#that literally means NOTHING when you realise that he has so much more power in this situation than they do

[jukain4216]

"But the CEO sold his car (he owns many) to support the girls!! So he has to be innocent!" Shut the fuck up

Kpop fans will literally bitch and moan about mistreatment when a member doesn't get as many lines as everyone else but when there's actual abuse suddenly the members are greedy and underestimated their hold in the industry

[cannellee]

TOKYO REVENGERS OMEGAVERSE ☆

୨୧ alpha! tokyorev x omega! reader (pairing : hakkai, takemichi, shinichiro) PART 2

— top 3 pathetic men of tokyorev (trio of simps)

a/n : yes, I needed to rank them after seeing a girl on tiktok rank her favourite pathetic shōjo male leads... my turn ! (nothing great but it had to be done😔)

MY MASTERLIST: ☆

𐙚. N°3 : ALPHA! HAKKAI

there could have been so many options for n°3 but hakkai just seems right. my man is afraid of omegas!! so nervous and shy and for what ?!

the contrast between his enormous build, strong scent of a powerful alpha and the restlessness he has whenever he's talking to you is insanely cute. you can't help but laugh at him and he has no choice but to simply blush at how humiliated he feels !

what do you mean this gang member can't look at you straight in the eyes ? yes, hakkai is pathetic like that. but that's what makes your relationship this precious ; hakkai doesn't act all big and scary with his omega to try and assert dominance. instead, he trips over his words and flinches each time you initiate skinship.

courting is so long and tough, hakkai doesn't know what to do and where to start. should he ask you properly for what type of gifts you enjoy ? does he assume by himself ? do you even want to get courted by him ?

god, he's so unsure of himself. you'll have to guide him throughout your relationship, assure him it's okay to touch you and that he's not hurting you. he knows you're weak and fragile and hakkai's biggest fear is to bring harm to his lovely girlfriend.

he still can't realise he has a girlfriend. he's literally on cloud 9 and does everything to keep you with him. yes he's an alpha, and yes his demeanor changes when you're here. he becomes rather submissive in order to please you better.

also, hakkai is soo jealous. he literally can't bear the thought of any alpha laying their claim on you and ends up becoming overly protective. he's constantly on edge, worried sick about your safety to the point that he already has stalked you a few times... just to make sure you were okay of course !

please don't misunderstand him :( he loves you so much but he just has troubles expressing his overwhelming affection for you...

                                    · · ୨୧ · ·

𐙚. N°2 : ALPHA! TAKEMICHI

professional crawler, on his knees at any minor issue, ready to beg for the forgiveness of his omega. he listens and obey, even when you're wrong, he does as you say!

he admits his mistakes almost instantly and is afraid of upsetting you. he lets himself be scolded because his adorable omega has all the rights in the world when it comes to him!

takemichi borderline worships you, his precious girlfriend who happens to love his far from perfect self... what did he do to deserve such a pretty omega by his side ?

the smallest signs of affection from you are taken as the biggest gifts on his part and he literally can not get tired of it. he asks for more, shamelessly. tell him to do embarrassing things simply to get a peck on the lips and he'll comply in a second! he doesn't feel any shame.

boy is so eager to please :( his friends often make fun of him for how down bad he is, but he honestly couldn't care less.

he talks about you 24/7, everything reminds him of you : sends you pics of a beautiful blooming tree "y/n would love to be here!", he orders your favourite pastry whenever he walks past the shop selling it "I'm gonna buy it for her, I hope y/n will be happy to see I've got her favourite one!", he notes down the places he discovered and think you might like, that way he can bring you there with him on a date next time! and he also makes sure he restocks all your makeup supplies before they're even gone... he's the best!!

he's so desperate he'll try to sniff any lingering pheromones of you he might have on his sleeve after you leave, rolling his eyes when he successfully catches your scent.

he's such a hopeless alpha. you'll ask him how he managed to survive without you for this long and he'll simply answer that he never truly felt alive until he met you. so cheesy but insanely real:(

he melts whenever you're here to comfort him, you're such a reliable mate and takemichi feels so grateful for your devotion towards him. he swears he'll take care of you just as greatly as you do !

                                    · · ୨୧ · ·

𐙚. N°1 : ALPHA! SHINICHIRO

now how can we talk about pathetic men without even mentioning shinichiro. he is the og loser. gets no bitches like takemichi but his case is more severe.

meeting you was a blessing and having you fall for him was a miracle. calling this man a simp is an understatement, he is committed.

he already had little shame, but his dignity is nowhere to be seen if his omega is involved. he's so desperate to keep your relationship going that he's ready to risk everything just to satisfy you.

he buys you everything, gets you a gift and flowers each time you meet up. he asks for your kisses like a high on hormones teenage boy who never felt the touch of a woman, even though you've been together for a few weeks.

he's experiencing everything for the first time with you, which is why he's so eager to touch and feel you. to him, you're the sweetest, prettiest and most perfect angel...

shinichiro doesn't care about your social roles, you're the one leading your couple : shinichiro listens to you. his job is to keep you safe and happy, he has no limits whatsoever and smiles like a fool each time you talk to him. also, he lives for your praises!!

he has the worst pickup lines. he wants to impress you but fails miserably each time which is why he's 1st on this list. he just can't catch a break : he literally begged to take you out on a date the first time and somehow kept embarrassing himself out of stress. and it's you, the omega, who had to appease this big alpha that he was doing fine and that you liked his clumsy side.

when the both of you weren't dating, he would spend his time fantasising about you and bonding with you. he dreamed of biting your nape and actually becoming your alpha for real. he feels weak in the knees now knowing he successfully made you his.

his omega is everything to him and he's careful to be the most attentive and the first to fulfill all of of her needs without delay!

[earthtooz]

clingy!gojo x gn!reader, fluff, use of pet names, a little bullying from reader but that's okay- it's gojo /j, he's annoying and probs ooc.

gojo satoru is as codependent as he is powerful and you came to realise that the hard way during the timeline of your relationship. what began as a peaceful saturday morning lying together in bed has now become a total wrestling match, one that you were drastically losing in in comparison to gojo's unmatched strength.

"get off me, 'toru, i need to go buy groceries before the shops begin getting busy!" you huff, your hand on his shoulder doing nothing to make him budge no matter how hard you tried.

he whines, loud and pathetic in your ear. "don't leave! i'll be all cold and miserable!"

"oh boohoo. move," as an afterthought, you add: "please?"

he shakes his head, white strands tickling your chin as the sorcerer shoves himself further into your warmth, holding you with a kind of fervour that spiders have to their webs.

you don't know how you can get out of this one.

"please, love?" gojo loves it when you bring out pet names for him; something you monopolise in hopes of lowering his defence. "i'll be quick too. just a trip to the grocery store and then i'll be back, is that such a demanding request?"

"yes. i don't know what could happen to you out there, what if a special grade curse appears? i'd never forgive myself."

"then come with me."

"too cold for that. i'm staying here."

you roll your eyes. chivalry is dead. "glad to know that you've got my back. whatever. i can handle myself, 'toru, you know that."

"okay, but i can't- that's why you need to stay!"

"you have more cursed energy in one finger than i do my whole body."

he hmphs.

"you can destroy buildings for miles."

he hmphs again.

"your birth literally shook the jujutsu world."

the white-haired hmphs one final time, his cutesy act only doing so much when the grip he has around you contradicts it. gojo's strength is not something to be messed with but you just hope that he stops squeezing you soon because it was getting harder and harder to breathe. paired with his weight on top of yours, you don't think you two can get any humanly closer.

"'satoru," you groan, utterly exasperated at his stubbornness. "you're acting very sweet and all but i'm serious. we don't have enough food. we ran out of milk for your daily mocha-"

the sorcerer places delicate kisses along your collarbone, cutting you off as you shiver from the sensation, especially when his lips brushes over a sensitive part of your skin.

"-don't care."

"gojo," you murmur in a warning tone, any hint of affection draining out of your voice.

bad idea. you knew what using his family name would result in and in your sleepy, yet frustrated haze, you hadn't considered the consequences. not until gojo's clinginess intensifies, his head rising from your chest whilst one of his hands pause midway through the heart he was tracing on your skin. he's looking at you with eyes that glisten with love, worry and fear. you now feel guilt washing over you, unable to muster the words to apologise before he speaks up.

"please don't be mad, i mean well," your lover whispers, the sunlight that snuck through your blinds illuminating him beautifully, deliciously sculpting the planes of his back. "i love you so much, don't you know? i thought you loved me too."

you sigh, flopping your head back into your pillow.

gojo continues littering kisses here and there, a new sense of desperation lingering with his actions. "at select times," you quip.

"babe, that's mean!"

"just as mean as you trapping me here. i'm hungry, gojo, and i have things i need to do."

"stop calling me that," he whines, pushing himself up only to crawl up higher, his head now fitting into your neck from where it rested against your sternum earlier.

great. now you can feel even more of his weight as he flops atop you.

tapping his shoulder in surrender, the best you can mutter is a breathy 'you're heavy' before he expertly manoeuvres the two of you, all pressure disappearing immediately as you now lie on your side.

gojo looks down at you with so much love and adoration, that it sends you reeling, regretting looking at him. your resolve cracks even more with the gentle kiss he presses against your forehead, lingering there for a moment before pulling away.

he seems to be even happier in this position, arms wrapping tight around your torso in a bone-crushing embrace, keeping you right against his exposed chest.

right against his heart.

this is a battle you've lost, you decide, surrendering by wrapping your arm around the white-haired's torso.

gojo doesn't miss the action, no, he revels in it and you don't even have to see him to know that he's smirking. smugness dripping in his tone when he asks, "oh? finally gave in to my charms, babe?"

"you're so annoying," you grunt, unwrapping yourself and shuffling around in gojo's hold to face away from your boyfriend.

once again, you don't even need to see him to see the astonished look he gives you, eyebrows furrowed and jaw dropped in disbelief. imagining it provides you with a little feeling of satisfaction.

