#of what a perfect future should look like and how it should serve the people living in it

[fandom-space-princess]

spent the morning tentatively constructing an essay in my head about the differences between Golden Age and New Wave science fiction and their conflicting approaches to the concepts of utopia and cultural perfection. and then realized that it's yet another thing I'm happier daydreaming about than actually writing. alas.

[theprettynosferatu]

How to Masturbate like a Good Toy

We all masturbate. We all enjoy it. It's perfectly natural and something we do because we deserve to feel good.

But not you.

No, you are just a toy for real people, aren't you? Therefore when you play with yourself, you don't do it for yourself. You do it to bring pleasure to others, to enhance the joy of your betters either directly or by training yourself to be a better fuckdoll in the future.

Therefore it is your duty to use your playing time in a way that maximizes your usefulness. But fear not! I'll give you a few pointers on how to break yourself as you should.

1) Setup:

Time to be a good toy? Excellent! Before you fully start ravaging yourself like an animal in heat, you need to set the mood. First you need to choose: will you do it at home or will you do it hidden, in some bathroom, playing with yourself, unable to stop, just a drooling mess touching yourself where you shouldn't?

For this guide, we'll assume you're not being a public whore and you'll be in the privacy of your own home. First, lock the doors. Close the blinds. Make it so the real world is left outside of your bubble of debauchery. You don't need it, and it doesn't need you. All you need is to make others cum, now or later. All you need is your own depravity. Silence your phone if you must. Your only need is to serve by fucking yourself.

Now you need to choose what you'll touch yourself to. Make sure to have multiple tabs open, and wear headphones so the sounds of the worst, most depraved porn you enjoy blasts your brain. Don't be afraid to explore new, more fucked up kinks! Remember: it's your duty to get worse!

All ready? Now, you must inform people that you will be touching yourself, and what filth you'll be enjoying. So write on Tumblr! Your masturbation isn't for you. Give people the chance to imagine you, to see you in their mind as the depraved fucktoy you are. Give them reasons to stop seeing you as a human.

Good! Now you're ready to start!

2) Performance:

Yes, performance. Even if you are alone, you exist to be porn. You exist to be degraded and mindfucked. So imagine, at all times, that a camera is on you, or that you're exposing yourself to your superiors. Your actions must be for yourself and for that imaginary audience- until you can't separate your pleasure from the pleasure you bring to others.

Moan loudly. Talk dirty. Call yourself a useless fucking slut. Revel in your own humiliation. Stick your tongue out. Arch your back. Grind on objects. Drool on yourself. Abandon all dignity. People have dignity. You are not a person. You are a toy. Use every chance to practice being the best toy you can be. Go on your knees, look up and throat a dildo. Let go of any delusions of personhood. Embrace your place as an obedient little doll. Expose your body. Expose your kinks. Babble. Let your mind fade away.

And remember, take the time to tell people online exactly what you're doing. Your alone time is just a chance to be porn!

3) Finishing:

Time to finish! How to do it?

Don't.

You don't get to cum unless told to. You get to edge. To get right there, right at the point of orgasm... and stop. And then, do it again. And again. And again.

Every edge makes you dumber. Every edge makes you more obedient. Every edge makes you more open to suggestion. Every edge makes you a better toy.

And tomorrow you'll do it again. You'll get more and more depraved. Your morals will weaken as the accumulated edges turn you into a mindless humping machine.

And so, day by day, you'll get closer to the perfect fucktoy you were born to be.

Do remember: masturbation isn't for your pleasure! It is your duty. Your calling. Your purpose.

Now get to it. A new you awaits.

Good Toy.

[soaringwide]

Pick a Card: How to attract love in your life? ❤️

Pile 1 > Pile 2 > Pile 3

Hey :p Welcome back to a new pick a pile love reading.

Today we're going to have a look at How can you attract love into your life. I'm going to look at where you're currently at, the things that work and the things that don't, practical steps you can take, and finally, the most probable outcome for the near future.*

*keep in mind that it's very hard with tarot to give a precise timeframe, which is why i say ''near future'', which might mean different things for different people. Also, the future is highly volatile and this might only be accurate for your present situation, and may be prone to shift if you make significant changes. As always, you are in control of your life so don't let a reading dictate what you should and should not do.

This is a general reading meant for multiple people so it might not resonates perfectly to your situation. Take what resonates and leave out the rest.

Ko-fi ★ book a reading ★ pinned post ★ instagram

PILE 1

Cards: 5 of Pentacles, the Sun, 5 of Cups, 9 of Cups, Strength, King of Cups, Ace of Cups, Page of Swords Reversed, the High Priestess, Ace of Swords, 8 of Cups, King of Pentacles, the Star, 5 of Wands, 4 of Cups, the Devil

You are currently trapped into a mindset of lack and feeling like you don't belong. You feel like there's something broken with you that stops you from getting the love that you long for. You believe that the warmth of love is being denied from you by outside circumstances and that you are unable to change that. Not the best place to be mentally and I highly empathize, I know how it feels…

What is blocking you is that you are spending a lot of mental and emotional energy feeling devastated for what you don't have. You may have known love in the past and you're idealizing that and feeling regrets over what you've lost. For some of you it might literally be because you wish you had this love back, but for others it could just be wishing for that sweet feeling again. It's also possible that, regardless of a past relationship or not, you are longing for a time in your past where things seemed more carefree and that you now feel somewhat broken. Feeling like things were so much more radiant and optimistic back then. I'm also getting that love might feel like the last thing in your life you need to feel fully accomplished and you're hyper focusing on that one thing, not seeing all the other good things going for you. There is this idea that you're waiting and waiting for the perfect occasion to show up while carrying these heavy feelings.

However, things are not fully bleak for you. You are extremely resilient and have spent a lot of time perfecting yourself. Despite your feelings of romantic lack, you keep working on yourself, be it your career, your passions and projects, or your own self. You keep things moving thinking that if love doesn't come, then at least you can make other areas of your life good. You're also able to set aside these heavy feelings in order to remain balanced. Like, you feel them, you're aware of them, but you don't let that submerge you and you keep living anyway. So you have what it takes to fix the issue, you just need to see it and start working on it.

Because the advice is that you need to release your defensiveness regarding love. I'm getting that you've learnt to be so firmly attached to this lack mentality and the failures you've experienced that it's making you shut down any possibility of romance. I'm seeing a pattern of starting to catch feelings and automatically cutting them off, distrusting them and retreating within yourself. I think this is a defense mechanism, which served its purpose for a long time but is now counterproductive. You may lack honesty with yourself and with potential partners because you fear showing your feelings, scared of getting hurt.

So it's natural that for what you need to embrace, a card of clarity and communication shows up. If you always hide how you feel to your love interest, most healthy people will not pursue you and instead back off not to bother you, since they think you are not interested. You must communicate how you feel and investigate the other person's wishes and feelings. There is also the need to be in tune with your own intuition and inner guidance, which seems to be muddied by your fears and unhealthy coping mechanisms. You must embrace tuning into yourself, where you will find the answer on what to do, because I really think you've go a strong personal guidance and you know who and what is good for you, and you can lean into and learn to trust that.

And it seems the practical steps you need to take at this present moment point at solving these issues first and foremost. You have unfinished emotional business that you need to leave behind. It's like it's cluttering your emotional life and there is no space for anything romantic to bloom. You need to make room for love in your heart by releasing these painful points we talked about earlier. The way to do that with the Star (feeling called to name the card so that you can look into it if you wish) is to embrace hope that things can indeed change for the better. Have faith that you can renew yourself and step into a new way of living. This card always reminds me of making a wish and believing it's going to come true, so have faith!

The near future cards point at you working on that. Breaking the chains that hold you down. It's a process that may look a little chaotic, and you'll go back and forth between not doing anything and pondering on what steps to take next, being indecisive, and then hastily trying out things in hope something is going to fit. I see that it's a learning process and you're going to need to find the right way to act. You are about to break those destructive patterns and make room for love to come into your life. I do not know when this is going to happen, but the work you'll be doing will make you happier and more balance so it's worth working toward for the sake of it. And all point at the fact that it's the best thing to do in your situation in order to attract love into your life.

PILE 2

Cards: 6 of Swords, 7 of Swords, King of Cups, the Lovers, the Magician, Knight of Swords, the Fool, 10 of Pentacles, King of Swords, King of Pentacles, Queen of Cups, the Hanged Man, Knight of Wands, the Sun, King of Wands, 5 of Pentacles, Knight of Pentacles, Temperance

It seems you're currently in a post breakup phase, leaving something behind and wondering what's coming next. (if that's not the case, then that's not the pile for you). There is a sense of sadness and worry, but also hope for the future even though it is very uncertain. I'm getting that it's something quite fresh which will explain the current situation.

For what is blocking you, it seems you've been rendered very distrustful of love, and may even have been either cheated on, or betrayed in some way by the person you love(d). You have a hard time processing these emotions and it's stopping you from truly moving on. It's like you became disillusioned and don't trust romance anymore. You may feel angry and revengeful, bitter, in all cases, and it's coloring your view of love. Part of you is still looking over your shoulder at what once was, whether it's with regret and nostalgia or on the contrary with bitterness.

For what is going for you, it seems that despite that you desire a new beginning, a fresh start of some kind. You want to make a new relationship happen, one that will satisfy you in all aspects and that will be in alignment with yourself. I'm also getting that you're tired of being taken for an fool, fed up with giving your heart freely to someone who will stomp on it. I also see that you're determined to approach that with very upfront communication, seeking to be clear on your needs and boundaries, and that you are done with tolerating bullshit. It's also sort of like you want to get out of your current painful situation as fast as possible by finding something new, which does show up as a good thing however I'm getting the need for nuance here as you could be rushing too much as a way to run away from your feelings or perhaps get back at your ex by showing you don't need them.

You need to release this past relationship. It shows up as something that seemed like it was heading towards long term commitment, which makes it all the more painful. However, if things turned out the way they did that's because it wasn't built on solid foundations, and may not have been a good thing for you had it not blown off anyway. I'm also getting that this past-person probably embodied pretty authoritative traits, in a pretty tyrannical way, and it's leaving you, again, distrustful of future connections (or even of the whole gender of your ex partner). I think it somewhat robbed you of your own agency, made you feel weak and powerless, and there is a need to reclaim that power (you got ALL 4 Kings).

