#i guess the title speaks for itself

[vasira96]

cosmic

#vasira arts #Illustration #artists on tumblr #i wish i was good at titles for my art #guess it'll have to speak for itself

[kalims]

— MALLEUS DRACONIA | pasilyo

or, sometimes you forget how many decades behind malleus is in slang. in comparison to lilia out of all people, he's like a very clueless innocent individual.

cw. very comical miscommunication (not the bad kind in romantic stuff heh)

wc. 1.4k

note. I can't stop thinking about malleus who really just doesn't get modern slang. this is a small treat ^^

can I get a 'heyy' from my fellow filo babes who know where the title is from

"no way," you gasp. "shut up!" a large smile encases your face, one that you try to contain with a futile cover of the mouth—malleus however jolts in confusion, his brows furrow in what it seems to be concern. he looks like a very confused, kicked puppy (or dragon?) overall.

out of expression, you slap his arm without a hint of aggression but he seems more bothered by your words than the.. hit that didn't seem to phase him at all.

malleus ponders deeply on what had gone wrong, and what he had said. you are laughing right now but your words sounded like you were upset (well not exactly your tone but your words itself,) he frowns, he feels very lost right now.

plus since you are his very special friend he despises you being upset. more so, him being the reason for it.

your laughing gradually decreases once you realizes that there's no one responding to you but the silence. a flicker of concern flashes in your eyes at malleus' very serious expression. "uh.. is something wrong..?" you ask nervously.

even though you're absolutely sure that he heard you malleus stays silent—tense as though he's being held hostage, looking more uncertain each passing second.

"hello?" you try.

you deflate. what is wrong with this man? where is the restart button? you cross your arms over your chest and raise a brow, at the still not speaking malleus.

at times you don't understand malleus and that's a given since even lilia had to go up to tell you that malleus was trying to impress you with fae customs but it's not like you knew that—and not that malleus knew the difference between culture of human and fae separately.

so yeah. there was no way you were gonna realize that the time malleus was trying to convince you to live in a tower with him was basically akin to a.. marriage of sorts? since married couples usually live in the same area, for fae it's the same.. or.. dragons? minus the ring and ceremony.

also apparently that was more important than an actual wedding ceremony?!

to others it was torture to watch you and malleus go back and forth—you trying to ask him out the normal, human way. and malleus trying to bound you to him eternally in the non-normal, fae way. you've lost count on how many times you heard sebek emit the most manly screech you've ever heard when he just so happens to stumble upon his lord..

doing.. courting rituals..

to you.

"M-MALLEUS-SAMA! HAS THIS HUMAN TRICKED YOU?!"

"WHY ARE YOU SHEATHING YOUR SWORD SEBEK—"

anyone could guess which scream belonged to who.

well whatever! point is tsunotaro seems to be unresponsive to you right now for some odd reason. have you done something wrong? (this is very ironic since malleus is also thinking the same.) all you did was slap his arm—oh my god did he get offended by that?

out of realization your eyes widen as your arms retract and hang by your sides uselessly. you look straight in his eyes and say; "I am so sorry," with furrowed brows and genuinely apologetic eyes malleus is struggling to keep up with your first request.

like that time he legit just stormed the diasomnia fridge, stole some poor student's tub of ice cream and high tailed it to your dorm because you were supposed to eat a cone yourself but was unable to due to the work load crowley had dumped you (honestly, what's new?)

so in a way it made you sad because damn was ice cream good. instead of it melting away your troubles it actually did melt instead.

because of some crow.

all just because he would go around the world for you if you asked.

(some cheesy part of you would imagine him going around you because how nice would it be if he saw you as his world? though if you did that to him instead and call him your world you reckon he'll take a few minutes of explaining before getting it.)

in the end malleus breaks. his will to oblige your request just fades in the back of his mind because he does not know why you're apologizing to him for no reason when clearly, he's the one that upset you! "my child of man.. you aren't the one at fault," he looks at you like he's sorry. "it is i,"

what.

now you're confused. "uh.. wait what?" didn't you just hit him? was he not mad about that even though your little slap probably didn't even make him feel anything? "didn't I just hit you?"

his face contorts into suprise. "oh really?" he mumbles. even though there's not much shock after you can tell he has no idea what you're talking about.

now you're even more confused! if he's not upset with that then what was he being all silent treatment about? malleus shrugs at you. "even so, I don't mind. you can hit me as many times as you'd like, I can take it," he says seriously.

you splutter. WHAT. you were literally just listening to him spill tea a couple minutes ago.. that sounds so wrong on many levels and you don't even wanna consider what he's saying because one, that's just weird! and two, sebek would literally strangle you.

and both you and malleus would not like you being strangled like that.

