#not a man or a woman but a secret third thing literally

[condorclown]

gender is so fuck like I’m cisn’t and I’m not a man or a woman entirely but at the same time I’m kind of both but I don’t vibe with calling myself nonbinary I just don’t think it fits me even though that’s technically what I am and I don’t like they/them pronouns being used for me but you can’t say that without ppl being like “what you got against nb ppl and they/them pronouns 😡😡” literally nothing I think those are so rad they’re just not for me. that’s not me I’m something else but there’s not a word for the something else. Idk what I’m saying is we should invent a new gender just for me

[quitedisastrous]

i wouldn't mind going on t i think. it would be cool

[neverendingford]

.

[heavyhitterheaux]

Love Me Like You Do (NSFW)

Synopsis: Ever since you became the social media manager for the Bengals, you couldn't help but to catch a certain quarterbacks eye. The playful banter continues to build until the two of you can't take it anymore.

Pairing: Joe Burrow x Reader

Requested by: an amazing anon 💕

Do not engage if you are underage

Please Do Not Repost My Content Anywhere

“Can you focus for five minutes? I'm convinced you're about to start drooling. Stop staring at her. You act like she’s about to disappear into thin air or something.” Ja'Marr told Joe who instantly turned from looking in your direction as you were talking with Tee to make a face at him.

“I'm not staring.” Joe replied and now it was Andrei's turn to make a face right back.

“Ever since she started working with us, all you literally do is talk to her and stare at her when we have breaks during practice. Even on game days you barely let that woman breathe. You make sure that you see her before the game and immediately after. Before that, you would avoid being on our social media account at all costs. Now it seems like we have to pull you away from her.” Andrei added and Joe responded by rolling his eyes at him.

“Ask her out on a date already to put us out of our misery. I'm tired of hearing about it and tired of you making googly eyes at her like she’s something to eat.”

“I don't! But I can't help it if she's easy on the eyes. They're brown by the way if either of you haven't noticed yet. When the light hits them just right, they look like honey.”

“Oh, this is worse than I thought. This man is down BAD.” Ja'Marr told Andrei as he glanced at him.

“SIMP!”

“And who are you trying to convince? Us or yourself?”

“A little bit of both, but I thought she had a boyfriend?” Joe was thinking back to the time he had come across your Instagram and it was flooded with pictures with you and significant other. He also took note how the two of you recently celebrated your third anniversary together.

“Well being the good friend I am, I found out that they broke up about two weeks ago. We got to talking for a while and she mentioned that she had a lot more free time on her hands and needed to do something to occupy it.” Ja'Marr told Joe, who tried to contain his new found excitement.

“Joe knows plenty of things to do to occupy her time.” Andrei said before laughing with Ja'Marr also joining in.

The last thing that he ever wanted to do was be disrespectful and try to pursue you, knowing that you had a boyfriend. But now that you didn't, you were fair game. However, he didn't know if you would be quite ready for that to happen since the break up was still fresh.

“Wait, you're serious?”

Ja'Marr simply nodded his head before turning to look to see that you were tapping away on your phone and more than likely uploading content from today's practice to the Bengals official social media pages.

“Do you think she really likes me like that though?” He asked and both of them just stared at him.

“Don't ask stupid questions. Matter of fact, go over there and talk to your girl.” Andrei tried to convince him, but didn't wait for a response as he turned Joe around to push him forward, not noticing that you were in fact making your way over to them.

“We'll leave you two be. Y/N has harassed me enough today.” You heard Andrei complain and you simply rolled your eyes.

“Just because I found one of your baby pictures and printed it out on a shirt and asked you to sign it doesn't mean I harassed you. Hi, Ja'Marr, you'll be next.”

“PLEASE NO. I just don’t understand how you always find something embarrassing about us and post it on social media.”

“I have my ways and I will never share my secrets.” You playfully said as you winked at him, but all he did was roll his eyes.

“Here, bother Joe and leave me out of it.”

As soon as both of them started to walk away, you turned to Joe and smiled.

“I definitely need to see that baby picture, so I can mess with him later.” He told you as he played with his helmet in his hand.

“I already posted it on the page if you want to take a look. But since I have you here, you looked good out there today. How are you feeling about Sunday?” You asked as you whipped out your phone to press record to add it to Tik Tok.

“I’m feeling better now that I saw you, princess. You make practice worthwhile.” Joe threw a wink in your direction and he couldn't understand where this new found confidence of his was coming from, but he was in no way, shape, or form complaining about it.

“JOE! I can't post that! And I mean how did practice go today?”

“You can post anything you want, Y/N. You're the manager after all.”

“But not you calling me princess!”

“Why? Don't want to make anyone jealous?” Joe asked as he inquired about your boyfriend, well now ex-boyfriend.

“Only people who would get jealous are your little groupies.” You told him as you rolled your eyes.

“Hmm. I guess, but they'll just have to deal with it since I can't help that I like talking to pretty girls. Especially with the name Y/N and if they have brown eyes.”

“Joeeeee, can you PLEASE be serious for thirty seconds!?!? Thirty seconds is literally all I'm asking for here.” You whined as you felt your cheeks heating up.

“Am I getting you all flustered?”

“Why are you making this more difficult than it needs to be? This is the last thing that I need to do for the day. Stop playing and answer the question!” You playfully said to him and he simply shrugged.

“I like talking to you, and can tell that you like talking to me too.”

You were taken aback by how forward he was since Ja'Marr had shared with you the other day how reserved he usually was and the fact that it had been that way since the two of them met at LSU.

“Hmm, who told you that?”

“No one had to tell me that. I can just see how you constantly smile while we are. Did I ever tell you how pretty it was? Your smile, I mean.” He asked as he stepped towards you, closing the small gap that had been there before. He was standing directly in front of you and his eye contact never faltered as he moved one of your curls out of the way that had fallen. The butterflies immediately erupted and you thought your heart was about to beat out of your chest.

“Burrow, you are going to get me in trouble.” You whispered as you poked him in his chest and your work phone had been long forgotten and slipped into your back pocket.

“And I'll make sure to get you out of it.”

“Y/N! You almost done?” You heard Mindy ask who was one of the people on the social media team with you and nodded your head yes.

“I see everyone wants your attention and I think I've taken enough of it for the day, so what did you want to ask me?”

“You are one person that I'm never going to complain about if you take up my time. But, my original question was "how are you feeling about Sunday?” You asked as your work phone was pulled back out and only the actual question for Joe was caught on video.

“Definitely feeling good, we had good practices all week and worked on some things that needed improvement. As long as we keep doing that and moving forward, I'm hoping for a good outcome.” Joe finally answered and you smiled as you ended the video.

“I'll see your pretty face cheering me on this Sunday? Left up to me, you would be in my suite in the stadium, but I know you need to be down here working. But I can only complain so much since you'll be closer to me on the sidelines.”

“I bet your suite can also be used for something else, but I guess it has to be saved for another time.” You whispered to him and all he did was smirk.

“Be careful, princess.” He told you as he picked up his helmet and held your gaze.

“I'll see you on Sunday.” You replied as you winked at him before walking towards Mindy who was smiling and wiggling her eyebrows.

“No, stop.” You told her as you pointed your finger at her and shook your head, but she continued making faces.

“So, what's happening between you and our favorite quarterback over there?” She asked as the two of you started walking back to your office. Your goal was to edit a few more videos before posting them and then going home.

“Absolutely nothing and I have no idea what you're talking about.”

“Cut the bullshit, please. Ever since you came on, he has been infatuated with you. Before he would literally try to run from us and avoid us at all costs.” She told you and you couldn't help but stifle a laugh.

Yeah, that sounds just like how everyone else described him before you got hired.

Mindy had been there for a year before you came and would constantly tell you stories about Joe. She knew that you had eyes for him even when you were still in a relationship that you knew was going nowhere.

“Isn't that against the rules or something here?”

The last thing you ever wanted was to get in trouble because they could find another social media manager, but definitely couldn't find another Joe Burrow.

“Who says anyone has to know? Joe is literally the most private person on the team and I highly doubt that he would ever put you in a position where you could possibly lose your job. We all can tell that the two of you like each other. A blind person could even see it.”

“I don't know, I don't have the best track record with athletes.” You told her referring to your ex-boyfriend as you unlocked the door to your office and walked in with her quickly following behind you and closing the door in order to keep the conversation as private as possible.

“Just give him a chance. I know that you won't regret it. You didn't hear this from me, but he does ask me about you when you aren't here. You broke up with your boyfriend who literally cheated on you on your birthday. Just give that white boy a chance.”

“And if it doesn't work out? It's not like I can actually avoid him since we literally work at the same place.”

“And what if it does work out? You have got to stop being so negative all the time and try to look at the bright side of things. Do you know how many girls wished Joe looked at them the way that he looks at you? I'm surprised we haven't seen him drooling at this point.” She muttered and you couldn’t help but to laugh as she went to your mini fridge and grabbed sparkling water while also handing you one.

“I literally just broke up with Carson not even a month ago.”

“And maybe that was your sign that it was time to move onto something bigger and better.”

—

It was now Sunday and as the two minute warning was announced, the frustration on Joe's face was evident and it was clear that the Bengals were about to suffer through another loss. You watched from a short distance as he made his frustrations known by throwing his helmet with a string of curse words soon following.

The game had started off well and looked promising, but the defense couldn't get it together to save their lives and looked as if they had never seen a football before in their life.

Joe had played exceptionally well and it made you sad to think that he was going to get the blame for the loss even though it clearly wasn't his fault.

Another touchdown had been scored by the opposing team and even though the looks of defeat were prominent on the sideline, the offensive line held their heads high as they grabbed their helmets to head back into the game.

As the play was underway, Joe couldn't find anyone open to pass it to and ended up getting sacked and you could hear Mindy sigh as she was standing next to you when suddenly an idea popped into your head and you hoped that Joe would be up for it when you presented the idea to him.

As expected, once the game was over Joe was the last one to walk out of the stadium and he was caught off guard at the sight of you being next to his car waiting for him. He gave you a small smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

“Don't worry, not here to record anything to post tonight. Just had an idea to hopefully make you feel better if you're up for it.”

“Y/N….”

“I know you probably want to be by yourself right now and sulk but not because you played absolutely amazing but because some of your teammates didn't and you'll ultimately get blamed for it, but let me do this for you.” You pleaded as you moved closer to him and took his hand in yours.

Sighing to himself, Joe finally gave in and nodded, making a smile break out on your face.

