#But it's the only one that seems to be realistic at this point

[koolades-world]

So, request for the Obey me boys (main and side). When I'm emotionally stressed or overwhelmed, I get the urge to clean (especially if my space has been needing it). So, how would they react to an MC spontaniously cleaning anything and everything in that sort of state (Dishes, Floors, surfaces, their own room, etc)?

hi! sure thing!

i relate to this on such a deep level. it's when i get my best cleaning done LOL. having a crisis? suddenly the room is the best it's looked in months

posting this instead of spellbound because getting my car took much longer than I expected. spellbound will be tomorrow for sure :)

enjoy <3

Mc who spontaneously cleans

Lucifer

he may just have to marry you on the spot

his brothers aren’t exactly the cleanest bunch and sometimes he feels like he’s the only one making an effort

he might cry if he comes downstairs one morning and the kitchen is sparkling

Mammon

if he’s not the messiest bitch ever… no shade but there’s no way his room doesn’t look like it was hit by a tornado

however if he ever sees you cleaning he'll try his best to help

he will also try his best to keep things tidy to make it less work for you <3

Levi

I can’t explain it but something about him screams neat freak to me

but, this only applies to his spaces because it would be too much work

he applauded your efforts because more than once he’s cracked and just deep cleaned everything haha

Satan

he’s clean when he wants to be

and most of the time, he is. the only times he isn’t is to piss off lucifer even though he’s just going to drag him back to do it anyways

after seeing how hard you work, he never does that again haha. he would hate for you to have to pick up after him

Asmo

somehow clean but messy at the same time

he won't stop you if you want to go to town cleaning up his makeup pallets and what not

afterwards though he makes sure to treat you <3

Beel

definitely the guy that takes three plus showers a day lol

he always asks you to make sure he's picking up after himself though just in case

he appreciates you and everything you do :)

Belphie

if you think he's tidy, i am so sorry you are wrong haha

will complain about an area being dirty and then proceed to ask why you were cleaning it up

however he will thank you every time he notices you've tidied up :)

Diavolo

despite the fact that he has a whole team that cleans for him, he hates to leave behind a mess

so, he always insists you get him when you get the urge to clean

everything is better when you have someone by your side! besides, he'll take any excuse to be by your side

Barbatos

you know him, he’s incredibly tidy to the point that it’s almost impossible to find a mess in the demon lord’s palace

but in the rare cause you’ve beat him to it, he’s grateful since it’s rare he gets help

afterward, you’ll be having tea together, his treat

Simeon

he also seems like his things are always clean no matter what

it's almost like he's magic at the rate at which messes vanish

he will feel bad if he sees you cleaning, and will take over

Luke

both of his dads (simebarb sorry for kinda sneaking this narrative in here lol) are both neat people, so it only makes sense for him to be too

after all, he wants to be just like them!

if he catches you cleaning, he will instantly join in

Solomon

he seems like he would live realistically, not too dirty, but also not too clean

if things are a little cluttered, he's alright with it because it looks lived in

if you do spontaneously clean, he'll try his best to make it up to you with his cooking!!

[howlsofbloodhounds]

So glad someone else sees the weirdness of people being gross about fem body nightmare it always comes off as somewhat fetishy too bc they reduce him to just being hot

Yes! Absolutely. Seeing the weirdness not only in how nightmare is treated, but also how killer is treated! If he supposedly respects his boss, then why the hell is he drooling over him and treating him vastly different just because nightmare has tits now?

I also see this a lot with female killer or feminine killer—female killer always has huge breasts and small waist and it hardly seems like killer. Even when it’s just normal killer wanting to dress or express himself more feminine, it makes me uncomfortable when it’s done in an overly sexual manner for no reasons?

And of course nightmare and killer are adults, so there’s absolutely nothing wrong with being attracted to them or writing/drawing them in adult situations with eachother or others, it’s just that it feels very fetishized and hyper sexualized to have characters drooling over nightmare when hes just existing and also has breasts.

Even with killer as he is now, vastly hypersexualized as a character for not even any real reason either. He only flirted like once or twice in his canon drawings, clearly as a joke even and mostly because people asked rahafwabas to draw those things with killer, and yet it somehow became his entire character. Not to mention how people took “flirty” and “romantic” and immediately went “lustful creepy pervert.”

To the point where people just cant seem to let these aspects of killer’s character be just that; aspects, something interesting and fun, but not his whole entire character.

Don’t yall find it interesting to explore how a character who views themselves as emotionless and is dissociated from themselves and their actions most of the time navigates things like physical intimacy?

Especially when this character has very likely not felt any kind or comforting touch that wasn’t just a way to keep him further manipulated and controlled? How his experiences with abuse and torture and control have become so normalized it taints every aspect of his life, from the ideas of consent to the idea of boundaries.

Can he even feel much sensation that is too gentle, would it send him reeling in discomfort and disgust at first. would he hate how his body reacts even if it’s something that feels good—wouldn’t he feel viscerally unsettled if someone could provoke bodily reactions like flushing cheeks or a beating “soul beat” or even genuine arousal from him.

wouldn’t he think with contempt if his body reacts positively or negatively to receiving comfort. wouldnt he try to find a way to maintain control and detachment because too much stimulation or stress or feeling threatened or trapped or controlled or afraid for his safety and life could trigger higher stages and he lashes out and literally could kill his partner(s) because his mind mistakes the situation for something else. wouldn’t he need a level of either trust or control to willingly engage in something that feels deeply threatening.

