#she is ranked as the number three female

[oofthwoods]

DEBUTANTE! ── ˙ ̟ the echo !!

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 :: derived from the french language, meaning “a first performance or showing.” the original word debutante referred to a new actress making her first appearance on the stage. or, the one where dreams come true in bahrain.

𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 :: just a little bonus, but i picture jasper as kingsley ben-adir (secret invasion, barbie). if this is the first work of mine you're checking, reader is a driver for porsche and the daughter of rubens barrichello!

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 :: 5.5k

NO ONE ASKED HER A QUESTION IN FORTY-FIVE MINUTES.

Naturally, there were many questions about her. How did the drivers feel about a woman joining their ranks on the track? What were their thoughts on the growing number of female fans who were tuning in to watch Formula One, possibly due to the popularity of the documentary Drive to Survive or the historic moment of having the first female driver in decades?

She wasn't sure if this was better or worse than she anticipated. She vividly recalled her first press conference last year when she was still driving for ART Grand Prix. They asked her ridiculous questions like whether it was professional to wear skirts in the paddock (yes), who the most attractive driver was (herself, obviously), and even if her father was disappointed that she reached a milestone in motorsport before her older brother (Dudu, who raced with their father in Brazilian Stock Series. And no, he had already made it clear he was proud of both of them).

In the first few minutes, she assumed it was because she was a rookie. But then Oscar Piastri answered a fair share of questions while looking at her as if he didn't understand why people were treating her like an invisible presence. She would shrug her shoulders and the australian reluctantly answered reporters' inquiries.

She was sandwiched between Lewis, who seemed impatient as time dragged on without any questions directed towards her, and Max Verstappen, who quickly responded to his own questions and showed his eagerness to leave. Two rookies, two world champions, but only three drivers deemed important enough for interviews.

The world-renowned champion's frustration peaked when asked about his recent vacation activities.

"Is this a joke?" he asked. "Do you really want to know what I did on my vacation more than asking her interesting questions?" He gestured towards the girl beside him.

"It's alright, Lewis-"

"With all due respect, Hamilton," one of the reporters interjected with a sarcastic smirk on his face. "I can't imagine what kind of questions we could ask Miss Barrichello besides her makeup preferences or favorite clothing brands."

"How about the fact that I won four championships in a row as a rookie?" She responded with a fake sweet smile plastered on her face. She could accept to be ignored, but she refused to be underestimated. "Or maybe any questions about Porsche joining the grid this year?"

"I don't think winning a championship by such a small margin of points is anything to be praised." The reporter retorted. His expression implied that he wasn't expecting the young girl to comfort him, but he couldn't hold back.

"Really? So we should just say that the battle between Max and Lewis in 2021-" she indicated towards them "-was nothing worth celebrating? Such an uneventful year for this sport."

Verstappen leaned forward, observing the interaction between the girl and the reporter. This press conference just became much more interesting.

"Strong words from someone who has never stepped foot in a race car." He chimed in, agreeing with the youngest person in the room.

"That's not what I meant." The reporter stuttered, noticing the security chief slowly approaching him. The middle-aged man was one of many security guards in the paddock that had known the driver since she was a child, and she knew that one look in his direction and the man would be escorted out.

"Of course, of course," she replied sarcastically. "You mean it's not worth celebrating because a woman won, right? Please, if you're going to insult me, at least try to make it believable. Or better yet, don't speak if you have no idea what you're talking about"

The tension in the room was palpable as another reporter spoke up, "But Y/n, let's be real here. The races were mostly dominated by your teammate, Frederik Vesti or runner-up Felipe Drugovich. Your victories were purely tactical."

She leaned back in her chair with a smug smile playing on her lips. "Is that so? Yet somehow I managed to come out on top every time."

Verstappen nodded in agreement, "She's definitely got a point there."

The press room fell into an intense quiet, causing y/n to regret her decision to do this interview. She knew that this type of situation would become more common as her fame grew in the coming year. She also understood that Lewis would be praised for defending her while she would face criticism for simply standing up for herself against a man who was only doing his job.

The silence was broken by a female journalist in the back, hidden behind the larger, more muscular bodies of her male counterparts. But y/n could never mistake that blonde hair for anyone else. Mariana Becker was a veteran sports reporter, an icon in Brazilian journalism, and a role model for any woman breaking into a male-dominated field.

“I wish I had raised my hand earlier; I didn't realize it would take so long for someone to ask you a question,” she chuckled. "I don't think anyone will object to two questions, right?" The woman looked around the room, and the other interviewers avoided making eye contact with the veteran.

"So, y/n, you've been asked countless times about being a woman in a male-dominated world and the difficulties you face because of it. However, with such a successful junior career full of records, I honestly don't see the need to ask that question again. Instead, I'd like to focus on the positive aspects. What does it mean to you knowing that a new generation of girls can look up to you as an inspiration and be motivated to pursue their dreams?"

The girl's face lit up with gratefulness for the refreshing question and relief that she wouldn't have to answer the same question she had already answered countless times before.

"It's incredibly inspiring for me as well. Growing up in this environment, surrounded by racing cars, I was also discouraged from pursuing this career. But I can only imagine how much more difficult it must have been for young girls who were ridiculed just for dreaming of driving a go-kart. To know that I can play a role in encouraging them to follow their dreams without fear of judgment is truly exciting."

Lewis subtly raised his thumb in a gesture of approval while she chuckled.

"Excellent," said the reporter with a smile. "One more question, how did your father react when you told him you were entering the world of Formula 1?"

"He cried," y/n answered quickly, eliciting laughter from those in the room. "He's quite the crybaby, so I waited until we were together to share the news of my contract with Porsche. At first, he cried tears of joy, then fear, and eventually a mixture of both. That's when he realized that all three of his children were following in his footsteps as race car drivers and that he'd have to pay for everything he put his own father through."

The reporter chuckled along with y/n. Mari had interviewed Rubens back when he was in Formula 1, and remembers clearly how emotional the man always was. The conference went on like this for another half an hour, with y/n answering everything from her expectations for the upcoming season to her favorite tracks and how she dealt with pressure.

The balaclava, damp with sweat, clung tightly to her face as she stood at attention. Her race engineer, a tall black man with a buzzcut and a calm expression, waited patiently beside her. She smoothed down the folds of her crisp, red-and-black uniform, adorned with her country's flag on the sleeve.

"How was the conference?" Jasper asked.

The girl muttered something that Jasper couldn't make out. "That bad? Did they bring up the issue with wearing skirts in the paddock again?"

"They didn't ask anything at first, but then one guy made a comment about me winning the championship by a narrow margin of points not being worthy of praise. Except it wasn't even a narrow margin; Felipe finished about sixty points behind me., and Fred was more than a hundred points behind, despite driving the same car as me" She complained.

Jasper winced. The relationship between the engineer and the driver had been amazing during pre-season tests with the man acting like a friend and a mentor, and they had found a groove to envy.

"You'll need to come up with a strategy for dealing with these reporters," Jasper advised.

"I already have one."

"Really?" He glanced at the clock on the track and realized that time was running out. He handed her the helmet with both hands. She grinned and smoothly put it on. The colors of her country's flag stood out against the black and red of the car, making it impossible to miss.

"Yes. WWJD."

"What does that stand for?"

"What Would Jenson Do. Originally, it was "What Would Kimi Do," but I quickly realized that Kimi would just tell everyone to go fuck themselves, and I can't exactly do that yet."

The garage was a whirlwind of activity, with mechanics frantically making last-minute adjustments and drivers strapping into their cars. The scent of gasoline and burning rubber wafted through the air, adding to the excitement and tension that crackled in the atmosphere.

Everywhere she looked, there were people moving with purpose, each one focused on their individual tasks to ensure a successful first qualifying session of the season. The roar of engines being revved and tools clanging against metal filled her ears, drowning out any other sound. It was a chaotic but exhilarating scene as the countdown to the race began.

"Why not "What Would Rubens Do"?" He asked.

She chuckled. "My dad is too nice. In his only fight in his entire Formula 1 career, he told the mechanic who wanted to fight him to get someone else because he was too small."

Jasper's phone buzzed insistently, jolting him out of his thoughts and reminding him that only five minutes remained until the start of Q1. After the last few adjustments from the mechanics, y/n managed to squeeze into her car and secure her seatbelt. Her heart pounded so hard it felt like it might leap out of her chest, a mix of nerves and excitement coursing through her body as she prepared for the intense competition ahead.

Jasper rested his arms on the halo. "Don't forget what we discussed earlier," he reminded her. "In Q1, six cars will be eliminated, followed by six more in Q2. This means that the top ten fastest cars will battle for pole position. Based on our data, we are definitely faster than Alpha Tauri, Alfa Romeo, Haas, and Williams - a total of eight cars."

The girl nodded eagerly, her eyes glued to the man as he continued. "At the very least, you and Mick should be able to make it into Q2. We're not sure how Alpine and McLaren are doing, but they don't seem to be as quick as us." He gestured towards the track outside where the other teams were busy with their own preparations. "But we can't let our guard down. Anything can happen during quali." The tension was palpable as they both waited for their turn on the track.

"So, we're trying for Q3 then?" She inquired, her voice filled with a mix of curiosity and determination.

"Officially, I was instructed to tell you that Q2 is sufficient, but we can't know our full potential until we're on the track."

A sly grin appeared on her face, hidden behind her helmet. She pushed down her visor, ready to give it her all. "Well, I say let's aim for Q3 then. I want to see what this car can really do."

A gentle laugh escaped Jasper's lips, his eyes shining with admiration. "That's the spirit, echo. Show them what you're made of."

With one final nod, y/n shifted her focus, tuning out the noise and commotion of the pit lane. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, using all her senses to ground herself in the present moment. The smell of burning rubber and gasoline filled her nostrils as she visualized the track ahead. The deafening roar of the engine drowned out all other sounds, sending shivers down her spine.

Jasper's voice crackled through the radio in her ear, sounding like a distant robot. "Radio check," he said, his tone serious and business-like.

She adjusted gloves as she responded, "I hear you loud and clear." Her hands were tightly gripped on the steering wheel as she followed Logan Sargeant's Williams out of the pit lane. It was a tight squeeze with the Porsche garage being the newest addition to the grid. She bit her lip, hoping that their placement in the pit lane wouldn't cause any trouble in the future.

"Great. Warm up your tires and then do a flying lap. We want to get a better idea of our potential and avoid any possible disruptions from a Red Flag," Jasper instructed.

"Roger that," she replied, trying to keep her breathing steady as cars started to move around her. She prayed that the onboard camera wouldn't catch her trembling hands as she prepared for her first real lap on the track.

The engine roared to life as she pressed down on the accelerator, gripping the steering wheel with determination. The car surged forward, its tires screeching against the asphalt, leaving a trail of smoke behind. Adrenaline coursed through her veins, heightening her senses as she focused on the task at hand.

The wind whipped through, carrying with it a symphony of sounds—engines revving, tires squealing, and the distant cheers of the crowd. Her heart pounded in sync with the rhythm of the track, each beat pulsating through her chest.

As the cars whizzed by, she made a conscious effort to stay out of their way while completing her out lap. It was her first Grand Prix, and she wasn't about to receive an impeding penalty. She could feel the engine roaring to life and her car responding with precision, its tires getting ready to set a time that would hopefully secure her from elimination in the initial round.

Jasper's voice crackled through the radio once again. "Alright, you're good to go. Try your best," he encouraged, his voice filled with unwavering support.

"Copy." She smirked.

The pre-tests and free practice had prepared her for what was to come, but nothing could have truly prepared her for the exhilaration of sitting behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car. The engine purred like a fierce beast, ready to unleash its power at any moment. The sleek body of the car hugged the track, cutting through the air with precision and grace.

As she approached the first turn, she braked hard, shifting her weight to navigate the corner with precision. The G-forces pressed against her body, threatening to tear her away from reality. But she held firm, refusing to let anything distract her from the objective ahead.

She feathered the throttle, feeling the car respond to her slightest movements. The tires gripped the track, providing a sense of stability as she accelerated out of the turn, leaving her the other car trailing behind. Y/n's focus was unwavering, her eyes fixated on the next set of corners, mentally calculating her approach.

The flying lap was over in an instant, and the sound of the cheering crowd filled her ears as she crossed the finish line and set her initial time.

"Way to go, girl!" Jasper's voice crackled through the radio. "You've got P8, I repeat, P8. We're safely into Q2, but stay on track just in case. Prepare for another quick lap."

"How did Mick do?" she asked eagerly.

"P10, 0.78 seconds behind you," Jasper's voice was filled with pride as he responded. Despite his efforts to maintain professionalism, they were both rookies in the Formula 1 world, even if in different roles. "I got a great feeling about us, Barrichello. This could be the beginning of something legendary."

The minutes seemed to stretch into hours as she waited for the race to begin and she started to feel claustrophobic inside her cramped driver's room.

Finally, unable to bear the suffocating atmosphere any longer, she stepped outside into the bustling garage. The sight of her team, clad in matching uniforms and working tirelessly on their cars, brought a small smile to her face. As she made her way through the maze of mechanics and equipment, she was greeted with reassuring smiles and words of encouragement.

This was not just her first race, but also the team's inaugural race. In a way, they were all rookies, feeling the pressure and nerves just as she was.

Standing outside, it was clear that several eyes were on her. Some, like the veteran Ferrari mechanics who had known her since she was a little girl, flashed comforting smiles and gave her thumbs up, wishing her the best of luck. Others raised their eyebrows with skepticism, as if they believed her presence on the grid was some sort of elaborate prank that hadn't been revealed yet.

Amidst a sea of red and black uniforms, the bright green outfit of the two-time world champion stood out prominently. Fernando paid no mind to the curious glances from his mechanics as he made his way confidently towards the girl.

"You're not allowed in here, Alonso." She teased, playfully crossing her arms in a gesture that made her seem much older than she was.

"Is that how it is now? You qualify in the Top 10 in your first race and all of a sudden I'm just Alonso, not Nando?" He responded with a chuckle. Clutching his heart dramatically, he leaned back as if struck by sudden agony. "What happened to all our pizza days? They meant nothing to you?"

The character she was playing no longer felt right to her, and the words she spoke didn't align with the expression on her face. She fought to suppress a smile as she continued, "That person you knew, Alonso? She is gone now."

As the man approached, she couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity wash over her. His dark hair and intense brown eyes were etched into her memory, but it was his infectious smile that brought back a flood of childhood memories.

Fernando rested his hands on her shoulders and held onto his helmet, which puzzled her. With only a few minutes left before the race began, he could have easily stored it in his own garage rather than carrying it around. But she pushed those thoughts aside as his gaze softened and he spoke.

"You were the size of a flea when I met you," he said with a chuckle. She smiled at the memory of their first encounter. She had been just six years old at the time, tagging along with her father to one of his races. She remembered being mesmerized by the speed and energy of the cars on the track, but also feeling a little intimidated by the loud noises and bustling crowds.

But then she saw him – Alonso – standing tall and proud in his racesuit. He had noticed her watching him from behind the fence and had flashed her a tight smile. Somehow, from that one interaction, she had become a fan. From then on, whenever she visited the track with her father, she would always seek out Fernando.

Initially, the Spaniard couldn't comprehend why the young girl found him so intriguing. He knew he was talented and quick on the race track, but children were not his forte. Alonso would often try to distance himself from the girl, offering only friendly waves and smiles. However, when she presented him with a drawing of himself on the podium with a trophy (which he still keeps today), everything changed.

"You used to avoid me like the plague," she recalled.

"That's not entirely true," Fernando denied, but quickly changed his tune when the girl raised an eyebrow. "Okay, maybe I wasn't too fond of being followed around by a little girl. Can you blame me? If anything happened to you, I would have to deal with your father, Michael, Kimi, and all the mechanics that you had wrapped around your finger."

He became somewhat of figure between an older brother and a father figure to her, always ready with words of encouragement and advice.

Now here they were, both grown up and about to race against each other for the very first time.

"I can't believe we're finally racing against each other," she said with a mixture of excitement and nerves.

"It's about time," Fernando replied with a smirk. "I've been waiting for this moment since you beat me in go-karts."

A smile tugged at her lips as she recalled the moment. During one of his trips with her family to cheer her on during her junior career, they decided to have some fun and race go-karts. She had managed to beat him by mere thousandths of a second, and she made sure to remind him of it constantly afterwards.

"What's on the agenda for today, Mija?" He asked, looking around at the girl's garage.

"Hah, like I would share that with you. I love you, Nando, but now we're competitors." She narrowed her eyes playfully. "You're just trying to take advantage because we're close."

"You got me." He chuckled, knowing it wasn't entirely true.

She sighed and crossed her arms with a hesitant expression. "Rule number one is to not crash into Mick. Number two is to avoid crashing into anyone else. Our team isn't expecting a stellar performance, so if we can maintain our starting positions, both cars will score points. That's our main goal."

"Oh, come on. Don't you want to try overtaking someone?" he prodded.

Y/N laughed. "Why? You want to see me in your rearview mirror?"

"Of course I do," he admitted. "Competing for a win with you would be incredible."

He pushed his helmet towards the girl, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Confused, she tilted her head in question. “I appreciate the gift, but I think you’ll need it today.”

Fernando laughed, memories flooding back to him. “Remember when your dad retired and you started coming to races with me?”

