#NOW we get to: everyone has to look and behave and live in accordance with whats in their pants.

[russellsppttemplates]

Papa bear mode (Mick Schumacher)

Mick is in full papa bear mode and his baby girl hasn't arrived yet

Note: english is not my first language. this is another long piece that I hope you enjoy (I love how we all just love dad!Mick and I'm here for it)!

Thank you so much to everyone who likes and reblogs, your feedback is appreciated 🤍 and I'm taking requests so if you have any ideas or concepts you want to share, feel free to do so as I'll try to get to them the best I can!

my masterlist

Tw: pregnancy and postpartum

"Can we go tomorrow, then? I already said that I'd be taking the day off", you said to Mick, passing him the last piece of cutlery so he could put it on the drawer after you dried it, "the meeting was the only thing that I had scheduled and since that is cancelled, I have a free day for that, yes", he smiled, settling his hand around your lower back as he guided you to the living room, sitting on the sofa so you could sit next to him, his iPad on his hand so you could both look at it.

"I think I finally found the buggy for us", he announced, tapping the wide screen and opening the shared document you had created so you could have a set list of what you needed for your baby girl's arrival. Mick wanted to be involved in everything as much as he could, and when you suggested that you'd split the list of items so both of you would have less things to look up and search for, it went down as a good idea.

"This one has an adaptable pushing bit, you can regulate according to the height of the person pushing it so it's comfortable, comes with this thing where you put the nappy bag, and I've checked on your list here", he motioned, splitting the screen so both lists would be showing, "and it fits the bag we have already", he smiled, happy with his finding. You tapped the screen to see all the different pictures and features of the equipment, nodding when it seemed good, "yes, I think this is a good choice. It's good that it's adjustable, means you won't hurt your back because it's to small for you or that I will be uncomfortable because it's too tall for me", you smiled, looking up at him and stealing a kiss, "yes, and it looks sturdy enough to venture out for our walks, too", you mentioned, watching a video where the brand tested how the buggy behaved in different types of ground. You were hoping that once things settled down and you felt comfortable enough, you'd join Mick and Angie for walks as a family of four.

"I also found this crib", you mentioned, tapping the link you had pasted on the document earlier on in the day, "it looks pretty and practical, too", you noted, "she won't sleep on it for a while, I guess, because I've heard everyone say how they just sleep in the cot you put next to the bed for first few weeks", you shrugged your arms, "but at least it will be done and out of the way, and the nursery will be ready", you explained your point of you, earning a nod of agreement from your husband, "seems good to me too. We make a fine team, don't we?", he asked, cuddling you into his chest while you looked at the rest of the items you wanted to get.

The next morning, you both woke up and got ready to move your bodies. While you weren't an athete like your husband, you tried your best to engage in some form of exercise to keep active, usually some stretches and lighter movements now that you were pregnant. And because of that, you had built a nice routine to exercise while Mick did his workout in the morning.

You were tidying up, throwing your towell on the basket so you could later take it to the laundry room and then rolling up your yoga matt, walking to the place where you stored it when you nearly tripped in one of weight machines, "Y/N!", Mick said, approaching you to check how you were, "everything good?", he looked you up and down, Angie following suit as she looked up at you, "I'm fine, just didn't see the corner of it", you smiled, craddling his cheek, "no need to go all papa bear mode, at least not now", you reasoned, "yes, you're right. But maybe we should get those lock things, so baby girl doesn't walk in here and hurts herself, there are some heavy things here", he looked around, "and upstairs too, for that matter", he continued his ramble of everything he thought would be heavy and dangerous in the house, "I'll get to it once we get home from the shop", he finished.

Chuckling, you grabbed Mick's hand and laced it in yours, "there's still a lot of time until those are a concern, my love", you tried to pull him back to reality, "I know, but better be safe than sorry. And don't be so certain than I'm thinking she'll be the one to accidentally hit things, by the looks of it, you'll be too", he teased you, kissing your forehead as you made your way upstairs for a shower before leaving for the baby shopping afternoon.

Arriving at the store, you greeted the older sales assistant, showing her your list of items you wanted to get and following her as she also offered her opinions and views, "yes, I always recommend these cots where little one is right next to you in bed, they're like an extension of your own bed and they can be near the parent for feeds and changes during the night, and especially when the mother is the one getting to them in the night and she's still recovering, it's a lot easier to just roll and have the baby right there", she supported your decision, marking down on her notepad the exact model that would fit your bed, "and can we move it around? Say I want it on my side of the bed instead of hers", Mick asked, "yes, it's fairly easy to move around. This model has wheels that lock into place once you're happy with where it is", she showed the detail on the model they had on display.

After discussing all the furniture, you moved into the aisle concerning the mothers rather than the babies' sections, "again, we can never know for sure how the birth is going to go, but from my own experience and from what the clients tell me, it's better to be prepared for everything rather than run around in the newborn stage trying to buy something", she smiled softly, "we have this kit here, and it comes with nipple cream, which I would recommend you start applying a few days before the birth, a lot of new mothers swear by this trick", she winked, making you look at the product while Mick listened intently.

"Also these witch hazel pads also work wonders, if you lay them on your maternity pads or underwear, they really help cool down the area and make things a little bit less uncomfortable", she continued explaining what all the products did and how to use them to get the most benefits.

By the time you were home, sorting everything took even longer since Mick would not let you carry the bigger boxes, only allowing you to carry some baby clothes, hygiene products and a lamp to the nursery and your shared bedroom, and you couldn't help but notice his tense stance. His shoulders were stiff, he only spoke when you talked to him and the crease on his forehead was prominent. "Hey", you nudged him with your foot under the dinner table, "are you okay? Do you need something?", he asked worriedly, earning a no from you, "I should be the one asking you that. You are awfully quiet since we got home from the store. What happened? Was it something I said or did?", you wondered, receiving a chuckle on his end.

Frowning, you waited for his answer, "sorry, liebling, I don't want to offend you. And no, it's not your fault. I mean, it kind of is because yiu are the one carrying our baby, my baby", he brushed, "you and your body are doing this wonderful thing, like, you're growing organs and bones for our baby girl, you are her home", he smiled, tears filling his eyes before be frowned a bit, "but you're also the one enduring the pains, the discomfort that it is sometimes. You'll have to deal with so many things even after our baby girl is out here with us", he stretched his arm so he could hold your hand in his, his thumb rubbing your knuckles, "it's not fair, and I don't know how to make up to you", he explained.

"What made you feel like this? Was it just today?", you questioned, wanting to know where this whole thing came from, "It's just, today, at the store", he gulped, "the lady kept saying that the things we were getting were because things would be bad, like nipple cream because you'd have cracked skin there, or the witchhazel pads because you would be sore, and the band because sometimes everything would feel off on your body", he said, "and I'll be here for you as much as I can, I'll do anything and I'd do anything to take any of that discomfort away from you, but, it's bothering me, I think that's what it is", he confessed, opening up to you.

Smiling at his thoughtfulness, you tutted so he would look at you, "Mick, my love, it's all part of this. And while maybe, yes, if this was some sort of video game where I could transfer the pain of childbirth to you", you giggled, helping him relax a little bit more, "I'm sure I'll be just fine because I have you by my side, through all of it.

"So, please, stop feeling like you're not doing enough because you are. You're taking care of us, making sure I'm doing everything okay. And I have no doubt that the minute this one is her with us", you brought your laced hands to touch your bump, feeling your daughter kick, "you'll be even more wonderful. Parenthood is not measured by who does more of what, but rather how we handle it all together for the best of our family", you smiled, kissing your husband's lips as you finalised your attempt to make him feel better.

.

"Do we have to do this now?", you asked your husband, walking inside the home office to see his opening storage boxes, "you're not doing anything, but I need to get these away from here", he pointed to his trophies. His successful career was the first things that came to mind whenever you saw the wall, and now he wanted to store them away, "one day, Rora might think it is a good idea to touch these and what if they fall on her? They're really heavy and they can hurt her", he reasoned as he saw you sat down on the spinning chair, and if your stomach hadn't fluttered as he mentioned your daughter's nickname, your response would be quicker, "those are really high up, Mick, I don't think I can even reach them, let alone a baby or a toddler that, may I remind you, is still some time away from doing that", you noted, only hearing him mumbling something, "and I plan on dedicating every win to you and our little one, so these will soon be filled with new trophies", he smiled charmingly.

"You, little lady", you talked to your bump, "have a very worried and forward thinking papa, and while he can sometimes be a pain in our behind, he only does it because he loves us so much", you tapped the skin, "but we love him even more, so we are all lucky to have eachother, I guess".

.

"So, I hold her like this?", your husband asked the instructor, earning a pleased nod from her, "very well, Mick, exactly like that!".

You and Mick were at a baby class, and today you were covering the birth and what positions would be helpful whenever the pain of contractions was too great to handle and how you could deal with them, "Am I hurting you, liebling?", he asked, "no, on the contrary. This is actually really nice, I think I should walk around everyday with you like this until she's born", you chuckled, feeling how rhe pressure on your hips subsided, "you know I wouldn't mind being with you all day, you know? It would help me to keep an eye on you at all times an-", you interrupted him, "Papa bear mode is activated", you chuckled, kissing his jaw, "you're lucky I think you're insanely hot when you do that".

[skzcollision]

churchboy!felix x afab!reader (7/7)

| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |

genre: fluff, smut, teen angst

synopsis: certain expectations come with being a pastor’s daughter. in everyone’s eyes you are a properly behaved girl, albeit rather timid. according to your parents, you aren’t as devoted to the church as you should be. they entrust you to an old family friend’s son, deeming him to be a good influence. these circumstances bring you two closer together and stir up all kinds of emotions.

MINORS DNI

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

“Did I ruin you?”

Felix blinks down at you through his lashes, eyes still puffy from sleep. A long beat of silence ensues as he tries to comprehend what you just asked him.

“Ha?” He scrunches up his nose in a way you find comical.

You laugh, then shake your head, turning your face back down. “Nothing. Just– thinking out loud.”

Finally succumbing to the soreness behind your lids, you let them slide back shut.

Your rest is cut short when you feel the sheets rustling and the pillow shifting beneath your head. Felix is too intrigued now to go back to sleep.

“No, talk to me.” He raises himself on his elbow.

You open your eyes, but don’t necessarily meet his. They bounce around, tracing the lines of his cupid’s bow, then his jaw. You rack your brain for a reason as to why you had even asked that in the first place.

It seemed to have slipped out on its own accord, with your thoughts running a mile a minute as you watched your lover rise to consciousness that early morning.

Maybe that question has always been at the back of your mind.

“Like, if we hadn’t met… you’d probably still be going to church, still be living with your parents.” You lock your eyes onto his, lips pulling into a tiny smile. “You’d still be a virgin.”

Air shoots out of his nose and his shoulders shake with a chuckle. “Okay, well you know I was going to move here to the city anyway. School’s in like a week, so what difference does a few more make– and technically, we are both still virgins.” He squints his eyes. “Half virgins.”

“Mm,” you relax beneath his touch as his fingers find your hair. “You get what I’m saying though?”

He shakes his head slowly, his words coming out the same. “Not really.”

You sigh, pushing yourself to sit up against the headboard. “Well you don’t really see anyone else anymore– we’re pretty much spending every waking hour together. Have been for like the past few months. And now, every sleeping hour too I guess. I drag you out here to the city, stressing you out with my family problems–“

“Woah, woah…” Felix grasps your hands in his, moving to sit up. He lowers his head to meet your eyes. “What, you think you roped me into this or something?”

“Something like that,” you nod, breathing out unhurriedly. “I doubt this is how you wanted to spend your last few weeks before school starts again.”

“Listen,” he pulls you into his arms, gently prodding your head to lay against his chest.

“I’m here with you, because I want to be. It is not because I feel sorry, or obligated. I spend every moment with you only because I want to. Even when things are tough, even when you get all snappy and bratty with me, I’m still going to want to be here. You understand?”

He lifts your chin, the purest form of sincerity in his eyes when he says, “this is fully my choice.”

You hold his gaze and nod in understanding, almost mesmerized by his words and the look on his face.

A shaky sigh slips past your lips as you muster up a response. “You think I’m bratty?”

His chest reverberates with deep laughter, the sound rolling through your ear. “Yes,” he smiles down at you in admiration. “You are… many things.”

You narrow your eyes, eventually pulling your gaze away when you feel like his is too much to handle. “I don’t know if I should feel insulted or not.”

Truly, you’re more ashamed than anything. You’ve had such a short temper lately, and he has been more than patient with you.

He chuckles, planting a lingering kiss on your hairline. “Feel like going out today?”

A gentle breeze rolls over you, ruffling your hair as you walk alongside the salty sea. The sunset paints the pale blue sky with a pinkish orange hue, warm sand sifting around your bare feet with each step.

Wanting to make the most of the remaining days of your summer, you and Felix spend all day doing touristy things around the city—something you never got the chance of doing despite living nearby all your life.

You have only been here a handful of times and even then, rarely got to do any proper sightseeing. Your parents believed that such activities were a waste of time, and only brought you to the city whenever you needed some new clothes or if you had an important appointment.

A leisure stroll at the beach is just what you need after a long day in the bustling city.

The deep timbre of Felix’s voice breaks you out of your reverie.

“You know, I’ve been wanting to talk about things for a while now.”

You glance to your side where the golden light hits his profile, highlighting the freckles across his pink-dusted cheeks.

“I’m glad you shared that with me this morning,” he says with a smile.

Your eyes drop to the shimmering sand. “Yeah, sorry. I’m not that good at communicating.”

“I know,” he says. “But is it okay if we keep talking like this?”

You nod, but not without the hesitation showing on your face.

“So what else has been on your mind?”

“Felix… I didn’t mean now.”

“Come on, healing time.” He skips in front of you, holding your sides. “Please? I don’t want you to keep these feelings to yourself. I can feel it stressing you out.”

You draw out a long sigh and meet his eyes, gentle but pleading. “Can we go sit in your car then?”

The walk back is a relatively long and quiet one, allowing you to gather your thoughts before you spill everything that has been weighing on you lately.

A heavy silence settles upon you as you sit side by side, watching the sun kiss the horizon. He doesn’t speak, and only reaches over the console, threading his fingers through yours.

“I guess– I thought all of my problems would be solved if I just got away from my parents, but somehow things are… worse. I just feel more lost than ever, I don’t know what I’m doing, I don’t know who the hell I am.”

He nods profusely, thumb sliding over the back of your hand. “Yeah, I don’t think people get to know who they are ‘til they’re like in their 40’s, maybe even later. Maybe even never– I mean, that’s not to say you never will.” Felix offers a smile. “Do you think I know what I’m doing?”

To that, you only shrug.

“No one has their life figured out at this age– and even if you make plans, nothing is guaranteed... it’s better to just enjoy and cherish every moment while you still can. Life will work itself out.”

You both fall silent once again as you let his words sink in.

It feels as though a weight has been lifted off of your shoulders, not all at once of course, but at the very least everything that needed to be said has been said.

You have been holding back due to fear—not of being judged by him, but burdening him with your worries. Although you’re beginning to realize that your relationship has taken a hit from your reticence, and you’re grateful for the gentle push Felix has given you to express your feelings.

His hand nudges against yours. “Did I make you feel better?”

Your face eases into a smile. “Yeah, those were some pretty wise words, Lix. I’m impressed.”

He then reaches over, a wide smile of relief on his face as both hands cup your cheeks. “Thank you.”

“For what,” you laugh at the unexpected proximity.

“For trusting me enough to tell me these things.”

You shake your head, lifting one hand to run your fingers through the strands of hair that stick to his temple.