Anyway i got off topic, but you’re absolutely correct. I love female or feminine Sanses, especially with the apple twins, and i don’t think there should be any need to hyper sexualize and fetishize the female body. (especially if these feminine/fem presenting or female bodies also happen to be trans/queer bodies; such as with transfem dream.)

like just let nightmare exists as nightmare, regardless of if he happens to have breasts or not—and don’t have his subordinates drooling all over him and behaving super strange just cause nightmares got boobs now.

(and I also don’t wanna see any situation where nightmare who usually doesn’t have boobs has boobs one day and the gang make a big deal about it, since nightmare is a shapeshifter and all. he could realistically just decide he wants boobs one day and the gang could just go “interesting. Anyway..” and hardly even that.

unless it’s to like, ask for today’s pronouns or something, i don’t see no need to comment on the breasts unless in the context of, nightmare is engaging in intimacy with their partner(s) or something. a context where it would make sense. Anyway just be normal about female/fem killer and nightmare please.)

[littlesparklight]

I wanted to check the numbers for who/which of them (between Apollo and Paris) are Achilles' killers, so here's what I allocated (thanks in part to the ever useful Early Greek Myth by Timothy Gantz):

Death of Achilles, killers: The Iliad; Apollo and Paris Aithiopis; Apollo and Paris Pindar, Paean 6; "Apollo in the mortal form of Paris" Aischylos, frament somewhere; Thetis accusing Apollo of promising long life to her child/ren and then killing her only son Sophokles, Philoctetes; Neoptolemos saying "no mortal destroyed him [Achilles]" but that it was Apollo Euripides, Hecuba, Andromache; implies Paris is responsible Ovid, Metamorphoses; Apollo helping guide Paris' arrows Virgil, Aeneid; Apollo helping guide Paris' arrows Apollodorus, the Bibliotheke; Apollo and Paris Hyginus, Fabula 107; Apollo in the guise of Paris Hyginus, Fabula 110; Paris (and Deiphobos) - Thymbra version Quintus of Smyrna, Posthomerica; Apollo (poisoned arrow) Scholia on the Hekabe; no specifics, but Achilles dies in Thymbra (Presumably at least Paris is the killer, then, whether Apollo too or not) Servius; Paris - Thymbra version Lactantius; Paris - Thymbra version Diktys of Crete; Paris, stabbing, Deiphobos restrains him - Thymbra version Dares of Phrygia; Paris (with others aiding) - Thymbra version

It's basically almost even between all of them, if we take the ones where Apollo is mentioned on his own as if it might play out as it does in Posthomerica. The thing is, as Gantz points out, an (apparent) absence of one or the other doesn't necessarily mean Achilles is killed only by one or the other.

Part of it might rely on who the speaker (if it's talked about, as in Aischylos' fragment and the Philoctetes, as well as the Hekuba and Andromache) wants to emphasise as responsible for whatever reason. Thetis has no reason to bring up Paris when she is accusing Apollo of having killed her son, whether he did it actually alone or by aiding Paris. Likewise, Neoptolemos is, again, putting emphasis on the divine (it makes his father look better/more powerful, it gives Achilles a 'better' death). Obviously he's not going to acknowledge Paris, if Paris might have had part.

In the case of Pindar's Paean 6, it's also certainly possible that, even if Pindar might really have meant Apollo took the shape of Paris, and thus that Paris had no part himself, it's not that straightforward.

I think it's possible by that phrasing that Apollo helped guide Paris, as becomes spelled out at least by Ovid and Virgil.

A definite absence of Paris, like in Quintus, serves a very particular goal. In the Posthomerica, Achilles gets to keep fighting after being shot by Apollo as he slowly expires; it's very clearly to give Achilles as much of a heroic death as possible. For that reason, Paris must be completely excised.

And for that same reason, I really do think Apollo would actually prefer to aid Paris in this case; it steals as much of Achilles' thunder as possible! Gives him an ignoble death and denies him his last chance at kleos; Paris might get no "real" kleos from having killed Achilles in this way, but neither he nor Apollo would care about that.

The switch to Thymbra, emphasises the ~cowardly treachery~ of the method of killing. (Achilles being lured to Thymbra under false pretenses, ambush.) All of the Thymbra versions are also either definitively "realistic" versions that omit the gods entirely (so Paris alone must be the killer), or focusing on Paris as the killer whether the gods are present or not.

There's several reasons I prefer Paris and Apollo together on the battlefield killing Achilles, but part of it is that the Thymbra version seems to include an idea of stabbing instead of using bow and arrow. And since bow and arrow is part of what makes the death extra insulting for Achilles, that's how I want it to be.

