#Attraction Marketing Principles

[mariasont]

Okay okay, so this doesn't have to be smutty if you don't want but enemies to lovers Spencer, they banter and fight at work they just can't get along * cough sexual tension cough* she is like really short, 5 foot nothing. And one day during an argument she goes "I'll climb you like a tree!" Trying to be intimidating but it comes off as something entirely 😂

Climb You Like A Tree

A/N: ahhhh thank you so much for the request--loved, loved, loveddd writing this! <3 xoxo

‧₊˚ ✩°｡⋆♡ ⋆˙⟡♡ ⋆˙⟡♡⋆｡°✩˚₊‧

pairings: spencer reid x fem!reader

warnings: suggestive flirting, enemies to lovers

wc: 1.1k

From the moment you joined the BAU, you were immediately drawn to Dr. Spencer Reid, resident boy genius and pretty boy. You were hooked on his random facts, and his rare snarky comments--essentially everything about him.

But that admiration swiftly turned into exasperation after just a week of working alongside him. What began as quirky charm quickly soured; his random facts, once amusing, now felt like thinly veiled jabs, and his 'occasional' snark became a relentless critique targeting you. You were at a loss, unable to pinpoint the exact misstep that had seemingly placed you on the receiving end of his pointed barbs, but it was clear you had inadvertently crossed some invisible line.

You couldn't shake the feeling that you were an unwelcome replacement for Alex in his eyes. But surely, he couldn't blame you for that, could he? You tried to overlook his subtle digs, to treat them as mere background noise, but god he made it hard.

Month after month, you kept your head down, refusing the grant him the reaction he so desperately wanted. You were new and hesitant about your place on the team, so you bore the blunt of his jabs with a diplomatic smile.

By the fourth month, you'd reached your breaking point, and you unleashed your own brand of sharp-tongued retorts. You were known for your smart mouth in your old department--a skill that had made you both a standout and a frequent flyer in the disciplinary office. You could sense the team's growing frustration at your constant bickering. Yet, there was an unspoken acknowledgement of the singular abilities you both contributed, a balance that tipped in the favor of necessity.

Today had been particularly challenging, your most recent case had ended in the death of seven victims before the unsub ultimately killed himself, taking the locations of the victims with him. So, when you landed and were greeted not by a moment's rest but by a mocking monolith of paperwork, you were at your wits end.

"Could you click that pen any louder?" you grumbled, your eyes blazing with irritation as they met Spencer's, causing for a momentary pause in your flurry of activity.

"Technically, yes. The Doppler Effect dictates that the perceived volume changes with distance, so if I were to move closer to you, the clicking would indeed sound louder to you," Spencer retorted with a sardonic edge, inching closer across the desk, his pen's clicks swelling in volume as if to underscore the scientific principle he so carefully threw upon you.

"Come any closer and I swear I'll shove that pen where the sun doesn't shine."

"Yeah, you'd like that wouldn't you?"

You bit back the words that sat on the tip of your tongue, acutely aware of Hotch's scrutinizing stare. If was reprimand was on the horizon, you were determined not to be the recipient, despite Spencer's knack for bushing your buttons. The worst part of it all was how undeniably attractive you found Spencer to be--you liked his nerdy comments, the way you had to break your neck to look at him, and even that stupid smirk of his.

It was like a twisted game of fuck, marry, kill--except Spencer was your choice for all three, a secret you'd never admit to anyone. God knows that his ego was already overinflated.

"You know, while acai berries themselves are rich in antioxidants, the bowls are often misleadingly marketed as superfoods. In reality, the excessive amounts of granola, sweetened fruits, and added sugars make it the equivalent of dressing up a dessert as a fruit salad."

Your spoon paused mid-air suspended in the stillness of the break room, as your gaze drifted upwards to lock with Spencer's. A smirk unfurled across your lips, and with deliberate slowness, you savored a slow, exaggerated mouthful, the spoon exiting your mouth with a prolonged, tantalizing pull. A contented moan escaped you. "Mmm, nothing beats a bowl of disguised indulgence. Thanks for the insight, but this 'fruit salad' just became a tad sweeter."

You observed him as he stood, mouth slightly open, eyes glued to your lips with an intensity that bordered on reverence. Anticipating his usual quick-witted comeback, you were met with silence. "Aww, what's the matter, wonder boy? Cat got your tongue?"

"Not at all, but it wouldn't hurt for the cat to catch yours for a change," he replied, stepping forward, his stare cutting through the space between you. 

"Look who's talking. When you finally decide to censor your own commentary, that's when I'll consider silence," you pronounced, your acai bowl abandoned on the counter as a wave of irritation surged within you, propelling you forward.

"Censor my commentary? Trust me, If I didn't, we'd be having a very different conversation right now," he murmured, his frame inching so close you could feel the warmth of his breath.

"You must love the sound of my voice to be this close. Remind me again about the Doppler Effect?" you snapped, attempting to sound unaffected, but your body betrayed you--a rush of warmth blooming over your face. "Or is it just my personal bubble that's too tempting?"

"Are you always this flustered when someone invades your space, or am I the exception?" he teased, stepping in even closer, nearly pressing against you. Your gazes locked in a silent challenge as you tilted you head up defiantly, your heart doing somersaults in your chest.

"Flustered? Hardly. I'm just sizing up the tree before I climb," you declare, your gaze sharpening to fine points. "And you're not as tall as you think."

A sudden burst of laughter spilled from Spencer, a rich sound that echoed through the minimal space between you. He didn't step back, your chests touching. The sound jolted you, and as the weight of your own words hit you, a fierce blush flared across your cheeks, your embarrassment impossible to hide.

"Wait, that's not--ugh!" you stammer, but Spencer is already retreating towards the bullpen, his laughter trailing behind him, taunting you. Your voice echoes down the hallway as you hurry after his figure. "Spencer!"

At the bullpen's entrance, Spencer halts, turning to address the team with a grin. "Guess who just said she's planning to climb me like a tree?" he announces, your words now on display for the entire team. Heat creeps into your cheeks as you wish the ground would swallow you whole.

"Called it!" Penelope's voice rang up, her hands waving like she was directing a parade. "Profiler? Please, I didn't need a badge to see this coming. Doubters, eat your hearts out. Get it, girl!"

"I said 'like a tree' in a metaphorical sense, guys. You know, like overcoming obstacles...not literally climbing Spencer!" you mumble, your face hidden behind your hands, the embarrassment radiating from your cheeks.

With a lean that closed the gap between you, Spencer's voice was low and teasing, "Keep telling yourself that."

[raincitygirl76]

Omar Rudberg is a very attractive young man. So I find it hilarious (though somewhat sobering) that nobody at Hillerska seems to notice Simon is gorgeous. All because he’s a lowly non-resident (and a socialist to boot, who refuses to act grateful to be allowed around his social betters), they pretend Simon’s looks are nothing out of the common way. It shows the pressure of class solidarity.

Makes me wonder, though, how many Hillerska boarders secretly have crushes on Simon. Because, you know, they have eyes, even if they don’t dare admit it to their friends because it would be social suicide. Are there girls in Simon’s classes who wistfully sigh over how aesthetically appealing he is? Or fellow choristers who covertly watch him sing when they’re supposed to be watching the music teacher and/or reading their scores?

I wonder how many girls quietly cried themselves to sleep right after the video came out. And told their curious roommates they were crying because apparently the Crown Prince is unattainable. But really they were crying because apparently Simon Eriksson is gay. And therefore definitely off the market, if those girls ever got up the guts to cross class lines and acknowledge how crush worthy he is.

P.S.

Incidentally, I don’t think Simon intentionally went back in the closet when he moved to Hillerska. It’s just we know from 1.01 that hardly anyone has spoken to him since the start of the school year. It’s kind of tough to come out to people who are pretending you don’t exist and won’t talk to you.

And then Wilhelm arrived, and was obviously interested but extremely closeted himself. So Simon had a large incentive not to arouse the suspicions of their Hillerska school mates by coming out himself. I don’t think Simon was hiding in S1 so much as just not choosing to actively bring it up. I’m pretty damn sure if someone had asked him flat out, he would’ve said he’s gay. But nobody did ask, so he and Wilhelm could continue to fly under the radar as close platonic friends.

We can also infer from Saran’s comment in 1.03 “Why are you sneaking around?” That at Marieberg, Simon was out and proud. But he wasn’t a pariah at Marieberg. People actually talked to him there. And he wasn’t deeply in love with a closeted guy at Marieberg.

It could also be another reason (as if Simon needed another) that Simon feels so betrayed by Wilhelm denying the video in 1.06. Simon has already compromised his principles for Wilhelm even before the video, by making allowances for Wilhelm’s closeted status and sneaking around secretively. And Wilhelm repaid Simon having previously compromised his principles by abandoning him altogether.

It’s one thing to let people assume you’re platonic friends and not actively correct them. It’s a whole other ballgame for Wilhelm to actively lie to the press and the entire world. Assertively affirming his (nonexistent) heterosexuality and his single status.

[aziraphales-library]

Hello! I really love The Sometimes Wife and occasionally find other Regency Era fics to enjoy. Do you have any recommendations, particularly for human AUs?

Hi! We have a healthy #regency tag, so do check that out. Here are some more to add to the collection...

Entailed by FeralTuxedo (E)

Anthony Crowley, a single gentleman of seven-and-forty and guardian to two unmarried sisters, is awaiting the arrival of the young clergyman who is set to inherit his estate. A marriage between him and one of the Miss Crowleys would be advantageous for both. But Mr Fell has other plans.

Remain Forever Yours by TawnyOwl95 (E)

Seven years ago Aziraphale Device was persuaded out of accompanying his dearest friend to Egypt. Now a famous explorer, Anthony Crowley is back in London and looking for a wife. Aziraphale is determined to be happy for him, despite his own breaking heart.