The memories flooded back, of her father's days in the high-stakes world of Formula 1. Though he had since retired, Fernando still managed to convince Rubens to allow her to travel with him to races closer to her home, and sometimes even to the grand prix in his homeland.

She quickly caught on to his request and playfully darted away from him before snagging the helmet. It had become a tradition since she was ten years old, and Fernando had unofficially taken on the role of her godfather. She used to do this same routine with her own father, so it felt natural to continue with the spaniard. He stood there, slightly perplexed, wondering if he had said or done something wrong. But just moments later, the young girl returned with her own helmet in hand.

"Wouldn't it be fair for you to do the same for me this time?" she asked playfully.

The two exchanged helmets and planted a kiss on the part of the helmet that would soon cover each other's foreheads.

"Stay safe, Nando"

"You too. Give us hell"

"It's an easy overtake for Barrichello in the Porsche, and she takes the position from Lance Stroll in the Aston Martin!" David Croft's voice rings across the circuit, and the crowd roars, the flags from her country and Germany flying around.

"Great job!" The voice of her race engineer appears in her ear, breaking through her intense concentration. "Russell is 1.2 ahead, close the gap to be able to use DRS when it is enabled."

"Copy" she nods, instinctively, her eyes never leaving the track ahead. She knows what she needs to do, and she pushes her car to its limits, weaving through the curves and straights with precision and skill.

As she closes the gap between her and the british driver, she can feel the adrenaline pumping through her veins. She's in her element, in the midst of the intense competition that she lives for.

"0.7. Go for it, elbows out" Jasper said again.

The cheers of the pit crew resounded in her ears as she used the extra boost to overtake the Mercedes. It was a challenge to defend against George's attempts at whiplash and reclaim her position, but once they were off the main straight, she managed to create a considerable gap between them.

The rest of the race flew by in a blur. The girl lost track of her position, constantly overtaking some cars only to be overtaken shortly after. However, Jasper's encouraging words kept her going.

Jasper's voice crackled through the radio as she approached the final stretch of the race. "Virtual safety car, slow down," he instructed.

She quickly checked her rearview mirror, looking for her teammate. "Is it ours?" she asked.

"No, it's Leclerc in the Ferrari," Jasper replied, "which puts us in fifth place."

She could see Hamilton was more than five seconds behind, and the yellow flag meant that Alonso was slowing down ahead of her.

"As soon as the VSC is lifted, you'll have a clear shot to overtake," Jasper added.

Who would have thought that she would be right on Fernando's heels after all?

After a few laps of caution due to the previous incident, the green flags were waved and she wasted no time in accelerating towards the Aston Martin driven by the Spaniard. She steadily closed the gap between them until she was right behind him. However, just as she was about to make a move to pass him, he outmaneuvered Carlos Sainz's Ferrari.

In a swift and calculated maneuver, she positioned her car on the inside of Sainz, who seemed too focused on reclaiming his position to check his mirrors. Taking advantage of his momentary lapse of attention, she quickly overtook him.

Jasper's voice was filled with excitement as he shouted, "That's it, echo! What a fantastic move!" She could almost hear the smile in his tone. "Alonso is already ten seconds ahead, so concentrate on defending now."

The final laps seemed like a blur, the girl steadily increasing the gap between her and the Ferrari with each lap.

"It's a flawless performance from Porsche, with both cars scoring points on this historic day. Mick Schumacher equals his best career finish with an incredible P6, and Y/N Barrichello takes fourth place, becoming the first woman to score in a Formula 1 race since Lella Lombardi and achieving the highest position for a woman in history!"

The sound of the bustling cheers from the Porsche garage fills her ears as she struggled to park the car with trembling hands. “Unbelievable! P4, y/n, P4! We scored 21 points and Mick got the fastest lap. What a start,” Jasper exclaims over the radio.

She stepped out of the car on shaky legs and is immediately greeted by Carlos, who had parked his car behind hers. “Where did you come from?” he asked with a chuckle. “I was trying to overtake Fernando, and suddenly you were right beside me.”

She took off her helmet and balaclava, her hair damp with sweat and sticking to her forehead and neck. She culdn't help but laugh. "Next time, check your mirrors," She teases her good-naturedly.

A hand rested on her shoulder, and she was suddenly enveloped in a warm embrace. The sweat that coated both of them didn't matter, nor did the fact that she still needed to weigh herself. She squeezed Mick even tighter and they both seemed too overjoyed to let go.

He took a step back but kept his arms around her. "Fourth place in your first race! I told you not to worry," the German exclaimed proudly.

"And look who's talking with the fastest lap!" She laughed in agreement. "We did it, Mick. We fucking did it."

A bottle of water suddenly appeared in her line of sight, and she turned to thank the person who handed it to her. To her surprise, it was Lewis with a smile on his face.

"If you had just overtaken one more person, you would have joined the club," he joked, pointing to Kevin Magnussem, who appeared to be deep in conversation with his teammate. "It was quite a race for the two of you."

"Honestly, I wasn't expecting to end up anywhere higher than where I started, so P4 is already a great achievement," she replied with a laugh as she took the cold bottle from him. The girl then turned to Lewis again and asked about his own race.

"P7. Mick managed to pass me on the last lap," he responded, glancing over at the young driver who chuckled in response.

The adrenaline was still pumping through her veins as y/n made her way to the weighing machines. She couldn't believe it, a P4 finish on her debut race. It seemed like a dream come true.

She stepped onto the scales, trying to calm her racing heart. The number flashed on the screen, and she let out a sigh of relief. "Phew, just made it," she muttered to herself.

Grabbing a towel to wipe off the sweat from her face, she quickly discarded her race suit at her hips, and made her way to her garage in her white fireproofs.

To an outsider, it might have seemed like the team had just won a world championship, not a P6 and P4. People were clapping her on the back and embracing Mick, and she struggled to decipher the various voices exclaiming with joy.

Jasper appeared in front of her with a bottle of champagne in hand. "Congratulations y/n, you did amazing out there!" he exclaimed before popping open the bottle and spraying champagne everywhere.

She laughed as some of the bubbly liquid hit her skin. "Thanks Jasper! I couldn't have done it without your perfect strategy. Great call with the tyres"

He grinned at her before turning serious. "But seriously y/n, you did a great job out there. We're all so proud of you." The rest of the team joined them in cheers and congratulations.

Before they could continue their conversation, Adrian, the team principle, arrived at their garage looking ecstatic. "Great job everyone! A double-points finish for our debut race, this is just the beginning." He raised his glass of champagne before taking a sip.

Y/n looked around and couldn't help but feel proud of her team. They had come a long way since their first tests together. And now here they were, competing in one of the most prestigious racing championships in the world.

Adrian turned to her with a smile. "Y/n, I must say you exceeded all expectations today. You have proven yourself as a valuable addition to our team." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Keep up the good work."

She couldn't help but blush at his words and nod gratefully. This was everything she had ever dreamed of - to be part of a successful racing team and make her mark in the sport.

As the celebrations continued, y/n couldn't help but think about how far she had come. From fighting for sponsorships to competing against some of the best drivers in the world, it felt like a dream come true.

But amidst all the excitement and joy, there was still one thing weighing on her mind - her family. She missed them terribly and wished they could be here to witness her success.

Just then, her phone buzzed.

"Muito orgulhoso de você filhota. Eu sabia que você ia arrasar! Me liga quando acabar tudo aí" — PAPAI. (so so proud of you, baby. i knew you would rock it! call me once you're done with everything there.)

Soon after, her older brother's name appeard on her phone as well. A quick congrats was followed by a video. Tapping on it, she couldn't contain the tears as she watched her father by the TV, holding tightly their flag and exploding in joy as the checkered flag was waved and his daughter finished in fourth.

He erupted with happiness, leaping and embracing her siblings and close friends who had gathered to witness her debut. He would excitedly point towards the television, shouting with pride, "There she is! My little girl!"

A big smile crept onto her face as she quickly replied back with an update on how things were, and a promise to video call her family as soon as she was cleared from the media.

"Time for the boring stuff now. Ready for the interviews?" Mick pulled her out of her thoughts. He had his phone on his hand, and she imagined he was also communicating with his family. "I can go first, if you want."

She took a deep breath, and smiled. "It's okay, i'll go. There's nothing they can say that could ruin my day. Not anymore."

taglist (tell me if you want to be added or removed <3) :: @studioreader, @fanficweasley, @stinkyjax, @namgification, @judespoision, @cha-hot, @disneyprincemuke, @itsjustkhaos, @trouble-sistar, @ihateyougunthersteiner, @treehouse-mouse, @cherry-piee, @fangirl125reader, @cassie0sstuff

[vatiiagames]

DEMO || FORUM || CONTENT WARNING

Vessel of Harkahn is an upcoming 18+ fantasy interactive novel that takes inspiration from the Dragon Age series, TTRPGs, A Song of Ice and Fire, as well as several other pieces of media.

⚡️ The Short Demo is complete! (As of 08/08/24)

⚡️ The Forum and Content Warning pages are a WIP! (As of 06/29/24)

When the Grand Duke of Le Versare is assassinated, his surviving children are left to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives.

With hardly any time to mourn their father, the Aurelios twins are approached by a mage who has suspicion to believe the assassination is tied to several events across the continent.

The mage also believes demonic influence in involved.

Many months after the assassination, Carlise Aurelios and Varre Delatore have discovered the resurgence of the demon Harkahn. The demon feasts on hatred and chaos but is much weaker than his first appearance centuries ago.

Harkahn now requires a vessel to survive in the mortal plane. He has yet to become strong enough to shed his vessel and exist in his demonic form.

You are his chosen vessel. Or, at least, you were.

After exorcising the demon from you, Carlise and Varre recruit you into the Band of Althor to aid their cause of defeating Harkahn. Seeing as you were his vessel, you have priceless intel on the demon's mind. You may have insight to his plans or possible weaknesses.

The only issue? You can't remember anything from your time possessed and even memories from before are foggy and shrouded. Trying to remember these lost memories causes you immense physical pain.

For now, you must find another way to help Carlise and Varre's cause.

⚡️ Create and customize your MC "The Vessel".

⚡️ Play as male, female or nonbinary.

⚡️ Play as an Elf, Half-Elf or Human.

⚡️ Choose from three classes to play from; Warrior, Rogue or Mage. Each class has its own unique Mentor.

⚡️ Shape your skills as you play.

⚡️ Six romance options to choose from alongside secret routes to discover as the story progresses. (All romance options are romanceable regardless of gender.)

⚡️ Help recruit others throughout Caadvir to join the Band of Althor. There is strength in numbers.

⚡️ Discover more about your lost memories and the significance of your Mentor.

Asan Aurelios || The Heir || Human

As the older one of the twins, Asan is the hereditary Grand Duke. He has big shoes to fill after his father's long and peaceful reign. Despite the weight on his shoulders, Asan keeps a bright smile on his face and pushes forward. He is more than supportive of Carlise's efforts to dispose of Harkahn, he just has other political matters to attend to.

Asan hails from the province Le Versare.

Carlise Aurelios || The Leader || Human || RO

As the younger one of the twins, Carlise doesn't hold as much weight to her shoulders. The line of succession has passed to her brother, which allows her to focus entirely on disposing of the demon Harkahn. She is calculating and, at times, cold. Carlise is the founder and leader of the Band of Althor and is greatly respected.

Carlise hails from the province Le Versare.

Varre Delatore || The Mage || Elf || RO

Varre is an extremely talented and powerful mage. He has spent many years studying and mastering magic at the White Tower of Castavel. His knowledge and experience is what drove him to discover Harkahn's resurgence and its influence throughout Caadvir. Varre approached Carlise and Asan about their father's assassination and its relation to Harkahn and has been by their side ever since. He aided Carlise in founding the Band of Althor.

Varre hails from the province Castavel.

Ewan Geraunt || The Viper || Human || RO

Ewan is part of the mercenary group called the Vipers of Venoss. They are regarded as the best mercenary group throughout Caadvir and some of their numbers have been worked all across the world. Ewan is a higher ranking member of the Vipers, but left the group shortly after experiencing an odd dream. After learning his birthplace suffered an attack from Harkahn, he immediately turned to the Band of Althor to serve their cause.

Ewan hails from the province Venoss.

Dea || The Halfblood || Half-Elf || RO

Dea had no place in Ordaire. As a place still ruled by their distaste for humans, half-elfs are heavily frowned upon and outcast by society. She spent many years in and out of street and bar fights alike. Like Ewan she found herself in a mercenary band, but unlike him it didn't last too long. She jumped from band to band, job to job, until she landed on the Band of Althor. She works for Carlise now but who knows how long that will last?

Dea hails from the province Ordaire.

Kizan Fremont || The Knight || Human || RO

The Fremont family have long been allies of the Aurelios family. Kizan's father before him served the Grand Duke of Le Versare as his protector. The mantle was passed to Kizan a few years prior to the assassination. He is the Knight Commander of Le Versare's Order of Cor. While his duties keep him busy most of the time, Kizan will always find time for himself and make the most of it.

Kizan hails from the province Le Versare.

Amysa Briarfel || The Apprentice || Human || RO

Amysa has spent much time studying magic at the White Tower of Castavel. She plans to become a Mentor at the tower, which has earned her the title of Apprentice. Part of Amysa's apprenticeship is traveling throughout Caadvir and assisting different noble houses. When she finally landed upon House Aurelios, she willingly chose to put her apprenticeship on hold to stay and help the Band of Althor.

Amysa hails from the province Xinthe.

Préaux || Warrior Mentor || Human

Préaux is a well-known and respected knight from Itresse. They served the Grand Duke of Itresse for many years before retiring and disappearing entirely. Préaux earned many nicknames throughout their life like 'The Saint of Silver' and 'The Silver Serpent'.

Préaux hails from the province Itresse.

Jaq the Grin || Rogue Mentor || Half-Elf

Jaq the Grin is an infamous thief who terrorizes Caadvir. They have never been caught or really seen. Those who claim to have witnessed Jaq state that the only thing they could remember from the encounter was Jaq's impossibly huge grin, which earned them their nickname.

Jaq the Grin hails from the province Ordaire.

Erina || Mage Mentor || Elf

Erina is a Mentor at the White Tower of Castavel. Having served many years as a Mentor, Erina is highly respected and not a force to be trifled with. Many students of Erina have gone forth to achieve greatness in their lives, such as serving a Grand Duke or King or Queen.

Erina hails from the province Venoss.

[luvvixu]

mind over matter pt. 5

synopsis: witness how your marriage was bound to fall apart with you on the front seat and your husband gojo had missed the show—now, he gotta figure out the story on his own.

content: arrange marriage au, angst, husband!gojo, mean!gojo, mention of blood, mention of drugs, strong languages, some unsettling scenarios, emotional trauma, read at your own risk

a/n: I MISS Y'ALL MWAMWAMWA!! anw, here's a 4k wc for this update and for those who are wondering, "where tf is the special chapter for 'the end'?" and imma tell u...the file went corrupted for absolute no reason...and i have to rewrite the whole story bcoz of that...k bye im gonna kms (kidding) HUHUHUHUHUHU IM STILL CRYING ABOUT IT!

previous / masterlist / next

it was late at night and you're exhausted but happy after your first visit with kazuki. currently, you're in a nice deep sleep back in your room and satoru is still wide awake as he watches you sleep.

his body was situated on the chair and he decided to remove his blindfold just to observe your peaceful sleeping face with the blue moonlight shining upon you. you're beautiful even if you're pale.

a silent deep sigh escalated on his lips, he was still stuck in his deep thoughts about you and your son. satoru couldn't erase your happy face and the sensation of kazuki's small fingertips away from his mind, it all felt so…surreal.

a ringtone exploded on his phone. upon seeing the name, he sucked up a breath and decided to go outside your room for a moment just to call the name on his phone.

“i told you to stop communicating with me anymore.” there's a hint of venom in his voice the moment the other line was picked up.

satoru only hears a slight shuffling but he knew she was there because he can also hear some shaky breaths. “yukie…please know that you and i are now over.”

yukie, not many people know this female since her rank was only at grade 3 but to satoru—she’s the third party, or in simplest words, his mistress. yukie michiga is a beautiful woman with a nice body and a head-turning face. her life was average since she didn't have enough strength yet to rise her rank and get more missions to gain salary but it was enough to sustain her family of six.

she also grew up in a well-oriented family. she was the oldest among her three other younger siblings and she's a very responsible daughter, sister, and as a sorcerer. everyone in her little village adores her and even supports her when she flies to kyoto just to become a sorcerer.

to say the best, she's a woman of all. yukie was beautiful, kind, dependent, and very hardworking.

she and satoru met during his mission when yukie was seen killing some lower grade curses to protect some civilians in an abandoned park. satoru was amazed by her braveness and determination to save those souls despite not being paid enough. but what caught his attention the most was her alluring figure and that angelic face card.

after finishing his mission, he approached the girl who immediately recognized him because of his reputable name. they both introduced their names and even went on a date to get to know each other. and that moment they knew, they were attracted to each other. she even couldn't believe that she was seeing the strongest sorcerer in this current generation.

however, yukie had soon found out that satoru has a wife after their fifth date when she saw a wedding photo on his phone and your contact number literally named ‘wife’. she may be attracted to the guy but she values her dignity and she respects you as a woman even though she hadn't even meet you properly.

despite being heartbroken, she confronted satoru about it and demanded they should stop seeing each other despite her growing love towards him, because yukie would rather be alone than to be hidden behind someone's husband. but satoru did not allow her because he's too caught up in a moment and he finds his needs on the girl.

after some crying and begging, yukie finds herself being ruled by love and lets herself stoop so low just to be with satoru. she was convinced by his charm and now she's so drunk in love. yukie already destroyed herself by having an affair with a married man, so her fighting him to be complete hers will no longer do damage for what's already done.

