#although tbh I only remember the one in specifics

[lovelesslittleloser]

loveless give me a prompt that isnt about marriage, i need to write

You make that sound like most of my prompts are about marriage

Hmm, let’s see here, what do I have… *rummages through piles of empty notebooks* ah, here it is! *grabs the lone used notebook* so many good times, so many orphans.

Alrighty then… Would you prefer:

Orphanage mafia (MC is child of the deceased boss, young orphans don’t know about the mafia, older ones do, and the adults are all in it officially)

MC is one of few(ish) people who randomly got a mutation; they got raven wings, & they (along with any other mutants) are forced out of the city and into hiding. At some point there’s probably a high school arc, because of course there is.

MC reincarnates as a plant (preferably magic, or at least carnivorous, but normal will do as well)

Cowardly MC gets isekai-ed (via truck-kun, of course) and is able to choose their race, and they choose to be a siren/cubus demon mix (fishy siren with nice voice/sucubus-concubus-incubus for sexy), and somehow ends up becoming an idol and getting a vampire bf (who is also like a fourth or less incubus). Also in this specific world humans don’t exist anymore because they were too horny and interbred with all the monsters so much that the monsters are all humanoid now and humans are gone as a species

Every time the MC scares someone, they get something. Maybe just money, maybe they get stronger. High potential for becoming evil here

The earth has been taken over by a higher species, and now the MC (a human) has been taken as a pet.

A prison in which the only person who’s actually there for committing a crime is the MC (and it wasn’t anything cool either)

I’ve got plenty more, but I should probably stop here so I have material for next time.

Happy writing bestie x

[midnightbears]

Arranged marriage with Gyomei pls. Kagaya matched Gyomei with Y/N ​​for some reason and Gyomei slowly falling in love with y/n 🥲🥲❤

✿ i love you, and i want to find out what that means together.

#STARRING: himejima gyomei ft. fem!reader

#TAGS: arranged marriage. gyomei is in his early twenties in this one! set before the main events of kny. some invented lore for the sake of the story please just bear it thanks

#NOTES: hello there! thank you for your request <3 tbh I've always had this specific idea stuck in my head and you just gave me a reason to write for it LMAO i actually went kind of crazy with this fic omg i loved to write it let me know if u would like a part two! hope you like it and hope it wasn't too much LMAOOo

your existence could be hashed over with one word.

purpose.

ever since you could remember, your entire life had been mapped out for you: what to eat, what to not eat, what to like, what to dislike, what to wear, your hobbies, your pastimes, your vocabulary—everything. apparently, every inane thing that had been shoved down your throat was only done to make you a dignified woman worthy of whichever lord they married you off to.

you and your family hailed from a long line of priests and priestesses, where the girls were raised to be proper wives and shrine maidens and the boys were carefully taught the profession in hopes of serving important figures throughout japan.

you were helping your mother tend to the flowers one day when a messenger from the ubuyashiki clan—a kakushi, as you heard they were called—appeared before your temple's door, asking your father to choose and provide the clan with one of his daughters.

you were picked immediately, and you had no choice but to stand before your father, trembling, and pretend that you agreed with his decision with a serene expression on your face. you could tell this was just his way of finally getting rid of you.

in the words of your father behind closed doors, if someone couldn't be bothered to have the decency to visit the temple in person and instead sent a mere messenger to request a carefully trained shrine maiden, it was clear they didn't deserve the best of what he could offer.

you smiled, agreeing with him.

when you went to pack what little things you had, nobody was in the shared quarters; at least you would spare yourself of your sisters' cruel remarks over your father's decision. you did not have many things of your own; you packed your hairbrush, a book, and what few things you held dear.

the kakushi was waiting outside when you emerged. trying to maintain a semblance of calm, you offered him a small smile. he looked at you with curiosity but did not say anything. kindly, he allowed you a moment for a brief prayer before the buddha statue at the front of the temple. then, you were off.

no one came to say goodbye to you.

it was alright, you supposed. the only person you could think fondly of was your mother, and a barbed wire of melancholy slowly wound around your heart at the thought of not being able to part ways properly. you knew that she preferred you over her other daughters, but even so, you were aware that she would never hear the end of it from your father if she came to say her farewells. you would write to her.

you were the third of six sisters, and always, one of them was more talented than you were, just a tad bit more attractive, just a tad bit more creative, just a tad bit more charming. sure, you were well-versed in the duties of a useful spouse—okay, all your sisters were as well. what good was that when you had nothing special about you? what was it your father called you? ah, yes, mediocre.

the kakushi did not speak to you for the entire trip, for which reason you did not know. a question hung on the tip of your tongue, although you dared not ask it. at some point, he urged you to wear a blindfold and climb on his back, which you simply accepted, knowing better than to ask.

you didn't make anything out during the journey, only listening to the sound of small pebbles vibrating against the ground as he made his way up a mountain. after what felt like hours, he finally put you down, gently tugging the blindfold off you and allowing your eyes to adjust to the bright light of morning.

once you were presentable, he escorted you toward the estate entrance. you could tell he was a bit off put by the way you were just accepting things, but he didn't say anything about it.

the kakushi stopped before the towering gate of the ubuyashiki mansion and offered you a deep bow. you thanked him, and you could see him smile with his eyes before he left. another kakushi, a woman this time, escorted you toward a graveled garden, a small figure sitting by the engawa.

she knelt on the ground and bowed her head, and you did the same until she picked herself from the ground.

looking forward, you met the gaze of a boy who looked to be around the age of fifteen, with kohl black hair that sat just above his shoulders. he had the most beautiful eyes you had ever seen, so easy to look at, lavender tainting the irises. he had the calming smile of a buddha, and although knowing nothing about him beyond reputation, you felt at ease with him.

"i am kagaya. i trust your journey went smoothly? thank you for your patience, maiden. i apologize for not going to your temple in person, i hope your priest will forgive me. believe me, i wanted to, but i'm afraid my illness would not have allowed me to make the trip."

the boy's voice was unlike any other you had ever heard, fluid and gentle, causing a wave of reassurance to wash over you. you felt at ease immediately, as though something had just taken every burden off your shoulders and instead shrouded you in a cloud of repose.

"it was no trouble, oyakata-sama, truly." you followed this with a deep incline of your head, your own voice remaining serene and mellow, "it is an honor to be in your presence."

kagaya smiled. "your temple is of great renown. my clan has had the pleasure of counting with your priests and maidens across the centuries. there is no need for such formalities, child."

granted, you were sure you were older than him by a few years, but the way he called you 'child' was comforting, and you were not about to question him, simply keeping quiet.

"you are to marry one of my pillars, maiden. he is an honorable man, the lord of stone, i am sure the two of you will get along. he should arrive any moment now."

you willed yourself to say something, yet you simply could not. you were not the first maiden who was given to a lord for marriage, and you certainly wouldn't be the last. still, your heart did a flip at the simple notion of ending up in a similar situation as your mother, forced to produce offspring until your husband found you undesirable.

for a moment, a cold hand wrapped around your heart in fear of what that man would do with you. however, the single thought of the young boy before you lying about the pillar's honor revolted you. he was telling the truth, and if he said the stone pillar was a good man, then you had nothing to fear.

softly, the sound of footsteps reached your ears, and you turned slightly to see a towering figure approaching, his presence both imposing and serene all at once.

the man who stood before you was unlike any you had ever seen. large beyond comparison, clad in the dark robes of a uniform and a green haori. his stature was immense, with muscles that seemed chiseled from stone. he was young, with an impassive face, yet undeniably handsome. his eyes, clouded with a milky whiteness, told you that he could not see, yet he moved with a grace that belied his blindness.

"this is himejima gyomei, the stone pillar," kagaya introduced, "he has been chosen as your betrothed, and i trust that you will find solace and strength in his presence."

gyomei walked toward you, his movements slow and deliberate, his footsteps echoing throughout the garden—

your breath hitched as he knelt before you, reaching his hand out. but instead of what you expected, he pressed his palm against your cheek, his voice reverberating like a chiming bell inside a cathedral. he caressed your cheek as one would treat an injured butterfly.

"maiden beloved," he murmured, tears spilling from his eyes, "i apologize for making you wait."

the ceremony was that same day, quick and endearing.

you were married in front of oyakata-sama, his wife, and other members of the corps as witnesses. before you knew it, the wedding concluded, and your husband guided you to your new home with you by his side.

gyomei was not acting like he had been given you as some justly won right to do with as he pleased. that set your heart at ease, greatly so, and in some way, it was like he could tell, too. he was walking slowly, allowing you to keep up with his large strides. small talk filled the empty silence of the way home as he listed all the things you would assist him with.

you were to cook for him, clean the estate daily and take care of it when he was away, write letters for him and read them when he received any, and...

huh. that was it.

getting used to your routine was easier than anticipated as weeks passed, although you would be lying to yourself if you said that gyomei's patience and demeanor weren't helping you in the slightest.

he had insisted that you sleep in a separate bedroom within the estate, taking into account that despite being your husband, he was still a complete stranger to you. the very moment you reached your new home, he made sure to explicitly tell you that he did not wish to embarrass you or cause you discomfort in any way, shape, or form.

during mornings, you would naturally wake up at the crack of dawn, your training making things much easier. you would dress yourself in the robes gyomei had gifted you for your wedding and make your way to the kitchen to start a big meal for the day. you'd wake him up then, guiding him to the kitchen to share breakfast together.

most of the time, you ate in silence, although you did not mind at all. after that, you would wash dishes, and he trained. the estate was not that big, so having to sweep the floor or dust the shelves daily did not bother you, and you instead found comfort in the repetitive routine. you would finish quite swiftly and urge gyomei inside again for tea time during noon.

you tried to entertain yourself as best as possible during the afternoons and evenings. usually, you would find yourself tending to a small garden you'd created when you arrived. your husband would sometimes join you, captivated by the sweet smell of the flowers and the sensation of the earth beneath his fingertips. you would explain what the flowers looked like and how they were meant to be taken care of, and he, in turn, basked in your every word.

gardening duty was one of the things you enjoyed most back at the temple, and since no one else was willing to get their hands dirty, you were the maiden who would regularly take care of the flowers.

you bought flower seeds during your first trip to the market in the nearby town and took the time to introduce yourself to as many people as possible. the locals were very kind to you, and as you started frequenting the shops more and more, you were always being greeted by folks who wished you and your husband the best.