[ballsbalb]

ibr, the ter stegen hate is wild to me.

maybe it’s just because i’m a keeper and it’s how i was raised in the footy world, but it’s wild how quick fanbases (cough cough barca fans) forget

a year and a half ago, people were calling him the best keeper in the world, and within the year people were calling him washed & saying he had to leave

imo, barca fans (of which, again, i feel i need to clarify every time i say something about this club, I AM ONE) are just spoiled. for decades, we had the likes of messi and ronaldinho and xavi and iniesta and victor valdes, and now we don’t, and people seem obsessed with finding a singular scapegoat for it all when it’s a systemic issue that has been building for years

first its Frenkie, then its Lewa, then its Araujo, then its Gundogan, then it’s Ferran, then it’s Ter Stegen, it’s an endless loop of people pointing fingers and yapping about “arggg get out of my club arggggh” like any of that would actually change anything

realistically, who is a keeper that is not only available on the market, but experienced enough to be a leader in a squad of a lot of youngsters but also young enough to stay at the top for at least a few more years, a strong enough character to be an important component in the dressing room, has the mental and psychological capability to play for a club like Barca where players are crucified for the smallest of things by press, fans, and coaches, is great at playing out of the back whilst also being a good shot stopper, and is responsible enough to be a role model for the younger guys on the team? cause i can’t think of one, and i fuckin doubt any the morons throwing a fit on twitter could, either

its wild to me how insane some people’s mindsets are, where saying shit like “tragic: ter stegen found alive in monaco” and screaming “get out of my club” at their tv and on twitter to their fellow mush-brained fuckheads

MATS has never been a perfectly consistent keeper, sure, and he has his shortcomings especially when it comes to shot stopping, but the guy’s given a decade to the club, and he’s been pretty damn great in that time- he’s one of, if not the best ball-playing keepers i’ve ever seen. the speed with which fans & press will turn on their own players is insane to me, especially at a club like barca where everyone boasts of being “more than a club” and then spams “ARR GET OUT ME CLUB” the second anyone does anything wrong

the blatant entitlement & hypocrisy among so many barca fans online, especially here & on twitter, is just wild to me, because you can call out bad performances all you want but when you’re making nazi jokes and saying that you’re fantasizing about shooting a footy player, let alone one that’s given ten years of his life you your club i’m sorry, but you’ve lost your fucking mind

[red-ruth]

So like…. could Marc actually win this?

Short Answer: I mean…… yeahhhhhh????

Long Answer: *incomprehensible screaming* …… and in this essay I will-

Because I genuinely don’t know what to think of Marc’s mindset rn. The whole gresini team + Marc seem hesitant to announce the championship challenge.

When Frankie did the interview post Misano 1 w TNT sports he identified their weakness as Friday, which is true. Winning the title means he needs to sort out his fucking qualifying. The tracks where he’s falling behind, he pushes more to find the limit and make the difference, but the other side of that line is him binning it and sending him down the grid. He has the speed to be on the front row pretty much every track now, even the ones where the gp24s are in a championship of their own. He can’t keep recovering from several places back every weekend, only to get up to the podium by half way through the race, at which point Pecco and Jorge have fucked off into the distance. He needs to be up there terrorising them.

However, the amount of tracks left that DO favour Marc are significant.

To start with, the counter clockwise circuits. Phillip Island and Valencia. We could very well see a performance there like we saw at Aragon and what was hinted at in Germany (Sachsenring 2024 what could’ve been, always in our hearts). I wouldn’t say we can guarantee wins, I’m aware of how powerful jinxes are, and Aragon did have an abysmal lack of grip, but they’re tracks where his performance is expected to be the best. We can’t necessarily say the same for the rest of the tracks, but what we can say about them is that they’re a complete fucking lottery.

Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Australia = anything could fucking happen. It’s no doubt that if it were actively raining (could be likely) Marc would come out on top, as we’d seen in misano 1. But what we also learnt from that race is that Marc only really needs a slightly damp track to beat the pace of the gp24s. He got up to the front because it started pissing down for half a lap yeah, but if he sorts out qualifying, he’d be up at the front in the first place, and a damp track would then allow him to keep up and extend a potential lead. More than that, you’ll see more riders coming through on an even playing field to take points out of Martin and Pecco. Exactly like Aragon. The Asian leg, in the past, has always been a bit of a gamble, and that’s where Marc will thrive.

Realistically, Valencia being the final race means that if Marc came in to that final round near equal on points, he could win the title. It would require a perfect weekend from him, Valencia being dusty plus counter clockwise would be good for that, like Aragon.

In order to be close enough going into it though he’d definitely have to be on the podium every round from here on out. Probably more 2nd’s than 3rds so that he’s scoring more than either Jorge or Pecco. Aswell as a handful more wins.

He’d also have to bargain on Jorge and Pecco fighting amongst themselves, taking points off each other. And the both of them having a few more dnfs/bottles like Pecco in Barcelona/Aragon (Peccos horrific starts not his crash w Alex) or Jorge in Sachsenring/Misano 1.

