#and that could be attributed to people not trusting his intentions and so not considering that he’s telling the truth

[daydreamerdrew]

The Hulk! (1978) #24

[sashi-ya]

𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐓𝐎𝐁𝐄𝐑 𝟐𝟑 DAY 26: SHOWER SEX Sōsuke Aizen x F! Arrancar! Reader

Requested by @muzansfangs ➡ Hi! Since you are literally one of my favorite authors, I would like to submit a request for the kinktober event! I would love to read Aizen + shower sex. I trust in your abilities blindly. Add whateve kinks you like! I don’t remember if I had to specify the gender of the reader. In that case, I would like f!reader. Thank you for your hard work and for blessing us with your works! tw: mdni. bathtub sex. praising. vag. arrancar! reader wc: 1.2k masterlist

The sound of dripping water echoing all around the biggest bathhouse you have ever seen. His head thrown back, his chocolate hair too. Arms strong but also lean helps his naked body to float as he grabs from the sides of the tub.

You take some time to admire his beautiful physique. Abs barely visible from over the water level, protruding collarbones, prominent Adam’s apple and the sharpest mandible framing his relaxing façade.

“What, (Name)?” he asks, surprising you with the tray and a cup of tea on your hands.

“I’m sorry, Aizen-sama. I… brought your tea, where should I leave it?” you ask, stuttering. How could you forget how much of a powerful being he is? Of course he could sense your presence… you’ve been created by himself.

Sosuke opens his eyes and after sighing, he turns his head to you. Him, in that sterile environment with everything so white as everything in Las Noches, stands out in such delightful imagery.

“Bring it to me” he commands, with a soft smile on his lips but eyes full of impure intentions.

You nod, and fast enough bring the tea closer to him. You are aware of his nudity, but still try to act as if he was fully clothed… even if your eyes couldn’t get away from the running drops coming from his wet hair to his chest.

Your lips barely part, letting soft sighs of warm breath scape in between them. You slowly kneel on the ground to serve him the tea, you shouldn’t be above your Lord.

Your pupils dilate as he lifts his back just a little, allowing some more of his belly to emerge from the water. Aizen Sosuke is the definition of temptation, of lust, of need…

“Heh… You like what you see?” he asks, breaking the enchantment all of a sudden. “Excuse me, Sir. I didn’t mean to look, I…” you quickly excuse yourself, although your cheeks get on fire and your breathing accelerated.

The ting of the porcelain cup on your hand echoes as much as the water drops… the more you tremble to keep it steady as you pretend to serve him, the more it resonates. And Aizen is delighted, because if there is something that pleases him is when people consider him a god. He enjoys intimidating you as everybody else.

“You seem to be having trouble to serve me a cup of tea today, (Name)… leave the teapot aside for me, please” he orders, always politely but still perversely.

You leave everything on the floor, bowing before him. “I’m sorry, Aizen-sama. I am so unworthy of serving you!” you repeat, hitting your forehead on the wet floor of his bathroom.

He takes his hand to his chin, observing your pathetic intent for mercy, and stops your whining.

“(Name), you might have trouble serving me tea… but I know you are good with other tasks, aren’t you? Come here, help me bathe” he commands, offering your hands the privilege of touching his godly -not so pure- flesh.

You blink, as he stands up. His whole anatomy surfaces, showing you his attributes with absolutely no shame. Aizen extents his hand for you to grab it, as the very depiction of a godly creature inviting you to heaven.

You swallow. A trembling hand of yours touches his, and with his help you stand up from the floor.

“Very well… now, use this to rub my chest” he indicates, giving you a piece of white cloth imbued in water and a soapy substance.

You take it in between your hands; the cloth is warm and so is the water and your core. Your quivering hand approaches his right pec with delicacy, almost as if you were about to touch something fragile.

Aizen smiles lovingly, looking at you in the same way a master looks at his dog. You are, to him, inferior. And still, cute, so very beautiful.

Slowly tracing circles on his flesh, you let a fine mantle of foam. Your eyes, fixed in the pores of his skin, are battling against your own need not to look any further… down, down where his sin start.

However, and besides not watching, pulled by the transgressive force of desire, you lost the battle against morality… you let your cheek to be pressed right in the middle of his chest.

He gasps, would it be a lie to say he wasn’t surprised. Aizen plans it all, but still… there are some types of physical contact that are simply unforeseen. A man whose life has always revolved around being lonely, breaking limits with no mercy for a higher mean, can still get amazed at a sudden show of love.

Sosuke takes some time to think; never has he ever stuttered… but this time he did; and the final decision meant for him to turn off his mind and let desire to take over. This time, as he learnt the Hogyoku was supposed to do, he just let his heart manifest its true desires…

A heavy hand falls on the crown of your head. Though hefty, it’s also delicate and caring. Aizen presses your face against his chest, you can hear the heart inside pumping harder and faster.

“You love me that much, (Name)?” “I love you more than much, my Lord… with all my soul” “Your soul? Mh… I see”

He sighs, not annoyed but pleased. And his hands pass around your waist, pulling you inside the tub swiftly.

You get your white and black uniform all wet, things he doesn’t mind and also enjoys. The transparency of it, showing hard nipples through. The soaking skirt, attaching to your skin, showing your sex.

“Come here” he murmurs, kissing you with a class that cannot be found in another man. It’s also perverse and deadly, and you are all about losing your life for it.

Slowly, softly… both sliding down. Hips straddled on his lap, the water playing with the hem of your skirt, making it float and dance with the way you hump on his hardness.

Sosuke presses you down with his hands on the small of your back; your hands, hang loosely on his shoulder blades. His lips attacking your neck, and the breasts he freed as he tore your uniform.

And the more his kisses go down, the more your back arches with him holding you with playful fingers along your spine. Your hair rains on your back, your cheeks tinted in black drops as your make up has started to smear.

“You know you are here because I created you? And you are here because I wanted to, right? He whispers, kissing in between your breasts, down your sternum.

“Yes, Aizen-sama. I am beyond grateful because you chose me, my Lord. I am completely devoted to you” you murmur, feeling his sex search for your entrance.

“Would you be a good girl and let me fuck you?” he asks, -in reality he doesn’t need to-

You alone lift your hips to help him accede faster to your insides, you are desperate… “Yes, my Lord… please, fuck me”

Aizen smirks, tracing circles with his index on your lower belly around your hollow. And with his free hand, he guides his shaft into you.

Who knows, maybe you were just one more of his Arrancar… Or maybe you were created from a piece of his own very soul, because when he penetrated you, it felt like two forces were finally rejoined…

Taglist: @miabiaria @carmenthedreamer @stygianoir @electronicwitchcollection @aizenwifey @deputy-videogamer @efrodd17 @mizugami @uzxotic @cyberdazetragedy @bookandyarndragon @fushiguroshotwife 💖🙆‍♀️

[bird-inacage]

Love in the Air: The Significance of Security to Sky

This moment folks. I need to talk about it. I already gave it an honourable mention, but I want to dissect why Sky's reaction here spoke volumes - and how the significance of security (aka marriage) is so important as a conclusion to the Prapaisky story.

When we first meet Sky, he's still wading through the shadow of his abuse. The prolonged aftereffects which could potentially continue for the foreseeable future, affecting his overall happiness and ability to love again.

Now fast forward to this expression we see on Sky's face during the wedding. Despite all the trials and tribulations, despite thinking he might never overcome those demons - I saw in his expression - an echo of the 'young Sky' again. The innocence in his smile. The giddy wholesomeness which is often found in young 'puppy' love. Eagerness and anticipation for things to come. Hopeful excitement which isn't marred or jaded by the toil of hardship. An expression that contained an immense degree of appreciation and relief, a 'thank god you found me' relief. A 'close-to-tears' relief that comes with finally being seen and/or valued. The point is, that expression is very similar to the way he'd looked at Gun before everything that followed.

That's the expression of a boy who has fully and willingly opened their heart to another. And here it is again. On his wedding day. Sky has somehow managed to restore some of that innocence in love he lost.

Most of Sky's anxieties can be attributed to a lack of safety (such as difficulty with trust, doubt in stability, worry of being taken advantage of, insecurity in his self-worth). This all manifests from a very simple and basic human instinct we all possess - and that is to feel safe. When someone so intimately close to you betrays you in the worst way imaginable, they've effectively stripped any sense of safety away from you by force. This is the state in which Prapai finds Sky in at the start of the series.

I've talked many times before about how Prapai fulfils a 'protector' role incredibly well. But in fact his way of handling Sky goes beyond protection. He's very adept at creating a safe space around Sky, as well as allowing Sky to feel safe when he's with him. And that's not only by loving Sky, but truly caring for Sky's wellbeing and his basic needs. Whether that's ensuring he eats, making sure he rests, or reminding Sky he doesn't need to suffer alone. This is achieved by listening, by not overstepping, by holding back, by being patient, by being gentle. And eventually escalates to Prapai 'removing' Gun as a threat. The very genesis of Sky's suffering and the very person who robbed Sky of his safety, which Prapai had been working so hard to rebuild.

Safety comes first before all else, due to safety being intrinsically linked to survival. It's only once you've established safety, that you can add security - further measures to 'ensure' this safety lasts as long as possible.

This is where Prapai's intentions for marrying Sky (other than the most obvious) are really worth considering. By his very character, our boy Prapai famously never half-asses anything. He's all in, all the time. He wants to provide everything humanly possible to the person he loves, and that involves giving Sky the highest form of security he can offer, which is by marrying him. Binding them in name, on paper, as well as on all remaining principles.

For most people, the fine print and diplomacy of marriage is not particularly romantic. But in this case it's exactly the functionality and formality of marriage that will provide Sky with the security Prapai seeks. Prapai possesses privilege. And that privilege allows him access to means he can extend to Sky. So marrying Sky means: 'I will be responsible for you. What's mine is now yours'. 'If anything happens to me, you have everything I have.' 'I now legally have the permission and the right to fully take care of you.'

This isn't essential to Sky. He already has Prapai by his side, which is plenty as far as he's concerned. He doesn't need or desire anything else. But Prapai wants to. Because Prapai is thinking about the future - their future. He is always anticipating what Sky needs or may need before Sky does for himself. Sky's perspective has always been 'you've done enough, this is enough', whereas Prapai's perspective is 'what else can I do?' At first Prapai was just trying to ensure Sky's basic needs were met and now that he's achieved that, what's next? All of this is an attempt to safeguard the person he loves and their future together. It's the devotion in such an act, the restless pursuit of such a cause that means so very much to Sky. Because he knows (as do we) - that Prapai would do anything for him.

And that - that is what we call marriage material folks.

[styusha-10]

Sherlock Holmes was an otherworldly creature indeed. I am no man of superstition, although I vaguely remember my grandmother’s tales of daione sìth. Holmes did not distinctly resemble any of the fair folk, these light, ethereally beautiful golden-haired men and women, and yet somehow he gave the same impression. His smooth, almost catlike movements reminded me of cait-sìth and, in all honesty, during investigations he often was the very picture of a predator pursuing the prey or cat playing with mice. I could easily imagine him in the highlands of my homeland, windy and boundless, as to my mind he had the soul of Scottish winds, but I also understood perfectly well that there was no place for him anywhere except in London, hustling and bustling and pulsating with life, crimes and mysteries.

He was not completely detached from the human world, basically having an excellent understanding of human affections, related to the motives of crimes, such as love or envy, though his knowledge clearly came from prolonged observation rather than from personal experience. He was wise enough to seek my aid when something eluded his understanding, which I prefer to consider as a sign of trust on his part.

He was too theatrical or too aloof at times — traits that I mostly attribute to the eccentricity inherent in genius. He also aged much more slowly than me, but this could easily be associated with our slightly spreading ages and his lack of habit of taking anything too personally, which I am often guilty of. Although in the decade we knew each other, I turned almost half gray, and he remained largely the same, except for a couple of new wrinkles and heavier bags under his eyes.

His voice was the voice of a siren or ben-varrey and he had a natural gift of instantly capturing the attention of everyone in the room with the help of said voice and some kind of internal magnetism, which made people instinctively trust him and obey him.

And yet my favourite of his many noble traits I dedicated myself to immortalise was perhaps his benevolence. With such a mind, such power, it would be too easy to use it for evil, something we had unfortunately seen too many times. His gaze on me which I felt quite often was never heavy or insolent and had not ever bothered me. Clients — those at least who seemed nice and did not irritate him immediately — he treated with kind patience, amiable interest and generous if sometimes mannered hospitality, being rude not out of intention to offend, but simply out of his energetic, eccentric nature.

“I am afraid I have accidentally enchanted you, my dear friend", he suddenly said, somewhat sadly and apologetically, one quiet evening on Baker Street. “That kind of devotion that you show to me cannot be expected from any man under normal circumstances.”

“That kind of devotion,” I thought to myself ruefully later that night, “has nothing in common with sidhe’s enchantments.”