as months passed, your relationship with gyomei deepened in ways you had never expected. the initial tension and clumsiness of living with a stranger began to fade, replaced by a growing sense of familiarity and comfort.

gyomei, true to his word, respected your boundaries and gave you space to adjust at your own pace. however, small gestures of care and affection started to seep into your daily life. he would often leave freshly picked flowers from your garden by your bedroom door, their vibrant colors and sweet fragrance greeting you first thing in the morning. sometimes, he would assist you with household chores, his presence making the mundane tasks feel lighter and more enjoyable.

he began to pay attention to the little things, like how you offered wounded slayers who stumbled upon the estate a fresh meal and a place to redress their wounds, or how you fed the cats mingling around your shared home every single night, even noticing that you had taken the time to name them and remember everyone.

the town's people, too, played a part in your growing closeness. they would often remark on how harmonious you and gyomei seemed together, their kind words fortifying the bind that tied you together. you started to see the way gyomei interacted with them and how much respect the people had for him—and you couldn't help but admire him more each day.

your conversations, though initially skimpy and shallow, began to flow more naturally. gyomei's deep voice would rumble through stories of his past with the children of the orphanage, his experiences as a hashira, and the lessons he had learned along the way. you, in turn, shared snippets of your life at the temple, your family, your dreams, and your fears. it was through these conversations that you realized how much you had in common despite your different backgrounds.

anyone with a pair of working eyes would see it, or, at least, anyone who had known for at least once in their lifetime what a soul-stirring connection with another human felt like. you found comfort in his presence, seeking him out like a moth to a flame, and he, in yours, only wanted you to tend to his wounds after missions, fix his haori, or wait by himself outside just so he could pray by your side.

eventually, it got to a point where the separate bedrooms became less of a necessity and more of a formality. you often found yourself falling asleep together in the living room after long conversations or shared moments of silence. whenever you did manage to part ways, you always lingered by your door, a dreamy smile encasing your lips.

you could not deny yourself anymore. you were the happiest you had been in years.

one evening, as you both sat for dinner, the familiar quiet enveloping you like a warm blanket, gyomei's voice broke through the tranquility.

"i love you."

the bunch of food you were going to bring into your mouth splattered into the bowl again with a messy splash. oh. oh my god. you whipped your head toward your husband, who stared at you with a soft expression on his face.

"you do not have to say it back if you do not feel the same, but i wanted you to know." then, gyomei went back to chewing his food as if he had not said what he had just said.

"why?"

gyomei shifted his head in your direction with a worried expression, your teary tone and doddering heartbeat doing nothing to mitigate his apprehension. he tried to reach for you, but you jerked away from him. he could tell that whatever you were feeling was not directed toward him, but still, it pained him greatly to know you were suffering.

"g-gyomei, i—"

your hands were shaking, and he reached for them to trace your skin with the pads of his thumbs. he opened his mouth, but you beat him to it as you keeled over, shoulders trembling as sobs left your mouth, your usual calmness thrown out the window.

"y-you said that you wouldn't embarrass me! there is nothing special about me. what is it about me that you could possibly love? you're always so good to me," you were throwing word vomit at this point, and the worst part was you did not even know where it was coming from, "i haven't done anything to receive your affection! i'm just doing the things i'm supposed to do..."

tears slid down his cheeks before he could stop them, and he leaned forward to pull you into his embrace. your body completely froze, an unknown emotion taking over. gyomei had never initiated contact before. most of the time, you had to be the one to grab his hand or tug his collar.

"my little maiden... you have no idea how precious you are to me," gyomei murmured, his voice impossibly gentle and firm. he held you close, his large, comforting presence grounding you as your sobs began to subside. "you see yourself through the harsh lens of your own eyes, but i see the truth of your heart with my own. your unconditional kindness, your strength, your sincerity—these are just some of the reasons i love you."

his words seeped into your cold heart, slowly quieting the tempest inside. you couldn't understand how someone as incredible, kind, and powerful as gyomei could see such worth in you, but the sincerity in his voice and the warmth of his embrace made you want to believe him.

"you don't have to prove your worth to me or anyone," he continued, his voice alleviating your wounded spirit. "you are enough, just as you are. your presence in my life is a blessing, and i am grateful for you every single day."

"gyomei," you whispered, your voice trembling but no longer with fear. "i… i love you too. i was just scared. scared that i wasn't enough for you."

he smiled softly, wiping away your tears with his thumbs. "you are more than enough, my love. and i will spend the rest of all my lifetimes showing you just how much you mean to me."

© midnightbears on tumblr, july 2024. please do not repost to another platform, plagiarize, translate, use for AI-related purposes or claim as your own.

[3liza]

saw someone talking about "scary dog privilege" on here today and cant find the post again but i guess it refers to when women are bothered less in public when accompanied by a large dog, and bypassing the quibble i have with calling that a privilege, i can absolutely 100% confirm it is true.

i was approached by a 30s-40s single white man wearing the Dipshit Uniform (guy in a baseball cap who looks like he drives an f-150 and has voting opinions i would not agree with) on the street the other day and all he had to talk about was Churchgrim. that he was VERY large, looked like a good boy, obedient, what breed is he, etc. this is the only interaction i get from men in public anymore unless i do not have the dog with me, at which point it goes back to the usual bullshit. however it has to be an actual scary-looking dog and you have to visibly have control of it. this is not why i got a large dog, it's just a side benefit. it probably has a lot to do with the masculine cultural coding of any large dog breed that isnt a poodle or a sight hound more than it does the actual violence potential of the dog, but those two things are related. notably, not a SINGLE man has tried to mansplain dog care or handling to me for five years. not one. i cant explain this because its not like being visible capable at a task or skill will stop them in any other circumstance, including when you are holding a literal firearm.

i remember reading some stupid op-ed from some idiot woman who got a dog "for protection" on her jogs and was baffled when men were not intimidated by her golden fucking retriever (although they should have been; goldens bite a lot, statistically, probably explicitly because people do not take them seriously)

the fact that men's body language and tone of voice has changed so drastically from before when i had a 90lbs black shepherd mix standing next to me is pretty damning tbh. all people both intentionally and unintentionally modulate their communication styles around that type of dog to display respect, interest, or fear, experienced dog people can be identified instantly by their comfort and confidence with the dog, and people with dog phobia are the opposite. the dog instinctively puts himself between me and approaching strangers, probably not out of a defensive instinct in grim's case but because strangers are interesting and he wants to be closer to the object of interest, but the physical barrier this creates is a great benefit to me.

specifically, men talk to me much much much more like they are speaking to another man when the dog is there. part of that is men are often genuinely interested in knowing information about a large dog of grim's type and are not using the dog as an excuse to flirt with or harass me. grim has a phenotype that is familiar to certain experiences within the united states as a "porch dog" or "yard dog" or "farm dog" that everyone who has lived in rural areas has usually known or owned a few notable examples of, and thats a general class of dog that tends to be good at listening and responding to humans and has a lot of opportunities to display intelligence or good judgment, so people with rural experience tend to associate him with good memories. he's also "handsome" in the dog sense because he got to keep his balls until he was 3, on the advice of his vet, and as a result he developed nice-looking musculature and a big thick neck which you dont get on city dogs much. he gets a lot of positive attention from older ladies as well, who you'd think would be afraid of being knocked over, but who are always just besotted with him for reasons i havent quite figured out yet. maybe they like seeing a youngish woman with a dog like this, i know that i feel good and happy when i see younger women and girls in situations where they seem safe or protected to me. i think to myself, "i don't have to worry about her" and i feel relief. observing young women and girls often triggers anxiety for women who are even just a few years older than they are, out of pure empathy. its one reason it's so important to be kind to younger people than you are.

anyway it's damning to the men because of course men don't think rationally that the dog would understand and be offended or angry if they sexually harassed or disrespected me. but they are still on their best behavior because the dog is an implicit threat that i can defend myself. and perhaps not only did they have nothing real to discuss with me before now because they assumed we had nothing in common and that i was an idiot or not human, but they are watching themselves carefully to only express normal human civility. i dont get that from random men without the dog. mostly (not entirely but mostly) i get either casual disrespect/disregard, or outright sexual harassment. when i was younger and less experienced with men and had fewer cycles of these interactions, i was completely unaware of how disrespectful these approaches or comments were, which is the interpretation i can see less-experienced women making now, even if they're my age. and when i was 20, my 30 year old friends seemed pathologically misandrist and defensive to me. it was purely the difference in our actual mileage. that sucks man. wish we could just be normal around people and not have to expect the worst constantly.

anyway, good dog

[reidmania]

FLICKER | SPENCER REID

chapter one ;

in which spencer knows falling for a victim is wrong, but he cant help himself.

warnings ;

all chapters of this will contain strong mentions and descriptions of rape and murder, violence, eating disorders, suicides, abuse, sexual jokes and references, and all the criminal minds stuff, please be aware of this when reading.

a/n ;

around 3k words idk tbh

this is based in the earlier seasons and doesnt follow an exact plotline, its kinda all made up, if things are inaccurate i apologise, please RESPECTFULLY let me know and ill do what i can to correct it!!

NOT MY GIF!!

"Kay pretty boy, heads up" The voice came from the familiar voice, belonging to the all well known, his best friend; Derek Morgan.

Spencer furrowed his eyebrows as he turned his head, the nickname had developed between the two pretty quickly, it was simply teasing.

His hand came in contact with the book that traveled away from Derek's own, it was a basic copy of the illustrated man by Ray BradBury, one of his favourites.

"Whats this for?" Spencer asked, eyebrows still furrowed as he looked up from the book back to Derek who was now leaning against Spencers desk, hip to desk.

Derek chuckled, "Its your favourite right? I wanted to give you something you could read on the jet" Derek shrugged simply.

Spencer hummed, furrowing his eyebrows further as he let the book rest on the edge of his desk, his head shook for a moment as he tried to figure out why Derek would think he would have to re-read the book when he could literally recite it word for word.

"You do know I have an eidetic memory right?" Spencer asked, his head tilted slightly to the side as he looked up at Derek.

Derek only nodded, shrugging his shoulders. "I don't know man, you have read like every book in the world. I figured Id at least gift you a copy of something you like, why can't you just be grateful?" Derek said, his tone shifting to teasing rather quickly.

Spencer let his face relax, a simple shake of his head. "Thank you." He said simply, "We have a case?" He asked, mind replaying back to Derek's mention of the jet.

Derek nodded, and then as if on cue Hotchner and Gideon walked through the doors. The all familiar stern look covered Hotch's face as he looked over at the two boys.

