#all that effort gone to waste 🤣🤣

[casdeanwin]

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[youremyheaven]

Talking about films, The Shawshank Redemption feels like a Saturnian film to me. As I near the end of my Shani Mahadasha, I reflect on the lessons of Saturn. The lead character's life sentence for a crime he didn’t commit mirrors how Saturn punishes you for past karmas, making the Mahadasha itself feel like being in jail—constantly monitored, living in fear of punishment, and doing thankless jobs, all while questioning what you did wrong. Throughout his prison life, he faced significant challenges that would traumatize anyone. However, he had to keep his head down, work honestly, do his daily chores, and consistently dig his tunnel for 19 years, one step at a time. In the end, his perseverance paid off—he escaped and took the illegal money he had laundered for his warden as a finance guy, reaping the rewards for his honest efforts. Time moves very slowly during this period, often leaving you lost in your thoughts, reassessing your entire life by recalling and reflecting on past events. To distract yourself, you must stay busy with physical or mental activities. For every wrong action, he was sent to 'the hole,' a solitary prison with no light, signifying even harsher punishments for wrongful acts during Saturn Mahadasha. You can’t live freely during this Mahadasha; any attempt to do so is met with external resistance. Reflecting on my time during this Dasha, I realized the many similarities between the film and Saturn Mahadasha. It just clicked one day, and I felt like sharing. Overall it's no doubt an uncomfortable period but brings on massive and permanent character development

😭😭😭BESTIEEEE 😭😭😭

Shawshank is one of the first "grown up" films I watched in my early teens and it had a very profound impact on me. So seeing you mention it and compare it to Saturn MD really hit home 🥺

Thank you so much for sharing 🥺

I'm curious about where your Saturn is??

Everybody experiences their dasha differently so I hope nobody's discouraged reading this. It does not have to be as brutal. It can be but honestly through great difficulty, we achieve greatness ✨ nothing in life is easy and if you must suffer, you can suffer during any dasha. But that said, yes, Saturn is a tough one.

It reminds me of the song One of the Girls by Jennie, The Weeknd & Lily Rose Depp. All three of them have Vishaka in their big 3 and that song is super Vishaka/Jupiter coded

When Jennie sings "top of the world but I'm still not free, this is a secret that I keep, until it's gone, I can never find peace, waste my whole life, just to be" ,, she was talking about Saturn mahadasha ya'll 🤣🤣🤣😭

The lyrics really hit home because for the majority of Jennie's career, she was actually going through her Saturn MD and she's also Saturn atmakaraka and girlie has truly endured so much 😪

[alyjojo]

Love Reading 🎇 - April 2024 - Taurus

Singles:

Who is Coming In: 5 Wands & King of Pentacles

Regarding: 9 Cups

Long-Term Potential: Page of Pentacles & 2 Wands rev

This one is more about someone you have your eye on, than someone actually coming in. You have your heart set on some really attractive, larger than life type of confident person, they’re suave, charming, goes after what they want, and you’re kinda hoping that’s you. 9 Cups with 9 Wands when it came out was like *wanting* to be hurt, knowing you’re gonna get hurt with this one, and just not caring because they’re fiiiine 🤣 You’re also chasing after this person because you’ve already been hurt, probably want this person to fix/heal you on some level with their awesome energy - which is only awesome because you don’t reaaaally know this person. They show up as selfish, into themselves as much as anyone else is I’m sure, they’re happily single and not looking for anything. With that, I’d say don’t take it personally. They just don’t see you like that. Or it’s possible this is switched, you went out once and they became like…you’re everything they’ve ever wanted, you’re their dream come true, and you’re like *instant* nope 👎 Either/or. Long term, you may try to remain friends, keep them on your social media, you’ve made a new contact of some sort and can even enjoy their company, going out with groups or something, but it’s decided it’s a friend thing not romance. That’s cool too 🤷🏻‍♀️ Ya can’t win them all. The only real indicator I can see is someone may be moving, them. Or you/they could meet each other fresh out of a relationship, and it’s just not time yet, probably won’t ever be 🙏

Messages:

