#glue constraint

[vegasopave]

[weirdly-specific-but-ok]

Pt VIII good omens a spoiler-free trailer

*walks into church, ignoring the gasps of the congregation* *holds mic to a terrified gentleman's face*

Have you ever wondered, what if the flaming sword at the Garden of Eden was insufferably in love with the Serpent?

*doesn't wait for response, shoves mic in shaking lady's face*

What if I told you, your bible studies are incomplete, because they are missing the most important story of all?

*cut to me in front of a white screen, walking seductively toward camera in a suit*

Worry not, for your prayers have been answered. Presenting, Good Omens, a kind-of biblically accurate story by Sir Terry Pratchett and Tumblr's own @neil-gaiman, now a TV show and queerer than ever. All you AO3 slow-burn hoes, we see you. You asked for it, you got it. Childhood friends is so last millennium, we give you instead, six thousand years of mutual pining.

*hard cut to David Tennant, whom I have stuck to a chair with Elmer's glitter glue* *he struggles, in vain*

Starring David Tennant and his signature slutty walk as Crowley, now in a ginger Barbie edition that comes with demonic eyes, every hairstyle and gender you could ever dream of, and instant outfit changes. It really is a miracle!

*camera swivels to focus on Michael Sheen, who is bound in blankets and looking deeply concerned*

Starring Michael Sheen the fae shapeshifter as Aziraphale, the sweetest, most cherubic murderous bitchy angel you've ever seen. Special features include automatic heart-eyes the moment he is faced with Crowley, a charming disregard for casual massacre in the name of God, and the instant outfit changes. Watch him melt your heart before breaking it! Bonus tip: try giving him sushi!

*cut back to the white screen, I am now sitting uncomfortably close to the camera*

Follow Aziraphale and Crowley as they alternatively try to follow and thwart God's ineffable plan, managing to spectacularly fail at both tasks with a consistency that amazes as it befuddles. Featuring alcohol, a bookstore, and metaphorical and literal fire as things get a little... heated in the Bible fandom.

*crossfade to Soho, I walk along the street as the camera follows me*

If that isn't enough to convince you, presenting also, idiot lesbians giving an ancient demon love advice, sexy horsepersons of the apocalypse, an unofficial wedding combined with burning Nazis alive where the most important part is the handing over of a suitcase, and the sexiest MILF witch Agnes Nutter, a literal bombshell.

*cut to disturbing close up of Neil Gaiman's face* *he tries to step away, and is met with my camerapersons*

Watch Neil Gaiman give you hope and shatter it again repeatedly, in a show where the literal apocalypse is only the background to a forbidden idiots who are lovers-to-lovers who are idiots story that is older than Time itself. Armageddon takes a backseat as Crowley serves gender, and if you thought the Antichrist was adorable, wait till you see him in Good Omens, where his evil powers are directed towards being the cutest kid he can possibly be.

*cut back to white screen, I smile ominously while twirling a human bone*

Good Omens, at your nearest Amazon Prime, with free UST, fluff, Queen, and plenty of tears. Don't miss it!

*text rapidly rolls across screen*

[Imagery has been used for representative purposes. No David Tennant, Michael Sheen or Neil Gaiman was harmed in the process of creating this advertisement. Good Omens will have expected side-effects, including unprompted sobbing, a Pavlovian reaction to bandstands, nightingales, holy water and 'the final fifteen', heartache for the foreseeable future, and intense lust for Crowley's elusive gender. Asmi is not responsible for any consequences resulting from the advertised product. Some features have been excluded from the advertisement due to space and time constraints.]

[myangelhaven]

This is my recommendations of SEUNGCHEOL fics! It will be updated once in a while for new stories I have read. Hopefully the links work (lemme know if it doesn't)

Credits to the authors!! All informations written are taken from the authors' post and has not been modified. Reminder that some fics are NOT for minors, so please read the key and avoid 18+ contents.

HAPPY READING!!

KEY

[❀]: fluff [𖤓]: angst [𖦹]: humour [☄]: sad [☾]:smut [⟡]:smau [✮]: my favs

˖⁺‧₊˚ ˚₊‧⁺˖✮---------SEUNGCHEOL----------✮˖⁺‧₊˚ ˚₊‧⁺˖

ONESHOT

Three seconds by @writer-k-pop [𖤓][☄][breakup] 3.5k

6 months after breaking up, you had finally gotten used to life without S.Coups/Seungcheol and the 12 other members. You kept up with news surrounding them but you never really expected them to reenter your life. And you didn’t expect him to reenter with the explosive news that he dropped into your lap.

I dare you by @chocosvt [❀] 4.3k

your longtime campus crush just received an interesting dare: to ask you out on a date. while the circumstances are questionable, you aren’t going to decline. maybe this is your ticket to romance. 

Control by @leejihoonownsmyheart [𖤓][☾][pining] 8k

Seungcheol is the one mistake you should never make. The one you always do. The relationship that you equally have the most and least control over.

Because I love you by @starlightxsvt [❀][𖤓][pining][f2l][idiots to lovers] 9.3k NEW

harboring feelings for your best friend of years have never been this hard. now, when he shows up with a beautiful girl in his arms you aren't sure how long you can keep your feelings to yourself.

TEXTS

Nothing new by @laineov [❀][𖤓][soulmateau] NEW

after a night out drinking lots of thoughts come on your mind. some involving your youth and your relationship with your boyfriend.

SERIES

15 minutes by @gyuwoncheol [☾][breeding] 5.3k (2 parts) [part II] NEW

Despite time constraints, no one is as committed to get you pregnant than Cheol getting ready for a concert.

The way back by @suhnshinehaos [❀][𖤓][⟡] 3 parts

fans reminisce on your relationship with seungcheol

Hopelessly devoted: yours and seungcheol's friends try to pick up the pieces and glue them back together

Beginning, middle, end: seungcheol makes a facetime call and a fan makes a bold claim

Push it down (sooner or later it all comes out) by @dontflailmenow [𖤓][☾][✮✮][e2l] 50.3k (5 parts)

thirsting over your ex’s best friend in general is a bad idea. given that you and seungcheol have never gotten along, it’s even worse. when you accidentally stumble across his stream, though, and he finds out? all bets are off.

Stop loving by @svtskneecaps [𖤓][⟡][☄] 15 parts

You’d caught the disease no less than six times in the past year alone and gotten over your crush every time, but this time was different. It felt different. More dangerous. You were playing with fire and flowers, and you knew soon you’d get hurt. But love wasn’t something you just ‘quit’.

