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cosmicpuzzle · 8 months ago

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Jupiter🌸Transit in Sidereal Taurus

May 1, 2024 - May 14, 2025

Aries Rising, Jupiter in 2nd house: This will be a great year for your finances and wealth. You will have increased income at your disposal. You may also spend a lot due to extra funds available. You may buy something of a high value. You could even purchase a home using loan as Jupiter aspects 6th house. Loans will be granted to you at this time. Your health would improve although you may gain some calories due to increase in food intake. You may get a new job with a better pay. You may also have an addition to your family. If you are a woman, you could conceive or have birth of child. Relations with family members will be warm during this time.

Taurus Rising, Jupiter in 1st house: This is a year of new beginnings for you. You may start something new in your life. You may join a college or a new job or a new relationship. Something about your life will be new this year. Physically you will feel confident and may gain weight too. This is a year you will feel confident but be cautious not to be over optimistic. New opportunities can come in your life. Things can progress without much effort. You may have success in relationships and love as Jupiter aspects both 5th and 7th house simultaneously. There may be possibilities of long-distance travel as Jupiter aspects 9th house.

Gemini Rising, Jupiter in 12th House: This is an introspective time ahead for you. You may have foreign travels on account of work. You may meet someone for a relationship through online or at a foreign location. There may be foreign travels for your spouse. You may make long term investments now. You may decide to invest in property as Jupiter aspects 4th house. You may relocate to a foreign country with your family. There may be birth of children abroad. There may be expenses on good account. You may have good restful sleep in this period. Your work may be draining, or you may take a sabbatical now. You may do remote or online work now. You may take a long vacation too.

Cancer Rising, Jupiter in 11th House: This will be a great year for you in terms of success, gains, wealth and profits. You may get a promotion, or you may have an additional stream of income. Jupiter will bring new financial opportunities for you. You may make new friends now. You will have opportunities to conceive if you are a woman as Jupiter aspects 5th house. If you are a man too, spouse may get a child as 11th house is 5th to spouse. If you are single, you may get opportunities to date as Jupiter aspects 3rd, 5th and 7th houses simultaneously. Relations with elder siblings will be on good terms. They may have good news in their own life (marriage, birth of child, promotion etc.). If you are in relationship and looking to get married, this will be the right time.

Leo Rising, Jupiter in 10th House: This will be a year for advancement in career and job. If your job has been troublesome or stagnant for some time, it is time to apply for new employers as Jupiter aspects 6th house too from 10th house. You will get a satisfying work profile. Your career status will rise automatically. If you are self-employed, you will take on much bigger projects than before. Sales will increase on it's own without much effort from your side. You will quote a bigger value for your projects and hence your bank balance is bound to increase. You will have good relations with bosses and superiors at work. You may buy a property or car as Jupiter aspects 2nd and 4th house simultaneously.

Virgo Rising, Jupiter in 9th House: This will be a year for long distance travel. If you wish to start higher studies this will be the right time. You will be granted visas easily to foreign countries. You will have good relations with your father and spouse's relatives. Physically you may gain some weight with Jupiter aspecting 1st house. If you are a spiritual person this transit will increase your perception and understanding. You may go on pilgrimages or spiritual retreats. You may get a Guru or teacher if you have been searching for one. This will be a good year to start writing or publish a book if you have saved them up in drafts as Jupiter aspects 3rd house. You may have both short and long-distance travels.

Libra Rising, Jupiter in 8th House: This will be a year of deep transformation and rejuvenation for you. You will have metaphysical experiences. You may develop interest in occult subjects. Your intuition will be on the rise, and you may understand things on a deeper level. You will have more shared resources and thus you may invest a significant amount. Jupiter will increase both yours and spouse's income. You may have good relations with in laws and spouse's family. There may be some inheritances or tax refunds coming your way. If someone owes you money, they may return it unexpectedly. If you are working for someone, you may become more hidden and silent at work. You may have great sex this year in abundance as 8th house is your sexual life. You may have sex at a foreign location or with a foreigner if you travel abroad.

Scorpio Rising, Jupiter in 7th House: This is a great year for your relationships. If you are single, you will find someone definitely. If you are already committed, you will enjoy the relationship a lot. Your spouse or partner may have a great time, and this will pass on to you. You are bound to gain some weight as Jupiter aspects 1st house. You will increase your contacts as Jupiter aspects both 3rd and 11th houses. Relations with younger or elder siblings will be good. You may also get pregnant if you are planning for a baby because Jupiter in 7th house increases the chances of conception. If you have grown up children, they might get married or travel to foreign countries. If you have any legal cases, they will be settled amicably.

Sagittarius Rising, Jupiter in 6th House: This is a year to change your work or job. You can get a new workplace as Jupiter aspects 10th house. You may get new job opportunities with increase in pay. Physically your health will be good although there may be chances of weight gain. You may join a fitness programme or a gym. Your relations with coworkers will be good. You may get bonus or incentives if you are in sales. If you are self-employed, you may get more clients who pay you much higher than what you get usually. You may get tipped more. You may get help through banks and financial institutions who may grant you loans and credits. If you are looking for onsite opportunities at work, you may get as Jupiter aspects 12th house. Your expenses may rise too due to increased credit available.

Capricorn Rising, Jupiter in 5th House: This is a year where you will find lot of opportunities for love, romance and dating. If you are single, you will enter into a relationship. You may meet someone at college or at a place of education as Jupiter aspects 9th house. This is a also a good time for learning and you may join school again. If you are old enough to have children, you may conceive now and get a baby. If you have children already, you will love them and dote on them. You may have lot of fun this year as 5th house is house of fun and recreation. If you are an artist, your creative spark will come out. This is a good time to write as Jupiter is 3rd lord in 5th house. As Jupiter aspects 9th house, you may get foreign travels, or you may find luck with foreigners. You may date someone online as Jupiter is 12th lord transiting 5th house. Jupiter can expand your waistline in 5th house- so control your indulgences.

Aquarius Rising, Jupiter in 4th House: This will be a great year for happiness and contentment at home. You may get that property which you have been searching for long as Jupiter is 2nd lord transiting in 4th house. You may put down your roots now and settle especially if you are in late 50's. If you are in mid 30's you may relocate to another country and settle down. If you are looking to expand family, you may have an addition to your family. Someone could come to your home and stay with you. Your relationship with extended family and relatives will be good. You may redesign your home or buy new furniture or a car too. You may get inheritances or tax refunds as Jupiter aspects 8th house. There may be family vacations too as Jupiter aspects 12th house from 4th house. If you have your mother around, she may have a good time personally.

Pisces Rising, Jupiter in 3rd House: This is a year to develop your skills and bring your creative side out. Jupiter will grant success in your education, school or college or in any academic endeavor you are involved as it aspects 9th house from 3rd house. If you are writing thesis, it would be accepted. if you are working under a team, your team mates would be helpful. There may be opportunities for relationship as Jupiter aspects 7th house. These may arise as a result of short travel. Jupiter in 3rd is a good time as you make new efforts. You may have success with sales, business, marketing and advertising efforts. If you are a business owner, you may sign new agreements and contracts. You can have lot of short travel. There may be change in employment or an internal transfer or change of city due to job location as 10th lord is transiting 3rd house.

Above interpretation must be applied after looking at Jupiter's Ashtakvarga score, placement of Venus in your chart and running Vimshottari Dasha/Bhukti.

If you are following tropical, then apply the results as to where Gemini is falling in your chart. So, if you are Aries rising, check for Jupiter in 3rd house results under Pisces rising.

For Transit and Other Readings DM

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ot3 · 10 months ago

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Hi, I just finished the AA trilogy with my bf and we fell in love with it! I found your blog the other day, and it sometimes feels like you're the only one giving correct takes on these characters' writing and the minutiae of everyone's inner worlds (or the fumbling of, see Godot).

I just got here, but, something that's been bothering me about the fandom's approach to the sequel trilogy is like... the imperialist undertones are glossed over, or swept under the rug. Researching "The Dark Age of the Law" and beyond puts a sour taste in my mouth. And with Khura'in the country vs Kurain the village? It all feels racist at best (the concept of the Divination Seance gives me squick). If you have the time, I'd love to hear your thoughts about AA5 and AA6 in relation to the world of AA as a whole. Thanks again for all of your thoughtful and nuanced takes on this series!

so glad to hear you guys liked the games!! thank you for enjoying my posts, i always appreciate it.

the tl;dr of it is that i do think they are genuinely bad enough additions to the franchise that they have signed mainline ace attorney's death warrant. picking out the dark age of the law stuff and aa5 and the imperialism in aa6 you've pretty much honed right in on my two biggest critiques

however i do want to say that although they're being bundled and sold as a 'second trilogy' that's not quite accurate either experientially when playing the games or from a development perspective. aa4 had scenario design/creative direction by series creator shu takumi, with the art director being kazuya nuri (responsible for character design for rise from the ashes in the series previous to this); aa5+6 was spearheaded by takeshi yamazaki, who had been with the franchise since its first game, with the slightly less tenured takuro fuse on art direction/character design. yamazaki and fuse are not without skill, but i think they're both significantly less skilled than takumi and nuri respectively and. it really shows.

pair that with the fact that aa5 and 6 fundamentally do not follow up on any of ace attorney 4's established characters or plots more than superficially, i don't think it's particularly useful to critique 4-5-6 as if they're a single body of work in the same way the trilogy is. apollo justice isn't a perfect* ace attorney game but it's a good one.

anyway i think buying into the 'dark age of the law' stuff in ace attorney 5 necessitates cheapening all of the events preceding it. the implication that 1. the law wasn't that bad before but it Is Now and 2. a single case was the tipping point for whether or not the entire legal system would be bad just ruins the times when ace attorney has managed to acknowledge corrupt systems as a massive source of problem for the everyman in the past

i think this screenshot from the dark age of the law wiki page says a lot:

For starters, that phoenix quote. He would not fucking say that. I don't think there has ever been a point during or leading up to phoenix's career where he thought the legal system had 'glory' he would then want to restore it to. you seem to get it so im not gonna harp on this too much on this but. jesus christ

then, then there's fact that even by stating the most basic details about the franchise's events undermines the whole premise. like okay notice that the corruption that happens during the trilogy/investigations spinoffs is coming from all of the actual agencies that represent law and order/the system: the prosecutors, the police, and the prosecutorial investigation committee. however in aa5 the thing they choose to paint as responsible for supposedly unprecedented levels of corruption in the legal system is defense attorneys resorting to more drastic means, and the general public; aka not the people who are responsible for upholding the legal system but the people who are victimized by it and in opposition to it.

i don't think this was an intentional choice as much as it's just sloppy, inconsiderate, and contrived writing.

aa6 is just flat out racist. 'imperalist undertones' is i would say the gentlest way you could phrase it. like. japanese characters going to a made up south asian country that needs to be taught how to govern itself to quash its internal rebellion is like. so high on the yikes meter.

making a bunch of fake 'ethnic sounding' nonsense names filled with apostrophes to make them into silly sounding english phrasing was a disastrously tone deaf thing for the localization to do. they're really unforgivable. the worst of it all is probably "Inga Karkhuul Haw'kohd Dis'nahm Bi'ahni Lawga Ormo Pohmpus Da'nit Ar'edi Iz Khura'in III" i'm unsure if the names are quite as offensive in the original japanese because i haven't looked too much into what they actually are and have a really limited knowledge of the language. but. this name in japanese is "インガ・カルクール・ククルーラ・ラルバン・ギジール・ホフダラン・マダラ・ヴィラ・ヤシマ・ジャクティエール・クライン３世" which is written in katakana. katakana is, in contrast to kanji and hiragana which are used for writing japanese, used to phoenetically transcribe foreign languages or to write loan words. so the foreign-ness of this character is being emphasized here in the original text as well.

