#i also genuinely can't believe a woman wrote it

[a-flickering-soul]

dacryphilia

The very worst thing you can do right now is bore me. Caleen shudders. “You’re not going to believe me anyways, are you?” Her voice tremors, and Dedra wants to hear it break. “No,” she says slowly. She can feel a smile tugging at her lips. She fights like mad to suppress it, and fails. It pulls at her lips, threatening to split them, and she lets her teeth show. “I suppose not.”

Or; The Interrogation Scene and some bonuses from Lt. Dedra Meero's point of view.

Or; Sophia "Dyke With Bad Taste" A-Flickering-Soul saw this

and this

and THIS

and thought, "How can I not write the most reprehensible, terrible, Dead Doveish 2.6k words about it?"

Mind the tags.

[snapnov4]

marry me | gojo satoru

synopsis: a bad idea disguised as a practical joke turns into something way deeper than you intended it to be.

wc: 1.1k

cw: just good ol fluff!

a/n: happy late birthday to my baby daddy and man of my dreams gojo satoru. i have to marry this man. i have to i have to i have to. anyways. enjoy reading this cute little fic i wrote, meaning i thought abt gojo proposing as a joke and vomited this out. enjoy!

it starts, like all things involving gojo satoru, with a bad idea disguised as a practical joke.

you're sitting across from him, in a restaurant that’s not too fancy, more of a family-type deal. he's forgone his blindfold in favor of his square-framed glasses, but his uniform is still on. he insisted on treating you to dinner after you exorcized an unregistered special grade on your own. however, with gojo, things can't always be so easy; he always adds his patented gojo twist to things, and this time the twist is this terrible joke.

“come on, it'll be funny!” he whines, from across the table.

“you want to propose to me in this restaurant for free food? when you make well over six figures a year? and have full access to thousands of years of old clan money?” you ask, incredulously, reaching to take a sip of your drink, suddenly wishing you had gone with a stronger option.

“yes, exactly. what's not clicking?”

“uhmmm, all of it?”

“look it'll be funny. you could even say no, then you can run out and i get free food as pity points,” he smiles at you, and you find it hard to keep saying no. “i mean, they'll probably all call you heartless and tell me i deserve better but that's fine.”

“okay and if i say yes, what about a ring? or the fact that we're not even together? how is anyone going to believe you?” you ask, thinking you've backed him into a corner, until he just sighs softly, keeping an easy smile, and reaches into his pocket. he pulls out a black velvet box, and shakes it a bit by his head.

“you think i hadn't planned for that?” he asks, smirking in your direction, trying to hold back laughter at your aghast expression, you drag a palm over your face, finally conceding.

“okay. fine! fine! just…try not to embarrass me. please?”

“no promises! also the waitress is coming this way, so get ready. tears are optional but preferred.”

you roll your eyes at his statement, your gaze following him closely when he stands up and walks over to your side of the table. you look around desperately hoping that no one will actually have their attention drawn to you but the thing about gojo is wherever he goes he commands attention. consequently, when he stands at a whopping 6’7 everyone’s already looking, and when he drops down on one knee in front of you, holding that little velvet box in front of you, you catch people’s smartphones shooting up immediately, great. and you're sure the vision of jujutsu’s strongest sorcerer, taking off his sunglasses and holding up a ring box to you would haunt you forever. you think right under reverse cursed technique in his list of talents, they should add acting, because the look in his eyes almost feels real.

the way your name falls so delicately from his lips, before he clears his throat, feigning nervousness. the way he struggles at first to look you in the eyes, the ring sparkling in the dim lighting. he starts:

“you are truly the most beautiful woman i've ever met, inside and out. to know you and love you is a pleasure too great for words, and i want to continue living in it every day. will you marry me?” you roll your eyes, but the smile across your face is genuine, maybe he was right, maybe this is funny. so you have no issue, saying yes, throwing your arms around his neck as he spins you around, delicately sliding the ring onto your finger. the two of you giggle all the way back to jujutsu tech, containers of your free leftovers in hand.

and so it becomes a tradition.

satoru continues to propose to you every time the two of you get the chance to have dinner together, and despite all your better judgment, you laugh and say yes every time.

and what started as a joke, turned tradition, starts to morph into something else.

satoru notices it on a summer day. you're out with the students, supervising them as they spar. the sun’s been beating down for days, he's standing beside you his eyes trained on your hands. your left ring finger has a tan line, it's from that ring. you're not wearing it, you returned it to him last night, forgetting to give it back after dinner and then desperately trying to get your schedules to align for at least five minutes, but he'd been out of town for a week and when he finally got back late last night to find you working on paperwork in your office, he didn't know why it felt like his heart sank when you slid the ring off and put it in his hand.

now, the box feels heavy in his pocket (when did he start carrying it all the time?) and he looks at you with so much adoration that had his blindfold not been on, he'd look like a love-struck puppy to any passerby. you'd been wearing the ring so much it's left a mark on you, it's obvious you'd been wearing it, the tan line a stark reminder that it was there; and something about it makes satoru wish he could make the next proposal permanent. you turn your head to him, smiling softly.

“the first years are something else this year, gojo, did you see yuuji and maki spar? they're going places,”

and he's not sure why but before he can stop himself he's blurting out:

“let me take you on a date.”

you sputter and falter, turning fully to look at him, “are you being serious?”

he nods, that goofy smile of his making you weak to his every whim, it's the same one he gave you that night at that dinner table; the same one that made you start this tradition.

so he takes you out, and then that becomes a tradition. still every day, he thinks of the way that ring looked on you whenever he slid it on your finger, and how he felt rejected every time you gave it back. he'd clear his schedule if he knew he could have dinner with you, just to see the smile you couldn't stop whenever he got down on one knee.

satoru doesn't propose anymore. he figures the next time he does it, he should be serious about it since you're his girl now. on a tuesday night, you're sitting with him on the couch, your legs are thrown over his lap and he looks at you, focused so intently on a book you've been dying to finish, the bookmark always staying near the end as you get called into emergency exorcisms, and he knows. he fishes that ring out of his pocket, the same one he gave you in that restaurant almost two years ago, and there's no fanfare, no cameras, no theatrics. he just opens the box, looks at you, and says,

“hey baby, let's get married.”

and just like the first time, you smile and say yes.

[punkeropercyjackson]

Imma try to chill so that instead of raging,i can just explain this politely:If you're in the Batfam fandom or are interested in joining,please be respectful of the Batkids' canon characterization and stories with exception of the offensive bits because that way,you will be able to fully appreciate and enjoy them as characters and get along with long time fans too as they'll appreciate you for it since Batfanon is so overwhelmingly popular and you'll be helping combat it

You want a ray of sunshine optimist who's actually realistic instead of a cornball and has depth and layers and is beloved by everyone in the DC world?Read for Dick but avoid Tom Taylor and Devin Grayson as their writing of him is extremely ableist,misogynistic(see Babs' character regression for his sake and the 'disposable black love interest' trope times 10x towards Kory)and anti-romani with Taylor being a whole ass zionist and Devin only made Dick romani to fetishize him and wrote canon Batcest and even other pedo ships.She has since apologized for the latter so Batcels can't use her as validation

You want a goth boyloser who's a lone wolf and has an awful relathionship with Bruce where both feelings are completely justified but he himself is morally gray and treated as such rather than coddled?Read for Jason but avoid og Rhato because it's a shitfest that screws over everybody involved including Jason himself and nobody who likes it cares about him at all since it's the worst thing to ever happen to him,INCLUDING The Joker.He was also textually miserable the whole time and is way happier with his new cast on top of being better written

You want a relatable teenage boy who's a positive role model for irl ones and is canonically into dudes and can be the token normie that reacts to the weirdness of his family for jokes?Read for Tim and please don't believe anyone who tries to tell you he's a bad person or a raging misogynist because they're the same niggas who stan Jason the ex-serial killer and Slade the pedophile who's child abuse even of the non-sexual kind is his defining character trait as stated by Marv Wolfman,who MADE him.He's literally just a 17 year old boy who's not perfect and people are just ageist and generally hateful.Everybody should care about Tim Drake /ref

You want a strong female character who's genuinely super weird and real and does justice for the girls that don't fit in and are abused by men but is also really funny and feminine?Read for Stephanie and don't buy into the bullshit propaganda DC keeps trying to keep selling since her debut that she's 'just a girl' or somehow less hardcore than the Batboys or ESPECIALLY the fandom's emphasization of her blondeness when she got it from her abusive dad and has never shown pride in it and was never an 'It Girl',she was the school outcast at ALL her schools,including college.Just because Stephanie Brown is a white girl that dosen't mean she's a white feminist or a prop or basic-She's literally a pastel punk who has a Metalica poster in her room ffs

You want a wasian with gender fuckery who was raised to be a weapon and had no parents until Bruce adopted her and became super human through crazy ass means and is a mega cool edgecase?Read for Cass and keep in mind she was created with the intention of defying easian woman stereotypes,including existing for white men and nothing else and that includes not forcing her to like Jason or steal her Shiva origin to give it to him and as an afro-dominicana,Jason feels more afro-dominican than he does anything else and we HAVE an asian Jason Variant but he was south asian,specifically indian and not easian/chinese so it's even more orientalist than before with Sanjay Tawde's canonicity in mind(He is from The Doom That Came To Gotham for anyone interested)

You want a brown boy raised by a bad organization he has complex ties to because his connection comes from his family who is very much a little shit and anger filled but also a sweetheart who's truly trying his best?Read for Damian but keep in mind he's a victim of anti-arab writers,he's not a demon or a villain or an animal-He's just a hurt little boy who's almost never known anything but pain and being seen as a monster compared to white boys and that's why so many Damian stans are so grateful for Flatline/Nika because she loves him as much as we do and gives him the TLC we wish we could(platonically in our case but still)

You want a troubled but good kid who has god-like superpowers and loves to run his mouth,gives Bruce's headaches with his shenanigans and is not only an unconventional Robin but Jason's Robin and vice versa?Read for Duke and don't even look in the general direction of runs that leave him out-Which do the other Batboys dirty too every time anyway!!Duke has refered to Bruce as his dad and Bruce has refered to Duke as his son and ALL the Batkids see him as their brother and the poor guy feels left out of them because DC are a bunch of antiblack pieces of shit who baited us with the first ever black Robin just to exclude him for his blackness and act like they were being 'careful'.Nah,FUCK that-If Cass can be respectfully written as Bruce's kid,so can Duke!He don't got parents either,the ogs got Jokerized and Gnomom is emotionally abusive and he's literally a minor!