"unbelievable!" gawks the sorcerer. "i am merely trying to show you my love and you do-"

"-'toru," you declare, the affectionate nickname only you use immediately silencing him. "go to sleep. or i'll leave your ass for everything you've put me through this morning."

detecting the airiness in your tone, he knows your threat cannot be farther from a lie. but still, he complies but not without murmuring a small 'unfair' before tucking himself into you, completely overwhelming you with his limbs.

"i love you," you confess, the words hovering into air, dissipating before long but gojo hears it. he always does. he's engraved the way you say those three words in his mind.

it sounds sweeter every time though, causing butterflies to erupt in his chest as gojo kisses your cheek. "i love you more," parting with a little bite, you swat him away as he sinks back into his position, laughing in amusement.

you end up going to the supermarket together that afternoon.

[seungisms]

🖇️📁 𝐒𝐊𝐙 … 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐂𝐔𝐌

𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: smut, do not interact if you’re under 18

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: unprotected sex, cumplay, creampies, degradation, mutual masturbation, jisung eating his own cum idc and perv!jeongin cause i said so

𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞: sorry for being mia for a hot minute there (boss has been riding me at work and not in the way i want) take this absolute filth fest as an apology 👍 reblog for a kiss, feedback much appreciated! 

𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐆 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍

poor guy was so flustered at the thought of cumming anywhere near you at first, just doesn’t wanna come off as too intense and weird you out cause when he cums, he cums hard. will generally stick to pulling out and cumming into his hand or a condom for a long while and literally has to do everything in his power to resist the urge to cover every inch of your pretty skin in his thick cream. very much relies on stealing your underwear when he’s getting himself off, staining the cute pink fabrics with his heavy cock while imagining it was your pussy all messy and ruined instead. loses his goddamn mind the next day when he sees those exact panties peaking out from under your skirt when you bend over - wanting nothing more than to push them aside and stuff your little cunt full until you were completely cum drunk and dripping in the liquid. won’t be able to hide the fact that he’s a dirty perv for long though and before you know it he’ll have you covered in his cum every other day, absolutely loves the sight of your cute face stained in it and has definitely snapped a few photos with you on your knees, doe eyes staring up at him so innocently while the tip of his softening cock sat on your tongue - cum leaking past the corners of your lips and he swears you’ve never looked prettier. 

𝐋𝐄𝐄 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐇𝐎

so obsessed with covering you in his cum and has no shame in filling each of your slutty holes up until you were a sticky, fucked out mess. gets extremely carried away with it and becomes soso pussy drunk when he’s about to orgasm, painting your cunt with his thick cum so much that it starts to drip past your puffy folds, only to be fucked back into you with every rut of his softening cock. gets such a kick out of ruining the innocent image everyone else has of you in their minds, cumming onto your face, thighs, tits - literally anywhere he can - while spitting the most vile words at you. says shit like ‘such a greedy girl, look how hungry you are for my cock’ and ‘wonder what everyone would say if they saw you eating up my cum like this? they’d finally realise how much of a slut you really are’ and you can’t even find it in yourself to fight him on it cause he’s so right <3 his fav is definitely finishing inside of you though, fucking into your poor pussy until he’s made a complete mess of it, creamy and hot and full of his cum - watching it drip onto your plush thighs so prettily that he can’t help but smear it around and finger it back into your cunt. so mean and will laugh straight in your face when you whine and struggle against his hold, claiming you can’t handle anymore but your sore pussy was still eating up his fingers, begging to be stuffed once again.

𝐒𝐄𝐎 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐁𝐈𝐍

this guy has such a fixation with your thighs and constantly finds himself obsessing over them - brushing his fingers under your cute little skirt in public just to feel your soft skin against his own, only to pout and whine like the annoying brat he is when you push his hand away as if he wasn’t just trying to finger you in the middle of a company dinner :( this fixation definitely spills over into sex, if he’s not gripping onto your thighs for dear life while fucking up into your messy pussy then he has his mouth pressed against your skin, rutting his hips into the mattress as he continues to worship the plush flesh. absolutely l o v e s the sight of his thick cum dripping down your thighs and likes to cover them until they’re sticky and wet and messy to the touch. gets off so much on public sex and will have no problem dragging you to the nearest restroom whenever you show up to practice looking extra pretty in your little sundress, thighs so plump and begging to be in his hold. pulls your flimsy straps down until your tits are exposed and eagerly fingers your underwear to the side, fucking you hard and fast against the sink and tangling his fingers in your hair - tugging your he’d back as the drag of his cock against your pussy walls becomes increasingly more lazy and slow and before he knows it he’s pulling out and creaming on the back of your thighs. loves the thought of you going on about your day with his cum staining your skin so he’ll skimpy push the skirt of your dress back down once he’s finished, the image stuck in his head every time he steals a glimpse of you.

𝐇𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐘𝐔𝐍𝐉𝐈𝐍

forever on the agenda that hyunjin is an ass man through and through. doesn’t matter whether you’re fucking yourself on his cock or letting him use your pussy until it’s raw and sensitive, he’ll have you on all fours in no time - ass high in the air and head shoved forcefully into the pillows as he fists his cock, cum painting your cheeks and thighs in the prettiest way and he won’t be able to stfu, shoving his head into your neck as his limp cock pressed against your folds, groaning and cursing and muttering the filthiest shit in your ear. another to have multiple pictures of you on his phone in this exact position (and a few polaroids <3) really into cum eating and gets so damn pussy drunk whenever you have your mouth wrapped around him. sometimes likes to keep your head shoved down to the point your nose is pressed tightly against his pelvis, cock being fed down your throat before he’s cumming so hard there’s tears stinging your eyes, cum leaking out past the corners of your lips and you’re choking around him - this guy has to fight the urge to just fuck your pretty mouth once again.

𝐇𝐀𝐍 𝐉𝐈𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐆

he cums so hard and so much that every time you fuck every inch of exposed skin is gonna be covered in it whether you like it or not. mostly sticks to cumming inside of you cause he loves the warmth of your fluttering cunt milking him for all he’s got and gets off soso much from the risk of it all. even when he finishes inside of you though there’ll still be such a mess, your poor cunt not able to handle all of his loan and it’ll be dripping out past your folds and onto the sheets, both his and your own wetness covering his cock and making your bud all cream and sticky and it’s just absolutely everywhere. really into having you swallow his cum too. gets really whiney and overstimulated whenever he catches sight of you on your knees, mouth still milking his twitching cock and greedily lapping up the salty liquid. also has a major thing for finishing on your tits. will edge himself in your cozy cunt, your walls fitting snugly around him and only coaxing him closer to orgasm, pulling out at the very last second and watching your perky tits catch his cum, choked whimpers leaving his lips and dick filling again at the sight. literally so in love with the sight of you covered in his cum and has no problem licking it off your chest when you’re too tired to clean yourself up, lapping and kissing your sore breasts as his half-hard cock nudged against your folds - ready to stuff you with cum once again.

𝐋𝐄𝐄 𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐗 

such a tender boy that he finds it hard to actually cum anywhere that isn’t a condom during sex out of consideration for you :( but as soon as he realises how much of a cum slut you actually are there’s no holding back. really fond of your thighs and swears they’re your prettiest feature, especially when you’re donning cute little frilly panties and matching stockings. literally b e g s you to keep them on and will constantly call you his ‘angel’ while h’es filling you up, underwear flimsily nudged to the side as his nails dug into your legs, keeping them spread wide open for him. really likes getting himself off with dry humping and will be soso whiney when finishing, burying his face into your neck while rutting his swollen cock against your clothed clit, drenching the fabric in his cum and there’s whiney apologies leaving his lips for making a mess but you can’t even find it in yourself to care when he’s looking up at you so 🥺 obsessed with the sight of you looking so cute in your pretty underwear, eyes staring up at him so innocently as he covers you in cum - dick just begging to finally sink into you and fill you up instead of just creaming on your panties. just loves to get you all messy and ruined and completely drunk of his cock with a mere rub against your bud before actually fucking you. another that really likes it when you clean up his cum with your tongue and will deliberately pull out of you to cum in his fist or on his stomach just to feel your hot tongue pressed against his skin.

𝐊𝐈𝐌 𝐒𝐄𝐔𝐍𝐆𝐌𝐈𝐍

this guy is so in love with the sight of you dripping in his cum and is soso mean about it - will spend hours between your legs, overstimulating and edging you on his cock until you’re messy and covered in it. so cruel and won’t stop until each of your holes are fulled to the brim with his hot cum and will use his long fingers to fuck it back into you. literally just laughs straight in your face when you whimper and twitch from the sensitivity of your abused cunt being stretched around him once more, hiding your face in his neck as the wet sound of his fingers pressing into you hit your ears and he just finds it all so funny. loves how your pussy looks all puffy and creamy just for him, no matter how much he loves to humiliate you for it. another to fuck you out in public and be so shameless about it, playing with the end of your skirt and pressing his hard dick against your clothed cunt whenever you cuddle up against him on his lap and before you know it he’s dragging you to the nearest empty dressing room - creaming on his cock and knowing for sure everyone outside can hear him fucking you so well. will have you keep his cum stuffed deep inside you and gets such a kick out of the look of discomfort that settles on your pretty face, feeling his liquids drip down past your folds and onto your thighs while chatting to jisung. reminds you not to clean yourself up unless you want everyone to know how much of a cum slut you are that you’re sitting next to them with your pussy filled with him. becomes soso unhinged later when he has you on your knees, pushing your underwear to the side just to see his cum still glued to your folds, all used and sticky. 

𝐘𝐀𝐍𝐆 𝐉𝐄𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐈𝐍

extremely reserved at first and will hold himself back a lot in the early stages of your relationship - will make sure to get you off so well that you’re left completely cock drunk and fucked out and covered in your own wetness that you wouldn’t even notice him sneaking off to the bathroom to fuck his own fist - cumming at the thought of finally painting your pussy in the white liquid. just feels like such a perv every time he’s close to cumming cause he wants nothing more than to cover your entire cunt, tummy and thighs in it but he also doesn’t wanna freak you out :( another one to rely on your underwear a lot and l o v e s taking a few pairs them back to the dorm with him, shoving a pair into his mouth to muffle his choke whimpers while using another to wrap around his cock, head empty except for the thought of finally being able to fill your pretty cunt up until it’s leaking out of you. and then just beats himself up when he comes out of his fucked out daze and sees he’s made a mess out of your cute panties. always washes them before giving them back to you and you’re just like?? since when did i leave this much underwear at the dorms?? still extremely respectful whenever he does get more comfortable and will probably prefer to cum on your tummy. likes the look of it dripping down past your bellybutton and towards your folds and he has to do everything in his power to resist the urge to smear it across your cunt and finger it back inside of you.