“It’s not that I don’t trust you… I just don’t like dragging you down. I don’t like seeing you sad.”

“I don’t like seeing you sad either,” he says in between kisses to your wrist.

You lean over to bring your lips to his, a soft but urgent kiss. He envelops you in his arms and you melt further into him.

Felix pulls away for a brief moment. “Hey, don’t hide from me anymore, okay?” He murmurs, breath hot against your wet mouth. “I don’t want to lose you.”

“You won’t lose me,” you assure him, gripping the back of his neck to connect your mouths again.

What started as an innocent kiss escalates into a whole ‘nother thing, quicker than any of you expected. Even with him pressed up against you like this, you somehow don’t feel close enough.

Much to your disappointment, he withdraws himself from you before things can advance any further.

You whine, burying your face in his neck. He laughs, breathing hard and stroking the back of your head.

“Let’s go home first.”

“No…” You protest. Your lips land on his skin, sucking lightly. “Need you now.”

There are no other cars around and his windows are tinted. No one would see you, unless they were intentionally peering inside.

He caves. You practically throw yourself into the back, Felix in tow.

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT

You move together in the cramped space, a feverish heat building between your bodies as you grope each other in the most unseemly places.

Your fingers trail up underneath his shirt, feeling the ridges of his stomach before pulling away to admire the exposed strip of skin.

A particular memory resurfaces at the sight.

The day your father had him baptized in a lake, both of you just shy of sixteen; the drenched white fabric of his shirt sticking to his body and revealing his shredded abs. That had been the time your infatuation for him began.

And now here it is in front of you again, in an entirely different context.

Felix emits a faint laugh at your gawking then quickly shoves his shirt over his head, cocking a brow at you as if to say better?

Smothering his chest with open-mouthed kisses, your hands slowly make their descent to the button of his pants.

More clothes come off, hands shaking and moving eagerly with excitement. You have already been intimate in more ways than one, yet this is the first time you are in front of each other baring it all—stark naked in the backseat of his car.

Still, you find him so beautiful, better than anything your mind could ever conjure up. With that dark look in his eyes as they roam desirously over your body, you know he feels the same way about you.

A chorus of moans rumble against your mouth as you deftly reach a hand between you to wrap your fingers around his leaking shaft.

He rests his head against the window, practically crumbling beneath your touch. You don’t take your eyes off each other this time when your mouth slides over his cock.

“Baby…” He gently pushes on your shoulders as your tongue drags along the underside. “Baby, please…” He speaks sluggishly, his tone hushed and raspy. “I’m not going to last.”

“Why,” you lift a brow, pulling your mouth away but not ceasing the movements of your hand. “Are you saving it?”

His eyes widen in fear that he had misread the situation. “I kind of assumed that we would– I mean, o- only if you want to,” he stammers.

“M’just teasing you.” You smile, wrapping your arms around him as you sit upright. “Of course I want to.” You pepper kisses along his jaw. “I’ve been wanting to do it for so long.”

To your surprise, he suddenly drops to the floor of his car, and with a light prod of his hand, you let your thighs fall open. He guides your legs over his shoulders, his mouth so close to where you want him.

Finally, his tongue laps over your clit—and you’re giggling without even realizing it, feeling giddy and almost drunk with delight.

“What?” He raises his head, smiling lightheartedly.

“Nothing, I just...” You caress his cheek, gazing upon him with affection. “Baby has always sounded so corny to me, but I like it when you call me that.”

“Mm,” he hums before lowering his mouth back onto your cunt. “Feel good, baby?” His dark eyes glitter with amusement as his face disappears between your thighs.

You can only moan in response, fingers flying to his blond locks, writhing desperately.

Eventually his fingers join his lips, slipping into you with ease. He goes down on you tenderly, the same way he would kiss you on the mouth. Less impatience than last time, and taking his sweet time working you up.

Soon enough, you unravel on his tongue, clutching a handful of his hair tightly in your fist. Felix groans low against your cunt, licking you up, rutting against the leather seat.

“Need you inside, please…”

A look of alarm flashes across his face as you drag him over you. You lay yourself down, adjusting as well as you can with the cup holder poking uncomfortably at your back.

“Shit, I just realized– I didn’t bring anything.”

“I’ll take a pill in the morning,” you plead, wrapping your legs around his hips. “Felix…”

He can’t bring himself to refuse you now; your lashes wet with tears from your previous orgasm, lips pink and swollen from kissing as you wiggle beneath him, begging for him to take you.

A quiet growl rips from him as he ravishes your mouth with an impassioned kiss, his cock gliding across your slick cunt. You moan at the familiar sensation, brought back to the last time you were both tangled up like this—doing it in a place you weren’t supposed to, just like you are now.

Pain blooms when he finally enters you.

It’s a tight fit, you’re afraid he won’t be able to go much further.

“Mmph,” he groans into your mouth, arms shaking with effort. He separates from you momentarily, concern evident on his face. “Relax for me baby, can you do that?”

You nod, trying your hardest to loosen up for him. Anything he can do to alleviate the pain, he does. His hands don’t stop touching you, softly caressing every part of your body he can reach. His mouth is everywhere, scattering kisses along your face, your neck, your collarbones.

It takes a few moments, but with his gentle touch and words of praises, telling you how you’re doing so well for him, your pain ebbs away.

Felix’s movements are a little clunky at first, but he gradually finds his rhythm, responding to your cues, and going with whatever feels right.

You begin moving as one, your bodies molding to the shape of each other, driven to give and receive pleasure.

“You’re so warm…” He whispers in between a kiss to your forehead.

“Does it feel good?” You blink innocently up at him, a teasing lilt in your voice.

“You’re seriously asking me that?” He drops his head and laughs softly against your neck, bringing a sly smirk to your face.

It doesn’t take long for your orgasms to approach.

His body drapes over you, enveloping you with his affection and warmth. Hips rocking together, minds hazy from pleasure—until all you see, taste, and feel is each other.

Time seems to stand still in this moment, and god, you truly would love to be stuck here forever.

“I love you,” he sobs against your neck. “I love you so much.”

You repeat his words, and with your hands clasped next to your head, you finish together.

You have yet to figure out your place in this world; but right now, here with Felix, is where you have felt the most at home.

⭒

author's note: sorry it took me a while to get this out! i was struggling for a bit with writer’s block. thank u all so so so much for responding very kindly and interacting with my posts. it has been rly encouraging. idk if i’ll do another series in the near future but i definitely plan on writing more so if u want to be added to my permanent taglist just let me know!

| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |

| taglist: @moasworld @acidgh0st @vixensss @yeetfellx @g00dtimenotlongtim3 @letrasalvientoblog @yourmercibeaucoupsblog @tfshouldidohere @sxurgrapes @babrieeee @fawnpeaks @skzswife |

[cellarspider]

11/30: Full steam ahead

(Previous) | (Index) | (Next)

⛬

We return to Body Desecrator 2093, Prometheus. There were no post this weekend because I felt like it. Now I feel like it even less, because it’s this scene.

The horrors do not end here. The movie hasn’t even got to what it considers horrors, but I’d already screamed quietly at the screen by this point several times, so it’s safe to say that me and the movie were not simpatico.

There are times when a movie will do things that fall entirely outside your personal beliefs or understanding of logic, and you just roll with it. Magical realism does this all the time, as do movies reaching for the psychedelic. 2001: A Space Odyssey eventually dissolves reality itself around the protagonist as he travels through another dimension. On the first sit, you have no way of knowing what you’ll be shown next, but if the movie’s got you, then you go with it.

Then there are movies where everyone is acting according to some sort of logic, but it feels twisted, like things are happening for a reason, but the logic doesn’t connect. Horror movies love this, particularly ones with cultic antagonists–Midsommar being the most notable modern example, and the original Wicker Man being another.

I mean, the Nick Cage movie also has that, but sometimes it has that because Nick Cage is in a bear costume, punching a woman in the face and stealing bicycles at gunpoint like he’s in GTA.

Prometheus, unfortunately, unintentionally places itself somewhere between the two Wicker Men. The characters’ decision making is a shambolic mess. The movie intentionally invokes religious fervor in Shaw especially, and might intentionally invoke that plus megalomania in Holloway, but it doesn’t draw a line around those characters and their bad decisions. Everyone is just going with their bullshit. This suggests to the audience that in the movie’s world all scientists behave like this.

I mean, in our world, scientists sometimes try to fit entire oranges in their mouths (source), but I should like to think that The Orange Incident wouldn’t have happened if that guy had been on board the most important scientific expedition in human history.

Things just kept happening in this movie that made me feel like I was dissociating. The cast is back at the Prometheus, with their stolen artifacts and mortal remains. Cool. They need to be decontaminated. Like, inside and out.

Next, we see Shaw and Holloway in a lab, along with Maybe-Chemist-Lady whose name fell right out of my head as I watched, because she’s never given a character to speak of. They are wearing scrubs, hairnets, and blue surgical masks, which tells me the movie thinks this is appropriate personal protective equipment for handling an alien head. Holloway is sitting on a counter in the corner, getting drunk.

So many things have just hit me here. How long is this since they got back? Apparently no more than a couple hours. These people took their helmets off in an active alien biosphere, with worms in the dirt and an alien corpse on the ground and who knows what else. They should be quarantined forever, or at least for a couple weeks. 

When the Apollo 11 crew got back to Earth, they were quarantined for 21 days. NASA didn’t consider it likely that anything lived on the moon, but they were taking no chances. Here’s Nixon getting a chance to see what good people look like!

But no! No quarantine for Prometheus! The guys who breathed moon dust? Into the quarantine trailer. The people who stuck their faces near an alien corpse? Nah! It’s all good!

What about the head they looted from the structure? These people already got a dramatic reminder that altering the conditions around sensitive artifacts can cause them to degrade. I’ve already rambled at length about how NASA still sterilizes their equipment to not contaminate anywhere probes are sent to. Hell, as a geneticist, I can tell you that there is a very strict hierarchy of sample isolation and biosafety deployed when it’s appropriate–either you work fucking hard to protect the samples from you, or you work hard to protect yourself from the sample. 

But the crew of the Prometheus have scanned the head with a little light and declared “Sample is sterile. No contagion present”, which is an odd thing to declare now, after they already breathed all over it. Trusting their all-knowing (and wrong) computer, they take their surgical masks off. Fully sealed suits? A glovebox? Even movies show people using a glovebox sometimes!

NOPE! HAIRNETS AND A LABCOAT, LET’S GO

Do we kick out Shaw’s boyfriend who’s in his casual clothes? NAH, LET THE MAN BE COMFY. Are we going to pry the bottle away from him, because bringing drinks into a lab breaks basic safety standards? Standards that I’ve only ever seen broken by one place that also allowed open-toe sandals in a lab where boiling hot gel and mutagenic chemicals were regularly mixed? NOPE, LET HIM HAVE HIS BOOZE, HE’S SAD HE DIDN’T GET TO MEET GOD.

Don’t worry, that one lab doesn’t do the sandal thing anymore. And Holloway will pay for his crimes against laboratory safety.

But I can't stress enough how utterly uncanny this scene felt, unintentionally on the part of the movie. Every decision felt wrong. Everything everyone was doing, saying, and wearing was wrong. They’re not even wearing the right kind of gloves! They should at minimum be wearing nitrile gloves! They’re wearing PVC gloves, which have stupid high leakage rates, even if you double-glove! They’re not even more comfortable than nitrile gloves! This is my nittest of picks, I know! I’m doing it anyway!

The movie had lost me, but part of me was still hoping it would come back around, that something in it would be the movie I’d thought it would be.

Next time: the movie will not do that, and I will, paradoxically, find myself in more of the frame of mind the movie seems to want from the audience: not giving a shit about its characters. 

Stay tuned for some bonus workplace hazards below the citations.

⛬ 

(Previous) | (Index) | (Next)

⛬ 

1. https://youtu.be/P1gn06np-7g  2. https://youtu.be/KhRo2WbWnKU?t=35 3. https://youtu.be/JjCh7lTVNwo  4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airstream#Space_program  5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronaut_transfer_van  6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umarell  7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upgrade_(film)#Production

Alright, let’s behold some images from my institute’s safety training module on compressed gas cylinders. Please note, these were not taken at my institute, these are probably the result of the team finding cursed images they wanted to inflict on their coworkers and us.

This was how they chose to communicate the idea of “don’t let canisters heat up, or they might explode”. How else might they explode? If the canister becomes old and corroded, develops any other sort of fault, or is stored improperly, especially near cylinders of other kinds. Like so!

This is the least bombastic of the images, but it exudes a quiet menace and/or the promise that Video Game Physics are imminent.

What do I mean by Video Game Physics? Glad you asked!

Terrifying yet also compelling! Finally, here’s a video from that most terrifying of places, a Russian highway.

Video description, which I realize I haven’t been doing up to this point and now I want to: A GazpromTech company truck carrying unsecured acetylene tanks passes a motorist on a separated highway at high speed. On the side of it, “ОГНЕОПАСНО” (“FLAMMABLE”) is briefly visible as it rockets by. It makes no to minimal attempt to slow down as a bus enters its lane, rear-ending it. The viewpoint car skids to a stop, and what might be the truck driver can be seen sprinting toward the central barrier of the highway. “Scream & Shout” by will.i.am and Britney Spears can be heard playing on the radio as the viewpoint car tries to back away, complete with an audible “Britney, bitch”. At 0:54 the view cuts to a camera on the other side of the highway, which one commenter estimated as being 200 m away based on the delay between explosions and the sound of the blast reaching the camera. 

There are, in fact, MANY explosions from the fireball that has engulfed the truck. A semi tanker is being guided backward away from the explosion, while a blue box truck does the same. A silver sedan, briefly visible in the first angle, is parked within under 50 feet of the truck. Its apparent owner is dithering on whether to try and reach it, eventually deciding, as they should, that this is not worth it. The cameraperson, on the other hand, apparently thinks this is worth it, as do several others in the other lane. 

One man is filming on a tablet. Multiple times, canisters and truck shrapnel can be seen rocketing off from the wreck to distances that make it clear everybody in shot is well within decapitation range from these things, especially as explosions fling more burning cylinders onto the roadway. At 1:45, Tablet Man gets the fuck out of there, but our self preservation-less cameraperson remains. At 2:14, a flaming canister in blown clear of the wreck and lands with its bottom end pointing directly toward the cameraperson, who still does not take the hint. Starting at 2:37, the body of the truck is blasted apart, a canister goes flying off past the camera, and a piece of the truck flips and lands on a nearby road sign. 

At 3:32 another cut happens and there are more people standing in view of the camera. Are they official emergency crew? Nope! Rubberneckers, although the cop car that’s even closer than them gets a wakeup call when a canister slams into the divider in front of it and tumbles away, still spitting gas. The cop backs up, and the video ends.

End description. Also, end post.

⛬

(Previous) | (Index) | (Next)

[followmetoyourdoom]

Cute story time

So Christmas is my favourite holiday, I get to see my extended family when we do present drop offs, and my mum cooks an amazing pick your own spread with enough desserts to feed a family of 16. We are often only 3 or 4 at Christmas dinner. We usually have either an animated film or an old film on in the background and have no social pressures to maintain. We have dumb crackers with dumb jokes and we all like to wear the little hats and play with the toys. My mum insists on getting me more than I've asked for, even as an adult, so gifts are always fun, especially when I can one up her and make her giggle like a schoolgirl with the present/s my dad and I pick out for her. We got her a Steiff Pomeranian one year, and my mum called it Channel, and insisted on having it on the sofa next to her throughout the holiday season and kept cooing and petting it, it was delightful. My dad and I tend to play video games in the evening, like we did when I was a kid. There's a dog running around wanting lil scraps of meat, playing with new toys that she's been lavished with. It's all very wholesome and cute and silly.