And they're just the core Batkids!!!If you're looking for another type of character,then they definitely exist and i'd be happy to tell you who fits it so i can tell you what to read/watch/play for them!Trying to switch the Batkids CAN be good depending on how you do it but 99% of the time it's just bigotry!REAL bigotry minorities can't stop dealing with just by logging off and fandom is supposed to be a safe space for weirdos-Not 'nerds',WEIRDOS.Black people and woc and mentally ill people and autistics and abusive survivors and EVERYONE,not just stupid ass kinksters that think kink is inherently anti-establishment and white people who had 'hateful ideology phases' and think it's universal and play victim when told otherwise

'All Batboys are trans and autistic!'but then they leave out the most autistic-coded and tboy swag filled Batboy just because he's black and use the 'mains' excuse when they've never read enough comics to know that became a thing,that it wasn't always a thing and that it dosen't make SENSE for it to be a thing.'All Batkids are/do [x]' but they leave out the girls even though 'Batkids' is the gender neutral term as it's meant to refer to the whole gang.Do not fall for it.They're about as gooth faith as 'Allmighty God Superman who fucks all the women' dudebros.Please be kind and be a real superhero fan by reading the comics so you can join us in dunking on them.Please,you'll be doing the comics fandom a lot of good and you might even help influence the comics industry itself because it responds to mass fan appeal way far back and that's how we got a fair amount of runs and adaptions we do today and yesterday and tommorow.I promise it'll be infinitely more fun than fanon too

[puhpandas]

after watching that theory video where Cassies dad as hw2 protag is talked about I'm hoping so hard for cassie hw2 protag like. with the unused vanny lines and hw2 and ruin being made together releasing back to back referencing eachother the narritave of introducing cassie and establishing her being left under the pizzaplex ties perfectly into hw2. shes still trapped underground with all the items she collected throughout ruin and a helpy screen and vanny originally spoke to her acting as being on her side and manipulating her into becoming the new vanny

not only is it perfect lore but it's also narratively satisfying. as a writer analyzing Cassies character shown in ruin genuinely is SO perfect for the elevator situation and vanny. like unbelievably perfect. cassies story is at its core about abandonment issues and friendship and both of those things would have been targeted if mimic cur the elevator.

it would be tricking cassie into thinking Gregory did it (cutting her off from her friendship and making her believe it was false, then serving the abandonment issues) and then taking advantage of her fragile state (probably mentally and physically) to offer her a new friend that wont leave her or abandon her: vanny

especially with prior knowledge of vanny where vanessa had to be mentally broken down and belittled for vanny to take over, it fits perfectly with that and literally couldnt have been designed better.

the dream is hw2s dlc actually using Vannys unused lines and fully jumping into that narritave of vanny!cassie, also revealing that Gregory didnt cut the elevator (self indulgent but also dream scenario is a black room void with Gregory and vanessa remodels showing Gregory's reaction to the elevator crash as an ending/secret) to really show everyone hey mimic and vanny did this and now theyre back in operations and its then set up that Gregory, who mimic and vanny have convinced cassie is the enemy, has to try and get through to her to tell her he didnt do it and attempt to strip down all of the manipulation and lies vanny and mimic have done to cassie

like this is just too perfect, and the way that they wrote it just feels too on purpose. like come on, "that mask suits you"??? and hw2 is a perfect place to show that story, since a story purely about manipulation having happened would be hard to make a campaign game out of lmao

I'm just. hoping for it so hard. I at least think that it feels leagues better than cassies dad dying as the whole plot. like what would he even do?? how would it progress the story?? I can't see any way it would, at least not at all in the way vanny!cassie would

not to mention the entire nature of princess quest 4. the princess aka the embodiment of vanessas trapped soul literally handed the player character the sword like passing down the torch, aka handing cassie the crown since shes now the trapped princess? makes literal perfect sense

I just cant see fnaf somehow making Cassies dad the princess lmao

also also, the candy cadet story about the woman and the young boy. it says the oven door closes at the end after the woman does NOT get revenge on the witch (vanessa killing vanny) and that probably means the oven door closes not on the woman and the boy but instead cassie. also makes narritave sense and the other story about the family and the meal also applies to this because of the "not doing something" theme

[arabian-bloodstream]

The Object of Your Ire, Take 2

OK, so I've been reading posts on HOTD this season but been quiet, but after this last episode, I had to come out of hiding, because, yeah, I just can't. I called this after season 1, and I think I'm pretty sure where we're headed now. I genuinely do not believe that Daemon is being written out of character, or that this is coming out of nowhere, or that this makes no sense, or that Daemyra are being destroyed. Truly, just be patient. I think we're gonna be good.

I wrote this on October 21, 2022: The Object of Your Ire

And, yeah, I was almost 99% right there, so I've got a pretty good read on the thought process they got going. So, here's my take.

First, let's assess the situation.

Viserys dies. The throne is usurped. Daemon wants to go to war. He has no problem crowning her because they are both fire and blood. However, like Viserys, Rhaenyra cautions temperance. Because of this, Daemon fears she is weak like his brother. Luke is killed and Rhaenyra is enraged, and Daemon thinks now she will be on the same page as him. They will go to war and wipe out the traitors. They will indeed burn together. Instead, due to the Jaehaerys "mistake," Rhaenyra is once more urging caution, and Daemon's not here for that. Rhaenyra finally calls him out on the fact that Viserys didn't trust him, and now she knows that she can't either, not in this very volatile climate.

Daemon is proud and stubborn, and just as he didn't believe that Viserys didn't trust him but it was rather a case of jealousy and his own ego at play cannot see that it truly was the fact that his own intemperate actions pushed Viserys, and now Rhaenyra to this point. So he storms off. Now, in Harrenhal, these visions he is having are bringing home his guilt, parallels to moments in his life with Rhaenyra that pertain to her as heir and him not.

1) The camera work when he "killed" young!Rhaenyra was identical to when Viserys had him on the floor in S1EP4 and Viserys told him he didn't want Rhaenyra he wanted the crown 2) Rhaenyra on the Iron Throne as he walked towards her paralleled when we first saw him and Rhaenyra in the first episode but it was Daemon on the throne 3) Young!Rhaenyra was wearing the same dress that Rhaenyra was wearing when she mentioned Aegon's prophecy to her, the same when he choked her

(Also, someone pointed out that in the actual scene in the 1st episode, Daemon and Rhaenyra spoke Valyrian to each other. In this haunting vision, only young!Rhaenyra is doing so. Daemon is speaking the Common Tongue. He does not want to engage in their "secret language" in this version of young!Rhaenyra because she is not the real Rhaenyra and he knows that.)

So, why? Why is he having these visions? And why did he have the vision of having sex with his mother? Because Daemon has deep-seated issues of guilt and ego, and mommy and daddy-issues. Because Daemon feels like he should have been the one on the throne. That HE was better than Viserys. That HE would have been a better king than Viserys. That he would have been the favored son. But remember… these aren't JUST Daemon's visions, he's also almost assuredly being slipped something from Alys Rivers to hallucinate things. So, there is that. Basically, we're having a deep character dive into Daemon to deal with his guilt over some of the fucked-up things he's done, his issues that are even too much for him, and Alys's woowooaaahh! is pushing that along its way.

Oh, and BTW, that woman in Daemon's hallucination wasn't ACTUALLY Alyssa Targaryen. So, people saying, oh noes, they've ruined Alyssa Targaryen, no, no, they have not. We haven't met the real Alyssa Targaryen. That was some fucked-up concoction of Daemon's deranged psyche, not the real woman. Not by a long shot. Daemon desperately misses his wife, but he messed that up, and can't admit that he messed up. He's not there yet. He can't admit that. He also can't admit that he would make a lousy king. Last we heard him say, he's still saying that he should be king, and Rhaenyra his queen, by his side. Ah, ah, ah, ah, but I think the reason for this arc is to deal with that once and for all….

And there's good news on that front.

I know I'm kinda all over the place here, and I apologize, but there's a crap-ton to unravel. Look, Daemon is a fucking mess. But the first two episodes set this up perfectly to get us where we are and lead us, I believe, to where I think we're going. I could be wrong, absolutely, but I really did nail the whole Daemon/Viserys/Rhaenyra lack of trust/heir messed up in the head thing. I really did. So, I'm kinda trusting my gut here.

So, first couple of episodes, Daemon is itching to do things his way. He can't as he's waiting for the queen's go-ahead, but she's off looking for proof of Luke's death. She finally comes back and gives him that go-ahead. YAY! He thinks, but then he makes a "mistake," and she tears into him, telling him some very hard truths that he is just not willing to hear. So he storms off on his dragon. That's our set-up.

Then the next three episodes have been at first, he's working on getting the army for her, but then it starts to become about well, she's not doing this how I would, and I would be better so I should be the king and she can be my queen, so it should be my army, yeah, yeah, that's the ticket. Except it hasn't been as black and white as that because:

He's having all of these visions that are wrecking him, reminding him of how he was not the chosen heir at one point, it was Rhaenyra. (Natch, just like in the real world, Aegon/Alicent were getting that same dose of reality.)

He's stomping all over the Riverlands trying to force people to do his bidding as he would if he were king. First he tells the young Tully heir to kill his grandfather (nope, won't do, the kid loves his grandsire), then he threatens to kill the Brackens (or Blackwoods, I forget which, LOL) with dragonfire (nope, they'd rather die), then he's all do war crimes, but not in my name (they do the war crimes, under the Targ flag). In other words, Daemon does everything wrong. He kinda shows that Viserys was right.

