#and then i said nor being married isn't the end of the world and she said “it's important that you settle down”

[softshuji]

Any men out there wanna pretend to be my bf to get my parents off my case about marriage? I am so so serious right now.

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Hedy Lamarr (Samson and Delilah, Ziegfeld Girl)—Look. I'm sure someone has already submitted Hedy Lamarr because she was spectacularly beautiful, and a very strong lady too: she fled both an abusive marriage AND nazi persecution at a very young age and rebuilt a life for herself pursuing her love for acting all on her own!! Her career as an actress was stellar; while she began acting outside of Hollywood (her very first movie, Ecstasy, won a prize at the Venice Film Festival), she conquered American hearts very quickly with her first movie in the US, Algiers, and then just kept getting better and better. If all this isn't enough, she was also an inventor: her invention of the frequency-hopping spread spectrum radio transmission technique forms the base of bluetooth and has a lot of applications in all kinds of communication technologies. I think that deserves a prize, don't you?

Grace Kelly (Rear Window, High Society, Dial M for Murder)—The literal princess of Hollywood (she retired at 26 to become princess of Monaco), her name said everything about why she was so hot. She carried herself with a grace and elegance you just don't see anymore. Her voice was sultry without being overbearing, and she had the ability to be sweet but suggest a deep sensuality at all times.

This is round 5 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Hedy Lamarr:

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The only person you can find both on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and in the Inventor's Hall of Fame--her radio-frequency-hopping technology forms the basis for cordless phones, wi-fi, and a dozen other aspects of modern life. She was also passionate in her efforts to aid the Allies in WWII (unsurprising for a Jewish-Austrian Emigree to America), and her name served as the backbone for one of the best running jokes in what is possibly Mel Brooks' best movie. Look, Louis B. Mayer apparently believed he could plausibly promote her as "The world's most beautiful woman". Is an entire website full of people going to be less audacious than one Louis B. Mayer? I didn't think so!

64.media.tumblr.com

Described as "Hedy has the most incredible personal sophistication. She knows the peculiarly European art of being womanly; she knows what men want in a beautiful woman, what attracts them, and she forces herself to be these things. She has magnetism with warmth, something that neither Dietrich nor Garbo has managed to achieve" by Howard Sharpe, she managed to escape her controlling husband (and Nazi Germany) by a) Disguising as her maid and fleeing to Paris or b) Convincing the husband to let her wear all of her jewelry to a dinner, only to disappear afterwards. Also she was particularly clever and helped develop Frequency-Hopping Spread Spectrum (I can't really explain it but anyway...)

64.media.tumblr.com

Her depiction of Delilah and Samson and Delilah just lives rent free in my head. The woman was gorgeous.

64.media.tumblr.com

One of the most beautiful women ever in film, spoken by many critics and fans. Beautiful shapely figure, deeper seductive voice, and often played femme fatale roles. She was also brilliant and an inventor. Mainly self-taught, she invested her spare time, including on set between takes, in designing and drafting inventions, which included an improved traffic stoplight and a tablet that would dissolve in water to create a flavored carbonated drink, and much more.

Gorgeous and brilliant pioneer of modern technology and the middle part.

Grace Kelly:

flawlessly beautiful and a literal princess

Her facial structure? Flawless. Her eyes? Stunning. Her hair? Gorgeous. Her style? Immaculate. Every second she’s on screen, she just exudes this elegance and sophistication. It’s no wonder she ended up marrying a prince. But she’s got this mischief in her eyes that is compelling.

She was so elegant, so beautiful and perfect I could cry for real. A fairy disguised as a woman.

the most beautiful of Hitchcock's "icy blondes". elegant, glamorous, she left hollywood to became an actual princess, I mean, COME ON

she's so pretty and refined and elegant! I'm pretty sure taylor swift's blonde hair red lip look is modeled partly after her

She's just so elegant, look at her all dressed up like a Barbie doll in the latest fashions. There's a quiet dignity about her.

Not only was she princess of Monaco she also is Stéphanie de Monaco's mother and yeah, vote for her she's soooo pretty That red dress in Dial M.... hot damn

To me, she is the first and only blonde. She earned it. Paired with Edith Head's costume design she is unstoppable. I dare anyone to watch her as Lisa Carol Fremont in Rear Window and not be completely blown away by her hotness.

SHE IS SO PRETTY AND FASHIONABLE!! Not only that but she has an alluring aura to her in whatever film I've seen her in! Rear Window is just one of my personal favorite films she was in, especially for her costumes in that. And how many actresses can you say was a princess consort in addition to being a famous leading lady?

[jellysxtarr]

Question! Do you do Miss Thavel and Miss Bloomie? If so, I would like to request Miss Thavel and Miss Bloomie [separated] x Wife!Reader. Please :3

Ignore if you don't! It's Fine. :D

Ofc ofc!! If the characters are possibly ooc, do forgive me since there isn't much information about them yet.

Miss Thavel + Miss Bloomie with a Wife! S/O

Warnings: // (just them being ooc really)

MISS THAVEL

— ʚ Dating, or even being married to Miss Thavel is one hell of a ride! She can actually be nice (at least to you), so there isn't anything you should be concerned about.

— ʚ She isn't near being shy or hesitant to say about being married to you, saying it loud and proud while even showing it off.

— ʚ I don't really see Miss Thavel as an affectionate type, nor is she repulsed by showing it in public. As said previously, she has no reason to hide the fact that both of you are married to each other and will openly shove it into anybody's face.

— ʚ She can be possessive, growing jealous sometimes too quickly and way too easily. Miss Thavel can get a bit violent, using more force on somebody if saying both of you are married won't work.

— ʚ If you were also a teacher that was going to the same school, she definitely would be near you at all times. Inviting you to the teachers lounge, randomly popping up in your classroom (which might even cause your students to have a sudden feeling of fear), and the list goes on!

— ʚ I'd have a feeling she would tell you "I love you" or call you nicknames in a different language since she is a language teacher, which she has done in every language available!

EXAMPLES BEING "Ich liebe dich" "meine schönste" "je t'aime" "ma chérie" "mi corazón" "te amo" etc..

— ʚ She would, and probably will, get rid of anything that might be bothering you, may it be a random person (even though that would end badly) to an object nobody would really care about, it's gone before you could even reconsider!

MISS BLOOMIE

— ʚ Miss Bloomie, who is more introverted, wouldn't really be as open about being married to you unless someone asks about it, which she will answer proudly.

— ʚ Since she is married to you, she will act more open with you (chaotic even), feeling more comfortable around you will let her go loose! Which has it's own perks of being married to her.

— ʚ She doesn't get jealous as often, seeing that you won't be leaving her anytime soon (nor plan to), makes her not have a reason to be. Even when she does get jealous, it ends up more violent rather than peaceful at the end.

— ʚ She would probably be near you at all times, which would be even worse if you were a teacher at the same school. Being at least a few steps away, often times sitting right next to you at the teachers lounge and being the one to appear more often in your classroom.

— ʚ Miss Bloomie would be more clingy, while being more restricted on showing affection in public, she wouldn't care at all the moment both. of you are alone and would show her affection without a care in the world.

— ʚ she would be more attached to your hip, making sure you're doing fine or bothering you (and even if, she'd also be one to get rid of whatever is bothering you). I see her form of affection being mostly words of affirmation than anything else, so be prepared to hear a lot from here when she does show her affection!

[gojoidyll]

Infinity

Yandere ! Gojo Satoru x Female ! Reader

Part 4 | my life

Warnings | death , gojo starts to get a bit delusional , yandere gojo , gojo being salty about y/n's new life , mentions of su!c!de by poison , murder , grammatical errors , etc.

Notes | this fic will be using she/her pronouns for y/n. Also this is a reincarnation fic, so Gojo's name will not be "Satoru" in this part. And please let me know if you want to be in a taglist for this series !! ^-^

Summary | And I'd choose you; in a hundred lifetimes, in a hundred worlds, in any version of reality, I'd find you and I'd choose you.