Now, my nesting partner on the other hand, grew up in a rather uptight middle class society, missing 3 family Christmases entirely as he was singing in the Queen's Westminster youth choir. The one they show live on TV on Christmas day. When he was at home for Christmas, there was a lot of social pressure to be Well Behaved and to be Polite. There was also a lot of judgement as he got older, a lot of backhanded compliments and a lot of dreams crushed. A lot of yelling and a lot of slammed doors. Needless to say, he kind of hates Christmas.

This year however, the first year we've had a Christmas together, he insisted we decorate the entire house and get a wreath for the door and Santa hats for us to wear here and there in the build up to Christmas. Every evening, he would turn the fairy lights on so I got home to a warm and Christmas-y house. He wrote a Christmas card from our dog for me. He pushed himself to get into the Christmas spirit for me, without me pressuring him to, just bc he wanted to make this special for me, bc he knows how much this holiday means to me. We had Christmas dinner at my parents, and he introduced my parents to a tradition of his - whiskey tasting - which they hated and we all laughed at the face my dad pulled. We dropped off presents at my cousin's place, they had all been practising how to say his name and insisted on being corrected so they would get it right, my partner chatted to my nephew about Pokémon the entire time. My aunt said we looked perfect together. My mum got us board games to play together, and slipper socks for my partner who had been wanting some for months - he mentioned it offhandedly in July - but couldn't settle on a design. She got him plain black with a white geometric pattern, subtle enough that it could be Christmas-y, or it could just be a pattern. He loves them. We watched the Italian job, and my partner fell asleep on the sofa while my dad and I played a game from 2002 on his old PS2, and my mum nudged me and, with a smile on her face, quietly pointed to my partner fast asleep and snoring with his mouth open and said 'bless him'.

And yeah, bless him indeed. I know not everyone has fond memories of Christmas, I know it brings some people a lot of pain and a lot of sadness, I've seen it first hand. But there is something beautiful about being able to pull yourself out of that, of your own accord, for someone, and I'm honoured I get to be that someone for my partner, and I appreciate him so much for doing that for me. I'm so lucky.

[moonyinpisces]

LWA: So, GOOD OMENS is a comedy!

I'm tempted to say that that's the sum total of the ask, but...folks, it's a comedy. It's a comedy with occasional moments of drama to manage the viewer's affect, raise the narrative stakes, and accentuate the humor, just as tragedy normally has occasional moments of comedy to relax the audience and accentuate the horror (the Porter from MACBETH staggers in, waves, staggers back out again). Not only does it behave like a comedy, all of its characters act and, within the narrative, are interpreted according to comic conventions. One of the reasons I've bounced so hard off GO fanfic is that so many writers transfer the characters to dramatic (or even tragic) narratives without changing anything about how they interact with their fictional world, and as a result Aziraphale & Crowley mutate into the gods from AMERICAN GODS, who, even when "nice," are still all selfish SOBs.[1]. (That's what happens whenever you try to play a comic character "straight" without radically revising it: most comic characters would turn into villains if you put them into non-comic plots.) The reason I can talk about the child murder subplot from s1 as just a matter of Crowley having to learn that, no, sweetie, just because you've hired a hitman doesn't let you off the hook for the death (also, you know your friend trusts you, maybe quit taking advantage of that, hmmm?), and not as an urgent call to Aziraphale to DTMFA, is because that subplot still operates according to the rules of gallows humor.

The many legit complaints about S2's structure and pacing aside--this was a miniseries that could have been a movie--the reason that Gaiman could undo S1 so easily was because /as a comedy/, S1 works just fine. Most of the conflicts--Crowley attempting to get Aziraphale to kill a kid for him and what that reveals about his unwillingness to take responsibility for, well, anything; Aziraphale vacillating in his loyalties to Crowley and Heaven and what that reveals about his struggle to develop an independent moral framework--are worked out through minimal dialogue, symbolic action, and a fair amount of mood whiplash. Madame Tracy stops them from killing a kid? OK, that's sorted. Yo, Crowley, if you don't do something, something you think is legitimately bad will happen! OK, Crowley has suddenly discovered that taking responsibility exists. Yes, we tried murdering you a couple of minutes ago, but let's give you a pep talk! OK, fixed that subplot. Oh, I am going to give Crowley a meaningful look after my pep talk about the superiority of being "human incarnate"! OK, clearly Aziraphale has got that part of his problem mostly sorted. Hey, we're having a gentle conversation on the park bench! OK, Aziraphale doesn't actually accept Crowley's invitation (to the place or the side) in words, but there's symbolic lighting! And he sits next to him on the bus! And he clearly went to the apartment! So /that's/ fixed too. Right? Now we're risking our lives to save each other! OK, we've finally gotten past the damsel-in-distress game, and score another point for Crowley taking responsibility for his actions and Aziraphale choosing Crowley over Heaven. Then, in good comic fashion, everyone pairs up at the end, and Aziraphale and Crowley dine at the Ritz to romantic music.[2] Comic reconciliation, everyone! All of this is completely appropriate for the medium; trying to put the original dialogue for Aziraphale's and Crowley's moral epiphanies at the airfield on the screen, for example, would be both awkward and too much of a tension killer for the moment. But it does mean that all Gaiman and Finnemore had to do in S2 was to say that everything "resolved" through action and, at best, minimal dialogue had not been resolved at all, because virtually nothing was ever /named/.

I have no predictions for S3, because who knows, but...these are comic characters. Most of the angstier demands for the conditions under which Crowley will accept Aziraphale back or, quite frankly, vice-versa, don't seem to fit their established characterization or the comic narrative structure in which they exist.[3] It's highly unlikely that said established characterization will change very much, because, again, they are comic characters, and comic characters by virtue of their function tend to be both resilient (a character from a serious TV drama could never plausibly survive a sitcom unscathed) and limited in their ability to develop. Will Crowley learn about moral responsibility? Sure. Will he ever learn that actions have consequences? Almost certainly not, because that's one of the key drivers of the series' humor. Will Aziraphale fully shake off his allegiance to Heaven? Sure. Will he ever stop getting into trouble because he is INT 20, WIS 0? Amost certainly not, because ditto. Has anyone looked back at PRIDE & PREJUDICE recently? Within 3 very short chapters, Lizzie Bennet's fury at Darcy after the botched proposal is almost entirely DOA, thanks to her honest reading of the eye-opening letter he writes her; a couple of chapters later, she still has no regrets about turning him down (because his behavior truly wasn't "gentleman-like"), but she has otherwise admitted his sterling character and come to grips with the fact that his criticism of her family was, alas, on the nose. That's much more aligned with GO's narrative economy and characterization than C&A being enraged at each other for six episodes straight.

[1] I should note that I'm excluding cases where the author is, in fact, experimenting with different story-telling modes to see what happens. Ironically, Dark!AUs for both protagonists are arguably by far the most honest accounts of what happens when you strip the comedy out.

[2] I read the novel for professional rather than recreational reasons, and didn't see anything posted on Tumblr or AO3 until months after the TV series came out, so I'm afraid that my reaction to the end of the novel was not "ah, a cosmic romance, unlike the ill-sorted and screwed-up human couples," but "however you read this, Aziraphale and Crowley are just as ill-sorted and screwed-up as the human couples; it's just that that's what love /looks like/ in this universe."

[3] I guess I have to explain that I don't relate to or identify with the characters, and when it comes to analysis it doesn't matter if I like or dislike them. The TV characters are not people, but the collaborative product of the script, the actors, the production crew, and indeed the audience's interpretations, and they are inseparable from their narrative function. (E.g., the child murder subplot in S1 interests me because, besides telling us something about both the protagonists' failings, it is also part of the series' bigger arguments about free will and moral deliberation.)

[finitepeace]

january-march reads: stevetony

stony I've read in the past three months

How to Date a Superhero Without Even Trying by sabrecmc | based on a prompt from a Tumblr Anon, it's 2am and Tony drunk dials his ex. He gets Captain America instead. (Warning for attempted non-con that is most definitely interrupted.)

Ripple Effect (post-IW time travel fix it) by sabrecmc | After the events of Infinity War, Steve is sent back in time on a desperate mission to find the Tesseract. Instead, he meets up with 21-year old Tony, still reeling from his parents' deaths. Who, naturally, tries to climb Steve like a tree. Somehow, this fixes everything.

(Restricted) While Everyone's Lost (The Battle Is Won) by jukeboxhound | E, 6.9k words | Steve closes his eyes in 1945 and wakes up in 2012. Well. They certainly didn’t put that on the recruiting poster.

The Future by InesStarkDowney | T, 1.6k words | After the whole Germany thing, Peter is quick to spend a lot of time with his mentor, Tony Stark. And despite feeling and acting like a fanboy over his mentor, Peter is quick to find several things that he wasn't aware about Tony, simply because it's not public knowledge, like: Tony Stark is a very sad man. Peter wants to change that.

You can make this figure with your hips by haemodye | E, 6.2k words | Tony wakes up with a screaming headache, years into the future, where almost everyone he loves is dead.

Bless The Broken Road by PinkEasterEggs | G, 104k words | In 1950, Peter Carter goes missing. In 2005, a boy who looks exactly like Peggy Carter and Steve Roger's kidnapped son is found. Tony doesn't even hesitate (okay, he may have hesitated a little) to take the boy under his wing.

the steve rogers rating system by meidui | G, 866 words | Tony has an internalised Steve Rogers rating system, but it’s not standardised. It’s also not a foolproof system because Steve behaves in ways that crash it all the time.

Kingdom of Iron, Kingdom of Clay [unfinished] by WhenasInSilks | E, 9.9k words | Tony isn't pining. He can’t afford to--doesn't have space for it in his head. It's hard enough just to do his job while wading through the murky waters of post-Accords international politics, and Steve Rogers? He’s a liability, in more ways than one. That's why Tony laid down the law at the end of their last, ill-conceived encounter. “Take care of yourself, Cap. Stay the fuck out of my life.” If only Steve weren’t so lousy at following orders (aka the one where Steve and Tony have a conversation, and then another conversation, and then bang things out in a hotel. There's a lot more nuance, world building, character detail, emotional turmoil, etc. but, like. In a nutshell. part of a series)

ends of the earth by meidui | T, 2k words | “We have a new deal,” Tony interrupts. “From now on, you feel like you messed up, you come home to me. You come home to New York and we figure it out together. If you’re on this cross country road trip and living on a farm because you like it, fine, I’ll come out and visit. But if you’re out here because you’re sorry, I’ve got some bad news for you, buddy. Not even you could fix the entire world.”

A Teddy Bear Named Steve by nightwalker | G, 2.6k words | While cleaning out the attic, Tony finds some old friends he thought long lost.

capsize by killaidanturner | T, 4.4 k words | For the first time Steve sees Peggy in Tony, he always thought it was Howard, the showman, but all along it’s been Peggy and the way that she had her shoulders pulled just a little bit back to make her appear taller.

Life After You by ashinan | G, 2.5k words | Steve knew Peggy had a life after the war. He just didn't think it included telling stories to a young Tony Stark.

Fairy Godmother by Amuly (restricted) | T, 5.1k words | Auntie Peggy has been telling Tony stories about Captain America his whole life. Only problem is, the real thing just about measures up to the stories. Which means, of course, that Aunt Peg has to go to work, because an Aunt's work is never done.

I never knew how much I would lose by percy (shittyspacedads) | T 583 words | It's Peggy Carter's funeral, in the middle of a civil war. And she was very important to both Tony and Steve.

Trying to Bridge Dark Water by sororexitium | T, 4,9k words | Peggy was ninety-one years old and trying to bridge the gap between the then and the now. Steve and Tony were good at making that difficult.

Celestial Navigation by sabremc podfic version by cookiemom607 | original text version

[loveyourlovelysoul]

I want to move out

I love my house, my family, but I can't concentrate on myself

I don't love the environment around my house neither

My family often talks shit to me

Like I don't matter, I am not good enough

I love them but they hurt me

Sometimes I don't feel loved

To move out, I'm not working I don't have finances

It is not common for girls to move out and leave the family, girls move out when they get married in our religion

I wanted to take a study program in another country but my uni staff didn't answer my questions, they said they know nothing (this is their job literally) and I lost my chance for taking this study course

I just need peace and love and understanding

My parents think I'm on my phone too much, thats the only thing I have, I'm not partying or anything, I'm not gaming on the computer, I'm not smoking or whatever...I think it is just normal to spend some hours on the phone like everybody else.

I only feel loved on my birthday and on religious celebrations or something

Like only on "special days"

And sometimes not even then

They insult me on those days too

I end up crying and just remembering what they told me on that day some time later or next year

Like some of the things they had told me I remember it and when my birthday/that celebration comes again I'm like.. that's great, one time....(in my brain)

I feel stuck

I'm very sorry to read about your situation. I completely understand how you feel and how hard it is. Since it seems you have no way out, would you like to try seeing things from a different perspective for the time being? It may help you live where you are (since you cannot move away) but maybe with a better mood.

Your first sentence says that you cannot concentrate on yourself, but in all honesty all I am reading right after is you focusing on what is going on outside, trying to escape from something (that maybe is inside?). And don't get me wrong, this is very normal behaviour. We all do that without being aware, especially if we have grown up in a difficult environment where we fel judged, unsafe and/or in charge of everyone's mood/life to feel accepted (and saving ourselves). Or when we feel lost and without guidance/support. Been there done that myself.

Now, let me ask you: would you really feel love and understanding alone in another country? Or even just in another house? I think your question to move for studies not being answered is a sign for you (just my personal opinion ofc). At times we feel like physically moving away from a situation would make us feel better, but it's not so if the problem is inside: it would keep following us anywhere. So first, let's focus on there and see if that's an option. Try to take time to really know yourself and start appreciating yourself (not necessarily love/like, but at least get along well/respect yourself to begin with): journal/think about who you are, what you want, what you need from others, what hurts you for real (it's not just insults and people making you feel not enough: it's probably that you believe them and let their behaviour -also when it has nothing to do with you- mean something negative about you. But are they right for real? I don't think so, and you don't either from what you write. So, look within to find your own worth: focus on what good you have, on all the successes in your life, even the smallest ones. On what is lovely about you -not according on others-. Everything counts. And try to see when those insults happen in your life: is there a possible trigger happening for your parents? Sometimes we're just the nearest emotional dump for them, that's why the most of the insults. Not saying you don't have to feel hurt or that they are right to behave like this, at all, welcome all of your emotions and take care of them -cry too! I'm sorry ofc but crying is of huge help for us and our emotional balance-, but as I said, maybe realizing this can help you to not make those insults mean something about you, not picking them up and making them yours and keep reminding yourself of them -please don't do that, let them go: they are not about you or do not define your worth, ever. You are not those insults, you're much more: see that, remeber that and that alone. Remember the positive, as a photo would-. And those insults happen related with a specific event -again, very likely a trigger in your parents-, they are not related to your whole self/general self, so put them in the correct perspective and leave them there, do not put them in your pocket to always look at them as an old photo of you: that's not you. It's hard work, it may take a while ofc to get your mind used to not feel like you're unsafe and unloved, but you can do that).