I like you by @taeyegu [❀][𖤓][⟡][✮] 17 parts

“i like you so much, i want to give you my everything, only for you…” (i like you, cho jung seok)

⠄･ ⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄more to come!⠄･ ⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄

☆--------------------svt masterlist-------------------☆

[seat-safety-switch]

Is there anything worse than finding out you can’t get away with something? Sure, everyone understands that there are constraints, rules that they can’t break. And everyone also understands that there are times when you should bend the rules, to get a little bit of revenge on the rest of the world for some injustice that only you perceived or remembered. Or maybe you just are owed a second penny from the take-a-penny-leave-a-penny jar. Then you get busted.

The reason why this is the worst is simple. If you knew you were going to get busted anyway, you would have gone for a bigger crime. For instance, the amount of hassle you’ll get from the man for doing an oil change in the Walmart parking lot is about the same as if you had done a burnout in the middle of a public park. One of those two things is much, much more fun. Now you feel like a sucker for not being as antisocial as possible, for just trying to poke a toe or two over the line.

Next time you won’t make this mistake, you tell yourself. You’ll go big. You’ll buy approximately seven thousand dollars’ worth of eBay turbocharger parts and nitrous oxide injection systems. All of this because someone got chirpy that you were draining some 15,000-mile Mobil 1 – barely used, need I remind you – into an old snow shovel rather than doing it at a hoity-toity “house” like some billionaire. Why didn’t they realize you were at the end of your rope and needed a break, just this once? And maybe the week after next, and the week after next, when you repeatedly pulled the same trick with alarming regularity until it became habit? Very rude, is what it is.

In conclusion, if you see someone doing a little crime, even if they do that little crime very often, don’t be a jerk about it. Don’t narc. “Getting away with it” is the only glue that holds the thin veneer of our society onto the rotten wood beneath. And some of us would really like to huff that glue.

[alysvolatile]

Adventures in fanbinding!

For a while I wanted to try a more robust fanbinding project and I found the perfect fic to start: @niche-pastiche and @wisteria-lodge 's Star Trek: DS9 fic "First, Do No Harm"! It fulfils so many of the things I love in fic: extensive worldbuilding, fun with scifi languages, characters learning about each other (through sex, even!), and the most delightfully twisty narrator!!! This isn't one of my fandoms, and I'm not even usually into BDSM fic....but this won me over (thanks for the recommendation, @fantom-flower!) Check below for images and the process etc.

because my time and budget are a little limited at the moment, this is the first stage of a probably 2 part process: typesetting, printing, and assembling the text block! I used EB Garamond for the body and Jenriv Titling for the chapters and title - I wanted a very conservative, traditional book vibe for this!

For the frontispiece, I used Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's "Ta bouche (Your mouth)" (courtesy of the Met's open access library!) - since beds feature so prominently in the story, I wanted a cozy, sensual sort of image, and this worked splendidly.

I had fun with the glossary and author page as well! The authors clearly put a ton of thought into the linguistics of the piece, and something about seeing a glossary at the end of a book makes my brain go brrr (I blame early exposure to the Lord of the Rings!).

This was my first time assembling a text block with tapes - I usually bind much shorter pieces with pamphlet stitch, and with my budget constraints I typically make paperbacks - but this has been really fun! My next steps are to finish the text block with mull and glue, figure out what I want to do with the cover, and figure out how half-bound cloth binding works! A huge thanks to the authors for writing this piece! If you haven't read it yet (even if it's not your fandom or your usual thing!), check it out - it's wonderful.

[artbyblastweave]

Gideon the Ninth Liveread, Chapter 11

We are now on Day three at Canaan house. This work does interesting things with time. Sometimes you get a chapter like chapter 6 that’s basically the equivalent of a training montage taking place over months; sometimes you get a three or four chapter run covering like an hour; here you get a chapter that officially begins to stretch out and volumize the total amount of time that the cast have canonically spent at Canaan house without much happening. I’m harping on this because of my ongoing conspiracy theory that this was a book written to maximize opportunities for fandom engagement; around the ring distribution scene in chapter 8, when I realized that this was like a very weird boarding school plot, I developed the theory that Muir was going to do some time jumps, leaving broad holes in the timeline where canon-adjacent stuff can be crammed in. This isn’t as drastic as what I was thinking of, but it fills a similar role; the rest of this chapter shows that while Gideon was sequestering herself, the tertiary cast spent two days getting at least somewhat acquainted with each other. 

Also; as much as Gideon is ragging on Harrow for her chronic truancy (and I’ve read a couple of chapters ahead so I know her complaints are grounded) Gideon is, from the perspective of everyone else at Canaan house, exactly as opaque and inaccessible as Harrow.

“It was in this abandoned state....“ Okay, Gideon, as much as I ragged on Dulcinea for objectifying you in the last chapter, I assess your current state as more than slightly self-inflicted. Dulcinea wants you around. Harrow- the main functional constraint on your behavior, or at least the one you blame everything on- has no leverage here because she isn’t around. This whole dueling sequence indicates your ability to carve out a niche fairly easily. And really, you aren’t adequately questioning the idea that sticking like glue to Harrow’s charade is the only way out of your situation on the ninth. You could cheat! There are people around who might help you cheat! To the degree that you’re abandoned and without prospects, it’s because you’re hiding away! 

....As I write from my lightless bedroom. Hmm.

Okay, enter Coronabeth. Alright. Listen. Somebody must have at least floated the idea of a Canaan-house dating sim, right? I can’t be the only one whose mind went here at this point, with the knuckle-kissing.

Jokes aside, I get the impression that Gideon is astoundingly attracted to Coronabeth and extremely susceptible to her charisma, but it’s unclear to me if she actually likes Coronabeth. The descriptor “an expression like an artillery shell mid-flight” indicates a level of discomfort; Gideon feels less in love and more ensnared, off-balance, following Coronabeth because she succumbed to Coronabeth. Coronabeth is in general treated by the narration of having a gravity that makes everyone defer to her like this.

I’ve decided that I like Magnus, at least in part because Gideon clearly does. This sequence is full of a lot of little signifiers that he’s actually a decent guy; he’s the only person in the room actively friendly to Gideon when she walks in, he’s fiercely but deftly protective of the fourthlings when Naberius is being a dick, he’s humble, he’s a wife-guy, he’s a fun-uncle, he cracks puns and immediately endears himself to Gideon by doing so. I think I called the Hammerlock thing; he’s like the empty, goofy, sanitized signifier of Empire, the fun aesthetic parts, the nobility and sportsmanship, but at a distance from any of the genocidal sausage that goes hand-in-hand with the real-life version. He’s very pointedly not good at being a cavalier- a teen with three months of training thrashes a grown man who self-identifies as the boy toy of the competent person in his dyad. He’s never seen real combat. My read is that he’s either going to die ineffectually (thus removing a voice of reason from play) or be secretly evil, but in the increasingly unlikely scenario that this turns out to be a takedown of his archetype, I am gonna say that he feels believably likable in the way such a person would need to be to have the social power associated with the gentleman adventurer role.

