#one of many reasons I was very interested when approached for the project!

[strflr]

does clever girls have gay dinos

All the playable dinos are female, and all of them will be able romance each other (or just be friends, or rivals) depending on the player's choices. In short: yes!

[dyns33]

Flufftober 2024 - 16 Yautja

Y/N didn't want to be there at all.

There were times in life when you regretted being a good employee. Since he trusted her completely, sometimes Mr. Weyland would insist that she and no one else take care of a project, attend meetings, spend hours writing boring reports.

This time, her boss had decided that she would accompany him on an expedition to Antarctica, where a strange pyramid had been discovered.

No doubt it was a very important discovery on many levels, but even if she could appreciate History and Culture, Y/N didn't really want to die of cold several kilometers underground in search of the origin of humanity.

This obsession of Weyland's made no sense to her. It was like the debates about the shape of Earth. Round, flat, on a giant turtle, it didn't change anything in Y/N's life, and knowing where their ancestors came from was the same thing.

It would be interesting, but it wouldn't change anything.

"Aren't you curious to meet our creators ?"

"If we have to meet some, and no, sir, I'm not interested."

"Another good reason for you to come. I can't wait to see your face when we find something."

No doubt the old man was too scared when they were attacked by these acid-blooded creatures to think about looking at her face and boasting with pride, then when these weird warriors had chased them into this labyrinth.

According to the scientist De Rosa who was trying to decipher the hieroglyphs on the walls to find an exit, they were two races of aliens who had been fighting for centuries. A hunt, to prove their worth, and Weyland's team was in the middle of this fight that didn't concern them.

On top of that, they had made the mistake of taking the warriors' weapons, the only reason they were attacking them. Otherwise, humans had no interest.

At least, until they were forced to face one of the things and Y/N managed to kill it, avoiding being injured by its acidic blood and its pointed tail. She was the only one left and there was no way she was going to end up in this place.

She didn't even have time to recover when the other alien appeared in front of her, making her jump and fall to the ground. But while she thought he was going to take advantage of it to kill her, he just stared at her, before looking at the creature's body, making strange clicking noises.

With his mask, it was impossible to know what he was thinking, but she had the impression that he was impressed. His noises, which seemed to be his form of language, became a kind of purr as he approached her.

Petrified and knowing that she had no chance against him, Y/N watched him reach out to her, before understanding that he wanted to help her up.

"… Thank you." she whispered, grabbing his huge hand.

He was still as tall even when she was standing. Quickly, he scanned her for injuries, before giving her a weapon. Despite the language barrier, Y/N guessed that it was a sign of respect, that he considered her his equal and that he was going to help her survive.

The alien, which she named 'Scar' for lack of a better term, stayed by her side until they had eliminated all the creatures and had gotten out of the pyramid safely.

For a moment, she wondered if he was going to abandon her here or kill her, because from what De Rosa had understood, these warriors left no witness to their passage.

A ship appeared above them, lighting up the entire plain. Y/N thought of Weyland, who would have laughed at the sight of her face at that moment. It might not have been their creators, but it was still incredible, and if she wasn't about to die, she could have been amazed.

"Come." Scar said then, in a strange voice, like a recording, which surprised her.

"What ? Come where ?"

"Come." he only repeated, taking off his mask, revealing his monstrous face, and yet very human eyes. "Oxloq'inb'il, kaw rib' rochb'een. Yoo."

"Oh. You want me to come with you ?"

"Sei. Come."

She could have said no. But besides the fear of losing her head if she refused, Y/N was curious. Really, her boss would have found it hilarious. Scar purred loudly when she took his hand, visibly delighted that she followed him.

[belphiesreverie]

Hello! May I please request a platonic yandere Dottore? With a prodigy reader he came across at the Academia?

Take care!

Ofc, tysm for the request!! 🫶

TW: yandere behaviour, manipulation, Dottore himself is a warning tbh

Gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss. He’s absolutely plotting on how to convince you to join him the moment he sees your talent

He’s incredibly charismatic when first approaching you, knowing just what to say to get you to trust him. To open up to him about your struggles at the academia and keeping up with the demand at the level your teachers expect from you

He plays the sympathetic, understanding role well; you truly feel like he gets what you’re going through, the struggles of being put on a pedestal and expected to out perform yourself over and over. He feels like a mentor you can trust, or maybe even close to an older brother

And that’s when he proposes that you come work on a project with him instead. You don’t need the academia, he’ll provide you with a job. It’ll be low stress, working with someone you think you know well, and in a field you’re most interested in

It feels too good to be true, but Dottore assures you his offer is real. Has he ever lied to you before? So you take the leap and leave the academia to work directly under him

Dottore thinks that for a prodigy, you can be incredibly stupid sometimes

At first, the job seems exactly as Dottore had described it and you settle in quite quickly. He seems like a very understanding boss, and still just as kind as he was before you began working under him

There are a few questionable things about his lab that you start to notice as you spend more time there however

The other workers refuse to talk to you, some even outright avoiding looking at you, and the ones that you attempt to talk to too many times seem to get… transferred to another part of the lab

Sometimes you feel like you can hear screaming coming from distant parts of the lab, but Dottore always assures you it’s just your imagination, or the pipes making a strange sound etc. He always has an excuse prepared, but they seem to convince you less and less each time

There are security cameras in the rooms, which makes sense, but they give you a feeling of unease. Whenever you look up at them, it feels as if they’re always pointing directly at you, following your every move

Originally, you’d felt like you could bring these issues up to Dottore, but for some reason it doesn’t seem like an option anymore. It’s not like he’s directly given you a reason to distrust him yet… but you’ve just started to feel uncomfortable in his presence. What once felt like a safe space now feels like it’s constricting and oppressive

Dottore is no idiot, he can tell you’re starting to pull away from him. But he isn’t concerned. He knew you’d start to notice things eventually, it’s not like he was ever planning on keeping anything hidden. He just didn’t expect it to be so soon. Oh, but you are quite the genius aren’t you

He’ll leave you be for now, let you stew in your paranoia… maybe even feed into it a little bit. It is quite amusing to watch you pretend to stay composed. But the moment you start to think of leaving, he’ll step in to keep you exactly where he wants you

His word alone won’t be enough to quell you at this point, he’ll have to think of something more… permanent. But it’ll be worth it. He can’t have his favourite little worker running off on him after all, he still has so much more use for that magnificent brain of yours

[redflagshipwriter]

Halfa Cass Chapter 7 part 1/2

Masterpost

“I see,” said Alfie, hands full of breakfast dishes. “When can I expect you to return home, Miss Cassandra?” Calm. Composed. She followed at his back with the empty water and juice pitchers.

She hummed, doing math in her head. 90 minutes on a fast bike, unknown time there, 90 minutes back. “Dinner?” Cass guessed. “Will message again at 3 with updated estimate.” She put the pitchers down beside the sink silently.

Alfie gave a brisk nod at that sensible plan. Approval. “Very well, Miss. Please drive carefully.” He paused. “And do not forget hydration and your sunscreen.”

“Love you too,” she said, and went to put on the sunscreen. Then she was a whirlwind to get ready. Athletic undersuit, first. Pullover mask in the back, a long hood design that hooked back in on itself. Convenient! Gloves in black jeans pockets. Ankle boots, good for kicking and for driving. 

Cass put her flying suit in her student backpack and put her hands on her hips. She looked around. Room? Clean enough. Equipment? Packed. Reasonable projection of needs? Cass crinkled up her brow and made her best judgment. Probably minimal. Combat not expected, companion powerful. 

“Jacket,” Cass muttered to herself, sudden realization! She darted across the house to get it. The green jacket was important. It was a talisman. It was representative. It was a civilian flying suit that reminded her she was powerful and beautiful. 

When she had it on, she went back for her student back bag and then left from the upper level garage. Black bike, nondescript. Mid range price. 

Cass paused astride the bike, feet firmly planted on either side on the crunchy white gravel of their long driveway. She unzipped the front left pocket and withdrew her phone. To Marvel, she said,

🦇 🏍️ ⬆️ == 1.5 h ⌚ 

Then she opened a new message to Batdad. She didn’t want him to worry. So she said,

💕 👋🏼  🏍️ 

The last person to get a message was Stephanie, who was not flying because she was still in medical schooling. Cass sent,

Just because it was funny. It would make Stephanie laugh.

Then she was off.

Cass pulled her black bat hood down when she found the right area. It was day. Many stares that she loftily ignored. The meeting spot wasn’t Gotham or Fawcett. The laughing magician was in dingy small town, smoking and drinking. Captain Marvel found him first and hauled him out, friendly arm over shoulder. Cass crouched on the roof of nextdoor building to silently peer down, batting a little for the comfort factor of bat things. He was still big-man Marvel-lie, but with new clothes. Happy face with torn jeans and t-shirt. She squinted. Same Marvel shoes. Hmm. No budget, Cass decided. If any budget, better shoes.

Constantine blinked up at Captain Marvel, dazed from alcohol but interested in big handsome man. “Where are you taking me, prettyboy?” He slurred. He was a mess. He reached up and cupped Marvel’s face.

Cass moved. 

Constantine noticed her rapid approach and stumbled upright. Eyes sharp, intelligent. Then: dismay. “Fuck,” he said. Very unhappy. Genuine dislike. “A bat. Which one are you?” Disdain. 

Cass frowned. “Hands off,” she demanded. She crossed her arms. “He’s baby.”

“What?” Marvel said, sounding distressed. Ah. He didn’t know that she knew.

“Really?” Constantine said, wrinkling his face up and looking between her and Marvel pointedly. Because he was a foolish little man who didn’t understand facts that walked into his life. “A nightmare like you pulled this bloke? Fuck my life.”

Yes. A nightmare. Your nightmare.

Cass stretched her mask mouth wider so the teeth would stretch and pull even bigger. She leered at him with all her scariness. He looked like he wished she would leave. Wondered if he made good decision. Regret. Regret. I run my big damn mouth.

“Hey!” Marvel rallied, totally missing the body language interplay. “She’s not a nightmare! Black Bat is very kind and smart.” He put his hands on his hips, which happily meant he had to stop supporting middle-aged wizard weight.

Constantine said some curses under his voice that she didn’t know. He fished around in his pocket and pulled out a packet of cigarettes. The rattling from inside told Cass: three cigarettes. No metal, no secret hidden weapon unless it closely resembled cigarette shape. Maintain wariness. He lit it on fire with his fingers.

What? No lighter? Cass saw no lighter.

While Cass was busy frowning about that the wizard turned on his heel. “Toodles,” he said, and then Marvel grabbed him. 

“Wait! We need your professional help.”

“Do I look like I’m working?” Grungy wizard demanded. He waved a hand up and down his body, showing off his sleeveless tank top and tight pants. 

“Yes.” Black Bat took a couple steps closer. She knew this. “You were working. You’re not so intoxicated. You were running a scam for funding. You need money?” She kept anything out of her tone that could sound like judgment, leaving it cold and empty. No-nonsense. “I pay for consultation.”

Grungy wizard paused, looking her up and down. He took a drag on his cigarette. Stinky wizard. He blew it out at Marvel, RUDE wizard. “Really?” He was dubious. “Where’s the catch?” Stinky wizard scrunkled his face at her. “Usually it’s all ‘you owe it to the world, it’s for the good of humanity, don’t you have any decency?” with you people.

Cass rolled her eyes. “Can we cut the-” her eyes darted to Marvel. “Bullshit?” she finished, because it was the right word even if there were little ears present. “One thousand dollars American.”

Captain Marvel looked at her, eyes wide. Shocked. Envy. Small.

Oh. She hid her sudden bad feeling. 

“...Make it one and a half thousand, Bird, that’s a love,” oozed the Stinky Wizardman. He didn’t expect, but-

“Fine.” Cass said briskly. She didn’t want to spend a lot of time on money. She pulled out her wallet and withdrew one hundred dollar bills until she had 15. The Wizard cursed jealousy and ran a hand through his hair. Marvel was fascinated. Hmm. She held it out.

The wizard wanted it. He looked. He really wanted it. But: wary. No trust. Can’t trust a bat.

She let out a disgusted sigh. Black Bat shook the bills at him impatiently. “My Black Bat fund,” she said, in a tone that meant ‘do you have a brain that thinks thoughts?’ She continued, “For my use in-suit. Obviously real money. Obviously non-consecutive legal tender.” Duh.

“Okie Dokie!” Marvel said cheerfully. “We’re back on track.”

The wizard snatched it and stuffed it in his back pocket, hungry dog, don’t take it from me, I need it. “Let’s not talk here. I have a hotel room.” 

‘Did the stinkyman invite Marvel-baby to his hotel?’

Cass cut the wizard a death look.

He coughed and avoided looking at her. 

That was a yes. “You’re a bad judge of people,” she told the wizard, voice full of disdain. “Yes. Let’s go.” She pointedly moved in between him and Marvel-baby. 

[nina-ya]

Hey! It's my birthday and I was wondering if you write for Shanks? If you do, could you do a Ways That Law Wordlessly Says "I Love You"? thanks

Ways That Shanks Wordlessly Says "I Love You"

A/N: HAPPIEST OF BIRTHDAYS TO YOU NONNIE <3<3 I hope your birthday went well!! Luffy Zoro Sanji Law Kid Shanks Pairing: Shanks x reader CW: None. WC: 1.4k

Shanks had a talent for picking up on the smallest of details, especially when it came to you. He always seemed to know what you wanted, even before you had a chance to verbalize it. It was one of the many things that made being with him so special– his ability to read you like an open book.

One day, you two would be wandering through a market on a smaller island. The stalls are filled with various goods and trinkets, each one tempting you in their own way. You walked besides Shanks, taking in the atmosphere of the market. 

As you passed a stall filled with jewelry, a particular piece caught your eye. The craftsmanship was absolutely perfect and you just couldn’t help but admire it. You did not say anything, however, and you moved on from the stall to browse the other vendors. Shanks, though, stayed behind for just a moment, seemingly engrossed in the jewelry himself. Later, the sun began to set, and the market started to close. Shanks led you two back to the ship, and as you were settling down in your cabin, he pulled out a box, handing it to you.

“Got you something,” Shanks said, holding the box out to you with a grin. “Thought you might like it.” You opened the box and found the very piece of jewelry that you’d been eyeing earlier. The piece glimmered against the light, painting soft reflections of the room's light against the walls. You were taken aback, surprised that Shanks had gotten the very thing that you had shown interest in. 

“Shanks, you didn’t have to–” you began, but he interrupted your thoughts with a gentle laugh. 

“I wanted to,” he replied. “I saw the way you were looking at that thing earlier, and I couldn’t resist. Besides, if you really feel bad, I can think of a few ways that you could pay me back.” He said with a playful wink at the last comment. You couldn’t help but laugh at his words, feeling lucky that you fell for someone as amazing as Shanks. He always had a way of making you feel special, spoiling you in the most thoughtful ways. You know Shanks loves you when he pays attention to all your wants and needs. - - -

It’s common for the crew to always seek out some sort of tavern when they make landfall. It’s a fun way to down booze while also getting to try the island's local cuisine. You sat at the bar, watching the red haired man on the other side of the bar as he chatted with the other crew members. He naturally stood out amongst the bunch, his voice projecting across the building. You could practically feel the charisma dripping from his words. It’s one of the reasons you fell for him. 

