#and also the point where they actually get together

[lavenderspence]

Cute, Outraged Genius | S.R.

Pairing: Spencer Reid x fem!reader

Content warning: fluff, Spencer being a bit of a technophobe

Word Count: 1.5K

Summary: Spencer comes home only to find you using a kindle…cue, outrage

A/N: This is just a cute little story about Spencer being our little technophobe genius. I actually don’t own a kindle, so don’t know how those work or anything, but physical books are in fact superior, so.

The quote at the end is from “Book Lovers” by Emily Henry

You loved his apartment, sometimes more than you loved yours. Being in his space, surrounded by his things - his books, his clothes, the silly art he indulged in. Being drowned by his scent, meters upon meters of space he’d touched, it soothed you like nothing else could.

The peace you felt whenever you were in his space was unparalleled.

You loved his bedroom, the plushness of his bed, his closed, where you found yourself stealing his shirts and cardigans, never giving them back. 

Your favorite place in apartment 23 was his couch, where he found you often enough, when he returned from a case, curled up with a book. You loved the blanket thrown on the back and the windows that allowed for the whole apartment to light up with the sunlight. 

And then there were his bookshelves, in clear view from said couch. Filled with his favorite books, special editions he held close to his heart, or some that brought him knowledge. The shelves, that now also held some of your favorite books too.

Reading, books, was the thing that had brought you together in the first place, so when he’d made space for your clothes in his closet and your toiletries in the bathroom, he’d also made space for your books to sit beside his own. 

He’d insisted it made the place feel less like it was his own, and more like it was shared, even though you weren’t living together. It warmed your heart to know, that he saw his apartment as a home for both of you.

Seeing your books among his own, made you fall even more in love with him because he knew what they meant to you. So much so, he tumbed through a few, leaving sticky notes with his little thoughts between the pages.

As for your first meeting, it was funny.

You’d met a year ago, at a cafe close to his apartment. Stuck in a long queue, waiting for your turn, your nose had been buried into a book, completely oblivious to your surroundings. Spencer had been standing behind you, and like the nosy dork he is, had been reading along with you, over your shoulder.

When he’d pointed out an inaccuracy in the plot, compared to real life, you’d screamed, slamming the book shut, and successfully making a fool of yourself in front of the whole cafe. 

He’d apologized bashfully, and asked to buy your drink for you, and then lingered for a short conversation before he’d been called away on a case. 

In his hurry to get to the FBI on time, he’d forgotten to take your number. Two weeks later, and after a lot of blaming himself for being a dumbass, he’d seen you again, nose buried into another book, sipping a beverage next to the window of the cafe. 

You hadn’t attached puzzling looks this time, and he’d gotten your number. A year later, you couldn’t be more happy for the fact that your boyfriend sometimes didn’t really get social cues.

You smiled, thinking back on that day. 

You focused on your book again, eyes dancing around the page, following with rapt attention. 

Reading was one of the few things that brought you peace, quieted your brain, and improved your mood. 

Sometimes you envied Spencer’s genius, being able to go through War & Peace at breakfast, without batting an eye. Reading, and reading, and still having the time for other things. If, in your lifetime, you could read as many books as Spencer had read thus far in life, you’d be happy. 

You were giggling, kicking your feet, and enjoying your book, when you heard the telltale sign of Spencer arriving home - his key being inserted into the lock. 

You didn’t move your eyes away from the book, having reached a great part of the book. 

The door opened, and in walked your boyfriend, a peep in his step, happy he’d get to see you and spend time with you after 6 days of being away. 

He left his keys in the bowl next to the door, freed himself of his shoes, and set his messenger bag down. 

He walked further in, noticing the vanilla and chocolate scent in the air - you’d followed tradition, baking a small tray of chocolate chip cookies as a welcome for him. 

He stood behind you, draping his hands around your neck, and leaned over to kiss the side of your head gently, finally diverting your attention away from the book. 

“Hello, sweetheart,” he murmured, warm breath tickling your neck next, as he kissed around your ear and pulse point. 

“Hi there, babe.” you were whispering too, finally happy to be in your own bubble. “How are you? How was the case?” you asked, just like you did every time, just like you did every day. You always wanted to know how he was, you wanted to know about his day, and he’d gotten so used to it and had done it so many times for you too, it had become routine, a way to show each other you cared and loved each other. 

“I’m good, a little tired maybe,” he nuzzled your neck, eyes shut in contentment, “The case was tough, but successfully closed at the end,” he rarely elaborated, only if someone was hurt, or the case had taken a toll on his mental health. Other than that, he didn’t like bringing the gory details of the cases home with him. 

Home was his space with you, where you laughed, and sometimes cried. Where you cuddled and made love, read together, or to each other, where you cooked, where you relaxed. It was no place for the realities of a BAU profiler. 

“What are you doing?” it was a simple question. 

“I’m reading,” and there was an even simpler answer, except if you were Spencer Reid, a doctor with three PhDs, three bachelor’s degrees, an FBI agent, and a complete, and utter technophobe. 

You felt him lift his head before he choked out a high-pitched “You’re what?” and you turned around to see him, shock and betrayal written on his face, his eyes as big as saucers. 

You looked at him like he’d grown two heads, but you knew you should have expected this. 

You’d made the decision to get a kindle last week, and you’d used the time he hadn’t been home to set it up and try it out. 

“What are you even reading on that thing? That’s not a book!” he was outraged, but at the same time, he looked so cute, that you started laughing. You brought a hand to your mouth, in hopes of muffling the sound a little because you were losing it, laughing with everything you had. 

“Stop laughing, it’s not funny. I’m serious.” you just laughed harder, even though you tried to reign it in and stop. 

Around a minute later, your laughter started dying down, and you looked up, only to see him with his arms crossed against his chest, an expression between bewilderment, and those deep brown puppy eyes staring straight into your soul.

“It’s a kindle, Spence, it’s all digital,” you told him

“No, I know that, but you can’t be serious,” your brows furrowed, a bit butt hurt, until he continued, “You know, readers prefer physical books. A recent study found that only 21% prefer e-books, as little as 14% audiobooks, and 65% are physical book readers. Another study found that your brain absorbs less when you read on a kindle than on paper.” You laughed again, loving his brain, and then patted the space next to you, waiting for him to sit down.

“I thought you were pro saving the planet Mr. Three PHD’s.” you joked, waiting for him to sass you back. After all, one of your favorite characteristics of his was how sassy he was. 

“Well, yes I am, but statistically, physical copies are superior. A book needs to be physical, not whatever bullshit that is. Come on, let’s just return this, and I’ll buy you all the books you want,” he went to stand up, and you pulled him back down by the back of his shirt. 

“Aww babe, I know you will!” Spencer loved buying some of your books for you, he loved seeing the smile on your face when he bought a book you’ve wanted for a while. You buried your face into his neck, hugging him to you. 

“Come on, let’s cuddle before dinner, get a cookie, and I’ll read to you for a bit, I just reached a good part,” you whisper into his neck, and he exhales, reaching towards the coffee table to get a cookie before you relax into each other, and you pick up the kindle, reading where you left off. 

“We really are two opposing magnets, incapable of being in the same room without drawing together. I want to scrape my fingers through his hair and kiss him until he forgets where we are, and everything and everyone that ever made him feel like he was a disappointment. And he’s looking at me like I could, like there’s an ache in him only I could soothe.” you read, hand running through his hair, happy to have him back.

Reblogs and comments are greatly appreciated!

[dnpbeats]

Why I Don’t Think the Secret Project™ Is a Tour—This Time With Facts!

Let me start out by saying I do think they’ve brought up another tour enough that it will happen at some point, I just don’t think it will be this soon! (Also keep in mind Dan did imply there are two things coming up in his Tweet.) That being said, obviously I could be totally wrong. But hey, if they do announce a tour in a couple of weeks, there has to be someone that gets clowned by the announcement, and I’m happy to take the fall <3 Post under cut as it's long (1.3k words 💀)

The main reason I don’t think they’re announcing a tour is timing, but I do also have something to say about the hints they’ve been dropping and why I also don’t think it necessarily points towards a tour. So, to start, let’s look at how long they spent planning TATINOF and II. In “The Making of TABINOF,” Phil says they are releasing the book (on October 8th 2015) after working on it for a year and a half, which would be April 2014. Presumably, this is around the time they started working on TATINOF as well because they were supposed to be companions. TABINOF and TATINOF were announced together on March 26th 2015, so almost exactly a year after they started planning them. Even if you want to guess that TATINOF planning started a few months after TABINOF planning, keep in mind that they originally only planned the UK leg and planned the US tour after that. The UK leg ended November 15 2015 and they announced the US leg February 26 2016. So that’s a little over two months of them planning the US leg alone, when they already had the show itself all sorted.

With II, we know they were actively planning it for about a year. Phil follows that up to say they planned it for “the majority of this year [2018],” so let’s just call it 10-11 months. More so than that, Dan said that they realized they wanted to do a second tour “halfway through” TATINOF, which in my best guess places that decision around summer 2016. This means they seriously considered doing a second tour for ~6 months before they even started planning it. 

Now, if the new project coming up is a tour, they’ve only been working on it for 6 months max. They only brought back the gaming channel 7 months ago, and we know from the end of Dan’s bday live stream that they didn’t start working on this project until they realized how many people still liked their content: “We were so shocked about how much people care about this light entertainment, sat-in-this-chair-ass content. [...] It took us by such surprise, and now we’re like, where is this going. [...] It was supposed to be a ‘let’s just do this for a bit and see what happens.’ [...] So now we find ourselves going, well okay, this channel, this content, the people, the future of it. What else are we gonna do? 'Cause it seems like there's a thing here.” 

So it’s up to you to decide when they realized that, but I think it was probably sometime in November at the absolute earliest, and then they still needed time after that to decide what they’re going to do, and then actually plan it. (And honestly, I doubt they started actively planning anything in December during gamingmas, but you never know!! Also like I said in my original post about this, Dan was still doing WAD stuff up until February and then some book promo stuff after that, so he was busy with that as well.)

So, that’s all to say, I really don’t think they’ve had time to plan an entire tour. At the very least, not a world tour, but I don’t know if they’d announce a UK-only leg and plan the worldwide tour later based on what they said about choosing to plan II all at once, rather than the split up way they did with TATINOF (also keep in mind that Dan announced WAD all at once, like d&p did with II). Idk I just don’t think they’d announce a tour without having it all planned!

Okay, so, besides the random hints that they’re busy planning something, we also have Phil’s comment about saving money in his Cactus Club post. He wrote “I also just wanted to make your cactus a lil more affordable as Dan and I get busy on what is …. next… ??” Now while this seems to imply saving up for something (hence why the membership needs to be affordable), he doesn’t outright say that. Then in his Q&A vid, he answers a question about what he’s cooking that specifically asks, “Should I save my money?” And interestingly, Phil doesn’t address the money part of the question. Now maybe he just couldn’t say anything about saving money, maybe it would've been too on-the-nose. But I’m also sure plenty of other people asked that question without asking about saving, which means he chose to specifically ignore that part. To me, it seems kinda weird to outright exclude that if the project is something people will have to pay a lot of money upfront for (i.e. tour tickets), but again that’s just my opinion.

(Also just a secondary note on Phil’s answer—he actually says, “Look, I can neither confirm nor deny something might happen in the next month.” I find the phrasing he chose really interesting. He didn’t say an announcement was coming, he said something was going to happen. Dan also never explicitly said to look forward to an “announcement,” he just said they’ve been cooking and to give it a couple of weeks. Obviously this could all mean nothing and maybe it is an announcement (whether it be for a tour or something else), but I actually think whatever the project is might be getting released not just announced. But idk!)

A moment of me speculating based on vibes (that also negates the note I just made about this potentially being a release rather than an announcement): part of me thinks this project might be something/similar to something they tried to get off the ground before but then never came to fruition! This gifset by @reunitedinterlude got me thinking about projects that they didn’t get to do for various reasons (namely COVID lol). I think one of these (either one of Phil’s ideas that he’s now brought Dan onto, or something they were trying to do together from the get go) would actually make a lot of sense for what’s getting announced. It would be something that they had already started work on, so it doesn’t take as much planning as something brand new, meaning it could be announced sooner. Additionally, I just feel like they’ve been so vague about what’s coming up, but they’ve also been super excited! They seem really proud about whatever they’ve been cooking. While I obviously think they’d be excited to do another world tour, part of me just feels like they might be this excited because it’s something new that they’ve never done before. Also, if it’s some kind of game show type thing, it would make sense that Dan said the project is a “celebration” of the gaming channel. But again this is just based on vibes lol.