Also, to briefly revisit the AU logic from earlier- I’ve got this guy pegged as the “cool teacher.”

“Three Moves, Magnus!“ I love these little assholes. I love how these little pesterings are structured as intrusive asides rather than as part of the ebb and flow of the dialogue.

Alright, if Gideon’s implicit.... thing with Dulcinea is rooted in an aesthetic fascination and acts of service, Gideon’s impending.... thing with Coronabeth is rooted in the fact that Coronabeth is apparently aroused by Gideon’s massive capacity for violence. Nobody on the rock is capable of desiring Gideon for hinged reasons or being at all normal about it. 

Can’t tell if Magnus’s “Am I getting old? Should Abigail and I divorce?” is a good-natured face-recoupment bit, or if the Fifth actually does have a “divorce your spouse if they’re inadequately martially competent” norm. Or if it is a joke, but a joke contextualized by that norm. And where is Abigail, anyway?

Also: Interesting that Gideon clearly has some residual affection and respect for Aiglamene. Heart growing fonder, et al, et al.

Okay, the whole Babs sequence adheres like glue to a lot of. A lot of high school and sports movie tropes. Scrappy underdog on the back foot until she breaks protocol, and then being lauded for being the more practical combatant even if her well-bred opponent is more skilled within the rules as defined. Preps vs… Goth-nerds? Gerds? Spiced up, however, by whatever deranged under-the-hood dynamics the thirds have going on. Is Naberius, like, a sibling to the twins, a boyfriend, an unholy fusion...? Also interesting is that Coronabeth seems interested in defusing Naberius rather than providing solidarity to him; her approach to the aftermath of the fight is definitely based around keeping in both Babs and Gideon’s good graces. 

Also; Naberius is suspicious of Gideon. He knows enough about the Ninth’s MO that Gideon actually being good at Cavaliering is not usually how the ninth plays things. And he’s right- Ortus, martially incompetent Bone Donkey, should be there in Gideon’s place. This is another example of the dynamic present his introductory scene in chapter 9; he’s vastly more insightful and observant than the elitist prep snob archetype normally is, but he deploys that insightfulness basically purely in service of playing his archetype to the hilt by being a classist, self-absorbed dick. 

And we leave off on the reveal that Harrow saw everything, after three chapters of total non-presence. Dollars to donuts that she’s gonna be pissy about Gideon doing things rather than politely tucking herself away like a piece of unused equipment while Harrow was AWOL. This is, incidentally, close to what I was predicting would happen as a result of Harrow siloing herself off from Gideon.

I should probably say something about the second cav, Dyas (first name unremembered) whose job in the story is basically to provide the above-validation that Gideon is the more practical fighter. I strongly suspect, given how little I’ve seen her name come up, and the fact her uniform is a literal red jacket, that she isn’t long for the narrative. I’ve seen chatter about the 2nd house necro, though. I wonder what she’s up to.

And, to round out, This chapter features the second or third time that Nonius, ninth-house founder, is referred to as some particularly-badass badass, anomalous in comparison to his descendants. I’m curious to see why said particularly badass badass set up his house in the middle of nowhere....

[markrosewater]

You talked in todays article about how Ixalan needs Changeling-esque “glue” and creative wouldn’t let you do cards with mixed type lines. Was there ever an experiment with, say, a blue pirate creature card that created a merfolk token? Since each race had “its” token, it seems like that could have helped fill the gaps.

We did explore that, but again it didn't fit (given the constraints we were given).

[rp-tea-and-magic]

Yalghahoon's experiment - Week 2

An illithid RP game. Each week, vote and decide what the main character should do next !

[ First week | Previous week ]

Your answer : Hum back and touch whatever clings to your arms

- - - -

You keep your eyes closed.

You clumsily try to reach for the things around your arms. The constraints are strong and unyielding but you manage to loosen them a bit by moving gently and slowly.

You act as inconspicuously as you can, brushing the tip of your fingers against it. It's rubbery and viscous, covered in a slimy, sticky substance reminiscent of a carnivorous plant's glue.

It doesn't react at all when being touched.

Someone -or something- is still humming softly, undisturbed, a few feet from your position. You decide to take a risk and answer. You hum back, trying to imitate the melody, synchronizing your voice with theirs.

The song stop abruptly. The silence is heavy and you have the distinct sensation of being observed.

Suddenly, you hear a voice, with a nasal sonority, echoing in your head in unnatural ways :

"Day 1, Experience B43 : the subject is waking up and showing promising signs. They have either attempted to communicate peacefully, or have demonstrated an interest for music. Either way, this is a positive improvement from B41's screaming. I will now attempt to communicate with the subject and assess their ability and willingness to receive directions."

A brief pause.

"Subject B43, do you understand me ?"

What do you do ?

- - - -

Vote here !

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rVjTBgmLbBSpuQUpqy-RdP5Ej7p5JicAxzUtLlOfQ2k/edit?usp=sharing

The votes will be closed on friday morning, to leave me enough time to write/draw !

[moregraceful]

I think I am gonna bookbind my fic Fragments with Coptic binding and a hard cover and I'm going to repurpose the fabric from my estaal canes jersey to use as the fabric on the cover since the canes red is afaik the same red as the habs or at least close enough that no one who will ever look upon this book (me) will care too much if it's a shade off. I have dark blue binding thread but I'm going to see if my usual sources have a slightly brighter blue thread, if not I'll just use dark blue. I've never worked with Reebok nhl jersey material before so I have to do some research on what adhesive would keep it in place bc I feel like Elmer's glue is not going to cut it. Also trying to figure out what I could do to the jersey to decorate it as a cover - maybe paint? I have so much unused acrylic paint. Don't know what I would paint though since the only anchor image is a water bottle which isn't super romantic and the constraints I gave myself for setting were so tight that there's not a lot to work with. Maybe not. Or if i really wanted to lose my mind I could start exploring gold leaf but I don't know how well that would affix to jersey material or how well that would look against canes red and i feel like at that point you just go back to white or blue paint and do like a fleur de lys. But i don't want it to look like a scrapbook, so maybe i just need to leave it at the jersey and thread.