This is my first attempt to capture Jeremy Brett's magnificence, and I feel like I haven't done him justice, so there will probably be other takes. Also first attempt in publishing something on Tumblr and nearly first — in writing in English, so feel free to point out any mistakes.

Following a long and good fandom tradition, I consider Watson to be Scottish, hence the writing of almost all the creatures mentioned in Scots.

The cat-sith, whose existence I learned about unacceptably late and did not change anything much, is hunting in the Scottish wastelands. It has an unhealthy addiction to corpses, so it is recommended to distract him with games and riddles, as well as warmth. Doesn't remind you of anyone? However, while writing, I mostly thought about the classic sidhe, adjusted for, uh, almost everything.

I don't know myself whether he is a magical creature, think what you want. To be honest, being portrayed as a magical creature seems unfair to Holmes as a character — part of his charm for me is precisely the fact that he is human, an outstanding human being.

[utilitycaster]

Hi! This might be a bit of a weird ask (and a rambly one - sorry!) but you're one of the most level-headed and rational fandom members I know and I might need you to slap some sense into me, so to speak, especially considering you've been vocally critical of Marisha's choices for Laudna before. Now I loved the episode and the inner-party conflict in this episode. It was so fun and investing and tbh I've never been as interested in Laudna as a character as during last episode (she just doesn't work for me on several levels) and I do think Marisha did a stellar job RP wise. But something grated against my nerves about how she said OOC that Laudna hasn't lied. Because Laudna has lied. By omission, deflection or otherwise. It cannot all be attributed to Delilah being the pushing force of that. And I feel weird about Marisha (afaik) not acknowledging that. If she said "Laudna feels like she hasn't lied" it would probably be different but the "I still maintain: Laudna hasn't lied. It wasn't Laudna." at the end of the episode after Laura calls Laudna out for the direct lie about the harness feels kinda trying-to-have-my-cake-and-eat-it-too in this regard. I know that Marisha can make decisions that I don't gel with and make characters that can get under my skin in specific ways (and I enjoy that about her!) but idk maybe I have difficulties putting my trust in her with this because I didn't like a lot of her choices for Laudna so far. Anyway. Maybe I just need to hear from you that I'm being stupid about this and that Marisha is going to handle this in a differentiated way. (also highly unrelated but to end on a more positive note I'm excited for you to catch up on fhjy!)

Hey anon! Thank you for all the kind words, and good news! On CR Cooldown Marisha does clarify she means this as "Laudna is not lying because, whether or not it is correct, this is what she believes". I'm going to talk more below, but hopefully that helps.

For what it's worth, I tend to not put a huge amount of emphasis on things the cast says OOC as compared to what's happening in game, for a number of reasons, and advise others do the same. I think it's really easy for those statements to become outdated or outright contradict the text (remember when people kept bringing up Laura on like, one of the first 4SD episodes saying Imogen tries not to read people's minds and it's like. ok but in canon, she does this ALL the time so this is a useless argument?), the cast is working off more information than we are slash might deliberately be hiding info from each other, and also anything said right after they break is often a really emotional statement that they, as Marisha did here, will immediately either clarify or recant after a few minutes to, well, cool down.

The lies of omission thing is also incredibly rich as a source of conflict here, particularly between Imogen and Laudna, which, as someone who's been very frustrated with a lack of conflict on that front, is very exciting. What happens when you have someone who, in classic warlock fashion, hews to the law of lying (I didn't say anything literally false!) and not the spirit (lying by omission that Delilah was the cause) and who also makes promises she's unable to keep; and she's in a relationship with someone who is exceptionally sensitive to lies by omission, lying in general, and kind of has trouble with people simply not revealing their true intentions? I think Laudna is so suggestible that she's a liability, and the party just found out, and that's the dangerous thing - if she were malicious and lying maybe they could pick it up and this would have an easy fix, but she really does believe it will be different this time and Delilah isn't misleading her for power (Delilah is 100% misleading her for power), and that makes it much more complicated. It's very juicy.

[anonymousewrites]

Clan of Three (Book 1) Chapter Twelve

Father Figure! Mandalorian/Din Djarin x Teen! Reader

Chapter Twelve: The Offer

Summary: Mando gets an interesting message, and he has to consider bringing his foundlings closer to danger.

            (Y/N) flipped their dagger between their fingers after they finished the latest job. It had been a simple one, just a bail jumper, but Mando knew a low-profile job would help them lay low while making some money. It had gone well, and Mando, (Y/N), and the Child were back on the road, flying through space until they came across another planet Mando was willing to stop on and find a job.

            (Y/N)’s fighting had definitely improved. They were more adept at thinking in the moment and adapting to the fight. It came naturally to them, like their senses were attuned to understanding what their enemy was planning on.

            Not for the first time, Mando wondered whether their natural talent at being in battle and their strangely heightened senses could be attributed to their weird abilities. Mando had never been around one, let alone two, people with “magic,” so he couldn’t know for sure, but nothing really felt out of the question.

            Mando turned back from where he was watching (Y/N) twirl their Ushti dagger when a sudden holographic communication came through. Mando let it play.

            The small form of Greef Karga appeared on the Razorcrest dashboard. “My friend, if you are receiving this transmission, that means you are alive.”

            Mando focused more intently. Something seemed somber in Karga’s done. (Y/N) and the Child sensed it too, growing quiet and leaning forward.

            “You might be surprised to hear this, but I am alive too. I guess we can call it even,” continued Karga’s message. “A lot has happened since we last saw each other. The man who hired you is still here, and his ranks of ex-imperial guards have grown. They have imposed despotic rule over my city, which has impeded the livelihood of the Guild. We consider him an enemy, but we cannot get close enough to take him out. If you would consider one last commission, I will very much make it worth your while.

            “You have been successful so far in staving off their hunters, but they will not stop until they have their prizes,” said Karga. “So, here is my proposition: Return to Nevarro. Bring the children as bait. I will arrange an exchange and provide loyal Guild members as protection. Once we get near the client, you kill him, and we both get what we want. If you succeed, you keep the children, and I will have your name cleared with the Guild, for a man of honor should not be forced to live in exile. I await your arrival with optimism.” The message ended.

            A moment of silence passed as the Child and (Y/N) watched Mando.

            “What are we gonna do?” asked (Y/N).

            “The job would benefit us, but if it went wrong, I’d be dead, and you two will be back with the Empire,” said Mando honestly.

            “But if we did it, your name would be clear, and the Guild and the Client wouldn’t be after us,” said (Y/N).

            Mando turned around in his seat. “It will be dangerous.”

            “I’m willing to fight,” said (Y/N) fiercely.

            Mando considered for a moment. But only for a moment, as his desire for his honor and to really rid the world of the Client threatening his foundlings overcame any feelings of doubt. Mando turned back to the control panel. “We’ll grab some reinforcements.”

            (Y/N) perked up. “Cara?”

            “And the Ugnaught,” confirmed Mando. “We can’t trust the Guild members yet.”

            “I wouldn’t anyways,” said (Y/N) as Mando redirected the Razorcrest towards Sorgan.

l

            Mando and (Y/N) walked into the Sorgan bar they had visited on their last trip. Inside, Cara was finishing up some sort of wrestling match, gleefully proving her strengths over the large alien before her and collecting her gambling money. Cara turned and paused when she saw them.

            “Looking for some work?” asked Mando.

            Cara chuckled. “Let me get a drink.”

            Mando and (Y/N) sat down as Cara bought a bottle of alcohol and took a seat across from them. Mando let her pour a drink before explaining the situation. Cara was somber as she listened, carefully weighing her options.

            “It seems like a straightforward operation,” said Mando. “They’re providing the plan and firepower.”

            “We’re the snare,” said (Y/N).

            “That’s why we’re coming to you,” said Mando.

            “I don’t know. I’ve been advised to lay low,” said Cara. “If anybody runs my chain code, I’ll rot in a cell for the rest of my life.”

            “Aren’t you a veteran?” asked (Y/N), raising an eyebrow.

            “Yeah, but I’ve been a lot of things since. Most of them carry a life sentence,” said Cara. “If I so much as book passage on a ship registered to the New Republic, I’m…” She trailed off and made a face.

            “I have a ship. I can bring you there and back with a handsome reward,” offered Mando. “You can live free of worry.”

            “I’m already free of worry,” said Cara. “And I’m not in the mood to play soldier anymore. Especially fighting some local warlord.”

            “He’s not a local,” said (Y/N). They made eye contact with Cara. “He’s imperial.”

            Cara was silent before smirking. “I’m in.”

            Mando nodded. “Grab your weapons. We have another stop to make at Arvala-7.”

l

            The Razorcrest landed just outside of the Ugnaught’s vapor farm. He met them outside and nodded in greeting, calmly walking them into his home.

            “You have grown. Stronger,” observed the Ugnaught, nodding approvingly at (Y/N), who just shrugged. “The Child hasn’t grown much,” he observed, glancing at the Child.

            “I think he might be a Strand-Cast,” said Mando.

            “I don’t think he’s engineered,” said the Ugnaught. “I’ve worked in the gene farms. This one looks evolved. Too ugly.” He gestured to Cara. “This one, on the other hand, looks like she was farmed in the Cytocaves of Nora.”

            “This is Cara Dune. She was a shock trooper,” said Mando.

            “You were a Dropper?” asked the Ugnaught.

            “Did you serve?” questioned Cara.

            “On the other side, I’m afraid,” said the Ugnaught. “But I’m proud to say that I paid out my clan’s debt, and now I serve no one but myself.”

            From behind him, a very familiar droid entered the house with a platter of drinks. It was IG-11, the droid that had tried to kill (Y/N) and the Child. (Y/N) grabbed the Child’s new cradle, fashioned on one of their latest jobs, and pulled him behind them as Mando stood and pulled a blaster. Cara reacted with him, her training come in handy with quick reflexes.

            “Would anyone care for some tea?” asked IG-11.

            The Ugnaught raised a hand. “Please lower your blasters. He will not harm you.”

            “That thing is programmed to kill the kids,” said Mando watchfully.

            “Not anymore,” corrected the Ugnaught. He gestured to the IG unit calmly placing the platter on the table. “It was left behind in the wake of your destruction. I found it laying where it fell. Devoid of all life. I recovered the flotsam and staked it as my own in accordance with the Charter of the New Republic. Little remained of its neural harness. Reconstruction was quite difficult but not impossible. It had to learn everything from scratch. This is something that cannot be taught with the twist of a spanner. It requires patience and repetition. I spent day after day reinforcing its development with patience and affirmation. It developed a personality as its experiences grew.”

            “Is it still a hunter?” asked (Y/N).

            “No. But it will protect,” said the Ugnaught.

            Mando stared solemnly at the IG unit. “Tea?” it offered. Mando sighed.

            “I must tend to the Blurrgs,” said the Ugnaught, rising.

            He left without another word, in a very Ugnaught fashion. Mando rose and followed to speak with him. (Y/N) watched for the entrance. Cara leaned back.

            “So, you’re still traveling with him?” she asked.

            (Y/N) glanced back. “Yeah.”

            “You move differently,” observed Cara. She grinned. “He taught you to fight better, didn’t he?”

            (Y/N) smiled. “He did.”

            “Good,” said Cara, nodding. “You good at it?”

            “Of course,” said (Y/N), crossing their arms.

            Cara chuckled. “Knew you had the fight in you.”

            (Y/N) smiled and looked over at the Ugnaught and Mando. They were walking back over. “I think he convinced him.”

            The Ugnaught approached them. “I, Kuiil, will join you. IG and I shall protect. And the blurrgs will join me as well.” Cara and (Y/N) frowned, looking at Mando, who didn’t react. “I have spoken.”

            The group was ready to go.

l

            Kuiil fed the blurrgs and patted them on the head before letting them rest aboard the Razorcrest. (Y/N) and the Child were watching Cara and Mando arm-wrestle.

            “I got you, Mando,” said Cara, grinning.

            “Care to double the bet?” said Mando, straining against her.

            The Child’s eyes softened in worry as he saw his father, for what else could he call the shiny man taking care of him?, in what he thought was a fight. He raised a hand, looking directly at Cara, the woman “threatening” Mando. He clenched his little fist.

            Cara gasped and let go of Mando to clutched her neck. She was acting like she was being choked.

            (Y/N) felt a ripple run through them, and they looked down to see the Child’s movements. It was the abilities they shared. “Hey, hey, hey, buddy, no! Stop!” They covered his hand, and the Child blinked in confusion as he let Cara go. “She’s a friend!”

            “That is not okay!” gasped Cara.

            “Hmm. Very curious,” said Kuiil.

            “Curious?! He almost killed me,” said Cara.

            “Hey, he thought you two were fighting. He was trying to help Mando,” said (Y/N), patting the Child on the head.

            Mando deadpanned. Of course they would encourage the kid fighting. “It’s fine, kid,” said Mando, looking at the Child, who perked up. “We’re friends.” The Child babbled happily.

