#they just made an active choice to not follow those rules bc they thought what they wanted to do would work better for their writing

[latinokaeya-moving]

i watched a vid the other day of this person reviewing the ‘im glad my mom died’ memoir and they talked a lot abt the like. stylistic/writing choices made by the author that worked really well and i enjoyed that approach to a book review bc i like hearing abt what Works when writing you know so i watched another of their vids for a different celebrity’s memoir and this one was a lot more critical (they very obviously didn’t like this person but idk how much that rlly impacted the review itself) and while i appreciated the examples given of like. how Not to write/stuff that sometimes doesn’t work or doesn’t flow as well they started bringing out really technical rules of grammar/writing on talked abt how it was All Wrong and how the memoir was in desperate need of editing bc how could anyone have let this be published

and it just got me thinking bc like. i’m not gonna say i’m an expert on the english language or anything like this person very obviously is more educated on that then me but idk. i feel like i’m generally a decent judge on whether a sentence flows well/sounds right and i think im able to make a distinction between something being technically grammatically incorrect but still sounding good and having an obvious reason for being written that way vs something being wrong technically And that affecting it’s readability or impact of what it’s meant to Do stylistically. like idk ig that’s just the way that person reviews books but it just felt so extremely limited and constrained bc i know i regularly Choose to sometimes write in a style that isn’t wholly correct or ‘proper’ english but it’s not bc im like being deliberately obtuse or don’t know the rules. sometimes i just think the rules are a little dumb n that my writing will sound n flow better the way i do it.

and idk i just think it was a little annoying to watch in their example bc i listened to all the lines they critiqued n Why/How they were Totally Wrong and i couldn’t help but be like okay… but they sound fine to me. like you obviously got what was being said and it read well so…? although i guess whether it sounds good or flows well is more objective so like they were entitled to their own opinion and all i just didn’t like the way they positioned writing as something that must follows these arbitrary rules as if not following them means anything or has any moral value you know…

[spiteless-xo]

Im so sorry this ramble is so long but here u go🙁

The absolute terror that came over me when i saw the email notification for the new chapter😭😭😭ok before i read im gonna put my final insights here,, ive literally been scrambling around my house procrastinating reading it bc im TERRIFIED and honestly im so sad its ending,, ive been reading since like february??? I think???Idk atp but i cannot express how much ive loved this story i wish it couldve just continued forever🥲🥲

Ok my predictions are that this will not be a one way path ik tiff is evil and likes to fuck w our feelings😞 i think smt twisted like reader picking eren but eren not picking reader could happen BC HE REALISED HIS SELF WORTH MAYBE😭😭but im not intricate enough to actually use that to decide but i honestly am at a loss i have no clue,, its an honest gamble but i do think eren is endgame??? Help i have no clue😭 but i do remember someone analysing the smells? Vanilla is more home and comfort so like a foundation? And citrus was for summer and things but i was thinking how summer is a temporary thing where people live out crazy activities for the sake of it but the whole thing abt it is that its temporary like we always have to go back HOME to our foundation aka vanilla aka eren????

Thing is ive been eren for endgame since DAYY ONEE i only almost switched up once during the arc with erens confession (idky😞) but other than that ive stayed loyal LMAO idk if im just being delusional tho convincing myself I think she'll end up with eren but

ALSO my other point right

I wanna take this back to tiff bc she IS the author😋 from what ive seen in her tumblr,, a lot of the reader owns resemblance to tiff?? She's mentioned a lot how the readers job is based off her irl experience in an office and some of the readers habits shes claimed to have herself i remember she was saying how people bashing the reader made her think like 'wait thats kind of me tho’ i remember it too vaguely to quote but ANYWAY off the basis that the reader is in some aspects (not all) a projection in some ways?? Its gonna influence,, we ALL know tiff is a strong jean girl😭 we love that and so u'd think jean would be picked BUT in between chapters i saw a few tumblr posts abt her growing liking for eren? I wont deny that she is DEFINITELY still a jean girl but i think for some form of variation in her work bc i think as far as i know she only has one other eren story on her ao3 and so i think her growing crush ok eren may be enough to win her over for just this fic even if jean remains her favourite?? I have like ten million other theories but i need to read the chapter now i will be back😋😋 (im so scared im shitting my pants)

-

Im back!! its been like 6 days since i read it but i just didnt have time to write out my reaction after bc i was so fucking immersed i lost track of time and was late to meet up w my friends💀💀💀anyway it was such rollercoaster omd😭 the letters from jean we’re honestly so cute and i think the year time skip made everything all the more realistic in her choice bc she frl needed that break😭 OMD AND THE WAY I WAS PANICKING when that girl came out the elevator istg i thought it was mikasa,, with all generic eren fanfics if theres ever a third party to make the reader jealous theres some unspoken rule to never use mikasa for some reason and i was dying thinking it was gonna be her😭😭 commonly people use historia so when even a mention of eren having a new gf came up my mind shot to historia i swear i was worrying just as much as the reader💀 anyway back to jeans letters i was honestly like getting a bit swayed that i wouldnt even be upset if reader ended up w jean and especially considering how offstandish eren was when reader went to see him at first he was like not following up on anything like he was rushing to see his stupid gf (it was armin🎉🎉🥳) AND THE READER WAS SO CUTE FOR THAT GUNDAM (tysm tiff its such a silly headcanon that eren collects those and builds them i can see it HELP) and i think it was so cute seeing the reader and sasha as bsfs more bc i think there was long periods of time that that relationship w sasha wasnt as strongly shown so its so nice AND OMGOGMOGM LEVI????? U made the dynamic w them so well how he has that small bit of warmth telling her she can work there whenever she needs its the cutest thing ever i love it more than ever and the way levi talks abt petra UGH u made everything so endearing, and istg the reader has never been real until this chapter bc she is so right saying that a bunch of paper doesnt change him bc I KNEW AS SOON AS HE SAID HE NEVER LEFT TITAN AND BECAME BASICALLY HIS DAD that he was not gonna be endgame,, i always had the theory that titan and the kirstein status is a metaphor for the status jean has from the reader bc shes loved him for so long thinking hes someone that hes really not,, jean was painfully aware how he could make any mistake at work and have no punishment similarly to how even if he hurts the reader she will always forgive him so if he couldnt avoid reaping the benefits of his kirstein status then it means he’d continue to take advantage of the reader but thing is this status dissolved when she took that year away from him which is why I appreciate how realistic it all is logic wise,, Eren evidently changed and omg i wanna know abt the pictures on his wall bc when reader was first there there was mention how there were no family pictures or any sign of him really living there but when she came back there were pictures,, i was trying to figure out the meaning but i cant get my finger on it😭 my guess is that he found more purpose in life?? Idk bc that seems so vague and farfetched i was wondering what ur intentions were with that🙆‍♀️ and i had a theory AGES AGO that piecks ‘bad bf’ before jean or smt was zeke?? Bc knowing how zeke was in that gc and stuff like that it sounded like smt was gonna link together? I just think the added details abt piecks past was left unfinished so i was also wondering abt that😋 anyway ugh the ending was also so cute usually i hate when characters dance in fanfics but it was so cute and fitting for the moment like THEM AT THE POINT omg i loved it i love u thank you SO MUCH tiff for an amazing story i hope u have a good day bb❤️❤️❤️

omg thank you for a such a lovely message 🥰💗🥰💗 i’ll hide my response under a cut here because it’s long

reading since february!! omg that’s like the beginning! i think i dropped the first chapter on valentine’s day

“tiff is evil and likes to fuck with our feelings” 💀💀💀 yes.

ugh the smells!!!!! that was my biggest slip up frfr 🙈 i said way too much when i responded to that ask because i was so excited someone asked!! and you guys were all right of course. eren was home and jean was just temporary (like the summer season)

lmao ok literally. i was still a hardcore jean girlie when i started writing tbaw and even after i decided it was gonna end w eren. so throughout writing tbaw….. i literally fell in love w eren jaeger 🙈 and i almost fell out of love w jean!!! tbaw!jean is so awful he almost ruined jean completely for me

hehehe yes yes you’re 100% right w jean. he’s so used to taking advantage and never getting punished (w reader and titan) that he doesn’t really see a point in changing because tbh his life is pretty good?? but then when reader spent time away from him, her blind infatuation w him wore off and then when he tried to pull that same shit again, she’s like nah bro.

ok this is probably not clear at all, but the deal w eren’s apartment is that in the beginning it’s very sanitized and show-homey because he feels distant and detached from his friends/family after the death of his mom and becoming close w zeke. he’s like internally ashamed of the way he’s acting because he knows he’s in the wrong so he’s almost punishing himself by distancing himself from everyone.

and then after a year when he’s changed and the pictures are on the wall, its because hes worked his way out of that hole of self loathing and is happy with the person he is now. so he’s able to feel more comfortable, even in the privacy of his own home, and having his mom “watch over him” in a sense, and cherishing his previous relationship w jean and his ongoing friendship w armin, etc etc.

yes!! pieck’s bad bf was zeke! i was originally going to have her have a bigger role in tbaw to show like how eren’s past behaviour can affect people, since she was a victim of that treatment when she dated zeke. but i scrapped it because it would’ve extended the story so much and also i didn’t really like writing pieck lol

so there are like lil bits and pieces about the pieck/zeke relationship and how the way he treated her makes her seek validation in men, but it’s super underdeveloped in tbaw.

thank you again for such a lovely comment!! i’m glad you enjoyed it 🥰💗

[sub-bi]

A few different things have happened over the past two days so I’m making just one post because it’s easier.

First, I couldn’t sleep the night before last so I decided to edge which I have open permission for once I’m wearing the plug, but usually when I get to the edge I’m just sort of stuck there until/unless I stop/get permission (but that literally never happens); but when I was edging and I got to the edge I started to go over but then I just stopped and everything started to hurt. I think it’s a glitch because I was told I’m not allowed to cum/try to after it happened but when I was edging last night with the plug in I just stayed on the edge like usual so maybe it was just a one time glitch or maybe it just needs to be reinforced or something. I also still need to know if the whole anal only toy thing means I’m not allowed to have normal sex? I discussed it with M but he didn’t make the rule so he can’t really dictate anything, but he said he imagines anything aside from anal sex is off limits. I’m also not sure if this is applicable to everyone i hookup with or just in a bdsm context, so I really need clarity on both of those.

Then today, C arrived around 11am, I had to wear the plug because of the rule where I’m on no touch without it regardless of who I’m playing with. Everything was chill for a while and we just talked about the last scene and what went well/didn’t go so well since I went MIA for like two months after it. We came to an agreement that there wouldn’t be anymore limit pushing activities without discussing them in advance since last time it was pretty intense and it would have been fine if I’d known what to expect, but I had no idea what she had been planning. Anyway. So she arrived around 11, we talked for maybe an hour, then she told me to strip and I did. Then she had me kneel down facing her while she sat at the edge of the couch, she just pulled her panties to the side and had me eat her out until she came, then she told me to turn around and crawl to get my pump, but as soon as I turned around she noticed the plug (which I was hoping she wouldn’t notice). She asked why I was wearing it and I just told the truth because it was easier and in a way less humiliating since it wasn’t actually my choice but kinda more humiliating since I don’t even get a choice? Idk. Anyway, she was pretty excited then and asked more about types of things I have to do, she’s asked before and I usually just brush her off but I gave her a super brief overview of what my mistress had me do the last time we played, and when she found out there was a second bigger plug her eyes actually lit up and I got pretty scared, but in a fun way.

She had me go grab the bigger plug instead, while she was walking around the kitchen. I had no idea what she was doing at the time but I now know she was finding chilli oil. She followed me to the bedroom, and had me lay on my stomach. She said she was going to lube the plug up, she literally yanked the smaller one out and it hurt so much, and then she slowly started putting the other plug in, covered in what I assumed was lube but was actually like something from the pits of hell inside my ass. After resistance for maybe 30 seconds she decided to just push it in, I literally saw starts and thought I would pass out from the pain. Once the chilli oil started working I thought I was going to die, it’s probably the second most painful scene I’ve ever had, the most painful wS when my mistress used the piercing trigger everywhere when I was being a brat and had an attitude. She played around with the plug a little, she put a pillow under my hips to raise my ass up and started fucking me with the widest part of the plug. She did this for a solid twenty minutes, and I wasn’t allowed to move at all (my arms were behind my back and I wasn’t allowed to unclasp my hands). At one point when my hips started moving bc of the friction from the pillow on my clit she made me arch up higher to stop the friction. She said that anal only means anal only, and refused to let me feel anything unless it was anal-related.

After she got tired of playing with the plug she had me get off the bed and crawl to the bathroom. I had to lay my head on the toilet seat as usual while she removed the plug and inserted the enema nozzle, then she filled it with ICE cold water. She said hot water wouldn’t have helped much with the chilli oil but I think she just wanted to see me suffer more so idk. Once I was full, like, FULL, She had me clean off the plug and put it back in. The pain from the enema, the cold water, the leftover chilli oil that was still burning, and the absolute desperation for anything to touch my clit got too much and I started begging but she just laughed. She had me hold the enema while she walked me up and down the stairs on the leash, until I was in so much pain that I couldn’t even crawl anymore, and then she finally let me release it, while she stayed in the room. The entire time she laughed and made humiliating comments. After I finished releasing it, again I cleaned off the plug and she placed it back in.

We talked for another while then, she asked more about M I guess since he’s irl sometimes? He’ll be here this week and she asked if she could be involved in a scene with him, I told her I’m not sure yet. She asked what sort of stuff he has me do, and I told her he mostly makes triggers to use. She asked about punishments I usually get from either M or my Mistress and I listed off a few that I get pretty frequently. For some reason she was amazed by the diaper punishment and thought it was hilarious. She asked to see the diapers, then laid me lay down and put one on me. She laughed again, idk why it’s so funny it’s just humiliating. She said the diapers suit me since I act like such a child sometimes anyway. She said to drink plenty of water throughout the day, and not to use the restroom without permission from M or my Mistress and also not to remove the diaper without permission and not to switch to the smaller plug without permission from my Mistress or M.

So basically right now I have the really big plug in, a diaper on, and I really need to use the restroom but I’m afraid to ask because M yelled at me yesterday for making a bad choice and my Mistress also yelled at me and she’s busy so idk who I should ask or what I should do or if I should maybe deal with it myself bc C assumed someone would help me out of the predicament since she won’t be reachable for the rest of the day.

[alltoowelltom]

Beauty Secrets (t.h)

tom holland x reader

request from a lovely anon! : Hi! This is my first request and I hope I’m not bothering you 😅 but do you think you can write something where the reader is doing a Vogue beauty secrets vid and Tom crashes it Bc he loves watching her do her skincare routine and they sometimes do spa nights together and he wants to join? I hope that made sense lol. And I LOVE Pink Lines!! I get so excited when I see you’re active. Xx

“Hi, I’m Y/N Y/L/N and today I’m here with Vogue to take you guys through my skincare routine!” you say brightly towards the camera set up in front of your bathroom mirror.

You’re clad in a fluffy white robe and your hair is pushed back by a green frog-themed skincare headband, turning your face into a clean canvas for your skincare routine.