- Moving Out, Moving On

- Selfish

PARTYING 🎉

- Time With Friends

- Having Fun

- Happily Single

- Living in the Moment

Signs you may be dealing with:

Heavy Virgo, Leo, earth/fire

Couples:

Them: Knight of Cups, The Sun rev, The Fool

Regarding: Queen of Cups

I can see this person being very sad and upset by either a mistake they’ve made impulsively, or one you have. Someone may have just up and decided to take romantic action towards another person, either side, and are now facing the consequences of their decision. If not, then it’s possible this person says they love you, is convinced of this, and is making a last ditch effort to try *anything* in order to win you over to their side. Even if you messed up. Especially if they did 💯 Suddenly they’re planning a whole romantic future with you because they’re afraid of something new you’re doing. Anything new, especially if you’ve ended it, they’re just afraid of the new. New clothes, new hairstyle, new friends, they’re like “stoppppp”, because they desperately want to hold on to this. In some ways you mirror that energy, but you’re also the catalyst for change, you’re the one not holding on anymore, which is unusual for Taurus energy. Go you. Messages show this person doesn’t actually know want love is, they could be really young or immature, they’re doing their best - in their mind, to get you back. If you’ve moved on, they’re *losing* it 💯

Messages:

- OBSESSED 👀

- I don’t know what love is.

SEPARATION ✂️

- Sadness, Bitterness

- Missing You

- Thinking About You

- Uncertain Future

Love yourself and all the good in you. Then others will feel it and love you too.

You: 10 Wands rev, Knight of Pentacles, The Tower

Regarding: Ace of Swords

You’re being pretty cutthroat with them, it’s this or it’s that, you’re done wasting your time 💯 You may have invested a lot of time & effort into this person, though messages indicate that this hasn’t gone really far yet, the biggest vibe is wasted effort or being led to believe one thing when actually the opposite is true. Knight of Pentacles shows you saw this person as reliable, dependable, someone you can respect and give space to because they’re trustworthy and have earned this from you, and they slapped you in the face more or less. Or you did. If there was another person involved, another face was shown in this person, and you “noped” it right out of there 💯 10 Wands is a lot of heavy pressure, you’ve carried a lot of weight for a long time and you’re finally at the end where you can let it go and move forward, but here it’s rev and it’s like the goal posts have moved? After you did all that? Nope 👎 I keep hearing “waste of time.” You’re done. The Oracle shows you in a very negative mindset, and the mutual energy showing 4 Pentacles, oh you’re absolutely holding a grudge 💯 Just don’t allow the experience of this person cause your whole world to darken, you know? That’s what Spirit is trying to say, there is good around you - outside of this difficult situation. Anything they’re trying, you’re not biting.

Messages:

- Crushing on you.

- Love at first sight 😍

NOT TODAY 😤

- Boundaries & Hurt

- Avoiding Conversation

- Not Dealing

- Still Upset

Try to go one day without complaining, and only affirm the positive.

Mutual: 5 Pentacles, 4 Pentacles, 3 Cups

Regarding: 9 Wands rev

Both of you are dealing with abandonment wounds for different reasons, both of you are feeling the loss of not only the relationship, but probably friends too, especially if you had friends in common. People may be choosing sides and you’re having to mourn a whole way of life, a cycle that meant something to you/them, plus whatever hurt came with you two hurting you two. It’s a lot to deal with. Both of you are choosing to work on your finances through this difficult time, what else can you do? And both of you are forcibly going inward and figuring yourselves out, where did we go wrong? Wheel of Fortune rev could show some negative karmic experiences, a bad cycle, everything seems to be working against you both - or that’s the perception. You may be resistant to spirituality or God at this time because what the actual fuck? Thus the oracle. You have to give this up and there’s nothing that can be done about it, holding grudges and refusing to interact or get together with this person makes sense at this time, there’s no forward progress really other than work. Sending you big hugs, this sucks.

I got an after message: 3 Cups is your birthday for the Suns, or any other holiday/celebration coming up, the message to not be negative is referring especially to this day, don’t let this person ruin it for you. Go out with friends or family, put yourself out there just because, Spirit likes to make you feel special too, even if it’s something small - but you have to leave the house and give them the chance.

