#the Victorians believed it themselves actually

[marzipanandminutiae]

Okay the person stating that going outside dressed slightly differently would lead to a public beating has to explain to me how then fashion evolved, like from the crinoline to the crinolette for example. Because not wearing a crinoline would mean that you would be escorted to the town square and beaten by all men in town according to this person, so how could you possibly make the switch to a crinolette?

oh no no, I imagine they mostly assume like...your husband would beat you in private, I figure. or something. so, you know, after he brings home your Government-Issued Crinolette (since he leaves the house and you never do), if you don't put it on right away, he's legally obligated to wale on you

but only with a stick the width of his thumb!

(seriously, though, to be fair, I've never encountered the SPECIFIC belief in Beating As Punishment For Women Dressing Outside The Fashion. I more meant that I've seen people who seemed to think social pressure to look a certain way worked through direct, immediate consequences or explicit/official rules- eg. a Quora question asking why Victorian women were "required" to wear their hair up)

[barefoot-joker]

Snake in the Garden Pt 2~Yandere!Lucifer X Reader

Hello, everybody! And welcome to part 2 of Snake in the Garden! I had a lot of fun writing this chapter and I can't wait to see what you guys think. There will be a couple more parts after this one, so be on the lookout! At the end I will have a taglist of people. If you would like to be added, don't hesitate to comment. Again, I'm sorry if Lucifer is OOC. I tried my best. As always, I hope you enjoy and have a great day/night!

Words: 2877

Warnings: Swearing, Mental Breakdown, Forced Companionship, Possessive Tendencies, Ignoring One's Wishes

Part 1 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

I sighed as I shifted in the large King sized bed. It was quite comfortable with red silk sheets, fuzzy blankets and so many pillows one could almost make an igloo. While the mattress was quite huge, I wasn’t given much room to move. Currently His Majesty had his inky black arms wrapped around my waist and his legs tangled with mine. The heat of his breath and body felt hotter than the fires of Hell. I tried to shift again but he just cuddled closer. “Just five more minutes, darling.”

“Please, Lucifer-”

“I love it when you say my name,” he purred.

“I really need to go to the bathroom. I promise I’ll come right back.”

He hummed and I shuddered as his claws lightly tapped at my hip. “I suppose I can allow it. But do be quick, I’ll miss you.”

His grip loosened and I was quick to sit up. Fast walking to the bathroom, I shut and locked the door behind me. While there was no doubt in my mind he could use some magic to open the door if he wanted to, the lock soothed some sense of protection in me. A sigh of relief escaped me as I sat on the toilet and let my hands run down my face. I didn’t really need to use the bathroom, it was just a lame excuse to get away for a few minutes. After all, it had only been a few hours since I found out my little Red was actually the Devil himself and I was being ushered into the role of Queen of Hell. I shook my head as I tried to get rid of the look of adoration he held in his eyes throughout the night. It was frightening. Silently, I played with the hem of my favorite color nightgown as I tried to think of a way out of this. 

It’s not like I could kill him. He seemed pretty agile on his feet and with magic on his side he’d be able to stop a fatal blow.

Leaving wasn’t an option either. There was palace staff everywhere, little demons with suits waiting for their master’s beck and call. The property was guarded by David and Goliath as well. Besides, I didn’t really know the layout of the castle and would just be going in blind, despite the elaborate tour I had gotten.

The final thought was to play into his game, make him believe I was in love with him. I mentally gagged. Not only did I think I wouldn’t be able to handle pretending to be a fan of his courtship, I feel he would be able to sniff out my intentions right away. He was an ancient being of many eons after all and he had a previous wife.

I looked up from my thoughts and gazed at the Victorian stained glass window in front of me. The window was able to be pulled apart in the middle as there was a latch on either side. Hold on a minute.

I got up and stalked over, undoing the golden latch quietly. Looking down, I gulped at how high up we were. The dead grass seemed miles away. Perhaps if I got a rope of some sort I’d be able to climb out? 

“Darling, are you almost done in there? It’s getting quite lonely out here.”

“C-coming!”

I quickly closed the window, flushed the toilet, and turned on the sink. Can’t have him believing I was a liar already. A few seconds later I shut off the sink and unlocked the door. Opening it, I could see Lucifer’s gaze shift towards me and a smile peeled at his lips. He patted the empty side of the bed so I slowly walked over. I peeled back the thin black curtain that surrounded the four poster bed and sat. His claws slid across the blankets and planted themselves on my thigh, his thumb rubbing the flesh tenderly. “I’ve canceled all my meetings for the day to help try and get you more situated, dear. Doesn’t that sound lovely?”

“I suppose.”

I turned my head to glance at the blankets, my fingers drawing patterns being more entertaining. Suddenly a knock at the door had us both looking towards it. “Sire, breakfast is ready.”

“Thank you. We’ll be down in a few.”

“Of course, Sire.”

I heard little footsteps scurry away. “I guess that’s our cue to get up.”

He pulled back the blankets and I blushed upon seeing him shirtless and with boxers that had apples all over. I had forgotten that’s how he went to bed. He slipped past me and headed to a dark oak wardrobe across from the bed and opened it. Lucifer shifted through the various clothes before deciding on something. He brought out two hangers and laid them on the bed. One was the white suit that he wore yesterday and the other was a lacy white blouse, velvety green skirt and black boots. “I’ll admit I don’t have many options for you to wear as of right now. We’ll have to go shopping together sometime soon. I hope this will suffice for now.”

“It’s fine, thank you.”

I slid off the bed, grabbed my clothes and headed into the bathroom. I locked the door and began to strip. It took me a few minutes to do up the buttons on the blouse but once I was done I walked back into the bedroom. Lucifer was just putting on his boots while I draped my nightgown over the back of a chair. “Well don’t you just look enchanting, my dear.”

“Always the charmer, aren’t you?” “I’m just stating the truth.”

He leaned over and gave my cheek a kiss. I just huffed. “Shall we go?”

I nodded. Interlocking our arms together, Lucifer led the way to the dining room. It was quite the grand room with a chandelier hanging above the large table. The blonde pulled out my chair for me and scooted it in once I had sat. He placed himself across from me and as soon as we were situated a few castle staff came out. They placed a mug in front of each of us, a dark roast coffee smell emitting from it. Plates were put on the table as well. A couple of eggs, sausage and bacon were put in the form of a happy face, something I’m sure Lucifer had a hand in. Breakfast was quiet as the King looked over his newspaper and I poked at my food. From what I ate it was quite good, just uncomfortable with those red eyes gazing at me every once in a while. 

When the table was cleared, the two of us walked towards the Devil’s workshop. Lucifer gently pushed me into a black high backed chair as he sat on a stool on a podium. I looked at all the rubber ducks that filled the various containers spread throughout the room wondering why. Why rubber ducks? Why so many?

“I hope you don’t mind me working on my latest creation, dearest.”

“Not at all. But, um, what am I supposed to do?”

“Ah, how foolish of me! Here you are.”

A book materialized on the table in front of me and I realized it was one of my favorites. “I hope that is alright.”

I nodded and flipped it open. For a few hours our time was spent like this: him working on his latest invention and I reading. A little bit in I became a bit restless. I placed my book down and gazed around the small room. Besides the rubber ducks and table I sat at, there were other various knick knacks on bookshelves, tools hanging on the walls and some framed photos. The photos had the same three people in them: Lucifer, a beautiful blonde woman and a young blonde girl. Could that be his wife and daughter he mentioned before? “And, done!”

Lucifer spun on his stool to face me and proudly held out his creation. It was a yellow rubber duck with red music notes painted all over it. “How…interesting.”

He stood and placed the duck in my hands. “I know it may look normal, but this is no ordinary duck. Here,” he squeezed the wings and suddenly music came spilling from its beak. 

It was a romantic tune, one I didn’t recognize but sounded familiar. It sounded like a song I’d hear play from the church I’d walk past every day. “It’s music from my birth place. The tune was often played at our festivities and it just reminded me of you.”

“Well, thank you, I guess.”

I sat the duck down on the table and sighed. There he goes with the romantic gestures again. “Is it not to your liking, my love?”

“No, it's just…nevermind.”

I could feel his hands wrap around my shoulders and I tensed. “What’s wrong, Y/n? You’ve been off all day.”

“Can I ask you a favor?”

“Of course! Anything in my power is yours for the asking, you just name it!”

