)

Kingmaker has made something absolutely wretched of me, as any who have had contact with me in the past three years (yikes) can attest. Tristian has entirely, wholly melted my brain. Something about a treachery that's so vividly clear and predictable but you still can't believe because you just... can't reconcile the idea with the person you know. And then the added layer where there's nothing false about that initial understanding! Despite all the secrets and deceit, somehow Tristian is still exactly as they are originally met. All of that good intent and compassion and naive sweetness is real, every bit as real as the little bursts of pettiness and condescension and the fixation on performance as a servant of Sarenrae. It's such a heady mix of sincerity and selfishness. I am enamored with this character. You know I am enamored with him. Complicit in attempts on your life! Enabled mass murder! Willing to sink to the absolute depths to recover the comfort of life as some ideal self that never really existed! Dogged by guilt, but never enough to endanger himself or his goals until it's far too late to avert the most heinous crimes. And so many of the little sabotages and treacheries centered on one single person of personal interest... I adore the ways that Tristian contradicts and undermines himself while being so straightforward and undisguised. Such a unique character to me, and one I find... very personally relatable in some of the flaws and motivations. Not that I've engineered any bioweapons, of course! Anyway. I could prattle on endlessly about Tristian, and I think you've already heard much of it! So I'll let this be.

ACTUALLY coming back in with an edit that I will try to keep SPOILER FREE so I don't have to change the warning but the end of that companion quest line was a betrayal to ME PERSONALLY and I will DIE MAD and it is EXTREMELY RUDE to be abandoned like that!!! Fuck this guy. Fuck this guy. I'm feeling some kind of fucking emotion here.

Anthy Himemiya

I went back and forth on who should occupy the number one position on this list and was ultimately won over by the fact that in the famous "Top 10 Anime Betrayals" of memetic fame, Anthy is in fact listed as number one. Anthy is also my favorite anime character of all time. If you haven't watched Revolutionary Girl Utena, stop reading this and go watch it. Seriously. Watch the whole thing. Even the stupid bullshit and the recap episodes. It is the best anime I've ever seen.

Anyway. If you have watched it, then you probably already understand my reasons. Anthy is a captivating symbolic depiction of femininity under patriarchy, a woman who does not desire her own oppression but struggles even to dream of liberation. She is a victim of abuse and a perpetuator of the cycle: she casually destroys the vulnerable and ruins those who would be her allies. She is on a campaign of her own destruction. Anthy is not a good person, but she has born the blame for evils she was never responsible for as long as she can remember: she is the quintessential Eve figure. Her betrayal of Utena is shocking not only because the two have finally reached an understanding and earnest trust, but because it is a clearcut betrayal of her own desires (even if Utena wavered in a critical moment). And ultimately? Ultimately? Anthy isn't freed by Utena! Although Utena never gives up on her, she doesn't "rescue" Anthy, only passes on enough hope to allow Anthy to escape her circumstances herself- perhaps ultimately making Anthy the true heroine of the story. I laid on the floor for a few hours and thought about life after finishing this show.

I adore Anthy. She's such a subtly drawn character so dripping with nuance. She's not a heroic or villainous character, in contrast to Utena, and she can be truly vicious both in her service of Akio and pursuing her own petty vengeances. Although she is constantly cast as weak by other characters, she has endured unspeakable suffering and has found a form of power and agency even in her captive state. Anthy has a mystique that I could spend a lifetime thinking about. This is such a rich, complex story, but Anthy shines at the center of it and stands head and shoulders above the rest of an unbelievably compelling cast.

[chenfordspiral]

treacherous, ch. 5

The next five days dragged on. The only upside to spending twelve hours on duty was the knowledge that with every end of shift, he got one day closer to seeing Lucy again. He’d spent almost two hours on the phone with her on Sunday night before they’d finally hung up so they could both go to bed. Even though they had only met once, and for only a couple of hours, it was surprisingly easy to talk to her. Which, again, should terrify him, but it didn’t. At least not in the way he thought it would. Plus, he trusted Angela, despite how her first attempt at setting him up had gone. 