Which is shown in the next section with what you need to embrace. The cards point at the need to pick yourself back up and work on yourself, your abundance and security, which may mean focusing on other areas of your life for a while as a way to look in a different direction. Your heart also requires some attention and it would be beneficial to practice some self care, whether that means taking care of yourself from an aesthetical point of view (beauty, fashion, etc) or from a more holistic point of view (diet, exercise, meditation, etc). Make yourself beautiful for yourself and it may help you lift yourself up and feel better about yourself. This will allow you to shift your perspective, however, it will require some time and you will need to dive into it and think about the issue. You must understand that there is nothing more you can do to fix this past situation, and that it's okay to take time to think and embrace that moment of stagnancy that will help you give yourself space to heal and move on.

The idea of finding your power and sense of agency back is again shown in the cards that talk about the practical steps you should take. I'm getting that in order to do that, you need to focus on what makes you passionate about life, what lights your fire up and makes you want to pour your energy in. There is also the need to chill a bit and do things that seem fun and unimportant. Get silly a little bit, go out and enjoy the sweetness of life. Not everything is about romantic love and not only is it okay to do other things, it's also something you deeply need at this present moment to feel better. In all cases, push yourself to create some movement in your life and don't stay locked in alone, wallowing over yourself. I'm also getting the need to focus on things that are pleasurable, for your body and yourself.

For the near future when it comes to romantic love, I unfortunately think that for some time at least, you may still be alone and struggling with that fact, thinking you've been left with nothing and having a hard time processing your loss. You may want to take some steps towards new connections, but doing so very slowly and holding back a lot, so there won't be much progress on that side for a while. The focus will be mostly on healing yourself and focusing on rebalancing your heart. Trying to find hope and faith in love again. This whole process takes time but is very important in order to help you find healthy love again.

PILE 3

Cards: 9 of Cups, Queen of Swords, 7 of Pentacles, 6 of Cups, Ace of Wands, the Chariot, 4 of Swords, 4 of Pentacles, Page of Swords, 10 of Pentacles, the High Priestess, 7 of Cups, the Emperor, 6 of Wands, Justice, Ace of Pentacles, 8 of Pentacles, the Sun

You're currently in a phase where you feel ready for love. You've established a lot of things for yourself and you're in a satisfying place in life. Not perfect, nothing ever is, but you've grown a lot recently that's for sure. And when it comes to love, that's your wish and you're currently strongly waiting for the time to finally come to see that wish come true. It's the one thing that you desire the most at the moment and see it as a potential for great happiness.

For what's blocking you, I see that you are perhaps a tad too focused on observing that wish form, growing more and more impatient, and as a result getting a but tyrannical with your mind. Like, things don't go as fast as you want them to, so you second guess yourself and lot, get anxious and frustrated with yourself. There is a form of naivety here, as if you were not the most experienced in matters of love. It could also mean it's been a while you've been in a relationship and the memories of your past love are being triggered and coming back to the surface, making it hard to deal with them.

For things going for you, you've gotten a lot of action oriented cards, showing that you are determined and driven to see your wish come true. You don't want to wait anymore and are ready to make a move once the opportunity shows up. You trust that you are on the right path and are ready for things to pick up speed. However, this might make you get a bit restless when again the right opportunity or situation doesn't show up fast enough and it's a bit exhausting for you because you put a lot of pressure on yourself.

Another interesting message is one of getting out of hibernation in some way, which is shown in your past-to be released cards as well. It seems you used to have a tendency to hold onto your feelings and intentions, never making your desires and wants known, reacting by being very defensive and guarded, and i think you've not quite released that old pattern totally yet, but it's in progress. I think you still have a tendency to put a wall between you and your love interest by fear of getting hurt and you keep your cards close to your chest because you want to make the right move at the right time and you worry acting out of sync and ruining everything. This is making you a little too controlling and calculating and not in flow enough.

So it makes sense that one of the message of things to embrace has to do with getting in touch with your more intuitive side, as opposed to your analytical side. I think you still second guess yourself a lot despite knowing when a situation has potential and all this worry is making you go back and forth a lot and is causing tension. I think you need to embrace your desire for long lasting commitment, which for some reason you might be scared to accept, as if you thought wishing for it would mean being disappointed when you don't get it. You're so fearful of being disillusioned and not seeing reality clearly that you put everything into question and confuse yourself. You need to know that it's okay to not be able to read other people's intentions, you're not meant to. Things will get clearer as they progress. Also, it's okay to daydream about the love you desire, and you should do more of that. Explore things in the safe space that is your imagination and allow yourself to imagine what you want the future to be like.

For the practical steps to take, there is a need to show up confident and strong, taking the lead instead of waiting for the other person to make a move. You know yourself and your boundaries and you can say what you desire. There is also the need to come up fair and honest, so don't hide how you feel, don't hide what you want, but honor your loved person with the respect that come with being upfront. Also, to answer your worries, go there with the confidence of someone who act as if they won, and by that I mean don't expect things to go wrong before you even know if they will but instead pretend victory will be on your side, because even if you're not sure, why automatically assume you're going to get rejected when you don't really know?

For the near future, I didn't go too in detail about your situation because I wanted to leave the message open, but I think for some of you there's already a connection in the making, and you're soon going to be handed a new piece of the puzzle that will make you see things in a new perspective and make things progress further. What it is I do not know, but the cards point at a phase of focused progress where someone or both parties are working toward a common goal. Again I can't say what that puzzle piece is, but there is a strong idea of that new way of seeing the relationship, or experiencing the relationship, that leads to a path where you'll be working toward something for this connection.

Finally, I just wanted to point out that the bottom of the deck was the Sun so it seems this is an auspicious time for you, so don't get too hung up in what doesn't work exactly the way you want and enjoy the ride!!

[cheapshrimpysheep]

Ohh! I loved the ‘you dance with another demon’ request for the demon brothers! Would You consider doing one for the dateables as well?

COMMENTS: Of course 😊 For those who want to read the first version with the demon brothers: Dancing with Another Demon - Demon Brothers.

Meanwhile I also had a cute idea for Luke. This one is platonic of course, and cuter.

I hope you and all enjoy 😉

CHARACTERS: Side Characters (Diavolo, Barbatos, Simeon, Solomon & Luke)

TAGS: Fluff; GN Reader; Headcanons

WORD COUNT: An average of 250 words per character.

CONTEXT: They weren't yet present when this other demon asked you to dance. Especially because with the presence of some of them, the other demons wouldn't even have the courage to approach you.

The demon asked you in a very polite way, so you ended up accepting.

When they/he finally arrives, he looks for you and see you dancing with this other demon.

In fact, it takes a lot of courage, or a boldness, to invite you to dance, taking advantage of the fact that the Future King of the Devildom was not present.

Fortunately for this demon, Diavolo is not one to get jealous easily. When he arrives and sees you dancing, he even laughs to himself. “Oh my. I think I forgot how charming and attractive (Y/N) can be.” It just shows him how perfect you would be to be next to him on the throne.

Barbatos asks if he should stop your dancing, but Diavolo says no. That would be impolite and you looked like you were enjoying yourself. The two are hidden from the public for now.

The music ends, the demon bows to thank you and before he can say anything more to you, maybe try to flirt with you a bit, Diavolo appears and draws the attention to himself.

While he thanks the people present and everything, Barbatos looks directly at the demon that was dancing with you without you noticing. Which frightens him and he starts to walk away from you.

And right after, Diavolo talks about you, thanks you for your presence and such, and at the end of the speech he announces that he will dance with you. And he starts walking towards you.

People move away, creating a corridor between him and you. When he gets in front of you he bows to you. “Will you grant me this dance, my dearest?”

You will stay by his side for the rest of the night, since now, you are the future king's royal companion.

Barbatos is also not one to get jealous easily. Since he wouldn't love someone he can't 150% trust. What he's not a big fan of is some demons even having the daring to ask you for something like a slow dance.

Being a butler, he knows a few things about balls. And one of them is "politely stealing" someone else's dance partner.

You were dancing with this other demon, until you spin around and a hand gently pulls you towards him. When you realize it, you were now dancing with Barbatos.

The other demon stands still for a second, not quite understanding how that happened. And that's when Barbatos gives you a creepy smirk, warning him to go away before he decides so get some little revenge.

Barbatos is too discreet, so you just noticed that the other demon was gone and Barbatos was acting like he never even existed. You ask him what just happened.

“Nothing worth worrying about, I assure you.” he tells you with a gentle smile. “And allow me tell you that you look particularly magnificent today.”

As a butler, he has duties and can't spend a lot of time with you. However, if you want, he has arranged the most comfortable place for you to relax in the moments when he cannot be with you. “And remember, like every other guest at this ball, I am here to serve you. But, like at any other ball, you are the special guest that must be prioritized by me.” and he winks at you.

He knows that he shouldn't, but Simeon can't help but feel a slight discomfort in his stomach at the sight of you dancing with a demon he doesn't even know.

And of course he doesn't want to be so rude as to interrupt you, especially seeing that you're actually enjoying yourself. So he waits until the end of the song.

As soon as that happens he starts approaching you. But the demon that danced with you won't go away. In fact, you even hear a muffled sound as if he has some sort of disgust with Simeon. You see Simeon and want to go to him, but you feel the demon pulling you back to him.

Now Simeon realizes that you are uncomfortable and reaches you two. “Good evening (Y/N). Would you grant me the next dance.” he says with a sweet smile.

The demon replies no for you, showing a complete lack of respect for Simeon and now, out of the blue, for you too. You make him let go of you and you show how upset you were about that.

You go to Simeon and he places himself between you and the demon. “I believe that now you can look for someone else to dance with.” He says smiling at the demon. However, that wasn't his usual smile, but the kind of smile that Lucifer himself prefers to avoid being directed at him.

The demon walks away, pretending he didn't because he really got scared. Simeon turns to you and asks if you were okay.

He will literally be your guardian angel all night long and won't leave your side.

Oh, Solomon IS a jealous man. And it's one thing to be dancing with someone he admires and respects, it's another to be dancing with a completely random demon. Who was he, anyway?

Well, well, well, what a coincidence. He was one of the 72 demons Solomon had a pact with. And when he realizes this, he smiles.

He leaves the room and a few seconds later the demon you're dancing with suddenly disappears in front of your very eyes. You look around confused and some of the other guests are looking at you and muttering to each other. You end up going into a corner. And none of the other demons get very close to you anymore.

A short time later Solomon re-enters the ballroom, looking for you and as soon as he sees you, he walks straight to you. He arrives smiling, but sees that you don't look very happy. “What's wrong my love? Didn't you like balls?” You say you do, but you tell them what happened and that now people look at you like it was you who made him disappear, like you were radioactive or something.

He laughs softly, and you look at him in annoyance. “I'm sorry. Maybe if I tell everyone that I was the one who did it, the ambience will be better for you?” You look at him in surprise. “But maybe it's not necessary. Some of those present may assume as much when they see me dancing with you. Speaking of which...” he bows to you and extends his hand “Would you grant me this dance?”

