#do I understand his decisions from a business perspective?

[commissionsdarian]

Fucking hate Reg. I swear to fuck

[dollypopup]

I've been seeing so many bad faith takes from people who just. . .don't understand these characters or their love story, so here I am, taking them 1 by 1 lol

Let's start with potentially the lowest bar for Penelope

"I was rooting for Debling for Penelope!" aka: I didn't want Colin and Penelope to have their love story

Most of the justifications of this perspective come from the idea that an absent husband who leaves you lots of money and space for your hobbies is an ideal prospect. And you know what? You're right! For MOST women of the ton, this is an incredibly appealing proposition! That's why Cressida finds it so enticing. She wants what he can offer, a life away from her family (this is something she and Penelope have in common), a comfortable life in which she is alright with a lack of affection. I would argue most women on the marriage market during this time would agree. Marriage is a business transaction more than a fairy tale for them, for most women of this time, of the ton.

But Penelope is not most women of the ton. This perspective comes from a fundamental misunderstanding of her character. Her seeing marriage as a business transaction is her giving up on her dreams of being loved. People just assume that Penelope's greatest desire in life is to write Lady Whistledown, when this is absolutely not true. I even saw someone say that 'Penelope found her purpose'. But we know this is false

Because she says it herself. In Season 2, right after Colin talks to Marina and she calls him a boy caught up in his fantasies, the conversation is contrasted with Penelope, who tells him it's important to have dreams and fantasies, to be fanciful. And this *connects them*. It is the first truly open conversation we see between the two of them, and when he asks if she's found her purpose, she explicitly informs us what it is: Something that encourages her to be brave, and witty. Something that takes her far away from the watchful eyes of her Mama. Something that fulfills her.

Lady Whistledown is not any of those things. Lady Whistledown, sure, encourages her to be witty, but also encourages her to be cruel, to make painful decisions. Lady Whistledown does not encourage her to be brave, in fact, it only exists through her hiding and secrecy. And it keeps her beneath her Mama's thumb, as she is literally tied to the ton and it's going ons by writing it. No, Lady Whistledown is not her purpose. Writing is her passion, and I do argue that writing is ONE part of her purpose, absolutely!

But. . .what else?

Well. . . .love. Love and connection. *Love* is what inspires Penelope to be brave, Love and comfort with Colin encourages her wittiness, and Love is what will provide her an avenue for leaving her mum. Love is Penelope's greatest dream and desire. And I am NOT just talking romantic love here, but love of all sorts. Philautia (self love), Pragma (love of duty), Ludus (playful love), Agape (universal love), Storge (familial love), Philia (friendship), and, of course, Eros (romantic and sexual). Love with Eloise, Love in her family, Love and Respect in her community, and Love that is romantic and sexual in nature. Love with Colin.

But what Debling offers her is only one of those. He can only offer her a love of duty, respect in her community with a title, a pragmatic marriage with no passion, one in which she is expected to wait for him with fidelity as he lives his own passions, and she occupies herself with her own interests (so long as, very importantly, those interests do not make a fool of him, since he did, after all, dump her when he assumed she'd cheat on him when he was away) (cue me: 'is this your king????'-ing @ you all). I am flabbergasted that people would think Penelope would find happiness being alone and writing Whistledown as a married woman. . .when she did not find happiness being alone and writing Whistledown as a single woman. All that would change is her title, and that's not enough. She deserves better. She deserves more. She wants more.

When she asks him 'Could you ever love me?' he responds with several long excuses that amount to: No. No, he could never love her. He is too tied to his work, he does not know her. He has been talking to her for a week and had maybe what? 5 conversations with her about it? 1 of which was comparing her to a dead deer mounted on a wall (and I'll try not to read too much into the metaphor of Women shedding their names, a death of their old selves in their society, to become a literal trophy holed up in a rich man's house) and another was in which she insisted she. . .loved grass? Come on, people. Have a higher bar for this character you claim to like so much.

Another conversation they share is very telling, in which he asks about her hobbies. She informs she enjoys reading, and he finds it quaint, charming that she enjoys romances. But he does not find that in any way comparable to his own work. Debling respects Penelope as most men in his society respect women: as a pretty bauble with which to decorate his life. Not an equal. He is glad she has a quiet interest that will keep her where he feels she belongs: in his home, tending to his fortune and assets. He explicitly states he doesn't want a partner who shares his passions, who enjoys the outdoors, but simply an honest woman who will tend to his lair estate.

What Debling offers her is a life of pragmatism and expectancy, and in many ways, loneliness. Penelope would surely cultivate friendships in this time, but in accepting his offer, she even says she has 'come to terms' with what he can provide for her. Not that she is happy, not that it is what she *wants*, but that she has come to terms with it. That she will be content. She will fill her days with love stories she will never live, and write about the day to day of a ton that does not accept her. Maybe, just maybe, she can even have a family, and she, like her mother, like Marina, like other tragic women in her society, will find happiness in her children, and not in her own life.

But why should she? Penelope? Penelope wants love. Penelope wants acceptance and tenderness and passion, and that's why I am confident in saying that Penelope has not, in fact, given up on Colin. Not her love for him, at least. Her love for him has not faded, remains evergreen: we see it when she reads his journal, when she stands in the sun after their reconciliation and feels at peace for the first time in the season, when she laughs at his jokes, when she asks him to kiss her. She has given up on one thing only: her expectation of him fulfilling that love. And that's what makes it so heartbreaking that they're both pining for each other, thinking the other does not feel the same. Because Penelope knows (and she is RIGHT) that her and Colin have something special.

This is heart vs. head, and honestly, not even Penelope's head wants Debling.

The people who say they were hoping he and Penelope would end up together, y'all are Portia. Your expectations for Penelope are that she should be happy with money and a title and an absent partner. And then, the quiet part is 'She shouldn't be holding out for love'. She shouldn't be holding out for dreams.

But. . .why not? Colin is in every single way an amazing person for her. And he's proof that she should have held out, that waiting was worth it. That it had always been worth it.

Because it is *Colin* who is the gateway to all those forms of love.

Pragmatically, Colin has money a-plenty. He's in good standing in his society, he's rich, he's attractive, and he comes from a wonderful family. Furthermore, even from season ONE Daphne said that Colin can make an interaction interesting. He makes Penelope laugh, he's a good dancer, he's adventurous and loves to travel. And most importantly, he'd love to travel WITH her. Whilst Debling is attempting to narrow her world, Colin, in contrast, wants to open it to her.

Since her and Colin met as children, much of the start of their love story for him was first universal, and then familial in nature. When first her bonnet flew into his face and he fell, he had no reason to be kind about it, but he was. He has a kind nature. But then as they became acquainted, and she had a connection to Eloise, it morphed from his universal love and good will towards strangers, to that of a family friend. The comment that he sees her as one of his sisters was harsh, but it's also not BAD that this is a kernel of their love story. It bred familiarity with them, and lead into a genuine friendship. And my god, I could talk about their friendship for days.

Colin has been an amazing friend to Penelope. He checks in on her, he writers her letters, he asks how she's doing, he offers her his hand to lift her up, he refuses to let her speak badly of herself, he's protective of her, he finds her funny, he seeks her out because he values her perspective. Colin adores Penelope, and the last two seasons have proven it in so many ways. Even in his pursuit to help her find a husband, this is a selflessness he offers because he cares for her. His goal is not to curry favor with her, his goal is only to uplift her. He only wants to see her happy. He holds her in the highest esteem and sees her in such a beautiful light. And that leads into her self love, because what Colin said to Penelope in Season 2 Surely if Penelope can see me this way, surely I can as well-- that rings true for Penelope, as well. Colin loves her so dearly and sees her with such grace, that she is then inspired to bring that inwardly.

Debling is the death of her dreams, and Colin is her dream in fruition.

But it is also risky, and it is also, in some ways, foolish. He's not a sure choice for her, but he's the BEST choice. He represents passion and tenderness, he is the love story of all her books and fantasies. Because what Marina said to Colin, that he is caught up in his fantasies: Penelope is, too. That's what makes them such a good match. And so with him, she blooms. With him, she feels brave, and is witty, and will come out from her Mama's thumb and her expectations. And what's left after Pragma and Agape and Ludus and Storge and Philia?

Well. . .. It's Psyche and Eros, isn't it?

So, at the end of it, at the 11th hour, when Colin comes to her and he is honest, and he is vulnerable, and he doesn't know she feels this love for him and has for so long, and he spills open for her, Penelope knows she doesn't have to simply be content.

She knows she can be happy. Fuck your low expectations, she *can* and *should* have a love story.

And the one she lives with Colin is such damn good one.

[pucksandpower]

An interesting argument I am seeing about the current situation at Williams Racing is that the decision to give Logan Sargeant’s chassis to Alex Albon during the Australian Grand Prix and then the decision to give Alex Albon’s repaired chassis to Logan Sargeant starting with the Japanese Grand Prix was good for business.

I have to disagree.

Does it make sense performance-wise? Yes, I do not think anyone is really going to claim otherwise (although it certainly won’t help with Logan’s development which is a whole separate issue).

But as a business decision? Logan’s signing brought major US sponsors like Gulf Oil, Stephens, and Michelob ULTRA to the team in 2023. I am not sure if it can be argued that any prize money won from the championship standings will be more impactful to a team in hot financial water than what these sponsors bring to the table.

Not to mention that marketability and image are more important in Formula 1 (and all sports really) than ever given the era of social media.

I truly think that Williams put themselves between a rock and a hard place, and while I understand James Vowles’ perspective (especially given his reputation coming over from Mercedes) and his desire to focus on what happens on the track itself, the business and PR impact of these past few weeks cannot be minimized.

[cringefail-clown]

Jakehal is very fun. But why dirkkri? I dont understand what's appealing about it :? confused

theres a lot of things i like about dirkri and honestly i dont even know where to start lmfao

first of all, and its mostly a funny reason - davekat on crack. like some traces of davekat are still there - the arguing about shit, stoic facade vs emotional mess, all the good stuff, but its also so much more exaggerated it makes it this much more ridiculous. gets even better when you consider them under the lense of swap aus like alphaswitch or tbau, where they land on the meteor together. theyre most likely hunting each other for sports by the year two

second of all, the funney. theyd be so fucking funny together. their smallest arguments would take like twenty pages of non-stop flow of red-orange text to resolve, and not because they came to a consensus but because some third party physically dragged them away from their electronics. it doesnt do any good, since it only gives them both time to think over new arguments to use, and theyre back at it as soon as they get their phones back. like if we had a tournament about which ship would do the most collateral damage to the overall group, i think these two would be Up There. karkat would gauge his eyes out from frustration, because now not only does he have to deal with his piece of shit, know-it-all other self, but now theres also Fucking Dirk thrown into the mix. their home life is absolute insanity, a small jab about the other forgetting to buy sugar once again devolves into a screaming match about the merits and flaws of communism or some other inane shit. and theyre doing it for fun, they enjoy debating with each other, because often times they have vastly different opinions, and comparing their beliefs challenges them intelectually and morally. from the outside perspective theyre one of the most dysfunctional pair in the paradox space, when in fact thats simply how they want their relationship to be, and it makes them better people overall.

third reason is that theyre thematically delicious. dirk is a control freak, micromanaging his and his friends constantly. hes terrified of losing control, but hes also desperate for someone to just tell him what the fuck he should do. dirk doesnt think he should be in control of others, because he believes hes a naturally evil person capable of horrible acts, at the same time he doesnt trust anyone else to get things done but himself. hes a whole collection of contradictions.

kankri desperately needs to be in control as well. hes constantly injecting himself into conversations he has no business being in, trying to find someone thatd listen to what he has to say. hes wants to guide others, but his efforts are flawed, because he doesnt listen to other perspectives - hes got tunnel vision, as he thinks hes the one in the right while everyone else is wrong or ignorant (cringefail seer literally). he doesnt trust anyone else to make decisions for him, and becomes defensive when he thinks others are attempting to coddle him. his ass was definitely culled on beforus.

theyre also both so fucking lonely. dirk conciously tries to put difference between himself and his friends, worrying hell "corrupt" them. kankri tries to connect to his friends, but his behavior alienates him from them to the point of no one except maybe porrim want to have anything to do with him.

my point is, kankri wants to guide people but has to learn to listen to others and reflect on his own flawed opinions. dirk has to learn to trust that people closest to him can get shit done on their own and loosen up, as well as realise hes not evil at the core. them helping each other out - dirk teaching kankri about different perspectives, kankri teaching dirk about letting others do their thing - is something i think about a lot.

also i like to think theyd spar for fun a lot as well. its not really a reason and wholly my own personal headcanon but i wanna mention it as well bc its so funny to me. i like the idea of kankris behaviour being a complete reverse of karkat - where karkat is all bark no bite and doesnt like fighting or violence, kankri puts up a front of the beacon of love and peace and tolerance, but in his free time he gets his rifle and goes shooting at the fucking squirrels or some shit. i think he wouldnt have the same qualms about strifing as karkat. like dirk would try to jokingly jab his finger at kankris side and he would just fucking flip him over his shoulder and onto the table breaking it in half, because he doesnt like being touched unexpectedly and by gods dirk when will you fucking learn. he goes from 0 to 100 real fast. its such a hysterical concept for me.

