#why is she so perfect 😭😭

[seedpack]

help i might be in love w a straight girl 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

[no-white-dress]

If I see someone else say witches in winx are innately evil and fairies in winx are innately good I'll rip my hair out.

There’s more evil fairies than evil witches in the show!! When will y'all get ittttt

The prejudice shown is repeatedly thrown down the drain! The rivalry exists mostly between two schools full of competitive teenagers!! It is not the class system you think it is!!

[butwhatifidothis]

I guess the ultimate thing that kills CF for me - or at least nudges it away from me saying I definitively like it - is just how much Edelgard is clearly written with the player in mind before she's written with her character in mind.

Because on all of the other routes, there's a power to Edelgard's presence. Even on BE, there's a sense that for as lonely as Edelgard might be, she still ultimately will do whatever it takes for her to get what she wants. Be that be killing her citizens (or otherwise letting them be killed), endangering her friends, assisting in kidnapping people, allowing Byleth to support her only when they have the Sword of the Creator, covering for TWS - no bar is too low for her to limbo under if doing so means she's even a step closer to her goals.

She's manipulative! She's deceitful! She doesn't care for the lives of her people! Even her friends are forfeit if they try to stand in her way! And this happens no matter how close you, the player, get to her, in the case of BE - C+ ain't stoppin' Remire, and going to the coronation ain't stopping the Holy Tomb.

And in the war phase, she is dominating the field. She has the Kingdom completely on the ropes, down to a few houses standing against Imperial rule, and the Alliance is stuck in neutrality - she may not be able to do much to it, but neither can they do anything to her (to say nothing of the Alliance houses who stand with her). She's far from the underdog in this race, and she shows off how threatening she can be.

CF? Her route?

She scweams at scawy rats. She gets embawwassed when you find her dwawings. She's just so wonewy, and she's just so gwad that you chose her. She somehow fails to capture Rhea, or frame Dimitri for regicide, and so now has to deal with that on the Kingdom's side of the war. But that doesn't stop Elly Welly-kins fwom twying to find her pwecious teacher, because you're just so important to her. She cwies and hugs you when you meet her in the Goddess Tower!! Because she missed you so much!!

It's like... Dimitri and Claude certainly show different sides of themselves on their respective routes. It's the whole point! You grow closer to them and thus see how they treat those close to them, as opposed to being the Kinda Neat Teacher they see run along every now and then. But, like... Claude doesn't become a blushing maiden whenever Byleth speaks with him on VW. Dimitri doesn't scream at scary rats and get called cute for it on AM. They don't get Basic Bitch Gap Moe Traits slapped onto them that are only ever shown to the player and only on their routes. Unlike Edelgard.

Dimitri's endearing trait is that he's this big huge dude who can bench-press forests and arm-wrestle god who still wants to learn to sew and who teaches kids to protect themselves and who buys candies for his friends. Claude's endearing trait is that he's this mastermind planner who has contingency and lie and obfuscation as three separate legal government names who still wants everyone to be safe and happy and hold hands and be friends.

Edelgard is strong, confident, and willing to do some of the shittiest things known to man for her goals. Her endearing trait is that her screams are cute. She's shy about her drawings of the player character. She blushes over the player potentially joking about having sex with her per her JPN version of her C support; you know, the one about how Byleth walks in on Edelgard muttering in her sleep from a nightmare about her tortured family? Perfect time to joke about fucking her! Dimitri and Claude's endearments are, well, endearing; Edelgard's are all straight up embarrassing for her.

Hell, even the smaller stuff is affected! Claude's passion for poisons and mushrooms are things he has no qualms about having others know about, despite how weird they are. Dimitri laughing at shitty jokes brings him no personal discomfort or embarrassment, despite just how loudly he laughs at them. They have traits to them that can easily be uwu worthy, and they don't care! Of the lords, only Edelgard does! Because, it feels like, the only way for a strong, resolute female character to come off as approachable is if she's knocked down a few pegs for specifically and only you, the player.

And that sucks ass! I'm sorry, but when I'm playing Edelgard's route I don't want to deal with her hiding herself away in her room for a month IN THE MIDDLE OF HER FUCKING WAR because she's just so embawwassed! It is so fucking insensitive that Edelgard is literally the only lord of the three who can have her trauma openly belittled at any point in the story by Byleth, all to have some cheap cutesy uwu moment about her fear of rats (calling her screaming in fear cute and INSISTING that it's really cute which is just. Fucking ew man)! Why can we fucking mock Edelgard's manner of speech during the MASSACRE OF REMIRE?

This shit doesn't happen to Claude or Dimitri! And saying "oh just don't pick those options then" is bullshit because no equivalent options exist for the male lords! It's piss-boilingly annoying that the second you choose to see things from the strong confident villainous ambitious female lord's perspective you can reduce her down to this bumbling moeblob just for you (sometimes unavoidably!) like!! Dude!

[keekeenuggets]

We don't talk enough about how well ALL of the Vees know and care about each other so much, like--

We first see them when Velvette is calling Vox about Val being upset in ep 2, but there's no way he would have asked for the help himself. Like he's not gonna be like "hey get Vox for me I need him" because that seems too vulnerable, BUT he was expecting Vox to come.

He literally says "Fuckin' finally!"

Which would either mean that Velvette told him Vox is on his way, OR Val knew Velvette would tell Vox to come. (It is possible he expected it because of the cameras, but Vox didn't seem to know Val was throwing a tantrum until Velvette called him, and Vox's plan for the day seemed to involve multiple meetings, so I don't think he watches the cameras often enough for that.)

Also Velvette knew how to calm Valentino down. She was busy with a fashion show and needed to focus on that, and she was mad that Val was wrecking her shit, but even after he was out of her hair and not a problem to her, she repeated to Vox that he needs to go take care of Val.

"Take care of the piss baby!"

I 100% believe she could have done it herself (she probably did partly?? considering he stopped the tantrum and was in his room before Vox got there-- unless her telling Val that Vox was on his way was what did it, but that would still be something she knew to do), but she had a show to run. Still, she wasn't going to leave Val alone to be moping around.

Also the fact Valentino seems to have some level of control over his smoke implies he wanted to be dramatic as fuck or wanted to hide himself and sat in a cloud of smoke on purpose.

Vox obviously knows how to talk Val out of shit, and canon makes it more clear that he understands Val well.

But overall there's obvious intimacy between all three of the Vees in that they care for each other and know exactly what's needed and/or what will happen in situations like that.

[fumifooms]

Makima, devils and self-fulfillment

Dumping some Makima and CSM thoughts after a part 1 binge bc I think about her forever and ever. I’m sure I’m forgetting some devil lore, feel free to correct what i get wrong/what’s been confirmed. On the table of contents there’s why & how Makima got fixated on Chainsaw, her revealing liking for the country mouse and discussion of her nature & emotions & desires. Was the scorpion doomed to be a scorpion?

The most of this post was thought of during a conversation with @saccharineomens and I don’t think it makes sense to jump into the spiral it sent me on without first laying down the interesting groundwork theorizing she did:

"Thinking about how makima herself wants to be deified. I wonder whether she recognizes the difference between Love As Worship and the love that Aki, Power, and Denji had. She says she wants to help humanity by having Chainsawman eat the “bad” devils, but why does she want to help humans? Because she was ordered to by the Prime Minister? No, her drive seems much more personal than that, it seems like she teamed up with the PM for contractual reasons. (In the most recent chapters we see governmental members wanting certain devils to be eaten, too. What was Makima’s relationship with them? She’s too independent to just follow THEIR orders, she’s Control.)