He won't leave you for the rest of the night. And he was right. After seeing him as your date, you started to feel the suspicious glances move towards him instead.

Why are you always surrounded by demons? I mean, Luke knows you all are in the Devildom, but still.

He arrived with Simeon and he was making that little sulky face, which made Simeons chuckle. And he suggests that Luke will ask you to dance when the current song ends. He was apprehensive at first, but then decided that yes, he was going to ask you to dance.

The song ends, you and the demon you were dancing with bow to each other in thanks for the dance. And you hear a familiar voice behind you calling your name shyly. “W-would you dance with me?” Luke was already blushing. He was so cute!

The demon starts to mock him, as if you were going to dance with a sample of an angel like that. But before he can even finish the second sentence you're already silently looking at him with knives in your eyes. He immediately shut his mouth and starts to walk away.

You turn back to Luke with a smile. Of course you would dance with him. You will see him smiling the whole time you are dancing together.

You'll probably spend the rest of the night with him and Simeon. The two of them “protecting” that little angel.

If you dropped in here out of the blue and want to read more from me, you can find it in my pinned post: INDEX

[highfantasy-soul]

Posting this because I need to hear it today:

Our memories are so short.

When my mom was born, women weren't allowed to open their own bank accounts. I wouldn't have been allowed to live with my best friend (probably would have never even met since we first crossed paths in college - being roomed together) because I'm white (for the purposes of the state) and she's black. Laws that made gay sex illegal weren't officially invalidated until 2003.

We've fought against worse odds before. We kept fighting for love, peace, and rights for everyone and it DID make a difference. At no point did we 'complete' that task and now is not the time to give up.

Slavery abolitionists were a massive minority but they still fought and coordinated and the political window DID shift - maybe not as much as it should have, but baby steps are better than no steps. We don't look back at that time and say 'sure, slavery was made illegal, but then Jim Crow and the prison state came into being, so nothing they did mattered'. Nor did they brush off their hands and say 'well, we tried fellas, but Jim Crow just got passed, so nothing we do matters.' They kept working - they didn't even have to roll up their sleeves because they'd never pushed them down.

Change doesn't happen by casting a single ballot in a single election. Change takes time. It takes continuous effort - it takes the ability to face failure after failure, terrible compromise after terrible compromise, to step forward. There will be no 'glorious' reckoning where a perfect candidate is put in office and suddenly all their beliefs are enshrined in law and the whole of the US changes it's ways.

Should we have to fight this hard for basic rights and dignity for everyone? No. But this fight isn't new. We're just new to it (unless you're thousands of years old). Honestly, in times like this, it helps me to look back at history to see how far we HAVE come (and get some ideas on how to resist from our forebears who fought in even worse conditions).

Doomerism only serves fascism and those who would oppress us. They'd love it if we just laid down and stopped fighting - we'd be doing them a favor. So don't help them out!

I 100% understand and support the right to grieve what's been going on right now, but while we feel all this - please please please don't forget to look up and look back to all the people who fought for a better world before you were born - then look forward to how those in the future will see your efforts today. They won't say 'well there were steps back, so that means nothing they did mattered' - they'll say 'look at how hard they fought for US even when so many pushed back against them'.

Your ancestors are behind you. Future generations before you. No matter how dark it feels (and is), our community is so much bigger today than it has ever been. We are all here, still fighting. You are not alone.

[shadesoflsk]

Hiiii!!!! I have an idea! Imagine like getting married to leon/going through the whole process of wedding shopping etc with him. Also do you think he would cry at a wedding? I love your works sm you're so talented I hope you have a great day/night! 💗

leon kennedy x gn reader

Anon... You don't know how much I enjoy thinking about Leon getting married and all those sappy things. It's like you read my mind. And thank you so much ueueue. I'm glad you like my works. <3

I feel like Leon would act really calm and collected in front of you. Even cracking some jokes about not having anything planned out for the wedding. But Dear God that is far from the truth. 

But first, let’s talk about everything before the whole preparation. Leon would definitely struggle to get the right ring size for you. Acting smooth? Not in his dictionary. At first, he’d try it when both of you are ‘sleeping.’ He once read someone could get the exact size by wrapping a string around his partner’s finger.

He tried.

It was unsuccessful. 

You either shifted in your sleep or he couldn’t get the right angle to wrap the thin string.

Ultimately, he just asked you to try some rings, just for funsies… Of course. 

Now, after the exhausting task of buying the ring and actually asking you to marry him, he'd be delighted to start organizing the wedding.

At first, he'd try to brush it off by saying that both of you should go with the flow, not to stress over the wedding. But his old-ass would discover Pinterest and a new world was presented for him. His favorite late-night activity would be searching for wedding ideas and he takes his job very seriously.

Glasses and all, he’d hold his cell phone so close to his face for you not to notice him. Poor guy doesn’t know that you can see through the reflection of them. Usually, he’d leave all the decorations to you, even when you two decided to move in together since he lacks creativity. But a wedding involves two people, and that day is just as special for him as it is for you.

Eventually, he understands he doesn’t need to feel bashful. All of his life has been surrounded by destruction and violence, he may as well indulge in the domesticity and the tranquility of finally settling down with someone he loves.

Leon is a foodie, so his favorite appointments are the ones in which both of you have to try the dishes you want to serve at your wedding. Growing up, he didn’t get to eat home meals, and even when he first started the Police Academy most of his meals consisted of takeouts or food he’d prepare himself. So the mere task of devouring those plates for the sake of the wedding was a great excuse.

He wouldn’t wear a suit and you wouldn’t force him either. However, that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t put some effort into how he looks. Part of the wedding planning included a visit to his most trusted barber! He’d definitely shave to look clean in the pictures, but his hair would remain the same.

Leon talks to you and shares his thoughts about the wedding reception. Flashy and showy types of settings aren’t his thing so he suggests going for a beach wedding. The suggestion soon turns into persuasion. He’d show you videos of people getting married on the beautiful Caribbean beaches, or some perfect attires for the beach.

“Oh, it seems that my phone is spying on me or something.” He glances a subtle look at you to see if you’re listening to him. By the tone of his voice, you already know what he is implying.

“Why is that?” And when you finally look at him, you see how his smiles get wider. Of course he got you.

“Because… YouTube won’t stop showing me beach wedding videos. How crazy it is, right?”

So, Leon’s pleas are heard and you decide to go for it. Although, something you both agree on is the fact that it needs to be private, just friends and family.

And yes, he definitely cries at the wedding. One thing he kept from his religious past is the vows, he promises you a future in which he is going to be next to you no matter what. So, in the middle of his speech, his voice would crack, a tiny bit. Clearing his throat he acts like nothing happened but everyone could notice how emotional he is.

Overall, Leon would be delighted to take this next step with you. The last thing he expected in his life was to find love in this messed-up world. And don’t get me started on how Leon would be as a husband because that man is husband material through and through! I’d write a whole essay just for him.

[barbieaiden]

2. Aiden: [Deep breath]

3. Aiden: Fuck.

4. Sam: For future reference, please, please, use butter. You're ruining my pans.

Aiden: Ooooh. That's why it ended up like this.

Sam: How—How did you forget?

Aiden: I mean, you should be impressed I even made something semi-edible.

Sam: ...sure.

5. Aiden: You slept longer than usual.

Sam: A whole six hours.

Aiden: That must be a record.

6. Sam: You shouldn't have done this. I can make my own breakfast.

Aiden: Well, I wanted to do it for you.

Sam: Yes, but—

Aiden: Making breakfast isn't going to kill me, I promise. If the doctor people say it's fine, it probably is.

7. Sam: But if you're also going to work... I just don't think you should overexert yourself.

Aiden: Making half-assed breakfast was not that strenuous.

Sam: You're serving me "half-assed breakfast"?

8. Aiden: Well, I mean, the bread is really dry, the pancakes are rubbery, and the coffee is probably bitter, but it was made with love. Enjoy.

Sam: Shut up, Aiden. It's perfect.

Aiden: You're so cute when you lie straight to my face.

9. Sam: I mean it. The pancakes aren't nearly as rubbery as they look.

Aiden: So I'm pretty much a professional chef now.

Sam: I wouldn't go that far.

10. Aiden: Did you sleep well?

Sam: Sort of. Are you sure you're able to work?

Aiden: I feel fine, really. Worst case scenario I'll go to the ER and Jordan will take care of me.

Sam: Comforting.

11. Aiden: I feel fine. Really. I'd tell you if I weren't.

Sam: Would you?

Aiden: Yeah. For sure.

Sam: Mhm.

12. Aiden: Seriously, I feel so trapped, you know? I'm going to lose my mind if I don't get to actually do things again. Not that I mind hanging out with you 24/7, but I'd like to go outside too. Breathe real air.

Sam: I understand.

13. Sam: Are you leaving already?

Aiden: Sorry. I'll go grocery shopping on my way home, do you need anything?

Sam: Didn't I just tell you to not overexert yourself?

14.

Aiden: You know what, just text me a list of everything you need.

Sam: Aiden...

15.

Aiden: Have a good day I'll see you late love you byyyyyye.

16.

Sam: I love you too.

[zriasstuff]

Tutoring lessons pt.2 - Blaise Zabini x reader

Blaise, against his will, has to be tutored. However, what seemed like a painful way to spend time at first, gets more pleasant over time. Perhaps even extremely delightful.

fluff but who knows what can happen in the future (here’s pt.1 too) Hopefully i am somewhat feeding the little amount of Blaise fans with this.

Blaise came to you with the biggest grin on his face, as if he just learned how to smile.

“Guess what?”, he asks, as he’s seating himself opposite of you like always during your tutoring sessions.

“You found a million hidden gold galleons?” Given how happy he looked, you wouldn’t even be surprised if that was the case. He looked so energetic too with his big doe eyes and fidgety body movements, that it automatically made you cheerful.

“No, I’m afraid my news is not quite as amazing as that, but nonetheless still pretty awesome”. He inches closer to take a seat next to you.

“Geez, what is it?”

“I got my very first Outstanding on an assignment!”, he finally reveals. He even proudly holds up his paper, shoving it in your face.

“Blaise!”

“I’m so proud of you!”, you exclaim at his achievement. You know he worked so hard to better himself. The past weeks have truly been a statement to what he is capable of, if he just tried.

“Me too.” Just when you thought his smile couldn’t get any bigger, he revealed more of his perfect pearly whites to you. You’ve noticed his ridiculously good looking face before. Seeing him happy for once instead of in an incredibly stressed state made all the difference too.