“I want to go home. My actual home on Earth. I, I don’t belong here, Lucifer.”

I could feel tears in my eyes as I gazed down at my hands in my lap. The hands on my shoulders squoze. “You know I can’t do that, sweetie. Your place is by my side here in Hell.”

I clenched my hands and bit my lip. Anger started to slowly rise within me. I stood fast, Lucifer’s hands flying off my shoulders. “How can you decide where I belong? You’re not my father nor are you my husband. Can’t you see how much I hate it here? How much I hate you?!”

His eyes widened and I rushed out of the room. I heard him call for me but I just ignored it. Tears fell down my cheeks as I let my legs carry me throughout the palace till I reached the outside. I fell to the ground near a hand carved stone bench and let my feelings out. I truly didn’t want to be courted by the Devil and no way did I want to remain in my own personal hell. Why couldn’t things be back to normal where I could tend to my garden and have Red join me? Red, that damn snake. Why did he have to come into my life? If only I hadn’t let my kind nature tend to him, then perhaps I’d still be home. “Damn him! DAMN HIM!”

I slammed my hands on the bench and continued to cry. It felt like an eternity till all my crying had ceased and I took the time to look around. That’s when I noticed something in the overgrowth surrounding the fence on the property. I stood and made my way over, pulling at the wiry, thorny brush. My eyes widened as I saw a hole in the fence. Could this be a sign from God? Was he giving me a way out? I looked back at the palace and then back to the fence. As much as I wanted to leave now I knew it wouldn’t be a good idea. Lucifer was no doubt looking for me and leaving would only heighten his upset emotions. I’ll just have to keep this in mind.

I moved the brush back to how it was originally and stepped away, just in time too. One of the servants came out from the glass doors and headed towards me. “Miss Y/n, His Majesty has been looking all over for you! He’s been worried sick!”

I didn’t say anything as he gently grabbed my hand, dragging me inside. “Come along. He’ll be glad to see you in one piece.”

The next few days Lucifer and I spent walking on eggshells around each other. There was an awkward air about us as we went about our days. I suppose my outburst was the cause of it. Even with our hesitation, the demon did his best to court me. Meals were spent in each other’s presence at close proximity, gifts of flowers, rubber ducks and long walks around the property were fairly common, and intimacy was at an all time high. Lucifer had to have his hands on me at all times and kisses on the cheeks and forehead happened at every turn. It was about a week later that His Majesty decided it was time we went out into the city. One of the servants drove us in and the ride over I was given some guidelines. “You are to stay by my side at all times. Pentagram City is quite the dangerous place. If somebody gets too close, I will deal with it personally. Anybody that talks to you will go through me and please dear, don’t hesitate to have fun.”

I’ll try with the short leash you have on me.

The car stopped and Lucifer and I got out. He stooped to the window and whispered something to the driver before coming to my side. Interlocking our arms, we began our walk. “I thought some fresh air away from home would do us both some good, my darling. Besides, this will give us a chance to look for some clothes for you.”

I nodded. As we walked down the sidewalk I could feel a dozen stares pointed in our direction, whispers about our presence floating amongst the civilians. Lucifer didn’t seem to mind but with all the gawking I felt a bit shy. As we passed by an ornate window display, he stopped suddenly. “This seems right up your alley, sweetie.”

He pulled us inside the store. We stood at the entryway and I couldn’t help but gaze at the various clothes. It seemed this shop was more on the posh end, with skirts, dresses and fancy blouses decorating the mannequins. The store itself was a bit busy as customers wandered, but as soon as we entered all eyes were on us. I did my best to shrink into myself while Lucifer puffed out his chest in pride. “Your Majesty, welcome! How grand of you to grace us with your presence! How can we help you today,” asked a female imp in black clothes. 

“My darling here is lacking a wardrobe at home, so I thought it fit to come and look around.”

The woman looked me up and down and smiled. “I’m sure we can find something for your sweetheart. If you’d like to follow me please we can start looking at some pieces.”

I looked to the short man beside me and he just nodded in her direction. “Don’t be shy, dear.”

The two of us followed along as the imp pointed out some options, Lucifer stating his opinion on each one. When we had grown quite the collection, we were led to the fitting rooms in the back. The King perched himself on a plush bench as I stepped into one of the smaller rooms. As I was getting dressed, I heard a phone going off. The circus ringtone rang throughout the store until it stopped when the person picked up. “Charlie, sweetie, how are you?”

I stopped upon hearing Lucifer’s voice. “That’s great to hear. You and Maggie had a good date the other night? Wonderful. How have things at the hotel been? Any recent sinners looking to be redeemed?”

Redeemed? I scooted closer to the curtain to listen in. “I see. Heaven is giving you a hard time, eh?”

Heaven? “What am I up to? Oh your old man is just taking a stroll through town. Listen Charlie, I am quite busy at the moment. How about I give you a call later, okay? Alright sounds good. Buh bye. How’s it going in there, Y/n?”

I stepped out and a smirk rested itself on his face. “My, my. Don’t you look lovely. You know, if we were back at home I don’t think I could hold myself back from ravishing you.”

I felt a shudder go up my spine. Gross!

“I like that blouse on you. It brings out your eyes very nicely. How about trying some more on for dear ole Luci?”

“O-okay.”

I slammed the curtain shut and let myself gag at what he had said earlier. How very forward of him. Now about this hotel…maybe this could be my ticket out of here. 

“Lucifer?”

“Yes, dear?”

“Who was that on the phone?”

“Oh, that was my daughter Charlie!”

“I thought you said you didn’t have a great relationship with her?”

“I don’t, but we’re working on it. I’m helping her with her little passion project.”

“Oh? And what’s that?” Gotcha.

“The Hazbin Hotel. She believes she can solve Hell’s population problem by getting sinners redeemed into Heaven. I honestly don’t see the point, but if helping brings us closer together then I’ll be there for her.”

“I see.” Perhaps if I went the Princess of Hell could get me back to Earth!