In conclusion, I do think we’ll get a third Dan and Phil tour, I just don’t think it’s what’s getting announced(/released?) in the coming weeks. But I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s the next thing they announce after whatever this upcoming thing is! If you think I’m dead wrong and actually other people have planned world tours in <6 months please let me know, I’m happy to be proven wrong bc I would love another tour :)

[cbrownjc]

The one thing that I don’t get is if Devil’s Minion happened during the 70s, that means that Armand was basically leaving an heavily injured Louis alone in their house for long periods of time. In the book, Daniel and Armand basically move in together and spend all their time together. The Chase also seems like a full time job. I feel like Armand wouldn’t go do that, as he’s still madly in love with Louis during that time. He’d probably devote all of his time taking care of him. Or do vampires just heal faster, even with significant burns?

Hi!

So see, The Chase is actually why I think it was clever of the show to have Louis attempt what he did when he did, and be so severely injured by it. Because, as I said here, Louis having such extensive burns means there is really only one way for him to truly heal from them quickly and that is if he does the same thing Lestat had to do in the books when he was severely burned in the same way in the books and I feel we will see him be on the show (and probably was doing when Armand contacted him in 2x05 back in 1973) -- and that is to go underground, into the very earth itself, to sleep for a time and heal.

See, that is one reason Louis begged Armand to put him in his coffin at one point after he was hurt. Vampires heal quicker from injuries when they are in their coffins. And they heal even more quickly -- and grow even more strong in their abilities and powers -- if they go into the earth to sleep for a time.

In the books, Lestat went to sleep underground in the earth for 55 years from all the heavy injuries he got -- first when Claudia slit his throat, then when Louis set him on fire, and then, in Paris when Armand threw him off a tower. Lestat went underground, into the earth, to sleep from 1929 to 1984, to heal from all of that.

So I think Louis likely did the same thing for a short time after he and Armand left Daniel at the drug den -- Louis went into the earth to sleep and heal from his wounds.

And when a vampire is in the earth asleep, they are at their most safe from harm. Even during the burning from Akasha, the vampires who were asleep underground were not burned by her, because they couldn't be burned while within the ground. I'm only up to Chapter 15 of Prince Lestat, but that is a word and tactic that is being broadcast by Benji for all vampires to do during the worldwide second burnings -- to go into the earth, underground, if a burning begins where they are to escape it.

So in truth, Louis wouldn't actually need Armand to watch or take care of him once he was in the earth, underground, asleep. Because that's how Daniel actually first met Armand in the books. Armand was just hanging out at Lestat's house for decades, waiting for Lestat to wake up again while Lestat was asleep underground. Armand didn't need to watch or take care of Lestat as he was doing so -- Armand was just there because he had nowhere else to go. So when Daniel stumbled into Lestat's house looking for him, chasing Daniel actually gave him something to do.

And so I think the same will be true wrt the show. Once Louis goes into the earth to sleep and heal, Armand really isn't going to be needed by Louis for however long Louis sleeps underground. Just like in the books when it came to Lestat doing the same thing.

In fact, I can see a parallel with Lestat and Louis now both being underground and asleep at this point in time in the show, both healing from everything they have both gone through, as I honestly expect Lestat to also get severely burned during the events of Paris, just as we saw Louis get burned in 2x05.

So yeah, once Louis is safely underground, Armand will basically be by himself for however long that may last. And I can see his curiosity with that boy Louis called "fascinating" occupying his mind again, and him deciding to check up on that boy out of curiosity. And, as I said here, Daniel remembering the first interview still -- as well as the inspiring words he now had on repeat in his mind -- I think is going to have Daniel first looking for Louis and then, failing to find him again, will have him try to find Lestat.

Because in the books, all Daniel did to find Lestat's Garden District house -- which Lestat was sleeping under at the time -- was to go through property ownership documents in the Hall of Records in New Orleans, and find Lestat's name listed, right there, for a few properties, the Garden District house being one of them. Daniel, of course, would have never been able to actually get to Lestat himself, because Lestat was deeply buried under the earth at that time, but he still found the house easy. And then, when he arrived there, that's when Armand first caught him and locked him in the cage.

One of the things about The Chase I always wondered about before now wrt the show's version of it was what Louis would have been doing during it, as I always thought it was critical that only Armand and Daniel be involved in it. This is the main reason I thought The Chase in the show would only last a year or so, instead of the 4 years it lasts in the books.

But now, with Louis being so severely burned, I think that gives the answer. Just like Lestat, Louis will go into the earth, underground, to sleep and heal. And, just like in the books when Lestat did the same, Armand will be alone and on his own while he waits for Louis to wake up again. Which will probably take some years to happen.

And the only reason I don't think Louis will be asleep for the whole time Devil's Minion happened in the past -- which was 12 years in total -- is because of Louis calling Daniel "our boy." Meaning I think, at some point, Louis was with Armand and Daniel both sometime after Armand and Daniel fell in love and came together while Louis was asleep, and he and Daniel became even closer friends during that time. But who knows? Maybe Louis just calls Daniel "our boy" because of what took place during those 3-4 nights back in 1973 and nothing else, and Louis just sees Daniel as a "testament to their companionship" or whatever, and he really was underground asleep during almost the whole of Armand and Daniel's relationship. That is very possible as well IMO.

At any rate, I do think there might be something to Armand saying that he and Louis have been together "for 70 years" in the bedroom scene in episode 2x01, but then Louis saying they've been together "for 77 years" at the top of episode 2x02. Armand could have just been speaking in general numbers, or . . . maybe there is a 7-year gap when they weren't together. And maybe that gap is talking about the years Louis spent underground asleep and healing -- which it's clear that Louis himself wouldn't remember in the present-day, since he didn't even remember attempting to kill himself in the first place (thanks to Armand's memory reprogramming on him). And, during that 7-year gap, that is when The Chase happened, as well as 3 of the 8 years Armand and Daniel were fully together after confessing being in love with each other as well.

Which, come to think of it . . . if you do the math on that? 1973 + 7 years takes you to the year 1980. And if you look at Daniel's LinkedIn page, his writing credits didn't really start accumulating until 1981. As Daniel said himself, the 1970s are just a blur to him. And this could be why.

So I can imagine Louis waking up around 1980 or so and learning from Armand that he and Daniel are now together. And yes, I think Louis would be okay with it -- because hell, at least Armand wasn't alone while Louis was asleep healing, and Louis himself already has a fondness for Daniel anyway. (All of this happening being something Louis doesn't remember anymore now of course).

But between Daniel's growing career and Alice somehow coming into the picture sometime in the 1980s (because yes, I do think Alice is real, even if I also think a lot of Daniel's memories of her are really memories about Armand), things begin to go sour, with Daniel probably insecure because -- like in the book -- Armand kept refusing to turn Daniel so they can be together forever, and Armand reluctant to turn Daniel for a host of reasons I mentioned in this post, as well as probably not trusting Daniel to not run off and leave him once he is immortal (which is also a fear that Armand had wrt turning Daniel).

Anyway, so yeah, I actually think the reveal of Louis' burns strengthens the argument that Devil's Minion happened in the past because it now gives us an idea of what was going on with Louis not only during the time of The Chase, but also quite possibly the first 3 or so years of Armand and Daniel being a fully in-love couple. And that is that Louis went underground, into the earth, to sleep and heal. Just like Lestat was probably also doing from his own post-Paris wounds and injuries at that same time. Louis and Lestat both were safe underground in the earth -- which is the main way for vampires to heal faster from heavy wounds while being safe while they do so -- and didn't need anyone watching over them or taking care of them.

And so, just like in the book with Lestat when he was underground asleep (because in the books Armand and Louis had already long broken up and gone their separate ways when Armand was just hanging around Lestat's house waiting for him to be fully healed and wake up again), I feel the same thing likely happened on the show with Louis. Louis was asleep underground, in the earth, healing; and Armand was alone and left to his own devices because of that when The Chase between him and Daniel first began.

[firewasabeast]

I hope in season 8 we get the entire 118 being obsessed with tommy to the point where buck has to tell them to back off because he’s had to actually schedule boyfriend time because they keep popping in or showing up wherever they’re going out to dinner. chimney loves to go to movies with tommy, loves to hear his stories, thinks he’s so freakin cool. hen is convinced she somehow made buck and tommy a thing, because even though chimney got to tommy first to fly into the hurricane, she’s the reason the idea was in his head in the first place. karen also loves going on double dates with the boys and she got tommys number so she schedules the dates with him without buck knowing. eddie already liked tommy and they all three hang together but “when you and buck both do Muay Thai you end up leaving early every time so he’s banned from joining at least once a week.” buck thought bobby was a safe space to go complain about the others taking up their time, but bobby found out tommy loves a good mystery so he tells buck he ordered a murder mystery game and he and tommy have to come over for dinner and games. tommy promises they’ll leave by 9 so they have some alone time but soon enough it’s 11:30pm, buck and athena are in the living room half asleep with the tv on low while bobby and tommy are arguing about whether the ex-boyfriend or the circus clown committed the crime!

[wandussyfantasy]

hiii i have a request 🌚 g!p reader x Wanda pairing. background: reader and pietro are best friends and have been since childhood. reader and wanda never got along but secretly have crushes on each other. wanda is jealous because reader is a player and has hooked up with all of wanda’s friends, and reader just uses those girls to distract from not being able to have wanda because they don’t want to ruin their friendship with pietro. it all comes to a head when reader saves wanda from a handsy at a house party and the tension between them is too much and they confess their feelings and have sex.

i also have more ideas along their universe where they continue to hook up (behind pietro’s back) and wanda thinks it’s not serious (she wants it to be but is afraid of saying anything thinking reader just wants to be casual) but reader thinks they’re exclusive. maybe wanda sees reader talking to an ex and mentions thinking of going out with some guy and reader is all confused and offended like why would you talk to me about planning to cheat on me? and they have a legit convo about being together exclusively

also thinking it would be funny if after all that pietro catches them after having sex when he goes to readers house and bursts in their room and he just pauses absolutely shocked and scandalized, reader thinks they’re about to be murdered , and then pietro is like…you know what? that actually makes so much sense

sorry this is so long, idk if you can tell but the ideas been in my head a while LOL

Busted

Summary: Final part to You Suck, Let's Fuck. Y/n and Wanda start to get sloppy with hiding their relationship from Pietro.

Pairings: Wanda x NB!AMAB!Reader

Word Count: 4,661k

WARNINGS: 18+ ONLY, MINORS DO NOT READ & DO NOT INTERACT!!! smut, g!preader, powerbottom!wanda, fingering, dirty talk, fluff, masturbation, oral, sex toys, public touching, fantasies, and teasing.

𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄 𝐍𝐒𝐅𝐖 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓. 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐄𝐄𝐃 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐂𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍.

“Come on, just one time,” you beg Wanda as you stand behind her in the bathroom. She is brushing her teeth and getting ready for the day. You like to hold her from behind in front of mirrors. As much as you like fucking her from behind in front of the floor length mirror in her bedroom. 

She blushes as she watches you and feels you kiss her neck. “I don’t know. Just, wait a little bit longer. I just got a new prescription. It wouldn’t be safe.” She stops brushing to spit. 

You groan against her neck when she comes back up. She falls against your chest with her eyes closed. She loves being in your strong arms. A door slam has the both of you jumping apart. 

“Wanda! I need-” Pietro starts.

“Damn Wanda! I need to use the restroom! Come on,” you shout from the bathroom  threshold. 

“Wanda, you have to stop hogging the bathroom,” Pietro gripes and Wanda rolls her eyes. 

“Well if this place wasn't overcrowded, maybe we wouldn't continue to have this problem,” Wanda retorts as she starts to pull makeup out. You start dancing like you have to pee. Pietro takes pity on you and takes Wanda out of the room because he needed to ask her about something important. 