“So how should we celebrate?”, you ask him. Celebrating his achievement should be good for his long term self esteem. And if it serves you too by allowing you to spend more time with him then so be it.

Not that you’d ever admit it, but being associated with him made you cooler. Not just amongst the people in your year, but younger and older students too. It never hurts to be seen with him, or have him talk you up to his popular friends.

Of course your friendship wasn’t just to improve your image. It was nice to spend time with him. There’s a good amount of similarities, but also differences that made conversations interesting.

He fumbles with his sleeves for a second, drawing your attention to his arms. Perfectly muscular arms. He thinks for a second before he says,

“I don’t know, you decide how we should celebrate.”

“I think I…” Before you remember what you wanted to say, your eyes go from looking him in the eyes to his lips. You don’t know what it was today, that you kept getting distracted. Did he do something different today?

“Seems like you’re the one having a hard time focusing today”

“What? I’m not staring”

“What?”, he shoots you a confused look.

You felt the physical need to facepalm yourself at this moment. What exactly happened? Not that he would he judging you, you think.

Suddenly you thought back to all your tutoring sessions with him. Him, as in the heartthrob of so many girls. And you alone got the privilege to spend so much one on one time with him. It felt weirdly powerful. He must like you. Not just because of the grades and all, but personally too. Right?

“Wait, I forgot I actually have something to attend to”, he sighs. His gaze averts yours for the first time in minutes.

Why did you feel so disappointed at that?

“Well today is your day. Do what you like”. The tone with which you said that probably suggested you were hurt, which is crazy. He didn’t even do anything wrong.

“Some other time though”, he said pushing himself up from his chair at the same time. “See you, and thanks a bunch really. Couldn’t have done this with you.”

Is that all he thought of you then? Just the girl who tutors him. At this point you needed to pump the brakes. Everything is as it always is and was with Blaise. Yet interacting with him today seemed so much more like a challenge. He didn’t ditch you, you tell yourself. He likes you. But what if there was more? Could there be more? Did you actually want more?

…

Dumbass Theodore Nott, Blaise thinks to himself on his way back to his dormitory. Just because he couldn’t keep it in his pants and has to keep banging girls in their shared room, Draco wants to hold a roommates meeting. Why couldn’t he just do it in the bathrooms like everyone else. And Draco was a pain in the ass too. When it’s his girls, it’s fine. But god forbid anyone disturbs his peace.

He grinds his teeth together when thinking about his missed opportunity with you. He could’ve been with you tonight, but no. Those two assholes we’re ruining everything. It’s not like he could just dip. They wanted to come up with a fresh set of rules to ensure a peaceful cohabitation, and of course he has to throw his two cents in. Otherwise it’d be pimp city.

It was the evening already, but god forbid he could’ve spent an hour or two with his cute and smart tutor.

[christophersturnilover]

Do you think i made it inside your house?

this story has some lines from popular halloween movies!

this is based on the songs

This story contains MURDER. This story is pretty long and English is not my first language! Not proofread.

Warnings- Murder, mentions of blood, angst, crying, stalking and i think thats it?

⋆.ೃ࿔*:･⋆.ೃ࿔*:･⋆.ೃ࿔*:･⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

It was close to October, the stores were halloween themed and the cold breeze with the scent of pumpkin spice would fill your nostrils each morning you'd awake.

You'd go to your nearest coffee shop to buy your favorite coffee. A pumpkin spice latte cold or warm, which ever you chose it really didnt matter because, the only reason you had gon the last few days was because there was this guy.

His name was Christopher, you found him attractive. But unfortunately you were unlucky and he had already been in a relationship.

You would only want him to serve you but you were to embarrassed to even order infront of him, he'd obviously catch onto this pretty quickly and one day he asked you to hang out,

as friends but you said you were busy.

You suddenly felt envy towards him and his girlfriend everytime they'd hang out at the coffee shop during his breaks.

One night, you cried all eight full hours because you felt like you weren't enough or pretty enough for him.

That sadness quickly turned into hatred and jealousy.

The week after that, on a Friday you found yourself digging up your backyard to hide a fucking body.

How it happened. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁

Ever since that night you cried, you wouldn't stop having dreams of Chris' girlfriend dead right on her living room floor as Chris was at the store getting snacks for both of them.

You had pretty much picked up the sign that maybe you should act on what your dreaming about.

You had been looking at where she goes to find the perfect moment to get rid of her, everyone as in your thoughts believed she was most vulnerable at her own home, Alone.

You saw she never acted on her thoughts and was only nice when Chris was around. Maybe she did infact deserve to be gone.

Yeah, "violence isn't always the answer" you thought. But isn't it sometimes? You tried so hard to gaslight yourself into believing you werent a bad person if you murdered someone just because she was a dick to other people and dated the guy you liked.

You followed her for three days straight and she rarely left her house unless it meant meeting up with your future boyfriend, Chris.

And once when you were following her, she realized it.

"Are you fucking following me?" She spat getting some of her damn spit on your face. Gross.

"What? No im waiting for my friends" You lied straight out of your teeth.

"Let's not lie hon, the only reason your following me is because you like MY boyfriend Chris so bad and you want to be me. But lets be honest, with the amount of depression and loneliness you hold, your future is absolute shit." She said.

Yeah she may have gagged but you wanted to stab her throat right there and then. If it weren't for all these morons watching the scene her guts would have been entirely ripped out of her stomach.

You walked away from her slowly going to this random group of people you didn't know,

But quickly went back to following her home.

It darkened quite quickly and you quietly entered through the open bathroom window. "What a fucking idiot" you thought.

She was on call with Chris completely ignoring what he was saying,

"hey, are you listening?" he said sweetly.

"yeah! of course" she said sarcastically.

You'd watched her every move, if she even moved an inch you'd want to drop kick this hoe into god knows where.

"hey, chris, i always feel somebody's watching me. i dont know why." she said, clearly scared of some presence always watching her every move.

They eventually hung up and you walked closer to her, my boots would creek everytime you'd move but you wouldn't complain.

"Who's there‽" she asked afraid to actually go and see.

She quickly locked her house through her phone.

Keeping your ghostface role you gave her a call from an unknown number,

"Who's this?" she asked in a rude tone.

"Do you think i made it inside your house before you could rearm?" you asked with my voice changer.

She hung up, scared. You could see it in her watery brown almost black eyes she was afraid. But you couldn't care less and acted on proceeding with your plans.

You went up behind her and ran your knife straight on her lower abdomen. She screamed so loud you bashed her head right on her marble counter causing her to drop on her floor. You continued to stab her on her stomach and on her chest, watching her choke on her own blood gave you some type of satisfaction.

Maybe you were insane or maybe you liked watching people you hated suffer to death.

She tried yelling but wasn't able to because of how you cut her throat. Ear to ear.

You didn't give a fuck about the mess in her house but you took her lifeless pale body and tossed it into and trash can. You dragged it towards your house and to your backyard and began to dig up a hole to the size of her body.

You had a crippling anxiety of getting caught but did it matter at this given moment? absolutely fucking not.

You threw her body in the hole and covered it then went inside your house but right when you opened your door, you saw a pale chris standing inside your house.

"Who are you? you killed her. you fucking psycho." he spat clearly angry and horrified.

He tried walking out but you pushed him making fall and slide back on the floor.

"Dont fucking start with me because im not afraid to end another life!" you threatened.

He moved back as you stepped closer,

"P-please no!" he stuttered.

"No one wants you to die sweetheart, but sometimes you dont really have choice." you said while holding your knife against his pale, creamy skinned neck.

"I won't snitch! please!" he begged as he squirmed to get out of your tight hold.

"stop fucking moving!" you spat cutting open his neck as his warm dark red blood spilled everywhere.

You were in awe as he chokes on his own blood trying to breathe but can't. You started to feel bad but sometimes you can grieve over the stuff you should and shouldn't have done.

And suddenly you found yourself sobbing, trying to find a way to help yourself stop what you did but you couldn't. There was absolutely nothing to justify both of the murders you committed that night.

⋆.ೃ࿔*:･⋆.ೃ࿔*:･⋆.ೃ࿔*:･⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

[thedeviltohisangel]

I would die for more Spook and Bucky!! Maybe when she gets back from her mission or something when they know eachother a bit better? Sorry this isn’t much of a prompt but I loved how you wrote them!!

All The Things I Did (Interlude): A Sight for Sore Eyes

a/n: thank you for the request! hope you all enjoy, reach out with thoughts/comments and any other future scenarios for the two most gone for each other people in western europe.

John was on her doorstep bright and early, a fresh bunch of flowers in his hands. They were less clammy this time. After their dinner in town the night before, he was feeling more confident. There was a bounce to his step. A youthful flush to his cheeks. A twinkle beyond mischief in his eyes. 

“Morning, Mary, have you seen Lieutenant Cooper yet this morning?” he asked when Cass didn’t appear promptly outside her billet. John had arrived early to try and perfect a careless lean against the side of his Jeep.

“I apologize, Major Egan, but she left early this morning.” Mary barely looked up from her typewriter to deliver the news. Unaware John had felt each word like a blow to the chest.

“Left? She say when she would be back?” It was answered with a shake of her head.

“We’ve learned not to ask,” she then spared him a glance, “and not to wait up.” Sometimes, Cass was gone for a couple of days. Most of the time. When it took longer, it meant something had gone wrong. 

“Thanks.” He turned to leave but stopped. “If something happens, who would know?” John couldn’t stop the question from leaving his lips. Had to get the thought out of his head. Stop it from ricocheting around. Mary paused her typing altogether and focused her attention fully on John Egan.

“Major, Lieutenant Cooper is one of our best. She knows what she is doing.” It wasn’t an answer to his question because John knew the answer was that no one would know. That Cass was out there detached from here on purpose. 

“I’m sure she is, Mary. Either way, if-”

“You’ll be the first to know.” He tipped his cap, the flowers finding their way into a waste bin on his way out the door. 

----

“When do I get to meet this girl of yours?” Buck had arrived a couple days prior, thrilled to see his best friend again but more than pestering when it came to meeting the girl he had heard about briefly over the phone. The fact that John had mentioned her at all had him beyond intrigued. 

“I wish I knew.” John was miserable. He put on a happy face, celebrating the arrival of the 100th and serving as a one man welcome wagon. But Gale could see right through it. Could see the way his eyes lingered on an empty chair at breakfast. The way he sadly accepted a bunch of wildflowers every morning from the local kids. “I was told not to wait up.” Gale couldn’t help but chuckle.

“That’s rich coming from you in such a tone.” 

“I guess I deserve that.” He smiled in spite of his commitment to pouting. 

“When she’s back, soon,” he added for his friend’s benefit, “I look forward to asking what’s wrong with her to go on a date with the likes of you.”