Shanks approached you with a grin, ordering a round of drinks for everyone. He leaned against the counter, elbows propped up casually, turning to you. “Thirsty?” he asked, his voice projecting over the noise of the tavern. 

You nodded, and he motioned for the bartender to bring some drinks over to you two. Shanks picked up the drinks and motioned for you to follow him. He led you to a table in the corner, the seats being somewhat secluded from the rest of the tavern. While the crew was busy celebrating, Shanks was more than happy to hang out with you away from the rest of them

He slid your drink over to you and tapped the two glasses with a satisfying clink that rang throughout the room. While the others in the crew were being rowdy and singing sea shanties, Shanks sat beside you, close enough that you could feel his body heat radiating off of him. He keeps you engaged in a conversation, pointing out small things around the tavern and telling you interesting places he wants to visit while you guys are visiting the island. He had a way of making everything sound exciting, even if they are the most mundane things.

He would laugh at your jokes, eyes sparkling with amusement, and he would slightly lean closer to you as the noise grew louder to make sure he did not miss a word you said. It was as if you two were in your own bubble. You know Shanks loves you when he values spending alone time with you. - - - Shanks’ lap is always the best seat in the house during all the parties you two found yourselves in. His arm seemed to always find itself wrapped firmly around you, holding you close. You held a mug of rum, sharing sips with him, because he’d much rather use his one arm to hold you and keep you securely against him. Even when he is telling stories or engaging in conversation with others, his grip never loosens and you often could feel his fingers tracing lazy patterns on your waist, leaving a trail of goosebumps.

Tonight, the crew is gathered around a bonfire on the beach, the hot amber flames flickering, giving light to the celebration and filling the air with the sound of the occasional crackle and pop of the firewood. Shanks is right at home, reciting stories, full body boisterous laughter spilling from his lips. Even when his focus is not on you, you know that you are constantly lingering in his mind with the way he pulls you in just a little closer, whispering an inside joke that has you reeling over in laughter. As always you are the carrier of food and drinks, offering it to him every so often.  As the party winds down, Shanks stands, helping you to your feet, his arm still attached to you. It’s as if the world would crumble if he let go. Even as he guides you back to your shared quarters and into your bed, he still cannot seem to let go of you. There is just something about being in Shanks’ embrace that makes you feel so safe and so loved. As you drift off to sleep every night with his strong embrace cradling you to his chest, you know he will be right beside you when you wake up. You know Shanks loves you when he never lets go.

[iambilliejeanok]

How they react to seeing reader cry.

Fandoms: Naruto( Akatsuki) || Jujustu Kaisen|| Record of Ragnarok

Featured: Buddha, Itachi, Orochimaru, Geto, Kisame

FLUFF OVERLOAD

🩷Buddha 🩷

He absolutely CANNOT afford to have you shedding tears and not solve whatever problem you have immediately.

Whenever he sees those tears running down your cheeks he lovingly lifts up your chin with his fingers, wiping them away with his thumb before pressing a few kisses to your lips. “What’s the matter?”, he asks, his eyebrows furrowing in concern. He really hates seeing you like this.

And he has many times before and will always be ready to fight the other gods for you. (Even though I genuinely don’t know what kind of mess you’re getting into to be stirring up gods and stuff) But since he is a god, which you don’t like to take advantage of, you try to keep things to yourself to not feel bad about the extra leg and a half you have in life. Since he loves you so much though, he will get to the bottom of this issue himself if it really comes down to it. If you’re struggling at work, with a project, family and friends or you’re not feeling well in general, he’s sure to immediately attend to those issues. But that’s only after he cuddles you to pieces.

He does show major signs of being clingy, so when your feeling upset he’s wrapped around you all day like a sweater, until he’s convinced that you’re well enough for him to leave you on your own and go sort out those issues. He’s like a personal hero. A very clingy one.

🩷Uchiha Itachi 🩷

He’s not as clingy as Buddha is, but when he does see you feeling upset enough to start crying, he will baby you to death. He turns into a koala and will literally wrap his arms around you and never let go. Not until he’s 100% certain you’re okay. And even then, he might spend some time being extra close to you just to make himself feel better.

He’s very susceptible to depression and when he sees you crying, it triggers a deep somberness inside of him that he can’t explain, and he starts overthinking, growing terribly paranoid about you getting hurt or being in any other kind of situation that would make you cry. He doesn’t tears, nor does he like the sound of crying, especially coming from you. So now you experience a season of clingy, overprotective, extra soft Itachi.

Even if you’re only upset in the moment and soon recover and get over whatever mad you cry, he still can’t help but linger around you for a week or two, taking many days off of work or finishing earlier than usual. He bathes with you, cooks each of your meals throughout the day, helps you get ready for bed and tucks you in at night. He will even treat you to a story while scratching your back before bed, and holds you tighter than usual, throughout the entire night.

You know he has some kind of a problem since his behavior is definitely not normal, but if it helps him in any way, you’ll always allow him to treat you like and you also try to reciprocate the treatment to help him snap out of it sooner rather than later.

🩷Orochimaru 🩷

He’s usually the reason as to why you cry to begin with, which at first, he pretends he doesn’t care, immediately turning around to walk away from you so he doesn’t have to watch you break down. But over time, he does take an interest in your feelings. He just feels guilty sometimes and doesn’t know how to approach you.

He knows you love to cuddle though, so he will try to use that during times like this and invite you to come and spend time with him while he works. He’ll rub your back and hold you close to him as he walks around his home and might even suggest going for walks around the large base hand in hand. He went as far as nurturing a garden with his own hands for you two to walk through whenever he upset you like this.

He doesn’t make you cry on purpose. It’s never his intention to begin with, but it happens and when it does, he kind of hates himself for a while. But he’ll never mention it and hides his guilt quite well. He loves it when you lay on his chest sometimes and he can rub your back, and slowly feel you begin to calm down.

Sometimes the poor man gets so frustrated over the sight of tears flooding your eyes, he’ll gently smoosh you into his chest and wrap his arms around you and just hold you, petting your head and rubbing your back while he tries to hush you. It’s only when it gets to this point that he’ll mumble and apology while he’s hugging you. He doesn’t mind standing with you like this until you finally calm down.

🩷Geto Suguru 🩷

He sees you crying and you’re surprised to see a warm smile plastered on his face. “Oh babe, it’s okay”, he chuckles, pulling you close against him to hug you. He’s so good at making the situation seem less dire than it actually is and prefers to distract you from your problems than talk about them.

He will address whatever cause those tears to begin with at later stage, but tries to focus on getting you passed your balling. Sometimes he’ll pick you up and rub your back while you wrap your limps around him and cry into his shoulder. He coos at you and baby talks you while he rocks you in his arms.

After endless kisses against your forehead while he cradles you in his arms, the moment he feels like your breakdown is over, he’ll tickle you. He tickles you until you’re breathless with laughter and have long forgotten to cry. You can only run away from him, and you try your best to wriggle out of his hold, and then he’s after you and the chase builds up adrenaline inside of you that totally distracts you from whatever made you cry.

You end up having to play fight him until there’s a winner, which he freely gives over to you. Once’s it’s been established that you’ve won, he’ll reward you with taking you out to your favorite place and doesn’t mind stopping to get some popsicles with you. He’s a total sucker for you when he tries to make you feel better and will even let you ride his dragon with him, the two of you flying over the nearby ocean, laying on your backs ontop of rainbow dragon, enjoying the wind brushing against your skin while you suck on your popsicle.

It’s during peaceful moments like this that he’ll finally ask you why you were so upset and now you can tell him without feeling too depressed about it.

🩷 Kisame 🩷

He’s not good with tears. He doesn’t know what to do whenever you cry and will quietly separate himself from you when he sees you getting emotional. It’s never with negative intentions, it’s just very awkward for him. What does he say? What should he do? He’s never really seen an example of how to approach the situation.

I mean at least he understands that you’re clearly having a hard time, so he will try and get as many chores out of the way as possible and will work extra hard to ensure that you don’t have to do a single thing around the house. He does grow very quiet though and won’t say much when he does find himself within your vicinity.

If you ask him to shower with you or do anything for you, he will of course. And he heavily relies on instruction during this time or else he’ll just excuse himself. If you’re having an episode and he notices you’re crying almost everyday, he becomes a bit scarce and when he’s away from you he’s constantly stressed out. He really doesn’t know what to do. He’ll humbly ask another member of the org for advice when it gets that bad, and will only come home at night to tidy up the entire house to make sure you’re chore-less the next day.

It’s only when you vent to him with tears in your eyes about why he’s avoiding you does the thought come to him like a lightbulb that he should probably spend more time holding you. He’s trying his best though I mean his traumatizing past is all he got sometimes. But he kind of likes it when you cling to him and your crying goes from making him nervous, to making him feel needed and protective.

[princesssukunalover]

Smiles for the camera

Terushima Yuuji thinks he's going insane when he sees his cute little college crush on a porn site.

Terushima Yuuji x Camgirl!reader

CW: NSFW, enemies with benefits -> enemies to lovers, sex, oral sex, dick and tongue piercing, masturbation, porn, praise kink, hair pulling, creampie, camgirl!reader, college/University AU.

wc: 4320

You're halfway through your first year of college. It seems to be going relatively well, excluding a couple of irritants. The early classes. The busy hallways. The monthly bills. The noisey hallways. But worse of all. Terushima Yuuji. You’re not particularly sure when your little feud began. Maybe it was when he irresponsibly found a way to spill his entire energy drink all over you in the first week. Or maybe it was when he’d completely ruined your spring project with him as he refused to work properly. It could’ve been that he would always ask you for stationary, only to never return it. You don’t know, and you don’t care. One thing you do know is that Terushima Yuuji was not your friend.

Tiredly, you sigh as you take your glasses off, trying your hardest to ignore the pest beside you. A handsome one at that. “If you rub your eyes like that, they’ll get damaged.” Terushima warns you. You roll your eyes, looking down at your watch eagerly. “Why so agitated, cutie?” Yuuji teases. You gag. “How many times do I have to tell you to stop with these pet names?” You complain. Terushima only smirks. “What? You don’t like that one either?” He asks you, fiddling with the hem of your cardigan. “How about my actual name?” You ask.

“Where’s the fun in that baby?” He jokes. You groan in response, practically slamming your head on the desk in annoyance. Terushima only smiles in adoration. Anything and everything you do seems to please him. In reality, he obsesses over you. Every name you call him, every time you slap him, he loves it. He loves the attention. He can’t help it. Not when it’s you, the cutest girl he’s ever seen. But why can’t you realise that?

The end of the day approaches fast. Soon enough, you’re in your dorm, studying, as Terushima is in his, although, he is not quite studying. His delicate fingers slightly tremble as he types into his phone. He feels guilty. Sexualising you like that. But he can’t help it as he searches on whatever porn website, “Girls with glasses..” “College girls..” “Nerdy girls..” He scrolls lazily in slight anticipation. Suddenly, he scrolls back up, his heart stopping immediately.

No way.

No fucking way.

He thinks he’s dreaming.

He thinks he’s crazy.

He thinks he’s officially lost the plot when he sees the girl of his dreams, on Pornhub. Pornhub of all places. He almost cums when he sees your pretty face in the thumbnail. Your pretty body is set in a very compromising position. The first thing he does is screenshot what he’s seeing, to save it for later. The next thing he does is the beginning of your interesting relationship with Terushima Yuuji.

Still in shock, Terushima, so nervously, clicks on the video. It’s only a minute or so until your erotic moans are playing into his, now blushy, ears. His mouth falls open, amazed. The throbbing in between his legs is unbearable. But despite that, he can’t bring himself to move. Not when he is watching you fuck yourself with some sort of dildo. Not when you’re moaning like that. The image of your angelic body will forever be burned into his restless mind. He could never complain. Terushima stares in awe as you grind your hips fluidly, rolling your eyes through your trademark glasses. He can’t help but wish it was him beneath you. The next 16 minutes are discourteous. He strokes his dick slowly, trying to hold himself for whatever reason. Maybe it’s because he’s imagining you. Imagining what you’d feel like riding his dick. In a matter of seconds, he begins to wonder what you sitting on his face would be like. He spends the rest of his evening going through your content, tipping all kinds of bills under a fake name.

As you stroll on through the rowdy hallways of the college, you spot Terushima in the corner of your eye. Your eyebrows furrow in confusion as you catch him walking with the smallest limp. Oddly, you of all people notice it. Curiously, your mind wonders. Did he trip over? Did he do something stupid and irresponsible again. Your eyes scan his face and you realise he seems awfully chipper about something. You then sigh. The idea of Terushima having sex with other girls irks you. You’re not sure why it makes you angry. Maybe it’s because you’re supposed to hate him. Or maybe it’s because you’re jealous. Who knows? Your mind couldn’t come close to figuring out just why Terushima is acting like this on such a boring day. Not even an inch close.

You avoid sitting next to the boy in your next class, instead opting to sit near a friend. Regrettably, you fail to see the way Terushima’s eyes fault in distress as he is under the impression that he has done something wrong. Yes, he did stalk your entire account the day before, going 4 or 5 rounds before he called it a day. But you didn’t know this. What could possibly be the issue? Eventually you are distracted from all and any work at the buzz of your phone. You move to switch it off until you see that the notification is from a recipient by the name of Terushima Yuuji. Inquisitively, you turn your head to look at the blonde boy, a questioning look on your innocent face. He only shakes his phone, signalling for you to read the message. ‘Did I do something?’ The message reads. ‘What a stupid question!’ Is all you can think. You ask him what on earth he is on about, to which he responds explaining how you’re not sitting with him. This has you puzzled. Since when did he care?

In time, the conversation gets to a point where you ,so boldly, state, ‘I’m not interested in being one of your fangirls or flings.’ When he asks you what you mean by that, you bring up his subtle limping. The conversation stops for a minute. You look around the classroom confused, only to see him smirking at his phone before he’s typing again. What is he up to? Yuuji is quick to clear up the miscalculation as he explains that the reason he is limping is because he was up all night fucking himself to you, attatching the screenshot before sending the message. After reading the bombshell of a message, you turn around to see Terushima smirking slyly at you, pure confidence in his dark eyes. You’ve never looked back down at your desk so fast, stressing out as your heart rate increases.

At the end of the lesson, Terushima apprehensively follows you out of the lecture hall, his light footsteps echoing behind you as you speed up. He calls your name tauntingly. He does it again. When you’re further away from the crowds, you turn around, your precious eyes locking with his own. Yuuji is left in a duel state of excitement and shock after you slap him across his smug face. “Fucking pervert.” You complain. You couldn’t fully complain when the idea of him getting off to you is all you can think about. “My bad, sweetheart, I was under the impression that you wanted people to masterbate to you.. Especially if you’re a camgirl.” Yuuji responds, gracefully taking your hand and lowering it. You cannot help but become flustered at the statement, and the fact that he is holding your hand lightly. “But if you wanted to be pleased, you could’ve just asked me.” He jokes. Although, he most definitely isn't joking. And you are very much aware of that.