“Bitch,” you mutter and stick your tongue out at Wanda. The secret code for affection. 

“Slut,” she hisses and sticks her tongue out. You smile once you close the door and sigh in relief of pulling off the cover up. 

••••

You and Wanda decide to take a day off from school and stay home. Pietro doesn't know and is gone for the day going to class. You are trying to be cute and make something nice for Wanda in the kitchen. She watches you and is so touched by the simple act that she cannot wait to give you a reward. 

While you're mixing the pancake batter, Wanda crawls between you and the kitchen island. She pulls your cock out of your sleep pants and she starts sucking on your cock. “Mmm that feels good,” you hum as you continue to mix the batter. 

The way she licks and sucks on your cock distracts you to the point that you can't think about anything other than her warm lips. You hold her head and start to gently rock your hips, slowly fucking her face. “Fuck, Wanda,” you groan as she strokes the rest of your cock with her warm hand. 

The front door opening causes your eyes to widen. Familiar coughing has your heart racing. “Stop,” you whisper but Wanda is too far gone to hear the hasty whisper. You put your hands on the counter and Wanda takes that as a cue to take the control back. You pray that she at least hears the footsteps getting closer but then she deepthroats you so it's clear that she has no idea. You let out an involuntary moan. 

“Aw no,” Pietro says, then sneezes as he enters the kitchen slightly. “You got the flu too?” He coughs and you nod as you start to sweat. Wanda stalls for a moment. Your dick is throbbing in her mouth. Your heart is pounding anxiously. 

“Yeah, I was trying to make something and ugh, I just started to feel queasy,” you moan again. Trying to mimic the sound you made earlier. 

“Aw damn, I'm sorry,” Pietro coughs again. “I'm going to go lay down.” He points to the rooms. “Hopefully Wanda doesn't get it. We're going to need someone functional to pick up meds and shit.” 

“Yeah, I think she should be home soon. We can have her, ugh, pick stuff up,” you suggest as Wanda starts to suck on your cock again. You are fighting everything in you to not react the way you want to. It's enough to pull off the sick act. 

“Smart, I'll text her,” he says then sneezes. “I'll talk to you later.” He walks off to his room and the fact that he almost caught you with his sister but didn't is enough to have you blowing a load into Wanda's mouth. 

You pull your cock out of her mouth and quickly shove it back into your pants. “That was crazy! I can't believe you,” you whisper shout at her as you look at her on the floor. Wanda holds her finger over her mouth to signal for you to be quiet. Her phone buzzes and she pulls it out to read the message from her brother. 

“We probably should stock up on stuff, you know how bad it gets when someone gets sick in this house. I'll be back,” she kisses you on the cheek. “Finish making the pancakes, I expect them to be stacked in my room by the time I get back.” She grabs her purse and car keys and walks out of the house. You almost can't believe you just came inside of her mouth. 

••••

“Why do you both disappear when we go to these things?” Pietro asks as the three of you sit in an Uber to another house party on campus. “It's like you both agree to go home at the same time or something. I used to be able to actually hangout with you two. What's going on?” 

You hold your breath as you panic. There wasn't a reasonable answer. There was also no way were you going to tell him that you were fucking his sister. 

Wanda looks at you with slightly wide eyes, not sure what to say herself. “Well, sometimes I walk out feeling confident in one of those skimpy outfits but um when I'm there I feel a little weird and leave to change but then I get tired and just go to bed,” Wanda says. “That's why I'm not wearing one of those tonight.” Pietro nods and apologizes to Wanda. He half hugs his sister. 

“Um for me, you know about Wanda’s friends and their little boycott against me. I keep striking out and get bored. I have stuff to ehem, occupy my time at home better than getting rejected.” You say next. 

Pietro frowns, “Oh, I'm sorry Y/n. I didn't realize you were having a hard time picking up. I mean, you have game. I've witnessed you flirt. It's a masterclass. I mean I've spent hours trying to talk with a girl and I've seen you flip that same girl within minutes of approaching her. I swear I've seen the panties drop when they-” 

“OKAY! WE GET IT,” Wanda bursts out. You swear you could see the smoke coming out of her ears. 

“Okay, I won't talk Y/n up now. But Y/n, you've gotta stick with me tonight. I'll help you get some tail tonight.” He pats your shoulder and you smile and say that you appreciate it even though you don't need his help. But what's the alternative? You can't tell him that you're fucking his sister. 

Pietro drags you all over the sorority house, introducing you to the pretty girls. You try to fake the game that Pietro has witnessed time and time again but your heart isn't in it. There is only one person you want to go home with tonight but you can't tell your best friend that. 

You bomb every interaction as you feel Wanda's stare. You want to run to her and kiss her. But you can't escape the arm Pietro has around your shoulders. You can just find her with your eyes. It kills you when you eventually find her flirting with other guys. 

You can't take it anymore. You have to say something. You have to tell Pietro the truth. “Pietro, I have to tell you something,” you start. You've had quite a few drinks so you're louder than you intend to be. “I've been meaning to tell you this for some time now but-” 

“Woah are you feeling well Y/n?” Wanda says as she interjects. “You don't look too good. Maybe I should help you get home.” 

“O-okay,” you stumble on your words as you nod. When Wanda has pulled you outside of the house you frown. “I thought you wanted him to know.” 

“Not like this,” she says as she subtly rubs your back. “Not drunk at a loud party after he tried to hook you up all night,” she shakes her head. “It's not the time,” she looks around before sneaking a kiss on your cheek. 

“Okay,” you agree. When the Uber arrives, the two of you snuggle in the backseat. 

“Geez, you really did need to come home! How much did you drink?” Wanda asks as she helps you into the house. 

“I don't know,” you slur, “your brother kept handing me drinks to loosen me up. Says I need it for the ladies. At this point, nothin’ is happenin’ for the ladies. My dick is dead,” you point to your crotch and laugh. Wanda shakes her head as she helps you into your bed. When you're settled she tries to leave but you grab her wrist and pull her on top of you. “Don't go yet, I want to fall asleep holdin’ you. I like holdin’ you,” you admit. 

Wanda sigh, “I will fall asleep in your arms, honey. As much as I would love to, that's not how Pietro should find us.” 

You pout but you let her go and fall asleep. 

••••

You and Wanda are away on another weekend getaway. The two of you are cuddling on the bed watching a movie and things start to get steamy on the film. You start to think about the things you would like to do to Wanda and your dick starts to come alive. 

“I have a surprise,” Wanda says as she lightly massages the bulge in your sweatpants. 

“You threw out all of the condoms?” You ask excitedly. 

“No,” she rolls her eyes. “Stop asking, I’m not going to say yes. I told you, when I’m ready, I’ll let you know.” 

“Fine, okay,” you laugh, “I’m sorry, it was a bad joke. What’s the surprise?” 

She loosens up and smiles as she kisses you on the lips. She walks to her luggage and unzips it. She diggs inside and pulls out her harness. You’re confused because that’s nothing new. But then she pulls out a dildo much larger than the one she used to use. Your eyes widen. It wasn’t bigger than you but it’s not what a size you’ve had inside of you before. “Tada!” She says as she waves it around. 

“Wow,” you say as you look at the realistic dildo. 

“It vibrates too,” she smiles proudly. 

“My dick doesn’t do that,” you joke. It was girthy and long. You were intimidated to have it inside of you but you thought about how often Wanda’s body has had you endure your penetration. It kind of turns you on more knowing that her body accepts your cock. 

“You're always poking fun at the size of my dildos so I thought I'd get one that would shut you up,” Wanda explains while she removes her dress and pulls on her harness. She winks at you when you look at her with your jaw dropped. She climbs on the bed and takes the dildo to your open mouth. “Get it nice and wet for me,” she hums as pushes and pulls it in and out of your mouth. 

You comply and start to lick the silicone penis. Your cock is creating a tent in your pants as you get turned on by Wanda’s display of dominance. She bites her lips as she watches you get into sucking the dick. She wonders what it would feel like if she had a real penis like you do. How warm your mouth is. The sensations your tongue would bring as it moved around her taut skin. Would it feel the same as when you eat her out? Would it feel better than that? 

“Are you ready for me?” Wanda asks. You pull your mouth off of the toy and nod as you make eye contact. 

“I'm ready,” you whisper. You pull your pants off with a sigh of relief and toss them in the corner. 

Wanda adjusts the dildo onto her strap and tests the remote out to make sure everything is working. When she's confident with the product, she shuts it off and gets ready to fuck you. 

She rubs the tip between your pussy lips the way that you've done to her many times. She gets it now why you tease her that way. It's a power move. You have the control of the pleasure that she's usually begging for. 

Her eyes move to your face and she can see that you're close to begging her. She is going through so many emotions that she doesn't want to think about it anymore. She pushes the head in and is quickly met with resistance. Your hole wasn't ready for the intrusion. She pulls away ready to apologize but you stop her. 

“It's okay Wanda,” you say calmly. You grab the base of the dildo and pull her closer with it. “You just have to take it slow. Come here,” she does as you say and she leans in and reciprocates your kiss when you meet her lips with yours. She closes her eyes and relaxes. What she doesn't realize is that you are slowly stretching your pussy around her strap. Easing her into your body. She doesn't notice until she is practically falling on top of you with your dick pressing against her belly. 

“I'm in?” She asks in a shy voice and you giggle.

“Yes, Wanda,” you kiss the top of her nose. “You're inside of me.” 

“How does it feel? Am I hurting you at all?” 

You chuckle because she sounds like a virgin which neither of you are. “You're cute,” you kiss her lips. “I'm fine. Now fuck me, Wanda.” 

She kisses you one more time before she starts thrusting her hips into yours. Then she pulls as much of the dildo out without completely pulling out and slams her hips back down. Then she turns on the vibration feature and you start moaning loudly as you start to jerk off. 

In your lustful haze you start to imagine Wanda filling you with cum and it sends an orgasm through your pussy making your legs shake. Wanda is unaware of your orgasm as your dick is still hard. She continues to pound into your sensitive pussy, overstimulating you. 

You had no idea that Wanda had it in her to be so good with a strap-on especially since she claims that she never used one before the two of you started fucking but she is a natural. You move your hips to your body connected to hers every time she starts to pull away. You love this girl. You can't believe how lucky you are. 

The two of you fuck well into the night, missing the dinner reservations. It had been a while since the two of you were allotted such alone time without interruption. 

••••

“Okay, I'm ready,” Wanda tells you while the two of you are hanging out in her room. It had been weeks since the last time you asked to have sex without a condom so it took you a minute to understand what she was saying. 

You are sitting on her desk chair removing a bug on her laptop. She initially asked Pietro but she asked when she knew he had a day full of classes and neither of you did. He quickly turned the request over to you before he left. You asked her why she didn't just wait to ask you until he was gone and she explained that she didn't know how long the process would be and she didn't want to have to explain why she asked you over her tech savvy brother. Plus, she wanted to hangout with her girlfriend. It sucks having to pretend to live separate lives now that the two of you have made it official with each other. 

“Sorry, ready for what?” You ask as you continue to scowl at the computer. None of the programs you were running were finding a bug in the computer. But it didn't make any sense to you because the computer wasn't working the way it should. There is a problem with it. 

“To have sex without a condom,” she says shyly. 

“Are you serious?” you turn your head in her direction. She is sitting on her bed wearing a flowy black dress. She has black eyeliner on and you remember her emo phase back in high school. It was torture everyday to make fun of her when all you wanted to do was kiss her, hold her, love her. She spreads her legs open as an invitation as she bites her red lips. “Now?” You ask with wide eyes. 

“Happy birthday,” she lifts her dress up slightly to tease you with the sight of her upper thigh. 

You frown as you think about the date and realize it is your birthday. “How did you remember and I didn't even realize?” You grin at her. 

Wanda shrugs, “You've been busy. Must've slipped your mind.” 

“But it didn't slip yours,” you smile, touched by the simple act of remembering. “You like me,” you say as you slowly crawl on top of her. She blushes as she kisses you.

“Shut up and let me give you your present already,” she giggles between kisses. You drag your fingers up her thighs into her dress and you feel the lack of fabric. 