I gotta watch some YouTube videos, I'm sure some nerd in the world has talked about using hockey jersey material on bookbinding, I've seen people show off their final products on Twitter before. I think I need to start like a side blog or something just because I keep running into really accessible resources for book arts and bookbinding but keep forgetting to save them.

[gingerteaonthetardis]

Wait have u seen what happens later?! Is it good?

yeah, i did see it, i saw it in theaters yesterday! i went with my mum and we had such a good time!

as for if it's good or not... oh boy. let me start with the disclaimer that i am the judgemental bitch of the universe, i can't turn it off, i am insufferable and i know this. also, i was squinting the whole time because i need new glasses. embarrassing.

SO. there are absolutely good things about it, i would say. there are several scenes that will be sticking like fucking glue in my brain for the indefinite future. the premise is hella cute and the acting was good overall (in my extremely uneducated opinion)... both meg ryan and david duchovny are so ruthlessly endearing it makes me want to actually scream, and together they cooked up a few really magical moments.

when dd's character got tears in his eyes talking about his daughter, i wanted to throw up. never let that man cry in front of me again, i can't take it!!!!!! and any time they spent laughing together was, like, electric to me. meg ryan has such a warmth to her that hasn't faded in her time away from filmmaking, and seeing her again just filled me with good happy feelings. (also, some parts of it gave me the good old au brain itch, which is always a sign i'm invested.)

however, i will also say that the movie is rather long and does occasionally feel long. mostly because the writing isn't, like, spectacular. not bad, just not quite as glittering as i would want for a film with only two actors in it. i don't want to get into the writing too much, because then i will start going on forever, because like i said, i'm insufferable.

also. okay. this is probably such an annoying nitpick, but damn this movie reused a lot of b-roll. like, they recycled this one establishing shot (which reminded me of the shot of the arctic base in the x-files episode 'ice', by the way) what felt like fifteen times. which is a bummer, because they kind of used exterior shots like paragraph breaks. since, you know, there were no other characters to fall back on. that sometimes made the pacing feel weird. it did add to the kind of liminal, claustrophobic vibe of being stuck in an airport with your ex, though.

i read an interview with them about how they didn't have time or budget for doing loads of takes or reshoots, and i think that constraint was both a blessing and a curse. they got a lot of really good, organic moments that felt very alive that way! but there were also moments that didn't quite hit, moments that should have had more time in the editing bay or time to be worked out on set. i also seriously wish someone had punched up the writing a tiny bit more.

on the whole, i would say that it's pretty good. if you go in with hallmark movie expectations, you are sufficiently parasocially attached to the actors, or you just love romcoms, you will probably have an excellent time. if you want to see david duchovny hit a blunt and then choke, like me, you will have an especially excellent time. the characters were flawed and occasionally frustratingly out of touch (on purpose?? i don't know, i am simply too young and silly 😌), but they also had moments of depth and warmth and sincerity.

i liked it, in spite of my rabid need to critique everything on god's green earth. i will probably watch it again not on the big screen and see if i prefer it that way (i suspect i will).

also did i mention they get drunk and flirty. because they get drunk and flirty and it's soooooo damn cute.

[quotesfrommyreading]

Leader Maynard points to three theories commonly used to explain mass killings and war atrocities. But all three can be debunked.

The first explanation is what I call the Broken Brains hypothesis. This is the notion that the sadism of torturing innocents or committing genocide makes sense only if the perpetrators have abnormal brains, or even are psychopaths. Experts turned to the Broken Brains theory when trying to understand the Nazis. An array of psychiatrists closely examined and interviewed the Nuremberg war criminals. After one of the top Nazi perpetrators, Robert Ley, hanged himself while awaiting trial, his brain was preserved, shipped by air mail to the United States, and studied by neuropathologists, who found that he had brain damage, “a longstanding degenerative process of the frontal lobes.”

But as research continued, it became clear that Ley was an outlier, that the architects of the Holocaust likely did not have brain pathologies, and that the Nazis’ genocidal machine had so many people pulling various levers that most of them had to be neurologically normal. This was not a case of a few psychopaths, but rather of millions engaged in what Hannah Arendt famously called “the banality of evil.”

It’s possible that Russia’s Vladimir Putin is an undiagnosed psychopath, but that can’t explain the widespread barbarism throughout the war in Ukraine, especially as the Russian military fills with conscripts, ordinary Russians who have been forced into combat. There might be psychopaths within the world’s military ranks, and psychopaths might be overrepresented in positions of power. But Leader Maynard says researchers agree that those carrying out horrific violence do not, by and large, have different brains from the rest of us.

The second common explanation is what I call the Lord of the Flies hypothesis—the idea that we are all killers by nature, with an innate capacity for cruelty, and that we commit atrocities when we are on war-zone “islands” that are free from constraints and consequences. Once placed into a conflict, any of us could engage in torture.

Yet research from experts such as Rebecca Littman and Elizabeth Levy Paluck shows that most people have a hard time killing other people. Other scholars have argued that in many of the great battles of history, such as Gettysburg, an astonishing number of guns were left loaded and unused—because it’s so psychologically difficult for untrained killers to shoot human beings, even when their own life is at risk. If most people find it difficult to fire a gun at someone else, how could they electrocute them in a hole in the ground, as apparently occurred in the city of Kherson last month?

A third common explanation for mass killings and wartime atrocities is what I call the theory of Coerced Killers—the idea that evil emerges at gunpoint, that we are capable of atrocities when we feel we have no other choice. Some people do engage in horrific violence only in such circumstances, or because they fear retribution against themselves or their families. But the most rigorous analysis of historical mass violence suggests that these cases make up a tiny minority of the overall picture.

If these three explanations don’t explain mass killings generally—or help make sense of what’s happening in Ukraine—then what does? The answer, according to Leader Maynard’s extensive analysis of atrocities, is ideology. By this he does not necessarily mean the grand isms of 20th-century history, but instead simply a set of political beliefs about how the world works, or should work. Mass killings become more likely when a society engaged in warfare produces a coherent narrative about why extreme violence is desirable or at least justified for a grander strategic purpose. Ideology acts as a social glue, ensuring that the architects of the violence, the rank-and-file soldiers who carry it out, and the broader public all tolerate, or even applaud, atrocities.

Crucially, Leader Maynard finds evidence that perpetrators need not be “true believers” or hard-liners who buy into a regime’s ideological mythmaking. Instead, the existence of the ideology and its widespread acceptance in society can provide a sufficient justification for their violence.