I think that something that is missing in your home is communication: you can ofc help with chores or anything regarding the house, you can have family time in which you exchange opinions respectfully with your parents, but ofc you also need time for your own to spend as you want. Also to game and escape everything... just remember that you also need to take time for you, so using gaming as a way to escape problems isn't helping you right now. I understand and totally support your coping mechanism ofc, but if you really need to concentrate on yourself at this point and you really need to feel peace, love and understanding, then I suggest you to reduce the gaming time and divide it in half gaming and half self work. Start finding peace love and understanding within you, for you. Feeling like you want them but continuosly waiting for them from the outside/other people as a confirmation you really are worthy and deserving of them, doesn't work. You'll always make others' bad/negative behaviour, even occasional one and unrelated with you, mean that you are not deserving of that, and it will always make you feel bad about yourself and resentful towards yourself and others. So make a turn: give to yourself. Make yourself feel deserving of love and support. Give yourself random small treats (doesn't have to be money related, even just making yourself a nice meal or starting a hobby you'd like to start Idk), or whatever you want. But do it with appreciation at least and care. Mother yourself. And find ways to respectfully communicate your boundaries with your family while working on compromise: eg. ask them what type of help may need from you but remind them you need to unwind as well (even on your phone), and you don't have to run to help them either unless it's ofc objectively necessary. Most of our (human) needs are created by urgency to have them met and resolved asap, so always remind yourself that there's time, and almost nothing needs an urgent solution. And it doesn't mean it's gonna be bad or end bad if it takes time. it's all okay.

I really hope you start looking within and seeing how lovely, beautiful and nice you are. See your worth and that random insults do not mean you are suddenly bad or anything. At all, ever. Do not be scared of saying that you got hurt by someone's words either and to ask for more appreciation and support. At times we need to be more open with talking about our needs, and it's okay to have moments in which we need more support/care from others. It's okay to be vulnerable and be the one in need of others and not being in control, especially if we've always been the one in control. Just remember to be there for you and do not dissociate from yourself or push yourself away, even if you did it to save yourself (you did well). It's time to come back home within. :)

I hope this helps you at least a little. Take care and all the best!

[gulnarsultan]

*a deep breath* imagine,

Prince Targaryen from some very distant lands brings himself a wife, Y/n. They are not married yet, but the Prince is burning with this desire. Y/n is quite different from the locals. She has a different faith and even speaks with an accent.

And the locals are bullying her. There is no need for serious reasons, just because. Even the Prince's family partially joined. Prince Targaryen is furious, Y/n tries to take deep breaths and not think about the bad.

At one of the dinners, everything went bad again. The Prince's bride was bullied again. The Prince slammed his palm on the table in a rage, as a fire broke out in the middle of the dining room and lightnings flashed, and everyone had to cover their ears from the deafening roar. And there was a humanoid creature/a terrible ancient monster standing in the middle of the room. Y/n frowned and asked in surprise: "God? What are you doing here?"

Y/n has a different religion, and in her religion, she is closely connected with her God. Like all others followers this faith. God/Goddess comes to them, answers their prayers, talks to them. In general, a rather tangible presence of God. This God loves his/her followers very much, albeit in a strange way, and takes care of them. And right now, this God is clearly dissatisfied with something.

Prince Targaryen knows about this God, even talked to this God, asked for a blessing to marry Y/n.

Prince Targaryen: "oh, how bad it is..."

God: "I am extremely disappointed."

Prince Targaryen: watches as his family, perplexed, begins to behave rudely and aggressively. He slid down the chair a little, and covered his face with his palm, knowing, that this case would not end well.

Y/n: "God's/Name, what are you doing here? Why are you angry?"

God: "silly question, my dear. I told you, you shouldn't leave! I warned you, that these people are evil and dangerous, that they will not accept you. And you, - God looked at the Prince, - why didn't you, husband, protect my daughter?"

Prince: "I was protecting her! It's not my fault, that my own family prefers rumors and gossip to their own son."

Queen: "what's going on here?!"

Prince: "mom, shut up, you're only making it worse! Everyone, shut up right now!! Thank you, damn you... So, - the Prince stood before God. - We would have come back anyway. We would get married according to my old custom, and then, we would return to my wife's homeland. And we would live there, under Your wing. - He tilted his head slightly and smiled. - I would never let your child go. I will always choose her, as promised."

God: "hmm..."

King: "what's going on here?! Who is it? How did it get here? What are these damned facuses?! Guards!"

Y/n: "meet, Your Majesty, this is my God."

Queen: "but God... Another..."

Y/n: "my God looks like this, Your Majesty. My God is taking care of me."

Queen: "heresy..."

God: "oh, how rude."

God is already used to being rude to him/her, called the Devil, a false God, and all that. That's not, what offended God. This God was offended, by the way his/her follower, his/her creation, his/her child, Y/n were treated. Every follower of this God is his/her child, he/she even accepted Prince Targaryen, as his/her child, although he did not swear allegiance to him/her.

God suggested to destroy this building and all the people in it. Y/n and Prince Targaryen try to dissuade.

Y/n: "there are maids here, who have been nice to me!"

God: "how can you be sure of their words? If they lied to you?"

Prince Targaryen: "yes, my family is not perfect, but..."

Y/n: "they are people too! Please don't..."

God: "you are lucky, husband, that I love your wife, my child. And you, my daughter, are lucky, that I am the God of Wisdom and Patience. - God looked around at all Targaryens, - and Forgiveness. - Judging by the voice, God is still not satisfied."

Prince Targaryen: "but, you're the God of Blood and War... Is not it so?"

God: "I Am Everything."

Prince Targaryen: "ah... Okay... Aaanyway, we'll get married soon, - the Prince hugged Y/n, - and I'll get her back. Safe and sound. And I, too, of course, will be there. Sooo..."

Y/n: "I am well. Thank you, for visiting me. I missed."

God: "very well. Remember, dear child, I always see everything. - God disappeared less spectacular, than appeared."

Y/n: she put her hand on her chest and exhaled.

Prince Targaryen: looked around his family and shook his head negatively. He took Y/n out of the dining room.

The Royal family: "...??..."

From now on, the Targaryens better be careful. Because there is God protecting your reader 24/7. Moreover, God does not forgive even a small mistake towards the reader.

[theresnohopelivinghere]

The Journal of Emme Walker, May 2019

If you walk the streets at night in Hope, there will be no hope for you.

My grandparents used to tell me that all the time when I was a little girl.  Even from a young age, I never took it seriously.  I was a prideful child.  I thought I was invincible and that nothing could take me down.  That’s probably why my mom, bless her heart, had such a hard time coming to terms with my rampant curiosity and my thirst for adventure.  But my grandparents would not be deterred from scaring some sense into me.

The thing about rural towns is that people love to make up stories about them to make them seem more interesting or just to pass the time.  Hope is no different.  It was once an out-of-the-way town out by the sea, in the middle of nowhere.  I’m talking about dusty roads, ample farming, spotty local transportation, stores that looked like they came straight out of a black-and-white film, and older residents living the last of their lives in the one place they’ve always called “home”.  

It used to be that I’d just spend my summers there with my grandparents, helping out with their garden while partaking of the harvest.  But after my dad died, my mom moved back there and I went to school there from grades 4 to 6.  We moved before the development push.  She was offered a cushy job in a city she'd always wanted to live in that would allow the two of us to live comfortably into the foreseeable future.  A get-out-of-rural-jail card, if you will.

Seriously. According to her, it was our one escape out of a town that had proven itself to be anything but idyllic. If she hadn't taken it...well, things would be very different.

She's not a fan of me going back there to interview people for my dissertation. Which is funny because growing up, she'd tell off my grandparents whenever they'd tell me all the stories about all the terrible monsters that lurked within the town of Hope. All the old folks in town had their own stories about what happened to children if they stayed out too late at night or didn't trust their intuition.  Mom didn't believe in using scary stories to ensure that kids behaved themselves.  She told me that if she wanted me to behave myself and be a good girl, she’d just say so.  But my grandparents wouldn’t listen.  They insisted on me telling me these tales so that I could protect myself. Because there were too many instances of children who disappeared because they weren't warned properly.

I'm glad they did. Mom won't admit it, but she's glad, too. And yet here I am, on my way back to that town, ready to hear the stories of the children who didn't escape from the elders that still remain. Hope may be different now - young families moved in to take their place and brought with them the promise for gentrification. Shopping, entertainment, the town holds its own.  The local elementary school is top notch and so is the high school. There’s train service that links up to the other parts of town as well as the bigger cities, and paved roads that get you to the highway system.  You can go everywhere now.

And yet...

I know studying modern folklore and urban legends in the town of her birth won't get me a cushy job in a corporate office but this is something I want to do. Have to do, even. The tale of a seaside town plagued with paranormal activity, rumored to be once started by and controlled by a mysterious cult who swore allegiance to malicious entity who has been around since time immemorial until one they just disappeared - it's all very juicy stuff.

I’m not sure what I'm doing with all this. Why I'm going back. Everyone says if you brush against the shadows of Hope and survive, you should never come back. But that's why I have to. Come back. If there’s one thing that living in Hope has taught me, it’s that old habits die hard and old legends never die. I can feel the shadows stirring again, unhappy that they've been forgotten. They want the people to remember...to fear their power. I can feel the chill in my bones, and the terror squeezes my heart like a vice. I don't know what I'm trying accomplish, but I know I have to do something. For my mother and my grandparents. And for the children who couldn't escape the shadows.

Including the boy I loved.

[practicalmagicintuitions]

Hello, this is going to be a long one, bear with me please 😅

I wanted to say how your blog and comments on things really changed my opinions on many topics, even tho some of these people I admire, or tbh used to admire. Now I don’t enjoy the hype or the personality because it is fake.

I saw the recent pictures of HC and how people really lost their minds over them. For once, they looked like a normal couple, she even looked tired and was relieved her dog is okay.

People were criticizing her because she was smiling in a picture, why would she not be smiling after getting her dog and everyone else is smiling as well?!! People are truly exaggerating.

Although she has been sneaky on social media, there is no denying.

I used to think Henry was innocent and he has no saying in this, sort of against his wish. But why would this be the case every time he is with someone?

After 2 years, why would people still be in denial that he wants her around and he is the one hanging on to this relationship like a koala.

There is no way he hasn’t seen her old pictures and videos, he saw them and chose to move on, it didn’t change the way he felt about her. I also think at that time, he was really excited to be in a relationship, he’s been single for a while.

Keep in mind, I don’t think she is any different than the mean 16 years old girl, or her model mayhem account. He wanted to polish her image before going public, if not, her model mayhem account wouldn’t have been deleted, nor her entire instagram and twitter history. I think he tried to suppress the inner party girl in her, but he won’t be able to do that forever.

She will miss it as well, even if they take this in a more serious way, it contradicts everything Henry has ever said before. Which proves my point, his public image is nothing but a lie, he just gets away with things because he’s good looking.

Hell, even her entire wardrobe and clothing option has changed for him.

This is not a healthy relationship, the change in the lifestyle was not initiated by her.

I say this because anything can happen next, he is not obligated to live according to people’s rules.

I can’t say I would be happy or excited if they become more serious, that would be a bug fat lie, but keeping this narrative of ‘poor Henry’ is stupid.

I don’t like her either, and you can clearly tell at her core she is not genuine nor a good person, but neither is Henry.

That’s what makes them a match. They deserve each other.

I find it funny that Henry told his entire fanbase to F*ck off and be the “best version of themselves” and he’s been acting like this for the past 2 years. Looks like his own memo wasn’t applied within him. What an enlightened king 😂

Again, I am saying this because they are alike, they deserve each other.

Hello! Sorry for the late answer.

What you said about opinions means so so much to me. I don't want to change people's opinions, I don't think my way is the only way even if I have strong views on some things. However, I believe in 2 sided conversations because life is not simple. Not at all. And I feel we are living in very dangerous times where opinions are silenced, labelled radical etc just because they are "old fashioned" or not " progressive" enough. I would love to discuss more serious topics here, and give a platform to conversations while I remain true to myself and what I believe in.

Those pictures you mentioned were so surprising to me too because they truly looked like a real, happy, ordinary, normal couple instead of the SM push. It was refreshing.

That is a really important step to be a healthy fan to realize he is not innocent (blackmailed, possessed etc). He is a grown-up who has his reasons to be with her. Clarity is the most important thing in my opinion. To see people who they are. You have to imagine them as silent movies. What they say is non-existent, it's not important. What they do, how they behave... that is what you should focus on. Celebrity or not. That should be the standard.

He definitely has a free pass because he is good-looking. This is the privilege of beauty. This exists. In Hollywood, this is the basis of everything, but you can find it in the smallest village too. Beautiful people have an amazing advantage in life.

I think NV could be different or could be the same, I don't want to judge her anymore. I want to give her the benefit of the doubt. Not because of her or him but because of myself. I just don't want to think about someone poorly without any hard evidence. She seemed a pretty awful teen and if I knew her back then I wouldn't be her friend today, that's for sure. But I have to think some people are capable of evolving. Because I am trying to do this every day. If I can, others can too.

His FO post was definitely a PR mistake, a huge one, but for some people was a wake-up call at least. That is who he is. He is a control freak (that's why probably her wardrobe has changed for him). He is not that soft boy who was fat for a hot minute and this is the sob story of his life. And not the one who just needs love and cuddling from his soulmate as the hardcore fans imagine. I am not saying he is a bad man, but he is definitely a pain in the ass and hard to live with. Women need to forget this saviour complex when they are determined to save the shittiest man just with their love. This narrative is fed by awful books like Twilight, Coleen Hoover and the rest I have the fortune not to know. Maybe one day I will rant about this, but I stop for now.

Thanks for your ask. Have a nice day, and stay safe.

[westfall-castle]

What do you really think about Aelin? Personally,  I think she's really rude. I'm not staying this because she is written to be confident in herself.  But I believe it is arrogance. We as an audience are gaslit into believing that she's just strong and doesn't take crap. But so was Nehemia,  but the difference between Nehemia is that she isn't arrogant, but Aelin is.

Also there is the issue about her making "plans", that include no-one. I'm pretty sure that's not how you run things. It's pretty selfish to not tell anyone about your plans (like what happened to Aedion), and it's pretty selfish to be physically angry about someone who has a different of opinion than she did ( like Dorian talking about freeing manon in EOS).

Hahahaha, I’m sweating cold with this question because I have a feeling that when I answer, Aelin fans are gonna come for my head with torches and pikes. Still... ilysm for asking this, you're my crush, send you kisses and I agree with you on many levels.

My opinion: Its just too much to understand her anymore. It's like that movie, Split with James McAvoy. I heavily suspected dissociative identity disorder at some point 🤣. Aelin should be at least 45 to have lived all she has lived. It gives me the impression that SJM had to pick ONE main character for her fantasy books, either a girlboss pirate, a young assasin in a mens' world, a medieval courtier with a secret agenda, a gifted magician or a queen from a lost kingdom and she said "fuck it, i'll take them all". There would be no problem with this IF the character stayed consistent, if there were enough TIME but... SHES 19 IN THE FINAL BOOK. I mean...

Her personality traits just keep appearing left and right and us, as readers, don't get accountability for these new ways of behaving. She's feminine when it suits her but then bashes femininity in the next chapter. She's "one of the boys" but also a "girlboss". She's crazy and manic but also mighty and merciful. The only thing that remains constant might be her sense of humor. Her moral compass is a mess and there comes a point where she's truly unpredictable. It seems that she behaves according to what the plot needs in the moment.

For example; She's a girlboss feminist who is willing to teach Yrene how to defend herself and seems to have intentions of "empowering" women around her but then looks down on "soft" vulnerable women, rolling her eyes and mentally shaming and judging on multiple ocassions throughout the books and even saying things like (quoting one of her lines when she meets Philippa, her personal maid.) " Why send such a soft woman to serve her? She'd outpower her in a heartbeat". (And yes, Assassin’s Blade happened before TOG, is she evolving backwards?)

The books center so much in praising her through the point of view of multiple characters that we do not get enough introspection on her behalf. If anything we are swayed into a new tragedy/ battle/ moment of suffering where we only see her brooding over herself or past events as if making her suffer more and more somewhat was the way to revindicate her instead of her having a moment thinking to herself " well, I fucked up, things were not as I thought and I see it now".

