#those facts can coexist...i promise you they can

[jlf23tumble]

about the broke up/never broke up theme; I don’t think it’s reaching to say that they broke up looking at their lyrics and signs. I, personally, don’t think they’ve broken up. not fully. but I definitely don’t think they’ve had a perfect ao3 relationship. I think they’ve had some rocky patches, more than once. I think they’ve fought a lot. I think they’ve had small “breaks” where they are don’t talk to me leave me alone. I definitely don’t think they’ve had a fairytale relationship where everything is always good between them, but I don’t think they broke up. I think that all of these fights and leave me alone’s where intensive, and I think they sucked at communication. especially when the band broke up and they were no longer required to spend every hour with each other due to band stuff. and all of this, together with them both being dramatic people, can create songs that sound like break up songs imo.

I guess I wanted to show that not all ppl in the never broke up camp believes they’ve had a fairytale story. but there are some that believe that they might not have been far from a break up, but just didn’t take that final step, if that makes sense. you don’t have to publish this if you don’t want to, and if this was a really unwanted message, then I apologize!! have a good day/night

I got three in a row in this vein, and I'm not one to just say the same thing and give a wall of anon answers, so to the other two, see the tags! For this particular anon, I get what you're saying--I do!--but I also want this camp to lean into why it's such a goddamned problem to say the words "break up." Especially if you can easily say yeah, they had all these fights and arguments and I'm not talking to you periods, it's not a fairytale, they could have "had a break" for a week (a month, a year) and then gotten back together (because you CAN say that, I totally see that, too), so why can't the words "break up" be part of that narrative?? And I ask because I can think of at least two hardcore break-up points in time off the top of my head, zero research, and I'm sure more out there beyond lyrics. It's not an illogical thing to say, and yet for some reason it is? Like it's this forbidden concept, and much like people saying it's some kind of travesty for Louis to be perceived as a father, I do not get the issue here, why is this a problem??? AGAIN, I'm not saying I know for a fact they broke up, I can point to all kinds of "back together moments," too, but it grinds my gears that so many people can jump out there and say they know for a FACT that they never ever broke up, they've only fucked one person--each other--it's a concept that blows my mind, given so many things pointing to the contrary! (anon, I love you, please never apologize, I always want your messages, you can even DM me if it's easier, hope you're having a good day/night, too!)

[matan4il]

what do you, as an Israeli, think of Standing Together? asking entirely in good faith because I see things supporting them a lot, but it's always from American Jews and (no offense to us), I don't totally trust that we're informed enough to know what we're talking about and what their perspective and usefulness truly is in the way that someone who actually lives there would. so many orgs are untrustworthy or covertly antisemitic and it made me curious for your perspective. thank you for everything. <3

Hi Nonnie!

Sorry it took me a moment to reply, but I hope my answer can still help you!

As an idea, Standing Together is a movement that I should have been all for. They are pro-coexistence, and so am I. There's no doubt in my mind that Jews aren't going anywhere, and neither are Arabs, and we are all better off working together for a good future for all. Supposedly, that's ST's message, so they absolutely should be an organization that I would be all for.

BUT from everything I've experienced, the narrative that they adopted is way more one-sided than their official stance, they're closer to being anti-Israel than balanced, which makes them problematic for me. Especially when you look at the individual actions and statements of many of this movement's leaders, it's evident that coexistence to them comes at the expense of historical facts, as well as certain Jewish rights. Obviously, the leaders' personal positions influence the movement's stance and actions.

For example, in this interview from Nov 2023, a Jewish leader of the movement falsely calls Israel's 2014 operation in Gaza against Hamas, "a war against Gaza and its people" (brief summary: Hamas kidnapped and murdered three Jewish teenagers in Judea and Samaria, Israel launched Operation Brother's Keeper during which it arrested some of Hamas' terrorists in that area looking for intel on where those 3 kids were and what happened to them, Hamas fired rockets from Gaza at Israel to get its terrorists released and used terror tunnels, including ones that crossed the border from Gaza into Israel, to kill and kidnap our people. That's what Israel ended up fighting against in Operation Protective Edge), while an Arab leader of ST defines their way as one which rejects "maintaining violent military control over millions of people," but says nothing against the terrorism that's used against millions of Israelis and Jews.

In terms of the recent war, since Oct 7 they have come out calling for a ceasefire now very early on in the war (I can't remember when they started it, but I know by Dec 7, 2023 they'd already put out a vid calling to stop the war, when really the ground operation only started about a month earlier, before it could possibly achieve anything), meaning this call was undermining Israel's right (and duty!) to defend its citizens, and asking us to surrender our goals of returning all the hostages and destroying Hamas' rule (only the latter can prevent Hamas from fulfilling its promise to carry out more massacres of the type that started this war, and has claimed so many lives on both sides). Another thing you can see in that vid is ST participating in spreading the false narrative that Israel is intentionally starving the Gazans (you can see the same thing in this poster, which says in Hebrew, "Thou shalt not starve." It's a poster for humanitarian aid they were supposedly bringing into Gaza, as if the IDF would ever let anyone bring anything they want unchecked into a war zone, or as if the amount of aid a few Israeli cars could bring is more than the hundreds of trucks Israel has been allowing in, checked. ST's just posturing and spreading an anti-Israel libel). Helping to spread a libel against one side is NOT being pro-coexistence. Imagine if they were spreading a libel that all Gazans are Hamas terrorists, and took part in the massacre! I think it's clear that, even if it's not simple to tell them apart, there are people in Gaza who are complicit, and people who are uninvolved and innocent. So if ST were spreading such a libel against Gazans, I'd oppose them. I am not going to do less when ST is spreading a libel against my own people.

I hope one day they correct course, but I can't currently support them. Give me REAL solidarity between Jews and Arabs, which sees and recognizes the humanity of both, not a repeat of the de-humanization of Jews, and a surrender of Jewish rights to an anti-Jewish narrative. That's not real peace, it's not real coexistence, it's a return to the way that we Jews have had to live for centuries in exile: always dependent on the good will (or lack of it) of the majority under whose will we lived, forced to bend ourselves, our rights, our dignity, too often even our very lives, to our subjugators, in the hope (and without any guarantees) that they will show us some kindness.

Many of the movement's leaders have not only expressed themselves in a way that reflects an acceptance of the anti-Israeli narrative, and took one-sided positions I can't agree with, they also acted in ways that have left me feeling quite unsafe.

For example, one of ST's founders, Yeela Raanan, joined and supported the violent Palestinian riots on Israel's border with Gaza, organized by Hamas, meant to breach the border fence, which started in 2018. Today we know these riots were a part of Hamas' preparations for the Oct 7, 2023 massacre, as they were getting the IDF used to them coming closer and closer to the fence. TBH, those of us listening to the statements of Hamas' leaders, we didn't need to wait for the border to be breached in order to know that it would be a bloodbath if they succeed. Sinwar's promise that they will reap out the hearts of Israelis with spoons from our chests was enough. Also, the repeated use during these riots of flags and kites with swastikas was pretty telling. So yeah, I can't trust anyone who supported that.

The movement is also financially supported in part by funds, such as the New Israel Fund, which finances a lot of good causes, but also many anti-Israel ones, and the German fund Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, which supports the antisemitic BDS movement (it's antisemitic first of all because one of its stated goals is to put an end to Israel as a Jewish state, another reason is their use of antisemitic tropes in characterizing the Jewish state).

The ironic thing is that, despite how imbalanced against Israel ST is, it was still the so-called pro-Palestinians who actually started a campaign to boycott the organization. Not because of anything specific ST said or did. It was simply for being an Israeli organization, showing the diversity of Israeli society, which is apparently bad 'coz it "normalizes" Israel's existence. That shows you the anti-Israel nature of this opposition, that no amount of willingness to cooperate with the de-humanization of Jews and erasure of our rights will ever be enough for people whose real motivation is antisemitism, that wishes to see an end to the Jewish state.

I hope this helps, Nonnie! Once more, my apologies for how long it's taken me to reply. Be well!

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

[anto-pops]

The Hypothesis - Sebastian Sallow x Female!Reader

Summary: The hand on your throat was gentle but firm, and your stomach flipped at the vulnerability of it all. You weren’t even sure you had it in you to do what he was asking but Merlin, did he make it sound enticing. Somewhere in your brain the sixteen year old version of yourself was combusting. How many times since starting school had you fantasized about Sebastian? About the two of you tangled in sheets and lost in the euphoria of one another? You could scarcely believe some of the fantasies your hormonal teenage mind had conjured up, but you had never considered anything as bold as this.

Alternatively summarized as pure, shameless Sebastian smut

Word Count: 5.5k

Warnings: 18+, aged up characters, explicit content

Full fic can be found here on Ao3

It was easy for you to tell when things were getting bad again. 

At first you had chalked it up to your menstrual cycle, as embarrassing as that was. It wasn’t unusual for you to get headaches or chills, or even act outright cruel when it was that time of the month. But the more time passed, the worse things got, and you knew the night you woke from a nightmare with red bolts crackling over your arms that this was decidedly not your period. 

Isidora’s magic now lived inside you, as volatile and unpredictable as it was powerful. Absorbing it had changed you on a molecular level- you were no longer the sixteen year old girl who had arrogantly believed she could wield a magic darker than the Unforgivable Curses. You knew with each passing day you were drifting further and further from the person you used to be, falling victim to your darker impulses routinely. Less of your excursions beyond the castle walls ended peacefully. In fact, you often sought out fights. While most of the Ashwinder camps and Poaching Rings had been taken care of in the years since Ranrok, there were always stragglers. 

You took a disturbing amount of pleasure in ripping those people apart. 

All due in large part to Isidora’s magical goodie bag you’d elected to open. The accumulated power demanded to be used, and at this point it took everything in you not to lose control in the middle of your classes. Despite the sheer magnitude of your abilities, you had never felt weaker. Your magic had never been something you had to war against in your own mind, and you certainly had never perceived it as a threat to yourself. 

Now though, you weren’t sure. 

The only person you’d been able to confide in about it all was Sebastian. Sebastian, who had made good on his promise to you and Ominis to stay the good course. Sebastian, who had worked harder than anyone to coexist with the demons you knew still raged in his head. He was, quite literally, the only person you could imagine sharing your turmoil with. Picturing Ominis’ particular brand of disappointment at your revelation had made you sick to your stomach for a week before you had banished the idea entirely. 

Sebastian, though. His sharp eyes had darkened when you’d told him the truth of what you’d done below Hogwarts and how you feared losing control. The way you tamed the raging fire inside of you with fighting and blood. The piercing regret you felt at ever taking this cursed power out of the repository in the first place. He had only looked at you with curiosity, maybe even a little admiration, before gathering you in his arms. 

