#you're allowed to hate her

[hawkeabelas]

Any Marinette Dupain-Cheng slander on my posts gets you blocked. Just btw.

[amythestalithia]

The Bird Race and Other Challenges:

Perselena Athenide took on the form of a grown maiden, the age of a Spartan bride, on the winter solstice after her twenty-second birthday.

There was no discussion with her parents about this. She felt she was an adult goddess and so took on a form to embody that.

Himerus, god of lust, was the first one to challenge the protective aegis of her parents. He felt it his duty to teach virgins of love-making and so approached her. She turned him away and said, "I am loyalty, and I do not belong to one for a single night."

Her parents scared him away, back to the side of the servants of Aphrodite. They turned to Zeus and asked if he would not grant her the oath of an eternal maiden, and Perselena agreed that her mother's crown should also be hers. But Zeus, king and kin of all gods, did not dare. To grant her maidenhood would lead to many goddesses choosing it as well and thus no new brides in Olympus, and so he said, "If you wish to be a maiden for eternity, granddaughter, then you can swear yourself to Artemis. Else remain as you are, and live as other goddesses do."

Perselena refused the hunt, for she was the daughter of two Olympians herself, and to bow to Leto's daughter would be to sever herself from them.

And so Poseidon declared that if one wished to have Loyalty in their bed, they must marry her, and Athena, with motherly pride, declared there was no god worthy of her.

After she returned to the sea, there were many offers for her hand. Her father refused all the sea gods who came to him for her hand, without any fuss.

On Olympus, though, her mother was beset in offers and she was enraged by the audacity of gods who dared want her daughter, and so she challenged all of them to prove themselves worthy.

It was Pothos who came first. He was the god of pinning, and many pined for the beauty of Perselena Athenide. He was their collective strike, sent to scout on Athena's challenges for the suitors, for death would not touch his brother.

Athena challenged him to answer a question about love. "Who is my greatest love? " asked the sworn maiden.

And the erote replied," You have none, for you are sworn to virginity and untouched by the hand of my mistress."

" You are unsuitable as a husband for my daughter. She is my greatest love, as every child is their mother's, " said the mother of Loyalty to a servant of love, and had him swear to never pursue her daughter romantically, ever again.

Next came Zelus, daimon of rivalry, to the mother of his friend. He did not love Perselena, but if Olympus was challenged by Athena, he would answer. Wisdom, knowing that she should not challenge rivalry to a contest, gave him a task. "Find two brothers in the world, who are rivals of each other for the love of their parents, and make them both rivals and friends." Zelus searched and found in Enaleus's kingdom a pair of twins, rivals for inheritance from their father, who did not know which was older and had told them the greater wealth would go to the brother who made him prouder. Zelus stroked their rivalry but could not instill a love of each other, and so they quarrelled bitterly, came to blows, and one killed the other. Zelus, feeling responsible for this crime, took the form of a crow and helped the living murderer bury his brother and hide his crime. Athena came to him and said, "You are not worthy of my daughter, son of Styx. If you can not help with her students, what use will she have for you? Swear on your mother to never again pursue her." And so Emulation was bound by Wisdom.

Benthyskime, Queen of the land, came to the father whose son was missing and led him to the grave of his second son. His first son was tried by law and punished for his crimes.

Athena's next victim was Caerus, opportunity incarnate, once the destined downfall of their father. Caerus truly did care for Perselena, and to marry her at this point in his life would be a dream come true. As Apollo had once asked the hand of Hestia in marriage, so now did his half-brother. Athena's brother in full, for he too was born from the head of Zeus.

She asked him a question. "Do you love her enough to make her Queen?", for that was what she wanted for her daughter, a husband who would fight the elder gods for her. And Caerus swore to never pursue her, for all he wished for was a partner who did not ask him to overthrow his father.

Ialmenos, god of war preparations, came next. The Makhain had pursued every war goddess ever born, in marriage, which made him better than most gods but far too stupid to see the pattern. Eris had said no, Enyo had said no, Alke, Bia, Nike, Athena, all of them had said no to him.