“let's just forget everything that happened between us.” now what? after what yukie had sacrificed for this affair, he's now letting her go?

a scoffing was received and then followed by a shaky chuckle. “that easily? you're letting me go that easily after you literally just devoted yourself to me two weeks ago?” yukie was trying her best not to snap yet, it's too early for that.

satoru ran a hand on his face. “i'm sorry, but this is not right anymore.”

“oh so you've just realized it just now? after what? after you've finally decided to be a oh-so-good husband and think that you could've fixed everything? you're making me cry by laughing.” the woman did not even realize that she was gripping her phone so hard that her knuckles turned white.

“just say what you want.”

“you. i want you, satoru. i couldn't bear the fact that you're just leaving me so easily after what you had promised me last year.”

“but yukie, you know i'm still married and—”

“then divorce her just like you said before!” tears started to pool on her eyes as yukie was getting and sounded more desperate to save her relationship with the man.

“...i can't,” satoru whispered quietly.

“why?! because you're becoming a coward of the higher up—”

”because i don't want to anymore! i am aware that i'm such a bad person to my wife and i cannot change the past anymore. but i'm very willing to change for the present and the future, just for the sake of my family.” his words cause her to feel like everything stops, that specifically includes her heavy and enraged breathing.

what did he just say? fucking ridiculous.

“look yukie, i'm so sorry for cutting you off like this and thank you for everything that you have done to me. but please, let's just end it here.” satoru continued.

on the other line, yukie was sitting on her bed with tears completely spilling down on her eyes and her emotions were overflowing. their memories together keeps on flooding in her mind as the female tries to collect herself so she could find a quick answer to save this illicit affair.

“satoru, you're such a fucking dick for playing with many women's heart just so you can satisfy yourself. and then what happened to us that you once played with? what happened to those who got us wrapped around your finger? fucking nothing! you left us all hanging!” her voice started from low and went up to loud. satoru would've never understood a woman's rage because their rages are a good disguise of just being angry.

if only he knew what the current scenario is playing in her head, it can make the strongest shiver.

“yukie…i'm sorry but it's not like that—”

“it is! and here i thought i was special among all of the women you slept with. i thought i could be a better partner for you. i even lowered my dignity just to be with a married person!” for once, she finally felt pity for what she had become. if she could ever face her former self, she would hug her tight and say, ‘there is no turning back’.

and that is the reason why she said, “take responsibility for this.”

“w-what?”

“i said take responsibility for this! you made me crazy over you and i cannot let you go! so be responsible and leave your wife—”

“no!” satoru could not help but to yell back. he wanted nothing in this relationship anymore. he swore to himself that he is going to try his best to fix this marriage and that starts with him and his mistress, yukie.

meanwhile, yukie could feel the churching effect of rage deep down on her stomach when she realized that he is serious about cutting her off. he finally decided to stop being a pathetic dickhead and started to devote himself into your circle.

“fine! if you don't want to, then i’ll make you.”

the strongest eyes widened as he could smell danger at her literal threat. he also felt like a cold water bucket being showered on his body when he thought of any unpleasant possibilities that she could execute on you and his child.

“o-oh no you're not.” he gritted his teeth.

yukie laughed crazily, her eyes twitching in the process. “i will. you made me like this, satoru. so face the consequences and be accountable for the person you've made me.”

“yukie—”

“i am going to be your karma and you cannot run away or hide from me. don't you ever try to run away because i’ll make sure of it.” with a final hostile, the woman ended the call, making satoru almost lose his sanity.

“yukie?! h-hello…?! yukie? fuck!”

satoru was on the verge of throwing his phone across the hallway. he felt enraged, scared, devastated, and all. he knew what are the capabilities of yukie—like he literally witness his mistress beat the shit out of that other woman he once mingle with before her just because she's getting jealous.

what more could she do to his wife…and worse, his child?!

his body almost launched itself on the nearest wall due to his knees feeling weak. satoru was not scared of what yukie had planned for himself because he could literally take her even in his sleep, yukie was practically defenseless against him. but if his family was involved? it's gonna be the literal end of him.

he's the superman and his family is the kryptonite���his weakness.

“fuck. what did i get myself into…” satoru hopelessly buried his face into his shaky hands. he's afraid that he had done another unforgivable sin that you would probably not be going to spare him anymore.

but, you wouldn't have done that if you didn't know. so, guess who needs to keep their mouth shut? everyone.

the night had passed and satoru didn't even sleep a single wink. his conversation with yukie just kept on ringing into his head and deprived him from the attention. like right now, you have been calling him three times in a row but he's too busy to look at an empty space below. you reach for his arm to give him a gentle shake. satoru could feel someone nudging him and he knew it was you.

“sorry, what were you saying again?” he sighs deeply before forcing himself to give you a not-so forced smile.

a worried frown appears in your face. “you should go back to the jujutsu high. you really need to rest, i’ll be fine in here.”

“i can still manage this. don't worry.” satoru assured you, and you didn't buy it of course. “i'm not asking you if you can or not. i just said you should head back at least for now.” you said.

“but—”

“satoru, don't be stubborn.” your expression becomes more serious, making satoru fall quietly because he knew that he would eventually listen to you.

“it has been three days since and you hadn't even met your students properly. just go, satoru. you can always come back here during your free time. kazuki and i can wait for you.” you added.

“a-are you sure?”

you nodded and just gave him an assuring pat on his arm. “very. now go and do your thing.”

satoru was left with no choice but to obey, in which he did. he also thinks that this could also be an appropriate moment to confront the threat, by the threat means, his mistress.

“i’ll just leave after lunch. i need to make sure you are well fed.”

“alright.”

the rest of the morning was normally fine. you've watched something on your phone to keep yourself entertained while satoru was dozing off in his seat. his head keeps on uncomfortably dropping, so you decide to offer him a space in your bed in which he hesitantly agrees after you've persuaded him enough.

and now, he's currently sleeping quietly beside you while you are seated and continue watching your show. you would also occasionally steal a glance at him because he's really odd today, like something was bothering him. you know it's not because he's lack of sleep, but it was something else and that itches you to ask him.

then lunch came. satoru was still sleeping so you took this cue to get food yourself by ordering some healthy options available on the app, and sooner, the food came just right by your doorstep. you thanked the delivery man who really made an effort to travel up until here to your room. so, you also give him a nice tip, in which he smiles happily in return.

stealing another peak at your sleeping husband, you've decided to quietly remove yourself from the bed just to prepare the food on the table.

meanwhile, satoru stirred up in his sleep after sensing a weight suddenly vanished from the comfort of the bed. slowly opening his blue powerful eyes, he saw you standing not so far away from the bed and was busy unboxing the ordered food.

he looked at the wall clock across the room and it showed its way past lunch. that alone made him jerk up his body because he slept and you had to do the food by yourself.

“you ordered some food?” you replied to him with a hum and continued doing your work.

“you should've woken me up.” satoru frowns but you just shrugged it off.

“it's okay. you were resting and you need it obviously. besides, the delivery man was very kind to deliver it here if you're worried about me moving too much.”

satoru let this one slide and sat on the bed as he watched you hand him his food as he eats on the bed while you take a seat and eat on the small table. even in different settings, you two still don't share a table for a meal together. it's not like it matters that much, but it finally bothers him.

“what are your plans this afternoon?” satoru asked you after he took a spoonful of bite.

“visit kazuki, of course.” you simply answered.

a little bit of awkward silence engulfed the two of you. satoru was finding a way to crack up a long conversation with you, while you're still itching to ask him a question about what's bothering him. but to clarify things up, you actually don't care about what could be the reason behind it. you're just bothered because he looks bothered and it's bothering you!

“do you want me to send shoko so you can keep company?”

you immediately shook your head at his suggestion. “no, no. shoko is a busy person and has a lot more important things to do. and besides, kazuki could keep me company. i also need to walk his birth papers as suggested by the doctor.”

“about that, do you want me to—”

“it’s okay, satoru. i can manage doing it alone.” you don't mean to sound like you're stripping his rights from your son, but you really wanted to do this on your own. the two of you are still working on an unspoken term and you don't want your broken marriage to affect your baby's pre-life even by the simple act.

actually, you've noticed to yourself that you're becoming a little too soft on satoru. so, you would always remind yourself about the things he had done but also to remind yourself to be less harsh towards the man because at the end of the day, you are forced to be the leading mature in this circle.

you had to subside some of your emotion now that a baby has entered the scene and you would give everything just to have kazuki a bestest life he could live in. and that includes swallowing your pride and being with satoru a little longer than what should have been expected.

“i have a small favor, by the way.” satoru perk up at your words.

“go on.” he said and paid utmost attention to you. you've rarely made a request to him so he needs to make sure he got everything covered.

“nanami…if you ever saw him, tell him to come and visit me.”

nanami?

satoru tries not to frown when you suddenly look for him. it's not like he feels weird or anything since you two are good old friends, but rather why you can't just text him. anyway, he didn't ask you and just kept your little favor in his mind.

“sure, i will.”

and with that, the whole lunch for the day comes to an end and satoru goes back to the jujutsu high and tries to do his usual teaching activities.

satoru did what you said, he told nanami to visit you but he disobeyed when you said to do his daily task as a teacher and a sorcerer. to clarify some things, he did meet up with his students but that's it. he didn't teach nor oversee them on their training. he just told them that principal yaga will continue to handle them for the meantime then flew off the scene.

and guess where he's off to? yeah, his mistress.

a harsh knock surfaced on the wood as satoru continues to call out a specific name who won't even show a sign of response. he knows yukie was there due to him being able to detect her cursed energy but she didn't even acknowledge his presence.

“yukie please, let's talk this out and stay away from my family.” he hates to do this but he implies a pleading and desperation in his voice just for the sake of avoiding the rotten aftermath.

on the other side, yukie was seated on her sofa while still pretending that the consistent knocking or visitor didn't even exist. she'll only entertain the man and let him in if he would approach her as the satoru gojo who she willing to throw her life away just to be with him, not satoru gojo who would throw her life away just to be with you.

“yukie, please…open this door. let me talk to you.” biting her lower lip in despair, yukie swore that she really tried her best to stay strong and wouldn't just crumble over the sound of a pleading man, but guess she just was just making a fool out of herself.

“fuck it.” with a one swore, the woman finally found herself opening the door and revealed the white haired man she's been dying to see. yukie couldn't contain herself anymore, so as soon as her eyes landed on her most prized possession, she pulled him into a messy kiss as she pulled him inside.

but to her melancholia, she was dumb to think that he's going to reply to her with the same passion and love over the kiss. satoru pulled her away from him and didn't even kiss her back!

something inside yukie cracked as she looked at satoru with a broken heart. tears are pooling on her eyes but satoru wouldn't even bat an eye on her now pleading figure.

from his point of view, satoru wiped his lips in disgust as he could smell and taste alcohol in her breath. she's clearly drunk and wasted but still in the right place to talk.

“is our conversation on the phone not enough? when are you going to plant it on your head that i'm not planning to let you go?” yukie whispers as she buries her face into his chest, hoping that he would at least soften his heart and come back to her.

“you have to, yukie. it's time for us to correct the mistakes we both made.” satoru wrapped his arms around her waist, maybe this would calm her down and the conversation would at least become less aggressive.

“your mistake, satoru, not mine.” satoru went silent and yukie knew she was right. she thinks it's only his fault that led her this way, it could've also been avoided when yukie once confronted satoru about you but he's too imbecile to see the aftermath. now look where we are, there's no turning back now.

“is your wife now aware of this, huh?” satoru shook his head, there's no way he's gonna let you know about this. his space in your heart is now barely surviving, he doesn't want to take the risk yet.

“just tell me, what do you want me to do so you can let me go?”

yukie smiled lovesick-ly. “nothing. i told you, i am going to make you mine, and i'm gonna show you how i'm gonna do it.”

shit. this is bad. i’m really doomed.

satoru shoved away with terror and anger in his blue hue orbs. “yukie, don't make me break the rules. you stay out of my family's life.” he pointed a finger towards the female.

clearly, she doesn't give a fuck.

then suddenly, yukie pulled him towards the couch and kissed him aggressively and against his will. satoru knew he would be dead, dead by his guilt that he kissed those lips that he swore he wouldn't touch again.

“yukie, stop—! mmph!” satoru, being literally the strongest, tried his best but it's too late. his eyes could see black spots dancing around his vision, but before it totally went dark, he saw a devilish smile on yukie’s face and then everything suddenly vanished.

turns out, when yukie pulled him into a second kiss, she forcefully put a pill of drug into his mouth and made him swallow unwillingly. satoru may be immune to dark curses but he's no exemption to curse of love.

satoru was unable to move, and yukie, she was smiling ever so widely with hearts in her eyes as she started lovingly at the love of her life.

“fuck, you belong to no one else but mine.”

yukie was overly and beyond happy, that's the fact. she finally has him in his arms, she's so proud that she got the literally the strongest in her embrace—what could possibly be wrong?

yukie michiga, the one who participated in adultery, was about to drag satoru gojo, the one who initiated adultery, while she laughed to herself as she thought about things on her bucket list when she finally made him hers.

but then suddenly, the front door blasted as debris and dust floated around the air and served as a blanket to the destroyer.

“what the fuck?!” yukie hugged satoru's unconscious body possessively while coughing due to the wall dust she's inhaling. she couldn't pinpoint who would do such a thing at her precious house because of the fog.

but when it lifted up, it revealed someone, the one who is the victim of adultery, along with somebody, the one who hates adultery. both were wearing the deadliest expression you could ever see, it is raging with anger, especially someone.

“yeah, what the fuck?!” someone mocked her little curse a while ago making yukie freeze in horror. she knows that person well—very, very well. who wouldn't know her when she's the reason why she keeps on hiding in the depths of their shadow.

yukie's wavering eyes met the other pair of eyes. it was sharp, filled with dagger—those eyes were skinning her alive.

“what the fuck are you doing to my husband, yukie michiga?”

PLS READ THIS, THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT AND IS PART OF THE MIND OVER MATTER

[part 6 will be posted soon — ©luvvixu2024]

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a/n: can y'all still keep up with the plot? ༎ຶ⁠‿⁠༎ຶ

[inky-duchess]

Fantasy Guide to A Great House (19th-20th Century)

(I know, I've been slacking but I'm still alive)

When we think of the Victorians, the grand old Gilded Age or the Edwardians, we all think of those big mansions and manors where some of our favourite stories take place. But what and who did it take to run a great house?

Meet the Staff

Large numbers of staff were always needed to run great houses. Every department had its own management and its own teams, all working together to ensure everything ran smooth. There was both an interior and exterior team.

Interior

You can split the interior of the household into three departments: Service, Upkeep and Food Preparation.

Service

Butler: The Butler was the Head of all the household staff. He acted essentially as the manager of a great house, directing the staff on a day to day basis or at events on the command of the lord/lady/employer. Make staff would report mostly yo him and he would be in charge of keeping an eye on them. The Butler had charge of the wine cellars, the dining room, sometimes the pantry as well. As the manager of the house, Butlers were afforded the title of Mr. X. Our favourite examples being of course Mr Carson and Mr Pennyworth.

Valet: The valet was the male servant who handled the dressing of the men of the family. He would be in charge of his master's clothes, ensuring he was always dressed in the right outfit for the right activity (there was a lot) and be in charge of helping him into the outfit in question. The valet would also be in charge of cleanliness, sometimes shaving his master or running his bath. Valets were referred to as Surname and ranked in how their employer's ranked, for example the Lord’s valet would outrank his son's.

Lady's Maid: The lady's maid was similar to the valet. She was in charge of keeping the ladies of the house looking their best and handling their needs. She would style hair, care for jewels, mend clothes, care for clothes and often act as a companion, accompanying her lady on visits or day's out. The lady's maid was referred to by their surname.

Footman: The footman was a male servant who served at table, fetched items, handled heavy lifting such as luggage, opened and closed doors. Most footmen were young men and en chosen for good looks. Footmen polished the silver services at great houses and when called upon would often take on the role of valet to guests without a servant to help. Footmen were referred to as their firstname. Footmen were denoted by rank, the highest being first footman who had charge over the others and would assist the butler in some tasks.

Upkeep

Housekeeper:The housekeeper was second in command but she ran her most of the interior staff, especially those who took care of the house itself. She supervised all female staff. She helped the lady of the house when it came to running events and caring for guests. The housekeeper is always Mrs. Surname even when she's unmarried.

Housemaid: Housemaids clean the house. They would dust, make and strip beds, straighten things up and keep the house looking it's best. The housemaid was a servant that was almost never seen, usually rising early, lighting the fires, cleaning the house as the family moves from room to room. She was called by her Firstname.

Scullery Maid: The scullery maid is the lower ranking maid. She would also have been younger and less experienced. She was in charge of the more unsightly work: laying the fires, scrubbing the floors, emptying chamberpots, cleaning servant's chambers. She may even do mending and washing for other servants. She was called by her first name.