So is she wanting to better humanity for the accolades, or out of the goodness of her heart? She sees the big picture. She sees any small sacrifice as worth it for the end result, and she’s ruthless. Perhaps she thinks that a more sedate human race would be easier to control? But Makima doesn’t loathe humanity. She never acts like she sees all humans as lesser. She loves humanity’s creations, like good food and movies. She just wants Good Things all the time

She says she prefers the country mouse BUT adds a story where she helps exterminate country mice like vermin. She likes the simplicity yet rejects the idea of being simple. Makima the complex individual you are"

~

The story itself seems to prefr the country mouse. Well- it strikes a balance, shows that a risk to live good & fully can be very worth it, but still that stability over ambition is preferable, proning having a simple happy life over fame, a simple job instead of a dangerous one, etc etc. And I do find Makima’s answer on this so so interesting, she prefers the country mouse, but this preference isn’t out of affection or sympathy but because of how relaxing it feels to exterminate them when they cause problems.

Order satisfies her. Her order satisfies her. She likes the action of rooting out disorder. Maybe this is the devil part, like how Power especially wants blood and drinking it, I feel there’s an itch to every devil, and for Makima it’s a very rigid world view/morality/standards & making things follow her rules and submit to her order.

And maybe this is why she’s attached to humans too, why she felt it was worth it to stick with the government- because devils are chaotic by nature (it’s a whole plot point that hell is essentially a free-for-all battleground for example), meanwhile humans are the species that universally rule Earth with systems they invented and instilled. They made then enforced rules, complex and intricate webs of them. She feels alienated amongst devils but she understands the humans’ need for an orderly organised society, and now she wants to be part of it. Control and conquest require social dynamics after all, requires civilizations or groups. War is chaotic while peace is, well, peaceful— Makima resents her sisters for being death, famine and war, things that throw the world in such chaos. She wants a world of perfect order, no matter how much collateral damage there will be if the end result is control.

This is even more interesting if you consider that yes, Makima is untouchable of her own design, she deifies herself with her omnipresent amount of control and the sway over others that she seeks and encourages— There is this urge to dehumanize her for it, that yes, she is the devil of control and that means she was never going to be any different, have any more feeling be any less uncanny. And I love part 2 so much for this, because it shows us the war devil and the famine devil and we see how frankly uncharismatic with poor self-discipline they are, Nayuta too, and it helps us realize just how much Makima’s success was self-made.

She admires Chainsaw Devil, the Hero of Hell, because he had his own code and his own rules and he made Hell, the chaos pit, submit to them unfailingly. Wherever he goes he decides what he does and what happens to the people he encounters but does so consistently, he has his mechanism and his rules that he always obeys, and he fulfills them every time. It’s still a mystery the why of Chainsaw Devil’s behavior back then and how it works exactly, maybe Pochita left hell because he was tired of these rules he lived by like chains, but still, he was a servant to his code. Makima would have been glad being killed and eaten by Chainsaw Devil because it’d have been becoming part of his design, his conquest, his domination, she’d have been part of that —his— order. Through her death she would be shaping his world and be part of a conqueror’s making history. Like how she appreciates the country mice that die for the sake of order. Like how sacrifices must be made to herself, like listing the name of every person whose life was lost to the Gun Devil— All for the ~greater good~, for her vision for the world. Conquest always thinks its reasons are justified.

And she does mention with the country mice thing that she goes out to a friend’s farm every year! She has a human friend?? That she visits yearly and she genuinely likes it?? Ultimately she lives a busy city life because of her goal and drive and her urge & satisfaction with overseeing shaping the world herself, but part of her, like so many characters including Angel and Aki and Reze, wishes she could live a slow peaceful country life. Moviegoing and dogs and mice in a farm- Wouldn’t it be so much simpler if Makima could find fulfillment and happiness in being a farmer, in keeping control of her own farm, getting satisfaction from exterminating vermin and expertly getting everything right, the right crops grown at the right time on the right soil? Here, too, in a way it’s trying to have full control of an ecosystem, but her goals would be easier to achieve and better, without ceaseless sacrifice or much pressure. But Makima wants grandiosity and her goal does matter to her on a fundamental and moral level, she does think she knows what’s best for the world, and with the power to change it why wouldn’t she strive to? Visiting the farm is just a break, just something she does in fall to help out and just in time to see the vermin extermination. It calms her, then it’s back to actual work.

In capitalism, even the one at the very top of the ladder is ultimately alienated from others and often unsatisfied by their lifestyle, always wanting more and more power because surely that’s the extra edge they must be missing to be content— like how Makima thinks she wants to dominate Chainsaw Devil instead of being his equal. And she says it herself too, she likes humans the way humans like dogs…….. And she keeps so many dogs :( Makima prefers the country mice because they’re calming to root out, maybe because she usually mainly deals with city mice. It’s very easy to equate humans to the mice in this allegory because it’s pretty direct and she’s already likened humans to lesser animals compared to her. She’s self-isolating by design for her design but she still craves relationships and contentment, and the dogs are the embodiment or her want for bonds and occasional simplicity because there is no possible ulterior motive, no way they tie back into her wider plan. They’re her personal life— something that feels so alien when speaking about Makima. Personality and individuality and likes and preferences and friends they visit every year. She likes how easily she can train a dog and how they become putty in her hands, at her beck and call, how much they love her and how much she enjoys their love. How simple and straightforward and easy it is. She keeps them because she likes being loved by them and loving them, and she’s gotten and raised so many. A conqueror always wants more and more and more, is never satisfied.

Devils and agency

Like Power the blood devil wanting blood and having a fixation on drinking it like with Denji’s, or how it was shocking that the violence devil was pretty tame and nice and how he himself theorized it was because he was a fiend and possessing a human body… There’s something to be said about nature vs nurture with the devils. The way they reincarnate and always embody their fear makes it seem categorically like nature, that they always always end up fulfilling the role they were named after and born to fill… Outside influence they’re helpless but to conform with. Like the humans accepting their spot in the social ladder and the shittiness of their living conditions and job under capitalism. Makima craved being equals with someone despite being the control/conquest devil, Angel Devil despite claiming to be a devil who likes to see humans dying was haunted by their deaths and wanted to avoid ones like Aki’s. The Ghost Devil being ironically haunted by Himeno, seemingly helping Aki in her memory out of… Lasting affection? Or maybe it was less about being haunted itself and more about it recognizing how Himeno haunted Aki, and acknowledging that, with the memento, paying her respect to the ghost of her. It’s Angel Devil’s devil nature that makes him like human suffering, so then is it his angel nature too to still care about their deaths? Is there truth to this or is that just personality, just our confirmation bias haunting every part of their identity like it might in their own view of themselves too? We do know different reincarnations of devils do have different personalities after all.