"We don't have time to discuss, we need to go." He said sweet and simply.

Spencer nodded his head, pushing away from the desk. Morgan mirrored his actions. The two wasted no time getting their stuff before following the two older men out.

"Where are we going?" Morgan asked, seemingly enthusiastic. Spencer frowned slightly as he noticed they weren't walking in the direction of the jet.

"To the police station to get further details on the case" Gideon said, looking behind him at the two younger boys. Derek frowned, "The case is here?" He asked.

Spencer hummed, "Absolutely 65% of cases here that happen daily that we don't get called in on because we are out of town working on other cases" He muttered, although no one asked for the random bit of information he could stop it from spilling past his lips.

"Where's JJ and Elle?" Derek asked, obviously the two girls weren't around.

"They already left." Hotch said

Gideon nodded his head in agreement. "Do you remember the 10 murders that happened one after the other over the course of a month, about two years ago?" He asked the two boys.

"Which one?" Derek said, tone dripping confusion.

"2 women every week until the unsub killed four girls, in one day. He was the one that would target specific types of women, they all looked and acted the same, he would drug them and rape them and then kill them and leave their bodies out in the open" Spencer muttered as he and Derek got into the back seat of the car.

"I thought he was caught, and the case was closed?" Derek asked, eyebrows furrowed slightly as he looked over at Spencer, who seemed to had thought the same of him.

"So did we." Hotch said simply.

Spencer sat up a little bit straighter in his seat, pulling his hand to his hair to put a bit of hair out of his face. "Was there another murder?"

Gideon shook his head as he turned back to look at the two boys.

"She survived."

"How do we know it's the same guy?" Derek asked, as they walked into the police station, they were met with many familiar faces, officers they had worked with on many cases before.

"We don't, not for certain but her story matches all the others, and she is exactly the type." Hotch said, taking the lead as they walked up to the commanding officer.

"Aaron Hotchner, with the bau, we need a conference room and to talk to the victim." He said.

Spencer tried his best not to watch in awe at how swiftly the elder did his job, he had the introduction down pat. Hotch and the commanding officer talked for a moment before they were directed to an empty conference room, where they each placed their stuff.

"Shes going to be sensitive, this would've been traumatic and we have to be insanely careful with how far we push." Hotch said, looking between Derek and Spencer.

The two nodded as Derek dove into the case file, reading over the contents of the piles and piles of paper. "Reid, come in with me to talk to her." Hotch said, nudging his head towards the door in the other room.

"Hey guys" All four of the men turned their head to face the blonde girl who walked into the room with a tray of coffee's.

"Hey JJ, how is she?" Gideon asked, wasting no time reaching out to take one of the coffee from the tray now placed on the table. JJ shrugged, "I want to say shes okay but that seems insensitive. Elle is in there with her now, she would know more than I do." JJ said, before handing another file in Derek's direction.

"Oh my gosh, how many files are there?" Derek complained. Spencer held back from saying how it really wasn't that much — because it was — just not to him. "Shes nice, funny, don't treat her like glass I think that makes it worse" JJ warned the boys simply, handing a coffee to Derek, who took it gracefully.

When she held out one to Spencer he was quick to thank her and take the coffee off her hands, but with no plans to drink it.

"Ready Reid?"

Spencer felt like the breath had been knocked out of his chest when his eyes rested upon the girl sitting in the corner of the room.

The chair had been pulled away from the interrogation table, instead placed against the wall in the furtherest wall away from the door.

He watched as the girls eyes traveled upwards to the door as the two men entered the room. Elle turned her head after, nodding as she stood up.

"These are some of my coworkers, you can talk to them, okay?" Elle said, Spencer watched the interaction and watched as the girl nodded her head.

"Im Agent Aaron Hotcher, with the FBI." Hotch introduced himself, taking a sensitive step towards the table. Spencer stayed in place.

"Im Agent Dr Spencer Reid." He introduced, although it felt like his throat had been closed off. His eyes stayed on hers and he felt like he was drowning when she smiled softly at him.

"Im Serenity May." Her voice was sweet like honey and Spencer had to remind himself to keep it professional as he felt his head began to swarm.

that never happened before.

Hotch offered the girl a half hearted smile, of course they already knew her name. They had an idea of what she looked like, since the unsub had a specific type.

Brunette, short, pretty face, younger than he was, girls who dressed nice, who smelt of vanilla. Every one of the victims had the same use of vanilla perfume.

Although that was something that was different, the brunette girl across the room didn't smell of vanilla. She smelt of honey and caramel, the scent took over Spencers senses.

"We need to ask you a few questions but you know how much you talk about and how deep we go is completely up to you." Hotch said, Pulling a chair to sit down, he sat at the table but made no effort to try and get the girl to move out of her place in the corner of the room.

Serenity nodded her head softly, a loose strand of brunette hair falling over her face. Spencer noticed how she was quick to push the hair back behind her ear. He noticed the way her knees were pulled up to her chest, and the way her chin rested upon them. He tried not to over analyse her body language, but he couldn't help it.

"I have a question though." She spoke up, Spencer felt his chest twist all over again with every word that left her lips. He hated the way his entire body was reacting, it was inappropriate.

"Of course, you can ask anything." Spencer said softly, taking a few steps around the room to lean against the table as he crossed his arms over his chest, leaning his hip comfortably against it.

She chewed at her lip for a moment, looking at Elle. Spencer watched the two hold eye contact before the brunette turned her head again to face the two men.

"After this.. Can I go home? I really just want to go home" The words came out desperate and sad, it broke Spencers heart because they would have to tell her No.

"Unfortunately not, If you escaped, then he would be looking for you. This is where you are safe" Hotch answered.

Spencer watched as the girls smiled dampened slightly, nontheless she nodded her head in understanding. "Okay. I get it, you guys can ask your questions now."

Hotch started, simply asking you to explain what happened in as much detail as possible without it being too much for you.

Spencer listened to her speak as if his life depended on it. His eyebrows furrowed slightly when she mentioned how she had been with the unsub for two days, yet no one filed a missing person report, when he was asked about it, the answer didn't help the way his heart was tearing away from its self as she exposed every little bit of her story.

"I don't have any family around here.. And I just finished university, things get busy. The people in my life are use to be not being able to answer for a few days.." It was horrible. Truely.

"You don't have any friends around here, room mates?" Hotch asked, furrowing his eyebrows slightly.

Serenity's frown only deepened at the mention of being slightly called out, "Well — No. Not really. I live alone, I wasn't all that social in uni.." She says, eyes shifting between Spencer's and Hotch's.

"What were you studying?" Spencer asked, passing it off as a question for the case, not a question for his own curiosity, trying to figure out her interests. That always helped in these cases anyways.

"Psychology." She answered simply, eyes lingering on Spencers for a minute. "Which Im regretting now because all I can think about is how maybe there is a valid reason he did this." She muttered quietly, as if she was so ashamed of the thought.

Spencer shook his head, "There is no valid reason for what he did to you." He was quick to say it. Because morally, there wasn't, and the idea of her sitting there trying to justify sickening actions because of something that might be wrong with the guy made Spencers stomach clench.

"Maybe it's valid to him." She spoke, still maintaining the eye contact between herself and Spencer, but her voice was soft and quieter than before.

"That doesn't make it okay." He said, eyebrows furrowed in a slight look of disapproval of the perspective she was providing. The girl's lip quipped up slightly as she noticed The agents expression. "I know that. I can't stop thinking that I got lucky, which is so horrible. Ten girls before me were raped brutally and Murdered and I wasn't.. It feels selfish for me to be happy about that."

She spoke with so much doubt in herself it was almost hard to listen to, because all Spencer wanted to do was sit there and tell the girl everything she was feeling was completely valid and normal, for hours, until she believed it.

Unfortunately that was unprofessional.

Elle spoke up before either of the men could, "Oh babe. I am so sure every single one of those girls are smiling down at you, so insanely proud of what you did." Spencer couldn't have worded it any better, he watched her frown shift slightly, not disappearing but that wasn't expected of her.

"Then I guess I need to give those girls the justice they deserve.. Where were we."

[cyanide-sippy-cup]

Finally watched Caped Crusader and I have ✨thoughts✨.

Oswalda is straight up iconic. Loved every scene with her. I actually laughed out loud when the dude goes "Thorne got you to kill the wrong son?" and she responds "Not that!" I'd let her lock me in a suitcase and throw me in the sea. She gets a gold star ⭐

I like that we get to see Selina's origin. I like the classic suit. That's kinda it though. A bit sad that Bruce didn't feel any connection with her. Just not a huge fan of her character here. She doesn't feel like Selina (a problem most of this show faces tbh).

I was loving the Harley stuff. The bit with Renee was so cute, and I love that she really was passionate about helping Bruce move past his trauma. I really like that she's Barbara's friend. Was really upset at the fakeout death but at least she was just joshin. The villain stuff felt like fetishes which like okay. I guess Bruce needed to put in something to replace BruceBabs. Anyway, that's the final dig towards him. As much as this Harley episode wasn't my favorite, a promise is a promise. Although I do gotta ask, WHY CAN'T RENEE CATCH A BREAK IN HER LOVE LIFE >:(((

No fucking way the moral of episode 7 was "the system is totally not screwed, it's just a few bad apples and also a criminal is a criminal and should be jailed". Barbara literally says the system sucks cause the cops can do what they want and get in anyone's pockets and then nearly gets killed by a cop and then they end it with "actually, I think you do"?! I mean yeah that specific guy deserved prison but ending it on that note of Barbara feeling betrayed and confused on her morals tells a very not-so-delightful message. Glad the show backtracks on all that immediately but it's still weird and definitely could've used some revising to fit in with the rest.

Onomatopeia was awesome though. I remember people claiming his shtick couldn't work when he appeared in Superman and Lois. They said that it only worked in comics and would be too silly out loud. Happy to report that they're wrong.

I feel like I'm the only one who was excited to see Waylon but that's okay cause I got enough excitement for everyone. Love to see my mans kicking the shit out of potential perverts. You go, Waylon!

Dick, Jason, Steph, and Carrie. Definitely an interesting combination. But it's also so nice to see a Jason who grew up in a different environment and is therefore adorable with no rage in his heart. As opposed to Carrie who was ready to kick some ass. The ending to episode 8 really understood Batman, what with him saying he can't leave her there, carrying her and shielding her under the cape, and then asking about her later.