GROUNDING 🪨

- Stability & Security

- Performance

- Growth & Endurance

When you’re ill, ask your angels to help you, and visualize yourself being well.

Signs you may be dealing with:

Heavy Sagittarius, Cancer, Aries, Pisces, Virgo & Capricorn

[weebsinstash]

Stay strong love ❣️

Thanks everyone 🥺 this whole thing was hella depressing and then I, you know, tell my mom how incredibly shitty her reaction was, basically victim blaming me when it didn't even apply, and she's gone and used that as an excuse to go to bed early when she knows she's my only transportation to this job which, I knew this was going to be a problem the second I found out this job isn't even bus accessible. Did I ever tell you guys that. That she kept badgering me to let her apply to jobs for me and I let her do it so she would just fucking leave me alone and she wound up applying to the wrong kind of job at the wrong location and later justified it as "well what if it was gone later?" Because in her idiot fucking brain the completely wrong thing you dont even want that's just going to stress you out more is OBVIOUSLY better than nothing at all/something you actually want. And she keeps saying "but we talked about this" when the greatest extent of those "talks" were me going "uh huh, yeah, sure, whatever" because she would be bringing this up almost every fucking single time she and I were in the same room

Remember kids, if someone personally wrongs you and blames you for something that isn't even your fault, you calling them out and being "too mean about it" OBVIOUSLY gives that person the right to ignore you and not have to apologize and never have to acknowledge how fucking manipulative and shitty they are!

This sort of fucking subtle "retaliation" has been happening my entire life. Even when she "helps" I am left with disappointment and anger and I'm never allowed to speak of it. My brand new job is a fucking seasonal position because she decided that was better than, I dunno, trying to contact the store and see if there was a reason certain normal positions weren't posted online, or call and see if we could apply in person, nope she just applied for a completely temporary fucking job where they may quite literally kick me out the door once a certain amount of time is up. Why the fuck wouldn't she wait to apply me to an actual permanant position. Why would she think that forcing her extremely critically depressed daughter into the wrong fucking job where all my efforts could completely go to waste and I could eventually be unemployed again through no fault of my own was a good idea.

But I mean. I'm not a good person either. I will very casually talk about killing myself all the time where she has become completely desensitized to it. The other day I became extremely emotional and started talking about how I needed to rehome my pets before I die and she's just like "no I can take care of your pets for you" which 1 not the point and 2 like BITCH YOU THINK I TRUST YOU? 🤣 I would literally kill them myself before I left them all alone under her incompetent ass

Anyways I have an overnight shift in an hour and I get to go wake her up and argue with her ass because I don't have enough money in my bank account to take a lyft 🥺 and its also like, taking a lyft this late at night on a Saturday would probably be extremely expensive. I feel so trapped with this woman

It's fucked up but. I knew that. Deep down. Part of the reason I kept talking to that guy. Was because. Part of me was hoping he was dangerous or something and that maybe I would be killed or harmed or something. And then I wouldn't have to deal with stuff like this anymore and hurting all the time

[stagefoureddiediaz]

Kym thank you for your wonderful answer to anon. I think a part of fadom freaks out easily because the reporter scared everyone for a lifetime. Last year we were all here celebrating how good for buck would have been having a friend outside of the 118, and we got a terrible friend then and an horrible gf now that basically monopolized 2 entire episodes of 5a, probably she'll be gone soon but her presence is still to much compared to others So yeah I don't think lucy will be a LI but who knows

Awww Nonnie 🥺🥺🥺 tysm

Tay Kay is definitely scarring!! I'm gonna be upfront - I have never ever liked Taylor and I never saw her as a friend to Buck (idk how anyone could tbh but maybe thats just me!!), so I never joined in the celebrations of Buck having a friend outside of the 118 - I've only ever viewed her as a narrative device- her character has always been selfish and self serving and if the writers wanted me to feel differently about her they would have invested the time and effort into showing character growth - addressing all the bad choices she made previously. The fact that they didn't, and actually went the other way - showing how much of a hypocrite she is on top of everything else - spoke so loudly to me.