Yoru, war devil, is the most interesting one when talking about the nature vs nurture debate with devils. There is how through her we see the perhaps the most the consequences of a devil stopping being feared— we see a horseman for a concept as universal and horrifying as war be reduced to some bird who needs a contract with a human to have any power even just on the situation when meeting Asa. And through the story we get to know her better, and it becomes clear that her goal is fueled in good part by simply wanting to be remembered and respected through fear. Liked, validated, seen a powerful. But what is more isolating than war? Or control? We also see Nayuta accepting others’ house rules. If part 1 shows perhaps the futility of running away from the truth, with Denji’s memory, with escapist coping mechanisms, with passivity and denial under a corrupt system and with abusive relationships- running away from your own feelings and from the reality of things and from all that you are, more complex than simply human or devil or both or neither— part 2 builds upon the theme of cult of personalities, the chainsaw church, etc. The apocalypse is coming, but this celebrity superhero might save us all, or doom us all uh, dunno. The hero of hell reliving the cycle of pressure from responsibilities and expectations, maybe the part will end with Denji running away like Pochita did~

But yes, on the reverse, I think Famine is a very interesting example of how a devil’s namesake may be more innate than coerced by circumstances. One would think that a famine devil would only like inflicting famine upon others, not being famished itself, but Famine has a bottomless stomach that can never, ever be satisfied, sated. I struggle to find a psychological explanation for this, except that maybe instead of her being hungry it’s her feeling empty when she’s not eating, tasting and having that high sensory experience that releases serotonin in humans, sort of like drugs? But I do take this as a step towards the compulsion theory overall, feels like a reach in the consistency otherwise. And compulsion does not mean it’s something that they like nor that it’s something that they fight against, pretty neutral, just a nature that nudges you towards one path. Maybe it’s even just their go-to for entertainment. Maybe it’s the only thing that makes them feel right and whole. But still the debate remains, what is it, a compulsion or an urge or an itch or an active desire or a conscious chosen want? Does it change anything in practice?

And because of all of this earlier, devils being self-fulfilling prophecies with their role is not in unsignificant part nurture, because doing their atrocities is how they stay remembered— feared, powerful, known— hell and devils are a very isolating place and breed after all, and we do see devils can want companionship. Existentially, it’s their purpose and how they justify their place in the world, in the terrifyingly vast and unknowable cosmos.

We still know so little of what makes Chainsaw Devil so special, why his carnage is so self-controlled. Despite a chainsaw maybe being possibly one of the most "nature" thing you can be— a tool to cut things, a human tool that can be helpful for many things, something to be wielding by another at their judgement on what they decide, but mainly something to cut, a tool suited for carnage, to hurt and to destroy. A blade with a toothed chain, spinning around and around and around endlessly on the same road at the same pace. Such a…. Innately circular concept. And yet the Chainsaw Devil is his own, not driven by an urge or by chaos but his very own brand of order, his own unique assigned purpose, a "if you call i’ll come running to help" policy equalizing everyone. He chooses to withhold his destruction and interference otherwise, and then he chooses to be used. If it’s a choice, of course.

Maybe this is what inspired Makima so much, that Chainsaw Devil could decide what to make of himself despite expectations or innate role. Because even Hell he decided & managed to subjugate under his will and whim, with a precise vision and process. When Chainsaw Devil acts like Denji or is defeated, Makima clicks her tongue and loses her admiration and respect. Makima admired and liked Chainsaw Devil, but only as long as he matched her great image of him in her mind, as long as he followed he rules for what she thinks he should be like. She admired him for his unrivaled self-made success, but once he stepped out of that to truly embody self-fulfillment and agency, disappearing from hell to live on his own road at the beat of his own drum… Well. Surely that was a mistake she has to correct. However their second battle ends, the better conqueror will have prevailed and she’s happy about that, all in the spirit of domination and subjugation.

Imo Makima’s biggest tool, similarly capitalism’s most helpful effect for its own purposes, is complacency. Resignation and passivity helps uphold the system and go along the flow of the will of the people in power. Aki and Reze go along with orders even when knowing their job is trash, etc. In Angel Devil especially we see him go along with the flow uncaring about anyhing, and we discover it was in part due to Makima taking away memories that motivated him. If every devil decides this is just how things are and how things should be that’s what they’ll continue to be and do mindlessly, not pursuing a better life like Chainsaw Devil and Denj and not seeking to change the world like Makima. I think even Makima veils herself to a lot of things, she doesn’t like to think deeply about some things, like her desire for connection, or how making bad movies disappear is strenuous and unsustainable and requiring sacrifices at best— how her judgement is as subjective as anyone else. How liking the country mouse and her friend back at the farm and her dogs could be not devoid of sentimality. Wanting bad movies erased is her one biggest show of selfishness, of pettiness and individuality, it’s about her tastes, simple as. About how she can have tastes, and cry seeing a scene of people hug, and want things that aren’t logical, her ideology and mind twisted into a pretzel to avoid acknowledging that she doesn’t live and breathe purely for the mission she’s made a single-minded robot out of herself to accomplish. Nayuta is assertive and selfish and loud, Makima is manipulative and strategically both for her goals and for coping hollow.

Everything in her plans and goals she says is for the greater good, necessary evil, manufactured happiness the way she’ll have decided for people�� and that’s the thing isn’t it, like with War, it’s the crack that shows it was all truly about herself after all. Her self-made deification still had the flaw that a self made it. Makima is not omniscient, and it’s not Chainsaw Devil the not-so-fellow-kindred-soul conqueror who gets the best of her, but a city mouse, a dog, someone she would have never thought to respect, Denji.

[silviakundera]

again with my The Grand Princess / The Princess Royal bullshit but really, Pei Wenxuan, the way his insecurities had him stubbornly persisting in shoving LR to SRQ in the beginning of the story. (head in hands) my god man, why are you like this??? The fact that she was spitting facts from day 1 and he still turns his whole wedding into a LR/SRQ shipper event.

They really toned down how absolutely deranged he was about this 😂😭

Pei Wenxuan @ Su Rongqing

Li Rong @ Pei Wenxuan on Su Rongqing

______

She could hear Pei Wenxuan’s persistent tone as he started to say, “Does Your Highness not have anything to ask this humble official?”

“Hm?” Li Rong returned to her senses. After hearing Pei Wenxuan’s question, she decisively said, “I don’t want to ask, I’m not interested.”

Pei Wenxuan: “……”

Li Rong’s thoughts continued to roam in each and every direction. Pei Wenxuan held back for a while before saying, “But this humble official wants to talk about it.”

“I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop you,” Li Rong sighed, “Just say it. Otherwise, I’m afraid you’ll suffocate to death.”

“These words of Your Highness,” Pei Wenxuan was neither indignant nor indifferent, “Are enough to suffocate this humble official to death.”

“And wouldn’t you keep suffocating from holding it in?” Li Rong sincerely suggested.

Pei Wenxuan couldn’t help it anymore and candidly said it: “I feel that Su Rongqing has special feelings for you.”

“Really?” Li Rong’s tone of voice was flat, “I’m so happy.”

“Li Rong,” Pei Wenxuan called her by name, “I’m being serious. Su Rongqing is very good to you.”

Upon hearing Pei Wenxuan’s words, Li Rong decided to stop playing around with him. The chief eunuch’s voice could be heard, announcing the beginning of the morning court session. As she watched the ministers filing in, she calmly asked, “Pei Wenxuan, do you know what the biggest difference between you and Su Rongqing is?”

Pei Wenxuan said nothing. He followed Li Rong’s line of sight and looked at the ministers standing under the early morning light that looked to be perhaps worried, pleased, apathetic or affront. Li Rong tonelessly said, “He is crueler than you.”

“Family, glory, and tradition.” At the same time, their gaze stopped on the youth standing in the distance. The youth under the early morning rays was dressed in crimson official robes, holding a hu tablet in his hand with grace and poise, and emanating a noble and upright temperament. He followed the stream of people, ascending the white jade steps and stepping foot into the palace hall that signified the vortex of power of a country.