The Harvey bit is kinda cool but 1, I've always been iffy on the shotty DID stuff and 2, I think they coulda gone further. Just watch The Long Halloween for a better Two Face plot.

I like Harvey helping that guy get his stuffed animal back. That was a nice small character moment. If we had more stuff like that and Bruce being unable to confess his emotions to Alfred, I think this whole thing would be better. This one made up for episode 7's little message by having Barbara tell Harvey that it's not so cut and dry and that he deserves help too. I'm glad they went back to that after the whole "sometimes things are black and white" bit. Batman is about helping people just as much as Superman is and I feel like sending a message that "nope, bad is bad and he should just punch people" doesn't fit the entire thesis of Batman.

This finale really encapsulates how this show doesn't quite understand the character of Batman. It may be comic-accurate for him to be an asshole and put on the voice randomly, treat Alfred like crap, and randomly break character with stuff like "don't start growing a conscience now, Dent" but as I said it goes against the whole thesis. This is more along the lines of the Nolan films with the "Bruce Wayne is the mask" bit. And we all know how I feel about those films.

And then it ends on a boring cliffhanger with the boss guy and then a shitty Joker teaser. Boo.

In short, this show is good but it's not anything special. I do really like the classic Batman aesthetic, but that's pretty much it. It doesn't really understand the characters like MAWS and WFA, the overarching plot is kind of uninteresting and it doesn't feel like we're building up to something great. I feel like this show really wanted to use the episodic style to take a look at all these different elements of Gotham's world with references to existing characters and aspects. But whereas MAWS smoothly slid those into its narrative and setting, this just kinda feels like a villain of the week show instead of working towards this grand narrative. And that can be a good thing, I mean I'm a Scooby Doo fan for crying out loud, but in this scenario, it just doesn't work that exceptionally. If it gets a season 2, I'll probably watch it. But this isn't something I'd be excitedly waiting to see new episodes of.

[reasonsforhope]

Do you have any advice for dealing with election anxiety?

I think/hope so!

First, a couple caveats:

I'm from the US, so US perspective, and about US 2024 elections

I know more about politics/follow them more than like, at least 85% of US Americans? But I am not an expert.

Environment/climate news and climate hope are science-based and can be measured/predicted empirically wayyyyy more than politics can, because People

I'm not getting into the trenches around Democrats vs. the Left vs. Liberals vs. Progressives. In this post, we're all in one big venn diagram of mostly interchangeable terms

So, first off, maybe my biggest piece of advice is this: The antidote to anxiety is action.

Find something you can do to help - anything. Anxiety is like fear - it's part of your brain's alarm system. It's part of your brain's mechanism for telling you that you need to do something

So if you listen to that alarm and do something, your brain won't feel the same need to desperately escalate the alarm system

You can look up and sign up for actions, protests, petitions, letter-writing campaigns, phone banking, canvassing, and more for candidates near you at Mobilize.us (no Repubs on here I promise). They also work with Swing Left a lot - a group that helps voters look up and focus on helping the nearest race that is actually competitive (because most of them aren't!)

Again, that's Mobilize.us and Swing Left as two of the best places to find out how and where to help, and sign up to do so

Other than that, I don't have advice specifically so much as I have "some useful and more hopeful ways to think about the coming US election" and to a lesser extent democracy in general

1. The media is going to underreport how well the Left and/or Democrats are doing, basically no matter what.

So, although we can't get cocky about it, this is something absolutely worth remembering when you see just about any polling or predictions about the 2024 elections.

Here's why:

Poling is weird and often inaccurate and skews in a lot of ways and is inherently biased, and it's less accurate the further you are from an election. Also, the electoral college is a huge complication here

This skewing is built into both the interpretation of the poll and the design of the poll itself - how many people do they sample? Demographic spread? Polls try to go for "likely voters," but how well can you predict that, especially as voting rates for young people and marginalized groups are rising, often dramatically?

Right now, those biases are all skewing most to all polls and predictions to the right. Including from basically all pollsters, as well as left-wing media and news outlets.

Now, THAT'S NOT INHERENTLY A BAD THING. It's not because they don't want the Left to win. It's because in 2016, basically all mainstream media, including left-leaning media, said that there was a very low chance Trump was going to win. They said that Hillary Clinton had it in the bag. So they're all correcting for the huge inaccuracy in the 2016 (and 2020 and 2022 tbh) elections

Not only were they catastrophically and humiliatingly wrong about that, they then had to deal with the fact that that very reporting was part of why Clinton lost in 2016 - voters heard she was probably going to win, so they felt safe staying home instead of voting

And then the 2020 election polls were also super wrong, mostly in the other direction

Polling as a field is undergoing a massive shakeup around this, trying to figure out how to not fuck up that badly again, but they haven't figured it out yet, so right now they're skewing things to compensate

That's for the sake of both their own credibility and, you know, the part where just about no one in either left-wing or mainstream media or mainstream polling orgs wants Trump to win

So they're going to underreport Democratic chances on purpose to a) compensate for the bias skewing things toward Democrats in their models, and b) to make sure that they don't accidentally help Trump win again

Sources: x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x

Reasons the Republicans are in more trouble than a lot of people think

Democrats are largely closing ranks hard around Biden, because no matter what they think of Biden, they know a Repub victory would be a thousand times worse

Republicans, however, are absolutely NOT unifying around a candidate. And they're also the ones who go around saying a ton of awful and offensive and wildly untrue things about their opponents. Meaning that the Republican primary is about to get fucking messy, and probably all of their candidates will be tarred in the process

So, basically, the Republican candidates are all going to be busy smearing the fuck out of each other - while Biden mostly doesn't have to deal with that level of negative campaigning against him for months and months

As studies show, in politics, "a negative frame is much more persistent, or “stickier,” than a positive one. If you come at an issue negatively, but are later reminded of the policy's positive aspects, you will still think it's a bust."

Also, Biden is gonna get basically all presidential-race left-wing big-name donor money, while the Right will have that money split a bunch of ways and blow through it hard on infighting, creating a probable funding gap

Trump's campaign contributions are all going to pay his legal fees. Like, to the extent that last month, his main PAC had just $4 million in cash on hand - because they siphoned over $101 million to pay his legal fees (muahahaha)

Sources: x, x, x, x, x, x, x

Other hopeful things to consider

Yes, Trump's indictments and trials are, unfortunately, boosting his numbers among his supporters. However, that's only with the hard right wing - and you can't win a general election with just the far right. He needs to appeal to independent voters and moderate Repubs - and every indictment and trial hurts his chances with them. x, x

In 2022, literally everyone was predicting a "red tsunami." And they were wrong: it never happened. Instead, Democrats picked up a seat in the senate, lost a third or less of the seats in the House that they were expected to, and won a number of statewide races. x, x, x, x, x

DeSantis's decision to go to war with Disney stands to do him a lot of fucking hard. Disney isn't just powerful in general - it's an unbelievably powerful force and employer in DeSantis's home state of Florida. Disney has already pulled a $1 billion project from Florida due to the feud, is responsible for "half" of FL's tourism industry, and and is branding DeSantis as "anti-corporation" and "anti-business" - dangerous charges in the right wing. x, x, x, x, x, x

Abortion is an issue that gets voters to the polls. This is an issue on which politicians are wildly out of step with voters: Numbers change depending on how you break it down, but generally 60% to 70% of Americans think abortion should be legal - which is, in election terms, is a landslide. For years, that momentum has been with Republicans. Well, now it's with us, and so far pro-choice candidates and ballot propositions have done way better than expected. To quote Vox, in 2022, "abortion rights won in all six states with abortion ballot measures, including in red states like Kentucky and Montana that otherwise elected Republican lawmakers." x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x

[thistoowillpasss]

The Levers Between

This is a post of the levers that exist in the Lands Between. Yeah, the DLC isn't out, we're talking about the levers.

There seems to be a few consistent styles across the lands, while some are more specialized. Not all doors or lifting platforms have levers--some are exclusively pressure plate operated, notably certain divine tower lifts. As a disclaimer this is not all the levers, I'm probably missing a couple that I can't remember or be asked to go take a picture of.

Wide Use Levers

Mining Tunnel levers tend to be these, a surprisingly eloquent but robust lever, probably designed to deal with a lot of dust and debris. They are similar to the style used in Raya Lucaria, although with less embellishment. I'm tempted to say the metal is copper? They're exposed to the elements in one way or another, after all.

Another very common lever style, most often seen in catacombs for doors--but not The Heavy Door, only non-specific doors and/or lifting platforms. For some reason they appear to have a heavier base, I'm going to assume the mechanism works with perhaps chains or some other medium that would require more craft/heavier parts than the tunnel levers.

Heavy Doors always have this specific style of lever, which is unique to them outside of a few niche cases, example being the divine bridge:

We can see similar styles in the handle and lever itself, but the base is decorated in a specific way. All Heavy Doors use this type of lever.

Region-Specific Levers

Specific areas in the Lands Between have their own type of lever, implying faction relation and/or tradesman unions. These are not entirely locked within their own space, and sometimes are seen in other places, but it's kind of a generalized aesthetic within specific areas.

Limgrave/Stormveil and Weeping Peninsula tend to use a lever with erdtrees on it, using varnished wood for the base. These are sometimes in the lower areas of Leyndell as well, closer to the urban district than the capital.

^example of a Leyndell urban lever

Raya Lucaria and affiliated territory (I.E. some of the witch rises) use this lever, a solemn palette on a sturdy metal base. It is similar to catacomb levers, but has a refinement that serves better outside of a tomb. I think they might be in other places than Liurnia, perhaps underground.

A specific type of lever is used for spaces pertaining to royalty, which alleviates it of region locking in the same way these other levers are.

This is a royal lever, seen in Leyndell upper district, Volcano Manor, and the Haligtree--including the plaza, not just at Elphael. It is interesting that Miquella vouched for levers instead of pressure plates, tbh I feel accessiblity would be a concern for him and he would go for plates more often 🤔but there's a bit of a hybrid system in place, so maybe it works out.

The underground (Siofra, Nokstella) also have a specific style to their levers, similar to the catacombs in style, while also being the main space where a wall-mounted lever is used.

Farum Azula, far away from the lever unions of the Lands Between, has their own lever style, a heavy stone lever with some neat designs in the interior rim of the wheel.

Niche Levers

the two big ones.