the supposed cultural inferiority of the khurainese people is baked into the game at pretty much every level, down to the gags. khura'in has the 'plumed punisher' show, which is actively criticized by the characters in game for just being a cheap ripoff of the steel samurai. they don't even get to have their own tv.

i believe the reason the racism is pretty much glossed over a lot in the fandom is for several reasons. for starters, ace attorney fans overall tend to fall into three camps: 1. people like me who fucking hate these games, refuse to acknowledge them, and would retcon them out of existence if possible. 2. people who have found things they like about the game and have a Good Version of the characters and plots that they have constructed in their head and 3. people who view all of the hate on these games as completely overblown

the first camp Does talk about how the game is racist but we're all already in agreement about that so it's kind of preaching to the choir and a bit redundant to keep going on about. the second camp tends to acknowledge the stickier aspects of the game but focuses on making content around the elements they like rather than critique. the third camp is the type to throw the baby out with the bathwater re: critiquing a thing they like. it's all haterism to them. but either way i think its kind of fucked up how many people will be like 'aa6 isnt that bad you guys are just mean' without even acknowledging these complaints.

anyway the khura'in country vs kurain village thing is really weird to me it shows both a lack of imagination and a disregard for the series' own established lore. why would a girl from a village where almost everyone is a spirit medium need to go to a place where only, like, two people are mediums to train.

i will say though that the divination seance is kind of one of the only things i found about aa6 to be an interesting addition. for a franchise with ghost summoning and murder solving, the two have a kind of hilariously low amount of overlap so i found the idea of bringing ghost bullshit into court really fun. mechanically speaking, the divination seances also felt a LOT better to play than the mood matrix segments of aa5.

in general, i think the biggest weakness of the mainline franchise under takeshi yamazaki's stewardship is its misunderstanding of stakes. both aa5 and 6 prioritize more bombastic and impressive on paper material stakes. oh no! the ENTIRE JUSTICE SYSTEM BEING GOOD OR BAD depends on this one case! on no! we have to DEAL WITH REBEL INSURGENTS! complete horseshit when there is not competent and functional enough character writing to get us emotionally invested here. yamazaki seems to think bigger is better, and that just simply isnt true for something like ace attorney

i've pointed this out in the past when critiquing aa5 and 6 but if you look at the actual material stakes on the line in ace attorney, they're at their highest after rise from the ashes. ousting the corrupt chief of police is the most impressive and impactful thing phoenix does with his career (arguably until the jurist system, but definitely in the trilogy.) but that's not the big Finale case for his character arc. his finale case is defending his college girlfriend; a nun who lives in the mountains, whose conviction would have had zero implications on the larger fabric of ace attorney's legal system. because takumi's writing clearly shows that he understands what makes a plot impactful is the emotional stakes the characters have invested in the events.

before taking over the main franchise, takeshi yamazaki was responsible for the miles edgeworth investigations spinoffs. i do enjoy both of those games - aai2 in particular is really strong. yamazaki does a great job with edgeworth's character arc even if i have some specific gripes with the duologys writing. i think theyre solid additions to the franchise. but you can see traces of this sort of misalignment in narrative priorities here as well. for example, the last case in aai1 is notorious for still going on for, like, an entire hour or two past the time when the last remaining plot point we care about has been revealed. because yamazaki seemingly had no understanding that That was the thing the case should have been about, and that should have been the final mic drop of the game. it just keeps going! he didn't know the game was done and he added a bunch more bullshit busywork after it that no one likes!

so yeah. without going into anything even as specific as how individual plotlines or character arcs were mishandled in aa5/6 that's really my overview What Went Wrong of those games.

#i genuinely might need to put my opinion on aa5 and 6 in my faq at this point #not because i mind getting a chance to talk about how much i hate these games. but just for due diligence #ace attorney #*there are two perfect ace attorney games: aa1 and plvspwaa #this got so long im so so sorry.#i think ill just hotlink this post in my faq because it hits most of my talking points about these games

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vettelsvee · 20 days ago

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GOODBYES ARE BITTERSWEET | Sebastian Vettel ✩₊˚.⋆PART 6: LITTLE WHITE LIES [PREVIOUS PART] [NEXT PART]

goodbyes are bittersweet masterlist | a not so secret santa project ‼️ f1 masterlist | ao3 | ask anything or let's talk!

ferrari sebastian vettel x ex gf!female reader (smau)

summary: seb just wants y/n to accept that contract, and he's going to do everything he can to make it happen. also... the sebastian vettel fandom goes wild when her ex girlfriend does her comeback

warnings: curse words, bad language. mentions of cheating. faceclaim: emma stone, hanna prater

taglist: [ @saltycomicsanimalssalad @hc-dutch @mycenterfold @simplyamberj @spitesfvl-blog @jaydaaasworld @lottalove4evelyn @zoeyjadetice2010 @jehun @ferralari @cosmoscoffeee @mcmuppet @myescapefromthislife @sleutherclaw @youre-on-your-ownkid ]

a/n: surprise, i posted again! and first smau! I've been wanting to do one of this for a long time, so i hope you like it (please tell me)! feedback (please let me now what you thought of this!) and reposts are truly appreciated. and also comment me your thoughts and theories on the story pls!

MAY 25TH 2018

JUNE 1ST 2018

ynyln just posted

ynyln moving on from him is impossible when i still see it all in my head in burning red... see you on june 15th x (more news coming soon... in july <3)

user1 omg are we having red mv? this is ALL red coded

user 2 THERE'S NO WAY SHE DID THIS ↳ user3 wait what is this about? ↳ user 2 user3 take a closer look to the pictures 😁 ↳ user4 i'm not getting it... someone explain it?

lewishamilton it's good to see you finally achieving your dreams! ❤️🙏🏿 ↳ ynyln can't wait to see you soon lew! missed you lots x

user6 she's absolutely insane for posting this pictures... i gotta love her ↳ user7 why is it with the pictures she chose to post? aren't they related to what her song says? ↳ user6 take a look at the twitter thread sebsrrari just posted!

user8 EXCUSE ME MISS YLN? WHAT DO YOU MEAN WITH THAT "SEE YOU SOON"? ↳ ynyln maybe redbullracing can give you a hint... ☺️ ↳ redbullracing ynyln, do you really want us to post certain something we have already saved? ↳ ynyln redbullracing you know i do! i don't know what are you waiting for?

user9 wait wasn't she dating sebastian vettel back in the day? it seems like she's recalling her years with him ↳ user10 i'm 110% sure that the quote goes to seb ↳ user11 and the fact that lewis has left a comment... they know i'm sure

user12 if this post has anything to do with seb... the og wag fandom is going to rise from the ashes and go WILD.

redbullracing just posted

redbullracing We are so delighted to announce that from now on we will officially become the main sponsor of our former golden girl, ynyln, who just started her career as a singer. Also... she will be joining us for the 2018 German Grand Prix next July! More details coming soon.

user1 THEY POSTED SEB AND Y/N OH MY GOD ↳ user2 is this some kind of throwback? weren't they dating a while back? 😯

user3 ok but the fact that they posted that picture makes me think maybe seb and y/n never really lost touch... could this be the start of something more than just sponsorship? ↳ user4 exactly thought this! there's definitely something more going on

user5 seb and y/n together again in 2018 does this mean they're dating again or is it just for promo? ↳ user6 probably promo... ↳ user7 or maybe they know something we don't... ↳ user8 really why posting a picture of them together when they broke up a while ago? ↳ user9 user8 WAIT THEY WERE DATING? ↳ user8 user9 yes! twitter is now full of their story, it's quite a romantic one but also bittersweet... it didn't end well according to most of people

user10 of course seb's the reason y/n's getting back in the spotlight ↳ user11 seb and y/n have way too much chemistry for you to say that ↳ user12 exactly! seeing her again after going viral without us knowing, and her being with seb again, is making me think there’s more to this story!

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kristinagehrmann · 5 months ago

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Freelance strategies that have saved my butt!

Some of them I wish someone had told me when I was a newbie illustrator, some I have used from the start and they're still proving effective. Hope they're helpful <3

1. Decide on a clockout time at the workday's end. Whether 5pm or any other, relax & do nothing more work-related til next day. It sounds counterintuitive, but if your times are random/too long, this will boost productivity & decrease stress! In German it's called Feierabend.

2. Overestimate your deadlines. Especially as a new illustrator it can be hard to accurately tell a client how long a project will take, so make a habit of estimating generously. Don't take on more than one "rush gig" at a time.

3. Don't apologise if you did nothing wrong. Instead, "Thank you for your understanding." (e.g. if you have to reject an unattractive project) is both effective and polite.

4. Have a professional website with an easily accessible email address. It helped me get work long before anyone knew me on social media, even when my skill level was lower than now. From an art director's perspective: www.muddycolors.com/2021/09/why-y...

5. communication is key! Whenever anything is unclear in a client's brief, ASK. When you won't be able to meet a deadline, TELL them. Have clear quote & contract templates ready. Don't have any? Ask a fellow freelancer (like me!) Example for a quote: x.com/KristinaDraws... (99% of project conflicts are due to insufficient communication, this includes vague terms and/or nonexistent contracts!)

6. Your can also ask your fellow pros for pricing information in specific markets. Chances are it's already written down someplace (GAG handbook, blog article...) & they can link you to it. Being specific increases your chances of getting good answers. Pro illustrators have a sincere interest in you knowing & charging good prices - a rising tide lifts all boats!

7. Identify your most productive time of the day. This is when you do your best work. For me it's morning to noon. So I tend to do other chores (grocery shopping, exercise) in the afternoon when I'm more "head tired".

8. To stay hydrated (important!), make it a habit to always keep a drink on your desk. For me that's usually a mug of tea. Hot tea feels good too, bc 90% of the year it's chilly at my desk. I'm also a serious believer in a high fiber diet.

9. Something that has LITERALLY saved my butt: an orthopedic seat cushion (from Bonmedico, bought at Amazon) where the spine can basically "hang free" when you sit. This will turn every desk chair into a healthy one! Be smart and don't use it as an excuse for sitting even longer than you already do, but it does make long periods of sitting to work so, so much easier.

#freelance #freelance illustrator #freelance illustration #freelance life #business #freelance advice

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tpwkwriter · 1 year ago

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anything lhh related like him teasing y/n and just being the best bf ever. also if he makes remarks about how y/n is his girl *cheffs kiss*

Till midday.

I’m a massive sucker for LHH, so this is perfect🤍 thank you for your request<3

Absolutely no warnings all fluff, hope you enjoy x

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

It was one of those nights were only a dainty sheet was needed the warm air that flowed through the room.

the couple were staying in there own private villa located on a small part of Italy’s coast, perfectly isolated and secure from peering eyes.

It was about 11am, the sun shone through the thin mesh curtains that covered the wide windows, the sun shot perfect onto there shared king sized hotel bed, tho the size was big they only found themselves tangled together.

Y/n always admired Harry, not in a ‘stalker’ way but in a ‘wow your all mine??’ Way.

Whenever she had the chance her eyes were only for H.

Y/n sat up, leaning her back against the headboard, beside her lie her boyfriend who somehow looked almost angelic when he slept.

Somehow y/n had persuaded him to grow his curly locks which he learned to get used to and love, and y/n also loved.

His curls perfectly splayed around his resting head, his eyes peacefully shut, y/n loved it, loved all of him.

Mindlessly her left hand gently runs through his curls, trying not to wake him so suddenly.

“Mmmm lovie” he mewled, sleepy voice still prominent.