“I won’t tell a soul, you have my word.” 

The Slytherin boy had come to you with an idea shortly thereafter. A hypothesis if you will, he had said. With instructions to meet him in the Undercroft after ten, you’d made a point to fly out towards the Clagmar Coast in the hours before dark. Regardless of Sebastian’s so-called ‘hypothesis’, you didn’t want to risk feeling… overwhelmed, when you met with him. The power from the repository had a way of buzzing in the back of your mind, steadily getting louder if you chose to ignore it. If taking out a few scattered Poacher camps quieted it down some, you would happily do so. 

By the time you returned to Hogwarts, there were no students milling about. It made for a peaceful trek to the Undercroft, allowing you to gather your bearings and blink the fog from your mind. While you didn’t plan to put much stock into Sebastian’s unknown idea, the least you could do was hear him out. If whatever he wanted to suggest was something that could make existing with this power more bearable, you were willing to try. It scared you to think about what you would become in a few months, or in a year. Would you even be the same? Or would you end up a husk of your former self, controlled by the very magic you had been hell bent on taking in the first place? 

It seemed like the most plausible outcome. 

The iron gate clanged back into place behind you as you stepped into the Undercroft. Noting the dim lights and rearranged crates towards the back, you scanned the room and found no sign of the boy who had summoned you. 

“Sebastian?” 

Footsteps sounded to your left, and you looked in time to see Sebastian push off the wall and make his way towards you. Immediately you noticed he was missing his cloak. Then you saw his white button up and dark trousers, and you realized you had never seen him so dressed down. His stride was full of purpose, a predatory glint in his eyes as he came to stand less than a foot away from you. 

Instinct screamed at you to move back. In your experience, anyone getting that close to you usually meant they were going to try and kill you. But this was Sebastian, you reasoned, and mentally chided yourself for even letting the thought cross your mind. So instead you tilted your chin up to meet his penetrating gaze. 

“Care to enlighten me as to why we’re down here after hours?” 

His eyes flicked between yours for a few seconds before they began roaming, wandering down your stiff form. You still wore your travel gear, a black cotton ensemble with a small leather chest plate for protection. You’d crafted a sheath for the modest dagger you kept strapped to your thigh in case of emergencies, and the scarf you’d wrapped around your neck for the evening hung precariously off your shoulder.

Sebastian brought one of his hands up to your cheek, his fingers hovering slightly over the scar left from your battle in the repository years ago. “I told you. I want to test my hypothesis.” 

“Right,” you rolled your eyes and willed the churning in your gut to subside. “And we would get so much farther with that if I knew what you were talking about wouldn’t we?” 

A ghost of a smirk danced across his features, giving you whiplash. What was he thinking? And what the hell was he planning? 

He finally brushed the back of his finger down your cheek, the touch barely there. The featherlight feeling caused goosebumps to break out all over your skin. He trailed it lower, under your chin and skimmed the line of your jaw before you felt his digits splay across the slender column of your neck. There was no stopping the startled gasp that left your lips at the brazen action, and Sebastian seemed to take a deep rooted pleasure in it. 

“I want to believe that you’re out of control because you’ve been in control for too long,” he started to say and tugged you closer. “All that power simmering beneath the surface, it's all you can focus on, isn’t it?” 

There was no chance in hell you trusted yourself to speak, so you nodded. 

Now he was smirking, “I want to see what happens when you give up control. When you stop holding the magic back and just let it flow through you instead. Don’t be afraid of what’ll happen if you let yourself feel it— rather, open yourself to the experience. But I think we both know you’re far too uptight for that, and you’ll fight tooth and nail against your better urges, so I want you to let me take control. Let me steer the boat for a while. You just sit pretty and relax, sound good?”

The hand on your throat was gentle but firm, and your stomach flipped at the vulnerability of it all. You weren’t even sure you had it in you to do what he was asking but Merlin, did he make it sound enticing. Somewhere in your brain the sixteen year old version of yourself was combusting. How many times since starting school had you fantasized about Sebastian? About the two of you tangled in sheets and lost in the euphoria of one another? You could scarcely believe some of the fantasies your hormonal teenage mind had conjured up, but you had never considered anything as bold as this. 

Dumbly realizing you’d been gaping up at him like a fish, you gave his wrist a testing squeeze before nodding. “Alright… how?”

He smiled down at you in earnest, that lust filled look in his eyes deepening by the second. “Now where would be the fun in telling you?”

---

Butterflies was no longer an appropriate term to describe what you were feeling. No, at this point it was more akin to a hurricane tearing you apart from the inside, your anxiety heightened at having been rendered so helpless. Sebastian had wasted little time in whisking you over to the chaise lounge tucked behind the rearranged crates after you’d agreed to essentially let him fuck you. Because that’s what this was, right? He had yet to speak the words but his eyes communicated his intentions well enough. He had gotten to work quickly, tugging his tie from his pocket and coming to stand behind you. You had felt the silky material drift over your eyes before Sebastian knotted it snugly behind your head. 

Blindfolded. 

It hadn’t even been a full minute with it on and you were already shaking, the unknown aspect of everything you were about to do riddling you with undue stress. Sebastian zero’d in on your discomfort right away, sliding his arms around you from behind and pulling you against him. 

“Just relax, I promise you’re safe with me. We can stop at any point and if you don’t like something I do, tell me.” 

His thumbs traced burning circles against the thin cotton of your shirt. With him holding you this way, it was impossible to overlook the hard expanse of his torso pressed against your back. You were overcome with the unique scent of him; cedar and pine, and that telltale musk you could only identify as Sebastian. Unable to see, it felt all the more intimate having to rely on your other senses. 

You forced a shaky breath into your lungs and held it for a second before exhaling. “Okay.”

One of his hands abandoned your waist to trail under your shirt, relishing in the soft skin he felt waiting there. Deft fingers skimmed over your ribs, then your breasts, and you inhaled sharply as he took one of your nipples between his fingers and pinched. “So responsive. Have you ever let anyone touch you like this?” 

As though to punctuate the question, Sebastian moved down your breasts to feel along the plane of your belly to your nether region. His hand slipped beneath the waistband of your trousers, his fingers ghosting over where he knew you wanted them most, and he chuckled at the disappointed sigh you let slip. He nestled his chin into the crook of your neck so his breath tickled your ear as he asked, “Has anyone ever touched you here?” 

Shamelessly your hips twitched closer to Sebastian’s hand, desperate for some kind of stimulation. You were pathetic. Crumbling in his hands— as if you had even been put together in the first place. He drew his hand away from your aching core, clicking his tongue at you, and slowly guided you towards the chaise lounge. He continued to feel over your abdomen with his arms securely wrapped around you before stopping short of the cushions. “Good things come to those who wait,” he chided. “Or are you so desperate to be filled that you’re content to ride my fingers?” 

“Fuck, Sebastian.” You didn’t recognize your own voice. It sounded reedy- airy. Like you were already out of breath and he’d simply been whispering sweet nothings in your ear. 

You felt as he untangled his arms from your waist, then he spun you around and gave you a light shove. The backs of your calves connected with the lounge behind you, and with a barely contained yelp you collapsed onto the velvet surface. 

Sebastian was on you in an instant, his lips claiming yours like he had been starved of your very essence as he hoisted you further up the cushions. His hands were demanding, gripping your hips with such fervor as he kissed you that you were certain he’d leave bruises. You felt him slot his knee between your thighs for better leverage over you, but when he leaned forward to trail wet, hot kisses down your jaw, his leg pressed against that bundle of nerves at your core. 

There was no helping it, you moaned into Sebastian’s mouth at the sensation. Your sounds seemed to stoke the fire, given how he tightened his grip and practically rolled his hips against yours. He was clearly as eager as you were.

Sebastian broke the kiss first to sit back on his heels as he perched on your lap, your body effectively caged beneath his strong legs. His hands roamed over you, taking loose articles of clothing with him as he went, starting with your scarf. “You’re so fucking perfect like this. So willing and pliant.” 

He let the flimsy fabric flutter to the floor before his fingers were tugging at the strings that attached your leather chest plate to your shoulders. That was pried away and discarded along with the rest of the strappy accessories that littered your form. A gasp ripped from your throat as Sebastian’s hands found your breasts beneath your shirt again, kneading and squeezing the skin in a way that had a familiar feeling building within you. 

“I’ve always wanted to know what it would be like to lay with you. How you would feel, what you would look like falling apart on my cock. I want to see that facade slip- I want to watch you flustered and panting and full of my cum, begging for more.”

Without a shadow of a doubt, your brain was short circuiting. To hear such raunchy and filthy promises dripping from Sebastian’s mouth was enough to have you clenching your thighs around his knee, desperate for any kind of friction to accompany the wetness pooling there. He took note of your wriggling instantly and pulled his leg back, leaving you aching and mewling like a mongrel in heat. 

“Ah ah ah, that’s not very patient behavior now is it?” You could hear the grin in his voice as he slid away from you. The chill of the Undercroft covered you instantly, goosebumps breaking out over the exposed flesh of your torso. 

“P-please,” you heard yourself moan. You had no idea what you were even asking for, but you felt Sebastian’s warm hands begin to trail up the tops of your legs, towards the waistband of your pants, before swiftly yanking them down to your ankles. You could feel your face flushing red, the sheer intimacy of being exposed to him in nothing but your undergarments enough to make your heart pound against your chest and drown out the incessant buzz of magic in the back of your mind. 

His ministrations were thoughtful, seeing as he didn’t skip over an inch of skin. Soft, plush lips pressed against your inner thighs, eliciting a shiver from you, before he moved up higher to your naval. He placed another kiss there as his hands roamed up to remove your thin top. It took no time at all, and before you knew it you were laid bare before your most trusted companion. 

“You’re beautiful,” he said to you, causing you to flush deeper. “I’m serious. You’re perfect. All of you is perfect–”

You felt his thumb roughly press against your clit through your underwear then, and you gasped as you arched your back into his touch. “Right here especially. This perfect pussy, so wet for me and we’ve barely even started.” 

The slow, easy circles he traced against your most private area wasn’t enough. He was holding back on purpose, deriving some sort of twisted pleasure in denying you yours. Fighting the urge to buck your hips into his hand, your chest heaved with the massive breath you took in. 

“Questions? Comments? Concerns?” 

“I’m going to kill you if you don’t get on with it, Sallow.” 

You felt his body rock above yours as he barked out a laugh, removing his hand entirely from your clit, much to your dismay. “Is that so? Maybe I should quit while I’m ahead.” 