Enough of his constant fooling around, you decide to bite back. “I don’t know Teru, I wasn’t under the impression that a boy could please me the way I need to be pleased.” You tell the boy. Terushima’s eyes widen. “Well that’s just because you haven’t tried me yet.” He argues. He’s desperate and you both know it. You take a step forward closer to him and look him directly in the eyes. “Hmm..” You falsely begin to ponder. “Who knows, maybe you could put that tongue piercing to use.” You suggest, sliding one of your fingers onto the shiny ball sat on his tongue. Yuuji blushed tremendously, surprised by your unexpected gesture. “I’ll see you around dumbass.” You mock him, walking off into the distance. Belatedly, Teru pieces everything together, baffled that he could’ve made such a huge mistake of thinking you were a sweet, innocent girl. He recalls how you would always seem to have new clothes and expensive things, wondering where you could have possibly gotten the cash from. You were going to be the death of that poor boy.

Terushima is doing some last minute studying when the clamorous sound of an untimely message alerts him. He sighs, picking up his phone, only to relax as your name flashes on his screen. He reads the message. Simply put, it’s your dorm room and an instruction. Bring condoms. That evening, his homework is neglected and so is his self respect and composure when he practically runs across the campus to your dorm. He couldn't care less about the strange looks he receives on the way. You almost jump as you hear an urgent banging at your door. You roll your eyes bitterly and stand from your sofa to open the door angrily. “Terushima what the hell is wr-” You’re cut off with the feeling of his soft lips on yours. The door slams behind him as his hands slide down to your waist, gripping the sides of your body. You shudder as the metal ball of his piercing slides off your tongue.

As if this story wasn’t cliche enough, he bends down slightly to grab onto your soft thighs, lifting you up to press you against the pale walls as the two of you kiss lustfully. Small moans escape from both of your mouths in anticipation, only yours become more frequent as you feel the rock beneath you. Terushima has never felt so hard and needy in his life. His dick, which is covered by pesky clothing, rubs against your clit, which is protected by the thin layer of silky underwear. It’s only until you feel an odd, ball shaped structure roll against your throbbing clit when you are brought out of your daze. “What is that..?” You question in a slow mumble. Teru only chuckles against your lips as he carries you towards your bed, gently laying you down on the soft sheets before he moves to kiss your neck sweetly. You run your gentle fingers through his blonde hair, gripping onto it tenderly as he smells the sweet perfume radiating off of your chest area.

The boy wastes no time taking off your clothing, careful not to rip them. You fail to see when Yuuji sneaks the silky pair of panties that you were wearing into his trouser pocket. He lowers himself back down to cover your breasts and stomach with kisses, very affectionately. Finally, his face is between your legs, and you feel him smirk against your supple skin. Terushima sticks his tongue out, licking the wetness from your pussy. You relax in exhilaration as his piercing glides up, down and around your throbbing clit. Your graceful hands make their way back to Yuuji’s head as you pull him closer towards you and tug at his hair. “Teru..” You begin to moan. A small creak of the bed echos throughout the room as he rubs his hardened cock on the edge of your bed, moaning into your wet pussy. “Just like that..” You whimper.

It doesn’t take long before you cum onto his tongue, gripping his hair harshly as he continues at a faster pace. Your thighs begin to close around his head as it starts to become too much. But that’s when the fun begins. Terushima forcefully pushes your thighs apart and grips them lovingly. He goes right back into your pussy, lapping up your cum with his tongue as if he was starving. You begin to think that he’s not doing this for your pleasure. And you’re right. Just the act of you whimpering beneath him is enough to get him gone. He begins to thrust his hips towards the edge of your bed, hoping for some sort of stimulation as his dick throbs painfully. “Oh, God! Yuuji that feels so good.” You burst. You feel your eyes roll to the back of your head as your hips jerk up and down his tongue while he overstimulates your sensitive clit. Your glasses are now starting to fog up from the heat and pleasure coming from your body. At last, he finishes eating you out when he leans upward to give you a kiss on the cheek. “Do you wanna continue?” He asks you. You nod undeniably.

Teru steps away from the bed to undo his jeans. The sound of the buckle on his belt has you rubbing your thighs in anticipation as Yuuji undresses before you. When he finally lets his hardened cock free, your mouth widens slightly. His dick is the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen, you think. It’s perfectly long and thick, with a few veins here and there. But that’s not what you’re focused on. It’s hard not to stare at the bold piercing at the tip of his dick. “Teru.. I didn’t think you’d actually pierce your dick.” You mutter in surprise, referring to a joke he’d made a couple months back. Teru only chuckles in response, focussed on the task at hand. You sit up as he crouches onto the bed before your lips meet for yet another makeout session. This time around, you’re sat straddling his toned thighs, which feel hard beneath you. “Let’s see how big you can get for me.” Teru groans as you tease him, jolting in pleasure as you feel the veins from Yuuji’s dick rub against your clit. While you’re busy kissing the boy, your hips automatically begin to grind on the boy’s lap, causing him to bite onto your soft, cherry-red lips. “God, I've been waiting weeks for this..” Terushima confesses as he pulls away to breathe. This suddenly gives you a brainwave.

“Oh yeah?” You change the tone in your voice, questioning the needy boy.

“Fuck yeah..” He admits. You smirk, raising your hand to meet his pretty face. The look of confusion on Terushima is adorable as you push the boy down onto your bed, his head slamming softly against your pillow. “Well you’re gonna have to wait a little longer.” You reveal. “Come on.. please don’t do this to me, baby.” Yuuji begs, tears in his eyes as he feels he can no longer hold it in. He gushes internally as you giggle before climbing onto his face, your soft, plush thighs hugging the sides of his head as you straddle him, your pussy directly on his mouth and his nose pushing into your clit as you set out to ride his face. This is Terushima’s dream come true. The boy refuses to complain as his hands find their way to your thighs to support you as you, so elegantly, ride his face. You hold onto Terushima’s strong-built, muscular thighs for support as you grind yourself on his tongue, becoming addicted to the feeling of his silver piercing exploring all over your wet pussy.

Head thrown back in pleasure, you moan in ecstasy as Yuuji licks everything you have to offer down there. You fail to see as Terushima’s hips jerk upwards, his dick DESPERATE for any kind of stimulation, which he has yet to receive. By now, there is plenty of cum already seeping out from the tip of his huge cock, which is ready to cum all over himself. His dick is twitching in agony as he slowly gets off to the act of eating you out. Your thighs completely crush into Teru’s head below you as you cum for the third time that hour. Your hips slow down drastically as he laps up the remains of your cum. It isn’t long before you feel an abrupt wetness on your hand, as you turn around to see that Terushima Yuuji has cum from simply having you sit on his face. “No way..” You fawn. Finally, you climb off his face, sitting down next to him to regain your breath. You look at Yuuji to see him blushing in embarrassment. He is about to explain himself before you interrupt him. “You’re so fucking cute.” You tell him before grabbing his face and kissing him.

“Please.. I just wanna feel you.” Terushima begs. You take his pleading as a sign to straddling his thighs for the nth time of the evening, lowering yourself onto his cock which is already smothered in his own cum. “The condom..” Yuuji winces.

“Forget about it.” You order, as you start to bounce onto his cock and wrap your fingers in his hair and hold onto his precious face. The idea of Yuuji fucking you raw has the two of you feral. Yuuji is already whimpering as you bounce on his cock, your beautiful tits flaunting themselves right in his face. He takes the opportunity to lick on your nipples before accepting your breast into his mouth as he sucks on them. The pleasure that Yuuji’s dick is feeling is barely explainable. It doesn’t take long for him to fall in love with the warm feeling of your wet pussy, which is tight, despite all the pleasure you are feeling that makes you relax around his perfect dick. There is still some pain from the sudden thrusting but you’re quick to forget about it, your mind only focussed on one thing.

Tears threaten to prick from Teru’s darkened eyes as he’s overwhelmed with unknown pleasure. Being with you is new to him and he’d like to get used to it. The feeling of his tongue piercing rolling against your hardened nipple has you feeling like you’ve never felt before. You swear to yourself that nobody has pleasured you like Terushima has. It only gives you a bitter feeling as he must have fucked several women before to obtain such skills. “What’s wrong?” Yuuji chokes out as he manages your change in expression.

“Nothing..” You stutter before grabbing onto his face and kissing him. Teru’s soft hands wander around your body and settle at your waist, bringing you closer to him. The warmth that he’s feeling is just right and he promises himself that he’ll do things right this time around.

The two of you are close to orgasm, which makes Yuuji’s body act alone as he begins thrusting hard into your pussy, shocking you in the process. He leans back against your headboard and he grabs the bottom of your thighs, lifting you upwards to fuck you himself. You fall slightly onto him and hug him close, your head resting on his broad shoulder as he brings himself close to cumming. “You want me to pull out?” He asks you, concerned.

“I’ll just get plan B.. Yuuji I’m gonna cum.” You respond, your arms wrapped around his neck as you hug him tightly. That’s all he needs to hear before he’s fucking himself at a godly pace, ready to cum inside you. You moan erotically as you cum for the final time of the evening all over Yuuji’s dick. The sounds are what brings Terushima Yuuji to his orgasm, feeling a small sense of pride as he cums all inside your throbbing pussy. He slows down to ride out both of your orgasms before you completely fall onto his chest and he relaxes back, his cock still buried inside you. He takes a few moments to recollect himself, as you calm down.

“Oh fuck me..” Yuuji sighs angrily.

The sudden shift in mood has you confused. “What’s wrong?” You ask Yuuji, confused, to which he responds, “I forgot to complete my assignment that’s due tomorrow and I’m fucked.” You pull away from him to face him.

“What topic was it?” You ask him, equally concerned as him.

“Literature..” Terushima mumbles. Literature happened to be your shared topic in your sociology and liberal arts course. It also happened to be your strong suit.

“Well, if you want I can help you finish it tonight? I did mine already and it wasn’t too hard.” You suggest. Terushima lets out a quiet sigh of relief. He looks you in the eye before thanking you. You lean in and provide a final kiss on his forehead before easing off his dick. It’s at that point in time when Teru realises his feelings for you are not just lust, but love. Terushima Yuuji is in love with you. And you still can’t realise it.

The two of you have been going at it for a few weeks since the moment he found your little collection online. You’ve tried out new things, recorded some things and shared quite interesting moments between the two of you. However, it is still strictly a frenemies with benefits situation and Terushima cannot help but die internally. He cannot seem to find a way to confess his undying love to you or figure out exactly what you want from him. Maybe that’s what happens when you have a reputation for being some kind of fuckboy. Since your first sexual encounter, Teru’s feelings for you have only grown stronger and more secure. He’s never been more sure of anything in his entire life. As the days go by, Terushima watches as boys from your class start to take a liking to you. He watches with a heavy heart as you give them small bits of attention, despite knowing that you’d never give them a chance. It puts him at ease to know that it’s his face you’re sitting on every week, but he simply wants more. It’s starting to eat him up inside. He never thought he would be in this predicament. As opposed to searching up your name online, he starts to search for answers.

How to ask a girl out? How to make her know you want her? How to know if she wants me?

Terushima Yuuji is down bad.

And you’re not helping him as you flirt with him like it’s nothing.

At the end of the week, Yuuji is at his limit. You, on the other hand, are only beginning to realise your feelings for the blonde. He’s grown on you. After a couple weeks, he stays on your mind 24/7, but this time, it’s out of love. Terushima’s presence used to irritate you and inconvenience you, but after many interactions, it’s made you feel safe and happy. Which is why your heart aches when you hear Teru’s voice coming through your speaker, not sounding as cheery and excited as per usual. “Can you come over?” He asks, trying to hide the pain in his voice. “Sure.” You respond, thinking it’s just a casual fuck you’re in for.

You’re quick to finish up your work and get changed before heading to the boy’s apartment. The door is already open as come in and make yourself at home. Yuuji is found on his bed, lying down lazily.

“Morning loser.” You joke, despite it being the afternoon.

“Good afternoon, beautiful.” He tiredly responds. Something is definitely not right here. You calmly remove your soft jacket before you go to straddle Yuuji’s tired legs. You’re confused when he doesn’t sit up or aim to hold your waist. “Did you not wanna fuck today?” You ask him.

“Can we just lie down?” Terushima nervously asks.

“Sure.” You sweetly respond before moving upwards to rest your head on his chest, covering the two of you with his blanket. You wrap your arm around his toned, naked abs. He’s only wearing pyjama bottoms. Teru gently runs his slender fingers through the hair at your scalp and strokes your hair.

This is nice.

At least for you. Yuuji is dying on the inside as his brain searches for ways to start the conversation and confession of him wanting more than to be friends with benefits. Something wrong is confirmed when you hear his heartbeat increase as he grows nervous. Just as you are about to ask what’s wrong, he speaks up. “I can’t do this anymore.” He claims. You start to worry. It's probably not the best conversation starter. You sit up to face him, your hand resting beside his body for support. “What do you mean?” You ask him, making the most uncomfortable yet heartwarming eye contact. “Not like that..” Yuuji corrects himself. “I can’t take this anymore, woman! I am in love with you for fuck's sake. I don’t wanna be your fuck buddy anymore. I wanna be your boyfriend.” He finally confesses, an evident blush on his face. You feel your face heat up, and your stomach does flips while your mouth opens in surprise. Yuuji realises you are silent. “Sorr-” He starts.

“How long have you felt this way?” You interrupt nervously.

“Months.” He answers shortly. Suddenly it all makes sense. The reasons for him making you avoid certain boys. The reason why he’s barely seen talking to other girls these days. The reason why there’s an unexplained look plastered on his face whenever you flirt with another boy. “Teru..” You start.

“It’s okay if you don’t feel the same way.. I just had to get that off my chest.” Yuuji calms down, at ease as he’s confessed it all. “Shut up.” You mumble before leaning in to kiss him.

“I love you.” You tell him when you pull away. He is shocked for a split second before he accepts your affection and returns it seconds later. “I love you too.”

not edited :(

[sgiandubh]

The door faces North

This has been, by far, one of the most complex investigations I have ever done in this fandom, and I am truly sorry for the long wait I had to inflict on many of you & for the uncharacteristic radio silence in DMs and comments. During this peculiar journey, I checked, double-checked and cross-checked as many details as I could and I carefully considered at least two different theories, of which I still think they do not exclude each other. I am now confident enough to make not only an educated guess, but also a daring bet on SRH's next whisky move.

Also, sorry for the length of this post. Truly sorry - think of the completely pulverized night sleep I had to give up, in order to bring this to you.