We have that lovely final shot of him, head bent as he leans against the fireplace that flows directly into from the opposite side --> Rhaenyra leaning against the fireplace, head bent. SOULMATES!

Then she has her little talk with Lord Alfred, sending him to Harrenhal to find out what are Daemon's intentions. And there are three very interesting things of note in this scene. 1) That she knows Daemon well enough to know that he might be considering raising a host in his name. Yeah, it's awful of Daemon to even be considering that, but the fact that Rhaenyra knows him THAT WELL, yeah, you go, Rhae-rhae!, 2) Lord Alfred immediately was all like: "His intentions? But, but, but… Prince Daemon would never!" Loved that. Because you know it did not come from a place of Daemon Targaryen is just known for being SUCH a loyal guy, but rather because they know he loves his wife. Uh huh! And 3) Rhaenyra's message: That she wants to finish their conversation. Love, love, love that. Girl is like, babe, we gonna hash this out!

Furthermore, we also had Jace (sweet, beautiful, perfect Jace, Iluvusomuch!) having Daemon's back when talking to the Freys, but straight up just expecting Daemon to be there for Rhaenyra because that's just what's been up for so long, and then he cut himself off because of their, erm, "marital spat, but still, yeah, he just, that's his expectation about Daemon when it comes to Rhaenyra, and that just made my heart go SQUEE!

On another Jace note with regards to Daemon and the Riverlands, so ya got Daemon there failing spectacularly in his attempt to gain a host, while Jace--using tactics learned from his mother's school of politicking--got a big swath of Riverlands mileage they can use. So, Daemon's whole 'your way sucks, my way is better' isn't quite working which brings me back to eps 1-2 set-up, and what eps 3-5 have been doing for us.

Rhaenyra asked Daemon "Do you accept me as your queen and ruler?" We didn't get an answer. I believe--and I totes, totes could be wrong, but I believe that we are heading toward the moment when Daemon can answer Rhaenyra because he has exorcised enough of his demons that he can finally say yes. He can say yes because he realizes that his way isn't the way. That Viserys didn't trust him because of Daemon's actions, not because of jealousy on his brother's part. And that Rhaenyra following suit wasn't her lack of faith, but Daemon's lack of control. And that is his arc, gaining that realization, and that control, restoring her faith in him.

I think.

[markantonys]

the single best thing the show could do for the polycule is a very simple change: make it happen on purpose. make all four members work together from the beginning to set up a poly relationship intentionally, rather than stumbling into one due to a mix of miscommunication and Fate Said So.

in the books, rand thinks he's having a series of unconnected romantic encounters with three different women and has no idea a polycule is developing until the women come to him to propose the final product. it is documented that the reason rj wrote it this way is because it's inspired by a similar situation he was once in, so i can't exactly blame him for writing based off personal experience, but it does cause several problems in the story.

Problems:

a) rand has little to no input on his own relationship(s) and spends the whole series being extremely passive in his love life. this makes him come across as at best a victim to the whims of his partners who is not allowed to express what HE wants out of the relationship, and at worst an asshole who doesn't really care about any of them as people and doesn't care what arrangements the three of them work out so long as he gets to fuck SOMEONE. it also means that the romances don't have as much of an emotional impact on him/his character development as they should (and as they do on the women) because he's just kinda floating along going "oh whatever you guys want, makes no difference to me."

b) elayne and aviendha get a bad fandom rap as being bad partners to rand because they confuse him on purpose and play games with him. like most of elayne's (in particular) bad fandom raps, this is an unfair exaggeration, but it's rooted in the fact that rj wanted rand to wind up in a polycule by accident rather than helping arrange a polycule on purpose, which means that rand has to hook up with 3 different women in a row without realizing that a polycule is brewing, without having discussed the idea of additional partner(s) with his prior partner(s) and gotten their permission to hook up with other people, AND without coming across as a cheater. which means that rand has to believe himself sufficiently broken up with the prior woman before he can hook up with the next one, which means that elayne has to send him conflicting letters so that he can get away with hooking up with aviendha and aviendha has to freeze him out so that he can get away with hooking up with min.

("they're just greedy/indecisive/cheaters" is probably the biggest harmful stereotype against poly people, and the above approach from the books flirts with that far too much, so the show definitely needs to change that. the majority of people have a very very difficult time understanding polyamory (just look at tumblr, where even the ~wokest~ WOT fans are saying the polycule should be split up into 2 monogamous pairings bc they think the poly aspect is "weird" and they insist that elayne Actually loves aviendha the most or rand Actually loves min the most and that they can't possibly REALLY mean it when they say they love multiple people equally), which is why it's especially important that the show portray it in a way where it's abundantly clear that it's not cheating or rand being greedy/indecisive/stringing a bunch of women along.)

c) the problem for the other 3's approach to the polycule is miscommunication. the problem for min's is Fate Said So. she is rammed into the polycule by prophecy rather than by spending enough time with the other parties to come to want it on her own, and so she coasts along on "you have to let me join your relationship because it's fated to happen no matter what" rather than needing to put in the same work elayne and aviendha do of bonding with each other, making an effort to learn about aiel polyamory practices (in elayne's case), and growing to genuinely want to share their partner with each other and to genuinely enjoy seeing the other happy with him.

the result is min feeling out of place in the relationship: elayne constantly thinks about how she loves rand and aviendha equally, then sometimes hastily adds min as an afterthought; aviendha is very firm that she can't share rand with elayne until they're first-sisters, but shrugs and makes an exception for min for no reason (but then proceeds to think how she wishes she didn't have to share her partner with a near-stranger); min barely cares about the other two and frequently thinks how she wishes she could just have rand to herself and it's unfair that she has to share him. it's a very glaring contrast how elayne and aviendha come to feel genuine joy and compersion at rand's love for the other, while the most positive thought min ever has is "if i HAVE to share (which i'd rather not), then elayne isn't the worst option for a co-partner."

on this last point, monogamous people forcing themselves to try out polyamory for their poly partner's sake (which is absolutely how book!min comes across) is something that happens and gets people hurt irl, and contributes to the societal misconception that polyamory never works out long term and that a choice will inevitably have to be made (again, see tumblr deciding that the endgame will have to be elayne & aviendha happily monogamous in caemlyn and reddit that it will have to be rand & min happily monogamous traveling the world). so if the show is going to portray polyamory, imo it has a responsibility to show that it is a viable long-term relationship type that people can be genuinely happy in. thus, all 4 parties need to choose this type of relationship because they want it, not because fate said they had to, and especially min since she's the one who is the most explicitly in the "only doing this bc fate" camp in the books (whereas rand, elayne, and aviendha all come across as genuinely polyamorous people who likely would have settled on this arrangement even without prophecy foreknowledge).

Solutions:

i made a post recently-ish with a hypothetical timeline for 8 seasons of the show, so if i make any unexplained assumptions in this section about what seasons various characters will be spending time together during, that's where they came from.

i feel pretty confident that rand/aviendha will be the first romance we see in the show, since he's still getting over his much-more-serious-than-the-book-version relationship with egwene and it would make sense to give him season 2 to finish that up and to hold off on new romance for him until season 3. i'm predicting he and aviendha will also meet elayne at falme in 2x08, but i also expect the characters will set off on their TSR roadtrips by the end of 3x01 at the latest, which gives rand and elayne no more than 1-2 episodes together - enough to establish Crush Vibes, but not enough to actually have anything happen between them. so, the show will go out of order and start with rand/aviendha.

which is a perfect way of changing the polycule from accidental to intentional! having rand's first romance be with the partner who is from a poly-aware culture means that the entire set of relationships is now being built off a poly-aware base. from the get-go, aviendha can explain the concept of polyamory to rand and make it clear to him that she is comfortable with that sort of relationship, which means that they can get together and stay together rather than needing to backslide so that rand has an excuse to go off and fuck other people. he doesn't need excuses if he instead has permission! also, rand/elayne not having happened yet would mean aviendha has no reason to feel guilty and pull away from rand after sleeping with him.

so, rand and aviendha are solidly together and poly-curious by the time they reunite with elayne in s4. aviendha can see that rand and elayne like each other, so she encourages them to get together, and rand/elayne can indeed get together without rand/aviendha needing to be tanked first since rand and aviendha are both on the same pro-poly page. elayne knows a little about polyamory from meeting bain and chiad at falme (and maybe from meeting alanna or other greens at the tower), and she has feelings for rand but also likes aviendha and doesn't want to interfere with their relationship, so she is happy to agree to the arrangement. but she still has plenty to learn about aiel ways and about aviendha, and aviendha wants to become first-sisters as is proper, so even without aviendha having toh to elayne for banging rand, the two of them still have a reason to want to bond and grow closer (and for the show, this arc will result in them falling in love instead of or in addition to becoming first-sisters).

so we've fixed the narrative relying on miscommunication to get rand, elayne, and aviendha into the polycule. now to fix the reliance on Fate Said So for min. we can safely say that she's already had her 3-women viewing judging by that line in s1, so she already knows the polycule is fated. this in itself is fine - wrestling with knowing you're fated to love someone is an interesting character arc if done well and done sparingly [sideeyes rj on both counts]. what needs to be changed is how min USES this foreknowledge.

don't have her share it with elayne, aviendha, or rand until after the four of them have gotten together naturally. have her discuss the viewing with her aunts in s2 (or, hell, even with mat, could be a good way to contribute to the friendship they're supposed to have at the end of the series) instead of with elayne, and have her say she knows who 2/3 of the other people are but would never want to tell them about this viewing because it sucks to know you're fated to love someone before it's happened and she'd hate to burden anyone else with that knowledge. have her keep the viewing to herself because she wants rand and elayne (and aviendha, tho min doesn't yet know who she is) to have the freedom to fall in love by choice, even though she herself can't have that freedom. (shit, now that i write it out i actually LOVE the idea of mat being the one she's having this convo with since he too will soon be struggling with a Fated Romance.)