“Mmm, no underwear again,” you hum. “Again, are you sure about this? Do you have any ground rules?” You ask as your fingers rub against her soft skin. Wanda bites her lips again as her breathing quickens. She shakes her head.

“No rules, no tricks,” she whispers. “Just you and me,” she pulls your shirt off and tosses it behind her. She grabs one of your hands and pulls it from under the dress and puts it on top of it. “No barriers,” you nod at her request and kiss her deeply before you break the kiss and pull her dress off of her. You drop it to the floor beside the two of you. She pulls your basketball shorts and your underwear down until they fall on their own and you step out of them. 

The two of you are completely naked in front of each other in her bedroom. Your focus is on her entirely. As hers is on you. She crawls onto the bed more to get comfortable and you follow her closely. She giggles out of enjoyment. She almost can't believe that she is doing this. She has never had sex without a condom. She's never felt someone's cum inside of her and she is giddy about feeling your cum inside of her. 

You mirror her smile, her giddiness is contagious. When the two of you start kissing again, the giddy energy calms down a bit as the desire for each other grows. “I love you,” she whispers against your lips. 

“I love you,” you return the sentiment as you lean away to admire her beauty. You want to take your time. This is a big moment for the two of you. 

You kiss your way down her body, giving her breasts an appropriate amount of attention. Then you kiss her soft stomach. She twitches when your nose unintentionally tickles her. “Sorry, that wasn't on purpose,” you say, knowing how much she hates being tickled. She sighs with content and combs her fingers through your hair. 

“It's okay, I know it wasn't intentional,” she says softly as she looks down at you. 

You kiss the spot that your nose grazed, “Okay, good.” You continue down her body and when you're focused on her pussy, you put your arms under her thighs so her legs are over your shoulders. You devour her pussy juices. You lick, suck, and finger fuck her pussy. She falls apart, completely at your mercy. Her body shakes with her first orgasm of the day, her moans are muffled to you because her thighs are squeezing your head completely covering your ears.

When you're done with enjoying the way she squirms on your tongue, you crawl back up her body and rub your bare cock against her warm and wet pussy lips. She shivers under your body. “I want you to ride me,” you say against her lips as you kiss her. She nods as she pushes on your shoulders so that the two of you can switch positions. But you're enjoying the way her tongue collides with yours as the two of you kiss. She takes the time that making out with you gives her to collect herself. Then when she's ready, she really pulls away. 

You get in a comfortable position with her pillows supporting your back. Wanda straddles your lap as she had the first night two of you started this whole thing. You admire the way she looks from this angle. Completely naked and all yours. 

She starts by jerking you off first. You moan as she does, exciting yourself more and more as you think about being inside of her without a condom on. Then you have to think of something to calm down before you end up cumming on your own stomach. 

Wanda hovers her pussy over the tip of your penis and rubs it through her pussy lips until she feels it against her entrance. She lowers herself and you have to think of a million nasty things in order to keep from busting too early. Her warm walls engulf your hard cock as it has many times over the course of the past several months. This time feeling them without the barrier of the condom has you moaning a lot more than before. 

Wanda moans as well from feeling you completely. She feels every inch of you in a new way and she intentionally squeezes your cock every few minutes. “Fuck you're so big,” she says as she continues to lower herself on you. 

“Mph you're so tight,” you say with your eyes screwed shut as you try so hard to hold it together but you have to accept that this isn't a time that you can take a long time to make love to her. You only have yourself to blame for building this moment up in your head for so long only to have the reality be so much better. “Fuck, I'm sorry, it's just too good,” you say as you relax and open your eyes.

Wanda giggles and smiles down at you, “It's okay,” she says as she starts to lightly bounce her body on your cock. “I want you to cum,” she admits, taking your hands and placing them on her hips. “Go ahead, do whatever you want to me.” 

“Aw fuck, Wanda,” you groan as you hold her hips to help her ride your throbbing cock. 

That's what Pietro hears when he enters the house. He's confused at first then he rolls his eyes and figures that the two of you are fighting yet again. He sighs as he walks to her room. He sets his things in his room first then he walks over to Wanda’s room. He had time in between classes that he normally spent on campus but today was your birthday and he almost forgot. So he came back home to offer to take you to lunch. 

“Wanda, please don't kill Y/n today, it's OH MY GOD!” He opens the door the moment that you are cumming inside of his sister for the first time. “WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING!?” 

“PIETRO!” Wanda shouts and in your haze you're confused why she'd shout her brother's name instead of yours and then your heart stops and your blood runs cold as you sit up and peek out from behind Wanda’s body. 

“Oh shit!” You say with wide eyes. Wanda has her arms over her breasts as she pulls off of you. She quickly gets under her blanket to cover her body.

Pietro walks out of the room for a second and you scramble out of the bed to grab your shorts. You're pulling on your shirt when he comes back in. “What are you doing to my sister?” He asks in a tone that's on the edge of freaking out. He has always told you that you're his best friend but his sister comes first. “Are you just fuc- are you disrespecting my sister?” He corrects himself. 

“No, God, no! I'm in love with her,” you admit. “This, we have… I've been wanting to tell you I just didn't know how. This isn't how it was supposed to happen! Believe me,” you try to explain. Fearing that he might actually kill you for this. You were never supposed to cross this line. You were never supposed to want Wanda. You were never supposed to act on those thoughts. Not with her. 

He's still not sure how he's meant to react. Pietro is supposed to protect Wanda, always. That's what their dad always taught him to do. When she came home crying because a boy pulled on her hair, he would be sitting in lunch detention for a week for defending her. When her boyfriend cheated on her, he made sure that guy never came back around to try and ask her to take him back. Only to apologize and never return. Now it was you. He doesn't know what to do. 

“Pietro it's true, we've been seeing each other for months. We're in love,” Wanda defends as she holds her bedding to her chest. “Please don't be mad at Y/n! She cherishes your friendship so much! But neither of us could deny our feelings any longer.” She admits and Pietro physically relaxes. 

“You know what? This actually makes a lot of sense.” He says as he starts hysterically laughing. “Oh my goodness how could I not see it? Wow! You two are good,” he shakes his head as he starts to walk away. “Happy birthday, Y/n!” 

When he's out of the room your entire body is filled with relief and you look at Wanda and see that she is relieved as well. “That went a lot better than expected,” you finally say and Wanda starts laughing as she agrees. You laugh as you fall onto the bed, your head landing on her lap. 

She smiles down at you and you up at her. “How do you feel? Now that it's real?” She asks as she lightly caresses your face. 

“It's always been real for me,” you tell her honestly. “I'm just happy we don't have to hide any more.” 

“Me too,” she leans down and kisses your lips upside down. 

••••

“I do,” Wanda says to the Elvis impersonator. 

You, Wanda, Pietro, and a group of your collective friends were in Las Vegas celebrating everyone’s college graduations and their bright futures. Throughout the vacation you couldn't help but be overwhelmed with how much you love and want to spend your life with Wanda so you asked her to marry you. She said yes and the two of you agreed to elope here in Vegas. 

Everyone is different levels of drunk or high but they're all happy for you two. Natasha and Carol are holding each other in tears as they say how happy they are for you. Pietro is smiling as he sits next to his girlfriend with his arm around her shoulders. He asks her if they should be up next and she laughs with a hard no. 

“I pronounce you married!” The Elvis impersonator says and everyone cheers as you and Wanda kiss as a married couple for the first time. 

The End.

[thydungeongal]

Any recommendations for fun blorbo factory games?

I don't think I've ever actually elaborated on what I mean when I say a game works as a fun blorbo factory, so let me get that out of the way!

To me a game makes for a fun blorbo factory if the character creation itself is a fun process where players get to flex their mind muscles and exhibit system mastery! Character creation itself has to be a fun exercise, almost a minigame in and of itself, and allow the player to basically build their character from lots of discrete parts.

Entirely random character creation goes against the ethos of a blorbo factory, because the player doesn't get to express any system mastery. There is an allowance to be made for some randomness, especially if the system allows players to mitigate random chance through some means or to manipulate the dice somehow to get the outcome they want, but I don't consider B/X D&D style "roll your character's stats randomly and pick the class best suited to those stats" style character creation good for making blorbos.

Entirely open character creation I also find antithetical to a good blorbo factory, because a blorbo factory at its best allows the player to make a bunch of discrete choices, as if following a flowchart, instead of just giving the player a bunch of Legos to build their character out of. This, for the most part, disqualifies Hero System and GURPS and other entirely points-based systems, since character creation involves a lot of extremely tiny considerations instead of large sweeping choices.

It's also important that the system of character creation allow for expressing character through the mechanics! I am a fan of systemic games where you can get a strong idea of who a character is through how they interact with the rules of the game!

Also, while I like PbtA games, most of them I feel do not make for good blorbo factories due to the fact that they break down character creation into a very small number of discrete choices. Part of what makes a good blorbo factory is being able to engage in the strange alchemy of "I wonder if I combine this option with that option what kind weird guy I will end up with," and most PbtA games do not allow for this type of character-building. They're still very good at expressing character via mechanics, but the character-building itself isn't as pleasurable as an exercise as in a proper blorbo factory!

With that out of the way, some of my favorites include:

Mutants in the Now: Mutants in the Now, the retromodern clone of the old TMNT RPG from the 80s (which was based on RIFTS) actually has a lot of elements to its character creation that would disqualify it from being a good blorbo factory, like lots of randomness and being mostly points-based, if it weren't for the fact that it allows players to mitigate some of that randomness as well as providing some discrete choices to make on top of that. A character is mostly made out of discrete parts, like animal type, skill packages, fighting styles etc., which albeit determined randomly make an allowance for players to use a limited resource to flip dice rolls or to reroll if necessary. Creating a weird mutant animal in this game is a lot of fun and there's a good balance of discovering who your character is through random dice rolls as well as giving players some agency over the process.

Pathfinder 2e: Pathfinder 1e suffers from the D&D 3e problem of character creation being a supposedly straightforward class and level system but actually turning into a game of Legos where you need a spreadsheet to figure out how the Legos actually fit together. Pathfinder 2e turns the process into a neat flowchart where players still get a lot of agency over who their character is, but what it amounts to is the aggregate of a lot of discrete choices. A character consists of an Ancestry, Heritage, Class, Feats, etc. and some Heritages are Ancestry specific and some are versatile, there are Archetypes you can layer on top of that and so on so forth. Note: I have not actually played Pathfinder 2e so for all I know the game could actually suck ass in play, but the character creation itself is a fun thought exercise, and I was able to plot out a character who was like four different levels of catboy based on a combination of Ancestry, Heritage, Class, and Archetype.

Beacon: This one I mentioned recently, it's basically a fantasy RPG very much in the tradition of D&D 4e and Lancer (both of which are fantastic blorbo factories), but what makes Beacon stand out in my opinion is the fact that what you are really picking during character creation is outfitting options you can mix and match on your character during adventures! Looking for synergies across the difference Jobs and Classes and Talents and Ancestries is fun, and there are lots of surprising combinations that make for funny and evocative combos (my favorite is the Goblin Knightmare who tanks by grappling enemies much larger than they have any right to be grappling while biting them)!

Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy: While my friends at @anim-ttrpgs may shudder at the thought that their game should ever be called "a blorbo factory" I think Eureka actually has the makings of a really fun blorbo factory, mostly in the form of Traits. Traits are something similar to Feats/Perks/Merits that alter the way your character interacts with the mechanics, and by default you get to pick three for your character, which is enough to allow for lots of really interesting combinations and synergies. For an example, the Bumbling Detective trait is in and of itself a really fun trait to have on a character, giving the investigator a -2 to investigation rolls using Knowledge skills with the added benefit of gaining +2 Investigation Points any time they make an investigation roll with a Knowledge skill. That in and of itself reinforces the idea of detective who is, actually, really bad at detectiving, but somehow still finds a way to the truth, but combined with the Did You Know... trait (choose two Knowledge skills, the character gains 2 more Investigation Points whenever using either of these skills on investigation rolls, at the cost of never gaining Investigation Points using Interpersonal skills) your character is now a walking Dunning Krueger effect who thinks they know about their given field of study but are actually really clueless and misinformed, yet they somehow find themselves stumbling towards the truth even though they always seem to draw the wrong conclusions. (Note: I'm only talking about normal human investigators here. Monsters add one more layer of depth into the proceedings in Eureka that allows one to make even better blorboes)

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA for writing a story where someone from 1944 is the main character, with all that entails?