Hall boy: The hall boy was also young and handled the worst jobs. He would polish boots belonging to the family and sometimes staff, cempty the servant's chamberpots and waited on on the higher ranking servants. He was called by his name.

Food Preparation

Cook: The cook or chef was the third highest ranking servant downstairs and they ran their own department. They were in charge of the kitchen staff. All cooks and chefs would meet almost daily with the lady of the house to discuss menus and ordering but would answer to both housekeeper and butler. As with the housekeeper, a female cook or chef is Mrs Surname despite martial status and make cooks/chef are Mr.

Kitchen maid: The kitchen maid helped the cook/chef in preparing the food. She would be one of the first servants up, in charge of lighting the ovens and starting the breakfast for the family and servants. She would clean the kitchen, boil water when needed and bring food up to the servery when needed. She would be called by her first name.

Exterior

The house would needed a team on the outside to handle the stables, the gardens and any outdoor activity.

Gardeners: They would be responsible for the upkeep of the grounds itself, caring for the gardens. There would be multiple at a great house led by a head gardener.

Stableboy/groom/kennelmaster: They would take care of the family's horses and dogs. They would take care of tack, help plan hunts and riding pursuits and handle carriages.

Chauffeur: As automobiles became popular in this period, a chauffeur was needed to drive the family and take car of their motor.

Lives of Servants

Servants were paid very little at this time, mainly because most staff got free room and board. Most of the interior staff would live in the house itself and be supplied meals. Chauffeurs, gardeners etc would live nearby on the estate either as locals or be supplied a house as a staff member. Staff uniforms were also supplied. Days off were rare but not withheld. Permission was needed to leave the house either to visit the shop or take a few days off.

Servants were expected to be obedient, modest and humble at all times. They were expected to stand in the presence of their master's, speak only when spoken to and never question an order. They had to be ready for anything at the drop of a hat. You've set for a dozen guests but now there's five more coming? Tough luck, change the table settings. You get seasick? Nevermind that, your gentleman is going across the sea and as his valet you're going with him, like it or not.

Servants from one house often travelled to with the family to their other residences: the butler, footmen, chef, kitchen maids, lady's maid, valet would all go with the family while everybody else would get left behind. Every house would have its own housekeeper if it could be afforded. Housemaids and other staff needed could be hired locally when needed.

The Daily Routine

The working day of a servant in a grand house was a long arduous one.

Morning: At 6am, the servants rise. The scullery maid gets up and begins lighting the fires, starting with the kitchen. Then she cleans the kitchen top to bottom before the staff get in to cook. The kitchen maid would rise at the same time, helping with the cleaning. She would set for the servant's breakfast and start cooking it. The footmen open the shutters upstairs, cleans whatever tools they will need such as glasses and silverware, tend the lamps and sets for breakfast upstairs. The housemaids go about the house cleaning up after the night before, starting in the rooms that aren't being used (any room that's not the bedrooms). At around 8, the cook rises and starts the day. The kitchen maid serves breakfast to the other servants before returning to the kitchen to eat her own breakfast with the other kitchen staff. After breakfast, the housemaid will change her apron and deliver hot water to each of the bedrooms for the family. At 9, the family rise. Married women have breakfast in bed with all other family members and visitors eating in the dining room. Valets and lady's maids would have dressed them prior, gathering up any clothes to be mended or washed. The footmen and butlers will serve while the housemaids go into each empty room and begin their chores.

Midday: Just before midday, the chef would speak with the lady of the house to discuss menus. At around 11, the staff were permitted their first break, just enough time for a drink usually a cup of tea before they started again. The chef would start preparing for the main dinner of the evening with the lady's approval. Footmen would take their places at entrances or attend the family where he may be needed. At noon, the servants would have their dinner. At 1, the family would sit for their lunch. Once lunch is over, a footman might be permitted to attend personal business (with permission from the butler first) or be sent on errands out of the house such as delivering messages. While the family sit for breakfast, the maids tidy up any room they have been using since getting up.

Afternoon: The family take tea around 4. The footmen clear the tea before heading down to take their tea - a light meal- with the other servants around 5. Afterwards, the footmen will start to light the lamps, close the shutters and draw the curtains. The butler would oversee the laying of the table for dinner with the footmen. The first footman carries the silver, the second the china, while the butler sets the silver and glasses. If a guest is coming, a footman will remain on the door to see them in.

Evening: At 8, the footman or butler signals the start of supper. This is done by the rinibg of the gong or bell which gives the family and any staying guests, 15mins or more to get ready. Valets and lady's maids would already be upstairs at this point, helping their master/mistress. When the family head downstairs, they linger in the drawing room to chat while a footmen keeps an eye on them. Any guests visiting for dinner would be let in by a footman and announced upon entry. The butler announces dinner and escorts the family in. The footman serve the food while the butler pours the wine (chosen by the Lord with the butler's help). The footman stay in the dining room all throughout dinner, excepting when they go to the servery to collect the food from the kitchen maid. They serve and clear the plates for every course. When dinner is over, a footman will stay with the men while they drink their port while another serves the ladies their coffee in the drawing room. While dinner is on, the housemaid would tidy the empty rooms, check the fires and turn down the beds. At 9, the servants eat their supper while the family chill. When supper is over and the family is done for the night, the valets and lady's maids would ready their masters for bed. A footman would wait in the hall with candlesticks for the family and show any departing guest out. The kitchen staff would start to clean up while the butler starts locking up the house. The staff would get to bed about 11:30 - 12.

[roosterforme]

Always Ever Only You Part 6 | Rooster x Reader

Summary: At the Hard Deck, Bradley learns something about the origins of your friendship with Cam that leaves him feeling out of sorts. You call him out on his behavior and reassure him that he's always more than enough for you. Then he takes you away for a Valentine's trip, and he can finally surprise you with something unique.

Warnings: Fluff, smut, angst, swearing

Length: 4700 words

Pairing: Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x Female Reader

This was written to accompany my series Is It Working For You? along with a bunch of my one-shots and other series, but it can be read on its own! Check my masterlist for the reading order. Gorgeous banner by @mak-32

Bradley thought he was hilarious with the way he refused to tell you where you and he were going for the night on Friday. He wouldn't even tell you how you were getting there. All he said every time you asked was, "Just pack a bag and find out."

"Infuriating," you whispered to yourself at work on Thursday. When you heard footsteps coming up behind you in the hallway, you turned to see Jake rushing your way. "Seriously? Don't you ever work?"

"Come on, Angel," he whined. "I'm gonna ask her out. I just need one more shot at talking to her."

You sighed and said, "Fine. Come on. We could actually use your help."

A few minutes later, Jake looked absolutely delighted as Cat had him sit down on the stool next to hers. "Ready?" she asked him. "There are a lot of questions."

"I'm ready," he replied, eyes glued to her face as she opened the aviation survey document on her computer. It wasn't like this needed to be completed today. The software was still in the testing stage. But you knew this would be a good excuse to keep Jake in the lab for a little while and let him engage with Cat.

"Name, age, rank and aircraft. Please," she asked him. You tried to sit quietly and work further down the counter, but you were half focused on them. 

"Jacob C. Seresin. Thirty three. Lieutenant. F/A-18." His voice was calm and even as he answered her, but you could see his leg bouncing a little bit. He was so smitten it was absolutely ridiculous. 

"What does the C stand for?" she asked, entering his information.

"That's classified," he told her with a smirk.

She turned to look at him with a smirk of her own. "Your full name is Jacob Classified Seresin?"

You had to press your lips together as Jake started laughing. "Shoulda thought that one through a little better," he drawled with a blush. "It actually stands for Christopher." 

"Where are you from, Lieutenant Classified?" she asked, and he leaned in to look at her screen. 

"Is that actually a question?"

"No," she said softly. "I was just curious about your accent."

Jake's voice sounded smug as hell as he said, "It's not an accent, Lieutenant Coleman. It's a drawl." And then you were forced to listen to their flirtation mixed in with the real survey questions for the better part of an hour. 

When Cat was finally done gathering information about Jake's flight history, you were surprised she didn't also have his phone number. "Thanks for your help," she told him as they both stood. 

"Anytime, Lieutenant," Jake replied. And when he walked past you, he whispered, "I owe you one, Angel."

Once he was gone, you stared at Cat until she looked at you. "If you're interested in big, strong aviators, all you have to do is ask," you told her. "I think he'd happily go out with you."

She scoffed and waved you off. "He's just fun to flirt with a tiny bit. Absolutely none of that was serious." 

"Speak for yourself," you muttered.

"Besides, he would never go for a woman like me. At least not for more than a date or two. Maybe a long weekend, if you catch my drift. And after my ex husband, I'm done playing games. Like I said, Lieutenant Seresin is nice to look at, but under no circumstances will I touch."

"Never?" you asked softly.

Cat planted her hand on the counter and leaned toward you. "He gets around, Lieutenant Commander. Women on base brag about it. And I've seen how he is at the bar. Just surrounded at all times."

Once again, you didn't know how to respond.

"But your friend, Cam?" she asked, giving you a pointed look. "He seems sweet."

You remained silent. Cat was beautiful. If she wanted to go out with Jake, she could go out with Jake. If she wanted to go out with Cam, she could go out with Cam. She could probably get pretty much any guy to ask her out if she wanted to. But if she was just going to flirt with Jake, because she thought it was no big deal, then Jake might end up getting hurt in the process if she moved on with someone else. 

And then your suspicions started to come true. When you went down to eat lunch with Bradley at noon, you saw Cat and Jake at a small table together. So his reputation was terrible, but not so bad that she didn't want to keep flirting? You sat with your head in your hands until Bradley and Nat joined you.

"What's wrong?" Nat asked, taking the seat across from you. "And where's Jake? He told me he was eating with us."

"He's over there," you said, nodding your head in his direction where he was sitting with Cat. "And she's flirting with him."

"Isn't that good?" Bradley asked, dropping down into the seat next to you. 

"No," you groaned. "She likes Cam. She thinks Jake is a womanizer who would never be interested in her. She thinks this is just some harmless flirting."

"Oof, he's about to get shot down isn't he?" Nat asked, and now all there of you were watching across the cafeteria as Cat and Jake smiled at each other. Then Jake leaned in a little closer, and Cat bit her lip. 

"Oh no," you whispered, reaching for Bradley's hand as your heart pounded. "Maybe he is a bit of a womanizer?" you asked. "I've seen that look on his face before. He's asking her out."

Bradley laced his fingers with yours. "He's not doing that kind of thing anymore," he told you and Nat. "He seems to be ready to settle down in a relationship. Been talking about it for months. Oh no, there he goes."

Nat gasped as Jake stroked the back of Cat's hand with his thumb. Her smile faltered and she kind of shrugged and shook her head. Even though you couldn't hear them, you had a pretty good idea of how the conversation was going. Cat's hand slid away from his, and soon she was standing to leave.

"Yikes," Nat whispered as the three of you scrambled to make it appear as though you hadn't been watching Jake get turned down. "That was so surreal. Looked exactly like the day you asked your wife out and she told you no," she added to Bradley, trying not to laugh now. "Remember that, Soul Sister?"

Bradley placed a loud, sloppy kiss on your cheek and said, "She came around eventually. One kiss and she was begging me to take her on a date."

You rolled your eyes. "I would love to dispute that, but it's actually the truth."

"Hey, guys," Jake said, gingerly sitting down next to Nat. His face was completely neutral, and his voice was even. But you could tell he was upset. 

"Hangman," Bradley grunted. And then he and Nat filled up the silence before it became too much while you picked at your food. And Jake just sat quietly. 

--------------------------

"Hard Deck night, Baby Girl," Bradley reminded you when you walked inside after work. 

You were tired, and you didn't really feel like going out. The bar would be packed, just like it was every Thursday night, and you were starting to get crampy, which meant your period was coming. "You don't want to stay in?" you asked, pouting up at him. "We could take a bath together."

Bradley ran his thumb along your pouty lips. "We can stay in if you want to, Sweetheart. Let me text Nat and tell her."

Then you kissed his thumb and said, "No, we can go. But maybe we can leave early. I'm exhausted."

Famous last words. At ten o'clock, you were kind of drunk, Bradley's hands were all over you, and Cat was waving you up to the bar. "I'll be right back, Roo," you told him, slipping away before he could keep you with him. Bradley watched you chatting with you coworker, happy you seemed to be getting along with her now. 

"I gotta know, man. How do you grow such a good mustache?"

Bradley turned just in time for Cam to try to lean against the edge of the pool table, miss completely and nealy land on his face. Shit, he was as at least as drunk as you were. 

"Genetics," Bradley said, thinking of nearly every damn photo he had of Goose sporting the same facial hair. Cam had a bit of a baby face, and the idea of him with a mustache was almost laughable. 

Then you walked back over in a state of annoyance. "Oh good, you're here," you said to Cam. "Mr. Popularity."

"What do you mean?" he asked, stroking his bare upper lip. 

"You know my coworker Cat? She just told me Jake asked her out, but that she'd rather go out with you."

Cam blinked a few times and then burst into laughter, leaning on Bradley while he hooted. "That's such a funny joke!"

"I'm serious! Roo, tell him I'm serious."

"She's serious," Bradley said, sipping his beer and trying not to get involved in this conversation. 

"Nobody would pick me over that guy," Cam replied, pointing to Jake. "He's fucking ripped! And his hair is always perfect. And he can do that thing with his mouth and the toothpicks!"

You started laughing and said, "I tried to tell Cat you're nothing special."

"Wow," Cam said, feigning offense, "you're the worst friend ever. Where's Maria?"

"Wait," you said, still laughing while you grabbed his hand. "Just because your repertoire of talents did nothing for me doesn't mean you're not as good as Jake!"

Bradley choked on his beer, remembering what he had overheard you say to Jake. "I'm sorry. What?"

You both turned to look at him, and Cam's cheeks were turning pink. 

"The two of you hooked up?" Bradley asked, wondering why this was something he'd only been hearing about recently. Cam slowly backed away from him, suddenly looking like he was afraid Bradley might hit him. And that's when Bradley realized that his tone definitely sounded a little threatening, but he couldn't take it back now.

"It was ten years ago!" Cam quickly supplied, taking a step to his left once he realized he was standing right next to you. 

"Didn't I tell you this, Roo?" you asked, still smiling at Bradley as you cocked your head to the side. 

"No. Never," he replied, annoyed at himself for being annoyed about this. It clearly didn't matter at all. It had nothing to do with your marriage. But Cam was the same age as you, and in many ways he was probably well suited for you. 

"There's literally nothing to tell," Cam insisted.

"Yeah," you agreed. "It didn't mean anything. We were twenty one. It didn't work for either of us, so we stopped what we were doing and decided to just be friends. Because Cam's moves were decidedly terrible at that age."

"God, you're so annoying," Cam told you with a grin. "You think you had moves? You did not. All you had back then was nice tits."

"Jesus," Bradley growled, pinching the bridge of his nose. Because even though this happened ten years ago, suddenly he was wondering about all the details. 

"There was no penetration," you said casually.

"No penetration of any kind," Cam confirmed. 

"Then what was there?" Bradley asked as you laced your fingers with his.

"Wait, do fingers count?" Cam asked you, scratching his head. "No, fingers don't count, right? Whatever, all I did was feel her up."

"I wasn't good," you added. "Just friends after that."

"Yep," Cam confirmed, giving Bradley some side eye. "She likes big guys. Muscular ones. Mustaches. Which is exactly why nobody who turned down Jake Seresin would say yes to me."

You rolled your eyes and said, "That's so not true."

Bradley wanted all of the details and none of them at the same time as he pulled you a little closer. But then Cam handed you his drink and said, "Really? Watch this."

"Oh no," you muttered, gasping and clinging to Bradley as Cam walked away.

"Sweetheart, why didn't you ever tell me you and Cam messed around? I hate being blindsided by this shit. You hang out with him all the time."

But you weren't listening to him. You weren't even looking at him. Cam was walking confidently over to Cat, and suddenly he was leaning against the bar next to her, occasionally glancing this way. After a moment, Cat looked delighted, and Cam looked completely shocked. 

"He asked her out!" you moaned, burying your face against Bradley's chest. "Poor Jake!"

When Bradley's eyes found Jake, he was glaring daggers from the dartboard over toward Cam and Cat. "Oh, shit," he muttered, wrapping his arm a little tighter around you. "This is a fucking disaster."

"It really is," you whispered.

-------------------------

Jake was upset. You could see it on his face. And now Cam looked concerned. When you tried to talk to him, all he said was, "Apparently I have a date on Saturday night."

And before Cat left the bar for the night, she had a smile on her face as she came over to you and Bradley. "Any idea where I might be able to find a good babysitter for Saturday evening?"

"Babysitter?" Bradley asked her, and you couldn't help but see how his expression changed as he asked Cat, "Do you have a kid?"

"Yes," she replied, looking a little surprised. "I thought you would have told your husband. I have a son. He's a year old."

You desperately wanted her date with Cam to suck, and that made you feel like a shitty person all around. So you were suddenly blurting out, "We can watch him." The look on Bradley's face as he registered that he'd get to spend a few hours playing with a one year old, made your heart clench. 