“This is what Su Rongqing has been carrying on his shoulders all his life. Under these things, what he has learned since childhood is restraint, composure, and the patience to endure.”

Li Rong’s voice was a bit distant, wavering with a twinge of pity and vague sympathy.

“He won’t have the kind of feelings that you’re thinking of.”

“He won’t be good to me because of his feelings,” Li Rong said rather calmly.

//

Li Rong leaned forward to reach for a cup of tea and raised the small cup to her lips when she suddenly heard Pei Wenxuan say, “Why do you think Su Rongqing came?”

Li Rong did not answer and listened as Pei Wenxuan said: “With his cleverness, how could he take his chances and venture deep into the palace?”

“What do you ultimately want to say?”

Li Rong put down the cup of tea and smiled helplessly. Pei Wenxuan looked at her and asked, “Have you ever thought about…”

“I haven’t.” Li Rong interrupted him.

She looked at him and earnestly said, “I know what you are going to say. You want to say that Su Rongqing likes me, but regardless of whether it was the previous life or this life—at this moment, it doesn’t matter if he likes me or not.”

“Because you have to marry me.”

Pei Wenxuan calmly looked at her. Li Rong was a little irritated and waved her fan, “Yes, this is already an established fact, so Pei Wenxuan, I will ask you to put your clever little head into the lake and wash it out. Don’t always be thinking about things that don’t exist. Never mind the fact that Su Rongqing likes me or not because even if he does like me,” Li Rong looked up at him and just said, “His admiration can only exist in his heart. He will never do anything detrimental to his clan’s interests. Is that clear?”

Pei Wenxuan was silent. Li Rong lifted her hand to hold her forehead, “If you don’t have any other business, then quickly be on your way. I get a headache whenever I see you. Also,” Li Rong raised her head and looked straight at him, “You and I might be quarreling right now, but don’t go back and start randomly spending money.”

....

When he reached the doorway, Pei Wenxuan suddenly stopped, his back to Li Rong as he looked down the corridor and suddenly asked, “Li Rong, do you think you have always been right?”

Li Rong was taken aback. Pei Wenxuan continued, “If Su Rongqing truly is the kind of person you think he is, he would not have entered the Palace today. So do you truly know what kind of person Su Rongqing is at the age of twenty?”

“What kind of person he is,” Li Rong coldly said, “Has nothing to do with me. If you bring up another word ‘Su,’ I’ll have someone throw you into the lake today!”

“Su Rongqing, Su Rongqing, Su Rongqing.” Pei Wenxuan spoke very quickly and repeated it three times, then he turned back to look at her, “You can have people come and throw me into the lake now.”

Li Rong: “…”

“Pei Wenxuan,” Li Rong let out a laugh as she tightly squeezed her fan, “If you have the courage, then don’t marry me. As long as you enter my Princess’s mansion…”

“I will jump into Jing Xin Lake myself.” Pei Wenxuan turned around to leave and indifferently said, “Jumping in once every day.”

Jing Xin Lake was the lake in the rear courtyard of the Princess’s mansion. Li Rong nearly fainted out of anger when she heard this. She pushed herself up on her feet and wanted to chase after Pei Wenxuan to scold him. It was only when she got up that she regained some composure. She was currently in the Imperial Garden, and she wasn’t some kind of shrew either, so why would she lower herself to his level?

Li Rong urgently fanned herself and tried to calm herself down with the cool breeze. Jing Lan walked in and saw the state that Li Rong was in and couldn’t help but smile and ask, “Did Pei daren make you angry again?”

“Wicked official.”

Li Rong shook her head: “Bengong cannot lower herself to the same level as a wicked official.”

//

“On my big wedding day,” Li Rong smacked her fan against the bed and furiously asked, “You had Su Rongqing come to escort me, just who are you trying to humiliate?! Do you still think that would make me happy?!”

“It’s only because there’s no fate to bring you and him together,” Pei Wenxuan lifted his head and looked at Li Rong in all seriousness, “There was no suitable opportunity in the previous life, but in this life, you can have it, can’t you?”

In the end, Li Rong was a little alarmed after hearing what Pei Wenxuan said. She paused for what seemed to be half a day and felt that she clearly heard every word Pei Wenxuan just said, but she still didn’t understand what he meant.

“Can’t you just…” Li Rong wrinkled her eyebrows, “Tell me what you’re trying to say in words that I can understand?”

“What I mean is that you can start over with Su Rongqing in this life.”

“Why should I start over with him?” Li Rong subconsciously retorted.

“Because you love him.” Pei Wenxuan answered in earnest.

“I… I love him?” Pei Wenxuan gave Li Rong such a fright that it made her stammer. She clutched her fan and blankly said, “I… How could I not know?”

... “Before the wedding, I asked him…” Pei Wenxuan had somewhat of a smile on his face, “I asked who he would choose if there was a conflict between his wife and his family. He told me that his wife is also a member of the family, and he will choose to stand by reason. He’s not like what you thought, and he can give you the kind of love you yearn for.”

“He can give me that,” Li Rong felt a little helpless, “But why would I want it?”

... “Don’t keep thinking that you’re too old. You’re just eighteen now, you’re in the best time of your life, so why do you want to close off all the possibilities? When Su Rongqing came to escort you today, didn’t you have thoughts of when there would be a day when the two of you get married, wouldn’t you be happy then?”

“I…I never really thought about it…” Li Rong heard Pei Wenxuan’s impassioned speech and felt a little embarrassed for a moment because she never had anything like that in mind and failed to live up to Pei Wenxuan’s good intentions.

Li Rong immediately wanted to lie down again, but Pei Wenxuan stopped her midway once again and pulled Li Rong up into a sitting positionn “Don’t make trouble. Listen to me, you need to be honest with your feelings. This is going to be the first step in opening up your heart. You have to start being honest with yourself because only then will you be able to live a good life this time.”

Li Rong’s head went completely blank after hearing these words. She took a deep breath and sat with her legs crossed, then lifted her sleeves: “Alright. Tell me, and I will hear you out. I want to see who will be the first to give in and fall asleep tonight. If you have any high-sounding truths to preach, you better throw it all out! First of all, tell me, what good would it do if I were to marry Su Rongqing?

...Pei Wenxuan brought out the fullest extent of his talents and channeled the presence he had in the imperial court. He told Li Rong about Su Rongqing’s best qualities one by one, describing the bright and beautiful future they would share after marriage.

Li Rong’s eyes widened as she continued to blankly stare at Pei Wenxuan.

She couldn’t believe it. Pei Wenxuan was so sleepy just now, but at the moment, he hardly seemed sleepy at all.

However, Pei Wenxuan was fully aware of Li Rong’s intentions, but he was the kind of person who would be just as stubborn when faced with a stubborn person. If Li Rong wanted to compete with him to see who would fall asleep first, then he would never let Li Rong succeed.

So, that was why he gathered all of his strength and fixed his gaze on Li Rong, racking his brains to earnestly discuss and fully demonstrate the necessity of Li Rong marrying Su Rongqing.

... Pei Wenxuan could speak very eloquently. He took to the stage by himself, slowly talking through his points, and he would not stop until the rooster crowed. Li Rong had her head propped up in her hands, dozing off as she listened to the sound of Pei Wenxuan’s voice pouring into her ears like the whispers of evil spirits.