Athena proposed a contest. "Forge a sword greater than mine, and she shall be yours." The sword he made was a sharpened lump of metal compared to the sword Athena made. Later, the metal was melted into two knives.

Hermes asked for her hand next. Because there was no decency amongst gods, not for a beautiful woman. Athena gave him a task. " In this fountain basin, there are many coins. Find the one made of gold by looking only. The one you touch is your selection." Hermes presented her with a coin that had been the shiniest, and she melted it to reveal silver beneath the golden glitter. And then she drew from the basin the real coin, coated in muck but still gold. And so Cleverness bent to the whims of Wisdom and swore his oath.

Apollo mocked his favourite brother for falling for Athena's tricks when he was the divine trickster. And so was goaded into asking for the hand of Perselena himself, to see if he could win against Athena.

She challenged him to a bird race. "A race of our sacred birds, my owl against your crow, but not on their wings. They will run on foot, between the fountain of the three sisters and the fountain of the muses, and however touches the stone basin first wins.". And so the owl was set against the crow, and though he raced quickly, the owl won. Knowledge did as Wisdom advised and swore his oath.

The tale spread far and wide, into mortal lands and the seas. Two men, a mortal and a god, had similar reactions.

Hyacinthus lost his royal composure at the news, and yelled at Apollo. "I know I am no more than a mortal prince, a son of your servant, but I love you. Why didn't you tell me we were no longer lovers before asking for Perse's hand in marriage? You had time to inform me that you would be pursuing her, as the challenge for her hand was announced three months ago. You visited the day before your contest even. Do I not deserve that courtesy? Did I displease you so much that you cannot share your plans for marrying my sister, though she is that only in my heart? Were we not friends before you took me to bed? Are not friends any longer?". The Archer was shamed by his words and cried out, "Hyacinthus, you are my only love. I had no intent of marrying Perselena nor answering Athena's challenge, but Hermes set me the task of proving I would succeed where he failed. I beg for your forgiveness, for I behaved monstrously, yet I do truly love you and to see you leave would be to tear my heart out and be eaten by wolves. I belong to you, my prince of ancient art, and never again shall I even jest that I belong to another.". Then, Clio's son forgave his lover, and did not know that he had birthed something in Leto's son with his words. For only a month later, Apollo would ask Hyacinthus for his hand in marriage.

Triton, Prince of the Seas, Pontomedon of the grandsons of Kronos, lost his royal composure as well. To see another sister of his pursued by a sun god was not something he could tolerate. The herald had no great faith in Athena's challenges, for sooner or later she would lose, and leave his sister to an Olympian god. The Prince came to the King and petitioned him for Perselena's hand. Poseidon dismissed him out of hand, for he knew his children and knew they could never make a marriage work between themselves. None of his sons had married his daughters, and he planned to keep it that way. He told Triton to be patient, for sooner or later the interest in his sister would cease and she would be able to live her life as she pleased.

The next person to try to marry Perselena was Nike, goddess of Victory, and Athena's closest friend. To her, the mother asked a question, " Between Perselena and me, who would you give victory to ?". And Nike answered, "To you, Athena Nike.". Athena was pleased but she said, " My daughter needs a partner who will choose her over all else. Swear your oath, glorious victory." And So Victory bowed to Wisdom.

Wise Athena then crafted an equal challenge for all, as to not have to spend so much time on individual challenges. A race of four, through a maze in her temple. All who ran it lost.

[thoughtfulchaos773]

[possamble]

I have so many thoughts about the Touden family backstory comic portraying insanely realistic complicated family dynamics and the generational trauma that can come from hereditary neurodivergence (and the love that still persists in spite of the hurdles) but also like. Marcille's reaction to Falin off-handedly apologizing for her disappearance is a lot.

is it fine, Marcille?

is it really? are you sure?

[eliseliedl]

Firefly ♡

[tae-shimura-is-my-wife]

[epickiya722]

So I'm looking through the comments of this one video about the reveal about Wasuke being the reincarnated and this comment actually put me in my feelings.

Like??? Nah, it's too early for me to cry right now.