[badaziraphaletakes]

Critique is worthless if the person you’re critiquing doesn’t see it, though. Some of the people who’s posts you screenshot are autistic or are abuse victims, and I try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt because of that. Why do you not just engage with these people kindly? A lot of the “bad” takes just seem to 1.) be a projection of someone’s own trauma, or 2.) lack media literacy. I don’t think the first response should be to be hostile when I don’t believe the people you’re “calling out” are aware of why you’re targeting them.

We're not critiquing specific people, we're critiquing attitudes, and the screenshots we post here are just examples of a behaviour we're seeing everywhere (we're never calling out anyone specifically). That's why we hide the handle and that's why ultimately we don't mind if OP never even sees our critique. If one single person sees our post and feels welcome, accepted and not alone in their suffering, it's more than enough. If another one sees it and manages to rethink their language? Wow than we've achieved the main goal of this blog. Everyone can go home.

I'm sorry if you don't think our speech is kind, but we try our best to be that. But we have our limits and comedy and sarcasm are valid weapons to fight bigotry. We'll always try to be polite, but oppressed people shouldn't have to measure their every word not to hurt the feelings of the ones that oppress them. We were the ones hurt in the first place.

Again: "Do not confuse the response of the oppressed with the violence of the oppressor"

The Good Omens fandom has always been a great place for neurodivergent people, trauma victims, women and queers. No wonder, given its characters and themes. We were losing our safe space though, bc of all this hate targeting a large chunk if these people, and we're trying to win it back. Or at least build a new one.

And finally, regarding your two last points:

1) yeah, some people are trauma victims and project, and if you check our records we try our best not to call out projection as a bad thing per se, bc I think projection is valid and can help ppl deal with trauma and personal issues. We critique the ableist and victim blaming language used in the posts. (but again, remember we're human...)

2) regarding the lack of media literacy, I hope the blog helps them on that tbh. Although I must confess that if that's the only problem with a person's take, we won't feature it here (and we never have), as this is not our goal, and that usually comes with time. None of us is born with media literacy.

And finally, this blog is not our first response. We've been dealing with this for months. This was a last resort after things got way out of hand.

[princess-ibri]

It's great to write for the established characters as well as create new OCs, but have you ever done the relatively rare thing of picking out a nameless background character and giving them a name and backstory?

I have actually yes! There's been quite a few background characters I've had little head canons for, mostly from Beauty and the Beast,like the guy driving the cart at the beginning is Lefou's older brother, and the girl he waves to is the older sister of the littlr blonde girl Belle pats on the head.

Or the Little Mermaid 2, with the kids, human and mer. I had names for all of them at one point but can't remember them now xD The blonde merboy was Urchin from The Little Mermaid Animated Series' son though.

The one reall obscure ones I got into were some people in the very last scene of Beauty and the Beast.

There's a girl in green I was going to have her be an apprentice to the Enchantress. But I ended up scrapping the story idea, before I ever did any art, it just no longer fit in with what I was making with my DisneyVerse. But perhaps I'll go back and rework who I think she is one day.

There was also this handsome looking bloke who I had the idea of being a half-brother/illegitimate brother of Prince Adam due to the similarities but decided to nix that idea.

Atm he's the human form of the Music Box, deleted character who was expanded in comics to be the only enchanted object in the castle that started out as an object, not a human. In my version he gained a human form when everyone else turned back, and he looks like young Prince Adam because the music box was a cherised toy of the prince when he was young.

(But tbh I'm not entirely sold on that idea either but its there for now)

Also I'm fairly sure this tall lady in green is the Enchantress

More info about the Music Box under the cut

Taken from the article on the Disney Wiki which I can verify is true because I actually happen to have this comic. But its in one of my many boxes now as I'm moving :p

Oh but they have a picture of the cover/production art so that works too!

In a short-lived comic book series set before the events of Beauty and the Beast (not to be confused with the Marvel comic book series set during Belle's stay at the castle), the Music Box was given a very important part in one issue (specifically Issue 1).

In that issue, it is explained to Chip by Mrs. Potts that unlike the other enchanted objects, the Music Box was never human, and he has been in fact the Beast/Prince's favorite toy. Although Chip along with the Beast likes his music, Cogsworth tends to look down on the Music Box as a "primitive creature".

In an amusing scene where Lumiere tries to coach the Beast in the art of courting by using Fifi (here called Marie) as an example, the Music Box is called on to supply the dance music. The Beast has grown to depend on the Music Box to lull him to sleep with his music, so that when he accidentally smashes him during one of his tantrums, he is devastated.

Lumiere and even Cogsworth are grieved as well, commenting that although he was different than the rest of them, he had a "heart" just the same, and are left wondering if they can put him back together again. The fact that he is seen in the movie at the Battle scene as well as during the Marvel Comic would seem to indicate the positive.

Thanks for the ask!

[horrorlesbians]

where do you shop for accessories? actually in general where do you shop? i love your style sm!! i love all the accessories you wear, i wanna have enough jewelry to wear a bunch of rings or stack necklaces in outfits but im so picky

tbh a jewelry collection is all about slow curation overtime. in terms of where I shop I’m trying to phase out fast fashion companies but some of my pieces (my 333 necklace and ring, middle necklace top right picture, and my big spiral earrings) are from urban outfitters, I also get the occasional item from target but I try not to anymore. my bone jewelry is all from oddity conventions, my H necklace is actually from disney when I worked there, my big chunky necklace (first image) is a one of a kind piece from theidolcollective on instagram, my cross and black stone ring were my grandmother’s (a lot of my jewelry was hers), my human tooth ring was second hand, my deathhead moths earrings were from etsy. I try to thrift jewelry whenever I can but I never have good luck in my area.

it’s something similar for my clothing. the only fast fashion I still kinda shop at is urban and target (mainly target for basics and jeans/shorts, although my favorite big jeans are from urban BDG brand)

everything seen in outfit one is thrifted or second hand (besides my white tanktop underneath)

dress was my grandmother’s, “pearls” are from target

blazer, white lace turtleneck, brown sheer button up are thrifted. skirt is urban and tights are target

fake fur coat was $10 from the basement of a vacation town thrift store, tank top and skirt were thrifted as well

dress is target, belt was my father’s, locket was my grandmother’s

dress (my favorite dress) is urban, sweater is either target or urban I can’t remember

long story short it’s all about slow curation of pieces- acquiring statement pieces and good basics and building on top of them. there’s so many good items at thrift stores if you see the potential- I focus within my color pallet, on fabric, texture and uniqueness. and if you really like a specific fast fashion brand depop (and other reselling sites) is your best friend!

[wonder-worker]

“Although (Elizabeth of York) was presented as the ultimate Tudor trophy wife, her position and popularity were potential threats to her husband’s authority.” - Lauren Rose Browne

*sigh*

When are we going to move past this dismissive, simplistic and frankly rather problematic image of Elizabeth of York? Derek Neal encapsulates what exactly is so troubling about it far better than I could, which I'm quoting below:

“The first Tudor consort is mainly remembered as a dynastic symbol, one element of an equation: York plus Tudor equals peace. In this interpretation, handed down to us by the Tudor chroniclers via Shakespeare, Elizabeth accomplished her most important work, if not without lifting a finger, merely by proffering a finger for a wedding ring.”

We need to stop defining Elizabeth of York by the basic purpose of her marriage and queenship and begin understanding her through the actual practice of her queenship.*

Because the fact of the matter is, Elizabeth of York was a tremendously successful queen. She was an able intercessor, an active administrator of her lands, and a patroness in her own right. We have evidence that Henry listened to her on matters that people often assume he acted alone or only through his mother's advice. She contributed culturally to the court, including festivities and building projects, and played an active and positive role in queenly diplomacy, including but not limited to her involvement in her sisters’ and children’s marriages, her correspondence with the Pope and foreign rulers, and receiving important ambassadors in her husband’s absence**. She may have some discreet influence in some appointments in the Crown Prince's household. In short, Elizabeth of York excelled in spheres of queenship that were both conventional and powerful, because the two could and did co-exist, because medieval queenship was inherently political and the lines between public and private were blurred to the point of non-existence for queens just as they were for kings. As we can clearly see, Elizabeth was not presented as a “trophy wife” any more than literally any queen consort before or after her; she was, in fact, an evidently active and influential queen who greatly inspired both her daughter and her daughter-in-law's queenships respectively.

Furthermore, Elizabeth of York’s position was not a "threat" to her husband. Why would it be? As J.L. Laynesmith (whose reading of Elizabeth I don't agree with either) says, "Identification with Elizabeth of York's kin aided Henry VII in gaining an entire kingdom." The Croyland Chronicle, a contemporary source, likewise emphasizes her importance in cementing Henry VII's position: in Elizabeth "there could be found whatever appeared to be missing in the king's title elsewhere." Elizabeth of York's position, in fact, bolstered Henry VII's kingship, and this extended far beyond his marriage to her. We must remember that while Henry Tudor was Lancastrian in blood and allegiance, his fight for the throne was very much as a Yorkist claimant - specifically, a claimant for Edwardian Yorkists against Richard III's rule (The events of 1483 were a violent conflict within the Yorkist dynasty, not an external threat against the Yorkist dynasty). You could argue that Henry VII's road to the throne was, effectively, as Edward IV's symbolic heir rather than Henry VI's (who was quite irrelevent to the current conflict, tbh): Henry Tudor was the prospective husband of the Yorkist heiress and the 'avenger' of the dead Yorkist Princes. This was the widely recognized interpretation of contemporaries like Croyland and William Caxton*** and was also how he gained the majority of his new support in England which (without discounting his own initiative, actions and clear competence) were essential to both make him a credible threat and ultimately win Bosworth. He relied on several of her father's former councilors as well, ensuring a great deal of continuity between their reigns. In this context, Elizabeth of York's "position" as the Yorkist heiress, cemented by her formal proclamation as Duchess of York, was not a disadvantage to Henry VII but an indispensable advantage to him. Elizabeth herself was aware of this and played an important role in image politics for the new Tudor dynasty: "Her role as a daughter of the house of York was a major aspect of her identity. Whereas her mother and Margaret of Anjou had adopted emblems personal to them...Elizabeth of York used her father's white rose. Other Yorkist emblems such as the sun in splendour and the falcon and fetterlock were also used in Tudor iconography." As you can see, Elizabeth's contribution went far beyond merely standing at Henry's side with a wedding ring; she was actively involved in cementing the image of the Tudor dynasty in her own right, and was equally invested in doing so. In short: Elizabeth of York's "position" was not a threat to her husband’s rule; it was vital to her husband’s rule. In fact, her unique position was so important that, even years later, post-contemporary Tudor depictions gave her a uniquely equal footing to her husband: for example, in the first pageant of the coronation procession for her granddaughter Elizabeth I, Elizabeth of York was depicted as "a stabilising and legitimising force of the dynasty, and, incredibly, as the equal to her husband" - as Lauren Rose Browne herself writes.