Everyone owes her everything even if she was wrong sometimes and never accepted it. She has way too many life debts to call in the end and SHES ONLY 19. That’s why many readers felt in KoA that whenever Aelin and the plot hit a dead end, she just had to send a letter and 8 new powerful allies came claiming they owed her their lives. COME ON 😂 There’s a difference between writing fantasy and magically solving plots with unrealistic arguments.

I think what I hate most is the gaslighting of the narrative. as you mention. There are times where she's being arrogant, mean or condescending and instead of getting a REALISTIC and UNBIASED perspective we just get a Rowan POV chapter saying something like "It was not a plain woman but a queen standing before them" or "It was a queen's voice speaking" and then, as if it was not enough it follows another simping POV (usually Aedion) saying also " Wow, it was not his cousin speaking but a queen before them" like... NO STFU she's not right this time hahahah, and when exactly did she become so high and mighty.

Another example is how she fn ADORES to splurge on dresses on Assassin’s Blade but the moment she meets Kaltain and eavesdrop her conversation in the gardens Kaltain says that her own dress is ‘so old’ despite being practically new and Celaena’s reaction is ‘ugh, these air-headed women’ instead of maybe not pointing it out or even find it relatable. I know that this tells us more about Kaltain, so that we understand the type of person she is, but I still don’t like the harsh judgement Celaena seems to have about specific traits of her personality. Readers are gaslit into believing this change comes from her time in Endovier and now she’s so centered and appreciative and morally superior but THEEEEN in Crown of Midnight she LITERALLY DOES THE SAME, buying more clothes and jewels than she can wear, becoming suddenly a little bit cocky saying things like ‘ugh, these tacky clothes, I wouldn’t be caught dead in those’ . Come on girl, don’t be judgy when you’re the same.

I loved Celaena in Throne of Glass (BOOK 1) . Up until this point it was a tight character, I liked her personality, her internal monologue was funny and relatable. The events that had happened in her life were somehow believable (even if it’s a fantasy book) Her moral compass was clear for the reader and we had this concept of "rogue with certain moral values/ chaotic good" persona. When Aelin comes though... Idk anymore, It feels so inconsistent. She's just... everything, she has 8 different personalities at the same time, it's like she was an A03 fic and she had ALL THE TAGS, all the tropes. She gets away with the bad things she does too easily. In the end I was happy she was happy and never came to hate her but its just too much going on for one character.

[queenshelby]

My Friend’s Father (Part Nine)

Pairing: Cillian Murphy x Reader

Warning: Age Gap, Smut, Domestic Violence, Angst

Words: 3,064

Please comment and interact...it's what keeps this blog going

***************************

Almost a week had passed since you stayed with Cillian at his unit in Galway and, despite the fact that he was away, things had further developed between you as emotions grew with every day.

He was different to any man you had ever been involved with and, whilst your involvement with each other stemmed from purely sexual lust and hunger, you had evolved from this to something different entirely within a matter of days.

Of course, you knew each other for years and, whilst you had a crush on Cillian for as long as you could remember, you never thought that it would be like this and, for Cillian, this feeling had never been mutual.

Whilst he always considered you to be attractive and very intelligent and kind, he never felt any emotional connection or sexual attraction towards you, at least not until that weekend when you visited Denise, which was also the first time he saw you again after six months had passed.

On that night during which you slept with each other, he let his sexual hunger take over his reasonable thinking mind after he saw you, in his kitchen, making pancakes and you had since, quite openly, talked about it. He saw sleeping with you as a mistake but, ever since that night, he couldn’t get you out of his head.

For you, things weren’t just sexual anymore and you began to feel strongly for Cillian which worried you especially since he was open about the fact that he didn’t know where things were heading with you. The fact that you are his daughter’s friend and much younger than him clearly bothered him and he sometimes admitted to you that he felt strange about building such a strong connection with you. A relationship was not what he wanted but he liked you, a lot.

As such, during the past week, Cillian called you every day after he finished filming and you were talking to him more frequently than you were talking to Denise.

During his breaks, he would also text you and check in on you as you were in the middle of exams. He always remembered when you had a test and asked you how it went and, when you told him that you didn’t feel confident with your results, he reassured you that you probably did well and, even if you didn’t, it wouldn’t matter. According to him, a pass is a pass and you needed to lower your expectations of yourself just a little.

To your surprise, he also remembered appointments you had scheduled and things that bothered you which meant that, unlike other men you had been with, he was actually listening and was interested in what you had to say.

Some nights, you had spent hours on the phone or Skype, joking about things you had encountered that day or talking about books, literature and music, which is something you both enjoyed.

Politics and social issues were other matters you could discuss endlessly and, even when you were of different opinions, you would be able to argue in the most satisfying way. Cillian always treated you as an equal and even opened up to you about his divorce from Denise’s mother recently.

Another thing you learned from Cillian was that Denise was brining along her friend Amalie to Manchester to stay at his apartment and, when you gave him a warning about her and her intentions, he reminded you that he only had eyes for you. In fact, he always showered you with compliments and all of his compliments were genuine and came natural to him, helping you immensely with your self-consciousness.

Unfortunately, whilst you enjoyed how engaging Cillian was with you every day, like a teenager in love, with the constant text messages and calls, your father soon got suspicious and confronted you about.

****

“Dad, I am almost 22, you don’t need to be spying on me” you said somewhat frustrated as he asked you who you were talking to every day.

“You live under my roof and you answer me young lady” he said harshly and you couldn’t help but roll your eyes just as your mother stepped in, trying to calm him down. Your father was much older, approaching sixty and fairly old school in the way he expected you and your sister to behave.

“A friend…I am talking to a friend” you explained and your father asked again, telling you not to lie to him because he would know.

“And this friend of yours, you can’t meet him…you just text and talk? You can’t bring him to our house and introduce him?” your father asked along with a million other questions.

“No, I can’t. he lives in Dublin and I, most certainly, wouldn’t bring him into this…” you said somewhat irritated by the interrogation.

“Dublin, huh? So, you met him when you visited Denise?” he asked and you nodded.

“It’s not her brother, is it? Because I really don’t want you to get involved with him. I don’t like this family and their views” your father said harshly, causing you to chuckle.

“Their views?” you asked somewhat surprised and your father nodded.

“Yes, their views on what’s right and wrong. If I recall correctly, this girl you call your friend was going out with someone of the same gender for a while. God didn’t tell us to do this but her parents obviously didn’t have an issue with it which, apparently is called new age parenting. Everything is pro choice and lets their children decide what is best for them even if they lack experience” your father went on to say and you couldn’t help but shake your head at his absurd commentary but, he continued and you soon learned what had happened between your parents and Denise’s parents many years ago, before which your mother had called Denise’s mother her friend as well.

According to your father, Cillian had voiced his opinion to your father when it was found out that your sister was pregnant following a short affair with a man she had met through university.

Cillian’s ex wife had told your sister that she had options, causing your father to get rather angry with her, which is when Cillian stepped in, supporting what Denise’s mother had said.

She had offered your sister help but your father considered this to be a betrayal and, whilst your mother maintained contact with Denise’s mother for a while, your father refused to get involved with Denise’s family thereafter.

Cillian’s often all so public views angered him and he made this very clear. He didn’t want you to be involved with his children and you couldn’t help but laugh about the irony of it all when you found out about this incident.

“Jesus Dad, that was years ago and not everyone has to have the same views as you” you said before confirming that you weren’t seeing Denise’s brother.

“No, they don’t, but I am just looking out for you and, instead of acting the way you do, throwing yourself at guys with new age ideas, I would much prefer if you met a nice young catholic man” your father explained, causing your mother to fume in anger with him.

“Throwing myself at guys? Listen, I am not sure what slut you think I am but it’s nice to know that you think so little of me” you said before storming upstairs and into your room.

Having to deal with this crap bothered you and you knew that, when this semester came to an end, you could be moving out now that you saved enough money for a bond and rent.

*****

As the evening went on, you spent all of your time in your room, reading a book until, finally, at around 9 o’clock you saw a notification on Skype.

‘Hey Beautiful’ Cillian said as you picked up and popped in your headphones.

Cillian apologised for calling through so late and informed you that he was finally able to speak to Laura, the woman he was seeing before you.

He knew that you wanted to know about it and he had no problem telling you what you needed to hear while telling you that you had absolutely nothing to worry about.

It was Laura’s first day back on set after a week-long break and Cillian told you that she wasn’t exactly impressed when he stood her down.

‘She probably likes you…I can understand that’ you said calmly but Cillian told you that he was pretty clear with her about what this was between them.

‘Well, in retrospect, I shouldn’t have gotten involved with her’ he went on and you were quite happy to change the topic by this point and told him that you were aching for him.

‘Well, I am not sure that I can help you with that’ Cillian chuckled.

‘We could have Skype sex I suppose’ you giggled.

‘Skype Sex?’ Cillian laughed before telling you that he didn’t think that this would be a good idea since you were at home with your parents and you had previously complained about the thin walls of the house.

‘Oh Jesus Cillian, my father already thinks I am a slut, so I personally don’t care if anyone hears me getting myself off. I’ve got my earphones in and am the only one who can hear you and my door is locked’ you chuckled.

‘Your father thinks that you are a slut? Do you want to talk about that?’ Cillian asked concerned but you shook your head.

‘I rather not. You met him and know what he is like’ you explained.

‘I do. He takes God very seriously’ Cillian said before continuing on. ‘But, if you have problems at home you need to tell me please. You can stay at my apartment. I can get my house keeper to meet you there with the key’ he offered.

‘You said you were going to stay out of stuff between me and my parents just as I would stay out of matters between you and Denise’ you then said, reminding him on the conversation about your respective roles which you had three days ago.

‘Yes I did, but I can’t if I have to worry about you’ Cillian said firmly.

‘There is no need to worry Cillian. I promise’ you reassured him. ‘Well, actually, I need you to worry about my sexual needs right now’ you then went on to say with sly grin.

‘Through Skype?’ Cillian asked again somewhat concerned.

‘Yes’ you said with a cheeky smile as you settled more into your bed with your laptop.

‘Alright then, show me what you are wearing” Cillian said as he cut straight to the point.

‘Can you see?’ you asked as you adjusted the cam and showed Cillian your dark blue lingerie.

‘Very nice…but…I think you would look even better if you were naked, don’t you think?’ Cillian said somewhat nervously and you nodded in agreement.

‘Well, I suppose I should strip for you and you should strip for me’ you giggled as you seductively took off your bra slowly, showing Cillian your perky breasts through the camera.

You heard him inhale sharply as he watched you and took his t-shirt off at the same time, leaving him in nothing but his CK briefs.

Without words you then scooted back on the bed and removed your undies, allowing him to watch before you sat down on the bed, spread eagle and naked, giving him a good view of your mound.

‘Jesus Y/N, you are so fucking beautiful and sexy…touch yourself for me, nice and slow’ Cillian breathed out and you let his soothing voice wash over you, knowing what he was trying to do and happily helping him succeed.

‘Like this?’ you moaned as you began to run circles over your clit with your fingers.

‘Yes, just like that babe’ Cillian groaned as he shuffled down his briefs and you were finally getting a good look of his hard cock.

‘Oh god, I want to stroke your cock so badly’ you moaned as you seductively opened your pussy lips with your fingers, opening yourself up before reaching for the black vibrator you kept in your bedside table.

‘Well, someone's particularly horny tonight’ Cillian chuckled as he watched you play with your pussy, and you could hear the smirk in his voice.

You mumbled a small "mhm," and he laughed.

‘Good, that's exactly how I like you, so naughty and needy’ Cillian said as he slowly began to stroke his hard member.

You barely registered his words enough to answer with another "mhm," but your subconscious managed it. Your weak answer elicited another delicious chuckle from the other end of the line.

"Why don't you show me how this little toy of yours works?” Cillian then asked as he watched you eagerly.

“I was just waiting for you to ask” you giggled as you began to run your fingers along your stomach and back up to your chest, leaving a trail of goosebumps their wake before reaching for the vibrator and turning it on.

“Put into your sweet pussy babe, let me see it” Cillian groaned and you moan in response, barely processing his words but still understanding enough to answer and do what he asked.

"I bet your pussy is already dripping” he said as you slid the vibrator into you slowly. He was right, you could feel your wetness pooling.

“I am so fucking wet and I wish it would be your cock inside me” you moaned as you began to stroke the toy in and out of you.

Cillian was groaning on the other side, his eyes full of lust and desire for you and you let out a quiet moan as you watched him with the same desire and hunger while you were pleasuring yourself.

“Good girl, keep going…” Cillian tells you and you moan again hearing it.

“Tell me how much you are aching for my cock” he then said you moaned again.

“I want your cock so badly, fuck…I want your cum inside me, dripping out of my wet little pussy” you moaned, eliciting a groan from Cillian as he began to stroke his cock harder and faster.

“Such a naughty needy girl, aren’t you? I can’t wait to be inside you again and make you cum over and over again” Cillian said with a laboured breath and you are barely listening at this point.

“I want you to cum for me and show me this dripping pussy when you do…I fucking love hearing your moans, so fucking sexy…common babe….let go” Cillian said, knowing that you were close and your orgasm rolled over you as soon as the word 'cum' left his lips, and although your sensitive clit was screaming at your hand to stop, you couldn't.

‘Oh god fuck, yes…’ you moaned as you came hard and fast.

“That’s it babe, don’t stop” he instructed as your moans continuously spilled from your mouth, and you were not even sure what you were saying or if you were forming words at all. The only thing in your head is a deliciously heavy fog and Cillian’s voice guiding you to do what he wanted.

“Don’t stop, keep fucking your sweet little pussy babe” Cillian ordered as he knew you weren’t done and, just as he did, you let out a high-pitched moan, bordering on a scream, as an even stronger orgasm washed over your body.

‘Cum for me babe…I want to see all this cum’ you moaned in return, focusing on the delicious image in front of you as Cillian was stroking his cock and, just when you finally come back down you heard Cillian groan loudly.

“Fuck” he groaned as he stroked his cock hard and fast you watched rope after rope of cum spurt onto his stomach.

‘Oh god, what a waste, I want to lick your cum off your skin so badly” you breathed out as Cillian came down from his high slowly and used a tissue to clean himself up.

‘Stop saying those things or you have to stay on the line for another twenty minutes at least’ Cillian chuckled as he could feel his manhood stir again.

‘Well, I think you shouldn’t cum again until you come to visit me in Galway the weekend after next…I want you to save it all for me’ you said, causing Cillian to cock an eyebrow as he pulled his briefs back up.

‘Fat chance babe’ he chuckled, knowing that going without an orgasm for nine days would be rather difficult for him.

Eventually, after a lot of begging, he agreed to try but he wouldn’t be able to make you any promises to this effect.

***

The following day, you went to work and then university thereafter but, when you eventually returned home, your father was in a worse mood than ever before.

‘Can you explain this to me?’ he asked angrily as soon as you walked through the door and you couldn’t help but gulp when he pointed to a white box which he had placed on the living room table.

‘You went through my personal belongings’ you huffed out as the box contained some lingerie and intimate items, including toys, that you were hiding in the bottom of your dresser.

‘Again Y/N, this is my house, my rules and I don’t want my daughter to own filth like this’ he said, after having heard small pieces of your conversation with Cillian on Skype the evening before.

It was obvious to you that your father was appalled and you were outraged that he had been snooping through your room and, as you would later learn, had even tried to access your computer.

‘I can’t fucking believe you dad. These are my personal belongings and you have no right to go through them’ you huffed out and, just as you did, you could feel a sharp strike across your face.