If, like me, you've spent years working in the industry, and studying how film and television is created and developed, I guess you spot things a mile off. I do think they wasted a lot of time and energy on giving her a back story and using it to fill time that could've been better spent elsewhere, but I'm also of the view that theres a very good chance that we'll see what we learnt coming back into play in the first part of 5b.

I think the writers have spent time creating that backstory for a reason - because it's what they've done historically and if it wasn't important they would've used the time elsewhere - showing us more of other characters and doing further world building. The entire season is planned out at the beginning - the arcs will have been decided- even beyond just the season - and they will have spent a lot of time figuring out how to get the characters from a to b - what needs to happen, what road blocks to put in their way etc.

That is why I'm sure that there are plans to make further use of what they have chosen to give us (and why ghost stories got such a drastic rewrite) and I expect it all to come into play in 5x11 and 13 with repercussions further into the season as well. Im actually looking forward to the summer hiatus so I can really look at how it all plays out in more detail - when we know where it all leads to - only then will we truly know if they short changed us and put in a load of unnecessary filler we could've done without!

For the most part the section of fandom that freaks out over this kind of thing tend to be young with little experience of the real world who will (hopefully) learn as they get older - I don't tend to see to much of it in my little corner of the internet as I curate my experience - I'm here for a good time, to have fun and for healthy debate, Im not here to stress myself out or make myself miserable. Its also easy to forget that many of these people freaking out have grown up in a world which has always had internet and so they are not used to being made to wait for things in the same way as those o us who existed before the world was at our fingertips - when binge watching was only possible if you recorded each episode every week or bought the vhs/dvd box sets!

Sorry Nonnie - i've got up on my soap box again 🤣🤣🤣 I've never bee none for brevity!!! As always great to have you appearing in my inbox!

[the-widow-sisters]

Fanfic idea! Yelena is super good at Just Dance because she practices when she's alone! So, when Natasha's away for an hour or so, Yelena goes into their room in the Avenger's Tower, dresses up in fancy Russian clothes and a long black fake beard and dances to Rasputin. Dancing very over the top, 100% extra. However, she didn't anticipate on Kate being in the building, who came to see what the sound was. Hiding in the hallway, she records Yelena dancing, before a giggle exposes her. A very angry smol Russian chases Kate for recording her, eventually tackling her into the ground. When Kate refuses to give her phone, Yelena may (or may not) tickle her to death in an attempt to make her give in, until Natasha returns to the tower, saving the young archer. When Natasha asks why Yelena is dressed up like that, Kate takes her chance to run off with the blackmail, leaving a pouting Yelena. And Natasha would ofc cuddle her to make her stop pouting <3

A/N: Gosh, I had so much fun with this one 😂🤣 Kate Bishop is kind of like a little kid that wants to be friends with Yelena but is also terrified of her 🤣 But she's scared of her for good reason, I suppose. Yelena can be very threatening if you only get to see the mean Russian side of her like Kate does, lol 😂

Thank you for the amazing request! I hope you enjoy! 🥰💖

Word Count: 3055

Yelena snuck into her and Natasha’s shared room at the compound, stopping at the door to check the halls thoroughly for any signs of movement or sound. Fortunately, all seemed quiet.

Which was a very good thing considering what Yelena was about to do.

Natasha had left for a mission earlier that day, and while she was not going to take all day, she was probably going to be gone for at least a couple more hours if everything was going according to plan. Yelena figured that she could definitely complete her task in that time and even spend some extra time on it practicing.

Yelena headed for the closet, digging through it in an attempt to find her equipment that she would need for this self-assigned mission. She quickly found the heavy, fancy traditional Russian-style coat that Alexei had sent her in the mail, and she pulled it on, clasping it so that it would stay on her.

She then pulled out a box that she had stuffed into the back of the closet where Natasha would hopefully never discover it. She brought it over to the bed and sat it down there.

She then reached over to the television, turning on her video gaming console just under it and then turning on the television. She wasted no time in using her controller to select the game she wanted and the level, and she reached into the box, withdrawing the giant beard that she had bought at the store.

“Ah… My beautiful beard,” Yelena declared with a wide grin before tying it onto her head firmly. She then straightened, looking in the mirror just above the bed as she puffed out her chest and stroked the fake beard. It did not even match her hair color in its long, black thickness but she was thrilled with it, nonetheless.