“Hi you” she softly replied, continuing to manoeuvre her hand through his hair.

“Why y’awake already?” He hummed.

“S’nearly the middle of the day bubs”

A sleepy sigh leaves his parted lips.

“I love y’long hair” y/n claimed, still using her fingertips to comb through his hair.

“Won’t be around f’much longer” he mewls, eyes slowly fluttering open.

“Why not? I love it”

“Why s’it give you summat to pull?” His smirk prominent as he says this.

“Oi” she squeals, moving her hand back to her lap.

“Get y’mind out the gutter, y’look pretty” she falsely pouted.

“M’joking angel, now c’mere” he whined opening his arms out.

“I don’t know how you do it” she sighed giving up and lowered herself into his arms.

Even when the girl faked being mad with him, it would be for too long before she fell into his comfort.

“I love this” he started, wrapping his arms around her waist and put his head into the the crook of her neck.

“In a beautiful country, with m’beautiful girl, the sun is shining” he sighed contently.

“Got quite lucky” he continued, pressing a kiss to the bottom of her jawline.

“Mmm, that y’did” she claimed

“Aren’t I just the best boyfriend?” He jokes, even though his face is concealed y/n can almost hear the smirk on his face.

“Don’t ruin the momennnnt” she dragged

“Y’don’t agree?” He said, head slowly shooting up, eyes making contact with hers.

“Just shush and let me enjoy this moment” she smirked.

“Not when m’around darlin’”

Y/n leaned closer into his touch, his familiar scent was all y/n needed.

“I suppose y’are tho”

“Hmm?” He hummed.

“Y’are the best boyfriend”

“Now your ruining the moment” he said emphasising the quote.

“I’m seriousss” she whines.

“You’ve brought to a private coast of italy, too a gorgeous villa it’s almost midday and all I’ve done is lie in this bed”

“Y’my girl, s’why, all I do is for you”

All y/n could do is feel the heat rise to her cheeks, and fall deeper into his embrace.

“I love you” she hummed, closing her eyes and allowing her head to fall into his chest.

“I love you too m’girl”

— — — — —

#harry styles #my fic writing #harry styles au #harry styles blurb #fluff #harry styles x y/n #harry #styles #request #anon answered #thank you lovely #harry edward styles #hs #harrystyles x fem!reader #one direction

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lucky-clover-gazette · 4 months ago

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kings rising highlights & annotations

chapter 7

edit: there is much better analysis in this follow-up post, although it does build on the stuff i wrote here

indented text is from the book. some quotes have commentary, some do not. some comments are serious, and some are definitely not. most of them will only make sense to people who have read the series. and, like, there are spoilers. so please read the books first if you're interested!

also: part of the reason i'm doing such a close reading is to study cs pacat's style, especially in terms of how she does romance and erotica. there are "craft notes" that might seem weird, like i'm being redundant or restating something rather than analyzing, but those are more things that i want to remember/take away from the writing!

i'm going to tag these longer posts with "sam reads capri" in case anyone wants to read them all at once.

this is a google doc i wrote with overall content warnings for the captive prince series. it's not perfect, but i do think it's important to include.

There were very few problems, the public killings having been good for the soldiers’ morale.

so where are the people like me in this world who would like pass out witnessing that. just too desensitized to care?

The Veretian herald was named Hendric and he had very strong arms, because banners were heavy.

Damen and Laurent were to ride alongside one another. Neither one of them had the better horse.

THEIR HORSES!! BACK TOGETHER DESPITE ALL ODDS!! because they’re definitely the same ones that fell in love during prince's gambit shut up

Damen was taller, but nothing could be done about that, Hendric had said with an impenetrable expression. Hendric, Damen was learning, had something in common with Laurent, in that it was never a simple matter to tell when he was joking.

give laurent a comedically large hammer and he’ll find a way

‘I hope the injured boy was returned to you safely.’ ‘Thank you, he returned with Paschal,’ said Laurent. For a salve? Damen opened his mouth to say, and didn’t.

throwback <3 but kings can’t have inside jokes :(

In the next moment, the horns rang out, triumphant and lonely at the same time, the pure sound absorbed by the sky and the wide open landscape around them.

“triumphant and lonely” nice detail

He remembered exactly how it had looked, and that was why he didn’t recognise it at first: the forest of broken spears was gone, and there were no gouged ruts in the earth, no men face down in the churned mud. Marlas was now a tumble of grass and wildflowers in the blowy, sweet summer weather, shifting back and forth in the gentle air. Here and there an insect droned, a drowsy sound. A dragonfly dipped and darted.

i like this :) we don’t get a lot of love for nature in this series, so i’ll take what i get. especially nice when nature represents healing and the passage of time.

Lining the hall were two dozen slaves.

oh this is going to be a headache. but it’s a headache worth having, because i’ve approached these annotations so far with integrity and fairness, and i refuse to treat this subject any differently. i don’t want to just ignore the things that are more difficult or less fun to unpack in order to get to the fun shipping stuff, i want to analyze them to the best of my ability and feel as comfortable as i possibly can moving forward.

so let’s set up some context:

1) damen has come a long way from his stance on slavery in book 1. he is actively refusing to partake in this expected custom, and finds the institution disturbing and triggering. he has developed a new appreciation for sex with truly consenting (not trained) partners, aka laurent, and can’t really go back. still, his reasons for refraining here are almost entirely based on his evolving sense of morality, not really relating to his relationship with laurent at all. for more on that moral evolution, see my analysis in chapter 4. further proof of this Really Mattering to damen is the fact that by not taking slaves, he is losing points with his own people. another great hint of his development as a king, making his own authoritative decisions rather than upholding tradition.

2) laurent does not like slavery. he does not think it is morally correct, and has made many jabs at damen throughout the series for disagreeing. he is disturbed by idea of people who have been groomed into relinquishing their own free will. if put in the situation of damen in book 1, laurent would not have been nearly as compliant or allowing—honestly, he probably would have tried to kill his master, and failing that, kill himself.

HOWEVER. vere does not do slavery. slavery had never been a relevant issue to laurent, at least until he was gifted a slave of his own and was made to deal with them in negotiations with patras. slavery is a thing other countries do, to laurent, and his current objective is make nice with a country that keeps slaves. therefore, he knows that his only real option is to keep the appearance of partaking in the custom, even if damen can get away with refusal. and i think we can safely assume that in laurent’s vere, there will be no slavery, even if he’s taking up the appearance of a slave owner now. additionally, i think we can also assume that there will be reform of the country’s pet system, which is an issue much more relevant to laurent’s lived experience.

if the stuff with laurent and slaves here was simply performative and un-indulgent, i wouldn’t need to be writing anything more here. but it is, as it is, one of the few things in the series that makes me feel very conflicted (see also: the garden scene in book 1). because while it’s true that laurent doesn’t actually use isander as a sex slave, and does have this kind of passive disdain for slavery, he does use isander in another way. he uses isander, a non-consenting brainwashed slave, as a way to make damen, who has never actually been a slave, jealous. this is an abuse of power that directly conflicts with laurent’s stated and assumed values regarding free will and individual personhood. we’ve seen things like this before, in arles, but laurent had known that damen was a prince and not a slave the entire time. but isander is a victim of this system—even if isander himself doesn’t know that, laurent damn well does. and laurent historically is someone who advocates for victims. so the fact that his morals here are being set aside in favor of a petty gesture against damen, is… disappointing. everything i said in chapter 3/4 about laurent’s mean girl era still stands: he knows he’s being shitty, and he’s doing it because he doesn’t want to be vulnerable and insecure. better to be a villain than a victim, etc. but laurent being a villain to damen, who laurent knows is perfectly capable of defending himself, is distinctly different from laurent parading out isander the slave just to hurt damen’s feelings.

it’s wrong for the obvious moral reasons, which laurent perfectly understands in the abstract. but it’s not a hill he’s going to die on here, and that’s not just because of the political advantage. this is 100% about personal shit with damen too. and sorry laurent, but slavery does not stop being wrong when it’s useful in creating drama with your ex. in fact, indulging in it for that reason specifically trivializes all of the legitimate problems with the practice. it makes laurent a hypocrite and it crosses a line, in terms of his mean girl schtick. i just want to make that clear—that there is very much a difference between laurent just being kinda cunty to damen in general, and specifically using a slave as tool in that cuntiness.

laurent is, and always has been, a morally complex and often hypocritical character. he has done things that have made me feel uncomfortable to read, like the way he treats damen in the garden scene. and that’s okay, and it doesn’t make him a bad character, or even a bad person. and to be fair, he isn’t doing any practical harm here—if he hadn’t chosen isander to kinda just vaguely flirt with in public and then leave alone in private, someone else probably would have done far worse. and that is an easy cop-out, and it’s not wrong. but still.

the problem isn’t with laurent's actions here, necessarily, but the principle. which is usually what laurent himself cares about the most, as he often values the ends above the means. politics aside, i think that laurent would readily admit post-mean girl era that the ends of making damen jealous did not, and should not, justify the means of using another human being who does not possess free will. maybe he even does that in the text, eventually, and i’ve forgotten.

(also, let’s not forget that isander may have been trained to not have his own feelings, but definitely still has them, because he’s a human being. and it probably makes him feel pretty bad to be chosen and then ignored by laurent. not that it should, because the entire thing is super fucked up, but it’s what he’s been groomed to believe. like, i did just want to throw that in somewhere, even though it’s obviously predicated on brainwashing and a lack of free will. it’s still what he’s feeling, and his feelings matter. just as much as damen’s or laurent’s.)

basically: laurent is failing to be honorable in his usage of isander, even if he’s not using isander as a sex slave as intended. his abstract values about the wrongness of slavery take a back seat to the political and interpersonal advantage of not only passively partaking in the custom, but actively using it to make damen jealous. even if laurent needs to pretend to take a slave to be politically accepted, he does not need to do All That. and honestly, with laurent’s ability to convince and command a crowd, i think we all know deep down that if he didn’t at least want to do this at least a little bit, just to piss damen off, he would find a way out of it. and that is a reality of laurent’s characterization here that i have to deal with, similar to his actions in the garden scene.

and then there’s the other thing that laurent's "performance" with isander has in common with the garden scene:

it’s hot. it’s wrong, and hypocritical, and could have been done in a way that would better suit my personal tastes, but yes, it’s hot. and on top of that, it’s also VERY funny. laurent’s performance, damen’s reactions, and isander’s obliviousness are all very, very funny. and i do want to be able to enjoy them for the petty gestures they are, and joke about them, without constantly having to throw in a “but also this is bad.” so doing this initial disclaimer feels like a happy medium to me, where i’m not ignoring the complexity of the situation entirely, but i’m also conceding that it’s not necessarily meant to be taken seriously, and it’s ultimately written for the reader to enjoy. like, don’t get me wrong, most of the slavery stuff in this series has NOT been written for the reader’s enjoyment—the values here are very clear, especially in damen’s arc—but there are still some indulgent moments. and it is fiction. and these characters aren’t perfect, nor did they create the culture of the kingdoms that they’re about to rule. and they do ultimately change the things that they, and we the reader, know are wrong.

but just like with the garden scene, i can’t quite get myself to write “so it’s totally fine to just have fun with the whole slavery thing” as a conclusion. and honestly, i feel pretty okay about that hesitancy. when i make jokes about this subject in this specific context (laurent and isander), i don’t want it to be forgotten that the subject itself (slavery) is still entirely serious. so instead, i’ll say:

this is fun because manipulative petty lamen mind games are fun. this is hot because manipulative petty lamen mind games are hot. this is somewhat intended as a backhanded insult and display of moral superiority—laurent showing damen how awful he and his culture appear to non-slave owners—but that moral superiority ultimately falls short due to laurent’s hypocritical use of a slave to make damen jealous. all of those separate pieces of analysis are true to the overall experience of reading and interpreting these scenes. it’s a mixed bag, we know it’s a mixed bag, laurent knows it’s a mixed bag, and damen knows it’s a mixed bag. the only relevant person who doesn’t know it’s a mixed bag is isander, because he’s a slave and isn’t allowed to think for himself, and that fucking sucks.