[rainforcsts]

cassie hobbes appreciation post becuz she's underrated in her own series💔

she's so caring and empathetic!!!!!!! whatever she does, she always does it with OTHERS in mind. does that lead to questionable decisions? maybe. but she apologised EVERY TIME whenever she found out it made someone upset. and she never complains, just look at her in all in while sloane and michael were spiralling. she found her mother's body and all but the moment lia told her to suck it up for them, she did it with NO COMPLAINTS. she'd went to that frat party FOR DEAN. she'd sucked up her trauma FOR MICHAEL AND SLOANE. she'd refused to leave sterling before and after sterling was threatened even though sterling told her multiple times that she'd be fine because she CARES about everyone.

"she kept making things about herself" and... it did end up being about her in the first book. + daniel redding said it himself (or one of his minions i don't rmb) that they were inspired by lacey locke's little murdering spree. + the masters took her mother hostage and made her their pythia? so yes, essentially it IS always about her. and she just has good instincts.

"she's so whiny" ...i don't even wanna have this argument🥀 yall say this about ANY fmc who expresses a little more emotion than anger. anyone who's REALLY whiny wouldn't have reacted HALF as nicely about what lia said to her in all in.

"it's her fault that lia has so many haters" (this is genuinely something someone said to me) no, i love lia more than the next person (unless it's aven), but that was ON LIA. is whatever she did valid? her crashouts? her insults? yes. but whatever the case, SHE'S the one who CHOSE to insult cassie/michael/whoever. and that's just her character, so it's not technically fully her fault, and i totally see why someone might not like lia, but it's NEVER BEEN CASSIE'S FAULT. cassie was just the reason lia did allat, but she never did anything to CAUSE it to make it her fault.

enough defence, she's also really fucking smart. obvly not as smart as sloane, but like that ankle tracker move she did to save sterling and herself was gold (even if it wasn't activated) + that strip poker when she didn't open her cards so that michael and lia wouldn't be able to figure out what she had either?? OUTSMARTED THEM. also just being a profiler itself is so smart and cool of her🤞

also, she's funny when she wants to be (and also unintentionally). "you're divorced." GIGGLED. "are you sure this isn't a shirt?" it probably is a dress but i'm snorting rn. "(...) you have a problem with me" i expected her to deny it. she surprised me. PLEASE.

and she's just a cutie really. remember when she was so happy that mackenzie mcbride was saved?? 🩷🩷

[lavender-phoenix-flames]

Why are Sakura stans so annoying?? Why do they feel the need to defend her character on a post clearly tagged anti sakura?

Honestly I am not even gonna engage in a conversation with them when they don't know that it's common sense to block the type of posts you don't wanna see ffs, why can't they just block the anti sakura tag and move on.

[butwhatifidothis]

I LOVED To Be a Creature, and it genuinely creeped me out to see the things Edelgard and Hubert said to Byleth (though it's the same as the game, stripped out of its voice acting and background music, the dialogue is so much more horrifying). Really makes me wonder if Edelgard's love for Byleth is genuine in any way. Do you think there's any real love there or is it just obsession?

Thank you!!! I had a feeling that placing Edelgard and Hubert's words in a context that isn't meant to make them look flattering would really let their casual racism shine, and I'm glad it's seeming like that is in fact the impression people are getting lol. SO sorry for the late answer btw 😭😭😭

As for whether Edelgard's love is genuine... I got opinions lmao.

got a bit long lmao under the cut it goes

If Edelgard felt the way she does for Byleth on exclusively SS and CF, I could maybe see how this is a "genuine" love (insofar as a love steeped in "I may hate your race but you're special and Not Like The Other Ones because I think you're special to me" can, uh, ever be genuine, in any case). But because Edelgard still feels as strongly towards Byleth on AM and VW where she quite literally never talks to them directly in any meaningful way, it becomes waaaaay more like she's just weirdly obsessed with this person who saved her one singular time ever five years ago from an attack Edelgard set up. It makes the "love" way more forced and contrived and obviously trying to squeeze tears out of the player for standing up against the cute girly trying to murder them. Or, alternatively, it makes Edelgard come off as manipulative, saying that she just wanted to walk with Byleth and it makes her so sad to HAVE to fight Byleth because BYLETH wouldn't stand by HER - and she's saying this on AM/VW to a person she's talked to in conversation a cumulative, what? Hour? Two? Maybe a few days, being nice? Over the course of, being as absolutely generous as physically possible and not counting the five years Byleth was missing... two fucking years? She's shitting herself over fighting this stranger she doesn't fucking know? Yeah, sure buddy, whatever you say - you see what I mean?