He hadn’t felt this excited to see someone, to go out on a date with someone in forever. Not since he first started going out with Isabel. He probably shouldn’t be thinking about his ex-wife too much right now, though, otherwise he feared he might chicken out again and cancel on Lucy. It would be better to cut ties now rather than let anything good get ruined further down the road, but the fact of the matter still was that he really liked Lucy. He’d already felt strangely comfortable around her, like he’d known her for far longer than he actually had. 

And he liked that feeling. He’d missed having that kind of connection with someone. 

Maybe he should slow down, tell his heart to chill before latching on full force, but maybe it was its way of telling him just how much he needed it, how much he needed someone like Lucy in his life. And he didn’t want to be scared. Scared is what ultimately led him to losing Isabel. 

He shook his head, willing the past away and instead focusing on the future, on the now. On Lucy. On his second date with her that he’d been looking forward to for the past six days. Tonight he would finally see that radiating smile and those captivating eyes again. 

keep reading here on AO3.

[willowremixes]

Full Remix Album time!

...well, kinda! This is where I'll be putting all of the Taylor's Version edits of OG version remixes, like Love Story Pop Mix, Haunted Acoustic, all those beloved remixes from the old days, that have now been updated by fans to have the new vocals instead! I'm calling them Original Remixes.

Right now this includes: Fearless International and Pop Mixes Red Original Demos and Pop Mixes Speak Now Remix Bonus Tracks Wildest Dreams R3HAB and a couple randos

but will be updated when more TVs come out.

Most of these are from Swift Leaks but the Love Story dance mixes are from EMF Productions, the Wildest Dreams R3HAB is from August Records, and the Red Demos are from Black Star Mixes.

[reasoningdaily]

DR Congo cobalt miners work in treacherous conditions

[cheesebrackers]

Want to know which mansion in dark moon would be the best to stay in a whole week?

Ok, that's a yes. so.

The haunted towers wouldn't be bad, there's some bedrooms, along a kid's room. But the three beds found in the haunted towers are definitely made for the sisters living here, the rooms are kind of infested with growing plants, and as far as I remember, they're all spiky. Tho, there's a possible of sleeping here, there's a damn pool, ain't that cool???

That would be. 2nd place

The old clockworks suck. There's sand everywhere, and the whole thing is busted. I don't remember finding anything edible here don't eat the fucking sand btw

I'm sure even the rooms accessed by the conveyor belt have sand. I hate sand. I'm not sleeping in the god damn drafting office. It probably has sand. Also there's robot bombs that run way faster than you. Fuck this. The old clockworks are definitely not meant for staying. 5th place (last place)

The secret mine is. Eh. Definitely not someone's first choice, but not impossible to stay in. It's cold as fuck, that's for sure, even the fucking spectral being was freezing

But the good thing is that there is some rooms with fireplaces! The chalet seems to be warm enough, and there's lil fuzzballs running around. These r cute I love them

You should bring food from the outside tho, cause there ain't much here. 4th place (mostly for being extremely cold)

The treacherous mansion? It's. Surely possible. It's a big museum, there's definitely what you need there. You even got stuff to defend urself lol

But the thing is, as I just said, it's a museum. It's fucking big. Also scary. And probably dirty. I wouldn't like being here. 3rd place tho, it's probably fine.

Ok anyways

The first place

The mansion where I god damn wish I could be in

The gloomy manor

ITS A MANOR OF COURSE YOU HAVE EVERY REASON TO STAY THERE

just ignore the spider webs.

The gloomy manor is 100% meant to be stayed in. There's a few bedrooms, a yard, both front and back, ygot a mudroom, a foyer, a patio, a studio, a kitchen, a library, there's a whole dining room, a study room, a parlor,

I think it's enough reasons to stay in for a week

Also it's not as busted as some other mansions

I played this game for 8 whole years

[goldrushzukka]

🌹😳

😳😳😳

There’s a surge of something in Sokka, the same treacherous something that usually gets stuck in his throat but is now moving swiftly and unimpeded to the tip of his tongue.

send me 🌹 for a line from my WIP!