“It's not too far from here and no one should bother you because it's really discreet and low-key. I'll drive so hop in.”

Joe heard you unlock the door and wasted no time opening it and sliding into the passenger seat.

Once you were settled behind the wheel, you took off towards one of your favorite hole-in-the-wall spots in downtown Cincinnati as Joe had his eyes closed and his head was resting against the headrest.

You left the music on a low volume, figuring that the less stimulation Joe had would be for the better.

Pulling into a parking spot at the back of the building, you put the car in park as Joe was looking around and taking in his surroundings.

“Where are we?” Joe asked, not really recognizing this particular part of the city that you two were currently in.

“You look like you could use some comfort food and cheese fries are at the top of my list when it comes to that. So that's what we're here to get.”

Joe contemplated for a minute before shrugging his shoulders.

“Just have to spend another hour in the gym this week to work it off, but fuck it. Let's go.”

The two of you proceeded to exit your car and walk around to the front of the building towards the entrance. Once Joe walked in, he could see why this was one of your favorite places. It was quiet and not a lot of people were inside.

“You want to share one? It's usually stacked all the way to the ceiling and I can never finish one by myself. But it's my treat anyway, get anything else you want.” You told Joe as he was still scanning the menu to see if he wanted anything else to go with his cheese fries.

“You don't have to do that.”

“They're sympathy fries so yes I will do it.”

“Does that come with a side of sympathy kisses too?” Joe asked as he whispered in your ear and smirked at you, but you kept your eyes on the menu in front of you and it took everything in you to not turn around at that very second.

Before you could respond, it was your turn to order and before you could swipe your card to pay for it, Joe beat you to it and you couldn't help but to roll your eyes.

“Seriously? I told you that they were sympathy fries and that it was my treat.” You told him as you turned towards him.

“And I asked you if that came with sympathy kisses and you have yet to give me an answer.” Joe replied as the cashier handed him the receipt as the two of you went and sat in a booth in the back corner hoping that he wouldn't draw a lot of attention.

“It could come with more than kisses, but like I said before, you sir are going to get me in trouble.” You answered as you slid into the booth with Joe immediately sliding in next to you. Both of your backs were facing away from the other customers in the store and Joe took this as an opportunity to place his hand on your thigh.

“And like I said before, I'll make sure to get you out of it. I can’t wait until I have you whimpering underneath me.” He whispered in your ear and the butterflies once again made themselves known.

“Are you always so forward in telling girls what you want?”

“Only the pretty ones that catch my eye.” He told you as he pinched your cheek making them instantly heat up.

“Oh, so there's others besides me?”

“What? You jealous princess?” He asked as he went to the counter to get the cheese fries that you two would share.

When he came back to the table and set it down in front of you, he slid back down into his seat next to you.

“I think you get a kick out of me being flustered all the time and say certain things on purpose to do it.” You told him as you reached for a fry.

“I do it because I think it's cute, but you have no reason to be jealous anyway since you're the only one that I have eyes for.”

“If I'm the only one that you have eyes for, then why haven't you asked me out on a proper date?”

“Because someone made me aware of the fact that you had just gotten out of a relationship. I definitely want to go on an actual date with you, but I want to do this at your pace. I don't want to make you uncomfortable in any way or pressure you. I'll be here and we'll just do it when you're ready. So for right now, if you just want me to continue to get you flustered or hot and bothered, I don't mind.”

—

It had been a week and two days since Joe had seen you and he was getting more and more worried by the minute. It wasn't like you to miss work, so his first thought that popped into his head was that something must be wrong. When he asked during practice all week if anyone had seen you, the answer was no. Even Mindy hadn't seen you which left him thoroughly confused.

In the back of his mind he was hoping that he didn't scare you off and was now silently cursing to himself about how forward he was with you the other night when you two had gone out after the game. After a meeting that he had with Zac, he went on the hunt for your office. Once he found it after getting lost a few times, he knocked on the door and heard your soft voice telling him to come in.

“Are you avoiding me, princess?” Joe asked as he smiled at you and stepped all the way into your office as he closed the door behind him.

“Hey, what are you doing here? There isn't practice today and no. I wasn't avoiding you, I just haven't felt all that well for the past week so that's why I wasn't here.”

“I wanted to thank you properly for what you did for me the other night. I needed that.”

“You’re welcome and hopefully that won't be the last time it happens. You've thanked me multiple times already so that is more than enough.” You told him as you moved your laptop to the side to give him your undivided attention.

“But not properly like I want to. And are you feeling better now?”

“A lot better. So much better in fact that I actually came to work as you can see.”

“Oh? I thought it was because you missed me.”

“Hmm, I can actually admit that I did. And what did you have in mind to thank me properly?” You asked and Joe came around your desk to stand right next to you as he leaned against it.

“I can show you better than I could tell you.”

Standing up, you moved a little to the left so that you were directly in front of Joe in between his legs and lifted your arms to place them around his neck.

“Does thanking me properly require us to wear clothes?” You whispered against his lips and a smirk immediately came across his face.

“It actually doesn't, but it does require letting me taste you.”

“Then I think it's best that we lock the door.”

As he nodded, he slipped away from your hold on him and went to lock the door before walking back over to you and meeting his lips with yours.

Those butterflies were once again making themselves known as Joe's hand played with the waistband of your shorts and broke apart from you to ask for permission to make sure that it was okay.

Giving him a quick nod, he wasted no time in removing the material from your body along with the thong that you were wearing underneath of it. He simply picked you up and placed you on your desk without warning as he then got comfortable on his knees in between your legs.

He kissed all along both thighs before reaching the destination that you wanted him to be at most and held eye contact with you as he took one long lick across your folds making you gasp.

“If we do this, you have to stay quiet for me. Oh, and one more thing. Your eyes need to stay on me the entire time, otherwise I'll stop. Think you can do that princess?” He asked as he inserted two fingers into you making you buck your hips forward and forgetting all about what he asked.

“I asked you a question and I need an answer. I need to know if you'll be a good girl for me.”

“Yes, I promise.” You quietly said and that was all Joe needed to hear before he dived in and showed you absolutely no mercy.

“Then make sure we keep those legs spread.” Was the last thing you heard before Joe decided to use his mouth as well as his fingers to bring you pleasure and you did as you were told.

Both of your eyes stayed locked on each other the entire time.

Nothing was coming out of your mouth except soft whimpers in the hope that you could stay as quiet as possible, but it was growing more difficult by the second.

Before you knew it, you felt him add another finger as your hands instantly moved to pull him in closer to you.

“Take your shirt off. I want to see all of you.”

Listening to his requests, you lifted up your shirt that had the Bengals logo in the corner of it over your head and tossed it into a corner behind your desk. Your bra was next to come off, and as you undid the clasp in the front, Joe began to suck on your clit.

He had immediately caught you off guard and a bigger moan ended up escaping past your lips and Joe gripped your thighs harder in order to tell you that you better not move.

“You like that princess?”

“Yes, fuck! Your mouth feels so good.”

“And just wait until you feel something else.” He replied as he went back to sucking on your coit as you slowly began to play with your nipples as you rolled them back and forth between your fingers and pulled at them.

Joe had kept his eyes on you the entire time like he told you he would and you honestly thought that you would be shy underneath his gaze, however, this new found confidence had made its way to you and you were not about to complain.

As Joe sucked harder and your juices were running down his chin, you knew that you were close and it seemed like he also had a sixth sense and knew because his grip on you had gotten even tighter.

“Babe…” You softly breathed out and Joe nodded instantly knowing what you meant.

You tried to push him away, but it was unsuccessful as you covered your mouth with your hand and came all over his face.

“Shit!”

Your legs were shaking, but that didn't matter since he was still eating you out and giving you his undivided attention.

Throwing your head back and breaking eye contact with him, you could've swore that you saw stars.

Recovery time was next to none as you opened your eyes and saw that Joe had now gotten rid of his clothes and was lightly stroking himself as the pre cum leaked from the tip of his dick making your mouth water. Seeing how big he was made you slightly nervous and he could obviously tell from the look on your face. Joe slipped on a condom with ease before looking back up at you.

“I promise to go slow and take my time. If you want me to stop, just tell me. You ready, princess? You're doing so good for me.” He said as he leaned down to place several kisses on your lips with you eagerly kissing him back.

To respond to him, you simply nodded your head, but that wasn't enough for him.

“Need to hear you say it, baby. You want me in you?” Joe asked as he was kissing along your neck.

“Yes, so so bad.”

“Then spread those legs some more and act like you want it.”

Both of your foreheads were touching and eye contact was kept as he slowly inserted himself into you and bottomed out making you both gasp.

This was long overdue and you couldn't believe that the two of you actually waited this long in the first place.

“Shit, you feel so fucking good, princess.”

Your arms wrapped around his neck as he began to move in and out of you at a slow and even pace.

“Such a good girl for me.” Joe told you before capturing your lips in another kiss and slightly increasing how fast he was going.

A month ago, you would had never believed that the beloved quarterback would be fucking you in your office at the Bengals stadium, but here we were.

It was taking everything in Joe not to release right then and there because of all the built up sexual tension that had been happening for a matter of months but at this point in time, he chose not to care.

Less than three minutes later, both of you released at the same time and were doing your best in order to catch your breath. Joe stayed inside you as he placed kisses all along your upper body in order to let you ride out your high. Once he could tell that your breathing was back to normal, he slid out of you making you wince.

“You okay?” He politely asked and you instantly nodded your head.

“Never better and I think that’s the best ‘thank you’ that I've ever gotten.” You answered as you softly kissed him.

“And there's a lot more where that came from.”

“If there is like you say that there is then I think the most proper thing to do is to show me. If I'm getting all of this just for some cheese fries, I can't even imagine what I would get if it was something bigger than that.”

“Well we have plenty of time for you to find out.”

Two months later

It was still dark outside when you woke up with a start and you noticed the tight hold that Joe had on you since his arms were wrapped around your waist.

Grabbing your phone, you checked the time to see that it was around four in the morning and made sure to turn down the brightness to not disturb your boyfriend who was sleeping peacefully beside you.

He didn't have to be at practice until eleven in the morning and more than likely would want you to go workout with him once he woke up. Usually you didn’t work out when you went, because he would always do something to distract you on purpose, but you simply kept him company which he was more than pleased with.

You were caught off guard when you felt a soft kiss being placed on your right shoulder and they slowly made their way up your neck.