I (M, white) had an idea for a story as of late. I have not written it yet but I plan to.

Basically, the plot (very summarized) is that a French soldier, J, falls through a weak point in time and space. This weak point connects a WWII battlefield in 1944 and a random meadow in Georgia in 2024, outside of Atlanta. He gets found by the other main character, M, and the story is about him teaching J about what life is like 80 yrs later.

In the story, J is a white cis man, and M is a Black/Korean trans man. Throughout the story, J unlearns biases that were put upon him by ignorance, and that includes racist, homophobic, and transphobic beliefs, among others. The point of this was to show that even a person brought directly from a very uneducated time even WITHOUT all the social movements of the 20th century can make the decision to change their ways. He and M even end up together by the end of it, as J realizes that so much of his self loathing came from internalized homophobia.

Anyway, that's the gist of it. Now for the actual conflict.

I have a friend (F, also white) whom I described the story to to get her thoughts on it. She said she was concerned that I was making my transgender character of color get with a racist, transphobic guy by the end. I tried to explain that it was BECAUSE of M that J gets put on the path to change, and that the man at the end is not the same man from the beginning. It got more heated as I tried harder and harder to explain the nuances of the story. I eventually asked her what ending SHE'D prefer, and she said she "would like it better if M beat the shit out of him, or if J got sent back to his own time and got shot."

I replied that that was a terrible idea, that there was nothing wrong with showing a character growing, and that she sounded super twitterbrained. She called me a nazi apologist and blocked me, and now she's lying to mutual friends and saying that I said that MLK deserved it (????????????). Fortunately none of them believe her after talking to me, so...

I know she's acting insane about the other shit, but it's starting to weigh on me. Should I change J's character so he's from sometime else? Or just scrap the story altogether? WIBTA for continuing it as planned?

[darcytaylor]

Are people mad that Luke Newton has a girlfriend? Or is it something more? A deep dive. Part 1 of 3.

I want to start out by saying, I have been following the Bridgerton train since the season one release on Christmas day. It was a show that I knew nothing about and I became enamoured.

I have followed along with the show and the actors since the release. I find looking at human behaviour fascinating, as I work in a very customer service based industry. It is so interesting to me to see how the actors have conducted themselves, especially Luke Newton.

This post will be about why I think people are truly upset by his behaviour.

(some of which I agree with and some I don't)

Luke Newton has been quite the monogamous dater. He dated his fellow co-star from The Lodge, Sophie Simnett. They were both very young at the time, it seemed like a sweet relationship, but young love normally never lasts.

Then he got into a relationship with Jade Davies. She is very active in the Theatre world and it seemed like this was a very good pairing. I think they complimented each other well. You could tell they loved each other. Ultimately they broke up at the beginning of 2023, because they 'grew apart', or so the tabloids have stated.

I do know that Jade did receive some hate (which is fairly common in the industry that Luke is in). I personally don't think that it was as bad as people made it out to be. A lot of people loved seeing Luke in love and proud of his girlfriend. They supported them as a couple. They supported it because there really wasn't anything to not support.

After the breakup is where Luke Newton went off the rails (in my opinion). He decided to become the typical fuck boy and didn't keep it secret.

This is where he made his first mistake - he made his dating life public and it definitely looked questionable. (and yes he made it public by following certain people and posting about all of his vacations). He had a 'type' going into this time in his life (young dancers). But ultimately fans were forgiving because he just got out of a long term relationship. He was hurting and it's okay to spiral a little at a time like that. Fans supported him because they wanted him to have a 'hot girl summer'.

At some point he meets his confirmed/unconfirmed girlfriend Antonia. She seems to get a long with his close friends and people took notice of them spending time together. But I think fans thought he was still spiralling, so he wouldn't actually get into a relationship, he was only have fun.

Then the New Years kiss video was released. Fans did not like this. But ultimately I don't think that was what caused the biggest issue, I think his second mistake was befriending her on Instagram. This is what sealed them as an unconfirmed relationship. Had they decided to not make this decision, I think people could/would have left them/her be. It could have been summed up with 'it was just a New Years' kiss.

I think that Luke had every intention to make this relationship public. I think that, that was his ultimate goal that day. But because of the press tour coming up, he was told not to. I also think that made Luke spiral even more, he was upset that he couldn't show off his girlfriend (and when you like or love someone you do want to do that) and decided to take some of his issues out on his career and fans (by liking everyone of her photos, letting her post photos with his clothing, letting her post photos with his arms and legs).

His third mistake was mentioning that he was the most like his character on Bridgerton (he has said this multiple times) and his cast-mates also say the same thing. Hear me out on this one -

It can be easy to separate the art from the artist. That is simple enough for people to do (I have seen it happen on many occasions). But there were multiple times that he would say he is the most like his character (saying this made the task of separating difficult) - and lets be real Colin was made for the female gaze. He is charming, attractive, loving and isn't superficial. He fell in love with the 'outcast', the one that isn't the 'typical' beauty. Fans held onto this, because Colin as a character made them feel seen. They couldn't separate Luke from Colin because he kept saying he was like Colin.

When they look at Antonia they don't see the outcast, they don't see the girl that looks like them, they don't see a 'regular' woman. She is the opposite of who Colin would end up with, so that would mean that Luke wouldn't go for her. Antonia looks like the girl who made fun of you in high school, the girl who on the outside looks like she hasn't had a trouble in her life, a girl who's social media is all about vacationing and looks staged, she doesn't seem real.

(I want to note that I have no idea who she is as a person, she could be the nicest person).

So now that Luke has made a bunch of people mad they will go on a deep dive. The first thing that people will look into is the age. And she is quite young. Too young in fact. I am on the side that someone his age shouldn't be dating someone who's brain isn't fully developed (this is a scientific fact), ESPECIALLY since there is also a power dynamic. (It's okay if you do not feel the same way).

Luke's fourth mistake was letting his friends post things about himself on social media. Yes, I know that you can't control everybody in your life. But they are his BEST FRIENDS, Luke could have asked them to not post anything about himself. That would have been the smart more.

Luke's fifth mistake was not having Nicola and the Bridgerton Instagram posts with notifications on. He should have liked every single god damn post that they posted. This would have appeased the fans, the fans love that shit. But instead he would like every single one of Antonia's photos and forget about his job. This decision further bothered fans because he stated that he was moving his social media to be work related. I will be honest - his social media is kinda a mess. His social media presence is definitely a mistake he has made.

He goes on the Bridgerton press tour with Nicola (who is amazing at her job), and all of the imperfections of his life are even more exaggerated, because Nicola is fucking great. Even though Luke and Nicola are a pair when it comes to Bridgerton, people will still compare them.

When looking at this whole situation I think that Luke is continuing to spiral. I think that he can be a bit stubborn and he is doubling down. He has to know the mistakes he has made. He has to realize that he could have dated Antonia and not made it a whole situation/scene. If a celebrity doesn't want you to know something about their personal lives, you won't know.

Final thoughts - I think that Luke didn't think about how some of his actions would/could have been perceived, I think he was ill prepared in some of his actions, I think that he is still learning to be in the spotlight, I think he is somewhat immature, I think that he is being destructive to his career.

I'm convinced Luke wanted to come forward with his relationship months ago. I believe he was told not to and he didn't like that answer. He has shown some spite because of it. There are also other mistakes that I didn't get into, if you want a part 2 let me know? haha

Have I lost some respect for Luke during the past year? Yes.

Do I realize that it must be hard to be in the spotlight? Yes.

Do I think that if Luke continues on this destructive path he will regret it? Yes.

Should we also give him a bit of grace? Yes.

Do I think he is talented? Yes.

His actions sure are questionable though!

If you have gotten this far, congratulations and thank you for reading! It's been a fascinating deep dive!

[mikedfaist]

thinking about mike and reader doing a q&a after a screening of a film they did together (maybe it’s in columbus, the theater I go to is in columbus and always has special screenings and q&a’s) and them not only being so articulate and passionate about their film but also silly and very in love even though they’re trying to be subtle (they’re not)

Put the two of them in a room together, let alone sitting side by side, and you are in for a treat.

The film is a love story about two strangers who cross paths for only a brief moment. The director talks about working with the two of them – and years after the fact once the relationship has come out – that she was merely a spectator for their own love story. She got to watch the two of them fall in love in front of the camera, and that’s what makes the film so special. They aren’t just playing their characters; they are the characters.

Most, if not all, of the dialogue in the film is adlibbed, and so the scene where Mike’s character tells her, “Whatever you want from me—I don’t care what it is, I just want to be yours,” that was coming from him. The two of them met on the first day of set, having it been kept a secret she was even a part of the film as to not instigate rumors. He recalls spotting her standing outside of her trailer, adorned in oversized sweatpants and stained UGG boots, smoking a cigarette over a cup of coffee.

“I’m quitting,” she says, rolling her eyes. “I must’ve slept through those D.A.R.E. lectures in school.”

One of the big talking points of the film – primarily with the fans – are the sex scenes. There is one scene in particular that depicts him spitting in her mouth, and then a panned out shot of him going down on her. It’s a little graphic, but the girlies love it.

She does most of the talking, describing mornings on set where Mike would bring her coffee, and the little games they would make up to pass the time. She recounts a day where Mike tackled her on the beach while playing Get Down Mr. President, and he had to cover his smile with his microphone. She also relates back to filming the intimate scenes with Mike.

“I remember when we were preparing for those scenes, he was very vocal about what I was and wasn’t comfortable with, because it’s very unscripted what we do, so communication is like massive. We also had a very lovely Intimacy Coordinator, Lynn, on set who was incredible in what she did. We’d go into these scenes and whatever happened, happened. The spitting scene—” This is where the crowd got a little noisy. “Yeah, I know…” She laughs awkwardly. “The spitting scene was something we discussed beforehand. It was like…okay, what can we do to make this a little more…” She showcases her exuberance with jazz hands. “And it worked, right?”

“I think what was so special about making this film was having such an incredible partner by my side.” She turns to look at Mike, who, again, covers his smile with his microphone. “I already got him blushing.” She gently knocks her foot into his. “I really don’t think I could have given the performance I did if it wasn’t for him. He really is just so amazing, and lovely, and just an overall remarkable person. He makes it hard not to fall in love with him.”

“One thing for me,” Mike begins. “I remember the first morning on set, and we were in hair and makeup, and she looks over at me from her chair and she’s got her hair all done back, and those undereye masks on, and she turns to me and says, ‘It’s such an honor to love you, even if it’s for a short time’, so I don’t know what she means by it’s not hard to fall in love with me, when she’s spitting out actual poetry at 6 in the morning.”

She covers her face with her hand, shaking it slightly. “I must’ve watched The Notebook the night before or something.”

One of the questions they are asked was individually, what were their favorite things to film.

Her: The bar scene where I sing karaoke… I loved that. I think we did like five different takes with five different songs. Also, the pier scene where we share a funnel cake, that was a good day. It’s always a good day when there’s a funnel cake.

Him: I was going to say the funnel cake… Uh, probably the beach scene when we are playing in the water. It was fucking cold though.

Question: What made you decide to take on this project?

Her: I loved the authenticity of it. You have these two lost people who find this safe haven in each other. It’s a love story but without that happy ending. There is no closure, but such is life. I loved how there wasn’t a dialogue script, because we really got to make our characters our own. We put a lot of ourselves in these characters, and it felt very genuine. They really do love each other, even in that short time.

Every time she speaks, Mike is sitting there with heart eyes. He absorbs everything she says. Fans in the audience mentioned that he was engulfed in her stories, and how when he would chime in with comments, she’d engage and beam right back at him. There wasn’t a moment where they weren’t smiling at each other. She at one point reaches over to squeeze his hand, and if you count, she stayed there for just a second too long.

Afterwards, some lucky fans said they saw them backstage share a long, drawn-out hug, where she rested her head in the crevice of his shoulder and neck, and he was rubbing her back. When they parted, he rubbed her shoulders and you can see her nod at something he says, before he kisses her forehead, and then part.