[ladylooch]

Our Little Family [Miles Wood] Chapter 20- Meet The New Baby Woody

From B: I know we have some new followers around here! Yay and welcome! So I wanted to give a quick re-introduction to Little Family! It's a blog submission series by our lovely 👢 anon! I do not write this series. I am as much of a fan as the rest of you! This series is also completely independent of Shot In the Dark. KK enjoy!! 🍿

A/N from 👢 anon: Hi guys, it's been too long. I'm here with another update from little family. After this chapter, there is going to be 5 left and we will be closing the little family chapters.

Oh yeah, we have some smut here too.

Since the moment you told Miles that you are pregnant, things changed. He was the perfect partner and dad. When he was home, he took care of you and Lily. So you could have alone time, he knows it can be a lot being pregnant and your baby hitting 2 years old.

Every night that Miles is home, he's rubbing lotion and oil on your bump. Because he loves touching you, knowing that you're carrying his baby and the baby likes his touch too.

You're doing your best to give Lily lots of love. Let her be the baby, too. It's an adjustment, but it's amazing. You're not going to lie, your favorites moments are when she crawls into bed with you and lies on the bump talking to her sibiling.

All your appointments are around Miles' schedule. He wants to be there for you and the baby. Not that he didn't do that for you and Lily before. You're having more happy moments during this pregnancy because Miles is loving you, too. He's your partner and husband now, before he was basically just Lily's dad. You guys had fun, but not like this.

Finding out that you guys are having another girl makes him cry. And he doesn't cry much. Seeing Miles getting more emotional makes you emotional too, more than usual. That's on the hormones.

The first time she kicked was just perfection. All three of you were cuddling and watching a movie. Both Miles and Lily were lying on the bump. And then she kicked, Miles looked at you with teary eyes and a big smile on his lips. Lily asked what happened. And you explained that her baby sister said hi. It made her so happy. Lily kissed the bump and said hi back. You know you're lucky.

Sedona for babymoon was perfect. You and Miles had a really good time together. It was something that you guys needed. Having that alone time and connection was amazing. But getting home to Lily saying that she missed you was the best. It made you emotional talking to Miles later.

Miles' season ended short again, but this time he was down for a day or two and then he decided that he was going to enjoy all his girls.

……

The day finally comes, and your water breaks in the middle of the night. Miles was asleep, and you had to basically shake him to wake up.

As much you love his sleepy look, this time you need him to move his ass because you're going to be in pain soon. And you would like some meds.

You groan when the first contraction happens.

“Miles, for the love of God. My water just broke.” Miles blinks at you a few times before his brain catches up.

He curses getting up, he helps you get changed, and he goes to wake his parents. To let them know what is happening. He's so frantic because last time he was on the road.

You need to say goodbye to your baby before you go. Miles was preparing her for this moment, letting her know that maybe mommy and daddy would leave without her knowing, but grandma and grandpa would be there with her. And they're going to come back with her baby sister.

You only show that you're in pain when it's just you and Miles. The whole drive to the hospital was painful. Miles had to pay attention to your contractions while driving.

When you guys got to the hospital, Miles stayed downstairs admitting you while you went to your room. By the time he gets there, you are already in pain meds. They make you a little happier.

But then you're in pain again. Miles is by your side the whole time. You get him a cot so he can take a nap. Even if he doesn't want to. He wants to stay up with you.

You're in labor for more than 6 hours. Your doctor comes in to check you, and sees if it's time. Miles asks if it's time, and she says that it's.

He moves to your side and holds your hand. You curse at him, probably hurting his hand, and saying that you're not going to have his babies anymore. A few times during that process.

Miles just encourages you. He kisses your sweaty forehead. He praises you. You feel so weak by the end. He says that you're doing amazing, but hearing him say that she's almost here gives you that extra strength to push.

Hearing her crying filling the room makes your body go limp. You smile while taking a deep breath.

Miles kisses you. “She's here, babe, and she's perfect.” You nod, not having a lot of strength right then.

The nurse puts your baby on your chest. You kiss her head crying, and your baby is finally here. “Welcome to the world, Ella harper Wood.” You kiss her head again.

Miles rests his forehead on yours “she's perfect, babe. We made her.” He kisses your forehead.

The nurse comes in saying that they need her, and you pass her to the nurse.

“Go be with her.” You push Miles towards where she's getting cleaned.

Your doctor works on you to make sure that everything is okay. The few pushes after giving birth and the stitches.

Miles takes one last look at you before he goes with the nurses to follow your baby. The room starts to get less crowded, which is a relief. You close your eyes when you're alone. The only sounds inside the room are the machines connected to you.

You don't hear Miles coming in. He kisses your head, thinking you're asleep. You open your eyes to look at him. You mumble a soft “hey”.

“Are you okay, sweetheart?” He watches you with such a worried look in his eyes. You nod but ask for water, Miles goes to get you water. He rubs your arm when he's back, and you slowly drink the water.

“Is everything okay with her ?” You ask between sips.

“Yeah. She's perfect. You did a good job, Mama.” He kisses your head. He's so proud of you. He definitely has a new admiration for you.

You nod and smile. That's what you needed, to know that she's okay.

“Babe, I know I'm supposed to be resting, but I need to call your mom to talk to Lily.” Miles watches you for a second before nodding and grabbing his phone.

He texted her when he was with El saying that the new Wood was born. He facetimes her, Cheryl smiles, seeing her son's face on the screen. She says, "A congratulations and asks," How are you doing? " Miles says that you're tired, but all good.

He says that he's going to give you the phone. You talk to Cheryl a little before asking if you can talk to Lily. She takes the phone to your baby, seeing Lily's face, and you relax a little more.

You talk to her, asking how she's doing, if she's having fun with grandma and grandpa. She says that she is but that she misses you. You say that you miss her too and soon she'll be home with daddy and her baby sister. She gets excited.

You say that you love her before passing the phone for Miles. He talks to her, and you drift off hearing your loves talking to each other.

Miles plans with his mom for her to bring Lily in the middle of the afternoon. He knows you need that and that you feel guilty for leaving her in the middle of the night.

He lays in the hospital bed with you. He just wants to hold you. It doesn't take long for the nurse to bring El for her breastfeeding.

Miles wakes you. He helps you settle before passing El to you. You smile seeing that cute little face. You kiss her forehead, saying that you're her mommy.

It takes a little time for her to latch, but when she does, you relax big time. Miles gives you the space to be with her.

You brush your finger over all her features. Saying that she has the best daddy and the best big sister, that you guys are so excited for her to be part of your family.

Miles stays outside of the door, updating his family, his teammates, and ordering you food. He knows you're hungry.

When he comes back, he sees you counting El's little toes and fingers. Miles is still a little worried, but he sees that you're more like yourself now.

He moves closer to you. “Can I hold her ?” You look at him a little confused.

You chuckle, nodding because, of course, he can pick his baby. Miles picks her up, settling with her in his arms. You watch El stir a little before settling completely in her daddy's big chest.

“Babe, do you mind if I take a nap ?” Miles is shocked that you asked him that.

“Not at all, rest, sweetheart.” He kisses El's head to settle her a little more. You nod before turning to your side.

Miles holds El as long as he can while you're asleep. The nurse comes to get her. He gets your food and then just sits there looking at you. You wake up to those piercing blue eyes staring at you. You blink a few times, getting him focused.