After I had tried everything on, we went to the checkout counter and bought a few pieces. I carried the bags back to the car and the whole time I brewed up a plan on how to escape.

~~~~

TAGLIST

@ladymothbeth @cosmic-spider @l0vedoe @stormz369 @strawberry-gothic @repostingmyfavs

[staryuee]

Hii friend <3

I dont know really know if requests are still open but i wanted to ask if you could do any genshin characters with a rude s/o?

If not you're always aloud to delete the request :)

HOW YOU MAD AT ME, ‘CUZ I’M CUNT, BITCH?

꒰warnings꒱ cursing…obviously LOL

⠀꒲ ` synopsis . . . you wouldn’t call yourself rude just…”free-spirited” and liberal in your word choices~! ^_−☆

⠀꒲ ` characters . . . eula, xiao, thoma, ei, furina, navia, wriothesley

⠀꒲ ` notes . . . if i had a victorian era shilling for the amount of times my friend has called me rude after i’ve made a comment about something i would be the next ebenezer scrooge (⊙_⊙)

EULA — 优菈

now while eula would normally abhor at the foul language and insults that so easily spew from your precious lips, she actually can’t help but be oddly bemused.

i mean her expectations for linguistics are awfully high, one mustn’t speak with little eloquence but your brashness was oddly…charming, and refreshing in a way. you weren’t afraid to offend people, and simply enjoyed the motto of “i won’t apologise for what i said, i’ll apologise for how it made you feel.”

eula is of course someone who’s treated like the poster-woman for the concept of rudeness given her past and current feigned ego, so honestly you sort of make her feel better about herself — not in a negative way, in the way that she just simply doesn’t feel that lonely anymore.

if anyone has so much as a word to speak against you due to something you’ve said, they can speak to her first. the entirety of teyvat is allowed to shudder if she so much as so breathes, but when it comes to you? vengeance will be severed with a side of wine.

XIAO — 魈

stop. please. xiao is already overwhelmed enough by the varieties of his duties, all his patrolling — and now he has to make sure his lover isn’t in an argument with someone or being threatened to literal death.

he frankly doesn’t really care about the way you speak, sure it’s surprising at first since the majority of people in liyue hold themselves in a way that seems a bit more…calm, but then again sometimes that within itself can be seen as a rude attempt at pacification of genuine feelings.

you’ve never been mean or rude to him, directly at least, so he literally doesn’t care how brutal or venomous your words are, so long as you don’t get yourself in too much trouble. people haven’t seen the yaksha so an edge whenever a person opens their mouth since, well, ever.

he’s never brought up your attitude or personality; he loves you wholly, even if some parts of you are a bit more prickly than rosy.

THOMA — 托马

“haha, they were just joking!” you ticked off another five on your little notepad with a careful swoosh of your pen.

thoma has had to repeat that very phrase so much to the point you’ve been keeping a safe tally on a notepad of whenever he says it. to be honest, you don’t even believe five can be multiplied this many times…

your rudeness and foul language comes as an innate package, and thoma has no problem in neatly tying that package up with a little bow to placate whoever you managed to horribly offend that day. you fear that one day, if thoma isn’t there, you’ll find yourself being interrogated by kujo sara, maybe in a more lucky scenario heizou, herself.

“thoma can you do this f—“

“no.”

“i— wasn’t asking you??”

“you didn’t need to, now fuck off (๑･̑◡･̑๑). don’t be incompetent and you wouldn’t have to ask someone else to constantly do shit for you.”

RAIDEN EI — 影

if not directed to herself directly, she finds you absolutely amusing. she literally cannot be a spokesperson against rudeness after her uhum many self-made and self-fulfilled tragedies, plus she herself can be rather verbally off putting therefore, she has little problems with how you address others.

she does, however, keep a very keen eye on you to make sure you don’t stir up trouble with the wrong crowd.

but, hey! the great thing about dating a highly revered archon is the fact literally no-one will speak out against you.

“[name] told me to kill myself when i said hi in the morning…” and guess what? all of a sudden they have a long voyage to the fiery volcanoes of natlan planned out. criticism is only allowed if it’s aimed at her, not you — you’re basically an extension of her, if anyone so much so demeans you because of your attitude, it’s almost like they’re disrespecting the electro archon herself.

that’s a crime the citizens of inazuma have long learned the lesson of.

FURINA — 芙宁娜

she loves you purely for the theatrics and dramatics you always managed to find yourself in. it always seems like drama follows you wherever you simply step — and hey, she’s an actress, it’s no wonder she’s so easily charmed and swayed with the way your voice rings out blunt responses like it were second nature.

and to be fair, she’s a massive instigator of conflict. on the sidelines of course. so when you perhaps “accidentally” rub someone the wrong way, she can’t help but use sarcasm to throw fuel into the fire and watch the hellish flames burn as she kicks back with a cup of tea and a slice of cake (you know, like a true mirror to marie antoinette)

i think your duo would be even funnier and more undoubtedly chaotic if you have british humour and or slang equipped because let’s be so real if this was modern furina would force neuvillette to act like her roadman guard-dog while she sold 50p sweets during break time to the year 8s. throw in a little “yute” or “op” and she has heart eyes all over you (i promise this is all for the sake of comedy���)

NAVIA — 娜维娅

the best part of being in a relationship is being able to chat shit about anyone and everything, because well, you’re each-other’s everything already, why rely on the kindness of strangers for validation?

you and navia do the thing where you’ll subconsciously glance at each-other from the corners of your eyes when someone (or people) say some dumb silly shit. the problem being, neither of you can keep quiet and immediately will begin giggling and will make it inevitably worse by whispering to one another “stop!” and “don’t laugh—“ while holding your mouths to stifle yourselves.

this leads to people being rather nervous to speak to navia when you’re around. usually, navia is very friendly and softly spoken; often she’ll be a rather happy-go-lucky and caring girl who smiles no matter what — of course this doesn’t mean she’ll allow people to walk all over her, but hey she believes in second chances — but when you’re around…people will loiter around creepily before gathering the courage to ask for help or whatever they need.

navia is at heart however, a very loving and respectful person so she will remind you of when you’ve stepped out of line. sometimes rudeness is just an innate quality that people have and it’s sometimes not intended out of malice; even petty things like lateness or speaking out of turn counts as “rudeness”, and navia is here to either make excuses up for you or to defend you from criticism ☆〜（ゝ。∂）

WRIOTHESLEY — 莱欧斯利

oh he absolutely eats this shit up. every argument, insult, fight etcetera you’ve ever had is kept in a personal file somewhere in his cabinet just for memories sake. wriothesley’s life is already quite dramatic and hectic as it can be, the fortress of meropide could honestly sometimes be described as a form of circus within itself especially if you’re involved, but he revels in your antics nonetheless.

you’re literally so fucking hilarious, each time he hears those heavy doors heave open beneath him he just KNOWS shit has gone down and you’re about to dramatise it for him live.

you best believe he’s an instigator the same way furina is; whispering to you and then giggling when you use his encouragement as some sort of reference while you practically spit venom at the person who’s unfortunately become your centre of focus.

he won’t allow you to stir up too much trouble in the fortress of meropide but being his partner you get the perk of not getting into nearly as much trouble as you would if you were one of the criminals down in the fortress (unless you are then…well you’re special so it doesn’t matter!)

©STARYUEE do not copy, steal or repost ♡ ᴜsᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ɪʜᴇᴀʀᴛɢᴀɴʏᴜ

[ivysangel]

…vampire!jason thoughts… you must provide them im desperate…. -🐞

(ik you probably expected #real smut, honestly i did too but this ended up turning into a whole bunch of lore/headcanons/whatever tf. i'm so sorry bae cw: talks of consuming blood)

you ask, you shall receive. i've been thinking about jason and dick as vampires in relation to each other, so this'll be a post about both of them just for the sake of comparisons. also, in my mind, this au takes place during the 19th century because i've conflated vampirism with the victorian era, and it's also no capes in regards to vigilantism bc vampires do love a good cape.

in this victorian era, vampire au dick would be either a nobleman or straight up royalty. he's got status, money, and a pretty face, and he uses them all to his advantage when it comes to feeding. you know in the originals or itwtv when they host an event that's actually a cover for them finding their next meal? yeah, he does that. he flirts with all of the ladies, plays into his charms, and sweeps women off their feet. and at the end of the night (sometimes even mid-ball), he coaxes them upstairs and ravishes them, sometimes in more ways than one.

i think for dick feeding is something he can have fun with, knowing that he holds such a high ranking in society that when bodies of people he's been seen with show up around town, people turn a blind eye. and even when someone does try to investigate, the wayne family checking account talks enough to shut down anything beyond a questioning.

in many pieces of media surrounding vampires, there are people who know about vampires and choose to feed them their blood. there's a bunch of lore that explores the idea that a vampire bite is almost orgasmic and kind of addictive, which is why some people are more than willing to put themselves in harm's way by either being employed by vampires or by straight up just throwing themselves into a vampires line of sight with open wounds.