Another factor I haven’t seen people talk about, THE BEAST. For one, he is not far behind Marc, which could be a threat to him, of course. But if we imagine a situation like silverstone happening at more circuits where the gp24 could hold a massive advantage, that’s taking significant points off Pecco and Jorge, drawing the entire fight closer together. To then alternate to tracks where the playing field is more even, then we have Marc coming out on top, and Enea realistically falling behind so he can’t really make an advantage stick (like how we’re seeing him drop away again despite his dominant silverstone performance)

But I’m gonna be real….. I know I’ve just written multiple paragraphs about how Marc could win this, I don’t actually think Marc is trying to win the championship. I think he could, I honestly really, really do. I think if he had something to prove, we’d be having a completely different conversation. But in my mind, he’s already proven himself. We all know that next year, Marc is going to be alongside Pecco. There are less ducatis on the grid, and a lot of the riders on the remaining bikes, have never been Ducati riders before. If we can count on Ducati taking another massive step forward in development (fuck even any step at all at this rate) it’s clear that this is going to be a Pecco v Marc showdown. He’s staked his claim in that.

Marc doesn’t need the 2024 title. He’s saying he’s spending the rest of the year figuring out the bike in combination with his riding style. He’s doing this because he’s achieved all his goals already, get on the podium, win a race, get that seat, enjoy racing again. Tick, tick, tick, tick. He’s done, he’s checked out. He’s being realistic about his performance. As he was saying about the sprint yesterday, “If we start 7th, I finish 4th. If I start 1st I finish 4th.” And you can see the fucking BALL of a time Marc is having at Gresini, (oh my god what an incredible team I might write a whole post on my thoughts on them later). He’s enjoying racing again, and he’s relishing in that feeling coming back. I’m sure Marc is honestly satisfied in sitting back and having fun in a low pressure environment before he moves to Ducati Corse and locks the fuck in.

HOWEVER, he also has absolutely nothing to lose. For someone like Jorge who’s going to a less competitive team next year, or Pecco who’s gonna have an 8 times world champion in the box, they both are conscious of the fact this could really be their last chance at a title. Marc could come 4th, 3rd, 2nd or 1st this year and it means literally nothing because next year is where the real fight is.

In Misano 1 Marc took the risk during the rain to get up to p1 because he could afford to crash, and Pecco couldn’t. Which got him the win. If he’s planning on riding like that for the rest of the season he really could win it. But need I remind you, Pecco didn’t fight him because he wasnt Jorge Martin. Maybe Marc and the team are trying to put out the fires the media are lighting and they don’t want to draw attention to the fact that Marc very well could win this. If his strategy in those situations is fuck around now, find out later, in which the “finding out” is “win or we crash”. He’d be bargaining on Martin and Bagnaia disregarding him as a real contender. His best bet is laying low and striking when they don’t expect him too.

Am I seeing mind games where there aren’t any? Maybe. Is this delusional hope? Of course! And I also don’t think it’s something that Marc is gunning for. Like I genuinely believe the title is only gonna happen if it… falls into his hands, you know? It relies so much on luck. Getting race conditions he prefers, Pecco and Jorge bottling. Enea preforming only when it’s convenient. Not Crashing In Quali For Fucks Sake Marc. And I think Marc knows that too. This title is something that’s almost completely out of his control. He doesn’t have the bike to simply be the better rider, the only thing he can do is maximise the chances he gets in the next few rounds. If he wins or loses this, it’s not because of his skills as a rider, it’s because he was dealt the hand he needed.

But if this happens, if he is dealt this hand and he rounds the final turn of the final lap in Valencia in P1, his ninth championship secured, if I can allow us all to dream scandalously for a second, this season will go down in fucking history. In a career of incredible championship fights, controversies and highs and lows, nothing will beat whatever happens in the coming months…..

…

cut to marc in the gravel in a few hours time

[waitineedaname]

Shen Qingqiu had always had a fondness for the Mid-Autumn Festival. When he was Shen Yuan and very, very young, he had briefly been convinced that all the celebrations were for his sake given the proximity to his birthday. Even when his parents had laughed and explained the real purpose of the festival, it remained one of his favorite holidays. The lanterns, the sweets, the games – what’s not to like?

Needless to say, the Mid-Autumn Festival in the Demon Realm blew all other celebrations out of the water. This was a place where people could do literal magic. Talismans made lanterns glow different colors and float higher in the sky than they realistically should. Demonic performers used all variety of abilities to enhance their performances, from qi powered dance moves to shapeshifting instead of changing costumes. Shen Qingqiu observed the celebrations with a kind of glee he hadn’t felt since he was a child. As empress (a title he still hadn’t gotten used to), he was welcome to partake in the ostentatious banquet prepared by the palace kitchens, but privately, his favorite treats of the night were the mooncakes Luo Binghe had made especially for the two of them. 

He didn’t have blood family to share mooncakes with in this world, but he’d made sure to send an order of treats to his disciples on Qing Jing Peak since he would be unable to share the holiday with them. He and Luo Binghe had agreed to split the holidays between their two realms, and this year Qing Jing had New Year’s while the Demon Realm had the Mid-Autumn Festival. Here in the Demon Realm, the only family he had to share mooncakes with was his husband. He was perfectly happy with that.

“Does husband approve of this one’s cooking?” Luo Binghe asked with a smile, pulling his fingers away from where he’d handfed Shen Qingqiu yet another artfully made mooncake. The festivities were winding down for the night, and they were back in their chambers, which was the only reason Shen Qingqiu was allowing him to hand feed him. That, and he had just enough wine in his system to make him feel loose and relaxed.