“Shouldn't my baby be sleeping?” He asked as he peeked over to see you scrolling through your phone.

“I think I went to sleep too early. I always forget when I come and stay with you that you go to sleep early like an old man.” You teased and even though you couldn't see him, Joe rolled his eyes.

“I need all the sleep I can get during the season. You know that.”

“I do know that so stop talking and go back to sleep and let me scroll on my phone in peace. You have to be up to go to the gym anyway in like two hours.”

“How can I sleep with that bright ass light in my face?”

“Stop being so dramatic, Joey. I turned down the brightness.”

“But obviously not enough. Put your phone down and cuddle with me before I have to get up.”

“Hmm, I guess I'll allow it.” You replied as you locked your phone and set it down on the nightstand.

“You know what? On second thought, lay on your back.”

“Do you want to lay on me?” You asked him as you adjusted in his king sized bed and Joe was now laying beside you.

“No, not yet. I want my pre-workout meal which consists of me eating you out first.” He told you as he threw off the comforter and moved closer to the end of the bed.

“I… really? And that's supposed to give you energy?” You asked as Joe hooked his thumbs in each side of your panties before pulling them down and you lifted up your hips to help him slide them off your body.

“It sure does. Especially when I hear you moan and you're telling me to go faster. Love it when I know I'm making my girl feel good.” He told you as he lightly brushed his fingertips against you.

“Then stop talking and get to it.”

“That's the second time you've gotten smart with me so your ass better not try to run away from me either.”

“No promises.”

–

It was now 10:15 in the morning and you were attempting to do your hair when you caught Joe's eye as he was watching you through the mirror.

“What babe? Why are you staring at me? Does my hair not look right?” You asked as you were now examining it and was going to take it out before he quickly stopped you as he walked over to you and wrapped his arms around you.

“Your hair is perfect, you don't need to do anything different.” He told you as he reached around and kissed your cheek.

Turning around to face him, you reached up to kiss him and he gave you several more kisses in return.

“Sometimes this doesn't feel real.” You whispered to him as he leaned down to kiss you on the tip of your nose.

“What doesn't feel real?”

“This. Us.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because having someone that treats me how I'm supposed to be treated and respects me and truly shows that he cares about me has been a foreign concept to me for a long time. And you've just been so patient with me. It just seems too good to be true.”

“But it isn't too good to be true and as long as you want to be with me I'm going to show you that every single day. You're never going to have to question the way that I feel about you and you have my word with that.”

You nodded as Joe spoke and immediately hugged him tighter as he kissed the top of your head.

“Can I confess?”

“Let's hear it.”

“I know that this is still kinda new and everything, however, I think I'm starting to fall in love with you more and more everyday.”

“And can I also confess?”

You nodded your head as he began to rub small circles along your back.

“I feel the exact same way.”

Taglist:

@hoodharlow

@wickedfun9

@a-moment-captured

@dandelionwrites8

@keiva1000

[riddlemearose]

There were a couple of things for me.

The first was realising the plot, especially the opening tutorial area, was a copy-paste from BOTW. Ghost King, area secluded from the rest of the map where you have to complete four shrines to leave, etc etc. It didn't have any of the importance that I felt the Great Plateau did. Hearing Zelda's voice, watching the Calamity awaken and envelop the castle, and finally having Rhoam himself be the one to ask you to save Zelda and the rest of the Kingdom hit hard, and I didn't get any of that w/ Rauru and the sky islands.

The next thing was the loss of the Sheikah tech like everywhere - and finding out that the devs were like "yeah it just vanished". Umm what? The Sheikah and the ancient technology is one of the two cores of BOTW's whole narrative, with the other core being nature. Number 1 how do you just strip that away, especially when it's so key to Hyrule's history? And number 2, what's replaced the Sheikah tech then? The answer is nothing. The Zonai were introduced to be a replacement, but the writers never went in depth with anything about the Zonai. They lived, they died, we get to use their stuff for free.

The Secret Stones. Wtf is up with them? It feels weird that Ganondorf is causing the regional phenomena to stop people from finding the Stones or something, when literally no one knows wtf a Secret Stone is, nor would be able to or have any reason to go access the temples where they're kept. Ganondorf causing the regional phenomena is the direct reason anyone gets a Secret Stone. If he didn't do anything (like he does w/ the rest of the plot), then Link wouldn't have a single Sage?????

The biggest thing for me is the plot. For an open-world game, TOTK has an extremely linear and extremely shallow storyline. The thing about BOTW is it literally doesn't matter what order you do anything in; the story is the same and, better yet, it's wholly unaffected by your choices (in a good way obviously).

Totk does not have that. For example the devs don't want you to get the Master Sword before you find all the other Dragon Tears, Mineru and clear the Great Deku Tree, despite giving you the technology to get to the Light Dragon.

So if your story is reliant on people following it in a linear way otherwise they either get massive spoilers about important plot points, then it shouldn't be in an open-world game.

And finally Ganondorf. Oh my god, Ganondorf. This might get catch some shit but I dunno how they managed to make him more bland. His entire character is literally summarised perfectly by Yunobo in-game as "we don't know anything about the Demon King other than the fact that he's bad news and super strong".

Writers that is your main antagonist! We should know stuff about him? We should know his motivations and they should be more complex than "wants to destroy everything bc Power"?? What are you doing???

I was done w/ the game by the time I got to Ganondorf. Walked into the boss fight w/ several rocket shields, at least two 5-shot Lynel Bows and about 800 bomb flowers from exploring the depths to hide from the plot. Whole thing was over Very Quickly.

To summarise, here are my thoughts on TOTK Cons: the entire plot Pros: Glide Armour

wont have time to work on anything for a few days probably, so uh, since i love reading comments/tags of people sharing their experiences- as part of the preparation for the totk rant script i got another question to ask :3

if you dont like tears of the kingdom, was there a moment that "broke" you, as in, the moment you knew this game is worse than you thought/hoped, and if so what was it?

personally, while i was suspicious after seeing its last trailer, i told myself its just me again and i kept up my hopes for a long time into my playthrough- its hard to point to a specific point since it was a growing feeling of something being off, things didnt make sense and i ever so more wondered how they would pull this all together (they didnt)- i do think the moment i stopped being in denial about it was when i found the shrine of life, the beginning of botw, and found .. nothing, a dingy cave practically licked clean of any traces of the shiekah tech like it never existed, instead of the medical bed a pathetic puddle of water that healed you, no one caring at all, like it actually never happened- i felt like the game pointed and laughed at me for caring about botw, pretty sure i was struggeling to keep it together on stream bc it forced me to realize this game truly is everything i hoped it wouldnt be, even if that sounds a little weird, at that time zelda and especially botw was so much more important to me, a passion for the franchise this game really did end up killing.

[forwards-beckon-rebound]

jason todd instagram hcs

basics

his account's private

he created it around the same time he first knew about you

yes, he did do it because he realized it's probably weird for him to not have any sort of social media

and then randomly posted 2 things so he looked interesting (the shirtless pic may or may not be intentional and obviously the books to show his intellectual side or whatever)

really really bad with social media and all of the naming stuff (i mean are we surprised)

followers + following

mostly his family, friends, and other vigilantes he's worked with

literally whooped with joy the day wonder woman requested to follow him and he would not shut up about it

only person he's following is you ofc (he has a burner account so he can follow people and make sure his brothers aren't doing stupid stuff but he won't admit it)

highlights

yes he does refer to you as his wife to anybody who will listen (and even if they don't he'll still try to anyways)

it's a lot of photos of you guys on dates, some candids of you, basically whenever he thinks you look pretty (all the time) and you let him post the photo

i don't really see him being particularly sappy with his words so he probably just writes like "with my girl" or "date night" or something simple like that

and then some like classic rock song in the bg

honestly idrk what nunya is, i just thought it'd be funny to use that pic for something

probably him hanging out with his friends or random funny stuff he sees

will beat up a guy and then be like "lol went to check this guy's id and his name is deadass buford"

dog is of course photos of your dog, dog!! you guys share custody of her and you would kill anybody for her

there are some photos of him and dog that you've taken

but a lot of them are of you and dog

he likes to go through his wife and dog highlights when he's away on missions and stuff like that (but also he definitely has folders with way more photos on his phone)

posts

he doesn't post that often

but when he does it's usually of you lmfao

definitely posted the third pic from the bottom up when you guys got together

you took the photos of him for him and convinced him to post his to his instagram for once

the book he's reading is actually one you recommended

you guys have a mini book club between the two of you (you guys just read and annotate books and then trade)

you got him the harley davidson jacket because you figured he should have different jackets when he's going out as red hood and as jason todd or else he's not gonna have a secret identity for very long

he's kind of obsessed with it

accidentally got some sort of theme going on? you think it's so funny because this man didn't even know that instagram themes were a thing

dick ver.

[transmcytshowdown]

Martyn InTheLittleWood:

Submitted for: Third Life, Last Life, Double Life, Limited Life, Secret Life, Wild Life

Headcanons: Transfem Bigender, she/he; Transmasc, he/him; Nonbinary, pronouns not specified

Propaganda: “Martyn inthelittlewood is transfem and bigender (she/he) and [the submitter] stand[s] by that always.”

“[The submitter] will never forget that he was drawn as a calico cat in a secret life thumbnail. [If they remember correctly], the artist did it by accident but it was real in [their] heart.”

“c!Martyn is very "I'm probably non-binary but I'm busy with the horrors so I got no time for that" coded to [the submitter].”

“He does so many silly voices. In LL Pearl said something about one of them and Martyn responded with 'Thanks, I made it myself'. This man does voice training.”

“He does so many silly voices. In LL Pearl said something about one of them and Martyn responded with 'Thanks, I made it myself'. This man does voice training.”

“[The submitter is trans and [they] spelt [their] name with a y for fun so.”

Geminitay:

Submitted for: Hermitcraft, Empires SMP Season 2, Secret Life, Wild Life

Headcanons: Trans woman, she/her; Nonbinary, she/her; Transfem, pronouns not specified

Propaganda: “Okay, just look at Gem's worldhopper storyline and tell [the submitter] that it isn't a trans allegory. Gem goes to sleep and wakes up in a world where she can live her fantasy of being a princess. She's literally trying to experience a typical afab childhood as an adult! Also, transfeminitay is such a good merging of her username. [They] don't think [they] have more specific things that come to mind right now, but the vibes are so there!”

“She is so trans coded and opposite trans cherryblings is so silly.”