            “The story you told me of the mudhorn now makes more sense,” said Kuiil, nodding to Mando. He looked at (Y/N). “You can do what the Child can.” It was a statement, not a question, but (Y/N) nodded shortly.

            “What is it?” asked Mando.

            “I’ve heard rumors of what it is they can do,” said Kuiil.

            “Really?” asked (Y/N), eager for possible answers about the strange powers they displayed. They needed some explanation about the chaos going on around them.

            “What? When you worked for the Empire?” muttered Cara.

            “When I was sold to the Empire, it was indentured servitude,” said Kuiil.

            “Yet somehow, you walk free,” said Cara.

            “I bought my freedom through the skill of my hands and the labor of three of your human lifetimes,” said Kuiil sternly. “Do not cast doubt upon that of what I am nor whom I shall serve.”

            “Tell you what. I could really use your craftwork right now,” said Mando, diffusing the tension. He picked up the Child and motioned to the makeshift cradle. “Can you pad this container so the child can sleep better?”

            “I shall fabricate a better one,” said Kuiil. “Then perhaps this Dropper can see how one can win their freedom with the skill of one’s hands.” And then, without another word, he set to work creating a new cradle for the Child while the Razorcrest flew towards Nevarro.

            “So we’re headed to Nevarro,” said Cara.

            “Have you ever been?” asked Mando.

            “No,” responded Cara. “We lost a lot of our forces there. The city’s dug in pretty deep. No cover when you drop in. It stayed in Empire control until the end of the war.”

            “The warlord we’re taking out was an imperial officer,” said Mando.

            “What station?” asked Cara.

            Mando looked at (Y/N). “Did you see any insignia?”

            (Y/N) shook their head. “Nope. I just knew that he seemed important, and even the doctor guy was scared.”

            “And I took out the safehouse when I snatched you and the kid,” said Mando. “More imps have reinforced since.”

            “There’s something more going on,” decided Cara.

            “Maybe,” said Mando.

            “Probably,” added (Y/N).

            “We’ll find out more when we land,” said Mando.

            (Y/N) nodded, and out of habit, they began twisting their knife in their hand. They were preparing themself for a fight. They knew something would go wrong, nothing could be this easy. But (Y/N) had to do it. They knew they did.

Taglist:

@im-making-an-effort

@gr33n-d00dles

@alexpangender

@painstakingly-juno

@treehouse-mouse

@theurbannoodle

@pedropascalsidechick

@dmitrytherat

@dilfsaremyfavourite

[natsmagi]

tbh maybe this is a hot take but i really dont get why people insist on having one person in natsumugi be this Super Toxic one and the other a victim. the easiest conclusion to draw is natsume being the bad guy and tsumugi the victim due to natsume getting physical and berating him at times but far too commonly do i see people insist that its the other way around and that tsumugi is actually the super toxic one and natsume just lets tsumugi emotionally manipulate him and thats ?? so weird to me ??? both of these are so weird to me ???

i can ofc see where theyre coming from. both natsume and tsumugi have plenty of issues going on in their heads. i feel like natsumes situation is more commonly understood as him simply just being difficult though and not being the best at managing his emotions, and with tsumugi i get it because he doesnt really have much of a moral compass. he doesnt quite understand peoples feelings and it results in him doing pretty fucked up things at times, but to then frame him as someone who would be abusive?? that doesnt sit right with me

tsumugi may not understand peoples emotions and be apathetic to the struggles people are going through, but its clear to anyone that that man has good intentions at the end of the day. at WORST he may get overbearingly controlling, but its never in a "you cant do x y z" way, its in a "i signed us up for this job opportunity because i thought it sounded nice and didnt speak it through with you beforehand and now we have to do it" way. had this been 2nd year tsumugi maybe he wouldve been far more desperate and even manipulative to an extent because he was in such a dark place, but current day tsumugi is actively trying to understand people better. hes trying to learn how to feel. in wonder game he even outright said that natsume taught him pain and everything else. his growth is clear

i cannot see tsumugi taking advantage of natsume in a genuinely destructive way with modern day ntmg. again, maybe during the earlier !-era stuff he could be more destructive, but natsume also does a relatively good job keeping tsumugi in his place during that time too, with him getting physical and all. its only in !!-era where tsumugi doesnt really mind it and can even make playful jokes about it because theyve Had this development in their relationship. theyve moved Past many of their toxic attributes, and theyve finally grown to understand one another. this is also when tsumugi can have a more "dominating" role in their relationship, since natsume has come to trust him to this extent, but tsumugi wouldnt take advantage of that. again; theyve now grown very close and understanding of one another. theyll have banters such as tsumugi wanting natsume to do something like idk. wear a dress. to which natsume will reply with kys but again. in !!-era this is banter and tsumugi wouldnt actually force natsume to do something he doesnt want to. theyre just very comfortable with each other now

i also really hate the position natsume gets put in with all of this. so often he is already hyperfeminized by the fandom for no reason whatsoever (which is especially fucked up considering how much he canonically hates being seen as a girl), and by making tsumugi this manipulative and abusive partner youre stripping natsume of even more autonomy and framing him as powerless. naively in love with a man thats hurting him. and that doesnt sit right with me either!! natsume does have a big heart and he has endured more than he probably should, but to think natsume would just take it ??? natsume has BACKBONE. if tsumugi upsets him he will either 1. get really mad at him or 2. start ignoring tsumugi alltogether. hes not just gonna put up with it. and tsumugi will notice this change in demeanor. ask if hes done something wrong. he may not understand what it was he did but he never intends on hurting natsume and would genuinely want to resolve it. tsumugi isnt stubborn in this regard, if he fucks up he wants to fix it. and natsume isnt a damsel in distress, why do you want him to be a helpless maiden so bad ??

theres alot of nuance to all of this and im obviously not gonna tackle every single element of their relationship and this is just an overview but TL;DR ntmg are both awful and have many faults and their relationship has gotten incredibly unhealthy at times but the point is theyre growing PAST that. maybe sometimes these toxic traits of theirs will resurface, but that does not make one the abuser and the other the victim. theyre just two fucked up people in love, standing as equals and learning to understand one another. stop framing one as evil

[phoneclone]

Best Phone Tracker Apps to Track Your Partner Phone - 2024

Nowadays phone tracker apps have gained popularity in many ways and is often used for tracking the activities of close ones. If you are planning to track your partner’s phone, then it is highly advisable to use the best phone tracker. They not only give a sense of relief by being able to keep an eye on your partner’s safety but also contribute positively to enhancing trust in relationships. Now, shall we focus on the most prominent phone tracker apps to track your partner’s phone in 2024?

Phone Tracker Apps: A Necessity in 2024

Thanks to the steadily developing technology, the availability of smartphones, and the ability to share information via digital means, tracking applications for phones are needed by many people. From tracking the partner’s location to providing safety to personal security, these apps come with a number of monitoring attributes that can make the connections gratifying. As people are getting more demanding and independent, hence the enforcing the use of phone tracker app may help one to know what his or her partner is up to.

Best Phone Tracker Apps for Tracking Your Partner's Phone

In this context, we would like to present some of the top phone tracker apps permitting to track your partner’s phone. Some of the top-rated apps include: Some of the top-rated apps include:

Mobile Tracker Apps: These apps have features such as GPS tracking, phone call intercept, and message interception.

GPS Tracker Apps: There are tracker apps available in the market that come in handy when it comes to tracking the location of your partner with the help of GPS on their mobile.

Partner Phone Tracker: Bespoke applications developed with the intention of monitoring partner phones discreetly.

If you're looking for a more comprehensive solution, consider using phone monitoring and surveillance apps like

Phone Monitoring Apps: The following are the applications that enable one to spy on your partner’s phone usage such as calls, texts, and history on the phone.

Phone Surveillance Apps: Some of the spying apps are more sophisticated in their functionality, for instance, one can have full access to the target’s device and tap into the feeds from its camera in real-time.

How Phone Tracker Helps You

Having been explained above, using a phone tracker is beneficial in accessing any signs of unfaithfulness in a relationship. Through discreet surveillance, it will be easy to see changed behavior through phone and other gadget movements late at night or calls to unknown people thinking that they are cheating. Such information may be useful in handling any issues, and even in navigating areas of misunderstandings in the relation. Phone trackers enable both parties to be more understanding and documented, and provide a professional ground and approach towards handling shaky scenarios and assuring safety for all the parties.

Why Need Phone Tracker Service

The availability of a good phone tracker also does have a huge value in professional practice, especially when one needs to spy on a cheating partner. Using such a service, a person can spy on his or her partner’s social media usage as well as other activities that take place online. This data may also aid in external observations and confirm the possibility of infidelity that a partner could only guess at through their communication behavior. 

Where trust has been breached, the possibility of monitoring a partner’s internet activity becomes a significant avenue towards confirming the truth so that everyone in the relationship can proceed to the next level in a clean manner. This smooth surveillance feature assists individuals who wish to hold their psychological condition and arrive at sound decision on relationship issues without being pressured to make rash decisions.

Key Features of Phone Tracker Apps

Thus, while deciding to monitor your partner’s phone with the help of a phone tracker application, it is necessary to pay attention to such options: Some essential features to consider include: Some essential features to consider include:

GPS Tracking: To do so, the app must provide proper GPS location tracking features to the users.

Call Recording: Self, it would be wise to seek apps that can record calls and play them back.

Messaging Monitoring: Supplement questions to establish if the app is capable of monitoring messages and social media interactions.

Getting Professional Phone Tracker Service

The task of hiring a professional phone tracker service to monitor a cheating partner needs to be approached carefully, especially when it comes to choosing the right people to help with this job, as their work should be based on personal privacy and adherence to facts rather than on manipulation and lies. HackersList is a site that aims at providing people with performers who will be able to spy on their partner’s phone effectively and secretively. Contact With Experts

Through their services, you can monitor communications that your partner has and where he or she is, information that is useful in relationships. However, it is always important not to violate the privacy and legal rights of people in such circumstances, so availing help of a reliable service like HackersList can offer appropriate assistance alongside the proof you may require.

Related: Best Social Media Hacks to Track Partner’s Activity

Ensuring Privacy and Security

However, when you intend on using phone tracker apps to track your partner's phone then you should think twice since the practice comes with said ethical issues besides the invasion of privacy. To ensure privacy and security, follow these tips: To ensure privacy and security, follow these tips:

Communication: Since the use of a phone tracker app is contentious, it is recommended that partners talk to each other about it.

Consent: It’s important that you inform your partner that you want to monitor their phone activities and then gain their permission to do so.

Data Security: Select an excellent app that is attentive to these aspects among its priorities, namely reliability and data encryption.

Conclusion

Thus, the tracking of your partner’s phone through a phone tracker app is very important in 2024. Using the most effective tracking apps for phones, you can always guarantee the well-being of the person you love and, at the same time, the need to trust and be trusted back. As with any technology that facilitates communication between two or more parties, it is crucial to keep it private and secure while at the same time being open so as not to harm the existing and developing relationship between the individuals.

[sweetweddedbliss]

Handfasting is a lovely tradition, deeply steeped in Irish history that could hold pride of place in your dream Irish wedding. A remarkably romantic enhancement. For those couples looking to incorporate something traditionally Irish and romantic, this is a lovely enhancement to consider for your wedding ceremony.

History

Dating back to ancient Celtic times, Handfasting was, in the simplest of terms, the official wedding of the ancient Celts. Dating back far beyond 7000 B.C. in ancient Ireland, two people who chose to be married were brought together, often on a feast day such as Beltane, and faced each other. With arms extended, they clasped hands and a braided cord or ribbon was wrapped and tied around their hands. The Druid priest proclaimed that the two persons as engaged to be married. This period of engagement was typically a full year, and a day, during which, the couple were encouraged to cohabitate together (and consummate the relationship). It was a public declaration of intent to marry, signaling to potential suitors that the woman was intended to be her betrothed. When the period of a year was over, the engaged couple returned to the priest and declared their intent to be married. The wedding would follow, a short time later. If they decided they were not a good match, the couple were allowed to dissolve their hand-fast and be free to choose another suitor and bride. ‍

Interweave a Handfasting ritual seamlessly into your ceremony.

‍Tabhair dom do lámh - Give me your hand. Have you ever thought about how you, as a couple hold hands? Can you describe it without actually holding hands? Try it now! No cheating! (OK, you can hold hands now - there is so much power in that simple gesture). ‍ Perhaps, it's with interlocked fingers, or one hand inside the others in a loose clasp. There are many ways to hold hands, and yours will be unique to you. Whatever hand holding style comes naturally to you, it is an expression of closeness and affection. When we hold the tiny hand of a child in ours, to guide and protect them, they trust us completely. Hand holding is an intimate gesture. When you and your loved one interlink your hands, it's a symbol of your connection, and an expression to the world that you are a team. As you hold both of your hands with your beloved in preparation for your Handfasting ceremony, you are connecting with the hands of your best friend, your lover, the one you trust, the person you give your heart to be held in theirs for all of your days. Like a small child, you put your trust in the love you share, knowing that you will guide and support each other in the union of your marriage. All your energy and devotion to each other are symbolised by this simple act. You are literally giving your hand in marriage. ‍

Music for your Handfasting ritual.