Shen Qingqiu hummed and swallowed his food before answering. “Binghe knows his cooking is always excellent,” he praised. Luo Binghe beamed and snuggled into his side to kiss his cheek. 

“Which was your favorite?” He had made a variety of mooncakes with a variety of fillings. Realistically, many of them were flavored with ingredients that should not be available in this setting, but he’d bug Airplane about it later. Luo Binghe had cut all of them into neat pieces, allowing them to sample all of the flavors. Shen Qingqiu thought for a moment, then pointed to one of them.

“The five kernels one,” he said, and Luo Binghe immediately sat up to cut another slice for him. “It’s something of a novelty to be able to eat it,” he continued, fanning himself gently. “The first time I ate that flavor, my parents immediately had to rush me to the doctor.” He sighed. “What a relief this body doesn’t have a nut allergy.”

Being able to talk about his old life was a recent development. Luo Binghe had found out the truth of his transmigration situation from Shang Qinghua not long ago, and since then, he had slowly been allowing himself to reveal more and more of his previous life, finally free from the terror that the System would immediately kill him for it. Binghe clearly appreciated the honesty and seemed conflicted between wanting to ask more and not wanting to push Shen Qingqiu too much. Sweet boy, how could Shen Qingqiu deny him anything?

“Is there anything else Shizun can enjoy now that he couldn’t before?” Luo Binghe asked, offering him another slice of the five kernels mooncake. “This one would be happy to indulge any of his tastes.”

“Mm, well you’ve already got the gluten covered,” he said, gesturing to the mooncakes in front of them. “I didn’t have that many food allergies. I suppose red meat made my stomach irritated sometimes. I am still unfortunately lactose intolerant.” He sighed sadly. “What I wouldn’t give for a lactaid. I wonder if there’s a special flower or magic pill that would help with that…” he trailed off in thought. Perhaps that was something else he could bug Shang Qinghua about. He wanted to know what the protagonist’s skills would do to ice cream without it incapacitating him for the rest of the day! He didn’t realize he’d zoned out until he blinked and saw Luo Binghe staring at him with a fond smile. “Ah. Sorry, Binghe. I was lost in thought there.”

Luo Binghe shook his head and leaned in to press a surprisingly chaste kiss to his lips. “Shizun looks very handsome when he’s thinking.”

Shen Qingqiu huffed and gently batted his head with his fan. “Hush.” He still allowed Luo Binghe to wiggle under his arms until he could wrap both of his own around Shen Qingqiu’s waist. Shen Qingqiu tsked fondly and stroked his hand through Binghe’s curls. “Clingy child. I suppose if you want to make a treat for me… perhaps more of these mooncakes for my birthday?”

“When is your birthday?” Luo Binghe asked, looking up at him from where his face was squished into Shen Qingqiu’s chest.

“Let’s see…” Shen Qingqiu did some quick math. “Today is Tuesday… It should be this Saturday.”

Luo Binghe sat up, startled. “Shizun!” he exclaimed, sounding peeved. “That’s so soon! You didn’t warn me!”

“It’s not like I’ve thought about it much!” Shen Qingqiu shot back, tugging his husband back in for further cuddles. “Binghe doesn’t need to do anything special for this master’s birthday anyway. I’m happy to just eat a meal with you.”

Luo Binghe grumbled, clearly still displeased. Shen Qingqiu resigned himself to whatever elaborate celebration his ridiculous husband cooked up for the weekend. “How old will you be turning?” Binghe asked curiously.

“Uh…” Shen Qingqiu realized he still wasn’t certain how old the original goods were. He supposed he could probably find out from Yue Qingyuan, but… yeah, that would be an awkward conversation. “Do you mean combined between my previous life and this one?”

Luo Binghe nodded. “Shizun must be very old and wise with the experience of two lives.” His eyes were wide and hopeful.

“I wouldn’t say that,” Shen Qingqiu said with a soft laugh. “Let’s see… I was twenty when I first transmigrated, and then there were those five years when I was dead.” He didn’t notice Luo Binghe gradually stiffening in his arms. “I suppose at this point, I’m only a year older than Binghe,” Shen Qingqiu said, pleased by this realization.

“Only… a year older?” Luo Binghe repeated. There was something unreadable in his tone. 

“Yes?” Shouldn’t this be a relief? Shen Qingqiu still felt like a creep sometimes when he thought about how he’d known Luo Binghe since he was a teenager, but their actual combined lived experiences were not that far apart. Somehow, against all odds, they’d evened out at some point along the way!

“So Shizun… isn’t old and wise,” Luo Binghe said slowly.

Shen Qingqiu frowned. Why did that sound disrespectful coming from him?! “Well, this body is likely in its forties at this point,” he said, making his best estimate.

Luo Binghe’s lips flattened into a line. “But you complain about your old hips when we–”

Shen Qingqiu cut him off with a swift smack of his fan. “Don’t say anything else! They are old hips! Not all of us are blessed with youthful demonic stamina!”