[littlelordfuckler0y]

enzo st. john x fem!reader Instagram au

hi anon if you’re seeing this I hope you like it :)

—

yourusername mystic falls autumn how I missed you

@gilbertelenaaaa mystic falls missed you too

@yourusrname I didn’t go to war man I was just getting masters

@dam0nsalvat0re oh I heard the rat problem is back

@bonbonniie he literally crossed boxes in calendar each day till ‘y/n gets back’ btw ^^

@yourysrname HAHAHAHAHHA SOFTY ASS

@dam0nsalvat0re @bonbonniee you literally had no business making that public information

@stefaNN18 Welcome back y/n!! We missed you!! 🥰💕

@yourusrname the mom energy your texting style radiates💀

@itsenzo ah heard a lot about you love, welcome home or whatever

@carebear you return my mugs to me or I SWEAR there will be consequences

@yourusrname I’ll see YOU in court

gilberelenaaaa for future reference: don’t ask y/n to watch the stove

@gilberelenaaaa not even for two seconds

@bonbonniie that is some serious witchcraft wow

@yourusrname sorry for trying to be helpful

@1tsenzo nice try! never try again 👍

@yourusrname you literally eat burnt toast for breakfast

@1tsenzo it’s called English brown bread toast

@yourusrname you’re so cheap you’d probably eat anything

@1tsenzo anything…? When you put it like that I can certainly think of a few things I’d be interested in eating

@yourusrname what happened to shame?

@carebear EW HES SO GROSS

@stefaNN18 is everyone alright? xx

@gilberelenaaaa yeah dw we have had a fire extinguisher on stand by

1tsenzo hate this woman’s guts

@yourusrname I call it divine intuition

@1tsenzo we spent half an hour trying to get out of the herd???????? and I have goat piss all over me????????

@yourusrname and? and?

@bonbonniiee CUTIE

@1tsenzo thanks

@yourusrname it was directed to me

@1tsenzo on MY post? Not everything is about you love

@bonbonniie it was directed to her though

@yourusrname HAHAHAHAHHA SEE

@dam0nsalvat0re where are you two???

@1tsenzo idk I was just giving y/l/n a ride

@dam0nsalvat0re why?

@1tsenzo because she asked me to…?

@stefaNN18 since when do YOU do things for other people that aren’t a felony in some way voluntarily???

yourusername Caroline tells you to get the dress? You get the dress.

@bonbonniiee amen

@dam0nsalvat0re even if it’s matching with your grandma

@yourusrname SHUT THE FUCK UP

@dam0nsalvat0re can’t unsee it can you?

@stefaNN18 do not listen to Damon he doesn’t know what he’s talking about polka dots are sooooo back again

@dam0nsalvat0re okay Miranda Priestly

@1tsenzo wow.

@carebear ABSOLUTELY STUNNING

1tsenzo dress like your girlfriend day

@carebear LMAOOOO WHAT

@carebear You?? Don’t?? Have?? A?? Girlfriend??

@1tsenzo yet

@gilbertelanaaaa does he think he’s pulled off dressing like y/n

@yourusrname ????????????????????????

@1tsenzo you’re just jealous I wear polka dot better than you

@gilbertelenaaaa it’s so difficult to tell if he’s flirting with y/n or fighting with her

@1tsenzo a secret third thing

@yourusrname he’s being a bitch

@stefaNN18 delete

@dam0nsalvat0re have you by chance ever heard the term self respect?

@1tsenzo I couldn’t care less mate she is SO lovely I really don’t think much about much

@dam0nsalvat0re can y/n just go out with him at this point I feel nauseous

—

None of the pictures are mine I save them from Pinterest

If people want I could do more parts of this (I am dying to) let me know if you’d like to be tagged and thanks you for the request!!!!!!!

[gingersnaptaff]

Welsh Law, Women, and The Mab - Mab March Madness 3

Sorry I have been gone for like what a week? Two? Idk. Anyways, I'm super sorry but I bring a TASTY TREAT TO APOLOGISE.

I'm gonna talk about The Mabinogion, Welsh law, and women's rights because boi howdy is a tasty af text. Quick note: I'm gonna be focusing like on every lady BUT I want you to know that they're all great. Another quick note: I'm not an academic but I am SICK AS FUCK OF SEEING PEOPLE USE ONE FUCKIN SOURCE FOR WELSH DIVORCE AND THINKING THAT EQUATES TO THE WHOLE FUCKIN THING. BAM. DONE. FUCK OFF. READ A GODDAMN BOOK. It's so much more complex and, by God, I'm going to tell u about women's rights, OKAY?!

‘Welsh myth,’ writes Peter Berresford Ellis, ‘is not short on determined women.’ Seriously, the Four Branches give us Arawn's wife (who in her only conversation with her husband gets the upper hand, TWICE!) Rhiannon (resourceful af, a fuckin QUEEN,), Branwen (a dignified figure, SENDS A MESSAGE TO HER BROTHER WITH A STARLING, brokenhearted for the destruction done in her name), Cigfa (owner of the only brain cell within the third branch), Aranrhod (actually needs to kill her brother and I support her), Goewin (what she goes through is horrific and she needs a SWORD), and Blodeuwedd (her whole vibe is IMMACULATE). The Three Romances give us Luned (Best girl, not afraid to give Owain a piece of her mind), Angharad (who could be seen as a thingy for colonialism but also generous if her ‘golden-handed’ epithet is anything to go by), and Enid (one of the Three Splendid Maidens of Arthur's court in the Triads! Eat shit, Geraint!)

Furthermore, you have Gwenhwyfar, who would later ‘get the short end of the stick’ within the Anglo-Norman Christian retelling of Arthuriana. Both Arthur - who had three mistresses in Welsh myth - and Gwen herself were having ‘adulterous intrigues’ in Welsh myth. She, particularly in Geraint ac Enid, is a fascinating look at a queen’s role within the Welsh court.

But lemme focus on the Four Branches real quick! They are, I'd argue, an enmeshment of Welsh Law and Welsh myth, in regards to women. Andrew Breeze says the Mab, ‘reads convincingly’ as being written by a woman. Its main thrust is to do with women and how they're treated by the men and the small but significant ways they break out of their patriarchal cycles.

Now, not every branch has laws in it but what they do have is fascinating. This can be most clearly seen in Branch 1 and Rhiannon's whole affair. It is she who holds the command within the first half of the text after she makes herself known to Pwyll. She is the one who makes the first move, as Breeze writes: ‘the shots are called by the woman not the man.’ It is she who rides past him in her ‘shining, golden garment,’ ‘sitting astride a pale-white horse,’ and imitates the chase that ultimately results in Pwyll chasing after her (and exhausted his horse.) Furthermore, she is presented as being the main instigator of the whole affair for she did not wish to be given to Gwawl ap Clud in marriage. This is true to Welsh texts for, as the Venedotian (North Walian) code states, ‘every woman is to go the way she willeth, freely.’ Try as her father might - and he doesn't thankfully, good ol’ Hyfaidd - he cannot force Rhiannon to marry Gwawl, even if he might try. But all this results in him being whacked in a bag and smacked about. ‘And that was the first time that Badger in the Bag was played,’ so the text proclaims.

Now, this personal bestowal or ‘lladrut’ (stolen, secretive, furtive) wasn't looked down upon as you might think. If it was then why did a literal fuckin princess do it in the 1100's? (*Blows kiss to the sky* for as Geraint H. Jenkins writes, ‘a beautiful princess so terrifyingly androgynous that she was liked by Gerald of Wales to the Queen of the Amazons:’ Gwenllian ferch Gruffudd ap Cynan!) This was just as legally binding as a ‘rod o cenedl’ (gift of kindred) marriage, and all children were accepted.

After that though, it Rhiannon she who is on the back foot and regarded suspiciously by Pwyll's court. Her aforementioned white and gold colours would've let the reader/listener of these tales know that she was Otherworldly, something to be feared as much as admired, and so she is by both the men who counsel her husband, and the women her son’s care is entrusted to.

The primary suspicion is cast upon her after she and Pwyll have been married for three years. ‘The nobleman of the land began to worry at seeing a man whom they loved as much as their lord as foster-brother without an heir, and they summoned him to them.

“Lord,” they said, “we know that you are not as old as some of the men of this land, but we are afraid that you will not get an heir from the wife you have. And because of that, take another wife from whom you may have an heir.”’

Now, The Mab brings up an excellent point that the Laws themselves remain silent on - a woman could be divorced if she did not give her husband an heir. Other reasons for a husband to divorce his wife were ‘dependant on her unchastity either before or after a marriage,’ loose conduct in her marriage so like if she had an affair or smth, or ‘failure to observe the terms of the marriage contract.’ Women too could divorce their wives - which is great, sure! - except that they could only do so ‘on the grounds of impotency, leprosy, or fetid breath,’ as well as if she found him committing adultery but only after the third time. There is an inherent imbalance there as well when you take into account that men could have - and raise! - their bastards without scorn. Notable fucker (as in the sexual sense) Owain Gwynedd is perhaps the shining example of this. Man had many kids! His second wife, Cristina, had to give up her legitimate child she'd had with her first husband before she married Owain, and it doesn't seem like she made efforts to contact him after that.

Rhiannon, too, is then further unjustly punished for her loss of the child. ‘Pwyll punishes her,’ writes Berresford Ellis, ‘by ostracising her’ and as The Mab states: ‘there was a mounting block outside the gate,’ and she was, ‘to sit by that every day and tell the whole story to anyone whom she thought might not know it, and offer to carry guests and strangers on her back to the court if they permitted it.’ Luckily nobody does, but it alludes to the ostracisation women had to deal with if they could not give their husband a child, as well as, perhaps, the punishment applies to a woman if it was discovered after she'd married that she was unchaste before said marriage. ‘The woman's clothes were cut to the level of her hips, she was made to hold the tail, well greased, of a year-old steer, which was thrust through a hole in the house door. Two men prodded the steer, and, if the woman could hold the animal, she could keep it as her agweddi [her dowry that was payable by a husband once a marriage was consummated] and that only if she could not, she had to be content with the grease that clung to her fingers.’

Furthermore, as can be seen in ‘Culhwch ac Olwen,’ if a woman was given in marriage - so if she did not elope herself - then only her father and brothers could do so, with the proviso that it was done so in concert with the other generations of the family. Ysbaddaden Pencawr (big giant lad, Olwen's father, winner of the longest beard award for the nth year running) states: ‘“Her four great-grandmothers and four great-grandsires are alive; it is needful that I should take counsel with them.”’ This lines up with Welsh law, where the son of a Welsh woman given in marriage claimed a ‘mamwys’ if they were given in marriage to an alltud (foreigner) then he claimed it from those who were related to him in four degrees.