‘Get this shit out of my house and talk to me with some respect’ he said harshly, leaving you speechless and in tears as he walked away, leaving your cheek burning red.

   Tag List:

@lilymurphy03@deefigs @theflamecrystal @desperate-and-broken @weepingstudentfishhorse @livinginfantaxy @rosey1981 @atomicsoulcollecto @peakyboyslover @nerdy4itall@elenavampire21 @hanster1998@mariapaiva13 @fairypitou @harry-is-your-sunflower @zozeebo @lauren-raines-x @kasaikawa @littlewierdalien @sad-huffle-nerd @theflamecrystal @peakymalfoyscullymulder @themissthang@0ghostwriter0 @stylescanbeatmyback @1-800-peakyblinders @datewithgianni @momoneymolife @ntmynouis @lilymurphy03 @mcntsee@cloudofdisney@missymurphy1985 @peakymalfoyscullymulder @otterly-fey @janelongxox @uchihacumdump @basiclassy @being-worthy @chaotic-bean-of-smolness @margoo0 @chocolatehalo @vhscillian @ysmmsy @littlewierdalien @crazymar15  @stickyknightflowerbailiff @im-constantly-fangirling @goldensunflowe-r  @tellingyouastory  @captivatedbycillianmurphy​  @namelesslosers​  @littlewhiterose​  @ttzamara​  @ttzamara @cilleveryone  ​

@peaky-cillian​

@severewobblerlightdragon​  @ysmmsy​

[idy-ll-ique]

No Time Like The Present

Pairing: Steve Rogers x F!Reader

Genre: FLUFF GALORE

Warnings: none... maybe like one (1) mention of smut at the end

Requested: nope

Summary: On a mission, Sam, Bucky and Steve somehow get turned into one year old babies. Mrs Y/N Rogers, wife of the one and only Steve Rogers has to take care of them. After the whole ordeal is over, Steve wants his own baby.

Author's Note: Hiya peeps! I know, I know, the babyvengers trope is kinda overused at this point but I just couldn't help but write my own version of it!!!!! they're so cute after all!!! (also, writing overprotective/jealous baby Steve was so fun). enjoy!

---

"They what?!" Y/N shouted into the phone. "Yes. I'm not lying, Y/N. And you're the only one here who can help us. Please, just come over to the Compound for a week. I know you don't like to get in the middle of all the Avenging stuff but please," Maria Hill begged. Y/N rubbed her temple in annoyance.

What choice did she have?

"Okay okay, I'll pack and be there in an hour. Think you can keep them occupied?" Y/N chuckled in defeat. "Sure I can, they're surprisingly quiet for their age," Maria laughed along, "See you in an hour, Mrs Rogers." Y/N ended the call and made her way to hers and Steve's shared bedroom to pack a bag. Unbelievable.

Sam, Bucky and her husband Steve had gone on a mission. They were supposed to come back today, and they did, but… not in the way everyone was hoping. They returned… as babies. Small, one year old babies who were, according to Maria, extremely adorable. But babies. How had that even happened?

As promised, an hour later, Y/N reached the compound. Her being a civilian, Steve was overprotective of her, only allowing her to come to the Compound for emergencies. They had a house in the city; Steve no longer lived at the Compound. "Maria!" Y/N called out and the agent turned, relief flooding her face.

"Thank God, come here!" One of the other agents took her bag and Y/N followed Hill towards the briefing room. Once inside, Y/N froze in shock upon seeing the babies playing with toys on the floor. "They are actually babies," she whispered and Maria sighed next to her. "I know. Everyone is super busy, you're the only one who can handle them."

"How long are they going to be like this?"

"One week. Something on the mission, a sorceress, yadda yadda yadda, babies," the agent explained and Y/N nodded, turning to look at the babies once more. She had to admit, they were cute. Bright blond hair, big blue eyes, pale skin— that was her… husband, Steve. He wore a blue onesie. Next to him, in a red onesie, was Bucky.

Fluffy brown hair too long for a baby framed his face, his steel blue eyes focused on the toy in front of him as his lips formed the most adorable pout Y/N had seen. Finally, in a sage green onesie next to Bucky was Sam. His honey brown eyes were filled with amusement as he held up a toy bird, moving it around. All of them were simply cute.

"Hey guys," Y/N cooed, sitting next to them. As soon as she said that their eyes snapped towards her. Big, kind-of-toothless grins spread over all their faces. "Y/N!" Steve shouted gleefully, rapidly crawling towards his wife and jumping into her arms. He buried his face in her chest as he giggled loudly, slobbering.

"Hey there, baby boy. I missed you," Y/N laughed, rubbing his back as Sam and Bucky, too, crawled over to her. "Y/N," Sam whined, making grabby hands. She moved to keep Steve down but he whined louder than Sam, tightly clutching her t-shirt. "Stevie, I need to say hello," she insisted but Steve shook his head.

"My wife!" he pouted and Y/N didn't know whether to feel disturbed or awed. I mean, sure, Steve was her husband… but he was currently a baby. That's weird. "That's big Steve, mister. Now let me say hello to Sammy and Buck." Grumbling, Steve let go, sitting on the floor grumpily as Sam and Bucky both climbed into Y/N's arms with grins.

When Y/N pressed a soft kiss to baby Bucky's head, Steve's lower lip wobbled as tears filled his eyes. And when she kissed baby Sam on the nose? Steve wailed loudly and crawled back to Y/N, attempting to shove Bucky and Sam off her lap. "Aw, Stevie, come here!" Y/N giggled at Steve's behavior.

She sat cross-legged on the floor with Sam on one knee, Bucky on one and Steve between the two facing her. All three cuddled into her as Steve quieted, resorting to sniffles. "I love you so much, bub," Y/N whispered, pressing two kisses to Steve's cheeks. "Wuv you too, Y/N," Steve mumbled sleepily.

All of them were tired from their mission, it was almost bedtime anyway. Maria told her that they had all been fed already; that was a relief. "How about we all go to bed now, hm? Come on, Sammy, you first." Bucky and Steve crawled off of Y/N's lap and went back to their toys, albeit with reluctance.

Y/N then stood up with Sam in her arms and with a nod to Maria, left the room. Y/N knew where his room at the Compound was and took him there, getting him ready for bed within five minutes. "FRIDAY?" she questioned once Sam was tucked into bed. He was behaving well, given how he still had some of his adult brain with him.

"Yes, Mrs Rogers?" the AI replied. "Can you, maybe… turn the bed into some sort of a crib?" Y/N chewed her lip. "That is possible, Mrs Rogers." And she watched as safety rails showed up at three ends of the bed, spare the headrest which was already fluffy. Y/N gathered some of the pillows and placed them around Sam, caging him in.

"Goodnight, honey bun," she cooed, somehow reaching over and pressing a quick kiss to his forehead. "Night, Y/N," Sam murmured, already half-asleep. Then she went back to the briefing room to collect Bucky, who was asleep. His thumb was in his mouth as he mindlessly sucked on it, cradled in Maria's arms.

"Here," she whispered and handed the sleeping baby over. Y/N smiled and went to Bucky's room, managing to get him ready for bed without waking him up. Then she placed him in the middle of his bed, asking FRIDAY to do the same to Bucky's bed. Soon, he was tucked in nice and sweet. "Night." She kissed his forehead as well.

Maybe it won't be so bad, these kids were angels. Apart from the still overprotective Steve, of course. He was hyper. "Y/N!" he shouted the moment she came back and picked him in her arms. "Stevie, shh, bubba. It's very late, you need to be quiet," she chided gently and Steve's eyes went wide as he covered his mouth.

"Sowwy, Y/N," he muttered and she melted, pressing several kisses to his cheeks as they reached his room; the one they shared for a year before moving out. Steve got ready as well and she placed him on the bed, this time changing her own clothes and getting into bed with him. FRIDAY set up the safety rails.

Y/N placed several pillows on Steve's side of the bed as he yawned, rubbing his eyes. "Tired," he whimpered and Y/N cooed, bringing him closer to her. "I'm here with you, baby, go to sleep," she smiled. "My wife!" Steve exclaimed proudly and giggled, snuggling into her as he felt himself getting taken over by sleep.

"Big Steve's wife," Y/N scoffed to herself.

---

A knock on the door to her room woke Y/N up. Steve was still asleep, also sucking on his thumb. Confused, Y/N went and opened the door, only to see no one there. "Huh?" She was about to close the door when there was a soft whine. "Y/N…" Her head snapped downwards and she saw Bucky looking up at her, pouting.

"Aw— honey bun, how did you get out of your bed?" she chuckled as she picked baby Bucky up. He instantly snuggled into her arms. "Fwiday," he mumbled and Y/N fondly shook her head. "My intelligent baby," she teased and a smile bloomed on his face. "Your baby," he agreed and buried his face in her neck.

There was a loud cry which startled both of them.

"MY WIFE!" Steve yelled, sitting up in bed. Tears were wantonly running down his cheeks as he sniffled angrily, glaring at Bucky. Bucky cowered under his stare, also tearing up. Y/N's eyes widened. "Shh, bub, it's okay, it's okay…" she consoled Bucky first and he went quiet, clinging to Y/N like his life depended on it.

Y/N then sat next to Steve with a stern expression on her face. "That was not nice, Stevie, apologize right now," she chided and Steve cried harder after being reprimanded. "My wife, mine! Stealer!" Steve pointed an accusatory finger at Bucky, who didn't back down this time. He knew he had Y/N's support.

"Stevie."

Steve huffed and looked at Y/N with the best possible puppy look he could muster. Y/N melted. "Come here." Steve crawled onto her lap and hugged her tightly, still throwing Bucky unsure looks. "You love me, Steve?" He nodded eagerly. "Then say sorry to Bucky. Now," Y/N raised an eyebrow.

"Sowwy Bucky."

"Issotay."

"Friends?" Y/N asked, looking back and forth between both babies. "Fwiends," they repeated and finally smiled at each other. Y/N picked Steve up and wiped the tears and snot off his face, pressing kisses all over his face. "Good boy," she praised and Steve giggled loudly and gleefully. "What are you doing up so early, Bucky?" she then asked the dark-haired baby.

"Miss you," he mumbled bashfully and Y/N cooed, also pressing kisses to his face. "You are just adorable. Both of you." She placed them both on the bed and asked FRIDAY to set up the safety rails again. "Now, I'm going to get Sam. You two stay and behave, okay?" Both babies nodded. "Good boys. Be back soon."

She left the room and Steve instantly turned to Bucky, dropping his friendly facade. "My wife," he said protectively, "Not yours." Bucky rolled his eyes. "You a baby, not your wife. Big Stevie's wife," he snarked and Steve pouted harder. "Mine!" he insisted. "She my fwiend," Bucky retorted, crossing his chubby baby arms.

Steve glared at him. It was an adorable sight, really. "Only fwiend. Mine," he hissed and grumpily turned away from him. Bucky did too, pouting. That's how Y/N found them when she walked in with Sam; Bucky facing the foot of the bed and Steve facing the headrest as both of them glared at nothing. Oh boy.

"Are you guys still mad?"

Sam blinked as both of them turned to her. "My fwiend," Bucky insisted. "My wife," Steve also insisted. Y/N sighed. "You're both correct. Stevie, it's okay, I'm only Bucky's friend. I'm your wife, okay?" Just saying that made her gag. Pedo vibes… "I love you. I love Bucky too, but only as a friend."

Steve calmed down a bit after that. "Otay," he mumbled. Sam was then placed next to the two. He only stared at them, mostly with confusion but also with mild disdain at their "childish" behavior. "I'm gonna get your things now, okay? And you're all getting cleaned up. After that, breakfast."

All three of them nodded. Y/N left the room again, calling Maria. Soon, she returned to the room with two handfuls of baby stuff; diapers, clothes, powders, toys, whatnot. She changed their clothes fairly easily (surprisingly not throwing up at the sight of three soiled diapers) and then put them in new clothes.

Steve wore a tiny t-shirt and shorts, Bucky went with a sweater and full pants, while Sam went with overalls. "My handsome boys!" Y/N squealed excitedly and whipped out her phone, taking a few pictures. "Aren't you simply… ugh cutie pies," she groaned and picked Steve up first. He seemed elated at that.

"Breakfast?"

"Yes, Y/N!" The three of them shouted excitedly and Y/N put Steve in the baby pram sitting outside the room. It had three seats, meant for triplets. Bucky and Sam were also placed in the pram and Y/N took them to the communal area. There, she met Rhodey. "Hi there, Mrs Rogers," he greeted with a kind smile.

Y/N gave him a hug, much to the dismay of Steve. Baby him was overprotective to a new degree. "Issotay, they jus' fwiends," Bucky told him quietly when he noticed how Steve's eyes watered again. Steve hurriedly wiped his tears off. "Heard what happened on the mission. They are cute," Rhodey chuckled.

He waved at the kids. They waved back politely. "A handful, though. Steve has become 1000 times more protective. He got mad at Bucky because I was talking to him," Y/N rolled her eyes, "Keeps insisting I'm his wife. I don't know how to feel about that, to be honest." Y/N pulled a face and both of them laughed.

"Well, Mrs Rogers, I guess I'll leave you to it now. They look like they're hungry. See you!" Rhodey left and Y/N turned to the babies. "Hungry, boys?" They shouted again and Y/N placed all three of them on the new baby chairs at the dining table. The whole Compound was now baby proofed. What do one year olds eat?

She found out that the fridge was filled with baby food and sighed with relief. Placing three bowls in front of them, she watched them eat. This week was going to be an amazing learning experience. She and Steve had been married for around 3 years now, maybe after this week… they could try for one of their own.

If she made it through this week without any problems, she knew she was ready to be a mom. Steve would be a fantastic dad as well. "More." Startled, Y/N turned to see Bucky staring at her with a huge smile, lips and cheeks covered in mango purée as he showed her his empty bowl.

She blinked.

"Bucky, darling, eat slowly or you'll choke," she sighed as she filled his bowl, cleaning his face with the bib he wore. "Otay, Y/N," he mumbled distractedly before eating, much slower this time. She took out her phone but suddenly noticed Steve staring at her. She raised her brows at him and he frowned.

He held his hand out and Y/N took it, chuckling a bit as he tugged her closer. She moved her chair closer to his and kept holding his hand as he ate. Sam was the neatest and cleanest of them all, not too fast, not too slow and not at all messy. Steve was eating as slow as was humanly possible, to keep holding Y/N's hand.

When they finished eating, Y/N kept all the bowls in the sink and cleaned the babies, taking them to the briefing room which was now turned into some sort of a daycare room. Filled with toys, no sharp things, all the corners baby-proofed. Y/N sat on the floor near the door as the three babies crawled to the toys.

The week went by in a breeze. Taking care of Steve, Bucky and Sam was easy, especially Sam. He was the quietest, keeping to himself and his toys as Bucky and Steve fought on a daily basis. 100% of the time over Y/N Rogers. Any time Y/N gave Bucky (or Sam) even a second of attention Steve got jealous.

He threw tantrums, threw things around and cried so loudly that the entire city could probably hear him. One time, baby Steve even dumped his food on Bucky's head because Y/N was wiping Bucky's face while eating. Y/N had shouted at him then and he sobbed for an hour straight. Y/N didn't feel bad at all, he deserved it.

"Ugh, this week has been so tiring," Y/N groaned to herself as she lay on Steve's bed in her pajamas, baby Steve asleep next to her. She rubbed her eyes and took her phone in her hands, swiping through all the pictures and smiling to herself. There were over a 100 new pictures on her phone, all of Bucky, Sam and Steve.

A few minutes later, Y/N fell asleep as well.