in the books, by telling elayne soon after meeting her that she'll have to share her boyfriend with 2 others and then in salidar going "one of them is me btw so you'd better give me permission to fuck your boyfriend when i see him soon," it feels like min is using her viewing to bully elayne (and later aviendha) into letting her join the relationship. min telling rand in eotw that he shouldn't bother with egwene because they won't end up together also contributes to this vibe, and the show has thankfully already cut out that moment, so i have high hopes that they're attempting to make min more..........empathetic, i guess, in terms of how she uses her viewings. book!min is understandably afraid of being left out in the cold since she doesn't know which if any of them rand will love back, so she uses her viewings to prime the other parties to be willing to Let Her In when the time comes, basically, but it's still kind of a shitty thing to do. however, so far, due to being older and much more mature and much more reluctant to share viewings, show!min gives me the vibes that she would rather quietly resign herself to unrequited love than have to burden other people with the knowledge that their love is Foretold (particularly once she comes to view elayne as a friend in s2).

so, if min doesn't share the viewing with elayne and aviendha in advance, then she will have to join the relationship naturally, by spending time with and getting to know all 3 parties, rather than by telling them they have to let her in because Fate Said So. i see space for all 4 of them to be in the same place together during season 4, while avirandlayne is brewing but min is still just a friend, so that would be a great time for min to bond with them all prior to getting with rand (and maybe as a result, rand develops a crush on her and confesses it to elayne and aviendha, who are happy to give him permission because they already know and like min; alternately, rand has an obvious crush on min but is totally oblivious about it, so elayne and aviendha tease him like "if there is...............anyone else you're interested in.............maybe a certain bartender............you can totally go for it" and rand is adorably baffled as to why they believe he has a crush on min, and then in season 5 he finally Realizes).

and like, wouldn't it be so cute if after the four of them are in a committed polycule, min finally says "hey, i actually had a viewing ages ago that this would happen, but i didn't want to tell you guys and make you feel pressured to love each other" and they all have a good laugh about it together? that would be SO cute!

so, overall, the seeds of a wonderful polycule are there in the books, and the show doesn't have to make a TON of tweaks to help it live up to its best potential! i'm really excited to see what they do with it because it's such a unique romance storyline and one of my favorite aspects of the series, it just needs the Updating For 2020s touch (and the Updating To Reflect The Way Real Human Adults Behave And Communicate With Each Other touch) that the show has so far excelled at applying.

[madphantom]

A brief summary of an insane night

It may be known that I recently wrote a haunted house novel called Sarah. It may also be known that I have unsuccessfully tried to explore an abandoned house in a nearby village for several years now because the neighbours chase me off every time I try. Said house is actually in a photo in said novel.

Sooo tonight I was at a poetry jam and read a snippet of Sarah for a crowd. The bar where it took place was pretty full, so my gang ended up sitting at a table with two girls we didn't know.

I recently got a physical copy of Sarah from my friend on my birthday, and took it with me. At some point it was passed around the table, and this one girl recognized the house and was like "wait, I know that house. It has a mountain of lore".

Naturally I'm hyped, so she told me everything.

Basically, an old woman lived and died in that house. Her son is in jail so he can't claim the house and take care of it, and it's rotting away without him. But, and this is interesting, according to local legend, this house is haunted as fuck. People-are-scared-to-go-near-it levels of haunted. They say that the dead woman is scarily present in that house and honestly, I get what they mean because I don't believe in ghosts, and I have never seen a house with such a presence before. It genuinely and sincerely feels like the house is breathing when you're standing in front of it. I could go into poetic levels of descriptions of what the hell this house does, but basically I can sum it up with I don't believe in ghosts but I believe that it's haunted.

And yeah, found all that out through my little Sarah novel. So that's pretty cool:)

[hoseokspudding]

  ˖ ৎ୭ ॱ ₊ . * Starburst

𓂂 ࿐ ۫ ִ ⸼ Synopsis: You, as the girlfriend of Korea's top actor, began to suspect him of cheating when you discovered a text from a mysterious woman and that he's coming home late and not paying attention to you.

Characters: Zen from Mystic Messenger

Parrings: Zen x Jealous blackfem reader

Genre: Hurt/Comfort Nsfw

Word count: 2k

Warnings: Afab reader, unprotected sex, cussing, angst, nipple play, cream pie, pet names, make up sex, soft, tummy bulge, gentle, jealousy, suspecting of cheating, mentions of slight racism

｡ﾟ♡ ˖ ࣪ ୧ ｡: Author's notes:

WOAH DEE ACTUALLY WROTE SOMETHING?! IS HELL FREEZING OVER?!

Eek! Hello everyone this is my first fic here on Tumblr and my first NSFW fic I ever wrote ʕ⁠ ⁠ꈍ⁠ᴥ⁠ꈍ⁠ʔ. I hope that I did a great job and met everyone's expectations. I really want to thank @dejwrites for inspiring me to come back to writing and giving me tips as well. I want to thank @hachikosworld for giving me advice as well.

It been a long time coming but I just want to thank all my moots and new friends for being so patient with me. This community is so friendly and I'm excited to continue writing and creating new friends along the way. Anyways I hope you guys enjoyed it. I really tried my best and I hope it shows (⁠*⁠˘⁠︶⁠˘⁠*⁠)⁠.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡

Also feel free to message me and inbox me. I really want to make friends and share headcanons and all my silly ideas with everyone in the community.

NO MINORS ALLOWED

"You know what? I'm done!"

You stormed out of your and your boyfriend's apartment after arguing with him about how he is always late from work and barely spends time with you. Not to mention that you discovered a suspicious text from a woman on his phone while sitting on the couch earlier that day, leading you to suspect him of cheating.

It wasn't always like this at first. When you two first met it was the summer of your first semester, studying abroad in Korea where you met the now infamous Zen. You bumped into him while grabbing some coffee from the local convenience store and while holding the cup in your hand, you accidentally bumped your coffee against the male spilling it all over the long haired male. Things began to blossom for the both of you and as a compromise he asked you for your phone number, and then eventually a date.

Hyun was a very unknown actor when you two first started dating, and you stood by him, supporting him anytime he had any qualms about making it into the business or, more specifically, about getting any roles. Fortunately, things would turn around when he finally earned a leading role in a drama. You were really delighted and encouraging of him. However, because of his breakthrough performance, he became overloaded with work and kept busy, which meant that you and him were able to spend less and less time together.

It was difficult to see Hyun surrounded by beautiful women all day, every day. You went insane at the thought of them touching or even talking to him; you craved his touch to be yours alone. People knew Hyun as Zen, his stage name, and as prince charming, but the public would never know about the Zen you knew; the one who would die for you, the same one who would have you pinned up against the door, kissing you all over.

Zen's heart broke into a million pieces; he couldn't believe the girl he adored would suspect him of cheating on her. He was aware that the acting life could be demanding, with him required to make television appearances, award shows, and weekly appearances on an idol show. "(Y/n) dear," he said, looking down at you with his crimson red eyes, "I know I've been extremely busy with life, but I genuinely care about you dear. I know the press can be very intrusive, and it's difficult to keep us a secret–" you snapped again, "that's the thing, Hyun!" You addressed him by his given name rather than his stage name. "I'm sick of it."

"I'm sick of hiding, and it doesn't even feel like we're dating. We can't go out without you wearing some shitty outfit to disguise yourself or coming home late and immediately going to bed because you've been so busy. I'd like to know how my boyfriend is doing whenever he comes home." You were visibly upset with Zen to the point where tears started streaming down your cheeks. You were tired of his empty promises that he would make it up to you whenever he was too busy with work. Even though Zen would lavish you with designer purses, flowers, and even fund your shopping sprees, you still wanted your boyfriend to be there, right?

Your heart ached for him, especially at night when you wanted to cuddle and be held by him all night.

You were tired of not seeing him in the morning while he'd disappear all day without texting you for days. You yearned for the time before he became famous and it was just the two of you; yes, you were poorer back then, but you made it work.

Zen felt terrible for the way he had been treating his partner and for letting you go through this. He believed that by hiding your relationship from the public, he was shielding you from any negative attention he would face for dating in the godforsaken industry. Out of all the professions he could've went into he had to be an actor? He was also aware that he would face prejudice for dating a black woman, and he didn't want you to encounter any racism from his supporters, neighbors, or online users.

Zen was doing his best to decipher the situation as you were outside your shared home and he didn't want to draw unnecessary attention to himself, but he was concerned about you and your feelings.

He began to speak with his smooth, buttery voice. "You may not want to hear this, but I apologize. I didn't think about your feelings at all. You must have been lonely all day while I was at work. I know it's a lame excuse, but I'm genuinely tired when I get home from the set," he began.

You stood there in silence, listening to his explanation for why he was always canceling your plans and spending less time with you. You faced him with your hands on your hips. You also hoped he explained about that girl.

"This new project has been mentally and physically draining, but that doesn't give me the right to abandon you like that. You know how much I adore and care for you, and I would hate for this to tear us apart." He looked at you sympathetically and slowly approached you, grabbing your hands. He stared at your eyes, making sure you knew how sincere he was.

"The girl in my phone is actually a screenwriter trying to pitch a show to Netflix and asked if I wanted to be a part of the plot. I met her on the show I'm known for." You blushed in embarrassment, feeling childish for jumping to conclusions and not trusting your boyfriend.

You puffed up your cheeks, refusing to admit you were mistaken. Zen simply smiled reassuringly. "I don't blame you, princess; I'm surrounded by women all day, and it must be exhausting to think about it. I would have been jealous if you were constantly surrounded by men. I don't give a rat's ass about them because you're the only girl I have my heart set on. To me, you're the most beautiful girl in the entire fucking world. Princess, I love seeing you smile."

