#i could write a novel on these two

[the-commonplace-book]

For the ship chart maybe you could do Victoria/Prudence or maybe Arthur/ Sally? Honestly love the level of analysis you put into these asks

Send me a ship for the ship bingo chart: Arthur Hastings / Sally Boyle ( We Happy Few )

Arthur and Sally you say? >:) Oh do I have Thoughts™ about Arthur and Sally (anon I’d like to give you a kiss on the mouth for sending them in) 

I’ve talked about Arthur and Sally before and this will come as no surprise to folks who were around last year when I was still in the throws of my first We Happy Few kick: I don’t ship Arthur and Sally and I think it’s good that they parted ways. I’ll talk about the one exception context in which I do ship them later, but for now let me elaborate on why in most scenarios Sally and Arthur absolutely do NOT work together. 

There’s a lot of appeal in the childhood friends, reunited and falling in love, trope at a first glance with Arthur and Sally, but in many ways their past and their respective unwillingness to let go of it is their downfall. Their arc plays perfectly into the narrative themes of We Happy Few. Their perceptions of each other are based on how they thought of each other as teenagers, not who they are as adults - or even who they really were as teenagers. 

Let’s look first at Sally. 

when we're together we're unstoppable. arthur and sally. sir galahad and the lady of the lake. the two musketeers  (Sally Note: Arthur!) i wanted to much to say, help, i've got a bloody baby. but he was so awful all i could get out was sorry sorry i'm sorry, and i want to help you and who even knows if he heard any of it. (Sally Note: Arthur!)

She is desperate for his approval because she respects his opinion, which makes it hurt so much more when he fails to give it. She imagines he’s right, whatever he says about her, because of course he is. She continues to bat her eyes and ask him for things because she knows he can’t say no, but she also continues to take shit from him because she really believes he has the best intentions. She thinks of him as kind and reliable, someone she can trust no matter what, and she does genuinely take advantage of that at times. Moreover, she struggles to accept that he has nuance beyond that and that he honestly had a nasty side that doesn’t line up with her image of him

When Verloc, or Byng, or any other man belittles her she blames patriarchy. When Arthur belittles her, she blames herself. She sees Arthur as smart, kind, and willing to help her with all her needs at the drop of a hat. But is he? Is he really? 

Is Arthur kind? No. Maybe he had more kindness in him as a teen, but Arthur is self-serving and avoids taking blame by painting himself as a victim of circumstance. He always has. Will Arthur help her no matter what? In the end, no. Because helping her came in conflict with point A about his own self-preservation. 

Speaking of Arthur, let’s take a look at how he thinks of Sally. 

She was being all lovely and slipped-the-surly-bonds-of-Earth Sally, only even more so, and then she said she was mates with Sir Robert B, or more than mates I suppose, and from then on all I could think about was that horrible night. (Arthur Note: And Then There Was Sally) The thing is, I don't trust her. She was always so wonderful when she was there, but a girl like Sally always has so many better places to be, and better people to be with, or worse people that she prefers anyway for some reason. And sometimes she'd just hide in Percy's old room in the attic and not come down. Who knows what's going on with her now? (Arthur Note: And Then There Was Sally) I should have said, "How have you been all these years, Sally? You ran off into the night with nothing, and now you're some sort of brilliant chemist. How did you survive? I wish I could have helped you. It would be nice to be friends again." Instead of all those dreadful things. (Arthur Line during The Faraday Cage) What if she is utterly sincere? What if she honestly does want me, and love me,  and need me? Do I have utterly no faith left in anyone? And she'd survive and I'd get killed. A girl like her shipwrecks, and the next day she's drinking margaritas under palm leaves. Yours truly is shark bait. (Arthur Note: I Am An Awful Person, But)

Arthur views Sally as being confident, flirtatious, always in control. While there is some truth to the notion that she uses men for her own gain, Arthur doesn’t ever take the time to examine why or understand the nuance of her choices. Instead he slut shames her for it. He gets upset at her for her “relationship” with Gen. Byng despite them having not spoken in fourteen years and despite the two of them having never had a relationship. As if he expected her to stay celibate for years just because he had a crush (he’d never say that, but it’s how he acts towards her) Arthur has always liked Sally, but Sally only finally decides she likes him when he can do something for her. Of course, Arthur being Arthur with his inability to accept blame without a caveat that shifts it elsewhere, doesn’t truly acknowledge that he is doing the exact same thing. He only seeks Sally out for help with the Letter of Transit. Everything comes back around to that. 