with that being said, i think dick grayson likes the chase. i think that even if his father (bruce, who is also a vampire in this au because vampire families are just superior) has people on his payroll to provide blood for them, he's going to go out on his own to flirt a bit, get laid, and then have his fill.

which brings me to my next point; while feeding, like sex, is an intimate act, it's far from necessary for dick to need an emotional connection with a person he feeds off of or even a physical one. sex and feeding are related but not totally synonymous, and if he needs to just feed or just get his rocks off, he can. is it preferred? maybe not. i believe he does like the mess that comes with doing both at the same time.

ok so for jason, ugh so obsessed with him as a vampire because i think it's so in line with his canon story. in a lot of vampire lore, to become a vampire, you have to consume the blood of a vampire and either die or be on the brink of death, which is just so. it's so jason dying and being revived by the lazarus pit coded. and even the way he inevitable that he will spill blood post-revival in both this vampire au and his canon storyline…it's almost prophetic.

anyway, jason's approach to vampirism is quite different. i think he struggles with it no matter how long he's been one. he can't fully grasp that he's immortal; he looks in the mirror and sees that he hasn't aged a day and he feels sick. being a vampire for him feels like a curse and he only continues living because he's scared to die (again).

he doesn't stay anywhere too long, typically hopping from town to town in the middle of the night when less people are around. he believes himself to be out of place amongst normal people and he's paranoid that people can smell the iron on his breath when he talks to them so he makes it a point to have minimal interaction with people.

it's crippling, he drives himself mad with the solitude, but i feel like another reason why he continues to stay alive is to spite his creator, whoever that may be. he's most definitely got an agenda, in true jason fashion. i just don't know what it is yet.

he feeds only when he needs to but tries not to let the hunger get too intense because i do feel like when he loses control, he's the stefan salvitore type. a ripper. but he's pretty good about it and is almost polite when he's feeding? like he finds a victim and says i'm sorry before just absolutely tearing into their jugular.

i just really think he grapples with his own mortality, or lack thereof, and how it exists at the expense of others. so he is genuinely ashamed of who he is and what he's become. so, while blood drinking is something he needs to survive, it holds a lot of weight for him, which is why i think drinking blood and sex are pretty equal for him when it comes to intimacy level.

that brings me to my MAIN point (which isn't really a main point because it's being reduced to a small paragraph at the end of this post), all of that was background for this, eek. the act of drinking blood during sex is so. big. for him, it's eye-opening, life-changing. the amount of trust required on both ends for this to happen…at that point, it's basically end game for you two. and it's so funny because that's just a normal tuesday for dick.

anyway, i do have more thoughts and more lore, but this got really long, so i'll cut it off here

[lowliest-manifestations]

Okay! I'm finally putting together some of my more specific Bending the Willow thoughts and this passage:

"Perhaps it was as Jeremy Brett noted: 'Women want to possess him, while men want to be him.' There is certainly some truth in that statement, but the idea is incomplete. I believe male readers not only identify with Holmes, but also experience, in the same way that D. H. Lawrence identified what he referred to as a 'blood consciousness' between men, a kind of spiritual closeness akin to love."

Is making me the kind of insane that makes me want to write like 17 essays. But in absence of the time needed to actually do that here are some of my main thoughts in a more disorganized fashion:

Overall I've noticed a really wild amount of gender essentialism within Sherlockian communities/ scholarship, and I know that a lot of that can be chalked up to the fact that even modern writings are done mostly by older white men, but I also think there's something about the text itself that encourages this. Sherlock Holmes is pretty fucking victorian about gender (Irene Adler occupies a weird space but I do not believe she is in any way exempt from those attitudes.) and I think sometimes scholars find themselves reflecting the values of a text that they do not want to admit is imperfect.

I think this passage pinpoints exactly how a lot of people gender their expectations of how reader are to interact with Sherlock Holmes and texts like it, and Sherlock Holmes in turn becomes kind of weird for women to interact with. For the most part people want to see themselves somewhere in the text, but women in particular are told that we cannot find ourselves within the main character. Some people may be fine with that, lots of people don't want to relate to Holmes and their enjoyment of the text does not come from seeing themselves in that particular character. Some women also genuinely want to relate to the text by fantasizing about being in a relationship with Holmes, and more power to them, but their feeling is not a default, no matter how hard anybody pretends it is.

The fact is that plenty of women do want to be Holmes, and they face an interesting dilemma if they are trying to hold that while still operating under the framework hinted at in this passage. Instead of projecting onto him directly they must find ways to be close to him, be a reflection of him, be him but a girl (without replacing him! don't worry!). I think that's why there's sooo much fiction out there about secret sisters, female apprentices, wit-matching lovers etc. (I myself would pretend to be Sherlock Holmes' secret daughter as a kid. I bought into this shit!)

This framework is also not particularly normal about men who may not see themselves in Holmes at all and who may, in fact, also be capable of fantasizing about having a relationship with him! Queer men exist! (within this passage in fact.) And I know Stuart Davies did not mean to acknowledge this when he wrote of "a kind of spiritual closeness akin to love." but he does put it somewhat homoerotically in a way that left me reeling a little bit.

I do understand the feeling described by Stuart Davies, even if the way he writes of it makes me laugh a little in its dramatics. I simply do not think it is a feeling exclusive to men... I don't think any feelings are exclusive to any gender. And in the end I think that's the idea that really frustrates me.

Of course this passage is also from 1996, it's a product of its time, I get it. I also know that people have had More expansive/critical/interesting ideas about Sherlock Holmes in relation to gender before and since it was written, and I don't think it reflects what everyone really believes. BUT I do think it hit the nail on the head of a phenomena I have noticed since childhood and affirmed that I wasn't imagining things. While also being. Kind of funny.

[dairy-farmer]

I just read a recent ask (about the family basically giving Tim to Jason in order to keep Jason around) which makes me a bit sad since I want Tim to be treasured/cosseted most of the time, so for me the angst potential would go like this:

Jason is madly in love with Tim, like Victorian faints at the sight of his pretty little ankles (Jason both loathes and loves the pants Tim put on the Robin uniform because if he had to see all that creamy skin every patrol, even through tights, he'd go Insane). But even though he's in love he has literally no idea how to express it. He was a virgin before dying, then spent a few years having weirdly power dynamic-y sex with Talia/League members, then became a sexless crime lord. He has Zero Game and has no idea how to get any. Meanwhile Tim has a string of admirers he's oblivious to so Jason thinks he has no chance. The longer he waits, the sooner someone like Kon is going to snatch up Timmy and spirit him away from Gotham and the family.

But then: Jason confesses to Dick about his feelings, and Dick immediately tells the rest of the family because he cannot keep a secret to save his life, and so the family contrives situations where they end up together in pretty morally dubious ways because Tim obviously needs to marry Jason ASAP so both of them stay in the family where they belong and everyone can keep an eye on them! Plus Timmy is so cute and everyone wants to watch him get loved on, even if they can't admit it to themselves.

Cue Jason getting "accidentally" dosed with pollen the next time he and Dick are out fighting Ivy and then Dick leaving Jason to recover in a warehouse where Tim is "accidentally" dosed with a tranquilizer of some kind (with convenient cameras around to make sure things don't get too rough), or Timmy's first heat happens and Jason is coerced into being his Alpha for Timmy's "safety."

From Tim's perspective, the entire family is conspiring against him and no one is listening to his pleas for an explanation of any kind. So he goes along with it to keep the peace, thinking he's a convenient hole for Jason to let out some pent up feelings. From Jason's perspective, the boy of his dreams keeps being offered up to him and he's barely holding on by his fingernails because if he can just get his hands on Tim once he knows he can make it into something permanent where he can really show him exactly how much he loves him.

Cue lots of angsty fucking with cameras all around the house. Tim can barely walk with his inner thighs covered in hickeys and Jason's dogging his steps both overcome with guilt and ardor. Dick never fesses up to the role he played and encourages their codependency. Eventually Tim figures out Jason loves him when Jason "forces" him to sign a marriage license so he can never leave.

!!! i love these types of scenarios! where jason believes he and tim are together and in love and things are going swimmingly while tim is initially confused and lost about what is actually going on and his perception of jason and what's happening is much darker than what jason thinks is happening!

it reminds me of this fic which is one i've reread so many times 😍!!

[hollowed-theory-hall]

Was the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black actually any special, and were they seen as some kind of royalty to outsiders?