And honestly even outside of those two routes, I think it's more that she sees Byleth as being hers rather than actually liking them for who they are. A body to stand next to her and tell her how right she is and comfort her - who doesn't have the background of "I was literally raised to think this is my only purpose in life" muddying the sincerity of the brown-nosing - who also happens to also act as The Perfect Fighter and The Perfect Strategist to actively help her get what she wants. That view of Byleth being a tool doesn't really go away unless they marry her, seen by how they quite literally get nothing for all they've done for Edelgard should they go unmarried to a noble (guess they just weren't meritable enough once their use to her was done).

As well as how much more Edelgard doesn't like Byleth disagreeing with her or otherwise going against her flow than pretty much anyone else in the game - you lose supports points if you don't think the Black Eagle Strike Force name she made is good, she quickly denies the notion that Byleth isn't detached from others/emotions and insists they are just like she is, she gives them the same callous and thoughtless words she was apparently given once in her life while they are in the midst of mourning their recently murdered father so that they get over it already and get back to being useful to her (directly saying she will only reach out her hand when it's time for HER to move forward, not when BYLETH heals from WATCHING THEIR DAD DIE IN THEIR FUCKING ARMS MAYBE A WEEK AGO). She never treats Byleth kindly unless they do everything she wants, which like. Isn't love???? At all????

There's just this... weirdly possessive air Edelgard has around Byleth that always threw me off, especially with how easily she admits to have been willing to kill them so far into CF and how readily she cuts ties with them the second the fighting's done (which is particular because how just how clingy she was to Byleth everywhere else - you know during all that time Byleth had a use to her). Incorporating that into being an intentional part of her character is certainly interesting, but not in a way that's flattering to the idea of Edelgard genuinely being in love with Byleth lmao.

Personally tho, even disregarding almost everything else, the simple explanation is that I don't think you can really sit there and say you love someone while openly hating part of their racial heritage. Wild thought, I know lmao

[azelletown]

I feel like we all forgot about this bit in the opening of Gavv

WE ARE 7 OUT OF 50 EPISODES AWAY FROM THE FINALE

At this point I'm assuming she is going to become a MULTIVERSAL LEVEL THREAT by the last 2 episodes

[softquietsteadylove]

part 2:

thena being vulnerable about how much she enjoys physical touch (tyrant king/ice queen AU)

Thena inhaled as she woke up. She wasn't on Gil's office couch, or even her own. In a moment of weakness, she had allowed their affair to move to his apartment.

It wasn't good business to see each other's homes.

But, well, since he had stuck around for so long yesterday she had agreed to have dinner together. Then, after dinner, they had been a bit handsy in the car home. One thing led to another, and now...

The Ice Queen squeezed her eyes shut again. She was taking all this way too far. It was supposed to be a one-time thing, maybe a time or two more. Just an affair of the flesh, to settle the nerves and satiate a hunger.

She looked over at him. The Tyrant King was a heavy sleeper, his arm thrown around her and slightly ragged breathing just short of snorting coming from him. He was beautiful, in his own kind of way.

Thena attempted to extricate herself, but his arm reflexively closed tighter around her. She huffed; what a terrible time for him to have a protective side. She scolded herself; it wasn't a lover being protective, it was...resource hoarding. Like trying to take a bone from a sleeping dog.

She looked around the room, although further to her distress there were only a few pieces of his suit strewn around on the dark tile floors of his bedroom. Then it occurred to her; her dress was down the hall. She tried to slip out of his grasp again.

"What do you think you're doing, Ice?"

Part of her didn't want to admit that he had deceived her. She wouldn't have been able to say the moment when he had gone from slumbering to dreary but awake. He pried one eye open to look at her.

She glared at him. "I have to go, Gilgamesh."