"what. just stop, please," you raise a hand and he immediately shuts up. "what are you talking about? you didn't do anything wrong." you deadpan.

this time he tilts his head. "you told me to shut up didn't you? so I merely did as you told—" he says casually. which baffles you all the more because this is starting to sound insane! did he actually take it literally.

malleus is so pure sometimes.

so pure that you can't help but stifle a giggle. and it takes you a couple of seconds of just containing your laughs to speak again. "i- pfft.. I was just joking," you manage to say in between laughs.

oh that was a joke? he should consult with lilia to tell him all about the current trendy jokes. "oh,"

you realize he probably didn't know what you were saying so you take it upon yourself to explain. "um.. it's like,, an expression of disbelief and uh.. amazement?" you explain. cringing at your horrible explanation, it just isn't your forte.

malleus still nods attentively. listening to every word you say. "I see, thank you. my child of man, I will make sure to utilize this new knowledge," he smiles at you in a way you just can't resist.

malleus is very endearing but..

that sounds.. kind of concerning.

ㅤ

and take it to play does he.

"malleus-sama, have you heard?" sebek chimes in with a certain glint in his eyes. lilia chuckles at the clear excitement of his dearest sun from the kitchen counter.

someone get him out of the kitchen.

malleus hums thoughtfully, should he get lilia to wrap the dinner for you as well? you must be hungry. "heard what?" he answers a moment later.

"the southern lights will shine upon briar valley this year. shan't we visit soon?!"

sebek is true though. if the southern lights really is going to shine upon briar valley then malleus would like to take you there. just so you could see the beauty of it. (and perhaps, he could spend more time relishing in the beauty of you and your existence.)

seeing it will be an experience for sure. though he's seen countless southern lights malleus looks forward to it this year.

plus.. his heart warms at the thought of his people being able to witness it.

a thought pops into his mind.

"shut up,"

malleus says it so monotonously, without any emotion whatsoever that silence stretches across the room in an uncomfortable fog, and if anyone listens closely they can hear crickets.

a cloud of shame washes over sebek's face as his mouth clamps shut. lilia pauses (saving himself from a deep cut because anyone can tell that he's cutting the carrots way too big.) and raises his brow.

"now malleus—,"

sebek bows repeatedly before bolting out of the room with a trail of stormy clouds following him comically.

"what was that all about? look at what you've done. you've upset sebek,"

that's what he thought with you as well. the things you've taught him is surely working right now, no?

ah yes.. next time you meet he should ask you about more of this strange languange.

note. MY FINGERS ARE SO TIREDD

not proofread

ko-fi

#twst x reader #twisted wonderland x reader #malleus draconia #malleus draconia x reader #twst #twisted wonderland #twst fluff #twst imagines #twst scenarios #malleus x reader #ㅤ◜◡◝ . . signed !

[anantaru]

cw. none, gn! reader, selfcare day with alhaitham <3

"aww, come on baby, you look great!"

"i do not." alhaitham insists and maybe he didn't, and maybe, you were a little evil for practically forcing him to wear a pink, with gems tapestried, bunny headband to successfully get rid of all the loose bangs pending around his forehead.

"trust me, you do!"

you squeeze back an amused grin and in return, offer him a witty glance over your shoulder, a small innocent pout twining on your lips, it made him almost jump out of his shoes— how can someone be so sharp tongued and adorable at the same time? he wonders.

"come on alhaitham, you promised!" you scoot closer, excited, "that's not my problem." he corrects you and this time, draws back the almost embarrassing ornament on top of his head and pushes it into a much better allaying position, taking heavy aim on the flimsy hair piece to get his point across, "but why must i wear this?"

alhaitham furrows his brows when you brush the conversation off and back paddle, "but you look so pretty and it serves as a higher purpose." eventually, he sighs in defeat, barely, and your lips quirk up into sheer entertainment by how clearly unimpressed he appeared— though, don't get him wrong— he still wouldn't get rid of the hair piece, because in all sincerity, he'd do anything you'd ask him to do or participate in.

it's the fact that whenever he agrees, whenever he gets out of his comfort zone to try out and experience new things with you, he can't tear his eyes off the happiness embodied on your face, on each crevice and nestle— your sweet smiles, your voice a tilt higher, barely perceivable in the faint heave of your utters, yet alhaitham distinguished your change in mannerism promptly. you're so cute and genuinely happy— this particular picture of you carved itself into his hearts deepest core, alhaitham wishes to cradle those memories forever.

you're everything and all— and he had vowed to love you as long as the sun would burn across the illuminated sky of sumeru, as long as the moon would shine its eminent light into the pitched darkness over the rainforests.