“No! Merlin, please— don’t stop, I just… I want—“ you blushed from embarrassment as you tripped over your words. The effect this man had on you… 

Sebastian chuckled and started to move so that he no longer caged your body to the lounge, and you instantly missed his weight and warmth. It didn’t last long, however. Before long he had slithered down to kneel in front of you, and you felt as he grabbed your waist and pivoted you so your legs dangled over the edge of your seat. The spark of arousal you felt at being so easily manhandled didn’t escape you. 

“I know,” he finished for you. “Believe me, I know exactly what you want. But you’re letting me steer remember? It wouldn’t be very nice to go back on your word now, would it?” 

You almost told him to hell with it, screw his hypothesis. You foresaw yourself flipping the two of you over so you could take exactly what you wanted from him whether he liked it or not. But then you felt his mouth dance over the thin cloth separating your wet heat from his soft lips, and the fight evaporated from you as the tip of his finger slipped under the fabric and tugged it away gently. 

This damned tie would be the death of you— you’d never wanted to look at someone this badly. The urge to snatch it off was intense. 

Sebastian trailed his fingers around your sex, the teasing touches working you into a frenzy as he took his time toying with you. His other arm came up to press down on your hips, preventing any unwanted jerking or bucking on your part. You were completely at Sebastian’s mercy, your mouth hanging open in a silent plea. 

When his lips closed around your swollen clit, you kicked your head back with a cacophony of sounds. Your cries seemed to fuel Sebastian as he kissed and licked at your center with reckless abandon. The feeling of your muscles tensing beneath him— because of him— drove him wild with lust. The arm bracing your hips pressed down harder as he probed your entrance with his tongue, and there was no stopping the drawn out moan you released at the feeling. 

As you fell apart before him, Sebastian drank in the sight. Your cheeks were flushed with desire, chest heaving with the sharp gasps and pants that fell from your lips. He could see the hair along your arms standing on end, and your kiss-swollen lips mouthed a slew of words that never came out. 

He knew then he was addicted to you. There would be no stopping what was to come after this. 

Quickly, and rather mercifully you might add, Sebastian replaced his tongue with one of his slender fingers, curling it upwards. It reached far deeper than before, the feeling making your toes curl. Letting your head tip back so hit the back of the lounge with a thunk, you heard and felt Sebastian chuckle against you. Taking your relaxed posture as a good sign, he pumped his finger a few times before tentatively adding a second. The stretch was uncomfortable at first, but with his skilled mouth making quick work of you, the discomfort vanished. 

“F-Fuck Sebastian, I can’t much longer, I’m— fuck—“ he silenced you with his tongue, never lessening his attention against your center as he felt you progressively get tighter around his fingers. The grip he had on you would surely leave bruises, but the thought of Sebastian’s marks lingering on your naked body pushed you clean over the edge. 

With a cry of ecstasy you came around Sebastian’s fingers, the stars dancing in your eyes blinding against the steady darkness of his tie. He held you through your orgasm, relishing in each tiny twitch that slipped through your limb body. His mouth stayed on you, overstimulating you until you found the strength to palm at his shoulder. 

He broke away with a wicked strand of saliva dangling between the two of you. The sight sent another bolt of arousal through him, his neglected cock straining against his trousers. 

A few beats passed, the only sound in the Undercroft that of your ragged breathing. Sebastian finally released your waist and scaled the lounge, caging you between the cushions and himself. Cupping your jaw he brought your lips to his, and the taste of yourself on his mouth had you sighing into the kiss. You felt like putty as Sebastian’s warm hands roused you from your post coital state. His tongue delved deep into your mouth, exploring and tasting every inch he could as he lightly pet your hair back. 

Breaking apart took an eternity, but at some point Sebastian opted to get on with things and stepped away from the lounge. You wanted to protest, but then you heard the metal buckle of his belt clink in a way that told you more was yet to come. The muffled sound of clothing being shed had heat pooling in your gut once again. Your knees pressed together instinctually. 

Watching you fall apart was as magnificent as Sebastian had always imagined it would be. Better, even. Seeing your body overcome with pleasure had imbued him with a sense of self-fulfillment that he only wanted to expand upon. Recalling your trembling legs on either side of him, your nails digging into the cushions of the lounge, and your unruly hair tumbling all around you; it only made Sebastian want you that much more. 

“So fucking perfect,” he murmured, and you whimpered.

In a split second Sebastian was ravaging you once again. You gasped as he curled those strong arms under your hips and yanked you down so you were flush with his achingly hard cock. Fuck, did you want to see him. The sheer size of him felt intimidating, his thick shaft pulsing with obvious desire against you, and you heard him groan at the feeling. 

You were positive his hands left scorch marks along your thighs as he gripped them, willing himself to maintain his composure and not slam into you all at once. An inherent, primitive part of him demanded that he fill you, mark you, claim you, all for himself.

On cue you wriggled in Sebastian’s grip, and your slick rubbing against the sensitive head of his cock was all the go ahead he needed. 

Despite his baser urges, Sebastian moved slowly as he aligned himself. He teased along your entrance a few times, committing your stuttered breathing to memory, before gingerly pressing the head into your tight heat. 

“F-Fuck darling, you feel incredible,” he breathed the quiet praises along the smooth skin of your leg, leaving a chaste kiss there before inching his cock in deeper. “Feels amazing.”

The intrusion felt so right in a million different ways. You could barely keep one thought in your mind before twelve more came and replaced it. At this angle you could feel every part of Sebastian sheathed inside of you. His fingers were nothing compared to his cock; it filled you in all the right places, rubbing tantalizingly along your sweet spot as he pulled out nearly all the way, and plunged back in. 

“Fuck! S-Sebastian, you’re so big—“ his hips snapping against yours dragged a cry from your throat, and your hands fisted uselessly against the cushions beneath you. 

Sebastian took note as he set a steady rhythm, grinding his balls against your ass with each rough pass of his cock. He released his hold on your leg, letting it fall against the seat as he gathered your wrists in one hand before pinning them against the back of the lounge. 

You were spread wide for him like this, with your hands restrained above your head and both legs knocked to the side. Sebastian’s free hand came to fist in your hair, tugging your head to the side to lick a wet stripe up the flushed column of your neck. He bit and sucked at the skin there, the sensation of teeth and his tongue laving over the bites too much for your fried brain. 

When he released your hair, you momentarily missed the sting of his grip before you felt the pad of his thumb press down on your clit. 

You didn’t even know what the hell you were saying. Words were definitely falling from your lips but aside from Sebastian’s name and a flurry of curses and moans, the rest got lost in translation. It was too much— without your eyes to take in the scene, your other senses were working in overdrive. Your sweat slick skin prickled, and you felt a shock pass between your and Sebastian’s conjoined hands above you. His grunts and shouts of your name pushed you closer to that familiar coiling in your gut. 

“Please please please— Sebastian I need to see you, please let me look at you. I can’t much longer— fuck—“

You heard an animalistic growl reverberate from deep in Sebastian’s chest before you felt him let go of your wrists and tug his tie over your head. The sight that greeted you was nothing short of sinful, as far as you were concerned. 

Gone was the lanky, boyish-cute Slytherin who you’d first met in your fifth-year. Sebastian was wholly a man now. His broad shoulders were well defined from years of dueling, and the muscles along his back were rippling with each concentrated thrust of his hips. The taut stomach you could now see made your mouth water, your fingers itching to trail down that patch of hair that led to where you were connected. His dark stare was trained solely on you, watching how you reacted as he drank in the hazy, fucked out look in your eyes. You reached for him then, and Sebastian let his fingers intertwine with your own before he shifted so you were flat across the lounge with his delicious weight pressed against your core. 

He began to move faster then, the force of his cock ramming into you causing you to slide up the lounge until your head bumped the arm rest and he was fucking noisy cries of his name right out of you. Tears pooled at the corners of your eyes, your second orgasm being dragged out of you, and you frantically began rutting back with the slightest give you were allowed. 

“More darling?” Sebastian sputtered out a broken moan in your ear, “You want more?” 

“Yes! Yes yes, please Sebastian please, give me everything— fuck—“

With a rough growl, Sebastian was pulling out of you entirely, leaving you whimpering and mewling your displeasure before his hands were back on your waist. You were boneless and completely at his mercy as he dragged you back down the lounge, looping one of his strong arms under your back so you were arched towards him as he rammed his cock back into you, not even pausing to draw breath before he was fucking you straight through the surface, brutal in how rough he was pounding into you but fuck— if it isn’t exactly what you needed. 

Your spine rounded further off the lounge as you flung your head back and wailed for Sebastian, your nails coming up to claw at his back and over his shoulders then down his arms, leaving angry red stripes in their wake. Your voice was so much needier, so much raspier than Sebastian ever remembered hearing it. As he thrusted into you with reckless abandon, his free hand trailing up your chest and gripping your throat again, squeezing just hard enough to pull you on to his cock with more force, and when your eyes flew open with a choked gasp, he saw the red sparks crackling behind the irises. 

When you finally came, you screamed, long and loud, and Sebastian knew better than to stop now, so he picked up his pace, fucking you through your orgasm while he chased his own. It didn’t take him much longer, the tight heat of your pulsing cunt more than enough to send him spiraling over the edge with you. 

Sebastian came with a grunt, the tempo of his hips faltering before he ground his cock deep within you and you felt him empty inside. The final sensation brought you higher than you ever thought possible, and through your closed eyelids you saw flashes of red all around you. 

Sebastian opened his bleary eyes and was greeted by one hell of a sight— you were glowing. Literally. Red sparks of lightning seemed to dance over your entire body, fizzling out at the top of your head and the tips of your fingers and toes. You were so caught up in the euphoria of your come down that you barely noticed Sebastian had stopped moving until you felt his hand on your cheek. 

You cracked an eye open at him, the blissfully fucked out look on your face overshadowed entirely by the unique coloring to your eyes. They were glowing red, too. 

“Holy fuck,” Sebastian whispered, his voice gravelly. His eyes were unblinking as they roamed your naked body, taking in the sight of Isidora’s power slipping out around you both, charging the air and tickling his skin in the areas you were still connected. 

You realized it then too, raising your hand to your face in time to watch the bolts of magic recede back beneath your skin. The residual glow behind your eyes faded, leaving a calm silence in its wake. Your head felt clear, the constant buzzing you’d grown accustomed to nowhere to be found. When Sebastian took your hand in his you found yourself searching his expression for any signs of fear or repulsion at your unintentional revelation. 

Instead you simply saw pure adoration. 

“That was incredible,” he practically purred as he pulled out, and you instantly missed the feeling of being filled by him. “I’ve never seen anything like that before.” 