"Why," he grumbled, letting himself wake slowly. He pulled her even closer to him as he shifted in the bed. He had silk sheets, which was such a cliche move for a man in his position. Sexy, maybe, but not particularly breathable fabric. It would make more sense to have silk pillows and cotton sheets (like she did).

"Because," she argued weakly, finding herself pressed to his body, nestled against his side, their naked skin fighting for each other's warmth. She put her hands up between them, pushing on his flank. She couldn't let herself sink too deep into him, right now. Not if she wanted any hope of maintaining some willpower.

"S'not an answer," Gilgamesh rumbled. She could feel it in her palms on his ribs, and his voice was even deeper and more gravelly first thing in the morning. Not that it made a difference to her.

"Because I shouldn't have come here," she muttered, hoping perhaps her acerbic tone would convince him she was not the bedfellow type. They should have kept things to the office environment. They could walk away from the office, no strings attached.

She wouldn't have had dinner with him if they weren't in her office already. And if he had let his own car take him home, they wouldn't have been all over each other in the back of hers. And if they hadn't made it all the way to Koreatown and been in the middle of things...

"Hey."

Thena opened her eyes again. Very unfortunately, he was looking at her now. His head tilted to the side, just barely on his pillow at all, he gazed at her. Her eyes slid closed as he kissed her (even more unfortunate).

He kissed her more--deeper, and as he did, he rolled over onto his side to be closer to her. Both arms wrapped around her, his hands sliding up the smooth expanse of her back. Her hands were still pressed to his chest, although she wasn't doing much pushing.

He moaned, and it travelled from his tongue to hers. She whimpered in reflex, but she managed some strength to press against his chest harder. He pulled away, obeying her wishes, but she wouldn't have said he looked happy about it. "Okay, what's up?"

She avoided his eyes. She had to follow through with her plan, otherwise she would languish in his arms all day. "I told you. I have to leave."

"No, you don't," he argued with her, because he loved arguing with her. "You don't have any work, you don't have any meetings. And I'm sure as hell not kickin' you out, so why?"

Because she was lying in his bed, naked, after spending the night. After sleeping with him, and leaving herself so horrifyingly vulnerable she shrivelled at the thought, now. Because she was supposed to be the one in control of this - it wasn't a relationship - business agreement.

He didn't pull her closer but he gave her waist a squeeze in the crook of his elbow, making sure she knew he didn't want to let her go. "Thena?"

Calling her by her name was a low blow. She wanted to stay. She wanted to let him scoop her up in those arms of his as she burrowed into him like a cozy blanket. She wanted to let go of being the Ice Queen, even for a few hours.

But their lives didn't allow them respite like that.

"Hey," he whispered to her again, and so tenderly he was truly making her rethink everything. "Look, if you really wanna go, then okay. I'll get your clothes; I'll take you home myself, no drivers. Just tell me why you can't stay."

She finally looked at him, but what a mistake that was. He was looking at her so gently, eyes so soft, so brown, so sad. Perhaps her dog analogy had been more truthful than she initially thought. But she couldn't let his cute puppy-dog eyes sway her. She kept trying to put some distance between them, even just a breath of air between her skin and his. "I have to leave eventually."

"So?"

"Why not now?"

"Because I was enjoying holding you."

She looked away, hoping he would think she was rolling her eyes at him. His finger was toying with her hair, twirling it, tracing little circles on her back through its shroud. "I didn't take you for a cuddler, Tyrant."

But he didn't take her bait. He wasn't riled in the slightest. But he was becoming more alert, and his eyes continued to sharpen, if only to gaze at her. "I could say the same to you."

Her temper spiked in an instant; how could she forget she was the more snappy of the two of them? "I am not-!"

Gilgamesh took the opportunity to kiss her again, and it was like smothering a candle with a pinch of his fingers. He extinguished her in seconds, kissing her like it was their last. Even when they parted, he hovered close, their breath inhabiting the same space. "Is it so bad--if I wanna hold the woman I made love to?"

She squirmed. She hated that he called it that. And he had from the outset of their 'agreement'. It was ridiculous, because there was no need for him to act the romantic when he knew just as well as she did that they had to conduct themselves with discretion.