"now!" you dramatically point out, face lit up and snapping your fingers against his face, "to the beauty masks!"

oh, well, he's doomed.

you fling forward a small container from behind your back, watching how his eyes crinkle in confusion, lifting up a brow. "what will this do?" blinking at your hand, alhaitham reaches over to get a closer look but instead you beckon him to lay down.

"you'll see!" assurance was key, you affirmed, and you seat yourself as close as possible to alhaitham when he silently opens his arm for you, twisting around your hips to press you into him. quickly, you spin open the container to show him a neutral colored substance inside of it. "what did i do to deserve this?" he speaks sarcastically but so painfully monotone that if you weren't actually familiar with him, you'd never guess he's not being serious right now.

you plant a gentle kiss on his forehead to soothe his worries, "i just want to spoil you, dear acting grand sage." and he rolls his eyes at the silly nickname, well, it's not a nickname, it's his title if anything but whenever you said it, whenever you purposefully spill it past his ears like that— laced in a whisper, a pleasing one at that, you'll notice how a blurred redness crosses both his pale cheeks and the tip of his ears.

his heart skips a beat, you're so diligently badgering him that he wonders if you ever get tired of it, at all, "—okay, i'll be ignoring that name calling from now on." he hisses, your ability to just read him like that, be aware on what to do to get him to this current state of mind was a small amount of frightening, only miniscule though.

"why?" you innocently pout with your lips cutely pursed up while carefully applying the face mask on his forehead and t-zone with your fingers, "i like how you look at me whenever i say it." alhaitham focuses on your words, and his eyes, they never let go of surveying over your frame— perceptibly, each touch and trace of you, although being used to it, makes him shiver regardless.

you're radiating pure warmth and pleasantries he longs for, every smile, every laugh and touch, and you somehow become even more beautiful in his mind— alhaitham found it to be a distinguished miracle of some sort, ground breaking, or maybe it was fate after all that brought you together.

"how do i look at you?"

he originally preferred to bury the direction this conversation was setting sail to, but he can notice himself soften into you, together with the sickly sweet scent of the mask on his face— brown sugar mixed with plants from the rainforests, spilling into his nostrils with such gentleness, fragile emotions fermenting within him like an electric tempest rivaling those of inazumas.

"—a little flustered." you coo, tracing the settling substance above his jaw, "and shy."

alhaitham sighs, "is that so?" and runs his fingers over your back, up and down, up and down, yet closing his eyes for a transient moment, a soft exhale following suit next.

ugh, you were such a pain, really. he smiles to himself.

but somehow, just somehow, you both were simply meant for each other after all, no ifs and certainly no buts.

©2023 anantaru do not repost, copy, translate, modify

#alhaitham x reader #genshin x reader #al haitham x reader #genshin impact x reader #genshin fluff #genshin impact fluff #alhaitham fluff #genshin impact drabbles #genshin drabbles #genshin x you #genshin impact x you #genshin imagines #alhaitham x y/n #alhaitham x you #genshin impact alhaitham x reader #genshin impact alhaitham #genshin impact #genshin impact fanfiction #genshin impact fanfics #alhaitham x reader fluff

[ineylesian]

— INHERITENLY UNJUST DESTINY

AVENTURINE X READER

AO3 | NAVIGATION

WORD COUNT — 900

WARNINGS — slight 2.1 spoilers, lowk angst, word vomit about aventurine’s lack of self esteem, sappy unconditional positive regard, handsy aven bc he’s touch starved, preesetablished relationship

SUMMARY — aventurine does not understand the twist of fate that allows him to stand beside you.

AUTHOR’S NOTE — the lack of official aventurine art is making me gnaw at the bars of my enclosure, sloppy headers for now!!

Aventurine isn’t sure how to feel. 

The low hues of noon cast a gentle light upon his gloves, giving light to the sea of shattered stones that lie in his grasp. A sea of dazzling green, torn and fragmented beyond repair.

He’s sure he sees it now, a reflection of the wildly wretched life he’s lived sitting in the palms of his hands. The remnants of the only control he’s managed to retain in his life frail as dust in the winds. SIlent he remains, still as a pound dog that has had its bone ripped away from it. 

It isn’t until he feels the ghost of your hands along his own that Aventurine realizes his heart is racing. You spin him to face you, and his heart lurches at the worry that etches itself upon your features. He fights with narratives in his head that play games of fallacies, yet the scorch of his devotion to you leaves his tongue tied.

Facades are a game that come like second nature to Aventurine, but he swears he will not do to you what he deems business in his schemes. Instead, he pulls at what little honesty remains in the depths of his heart and his breath shutters. 

“Guess I’m back to where I was five years ago.”