Infinity Masterlist

year 1120 AD

GOJO SHIRO, at the somewhat middle age of 30, couldn't believe his eyes. His six eyes, dulled a bit due to age, seemed to ignite with a sort of happiness as he looked down at a newborn that his dear daughter wanted him to meet. (As he got older, he was practically forced to marry someone from the clan elders despite him being the lord of the land and head of the clan now. He honestly didn't want to as he saw it as him betraying y/n, but alas, life must go on for the Gojo clan.)

"Her name is Y/n Gojo, isn't she cute?"

Life sure was cruel. Here he was still not dead from his second life and here y/n was already in her third, her second reincarnation. A sort of dark pit settled within him. A seed of pure rage entangled him and took root.

"She is cute," he muttered, but she wasn't supposed to start her second life without me. And she's a Gojo no less, so even if I reincarnated we wouldn't be able to be married together, we would be related to each other for God's sake!

He had to right the wrong.

So, he made a quick decision. A just decision.

"However, she's been cursed."

His daughter paled, "w- what?! Cursed?! But father-"

He held up his hand as y/n laid gently in his arms, "you know the rules as much as I do. That husband must of done something to you during childbirth, or when she was being conceived. You know better than anyone else that the Gojo clan has enemies lurking in the shadows."

"Minako would never hurt her! He loves our little girl!"

"And how can you be sure? You nor anyone else has the six eyes, you nor anyone else can see what I see, and this child is cursed. She'll bring the Gojo clan to ruin if she exists a second longer."

"But father-"

"Enough! If you do not have the will to end this cursed child's life, then I will take it upon myself."

"You can't father! You can't! There must be another way! We can save her!"

His daughter was in hysterics. All she wanted was for her father to finally meet her baby little girl. If she knew this was going to happen, then she would of run away with y/n and Minako in tow.

Urumei was summoned a moment later and had grabbed a tight hold of Gojo's daughter.

"Take her outside while I handle this."

"Of course, my lord."

His daughter could only kick and scream in Urumei's grip. Her wails being heard outside the door and down the hall as Gojo was left with y/n. His six eyes now focused onto the small baby in his arms.

"You're quite cruel for doing this to me, but don't worry y/n, my precious little y/n. I know you didn't have control over where you were born and who you were born too. But you must understand .. if I die and am reincarnated and you're not there, then how will I live? You're my world. And I'm your moon. You said so yourself. We made a deal. Its only fair that we be reincarnated at the same time so that we're together."

He activated hollow purple. And, for a moment, he was glad that she was still asleep. He doesn't think he would be able to go through with it if she were awake, and just as he was about to go through with it. She had opened her eyes. They were a brilliant, bright (color) and his breath faltered. Looking up at him, she smiled and giggled and held out her chubby, small hands up to him. Her fingers making grabbing motions.

He deactivated hollow purple and decided to just come up with the excuse to raise her himself and to "make sure she wasn't cursed anymore and didn't hurt anyone within the clan."

His daughter, when she was brought back in, could only weep and smile at the good news, grateful to her father for not killing her baby. Granted, since y/n was still "cursed" as she and everyone else within the clan were told to believe, then it meant she wouldn't be able to take care of her daughter and instead her father would look after her instead. But she was still happy nonetheless.

And that was how life went for the next fourteen years.

"Father, father, father!"

Now at the age of 44, Shiro could be found carrying y/n around on his back as she would point at the different food stalls, wanting to try all the different kinds of sweets they had.

Now, Shiro was, in fact, her grandfather of course, but he decided to blur the lines a bit on that since he was still young and because his daughter and her husband had passed away tragically in a cursed spirit attack when y/n was only two years old. Many found it odd how he didn't seem phased over their deaths but reckoned that he just needed to focus on caring for his newly made daughter instead.

And y/n simply didn't need to know. Besides, as he said, he was still relatively young so what was the harm in posing as her father figure instead? (Not to mention that he erased anything and everything related to his previous daughter and wife. Hell, he couldn't even remember their names!)

"You want to try that next?"

"Yes, please!"

Much to Shiro's delight, despite living under his doting care she still turned out the same as in her first two lives. Cute, shy, and super adorable. However, she was a bit chubby but that was only because he absolutely refused to see her in a sickly state as she was seen previously in her other lives. And it was nice seeing her so happy. He doesn't remember ever being so happy before with her first two families. Granted, in her second life her mother there was nice but y/n didn't have a father and her mother was always working. Not to mention those bullies were- he seethed a little, that's right. To y/n, this was the only life she lived, but to Gojo he was still in the life where those damn brats killed her.

He tried to clear his mind and focus on y/n instead.

The day went on and soon night fell which meant their usual routine. Y/n would wash up and immediately get dressed in her night clothes and come into his room. He would already be in bed and would pat the spot next to him as she would happily clamber in next to him.

But just before she would fall asleep, he would tap her on the nose.

"Forgetting something?"

She giggled a little as she turned towards him and lifted her head forward. Her lips gently pressing against his cheek as she gave him a tiny goodnight kiss.

"Goodnight, father! I love you!"

He kissed her forehead in return, and hugged her close, "goodnight my sweet angel."

And as she would fall into a deep sleep, he would find himself in discomfort. This was not the life he wanted with her. Not at all.

So he would find himself reaching into the cupboard next to his nightstand. His eyes glinting into the dark when he would find a dark vile. In it was a heavy poison. He knew what he had to do.

Uncorking the lid, he parted y/n's lips and let the liquid slip down her throat.

Now, this wasn't a rash decision, he's actually been thinking of this for quite some time. He couldn't wait any longer to die and to get reincarnated with y/n. He didn't want to be her father figure or even a father to her. He wanted to be her husband. But life was cruel.

It wasn't fair.

not fair

not fair

not fair

not fair

Thats what he always told himself, and he finally went through with it, and making sure that her heart stopped and she was truly dead. He, too, took a swig from the bottle and then promptly tossed the vile out the open window for someone to find while on patrol.

It wasn't fair. He deserved to have y/n as a wife, not a daughter, or as a granddaughter. It only made sense to finally start anew. Besides, she lived a decent life. A decent childhood. He could have killed her as a baby. Oh, he really could have. But he didn't. He let her live.

So, by doing that, he deserves to take that life away too and start again.

He knew they would be reincarnated together this time. Because they didn't end up together. This wasn't their happy ending.

Infinity taglist | @whore-for-hawks @esthelily @huicitawrites @flaming-vulpix

[firestorm09890]

On Wuthering Heights and Canto VI (part 1)

if I don’t ramble I’ll die (spoilers, obviously)

so far this is probably the closest canto to its source material. we've got so many of the same things- Hindley being an asshole and treating Heathcliff poorly when running the Heights, Heathcliff only running away after hearing what Catherine said, Catherine getting married to Edgar (Linton, I guess? now that's interesting) and then dying, Hindley drinking his life away, even details down to Hindley asking his father for a violin on his trip where he picked up Heathcliff are the same.

The scene with Cathy talking about the feathers in the pillow was especially interesting to see, because that was such a small thing with a different context in the book and it's here in a different form.

What changed the most is that on his trip away from Wuthering Heights, instead of doing whatever the fuck he did in the book, Heathcliff ended up getting friends, AND got to see Ishmael go and destroy herself in the name of revenge firsthand, so he now has the character development to not perpetuate the cycle of abuse. I like that kind of canon divergence. we'll see if he gets worse from here, though!