---

Who's hugging me? My husband is supposed to be a baby.

Y/N woke up to the feeling of strong arms around her, pulling her into a firm chest as someone stared at her. She blinked her eyes open and turned her head, smiling widely when she saw her husband's own smiling face. He was big again! "Stevie!" she squealed and hugged him tightly. He laughed.

"My wife," he whispered teasingly and Y/N groaned, slapping his chest. "You were such a nightmare baby, still cute though," she laughed as Steve leaned over and gave her a sweet kiss. "Big Steve manages to keep his protectiveness and obsession under wraps, baby Steve was unfiltered," Steve grinned and Y/N shook her head.

"So I saw your real colours this week?"

"Pretty much."

"You're impossible, good thing I still love you. My Captain," she whispered and leaned in for another kiss. As they sat there making out, there was a knock on the door. Y/N went to open it, grinning when she saw Bucky standing there with a smirk on his face, leaning against the doorframe.

"Your intelligent baby is here," he joked and Y/N laughed, pulling him into her embrace. "Yup, my baby," she crooned and Steve jokingly shouted out, "My wife!" Bucky and Y/N pulled away from each other, laughing loudly. "I'm gonna go get Sam, behave," she winked and left the room, leaving Bucky and Steve alone.

"You managed to get the best wife ever, Steve, I'm so happy for you," Bucky chuckled, sitting on the bed. "I know, she is awesome. Taking care of three one-year-old babies? I love her even more now," Steve smiled, running a hand through his hair. "You two should have your own kid, you know? It's been 3 years since your marriage."

Steve considered Bucky. "She will make an awesome mother. I'll talk to her." Their little chat ended just as Y/N walked into the room with Sam. "It was so fun taking care of you guys, you were extremely cute babies!" Y/N squealed, laughing as Sam gave her a one-armed hug. They talked for a while longer (Y/N showed them all the photos much to their horror) until Sam and Bucky left the room.

Steve, sitting in the middle of the bed against the headrest, patted his thigh. Y/N plopped down on his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck, realizing how much she missed this. Steve put his arms around her waist and tugged her closer with a soft sigh. "You were an amazing babysitter, doll," he told her sincerely.

"Thank you, Stevie."

"And I was thinking…"

"Hm?"

"I want one of my own," he smirked at her, tilting her head. Y/N's eyes widened. "You think I'm ready?" Steve scoffed. "Are you kidding? Three babies. Triplets. All by yourself. You are more than ready, doll," he cheered and Y/N thought for a few minutes. "Okay," she finally breathed out, "Let's try for a baby."

Steve immediately ripped her t-shirt down the middle, hungrily pulling her in for a kiss as his hands roamed her body. "No time like the present," he growled, "I missed you so much, doll." They spent the rest of the day in their room.

---

A/N: lmao my bestie said baby Sam reminds her of Boss Baby. I guess it's kinda true. Thanks for reading, leave a like if you enjoyed!

[samwisethewitch]

Cults? In my life? It’s more likely than you think.

In my last post, I talked about how the Law of Attraction and Christian prosperity gospel both use the same thought control techniques as cults. I’ve received several public and private replies to that post: some expressing contempt for “sheeple” who can be lead astray by cults, and others who say my post made them scared that they might be part of a cult without knowing it.

I want to address both of those types of replies in this post. I want to talk about what a cult really looks like, and how you can know if you’re dealing with one.

If you type the word “cult” into Google Images, it will bring up lots of photos of people with long hair, wearing all white, with their hands raised in an expression of ecstasy.

Most modern cults do not look anything like this.

Modern cultists look a lot like everyone else. One of the primary goals of most cults is recruitment, and it’s hard to get people to join your cause if they think you and your group are all Kool-Aid-drinking weirdos. The cults that last are the ones that manage to convince people that they’re just like everyone else — a little weird maybe, but certainly not dangerous.

In the book The Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and Peoples Temple, author Jeff Guinn says, “In years to come, Jim Jones would frequently be compared to murderous demagogues such as Adolf Hitler and Charles Manson. These comparisons completely misinterpret, and historically misrepresent, the initial appeal of Jim Jones to members of Peoples Temple. Jones attracted followers by appealing to their better instincts.”

You might not know Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple by name, but you’ve probably heard their story. They’re the Kool-Aid drinkers I mentioned earlier. Jones and over 900 of his followers, including children, committed mass suicide by drinking Flavor Aid mixed with cyanide.

In a way, the cartoonish image of cults in popular media has helped real-life cults to stay under the radar and slip through people’s defenses.

In her book Recovering Agency: Lifting the Veil of Mormon Mind Control, Luna Lindsey says: “These groups use a legion of persuasive techniques in unison, techniques that strip away the personality to build up a new group pseudopersonality. New members know very little about the group’s purpose, and most expectations remain unrevealed. People become deeply involved, sacrificing vast amounts of time and money, and investing emotionally, spiritually, psychologically, and socially.”

Let’s address some more common myths about cults:

Myth #1: All cults are Satanic or occult in nature. This mostly comes from conservative Christians, who may believe that all non-Christian religions are inherently cultish in nature and are in league with the Devil. This is not the case — most non-Christians don’t even believe in the Devil, much less want to sign away their souls to him. Many cults use Christian theology to recruit members, and some of these groups (Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, etc.) have become popular enough to be recognized as legitimate religions. Most cults have nothing to do with magic or the occult.

Myth #2: All cults are religious. This is also false. While some cults do use religion to recruit members or push an agenda, many cults have no religious or spiritual element. Political cults are those founded around a specific political ideology. Author and cult researcher Janja Lalich is a former member of an American political cult founded on the principles of Marxism. There are also “cults of personality” built around political figures and celebrities, such as Adolf Hitler, Chairman Mao, and Donald Trump. In these cases, the cult is built around hero worship of the leader — it doesn’t really matter what the leader believes or does.

Myth #3: All cults are small fringe groups. Cults can be any size. Some cults have only a handful of members — it’s even possible for parents to use thought control techniques on their children, essentially creating a cult that consists of a single family.  There are some cults that have millions of members (see previous note about Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses).

Myth #4: All cults live on isolated compounds away from mainstream society. While it is true that all cults isolate their members from the outside world, very few modern cults use physical isolation. Many cults employ social isolation, which makes members feel separate from mainstream society. Some cults do this by encouraging their followers to be “In the world but not of the world,” or encouraging them to keep themselves “pure.”

Myth #5: Only stupid, gullible, and/or mentally ill people join cults. Actually, according to Luna Lindsey, the average cult member is of above-average intelligence. As cult expert Steven Hassan points out, “Cults intentionally recruit ‘valuable’ people—they go after those who are intelligent, caring, and motivated. Most cults do not want to be burdened by unintelligent people with serious emotional or physical problems.” The idea that only stupid or gullible people fall for thought control is very dangerous, because it reinforces the idea that “it could never happen to me.” This actually prevents intelligent people from thinking critically about the information they’re consuming and the groups they’re associating with, which makes them easier targets for cult recruitment.

So, now that we have a better idea of what a cult actually looks like, how do you know if you or someone you know is in one?

A good rule of thumb is to compare the group’s actions and teachings to Steven Hassan’s BITE Model. Steven Hassan is an expert on cult psychology, and most cult researchers stand by this model. From Hassan’s website, freedomofmind.com: “Based on research and theory by Robert Jay Lifton, Margaret Singer, Edgar Schein, Louis Jolyon West, and others who studied brainwashing in Maoist China as well as cognitive dissonance theory by Leon Festinger, Steven Hassan developed the BITE Model to describe the specific methods that cults use to recruit and maintain control over people. ‘BITE’ stands for Behavior, Information, Thought, and Emotional control.”

Behavior Control may include…

Telling you how to behave, and enforcing behavior with rewards and punishments. (Rewards may be nonphysical concepts like “salvation” or “enlightenment,” or social rewards like group acceptance or an elevated status within the group. Punishments may also be nonphysical, like “damnation,” or may be social punishments like judgement from peers or removal from the group.)

Dictating where and with whom you live. (This includes pressure to move closer to other group members, even if you will be living separately.)

Controlling or restricting your sexuality. (Includes enforcing chastity or abstinence and/or coercion into non-consensual sex acts.)

Controlling your clothing or hairstyle. (Even if no one explicitly tells you, you may feel subtle pressure to look like the rest of the group.)

Restricting leisure time and activities. (This includes both demanding participation in frequent group activities and telling you how you should spend your free time.)

Requiring you to seek permission for major decisions. (Again, even if you don’t “need” permission, you may feel pressure to make decisions that will be accepted by the group.)

And more.

Information Control may include…

Withholding or distorting information. (This may manifest as levels of initiation, with only the “inner circle” or upper initiates being taught certain information.)

Forbidding members from speaking with ex-members or other critics.

Discouraging members from trusting any source of information that isn’t approved by the group’s leadership.

Forbidding members from sharing certain details of the group’s beliefs or practice with outsiders.

Using propaganda. (This includes “feel good” media that exists only to enforce the group’s message.)

Using information gained in confession or private conversation against you.

Gaslighting to make members doubt their own memory. (“I never said that,” “You’re remembering that wrong,” “You’re confused,” etc.)

Requiring you to report your thoughts, feelings, and activities to group leaders or superiors.

Encouraging you to spy on other group members and report their “misconduct.”

And more.

Thought Control may include…

Black and White, Us vs. Them, or Good vs. Evil thinking.

Requiring you to change part of your identity or take on a new name. (This includes only using last names, as well as titles like “Brother,” “Sister,” and “Elder.”)

Using loaded languages and cliches to stop complex thought. (This is the difference between calling someone a “former member” and calling the same person an “apostate” or “covenant breaker.”)

Inducing hypnotic or trance states including prayer, meditation, singing hymns, etc.

Using thought-stopping techniques to prevent critical thinking. (“If you ever find yourself doubting, say a prayer to distract yourself!”)

Allowing only positive thoughts or speech.

Rejecting rational analysis and criticism both from members and from those outside the group.

And more.

Emotional Control may include…

Inducing irrational fears and phobias, especially in connection with leaving the group. (This includes fear of damnation, fear of losing personal value, fear of persecution, etc.)

Labeling some emotions as evil, worldly, sinful, low-vibrational, or wrong.

Teaching techniques to keep yourself from feeling certain emotions like anger or sadness.

Promoting feelings of guilt, shame, and unworthiness. (This is often done by holding group members to impossible standards, such as being spiritually “pure” or being 100% happy all the time.)

Showering members and new recruits with positive attention — this is called “love bombing.” (This can be anything from expensive gifts to sexual favors to simply being really nice to newcomers.)

Shunning members who disobey orders or disbelieve the group’s teachings.

Teaching members that there is no happiness, peace, comfort, etc. outside of the group.

And more.

If a group ticks most or all of the boxes in any one of these categories, you need to do some serious thinking about whether or not that group is good for your mental health. If a group is doing all four of these, you’re definitely dealing with a cult and need to get out as soon as possible.

These techniques can also be used by individual people in one-on-one relationships. A relationship or friendship where someone tries to control your behavior, thoughts, or emotions is not healthy and, again, you need to get out as soon as possible.

Obviously, not all of these things are inherently bad. Meditation and prayer can be helpful on their own, and being nice to new people is common courtesy. The problem is when these acts become part of a bigger pattern, which enforces someone else’s control over your life.

A group that tries to tell you how to think or who to be is bad for your mental health, your personal relationships, and your sense of self. When in doubt, do what you think is best for you — and always be suspicious of people or groups who refuse to be criticized.

[dyns33]

Historical Halloween

Flufftober 19 - Loki x Reader 

     Loki was the God of lies, and so he knew when someone was lying to him.

It was for this reason that when Y/N and the Avengers explained to him what Halloween was about, he believed them, because he felt they weren't lying.

It was just another silly celebration, a pretext to party, eat sweets, drink alcohol, put on costumes and behave like kids.

Well, even though they didn't have as many adventures as the Asgardians, Loki could well recognize that Midgardians, even those who weren't fighting, had pretty stressful lives and so it was normal that they wanted to relax sometimes.

Then, as everyone was decorating the Stark Tower with pumpkins, cobwebs, and other nonsense, he came across Wanda and Strange, who seemed much more serious, looking for formulas of defence and pentacles of protection in an old books.

           "... Is it to do pranks at the party ?" he asked, wishing to join them.

           "No. That night, spirits and magical creatures are more dangerous, as our worlds are touching. We must be careful and prepare."

           "... What ? I thought it was just a fun time ?"

           "For most people, yes. Not for us."

           "Please, let us work." Wanda asked politely but firmly.

Loki wondered if this was still one of the many secrets of the Masters of the mystical art, who protected the Earth from threats no one knew existed.

He still went to Y/N to see if she knew anything. The news surprised her a bit, but she didn't seem really shocked.

           "I imagine that has to do with the real meaning of Halloween."

           "I asked you what Halloween meant, and you said it was a celebration for kids, but adults could have fun too."

           "Now it's only that. But before it was a pagan holiday, then a Catholic holiday. How can I explain it ? Basically, people celebrated Samhain, the closing of the year and the start of the darker half. According to them, it was a time when barriers were said to be lowered, allowing communication with people and beings from other worlds. Ghosts and sometimes demons."

           "Great…" Loki muttered. "

           "Then the Catholics decided to do away with this holiday, and so they picked this date for the Day of All the Saints, All Hallows, instead. People were then supposed to honour the dead, although they often do so on the first day of November instead."

           "And how do you get from that to kids eating candy while disguised as fantastic, scary creatures ?"

           "If I remember correctly." Y/N continued. "It was the Irish and the Scots who popularized Halloween when they came to the United  States. They discovered pumpkins, they had fun cutting them into face shapes, creating Jack O Lantern. I guess they wanted to break away from the ancient customs of Europe, they wanted to have fun, so even if they kept a bit of the terror and mystery of this night, it just became a moment of relaxation."

           "But the spirits and other dangerous things are still there." sighed the Asgardian.

He was starting to understand what Strange and the other wizards were always so nervous. They had a lot of responsibilities. Without them, this little planet would have been destroyed for a long time, humans not understanding at all what was happening to them.

They were really weak and oblivious beings.

But at the same time, they always had so-called 'Gods' to watch over them. Odin was one of them, who had sworn to take care of this realm like the other nine, and yet he had abandoned it, not caring at all what was happening there, unless one of his enemies was trying to take it directly from him.

Otherwise, it was not his problem. The Midgardians could kill each other or all of them could die, it didn't matter.

Loki grimaced, biting his lip as he looked at Y/N. They had already chosen their costumes. He knew she really wanted to go have fun with the others, she had begged him to come with him. He had promised her that he would stay with her the whole evening.

Then he looked at the door, behind which Strange and Wanda continued to prepare to defend their universe and keep everyone safe.

With his powers, Loki could help them.

Before Wanda joined the team, and Strange became a wizard, the other Masters of the mystical arts had been doing this for years. Wong and the other mages around the earth knew what to do, and there was little chance that anything would happen.

But... If anything happened. If Loki wasn't there, when he could be of help. If it was too late and the world was devoured by darkness. If Y/N was devoured.

He sighed, taking her hand, but not daring to speak. She was going to be disappointed. Maybe a little angry.

           "... I know I said I will stay with you during the party."

           "But you'd rather go and help your team mates by acting like a hero." she finished, smiling.

           "... Only if you agree."

           "How about I help you ? I mean, I know I don't have any magical powers, but I can find books, ingredients, play cheerleaders. We'll have fun another night. We can put on our costumes. for the carnival. I don't think the carnival took the place of a dangerous day. Unless the parade takes place on an old Indian cemetery I imagine."

           "An Indian cemetery ?"