© 𝐬𝐞𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐦𝐬 — 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐝. 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠/𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝.

[whereireid]

𝐒𝐎𝐅𝐓 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐏𝐋𝐔𝐒𝐇 — based on this ask | masterlist

pairing: miles quaritch x fem!reader

Summary: What Colonel Quaritch misses most about planet Earth are the woman. Luckily, you're a human whose more than eager to please to your superior.

— warnings: interspecies relationship ! nsfw content MDNI: tit fucking, imbalance of power, ruts

There is nothing that Colonel Quartich misses about Earth.

Nothing but the women.

Pandora is beautiful. A world with extravagant wildlife, the nature of the planet so beautiful and blue, with specks of lilac purple and lavender hues. It's foolish to not be in awe of such beauty, and Quaritch is no fool. He is in awe of everything that Pandora has to offer.

Except the women.

The women of Pandora. The Na'vi, and the Avatars, made of carbon fibre — body hard, rigid and strong, conditioned to survive the difficult climate. Though beautiful, with specks of Aqua blue and long, delicate limbs, they're not plush. There's nothing soft about the women of Pandora.

Quaritch wishes that he could be attracted to them. Especially since a perk of being an Avatar now means he suffers through a rut — a period where he literally gets so horny that the only way to cure his arousal is to fuck something.

Anything.

Even when in a rut, though, he can't bring himself to do it. His hands will linger on an Avatar, falling on their skin, which is hard and rough, and every feeling of arousal will disappear.

Quaritch needs relief. Desperately. His hand isn't enough anymore — it just leaves him with more frustration than before he even tried.

So, when he spots you, it feels like fate.

You're a scientist, a newbie, with pinned-up hair, two curls crusading down the sides of your face, a soft smile on your lips. A soft smile, which meets your eyes and has the corners crinkling. His eyes fall, tracing your body with his eyes, and he realises that he's found exactly what he's been looking for.

Quaritch waits, and watches. He's not sure when the right time to approach even is. He's been out of the game for a long time, now — the women of Pandora don't need charisma. They're easily pleased.

So, when you approach Quaritch, he's incredibly thankful.

"Colonel," you squeak, staring up at your superior officer, your small frame practically trembling beneath him. "I was asked by some of the other members of the science team, to ask you if on your next mission to the forests of Pandora, if — if you could bring back some fresh fruit."

He blinks down at you. Once, twice. You shuffle on your feet, neck craned in an impossibly awkward position to be able to see him. You're smiling, and it doesn't waver. Not even when he scowls, and grunts, "I can."

"You — you can?"

"Do you make your other superior officers repeat themselves?" Quaritch asks, trying to ignore the discomfort in his pants when your eyebrows furrow in confusion.

"No, Colonel."

"I didn't think so." He kisses his teeth, tongue darting over his fangs. "I can get you the fruit, but only if you can do something for me."

"Anything."

Quaritch smiles.

That's how he manages to sort his issues out.

You're so delicate that it drives him crazy. All sense of dignity was abandoned long ago, when he'd first made his proposal — how could you say no to somebody whose so desperate for relief? Perhaps you are, too, with your crush on the Colonel consuming you, day-in, day-out.

"You're so soft," he says, his voice so low that it sounds like he's growling. His fingers toy with your nipples, rolling the buds between his fingers, watching as your breath hitches as he does so. "Sunshine, you have got no fuckin' idea how hard you make me."

"Show me," you whisper, voice sultry and seductive, tensing as he fingers pinch at your nipples gently.

There's nothing more perfect than you. In that moment, every issue of Quaritch's erodes away. He's got you exactly where he wants you — on your knees, your tits pushed together as much as they possibly can be, his cock sheathed between them.

"That hurt, sunshine? Squeezin' 'em so tight just to please me?"

You nod your head, your lips drawn between your teeth, your eyebrows crinkled in concentration. His cock is all lubed up, making it that much more slippery. It's so soft, so plush, your tits so perfect and round. So big, on human standards, but so small in comparison to his cock.

Holy shit, you're perfect.

You let him use your tits like you're a fuck-doll. Quaritch fucks into you, rolling his hips into your tits, groaning as the squelching sounds of the lube clap around his office. They bounce, they jiggle, they take him so well, and your eyes are so focused and you're pushing your tits together so hard, just so he can get a good grip.

It makes his orgasm that much better. His cock twitches, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. There's a heat which pools in his lower belly as he finishes, painting your chest with his cum, some shooting onto your chin and lips.

You're such a pretty mess. Quaritch collects his cum from your face, pushing it between your lips, and you suck, and he groans. His cock is still nestled between your tits, basking in the softness of you, the pillow-like cushion of your flesh.

He's going to have to do this again.

[lokorum]

what would you say is your favorite jonmichael fic..... im very curious and love to reread anything in that tag

oh but how can i pick only one when they all are so good??? (,,•᷄‎ࡇ•᷅ ,,)?

aaaaaa can i make the several honorable mentions of the fics that made me scream and roll on the floor?????? pretty please???

scheherazade was one of the first jonmichael fics that i found while going through all of the cher's works because, evidently, they have no fics that are not worth reading!! (i'm sorry if and forty feet down only confirming it!!!)

sleep inertia has one of the best dialogues i ever read!!! the way cruelzy writes michael's lines??? aaaaaaaaa its so delicious and believable and never for a second i thought i'm reading something out of canon?? its just that good. 

carousel is the only one fic (from what i found) that i set in the last season and its adds a lot of layers to that big jonmichael onion that torments my eyes for a while now ldkfjgkdfjg also it's messy?? i mean the whole situation in the fic?? its so humanly complicated and it does not gives you the chance to experience any of the feelings clearly and i love it!! screechfox somehow captured all of the complicated stuff in one fic, blendered it together and for the whole time i just couldn't take my eyes away from it. 

five times michael saves jon's life and one time he doesn't have to - is here to sooth our pain and heal our wounds. i reread it so many times!! the dynamic between jon and michael in it is one to live for!!! sometimes you think 5+1 kind of fics can't surprise you anymore and then the coolest author like paisleycowboys enters the room and proves you wrong. 

to be like super honest, the 100 ways to say i love you series, when i first saw it, made me think im not gonna like it? i love my fanfics long and scary and bittersweet and with a bad-very-not-good-endings, so the title of this one made me go "hmmmmm HMMMMM hmmmmm hmmmm?" but ive started to read it anyway, theres not that many fics on the ao3 for jonmichael, we cant afford to be capricious and gosh GOSH i was so fucking wrong!!! its sweet AND sad AND scary AND awkward (in a best way!!!) AND it made me giggle so many times!!! NeedsCaffeineRightNow can make even the edgiest of us enjoy the soft kinds of fics (its not hard when they are written with so much care and love.)

POSSESSIVE!! MICHAEL!! COMBING!!! JON'S!! HAIR!!!!!! what else do we need from life?

transition, every time i reread it or think about it, makes me painfully aware of how many things should coincide for something to work. it's not one of those fics that completely encompass you; nor its the one that leaves you with new headcanons or in a good mood, no, i think it's the one that leaves you in dissoray, making you want to argue with author, to ask them what were they thinking about, pointing on your weak sides like this?, giving you something precious and then stealing it away? pushing your old bruises? that is to say, i have nothing but deep respect for indefensibleselfindulgence. to write fic that makes you want to engage in conversation? thats powerful 

Our 'Angel' of Static and Bone is written so inexplicably good, that more than once i wondered, how NeverwinterThistle was able to do it? and then i realised they are one of my fave bg3 and dishonored authors phpphp but really, the care, the effort that went into this fic? they are literally visible! you can feel the amount of time and brain juice that went into writing it. and the neighbor character? they appeared like two times?? and still their addition left me speechless with how clever it is, how different!! absolutely amazing work.

adjective noun has jonmichael chapter (11) that destroyed me as a person i swear i laughed so hard i dropped my phone and just kept giggling face-into-the-pillow style!!!!!! its rare for the fics to bring you this childish kind of pure joy; the little in-between moment of forgetting about everything, good and bad, and just have a good time. this chapter is definitely one of those rare things and it also made me wish there would be more jonmichael fics from cuttoth. somehow they nailed everything that should be nailed about this ship and did it in a couple of pages, what a magical work!! 

and well, now here's my fave fic, the one that took my head, shaked it like it's a soda can, and then left it open, fountaining at first and then dented and empty. 

I ask for nothing, but maybe I'm lying is the work that made me grateful for the fact that i know how to read in english. its....mmmm, you know that feeling when fic makes you go through literally everything? and then, as a bonus, through all stages of grief as well?

first you get hooked up by the beautiful writing style and so you know the fic is gonna be good and you get comfortable and you turn yourself off from the rest of the world and you read. 

you love pov, you love mood shifts, you love pacing, you love when scenes are short and you pause to think about what happened / you love when scenes are long and you get overloaded with the simple things that make you feel complicated emotions, you love it all. 

then you start to wish it would never finish; you look at the scrolling bar from time to time, a little bit too aware of how much there's left to read, a little bit too anxious about it. and at the same time, the fic starts to make you feel safe, confident, that at least it's gonna be alright, its gonna be that one work that will replace the canon events for you. it was the

“Oh. Oh, Archivist, no. That’s not right at all,” you say to yourself as you watch him march into artefact storage, both hands clamped around an axe. 