I really appreciate them leaning into the gothic horror potential of a ghost in a house (though, of course, given how project moon stories go, it probably isn't just a ghost in a house, but like, that's what it gives the image of right now)

so, Linton. Linton Edgar, from the Edgar family. That's.... weird. Especially since Wuthering Heights already has a character with the given name Linton, and especially since Linton Edgar (LCB) and Linton Heathcliff (Wuthering Heights) are both very sickly (and, ngl, Linton Edgar is just as whiny as Linton Heathcliff....). But Linton Edgar seems to be filling the role of Edgar Linton. Linton Edgar also has an older brother who "left" and that's how he ended up with most of the family fortune, and neither Linton Heathcliff nor Edgar Linton had an older brother. it's definitely a standout when compared to all the stuff from above that's one-to-one with the source material. since they're already setting up some weird mirror world shit, I'm inclined to believe this is also related to that, but what the hell are they cooking

Nelly seems way too cool and cute, which makes me think she'll either betray us spectacularly, or die horribly.

Josephine, on the other hand, is hilarious and I hope she survives no matter what. I wasn't expecting Joseph at all and they went and genderbent him (gotta meet that old hag quota). Her personality is mostly the same, though the dedication to god seems to have been replaced by a dedication to the establishment, which makes sense in this setting.

thrilled to see how things get more fucked up

[dangermousie]

Finished Blossoms in Adversity.

It was a pretty flawed drama, and Hu Yitian remains the second least watchable leading man in cdramas for me but it really was consistently the airing drama I'd watch FIRST - it really was an addicting watch despite its flaws.

The best thing? I don't know how they managed to get it past the censors, but they actually had the emperor as the Big Bad.

He was the one who exiled FL's family men unjustly, he was the one who punished and messed with her because he didn't like his nephew caring for anyone outside of him, and as the above scene indicates, even his gaslit/brainwashed/enmeshed in abused fashion nephew finally had enough. Every positive character who had an opinion hated him (FL literally called him out at one point!) and all the negative ones did too. He was not shown to do any of his petty, cruel, arbitrary things for the greater good but because he was a paranoid, self-absorbed man.

The best part? No last minute, death bed redemption of any kind. You think there would be one, as he lies dying from poison (inflicted by his own son! with the help of a foreign agent who is portrayed as justified and sympathetic!) but nope. Gu Yanxi, who realistically still loves his abusive as fuck father figure (because that's how it goes in rl), is all "I am sorry for stuff I did/said, I still love you, I will remain security head blah blah") and I expected the emperor to say he loved him and no pls go live your best life, find your happiness, I am sorry for being a bastard daddy etc etc but NOPE. Emperor just says "Yanxi" and croaks. (And same with his one remaining child, the sixth prince. He does not repent for how he treated his small son who saved his life, he does not appoint him heir etc. It's the dowager who trots the kid out.)

It's pretty telling that everyone gets a happy ending but only after the old monster croaks. The kid emperor pardons the Hua men who come back, Yanxi gives up his awful job and gets married and he and Hua Zhi peace the hell out of politics and business and just travel the world all over with no responsibilities etc etc.

I also liked how realistically tailored to various people the ending was in terms of happiness. Youngest uncle and aunt and their daughter go traveling, and I loved that - they were my faves except for sister and her OTP. Sister and her boo are in court, SML (who really wasn't - he never really pined and barely showed up) is a royal tutor, various younger married ladies have their own happiness (and I love that for one of them, it's a very realistic happiness of ruling her not attractive husband's concubines, business and household and getting his respect and buy in. She was neither looking for nor getting true love and that was fine with her) and the older generation of women also finding their calling that isn't just about the husbands (business, charity work etc etc.)

[leclercsfilm]

dead before i said goodbye

this is has some truth in it. summaray; we learned the hard way daemon targaryen

it was expected from them to cherish the union they've created. but it wasn't possible. their differences made it worse.

both undoubtedly unitrested, they sat next to each other while watching their children play in the garden. the Lord Corlys was speaking about council which to Daemon payed no attention. he was long gone. he watched his little dragon flys playing with wooden swords. it was just like when he was little. Memories, his cruel enemy.

his wife, on the other hand, couldn't wait for Lord of the Tides to just give uo speaking. she was alredy tired and she needed to put children in beds. she excused herself, and made her way to Alyssa, Daena and Aegon.

'we need to go. time to put you all to the bed' - she took away their swords promising that they will have it back in the morning. while making a turn in a hallway, she heards daemon behind them.

'did alyssa fell asleep in your arms?'- taking aegon's and daena's hands in his, he looked at her.

'they've been playing whole day.'

children alredy in bed, looked at their parents.

'mother, when will we see caraxes again?'- aegon asked

daemon sat on aegon's bed, fixing his sheets answerd:

'tommorow my boy. i will even take you on the ride. but now, you have too rest so we can fly whole day. sweet dreams my little boy.' daemon kissed aegon's forehead, while she looked at alyssa once more. girl is a restless sleeper, always turning on her sides.

they both reached their chambers. daemon was in bed when she took her dress off. daemon turned away facing windows while she was looking for her gown. quietly, she opend covers and got in bed.

'you were behaving terribly tonight. you spoke nonsense most of the time' - daemon spat.

'i spoke normally. i don't think i did anything wrong.' she deffended herself.

'i found a portrait in our chamber. behind you closet. who painted you?' - daemon wonderd

she felt her heart racing. she knew she should've throw that small painting away. but she couldn't. she felt guilty.

'one of my suitors.' shortly said

she was young. so young. she wasn't intrested in marriage. and she didn't like men, she was afraid of them. they were loud, violent, cold, distant. it made her shiver. she wanted to be unmarried for little longer. but he just couldn't wait. he wanted her whole. wanted to sang his love song to her. to show her the beauty of the world. he wanted to stood along with her. wanted to give her his hand to hold when she would deliver their baby.

after being rejected kindly, he was even more eager to show her the loving side of him. but it wasn't possible. she made her mind. they could marry, only if they waited a little bit.

eventfully, she said no. he was from far land. she wouldn't be able to see her family at all. she would be isolated and dissconected.

he gave her painting. he gave her letters and poems. but when she said no again, he didn't send anything.

'must've been in love.' - daemon mutterd

i liked him. she wanted to say. she would be happier with him. she knew that. she was selfish and now she has punishment to live. it was no gift nor privilege to be married for daemon. he had mistesses, he yelled, he wasn't there. he wasn't patient, he wasn't intrested. he didn't want her.

she didn't wanted him either. she just wanted family. she didn't get that either. her children adored their father but they will eventhfully see for what he is. until then, she will shield them from him. that's what happens when woman is blind. this is what happens when you don't look. you end up here, in dark room, with a stranger who rages at you even if you just breathe. you just wished you had different choice. you knew it's your fault so you can't be angry at the world.

different kind of hurt isn't it? how funny. living her life day by day. why did he changed? what happend to her daemon? he was her life, but now he made her life living hell.

she was staring at the dark in the room while hearing his snores. devil fell asleep. but now the real saddnes begin.

morning was alredy when he rushed in their chamber.

'what is it?' looking at him, she alredy knew something was uo

'you just can't be helpful, can you? i made something out of you! i made you a woman. i put you in your place. you are here because of me.' - he rages, vein on his head pops up

'this is how you say thank you? you just think you better than me? i made everything while you didn't even know you existed...'

'daemon please, stop.'

deamon stopped. looked at her wide eyes. slowly he stood up, and came over to her. with both hands grabing her neck he started choking lightly.

'do not talk back to me'

grabing for his wrists, she wished he just ended it.

he lets her go only to slap her.

'do not talk back to me. i will ruin you, you whore.'

'father?' little aegon came closer to the scene

'why are you hitting mother?' aegon almost cried

'aegon it's nothing... please go play with daena.'

aegon came to his mother only for daemon to stop him.

'out now aegon.'

'why are you hitting her?' he grabed his mothers dress

'do not ask me questions. go away.' daemon took his little hand

'no!'

daemon squeezed aegons hand.