[kyra3128]

Look I don’t want to be a hater except I do.

James vowels and Williams are maybe my biggest opp of all time ever for the rest of time because I understand his decisions but his reasoning is so fucking stupid and the way he goes about things is even more incompetent. I am a massive Logan fan but like I can understand that he costs quite a lot (except HES CRASHED LIKE TWICE ALL SEASON) and from a business decision getting rid of him is the best chance but to say you want to “maximise points” is such obvious bullshit because the Williams is a tractor no matter who drives it and from a pr perspective is incredibly terrible but to replace the driver who was taken out of f2 too quickly and was rushed to an f1 seat with a driver who is taken out of f2 even quicker is so stupid especially considering rookies are more inexperienced and have a higher chance of crashing and less likelihood of scoring points. But they’re also harming colapintos career because there aren’t any seats until 2026 at a push so while yeah it’s great 9 whole races in f1! Awesome! Until for the next two years he’s stuck in another series or as a reserve driver. And in a Williams he won’t be able to accurately display his skills to other prospective teams as the car is not performing anywhere near the midfield teams vowels claims there compeating with wich essentially puts colapintos career in a sort of purgatory similar to Liam Lawson where he’s showed what he can do but isn’t given the opportunity to be a permanent member of the grid.

TLDR: I just think that Williams are incredibly stupid and fucking dumb and destroy their drivers careers unintentionally.

[jeonscatalyst]

Hi May, so glad youre back!

There has been a lot of negativity in this fandom since AYS dropped, and it's always nice to have sensible Jikookers to turn to and discuss some things from the show.

I'm curious about your take on the car talk - since that one has been most controversial one. I know you said you'd probably make a master post about AYS but in the meantime I'd like to hear your overall opinion

Hey anon, thank you so much.

Yea it’s been a shit show since AYS dropped with everyone having very different opinions about different things but if you think about it, it’s always been like this. It’s literally always been a war zone everytime we got a new content with Jikook so just like any other time, this too shall pass.

Now about the car talk.

I think many of us already knew that Jimin and Jungkook weren’t seeing alot of each other or spending much time together in chapter two mainly because of their different schedules but them actually talking about it gave us more context.

Now, I am not going to behave like a taekooker and start coming up with lame ass excuses like, “it was scripted” or “they lied to hide their relationship” or “they didn’t mean it like that”. I’m not going to do all of that. If Jikook said they didn’t see each other much, then they didn’t. If they say they didn’t make time to call each other much then I 100% believe that, that is exactly what happened.

The car conversation started with Jimin saying that it’s been long since he went somewhere with Jungkook and Jungkook joined in a mentioned that they were supposed to go for drinks but unfortunately didn’t. Jk then mentions that when he was free and Jimin was busy, he didn’t call him and when he was busy and Jimin was free, he didn’t call him. Jimin said no he called but it seems like Jungkook doesn’t remember that he did. I have seen some different translations suggesting that Jimin and Jungkook weren’t talking about literally calling each other on the phone but talking about calling each other to hang out and do stuff together but all of those are technicalities and don’t really matter or make much of a difference to me because the point still stands that they didn’t seem to make time for each other for some reason and it seemed to have been a mutual thing.

Now, while some people will hear this and throw their hands in the air saying that this debunks Jikook and pack up their bags, it doesn’t. The only thing this possibly debunks is the fact that Jikook possibly weren’t actively in a romantic relationship at that particular point in time but it doesn’t debunk the idea that Jikook have in a romantic relationship before or are currently in one.

I have mentioned before that so often, many of us only look at the black and white of the world and neglect the grey and possibly the color. People often have a simplistic, binary way of thinking where things are seen as either all good or all bad, right or wrong, with no middle ground or shades of gray but the truth is that, in the real world, things don’t quite work like that. Situations, decisions, and people often exist in a spectrum, with various factors to consider, and understanding these subtleties is important. It important to look beyond rigid categories to appreciate the complexity and diversity of perspectives, emotions, and experiences in life. To put things in lay man’s terms, if Paul and Mary were in a relationship 6 months ago yet for some reason weren’t in a relationship last week, does this mean they never were in relationship? Short answer is no. People possibly not being together at one particular point in time doesn’t debunk the idea that they have ever been together and thinking that Jikook’s car talk debunks them completely is you looking at the world only in black and white and again, the real world doesn’t work like that.

I had also mentioned before on my other blog (gosh can tumblr give me my blog back already😩) that there was a good possibility that Jimin and Jungkook were not in the traditional or conventional type of relationship many of us are used to but this idea wasn’t welcomed by so many people because once again, to so many people, it is either Jimin and Jungkook are in a committed long lasting relationship or they are not at all but the issue with limiting things to opinions like this is that, when we get this kind of information that we got from Jikook, you don’t know how to make sense of things because to you, it had always been either this or not, true or false, yes or no and never the possibility of maybe or maybe not and that is why I kept maintaining that it was necessary to open your minds when it concerned things we don’t have full context of because you never know. You could be 100% right about Jikook being in a romantic relationship but when you limit that type of romantic relationship to just the conventional type, then it that’s an issue. It could also be a little to heteronormative to look at things like that and that unfortunately doesn’t also factor in so many things that could affect the kind of relationship jikook have, like the fact that they are idols, members of the biggest boyband in the world who live in a homophobic country etc.

Let’s look at Jikook’s history for a bit. Out of all members, Jimin and Jungkook are possibly the two who were usually seen around each other in and outside of work the most. For years, they were the two who spent most of their time together, by their own admission so they have a long history of spending time with each other in and outside of work. Taekook on the other hand don’t have a history of spending much time together outside of work. As a matter of fact, they both admitted that they didn’t. The person we always saw Jungkook with for so many years was Jimin while Tae was usually seen with his wooga and other sets of friends outside of BTS. So a jikooker thinking that just because Jikook were not seen together in chapter two, completely debunks Jikook is exactly the same as a taekooker thinking that just because Tae and Jk hung out together quite alot in chapter two proves they are a couple even though they don’t have a history of hanging out together outside of work before chapter two. See how dumb it sounds? It makes no sense because for a romantic relationship to be plausible, there needs to be history and that is something that Taekook doesn’t have while Jikook have a lot of it, so Taekook could have hung out every single day in chapter two while jikook never hung out a single day in chapter two but that will still never mean that Taekook is real and Jikook never was.

Jimin and Jungkook had consistently prioritized being with or spending time with each other more than anyone else for years, so the fact that this abruptly stopped in chapter two, convinces me more than anything else that those two did not have a platonic relationship with each other and that something probably happened. Jimin isn’t the type to just stop hanging out with his friends and especially not Jungkook. He isn’t the type of person who is flaky in his relationships. He isn’t the type of person who doesn’t value friends and relationships in his life. Jimin did seem to make time for everyone else but just not much of Jungkook and we know that it’s not like there wasn’t a chance for them for them to meetup at all because even Jungkook had tried a few times to ask Jimin to come have chicken with him, come box with him, come do a Live with him, Jungkook even opted to go to Jimin but Jimin said no. I’m not going to pretend like I know what was going on with them because I obviously don’t but it is obvious that something was off.

I think that now, it makes more sense why we saw Jungkook obviously pining. It makes more sense why we saw him waking up at 4am to watch Jimin. It makes sense why we all saw him visibly glow up everytime he saw Jimin comment on his Lives. It make sense why he talked about Jimin so much because for two people who didn’t seem to care to reach out to each other, they both really seemed to have each other’s names in their mouths and thoughts alot especially Jungkook. It made alot of sense for Jk to mention Tae as much as he did because he hung out with him alot, but what was his reason for mentioning Jimin as much as he did when according to them they barely kept in toch with each other? What was his reason for sitting his ass down and watching Jimin centric videos as much as he did?

I think that something was off with Jimin and Jungkook at the beginning of the solo era but it seems like things went back to normal after their NY trip because we know for a fact that Jimin and Jungkook spent time together after that. Jimin spoke about always discussing music with Jk when they were together, we heard him singing 3D before it’s release date which means he had heard it and the most important thing….Jimin and Jungkook enlisted together. They wouldn’t have done that if they were not in a good place.

It’s important to note that we are all watching Jimin and Jungkook’s lives unfold before our various eyes and what this means is that, we would witness good, bad and ugly moments. We would witness moments of them being so in love with each other as well as those moments when something seems a little off. These are things that happen even in our own relationships and maybe if we all had our lives being broadcasted and we sat down to watch every action, word, facial expression, body language etc, we would be more understanding of these people. We wouldn’t be so quick to judge, to get annoyed, to accuse, or to jump into conclusions. We would understand that human beings are complex and life itself is not and will never be a one size fits all.

Seeing as we are still following the story, I guess we all would have to wait to see how things play out but for now, I think Jimin and Jungkook are good. I cannot say for sure what they are to each other (cause I really don’t know) but what I can say is that those two really love each other.

[flowerandblood]

Robbed and gifted (5/6)

[ arranged marriage • modern!Aemond x female ]

[ warnings: sex content, angst, smut, fluff ]

[description: (Anon Request) She and Aemond are faced with a situation, where they must form a fictitious marriage. They are complete strangers to each other, who cannot find themselves in a new reality. When his wife stands up for him at a family dinner, something changes between them. Smut, angst and a lot of sexual tension.]

* English is not my first language. Please, do not repost. Enjoy! *

Previous and next chapters: Masterlist

_____

Several weeks have passed since their mutual decision to try and give their marriage a chance. He was surprised at how effortlessly they slipped into everyday life where they were suddenly talking to each other. His wife respected his privacy and responsibilities, not disturbing him as he worked locked in his office.

They got to know each other slowly and unhurriedly, knowing that they had time. Both of them didn't want to burn out prematurely, to take a one step too much.

He was pleasantly surprised that his confession didn't cause her to bombard him with messages or questions. She didn't need to know right away how he lost his eye, what his relationship with his father was like, what his childhood was like, what his favorite color was.

They used to talk to each other over dinner about how their day had gone. He found himself complaining about clients and his job in front of her, finally having a person who would listen to him and not judge him.

When she didn't understand something she asked in-depth questions, which he answered willingly, glad that she was able to admit that she didn't know something. He delved into the subject of his interests and the complicated world of banking, loans, deposits and money laundering under the table.

She listened to him as she ate, carefully analyzing everything he said. She did not refer to business or banking solutions, because she herself admitted that she did not know anything about them, but she was talking about something else. About the experience with the client and the care and hygiene of work.

“Your fatigue will not increase your productivity. You are frustrated and tired. You are chasing results that are impossible to achieve. Even when you achieve them, your father will surely set you higher, even more unattainable." She said with a shrug, taking a piece of carrot into her mouth. Aemond stared at her intently, toying with his glass in his hand.

"What do you propose?" He said dispassionately, knowing somewhere in his mind that it was exactly as she said. He wanted to hear her fresh perspective on the whole thing. She sighed softly, looking down at her plate in thought. She didn't say anything for a long moment.

"I don't know what your relationship with your father is like. Honestly, I don't understand him and I don't know what he expects from you. Anyway, I think you should start thinking about yourself. Start working for yourself and your own satisfaction, because your father will never be satisfied. Let go of extra things, sitting after hours if you think it's pointless. Find time in life for your passions and self-fulfilment, because if you don't achieve what you wanted in life, what will you have left?” She asked, looking at him anxiously. She had been worried about his condition for a long time now, but she knew that it was a sensitive topic and tried to be careful with her words.

Aemond pursed his lips as he sipped the last of the wine from his glass. He looked to the side, thoughtful, pondering her words.