“You’ll like her,” he said without thinking and then caught himself. “She thinks like is a lazy word for it. You’ll be…enamored by her.” He was proud of himself. That was a word Cass would approve of. Gale had half a mind to ask John when the wedding was when a woman came running into the mess hall and seemed out of breath.

“Major Egan-”

“Mary, this is my friend, Major-”

“-an unidentified aircraft just radioed the tower asking for permission to land.

“Cass.” John breathed out a breath he had been holding in ever since he had said goodnight to her after the pub.

“They requested emergency medical support upon arrival.” John took off, rounding the corner towards the airfield just as a plane emerged from the clouds to begin its descent. 

“John, maybe you should give her some room. Let the professionals do their job.” Gale had sprinted to catch up to him.

“I just need to know she’s alive.” In his short time here, he had watched too many men go up into the sky and not come back down. She needed to come back and she needed to be alive and in one piece. John couldn’t handle the one, precious, pure thing in his life falling victim like all the others.

When she stumbled and fell out of the back of that plane, he couldn’t help himself. As he got closer he could see she was gripping a bleeding wound in her arm, a makeshift tourniquet doing its best to staunch the bleeding. 

“John.” Her voice seemed weaker. Like she was barely suppressing the pain. Her face was marred by cuts that were still dripping blood and the purpling around her eye was making his blood boil. She reached for him and he reached for her, their fingers seeking purchase, when a severe looking man pushed against chest. 

“No contact with the asset until after interrogation.” 

“Cass!” John couldn’t care less about the man pushing him back towards the grass. “Get your hands off of me!” He watched as she was lifted onto a gurney, her eyes looking back at him until she disappeared into the medical building. 

“Hey, hey, hey, let’s all take it easy.” Gale pushed his way in between the two. “We’ve all got our orders.” The man gave them a look then stalked off in the direction Cass had already gone.

“Asset? Did you hear the way he just dehumanized her? As she’s…As she’s lying there bleeding and reaching for me to help her.” He was pacing with anger. “She earned every fucking bit of the rank on her collar!”

“Bucky-” 

“I’m going in there.” Gale didn’t think there was any reasoning with him until he was sure that Cass was okay. Until he heard the words from her mouth and believed them. There was no stopping him, only managing the fall out 

John opened the door to the sound of hushed voices and grunts of pain. Cass was answering their questions through gritted teeth, Colonel Huglin watching from the corner. He could only make out a few words; Gestapo, railroad network, did they see you with him? 

“Stop acting like this was my first- fuck, Doc!” John smiled. There she was.

“Gentlemen, I need the room if I’m going to get this bullet out.” Bullet? He hid behind the door until they all cleared out.

“Now that is not the mouth of a polite lady.” Life flared back into her eyes as he came into view, the smile he’d been hoping to see across her face in an instant. 

“Major, you can’t-”

“No. I want him to stay.” She reached towards him, the way she had only moments earlier, except this time nothing stopped him from reaching her. Regretted that anything had in the first place. 

“You’re back,” he murmured as stood between her legs and got a good look at her. The doctor was assembling a tray of tools to deal with the bullet wound in her bicep, a few small bandages already on her face and a bag of ice by her thigh for her eye.  But she was here and she was in one piece. That was all he could ask for. 

“I’m sorry I left without saying anything. It had nothing to do with you or our night at the pub.” She was rambling and John was mesmerized. Couldn’t look away from this slightly less guarded version of herself she was letting him see. 

“I didn’t think it did, Cass. Promise.” She released a breath she had been holding ever since he said goodnight to her after the pub. Cass had thought about it her entire trip into France. Ruminated on the fact that John was going to be upset with her. Convinced herself while she read the paper on a park bench and watched soldiers walk by that any chance of something normal with him was gone. That she couldn’t have her dream of him and this job. That, somehow, her independence always led her to being alone. 

“This is going to sting, Lieutenant.” She gripped John’s hand and he gripped back as alcohol was poured over the wound on her arm. 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” she chanted as her forehead rested against his chest.

“Why don’t you tell me how you got that bullet in there, Miss Spook.”

“I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you,” she teased.

“You’d love nothing more than to be the death of me,” he pushed back. 

“Bite down, Lieutenant.” The doc handed her a piece of leather.

“Eyes on me, Cass.” He gently palmed her cheek to keep her focused away from the impending procedure. She wanted to make a comment. Something snide to reassert control over the situation. To not lose her footing in those very eyes he had teased her of being fond of only nights prior. She was fond of them. Irreparably so.

“On the count of three, Lieutenant. One, two-” The doctor never got to three before searing, white hot pain ripped through her body, John’s hand absorbing as much of the pain as she could give him and his chest taking on the whips that her pained sounds were lashing against him. “It’s out, Lieutenant. You keeping this one as well?” She nodded.

“You got a collection of bullets? They all pulled from you?” 

“Yes. So every time someone tries to threaten me with Gestapo ghost stories, I’ve got proof they’re just humans.” John took the cool wash cloth from the nurse that approached them and dabbed at Cass’ forehead tenderly. “Do I scare you, John? It’s okay to tell me. I’m used to it by now.” Plenty of boys and men had taken her dancing and out to dinner and not wanted to again. All of them afraid of her sharpness and lack of regard for listening silently. They wanted nothing to do with her mind and her opinions and her desire to roll up her sleeves and stick her hands in the mud. 

“Cass, the only thing that has scared me since meeting you is losing you.” She smiled, his words a soothing balm to the demons in her mind. “I don’t know about you but I’m about sick of people getting in the way of me and you recently.” Cass stroked her knuckles across his cheek, barely feeling the pull of stitches as he looked at her with a soft hunger.

“Major Egan, that look in your eyes is dangerous,” she whispered. He licked his lips, using his last shreds of decency to maintain any semblance of professionalism in front of the infirmary staff.

“That doesn’t seem to have stopped you before.” Somewhere in the background, she thinks the doctor was telling her she was free to go and keep ice on her eye. But this silent dance between her and John was too intoxicating to disengage from. 

“How about you let me change into something nicer and then you take me and a blanket out to that wildflower field?” His nose knocked against hers, their lips brushing against each other teasingly and tauntingly. 

“I can do that.” His voice was thick with desire. She imagined it might be what he sounds like when he was in the beginning of taking a woman to bed. Cass was molten under his gaze and loving every moment. “Just don’t keep me waiting too long or I might have to take matters into my own hands.” An empty threat. The ghost of her touch was more stimulating tahn any other.

“Well, we can’t be having that, Major.” 

[rea-grimm]

Weapon Barbatos

Barbatos was your real weapon. You knew him and Diavolo almost all your life, but it was only recently, at Diavolo's urging, that you discovered you belonged together. 

Even though you were the master and he was the weapon, he still wanted to serve the prince and future king. But he decided otherwise. On his orders, you traveled the kingdom hunting demons who threatened the safety of innocent people.

In fact, at first you thought it was a great idea. You'd still be working, but it would give you some time alone with your weapon and make you even closer. 

What you didn't expect was that from that moment on, Barbatos began to treat you like the perfect servant to his master. You didn't understand what had led him to do this, as up until then you had been friends and treated each other perfectly normally. Not like master and servant. 

You even tried to talk to him about the fact that he didn't have to treat you like a servant. That you could have had fun like you used to. But he just waved your words away, saying you were too nice. 

You were on the trail of a dangerous demon when he disappeared from your sight and attacked you unexpectedly. You dodged his attack and grabbed his weapon. Unfortunately, you weren't as fast as you needed to be and the demon hit you in your non-dominant hand. 

Despite this injury, the demon was no match for the two of you. All your injury did was piss off your weapon so much that the fight was won much faster. 

As soon as your opponent was defeated he picked you up in his arms and carried you to safety where he treated your wound. He didn't say a word the whole way. During the treatment he apologized to you and blamed himself for failing as a weapon, that he should have been much better. 

You tried to explain to him that it wasn't his fault. That in their assignment, something like this could have been expected and that no one is perfect. But you felt like you were talking to an oak tree, as he kept saying his piece. 

The following morning you set off again. You walked much more slowly as your weapon insisted that you not mess with the injury. 

During your journey you came across a small field where among all sorts of plants and bushes there were several herbs that Barbatos immediately recognized, as they were herbs that made a very rare tea that was very hard to come by. 

You were walking past a small field of these herbs when you noticed him looking at them. You could see in him that he would have preferred to leave everything in place and go and pick them.

But instead he cocked his head to the other side and pretended not to see the herbs. And that was despite the fact that you saw his eyes keep falling to them. 

"How about we make a little stop?" You suggested when you had almost reached the end of the field and it looked like your weapon wasn't going to pick the herbs. 

Barbatos was momentarily taken aback, but eventually agreed. He was sure you needed a break, too. You made camp under a large tree in the middle of the meadow. He even spread out a picnic blanket for you to sit on. He checked your bandages before the silence fell between you. 

"Those herbs growing over there, aren't they the ones you once made tea from?" You asked him after a moment to break the silence. Your weapon was momentarily taken aback that you remembered such a thing before he smiled and agreed. He confirmed to you that it was indeed a delicious tea and he hadn't been able to get it anywhere since. 

"Why don't you pick some then? We have plenty of time and we're not in a hurry to get anywhere," you suggested. Barbatos was silent for a moment, looking you over to see if you were serious, before nodding his head in agreement. You could see in him how excited he was about it, like a little kid at Christmas. 

He took care of you first before heading out into the field. He turned his hand into the blade of the sickle he was wielding and set about gathering herbs. He took great care in doing so. 

That same evening Barbatos prepared a bonfire, where he brewed the first special tea from a mixture of herbs he found in the area. When you tasted it, you couldn't believe how good it was. Although all the tea or dessert and food your weapon prepared was phenomenal. 

As you set the cup aside, he decided to check the wound on your arm. He changed the bandages, applied ointments to speed the healing. But when he saw your wound, all good cheer drained from his face.

You could clearly sense his sense of failure. Not so with you. You didn't think he was a failure. You took his hand and you told him what you felt. He didn't have to apologize to you for anything, it wasn't his fault. You were glad you had him with you and that he was your weapon. And to finish things off nicely, you complimented him on his tea again. Gradually, you saw the stone fall from his heart and slowly relax. 

After this there was silence again, but it was no longer such a tense silence, but rather such a calm one. This also made you decide to come out with the truth and confide. You confided in him that you liked him more than just a friend. When you did, you had a blush on your face, and so did Barbatos. 

"Could I be so bold as to kiss you?" He finally asked you. 