“Mmm… Very dashing,” Yelena laid on her Russian accent thick, raising an eyebrow as she tried to conjure her most attractive gaze in the mirror. She then winked at the mirror before reaching down to the controller and turning on the song she was aiming for.

“Alright, Rasputin… Let’s do this,” Yelena declared before rubbing her hands together happily with a wide smile. The level soon started itself, and Yelena started to dance with the man onscreen, clapping and hopping about dramatically as she waved her arms around.

She barely resisted the victorious smirk as she realized that she was earning a perfect score so far.

Soon enough, the signing began, and Yelena was immediately singing along.

“There lived a certain man in Russia long ago… He was big and strong, in his eyes a flaming glow,” Yelena started to sing but quickly broke off as she started putting more of her effort into the dancing itself, realizing that the singing was distracting her.

As she hopped around, she could not help her grin as she avoided twirling a tendril of her fake beard around her chin. She felt the strongest urge within her to do so, but she knew that if she moved, she would not have a chance of earning a perfect score in the game.

Yelena just continued dancing furiously, overdoing the movements as she allowed the music to flow through her.

She was going to kill Just Dance on the next game night with the Avengers. Maybe sans beard, though…

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Kate was walking through the halls, aiming on getting a nice shower after her workout in the gym at the compound. She had spent far too much time watching Clint beat the punching bag and not enough time focusing on her own routine and she had almost fallen off of her treadmill mid-run.

Fortunately, she had saved herself from the embarrassment just barely, disguising her movement by hopping off of the treadmill last minute and grinning widely at Clint as she did a bow. Her excuse was that she was practicing a new workout routine with a bit more brandable content.

Clint had stared at her like she was insane, but she had stuck to her story despite the fact that she had a strong suspicion that he knew she had fallen off of the treadmill almost. She just hoped he did not suspect the reason for it.

However, she was quickly distracted from her one-track mind where she was going to wash all of her humiliation down the drain when she heard loud music and thumping coming from the other room. It sounded like someone was jumping up and down with the beat, and Kate furrowed her brow, thinking that she recognized the music.

She followed the sound, and she quickly realized it was coming from Natasha and Yelena’s room. She knew she should not look, but her curiosity got the better of her, and she crept to the door.

Once she opened it, a sight that she could not have conjured in her craziest, most terrifying dreams was playing out before her.

There was the one and only Yelena Belova dancing ridiculously to “Rasputin” with a fake beard and a very much overdone Russian coat that Kate had no idea that she had in her possession. Kate just gaped at her, her jaw slackening as she took in the sight of a lifetime. She quickly thought to reach for her phone, since she was not about to miss out on this opportunity.

Yelena tried to embarrass Kate about her crush on Clint on the regular, so Kate was not going to overlook this wonderful gift that life had decided to bestow upon her. She finally was going to have worthwhile blackmail and teasing material to throw at Yelena.

She covered her mouth as Yelena gave the dance way too much energy. Laughs were threatening to erupt from Kate, but she made sure to keep her video camera aimed at the blonde despite the fact that the view from the screen was shaking just a little from her barely restrained mirth.

Kate had never seen Yelena so relaxed and goofy like this. Not unless she was around Natasha, and even then, Kate had never really been privy to Yelena acting particularly stupid around Natasha although she had no doubt that Yelena felt safe to act that way around the redhead.

Kate was a little afraid of Yelena, because Yelena definitely gave off dangerous Russian vibes and Kate knew very well that Yelena could definitely kill her faster than she could blink. Kate knew she probably would never kill her, but she certainly did not put maiming out of the question.

But at the same time, Kate very much wanted to become friends with Yelena since she was a really cool adult that could remarkably let loose and have fun and acted like a kid most of the time.

Kate always thought that when people grew older than twenty-six or twenty-seven— which was when people were usually out of college— they became boring. However, Yelena was the complete opposite, and Kate admired her for not losing her sense of fun despite all of the things that she had been through.

But she did think that this dancing was even a little out of her own league as far as goofy and ridiculous went. Kate did not know any teenagers that would ever do something like this.