But first, a word on Marple's obvious PR tip on the Hopetoun Estate refurbishment and distillery old/new project. I am fair game enough to tell you the obvious: her overall recounting of the principals is roughly correct, spare perhaps one or two minor details. Correct, but dry - she limits herself to the technical documentation submitted by Golden Decanters and The Hopetoun Estates Trust to the West Lothian Council for approval. She correctly points out that S is not a visible part of the deal, at this point in time and she does a decent summing up of a very, very, VERY plethoric amount of bureaucratic information. She concludes, and I think she is partially right, that he might be interested in becoming an investor (I am taking things a bit further, though). But in doing so, she focuses on the development phase of the project only: the possible connections with SRH and his own spirits business are less, if at all, obvious.

I am going to give you my view of all this charade and, if I am going to mention (and probably repeat) some things already found by her, I am going to focus on the people: this is where the whole story starts to become remarkably interesting, at least to me. After all, I remember promising you some more clarity. Here's an honest, fair play take.

Little did I know, when I started to write about that (now defunct) company, Midhope Castle Distillery, Ltd (https://www.tumblr.com/sgiandubh/748597198794670080/the-info-provided-above-is-correct-but-outdated?source=share), that my investigation would turn to this:

... for it was to be just an almost random layer of a juggernaut matryoshka of defunct or still active companies, featuring roughly the same people and no less than 6 different name combinations centered around Midhope, Hopetoun, etc.

The following pics will give you an idea - feel free to open them in a separate tab, for clarity . I preferred this synthetic approach, because otherwise you will curse the shite out of me. But it had to be done, with or without Depon, Advil's Greek cousin (and before you ask a graphologist, this is my handwriting, and nobody else's 🙃):

The only explanation for the whole almost frantic Midhope/Hopetoun crisscross/hopscotch (LOL) combos I can think of is two people trying to secure one (several?) credit lines or to attract significant investors for their project and ultimately failing to do so. But I might be wrong (although I doubt that, thank you). Out of this entire maze ( I swear I now have a migraine), there are only two active companies remaining: Golden Decanters Ltd (renamed GD Spirits Ltd, in April 2022) and Midhope Ltd (renamed Skosk Ltd, in July 2023). It is on them I am going to focus my gaze.

GD Spirits Ltd was incorporated in Berwick-upon-Tweed, England (just across the Scottish border), probably for tax reasons, on March 11, 2015, the nature of its business being listed as 'wholesale of wine, beer, spirits, etc.'. It started with a team of two women: Julia Mackenzie-Gillanders and Ann Medlock, whose names we are going to see over and over again in all the eight corporate avatars. Later down the timeline (LOL for three decades and a half), on January 30, 2018, they were briefly (until July 19, 2018) joined by two very interesting professionals: Mrs. Margaret Boswell, an attorney at the very prestigious international law firm Gide Loyrette Nouel (Paris and London offices)...

...and Ken Robertson, former Corporate Affairs Director at Diageo Whisky, a subsidiary of the international Diageo group, one of the major players on the world spirits' market:

The second company, Skosk Ltd, was incorporated in August 2021, in Perth, Scotland, its nature of business being listed as 'distilling, rectifying and blending of spirits', with the clear intention to align with the exacting criteria prescribed by the 2009 Scotch Whisky Regulations:

[ Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotch_whisky - sorry, I don't have time to wax lyrical on this, and neither do you]

This time, we only meet again the two distillerettes, Gillanders and Medwick. Up until now, at least, nobody else (attorney, former sales executive, whisky expert) has joined the platoon - TBC? I would not speculate and leave all options open.

There is little to 0 transparency on Skosk's financial situation, at the moment and to be honest, it looks very much like S's co-star (hehe)'s Irish business venture...

... but I was a bit more lucky, and the numbers more chatty, as far as GD Spirits was concerned:

Paging all shipper chartered accountants out there, but to me, it doesn't look great, at the moment. Cash is ridiculous, the net worth is hemorrhaging and the current assets are negligible, compared to 2020, when I think they managed to secure one or two credit lines, but not nearly enough for what they needed. Just enough to pay themselves and their external consultants and cover the operating costs, if you ask me.

The revised Planning Statement, of 8 February 2024, posted first by Marple, echoes my initial guess (COVID blew it up, see link to the first post) and the above assessment:

Mark this: 'Discussions are now proceeding with investors and there is a realistic prospect that work will begin in the near future (2024/2025) to implement the permission.' Given that they will start with the road and parking rehabilitation and upgrading, probably overlapping with the distillery building, it would make sense to begin this autumn at the earliest, with the most urgent: access to the site itself.

The initial Planning Statement, dated 9 July 2020 and re-posted on March 21st, 2024, tells a more detailed story. This is part and parcel of the current project as well, since the revision is just pointing out the changes operated, not the entire rest, which remains unchanged. You be the judge:

Also keep in mind this tiny, tiny thing: the Business Plan is 'submitted (...) under Private and Confidential Cover'. See where I am looking?

The initial plan was (and still is) for GD Spirits to produce their own booze, using Midhope's own barley (this is very important for the rest of my theory!). They even offer an overview of the real impact of their project on the local economy:

20 to 38 initial new job creations for a £ 15 to 30 million investment is not 'huge', madam Marple. Cumbernauld is huge. This? This is rather modest, if you ask me. But hey, what do I know about the labor market, right?

That initial Statement tells also the story they want to tell about the genesis of their idea, the scouting for the right location and a couple of other interesting details:

So they are telling us they started to look for the perfect location in 2018 and oh, hello, they found the Hopetoun Estate rather quickly, already starting the pre-planning application consultations as early as July 2019 (don't get me started, please):

If so, then why did they incorporate not one, but two different companies clearly linking them to the Estate (Hopetoun Estate Distillery Ltd and Hopetoun Estate Whiskies Ltd) the same day and as early as May 23rd 2017 (and both dissolved in December 2022), as my above penciled timeline (LOOOOOL) shows? Who is really behind this project and why this entire ballet? It's like me pre-emptively looking for rental properties in (let's randomly guess) Lisbon, when it's just wishful thinking, heavily projecting and with 0 guarantees I will be posted there, right? I mean, I adore and deeply know Lisbon and I would be thrilled to go there. But I am not currently looking for any rental property, just like that, because that would be a #silly, rookie mistake. In their case, I think there's a different situation - again, you be the judge.

A first answer, as to who is really behind that project, was given by the UK media, back in 2020:

How odd, when we know that both Mrs. Boswell, the well-traveled attorney and Mr. Robertson resigned from GD Spirits in July 2018. Do they still say hi to the two distillerettes? Do they quietly keep an eye on the project? Are they silent partners? Business angels? Shareholders? Time to remind you that under UK law, there is 0 visibility on the shareholder's structure of a company. You just see the officers (Director, Secretary, etc), on the Company House website. On an umpteenth, last- second cross-check, it became apparent that Mr. Robertson remained involved in another company of the distillerettes, Hopetoun Estate Whiskies Ltd (yes, the one mentioned above), until its voluntary strike-off, in December 2022.

Their best laid plans do mention OL, and how could it be otherwise? But all this £ 15 to 30 million hullaballoo for 20.000 people only (who counted them and how?), on a seasonal basis?

High-end restaurant, luxury B&B, event spaces, you name it. Interesting, to say the least.

And, for the people in the back, who still think SRH has a 100 years lease at Midhope (Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ, the stupidity!):

This is why he commented as a 'member of the public'. At face value, there is no public involvement into that project. Yet. But it is my belief there is a vested interest in all this, justifying the comment, the visit, those papers rolled in his fist, etc. At first, I thought that was a visit to Lallybroch by the Exec Producer of OL's Season 8, to discuss technicalities - and shared that privately with a wonderful friend only. I mean, why not and still perfectly possible. But then, as I could not sleep tonight and felt guilty to have you all waiting, I started to connect some tiny dots.

Like this one, for a start:

Yes, I know, Marple told you that FIRST, I would not dare say otherwise, because if I did there would be a transcontinental screech. That trademark application was filed at the US Patent and Trade Office in September 2023 and I thought (and still partially do) it was a potential rebranding solution to The Sassenach's EUIPO nightmare (much exaggerated by the fandom's toothbrush experts):

But you also know I am an idiot and I always check people's CVs, when I follow a thread. This morning, the one Distillerette I am particularly interested in is Mrs. Julia Hall-Mackenzie-Gillanders (née Scales) and not like *urv would be.

Her LinkedIn profile is exceptionally talkative, too:

... and a BA (with Honors) in Fashion Design, class of 2005, at the Northumbria University.

The Financial Times article 'From packing boxes to wine deals worth millions', you can read on her LinkedIn page, tells a very interesting story. It is the story of a shy underdog (lots of temple bells clinging, at the moment), who made it by sheer persistence. It starts like this:

'When a painfully shy young woman contacted a fine wine merchant and said ' I have no qualifications- can I help?', she got the job and today is signing deals worth millions of pounds.'

It obviously did ring a bell and if SRH knows she exists (she is married, *urv!), and I dare to speculate he does, it must have struck a deep chord. Would I do business with her? I wouldn't speculate, although I am not very sure. Would he? He'd probably listen very carefully to what she has to pitch, for a start.

And what she has to pitch is also very interesting, in his world. A brief look at the Golden Decanters' website shows a first high-end single malt sourced collection of 4 exceptional expressions already sold out:

And when they mean high-end, they mean gold leaf labelling and all the tralala:

And, some last minute news, too:

Remind me, because I am an old woman, after this white night: wasn't The Sassenach (no comment, we agree to disagree and I am very skeptical), a blend?

We have these dots, then:

Bold Underdog ->spirits business->high-end collection of single malts sold out->business partnership with owners of Midhope Castle, fictional Lallybroch in OL, including a distillery and whisky production with Midhope/Lallybroch barley -> visit by the male lead and spirits entrepreneur (also the fictional Lallybroch laird) to Midhope/Lallybroch and vested interest in the estate's most recent business project....

What if The Sassenach would be included, for a start, in that new Blended Collection? And could it really be fanfic to imagine a future high-end, limited edition, Lallybroch whisky produced at Midhope, with Midhope/Lallybroch barley? It wouldn't be the first time, would it: after all, they did it with that limited tequila batch.

As I said, because I am (remember Someone? LOL) a 'silly cow', I was hoping he wouldn't do it. But my guess is he might very well do exactly that, with those people and under that label.

It's half past eight AM, local time and I need a strong, black coffee.

I rest my case (and I am bracing myself for the screeching). I will answer Anons later, after I come back from the hairdresser's. Appointments must be kept at all costs. Thank you all for your patience.

[ilikekidsshows]

The Totally Spies-ification of Adrien

Okay, it's been long enough that I can actually discuss how Adrien's slavery is depicted in the show without anger-fueled exaggerations and hyperbole. I want to discuss how Miraculous treats Adrien's slavery very flippantly and how it is, like everything in this show post-retool, all about Marinette. The show has a lot of stuff that hints that the writers intend for Adrien to be viewed a very certain way. I believe the writers made Adrien a slave for Marinette’s benefit and I will explain how I came to this conclusion.

I’ve joked before about how Astruc has worked on Totally Spies, “one of the kinkiest cartoons ever made”. I’d like to tackle this idea and how it relates to Miraculous more seriously. I’d like to tackle the topic of titillation and how it relates to how this show approaches slavery with such flippancy. My claim is that Adrien being a slave is not meant to be horrifying, which is why the story doesn't treat it as such; it's meant to be titillating.

I usually don't use Read Mores, since they can lead to broken links later, but this is really long. Strap in, folks.

Titillation for the context of this analysis means “content with the intention to excite romantically or sexually”, basically it’s about “kinky” stuff. The purpose of talking about sexuality in relation to Miraculous is not to paint the writers as some kind of fiends, but to present the fact that many teenagers are curious about romance and sex and will think about sex unprompted. This means titillating content in cartoons doesn’t even need to be related to sex to be titillating. And Astruc has a history of putting titillating stuff in his work, with Totally Spies being a very notable example of how you can include non-sexual titillating content in a kids’ show.

It all comes down to expected audience reactions. Adrien is meant to be sexy. I don’t mean that in a “the writers think this is sexy” way, but a “the writers think the projected audience of straight teenage girls will think this is sexy” way. He gets put into bondage three times in ‘Copycat’, ‘Anti-Bug’ and ‘Reverser’ and all three times the camera seems to like to show him off. He is meant to be an object of attraction for the audience. The people criticizing this show have been pointing out how Ladybug's costume accentuates her butt for years, but this is not something that occurs with just Ladybug. When he isn't posing for the viewers, Cat Noir gets whacked around by Akuma’s a lot, but a lot of the time it ends with him in a prone position that is also titillating, in ‘Pixelator’ it goes as far as having his butt jut out. However, the idea that Cat Noir is the one who gets hit when an Akuma needs to show off how dangerous they are is also part of the power dynamic where Marinette or Ladybug gets to show off, so it’s not purely for titillation, which is why other examples, like ‘Stormy Weather’ are more comedic.

It’s likely that Adrien-as-Adrien doesn’t get to participate in the show’s slapstick much, since that aspect of the character is presented as the perfect beauty, a role usually reserved for female characters who only ever get a little bit flustered or banged up to make sure they keep looking attractive. Marinette screams "waack" and runs face first into a wall in the same episode where the silliest thing Adrien gets to do is sneeze (Mr Pigeon). Adrien is meant to be attractive, sexy, titillating, in different ways in his different forms. As Cat Noir he is more active and more sexy, as Adrien he’s more passive and pretty, much like how female love interests can fall into these categories. It’s the Betty and Veronica dichotomy; in the Archie franchise Betty and Veronica are shown as the wholesome and sexy romance options and the reason the writers go out of their way not to resolve the love triangle is to keep the appeal of these both options going. People’s tastes differ, so it would alienate some audiences to pick one over the other. With Miraculous they solved the problem by having the two romance options be the different identities of a single character.

Frankly, as of the season five finale, Adrien is approaching “sexy lamp” levels of replicating sexist ways of writing a female character but just changing the gender. What else do you call him lying on the floor in despair while his love interest gets his superpowers and uses them to beat up his abusive father, while somehow being perfectly fine and happily kissing Marinette later after said father is dead and gone? Adrien’s trauma is debilitating when it serves the writers’ purposes, but stops being a problem as soon as they need him to smile and look pretty. The main reason Adrien’s trauma is so inconsistent is so that he can act as Marinette’s trophy so that Marinette has somebody to kiss in the final shot. If Adrien was despairing about not being good enough for her, or grossly crying about being an orphan, Marinette wouldn’t have a fun time kissing him. And if Marinette isn’t having fun, the members of the audience projecting onto her aren’t having fun either.