Despite your better judgment, you couldn’t help but feel self-conscious that he had seen anything at all. You pushed yourself up, drawing your knees to your chest to wrap your arms around yourself protectively. 

“It’s not incredible,” you murmured. “It’s unfortunate. It’s a terrible reminder that I should have left well enough alone. I’m a freak.” 

“Hey,” his hands were so gentle, so at odds with the rough nature they had exhibited not even five minutes earlier. “Don’t say that, please. You’re not a freak. You did exactly what you thought was right– if you hadn’t we would all probably be dead right now. But if it’s any consolation, I meant the sex was incredible. Not that you glowing wasn’t incredible too– I mean, you’ve always been beautiful. The magic just gave you a little extra flare.” 

You couldn’t help but chuckle softly at his reassurances. Of course Sebastian of all people would find something positive to say about the unknown, ancient magic that thrummed in your veins. 

He let his hands drift from your shoulders to cup your cheeks, pulling your half hidden face out of your knees to kiss you deeply. The action said everything words couldn’t, and you found yourself leaning further into his touch, chasing the warmth that you so desperately craved. 

After a few languid moments Sebastian asked, “How do you feel?” 

You knew what he meant. “Better. A lot better, actually. Usually it feels like there’s something… sentient at the back of my mind. It’s always there, but not now. It’s quiet.” 

That trademark grin of his appeared in a flash, and you knew then that you had fortuitously inflated his ego. “So you’d say my hypothesis was valid? Does that mean this can be considered a treatment method in the future?” 

A bark of laughter escaped you as you reached up to swat his shoulder. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, Sallow. Some things have to be earned.”

Sebastian leaned forward to kiss you again, the feeling of his lips on yours chasing away any lingering doubts or concerns. Maybe your magic would worsen. Maybe it really would change you entirely if you gave it enough time. But until that day came, so long as you had Sebastian with you, the thought didn’t seem quite as scary. Perhaps with him by your side, you could find an alternative and right the wrongs of the past. 

Only time would be able to tell. 

[seaofgoldensand]

can we meet again once more? she falls asleep unbeknownst that her dream-self is awaiting to meet with dawnbreaker, but this time dawnbreaker wishes to talk to her about something personal.

note: thanks to this quote i found on tumblr that made me immediately think of dawnbreaker and @zayne-snowman for being an awesome zayne roleplayer (gimmick blog is a new term that i actually genuinely like and will use it now), since reading their posts of people interacting with dawnbreaker, it made me adore zayne even more as a rafayel girlie aheh. anyway! to those that read this, i hope you enjoy!

warning: angst once more (this will be my stamp), slight hurt with comfort, he will do anything to ensure she is ok whether mentally or physically, hints of pieces from foreseer myth if you squint

another day of being a hunter has passed and the city is as peaceful as i can be. that was her duty and she loved to provide that help in not only protecting the city, but also protecting her fourteen year old self. 

now she can return home and settle herself in bed where unbeknownst to her, she would meet a man that she forgot in the waking life, but remembers very well in her dreams. as she falls asleep, a warmth surrounds her more than her blanket, there is a smile on her face that translates to the one in her dreams as she felt warm arms wrap around her body.

the man was silent, burying his face against her neck and inhaling the sweet scent of her perfume and letting it linger in his senses, allowing himself to engrave it into his mind for when he must let her go once more. she remained where she was, unsure of how she got here, but the man standing and hugging her from behind like she was the most delicate snowflake in a world full of snowstorms was no stranger to her. 

“i’m sorry, dawnbreaker… did i make you wait for too long?” she asked softly, raising her hands to rest on his arms, squeezing them gently as she turned her head to brush her lips gently against his temple. 

he shook his head, holding her closer. “no, not at all. in fact, if you don’t know, i’ll remind you… i will wait for however long i need to just to see you and hold you like this again.”

she smiled, although it was a mix of sorrow and happiness, two emotions that could never coexist with one another, yet were easy to conceive. then, she turned around and cupped dawnbreaker’s face, her fingers gently drumming against his cheeks as she gazed up at him. 

“even if the certainty of me returning is little to none? you would risk that much if it meant you’d see me again? am i really worth that much?” 

it had been a question that was stuck in her mind like a fly in a venus fly trap, no matter how much she tried to remove the thought, the insecurity to ensure nothing came between her and dawnbreaker, that question became a plague and dawnbreaker must have sense the shift as he immediately drew her in closer.

“of course. in this world, i have nothing left. i want to be selfish. allow me to be selfish and i promise to take care of you as much as i possibly can here in this world. it’s—” 

“fleeting.” she finished his sentence with a tender smile. “everything around us and us in general is fleeting, yet if it’s all i can have, i could never wish for anything more. and you can be selfish, dawnbreaker. in a sense, this is your world and i’m becoming a permanent visitor, until you no longer want me to come back.” 

dawnbreaker eased back and stared at her with his piercing gaze before he grabbed her chin, gently tilting it up so their eyes met. “there will never be a day where i’m not looking forward to your return. there will never be a day where i wish for you not to return. and there will never be a day that i stop myself from feeling these emotions you give me. for once in this life of mine, i feel something and it’s all because of you.” 

she listened intently and nodded her head. insecurities plagued her mind, but dawnbreaker never once allowed those insecurities and self-sabotaging tendencies to remain in her head for too long. perhaps, that is why it was so easy for her to fall for him. how she felt so drawn to his presence, that she would do everything in her power to meet in the same world in her dreams. 

“then, when i fall asleep, i will do my best to make sure to meet you once more. over and over again until our worlds allow us to meet face to face outside of our dreams.”

“do you believe such a thing is possible?”

“i do. it’s all thanks to you, dawnbreaker.” 

dawnbreaker was quiet as he finally pulled away from her and held out his hand. “come, then, let’s have a walk. there is something i wanted to talk to you about. nothing horrible, i assure you… just something that has been on my mind.”

as the two walked and the snow gentle fell over the city, dawnbreaker stopped in front of a cafe. he gazed through the window and in there was a scene that did not belong to his world. in there was a version of him who was a doctor and she was there sitting in front of him, eating lunch it would seem. he could not help but feel bitter that this version of himself was allowed to be with her when she is awake.

“dawnbreaker?” she spoke out softly when she noticed him seemingly staring into the empty cafe. “what’s wrong?” 

he turned and looked at her before shaking his head. “it’s nothing…” he stated, and she did not pry any further. 

they walked a few steps more before they stumble onto a field of jasmine flowers. it was then that she let go of dawnbreaker’s hand and ran to the field of flowers, frowning.

“oh no! i knew i was forgetting something, have they not bloomed since?” 

“they are just resting, and do not worry about taking care of them, we can only do so much in this environment. ah, but come back here.”

he had gestured for her to return to his side, but instead he walked over to stand beside her, coaxing her to stand up before he held her hand. “are you curious as to what i wish to talk to you about?” 

“i am, but i don’t want to pry, so i would wait until you’re ready to talk about it.” 

“you’ve called me dawnbreaker since the day we met, but can you stop calling me that?” 

“oh—does it bother you?” 

“no, i am used to it, but i want you to call me by my real name.” 

she tilted her head, curiosity sparkled in her eyes as she met his gaze. 

“from now on, you can call me zayne.” 

the name tugged something in her chest, her hand then turning to interlace her fingers with his as she gave it a gentle and reassuring squeeze. 

“all right, then. thank you… zayne.” 

that odd muscle in dawnbreaker’s chest skipped a beat upon hearing her utter his name with such delicacy, it confused him for a bit before he regained his senses, stepped forward and held her in his arms. he cupped her chin once more and leaned down as he lifted her face up for their lips to meet in a sweet kiss. 

“no, darling, thank you.”

“but i haven’t done—” she whispered against his lips after their deep kiss. 

“you’ve done much more than you may ever know.”

her dream was spent on time with dawnbreaker, this time she managed to make him laugh and she could not help how happy it made her feel when he caught himself and tried to play it off, something about his image and how it could not be ruined.

but as the time approached for her to wake up again, she hugged dawnbreaker extra tight this time, placed a kiss onto his cheek and promised to see him once more when they both fall asleep.

but when she awakened from her slumber, she was left with an empty feeling. she sat up and touched her lips where she dreamed of someone kissing her goodbye. she furrowed her brows trying to recall the dream, but no memory came to mind. 

“as always…” she mumbled to herself as she got up to open the blinds of her window. she thought of the man in her dreams, she knew it was a man, but she could not recall a face, not even features. just thoughts and memories of his touches and words, nothing more, no face to place onto the unknown figure. 

“do you exist or have i made you up?”

[massiveladycat]

crazy fact that 'leah is our annabeth' antis really need to think about: both of them can coexist at the same time. one is not more valid than the other. you can have your blonde, tanned annabeth. we can have our black annabeth. it's really not hurting anyone. don't like seeing art of show-canon annabeth?? aw, man, scroll past, really fucking easy to not make yourself look racist. honestly, i like seeing them both at the same time. i love seeing blonde, book-canon annabeth. i love seeing black annabeth. little me would've been so, so happy to see a black annabeth in the percy jackson show. because finally, there was a girl on T.V. who looked like me. i was so insecure about my skin because i used to think that only white girls were pretty and i was ugly. and by some people's standards, i was. and i know there were other POC who felt the same way. (i dont think that anymore.) so get your shit together. nostalgia does not matter when you're out here, screaming at other people because they like to embrace the fact that annabeth chase can be black or white. book-canon does not matter when you're out here, white-washing people's art and spamming their replies and hunting down 'leah is our annabeth' tags so, not that you can act fucking mature and just block the tag to keep your ass from attacking people, but so you can go and harass others. i dont fucking care about how you want it to be book-accurate. what matters is that those kids, acting for you so you can be happy, are comfortable. walker will not dye his hair black for you. leah will not bleach her skin. you have no right to harass a thirteen, fourteen year old girl because she's not white. it's not about you nothing will ever justify 'leah is our annabeth' antis. and i promise you, if the fact that leah's black upsets you, that's showing your true colors.

[ash5monster01]

First Snow

Pairing: Charlie Dalton x FemReader

Warnings: grief, mentions of depression, mentions of suicide, angst, language, coping, fluff, comfort, romance.

Summary: Charlie used to love the first snow of the year, now all it did was remind him of Neil. When the first snow comes you do everything in your power to make it better for him. Even if it doesn’t entirely work he still loves you for trying.

a/n: this is loosely based around Lorelei Gilmore’s love of snow and the fact that I live in Western New York and we’ve already gotten our first snow of the season. It’s that time of year folks, enjoy xx

word count: 2k

Masterlist

It was normal for you and Charlie to spend time like this. Side by side in a quiet home, books propped in hand, glasses hung low on your faces. Sometimes it was pleasant to have someone to spend those quiet moments with and not feel the need to fill the silence with unnecessary conversation. You could just coexist, in one spot, and one moment, enjoying the presence of another while imagining another world in itself. You lived for nights like this and loved the man beside you. Normally nothing could keep you from shattering such a perfect moment but then you see it.