The truth was that he gave up all his passions for work and had nothing without it. He graduated from business studies even though he wanted to study law, because his father decided so. He worked in the family bank instead of as a solicitor, because that was also what his father decided. He recognized, embarrassed, that little in his life had been his decision. Even the marriage they were in was his father's will. He swallowed hard at the thought.

"My father told me that if I tried hard enough, he would hand over the company to me." He said suddenly, looking at her expectantly. He saw her mouth drop open in surprise and blink rapidly.

"Do you want this?" She asked quietly and uncertainly. He nodded slowly, determination in his eye.

"I want this so - fucking - much." He whispered.

He saw that she was slightly confused, not expecting such an answer. He wondered if it would overwhelm her and how she would act. After a moment's thought, she answered.

"Wait and do your thing. Just don't cause problems. Aegon is probably not taken into account because of the way he behaves. With Jace and Luke backed up by Daemon it only takes a moment for them to slip up. Make you the only sensible option by elimination. Don't be pushy and don't be desperate. Keep Jace and Luke close to know, what they're doing." She spoke with certainty as if she were telling him about a plan,that she had literally just hatched in her head.

He stared at her, a wide, dangerous smirk spreading across his face, that sent shivers down her spine. He tapped his fingers on the table, looking at her.

"Maybe you should work with me." He purred, squinting at her expectantly. She swallowed hard and shook her head, terrified.

“I would go crazy there. After all, you need someone who will look at the situation from the outside. I'll be your double agent." She said proudly, drinking the rest of the juice that she had in her glass.

He chuckled lowly at the thought, shaking his head in disbelief. She was the last person he would suspect of such words. Maybe that's why they got him like that.

She was willing to do anything for him, to support him in his plans. Her discernment mixed with her sweetness, her cropped t-shirt and shorts had him just taking her to bed.

True to his promise, he fucked her almost every day. Sometimes, when they came home tired from work, they simply fell asleep in each other's arms, unable to do anything else. She studied and prepared for exams in her room, but in the end she always came to sleep in his bed.

Even when he had had a terrible day at work and came home angry, he was comforted by the thought of falling asleep in her arms. He told her everything with frustration and resignation, and she stroked his hair, letting him talk and calm down.

It made his burden a little lighter.

He fell asleep cuddled against her chest, wrapped in her arms, protected from all the troubles that awaited him outside their bedroom.

One day, his wife came to him and gave him an envelope. He opened it, surprised, and saw a lot of bills inside. He furrowed his eyebrows at her in surprise.

"What is this?" He asked uncertainly. She smiled at him, obviously proud of herself.

"I'm giving you back some of my collage money. I will now give you a specific amount each month from my paycheck. It will take me a while, but slowly I will give you back everything." She said pleased. He looked at her like a madwoman.

"Are you crazy? I do not want it." He said, holding out his hand with the envelope to her, angry, but she stepped back, refusing to take it.

“Take it. I don't want to be in your debt." She said with confidence in her voice that surprised him. He sighed heavily.

"Do not make me angry. I changed my mind. After all, paying for your studies was part of our marriage contract." He said impatiently. She pursed her lips at his words.

"My uncle didn't tell me, who he was taking the money from." She said with genuine regret that made his impatience soften a little. He sighed softly.

"It does not matter anymore. I want you to study. Let me pay for it." He said a little calmer, looking at her expectantly.

"Why would you pay for my studies?" She asked, obviously distraught and surprised that he was resisting her so much.

"Because you are my wife." He replied softly, looking at her with an unreadable expression.

"What I did and said to you when we first met was cruel and stemmed from my own need to take it out on someone. I will probably never get rid of the shame that I feel for my behavior for the rest of my life." He said as he walked over to her, handed her an envelope and kissed her forehead tenderly.

"Keep it. Maybe we'll need it someday if I go bankrupt." He muttered under his breath.

She sighed heavily and gave up. Wanting to cheer her up and distract her a bit he asked her if she wanted to order something to eat. He suggested that they rest together, maybe watch a movie, and then go to bed. She pursed her lips at his words, shifting from foot to foot.

“I'm sorry, but I arranged to meet some of my college friends for a drink today. I thought that you'd be working late." She said hesitantly, glancing out of the corner of her eye at his reaction.

He felt a strange, unfamiliar sense of disappointment and a slight jealousy at her words. However, he decided that he had no right to change her plans and dictate her time as he wanted, since she approached his bizarre daily schedule with such understanding. He shook his head.

"No, it's okay. I didn't tell you that I had such plans. We can do it tomorrow, and today, indeed, I will finish some reports." He replied, trying to be light. She smiled broadly at his words, kissed his cheek, and went to her bedroom, not noticing his disappointed expression.

After a couple of minutes she left the room for the corridor, looking at herself in a large mirror. She was dressed in a light, girlish, cream dress that was nicely fitting her waist.

He pursed his lips, noticing from a distance, sitting on the couch with the laptop on his lap, that she wasn't wearing a bra as usual. For some reason this detail frustrated him.

The thought that other people, other men, would look at her breasts, which now belonged only to him, which he had caressed and sucked so greedily during the last weeks of their harmonious cohabitation.

"Do you want me to drive you?" He asked casually, wanting to keep her safe at the same time, but also to clear his head and see who she was meeting.

She looked at him with a smile, fixing a strand of her hair that had fallen out of her intricately arranged hairstyle.

"No need, don't distract yourself from work, I ordered a taxi. But thank you!" She said warmly as she picked up her small backpack, peering into it to make sure that she had her wallet and phone.

When she was sure she had everything, she glanced at him, wished him a good evening, and told him to call her if he needed anything. Then she just left.

He swallowed hard, feeling a tightness in his stomach.

He wondered why he felt so uneasy. He realized that she was a really wonderful girl, beautiful, intelligent and good. Every day he treated her with more and more respect, but he also felt that he was putting himself at risk of suffering.

He wondered what he had to offer her besides his money and problems. Will his eternal complaining and scheming not bore her.

He pursed his lips at the thought, trying to focus back on his work and the email he was replying to. He decided that he just had to trust her without a word just like she trusted him.

Take an example from her when it comes to patience.

However, he couldn't help but glance at his watch. After five hours, when it was late at night he began to get nervous. He was fighting with himself whether to write to her or not.

He hated imposing himself or asking someone to contact him. On the other hand, he thought that something might have happened to her. He decided to swallow his pride and write her a short message for his own peace of mind, to make sure she was okay.

A: Is everything alright?

He wrote and sent it, sighing heavily. He occupied his mind with tables in the program in which he calculated the creditworthiness of his client, but he nervously glanced at the screen of the phone, lying next to him on the table. He jumped in his seat when he saw after a few minutes that she had written back to him and quickly checked the message.

Y: Yes, we are waiting for a taxi. I'll be home in about 20 minutes.

He sighed softly, closing his eye. He was surprised how much relief he felt. He had to admit to himself that he was really beginning to care about her. He felt a pleasant shiver at the thought of seeing her soon.

Indeed, after several minutes he heard the sound of the lock turning on the door. He looked down the hall, sitting on the couch, watching her every little move. She smiled at him, her face all red and warm, her eyes dreamy slightly.

She was drunk.

"Aren't you sleeping yet?" She asked quietly, taking off her shoes with some difficulty.

She wasn't as drunk as he'd first assumed, but she'd definitely had a few coveted drinks. She pulled off her backpack, sighing heavily as if she had just shed a great deal of weight, and walked lightly into the living room, looking at him.

"Did you have fun?" He asked calmly, a little cooler than he'd like, but she nodded happily, glad he'd even asked.

She sat next to him on the couch and began talking quickly about her classmates, how funny their were, and how glad she was to have such a close-knit group in her year.

She finally pursed her lips as if it took her a moment to remember that she had been distracting him from his work.

"Oh, I'm sorry, you're still working. I won't disturb you and go to sleep." She said softly as she got up from the couch.

He felt a cruel sense of disappointment that made him coldly force out his next sentence.

"You're not even going to kiss me goodnight?"

She looked at him, surprised, completely not expecting such words from his mouth. He looked at her intensely, his lips pressed together. He thought he was a desperate idiot, like a child craving a parent's attention.

He felt embarrassed by his words and wanted to get back to work, but he saw out of the corner of his eye that she had turned back, walking slowly towards him again.

He looked at her in surprise as she gently took his laptop in her hands and placed it on the table next to him. He couldn't utter a word as she straddled him, running her hands over his chest.

He inhaled deeply as she began to rub her panties against his manhood, which pulsed hard in his pants. She smiled innocently at the feeling, her pretty, shiny lips parted slightly.

“Forgive me for not taking care of you properly today, husband. This is an unacceptable oversight.” She spoke softly, sensually, sweetly, her hands running tenderly over his face, neck and hair.

He felt a strong shiver go through his body at her words, his cock went completely hard. He pressed his bottom lip together, leaning his head against the back of the couch, looking at her expectantly, his hands gripping her hips, starting to massage her buttocks in circular motions.

"Indeed." He purred low and cold, raising an eyebrow as he saw her nipples harden at his touch. His one hand gripped her breast, his thumb pressed hard against her nipple, drawing a sudden, startled moan from her lips.

"Your colleagues could also look at your nipples in all their glory? Hmm?” He asked low, dangerously, his breathing getting louder as he felt her press against his cock harder and harder, her movements painfully slow and sure. She pursed her lips at his words, holding back a smile, her eyes sparkling.

"No. This is a view reserved only for my husband.” She whispered sweetly, licking her lip involuntarily, her tiny fingers slid to the belt of his pants, undoing him with a one, quick movement. With an ease that turned him on even more, she released his swollen, throbbing, hard cock, completely ready to possess her.

He inhaled loudly as he saw her rise, pushing the fabric of her panties to the side with her fingers, and began to lower herself onto him, causing them both to moan loudly and helplessly in pleasure.

He felt her hot and wet inside, his cock throbbing greedily inside her, demanding fulfillment. He began to pant softly and parted his lips slightly as she slowly began to rise and fall on his lenght, placing her hands on his shoulders on the supports, looking at him with delight written on her face.

"I promise that it won't happen again." She hummed, squeezing her eyes shut at the wonderful sensation. Her fleshy walls pressed against him, sending spasms of pleasure through him every time she lowered herself to the very end. His fingers gripped skin of her buttocks tighter.

"Yeah? Are you going to behave yourself?" He hissed, starting to push his cock deeper into her with confident, intense movements, his hands tightening around her waist, forcing her to speed up. They both began to pant loudly as she fell on him with a loud, wet slap of her juices. She looked at him with misty eyes.

"Yes, I'll be good. So, so good, my husband. Please, cum inside me as many times as you want." She mumbled and he moaned low at her words, surprised and even thirstier, thrusting into her with all his might, responding to the slightest movement of her hips, making sweet, helpless moans from her.

"Oh yes? Do you think, you deserved your husband to cum inside of you?” He was panting low, looking at her with delight, he had never seen her in such a state before, so confident, so dominant, taking what she wanted.

"Please, I need it, please, please, please!" She sobbed, her hips rising and falling against him in a fast, intense rhythm, his thighs responding brutally, filling her all the way, making her tremble and moan every time he entered her completely.

"Kiss me" He whispered, surprised at his own words, and she immediately leaned in, pressing her lips greedily into his, sucking and licking him with her tongue, moaning into his mouth.

He gasped loudly into her throat and cum inside her, his hand gripping her hair tightly, not letting her pull away, his other hand teasing her clit. A few moves were enough for her to sob into his mouth and come too, sinking into him with a sound of wonderful, hot relief that filled her body.

Only then did he let her pull away, her hot, shiny, swollen lips red from their kisses. They both panted, looking at each other contentedly. She smiled, resting her head on his shoulder, swallowing softly, still sitting on top of him.

"I love you." She whispered softly as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

He felt himself freeze for a moment, his heart pounding hard in his chest, his cock throbbing hard inside her. He stroked her hair involuntarily, pressing his cheek against her head, breathing unevenly.

Her contented purr answered him, the alcohol completely relaxing her and the orgasm made her drift even further, leaving her on the verge of dreaming and waking. He felt her fall asleep in this position. Only then he moved his lips to her ear to whisper a few words before he carried her to bed.

"I love you too."