You cannot claim that Henry VII needed Elizabeth of York to bolster his kingship and also claim that he shunted her aside because her position was a threat to his kingship. You cannot claim that Henry VII used Elizabeth of York’s Yorkist heritage to his benefit but also claim that he tried to avoid any implication of her royal inheritance. Those are fundamentally contradictory and make very little sense. You're trying to have your cake and eat it too.

Even more baffling is the idea that Elizabeth of York's "popularity" would have somehow been a threat to her husband's authority. She and Henry lived in a world where queens were meant to embody "the feminine element necessary to legitimate sovereignty", to perform their role as Marian-like intercessors on behalf of their subjects, to engage in appropriate charity and almsgiving, and to provide "models of womanhood for the realms' female subjects"****. If Elizabeth of York was "popular" due to the reaction of crowds gathered to watch her coronation, or because of the gifts she was frequently given by her subjects, or because she was hailed as the "most gracious and best beloved Princesses in the world" after her death, her popularity means that Elizabeth was successful as queen and is an indication of how much her queenship supported and endorsed Henry VII's kingship. A popular queen benefitted the King, not the other way around.*****

(What's especially funny about this traditional interpretation is that the only actual way Elizabeth of York's position and popularity could potentially worry Henry and become a genuine "threat" to his authority is if Elizabeth herself was actively opposed to Henry and was using them against him to undermine his rule (for whatever hypothetical reason). Which would automatically indicate agency on her part and ALSO end up contradicting the "trophy wife" image. So....?)

Enough with the traditional patronizing dismissal of Elizabeth of York. Give her the credit she's due.

*What's particularly silly about hyper-focusing on the point/purpose of Elizabeth of York's marriage (a political alliance and dynastic unification) is that fundamentally, its purpose was ultimately no different from the vast majority of other English royal marriage since the Norman conquest (sans, say, her parents'). Most of them were politically arranged and/or politically motivated, just like Henry and Elizabeth's. It would be ridiculous to judge Isabella of France or Philippa of Hainault's lives and queenships solely based on how politically important their marriages were, right? They obviously had an impact apart from that and beyond that. What exactly is different about Elizabeth of York? Admittedly, her and Henry's situation wasn't exactly the same: he needed her as a potential bride to cement his position as a threat to Richard III and as a King of England; and an English princess becoming an English queen consort was unprecedented at that juncture. But ultimately, there's no reason for why Elizabeth of York's entire life and queenship should be defined and decided on the basis of how and why she married Henry VII. She lived for almost two decades after that. It's more than a little frustrating.

**From what I can make out, so much more evidence has luckily survived for Elizabeth of York's diplomatic activities compared to many of her predecessors, and with far more details. I would literally kill to get similarly detailed evidence for Elizabeth Woodville. So it's certainly strange when Elizabeth of York's role in diplomacy is not emphasized more when it comes to her queenship - especially because it is, ultimately, an expected element of queenship which queens were traditionally meant to excel at. My guess is that it's not highlighted as much because it actually gives Elizabeth agency, which historians often refuse to do.

***Edward IV definitely wasn't the first or only one to claim the red dragon (it was used for/used by many others, and some poets used it for Henry himself in the early 1460s). However, at that point in time in England specifically, it would have very much been Edward IV who was most commonly and universally associated with it; after all, he was the one who won the throne and ruled for more than two decades. Its association with Edward IV is also what would have been the most familiar to Caxton, who established himself in England only in the 1470s, and who was a supporter of Edward IV's family (aka: the Woodvilles) during that time. His support of Henry (who he did not know) during this time would have been through that context as well, rather than loyalty to Henry in his own right.

****Obviously, we can recognize how problematic such inherently gendered expectations are now, but contextualization is important.

*****Elizabeth of York's popularity as queen, at least in the beginning, may have been partly due to the fact that she was English princess who grew up in the public eye, was the daughter of a fairly well-liked king, and the fact that her marriage played a vital role in "uniting" the two rival dynasties. So her circumstances probably played a role in her popularity as well. But we shouldn't discount Elizabeth's own affability and charm, nor her evident generosity, nor the fact that however this popularity emerged, it was Elizabeth who maintained it, and it ultimately signified the success of Elizabeth's queenship and bolstered her husband's kingship.

Sources:

Lauren Rose Browne, "Elizabeth of York: Tudor Trophy Wife", "Tudor and Stuart Consorts: Power, Influence, and Dynasty

Derek Neal, "The Queen's Grace: English Queenship 1464-1503"

J.L. Laynesmith, "The Last Medieval Queens: English Queenship 1545-1503"

Retha M. Warnicke, "Elizabeth of York and her six daughters-in-law: Fashioning Tudor Queenship

[sebastianmichaelisslander]

for the ask game: grell for character and redcliff for ship :3

Aaah ofc! 🙏🏼💫 I’m still doing this though it’s been a while, btw!

Grelle

How I feel about this character:

first off, I think she’s beautiful, fr. Even before I got into Kuro, I saw her design and thought she was so pretty - and that was shortly before I started reading the manga.

I also think that she’s more complex than she gets credit for. When I write her, I like portraying what’s going on behind her queen facade - delve deeper into her psyche, her fears, how she really feels about every situation she’s in… I also think she’s very quick to act and has ended up saving her colleagues’ asses more than once, but that also means she’s impulsive and gets herself into far too much trouble.

Although she doesn’t show it, she really does regret letting her temper and jealousy get the better of her. She never got the love or support so many others she knew did, which is part of why she was resentful of her victims and others who had what she didn’t.

I also think she seems like the sort who, despite her shortcomings, has a great capacity for love and is loyal to a fault. I love showing all her layers and giving her even more.

All the people I ship romantically with this character:

Honestly, the only people I do ship her romantically with are William or Angelina. However, I don’t mind her with others she’s commonly paired off with, such as Mey-Rin (though I personally can’t see it sometimes), Sebastian (even if how Grelle is portrayed in fics with him often annoys me), Nina, Hannah, Undertaker, or anyone else lol.

My non-romantic OTP for this character:

Othello or Ronald would defo be her platonic soulmates, lol.

My unpopular opinion about this character:

She indeed is crazy about Sebastian, but more in an, “I want to fuck him and then bisect him with my scythe à la the black widow spider” sort of way. Does she wanna bang him? Yeaaaah. But by no means is she actually that into him romantically, lol.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

I wish her inner life and backstory haven’t been explored more in the manga. Not only would this have the Grelle lovers more content, but it’ll also give us more to understand her better. I also want her to get the happy ending I think she deserves. 😭

My OTP:

Grelliam. 😂 tho I’m a multishipper at heart.

My crossover ship:

Don’t really have one. I do think Grelle and Hidan from Naruto would be fucking funny, though.

A headcanon fact:

Not my own headcanon, but some of my mutuals on here hc that Grelle is of Russian origin and can even speak the language. Which I love. I also like the German Grelle hc equally, lol.

Now, for the ship part.

Redcliff

When I started shipping it if I did:

After Angelina’s death in the manga. So much angst potential.

My thoughts:

I’ve always remembered wondering if those two did have something else going on. It even seemed as though their relationship transcended what’s platonic. However, though I do like the pairing, I don’t usually seek out that many fanfics for it as two weirdly specific pairings (Grelliam and SebTaker) are the only ones I think of 24/7.

I think they could either be incredibly wholesome or extremely toxic depending on how they’re written in specific fics and given the nature of their rapport. There’s so much potential to explore it in several different ways. Plus… the ANGST.

Things done in fanfic that annoy me:

Can’t really think of any atm, tbh.

Things I look for in fanfic:

I really want another, “what if Angelina lived?” AU, fr. I also like Bizarre Doll!Angelina fics.



Whom l'd be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other:

Don’t @ me, but (alive) Angelina and Undertaker would be funny. 😂 /hj

Actually, I don’t really ship Angie with anyone except Grelle. But as for Grelle, defo William.

My happily ever after for them:

They’d probably actually try to make whatever they have going on a healthy, functional relationship if Angie lives. As for whether they have a family… maybe there’s the whole, “Grelle finds a baby and decides to keep it” thing.

Who is the big spoon / little spoon?

Grelle is definitely the big spoon. Angie sometimes takes over though, lol.

What is their favourite non-sexual activity?

Lots of things. They both would read tacky magazines and penny dreadfuls together, give each other their observations while people-watching, go shopping, probably do art together… another one would be Angie braiding Grelle’s hair and making her feel so pretty while doing it. 🥹

That’s it for now! Do send in more 😁 💓

[sixstepsaway]

i've had some thoughts bouncing around for a while about ofmd s2, and in light of the news, i'm going to brain dump some of them. if you don't feel like listening to me complain about HBO and would rather just go cry about OFMD not getting season 3, that's chill, go ahead, no hard feelings

so.

season 1 was absolutely the definition of lightning in a bottle. it had great acting, great writing, gorgeous set and costume design, it was great, and not only that but it was unabashedly queer

jim had a whole episode dedicated to "actually i'm not a woman i'm just jim" and then everyone - even the bad guys, even the antagonists, even their nun nana, everyone - referred to them as they/them after that, no questions asked

the main character went through an arc that was basically figuring out his sexuality and going "oh shit, i love a man" on a show that was not directly advertised as "OUR QUEER MEANS DEATH" like a, y'know, Queer Show would be

and stede and ed's romance felt like it was important. It felt like the pirates of it all was mostly incidental, background, filler, just fun to pad out the situation and give them things to be challenged by (the badmintons!) while also being fun on its own. it's the kind of show where if you pulled all the characters out and slapped them into a whole other situation like space agents or time travellers or everyone lives together in a loft runs a bakery... it'd still work. sure, the badmintons would be less murderous and run a competing bakery or something, but it'd still work, because the focus was on the characters, and on the romance between stede and ed

the first three episodes of season 3 felt that way too. the love between stede and ed was paramount and if you swapped to a mafia au or a bakery au it'd still work (with some gentle adjustments for ed's Behavior™ to be fair)

but.