Then there’s the elephant in the room: What happened with Sally and Mr. Hastings

Arthur, in some capacity, blames Sally for what happened, even if he intellectually understands it wasn’t her fault. Sally, similarly, understands to a degree that it wasn’t her fault, but she still blames herself for it. 

what was i supposed to tell his dad, "no, you're practically my stepfather"? that would have gone over brillo. (Sally Note: Arthur!)

It doesn’t matter that her being sixteen made it legal. The fact is that Sally was young, barely of legal age, and staying with the Hastings after her entire family died. She had nowhere else to go. Mr. Hastings might not have been physically forceful, but it was coercion and he was absolutely 100% at fault. Sally has internal conflict about the whole incident and it makes sense. If she blames herself then it means she was in control, and Sally feels most secure when she’s in control.

Arthur has his own internal conflict about it. On some level he understands it wasn’t her fault (“I don't hate you, in the strangest way you're completely innocent.”) but he still yells at her about it when they reunite. He still lets it color his perception of her. His mum had died and he found his best friend (who he had a crush on) in his mum’s old bed with his dad. That had to have done a number on his psyche. 

I always used to wonder, if I'd run out the door after her, that day, what would have happened to us. Would we still be friends? Or was the magic all in my head? Who am I kidding? 16-year-old-me would never have had the courage to leave home!   (Arthur Note: I Am An Awful Person, But)

We don’t know whether this is something Arthur actually used to wonder, or if he’s just saying that now, but regardless there is an acknowledgement that at sixteen, he chose to stay with his dad. He didn’t run after Sally. And thanks to Joy, he never took the time to actually process what happened. Not until the events of the game. So he yells at her, he asks her why, despite knowing (to a degree) that she isn’t the person he should be asking that. But his dad is dead, and Sally’s here in front of him apologizing. So isn’t it easier to blame her? 

But what if…?

There’s this longing between them for their friendship to be renewed, but without accepting that they’ve both grown and changed as people (perhaps for the worse) and without acknowledging the past, there’s no hope for a future between them. Those barriers have to be broken down first. Sally was willing to try. Arthur wasn’t. Arthur believes that she chose her own convenience over leaving with him. Sally believes that Arthur left despite knowing she had a baby. 

Did Arthur hear her and just choose not to remember? Or did he really not hear her? We don’t know.

 Each character is an unreliable narrator in their act. Though I personally think he really didn’t hear her, I can’t imagine it changing anything. We know from Arthur’s act that he thought of Sally as surely having been less of a ‘loose woman’ in the past decade  (the “I haven't had sex with anyone in ten years! And if I did, it wouldn't be with that man.” line about Byng that we only get in Act I). He was faced with the reality of Sally and Verloc’s relationship in Haworth Labs via old notes, but it’s much harder to ignore a baby. A tangible result of her having had sex with someone. Arthur has an image he wants so desperate for Sally to fit, and she keeps contradicting it, but he just keeps hoping and trying. I could very easily see him responding to this news with a snarky comment about how she should ask her baby’s father for help or her good friend the General, if they’re not one in the same. (Gwen is very much Verloc’s baby is but Arthur doesn’t know that).

Despite how much they care about each other, and despite how much they may mutually wonder how things could have gone differently, even if they had an opportunity to sit down and have a proper conversation later, it would take a lot of time to be in a place where they could rebuild their friendship, and a romantic relationship would be toxic as hell if they weren’t intentional about making it healthy. Arthur doesn’t trust Sally as far as he can throw her and Sally isn’t exactly trustworthy. They’re both incredibly self-serving and both of them are incapable of acknowledging fault in any meaningful way. Arthur is awful to Sally and Sally takes it to heart, resulting in a horrid amount of negative self-talk about things she shouldn’t be blaming herself for, while she continues to ignore the problems she does have.

Arthur’s distrust, Sally’s fear of being trapped by a man, the mutual fear of the other person walking away, etc. etc. As much as I like the idea of them being in a healthy relationship down the line, it’s highly unlikely under most circumstances because they’re a wreck. It’s good that Arthur and Sally parted ways in We Happy Few. They both needed to let go of the past, and letting go of each other was a crucial step in that process.