Of course, it is your decision whether to have music as part of your Handfasting, or not. We would like to share our favourite for this special bonding time, steeped in history and folklore, yet as meaningful today as it was centuries ago. There is a beautiful tune attributed to an Irish harper, Ruairi Dall O Cahain, c.1570-1650. If you are interested in history or storytelling, you will enjoy this tale. In the book "Carolan: The Life Times and Music of an Irish Harper" by Donal O’Sullivan (new edition, 2001, Ossian Publications Ltd., Cork Ireland). Arthur O’Neill tells this story about Rory Dall O Cathain (Blind Roger O’Keane). "He [Rory Dall] took a fancy to visit Scotland, where there were great harpers. He took his retinue (or suite) with him. Amongst other visits in the style of an Irish chieftain he paid one to a Lady Eglinton, and she (not knowing his rank) in a peremptory manner demanded a tune, which he declined as he only came to play to amuse her, and in an irritable manner left the house. However, when she was informed of his consequence she eagerly contrived a reconciliation and made an apology, and the result was that he composed a tune for her ladyship, the handsome tune of ‘Da mihi manum’ (‘Give me your hand’), for which his fame reached through Scotland and came to the ears of the Gunpowder Plot prophet James the First of England (then the Sixth of Scotland).” ‍ The tune was revived in the 1960’s in Ireland by the great Sean O Riada.

Chieftans version

The cords that bind you in love.

It's common in Ireland that when a deal of any sort is made between two people, they “shake hands on it” - thereby giving their word to the arrangement. It may be that this custom came from the ancient Handfasting rituals, where the arrangement was between a couple to be bound together by the promises they made. There is a strong symbolic element to the binding of hands during your wedding ceremony. In the binding, and the tying of the binding ribbons or cord, you publicly demonstrate your commitment to your marriage. As your Reverend/celebrant, or family member ties the cords, there is a pause, when you feel the strength and warmth of your partner's hands, and a sense of deep security when both pairs of hands are as one. Your eyes gaze from the hands to the eyes of your beloved, and you see the spark of their love for you reflected therein. Why don’t you try this out at home, and see if this feels right for you? It’s guaranteed to bring a smile!‍

‍

Invocation or blessing - even an ancient lorica.

As the Handfasting ritual concludes you may choose to have a reading read aloud by your Reverend/celebrant or a guest, on behalf of your gathering. This can be any reading you choose or write yourself. We love this one, an excerpt from St. Patrick's breastplate.

‍

May your marriage be blessed with the strength of the heavens the light of the sun the radiance of the moon the splendour of fire the speed of lightning the swiftness of wind the depth of the sea the stability of the earth and the firmness of rock, for all of your days.

‍

Choosing your cords:

Couples choose colours for Handfasting based on their preferred colours. For some, a colour has an attached symbolism or special meaning to them. They may choose as many colours as they like. Couples love the visual representation that Handfasting provides. It is literally “tying the knot“ right in the company of your friends and family. Add your creative touch to the Handfasting cords, as a meaningful keepsake family heirloom. Photographers are happy snappy taking those Handfasting shots too!

Below are the 13 colours used in Handfasting and their symbolism:

[steveezekiel]

A MAN AFTER GOD'S HEART 2

"Now all these things happened to them as examples, AND THEY WERE WRITTEN FOR OUR ADMONITION, upon whom the ends of the ages have come."

1 Corinthians 10:11 (NKJV)

READ: 2 Samuel 7:1-17; 22:21-31

• We have been able to share some of the good attributes found in the life of David, in the first article, whilst the remainders are shared in this piece.

III. He has the Fear of God and respects the anointing, oil of God, on others (1 Samuel 26:8-11).

- He had the opportunity of killing Saul the King, who sought for his life, twice, but he did not do it (1 Samuel 24:3-7; 26:8-11).

- He did respect the oil of God on Saul, calling him the Lord's anointed: "THE LORD FORBID THAT I SHOULD STRETCH OUT MY HAND AGAINST THE LORD'S ANOINTED (1 Samuel 26:11).

- He did understand the spiritual Principle that says: "... DO NOT TOUCH MY MY ANOINTED ONES AND DO MY PROPHETS NO HARM" (Psalm 105:15).

IF David had killed Saul to expedite his enthronement, Absalom could have succeeded on him when he conspired with others against him. Absalom plotted a coup but God foiled their plans and turned the counsel of Ahithophel which was a good one to nought (2 Samuel 15:31; 17:14).

"So Absalom and all the men of Israel said, "The advice of Hushai the Archite is better than the advice of Ahithophel. "FOR THE LORD HAD PURPOSED TO DEFEAT THE GOOD ADVICE OF AHITHOPHEL, TO THE INTENT THAT THE LORD MIGHT BRING DISASTER ON ABSALOM."

2 Samuel 17:14 (NKJV)

- Whatever a person sows, that he or she will also reap (Galatians 6:7).

"Therefore, WHATEVER YOU WANT MEN TO DO TO YOU, DO ALSO TO THEM, for this is the Law and the Prophets"

Matthew 7:12 (NKJV)

LESSONS

- What you would not want others to do to you, do not think of doing it to others.

IF you do not want to be killed By the sword, you also should not think of killing others with the sword. IF you do not want to be bad-mouthed, you also should not badmouth others.

- Learn to honour and respect the ANOINTED ONES of God to avoid a curse being placed on your Life.

- Touching the Anointed Servants of God, through your words, By backstabbing them, could lead to your woes and calamities.

IF you pull down an Anointed Servant of God, through negative comments and badmouthing, know that you have sown a seed that would cause a problem for you.

REPENT now If you have done it!

IV. David acknowledges God in all his doings or ways (1 Samuel 30:6-8; 2 Samuel 5:19).

- David would not take a step without asking God.

- He always carry God along in all his battles, he never went to a battle without asking God.

- He won virtually in every Battle he fought because he learned how to carry God along in whatever he wanted to do.

LESSONS

- Do not Lean or depend on your own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-7).

- In whatever you want to do, Get God's direction, acknowledge Him, and carry Him along.

LET God lead you in all you wanted to do in life. This is the secret of winning the battles of life and living a FULFILLED LIFE.

- Do not trust in your own understanding, not in your physical ability or sufficiency: money, Fame, position, academic attainments, and whatever.

SELF sufficiency is tantamount to pride in the sight of God (2 Corinthians 3:5).

V. David was a man of love and compassion (1 Samuel 30:21-24).

- David does consider other people's feelings. He has a heart for others, to help them and defend those who are being oppressed.

HE would not want others to be cheated or maltreated. Greediness and selfishness were not in him. He loves to think of helping others.

READ: 2 Samuel 4:5-12; 9:1-13; 1 Samuel 30:21-25).

LESSONS:

- Learn to help other people and be a blessing to them.

DO not be selfish, be willing to share whatever you have with others (1 Samuel 30:23,24; 1 Timothy 6:17-19).

- The people whom you help and bless today may later be used by God for your blessings (1 Samuel 30:11,12,15,16).

THROUGH the help you render to others, God is being thanks and praised, and then His name is being glorified: "For the administration of this service not only supplies the needs of the saints, BUT ALSO IS ABOUNDING THROUGH MANY THANKSGIVINGS TO GOD, (2 Corinthians 9:12).

VI. David was focus and consistent in his works (1 Samuel 30:6b).

SOMEONE who will not give in to discouragement.

- He learns to rise and encourage himself, EVEN at the time of discouragement.

LESSONS:

- To win the battles of life, you have to be focus and consistent in God.

- You have to know your God and trust in His power ( Daniel 11:32). THE One on the inside of you is GREATER than the one in the world (1 John 4:4).

- Learn to handle and overcome discouragement.

VII. He was a passionate GIVER (1 Chronicles 21:23-26; 29:2-5).

HE gives sacrificially.

He said he would not offer burnt offerings with that which costs him nothing (1 Chronicles 21:24).

- He has a heart for the things of God and His Kingdom (2 Samuel 6:15,17).

- He also thought it was not ideal for him to be living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God, the place of the presence of God, was under a tent (2 Samuel 7:2).

LESSONS:

- Learn and cultivate the habit of giving sacrificially to God, His Kingdom, His Servants, and others who may be in need, especially those who are of the household of faith: "Therefore, AS WE HAVE opportunity, LET US DO GOOD TO ALL, ESPECIALLY TO THOSE WHO ARE OF THE HOUSEHOLD OF FAITH" (Galatians 6:10).

READ: 1 Chronicles 29:2-5; 2 Chronicles 1:6

- Think on how to build for God, how to beautify His House, and how to expand His Kingdom on earth.

- Think about what you can do to expand the kingdom of God on the earth.

YOU provoke God's Blessings on your Life through your thoughts, the heart or passion you have for God, things of God, and His Kingdom at large.

- Your attitude towards God, His works, and His servants, determines the kind of blessings God releases on you and your descendants.

- God established an everlasting Covenant with David because he had a mind to build for Him (2 Samuel 7:4-16).

READ: 2 Samuel 22:21-31

• We read the Bible to learn from those who walked with God, those who succeed among them, what made them succeed, and those who failed, what made them fail.

16. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, AND IS PROFITABLE FOR DOCTRINE, for reproof, for correction, FOR INSTRUCTION [training, discipline] IN RIGHTEOUSNESS,

17. That the man [woman] of God may be complete, THOROUGHLY EQUIPPED FOR EVERY GOOD WORK."

2 Timothy 3:16,17 (NKJV)

• God will make you an eternal excellence, a Joy of many generations (Isaiah 60:15) in Jesus' name.

Peace!

[triflesandparsnips]

2. Stede will avoid touch to protect himself.

And we're back! in Part 2 of the "stede is weird about touch" pirate data science smorgasbord.

Figure 1. Two people very comfortable with physical interaction.

This one's hard to pin down, but: Stede is simultaneously afraid of people touching him, and he doesn't trust that people actually want him to touch them. This ends up showing up in Really Weird Ways (several of which can be attributed to trauma, fear of retribution regarding his queerness, or hooray, both.)

Stede will frequently pull himself away from potential touch (leaning away when Buttons gets close during the mutiny talk; clasping his hands away from Jim and Olu on the couch; pulling away and closing himself off from Mary; leaning back from Ed when Ed declines a nature walk; staying in his room and reading while Jack is on board).

Stede engages in a lot of plausibly deniable touch. These include things that could be seen as accidental, such that no one can think he's "asking" for the touch, and therefore he can't have that request rejected (letting his arms or legs brush against Ed's, letting his lace sleeve drape on Ed), as well as openings Stede will leave for other people to touch him (putting his elbow on the table beside Mary when giving her his gift, leaning on the newel post directly in front of Ed when talking to Calico Jack, shifting out of a closed position into an open one when Ed sits next to him on the beach).

A related kind of plausibly deniable touch? The use of objects instead of his own body. He'll touch things rather than people -- he'll use things to touch people rather than touch them himself.

Even when people do choose to touch him, he rarely reciprocates (Ed's lighthouse hug, Ed's post-kiss handhold, Mary's hug).

Figure 2. Local hot pirate holds weirdo gentleman and then hugs closer to gets his hands on some of that bare rich-person bicep; weirdo gentleman happy but deeply uncertain how to respond to positive touch, wonders if raising bottle and holding onto rail appropriate, if better to spit or swallow (the booze)

The number of people Stede actually touches skin-to-skin (or hair-to-skin, whichever), deliberately, is shockingly few.

The first time he chooses to touch someone's skin/hair, outside of the elderly tribe member in episode 2, is episode 7 -- he lightly whacks at Lucius's arm, cleans Ed's beard, and then when kneeling next to Ed at the end he settles his bare arm against Ed's once and then a second time.

Why the sudden change in behavior? Possibly because he believes they actually might be okay with him touching them, thanks to the events of episode 6: Lucius both taps Stede's arm and pats his chest following the duel, and Ed chooses to lean his forehead against Stede's bare hand.

The tribal member in episode 2 could, admittedly, be considered an enormous outlier: we see Stede's head on the elderly man's bare thigh, he touches the man's hand twice (though once is a social handshake), and claps him on the back once. He's also very much in the tribal member's personal space as part of these interactions. It's significantly more direct, intentional physical interaction than Stede shows with anyone else, including Ed.

Figure 3. White guy uses man of color for emotional support and to make personal breakthroughs with the help of "native wisdom" or some shit, wtf.