"It's simply that I want the rest of the world to know that I exist and that you are mine. I despise seeing you on television with these bitches when it should be me and you "You began to cry out of frustration, but you felt relieved knowing that he listened to you and understood how hurt you were.

Zen slowly embraced you in a hug, allowing you to cry out for him. In all honesty, he didn't know what to say. He wanted the world to know you existed as well and that you guys will be able to spend time with him in public free to do whatever you wanted, but he was well aware of the risks involved. However, he needs to think of something quick before he loses you.

"Please smile for me princess, I really enjoy seeing you smile," he said as he wiped your tears from your now puffy cheeks with his thumbs. "I'll figure it out, okay?"

"Please allow me to make it up to you." He took your hand in his and began walking back inside the house. You were well aware of what that meant for the two of you. You couldn't help but be moved by what Hyun said; he wasn't the type to make empty promises, so when he said he'd figure it out, he meant it. Not to mention how much you missed him and craved his attention and love.

He picked you up and carried you to your guy's bedroom, where the two of you would occasionally make love when Zen wasn't too busy. You held him tightly and let out another smile. He carefully placed you on the bed, taking care not to injure you. He then sat next to you, admiring your beauty.

"Everything will be fine," Zen assures you as he kisses your neck and holds your soft, moisturized, delicate hands. He worked his way around your neck, sucking and pulling at the napes of your brown skin.

He began to roam your body with his free hand, groping your breasts through the shirt you were wearing, feeling your bra holding your breast for dear life. He was so passionate with the way he touched you that you moaned softly. You'd think that with his stature, he'd be harsh, but instead he touches you with loving and passionate hands. He yanked on your shirt and started removing it, then slowly removed your bra, exposing your breast, which perked nicely for him. He started sucking on your tits.

He began by swirling his tongue against the buds of your nipples, then sucking and gently messaging the other breast with his free hand. You moaned again, his veiny and massive hands feeling amazing as he continued to fondle your breast.

After leaving hickeys on your massive tits, he made his way to your neck. He made his way to your lips, leaving a trail of love marks on your neck. As he hungrily kissed you, he couldn't deny how much he missed those plumped lips of yours and how those plumped lips of yours would be stained with gloss that would later end up at the base of his cock.

Zen couldn't help but become greedy; it was as if Zen hadn't drunk water in years and had finally gotten a chance to. He took a step back to examine you, which you were already a mess due to the constant attack on your neck. Your core couldn't help but become saturated with your juices, which oozed like honey from your cunt.

"Awe, I've been far away from my bunny for too long that she hasn't been taking care of," he smirked, before slowly removing his clothes as well. It was impossible not to notice the tint rising from his pants. Zen gently slapped your hand as you reached out to him "No, it's my turn to please you. You waited far too long" He then removed his boxers, revealing his cock, which was surrounded by a bush of white hair. He then untied his ponytail and let his long white hair fall down.

Zen slowly removed your short skirt, and seeing the dampness forming on your panties turned him on even more. He started rubbing the fabric of your panties, causing you to throw your head back and moan. He smiled and kept pressing his digits against you, enjoying how your panties got wetter and wetter with each press. He then pushed your lacy white panties to the side and slid a finger inside you, preparing you for his member. "How long has it been since I've last played in your pussy, eh? It's so lovely and juicy, and it's only for me."

You couldn't help but curl your toes and moan as he reached places you'd never be able to reach with your hands. Zen craved more of your moans because they were so addicting. "Please H-Hyun...I want more," you begged him. "Whatever my princess wants, she gets." Oh, how you missed Hyun, not Zen, the guy you fell in love with, the guy who was so in love with you that he was pussy whipped by everything you did.

He grew tired of using his fingers after a while. Zen got on his knees, gripped your thighs, and began licking your wet region, making slurping sounds as he hungrily sucked your clit as he craved to taste your juices and hear your voice desperately call out to him. You whimpered and whined for him as his tongue maneuvered every inch of you, exploring every crease. You couldn't stop yourself from grabbing his long silky white hair and calling out for him. "Z-zenny soo good," your voice would trail off as you moaned his name. You threw your head back and moaned once more.

Fuck. He was in desperate need of you. He craved you more than his cigarettes, and he desperately wanted to be inside of you, reclaiming you, reminding you that he still loves and cares for you. He wanted you to scream his name into the sky and let everyone know that you belong to him, even if he's busy with work.

He stepped away from you and licked his lips; he began catching his breath, allowing you to do the same. After a few seconds, he began to position himself near you, bending down to kiss your neck as he slowly began to slide himself into you. You began to grunt, remembering how good his cock felt inside of you. You yelped and bucked your hips slightly, feeling the pleasure return to you.

He gave you a moment to adjust yourself, knowing you hadn't done anything in a long time. "I'm ready now," you said, giving him permission to begin. Hyun then began to pump inside of you, drilling the inside of you with each pump. He drew you in closer and continued to plow your insides, his hips digging into yours. You immediately grabbed his arms and cried out to him, desperate. God, you missed it, the way he would passionately fuck your brains out.

Your brows knitted up as he began to burry his cock inside of you. With each stroke he made, the sheets of the mattress began to bundle up as you held on for dear life. Giving you deep and slow strokes at first so you could feel how much he loves you. Hyun quickly abandoned that, however, as he became desperate for you.

Hearing you moan and groan his name was so addicting. Your body wasn't helping him either, as your pussy started making gushy sounds due to how wet it was. He was feeling so good that he couldn't help but make elegant sounds himself. As he continued to probe your insides, his face turned bright red.

He knelt down and kissed your lips, sucking the bottom of your lips and letting out a couple of moans that sent vibrations against you.

You started touching his nice chiseled body all over, running your soft hands all around his chest, feeling each peck. You had always admired his gym physique. He was always going to the gym in his spare time and when he wasn't spending time with you. You smiled through the entire kiss, enjoying how he still kisses you so beautifully as he drilled into your wet sticky core.

He pushed your legs against your head without warning. You looked at him, completely dazed by the fact that he was now fucking you deeper than before, reaching into places and repeatedly hitting your g-spot. You yelped as a rush of pleasure washed over you. You dug your manicured nails into his skin, "Hyun! P-please," you said as his pumps increased in speed.

His cock was so deep inside you that you could see it poking around in your stomach. His manhood was constantly striking your cervix, intensifying your pleas for him.

Zen grinned as he looked down at you, seeing how messed up you were beneath him. "Did my baby miss getting fucked like this?" he asked. You blushed and shook your head yes.

More and more pleasant sounds escaped your pretty lips as Zen continued to pump his girth into you. As you approached your climax, your stomach began to twist and turn into knots. "F-fuck" was all you could say at this point. "I'm going to c-cum," you moaned. Zen's voice twitched as he neared his climax. He grunted and moaned a few times. "I-I'm close behind you," his breath became shaky as he desperately wanted to fill your void with his cum.

You let out a yell as you came, and Zen, after a few pumps, had also reached his climax as well. He drew away from you and began catching his breath; he was drenched in sweat that trickled down his body. You were soaked in sweat, and your make-up was practically ruined by dried tears on your cheeks and smeared mascara.

"Want another round, eh?" He stated this while looking down at you. Zen pushed his hair back away from his face, allowing you to really take in his beauty. You couldn't help but fall in love with him all over again. You laughed softly and drew yourself onto him, anticipating what the night would bring the two of you.

Thanks for reading! Reblogs Likes, Shares and comments are greatly appreciated ฅ⁠^⁠•⁠ﻌ⁠•⁠^⁠ฅ

Tags: @zhenzhenist @dejwrites @hachikosworld @iin0va @sailewhoremoon

© Hoseokspudding 2023 all rights reserved. my work is not to be stolen, translated, reposted or copied.

[sushler]

So, here are my thoughts on the Rammstein two-year hiatus phenomenon. I might be dropping a bombshell here, but this is genuinely my honest opinion: Regarding the credibility of the source, I can't say for sure. Personally, I believe it. They deserve the rest. However, let's put it into context. The news came from a user—by a woman—who, according to rumors, last year followed Paul and Richard to their hotel and waited until they came out. She’s a quite obsessed with the band and has occasionally misled the fans. There are even claims that she's a hardcore Richard stalker, going so far as to publicly reveal Richard's house during her Berlin trip. She also wrote racist things about Paul and unkind remarks about Till.

But I'll emphasize that this is all gossip related to this woman, and I don’t know the accuracy of these accusations. Understandably, some fans remain skeptical of what she claimed. She was the first to make public that Paul mentioned a 2-year break to many fans (which, honestly, wouldn't hurt them).

I’m not saying there should be a tour in 2025, no, there shouldn’t be. And the demanding ones should shut the fuck up. There were Hungarians on Facebook demanding that they come back to Budapest. And other Facebook forums

Now there’s the fact that Rammstein and its members are not young anymore and they fuckin deserve a break. Additionally, Till is keeping up with the times; he is still an enemy of the German media due to last year’s incident, and he really needs to take a rest now. RZK also isn’t doing well; it was clear that during some shows he almost crying because of the pain in his back and legs. (If we consider that in 2022 he was really in bad shape and that he has chronic back pain, if what I read on Reddit and Tumblr is true). He is also 57 years old. Till is over 60, Paul will also be 60 this year, Ollie, Doom, Richard, and Flake are close behind, followed by Schneider and Flake, then Richard and Ollie. The break is understandable; the band just turned 30, which is a great achievement without any member changes. They’ll quiet down a bit, and then we’ll see what happens. In the meantime, we’ll get a concert film or documentary, Ramm4’s single will be released, so while they rest, we’ll still get something as fans.

In summary, the break is justified, and it was long overdue.

Thank you for your attention..

[drbased]

Your last two theory posts are absolutely fascinating and I'd love to read more on this subject from you, it really resonated with me. My father started getting radicalised online during lockdown, he's now a Q anon, a climatosceptic and a antivax amongst other things. I saw the man who taught me tolerance and acceptance become extremely racist, antisemitic, homophobic and most of all misogynistic over a few years (even tho he has two daughters, one being out as a lesbian. And his family having been subjected to horrible racism in his youth when he immigrated from Algeria) and it has utterly destroyed our relationship. We're no better than acquaintances now.