At first you think you’re imagining it but as your eyes flick up from the page of your book into the window outside you realize it’s snowing. Probably has been all afternoon and you both had been too busy reading to notice. It’s almost impossible to sit still as the excitement rushes through you. You loved snow. Especially the first real snow of the season. There was something magical about it and it reminded you of all the good in the world. Thing was, the boy beside you didn’t quite feel the same. Snow was not something that brought him happiness, instead it reminded him of moments lost in time, full of grief and heart ache.

You were torn and doing everything you could not to burst with excitement because it was snowing and had been long enough to cover the ground in pillows of fluffy white snow. They flakes were thick and falling heavy. The wind blowing them around and the lights from peoples homes illuminating them on the ground. It was as if the lawn was covered in sparkles and its spot light was the moon. Nothing would make you happier than going outside and breathing in that fresh snow air. The only thing stopping you was finding the right way to get the boy beside you to agree.

“Charles?” you hummed out, eyes finally moving from the window pane in front of you to look at the boy beside you. Your hand fell softly on his leg and his stomach instantly erupted in butterflies from your touch.

“Yes honey” he asked sweetly, eyes struggling to pull from the page he was on in his book.

“If I ask you something can you promise not to say no?” now he was confused, eyebrows furrowing as he glanced up at you.

“I could never say no to you” he told you earnestly and the sentence almost made you feel somewhat guilty for what you were about to say to him.

“Would you go outside with me?” you quickly asked before you lost the nerve and Charlie wore his confused look until his eyes flicked to the window and then back to you. It was snow. You loved snow. He hated snow.

It was snowing the last time he had ever seen his friend, wearing that devastated face as he got in the car with his Dad. It was snowing when he was woken up by that dreaded phone call. It was snowing when he had to tell all of his friends and see their heartbroken faces. It was snowing when they chased Todd outside. That very snow clung to his eyelashes and melted beside his tears. He had to scoop a handful of that snow to wipe away Todd’s puke. It was snow that tripped up Todd as he cried and yelled out for their friend. Snow was nothing other than frozen tears falling from the sky in mourning of Neil. He hated snow, but he loved you.

“I- baby” he didn’t want to say no. How could he? Not after what he just said.

“I know, I know you hate it. I know what snow means to you, but Charlie it’s beautiful out there. Can’t you see it?” you begged and Charlie nervously looked to the window. It was beautiful, and maybe that was why it hurt so much. That something so beautiful can become ugly after moments in time. Snow once did remind him of Winters at Welton, throwing snowballs at each other’s heads, sneaking out at midnight to the old Indian Cave. Snow used to be youthful and now it was dreadful.

“Ten minutes” he finally said, eyes softening towards you. Probably the only person he’d be willing to face the snow with.

“Thirty” you bargained and he couldn’t help the chuckle that fell from his lips.

“Twenty and we can make hot chocolate” now you were bouncing in your seat, no longer holding back the excitement over the first snow of the year.

“Deal” you cheered before planting a wet kiss on his cheek and rushing to grab your coats, gloves, hats, and scarves. Charlie only chuckled as he finally abandoned his book and stood to make the promised hot chocolate.

It isn’t long until you’re both stood on the porch of your home. The snow flurrying around you and to the ground. Charlie thinks you’re absolutely adorable in your knitted hat and matching scarf. Your hot chocolate is half drank but you’re ready to abandon it for the snow. He doesn’t want to hold you back since you’re clearly jittery, eyes wide as you stare at the snow that you can’t decide what to do with first. A snow angel, maybe a snowball to throw at a Charlie, or best of all a snow man even though there clearly isn’t enough for it.

“Do you want to dance?” it’s you who is shocked now, eyes wide as you look at Charlie who suggested it. Dancing didn’t entirely have anything to do with snow, he could dance. He has always loved dancing with you, what difference did it make if it was in this chilly weather?

“I’d love too” you told him quickly and he smiled as he pulled you down the porch with him and into the lawn. The snow crunched beneath your feet and you couldn’t help but giggle as he swung you into his arms and started to sway.

“There isn’t any music” you told him softly, eyes fluttering to his pink cheeks, airbrushed by the cold air itself.

“We don’t need it” he told you and finally you were grinning as you held him close and waltzed through the fluffy white yard. You let the moment sink in, soft cheek pressed to Charlie’s warm chest. The snow fluttered to the ground around you and you couldn’t keep the question in any longer.

“Do you think there will ever be a time the snow reminds you of this moment and not the bad ones?” you felt him stiffen against you, shocked and bit confused by your question.

“I don’t think so, I think there will be a time that reminds me of both though. That gives me hope” you smile against his chest as your heart aches for him. You wish he hadn’t faced the things in life that he did. Charlie should’ve been too pure to be touched by the harsh world.

“Can you tell me a happy memory about snow?” you asked softly into the night air and you felt Charlie’s cheek press against the top of your head.

“When we were thirteen the first snow came to Welton. Neil loved snow. It was the only day he couldn’t focus in class because he could see the snow out of the window. He somehow convinced me to ditch Mr. McAllisters latin class to go outside” you chuckled softly against him, knowing it didn’t take much convincing at all the get Charlie to skip latin.

“Ditching class at Welton, risky” you commented and Charlie just grinned, trying to picture that perfect white snow behind his thirteen year old eyes.

“It was, which is why it was no surprise we were caught within twenty minutes, having been spotted from the classroom windows throwing snowballs at one another” and now you were downright laughing and Charlie chuckled along with you, the memory burning a hole through the bad ones.

“That wasn’t very clever, obviously class was still going on” you teased and he just rolled his eyes as he tipped your face up to look at him again.

“It didn’t matter to us, until Nolan came outside to break us up. Neil had ducked and my snowball launched straight into Nolan’s face. I was put on pots and pans for three weeks but the image of that snow bursting across his face made it all worth it” Charlie told you before pressing a small kiss to the tip of your nose that had now become red from the chilly air.

“Only you” you muttered and even though it was vague Charlie knew what it meant. It was your way of saying he was the only one for you. So he kissed you as the snow fell and stuck to your clothes. You hummed in delight over the chocolate taste of his lips and kissing him in the snow which was now so much better than the rain. Whoever thought kissing in the rain was more romantic than a quiet snowy night was wrong.

“Do you have your gloves?” Charlie softly asked after he pulled away, eyes searching your own and filled with adoration.

“Yeah, why?” you furrowed your brows and he cracked a smile, gloved hand pressing out the crease between your brows.

“You won’t know if we can build a snowman unless you try” and you were grinning ear to ear, hugging him tight before dropping to the ground in the soft snow. Charlie only laughed as you put on your gloves and started to scoop in the small layer of snow dusting the yard.

“I’ll find him some arms and eyes” he told you, and you nodded as you focused on combining the snow together. By the time Charlie had returned with sticks and a few rocks you had made a base of the snowman baseball size and the head as teeny as a golf ball. He snorted lightly as he dropped beside you with his sticks that were much too big for your snowman.

“He’s terrible, I know” you pouted lightly, cursing mother nature for not gifting enough snow to make the snowman of your dreams.

“No, he’s perfect. He’s just missing a few things” Charlie told you, reaching for his branches where he snapped off two twigs and stuck them into the sides. Then he grabbed the smallest two rocks he had found and shoved them in the head that was still just a touch to small for them.

“His eyes are huge” you giggled and Charlie smiled at you as he wrapped an arm around your shoulders.

“He just has a lot of things he wants to see” Charlie told you and you grinned at him as you both took in the sight of your foot tall snowman.

“He’ll grow into them” you told him and he smiled, lips grazing across your chilled forehead.

“Yeah, he’s still young” he agreed and you knew in a way that meant Charlie would be willing to do this again, when more snow finally fell to the earth and surrounded you both.

“I’m pretty sure it’s been twenty minutes” you told him and he shrugged, eyes looking up to the sky that continued to drop snowflakes to the ground.

“It’s okay, I’m okay right here” he told you and you quickly hugged him close, lips capturing his own. They were almost a touch too cold, a chance of getting stuck together, but you didn’t mind. This was progress and if Charlie could make snow happy again you would never be in a position to say no.

“I love you” you told him and he smiled as he brushed some snowflakes away from your eyelashes.

“More than snow?” he questioned and you laughed, the sound filling the cold night air around you.

“A hundred times more than snow”

[pebblysand]

Why’s fan fiction so bad these days.

hi anon! i can't tell if this is a dig at my fics, a dig at other people's fics, or just a standard observation. having said that, i typically don't answer asks that don't say hello/thank you/some sort of minimal human acknowledgement but i did find this an interesting question to raise, so.

i don't necessarily think fanfic is "bad" "these days". IMO, the ratio of good v. bad fic has been pretty much equal in most of the fandoms i've been in overtime. about 30-40% are so bad they're unreadable (i'm talking: awful grammar, terribly OOC, plot that makes no sense, etc.). about 50-60% are "a bit meh", meaning that if you're in a very small fandom where there is nothing else to read, you'll probably read them out of sheer content starvation, but they won't really give you anything of substance. if you're in a big fandom with loads of content, you'll probably pass on them. then, you have probably about 9% that are really good. this, to me, is the stuff you would recommend if you were building a rec list for others, which you believe everyone should read. and lastly, you have the top 1%. those are the fics that have taken your breath away, are imprinted in your brain forever, you've re-read them ad nauseam and have written love letters to the authors about.

i find this ratio pretty much invariable. it was the same when i was writing for Silk, for The Good Wife, and now for HP. it also seems to be the same per HP niche. to me, there's a top 10% of post-war fics, there's a top 10% of harmony fics, etc.

but the major thing to note here is that what is top 10% for me might not be top 10% for you. that's why you don't have everyone reading or reccing the same things, and that's the joy and the beauty of diversity of taste and opinion, as far as i'm concerned. it's why i disagree with your general assessment that "fanfic is bad" "these days". that's something you think - not necessarily something someone else would think, on the basis of the content published. to give you an example, in hinny circles, i see floreatcastellum and northumbrian recommended a lot. on tiktok, i see manacled recommended a lot. having skimmed through these works, they -- personally -- do not do anything for me. but that doesn't mean they're "bad" fics. i'm sure they're great fics. they are loved by many, many people. they're just not something i vibe with, and they're not in my top 10%. just like loads of people think my fics are not for them. and that's absolutely fine. as long as you don't come in screaming in all caps insulting authors whose works you don't vibe with, we can all very happily coexist.