Speaking of how Adrien’s depiction relates to Marinette, here comes the controversial part of this post: while Marinette is not depicted as a literal slave owner in-story, narratively, she is very much treated as Adrien's owner from a meta perspective. We, the viewers, are meant to see Adrien as Marinette's property, and the twist of Adrien being a part of a slave race in a dynamic where Marinette holds all the cards is meant to be a good thing. We have been primed to view everything about Adrien to actually be about Marinette, because Marinette is the center of the universe of Miraculous and Adrien belongs to her because he’s the main character’s love interest. Adrien being revealed to be a slave that Marinette could control but then chooses to “merely” manipulate is meant to be glorifying to Marinette and titillating to the viewer. I will elaborate.

Marinette has been incredibly possessive of Adrien since day one and she is only occasionally depicted as being in the wrong about this, when she goes too far by the show’s standards. She stalks Lila and Adrien whenever she sees them hanging out together and she’s unreasonably jealous of Kagami. The only time she is depicted as being in the wrong is not when she's sniffing Adrien's pillow after breaking into his room, but when she actually bullies Kagami out of jealousy, and even that is depicted as more of an unfortunate misunderstanding than Marinette actively doing something wrong. Marinette is more sympathetic towards Kagami when she finds out she and Adrien aren't as close as she thought, that Kagami’s pursuit of Adrien is more hopeless than hers. Basically, Marinette is only in the wrong because Kagami isn't a threat, not because she was doing anything wrong by bullying her to defend her “territory”.

This gets flipped near the end of the season, though. When Adrien and Kagami do start dating, it's depicted as this big tragedy even more so than Master Fu losing his memories. Master Fu going missing is an afterthought, while Adrien choosing someone else over Marinette is the big “darkest hour” moment of the season three mid-finale, the cliffhanger moment of her crying in Luka’s arms while all hope is lost. Marinette isn’t directly crying about this, she is crying from “all the pressure”, but Marinette breaking down happens immediately after a scene of Kagami leaning in to kiss Adrien that has a somber dirge playing in the background. The first part of the finale has everything going wrong at the end; Master Fu is missing, Chloé gets willingly Akumatized, Marinette breaks down, and Kagami leans in to kiss Adrien. These scenes being put closely together is telling us that these are all bad things to happen.

Adrien ending up with Marinette is a given, but it's also taken for granted. Every girl with an interest in Adrien is depicted as an antagonist, while Marinette can do whatever she wants in pursuit of Adrien and will still be morally correct. Chloé and Lila, even Kagami to a degree, are villainized for their attraction to Adrien in a way Nathaniel, Luka or Zoé are not with their attraction to Marinette. Chloé and Lila are full-blown villains while Luka and Zoé are some of the most selfless members of the cast. Kagami is aggressive and socially awkward in a way that is used to justify Marinette's initial distrust and dislike of her (in ‘Ikari Gozen’ Alya voices her pity towards Marinette for having to spend time with her) while Nathaniel is just the pitiful bullied loner who’s still a liked member of the class friend group. Girls who want Adrien are bad for trespassing on Marinette’s territory and trying to “steal” something that “belongs” to Marinette.

The writers thinking Adrien belongs to Marinette is also not just subtext. Later in season five, when Marinette and Adrien finally start dating, Marinette even outright states that Adrien “kinda does a little” belong to her when she’s scared that Zoé has a crush on him. The fumbling of the line means that the writers are aware of how toxic it is to consider your partner your property, but they want to include that sentiment anyway, because that’s how they view the situation. Marinette’s boyfriend is her property and other people can’t even look at her property. ‘Emotion’ continues on this increased possessiveness by having the entire Marinette plot happen because she can’t conceive Adrien keeping things from her, because he isn’t allowed privacy from her while Marinette lying to Adrien (or Cat Noir) is a show staple.

This same attitude of Adrien not being allowed to have romantic options outside of Marinette has also been in the fandom for years. Every time a new female character was introduced, there was a worry that she’d “try to steal Adrien from Marinette”. Marinette and Adrien are endgame, the writers know this and the fandom knows this. The characters don't know this, but it doesn't matter because Adrien was already seen as Marinette's (future) boyfriend even back in season one when he barely knew her. And this attitude the writers and audience have is extended to the characters more and more as the show goes on, as almost every single character becomes an Adrinette shipper in support of Marinette in season five, while no one thinks to ask Adrien what he thinks about this. Only once, in ‘Desperada’ did Alya suggest that Adrien could make his own choice on who to date, but it was implied the choice should be Marinette specifically (Marinette smiles at this, while Kagami frowns). The cast is lucky the writers have decided Adrien already is Marinette's, or he’d be really uncomfortable.

Season five episode ‘Pretension’ goes as far with this as having Marinette basically ask Gabriel for permission to be with Adrien, convinced that she and Adrien can be together with no problems if she can just get him to approve of her. And then Gabriel tells her he’s promised Adrien to Kagami. You know, like a piece of property women were treated as before women were allowed to live without a man to control them. The finale then ultimately does have Gabriel agree to hand Adrien over to Marinette by dying and leaving her in charge of Adrien. Just because she uses the privilege to do some things for Adrien’s benefit doesn’t make what happened any less of a patriarchal transaction. In fact, the writers wrote it that way on purpose, with the knight and princess parallels they set up between Marinette and Adrien earlier in the show being something they are prominently proud of (the “reverse fairytale” as they put it). Adrien is the princess the dashing hero Marinette gets to earn with her feats of bravery; he’s handed to her like a piece of property and Marinette is too happy with her acquisition to even be outraged on Adrien’s behalf. And Adrien wasn’t even allowed to know about any of this, instead it gets handled solely between Marinette and Gabriel, like his opinion on the matter didn’t even matter. And why would his opinion matter, since he already is ready to promise himself to Marinette, even as the writers deny him the agency to actually make such a promise.

The goal of making it obvious that Adrien is cool with being objectified like this is probably why they make Adrien so obsessed with Marinette in season five, constantly repeating her name to himself and saying stuff like: “I can’t stop thinking about you” in ‘Pretension’. They need to drive it home to the audience exactly how okay Adrien is with everyone forcing him to be with Marinette. After all, you can’t force the willing. As of ‘Confrontation’, Adrien’s official goals for the future are: “I love Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” I guess, from the perspective of the writers, the childhood dream of wanting to be what his parents wanted from ‘Wishmaker’ wasn’t sad because of Adrien’s lack of agency; it was sad because he wasn’t forsaking all of his personal pursuits for Marinette specifically. As far as the writers are concerned, Adrien should only care about Marinette and nothing else.

This same entitlement is also present in Ladybug and Cat Noir's relationship. Every time Cat Noir is upset with Ladybug, like in Frozer, Glaciator, Syren, The New York Special or even Kuro Neko, they never talk about what caused it. This is especially blatant in cases where Ladybug has wronged Cat Noir personally, like Kuro Neko or the NY Special, where she never has to face up to what she did wrong because Cat Noir comes back because she “needs him”.  Cat Noir will always come back to her without her having to do anything because she is the main character and she says she needs him. He exists for her and her needs. He exists for her; it’s just another way he’s hers.

Speaking of how Adrien is treated affects Marinette, even Adrien’s trauma actually belongs to her in the writing.  I pointed out earlier that Adrien’s trauma shows up when the writers need to put him out of commission, but disappears as soon as he needs to be Marinette’s trophy, but it goes further than just inconsistency. The early seasons spend several episodes on how Adrien is being locked up by his father and unable to hang out with his friends and, between him and Marinette, Marinette is the one shown to be more upset and hurt by this. They don’t do this in every episode, as ‘The Bubbler’ actually does a phenomenal job of making Adrien’s upset actually about him, but the big point in ‘Glaciator’ is that Marinette is so upset that she can’t see Adrien that she accidentally leaves Cat Noir on read so he’s upset about that. Adrien is only upset because he didn’t get attention from Marinette, while Adrien’s literal abuse at the hands of his father is only important because it makes Marinette upset. Even Adrien himself gets in on this action in ‘Conformation’ when the writers go as far as having Adrien chastise himself of not being more worthy of Marinette’s love when his dad is once again busy ruining his life. Even Adrien himself makes his abuse about Marinette; him being abused is bad because it’s inconveniencing Marinette and inconveniencing Marinette makes him less worthy of her.

‘Cat Blanc’ is possibly the worst offender of all, though. This episode should be all about how Adrien is abused by Gabriel, culminating with Gabriel turning him into a monster that destroys the world. And yet, what is the episode actually about? It’s about Marinette. The worst thing that could happen to Adrien is about Marinette. Only Marinette gets to remember or even know about the possibility of Cat Noir getting Akumatized and only Marinette is traumatized by it happening. After all that the writers later dare to use this event that didn’t actually happen anymore, that Adrien doesn’t know about, to justify him giving his powers to Marinette, because he’s “scared of getting Akumatized” when something like that has never happened as far as he knows. But the writers had him reason this way anyway, because apparently the culmination of Marinette’s character development in the show means taking Adrien’s power as her own and then failing to win even with that at her disposal.

Another note about ‘The Bubbler’ that has to be pointed out is that it’s also the first example of Marinette being presented as good for Adrien simply because she treats him better than Gabriel. The final scene of Marinette giving Adrien his best birthday present yet and letting him think it comes from Gabriel is done to show how selfless Marinette is by letting Adrien keep thinking good things about his abuser. This idea that Marinette is morally good simply because she’s better than pond scum Gabriel is also present in the season five finale, where Marinette manipulates, gaslights and keeps important information from her abused slave boyfriend. Marinette is presented as being in the right because at least she didn’t literally control him with a magical geas like Gabriel did and gave him the object with which to do so (while notably not telling him what it does). Marinette will do the bare minimum of not taking literal ownership of Adrien and we’re meant to see her as a paragon of goodness for it, while she still has no respect for Adrien’s autonomy and hasn’t had any since the show started.

The way the Sentimonster “reveal” is handled shows this utter lack of respect for Adrien’s autonomy that the writers, and Marinette by extension, have. The reveal is not for Adrien, but for Marinette, just like every other piece of Adrien has been made to be about Marinette. Marinette gets to know and she gets to decide if Adrien gets to know, and she decides “no”. She will manipulate him and lie to him to keep him happy for herself, she will keep important information about him to herself that he might never find out if anything happens to her, because Adrien is hers and no one else’s and she has the right to make that decision because the world revolves around her because the world of Miraculous was created to be her playground. “Adrien” is just a toy on that playground for Marinette to play with as the writers see fit.

Now we’re coming back to Adrien’s role as the sexy, titillating love interest character that I talked about at the start of this essay. If Marinette granting Adrien the bare minimum of freedoms as a slave while manipulating him “for his own good” is meant to be a good thing, why is Adrien even a slave? Well, outside of the writers wanting to add a plot twist that doesn’t come with any messy plot they’d have to write about characters other than Marinette, Adrien being a slave is also meant to be titillating. What really is magical super slavery than very, very off the wall bondage and power play stuff? The idea that Marinette could rob her love interest of his free will with ease but won’t because she cares about him so much is very empowering in two different ways. It gives Marinette all the power in the relationship and it makes her out to be such a good person that even having ultimate power over another person won’t corrupt her. Adding to that, we have Adrien’s people pleaser abuse victim personality, which makes him fawn over the people he loves. If Marinette ever wanted to have control over Adrien, Adrien would give it to her of his own volition, no need for magical super slavery or unbreakable geases.

As I stated earlier, Marinette is meant to be the point of view main character the audience of teen girls projects themselves onto. So, really, Adrien’s slavery and abuse responses are all about that fantasy of having a cute boy you have all the power over but not needing to use it because the boy is so nice and devoted to you anyway. Adrien really is “perfect”, the perfect object of attraction, a being who technically has free will but whose free will you never have to take into account because he’s been designed and trained to value other people’s wants and needs over his own.

Marinette doesn't literally own Adrien within the story, but the writers make it very clear that they think she should. In fact, in all ways except the literal, she already does.

[greghatecrimes]

Okay. Buckle up babes, it's finally Foreteen time and I wrote an essay.

Foreman and Thirteen are so interesting to me in so many ways. You have Foreman, who thrives off of control, and Thirteen, who refuses to be controlled in almost every aspect of her life. In the sense of them as individual people, they both have a lot of their own issues going on. Hot messes, the two of them. But in the sense of them as a couple, I think Foreman specifically is the only one who has issues with the relationship. (Or rather, Thirteen's issues aren't being projected onto the relationship and causing difficulties at the end of s5/beginning of s6, while Foreman's are.)

Foreman's biggest thing, at least in the latter part of their relationship, is control in regards to emotions. After they found Kutner, he coped with everything by isolating himself. A huge part of me thinks that's because this terrible thing just happened, the floor just fell out from both of them in so many ways, and Foreman feels like he doesn't have a grip on anything anymore. The only thing he can control is himself, and how he reacts. So Thirteen? Even though she's his girlfriend and he's worked with her for two years, her emotions and reactions are fundamentally beyond the scope of his control; she's still a wild card. She's not safe. So instead of letting himself lean on Thirteen, letting them grieve together, letting them comfort each other, for his own stability, Foreman chooses to cope (and thus reject Thirteen when she reaches out for support) by retreating into an environment that he's intimately familiar with. He surrounds himself with only variables that he can confidently predict. It's his gut instinct. It's always worked before, so why wouldn't it work this time? Why would it have any reason to cause problems?

In season four and the first half of season five, Thirteen was very much the same way. When things became too overwhelming for her, she repeatedly dealt with them by running, by hiding; by trying to isolate herself from the people who care about her and want to help her. The same base principle drives them both at this point: "what's out of my control is dangerous in some way or another. The only one who's safe to be around is myself, because I am the only person that I can control." But by mid season five, Thirteen has come a long way from that. Slowly she's becoming much more of a "recovering control freak". She's starting to be okay with the fact that she's not always going to have the amount of control that she has right now. She knows that all of it is something she has to come to terms with, and slowly she's getting to a point where she's accepting her diagnosis and working on all the baggage that comes with it.

Thinking about that– the fact that, by mid season five, Thirteen is approaching a point in her life of letting go, of learning to 'go with the flow'; while Foreman is very much still on the side of "I thrive and keep myself safe by controlling every aspect of my life possible"– makes them fundamentally incompatible as a couple from the get-go, even with all of the chemistry they had. Because the moment they get together (the Christmas party in 5x10 "Joy to the World") is right after Thirteen's decided that she doesn't want to die; when she's just starting to process her diagnosis instead of running from it.

Do I think there was/is love there? Yes. They absolutely care about each other, both during and after the relationship.

Do I think they would have worked out long term? The simple answer is "no".

The more complicated answer is that if they had been able to avoid the fiasco of Foreman running the department and then firing Thirteen after House quit, I think they could have made it work. But it would have been rocky, and it would have been especially rough for Foreman. Extremely so if it were to reach a point where they've stayed together for years and years, and Foreman is with Thirteen when she really starts to decline with her Huntington's.