The biggest shift of all was how he went from an agnostic antitheist to a Christian during lockdown, then shifting again to a weird neutral stance I can't really explain. He says he's against all organized religion and authority (just so we're perfectly clear, I don't believe that for a second), but at the same time he has started seeing everything through the lens of Christianity (which was a big factor in how antisemitic he suddenly got). What I mean by that is that satanism in particular has become the central point of his whole philosophy. Everything is about the devil now. He told me I was supporting satanism as a horror movie fan, but also as a woman who supports femen activists. He thought the Olympics opening Ceremony was about Satan. Every single movie has a hidden message about Satan. He also notably started becoming a weird fan of psychiatry (my mum is a psychiatric nurse and an amazing one at that, she is very knowledgeable about these things) and started diagnosing random politicians and celebrities with "conditions" he made up which STRANGELY, have very demonic symptoms according to him.

[content warning ⚠️⬇️]

If I said everything I have to say about how the satanic panic got to him I would write for 4 hours. This has completely uphanded his life. Obviously like many like him, everything is about pedophilia too. The two are obviously linked. His new theory is that the president of our country (Emmanuel Macron) was raped when he was a newborn by his current wife (who is actually a man according to him) and it affected his brain which allows a secret organisation in the shadows to control him 👍 and also it's all about Satan too how could it not.

This whole thing has genuinely ruined my family, and he has been relentlessly trying to convert us and prove to us that these theories are real. This has not worked out great for him as his four children pretty much gave up on him. And the worst part is that I'm sure that our collective reaction and repulsion has only cemented his convictions. Because people like him love to feel oppressed and silenced.

I'm gonna be honest I completely forgot where I was going with this, I typed way more than what I planned. (Sorry for any mistakes English isn't my mother tongue)

I think feminists need to talk more about these conspiracy theories (at least I'd like to feel a bit less crazy, because I only hear about this from him and all that gross stuff he talks about like it's nothing is getting to me) and I was so relieved when I saw your posts! I was like omg I hear about that subject from someone who actually makes sense. If you have any recommendations of things to read, listen to or watch on this subject I'd love that and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Love your blog btw! Sorry for the long ask. Have a great day 💜

No worries about the long ask! I love reading other people's perspectives and experiences. And I wouldn't have guessed english isn't your first language; the only thing I noticed is that you wrote 'uphanded' when I think it should be 'upended'.

This is such a lovely ask to recieve! Whilst I love writing and analysing there's always a small part of me that thinks, ok, this specific thing I wrote is totally bunk, nobody's gonna wanna read this. So it's wonderful to recieve such recognition, especially not on anon (no shade to the anons though!)

'His new theory is that the president of our country (Emmanuel Macron) was raped when he was a newborn by his current wife (who is actually a man according to him) and it affected his brain which allows a secret organisation in the shadows to control him 👍 and also it's all about Satan too how could it not.' whaaaaat? Is that an existing theory or something he invented? I can see like three different patriarchal fears in that:

that 'leftist' men are a corruption of healthy masculinity

that men are corrupted by women's sexual violence (patriarchal reversal)

transphobia stemming from a conflation of homosexuality and femaleness as inherently linked; the ultimate in male emasculation and humiliation is the idea of the masculinised woman who dominates him

I grew up with conspiracy theories so I have some understanding of how they create a simplistic narrative out of the complexity and inherent unfairness of life. I always recommend Innuendo Studios' youtube series The Alt-Right Playbook as it was instrumental to me in gaining an understanding of how the right-wing mind works, but on this subject I recommend in particular the video 'You can't get snakes from chicken eggs'. The commentary that really resonated with me is relevant to phrase 'a lie is halfway around the world before truth gets its boots on': a lie can always be percieved - and communicated - much more simply than the truth, so it spreads easier and faster. And conspiracy theories are a way of both simplifying down the narrative into good vs evil, but also adding complexity to fill in all the obvious gaps - e.g., since there's no proof satan exists, but we need him to exist, there becomes an addiction-like obsession with trying to seek patterns that 'prove' he exists.

I can't remember where I read/heard it, but one of the psychological benefits of believing in conspiracies is that you get a gamification of life that generates a community - qanon with his 'q drops' has perfected this process: small bits of incoherent babble alluding to something are drip-fed to the community, who get to decode it in real time. The collective narrative-making is exhillarating, especially in a world with a fragmented culture and isolated people with diminishing 'third spaces'. And I know from personal experiences that one satisfaction from being a conspiracy theorist is that you get to 'achieve' something by doing absolutely nothing; you don't have to be any sort of activist or help people in the real world: since it's all information 'they don't want you to know', simply knowing the information is all that is needed for you to feel accomplished. I would definitely put 'conspiracy theorist' into my 'symbolic states' category because it's so transparently about placing a narrative layer over reality.

It's really sad what's happened to your dad; I imagine it would be incredibly painful seeing someone you love lose touch with reality so violently like that. And I believe you're right; that your collective response to him will only have strengthened his convictions. It reminds me of how it's been shown that door-to-door preaching is terrible at actually converting people, but instead is more useful to cement bonds between the group members as social outcasts. And conspiracy theorists basically pride themselves on being the pariahs who see the truth no one else dares to see.

[scaly-freaks]

Just read the newest chapter and I desperately need to tell you how amazing your writing is. I can’t quite explain the feelings that Aegon gave me in this chapter. I genuinely felt afraid as if I was in Amara’s place, like he seems so sinister and I don’t know if I genuinely just wanted to think of him as like a fun guy who ‘loves’ her so I ignored his red flags but this chapter has struck me. Your writing is so entrancing and each character is fleshed out so beautifully. I loved the part where Rhaenyra and Alicent met and I also loved how you wrote about Alicent’s marriage to Viserys and Rhaenyra’s feelings about this, because it’s also how I felt when I watched the show and I think many people sometimes choose to interpret it differently. The last part with Aegon and Amara actually made me hold my breath the whole way through. Like I cant explain it but your writing is so amazing there’s so much tension and you can feel each characters emotions so deeply. Aegon actually terrified me towards the end and it reminded me of earlier on in the previous chapters where he got annoyed with Amara when he realised what she was doing when he opened up to her. The way he was treating Jaehaera was so cute and then my jaw literally dropped when he was talking to Amara about how he was plotting on her on his injury bed like wow… You’re a wonderful writer and I can’t wait for the next chapter. <3

Thank you so much! I really, really love writing dark characters (no, really) so it felt like homecoming letting him finally lean into it. With a fantasy fic, there's more pressure for me than with a modern AU to deal with plot over characterisation, so sometimes I want to go full dark and just dive into the psyche, but then it's like urgh I gotta handle the politics, hang on -

I think Aegon definitely wants to be the fun guy, and is finding it difficult to face the fact that he can no longer be that same guy he was. He's been through a war, was incapacitated, still has scars, is the king etc etc. Just like Amara can no longer be "just a jester." It's like the sprouting of wisdom teeth - it's happening, and there will never be a time before you knew what it felt like to have them sprout. They both have to deal with it. I love that he Stockholmed you into wanting to believe he's lighthearted though bc this plot twist must have hit.

Writing Aegon is so.....URGH. Because he's such a fucked up character in canon no matter how you look at it, but I prefer him that way. I can't read depictions of him where he's whitewashed because it doesn't hit, but sometimes I can feel myself wanting to whitewash his edges a bit just to keep some warmth in the story (a bit of levity here and there ya know). But I dropped all that and leaned into the aggression of his wants and desires (he wants the throne, he wants his mother to love him, he wants his brother's undying allegiance, he wants Rhaenyra to bend the knee and never rise again) and realised, hey, if he's as intense with them everywhere else, he's definitely wanted Amara the same way but decided to "pretend" otherwise because he liked her personality more than he's ever liked his own. In all honesty he's probably jealous deep down of how loved she is in her family and wants a slice of the pie by being the object of her love ("sucking on the back of her leg to stay warm" ethel cain vibes).

And ARGH Rhaenyra...so happy with how she's turning out :") I wondered about show!Nyra and if she ever wondered what it was like for Alicent because I think she was more empathetic than Book!Nyra. And then how any woman feels in this medieval world knowing a male relative has done something as heinous as sexually assault another woman (Alicent with Aegon on the show is a clear example). They can feel however they want about it, but the rules are that they have to then move past it. Rhaenyra moved past it and decided to not blame Alicent for marrying him (at least in my fic) but also couldn't think of her father as a rapist. It's just how it ended up (but she knows deep down that he is).

Thank you so much for this lovely ask and sorry for the yapfest!!