having said that, i have to admit that as far as my taste goes, i'm currently building a massive Google Sheets rec list (yes, coming soon, i promise ^^). one of the things i'm tracking in this rec list is the date of publication/completion of the work. and from what i can see at this stage, the average date of publication of my top 10% works is 2016. which, i think, does also say something. while i do still find loads of fics published semi-recently that i like, i also do have to acknowledge the fact that if we're looking at my own personal taste... you're probably kind of right.

so, why is fanfiction so bad these days?

i think a large part of it is that my personal taste doesn't necessarily align with that of the wider public. i'm not on-trend, let's say. AUs are pretty much the gold standard now, and particularly what-if AUs (e.g. what if Harry was a Muggle? what if Ron was in Slytherin? what if Sirius survived? etc.) you see tonnes of these recommended on reddit/being published all the time. loads of people are also interested in more exploration of characters and niche ships i'm personally not interested in (marauders, death eaters, etc.) there is also a prominence of fluff (or low-stakes romantic angst), particularly in the hinny, dramione and drarry fandoms. it's escapism from canon (and possibly, escapism from the harsh reality of our world), that i just personally don't vibe with/am not looking for. we see this in original fiction as well, with the drive towards fantasy/romantasy in recent years, and more recently still, with "cosy" literature. i don't particularly enjoy these genres in original fiction either, so i think that's probably also why i don't particularly vibe with the fanfic in that same trend.

i also think, just overall, there is less content being published in the HP fandom in general. thus, proportionally, less fics people will vibe with. this is in part simply due to the age of the source material (this happens to TV shows a lot: once a series is over, people tend to gradually drop out of fandom). it's also, i believe, due to the fact that there was a boom of fandom involvement during covid (as people had nothing else to do), and that people have now gradually dropped back out. lastly, it is probably also due to the fact that a large portion of people who used to be in fandom have dropped out due to JKR's controversial opinions. all of these things combined means that there is less overall content, and thus less content you're going to like as an individual.

additionally, globally, many countries are currently experiencing a cost-of-living crisis. this matters because, as i always say, "fanfiction is a rich person's hobby". meaning that: if you're going to truly make an effort in writing, and truly get involved in fandom, you need to have time on your hands. time you won't have anymore if you're struggling, having to work multiple jobs to make ends meet. writing at a high level is a massive time suck and very few people, right now, can afford to spend hours upon hours producing free content. it's sad, but it's true. so, of course, that's inevitably going to drive good writers out of fandom. and, sadly, it will disproportionally impact good writers, because they will be the ones who will spend the most time on their craft. it's very quick to write shit fic with loads of grammatical mistakes, much harder/longer to write something high-quality. it also disproportionally impacts, of course, marginalised communities, who will then not produce the high-quality content that represents them.

lastly, i also think that one thing that demotivates writers at the moment, is an overall drop in community engagement. i was very reluctant to buy into this up until very recently because, tbh, i always get the ick when people try and argue that things were "better before" but i have to admit... i've been getting loads of comments/DMs lately from people telling me things like "i never typically comment on fanfic, but...[your fic is great]" or people coming out of the woodwork telling me they've been reading castles for years, without ever making contact before. and, not to criticise any of these people, because i truly cherish every single comment, and i understand people might feel very nervous engaging, but you have to admit that if So Many People do the same thing, you end up in a situation where many good writers get demotivated thinking no one is reading their fics because they're not getting any engagement. and, while yes, people should write for themselves first, it's easier said than done when you're just posting into the void.

so, yeah, idk, maybe instead of complaining, we should be looking at making writing conditions better for online writers and encourage more diversity in fandom. you're always going to have trends and writing styles that you more ore less vibe with, that's immutable, but creating the conditions for more voices to be able to participate is definitely a very large factor in that.

[transexualpirate]

this is very interesting actually. i do believe in letting people do whatever they want. but more than that, why would anyone think those two things are mutually exclusive?

"let people do whatever they want" and "pregnancy can be a horribly traumatizing experience that no one should have to go through against their will" can and should coexist. especially because i think that an abortion shouldn't exclusively happen on the basis that it'd be bad for the person. i also wholeheartedly believe that even if a person is physically financially and emotionally able to have a baby, if they're simply not interested in having that baby, they can and should abort freely.

does that mean that i don't empathize or advocate for the rights of whoever is getting that abortion? i don't think so. the fact is, i don't think the reason why someone wants an abortion matters all that much. because one of my fundamental beliefs is in radical bodily autonomy. as long as you're not harming anyone do whatever you want forever. so yeah. shrug. let people do whatever they want i guess.

and no, i don't really get how you can be against abortion and simultaneously against someone getting, for instance, top surgery. why are you cherry picking bodily autonomy? this isn't to say that you can literally do whatever you want all the time (some reading comprehension, please!). of course there are boundaries. examples: you can get any tattoo you want, unless it's a hate symbol, and in that case, it's actively harming people, so you can't. you can do whatever you want with your hair, unless you're white and want to get dreads. in that case, you'd be appropriating something that isn't from your culture and it'd be actively harming people (and also, it'd probably ruin your hair but that's not the reason why). but as long as you're not hurting anyone, you can do whatever you want forever, in my opinion, and the reasons why you're doing it aren't that groundbreakingly important safe a few obvious examples. i don't care what the reasons behind you getting an abortion are, ill fight for your right to get it regardless. i also i don't care what the reasons behind you getting "gender reassignment surgery" are, or you getting a piercing, or an ugly tattoo, or a boob job. of course im allowed to personally think they're stupid, or influenced by things that i fundamentally disagree with, or i think your reasons are just shitty and personally believe you shouldn't get it. but ill still fight for your right to be able to get it anyways. it's your body. you're the one that has to live in it, not me. and i support radical bodily autonomy.

and lastly i think the tags are just objectively stupid. im south american and most of the people i surround myself with have the same belief. ive never even set foot outside of my country. i can promise you the anglos didn't invent bodily autonomy. and of course we believe in boundaries. and "culturally allergic" is kind of an odd expression. weird take, but whatever.

as always this is just my personal opinion and im open to discussion.

EDIT: i realized i forgot to crop out the url, so i edited the post. please reblog this version without the urls and don't send that person hate. this is what they want and it will be used against us after.

[kawthar63194]

— 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐈 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐚𝐰 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐨

┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊___________ ׂׂૢ་༘࿐

Hiiii there!

literally my first and last post lol (nah jk, definitely not the last)

ANYWAY!! let's talk about HOW I (re)changed so easily???? my personality while I didn't even know about loa 😭 actually, no, not the how, cause we all know it!!! okay little storytime

It was about 2 or 3 years ago. I'm too lazy to say what class I was in, but I was extremely cringe. Like, really. If I saw my old me of that year I would definitely slap her 😠 lemme describe her in some words (TW depression???) :

cringe af

attention-seeker

false depressed (kinda)

a bit pessimistic

extrovert though

and well that's about it! also, this was my worst school year. This sorta affected my persona and there you go…i AIN'T born like that, I've always had the personality I have right now, it's just that my assumptions had affected it and I had to go back to being like before ok, let's continue. At some point in the year, I discovered what is now my love interest (joking again) MY BREATHING: a manga.

The Promised Neverland. chief's kiss‼

Emma. she changed everything, at the point that's now it's frustrating to compare/separate me to her cause I am her. This mf of manga inspired me, soooo soo soo much, you can't imagine!! I changed all my ideals my life, my mindest, thanks to this masterpiece So, old me after reading the manga and sobbing because of the ending not gonna spoil for those who are reading, decided to BE her to honor her, and also because I preferred to have an optimistic personality rather than a nasty depressive character. Like, at the moment I decided it, I knew it could be me. I knew I could act like her until it became me. So I did.

the very embodiment of the "fake it till you make it" mindest ✌

I didn't even know the LOA and shifting before, I just changed my 4d that easily!! I began to act like her, copying all her facial expressions, her words, acting according to her decisions, her way of speaking until it became part of me again and I was compared to her, especially my two best friends who took me as her reincarnation HELP I even became ENFJ although I already was, I think, my dark sasuke and baka period hid all that I am now extremely optimistic, cheerful, selfless, athletic and academically intelligent again, and this is a fact in my 4d and 3d! <3 rn it has become me, totally.

In my tpn dr, I take her place by being me and keeping the same first name but with her story and her physique yk beacause the level of frustration would be so high if I coexisted with her, two look-alikes? nah, i'd win.

I just was, until I am.

NOW YOU CAN DO IT YAAAA I BELIEVE IN YOU ALL!!!!

[fantasyinvader]

I know a lot of people compare Houses to the Shin Megami Tensei franchise, specifically the Persona series because of the school setting. I'd add that the game making allusions to various real world religions through it's symbolism, as well as using the tarot, would further this. Not to mention, how some games give the story as breadcrumbs and expect the player to figure everything out from those. However, I don't feel that Houses is meant to invoke the Law/Chaos/Neutral alignments with it's routes because Law and Chaos are meant to be two sides of the same coin, invoking what Michael Moorcock intended when he created in his works before Dungeons and Dragons bastardized the concept, whereas neutral routes tend to go against the idea of coexistence to the point of being criticized as genocide routes.

But as I thought about this, I couldn't help but feel something. Edelgard embodies the WORST qualities of the three alignments.

With Law, Edelgard seeks to impose her will upon the people of Fodlan and is willing to go to horrific lengths under an “ends justify the means” mindset. The game accuses her of wanting to replace Sothis with herself, even to the point where she takes over the Church to spread her own messages. She'll talk about how she will protect those who support her but destroy those who oppose her or her ideals. Siding with Edelgard an act of blind faith, as from the beginning of the game we've seen evidence of her evil deeds. It also means ignoring Byleth's character and changing the story, us pushing our choices onto Byleth, who would otherwise side against Edelgard of their own free will.

But then you look at Chaos, which promises freedom. Except it's a social Darwinist form of freedom, where the strong oppress the weak. Chaos tends to try and make people join it of their own free will, but is not above manipulating you as well such as in Nocturne where Lucifer's manipulations will strip the Demi-fiend of his free will in the True Demon path. And despite all the talk about YHVH being a tyrant, Lucifer is the strongest demon of the Tyrant class linking to the fact that for all her talk of freedom, Edelgard's path is supposed to lead to tyranny and oppression as she imposes her social Darwinist beliefs on Fodlan. The fact that Edelgard invokes demonic imagery, specifically Baphomet, only serves as the icing on top.