She hated that he called it that, because she felt loved. It felt beautiful when they were intimate. In all her attempts to keep things sterile and physical and without the veil of romance, Gilgamesh seemed determined. And, while she blamed it on the chemistry of her hormone-addled brain, she was...happy.

She liked having him around, even after they were done being positively carnal with each other. She enjoyed exercising her power and control, and yet she wouldn't let him sleep on her couch or stay for lunch if she truly wanted to be rid of him. Likewise, she didn't have to ride with him, and she didn't have to let him put his hand on her knee or wrap his arm around her shoulders when she did.

Especially because those simple touches usually led to something else happening.

"Thena," he called out to her, breaking through the glacial wall of thoughts consuming her at the moment. "You with me?"

She huffed at him, as if she were not the one who had completely tuned out of their current predicament. She forced herself to focus her eyes on him again. "Unfortunately."

He just grinned, like he liked her distaste for being with him. It made her feel as if he could see a part of her she was trying desperately to hide away from him.

His arms wound around her again, his leg dragged down hers, tickling her with its hair. He pulled her closer, burying her face in his chest. There was hair there too, but she didn't mind it. His arms blurred in her periphery, but she could make out some colour, there. His tattoos were still coloured from when she had decided he was a good art therapy for her after a long day.

"If you wanna go, then okay," he whispered to her, cradling her against him like he was truly afraid of that possibility. "But I'm asking, Ice. No teasing, no jokes, tell me for real: do you want to leave, or are you just scared to let me hold you like this?"

She was terrified of it. Because every time he got close to holding her, she caved. She crumbled like freshly fallen snow, because oh, how she loved to be held. Every time his hand held hers in greeting or touched her back or her knee, it was bliss.

She straightened her spine, which she had kept arched so she wouldn't have to let her front be too closely pressed to his. She untangled her knees to allow him more room. Instead of pushing back on his chest she let her hands relax. She could feel his heart beating, steady and strong. It was intoxicating.

Gilgamesh felt her relax in his embrace. He relaxed, too. And now he was just holding her, enjoying her mere presence in the morning warmth. He pressed a kiss to her temple.

She sighed at it. This was the weakness she was more determined than anything not to allow. Because if she started letting him hold her then what if he got other ideas, and what if she was too infatuated with his touch to protect herself?

"I do."

With some grace, he kept quiet, even as she snuck her arms around him. She slid her hands up his back, clutching at his lower shoulder. His back was so wide, shoulders so thickly muscled. He was so warm.

"Like it," she admitted directly into his chest, unable to look at him as she confessed her sin. She inhaled, taking in the scent of him, the warmth of him, even the lingering scent they left on the sheets.

He inhaled, kissing her forehead and re-situating them again. He had no intention of letting go of her, did he? "Was that so hard?"

She gave his side a pinch, but it only made him chuckle. "What happened to keeping things professional?"

"Your rules, Ice," he reminded her. Because he was the romantic one. "I think it's okay if we break 'em every once in a while. Don't you?"

She was breaking all of them, lounging in his bed with him like this.

His hand trailed over her back again, as if the smoothness of her skin was just too much to resist. "Anything else you don't want me to know?"

She gave him a withering look as he pulled away just enough to grin at her. He pried her hand off his back, just so he could intertwine their fingers. "Not on your life."

He brought her hand to his lips, gleeful to express his affections so simply. "Fine, I'll ask you later."

She rolled her eyes; this was exactly her fear. She let him hold her one morning and now he was going to be like an insipid young lover, giddy at the thought of wooing her.

"Hey," he nudged her face, kissing her cheek and then nuzzling under her jaw. "Much as I wanna lie around here with your sweet ass all morning-"

"Gilgamesh," she chided.

"I'm starving," he whimpered, still having a little too much fun. He planted a tender kiss at the base of her neck. "All that business we did last night, huh?"

Thena blushed, but only while he wasn't looking at her to see it.

"What do you want? I'll make you anything your heart desires, Princess," he promised eagerly, practically wagging his tail.

She groaned faintly, both at the idea of getting up, of trying to locate her dress from last night, of sitting around his flat in yesterday's clothes like some tawdry-

"Here!"