[moonlitlex]

ok hello. legend of ruby sunday.

i literally can't believe how underwhelmed i am honestly. like i'm not even angry i'm just underwhelmed. i've been pointing to rtd being bad at payoff as a reason i was unenthusiastic for this episode, but this is bad even by his standards.

as that other post i reblogged said, the other first parts of the season finales rtd wrote were actually good STANDALONE episodes while legend of ruby sunday is like a 45 minute long exposition dump. the actual solutions used are kind of questionable but something like army of ghosts or stolen earth is compelling on its own without needing the full season of setup to go with it. legend of ruby sunday underdelivers on its own.

like ok payoff wise i'm only gonna address the decision to use sutekh as the big bad. it's a questionable decision backed up with bad writing. like really... you're gonna pick sutekh.... guy who was in ONE classic who serial? in which he functions perfectly fine by the way! but like.... him?? he's your choice?

and what do we really know about him from this episode? that he's evil? he brings death? you can say that about half the doctor who villains that exist in the first place except the rest of them also come with opportunity for interesting commentary like the being engineered for hatred and killing with the daleks. sutekh doesn't really have any of that. so he's a shallow bad guy.

what he does have that's sort of unique at least in nuwho is that he's a god, and we haven't really done too many god-type antagonists, so that may be novel. unfortunately, rtd already shot himself in the foot by using both the toymaker and maestro recently. it's not novel anymore. it's not new and crazy anymore.

and like, usually the doctor showing real fear actually meant something, but he's been doing that really often recently. he was scared in wild blue yonder, then in the giggle, then in the beatles episode, then in boom, and now he's scared again. this doesn't really help sutekh's case because it seems like all the doctor does nowadays is walk into situations that freak him out.

and what i think this does is make sutekh a particularly bad season antagonist, because nothing makes him special.

do you guys remember how rtd introduced some other season antagonists? in army of ghosts or doomsday (dont remember which one), ten walks into the room and sees the void ship and for once, even the doctor is freaked out by something! he never gets freaked out by things! it actually meant something. when he realizes it's the master in utopia he's kind of terrified and it works because moments of the doctor being scared are reserved for situations that are actually scary. in legend of ruby sunday, he gets scared again, but we don't have that full season of him being unflappable, partly because he just has more occasions of getting freaked out by things than usual and partly because it's just a shorter season and we've only had him for 7 episodes (pre this one) so he's had less opportunities to be delighted at being in some type of crisis situation

and like character wise? does anyone get any character development?

the doctor is basically the same person he's been so far, with the added element of oh he thought this woman was susan. but she's not. so he doesn't really get anything.

ruby wanted to find her mother and was upset she couldn't. which was already her character ever since she was introduced. so she doesn't get anything either.

and the rest of the characters are just doing what they need to to make the story progress or standing around in the scene. and like i don't need mel or kate to be more fleshed out really because i think they're fine. but rose? she already had no character and she still has no character, and also now she works for unit.

and rose noble brings me to donna and ten3. where the fuck are they? like genuinely where are they? it needs to at least be addressed... like are we to understand fifteen is fighting sutekh while ten3 is doing the dishes at the noble household? or did he just wink out of existence at some point between the giggle and now? like there should be at least something about that? and i don't really care if that's going to be addressed later because it's been bugging me in both of the present day episodes we've had this season and fixing it later isn't really going to do anything to fix my initial viewing experience

anyway. this episode was ass. as usual. i can't believe some of you are liking this season i feel like we're watching entirely different shows

[folyoszel]

My Live Blog of The Apothecary Diaries Light Novels Volume 1 Chapter 3: Jinshi

I'm procrastinating packing for my trip that happens in 6ish hours, so I might as well read another chapter of The Apothecary Diaries!

No points for guessing the central character of this chapter. Lol

I do like that the LN has chapters from different perspectives. I love having Maomao as a guide, don't get me wrong, I just also like seeing different perspectives and thought processes.

How many times a day does this poor man have to break up cat fights? If the ladies-in-waiting at Lady Lihua's palace are any indication, it's probably a lot.

On another note, something I haven't really thought of much is that the way that Jinshi and Maomao refer to the consorts as "flowers" or "blossoms" is kind of dehumanizing. I don't think either of them are trying to be rude or anything, I just think they're trying to distance themselves emotionally from the consorts so they can think more rationally about each situation.

I just went ahead and used different colors to differentiate my points rather than trying to take multiple screenshots of one specific paragraph.

Yellow: I know this isn't at all what it meant, but I have a weird imagination, so I pictured Jinshi trying to walk through a pile of lovestruck women while looking absolutely disturbed. I kind of wish that was fanart that existed.

Green: So it really was that Maomao didn't swoon at the sight of him and not her comment about writing. Poor dude really is flabbergasted by her immunity to him.

Red: But it isn't the end. Instead, you will become absolutely smitten with that girl and trip over yourself, trying to get her attention.

I don't know, I think Lady Gyokuyou is probably fine considering how much the Emperor favors her. One woman's sick leave probably didn't hurt her financially and would only up her kind reputation.

I don't blame either one. It's all on the makeup people for not mentioning the fact that it's poison and the people who were managing the harem while Luomen was there for not keeping his warnings about the stuff.

Lead poisoning is awful. Among a bunch of other terrible things, it can cause headaches and general irritability. That as well as the paranoia that comes from being a consort with the eldest/only son, having your child dying in front of you, and having maids who don't believe it's poison until sense is literally slapped into one of them, you can really see how she made that mistake, and it makes the loss of her son all the more tragic.

I really like Lady Lihua because she has all the set up of a general mean girl who will be an opponent for the rest of the series, but turns out to be a genuinely wonderful person who was just in a terrible situation. (Spoilers) I'm really glad she ends up able to have another son later in the series. (Spoilers end)

I appreciate that not only that Maomao tried to make her handwriting look bad to throw people off, but also that Jinshi can apparently tell that she purposefully wrote poorly and that she's a girl. I do kind of understand the gender thing since I've noticed different tendencies between the handwriting of different genders, but I'm going to really question his ability to tell whether the writer is purposefully writing badly or just has bad handwriting. Especially since it earlier said the message was written using grass stains. I can't imagine that being easy.

Great memory for something innocuous that happened almost a month ago. I guess her not stopping to admire his hotness really stuck with him. I mean, Jinshi's had to come across someone so lost in their thoughts that they walked by without noticing him, right? I mean, I sometimes walk around with zero awareness of what's around me. I also appreciate his immediate glee at his lead and the random insult to the people watching the fight between Lady Gyokuyou and Lady Lihua. I kind of love the random, offhand insults that Maomao and Jinshi have in their thoughts.

Does he just have an encyclopedia of different cloths he's felt? And if he so distinctly remembers her and what she said, wouldn't he remember her outfit? Unless the maids that have different jobs have outfits that look similar but don't use the same material. Does any of this actually matter? No, but my brain got stuck on it, and you chose to read it.

I love that Jinshi hasn't spoken a word to Maomao, but he's already delighted by her and the mystery that she's accidentally given him. He's also 100% using Lady Gyokuyou's gratitude as an excuse to satiate his curiosity and boredom with work.

I'm so glad I managed to fit all the quotes I wanted to share in one post, I would've been annoyed if I had to make another post for just one or two quotes. Anyways, thank you for reading once again, and I hope to see you when I cover the next chapter, "The Nymph's Smile."

[hairtusk]

hiii could you elaborate on your thoughts re Sylvia plath’s poetry and antisemitism? or don’t if you don’t feel like it up to you

Hi anon, thanks for the question. I'll definitely elaborate, because most people blindly read on social media that Plath is some 'rabid antisemite' (I'm quoting directly from a 2020 article written by a university student about 'problematic authors' that doesn't feature a single quotation or source to backup its astonishing claims) and accept it as gospel with no further reading, and I'd like to challenge that conception.

Note: I am both a Jewish woman and an enormous admirer of Plath. This is likely the perspective from which I'll be answering. However, that doesn't mean I can't give criticism where it is due, and also, doesn't mean I can speak for all Jews. I will be talking about my personal feelings towards antisemitism.

The main reason that Plath is often accused on antisemitism is due to the Holocaust imagery found in some of her poems (namely those found in the posthumous collection 'Ariel', like Daddy or Lady Lazarus). The imagery is graphic and gutwrenching. This is, however, not the reason that people take issue with her: she is largely criticised for adopting a Jewish 'I' in her poetry, and appropriating an experience for which she has not, and could never, experience. Because Plath is not Jewish, critics say, her writing is inauthentic, and therefore offensive and antisemetic in nature.

The only people who should be able to write about the Holocaust in this manner, they say, are actual survivors (literary critic George Steiner once noted: 'does any writer, does any human being other than an actual survivor, have the right to put on this death rig?'). The argument at hand here, then, is about the use of the 'I' in poetry; if we should only write from first-hand experience, and avoid writing about topics that we have not oursleves encountered, survived, etc.

However, it is incredibly reductive to view Plath's poetry as appropriating the Jewish identity for herself just because the poem has a Jewish speaker, a Jewish 'I'. While 'Daddy' is often interpreted in online spaces as a poem about paternal abuse, it is also very easy to interpret the poem as a narrative about the relationship between European fascism and its victims, explored through the metaphor of the father/daughter relationship. Similarly, Lady Lazarus can be read as a metaphor for Europe in the 20th century, and particularly in the 1940s. It shows incredibly poor comprehension skills to automatically assume that because a poem has a speaker, that speaker is the poet - and that, therefore, if the identity of the speaker and the poet don't align, the poet is appropriating and causing offence.

Additionally, even if Plath were directly and overtly taking on the identity of a Holocaust survivor in her poems (which I would say she isn't), I don't believe that that in itself is antisemetic. Plath's poetry was interested in the central political concern of her generation: that of nuclear war. The idea of a mass-murder of millions of citizens in one fell swoop has obvious links to the Holocaust: Elie Weisel, a Jewish writer and Holocaust survivor, wrote of the topic that '...once upon a time it happened to my people, and now it happens to all people. And suddenly I said to myself, maybe the whole world, strangely, has turned Jewish.' Plath's poem 'Mary's Song', also widely criticised, makes this direct comparison between the European Holocaust, and potential nuclear Holocaust. Personally, I think this is a very apt connection, and I do not think at all that connecting the two in literature should brand a person as an antisemite.

One could present the argument, as Cynthia Ozick did, that 'Jews are not metaphors - not for poets, not for novelists...' and I certainly believe that this is a genuine concern. However, it doesn't take into account the link between history and subjectivity - i.e., which events enter the public conscience on a mass scale. Where Plath's poems mention the Holocaust (which is, might I add, infrequently) the graphic nature, I believe, allows a contemporary reader to cut through the doublespeak and the softened language that is often used to describe the Holocaust in a way that does not disgust, OR arouse anger. While Plath is vivid in her descriptions, she does so in a way that provokes anger in the reader towards the Nazi regime. It is, in many ways, incredibly sympathtic to Holocaust victims, despite the stark nature of the images. The 'Jewish metaphor' allows space to accurately describe the horrors of the Holocaust, and to incorporate other political fears. It is impossible to 'own' history in a way that makes even the mention of it by the Other forbidden. Writing off topics in literature in this way is limiting in the upmost degree.