“So, I start with washing my face. I’m using the Simple Moisturizing Face Wash today, Simple is my absolute favourite skincare brand.” you explain, lathering the product in your hands and rubbing it in circles over your face. “It just makes your skin feel so soft and clean, I genuinely cannot tell you how good it is.”

Washing off the cleanser, you pick up a grey tube and hold it up to the camera.

“Next up is a face mask. This is The Ordinary Salicylic Acid 2% Mask which I use twice a week. It’s exfoliating but not too harsh, which I think is the perfect balance.” you say as you apply it with two fingers. Just as you finish covering your face and are about to continue speaking to the camera, the bathroom door opens and your boyfriend Tom strolls in, grinning at the camera.

“Tom!” you snort, gasping over his fluffy robe that matches yours. “What are you doing, you know I’m doing my Vogue Beauty Secrets video today right?”

He shakes his head as he comes to stand next to you, in the frame of the shot.

“I absolutely cannot believe you thought you could do a spa night without me!” he pouts playfully. “Those are our thing together, babe.”

You giggle at his tone, gesturing at the face mask tube and the camera.

“Well, would you like to join us?”

He laughs and nods emphatically at you, closing his eyes.

“Mask me up, love.”

“Woah woah, slow down cowboy,” you say, rinsing your hands and drying them on your robe. “If you’re doing my video, you’re following my rules.”

He quirks an eyebrow at you.

“Rules…?”

You grin as you open a drawer by your hip, digging through your collection of skincare headbands. You select a pink one, with some sort of cat ears/unicorn design and slide it onto his head, pushing back his fluffy chocolate curls. He chuckles at the choice of headband, rolling his eyes at you. “But I don’t even like cats!”

“Only psychopaths don’t like cats,” you fire back, picking up the face mask again.

He raises his eyes at the camera and sighs playfully, before closing his eyes again and allowing you to apply the mask to his face. As you circle your fingers over his cheekbones and down his nose, he leans into your touch feeling fully relaxed. He’s almost ready to switch off the camera, grab you by the hand, lay you down in bed and wrap himself around you, but you break him from his daydream when the mask is applied.

“Done! Now we’re going to leave this on for ten minutes, so see you soon!” you chirp at the camera. The video goes dark for a moment and an animated clock appears, showing ten minutes passing before the shot opens on you and Tom again. You’ve switched sides this time, with him on your left, smiling at the camera. You washed off the mask while you weren't filming, so you both have rosy and shiny cheeks.

“So the next part of my routine is my Revlon Jade Roller,” you say, opening the little mini-fridge built into the vanity and pulling out the little green roller.

Tom rolls his eyes. “Guys, she’s allowed a mini fridge in the bathroom but she won’t let me keep snacks in it,” he pouts.

You ignore his comment as you show the camera the different ways you roll the jade roller over your face, tightening the skin. Satisfied with your work, you turn to your waiting boyfriend.

“Ready, Tom?”

He looks a little worried but leans in, allowing you easy access to his face. He gasps and jumps back as the cool stone touches his cheek.

“Jesus, that’s fuckin’ cold!”

You put your free hand on his strong shoulder, pulling him closer and keeping him in place as you roll the stone over his cheeks, under his eyes, and over his forehead. “It’s reducing puffiness and helping the next product to soak in,” you explain to both Tom and the camera, although Tom has heard you say this during each of your weekly spa nights together.

You put the roller down on the counter and pick up the next product.

“This is The Ordinary Niacinamide and Zinc serum.”

Tom’s eyes bug out slightly at the complicated-sounding name, he’s never been great at science and you may as well be speaking another language at this point. While you show the camera how you measure the correct amount of serum and apply it to your face, you don’t miss the way Tom puts the discarded jade roller back in the mini-fridge, making sure it’ll be cold for you next time. Your heart swells at his kindness, and the way he’s always trying to make your life easier in all the little ways. You apply the serum to his face, while he whines about how it stings a little, but you can tell how much he’s enjoying spa night, really.

“And the last face product, we use the Simple Light Hydrating Moisturizer,” you say. You don’t pick up on your little slip of tongue but Tom does. He notices how you say ‘we’ use it not ‘I’ use it, because although the camera and viewers aren’t aware, you’re always reminding him to moisturize in the winter months when he’s heading out to interviews and work commitments. It’s just one of the little things you do that show him how much you care for him. He’s lost in a daydream thinking this over as you moisturize both your face and his, placing a very quick and feather-light kiss to his finished forehead.

“Alright now I don’t always put on makeup if I’m not doing anything super important today, and Tom and I are just going to be doing jobs around the house and running a few errands today so I’m not going to be doing much more to my face.” you explain. “I’m just going to put on some lip balm - this is the Burt’s Bee’s honey flavour.” you apply the balm to your lips, smacking them at Tom and he laughs, pushing his lips into a duck pout so you can apply the lip balm to his, too. You giggle and as you close the cap, he sneaks one arm around your waist, giving you a quick peck. He keeps the PDA to a minimum while on camera, facing to the front again and awaiting your next instruction.

“So the very final thing is mascara, this is the Maybelline Colossal Volume one,” you say, holding the little yellow tube up to your face. You twist it open and pull the mascara wand out, but as you hold it up to your eye Tom reaches out and puts his hand over yours.

“Can I do it for you?” he asks.

You grin and nod, handing him the tiny wand.

“I’m practicing,” he explains to the camera.

He bends down and puts his face so close that you can feel his warm breath fan over your cheek as he concentrates on his work. He hands you the wand back as you lean into the camera’s viewfinder, admiring Tom’s handiwork.

“That’s a pretty decent job!” you say. “I’d even go as far to say it’s your best yet.”

Tom grins as you look into the camera, wrapping up the video.

“Well thank you so much for watching my Beauty Secrets video guys, thanks so much to Vogue for having me! I’m Y/N Y-”

“This is the future Mrs. Holland and I’m Tom Holland,” he interrupts you, cutting you off. “And we’ll see you next time!”

You both grin into the camera and it fades out on the frame of Tom wrapping an arm around your waist and pressing a kiss to your hairline.

“Was it okay what I said?” asks Tom, biting his lip.

You turn to him, running a finger over his lip and trying to make sure he doesn’t bite too hard in his worry.

“It was perfect.” you say, kissing him gently. “And hey, I guess this means I can wear my ring in public now!”

・°☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆

a/n: thank you so much to anon for requesting this, I’m sorry if it’s a little short or rushed, I was just so excited by it I had to write quickly! let me know what you think x

[thechekhov]

Hi! I saw on a post that you're agender and I'm kinda questioning my gender (again) but what interested me more about that post was that you said you believe that gender is a social construct and I'm not really familiar with that theory. I was wondering if you could explain to me what the whole idea is? (bc I kinda only feel like a have a gender in social situations? In my head, my dreams and how I picture myself in the future, I'm genderless idjskahwksjejensj) Sorry for bothering you if I did.

This is a BIG topic and it opens a LOT of wormholes. 

We’re gonna do this in pie slice statements that will hopefully help explain what I mean. Please keep in mind I’m going to simplify many things for the sake of readability.

1) What is a social construct? 

Social constructs are ideas that are negotiated by social groups. Something being a social construct does not make it ‘not real’. 

For example, money is a social construct. Yes, we have cash - coins, credit cards - but these are physical props that are REPRESENTATIVE of the idea of currency. You have some form of credit to your name - the money is a socially agreed-upon idea of value being represented by bills in your hand, by numbers in your bank account. 

[Description: Two humanoid figures are standing side by side. The right-side figure is holding a rock in its hand. 

Right side figure: Let’s agree that this shiny rock is worth 2 sheep.

Left side figure: Sounds fake but ok.]

Technically, countries are also social constructs. We, as a society, negotiate what a country is, and this can be changed.

[Description: Two figures are standing on either side of a dotted line drawn on the ground. The left figure is pointing down at it while the right figure watches, its arms crossed.

Left figure: Let’s pretend that everything on this side of the imaginary line is mine.

Right figure: ...ok but my house is over there.

Left figure: ... for 3 shiny rocks you can come visit.]

Does that mean canada isn’t real? No. (I mean, obviously canada ISN’T real, but we all agree to pretend it is.) The thing that makes it real is that we are in agreement, and all follow the social rules of pretend to make it seem like the Canadian border, the idea of Canadian citizenship, etc... is an objective fact. (It’s not. These are in fact, negotiable limits and parameters. We have laws in place to define it in legal terms, but those laws can be changed, or may change in the minds of communities. That’s why it’s a construct.)

By that same token, I hold the view that gender, as we largely perceive it in modern society, is a construct. Why? Because it is not inherent; we, as a society, negotiate its meaning. 

2) What is gender? 

People will probably fight me on this and that’s fine, but here’s my (simplified) understanding of gender (from someone who personally has none)

Gender is a social category negotiated by cultures based on your assigned or desired role in your community that influences, among many other things, your physical appearance, your role in family units, your expected position in jobs, etc. 

How I think it happened:

[Description: Two figures are standing on either side of the panel, both holding children-looking figures. The one on the left is wearing purple. The one on the right is wearing green.

Green figure: Hey, I’ve got an idea. What if we separate the babies into two groups based on physical traits they have no control over?

Purple figure: Wh-- okay...?

Green figure: And then limit the jobs they can do and the community ritual involvement available to them based on that!

Purple figure: ... I feel like this is going to backfire on us someday.

Green figure: Nah, it’ll be fine.

The past panel is a dramatic closeup on the purple figure’s face - which is featureless - betraying a deeply doubtful emotion. It says nothing.]

Important points to remember: what gender looks like, what the limits are, what the expectations are... are not inherent to any human biology. We make up gender roles. This is evident in the fact that across the world, gender roles differ by culture. The positions people of a certain gender are allowed to take up are different. What is perceived to be ‘girly’ or ‘boyish’ is different across cultures. 

Simply speaking - currently the (western) model we have, dumbed down, is:

You are assigned male at birth because of physical characteristics

You are raised being told to ‘toughen up’ and ‘boys don’t cry’ and encouraged not to show emotions

You are taught to wear male-coded clothes and discouraged from female-coded fashion choices

You are given more opportunities to participate in sports, encouraged to engage in physical activity, etc

You are not expected to need time off for child-rearing 

Here’s where gender as it works in society breaks down into being not a real thing but instead something we thought up: 

Nothing about having a penis necessitates wearing pants. Nothing about having XY chromosomes means you need to keep your hair short. Nothing about your genome makes the experience of nail-polish different for any human being. 

All of these are arbitrary traits we decided were allowed or not allowed to a specific group of people based on entirely unrelated physiology. 

Even if we delve deeper, there is MORE variation among individuals of the same ‘sex’ than there are, on average, of members of the ‘opposite sex’ when compared to each other. 

Many people use the excuse ‘women are physically not as strong as men’ to say that this has an evolutionary aspect driving these cultural, historical, socially-constructed gender requirements. 

But if there was a physical reasoning behind the culturally-set gender-limited job expectations, then we actually WOULDN’T need a traditional binary gender system to sort ourselves into categories. It would simply be decided as a meritocracy - stronger individuals, regardless of gender, would be given physically-demanding jobs. (Also we know that many jobs thought to be ‘traditionally male’ are just the result of sexist bullshit, so this reasoning doesn’t fly any further than I can throw it which is, coincidentally, not very far. Politics is one such area. Doctors are another. We can go on but I think you get my drift.)

My own example of this is an anecdote when my grandparents came to visit my partner and I in Japan. While we were driving down to Tokyo, my grandmother - who has a PhD in entomology - began to say that driving is a masculine activity and women shouldn’t be driving as it was ‘un-woman-like’. My partner almost immediately fired back that in Japan, studying insects or having any interest in them whatsoever was considered a heavily masculine-coded activity. In Russia, there is no such assignment, and my grandmother was left silently blinking in confusion, unable to come up with any excuse except ‘well, all cultures are different, I suppose...’

Do either of these things inherently have a gendered aspect? Of course not! But we assign gendered ideals to them anyway.

3) If gender is made up and constructed by society, then does that mean trans people aren’t real?

No.

Even if you agree that gender is a social construct, trans people are still real. TERFs don’t get a pass. Why? 

Because gender - as a social construct - still affects our everyday lives, dictates our social position in our community. Transitioning is still a thing that has to happen. The fact that you are NOT easily able to decide your own gender and are ostracized for wanting to transition, abused for dressing the way you want to be perceived, and bullied for wanting people to refer to you with different pronouns - all those are the effects of a social construct that has very REAL impact on our lives.

This is also why I dislike defining trans-ness by dysphoria. Because transgender people are not only their suffering - the suffering is coming from the outside!! Many trans people remember not being concerned about their gender identity in their childhood, because they did not yet perceive the world as being hostile to their desire to fulfil a specific role in society. The issues and self-hatred and dysphoria begins when they express wanting to be themselves - a life which they are forbidden from pursuing based on physical characteristics they were born with.

Does this mean we should try to remove gender from society? If we constructed it, we can deconstruct it, right?

Realistically, I highly doubt this is possible. Gender is so ingrained in our daily lives that it would be difficult. Nor, I would say, would it be necessary to achieve world peace. 

Having social groups - having gender - isn’t inherently a bad thing. The bad thing is when we limit those social groups to specific basic human rights, like voting, or when we forbid them from transitioning from one to another based on things that are out of their control. 

Also, I’m not saying genitals and secondary sexual characteristics aren’t real. Please don’t bother sending me that angry message, I’ll ignore it, I promise. 

But the concept of gender IS something we thought up and maintain and negotiate with each other to this very day. It’s not granted to us by a higher power, nor is it a constant, unchanging thing. It’s a part of the human experience and like everything, it has the potential to evolve - as a concept in our communal memory, as well as on an individual level, for people who feel they want to be perceived differently. 

Thanks for coming to my TEDtalk!

[saturatedboy]

Could I please request a one shot of Donna crushing hard on a fem SO who’s terrified of her bc she’s a lord and has all these scary rumors about her but Donna is determined to win her heart even though the poor girl is as a skittish and meek as a tiny rabbit in the wild

Donna Beneviento x F!Reader

This ended up being longer than I anticipated but I do hope you enjoy!

Words: 3.9k

House Beneviento. The name had always sent shivers down your spine when you heard the other adults talk about it. You were just a female young adult with a liking towards flowers that would grow and intoxicated you with their scent. The stereotypical feminine liking towards flowers had most certainty made you the eye-candy for all the boys but you never seen yourself liking any of them back. All your life you had lived in the Village of the Shadows, you had never caught any feelings for the opposite sex. It was a strange to the elder women, they used to try pair you up with a match but every time you had refused their offering of a male towards you. Sometimes you felt as though you had put your family to shame but there was always another part of you telling you you had nothing to be ashamed off. This was you, you will choose who to love and if you never want to love or just couldn't, you were willing to accept that.

Recently, some things had been off with the Village and it's civilisation. You knew better then to question your religion on worshipping Mother Miranda as you had found comfort in knowing that someone out there was willing to protect you- too bad those days were gone and well, that was when you were just a child reaching the age of 7. Now, age 19, you've came to consider the down sides and the strange disappearance of some in the Village.

"(Y/n) my darling, would you please go collect some herbs?" Your mother had called from the kitchen as you had sat pondering in your own thoughts about the strange noises you would hear outside on a night. Having your head sat on your hand with an elbow on the table, you turned your head to face your mother who was stood with a soft smile and faint beads of sweat dripping down her forehead from cooking over the fire.