Isander was olive-skinned and lithe as a fawn, with dark hair and eyes: Akielon colouring. He shared that with Nikandros; with Damen.

yeah i’m sure that’s just a coincidence

Male, either in deference to Veretian customs, or to suit Laurent’s assumed preferences.

akielon slave owners, trying to assess laurent’s preferences:

(can you tell my heart still isn’t fully in the humor here…)

Nikandros would never offer royalty anything less than a slave’s First Night.

god, the first night thing is fucked up. in general, i love the lack of like… uh… traditionally conservative (read: christian) attitudes about sex in capri, so the few similarities especially give me the ick. i haven’t read or annotated the erasmus short story yet, but i know it’s going to piss me off too. basically, the closer we get to the handmaid’s tale, the more i want to read complicit characters dying horrifically on the page. nikandros and the other akielons are skirting by for now with the plausible deniability they have re: fully understanding how slaves are trained, but they’re on thin fucking ice.

also, lighter side question, what’s the recommended reading order for the short stories?

sweet grace of a palace slave

gag

‘I like that one,’ said Laurent.

>:(

‘Slaves are trained in the arts of pleasure, but they do not lie with another until their First Night,’ Kolnas said. ‘Here we use the same strict, classical training that is used in the royal palace. Skills are learned through instruction, and practised with indirect methods. The slave remains wholly untouched, kept pure for the first use of the Exalted.’

imagine if real-life cultural customs were built around grooming a certain group of people to be sexually submissive and modest as a thinly-veiled way to control their sexuality and ensure that they are attached to dominant societal figures from a young age without the education or free will to consider themselves actual human beings, so they can unquestioningly spend their entire lives as sex machines and domestic servants defined entirely by their responsibility to the family, and then they die and their headstone identifies them by their status as a possession of their dominant partner. wouldn’t that be fucked up

‘I never did learn how to command a bed slave,’ said Laurent. ‘Teach me.’

guys i wish i could find this hot or funny but now i’m just mad about disturbing stuff in real life that i can’t analyze out of existence. i’m taking a break and eating a chocolate strawberry greek yogurt popsicle and then i’ll try to refocus on the funny toxic gay people

‘They cannot speak Veretian, Your Highness,’ Kolnas explained. ‘In the Akielon language, using the plain form of address is appropriate. To command any act of service is to honour a slave. The more personal the service, the greater the honour.’ ‘Really? Come here,’ said Laurent.

laurent go sit in the corner.

Laurent extended the tip of his boot. ‘Kiss it,’ he said. His eyes were on Damen.

god this is so good. i hate it so much.

to be fair, there is no way to do this that would be more effective than laurent using a slave. because, y’know, damen was his “slave.” it wouldn’t hit the same with some random non-slave guy. laurent wants to fuck with damen’s head, and part of that is making him miss something he most certainly should not be missing. laurent is also fucking with my head, because this gesture is so conflictingly wrong and compelling, a word which in this case means "something i’m embarrassed/ashamed to say that i find hot."

‘Good boy,’ said Laurent, reaching down to pet Isander’s dark curls, while Isander’s eyes closed and he flushed over.

(easy joke to make, but we’re all probably thinking it) damen:

(also, this being the only “good boy” in the entire series is just diabolical. but i get why it is, because i think it might not be the only one—and if it isn’t the only one, that means the regent says it at some point, and that’s exactly why it’s never used in a lamen sex scene.)

Kolnas preened, pleased that his selection was appreciated. Damen could see that the fort’s household around them was also pleased, having gone to great lengths to make Laurent feel welcome. They had considered with intense thoughtfulness Veretian culture and Veretian practices.

i sense some slight snarkiness here—not even from damen, but from the narrative itself. there’s palpable irony in the “great lengths” and “thoughtfulness” of akielions considering veretian culture while presenting laurent with slaves, all while veretian culture doesn’t have slavery.

It was pointless. There were two dozen slaves here, while the number of times Laurent had had sex in his life could probably be counted on one hand. Laurent was just going to be dragging twenty-four young men back to his rooms to sit around doing nothing. They wouldn’t even be able to unlace Veretian clothing.

according to damen:

this is stupid.

laurent is, in all ways but physical, a loser virgin.

he’s going to set out board games for those sex slaves. he’s going to throw them a pizza party. he’s going to answer emails the entire time.

they don’t even know how to unlace laurent’s clothing like i do.

this is stupid.

‘Can he also serve me in the baths?’ said Laurent.

CUNT.

‘And at the feast for the bannermen this evening when they give their pledge, if that pleases you, Your Highness,’ said Kolnas. ‘It pleases me,’ said Laurent.

damen is about to throw up on the floor

Cloth wound around his waist and over his shoulder, the sort of ceremonial Akielon garb that you could unreel from a person by taking hold of one end and pulling while they rotated.

looney toons-ass imagery

He could feel their discomfort, their need to debase themselves; this sort of proximity to royalty permitted only the extreme submissiveness of slaves.

thank you damen for being the only normal person here. you've come a long way.

“discomfort, their need to debase themselves” is something book 1 damen would have found adorable and charming. he definitely wouldn’t have worded it like this, back then.

“this sort of proximity to royalty permitted only the extreme submissiveness of slaves” building on the damen vs. kingship theme, he thinks he can’t have real love or intimacy or vulnerability if he’s a king. he can’t truly be paired with an equal, because he needs to be exalted.

He had sent away the slaves.

damen you’re the only one i’m not at mad at in this chapter. actually i liked the funny banner guy, we’re chill too. and isander is just trying his best

Laurent, he knew, was rooming in the adjoining suite, separated from him by a single wall. Damen was in the King’s chambers, which any lord who built a fort installed, in the hope the King would stop there. But even the former lord of Marlas’s optimism had not stretched to the idea that the heads of two royal families would visit simultaneously. To preserve their arrangements of scrupulous equality, Laurent was in the Queen’s chambers, beyond that wall.

i’m getting so much whiplash from this chapter like yeah this is funny and cute but also is the slavery stuff just normal to people like i’m aware the series started from a specific subculture and kink and body of literary work, so i guess i’m the weird one and the outsider here for being so distracted??

Isander was probably tending him, gamely doing his best with the laces. He would have to unhook the lacings on the back of the neck of Laurent’s riding leathers before drawing them through their eyelets. Or Laurent had taken Isander into the baths, to be undressed by him there. Isander would be flushed with pride at being chosen for the task. Attend me. Damen felt his hands curl into fists.

i don’t think i need to point out in a note, every single time, that damen being jealous of isander is funny and his possessiveness of laurent is hot. but i will still highlight the passages where it happens.

He turned his mind to political matters.

good call buddy, you and i are going to get through this chapter together

Men and women reclined on couches

(said apprehensively, given the overall themes of this chapter) ...women?

Makedon leaned, selecting a slice of peeled orange. Pallas, the handsome officer-champion, reclined with the easy posture that spoke to his aristocratic blood. Straton had hitched his skirts up and drawn his legs onto the couch, crossing them at the ankles. Everyone whom rank or office entitled to be here was assembled, and with every northerner of standing gathered to give their pledge, the hall was packed full. The Veretians present were mostly vertical, standing awkwardly in small groups, one or two perched gingerly on the edge of a seat.

There was no trumpet flourish or herald’s announcement, as there would have been in Vere.

okay i didn’t realize there was a trumpet flourish in vere. that is very funny in retrospect. a trumpet is not the instrument i’d choose to announce laurent’s arrival. in arles especially, i personally think that a halloween sfx cd would have been much more appropriate

Laurent didn’t rise. He wasn’t required to. He just watched from his reclining couch, as the hall prostrated itself. He had cultivated an elegant sprawl, with his arm draped over his couch back, and his leg drawn up, revealing the arc of an exquisitely clad thigh. His fingers dangled. Silk rucked around his knee.

laurent lean #14. kings leaning.

Isander was prostrated, an inch from Laurent’s casually draped fingertips, his lithe body bare. He wore a brief garment like a Vaskian man’s cloth. His collar fit him like a second skin. Laurent sat relaxed, every line of his body arranged tastefully against the couch. Damen made himself stroll forward through the silence. Their twin couches were next to each other. ‘Brother,’ Laurent said, pleasantly.

no comment

The eyes of everyone in the hall were on him. He felt their gazes, their underfed curiosity. He heard the murmurs—it really is him, Damianos, alive and here—accompanied by the brazen looks, looking at him, looking at the gold cuff on his wrist, looking at Laurent in his Veretian clothes like an exotic ornament—so that is the Veretian Prince. And beneath that the speculation that was never spoken aloud.

at least one akielon politics rpf truther is losing their mind rn. we have gaylor, this world has gaymianos

Laurent was scrupulously correct in the face of it, his behaviour immaculate, even his use of the slave was an act of unimpeachable etiquette. In Akielos it pleased the host for a guest to make use of his hospitality. And it pleased the Akielon people for their royal family to take slaves, a sign of virility and power, and a cause of great pride.

narrows my eyes

Barieus stepped forward. ‘I want assurances that Vere does not hold undue influence over Akielos.’ Undue influence. ‘Speak plainly.’ ‘They say the Prince of Vere is your lover.’

found the gaymianos truther

‘Who we take to our bed is not your concern.’

well i mean if you’re using the royal “we” to represent the kingdom, then yeah… it kinda is?

‘Shall I tell them what really happened between us? They want to know,’ Laurent said. Laurent began to unlace the cuff of his sleeve, drawing the ties through the eyelets, then opening the fabric to expose the fine underside of his wrist—and then the unmistakable gold of the slave cuff.

Laurent leaned his wrist elegantly on the curved arm of the couch, the open sleeve reminiscent of a delicate open shirt collar, its laces trailing. ‘Do I have the question clear?’ said Laurent, speaking in Akielon. ‘You are asking if I lay with the man who killed my own brother?’ Laurent wore the slave cuff with utter disregard. He had no owner, the aristocratic arrogance of his posture said that. Laurent had always possessed an essential quality of the untouchable. He cultivated a faultless grace on the reclining couch, his chiselled profile and marble-chip eyes those of a statue. The idea that he would let anyone fuck him was impossible.

and damen is so into it. love love love the contrast with the description of slaves in this chapter. damen doesn’t want them, he wants laurent. he sees laurent as a complete and compelling person. there is honor in laurent’s performative submission—wearing the cuff—because damen respects laurent’s personhood. but he’s no longer able to see the submission of slaves as honorable, because he knows they’re fucking slaves who have been robbed of their personhood entirely.

Barieus said, ‘A man would have to be ice-cold to sleep with his brother’s killer.’ ‘Then you have your answer,’ said Laurent. There was a silence, in which Laurent’s gaze held that of Barieus. ‘Yes, Exalted.’ Barieus bowed his head, and unconsciously used the Akielon Exalted, rather than the Veretian titles Highness or Majesty.

a vine boom echoed through the court

‘Well, Barieus?’ said Damen. Barieus knelt two steps before the dais. ‘I will pledge. I see that the Prince of Vere stands with you. It’s right that we swear to you here, on the site of your greatest victory.’

“he is simply too cunty for us to deny his authority.”