Some say, at first, they were bummed by what felt like an unfinished ending to the film but were quick to change their mind seeing her and Mike very much in love on stage. They are the happy ending.

[squidthoughts]

collected thoughts on the creloise matter (Big And Detailed Spoilers Ahead):

if it’s dual character assassination, it’s dual character assassination and irredeemable and frankly uninteresting and unfortunately the show becomes unwatchable for me personally. if it’s purposeful setup? it’s bloody brilliant. i mean it could actually be bloody brilliant. there are a few lines that feel very purposeful: pen’s “did you ever truly like her?” and the moment with cress and her mother when cress protests being cruel to the btons. both of which come after the creloise breakup and, you know, the uhhhh cessation of scenes together. creloise was dead. there was no reason to continue to examine the corpse. unless it wasn’t truly dead. ok, so there is now incredible potential in the CreloiseSituation(tm).

they hate each other. perfect! cressida was suffering all season and eloise was a truly terrible friend - i mean, comically selfish and villainous - that is to say, cressida’s actions (antagonistic as they were) were explained and justified within the narrative and eloise’s were not. ok! that’s fine. in the past, cress has been the unjustifiably cruel one. if anything, they are now on equal footing in terms of illogically hurting each other. so, they hate each other. which just means their growing back together could be that much more satisfying.

eloise’s choices didn’t make sense. they just…don’t. if her arc this season was to show her growth separate from pen, and it ends with nothing mattering to her but pen, it’s just nonsensical. (dont get me wrong- i’m glad they made up! their friendship is a core pillar of the show! but taking a season of development apart and introducing new dynamics into eloise’s life only to end her precisely where she was in season ONE is just…huh??) that is, unless elosie’s decisions don’t make sense YET. unless the point of her abandonment of a friend IS the abandonment. unless this is precisely the base a following season would need to portray el from a starting position of moral inferiority- a facet of her character not yet explored.

creloise both out of mayfair now. coincidence? well…maybe! i guess! but also, outside the set and setting of society. idk, that just screams landscape of possibility to me.

they’re both on the cusp of substantial development! cressida at rrrrock bottom and eloise striving to find experience and purpose. we’ve never seen cress this low and tortured or el this alone and unsure. idk. parallels.

nothing that made us love them so much in the first place has changed. they’re still mirrors. they’re still unflinchingly honest with each other - often the only ones who are. they’re still (deliciously) (occasionally) mean. the foundations are still there. and tbh, if all of this was purposeful, there is SO much conflict and strife between them that i actually really love it. the angst! the tension! the possible banter! eloise abandoned cress at the worst possible time in her life and cress betrayed eloise (out of desperation but facts are facts) and neither of them got an explanation. and for a summer and a season they were very much alone together and enjoying each other and the betrayals sting because the friendship mattered in the first place. and that broken dynamic is just. so yummy. and the hate is there because the embarrassment is there and the embarrassment is there because….i liked you. and you burned me. and i cant believe i was stupid enough to like you. but i did like you, i did.

also, i’m sure the showrunners were understandably wary about how the audience would react to cressida this season. up until now, she’s been a glorified extra; the personality-less stereotype of the loveless, callous debutante bridgerton’s grand love stories exist to subvert. in s1 she was a joke (daphne and simon laughing about her scripted flirting) and in s2 she was the hopeless and petty mean girl. there was no reason for the audience to like her, because she was hardly a character and certainly not a person. i imagine suddenly linking her to everyone’s fan favorite eloise was seen as a huge risk— in case of a negative reaction, cress could hardly be established as a romantic prospect as well, possibly guaranteeing a large portion of screentime to someone the audiences don’t even like. creators obviously shouldn’t feel the urge to cater to an audience’s whims of how they think a story should go - this would be very bad!! - but i do think the extreme outpouring of appreciation for cress this season might enable the writers to utilize her more in the future. she’s a real character now with depth and her story has established loyalty in fans- narratively there is freedom there for some satisfying payoffs.

all this to say, this season reduced my expectations to not quite zero, but somewhere around one. the finale was crowded and unfocused and more than a few things just did not make sense and the queer rep felt very sudden and trite - for shock value, practically - and we were forced to watch creloise hacked to pieces….but, i maintain, if it was all purposeful….idk. i personally don’t think all hope is lost.

[vulpixisananimal]

Isapays fluff, the Thrilling Sequel.

"We'll be back in a bit Isa!"

"Alright! Take care!"

(With that, Nille and Bonnie headed off to the farm down the road for some fresh food. That was the nice thing about this little temporary cabin, it was close to everywhere in the little town! You could rent it out for a night, stay in, have a nice dinner and explore around, and then move on! For parties like yours, it was perect!)

(Mirabelle was already out meeting the locals, Odile had dissapeared for alone time, naturally, Ramos was exploring around the town, and Siffrin had yet to come out of their room. That was alright, you were happy staying here. You had your own little hobby to work on. And you were working on it right now!)

(You were working on a hat. It was one for Sif, well, Mal du Pays technicaly. You had started making a few for the three of them, the idea was maybe giving them an easier way to see who's who. But that didn't mean they couldn't be practical! You knew the sun hurt Mals eyes, so, right now you were sewing dark cloth to the rim to make a veil.)

(It had been hard to find a good material, one that was light, but could also blot out the sun. Luckily, it wasn't anything a bit of craft stitching couldn't fix. You had tried mimicing the type that Siffrin had on their cloak, but that was way too advanced. But you made do.)

(You continued sewing. It wasn't that far from done, actually. You could probably finish it today or tomorrow. But, don't rush it. Take your time to make sure it was perfect. It was intricate work, but nice. You continued on for a few minutes before pausing and leaning back where you were sitting.)

(You nearly jumped out of your skin when you turned to see Siffrin was there staring at you.)

"O-oh! Good morning!" (You say.)

(They waved softly and walked over. Oh! Not Siffrin, Mal. It was getting easier to tell who's who every day. Mal du Pays didn't talk, rarely showed up, and was stuck with a resting neutral face, to be polite about it.)

(And, well. You two, had, that one time.)

"Everything alright?" (The other thing you'd noticed was that Mal came out usually when something had gone wrong. You'd been told it does come out casually sometimes, but you'd yet to see it, really.)

(It held up crossed fingers. "I'm ok.")

"W-well. . ." (Oh Change, you still didn't know how to talk to it.) "Well you're free to stick around, if you want!"

(It nodded, and sat down next to you.)

(. . . Change, you were fine! Oh you were really fine! Sure, it had sat with you before like this, but, but it had been a few days since, since that encounter you two had. And you, really had no idea what to think about it still!)

(You continue sewing. Was it. . . Hopeful thinking? That it liked you? Well, maybe it did! It did want to kiss you after all. But, but then it needed to pull away. You knew it was probably just too much touch but, but what if it wasn't? You might have done something wrong, or. . .)

(You feel a gentle poke, making you jolt and turn, Mal was looking at you.)

"O-oh! Sorry! What's up?" (you reply, a little nervous.)

(It looked at you for a second, then held two fingers to their chest, then drew a line above their eyes and clasped both hands together. "That's a veil, for me?")

"O-oh! Yeah, it is! I wanted to make you something nice, Loop mentioned the sun bothers you, so. . ."

(It blinks at you, its face impossible to read. It tapped its temple. "Why.")

"Huh? W-well, I don't want you to hurt your eyes so-"

(It shook its head, tapped its temple again, pointed at you, then made a circle motion with both hands. "No, why do you care?")

"H-huh? Why wouldn't I?"

(It just looked at you. Its gaze felt cold, looking into your soul. It was, really terrifying sometimes. But that was ok! You continue,) "I just, wanted to make you something nice, b-because."

(It's still just, looking at you.)

". . . I just, want you to feel comfortable."

(It pauses, then taps their temple again. "Why?")

"B-because, because you deserve to?"

(Another tap.)

"You deserve to because everyone does! Everyone should be able to feel comfortable."

(It pauses, and considers you for a moment. Then tapped its chest. "Me?")

(You nod.) "Yes! you! I know you guys have gone through a lot, so-"

(It waves a hand, cutting you off. Tapping its chest and wiggling an open palm, then splayed it open. "I can't relax.")

(Huh?) "Why not? You're not in danger right now or anything."

(It's staring at you, you think you see its eye twitch. It turns away from you.)

"Mal. . .?" (You wait for a moment, trying to give it space, but, you're worried. Did you say something wrong? After a minute you lean over to try and see if it's ok.)

(It's. . . Crying.)

"Are you, are you sure you're ok?"

(No response, it's not looking at you, its breathing is getting heavier. You try and very gently offer a hand out.)

(It slaps your hand away and-)

"&$*#%^###$"

(You wince. Ow! It, it talked? R-right, that's why it didn't talk. Island language. You look away and hold your head, Ow ow ow. . .)

(It slapped your hand away.)

(You're looking down at the veil your sewing as you hold your head. It slaped your hand away. Did, did it not want you around? O-or, or did you just take it by surprise? O-or maybe even. . .)

(You feel a touch on your shoulder. A hand. You turn around.)

(Mal has its hand on your shoulder. It's crying, and shaking a lot; its face that was always neutral is showing cracks. It holds up a fist over its heart. "Sorry.")

(. . .You place your hand over Mals.) "I-its, it's alright."

(It shook its head, and looked away. Finally, it tapped its chest, and made a grabbing fist. "Can I trust you?")

"I- O-of course you can!"

(It glared at you.)

"Promise! I promise!! I haven't given away our secret right? Even if some people are relentless about it."

(It stares at you for a long time, as if considering something. It drew a horizontal line, then made a motion like breaking a stick. "Do not break it.")

"I promise, I really do, alright?" (You smile at Mal.) "I, I don't want to hurt you, okay? I promise, from the bottom of my heart."

(Mal looks you up and down. Takes a moment, breathing in, and out. It patted its chest with an open palm. "I'm scared.")

"Whuh?" (Mal? Afraid?) "W-what of? Did someone-"

(It shook its head, it held up a hand, paused, then continued. It patted its chest again, and then made a hand motion from you to it.)

("I'm scared of falling in love with you.")

(Your eyes widen and your breathing quickens. What?!? could that mean??? What could that possibly mean?!?)

"Y-you're. . ."

(It nodded, it was shaking.)

(You were, so, so confused. A-and, worried, and. . .) ". . . Do you, want, to talk about it?"

(It took a minute to reply, taking it's other hand back, it shakily took a hand and tapped its chest, drawing a line, then made a slashing motion. "I don't want to be hurt.")

"You're. . . Worried about me hurting you?" (Why would you hurt it?)

(It placed a cupped hand over the other, open palms moving away. It pauses, then pats its chest, and makes a slashing motion. "I protect Sleepwalker, I'm scared I'll fail.")

(Sleepwalker? Oh Right! That was Siffrin! It was hard to do full names in sign language so, nicknames. It was scared it couldn't protect Siffrin if it. . . Oh.)

(It raises it's hand, stops, unsure what to say. It looks away, shaking even harder.)

". . . Mal?"

(It looks at you.)

"You're, you're scared that, i-if, you and me are, a-a, a thing, then. . ."

(It nods.)

(It wants to protect Siffrin, more than anything. That's, that's what it is after all, right? A protector? Someone who takes care of the body, the host, Siffrin. It's done that job so well, so. . . Personal. It's, it's surpressing everything including you, but.)

(But that's something you can both agree on!)

"Let me help you then!!" (You lean in close.) "I-I, I want to make sure Sif's safe too! I want him to be happy a-and, and not to have to worry about these loops or memories, or anything! So, so. . ."

(It's looking at you, bewilderment having broken through that mask of neutrality. It opens its mouth, and closes it.)

". . . Please."

(It's looking at you, its face, it's, hard to describe. It does so well at hiding it's emotions, even though it's mask is cracking more and more with each word you say. Eventually, it gently claps its hands and holds a palm to you. "Promise?")

(You take its hand and hold it close.) "I promise! I-I promise with all my life! A-and. . ." (Oh Change come on Isabeau, no, don't freeze up now, just say it!)

(Say it! Say it!!)

"A-and, and I'll protect you too!! B-because I love you!!"