�� —  Do ‘Ordinary’ People Commit War Crimes?

[somediyprojects]

DIY Large-scale Picture Frame

Project by Erica Loesing:

Tools + Materials

-Large print/photo/something pretty to frame (see tips below!) -White illustration board (make sure it’s thick/dense enough to stand without waving) -Acrylic sheet (such as Plexiglass, I used a 32 x 44 inch sheet) -Spray mount -Straightedge + utility knife -4 wood boards (I chose 1/2” x 2” Poplar – you won’t want much narrower than this) -Pencil -Tape measure -Saw + miter box -Fine sandpaper or sanding block -4 corner braces (I used 1/2” x 2.5″), + tiny screws that won’t puncture the face of your wood frame -Drill + Phillips bit (could use a manual Phillips screwdriver, too!) -Square tool -Wood glue (I like Elmer’s) -Paint or stain (I used a black satin spray paint) -Turn buttons (I used nylon) -Large picture hook (you may need a hammer to attach this)

Notes

Somewhat of a secret is that most office store print shops (I used Staples) offer something called an “engineer print.” Large-scale prints for only a few dollars! So that’s what I did here. I had this super cute pear illustrated and then printed nice and big in a matter of hours for only a few dollars. (I have also seen people print photos using this process and have great results!) The paper is pretty thin and the print isn’t necessarily photo quality, but I think it works so great for this application and would totally recommend it if you’re mindful of your costs and feel it wouldn’t compete with the aesthetic of your project.

Now I want to mention a few constraints here. Of course there will be a maximum print size at your local print shop (most likely 36 x 48 inches). But the largest acrylic I could find locally was 33 x 44 inches. So I sized my print to be no larger than this, choosing 33 x 40 inches. And here are the reasons I chose acrylic over glass — while it does have more size restrictions (yet you can typically buy larger pieces of acrylic than glass at a basic hardware store), the acrylic is very lightweight (and I didn’t want to have to build a frame within my frame to support glass), you can cut it with a knife (and they’ll also cut it down for you in the store, typically for free!), and it won’t shatter. I just didn’t have the courage to handle such a large sheet of glass. The downsides are that it is, well, plastic and not glass, and I think it tends to have a bit more of a glare. I don’t love that you can tell it’s acrylic, but again, I was trying to be mindful of costs, time, and my low skill level. And honestly, I never notice it now that it’s hanging on the wall.

How-to

First, spray mount your print to a board. Since my print was on thin paper with a lot of negative space and you could sort of see through it, I used a white illustration board to back it. You want to use something that isn’t too thick (the thicker this backing is, the further from the wall your frame will rest), but also something dense enough that can stand on its own without waving or warping. This will be the backing of your frame. I first tried sandwiching everything together without mounting, but since my paper was so thin it looked terrible behind the glass (since it’s so large and gravity wants to pull it to the bottom). Also, if you are using something thin like I was, be extra careful for bubbles and other ugly errors when spray mounting. I may or may not have had to redo mine the first time around…

You can now trim the mounted print down to whatever size you’d like it to be, keeping in mind the size constraints of the acrylic. Measure your print. You want your acrylic to be about the same size as your mounted print. Again, you can have this cut exactly to size at your hardware store. Or, if you’re feeling up to it, acrylic sheets can be cut at home with a utility knife and a straightedge! You don’t even have to worry if your edge isn’t perfect because it will be hidden behind the frame.

Moving onto the frame. All you need for this step is a pencil, a tape measure, a saw, and your four wood boards. (For this step I set up my wood on sawhorses in my backyard, but the sawhorses aren’t necessary. I just prefer working at table height.) I created mitered corners for my frame, which is typical for framing, so I also used a miter box for accuracy, which came with my saw. I love that I can get the exact angle I need, and everything will fit together nicely without needing any fancy tools or causing extra frustration. Of course you could opt for square corners and skip this step! Or use a power saw, or a handy friend! There are a bunch of ways to achieve the look you want.

When measuring your boards, first consider the size of your mounted print + plexiglass. Then consider the size of your corner braces and how much space you’ll need to leave for them. (I would sketch this out. See below for the sketch I did for my project, based on the measurements I was using.) Obviously, you want the interior measurement of your frame to be overlapped by your plexi/print, and I recommend planning for a solid 3/4” on all sides.

Using your saw, cut your measured boards down to size, at 45-degree angles. You want your frame to be as square as possible, which means cutting equal angles and equal lengths. I always check mine after each cut to be sure.

Once all four boards are cut to equal size, use a fine sandpaper or sanding block to sand the rough edges.

Now we are ready to assemble! For this step you need wood glue (I love Elmer’s), and I also like to use a square tool to check that the corners meet up nice and, well, square. Apply wood glue to each mitered end, and join your frame together, checking your corners with the square as you go. Give the glue a little bit of time to dry. Now, you could choose to stop here. Depending on the size of your frame and how tight your mitered edges meet, maybe you don’t need the corner braces. While the wood glue is surprisingly strong, I still chose to use the braces, just for peace of mind that my frame would stay together when it was all said and done.

The corner braces are as simple as screwing them into place, one at each corner. (Be sure to choose screws that will not poke through the front face of your frame. I had to buy smaller screws than the ones that came with the braces.) It is helpful to place your print/acrylic sheet on the glued frame at this point to use as a guide; be sure there is enough space for the braces to be screwed outside the outer edges of your acrylic. The braces make a nice little shelf on the bottom for the print to rest upon, too! (I recommend marking the location of each of your four braces with your pencil.) Once the brackets are screwed into place, flip the frame over and use your square to once again check your corners. If everything looks good, hooray! As a final detail I like to use a little bit of the wood glue to fill any open spaces where the corners meet on the front face of the frame, especially if you will be painting over it. This is the last step using the wood glue. Once this dries, use your sandpaper to lightly sand all of your faces and edges that will be visible when displaying your frame.

Time to paint! I chose to spray paint my frame in a black satin. You could choose to leave the wood bare, stain it, or paint it any color of the rainbow.

Once your paint is dry, flip the frame over and set your print + acrylic into place. During this step I finally removed the protective coating from my acrylic. I like to keep it on as long as possible to prevent any scratches. Note that the acrylic is extremely attractive to any bit of dust or dirt or whatever may be nearby. (In hindsight, I would have done this step inside on a clean surface.) Time to install your turn buttons. Just like the corner braces, these are as easy as simply screwing in place. They are the same as you’ve probably seen used on a wall mirror. Again, check the length of screw you’re using given the thickness of your wood frame. For the size of my frame I used five turn buttons up the sides, then four at the top and bottom. (Avoid placing one in the center of the top, since a picture hook will eventually go here!)