Slaves brought the food. Squires served Damen, since he had made his preferences clear. It was an awkward arrangement that displeased everyone in the hall.

YES DAMEN!

Isander was utterly in love with his master. He strove continuously to do well, selecting each delicacy for Laurent to sample, bringing him only the best, in small, shallow dishes, refreshing the water bowl for Laurent to clean his fingers. He did it all with perfect form, discreetly attentive, and never drawing attention to himself. His eyelashes drew attention to themselves. Damen made himself look elsewhere.

but that’s not real love, and damen knows it. laurent knows it too. and damen did it way better in nesson-elroy

Laurent said, ‘Play The Fall of Inachtos,’ and a murmur of approval passed over the hall. Kolnas, the Keeper of Slaves, congratulated Laurent on his knowledge of Akielon epics. ‘It’s one of your favourites, isn’t it?’ said Laurent, transferring his gaze to Damen.

diabolical. need this energy for the lamen divorce playlists (they each have their own)

He had always liked the depiction of Akielons cutting down their enemies, as Nisos rode out to kill Inachtos, and take his walled city. He didn’t want to hear it now.

yayyy character development

It was Loyse and not Guion that Jord was approaching. She gave him a cursory look. ‘Yes?’ There was an awkward pause. ‘I just wanted to say . . . that I’m sorry for your loss. Your son was a good fighter.’ ‘Thank you, soldier.’ She gave him the token attention a lady might give to any servant, and turned back to her conversation with her husband.

loyse hiiiiiii loyse (said with appropriate sadness for her current state of grief)

Jord gazed at him for a long moment, then indicated Laurent with his chin. ‘I’m glad you two are friends,’ said Jord.

jord always knows exactly when to show up and make ill-timed commentary on damen and laurent's relationship

‘I thought when he found out about you, he’d swear revenge,’ said Jord. ‘He knew all along,’ said Damen. ‘It’s good that you could trust each other,’ said Jord. And then: ‘I think before you came, he didn’t really trust anyone.’ Damen said, ‘He didn’t.’

also isn’t it like SUPER awkward for jord to be around guion and loyse right now

Isander was bringing Laurent a sprig of grapes in a small dish. Laurent said something approving, and gestured for Isander to join him on the reclining couch. Isander glowed, shyly besotted. As Damen watched, Isander picked a single grape from the sprig, and lifted it to Laurent’s lips. Laurent leaned in. He twined a finger around a curl of Isander’s hair and allowed himself to be fed, grape by grape, a prince with a new favourite.

damen is about to start scratching the walls like a cat confronted with a closed door

He lifted the wine blindly. The cup was empty. Straton wasn’t the only Akielon departing with a slave; men and women throughout the hall were availing themselves. The wine, and the slaves enacting the battle were breaking down inhibitions. Akielon voices grew loud, emboldened by wine.

between the heavy drinking and sex practices, the akielon court actually sounds like my living hell. and we haven’t even gotten to the naked sports chapter yet

Laurent leaned in further to murmur something intimately into Isander’s ear, and then, as the recitation reached its climax, the clash of swords like the hammering in his chest, Damen saw Laurent tap Isander’s shoulder, and rise. I’d wager you never thought a prince could be jealous of a slave. At this moment I’d trade places with you in a heartbeat. Torveld’s words. He said, ‘Excuse me.’

The entire court around him rose as he pushed up from his couch-throne.

“couch-throne”

Trying to follow Laurent out, he got tangled in ceremony, the hall a stifling press of bodies and noise, and, as a blond head disappeared towards the doorway, he was stopped by party after party blocking his path.

okay i’m so curious what he’s meaning to do when he catches up to laurent. yell at him? yell at isander? throw up?

He ought to have brought a slave of his own, then the crowd would have melted away, understanding: the King wished privacy.

i am begging the protagonists of this book to stop using human people as objects. again maybe that’s just a me problem, this isn’t my usual genre and the akielon slavery system clearly doesn’t align with my kink sensibilities, but COME ON

The corridor was empty when he strode out into it. His heart was pounding. He turned the first corner into a section of the passage, half expecting to catch Laurent’s retreating figure. Instead, he saw a stark, empty arch with all its Veretian lattice stripped away. Under the arch was Isander, standing with his fawn eyes, looking confused and abandoned. His confusion was such that for a moment he just stared at Damen with wide eyes before he seemed to understand what was happening, and folded to the floor, forehead to the stone. Damen said, ‘Where is he?’ Isander was well trained, even if nothing was happening as he had expected tonight; and even if, rather mortifyingly, he was being asked to report this fact to his King. ‘His Highness of Vere has gone for a ride.’

well at least if “going on a ride” is laurent code for “feeling morally and emotionally troubled,” that’s… less disappointing, i guess.

also, i do realize that this is the place where laurent’s brother was killed, currently taken over by the nation that orchestrated and benefitted from his death. so there’s probably a twisted vindication in learning exactly how fucked up their culture is (asking about the first night, etc), and getting whatever kind of enjoyment out of the whole situation he can (pissing off damen). but there still had to be a crash, and as soon as laurent was excused from his duties he dipped to deal with it alone.

‘At the stables a handler might know his destination. This slave can inquire.’

i caaaaaan’t stand the way they’re denied use of personal pronouns

Closer; the approach was difficult because it was sharp with memory. Here was the place where their left flank had fallen. Here was the place where he had ordered men to attack the lines that would not fall, the starburst banner that did not falter. Here was the place where he had killed the last of the Prince’s Guard, and come face to face with Auguste. He dismounted from his horse, looping its reins over the cracked stone column of an overgrown pillar. The landscape was old, and the pieces of stone were old; and he remembered this place, remembered the torn soil and the desperation of the fight. Clearing a last jut of stone, he saw the curve of a shoulder in the moonlight, the white of a loose shirt, his outer garments stripped, all wrists and exposed throat. Laurent was sitting on a stone outcrop. His jacket was discarded uncharacteristically. He was sitting on it.

this is a beautifully set scene.

A stone slid under his heel. Laurent turned. For a moment, Laurent looked at him wide-eyed, young, and then the look in his eyes changed, as though the universe had fulfilled an ineluctable promise. ‘Oh,’ he said, ‘perfect.’

a moment of surprise and vulnerability, and then practiced cool again. onto Some More Bullshit, i guess

this isn’t the chapter to really tackle this, but i will eventually write a long essay about how laurent goes through his own mini character growth arc, completely off the page, during the lamen divorce era. it’s just that damen has custody of the reader, so we don’t get to see it—only hints, like this moment here. laurent must have had a lot on his mind, too, ever since their last heated conversation. i have some ideas about what that “a lot” might be, but again, i don’t think i’ve gotten quite enough from laurent yet to really start forming a conclusion.

Damen said, ‘I thought you might want—’ ‘Want?’ ‘A friend,’ said Damen. He used Jord’s word. His chest felt tight. ‘If you’d prefer me to leave, I will.’ ‘Why cavil?’ said Laurent. ‘Let’s fuck.’

ON YOUR BROTHER’S FIGURATIVE GRAVE WITH HIS MURDERER????

‘That isn’t what I meant.’ ‘It might not be what you meant, but it’s what you want.’ Laurent said, ‘You want to fuck me.’ Anyone else would have been drunk. Laurent was dangerously sober.

yeah, no, he’s definitely being going through Some Shit on his own. lots of self-loathing, especially due to the fact that he can’t hate damen as much as he knows he should. yearning, more self-loathing because of that yearning. companionship withdrawals, a return to isolation. a revived sense of grief for his brother, and nicaise, and damen (not damianos) and even his relationship with his uncle, who he hadn’t thought would be capable of trying to kill him. hating himself and blaming himself and regretting things he’s done to push people away. just an all-around bad time, but a necessary time of reflection that he needs to experience on his own. damen can’t just swoop in and fix laurent, laurent has to decide that he’s worth saving first. he’s not there yet, clearly, assuming that damen only wants him as a sexual object. whiiiiich was probably why he went so hard on the eroticism with isander easlier, it was an easy victory to get damen hot and bothered. a game he could win, among the many other games he knows he’s losing—especially the ones against himself.

i’ll put together something more coherent before the divorce era ends. tbh, i kinda think this scene should have been a separate chapter, because there is some pretty massive whiplash here. although maybe not, maybe the buildup of emotional and sexual tension was the point. yeah, it was. the slavery stuff just made it more frustrating to read. never mind.

‘You’ve been thinking about it since Ravenel. Since Nesson.’ He knew this mood. He should have expected it. He made himself say the words. ‘I came because I thought you might want to talk.’ ‘Not particularly.’

it almost sounds like laurent played himself, for the millionth time, by getting himself worked up with isander when he just really wanted damen

He said, ‘About your brother.’ ‘I never fucked my brother,’ said Laurent, with a strange edge to the words. ‘That is incest.’ They were standing in the place where his brother had died. With a disorientating sensation Damen realised they weren’t going to talk about that. They were going to talk about this.

"yes, honey..."

‘You’re right,’ said Damen. ‘I’ve been thinking about it since Ravenel. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.’ ‘Why?’ said Laurent. ‘Was I that good?’ ‘No. You fucked like a virgin,’ said Damen,

deserved

‘half the time. The rest of the time—’ ‘Like I knew what to do?’ ‘Like you knew what you were used to.’ He saw the words impact. Laurent swayed, like he’d been dealt a blow. Laurent said, ‘I’m not certain I can take your particular brand of honesty just at the moment.’

oh well this is particularly horrifying with [redacted] context. also i think the quote “i’m not certain i can take your particular brand of honesty just at the moment” says A LOT about how laurent has always viewed damen, for better or for worse. laurent can count on damen to tell him what he needs to hear, not what he wants to hear. so it makes sense that he’s been avoiding damen lately, because laurent is going through his own crisis of personal reflection

Damen said, ‘I don’t prefer sophistication in bed, if you were wondering.’ ‘That’s right,’ said Laurent. ‘You like it simple.’ All the breath left his throat. He stood, stripped, unready for it. Will you use even that against me? he wanted to say, and didn’t. Laurent’s breathing was shallow too, holding his ground.

is “that” just laurent making fun of the way damen is earnest in bed? seems like an overreaction from damen if that's the case, so it’s probably something else i’m missing. maybe laurent is accusing damen of keeping the secret of his identity, even when they fucked, to make things simpler between them? that would support my previous theory that laurent is convinced that damen wouldn’t want him how he really is, as damen really is, with all the complications between them. or it’s a dig about auguste somehow, and i just can’t figure out how it connects.

‘He died well,’ Damen made himself say. ‘He fought better than any man I’ve known. It was a fair fight, and he felt no pain. The end was quick.’

like i said—what laurent needs to hear, not what he wants to hear. even if damen thinks that it’s going to make laurent hate him more, he still has the integrity to say it.

‘You sent your men out to look for me too?’ said Laurent, his mouth twisting. ‘No,’ said Damen, and pushed Laurent hard out of sight, into the shelter of one of the huge, crumbling blocks of stone. In the next second, the troop was on them, at least two hundred men, so that the air was thick with the passage of horses. Damen pressed Laurent firmly into the rock, and held him in place with his body. The riders didn’t slow, even on this uncertain ground in the dark, and any man in their path would be trampled, tumbled, kicked from hoof to hoof. Discovery was a real threat, the rock cool under his palms, the dark shuddering with the pounding of hooves and heavy lethal horseflesh. He could feel Laurent against him, the barely contained tension, adrenalin mixed with his dislike of the proximity, the urge in him to prise himself out and away, stifled by necessity.

throwback <3 i think this is very intentionally placed in this conversation, as a reminder that they are the same people they were in prince’s gambit

‘I know you’re not cold,’ said Damen. ‘You weren’t cold when you ordered me tied to the post. You weren’t cold when you pushed me down on your bed.’

more true things laurent does not want to hear right now! also i like the use of warmth, as the opposite of cold, to signify both vengeful rage and romantic/sexual passion. two sides of the same coin

‘A fair fight?’ said Laurent, turning back to him. ‘No fight’s ever fair. Someone’s always stronger.’

rewinding to their previous argument. aren’t they both tired? i’m tired.