"Yeah, you can drop him off with us," he told Cat, and tears stung your eyes. You had cramps. You'd probably get your period right in the middle of the overnight trip tomorrow night. But you just nodded, because even though Cat was going out with Cam instead of Jake, and even though you still weren't pregnant, you knew Bradley would have fun babysitting.

On the ride home, you were starting to get upset as you sobered up a bit more. You didn't want your mood to make you miserable for your night away. 

Bradley was pretty quiet until he asked, "Why didn't you tell me about you and Cam?"

"Nothing to tell," you replied softly. It was the truth. You'd harbored a bit of a crush on your friend at first; he was sweet and funny and you had all of your classes with him. You had spent a lot of time together, and you trusted him. And one night, despite both of your best efforts, it just didn't work when you tried to hookup. 

"But you spend a lot of time with him now. So what? Your attraction to him just stopped after one night?" Bradley grunted. "You go out to brunch with Cam and Maria all the time for that disgusting avocado toast. Hell, you make me spend so much time with him, I know what kind of pizza he likes and what he orders at the burger shack."

"Oh my god, Bradley. Exactly. He's just my friend! You know what kind of pizza he likes, because I want you to spend time with my friends!"

"But you clearly care about him."

"Bradley! You lived a whole life with other women before we met!"

"I never cared about them! I never loved them! Cam is your friend, and you care about him."

As soon as he parked the Bronco in the driveway, you were unbuckling your seatbelt and crawling into his lap. "What has gotten into you, Roo?" you asked, straddling his thighs and forcing him to look at you. "Cam? You're jealous of Cam in this moment? Knock it the fuck off."

"I'm sorry," he muttered, wrapping his arms around you. "I just didn't like the way I found out about it. Which isn't fair to you at all. Because you're right...about my past. And I know it has to embarrass you sometimes-"

You silenced him with a kiss as you brushed your fingers through his hair. When your forehead came to rest against his, you said, "Don't talk about yourself like that. You want all the details? We did not date. Cam and I ended up in his bed exactly one time. He was hard until I put my hand down his pants. I was excited until he took my bra off. Then we laughed awkwardly, called it quits, and watched a movie with three feet of space between us. So if you can't get onboard with the avocado toast brunches now, I don't even know what to say."

Bradley laughed a little bit. "I love you, and I'm sorry. I've just been... feeling my age recently, Baby Girl."

"What does that mean?" you asked, pressing your lips to his scarred cheek. 

He sighed. "Just trying to make sure I can keep up with you and everything you want."

"I want you."

"I know you do," he whispered.

"Then start acting like it, Bradley. Or I'll call you Grandpa instead of Daddy."

He was silent for a beat as you ran your hand down the front of his body. "You wanna go have some Daddy time right now?"

"It's like you can read my mind."

-------------------------

Bradley wore you out on Thursday night, and you were still tired on Friday after work when he drove up the coastal roads to the mysterious hotel he booked for the night. "Will you please tell me where you're taking me?" you asked for the millionth time. 

But he just laughed and said, "The funny thing is, I'm not really sure, Sweetheart. It's some crazy hotel called Le Chateau California, and I'm really only taking you there because they have something I think you'll love."

"What is it?" you asked, suddenly even more curious. 

"I'm not telling. We'll have to experience it for ourselves," he said, reaching for your bare thigh and stroking your skin.

"Are we there yet?" you whined. "How much further? I want my surprise." 

"You're worse than a child," he said with a smile, inching his hand further up under your dress. "We'll be there in twenty minutes. We're having dinner at eight, and you'll see the surprise then."

Bradley was great at teasing you, but this was perhaps his best effort to date. His fingers were just tucked inside your panties, stroking you while you tried to sit patiently, as he pulled up to a colorful boutique hotel on the outskirts of Newport Beach. "What is this place?" you asked him, whining again as he pulled his hand free before the valet could see where it had been. 

"Let's go find out," he said with a smirk. When you strolled into the lobby that looked like you'd fallen down the rabbit hole into Wonderland, Bradley wrapped his arm around your waist. 

"This is so cool," you gasped, still a little wound up from Bradley's fingers on your pussy. 

You were looking up at him with barely concealed lust. He had both overnight bags slung over his left shoulder like it was nothing. And when the woman at the concierge desk asked for the last name on the reservation, your core clenched as he rasped, "The Bradshaws."

As he handed over his credit card, you whimpered softly. His wide brown eyes were on yours as you pressed your lips together. Then he was smiling, but he didn't pick up the pace like you wanted him to. He asked the woman where the restaurant was located. He listened to her tell him more about the history of the hotel. He asked her another question as she handed over the room keys. He forced your hand. 

"Please?" you whispered, pressing yourself to his side. 

When he finally led you across the technicolor lobby toward the purple elevators, he pushed the up arrow and said, "We have dinner in twenty minutes."

You nearly wanted to stomp your foot. "You can fuck me in less time than that."

"You told me I'm never fast," he replied as the doors slid open. "So, probably not, Baby Girl."

"Bradley!" you screeched as soon as you and he were alone in the elevator. "I won't make it through dinner and you know it!" 

He kissed your lips so softly before the elevator stopped on your floor. "I love it when you get like this," he said as you tripped down the hallway next to him. "Go in and get ready for me." He handed you one of the keys, and you ran down the hallway that looked like a multicolored fever dream, barely taking the time to enjoy any of it. 

The hotel room was colorful and spacious with a king bed and a Juliet balcony. There was a view of the beach and some champagne in an ice bucket. But all you were concerned about was getting your underwear off and getting on the bed. 

Bradley strolled in and set the bags down before adjusting the thermostat. He tossed his sunglasses on the nightstand and combed his fingers through his hair before turning to watch you where you were laying on the bed with your dress pulled up to your waist. "Get on your knees," he rasped, and you did as you were told. Then his hands and lips were all over your butt and thighs before tasting you from behind.

"Bradley!" you gasped. You'd never get used to how good it felt to have him surprise you there with his mustache. And then you heard him unzip his jeans before wrapping one muscular arm around you and fucking you hard. You rocked forward onto your hands as he slammed into you. 

"You're so impatient," he grunted. "Can't even make it to dinner and to your surprise unless you're full of my cum."

It was going to be embarrassing how quickly you came for him when he was dishing out the smug dirty talk. But when his fingers stroked you in time with his thrusts, you smiled and bit your lip. The colorful bedding and walls around the room made you feel a little dizzy, but nothing compared to the sensation when Bradley hit just the right spot inside you and gently spanked your clit.

"Fuck!" you squealed, clenching so hard he groaned your name. 

"Shit, Baby Girl," he growled, filling you up with his cum. But you were already there, face planted in the pillows to keep yourself quiet as you came. When you picked your head up a few inches and turned to look back at him while he was still inside you, he rubbed one big palm along your butt. "Sorry I finished so fast. You look pretty with your ass in the air," he whispered. 

You pushed yourself up on shaky arms. "And you look pretty with your cock inside me."

He chuckled and withdrew himself, and then he ran his fingers along your pussy like he was massaging his cum back inside you. "I'm not ovulating anymore, Roo," you reminded him. He could cum inside you all weekend and it wouldn't make a difference. 

"Doesn't matter," he whispered, leaning down to kiss your butt, thighs and pussy once more. "It's not going to make me want to stop giving you creampies all the time." You sighed softly as he finally stood, and you watched him walk around the bed with his cock hanging out of his jeans. "It's almost time for our dinner reservation," he reminded you as he walked into the bathroom. 

You rolled onto your back, legs clenched together as his mess coated your thighs. While you listened to him wash his hands, you closed your eyes and wished desperately that you were pregnant. You thought about everything that would change for you if you were, and you knew you'd be ready for it. 

"Coming?" he asked, reaching out for your hand. Bradley pulled you to your feet and helped you back into your underwear, looking up at you and shaking his head at the sight of his cum everywhere. He wasn't old. It blew your mind that he sometimes thought he was. He was better and sexier and stronger than anyone younger. He was everything you wanted.

"Let's go."

----------------------------

Bradley spent almost seven hundred dollars for the hotel room for the night. It was another fifty bucks to valet the Bronco, and the prices on the dinner menu in the swanky restaurant were so high, he thought they must be joking. But he wanted you to have whatever you wanted, so he ordered a twenty dollar beer so you would, too. And he ordered exactly what he wanted to eat so you would, too. 

He'd tapped out his savings when he bought the craftsman for the two of you, including the money his mom left for him. But he'd been working on building up his savings again. The dream of making one of the bedrooms a nursery sometime in the near future was clawing away at his mind. He thought about it a lot: colorful airplanes and clouds on the walls and a crib with a sweet baby that had his hair and your eyes. 

His attention was drawn back to the present as soon as the waiter returned with your beers and a platter of bread and fruit. The colorful overhead light was reflecting blue, green and orange onto your pretty face as you glanced up with a look of wonder at the waiter. Because he was now saying the words Bradley had been waiting weeks for you to hear. It was the reason he wanted to book a room as soon as he heard about this hotel. 

"While you wait for your entrees, feel free to walk around and explore our wall of condiments from around the world, our champagne waterfall, and our hot sauce vending machine."

You lurched in your seat. "Did you say hot sauce vending machine?!"

"Yes," the waiter replied with a smile, nodding to the far end of the restaurant. "Have fun."

"Bradley!" you shrieked. "They have a hot sauce vending machine!"

He grinned as you pulled him to his feet. "I know, Baby Girl. That's why I brought you here."

You wrapped your hands around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss that was better suited for the bedroom, but Bradley didn't care that there was a couple trying to eat at the next table. You were happy right now when there were times recently that you clearly hadn't been, so they'd just have to deal. 

Bradley eventually led you to the vending machine which was enormous and filled with tiny bottles of hundreds of different kinds of sauces. You stood before it in the colorful wonderland of a restaurant, analyzing each one like this was the most important work assignment of your career. 

"That's one's from Japan," you mused out loud, pointing to a green bottle. "I've always wanted to try it. Oh, and that one is made in Maryland! We need to get that one."

"Pick as many as you want, Sweetheart. They come with the meal." You actually jumped up and down and clapped your hands as you pushed the buttons to select twenty two different hot sauces, loading Bradley's arms up with the little bottles one at a time.

Then you stopped at the champagne fountain and got two glasses to take back as well. The waiter brought your dinners and some extra plates for all of the hot sauces, and you lined them up across the table. "I think I'm in heaven," you said, dipping your fork into a sauce and tasting it. 

Bradley watched you enjoy the flavor before dipping the fork again and holding it out to him. Your smile and the expectant look on your face as he tasted it made him happy, too. "I know I'm in heaven."

------------------------

How do we feel about Cam and Cat? How do we feel about Cam and BG? I also have a Cam face grab. The hot sauce vending machine is for @dakotakazansky !Thanks to @mak-32 and @beyondthesefourwalls

PART 7

@hotch-meeeeeuppppp

@swthxrry

@chassy21

@yaboid19

@solacestyles

@avoirlecoupdefoudre

@daisyhollyxox

@throwinsauce

@awesomebooklover17

@wintercap89

@whosyourgnomie4

@rosesinmars

@blog-name6996

@bcon24

@wishfulwithwine

@backinwonderl4nd

@tetragonia

@gingerbreadandpaper

@emptyloverofmine

@chaoticassidy

@missmirandafe

@changlingkhat

@sugarcoated-lame

@avada-kedavra-bitch-187

@katiebby04

@marantha

@averyhotchner

@abaker74

@heli991113

@k-k0129

@noz4a2

@tallyovie

@shanimallina87

@starlightstories

@teddyluvs2sing

@little-wiseone

@ccbb2222

@lilyevanswhore

@o-the-o-grim-o-reaper-o

@hecate-steps-on-me

@xoxabs88xox

[heart-defendor]

City of Nightmares

Azriel longed for a mate, a love like that of his brothers. Soft and sweet and gentle. Too bad he got a citizen of Hewn City instead.

Notes: Be gentle this is just the rabbling of an idiot. Also Y/n has a Hewn city perspective so may be occasionally overly critical (or maybe rightly critical) but also a little prejudice.

No member of the inner circle, including Azriel enjoyed visiting Hewn City and today would be no different. Still as Azriel stood with Cassian watching and waiting as Ryhs, Mor and Feyre discuss final details before they winnowed in, Azriel felt a sense of urgency to get going. The reason was his shadows, who over the past few had seemed to buzz more and more with anticipation at the approaching meeting, although why, he could not be certain. He frowned and waved one away as it past his ear.

Go go now now.

Taste

Touch

We must go.

Although his shows enjoyed being cryptic he had always been able to understand their message.

Cassian gave him a curious look aware of the shadows odd behavior, it was the reason he had left Illyrian camps to join them for what should be a routine meeting. Azriel would have preferred to keep it too himself but as it was his job to protect his court, he had told Rhys anyway. The shadows are restless, there was something significant is about Hewn. Thus the entire inner circle, save for Amren would be going.

“Anything new to report?” Cassian asked.

Azriel shrugged, “they are unhappy but do not seem worried”.

Finally the three high fea turned to them and after exchanging unhappy looks of resignation the group winnowed under the mountain.

xxx

Y/n swirled the wine in her glass before taking an inappropriately large gulp. As a member of one of Hewn cities most prominent members she was required to be present in the thrown room for the High Lords arrival. The Umbra family were known for high powerful night magic and ranks among the Darkbringers. A number of them were here tonight. Over a few dozen other members of the court were also present and a good few seemed to share in her boredom.

Y/n rolled her eyes as she watched her cousin Colin, flirt with a female across the room, not even pretending to be nervous about the arrival the courts most powerful members.

The High Lords and his inner circle's visits were tedious, rarely did anything noteworthy actually happen. Though their posturing could be entertaining. So long as the agreement between the High lord and Keir remained nothing would change, not really. No cruelty inflicted by the Inner Circle had ever compared to the daily on goings witnessed in Hewn City.

Finally the door to the right of the throne swung open with a bang and into the room strode first the Spymaster and the General of the Illyrian followed closely by Keir’s daughter. Over the top of her wine glass Y/N could admit if only to herself that she had always found the Shadowsiger incredibly attractive, even if he was an Illyrian brute.

She found the way the shadows swirled around his large frame enchanting. Y/N could describe them as ethereal. She watched them over the listening to whatever the High Lady was now saying. Almost like they knew what she was thinking, and maybe they did some of his shadows had skittered across the floor towards her moving up her dress and through her hair. She almost giggled at the sensation but then she had looked up. Her heart stopped.

Her eyes were now locked with the Shadowsingers' and she felt the the bond snap.

Mate.

The Spymaster of the Night Court was her mate. She could feel her heart in her throat. Y/n felt shock, confusion and something else something deeper beneath the surface. It was so intense.

And oh gods was that his emotions she was feeling too?

She wanted to scream, but she wouldn't, not here. Instead she downed the rest of her wine set it on the glass and promptly ran away.

Uhh stay tuned for part 2 I guess?

[venusvity]

‧₊ ᵎᵎ 🍒 ⋅ ˚✮  WELCOME TO THE WORLD VENUS !

It's 2018. Angelico hasn't had an active girl group in four years. The boy group checks are getting smaller every month; their newest boy group just flopped. The bank is calling about overdue payments, and they're desperate for a hit. With what was left in their ever-shrinking business bank account, they debuted their saving grace: VENUS.

The five-member piece comprised popular trainees from their Angellies program and former I.O.I member Chloe Lee. Baebi, Bliss, and Jiah consistently ranked in the top four during the Angellies' weekly rankings alongside Chloe. The only outsider was Sena Kim, who ranked reasonably well but consistently ranked in the top ten instead of the top five like the other girls.

VENUS IN 2018 AT THEIR DEBUT SHOWCASE: Bliss (20), Baebi (19), Chloe (18), Sena (16), and Jiah (15).

SHE DEVIL, originally a digital single that later became a physical single, was a commercial success in South Korea. The song entered the Gaon Digital Chart at number five the week of its release. 

It was certified platinum by the Korea Music Content Association (KMCA) for 100 million streams just two months after its release. "She Devil" ranked 11th on the year-end Gaon Digital Chart, making it the best-performing girl group song and second-best-performing group song of 2018 in South Korea.

"She Devil" amassed the top spot on various music programs; it achieved 9 wins, including a "triple crown" (or three wins) on Inkigayo.

Next would come KISSENUS, the group's first mini-album, and come back, "Kisseus," pronounced "KISS-EE-US," which was a move to establish the Venus branding. There were so many "-eus" gimmicks during this time. Some landed, some didn't, but Kissenus landed!

Know what didn't land? Their outfits. Oh my god, it was clear Angelico was broke! Truly, one of the last groups to debut looking like losers, they had these girls looking a mess on music shows! Fans still bring up the wardrobe choices when discussing Kissenus.

Kissenus would receive 7 music show awards across various music programs, including another "triple crown" on Inkigayo.

Their final comeback of the year would be another mini album titled "Tasteus" and a title track of the same name. While the song was a banger and performed well on the charts and at music shows, securing 6 wins and retaining their "triple crowned" winner status at Inkigayo, fans began to worry if the girls were being overworked due to their constant promotion of a new release.

Their run at the 2018 MAMA Awards caused mass discourse amongst K-pop fans. The barely-year-old group won Best Female Group, Best New Artist—Female, and Best Dance Performance—Female Group for She-Devil.