Foreman is Thirteen's friend; he's also seen people slowly wither away from degenerative disease (his mother, with Alzheimer's), and he's a neurologist (and so he knows exactly how she'll decline, down to every last detail). All of those things give him greater emotional stakes in her Huntington's diagnosis beyond what's typical. But specifically in the situation of them facing this as a couple, you have this level of involvement where Foreman– someone who needs a high amount of control to function on a fairly basic level– is in an incredibly intimate relationship with Thirteen, whose entire life is inevitably and actively slipping out of her control. And in that scenario... I think that when the decline does start happening, it would absolutely terrify Foreman. To be the one that's by her side as a partner– seeing all of it firsthand, the pain and grief and sickness? And as her significant other, being the one that would potentially become a medical proxy when she's too sick to advocate for herself, faced with the possibility of making life or death decisions (like whether or not to euthanize the woman he loves)? I think that would have the potential to utterly destroy him.

As a friend, though? ("Ex-partners who have gotten back to a shaky friendship after the breakup, and still care about each other deeply", but "friends" for short.) The entire situation completely changes. I firmly believe that post-canon, if Foreman knows House offered to kill Thirteen before he "died", he would offer to kill her in House's stead in a heartbeat (just like I think Chase does). THAT sort of involvement with Thirteen's decline and care is far less terrifying, because now this is not the decline of someone that he's based his entire future on. This is not someone he's given half of his heart to; this is not someone he's built an entire life with and entwined himself so thoroughly with.

With the way things work out in canon, they're still friends, and they still care about each other; but at the end of the day, they're two separate people with two separate lives, two separate futures. And so Foreman doesn't lose a single ounce of his control as Thirteen's is slowly taken from her, bit by bit. Witnessing that is still a pain that is unimaginable. But for him, it's survivable. And that's the key difference (and why I ship Foreteen during season five and season six, but not post canon).

[bambi-kinos]

I don't know much about Brian Epstein other than that he was the manager and that he was gay. Do you think it made a difference for John and Paul? Better or worse? He must have known about the two of them, don't you think? This might be the craziest ask but do you think George and Ringo had "bisexual experiences" with John and or Paul too apart from that circel jerk?

A paragraph summary: Brian Epstein was a gay Jewish man born in a family established in Liverpool. He faced a lot of anti-Semitic prejudice as a child and an adult which affected his sense of self profoundly and riddled him with self doubt. He was very intelligent and astute businessman who was close to his mother, father, and younger brother Clive. He was one of those aimless people who wandered through life, mastering skills and solving problems quickly and then becoming bored once there was nothing left to do. He attended RADA, served briefly in the British army (there was still a draft at the time), and then went home to manage the family business as his father got older. He built up the Epsteins' furniture business and then moved on to the family record shop in Liverpool proper. Brian was good at keeping his ear to the ground regarding trends and realized teen clients with pocket money were his new target audience. He caught wind of The Beatles through them (the bugs had recorded a record in Germany with another musician and tried promoting it during their gigs at The Cavern, leading their fans to NEMS, Brian's record shop.) He observed them at The Cavern and eventually approached them to be their manager.

The rest as they say is history. The Beatles as a group, a sound, and an image were built and promoted by Brian Epstein. He was the one who believed in them from the start and he is the reason why we know and love them today.

When it comes to John and Paul and their specific mess: it is reasonable to assume that they clocked Brian pretty quickly and decided to go with him anyway. I can speculate that Brian paid people off if suspicion arose and that he shielded them in other ways like the written room assignments. (John and Paul did not actually room together that often on paper though the reality was probably very different.) I don't know if Brian had to go so far as to arrange "beards" or anything, Cynthia and Jane functioned well in that role and then John and Paul both have sincere sexual interest in women. It's reasonable to think Brian realized what John and Paul were to each other early on but the specifics are completely up to interpretation and speculation. It's a big opaque wall that we can project whatever we want onto.

Brian is still very opaque in many ways. Lots of rumors about him abound, some good and some bad. It's impossible to know what is true and what is not aside from Brian's brushes with law enforcement and what has been reported about him by The Beatles themselves. I think he loved his boys very much and that he did his utmost to protect them in every way he could.

That is ultimately why The Beatles (John, Paul, George, sort of Pete at the time) decided to go with him. It's hard to say if Brian being gay was a minus or a plus for them but ultimately what drew them to him was that he respected them as performers instead of treating them as money factories. That's what Allen Williams did when he dumped them in Hamburg. Allen did love them but he wouldn't respect them and they kicked him as fast as they could. What separated Brian from their other managers was that he respected their act as a unit and tried to improve their presentation instead of changing their sound or telling them to repress their personalities. He was more interested in refining and polishing and they responded to that.

I guess my take is that the homosexuality thing didn't actually loom that large for them. The boys had enough show biz experience to realize how many gay men were involved in performance arts and that Brian's assets (a good eye for costumery, adaptability, his respect for their hard work and talent) simply outweighed the gay thing. Everything else is unknown and open to projection/interpretation/fanfiction/whatever.

Wrt George and Ringo, I think they had bisexual experiences with John and Paul, yeah. I'm a subscriber to the idea that all four of them had sexual tension with one another. It's another blank space that we can project whatever we want onto it.

Considering John and George did a lot of LSD together I wouldn't be surprised if they had sex while stoned (which would add another layer of Paul's icy refusal to take the LSD until John tricked him with the rooftop thing.)

Ringo is a little bit of an enigma, all the industry gossip online says that he's really just that heterosexual but considering how beautiful Paul is and how close they all are, it's hard to think he didn't at least try out gay sex to see if he liked it or not. George is the most likely candidate for sex with Ringo, not just because "pair the spares" but because George is the only Beatle that Ringo could try out gay sex with and he wouldn't make it weird. Can you imagine John or Paul's flutters in the aftermath of having gay sex with Ringo instead of each other lmao. George is very low maintenance in comparison so I can imagine him and Ringo trying it out just to see and then coming to an amicable agreement after regardless of the outcome. And I've often wondered if Ringo and Paul started hooking up after John died.

I don't know if George or Paul could have made it work in any capacity, casual or serious. I think they were attracted to each other (Paul certainly comes off as wanting to fuck George and Ringo on the DL in the Eye of the Storm photobook) but whether or not either of them could have actually coped with that is a big question mark. I'm not sure they could without a lot of growing up from either of them.

I also think that John's "Greek island" fantasy also included orgies but that's because John is such a horny and jealous guy, putting his three best mates in a single stretch of land where they can't avoid him? You bet he wanted group sex lmao. I'm sure that included Brian to some extent.

Maybe its a good thing that it didn't work out because Paul would gone and burned John's face off over that.

[nadiuu]

I saw a post mentioning how Matt most likely has ADHD, and since I 100% agree, I wanted to elaborate a bit here (also because I’ll approach it from a matt/mello angle and I don’t want to annoy anyone who doesn’t ship them). I’ve also noticed that this is a headcanon that many people share, so I’d like to delve deeper into it. I’ve been meaning to write a mini-analysis on why these two are so compatible due to their neurodivergences. Please keep in mind that English isn’t my native language so sorry for any mistakes, and I’ll be projecting a lot of myself here, so be kind XDD

It’s not crazy to think that Matt might have ADHD based on the few clues we have in canon. Mogui and Misa’s escape could indeed be attributed to good planning, and not necessarily Matt’s fault, but the guy makes it clear that he’s absolutely bored to death having to keep watch and is always glued to his console.

And you might say: Nadiu, just because he gets bored watching something static doesn’t mean he has trouble concentrating. Sure, it’s normal to get bored. But Matt is aware of how important it is to keep watch, and even then, he can’t help it. If his brain doesn’t receive enough stimuli, he dieeeees (which could be an indicator of his giftedness), and he’ll seek out little dopamine boosts wherever he can. If it’s not gaming, it’ll be eating junk food. If it’s not eating, it’ll be smoking. This could indicate a certain level of anxiety (again, a possible indicator of giftedness or ADHD).

We also know he’s someone who hates the outdoors. Why might this be? For someone with ADHD, being surrounded by too much stimulation can be overwhelming. Gifted people will tend to notice everything around them, and those with 2e (gifted + ADHD) may struggle to focus their attention if they’re overstimulated. They pick up on all the stimuli and can’t focus on just one. This could lead them to prefer isolating themselves, at least occasionally, especially when they reach burnout.

Another thing to consider is his lack of sociability. This doesn’t have to be exclusive to ADHD because it’s also common among gifted people, even without 2e. For gifted people, socializing can be hard if there’s nothing engaging to take away from a conversation (our greatest enemy is small talk hahhaha). This doesn’t apply to everyone, but it’s a fairly common factor. We like to keep our brains stimulated 24/7.

Now imagine someone who perceives everything around them, analyzes every detail, and can’t discern what’s important and what isn’t. They’re chatting with you, but instead of focusing on what you’re saying, they can’t help but notice your eyelid twitching e.g., which might mean you’re stressed, and then they start thinking about all the possible reasons you might be stressed. Meanwhile, there are countless sounds and stimuli around them that they can’t ignore. It’s going to be hard for them to really listen to you, and they might not feel at peace until they get home, where they can finally relax. Gifted people can also be sensitive to light and sound; in our homes, we control everything. They’re our safe spaces.

Again, this doesn’t have to be true for everyone. Let’s remember that every person is unique.

That leads me to Mello—he’s an example of how someone can be gifted and still be sociable. I don’t think Mello has any neurodivergence beyond his giftedness, without 2e (adhd or autism). I know there’s some debate about whether giftedness counts as a neurodivergence, but let’s assume it does for the sake of this post ahhahah

I think the most interesting trait of Mello, in terms of his giftedness, is his hyper-demanding nature. We tend to be perfectionists, extremely demanding of ourselves, which leads to low frustration tolerance. We want to achieve excellence and can become obsessive in pursuing our goals. However, we’re very likely to encounter obstacles (without obstacles there’s no growth), but we often don’t know how to deal with them. Needless to say, this ties in with Near, who is a prodigy, and with Mello’s inferiority complex.

So, why are Matt and Mello such a good match?

First of all, in Wammy’s House, Matt didn’t pose a threat to Mello. Matt was ranked third, and whether it was due to a lack of interest or difficulties with studying, he never surpassed Mello. For Mello, anything below him wasn’t important; what deserved all his attention was whatever was above him.

We have to assume they maintained some kind of friendship at Wammy’s House because years later, when Mello is left on his own, he reaches out to Matt, and Matt comes to his aid. Matt drops everything to go to him. He knows what he’s getting into, the risks involved, and yet he does it. He must have some motivation to help find Kira. And if it’s alongside his old friend, even better.

Here’s where the sociability factor comes in. How many friendships could an introverted guy have made in those five years, after losing the ‘shelter’ of an orphanage full of kids similar to him and being thrown into the real world, surrounded by neurotypical people? You get what I mean, right...? Mello must have left some sort of mark on him if Matt went all the way to New York for him. Could it be that he was already in New York? Maybe, but let me dream hahaha

Now imagine how an introvert and an extrovert, both incapable of forming and maintaining relationships with others due to that sense of being misunderstood (‘the world is neurotypical and I’ve never dealt with it’), complement each other. This makes me think about Near’s loneliness, but we’ll leave that for another day XD Matt works from the safety of home, and Mello, obsessed with success, has no problem going out because he takes the world head-on. Matt, who has likely felt somewhat useless his whole life because of his ADHD, has Mello by his side telling him “I choose you”. Matt, who might have always been a bit insecure, has Mello betting on him. Maybe because he has no other choice? Maybe, but if Mello wants to find someone else who can truly understand him, his only option is Matt.

Mello, who’s willing to blow himself up to win, then has Matt telling him, “Calm down. Stay in tonight to play video games and smoke a joint.” Mello, who has some suicidal idea for catching Kira, shares it with Matt, and Matt agrees because his brain has produced more dopamine in two months than in five years. The Kira case is a puzzle that stimulates them and gives them a purpose.

To wrap this up, I want to share a dialogue (still a rough draft) that will appear later in my fic, putting the cherry on top of this tragedy. Matt tries to dissuade Mello from pursuing the Kira case after the massive scar he earned on his face.

Matt: Why is it your duty to keep going? Why yours? Mello: Who else will do it? Who can keep up with Kira? Matt: You, right? Or Near. Or me. Because we had the sheer luck of being born with this intellect. Mello: Yes. Matt: No. You and I have no duty to a society that failed us. We don’t have to fix the problems of a society that let us rot in that institution. Is it because we’re orphans? Is that it? Do we have nothing to lose but our lives? No one to mourn us if we die? Because there are plenty of other people out there with the abilities you and I have, and I don’t see them risking their necks the way you do. They weren’t pushed to become detectives. They have something to lose; they have their families. Do you deserve to die just because no one will miss you?

And if you’ll allow me to break your heart a little more, Matt’s next thought is:

'Because it’s not even true. You’ll kill me if I lose you again.'

[byunpum]

More moments in the life of AUNT sully.

Pair: Aunt human reader x sully family x mate na'va x friends

Warning: none, Mention of trauma, death, nice ending

Note: This one was really hard, I was debating too much, but I still hope you like it. This was a compilation of 3 request. They were very similar, so I decided to put them together. I leave them here so you can read them "HERE". By the way, in one part of the reading the reader can breathe pandora's air? sorry, I forgot she was human and not the hybrid version. So pretend she can breathe xD

Request: @ilovechickenwings Maybe aunt series she find love and gets pregnant and all of the kids gets sad because they think she might forget them.

AVATAR MASTERLIST  (check all my auntie sully series)

Life had been very quiet for you the last 3 years, you had a great family, your son and a quiet place to rest. Little by little you had found your place in pandora, being a human was something very difficult to do but not impossible. Or so you said, since you had no choice. There were 3 types of humans in Pandora, those who had their avatars, those who didn't have avatars because they didn't want to or weren't part of the avatar project and on the other hand there was you… the only member of your group. The humans who could not have avatars because of their genetics. You could be Tom and Jake's sister…and they could be compatible with an avatar body. But your genetics were not compatible, and when it met with that of a navi. It practically broke the lifeline. Grace tried many times, she even came close, but always failed. You must admit that you were very jealous when you first saw Jake in your older brother's navi body. You wanted that…grace even tried to see if you were compatible. You didn't care about being a man in a navi's body, you just wanted to be one. But it didn't happen.

You got used to the fact that you could never experience what it was like to be a real navi. You had prepared yourself so much. You knew everything, from the language, to their customs. And the fact that you lived with them made you a very wise person on the subject of the Navi. So life in these last days had been easy for you, you were so happy. And even more so now… you were getting closer to a certain navi, who had taken an interest in you. No, you hadn't planned it… it had never crossed your mind to fall in love with a navi man. You were of different species and that was very clear to you…but with him. It was impossible. Ruk'e… was a very quiet navi, too quiet to be true. He was the storyteller of the Omaticaya clan. A serene navi, who was in charge of taking care of the farming, telling stories of the travelers. He was not a warrior, or someone who caused trouble. His presence was almost unseen by others, he liked to spend time in the forest with nature and devote time to himself. And for some reason, he had grown very fond of you. You used to go and sit by the campfire, while he told the old stories of the clan. Stories about the warriors, battles and many other things. Usually after three stories, the omaticaya who were listening would leave. But you were staying, looking at him with enthusiasm.