           "The whole country is basically built on an ancient Indian cemetery... I'll explain it to you."

           "So... you're not mad ?" Loki asked shyly.

           "No. I'm proud of you. Let's go help our mages save the earth ! I'll ask Thor to save us some candy !"

Of course, as they fought, Thor, drunk like the other Avengers, ate all the candy he had promised to keep for them.

Loki didn't care, he had had the pleasure of spending the night with Y/N, they had even laughed a little while fighting the monsters, but despite everything he stabbed his brother for this. It was a question of tradition.

[jammatown919]

Best Laid Plans

Several months ago, an anon asked me to write a piece in which the group tries to play matchmaker for Ruby and Penny. This is what that turned into. 

Ruby liked Vacuo better than she'd thought she would. Sure, it was unbearably hot most days and a fair amount of the locals seemed rather disgruntled about having more refugees around, especially Atlesian ones,  but she'd take this over Atlas any day.

She was especially relived that she and her group had been allowed to enroll as students at Shade Academy rather than having their Huntsmen licenses renewed. They hadn't been at all ready for the position when General Ironwood had offered it to them, and while there was still a lot to worry about, everyone was glad to have some of the pressure taken off of them. Unfortunately, however, the lowered stress and extra free time had given them an opportunity to concern themselves with things that absolutely did not require their attention, such as Ruby's love life.

Two weeks ago, Ruby had made the horrible mistake of confiding in Yang about her crush on Penny, which had resulted in most of the rest of their friends knowing about it too. Most of them were alright about it, but Yang and Nora were absolutely hellbent on playing matchmaker, and they weren't taking no for an answer.

Every single time one of them caught Ruby alone, they'd plead with her for permission to set up a date so everyone wouldn't have to watch her 'pining' anymore, and no matter how many times she said she didn't want to burden Penny with her feelings, they persisted. Eventually she'd started trying to avoid them altogether, which was a lot easier with Nora than it was with Yang, considering they shared a room.

On their second Friday living at Shade Academy, also the second Friday since Ruby had confided in her sister, Yang found Ruby alone in the dorm and made what felt like her millionth plea of the week.

"For the last time," Ruby snapped, flopping down on her bed. "I don't want you to set up a date! It'll just make everything awkward."

She was trying to keep her cool, but honestly, this was starting to piss her off. This was none of Yang's business, or Nora's for that matter. She didn't need their input.

"Oh, come on, Ruby!" Yang groaned, her voice laced with exasperation. "You have to know she's into you!"

"Give me one good reason to believe she actually likes me back." Ruby retorted, rolling her eyes as Yang let out a dry laugh.

"I'll give you ten reasons," she said confidently. "You two are basically attached at the hip, she gets that little pouty face every time she gets told she can't pair with you for combat training, you literally share a bed-"

"Only because there weren't enough beds when we moved in!" Ruby quickly sat up, warmth rushing to her face.

"Yeah, but when Blake and I starting sharing, I asked Penny if she wanted my old bed and she just about cried." Yang replied. "Unless you want to sit here and argue that all of that is platonic, you know she likes you back. So why won't you just talk to her about it?"

"Look," Ruby sighed. "Even if you're right, I just don't want to give her anything else to worry about. She just lost her home, she's still getting used to being the Winter Maiden, and now she has all this human stuff to deal with. She needs my support right now, and I don't want to accidentally push her away."

Yang's expression softened at that, and she slowly crossed the room to sit down beside Ruby.

"I get that," she said quietly, suddenly much more sympathetic than frustrated. "And I know I'm being kind of pushy, but I don't want you to miss out. This could be your only chance for a while to actually go on dates and have fun with her."

Ruby let out another, heavier sigh and leaned back onto her hands, tilting her face toward the ceiling.

Yang was right. They might have a respite now, but Salem could show up any day. This chance to be students again wasn't going to last forever. They were getting to be kids one last time, and that would be over the moment Salem made herself known again. Then there would be no dates or time to worry about feelings, probably just regrets if she didn't do this now.

"What do I even say to her?" she asked quietly. "I've never liked someone like this before. What if I screw something up?"

"Just be honest with her." Yang put an arm around Ruby's shoulders and gave her a gentle squeeze. "Tell her how you feel, ask her if she wants to go out, and let Nora and I take care of the rest. We'll find a nice place for you to go, and I'll tell you everything I know about impressing girls."

She winked good-naturedly and released Ruby, who then took a deep breath and stood. She didn't feel even remotely prepared for this, but there was a decent chance it could be now or never.

"I'm gonna go see if I can find her." Ruby decided, steeling herself. She made her way toward the door, giving her sister a nervous grin over her shoulder as she left. "Wish me luck."

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

Ruby found Penny an hour later in Shade's library, sitting at one of the tables with a pile of books. From the looks of it, she'd been here a while, possibly making her way through a series.

"Hey," Ruby said quietly as she reached Penny's table. "What are you reading?"

Penny glanced up, looking mildly startled.

"Oh, it's just a fantasy story," she replied sheepishly, lowering the book in her hands. "It's a bit silly, but I've never had time to just sit and read before. I'm finding it quite enjoyable!"

"That's good." Ruby smiled and took a seat across from Penny, clasping her hands anxiously in her lap. "Sorry if I'm interrupting you or anything, I just wanted to ask you something."

"Of course." Penny put her book down and leaned forward attentively.

"I was just wondering if, um..." Ruby squeezed her fingers, trying to steady her voice long enough to get the question out. "If you wanted to... go out with me sometime? Like, on a date? I-If not, it's totally cool, I just... y'know..."

Penny blinked at her slowly, and Ruby shrank back as much as the chair would allow her to.

"A date?" Penny inquired.

"Yeah," Ruby replied, her face burning. Dear God please let her know what a date is, she thought frantically. "I really like you, like more than just a friend. I've been wanting to tell you for a while, but I was scared of making you uncomfortable, but then I realized that with everything going on I might not get another chance for a while, and- Penny?"

Caught up in her rant, it had taken Ruby far to long to realize that Penny wasn't listening to her. Instead, she was just staring blankly, her expression completely unreadable.

"Are you okay?" Ruby leaned across the table and waved her hand in front of Penny's face. "Are you bluescreening?"

Back when she'd had a mechanical body, Penny had occasionally 'bluescreened' when struggling to process some new piece of information. She usually snapped out of it within a few minutes, so Ruby wasn't particularly concerned, but she had to admit she was surprised that Penny was still doing it even in a human body.

"Yes." Penny said suddenly, shaking herself a bit.

"I- what?"

"Yes, I will go on a date with you." Penny clarified, her face turning slightly pink. "I like you too, quite a lot."

"Really?" Ruby's shoulders sagged with relief, and she couldn't help the grin spreading across her face.

"Of course." Penny said with a little smile. "I would have said something much sooner if I had thought you might feel the same way."

"How could I not?" Ruby asked softly. "You're so sweet and beautiful and kind. It was kind of impossible not to fall in love with you."

Penny's blush intensified, and she looked away bashfully.

"You are all of those things too." she replied, her voice quiet and shy.

Ruby chuckled softly, then straightened herself and cleared her throat before either them could get any more flustered.

"So," she went on. "I was thinking maybe we could do dinner tomorrow around six? Or, well, Yang was thinking that, but I have no idea how to plan dates so I'm just listening to what she says."

"That sounds perfect." Penny said enthusiastically.

"Great," Ruby smiled and rose from her seat. "I'll let you get back to your reading. See you tomorrow."

Ruby turned to leave, barely hearing Penny's quiet "Goodnight," as she rushed out of the library. The moment the doors slammed shut behind her, she let out a loud, shaky laugh. She'd done it. She'd actually done it. She'd managed to land herself a date, and now all she had to do was survive it.

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

Penny had to admit, she'd been surprised to hear that her best friend had a crush on her. Delighted, of course, but so very surprised. She'd been planning to keep her own feelings a secret forever, lest Ruby find them unusual or inappropriate, but that was no longer necessary. Ruby shared the same feelings, and apparently they were quite normal.

It was a relief to know that, but Penny couldn't say that all of her anxieties had been quelled. According to Ruby, the next step after confessing their feelings was going on a date together, a concept with which Penny was not particularly familiar. She had a basic idea of how it was supposed to work, but she wasn't sure of the correct way to behave or what she was supposed to say while they were out.

Penny had gone to Nora with these concerns, hoping for some friendly advice, and had been promptly and quite literally dragged into Team JNPR's dorm room for a pre-date pep talk.

"You really don't have all that much to worry about." Nora said as she worked on lacing up the back of Penny's dress. It was quite similar to one she'd worn to Beacon's dance; light green, knee-length, and very soft. She'd borrowed it from an upperclassman named Velvet, who she knew by association due to her team's friendship with Team RWBY.

"But what if I say something wrong?" Penny asked anxiously, running her fingers through her hair. She'd already brushed through it twice, but perhaps one more time couldn't hurt.

"What would you say wrong?" Nora inquired as she finished with the dress. "You two are already friends, so you don't have to deal with any of that 'getting to know each other' business. Just go and have fun. And make sure you laugh at all her jokes."

"All of them?" Penny echoed unenthusiastically. Her sense of humor was quite different from the majority of her friends, and she sometimes had trouble discerning whether something was a joke. How would she know what to laugh at?

"Unless they're offensive or something, but it's Ruby so I doubt that." Nora shrugged and grabbed a bit of Penny's hair, gently fluffing it out. "Think you're ready?"

"Maybe?" Penny replied. "Do I look presentable?"

"You're gorgeous, Pebbles." Nora turned Penny around so they were face to face, placing two firm, comforting hands on her friend's shoulders. "Everything's gonna be fine, okay? You've gone places with Ruby hundreds of times; just act how you normally would."

"Okay." Penny nodded. She could do that.

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

The restaurant Penny had been invited to was a small café hardly a stone's throw from Shade's campus. From what Penny could tell, it seemed to be primarily frequented by the school's students, as the majority of the people sitting in the outdoor area were wearing school uniforms.

Of the three that were not, one was Ruby, clad in a black top and bright red skirt that just barely reached her knees. She spotted Penny from her table near the café's front window and waved her over with a shy smile.

"Hey," she greeted softly as Penny approached. "You look really nice."

"As do you." Penny replied politely, sincerely hoping that the grin on her face didn't look too silly. She stood there awkwardly for a moment before taking a seat, leaning forward so their table's umbrella could better protect her fair skin from the sun.

For a good two minutes, they sat there in silence, Ruby seemingly avoiding eye contact and Penny quietly fidgeting while she tried to think of something to say.

"This place is pretty cool, right?" Ruby offered at last, glancing in Penny's direction.

"I think it's quite hot, actually." Penny replied. Ruby let out a soft chuckle, and she quickly realized her mistake. "Oh! You meant- yes, it's very cool."

Penny briefly averted her gaze as her face grew warm, but she was saved from any further embarrassment by the arrival of a tired-looking waitress.

"Have you two decided on anything?" she asked, placing two glasses of water down on the table. As she did so, she fixed Penny with the same vaguely suspicious look every Atlesian refugee had been receiving from the locals.

It wasn't entirely uncalled for, considering everything her nation had done to theirs, but it made her uncomfortable nonetheless.

"Um..." Penny glanced down at the menu, eager to get the waitress's eyes off of her. Impulsively, she ordered the first thing she saw. "The fried scorpion, please."

"I'll have the same." Ruby said immediately.

"Interesting choice." The waitress remarked as she took their menus. 'For a couple of outsiders' was implied.

Penny watched her walk away, mildly dreading the sight of what she would return with.

"What the hell did we just order?" Ruby mumbled, so softly that Penny couldn't be entirely certain the words were for her.

"It will likely be fine," she answered anyway. "Scorpion is a common dish here."

"Yeah, I guess." Ruby replied, once again avoiding eye contact. Penny's brow furrowed and she leaned a bit closer to her date over the table.

Ruby seemed remarkably uncomfortable, wringing her hands and glancing about as if searching for a way out of the situation. Did she not want to be here? Had Penny done something wrong?

If so, she hadn't the slightest clue what her mistake could have been, but relationships were so complicated that she wouldn't be surprised if she'd broken some unspoken rule. Perhaps she'd missed a joke she was supposed to laugh at, or-

"Penny?"

Penny was jolted out of her thoughts, only just realizing that Ruby was waving a hand in front of her face. She blinked hard, mildly startled.

"Are you okay?" Ruby asked gently.

"Yes," Penny said with a quick nod. "Yes, I'm fine."

"You've got to stop bluescreening on me." Ruby gave her a small, kind smile. "What were you trying to figure out?"

Penny hesitated briefly. She almost didn't want to say it for fear that she might be right. Yet again, if she had somehow messed up the date, she wanted to know what she'd done wrong.

"It's just..." she began eventually. "You seem as if you don't want to be here. I was wondering if maybe I did something wrong? Or if you regret asking me out?"

"Of course not!" Ruby's eyes widened in mild alarm. "What made you think that?"

"You just seem so uncomfortable." For emphasis, Penny mimicked the hand-wringing motion Ruby had been doing. "I was worried you thought this was a mistake."

"God, no," Ruby reached across the table and gently took Penny's hands in her own. "You didn't do anything wrong, Penny. Asking you out was not a mistake."

She brushed her thumbs along the backs of Penny's hands; an intimate gesture, if Penny remembered correctly.

"I think letting someone else plan this for us might have been a mistake, though." Ruby admitted. "I don't think I'm really a dinner date person."

"What do you mean?" Penny inquired.

"I mean this all feels a little... stuffy, I guess." Ruby shrugged. "I don't like sitting here in formalwear trying to make awkward conversation with a bunch of other people around. This doesn't feel like us, y'know?"

"I think I understand." Penny nodded slowly. She had to admit, this wouldn't have been her first choice of venue either. "What do you think would feel like us?"

"Do you remember that night with the fireflies?" Ruby asked. Penny nodded again, a small smile spreading across her face. "That felt like us. It was just you and me having fun, enjoying nature and stuff."

"That was a very special night," Penny agreed fondly. "But I do not believe we would be able to recreate it here. As far as I know, no species of a firefly is native to Vacuo."

"It doesn't have to be exactly the same." Ruby seemed thoughtful for a moment, quietly drumming her fingers on the table. "What if we went up on the roof of Shade's dorms? We could be alone and just enjoy each other's company."

"I like the sound of that." Penny almost stood up, but suddenly remembered that they'd already ordered. Would it be considered rude to leave?

"It's alright," Ruby seemed to read Penny's mind as she rose from her seat. "I don't think it counts as dining and dashing if we haven't gotten our food yet."

Penny supposed that made sense. She hesitated a moment longer before standing up, glad that she wouldn't have to see that waitress again. Ruby extended her arm, and Penny linked it with her own as they began walking away from the restaurant. As soon as they'd cleared the tables, Ruby visibly relaxed.

"This already feels better," she remarked.

"It does." Penny agreed. They walked together in silence for a few minutes, Penny's face growing warm as an unfamiliar sensation spread throughout her body.

Suddenly overtaken with boldness, Penny leaned over and pressed her lips to Ruby's cheek, holding them there for a moment before slowly pulling away. Ruby's eyes widened in surprise, but she didn't seem at all bothered.

"Was that... okay?"

"It was more than okay," Ruby replied, glancing over at Penny with a smile. "That was perfect."

"It seems our night has been salvaged." Penny smiled back at her, faltering briefly as Ruby rested her head on her shoulder.

"Yeah," she said, her warm breath tickling the skin of Penny's neck. "It has."

--

If you enjoyed this piece, please consider reblogging to share it with others and help the post gain a bit of traction! It would absolutely make my day and make the three months I spent trying to finish this feel worth it!