season 1, they kept saying it was a rom com, and it felt like one. it was just a rom com that was set at sea! how fun!

now, rom coms have tropes. they have genre-specific things that you kind of expect from, well, a rom com. you expect mess. you expect things like ed fucking off with jack because he doesn't feel good enough

(i've recently been rewatching new girl and although some of the humor makes me cringe, it's still a great show, and one of the main things about it is that everyone is messy. no matter how much schmitt loves cece, he's going to make mistakes. no matter how obviously nick and jess are going to end up together and belong together, they're going to sleep with the wrong people, make mistakes, break up etc. it's as much a rom com as ofmd.

one of the things that makes new girl so good and makes me love the main couples so much is how hard they work to be together, how they fight adversity and the mess of their own flaws and toxicity and still get together because they love each other most, in the end)

i remember in s1 thinking how if stede had been a woman, jack would have been too, and ed would've had at least one romantic/sexual scene with jack when he ran away with him

but i also remember thinking, "yeah, but the show hadn't explicitly done the his name is ed reveal and the kiss on the beach yet, and the reveal hits so hard, it makes sense not to do that earlier", and tbh i stand by that

which brings me to s2, after the first three eps, where they tried to go back to rom com and it just felt... forced.

rom coms usually have adversity. they have other characters that directly and truly threaten the main pairing by being interesting to those characters! no matter how you feel about izzy, he was framed as a love interest or as an ex that was still complicated, but the show very much tiptoed around that

does "i have love for you" and "i loved you best i could" make sense for the characters? yeah.

do i feel like if ed was a woman, she and izzy would've had a messy rebound relationship for stede to have to contend with, for the two of them to come out the other side of wanting each other from? yeah.

ofmd s1 felt unabashedly queer. s2 felt like they didn't want to be too gay.

they put olu with a Woman™, they put jim with a woman almost like it was less queer and more acceptable this way than queering olu, they completely waved off olu and jim's relationship and dropped any concept of polyamory because that would've made it even queerer, not less queer

(i'm using queer here as a definition more of breaking boundaries and being outside of the norm to the extent it makes cishets deeply uncomfortable and the queer in question aren't conforming to society's standards. and this reading of s2 (and s1) is entirely subjective, it's just what's been bubbling here for me)

pete and lucius went from "we don't own each other" to marriage, with no footnotes of what marriage meant to them specifically, whether they were, in fact, conforming with the 'norm' of marriage (exclusivity, labels, definitions etc) or whether they were still chill about these things or whether this now meant no more penis drawings

the queerest episode was probably the party episode (which was so good), but even that was especially queer because some cast members fought to make it so (con wanting izzy's drag to be beautiful not funny has HAUNTED ME, because that means it was originally supposed to be played for laughs!!) not because it was that way naturally

the fact i read somewhere that the party and the drag was originally lupete's wedding makes so much more sense to me because yeah, they WOULD have a wedding like that, but instead they got a lame final episode wedding because it would have been way too queer to do it at calypso's birthday with drag and queer joy everywhere

it also would have been more realistic to the lucius and pete we got in season 1.

there were a lot of things in season 2 that felt... weird. we've talked about it. we have all talked about it.

the final episode, even outside of the thing i hated most, was just horribly written imo. there's big sweeping gestures and no kind of real emotional pay off for the main relationships (lupete included), and everything got tied with a neat little bow at the end

i remember when we were told s2 was 8 episodes and how much the budget had been chopped thinking, "ha, we're so not getting a season 3"

i remember when i realized how weirdly rewritten most of season 2 had been thinking, "yeah, there's not going to be a season 3"

i remember when bitching about ed's arc being totally truncated and handwaved thinking, "mm, we're not getting a season 3"

and i remember when the Revenge sailed off into the sunset with everyone but ed and stede on board thinking, "oh yeah, we're done."

just enough was left open that a season 3 could happen.

just enough was left open that if a miracle happened, there'd be something to do with season 3.

but i genuinely, 100%, hand on my heart, think djenks knew he wasn't getting a season 3

and don't get me wrong, i'm not absolving him of the poor writing choices he made in season 2, but i am saying it makes a lot more sense if you think of it from the perspective of corporate meddling and having everything taken away while he was actively trying to make season 2

we already know HBO cut the budget a ridiculous amount so they just had to make everything work with what they had. we already know HBO cut the episode number.

season 2 plays out like they prepped a good chunk of it, ready for 10 episodes, and then HBO cut the budget and cut the episodes

and so things had to be changed and chopped about. ed's arc got lots of screen time and focus for three episodes (before the cuts) and then things got quicker, and fast

characters were cut for time and for budget reasons.

and then i think towards the end of production and the end of writing, djenks learned the odds of season 3 were minimal at best, and he panicked

i think the original plan was probably for ed's arc to go for the majority of season 2. maybe a middle piece where he and stede tried but it still wasn't Right (last night was a mistake) because ed had so much to work on and so much to heal

i genuinely wonder if the finale was completely rewritten at the last minute because to me it makes way, way more sense from a narrative standpoint for things to have been more staggered out. let's consider ten episodes instead of 8:

episodes 1-5: same as they were when aired, including the gravy basket giving us set-up for what ed's dealing with internally, giving us something to latch onto and prepare for his redemption. NO KISS AT THE END OF EPISODE 5. episode 6: ed is still wearing the bell. he's sort of done his amends with lucius, but now he needs to do amends with the rest of the ship. stede is still learning his piratey ways, so there's hijinks in the background. jim and archie and olu try to decide what their relationship is after the garlic and all, and debate room arrangements. lucius and pete announce their engagement. stede and ed nearly kiss. episode 7: more ed redemption arc. he's still working at things, he's shying away from violence because violence is what took him down this dark path to begin with. maybe we get some discussion of his father. stede, blind to ed's flaws, insists he's nothing like his father! ed tries to make amends with izzy but somehow this is the hardest of all because he hurt him the most of all. izzy gets chance to apologize for what he now sees as his part in pushing ed down into the darkness (trying to drag blackbeard back) and izzy's apology makes ed feel worse somehow and gives him some absolution when he finally figures out how to return his own. ed kisses stede but says he wants to take it slow. episode 8: wedding episode!! calypso's birthday!! ed uses his loot to bankroll lupete's wedding. stede reacts with violence to ned and we know from everything before that ed is actively trying to distance himself from the violence of piracy because, yeah, of course he is. is it a good idea? nope. does it make sense to his character for him to still be putting a good chunk of the blame on piracy for his actions, rather than accepting the parts of his whole and learning how to regulate those parts healthily? yes. anyway, stede reacts to his own violence by clutching for ed, ed feels after like his boundaries were pushed. same as show. episode 9: ed is having a meltdown. he and izzy have started to heal, so izzy watching him stare at fishing boats and just chatting to him like nothing happened actually makes a lick of sense. lupete are on their honeymoon at jackie's. olu gets to hook back up with zheng and archie and jim want to go along because they're not super happy on the ship still because although ed is doing better, the past of what he does still hangs over everyone. olu, zheng, jim and archie do not discuss the poly of it all properly, and it's hilarious and a mess, and gives us something to look forward to handling in season 3. ed freaks out about stede being violent when he's the one thing he felt like wasn't violent (and thus safe for him to be with), and about taking it not at all slow, breaks things off and runs away. izzy gets stede to come back to the ship. stede gets into a fight with zheng, the bombs go off, whatever (not a fan of this for her sake but if it has to happen, it can happen) episode 10: ed is off fishing but it's not going well and he's pissing pop-pop off all the time because he's not good at fishing. stede and co are handling the ricky of it all. the episode is mostly the same at the start, but instead of ed immediately going "omg, i gotta save bae" he doesn't find out about the attack until right at the end of the episode. stede and co make it back to the revenge and escape safely, and when ed retrieves his leathers and returns he thinks they're dead! he threatens/tortures/whatever some english and they say no, stede escaped! they all escaped! the season ends with ed, all decked out in his leathers, with his sword, now in the position stede was last season: staring out over the water, planning to find the man he loves.

this sets season 3 up for ed to be on his own for a little while, for him to handle and figure out how to channel his violence into something 'good' (wanting to find his love, wanting to protect his crew etc).

maybe season 3 flashes back to baby!ed again and the fact his first act of violence against his father wasn't motivated by anger or spite, it was motivated by wanting to protect someone he loved: his mum.

then season 3 they find each other again, and maybe they meet in the moonlight for the parallel to hit even better, they finally get back together properly, for good, with maybe some comedic issues along the way, and ed finds his place in the world to be less "blackbeard, the terror of the seas" and more "ed protects those he loves."

i honestly think this is probably how the show was originally meant to go, or at least something close.

i think midway through season 2, djenks heard it was over and he (rightfully) panicked and threw together a finale that tied up as many loose ends as he could because he knew.

and i dont think there's anything that could've been done about it. i think it was dead in the water (no pun intended) the moment all the MAX/HBO/whatever reshuffles happened, I think it was too queer and I genuinely think executive meddling made a lot of the more queer elements go away, possibly right down to trying to wipe away the exes/love interests of it all with that whole father figure thing

and, again, i'm not absolving djenks of some of his more baffling writing decisions. he's a grown man and he makes his own choices. but i am saying i think it explains a LOT about why the finale we got is what we got, and i'm not sorry stede and ed ended the show together rather than apart or with their lives hanging in the balance or something

anyway these are just a bunch of thoughts i've been having, tied together by the cancellation.

[lanawinterscigarettes]

so so so so rose tyler x younger sibling reader?? reader like rly wantz to join in on an adventure because space is amazing, and so they end up joining on an adventure and it ends up being one of the more traumatizing ones

i love your writing!!! thanks for writing this if you do!!! hopefully this is specific enough!!

thank you so much, you're so sweet!! I hope you like what I was able to come up with, sorry if it's a little short <33 (I almost wrote this with the weeping angels but I thought that might've been a bit too cruel)

Overprotective Older Sister (platonic! Rose Tyler x reader)

Warnings: (somewhat) traumatizing space adventure, mild swearing, some angst, hurt/comfort, Rose is a very worried and overprotective sister which leads to an argument (canon event for siblings tbh)

When you first begged your sister to take you with her on one of her adventures with The Doctor, you thought only about how cool it would be to see some off planet things that she'd always talk about during her visits home. She was initially hesitant to say yes, and even flat out refused when you first asked.

"Rose, come on, this is so unfair! You've been to God knows how many planets and I've only ever been to the one I was born on, why can't I go with you?"