You can also see this within the Second Branch. Branwen, ‘a sensitive and intelligent young woman,’ the sister of Bendigeidfran and Manawydan and the half-sister of Nisien and Efnisien, is bestowed in marriage to Matholwch, King of Ireland. Efnisien's whole dealio is rage. He's literally named HOSTILE. When he is not consulted on the matter of his sister’s marriage - ‘“Is that what they have done with such a fine maiden,’ he says in The Mab, ‘and my sister at that, given her away without my permission? They could not have insulted me more.”’ - he flies into a rage and ‘went for [Matholwch's] horses, and cut their lips to the teeth and their ears down to their heads, and their tails to their backs, and where he could get a grip on the eyelids he cut them to the bone.’ This act of violence causes Matholwch to abuse Branwen once the couple returns to Ireland, even though an attempted redress upon the insult has been made through Bendigeidfran bestowing the Cauldron of Rebirth (or Pair Dadeni) to his brother-in-law, and results in Branwen rearing a starling to send a message to her brother Or GET HER OUTTA THERE. The ‘sorrows’ that Branwen subsequently endured are traceable to the unjustified revenge of the ‘quarrelsome’ Efnisien for he, being only her half-brother, was not entitled to consultation in the matter of his half-sister's marriage. As Andrew Breeze writes in his book ‘The Origins of the Four Branches of the Mabinogi,’ the starling escapade ‘shows the narrator’s awareness of how a woman might use literacy to escape from bindsge and male violence.’ It is this letter that brings about her liberation, as well as the fleet from Britain. This stratagem also achieves the redress for Branwen that Bendigeidfran’s attempt. Personally, for me, this shows why divorce would be fuckin pointless for her. She is hidden. She is being abused. She gets given ‘a box on the ear’ every day. Do you think she can escape from that?

Likewise, with Enid ‘a patient’ young woman, she could NOT divorce Geraint. She is the daughter of Ynwyl, ‘chieftain who has fallen on evil days,’ and is fuckin dirt poor. She could keep her gowyn, cowyll, and argyfreu - payments made payable to the woman by the man after they were married - ‘although the Venedotian code deprived her of the latter if the separation were caused by the woman’s own immortality,’ but, unless you were a King's daughter, it wouldn't amount to much. Enid’s predicament within the text is made that much more brutal when you realise it's Gwenhwyfar who has given her and Geraint leave to marry. It is she who is ‘entrusted with the Maiden [Enid]’ once she arrives at court along with Geraint. Arthur is the one to give Enid to Geraint. If she fled then she would be insulting both the King and the Queen.

Furthermore, it is not a divorce within the modern-day sense. The Laws speak of ‘ysgar,’ or separation. A distinction was drawn between separation before or after seven years - for, unlike with say the Normanic church marriage wasn't seen as being for life as such, but was merely a contract that could be broken but only by mutual consent. This distinction only affected the woman's rights the woman had in property. Enid, Branwen, and also Blodeuwedd could only divorce if their husbands agreed to it. Neither Geraint, Matholwch, nor Lleu Llaw Gyffes would want to divorce their wives for 1) he's a dick and would rather she ‘constantly prove her love and loyalty to him,’ 2) she’s Queen of Ireland - although she says herself she wryly says, “though I am no ‘lady'” when she is questioned about the mysterious 'forest on the sea’ - and, chiefly, has given him a son, and 3) Blodeuwedd, 'the most beautiful maiden that anyone had ever seen’ was ‘conjured’ for Lleu. He owns her entirely. For as Sauders Lewis has her say in his play ‘The Woman Made of Flowers: Blodeuwedd,’ ‘I bear Llew's collar.’

Plus, if you don't possess land by yourself - which I think neither lady I've mentioned does, really - then she could not enter into ‘any bargains or surety’ in regards to Sarhâd - blood-price - and so her husband must do it for her. You could say, if you wanted to get really out there, that the war between Wales and Ireland is Branwen's Sarhâd, although that's speculative and I'm hesitant to give it a complete YES.

Now, to THE QUEEN. The laws give an look at what exactly an insult towards the queen would entail - as does the Mab - when Gwenhwyfar is assaulted by a knight in Peredur: ‘And the knight grabbed the goblet from Gwenhwyfar's hand and poured the drink that was in it over her face and breast, and gave Gwenhwyfar a great clout of the ear.’ This punishment echoes Branwen's, as well as the one she receives from Mordred in The Triads where he ‘dragged [her] from her royal chair and struck a blow upon her.’ No surprise, would be seen as Bad Fuckin News.

The Laws are clear on this: striking the Queen was seen as an insult. In Arthuriana, Mordred - or, in some cases, Gwenhwyfach's - striking of Gwenhwyfar leads to the Battle of Camlann. In the Mab, this clout on Branwen’s ear also leads to war. I’d also say you could take this further and suggest that Rhiannon’s treatment - being a horse - is an insult as - I’m assuming - you're not gonna be nice to the woman you're using as a LITERAL STEED. Anyways, like I've mentioned beforehand it was the Queen’s job to take care of the ladies of her court, and, also, fun fact, the amobyr (a fee payable for the maidenhead of the woman), was payable to the queen instead of the King after their daughter married. Not much is said about the queen in regard to her position within the laws, but we have to be grateful for what we do have.

The queen had no political power - except maybe through her personal influence of the King, like, say, Joan, Princess of Wales. This ‘soft power,’ as it were, could be used when you became Queen Dowager, as evidenced by the way Queen Angharad, the wife of Gruffudd ap Cynan used the lands she'd been granted on her becoming queen to aid her wayward third-born son, Cadwaladr - although she had a ‘wide power of protection, a considerable special entourage of servants,’ and possessed certain privileges like ‘the right to circuit the land.’ Furthermore, there was never a ruling queen throughout Welsh history when the Laws of Hywel Dda were in operation, and certainly no Queen Regnant. (Strange considering the laws were drawing on Celtic sources where there were defo women leaders like Boudicca (Buddug) and Cartimandua. ‘This ambivalence of gender,’ writes Alice Roberts in The Celts, ‘[provided] women the possibility to achieve the highest status in society’ so it is curious as to why the later Welsh have dropped this. Surely, on account of that, they would not be opposed to it? However, Barry Cunliffe writes ‘it must be readily admitted that any consideration of Celtic social systems is likely to be biased, not only by the prejudices and preconceptions of the Graeco-Roman sources but by the narrow time span and geographical area over which they range.’ As well as this, ‘women clearly occupied a more significant position in Celtic society than they did in the Graeco-Roman world’ and this can be seen within Welsh law, I'd just caution anybody who thinks it was a noted feminist utopia.

Yet the queen's high status can be evidenced in there being both the ‘transmission of royal dignity through the female’ as well as ‘devolution of land through females,’ thus allowing the matrilineal descent to hold the same reverence as male which was very v handy for Owain Glyndŵr cuz his mam was descended from the house of Gwynedd. As well as that, the Queen had her own privy purse and ‘it was a universal rule - so in ALL codes - that one-third of the income derived from the king went to the queen for her personal use.’ Plus, all officers of the household were ‘under her socially’ and received their linens from her, while the Judge of the Court received his insignia of office, that being a gold ring, from her too once he was invested. Furthermore, she was second to the king in status - including to the Etifedd or Edling, that being the king's first bastard or legitimate son!

(Look, all my essay stuff is interconnected. It's the Marvel Universe of Wales. The Cymru-verse. 🤷)

The ‘dominant role of women within the Mabinogion’ does reflect in some ways the power women had within Welsh society. It is, perhaps, our finest link to showing what rights women had within the time period. Certainly, it's a valuable text in both a feminist sense AND a mythological one. Certainly as Miranda Aldhouse-Green writes in ‘Enchanted Wales’ ‘it is my belief that … some medieval mythic narratives may have drawn inspiration … from Iron Age and Roman Welsh culture.’ This bridging is evident within both mythology and the Laws of Hywel Dda, or Cyfraith Hywel. Whether it be in Pwyll Pen Annwfn, or Peredur, Owain, or The Dream of Macsen Wledig these tales serve as a bridge to both the medieval and the ancient, and, with them, so to do we get a view on Medieval Wales’ attitudes to women.

Women are front and centre across pretty much all eleven - twelve if you count The Tale of Taliesin - tales. As Bendigeidfran says in The Mab, ‘I will be a bridge,’ so too are these vitally important texts. Both they and the laws are heavily Christianised, yes, but their outer trapping of Celticism remains.

You gotta remember these laws were codified by Hywel Dda, but they're drawing on earlier Celtic laws. Hywel Dda was Christian (he wrote the laws in about the mid-tenth century although the earliest manuscripts we have are later, from the 13th, a bit like the Mab!) but - much like whoever the writer of the Mab was, be they an anonymous monk, or, as Andrew Breeze postulates, Gwenllian ap Gruffudd ap Cynan - drew on earlier Celtic sources. Furthermore, Cyfraith Hywel is a bloody wonderful text! Do you know that it has a law relating to intersex people?! No? Well here we are: ‘If a person be born with the members of a man and those of a woman, and it be doubtful of which it may make use; some say, that according to such as it principally may use, its privilege is to rank; but, if it make use of each, the law says, that it is to rank with the highest privilege, and that is the privilege of a man: and, if it should become pregnant, the offspring is to have the patrimony of the man who caused the pregnancy; but, if it should make a woman pregnant, the son is then to obtain its patrimony.’

*Blows a kiss to the sky* For Cyfraith Hywel. There's a reason he's known as ‘The Good.’ There's a reason why The Senedd (Welsh Parliamenus's building that houses the members of the Senedd and their staff is called Tŷ Hywel or Hywel's House. He's a big dealio.

Anyways, Welsh law is great. Read a fuckin book. If anybody makes a half-baked assumption about Welsh law again, I'm killing you and taking all your teeth.

Sources

Peter Berresford Ellis - Celtic Women

Sioned Davies - The Mabinogion

Miranda Aldhouse-Green - Enchanted Wales

Barry Cunliffe - The Celtic World & Ancient Celts (Second Edition)

Andrew Breeze - The Origins of The Four Branches of The Mabinogi

Alice Roberts - The Celts

Thomas Peter Ellis - Welsh Tribal Law (DM for a link if you want it!)