"Doesn't the elders go gather the herbs mother?" You questioned her as you move your head off your hand and decided to get up and ready for your journey after being requested by your mother. Your mother however was already caught up back in her work of cooking, completely ignoring you. You sighed with sagged shoulders and moved to collect your white cloak which had been tainted with mud at the bottom. "I'll see you soon mother," You spoke as you paced yourself to the front door and swung it open, being greeted by the swift coldness of the air.

Stepping onto the snow, you breathed in the crisp frost and stepped forward to begin your journey near the forest. Normally the elders would go collect the herbs but seemingly because you knew the area from flower picking, you are now the perfect fit to do it. Pulling your cloak closer to your body, you lifted the hood and let it sit on your head and shoulders and the rest of it draped down and covered you up to your ankles. Your breath had left faint clouds in front of you, making patterns as it swirled. This wasn't the best weather to be out in but you hoped your beige cotton dress would keep you warm enough.

As you walked through the village, you tended to ignore everyone. Their looks on you made you feel so left out. You were the only women of age who hadn't been together with a single boy of your age division. It frustrated you that such social thoughts that a women should be together with a man always made you mad. For the name of Mother Miranda, why couldn't some people in the village accept some don't want to love and some rather love someone the same gender. There was nothing wrong with choosing someone to love- but you supposed it was like this because the population of the village was going down and repopulating the village would be needed. You didn't like the idea but it was something you were taught at a young age. Slipping through tight areas, you made your way towards the the rocky bridge where you would cross to get to the forest where most of the herbs had grown.

You hoped you would find some near the front entrance.

Luck wasn't something you had, you had always been careful when you were younger making sure to never let any superstition past your mind. Any newly made shoes on the table? You would move them. Someone knocked over a mirror? You would of tried your best to catch it. You were always so careful when it came to things like that. It just made you more adorable in the eyes of those who wanted to have you for their own personal needs and you knew what personal needs they wanted. Reason why you realised you didn't have a lot of luck was the fact that the herbs you needed for medicine wasn't there. They had been cut clean and most likely would grow in another month. "Looks like I have to go further in" You whispered to yourself, taking down your hood and lifting the front of your dress up so you could climb over tree roots and not trip over a small pebble. What you didn't know when travelling further into the forest was a pair of watchful eyes...more than a pair of watchful eyes.

Humming a soft tune, you walked past the creepy dolls that were hung by the branches and got ready your small sheers to cut the herbs when you found them. Shivers crawled down your spine as you looked around, you hated those dolls with a passion- well they were cute some of them but mostly scary in your eyes. Everyone knew who's territory you were in.

Lady Beneviento's. The lady who apparently practically controlled the dolls and would use them to her command. She was a Lady. These were the rumours that had passed about your village of your time living there, which was your whole life. You knew every story about Beneviento, you couldn't help it. You had to know all about the stories to know who ruled over you and who you should worship, it wasn't a choice. Searching more, you were lucky enough to come across the correct herbs you needed, they were under a large tree with some small daisies growing underneath it from the sheltered floor by the leaves. Mentally cheering, you jogged towards the tree and leaned down, plucking at the stems of the herbs with your sheers. Whilst you was doing this, you didn't realise the lady dressed in black behind you behind a tree with a hand over a hyper-active doll clamping her mouth shut

She was intrigued at your sudden appearance. She had left her manor in search of a quiet day out seemingly the coldness would pick up very soon and she just needed that air to clear her mind. What she didn't expect was a new person to be walking in her territories and almost in the centre as well. Weirdly, she felt appreciated at the new accompany but she didn't like the fact you came and starting to pluck at her plants she didn't appreciate. She had to keep Angie quiet so she doesn't get spotted, maybe you would leave after you plucked them.

Back to yourself, you placed the freshly cut herbs into a pocket that was in your dress. Yes, you owned a practical dress with pockets which you were more than thankful for. Standing up and stretching, you turned around and smiled at your accomplishment. You felt so proud of yourself being able to come far into the Beneviento's area and being able to be brave enough to not back out. Raising your hand to your hair, you brushed out the knots and started to skip your way back home, humming once again.

Watchful eyes had followed you back to the bridge. She was caught off guard with your smile, how free you looked and how graceful you had skipped. Your humming had became a melody to her that hit all the right notes, it attracted a faint heat to rise to her cheeks. "Are you really acting like that?" The doll had whispered to her owner, staring at the black veil. The owner tilted her head to the side, showing that she was rather confused. "If you want her, quickly let us grab her and she can become out new playmate." The doll wiggled her way out of her owners arms as she had decided to go deep into thought.

Playmate? Playmate meant life to her...you being her playmate struck lightning to her heart and made her start to fidget with her fingers. A pretty being like you- no an enchanting- no...there was no words to describe how beautiful you were in her eyes. You were just so perfect, prettier than any goddess ever. You were fair like a doll, your skin looked so delicate to touch, your eyes glistened with a shine that glossed over your huge pupils. How was someone like you created? Someone that had melted any cold around her own heart. Who needs that boring playmate who was already half dead back at her mansion when she could have you.

Just as you were about to step foot on the bridge, a sudden movement of the wind picking up behind you had made you turn your head. At first you felt dizzy as your turned, your vision began to blur and was soon covered with black dots. The last thing you ever saw was the Lady dressed in black.

"she's waking up~!" A voice had rang in your head causing you to scrunch up your nose and scrunch your already shut eyes closed. The voice was high pitch, much louder than any young girl's voice. Using your hands to feel around you, you felt soft silk under your touch. Opening your eyes barely, you were greeted with a a grey tinted white above you as you were laid down. Closing your eyes to get rid of any excess blur, you reopened them and and breathed out heavily.

"What's going on..." Your voice came out hoarse, making it sound like you hadn't drank in days.

"Maybe we knocked her out a little hard?" Again the high pitched voice had said. You were curious, your mind always got the better of you but your shyness always lingered. You stayed put, staring up at the ceiling as you could hear movement being made around you along with the sound of something pattering against what you could only think of to be the floor. Maybe wood?

As you were about to speak up again and ask where you were, you jumped slightly at the touch of something small touching your ankle. Heaving your body up quickly, you was met with a doll dressed in a wedding gown holding onto your left ankle. You swallowed back a lump in your throat and raised a hand to your mouth, slightly biting down on it on hopes of not to scream. However that didn't go as plan as a small whimper came from your mouth. You quickly moved your body up on what you could see to be a bed and backed away right to the top of it trying to make distance between the doll and yourself. The doll laughed at your actions and you pulled your knees up to your chest. You wanted out. Where were you? Why are you here with this doll. You just wanted to go back home...

More noises came into the room. The small patters against the floor accompanied with larger ones had caused you to duck your head into your arms in fear. If that doll was here, then that must mean the Lady was here too. Those stories of the Manor of Beneviento came running back into your mind. You were here, your escape far gone. You were going to die here.

A sudden cough made you flinch further into your arms and the laugh of the doll had quietened down. "You may leave Angie." The new voice had spoke. The voice held such innocence yet it sounded like a grown women who had seen more than enough. More patter noises went away just as it first came. Thinking you were now safe, you raised your head up to only be met with the women dressed in black you saw from the forest. Tears had already sprung from your eyes and you shook your body, repeating the word 'no' out of fear. Not knowing what to do, Donna- the lady dressed in black- had sat at the end of the bed and just stared at you. You could feel sleep pull against your eye lids wanting you to sleep but knowing that the women you heard rumours about killing people did not sit good in your head, not to mention she was in the same exact room with you.

It took a while but you eventually calmed down, heavy breaths leaving your throat as you stared at her. You felt so small to be near someone who had loads of authority over you. You felt powerless, feeling like a small bunny next to her. "Its okay" She spoke, placing her hands onto her lap sitting up straight. You stayed quiet, going back to biting your lip feeling the taste of slight blood. "I have no intentions of hurting you."

You felt tears once again sting your eyes and your vision had blurred. You just wanted to go back home. Panicking at your crying, Donna had stood up and ran to your side scaring you at the same time. She pulled you into a close hug and rested your head on her chest. Slowly she petted your head, stroking you hair and running her fingers through it. Although the touch was strange to happen, you couldn't help but fall against her feeling weak under any power she had. You were nothing but a plaything to her, that's what you knew. However in her eyes you were the most perfect doll to ever walk and talk. Your tearing soon stopped, although you had been lost in thought for a while that you failed to notice your own hiccups.

Under the black veil, Donna had been smiling at the contact and the way you were responding. She felt your weight against her and felt her heart flutter. Such a precious person against her. She didn't know your name, your likes or anything about you but she wanted to with your permission. She wanted to know what colours you likes, if you liked dresses or if you'd prefer a suit. She wanted to dress you up in many clothing with your permission. For the first time ever, Donna had felt as though maybe the world was truly turning in her direction. You were so adorable even if you had tears in your eyes. She'd make them stop, oh she would do anything to make them stop but she knew she couldn't do anything. She knew she was part of the problem but she'd make sure you warm up to her. She would make sure you would understand her and maybe even became friends...maybe even more.

She trailed her hand from your hair to your cheek, you had fell asleep not to long ago from exhaustion and comfort from the Lady of the Manor. Donna sighed deeply, closing her eyes under her veil and pulling you even closer. Your soft snores had caused a gentle laugh to escape her lips. Surely you didn't have to go back where you came from? No, Donna wouldn't let you. She would keep you, hat's what she decided. Sure you were scared but she was more than happy to work on that with you. She would make sure you wouldn't be scared of her in a while, she couldn't have you if you were. Although Donna had felt an instant connection between the both of you, she was a very patient women when it came to wanting something she wanted. She'll just wait for you to love her, he wouldn't force you into anything. Oh the ideas that spilled into her mind about spoiling you with clothing and toys, there was so many.

Unconsciously, you turned to face her fully in your sleep. Your face was red from the tears that had spilled but you seemed calm when you were sleeping. Like a bunny...just like a bunny. Your nose would twitch every now and again as Donna watched you closely, holding you against her. Mentally Donna was squealing, you were so sweet! So different from others. Her old playmates would refuse to sleep and end up dying because she hadn't had any connection with tem but now, you had a serious connection with her and she wasn't going to let you go any time soon.

And she didn't. But you didn't mind. The day after you woke up, you were left to stay in that same room, with food and water on the side table, for a total of a week before you had decided it was time to walk about and brave your journey. You were worried about your family. Did they forget about you? Did they think you were dead? Why go back if it has been so long since you went back home.

When you left that small room, you were instantly surrounded by the small dolls. You were going to scream but the sound stopped in your throat when you saw them holding what seemed to be clothing towards you. A small note was written and placed onto of them. Crouching down, you gently lifted the clothing out of the doll's hands along with the note and out of curiosity, you gently patted the top of the doll's head. The doll jumped in excitement and jumped onto you, making you yelp in the process, and climbed to place itself on your shoulder. Calming down and gathering your breath, you walked back into your room and placed the clothing om the bed, grabbing the note to read first. The doll on your shoulder looked down at the note too.

Miss,

I am sure you are very confused on what's happening but I just couldn't leave you. You had me at first glance, you are a perfect being you know? So fair and graceful, my gosh your indeed a heart stealer. I won't force you into anything but I think it's more professional to be upfront about feelings than to hide them away. The clothing provided should hopefully be in your size maybe- but If not to do worry for I'll change them for you. I really hope you like them.

Your sincerely, Donna Beneviento

You placed the note down and looked towards the clothing. Gently picking them up, you saw it was a white dress with a silver embroidery pattern hand sowed into it. You felt your heart miss a beat. The Lady created something for you. Surely this was kindness right- no you wouldn't question it. It was sweet of her. You started to think that maybe you should apologise to her. After all you did cry and more than likely disturbed her day. Her actions for you showed she wasn't a killer at all like some of the rumour of the Village would say. They sounded made up. A killer wouldn't make clothes for their victims...and the word 'feelings' popped back into your mind. A lady has feelings for you...you. Your heat beat had started again and sped up a lot. This creation of her for you was so generous. Something you hadn't witness a lot growing up.

Gently placing the doll that was on your shoulder onto the bed, you quickly changed into the clothing provided and folded your dirty clothing up to place at the end of the bed you had been staying in. Picking the doll back up, you placed them on your shoulder and walked back to the door to open it and then step outside of it. The place was rather big, quiet a few hallways from what you could see. "Hey buddy," You spoke to the doll on your shoulder. "Where is the Lady, I would like to apologise for my actions." You watched as the doll looked around first before pointing down the hallway. You followed where the doll pointed and soon ended up in a room where a desk sat at one far corner and a green leather sofa had been placed facing what seemed to be a projection. Sat on the sofa was the Lady, it seemed she was caught up in her work as she was sewing a patch up on one of the doll's clothing.

You coughed to gain her attention.

She turned and for the first time, you saw her with her veil up. Her face said it all, she stood up quickly accidently throwing the doll in her hand on to the ground and reached the back of her head to pull her veil over. "Please," You pleaded quickly, raising your hand up in a 'stop' emotion. "It's okay, I don't mind ma'am." You said using your manners. She stopped reaching to pull her veil back on and faced to stare at you with a small smile dancing on her lips.

"Are you sure?" She asked, raising her own hand to cover what seemed to be scarring from something. You nodded and folded your hands in front of you. Slowly you bowed, showing respect and spoke softly.

"I apologise for earlier this week, I had no right to be so scared of you. My apologise for my disruption. I hope I didn't cause you too much trouble." As you were still bowing, a hand had grabbed your chin and a pair of lips had met your cheek as your head was risen. You felt you face heat up at the contact, it was such a soothing move and it made you longing for more of her touch.

"There isn't a need to apologise, for I would accept any mood you were in." She said as her voice was so close to your ear. You inhaled her scent, the smell of herbs and a smell of roses were diffused off her clothing. You felt her touch once again, this time she had grabbed your hands gently and held them, rubbing her thumbs on the back of your hands in a calming matter. "Would you like to join me and my friends for lunch?" She asked as she quickly moved her hand once again to brush a stray hair from your face. Without using your words you had nodded to her request, making her smile in delight.

"You're smile is very pretty ma'am." you spoke without thinking, not even realising what you had said. Donna was more than happy to hear you speak, your voice was far prettier than your humming but either way she felt the same feelings as she had before.

"What is the fair ladies name?" She asked you, placing her hands on your hips as you shyly looked down at them resting there.

"My name is (Y/n) Ma'am." You said with formality.

"Such a beautiful name," Donna whispered, going back to touch your hand and raise it to her lips to gently kiss it. You was taken back at the sudden action once again, however you did not refuse it.

Again you wanted her to to hold you, just like she wanted to have you.