'daemon let him go.' she warrned him

daemon dragged little aegon across the room while she followed

'leave him alone daemon!'

just as she said that, his fist meet her. she grabed on the bed frame while aegon started crying. daemon dragged aegon out of room while she met in the eye with painting that now hangs on the wall.

she finally felt true remorse. she wished she was smarter. now, she has to pay for her sin.

this is not so great but i had fun writting it!

[yallemagne]

I'm never going to be able to work on Orice in this state. Let's talk about Jack Seward. I have so much. Soooo so much to say about him.

Warning: I am going to be looking at Jack and his motives and attitudes, and I am going to be treating him like any ol' guy that you could find in the world. I'm not gonna take "it's just a fictional story, it's not that deep". I am a writer. It is that deep. This post is critical of Jack for reasons other than the obvious fact that he abuses his patients. Don't proceed if you don't want that.

And additional warning: if you ship Lucy and Jack and are going to get mad at me that it isn't book canon, you can take it up with Bram Stoker instead. This warning will seem petty, and it is. I have been yelled at simply for engaging with canon in a way that goes against other people's headcanon, and I will not tolerate that here.

I'm thinking about men and their entitlement. I don't like the idea of the story ending with Jack and Arthur being gifted two nameless, faceless trophy wives. One can explore for themselves in writing how those two got hitched and construct developed OCs to be the wives... but the truth is that the reason why those two got married is that Bram looked at two bachelors who had no women of their own and said: "that isn't a happy ending". The idea that these two men went through this entire story fighting for women, and neither "got the girl"? That's preposterous! Hence why Bram hastily adds that the two are married seven years later. I take full advantage of the vague wording -- of the fact that it is not technically confirmed that they are married separately to two women -- because the idea that these men were just given wives because that is what is expected of men gives me a weird feeling in my stomach. Or maybe I just need to eat, but oh well--

There is also the problem of Jack's entitlement in particular.

Just look at his marriage proposal. I analyzed it back then. He comes to Lucy, telling her how much this prospective marriage will do for him, how happy he will be, how she will be fixing his life, his problems. Nothing about what he has to offer. All he has to offer is himself and, it goes without saying, his wealth... but that's a given since she doesn't have her own income nor control over her assets-- he NEEDS to be able to provide fiscally for her. That is the least he can offer. But that's all that he really brings to the table. What he talks about during his proposal is all the things Lucy has to bring to the table, all the things he expects of her, and she hasn't even said yes!! Of course, she cried, hot damn.

Lucy herself lamented how good and noble men are and that women don't deserve them! And it is because of that general attitude that Jack listed all the blessings he would reap from the marriage but never focused on how Lucy would benefit-- because it's thought that all a woman needs is a man! That women are lucky to have a man regardless of circumstances! This is why I'm so damn happy that Lucy listened to her heart and chose the man that she loved regardless of all the pressure being put on her by two others. She knows herself in a way Jack doesn't know either of them.

Do I think Jack is an awful person for this? No. But I also don't think he was proposing to Lucy for the right reasons. I'm not entirely sure he was really in love with her. I know he thought he was, but with how shortly they knew each other, I believe he saw Lucy as a pretty face with good marriage prospects. And that's exactly how Lucy sees him! Just a pretty face and a good prospective marriage candidate-- but she's not in love with him. Lucy knows that love isn't the only thing that makes a marriage, but it's still very important to her. If she can find a man she loves who loves her back AND can support her? Woo! And she did with Arthur! Meanwhile, I think Jack doesn't feel love so much as fascination. That's not a bad thing, it doesn't make him bad.

Rolling this back around to the idea of just giving him a wife in the epilogue. That's part of why there's a sour taste on my tongue thinking about it. Men feel entitled to marriage because it is one of the expectations put on them -- they need to find a woman and keep her, and she needs to be a good one. She needs to make his meals to his standards, clean up after him, provide him with children, clean up after them. She also needs to love him and express that love through the previously mentioned chores and sex. If a man doesn't have this, is he really a man? Can his life ever be happy?

Jack wasn't happy with his work. He was in a very unhealthy place, and instead of addressing the issue, he thought bringing in a woman to dote upon him would brighten the place up. Like buying a new piece of furniture to make a dilapidated house feel more homey.

I think Jack is worthy of love, but the problem is that, like most men in this patriarchal society, he believes he is entitled as a man to receive it from any woman he chooses, and I don't think he ever has that worldview shaken over the course of the story. Hell, I think he kind of had his worldview validated! The happiest he ever was in his own home was when Mina made him tea, and he could pretend for a moment that she was his wife. That's cute for a fictional character. But imagine if you were a married woman and your male friend fantasized the reason you were nice to him was because you wanted him. Not so cute.

In a post-Dracula story where Jack gets a nameless, faceless bride, I don't see him ever leaving the asylum. No, instead, he stays, and he wonders why being married hasn't cured his depression. He wonders why his wife seems unsatisfied with him constantly working and neglecting her when one of the things that attracted her was his high position. God forbid she tries to drag him away from his work-- he needs this job to feel like a man!

In a post-Dracula story where Jack has instead married Arthur (yeah, not a legal marriage, but gay couples have always had ways of being together), I see him in a better place. I see him with a man who knows and loves him, who recognizes that the esteem that the insane asylum brings Jack is not worth his unhappiness, and who can actually get through to Jack because Jack respects Arthur's opinion as a man! I see Jack finally self-reflecting and eventually rejecting his faulty belief that a woman would "fix" him.

This is a lot, Jesus.

[katshuya]

cheating is a thing in Westeros, sono, Rhaegar isn't that bad in the characters' eyes when it's a common thing, and no, he didn't cheat. Elia was Dornish, and it's in their tradition, so she would accept it. And that makes Rhaegar much less guilty in Elia's eyes.

As for the favoring Lyanna over

Elia...well, the truth is Lyanna is the prophecy woman just as Rhaellaonce was. She plays a role in savingWesteros with Jon. She did more likable and attention attracting things like fighting against injustices while Elia only brithed children for the prophcey that ended up not related to the prophecy.

So, it is a normal reaction. Lyanna actually did something.

If Aegon is going to be alive, then he will not be important like Jon nor as honorable or good-hearted. He'll be Daenerys' enemy.

As for the pesants' deaths, they were for the greater good. Cruel but inevitable. But I agree some of them were unnecessary like Rhaegar's children, BUT they had nothing to do with Rhaegar or lyanna. I guess the author is trying to say that the prophecy children should come from only certain people, and Elia, unfortunately for her, stood in the way of the prophecy.

It may seem unfair, but that is the world of the AOIAF.

If Elia should accept her kingdom's tradition about *cheating* as you put it and had absolutely no problem with it (even though Arianne threatened Arys, Lord Yournword fought Oberyn. Oberyn never married, so he doesn't stay committed to someone, Doran married for love and stayed single afterwards.) then Lyanna had no right to complain about Robert's outside of marriage sexual activities and should have carried on with marrying him. Since cheating a tradition in Westeros.

Do you even hear yourself?

The normal reaction for you is that Lyanna escapes Robert and choses a married man but Elia should accept being abandoed for someone else after all she sacrificed?

You are sick. You are so passive-aggressive against a woman who gave everything for that nasty prophecy that you claim to be more important than thousands of deaths. A woman who paid a very high prince for Rhaegar's pitiful desires, Lyanna, to be free from Robert,Aerys madness and Tywin's grudge only to be raped and killed with her children's blood on her.

You are sick for thinking the prophecy justifies anything. Or that Rhaegar and Lyanna were heros.

Elia didn't stand in the way of the prophecy. She is standing in the way of your ugly and nasty ship.

You are trying to act logical and calm when you are just mad.

I'm not sure what else Elia should do to look as cool as perfect saint lyanna the good in your eyes.

Defy Rhaegar and refuse to give him children so she doesn't risk her life?

You would have said it's her fault that Rhaegar left her because she didn't give him what he needed, and Lyanna so perfectly was ready to give them to him.