[gaslightgatekeepgirlbosscombat]

Group H, Round 1, Poll 9:

Propaganda under the cut

Ianthe Tridentarius

She is trying so hard to be the main character by lying and manipulating her sister, her cavalier, her mentor, her ?love interests? (Spoiler???) And also god. Not sure how it's working out for her but she does love to lie and manipulate

Worstie Ianthe is the DEFINITION of gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss. She is one of a set of necromancer twins that are the heirs to their houses rule. Except wait, only she is a necromancer and she has spent their entire lives doing necromancy for the both of them. She is constantly mean to their cavalier, Naberius, who she occasionally nibbles on like a chew toy, before eventually killing and eating him to ascend to sainthood. She goes to gods spaceship with another woman who ascended to sainthood who she has a crush on, this other woman is like…. Both incredibly mentally unwell and also haunted by at least 211 ghosts. Ianthes method of flirting with her? Gaslighting her about the corpse that keeps moving around and hiding under her bed. For no real reason tbh. She is clearly plotting to overthrow god, and at the moment that consists of her manipulating him while he’s too sad about his long term partners betraying him and subsequently exploding to really care. She dresses in terrible outfits and makes soup by burning onions to the bottom of a pot, putting meat in and some vegetables and then it doesn’t taste like anything so she puts in a few teaspoons of salt so it tastes like a few teaspoons of salt. She had her crush amputate her arm and regrow her a new one out of bone and it’s one of the horniest things I’ve read in my life.

"Gaslight = told her lobotomized (she helped), schizophrenic girlobsession that there was no corpse under their bed, even tho there totally was. Gatekeep = girl did NOT share the secret to god-like ascension. She kept that shit to herself until it was time to eat her boytoy, and by then everyone knew already. Girlboss = she has a non-necromancer twin sister, and literally Everyone thinks they r both necromancers because Ianthe is so good at it. She reverse engineered ascending to the aforementioned ascension without even completing any of the supplementary tasks. She held her own in a fight against a 10k year old lyctor. She becomes the figurehead of her entire empire. "

She uses a man as a chewtoy in the first book, literally gaslights the protagonist of the second book about a corpse, and elder-abuses God when he gets depressed in the third book. Nobody is doing it like her.

Dives headfirst with no regrets while basically laughing and covered in blood into murdering her cavalier once she realizes what the gothic locked room mystery/competition leads to while everyone else is questioning it, helps perform lobotomy on harrow so she doesn't remember the person she loves, manipulates everyone to get to the top

idk just everything about her

her relationship with her sister is incredibly Bad, she fosters codependency and views Corona(the sister) as an extension of herself. This does not stop her from keeping up the con that Corona actually has magic (She doesn't, it was always just Ianthe) for 22ish years and every single person who interacts with them falls for it. She killed a man against his will (most dying for this purpose specifically go willingly) and she consumed him and she will be burning his soul for eternity. She's completely repulsive and still somehow incredibly hot.

she takes advantage of the fact that the main character is prone to hallucinations. at one point she gaslights the mc into believing that the corpse under her bed isn't real just because she can. she reverse engineered a set of very complex trials on her own without anyone realizing she had the skills to complete them normally. she's also babysat god through his drunk and pathetic era.

Artist:@starcanist

Remy the Rat

Gaslight- 'hmm? Me? Steal papers? I'm just an innocent little ratty rat.' Gatekeep- I would debate he's gatekeeping food and taste from the other rats because they just don't GET it. Ugh! Girlboss- doesn't he own a rat restaurant at the end?

[nwarrior777]

[tumblr shadowban almost every my post now, including this, i don't know exactly why, just doesn't let like, every second post in tags. so, i would be double gratefull for reblogs] went into drawing flow and designed this guy who i rotated to much in my mind lately

Meet my new oc from my new story - Big Lover of the Big Love Town

Story takes place near border between two kingdoms (?) - one is full of Love and caring, nature, tasty food, music (yeah, it's musical by the way. a poem, at least). the other is behind deep forest and not really known about - the only thing is known is people running from it to the first kingdom, and locals see enough in runners eyes to ask

The plot begins then two women in love run, but one is lost at the border _

Back to the character on art - Big Lover is one of three main characters, who go to save the lost one (the second main is that runner who succeed at escape - quiet seems-cold-minded woman; third one is a weasel of a man - very emotional edgy guy who is wildly in Love, enamored better say, by Big Lover and a bit selfish about it)

Big Lover is a..well, Big figure in town and is literally how presented - everyone is in Love with him, whatever he goes people waving him, go for a hug or kiss depends on mood, he also love to sing songs which are favorite thing of citizens because his voice is most beautiful sound human, or animal, can hear

He is positive character, not secret evil man or smth, he is literally just embodiment of Love and everyone is Loving him because how not to Love him

(key on hand is key from Town - he is important member of Town council)

[dollypopup]

I don't think people truly understand that in coming out as Lady Whistledown, Penelope has now humiliated Colin publicly for the third time in a row, Eloise for the second, and the Bridgertons in general once again

Because in coming out as Lady Whistledown, what she has really done is give validity to the harsher articles she has written about them. People have surely not forgotten that article at the start of the season calling Colin a fraud and a faker, and now she's given legitimacy to that, even if she herself did not stand by that article. She says it repeatedly, that Lady Whistledown had never been more wrong about anybody. But she never rescinded that article. She never assured that she didn't stand by it. She aired out Eloise's secrets of being at the feminist rallies, and claimed she needed to do so in order to keep her safe.

So, what was it, show? Was Eloise in danger because Lady Whistledown was a dangerous pursuit, and so Penelope was justified in spilling her secrets? Or was Lady Whistledown no big deal and thus easy to forgive, so Penelope was wrong to write what she did about her?

Everyone in the Ton now knows that no matter how close Penelope is with someone, she'll air out their business at best, and insult them directly at worst. Eloise tried to hide that article from him, Phillipa and Prudence themselves said Lady Whistledown raked him across the coals, and here Penelope is, proclaiming it was her, that she did it, with no remorse. She says with her entire chest that this is what she did and she stands by it, with her besmirched best friend in the crowd, and the man she insulted to the entirety of her city against the wall.

Criticizing the Queen and strangers is one thing, airing out secrets from people close to you is another.

Colin put his ego, his self-worth, and his own dreams to the side to support Penelope. I don't think ANY of us would have been able to do the same. He loves her more than he loves himself, his image, his own pursuits. And in a way, that's a form of self harm for him, and something that Violet herself urged him not to do. The entire point of his arc was to consider himself more, else why have that speech on the steps? But in having a romantic relationship with Penelope, Colin was forced to answer the question: Does he love Penelope more than he loves himself? And he said yes.

If Penelope was asked the same, I think she would say yes, too. But if she were asked 'Do you love Colin more than you love Lady Whistledown?', the answer would be very different.

I don't know, I think someone wrote the quiet part aloud: they liked the ending of Bridgerton Season 3 because they are a Pen fan first, and a Polin fan second. Because if you consider that ending from the perspective of Polin as a collective, it is very much not a satisfying climax to their story. Colin coming to tell Penelope he is proud of her, and that his purpose is to love her and soak up some of her light is just. . .it's sad. It's incredibly sad to think that this sensitive man, who has been in a pursuit to be taken seriously, to be considered as a whole person, says that his purpose is to live for his partner and live in the shadows.

And then this fandom has the GALL to criticize him for his anger? This fandom has the gall to say that Colin was dramatic for feeling hurt and betrayed by Penelope keeping this secret from him for years, and letting him be vulnerable with her, and open with her, and hiding literally half of her life from him. You have the audacity to say that Colin was in the wrong for a line or two that focuses on his own pain and vulnerability at his FRIEND, a woman he loves, a trusted person in his life, having lied to him, written about him to the entire city in a bad light, insulted and hurt the women around him? But Penelope was not ever in the wrong for the harms she committed?

Imagine you experienced even half as much as he did at her hands.

Now tell me you'd forgive her in two weeks.

[imyourbratzdoll]

𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒔

this is the last part of motherly instincts, I hope you enjoy.

summary - you found your happiness.

warning - slight asshole steve and threats.

the gif I use isn't mine, headers aren’t mine.

part 1 - part 2

Warnings and Reminders - Please do not plagiarise, copy, repost/republish, adapt, or translate any of my work on any social media platforms, apps, or third-party sites. The only platforms I post my work on are: Tumblr and Wattpad. I do not own any character of any franchise (Marvel etc.) All my works are fiction and may be dark or triggering content: READ ALL WARNINGS BEFORE PROCEEDING.

You were happy, beyond happy. You didn’t know if you would find someone after Steve, but you did; he had stumbled into your life. Literally, you had been walking out of your local coffee shop, and this man had bumped into you, causing your things to go flying, and he had begun to apologise profusely, buying you another. Which leads you to now, you are currently cuddled into his side. After a year of getting to know him, going on dates and another two years of being together, you had found your one. 

You had traced his jawline as he slept, your heart fluttering as a small smile graced his lips. You felt as if you could live in that moment forever, the moment between your finger brushing his skin and the smile appearing. It was soft and simple, but it felt like everything. In that moment, you felt beautiful. Not because you actually were, but because even while he was asleep, your touch could cause a smile, and that was more than enough for you. Clark hums, his eyes fluttering open and connecting with yours. “Are you good there, darlin’?”

You smile, nodding softly before leaning down and pressing your lips against his. “Yeah, I think I am handsome.” You stroke his cheek, staring into his bright blue eyes. “You know, you look gorgeous when you sleep.” He laughs loudly, rolling you over and leaning above you. 

“Yeah?” You hum and nod. He brings you into a kiss, “Well, I guess you’ve never seen yourself asleep then because you are the most beautiful woman I’ve seen.” Your cheeks warm before watching as he slowly lowers down, pressing a kiss onto your stomach. “And when this little jellybean is born, she’ll be as beautiful as her mother.” 

Your fingers run through his hair, smiling down at him. “Clark!” He looks up at you, and you smile. “Come up here.” You pout, smiling as he locks lips with you. You pull back and groan. “I just remembered that we have to go to the compound today.” You did know Clark’s secret, I mean. You were having his child. Of course, you knew he was Superman. “Do we really have to go?” 

Clark chuckles, stroking your cheek. “Yeah, darlin’, we have to go. But don’t worry. I’m going to be there with you.” He begins to pamper you with kisses. “Plus, don’t you think it’s time we told them? They are your friends, after all.” 