“Can I have more water, please ?” You lick your lips, feeling a little dry.

“Yeah.” Miles picks the cup and helps you drink. “I brought food for you, babe.” You take a big sip before nodding.

“What about you ? Did you eat ?” You pass the cup to Miles. He looks at you, and you know he didn't.

“Why were you staring ?” You ask, lacing your fingers.

“I'm worried about you, babe.” He sighs, running his hand through his hair.

“Why ? I'm okay.”

“You don't look like yourself, I just don't want something to happen to you.”

“Hey, c'mon here.” You cup his cheeks moving to the side to give his big body space.

“I'm okay, I promise you that. I'm exhausted, being in labor in the middle of the night is not fun, and I miss Lily too.”

“Yeah, I know.” He closes his eyes, feeling your fingers brush along his cheekbone.

“I didn't like leaving her like that in the middle of the night. I know she's okay with your parents. And I promise you, it doesn't change my feelings for El. I love her and I'm so happy she's here with us. I'm exhausted and hungry, probably not the best combination.” You smile, seeing you smile brings a smile onto Miles' lips.

You kiss him before asking if he can bring you the food. You hear that giggle as Miles goes to get you the food.

You thank him before putting a lot of food in your mouth. You give him a look, for him to eat too. If you need food, he does, too.

Miles picks your tray of food as you drink a little more water. You pat empty space beside you for Miles to join you. You need hubby cuddles. He's so careful with the wires and iv on your arms. He doesn't need the nurses to come running scared into the room.

You bury your face in his chest, just needing to feel secure. This is one of the most vulnerable moments that he ever saw you, and he'll take care of you.

You guys cuddle until you hear a knock on the door. Miles kisses your head before getting up to open the door.

You hear your oldest voice saying hi, dada. You smile, getting a little emotional, and Miles squats to give her a kiss. Then, he holds her hand to help her walk towards you.

She's holding a bouquet to give to you. Miles helps her to jump into the bed. “Mama” she's so excited as she settles against you. You kiss her head, holding her close to your body. You thank her for the flowers and then bring her to your lap.

“Baby, mommy is so sorry for leaving like that last night.” Lily looks at you with her big blue eyes.

“ ‘s okay mama, I have a new baby sister now.” She's so excited, and it's adorable. You kiss her head before putting her beside you. You guys talk, and the nurses bring El for another one on one with Mommy before feeding.

While you guys talk, Miles shows El to his parents. Then you ask Lily if she wants to meet her baby sister. Lily says that she does.

Miles brings El, placing her in your arms. Lily's little face moves closer to El, she wants to meet her baby sister. She kisses El's forehead, blushing a little at El's reaction.

“She loves you too, baby.” Lily smiles at you as she brushes her finger on El's hair.

Miles snaps a few pictures of his girls together. You kiss Lily's head, letting her have a moment with her sister. Cheryl sends Miles to be with you guys so she can take a few pictures of you.

You cup his cheek, looking at him with heart eyes. You mouth a thank you for him, he rests his forehead on yours and Lily kisses El's forehead again. It's the perfect picture.

He pecks your lips before looking at his family. El starts to get fussy.

“Baby, can you go with Daddy while mommy feeds baby El. After she is done, you can come say goodbye before going home with grandma and grandpa.” Lily nods and makes grabby hands for miles.

He picks her up, giving her lots of kisses, making her giggle. You smile as they leave the room. You shift El for her to be comfortable. This time, she latches right away.

“You're going to have the best big sister, baby.” El wiggles a little because she feels that too, Mommy.

You watch your baby eat, slowly at her own pace. She's so adorable, lots of Wood's genes in her. The caramel hair, the bone structure, she has your nose and mouth. So you're happy. Miles will be in trouble when his girls grow up.

Miles comes in a few minutes later, and Lily has her mouth full of chocolate. And you give him a look, shaking your head.

“There are wipes in the bag.” You point to the bag, Miles nods and picks the wipes to clean Lily's mouth.

Lily comes to join you with a clean mouth. You pass El for Miles to hold her. You kiss Lily's head and tickle her belly. Her laugh is a good sound to your ears.

You look at Cheryl, biting your bottom lip. Then you look at Miles. He's entertained by El.

“Cheryl, can you help me with something ?” Miles almost snapped his head, looking at you.

“Of course, sweetheart.” She grabs your bag before moving to your side to help you get out of bed.

Randy moves to be with Lily, and you move slowly to the bathroom.

“Babe…” You hear Miles calling for you as you enter the bathroom.

Cheryl helps you sit on the toilet, and she closes the door. You take a big deep breath.

“I'm sorry, I couldn't ask anyone else. I understand if it's too personal for you, but I don't think I can have Miles looking at my body right now.” Cheryl is taken aback for the personal part, but she understands not wanting Miles to see you right now.

“It can be a little personal, but you're my daughter too. And I'm here to help you. Not only Miles, you too.” She moves to hug you. “But you need to talk to him. He needs to know that.” You nod, hugging her back.

You and Cheryl work on getting you undressed. You pee and change your pad. Putting on some normal clothes makes you feel happy.

You guys go back into the room. You thank her before moving back to bed again. Miles is holding El and talking to Lily.

You tell Lily that she's going home with grandma and grandpa. Mommy and Daddy will be there soon. You give her lots of kisses before Randy helps her out of the bed. She blows kisses to you from the door. You smile and blow her kisses. El is passed out in her daddy's arms.

She looks so peaceful in his arms. The nurse comes to get El, saying that she'll bring her soon for another feeding. You nod and thank her.

Miles comes closer. He fixes your blanket before hugging you. Your head rests on his abs.

“I'm sorry.” Miles looks at you confused before lifting your chin to look at him.

“Why are you apologizing, love ?” You shrug as Miles give you the look. Don't hide.

“Ahh, I thought I hurt you by asking your mom to help me.” His face goes soft, hearing that.

“Sweetheart, you just had a baby. You can basically do whatever you want. At first, I was a little disappointed, but then I remembered that you're doing what makes you feel comfortable.” He pecks your lips as the tears stream down your cheeks.

“Yeah, I'm not comfortable with you seeing my body right now.” Telling him that shows how far you guys come together.

“I understand, baby. And I'll help you in any way that I can, keeping the boundaries you just set for us.” You nod thanking him.

Your doctor comes in to check on you, and how are you doing. If everything continues like this, you can go home tomorrow.

You ask Miles for food, and if he wants to go home, shower, change, and take a nap, you'll be fine in the hospital. He looks offended by your suggestion.

“I'm not going anywhere until you and El are discharged.” You sigh, closing your eyes.

“Babe, you need to rest too. I'm going to be okay for a couple of hours. I need you to take care of yourself too.” Miles has his debating face.

“Okay. I'll go home, change, and shower, but not nap.” You nod. If this is what you can get from him, it's fine.

You and Miles cuddle as you fall asleep on him. When you wake up, Miles says that he'll go home and bring you food after. You thank him softly.

While you wait, you decide to scroll through your phone to pass the time. You have a bunch of texts from the halves congratulating you, his teammates too. Some say that they hope she looks like you and not Miles. It makes you laugh.

You see Miles post, a picture he took of you holding both of your girls. With the caption:

“My world right here, welcome to the family baby”

It makes you smile, but there is one just for you. With different pictures from your dating years.

“To my strong wife, thank you for giving me these greatest gifts. But also you loved me before I could do the same. I want our girls to grow up to be strong like their mother. You're the best, babe.”