At the end of the day, however, the two aren't that far apart from each other. Hell, angels will support social Darwinism in Nocturne because it provides them a means to look down upon others. This owes to Moorcock, where either side achieving absolute victory would spell the end of the world.

Then you have the Neutral routes, where you reject heaven and hell to create a path for humanity. We could see this as Edelgard taking out the Church before removing the Agarthans. But this means wiping out those who've helped you, meaning that humans can only achieve freedom from gods and demons through the help... of gods and demons who've they made to support them. It, and the implications of genocide against non-humans, make it more human supremacist than anything. But in other instances, it's framed as putting things back to the way they used to be which is what Edelgard says she's doing in the Japanese version. This is in contrast to Fire Emblem's themes of coexistence.

Edelgard embodies the worst of each alignment, and you can't help but feel it's meant to be a criticism of the system in the first place. Such an alignment system doesn't really work, as it narrows everything down to some extreme. It leads to either ideological or religious zealotry where every choice sucks various degrees of ass. It's hard to say that a SMT game has any real morality to them, aside from spin-offs like Persona or Digital Devil Saga, as not matter the route you perform questionable actions (play SMT2 as a traditional good guy to see what I mean). Despite this, player characters have been referred to as “messiahs,” even TDE Demi-fiend.

And I think that's the true message of Houses. It's against zealotry, blind faith and how that's used to justify atrocities. I'm going to point out a few things before continuing.

Edelgard's nickname is “El,” which is an ancient word or title referring to a god. At the end of Flower, the player is made to call her that if they choose her S support.

Building off of this, the devs said that part of the theme of Flower was having different beliefs and because of those beliefs mowing down anyone who stands in your way.

Conversely they identify Byleth's flag, the save icon of Silver Snow, as the game's Fire Emblem stating it reflects the belief others place in Byleth.

Byleth gains the powers of the Goddess Sothis, while Edelgard is accused of wanting to replace the Goddess with herself as she reshapes Fodlan to suit her ideals.

Ergo, Flower is about the player believing in Edelgard over Byleth (as Byleth's default choice is to fight against her), her taking over the role of the game's god figure. But to do this requires the player to ignore what they they don't wish to see, much like Edelgard herself does. It ignores what she was working with the people you fought all through-out White Clouds, providing them aid in addition to hiring an assassin with orders to kill her classmates. In addition, it involves looking the other way when Edelgard's claims are contradicted by the worldbuilding, when acts as a hypocrite, when innocents are hurt or killed as part of her plan or even the implications of endings unique to her route. Most of all, it means ignoring the growing pile of evidence that Edelgard is a liar who will say whatever she needs to in order to look like the hero.

In other words it takes blind faith in Edelgard, or wilful ignorance, in order to complete Flower. But then compare this to Rhea, Dimitri and Claude. How Rhea's belief in her mother caused her to ignore Fodlan's moral decline as she believed that when she revived her mother, Sothis would fix everything. Rhea, if she lives, gets her best ending when she realizes this failing and instead returns to , duties as Archbishop and the results are said to be miraculous. Dimitri's beliefs led him to killing those who hurt others, believing his duties were to the dead even if it meant he became a monster himself. He's saved by realizing his beliefs were wrong and his real duty is towards helping the living. Meanwhile, Claude's own ideals are hypocritical on his part until he puts aside his prejudice against the Church. Kinda hard to champion accepting the beliefs of others when you decide to destroy a religion you blame for Fodlan's problems, especially since Claude realizes just how wrong he was about the Church in his initial assessment.

You could make an argument that Rhea, Dimitri and Claude all start off as some form of zealot and their best development is to grow beyond that. Byleth's story is about seeing what Edelgard does and not turning a blind eye, seeing Edelgard's actions for what they really are, and doing the right thing regardless of how it makes them feel.

The various types of symbolism then become an extension of this. They symbols all point towards the same truth, regardless of their background. If anything, they're meant to show how universal this lesson is. That if you hold your beliefs to such a level that you're willing to reject reality (or in the case of some players, the game's script and authorial intent) for them, then those beliefs are a problem. The fact that Edelgard, when pressed, blames the people if her ideals don't make their lives better is meant to show how disconnected from reality she actually is, and with her demonic Hegemon form being presented as the personification of those ideals while Dimitri ends up with the messianic title of savior king, it doesn't take a genius to figure out whose side the game is actually on.

If Edelgard was meant to be a good guy, her fans wouldn't be telling others not to listen to the game's creators. Nor would they be telling people to read a fanfic to understand the characters, or trying to dismiss everything else the game says. Flower is a villain route, and that's okay. It is what it is, even with the translation issues messing it up somewhat. It doesn't want you to ignore the truth about Edelgard, it want you to see the truth.

[pinkhairandpokemon]

Apologies, I didn't really check what you have said in your past posts, but are you sure that is what Lord N wants? For separation between humans and pokemon?

It’s what Lord Ghetsis has been preparing him for his entire life. Of course it’s what he wants.

Lord N thinks that no matter how well-intentioned a trainer might think they are, every single one of them are hurting or suppressing their Pokémon in one form or another, whether they realize it or not. Since most people can’t understand Pokémon like he can, he doesn’t think true coexistence is possible without Pokémon giving up something for humans. Whether a trainer is blatantly and knowingly abusing them, or they’re doing something like reprimanding their Pokémon for performing a natural instinct it can’t control or didn’t know was wrong (like scratching or making noise or knocking something over), Pokémon are always doing something or are sacrificing something for our needs. All of that, and the fact that no amount of “good” trainers in the world can reverse what horrible things people- like Lysandre or Rose- managed to commit by using Pokémon they exploited as building blocks to their schemes.

I… used to believe him. I’m not sure if I do completely anymore, though. He has a few good points. But… then there’s trainers like Cole, who can’t understand his Pokémon but works with them so well in battle that it’s almost like he can. And the people I’ve been talking to on here… they all seem to love their Pokémon more than anything.

Even those kids Cole hangs out with- Cheren and Bianca. N and I were talking about them and he said he wasn’t impressed by them. Cheren is too obsessed with being stronger, working himself and his Pokémon to the bone to try and be perfect. Bianca is too finicky, too all over the place, and that’s going to affect her Pokémon as much as it does herself. But… in the few times I’ve seen them over the course of this journey, it seems like they’re changing. There’s been times where they’ve dropped everything to come help Cole fight back against Plasma any way they can. Because they all love Pokémon.

But… I don’t think Lord N sees this. Or maybe… deep down he does, but doesn’t want to admit it? I can’t figure out why. Lately he’s been more frustrated, and even more concentrated on locating Zekrom than before.

That’s where I’m torn… See, I wasn’t handpicked by Lord Ghetsis to join N on his journey and protect him. Honestly, I probably never even crossed his mind at all. It was Lord N himself who asked to bring me along. He didn’t have to. He knew I couldn’t provide anything the Shadow Triad couldn’t. But he knew I’d been missing life outside the castle for a long time, so he did anyways.

From the beginning of this journey I promised I’d do anything in my power to help Lord N achieve his goals… but what am I supposed to do now that I’m starting to doubt him? Turn my back on him? Try to convince him to abandon something he’s spent his whole life working towards? He cares about Pokémon more than anything. He cares about saving them more than anything. Even…

…even more than he cares about me.

-Blake

[transpidergwen]

For those of you who are interested, there's a new sitcom on Hulu called Not Dead Yet with an autistic character (and played by autistic actor Rick Glassman)! The tiktok link is his scene from the pilot where he explains it and it's really great.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRtj3gKm/

It stars Gina Rodriguez (i know), Hannah Simone and Lauren Ash, and if you were a Jane the Virgin fan you're gonna feel like you're back in 2014 bc she's playing a writer again (she works at a newspaper obituaries with a fun gimmick, hence the title). Her roommate Edward is autistic and so far my favorite part of the show. I watched the two episodes that are out and they're promising!

He has a great arc with her in episode two that involves some neurotypical trolling that I thought were great. So far the writing doesn't feel derogatory and the jokes aren't punching down. Idk how much credit goes to the writing staff vs Rick but so far his autism (and the fact he has a girlfriend) is just as normalized as one of her friends being gay. He's not infantalized or made fun of, and in episode two he an Nell (Gina) have a solid arc about trying to figure out how to live together that features his autism but doesn't reduce him to it. They both have needs and she doesn't tiptoe around his autistic needs, she says that she has needs too (a table to eat/work at bc he has work items covering their breakfast bar) and those can coexist with his. If he needs the breakfast bar for work, then she gets a table. He doesn't need to make himself less autistic to make her comfortable but he doesn't get a pass on everything because he's autistic, he's an adult that she lives with and they will keep figuring it out as they go. He also apologizes for saying something insensitive earlier, that he didn't think about it but his girlfriend helped him realize that he hadn't considered her side. It felt very authentic and I loved it. I'll definitely be watching more and posting about it and would love to hear anyone's thoughts about it too!

[alagaesia-headcanons]

I don't know of you've done this or not, but I would love to hear you opinions on Roran. Most people in the Fandom see him as a Chad, a better hero than Eragon, more badass etc etc. Me? I can't stand him, it scares me how he seems to take no no for an answer

In my return to my IC hyperfixation, I've found I don't like Roran quite as much as I did a few years back. My feelings on his character are a lot more complicated and I definitely see where you're coming from in your dislike. To summarize my thoughts right off the bat, as a character, I think Roran is a good person with his heart in the right place and he gets involved with a war that brings out the absolute worst in him.

The situations Roran gets pushed into cause a lot of friction with his worst qualities like his stubbornness, his aggression, his recklessness, and his arrogance. But these qualities don't garner much critique within canon because, similarly to Nasuada's flaws, the circumstances of war actually reward these questionable behaviors.

For one, despite how he's presented, Roran is not a good leader. In fact, he's pretty fucking awful at it. He's very good at a few specific skills that a leader needs, particularly inspiring loyalty, but he's entirely incapable in other aspects. Namely, dealing with other authorities. The argument with Orrin over the envoy that I talked about before is a perfect example, really highlighting his inability discuss and collaborate with anyone else or to think through any viewpoint that contradicts his own. Also, I didn't point it out before, but Roran ends that argument by promising to kill any envoy Orrin sends. Which is insanely stupid and barbaric. He thinks he has the right to openly murder an innocent man of their army solely because he decided that would be best, even when that'd give Orrin full right to have him executed. The risk of sending an envoy is only hypothetical and unclear while the damage of Roran murdering a Surdan is absolutely certain, but he can't see past his own sense of superiority far enough to realize that.