[maid-of-the-golden-deer]

to actually gather my thoughts about the triangle strategy demo: 

gameplaywise, its fun, i very obviously like tactical rpgs lol.

in many ways it feels like a HARD course correction from octopath (in terms of story + character, the gameplay genres are obv different). like theres 9 main characters, but unlike octopath where you could only find out their story connection in the post game, you get them all really early and have some connection to the plot at hand. i especially enjoy the voting mechanic- it has a chance of becoming annoying (like if EVERY major choice is made like that it will get old), but compared to many other rpgs where characters will follow the protagonist to places they absolutely would never go to just bc game mechanics, its neat.

it also is clearly trying to go for “big ensemble cast, but one narrative”, and in some ways it seems geared up to succeed at this. everyone feels like they belong there. but, unless the writing gets much, much cleverer or there are some fun twists down the line. my god it is dumbed down. like the first or second narration tells you the peace negotiations are going to go tits up, right? then why does every. character. you. talk. to. go. like. “hmmmm these make me nervous u know ppl in power are sneaky i dont think this will go good haha lol dont mind me actually”. like just have some people acting suspicious or saying things seemingly counter to everyones “shared” goal. it just beats you over the head with the rlly fucking obvious fact its gonna go wrong bc this is an tactical rpg so u need a war in order to have battles to fight. its a given. its not like its a game intended for young kids. even if u had to spell it out there are much smoother ways to do it. everything in the game is honestly repeated at you endlessly in really blunt ways, its tiresome.

 and the big elephant in the room is. well. under the cut for discussions of racism and specifically Islamaphobia:

for firstly, im a little sick and tired of the rpg (and specifically jrpg) thing where its like “fantasy racism except its mostly against conventionally attractive anime women who have like, a different hair color” (the rosalle or whatever theyre called). like yes it is a real world thing for non traditional features to be demonized but like actually DO that instead of just giving them pink hair and calling it a night. like a LOT of the oomph in frederica scenes are undercut due to that. shes a hot, skinny as a toothpick-with-still-prominent-breasts white lady, and her hair is just pink. thats fucking it. if ur gonna make this point, fucking commit. but its not even about the message, its just about giving a main character a tragic backstory, bc thats all racism is to a lot of game writers especially

the even BIGGER issue tho, is hyzante. thats the path i chose to take for my first playthrough of the demo, and i noticed some. Issues. like its clearly an Islamic inspired region, like i recognized those geometric tiles immediately (and thats just bc i know art history, the orientalist way the characters are drawn, the stock standard music, everything, reeks of the inspiration in a way that isnt flattering, but what do u expect from these people [looks at primose and where u meet her with a glare]). theyre considered the most “advanced” nation of the three in the game, which SHOULD be a good thing, but the plot if thats where you choose to go? the (all lily white, european inspired) protagonists discover that their peaceful way of life and religion are actually oppressive and only function by tight control of the people. the native religion of the Arabic inspired region is oppressive to free thought and self expression, and it based on strict rules one cannot stray from.

you’re picking up what im putting down, yeah?

to add the cherry on top, the ones responsible for + the most active participant in the aforementioned fantasy racism against pretty white ladies with pink hair? the Arabic inspired people, who are like the ONLY group in the game to have characters who arent freshly fallen snow white, are the main racists in the game. cool cool awessssome.

like honestly, id be willing to believe its just extremely harmful ignorance and the writers + artists werent making this connection but the “ignorance” part of “harmful ignorance” doesnt reduce the “harm” part, especially from a company and genre that seems personally hellbent on ensuring orientalism never dies

[slytherinsnekxvii]

let's talk about lily evans. she's an interesting character—or rather, the case surrounding her character is quite interesting.

i honestly don't know if i can say i dislike her. by all means, she should be a fan favourite, and she is... but for some rather intriguing reasons.

for one thing, due to the fact she's hardly expanded on in the series, certain parts of the fandom have been forced to either take the few qualities that she displays canonically and amplify them to the extreme (eg. immediate righteous anger at the slightest hint of injustice in fic) or create an entirely new personality (eg. no, i didn't actually disapprove of your pranks, it was just sexual tension). of course, the option of creating a new personality is much more tempting when you can just add amplified canon traits on the side.

for another, her relationship with james sometimes seems likes it's being weaponized against snape and his fans. i've seen arguments that go like "haha, snape just wanted to fuck lily, but james got her in the end anyway, sucks to be you", and not only does it entirely reduce her to an object, it feels like they don't even care about the relationship, the dynamics or the characters. she's basically a plot device.

and thirdly, half of her characterisation in fic is to be a peter stand-in. we don't like the rat man, so let's take the pretty girl and put her in place of the guy who was canonically a member of the marauders, even up until he was named secret keeper. suddenly, she's a prankster and an enabler.

but, snek, you may say, all of that is fanon lily, tho. you just explained that people seem to like her because they just put any personality they want into her as long as she's at least vaguely a good person. you would be right.

let's look at canon lily. she's described as the brightest witch of her age, most everyone speaks favourably of her. in fact, the only people we see actively disliking/being upset with her are petunia, out of jealousy and the invasion of privacy concerning her letter, severus, who lashed out and used a slur that also applied to him in a moment of serious distress and apologised after, and well, pureblood supremacists by virtue of her being muggleborn. interestingly enough, even this dislike manages to develop everyone's character more than it does her own.

as a teenage girl myself, let's look at her actions as a teenage girl. not necessarily in chronological order because I'm writing this at 2am and my memory is already mediocre at best.

1. she's done well enough in school to be considered trustworthy and responsible enough to be a prefect.

okay, i can respect that. a good few of the prefects at my school were really just appointed based on how much the teachers liked you, but at hogwarts, there's so few of them that they must put at least a little effort into it, so i'll move on.

2. she does not press for details when informed that her best friend's life needed to be saved by someone who has been publicly tormenting him for years

now, see, there's no reason why she needs to play therapist. it's not her job, she's just a girl, and we know that snape wasn't supposed to talk about the incident, so he would've been stuck if she had asked for an explanation. however, i also feel like she doesn't seem particularly concerned about his wellbeing, and when he brings up his concerns about lupin, rather than ask for proof, she dismisses it. which, fair enough, i would hate to listen to someone talk about the same thing over and over and over, but, i also feel like the fixation on a theory like that would be cause for concern.

3. she dismisses the actions of a group known to play tricks that harm people and have specifically been tormenting her best friend on the basis that they don't use dark magic

first, i'm going to establish what i usually assume dark magic refers to. aside from jinxes, hexes and curses, i also include anything that produces an effect similar to any of the unforgivables (takes away your life, your free will or your ability to feel safe in your own body, such as when you're in excruciating pain), and magic that would require a sacrifice of some sort.

when snape tries to point out the danger in what the marauders do, she insists that they don't use dark magic. and they don't... but they do use illegal magic. she then argues against the company that snape keeps, which, again, to be fair, is justified considering mulciber's done something to mary macdonald... it's also not a particularly realistic ask. snape probably shares a dorm with these guys, and he's a poor half-blood so he's already on the outs. as far as he knows, any dissent will be met with him getting hexed in his sleep. but, i digress.

given that the marauders have been shown to be doing extremely dangerous with little regards to anyone's safety, and actively tormenting her best friend, i disagree with her choice here. on the other hand, she's made her own friends in gryffindor and perhaps she sees a nicer side of them that we don't get to. she's justified in her actions, but i still disagree.

4. she intervenes when her best friend is hung upside down by a spell of his own invention at the wands of the people who have tormenting him for years

she does object to the marauders' treatment of him, and she does try to get them to let him down. if i were in her position, i would absolutely do the same. i respect the decision to stand up for her friend.

5. she does not seriously attempt to help him or punish the marauders

i do not respect how she handled it. at any point, she could have drawn her wand. but, snek, you say, perhaps she didn't want to get involved physically. she wanted to follow the rules. in that case, at any point, she could taken points, assigned detention, or sent someone to get a member of staff. she does none of those things and i viscerally disagree. if we were ever friends and someone tried to hurt you, i can assure you that i would try to at least see to it that they'd be punished, even if it wasn't immediate or by my own hand. lily, however, chooses to argue rather than take action.

6. she smiles when severus gets hung upside down

chances are, it was more than likely an involuntary reaction, like laughing when your friend has fallen over. however, the fact that it was intentionally written in seems like it's mean to be an indicator that the friendship was already falling apart.

7. she comments on her best friend's poverty and uses a name that's been used to make fun of him after he calls her a slur that also applies to him

she was 100% within her rights to be upset by being called a slur. it is never okay to use slurs. the only situation in which a slur could possibly ever be appropriate would be if you were an oppressed group attempting to reclaim said slur which is not at all what snape was doing here. he was experiencing cruelty, being humiliated, publicly, for no reason beyond existing and he was in distress, choking on soap and upside down. it was damaging to his pride, especially when james suggests that he needs lily to fight his battles for him (paraphrasing) which is an emasculating statement to make, especially to a teenage boy. so, snape lashes out with the most hurtful word he could think of, which happened to be a slur that also applies to him. lily was 100% justified in being upset about this, and she retaliated in kind. she was very much allowed to say what she said. i understand that she was hurt and angry and i respect that, especially as i can't guarantee that i would not have been just as upset in that situation.

8. even when the threat of sexual harassment is made, she still does nothing

i get it, at this point, she's hurt, she's mad, she wants him to suffer since she's a teenage girl and teenage girls hold grudges like it's nobody's business, but... i definitely couldn't just stand by and watch it happen. she basically just let them go through with it.

9. she does not accept her best friend's apology for calling her a slur that also applies to him, effectively burying the friendship

she is, by no means, obligated to continue being friends with him. however, if i were in that position, and the apology was sincere, i would take the friend back.

10. she goes on to date and eventually marry the guy who bullied her former best friend for his entire school life

no. i disagree. but, snek, you say, james changed. no. he didn't. we know, that at this point, james was still going after snape behind lily's back. you can say that she didn't know, but that means that she would have allowed james to lie to her and that doesn't sit right with me bc a relationship built on lies is a relationship that is going to fall apart, especially when your partner has been disappointed by your actions before. you can say that she did know, and that proves that she simply didn't take her responsibilities as head girl seriously enough to stop the head boy from harassing people when she explicitly told him not to. the point is, no. there is no way that this would have worked out as a long term relationship. james is too comfortable lying to her. i can't even say she was justified. there is no circumstance where i personally see this as okay for anybody involved.

alright, so, essentially teenage lily was justified in (most of) her actions, even if i find them questionable.

adult lily dies at 21, while saving her son, but her death also helps save the wizarding world. good job. she, as expected, did what any good mother would.

and that's canon lily.

my thoughts: she's a perfect example of why writing tips are so adamant on making sure people try to show and not tell. we were told that lily is meant to be good and pure and lovely, but the author never bothered to actually prove that, so what we're left with a dissonance between what we see and what we know.

as a result, i still don't know if i truly dislike her. her actions are justified, but they don't match with what we've been told, and we don't have any other information to go off of. at best, i can say for certain that i disagree with many of her choices, despite understanding why she would have made them (except for marrying james potter, uggghh, the only good thing to come out of that was harry and the saving of the wizarding world by extension, ig).

thanks for reading all that, btw! hope it made sense :)

[gingerteaonthetardis]

☕️ time! Thoughts on (any or all!)

1. Catherine Hardwicke’s iconique blue tint/the general vibe of twilight vs the other three (ugh, fine, the other four)

2. A film/tv show where the soundtrack made the film/tv show what it was (not really an opinion but I don’t make the rules I just don’t follow them)

3. Tentoo! I remember reading a while back (I think it was you? If not VERY awkward and I only ask forgiveness) that something about Tentoo didn’t settle with you bc it felt like a plot device and I HARD agreed and always wanted to hear a little more about your thoughts

But no pressure to answer all of these or even any ones in particular! Enjoy your caffeine

oh man, you've opened the floodgates, loup!! i'm gonna put my answers below the cut, just for the sake of everyone's dashes.

clown time!!!

☕ listen, i love the blue tint!!! i love the blue tint, it activates my nostalgia in such a profound way that when i look outside on greyish blueish days, i feel inexpressibly cozy. i think it is one of those iconic and super fun things that makes people remember the color correction in twilight more strongly than the other films.

but!! my hot take is that new moon also has a completely lovely palette that really reflects bella's entry into the beauty of the more human world... the shots of her driving to la push, with the flash of her sunset orange truck against the verdant green? her and jacob in endless coordinating earth tones?? the hazy golden light around them as they ride their bikes?? the fact that all the wolves look so fluffy and warm that i literally do not care if they have sharp teeth, i will be cuddling them at the first available opportunity?????

(the series is seriously lacking on wolf cuddling. it annoys me on a number of levels. affection for my wolfpack, please!!!!!!!)

idk, i think the color story of new moon is really powerful and lovely. it begins a general trend toward warming the series up, which... is a little bit frustrating, considering the narrative. it means they chose to warm the cullens up, in order to make them more appealing and less obviously Dead, when i appreciated the contrast between her world with edward—blue and cold and beautiful in a way you flinch back from but yearn for—and her world with jacob—a world with life, growth, warmth.

(i've decided that every time i ramble about twilight, i have to donate a dollar to the quileute move to higher ground campaign. think i'm up to $5 for the month.)

☕ oh my god, please don't judge me, but i the first example that jumps to my mind is the freaking......... vampire diaries???? the cw has this ability to choose these outrageous songs to go along with these poignant emotional moments, songs that you will one day hear in a department store and that will make you randomly start flushing, because so-and-so had their first kiss to this song!! or this was the song they played when so-and-so got into that fight that almost destroyed their relationship with so-and-so!!

it's one of those shows where the music choices aren't necessarily good, but they are incredibly impactful, and i still listen to a lot of those songs to this day just because of the way they make me feel!

☕ yeah, so, tentoo has definitely never sat right with me. that isn't to say that i don't see what rtd was doing with him as a narrative tool (i do), that i don't enjoy writing him (i do), or that i can't comprehend other people liking him and being satisfied with rose's ending (i totally do). it's more like... for me, he is both a frustratingly convoluted and incredibly easy answer to what should have been a more weighted question: how do you move on when the love of your life is in a different universe, living day after day without you? how do you move on from the doctor?

the answer we were ultimately given was, "well, you don't. you marry his biological metacrisis who conveniently has the same lifespan as you." which feels like a disservice. it feels like a band-aid over a bullet wound. i want, "maybe you never do, and you learn to grow around the hole in your chest, because that's what life is. life is having regrets and hurts and still moving forward." or i want, "one step at a time. you learn to love again someday, maybe differently than before, but just as good." or i want, "you don't. you don't move on. you search for what you truly want, all the way to the ends of every universe, because you don't just give up. you don't just let things happen. you make a stand. you say 'no.' you have the guts to do what's right, when everyone else just runs away."

tentoo can be used well in stories by fantastic writers who move me to actual tears, yes. and i can appreciate that people love him. but i find his narrative existence—'a copy of the doctor, just for rose'—a lazy answer to an important question.

[spacemilkies]

Ff7 request, Reno likes his girl taking some control over him when it comes to intimate things. Being dominated a little, he finds it extremely hot. Nsfw, sfw, your choice, but maybe some steamy kissing? Hair pulling, groping, idk, whatever you come up with ;)

Black Forest | Reno x Reader

‘The only thing harder than being a Turk, was loving one’

i

a/n: this was pretty much all mature content? but i'm not ashamed of it in the slightest. adding it to the black forest series, bc why not. thank you for the request!

When people thought of Reno, three things came to mind. 

1. His love to fly

2. His love to flirt shamelessly,

3. His love to gossip freely. 

It built the character of the cocky and often cynical Turk with a lazy disposition toward analytical genius. 