_____

Aemond Taglist:

(bold means I couldn't tag you)

@its-actually-minicika @notnormalthings-blog @nikstrange @zenka69 @bellaisasleep @k-y-r-a-1 @g-cf2020 @melsunshine @opheliaas-stuff @chainsawsangel @iiamthehybrid @tinykryptonitewerewolf @namoreno @malfoytargaryen @qyburnsghost @aemondsdelight @persephonerinyes @fan-goddess @sweethoneyblossom1 @watercolorskyy @astral-blossoms @randomdragonfires @amirawritespoorly @apollonshootafar @padfooteyes @darylandbethfanforever9 @fudge13 @snh96 @diosademuerte @rwdkarla @echos-muses

Others: @thedamewithabook @godrakin @snh96 @statixcane @toodlesxcuddles @yentroucnagol @iloveallmyboys @echos-muses @jennifer0305 @shessthunderstoms @bbyaemond

[txttletale]

hi miss healed, could you elaborate what you mean by dictatorship/authoritarian not being useful/meaningful terms? i know they're terms the west likes to tack on its political enemies, but i thought it might be a case of just misuse of terms that can still be useful, rather than outright a problem with the concept itself, so id be interested to understand your opinion. thanks!

so i don't think 'authoritarian' has any useful analytical value because every state is 'authoritarian' -- the only metrics by which one state might be seen as less 'authoritarian' than another are the metrics which privilege liberal democracy and a free market as a meaningful sort of 'freedom', which as a marxist, i don't! every state is an institution for class suppression--in the state and revolution, lenin quotes engels as saying:

[...] it is sheer nonsense to talk of a 'free people's state'; so long as the proletariat still needs the state, it does not need it in the interests of freedom but in order to holddown its adversaries, and as soon as it becomes possible to speak of freedom the state as such ceases to exist.

every state uses violence to perpetuate and legitimize itself. there is no state that would let you march into the capital and declare its dissolution without deploying armed men against you -- every state is authoritarian, it excercises authority, this is a tautological statement about how states maintain their own existence.

and sure, you could then say 'well we can just call all states authoritarian', but i don't think that makes any sense. the criticism of a state 'authoritarian/totalitarian' implies that there is an alternative, a point of comparison against which the state comes short--and i simply don't think it's possible to use 'authoritarian' as a cogent criticism without having such a point of comparison (usually the US or some european liberal democracy) which in turn means buying into liberal & capitalist ideas about 'freedom'.

as for 'dictator', i have a different criticism of that, also stemming from my marxist perspective. basically, i just think it doesn't describe anything useful in terms of political analysis and massively overemphasizes the role of individual psychology and personality. i frequently criticize both anticommunist and 'stalinist' views of stalin by joking that he must have been a very busy man if he singlehandedly ate all the grain or killed all the nazis. which is obviously a glib way of putting it--but my point is that any dictator who has ever 'done anything' could only do it because they could order a government official to do it who in turn could order a department to do it that could in turn mobilize hundreds or thousands of soldiers/construction workers/bureaucrats/etc. in order to make that happen.

sure, the leaders of countries might make decisions, and in some systems an individual leader might have greater leeway than others. but there are always very clear hard limits about what they must do and what they cannot do. i am sure i can say pretty uncontroversially that mohammad bin salman has an extreme level of political control over the economy and government of saudi arabia, but if he woke up tomorrow and said 'good news everyone, we're converting the country to wicca and donating all our oil to iran' then that would not happen and he would be deposed instantly. for a more realistic example, imagine any 'dictator' of your choice saying 'well, it's time to massively defund the military' -- this would be completely fucking impossible without some kind of loyalist paramilitary organization (which then exerts its own forces upon the 'dictator'.)

and of course all that leaves aside the massive extent to which 'dictator' is politically charged. do i think that vladimir putin was democratically elected? obviously not! but i don't think that any US president has been in any meaningful sense 'elected' by anything other than capital either, and two of the last four straightforwardly lost a popular vote even by the standards of liberal democracy! i think that any political system is best analyzed in class terms, in terms of what interests the government serves in terms of class struggle and competition between global capitalists, rather than in terms of individuals or what formal power structures give out the fancy titles

tldr: as a marxist, i think that 'authoritarian' is a useless distinguisher because excercising authority is the sole purpose and function of a state -- 'dictator' is a useless distinguisher because even the most autocratic fiefdom-state is ultimately a class dictatorship first and foremost

[noahsartt]

My reservations with the 2022 Interview with the Vampire tv series:

My thoughts on amc’s Interview with the Vampire (2022) tv series compared to the 1976 source material and what I liked about the 1994 movie.

Some reflections before the second season airs. I watched the series as it was coming out in 2022, so these thoughts have been sitting for over a year.

This is a subjective critique of the show, not me hating on it. I liked the show a lot & watched it twice. Many of the key changes were extremely creative ways of exploring those characters from new perspectives, instead of just pointlessly remaking something that's been done before. Distinct creative change should be the basis of every remake, no point is making something 'new' if there's nothing new about it. This show knew that, and the changes for the most part were written beautifully. ...But the movie is still my favourite despite its many flaws. Camp classic right there.

Issues with the show:

Making it take place 100 years later, it ruins the specific aesthetic of the book for me. (But I understand they had to in order to re-write Louis & Claudia as black).

Aging up Claudia. The way Bailey Bass played Claudia was amazing, no notes at all for her. I just wish they kept her younger because that was a very symbolic part of what made Claudia’s original character so tragic. She suffers in an entirely different way to Louis because of her age. New Claudia is supposed to be in the body of a 14 year old, but the actress was 18/19 so she looks much older already,  and no matter how well she played it, the age factor can’t be helped. Being stuck eternally in the body of a 5 year old (book) is so different to a 14 year old, who looks much older (tv show). Kirsten Dunst who was 10 in the movie, was able to play the little child - adult vampire progression a lot better. People say Claudia's original age is too 'disturbing' to see on screen... but that's the character...

Daniel being old… WHY?? Just so they could tie together the storyline or him meeting Armand multiple decades before ???? I only read IWTV and some of the TVL so I don't know everything that happens down the line for him, or what amc plans for the character in the show... but I don't understand the aging up except for 'diversity' reasons. Which, ok, but just to check a box? Louis and Claudia's race change make sense as a creative decision. But the Daniel in the book and film is a 20-something year old which is why he's so fascinated by Louis' 'gift', and doesn't understand the message Louis is sending, instead wanting to become a vampire too. Why would old Daniel want those same things? Changing Daniel's age is such an inherent thing... it's like if they didn't make Lestat blond. Eric Bogosian plays him funny though, I will say that. Christian Slater kind of just sat there.

Louis having no money and needing Lestat's financial support for his business ventures????? When it’s supposed to be Lestat leeching off Louis' estate … WHY. Why did they change something so fundamental about their dynamic. Lestat moves in because he needs wealth and Louis has it. And then he starts acting like it's both of theirs and Louis just lets him. Funniest thing ever. But in the show Louis moves in with him instead. That's just wrong.

Louis asking (basically begging) Lestat to make Claudia when Lestat is supposed to be the one to do it in order to ensure Louis doesn't leave him. Another fundamental part of their relationship that just got flipped around completely... and for what? Why did it change the things it didn't need to?

Antoinette... girl why are you there... we don't need more characters. Go away.

The guy that Louis gets with to make Lestat jealous …. why is he there either? In the book they don't need to bring other people in to irritate each other.

One of the most perfect scenes from the film was when Lestat was tormenting that girl and trying to get Louis to kill her. The show’s version with the opera singer wasn’t the same. The original scene is such a good depiction of their dynamic with each other: Lestat's eccentric killing methods and Louis’ shame and guilt. The show’s version didn’t live up to it. That scene was so excellent in what it set out to do. It captured their back and forth in such a simple way. That dynamic follows them forever, even as Louis begins to accept his nature, that spark of annoyance towards Lestat is ready to become a full fire at any moment. That scene is enough to be a full character study. The show has little bits here and there which capture something similar. But they should have recreated that scene at least.

Claudia and Lestat's relationship evolving from enjoying each others company and similarities, to detesting each other and competing for Louis’ affection. They didn’t spend enough time on Lestat and Claudia’s relationship in the show to fully demonstrate that, only a few scenes of them driving together and hunting together at the beginning. Even the two hour movie found a way to intergrade that better. Their relationship and the way Claudia is so starkly similar to Lestat when they move to Paris, is one of the my favourite parts of the book to analyse. Louis leaving Lestat and moving all the way across the ocean, only to be reminded of him in everything Claudia did. The show did have some purposeful parallels between Lestat and Claudia in the dialogue which I appreciate, I hope that continues in season 2.

Louis being in on Claudia's plan to kill Lestat and even being the one to finish off Lestat when it’s supposed to be Claudia’s idea on her own...?? Lestat's death is supposed to be an "ok, I guess that was necessary, time to move on with our lives now," moment for Louis. But he wasn't supposed to have the courage or the want to be the one to do it himself. He was hesitant and regretful in the show, but he still slit his throat... it was supposed to be Claudia alone. Credit where credit is due, the scene was beautifully filmed, the red blood on white cloth looked incredible and the entire scene captured the tone of devastation that the movie didn't. It was all very quick and emotionless in the movie.

Even though I hate Br*d Pitt's acting, his Louis was way more accurate to the book Louis. He basically was the embodiment of book Louis. Just sad and whiny the entire time. New Louis had more to him, I think Jacob Anderson even said in an interview that it was a purposeful decision to give Louis more grit. It's not a change I appreciated because it alters the original character too much. You can't change something that fundamental. Just ugh. In the show, Louis is more angry than pathetically sad, it’s very different to how the character was originally written. 

Sam Reid’s Lestat is pretty on the nose but still more serious than the original Lestat & Tom Cruise’s portrayal which was the perfect level of camp and eccentric. Tom cruise was playing Lestat from just IWTV but Sam Reid is playing him with the baggage of his entire life as written in the other books, maybe that's why he is different. Maybe his performance is even better because of it. I haven't read the other books so I can't really say.

I won't say anything about Armand (yet) because he hasn’t had his time to shine. We’ll see after season 2. I loved Antonio Banderas as Armand, and even though he was very different from how book Armand was, it was a change I liked. New Armand is going to be more accurate to the books I believe, but i didn’t like how Armand was there the entire time Louis was being interviewed… why...

Maybe I am one of the few that doesn't overtly appreciate the 'fresh' take of this story. Many of the things that draw me to the book and the movie have been taken away in this adaptation.

---

I recommend this fan fiction that explores the idea of Louis being a person of colour in the context of the original book's 1700s timeline. It explores the intersectionality of Louis' struggle with vampirism, queerness & race while still being authentic to the book. Go read it.

In the Author's words: This is NOT a rewrite of the AMC TV show, nor does it intend to be. This is us making one (subtextually plausible) change to canon in order to 1) explore underlying issues with the source material and 2) see how it affects the way the events of IWTV played out.

Ok that's it. Will maybe add to this when the second season airs. For months, this was just for me in my notes app but what is tumblr for if not to air out my locked away ideas.

[midnightsunnyday]

So, once again, here I am at 2 AM with another hot take, this time on Lucifer.

If you really look at it, from the very beginning of the story, Lucifer isn't that horrible to us. You might think this is my Lucifucker bias kicking in, but for the first few chapters of the story, Lucifer is somewhat amicable to us being there. Authoritative, autocratic, patronizing, kinda scary, and well, prideful (duh), but otherwise...tolerable and leaves us to our own devices, for the most part.

The only time he begins to show hostility is when he starts to suspect us of having ulterior motives for making pacts with his brothers and getting too involved in his family's business. The two times where he does attack us may seem unwarranted to the player, but narratively, makes sense in regards to Lucifer's characterization.

So yes, it's time to get ready for...

Me analyzing the two times Lucifer tried to kill the ever loving shit out of us because I'm a simp, but also one who can read (somewhat):

So, let's look at Lesson 6 or the first time Lucifer tries to murder bomb us. We, the reader, know that Luke, despite his feelings towards demons, wouldn't intentionally do anything to harm the brothers and obviously, had no idea what he was holding was a grimoire. He was a lost kid who unfortunately, stumbled across something he shouldn't have touched.

Yet from Lucifer's perspective, he sees an angel (beings who he's shown to hold bias against...for obvious reasons) trying to "steal" the very book that if in the wrong hands, could put his entire family in danger, along with the human who's protecting him (who he's shown to be already skeptical of), and his own brother, who hid the angel in their very home and allowed him the opportunity to do so.