You are just dying to prove their actions that lead to thousands of deaths as heroic. You have the same mindest as war criminals.

You need help. I'm serious.

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

I just finished The Heart of the World, literally a day after receiving it. It's so good! I love the way that you reinterpreted the characters in the fic so that you can still see them in the characters of the book. I'm also intrigued by Death-who's-not-Lily.

I have a couple questions. First, how and why did you decide on Iff, Theyne, Wheyne, and Annde as the humans' names? Second, Lily doesn't really get along well with Snape, if I remember, so why does she get along with Ilyn now?

And finally, when is the next book coming out???

Oh my god, look at you go! Thank you, I'm very flattered and glad you enjoyed it.

And now, your questions.

The Names

So, a fun fact, I hate naming characters and things. It's generally not something I have that much interest in and am not that attached to. Sometimes, you get a really great name and you're never letting go of it for that character, and sometimes you could honestly call them "Boy with Stick" and be done with it.

I now needed a lot of names and I wanted readers at a glance to be able to know, generally, which character belonged to which group. Which meant I needed themes.

There's a hilarious anecdote to be told where @therealvinelle on editing, wanted to go all out and come up with real, non-existent, but believable names for characters where you can tell a whole lot about their society by naming them.

I, um, said "Uh, these people will have backwards common English names. And these people will have QWERTY keyboard smash names. And these ones... Fuck it, he'll be Questburger."

So as for the human nobility, Lily got her name first, as Iff, the idea being a stupid joke/pun that isn't funny on my end where "iff" in mathematics is short for "if and only if". What it gets at is that Lily, as we see her, is the product of a very particular chain of events, that we're in a very particular world, and that there's something to follow that "if and only if" that is integral but that we're currently missing.

But then I have to come up with names for everyone else. And so we got the House of Prepositions and Conjunctions. Very serious they are.

Theyn was next up, as the next central royal character, and his name has a similar "har har but not really because it's not that funny and kind of weird" theme to it where the idea is he's "then BLAH", you're always waiting on something to occur with Theyn, unwittingly passing over him for the more interesting context in the sentence. He's there to set up something else, and by himself feels incomplete/not that interesting. Poor poor Theyn, even the universe doesn't think he's interesting or important.

Annde was next as he's the next important character we meet from this background after Theyn. Similar joke with him, he's "And... And?" You're waiting for the rest of the sentence with him, you can't end a sentence on "and" nor can you start it on one. He's just there to fill the gaps, to not be that important, and oh look a spoiler.

Wheyn (the regent) was next and was in part because a) I needed a name b) he's a bit of an inevitability in the universe. When one has a shake-up in a monarchy that holds all the power/isn't a constitutional monarchy, there's always going to be backstabbing nonsense and power plays. Wheyn is an unimportant inevitability, one that shocks no one (except Theyn, poor Theyn) and the answer to "When blah happens expect rain".

Which leaves us with, I believe the last, Whye, Lily's father. Him it's a similar gag but three-fold. There's the "WHY?!?!?!?!" in that no one really understands why he gave up the throne, married a sun elf, and scandalized absolutely everybody. Then there's "why?" as Lily's reaction, she's ambivalent about her parents and not sure how she should feel about them, and shields herself from feelings of abandonment by telling herself she's indifferent. As a result, she tends to approach any information about her parents with a "why should I care?" and gets very uncomfortable when anyone brings either of them up (and there's also that every character so far has brought up Lily's mother much more than her father leading to that question of "why are we talking about him?") Then there's the fact that there's a question to be asked that implies he has some kind of an answer to it a "why?" drifting off out there somewhere in the backgrounds.

And that's all the human nobility from our fantasy universe so far. (Elizabeth is noticeably an Elizabeth and sticks out like a sore thumb.)

Lily and Ilyn

The short answer is that Snape and Ilyn are different people fundamentally. They're in similar roles, took similar actions for various reasons, but they're very different as people.

And that goes for a lot of the things in the book. Elements of the fic remained, and some elements of HP, but not as much as people probably suspect even with the things that are very clearly taken over (believe it or not, I would call Elizabeth and Hermione different).

As for the long answer, well, for other people read the book and I hope it's explained.

When Next Book?!

I'm flattered but I don't know yet. Have to write it then edit then cover art and all that jazz.

I'll let people know.

[sukibenders]

Marina Thompson (or Crane however yall want to refer to her) you will be avenged! Baby girl did not deserve all that, nor the slander that some fans give towards her. That being said, I feel like the show fumbled the ball with her and her future, if that, storyline all the way in the left field. Bare with me- here you have a biracial black woman entering this white family/household who already is against her, or more so Lady Featherington and that maid or whomever she gossips with. Like, LF wasn't kind from the beginning at all (we see how she treats her own daughters) but as soon as she noticed Marina taking attention away from her daughters (literally just by existing), she becomes even more spiteful and mean as she sees her as a threat. Even willing to sell her off to an older man, who could have harmed her, even after discovering that she was pregnant, just to get her out of her hair. Can you see the obvious undertones that carries?

To add on to that, the only friend that Marina can gain, can find solace in, Penelope ends up betraying her because she notices that Colin has been courting her and wants to marry her. Like, to me no matter how you spin it, what Penelope did was wrong because she not only spread all of Marina's intimate privacy to a judgmental society and put her in a very dangerous situation, but also her daughter. Do you honestly think that even with Marina being "fortunate" enough to become a Lady and cared for, her daughter Amanda will be welcomed into the Ton with open arms or at least with little difficulty?

Moving on from that, the fans aren't any better because the rhetoric they use is very disgusting and borderline racist. Painting her as this conniving woman who was only trying to trap this poor white man for her own gain (completely disregarding that Colin is, not only, an adult and can make his own decisions, would have likely raised the twins as his own, but also the whole point of the show is to obtain a match who could also provide for you aka all of which Marina was doing), ignoring how her choices were very limited and she was in an abusive household but are quick to paint her as an antagonist towards Pen (ignoring how she was the only one, outside of Eloise and Colin, who befriended her and helped give her confidence). I could go on!

And, lastly, while I haven't read the books I do know/am remotely aware that Marina does die in the books (possibly in a very traumatic way, correct me if I'm wrong) and Philip moves on with Eloise. Now, maybe the show didn't intend for it to be read this way, but it does give the vibe of the disposable black woman trope (it already did with the treatment of her and Polin, but this even more so because she literally dies). While Philip and Marina are very obviously shown to not have any romantic attraction, the show hardly does a good job at even making them seem as if they are remotely comfortable or at least friendly with one another. It's even painted as the last option available, which wouldn't be bad if we actually got to see the pair connect. Instead, Marina just seems lonely and an afterthought. We don't get anything else about her life nor see if she has any connections with the rest of the world (I don't think she does), so her dying would be even more saddening especially since she would be leaving behind her kids. And while I'm glad Philip and Eloise fans could potentially get their ship, it isn't lost on me that that would have to be at the cost of a black woman, who didn't even have a happy life to begin with. Like, again, maybe the writers didn't intend for this narrative to be there, but it is, and even worse is that Netflix or whoever has done very little to assist Ruby from the online hate and bullying she has received from fans, especially shippers (though, I don't think they do that for any of their cast, especially those who are poc e.g. what happened with Simone, Charithra, Regé, etc), and how she had to be hospitalized twice because her mental health was bad.

Marina deserves/deserved so much better (she will always be loved by me as the fandom could never make me hate her, even though there is little reason too).

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

Zutara shippers are highly inaccurate to how Royals work. Spouses don’t get much, if any, authority or political power. While it’s acceptable for them to have Katara be treated that way as Zuko in their fanfics, since it’s their stories but they can’t be insisting that’s how it’ll work in canon.