You loved to hear about the clan's past, and about other clans. You looked like a little girl, sitting with your legs crossed waiting for him to continue. At first it was strange to him, he had contact with humans but it was always at a long distance. The things that were said about humans were not very good…so at first he kept his distance. Picking up his things as he finished, he said goodbye politely. Leaving you alone at the campfire, but it wasn't until one night you got up the courage to ask him.

See how he is getting up from the floor, picking up his materials. He liked to use hand-carved wooden animal figures. To make his stories more entertaining. You approach him carefully. "Hello" you speak, you looked nervous. You didn't want to make him uncomfortable, you always sat backwards in the back corner. "Hello" says ruk'e making the gesture with his hands. You copy his movements. "I wanted to… I wanted to" you stutter, he laughs a little. And with all the patience in the world he waits for you to feel comfortable to continue. "I wanted to ask…if you could tell me more about the mountain clans?" you ask, you had your head down. You feel someone take your chin and lift it, you lift your face. And you see how he has a sweet smile on his face, it was so charming. "Sure little flower, it would be my pleasure" he speaks, his voice was calm and sweet. It was like a quiet melody. You sit down in front of him. He watches you settle in and you look at him intently. From that moment on… you were never apart again. He used to come looking for you, and you always went to listen to him every night. Things came naturally and your feelings for each other grew quickly.

Eventually after a while, you and ruk'e became a pair. This surprised everyone…first because ruk'e was very traditional and second because you were a human. But this didn't matter to the two of you, you had your own little world in which this spider. You had introduced him to the man, not long after he started courting you. The man was surprised that you did not have the father of the child by your side. Omaticayas are very monogamous, and it is very rare to see a woman alone with her child. But you explained everything to him…from the beginning to the end. You thought he wouldn't understand, but thanks to eywa he did. And you were even more surprised when he hugged you and kissed you on your forehead. "You are brave my yawntu" says ruk'e.

Spider fell in love with ruk'e. He had become his father, of course… he was not a normal Navi father. Hunting? Spider had to kill only what was necessary, there was no reason to kill a creature to show off his talents. Ruk'e thought hunters were sometimes a bit silly. Fighting? Why do you have to fight…violence begets more violence. This was a direct joke to tsu'tey, who was always making comments about ruk'e. Of course, spider never cared about any of this…he always obeyed his father. And thanks to that he was the kindest and most lovable boy in all of Pandora. And that's saying a lot, because the mo'at itself praised spider's upbringing. "His parents are raising a beautiful child," said the woman, watching as spider helped a pregnant woman, and he was only 5 years old.

The need for your family to grow was very evident in your eyes. You wanted to have more members in your family, all three were fine. But you knew that ruk'e wanted to have a child, but you were hurt to know that you couldn't give him that. You couldn't get pregnant by him in the first place, could you? You weren't sure…no one was. You could be compatible, sexually, and have no problem with that. But creating a baby together? Mmm you don't think it's possible. And having an avatar? That was history. Or so you thought, because someone gave you a surprise.

"Spider honey…come here!!!" you yell a little, while calling the little guy. You needed to clean him up, his mouth was all dirty. Spider was in the hammock playing with his father. "Honey…leave him alone. He looks cute like that," says ruk'e, while he blows a trumpet on spider's cheeks, and spider laughs. You start to look up at him. You hear someone approaching and calling you at the edge of your hut. You had moved in with ruk'e days after joining as a couple. The hut had been arranged to your liking and comfort. It sure was different from the other traditional huts, but ruk'e didn't mind. "Hey…Y/N can I talk to you for a second?" says norm, you could see he had some papers in his hands.

"Something wrong?" you approach, stepping out of the hut a bit. Spider signals to his father, for you both to go peek in. "I have very good news," says Norm, with a big smile. "What happened? Say it already!" you speak. "I think I managed to create an avatar for you," says Norm. For a moment you felt like all the air in your body was gone, you even felt dizzy. You stare at norm in surprise. "You're not kidding? Are you?" you couldn't believe it, finally. "No…I just need to run some tests and take blood samples. The avatar will grow in one of the capsules we have free. It might take about 5 years to grow, but…I think we can do it" Norm is so excited. Secretly he had been working on this project in secret. You jump up, and hug Norm, "By eywa…I am!!!! Ahhhh RUK'E!!!" You scream, running towards the hut. To your surprise, you see that your mate and your son were standing there, with a giant smile on their faces. "Did you hear everything??!!!!" you speak, you see as ruk'e nods his head smiling even bigger. He kneels down so you can hug him. "Finally…finally!!!" you feel like you could explode, this is really happening? You couldn't believe it.

Days and weeks went by, you went every day to the lab to see your avatar. She looked so much like you. Your excitement was so great, this was really happening. Jake was next to you looking at the avatar's body in the capsule. You were both silent as you watched the avatar make involuntary movements. "Are you sure about this?" says Jake, you look up. "Yes…I've never been more sure in my life about something like this" you speak, jake can see your smile widen and you continue to stare at your future body. He knew how much you wanted this. That same night, you were lying on your partner's chest. Ruk'e was stroking your hair, while singing a lullaby. "at last I can give you a son" you speak, you can hear ruk'e's voice stop. You lift your head slightly from your chest to see him. He was looking at you and had a serious expression. "Y/N I don't mind having a child. Sure…I want to. But it's not important to me. I don't want you to do this 'new body' thing for me. If you do it I want it to be for you" says ruk'e, his voice sounded distressed.

"But…you know I can't, and it's almost impossible that" you start to speak, but ruk'e takes your face in his hands and gives you a soft kiss. "I know…but we have spider, he's enough. Don't worry about it" he laughs. You settle back into his chest, hugging his chest tighter. "I want you to know that no matter what happens…I will always love you" ruk'e speaks, pulling you closer to his body. They both fall asleep quickly. That same morning, norm's scream jolted you awake. The man was agitated and from the look on his face. Something bad had happened. You get up quickly, and run to Norm, "You have to come to the lab" says Norm, you don't even get ready and run away. "Ruk'e stay with the boy…I'll be right back" you yell. Taking one last look around, watching as your partner is worriedly trying to calm the anxious spider.

You and Norm hurry to the lab. He didn't want to say anything to you on the way, nerves were killing you. What could be so bad that Norm would arrive at your house worried like this. As you enter the lab, your eyes widen. You see some of your friends surrounding the capsule where your avatar was, trying to stabilize it. You rush over, peering through the glass to see how it's warping. The scientists were doing what they could. "Get her out of there!!! " you shout, looking at norm in desperation. "We can't…she would die!!!" says norm, trying to install a tube so we can give her some medicine. All was chaos in the lab, you could see your friends running from one side to the other. While others were trying to stabilize her. You were a bit far away, this was not your field. So you decide to stay away and let them do their job. Out of nowhere, you hear a silence and see how everyone starts to look at each other. The machine that was checking your avatar's pulse had stopped and you noticed this. "Norm? NORM WHAT'S GOING ON?" you approach the man, who is looking at the capsule. You can see a tear come out of his eye. "I'm so sorry…I swear I tried" says Norm, it couldn't be true. This wasn't happening to you. "No, no, no…why? Why" your voice breaks, as tears well up in your eyes. You look at your avatar, she had stopped moving and looked a little pale. You start to cry and fall to the ground. You couldn't stop… you were so close. So close. Norm sits down next to you, and pulls you into his arms to hug you.

"Love…take it easy. I need you to breathe" ruk'e says as he holds you between his legs. Everyone was in the lab. Jake, Neytiri, ruk'e, norm, max…everyone. Norm had called them after the event, he thought it would be best. You were very upset. "And what happened? I wasn't well?" asked Jake, he was worried. "There was a glitch in her system… I thought the Y/N DNA had finally come together. But no…there was a break in her genetics. This caused a heart attack" says max. Neytiri takes a deep breath, she couldn't understand much of what max said, but she understood that your avatar had died. She was holding spider in her arms, she had told ruk'e that she would take care of the child that night so that he would take care of you. "He's a very young avatar…it's a shame," norm says. Everyone falls silent. While you are still crying, hugging your mate's neck. Ruk'e was doing his best to calm you down, but he knew you had to let all your emotions out.

Norm said he was going to take care of the body, that there was nothing to do. Your avatar was still too young, so he couldn't handle the whole process of genetic acceptance. You were devastated, ruk'e had taken you home. You were both sitting in silence, while your mate cut up some fruit. Your gaze is lost to anywhere in the hut. "Where is spider?" you ask, your voice sounded so sad. "He is with neytiri and jake…they will take care of him for the night" he speaks. You just answer him with a "mmm". Ruk'e walks over to you, taking your hand to kiss your palm. "everything will be fine" you raise your gaze, it looked lost. Ruk'e had to look at you for several more seconds, to be able to find you because you didn't seem to be there. He knew how hurt you were, you had put all your hopes in this. And now he was gone.

"I failed…again I failed. I failed in everything, what have I done to create all this" your tears begin to fall. "Why don't things work out for me? I'm a fucking failure" you cry, as ruk'e comes closer to put his arms around you. "Love you are not a failure" he speaks, you pull away. "Of course I am… he was right. I'm a fucking failure, I didn't make him happy. I'll never make you happy. I'm never going to get what I studied for so many years. I'll never… and it's all because of me. It's all my damn fault" you lower your head as your moans are heard throughout the hut. Ruk'e lets you cry, and respects your space. He doesn't usually get upset, but now he had a feeling of rage. He knew the damage that man (quaritch) had done to you. What he had left in you, so many years of mistreatment and you being so young destroyed you. Ruk'e turns to you, taking your hands and giving them a squeeze. You look up, and you can see tears welling up in his eyes as well. "I know you are hurt…I understand. I can't heal that wound. But I can be your support while you do" ruk'e takes a deep breath, and wipes away a few tears.

"I told you the story of the Binary sunshine flower?" ruk'e says, moving closer. To now stand next to you, draping one of his arms over your shoulder, pulling you closer to his body. "Ruk'a love…" you start to moan, but he continues.

"Once upon a time there was a Binary sunshine flower called Hewngea. Unlike the other flowers, Hewngea could not bear fruit or seeds. This made her feel left out and rejected for not fulfilling her traditional purpose. Hewngea felt sad and believed she was a failure compared to the other flowers. However, she was unaware that its beauty and fragrance attracted butterflies, which were key pollinators in the garden. One day, Hewngea saw how the yayo fluttered around her, collecting pollen on their wings. She realized that, despite not fulfilling the commonly accepted floral purpose, their existence was vital to the butterflies' life cycle and to maintaining diversity in the garden." Counts ruk'e, as he hugs you more.

"Ruk'e don't be like that…" you start to speak, but he ignores you and continues telling the story. "As the yayo flew from flower to flower, they carried Hewngea's pollen with them, helping to pollinate other plants and ensuring the reproduction of the surrounding flora. Hewngea realized then that, although she could not bear fruit or seeds, her role in the yayo colony was essential. From that moment on, she embraced her uniqueness and took pride in being a source of life and beauty for the yayos and her colony" spoke ruk'e, maintaining his silence for a moment.

He makes a quick movement, for now he is in front of you. His tail wagged from side to side, while his eyes searched yours. You pet the side of his face. "You are so important to me…you are my whole life. You are spider's mother, his mother. You are the best sister and the best aunt ever. You have a family that loves you, and if you were gone they would fall apart. I would fall apart. You are not a failure love…you are everything that is good and beautiful in this family" says ruk'e. You wipe away your tears, and move in for a kiss. For this reason you had fallen in love with him, how could he be so adorable? How could he be so… him?

"I see you" you speak, watching as he moves closer to your face. Leaning his forehead against yours. "I see you" there was a comforting silence. You knew he would be there for you, you knew he wouldn't fail you. That he wouldn't claim you for anything…he wasn't that man. No one was that man…you no longer had to meet his standards. Now you could be you. "Why don't we finish eating and then rest" says ruk'e, you laugh a little. "Yes…I agree" you say, coming closer to give him a big hug.

It had been three weeks since that event, and little by little you had recovered. It wasn't easy to say goodbye to your last chance to have an avatar body. But you were working it out. After all, you had everything you had asked for. You had your son, your mate and your family. What else could happen? Neytiri had asked you with her to go to the nearest lake to take the children to play. They were all between the ages of 2 and 6 years old, and they did not sit still and got bored easily. You agree, you didn't want to be alone for too long. They are both sitting on one of the rocks near the water. They were talking about everything, about the latest events that had happened. They might live nearby, but they both had lives of their own, so they were making the most of this time as friends.

It wasn't long before you started to feel sick. You swore that you saw the water in the stream and you saw it was white and your eyesight was a little blurry. Neytiri noticed how you were rocking back and forth, the movement was slow. "Y/N are you okay?" she asks, holding your shoulders. You were fainting, and just like that, you were in Neytiri's arms. "Y/N!!! no!!! Wake up!!!" was the last thing you heard, after that. You didn't know anything else. When you were finally able to regain consciousness, you could hear several voices in the distance. You could hear your brother jake, neytiri and ruk'e. They were a little upset but their everything was fine. They were a little upset but their whole mood was one of happiness. Even norm's voice, this made you open your eyes quickly.

You hadn't spoken to Norm since the event in the lab. Everyone saw your eyes widen. "You are awake" says mo'at, who was doing several massages to get you up. You see that you have something on your belly, and several wet cloths of a paste on your forehead. Thank eywa that you were now wearing na'vi clothes, otherwise this would be a disaster. Everyone comes around you, and ruk'e kneels down to stand next to you. You see everyone is looking at you with that stupid grin. "What the hell is going on? Jake?" you look at your brother, and you just swear you see him crying. "We have to tell you something" says Neytiri sitting on the other side of you. You look at her with concern. "What? Am I going to die?" you ask. Norm laughs. "You are pregnant," says Neytiri, very happy. Squeezing your hand, while you open your mouth in shook. "WHAT?" you shift your gaze to look at your partner. Ruk'e ascends with his face, and you turn to look at jake, and he copies ruk'e. You almost faint again, but mo'at holds you up. "Easy…we're here" says neytiri, you turn your gaze to her. She looked so happy for you.

You couldn't understand how you had become pregnant. It was almost impossible, if you couldn't with a human, why with a na'vi? What if you hurt your baby? Since your genetics are not compatible? Oghhhh you were going into crisis. After you recovered and felt better. Norm stopped by your home, he wanted you to go to the lab. But you didn't feel ready to visit that place yet. "How did this happen? How is this possible?" you ask. "Mmmm I don't know…I really don't know what to tell you. This is a one in a million chance" says Norm, you can see how happy he is. "But if I…I hurt him. That I wouldn't stand for" you speak, norm takes your hand. "I'll be there to help you and take care of you. I promise you everything will be okay" norm speaks. You laugh, and squeeze his hand. He always keeps his promise…always.