More Than by NaroMoreau (E)

Crowley would like to spend another year without marrying, especially when thrust-forced to pick a husband. She refuses to cave in on a matter of principles. She refuses to cave in specifically on a matter of not wanting to be married to Lucien Morningstar. But she might need a hand to break free from such a burden. And who knows? She might even find something else along the way.

Waltzing Vaguely Downwards by WorseOmens (NR)

Lord Crowley was not looking for a potential wife, when he arrived at this party. That doesn’t mean he won’t find one. Part one of the Good Omens Regency AU: The Serpent & The Flaming Sword series

Morningstar Abbey by Andromeda4004 (T)

No one who had ever seen Aziraphale Fell in his youth would have supposed him born to be a hero. His situation in life, the character of his father and mother, his own person and disposition, were all equally against him. But when a gentleman is to be a hero, the attractions of a comfortable, quiet home cannot prevent him. Something must and will happen to throw his destiny in his way. One should never forget that between a hero and his destiny, one will always find a villain. Trusting parish rector Aziraphale attempts to navigate Regency Bath, the marriage market, and the complexities of his own heart in this take on Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, written for the Ineffably Austen event, March 2023.

Sunday's Child by ladydragona, SylWritesStuff (E)

For a few years of their childhood, Aziraphale Eastgate and Anthony Crowley are inseparable until tragedies begin to strike the Eastgate family. After fifteen years, Aziraphale's become a servant to his own family and Crowley's about to inherit his father's fortune. The only thing that stands in Crowley's way is his Uncle Lucian's tight hold on finances until Crowley marries or comes of age. And the marriage his uncle has in mind for him is out of the question. Thankfully, a chance encounter puts these former friends within range of one another again. And Aziraphale, who's never managed to fall out of love with his former best friend, can't refuse a proposal which offers so much promise. It might hurt, but it might just be glorious too.

- Mod D

[jkrockin]

Wait what guy who hadn't read Atlas Shrugged?

I was pretty sure I'd told this story here, but a cursory search suggests that I have not. Okay let's gooooo

Many moons ago, I worked in an emergency services call centre. I worked nights- I could get regular shifts, it paid well, and I am a huge freak, just like everyone else who works nights in a call centre. It is a lifestyle that attracts freaks. Some of my coworkers weren't full-time creatures of the night, but students or whoever who picked up occasional nights for the extra money, and one of them was Libertarian Shithead, who we'll call LS for short.

LS was a twentysomething white dude who wore a lot of name brand surfwear and designer sunglasses. I assume his parents were rich. LS loved nothing better than recreational arguing. Unfortunately, he wasn't very good at it; he had some of the most dogshit opinions I've ever encountered in the wild, and was terrible at defending them. He'd say some crap about how Gattaca-type eugenics is Fine, Actually, because if you let people make designer babies, the ~*Free Market will decide what traits are desirable! Racism and colourism and ableism and sexism and intersexism won't affect those choices at all! And I'd get mad, because I have principles to speak of, and we'd get into it, and WITHOUT FAIL, we'd get maybe halfway into an actual discussion about whatever horseshit garbage he was on tonight, and the second he thought he was losing, he'd say "oh, well. I'm an ~*Objectivist, so you can't really understand my perspective unless you've read Ayn Rand." Then he'd sigh, and change the subject.

At the time I had not read any Ayn Rand. Being fundamentally powered by spite, I withstood maybe three weeks of this shit before I pirated an epub of Atlas Shrugged, put it on my e-reader, and proceeded to slam through it at supersonic speed so I could finally get to finish an argument with this terrible boy.

Anon, I fucking hated Atlas Shrugged. The book is bad. It's way too long, every single character is an unbelievable douche, the prose sucks. Ayn Rand wants to fuck a train so so so badly, but the prose is so turgid I couldn't even get invested in how much she wants to fuck a train. And the core of the matter, the politics I was there to understand, are, y'know. Objectivist. Eye-bleedingly selfish and capitalistic, expressed in amazingly childish and blinkered terms. Even the bits where it seems like the shithead capitalist dudes want to fuck each other are too mired in the scunge of Rand's terrible views to be enjoyable.

But I read the fucking thing! I powered through it with only quite minimal complaining! I finished the book on the train to work, and when I saw that LS was on that night, I plonked myself in a seat by him, and metaphorically cracked my knuckles, ready to fuckin' party. In a perfect world, I would have been cool enough to have waited for the perfect mid-argument moment to drop, but I didn't. I think I lasted exactly until we were both off a call at the same time, and then leaned in as close as the desk dividers would let me, and said "So I finished Atlas Shrugged. I have some thoughts."

I cannot overstate how quickly it became obvious that LS had not read the book. For a hot second I thought maybe it had just been a while and the fine details had escaped him, but no; he didn't know who half the characters were, or key points of the plot, or even know any of the stuff in the John Galt speech, i.e. the big juggernaut of Here's How Objectivism Works near the end of the book about Objectivism that this fucking guy hypothetically based his Objectivist views on. It took me maybe five minutes, in between calls, to realise this, and another five for him to admit he hadn't actually read any Ayn Rand. He'd read her Wikipedia page.

ANYWAY I didn't speak to him for like a month after that, and I don't think either of us lost out there!

[dreamtydraw]

Doing my yearly Pride doodle and my annual reminder.

That not a shocking news that on this blog ( owned by a panromantic, asexual non binary person ) aphobia, biphobia and transphobia are not welcomed here.

Reminder : stop hyper sexualising people who are queer just because they’re queer. This goes for lesbian fetishization, gay man fetishization and sexualisation of enby’s body.

Reminder : Romantic attraction and Sexual attraction are two separated thing that can be linked to each other but dosen’t mean the same.

Reminder : no one is forced to come out and someone not being open about their sexuality isn’t queerbaiting, queerbaiting is a specific principle used in marketing.

Reminder : being queer dosen’t excuse you for being a terrible person. You can be queer and racist, you can be queer and transphobic, you can be queer and sexit.

Reminder : Being queer dosen’t make you less of a creep if you don’t respect people’s boundaries « you’re straight but so are pasta before they’re wet » big ew.

Reminder : Non binary people don’t owe you androginity and trans peeps don’t owe you feminity / masculinity. In the same tone enby and trans folks aren’t all skinny people, stop being fatphobic.

Lasty, if I managed to keep your interest until the end please do your clicks on arab.org and share about Palestine, Congo, Sudan or Yemen. Here is a link that lead to multiple gofunds me of Palestinian who needs support.

Happy pride everyone, keep yourself safe and remember to buy from artist for pride merch, don’t give your money to greedy companies.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-DDMFyn-ttboPXrz1bB3MFk7BlzCwfugh4259Wh7U1s/htmlview?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaZb4v9Ct2z41Gg-fQOxBrd0A0QvuXzeIcwnZVWJxXGBG3_fBJXvL0mPnP8_aem_AVQthv21fjhwKRdOGc3DojoRaBFjVa2c5iVZOQJm1GbeRcyqpYcm-ME0Ko37uPbbTQ02hK7t6U2sBqCUeNzpD3eH

[yesloulou]

Hi friend.

Actually just today, my friend and I was talking about Daniel after the race. He’s been watching F1 for way longer then me. I expressed my concern over the last two weeks even though this is only the beginning of the szn. He said and I summerised, currently DR can only be in midfield teams is cus while he dose have the skills, he’s too unserious for like SF or MER, but his unseriousness brings great publicity for midfield teams.

I think in some aspects this may be true. But It’s just, like, idk, thought of this hits me. I know this jester aura (?) often surrounded him and people saying it’s great for marketing and stuff, but isn’t that a bit unfair tho? Maybe DR is always DR, way before F1 he is DR, and now all of a sudden his a publicity stun.

(feel sad for millionaires)

Idk what will happen after this szn but I really hope he keeps racing.

You know when you look at someone and look at what they do, you just go like, yeah for sure that’s what they do? I look at Daniel and I have this feeling. He’s a racer, always have been and always will, maybe he’ll go to Indy or some other competitions if this doesn’t work out, but in heart he’s a racer, he belongs to the track and the speed.

That’s just how I feel, and don’t really know who I can say this to, so thank you for letting me vent.

Wish him all the best for home race.

this is so sweet (the way you worry for daniel's prospects) and '(feel sad for millionaires)' got me irl lol 😭 your friend sounds like he's watched f1 for a long time but i would disagree with his conclusion. i provide that:

allegedly ferrari decided to not go for daniel after seeing him dance with daniil kvyat in the pit lane to entertain fans during rain delay at usgp 2015. the situation first of all was fortunately and unfortunately more nuanced than daniel being "unserious". the ferrari at the time was also run by arrivabene during bernie ecclestone's f1 reign. the ferrari today, two team principles later and after liberty media's f1 takeover, has changed in many ways. for example, in 2022 they had charles and carlos do this tiktok trend which definitely, definitely flirted with "the boundaries" (whatever that means) way more. so no, even tho daniel doesn't drive for ferrari, i wouldn't say he is "too unserious" for them.

merc is considered a more "corporate" environment in f1, example is valtteri's change in public image after leaving mercedes. however given that at the end of 2022 toto went as far as literally wearing daniel's merch in an attempt to reserve him for mercedes, i'd say obviously they don't consider daniel "too unserious" either.

publicity in f1 just generally cannot be a bad thing. more people interested in watching a driver means more sponsors willing to pay $$$$ to put their names and logos onto their livery. and more $$$$ means better chances at making a faster car, which is a goal of every team's. one can argue that a successful and financially secure team like red bull or ferrari might not be attracted to the benefit of a driver's popularity as much. but again, sports rely on viewership to sell broadcasting rights and ad spots, and publicity just generally can't be a bad thing.

i know the first two races were not great but this season literally just started. nothing is real yet. and daniel at least ended this week on a positive note so even more reasons to look ahead. the thing about f1 is that there is one winner and nineteen others. so as long as you're watching you're basically guaranteed more bad days than good ones. we can't all be watching bc we all believe our blorbos will be wdc, right? we watch and hope that something good might just happen. like if you think about it even though daniel has been out here causing us stress all these years he still manages to pull off minor to major miracles every year or two. this hopefulness is very precious so i say we watch it for that.

anyways. i hope this made you feel better and more excited about the season ❤️❤️❤️

[vividwritinglove]

T'es fait pour moi - Pierre Gasly

Long Time, No See - I feel incredibly sorry for not posting frequently at the moment, but the new job is occupying me completely and I just love it, so I am fully dedicated to it 🫠 But this was in my head for days now and I had to write it down! So I hope you like it and feedback is always welcome ♥️

warnings: language, smut (minors dni)

word count: 4.4k

Once again an after party of a Grand Prix where you find yourself in the same booth as Pierre Gasly. By now it has become a habit. Not that you mind, usually you have a nice evening with dancing, drinking and finally sharing the bed with each other later. You are good at not being seen with each other. You never leave the clubs together, but are in constant contact via your cell phones.