On a whim, you decide to save him."

line for me for sure uhhh it still hits as good as the first time too 

and then you get to the ending and you just stare at the screen. that hollowing feeling slowly spreading inside you. *sigh* its the best sort of inspiration im sure, but its the worse one too. i have no idea how possessedradios and authors like them are able to write something that kills you, then reanimates you and then makes you sit in front of the tablet drawing hours non stop. ''I ask for nothing, but maybe I'm lying" is so beautiful its scares and fascinates me, just like the podcast did. hell, better then the podcast did.  i know its silly but i even named my fisrt fanart of michael as the title of the fic 👉👈

ahhhh SO i rumbled again SORRY!!!!!!! every time someone asks something from me its either "i'll reply later" (replies 10 years after) or "tolstoy, hold my fucking beer". but i really hope that fic writers, not only those who are mentioned here but like in general? know how much they affect other people!! how their work creates safe spaces for others!! how they make readers smile or cry, even if those readers (im not pointing finger on myself idk what you talking about pgphpphph) are little gremlins that leaving comments once in a decade....................

have fun time reading!! <3

btw im working on a little fanart rn............. (expressing my deepest grattitude to ao3 johmichael writers 😳🔪)

[coralinnii]

You don’t have to do this right away but Part two for idia? Its okay if you dont feel like doing it, just remember to rest and take breaks!

"If you are a villain, then let me be your accomplice"  feat: Idia genre: drama notes: sequel to “being reincarnated into a new world as the bad guy” Idia ver., roughly 1.2k word count, mentions of blo*d, d*ath, and life-threatening situations, is there a gn equivalent of a himbo? cuz slight himbo!reader energy, unspecified beasts,

Finally, it’s here! The long-awaited villain/ess au sequel to the final housewarden (sorry Idia and Idia simps). Admittedly, this is not so much romantic as more fleshing out of their story :p whoops. I might make a continuation of the aftermath of this but I felt like this is a decent stopping point for now. 

Since accepting his growing feelings with you, Idia has been on an emotional roller coaster where he likes being around you but being around you makes him nervous to the point of almost puking. He finds himself glowing, both metaphorically and literally whenever you drop by and it doesn’t help when you seem to enjoy his personal space, seeing as you always bring yourself into said space. 

He knew that if he voiced his discomfort, you would make your best effort to distance yourself but the mere idea of that doesn’t make him feel too happy either. He’s grown accustomed to seeing your eyes sparkle at his new innovations, your warmth as you scoot closer to him on the couch, your voice when you share your random thoughts and questions

“Have you ever dreamt of your own death?” 

Ok, maybe he’s not too accustomed to everything you say

For a while now, you’ve experienced dreams that seem to burn themselves into your memories, forcing you to remember every detail as though the world compels you to. These dreams showed you snippets of life that seemed so real and scarily bears similarity to the real world. Your dreams foretold events in the near future which used to scare you to the point you begged your siblings to stay with you at night, assuring you it meant nothing. 

In truth, you wondered if you were given a strange and powerful gift but one thing about your visions stopped that train of thought. In your dreams, you tend to behave and act in ways you never would. The you in these dreams was spoiled and mean, especially to the Shroud family which you could never bring yourself to do in a million years. Because of that, you assumed your strange visions to be your imagination going wild. An alternative reality that didn’t happen.

But for the past few weeks, you were visioning your terrible end taking place in an expedition alongside your brother. You saw yourself perish at the hands of a feral beast with your brother then seeing your sister cry over your body and proclaiming to avenge your deaths, believing it to be the doing of the Shroud family. 

“What a strange dream, right?” You laughed in hopes to play off the absurdity of it all. “It’s just that…I've been seeing that dream more often now. I guess I’m more nervous about the expedition than I realise”

If it were someone else, you may have been considered strange or even going crazy. You thought Idia would see you that way or at best, try to convince you that it was nothing more than a wild fantasy, like your family does. 

But Idia was not a typical man. 

To be fair, you were not a typical person to him either. If it were anyone else, Idia wouldn’t care less about their troubles or at best, do the bare minimum to get them off his back. But it was the person who unknowingly stole his heart and watching you visibly affected by your disturbing visions persuaded him to seriously consider your words. 

“Tell me everything you saw” 

And lucky he did.  

Your father taught you a lot of things. How to swing your sword with gusto, to grit your teeth and dig in your heels when anticipating a blow, and to stand your ground no matter the odds. But he never told you how painful a racing heart can be or how loud the sound of blood rushing through your system is. Although, you supposed you can forgive him since he would never want to imagine you coming face-to-face to a deranged beast as your own blood blurred your vision. 

During your expedition, you and your siblings encountered a group of disorientated beasts and while this was nothing new to you, these creatures were more unpredictable in comparison to your previous encounters with this species. It was as though they were fighting something internally and your squadron was unfortunately caught in the crossfire. The large beasts were demolishing things in their vicinity, indiscriminately knocking down anything and anyone without care. 

Their unpredictable attacks ultimately led to one of them taking a vicious swing towards you and your brother, sending you both over a tall cliff with the large beast tumbling after from the force of its own attack. 

You vividly recalled this scene, as it was foretold in your dreams. You were trapped and wounded with your brother unconscious after taking the brunt of the attack when shielding you. You willed yourself to keep a strong grip on your sword. If your dreams truly turn to reality, you and your brother will meet an untimely end here. 

“Great heavens, give me strength to protect my brother” you prayed as you took one more long breath before letting out a feral roar. 

You ran full speed towards the rampaging beast, putting all your strength into your swing to sever its leg, hoping to incapacitate its movement. Unfortunately, your depleted strength and eyesight left your attempt with a sizable wound but not enough to deter the giant. 

Your blood has now ran cold as you realise the severity of your situation. Partially blinded and hurt, you were helpless in front of the deranged beast. Your tears mixed with the blood that cascaded over your eyes but you thought there was no use in wiping away the mess on your face. 

In your fearful madness, you thought you might as well make your last moment memorable. You turned your head towards the sky, intending to stare at the beast with as much defiance, refusing to show fear towards any foe. 

But something was odd 

Since the encounter with the beasts, they were nothing but aggressive monsters, agitated and reckless in motion and action. Every moment with them was spent defending yourself from their endless attacks. 

So why does it seem peaceful? 

Even with a wound on its leg, the beast’s body was relaxed like it was in pure relief from whatever was ailing them. If you weren’t just glad you’re still alive, you might have been a little offended by the lack of interest the beast had on you. 

With the rush of adrenaline slightly fading, you started taking notice of your senses a bit more, your injuries were being recognised, you felt the burn in your legs from the stress…and you felt a strange sensation on your wrist. 

Looking down, you found the source to be the beast radar device made by Idia. You found it strange since it wasn’t nearly this hot even when you first came in contact with the beasts earlier but now, the device was evidently warm and you could sense an aura-like energy being emitted from it. You weren’t confident but you wondered if Idia added something more to your device. And it was affecting the beast before you.

Daring to test your theory, you slowly stepped back from the beast, angling your wrist further from the beast, observing the facial changes of the creature. True to your hypothesis (but unfortunately so), the beast’s body started shaking as though something unpleasant had returned to it. You wanted to celebrate your eureka moment but acknowledged this may not be the best time. 

Then, like a gallant warrior, a figure appeared seemingly from the heavens and with a swift motion, speared the beast’s head from above. The creature let out a final painful roar before crashing down before your feet. You looked above to see your sister perched atop the beast, covered in sweat and blood. 

Your sister jumped from her position and ran to you, encasing you in a tight embrace. You noticed how your sister was shaking with palpable fear. 

“You’re alive. Thank the heavens you’re both alive” your usually level-headed sister cried into your sister as she wrapped her arms tighter, which you’re impressed she still could. 

Although, you were grateful for the embrace as you felt your legs give out under you from exhaustion. Your sister worriedly called out your name as she supported your weight but incredibly, you just let out a laugh. 

Against the odds and contrary to your haunting dreams, you were alive. 

Was it strange you thought of Idia when you realised that? 

[icantspellthings]

The thing that I really like about The Boys as a show is that there is no *truly* evil characters, there is nobody so irredeemable and 100% an evil asshole piece of shit for the sake of being one (well except stormfront but we're ignoring her).

Like with A-train at first when we met him, he was this fame obsessed adrenaline junkie who is only focused on winning/being number one and his popularity. He literally killed Robin and was totally set up to be the "main bad guy". But as the series went on, we actually see his character fleshed out more. There are nuances to his actions that yes were done out of selfishness, but if you looked at it from his perspective he is nothing without the Seven, he is nothing without his fame and money, he wants so desperately to not fall into poverty and irrelevancy anymore that he would fight tooth and nail just to maintain statusquo. And we start to see he realises the consequences of his actions whis brother got hurt and he apologised to hughie. Does it makes A-train a "Good" person? No but it certainly makes him a more sympathetic character.

Other characters, too, like The Deep who is a fucking rapist who you are primed to HATE right from the start for what he did to Annie. But as time goes on, your hate starts to lessen and transform into pity. At his core, Kevin is pathetic, insecure, and quite frankly a very idiotic and gullible man. He sexually assults other to gain power over them, does this make his actions justifiable, No. But it does make his actions understandable. He isn't a good person but he's a good *character* because he isn't just this 100% evil caricature of a person, he has nuances and contradictions and sometimes even sympathetic moments.

I could go on and on and on about the other characters in The Seven or even all the other minor villains. How they're actually fleshed out characters instead of just one dimensional villains. And also the inverness of the good guys not being saintly, can never do wrongers, always doing the right thing. They're the protagonists, but that doesn't make them perfect people. Case in point with butcher!!! And how he drags hughie down to his level of "doing anything for the mission." The way butcher uses MMs obsession against him to literally drag him back into his revenge plot despite the fact that MM just wants to live a normal life with his daughter and literally had ro rebuild his life from nothing 3 times! Now thanks to butcher, the man is a grade A CUNT who manipulates the people around him for his own gains! Yeah it's "for the greater good" but it's still not a nice way to treat your friends

Hell even fucking annie who the show sets up as this pure saintly paragon of goodness and kindness fucks up. Half the time she doesn't know what the fuck she is even doing just stumbling along trying to do what she thinks is best. Hell most of the time her plans doesn't work out or activity makes things worse! AND THATS OKAY!