The one exception in which I do ship them:

If it’s not clear yet, I’m in no way an Arthur apologist or a Sally apologist. I think they’re both messed up people who have a lot of growing to do, but I do have one context in which I ship them.

First of all, they would need a lot of time, a lot of personal growth, and a lot of intentional rebuilding of trust. They would have to learn to let go of their assumptions about each other and accept each other as they truly are. 

However, if they were able to take those steps, I could see them getting together a few years down the road once they’ve sorted themselves out as individuals and set new, healthier foundations for their relationship platonically. There may be room for a touch of romance after a decade or so.

Under the conditions that they’ve reached this healthier place in their lives, I think they would actually work well together. Arthur is the epitome of a male-wife and Sally is a working woman. He’s always admired her brilliance and finds it admirable how well she’s done for herself. He would support her in her career and she would support him in his, whatever that might be.

I think they balance each other out really well, too. Arthur is so caught up in what’s right and wrong. He sees people as either “good” or “bad” in most cases, where Sally sees everyone as being in that grey space between. This can cause conflict, but it can also cause growth if they take the time to listen to each other. Arthur needs someone to help him question that worldview. 

Sally sees people as tools for the most part. Most people (not all, but most) are means to an end in her eyes, and I think Arthur could help her challenge that in herself and try to be a better person simply for the sake of human decency. 

They have a shared love of literature and fashion, and admire each other in so many ways. Arthur admires her determination, intellect, and cleverness. Sally admires his wit, kindness, and ingenuity. While in the game they hold these things up as impossible ideals that don’t leave room for flaw, these opinions aren’t entire unfounded, and I think given time, trust, and honesty they could really help each other to be better versions of themselves. 

Also Arthur helping take care of Gwen is just soft. 

They wouldn't have an explosive romance. It would instead be the slowest of slow burns with a lot of hiccups along the way. It would begin with reconciliation and would take years of rebuilding trust and friendship. I could see them growing closer again over the years until one day they realize that Arthur comes over for dinner every night. He sleeps over on the couch more often than not. He’s practically living here already, so why not just move in? So the spare bedroom becomes Arthur’s room. Gwen’s a tween by now and is at that age where she’s meddling in other people’s love lives and thinks she knows what’s best for everyone. She’s thrilled at the idea of Uncle Arthur moving in. By her reckoning he and her mum are already a couple. It’s a while before Arthur and Sally acknowledge that that’s what they’ve become.

They’ve been walking side-by-side through life for years now and one day realize they’ve been holding hands along the way. 

For the art, I decided to draw them about 30 years down the line in the 90s ♥

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk :)  I’ll make a separate (shorter certainly) post for Prudence and Victoria. (edit: here it is!)

[llamahearted]

two people will go through similar things & learn to cope in different ways

print ♥︎ song

[linseymorris]

[ravenkings]

i really wish v for vendetta (both the movie and the graphic novel) hadn't become associated with deeply irritating (and often reactionary) online political subcultures bc it really does slap so fucking hard

[chandralia]

the intimacy of Deku just sitting behind Bakugo in class…

[project-catgirlpillar]

I think Viewing Monika as some Kind of evil Mastermind does her character a huge disservice for multiple reasons but also Just cause it ascribes her a Level of competence she simply does Not display

[manawari]

"Love" as told by Kim Gongja and Raviel Ivansia (1/?):

“I will value your judgment over mine. I will weigh your advice heavier than my principles. I will not value myself the most. I will follow you. But in return.”

I looked at the lady’s face. With our hands clasped together, the distance between us was very short. Her red eyes. I knew them to be the same color as her heart.

“Please treat me the same way.”

“……”

“If you do something wrong, I’ll tell you that it was wrong. What I really think, what I see, what I feel. I’ll confess everything to you without a single lie. However, it cannot be one-sided. If I give you my heart, how shall I breathe? I’ll end up choking and dying. Only if you give me your heart will I be able to live.”

I gripped the Lady of the Silver Lily’s hand a little more strongly.

“If you want to see me go mad, please go mad with me.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

“If you brought me here to make me give up, you were wrong, milady. I didn’t fall in love with you because your heart isn’t ugly.”

The Lady of the Silver Lily paused very briefly. Love. It was because of this word. My face became hot when I said it out loud, but I didn’t think to hesitate.

“It’s only been one day since you came to love me. My teaching is brilliant.”