Right now, he's not looking at the situation like we are because we already have that information. We know why Luke is in the underground tomb. We know why Beelzebub tried to hide him. But for Lucifer, all he sees is the enemy invading his home. This is the first time we see Lucifer enraged past the point of reason, so much so that if not for Diavolo, he would've killed MC.

Remember the beginning title of Lesson 6: There Are Some Wounds Time Can't Heal. Lucifer's reaction may not have been logical to us, yet considering what we learned about the secret room, about the brothers being former angels and fighting in the Celestial War and Lilith's death from Beelzebub two chapters earlier, it was logical to Lucifer and Lucifer alone. It doesn't excuse him from doing it, but it's an important part of his characterization and purposely done to show how these events still affect him.

The same is true with Lesson 12. Lucifer tries to straight up dead us again, yet only after learning that we disobeyed his warnings about going up into the attic and conversed with Belphegor. Add that with him finally beginning to trust us (even developing small hints of a crush, flirting with us more than once) and the rather heartwarming bonding moment before it and Lucifer's trust is completely broken. Considering we learn later on why Belphegor was locked in the attic and what really happened to Lilith, Lucifer's reaction is not surprising. Not great, but not surprising.

It's then you begin to understand the basis of Lucifer's rage. Before making his vow to Diavolo, Lucifer states that whether demon or angel, he will always stay true to his convictions. Right then and there, we see what truly matters to Lucifer. His love for Lilith, his family. Even if it means sacrificing his pride and serving Diavolo. Even if it means becoming the bad guy to his brothers. He did, especially with the lack of options, what was necessary to save his sister. In turn, said decision also saved his brothers.

And so we see that the only two times where Lucifer is ready to attack is due to the perceived threat against his family, going so far as to risk Diavolo's goals of uniting the three realms not once, but twice, something that he surely knows the consequences for.

So yeah, I write all that to say that you can dislike Lucifer all you want. You can argue about how he punishes his brothers, especially Mammon. You can argue how he's a stubborn ass with the emotional communication skills of a sun-dried turd. You can argue that he's too subservient to Diavolo, to the point where he takes for granted his brothers wishes or feelings (arguments in which I do have opposing opinions on, but to do so will make this post longer than it needs to be).

Yet to call him evil is to ignore so many pieces of his characterization that shows otherwise. How vulnerable he can be, how affectionate, how silly, how he truly loves his brothers and will go out of his way for them, etc.

But to call him good isn't quite right either since well...he has no qulams about killing people, threatening them, attacking his siblings in a rage induced tantrum, lying, locking people in attics...

He's the well-intentioned extremist. The lawful evil. The noble demon. A rabid dog who snaps and barks at the slightest threat but pet him once and tell him he's a good boy and he'll melt in your hand.

Like, I know this shit is long, and I could go even further, but for now I'm going to defend the fact that Lucifer is just...he's a good character, ok? A good, complicated, mess of a character.

And I absolutely love him for it.

[thisbisexualbrainrot]

I Know Places We Can Hide

Rating: E

Summary: Aziraphale sneaks out of Heaven to visit Crowley. This fic is my version of a third season!

Tags: Post Season 2 Finale. Canon Compliant. Aziraphale POV. M/M. Sexual but plot driven.

Author Notes: NOW ON AO3! I just want more fic from Azi's perspective so I did it myself. Partly based on this post by @sensitivesiren cause I thought it was a great theory. Full first chapter is under the cut! :)

“Baby, I know places we won't be found and

They'll be chasing their tails trying to track us down

'Cause I know places we can hide.”

-Taylor Swift

—

He wasn't supposed to be here. 

Earth, that is. He wasn't supposed to be on Earth. And certainly was not supposed to be visiting a certain demon who, for all he knew, did not ever want to see him again. 

The Supreme Archangel took a breath to steady himself, absentmindedly pulling on the stiff collar of his pressed, white suit that he knew he could not show his face in. A hint of a buzzing sensation in his fingers and he was back in his familiar earthly attire. 

It's a small miracle, they won't notice…I hope Aziraphale bit his lip and wondered if he was pushing his luck too far this time. He had slipped out after his weekly management meeting, when the weight of the discussion had been overwhelming to no one else but him. He didn’t understand how they could talk about such things, their eyes dull with apathy, like they were discussing budgeting and not the destruction of the human race. 

These last few months had been a torment. He knew Crowley was right, he was not like the other angels. He didn't care about war or great plans. Well, he did care in the sense that he didn't understand why the earth needed to be destroyed at all. If I'm the one in charge, I can make a difference. Some difference he’d made, indeed. In the months he’d been in heaven, the only difference he’d made was restructuring the scrivener recording schedules due to Muriels absence. In all other regards, he had found the job to be lacking in the “making decisions for heaven” department. It was more of a mouthpiece role, mimicking whatever The Metatron told him to command of the lower angels. He realized rather quickly that he had been manipulated. That heaven had offered him the job to get him away from Earth. Away from Crowley. Away from actually making a difference. 

So, his wary eyes scanning the room near the elevator, he hastened his steps toward it and made his escape.

–

“Nope, not doing this.” 

Crowley shot up from the bench like it was made of holy water. “I have absolutely nothing to say to you, Angel.” He turned to leave Saint James park, but not before throwing a spiteful “You can go ahead and change your clothes back. I know that's not what you're wearing up there.” 

Aziraphale breathed out sharply through his nose. Of course, Crowley was going to be difficult. He’d hurt him, he knew that but he had hoped the demon would at least be a little pleased to see him.

 “I changed for my own comfort, if you must know.” Not a complete lie. “Crowley, we need to talk. I-I’m terribly regretful of how we left things and-”  “You need my help.” He interrupted,  “That's why you’re here, right?” Aziraphale said nothing. He understood he had hurt him but the demon had hurt him as well. And it wasn’t fair that he was being so cruel. Crowley clearly noted the silence and snarked, “Well, unfortunately for you, I'm out of the business of helping angels.” 

“Crowley, please.” Aziraphale said softly, “I- if you would just hear me out.” The angel felt a pang of fear, pursing his lips and hoping that he would at least be allowed to explain himself. He couldn’t read Crowley's expression since he wasn’t facing him but his shoulders looked… tense.  He finally heard Crowley mutter through gritted teeth, “Fine.” 

“Oh, thank you.” He could feel a slight warmth of relief sing through his bones. “You see, I made a terrible mistake and The Meta-” He stopped himself, this should be discussed more privately. He stumbled over his words, “That is, Could I-...would you be willing to come back to the bookshop with me?” It was the first place he could think of but not the most ideal place either, he realized. 

Crowley paused and Azirphale hoped he hadn’t ruined his chance. “We can meet at my place.” 

“Oh you're um- you have a new one now?”  Crowley seemingly ignored the question. He took out a slip of paper that looked like a receipt, scrawled an address on it and handed it to him, still not turning fully to meet the Angel's eyes. “Meet you there.” And with that, Crowley quickly shoved his slender hands into his tight pockets and walked away.

Aziraphale watched Crowley leave, the slip of paper still clutched between his fingers. Hearing the anger in his voice made the angel wince. Oh how I've made a mess of things.

-

He still stopped by the bookshop briefly to check on it. Muriel was delighted to tell him all about their interactions with the humans and how they had read almost every book in the shop already. He smiled kindly to them, his mind distracted by the events in the park. He did not mention any of it to the young scrivener. He gave them a quick farewell, thanked them for watching over things and exited the shop. Anxiety pooled in the pit of his stomach. Right, the address. He pulled it out of his pocket.

 How would he ever explain all of this? Where would he start? Had heaven realized he was gone? What if they found him? He glanced around anxiously and waited for a feeling of Michael or Uriel appearing but saw no none. He wanted to stop and see Maggie and Nina but couldn't risk any more time. He would have to catch up with them later. 

He glanced back down at the sheet of paper and could make out the address even with Crowley's terrible handwriting. Aziraphale couldn't help but smile. It turns out, the flat was just a few blocks away. Maybe Crowley didn’t truly hate him after all.

The doorbell rang, a hollow chime echoing through the flat. Aziraphale waited not so patiently for the black door to swing open, yellow eyes finally meeting his gaze.

 “I knew they would be purple.” Crowley mumbled with what sounded like annoyance to his voice.

His eyes. He had forgotten. “Oh- I would love to do away with them, however, I can't seem to change them.” He fiddled with his ring and gave Crowley a half hearted, nervous smile.  Crowley smirked, “I know the feeling.” 

He stepped aside, a gesture that pulled Aziraphale in and he was hit with the familiar comforting scent of amber and brimstone. I know what you smell like he remembered the demon telling him once, and well…likewise. The door shut behind him and Crowley headed over to a bar counter, pulling two wine glasses from a rack and pouring each of them a glass. A fire crackled in the hearth, and the room was cozy despite being mostly decorated in sleek black furnishings. Crowley handed him the glass and Aziraphale managed to say thank you with a steady voice. He was incredibly nervous. “So?” Crowley cleared his throat, knocking Aziraphale’s racing mind back into the room. “Are you going to explain what the purpose of this holy appearance is?” He settled in a large armchair, swinging one leg over the other. He leveled his gaze on Aziraphale, taking a sip of his wine. 

Aziraphale felt the panic that had been swelling inside of him threaten to bubble over. He had no idea where to begin, just as he had feared. He ran his finger nervously over the rim of his glass. Staring down at it, he centered himself and pulled together what he needed to say, or at least it was a start. 

He admitted quietly, “I've made a terrible mess of things. I should have never taken the job.” 

Crowley was silent. Aziraphale continued after a pause, his eyes still downward. “It appears The Metatron’s intentions were to separate us. I have been all but useless as a leader, I'm afraid. They don't actually let me decide anything. Not anything of real importance. And, worst of all, they plan to initiate the Second Coming in a matter of months? Years? I'm not entirely sure but it will be soon.” 

Crowley let out a frustrated sounding sigh, shaking his head, “So that is why you’re here, to get my help then? Cause if that’s all you want you can shove o-” 

“No.” Aziraphale looked up then, and he hoped Crowley could see the pain in his eyes as he confessed, “I am here to apologize and beg for your forgiveness.” Silence. A long awkward pause. Aziraphale didn't know what to say next, so he waited. 

“Well then Angel, go on.” Crowley gestured his glass toward him. “Beg.” 

Aziraphale huffed, “If you are going to make a mockery of it, I’ll just as soon leave.” 

Crowley looked amused, “Oh come on, you really can't expect that I wouldn't give you a hard time. With you rejecting me and all, it's only fair.” 

“I would appreciate you taking this seriously.” Aziraphale’s brow furrowed. If Crowley was going to make his feelings a joke, then he wasn't going to even bother trying to mend this- this…

“Oh I am,” Crowley’s tone shifted, “and you better start talking, Angel.” 

“Fine.” Aziraphale straightened, setting his untouched glass on a nearby table. He looked at Crowley, “You were right.” “I want the dance.”

“No.” Bastard.

“Then apology not accepted” Crowley took another swig of his wine. It was almost like he was having fun with this. Looking Aziraphale up and down he remarked flatly, “You’ve lost weight. No crepes in heaven, I suppose.” 

Aziraphale felt his frustration growing, “Crowley, will you please focus on what I am trying to say?” 

“So far, I haven't really heard you say anything.” Crowley shot back, his eyes were dark and angry. 

Aziraphale had enough. He moved toward Crowley’s seat, kneeling in front of him firmly but gently. He locked their eyes together, hoping that Crowley wouldn't see how scared he was and mistake it for something else.

“Then I will say it now.” Aziraphale’s voice wavered but he pushed on, “I have never regretted something more, in six thousand years. For choosing to leave you. The truth is…” He swallowed nervously, “I love you Crowley, no matter what you are. I will always love you the same.” He took a breath, “A-And you owe me nothing in return, except I would prefer for you to still consider me a friend. You don't have to kiss me, if it's not genuine.” If Crowley would agree to still be his friend, that would be enough. He didn't want Crowley to feel forced to love him the way he wanted. That would not do. And he couldn’t bear to hear Crowley speak to him with such disdain and anger any longer, even if some of it was deserved. He had placed his hands on the demon’s knees sometime during this admission, the warmth of Crowley's legs sending a jolt of adrenaline down to his gut. Now, it seems, he was unable to remove them. He was frozen in place, his eyes following Crowley’s expression. The demon said nothing, at first. Aziraphale watched as he slowly set his wine glass down, 

“You think it wasn't genuine then.” Not a question. 