4 months of pregnancy had passed and everything was happening just right. It still felt so unreal to you. Sometimes when you are alone you swear it was eywa who blessed you with this pregnancy. Everything was calm again, you were sitting in the hut. You felt tired, it was a na'vi baby inside you. You might be 4 months, but you felt 7 months. Norm was always monitoring you, keeping an eye on everything. You were grateful to have your friends and family all together. You sat there resting while you watched spider and lo'ak play in the hut. Lately lo'ak always wanted to be by your side, so it was normal to see him at your house early in the morning. You watch as the two children approach, while spider leans down and places his face on your belly.

"I hear his heartbeat!!!" says spider, excited. The child had recently turned 6 years old, and is very active. Lo'ak mimics his movements, you stroke his hair while your nephew listens carefully to what is in your belly. See how his little eyes open, lo'ak has na'vi hearing so he can literally hear everything clearly. "Wowwwwwww" shouts lo'ak. "It's great?" you speak, stroking lo'ak's cheek. " Aunt Y/N…it's going to be a girl" lo'ak says, you look at him curiously. While spider nudges him a little. "How do you know!!!"? spider is already getting annoyed. "I just know," lo'ak says, rolling his shoulders up. "Lo'ak has magical powers" you joke, tickling both children. You were anxious to be a mother to your second child, finally.

Dictionary: Yoya [bird ]

p.s: I know that in the request they want aunt sully to have a na'vi body, but I decided not to do it. Since in other requests she is always represented as human. So leave her as human, I see no reason to change her. Being human and being the weird Aunt of the family is her job.

I am gradually answering all the requests. Wow…thank you very much, I love you very much <3

[streets-in-paradise]

Work of Love - Sam Gamgee x (Fem) Hobbit!Reader

Lord of the Rings Oneshot

For @barclaysangel

Warnings: None, this is just fluff.

Summary: In an attempt to confess your feelings for him, you gift Sam the first finished proyect of your newest learned craft.

Note: Short cute piece written in a rush of inspiration in one sit directly inspired by a conversation with my friend. Also, i remembered crochet is Middle Earth accurate because the first Hobbit film said so lol

Learning all the uses a hobbit lass of good family could need wasn't an exahusting task, but your mother wasn't always a patient teacher. Her fast knitting could be hard to follow and that made lessons turn out a little boring. She was brillant at her craft and admiring her beautifull pieces tended to make you feel frustrated with your own slow progress. Noticing and understanding your feelings, at some point she switched tecniques and help you try some crochet points. There was a considerable improvement in your confidence with the needle, but to her the problem was somewhere else.

Distractions, your head was always on some cloud and she could tell you would rather be at Bag End hearing the ramblings of crazy old Bilbo Baggins than focusing on your lesson. Ever since you started frequenting his nephew through persistent invites on his part you were acting different. Some would imagine that the tales had gone to your head, but she suspected of something else.

A crush, perhaps in the lad whose fate was inheriting the great riches of Mr Baggins. After all, Frodo was a polite and good looking young hobbit that seemed to have gained great interest in you lately considering the frecuency of his invitations. Clues on her perspective made it a logical assumption to make, but it was far from the truth.Despite Frodo was always pleased with your company, he didn't want it merely for himself. One way or another, you would always end up involved with his gardener. At first, producing encounters through his iniciative, but very soon on your own liking.

Sam was lovely, of delightfull manners and handsome looks. Ignoring the way his face would transform whenever you were near was impossible and it even earned you both some subtle teasing from Bilbo himself. The lad had the tendency of respectfully shying away from crossing glances and you could swear you saw him blush to an innocently delivered compliment you once gave him. The way in which Frodo, his best friend, would always insist on finding new settlings for you to spend time together was suspicious enough for you to consider an implicit motivation.

Tenderness have won you over despite Sam never did any autentical attempts of pursuing you, but you were considering he could be crushing on you as you were already on him. His attitude during the great birthday party of Bilbo seemed to confirm your suspects. Long before the generous party host dissapeared in front of everyone, when many hobbits were still dancing and you were among them, Sam was sitting at the table showing his back to the crew. Despite you attempted smiling from afar, he wasn't approaching, yet right after you danced with Frodo he practically threw his friend in your direction with complicit laughing.

Guided by her teasings on wrong assumptions, and hoping to help you concentrate, your mother ended up suggesting you to show affection towards your crush giving him the first finished work you could accomplish. Motivation worked wonders as you secretly imagined the reaction of Sam to the atentive gesture. For said reason, you picked the project with care. It had to be something easy that could provide him a sort of use. A piece he wouldn't mistake for a simple mathom meant to circulate through the Shire, but a simple show of your intense affection towards him.

The outcome was reflection of work made with love: a circular doily with neat patterns you were quite proud of. Knowing he would be occupied with the matters of his inheritance, you didn't wait untill Frodo would invite you to his home under some circunstantial excuse. You didn't want that either, since you didn't want to feed the hopes of your mother thinking you were going to charm the heir and new owner of Bag End. Instead, you pretended to pass by cassually and stopping on your way to somewhere else, peeking at the garden with the hope of finding Sam.

It was a beautifull morning, the sun was shinning bright and you didn't expected your crush would be hidding from you while trimming the verge ... or at least pretending to do so.

" Good morning, Sam! " You saluted after approaching untill being right behind him. " Are you alright? "

He turned back nervously, refusing to engage in eye contact while attempting to respond.

" Miss (y/n)! It's great to see you, ... If you excuse me I will go to the house and tell Mr Frodo of your presence. "

You couldn't help chuclking a bit, aware of his confussion.

" You don't have to, I came to see you. "

The clarification made him even more nervous, but in a different way. It was as if an incredible surprise would have left him incapable of coherent responses.

" Me? Why would I be given such honor? "

More sweet confussion in his eyes, and you wished you could have kissed him.

" Because I'm passing by to give you a present. "

He abandoned his working tool fearing he may have dropped it otherwise.

" I was not aware of being held in such high regard by you."

You started twirling a strand of hair with your index finger.

" Of course you are! You are my favorite part of visiting Bag End! Not like I don't appreciate the friendship of Frodo, but I like you the most. "

He couldn't get himself to believe your words.

" Me, miss? " He repeated, as if he tried to convince himself out loud. " How can I be ..., when there are other aspects from this home that are trully wonderfull? "

" I think you are wonderfull, Sam. " You sweetly confessed, then revealed your gift. " And I wanted to show you my affection with this. "

As you handled it to him your eyes meet and he didn't back away from your smile.

" It's self made, the first good result of my lessons."

Sam accepted it as if it would be the most precious thing in the whole Shire.

" I'll treasure it, have no doubt..."

He interrumpted himself, getting nervous all over again once he realized he had nothing close that he could give you in return.

" I'm afraid I have no inmediate means to retribute you, since your kindness has taken me by surprise I couldn't think of anything and it would be extremely rude to offer you flowers from Mr Frodo's garden without his consent to cut some ... "

Before he could keep overworrying, you made your intentions clear by cutting him off with a kiss on the cheek.

" I like you, knowing if you like me back is all the retribution I need."

Your call for honesty was answered with a confession he delivered without thinking.

" You are the most beautifull girl I have ever seen."

[bigasswritingmagnet]

Helpful, in a Heterodyne Kind of Way

inspired by this post, Saturnus Heterodyne, doting grandfather, attempting to find Agatha a PROPER boyfriend

AO3 Link

“No.”

Saturnus blinked.

“Did you say something, dear?”

Teodora approached like a tidal wave and hit about as hard. Saturnus went stumbling back, clutching at his jaw, but Teodora kept coming, punctuating her words with hard jabs to his chest.

“You will not kill my sons. You will abdicate to Bill. You will let him rule Mechanicsburg, his way, and you will like it, or so help me, Saturnus Heterodyne, I will break you.”

Saturnus stared at his wife, who seemed to tower over him like the god queens of old.

“…yes, dear.”

“I don’t like him.”

Agatha rolled her eyes, but did it fondly.

“You never like any of them.”

“And I definitely don’t like this one. Sturmvoraus, pah! And a Valois! Weaselly little devils, with their poisons and their smoke knights and their secret assassinations…”

“I’m sorry, you don’t like them because they kill people?” Agatha asked, raising her eyebrows.

“They don’t kill people properly!” Saturnus bellowed, thumping his fist down on the arm of his chair. “The only reason a man needs to poison a knife is because he’s not good enough to kill you without it!”

“Well, I thought he was very charming.”

“That sister of his had promise,” Saturnus said, perking up a little. “There’s a girl who understands leadership.”  

“She wanted to flense the servants because they didn’t hem her dress correctly.”

“So she’s a bit of a project,” Saturnus said, dismissively. “You always liked a challenge.”

“I think I’ll give this particular one a miss, thanks,” Agatha said, with deep amusement.

Saturnus’ expression grew serious, and he gripped her hand tightly.

“I know you’re all grown up, and you don’t need looking after anymore—especially not by some miserable old codger,” he said, earnestly, “but when I’m gone—”

“Grandfather, please,” Agatha said, rolling her eyes. “You’re not that old—”

“When I’m gone,” Saturnus continued, insistent, “I want to go knowing you’ve got a partner in life who will make you happy. Someone who can keep up with you, support you, love you properly. Someone who deserves you.”  

“Someone who would be willing to help me burn Europa to the ground if I suddenly decide to take up the family traditions?” Agatha asked, with a quirk of a smile.

“Well, that goes without saying.”

Agatha’s smile spread, becoming soft and genuine. She leaned down and kissed the top of her grandfather’s head.  

“You are a terrible old man,” she said, “and I love you very much.”

She slipped out of the room. When her footsteps faded into the distance, Saturnus sighed and maneuvered his chair—a fantastic device Agatha had built him, with dozens of little legs that could navigate the castle's many stairs and even the steep road down to Mechanicsburg—over to the window.

After a few minutes, he saw his granddaughter emerge from the castle, followed at a respectable distance by two Jӓger guards.

“She’s the Lady of Mechanicsburg,” he said aloud. “She deserves an equal. She deserves the best. Certainly deserves better than her father got.”

Oh yes, Lucrezia Mongfish. Saturnus had approved, quite profusely, even encouraged Bill to see her. And how had that ended?

With a war that nearly leveled Europa, Bill and Barry vanished, a grave smaller than its headstone, and a little girl named Lady of Mechanicsburg before she was twelve.  

Perhaps he should know better than to meddle, after all that.

‘I did overhear a very interesting conversation between Master Tarvek and his sister.’

“Hmm?” Saturnus said, only half-listening.

‘Do you recall Master Bill and Barry’s friend, Klaus Wulfenbach?’

Saturnus screwed up his face.

“Oh don’t be ridiculous, he’s far too old for her!”

‘I was actually thinking of his son. Gilgamesh Wulfenbach, heir to the Wulfenbach Empire?’

Saturnus rubbed his chin, thoughtfully. The Wulfenbach Empire was impressive, and Klaus was ruling with a proper, iron fist—while remaining respectful of Mechanicsburg’s continued autonomy, which Saturnus could only assume was Klaus being smart enough not to start a war he couldn’t win.

“Mmm,” he said, reluctantly. “But Klaus did have his hero phase, running around Europa with the boys, fixing all kinds of problems. That sort of thing can be heritable, you know.”

Just look at Agatha! Nature over nurture his left foot.

‘Not a concern,’ the castle said, smoothly. ‘The boy is adopted.’

“Really?” Saturnus said, now more interested. “Do we know his background, then?”

‘Do you remember Petrus Teuful?’

Saturnus froze. Slowly he raised his head to look at the ceiling.

“Petrus Teuful?”

‘Oh yes.’

“The Black Mist Raiders, that Petrus Teuful?”

‘The very same.’ The castle was very smug.

Saturnus’s astonished expression slowly spread into a wide, devious grin.

“Well…perhaps we shall have Master Gilgamesh over…for dinner. Heh. Aheheh. Hahaha. Ha. Hahaha! Haahahaha!”

Thunder crashed overhead as Saturnus’ laughter echoed over Mechanicsburg. Agatha put her hands on her hips and tutted, glaring up at the castle.

“Oh, now he knows he’s not supposed to do that. It agitates his sciatica.”

[hologramcowboy]

https://www.tumblr.com/hologramcowboy/757094913914617856/i-loved-your-answer-about-the-compliments-from-the?source=share

Now, this is getting a bit over the top 🤣. Are you telling me you haven't heard the stories from wait staff, cashiers, airport workers, car hires, etc., over the years? The reports are consistently the same: he's very down-to-earth, kind, and polite. Many have said they didn't even know he was famous until someone else mentioned it; they just thought he was a nice guy who always showed an interest in how they were doing. There are stories from other sets he's worked on that highlight how well he gets along with both actors and, importantly, the crews. His first TV dad on Days of Our Lives mentioned his great relationship with the crew. On Dark Angel, a producer pointed out how friendly he was with the crew. On Smallville, Lionel Luthor actor John Glover noted how the crew just loved him. His close relationship with the SPN crew is very well known. Even on his most recent projects, it's clear he's continued to be appreciative toward the crews and maintains good relationships with them. On My Bloody Valentine 3D, the writer was impressed by how he treated the crew and how he introduced himself because lead actors generally aren't known for taking an interest in the writers. The writer was also impressed by how collaborative and generous he was, noting that Jensen gave away one of his character's best lines because he felt it would work better for a different character. Guest actors have often commented on how he learned their names (apparently, this often isn't the norm), read lines with them, etc. And the stories from people who went to high school with him all describe positive interactions.

Also, who was at the hospital when Rob had the stroke? It was Rich, Jensen, and Misha—not Jared. Jensen was the one the SPN crew depended on even more than Jared. Jensen was the one who stopped the production of SPN twice, once when Misha was very sick, and another time I can't recall. I'm not saying Jensen is perfect or a saint; everyone has their flaws and makes mistakes. However, discrediting Jensen's endless hard work and kindness on the sets and in public when he was the one who encouraged fans to approach them out in the 'wild' is not fair. You don't know these stories because you always have your Jared-centered glasses on and think it was Jared who made SPN welcoming when guest stars have said it was Jensen who did that. It is quite telling that Jensen can remember guest stars' names, flight attendants' names, and other people's names, and recall events that happened when he was with them. So, where are the stories like this about Jared?

How did this become about Jared? Are you trying to remove attention from what I said? Is that it? Because, I have news for you, what I wrote is 150% truth and anyone who is a professional actor will fully get it, those who are not don't know the inner dynamics and that's fine. Again, being courteous as an Actor is a *requirement*. All actors must behave courteously on and off set to maintain image and promote their projects. Not doing so can end with being fired on the spot.

Jensen keeps saying he wants to be a light in the world but does zero to achieve that and solely relies on flirting with fans and simple "hello, how are you?". His so called "kindness" is very much contradicted when he displays incredible arrogance and ignorance.

I don't know about you but just because someone is nice on the surface doesn't mean they get my vote. Also, I wasn't talking about everyone, I was specifically talking about lines said by TB actresses for PR reasons and now we know why, Jensen's new series is upcoming.