“Does it matter that it’s only been a day? Would it have been better if I loved you for a year? A thousand days? Do you want me to return after that?”

“……”

“I can see what kind of people you despise. And what you despise is the same as what I hate. I can see what scars you wear and how you are hurt. I love the way you live. Because, you and I, we live the same life.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

I had never said something like this to anyone else. I wasn’t used to it. But I wanted to keep the person in front of me. And I wanted the Lady of the Silver Lily to keep me. I wanted us to share one life and have each other.

“I love you as much as I love myself. I wish you could love me as much as I love you.”

These were my true feelings.

And the only method I knew was to exclaim it with all my heart.

“I will definitely make you love me. I won’t tell you to abandon the crown prince. Even if I don’t ask you to, you will abandon him one day.”

“My heart is…”

“Yes. But it doesn’t matter if your heart is held hostage by the world. If that’s the problem, I’ll free you. But if you still love the crown prince, then I’ll become an even better person than he is and stay by your side.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

I whispered in the Lady of the Silver Lily’s ear.

“The two of us are regressors. The only two in the world.”

I knew that my face was red. But I said what I had to say.

“There will be a lot of times that only you and I can enjoy. During those times, I’ll give you such breathtaking memories that they will make your memory of the prince fade away. I’ll try my best.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

“…You are arrogant. I am satisfied with living my life.”

“I suppose you are. I feel the same way. Still, I want to help you. Is it arrogant to want to help the one you love? Then, I’ll become an arrogant person.”

The Lady of the Silver Lily closed her lips. She, too, was trying to help the prince in her own way. Whether or not she admitted it, the two of us were alike.

“What do you want from me?”

“When the world ends this time, please stay with me.”

“Is that all?”

“Yes.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

“And, if it’s possible, I would be grateful if you could make me fall deeper in love with you. It would be wonderful if I fell so deeply, foolishly in love with you that I could never escape.”

“Is that what you’re requesting from me now?”

“It’s all right. I’m easy. My heart beats wildly even if Your Ladyship just holds my hand.”

The Lady of the Silver Lily looked at me like she was dumbfounded.

“How shameless… Fine. I told you that I would teach you about love, so I shall make good on my promise.”

The Lady of the Silver Lily grabbed my hand. It felt soft. Her hands were bare. The touch of her hand was wrapped around my right hand. Last night, my heart pounded from the memory of the Lady of the Silver Lily’s perfume.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

“Good. Do you remember the first lesson I taught you about love?”

“Love starts like a bitch…”

“Well done.”

The Lady of the Silver Lily’s hands cupped my cheeks.

Then.

“I’ll be your first bitch of a lover.”

The moon swallowed the light.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

“Raviel.”

Thump.

“Raviel Ivansia.”

[The immersion toward the character is deepened.]

[Currently, your immersion rate is 62%.]

I simply whispered the name of my beloved lover. Yet, my heart jumped, I couldn’t breathe, and the face of the man in the mirror blushed. Even I could read my expression with ease.

“…I really love her.”

It was amazing.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

“I don’t like it when the person I love tries to take everything upon herself. No, I hate it. I would want her to step up when I’m tired, and when she’s tired, I’ll bear her troubles.”

“We’re only in a fake relationship.”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m serious.”

“…Don’t you feel insulted?”

“Aha. Your Ladyship doesn’t know me yet.”

How could a person be so lovely? I smiled a little.

“I’m a positive guy. Do you think I’ll be depressed or get an inferiority complex just because we’re in a fake relationship? Far from it; I think of it as an opportunity. Anyway, you will come to love me.”

“My goodness. Where is this confidence coming from?”

“It’s because you’ll spend time with just me. Until you tell me that you’re [tired of me], I won’t give up no matter what.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

I wanted to love her like crazy.

“Are you crying?”

“No.”

“You’re lying.”

“Yes.”

“I hate lies. It’s all right to joke, but don’t tell me any lies. I won’t lie to you, either. I won’t lie to you with words, gestures, nor glances.”

“Are you crying?”

“……”

“If you don’t want to talk, you have the right to stay silent. I won’t press you. I won’t push you. We can wait slowly until the other person wants to talk.”

“Yes.”

Thank goodness.

Thank goodness that I had fallen in love with her.

Thank goodness that I became someone who could love her.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

In the middle of the ballroom, we faced each other.

I moved my feet.

The Lady of the Silver Lily also stepped forward.