"Because my trips with The Doctor aren't always safe, and I don't want you getting hurt, that's why."

Finally, after several minutes worth of pleading, you were finally able to convince her to let you go with them.

Saying you were excited about your trip was a massive understatement. If only you'd have known then what kind of trouble you would've run into, you might've been much more content to stay at home.

The Daleks weren't the most terrifying creature The Doctor had encountered by any means, but as someone who'd never been on a trip with him before they ended up being pretty damn scary, especially when they were shooting lasers at you nonstop. So much for a fun timey wimey space journey.

You ended up passing out at some point when you were trying to get away, though you couldn't be sure whether it was from an explosion that you vaguely remembered happening or just plain exhaustion. When you woke, your head was being cradled in Rose's lap, a look of panic on her face.

"Oh, thank God. I thought I'd lost you," she said in a hushed and shaky voice. Her eyes were red and puffy, and her mascara had smudged and was in streams going down her cheeks. It was pretty obvious that she'd been crying right before you woke.

"Don't worry, I'm- I'm okay," you groggily insisted as you sat up, taking a look around. The two of you were back in the TARDIS, and although you couldn't see him you were sure The Doctor wasn't far away.

"Okay, good." She gave you a second to collect yourself before smacking you upside the head.

"Ow-! Rose, what the hell?" You asked in a mixture of confusion and annoyance as you rubbed the back of your head.

"That's what you get for being a moron!" She said with a glare as she stood, placing her hands on her hips. "I told you I didn't want you coming with us, but no, you just had to come, didn't you? You just couldn't let it go, could you?"

"Well, maybe I wanted to come with you because I've missed you, have you ever thought about that?" You got up off the floor and crossed your arms, matching her frustrated energy. "You're always off with The Doctor, Rose. I never get to see you anymore. It's like you don't even want me around."

Her eyes softened slightly at your words, but they did nothing to quell her aggravation and worry. "It's not that I don't want you around, it's just that I don't want you getting hurt. What if something serious had happened to you today? What if you'd died?"

"At least I would've been with you, instead of stuck on Earth. I hate how you always seem to dismiss me just because I'm younger." You accused, causing her to let out a scoff.

"I'm not dismissing you, idiot! I'm trying to keep you safe." Tears started to well up in her eyes as she spoke. "I almost lost you today, did you know that? Do you have any idea how worried I was for you? I was already thinking about what I was going to have to tell Mom."

Your arms dropped from their crossed position down to your sides, the guilt beginning to well up in you the moment you first saw her tears. "I'm sorry, Rose. I didn't mean to upset you so much, please don't cry," you spoke in a much softer tone than before, reaching out to her as a nonverbal offer of a hug.

She took that offer gladly, wrapping her arms around you as she tried to calm herself down again. You awkwardly patted her back, not entirely sure what to do. Usually it was her comforting you, not the other way around.

"I'm not upset at you. You just frustrate me sometimes." She pulled away from you, a faint smile on her face as she said, "but I suppose that's your job as the younger sibling, isn't it?"

A soft laugh exited your throat at her words. "Yeah, I guess so. And your job is to be the overbearing older one," you lightly teased, something she responded with by giving you a playful shove.

"Next time, you're staying where I can keep an eye on you," Rose stated as though it were a fact as she turned to head back towards the TARDIS control room, not leaving any room for argument.

"Wha- hey, no fair!" You called after her, letting out a loud groan before following close behind. As overprotective as she could be, there was certainly no denying that she cared.

Likes < reblogs | comments are greatly appreciated <3

Main masterlist | Doctor Who masterlist | wanna be added to my taglist?

🏷 taglist: @theonetruepotato87 @sessa23

[iamunabletothinkofablogname]

Okay soooo questions for u :3 /nf

1- what's your favorite book?

2- favorite treats? Like cookies, ice cream, ..?

3- YOUR first fandom? :O

4- do you have a favorite toy/ stuffed animal?

5- favorite subject?

That's it :3

Also good morning!! <33

:OO Tysm :]]] 1- Girl in pieces, it's so fucking heart wrenching and it makes me cry so hard it has the most special place in my heart AHHHHHHHH [tw/cw though it has a few sex scenes and self harm and trauma] 2- COOKIES, SPECIFICALLY WOOLIES ONES I'D FUCKING KILL FOR EM [this is making me hungry 😭]. I love any sweat stuff tbh, but I hate the ones with SUPER chewy textures or rubbery ones or like the ones that stick to your teath tongue- [so gummies, lollies, lolipops, gum and stuff like that are a no lol] 3- Undertale >:33 I watched my first playthrough via dantdm [googled it and it said 2016, so i was in grade 1 lol]. I then bassically researched the shit out of it and looking for every piece of media i could find on it lol [and now im into the aus QWQ] [[i've sort of calmed down from then but undertale is very much my favorite game and i love it so muchhhh]] 4- I was going to say no but then i remembered my kel plush XD I call him kelsey and he is my son ✨ I remember i took him EVERYwhere with me lol [kel omori]

[although i have the dream world version] I used to be a HUGE kel kinnie haha [although nowadays im not *as* attached lol, i keep losing himmm :'] ] 5- Sport but specifically the one where we get to fight eachother with swords [i had to sit down after i scared the other girls into not wanting to compete lol, the only time i lost was when the teacher told me to take off my glasses cause i could barely see infront of me without em-] btw they aren't real swords, they're made of foam

[happyk44]

Maybe I'll give Annabeth NPD anyway. I mean there's ranges in experiences of anything and also I can't stop thinking about it lol (her fatal flaw, guys!! It fits so well, she wants to design the whole world and doesn't see that as a bad thing!!). So yeah, I'm gonna say she has it, but lemme break it down anyway.

DSM-5 criteria:

Patients must have a persistent pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and lack of empathy

Right away, grandiosity and need for admiration fit, but lack of empathy not so much. HOWEVER, while I do think Annabeth is a fairly empathic person, I can see her being more cognitively empathetic versus affective/emotionally empathetic. Her ability to be affectively and compassionately empathetic is more so based on the situation itself. So, say, someone gets something she wanted, while cognitively she'll understand their excitement, she won't feel it or want to celebrate with them because, well, she wanted that thing, so fuck them, why are they getting so excited about it? Similarly, if she does something that affects another person negatively, she'll understand how her actions upset that person, but she can't intrinsically find it in herself to care or do anything about.

I think she'd be good at masking this part of herself, not as manipulation or anything, but just out of instinctive mimicry of other people's behaviour. Other people feel bad when they hurt someone by accident, so she should feel bad too, and so on. What this causes, though, is a lack of understanding that she is not as emotionally empathetic as she thinks she is.

She's also a problem solver!! So when someone has a problem, she will fix it, she will come up with solutions, and she attributes this to "caring" when it's not always.

The presence of five or more of the following:

Exaggerated/unfounded sense of their own importance and talents (aka grandiosity)

It's literally her fatal flaw. Hybris - exaggerated pride or self-confidence in one's abilities. She thinks she can redesign the whole world to be perfect, guys.

Preoccupation of fantasies of unlimited achievements, influence, power, intelligence, beauty, or perfect love

Once again folds back into her fatal flaw. Not to mention we know that she'd been thinking about the prophecy coming to fruition for a long time and how she would help Percy (although, could've been any child of the big three that showed up) win the battle

Belief that they are special and unique and should associate only with people of the highest caliber

See, I don't know about this one because I think Annabeth is pretty inclusive of most people. But I do think that she believes she's special, or has more importance to the world than other people. Part of me has always thought that she thinks she's better than her siblings, especially considering how she's treated by her mother (gifted the invisibility cap, when we don't know or head about her siblings receiving similar gifts, being given the title of architect of Olympus, other stuff I'm blanking on probably). So 50/50?

Need to be unconditionally admired

Hubris again lol. Not, but in all seriousness I'm like 50/50 on this one. I don't really feel that she has that sense in canon? But I feel that she could have it very easily - if that makes sense.

Sense of entitlement

Idk tbh. I'm not sure she ever displays a sense of entitlement. Maybe when she joined Percy's team because if I remember correctly in the books, she was just "I'm coming with you". I think part of the problem when it comes to assessing based on diagnostic criteria is that sometimes I read it too specifically to the wording rather than what the criteria could encompass lol

Exploitation of others to achieve their own goals

You could look at her in TLT in this way - joining Percy's team not so much because she wants to help Percy but because she wants to go on a quest and leave camp. Also her positioning Percy at the river as bait without telling him so their team could win. It's a thin margin, yeah, but look I'm desperate and I really really like this headcanon 😅

Lack of empathy

See my above comments on lack of empathy

Envy of others and a belief that others envy them

I can see her being envious of others, especially when it comes to familial relationships since hers was never the best, or when it comes to success in areas that she does not do best at. One of my HCs is that she and Leo start a business - Leo does a lot of the physical creation, they both handle designing and planning, and she deals with the people side of things. Leo being a child of Hephaestus is better at making things, and Leo being Leo is more mathematically inclined than she is, and I can see that as a sticking point in the early stages of their business.

She likes aesthetic, he prefers functionality, and she'll get extremely annoyed whenever he catches a flaw in her ideas, angry that she didn't spot it, envying his level of intelligence and doing/saying things to knock him down a peg because she's upset (and then his inferiority complex kicks in and they fight and break up the business before coming back together after a few days because they know they need each other for this but, ugh, frustration. Eventually they figure out how to work with each other without getting prissy, but it takes its time)

I'm not so sure about the belief that others envy her, but, maybe, a need for others to envy her. She doesn't think people do, but she hopes they do. She hopes that people believe she is amazing and talented and that they envy the hell out of her abilities and wish they were her.

Arrogance and haughtiness

There are times where she can be arrogant. She's very self-righteous and convinced she knows better than other people, that she's smarter than everyone else, too stubborn to accept other people's point of views, see when she and Percy would argue about Luke - her inability to recognize that Luke was a danger to everyone now, her insistent belief he could still be saved. Also when she argued with the Sphinx because she was angry she didn't get a good enough riddle.

So five (and a half) points! Yay 🙌🙌 I did it! I have now fulfilled the cluster B portion (Percy - BPD, Piper - HPD, Clarisse - ASPD, and now Annabeth - NPD) so whoop. Good for me 👍

And as always if you have NPD and/or have ideas about the ways it presents in Annabeth (or any other character), or have thoughts on other disorders and the characters you feel fit them, feel free to drop into my inbox 😂