One look is usually enough to know what the other wants. You think back to your first encounter. The first after party of the year and Pierre could already celebrate a small success with the new team by scoring some points. Your first Grand Prix was just over, before that you worked as an event planner for a bigger international company as you got the offer from the Formula One Group. A great opportunity on your résumé that you were only too happy to take. However, you didn't know the sexual chaos you would plunge into almost every race weekend.

The Event and Marketing Team celebrated your debut and the success of the first Grand Prix at the official After Party. And there you'll met him, up close and personal for the first time. You knew his vita through some research, it is your job to know the most important details about all drivers.

But that night you would get to know him differently, intimately. And it wasn't even your intention. You had lively conversations with every driver present at the party. They were all nice and courteous. It was fun. A great evening. You felt comfortable and radiated so much confidence, which made you look even more sexier and irresistible. A few hours earlier, you had sworn to yourself: don't fuck the company!

Only you didn't know how quickly you would throw your principles overboard for one man. He flirted with you shamelessly and the attention he gave you that night was all you ever wished for. Despite all the sexual tension, which you recognized especially in his lustful look, you kept a friendly distance towards him. You don't wanted the talk from others, he didn’t wanted it either.

Through the night you lost sight of each other. Your new work colleagues dragged you to the dance floor, to the bar and with each shot Pierre was more and more forgotten. After a few more hours you found yourself in a random hotel suite and had more drinks with the girls from your team. As you felt the alcohol, it was time for you to go to your own hotel room.

And that was the point where you two met again. You stood in front of the elevator waiting. With a DING, the large doors of the mirrored cage opened and there he stood. Leaning casually against the railing, his white shirt partially unbuttoned so that his chest hair and golden cross necklace flashed out. He looked up from the floor and his lips immediately formed into a mischievous grin at your sight. You hesitated for a second, but then got on the elevator anyways. Pierre stood up straight and gloats. You pressed the button to your floor and turned away from him. However, you watched each other through the many mirrors. The tension in this small room was hardly bearable. Especially as you watched his eyes linger on your butt. Only now did you realized how short your dress actually was. You crossed your legs and sighed loudly. He's handsome and his aura is incredibly attractive as well to you, but he's also kind of your colleague and that's a no-go. You threw all doubts overboard as he licked his lips and your eyes met in the mirror. Your eye contact was interrupted by the opening of the doors.

You left the elevator and gave him another quick glance over your shoulder. Pierre didn’t know how to interpret it at first. Was it a silent farewell or an invitation?

He stood between the doors and looked after you. He waited for another sign, a confirmation from you. You continued to feel his eyes on you. As you stopped at the door to your hotel room, you looked back at him. You nodded towards him, before you opened the door with the key card and entered the room.

Behind you, you heard his footsteps in a fast pace and a few moments later you felt his hands on your hips. He slammed the door shut with his foot and turned you to face him. His lips crashed onto yours and greedily his tongue asked for permission to enter your mouth. He caught you a little off guard but he sure as hell knew how to kiss.

Moments later you're both butt naked and he fucked you like you've never been fucked before.

You think back fondly to the first times with him. It was exciting to explore his preferences and needs. This man is pure kinky. By now both of you are a well-rehearsed team. Most of the time you meet in his or your hotel room. However, it has become more common that he fucks you in your office, right on your desk or even in his driver's room when both of you can't hold it in anymore. The adrenaline rush of getting caught gives you an extra boost. Pierre has everything you dreamed of sexually. An amazing body, great stamina, the necessary dirty mind and the perfect cock.

For you, it's all about the sex. You don't want dates or even love. Especially not with a Formula 1 driver. All the media hype about him was too much for you. But the sex was incomparably good, so that you gave in every time, even if you had decided not to do it anymore.

Pierre is seeing other women on the side. However, apparently nobody could fulfill his sexual fantasies like you. At the end of the day he always ended up between your legs. You had no problem with that - you never intended to be emotionally involved with him at the first place.

Until this evening. He brings this young beautiful woman to the club. She has also been his guest for the entire race weekend. The communication via texts between the two of you has been on hold for days if not weeks. Actually since the summer break. You see them close together and think, that this will probably be the kickoff for his new relationship. The last thing you want is to cause a scandal, so you back off and accept that your fun time with him is over. The little agreement of beautiful sex with no hard feelings is off the table. You're anything but a homewrecker.

Your eyes meet. You smile slightly at him. You are happy for him. In the end, consistency and love is something that a young man like him really needs in this crazy F1 world. Someone who supports him unconditionally and is there for him whenever he needs it. Could you ever have been that kind of woman for him?

Probably not. You love your single life and the diversity and freedom it brings along. Besides, your job takes up all of your time, and a relationship would be too distracting.

Pierre returns your smile, but quickly turns his attention back to his young companion. Does she know about you? Hopefully not. It's better that way!

You drink as usual with some girls from your team and finally find yourself on the dance floor. You're on the hunt tonight and the men are lining up. You know how to play with your charms and quickly track down your prey and are now with him at the bar.

You try to talk to each other, as far as possible in your drunk states. He is really handsome - tall, muscular and of southern descent. Just the way you like it best. You hope that later he will keep what he promises you now. Only a few shots are missing before you feel the tongue of that stranger in your mouth. He kisses well, but not comparable to Pierre. You feel his hands on your ass, they are big. They remind you of Pierre's hands.

You quickly realize that you will leave the club together. You are already waiting outside for a cab as he says goodbye to his friends and picks up his jacket from the wardrobe. As you stand outside the club, you look at your cell phone.

Besides the many texts, there are also some missed calls from him. The last one was 2 minutes ago. You sigh in frustration and pinch the bridge of your nose with your thumb and index finger. You don't understand the problem? You had always clearly communicated that it was okay if you saw others on the side and had sex with them. The main thing is to use protection. You have never made out with others in front of him before, just a form of respect towards him, but he was out with his new girlfriend today. Why is he making such a big deal out of it now?

Suddenly you feel a big hand closing around your wrist and grab it. A cab pulls up in front of you and the next moment the car door is ripped open. It all happens so fast and a few seconds later you are sitting in the back seat. You look out the window and see how your sex date just leaves the club and looks around for you. Next to you the car door slams again and you hear his voice.

"To the Hilton, please."

Dismayed and a bit shocked by the quick action, you look over at him.

His gaze rests on you in a rage. His jaw muscles are tense and his chest rises and falls violently. No question, he was completely out of his mind.

"Were you trying to make me jealous?" he finally asks, and your gaze shoots forward to the cab driver and back to him.

"I don't give a shit if he hears it. Answer me!"

"No, I wasn't trying to make you jealous..."

"Instead?!" he interrupts you.

"Will you let me finish?" you look at him sourly now. There's nothing you hate more than someone interrupting you. He rolls his eyes and looks at you expectantly. In his gaze still anger.

You shake your head in disbelief, "What's your fucking problem? We've never been in a relationship and where's your girlfriend anyway?"

"She is not my girlfriend! She went to the hotel half an hour ago." he replies dryly and you laugh provocatively.

"Are you serious? You're sending her away to get on my nerves?!"

You are more than pissed. You would like to shake him or jump out of the moving cab.

"I'm annoying? Alright! I get it. This has always been very one-sided thing between us."

"Pierre, we were fuck buddies! What do you expect? We both took what we needed from each other. Not more, not less. Remember, no hard feelings! You said that yourself!”.

He clenches his fists and looks out the window. He can't look at you. You sigh again, "I don't want to argue with you.. On the contrary, I want you to be happy! And she, what ever she is to you, seems very nice and she's really pretty..."

"Stop!" he yells at you and startled you press yourself into the back seat. The cab driver looks at you through the rearview mirror. You wave him right off and convey that everything is fine.

"You took what you needed..." he mutters, lowering his gaze, "For me, our arrangement hasn't fit for a longer time."

"Then why didn't you say something? We could have found another solution..."

"I didn’t want to lose you! I always knew you didn't want more than sex from me." he says softly, finally able to look at you again, "Before I couldn't have you at all, I was fine with everything else."

"Why didn’t you replied to my texts then?"

He had no answer for that. The new girl is sweet and loving and in no way deserved whatever is happening right now in this taxi. But she's not you. He's sure he'll never find anyone like you. Even though you've always tried to keep everything superficial between each other, there have been deeper conversations, that made him think off you being his girlfriend. Pierre never wanted to admit it to himself, but he's in love with you. Actually since the first time he met you.

“We had no contact over the summer break. And then I saw you with her all weekend and I knew our deal was done..."

"I didn't get in touch with you because I couldn't. I just couldn't answer you anymore. When I saw you in Belgium with that guy. That was too much and I had to withdraw myself from you."

You feel bad. Normally you were always very discreet when it came to your love affairs, but in Belgium, you were absolutely drunk. Are you really so blind and selfish that you completely overlook the fact that Pierre wanted more than friends with benefits from you.

"I can't give you what you want..." you mumble.

"You are everything I want and need!"

The taxi stops at the back entrance of the hotel, Pierre quickly pays the driver and you both step out of the car.