You hadn't expected this, but you were grateful for it and nodded your head in agreement. Barbatos took your good hand and kissed you on the knuckles. You honestly hadn't expected this, and while it was a big improvement, you couldn't help the fleeting disappointment that flickered across your face. 

"Can I kiss you again?" He asked, leaning much closer. Even now you gave him permission. He cupped your cheek with one hand before leaning in and kissing you on the lips. You closed your eyes and let yourself get caught up in the moment. 

When you opened them again, you gazed into his beautiful eyes. He stroked his thumb over your cheek and whispered his own confession and the fact that he was only acting like a servant because he didn't want to jinx what was between you. 

After his words, you couldn't stand it and gave him a big hug. He chuckled in surprise before hugging you back. He stroked your hair and kissed your forehead. You were the perfect master in his eyes, and he couldn't have asked for better.

Obey me! Masterlist

[jiminsass-istant]

IT'S NOT ABOUT THE HICKEY

This post was triggered by an anon moving around in these spaces trying to explain away the hickey/bite moment as something trivial. I will save my thoughts on the hickey for the end of this post.

First of all, to that anon- Get off your high horse. Not being a shipper doesn't make you superior. You are probably one of those cringey people cancelling queer armies on tw!tter these days. Now readers, sip your drink as you read this short think piece-

OT7 Captains in the fandom bubble:-

I really don't get the superiority complex of so called OT7s who love to live inside this cute little bubble they have created for themselves or as they call it nowadays:- " a curated tl". Cancelling people everyday and actually driving people away from the fandom. Every bio says "multis, solos, shippers dni". What are you afraid of? Little pixels? I have personally followed solo fbs of all members and boy the things I have found! They can get extreme at times, but it takes 2 minutes to fact-check their claims and draw your own conclusion.

I follow wholesome ship pages too, they are a great way to not miss out cute moments between various duos. If you are blocking them out, you'll be swept into whatever the OT7 decide the important interactions are. 🤷

Have y'all watched 'The Social Dilemma' on Netflix? I would actually want all bts fans to give it a watch. A very prominent tech figure admitted that she follows a good number of Tw!tter accounts that disagree with her to ensure that she gets to see all sides and all opinions. When you deliberately 'curate' a timeline to feed only your opinions, to make a 'safe' space that doesn't trigger you, without letting new thoughts penetrate it..THAT! That's the beginning of a cult.

Army is not a cult for defending BTS or for calling out billboard and other big authorities, but army is indeed a cult with the way they move against people within the fandom.

I said what I said.

With a curated 'OT7 captain' timeline, you start internalising things about the artists that the people you follow want to believe:-

1. All true army are OT7 and non shippers. 💫💫

Sure some of them are. But biases exist for a reason, right? If you think people don't run their bias's playlist more than the other 6, you are so deluded. Spotify wrapped'23 was a prime example. With the solo era, the rise of solo fanbases was unavoidable.

2. Your favourites are spotless, impeccable people. 💌💌💌

They are so not. They date, they make mistakes, they hurt people (like we all do). Heck, they might even offend certain groups of people, unknowingly or knowingly. Being ignorant is also a flaw.

3. Everything they say on camera is true.🙊🙊🙊

Everything they say on camera is what they want you to know. As Park Jimin of BTS, as Kim Namjoon of BTS and so on. And yes, your perception of them should be built based on their words alone, but it doesn't mean that you purposefully stay blind in a way that serves your personal projections onto the members. As Jimin once said " please take our words as they are"(Festa 2022). Read between the lines, and you get- "please do not make assumptions about us, please do not project past or future narratives onto us." No matter how much it makes BTS look like a saint, DO NOT paint them as perfect human beings just because they are your idols.

Once you get into the fandom bubble, you start rejecting all opinions that threaten to puncture that perfect bubble. In that process, you end up never getting to know about how some member promotions were horribly managed, how company delayed certain stuff, the obvious company agenda and different business strategies for different members. It's not about victimising members, but calling out the company when they make obvious mistakes. You do not see when hate against a particular member gets aggravated to the point it affects streams and sales.

And musical preference? The way the fandom just collectively decided that if you hate any song except 'ON ft Sia", you are basically an anti. I have no words.. I'll come out and say: I don't like DNA. SORRY JIMIN. Sure it's a great concert song, or maybe at a party, but it's never making it to my down-time personal playlists. Cancel me?

Top Social Artist?

This is my personal opinion. BTS having a huge presence on social media is both a boon and a curse. While it ensures that new fans are made everyday, the bts social media presence is an uncontrolled monster right now. Millions of insta, YT channels- most of them spreading a superficial image of BTS. It's for this reason, there are so many 'fans' out there who just love BTS for the few members and their visuals. I can guarantee you that they don't even know how streaming works, but they'll be sure to have an insta name like "mrs.jeon jungkook". If you made it to this part, I don't need to tell you how certain ships inducted their shippers through these very channels, spreading misinfo about the group dynamics and a completely manipulated idea of the boys, as if it's not real life, but some shitty bl drama.

While the company is obviously doing nothing about this mess, it is YOUR duty to focus on what's important as a fan and participate in projects that plan to counteract this mess. ( Of course only if you have time)

So..what does the hickey have to do with all this?

When you finally grow out of your perfect pure breed OT7 agenda, who considers this group of men a picture perfect family who can do no sin, you'll be ready to view the hickey/bite mark as a normal functioning member of the society who's in touch with reality.

Did I just write "pure breed"..

Let's say the hickey/bite does not actually mean anything intimate in a romantic sense. Sure. Even I think it was probably not an exclusively romantic thing. And this is coming from someone who ships them, but I do not see them as 2 people who are dating each other (because I don't claim to know their personal lives).

An older person biting the neck of a younger person long enough to leave a mark is NOT A NORMAL LEVEL of skinship. For friends, for family, for brothers. And this goes for Korea as well as at a global level. Not only k-jikookers but also k-armies had raised eyebrows when that happened. If you didn't raise your eyebrow at this, you need to go out more, have a social life, hang out with long term friends, idk.

But I'm sure if it was a man and a woman, you would have already declared that they are f@cking.

If you have observed jikook through the years, they have had an abnormal level of skinship that even surpasses skinship within their own group. Reminds me of the Butter photoshoot behind, where JK's hands so naturally slid under JM's crop top, like it was a usual thing. Now if one of them reacted differently or in a goofy way, I'd still brush it under the rug. But what had me scratching my head was the indifference. How close do 2 people have to be, for someone to SEARCH for familiar skin to touch?! Let's not forget how JK always touches JM's neck like a habit, massaging, holding, or just caressing, usually a little inside the collar.

Now if they were a man and a woman, you would have already declared that they are f@cking.

If you don't at the very least, acknowledge that it's an abnormally high level of skinship, and that jikook are at the very least, a highly interdependent, symbiotic, close, 2 souls-1 body entity, the closest duo in bangtan..then you are the delulu here. 🫵

I would advice such anons to stop visiting shipping spaces if you are bringing nothing to the table. (As I always say, opposing views are always welcome as long as you bring receipts and not hate). Maybe spend some time talking to real life people, couples, friends, you know?

[aiura-stan]

0-6!

(If you’re wondering how I’m getting these done so fast, it’s because I’m doing these ahead of time. I'm running on a queue.) I used dictation and actual keyboard typing for this one, so it’s going to be long. (Side note, I love the ability to dictate things and using split screen mode! Highly useful features and I have no idea why it’s taken me this long to actually use them.) Also, I guess I should say that there will be spoilers in this and probably future posts too, because I’ve already read the manga. Okay! Onto the commentary.

I love that Saiki outright states he doesn't want to be the "guy you know what he's thinking.” Like, come on Saiki, admit it; you have a little bit in common with Kaidou. (I think he secretly kind of likes freaking people out. He definitely likes the fact that people are a little scared of him.)

He's always the odd one out; He's one of the loner kids. I don't think he really thinks it makes him look normal. I think that's just what he tells himself to feel better about the whole thing.

I think it's funny that he dislikes Kaidou for the same reasons that he thinks he's so different from everyone else. I mean, Kaidou is always trying to stand out, and Saiki does have a legitimate reason for not wanting to stand out. But even so. He’s just got it in his head that is so much better than Kaidou at the beginning of the series. Like, dude, you're no different from him. You're the same breed of weirdo in a different font. Lol. That font is “really intentionally manipulating others’ perception of you for personal reasons.” It’s just that Kaidou’s version is much flashier than yours. I like seeing it this early on in the comic; it's interesting to see how it all started. Also, Kaidou is a lot more polite than Nendou, apologizing for talking to Saiki out of nowhere. Amusing. He absolutely knows how to behave like a normal person, but chooses not to because his persona gives him confidence.

I also like that here in the beginning of the comic, we have an unnamed guy who is was basically parroting what Kuuusuke says further on in the comic, and it’s more clearly framed as delusional weirdo behavior.

Yes, duh, he came to you because you were alone, Saiki. Weirdo behavior attracts weirdos (weirdos attract weirdos.) That's just a basic social law for ya.

Also, I laughed out loud at “okay, I’m calling you Junpei.” good response, honestly. Saiki’s narrative commentary addressed to no one in particular is always really funny.

He also seems to be egging him on in the next panel with his sarcastic remarks (wow. Your punch was soooo fast I couldn’t see it at all), though it’s never clear in this manga whether the person being spoken about can actually hear anything he’s saying in all of its dry sarcasm. My headcanon follows the lines that Saiki uses hypnosis when he’s not actively addressing them (sending telepathic messages to them), so people just hear whatever they want to hear from him. Or something like that. I’m guessing that we, the readers, are supposed to assume that they can’t hear him unless Saiki is actively sending them telepathic messages/‘broadcasts’. "I fancy you" is a strangely British way of putting it. Which also means "I like-like you" if memory serves. Translators??? strange. anyways.

Ah… XD. I forgot that Kaidou saw him teleport in the manga. That’s perfect considering Kaidou’s name joke (shunkaidou = teleportation.) wahh, I wish this one came in the tankobon volumes so I could read them.

You know… since the third chapter of this volume was adapted into the anime, can volume 0 really be called non-canon? Maybe to the manga. Hmmmmmm.

Oh come on. Why didn’t they put this in the anime??? It would have been hilarious to have Kaidou imagining some kind of green monster-humanoid hybrid and then the screen transitions to Saiki’s expressionless face, with pink limiters and green glasses. There’s an element of color that manga sadly lacks. I get the point with the black arrows, Mr. Asou, but it just isn’t quite the same without actual color.

XD Asou’s attention to detail is good. We actually see the teacher wondering where the hell he’s going when he runs out of the room, and then following through showing that he won’t be running students down just to make sure they stay in class. It’s a small thing, but it definitely makes a difference, making the Saikiverse seem a bit more realistic.