The words come out quiet, too soft for his nature and simply small. It’s a confession that makes him wonder how many other pieces of his life will break apart until the whole is severed. There’s a fear that lingers within, bubbling to the surface as he attempts to withdraw from your hold.

Aventurine does not believe that his life holds any meaning with or without the cornerstone. Yet, that title made him seem as if he truly meant something, and without it, what little reign he held over his life disappeared. 

He believes you deserve fire, yet he is no more than an ember flickering on a stoked match. He cannot burn in flames bright enough to keep you.

Silently, he awaits your scold, the reprimand that deems him as worthless as he believes himself to be. A reminder that it was all but a stroke of luck that brought you to him, a trial that has run out as you see him for who he truly is, barren and scared.

His hands shake as you guide them to pour his shattered stone into the box at his feet. Shock etches itself upon his features, and he looks to you with nothing but raw, unparalleled fear as you speak. 

“You will always be the same to me.”

Aventurine does not understand the twist of fate that allows him to stand beside you. Single handedly, you vowed to peer into the wasteland that was his soul, and devoted yourself to his inherently unjust destiny. And, even as his life’s worth is ripped away from him, you love him unchanged.

An insatiable want carves at his soul like a day yearns for night, and Aventurine knows no other place to put his hands but around you in embrace. His hold is tight, as if he imagines that you will fade away if he abandons it. Yet, the weave of your fingers through his hair is enough to tell him that you’re no illusion, a sensation that will cease to disappear as long as he lives.

“Let me see you, Aven.”

Your words flow as lost prayers on the horizon do, and Aventurine retracts his grasp on you, allowing his knees to bring him to the ground. Your hands, gentle as streambeds in the spring, cup his face, running over spilt tears from keeled eyelashes. Instinctively, his hands latch onto your wrists, desperately chasing after your warmth and attempting to sear it into his skin.

Aventurine outwardly sighs as you run your fingers along his jaw, stopping to tuck a stray wisp of hair behind his ear. Although your gaze rocks with the deepest seas of adoration, the child deep within his heart beckons him to gamble with his luck once again. A risk that trails the faint quiver of his lips, as he would utter no such words to any other being in the entire cosmos.

“Will you kiss me?”

Wordlessly, you nod, and Aventurine closes his eyes. The soft touch of your lips quells the troubles that brew within, igniting fire against endless water. His hands fall to his lap, melting in the passion of your touch, and his heart craves to continue beating as if you are the oxygen that fills his lungs. 

He refuses to leave you until there is no air left for him to breathe. Gasping for the vitality of you that runs rampant through his veins, Aventurine tilts his head upward, and your heart flutters at the gentle smile that greets your gaze. Brilliant hues of purple and blue shimmer amidst the night, and his hold on you returns, hands moving to interlock themselves with your own. It’s the same gesture that holds you in the deep of dusk, never waning as lost prayers to the universe whisper behind closed doors. 

The words that follow are never far from you, spinning like soft woven silk that rests in your dreams when he’s away. Your eyes shut as he presses his lips to the corner of your mouth, spreading warmth to your cheeks that subdue the chills of frosted wind. In yearn, you wait, reveling in the soft fan of his breath over your skin.

“I love you.”

#eleysiacalling #aventurine hsr #aventurine x you #aventurine honkai star rail #aventurine x reader #hsr aventurine #honkai star rail #hsr x reader

[cod-z]

[NSFW 18+] Pegging Series (Anon Reveal)

Your media consumption isn't my responsibility | TW: NSFW 18+, Title itself explanatory

Pairing(s): John 'Soap' MacTavish x Stoic!Reader

| One-shots | A/N: My anon reveal and brain-rot. For those who knows said story, yes, I am THAT anon from said blog

---------------------------

Johnny has a thing for Stoic!Reader because of the mystery behind them, always keeping a poker face even in dire situation and the strong, powerful aura that reader has but it's also reassuring. A mix between Price and Ghost the stern yet comforting from Gaz.

Johnny knocking on stoic!reader's door because Price had asked him to get the paperworks that were needed but ends up just stammering towards reader because the way reader speaks is so emotionless and stern, it sends him into a horny frenzy-

Finally telling stoic!reader what Price wanted, reader dismisses him but he doesn't leave and just stands there like a sweet, lost puppy and who is totally not horny or anything because reader is only in a black tank top and their cargo pants while reader does paperwork.

Stoic!Reader casually staring at Johnny because he hasn't left and asks if there is anything else.

Johnny stutters as he tries to explain that Price, Ghost and Gaz were getting ready for a mission, clenching onto the documents, trying to ask a certain question because poor pup was going to be alone for quite awhile but ends up silencing himself and leaving. 'Cause why would reader do that for him if reader was aroace? (again, sue me).