Aziraphale looked back at him with slight confusion. “You- you surely know how I feel about you, Crowley. Certainly your kiss was a cruel temptation, was it not? A last effort to try to change my mind? I-I forgave you for it but it did hurt, you see, so I was angry and I-...I am..” 

“ARGH!” Crowley stood up, pushing past Aziraphale and spinning around to face him. “Did you really not hear a word I said?!”

Aziraphale, startled by the sudden movement and aggression, stood and turned to face Crowley with confusion now etched into his features. “I-I was listening. You didn't want to come with me, you didn't want to be an angel with me, you- you said you didn't need heav- “ 

“Argh, not that part Aziraphale!” Crowley rarely said his full name anymore. He loved how it sounded rolling off the demon's tongue. Very distracting. 

“What part then?” Aziraphale asked quietly. He had clearly been wrong about the kiss, but that meant- he felt his heart beat faster in his chest. 

“I refuse to believe you dont know.” Crowley’s expression hardened, but tears welled in his eyes. He didn't have his sunglasses to hide them and Aziraphale could see then that the anger and disdain for him was actually just…heartbreak. 

Crowley was heartbroken. Oh. OH.

He had been wrong in Crowley's intentions for the kiss.

Crowley had been trying to tell him his feelings the last time they saw each other. Aziraphale had just not been listening properly, or at least not been really hearing him properly. The kiss was a last ditch attempt, but it was to show Aziraphale how he felt. What they could be if he did stay. We could have been us. 

“Oh I…Crowley.” He stepped closer instinctively, reaching his arm out to grasp Crowley's hand. He thought for a moment Crowley would pull away, but he didn’t. “I've been such a complete fool. Please forgive me.” Crowley cursed quietly as a tear slipped down his cheek, looking away. Aziraphale pulled them closer then, his free hand reaching up to turn Crowley’s face back to him and wipe the tear away. His hand remained, gently rubbing his thumb on the demon’s cheekbone. Aziraphale’s heart could not have been beating louder in his ears as Crowley leaned in until their foreheads were resting on each other. A breath of silence and then quietly he heard,

“I’ve missed you, Angel.” 

“And I you, my dear. Desperately.” Aziraphale closed his eyes and brushed his nose against Crowley’s, cautiously. Slowly. With his eyes shut, the sensation of the demon’s breath was so close. His warm face was so unbearably close and the Angel pushed in further until his lips were barely caressing the demons, testing his boundaries. 

Testing to see if Crowley would push him away.

He didn’t. 

Aziraphales heart fluttered as Crowley wrapped his hand around the Angel’s neck, his fingers curling into the nape of the white curls and pushed in to deepen the kiss. It felt like fire. Warm, crackling and intense. Nothing like before, no feeling of humiliation or pain. Aziraphale sunk into it, letting out a small moan as Crowley licked against his lips. Crowley must have taken the moan as an invitation. He began to push off Aziraphale’s jacket and it fell to the floor. 

Aziraphale pulled back slightly, “Crowley, I- shouldn't we talk about this?” 

“I think we’ve done enough talking, don't you? Always talking, us.”

Crowley moved back in to claim the angel's mouth once more and Aziraphale agreed, they could talk after. After they- oh mother in heaven, has Crowley always smelled this incredible? He breathed in deeply, pushing his tongue in and getting a satisfying groan in return. He wanted all of him then. Wanted to touch every unholy inch of him. He felt Crowley start to push him backward and clung to him as they toppled onto a black velvet couch. He felt the weight of Crowley's hips as he settled onto his lap, one leg resting on either side as he straddled over him and cupped his jaw, kissing him feverishly. Aziraphale used one hand to pull the demon closer to him. The other gripped Crowley's neck, fingers gliding into perfectly soft red hair. He felt Crowley slip off his shoes and he did the same, all while not breaking their joined mouths even for a moment. Crowley chuckled affectionately as he broke their lips apart, “You sure you’re alright with this, Angel?”

“I don't know what you mean,” Aziraphale chided, “I have been around just as long as you. I know perfectly well what this is.” 

Crowley wrapped his arms around the angel's neck, “but have you ever...” he waved his hands and the rest trailed off. Implied. “I haven't had the desire until now.” 

“Oh is that so?” Crowley teased, “Well well, Supreme Archangel...” 

Aziraphale blushed hotly and sputtered “Well I- I wouldn't say I didn't have the desire till now but I just- oh you know what I mean you impertinent demon!” Crowley rolled his hips then, and Aziraphale forgot to keep scolding him. 

“S’what I’m good at after all” he whispered, his breath hot in Aziraphale’s ear, “flustering you”. 

He then watched the demon's eyes go wide as he grasped Crowley's thighs and flipped them over on the couch. The angel was now resting on top, his legs splitting Crowley's apart. Aziraphale began running his nose along Crowley’s neck, his voice a bit deeper than usual. “You know my dear, I think you underestimate just how adept I am at flustering you as well.” He then pressed a number of light kisses along Crowley’s long neck, and was quite pleased when he heard a low growl. He had never felt quite like this. There was an unleashing of desire at seeing Crowley laid out so desperate for him. He nuzzled lovingly against Crowley's mouth, his eyes half lidded, as he asked “Where is your bed?” Crowley swallowed, noticeably. His voice was rough. “Down the hall to the left.” 

“Show me.” 

Crowley pushed Aziraphale off of him enough to stand and hastily lead him down the hall, their sock-covered feet sliding smoothly over the hardwood floor. He had reached out and grabbed the Angel's hand without another word. And Aziraphale’s heart was in his throat as they entered the bedroom. Crowley pushed him back to lean against the doorframe and kissed him achingly and intentionally. The angel barely noticed the undoing of his bowtie as it dropped to the floor. They broke apart and Aziraphale sucked in a shuddering breath,

 “Crowley…” he exhaled as he lifted the silver tie over the demon’s head. The black leather vest came undone next and he captured the demon's lips in his again as Crowley set to work on his velvet waistcoat. With hungry confidence, Aziraphale pushed against Crowley until he was stepping backward toward the king size bed. The demon was finally sliding off the waistcoat and working his way down the buttons of the undershirt when he muttered with frustration,

“Too many layers....” and proceeded to rip the rest of the shirt off, the buttons clattering against the wood floor. Aziraphale, shockingly, did not object. He pulled the white undershirt off over his head and climbed on top of Crowley as they settled onto the black duvet, soft and inviting against their bodies. He ran a hand down the demon's side and Crowley hissed with pleasure as the angel ducked down and pushed the black t-shirt up to run his mouth along the demon’s stomach. The shirt was pulled off and got lost somewhere on the bed in the process. 

“Aziraphale...” Crowley breathed, and a vulnerability slipped out of him. He said the angel's name like it was a prayer. He brought his mouth back up to Crowley’s lips and felt the demon wrap his arms around him. When their lips met again it was a moment of devotion and reverence. He savored Crowley's mouth, trying to give him the worship and love he deserved. Please always say my name that way. Please always want me as you do now. He begged silently and he hoped Crowley could feel how much he adored him. The demon kissed back with as much affection, rolling them so he was now laying on the broad chest of the angel. He sunk his head down and began kissing his neck and down his chest. Aziraphale moaned and grabbed at the red disheveled hair of the demon, bucking his body upwards to bring himself closer to Crowley’s pleasuring mouth as he moved downward. 

“So naughty…” Crowley teased and Aziraphale let out a small huff of annoyance. But Crowley kissed his body tenderly, nipping and smoothing over the bites with his tongue. And slowly moved downward. Until Aziraphale sucked in a breath at the sensation of Crowley’s mouth on his cock, only a thin layer of fabric in between. He needed that fabric to be gone. Thankfully, Crowley was one step ahead and pulled the boxer briefs down the Angels thick thighs. 

The feeling was overwhelming, incredibly good but almost too much. His vision went blurry and all he could think was how he needed more. Every movement of Crowley's hot, wet mouth pushed the Angel further into utter oblivion. It was no surprise that humans found this so enjoyable, and he couldn’t believe he hadn’t done it until now. He gasped as Crowley's tongue flicked out to pleasure him and lost all sense of anything but the demon's touch on his skin. 

If this was sinful, Aziraphale made a mental note to sin often in the future. 

_

It was some time later when they collapsed, the tension in their bodies melting away with the release. Aziraphale laid next to Crowley, his breathing a little ragged as he caught up. He rolled over and smiled into the crook of the demon's neck and Crowley smiled too as they both broke into a shared laughter. There was no denying what was between them. There was no going back now. And somehow, after everything, they found that it was incredibly funny. Crowley sighed pleasantly. He rubbed his hand on his forehead, pushing his sweaty red locks away from his face, 

“Well, now that that coming is over with, do you want to tell me more about this Second Coming then?” Aziraphale gaped with dramatic disgust, and nearly shoved Crowley off the bed. Crowley sat up laughing, “I'm going to grab the rest of that wine.” 

Aziraphale pulled him back down to sit on the bed, sitting up himself to wrap his arms around him from behind and plant a kiss on his cheek. He savored the feeling of intimacy as his bare chest warmed against the demon's back. 

Crowley laughed warmly, “I’ll be right back.” 

He got up and pulled on a black silk robe he had hanging on his door, and reached into his closet to toss an oversized Velvet Underground t-shirt to the Angel. 

Aziraphale tucked up his nose at the shirt, “Don’t you have anything a little more stylish?” Crowley rolled his eyes, “It's just us, you’ll survive. I’ll go grab you some new clothes tomorrow.” 

Azirphale watched him slip the robe on, wanting very much to rip it off later. Partly to wear it instead of the t-shirt, if he was being totally honest. He could miracle something, he supposed, but he’d already risked enough doing the small one earlier. And Crowley wasn't doing miracles either, he noticed. He thought back to the handwritten slip of paper. 

But he couldn't deny that he enjoyed the pleasing silk covered view that sauntered down the hallway and out of sight. 

–

It turns out he had lost a little weight and the shirt did fit. Albeit a little tighter in the arms and shoulders than it would on Crowley but it would do. 

When Crowley returned, Aziraphale was wearing the offending t-shirt with his boxer briefs back on, blonde hair disheveled and flipping through the records Crowley had on a small shelf in the corner of his room. He noticed Crowley staring at him, a look of arousal in his eyes and he suddenly felt very self conscious. He was sure he looked like an absolute mess, but apparently the new look was appealing to the demon. 

Aziraphale walked over to meet him and accepted the glass of wine he had neglected to drink earlier gratefully. He felt so content it was almost dizzying and he heard himself say without thinking,  

“I hope you know that I am very much in love with you.” And he couldn't very well take it back, and realized he actually didn't even want to. He leaned in for a kiss before sitting on the edge of the bed. He felt the weight of it shift as the demon joined him. 

“I caught on, I think,” Crowley teased. “Seeing as you left your very important heavenly post to pop down here and seduce me.” Aziraphale’s blush deepened and he caught Crowley smiling devilishly, clearly enjoying it. 

“T-that wasn't the plan! Initially.” Aziraphale fussed absentmindedly with the bottom hem of the shirt, “Oh I don't know, perhaps it was. I just couldn't stand being there anymore. They are all so dreadfully dull and awful. I needed to see you. I couldn't leave it as it was and- oh dear,” Aziraphale remembered, “Do you think they’ve realized I'm gone?” 

“Probably.” Crowley shrugged, stilling the angels' fussing hand with his own. Aziraphale was grateful for the secure touch. “But they have no idea where you are.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“I warded this place after I moved in, against angels and demons. No one enters here without my permission and no one can see it or who’s inside. We can hide here until we sort this out.” 

“Impressive,” Aziraphale sipped his wine, “How did you come up with such a thing?” “Muriel has been reading a lot of your books, the ones in the back. Spell books. And, I had my own ideas. I wasn't sure it would work but I tested it on Muriel, they couldn't come in until I let them. I don't know for sure about the second part of it. So we will see what happens, I suppose.”   

“Fascinating.” Aziraphale smiled fondly. “You really are such a clever demon. I’ve always thought so.” Crowley blushed, and it did not go unnoticed. Aziraphale let Crowley pull his face in and give him a long, affectionate kiss. His mouth was warm and supple from earlier, a hint of wine on his tongue. 