(It's shocked, you're shocked too, honestly. You didn't think you'd have, have the courage to, t-to just say that! Here! Now! But now your words are falling effortlessly out of our mouth.)

"I-I've, I've been thinking about when we kissed every day and! A-and about all you went through in Jouvente, a-and! And I don't want you to think you're alone in this!! One of the first things I learned as a Defender was to find someone to have your back. To find someone you can trust a-and-" (Oh Change, you had butterflies in your stomach.)

(You continue.) "I-I want to be that person for you! I want you to, t-to be able to feel safe! Like you don't need to fight the world on your own!! Because, b-because I trust you! And I love you! And I'll always be there to fight the world right by your side!!"

(That. . . That was a lot wow, ok. How long have you been holding all THAT in, Isabeau? You take a second to catch your breath.) "I-I, I know, that, that was a lot, but-"

(It shuts you up with a kiss.)

(. . . . . You, you just forgot everything you were about to say. I-it, it's kisisng you, it, it's kissing you and isn't moving away quite y-yet a and that's MORE than fine by you t-that's, that's, oh you're gonna just die here and now!)

(You put an arm gently on it's side, it flinches, but doesn't move. It puts a hand to your chest, it's cold, but that's ok. Oh, oh you feel so hot, you're deffinatly blushing! Eventually, it moves away, it's mouth hanging open a little, showing more emotion than it ever has before. It pats its chest with a fist. "Sorry.")

(It takes you a moment to register it, you were extremely flustered and still catching up.) "I- n-no! N-nono no need for sorry I, was, surprised, b-but a good surprised like! Like a surprise gift, o-or a-"

(It kisses you again!)

(This time for much shorter but! B-but it still, kissed you! again!! When it moved back again you squeaked out a reply.) "O-okgotitmessagerecieved."

(It smiled at you. Actually smiled. This, this was a first! You were trying really hard not to, well, loose it just a little bit! With one hand, it made a rising gesture from its chest towards you. "I love you.")

"I love you, too." (You say effortlessly.)

(It looks at you, and tilts its head, considering somthing . . . It made a grabbing fist, then tapped itself. "Trust me?")

(You nod enthusiastically.) "Of course trust you!"

(Mal breathes in, and out. It pauses for a minute, then grabs your hand, and lays it out flat, palm up. It does the same with it's own palm.)

(With its other hand, it draws its dagger, and places the sharp edge against its own palm. It looks up to you, for. . . Confirmation? What was it doing?)

(You nod. Mal cuts open its palm, it doesnt flinch, there's blood. It moves the dagger to your hand where it hesitates for longer before cutting your hand open as well. You wince, ouch. Looking up at Mals face, it looked a bit sad that it hurt you. You smile at it, that makes it feel better.)

(You look down to you and Mals wounded hands, an elaborate ritual that Mal Du Pays would want to share with you? Was, was it a wish? If it was, should you just follow Mals example? Should you wish for something?)

(You do, don't you. And you knew what it would be. The same thing you wished for back in Dormont. You wished that Siffrin, Mal, and everyone else who was sharing that head would be okay. That's what you wanted.)

(Mal Du Pays held it's hand up, bloody palm facing you. You do the same back, it nods in approval. A moment, later, your hands are entwined, it stings, but that's ok. Mal closed it's eyes, you do the same. This was where you wished, righ?)

(It was. You could feel it.)

(You wish that they're ok, you wish that they're ok, you wish that they're ok. . .)

(It's. What. You. Want.)

(. . . It, it must really trust you. You knew it was protective of it's memories and wishes. After all, it keep nearly destroying countries.)

(Your hand still stings from the cut, that's ok. You feel a tap on your arm and open your eyes, Mal's smiling at you.)

"Y-you ok?" (It nods, almost enthusiastically.) "h-ha, that was, u-uh-, that was a wish, right?"

(It nods, clapping it's hands and putting a palm to you, then with it's thumbs and index fingers makes a star. "A promise Wish.")

"O-oh!" (You blush a bit more, looking to the side.) "I-I, I won't break it. Promise."

(It reaches you out to you, and gently turns your head back to it. It's smiling, and leans in close. Your heart, you can feel it beat out of your chest. It's. . . It looks so beautiful. You lean in close and-)

(You hear a click from the front door.)

(You blink and Mal was standing a few steps away, face back to its usual neutrality. After your brain catches up to you, you frantically start work on the veil again as the door opens.)

"I'm home!!" (It was Mirabelle.)

"M-Mira! Welcome back!" (You say in your most convincing voice.)

"Hi Isabeau!" (Mirabelle walked into the room.) "Did the siblings go out- oh! Mourning sif."

(Mal waved a hello, then turned and left. Change, it was such a better actor than you.)

"O-oh, sorry, I-I meant-"

"I-its alright, Mira." (You smile, trying to stay normal.) "We're just, all getting used to it!"

"I-I know, just- AAH!!" (Mirabelle rushes over to you.) "Y-your hand!! What happened!!!"

"Wh-" (You look down, CRAB!!! You forgot the cut!! Uh, u-uh-) "O-oh! Oh it's nothing! I-I just cut myself sewing, it's no big deal!"

"Don't be silly! Here, let me see." (She put a hand over yours, and with a bit of healing craft the cut closes. You open and close your hand a few times.) "How is the veil coming along?"

"Well. . ." (Your hand tingles a bit. What a morning is been. . . You and Mal are, well, a thing now! A-and, you made a wish together! Even if, you didn't know what it wished for.)

(You breathe in, and out.) "It's, it's going well! Very, very well."

[cyren-myadd]

Headcanons about how the Avatar characters sing

Neytiri: we all heard her singing her songcord in A2. Ninat may be the best singer, but if something happens to her, we all know who the new best singer will be. Her voice is beautiful on its own, but she loves to sing with her family and the rest of her clan.

Jake: I love him, but this man cannot sing. He tries his best, but it always sounds like a dying titanothere. Whenever the olo'eyktan and tsahik have to lead the clan in a traditional song, he lets Neytiri take the wheel.

Neteyam: he takes after his momma 💙 he has a beautiful singing voice, but even though he's so talented he never tries to take the spotlight and prefers to sing in a group.

Kiri: she's a little insecure about her oddly mature-sounding voice. She has trouble staying in tune and staying on beat whenever she sings in a group, so she normally keeps her voice soft during clan songs, but sometimes, when she's all alone in the forest, she'll sing a song that's all her own. Spider is one of the few people who's ever caught her singing by herself and she made him promise not to tell anyone, though Spider thought it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever heard.

Lo'ak: he takes after his dad. He can't carry a tune to save his life, and he's so jealous of Neteyam's voice. He's convinced Neteyam sings extra loud when they're together just to rub it in his face. But even though he can't carry a tune, he has a fantastic sense of rhythm. If he would stop trying to copy Neteyam and focused on his own talent, he would be a great drummer for clan songs.

Spider: Once when he was a kid getting tutored in "boring human crap" by Norm and Max, he made up a song to remember the Pythagorean Theorem, (please click the link if you haven't heard the Jack Champion pythagorean theorem song, it's so goofy) and he drove all the adults crazy singing it. Ever since then, he's loved singing, and he has a nice voice too, but there's just one problem. White boy got no rhythm 😔. He couldn't stay on beat if his life depended on it, but he makes up for it with enthusiasm.

Tuk: she loves to sing just like Neytiri, and she'll make up songs when she's playing or learning new skills. She hasn't quite grown into her voice yet, but she'll probably sound just as beautiful as her momma when she grows up.

Tonowari and Ronal: the only time they sing is when they're together, leading the clan through ceremonial songs. Even though they don't sing very often, their voices compliment each other wonderfully.

Aonung: He's going through a phase where he's Too Cool (TM) to sing 😎... until Ronal smacks him upside the head for not participating in clan song rituals.

Tsireya: she has a very sweet voice, but it's so soft it can easily get drowned out when she's singing in a group. Her true passion is dancing, and she would much rather dance than sing during clan celebrations.

Rotxo: he's a little shy about singing, but he has a decent voice. He also prefers dancing.

Quaritch: you wouldn't know it, but he actually does enjoy singing and he's not half bad at it. He's got a deep, kinda raspy singing voice that's good for classic country songs. He only sings when he's really relaxed and happy though, so most people have never heard it. Spider thought he was hallucinating the first time Quaritch started singing Johnny Cash songs while they were flying alone on Cupcake. At one point when it was just the two of them, Quaritch sang "A Boy Named Sue" but changed it to "A Boy Named Miles" and Spider couldn't tell if he was making fun of him or not. Spider liked the part of the song where the boy beat up his deadbeat dad though.

Wainfleet: He screams Lynyrd Skynyrd whenever he flies on his ikran 🎶 FLYYYYYYY FREEEEEEEE BIRDDDD YEAHAHH *sick guitar solo*🎶

[chvrrycola]

BF! HUENING KAI ON A STORMY DAY

word count | 0.4k

warnings | none

now playing . . . 24/7=heaven by bts

the other stormy days

decides to use this extended time at home to work on some sort of project

probably thinks of himself as like the da vinci of the jigsaw world or smth

even though he hasn’t done one since a 10 piece sheep thing when he was a kid

but the boy’s got confidence you have to give it to him

it doesn’t quite go as he had been planning though

cos it turns out that jigsaws for adults usually have more than ten pieces ? 

and they’re actually confusing and take a lot of work ?

but i feel like he’d persevere

and would refuse to look at the picture on the box except when you leave the room to grab a glass of water

at which point he holds it right up to his face and tries to take in every detail

before throwing it back to where you had left it on the sofa so you wouldn’t notice

because yk you might think he was less attractive if you found out he had been bluffing about his jigsaw-solving prowess

i think after a while the focusing solely on the jigsaw would start to get to him a bit

so he’d suggest you guys watch a movie as you did it

which wasn’t the best idea considering you were both just staring at the screen the whole time

the jigsaw completely forgotten on the coffee table

until the film ended and you both decided to try and speedrun the ¾ that you had still not gotten to

realistically the sky would’ve probably run out of rain by the time you were done

so you call for assistance from whoever is around

but of course this was also meant to be a chance for you two to spend time together

so kai expertly delegates the jigsaw to whichever poor soul(s) happened to be in the house with you both

you head off to have some actually enjoyable time together

which let’s be real is probably just

falling asleep

or perhaps just teasing him as he gets sleepier and sleepier and more and more affectionate

starting to say things that he might be a bit embarrassed about when he’s fully awake

you’re not surprised by any of them, you know he loves you

it’s just it’s not the easiest for him to put it into words

but you’re completely drawn in to his drowsy ramblings as he tells you about the moment he first fell in love with you

nestling his head into you as you stroke his hair until his mumbles are barely audible 

you make a mental note to bring it up to him when he wakes up 

not to try and embarrass him or anything like that

just because you don’t want to allow the slightest possibility of him thinking you aren’t just as infatuated as he is

[cosmicvenusnebula]

⋆☾⋆ Devil's Advocate ⋆☾⋆

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

Characters: Lucifer x Gn!Reader x Diavolo AU: Canon Universe

Description: Headcanons about being in a polyamorous relationship with Lucifer and Diavolo.

Contents: Fluff, Romance, Becoming a demon, Suggestive but no smut (cuz I am 17)

Word Count:

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

⋆☾⋆ When you first came to Devildom, neither of them really liked you, but it didn't take long for you to gain their trust.

⋆☾⋆ Not long after you started living at the House of Lamentation, you snuck out once you thought Lucifer was asleep and pretty quickly you got caught by Cerberus, and he was just a little (big) cuddle bug.

A few hours later when everyone woke up, they started freaking out when they couldn't find you, but Lucifer noticed Cerberus was gone too and went out to find him, hoping his dog didn't attack you.

It only took Lucifer a couple minutes to see you asleep nuzzled up to Cerberus right outside the mansion. He couldn't even be mad at you for falling asleep where any demon could get you when he saw how cute you looked cuddled up to Cerberus, a demon hound that only ever obeys Lucifer.

⋆☾⋆ To earn Diavolo's trust, you started helping him at the castle and delivering messages for him. That isn't what gained you his trust though, actually he thought you were incredibly suspicious for going out of your way to help him when he has Lucifer.