You hum. “I suppose, but you know who will be there.”

Clark raises his brow. “Voldemort will be there?” 

You whack him, breaking out into laughter. “No, you dumbass.” You interrupt yourself with more laughing, tears being brought to your eyes. “Oh my god, we were just having a moment.” Clark smiles, happy to see your smile and hear your laugh. “You know who I’m talking about.” Your smile slowly slips off your face, knowing you’d probably be running into your ex. 

Clark nods, cupping your cheek. “I know, darlin’. But he doesn’t matter anymore. A man that leaves you is stupid.” 

After your touching conversation, you and Clark got up and prepared for the day. You dressed in a simple but pretty sundress that showed off your bump. Clark, unable to keep his hands off you, holds you close as you head out to the car and begin to drive to the place you used to call home. Your hand grips your fiancee, slowly exiting the car and smiling when the team greets you, pulling you into hugs and congratulating you on the baby. 

You smile as they get along with Clark, happy to see them together, but then the happiness disappears when he enters the room, a new woman on his arm. Clark’s arm wraps around your waist, and Steve frowns, noticing that and your bump. The woman beside him nuzzles closer, glaring at you. Clark clears his throat and smiles, putting his hand out. “Hi, I’m Clark.”

Steve puts his hand in his, and by the looks of it, you think that he might be trying to squeeze Clark’s hand. But winces when Clark does it instead. “I’m Steve. I’m guessing you are her latest? What sad fool agrees to be with a woman and another man’s child?” 

A frown appears on Clark’s face, and Steve groans when he continues to squash his hand. Clark leans closer, a dark look in his eyes. “You ever talk about my fiancee and child like that again, and I’ll kill you, understand?” Steve opens his mouth, ready to argue, when he notices Clark isn’t messing around. His mouth closes, gulping before he nods quickly. A smile forms back on Clark’s face. Letting go of Steve’s hand and pulling you close, pressing a kiss to the side of your head. 

The day goes by, and you ignore Steve, too busy focusing on your friends and man to care about someone in your past. You smile as you watch Clark before his eyes find yours, and leans close. “I love you, darlin’.” 

You lean up and kiss his lips, “I love you too, honey.” 

thank you for reading!

feedback and reblogs are greatly appreciated

[transmcytshowdown]

Jimmy SolidarityGaming:

Submitted for: Empires SMP Season 1, Empires SMP Season 2, Third Life, Last Life, Double Life, Limited Life, Secret Life, Wild Life, New Life SMP, Afterlife SMP, SOS SMP

Headcanons: Trans man, he/him; Genderfluid, he/she/they; Intersex, pronouns not specified

Propaganda: “This one is so difficult because [the submitter] can see arguments for him being a trans guy, a trans girl, and for him being genderfluid. [They’re] settling on genderfluid because it's the most inclusive. What sticks out to [them] is Jimmy's insistence on respect and being seen for who he really is. He is constantly having to tell people that he's not a toy, yet he's teased and dismissed. He tries his best to display these traits of masculinity, as if that would get them to take him seriously. That leans more of a transmasc, so here's [their] argument for transfem: When Gem and Katherine invited the server to a princess tea party, Jimmy's face lit up and he joyfully exclaimed 'Oh, I love being a princess!' Jimmy was so thrilled to "get permission" to wear more feminine clothing, and he felt right at home among all the princesses, promptly getting drunk drinking seven mojitos.”

Geminitay:

Submitted for: Hermitcraft, Empires SMP Season 2, Secret Life, Wild Life

Headcanons: Trans woman, she/her; Nonbinary, she/her; Transfem, pronouns not specified

Propaganda: “Okay, just look at Gem's worldhopper storyline and tell [the submitter] that it isn't a trans allegory. Gem goes to sleep and wakes up in a world where she can live her fantasy of being a princess. She's literally trying to experience a typical afab childhood as an adult! Also, transfeminitay is such a good merging of her username. [They] don't think [they] have more specific things that come to mind right now, but the vibes are so there!”

[thelakesuite]

The Rusty Lake Story in Bitchass Baby Terms

this is ALL off the top of my head (and i haven't experienced like 10% of it maybe?) so i might be wrong but i don't care right now

the lake itself isn't, like, that well established 'cause it's a mystery game or something so we don't need full exposition. it's some deity-like thing as old as the mammoths (not canon) that eats time. or rather memories that are stored in lil cubes. and it gives its zookeepers immortality so they can keep feeding it. they call themselves the Rulers of the Lake but we all know the truth. 'immortality', or rather enlightenment, is represented by you becoming your fursona and living maybe an extra century. mr. owl's looking for a new heir pretty quick in the process but we'll get to that.

corrupted souls are kinda a byproduct of all this. truly the lake's farts. when a person dies horribly, when their memories get extracted wrong, or when the plot demands it, they become corrupted. corrupted souls still talk, and some of them are even sensible (like your mom oooooh), but generally they're jumpscare beasts or wet little puppies. sometimes both. yes you can get corrupted when you're enlightened, and right now it's the more likely outcome actually. there's a whole 'elixir of immortality' that gets harped on, where one drinker gets corrupted and the other gets enlightened, but that is literally only a thing for roots and a little bit of cave so don't worry about it too much. unless you're making dramatic fanart in which case leverage that shit.

cubes come up a lot in cube escape, believe it or not! black ones are bad memories, white ones are good memories, blue ones are connected to the past in a way that's somehow not a memory, gold ones are connected to the future, red ones only exist in my fangame that ellesian recently unearthed, and green ones are jello yum. also suck it anyone who told me pre-tpw the gold cube thing was unestablished. anyway. it was a big thing mr.'s owl and crow were working on, creating a golden cube (presumably to extend their own lives) as seen in cave, but then one just kinda appears in the past within when albert does electric jujitsu. jury is still out on that.

onto the actual narrative i think.

in paradise, you're mr. owl pre-owling (1790-something). the lake's current suckass servants are your family who tried to sacrifice you to it way back, but your mom took your place for mom reasons. now mom's corrupted and guiding you to... well, to get sacrificed for real this time. but with your powers combined (yes mr. owl was two people, no it is never addressed) you get enlightened and tell your family to fuck off 'cause you're building a hotel on that island now. you also get a tease in the secret ending that dale and laura will do a similar fusion dance to be the lake's next suckass. we've been waiting 6 years for that to happen.

in roots, two alchemist brothers get that elixir shit going (1860-1935). one of them becomes mr. crow, while the other becomes a playable character for a game. and corrupted. you rope your whole bloodline into this, harvesting their body parts (usually after they die from other means, but you totally caused most of their deaths) for a reincarnation ritual involving a magic seed (that also only exists for this game). this is where the best characters come from because rusty lake actually wanted to tell a story with this game. you reincarnate into a woman! don't think about the implications.

in samsara room, the inside scoop of reincarnation is fuckin' weird, dude (1935). the original was made before rusty lake began, so it's not truly part of the narrative, but it got folded in for the fifth anniversary.

in hotel, you do not get the backstory of the third bird man (1890ish). instead, you get to kill mr. owl's family again, but one-on-one as animal people. how did they become animal people? fuck you that's how! mr. owl probably did it on purpose to spite them with shit sandwiches and bullets to the brain. oh, also, there might be an evil twin of mr. rabbit that shows up later.

in arles, you're vincent van gogh. that's it. he's not relevant. but it is funny seing the death date of paul gauguin in the timeline docs.

we're talking about the past within later but the 'past' segment takes place around here. 1926 iirc?

in birthday, your parents get shot (1939). you're going to be an important detective, dale, but like right now you're getting traumatized. or rather you're experiencing that memory, then doing blue cube magic to fix it and have your grandpa shoot evil mr. rabbit instead. is your grandpa actually mr. crow? no. shut up about it now.

in underground blossom, your mom gets abducted (1935-1972 maybe). okay, well, not you. this is the laura backstory metaphor game but you're actually playing as the third bird man who is both her stepdad and her pet. and her grandpa albert takes her mom rose for his own nefarious reincarnation schemes maybe probably. rose is surprisingly okay with it but characters rarely put up a fight with the plot anyway. laura's a lonely kid, starts dating robert, picks up art to soothe her nightmares, gets murked, then reaches some kind of epiphany that we just train ride away from before finding out what actually happens. she's your daughter, damnit, you should support her transcendence. not enlightenment importantly. also, no, laura's life didn't literally happen at train stops, it's just a vehicle. not even a pun don't fucking laugh i see you snickering.

in seasons, you set up a really interesting plotline that gets utterly countered by everything that came after (1960's-80's). it's just laura time in there, and she uncorrupts herself, thank you very much. the series has been struggling with how laura gets her corrupted self to 1980-whatever, and so far only one other game's even taken place after 1972. and that game's the past within which also counters every other plotline. sigh. maybe we're not smart enough for these puzzle games. at least harvey's cute and bird-shaped. key point that's impossible to fuck up is that laura dies in 1972, and it's unclear whether it was a murder or suicide. that's why we get a detective.

in harvey's box and the lake, uh i don't know really (1969). these are early games that are basically spinoffs of seasons. they help with the overarching stuff but aren't much for the narrative at this point. also they suck

in case 23, dale starts investigating laura's death and gets wrapped up in the lake stuff (1972). it was supposed to be just another murder case, but he got too into it and it got too into him, so he gets teleported to the lake chapel and ferried off to. somewhere idk. he goes into an elevator that takes him down memory lane to the lake floor.

in the mill, mr. crow is really trying to clean house before dale gets here (1972). this is where laura gets her ass corrupted by mr. crow, and we find out how the lake eats memories or whatever. it's supposed to overlap with case 23 and it almost succeeds. whatever skrunk is still there is forgiveable, this was the flash era after all.

in theatre, dale learns about ripoff hinduism, goads a man into suicide, and abandons his darling toilet fetus son (1971). it's like birthday again, where this is a memory we're seeing, but that is a light distinction. robert kills himself at the bar, and we take his memories for legal reasons. there's some sixfold wheel we learn about that doesn't matter much.

in the cave, mr. crow still cleans house before dale gets to the Magic Memory Machine (1972). mr. owl's kinda sorta dying, and dale's been elected his son or something. gotta get his mindmeats. you read a textbook about cubes, pilot a submarine to the lakefloor, put dale and laura in a surrogate fusion dance machine, then give dale the golden cube it makes before sending him up the elevator again. hotel did imply something serious was gonna happen when he gets to the top, but that was eight years ago. the devs probably forgot and fell too in love with albert vanderboom in the meantime.