Not even 2 weeks in when the other three were gone. Johnny pathetically asks Stoic!Reader if they could fuck him.

Stoic!reader who wanted to say 'no' till they saw the twitching outline of Johnny's bulge and felt a twinge of pity for Johnny boy and sighs.

Stoic!reader who says 'yes' but only on one condition which makes Johnny happy, though the next day Johnny was now on his hands and knees with stoic!reader prepping his rim to take in the strap-on they bought online together (Johnny totally didn't get the overnight shipping).

Johnny is already a squirming mess as he came twice already from being prepped by reader. Reader obviously not done with Johnny, had already put the big, girthy, bumpy strap-on, on already and grabs him roughly by his mohawk. Rubbing the plastic-rubber against his weeping cock gathering the cum and proceeds to rub coated strap-on onto his ass, slicking it up before pushing it to the hilt.

Pathetic whining moans leaves Johnny's lips as he's drilled onto Stoic!Reader's bed like reader hates him, shocking Johnny at the full force that comes from reader's frame, he never would've guessed reader would have it in them to be this way. Letting him orgasm in this position twice before doing it once missionary.

Johnny already an overstimulated little pup on stoic!reader's bed, crying from too much pleasure and was ready to give out, to fucked out to even help reader orgasm. But don't worry, reader already had a plan for that.

Stoic!Reader pushing Johnny's legs up, stroking the tip of his cock before guiding it into reader's hole making poor Johnny weep from overstimulation, pain and pleasure. Knees behind Johnny's ass while holding his legs up as reader fucks down onto him, closing in on their own orgasm and Johnny building up his, what? 5th? 7th orgasm? He doesn't know.

Neither of the two hearing the sound of multiple boots hitting the floor nearing reader's barracks. The door opening as both Johnny and Reader orgasms at the same time.

Johnny looks weakly at the other three with a smile, who stared at Stoic!Reader in shock, Reader's expression remains stoice but as their eyes trailing down the three men's body already seeing their growing bulge, stoic!reader gives a small smirk and removes themselves from Johnny (who totally didn't pass out).

Well shit. Price, Ghost and Gaz later on couldn't remember that reader smirked at them, nor did the four remember that reader pecked their foreheads as they all lay together, asleep, after being fucked and looked after by reader.

Stoic!reader who finishes changing, closes the door quietly letting their four boys sleep. Till next time.

#cod z #cod x reader #call of duty x reader #cod mw x reader #cod x you #modern warfare x reader #call of duty fanfiction #cod fanfic #johnny x y/n #john soap mactavish x reader #johnny soap mctavish x reader #johnny x reader #john soap mactavish #soap x reader #soap x reader sm #johnny x reader smut #call of duty smut #cod smut #x reader

[jikookuntold]

What Is Like Crazy About?

Since the day "Like Crazy" was released, I wanted to post about it, but couldn't get the time to focus and do a comprehensive analysis. Finally, right before the first anniversary of this masterpiece, I got the time, and the post is ready now. Before starting off, I have to remind you of the fact that a work of art can be interpreted in many different ways, and none of those interpretations are necessarily right or wrong. Every work of art contains a message that is the artist’s main intention from that creation, but the artist doesn’t have to explain it to the audience because a true work of art speaks for itself, even though not all audiences can receive it thoroughly.

I know that in the past year, so many different types of analyses and theories were made by fans to explain this song, and most definitely, I couldn’t keep up with all of them. Therefore, I’m not claiming my analysis to be a breakthrough, and you might have read most parts of it somewhere else. In this post, we are going to discuss “Like Crazy” from a lyrical and conceptual point of view, trying to find out what message or messages Jimin wanted to convey by creating it.

About “Like Crazy”

“Like Crazy” as the title track for Jimin's first solo album, "FACE", stole the hearts of millions of fans and locals around the world, and inarguably became one of the most successful pop songs of the year 2023. I can talk for hours about how beautiful and successful “Like Crazy” is, and how it broke KPop boundaries and countless records. But, in this post, we are going to break to the surface and talk about the meanings and motivations behind this song and answer the questions like “How this song was made?” “What was Jimin's intention in writing these romantic lyrics?”

As I mentioned earlier, artists usually don’t directly address their main message and their intention in creating a form of art, but many of them speak about the motivations and inspirations that led them to the creation. Jimin hasn’t talked much about the sources of inspiration behind individual tracks of “FACE”, but I guess “Like Crazy” was an exception for him because he revealed on several occasions that he was inspired by “Like Crazy”, the movie. And this piece of information is the key to our analysis:

"I tried to express the feelings of that movie. You know, the somewhat complex, somewhat lonely, somewhat happy emotions. I tried to express all these ambiguous and subtle emotions in a slightly sexy way, but I’m not sure how it’ll end up being received by people.”