In the place where dozens of shadows fluttered, under the white chandelier, we kissed, unable to say who had moved first.

We needed no words.

Around us, voices of astonishment sounded. We ignored them. The band who had been playing music in the ballroom stopped. The ladies and gentlemen stopped dancing and stared at us. Still, we ignored them.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

I’m happy to be with you.

It would be an exaggeration to say I lived this life just to meet you, but it isn’t a lie to say I’ll live for you. What a relief. I could say that without a single lie.

“Are you crying again?”

I could be that sort of person.

“Let’s make a promise.”

I could be a person who cares for someone.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

The Lady of the Silver Lily grabbed my hand and pulled.

“Let’s go.”

“Ah. Yes.”

After making the ballroom fall into shock and fear… we left.

We just left.

No matter how or why, no one could stop us.

Maybe they could have stopped me or the Lady of the Silver Lily individually, but it wasn’t possible when we were together. If we wanted to leave, we left. If they still stood in our way? Fuck ’em. How could they stop the regressor couple?

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

“I see. So you will be able to summon me, too.”

“You’ve died with me nine times, so I can summon nine different Raviels.”

“I forbid it.”

“All right.”

I never intended to summon the Lady of the Silver Lily in the first place. No matter what the circumstances were. But her voice and words cut off the possibility for good.

Love was a sacred promise and a contract.

We were writing our own laws, rules for just us two.

“I’ll add one more thing to your punishment should you betray me. Dispose of that skill.”

“I will.”

Then, I chose my next words. She was the one I loved. She was the one who would love me. She was the person I had to treasure and treat cautiously the most in the world.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

“Don’t die even when it’s an easy escape. You are my lover. You can’t be someone who throws away his life carelessly. Even if you don’t think you can escape death, struggle until the end.”

I was silent.

I was engraving the promise I made with her in my heart.

“I won’t.”

“Tell me what you want from me.”

“When I ask you to trust me, please believe in me.”

“I will always trust you.”

The carriage rattled. Using that slight vibration as an excuse, the Lady of the Silver Lily and I drew closer. Our lips met.

From that day on.

We became each other’s love.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

“Are you still all right?”

“Raviel.”

I was scared.

“I love you. I love you, Raviel…”

“I know.”

“Even if I’m born again, I’ll still love you. So, so that I can never forget you, don’t let me forget you even if I die…”

“I know.”

Our lips met.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Are you listening?

I am happy because of you. I don’t want to lose you. I don’t want to let go of the time I’ve spent with you like this.

You said this before. That you would ‘write a diary starting today.’ You said that you would show me all of your days. Those words, were they lies?

You said, ‘I will learn music.’ I wanted to spend a quiet evening listening to you play. Was that wish really a lie?

I want to see your days. I want to say goodnight to you. Your days will surely make me smile, and evenings with you will be happy. I want my smile and your happiness to overlap.

I don’t want to kill you.

I don’t want to lose you.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Look at me.

Look at you beside me.

You’re a dumb person. You’re also naive. I wondered how you survived in the world with such innocence, but I soon learned that you had died thousands of times.

You had many reasons to abandon your innocence. There were few reasons to keep your naivety. To you, who did not throw away your innocence despite the many reasons and kept it when you didn’t need to, I simply say:

I love your innocence.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

You alone cannot protect yourself.

I alone cannot protect this world.

But if it’s the two of us, you and I, we can do anything.

I’m also afraid. Killing you is terrifying.

Staying beside you, even though I know I’ll be hurt, is hellishly frightening.

But my fears will not stand in my way of being with you.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Listen.

This is the scar you left on me.

-Gongja.

Don’t forget.

-…Who are you calling for?

Never. Don’t forget, even if you die.

-My lover.

The man who offered me his heart.

-The man to whom I will offer mine.

You, in this place.

You live in my heart.

-Have a safe trip.

-……

-I’ll be waiting for you.

Are you listening?

Can you hear it?

Gongja.

I love you.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

The Lady of the Silver Lily smiled a little.

“It’s troublesome to be proposed to like this. I love your voice. Do you understand? If you don’t say it yourself, I won’t listen. So, you have to come back to me quickly.”

My heart pounded.

“I’m going to kill you. I’ll kill you over and over until you come back. If you can come back by seeing my scars, I’ll show you them as many times as necessary.”