To be fair to them, we don't KNOW how these things work in canon. We can make an educated guess since the Fire Nation clearly doesn't have many women in any kind of position of real authority in their society (despite being labelled as the feminist nation by many zutarians) and their culture is clearly based in Imperial Japan (with the occasional chinese stuff thrown in the mix) but cannot say it's CANON that the Fire Lord's wife has no political power, nor that she DOES have power - even the title "Fire Lady" is something the fandom came up and that isn't mentioned in the show at all.

Plus, like said on my meta about Mai being Fire Lady, even if it WAS canonically just the role of "woman that stands in the corner looking pretty and gives the Fire Lord some kids every now and then" that is still not that big of a problem since Zuko's reign is supposed to change things to make the nation more fair. He could easily just say "My wife has power now" and nobody could argue because he is the person with the most authority in their society.

Katara being Fire Lady doesn't work because:

1 - Katara and Zuko don't want to be together, as they are not and have never been in love with each other.

2 - The Fire Nation is still a VERY racist place even if their current leader isn't (anymore), and they would not be happy with him marrying a foreigner.

3 - The world would (rightfully) be concerned about Zuko marrying the daughter of a foreign leader and fear he was just trying to dominate the world through political schemes instead of outright war.

4 - The SWT has literally NOTHING to offer to the Fire Nation. We are never shown the Fire Nation needing any natural resources, extra money, or larger armies (something the South couldn't offer them anyway due to all the damage it took in the war), and Zuko has more than earned the favor of many people all over the world by helping end the war, so he doesn't need to marry a girl of another nation to gain support/an alliance (and like I said before, doing that would actually be likely to make him LOSE some support as people would question his intentions).

5 - Katara never asked for any kind of political power over anyone, she just wanted to have fun, learn to fight (and eventually learn to heal), see the world, and BE SAFE AT HOME WITH HER FAMILY.

So yeah, the main problem with that trope is not "Fire Nation is sexist actually" (even though it likely is), but rather "the characters would never choose that fate or be happy living that life, so this cannot be their happy ending"

[reflectionsofacreator]

Steadily working my way through Blue Lions (I'm on chapter 7? Battle of Eagle and Lion) and got Felix and Sylvain's B support. At this rate I'm just convinced that they're dating each other even if they're involved with someone else. Packaged deal. Unfortunately Inseparable. JD and Chris from Scrubs typa situation.

I think the thing that makes it ring true for me though is that is not just bickering -- sure they do, a lot, but they're also genuine with each other and worry about their friendship (sometimes). Normally I don't really care for the "bicker like an old married couple" trope because a lot of the time there's barely any care underneath the bickering, but they ... actually do? It's rather refreshing.

That being said, Sylvain is. An interesting specimen. I keep thinking I like him and then he opens his fucking mouth and goes skirt chasing. And yet even that doesn't annoy me as much as it should because he's actually really honest and earnest about it? If he was just a sleezeball it'd be one thing, but he genuinely gets to know the hobbies and likes of the girls he chases after. His and Lysithea's C support was actually really cute, and I also was charmed by his C support with Annette.

But then his C support with Dedue has him go out of his way to show that he wants to be friends, despite the heavy scrutiny and discouragement that it would bring. I think it was also surprising to me because of House Gautier's position as a border protection house -- if any of the nobles were to have reservations about a "foreign element" it would make sense to have it be him, he was raised with the idea of protecting the kingdom. This redhaired idiot continually surprises me tbh.

Ashe is precious, and I want him to get all the kisses he deserves (especially after I forced him to land the killing blow on his father). On god he will be an assassin and I will make him a killing machine.

Mercedes is a character I was not expecting to like as much as I do, admittedly. Heavily religious characters are generally not written in ways that I find compelling, yet she continually surprises me. I think it's largely because she's very much following the actual morals of the Goddess rather than ... whatever the fuck Rhea is doing ... and sticking true to her beliefs. There's also the scant bits of her backstory so far, of being disowned from her house and forced to flee to live in a church, how her life was uprooted for the simple fact that her blood painted a target on her back. It's fascinating.

I poached Lysithea from Golden Deer and I love her to bits tbh. She's cute, and her desperation to be treated as a capable peer really resonates with me. I also appreciate that she's still visibly younger than the rest of them, in the way she acts and her stature, despite how hard she tries to appear mature. It's a careful balance that is hard to pull off, but I think she does it well so far. (Now if I only knew why she has two friggin crests I'd be satisfied. I'm not gonna like the answer I just know it.)

Dimitri... sighs. It's fascinating to go through White Clouds with the meta knowledge that he's going to go off the deep end, it lends a certain sense of tragedy and doom to him that I find really compelling. That being said, he's so naive, in a way that's almost artificial? He watched his father and entire court be killed when he was ~14, and yet he's desperate to stop the fighting and keep peace rather than gain revenge. He's painfully earnest in his questions to Byleth about why things can't just be solved with talking, why war and slaughter has to exist. And like, the thing is, he isn't wrong for asking those questions -- it's never wrong to wonder why the world cannot be a better place, and earnestness and a desire to do better is never misplaced.

Yet the narrative of Three Houses does not have room for an uncritical view of such things, it does not laud him for asking these questions, yet nor does it punish him for groping blindly about in the dark. If anything, his naivety is called into question by the other people who inhabit his world, making him beholden to their reactions and judgement for daring to be that way. It's fascinating how in a different type of narrative he would actually be almost a paragon of morals, yet 3H manages to walk a fine line of letting him ask these hard questions without fully condemning him -- it's just that the other people in this narrative do, and Dimitri does not exist in isolation. Sooner or later he'll have to answer for his views, and well. That won't go well.

... anyways Three Houses good. I'm enjoying it immensely.

[violamonty]

putting this under a readmore because it ended up getting REALLY long-winded BUT. thoughts on tybalt vs. tank in terms of characterization. similarities, differences, yada yada yada. also some thoughts on the capp family as a whole.

(warning for discussion of internalized homophobia and toxic masculinity, but that's kind of par for the course when it comes to talking about tank in particular.)

tybalt and tank are really interesting because like. on the surface they seem really similar (like i mentioned before — gay eldest brothers of three who are deeply, deeply maladjusted from being used as a pawn in their families’ respective Problems). and i think that because of that, it’s easy to fall into the pitfall of just making them Essentially The Same Guy. (i don’t blame people for doing that! as i just said, they’re pretty similar guys.)

i know a lot of people (myself included) characterize tank as being a very repressed gay guy with a lot of internalized homophobia. that guilt compounds with his desire to make his dad happy by being, you know, A Tough Guy. buzz has already given up on ripp, and i honestly think he forgets buck exists sometimes. (the PSP game sure did.) tank is buzz’s last chance to have a “normal” son who follows in his footsteps by getting a wife and kids and idk, dying in a war or something? so there’s an immense amount of pressure for tank to be buzz 2.0 (AKA world’s straightest nuclear family having man).

except, obviously, tank isn’t built for that. he’s gay. he likes getting creative with his facepaint (or at least he did before buzz told him off for it). he wants to do ballet. he has five nice points, whereas buzz only has two.

tybalt, on the other hand, is not operating on NEARLY as many layers of internalized homophobia and toxic masculinity as tank is. what he IS operating on, however, is capp emotional repression. there’s a lot in game to suggest that most (if not all) of the capp marriages were arranged — goneril and regan aren’t in love with their respective spouses (nor are their respective spouses in love with them), and regan specifically never has been. the way the capp family is structured makes the concept of… courtship, i guess? into more of a transaction of status than anything emotional.

even if the concept of arranged marriages isn’t something that applies to tybalt specifically (and it may not be — kent is our only example of an adult male capp descendant, and he’s not married either), i feel like the concept of swallowing your true feelings for the sake of your family’s status is something that’s pretty pervasive among the capps. that’s part of what makes juliette’s relationship with romeo so scandalous. it’s not JUST because he’s a monty (although that is the primary reason) — it’s also expected that she marries someone who would bolster her own reputation, not just A Guy She’s In Love With.