#this might be the most mixed bag chapter for me so far #curious what other people think #might just be personal taste and an unfamiliarity with reading stories about this kink #or even like historical fiction/fantasy in general that might have systems like this one #if i'm reading about stuff like this it's probably something like the handmaid's tale #or a crime/thriller novel #so #shrugs #sam reads capri #capri #captive prince #laurent of vere #damen of akielos #lamen

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fandomnerd9602 · 1 year ago

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Submission

Nun!Wanda x Male Reader

For @lifespectator and @aloneodi

To say that you and your bride were enjoying the magnificent freedom that a marriage afforded would be an understatement, perhaps the biggest.

You and Wanda worked in the same convent and fell hard for one another. So much that you and her were singing praises when Father Wong informed you that you could still work at the church and be allowed to pursue a relationship together.

Wong's only rule was that you and Wanda not make out or worse in the house of worship.

You thank the Lord that you and Wanda were sent on little errands outside of the convent and into the nearby town. It allowed for many opportunities to steal kisses and make out with one another in the pale moonlight.

You proposed to Wanda and she gladly accepted. Well more like tackled you to the ground in the garden and kissed you with the kind of passion that Adam and Eve probably had for one another on their wedding night.

Wong was more than happy to officiate your ceremony and allowed the two of you to move into a little cottage not far from convent.

You and Wanda would never say it aloud but you were both glad to be living in a place besides your church, because some of the things you and her have been up to lately would be downright sinful.

Many Sundays where you found each other stealing little glances as you went about your job taking care of the children in Sunday school. The way Wanda would tease you with just a wave of her fingers, how you'd find yourself wishing what she would do you with those bewitching fingers.

Of course you found your own little ways to tempt and tease your wife back. Little looks or even the way you'd show how good a parent you could be, it all drove her over the edge. It made her want to drag you back to your cottage and take her already.

And so that brings you to right now. Wanda had been the one doing all the teasing all day. Even her wordplay was getting very tempting as she was making dinner with you.

"Do you want breasts or thighs, detka?" she asks with a little smirk.

"I-um...thighs?" you tried to articulate.

Wanda couldn't help but smile. She knew exactly what buttons to push on you. The same buttons she was pushing after supper too.

You were working on a report for Wong when Wanda glided into your little study room, a little mischievous smirk on her lips.

"I found the best book in the Scriptures for us to read together" she says.

"Which one?"

She sat on your lap, her shorts rising up ever so slightly, exposing that silk like texture of her legs. How soft it felt over you. "Song of Songs. I can't help but think of how that relates to us."

"That's a book of a married couples...wedding night" you could feel the heat rising all over you.

"Oh how her breasts are like two fawns...her neck is like an ivory tower" Wanda reads a quote from it aloud. One of her hands glides over her own neck and then over one of her clothed breast. "Don't you think, detka?"

"Remind me to talk with Wong tomorrow" you manage to say

"Hmm? why?"

"Because I'm going to need confession after what i'm going to do to you" you whisper back as you pick her up, her legs wrap around your waist as you kiss her fiercely and carry her away quickly to your bedroom.

Wanda giggles the whole way there. "Detka" she moans in your ear.

Wanda (L/N) former nun, your loving bride, the future mother of your kids, and the biggest temptation you have in your life.

#marvel #marvel imagine #marvel fluff #mcu #mcu imagine #mcu fandom #wanda maximoff #wanda maximoff x reader #wanda maximoff imagine #nun #nun x reader #nun wanda #wanda variant #scarlet witch

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thynisia-pac-readings · 1 year ago

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[PAC - Your first date together. Please do not copy or repost any part of the reading.]

There are 4 piles. This a general, collective reading as usual, take what resonates, this is for fun! Regardless of the banner, it doesn't have to be a romantic relationship - it could be friends or relatives.

This extensive reading includes sub-questions, signs and quotes! I also read possible things about you and about them, because why not! You can take it as further confirmation that it's your pile. XD

Take a slow breath, clear your mind and intuitively pick an image or number (you can ask your higher self and your spirit guides to help you choose it).

---

Pile 1

Signs:

It's 1:11PM I'm not even joking, number 8, relating to each other, reciprocated feelings, sudden confession and realising it's reciprocated, February, Lewis

No way I just got a poem on reciprocity by Cleo Wade!!! Two messages on that; for some it's reciprocated, for others don't waste time on someone who doesn't reciprocate your feelings!

United States, North America, Mexico, area between North and South America.

Astrological placements: Moon domiant, Cancer, Jupiter dominant, Sagittarius, Pisces, Moon conjunct Jupiter. Virgo rising, Gemini rising, Mercury in Aries, Mercury in Capricorn.

Possible things about you:

Life path 7, deep thinker, big on self-improvement and self-reflection. Maybe you're into manifestation as well. You might be very pretty according to societal standards, or you like to take care of yourself and your appearance. I think you're someone very kind and caring to others too. Do you do the same for yourself? Such an empathetic soul. You're a gift on Earth my love, know that.

Maybe you want to fly away, you want some freedom and get away somewhere far, but for some reason you've got to stay where you are. It's alright, all in due time.

Some of you may like Aphrodite or Venus, or you're in that phase of your life that she rules over, such as beauty, goddess energy, sacredness, femininity, etc.

Some of you may want to be a mother really bad, you want your own baby, you love children. A small minority of you could have a child already, but some may get pregnant/be a new father in the near future. :)

Possible things about them: 2 groups came up so you may intuitively pick 1 or 2, or both!

group 1:

they're the ones who feel the same about you haha!

they may also want a child or want their own baby, that's so sweet Pile 1. very caring individuals too and maybe that's something you relate on between each other.

they may feel like you uplift them whenever you speak or are physically with them. I feel like whenever you're around, they don't have these dark thoughts anymore. Maybe you ease their anxiety naturally, without even trying. I feel like they really feel comfortable and safe with you, and whatever the future holds, they hope that you don't let go of them. Actually, they wish to not let go of you. They don't want to. They see you with such respect and admiration, they really love you in that sense. It's not just infatuation or attachment, they love your traits/character.

their love language could be gift giving or handwritten notes.

group 2:

wow, we've got an ambitious and hard working person here. very powerful and independent. wants to rise to the top, they want to be successful and go higher. they want to excel at what they do, career wise or romance. it's like Suga singing "I wanna big house, big car, big ring" (something like that lol). great at multitasking and overseeing plans, but they could tend to be a bit controlling as a result. like their work mindset spills over in the personal life and relationships. it is not very bad though, but they may not realise. For some of them, if you tell them honestly that they're being a bit controlling or disrespectful in certain ways, they will feel bad and apologise and try to correct their attitude. They're not a bad person, they want to do their best so much that they are less self aware.

Your first date together:

How - probably not in the most romantic way? whatever is going to lead to that first date is not peaceful. maybe some misunderstanding or friction has to happen for you two to take that step forward.

Where - somewhere dry or far from water. Or there's not much around, far from the city. i.e. you might go hiking with them for the first date...are y'all dating a German? LMAO. On a more serious note, if you're a woman don't go on first dates where there's literally no one around. Safety first.

What - again could be hiking, rock climbing, risky/outdoorsy activities, dates in nature...

Quote:

"Friendship is a sheltering tree" (Cornwall, L., 2015)

"When we focus solely on validation from the outside world, we end up being very easily controlled by circumstance, but when we remain humble and firmly rooted in our ever-present goodness, we can celebrate our accomplishments and learn from our disappointments without letting them be the things that define us" (Wade, C., 2018)

That's it Pile 1, I really enjoyed reading for you. Remember this is a collective reading, so take what resonates only.

If you want to purchase a reading from me check my masterlist or go straight to my listings here. discount code: TUMBLR

---

Pile 2

Hi Pile 2! This is my creative pile <3

Signs:

November, teenager, architecture, museum, fashion lover, gossiping together or telling each other the crispy stuff, someone with a loyal character, someone looking after a garden or wanting to have one - maybe likes flowers.

Being a romantic, someone wants to be in love, someone has Venus in Pisces, someone thinks about love or their crush.

Be careful of trains.

Someone is going through an experience which pushes them to find their inner strength and resolve, which increases their self-confidence.

Venus trine Saturn, Venus in the 8th house.

Hawaii, Japan, Africa/South Africa cities, East China cities, South Korea, your person can be from Argentina

Possible things about you:

Pile 2, I'm getting some of you like gardening and drawing. In particular, you might like bees and are a strong supporter of saving our bees. You might have a green hand. Not even a green thumb, the whole hand lol! Some of you might have had past lives as nature spirits like faes, you might have an affinity with them or have them as spirit guides.

Some of you might know a lot about nature in general or you might even know a lot about indigenous flora and fauna, or specific species of plants. Some of you may have seen orbs of faeries outside...

Possible things about them:

I think the person you're thinking about likes fashion, or for some they might relate to you regarding nature/gardening. They might have fine features or seem delicate and gentle. It feels like looking at ice in their eyes, but it is so gentle. It is reflected in their personality as well. Very kind and calm. Number 33 on the card is jumping out to me, so you might see this number as well.

Ok definitely they are into fashion. For some, this is someone older than you. For others, your person is definitely more mature than their actual age. Like, very very mature and wise. It doesn't feel like it comes from difficult experiences, it feels like they didn't have as much of a difficult upbringing. Maybe they were naturally this way, and good parenting may have helped.

Side note, they could be a bit dreamy.

I don't usually get the past lives card but here it is, so this friend could be from a past life. Or, I'm getting they might remember theirs.

First date together:

They might tell you straight up that they want to go on a date with you. They might text you or ask you face-to-face. You guys have a good connection, very in synch. You two might be very vocal on your date, as in talking a lot and expressing yourself.

Some people in Pile 2 might go karaoke or sing at some point while you have fun together.

Some of you might actually have a unique date where you dress up, put on makeup, get all pretty and fun i.e. cosplay! You might take photos or film your date, you're going to be out there! Ooh lala so fancy! xD

It feels like it's your usual hangout as friends but somehow it's also different, closer and it's getting more realll. I.e. you might get more touchy-touchy this time, they might hold your waist or your hand, or they might kiss your cheek by surprise... Aw this is cute xD

Quotes:

"the time has always been now"

"I will not be a victim"

"you are going to be okay"

"the timing is always right to love someone"

(Wade, C., 2018)

That's it Pile 2, I wish you the best 🤗. Remember this is a collective reading, so take what resonates only.

If you want to purchase a reading from me check my masterlist or go straight to my listings here. discount code: TUMBLR

---

Pile 3

Hi Pile 3! What an interesting and sweet pile.

Signs:

November, strong friendship bond that was made naturally, finding your tribe, realising your own value and worth, sticking with your real friends, be grateful for the loving people and goodness in your life.

Neptune in Taurus, Gemini Rising.

Australia, Sydney/Canberra, Pacific Islands, Samoa, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Russia.

Possible things about you:

You are very shy, secretive, and value personal space and privacy very much.

Some of you like to read physical books.

I'm seeing of you are teenagers, younger girls.

You are a good listener and confident, people always trust you to keep their secrets, and you will not even tell your best friend or your dog a word of it.