BECAUSE I LOVE THEM ALL SO MUCH! because they're so painfully human, they make mistakes, they try to seek forgiveness but somethings can't be forgiven. They try their best but somtimes it makes things worse. They have a characters arc but then will walk back 20 steps until they become even worse because its the essence of what being human means! We all make mistakes, progress isn't linear. Sometimes, you take 1 step forward and then 40 steps back until all improvements are undone and you're back at the same point possibly even worse of. But you keep trudging forward because you're alive and you're human and the least you can do is wake up another day and try your damnest.

Its what I love so much about this show, everyone is SO SO SO painfully human.

[savagewildnerness]

OK, Here we go: S2E7 - I could not prevent it:

SPOILERS

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...

...

...

Random train-of-thought thoughts...

The thing that I find most difficult is that in the books you know nobody deserves death & you know when characters are justified or not justified in their actions or inactions.  But on the TV show I just feel increasingly all-at-sea, especially regarding Lestat seeing as we haven’t had any thing from his own perspective yet and it is just A Lot.

For example, in the books, Lestat does not deserve to die, but Claudia is 100% justified in murdering him… but Louis’ inaction is not entirely justifiable, though it’s understandable and Louis’ passivity and his regret at this is the hinge of the entire novel!  You can understand why Louis has anger towards Lestat and Lestat towards Louis and you understand that the love is more powerful and they always both loved each other.

And you know what characters want: Book-Armand wants Claudia dead from the first second he sees her; Armand & Lestat both want Louis alive more than any thing & Lestat doesn’t want Claudia to die, though if it were the only way to spare Louis he’d do any thing.  And book-Lestat is in an incredibly fragile place both mentally and physically even BEFORE he arrives in Paris.  Book-Lestat literally couldn’t have done the trial the way we saw in E7.

But in the show, all the stuff around memories mean it’s unclear exactly what anyone wants or deserves or is justified or not in in many cases. And sometimes it’s opposite.  Lestat truly does deserve death in the show to a degree he doesn’t in the book at all, which is SUCH a huge alteration.  If you haven’t read the books I can’t articulate the difference it makes.  The fact that Lestat has done absolutely nothing to deserve death in the book HANGS OVER all of the pages where Lestat is not present.  It hangs over Louis and obviously it hangs over the trial!  Louis isn’t thinking about Lestat all the time in the book because he knows he loves him anyway despite everything as Louis hasn’t realised that yet and is only starting to realise it.  He just knows he feels some thing and he knows Lestat was wronged and he misses him.

On the TV show I find it unclear whether Armand actively wants Claudia dead and if so, why?  Or to what degree he needs it?  I can see Lestat doesn’t want to be at the trial, but it isn’t clear whether he could not bear to see Louis die from this episode.  Santiago, confusingly seems to care more about killing Claudia than Louis which makes zero sense…. And I don’t understand the why of everyone.  The clearest character is Madeleine, who simply loves Claudia & that’s it. 

I hope it can all become clearer, but I don’t feel 1 episode is enough for that…?

More notes:

Anyone know what Santiago says to Madeleine?  Clearly hypnotising her, but what does he say?  And why is she hypnotised.  Just because she is irrelevant, so to keep her quiet?

Why would Santiago want to torture Claudia pre-trial more than Louis?  He absolutely despises Louis more!  So it doesn’t make sense to me why it’s Claudia who’d be put in the rat box?

“With additions made by The Vampire Lestat de Lioncourt” added to the play script.  How is this achieved?  Lestat’s telling?  Invading Lestat’s mind?

Incredible acting by everyone

Why did Santiago just go with the audience’s decision for banishment?  

Some kind of DreamStat in Dubai?  It felt that way…

Let’s talk Lestat:

I had expected something similar to Armand’s E3 story-Lestat: a very twisted version so was pleased this episode isn’t that.  Lestat sometimes seems very much his real-self… and at other times he seems like he does’t know what he’s doing… but the times he is his real-self, why doesn’t he scream about the fact that Louis is about to be condemned to death here!?!?!  I mean…. It is exquisite the way Lestat first looks at Louis, with no mercy… then turns away, a broken thing - the acting by Sam.... but like... is Armand in his head the entire time and we just don't know it yet? Some of it must be from Lestat's own volition or he would not be able to go off-script the way he does. The trial feels very different to the books.

It’s an odd mix of what seems very true and what seems total lies - there’s enough of real-Lestat that it feels real a lot of the time, but then it’s a weird mix of sincerity and insincerity crushed against each other and it’s hard to feel from when you can’t entirely tell the boundaries of this…

Lestat’s first speech is obviously scripted and it feels like Lestat is on autopilot almost.  When he says “It’s a story of love, not butchery” I already can’t tell if that’s scripted or if it’s Lestat going off-script?  BUT pointing out Armand’s influence on Nicolas’ death must surely be off-script?

After the “Come to me” bit, where Lestat displaces what he did onto Louis, which is clearly a (scripted) lie Lestat tells, we see Armand looking some way, then Lestat sits & looks exhausted/devastated… I wonder if Armand is mind controlling Lestat there to get him to say that? But it’s very confusing as at other times Lestat is clearly sincere & even goes off-script to be sincere, so it is quite confusing what we are/are not supposed to question…. I also noticed Sam mouths the words of Lestat’s Nicolas story along with Lestat speaking that, so he must have written that part of the script….

Obviously the take down of the homophobic soldier was incredibly satisfying…

I am reminded of when Claudia said the best lies contain truth, but it’s a lot.

At least Daniel knows Armand isn’t telling every thing truthfully…

So!  Let’s get to my least favourite thing - The Drop.  I believe the drop happened after this episode.  I do not see any way it didn’t.  The fight was pretty much as I expected inside.  Though Louis said crueller words than I expected, I guess.

But it seems to me the writers have decided to lessen Lestat’s responsibility in making Claudia, but to up his wronging of Louis - Louis who Lestat NEVER WRONGED!

While in themselves, these changes could be perceived as minor, the impact they have on the characters is massive.

As I say, I do believe the drop happened now.  That off-script apology - I do not see it being taken back or not being real.  That definitely wasn’t Armand making Lestat say that on stage, and in Paris Armand’s book-canon Lestat-drop wouldn’t have happened yet.  The whole feeling of it felt 100% real and a genuine apology.  It is what it is, but for me in terms of the writing it is 100% a mistake because it is a misunderstanding of the essence of Lestat.  Lestat would not do that to Louis.  Specifically, to Louis.  I cannot say it is in any way even in the spirit of Lestat.  And it seems very odd the show is including it because actually they’re emphasising the relationships more than the books so it matters even more in my opinion!  But, I accept that Lestat dropped Louis on the show.  I see no alternative scenario.  The implications of it will carry through Loustat’s entire relationship though and I do not like it.  The ending of Queen of the Damned, if they go with it as written will be SO different in feel as well, which even though that is so far away, makes me sad to even imagine how different it must feel already.

I get why there is an alteration with Claudia due to her being very different from in the books… but in the end I feel this episode should have been all about Claudia and I didn’t think that much about her or feel that much from her because there was so much else I was trying to work out, I suppose?  The biggest feeling was Madeleine choosing her, which was beautiful.  But not big enough.  Claudia deserved more.

Preview for next episode shows Louis seeing Lestat locked up AFTER the trial and with the fire gift, presumably going to kill him.  At first I was panicked that Lestat would *only* be seen locked up after the trial (and I am sure that’s what Armand will tell Louis), but we saw Lestat in that trailer in a different outfit, so we must see him pre-trial locked up too.

Yeah… my brain feels fried.  I did think Lestat would be painted more-the-villain than he was.  But the way things were it feels very confusing.  I couldn’t even guess what percentage of that trial was exactly as it happened and what percentage not…

But anyway, the episode was beautifully acted...

[cluelessandsenseless]

Ex!Rafe Cameron x Kook princess!Reader

Rafe is the Kook king and like any good king he needs a queen, who better than Y/N?

Too bad she ended things with him.

Y/N is little miss perfect, everyone knows her and everyone loves her.

Rafe knows Y/N is the only girl who is in his league.

In Rafe’s eyes no one but him is good enough for Y/N.

Rafe expects everyone to fall at his feet but Y/N doesn’t.

Her family is equally wealthy and respected as the Cameron’s, she was well educated and she’s was gorgeous.

Rafe is his usual douchey overly confident self when he’s with Y/N.

Y/N gave Rafe one chance because she she thought he was charming at first.

Y/N thought there was something more behind his ass hole he persona she learnt the hard way she was wrong.

They fought all the time and Y/N had to deal with all of Rafe’s crazy mood swings until it became too much.

Y/N knew how to stand her ground against Rafe.

Rafe fucked up his one chance but that doesn’t mean he’d give up.

Rafe is always showing off how much money he has, even to Y/N thinking she’ll realise he’s as good as it gets.

She couldn’t care less obviously, Rafe had nothing to offer to her that she didn’t have already.

“Rafe, no. I’ve told you 100 times, go away I’m hear with my friends.”

“Let me buy you a drink, I’ll get your table whatever they want.”

“Wow. How sweet Rafe, no thank you though.”

“Woah, I’m just trying to be a gentleman.”

“We both know you are far from a gentleman, Rafe. Goodbye.”

Y/N upholds everything her parents believe in.

Y/N respected herself, her parents and the people around her.

Rafe didn’t respect anyone, not even his own body.

Rafe believes in money and power he doesn’t have to prove himself to anyone.

Rafe thinks Y/N just doesn’t realise how perfect they could be together she just has to give him another chance.

Rafe doesn’t see the problem with going to every party, doing drugs and getting in fights.

Rafe sees Y/N at parties dressed up in skin tight dresses, perfectly manicured nails and fresh long braided hair and it pisses him off because what did he even do wrong? She should be his girl.

Sure Rafe did drugs 24/7 and they argued a lot but if she really cared about him she would have stayed with him and worked it out.

Rafe talks to his friends about Y/N like they’re still dating.

“My girl is so perfect.”

“Your girl?”

“Y/N.”

“HA!! Y/N Y/L/N?! She wouldn’t touch you with a ten foot pole, dude she’s done with you.”

“She’ll get over it. I just gotta reel her back in.”