"Pierre, that's not right! I don't want to hurt anyone." when you say this, you realize that your situationship has already done a lot of damage to both of you.

Even if you couldn't imagine having any romantic feelings for him, you still compare everyone you meet to Pierre. Unconsciously, but still more than you actually wanted.

"I fucked up! I should’ve never gotten with her so quickly. But she distracted me and did me good, at least for the moment.."

"You don't need to justify yourself. You don't owe me any explanation!" you calm him down and put your hands on his shoulders. Pierre's hands are on your hips and his closeness feels so good and familiar. He pulls you closer and your bodies finally touch. It's not easy to admit, but you missed him. His scent, his touch, his lips on yours. And you feel them in the next moment. You sigh in relief into the kiss.

You want him. You want him so much. There is no doubt anymore. Your desire for him was so big and the alcohol did the rest. Closely entwined, you both stagger into the hotel through the back entrance, using one of the staff elevators to get to your room. You don't let go of him. You can't let him go. You'll worry about everything else tomorrow, but right now all you need is him.

Pierre feels relieved. He's glad he took heart in telling you the truth. Finally it was out. He couldn't let you not be a part of his life anymore. As you continue to stand tightly embraced in the elevator, he looks down at you. His lips rest on your forehead and with pleasure he inhales the scent of your hair. He is tender with you. As tender as never before.

Actually, it was always just about satisfying your lust one after the other. At times you were unrestrained and reckless. But this intimacy was different. It was new and felt good and most of all right. You look up at him and automatically begin to smile. A comforting warm feeling spreads through you as you look deep into his blue eyes. You can't deny it, you like being so close to him and exchanging these caresses.

A few minutes later you are in your hotel room. Unlike ever before, you take your time undressing. Pierre puts your hair over one shoulder and kisses your neck as he slowly unzips your dress. One of your hands moves back and strokes his crotch through the fabric of his pants. He is already so incredibly hard and you bite your lower lip excitedly. In you rises the anticipation of what will happen in a few moments.

Pierre slips the thin straps of your dress over your shoulders, the fabric sliding down the curves of your body and finally landing around your ankles. You turn around to him and stand in front of him only in a thong and your high heels. His eyes scan your body greedily, almost as if he had never seen you naked before. Immediately he notices your tan lines. He would have loved to spend the summer break with you and is a little angry at himself for not being honest with you sooner. You two would have had the best summer of your lives. His hands are now gently roaming over your hips and pull you closer to him, while you unbutton his shirt. Once he's shirtless, you let your hands roam over his pecs and abs. You love his body and what he can do with it. Your fingers wander through his chest hair and follow down his happy trail to the waistband of his pants, to unbutton them as well. Meanwhile the two of you keep eye contact constantly. Until now, undressing with Pierre has never seemed so intense. You both absorb every second of this togetherness.

As you went to tamper with his boxers, his hands wrap around your wrists and stop you from doing so. Carefully he leads you backwards to the bed and when you feel the edge of the bed in the back of your knees, you let yourself fall onto the mattress. Pierre stands over you, looking so forbiddenly handsome and intimidating at the same time. You lean back and loll on the bed in front of him. He licks his lips lustfully at the sight of you and climbs onto the bed with you. With a simple hand movement he spreads your legs, kneels between them and bends over you. You stretch out towards him and can hardly wait for him to finally kiss you again. A few seconds later your wish is fulfilled and you feel his full lips on yours.

The sensual and gentle kiss quickly develops into a hot make-out session. His tongue dominates yours and you let him. You interrupt the kiss to catch your breath and Pierre uses the break to wander down your body with his lips. He takes his time to appreciate every inch of your body and your skin with his caresses. Over and over you moan lustfully. With every kiss, with every touch you become wetter and you have to squirm under him.

Finally Pierre has arrived at the cuff of your thong and with a quick move he slides it off your hips. He loves to tease you and stalls for a bit before bringing you to a climax with his talented tongue. He watches how impatient you get and keeps breathing his hot breath on your now almost dripping core.

Your hands grab into his hair and try to get him to eat you out. He has to smile that you are so impatient and horny for him. So he finally gives in and you feel his tongue running up your wet folds. Aroused, you moan loudly and the grip in his hair tightens. Pierre's goal is to give you multiple orgasms tonight. He is crazy to hear you moan and how beautiful and pure you look while doing so. It doesn’t take long for you to reach your first climax, as soon as he sucks on your clit, you’re done. He doesn't let you live it out completely and inserts two of his fingers directly into you. Again and again he hits your G-spot and your hands have meanwhile clawed into the sheets. You prop up on your forearms and watch him as he greedily eats you out like a starving man. Beside his fingers pumping into you relentlessly, his tongue swirls over your clit and you throw your head back in pleasure. Under your moans you hiss out several swear words, that made Pierre grin at your pussy. He loves having that effect on you.

After you have cum for the second time, Pierre straightens up and examines his work before him. Completely out of breath, you lie in front of him, your chest rises and falls violently, your legs twitch from time to time from the high that you have just lived through. On your lips a blissful smile. This man is so talented. Pierre runs a hand over his mouth and wipes your juice from his lips. He answers you with a smile and his hand runs over his hard cock, which is still in his boxers. You understand without a word and get on all fours. You kiss his belly while massaging his cock through the fabric. Pierre let his head fall back and lets out a deep groan. He makes the best and most arousing sounds during sex. There was something animalistic about it that only spurs you on even more.

You pull down his boxers and let his cock spring free. He has the perfect cock, you are fascinated by it every time. The perfect size, the perfect girth and those present veins. You first lick your lips and then took a long lick from his balls to the tip. Pierre puts his hands on his hips and moans with pleasure. Your tongue circles his tip a few times before you take him in your mouth and suck him off at a slow pace. Pierre's hands immediately move into your hair and hold it out of your face in a ponytail. You look up at him through your lashes and take him further and further into your mouth until you get to the base of his cock. "Putain." he moans simultaneously aroused and amazed. He knew you could give good blowjobs, but never before you took him all the way in your mouth. Pierre moves his hips and his grip around your ponytail tightened. Until now he had never thought of facefucking you. Just the thought of it almost makes him come. Pierre set the pace and you let him use your mouth. He puts one foot on the mattress for stability and one hand goes to your throat. He feels how deep he actually is inside you and it almost drives him mad. You have tears running down your cheeks and gradually the choking sounds set in. He is about to come, but then pulls you back by your hair, away from him. He doesn't want to come in your mouth yet - he wants to come inside you.

When he looks at you like this, he realizes that he has taken out his anger a little on you. He couldn't get the image out of his head that you had kissed another man just an hour ago. You belong to him and no one else should ever touch you again, let alone kiss you. You can catch your breath a little and notice how some saliva is running down the corners of your mouth.

You wipe it away with the back of your hand and look at Pierre with a smile on your lips. Nothing gave you greater reassurance than to have him look at you with such satisfaction and enthusiasm of your skills. He pulls you up to him and kisses your swollen lips greedily. The next moment he turns you and rubs his crotch against your ass. Doggy is not only his favorite position. This is how you feel him most intensely and it's an orgasm guarantee.

Usually you use a condom, because according to the old deal both of you were also sleeping with others. However, your desire for each other is so big, that Pierre enters you without thinking too much about using contraception. Your mouth falls open at the feeling of him fucking you raw for the first time. Pierre is also overwhelmed, it was a completely new and different feeling. A much better one.

You put your hands on his thighs and Pierre's big hands clasp around your middle. Your head falls back on his shoulder. He watches you as you enjoy his thrusts with your eyes closed and softly moaning over and over again. One of his hands moves up to your breasts. He massages them and plays with your nipples, also pulls on them from time to time, so that you are moaning in pain. His hand wanders further, over your throat, up to your chin. He turns your head towards him so that he can kiss you again. His thrusts remain at the same pace and you surrender to his rhythm completely. You moan into his kisses.

Your next orgasm was not far away. Pierre feels this as well, since you seem to be getting tighter and tighter around him. He wants to up the ante and give you the ultimate orgasm. The hand which was previously on your waist, now wanders over your stomach to your pussy. His fingers quickly find your clit and skilfully play with it. You moan more and more uncontrollably and Pierre grins. He wants you like this.

You stroke his cheek with one hand and look at him. You've never had such intense eye contact before. Unbelievable how many first times you had in just one session. It's almost like you've really gotten to know yourselves and your bodies better. A comfortably warm feeling spreads in your abdomen. Pierre picks up the pace and that makes you squeeze his cock inside you even more. Both of your loud moans spread throughout the room. You show no consideration for other hotel guests. Everyone should hear how well Pierre Gasly fucks you.

A few moments later, Pierre cums hard and heavy inside you. You feel him filling you up and that finished you off. Your eyes roll into your head and your toes curl. Pierre holds you tight throughout your high. You lean against him, exhausted.

"No more games. Just you and me!" he whispers out of breath in your ear. You nod in agreement and pull away from him to lie down on the bed. Before Pierre lies down next to you, he spreads your legs once more. You look at him in surprise. One more round and you're sure you'd get sore.

Pierre sees his seed dripping out of you and a devilish grin spreads across his lips, "You belong to me."

You shake your head in disbelief and throw a pillow at him, "You're unbelievable!".

[absolutehomosexuals]

After all the backlash we received, we decided to expand our opinion on BG3's approach to companions's sexual orientations – or lack thereof, along with the not so mysterious reason behind this choice.

TLDR: Playersexuality was a marketing choice, due to the creator's own admission. Given the lack of a canon sexuality for any of the companions, our interpretations are just as valid as yours.

No matter how many arguments we make for our case, both times we analyzed a BG3 character's behaviour on the matter of their sexuality, many of the answers we received were fixated on the same rhetoric: "Larian planned for every character to be pansexual".

We're going to look into this matter specifically, to see what Larian stated precisely and what the reasoning behind that choice is.