Kate had been doing a remarkable job holding herself together as she looked at this normally so scary Russian doing this goofy dance.

However, her demise was soon to come. When Yelena started dancing low to the ground and doing one of those traditional Russian dances, Kate lost it officially and accidentally snorted aloud. She quickly quieted herself, but the damage had been done as Yelena snapped her head to the side, her eyes comically wide as she gaped at Kate.

“KATE BISHOP!!!!” Yelena screeched, taking off for the door toward Kate, and Kate immediately darted away, taking off at full speed as she quickly turned off the camera on her phone.

She could hear Yelena quick behind her, and Kate certainly hoped that the coat would slow the blonde down at least a little bit. However, it did not seem to be fazing her.

Kate turned the corner quickly, and she could practically feel Yelena breathing down her neck as she rushed behind her.

“Stop right now!” Yelena yelled at her, and Kate shook her head quickly, trying to focus on running. Kate knew that she was going to likely run out of steam quickly since she had already spent a lot of her energy in the gym. She had run for way too long on that treadmill since she had gone along the entire time staring at Clint.

And she was quickly starting to regret that decision despite how wonderful it had been at the time.

However, she did not have much time to concentrate on that bout of hindsight, because Yelena suddenly jumped forward, tackling her as they hit the floor hard with a resounding thud. Kate quickly tried to crawl away, but Yelena sat down on her back, successfully squishing her. Kate swiftly maneuvered her phone underneath her body, trying to keep it hidden.

“Yelena, let’s be reasonable about this,” Kate helplessly told her, squished beneath the blonde.

“As I see it, you are in no position to be bargaining, so let me give you the opportunity to be reasonable,” Yelena told her, leaning over and down just a bit to look at Kate from where her cheek was firmly pushed into the floor. Kate looked over at her, trying not to laugh at the sight of the beard despite the fact that mild terror was starting to course through her.

Yelena was definitely older than her and her infinitely more mature side was showing through now. That terrifying Russian side was starting to very clearly make its way in her actions and on her face despite her ridiculous outfit, and Kate could not really think about anything but how much she will miss out on in life now that Yelena was going to undoubtedly kill her. Now she was never going to get an opportunity to kiss Clint.

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way, Katie. Think very carefully about your next actions,” Yelena warned her, bringing her out of her fearful stupor, and honestly the threat in Yelena’s voice terrified Kate even more. However, she could not stop herself from squinting a bit at the nickname as she paused.

“Don’t call me Katie!” Kate protested, and Yelena rolled her eyes with a loud groan before starting to grab at Kate’s arms. Kate resisted her firmly, keeping her arms underneath herself.

“Kate Bishop, don’t make this harder than it has to be. I’m going to win no matter what,” Yelena informed her, taking that condescending tone that she had the worst habit of using with Kate. Impulsively, Kate bucked underneath Yelena, and there was a moment of stillness before Yelena sighed deeply.

“What are you doing?” Yelena questioned, completely unimpressed, and Kate shook her head the best she could considering she could not move her head too well from her current position.

“I don’t know what that was, I’m sorry,” Kate apologized quickly, and Yelena scoffed.

“That looked like a fish,” Yelena commented.

“In hindsight, that probably was not the best use of energy,” Kate admitted, realizing that she probably could have used the energy behind that effort to fight back against Yelena prying at her arms.

“Definitely not,” Yelena agreed with her swiftly before diving down and trying to pull Kate’s arms out from under her even harder.

“C’mon, let up!” Yelena growled, and Kate closed her eyes tightly, hanging onto her phone even tighter.

“NO!!!” Kate cried, and Yelena snarled in frustration.

“GIVE IT TO ME!!!” Yelena yelled in response. Kate kept her arms tucked away, and Yelena grew increasingly irritated with her. She could feel Yelena raise up and more firmly grab at her waist with her legs as she started to try to roll the both of them over to access the phone.

Kate knew that she was about to be at her demise and the video was about to be gone forever, but she still fought. She was not going to give up her only chance at embarrassing Yelena.

Even if it was about to be literally pried out of her hands.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

It had been a strange day for Natasha so far. Yelena had been really strangely pleased with herself when Natasha had left for her mission, which made Natasha worry a little about the possibility of a prank being pulled later that day.