“I'm in love with you too, Angel.” Crowley stated, like it was as obvious as the stars in the sky. “And I thought, maybe, you would come back so I- I, you know, came up with a plan. Just in case.” 

Aziraphale beamed at the confession. He wasn’t sure if he ever would say it out loud and honestly didn’t need to hear it. But, actually hearing it was like finally releasing a breath he’d been holding for years. But that initial meeting in the park, if he’d wanted him to come back then why-

“You didn’t seem to want me back at first.” It was more a question, and he looked at Crowley to see how it landed. Crowley was staring straight ahead at nothing. Lost in memory.

“I did,” he said finally. “But missing you and actually seeing you again were very- it was hard to know for sure why you came back.” 

“Ah,” Aizraphale felt a small twinge of guilt, “Well, I hope it’s clear now.” 

Crowley chuckled, “Just a bit, yeah.” And for the first time, Aziraphale felt truly forgiven. 

They talked through the night, among other things that distracted from the conversation. By morning light, they had the beginnings of a plan to save humanity and each other. Again. 

_ It had been a few hours after Aziraphale had left the bookshop. Muriel was busy cataloging books when Michael stormed through the doors seething, Uriel following behind. “Where is he?” 

Muriel smiled, “Oh hello! Where is who?” 

“Aziraphale.” Michael snapped, “who else would I come here asking about?” 

Muriel winced, “I don't know actually. He was here for a moment but then he left. He didn't say where he was going.” 

Michael let out an aggravated groan. They had been tasked by a very irritated Voice of God to locate the second missing Supreme Archangel and bring him back immediately. 

The only problem was, there was no trace of him anywhere. Or the demon Crowley. 

Ugh. 

Michael was going to get so much shit for this. 

_

Author Notes: Thanks for reading! Let me know if you'd like me to continue this story. :)

[blablaganov]

Non is the one behind the mask and Jin is our living for now proof of that

So our homeboy just found out that no, Non didn’t ride off into the sunset with teacher Keng, but based on what we learned in episode 10 was handed over to Uncle Joe and vanished. And Jin’s initial reaction to this reveal isn’t horror at the thought that Non might already be dead, but anger at how the story of Non’s supposed escape with a teacher has affected his family?? Which is sweet, to care about them, but you just learned that your friend has really disappeared, so maybe focus on that first? But at least this reaction is consistent with what we’ve seen from him so far: Jin's response is emotional and explosive. It checks.

And then Tee drops the bomb - Non is dead. This should have been a huge shock for Jin, who was the only one to still hold on to the belief that Non was still out there, alive. Reactions of Tan and Phee is understandable; they have had years to accept that Non is most likely no longer alive, but Jin BELIEVED. So, I fully expected him to lash out, to start yelling at Tee, to start a fight. And what Jin gives me? Nothing.

Except for a murderous look, he does not react at all to the news about the death of someone he claims to care about and feel guilty towards.  The character who shown to be impulsive, to react without thinking, whose emotions can be explosive DOESN’T SHOW US ANY REACTION. Which, of cource, is a reaction on itself, so my question is: Jin, sweetie, do you maybe have something to share with class?

Speaking of murderous looks. We’ve already seen them twice:

in the first episode, when Phee puts the tape on

And everyone from the original group looks various degrees of uncomfortable, especially after asked about Non, but not Jin. He is too busy trying to murder everyone with the glare until the mention of the camera snaps him out of it.

in the second episode, when the gang discusses what to do next

And again, while everyone’s anxiety is almost palpable, Jin is just standing there, looking disgusted by everyone but not in the slightest bothered by the fact that someone got Por impaled?? Someone left marks on his arms! The conversation isn’t merely about the possibility of Non’s ghost; it’s about the real, tangible danger lurking in the woods. And yet, Jin doesn’t look scared or concerned in any way, too busy trying to once again commit murder with the glare.

Knife

The marks on Por’s arms are the main reason I’m convinced that Non is the one hiding behind the mask. It's possible that Tan somehow slipped out of the living room and lured Por into the trap, but what about the marks? We’ve seen several times that Tan is one to outsource his murder, not too eager to harm with his own hands. Even after Tee’s confession about Non’s death, Tan doesn’t attempt to snatch the gun and kill Tee himself. So why get personal with Por? To convince everyone that it wasn’t an accident? But cuts don’t look ghosty; if anything, it’s a proof that a real, leaving person is behind it. And who has all the reasons to get personal with Por? NON And it with the same knife he used three years ago – a knife that someone present at the scene after Non got dragged away had to pick up and keep until now.

I am also mildly convinced that the knife attack is the main reason why Jin lied to the police in the first place. If he had admitted that Non was with them that day, everyone else would have probably said, 'Oh yes, he was with us, and he attacked us with the knife. He was screaming about killing us all, poor Top even got a scar. Here are the security camera recordings as proof.' We've already established that Jin is not the best decision-maker, so I can see how, from his perspective, lying to the police seemed like a better option.

And isn’t it interesting how Jin was the one who first noticed the cuts and also the one who took the knife in his hand to compare it with the cuts?

Jin, dear, no one said anything about someone hiding in the house...

Uncle Dang

I'm unsure which one of the brothers is responsible for this death, but it is interesting how closely it mirrors one of the scenes in episode 7.

In the past, Por sends Non to get food on Uncle Dang's bike, while he himself starts shooting. In the present, Uncle Dang dies delivering food for the boys on the same bike, simultaneously extinguishing their last chance of escape.

In the past, everyone was so eager to exclude Non and shoot the movie he wrote without him. In the present, they are willing to do anything just to get out of this place, and Por, bleeding out on the couch, needs it more than anyone. Sorry, but it's too late; this time around, you'll have to play your part the way Non wants you to.

Episode 7 is also where this dialogue between Jin and Por happens.

I know that logically Phee and Tan were the ones who slipped in the cassette, but were they also the ones who created it? Or did they just find it when they came to the house for the first time to scout it out? Because the last scene with Jin running out of the house was shot after Non's disappearance. It wasn't merely an old version; Someone intentionally added Non's scene post-credits. And who was the one doing all the cutting? Right.

Hallucinations

Jin’s hallucinations were what sold me on the "Non is alive" theory. Everyone who thinks Non is already dead also sees some version of Non/masked murderer. Not Jin, of course; he convinced Non to be alive and well, somewhere far away with teacher Keng. Oh wait… How is it possible that he believes something terrible happened to teacher Keng, but not to Non? That the video he took is the cause of teacher Keng’s death, but not Non’s? Haven’t they supposedly run off together? Unless Jin knows that Non is alive. Unless Non told Jin that Mr. Keng was killed by the mafia.

It also would explain Jin’s reaction after Phee confession.

The person you have a lot of complicated feelings about

so many that you decide the best time to bring up your past situationship is while you both are trapped in a creepy temple. One also doesn’t try to bite off the dick of someone they are indifferent towards

just confessed to being Non's ex-boyfriend and getting close to you to get information about him, and your first reaction is not a "Was Everything Between Us a Lie?" rage but a sad puppy "So You Never Saw Us As Friends?" Once again, Jin, sweetie, we need to talk about your priorities; also about the fact that you not once looked surprised about the whole thing.

Fun fact: One of Jin's listed hobbies is camping, so hypothetically he should know his way around the woods, yet he doesn’t even attempt to help Phee while they are looking for the way out of the forest. The only thing he does is complain and cling to Phee in a very damsel-in-distress fashion. And still manages to be the one who points in the right direction in the end. I'm not even sure if Jin’s shoulder dislocation is genuine because if horror movies have taught me anything, it's to never trust a character who injures themselves while escaping a murderer, especially when they then very conveniently trip over the air at just the right moment for another character to drop their weapon.

To sum it up:

Did he now?

[kingsmoot]

Oh it's definitely a lot of speculation! I am fairly certain the timelines line up that GRRM was openly supportive of the S2 writing before the "cut 2 episodes" directive and that his fallout with Condal began sometime after, though. It's also true that Condal's original statement about the cut season tried to frame it as a "creative" decision rather than a financial one. It wasn't until later that I think Hess(?) admits that it "wasn't [our] decision".

GRRM definitely didn't go as hard as he could have but I think the way he kept teasing the post and the fact that he followed through with it is already really bad on it's own. GRRM seems to think it's a noble cause and that he's "saving" the show, but the reality is he's whipped up a frenzy of hate as a means to bully the writers. I understand his frustrations as the author, and I get that he helped Condal get the job but... It's Condal's now! To accuse him of having "no plan" while he is likely in the midst of petitioning for a bigger budget to actually accommodate his plan, after he's already had the rug ripped out from him last season, feels really cruel. It's hard to extend empathy to George when he's extending so little to the person HE picked to handle this adaptation.

I also agree that GRRM probably talked to Condal the most and that's likely why he's the target of his ire. But idk... GRRM has a lot of experience working in television and it feels like he should be more understanding of Condal's position. He gives passing mention to the constraints of writing for television, but it still feels like he expects Condal to have the same creative freedom of an author rather than a showrunner. GRRM was supportive of S1 and at least supportive of the untampered plans for S2 - so to turn on Condal so severely is just baffling.

GOT ended a failure and Execs need results to feel that ASOIAF properties are worth the continued investment- and even that isn't enough, given S1 was a massive success and the budget still got cut. GRRM's resistance to making big-picture sacrifices is why he ~can't~ be a showrunner. He CAN and SHOULD make creative suggestions- in his capacity as an Executive Producer. But the showrunner (Condal) has every right to reject those ideas if they do not make commercial sense. It's not all about creative integrity- it's show business, and it's Condal's job to consider both. Cutting characters and combining storylines is the most common way that this manifests!

Sorry to rant in your inbox about this... I took a break from socials post-season because the hate was so bad and I was just starting to poke my head back in when this dropped. As someone who really enjoyed S2, I'm... exhausted! But it's great gossiping about it with people who aren't just using George's post as further fuel to keep shitting on the show.

Hope your foot is okay<3

oh, please don't apologize!! this is interesting and a topic that i want to engage with, i appreciate you coming to my inbox!! (and thank you, my foot is fine now, i just hate medical procedures and wanted a distraction while waiting around being anxious at urgent care)

and yes i agree with everything you've said, i was just chatting with my friend @intomyth about how if nothing else (and there is a LOT else) it is irresponsible of george to point at one single person in front of his rabid fanbase and say definitively "i'm mad at this guy about this adaptation. the things i'm mad about are his fault." because, like... show AND book fans have proven over the years that they will create targeted cyber harassment campaigns over nothing (like twitter accusing liv of sleeping her way into this role just because they are rabidly misogynistic chronically online alicent antis who have lost all sense of decorum and perspective and do not perceive olivia cooke as a real human being with a job that she does well and not the evil bitch hag queen of westeros who stole rhaenyra's throne since none of that is REAL!!!) so i cannot imagine the kind of harassment they will concoct when they feel like they are raising their sword and shield in george's defense and with his blessing.

all in all while i can try to understand and/or speculate on george's personal feelings, i think his conduct was inappropriate. i don't personally agree w any of his "criticism" of the show in his blog post (bc it wasn't actually criticism...) and i think publishing it at all was the wrong move. it was rude and unprofessional and most of all strange.

and i am ALSO exhausted, dude!!!! i loved s2.1 - 2.5 and thought 2.6 - 2.8 were a total bust but at the end of the day... hotd is fun tv. that i like watching. in my free time. which i (like most working adults) have little of. the vitriolic hate tornado that has been built up around the dragons and incest show is very strange to and uncomfortable for me. do you guys watch tv like your life depends on it because someone is like... threatening you? is this how you earn your rent money? are you being forced by clandestine and inescapable circumstances to watch a show that makes you so angry it's permanently altering your health record? what gives, dude? what happened to watching tv because it's fun and you like it?

[2willowlane]

this one's a bit short. anyways, love harv. the silly. if i mischaracterize him, please kindly raise your pitchforks at me.

gender neutral reader, sfw, established relationship

tasting cranberries on your lover's lips, you couldn't help but lovingly sigh. you had saved up some fall ingredients for one of harvey's favourite meals; along with some freshly-grown bok choy and artichoke. you were saving it up as a surprise, but you knew the doctor was snacking on the fruit. still in his gentle embrace, you toss your leg over his; hiking it up comfortably, as you positioned your hands on his face.