You keep many parts of yourself hidden, for example you are secretly very nurturing and creative. You might like little children.

Possible things about them:

I'm seeing yellow and a ball, so I feel like they really like children.

They are also like a big ray of sunlight. They are that person that illuminates the room as soon as they walk in.

They are very honest and open, and perhaps you like that about them.

They are also very warm and compassionate. They bring people in and make sure not to leave out anyone. Never puts themselves above anyone else and aways try to harmonise everyone.

Like you, they dislike discord. You just have a different way to deal with peace/discord and people. But they like your own way of being and they don't want you to change.

Your first date together:

Interestingly enough, I feel like some of you might have your first date with children around, maybe looking after some, i.e. their little cousins or siblings.

Some you might go fishing and/or have a picnic outside.

During this date, they will absolutely love how you don't hide any part of yourself, you're just being yourself and expressing yourself without restriction. You'll come out of your shell because you'll be influence by him, by the children, and you'll be super comfortable overall. You might actually have lots of fun. Scenario example of the date could be that you, them and their little cousins all go fishing, and then you have your picnic nearby; you have fun all day.

I feel like you and your date are seemingly opposite but actually very similar within. You just express yourself differently and process things differently. You might even be a ENFP/INFP or ENFJ/INFJ duo.

Quotes:

"Shepherd-like compassion means considering the benefit of the masses first, so that we place others first and 'I' last". (Yuthok, L. C., 2005)

Aw that's it Pile 3. Thank you for reading. As always, this is a collective reading so take only what resonates and the general ideas with you.

If you want to purchase a reading from me check my masterlist or go straight to my listings here. discount code: TUMBLR

---

Pile 4

Signs:

October, fake friend, chasing after someone's love - love is to be received, not chased after, someone wise and mature, compassionate, someone who likes include everyone and whose motto is "we're all in this together"

Someone here has to let go of someone that does not deserve them.

Someone here could receive a letter from the person they are thinking of in this PAC.

Someone's person for this PAC is a romantic relationship and it could be very passionate.

Mars in Scorpio, Mercury square Neptune, Mercury square Pluto, Jupiter in 10th, Jupiter in 12th

Sudan, South Pacific, NZ, Hawaii, Cuba

Possible things about you:

You could be very emotional and sometimes letting emotions get to you, and it might be hard for you to be more in control. I feel like you guys might sometimes let your emotions get the better of you or affect situations you're in. And then you suffer the consequences. I.e. getting overly angry and saying things you regret later, or getting upset, crying, and not being able to react properly and also regretting later on.

I sense some of you are super generous, but you're so kind and compassionate that some people take advantage of you. I feel like a minority of this group are super kind-hearted and never see the worst in people; you never expect people to lie or have bad intentions - or you could be neurodivergent and just not realise it. I'm feeling upset for you 😭

Actually, if you're neurodivergent, it would make sense why it's hard for you to manage your emotions sometimes.

Some of you could have been having a hard time taking care of yourself and organising things ahead, almost feeling like a ghost or a shell. You're especially lacking self-care and that's been taking a toll on you. I also sense that it's causing you to feel disconnected from yourself. You could be trying to desperately hold on to yourself.

Overall, Pile 4, you're very wise and mature, very compassionate and you have strong values. You do not tolerate lying or deceiving, unfairness and similar unacceptable behaviours.

Some of you like to bring people together, others like things to be peaceful in a social context even if you're not the social butterfly.

Possible things about them:

I'm getting that they are someone really smart and intelligent in that they are very creative. They like to create and build things. They are innovative. However, they are possibly channeling this energy in the wrong place or activity and it's wasted. Their confidence and self-esteem is affected as a result.

They're very optimistic and positive so once they regain their spirit, they will get a breakthrough.

Might have a very messy mind, octopus mind, or hyperactive mind

Head in the clouds type of person, they don't mean to ignore you Pile 4. That's also how they get all their cool ideas and solutions

Some of you may have manifested them

The smoke in the card is calling at me so perhaps someone will understand bc I don't lol

I think they could also be someone who values justice and fairness, as well as respect in general

Your first date together:

Honestly all I'm seeing is you might spend your first at home with this person, or at least most of you will

Super chill, relaxed, comfy. Doesn't look like you'll be doing much or do anything that requires much effort.

Could be something simple like playing video games at home while eating snacks, but it's just you and them in the house.

I think part of the reason is because there's not much else to do? Maybe you live in a boring area for your age range.

They might gift you something speciallll. Maybe a birthday present. Or a handwritten letter, like I mentioned in the signs part at the beginning.

Honestly I'm just seeing this date is something pure, just nice and you guys are super kind and have a great time with each other.

Quotes:

"Love yourself enough to tell the truth." (Wade, C., 2018)

If you want to purchase a reading from me check my masterlist or go straight to my listings here. discount code: TUMBLR

"Often we don't want to act as though we did something beneficial all by ourselves; rather, we feel a need to acknowledge the help of others." (Yuthok, L. C., 2005)

That's it beautiful Pile 4, thanks for reading and I hope you had fun reading this PAC. Let me know your thoughts!

Hi! Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed! I quite enjoyed this Pick-a-Pile. I also tried a new format, so that the post is shorter and hopefully easier to read. Let me know if you prefer the paragraphs though 😂

I might do a Past Life PAC next! I want to do something original, so the format could be different again 👀

Enjoy your date! 💕

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that-ari-blogger · 6 days ago

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Part Of Who I Am (More Than Anything)

A duet is a conversation and a contrast. That’s not me being pretentious, that’s literally what is happening. A duet is two characters communicating with each other and with the audience. Sometimes they agree, the vast majority of the time they don’t, but they are talking to each other and presenting their perspectives.

In a musical, the songs tell a story, and duets are a powerful tool to show changing perspectives.

But, there’s more to a song than just the lyrics, especially in a musical, and when all work in tandem to create meaning, you get something like More Than Anything.

Let me explain.

SPOILERS AHEAD: (Hazbin Hotel, The Wild Robot)

First, some framing. This song is told by a father and a daughter, a king and a princess, a protagonist and… that’s actually rather complicated.

As such, there is a generational theme to this song. It’s two times colliding, the past and the present. But it’s also two sensibilities colliding in a truly brutal way.

Lucifer’s objective throughout this whole musical has been to protect his daughter. He has been utterly awful at it, but he hasn’t wavered from that goal.

Case and point, he believed that he was a bad influence on his daughter, so he stayed away. This was, in my most humble of opinions, a bone numbingly stupid decision. Supporting his daughter by not supporting her.

This then got exacerbated by the drive to redeem sinners. Lucifer saw himself in his daughter and saw only his mistakes. He saw his pain and tried to save her from failure by not letting her taste success. Supporting his daughter by not supporting her.

Notice where the spears and arrows all came from. They were the ones aimed at Lucifer in the previous shot. From his perspective, anyone near him is in danger.

His objective is in the right place, and while I’d like to say that Jeremy Jordon carried him in terms of likeability, I have to give credit to the writers and animators for his incredible characterisation. But the execution of his goal was about as flawed as you can get.

“There are times when I still wonder about you. You are someone I have loved, but never known And you'll never see the reasons I had For keeping my claws away when they were close enough to hurt you.”

In 2015, the Crane Wives released an album called Coyote Stories. Now, I am biased by the fact that I love this band to no end. But if you have spent any time browsing the Animated Music Video space online, you will have come across this album.

Most notably is the album’s twelfth song, and the one I just quoted, Never Love an Anchor.

This is a cover by Førest Fincent. They made another but this one had some art I loved for a thumbnail, so I'm recommending it.

The Crane Wives have complex emotions down to an art, but I want to focus on this song because of how it relates to guilt and fear of connection.

It’s a song trying to justify itself. The narrator has convinced herself that, for whatever reason, she is a negative part of someone’s life, and so she positions herself as the anchor in the titular metaphor. You can’t love something that holds you back.

"On some level I think I always understood that a ship can never really love an anchor. So I did the only thing that I could and severed the rope to set you sailing from my harbour."

But that’s not what anchors do. Anchors hold you steady. They keep you safe in a storm. They hold you in the dock and they let you move around without straying too far into danger. But crucially, they come with you. When you need to go somewhere, you can lift the anchor and take it to wherever you are going next.

The song emphasises it’s point with rigidity that it breaks only twice. Throughout the song, there is a delicate rocking rhythm brought about by the guitar and the backup voices. It is mournful, but cyclical. Nothing happens, it’s safe but motionless.

Even the lyrics find a constant rhythm and repeated tune. Except for two places.

On “never see the reason”, the singing rises in pitch to become a plea before sinking back down, swallowed by the rest of the music that hasn’t changed one bit.

It doesn’t matter her reasons, you’ll never understand them, you don’t need to, the song doesn’t care. Instead, the song wraps around itself to present one thing as real:

“I am selfish, I am broken, I am cruel I am all the things they might have said to you Do you ever think of me and my two hands? And wonder why they never soothed your fevers? And wonder why they never tied your shoes? And wonder why they never held you gently? And wonder why they never had the chance to lose you?”

The entire song contorts around this segment, with the guitar hammering out chords like a bare-knuckled boxing match while the bass and drums desperately try to keep a brave face up, only to falter at the end and join in the assault with those final words.

“And wonder why they never had the chance to lose you.”

This was not about you. This was about the singer. This was her protecting herself. It was a selfish desire that no excuse could possibly remedy.

This was never about you.

There are no more lyrics after this, the music just plays a victory lap to gloat over the lyricist. It drew out her weakness and guilt, put it on display.

I kid you not, my favourite trope in all of media is this shot. The door closes and the camera looks back at a person, who drops their happy demeanor just a second too quickly. We see all that joy before hand, then we see it was an act. I love this trope so much.

The reason I talk about this song instead of the one I’m ostensibly analysing is to point out the power of the music itself. In Never Love an Anchor, the lyrics and the music represent different sides of the same person. Her excuses and her true intentions. What she says, and what she means.

It's also the exact same as Lucifer’s worldview. This was not about Charlie at all. Everything I said before was true, but objectives can be sabotaged, and it was exactly this that messed up Lucifer’s relationship with his daughter.

This was never about Charlie for him.

Speaking of whom, Charlie is relentlessly optimistic. She is the child who wants to push boundaries, and yes, she is going to get hurt, but that’s the point.

In a way, she relates to the Spiderman proverb. “With great power comes great responsibility.” Charlie has access to the power of authority, but also that of the king of hell, and she is using it to protect people from extermination.

Charlie is unconditionally good, and her father is the literal devil.

So, music as a vehicle for storytelling.

Well, this song is split into three parts. Charlie’s, her Dad’s and the finale where they both sing together. There’s a bridge, but we’ll get there in a moment.

We start with a guitar.

This is the pattern. It’s floaty, and draws you forwards, before looping back to itself. It’s stable, and nothing happens.

For the record, take a look at the opening of Never Love an Anchor and see if you notice the similarities.

It’s the movement. They both feel like they are rocking, like a lullaby. They both have the high note to draw you forwards but are kept grounded by the base. And they are both fundamentally static.

It also continues throughout Lucifer’s section of the song until we reach his daughter’s section. Nothing changes in the guitaring of Lucifer’s backing music. There is one slight addition, but we will get there in a moment.

Before that, however, look at Charlie's part of the song.

The difference here is multifaceted. First up, the key signature changes from D flat Majour to B Majour, but second, we have a new instrument that needs to be taken into account.

Now we have a drumkit. It’s a simple rhythm, but this is a simple song, and it repeats along with the rest of the tune.