Because in every (or most) fanfic I’ve read with them, they are always depicted as being way above anyone and everyone else, even their own partners. The only ones good for them, or the only ones who understand them, are the ones with black blood running through their veins. As if they are some sort of gods that no one, but others with their blood, can touch. And everyone loves (and/or hates) them and wants to be a part of their family because they are so powerful and attractive, but watch out because they are prone to being crazy.

Which is actually another thing I wanted to point out and ask:

Did the Black family actually have some kind of curse of madness?

Hi 👋

Now, like many, I'm not immune to being completely fascinated by the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black, so I was pretty stoked about this ask.

For the first part, are the Blacks actually as important as they make themselves (or fandom makes them to be)?

The short answer is not really, but they are important.

Now, the long answer:

I mentioned here how I believe the Wizengamot functions like a council of lords (which is what the Witengamot is named after in our real world), as such, families like the Blacks, the Longbottoms, and even the Potters likely do have a "noble title" (for lack of a better term) that allows them a seat there.

That being said, I don't think the Blacks are above any of the other families there, not really, but they think they are. The Blacks are an old wizarding family, they can probably trace their family tree back to the founders' era and perhaps even before, and it's important to them. They take pride in this legacy of one of the oldest pure-blood families in Britain. The Malfoys, for example, are probably richer than the modern Blacks, but they don't have the Wizengamot title and they came from France, they're not British Pure-Bloods, not originally, and I think the Blacks as a whole would look down on that. But other Wizengamot families that have just as much British history should be their equals then, and they are unless you ask a Black. They are a very proud family, and they might think they're above everyone, but they're the only ones thinking it.

I also personally headcanon that they have more houses aside from Grimmauld Place as well. I mean, back in the Regency and Victorian era it was common for richer aristocrats to have a manor away from London and then a townhouse/manor in London for the social season. So, I kinda assumed that's what Grimmauld Place initially was. So it isn't the family manor the way Malfoy Manor is and there is a Black Manor somewhere in the countryside.

For the second question:

No, I don't think the Black Madness is real.

Let's define "madness". Since it isn't really a medical term, I'd go with the dictionary on this one:

So, we'll treat it as repeated foolish, frenzied, or uncontrolled behavior that cannot be explained by other factors.

We don't meet many Blacks, and most of the ones we do are far from mad (I'll get to Bellatrix and Walburga).

Both Narcissa and Andromeda are completely sound of mind. Sure, they might have made mistakes, or rash decisions on occasion, but that's being human. They both care deeply for their families and act in their best interest. And they are intelligent, logical, controlled, and consistent in their behavior. So, two Black sisters are not insane.

What about the Black brothers, Sirius and Regulus?

Well, neither of them ever read as mad to me. Regulus was obsessed with Voldemort until he realized what he got himself into and his actions weren't ones of a madman, a desperate one, maybe, but not mad. He was smart enough to figure out about Voldmort's Horcruxes and smart enough to do something about it without Voldemort knowing.

Sirius isn't at the best of mental state when we see him considering it's after 12 years in hell on earth. But he is logical, sane, and sound, especially during Goblet of Fire in which he uncovers the plot with Barty Crouch Jr perfectly, just getting the wrong Death Eater. He comes to correct conclusions about people and is clearly intelligent:

“I don’t know,” said Sirius slowly, “I just don’t know . . . Karkaroff doesn’t strike me as the type who’d go back to Voldemort unless he knew Voldemort was powerful enough to protect him. But whoever put your name in that goblet did it for a reason, and I can’t help thinking the tournament would be a very good way to attack you and make it look like an accident.”

(GoF, page 334)

Yes, his mental state deteroits in OOTP when he's back at Grimmuald Place, but that's Sirius dealing with his grief, trauma, his sense of helplessness, and complicated feelings about his family. He never was mad, even then, just in a really shitty situation.

And yes, he was cruel as a teenager, but as I keep saying later in the post, cruelty does not equal madness.

So, what about Bellatrix, the fandom's poster child for the Black Madness?

I don't think she's insane either, well, at least she wasn't until Azkaban. In her trial, she is quiet throughout the proceedings, looking board, even, until the verdict is given:

The dementors were gliding back into the room. The boys’ three companions rose quietly from their seats; the woman with the heavy-lidded eyes looked up at Crouch and called, “The Dark Lord will rise again, Crouch! Throw us into Azkaban; we will wait! He will rise again and will come for us, he will reward us beyond any of his other supporters! We alone were faithful! We alone tried to find him!”

(GoF, 595-596)

She is fanatical, sure, but there's no baby talk like we see in OOTP, she is cold and clearly understands the situation, she isn't in a frenzy but in control. She just knows about at least one Horcrux so she truly believes what she is saying and from her point of view, it makes sense she believes that. I won't say she is right to torture and murder Voldemort, no, she is cruel and sadistic, always was. But you can be cruel and sadistic without being mad.

The baby voice she was useing when talking to Harry in OOTP was a taunt as well, not how she usually speaks:

“Never used an Unforgivable Curse before, have you, boy?” she yelled. She had abandoned her baby voice now.

(OotP, 810)

The moment he cast an unforgivable and she started treating him seriously she dropped the baby voice.

She is cruel and fanatical, but not insane. She rightfully suspects Snape throughout HBP and DH, she is aware of her surroundings enough to see Snape's loyalty is odd when many others don't. She is intelligent and logical. She can keep herself in check when she wants to, she's, just, obsessive, and willfully blind to anything to do with Voldemort because she practically worships him.

But, she isn't mad in the sense the Black Madness seems to imply. Also, I think how we see her, post-Azkaban is worse than how she was before. I think we met a less stable, crueler version of Bellatrix, not that she wasn't cruel before, but she was more stable I think. I mean, she did spend about 14 years in Azkaban, and Fudge said Sirius looked too sane to him after a decade in the place. The Wizarding World expects the prisoners in Azkaban to lose it. So, is it really a wonder Bellatrix was affected by her time there?

And what about Walburga who screeched about blood-traitors and mudbloods constantly? Well, I think, like Bellatrix, we're seeing the worst of her.

I mean, Walburga had her portrait painted after:

Her eldest and favored son ran away from home

Her second obedient son joined the Dark Lord and then disappeared. She likely believed he died a painful torturous death of a traitor considering that's what everyone thought.

Her husband died soon after, leaving her alone with Kreature in a gloomy home that hasn't felt like a home to any of them since the war started brewing in the 1970s. Since Sirius left.

So, I think the version we see of her, is one who was grieving. She was lonely, bitter, and in mourning. And that is the state of mind the portrait captured. I think magical portraits capture the person as they are when they sit down to have the portrait taken, so it captures all of Waburga's pain, and Walburga, proud daughter of the house of Black spits acid instead of letting her pain get to her. Instead of allowing herself to feel the guilt that is weighing her down.

Walburga was never been the picture of a good mother, or of stability, but I mentioned here and other times that I don't believe Walburga was physically abusive at any point, but she always had high expectations for her sons, especially Sirius. She probably had control, and she wasn't always as frenzied as we see her, we just see a version of her broken by life, and when she broke, she got so much worse.

So, I don't think there is a curse of Black madness, not really. It's just the Black family had shit luck in the Wizarding Wars, and to a degree, it was their own doing — their pure-blood mania that sent their kids away.

As for other members, well, we know Alphard was sane enough to give Sirius money when he ran away. We know Araminta wanted to legalize muggle-hunting and Elladora started the tradition of hanging house elves' heads on the walls. The thing is, you don't need to be mad to be cruel, you can be perfectly calm, collected, and intelligent and still do unimaginable horrors. In the case of Araminta and Elladora, they don't consider muggles and house elves as human, as equal to them. therefore their pain and suffering aren't cruel in their eyes, it's like killing a deer and mounting its head on the wall, it's an animal, and it's fine. I don't think they were even necessarily cruel towards other wizards, just towards those they considered lesser, who they thought of as animals. They weren't good people, but that doesn't make them mad.

I think there is something to be said about evil not always equaling insanity and that people who'd be medically considered completely sane can do a lot of evil. I think calling every evil character insane or mad cheapens these terms and has always felt to me like a cop-out. Insane is what you call someone you want to Other, to forget that the evil they committed was done by a person, it's a way to wave their behavior away and say: "Well, I can't understand why they did that, they're insane," and this kind of excuse for characters' behavior always left a bad taste in my mouth. Evil can be done by perfectly sane humans, and I think that angle of analysis, is much more interesting because then you force yourself to understand. You force yourself to face the humanity in a character in a way calling them mad won't allow you to. Real evil is hardly ever so simple as "madness" makes it out to be.