Not only was Yelena odd, but the mission had just been weird. It was a severe fail, and the warehouse had apparently been some sort of decoy to try to distract the Avengers from the true headquarters. She and Steve were going to go and investigate further about the suspected true location of the headquarters, but she was now just looking forward to holding Yelena in her arms and watching a movie with her or something relaxing to take away the stress from the oddness of the day.

However, nothing in her weird day could possibly compare to the sight of a very stereotypically Russian-dressed Yelena perched on top Kate Bishop and trying to flip the young archer over as she furiously clambered to grasp at something that Kate appeared to be hiding underneath herself.

“What is going on?!” Natasha cried, and both of the girls froze. It was then that Natasha could fully take in the beard on Yelena’s face. She almost laughed, and Yelena looked horrified as she gaped at the redhead.

“You’re home early,” Yelena blankly declared, and Natasha squinted as she looked at Yelena.

“Is that… A beard?” Natasha asked, and Yelena just stared at Natasha silently, obviously terribly embarrassed despite the fact that she could do almost literally anything else ridiculous around Natasha without being humiliated. Kate took her moment to throw Yelena off of her, and she scrambled to her feet, escaping quickly as she barely dodged around Natasha.

“Thank you, Natasha,” Kate breathed as she jumped around the redhead and ran down the hall full-speed.

Yelena then snapped back to attention, jumping up and starting to chase Kate, but Natasha quickly darted an arm out, catching Yelena around the middle as she stopped her.

“Woah, woah, woah, slow down,” Natasha told her, allowing herself a light chuckle despite her confusion, and Yelena just whined as she watched Kate escape.

“Nooo!!!!! She’s getting away,” Yelena pouted, and Natasha placed her free hand on Yelena face as she grabbed at her hairy chin and turned her face to meet her eyes. Natasha raised an eyebrow as she gave Yelena’s chin a pointed glance before locking her gaze with Yelena’s once again.

“Menopause must be hitting people hard these days if you can grow this much hair over the course of a few hours. Or have you been shaving behind my back?” Natasha asked with a smirk, and Yelena narrowed her eyes as she grew just a little red with Natasha’s teasing. However, her eyes narrowed as she lifted her chin defiantly, trying to put on a bluster of confidence.

“I am very proud of my beard and I would never shave it when I can grow it this long,” Yelena declared, and Natasha laughed a little as she pressed a kiss to Yelena’s nose, the synthetic beard hairs poking into Natasha’s lips. Natasha pulled away quickly, wiping her mouth as she tried to clear herself of hairs.

“So why are you dressed like this and trying to kill Kate?” Natasha asked, her arm around Yelena as she started to guide them to their room where they could discuss this more thoroughly. Yelena groaned deeply as she pulled her beard down so that it was hanging loosely around her neck.

They walked quietly for a while, finally reaching their door as they went inside. Natasha raised an eyebrow at Yelena as she cleared the bed and took in the sight of the Just Dance game screen from where it had timed out. Natasha was starting to get a really good idea of what had happened.

Apparently, Yelena knew this because she started to explain herself with a deep sigh.

“I may or may not have been practicing Just Dance for an upcoming Avengers game night, and Kate Bishop may or may not have gotten a video of me doing it,” Yelena admitted, and Natasha smirked widely, the grin hurting her cheeks as she imagined this scene perfectly. Yelena narrowed her eyes as she looked at Natasha, and she shoved at Natasha’s shoulder.

“Shut up!” Yelena cried and Natasha laughed, holding a hand up defensively as she stood near the bed.

“I didn’t say anything!” Natasha defended herself, and Yelena just sighed, looking sour as she got lost in her thoughts again.

“And she got away with the video, too,” Yelena whined unhappily, a pout on her face, and Natasha poked her bottom lip out sympathetically as she sat down on the bed, maneuvering herself so that her back was against the headboard.