Like Crazy, The Movie

First of all, we need to keep in mind that “Like Crazy” is a completely original song, and Jimin has not used or sampled any songs, lines, or dialogues from the movie in his lyrical or visual concepts (even the intro and outro dialogues in the song were original and not from the movie). If Jimin had not stated his source of inspiration directly, the only hint that could have led us to it would be the title of the song, which duplicates the title of the movie since the title never appears in the lyrics.

So, Jimin chose this specific name for his song and announced his source of inspiration to make it clear that there is a straight and strong connection between the song and the movie. He made it clear that this connection is 100% conceptual and emotional, and if we want to know what “Like Crazy” is about, and what ambiguous and subtle feelings Jimin is talking about, we have to redirect the analysis to the concept of the movie, “Like Crazy”.

As we all know, “Like Crazy” is a romantic movie, and Drake Doremus directed it casting "Felicity Jones" and the late "Anton Yelchin" as the main characters, Anna and Jacob. Doremus based the storyline of this low-budget movie on his experience being in a long-distance relationship with his partner and developed it into a 90-minute-long movie, which was released in 2011 and became relatively successful.

Anna and Jacob

A few days before the release of “FACE”, I was informed that the title track, “Like Crazy” is based on a movie of the same name. After learning this fact, I had to re-watch it because I couldn’t remember anything after a decade, and I had some questions like: “What was in this movie that made it so special for Jimin?” “How would Jimin feel watching this?”. Having this mindset helped me to see the movie differently, but before explaining those new insights we need a short storyline of the movie:

Anna is a British exchange student in LA, where she falls in love with Jacob, an American student, and they start dating. Anna, blinded by her love for Jacob, overstays her student visa and consequently gets banned from re-entering the United States. After experiencing a forced LDR, Jacob flies to London to visit Anna, and her father suggests that getting married might resolve the issue, but they are not ready for this big step. Jacob goes back to LA and basically chooses his job over Anna, but after some time, they realize that they can’t be apart, and they decide to get married. Six months after the marriage, when the time for the appeal of Anna’s ban comes, it gets rejected, and they lose their last hope of being together. Again, they go back to their sad lives, but after some time, Anna is finally offered a visa, and she leaves everything behind to reunite with Jacob. The ending scene shows how this separation has damaged their relationship, and things will never be the same.

The movie portrays the hardships of a long-distance relationship and the damage the separation can do to two souls and their connection. I think the recent movie by "Celine Song" named "Past Lives" was partially similar to like crazy, but also there was a big difference; unlike Nora and Haesung in “Past Lives”, Anna and Jacob don’t leave it to fate, they don’t forget about each other and don’t settle down with others just because their love seemed difficult or impossible.

They found true happiness only next to each other and did everything against all odds (especially Anna) to take that back. Maybe if Anna and Jacob weren’t in love like crazy and were more mature and realistic, they would end up like Nora and Haesung (Sorry if this spoiled that movie for you), but they didn’t and made their own bittersweet ending.

Many people claim that “Like Crazy” is a breakup movie with a sad ending, therefore, Jimin’s song also must be a breakup song. But, first of all, the ending can somehow be considered an open ending. We don’t know what happens after the shower scene, but we see them together, in each other’s arms, and this is not a totally sad ending by any movie standards. Other than that, Anna and Jacob became separated a few times, but they don't officially break up by choice, their separation is the result of contractual rules and laws, made by society.

This movie, as its director explained, might be originally about a long-distance relationship, but also the main relationship in this movie can be seen as a relationship that gets strained by laws and regulations, it’s about the rules and imaginary borders that decide if two people can be together or ban them from it. It’s a story of the “love against law”.

A Heterosexual Love Story?

When “Like Crazy” was released in theatres back in 2011, it got positive reviews for good acting that made the movie feel sweet and intimate with mostly improvised dialogues. Meanwhile, the negative reviews were focused on the plotline of this drama, calling it far from reality. Other than the fact that Jacob could have easily resolved this issue by taking his job from LA to London, in reality, the couple wouldn’t have faced this much difficulty over the legal complications, especially after getting married.

The fact is, straight couples usually never face this kind of hardship, and governments take that easy on them otherwise, there wouldn’t be so many sham marriages around the world just to get citizenship. So, the idea of a couple getting separated by law is not common, and that’s why many people called this movie implausible. But, a queer person can familiarly receive this implausibility, like when they want to be with someone forever, but the laws don’t let them.