We want to dig deeper into one of the infamous interviews* with Larian Studio's writers (Corcoran and Law) and narrative designer (Welch) that always gets brought up when someone dares to interpret any companion as anything but pansexual/bisexual.

The title speaks for itself already: Larian always took player's opinions and preferences for the game heavily into consideration when designing BG3, and never tried to hide this, making this feature of their writing and designing process a badge they wear proudly.

One example we can think of is quoted very early in the article: Halsin's role being expanded to a romance option after fans expressed their attraction to the druid.

But let's see what the interview actually says about the companions.

The question we're going to examine focuses on the MC's identity being the focal point of this feature.

So what do the interviewees have to say on this matter? What is the main thing they took into account when making this choice?

Law immediately expands on what the interviewer hinted at. Her main interest is being true to DnD's inherent sense of freedom and self expression, allowing the player to make every choice they desire to live their gaming experience as close to their fantasies as possible.

Of course she also brings the idea of all companions being pansexual to the table: but not only she attributes it to their "values", an argument that feels icky to say the least, implying that being attracted to all genders is a value, a moral principle, rather than a neutral characteristic some people have – but her main focus clearly seems to be not limiting the player's imagination to design choices.

Corcoran also centers his answer around player's freedom being the default of Larian's designing process, stating that assigning their characters "fixed roles" (like a game-impacting sexuality?? as if sexuality is a "role", ffs.) makes the game less dynamic. Yet again, what matters the most in the writers' view is allowing the player to portray their own story however they see fit.

Welch's answer is the only one that detaches itself from the other two's perspective, concentrating on how sexuality interacts with each character's identity. The "player-sexuality" that is so hated as a concept in the BG3 fandom is ironically quoted as the design choice for every companion's sexual orientation.

All three answers help us to draw a single conclusion: the companions' sexualities were taken into account as a consequence of the design choice to give the player as little limits as possible, rather than as a character trait that is independent from Tav and that expands each character's being as a person.

Of course, we don't think that this conclusion is absurd, from a marketing point of view especially: videogames that came out some time before BG3 confirmed that players dislike feeling "limited" in their romance options.

We can think of examples like Cyberpunk 2077, whose fans are still furious because of Judy's romance being available only to female V's, or Dragon Age Inquisition, whose canonically gay character Dorian made some female fans very upset by the impossibility to romance him if your character isn't male.

And surely these aren't the only games that left gamers unsatisfied by this design choice. These situations made the same point we got from this interview: players want to be free to fantasize about whatever character they like and to feel less limited as possible by any character's traits.

So Larian is right, players much prefer to be free to romance whoever they like with every MC they want.

After all, it's glaring that the game doesn't focus on representing bi/pansexuality as an authentic trait that the companions share.

Some characters tell the players about their past relations involving only people of their same sex, like Astarion and Minthara, while others don't talk about/never had any relationship at all, like Lae'zel and Shadowheart, and Gale has never been with anyone besides Mystra. Halsin is the only exception in this matter.

Little to no effort was put in making all the different companions feel truly attracted to both sexes. Most of the time, the only representation of this "identity" depends, of course, on the Tav the player decides to make only.

What does this mean for our argument then?

If anyone's free to imagine "their" companions to be whatever they want them to be, because this is the liberty that was intended to be available to any player, then how is reading someone like Astarion as gay, like Lae'zel as lesbian or like Gale as straight any different than imagining all of them as bi/pan? If this is the spirit of the game, to let anyone act out their dream campaign without any limits, then everyone's personal reading on the companion's sexual orientations is equally worthy of respect.

*https://gaymingmag.com/2023/08/how-community-feedback-has-shaped-baldurs-gate-3/

If a character being homosexual for example is what we see being more consistent with their story, their experiences and their expression of themselves... it wouldn't be true to Larian's project, the same one that allows a lot of you to see every companion as pansexual, to aggressively deny us the possibility to share this theory with others that may enjoy it and prefer it.

[sunshinesmebdy]

Balancing the Scales: Asteroid Mony in Libra and its Influence on Business Wisdom

In the intricate dance of celestial bodies, astrology has long been regarded as a tool for gaining insights into various aspects of life, including business and finance. One celestial player that holds particular significance is the asteroid Mony, with its current positioning in the zodiac sign of Libra. In this blog article, we delve into the mystical realm of astrology to explore the potential effects of asteroid Mony in Libra on business and finance. So, fasten your seatbelts as we embark on a cosmic journey into the world of economic energies guided by the stars.

Understanding Asteroid Mony:

Asteroid Mony, also known as Monya, is a celestial body that astrologers believe can influence financial matters and wealth accumulation. Its placement in different zodiac signs is thought to bring specific qualities and energies to the forefront. Currently stationed in Libra, the sign of balance and harmony, Mony’s cosmic influence takes on a unique and intriguing dimension.

Harmony and Negotiation in Business:

Libra is ruled by Venus, the planet of love and beauty, emphasizing aesthetics, balance, and negotiation. With Mony in Libra, businesses may find themselves more attuned to the principles of harmony in their operations. This celestial alignment suggests that negotiations and partnerships will be crucial for success during this period. Entrepreneurs and business leaders are encouraged to seek win-win situations and adopt a diplomatic approach to financial dealings.

Real-life example: A global technology firm, recognizing the need for collaboration during the Mony in Libra transit, engaged in diplomatic negotiations with international partners. By fostering a harmonious working relationship, they successfully navigated complex regulatory landscapes, enabling smoother market entry and expansion.

Balancing the Financial Scales:

Libra is symbolized by the scales, representing justice, fairness, and balance. When Mony aligns with Libra, it can inspire individuals and businesses to reevaluate their financial strategies, ensuring that they are fair and just. This celestial alliance encourages fiscal responsibility and ethical financial practices, fostering a sense of equilibrium in the business world.

Real-life example: A financial institution, inspired by the celestial alliance of Mony in Libra, initiated a review of its lending practices. They implemented fair interest rates and transparent terms, ensuring that their financial strategies aligned with principles of justice and fairness. This not only improved customer trust but also contributed to long-term financial stability.

Creativity and Aesthetic Ventures:

Venus, as the ruler of Libra, also brings a touch of creativity and aesthetic appreciation to the forefront. Businesses may find that investing in artistic ventures or incorporating aesthetic elements into their products and services could prove beneficial during this cosmic alignment. Appealing to the senses and focusing on the visual aspect of branding may be key to capturing the market’s attention.

Real-life example: An innovative tech startup, recognizing the influence of Mony in Libra, revamped its product design to incorporate aesthetically pleasing elements. The redesigned user interface not only enhanced the user experience but also attracted a broader audience, leading to increased market share and improved financial performance.

Strategic Financial Planning:

As Libra is known for its strategic thinking and analytical approach, the combination of Mony and Libra suggests that meticulous financial planning will be rewarded. Businesses are encouraged to analyze their financial structures, investments, and expenses with a discerning eye. Strategic decision-making and calculated risks could lead to financial success during this celestial alignment.

Real-life example: A manufacturing company, guided by the analytical approach of Libra and Mony’s influence, implemented a comprehensive financial planning strategy. This involved a thorough analysis of production costs, strategic investments in technology, and calculated risks in entering new markets. The result was increased operational efficiency and significant revenue growth.

While skeptics may dismiss astrology as mere superstition, many individuals find solace and guidance in its teachings. The alignment of asteroid Mony in Libra offers a unique perspective on business and finance, encouraging businesses to embrace balance, harmony, and strategic thinking in their financial endeavors. Whether you’re a firm believer in astrology or simply intrigued by its mystique, exploring the cosmic influences on business can be a fascinating journey that adds a touch of celestial magic to the world of commerce.

Here are some tips for navigating this transit:

Embrace Diplomacy in Negotiations: During the transit of asteroid Mony in Libra, prioritize diplomatic and harmonious negotiations. Seek win-win situations, and approach business dealings with a spirit of cooperation and compromise. Building positive relationships will contribute to long-term success.

Reevaluate Financial Strategies with Fairness: The scales of Libra symbolize justice and balance. Take this opportunity to review your financial strategies and ensure they are fair and just. Consider implementing ethical financial practices, as this alignment encourages businesses to operate with integrity and transparency.

Strategic Financial Planning is Key: Libra’s strategic thinking, combined with Mony’s financial influence, calls for meticulous financial planning. Analyze your financial structures, investments, and expenses with precision. Develop a strategic roadmap that aligns with your business goals, helping you navigate potential challenges and seize opportunities.

Incorporate Aesthetics for Market Appeal: Venus, the ruler of Libra, brings a creative and aesthetic touch to the transit. Consider incorporating visual appeal into your products, services, or branding. Aesthetically pleasing elements can capture the attention of your target audience and set your business apart in the competitive market.

Foster Equilibrium in Business Operations: Strive for balance in all aspects of your business. Whether it’s balancing budgets, workloads, or team dynamics, maintaining equilibrium is crucial during this celestial alignment. Avoid extremes and find the middle ground to create a stable and sustainable business environment.

Cultivate Ethical Financial Practices: Libra’s influence emphasizes fairness and ethical considerations. Evaluate your financial practices to ensure they align with ethical standards. Adopting transparent and morally sound financial practices not only resonates positively with stakeholders but also contributes to long-term business stability.

Explore Artistic Ventures for Innovation: Leverage the creative energy brought forth by Mony in Libra to explore artistic ventures within your business. Whether it’s incorporating artistic elements into your marketing campaigns or investing in creative projects, tapping into the realm of aesthetics can lead to innovative solutions and heightened consumer engagement.

Be Mindful of Timing in Financial Decisions: Libra is associated with balance and timing. When making significant financial decisions, consider the timing carefully. Waiting for the opportune moment and aligning your actions with the natural flow of cosmic energies can enhance the success of your financial endeavors.

By incorporating these tips into your business strategies, you can harness the positive energies associated with asteroid Mony in Libra, creating a harmonious and prosperous path for your business and financial ventures.