“My poor baby… Come here and let me give you some love,” Natasha told her much too condescendingly and teasingly despite the sincerity in her voice, and Yelena narrowed her eyes and glared at her stubbornly for a long moment. However, she ended up giving in, and she crawled onto the bed before letting herself flop down hard on top of Natasha’s legs. Natasha grunted a little as Yelena rested her head on Natasha’s lap, the side of her face against Natasha’s thigh.

“She’s probably going to post it,” Yelena grumbled unhappily, and Natasha ran her fingers through Yelena’s hair before scratching at the base of Yelena’s neck, rustling the baby hairs there gently.

“It’s okay, Rooskaya. I’m pretty sure Kate’s not going to do that. Kate’s pretty tame. If she were you, though, we’d need to be worried,” Natasha teased gently, tugging gently at the less sensitive baby hairs and Yelena harrumphed in response, melting into Natasha as Natasha offered her affection.

There were a few beats of silence before Natasha smirked widely again.

“Hmm… I wonder if I could get her to send it to me, though.”

“NATASHKA!!!”

[callmemrscarter]

Before we got together, I wasn’t concerned about marriage. Or dating. I was so far gone, I prayed to God asking that He send me a man that would be worth it so that I wouldn’t think like this. One I wouldn’t have to suffer with.

Three days later, I met Matthew🖤

In our first year, we got to know each other so well. You could just look at us and know we were in love. Some told us the phase wouldn’t last. Some called us their favorite couple. Some said we’d be next to have kids.

But it got me thinking... I didn’t want to have any children unless I was married. And last I’d thought about it, I wasn’t even trying for it, but Matthew made me desire having children and it made me realize some things.

I was just going through the motions of what dating has become. And dating in today’s day and age has become so… complicated.

People have made things complicated.

I can’t speak for men, but I can speak on my own experience with women, especially black women, and a lot of us are out of order.

We *expect* traditional results as we live a very modern lifestyle. We *expect* luxury, when the vast majority of us are average.

A lot of us *expect* to be married without thinking about whether or not we actually *deserve* to be.

If we want to be *really* honest, a good chunk of us have gotten so lazy, men don’t even know what to do when they get a woman that puts in some effort and shows they care without making him jump through hurdles.

Women don’t even cook or bake anymore; homemaking skills are looked at as another form of oppression.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be married, but are you wife material?

Because at the end of the day, when a man marries you, you’re both supposed to benefit from that covenant. Naturally, that raises the question: what do you bring to the table?

But women tend to get offended at that without realizing they ask men the same thing.

And it’s a legitimate question! 🤣

“What does a man get if he marries you? Is it enough?” And love is not enough.

I’d think someone deserves to know what they’re signing up for which, hopefully, will last the rest of their life.

If you can’t tell and/or show them, how will they know?

You can learn some things in marriage, but what are you learning while you’re dating?

Are you learning him?

Are you becoming his wife?

Or are you wasting both of y’all’s time?

You can spend years with a person and not know someone at all.

Time doesn’t equate readiness for marriage.

Intention does.

[frogsandfries]

Operation blowup

🤪🤣

I decided I liked three times pixels best for the graphic novel as pixel art, so I'm blowing up all the art that I was finished with, filling it in and smoothing it out--y'know, the best you can with pixels. Blowing up the original art (or, I guess, copies of the originals) is, of course, a bit tedious, adding all the extra rows and columns and then filling them in. A few, between being blown up and turned into finished pixel art, require a significant amount of extra effort to achieve the desired affect.

So I'm working today because Christmas is a capitalist joke. I just wanted to brag--I'm not gonna waste anyone's time pretending that I'm not--that while I'm not making time and a half, I am a) only working half a shift today, and b) getting a $25/hr bonus. I'm making, essentially, thirty-nine dollars an hour today.

Yes, I could have gone absolutely nuts and worked like twelve hours today, but I have to work from Monday to Monday, so I thought I'd take advantage of both not being required to work and this awesome bonus.

After work, I'm going to spend my extended evening possibly doing some more cleaning, and definitely doing some more work with my graphic novel art.

Between my sister's visit and my partner's job, I'm trying to put some kind of routine back together. I think being out of a routine is a great time to do several things: Finally clean the floor, and entirely clean the kitchen once and for all, so maybe instead of floundering to catch up, I can finally instill the value of staying on top of it.