And this one makes you cry, not hearing what he thinks of you often and your hormones. It make you soft. Miles is becoming the best husband.

When Miles come with food, you're feeding El after spending some mommy and daughter time with her. His hair is still wet, and you know he showered and left. You just hope he loved Lily before leaving.

Miles comes closer, he pecks your lips and brushes his finger over el's head. Little girl stirred but didn't stop eating.

“I love you.” That big grin shows on his lips again. “I love you too.” He kisses you before putting the food on the table.

While El eats, he takes the containers out to put them on the tray for you. His mom made food for you. You get emotional again, Cheryl is just amazing.

El finishes eating, and you shift her for a burp. Then Miles picks her up for cuddles while you eat. You're half way through your dinner, and she starts to cry and get fussy. You stop eating to tend to her.

Miles stops you saying that he got this. He sits with her, strips his shirt, and does skin to skin with her. It takes a couple of minutes, but then she settles.

You smile at them. Miles is really an amazing dad. Miles looks at you, so in love. He still can't believe you agreed to have more of his babies.

The rest of the night flies by. There are some moments where El gets super fussy. But you guys work it out as a family.

The next morning you get discharged, going home makes you so happy. Miles is so careful that it's a little funny.

The whole family is waiting for you guys. Lily comes running to you, and you give her lots of kisses. You take a shower at home and then just cuddle the rest of the day.

Later that night in Miles' arms, “Thank you for giving me this life.”

Miles pecks your lips. “Always sweetheart, it's what you deserve.

You snuggle closer, enjoying the quiet for now.

……

Life at home has been an adjustment for sure for the next couple of months. El struggled a little bit, but thankfully, you had Miles and his parents.

Lily was perfect the whole time. Thankfully, hers and El's nap schedules were different. So you could love both of your babies, giving Lily that mama and daughter time.

She's getting so smart, definitely a little sassy. Miles doesn't know how to handle it, and you think it's funny.

Miles has been perfect, too. Your marriage continues getting stronger and closer. All the bumps made you guys better.

Then Miles' season started, you all had to make another adjustment. You called Miles crying a couple times in the middle of the night. His heart broke every time. He hates seeing you like that.

But when he's home, he's home. He's taking care of Lily and El, so you can have some me time. For you to have a long bath and things like that.

You're glad that you and Miles made sure Lily continued as a toddler. She didn't need to grow up because of her sister. That's so important to you.

You and Miles started taking date nights with each other but also with Lily. And you like how things are going, that's something you always wanted. Her being a kid.

Miles is such a gentleman and respectful when it comes to your body issues after pregnancy. He gives you the space necessary to feel comfortable enough.

One night, you decided to be bold. Your doctor cleared you a while back, but you didn't feel good enough to go through it.

You're in the bathroom looking at yourself in the mirror. You bought lingerie that looked good, but now they feel a little off. You're nervous, taking one last look in the mirror. You take a big deep breath before sliding the robe on and moving to the master.

Miles is scrolling through his phone. He lifts his eyes, looking at you with a soft smile. You just go for it, opening the robe and letting it slide from your body. Miles puts his phone to the side and shifts so he can be closer to you.

“Holy shit, babe. You're fucking gorgeous.”

Your cheeks get warm at the way he's looking at you. Miles moves to where you're standing.

He stops in front of you, pulling your hands to touch his body. “Can I touch you, gorgeous ?” You take a deep breath as you nod.

“Baby, I need to hear you say the words.” It's important to him that you say what you want.

“Yes, you can.” His smile brights the whole room. He leans to kiss you. First, he just rests his hands on your side. As you stop overthinking, his hands wander more through your body. Your hands start to wander his body too, shoulders, hair, neck, his arms.

He likes that a lot and humms into the kiss. Miles cups your ass cheeks before scooping your legs to wrap around his waits. Feeling his bulge between your legs makes you moan.

You missed that feeling for sure. Miles starts to gives your body love. He looks at your face, to see if you're uncomfortable. He kisses every possible inch of your body.

As much as he would like to go to town on your boobs, he just cups them softly. Because he knows they're still uncomfortable for you.

“Woody, I need you.” Miles chuckles as he kisses your ribs. He sits on his heels, and you lift your head to look at him.

“Babe, we need a little more foreplay. I don't want to hurt you.” You know he's right, but it doesn't make it easier for you to wait, after waiting for so long.

Miles makes his way back to your lips. He kisses your jaw line, cheeks, the corner of your mouth, and your lips. You sigh, having his lips attached to yours again. You nibble his bottom lip to have his attention. Miles moans before facing you.

“Please.” Your voice is like a whine and Miles agrees. He pulls your underwear down before stripping himself. Your eyes go wide seeing his big cock erect for you.

You moan as he smirks. Miles strokes himself and uses his fingers on you to open you up a little. He lines himself and starts to slide inside you. But your body is resisting him big time.

“Babe, we can stop. It's clearly painful for you.” Miles moves your hand from your face.

“But I want it, I need you. It's time.” Miles chuckles a little bit. He pecks your lips. “Do you want to try with the lube ? We worked for us before.” Your hand plays with his abs while you think.

“Yeah, we can try.” He smirks before getting up to grab the lube. He settles himself again between your legs, pouring lube on his hands.

Miles strokes himself, spreading the lube. He puts a little on you too.

“Are you ready, babe ?” You watch Miles line himself with your entrance.

“Yeah, I am.” Miles smiles before sliding in.

“Tell me, if I'm hurting you or it's uncomfortable, babe.” You nod, before mumbling an okay. Miles slowly slide inside you as your nails dig in his shoulder. But when it doesn't hurt, your grip is lighter. You open your eyes to see Miles staring at you with a smirk on his lips. You look down seeing that he's completely inside you.

You smile at him as you brush your thumb on his cheekbone before bringing him for a deep kiss. Feeling adjusted to his size, you wiggle so Miles can start moving to build up the tempo.

You missed this so much, Miles is careful building up the tempo. He knows that it's going to be tricky making you cum today, but boy he's struggling himself. Having your tight heat around him again after so long, makes him crazy. He's going to focus on you for now.

He moves his thumb to rub circles on your clit. You moan moving your hips toward his finger. Miles changes your position to go deeper inside you.

“OH, fuck.” You cover your face, but Miles moves so he can see you.

“Babe, I'm hurting you ?” He slows down his movements.

“Nope, it just feels so good.” Miles smirks as he leans to kiss you. He increases the tempo again, knowing that you're okay.

You call for him a few times, and Miles know that you're close. He rubs a few more firm circles, bringing you over the edge and bringing him over the edge too. It's not a crashing orgasm but enough to make you happy and make yourself tight around him.

Miles groans as he moves his hips. “God, I love you.” You smile, bringing her for a kiss, you lick his bottom lip. “I love you too.”

He chuckles and pecks your lips. He pulls out and settles before pulling you to his body.

“Thanks for waiting for me.” Miles kisses your head seeing you play with his chest hairs. “Always, I'll always wait for you,sweetheart.”

You kiss his chest, enjoying his body before needing to pee. “I'm going to shower. Do you want to join me ?” He looks at you a little surprised because it's been a while that you asked to be this intimate with him.

“Yeah, I do. And I got El next, you can rest.” You smile thanking him with a little smooch before you get up to move to the bathroom.