Lucifer's name means "light bringer. It comes from a roman deity of Venus who's Greek counterpoint was named Phosphoros, meaning the same thing, or Heosphoros, which meant "dawn bringer". Our boy is associated with change, and the beginning of a new day. He is the herald of the closing of night, a man who exists to let you know everything is going to be ok. That's going to come back later on in the show.

Suddenly we have a theme. This song is about Charlie taking what her father tried to do and doing it her own way. It’s fundamentally based off of the same thing, but she has shifted things around and added her own flair.

It’s a reframing, and if you look at it, that’s exactly what this song is about. Charlie has tried to convince Lucifer by showing him that the things he says are false, but this isn’t about that. So, she switches track to showing him his own legacy and how the stuff he believes about himself is wrong.

“So in the end, it's the view I had of you That showed me dreams can be worth fighting for”

No sir. You ain’t a bad influence on me at all. You inspired me to do this. You’re a good person ya dingus.

This is best exemplified by the song’s titular motif.

I haven’t really spoken about the piano much yet because it really hasn’t been a big part of the song up until now. It’s been backing up the guitar and playing the same bass note to make that seem louder. But on its own? Not much.

Until now. Every time Lucifer sings the song’s title, he is echoed by this descending melody that once again repeats itself until the final section, which is notably lower. It sounds like descending a scale. When he sings, it rises, and the piano brings him back down to start again.

That final note drop however gives an air of resolution to the piece. It’s his final decision, yes, but it’s not one he has willingly taken. The key signature reenforces how this isn’t something he is happy about, but he feels it’s necessary.

Compare that to when Charlie sings the same section.

It’s the same. It’s shifted down a bit like the rest of the song, but it’s the exact same melody.

So… what gives?

For starters, this is the same thing as before, with Charlie trying to persuade her father that she is doing the same thing as him. She is inspired by him, but giving it her own taste. Most notably, the key signature once again makes this seem hopeful.

Although, there is one more element here that is giving some motion to Charlie’s part of the song, and that is the rest of the piano part.

Is Charlie builds up to the titular motif, the piano starts to build with her, gaining power and emotion as it goes until she says those words and…

It’s the same as her father. That power is held for a moment as the song stores it while Charlie is just plain and open to her father.

“I need to save my people more than anything.”

She’s made the point that she is inspired by her father, but this is what is actually important right now. Heaven is an actual problem worth more than Lucifer’s self-loathing.

Ok, I have questions about Alastor. This shot frames him as reassuring and supportive, and he is. He's a villain, but he is also genuinely supportive. He is the opposite of Lucifer. Where the king of Hell's intentions were good but his actions were terrible, Alastor's intentions seem malevolent, but as far as I can tell, his actions towards Charlie have been, for the most part, positive.

But at the same time, she’s still making that point. This is exactly Lucifer’s motivation at the start. He wanted to make people’s lives better and that’s exactly what Charlie is doing in a very real sense. It is also portraying her as the type of royalty that acts how parents should act. She needs to save her people. It’s not a want, it’s a need, and her father should pick up on that.

“Your life is not negotiable.”

The Wild Robot is a film about parenthood. It is a film about being more than you thought you could be. It is a film about neurodivergence. And it is a movie about how fate and purpose are utter bollocks. This film will mess you up, I would highly recommend it.

But this isn’t a review blog, and instead I would like to point out how it uses programming and the heart as metaphors in conflict.

A key theme in the film is decision making and the causes behind it. With “programming” taking the form of an entirely logical type of rationality.

Roz extends that metaphor towards others as a way of understanding how that part of the brain works, so this doesn’t just apply to robots.

Incidentally, Roz and Brightbill are programmed differently to everyone else. That is the neurodivergent coding.

On the other hand, the idea of the heart is so much more complex and harder to pin down.

“Brightbill was never supposed to get this far. You know that. It is more dangerous for him than anyone else. But he has a chance if, where his wings end, his heart can pay the balance.” “His heart is 48 millimeters.” “From what I’ve seen, Brightbill’s heart is much bigger on the inside than the outside.”

This makes no sense at all, and I love it. The heart is a source of strength, its willpower, but it’s also not framed as something that anyone has control over.

The heart is emotion, it’s fundamentally irrational. Brightbill was not supposed to get this far, but he did. A robot cannot be wild, but Roz is.

The heart is hope, its tenacity, it’s fear and bravery, it’s love and affection. It is everything other than programming.

The final conflict of the film that comes very close to Wall-E and then realises and takes another direction is very clearly a conflict between the Heart and Programming, and the heart wins.

“To survive, we must become more than we were programmed to be.”

This is Charlie’s entire deal in Hazbin Hotel. At face value, she is making the sinners into more than everyone thought they could be. But on further inspection, all of Charlie’s motivation comes from the heart.

I have already talked about her hope in a previous post, but this song drives home how subconscious it is for her. She wants to save Hell, but this is more of a need for her. The sinners’ lives are not negotiable, that’s what she is trying to get her father to see.

Remember earlier, though, when I said that the energy from the piano is stored? Well, here is where that comes crashing back.

That holding out makes the audience wait for a resolution to the rise, and if we combine that with a powerful set of chords, we end up with a real sense of catharsis and triumph.

We have movement, and a pattern that changes. Only slightly, but we’re finding something new for the first time since the drum was added.

Specifically, that movement is upwards. It’s about that hope that Charlie has inspired in her father.

“All that I’m hoping. Now that my eyes are open. Is that we can start again, and not be pulled apart again.”

The final section of the song doesn’t introduce any new elements at all. It’s the first section but with both Lucifer and Charlie singing. The two have started again, but this time they are singing together, and on the same page.

The song is a conversation between two different ideas. But the music itself goes out of its way to show just how similar those ideas are. One was built on optimism that failed, the other on hope that cannot be crushed.

Final Thoughts

I’m back. I had a break for a month and missed Halloween, something I am more than a little miffed about. But there’s nothing like some Jeremy Jordan to bring me back. Jeremy Jordan can do no wrong.

Do I have a crush on this man? No. No I do not. Why do you ask?

In all seriousness, I really like this song and I’m glad it’s one of the most popular in the series. It is, however, really fast paced.

This song would have served the story better if it had an entire episode to back it up, rather than sharing that time with Hell’s Greatest Dad. Both songs are fun, but the difference between them in such little time is jarring.

That is, however, a problem with the management cutting the series to eight episodes and not with the crew. But it is a problem that carries over to the next episode and the next few songs.

I have thoughts on Welcome To Heaven. Lots of thoughts.

Stick around if that interests you.

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#rants #literary analysis #what's so special about...?#literature analysis #character analysis #lucifer morningstar #hazbin hotel lucifer #hazbin lucifer #lucifer #hazbin hotel charlie #charlie morningstar #the crane wives #crane wives #never love an anchor #the wild robot #the wild robot movie #wild robot #roz the wild robot #rozzum unit 7134

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hotchocolatefanfics · 2 months ago

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Okay, here's my first question. I always wondered if Ceasar knew that Will played a part in Koba's suffering. He said that Koba only learned hate from humans but how did/would he react knowing that ? I personally don't think Caesar really understood the role Will had in the lab. To me, he just thought that Will knew his mother and that she died there. But I don't think he realised that she was there (and died in a way too) only because of Will.

Caesar also always saw Will as someone extremely caring, someone who will take him to the vet for a little wound and someone who gave him this big room full of toys too.

So what would be his reaction learning that Will saw Koba was smart, saw him being in that (very) little cage and just... Put him in experiment ?

That's probably the main reason I can't stand Will by the way. 😅

I’m not sure if this applies but here’s my thoughts on Will:

Will is kind of a morally grey character as he does experiment on apes (which, by action alone. could mean he medically tortured apes and/or caused their deaths when said experiments failed-basically, the kind of human where fear and hate is completely valid especially from apes like Koba) but he does it for (somewhat) good reasons-he wants to cure Alzheimer’s to save his father (and other people of course but mainly Charles-which I can’t even fault him for because I kind of relate to it!).

Another thing is, medical testing on animals before making new medicines available is a standard practice in real-life. In that way, Will can be considered a villain of circumstance but he is definitely a hypocrite in what he does after adopting Caesar and during his childhood.

Now to your question!:

It is possible Caesar had questions about why Will adopted him at all but he might not have ever had time (or allowed himself) to think about it. The implication of his mother dying there and him later freeing Koba (and other apes) from Gen Sys while Will continued to work there alone may have been enough to give Caesar a pretty good idea of how his mother died and what Will did in that lab and he just didn’t want to go there.

That said, I could see a scenario where (instead of challenging him) Koba questions Will’s intentions when he adopted Caesar and when Caesar tries to defend him, Koba could have said something among the lines of: “Don’t you see he used you like he used other apes?” leading to Caesar to seriously reflect on his childhood and life with humans.

OR! Caesar randomly finds Will’s other recordings (like the one he was making in Rise when Caesar was a child). Even though Will’s research involving Caesar was documenting a his cognitive growth and development and relating it to his ALZ112/13 drugs, his goal of using said drug to cure Alzheimer’s could (arguably) be considered exploitative-by that I mean, using Caesar as proof that his drug worked, and Caesar is forced to rethink Will’s motives when he adopted and raised him.

Quote Caroline here: “What about Caesar? Where does he fit in?”

This is why I call Will a hypocrite and I think (in either scenario), Caesar will recognize this and be horrified and sickened by it. The fact that Will continued to work at Gen Sys and experiment on apes in cages despite adopting Caesar raising him as his son. Like, how could Will call himself his father when Caesar could’ve easily been killed at Gen Sys or kept in a cage there just like the other apes Will experiments on?

To be clear, I do believe Will loved Caesar. Although he is never seen or heard from since Rise, I can see him trying to protect Caesar even though he chose to live in the forest with the apes he freed during the events of Firestorm: making false reports to keep people from the Muir Woods, telling anyone who would listen that the apes weren’t the cause of the virus, maybe insisting the apes weren’t dangerous and just wanted to be left alone, and so on. These actions likely leading to his death (if he wasn’t killed due to violence, he may have died from the virus).

The problem is, even if Will did try to protect Caesar up until his death, Caesar had no way of knowing it (unless someone told him about it) and if he ever found out how he treated Koba and other apes in the lab in contrast to how he treated him, Caesar would question everything about his childhood and be left wondering if Will ever truly loved him or if it was all a lie.

TLDR, Will is a hypocrite. If Caesar knew how he treated Koba in the labs, it would disturb him but he may still consider Will a ‘good man’ unless he ever saw how deep his hypocrisy went. Will may be remembered as another abusive human to Koba, but Caesar’s perception of him will change from his father figure to a man who lied to him from the very beginning (and the absolute worst part is Caesar may never know if Will truly loved him or get closure for it).

#planet of the apes #planetoftheapes #dawn of the planet of the apes #reboot pota #koba #caesar #pota #rise of the planet of the apes #firestorm #will rodman #Pota Ask #This is a very angsty and sad thought actually #Poor Caesar #And poor Koba

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cosmicpuzzle · 6 months ago

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Jupiter🌸Transit in Sidereal Taurus

May 1, 2024 - May 14, 2025

Above interpretation must be applied after looking at Jupiter's Ashtakvarga score, placement of Venus in your chart and running Vimshottari Dasha/Bhukti.

If you are following tropical, then apply the results as to where Gemini is falling in your chart. So, if you are Aries rising, check for Jupiter in 3rd house results under Pisces rising.

For Transit and Other Readings DM

#astrology #astrology observations #zodiac #zodiac signs #astro community #astro observations #astro notes #vedic astrology #vedic astro notes #astrology community #jupiter in astrology #jupiter #jupiter in libra #uranus #saturn #planets #jupiter in scorpio

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