in the white door, robert unkills himself and gets wrong psychiatry (1972). as it turns out, mr. owl has a front business running a for-profit psych ward to extract totally good and healthy memories from people. this one is an actual factual spinoff but is kinda relevant for the greater rusty lake metropolitan area.

in paradox, fuuuuuuuck who knows maaaan, isn't it all just a metaphor? (1972). there's a consensus that none of the stuff that happens in paradox actually happens, and that it's all in dale's head while he's in the Magic Memory Machine from cave. even though there's five different endings, he kinda walks away at the end, which might be the worst ending of the lot. the information's solid though; mr. owl spells out the whole heir thing, there's bits of backstory for dale and laura everywhere. also the movie's sick.

in the past within, albert becomes a mechanical engineer for the sole purpose of making plot armor (1926/1984). yeah, remember that guy from roots? the voodoo murderer who got third-hand alchemy information to make up for his lack of pussy? yeah, he invented a time machine decades ago. and he enlisted his daughter to talk to her past/future self to grow him back to life in 1984. with a gold cube that he somehow got. and somehow his scar is genetically coded in him. and we don't see his wiggly lineart dick. what does he do in 1984? trap his daughter in a time loop then who the fuck knows. he's stuck in his jumpscare beast ways from being corrupted for so long. how did he get corrupted when he was literally buried in the ground and salvaged bones from? next game!

there's an ARG that i never saw a thing of because i hated it, best kept memory. from what i gathered, it was another front scheme for memory harvesting, except in the 2000's. does that mean it's enlightened dale/laura doing this one, since mr. owl presumably passed on the title then turned into a fish? i'd like to know too!

also, a chapter of underground blossom i haven't completed, and a paper-based game coming out within the next two years or whatever. i don't know how much they'll clear up.

toodles!

[raainberry]

Moonflower

« In literature, the moonflower has been used as a symbol of love, mystery, and enchantment. »

Sana x gn!reader

Not fluff, not angst, but a secret third thing

synopsis - your job is flowers. she’s not sure how she got into this mess. but maybe you could get her out of it.

- part.II - part.III -

wordcount - 1.6K

TW - like one (1) soft cuss word

A/N - Made a draft, let it marinate for a few days, came back, changed directions completely and VOILÀ. I might get a little silly and make a pt.2 bc there’s leftover drafts🤭

Getting married at twenty-two was not in her plans.

Getting her needs and wishes overlooked in the process was not something she imagined either.

Yet there she was…

“We’re here!”

The volume of that voice startled her. She’d grown to hate the sound of it too.

“You’re gonna love it! The flowers are so beautiful and smell amazing. It’s like they pick them every morning.”

Sana watched as her soon to be mother-in-law left the driver’s seat. The much older woman slammed the door behind herself, leaving her in a silence she craved for ever since that same morning.

However, it wasn’t long until she heard that voice piercing through the windshield.

“Come on, what are you waiting for!”

Sana sighed, quickly gathering herself and putting on that fake smile she’d carefully crafted over the last few months.

She couldn’t remember the last time her smile had been genuine. One that conveyed how happy she felt, like whenever she’d meet up with loved-ones, get one of her sugary drinks no one liked but her, or simply listened to music.

Mundanities like these used to be enough. Now it was all a luxury she couldn’t seem to afford.

It felt like forever since she’d last enjoyed something as simple. Since she last enjoyed something.

Everything was a chore nowadays. Just chores she could only do with her fiancé and/or future in-laws.

Each time, each day she had to see them somehow meant adding a new detail to worry about in a wedding that felt less and less hers as time went on. A new box to tick in a checklist she had no desire to even start in the first place, much less partake in.

She barely knew how it had gotten to this point.

She felt as though she was drowning, yet had no idea how she’d even landed in the water.

The last few months were a blur. Everything went so fast.

One second she was graduating college. The next she was engaged to her year long partner.

Literally.

The man had proposed at her graduation party.

She blamed it all on the moment’s euphoria. That’s what made her say yes. It had to be. It was the only reasonable explanation as to why and how she would agree to such a mess.

Now the bliss was long gone.

“White roses are really pretty, aren’t they?”

Your voice startled her out of her thoughts, causing her lips to turn into that fake smile again.

It was impressive how quick she could switch up. That skill she picked up managed to fool more than a few people in the midst of this hell hole.

“I got proposed to with them.” She blurted out, her eyes stuck on the flowers proudly exposed in front of her.

It was almost robotic. Like a pre-loaded answer.

That didn’t go past your ears. You could tell her voice lacked a certain emotion that you were used to hearing in this workfield.

“Oh. Then would you consider them as an option?”

The woman finally looked at you, taking notice of your uniform and name tag. She looked confused, and a faint redness appeared on her cheeks, giving away something she’d rather keep to herself.

Now she regretted the words that slipped out of her daydream.

After taking a glance at you, she would have preferred to keep you clueless about her engagement…

“For your wedding.” You precised, breaking the silence that had settled.

“Right.” She sighed. “I don’t know.”

“I see. Maybe something similar?”

You went on to show her and tell her all about a bunch of flowers that looked like this damn white rose. It didn’t go so far as making her smile again, but she enjoyed hearing about the various pretty plants surrounding her.

It took her mind off what she really was there for.

Until she was reminded again.

“Sana! Have you seen these? So pretty!”

The brunette glanced over to the other side of the shop, seeing the older woman holding what seemed to be a bouquet of bright, orange flowers.

She couldn’t contain the disdain she felt at the sight.

You caught her features tense up for a split second, completely understanding her reaction. It was hard to hold your laughter back, but you pushed through in order to keep the palpable tension between the two from exploding.

Sure, the flowers were pretty, but they were far from a good choice considering the kind of event you were being sollicited for.

“They are, but something a little more delicate would be more suited.” You said, attempting to save the poor bride-to-be by your side. “I’m actually showing Ms. Sana a few options here if you’d like to join us.”

You’ve dealt with a few mothers and in-laws before, you knew how to handle the more hands-on ones.

You always made sure to put the brides and grooms’ tastes first, earning you more than one scolding. You couldn’t care less, though, all you wanted was for your customers to have a pretty bouquet to their liking and a smile when exiting your shop.

“I’ll just look around on the side.” The older woman turned her back to the two of you, to the brunette’s delight.

“What’s your favorite flower?”

You looked back at her, catching a determined gaze with your own. It was certainly different than the detached, almost absent one from a minute prior.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“I’m open to any suggestions. Who knows, maybe I’ll get to like at least one thing about all this.” She scoffed, bringing a peony to her nose.

Now, you’d sensed the fact that this wedding planning was being done under some tension. The patterns never lied, but you still found yourself surprised at her words.

It seemed to be worse than you thought.

“Do you not have one?”

Her voice snapped you back to reality. You must have been silent for a while.

“Sorry. I was just thinking.” You mumbled. “But to answer your question, I do have one. I like moonflowers.”

“Moonflowers…” She repeated under her breath. “It sounds pretty.”

“They look pretty too.” You smiled. “Would you like to see them?”

“Do you have some?” She asked, curious.

“Of course. It’s the main reason I work here.” You smiled, leading her to your favorite flowers.

Her face lit up at the sight of them. Her features suddenly looked much softer, her eyes a little brighter, and her smile… It was small, barely noticeable if you didn’t focus on her lips.

Yes, you were staring at her lips, but could you really be blamed? She was beautiful. Everyone stares at beautiful things. You were no different, and she wasn’t either.

She was staring too, only at the flowers.

You cleared your throat, suddenly remembering what you were being paid for, and resumed your job.

“We only have a few of them, but they’re beautiful.” You said, filling the silence between the two of you.

“Why do you prefer these?” She asked, tracing a few petals delicately.

“It’s a long story.”

“I have a lot of time.” She glanced at you, her eyes letting you know you’d better start telling her that story.

You weren’t sure where that attitude was coming from.

She seemed so hopeless when she stepped in behind that in-law of hers. You expected to deal with another worn out bride, bracing yourself for about an hour of work to turn that frown upside down.

Nothing had warned you about this rebellious trait she seemed to have.

You were curious now. Surely, if she wanted to put an end to this, it looked like she could…

So why was she here?

“Why are you getting married?”

Maybe a little too forward, you thought, wincing at your own words.

The motion of her fingers against the flowers came to a halt.

“What?”

Her eyes were back on you, and you felt your heart pick up the pace. You racked through your brain, searching for an excuse to cover your unprofessional slip-up, all while trying to decipher the way she looked at you.

“I ask this question to all my customers in order to get them the best flowers.” You lied, pulling your best customer service smile. “I’m not trying to sabotage your wedding, don’t worry.”

“Do you actually?” She asked, completely switching her focus onto you.

“Yes.” You lied again. “I’m not asking for details. Just a few adjectives will do.”

Sure you felt a little bad about it, but in all honesty, you were more impressed by the fact that you managed to keep it together and not stutter once.

That woman had one intense gaze.

“Well…” She trailed off.

She was hesitant, looking for words you could already tell would be lies.

It made you frown internally while you feigned patience in front of her.

Maybe the attitude was a façade.

“Because I was asked to.”

Or maybe not.

You weren’t sure of anything regarding this woman and her situation anymore. That was one good lesson of never judging a book by its cover, or something along those lines.

“I see.” You nodded, looking down at the ground.

It was a lie again, but in your defense, you didn’t know what else to say this time around.

“Have you ever actually sabotaged a wedding?”

Your eyes darted back to her. Your obvious surprise amused her, and she let you know with a laugh as soft as her smile.

You felt something in your chest. A sudden drop in temperature as her laugh sent chills down your spine, only for it to rise again along with your heart rate.

It was odd. Something about her was odd. It seemed as though she was hiding something, and your body debated on whether or not it wanted to be around to find out what.

And all you could do was watch, feel, and respond when needed.

“No.”

You opted for the truth this time. You didn’t expect much to come out of it, but it seemed to please her.

Her smile appeared again. It was a little wider than before. More confident.

You ignored its effects, but you couldn’t ignore the beauty of the sight before you.

It was all you could focus on, forgetting about your surroundings and their own beauty once again.

It was blinding.

Enough for you to agree to anything that might come out those perfect lips.

She knew all about that.

She’s been told all her life.

And she loved to take advantage of it.

“Do you want to?”