“Milady…”

“So look at my wounds and suffer. Look at the scar you left on me. Look at it again and again. There are traces of you there.”

The Lady of the Silver Lily reached out her hands and grabbed my neck.

“You are the only person in this world who can kill me.”

Gently.

“You should know that I’m the only person who can kill you.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

You were born as the daughter of the Duke of Ivansia. You had a sad mother and lived a sad life. Your husband was decided before you were born, and after you were born, you dedicated your life to that person.

You are a white flower.

You are called the Moon of Ivansia, you were called the heiress, and I called you Your Ladyship.

“You’ve arrived.”

“……”

You are standing in the hallway. In this hallway, in the dark night, you are like a lone island in the sea. An infinite sea surrounded you. I heard the crashing waves.

You are not Heiress Ivansia, not the Lady of the Duchy, nor Your Ladyship.

“Raviel.”

The white flower smiles.

“I was waiting, Gongja.”

I.

I love you.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

I ran and hugged her.

“Raviel.”

A million words were suspended in my mouth.

I could say [I’m sorry].

I’m sorry I left you a permanent scar.

I’m really sorry.

I could also say [thank you].

Thank you for trusting me, thank you for waiting for me, and most of all, thank you for loving me.

For loving someone like me.

But what I wanted to say was not an apology, nor was it words of thanks. This wasn’t the first time I apologized to her, and this wasn’t the first time I would be grateful to her.

In this moment, the night we reunited, I didn’t want to apologize or thank her.

‘Something I’ve never said before.’

I wanted to present her words that I could only say to her once. I wanted to give her an utterance I would only say one time in my whole life. My first. My last. I wanted to dedicate my time to Raviel Ivansia.

So. Therefore. That was why.

I took Raviel’s hand.

“Let’s get married.”

A marriage proposal.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Raviel slowly nodded.

“I am called many names. I received the epithet of the Silver Lily from the emperor. The empire calls me by my title, Heiress Ivansia. But my name, Raviel, will eternally belong only to you.”

We kissed.

Deeply.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

“This is the world I live in. I am loyal to this empire. My world and my nation needs to recognize my marriage. Even if you are a commoner here, you are my lover, and every citizen of the empire must accept you.”

“All right. But can we expect everyone to react well…?”

“It’s fine, Gongja,” Raviel said composedly. “Citizens who do not recognize you will die by my hands.”

What do I do? She was too cool. I was falling in love again. I wanted to fall in love with her again and again.

“I understand. Let’s have our wedding in your world, Raviel. But I also have a condition.”

“Speak it.”

“Breaking the engagement with the prince is necessary, but you shouldn’t be the one to initiate it. I won’t be able to forgive anyone who speaks poorly of you when they know nothing.”

If anyone tried to point fingers at my beloved, I would break that finger. If anyone gossiped about her, I would cut off their tongue. If anyone besmirched her, I would kill them.

I wasn’t kidding.

I’d give them a taste of hell.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

“Husband…?”

Raviel’s eyelashes fluttered. Her shoulders shrank a bit.

‘What the heck is this reaction?’

I didn’t know it at first since Raviel kept a straight face, but I soon realized it. No way. Maybe? Could it be? No, this wasn’t possible, even if it was the end of the world, but…

“Raviel. Are you embarrassed right now?”

“Mm…”

Raviel mumbled.

“It’s insanely adorable. My man is…”

Her embarrassment infected me in an instant. This was crazy.

My face turned red, and my lips were dry. Still, my head worked just fine. At this time, it would be best to counterattack by saying [Raviel is the cutest person in the world]. I could return all the damage I’d received from Raviel so far. But I couldn’t do that. I felt so flustered I thought I would die.

Instead, I compromised.

“Husband.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Raviel covered her lips with a white napkin.

“You thought of me.”

“Yes.”

“Gongja. You’ve already helped me. The people of the world won’t know this, but you’ve saved this world from destruction. You’ll continue to save it in the future. Isn’t it all right for you to do what you wish, even a little?”

“No.”

I shook my head firmly.

“I’ll be with you all my life, Raviel. For the rest of our lives. I don’t want to obsess over [what I’ve done for Raviel]. I don’t even want to think about it. I want to give you more things, things that are more precious than anything I’ve done for you before.”

“……”

“I want it so that meeting me would be the greatest fortune in your life. I hope that being beside me will be your greatest happiness. I want to mean the most to you, Raviel.”