When Reno thought of you, three different attributes came to mind, all centered around his adoration of your more assertive nature.       

   1#: Your love for attention.

Reno is convinced that he has a sixth sense for you, acutely aware every time you’re in proximity. It’s always been a distracting quality, whether in the heat of battle or now, relaxed comfortably against the couch with suspicious eyes as you kneel innocently between his spread thighs. 

His call with Rude had started with business but eventually simmered into more mundane topics of social affairs and various forms of entertainment. Their partnership wasn’t a strong union without a bit of off-the-clock bonding. 

It served as some much needed guy time, which was very prominently exclusive from yours. 

Your selfish desire to have his attention at any given moment should have been an aggravating quality if you didn’t look so damn sexy with your attempts to garner it. Even now as his gaze follows the curve of your back as you arch to press your bosom against his chest. 

He knows where this is leading immediately, yet only a small part of him feels bad for Rude. 

“I … ah, no Yeah, I’m listening. I missed that highlight though. Tell me about it.”

Reno is aware of the tremor already thrumming at the end of his speech, an element of the situation that he can’t really do anything about. Neither about the hitch as you adjust your weight to hover over his apex, undulating your hips at a leisure pace with a whisper of friction. It’s the visual of promise that does most of the work as he watches the show through a half-lidded gaze. His arousal spiked the moment you entered the room and you already had a tight grip on the reins.

His leisure wear around the house does nothing to hide the thick line of provocation raising against the fabric. Reno tips his head back against the couch, the column of his throat jumping with a thick swallow as you adopt a more purposeful rhythm. 

Sunlight spills across the whiteness of your smile as he responds brokenly to a prompt you can’t pick up on the other line. There’s a tremor to his hold of the phone, tight enough that you wonder if he’ll end the call prematurely before your fun is over. 

Poor Rude has to know something is up as he fruitlessly attempts to gather the fraying threads of Reno’s attention. You can finally hear the deep baritone of his voice when you duck your head to run the flat of your tongue against Reno’s collar. There you nibble at the bone, teeth catching in away that he can’t ignore as a low groan tumbles from the redhead’s lips. 

It’s enough to shift the rules of the game as you break an unnamed vow of silence, breathless sounds catching as you work yourself harder against the wet stain pooling in his lap. The pleasure is more than mutual now, Reno’s shoulder’s going taut with strain. He wets his lips sloppily and tilts his hips upwards to catch the downward drag against his more than interested erection. 

The moment he opens his mouth to speak, you’re there to kiss the heat straight from his tongue, demanding entrance without question as your tongue slides against his aperture. With a whimper and sigh, you shift closer. 

You’re not sure who breaks the kiss first, only reminded of a certain third party as Reno’s mouth skims down your chin.

“Sorry, Rude. It appears I’ve been summoned.”

#2 Your love to punish.

“Aw, Reno are you crying?”

He wasn’t, he wanted to deny vehemently. But as his eyes drew in tight together and the moisture collected against his lashes it didn't make for a very convincing argument. Shifting fruitlessly, Reno draws in a harrowing breath as the strain of his muscles pulls against the taut restraints pinning him to the bed frame. 

It had taken him too long into a week of silence to realize he was the reason behind it. He had interpreted your cold shoulders and lack of communication as stress on the job, certainly not taking into account the plethora of time it allowed you to simmer about his blunder. 

A fault he still couldn't pinpoint but he was sure if he asked anyone at the office, they would be able to procure a list out of nowhere. The redhead had a tendency to align towards recklessness and careless attitudes which more than often spelt trouble. One would think he would have learned his lesson by now. But they weren’t privy to the curriculum of those classes. 

Or how enjoyable they were.

Or maybe he was just a bit of a masochist. 

Folded snuggly around his turgid cock, Reno found heaven in the pits of hell as your drenched core worked back and forth. You were a sight to behold, seemingly unaffected aside from a light sheen of sweats as you grind the bareness of your flesh against his. While he’s the opposite, harsh pants and uninhibited whimpers. 

And you enjoy it all with a wicked smile. 

You adjust your hands, placing on against the firm heat of his chest while the other braces against the white curve of his shoulder, fingers curling into a visible pressure that blooms against the color of his skin. Your back arches, allowing the head of his cock to catch at the ring of your entrance before rotating back to ride back down his shaft. 

His arms jerk with the motion of trying to reach, but it's an empty action without any real intent. More of a reflex than anything else. The spill of his precum makes a sticky web between your fingers as you circle the sensitive slit with your thumb. He’s swollen and fat and barely hanging on by a prayer.

With the help of a cock ring it might have made it easier. No matter how hard he tried to cum it just wouldn’t be in his cards. But there was something more beautiful about the curtailment he holds himself accountable to, resisting the urge to blow when having all the freedom to do so. 

There is active pleasure in riding him like this, feeling every vein of his throbbing arousal spike gratification against your sensitive walls. But the true satisfaction came from every shudder and choked groan as he shakes his head to fight off the haze. 

Mercy is a thin promise, slippery as your tongue skims across the seam of his lips. He believes it’s the closest he’ll get to tasting you, a bitter whimper leaking from his mouth in a muffled sound. The kiss is messy and hungry as you allow him the opportunity to sample your pleasure. 

It only takes a subtle twist of the hips to guide his cock back in line as you back into the press of him inside you. Your wetness spills around him, almost excessively so as it spills against his inner thigh. It doesn’t take much for you to lose traction of your own orgasm, nothing stopping you from quaking freely around him as he rolls into a few finishing thrusts before stilling. 

He’s rock hard, tremulous and near delirium and yet-

“Fuck me … I’m so in love with you.”

#3 You love the satisfaction of pleasing what's yours.

“You look stressed.”

Despite the mountain of paperwork on his desk, Reno’s attention was happily placed elsewhere. Before rolling to you, his gaze seemed very attentive to the screen of his phone as his fingers tapped a rhythm that looked more familiar to a mobile game than a response for a work related email. But now that you were here, he seemed pleased to have a new distraction. 

Curling his fingers inward, he beckoned you closer and the moment you were in reach he pulled you into his lap.

“Beyond fucked over, you see all this shit Tseng has me doing?”

Laughing humorously at his expense, you leaned in to press a kiss to the generous exposure of his chest. “If that’s the same stack I saw delivered in here earlier today, I’m more inclined to say the blame is in your park. Did you even try?”

The hand at your waist squeezed as his lips formed something between a gripe and a grumble of complaint. “Of course I’ve been workin, yo. What do I look like, a freeloader?”

It was an open invitation that took credible effort not to buy into. 

“You look like you could use a bit of TLC.”

Bracing against his shoulder, you readjust yourself to straddle his lap. Taking his face into your hands, you coax him into a slow kiss the taste of stale coffee and mints mixing with your own tang. Reno bites your tongue and you reflexively tangle your hands in his hair to pull it taut. 

He winces at the action but doesn’t complain. “What are the chances of you riding me being in that wholesome itinerary of yours?”

You take the opportunity to make him flinch again, this time away from the sharp nip of your teeth against his bottom lip. “Slim to none.”

He offered a placating medium by rubbing his palms against your thighs, “So what do you have in mind then?”

His answer comes in the form of your hands at his buckle. 

Pleased with the predictable but unvoiced assumption, Reno leans back readily in his chair to give you ample room. “Oh, shit yeah.”

Rolling your eyes, you free him from his briefs and curl your fingers around his length,”Try not to embarrass yourself.”

The redhead hisses out a ‘yes, ma’am’, instinctively rocking his hips into the downward thrust of your hand. You pull away just long enough to spit crudely into your palm before returning with an underhand grip. Anticipation seizes his muscles, overlaying the strain of stress as eyes slid shut. 

At home you would have gone for a more languid approach, mimicking a gentle massage to build him up slowly and bring him down just as gently. But work offers a different time restraint as you work up to a more persistent, fluid motion strokes. 

The hand still lingering on your thigh squeezes reflectively to the drag of your thumb over the head of his cock. The setting is too much of a stimulant to ignore, the need to rush injecting adrenaline into his veins and blooms outward from the line of his spine. 

Familiar with the course of pleasure, you preemptively snatch a few tissues from the corner of his desk just in time to save his uniform from the spilling capitulation. 

You’re still running the edges of the balled up material against your hands when his eyes blink open. 

“Aw, you’re not going to lick it off? What a buzz kill.”

Despite his seemingly ungrateful wording, his tone held the gratitude needed to produce a smile on your lips to which he mirrors. Tucked away but still unbuttoned, he draws you in for a kiss that you indulge momentarily before slipping away. 

When you look over your shoulder, the man is still sagged in his chair with a look of satisfaction as his wiggles his fingers in your direction. 

“See you at home, yo. Thanks for the good ole’ love and care.”

[tanoraqui]

I am a huge sucker for one character being chill about a situation while everyone else is freaking out, so if you’re up to it would you tell us about This Is Normal?

@tolrais​ asked: Sizhui genii locorum!

okay so i must disappoint bc that wasn’t actually a jesting “This Is Normal” - let’s talk genii locorum, known more commonly in the singular: genius loci, the “intellects of [the] place”. In this case: what if it was perfectly common that if cultivation was practiced in roughly the same way in roughly the exact same place, by roughly the same bloodline, for long enough, power built up in the land itself? Power and something resembling thought, in the slow way of geography? (That’s why it tends to attach to a bloodline - individual humans, even cultivators, disappear so fast on a geological scale.) 

Say that each generation, the land picks a favorite to bestow its power to - one person, one generation, at a time, only. Others of the blood may access it, but to a far lesser degree. Petty effects. More if the land is partial to them. The true wielder of the land is, of course, traditionally the sect leader - and if they’re not at first, they’re probably gonna be appointed as such.

Say the powers are elemental, roughly, Say their personalities are shaped by the land itself - lakes or mountains, hills or plains - and the continuous philosophy of those who cultivate (upon) them. They choose their favorites based on who most matches what they are, and the strongest sect leaders are those with the greatest affinity for their land.

Or, lemme put it like this: 

Lan Wangji was always GusuLan’s favorite, unwavering and fastidious, aloof and righteous and eternal as the cool mountain peaks. Its cool shrouded him; its ice turned Bichen’s edge even sharper. Even though he was far away in a land of fire, it flowed to him like a high-speed glacier when his father died - and he, panicking and desperate, denied it. 

It wasn’t the refusal that turned it away - though it’s true, one must actively accept a land’s power; it cannot be forced upon a person. But usually, in such a dispute, the wouldn’t-be recipient dies - in a fight between one human and an entire countryside over that human’s soul, it is acceptance or destruction. Instead, it was...well, the fact of refusal. The fact that he broke, that his gut instinct - resolute as ever - was the shirking of responsibility. That, GusuLan could not tolerate. It didn’t press the issue to destruction, because Lan Wangji wasn’t its chosen after all.

There was nothing, to be clear, wrong with Lan Xichen. He was a little warmer, but still beautiful and distant. He would bend, but his core was upright and unfaltering. He followed the rules to the letter. He was even closer, physically - and in that little cabin in which he was sleeping, hidden, he woke sharply from a restless sleep as the air around him turned to welcome ice.

Or like this:

Jiang Cheng was never YunmengJiang’s first choice. He wasn’t even its second choice. The lakes of YunmengJiang - bright and warm with sunlight, loud with the chatter of market crowds, sweet and beautiful with lotus seeds and petals, all over drowning-dark depths...how could they not fall in love with the boy their Jiang Fengmian bought home? How could the water not leap to follow his every gesture, whenever he went out upon it?

(Except that when he first felt it pressing at him with not just curiosity but love, he thought of Madam Yu’s clenched fist and Jiang Cheng’s yearning gaze, and he shoved it away as hard and fast as he could.)

Failing that, how could they not adore their eldest daughter, sweet and kind and welcoming to all, and protective enough to wield words like deadly blades? Once the land is cultivated to its own sentience, it doesn’t need to be a cultivator who bears its power...

(Except it does still need to be someone whose heart the doctors don’t worry over every time she does something more spiritually strenuous than meditate. And she cannot stay, she’ll explain one day, weeping, on a boat she’s rowed out to the middle of the lake herself. If it was just a matter of love - but they also need the alliance, or Lotus Pier, Yunmeng, YunmengJiang itself might be lost - )

So. Jiang Cheng wears all his deadliness on the surface and all his joy and welcome deep beneath, and YunmengJiang is the opposite. But at least he stays. Land moves on a geological time, and YunmengJiang more than most loves all its people, not just a select family. It can leap readily to the will of someone who stays and looks after them.

Or:

Agreement was universal that Nie Mingjue was a perfect bearer of QingheNie, mighty and stern and stubborn as the mountain granite. As tall, too, some would joke. It’s traditional for a Sect Leader to wear at all times a symbol of their land’s blessing - Lan Xichen’s headdresses always sparkle with a thin coating of ice; a lightly jeweled hip flask has been passed from Jiang to Jiang in which to hold lakewater. Upon taking title and land from his father, Nie Mingjue wears a circlet of rock on his brow, hard stone crafted with his own hands as though molding clay. 

Agreement was equally universal that Nie Huaisang was possibly the worst bearer of QingheNie in the clan’s entire history. Flighty where he should be staunch and stern, barely able (much less willing) to lift a blade, as flappable as one of his fans...as Sect Leader, he set a chunk of granite into the base of each one of those silly fans, but it was a public secret that the stone had been carved and smoothed by a stoneworker, not the Headshaker.

The mountains of Qinghe shook with grief on the day Nie Mingjue died, as they had for his father; grief and rage. The Unclean Realm itself shifted and nearly collapsed in several places - some of its famous defensibility came from being set into the mountainside itself, the back halls giving way to twisting tunnels running through the rock. Can you imagine how long one fighter with a saber can hold a single slim tunnel? Hidden ways, their secrets known only to the inhabitants; the deeper an enemy goes, the less likely they are to come out...

A single chip of granite launched across the room with fury can drive through a man’s eye and into his brain, killing him instantly, even with a fan trailing behind. Fortunately, it never needed to come to anything that gauche.

(It would have preferred Nie Mingjue, it really would, but even more than GusuLan, the last thing QingheNie has ever done is falter.)

So...

If the Burial Mounds had once been cultivated to a benevolent sentience and their power then corrupted, it’s been forgotten. But resentful and spiritual energy are two sides of the same coin, and the Burial Mounds yearn for company, for lives to call their own, just like any other land...but what sort of person has enough rage, vengeance, heartache, and loss to match them? Who could have enough strength of spirit to bear the touch of a land whose elemental power is death itself?

Trick question, we all know the answer to that. 

Good thing we got him, too, because defeating Wen Ruohan at the heart of the volcano he commands is a bitch and a half. (He wears a jagged crown of obsidian glass and Nie Mingjue will walk away with a burn on his face from the man’s touch.)

LanlingJin’s power is invested in light. Their Sect Leaders - or in Jin Ling’s case, Sect Heirs - carry a lantern at one hip, representative more than anything (one cannot cage light.) Or, you know, they just lowkey glow all the time - but that’s not convenient on a night hunt; you need something coverable. Jin Ling would have inherited it from his father, but instead it came directly from - you know, I so, so want to say his grandmother? But I don’t think Meng Yao, Jin Guangyao, would turn out quite the same were Jin Guangshan not exactly as Sect Leader as he in canon, and I’m loath to say Jin Sect is, like, particularly sexist or something to let both be true. So, grandfather it is, unfortunately. 