That seemed to cheer Luo Binghe up for some godforsaken reason, but he was still pouting. “Shizun, why don’t we celebrate your birthday as your forty-eighth? Twenty-eight sounds too strange.”

“Okay?” Shen Qingqiu was lost. What on earth was going through this strange boy’s head? “You really don’t need to make a big deal out of my birthday, it’s nothing special.”

“This one is happy to dote on his middle-aged husband,” Luo Binghe said, squeezing Shen Qingqiu around the middle.

“I’m not–”

“His middle-aged husband,” Luo Binghe repeated firmly, hugging him even tighter. Shen Qingqiu grunted and swatted at him until he loosened his grip.

“Alright, alright.” He still wasn’t sure what was going on, but he still hid his flushed face behind his fan. “Pass me another mooncake, will you?”

Luo Binghe happily cut him another slice and fed it to him by hand. This truly was a strange second chance at life he’d found himself in, but Shen Qingqiu supposed he couldn’t complain.

[myfairkatiecat]

You’re the ONLY substantially followed blog on here that still defends Keefe and honestly he DESERVES IT it’s called COMPLEXITY and you write about it so well!!!!!!!! Seriously thank you for writing about Keefe being not a bad person. Also because he had flaws (which is not a bad thing it’s a thing) but he has a lot of good moments to people seem to be ignoring entirely so besides thank you for existing

Ok I’m not the only Keefe defender here with followers lol. But aside from that point

YES anon keefe is not a bad person and I do worry that our attempts to balance the scale from the “keefe is actually perfect” era have gone a bit too far. I’d be considered pretty Keefe critical by a lot of the Pinterest fandom and a lot of younger fans who just fangirl over him, which is funny because he is fully my favorite character. However, being critical of a character’s actions is different from just… defining that ENTIRE CHARACTER by just a list of their worst moments (ok just realized like that sounded like a callout and it isn’t. This isn’t about THAT list. It’s a general thing. But actually in hindsight yeah this could also be about that list. Love you Stria) because round characters do have good AND bad moments, including keefe. Keefe didn’t get a huge fan base out of nowhere for no reason. He’s a great guy and he makes Sophie really happy. Their relationship has a lot of realistic rough patches (and I believe it needs to go through at least one more big one tbh) and he’s FAR from perfect but. yeah. Since the attitudes on keepblr are very different than other platforms, it ends up being just as unbalanced, because a lot of people who dislike keefe end up aiming most of their arguments at the keefe fans who ARE NOT here instead of the keefe fans who ARE here.

Thank you for existing too anon <3

[cakerybakery]

“So why are we here, again?” Lucifer questioned, looking up at Adam from his seat on the bench next to him.

Adam used his soda to point at Alastor with a knife, hunting down one of the animatronic victims at mall’s Murder Zone Arcade. “He’s been all cagey and aggressive lately, so I figured he might have some fun at the murder house. Maybe even make a new friend since Charlie says he’s been more distant than normal since I nearly killed him during our fight.”

Alastor laughed manically as he plunged his knife into the animatronic human’s heart repeatedly and some prize tickets spewed out.

“Well, he does look like he’s having fun.” Lucifer winced as the realistic blood sprayed across the floor. “But why are we here?”

“You know your kid can’t stomach this place, and if he goes off the rails too much he needs someone that can reign him back in before he starts destroying shit he’s not supposed to.”

“Right. Do I have to stay here the whole time, or…?”

“Go on. Just be back in an hour. I want to go check out the music store.” Adam called after Lucifer as he took off to check out the theme park in the mall.

It took a few hours for Alastor to wear himself out and Lucifer was itching to go home so Adam grabbed his shopping bags and boyfriend so they could go up to the fence that marked the arcade’s outdoor zone from the rest of the mall.

“Time to go, Al.” He called and Alastor looked over from his conversation he was having with another serial killer about stabbing techniques to get the most out of the motion.

Alastor glared at him but said his goodbyes and desolved into a shadow that moved across the floor and under the fence to he could reform by them.

“You have a good time, kid?” Adam asked as they walked towards the exit.

Portalling back to the hotel in the mall was rude, according to Lucifer. It inconvenienced others and sometimes they accidentally walked through the portal and Lucifer would have to send them back. It was better to do it outside.

“It was an enjoyable day, I must admit. Although,” Alastor jabbed his cane into Adam face, “I don’t recall changing my mind about the nicknames, Adam.”

He snorted at the threat and pushed the cane out of his face, “right, I forgot. Sorry about that, Alastor.”

Alastor was only about a hundred years old but he thought he was so grown up. Of course, Adam had thought the same when he was that age.

‘The folly of youth.’ Adam chuckled to himself.

It was funny. Back in heaven he thought himself as young and hip. The cool dad. In hell he felt a little more his age. The grey strip in his hair probably helped. As did the reading glasses he started to need.

These days he looked at sinners as less of degenerates and more like kids fumbling around trying to figure things out, but that was probably Charlie’s fault. All her preaching about sinners having made mistakes and if they truly learned and wanted to be better didn’t they deserve the chance to try and better themselves?