“…It’s not a matter of fortune or happiness.”

Raviel stood up from the table.

She slowly approached me and bent down.

“You are my one miracle.”

Our lips met.

[kangaracha]

wips list for the end of march

nevermore (145/300k, edit complete)

queenmaker (16 chapters written)

FNF (8/10k)

leave part 2

what the water brought (25/50k)

boxer!minho? dlc? something

sick fic (handed to keeps, godspeed)

the gone and the gathered ch 3&4

valleys (complete rewrite)

tgbyb ch 5

tsotl end part 1

darling don't wake up x4

goldmine goldmine (landmine) (6/40k)

soul is yours to keep/zelda fic

draculas

the finished things list! raise a glass!

leave part 1

lyre lyre

[mermaidsirennikita]

the worst take in romance is that it's one of those "women's spaces" and "for women, by women" because

a) never been true; historically, many men have written romance under "feminine" pen names, and still do--also, the publishing industry was and still is largely run by men, and no matter what editors and writers do, that MATTERS

b) the reality is that this idea has usually meant "for [cishet white] women, by [cishet white] women"; trans, NB, and basically all people of color have been shut out by and large for YEARS in romance, and still make up small minorities of the amount of traditionally published writers in the genre... it's PROBABLY better in indie, but I don't have the data for that

.... so let's not kid ourselves, the genre has been shutting out MANY women for a very long time; it's never been a space that's welcomed women who aren't cis and white, and frankly women who are publicly queer, as it should

c) I don't mind reading M/M, for example, written by women, at all--but it is kinda (a lot) messed up the M/M is a significant category in the genre and is, by and large, written by women, and apparently lots of female readers don't feel like the existence of M/M, MMF, etc is intruding on a woman's space

d) romance is literally about falling in love, something that anyone of any gender can potentially relate to

e) women write a ton of misogynistic shit that I don't feel relates to my experience as a woman... at all...

f) there is not a universally female experience that a female writer can just inherently understand that a man can't, and frankly, I think it's rather reductive and gender essentialist to pretend there is one

[jojosgaylittleadventure]

This is the third fic in my Josuyaus series that takes place while they're still in high school You can find my series here.

Summary: Josuke and Okuyasu are both recovering in the hospital after the events of 4th Another Day.

Tags: The Book: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure 4th Another Day, Post-Canon, Pre-Relationship, Fluff, Hospitals, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Sickfic, kinda lol, bi-panic, cuz y'all know i can't write josuyasu without some bi-panic, Friendship, Josuke and Okuyasu are a pair, they are co-dependent, pls do not separate them

[lloydfrontera]

i stand by my conviction that the best way to read tged is by stopping in ch 401 but i do have a rant concerning ch 402 that is locked and loaded for posting and i don't know if i should wait for today's chapter to drop so you guys have the full context or if i should pretend it isn't happening and i'm talking about a hypothetical ending that definitely didn't happen

[ilovejevsjeans]

Wasn’t it a thing that after 2016, start of the 2017 Lewis distanced himself from the other drivers but one of the few drivers he always got on with was Daniel. Like they’re not besties, but like that anon said they have a good relationship. Like I’ll always remember what Lewis about Daniel in that press conference. Saying Daniel should be driving next year. Like they respect one another.

At the 2016 Fia Gala Press conference he said Daniel was the driver he had the most in common with. He even hoped that they would discover new things together as they travelled. He even gave in and did a shoey for Dan. Yeah theyre not besties its not like theyre texting each other to meet up in between races. But they're friendly and there's a good respect there. They met up at Coachella when they were both there and Lewis posting on Instagram to mark Dan's home race is something I don't think he's done for anyone else. He thanked Dan (and Seb) for standing with him in 2020 with regards to BLM and everything he was doing then. Dan called out people for saying Lewis only won cause of the car and called out the bs around purpoising last year. They both love exploring life outside F1 and Lewis would be the first to say how exciting it is to see Dan at the Met Gala.

[thegeminisage]

i have ALL DAY (until 5pm) to myself, with only minor household responsibilities to see to. delighted. i'm gonna think about star trek nonstop until then or until my dopamine receptors simply burn out of existence whichever comes first

[dyrewrites]

Before Deluca -- I am fading to black you horny bastards

But how did you feel, in the moment? He pulled free of my lips then, to gaze at me from the pillows with eyes too bright, smile too sharp. With my throat tight in your grip, my life draining beneath your strength…how did it feel, treasure, to kill?