(As a side note, I think it's possible quite a few of the Blacks have mental health issues, but that's very different than how terms like madness and insanity are thrown around and portrayed)

[sophaee]

Okay so I have a little prediction about yuumori part 2, the events of pt.2 might possibly drive a bit of wedge between the moriarthree. They haven't seen each other in 2 years, all of them have matured in one way or another, and have moved on from the past. And while having a strong family bond is nice and all, it's more probable than not that now they WILL run into all sorts of disagreements much more often than before when a huge amount of their decisions felt like they were made with the trio in mind, barely any "selfish" choices were made.

However, now they are actual individuals, and have established their own lives, Louis is now the head of MI6, William has spent 2 years in the US on his own (well maybe except for Albert, that man just decided to put himself in prison and it was just him and his intrusive thoughts for 2 years, but solidarity changes people, too, he's come to a lot revelations, thought his life choices through, etc.)

Louis might secretly have some mixed reactions after their reunion. In my humble opinion he has every right to feel bitter about brothers' return, they both just left him on his own after all these years that he sacrificed his own interests for their well being. Heck, if I were this man, I probably wouldn't be even able to face those two. William and Albert coming back, is, of course, a blessing, but at the same time, deep down it might also feel like a curse. Louis has finally started living his own life, and it might just revert to the way things were before. But being in the shadow of his brothers isn't his thing anymore. Would he be able to give up his wants and needs for the sake of his brothers lime he used to?

Now onto Albert, he's always been there to provide financial support for the brothers, kind of like a parent. But what happens when both of the people you've grown used to providing things for, can now provide for themselves just fine, and don't need you anymore?

And most importantly, what about the main character of the story, William? Does this man really expect his brothers to stay the same, and leave an empty space for him to return to for so long, after he tried to unalive himself, survived and went to live with his new bestie instead? I know he wasn't allowed to contact them, but he could've at least contacted them in secret, he's not exactly the type that follows the rules, is he? But no, he kept the fact that he's alive a secret for 2 years, after most of his team finally started to move on. He used to be their leader, but now that things are running perfectly without him, will he, with his saviour complex, be satisfied with a role "less important"?

It would be very interesting to see the new moriathree struggle to get along in some situations where they used to think like one and the same before. I think a lot of people know firsthand just how much people can change, when they're apart, with completely different influences, in such a big amount of time.

Besides, now that the main plot point is allegedly resolved (the large amount of classism amd elitism in Victorian era Britain), since in the final scene Louis suggested that no more work needed to be done, what else would do for a good follow-up conflict? I like to believe there's a secret traitor in MI6 but probably the only ones capable of secretly plotting their own thing without getting caught are the brothers themselves, and something needs to happen for any of them to choose to follow a different path than the rest.

(also, I'm really sorry if the text might be just straight up incomprehensible in some parts, English isn't my first language... I just really needed to talk about my silly little predictions for part 2 somewhere since I'm really REALLY excited for the manga to return but don't really know anyone in the yuumori fandom irl)

[mswyrr]

THG is the only pop culture story I can think of where the heroes (Katniss and Peeta) are disabled* and their happy ending doesn't require that they be "fixed" in order to be happy. IMO, part of why there's such controversy over the ending of the books in particular is that Collins wrote the pov of Katniss as a woman who is content and loves her life and her spouse and kids, but she's still very clearly mentally ill (and arguably somewhere on the spectrum). She has coping strategies and her life is good, but she will never be "normal" and Collins doesn't let the audience think that.

The one part, where she talks about how she handles the darker days, when she's really struggling, never fails to move me:

I’ll tell them that on bad mornings, it feels impossible to take pleasure in anything because I’m afraid it could be taken away. That’s when I make a list in my head of every act of goodness I’ve seen someone do. It’s like a game. Repetitive. Even a little tedious after more than twenty years. But there are much worse games to play. (Mockingjay, 332)

It's hard to express how important that is to me. Someone doesn't have to be "normal" to lead a good life. Someone doesn't have to be "normal" to have a life worth living, to give and receive love in good ways.

And, so, when people look at the villain in the prequel and say "he's just crazy, that's why he's evil. He's just a psycho, he's nuts," it's so out of place, it's so dissonant to me -- I think that's absolutely not the kind of story Collins would tell, given her prior handling of disability.

I don't think she's suddenly turned into a Victorian writer where you can know someone is evil because they're disabled because the writer thinks disabled people are warped creatures incapable of doing anything but bringing evil into the world. And the way people assert this, as if it's the pure, wholesome, most politically advanced reading of the prequel, is just - it doesn't compute for me. I don't understand how people get there.

I studied (for years) the treatment of mentally ill people in the mid-20th Century US. It was horrific. US forced sterilization and eugenics laws actually inspired N/azi Germany's forced sterilization, eugenics, and mass murder campaigns against mentally ill and disabled people. Nice, normal people have repeatedly convinced themselves that torturing and killing disabled people is how they will "purify" their society - they've done great evil in the name of rooting out the people evil is supposedly located within biologically.

Is it so hard to believe that people with normal brains do evil? Is it truly so impossible? Even in a story where the Games are about how a lot of people, the majority of whom are neurotypical, can be brought, via media presentation and entertainment techniques, into taking pleasure in their participation in evil? It's so hard to fathom that evil can't simply be located in someone being "psycho"?

Ballad already has Dr Gaul, who is evil and clearly neurodivergent. If Snow is too then the message starts to get kind of worrying? IMO, Coriolanus is more effective as a kind of “everyman” as an 18 year old - an example of the incentive structures (rewards and punishments) and propaganda that motivate “normal” people to go along. Of course, he will later become something far worse than that, someone who takes control of this thing, who uses his intimate knowledge of it and his insight into other “normal” people to make it worse, but that’s not the part of his life we see the most of. The part the book focuses on provides what I consider a powerful depiction of how ordinary people are acculturated into corrupt societies.

It's fiction so there's all kinds of interpretations that the text can support and exploring those is good. It's a stronger text because it has ambiguities and can be interpreted more than one way. But the intensity of some of the rhetoric is an unsettling contrast to what I've thought, for over a decade, Collins' themes and pov are as a writer.

*Shame on the films for removing Peeta's physical disability, though; in the books he lost a leg during their first Games

[aziraphales-library]

Hello! I'm in the mood for some dancing fics 🕺 whether Crowley and Aziraphale are dancers themselves or they have to dance together like in season two. Either one would be great! Thank you so much and happy holidays :)

Hi! We have a #dancing tag with loads of fics, so check that out! Here are more to add...

Paved with Stars by Crowleys_Aziraphale2003 (G)

What if Aziraphale and Crowley had kissed and danced together, back in 1941?

We'll Meet Again by Nik_Knight (G)

Late that night in 1941, Crowley fully expects to be taken by hell in the morning after Furfur shows the council the photo taken of them after the magic show. Believing he has only hours left to spend with his angel, he asks for something he's always wanted from Aziraphale: just one lovely dance.

To be fond of dancing by everydayistuesday (T)

Angels don’t dance, but then again, Aziraphale has never been a very good angel. Or, Aziraphale learns to dance not once, but twice, and the ball goes a little more according to plan.

Wallflower by adele_sparks (T)

"Strike up, you lot!" Crowley called. There were whoops as someone hit a rhythm that sounded like a heartbeat. Clasping hands, a chain of dancers formed, Crowley among them, and it snaked around the green a while before resolving itself into a circle around the bonfire. The music was lively. The spring evening was warm and comfortable. Tapping one's foot didn't count as dancing. Five times Aziraphale didn't join in the dancing, and one time he did.

The Resurrection Waltz by Another_Realm (T)

Aziraphale hasn't seen Crowley since that fateful night in Edinburgh, 1827. Three decades later, they happen to reunite in London at ballroom party; a sudden meeting which may or may not be entirely coincidental. Crowley wants Aziraphale to dance with him in exchange for information. Aziraphale wants to say yes. Problem being, of course, that angels don't dance. Or, Victorian reunion banter; the fic (with feelings!!)

Quiet, Gentle, and Romantic by braveatironheart (E)