[peppermintquartz]

Tommy likes meeting guys who have different interests because he likes listening to them talk about their passions. He thinks that it makes a person approximately three times more attractive, when their lives are dedicated to pursuing something outside of earning more money or getting promoted at work. So far since he's come out of the closet, he has had five boyfriends (and a handful of almosts), and he's in contact with nearly all of them except for Ward Morgan. They're interesting people and, outside of romantic love, he genuinely respects their expertise in different areas.

(First, though, about Ward Morgan: Ward may not even be his actual name. It was a torrid week-long affair that started in a Muay Thai session and ended with Tommy alone in a hotel room with a message, "bye, don't try calling". What he doesn't learn is that Ward is actually CIA posted overseas in Prague - the affair was during his leave - and he's since 'borrowed' Tommy's identity and personality to infiltrate several organisations. "Thomas Kinard" sounds unique enough not to trigger suspicions yet is common enough a name that they have to comb through hundreds of records, none of which match supposedly-Ward.)

Stephen Wingard the leg model was the first that Tommy fell for. They met at a farmers market and then a second time at a pop art exhibition. Stephen saw Tommy checking him out, went to ask him out for a coffee date, and they ended up talking until the cafe had to close. Stephen was younger than Tommy by a couple of years but had been out since he was sixteen, and had the honor of guiding Tommy's first sexual experience as a gay man. He also got Tommy into working with metal, which helps a lot with Tommy's fascination with machinery. It was a happy three months, until Tommy wanted to become more serious, and Stephen told him that he didn't intend to ever settle down with anyone. It was an amicable breakup, and through Stephen, Tommy met his second boyfriend, Thando.

Thando worked as a portrait photographer and in Hollywood, he had no lack of work. He got to know Tommy because he had a few shoots with Stephen, and after Tommy and Stephen split, Thando asked Tommy out for drinks. There were soon many photos of Tommy in Thando's portfolio, and Tommy became more confident in his appearance. They got into a serious fight about four months into their relationship after they moved in together, when Tommy found that Thando drove himself home after he was drinking and doing recreational drugs at some client's party. The strain of that argument caused the breakup. But ten days after Thando moved out, he almost got into a car accident after, again, driving under the influence. Tommy bailed him out and then got him to go to rehab. But the disparity of principles made it impossible for them to be together.

Lee Hyun Ki, a geologist, was trapped on a ledge after he slid down a cliff face to check out some rock formations. Tommy was the one who flew him back to safety, and Hyun Ki was so grateful. Tommy liked the way Hyun Ki smiled as he shared tons of info about cave formations and his mishaps in the field, so he asked him out for another hike, a safer route. They ended up making out against a boulder, in Tommy's car, and then slept together that same day in Tommy's house. That relationship lasted ten months, mainly because Hyun Ki had so much traveling to do that they didn't spend a lot of time together, and when they did, it was a lot of catch-up sex and little else. In the end it was Tommy who called it off. Their lives just weren't compatible.

Mark Brooks was a cousin of a friend from Tommy's army days. Mark got Tommy's number, invited him out for a Buster Keaton festival, and then back to his place for dinner and hopefully more. (They got to the more part on the second date.) He won Tommy's heart through an excellent rigatoni, and often romanced him with flowers and candlelight dinners. He was content being a cook on a cruise ship, flying back stateside whenever he could. He sometimes showed up at Harbor with surprise meals so the team loved him. Tommy loved being wooed. And he liked Mark being taller than him too. But while Mark was passionate about food, he was pretty uninterested in everything else. Tommy found that he could not talk to his boyfriend about his own hobbies. After about seven months, they came to an understanding that they were better as friends.

Bryan Lim was five years older than Tommy. The first time he showed up, he had a rainbow surfboard under his arm and sun-bleached hair. Tommy could not take his eyes off the man as he walked up the beach. He might have drooled. The next thing he knew, Bryan was seated next to him on the sand and telling him about the crustaceans that commonly lived in that particular stretch of beach, as well as how to differentiate the males from the females. What was Tommy to do but ask him out? Through Bryan, Tommy learned a bit of surfing and a lot about marine life, and sunset walks on the beach took on a different meaning because that's when the smaller critters were beginning to emerge. It was a lot of fun for Tommy to listen to Bryan excitedly showing him tiny crabs or seaweed samples when they go on their evening or nighttime strolls. They managed to get to a year, Bryan even moving into Tommy's place, and then an opportunity for Bryan opened up in Tasmania for a year of field work. Tommy was all for trying a long distance relationship, but Bryan wasn't keen. He rerurned Tommy's keys, hugged him, and flew off without further discussion.

Five good relationships, a handful of decent dates that he just didn't click with, and Tommy's more or less convinced that he was going to be a bachelor who would grow old with his own romantic yearnings. It was not too bad a life, he guessed. He was able to love openly now, something a younger Tommy had not even dared to dream about. Maybe there just wasn't a guy that was right for him.

But one evening, Chimney called, asking for a massive favor: fly into a hurricane to look for a cruise ship that might have capsized...

[zwoelffarben]

Not derailing this post which is having a very serious conversation about sex, sexnormativity, and such. There's a quote I want to talk about in that @curlicuecal in the conversation says and relate it to the culture surrounding the adoption of new media:

...if you spend some time talking to people with different experiences or learning about even one culture other than your own ... It just opens your eyes to perspectives and options you never even knew existed. And suddenly you have more colors to paint with.

I believe that the major success of homestuck and (unfortunately) harry potter as well as the major failure of Jame Cameron's Avatar, and minor failure of most YA dytopia novels wit harry potter houses correlate to this New Colors Principle: If you give people new colors to paint wit, they will paint with them.

let's skip over homestuck (we'll get back to it) and (unfortunately) talk about harry potter for a moment. The four houses are arguably the biggest part of potterhead culture, and that's more than just marketing. A lot of words have been written on how the houses function in canon, forming the basis for a bad positive feedback loop that ultimately radicalizes snape, voldemort, and other syltherins to bibotry; as well as other problems with their in canon implimentations. But, the thing that made harry potter so fucking popular, aside from the factors of success largely unrelated to the book itself, was that it gave people some fancy new astrology signs by way of the hogwarts houses. They were new colors to paint with, and its unfortunately what makes it so fucking difficult to kill too, because people don't want to lose access to those colors they found meaning in (I still internally identify wit a house, cringing as I do, because I painted myself with that color, and cutting that part of myself away, despite my acceptance of its necessity is a hard and painful process I'm probably never gonna completely manage.)

By contrast, the failure of James Cameron's Avatar to form a cultural splash is because He doesn't spend enough time really rexploring the blue people's culture in a way that's understandable to a human audience. A lot of the blue people's culture exists only as either a plot device or the mystical native trope, which kinda betrays his opinions on the real-life indiginous peoples his blue people are coded as. He had the opprotunity to create some truly fascinating colors, and had he done so by cooperating with the native people he believes are a "dead end society", and all he made was puce blue.

And now back to the other end of the spectrum, to quote myself, "Homestuck is a now concluded long running web comic series written by Andrew Hussie centering around the paradox inducing shenanagains of ten humans, twenty-four trolls, a number of cerebum, and several other species; as they all quest both for personal growth and to herald the birth of a new cosmic frog multiverse which the surviviors of the narative can settle into: It’s a glorious mess." That quote comes from an essay in which I use huusian troll romance to analysize the romantic-sexual attraction of a character from a completely unrelated media.

The popularity of homestuck stems, I argue here in part, from the absolutely unhinged pallette of new colors it created. You've got astrology^2 in the classpects; you've got the trolls with their lexusi, blood heirarchy, and romance quadrants; the leprechaun have their charms (which is itself taking the piss out of troll romance quadrants), the dichotomy of the prospit and derse dreaming, the cherbum, all the various ways to conceptualize the self brought about by shenanagains in paradox spacetime. Homestuck offers some 40+ new colors to fuck around painting wit, and cringe though the execution might have sometimes been, people did enfact fuck around and paint wit 'em.

People love having new colors to play with, and culture is driven by the desire to paint, but also to discover new colors to paint with. What an excellent metaphor, that I should note was made by a person who, at time of writing, has a homestuck icon.

[horizon-verizon]

They are going to push this dumb Rhaenicent plot line to no end. Alicent is not even the queen anymore yet all the marketing pushing her as such. Her inconsistent writing makes her one of the goofiest characters on the show. So legit what is she even going to do this season ? Sulk, be sad, sulk, be sad, maybe make Blood & Cheese probaly more about her grief than Helaena ? She isn’t politically smart in the slightest no matter how much the actors try to make her seem she’s wiser than she actually is. Alicent spent years believing Rhaenyra is going to slaughter her children, she told them this as well. Now in season 2 is she going to be like “yeah so I started a civil but can you not kill each other even though I told you we are in danger for literally most of your lives ? I still want Aegon to be king b-but I want Rhaenyra to be fwend (she just needs to give up on her claim, her ambition, her sons, and her father’s wishes) I just want what’s best for everybody, I’m a good person”.

It's inconsistent bc they sacrificed a lot to create it & didn't replace what they took with somethings substantial and logical. So they fly by the seat of their pants & write contradictory, writing wise. Goes for everything else on this show, where they rely on spectacle, good acting, and people significantly looking at each other with a few good lines here and there. But also somehow manage to sometimes pale in comparison to the book version's lines.

I think that the show wrote so terribly that the impression of her motive being that she sincerely thought her kids were in danger was conveyed as her true motive. Whereas it was actually always her jealousy regarding Rhaenyra's comparative "freedoms" and her desire for Rhaenyra to subjugate herself to her. Without ambition for ambition's sake or that being her primary motive and then her jealousy coming from Rhaenyra's having been given that which her own father and house denies Alicent, Alicent is duller and less sensical. And they didn't replace the motive towards jealousy with something sensical but with Alicent's supposed love for Rhaenrya, which comes in direct conflict with her jealousy of her being happier flouting the rules she herself seeks to derive social graces, authority, etc. in exchanges for her personal "sacrifices" and suffering.