Venus saw undeniable and unheard-of success for Angelico in 2018, skyrocketing their company's stocks, becoming the faces of "Monster Rookies," and being the blueprint for what a good debut year should look like.

[yanxioustrikas]

dmitri

link to the latest art of dmitri

this post is simply called dmitri, and this is hopefully everything you need to know about them! or just some fun facts lol

(this was sitting in draft since SUMMER, and since there is another rise of ocs in supablr, i thought this would be a good opportunity to revise and post this)

biography

full name: dmitri mikhailovich sokolov

pronouns: he/they

sexuality: bisexual

gender: genderfluid

age: 16 (debut), 17 to 18 (super league junior career), 19 to early 20s (post-super league junior)

birthday: may 23

height: 191 cm/6'3 ft

nationality/citizenship: russian-south african

ethnicity: russian + cameroonian

residence(s): st. petersburg, russia (birthplace), johannesburg, south africa (permanent), toronto, ontario, canada (for uni)

language(s): russian, french, english, afrikaans (fluent in first three, limited proficiency in afrikaans)

significant other: hiram romilly-choucair

family

father: mikhail sokolov

mother: nadine bahanag

sibling(s): matvey (older brother; oldest), avdotya (older sister; middle)

pet(s): squeaky (white maine coon cat)

super league junior profile

team: invincible united junior fc

jersey number: 17

position: midfielder + captain

award(s): rookie of the year, star of the match (x10), slj captain of the year (x2)

post-secondary profile

type: university

location: toronto, ontario, canada

program: fashion design - bachelor of design

varsity sports team: men's ice hockey - goaltender

extracurricular clubs: francophone club, visual arts club, cameroonian student association, literature club

possible future career: fashion designer, fashion journalist, or dressmaker

hobbies and interests

ice hockey

soccer

visual art (won a few high school awards for his artworks)

creative writing

sewing and designing

flute

dance (contemporary ballet)

russian and french literature

cooking (not great at it so they call their sister for help lol)

making mocha

strawberries

extra stuff about his family because they all have interesting lives lol

mikhail (father), he/him

a therapist, specializing in cognitive behavioural therapy and psychotherapy, and is among the best psychologists in johannesburg

did practicum at the oasis, and used to work for cognito fc for a year

ex-ballet dancer from a wealthy (and horrible) classical ballet family in moscow

other interests include dance (for old time sake and to pass on the sokolov techniques to his kids), sudoku, pilates, cooking

nadine (mother), she/her

a corporate lawyer working at one of south africa’s high-ranking law firms

cousin of el matador’s female lawyer (both also attended the same law school)

during her youth, she played defence for the u-18 cameroon's women's national soccer team

other interests include yoga, cardio, playing piano, reading classical books

matvey (brother), he/him

a flute player studying at a prestigious conservatory in london, england

has a huge platform on various social media for showcasing his passion for music

part-time job as a music tutor

other interests include reading philosophical literature, working out, photography, playing ice hockey at a recreational league (defender), dance

avdotya (sister), she/her

a food science major and a culinary enthusiast

was a contestant (two-time champion) at a national (russian) junior chef competition

currently co-president for her university’s culinary club

other interests include painting, playing intramural ice hockey (forward), dance, weightlifting, journaling

squeaky (cat), he/him

a male cat who is very talkative and friendly

was adopted from a shelter in johannesburg at 5 months olds

loves to watch the birds from inside the house, but never chases them if outside

dislikes eating fish itself, will eat if the fish is eaten with something else in the bowl

the kids love hockey and dance sm

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Olga Khazan

Published: Feb 18, 2018

Though their numbers are growing, only 27 percent of all students taking the AP Computer Science exam in the United States are female. The gender gap grows worse from there: Just 18 percent of American computer-science college degrees go to women. This is in the U.S., where many college men proudly describe themselves as “male feminists” and girls are taught they can be anything they want to be.

Meanwhile, in Algeria, 41 percent of college graduates in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math—or STEM, as it’s known—are female. There, employment discrimination against women is rife, and women are often pressured to make amends with their abusive husbands.

According to a report that I covered a few years ago, Jordan, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates were the only three countries in which boys were significantly less likely to feel comfortable working on math problems than girls were. In all of the other nations surveyed, girls were more likely to say they feel “helpless while performing a math problem.”

So what explains the tendency for nations that have traditionally less gender equality to have more women in science and technology than their gender-progressive counterparts do?

[ A scatter plot of countries based on their number of female STEM graduates and their Global Gender Gap Index (y-axis), a measure of opportunities for women (Psychological Science) ]

According to a new paper published in Psychological Science by the psychologists Gijsbert Stoet, of Leeds Beckett University, and David Geary, of the University of Missouri, it could have to do with the fact that women in countries with higher gender inequality are simply seeking the clearest possible path to financial freedom. And typically, that path leads through STEM professions.

The issue doesn’t appear to be girls’ aptitude for STEM professions. In looking at test scores across 67 countries and regions, Stoet and Geary found that girls performed about as well or better than boys did on science in most countries, and in almost all countries, girls would have been capable of college-level science and math classes if they had enrolled in them.

But when it comes to their relative strengths, in almost all the countries—all except Romania and Lebanon—boys’ best subject was science, and girls’ was reading. (That is, even if an average girl was as good as an average boy at science, she was still likely to be even better at reading.) Across all countries, 24 percent of girls had science as their best subject, 25 percent of girls’ strength was math, and 51 percent excelled in reading. For boys, the percentages were 38 for science, 42 for math, and 20 for reading. And the more gender-equal the country, as measured by the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index, the larger this disparity between boys and girls in showing science to be their best subject. (The most gender-equal countries are the typical snowy utopias you hear about, such as Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. Turkey and the United Arab Emirates rank among the least equal, according to the Global Gender Gap Index.)

The gap in reading “is related at least in part to girls’ advantages in basic language abilities and a generally greater interest in reading; they read more and thus practice more,” Geary told me.

What’s more, the countries that minted the most female college graduates in fields such as science, engineering, or math were also some of the least gender-equal countries. Stoet and Geary posit that this is because the countries that empower women also empower them, indirectly, to pick whatever career they’d enjoy most and be best at.

“Countries with the highest gender equality tend to be welfare states,” they write, “with a high level of social security.” Meanwhile, less gender-equal countries tend to also have less social support for people who, for example, find themselves unemployed. Thus, the authors suggest, girls in those countries might be more inclined to choose STEM professions because they offer a more certain financial future than, say, painting or writing.

When the study authors looked at the “overall life satisfaction” rating of each country—a measure of economic opportunity and hardship—they found that gender-equal countries had more life satisfaction. The life-satisfaction ranking explained 35 percent of the variation between gender equality and women’s participation in STEM. That correlation echoes past research showing that the genders are actually more segregated by field of study in more economically developed places.

The upshot of this research is neither especially feminist nor especially sad: It’s not that gender equality discourages girls from pursuing science. It’s that it allows them not to if they’re not interested.

The findings will likely seem controversial, because the idea that men and women have different inherent abilities is used by some to argue that we should forget trying to recruit more women to the STEM fields. But, as Janet Shibley Hyde, a gender-studies professor at the University of Wisconsin who wasn’t involved with the study, put it to me, that’s not quite what’s happening here.

“Some would say that the gender STEM gap occurs not because girls can’t do science, but because they have other alternatives, based on their strengths in verbal skills,” she said. “In wealthy nations, they believe that they have the freedom to pursue those alternatives and not worry so much that they pay less.”

Instead, this line of research, if it’s replicated, might hold useful takeaways for people who do want to see more Western women entering STEM fields. In this study, the percentage of girls who excelled in science or math was still larger than the number of women who were graduating with STEM degrees. That means there’s something in even the most liberal societies that’s nudging women away from math and science, even when those are their best subjects. The women-in-STEM advocates could, for starters, focus their efforts on those would-be STEM stars.

Then again, it could just be that, feeling financially secure and on equal footing with men, some women will always choose to follow their passions, rather than whatever labor economists recommend. And those passions don’t always lie within science.

--

Abstract

The underrepresentation of girls and women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields is a continual concern for social scientists and policymakers. Using an international database on adolescent achievement in science, mathematics, and reading ( N = 472,242), we showed that girls performed similarly to or better than boys in science in two of every three countries, and in nearly all countries, more girls appeared capable of college-level STEM study than had enrolled. Paradoxically, the sex differences in the magnitude of relative academic strengths and pursuit of STEM degrees rose with increases in national gender equality. The gap between boys' science achievement and girls' reading achievement relative to their mean academic performance was near universal. These sex differences in academic strengths and attitudes toward science correlated with the STEM graduation gap. A mediation analysis suggested that life-quality pressures in less gender-equal countries promote girls' and women's engagement with STEM subjects.

==

The definition of "STEM" is deceptive. It selects for primarily male-dominated "things" areas, while excluding female-dominated "life" domains, such as medicine, psychology, nursing, biology and environmental sciences.

Despite what people assume, "STEM" does not include all the sciences.

When you factor in all of the sciences, women outnumber men. Meaning, all the handwringing over "women in STEM" is complete nonsense.

Especially when it turns out that gender - that is, average sex-differences - aren't a "social construct." The average differences between men and women are real, demonstrable, measurable, and they're larger in more equal societies, because individuals have greater opportunity to do what they really want, without external pressures like financial demands. This has been studied repeatedly; see below.

Abstract

We investigated sex differences in 473,260 adolescents’ aspirations to work in things-oriented (e.g., mechanic), people-oriented (e.g., nurse), and STEM (e.g., mathematician) careers across 80 countries and economic regions using the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). We analyzed student career aspirations in combination with student achievement in mathematics, reading, and science, as well as parental occupations and family wealth. In each country and region, more boys than girls aspired to a things-oriented or STEM occupation and more girls than boys to a people-oriented occupation. These sex differences were larger in countries with a higher level of women’s empowerment. We explain this counter-intuitive finding through the indirect effect of wealth. Women’s empowerment is associated with relatively high levels of national wealth and this wealth allows more students to aspire to occupations they are intrinsically interested in. Implications for better understanding the sources of sex differences in career aspirations and associated policy are discussed.

Abstract

Preferences concerning time, risk, and social interactions systematically shape human behavior and contribute to differential economic and social outcomes between women and men. We present a global investigation of gender differences in six fundamental preferences. Our data consist of measures of willingness to take risks, patience, altruism, positive and negative reciprocity, and trust for 80,000 individuals in 76 representative country samples. Gender differences in preferences were positively related to economic development and gender equality. This finding suggests that greater availability of and gender-equal access to material and social resources favor the manifestation of gender-differentiated preferences across countries.

Abstract

Sex differences in personality have been shown to be larger in more gender equal countries. We advance this research by using an extensive personality measure, the IPIP-NEO-120, with large country samples (N > 1000), from 22 countries. Furthermore, to capture the multidimensionality of personality we measure sex differences with a multivariate effect size (Mahalanobis distance D). Results indicate that past research, using univariate measures of effect size, have underestimated the size of between-country sex differences in personality. Confirming past research, there was a strong correlation (r = .69) between a country's sex differences in personality and their Gender Equality Index. Additional analyses showed that women typically score higher than men on all five trait factors (Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness), and that these relative differences are larger in more gender equal countries. We speculate that as gender equality increases both men and women gravitate towards their traditional gender roles.

Abstract

Previous research suggested that sex differences in personality traits are larger in prosperous, healthy, and egalitarian cultures in which women have more opportunities equal with those of men. In this article, the authors report cross-cultural findings in which this unintuitive result was replicated across samples from 55 nations (N = 17,637). On responses to the Big Five Inventory, women reported higher levels of neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness than did men across most nations. These findings converge with previous studies in which different Big Five measures and more limited samples of nations were used. Overall, higher levels of human development--including long and healthy life, equal access to knowledge and education, and economic wealth--were the main nation-level predictors of larger sex differences in personality. Changes in men's personality traits appeared to be the primary cause of sex difference variation across cultures. It is proposed that heightened levels of sexual dimorphism result from personality traits of men and women being less constrained and more able to naturally diverge in developed nations. In less fortunate social and economic conditions, innate personality differences between men and women may be attenuated.

Abstract

Using data from over 200,000 participants from 53 nations, I examined the cross-cultural consistency of sex differences for four traits: extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism, and male-versus-female-typical occupational preferences. Across nations, men and women differed significantly on all four traits (mean ds = -.15, -.56, -.41, and 1.40, respectively, with negative values indicating women scoring higher). The strongest evidence for sex differences in SDs was for extraversion (women more variable) and for agreeableness (men more variable). United Nations indices of gender equality and economic development were associated with larger sex differences in agreeableness, but not with sex differences in other traits. Gender equality and economic development were negatively associated with mean national levels of neuroticism, suggesting that economic stress was associated with higher neuroticism. Regression analyses explored the power of sex, gender equality, and their interaction to predict men's and women's 106 national trait means for each of the four traits. Only sex predicted means for all four traits, and sex predicted trait means much more strongly than did gender equality or the interaction between sex and gender equality. These results suggest that biological factors may contribute to sex differences in personality and that culture plays a negligible to small role in moderating sex differences in personality.

Abstract

Men's and women's personalities appear to differ in several respects. Social role theories of development assume gender differences result primarily from perceived gender roles, gender socialization and sociostructural power differentials. As a consequence, social role theorists expect gender differences in personality to be smaller in cultures with more gender egalitarianism. Several large cross-cultural studies have generated sufficient data for evaluating these global personality predictions. Empirically, evidence suggests gender differences in most aspects of personality-Big Five traits, Dark Triad traits, self-esteem, subjective well-being, depression and values-are conspicuously larger in cultures with more egalitarian gender roles, gender socialization and sociopolitical gender equity. Similar patterns are evident when examining objectively measured attributes such as tested cognitive abilities and physical traits such as height and blood pressure. Social role theory appears inadequate for explaining some of the observed cultural variations in men's and women's personalities. Evolutionary theories regarding ecologically-evoked gender differences are described that may prove more useful in explaining global variation in human personality.

The only way to force arbitrarily equal outcomes - for no better reason than to say you achieved it - is to remove or limit people's choices. Because the places where men's and women's outcomes are the most equal is where they're both toiling in the rice-fields for 12 hours a day.

[therealslimshakespeare]

Do you have any Ida Brady headcanons for pre-integrated AU? 👀

Oooh yes I do, thanks for asking!

It has occurred to me how we’ve met her when she’s legit at her lowest and coldest. So while she might be impressive AF right now, she’s not exactly the warm hearted sister Johnny could tell you of, the insane dark-horse risk taker Egan will bet on any day, the tireless and compassionate advocate of her girls, or the incredibly conflicted woman Rosie Rosenthal has the audacity to make laugh before Victory rolls round.

Ok, full disclosure, there’s plenty about this AU I’ve not even bothered figuring out as it would drive me mad and stifle the creativity, so plenty of the aspects and rules of integration, etc, have been left nebulous even in my own brain.

The short of this concept, however, is that the Bloody 100th became the first (and likely only? maybe another by the end of the war) bomber group to intergrate. It added to their reputation as a crazy and undisciplined force, an experiment of sorts. Full of mad hatters and women who deserved to get shot out of the sky for attempting to engage in something as masculine aerial combat -it made the men both defensive of their group’s capabilities and that of their female fellows. Sink or swim together, and by god, they flew instead.

This also meant Ida Brady became the highest ranking woman of her sex in the air force at the time, although she was predictably never given close to a full squadron as was her “due” as a Lt. Colonel.

It was a bit of a surprise then when she pushed for full integration of the group, that she should not be over women only, and not all women should answer strictly to her. This was adopted by the time of Harding’s command and the girls’ broader deployment.

Old habits die hard however, and “Ida’s Banshees” were still toasted at the Silver Wings club, although technically many fellas were counted amongst them by then.

How’d she get into aviation? well my dears -it starts with a stock market crash

The Brady family did alright for much of the 1930’s, jobs in rural New York were hard to come by yet the soil was good for food and the community close, the desperate poverty of the big cities wasn’t as starkly obvious or quick to ruin out there. But just because the country takes a turn up doesn’t always mean a single family will, too. There’s always unforeseen twists and turns.

Her two brothers could add to the family with what work they could get, or apprentice as Johnny did. But Ida? Those should have been her courting years, according to mama. Mrs. Brady was a good woman, a product of her times and upbringing and an immigrant child herself. It wasn’t cruel to the Irish, it was custom, to send a child away to better serve their futures.

And so 1937 found Ida seated on a train headed down to an Aunt’s house in Miami, Florida, to help with Uncle’s Travel Agency and earn a wage and hopefully meet some young fellas

There may have been young fellas in Miami but Ida didn’t have an eye for them, she wanted money and security and and to be back with her tight knit family in New York.

Uncle’s little venture was a sprawling enterprise growing free and wild since the mid 20’s in Florida’s sticky air. Sure it was a travel agency but it also coordinated areal mail runs that also accommodated a growing number of passengers, and on the side was Uncle’s true passion: the aviation school of Embry and Riddle.

Named after himself (Riddle) and his business partner Embry, her uncle had been battling the government’s pesky fingers in his training programs since the 20’s and by the late 30’s —when Ida arrived— he had reopened three different times.