I think a key thing here (and which I hope to get more evidence of in season 2) is that, presumably, Stede was invited to enter into the tribal member's space. As in, deliberately asked and perhaps even drawn down into it. With this active invitation, Stede can trust that his touch was allowed, and so he went with it, demonstrating that, frankly, Stede isn't really touch-averse -- he's touch-starved, but afraid to rectify that due to his traumatic history with touch.

(Could Stede be okay with touching the tribe member for a different reason? Yes, absolutely... and we'll get to it.)

All that being said, though, be wary of any kind of touch -- or lack thereof -- that appears in Stede's memories, flashbacks, or dreams as proof that he doesn't touch people or that people don't want to touch him. He is an unreliable narrator. He may be imagining a withdrawal of touch (or the opposite!) in order to justify his own feelings.

When Stede remembers his relationship with his family in episode 1, the first memory the audience sees is him physically separated from them at a dinner and excluded from their general conversation. Later, we see the same dinner, but he's seated beside his daughter and everyone's laughing together.

Even more fascinatingly, though: In episode 4, when he fever-dreams the memory of marrying Mary (as part of his "how did I get here, why did I run" montage), she goes to take his hand and he keeps it limp in her grasp. Later, in episode 9, when Stede is actively remembering the same moment from his wedding (and his guilt about hurting the family he cared for), his hand is actually holding Mary's -- his thumb is up and over the back of her hand, and his fingers are tight around hers.

Figure 4: Dead-fish hand as part of totally normal wedding interaction.

Figure 5: Active hand-holding that seems to contradict previous dead-fish memory, what is real, who knoooows.

What does this mean? Why does he do this? Does he have a "real" memory that he tends to interpret differently depending on what he's feeling, or does he genuinely have broken memories (similar to how he genuinely hallucinated the dead Nigel Badminton)?

The fact that this memory-shenanigan happens at all is, I think, a key part of Stede's entire Thing with Touch.

-----

ONWARDS:

-> Review the raw data and notes

-> Go to part 1: Stede wants to be touched, but is afraid of it.

-> Go to part 3: Stede has found/developed "safe" ways to physically interact with people.

-> Go to part 4: The top three people who touch Stede, or who Stede touches, are Ed, Mary, and Izzy.

[aflashofgreen]

Slaying a savage... Littlefinger

This post deals with the Ghost of High Heart's prophecy as it pertains to Sansa, and explores the thematic relevance that the "savage giant" being Littlefinger could hold.

"I dreamt of a maid at a feast with purple serpents in her hair, venom dripping from their fangs. And later I dreamt that maid again, slaying a savage giant in a castle built of snow."

– ASOS Arya VIII

The GOHH's prophecy refers first to Sansa at the PW, the "purple serpents in her hair" being a metaphor for the poison hidden in Sansa's hair net unbeknowst to her, and which costs Joffrey his life. It also predicts an event that has yet to happen, where Sansa is strongly implied to play a part in someone's death once again.

The wording of the prophecy ("slaying") brings to mind physicality, a more direct confrontation, and in that sense seems indicative of a more active role on Sansa's part in bringing about someone's downfall this time. If this reading is correct, this is one way the two events referenced by the prophecy would be contrasted, with Sansa being used as a pawn in Joffrey's murder, and consciously slaying the savage giant in an upcoming book.

Littlefinger being that savage giant offers a greater opportunity for contrast still. For one, he is the one responsible for implicating Sansa in Joffrey's murder, by arranging for Dontos to gift her with the hair net that served to smuggle the poison that killed Joffrey:

"Your disappearance will make them suspect you in Joffrey’s death. The gold cloaks will hunt, and the eunuch will jingle his purse. Dontos . . . well, you heard him. He sold you for gold, and when he’d drunk it up he would have sold you again. A bag of dragons buys a man’s silence for a while, but a well-placed quarrel buys it forever." He smiled sadly. "All he did he did at my behest. I dared not befriend you openly. When I heard how you saved his life at Joff’s tourney, I knew he would be the perfect catspaw."

– ASOS Sansa V

"As you moved Ser Dontos to poison Joffrey?" It had to have been Dontos, she had concluded.

Littlefinger laughed. "Ser Dontos the Red was a skin of wine with legs. He could never have been trusted with a task of such enormity. He would have bungled it or betrayed me. No, all Dontos had to do was lead you from the castle . . . and make certain you wore your silver hair net."

– ASOS Sansa VI

Not only does Littlefinger use Sansa as his mule, he reveals a lack of motive for co-orchestrating Joffrey's murder:

"Why should I wish him dead?" Littlefinger shrugged. "I had no motive. Besides, I am a thousand leagues away in the Vale. Always keep your foes confused. If they are never certain who you are or what you want, they cannot know what you are like to do next. Sometimes the best way to baffle them is to make moves that have no purpose, or even seem to work against you. Remember that, Sansa, when you come to play the game."

– ASOS Sansa V

Of course, the reader can attribute him one regardless, namely to take ownership of Sansa, Joffrey's murder providing the backdrop and distraction to steal her away. In any case, either he truly did it for funsies only, to have Sansa under his power or some other advantageous reason (like later collecting a debt from the Tyrells?) – so the last motive can be summarized as personal gain.

The PW is not the first time Sansa was involved in someone's death. To be clear, the only people responsible for Ned's death are the ones who held the power to make it happen, namely the adults who orchestrated his imprisonement, and Joffrey in his position as king. But I would be remiss not to mention that Sansa sharing her father's intention to leave KL helped along consequent events:

No one had given Cersei such a lovely gift since Sansa Stark had run to her to divulge Lord Eddard's plans.

– AFFC Cersei II

If nothing else, it is something GRRM wants us to consider. We also know Littlefinger had a hand in Ned's ultimate fate too, by ensuring the City Watch was in Cersei's pockets, a betrayal of Ned who, believing him an ally, had entrusted him to secure the gold cloaks for them. Readers can infer what motivation he might have had (resentment over Catelyn, advancing his position, etc.) but, again, it points to personal gain.

So, not only has Sansa already been unwittingly involved in two bloody plots, those plots were facilitated by Littlefinger, with a pleasant outcome for him, and many hurts and drawbacks for Sansa.

Morever, both these plots make innocent victims: Ned who is wrongfully imprisoned and executed, and Tyrion who is framed for Joffrey's murder. Likewise, immediately following Sansa going to Cersei in AGOT, she becomes a political hostage, and, on top of Littlefinger making her an accomplice to Joffrey's murder (which is not widely known, and thus isn't even remotely the basis for branding her guilty), everyone believes Sansa to share responsiblity with Tyrion, exactly as Littlefinger intended too ("Your disappearance will make them suspect you in Joffrey’s death.")

As such, Littlefinger being the savage giant Sansa will slay can be an opportunity to showcase Sansa this time actively working to bring about someone's death, yes, but it can also frame this second half of the prophecy in the context of seeking retribution. This post argues in favor of the poetic justice of Sansa causing Littlefinger's (her false father) downfall in light of his involvement in Ned's (her true father), and as a meaningful culmination of Sansa's rejection of Littlefinger through a reaffirmation of Stark values:

The blood of the First Men still flows in the veins of the Starks, and we hold to the belief that the man who passes the sentence should swing the sword. If you would take a man's life, you owe it to him to look into his eyes and hear his final words. And if you cannot bear to do that, then perhaps the man does not deserve to die.

– AGOT Bran I

Sansa exercising agency by consciously bearing responsibility for Littlefinger's downfall every step of the way to his death indeed aligns with a key belief of Ned's, and contrasts with his death at the king's command, also perfectly tying into the reversal of Sansa's forced complicity in Joffrey's murder, and her accidental participation in her father's ultimate fate.

Poetic justice may still occur in a work of fiction (or irl) independent of the law obviously, but I would argue that, while the punch would undoubtedly hit harder if, in slaying the giant, Sansa was specifically motivated by what happened to her father, even among other crimes leveled at Littlefinger, it would be no less poetic if she were still at that point ignorant of it. What I mean is that, to make the contrast as it relates to justice between Joffrey's and Ned's deaths vs Littlefinger's possible, the latter must happen in a legal context, affording Littlefinger what Ned (and even Joffrey who was straight up murdered preemptively, foregoing even the mimicry of lawfulness) wasn't: a just death, not only because the Westerosi legal system practices the death penalty, but because the party accused of a crime and dying because of it indeed is guilty.

It's worth remembering the wisdom Ned shares with Bran in AGOT is one relating specifically to administering legal justice, after all. And there are plenty of crimes Littlefinger is guilty of, some of which Sansa already knows about, and others she may yet find out.

I also want to note that, to speak nothing of her actual culpability (which I don't buy because of the ongoing grooming and emotional manipulation Sansa remains a victim of, which readers should be able to see through), Littlefinger has been making a point of involving Sansa in all of his schemes, furthering his hold on her and her dependence on him. It illustrates a sick logic and as-of-yet unspoken blackmail in the lines of "if I go down, you go down with me," explicited notably when, after killing Lysa in front of Sansa, he later tells Sansa:

"And this lie [accusing Marillion] may spare us. Else you and I must leave the Eyrie by the same door Lysa used."

AFFC Sansa I

In that context, it would be all the more cathartic for Sansa to bring about Littlefinger's demise, especially by revealing those schemes and saving her skin while ensuring Littlefinger doesn't.

TL;DR: Sansa slaying the savage giant Littlefinger can serve to exemplify a reclamation of her agency and identity, being freed from Littlefinger's clutches, and justice (for her father, for herself, for the simple sake of it).

(Edit: Sansa was not a prisoner of war in KL, but a political hostage as now stated. My bad for writing this post at like 3am.)

[dmsden]

Make It Mean Something - Making PC deaths meaningful to the other players

Hullo, Gentle Readers. Sometimes the dice are not in a player’s favor. Sometimes three death saves come up awfully fast. Sometimes a death happens, and everyone’s sitting around the table uncertainly, not sure how to react. It is that moment that daddydeputy raised in their Question from a Denizen. They asked if I had any thoughts on “How to make pc deaths more impactful and growthful for the others (and perhaps themselves?)”

DD, it’s a tricky balance to strike. On the one hand, you want the game to have real and dangerous consequences for the actions the characters take. On the other hand, the death of a beloved character can really upset a player or even crash a whole campaign. My players are very mature and accepting of the consequences (although they’ll pull out all the stops to try and stop it from happening to one of their own), but not everyone can be, even if they say they are. Sometimes you don’t know how the death of a character is going to affect you until it happens. I think of myself as a very mature player, but if a character as dear to me as Skittle, my mouse pooka from Changeling the Dreaming, died, I suspect I’d be devastated.

Some campaigns have a very revolving door attitude towards death. Oh, you died? Here’s a revivify spell, or a raise dead spell, or what have you. Other make it harder, possibly keeping those spells out of the hands of the players or requiring skill challenges for raising the dead (a la Critical Role). I suspect DD is wanting to lean more towards the latter, so let’s look at some ways to really make death matter.

Run lower-level campaigns: At low levels, death is a lot more difficult to overcome. By the time you get your fallen friend to a temple, the window for Revivify is long over, and who can afford the diamond for a Raise Dead spell, even assuming you can find a cleric who can cast it for free for you? But most NPC temples I’ve run in my games have been willing to cast Raise Dead for free if the PCs will undertake a quest on behalf of the temple. In a situation like this, the dead PC’s player could potentially play a cleric or paladin of the temple sent along to help, or the temple might cast raise dead in advance and take an oath that they will fulfill the quest. If the temple doesn’t trust them to keep their word, there are always geas spells to make sure of it.

Limit access to spells that return the dead: Maybe not every god grants the ability to raise the dead to their followers. Maybe diamonds are hard to find in your campaign. Whatever the path you take, you can make certain that death isn’t just a revolving door by making the spells difficult to cast. Maybe the deity will only grant the spells to their cleric once the party fulfills a quest or defeats a monster that has been plaguing the faithful. You could change the material component from a diamond to “the deity’s favor.” Casting the spell expends the favor, so now a new service to the deity would be needed before the next chance of casting it.

Make return from death uncertain: One of the things I really like in Critical Role that I intend to adopt in my next campaign (and I even know how I’m going to make the change make sense in my campaign world) is that returning from death via Raise Dead is by no means a certain thing. The Critical Role has a skill challenge like system in which up to three people can contribute to the ritual to return the dead by entreating the dead person to return. If people all want to use the same skill, such as Persuasion, the DC for the second and third people goes up. A PC might be coaxed to return via Performance, Persuasion, Intimidation, Deception...I’d even allow rolls like Arcana for magically coercing the dead spirit to return or Religion to remind a Paladin that their duty to their deity is not yet fulfilled. This had led to some dramatic moments in CR, and I definitely intend to put together my own system for my next campaign.