I could write reams and reams more on this topic, but I think I've said enough for now (I need to get back to actually doing my uni work on this topic). You're free to disagree with me, but I think, for the reasons I've mentioned above and more, that calling Sylvia Plath antisemetic to be genuinely digusting and anti-intellectual.

[still-a-morosexual-help]

You wrote "A big part of pulling free from expectations put on women is by breaking genderstereotypes, which leads to men being able to wear dresses, makeup, heels without being mocked for it because everyone should be able to present themselves in a way that makes them comfortable & happy." OK. But that's not attractive. I'd never fuck or be in relationship with a man who's not masculine. And people like you are erasing masculinity by promoting this mindset. I need traditional, masculine men in life. Because I'm a feminine woman. Men should be happy to be men, and live in their masculine energy. Men are mocked for being men in today's messed up society. That's why we need people like Jordan Peterson and other positive influences to lead them to the right path.

If you're attracted to masculine men, I'm gonna tell something that's very important. Listen up:

GOOD FOR YOU

I genuinely do not care.

Your preference and tastes are your business and like cool man. I'm not trying to dictate your life. Your life is your life. (Obviously as long as it isn't hurting others;) You deserve the freedom to be who you like, act how you like and well do who you like ;)

...get it.... ?

Understand that everyone should be extended the deceny and humanity to be who they want to be ? (Adding this again, because I know you're just the type of person who'd jump through hoops to twist this into saying I'm excusing like mass murder or whatever: as long as it isn't hurting others)

So once again;

Understand that everyone should be extended the deceny and humanity to be who they want to be ? Even men?

If a man wants to be "traditional" then sure cool good for him. If he wants to wear a cute little dress then sure cool good for him. It's not up to anyone else to dictate that choice. Definitely not you and me.

Girl if you like 'em traditional then go find a traditional man. Surprise, Surprise they still exist. They're not some endangered species or whatever you think is happening. I'm not out here hunting them for sport. Coming and complaining to me won't help. If you can't find a traditional man then I think that speaks about some problem from your end not mine :/

Okay but I love how I said that everyone should be able to be "comfortable and happy" in their own skin and you immediately followed that by "OK. But that's not attractive." !?!?!?!??! DUDE!?😂😂😂😂😂😂

Men (and anyone really) aren't just inanimate objects whose sole purpose for existence is to be attractive to you. They deserve to be comfortable and happy even if you don't find them attractive.

That's like someone saying they have a preference for I dunno blond men or whatever? And then believing every man in the world should dye their hair blond just so they'd appeal to that person.

....do you see how unhinged that is?

...how much of a dick move that is?

Maybe that's why you seem to be having trouble finding a traditional man🤔

Sorry! Sorry! That was below the belt. But I dunno a person's chances of getting a date usually shoot up when they're not blatantly an asshole. When they're not putting their partner's sex appeal to specifically them above said partner's happiness & comfort....

Here's my question, I'm an Obey Me! blog right?

How the fuck did you get here? "Traditional" men really are an extinct species in that game😭 did you get lost? are people putting hits out on my name? sending you in here? like genuinely how did you end up here?

Also side note, because I find it really interesting; the characteristics of "traditional men" and "traditional masculinity" has a tendency to change between culture & time. It doesn't really change the flow of our conversation because that's not really the point of it, but it's something interesting to read about if you wanted

Okay well, good luck I guess ❤️✌️

[acacia-may]

From the excerpt ask game, could you answer 15, 16, and 17? 💖

Aww thank you so much, Erika! I'd love to answer your questions and share some excerpts as part of the ask game! 🥰

15. An excerpt from an old piece that I like

After reading your awesome Fairy Tail thoughts (thank you again for sharing those by the way!), I wanted to choose an excerpt from one of my Fairy Tail fics for you. I don't have any Jerza, but I do have some Mystwalker (Edo Jerza) and hope that'll do 😅 This excerpt is from "More Than My Life" which was my very first Fairy Tail fanfiction and is over a year old (so I'd consider it an old piece, especially since I never really talk about it) ^^

"I’ve failed in my duty to protect you, Your Majesty.”  Erza Knightwalker hung her head but could hear King Jellal hum thoughtfully. “I suppose that is one way of looking at it.”  “With all due respect, Your Majesty, what other way is there?” she questioned, glancing up at him again with a slight tilt of her head.  The corners of his mouth twitched just barely with that thoughtful, almost imperceptible smile she had come to recognize after years as his most trusted bodyguard. In many ways it seemed saved only for her and those moments when she was far more frank with him than a servant should be with their king. “That I succeeded in my duty to protect you.”  “Your Majesty, if you are the one protecting me, I have no right to call myself your bodyguard. It is almost nonsensical. When your subjects learn I have allowed you to be injured in my place, they will insist I be stripped of my rank of Captain in your Royal Army and perhaps even imprisoned or banished for treason.”  As something almost affectionate passed over his eyes, King Jellal tilted his head. “I think they will understand.”   “Your Majesty, your people are not as forgiving as you.” Erza sighed. “Though they are good people, they are also reasonable ones. They will never understand why their king would risk his life to protect his bodyguard.”  “Perhaps,” King Jellal admitted quietly; however, his expression softened. “But I can only hope they will understand why their king would risk his life to protect the woman he loves.”  

16. An excerpt from a recent piece i want to brag about

You are too kind to me, Erika! I feel bad I don't have any recent pieces from our shared fandoms, but if you will indulge me, I would love to ramble about "Under The Weather," to you specifically because this relationship is my "finding love again when it didn't seem possible" oc x cc pairing (ala your Nacsele, and you know how I passionately I feel about that kind of love story). Again, I apologize for choosing an excerpt from a fandom you're not in, but I just wrote this story for my birthday back in February and am so proud of it and this scene in particular because I think it means my romance writing is getting better...maybe? (I mean it's still one of those, "wow I can't believe I wrote this" things and they'd both swear they're just friends here...so it's ambiguously romantic(?) (I guess?) but it's an extremely slow burn so I feel like it's appropriate to be subtle). Anyways, I hope you'd have an appreciation for the vibes at least, and I chose from a portion of the story with no specific spoilers for OMORI or anything. ^^

“Lorraine has nothing but nice things to say about you,” he admitted with a slight smile. “She’s always telling me how smart, driven, and beautiful you are. How you’re strong and honest but so kind, so much softer than you want people to know. She says you’d make a great girlfriend.” Hero blushed. That last part had just slipped out—he probably wouldn’t have said it, if he wasn’t so feverish, but Zoey just laughed. “My sister said that to you?” She sighed, rolling her eyes somewhat affectionately but the look in them was genuinely guilty. “Sorry. I’ll talk to her.” As he coughed, Hero shook his head. “No, it’s…it’s okay. She’s right…” His voice trailed, distant and breathy, but he couldn’t stop the words that tumbled out of his mouth, “You are all of those things, and if you did ever want to date someone, that person would be very lucky…” “Not nearly as lucky as the person who gets your heart, Mr. Prince.” Even though Hero was sure she was only teasing him, his face flushed anyway—burning to the tips of his ears. He pursed his lips together, then stared down at his hands on the duvet. “It’s pretty broken…I’m not sure it’s much of a prize anymore,” he mumbled, trying his best to play along despite the sadness that crept into his words. He bit his lip, but he felt her warm, gentle hand reach out to take his. He couldn’t look at her face, but he felt her squeeze his hand, heard her voice—quiet but sincere. “I don’t think that’s true.” As he took a long, shallow breath, Hero shivered, but he wasn’t sure it was from the fever.

17. An excerpt from an unpublished WIP

This is an excerpt from "Something...Happened..." which is a Black Clover WIP I never finished. Noelle is the POV character, and the story takes place when the Black Bulls are combing through Gordon's observation diaries trying to find any information that might help Asta when he is put on trial after the Elf Arc only for silly shenanigans to ensue. It was fun to write, but I think I got distracted by other projects before I finished it...😅 Here's a snippet though ^^

Noelle began to skim looking for anything interesting but it was just the same old, same old. Shopping. Visiting with the vendors. Nothing new or exciting and certainly nothing that is remotely relevant to Asta. After about 4 more pages at the market, Gordon finally returned back to the Hideout. When I returned from the market with our groceries, Vanessa was busy setting the table. Captain Yami decided that we were going to have a special dinner to celebrate our very first mission where we caused no accidental casualties and didn’t earn a negative star. Noelle paused. So they were earning negative stars even back then, huh? No wonder the squad was in such bad shape when she had joined. Captain Yami bought some nice bottles of wine for the occasion, and he is even going to let Finral have some. Captain Yami said that since Finral recently turned eighteen, he should be responsible enough to drink in moderation. Vanessa is particularly curious since she wasn’t allowed to drink in the Forest of Witches, even though she says Her Majesty the Queen of Witches is very fond of red wine. She says she is very excited to finally get to have some. Noelle snorted. She bet she was—considering how fond she was of drinking these days. It was almost comforting somehow to see that her squad mates hadn’t changed much over the years. She had almost expected them to be a little bit different since she was given such an old observation diary. But no, Gordon was still awkward. Vanessa was still friendly. Finral was still a flirt, and Captain Yami still didn’t put up with anyone’s nonsense. It didn’t make for as interesting reading as one would think though. We all sat down for dinner—was the last sentence on this page, but when Noelle turned to the next her brow furrowed. This couldn’t be right… I managed to trap the goat in the bathroom. Then, I gently tied a rope around its collar and led it down to the basement where Captain Yami keeps his magical beasts. The goat seemed scared but there was another cage down there that would keep her safe. Noelle blinked. What? She flipped back to the previous page. Boring dinner. She flipped forward. Goat drama. It didn’t make sense—at least until she noticed the remnants of some pages that appeared to be ripped out.