Also, look, it’s this guy who appears a bajillion chapters later in that weird gag… What was his name again? Gah… refer back to this later, future me.

Yes, Kaidou becomes a completely different person outside of his riddiculous chunnibyou persona, which he only uses at school. I do like that Asou sensei writes him this way. It would be easier to have him be in character all the time, but he’s much more realistic like this. I love that Saiki remembers the stupid nickname he gave himself. It makes the contrast even more funny. Okay, I’ll stop analyzing Kaidou and explaining every joke for now.

XD XD XD

Things like this make me wonder if Saiki really doesn’t know that’s how his looks might be interpreted at a distance… even though he understood from the verbal description that he could be perceived as having “pink horns” and “green eyes.” And he spaces out in class just thinking about it. Thoroughly neurodivergent behavior.

I also love things like this, that imply but don’t outright show that Nendou just… openly teleports in front of Nendou because he can get away with it.

I also enjoy Saiki’s stubbornness in calling Kaidou ‘Junpei.’ Peak comedy.

I love that Kaidou would rather Saiki think he has multiple personalities instead of just being polite to people outside of school. And Saiki says he appreciates the effort… lol. I think he does actually appreciate it, in a way, sarcasm aside. Kaidou is committed to the bit.

“Whether that’s true or not, you need to get to a hospital.” Lollll. But also… makes me wonder if he really believes it, again. That along with the “Kaidou personality chart” further on in this comic. From Saiki’s other confrontations with people who clearly need help (including the one where he talks down a suicidal guy. And of course Terushashi’s brother.) It’s as if it never even occurred to saiki to have a sense of urgency about these kinds of things.

Mmmm! Once again I wish I had the Japanese version because I’m sure he is using polite speech here, for a minute.

Well, at least Kaidou acknowledges here that he’s in fact a chunni and therefore doing this on purpose. Which, again, makes me wonder why Saiki would ever believe even for a second that it isn’t an intentional thing. Or maybe it’s just supposed to be taken as sarcasm outright, but the panel where Saiki is confused about the Horns Saiki drawing really is throwing me off. Another thing I should look for raws of, to see if there’s anything to be gleaned from the OG text.

YES! You and saiki are pretty similar. In a way. Yes, he is worrying about his high school debut… in a way.

Saiki, it is entirely understandable that you think Kaidou is an egomaniac, but given his “other personality,” how did you not guess that he’s just lonely??? He literally had to explain his entire thought process for you to get it??? Yeah, emotional EQ in the single digits.

Earlier, I said Kaidou knew full well how to act like a normal person and just doesn’t do it, but he’s definitely awkward. I mean, of course it’s going to be awkward asking strangers if they’ve seen a guy with green eyes, sharp teeth and horns. (I am not quite sure why Kaidou is so committed to the bit myself.)

LMAO?!?

Saiki, that’s your own goddamned fault, lmao. Put your money where your mouth is and shut him down if you’re tired of annoying people “entering your life”… :)

That wraps up 0-6.

There’s a lot going on here, to be sure. In conclusion, I think Saiki works really well here as a character who is technically omniscient, in terms of perspective, but deeply limited in his ability to interpret information.

Alright, the end. Ja mata! 💫

[thatone-highlighter]

I just got through the Earthlings arc during my SU rewatch and im absolutely facinated by Jaspers character

She’s such an effective antagonist for so long because she clashes with every other character so fundamentally. She’s got this completely foreign to the show worldview that is shown to be contrary to what the rest of the show is trying to say but she still feels like a real person and when you think about her she’s just as much a product of her circumstances as anyone else. She doesn’t want to talk it out with Steven because why would she? She was literally born to fight as has been doing so since the second she was born, it’s all she’s ever known and has been drilled into her head that that’s what’s expected of her, she’s rewarded for fighting well and watches as others are punished for doing badly, either by losing or by facing consequences for failing.

And then there’s the whole “perfect solider” part of her character. She was literally born more capable and with a higher status than everyone else. But because of the way home world is structured to reward her and punish people like the off-colours, she’s been indoctrinated into thinking that the reason she came out on top had nothing to do with how she was made and everything to do with her behaviour and attitude. Peak “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” type person but because it’s a fictional story you can see what happened to make her this way. Her and amethyst are fundamentally different, they’re different quartzes, they were born in different places, they were just created differently, from the start jasper was always going to be better at some things than amethyst and amethyst would be better at others than jasper. But because of the way jasper has been “raised” for lack of a better word she doesn’t see that, she doesn’t understand that her and amethyst are simply different gems who were made different, she’s better at fighting and is picture image of what a quartz “should” be so that means it’s possible and anyone who can’t live up to that standard simply isn’t trying hard enough. And she even manages to get that into amethysts head, if jasper is capable of this then that means that amethyst must be too, even tho that’s simply not true. Through no fault of her own amethyst would have to try infinitely harder to achieve even close to where jasper is, jasper started out with a huge head start and trying to play catch up does nothing but hurt amethyst. It’s such a good analogy for so many things I think

Her main role in the story is serving as a character who simply refuses to talk it out with Steven, but again, why would she? From her perspective the entire reason her life is like this, she reason shes spent her life fighting endlessly, all the suffering shes lives through, its his fault. Rose Quartz started the war she was quite literally born to fight in. Rose Quartz also ended that same war by killing the only person jasper ever had to look up to, forced her out of the only reason she had for existing (both as in to fight the war and to serve Pink Diamond). And then heres Rose Quartz once again, saying she wants to help her? Where was she offering help when jasper when she was living to fight as much as she was fighting to live? Where was this „help“ when she shattered Pink Diamond and Jaspers entire world with her? „Help“? Help my ass shes the reason everything thats gone wrong in jaspers life went wrong in the first place

And then she gets poofed at her lowest point, gets removed from the story entirely until Future, and Future does nothing to make anything better for her! Last jasper knew the person shes been seeking revenge on her entire existence cant even be bothered to remember what she did, and then she loses herself to the Earth and corruption, the very things she prided herself on being better than.

And then suddenly shes brought back and „hey guess what! That war we created you to fight in? The one you created your entire person around? The one you lost Everything in? Yeah so it was pointless. Actually the person you idolised for the past 6000 years is the same person who you thought killed her and have been seeking vengeance on for the same amount of time. Crazy how that happens. Anyways so do you wanna come hang out with us now that we sorted that out and were chill about it?“

Can you even IMAGINE what that feels like? No wonder she runs off into the woods and becomes a hermit what else is she supposed to do! Shes got nowhere to go! Her entire life has been turned on its head and she’s expected to just move on! That’s ridiculous!

And thats just the backdrop for her appearance in Future. When she finally does appear they kill her and thats the first and only time we ever see her happy. Someone Finally speaks to her in a way she can understand and she actually dies, and uses that to find herself a purpose. If steven is powerful enough to shatter her, a feat never before seen by a gem, then sure she can serve him, anything to give her life purpose again. and then they just forget about her! Steven literally ditched her in his house! They pull the rug out from under her Once Again. but now she can be „normal“ now she can do what other people want her to do so they all assume shes „better“ now.

I think future did her so dirty the original show handles her character So Well and im not really sure how else they could have gone further with her character because people like Jasper in real life dont really change. And if she were to change and agree with steven it would feel like the show saying steven was right and jasper was wrong and she should have listened to him from the start. Shes such an interesting character to delve into because shes the antagonist yes but shes a very specific type or antagonist that doesnt appear very often and when it does its not with as much backstory, even if just implied, or delving into the thoughts behind the actions. Its so interesting to me

[flowerflamestars]

I don't know if my continued Rhys Efflorese babble gotten eaten so here it is again. (if I'm repeating myself I'm very very sorry)

Rhysand being so certain that Cassian and Azriel's Illyrian honor and loyalty will keep them on his side without having even a shred of awareness about what Illyrian honor even MEANS much less what it might mean if they feel that HE'S the one who betrayed them first. I'm not sure that Rhysand even has any concept of Illyrians beyond the asshole camp lords that Night put in charge. (Why were they freezing in the mud, huh, Rhys?! WHO PUT THEM THERE?! Why might they not be will to share their whole selves with the Prince of Night, huh Rhys?)

It says a lot about how much faith and respect they had for Shahar (I can't remember how to spell her name right now) that even though she didn't live among them as one of them, they still very much considered her theirs and believed she could (and would) make the future better for them. (This is a thought I had while reading Starlight: the House of the Wind is possessed by the ghost of Rhysand's sister and she's fucking Pissed at him)

Rhysand is very bad a cost-benefit analysis. Particularly because he doesn't seem to have any concept of what a 'cost' actually is, especially when it's someone else who'll be paying it. Or even what a benefit is really. (Dude, you have two business savvy, policially knowledgeable, intelligent humans who are personally invested in keeping Feyre safe. This would be a FANTASTIC opportunity to learn about the state of the human lands and kingdoms and formulate plans based on new information instead of, you know, deciding you already had a perfect plan despite the fact that you haven't talked to a single (not Feyre) human in at least 500 years.(*insert the "no it's the children who are wrong" Simpsons guy meme here*) Or that maybe there's this guy right here with friendly acquaintances all over the place that could be very useful if you weren't, you know, a shithead. But nope, slightly bruised pride too much cost)

Rhysand's desperation for Feyre to only see him in a very specific light is greatly aided by Feyre's equal determination to only see him in that exact light.

Rhysand thinking that, even after learning he fucked off to the continent and got arrested for gambling debts, bringing shit-head papa Archeron into the situation will keep ANYONE in line (kinda love that even though we're all, like, Everyone Gets a Name but then none of us will can shithead papa Archeron anything but shithead papa Archeron)

Rhysand hoping this situation that he doesn't want to deal with implodes while not comprehending that it will implode into A WHOLE NOTHER SITUATION

Do you think he's a bit baffled when Feyre comes to the conclusion that her sisters hate faeries? Like he's perfectly pleased with the situation and happy to roll with it because it'll drive a further wedge between her and her sisters do you think he looks at the perfectly polite chats with Cass and Az despite the glowing siphons and giant bat wings (plus the Shadows in Az's case) and the House Full of Blood Magic/ Lucien FUCKING Venserra situation and think "Whelp, I guess you've got an immortal lifetime to learn some observation skills" (not that she'll learn good observations skills from HIM anytime soon)

Rhysand thinking that Feyre loves and cares about these people and that therefore they are a THREAT to HIM instead of that meaning that he should maybe he should care about, or, a least, try to get along with them.