Although Aziraphale has loved Crowley since before the Beginning, the fundamental opposition of their natures has prevented him from acting. It hasn't stopped him from wanting, or dreaming, or simply wishing things could be different. That he could love Crowley without endangering him. After 6000 years of glancing touches and lingering gazes, he finds himself estranged from Heaven. And then a series of unfortunate coincidences leaves them the task of making two humans fall in love. Mix mutual longing with a business-meeting-turned-party complete with a romantic atmosphere and dancing, and they don't stand a chance. “You mean like…a sudden rainstorm forces them together beneath a canopy. They look into each other’s eyes and realize they were made for each other.” “Cotillion balls! People would gather and do some formal dancing and then realize they had misunderstood each other and were actually deeply in love.” “One fabulous kiss, and we’re good.” Love doesn't always work like that, but then again, sometimes it does. aka A fix-it based on quiet, gentle, and romantic stories...plus very tender yet awkward sex because, come on, it's them.

- Mod D

[fossette-promenade]

lolita fashion misconceptions 😣

it always breaks my heart to hear people say, "I want to wear lolita, but I can't because...." and their excuse is usually something that has a solution! i wanted to talk about some of the biggest misconceptions today:

♧ it is too expensive

Everyone's idea of "expensive" is different. especially these days, where inflation is taking a toll on everyone. but not every lolita dress is $300+ like a beginner may think looking at new brand prices. you are able to find dresses less than $100 on second-hand marketplaces and through community swap meets. When I first started wearing lolita, I even had a few friends give me dresses for free to get started!

♤ it is only for petite girls

This concept comes from the idea that because lolita is from Japan, it is only made for "small Japanese girls." Many dresses have full shirring for a reason, to be size inclusive! there are multiple brands that carry plus-size options, such as metamorphose and atelier peirrot. Glittertale is another great option for custom sizing. Innocent World's size L is equivalent to a European size L, for the midsized girls.

Altering a dress is also always an option. Some people do not like this idea, because they think it is important to preserve lolita history. If you do alter a dress, I advise it is done by a trusted professional. But either way, you bought it with your own money, so it doesn't matter what you do with it.

There used to be an idea that you couldn't show your knees while wearing lolita. This developed after a mistranslation and was never an official rule. Many people are afraid of their dresses being "too short" for lolita though. I am 5'10, definitely a "tallita" and most dresses come up a few inches above my knees. There is no official skirt length for lolita. A Motie skirt can hit your fingertips, or a Victorian Maiden gown can be dragging on the floor!

♡ the community is toxic and catty

lolitas are not a hive mind. I believe this culture has died down from when it was at its peak. there's a lot to question on this stereotype of the "mean lolita." Maybe they are trying to feel superior because they were once bullied themselves. Sometimes, it's easier to just be a "hater" and find community that way. The easy answer to this is no. There are lots of people in communities that can be great friends who want to share this interest with you! Remember to uphold your boundaries and never let people disrespect you. You will always find your place.

◇ people will think it is weird

Actually, many people will think it is cute, fun, and interesting! Sure, people will always have their misconceptions. I've gotten all the usual ones. "Are you in a play? Going to a wedding? Little Bow Peep? Anime cosplay?" But I have yet to experience anything rude or mean. Some people get worried about the name of lolita, but it is easy to avoid using it in conversation. Here are my favorites:

"I just like to dress cute sometimes."

"Life is more fun wearing bows!"

"It's kinda like vintage and gothic?"

"I bought this dress from Japan."

"Nope, these are just my everyday clothes!"

Always remember, everyone else is too worried about themselves to care about you!

What's a misconception you wish you could stop hearing? Have you even been proved wrong by a misconception? Let me know in the replies or reblogs!

[echooefrost]

HERE WE GO - Last Minute Thoughts about the Upcoming Chapter 

These are some Things Sage has stated about Chapter 15: 

We are heading towards the climax of the story, (it’s going to be a lot)

A lot of Frankenstein and Jekyll stuff 

The Background (and possibly the lighthouse) reflects an important moment in the chapter 

The foreshadowing [on the chapter cover] is heavy 

Personal predictions and Final Theory time: 

We are getting a Frankenstein Character (redemption of sorts) arc. Frankie was never a direct morally wrong character but she was an antagonist to Jekyll, and that’s what counts. With this new found ‘revelation’ I think we'll be getting lots of Frnakenstein and Jekyll having to work together. I don’t think that they’ll be “best friends! Let’s bury the hatchet, all good, no problems.” But more of a comfortable and slightly awkward acceptance for one another, where Frankenstein isn’t such a hypocrite and directly against Jeykll who is just trying to keep everything going, and for Jekyll to not care so much about others opinions and his own reputation, hopefully delving back into more arcane sciences himself. (not immediately change but the start of it at least) 

We are still yet to deal with the protestors out the front of the building so I think that’s the problem that Jekyll/Hyde and Frankenstein are going to have to tackle together because neither of them benefit from this rowdy and conservative victorian mob. I’m hoping we’ll get to see Jasper and possibly some other Lodgers come into play here, in trying to also help and stop the mob, to show Jekyll that he doesn’t have to try and fix everything himself. 

NOW, More onto the topic of the Chapter cover, As I have previously stated (on other mediums) Jekyll will go off the rails, this man is not okay, he is not mentally stable and he is about to absolutely snap. Though I would have already predicted this as we are heading towards the climax of the story and that Jekyll’s Character arc seemed to be heading in that general direction, the Chapter Cover really just confirms all of this (Just look at that guy's face! Evil!!!) 

To add onto the cover, we are yet to decipher exactly what the Shoreline/cliff and Lighthouse represent: 

a.) This could be a flashback or some sort of memory within the mindscape. I can see this happening in terms of everything (both Jekyll/hyde’s physical and shared body membrane) starting to collapse and as a desperate attempt to gain control the mind/body starts to freak out and start relaying old memories/places from the past as it tries to make sense of everything.

b.) This is an Actual Location that some of the Cast will go and visit within the Chapter. I’m not too sure about this one as the entirety of the comic has been set in London so far but it’s always a possibility! It looks as if the shoreline is somewhere in the U.K. I’m more inclined to believe it’s in Scotland, as Jekyll/Hyde are Scottish and would relate to their past etc. I’m not sure why they would go outside of London, but maybe it’s a frankenstein-related decision… 

c.) IT’S ALL A BIG METAPHOR!!! (so this is what I personally believe it to be.)  Knowing Sage’s Tendencies, they love to foreshadow shit in the Chapter covers. They even said so themselves: The Background reflects an important moment in the chapter AND The foreshadowing [on the chapter cover] is heavy. Ok but, What is it foreshadowing exactly? I think the Cliff is symbolic of falling, Jekyll’s fall from sanity, security of self and control. And because he’s falling Hyde has to go down too (because this is all his fault! - says Jekyll probably) The lighthouse I’m not exactly sure of yet but I think that it’s probably a person (either Jasper or Lanyon) Lighthouses symbolise, guidance, hope and safety. I think this person will help pull Jekyll/Hyde out of their spiral and help ground them back to reality (when we get an inevitable breakdown of sorts) The other possibility is that the lighthouse symbolsies an event (kind of what sage stated) but I like the person theory a bit more,,, Lastly the outfits, I don’t think they are really symbolic of anything but purely there to serve aesthetic purposes (similar to Jekyll and Lanyon’s outfits from Chapter 13) BUT If we are theorising, it could show the difference of how Hyde is is turing less ‘Hyde’ opposed to Jekyll because he’s wearing a fancier outfit than normal. But Jekyll does look slightly like a sailor here, adding to the theory that we will go to the ocean (and or) a Lighthouse. 

Alright this is getting kind of big so I’ll leave it here. Before the Page drops I think it’ll pick up where we left off (with Frankestien and Hyde) ALSO First Hyde/Frankenstein interaction incoming!!! Suffice to say I am extremely excited and worried at the same time. Oh boy here comes the Angst… Anyway, This is just me rambling, Let me know what you think! I love theorising and this Chapter has got me all types of pumped : O

[dontbesoweirdkira]

For a cunty request can I have a time traveler reader with any of mafia? Maybe Vico or Tommy?

A/N: oh this is going to be hilarious! Thank you for requesting…stay cunty😘✨ (hopefully I did your idea some justice. I didn’t entirely know what scenario you wanted so just some general thoughts)

Warnings: ⚠️a little bit of Joe Barbaro ⚠️

Masterlist

Requests: open 24/7

I’ve chosen Vito because have you ever seen those memes where it’s like, “a victorian child would probably have an aneurysm over this”, yeah…that would be Tommy if you appeared in his timeline

Like that man is stressed the hell out enough! Don’t go ruining his life further with your shenanigans.

Besides Vito would definitely take this far better than anyone else with the exception of the characters from mafia iii. My brother has been to prison, shipped out to war, and now suddenly in the mob…he’s definitely seen some unspeakable shit..

Every soldier has at least one paranormal experience…for him it just happened to be your dumb ass.

He’s not amused by you in the slightest at first..what the fuck is an iPhone and why are you dressed like an idiot? Are you high on something or just unwell?????

“Look Lady, I really don’t have time for this shit and I have places to be. If you need something there’s a Salvation Army right down the block..”