Such tenacity and unreserved frustration shown by someone she so admired in regards to authoritarian overreach cemented in Ida’s mind a very clear impression that the persecution she later faced was not due fully to her sex. Instead she chose to consider it persecution of the old American trait of not giving a damn about the pesky ball and chain of higher power. Yes she appreciated her rules in the army, but in civilian enterprises? She has definite opinions about leaving well enough alone

Becoming a pilot for Ida was something that happened out of necessity and opportunity than an immediate passion. If anything it terrified her a bit, but then again, so had canoeing down the rapids in Maine with Johnny. And Ida never backed down from what scared her, only what she felt was wrong. And as far as she could see, God hadn’t said nothin’ against either man or woman flying around. So, having decided to become a pilot and help her uncle in his dreams, she became an excellent one

By 1940 Uncle Riddle had yoked with the U.S. Army Air Corps Training Program, his private school had produced 250 students and certified them as pilots the previous year and he was much in demand.

Ida Brady had been one of his chief instructors and wasn’t that a trip?

When war broke out she was recruited by and immediately joined the WASPS, training women students to transport bombers this time.

You think being a dmv test trainer is scary? Try strapping wings to those kids. It’s hell to be excellent at a thing and sit on your hands while someone nearly kills you both with their inexperience. Yet that was her day job for almost a year, and she had a temperament oddly suited to it, calm, decently patient and lethally critical when needed, she was respected and her students became not only respected but fully equipped to keep themselves and their cargo safe by the end.

When the Air Force pitched its experimental Integrated Squadron, Ida already knew the majority of the girls joining would prove to have been her students.

I am not sure she jumped at a combat position immediately, between her traditional upbringing, crucial training role and suspicion of the army screwing over the whole endeavor, I think she would be wary.

There’s speculations about who talked her into it, some say her brother had reported the dreadful discipline and treatment of the 100th’s nearly disbanded female force to her, and driven by stubborn pride in her protégés, Ida Brady had shown up and demanded they at least be nixed with dignity.

Instead she found herself training both men and women to stay the fuck in the air…the whole point of their particular branch

They didn’t get nixed. And Ida was suddenly a squadron commander without an actual squadron

By England I imagine she is still fighting for inclusions in the crews, there’s lots of finicky dealings regarding who gets sent up. She is technically Cleven and Egan’s superior but even she has the sense to know that blending in is her best bet, so she does her utmost and is respected accordingly. An odd third wheel that somehow adds a subtle but significant amount of gravitas and dignity to the whole gang, a rules and regulations gal but on because her own conduct is examined under a microscope by those higher ups who’d like the can they whole production

Under Harding’s command, as the crews become scarce, there is no discrimination left.

Those Who Can, fly.

Ida Brady goes out each time, if her girls are out so is she, even if the integration she fought for is entirely complete.

When she’s downed two days after the disastrous Munster mission that claimed her brother and Egan, it’s just in time, she’s needed on the ground by her girls who’d been lost earlier

Going ahead and tagging in case anyone is interested in this wack list of headcanons ha

MOTA taglist, I only have one so ignore if this is not the universe you signed up for:

@stylespresleyhearted

@ab4eva

@earth-to-lottie

@suraemoon

@blurredcolour

@steph-speaks

@crazymadpassionatelove

@rubyfruitjungle

@taestrwbrry

@storysimp

@javden

@sexualparkour

@jointherebellion215

@sunny747

@ask-you-what-sir

@xxanaduwrites

@pretty4u

@yorkshirekiwi

@waitedforlove743

@elvismylove04

@blikebarbie92

@luminouslywriting

@euryno-j47

@justheretoreadthhx

@bookotter01

@mads-weasley

@ka-ski

@darkestbeforethedawn16

@slowsweetlove

@richardslady121

@barbeygirl

@prfctplcsreads

@vaf24

@harrys-housewife

@claireelizabeth85

@pearlparty

[matsutoyayumi]

💕Yumi Arai Roleplay account💕

Scenario (EN): Yumi was informed about Tumblr by a fan in a grocery store, so she joins due to her interest peaking in the site💕

Scenario (JP): ユミ は、小売店のファンからTumblrについて知られていたので、彼女はサイトへの興味のピークのために彼女に加わります💕

💕 Warnings!💕

Age warning (En): Please be 15+ to interact with this account, due to the mature themes this account will use (Smoking, Drinking, Ect)

Age warning (Jp): このアカウントでコミュニケーションするには15歳以上になることをお勧めします。 (Smoking, Drinking, Ect)

Genuine Warning (En): I am Not Miss Yuming, I am just a fan from the us, I don't know how to speak English I am using a accurate japanese Translator until I learn Japanese myself.

Genuine Warning (Jp): 俺はミス・ユミンじゃない 私はアメリカからのファンで、私は英語を話す方法を知らない私は私が日本語を自分で学ぶまで正確な日本語翻訳機を使用しています。

Harassment/Not Interested (EN): If you aren't a fan of the account just block it, no one really gives a damn harassing is for weaklings anyways so don't harass this account or any other Musician Roleplay because they put lots of work and energy into making their account and don't need some annoying pricks ruining the fun.

Harassment/Not Interested (JP): あなたがアカウントのファンでない場合は、それをブロックするだけで、誰も本当に悪魔の嫌がらせを与えることは、いずれにせよ弱い人々のためにありますので、彼らは彼らの口座を作成するために多くの仕事とエネルギーを投入し、楽しみを台無しにいくつかのイライラするピックを必要としません。

💕Solo Career💕

Yumi Matsutoya (松任谷 由実, Matsutōya Yumi, born January 19, 1954), nicknamed Yuming (ユーミン, Yūmin),is a Japanese singer, composer, lyricist and pianist. Generally the writer of both the lyrics and the music in her songs,she is renowned for her idiosyncratic voice and live performances, and is one of the most prominent figures in the history of Japanese popular music.

Her recording career has been commercially successful with more than 42 million records sold. In 1990, her album The Gates of Heaven became the first album to be certified "2x million" by the RIAJ, and she has had twenty-one No. 1 albums listed on the Oricon charts.

 She is the only artist to have at least one number-one album every year on the Oricon charts for 18 consecutive years.

After gaining several years of experience as a session musician, she debuted as a singer-songwriter in 1972. During her early career, she worked under her birth name Yumi Arai (荒井 由実, Arai Yumi). In 1975, Arai became known as a composer for "Ichigo Hakusho wo Mou Ichido", a commercially successful song recorded by the folk duo BanBan. She also gained popularity as a vocalist in the same year through the success of "Ano Hi ni Kaeritai", which became her first number-one hit on Japan's Oricon Charts. Other famous songs include "Haru-yo, Koi" and "Sweet, Bitter Sweet".

She also uses the name Kureta Karuho (呉田軽穂), which is derived from the Swedish film star Greta Garbo, when offering her work to other musicians. 

In The Encyclopedia of Contemporary Japanese Culture, it is written that "Yuming incorporated influences from progressive rock and European pop to produce a sophisticated, upper-middle-class female Japanese voice and sound in a contemporary musical and journalistic world dominated by discussions of folk music and social critique. This musical idiom is generally thought to have been first realised on [...] Cobalt Hour".

The album The 14th Moon and the three albums that ranked in the top 10 of the Japanese charts in 1976 (Cobalt Hour, Yuming Brand, and Hikōki-gumo) "contained several songs which are considered to be early classics of the J-pop genre."

After marrying her musical collaborator Masataka Matsutoya in 1976, Arai began recording under her married name and has continued to do so. Throughout the 1980s, Matsutoya's music was prominently featured in advertisements for Mitsubishi Motors in her native Japan and her image was used to promote their vehicles. In addition to multiple hit singles, she has obtained enormous commercial success on the Japanese Albums Chart, particularly during the late 1980s and the first half of the 1990s.

The magazine Shūkan Gendai ranked Matsutoya third (behind only Miyuki Nakajima and Masayoshi Son) in a list of the smartest Japanese figures that was determined based on the criteria of "intelligence, determination, sensibility and capability".

💕Information On Yumi Arai💕

Early years

Yumi Arai was born in 1954 in Hachiōji, Tokyo. She had three brothers and one sister, and her family ran a draper shop called Arai Gofukuten, established in 1912. When she was a junior high school student, she used to go to an Italian restaurant called Chianti, which had opened in 1960. In those days, many celebrities went to the restaurant; Akira Kurosawa, Yukio Mishima, Kōbō Abe, Seiji Ozawa, Ryu Murakami, Taro Okamoto, Kishin Shinoyama, and Hiroshi "Monsieur" Kamayatsu, who eventually became her first record producer.

Alfa Music, the publishing company to which she belonged early her in career (later to become a full-fledged record label in 1977), was founded by people who were regular customers at Chianti.

Her nickname "Yuming" was given to her by Sy Chen (シー・ユー・チェン), a Chinese bassist she had a crush on when she was 13 years old. She began her music career when she was still young. At the age of 14, she worked as a musician for the first time. Having worked as a studio musician, she also wrote many original songs. When she was 17 years old, her first original song titled "Ai wa Totsuzen ni" was released. It was sung by Katsumi Kahashi, the former guitarist of the influential 1960s Japanese band The Tigers.

In April 1972, Arai entered Tama Art University. At the same time, she signed with then-publishing company Alfa as a music artist. At first, she wanted to be a songwriter. However, the founder of the publishing company, Kunihiko Murai, encouraged her to work as a singer-songwriter.

Early career; works as Yumi Arai

On July 5, 1972, Arai released her debut single "Henji wa Iranai". It was produced by Hiroshi "Monsieur" Kamayatsu, the former vocalist of The Spiders. Released by Toshiba EMI, the label to which she would be affiliated and release all her albums throughout her career, under its Liberty sublabel (with Alfa acting as publishing company), her first single sold only 300 copies. (It would later feature in re-recorded form on her debut LP, Hikō-ki Gumo.)

She recorded her first full album, Hikō-ki Gumo, with the band Caramel Mama, better known as Tin Pan Alley, which consisted of Haruomi Hosono, Shigeru Suzuki, Tateo Hayashi and Masataka Matsutoya, and it was released by Toshiba EMI under its Express sublabel in November 1973; the title track (and lead-off track) was later used as the theme song for the movie The Wind Rises (2013). For her next album, MISSLIM, (1974), Masataka Matsutoya, who was the keyboardist of Tin Pan Alley, arranged all of her songs. Her third studio album, Cobalt Hour (1975), features her early famous song "Sotsugyō Shashin". The same year, it was covered by the chorus group Hi-Fi Set (who also performed on the original song) on their first album with the same name. That cover version also succeeded as a single. In later years, it was covered by many Japanese artists and became one of Japan's classic pop songs. The same year, the male folk duo BanBan recorded her song "Ichigo Hakusho o Mou Ichido" and reached number one on the Oricon chart. Because of the commercial success of other artists, she became famous as a songwriter.

Yumi achieved moderate success with her fifth single, Rouge no Dengon ("Rouge Message"), an up-tempo song considered to be a proto J-Pop classic. She gained a television appearance singing this song with the top Japanese girl group of the time, Candies, and the song has been covered by a number of artists over the years.

Her first top hit as a singer-songwriter was her sixth single "Ano Hi ni Kaeritai". In August 1975, it was used as the theme song for the TBS TV drama Katei no Himitsu. Two months later, it was released as a single and reached the top of the Oricon chart. The 14th Moon (1976), her final album as Yumi Arai, featured Leland Sklar on bass and Mike Baird on drums. Since this album, Masataka Matsutoya has produced all her albums himself. She considers her nickname "Yuming" to also mean the name of the union with her husband. Following the success with "Ano Hi ni Kaeritai", it became her first album to reach number one on the Oricon chart. Besides, in the end of the year chart in 1976, three of her albums (Cobalt Hour, Yuming Brand, and Hikō-ki Gumo) ranked in the top 10.

 Four years after her debut, she dominated the Japanese album charts. This astonishing record has never been broken by anyone since.

In 1989, her fifth single, "Rouge no Dengon" (from her third album), and third single, "Yasashisa ni Tsutsumaretanara" (the version used was from her second album), were featured as the theme songs of the film Kiki's Delivery Service. Nowadays, those tunes are known as her early notable songs.

Some of her songs were deeply influenced by many American and European musicians, such as Joni Mitchell and Carole King. As a pioneering singer-songwriter who mixed Western culture and Japanese pop, she left a strong impression on Japanese popular music.

Works as Yumi Matsutoya

After marrying Masataka Matsutoya on November 29, 1976, she had considered retirement. But eventually she decided to continue to work as a musician, performing under her married name. In 1978, her memorable first album as Yumi Matsutoya, entitled Benisuzume was released. In the late 1970s and early 80s, she released two albums every year. However, those albums were less successful than the ones she released when she was single. Nevertheless, she wrote several of her well-known songs during those years, and her albums reached the top 10 on the Oricon chart.

Before the release of Benisuzume, a compilation named Album was released by Toshiba EMI. It mainly contained songs she had released as Yumi Arai, and two songs released as singles only. Matsutoya didn't want to release this compilation; in her autobiography released in 1982, she writes about this album and calls it "The biggest stain on my music career."

 Because of this, she never allowed the release of another compilation album until 1998. However, her ex-record-label-and-publishing-company Alfa Records had, after 1977 (when Alfa finally established itself as an independent record label), released many compilations which consisted of her old tunes without her permission. Hence, in the late 1990s, she bought the copyrights of all her songs that she had written under her maiden name; helping in this decision was the fact that Toshiba EMI had by then regained control, in 1994, of the Alfa catalogue, including the albums released by Toshiba EMI while Alfa was still a publishing company, thus her early catalogue being spared of Alfa's 2001 sale to Sony after Alfa faced financial difficulties.

Her tenth album, Surf and Snow (1980), changed the negative tide for her. When the album was released, it did not sell as well as others had previously. However, in 1986, "Koibito ga Santa Claus" became popular as the theme song for the hit movie ''Take Me out to the Snowland [jp] (私をスキーに連れてって, Watashi wo Ski ni Tsuretette.) （1987）. The album eventually sold over 400,000 copies. In 1981, she returned to the top of Japanese pop music. Her husband wrote the score for the movie Nerawareta Gakuen, which was directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi and distributed by Kadokawa Pictures. She wrote "Mamotte Agetai" as the theme song for the movie. The single of this song reached number two on Oricon and sold nearly 700,000 copies. Following the success of the single, her eleventh album Sakuban Oaishimasho (1981) became her second number one album. From that year through 1997, 17 consecutive studio albums she released reached number one on the Oricon charts.

Ian Martin of The Japan Times wrote in 2016, "At the same time she was contributing to Matsuda's record-breaking run of No. 1 hit singles, Matsutoya’s own work retained an almost militant focus on albums, and the balance she struck between commercial success and artistic integrity is a source of inspiration to many aspiring musicians."

In 1982, she published an autobiography, Rouge no Dengon. In this book, she wrote about her life in an exaggerated style. She contemplated doing the artwork on her own albums. The artwork of the album Sakuban Oaishimasho (1981) was designed by Hipgnosis, and the video Compartment was produced by Storm Thorgerson, Aubrey Powell and Peter Christopherson. A logo design from the latter film also became the logo of "Yuming", and was used as the cover of the 1984 album No Side. Aubrey Powell and Richard Evans of Hipgnosis also designed the cover of the 1983 album "Voyager". Since the 1970s, she has also been famous as an artist who performs in concerts using gorgeous and novel sets. She used elaborate visual technology on the stage and it is said that they cost over a hundred million yen. She has released two live albums and several videos. In 1986, she released her first live album, Yuming Visualive DA-DI-DA,. It was released on CD and cassette tape only, and it became one of the rarest items among her fans for many years

💕Discography💕

Hikō-ki Gumo (1973) (credited to "Yumi Arai")

Misslim (1974) (credited to "Yumi Arai")

Cobalt Hour (1975) (credited to "Yumi Arai")

14-banme no Tsuki (The 14th Moon) (1976) (credited to "Yumi Arai")

Benisuzume (1978)

Ryūsenkei '80 (1978)

Olive (1979)

Kanashii Hodo Otenki (The Gallery in My Heart) (1979)

Toki no Nai Hotel (1980)

Surf and Snow Volume One (1980)

Mizu no Naka no Asia e (1981)

Sakuban Oaishimashō (1981)

Pearl Pierce (1982)

Reincarnation (1983)

Voyager (1983)

No Side (1984)

Da-Di-Da (1985)

Alarm à la mode (1986)

Diamond Dust ga Kienumani (Before the Diamond Dust Fades...) (1987)

Delight Slight Light Kiss (1988)

Love Wars (1989)

Tengoku no Door (The Gates of Heaven) (1990)

Dawn Purple (1991)

Tears and Reasons (1992)

U-miz (1993)

The Dancing Sun (1994)

Kathmandu (1995)

Cowgirl Dreamin' (1997)

Suyua no Nami (The Wave of Zuvuya) (1997)

Frozen Roses (1999)

Acacia (2001)

Wings of Winter, Shades of Summer (2002)

Yuming Compositions: Faces (2003)

Viva! 6×7 (2004)

A Girl in Summer (2006)

Soshite Mouichido Yumemiru Darou (And I Will Dream Again...) (2009)

Road Show (2011)

Pop Classico (2013)

Uchū Toshokan (Universal Library) (2016)

Shinkai no Machi (2020)

💕Other Roleplay Accounts💕

@gardengrampa

@bikinikillhanna

@theeverglades

@gwenstefoubt

💕Roleplay friends💕 (From other accounts I rp on)

George Account

@john-winston-ono-lennon

@totallypaulmccartney

@ringo-starboy

Kathleen Hana Account

@t0bi-is-cool

Gwen Account

@t8yl0r-8

@sid-0

@joeynumbr1

@mrparadisecity

Graham Coxon

@iampamelaanderson

[sillyromance]

Good day everyone!