Elain just keeps smiling a playing the perfect hostess is nearly as infuriating as Nesta snarling in his face. Then she puts Cassian's knife to his throat. That's probably one of them most WTF moments of his life. (someone please tell the Illyrians that Elain held a knife to Rhysand's throat. They deserve knowledge that this tiny human girl was willing to pull a knife on a High Lord for her people (a people they are now part of))

Did he notice that Elain served him some funny tasting tea and just think nothing of it because human food is all shit to him? (Also Cassian had almost zero reaction to Nesta saying that Elain had tried to poison Rhysand, his High Lord/'brother')

(in your Nesta/Eris story, the Valkyrie priestess says something along the lines of "Rhian's sniveling brat son may think the world revolves around him but it doesn't" and "Shahar would be disappointed in him." These statements feel applicable this Rhysand (or all Rhysands really))

Rhysand is about to get a crash course in how loyalty is a two-way street. The Archerons' people (now including a bunch of awestruck Illyrians) are so ride-or-die for them because the Archerons are just as ride-or-die back.

All three of the Bat Boys are in the process of completely loosing their shit in different directions.

Side-note: When Elain offers Cassian tea and calls him sir and Cassian's like "WTF I'm not a sir" and Elain's like "It's a courtesy given to any man with a title" and Cassian's just "naw I don't have a title" and then in her head Elain's like "WTF in what world is General not a title?" It just makes me wonder about Cassian's (and by extension, Azriel's) actual place in the Night Court's (barely existent) court hierarchy.

Side-note the second: While mentioning the Night Court's barely existent government system the thought of Amren having secret peons in place helping keep the court running. It might have started as a bit of a game 'How much functioning government can I make before Rhysand actually notices" however I think it got boring pretty quick through a combination of, 'he barely ever notices anything not shoved directly under his nose' and mild concern that Rhysand might actually notice and stop her and the court will implode even faster than it already is (and she's gotten stupidly attached to some of these colorful insects and would like to keep them around a bit longer) (Side-side note: I'm SO hyped for Amren to meet the rest of the Archerons)

Side-note the third: if there's Archeron ships in Night then there's probably Archeron ships in Summer too right? That could spin the whole Summer-book theft debacle in... interesting ways. (I'm imagining Tarquin talking to Feyre about Archeron ships bringing in supplies to rebuild the city at greatly reduced transpiration fees or something and Feyre's just mentally like "wtf my sisters hate faeries why would they do that" (because she's still operating under that particular delusion) but (because Rhys thinks it's a good idea) she plays along like she knows about it or something and uses it to gain more of Tarquin's trust before, you know, Rhys's whole *brilliant* plan takes place. Imagine how abso-fucking-lutly pissed OFF, Nesta, Elain and Lucien would be. Like, the whole situation would already piss them all off but add in deliberately taking advantage their family's reputation and kindness to do it? Rhysand had better stay well out of stabbing distance. (Side-side-note: Tarquin's, like, less than one hundred right? The dude spent more than HALF is fucking life Under the Mountain. Give him a fucking BREAK.) (Side-side-side-note: Just popped into my head. What if there were babies BORN down there. Like, that's their whole life down there. I just realized that this isn't actually much of a what-if scenario because really we just have to look under Rhysand's OWN fucking mountain to see how that goes.)

I think that's all of the babble for the moment. <3

Oooo so much good stuff here! I'll try to go in order 💜

Rhys is canonically shitty about Illyria and the Illyrians! I almost feel like I'm hitting the bottom of the barrel to give it emotional nuance- Effloresce Rhys has wrapped together all his grief and ego into just. Complete bullshit. Nesta sees this immediately! ( Cassian and Az have. Had to live within this, which I'll get to)

But yeah, that's the center for him in so many ways: he has to The Most Right, Fully in Control, Always in Charge and also does not take responsibility for shit. Ever.

So he belittles it. A warrior culture? Savages. Mor blatantly using Cassian when they were young? Oh that drives Cassian crazy. Azriel is wildly fucked up? No, it's the fault of his childhood not his continued life! Cassian gets close to his literal soulmate? Are you fucking around with Feyre's sister, Cas?

One of my character things for Rhys is that he wants Everything just barely more than he wants nothing. He is SO voraciously is the center of his own world while being so utterly careless with that world. So there is no balance. There's just what Rhys wants.

And he wants Feyre so Feyre is also always right. And just. Canonically does not seem to value her sisters as people so much as auxiliary manifestations of her own self.

They're like her irksome pets Rhys has to deal with.

Cassian's actual rank is going to come back, but I would say that you could easily call Rhysands perspective on the Archeron alliance making 'huh, the dogs AREN'T smart enough to be afraid of bears, and I, a person, find this quaint'

(Elain is going to kill the fuck out of someone over this.)

Poison doesn't matter because Cassian chose a side basically the second he crossed the wall. Even without Nesta. (You could possibly say he has always had a side, and it has always been Nesta.) Further, Lucien absolutely clocked that blood! All these things add together, really.

As for Amren, she's less focused on a functioning government as she is invested in a broad outcome. She keeps her vows. She is, perhaps, playing an elaborate game of wondering what Rhys does and does not know.

Oooo Summer is a stop on the Elucien honeymoon diplomatic carpet bomb, actually. They're not actively trading there, but they're not unknown. Rhys is definitely still hunting the book to use Feyre's Super Specialness.

Tarquin is young and progressive! I know the books utilize this to be like 'oh, he'll give Rhys a chance', without ever clarifying if Tarquin or anyone knows the actual degree of Rhysands willing or unwilling cooperation with Amarantha. It doesn't make a ton of sense. I like to take it in another direction.

[ivygrowsc]

America Ferrera's breakthrough career

I just want to point out that this woman has delivered 2 cinematic, historical, browsing, impeccable speeches about the frustrations I feel about being a woman. And that actress of course is the one and only America Ferrera herself. Let's talk about her debut role in the movie — Real Women Have Curves. The 2002 independent film based on the play by Josefina Lopez is one of my all-time favourite movies I have watched in my lifetime. And if you somehow know this movie through another suspicious Greta Gerwig connection, I implore you to watch this. The movie was directed by Patricia Cardoso. At the time when it was released, America Ferrera had already filmed another movie but this movie debuted first putting her on the map. She was only 17 years old! Josefina López wrote the play when she was 18 years old. In 2019 it was the first Latina directed film to be included in the National Film Registry at the library of Congress. Taking inspiration from her real life, Josefina wrote Real Women Have Curves about Ana, mostly centered on her relationship with her mother Carmen, played by Lupe Ontiveros. This movie is touted, not only for its representation of women in their real bodies, it also delivered a warm and loving portrayal of Latina families and neighborhoods in Royal Heights and East Los Angeles. Again this isn't a time where Latinas, even today, are represented in a full and nuancent light. So to not only have this Latina family but to have them placed in East Los Angeles which has been criminally and stereotypically portrayed as "dangerous", really meant something and still means something today. And the message of that film being "there's so much more to me than my weight". I think this might serve as a comfort watch for many women around the world.

I don't understand how we were made to believe as children, that America Ferrera was the biggest woman to ever grace our tv screen. The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants is what I call perfection in cinema. If I ever will have a daughter in the future, she is required to watch this movie. Because every little girl needs to understand what sisterhood and what community is. I feel like girls today are not watching sisterhood displayed on television, or even in movies. It's always these toxic relationship, these toxic friendship — not to say that neither of those can't be toxic and bad, because even within this friend group they all have their own issues with each other, with their families etc. But it's not about the problems, it's how they solve them, how they come together. And I feel like this message should be displayed for the young girls today. And I just love how diverse the friend group is, because nowadays it seems like every teenager I see on tv are like the same skinny, white blondes. If you haven't seen this movie make sure to have a box of tissues nearby because it's going to make you cry.

The dark side of pretty privilige is, you don't get to be funny, intelligent, respected — you just get to be pretty. So I've just finished watching Ugly Betty, I fully recommend, and I realised the only female character who's actually respected within this show, is Betty. If you don't already know the concept, Betty gets hired to be the assistant to the chief. Because he sleeps with his assistants, they decide to get him an "ugly" girl so he won't sleep with her. But she's hired for Mode, which is kind of like Vogue/Cosmo type of magazine. So naturally she gets bullied. They treat her like crap because she doesn't look like the ideal Mode girl. But the crazy thing is, since none of the men want to sleep with her, they actually respect her. They start to treat her like a human being with ideas. Then she becomes one of the most liked people by anyone in their team. On top of that, all of these gorgeous women get treated like absolute crap. No one listens to them, their ideas are not heard, and they're not respected. So it leaves a very clear message: wether you are gorgeous or "ugly", misogyny will still hunt you down and it will catch you. For Betty, men don't look twice her way. They treat her bad from the moment they see her. Just because they don't want to sleep with her, they don't find her attractive. For the beautiful women in the show, like Amanda who is painted as the gorgeous blonde, men only want to sleep with her, and they don't see that she's smart. Go back to watch the show and you'll see how horribly the other women get treated compared to Betty (and they have some good cameos in this show).

As we are reaching the end, we can claim America Ferrera as "that girl". The term is, in my opinion, used for anyone who dresses like a fashionista and acts like the queen they are. But it's much more than that. I think, to achieve that title you have to be also impactful and encourage other women to be what they want to be. America really proved it by playing the Emmy Award winning role of Gloria in Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig. I think every cis, heterosexual white male should be forced to sit down and watch this movie. The message behind the Barbie movie is about going from being a girl to being a woman. Barbieland is what our childhood felt like; we were safe, naive, independent and everything seemed perfect. The real world is what womanhood actually is. It's scary, sexist, there's pain and we're faced with so many challenges, while still being held to unrealistic expectations by society. "We mothers stand still, so our daughters can look back to see how far they've become". America Ferrera's speech about how hard it is to be a woman, really affected me and made me tear up in the theather. "It is literally impossible to be a woman. You are so beautiful, and so smart, and it kills me that you don't think you're good enough. Like, we have to always be extraordinary, but somehow we're always doing it wrong. You have to be thin, but not too thin. And you can never say you want to be thin. You have to say you want to be healthy, but also you have to be thin. You have to have money, but you can't ask for money because that's crass. You have to be a boss, but you can't be mean. You have to lead, but you can't squash other people's ideas. You're supposed to love being a mother, but don't talk about your kids all the damn time. You have to be a career woman but also always be looking out for other people. You have to answer for men's bad behavior, which is insane, but if you point that out, you're accused of complaining. You're supposed to stay pretty for men, but not so pretty that you tempt them too much or that you threaten other women because you're supposed to be a part of the sisterhood." America Ferrera the woman you are, thank you so much for helping me and other women to believe in theirselves. Happy international women's day! <3