The intent of the writers was to present an Alicent who felt this motive underneath a sincerity to find righteousness without bk!Alicent's ambition and flagrant disregard for lives other than her own and her kids. Which means that there is a sprinkle of sympathy they wanted the audience to feel for her AND say that she is a responsible--partly--for a terrible war. To make her less intimidating or seemingly threatening, at least seriously, they removed her political contemplation--or just her ability to use deductive reasoning--and made it more, once again, "doing the right thing", whatever word is for that sort of rule-following sincerity. In both show her/bk!her, there is a certain lack of self-awareness. Because for you to deny some basic customs to reinforce other customs that suit your desires and to then paint that as your "doing the will" of some higher principle which is itself the thing that oppresses you needs the separation from reality.

So at the core, HotD was going off the cool potential bk!Alicent already had, in particular episode 6-7. But Rhaenicent doesn't make any sense bc these two personalities together and staying friends for a long period of time--esp "best" friends-- just didn't make any sense. Yes, even with young Alicent. Esp without showing us how it came to be or how they became attracted to each other above all other possible candidates. Which is why there are no ladies in waiting, for example.

Alicent is void of something I can't really put my finger on but it prevents people from taking her seriously other than to self-insert or to sigh dreamily over. You can ship people all you like, like people shipping Rhaena with Aemond or Aegon with Daemon. But for goodness sakes', don't try to make such ships where you need to destroy a character canon and expect people to totally jive with the claim that it is possible without jeopardizing the entire story!

[herrlindemann]

Heavy Rock - January 2002

So close and so far at the same time. The capital of Portugal is today without a doubt the best place in all of Europe to see and listen to rock. Good venues for concerts, friendly people, excellent business professionals in a market five times smaller than ours, affordable prices and a most attractive and scoundrel city that keeps that old flavor under a galloping modernity that every day makes it more equal to the Europe of the euro. On top of the brilliant and fatalistic Pessoa in every corner of old Lisbon that he portrayed so well in his books. Good food, a lot to see and it’s next door.

Fool who misses it. I promise to cover many concerts in English, among other things because the films were never subtitled. Some say that if it had not been for those idiot kings that we have been suffering from century after century, the Iberian peninsula would be only one and as powerful as Germany. Can be.

The sports hall of Os Belenense (the third football team in Lisbon after Sporting and Benfica) is a privileged venue for five thousand people, located on top of a hill that has the Jerónimos Monastery under its feet, in whose pantheon is buried Fernando Pessoa and the navigator Vasco de Gama, who set off to discover half the world from the also nearby Torre de Belen, right on the Lisbon pier.

The place is full on the first of the two nights of the Germans, with Clawfinger as opening act, old acquaintances who have had to cancel their concert in Spain, scheduled for the following day, because the first date scheduled in principle, which was sold in a few days, a second had to be added, which caused them to cancel their scheduled show in Madrid. When I find out that they are going to open the concert I am very happy and a few minutes before leaving I chat with the singer and guitarist, the same thing that I had done a little earlier with Rammstein at the hotel. These interviews will be included in the next issue of Kerrang!

In the forty-five minutes that they have been on stage, the Swedes show great professionalism and the new face of their music, more polished, direct, and less 'rapper' with a lineup just like the stars of the night: two guitars, keys, bass, drums and voice. Techno also emerges without losing the gray that put them on the map of the best European rap-metal.

Their latest album 'A Whole Lot of Nothing' is proof that they have brought their message very close to Rammstein, which a few times in the past opened for them when they climbed the charts. They must have treated them very well because now the Germans take them on tour whenever they can, and they are also generous in leaving them all the sound display that they later used. Of course not the pyrotechnic and light display; and therein lies the problem for the Clawfingers.

Because the most Rammstein staging teaches anyone. Good intentions, direct songs and the ordeal is clear is that they do not shrink and continue to make war.

Rammstein is the never seen. With one, if not the best, of the records of the year in their baggage and a lot of imagination, the sextet is a magnificent and impressive show both musically and visually. A lot of money and creativity at the service of a structure that is frightening due to the militaristic connotations of its clothes and postures. Together with the theatricality copied from the Catalans of the Fura del Baus, they create an explosive show where fire, a lot of fire, is also another great protagonist with distressing moments such as when in the first encore, with the theme 'Rammstein', the singer Till Lindemann remains in his burning suit for almost four minutes. The mastery of fire that these people have is incredible, forcing them to demonstrate all the fireworks to the government technicians before each performance. Seen and lived on stage, as I did, it scares a lot. As soon as the minutes allotted to the photographers were up, I ran off the stage as if the devil was chasing me, resembling a scene from 'Apocalypse Now'.

Eighteen songs as checkered as the hackneyed German mentality. It joins infernal industrial machinery that starts with 'Mein Herz brennt' from 'Mutter' to end with the version of Depeche Mode's 'Stripped'. Pure adrenaline that nails you to the ground while from all corners of the stage the fire is projected in a thousand ways (Valencians would have to wear them as stars of the next Fallas festivities) and they look like mutant beings out of a science-fiction movie to make an army of corpses dance. Nightmarish. Wagnerian music, in the classical sense, is like a single score with messianic choruses that tremble in the German language, giving that sinister theatricality that at times brings to mind the 'hail, Hitler' of the most sinister times in history, for course alien to the intentions of the group. The show could not be more heavy. They all form a mass in which no one goes off script and the solos are conspicuous by their absence, inheriting the old legacy of those pioneering German industrial metal bands such as Kraftwerk. Aware that they have made a great record with 'Mutter', they play a lot of it: 'Links 2, 3, 4', 'Feuer frei', 'Mutter', 'Ich will', 'Adios', 'Rein raus', ' Zwitter'… Almost the entire record falls. Moment of maximum intensity that is experienced when they download their great commercial hymn 'Du hast' and the staff bouncing like possessed. They connect with 'Buck dich' which includes the singer's little number hitting the keys from behind for a long time with a giant phallus that generously sprays liquid on those in the front rows. In the end, the drummer's ride in a rubber boat over the heads and arms of grief takes us back to the past because they copy it from what the American David Lee Roth did on his tours with a boat and a surfboard. The six say goodbye toasting with Champagne to the success of a party as brilliant as it is original. For the cretins who preach that rock is dying or that it has no way out, this is heaven open to a great future. The important thing is to squeeze the coconut to stand up to the owners of the circus, the Anglo-Saxons, who with projects like this it is not surprising that they feel threatened.

When a stewardess falls to the ground on a short-haul flight due to the violent shaking of the once imposing and now defenseless iron bird in whose stomach we defy gravity, it is to frown to say the least. They had warned that coinciding with the arrival to the peninsula of the men of the north also came the cruel winter of those of the plane, the snow, or the power cuts in Catalonia.

The storm had its vortex in the Palau Olympic de Badalona, a venue that was filled with, evil eye, nine thousand people eager to see one of the European monsters of metal.

If the capital had enjoyed the privilege of a concert presentation last spring for a limited number of people, this time in Madrid they were left with the desire, perhaps because there are no suitable venues to host this type of event. I know that we get very heavy with this matter, but it is so serious that it requires immediate solutions.

The fact is that Rammstein presented irrefutable arguments about why so different types of audiences like them beyond the gestation of him in the gothic scene. Thousands of people hypnotized by the grotesque, bloody, frightening and at the same time romantic show of the group despite the fact that they sing in German and 99% of the attendees do not even understand, it makes you think.

His repertoire unfolds with the perfection of a recently oiled industrial machine, it is a mechanical tune, reticent, a uniform whole supported by his risky bet on impact theater.

I'm still wondering how the hell do they not get burned by the continuous flames on the stage if I'm fifteen meters away and I feel in my retinas and complexion a burst of that infernal heat that contrasts with the icy outside environment.

By the account that brings you, for your safety and ours, almost everything in your show is perfectly calculated, but that does not prevent that when Oliver Riedel takes a boat ride through a sea of arms, he ends up taking a 'dip' in the masses when losing stability. It takes a second, but it's enough for my head to come up with the phrase: "don't try to do this at home".

[loving-n0t-heyting]

Re: Reddit automod discourse, it’s strange to see the question framed entirely in terms of gatekeeping vs n00b inclusivity since my experience of automods was instead of rampant goodharting and the overt strangling of free expression

My principal interaction with automods was from one of the, ah, cooperative creative writing subreddits, where ppl would post prompts to attract co-writers. Which feels, in theory, like the exact sort of thing a subreddit would be good for: it creates a sort of natural market for writing partners, with the prompts acting as listings for applicants among whose proposals the op can select

It fell to the bot mod to carry out at least two central tasks: weeding out repetitive shit-tier prompts and implementing reddits larger censorship policies. These are, tbc, both important: if the mods didn’t have an automated way to enforce account age requirements and mandatory posting gaps and word limits, the place would be immediately overrun with day-old randos posting “asl?”; without clamping down at all on censored content, the entire sub would make itself a sitting duck for the stasi in the site administration. (Whether there should be stasi in the first place is a separate question, but I think once they exist you have some obligation to yr members to placate them if you want your sub to continue existing at all.)