It will be so tempting to flip your frame over and call it a day, but there is one more tiny step! Measure across the top of your frame and mark the center point. Use this mark to install a picture hook if you plan on hanging your frame (probably using a hammer). I chose the largest picture hook I could find to accommodate the thickness of the backing. If you choose too small of a hook, the frame may not hang flush on the wall, but instead protrude out at the bottom. Even though I used a really large picture hook I still went back and used the back of my hammer to bend it slightly outward to accommodate the board + turn button thickness.

VOILA! My frame is hung and I am just so pleased with the result. It’s large and cool and makes such an impact for only a little bit of cost + skill. And I was glad to spend a pretty day outside working with my hands and building something I could show off on my otherwise big, blank wall. I hope you will be able to follow my instructions and learn from my many mistakes on my first go-round, but please don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions!

[the-arcade-doctor]

*There are now 95 anons constrainted to the ceiling*

*Some with vines, glue, spaghetti, even some by their own insides*

[ J:\\ I DIDN'T EVEN DO THAT, THEY'RE DOING THIS TO THEMSELVES AT THIS POINT. ]

[bittykimmy13]

Tupperware Party (GT)

A commission for @pr-fae​ !! 💖 She asked me to write out the scene of Mel and Sammie’s first meeting!

During a typical (and unapproved) scavenging visit to a pretty human’s apartment, Mel fails to realize that said human is still at home. Shenanigans ensue.

A massive door whooshed open and clicked shut in the next room. Mel jolted up from her nap, blinking in the semi-darkness. Her grogginess was tinged with irritation at first, but she snapped into alertness. She’d been worried she would sleep right through the sound of the resident Veillie leaving. Mel was in the cabinet above the fridge—the coziest, most secure place to nap—but the drone of the appliance was loud enough to mask most sounds in the apartment.

“About time, Blondie,” she huffed.

Pulling herself up through the opening atop the cabinet, she stretched her arms over her head and yawned in the light. The light fixture was off, but enough of the sunset peeked through the window for her to see. Sammie’s kitchen looked as inviting as ever, practically beginning to be rifled through.

Mel had learned the human’s name from the loud friends who came over to visit. Sammie, the pretty blond Veillie. She was gone for the night, off to work. Now Mel’s only time constraint hinged on making sure she didn’t return to her home on the other side of the Veil suspiciously late.

But that wouldn’t be an issue. She’d nabbed things from Sammie’s place dozens of times. Navigating to her usual spots was second-nature by this point. In and out.

It was easy to remember Sammie for several reasons. One, it wasn’t typical for Veillies to work all night. Two, she kept the best snacks out of every other place Mel hit. And three, she owned the ugliest, loudest, yellow sofa in existence. Mel wrinkled her nose as she gazed across into the living room. It was a shame that Sammi’s beautiful guitars had to hang on a wall so close to that damn sofa.

“You’re lucky you’re hot,” Mel always muttered from her concealed perches in the living room when she spotted Sammie playing her lovely music.

It hadn’t been part of Mel’s shift to observe Sammie today. This adventure was strictly off the books. 

She double-checked her work bag and strategized how best to fill it—which spots in the apartment would be worth visiting to collect from? 

As good as she was at being a Scout, she felt her true talent was collecting. Tragically, the funnest part of her miserable job was outlawed. She wasn’t supposed to have a Glyph Glove. And she certainly wasn’t supposed to take anything from the Veillies. But it didn’t matter. There was no one around to tattle on her, and she’d replace Glove before anyone noticed it was missing.

Even the victim of her theft, Sammie, was always unaware that anything was gone. She wasn’t a slob, but she wasn’t exactly the neatest or most organized human in the building. She didn’t seem to think twice about a stray earring vanishing, or one less screw sitting in the box under the sink.

Other Veillies were harder to steal from, meticulous about the placement of their belongings. They weren’t aware that Mel’s kind—Minuts—existed. Hell, they didn’t know anything about the Veil or what existed on the other side. That meant they naturally resorted to mouse traps and glue traps and poison if the tiniest object was out of place.

But not Sammie.

Hooking her rope on the top edge of the cabinet, Mel tested the durability of her harness straps. Once she felt secure, she tucked her mane of hair under her cowl to keep it out of her eyes. Then she leaped off the edge and nimbly caught herself on the rope. The counter waited below. She descended smoothly, wrapping her tail around her leg to maintain her balance.

“Okay, half the bag for screws, half for snacks,” she muttered. “Or… forty-sixty.” She reasoned that she’d sold plenty of supplies this week already. She deserved an extra treat for all the long, hard shifts this week. So it became a matter of deciding which snacks to take. There was an open bag of cookies on the table, so—

She paused.

Footsteps.

Mel took a deep breath and calmed herself. Nothing to get worked up about. The building was rickety and practically falling apart, getting worse by the day. There were plenty of Veillies in the neighboring apartments who walked heavily enough for her to hear the vibrations.

She began lowering herself again. She was sure she had seen a jar of peanuts in the pantry the last time she was here. Maybe this time she could—

The footsteps came right around the corner and entered the kitchen, then stopped just as suddenly.

Mel jerked her head to the side, and a human filled her vision. Sammie’s blond hair was tied up in a messy bun. She was eating a bag of Skittles and wearing gel under-eye masks. She froze with a Skittle halfway in her mouth, her wide-eyed gaze locked securely on Mel.

“MOTHERFUCKER!” Mel screamed. She flinched and let go of her line. In the scramble to catch herself, she flipped upside down and was stopped by her harness. The problem was that her leg was tangled in the line.

She hung over the counter, writhing to orient herself, but unable to pull herself up with her leg caught. Vulnerable. Trapped. Humans on this side of the Veil were unpredictable in their reactions to the unknown. She was going to be tossed in a cage, or mistaken for vermin, or experimented on, or killed for being otherworldly, or—

Mel froze and held her breath when the human drew closer.

“Hang on, I’ve got you.” 

Sammie hurriedly tossed the bag of Skittles on the counter, making them scatter. She reached for Mel—well, not right for her. She cupped her hands underneath like a safety net, but the approach spurred Mel into reacting in the only logical way she could think of. She drew the knife from her belt and cut the line, desperate to escape her own binds.

But her reaction delivered her straight to the thing she wanted to avoid. The wind was knocked out of her as she fell onto her back on the human’s palms. But she didn’t lay there for long. She scrambled off and fell to the counter, surrounded by a minefield of Skittles. Once again, the air was forced from her lungs.