He supposed they might. If they actually wanted to be a better person, if they actually put in the effort to better themselves, souls were eternal. Always capable of change. Took falling for him to realize he wasn’t just inherently doing good because he was an angel.

Of course some folks didn’t want to change. That was fine. Alastor seemed one of the sort that wanted to be in hell. That relished in causing pain and destruction. But not everyone was happy in hell.

When you took away hope, when you made bettering yourself pointless, you got people that stopped caring. That stopped trying. That just tried to survive and live their afterlives the only way they knew how.

Adam wondered a lot these days about his fall. Which of his actions were wrong. Was it just the big things, were there little things? When he was alive could he have done better by his kids? By Eve?

Probably.

He did his best with what he had at the time. It was good enough to get him into heaven, but he believed that made him perfect. There was a lot of that in heaven. He was never forced to look at himself as he truly was. An imperfect being that made mistakes sometimes. That hurt others sometimes.

What was the difference between him as an angel and an average sinner? The scales tipped him just enough to give him a halo and wings. He’d done just enough right to make it before the pearly gates.

How many monster in hell were not born but made? How many sinner could have been saints if they had different chances in life? One can talk about choices but if the choice is to steal or starve, is it a choice? Why is it a sin to survive? Not everyone is some poor, if only they had other options, but not everyone is unrepentant either.

Sinner or winner most everyone is somewhere in between.

Charlie was looking for the saint in the sinner. Maybe what she should be looking for is what’s tipping the scale towards hell instead of heaven. A bit more reasonable than just blinding throwing darts at a target and hoping she stumbles into how to reform someone. She already knows not everyone is looking to go to heaven. She’s just having trouble instilling hope in the hopeless. In reaching those that have a chance of being reformed.

Lucifer and Alastor were already starting to get on each other’s nervous by the time they made it out to the sidewalk.

He handed Lucifer his bags then flicked both of them on the back of their heads. “Knock it off you two. Alastor stop trying to antagonize Lucifer. Lucifer stop being antagonized. You’re like a million years old. Act like it.”

“Yes, you should be a good example for- OW!” Adam flicked Alastor again. “Would you cut that out?!”

Lucifer laughed and Adam flicked him too.

“Enough.” Adam scolded. “You two. I swear I’ll leave you at home next time Lucifer.”

He gasped, “but the train!”

One of his boyfriend’s weird obsessions was the train at the theme park in the mall. Adam didn’t get it, but it made the guy happy.

“Then behave. Let’s head home.” Adam waited for Lucifer to open the portal and turned to Alastor. “would you like to help me make supper? I was thinking steaks. Got some deer in the freezer I can toss on the grill to warm up for you. Be like it’s still alive.”

That seemed to work and his smile reached his eyes when he agreed.

Maybe next time they could come as a group. Niffty would probably like the Murder Zone Arcade too. The others would likely prefer the theme park.

Could be fun. He’d have to suggest it to Charlie later.

[oifaaa]

Honestly with the amount of bullshit dc puts Jason through I think the very least they could do is make him the tallest bat

[cluescorner]

Arlecchino's whole deal is unbelievable

Arlecchino: Huh I wonder what's causing my weird powers? I can't really worry about that right now tho, I've gotta become King and then kill my "Mother".

*Kills Clervie and "Mother"*

Arlecchino: Huh I wonder why I was able to defeat a Fatui Harbinger when I'm like 17 or so? I can't really worry about that right now tho, I've gotta be in jail and become a Harbinger.

*Is in jail for a while and becomes a Harbinger*

Arlecchino: Huh I wonder why I am-

Pierro: Hey what's up hello, anyways you're descended from the Crimson Moon Dynasty of Khaenri'ah. I'm sure that this is a lot for you to take in so-

Arlecchino: Ok.

Pierro: ...You're just cool with that?

Arlecchino: IDK maybe? I can't really worry about that at the moment, I'm a father now. This orphanage full of children I love (who also are child soldiers and are not allowed to leave or else I'll execute them except maybe now I'm just gonna wipe their memories IDK I'm morally complex) isn't gonna run itself.

*Runs the orphanage/spy recruitment initiative*

Me, the fucking player: WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU ARE KHAENRI'AN? WHY WASN'T THIS BROUGHT UP IN YOUR FUCKING QUEST?? OR ANYTHING ELSE????

Arlecchino, talking to me through my phone: I honestly don't know why you care, I'm too busy to give a shit. Anyways, I'm gonna go fight fate itself I guess. I'm sure that I don't share any thematic parallels with any other Khaenri'an characters (particularly as it relates to acting and family angst) and that I haven't made the idea of 'curses' on Khaenri'ans and what they entail even more complicated than they already were. See ya.

[witchwhaat]

guys... would you still love me if i dropped out of that degree i was whining about for the last 3 months🥲

[badolmen]

Supermassive games made something that was almost perfect and then decided to make several much worse things before reeling it back to something decent that makes the same damn mistake the first game made without any of the first game’s charm and cleverness to make up for it. Like you’ve had the time to figure out this professional video game thing maybe you should start acting like it lol

[magnoliamyrrh]

by this point when i see balkan ppl who think the solution to things is as ethnically pure as possible ethnostates whichever way this is spun i just want to hit them square in the head with a pan. the most effective way to deal with this? yea probably not. is this what i want to do? yes.