“You’re dumb as fuck, man.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

Y/N was the girl every guy wanted. Rafe but Rafe would never let anyone else on the island touch what’s his.

No guy on the island is dumb enough to try anything with Y/N, everyone knows she is Rafe’s girl even if she ended things with him.

Y/N is the sweetest girl in town.

Y/N is so polite when she rejects Rafe time after time.

“Hey angel, you wanna go outside and smoke?”

“No.., not with you.”

“Aw..come on babe, I just wanna talk.”

“Rafe no. I’m done trying to work things out.”

“What I’m not worth your time? I thought we had something?”

“Yes we did. That was a misjudgment on my part though Rafe.”

“So what..?”

“You fight, do drugs and you’re so immature, what would my parents think? Maybe you don’t care what people think about you but I do.”

“So you think you’re better than me?”

“I know I am, Rafe. And I’m sure there are many people on this island who are dumb enough to give you what you want but not me, not again.”

Rafe literally wants to shake some sense into Y/N.

How could anyone think they’re better than Rafe Cameron?

Why does Y/N want someone else when Rafe has everything that matters?

[tartigglez]

"allow me to comfort you?"

zhongli x gn!reader

genre: fluff/reverse comfort

word count: 1.1k

tags: zhongli is SO SAD. IM SORRY. uhhhhh cuddles, lots of em, kith kith, nightmares, zhongli is dragon boi

tw/cw: ig zhongli has some sort of what i guess could be called anxiety but that's kinda it

a/n: decided to double post this week because i have exams and this is my way to destress, enjoy :)

ps... this is not very well proofread

opening your eyes in the morning is normally quite a peaceful feeling, especially when your boyfriend is with you, as he would normally have his arms wrapped around you, lovingly awakening you from your slumber. however, today seemed different, or rather, tonight. 

you were awakened to the feeling of movement, and a rather dragonic looking man stirring next to you in bed. 

was he having a dream? a bad one? you could’ve sworn this was the first time this had happened, and you weren’t sure what to do. 

after a moment, you sat up, and decided to awaken him, as you could see the golden patterns on his arms glowing every few seconds, which after knowing him for a while, you came to figure meant he was in some sort of distress.

you grabbed his arm and started to move your hand up and down gently, as to not startle the man too much. some people might think its a risk not worth taking, to awaken a literal sleeping dragon, and even you knew the man had the potential to hurt you, but he never would. you trusted him, more than anything. 

after turning on the lamp at the bedside, you began making more effort to awaken the man. 

“zhong. my love, wake up”

after about thirty seconds of attempting to awaken him, the man suddenly sprung upwards, breathing heavily, and catching hold of his surroundings. he scanned around him, before grabbing onto your hand and looking down, closing his eyes. 

shortly after you began to hear gentle sobs from the man. surely this can't be right. rex lapis, crying…?

“hey, what happened? you okay?”

you quickly realised however, that these questions were pointless, and that he was not going to respond. instead, you opted for pulling him closer to you, wrapping one of your arms around his broad shoulders, and holding his hand with the other, gently stroking his thumb. 

his gentle sobs continued for a few minutes, before you moved your hand from his and used it to pull his head to your chest, where you presumed he could perhaps find some solace as you ran your fingers through his hair. 

when his sobs finally slowed down, it took him a moment to pipe up. 

“surely this position is uncomfortable for you, aren’t my horns hurting you, or digging into you somewhere? i can make them g-”

“shh, i’m okay. promise.”

“v-very well”

after another moment of silence, he spoke again…

“i am... sorry for awakening you. i cannot remember the last time this happened, but it was truly long ago”

“my love, you have nothing to apologise for. do you want to talk about it?”

“i suppose it would be improper of me not to offer up an explanation after so crudely awakening you like this… i dreamt that… they left me”

“they left you…? who?”

“the liyuean people. i dreamt that they abandoned everything here, that their archon was no longer worthy and-”

was he crying? again?

“hey, you’re okay. it was only a dream”

“i’m sorry, i do not have these experiences often, which means that they only feel more real to me”

you wipe the tears from beneath his eyes, and lean up to place a gentle kiss to the top of his forehead.

it was still an odd sight to see zhongli crying. 

"i know, darling, i know”

“may i talk to you about something? If you wouldn’t mind lending an ear?”

“that's exactly what i'm here for, ‘li” 

“very well. truthfully i sometimes feel as though a lot of my person is a façade. of course i am required to believe that i am powerful, otherwise i would not hold my position amongst the seven, but honestly i sometimes feel that i am not enough for the people here in liyue. i have given them everything i have, but what if that is not enough? what if one day, liyue, rex lapis, morax and zhongli are all left in the dust. what if it is all forgotten? if my efforts are put to waste?”

“zhong. when was the last time you interacted with a liyuean? they all know that you care for them more than anything, do not let your own self doubt get in the way of that, or you will become blinded by your insecurities. you are doing a good job, take it slowly. after all, fate awaits us all, and there is very little that can be done about it. i promise you, the people of liyue love you. i love you”

“i love you as well, dear. sometimes i just worry.”

“i know. i cannot even begin to imagine the amount of pressure you are under.”

you used your hand to tilt his face towards yours, before easing his worries with a kiss.

“shall we lay down dear? i still feel apologetic for waking you up”

“sure, but just this once, allow me to comfort you?”

“very well”

you moved to lie flat on your back, as zhongli moved himself closer to you, resting his head upon your chest.

“is this okay?” 

he asked, wondering if the position was comfortable for you. after all the man did have literal horns poking out of his head.

“mhm! can i play with your hair?”

“please, do. that sounds ever so pleasant at this moment in time.”

and so you moved your fingers to entangle in his hair, gently massaging his scalp as he let out a large yawn, wrapping himself tighter around you.

“i love you, y/n”

“love you too, ‘li”

after a few moments of pleasant silence, you piped up again, with intentions to ask the man if he had calmed down any.

“zhong?”

“zhong~?”

ah. he was sleeping. 

“sleep well, prince”

and all of a sudden, began a low, rumbling, purring noise, from somewhere in the mans chest. an ability you were completely unaware he had, but for some reason the sound soothed you, and let you know he was calm, and happy in your presence. 

you placed a gentle kiss to his head once again, before drifting off into your own slumber. 

you awakened to the feeling of gentle kisses being placed upon your shoulder, by none other than zhongli himself, who was obviously very impatiently waiting for you to wake up.

“ah, you're awake. good morning, dear”

“mmm, morning zhong”

“did you rest well?”

“i did. you?”

“me too”

“why of course, i'm not sure why i asked”

“what is that supposed to mean…?”

“you started purring in your sleep last night”

“i did WHAT?!"

[lokiiied]

before i start this is not hate and the post is a little bit old but it’s about the one saying everyone else sucks for not coming to lucas’s game have you ever had prior plans because personally if we had this super important meeting coming up and like a week before this super awesome event one of my friends asked me to attend their game i would have gone with the plan that was made earlier and vice versa and again this is not hate

hi! first off, i would never take this sort of ask as “hate” !! no worries there. but for me, this was less about the timing of things and much more about the carelessness and way it was handled.

it’s also not like the championship game was that sudden. like, it was a surprise to mike & dustin bc they don’t give a shit about basketball and aren’t aware of the ongoings of the team - regardless of the fact that lucas is on the team and most likely mentioned it. but no one else was surprised by this.

it’s the fact that not only do mike & lucas not care that lucas is on the team, but are actually upset with him for the overlapping events. he asks them to convince eddie to move the game to any other night. to which mike tells him to “talk to his coach. and get him to move the game.” lol. which is. clearly not realistic.

dustin says, “this is the end of eddie’s campaign and we need you!” then mike adds, “yeah and the tigers don’t. you’ve been on the bench all year.” which may be fine points & lucas isn’t that offended but the emphasis of the scene is put on this moment right here, when lucas says,

“i’m asking you guys, as a friend, just talk to eddie. get him to move hellfire. come to my game. please.” to which he’s met with silence. because it is made clear the significance that this game - and them being there means to him. to have their support. and then realising that they would rather choose eddie & dnd (yes, the super cool senior they all look up to but…) over lucas? their supposed best friend?

this is not just a poorly timed double booking where an “oh shoot, well i agreed to this thing first, so sorry!” serves as a reasonable response. these are two important events both involving lucas’ participation. one of which, is non-negotiable, it’s a championship game, if he doesn’t attend he misses an opportunity to play and maybe get his talents recognised & risks possibly being kicked off the team if they found out where he actually was.

the other, although also planned in advance, is an event made up of and controlled by his friends. eddie had complete power to move hellfire to another night at the cost of…literally nothing? the anticipation of waiting one more day but having lucas’ presence and making a small sacrifice to show solidarity/support?? and eddie says absolutely not because?? because it’s lucas’ fault for being in basketball? as punishment? i love eddie with my whole heart but it was not that serious.

what about max? she’s grieving, she’s depressed, she’s going through it. she doesn’t realise that she’s the only other friend he can ask to come. but still he says, “i know you never want to come to any of my games, but this one is kind of a big deal.” implying that he’s asked her to come before and she never has. and while, yes, he could’ve worded it a little differently- do you know how fucking hard it is to try and convince someone that you care about to come to an event that’s really important to you that would mean the world to you if they were there and for them to just…not care? it’s really fucking disappointing.

he tries to reach out to her and to tell her that he knows she’s not okay and that he’s there and she just. shuts down and hands the ticket back. and then later he is STILL the one apologising for not doing enough!! for not being there for max. i get how hard it is to let people in when you’re struggling and not wanting to go to events like that but, fuck he just looks so put out. she also didn’t seem to question/put together the fact that dustin asked her to play dnd that same night (bc lucas couldn’t be there.) but i wouldn’t really expect her to know why.

i do credit steve for being there/cheering him on, though i’m sure part of it was robin being there in band. and nancy was there as well, but for the paper. and sure, i’ll give dustin & mike credit for at least trying to convince eddie to move it. and it is sweet that max at least was listening to the game.