“Whoa, holy shit! Are you okay?” Sammie’s voice was frantic, but not deafening.

The fall didn’t hurt. Even if it did, the adrenaline wouldn’t allow Mel to feel it. She sprang to her feet and bolted, carefully not to slip on the stray pieces of candy. She managed to keep a grip on her knife.

“Wait!” Sammie reached out to block her path, and Mel vaulted right over her wrist. As she landed, she scooped up a Skittle and hurled it toward the human. She didn’t watch long enough to see where it hit, but judging by the resounding cry, she assumed it hit Sammie’s face.

But the accurate hit didn’t matter. There was nowhere to go. No openings on this patch of counter space. There was one next to the sink, but Sammie was hovering there. Mel had no line to climb. With each slow step Sammie took closer, Mel was hopelessly cornered. She thought about throwing the knife with the same fervor as the Skittle, but then she’d lose her only weapon.

“Hey, it’s okay, it’s okay,” Sammie said. She loomed even nearer, trying to get a better look as Mel backed herself up against the wall. “A-are you hurt?”

Breathing hard and shaking all over, Mel flickered her gaze away from Sammie’s daunting form and looked at the edge of the counter. She could take the fall to the floor if she jumped. Then she could get under the fridge and exit the apartment through there. And never-ever-ever come back.

Sammie cocked her head, following Mel’s gaze, then slowly shook her head. “Don’t even—”

“Fuck you, Blondie!” Mel spat. 

She bolted for the edge, and Sammie weirdly lunged for the sink instead of her. Drying dishes clattered as she grabbed something. Mel didn’t care what it was—not until that thing was slammed over her. She ran into a hard, plastic wall before she could stop herself.

Tupperware. She’d been trapped in a Tupperware bowl that still smelled of dish soap. Mel gave a war cry and threw herself into the wall. The entire thing jolted forward, which inspired her to take another running start, hoping to get it over the edge. But this time, a huge hand pressed down on the top of the bowl, and Mel’s tackle only sent her bouncing back to the center.

“Let me the fuck out!” Mel shrieked.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Sammie said, her voice weird and echo-y through the plastic. “I panicked! I didn’t wanna grab you, but you were gonna—hey! You have to stop that—please!”

“Fuck you!” Mel snapped again. She took yet another running start and threw herself against the side of the Tupperware again. This time, she saw stars dance in her vision. That didn’t stop her from getting up. “Let me out! Let me out right now!” 

She hated the fearful tone in her voice, but she couldn’t help it.  She was never going to see her family again. How long would it take them to realize something was wrong? How long until they realized she was never coming home? She swiped at her frightened tears and saw Sammie’s face soften with sympathy through the curve of the plastic.

“Hey,” Sammie said in a soft, soothing voice. “It’s okay. Please, don’t cry. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m so sorry—I didn’t mean to scare you. I just don’t want you to hurt yourself.” 

“I’m not crying!” Mel said, hurriedly swiping again at her wet cheeks. 

Sammie’s eyebrows knit. “If you try to calm down, I’ll take the bowl off. How does that sound?”

“It sounds like you’re full of shit. And I’m pretty fucking calm, if you ask me!” She gave the plastic wall one more pointed shove and slumped down against it. Glaring at her own faint reflection, she realized her hood had fallen. She dropped her forehead against the plastic, unable to believe she’d been caught in such a rookie way.

“I think you could use a couple more seconds to calm down,” Sammie said, not in a cruel or mocking way. In a weirdly kind way.

Mel didn’t buy it. “You weren’t even supposed to be here! What the fuck are you doing here?”

“Um.” A small smile curled on the edge of Sammie’s lips. It would have been cute under any other circumstance. Even with those stupid eye mask things, she was pretty. “I live here?”

“But you’re supposed to be gone at this time! I heard the door!”

Sammie’s eyebrows shot up. “I came home from running errands. I took the night off.”

“Ugh! Of course.”

“Hey… How do you know about my schedule?”

Mel shut her mouth and wanted to punch herself in the face. “It doesn’t matter. You’ve got me anyway, so why should I talk?” She held her breath, wondering what sort of torture methods could be swirling behind those big, beautiful eyes?

But no threats came. Instead, Sammie seemed deep in thought for a few moments before leaning down near where Mel sat. She tried to catch Mel’s gaze through the plastic. “If you promise not to jump to your death… I’ll let you out. But we are gonna circle back to you spying on me. How’s that?”

Mel set her jaw and narrowed her eyes at the Veillie. “You’ll let me out,” she said skeptically. “And then what?”

“And then… I dunno. What exactly was on your agenda? What’re you doing here to begin with?”

“A cookie,” she said flatly. “Maybe a screw or two.” She pursed her lips and considered her options. “Okay, fine. I won’t jump. But I do have a knife, so you better keep your mitts to yourself.”

“I won’t lay a finger on you,” Sammie said, her tone lighter now with Mel’s cooperation.

That had to be an outright lie, but Mel didn’t see any other way the damn bowl was going to get gone.

As though she was dealing with a bomb, Sammie carefully lifted the Tupperware like she didn’t trust Mel either. Mel kept a tight grip on her knife, ready to stab at a moment’s notice. Her eyes strayed to the edge of the counter again, but the thought of the bowl slamming back down made her reconsider the urge to run again.

Shockingly, Sammie stayed true to her word about keeping her hands to herself. Her eyes were another matter. She openly stared at Mel, but she didn’t look as shocked as Mel would have expected a Veillie to be upon seeing a Minut for the first time.

Sammie tilted her head as if she was trying to see more of Mel, but her gear and clothing prevented it. “You’ve got great reflexes, cutting the rope like that,” Sammie said, like she was offering a compliment.

Not good enough reflexes to jump off the counter, apparently. Mel clenched her fists, too frustrated to talk. 

“Do you think you can get home on your own?” Sammie asked after a long pause. “You’re not hurt?”

Mel nearly dropped the knife. She’d already been plotting how to escape the cage she’d inevitably be shoved into. “You… You’re letting me leave?”

Sammie shrugged. “It doesn’t seem like you want to be anywhere near me right now. But… Can you come back tomorrow?”

“Why in the ever-living fuck would I do that?”

“I can fix you up some food to make up for scaring you. And we need to have a serious talk about the whole spying on me thing. I swear I won’t hurt you, but… You’re not exactly off the hook about that. Seems fair, doesn’t it?”