"do i have to hide the berries from you?" you began, laughing as you then trailed your digits across his lips; feeling how harvey's grin was so, so soft under your fingertips. "i'm sorry, i just find it funny how..."

harvey shook his head, as he hoisted you up into his arms to get a good look at your face. how he had the urge to just kiss you all over; knowing how if the sun was up this early in the morning, he'd be able to see the blush that'll coat your cheeks. the fact that he can take pride in how he can say that you're his was enough to melt him. with you "getting onto" him for his snacking tendancies, harvey couldn't help but get a tiny bit embarrassed that you paid attention to that.

"sorry, sorry." eyes gentle, he couldn't help but get tickled at how your fingers swept over his lips, before he then went to plant another kiss on yours; facial hair brushing up against you ever-so lightly. "they help with the immune system."

you knew that harvey came from terrible habits. either it's pulling those all-nighters, from overworking himself, to not eating right... it was a bit of an insecurity for him to be so well-versed in the knowledge of different lifestyles and practices, he doesn't follow them up on his own time. with his downtime, harvey mostly just likes to indulge on his more personal interests—as he is a plane enthusiast. either that's sorting through medical records whilst listening to his radio, or busying himself with his daydreams—harvey finds himself so engrossed in something, he's way too busy thinking about it, than actually doing it!

living with his spouse on the farm, everything felt right. instead of having to live off of convenience dinners, he gets to really feel the crunch and texture of your homegrown fruits and vegetables. foods that's he's never been quite fond of—he gets to actually feel what it's like to taste something that's real. he thinks it's a bit silly for him to act so ecstatic over a mere dietary change, but from another perspective, he can understand why he'd be so glad. harvey knew that the little things can impact a person's mood, but he didn't know it'll be at such a high.

with him rambling about his medical trivia, you'd then position your head next to his chest; feeling how his voice reverberates against you. with a gentle smile, he knew what you were doing, as he tucked your head under his chin. as you felt his loving touch on your back, how he just managed to massage each place oh-so well, you knew you made the right decision in marrying a doctor. all the way up to your neck and towards your lowerback, he made sure to pay attention to each little area. you sighed at how his thumbs worked their way into your shoulders, easing any tension that there could've been from your hard work yesterday.

it was his pride and joy, seeing how his work paid off for this right here—this moment.

[theerurishipper]

I still remember when s5 bible leaked and in it, the ending stated : "Marinette will lied to Adrien about his father and she will use his amok to change his perspective toward his father." Or something along the line since I forgot the exact line.

And people were like "Lmao, there's no way she will do that. She knows Gabriel is a bad father."

Except now it's trully happened and people saying "She did it for him, out of love!" And "Even if she did give him command, "be yourself" isn't a bad command anyway" as if the idea of someone giving other a command isn't inherently wrong. Not a suggestion or motivation, it is a command! She has no business to control Adrien's life, even more so since she only know a surface level about his life.

Just because Adrien said "Only Marinette understand me" doesn't necessarily means she trully understand him, especially when she barely talk to him prior dating and her understanding of him is mostly from the magazine (and I bet a groupie group).

I don't think the bible mentions anything about Marinette using the Amok. I just read it through right now and it doesn't mention anything about the Amok, so it's up to personal interpretation. Personally, I don't believe Marinette used it, but the scene itself is rather ambiguous on that front. And the show is so broken in its view of the morality of using a mind control device on a fellow human that I wouldn't be surprised if it was revealed that she had done it.

But if people who believe that she did it are defending that decision, that's fucked up. There's no justification for controlling someone's mind like that without their consent. If she wanted to help him be himself, she could let him figure himself out on his own terms and support him, or she could, you know, ask him if he would like her to help him that way. At the very least, doing it with his full and willing consent is better than essentially violating his autonomy and free will.

Marinette does know that Gabriel is a bad father. She may not know the extent of it, perhaps, but she does know that he locked his son up for years and controlled his mind with a magic ring for years, and she still makes the choice to respect Gabriel's wish and lie to Adrien. There is no justification for this, I'm sorry. There just isn't. "Doing it out of love," is the most pitiful and frankly ridiculous excuse there is. Gabriel was also abusing Adrien "out of love." That doesn't make what he did any less horrible.

And you're right that Marinette doesn't understand or know Adrien that well. The show likes to tell us that she understands him like no other and that he feels free with her and all that BS, but it doesn't show us that. What it does show us is that Marinette does not have a clue that Adrien isn't perfection personified until Risk, after which she never put in the effort to get to know him as a person ever again. Instead, he chose to pursue her and literally felt obligated to change himself for her sake. Which is like, fucked up, cause his narrative is about learning that he doesn't have to change himself for other people and he's explicitly trying to be the perfect guy who asks nothing of Marinette for her, and the show pretends this is all fine and dandy.

This is a very unhealthy relationship, even more so now that Marinette is gaslighting Adrien into loving his abuser. This is super fucked up.

And for those who believe this will be dealt with in the future, the bible does have this to say:

So much for that lmao.

Thank you for your ask!

[mieiri]

shaking my tiny cup at you for some laichi facts please? 🥺🤲🏾 are you in a modern au?

mira bwean < 3 ueueue, you are so precious for indulging me . . laichi facts coming your way !!! 🍀

timeline!

i did in fact set laichi up in a modern au :3 . . (i could not imagine myself in 1904 whatsoever— what’s a girl like me doing there! there’s no way TT)

in this timeline, i want saichi to stay as close to canon as possible! he still has his scars, he still loves asirpa and looks after her as well, acts as an older sibling, etc.

so i want to say, saichi and asirpa were neighbors who survived a house / apartment fire when they were younger kids. saichi is a bit older of course, maybe 7-8 when it happens while asirpa is around 3-4 years old. they both lose their parents, so they’re taken into a foster home for the meantime. they’re inseparable!

life is as life is . . it goes on. they both go to school, they meet shiraishi and hang out plenty! he doesn’t care that they’re in a foster home, he’s just happy to have friends.

shiraishi is also around the same age as saichi— we can fast forward to college now. shiraishi is on the undecided side of this decision while saichi!! has decided to major in veterinary science . . :3c i think he’s just got a thing for soothing animals ( cub papa saichi 🐻 ) so this was an easy pick for him!!

— edit : IDC THAT THE MANGAKA SAID SAICHI WOULD BE A JP OLYMPIAN ATHLETE . . HE’S A VET NOW —

when shiraishi and saichi are two years into college, asirpa is in the middle of high school . . aka saichi is old enough now and has worked hard to be able to afford to a place for the both of them + shiraishi pitching in too!

( ages for ref : saichi, shiraishi : 22-23, asirpa : 17-18 )

now, saichi and asirpa and shiraishi are all roommates :3 and we can start the laichi history kekeke ><

laichi love story: start!

from the lili pov, of course you’ll notice a cute boy. it’s inevitable to not notice saichi when he’s big and tall, and when he sits in front of you, you can’t help but admire the small curl at the end of his hair and the way it all seems to push out from his cap.

and from the saichi pov, really, he was just having a tough time understanding a woman’s (asirpa’s,) perspective . . he doesn’t understand why she (asirpa) is so mad that he (saichi!) wants to protect her. it’s what he’s always done for her since they became each other’s family, so what’s the difference between now and then?

“so,” saichi turns around to you, who always sits behind him— not that it was a bother. it just seemed you three (shiraishi included) always found yourselves together in the back corner of the room. “you’re a girl, right?” elbow hanging over the chair.

“whua-?” did you not . . appear femininely enough . . ?

“dude, oh my god-” shiraishi slaps a hand over saichi’s mouth before he could speak again, “sorry. not like that.”

saichi pulls him off, quickly poking at shiraishi’s ribs so he wouldn’t dare bother him again— and he wouldn’t. he’s really too busy curling over from the pain, forehead pressed against his desk.

“i’m sorry, i meant it like . . you as a woman, know how another girl thinks, right?”

you’ve never spoken to either of these men before, only really saw them in passing— or . . at least, have seen shiraishi in passing. as for saichi, it would be more of a shock to find someone who doesn’t know of him.

the immortal, the unbeatable, saichi.

a college legend as far as legend go, and almost impossible to not recognize who he is from the details people have given out about him like plaques on a wall.

as buff and lean as a champion, scarred and bruised from head to toe, a true man’s man, that’s him!— as commonly said from the guys saichi shares classes with.

oddly gentle . . it kind of makes the girls a little weak in the knees when he shoots us a polite smile, and really, unbelievably handsome— that’s what you’ve heard.

the weekly talk about saichi has made you unconsciously curious, but all you’ve really managed to do is watch him from a desk away.

“yes . . i would say so.” you slowly nod, eyes mapping out all the new details you’ve never seen so clearly before.

the inch of skin at the corner of his lip that appears darker than the rest, where saichi’s scar drags across— it’s . . beautiful.

though you’d never say that to him . . not when you don’t know the pain he’s must’ve endured receiving that kind of wound on his face— it’s rude.

it’s rude, you repeats to yourself, don’t think about it like that— not like that. not right now.

“then, can i ask you something?”

there’s a millisecond of hesitation where you think, is he gonna to talk me about his girl problems— i’m gonna di-

“yeah, go ahead.”

then saichi lets out a thoughtful sigh, as if to find the words he wants to say and then some.

for a moment, he wonders if it’s okay to air out his business like this to someone he’s never spoken to— but he’s known about you too.

the minute-long call you always make at the end of class when you think nobody’s listening— he is. admittedly nosy, one might add— but he thinks you must have someone important to never miss this part of your routine.

it’s always, how was work, have you eaten, do you need anything before i get home?

it sounds something like him, with his family. are you okay? good day today? want me to help you with dinner when i get home?

it sounds like a good kind of love, a special kind of care— that’s what he sees from his eyes, anyway.

(it stings a little. asirpa hasn’t taken his calls for a day or two now, and he knows why . . but doesn’t know why. boy understanding cannot possibly grasp the depth of this problem he’s having, so he’s gone and looked for someone like you.)

“my . . sister, lately, doesn’t want me to ‘meddle’ in her life— that she can take care of herself. but i don’t want her to get hurt, and she’s never told me this before. i don’t get what’s different now.”

you don’t mean to sigh when you think, ah, it’s like that. you do though, and it’s a little embarrassing.

“how old is your sister?”

“she’s turning eighteen next year.”

“so . . seventeen.”

“seventeen.”

“and you don’t think it’s a bit much for her brother to be hovering over her like a parent?”

“i’ve always been like this!”

“like her parent? what do your own parents say?”

“it’s just us.”

“oh . . ” you think you should move on . . because if it were you, you wouldn’t want the world to get hung up on this one simple fact you’ve worked through to the point of an acceptance (of some kind.) “i’m sorry, but back to point.”

he just hums . . a little grateful you didn’t ask for more than he’d felt comfortable giving out. he likes that.

“so, your seventeen year old sister doesn’t want you to worry about her— is that so wrong?”

saichi groans as he bites the corner of his lip, “not wrong. just . . i don’t know. what if something happens? and i won’t be there for her? then what do i do?”

you giggle a little at his motions, his effortlessly curved face contoured in worry, and the way he speaks about someone he loves. it’s so cute.

“could it be that you’ve become a worry wort when it comes to her and she knows that? so she doesn’t want to become a burden to you? kind of like . . you can’t trust her to be on her own.”

“a worry wort?” is he really like that . . ? to unknowingly make asirpa feel . . incapable . . ?

“yeah.” you lean closer, elbows on your desk with a hand over your jaw— comfy. “are you?”

saichi sits back, dumbfounded. “i don’t know . . am i?”

“how would i know! i don’t know you!”

“do you want to?” saichi tilts his head over to you and suddenly worries he’s said the wrong thing when you appear flustered— “i mean . . ”

smiling, you tell him, “just think about it, ‘cause i’ve gotta go even though i’d love to stay.” then as you begin to grab your things, saichi feels a sort of . . hope— a relief, with you being there.

girl understanding . . can be very eye-opening.

“alright . . well, thank you. for what you’ve said.”

“it’s nothing,” you smile your smile and saichi feels a little rosy in his cheeks, “update me next time, okay?”

shiraishi has had his elbow propped up watching as you two converse, and naturally smiles as he bids you goodbye when you leave.

and very naturally, shiraishi also jumps up and grabs saichi by the collar once you’re gone, “do you want to????? what do you mean by that??”

“i don’t know,” saichi squeezes his eyes shut as his voice jumps into a high pitch, comedically, “shiraishi, i’m scared.”