Make return from death limited: You could very easily put together a system that limited the number of times the same spirit could return from the dead. In older editions of D&D, returning from death required a “System Shock” check, and the body might not survive the attempt to reunite it with its spirit. If you wanted something similar, you could make a system in which one of your attributes represents your ability to return from death, even using Revivify. I would like base it off of your Constitution or Charisma score. You can return from death a number of times equal to 1+your Constitution or Charisma modifier (minimum of 1). That way, characters can die at least once and come back, but it can’t happen dozens of times.

Make the way someone dies directly affect their afterlife: For some players, this will really matter. I once had a ranger who despised dragons in a campaign. He found a dragonslaying sword, made it his business to get the party to face dragons, etc. When he finally died, it was facing two dragons to buy the party time to escape from a canyon where the dragons were in danger of TPKing them. He was killed, but he wounded both dragons quite a bit. The party managed to kill them, and they recovered the body. The ranger’s player absolutely had no intention of coming back from the dead. “How on earth would my character have a cooler death than that?” the player laughed. “That was perfect.” I described how he was received into the afterlife of his culture as a hero, and he was very happy with the end of the story for his ranger. To draw this along further, what if how a PC dies affects their standing in the afterlife? If they die in a super cool way, maybe they get a high place of honor in Valhalla, or whatever you use. A PC who then dies fighting a lich or saving innocents is likely to receive a heroes welcome. This might be preferable to them than going back to life and then possibly getting killed by a trap or a bunch of orcs. This then makes the heroic death more palatable and desirable.

However you decide to make death impactful, I strongly recommend letting story trump rules for dramatic purposes. Technically, a character who has failed three death saving throws is just plain dead, but what fun is that. Instead, consider the possibility of having them be beyond saving instead. Let them be briefly conscious, either to beg the others to find a way to save them (think Spider-Man in Avengers: Infinity War as he gets “dusted”) or to tell them that their death is welcome and to let them go (a la Theoden in Return of the King). I remember a Werewolf game where a beloved PC was dying and telling her beloved pack how much she cared for them. There were many real tears being shed around the table, including by me as the Storyteller. Giving the PC a chance to speak and interact, even though it’s not part of the rules, gave the group a moment that I know I personally will never forget.

The biggest piece of advice I can give is that you must make sure your players are onboard with this. If you want death to be more powerful, impactful, and difficult to return from, DO NOT spring this on your players mid-game. This should be something everyone’s aware of, not something that comes as a surprise. Let everyone know during Session Zero; make sure everyone is okay with it, and, if not, be prepared to either back off from the idea (or else find a different player who’s onboard.) Like the X-card, be prepared to modify this even mid-campaign if someone shows that maybe they’re not as okay with losing Damathran Darkwarden as they thought they were. In the end, it’s just a game. It’s not worth hurting feelings and losing friends over.

I hope that helps, DD. Thanks for the question!

[galadhremmin]

We have derived Caranthir liking the Dwarves (and vice versa) because apparently, Finrod succeeds in every field Caranthir fails, and at this point it's clear this derives from the in-universe writer of the Silm and his own biases. Think about it: "Dark Finwë" , a grumpy, prejudiced lordling, and "Hair Champion", most handsome, noble king, have met with the same people!! Yet the king of the first secret kingdom is everyone's friend, but the prince that trades with them regularly is not... seems sus.

Hence, Caranthir is friends with the Dwarves. (But that is just an interpretation, so you're free to think what you wish, I just have several opinions on in-universe prejudice and the almighty narrative.)

I think that 'we' might actually have been Dawn Felagund years ago. Maybe this reading existed even before that, but I doubt that-- she's been very influential in silm fandom and was long before tumblr was much of a thing. https://dawnfelagund.com/caranthir-the-slandered

I wouldn't say it's 'clear' that what amounts to Caranthir's entire documented personality derives from the bias of the in-universe narrator, though as you can see from Dawn's writing it's a reading you can argue for. There are a number of different approaches you can take to the Silm and its biases anyway. One of the few times when it's absolutely clear the text isn't telling the entire story is when it talks about the Easterlings. I've posted about this before but the recorded names are, uhh.... the ones to betray the elves are unlikely to actually have been named things like 'ugly lord' and 'ugly beard.' 'Dark Finwe' on the other hand is a documented reference to his haircolour being dark like Finwe's own; hardly a negative judgement!

I personally think Caranthir can be exactly as ill-tempered and prejudiced as the Silm paints him without becoming an unsympathetic character. If a writer cannot make a moody, deeply prejudiced man an interesting character that is a failure as a writer; there are after all enough books who manage exactly that. That is not to say choosing not to write him that way is a failure (obviously not), but it's not necessary in order to make a reader feel for him at all.

Just going by the text, I think it actually might make for a more interesting narrative to explore in fic to me. Because he does change his mind about something, and at a very specific moment; when he meets the Haladin. That is much less dramatic if he secretly been as nice and popular as Finrod, and got along with everyone all the time already. He's been raised by Fëanor, who said things like 'No other race shall oust us!' and rallied the Noldor not motivated enough by vengeance for Finwë alone by playing on their deep-seated fear of being replaced by the Secondborn. Very unlikely that had no impact. At best it has made him uninterested in humans in his area (while they're not much of a threat to ruling instead of the elves anyway). The text says they paid them no heed.

And yet! Caranthir sees how brave Haleth and her people are. He 'does her great honour.' He changes his mind and offers them lands. His tragedy to me is not that of a slandered figure, but of this deeply, deeply prejudiced person raised to distrust the motivations of human beings -- who overcomes those beliefs, offers friendship, is rejected! then extends that same trust to the Easterlings anyway... and it's those specific Easterlings, not the ones who ally with his brothers-- who betray them all. And cause the disastrous ending of the Nirnaeth. It's the 'to evil end shall all things turn that they begin well' part of the curse hitting him in the least fair way possible. Someone finally changes for the better, and the outcome is treason and destruction.

That is a very good character arc to me, actually. His aesthetics-based scorn for the Dwarves is reprehensible but strikes me as deeply Elvish, and part of his prejudices. Naugrim is too unflattering a name for them for it not to be common. His temper-- well why can't he have one? Sure there's only one recorded instance -- but that's imo because there are hardly any conversations in the Silm! Anyway I like some people with tempers well enough. Personally I think people are missing out on opiniated grouches.

Obviously the biased anti-Feanorian Pengolodh reading is a nice one, and I have enjoyed a lot of stories written based it. But it's not at all a reading that is necessary for me to read Caranthir as a flawed but sympathetic character. He can have serious faults and still, ultimately, be someone I feel for.

What I was asking though was if I overlooked any canon evidence of Caranthir being particularly, personally fond of the Dwarves; and it seems I did not. Also; there is room for Caranthir growing to like the Dwarves over centuries without an anti-Feanorian bias reading this strong, there is simply no evidence for friendship in the rather barebones narrative (I'm not interested atm because it's wildly overdone to me & I like variety).

That said, in my opinion making Caranthir the hidden, slandered Feanorian Finrod equivalent with a dash of Curufin's Dwarf affection is not as enjoyable as simply working with what little canon character is actually there. Because there is one (and it's not the greedy tax collector of some fanon depictions either imo)

1. To start with, wrt Caranthir as the anti-Finrod, I don't think it works that well. Sure sure dark/light, open/prejudiced, repressed/shouty, but different motivations, different locations, plus they meet very different peoples even if both are Edain-- besides, Caranthir's own older brothers do successfully ally with the Easterlings without betrayal, while Curufin (much more so than Finrod! no Khuzdul for Finrod!) is the Dwarves' Friend(tm). Also, a flawed Finrod already exists. That's just the regular edition. He has his own faults and (very different) tragic arc.

If Finrod never seems to have strong prejudices to overcome, and if he's not confrontational (which... look he's a diplomat. Make of that what you will. Pretty awkward there in Doriath, buddy!) he does have trouble facing his own complicity (he wanted to sail those ships despite the murders) until Sauron beats him to death with it. He leaves Valinor with the idea of ruling but he has to give up the crown. He's ambitious, he seems emotionally repressed, he's.. possibly paying the greater Dwarves to drive the Petty Dwarves out of their ancestral home to build a city? Oops. Depending on the version you go with in that case, of course; there's also ones where he's free of the blame of that one. Not of wanting to sail those ships and being uneasy with the guilt wrt wanting to do so despite their being stolen and murdered for though. No he doesn't kill; but he wants to use the result of it anyway, and to make it worse he is actually half Telerin.

There's also (to be fair, only for sure after the disaster of the Sudden Flame because that's the recorded instance) his guards killing random innocent trespassers to keep his kingdom hidden -- yes, that's right there in Silm, yes he's still King at the time. Beren has to wave that ring. People just seem to miss that he'd be killed without it somehow.

I think it's just too easy to reduce him to the golden perfect opposite of Caranthir. Yes he's described more positively; he's also just mentioned more because unlike Caranthir he rules an actual kingdom, the greatest and richest in Beleriand in fact; and does things that have a lot of very longterm effects, like helping B&L steal a Silmaril. They don't 'meet the same people' anyway -- the Haladin have a different culture from the Beorians which contributes to their reaction to Caranthir (and iirc their later fate).

Sidenote: Dawn's essay attributes the Green Elves helping the Feanorians at Amon Ereb to Caranthir's diplomatic skills; but why not to those of Amras or Amrod? This is the quote; 'Caranthir fled and joined the remnant of his people to the scattered folk of the hunters, Amrod and Amras, and they retreated and passed Ramdal in the south. Upon Amon Ereb they maintained a watch and some strength of war, and they had aid of the Green-elves' -- nothing here indicates it was Caranthir who got them that aid. In fact A&A are the hunters, i.e. more likely to have roamed in various forests where they would have encountered Green Elves, imo.

There's also the very desperate times to consider in which this aid takes place. This is just post Sudden Flame, and even if the Green Elves didn't like Caranthir they probably liked him better than Morgoth. Also, speaking of cosmopolitans, Maedhros allies with, yes, Dwarves (Azaghal), Grey elves, Easterlings (and you might say: Fingolfinians); even part of the remaining people of Dorthonion rally to Himring post sudden flame (that means Edain and Arafinwean followers in Himring, at least for a time), and he manages to be friendly with Felagund despite calling him a badger. ;)

Finrod is not the only other leader to forge diverse alliances, and though B&L ends happily his people mostly do not. Caranthir's not much like Finrod in any way. Not in motivations, temperament, tragic arc. That's fine. No hidden kingdom for a dragon to eat either. Finrod could probably do with being a little less like Finrod sometimes, though he's well-intentioned and likable. Caranthir loves to shout and isn't sneaky. Good for him.

2. Curufin also already exists. His love for Dwarves is one of his defining and redeeming characteristics and boy does he need them. He's daddy's favourite, a sneaky overambitious bitchy bastard who is also a talented smith and linguist, and truly considered a Dwarf friend, which is apparently exceptional. He's quite flawed; tries to help Celegorm force a political marriage, laughs with a bruised mouth, seeming to lose his mind while attempting and failing murder after first losing his own stronghold and then the city he tried to take from his cousin. He's just... a personality. Mostly a bad one! You can feel for him though, because he seems like an utter mess. Many 'i would love to study you' feelings on my part. Would hate for him to be real but also I'd pay to be his therapist.

3. And then finally there's Canon Caranthir. A difficult, prejudiced person who despite that (which doesn't at all have to mean there is no despite, the despite is what makes it juicy)

- seems to be responsible for re-establishing (large scale?) trade with the Dwarves, whatever he might think of them (and they of him) to their mutual benefit. I don't think he's greedy either. It seems like a mutually profitable situation. Access to Dwarvish goods seems pretty vital to Beleriand, and facilitating trade is a real service.

As someone pointed out in the replies, the Silm does mention Dwarvish companies travelling east to Nan Elmoth and menegroth various times, but quote wrt Caranthir says 'Caranthir’s people came upon the Dwarves, who after the onslaught of Morgoth and the coming of the Noldor had ceased their traffic into Beleriand' and 'when the Dwarves began again to journey into Beleriand.'

They stopped at some point and Caranthir's people made it happen again.

- which means he's practical. He seems like he's good at organising, and setting his own feelings aside if necessary despite his prejudice and temper (which is an achievement it wouldn't be without his, hm, everything). Also he and his people as well as the Dwarves work together well because ''either people loved skill and were eager to learn,' despite their (initial?) mutual dislike. Those aren't bad characteristics; seems like it was an exchange of skill as well as goods and possibly providing safe travel opportunities.

I don't like the 'greedy Caranthir' fanon and don't think it is even that easy support entirely with canon. 'They had of it great profit,' the text says-- both Caranthir and the Dwarves. They exchanged skills and knowledge and Caranthir seems to have helped them start trading in Beleriand again. That's hardly Scrooge Mcduck.

- Another thing we can say about canonthir (lol) is that he apparently attaches a lot of value to aesthetics (was he a visual artist? is a he a sculptor like Nerdanel? WORSE: AN ART CRITIC?! Feanorian art critic is truly nightmare fuel) and that's why he dislikes Dwarves (of all things...). Either way points to 'aesthetics' as something apparently important to Caranthir. Which makes sense given who his parents are. What is interesting to me is that this apparently DOESN'T matter to Curufin, who is a lot like Feanor in most things. That's interesting!