Gil left her with one more kiss before rolling out of his side of the bed. He hunted around the room a little, examining what clothes of his were at hand.

Thena averted her eyes. Seeing him...bouncing...in the light of day was too much.

"Ha!" Gilgamesh declared his victory, retrieving the rumpled black shirt he had shed last night in the heat of their activities. He brought it back to her, eyes bright, tail wagging. "You can wear this."

She sighed, clutching his sheets to her. He wasn't going to give this up. And he had so eagerly retrieved something for her to shield some modesty for herself. And he was a good cook (she already knew that). And she was hungry.

Gil bent his head, dragging his lips down her wrist as she accepted the shirt from him.

And she had to force herself to pull away from it. "It's not exactly my colour."

But even as she pulled the shirt on and buttoned it, he leaned over her shoulder. He pulled her hair out of his way to kiss her cheek again. "You look good in every colour."

Her eyes closed as he tipped her chin up to kiss her properly. His lips really did feel like they were made for hers. This just kept getting worse and worse.

He kept her chin in his grasp, as if admiring her just for the pleasure of it. She pouted at him and he swiped his thumb over her lip. "Especially in mine."

Thena averted her eyes again as Gilgamesh went looking for some pants. No matter what concessions she was making to stay here - and just for the morning, she told herself - she was not going to parade herself around naked! How he was comfortable doing so was beyond her.

"Ready?" he turned back to her as he secured some sweatpants around his hips. They weren't pulled up particularly high, she noted, eyeing the bend of his hips and the trail of hair promising more just behind the drawstrings of its waist. But she nodded.

"Gil!" she chastised him more firmly as he scooped her up out of the bed and into his arms. At least she wasn't completely uncovered for it, but this wasn't some romantic comedy. "Stop it! I can walk just fine!"

"Come on, Princess," he chuckled, letting her snarl and hiss at him all she wanted. His only reply was to look down at her with pure, unmitigated adoration. "It's called the 'royal treatment' for a reason."

She huffed, letting him carry her to the kitchen because what was she to do?--throw herself to the ground? And somewhere along the way, she did relax into his embrace more. And somewhere deep down, she found it just a little charming that he was such a romantic.

And even deeper down, she liked that even when he put her down, he kept her hand in his unless it was otherwise occupied.

[borgialucrezia]

alright i've gotta say that i'm genuinely so obsessed with people feeling collective panic and threatened by the idea of juan being in love with lucrezia (mind you, it's just one-sided) even when everything about his arc on the show makes it very clear. and it always happens every time i post about lucrezia/juan lmao

anyway for instance, juan choosing a wife that resembles her, his aggressive overprotectiveness towards her, how furious he was over paolo because, unlike cesare who knew who paolo was to lucrezia, juan never knew he was lucrezia's solace but instead saw him as someone trying to have his way with his sister and cause her a scandal, (newsflash: one of juan's character aspects is that he's the black sheep of the family and always being excluded from everything), and he thought he genuinely did something to protect her honor. and how her attempt to kill him to avenge paolo broke him entirely in different ways (in the sense that he realized he hurt her and that she hates him for killing paolo), yet he tried to reconcile with her because he doesn't want to lose her affection and respect, and after being rejected again by someone he loves deeply made him lose his mind which caused him to hurt her back.

seeing people downplay his feelings and affection towards her simply because they can't stand his character and don't even want to understand him while desperately wanting cesare to be the pinnacle of almost everything just screams of copium and an inferiority complex and this only gives in to how interesting and compelling juan's character and his potential is when they could've simply just enjoy how tragic these three siblings are and how juan being trapped in a position to protect the family with massive expectations set him in opposition of his siblings and his ways of not knowing how to react caused them all to misunderstand each other and made them forever disconnected.

[sunsetsmakemesad]

Alice's life was so horrifying dude

[laurelwinchester]

no seriously it's fucking embarrassing so many of you fell for that shit over the summer. i'd say "do better" but i have no faith left that any of you ever will.

[icanttherearenogods]

honestly i've had people say and do some seriously fucked up shit to me before but today i point blank told my older sister "i have every right to ask that when you talk to me you're respectful" and she just straight up fucking left the conversation