Mel gaped at her. Then she hardened and started backpedaling, unsure what Sammie was planning, but feeling cornered once again. “Fuck no, I’m not coming back,” she scoffed.

She expected Sammie to get angry. Maybe to grab the Tupperware again and trap her for good. But instead, the pretty Veillie just looked sad. That pout was enough to tug at Mel’s heartstrings, regardless of her size. And… so far, Sammie hadn’t done anything outright cruel or even halfway mean. She’d almost been just as panicked as Mel about the Tupperware prison. Her only real sin was breaking away from her usual schedule.

To top it all off, her reaction to Mel’s existence was… unusual, to say the least. And Mel found herself insatiably curious about it.

Pressing her lips into a thin line, she caved faster than she cared to admit. “Fine! I guess I can come back.” She pointed the knife at Sammie. “Maybe! But it better be good food! Not that microwave meal crap.”

Sammie’s hand lifted suddenly. Mel lurched back and raised the blade higher, certain that the act was finally up and she was about to be grabbed. But no. Sammie only grabbed the Skittles bag and took one piece of candy from within. She held it out to Mel between a finger and thumb. It was a yellow one. The same stupid color as the sofa.

“How about this for now?” Sammie said. “To tide you over.”

Cautiously, Mel eased forward and snatched the candy. Then she strode for the sink purposefully, already able to feel the ache of the fall and her escape attempts. Apparently, Sammie could see her pain just as well.

“Are you sure you’re okay? You don’t need any help?”

“I’m fine.”

A shadow darkened over her. A hand reached slowly. “You’re sure?”

“I said I’m fine!” Mel twisted around and threw the yellow Skittle, hitting Sammie in the face again. 

Sammie’s shadow pulled back. “Oh! Okay. My bad. So sorry,” she said meekly.

Feeling a strange tug of guilt, Mel got the hell out of there. She thought she would feel relieved when she finally was back in the safety of the walls. Instead, that stupid, stupid guilt stayed lodged firmly in her heart.

Maybe she would come back. Just so that her last glimpse of Sammie wouldn’t be that sorry pout. 

Maybe.

[glittertrail]

If budget, physical ability, and time constraints were not an issue, what would your most fantastical, elaborate, dream Halloween costumes be? (If you celebrate Halloween)

I have a couple of answers and this got a little long lol but thank you i had so much fun. Under the cut bc i went a little insane

I am so glad you asked this bc @supremmedeluxe sent me this v little ago and i would absolutely wear it to any party ever

hell I'd go grocery shopping in it if i could. Add the dragonfly wings and live my best dragonfly life.

but there's this mermaid look i did once that i desperately want to redo, i am obsessed with mermaid tayce

(this is mermaid tayce, do you live? bc i do)

and i want to do a mermaid look properly just once for photographic proof lmao the original makeup i had planned when i did the mermaid shoot (which i can't find rn but will look for later) included glueing pearls to my face and I'm a little more careful of what i glue or don't glue to my face now (i mixed silicone w skin safe glue once by accident 🤦🏻‍♀️) and if i could redo it i would absolutely take the time w the pearls and make sure they stay (also use bigger ones so they stand out)

my other idea is Aurora from sleeping beauty bc normally I'm not big on ball gowns but pls look at this thing i need a dress in this fabric... Or maybe recreate the lily james cinderella dress in a glow in the dark dresses

maybe jazzing up the hair to make it vaguely more nymph/ethereal like but that's the vibe I'm into lately, i think i played and did enough fake blood and wounds so I'm not feeling gorey lately

WHAT ABOUT YOU 🥰💖

[asterjennifer]

Mystictober 2022 | Day 29 - Poison

Summary: What is their relationship? A lot of times they cannot define it for themselves and it has consequences.

─────◇◇◇★◇◇◇─────

She's the darkness as established long before she realized what it meant for her soul. He's the light according to the people around him, although he's aware his deeds, or rather the sins kept him glued to the dark of life.

Sometimes they're unsure how to identify themselves; how to call what they were deep down in their hearts. What's their relationship? A common question on her mind and the one thought he's trying desperately to suppress.

Was it love? Others around them seemed to assume it was; some sort of love that's showing wamrth to the outside. Like a facade neither of the two were able to put aside for the lie to stay alive. Did they know it's a lie? Was it a conscious decision to ignore the problems at hand when being together? Perhaps it was.

Perhaps it wasn't, none of them could tell. And if nobody of the others were capable of identifying it differently then it meant they couldn't either. Both figured it's no use trying as the answers occuring when digging wouldn't line up with the believes they polished every single day.

Was it a curse in some twisted, unspoken sense? She couldn't tell if he's truly appreciating her every side that formed her being. He's unsure if she's feeling the love he's holding for her; regardless how paranoid it left his mind. It's as if the glue that held them together was made out of poison.

Unhealthy seek for love's what fate they met on. It's written in their every action for another and sometimes they both got burned out just by the mere thought of continuing the same exact way all eternity. Couldn't they make it better?

She wondered as he felt the question nag at his bones. Couldn't they be the adults everyone saw them as? Be the healthy, lovely couple in the own four walls whenever times became hard? Couldn't they put past the constraints controlling their doing? It felt impossible.

Like that's going to crumble down what they had left; which's each other. She couldn't grow without his light and he couldn't shine it once the shadows left his side. Sun and moon, dark and bright, good and bad defined their days more intensely as time passed on living as a couple.

It's only a matter of time; they both knew once she refused to attend therapy. They held the believes close that whatever happened; they wouldn't part ways. It didn't matter what would wait in the unstable future as long as they got each other. Was that the way to live life?

Or to live their lives in particular? They're ignorant to any other. Making it harder to understand the difference other lovers made by being just sunshine together. They couldn't imagine what it meant to have two bright sides, to have harmony as main focus and the love being split into own lives to live it seprrately as well.

How could they not include each other in every given battle and situation? It seemed normal to keep some sense of independence. Not for them, though. She panted out the shock as her hand trembled, fear caused by her own action.

The blood didn't hold meaning to him, it's just another show of his loyalty. If she needed to express it to the extreme then he would never deny her a wish, he would always give her whatever she desired regardless how nasty it would be for outsiders to consider.

He tried to smile at her in order to calm her panic, depsite the pumping sound lingering in his own ear. He's calm. He felt the smooth of his heart bubble to the surface after taking her shaky hand into his own. Her wide eyes slowly narrowed again until only a small smile remained.

They both smiled and it suddenly made sense. Their love wasn't build the same way and therefore they accepted the shaped form theirs took on now and forever on.