I've never, never seen this but I think it would be very funny to attribute his aesthetic prejudices to Nerdanel. I love her; but why should her opinions be perfect? I know she wasn't considered beautiful herself, but she's an artist. She's got to have had some strong opinions on aesthetics anyway. I doubt it's the beards; Mahtan had one as well. And 'stunted'...at least some of this comes down to the Elvish obsession with height yet again. Hm.

- eventually Caranthir overcomes what have to be some very deeply held beliefs about human beings and their place in the world, and offers what for all intents and purposes looks like real friendship, not the ruling over Men Feanor seems to have had in mind at best. He's capable of real change!

Anyway his character works just fine to me from canon, and what he achieves and the ways in which he fails are more interesting that way rather-- neither slandered Feanorian Finrod 2.0 nor Curufin 'Dwarf Fan' Feanorion without the sneakiness and murder attempts pack the same punch as a stupidly prejudiced grouchy man doing his best anyway for centuries in this stupid ugly cursed land, eventually changing for the better, opening up-- and being brutally punished for it by the Doom.

Dammit. I hope there's therapy in the Everlasting Darkness.

hm a bit long but that's what I get for trying to gather my thoughts wrt why after considering it a bit transferring Curufin's love for Dwarves to Caranthir is a bit boring to me personally. Though there are still stories that still do it very well.

[bigskydreaming]

Its always interesting to me when I see people saying Damian is just like Bruce, in a totally matter of fact way, like its just such a foregone conclusion to them, because I don’t really see it at all, lol. 

Like to be clear, its not that Damian doesn’t have ANY similarities to Bruce, I think all of Bruce’s kids share various attributes with him....I just think most of the ones Damian shares tend to be more superficial than characteristic, and there are others who are far more like Bruce than he is? Personally, I think Cass and Tim have the most in common with Bruce, albeit in different ways.....but tbh I think even Jason has more in common with Bruce than Damian does, for example.

Idk.....like for instance, I consider one of the key differences between Dick and Bruce being that Bruce’s sense of morality and ethics is clearly defined, exists as specific, hard-clung to views that he applies regardless of whom is involved in whatever situation he’s applying them to. To Bruce, ethics and morality exist outside of people, and are inviolate.....they’re not meant to change depending on who they’re aimed at or will be affected by them. In contrast, Dick is someone I see as having a morality largely defined by people. His sense of morals and ethics are more fluid....its not that he doesn’t have clearly defined views of right and wrong that underly his regular actions and choices as sort of a default benchmark, a starting point to work off of....its that Dick sees morals and ethics as meaningless if they don’t serve those he cares about or fights for, or if he has to sacrifice someone he values in service to what he views as an arbitrary moral or ethic that CAN be adjusted if he so chooses to adjust it....like that’s the thing HE’S not willing to do. Its like.....Dick sees individual lives as having more value than the abstract, which is what he ultimately considers a singular principle, and so he’d rather sacrifice the principle than the life. Bruce in contrast doesn’t view morals and ethics as being remotely abstract, and views them as the very things that GIVE individual lives value, so he’s not willing to sacrifice his values or principles full stop.

Or to put it another way: If it comes down to a choice between a killer and their intended victim, where it looks like the only possible way to save their victim is to kill the killer before they can kill instead....Dick will take the shot so to speak.....but since he does still believe killing is wrong and an absolute last resort and he’s been raised by someone who he very much does value and who believes that there’s always another way.....then Dick will self-flagellate for not having been able to find another way that didn’t involve killing the killer. Bruce on the other hand, will attempt down to the very last second to find a way to save both lives, no matter how impossible it seems.....and if he’s ultimately unable to, he’ll then self-flagellate for not having found a way to save both. 

The truly ironic thing IMO, is even in a situation where BOTH consider themselves to have failed, they’ll both still consider their failure to be the exact same thing....though for entirely different reasons and with different results. Both will view ‘not having been able to find another way’ to have been the true failure.....even though, one killed and one didn’t. Because Dick wouldn’t perceive having killed as his true failure.....because that’s the part he doesn’t actually regret, if it means that he saved the killer’s intended victim as a result. He still did it with intent, in this complete hypothetical, because he perceived the victim’s life as more important than his personal desire not to kill or view that killing is wrong. BUT he’ll still consider himself to have failed because despite having saved one life, he’d view the fact that he couldn’t find another way where taking one life wasn’t a NECESSITY in order to accomplish that.....that was his failure, in his mind. Similarly, but completely differently at the same time....Bruce will consider his failure to have been not having found a way to save both. BUT just like Dick’s true regret isn’t that he killed the killer, Bruce’s true regret isn’t that he DIDN’T, in order to save their victim. Its that he couldn’t find a way out of that box that made it a choice of one or the other.

Course, that’s just my perception of the two of them.

But as examples, this is I think WHY Dick was able to kill the Joker at all in Last Laugh, whereas Bruce will ultimately never bring himself to cross that line. (And while Dick wasn’t matter of fact about it by any means, its significant in my mind that his actual stated regrets about that were always that he played into what the Joker had wanted and thus let him win, and that he’d failed Bruce and let him down....never once was it actually that he’d killed the Joker, period.) Similarly, its why Dick’s a lot more willing to work with people he’s ideologically opposed to or more flexible....in fact, I maintain its specifically why Bruce was so convinced that only Dick could infiltrate Spyral. It wasn’t JUST about the logistics of Dick being believed dead after Forever Evil, or Bruce’s issues about having just watched Dick die.......because Bruce is great at undercover work himself, as Matches Malone, and he traditionally HATES delegating the ‘hard stuff’ to someone else, especially when the stakes are this high....even if he does trust that person absolutely. He believes that if its his responsibility, its up to him to do it if at all possible.

Which is why I think that ultimately, the only reason Bruce didn’t find a way to take on the Spyral mission himself, is because he didn’t think he’d be able to. Spyral was a shady spy organization that engaged in morally compromising work on a day to day basis. Deep down, I think Bruce was aware that there would be too many occasions in which he’d be likely to be sidetracked or frozen by his conviction that there HAD to be a way around whatever he was being asked to do for the sake of keeping his cover, that didn’t require acting against various hard-set morals....which more than likely would have cost him the mission and rendered it a failure.....with catastrophic results for his family and the rest of the hero community. Whereas he knew that Dick would be able to find a way to make it work, because despite having a very strong sense of right and wrong of his own, he knows Dick’s highest moral prerogative is that he WILL act on even something he does firmly believe is wrong, if he’s convinced its the price he needs to pay for the sake of loved ones. And thus, even though he wouldn’t be any happier about the moral compromising nature of a lot of Spyral’s work than Bruce is, he’d be less likely to find himself unable to act in a split second decision time, so long as Bruce uttered the magic words: this is an utter necessity for the sake of your family.

Also ironically, btw, I think one of the key ways that a lot of people perceive Dick and Bruce as different....I’d disagree and say is actually where they’re MOST alike. And that’s that people point to Bruce as closed off and tightly guarding his emotions, hurts, and vulnerabilities at the expense of getting close to people or letting them in.....whereas Dick is more of a people person. But honestly, I disagree. I think people overlook that Brucie Wayne is still as much a part of Bruce Wayne’s life as Batman is. Bruce is and always has been completely capable of being the life of the party and surrounding himself with droves, on a surface level. I think Dick takes it perhaps a bit further than that, he IS more approachable than Bruce in general, that sorta thing.....BUT when it comes to his most private emotions, hurts and vulnerabilities.....I think Dick is just as inclined as Bruce to keep those parts of himself closely guarded and he doesn’t LIKE giving them up. The actual difference between them IMO, again comes down to the role other people play in their ways of thinking.....as I think that the times and reasons Dick DOES open up about his most closely guarded thoughts or emotions....its for other people, because he’s convinced himself that THEY need this from him. Left to his own devices, or at least the perception that he’s the only one likely to be affected by whether he shares his most intimate self with someone else or not, I think he’s just as likely as Bruce to well, not.

And all of this is key to why I think that Damian tends to have a lot more in common with Dick than Bruce, whereas others in the family have more in common with Bruce than Dick. Because see, Damian, like Dick, is more likely to ACT as a result of other specific individuals rather than his own personal sense of right and wrong. Look at when he first came from the League of Assassins. He had a clearly defined view of right and wrong, an already formed morality of his own, even if it was diametrically opposed to most of the Batfam’s, particularly Bruce’s. 

Damian didn’t set all that aside because people succeeded in just uniformly shifting his paradigms to be more in line with their views of right and wrong. The changes to his moral code came as a trickle down result of him ALREADY adjusting his actions or behavior - even before he necessarily came to view them as wrong - for the sake of the connections he was building, with Dick, with Alfred, with Steph, and then from there with others.

Just like I outlined with Dick, where he’s more likely than Bruce or many others to act on even something HE believes is wrong, if he views it as a necessity for the sake of a loved one.....Damian is similarly likely to act in a way that completely flies in the face of everything he came to Gotham already believing....if he views it as a necessity for the sake of the individuals he came to value. Just like Dick, simply starting from a different point on the moral spectrum. The sense of right and wrong that they ‘betrayed’ for the sake of other valued individuals was different....not the reasoning for that ‘betrayal’ of their previously established moral code.

Similarly, while Damian is just as inclined to be closed off and guarded as Bruce is (and Dick. and well, most of the Batfam shares this part in common, lol) - like Dick, when he does open up, be it to Dick or Alfred or Jon or Colin.....its because he’s convinced himself that on some level its what THEY need, rather than because he actually believes that he himself needs to let them in.

Meanwhile, the reason I say Jason is actually more like Bruce than even Damian is, lies in viewing Jason as falling somewhere between Dick and Bruce on a lot of this. Basically, I think that Jason is more naturally inclined to be more like Bruce in how rigidly he holds to a particular sense of right and wrong.....its just that the particulars of what they both view as right and wrong are different. Same thing with it being more natural to Jason to be like Bruce in terms of guarding his emotions. But in both instances, he’s still ENOUGH like Dick, as opposed to Bruce, that he does still adjust his emotional behavior and how likely he is to act on or against his personal view of morality.....for the sake of valued individuals. It just doesn’t come to him AS....naturally, I guess, as it does to Dick, and thus he’s not AS fluid as Dick in these things....but he’s still MORE fluid about them than Bruce. And that’s why even though it takes a LOT to budge him from his view of the right and wrong approach to vigilantism, he IS still willing to put aside what he does still believe is a necessity or right....if that’s what it takes to have his family in his life, etc.

To be clear - I am trying to not cast any particular judgments on any of the approaches to morality here....simply just, not the aim of this post. I’m more trying to view things analytically here, so when I frame Bruce as being the most intractable of the lot here, the least likely to budge his morals or act against his personal sense of right and wrong for the sake of loved ones, its not because I’m trying to say that he DOESN’T love his family, or even that he loves them any less than Dick does, Jason does, etc. And I’m not even trying to suggest that he’s wrong for his approach. I’m literally just....exploring the WHY of it.

And for me, that tends to go back to the singular difference between Bruce’s later childhood, after his parents’ deaths, the period between ages 10 and adulthood.....versus the childhoods of his various children around those same ages, or after their parents’ deaths.

Because these are the ages when most of us most fully develop the....intricacies of our personal moralities, when we explore and shape how our behavior stems from that sense of right and wrong and when and where we act on our beliefs, etc. 

And the key thing about Bruce during this period of his life, IMO, is that at the time.....he had very few specific INDIVIDUALS who played significant emotional roles in his life and in his mind. Bruce cares about people. Absolutely. A lot. But for a lot of the period in which Bruce shaped a lot of his personal moral behavior, people were almost as much an abstract to him as morals themselves. That’s not quite the right way to put it, but I mean, its more like....there was a kind of uniformity to the way he viewed people as a whole, because there were less individuals specifically standing out from the rest, as PARTICULARLY significant to him himself....and thus likely to influence his growing moral code.

The other key factor is the people he DID have valued emotional connections to at this point, like....they had a kind of permanence that stretched back to early childhood for him. They weren’t NEW additions to his life. While I believe that his parents’ deaths absolutely was formative for him and left him with severe abandonment issues....for Bruce, these abandonment issues were specifically geared around fear of losing people to death. He was already rooted in the same place, same life, same people, that he was before his parents’ death, that part of his life didn’t change.....and thus the people who were left to play large emotional roles in his life and worldview, like Alfred and Leslie.....he might have been afraid of losing them the way he lost his parents, but he wasn’t especially of losing them for other reasons. Specifically: I don’t think Bruce grew up during this time feeling any particular fear of losing someone like Alfred - a staple of his entire life - to, say, Alfred judging him for his choices or his morals.