[pa-pa-plasma]

so this post is definitely about me lol & i just wanna say that

me only having mental illness is a really big assumption

the experiences i talked about were my own & some friends i'd had while going to an alternate school, they weren't secondhand or made up

idk what is wrong with this person but they are super fucking ableist, & going through their blog, it's clear they love to accuse everyone of faking being disabled or needing accommodation for some reason & are obsessed with interacting in bad faith.

just gonna assume they're constantly having a really bad day every day but man if you're gonna make multiple blogs dedicated to speaking about disabled issues, maybe don't alienate a majority of the community & accuse them of not being "disabled enough" for you to fucking listen to them

[weaselle]

i want to talk about real life villains

Not someone who mugs you, or kills someone while driving drunk, those are just criminals. I mean VILLAINS.

Not like trump or musk, who are... cartoonishly evil. And not sexy villains, not grandiose villains, not even satisfyingly two dimensional villains it is easy to hate unconditionally. The real villains.

I had a client who was a retired executive for one of the big oil companies, i think it was Shell or Chevron. Had a home just outside of San Francisco that was wall to wall floor to ceiling full of expensive art. Literally. I once accidentally knocked a painting off the wall because it was hanging at knee height at the corner of the stairs, and it had a little brass plaque on it, and i looked up the name of the artist and it was Monet's apprentice and son-in-law, who was apparently also a famous painter. He had an original Andy Warhol, which should have been a prize piece for anyone to showcase -- it was hanging in the bathroom. I swear to god this guy was using a Chihuly (famous glass sculptor) as a fruit bowl. And he was like, "idk my wife was the one who liked art"

I was intrigued by this guy, because in the circles i run this dude is The Enemy. right? Wealthy oil executive? But as my client, he was... like a sweet grandpa. A poor widower, a nice old man, anyone who knew him would have called him a sweetheart. He had a slightly bewildered air, a sort of gentle bumbling nature.

And the fact that he was both of these things, a Sweet Little Old Man and The Enemy, at the same time, seemed important and fascinating to me.

He reminded me of some antagonist from fiction, but i couldn't put my finger on who. And when i did it all made sense.

John Hammond.

probably one of the most realistic bad guys ever written.

If you've only ever seen the movie, this will need some explaining.

Michael Crichton wrote Jurassic Park in 1990, and i read it shortly thereafter. In the movie, the dinosaurs are the antagonists, which imo erases 50% of the point of the story.

book spoilers below.

In the book, John Hammond is the villain but it takes the reader like half the book to figure that out. Just like my client, John is a sweet old man who wants lovely things for people. He's a very sympathetic character. But as the book progresses, you start to see something about him.

He has an idea, and he's sure it's a good one. When someone else dies in pursuit of his dream, he doesn't think anything of it. When other people turn out to care about that, he brings in experts to evaluate the safety of his idea, and when they quickly tell him his idea is dangerous and needs to be put on hold, he ignores his own experts that he himself hired, because they are telling him that he is wrong, and he is sure he is right.

In his mind, he's a visionary, and nobody understands his vision. He is surrounded by naysayers. Several things have proven too difficult to do the best and safest way, so he has cut corners and taken shortcuts so he can keep moving forward with his plans, but he's sure it's fine. He refuses to hear any word of caution, because he believes he is being cautious enough, and he knows best, even though he has no background in any of the sciences or professions involved. He sends his own grandchildren out into a life-threatening situation because he is willfully ignorant of the danger he is creating.

THIS is like the real villains of the world. He doesn't want anyone to die. Far from it, he only wants good things for people! He's a sweet old man who loves his grandchildren. But he has money and power and refuses to hear that what he is doing is dangerous for everyone, even his own family.

I think he's possibly one of the most important villains ever written in popular fiction.

In the book, he is killed by a pack of the smallest, cutest, "least dangerous" dinosaurs, because a big part of why we read fiction is to see the villains face thematic justice. But like a cigarette CEO dying of lung cancer, his death does not stop his creation from spreading out into the world to continue to endanger everyone else.

I think it is really important to see and understand this kind of villainy in fiction, so you can recognize it in real life.

Sweetheart of a grandfather. Wanted the best for everyone. Right up until what was best for everyone inconvenienced the pursuit of his own interests.

And my client was like that too. His wife had died, and his dog was now the love of his life, and she was this little old dog with silky hair in a hair cut that left long wispy bits on her lower legs. Certain plant materials were easily entangled in this hair and impossible to get out without pulling her hair which clearly hurt her. When i suggested he ask his groomer to trim her lower leg hair short to avoid this, he refused, saying he really liked her usual hair cut.

I emphasized that she was in pain after every walk due to the plant debris getting caught in her leg hair, and a simple trim could put an end to her daily painful removal of it, and he just frowned like i'd recommended he take a bath in pig shit and said "But she'll be ugly" and refused to talk about it anymore.

Sweet old man though. Everyone loved him.

[fingertipsmp3]

Why would my friend message me asking if I want to go for a walk and then when I answer immediately in the affirmative, drop off the face of the earth