Could it be this feeling that made “Like Crazy” special and a source of inspiration for Jimin? Or was it something smaller like the Santa Monica beach scene? I have no answer, I only make theories, and I think it’s better to leave the movie here and start the lyrical interpretation to see how these words and feelings can get connected.

The Lyrics

[Intro]

(I think we could last forever (I'm afraid that everything will disappear Just trust me)

As I said earlier, this intro is not a dialogue from the movie, but the narrators were told to do it based on the audio from the movie that was sent to them. So, hypothetically, it’s Anna and Jacob having this conversation. He is afraid of losing everything, but Anna assures him that if he trusts her, they can last forever. In the MV, we see Jimin standing in the crowd, but the time goes in reverse, and through a transition into his eyes, we see him sitting alone. Weirdly, the outro of the song is playing in the background here, but we will figure out the reason later.

[Verse 1]

Korean Version, Translated

She's saying Baby, don't think about it There's not a bad thing here tonight Baby, it's fine if you leave Stay with me, just for today

English Version

She's saying, Baby, come and follow me There's not a bad thing here tonight Save your reasons all for later Stay with me a little while

Anna asks him to follow her and assures him that everything is fine, it’s fine if this is not going to last long. It’s not the time for reason and overthinking. The gendered pronoun here refers to Anna, but we will know more about her in the next verses. It is worth mentioning that in the primary handwritten lyrics by Jimin, there was no “She” and it was modified later considering the dialogues added to the intro. Anyway, we know Jimin didn’t release these drafts in his album for no reason.

In this part of the MV, we see Jimin sitting alone in a room, and with a flicker of lights, the room is filled with mud. Suddenly, a muddy hand of a girl grabs Jimin’s hand and leads him to a party. There are several symbols in this part, the lonely room is Jimin’s reality, and the party is his dream. The mud symbolizes dreams and desires that leave their trace on your life and soul.

[Verse 2]

Korean Version, Translated

Watch me go Drenching myself all night (Away) So that even the morning Gets drunk and doesn't arrive

English Version

Watch me go Now, I sink down, all alone away Where am I? A dark haze clouding up my eyes

From here, we don’t see the girl because Jimin and the girl became one. She was her reflection from the beginning, the side that leads him out of his loneliness, and allures him to his dreams and desires, tempts him to be careless and stop thinking too much. Some say she is Jimin’s Anima, but these lyrics never go to the deep levels of the subconscious to reach the Anima. She is his feminine side that is a tangible side of him, and Jimin’s asymmetric makeup gives it away. Also, the mirrored moves between Jimin and the female dancer in “Like Crazy’s” choreography made it clear that the feminine presence in this song is Jimin’s reflection.

[Pre-Chorus]

Korean Version, Translated

As the loud music I get faded out A cliché story like a drama I get used to it Have I come too far to find the me that you used to know Yeah, I know You know I know (Ooh)

English Version

I can hear the voices listening Don't know who they are Trying to take the pressure off Been reaching for the stars Tell me, will I find myself again? When I go too far? Yeah, I know You know, I know (Ooh)

Jimin enters the party and starts drinking, dancing, and having fun with the others. He laughs and enjoys himself in the crowd and trusts the supposed strangers, but the confusion doesn’t leave him alone. He feels lost, and as the lyrics say, he is worried about going too far and not finding himself again. The two opposite sides of him are conflicting. It’s the contradiction between "fear and desire", between "pain and numbness", between "loneliness and losing yourself", and between "reason and dream" that leaves him confused.

[Chorus and Post Chorus]

Korean Version, Translated

I'd rather be Lost in the lights, Lost in the lights I'm outta my mind Hold onto the end of the night Every night You spin me up high The moon with you in its arms Let me have a taste Give me a good ride (Oh, I'm fallin', I'm fallin', I'm fallin') Oh, it's gon' be a good night (Oh, I'm fallin') Forever, you and I

English Version

I'd rather be Lost in the lights, lost in the lights I'm outta my mind Can you help me numb the pain? Each night, you spin me up high Emotions on ice Let me have a taste Give me a good ride (Oh, I'm fallin', I'm fallin', I'm fallin') Oh, it's gon' be a good night (Oh, I'm fallin') Forever, you and I

In this part, he confesses which side he really wants to follow. He wants to go out of his mind, lose himself to the desire, and leave the reason behind. It’s the escapism that saves him from loneliness and the pain of real life. The chorus is the sexy and at the same time, the most poetic part of this song, especially where he is spinning up high in the arms of the moon.

The last line of the post-chorus, “Forever you and I” which also repeats in the last part of the interlude, is crucial because it declares that Jimin is not talking about vagrancy or promiscuity. He wants it all with his significant other, the only one who can help him numb the pain of real life and escape it. But this escapism has its consequences, and we see all that mud flush out of every corner symbolizing it. This scene artistically ends with Jimin facing his reflection in the crowd. The question is, is this reflection the same significant other, or is it Jimin himself? We will get the answer in the next part.