As a result, Bruce grew up shaping his personal view of right and wrong and resulting morality-stemming behavior, on pretty much nothing BUT those morals and ethics themselves. And there wasn’t any particular NEED to shape those morals AROUND the people he valued in life, or likelihood that he’d lose them due to differences in opinion or ideology, like....with all of this adding up to be the reasons HIS moral code and behavior is less fluid than even most peoples’. Because there wasn’t really any reason for it NOT to be. There were very few people and thus few occasions, while still DEVELOPING all this, that made him feel that he was maybe on the wrong track, or that he needed to make room for exceptions or the possibility that he might need to adjust his views or behavior in these regards.

In contrast......Dick, Jason and most of the others all came to Bruce after significant upheavals in their life that necessitated basically starting over in an entirely brand new environment with brand new people, etc. So they lacked the specific aspect of the PERMANENCE Bruce felt in regards to his own valued loved ones during this period of his life. So unlike him, where he had a bit more space to contemplate his moral code and behavior without being particularly afraid of getting it wrong or that his choices here might cost him these people.....Dick, Jason, et al like....they formed their moral codes and behavior with significantly more awareness that many of the people they valued already had fully formed codes of their own they felt very strongly about...AND at the same time, they had REASON to be....less secure about whether or not the choices they made here could potentially cost them these people.

Which is a perfect recipe for the kind of moral fluidity based around specific individuals, that I maintain most of the kids display to various degrees. In fact, you can almost kinda....chart the extent of their moral fluidity, via various factors like the QUANTITY of significant emotional attachments in their lives at this time. Like I maintain Dick is the most morally fluid based on people.....but that I think has a lot to do with the fact that Dick had the most attachments to....protect or preserve. Even though he was forced to live apart from his extended circus family, they still very much figured into his thoughts as people he cared about and valued, and then there were Bruce and Alfred, and then Clark, Barbara, the Titans, etc, etc. 

In contrast, look at how Jason came to Wayne Manor with very few pre-existing emotional attachments with anyone still alive.....and the fact that Jason during his time living with Bruce didn’t really even have occasion to form a large number of attachments outside of his immediate family, as he wasn’t on any teams unlike Dick, and he didn’t mingle all that much with other members of the hero community. Ergo, Jason’s LESS morally fluid than Dick simply for the reason that like Bruce, he had more reason to construct his personal morals around simply his own perceptions and convictions, and less people he felt this moral code and behavior needed to acccomodate, or be prepared to make exceptions for or around. 

Meanwhile, I’d argue that Damian is like Jason in that he had fewer people to build into his personal view of right and wrong and how and when to act based on that.....BUT a key difference here is that Damian didn’t have a lot of experience pre-Gotham with feeling valued and valuing other individuals in turn, like...at all. The connections he developed with Dick, Alfred, Steph, etc.....they were brand new to him, basically a revelation in a lot of ways, because before that we’ve seen how he was often taught to dampen his view of how valuable or not to view personal connections.....whereas Jason, pre-Wayne Manor, like......we know that he DID very much have a strong emotional attachment to Catherine that he embraced and was not hesitant to value, etc. So my point here being that the sheer NEWNESS of what Damian was feeling in regards to even WANTING to adjust his behavior based not on what he THOUGHT was right or wrong but based on the PEOPLE he was coming to value....this was a complete shock to the system to Damian in ways that it wouldn’t necessarily have been for Jason, resulting in a likelihood that Damian would feel an enhanced INTENSITY around all this that Jason might not, and thus despite both of them having similar NUMBERS of emotional attachments they shaped their changing and developing moral codes around, these people carried an additional weight for Damian, just as Jason’s few carried an additional weight that Bruce’s didn’t have due to the differences in THEIR upbringings in this period of their lives.....and thus resulting in Damian having an even more fluid moral code and behavior than Jason did....closer to being on par with Dick’s, just as Jason still has a more fluid one than Bruce does.

ANYWAY.

This was a LOT longer than I thought it would be when I started a little post about huh weird how I don’t see Damian the way a lot of other people do BUT SINCE WHEN IS THAT NEWS.

In conclusion, this has been a post.

Good day.

[young-dumb-and-vaccinated]

Cult Girl: Doctorate (Hannibal x Female!Reader) pt. 8

Cult girl and Hannibal go through an exhaustive list of potential adoptive couples. 

@wisesandwichshark

Trigger warning: sexual harassment, christianity, discussion of pregnancy and family planning, adoption, murder and cannibalism 

Step two: find an adoptive family.

Some would say your list of expectations for potential adoptive parents was too extensive. Impossible for any human to reach. But it was really just the bare minimum.

Regardless of if they were two men, two women, one of each, or a few people, the parents had to be trustworthy. It wasn't easy to earn Hannibal's trust, but he could recognize those who had the capacity to right away. It was a little instinct you had dubbed 'friend or food'.

On paper, the apostolic pastor and his wife of 19 years seemed like the perfect candidates. The adoption agency tried to push them on you, as they had a great track record with adopting from them prior. Three boys, all of which were honors students.

Hannibal insisted on a formal introduction, during which you could conduct a proper, though surreptitious, interview. It was an invitation to dinner.

He invited the couple into his office, where a pot of tea and an interrogation was waiting for them. Then there was you. Barely-pregnant little [F/N], feeling entirely safe so long as your fiancé was beside you.

"You're doing the right thing, y'know." The woman, who introduced herself as Mrs. Landon, said upon meeting you.

"How do you mean?" You asked, already knowing the answer.

"All god's life is precious." She said, placing a hand on your not-even-remotely-showing-yet stomach. "You're walking in obedience to the lord by giving this child a shot at life."

Strike one: bringing up religion unprompted. Strike two: touching me without asking first.

You wanted to swat her hand away, but remembered that patience was a virtue. She and her husband took a seat across from you.

"Y'know," The man began, his mannerisms eerily similar to those of his wife. "I don't usually begin with the god talk, but I think a higher power had to have been involved in the conception of this- well, our child. I'd like to think the good lord brought us together today."

Strike three: already believes he is entitled to my child. You're outta here.

"Don't flatter the adoption agency like that, Jacob." Hannibal chuckled, placing his teacup on the side table.

"I'm serious, Dr. Lecter." Jacob interjected. "Faith and I really do believe that god put us on this earth to prepare his smallest soldiers for the spiritual war."

You shot Hannibal a side glance that said 'can we please just eat them now?'.

The answer was no. Hannibal liked to play with his food.

"And your adult children have all moved out?" He asked.

"That's right." Jacob nodded. "We have plenty of room in our five-bedroom house for the new little slugger to run around in."

"And if it's a girl!" The wife interrupted. "We have enough closet space for all the denim maxi-skirts money could buy."

Strike four: arbitrarily genders the behavior of a nine-week-old embryo.

The man then returned the teacup to the table, not bothering to use the saucer and instead leaving a nasty ring of condensation on the polished mahogany.

"Okay." Hannibal huffed, resignedly rising from his seat. He pulled two hypodermic needles from his back pocket and carefully, subtly stuck them onto the couples' necks. They couldn't even scream.

The tacos al pastor that followed (after a few days of marinating, of course) were exquisite.

The next week brought a new couple to your doorstep. Frank and Angela, they were named. Their claim to fame was that their oldest son played football for one of those big southern party schools. Either Auburn or Alabama. There was hardly a difference.

You sat for what felt like hours listening to the man speak in unintelligible football babble, waiting for him to take a breath. Surprisingly, it was the mom who got him to finally shut up.

"Frank, please." She said with more frustration than this one situation even remotely warranted. Either she had enough intuition to know she was being tested, or she’d spent the last decade putting up with this. Possibly both. "You're boring our hosts to death."

"What? No way! She loves it!" Frank replied, then turned to you. Not to Hannibal, just you. “Aren’t you having a great time, sweetheart?” 

Strike one: takes advantage of the female socialization to be passive and polite, allowing himself to take up the most space.

You shook your head. “I hate football.” 

His wife looked quite pleased with herself. 

“Angie, I just wanted her to know what good breeding her son is going to have.” He said, without a lick of irony or self-awareness. He eyed you up and down and licked his lips. “And it is mutual, I see.” 

The room went quiet as everyone tried to determine whether he was serious or if it was just a fucked-up joke. The longer the silence lingered, the more you realized he wasn’t kidding. Angela looked like she wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

“I don’t know what the agency told you, Mr. Wyatt,” Hannibal said, trying not to grit his teeth. “She isn’t a surrogate. She’s already pregnant.” 

Frank’s jaw hung dumbly open. “I thought you were looking for a sperm donor? I just-” 

“No.” You cut him off, raising your hand and covering your face. “I don’t want to know what you thought.” 

“Well, I would!” Angela interjected, righteous fury eclipsing what should have been crippling embarrassment. “What exactly did you think this was, Francis?” 

“The file said that he was over fifty, so I just assumed--” Frank rationalized, his voice far too loud for the room. “Y’know? That she wanted a baby that wouldn’t come out all funny-looking?” 

“You’re disgusting.” You blurted out. 

“Francis Howard Wyatt,” Angela scolded as if she were talking to her son. “You are forty-eight and the only increasing part of your body is your blood pressure. Why on Earth would any woman choose you over her smart, handsome doctor fiancé?”

This made Hannibal sit up a little straighter. He wanted Francis on the butcher’s block yesterday, but he momentarily considered letting Angela live. 

“They’re not married?” Frank whispered, or whatever the loud-aggressive-toxic-masculinity version of whispering was. He paused, as the dead hamster on the wheel powering his brain crept back to life. “That actually makes sense.” 

Angela loudly smacked her hand against her face. “Dr. Lecter, Ms. [L/N], I am so sorry.” 

“It’s quite alright, Mrs. Wyatt.” Hannibal stood up, readying the next batch of needles. “It just makes what I’m about to do easier.” 

It took quite a bit of restraint to not make their deaths hurt, but he made up for it when it came time to carve. He had fun running his fittingly small penis through a meat grinder. Not with any intent to cook it, though. Just because. 

Hannibal wanted to make Francis Wyatt into the least dignified meal imaginable. You quickly recalled going to a friend’s barbeque in Georgia and encountering a horrendously Southern delicacy known as Frito Pie. You proposed the idea to Hannibal, who, after reviling in abject horror at the notion of eating something out of a bag, agreed that it was the most fitting end. He could spare a few pounds of flesh to grind up and make into chili. 

The third week brought yet another couple. They seemed smart enough to realize your invitation wasn't the friendly olive branch the others had interpreted it as. Their healthy skepticism was refreshing, to say the least. Then, you met them: Max and Archie.

"You'll have to forgive my partner's paranoia." Max said upon entering the house. He tugged playfully at Archie's hand. "We watched Get Out recently, so an invitation to the suburbs sounded some alarms in his sleep-deprived brain."

"I love that movie." You chimed in. "It reminds me of my family."

"Oh no." Archie's eyes widened in only half-pretend fear. He shot an I-told-you-so look in his partner's direction. 

"But my favorite horror flick has to be Midsommar." You added. "My friends and I saw a midnight screening and we didn't sleep at all that night."

"But have you seen Hereditary?" Archie posited.

"Of course." You shrugged. "Aster is totally genius."

You made more than just polite conversation with the couple. Max, despite his young age, was a skilled data analyst and day trader. He attributed his success to the hard work of his immigrant parents. Archie was an environmental lawyer and land activist. He was also a bit of a thrill junkie, indulging in everything from scary movies to bungee jumping.

It didn't take long to realize that you wouldn't be eating them. They were far too pleasant of company to eat.

"So when is this baby planning to make its entrance?" Archie asked, gesturing to you. "You don’t look all that pregnant to me."

You put your hand over your slightly-protruding stomach. "Late August, I believe. If everything goes according to plan."

"You're not far along at all, aren’t you?" Max observed. "That gives us plenty of time to prove ourselves to you."

"Believe me." You put up your hand. "You're doing a great job so far."

“If you like horror stories, we might have to indulge you in the last two encounters we had.” Hannibal commented, leaning back comfortably in his chair. That was a good sign. “No blood was spilled, thank god. Would have ruined my carpets. But believe me when I tell you it came very close.” 

The couple laughed along. Archie leaned in like he was about to tell a life-shattering secret. “You wouldn’t believe the hoops we had to jump through to even have the chance to adopt. And I don’t want to say that it’s because we’re an interracial gay couple, but...” 

“Agencies aren’t exactly colorblind.” You finished, via his prompting. 

“She gets it.” Archie pointed to you. “See, Maxie? She agrees with me.” 

Max pushed his glasses up his nose. “I never said I disagreed.” 

You spent the rest of the afternoon waiting for the conversation to take a sharp left turn off a cliff, but it didn’t happen. They were wonderful company; polite, intelligent and articulate. Exactly the kind of people you’d want to see taking care of your child. 

You’d have to look for you next meal elsewhere.