anyways. tybalt is emotionally repressed, but that's less because he's gay and more because he's a capp. he isn't normal about the fact that he's gay, but that's just because he isn't normal about anything. he feels guilty about pursuing his own relationships because he feels like his whole life should be focused on his allegiance to the capp family (and, by extension, the capp-monty feud). he's invested so much time and energy into upholding his family's ideals (he maxed out his fucking body skill before even becoming an adult, for one. this guy's got problems) that it's become his whole identity.

why does tybalt care so much? memories between the three capp siblings are, as always, inconsistent, but i'm of the opinion that tybalt was the only one old enough to really Remember the fire that killed their parents. the capp siblings subsequently being taken in and raised by consort (who is arguably the most invested in the capp-monty feud) had a profoundly negative impact on tybalt's development, similarly to how the loss of lyla as a voice of reason had a profoundly negative impact on tank's. consort believed that the monty family was somehow responsible for the fire that killed cordelia and caliban, an idea he ended up passing on to his grandchildren.

juliette and hermia, being too young to fully remember the fire and therefore less blinded by a need for revenge, were able to see past that and see that it was kind of bullshit — the capp manor is an old house (so old that it doesn't even have showers), so the fire was almost certainly an accident. tybalt, on the other hand, is very reliant on authority figures to tell him what to believe (another trait he shares with tank), and all of a sudden consort is the only authority figure in his life. if cordelia (who was implied to be against the capp-monty feud by way of contessa's bio) had lived and remained a voice of reason in tybalt's life, he may have turned out differently... at least in terms of his opinion on the capp-monty feud. (i think that, unlike tank, he's kind of an angry dude no matter what. he has two nice points.)

back to tank. unlike tybalt, a lot of his guilt DOES stem specifically from the fact that he's gay — and, of course, that guilt ends up feeding into his anger and some sort of inferiority complex. he wants to be the perfect son so bad, but the fact that he's gay is (in both his eyes and his dad's) something that stands in the way of that. if he just Stops Being Gay, maybe everything else in his life will fall into place. (it won't, but he doesn't know that.) i think that in order to unlearn that internalized homophobia and self-hatred, he has to distance himself from buzz first. i'd like to think that he ends up doing that eventually, but i'm also not sure if it's realistic — he gets his camouflage facepaint tattooed sometime between the PC and DS versions, and that particular facepaint design is something buzz approved of. (i'm looping back to the "creativity with his facepaint" secret because it makes me sad.)

tank being shitty to ripp is an extension of his need for his father's approval (although that's less 'my interpretation' and more just. actually canon, i think). part of it is him mimicking what he's seen buzz do, but part of it is a subconscious jealousy that ripp is brave enough to rebel against their shitty dad. the ever-present toxic masculinity in tank's brain tells him that he has to be a brave person, but on at least some level he knows that ripp is braver than him — ripp, who paints his nails and wears smudged dollar-store eyeliner, is being a hell of a lot more courageous than tank, who is decked out in camouflage from head to toe because it makes his dad happy. and that's something that won't leave tank's mind, no matter how much he would never admit it.

anyways. tank and tybalt. if they ever met (which i think is unlikely — tybalt lives somewhere italy-adjacent and tank is in like. new mexico), i'm not sure if they would be friends. it really depends on what stage of their lives they were at (i think they'd hate each other as teenagers because they're so similar). i think there would be something else there, though. some sort of acknowledgement. a recognition of the self through the other.

[roberrtphilip]

i GOTTA ask now of course. since you put me through hell. what are robert & giselle’s lives like, if they never met!!!!

literally so hard to think about because it means Giselle marries Edward and Robert marries Nancy and that makes me wanna throw up...

my notps, as the world once said

but anyway !!!

for Giselle, we have to tweak a few things and assume Narissa is not in "kill her immediately" mode. however, she's still Evil, so maybe she's fine with Edward getting married in the end because he's so easy to manipulate, meaning she can still be in power. and Giselle, she can easily manipulate her, too, so she's not too worried in the end.

I think she and Edward would stay married, despite not liking each other much in the end, because divorce isn't a thing in Andalasia, and they think they're each other's true love. but for Giselle, he kind of drives her a little nuts. I made a joke last night on twitter that she's not attracted to idiots, and like, she's not !!!! she's into brains, not brawn !! and Edward isn't a complete moron, really, but he's also not the sharpest, which I think drives her crazy sometimes. I think his arrogance isn't something she cares for either, and it borders on very, very unattractive to her. and like, they're both BIG talkers, which drives the other crazy, because sometimes neither of them can ever get a word in.

I also don't think she would particularly like being a queen (or a princess, whatever the situation might be) because she doesn't have the freedom she once had. she can't just run around barefoot whenever she wants, or run into the woods to climb trees. she's ~royal~ now, and has ~responsibilities~. and in one deleted scene, she talks about how she's happy to do her royal duties, and I think that is true, but she also misses her freedom, yk? and like, yeah, in our world she has responsibilities too, but she has the freedom to choose. as Queen of Andalasia, she wouldn't really?? not if Narissa is still around pulling strings, and manipulating her, anyway.

but I don't think things are always terrible. I think she and Edward are, at least on some level, good friends, they just don't realize they're not working romantically at all. but again, divorce doesn't exist, so what can they do? jump down a portal to another world? don't be silly!

they'd probably end up having a kid, a little boy named Florian (which is Robert's middle name, and I think if they had a son, she would've wanted that to be his middle name. so, her connection to Robert is still strong 🤭) but they wouldn't have anymore after him. Edward's a good father, and Giselle enjoys being a mother, so things aren't terrible. there's love there, though it's not what either of them ever truly imagined, and they try to make the best of it. I do think, though, that Giselle still dreams about her ~mystery man~ and wakes up thinking, "he's still so blurry, but I can tell that's not Edward... I suppose dreams are really just dreams after all..."

now with Robert and Nancy, they'd live such boring lives, I feel.

they end up getting married, and, much like Edward and Giselle, they're good friends, so it's not bad, but there's just... no romantic spark. Robert never grows into a super affectionate person, and he never really strives to be romantic, and Nancy just kind of. accepts it. I mean, based off her deleted scene, she already accepted that she wouldn't find her ~dream prince charming~ years ago, but now, she's just. really accepted it.

unlike Edward and Giselle, who do kind of want a divorce, but are kind of stuck together, I don't think Robert and Nancy would split up. I think they're comfortable, and relatively happy, despite leading boring, monotonous lives, and they'd just stay together. I don't think Morgan would ever call Nancy "mom", nor would she consider her her mother, but she does grow to somewhat enjoy her company. But I also think Morgan is secretly very into romance, and wants a Big Love Story for herself, and when she watches Robert and Nancy, she can just tell they're not ~in love~. Like, she knows they get along and like each other, but there's no genuine love in their home, and I think she'd grow up thinking, "I never want to settle the way my dad and Nancy did."

if you were to ask Robert or Nancy, "do you love them?" they'd say, "of course I do, they're my partner" and then they'd get hit with, "but do you love them?" and it would be like, hmmmmmm...

and it's safe to say Robert and Nancy never move the family to Monroeville, and they definitely wouldn't ever have another kid, so Morgan is the only daughter he ever has.

it's so hard picturing their lives this way because it means both Robert and Giselle never really grow outside of who they are at the beginning of the movie. I mean, Giselle kind of grows in an entirely different way, learning love and marriage isn't exactly what she thought it would be, which I suppose would lead her to feeling depressed for the first time, rather than angry. and Robert, he just stays closed off, and quiet for the rest of his life 💔

and Nancy & Edward never really develop that much as characters in canon, but still, they'd never find their real true loves. she'd never get to be queen, and Edward would never get to simply be the Fun Uncle. very tragic for everyone.