“Powerful,” I whispered, afraid to say it louder, to think it, lest more bubble with—lest he learn how sweet his death felt in my hand.

But it didn’t matter if I said it. He knew, hoped perhaps, and tugged my shirt collar, urging me closer, to hover over him—loom like the beast I’d become.

“Show me,” he whispered, voice rasped and weak, “how powerful you are.”

Again, and again, he would coil my uncertainty, my concern for myself and what his blood had made me in that lascivious want. And he knew he could, knew I would submit, would drown in him every time…losing more and more of myself to what he wanted to make of me.

[theambivalentagender]

Something I've noticed in the SDV fandom is how, despite being ~~controversial~~ in the general fandom, lots of really fantastic artists/writers in the community gravitate right to Shane. And I'd like to propose one theory as to why:

ConcernedApe: Oh, the snarky, scrungly asshole who hates you at first but has a secret soft side and implied tragic backstory? Yeah, let's make him romancable.

Stardew Valley fan writers/artists:

[geometricalien]

15 people, 15 questions

Tagged by @ultfreakme thank you!! 💕💕

1.) Are you named after anyone?

My first name is biblical and since my parents are Christian and my sibling also has a biblical name, I always presumed it was bc of that. My middle name though is actually a last name from my lineage

2.) When was the last time you cried?

Yesterday! It was day 2 of being home alone since my roommate left for the week and I was feeling particularly lonely since another friend wasn't able to hang out with me the last couple of days in addition to feeling isolated from family during the holiday season Plus being on my period --- yeahhh

3.) Do you have kids?

No. Nope. Nuh uh. Ask me again in 10 years

4.) What sports do you play/have played?

I did volleyball and basketball a lot in my youth, did soccer in elementary school

5.) Do you use sarcasm?

Sometimes. Mostly only with friends when we know we are being sarcastic and are playing it up? Otherwise, I'm just such a literal person I hardly use it elsewhere (even when my friends and I are joking/using sarcasm we often say "just kidding" afterwards)

6.) What’s the first thing you notice about people?

Honestly height and hair. I have such bad face blindness, and I've had it forever. But I'll remember if someone was taller/shorter than me and their hair color

7.) What’s your eye colour?

Grayish blue. They were described like ice before if that helps

8.) Scary movies or happy endings?

Depends on my mood. I like horror movies and there are just so many different kinds- I haven't found a movie that genuinely scares me in a long time though... The last one I remember was Nope. I walked out of the theater and was just watching all the clouds in the sky fkdlsajf

9.) Any talents?

Nothing is really coming to mind... I guess I'm crafty? And it shows itself in different ways. I enjoy the process of creating. Be it in writing or drawing or baking and decorating or following steps- I enjoy having a vision and creating it

10.) Where were you born?

Usa

11.) What are your hobbies?

I read books and fanfiction, I write fanfiction, watch anime and shows, cook, bake, play genshin impact. I've been playing wordle every day for almost a year now. I like tactical stuff with instructions- like legos or putting together furniture- I got this DIY book nook last week and spent like 8 hours putting it together. In school as part of the STEM program we learned how to draft both by hand and on the computer through CAD and Solidworks- those were fun. I miss that. Again it uses that same part of the brain as legos. I also like playing with cards. I have solitaire and pinocle on my phone. I was also learning how to play chess (like the strategy part)

12.) Do you have any pets?

My family home has the cat I got my 8th birthday (barn cat, brown tabby with four white socks on his paws). In the apartment though there is my roommate's black lab, half ragdoll half Siamese cat, and who knows how many fish that keep having babies

13.) How tall are you?

5'10'' (on a good day sshhh)

14.) Favourite subject in school?

MATH HELLO! (......... but also the drafting classes damn i miss those)

15.) Dream job?

Can there be such a thing as having extreme trivia knowledge on my fandoms? I'd like that alot but otherwise.... I'd like to work at one of those cat [Blank] things. Be it a café or a bar or a bookstore (that'd be awesome!!) I think that would be fun

Tagging @alienjack @szivtalan @glitt-erm @amnestyaubrey @farklelucas @brazilian-whalien52 @bloodyspade0000 @traditionalartist @illbebuyingallofthoseflowers and anyone else who sees this and wants to hop in ☺️