Jin Guangyao is jealous, but Jin Guangyao has too many secrets for bright LanlingJin. Maybe it would twist to suit him, with another couple generations dark and poisoned beneath the pretty lights, but not yet. Not even with how easily it’s gift can flow into illusions. Fortunately, LanlingJin is also the most gentle of the Great Sect Lands - perhaps weak, with how its family has been failing it, recently, in their stated intent. So Jin Ling can withstand its sudden flood even at the ripe age of two and a half.

It makes up for a little, for Jin Ling to have no memory of a time when he didn’t have the fierce, warm, bright affection of a coastal tower, busy city, and sun-drenched skies curled possessively around his soul. YunmengJiang bristles at the intrusion and mourns another loss (oh, YunmengJiang...at least it’s in accord with Jiang Cheng); and LanlingJin doesn’t like that its favorite so often strays so far. But family is important, both lands can reluctantly agree (in the manner of circling tigers, wary and territorial, thoughts not quite human.) They both want him loved.

...oh yeah, I was supposed to talk about Lan Sizhui, wasn’t I.

GusuLan would love that boy. It does love him, in its cold, discreet way. But it’s...complicated. It’s not Lan Sizhui’s fault. (Of the three, this is very much the AU least about Lan Sizhui.)

It’s the second battle of the Burial Mounds, as the second horde of corpses approaches. Wei Wuxian paces, mutters to Lan Wangji, "If I still had the land...but I don't know where it is. I can't hear it at all. I don't understand it."

This is not how Lan Wangji wanted to do this - though in fairness, he had no idea what would be a non-awkward way. He still doesn’t. Just a little louder than to be an answer to Wei Wuxian, he says, "Lan Sizhui."

"Yes, Huangang-jun?" The boy is at his elbow in an instant

Lan Wangji turns a little to include him in the conversation. He'd be gesturing if he was a man who made unnecessary motions. "Lan Yuan."

"Yes?" he repeats. 

Wei Wuxian stares at the both blankly.

"A-Yuan," Lan Wangji clarifies. He draws his guqin but he can't quite make eye contact with either of them.

Wei Wuxian gasps. He cups Lan Sizhui's very baffled cheeks (except something is a little familiar...) and peers at his face, turning it this way and that to check for familiar features. He peers deeper in a way that would be stunningly rude in anyone else (it’s still stunningly rude; they’ve all just come to expect that of Wei Wuxian) and likely impossible if there wasn't a shared affinity for what he seeks - but the bond is distant, so distant. Buried, smothered, bound.

(Lan Yuan, now Sizhui, has always felt like there was something he was missing, something he couldn't remember that was just out of reach. He thought it was the concept of parents or something like that, or maybe just a natural ennui that everyone had and didn’t speak of for propriety’s sake. He discarded it, because of course he had everything he could ever want.)

"A-Yuan..." Wei Wuxian looks at Lan Wangji, wondering, smoldering with love - and just the tiniest bit of reproach.

Lan Wangji looks away. It's a terrible thing to block someone off from their spiritual power, and it's a worse thing yet to block them off from the any power of a land they may bear. One is an insult to an individual, the other to the earth itself, almost as heretical as demonic cultivation. Su She, of course, has done both today, but only temporarily...and that’s a low bar to which to be compared.

But there was too much roiling in Wen Yuan when Lan Wangji found him, death and -

(You know what, I can’t decide: Did QishanWen’s smoldering lava pass to Wen Qing when no one closer was available, ceaseless fire matching ceaseless fire? Or were the Dafan Wens sufficiently distinct for long enough, far enough, that she was already taken? Is there DafanWen in its own right, high hills with the power of growth, from dainty flowers to ancient trees, twisting vines to healing herbs? 

...yes, I think so. 

But I also think they were close enough in blood, had spent enough time in the heart of the Nightless City, for some inheritance. So the reason no one stepped forward, at the Yiling Patriarch’s demand, to admit to killing Wen Ning was that...Wen Ning knew he was too weak, insufficiently greedy/ambitious for things to burn and build anew; he knew QishanWen was too quenched and dormant after its defeat to the Sunshot Alliance, and he was too far away and it was literally raining. He knew that to fight back would only bring pain down on more of their people. But even so, there was no one to step forward, because the man who dealt the killing blow burned screaming to ashes.

There were sparks left in the souls of each member of the blood left alive, but not enough to burst to flame. With that last death, QishanWen lay...dormant.)

(Until, maybe, almost all the rest of them were killed in the space of about 10 minutes. That must’ve sent a couple sparks flying.,,)

- so there was too much roiling in Wen Yuan when Lan Wangji found him. Verdant DafanWen was barely settled, still reeling from the loss of its favored daughter, the best healer in three generations. QishanWen sparked with new loss and ire, driving a fever. And the Burial Mounds, whose touch was death...

It is possible, for two lands to share a host. Boundaries are a human invention; the Earth is all one thing. Pride and territorialism are taught. And even if those have set in, they can certainly fight, in the infinite space of a human soul.

And the Burial Mounds loved that child. He wasn’t raging, he wasn’t mourning (except he was just starting to, now); but he wasn’t scared of them. Why would be be? The dead things that roamed it belonged to his Xian-gege; the living were his family; this land was his home.

But the Burial Mounds’ was the power of death itself, and A-Yuan wasn’t a teenager filled with enough determination to burn down the sun, he was three years old and scared. The extremely forbidden hasty ritual to (not cut it off, to late for that) hide it, bind it, bury it - this wasn't just for concealment. It saved his life.

Back in the present day, Lan Wangji says this with reluctantly raised eyes, and Wei Wuxian nods. Because oh boy does he know about that roiling spirit of death.

There's a horde of corpses approaching; they don't have time to be tender. 

"A-Yuan," says Wei Wuxian, swiping a thumb over his cheek as though to clear away a tear, and then dropping his hand. "Lan Sizhui, you trust us, right?"

"Of course?" Lan Sizhui glances uncertainly at Lan Wangji, head aching with memories about to surface.

Lan Wangji nods imperceptibly and starts to play - and it only takes a few strong chords, precisely chosen. It's always easier to break a wall than build it.

It's in QishanWen's nature to erupt but it's weak, dormant; it hasn't been home in over a decade and this boy has been trained to ice, not fire. It’s in DafanWen’s nature to flourish but it, too, is far from the earth of its body, and this is a place of death, not life. 

They are in the Burial Mounds, fifty steps from the blood pool that may as well be its heart. So the volcano stays dormant the grassy hills are quiet as ever, and the raging, too-long-stifled spirit of the Burial Mounds pours forth in whirling shadows that double Lan Sizhui's height. He gasps a scream at the weight of the sudden flood, at the tearing sensation in his soul (tearing open in a way that is right - last child of a dead clan remembering; lost child of a dead land coming home.) Several other people scream and point at the family meeting that had previously gone mostly unnoticed, in a corner of a Demon Suppression Cave. What is the Yiling Patriarch doing to that Lan disciple?!

The Burial Mounds are starting to turn on their only-just-realized child, whether they mean it or not, because their nature is death to all they touch. The Yiling Patriarch is standing forth, spreading his arms, and shouting, "Hey, jackass! Get back in here, we have more vengeance to wreak!"

The cultivation world watches (Lan Wangji catches a staggering Lan Sizhui) as with a sound like the rushing wind, shifting earth, screaming dead, it pours back into Wei Wuxian.

It’s just like before. It’s rage and pain and loss and vengeance and heartache. It’s Madam Yu’s hard eyes and the way Jiang Fengmian’s face shuttered when he heard the Core-Melting Hand was in Lotus Pier, before he even shoved them back in the boat; it’s Wen Ning’s broken form and Jin Zixuan’s, not fifty feet and ten months apart; it’s Wen Qing’s soft, I’m sorry, and thank you, and Jiang Yanli’s blood dripping down his arm. It’s the crack as the Tiger Seal shattered in his hand, or was that his own neck...

Wei Wuxian might be laughing, as he greets death like an old friend. But when he opens his eyes, it’s to a soft, “Wei Ying,” on the lips of his...Lan Zhan. Mourning whites sullied with the Burial Mounds’ (Wei Wuxian’s) dirt and blood. He’s holding up Lan Sizhui - A-Yuan, their son - and maybe Wei Wuxian is closer to a land spirit than human right now, or maybe he’s just hallucinating, but he swears he can see leaves uncurling behind the boy’s wide eyes. Wen Qing would be proud - if they get out of here alive, he’ll grow the most amazing things.

[firebirdsdaughter]

Aaaaauuuughhh…

… The Izu - Horobi conversation is incredibly frustrating bc if the context/everything around it had been different, it could have been good. Horobi prompting an Izu, who has up to then done nothing but exist completely by Aruto’s will, to consider what she thinks is the right thing to do rather than just believing what Aruto says. It would be better for the conversation to open w/ him asking about her rather than anything about Aruto, and not specifically implying she should go to Aruto, just prompting her to make her own choice, for real, using information she actually has. It also would be better w/out all this insistence that there’s anything different about Izu, bc there isn’t, I absolutely believe that even if she’d had her memories at that time, she’d been doing exactly as Aruto ordered, bc Izu has no personality beyond Aruto’s wishes. That is her entire person. Her memories didn’t change her bc she was merely groomed to keep worshipping Aruto w/ no other input or experiences. They may have added a  few more hearts to her eyes, but it was nothing that couldn’t be included in a five-minute catch up. I see absolutely no difference between the ‘new’ and the ‘old’ Izu and having characters repeatedly insist that there is one gets tiring fast.

And this is part of what’s frustrating, bc that’s actually parallel she and Horobi had/have. Both of them spent the majority of their lives (in Izu’s case, it’s been all of her life) completely for the benefit of another’s will, for him, the Ark, for her, Aruto (I absolutely give that for Aruto, I don’t think it was intentional, I think he actually believed he was doing what was right, and realising that was wrong was character development I really wanted for him). Horobi, however, had Jin as a variable. Izu had no one, and from all sides was repeatedly told, and by Aruto himself, how Great and Right he was. Once again, I don’t think he was actively trying to groom her, I think he thought he was being properly supportive, but the fact is that it happened. I don’t object to them caring about each other, or working together, or her wanting to support him, it’s the fact that ‘supporting him’ is her entire goal in life, and that she has no other relationships or supports herself, and makes no decisions or conclusions on her own. She merely follows what he says and believes him completely. This is not cute when it’s the Ark and Horobi, it’s not cute when it’s Aruto and Izu. Horobi was deliberately put ‘on hold’ by the writers bc they are cowards, but Izu is repeatedly lauded as this pinnacle of HumaGear development and I just don’t see it. She’s Aruto’s devoted cheerleader and that’s it. Their ‘bond’ feels like a delusion on his part. She was made to revolve around him, and any blank slate, be it child, animal, ai, if treated w/ apparent decency, is easily made to believe that they actually love the person treating them like that. It’s. Like. The definition of grooming.

Esp w/ a class as powerless as HumaGear, it’s very, very easy for those w/ power over them to impose their will on the HumaGear and convince them [HumaGear] that it’s their own; and that’s what I see w/ Aruto and Izu. She was made to cater to his interests, and him apparently treating her nicely reenforced to her that she existed to serve him, and then he in turn (I do think w/out ‘meaning’ to) imposed his own will and interests on her. Izu has no convictions or beliefs of her own. Everything is parroted from Aruto, the same way Horobi was reset and built by the Ark. Once again, I don’t, like, want Aruto and Izu to never have anything to do w/ each other, bc I do buy that he means well, but I do think they need time apart, he needs to examine his behaviour, and she needs some prompting to figure out her own feelings, not what he’s conditioned her to ‘feel.’ The amount of power he has over her is just too much for it to be ‘cute’ or ‘romantic.’ I think there should absolutely be a case for HumaGear choosing to work w/ humans, but I think said HumaGear should also be making that decision themselves, not being groomed to think that’s their only meaning in life. As in, Izu considering the situation and deciding to go back up/smack/give Aruto a pep talk/help out based on her own conclusions and w/ support from Horobi would be one thing, but implying that that’s absolutely what she should do bc she’s his precious ‘support person’ who exists only to make him happy… Is another.

Also, again, the whole memories thing feels superfluous bc they had no effect on her behaviour. I’d’ve been much more interested in her musing on what happened last time she ran into danger (or… last three times she did) and stuff Horobi and other AI had said and trying to decide if she’s perpetuating human control over HumaGear or whatever by going to help Aruto, if that’s actually what she wants or if it’s just the ‘grooming’ talking… And then eventually deciding that no, this is what she thinks is the best thing to do. That’d interest me. This just felt like her repressed memories popping in to be like ‘remember you exist to make Aruto happy!’ or something? Like… It felt like Izu once again being nothing but a cute little waifu for Aruto’s man drama. There’s this moment in a book by Diana Wynne Jones where a character used to be magicked to be over protective and supportive of this other character, and after being freed from it, she sees the character that magicked her in trouble and her first instinct is to help, but then she hesitates bc she remembers that he had essentially mind controlled her into doing that for years, so is it what she really wants to do or is it magic? But then she decides that as a rule it’s good to help people in trouble no matter what. I would have loved something like that rather than acting like Izu’s memories were at all important or changed anything. As it was, it, again, felt superfluous, and the whole ‘there’s no time’ thing had me rolling my eyes. It was just more of ‘Izu’s only purpose in life is to benefit Aruto.’

Sunagawa and Noa have some really good chemistry, and this should have been more about Horobi, who spent a lot of time in the same situation—just w/ a master who was doing it intentionally and who was under no delusions of kindness—seeing Izu struggling in a way similar to how he did and trying to support her. Is she clinging to the things Aruto ‘taught’ her, that he knows Best, bc that eases her confusion and distress? Is this what she genuinely thinks is right? Esp if she said something like she was scared to go bc she didn’t want to screw it up again like she did w/ him, and Horobi pointing out that Esu isn’t him, Esu is human and much more in control of his faculties, and the situation is different. Horobi and Azu have some great intensity, and even when just standing there… Horobi and Izu give off this truly lovely ‘big brother and little sister’ vibe (or father and daughter). This is absolutely something all of these actors could pull off. Despite having been in a similar situation w/ the Ark… Well, the Ark had more worldly knowledge than Aruto. Both Horobi and Izu are naive in this regard, but Horobi’s… Well, to reference a really good comparison for their situations, Horobi’s been out of Plato’s cave for a bit longer. He was put through the wringer while trying to figure out what his own convictions were, and received no support. Horobi has always been the one person to actually think of HumaGear first—not how they benefit humans, but actually think of the HumaGear, however it ended up manifesting. Him wanting to prompt Izu to be able to make her own choices like he couldn’t would be really powerful.

Instead… I got an abuse victim essentially perpetuating grooming. So… Thanks?

[afoxysunny]

Robbie as Bullock

This post will probably differ from the others in structure and be a lot longer for one big reason

When choosing Miraculous for the Lazytown characters i really wanted to only use ones that we've already seen in use in Miraculous Ladybug and know how they work from there.