The chapter in Brisingr where the Urgals challenge his right to lead also really shows what a terrible leader he is. He doesn't even try to talk, to establish that an army doesn't follow their cultural hierarchy, and if they don't want to obey, they can simply defect and try fighting without the Varden's allies or resources. No, he instantly accepts hand to hand combat to the death. His conviction that he can do anything is so bloated it blinds him to any possible consequences. If you strip away our outside awareness of plot armor, his choices go from admirable and badass to outrageously careless. He can't handle conflict or disagreements with other leaders with anything but brute force. His interactions with Brigman in Aroughs also comes to mind.

What Roran actually is is a very good problem solver. He is very observant and creative and that gets him through very tricky situations. And he genuinely wants the best for the people he loves, he always takes their needs into consideration and does all that he can for them. But that doesn't necessarily suit him to leadership and being put in such roles during the war buries those good qualities under the soaring peak of his arrogance. The real shame is that his flaws never had real consequences that made him grow as a person, wouldn't that have been nice?

sigh.

I just want Roran to go back to being a farmer and stop taking himself so insufferably seriously, then maybe he'll realize not every single thing in life is a matter of life or death and he'll become more yielding and humble. Honestly for his sake, I want him to learn to coexist with the world around him instead of perpetually struggling against it.

[gregoftom]

The dynamic shift of tomgreg in s4 is so big that people analyzing it is accused of "ooc" now, like sorry if you (general you) prefer the love/hate dynamic of s1-3 tomgreg more but s4 still exists y'know, although I would argue late s3 tomgreg got more tender than before

jajskajskajskajskajskasjaksj a, , , ,, yeah like i'm Sorry that they don't have that same dynamic but it??? changed??????? the show changed it, like, that wasn't my choice but of course i'm going to be happy if they develop and grow and like each other, like. it keeps it fresh and compelling too? anyway? and what do ppl expect after the 3.09 promise like... it wouldn't really make sense for tom to make that kind of gesture to greg and then at s4 we are right back to s1-3 dynamic, like not only is he putting all his greggs in one basket with logan and greg, he very obviously wants greg by his side and chose him over his wife it wouldn't really make sense if he's pelting him with bottles and using him as an emotion stress ball when... he and shiv aren't on the same level as they were in those seasons like, shit has changed! everything around them has changed. and yeah late s3 is absolutely more tender than before i would say that like. late s3 is already when shit started to gear more in that direction.

just because i'm talking about s4 doesn't mean i don't acknowledge their past and the behaviours that tom exhibited, in fact i think i have in one or two answers before. like... i'm not saying they have always been this way. it is possible for them to develop a relationship and we've seen the evidence of that throughout s4 and in the finale. i just don't understand it when people dig their heels in when it comes to the whole s4 dynamic like okay, that's enough now! no more shipping in this fashion, we're stopping here. like. no? lol. by all means if you like it in a certain way that's absolutely fine i am not stopping you, but to claim one way or another is ooc especially when in my example i am literally just examining scenes or screenshots or dialogue of the show is just. weird to me. both can and do coexist. tg is nuanced as fuck, that's what makes it so appealing! to have a preference in their affectionate dynamic is not denying their previous. i haven't seen one person who does indulge in that ignore it, in fact they enjoy it too! it's just. yeah idk. besides like, the block button is Right There.

anyway!! ty for this ask You Get Me <3

[emophilzablr]

Here she is, BPD analysis.

— Disclaimer: I am not a professional, I did study psychology for most of my life and my credentials to this is simply the fact that I am BPD as well. I also want to highlight that these symptoms can also be AUTISM! And that maybe that is even more relatable to him, though, you can have both, because they really tend to coexist

Here are the symptoms of BPD, and either if he shows them or not, or if its believed he does. Remembering you don't need to have all of them, you need to fit the criteria, of some specific ones, that differentiate BPD from disorders like Bipolar and depression, and they all overlap with Autism which causes a confusion in diagnosis.

• Fear of rejection and abandonment: He keeps count of every time he was rejected, his biggest struggle in life was with the fact that Amelia rejected him, replaced him, and abandoned him, he has been in the loop of this trauma for years, it never leaves him, because that's his biggest fear coming true. His fear of boringness or of being mediocre is also in this, he wants to overcompensate so people don't reject or leave him again. Also, this symptom comes with a pattern that is very very common in this symptom, leaving first, losing interest after the chase, people with BPD leave first to not get abandoned.

• Intense and unstable relationships: We know that his romantic relationships are always like this, incredibly intense at first and then it dies out or they leave or he leaves, and they tend to be unstable while it was happening, especially with Amelia, it was incredibly unstable and toxic for both.

• 8/80 relationships, going from intense love to nothing or to hatred: It seems like most of them have this, a big start, and a terrible ending, either it going to nothing or strong resentment (Amelia's case) It also has a part of this not talked, that after this hatred passes, BPD people tend to come back, and, blame themselves which well, next symptom.

• Villain complex: Most BPD people experience this, seeing themselves as absolute horrible monsters, most of his songs make him the villain, he really highlights like hey i'm a horrible person, and this is very, very common. I think funnily enough, C!Wilbur is a perfect demonstration of this part of him, it's a self insert of the Villain he makes himself to be.

• Constant changes in personality: We have seen this, even as a streamer, in a place he was never truly himself, he's always changing completely who he is, even though it's a character. I also feel that the fact that he has so many characters that are all clearly self inserts is a way to express this self image issue he has, going on a limb here but you get it. He also seems to struggle with his appearance and self image and tends to become a sponge when with others.

• Impulsive behavior: So this is many factors, getting from the internet straight up “Impulsive and risky behavior, such as gambling, reckless driving, unsafe sex, spending sprees, binge eating or drug abuse, or sabotaging success by suddenly quitting a good job or ending a positive relationship” He does a bunch of those, he did have a problem with abusing alcohol, most of us believe he did that with coke as well, we know that he impulsively drops all his responsibilities and doesn't keep up his promises, that he's constantly moving, constantly dropping and then coming back to it, that he can be super excited for something and then suddenly not be anymore, he's always ruining his relationships even though some of them are good just because he found something more exciting. He has binge eaten too but I don't know if that is something he always does.

• Self harm/Suicidal tendencies: He shows few of these, some of his songs imply that he was in a mental state that this could happen, what we know is that he did punch a window, accidentally he says, but we don't know, I think his form of self harm is self sabotage.

• Paranoia: This is something that is not spoken much about BPD but I think even his hypochondria could be a symptom since BPD is very prone to paranoia, and his is based on his health, he thinks he's dying literally all the time, that he's sick and that he has something, this is pure paranoid behavior.

• Mood swings: We don't know if he has many, we do know he has Bipolar signs in this, expressing more stages of depression and mania, but he also has constant anxiety problems, which can all be part of this symptom in specific.

• Emptiness: Another one that is incredibly necessary, and we know this is his main affliction most times, he feels apathetic all the fucking time, it's his favorite word in music, he shows this idea that he's incapable of loving too that is part of this emptiness, he thinks he doesn't feel anything because there's nothing inside him type of thing.

• Anger: This is inconclusive, it is to believe that when he was younger he was a very angry person, we don't know if that's still there, but, we know it was a problem at some point.

[kokorowoutsu]

-- RP: @skullboneandunown

skullboneandunown:

Donovan lets out a chuckle as he squishes her cheeks and boops her nose. "Kimonos. Those pretty dresses are called Kimonos, Little Sprout." He knows that decision depends on her parents, and he wouldn't mind teaching her about his home. "I'm sure the Kimono Girls would love you. They all have eeveeloutions, so Lucky would get along with their Pokemon." Professor Xavier strokes his chin, thinking about the scheduling. "For the most part, the children are separated by wing and grade. She'll be around children her age most of the time. The exception being recess." He smiles at the compliment of being more peaceful than Blueberry Academy. "Truthfully, the idea for a school like this came during my younger years. I was not much younger than you are now, in fact. I had come to know a few..gifted individuals that were like me. Mutants. We needed a safe haven to hone our abilities in peace without potentially endangering innocent lives if our powers were to get out of control. Thankfully, my family had more than enough funds to create a safe space. And so I had this facility built decades ago. It only became a school about twenty years ago, and publicly a decade or so." He pauses at the mention of opening a school in Galar. "I have thought about it, in fact. Opening another school. But I am not certain the other regions would be so open to the idea. One of the hopes for this school is to inspire coexistence between humans and those like us. If that can be achieved, then perhaps I will open another school."

"Kee...mow...nos...?" Willow's speech might have been her biggest issue besides showing signs of being on borderline autism and possibly ADHD which Ashe blamed herself for being she had been diagnosed with those issues when as a human but had left them unchecked and just... dealt with them, so to speak. At his name, Lucky rose his head, ribbons whirling at the mention of other eeveelutions. Willow looked at her godfather in wonder then. She grew up around Eevee and its evolutions with Sylveon, Leafeon, Espeon, and Umbreon, and not to mention Flannery's Flareon. They were very much entangled in her life, but did that fit her personally? Honestly... no. Ashe and Leon didn't believe so, but she had four years to learn and pick for herself as it were.

That being said, Ashe felt out of questions. She knew Willow would be safe here despite wanting to argue and shield her daughter from the world. Heaving a deep sigh, she takes in Xavier's story, finding it comforting that there were others that struggled -- and it wasn't just her. Maybe that was cruel of her to think so, but not being alone in the struggle meant her family had allies. Quietly, she leans back, taking her husband's hand as he ponders on the idea of more schools. "... Galar's youth could benefit from a school like this. The current champion who took my place, Savannah Hemsworth, may be icy, but I think even she would agree. I'll get you in contact with her should you want to consider it." That being said, he, too, was quiet. Both parents looked to their child now who turned her blue-green eyes from Donovan, a tilted head soon going after.

"Well, sunshine? What do you think?" Willow caught on pretty quick, and the pressure was a bit much as shown by her noises coming from her throat and her fidgeting hands, but Lucky was there to comfort her as was Bahamut quickly enough. "You won't be far from home -- and you won't be alone, sunshine. You'll make lots of friends who are just like you." Leon's voice spoke of a solemn promise. "And if anyone picks on you, you saw how everyone reacted." Ashe offered that kind of mom smile that would make even the strongest trainer feel a chill then. Willow felt confident in her parent's words, gripping Lucky's ribbon that had been offered.

Turning to Xavier then, she sat up straight in her godfather's lap. "I'd... 'ike t' at'en'... pl'eas'!" Ashe hadn't been expecting that but she looked relieved as did Leon. The partner pokemon did as well. Their daughter was growing up and while she didn't quite grasp the concept of school, in time, she would.

It was a big first step -- but Willow was showing just how brave she could be in taking it.