He only started to trust you when he overheard you talking to Asmodeus about how hot you thought he was, and asking Asmo for advice. His face turned bright red and that night he was going on and on about how he might be in love with a human to Barbatos.

⋆☾⋆ After you started warming their hearts, Diavolo asked you out, and when you asked Lucifer if it was safe to say yes, he started freaking out. Practically dragging you by your hair to the castle to "talk" to Diavolo.

Things started to get heated when Lucifer said he also had feelings, they started fighting over you. Eventually you had to interrupt their fighting and tell them you had feelings for both of them, and that they could just share. They had completely different schedules so it wouldn't be hard to spend time with one when the other is busy.

Diavolo was fine with sharing, but Lucifer is possessive, and he feels that you would be in danger if you went out with the demon prince, but he agreed to it anyway because he wanted you to be happy.

⋆☾⋆ After you've dated both of them for a while, you started spending every other week in the others rooms. Diavolo ended up giving you your own personal portal directly to his castle so you didn't have to make the trek back and forth through hell.

You aren't sure when it happened, but they started using your portal so they could spend time with you together, all three of you spending nights in each others beds. Lucifer had to use a spell to soundproof his bedroom because you got to a point in your relationship that you started bothering his brothers.(¬‿¬) *wink*

⋆☾⋆ After your year in Devildom was up, Diavolo made a pact with you that allowed you to stay in their realm......he even asked you if he could turn you into a demon so you could stay with them for eternity.

The only downside was that you would technically die, but then you would reawaken in the best form of your body with horns, a tail, and wings.

When you accepted his proposition, you awoke with a blinding headache and a sudden lustful desire that made up your entire being.

Both Lucifer and Diavolo only have a set of wings now. Their bottom set of wings being torn off and used in magic to create your new form. Your wings look like Lucifer's but with red feathers, and your horns also look like Lucifers but red with gold on the tips like Diavolo's, and your tail matches your horns.

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

I kinda just rushed through this and I am too dissociative to know if this is any good or not.

I am def gonna make a longer fic about them sacrificing their wings to create Mc's demon form at some point.

[matan4il]

have you ever been able to have any Palestinian friends? I'm not asking this as a gotcha question at all, but sincerely (I know anons on here can be scary), I was wondering about it because an Israeli I follow on Instagram was asked about this a few days ago in his stories, and he said he was never able to have friends in Gaza, but he did have friends in the West Bank, and they've almost all cut him off completely following 10/7, and some really hurt him by showing support for the massacre. he said he's still got his Arab Israeli and Palestinian friends who are Israeli citizens, that they may disagree sometimes but haven't to a breaking point because they live in the nation together and want peace and are supportive of each other through differences, but those friendships in the West Bank are sadly over. he also said that he's had friends he's known for years from places all over the world who dropped him after the terror attack just because he's Israeli and Jewish, which I think is all too familiar for ALL of us because I don't know a single Jew who hasn't lost multiple friends, online and off, through all this and through no fault of their own, just existing as Jews. it makes me so sad. but knowing he was cut off because of support of the massacre from Palestinians was depressing to hear, you think people are your friends and then find out they approve your people's rape and slaughter? and until they stop deeply hating Jews to that point, how can there be peace? he seems like such a good person and centers humanity and does want peace, as I know most Israelis do, but one side can't achieve that alone.

sorry this is long. *hugs*

Hi Nonnie,

thank you for the ask, and I hope you're doing good! *hugs*

I have had Palestinian friends. True, not from Gaza. Israel left it in 2005, and there has been an internationally recognized border between us since. Ironically, I think the only Israelis who could have given you a different answer up until Oct 7 were the southern communities that Hamas attacked and massacred. They lived right on the border, most were left wing Israelis, many volunteered to help Palestinians in one capacity or another (such as driving them to get medical care inside Israel), or chose to employ Palestinians (despite how some might have warned them that it's a security risk), and that illusion of friendship was shattered when it became clear that it was exactly those Gazans who provided the intel on southern Israeli communities, that was needed to plan and carry out the massacre. Not every single Gazan, of course. But enough that this is a true betrayal in the worst sense of the word.

In my case, some of the Palestinians I've befriended over the years have been uni friends or colleagues, but the closest and longest lasting friendships have been with gay Palestinians who I share a community with. They can't be safely openly gay anywhere under Palestinian rule, so they would come to Israeli gay community centers, and were received warmly there. I also was in one fandom, where someone heard I'm from Jerusalem, and said they know another Israeli from Jerusalem. Turned out, it was a Palestinian girl from East Jerusalem, and while I'm no longer that active in said fandom, I'm still in touch with that girl.

I feel very lucky to say that I haven't lost these friendships since Oct 7. Ironic, because I've "lost" friendships (if that's what they ever were) with so many hypocritical foreigners who don't live this conflict, and aren't affected by it, beyond their need to show everyone they're "on the right side," but I haven't lost the people who are actually a part of it. It's almost like foreigners have no idea about the actual complicated reality of this conflict, nor a desire to learn about it, just a need to reduce it to "good" and "bad," taking whichever side social media tells them is the former. My Palestinian friends know me, they know how I treat other human beings (spoiler alert: as human beings!) and they also know my opinions, and that I see myself as being both pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian. I guess they agree with me that my opinions are in favor of both groups, or I'm sure that they would have cut ties with me already.

There is one exception, though it predates Hamas' massacre. I've mentioned in my pride post that I've volunteered for the gay community in my city, at the Jerusalem Open House. In fact, there was a certain year where I won an award for being the organization's stand out volunteer. I mention this, because I have always seen myself as being there for everyone, and I feel like that award was an acknowledgement of that.

The very first Palestinian queer organization ever actually started out as "the Palestinian project" of the JOH, an attempt to create a safe space for, support and help queer Palestinians. One member of the group became very dominant and after a few years, she decided they should be an independent organization. The JOH gave its blessing, and agree to rent out one of its offices to her, and provide the physical space for the organization's activities (since obviously, they couldn't be openly held in Ramallah or Bethlehem, under the rule of the Palestinian Authority). I met her there, and we became friends. Not the closest, but def more than just acquaintances. I was very proud of her work for her community, and often told others about it.

One day, I was sitting in the JOH main space, talking to people about the problem of honor killings. It's widespread within Arab society (one researcher believes about 20,000 women are murdered for this around the world every year), and that includes Palestinians. I was specifically asked about it, and was answering the question out of a deep concern for Palestinian lives, mainly women and queers (including my own friends), threatened or murdered for the perception that they "violated" their family's honor. For the record, such a violation can be simply a guy kissing another one, a woman being raped, a biological male coming out and living as a trans woman, a mother getting a divorce and dating a new man, or a daughter defying her father's wishes and pursuing higher education. I have seen Palestinians (and Israeli Arabs) murdered for all of these reasons, and I HATE it and think more needs to be done to prevent such crimes. I also have queer Palestinian friends, who have tried to seek refuge in western countries because of a threat to their lives within their own society, sometimes from their own families. They were denied, and had to go deep into the closet. It's a miserable existence, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

She walked by while I was talking. IDK what exactly she heard, but she then went to the CEO of the JOH and complained that I was being racist. For caring about the lives of Palestinians. For comparison, I linked above to an Amnesty International piece about honor killings. Are they being racist for bringing up this problem, and speaking up for Arab women everywhere, too? The CEO called me in for a talk, was convinced that I wasn't being racist, and that was that. But it left me shook up. That was the first time I realized that this woman prioritized Palestinian society's appearance, over the actual well being of fellow Palestinian women and queers. I never talked to her again after that, nor did she ever speak to me.

I also started seeing her and her organization becoming openly anti-Israel, even when it harmed the community she was supposed to serve. In Sep 2021, there was even an article published about it, calling out the hypocrisy of attacking Israel, while this country's existence is what even enables that organization to operate, since they can't do so under Palestinian rule. And my friends who were seeking sanctuary from the threats to their lives from within their own society? They never got legal help in that pursuit from her organization, only from Israeli ones. I think that's a tragedy.

The last time her organization filed the needed reports to be officially recognized as an NGO in Israel was 2020. They obviously continued to be active after that, and still are (at least on social media, where they echo the anti-Israel narrative since the war started), but IDK if they're even doing anything real for queer Palestinians anymore, or whether she still heads it. Whenever I think about it, I'm just sad for all the people she should have helped, but who turned out to be less important to her than a nationalistic, antisemitic (that's what it is when she demands self determination for her people, but denies that right to Jews, as she does by supporting the BDS movement) and self-destructive (to her own community) struggle.

And yes, on a personal level, I felt betrayed by her, though I've also felt like her betrayal of her own people was way worse.

I think at the end of the day, for many Palestinians and Israeli Arabs, the question is what are they more attached to, that nationalistic, antisemitic struggle, or they (and their people's) well being. If you look at Mosab Hassan Youssef, I think what says it all, is that the son of a Hamas co-founder could end up on the side of Israel, initially not because of anything Israel did, but because he saw Palestinians in prison being tortured and killed by Hamas, and he gave a damn about his own people.

BTW, out of curiosity, who is the Israeli you're following, who got you wondering about this? And I really hope my reply was in some way helpful. Take good care! xoxox

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

[mahoutoons]

i'm feeling controversial today so here's another hot take. and before you type away at your keyboards, know that this is all coming from a south asian.

white leftists have got to stop acting like christianity is the only religion that deserves to be criticized and you cannot touch any other religion because that'd be racist and bigoted. because as an indian who's watching my country progress towards hindu nationalism, this attitude doesn't help at all.

white people see hinduism as this exotic brown religion that's so much more progressive but don't know the violence of the caste system, how it others a large portion of the population on the basis of caste, literally branding them as "untouchables". they teach us in school that this problem is a thing of the past but the caste system is still alive and shows itself in violent ways. and that's not even covering how non hindus are treated in the country. muslims especially are being killed, have their houses bulldozed, businesses destroyed, and are being denied housing, our fucking prime minister called them infiltrators and there's this fear among hindu extremists that they'll outnumber the hindus in the country. portraying hinduism as this exotic religion does a disservice to all those oppressed by the hindutva ideology

similarly, white people see buddhism as this hippie religion that's all about peace but have no idea how extremist buddhists in myanmar have been persecuting the rohingya muslims for years and drive them out of the country.

if anything portraying these religions as exotic hippie brown religions is a type of orientalism itself.

and also y'all have got to realize that just because christianity has institutional power in america doesn't mean there aren't parts of the world where they are persecuted on the basis of religion. yes karen from florida who cries christophobia because she sees rainbow sprinkles on a cake is stupid but christian oppression DOES exist in non western countries where they're a minority. pakistani christians get lynched almost on a daily basis over blasphemy accusations. just look up the case of asia bibi, a pakistani christian woman who was sentenced to death on blasphemy charges because of something she said when she was being denied water because it was "forbidden" for a christian and a muslim to drink from the same utensil and she'd made it unclean just by touching it (which is ALSO rooted in casteism and part of pakistani christians' oppression also comes from the fact that a lot of them are dalit but that's a whole other discussion). and that's just one christian group, this isn't even going into what copts, assyrians, armenians etc have faced and continue to face. saying that christians everywhere are privileged because of american christianity actually harms christian minorites in non western countries.

and one last thing because this post is getting too long: someone being anti america doesn't automatically mean they're the good guys. too many times i've been seeing westerners on twitter dot com praise the fucking taliban just because they hate america. yes, the same taliban who banned education for women, thinks women should be imprisomed at home, and consistently oppresses religious and ethnic minorities in afghanistan. yes, america's war on afghanistan was bad and they SHOULD be called out for their war crimes there. no, the taliban are still not the good guys. BOTH of them are bad. you cannot pretend to care about muslims and brown people if you praise the taliban. because guess what? most of their victims are BROWN MUSLIM WOMEN. but of course white libs who praise them don't rub their two braincells together to make that conclusion.

this post has gotten too long and i've just been rambling so the point of this post is: white "leftists" whose politics are primarily america centric should stop acting like criticism of ideologies like hindutva, buddhist extremism, and islamic extremism BY people affected by these ideologies is the same as racism or religious intolerance because that helps literally no one except the extremist bigots. also america is not the centre of the world, just because something isn't happening in america doesn't mean it isn't happening elsewhere