Here come some more doodle pages! Now there are Archie and the characters I haven't yet introduced officially, but they will play significant roles in my story. The royal family is the dynasty running Vincent's country, meanwhile Sonya and Georgy rein in the neighboring lands.

I'm leaving the copy of texts I've written on the two last pages here in case my hand writing happens to be unreadable (I sincerely apologize for possible mistakes):

Page 2 - Royal family (siblings)

King Edward II 🏛️

The eldest sibling. He is a patriotic, compassionate and considerate ruler, loved by his people, and a nice person in general. Has a hobby - he is an architect.

Princess Helena 🌹

The middle child. Helena is a wise, kind, yet strict old lady who seems to stay away from politics, yet, in fact, appears to be the most powerful woman in the country.

Prince Samuel: 🐍

The youngest sibling of the three. He is jealous of his elder brother and plots against Edward, trying to usurp the power. A violent, intelligent but dishonorable man who can't be stopped if his goal is set.

*All the siblings are humans; neither of them is a man-eater.

Page 3 - Edward and Vincent's political allies

Empress Sonya: ☀️

She is ruling one of the most powerful countries presented at the political arena. Also, she is a man-eater which is a rare thing among females. Yet, Sonya keeps her urges in check and, after dealing with her first sadistic husband, she tries not to give in to temptation. Very considerate and caring person, and a strong monarch.

Knaz (Count) Georgy: 🗡️

Sonya's second (secret) husband. He is a man-eater too; Georgy and his lover's relationships are very special since predators hardly ever live together in peace for these creatures subconsciously treat their kind as opponents. Georgy can be insufferable at times due to his immense pride, but is the bravest, kindest and most generous person on earth. Besides, he is a brilliant army (*military) general who always fights alongside his people (lost an eye in a battle). Treats Sonya like a goddess.

Additional facts:

1) Man-eaters can be born in any family. The thing is, in this AU every human originally carries predator genes in them, and it's a matter of chance when they happen to be dominant. But it's noticed that man-eaters are more likely to be male than female.

2) Archie McTell comes from a well-known and wealthy aristocratic family. Yet, he doesn't want to use advantages which he is given due to the right of blood and wants to prove his worth serving his country. That's the reason for him to start a military career and build it from the "bottom" (many his childhood friends have already been granted much higher ranks for they are not that scrupulous).

3) Archie has two sisters - Chloe and Regina. Both of them are married, but it doesn't mean they have a sedate character. These two girls often get in trouble, and poor Archie is doomed to have horrible headaches while he tries to figure things out.

4) Vincent and Georgy are best friends; they exchange letters regularly and use any opportunity to meet in person. Perhaps, each of them sees the other as a bit of a weirdo, yet they would rip anyone to shreads for one another.

5) Sonya was treated quite poorly by her previous partner who constantly insulted her in any possible way and even tried to get rid of her to marry another woman. So, she had to resort to... radical measures to survive. Once she was declared an empress, Sonya swore to never eat anyone ever again. She keeps her word, yet it doesn't come without a price: she is on a specific diet and has a number of health problems.

6) Naturally, man-eaters are born to be lone hunters who are quite protective over their personal space. That's why it's a unique opportunity to meet a pred x pred couple. Still, Sonya and Georgy have managed to break the rules. They serve as an example of perfect relationships and are deeply in love despite them spending many years side by side already.

[dkettchen]

SHIP STATS #1 -all unique ranked characters/ships/fandoms in AO3 2013-2023 data sets - diagrams mega post-

(original data by AO3 user @ centreoftheselights, cleaned/completed/visualised by ME (check my github for more details & methodology/why I labelled things the way I did))

Overview

A total of 922 characters across 600 unique ships made the AO3 rankings between 2013 and 2023.

Fandom Market Share

These are the fandoms that accounted for the most ships:

Marvel had 33 ships, followed by Youtube with 24 and the Harry Potter Universe with 21.

RPF

13% of total ships were Real Person Fic while 87% were of fictional characters.

Hottest Characters

These are the characters who were in the most ships in their fandom (with a minimum of 3 ships to qualify):

Minecraft youtuber TommyInnit leads overall with 8 ships (out of 24 Youtube ships), followed by Tony Stark with 7 (out of 33 Marvel ships), and Sam Winchester from Supernatural and The Doctor from Doctor Who with 6 respectively.

((gender & race stats under the cut! :)))

Gender statistics

Characters

This is the overall gender distribution:

It is currently scewed by the fact that one of out usually 3 rankings each year is exclusively femslash, inflating the number of female characters in the overall set. This number will be decimated once we look at the actual co-ed, yearly rankings. However even with these inflated numbers, male characters still solidly outnumber female ones.

These are the numbers for any gender tags other than straight up "M" and "F":

"M | Other" was represented by exactly 5 characters/people. All of the fictional ones are some variety of deity or otherwise celestial being. All but one of "F | Other" were (alien) Gem characters from Steven Universe.

The only two unaligned nonbinary characters in the set are the canon nonbinary character from Owl House, and the Venom Symbiote. (Yes, the goop. The Venom goop.) All of the drag queens represented explicitly use she/her in drag and he/him (x3) or he/they (x1) out of drag (at time of data collection).

All of these are out-numbered by ambiguously-gendered self-insert characters like player characters and "x Reader".

There are no (binary(-aligned) or explicitly medically) trans characters in the set, as (as far as I can find on the wiki) the Owl House nonbinary one does not have in-universe transition portrayed or birth assignment specified (they are voiced by transmasc nonbinary actors). This is in spite of canon trans characters and real life trans people, who didn't make the ranking, existing in the fandoms represented, like in DC's Supergirl, My Hero Academia, RuPaul's Drag Race, One Piece, Marvel Comics, Heartstopper, etc. There are no explicitly intersex characters/people represented either (as far as I'm aware).

Ships Overview

As for ship gender combinations, men loving men outnumbers any other type, even with the inclusion of, again, one whole ranking (of the three total) per year with ONLY women loving women ships:

Straight ships are outnumbered by both same-sex categories, although, once again, I expect this to change once we look at the co-ed rankings without the femslash bump, with straight ships likely out-numbering wlw ships there.

Taking out straight up mlm, wlw, and het ships, these combinations are left:

Although there are less "M | Other" characters than "F | Other", they account for almost the same amount of ships as each other, likely due to the male-aligned characters/people not being shipped with each other (like the Crystal Gems) and spanning more fandoms (5 rather than 2), leading to a wider spread of ships.

Our "Other" characters are shipped with characters of opposite genders, providing balance to their (small) contribution. The singular canon-nonbinary non-goop character is shipped with their canon ex-partner.

In the ambiguous stack, the vast majority is men (and male-aligned folks) being shipped with ambiguous characters (ie self-inserts).

Ships per fandom

This is the average number of ships of the given type per fandom:

These are the fandoms with the most ships of the given type:

Marvel (as the fandom with the most ships) has ranked second for all of them. Youtube is the fandom with the most mlm ships, as the only woman that made it into its 24 ships is the real life wife of the guy she's being shipped with.

This chart shows the number of fandoms that either do not contain any ships of this type, consist exclusively of ships of this type, or where over half of the fandom's ships are of this type.

The only two (2) fandoms (with multiple ship types) that have more than 50% straight ships are Game of Thrones and Doctor Who, so congrats to them on having the best-written hets and the least homoeroticism in media apparently. 👏

Race statistics

Characters

This is the total distribution of racial groups among the characters:

White folks vastly outnumber any other racial group. East asians are the next-biggest portion, followed by ambiguous and non-human characters.

These are the smaller groups without the white, east asian, and un-specified or non-human chunks:

Latin folks make up the largest portion, followed by black folks. All other groups have less than 15 characters in the entire (922 character) set. There are more indigenous folks in the set than there are south asians.

Ships

This chart shows the number of ships with at least one white person, with at least one east asian person, non-white ships, and ships without white or east asian people:

I call the last one of those "The Big Oof" as there were only 12 ships (out of the 600 total) that didn't contain any white or east asian people.

This is the ratio of interracial, non-interracial and ambiguous ships:

Most ships are explicitly between people of the same racial group.

Fandoms

These last two diagrams show the amount of racial groups per fandom.

The first one shows how many fandoms only have one racial group and how many have multiple:

It is more balanced than the interracial figure, pointing to there being a number of fandoms where there are multiple racial groups overall but several characters are only being shipped with characters of their own group.

The second diagram shows the fandoms with the highest number of different racial groups:

Marvel once again leads with 8 groups (due to its overall higher numbers of characters/ships). It is followed by The 100 and DC tied for second with 7 groups each, and Star Wars in third with 6. Teen Wolf and Genshin Impact follow in fourth with 5 groups respectively. All other fandoms had less than 5 racial groups represented.

THANKS FOR READING, STAY TUNED FOR MORE DIAGRAMS ONCE I'M DONE WITH THE RANKING STATS WOOOO

[macabresymphonies]

Who are the major players in The Magnus Protocol?

The more we delve into the season, the more it, becomes apparent that alchemy is a big theme this season. If you haven't already, read more on my theory how The Magnus Protocol is about a race between alchemists if you want more context on what I will be talking about in the post.

It's all speculation, but cross referencing the Klaus sheet from the ARG, which is an excel sheet containing other incidents we don't know much about (it's also all in german, so that's fun), there seems to be three major "named" players in the sheet Lady M., Mr M. and Mr B.

They are only attributed few incidents, but combining historical data and few times location is mentioned we can speculate on their identity assuming they are all supposed to be famous alchemists.

I will also mention, the idea that alchemists gainied immortality and are living up to today is not new, Nicolas Flamel and John Dee are both told to have gained immortality and hiding among us today.

Lady M.

There isn't many female achemists throughout history (because if men play with chemicals it's called "alchemical pursuit" while if a woman does so it's suddenly "witchcraft" am I right?), but one of the most prominent ones is also one of the oldest ones out there: Mary the Prophetess.

She's basically the grandmother of all alchemy. Ancient, as even in the oldest sources of alchemy from the 4th century she's described as have been living in the past. Her being involved in an incident in London is not as weird considering that her home is probably long gone anyway. She's also only one where date of incident was mentioned and it's only few months before the events of the podcast begun.

Mr M.

Involved in an incident in Berlin he's to be assumed of German origin and crossreferencing famous alchemists I think I've got an absolutely perfect fit: Albertus Magnus.

Literally named "Doctor universalis" for being a German scholar knowledgable about and cataloguing basically everything. Many people think Magnus Institue is related to Jonah Magnus, but let's remember this universe is much more similar to ours. Maybe Magnus Institute and Magnus Protocol aren't about Jonah Magnus, but relate to Albertus Magnus instead. Category number in the incident is 2, which by my previous theory would mean it involved the matters of The Mind.

Mr B.

Based on Somerset and the fact this person deals with The Soul (1) and to less of a degree The Mind (2) I think the pick is pretty apparent: Roger Bacon

Named Doctor Mirabilis, "the wonderful teacher", born near Ilchester, Somerset, outside of being one the great English alchemists he's well known for two things - he has placed considerable emphasis on the study of nature through empiricism (and many experiments) and that he was involved in creation of the brazen head, a necromantic device that would answear questions, supposedly through an entraped human soul. Both of these align well and to me, him being born in Somerset basically confirms it.

It's worth mentioning, Mr B. was the only person mentioned to have created a project with a rank S, meaing he's probably in posession of the most powerful item in The Magnus Protocol universe.

[venusvity]

Jung Yoonah (Korean: 정윤아, born November 16, 1998), known professionally as Baebi (Korean: 배바이; Japanese: ベビ), is a Korean singer, dancer, and actress based in South Korea. She is a member of the South Korean girl group Venus, formed by Angelico Entertainment in 2018. She is portrayed by Jennie Kim, Im Youha, & Go Minsi.

Yoonah was born on November 16, 1998, in Guri, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea as an only child. Her mother taught art at a university while her father worked in sales. Yoonah began dancing at the age of three, being put in ballet by her mother.

Yoonah trained in ballet from a young age, having practiced it for eleven years before debuting with Venus.

Yoonah would attend the School of Performing Arts Seoul (SOPA; Korean: 서울공연예술고등학교 / 서공예), where she would be scouted by Angelico Entertainment.

𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟐 - 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟑 : 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐨 𝐒𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 & 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬.

While attending SOPA, Yoonah would be scouted by Angelico's CEO, Son Jinhwa, and COO, Jeon Jihan, through an open audition the pair hosted at the school. She was scouted for her visual and dancing skills.

Yoonah would become a frequent feature in Priority music videos, acting as a love interest to the boys or as a backup dancer. She would also model for various CF brands and commercials.

In Januaray 2014, it was announced that Yoonah would debut in Angelico's first-ever girl group, Emphasis.

𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟒 - 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟕: 𝐃𝐞𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐬, 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬.

Yoonah debuted with Angelico Entertainment's Emphasis on May 21, 2014. Emphasis officially debuted and released their first mini album, EMPRINTSIS, accompanied by the title tracks "Symphony" and "Road Trip."

Emphasis would have their first and final comeback with their second mini album, EMPATHSIS, promoting the title tracks"Love Bomb" and "Wee Woo!" before falling into a year of inactivity.

On May 24, 2016, Emphasis was officially disbanded. Angelico Entertainment announced that Yoonah would be staying with the label.

Following Emphasis's disbandment, Yoonah would return to training and join Angelico's pre-debut team, "Angellies." The group would rotate trainees and perform around South Korea. The team would operate on a ranking system voted on by the fans they would garner from their performances and live streams.

Yoonah was a prominent member of the Angellies, often being voted as the fan favorite in their monthly rankings. By the end of the group's run, Yoonah was the second-most-voted fan favorite.

In 2016, Yuuna would officially take on the stage name Baebi.

In 2017, Angellies would be discontinued to prepare for Angelico's new girl group debut.

𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟖: 𝐃𝐞𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐔𝐒

On March 17, 2018, Baebi would officially debut in VENUS with the release of their first extended play (EP), SHE DEVIL, and its lead single, "SHE DEVIL."

She is the group's leader, main dancer, main vocalist, and lead rapper.

𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟗: 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐮𝐭

In late 2019, Baebi made her debut as a solo artist with the EP Bubble Pop!.  She released her debut extended play (EP), Bubble Pop!, in June 2019. It peaked at number two on South Korea's Gaon Album Chart, and charted atop the US Billboard World Albums. As of 2023, it has sold 360,000 copies in South Korea. 

Bubble Pop! 's commercial success was the main contributor to Angelico Entertainment's leading music sales. The song peaked at number one in South Korea, where it has sold over 2.5 million digital units. To accompany her solo release, Baebi held a series of small concerts called Baebi's Summer Splash. She was awarded Best Female Artist at the 2019 Mnet Asian Music Awards and at the 2020 Golden Disk Awards.

𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟏 - 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭: 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐃𝐞𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬

She made her acting debut in the 2021 Netflix K-drama Squid Game, in which she played Han Doyun, an unpaid intern at an unnamed company, alongside her husband, Han Wonil, played by Jang Kiha of Priority,  who need money to pay off their ever-mounting debt.

Doyun became a fan favorite, and Jung was called Squid Game's breakout star by critics. For her performance on the show, Jung won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series at the 28th Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Baebi has had a controversial relationship with Mydol CEO Son Jinhwa. An anonymous source revealed the pair's relationship to the public in 2022, resulting in a wave of backlash that led to Jinhwa stepping down from his position as CEO of Angelico Entertainment and Baebi going on a brief hiatus. The pair never confirmed their relationship.

In 2023, Baebi would confirm her relationship with Kim Juwon, the lead vocalist of the boy group Priority. The pair had been dating for three years before the announcement, silently putting the rumors of her and Son Jinhwa's relationship to rest. Baebi and Juwon would break up in 2024 after spending five years together.

Baebi has been a vocal mental health advocate, being very open about her struggles with depression and anxiety. She often donates to mental health charities and volunteers at children's hospitals in her spare time.

𝐄𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬

In 2019, Baebi became the face of Gentle Monster, a sunglasses and optical glasses brand founded by Hankook Kim, choosing Baebi to represent their brand due to her "hot and cool" image. 

On February 2, 2021, Baebi was announced as the face of Chum Churum, a soju brand under Lotte Corporation.

On March 8, Baebi became the advertisement model of HOT6ix, an energy drink brand under Lotte Corporation.

On April 8, Etude House introduced Baebi as their new brand model.

In September 2022, Baebi became a model for the Japanese bathing suit brand KŌRARU.

Baebi has walked in runways for Burberry, Miu Miu, Jason Wu, Chanel, Schiaparelli, Giambattista Valli, Bottega Veneta, Emilio Pucci, Prabal Gurung, Jacquemus, and Tory Burch. She has also appeared in advertisements for Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Hermès, and Bottega Veneta and on the covers of Vogue Korea, Vogue Japan, CR Fashion Book, and Harper's Bazaar Korea.