but at the end of the day, lucas is looking out at the crowd and seeing the absence of his closest friends. he finally gets his moment to shine, but they’re not there cheering him on, they’re not there to celebrate with him. and then he sees them leaving their game, not only cheering about their own win that he missed out on, but also that they asked his own sister to act in his place?? when she also probably would’ve gone to his game?? bc in ep. 7 he literally says “you still come to all my games though” ?? and again, just with the emphasis on lucas’ perspective in the episode - the look on his face as he’s leaving with jason and the team just says everything. we should absolutely be empathising with him. we’ve all been there.

all this to say, my post was in no way meant as “they suck” all the time!! i truly, dearly, love them all. but i do think every single one of them played a part and that everyone failed lucas that night. and it says a lot that none of them even realised or apologised to him and ig it especially bothers me because lucas tries so hard to be there for his friends, he’s always the first person to apologise when he says the wrong thing and he’s unconditionally loyal. even after all that you bet your ass he’s still gonna lead jason + co. off on a false lead and bike 8 miles to find & warn his friends. so yeah, i think lucas deserved & deserves better than that.

sorry for the TEDtalk lmaoo there were several factors to this but uhh yeah! hope that helps put it in a different perspective :)

[joejhang]

a deep dive into my issues with the rosewood chronicles

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE ROSEWOOD CHRONICLES BY CONNIE GLYNN

(pls read so i can discuss these books w more people. i have MANY thoughts)

ellie wolf has the most insane victim complex i have EVER read about; not only does she never do anything on her own to develop the plot or help other characters develop the plot and/or themselves, she spends half the series being all moody and emo and blaming herself for everything but then she does literally nothing about it. she spent a solid three books bitching and moaning abt how she ruined her friends' lives and then she did nothing abt it.

ellie treats her friends like SHIT; this goes mostly for jamie and lottie. firstly, jamie was wronged by literally everyone ever and i will never get over it. jamie spent his entire life in servitude to ellie and her family and he lost his identity, his birthright, his freedom and his childhood because of them and yeah, it was never ellie's fault, but she continuously makes his job more difficult as a way of "rebelling". there wouldn't be a problem w this bc i also hate the royal family, but she is the only character who has the luxury to rebel bc the repercussions of her actions always fall on jamie and not her. this is shown multiple times (the portrait thing, the end of undercover princess) where ellie fucks up and jamie is punished for it. yes, she has every right to resent her position, but in acting out she let jamie take her falls and she knew it and she hated her parents for it, but she still continued to act the way that she did and blamed her parents for the way jamie was punished, and not doing anything to change the way she was acting. also she just is never grateful towards him at all. also their "friendship" was fucked from the beginning bc they literally had a master-servant dynamic (see: the time in the first book where ellie literally ordered him to be nice to lottie, also the vow in pah). you can't be friends w someone who has power over you. despite jamie standing by her side through literally EVERYTHING, ellie chooses lottie over him time and time again. and even tho lottie means more to her than anything, ellie even treats her like shit. immediately after the princess thing gets out, ellie uses lottie as a way out and lottie immediately shoulders ellie's burdens and sees it as a blessing. ellie blames her parents for lottie's troubles, but if u recall she was the one who initiated the portman deal, not her parents. and she also didn't inform lottie about any of it until after the meeting w the king and queen. she immediately dispenses of her responsibilities onto lottie bc lottie supposedly "enjoys" them. this takes a toll on lottie from the beginning when she starts getting threats, she gets kidnapped, stalked by the media, bullied at school and targeted by a literal terrorist organisation in ellie's name, and ellie never revokes the portman deal bc she wants her own precious freedom. maturing is realising jamie was right, and lottie deserved to have a proper childhood, and ellie was also right, that she and her family were the problem that took away lottie AND jamie's childhoods.

lottie is honestly such a toxic character; she has never really wanted anything that hasn't been imposed on her by others or by what she thinks other people want. she worked her ass off to get into rosewood bc she thinks that's the one thing her mother wanted. she became ellie's portman to save ellie from the pressures of being a princess. she becomes so entrenched in her role as ellie's portman that she literally can't fathom her identity outside of her job. this is shown in pah a bit but i feel like ppl forget. being a portman is NOT good for lottie. like at all. from the first book, she's already losing sleep, receiving threats, borderline sexually assaulted, kidnapped and targeted by a terrorist group all bc she was acting as ellie. ollie was RIGHT when he said the job was too much for her. lottie looks at ellie and feels that she needs to protect ellie, and for some reason feels beholden to her, even tho by all rights lottie is the one w the worse lot in their relationship. her mother died of cancer, and her father left her and gambled away all of their money, marrying a woman not much older than lottie herself, she was raised by a stepmother that didn't care that much abt her and grew up pretty impoverished compared to the rest of the rosewood students and worked super hard to get into her dream school, but we're supposed to feel sorry for ellie bc she can't go out and party. like, i get it, ellie is isolated and caged bc of her role. it's true, but lottie has had it a LOT worse, and still she feels like she needs to shoulder ellie's burdens too. and she also deludes herself into thinking she enjoys them. i feel like these issues rlly aren't talked abt enough.

jamie was never treated right by anyone in his entire life ever; literally name a single character that ever treated jamie right. ellie, his childhood BEST FRIEND, was never grateful for him, got him in trouble all the time and chose lottie over him every time. lottie, his first love, used him as a bargaining chip in order to get information from their enemy, and literally allowed him to be manipulated, gaslit and literally groomed (i AM using this word bc no one can convince me this isn't what happened between jamie and haru) to receive scraps and clues in return. the royal family, who he devoted his life to serving, lied to him his whole life about his identity, and made him a servant when he should've been a prince. haru, the guy he trusted despite everything, spent all of their relationship manipulating and gaslighting him and literally grooming him. yes it was grooming. haru was 20 and jamie was 16 when they first met and it was pretty clear from the beginning that haru had romantic intentions towards him. and even in pah when he was like "i want to be closer to you" he was literally 21 and jamie was 17. and ykw it makes sense that jamie would trust and devote himself to haru and lottie like he did. it was literally a trauma response from being treated like a weapon and not a human his entire life. the royal family saw him as a servant and a weapon and his childhood best friend saw him as ammunition to use against her parents. ofc he fell in love with the only two people in his life who treated him like a human being. and of COURSE he joined leviathan after finding out he was LIED TO his entire life abt who he was and after finding out lottie sold him out after he devoted himself to protecting her. and the way everyone treated him like a villain in pea like...bro everyone lied to him. for some reason no one told him haru was leviathan even tho it was most prevalent to him. even tho he was responsible for protecting them, they didn't inform him at all. bro of course he joined leviathan, he was literally betrayed by the all the people he loved???? and not sayuri treating him like the villain and a betrayer in pea when she was the one who kept haru a secret from him. and the way lottie, ellie, binah, ani and saskia knew haru's identity and just allowed jamie to be used and manipulated by him is CRAZY. and no one even spoke up for him except saskia. and once. and then ellie forced him into that vow literally for no other reason than "if i can't have her no one can" bc bsfr jamie was never any harm to lottie, it was always ellie and her family. I DIGRESS.

[moldybonessmell]

The Umbrella Academy season 3 review post

I finally finished season 3 of tua even tho I've watched first two seasons first day they came out and oh boy do I have things to talk about-

To begin with, the things I like about new season:

- The way we finally dug into Allison's trauma and how she starts going psychotic is actually a good plot line especially the accent on how she just like any other Umbrella Academy people indulges in self-distructive behavior, she's really just like them

- Diego getting a kid as someone with the biggest daddy issues out there is a realistic plotline because having a kid (even if Stanley's not actually his) heals him in this regard tho he and Lila would get a kid anyway eventually but they really should've been more sad about Stanley thanosing out of the existence you know

- Five being the founder of The Temps Commission makes so much sense as he's the one with the power to travel time of course he's more powerful than it seemed

- Good music scenes. Music is what season 1 was incredible for and what I love about the show. In season 2 there weren't many scenes that caught my attention but in s3 it's definetely better. We got Klaus's death montage with "Crystallised" by The xx and celebration scene with "Another one bites the dust" by Queen + Luther on moon and "Friday I'm in Love" by The Cure these were really nice.

- The Oblivion Hotel is such a cool location and concept (a place for everyone) I like the change of place of action a lot, but the way it's a portal is kinda overused imo

- Lila and Five are still the best characters and carried the season

- Fei is such a cool chara with a distict character design (which most of Sparrow Academy lack tbh)

Now things I don't like:

- Ben being just a placeholder character is such a bummer because instead of getting angst and drama we got a mostly one-dimentional anti-hero who has a completely different personality from Ben. We got a tiny bit of his character when he admitted he just wants to be involved with everyone but it's really minimal.

I can't believe Klaus says "He's an asshole and he's dead to me" like WHAT DO YOU MEAN fuck no Klaus would not say that shit and he would not just give up on him. Yeah Luther says stuff like "I'm glad to see you even if you're different" or whatever but it's Klaus who've spent the most time with Ben.

The way literally any other actor could have played Sparrow Ben and nothing would change is lame af I hope in next season we will see more changes

- Same goes to my dear Grace who's just a placeholder for black hole worshipper like what do you mean we just got one phrase from Diego and that's it??? This whole bit with fake god and stuff really threw me off it didn't go anywhere

- The Sparrow Academy being one-dimentional characters in general like I get producers probably didn't have enough episodes to actually develop characters but holy shit are they boring.

Even if you want to make them just antagonists we had such cool villains in two previous seasons they were original and interesting (aka The powerless podcast-fan male manipulator Peabody and The Cunty Handler)

Also the way the fisrt Sparrows who died were the most annoying and cliche assholes makes them just filler charas

- How show tried to make us feel compassion to Reginald Hargreeves holy shit do I hate this guy- After Klaus realised his father was basically killing him over and over in his childhood instead of Klaus getting mad or upset and having a breakdown we got nothing.

He even came back to new timeline Reginald who's "nicer" for this asshole just to hurt him AGAIN

- Klaus mostly being a comic relief in this season is so fucked I love this character and in previous seasons we had a great look at his life and experiences but now he's just kinda there being high and that's it

"mm I guess he died a few times it's probably enough" - plot writers

no character development whatsoever is just upsetting.