You guys take a shower together. Miles is so soft and gentle, touching your body. He makes sure that you're feeling okay with his touches. He smiles softly. He knows that it's not easy, but he's so proud of you.

“Babe ?” You look at him with soft eyes.

“Yeah ?” Miles kisses your cheek.

“I'm so proud of you.” You look at him confused.

“Why ?” Miles pushes your hair from your face.

“Because you took your time, you reached out when you were ready. You gave me another baby, you make my life better every single day.” You smile as your cheeks get warmer.

You kiss him, because that's the only way you can express what you're feeling. Miles helps you get out of the shower wrapping around the towel, he lets you finish your night routine.

You come back to the bedroom and Miles is holding your underwear.

“We can keep these babe, they look so good on you.” You shake your head before joining him in bed.

He wraps those strong big arms around you. And you fall asleep so quickly, the girls got that from their mama for sure. Just like he promised, Miles takes care of El in the middle of the night.

[imadhatt3r]

I can't stop thinking about Koujaku's name and sparrow motif...

So his name means "red sparrow"; And I'd imagine that he was most likely named by his mother. I don't think his father had much of a presence in his early life, and besides, I feel like a violent yakuza leader would want his son to have a more "powerful" sounding name. So it was probably his mom's choice.

I feel like she must've loved sparrows if she named her son after them. I can see her going out to parks and gardens just to see them, and taking older Koujaku with her to feed them too. They were always so cute and cheerful, so they always managed to lift her spirits whenever she was worried about her pregnancy, her partner, or future in general, so she decided to name her son after them, because she wanted him to lead life with the same qualities she saw in these birds: She wanted him to be joyful, resiliant, adaptable, and always surrounded by loving and like-minded people (since sparrows live in large groups). He was her little birdie since birth... 😭

I think that Koujaku grew fond of sparrows too, through seeing how much his mother loved them. Maybe that's why he wears a kimono with sparrows and picked Beni (a sparrow) as his AllMate. I can see him putting out a small bowl with grains on his windowstill to get some sparrows to come, like he used to do with his mom when they went to feed them, but with mixed results (sometimes they come and sometimes they don't).

Aoba picks up on it too; Whenever he's out doing deliveries and he spots a flock of sparrows foraging in a patch of grass or drinking and bathing out of a puddle, he takes a photo on his coil and sends it over to Koujaku, usually with some silly caption he comes up with on the spot. He absent-mindedly picks up any sparrow-themed knicknacks to give to Koujaku, all of which are deeply treasured and loved- if they're something like post-it notes, there's a guarantee that they'll never be used, and they will be lovingly stored in a drawer untill the end of times. Aoba actually bought an extra set of post-it notes and a pen with a sparrow-themed topper to keep at his desk at Hum-Drum.

This is more of a sidenote, but I always imagined Koujaku's mother as a rather short and frail woman, probably a bit shorter than Aoba, so the height difference between them now would be really big. I guess I was just touched by the image of Koujaku's mom cradling his head in her hands to have him look at her as she wipes away his tears with her thumbs... Her birdie's all grown up, but he'll always remain her little sparrow...

[b0tsbby]

Thinking about this Concept Art Sarah

[wavebiders]

Thinking about how most of the time when you have the option to stay quiet during a companion quest you get approval for letting them handle it and sometimes even get disaproval for talking over them

And then with Shadowheart's quest speaking up with Viconia not only gives a +5(while *keep silent* gives nothing) but also if you don't do that she will look genuinely scared when Viconia asks you to hand her over

[uranium-city]

guys i really hate to say it but Abe's kind of been the highlight of the last two episodes for me & feels most in character to his S1 counterpart when compared to the other main characters 😭

ALSO him & Joan had more genuine chemistry in the one hospital scene than JFK & Joan have had all season & as a member of the JoanFK nation i am frustrated

[spacedlexi]

it honestly frustrates me when i see people reduce the ericsons cast down to "just some teens in the woods" acting like theyre no different than any other group of lone teenagers from other existing properties and treating them like an overused trope

it is sooo important to acknowledge the "troubled youth" aspect of the whole equation. theyre not just some random teens in the woods clem stumbles across. these kids were abandoned by their families for their various "difficulties" and fucked up by The System before the outbreak even began. and then once zombies started roaming the streets their familes never came back for them and the adults that were in charge of taking care of them just left them there to rot in that old boarding school (except for ms martin who was like their lee 🥺 the only person who ever saw them as the scared traumatized kids they were and died protecting them)

the whole aspect of them already being fucked up by the adults that controlled their lives is like.....kind of important when discussing the whole "delta is stealing kids to force them to fight in a war they have no real part in and want nothing to do with" aspect of the season. and its important when comparing them to clem and her journey of also suffering at the hands of the adults around her forcing her to become self reliant. AND its important when discussing the "just trying to build a safe home (and future) worth fighting for in this world that wants them dead" aspect of the season as well

these kids were forced to come together to survive. and a Lot of them didnt... theyre the only family they have left and you can tell that even when they argue with each other theyre still a close knit group who looks out for each other. theyre a Real family before clem even gets there (and its why what really happened with the twins and brody and marlon hits them all so especially hard)

all of this is what REALLY makes ericsons such a perfect home for clem. its a Real community of her True peers. theyre not Just teens. they mightve had a layer of safety clem never had by at least having walls to keep them safe. and having the benefit of the school being hard to find. its the only reason theyre still alive when clem shows up. but theyre also some of the only people who can Truly understand where clem and aj are coming from. and its why it hurts so much when they vote to kick them out. but its also partially why she merges back into the fold so easily when she returns. plus the fact that shes Really the only one who has any idea what shes doing. shes their rock and she makes them feel safe because underneath it all theyre still just those scared traumatized kids ("EVERYONE is scared, clem..." vi was Definitely including herself in that 'everyone'), and on some level, so is clem

they saved clementines life. and she saved theirs. "the school was supposed to help them with their trauma, now they help each other" its about the LOVE the COMMUNITY the SUPPORT!!!! and thats the shit that makes good zombie media honestly 👌

[oatmealmika]

NEVER a proshipper or toxic fan but

being an erehisu fan in 2023?!?!?!?

embarrassinggggg…… 👀

brother pls get off of reddit

for my final aot rewatch before the last episode, i just finished season two and, if most men in the fandom are erehisu stans, then it’s safe to say men really don’t understand romance because WTF IS YUMIHISU TO YALL?!?!?!?!?!??!

i get it, you have internalized homophobia ever since your seventh grade robotics teacher told you to “stop being so close with your boy best friend, it’s weird”, but DAMN.

fuck you mean “I will always be your ally”?!?!??? not to mention, “i will always wrap your scarf around you”??!?!?!?!? yes, i’m dragging eremika into this too, cuz HUH????

reddit is the number one public enemy in the state (on oatmealmika’s blog)

[fluffs-n-stuffs]

me just wanting to have something to play in the background while I work only for me to end up getting invested in itSKDJFSNDFSN 🚶‍♀️🚶‍♀️🚶‍♀️

[girlthativealwaysbeen]

so tired of being a shitty bandaid for my parents' loneliness. like have u ever considered you passed your curse to me and some days i feel so lonely it's like i can't breathe around the emptiness in my chest????

[itspileofgoodthings]

Good afternoon, today I am thinking about the end of the Feast of the Seven Fishes when Tony is talking to Katie about why he can’t get back together with her and/or just fall into bed with her and he says “I love you too much not to love you enough.” Thanks for listening.