The trouble is that, ofc, this automated mechanism is going to let in a lot of crap regardless. And so the reaction was… more onerous automated restrictions. For effortposting, this took the form of heightened minimum word counts; for pearl clutching, it took the form of increasingly paranoid prohibitions on words that might indicate conceptual adjacency to Unmentionables. In both cases the result (from my side as a prompt writer, at least) was ever increasing tedium with no real (positive) effect on quality: finding ways to distend the prompt artificially, scrupulously avoiding whatever trigger words the bot had decided were off limits. It wasn’t hard to see this was a red Queens race on both fronts, which contributed to my easing off of the platform

The censorship side of it was exacerbated by the increasingly vague, moralistic, and draconian site wide rules the bot was tasked with enforcing, which both seem to have encouraged more hedging and anxiety as a defensive measure from the mods as well as emboldening their own repressive impulses, culminating in a particularly ludicrous ban on content involving certain geopolitical affairs the mods evidently found distasteful to feature on the sub, for which they appealed as justification to the nebulous and politically self-absorbed stated principles of site governance by then in place

And the kicker? The sub still fucking sucks at its job!! The listing/applicant structure plus the personality of the median redditor (not to mention the censors) means a clear incentive to produce a consistent run of samey, not-especially-daring prompts suited for generating accordingly dull material. No amount of autodeletions will prevent that. I had many more interesting sessions and longer projects from my time in college spent trawling Omegle, a “community” with barriers to entry buried in full deep within the earths crust. Yea, there were more absolute shit tier “f?”-level users there, but I ultimately don’t care that much about the distinction between absolute shit tier and mediocre shit tier given I’ll refuse both, and with Omegle you could just repeatedly disconnect from partners until you found someone to yr taste, however esoteric and unseemly and curt that might be, instead of having to simultaneously compete with other prompt writers in a struggle for the attention of the subs lowest common denominator

And there weren’t any fucking picrew-ass alien pfp’s either

[hotpotrandomfics]

PJO OC Headcanon: Ciel Ambrose Silverstein ft. Love Life

Love Life:

Ciel first love was Artemis, the Goddess of the Hunt, over his time at camp the son of Hecate would grow to admire the goddess but not as a goddess should be admired. It was a respect of her skill, maturity, vigor, and stance on her principles. He respected the hunters and nature even though he had no interest in them. Eventually, he would see memories that weren’t his and remember memories he never made with the goddess.

Slowly, Ciel would realize that the memories were that of Orion the more and more he had moments to interact with Artemis. Ciel would be dedicated to the principles of the hunt though not become part of it as he felt conflicted between his own feelings and the feelings of Orion soul within him.

Ciel would have much of his key moments in his life connect to the livelihood of the goddess, the Fates purpose behind this was to bring something to the world that was needed. Children of the goddess of the moon, it didn’t matter the process on how the children were made but the Fates deemed it necessary. Something neither the goddess or the demigod sorcerer could be allowed to deny…

In his mid twenties while living in New Rome, Ciel would meet his wife who was a daughter of Neptune from Sicily. Khloe Biance Di Natalie, a member of Second Cohort would have gone to Camp Jupiter towards the end of the Second Demigod Civil War. She was someone who had dated many demigods and demigoddess but they never truly lasted. By the time she herself was breaching thirty she’d bump into Ciel at a market in New Rome. The two were cordial and apologetic for bumping into the other, Ciel taking responsibility as he was dealing with his youngest child who he had adopted.

Khloe found Ciel kind nature and his physical appearance attractive but what surprised her was when he saw her again in the city and asked if she’d like to get coffee. Eventually, they’d start slowly seeing each other more and more before officially dating.

[1yyyyyy1]

What exactly is feminine and masculine energy acc to u and is it something simply inherent to the person? and not really a set of behaviors that are learned (and then fall in either of these labels)?

I do believe that "feminine" and "masculine" energies are a thing and are inherently presented in people to a polarizing degree, they are not related to biological sex and represent a specific way people approach the world in. Feminine energy is the energy of creation from within (internal regulation) and masculine energy is the energy of creation from outside of oneself (the material plane). I call them "yin" and "yang" to make more sense of these terms because, like I mentioned, they have little to do with biological sex or gendered presentation.

What I mean by these energies being represented to a "polarizing degree" is that different people will be born as and "specialize" in one or the other energy, as in, some people will be more "in their head" and introspective, favoring things like psychology and arts, and some people will be more business-oriented and enjoy material goods and physical labor, or, to directly influence the outside world. Despite the common idea that "feminine energy" is some kind of inaction, being and embodying it is not about "not doing anything" — on the contrary, it is about doing quite a bit, the process is just not visible to the naked eye and only gets externalized at certain points in time, like when I sit down to write down my findings after weeks of internal labor. It is true that embodying feminine energy attracts and provides you with the things you desire and I genuinely cannot elaborate more on this because, in my opinion, it is something you have to experience for yourself to fully believe in it being a thing because that is the only foolproof way to dissolve skepticism when it comes to metaphysics.

In regards to my latest post on energies and receptivity... Knowing that feminine energy attracts the desired outcome when a person is simply being themselves, women insisting that the main way to actualize it is by initiating near-transactional contact with men would seem counterintuitive seeing that the principle itself allows for a state of no-contact, like being engrossed in your hobbies, and the truth is that there is no contradiction between LOA's principles and heterosexual dynamics being the way that they are. I generally encourage people to look at the lifestyles of those who have a good grasp on LOA to understand that these people's market-like attitude towards relationships and the universe is not contradictory, like with rich women showing off their bodies to intimidate their rivals and keep "options" coming well into their marriage, that is the kind of lifestyle they wish to live for personal reasons and women consistently finding themselves in materialistic, superficial relationships points at just that. Women are in general rarely aware of the fact that they love the drama of hypergamy and that a lot of the time they take on a "masculinized", cutthroat approach to relationships because they like competition and the feeling of being the exceptional collectible item they have built themselves up to be, especially if it involves a man with an extensive dating history which in turn validates their "price tag" to themselves. In other words, women subconsciously manifest being in their masculine when it comes to actualizing their femininity and they fail to recognize that they have shifted the paradigm because they appear feminine both to the world and themselves, meaning that their advice is useless to those who wish to actualize theirs without turning it into a marketing strategy. This competitive mindset inherently puts the individual in a high-pressure environment and disconnects them from their empathetic side at the cost of improving their marketing capabilities, and a lot of the time women, in acknowledging that women's rejection of femininity oftentimes stems from trauma, act as if said traumatized women are completely unreasonable for continuing to live that way and pressure them into believing that their only way to actualize their potential is through interacting with those they know to be a danger to themselves. Dressing up and going on a date so that the man you are with gains status from being in your company is a masculine act because it is an externalized, premeditated exchange, which is why many "divine feminine" coaches can come across as competitive, abrasive and in general appear as if something is "off" about them — they are businesswomen operating in their masculine and cultivating a feminine appearance is their part of that business exchange.

It always seems pretty pointless to me to be calling people out without proposing an alternative solution, otherwise I would be admitting that I am powerless to change anything and am complaining for the sake of it, but, from my experience, feminine energy has little to do with men to begin with and is, rather, the imaginative component of LOA. The metaphysical principle behind attracting your desires is that the universe responds to your vibration when you think about and visualize things, with said vibration being elevated through cultivating peace inside and around yourself, and that you get rewarded more and more profoundly the higher your vibration is, but the more believable way to view this phenomenon is that embodying feminine energy is about being in tune with your intuition and not second-guessing yourself when opportunities come your way. This comes down to knowing who and what you are, what and what does not serve you and which opportunities will benefit you if you are to pursue the elevation your own well-being — and if this sounds like an easy task that could not possibly bring that much prosperity, I want to ask anyone who is reading this just how often they doubt themselves because I know that I rarely do.

I believe that I have attracted numerous things by simply curating my blog, and by "attracted" I mean "was handed in for no apparent reason in circumstances unrelated to my blog"; me sharing my writing is the "embodying" part of "being and not doing", that is, my blog is me being myself because a person who figures out how to improve people's and their own mental well-being and recites their findings in an accessible format is what I am. It is a stark contrast between seeking out public spaces or navigating the dating scene, which I personally do not appreciate because that is how you come in contact with too many unsavory people; and I do believe in attracting a partner energetically more so than direct effort in case anyone is wondering... The universe will always reward you when you are a "feminine energy" doing your "feminine energy" thing and there is no need to debase yourself by entering the heterosexual rat race for a chance at a sponsorship if it goes against your convictions, especially given the fact that you would have to be in your masculine for quite a while to achieve that. Again, cultivating feminine mannerisms and appearance for the sake of receiving goods from a man is a masculine act because it is an externalized business partnership.

Another misconception heterosexuals like to promote to validate their sadomasochistic dynamics is that men are the only sex capable of sensibility and leadership because they are supposedly not as emotional and that "logic" equals "reason" when that is far from being the case. Masculine energy being the "logical" one means is that it is predisposed to operating in the material world as opposed to internally, and while it is beneficial for actually tackling material matters, it is a mistake to assume that the only sensible decisions to be made are the ones that are void of emotion because reason is made up of both intuition and logic. For example, a person could take their surroundings into account and discern that being racist in certain circles will give them money and status (logic), but if they are not in tune with their emotions and are not aware of their sympathetic nature (intuition), they will suffer for this decision long-term and the distress experienced will cancel out any material benefit gained. This alone should give you a decent understanding of why neither thinking pattern is better than the other and that people being attuned to their emotions says nothing about their decision-making capabilities.

All of the above can sound a bit controversial because it goes against the common conception of what "feminine" and "masculine" energies are, and it can be intimidating to entertain the idea that you could in fact not need anyone but yourself because it is quite easy for society to convince men and women that they "need" each other without taking additional factors into account, like most people being sexually abusive, egotistical scum that only ever concerns itself with materialistic power struggles and drama and that relationships as of right now present a high risk of traumatization when entered, making self-reliance a very valid choice. The good news is that you do not have to listen to me and can always turn to the people who talk about the complete opposite of what is being said here to see if their advice works for you.

To conclude, you do not "need" a masculine partner if you are feminine and you do not "need" a feminine partner if you are masculine, and anyone who tries to convince you otherwise is a predator because they are attempting to manipulate your boundaries by forcing you to operate from a state of lack. Feminine and masculine energies are certainly complimentary, it is why both of them are represented in all people, even if to a different degree, and an individual's goal should genuinely be mastering both of them for their greater good instead of despairing over the idea that they are ought to be dependent on someone else for the rest of their life. While cooperation is important, I am less interested in promoting codependency and more in willing consent into existence.... It is possible to cultivate a balance between these two energies to harmoniously exist by yourself as a person if that is what you want out of life.