And the amount of unnecessary traumatising aka Reginald training him was really not it, even if it's supposed to be a joke.

- Reginald being a two-faced ass like holy shit is this terrifying. Pogo was the one who gave Sparrows pills and now Klaus helped him to stop taking them and this asshole is taking advantage of naive and vulnerable Klaus.

It is in fact a good plot twist but bro I really did prefer Reginald being a cartoonish villian instead of actual pure evil like how does he have shitty motivation but still does just so much shit.

- The Umbrella Academy family having no improvement in their relationship. They still don't care Klaus relapsed, they still don't care about Viktor. All they care about is their own misery which is really in character but with three seasons out of the way and only one more left I would expect at least something you know.

- Viktor is still left out. Like bro the only compassion he had is only when he transitioned but this is it?? Bro's still waiting till someone comes and cares about him but not only this doesn't happen, he even gets rediculed by Sparrow Ben for that and called emo are you actually kidding me what's with all the hurt with no comfort???

It feels a lot like when you're mentally ill and your family kinda "walks on eggshells" to not trigger you but it's in quotes because they don't actually care. They act nice just because they think you're psycho and you would make less problems if they pretend. And this is very sad, Viktor is such a tragic character.

Okay that's it for now. If you have any thoughts please share in comments!

[merrivia]

There’s something I find quite curious about the Captive Prince trilogy.

The lack, or paucity, of any references to religion. Or mythology or folklore. I find that a really interesting creative choice, because I think most readers feel the shapes of the fairytales and myths and beliefs that lie, like bones or the foundation of a building, under the surface of the story.

So let's discuss.

Firstly, belief systems. We know Akielos, much like the Ancient Greece it’s modelled on, has philosophers, even if we never hear about them in any detail.

We know there are Veretian and Akielon rituals regarding death. Aleron and Auguste are entombed, and so is Damen's faked body with Theomedes.

Akielon rituals are told to us in more detail via Nikandros:

There is an Ancient Greek death ritual called the ekphora, a “ritual procession of the deceased’s body from where it had been laid out to the place of burial”. The prefix ek meant ‘out’ and phora ‘to carry’ so it literally denotes the carrying out of the body to be buried. I couldn't find 'ekthanos' as a real extant word, but with the same logic ekthanos means out + thanos- a word that can mean immortal or death depending on how you might interpret the etymology of it.

It sounds like Nikandros completed a mourning ritual and lit something (a votive lamp?) symbolically (perhaps it symbolises the leaving of the spirit, as that which removes or leads out the immortal soul from the body, hence ekthanos?). I would assume it was a funeral pyre if it weren't for the fact that Damen's body was interred (could it have been ashes that were interred? That would be safer if you're going to fake someone's death, but that's honestly me very much extrapolating from nothing. Also damn, Nikandros loves Damen. My heart honestly feels so warm about him. If that happened, and he stepped up to light the pyre when Kastor didn't, than he really is his real brother).

But for all this, there is no sense of an afterlife nor praying to deities.

More after the jump:

Edit: Unless you count Jokaste’s note to Damen, which seems to point to Greek ideas of metempsychosis/reincarnation.

Regardless of that though there are no powerful institutions, no churches or temples, no religious figures to appease.

At first I thought there were no mentions of gods at all.

But there is.

Firstly in the very first description of Laurent in the baths:

And secondly, in the Akielon epic Erasmus sings:

There’s also an unusual mention of Nereus who has a collection of statues in his garden. At first, because Nereus was a Greek god and because it felt faintly familiar, I took it for a classical allusion then swiftly realised on googling that it wasn’t. Or at least I don’t think so? Someone enlighten me, and I'll edit if I'm wrong.

So I think we can safely assume Akielos once had gods, but the religion died out perhaps (thought not due to the rise of Christianity). And their pantheon may have been pretty much been the Greek one as the influence might linger in names like Nereus, literally a god of the sea (and Damianos from Damia, a minor goddess of fertility, and Nikandros which has a root in Nike, goddess of victory…).

Edit: having now read The Training of Erasmus, Nereus is a slave owner, and his gardens a place for young pre-pubescent slaves to have their initial training. Sigh. Reading that story really is just heartbreaking.

Keeping to the topic I suppose (even with the lingering sense of disgust that ran through me while reading it) did he collect statues that were relics of the times before and keeps them in this garden? You can see statuary fitting into this strange rarified space for the most beautiful youths. It could be some echoing of Roman pleasure gardens which generally had that sort of statuary? Or is it a mirroring of Renaissance Italy where they tried to recreate Roman gardens, taking classical statues from ruins to restore and place in them? Who knows!

Without being explicit, Pacat makes it clear that beautiful Laurent is classical-statue-beautiful. Greek god beautiful. A Ganymede, perhaps or an Adonis. And slave beautiful, too.

And, of course, Damianos has so many parallels to Achilles, from his unparalleled strength and prowess on the battlefield, to his ability to strategise as if Athena is guiding him, to how he can become blinded by rage. The warrior-hero.

Ultimately, I guess what’s interesting is Pacat’s choices. It’s really hard to avoid any religious references in writing, as these allusions are baked in so deep to language. Damen being made a slave is called a “living hell”. Laurent presents an “angelic countenance”. Damen "prays" the training arena is empty so he can escape. Orlant thinks that Akielos sounds like "paradise". Interestingly, all those quotes are from Captive Prince, and it seems as if, as Pacat went along, she steered away more and more from any kind of religious reference.

I mean, I get wanting to steer clear of religion. After polytheistic religions came the monotheistic- and then suddenly we have a whole heap of reasons why homosexuality is a sin. If we cut that off, and there is no spread of Christianity across Europe, it seems we get the bisexual culture of Vere and Akielos and Patras.

[Edit: But also sex as a sin in general does not exist. The policing of heterosexual premarital sex came into being to control reproduction, which in turn helps secure bloodlines in a patriarchal society. And so Pacat very neatly invents another social taboo as a substitute; the fear of bastardry, which means no heterosexual premarital sex EVER, and thus bisexuality becomes the norm (Damen is against this seeing it as potentially leading to situational sexual behaviour which doesn’t feel right to him).]

I also think it may have distracted from Pacat’s pared down yet evocative writing style. And added layers of unnecessary complication as the Veretian version of the Church would be another tricky, powerful and corrupt institution for him to battle and there really is no room for that in the narrative.

And just as a mini musing of a postcript, we know Laurent reads illuminated manuscripts:

We know these surely can't be prayerbooks, so I think we can assume that they are histories and works of poetry and stories.

Stories of courtly love perhaps? Fables, legends and folklore? Old Akielon myths? I would love to know what he read.

There are two French/European stories that do come to mind when I think of Laurent.

Beauty and the Beast, of course, with Laurent-the-beautiful and Damen-the-'giant-animal', and the trope of the kind-hearted lover who thaws the heart of the one who has grown cold and cruel.

And Reynard the fox, the trickster figure, whose "sly amorality" is "sympathetic as it is needed for his survival".

And whose main antagonist is, of course, his uncle.

[deargravity]

kind of obsessed with "what if" scenarios that are ultimately fruitless because the outcome will probably never change.

can't stop thinking about the conversation the other miracles had about akashi's captaincy right after he was promoted. midorima's fierce belief in his friend's ability to pull the team together. kuroko's concern that it might be too much to take. did they ever talk about it? did akashi ever know midorima thought this highly of him or that kuroko cared so deeply for him? would it have changed anything if he'd known his friends trusted him but also wanted the best for him?

midorima's comment about akashi bringing the team together breaks me, in hindsight and i wonder if it broke midorima's heart too, in a way, when he realised his faith in akashi's capabilities backfired so terribly. that he'd unintentionally ended up abandoning his friend by framing the situation so that everyone relied on akashi without considering he might be able to rely on them too. (it's not mido's fault though, because akashi was already raised to always stand differently and ahead of his peers by his father but i still think the sentiment might have damaged him differently when coming from his friends.) midorima's capacity to focus on performing his personal best because he has fierce trust in his teammates but his initial difficulty warming up to shutoku because he was afraid he'd do it all wrong again? still thinking about that... i don't know... there is something so complicated about everything because midorima had so much faith in akashi, maybe to their own detriment, but it was at the point where nothing anyone could have said would have changed what was already happening. any one of them could have cared or not cared and it wouldn't have mattered because the pivotal moment was akashi's promotion to captain. they were kind of at the point of no return, you know what i mean?

and such early captaincy itself was another burden to shoulder for akashi especially at such an early stage of his formal basketball career where he'd barely begun to explore camaraderie through equal footing with his teammates before being relegated to captain, which inevitably changed the power dynamics again, separating akashi's role from the rest of the team. do you understand, do you understand, am i making sense? i think it can essentially be understood as akashi once again being given responsibilities before he's ready for them, before he's even gotten to enjoy what he's doing the same way his father increasingly enlists him in extracurriculars and enrichment classes at the first sign of competence in one or the other, and akashi's life just becomes a string of one next big thing after the other. he hasn't taken a real breath in a while. how long has he been holding his breath? how long has he been holding up the sky?

the worst part is that it is literally no one's fault except the coach and school administration that insisted on spreading these kids too thin. nijimura wouldn't have felt pressured to step down so soon if he hadn't felt like he had to choose between being a captain or a son, in the first place, which is a messed up choice to be forced to make. the whole situation upsets me because it's always the "trusted adults" in question causing all the problems in the first place.

i think about that scene with nijimura and akashi too much - the "are you uncertain?" "no, i'm worried about you." and i think about it probably more than i should. in a different context it could have been an exchange between akashi and kuroko respectively if kuroko had expressed his concerns sooner. the entire scene felt kind of despondent, too, and not just because of nijimura's news. it didn't feel celebratory at all and i guess that's just a testament to the trend of akashi gaining responsibilities faster than he's capable of shouldering them but having to carry them with grace anyway because there's no other option. because he loves his captain, he loves basketball and he loves this team that believes so absolutely in him that he has to be absolute in his strength as well.

there's just so many ifs but none of those could have changed what was about to happen. idk...