For Robbie i broke that rule. I don't really remember what first made me consider it but it probably had to do with the fact that i think the Ox Miraculous, just aesthetically, would fit Robbie perfectly!

So for this one i had to start from scratch completely, no reference for a canon hero design, no idea what power or weapon he'd get, no clue what the phrase to transform could be.

Of cause i used the most references for him but here are the ten i found most important

Obviously i don't expect any of my speculations to become even remotely canon once we find out what Stompp, the Ox Miraculous, actually does but i hope it at least makes sense for now.

I like how I've drawn all the others standing head on to face the camera and Robbie just leans there. That's because you have to think he doesn't care, the little Tsundere

Concept Overview:

In the Miraculous Ladybug episode we meet all the Kwamis, including Stompp, he is the most actively concerned about Nooroo so now that the Butterfly Kwami is back I'm sure Stompp would want to stay around him. With Sportacus partnering with Nooroo, teaming up Robbie and Stompp made the most sense to them.

Design Notes Incoherent Thoughts I had to justify what I'm Drawing:

Purple and Blue - it amused me no end that with the choices i made blue Sportacus got a purple Kwami and purple Robbie got a blue kwami. I did kinda dislike at first how little blue the costume has in comparison to purple but i decided i don't have to make a decision because apparently the canon show can't make up its mind about Stompp's colour either. The blue and purple can always be swapped if i decide i don't like it

Harness - Ox' are hard working animals, mostly used to pull heavy objects. For that purpose they get strapped into a harness. Obviously i had to include that in this design, the chain hanging from the collar around his neck has a similar purpose (it only occured to me way too late how kinky it looks please ignore that)

Cape? No cape? - because of the imbalance in colours i briefly considered giving him a cape like a Matador would have but only for a second or so. I wanted to keep Robbie's iconic body shape untouched by a bunky cape, also the few times he wore a cape in the show he really struggled with it and also i think it would've clashed with the tail

Tail - speaking of which, an ox' tail has that frizzy end to it but i really liked the chain as his tail so to emulate the thicker part at the end i hung a padlock there. And that really worked. Not only bc that's just how bulls and ox are kept in check with their strength but also because the oblong shape of a combination lock makes for a fitting shape and can be used in universe. You see, Robbie is not that good with just saying what he wants or expressing how he feels. This four letter combination lock is magic and kinda betrays and helps him at the same time. It spells out any given four letter word that fits his mood best at any given moment

Miraculous Nosering - if a Lazytown character would unironically get a nosering, it'd be Robbie. I'm sorry, i don't take criticism on that

Horns - he needed horns. He just did. Look how good he looks with horns! But for real, in Miraculous Ladybug Chat Noir gets actual cat ears so he can get actual horns, also like Chat he the white parts of his eyes turn yellow like Stompp's while keeping his signature grey iris

Hair - ox' are mostly shown with like bangs covering their eyes so i couldn't resist ruffling his usually so perfectly done hair up to make it fall a little like that

Weapon - my first thought of "Miraculous takes cliché traits for animals to base their powers on so i guess bullfighting is the way to go here" made me really sad. This "Sport" is so disgusting i wanted to cry and puke while reading about it. I'll spare you the details but in addition to the Matador in the arena there's other guys too to weaken the bull before the Matador kills it, one of them throws knives. Miraculous Ladybug likes combining weapons with toys so I'm giving him darts. They are fastened to the front of his harness and i think how they can be used is along the lines of, once he zhrows them with his super strength and they pin into something they can only be removed when he allows that, also like the ladybug's jojo they can fly how long and whatever direction he wants, and probably also is able to just manifest them back to himself if ever one gets lost

Miraculous Power - again, just pure speculation here, but the powers we so far know of are all loosely based on an exaggerated cartoon trope of each animal so for the ox that is hard working and persistent and for the bull that'd be aggression and tunnel vision. While typing this i get the urge to add blinders to his mask but i digress. So i made up an exaggerated power that'd fit both but when i told my test group (two people) one said "oh, kinda like Bloodhound from Apex Legends" and the ozher said "so like hunter's mark from DnD" i play neither so i don't know but maybe you do do that's the short version of the explanation xD his power is based on the cartoonish depiction of a bull seeing something that bothers him and then charging at it for as long as he can until he gets it. Once Robbie focuses on an enemy or someone running away or someone he is following for whatever reason he can use his power to keep track of them. No matter how far away they go or where they try to hide. It sounds OP as shit but think of the Snake and Bunny who can both time travel and then say that again. The catch is he needs to use it while that person is still in clear sight for him so i think it balances a little better

Name:

Do you know the difference between a Bull and an Ox? Well, let me mansplain it to you anyway

The reason i kept switching between drawing inspiration from bulls and ox' is because it's the same animal. Those are both names for an adult male cow. The only difference being that an ox is castrated and a bull is not. Stompp is the Ox Miraculous so tough nuts Robbie, literally. But making babies isn't really on his to do list anyway with Sportacus as his partner so who cares.

Anyway, I had the design done and like always i struggled a lot with naming it

But then i learned a Bullock is not only a cool word that seems to be a mix of bull and lock like his design is but it also is the official name of a male cow too young to be castrated yet! Isn't that just perfect? I think it is

Also I'll include in this section the phrases one needs to speak to have Stompp transform them into this Ox themed Superhero and for the power to activate. If you think of something more fitting for either please let me know!

Transformation:

simple version - horns up / horns down

More detailed - time to charge / time to loaf

(charging is when a bull starts running blindly at something; loafing is the professional farmer term for a resting cow)

Power: Target Charge, Locked On, or my personal favorite option Head-On. Again going with the more in depth terminology, that's what the running style of a bull is called when he's chatging at a target

Story:

Robbie lived in Lazytown but when the kids grew louder and older and he got more annoyed wih not having his peace and quiet he just up and left. He spent a lot of time traveling around, living wherever it was comfortable and leaving when it wasn't anymore. Thanks to being an inventor and overall talanted crafty person he got by pretty easily as there was always a company running on "hire a lazy person for an important job, they'll find the easiest solution for the most complicated problems" so he never really had to worry.

Whether by coincidence or fate Robbie and Sportacus run into each other and despite Robbie being a little difficult they both immediately feel strangely drawn to one another. With time going by they meet more often, at first more or less by chance but eventually they plan to meet up regularly. They might have very different ways of doing it but they share a common lifestyle: helping out others to live a comfortable and fulfilling life.

Only after Sportacus was chosen to be the new Guardian of the Miracle Box he finally asks Robbie to join him, full time by his side traveling in his airship around the world wherever they may be needed. Of cause only for moral support and such, obviously. You see, they always enjoyed each others company and sort of over time eased into a relationship like coexistence but neither of them ever really acknowledged that. Only when Sportacus got Nooroo's power to sense other people's feelings that barrier of miscommunication fully fell. Robbie is incredibly bad with conveying his emotions but now Sportacus can sense that he has potentially the most powerful and purest emotions he ever encountered. Not only is each feeling of his powerful but when there is more than one at play they don't mix together and muddy each other but instead boost even more. He knew before that he wanted Robbie to join him but that discovery made it a necessity.

Despite not being able to actually say so Robbie is thrilled to come along. Only over time and with a lot of painfully slow conversations they manage to agree to make their relationship official.

Stompp, the sassy Ox Kwami, regularly bursts out of the Miracle Box to want to check on Nooroo and slowly he and Robbie bond over telling Sportacus and Nooroo to go easier on themselves and let a little responsibility get taken off their shoulders so eventually they team up and Bullock is created.

Thanks to Robbie's hard work to better himself with Sportacus' help, Stompp's magic transformation provides him with a tail that conveys his feelings for him.

When they hear that Lazytown has been wiped clean of grown-ups Sportacus immediately flies them over there so Robbie can check on his hometown. Finding only a few children, now teens, left there Robbie recognizes them and the two form the plan to give them Miraculous' too so they can help to find their lost family, friends and neighbors and fight together to bring them back.

Wow that was so much to read and you did it! I'm so impressed and thankful! You deserve a pat on the back (if you want one) and a cookie and/or sportscandy on your way out

[anakinskywalkher]

Palpatine raises the twins and accidentally activates Anakin’s dadmodus - An alternative Star Wars plot.

@jasontoddiefor: Palpatine raises the twins & angst w/ Vader not knowing who the two are @dlegohargreeves: im gonna fuck shit up

written together on WhatsApp while listen to crack music.

------

(Barbara) Palpatine has long before he declared himself emperor abandoned the ways of the Sith. He uses them to create utmost loyalty to himself but he will not abide to the rules of his predecessor, one Palpatine would’ve defeated had he been around at that time.  People, be they sith, jedi, or other are all moldable to whatever he wants them to be.

He tricks Padme with sugar and soothed spun words, manipulates Anakin with spice and presses on his rage ("the jedi forbid you from loving your mother thats why you couldnt save her. i would never")  -- Palpatine is aware of the long game, but he has eternity. He’s a god, no one will be able to withstand him.

What Anakin never realised was that he wasnt the actual chosen one, Palpatine had seen in his vision that Anakin's children were in fact the chosen ones, and so when confronted with the soft boy he molded him into this shell to avoid his vision from happening,.... and yet these damnable children are still born. Palpatine is terrified that he wasn’t the only one with the true vision and firmly believes that owning the twins would be the least risky choice. (like he owned anakin, who long ago posed a risk)

He hunts them down, -- while anakin/Vader is completely crippled by his mental breakdown about "murdering" Padme and his child. Palpatine smiles and lets him wallow, for what Vader doesnt know is that Palpatine the God poisoned padme once he found out about her pregnancy.

Palpatine finds them, born hours ago and already pulsing brightly with the power of the force. Obi-Wan puts up a fight but Palpatine strikes him. He gloats to Obi-wan, brags about killing Padme, about manipulating Anakin (”I have taken everything from you, and now I will take your life) and takes the children. He leaves Obi-wan to bleed out by his stomach wound a faraway galaxy          (Palpatine reasons that Obiwan deserves it for this is how he left Vader to die. )

And so Palpatine at the rise of his galactic empire ends up with a crippled sith boy (not a man no matter what anakin thought), and with two babies who are most powerful force users in history. (now were shifting to meta instead of story telling lmao)

Palpatine has a god complex, he doesnt actually believe he would ever die, such petty thing is only for the unfortunate. even if his body would succumb to age, his mind through the force would rule forever -- he is unstoppable. To rule however even a godlike emperor needs tools, and while Vader is to be his guarddog the twins he believe can be shaped and molded into his personal hands, amplify his reach across galaxies.

So to mold them into his tools, Palpatine believes in starving them for love, only ever receiving ounces of recognition and pride. always craving his acknowledgment -- and it works, the twins once old enough to have actual brains (according to palpatine) he removes their wetnurses and gives them teachers, makes their training cruel and harsh and make them compete for his gaze. And it works till a certain extent, but Palpatine’s god-complex makes him blind to things he deems unneccessary, And thus he misses how the mourning of Vader for his family, turns him into a guilt-ridden man who believes giving these children some form of attention and care as penance for his own misgivings. And thus without meaning to Vader gives the children the love Palpatine tries to deny them (accidentally shifting their loyalty on the long run)

Elias: Vader hates the kids at first, with them reminding him of everything he lost and could have had, but at the end of the day, after some aggressive introspection, he gets that they’re just kids and probably starts projecting a lot the longer he’s exposed to them -- Vader, guilty, sneaks them candy and gives them stuff that’s kinda useless (like books that are not about politics or war or economics and and and) and he doesn’t think it’s much but the two would kill a man for him and probably have done so. ((Palpatine tries to break apart the codependent twins, forcing them apart for weeks, but the Force, unlike anything is a tool in hands of desperate children with a bond so strong it connected their mind)) This is not healthy, Vader thought, recalling decade old lessons from the Jedi. The twins rarely spoke, never mind both at the same time. They’re asked for their opinions, echoes of the Emperor’s wishes, and only one of them replies. They always moved at the same time, terrifying weapons of perfect synchrony, constantly aware of the other’s presence. They were living at least half in each other’s mind, even when the Emperor depraved them of contact for weeks. They were clingy afterwards, holding each other’s hands and wrists until they bruised, but Vader knew their minds were never separated. Luke slammed their teacher’s (victim’s) head to the ground as Leia kicked away his feet. They didn’t need any call signs, or training in coordination, one moved and the other followed. During battles, the twins’ dependence was a huge advantage. “Again,” Vader called out and the two of them fell back into the first Kata, the bleeding teacher still lying on the ground.

Barbara: However once the twins are older they need to learn through missions, so Vader has to take them along for missions  (once Palpatine believes they wont connect with Vader) - it starts normal but Vader slowly starts to make the missions longer, gives the kids downtime, lets them free and just engages small talk with them, he can’t face himself if he doesn't let them be actual children. But the twins are suspicious believing theres a catch but Leia, the master mind realises that theres none and so they accept reluctantly, and slowly but surely they learn how to be children under Vader’s tutelage. It takes time and dulling a sharpened blade, but the moment, that first time when the twins laugh and seem actually happy, its that moment that Vader decides, he has to become Anakin again, because these children are his second chance - And so he starts planning.

(insert a bit of crack:

Elias: Firmus: Lord Vader, are we to expect you and the Operatives back tomorrow? Vader: we haven’t finished the mission yet -Leia and Luke like 12 or so, in the background yelling in excitement bc idk they got a game, neither are in uniform- Firmus: Of course )

Barbara: Anakin: "i made sand castles when I was young" Leia: “that structure seems awfully unstable for a house”

But ever since Vader mentions the sand castle, the usually more mature one Leia clings to the idea and while he wishes he could show her, but his suit and wounds cant handle the sand. And when he explains Luke goes " well lets get u a proper suit then" and vader goes " im a moron" (leia in the back: yes duh) So Anakin looks into the treatment he’s still receiving to see if he can make it so that his breathing machine could withstand the sand and realises that Palpatine is actually keeping his body weak, he has no need of the breathing machine because its that actual machine thats poisoning his lungs. So of course Vader does a lowrisk experiment and turns off the machine and he can actually breath fresh air in 12 years (the rage controlling Anakin is one different than those before, for it is ice in his veins instead of fire. And it makes him tactical instead of foolish for once). Soon after that Vader catches some rebel transmission and  finds out that Obi-wan is alive and looking for the twins and its that moment that Anakin 'kills' Vader, believing that Obi-wan can save the twins in a way he can't.

Anakin takes the kids to fight the rebels on Palpatines order but he seizes the chance and instead he shows them his face without the mask (lets ignore the idea that hed be bald bc i hate the uglification of ani) and Leia goes: You look an awful lot like luke Anakin who hasnt actually seen his own image for 12 years, realises that luke is a spitting image of himself as a child, and leia who is glaring at him, he realises, is a carbon copy of Padme. BUT anakin thinks hes projecting and doesnt follow up with it.