there's this quote from the movie 13 Going on 30 that I love, it's "You don't always get the dream house, but you get awfully close." and I think that would apply to these four. like it's not what they wanted, but it's close enough, they think.

and I like to think, even if it's years, and years later, they'd all eventually find each other. that's just the soulmatism of it all, babey 😌

also, I wrote another au awhile back that like, ugh, it was going to be two chapters, and I really would love to finish it some day. basically it was about Giselle and Edward returning to Andalasia after the ball, so in this version, Narissa never stops them, and Edward can tell she's very distraught and in love with Robert. He tells her she can go back, and she says, "I can't. He's with Nancy. I can't interfere with their lives anymore than I already have." and she goes back to her cottage. but she and Edward stay friends, and a year floats by, and he's finally like, "girl, you are SO fuckin sad... just a miserable sack of miserable !!! we're going back to New York NOW"

so they go back, and Giselle's like, "fine okay fine I'm just saying hi and then I'm leaving !!!" because seeing him and Nancy married is a nightmare for her. but then she goes upstairs and oh... oh he's not married ??? and I'm not married ?????? interesting.................... 🧐

anyway, I would really love to finish it some day because I looooove the first chapter I wrote, but I never finished the second one. but !! some day !!!!!!!!!!!!

[saintsenara]

BROOOOOOOOOO. (sorry if the following is cringe, i am a little drunk at a party but i saw your ask about favourite stories. and now I'm in the loo for a second typing up this reply)

so. scylla and charybdis is a MASTERPIECE and I will review it soon.

the shack at the end of the lane makes me SOB.

sparkling cyanide is a work on language and the meaning of freedom of rare beauty (and also. how. in very few words you say the world)

your latest on merope (i won't even try to write the name from memory) but it made me UGLY CRY. that "I'm mucky" stuck in my brain and now i am severely emotional just thinking about it fuck my makeup.

bookbinding is a masterpiece of a romcom and inhuman resources made me squeal (too much time with roddy's missus lol, and my poor roddie getting his arm bitten by an inferius my poor baby)

death eaters in paradise is my most re-read out of yours (I ADORE IT)- then again, roddy slander which i cannot tolerate but there's lots of lucius slander too and CAGA makes me giggle every time i read it (and also the poor bell boy, and druella is a bitch and the gaudy cocktails and oh my god i love your writing so much)

i haven't read everlasting ink yet but as soon as i review all the others i will get to it, you deserve it.

all of this being said. my favourites of yours? atramentum. and other women and of purer blood. i. love. them. think about them maybe once a day each, every day. love them. you deserve 29307945 views and kudos. and a kiss. and one of my martinis❤️

oh darling. i hope your hangover wasn't too awful after this. not least because i'm chuckling.

and also preening, because i love attention and the opportunity to talk about myself. although not to repeat myself - i've talked about some of these already: scylla and charybdis here, the shack at the end of the lane here, sparkling cyanide here, bookbinding here, inhuman resources here, and other women and of purer blood here.

of the others...

we can't discuss bó na leath adhairce without having the song on in the background.

as i've said elsewhere, merope gaunt has become one of my favourite characters to explore this year, in particular because she provides an excellent insight in how the series thinks about things like motherhood, desire, love, and death.

in this piece, she is the lens through which we can examine how the series thinks about a theme which is surprisingly prominent in it, given that it's a story about a not-particularly-observant teenage boy: beauty.

the harry potter series is suspicious both of those who are unnaturally beautiful and those who are unnaturally lacking in beauty. harry is a physical everyman - neither too good-looking nor identifiably unattractive - and the female characters the book likes, especially ginny and hermione, are hot enough that we know they're not bad or unsympathetic people (not like ugly old rita skeeter, or pansy parkinson, or moaning myrtle, or dolores umbridge) but also not so hot that they need to be considered bad in a different way (like fleur, until the point she proves she has inner beauty too and ginny and molly accept her...)

this isn't only a spectrum reserved for the female characters (lockhart gets the fleur treatment - the idea that being good-looking or vain is indicative of some deeper moral weakness; peter pettigrew is unattractive as well as a cunt), but it intersects with one of the series' main gendered aspects: that stereotypically feminine interests are silly, and that women who wish to be considered substantial in some way don't care about them.

the main example of this is, of course, the difference between lavender and hermione. the one is silly, giggly, and girly, the other is clever, sensible, and authentic. the one is the sort of girl you have a fling with, the other is the woman you marry.

merope is an ugly character - and, therefore, one which the narrative is not particularly sympathetic towards - but her ugliness also comes accompanied by a jealous desire for beauty she cannot attain, in the forms of tom riddle sr. and his pretty girlfriend, cecilia. neither of these two are shown to be nice or sympathetic people either (tom sr. is a dick in his only canon appearance, and the narrative emphasises at other points that the riddles are rude and unpopular). merope and tom exist, then, at the two extremes of attractiveness which the series regards as negative.

but merope is also someone whose life is unrelentingly miserable. in the fact that it is devoid of beauty, it is also devoid of comfort, pleasure, safety, opportunity and so on. much as the series is critical of love that is not sacrificial, it is critical of covetousness, frivolity, or silliness. but these things are not simply morally neutral, but morally good. and a girl who is clearly - if we read between the lines of canon - the subject of degrading and violent abuse at the hands of her male relatives should be able to find comfort in the pretty ephemera of womanhood. sometimes a lipstick is a lipstick and a unicorn is a unicorn. sometimes they're a lifeline.

death (eaters) in paradise and atramentum come together (bellatrix: i'm listening), because the latter is in very many sense the serious version of the former.

my justification for why bellamort are a good couple is consistent across things that i write with them in: that he is one of the only men in her life who sees her as a real person, and who understands her desire to escape the rigid conventions of her gender and social class; that she understands his need for love and attention, and that she is far more sympathetic to his childhood trauma than he is willing to admit. the idea that this is the only authentic relationship in either of their lives is one i sincerely believe in, in contrast to the assumption from outside the ship that they can have nothing in common or that there is no honesty there.

both of these pieces have that idea of authenticity - of something real existing underneath pretty set-dressing - as a key theme, alongside the idea that voldemort admires anyone who is interested in making their own life.

atramentum is obviously the sadder of the two, looking as it does at the comfort bellatrix finds in a draughty attic bedroom as the dark lord prepares to go to the potters.

death (eaters) in paradise features bellamort on a package holiday in marbella. and true, we do have to say rip to the bell-boy, killed in the service of trying to wingman for the dark lord.

everlasting ink deals, of course, with what bellamort leave to the world.

i'm a delphini stan account (let me live!), and i think she's a hugely interesting cipher for all sorts of people's neuroses. normally in my writing, those people are her father and her father's various boyfriends, but here it's harry and ginny.

hinny's divergent relationships with lord voldemort (harry loves the hot one, who's also an orphan; he's the one that ruined ginny's life! the snake-faced one literally doesn't realise ginny exists; he's the spectre haunting harry's entire world!) is one of the reasons i don't think they're a particularly good or interesting couple, but here they're dealing with their own baggage and making it work.

with the help of an only mildly sinister toddler, who has big brown eyes, the ability to speak to snakes, and a love of custard she certainly didn't get from bellatrix...

delphini grows up to be a hot slut with a foul mouth. ginny's influence, i'm sure.

[now, for a little sneak peek...]

it is true that poor, useless rodolphus isn't having a great time in my stuff, i'll admit to it. (although i do think he'll put in a better showing in scylla and charybdis than he has in many other things, not least because the main character assassination happening there is to regulus.)

the issue, i fear, is that he doesn't have much interest in witches. maybe he and bella both like tall, thin men with blood on their hands? or maybe roddy's more inclined towards a ginger - we'll have to see if the tawdry little romance he'll be having with percy weasley as per a prompt i'm filling for rare pair fest will make him any cheerier...