Of course you keep persisting that you’re perfectly fine and that you’re actually from the future. I can just imagine Vito speed walking away with an exasperated expression plastered across his face; you're just continuing to spew nonsense as you follow him.

“I-I don’t want to hear you talk about your fucking bullshit future! Please just go away.”

This man’s blood pressure is through the roof at this point. He’s even trying to physically shoo you away, if it wasn’t for his background he would’ve taken you to the police department.

“Okay do you want a dollar? Huh, will that make you finally stop yapping?? Actually, here take 20 and go away.”

Eventually he just gives up. You’re the most hard headed individual he’s ever encountered and he let’s you follow him. You’re obviously not giving this up.

Partly thinks this is some kind of prank Joe set up to get back at him.

So naturally his first instinct is go go find Joe because if he has to hear the crazy shit you’re spewing, so does he.

Worst. Mistake. Ever.

At first Joe is also trying to get you to leave his buddy alone. Even offering you money just like Vito did earlier but then a light bulb goes off!

Joe’s main mission in life is to piss off Vito and for him…golden opportunity right here for free.

“Sooo…Y/N was it? Tell me, if you are from the future, will Vito always be this fugly?”

“Oh shut the hell up for once would ya? This is a serious situation we have on our hands and you think this is the time to be making jokes??”

“Maybe not fugly but he will end up being a grumpy old man with no wife or kids.”

Joe absolutely loves you and you’re now besties

“Oohhhh no. You two will not be in cahoots!! Joe stop fucking around.”

Don’t worry, Vito eventually comes around to you. He kind of has to now that Joe is riding this thing so hard.

Neither one of them truly believes you though. At least not at first. It’s kind of difficult to prove until the event you’re warning them about actually comes to pass.

You are able to tell them extremely detailed facts and information about themselves and the mafia. You warn them about Henry and give tips about different tasks.

This made them suspicious of you and blew you off as some kind of narc for knowing so damn much. It wasn’t until things started becoming true, they came running right back to you.

They’re both feeling a mixture of excitement, concern and confusion.

Joe doesn’t understand that you only know main historical events and wants you to give him the winning numbers to the lottery.

Vito on the other hand thinks you’re some sort of crazy psychic or maybe one of them aliens from the film he had just seen.

Either way you’re definitely not from here.

Ultimately Vito doesn’t entirely know how to handle all of this. I don’t think anyone would ever be able to fully process this happening. After all you’ve predicted and protected him from, he just accepts that you’re who you say you are.

You’re not a threat to him and Joe seems to really enjoy having you around so I guess he doesn’t really mind you either. He lets you stay at his place too. It’s the least he could do after all your help and the shit he gave.

At least you’re not as bad as that kid, Marty.

[zepskies]

Hey, Zep! Hope you’re having a great day!

Writing amoralism has been really fun lately, and it’s one of my first AUs, which is hard to write since you have less information and it requires a lot of thinking.

But, in your opinion, which AU do you think would be hardest to write Dean in?

Hey, girl! My day is kind of just starting out, but I'm better today than I have been for the past week, so I'm counting it as a win! 😄 Hope your day is going well too.

Yeah, I think writing AUs that aren't canon-based are harder to write as well, because it requires much more world building and potentially research, etc. Maybe for that reason, I've only written three AUs so far in SPN world (all are Dean Winchester x Reader):

Never Say Goodbye: A canon-based soulmate AU series set in seasons 1-2.

Make It Right: A canon-based Omegaverse one-shot (Alpha!Dean x Omega!Reader).

Smoke Eater: A "full" AU series, in which Dean is a firefighter. But the story pulls a fair bit from canon and features several SPN characters.

Smoke Eater was vastly more difficult, but still very fun and rewarding to write!

As far as your actual question though, I think as long as you're able to keep Dean as Dean, meaning retain as much of his canon personality and values as you can, I think you can put him in almost any AU premise.

However, because Dean is the quintessential Han Solo rogue, I think the trickiest AUs to write for him would be any kind of period piece, like Victorian era or older.

For example, the lovely @dean-winchester-is-a-warrior is doing a phenomenal job of writing an Edwardian era AU called Things Learned and Unlearned. She's managed that difficult thing of putting in an incredible amount of research into making the time period feel real and authentic, while also writing Sam and Dean (especially Dean) believably themselves.

So it clearly can be done! I just think the amount of research needed for period pieces, and keeping the canon characters feel believable as themselves, make it harder than other types of AUs.

Thank you for this question, Arty! It was really fun to contemplate. 😘💜

[ang3lwithapen]

Out of curiosity, if MC expressed that they believe in sex after marriage (not judging those who do but it's just a standard for themselves), how would the siblings react? And this is knowing that "officially" speaking they can't get married, but hey all they need is to do it in front of God and that guys everywhere

Idk if your gonna touch on the religious aspects of the victorian era, but I figured since it's a popular and expected practice at that time regardless of personal feelings, some people would end up taking that practice genuinely.

I was actually thinking about this, and making the reader choose between a deeply religious MC, an MC that is somewhat religious but doesn’t practice, or an atheist MC. This would add some new choices to how you can act in regards to romance and sex, and different interactions with the ROs.

I wish I thought about this sooner… because now I would need to go back and add/rewrite scenes for this in chapter 1 already for it to work out… which I’m leaning on doing.

Next update might both be a new chapter and a partial rewrite of chap 1 because of this.

[rraaarr]

Aziraphale, Crowley, The Cold War and Other Possible Lenses

First, I just want to say that there Is NO Wrong way to interpret literature and this post is not meant to invalidate anyone's interpretations. But I want to talk about the final 15 from a different perspective. Again, not saying other interpretations aren't there or valid or baked into the show, just that I want to see what we discover when we look through another lens. And the lens I wanna look through is what I personally think is the lens the Book was actually written through. Now, I know there are a lot of differences from book to tv (for example, how much Crowley is invested in duck health)

But in the book,it's relatively clear that one major interpretation is that it's an Allegory for The Cold War (Two sides that go to war and don't care about the casualties of who gets caught in the middle,as long as their side wins) The First thing when Armageddon goes down that both Azi and Crowley try to get out of trouble is they Both ask each other if they can defect to their side. It is important to note this is Not in the TV show, but I do believe (correct me if I'm wrong) it's in the script book. (The scene in the book takes place in The Bentley I believe)

This is important for Azi's ask at the end of S2. We Know that whatever the convo with Metatron was, Azi could tell Something was up. He doesn't know it's specifically the second coming, but he knows it's Something. Remember, at the end of S1, Crowley says they bought themselves breathing room for "the big one". And Azi is probably pretty sure that this project Metatron is talking about is exactly that. Keeping in mind the first move both Book Azi and Crowley make in the ApocaNot is to try and defect, it makes sense, from that lens, that Azi would Jump at the chance to offer Crowley the safety of defection. Keep in mind, In -The S1 scene at the Globe -The WWII magic show scene And -The Victorian Body snatcher scene Azi isn't worried for what Heaven will do to Crowley, but what Hell will. Afterall, it's Hell that collects or threatens to collect Crowley in the flashbacks, and it's Hell Azi is concerned will destroy Crowley "If hell finds out, they won't just be angry, they'll destroy you", Aziraphale says. He's worried about what Hell will do to Crowley, not Heaven. (well that and holy water)

So, given that background, it stands to reason that Azi feels he and Crowley are Safer with Heaven than Hell. Yes, Heaven tried to kill Azi, but that was once. Afterall, Hell doesn't write "rude notes".

And look, we don't know what exactly Azi goes through with Heaven,but a lot of Heaven's ab*se seems to happen from Azi's superiors, but if he's Surpreme Archangel, Azi will be the superior and in a high enough position to Protect Crowley, or at least I imagine that's Azi's rationale. So, again, it stands to reason that 1) Azi would assume they'd both be physically safer in Heaven and 2) That Crowley wouldn't take it personally,as, per the book, they've Asked to defect to Heaven before. Now, to be fair, this is Book Canon, not TV Show canon. So, let's discuss (briefly, because this could be another post) Aziraphale and Crowley's view of Angel/Demon as identity, or at least what AZI would know of it. Azi doesn't hear Crowley discuss being a demon very often other than to

1) tell Azi that they didn't mean to fall or some variation

or

2) Tell Azi that they're a demon, and, thus, they're not nice (an assertation that is usually, immediately, proven Wrong, ala the Job episode, but we see it elsewhere as well)

And, based on that, I also think another lens we can look at Azi's offer is one of a Restoration, The Righting of an Injustice. Hell and being a demon is an allegory for a kind of criminal punishment. Crowley was kicked out because he was "bad", this was unfair, and now, the error or the judgement is being recognized and fixed. This is obviously a VERY LOADED concept, but it is very possible Aziraphale views this offer as Righting a Wrong, Correcting an Injustice that was Done TO Crowley. I'm not saying these are definitive lenses to look through, just alternate ones that can help us understand what Azi is thinking when he offers Crowley to be an Angel.