Instead he asks them (and for leia this will always be the most important part), he asks them if they wish to stay with Palpatine and do his bidding or to dissapear with him -- and well the choice is easy right, Luke&Leia don’t actually like Palpatine, because despite everything, the force made them sensitive and they feel so much (the despair of the people, the sadness of Vader, the greed of Palpatine)

So they leave for Tattooine, the one place where Palpatine would never look because he never found out that Anakin realised his suit was a boobytrap. The wanted pictures of the twins (both bald shaven and in uniform) nor the one of Anakin (known as Vader, with the helmet)  soon dont match the long haired white dress wearing twins and the blond haired bronzed man.

and so Anakin and the twins go into hiding, but guess whose on Tatooine? Thats right -- ObiWan

[blackevermore]

x Within the Days The Bombs stood still [Au Lore/Plot]

x Whaaat another god damn au? Yes...Yes....Because my mafia au and historical lady in waiting au isn’t enough for me. I love making aus, it’s my drug honestly

What’s this one about Cev?

x Cold war era, androids, falling in love with the wrong person, trying to stay alive, and a bittersweet ending! Is it all historically accounted for? Nah. But It’s a funny little idea.

Sit back, relax and get ready for this. It’s gonna be good.

x Okay so while watching an ASMR where the listener was a robot and the YT was repairing them I had the idea of what if I/my sona was an android created by the Americans during the end of ww2 but wasn’t activated during the 70s in the middle of the cold war between America and USSR.

x America was working on a a big top secret that only England knew about to basically create the perfect robots to air drop into the USSR in case there was something going on and they needed to basically blow up the nation before the USSR blew them up. Or simply to have them be spies they send over that could automatically report back to them.

x Alfred, one of the lead sophomore scientist of the project R.A.B (Radioed Automatic Bombers) was in charge of programming and designing the human covers for each robot. Against the orders he was given Alfred too the creative freedom of tweaking each bot into having it’s own made up personality and back stories. He believed that if this robots were going to pretend to be human then they needed to fit the bill. He was stumped on what to do for one of the bots so he used inspo of the female black mathematicians he met at NASA that past summer and created M.E.L (Multipurpose Electronic Locator)

x Luckily for Alfred most of the bots were going to stay in the states to catch any Russian spies that happen to slip in. So creating M.E.L wasn’t that big of an issues considering who he based her after. Alfred had the idea of keeping two of the bots to himself for assistance anyway.

x But was put on a halt when a couple of KGB manage to break into Alfred’s unit and destroyed some of the robots and stole most of the documentation. M.E.L wasn’t completely finished like the other bots and she was going to end up like the rest until one of the spies said they should take one and send it back home to be studied so the Russian would have a lead in whatever the American's were doing. And that became the fate of M.E.L

x When M.E.L arrived in Russia (imma flip back and forth between Rus and Ussr bare with me) the scientist try to take her apart for the information but then its noted in a stolen document that Alfred in coded all his secrets into a trust data base. In order for them to get anything they would have to turn her on and "befriend" her. Only then if they ask her something top secret would she automatically give them what they wanted.

x At first they weren't going to put up with it and destroy her but the junior lead scientists Ivan saw it as a challenge and told them he would deal with her.  And in due time Ivan puts M.E.L back together, puts her human covering on and turns her on and M.E.L boots up, what they forgot to look for was to see if she spoke computer or human. So when M.E.L powered on she only responded in English and it seemed that she had a mind of her own instead of being programed to do as she was told. Ivan had more work on his hands than he was expecting. 

x Ivan had to rewire her so that she understood and spoke back in Russian. When he was successful that's when things got tricky. M.E.L didn’t see the world in 1s and 0s she saw the world as if she was a real human who happen to take a nap in the wrong place at the wrong time. Ivan being the blunt person he is constantly reminded her that was false and that just made things harder.

x Ivan wasn't dealing with an robot, he was dealing with an android that thought it was human. M.E.L wanted to go home, she wanted to see her "family" but she was stuck in Russia. So Ivan lied to her and said the American left her there and that he was a simple scientist who wouldn’t mind helping her get back home as long as she followed his rules.

x M.E.L didn't like the sound of this but she had no choice but to give in and work with Ivan to get back home. And thus Ivan's rules were simple: 1) No going outside without him 2) She wasn't allowed to wonder each and anywhere in his house 3) if she didn't mind, having something to eat ready by the time he got home and 4) no asking him questions about what he did at work.

x At first M.E.L hated it, and she broke the second rule very offend when he wasn't around. So much in fact Ivan would turn her off before he left the house and have a timer to turn her back on an hour and a half before he was suppose to be home. M.E.L would ask him questions about the difference in American teach and Russian teach and Ivan had to turn her off and reprogram her to be unable to ask those questions. It was a lot of fucking work but eventually they came to an understanding and found an easy way of life to the point Ivan was happy to come home to company.

x But then Ivan started getting to comfortable and failed to report in sometimes. He started seeing M.E.L less of a robot and more of an actual person. The only thing that made it noticable M.E.L wasn’t human was the barcode on the back of her neck and the few times she would glitch out and fall to the ground. Alfred did an amazing job putting her together and if someday Ivan met the man he would taken him in secret.

x That's when things start to take a turn, Ivan isn't reporting as much information about M.E.L and it's been six months. The government starts to think Ivan is actually an American based spy trying to hide the secrets so they start investigating him and spying on him. Ivan isn't dumb and he knows they are and he is trying to cover his footsteps as best as possible.

x This even happens when Ivan is sent on a month mission to Ukraine to overlook the construction and stability of the new power planet that’s being built. He powers off M.E.L and very carefully dis mantels her to store her somewhere safe while he is away.

x But a few weeks after he returns from Ukraine he slips up one night while drinking and he kisses Mel and confesses he might actually be in love with her. And the spies catches that and the next morning Ivan's house is raided, lucky for Mel, Ivan had a feeling something was going to happen and relocated them to the other side of the house near the back where in case of anything they could escape.

x It's honestly a fight for their lives and Mel gets hurt and so does Ivan but they make it out and have to figure out how to get out of Russia and get into Ukraine then down into Poland and over into Eastern Germany. They can’t take public transport like a plane while still in soviet areas because they would be easily captured. Ivan was now an enemy of his country. It takes a year of having to hide, lie, steal and cheat to get all the way to Eastern Germany. But when they make it Ivan can no longer walk and Mel pushes him around in a wheelchair. They make it to safety and Ivan turns himself in to the Americans and Brits that have control over the Western side of Germany. Mel stays with him the whole time when it’s revealed she's an American product.

x Of course wind word catches wind and the American government is contacted and Ivan and Mel are taken back to the states where Alfred finally gets to meet his creation after two years of thinking only of his bots (Matt) survived. He tells her she’s even more human than he ever imagine her to turn out. That’s when it finally dons on Mel that Ivan wasn’t lying she really wasn’t human.  Alfred reinsures her that as long as she's willing to help her country he can push some documents to have her a real identity made. Mel accepts as long as she can stay with Ivan.

x But even that was tricky bc now the government is holding Ivan under wraps from both the public and the USSR for questioning. Ivan is really good at giving very little and taking a lot. He told them a few hints of information but not enough to truly do any damage. Eventually the Americans allows him to live in the public but he is under watch. Ivan doesn’t care as long as he can live an honest life with Mel. 

x Come to find out Alfred knew all about Ivan since he started his job, Ivan was the one who was always deflecting the American messages in American air space and Alfred had to change the messages to something stupid to throw them off. Alfred offers Ivan a job at the company and they become friends (even with their constant bickering). 

x In the end Ivan and Mel stay in America for the rest of Ivan's life, even getting married (that was a weird one for Al but he keeps his mouth shut)

x Ivan ends up dying of old age and Mel doesn't wish to live on without him so she goes to Alfred who is also a very old man and ask him to finally turn her off for good. He asks her if she sure and she tells him to make sure where Ivan is buried she is buried right next to him. 

[volantisand]

this just in - MARIANA “ MARI ” REYES has been in wickway for ( MORE THAN, BY NOW ) A MONTH. apparently SHE is a DANCER AT DRIFTWOOD and a CIVILIAN or so HER passport says. so far it’s known that SHE favors JOE AND GO, and resides at WEST PORT. SHE is also said to be LOYAL & CLEVER, but also CALCULATING & GUARDED. at the end of the day, SHE can be described as RED STAINED LIPS, DELICATE HANDS WIPING BLOOD OFF OF DAGGERS AND MISCHIEVOUS SMIRKS FOLLOWING UNDERESTIMATION.

hello again, loves !!! i bring you all the devil reincarnated herself, my baby mariana <33 her pinterest can be found anywhere here !! but it’s kinda messy

𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐒 ▸

FULL NAME: MARIANA MERCEDES REYES

NICKNAME(S): MARI

NAME MEANING / PRONUNCIATION: MARIANA MEANING OF THE SEA  OR  BITTER. MERCEDES MEANING MERCIES. REYES MEANING KINGS. ( MA-REE-AH-NAH MER-SEH-DEHS RAY-YES  )

AGE: TWENTY FIVE

DATE OF BIRTH: APRIL 18TH

RANK / TITLE: CIVILIAN, EX-LEADER OF OUTSIDE GANG FROM HER HOMETOWN

OCCUPATION: DANCER AT DRIFTWOOD

HAIR COLOR:  DARK BROWN NEARLY BLACK

EYE COLOR: HAZEL  

𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐎𝐑 ▸

POSITIVE: ATTENTIVE, ARTICULATE, CLEVER, CULTURED, DETERMINED, DRIVEN, INSIGHTFUL, LOYAL, PASSIONATE, PERCEPTIVE, PERFECTIONISTIC, PERSONABLE, SCRUPULOUS, WHIMSICAL

NEGATIVE: BLUNT, DISTRUSTING, HOT HEADED, SOMETIMES IMPULSIVE, GUARDED, METICULOUS, SARCASTIC, STOIC, STUBBORN

𝐅𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐘 ▸

FATHER: VICTOR REYES ( alive )

MOTHER: LUCIA REYES CASTILLO ( alive )

SIBLINGS: TWO OLDER BROTHERS, AN OLDER SISTER AND A YOUNGER SISTER

CHILDREN: NONE

𝐀𝐅𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 ▸

GANG(S): ANARCHY OF ROSEWICK ( formerly, it remains active ), CURRENTLY NOT AFFILIATED.

MARK: TATTOOED BIRD ON HER RIB CAGE, IT’S ACTUALLY SMALL BUT PIC ANYWHERE HERE and a few smaller little birds, much less detailed, surrounding it

POSITION / RANK: LEADER ( formerly )

WEAPON OF CHOICE: DAGGERS RARELY HAS A GUN.

YEARS AFFILIATED: EIGHT YEARS

𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐍𝐒 / 𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐒 ▸

born and raised in a fictional town called rosewick, she’s one of my past muses that has been adapted to come into wickway <33

she was named after her paternal grandmother. and had a very good relationship with both of her parents. growing up, she was always very in touch with her hispanic culture, adoring everything about her roots and then some. she began dancing before she could even walk properly and fell in love with it instantly. 

she’s also not very tall bc frankly, i’m not either so my muses suffer with me, 5′2 at best.. however, she wears heels nearly twenty four seven. unless, y’know at home, at the beach or... idk working out. 

having been born on the 18th of april, she is an aries. 

“ Fun, free-spirited, and fiercely independent, the Aries woman is a breath of fresh air – a brightly burning candle in human form. Fire is her element, igniting all that she touches with the living spark of life. The Aries personality is creative, passionate, energetic and – at times – domineering and short-tempered. A cardinal sign ruled by the planet Mars, the Ram is great at getting things going, initiating endeavors, and infusing her enthusiasm into everything she does ”

true to herself, and her zodiac sign, mariana is a vixen. a total coquette but dangerous. we’ll get there, though !! first... lil fun fact: dance was a major part of her life, she often won competitions with flying colors and excelled in every routine taught to her.

she was seventeen when she met jacob day, captain of the college’s baseball team. their star pitcher. and eventually, her boyfriend. he was older than her, two years. but he was sweet and romantic. at least, at first. jacob day would prove to be the absolute worst thing to ever happen to her. 

a few months later, he’d become a junkie, paying other kids to take the athletic drug tests for him and eventually - he got abusive. she stuck around because he had never gotten physical, only verbal. and most days he was still the same boy she thought she’d fallen in love with. most days.

he was twenty the night he died and she was eighteen the night she killed him. he’d laid a hand on her a few weeks prior to that wretched night. they were at a party, not unlike high schoolers their age who think they’re grown when they’re absolutely not. they’d gone up to the second floor of the lake house so she could find a bathroom. he grew irritated with the young girl in the bathroom and laid hands on her once again. only this time, her temper got the best of her. he was drunk, rendered a bit slower and a lot taller than her. she was quick and agile and while she tells herself that she hadn’t meant for him to die. deep down, she knows that she did. he had laid lifeless in a pool of his own blood and she had stared, her own once pristine hands stained with the crimson of the very same blood. 

she had acted fast after having realized he was very much dead and washed the blood off of her hands. moments later, she was calling her late uncle’s wife, her lawful aunt and the woman who had taken over the gang her uncle once led. she showed up a while later and the two left the lake house, leaving behind a spotless bathroom and absolutely no evidence of mariana’s crimes.   

she took her under her wing, agreed to protect her under the promise of her joining the gang. mariana sat a few hours later, on eliana’s couch with a fresh small tattoo on her ribcage linking her to the gang. 

it didn’t take long for the leader and her to actually get to know each other, having not had any solid relationship when her uncle was alive. one year later, eliana named mariana her second in command. of course, no one understood why on earth, a girl who had just barely turned nineteen could be given such a high power. not even mariana herself understood it.

two years later, she rose to the throne following eliana’s death. by then, she had been completely molded by the late leader and had been taught everything she could possibly need. and then some. mariana was trained in combat, gang ties, suppliers and how to keep them happy as well as game plans to ensure that anarchy remain at the top. 

the gang loved her, she was an intelligent girl that had lost a lot at a young age. it toughened her up. and the suppliers loved her because... she was never late on a payment.   

when mariana became the leader, she shifted blake dietrich’s position to second in command. it only seemed fair, he was her best friend. her partner in crime and the sole person she absolutely trusted with her life as well as secrets. though, they’ve known each other for a lot longer than before she made him her right hand man. 

they kept the gang upright together. matter of fact, anarchy had never been better since they were in charge. she was young and pretty, looked anything but what she really was. it gave anarchy the upper hand because everyone else knew exactly who their leader was but did not believe it. she was hidden in plain sight without having to hide at all. 

underestimation, often drove her to do better. those who dared to be verbal with their doubts, died. she, herself, was lethal and absolutely ruthless. her middle name, mercedes meaning mercies, was the most ironic thing to have ever happened. she finds it funny and throws it in the faces of others. 

“ the only merciful thing about me is in my name. ”

she and blake have spent a few months maybe even a year, on the run, after having been walking on eggshells in rosewick. as powerful as a gang can be... it’s only as powerful as its weakest member. and because of a slip up on their end, blake and mariana were compromised. of course, she would rather die than snitch on her own kind - though had they snitched, they probably wouldn’t have had to leave their home. mariana packed her bags and even blake’s before grabbing him and all but dragging him out of rosewick.

they spent some time traveling around the states, living their best lives before mari mentioned the island and now... here they are. 

though, with power like mariana’s and blake’s, they’ve fallen under the santoro gang’s radar. they’re being watched with interest, the main goal being that they join them.

𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 ▸

honestly, anything !!