[Verse 3]

Korean Version, Translated

The me, reflected in the mirror Is going crazy endlessly I'm feelin' so alive, wasting time

English Version

All my reflections, I Can't even recognize I'm feelin' so alive, wasting time

His fear of losing himself was true, and it's happening now. This duality confuses him and makes him question his reality. Which side is the true Jimin? He doesn't care anymore because this escapism makes him feel alive.

Here in the MV, we see Jimin facing the reflection, and it immediately cuts to the restroom scene where he faces his literal reflection in the mirror and talks to him about not recognizing him anymore. Then, the restroom being dismantled symbolizes his state of mind. "The reflection of myself in an unfamiliar appearance" was the concept of "his "FACE" which was a whole album about Jimin himself.

[Outro]

This will break me This is gonna break me (Break me) No, don't you wake me (Wake me) I wanna stay in this dream, don't save me Don't you try to save me (Save me) I need a way we (Way we) I need a way we can dream on (On, on, on) (Alone again What's the point?)

Jimin knows the consequences of losing himself but embraces it. He knows it's gonna break him but doesn't want to wake up from his dream. He knows everything will collapse but doesn't need a savior. He wants to stay in that dream, but he knows it's impossible, and sooner or later, he will be dragged out of it.

Is there a way to cut all the connections to the real world of loneliness and stay in this dream forever? We get the answer in the MV, and it's not positive because suddenly, everything goes backward in speed, to where we started (remember the outro being played in the beginning? That was the clue).

He goes back to his lonely room with a muddy hand. Did his hand get dirty from a touch of his reflection, or was the muddy hand in the beginning his own hand? Is he trapped in a loop? Maybe. Maybe this wasn't his first or the last time coming back from that dreamland, and it was the reason for so much mud accumulated in his room. He is a regular in that dreamland and he can't quit.

Conclusion

It's understandable if this analysis of the movie, lyrics, and the MV didn't guide you in any direction, and maybe you are even more confused after reading it all. But don't blame yourself because Jimin already told us that, his emotions for this movie are complex. So, don't look for just one answer, maybe we are not supposed to end up with one conclusion, and this song also can have multiple interpretations and meanings. But what are these meanings?

If you pay attention to the lyrics and the MV you will realize that despite them being aligned and in sync, the lyrics have more connection to the movie. While filming the MV, Jimin mentioned that things (scenes of the MV) didn't happen like this in real life, which was an obvious fact, because this song is clearly not about being the life of the party and stuff like that, and has more internal meanings.

In "Like Crazy", Jimin talks about the loneliness of his real life, the isolation and limitations he experienced during the pandemic, and maybe other times. But Jimin finds an alternate reality, where he can be himself, be free and careless, and forget about the future. This alternate reality is rooted in two possibilities: The feminine side, and the significant other. The feminine side is what we face in the MV, and there are not many signs of it in the lyrics.

The feminine side appears as a muddy hand and a presence at the part that faces Jimin and becomes one with him as his reflection. The idea of "bigender" is nothing new in the concepts that Jimin has offered on different occasions, from his fake tattoos in ARMY-Zip 2019 to the performance of "Filter" in 2020 and his photopholio in 2022, he has expressed this fluidity in his work, and I think the visual concept of "Like Crazy" with his different makeup in the MV and the choreography was the epitome of it.

What about the significant other? As I mentioned in the analysis of chorus parts, "Forever You and I" Can only be interpreted as his exclusiveness to someone who is his significant other. This person is the one who saves Jimin from his loneliness and assures him about their happy ending. This person has no doubt in them lasting forever and only wants Jimin to trust him to take the lead and let that happen.

He keeps saying to his significant other that there is no future. They can't be together forever, this is just a temporary situation, and despite finding comfort in each other, they should not get attached because they will forced to be separated. It's not like Jimin doesn't believe in this love, he does and has the same wishes and dreams, but he keeps getting dragged to the real world where the rules govern.

This part is just a personal opinion as a Jikooker, but I did this analysis in my head last year when "Like Crazy" was newly released and had no intention of making a connection between this and Jikook, until "Seven" came out. We all know JK had no hand in making the sexy lyrics of "Seven", but after watching the MV (which had nothing to do with the lyrics), I couldn't unsee the fact that the concept of Seven's MV looked so much like a response to "Like Crazy's" lyrics. Still, we don't know if JK gave any ideas for the concept of the MV, but considering his record of working as an MV director, it's not impossible.

The End.

This is all I could say about "Like Crazy", a masterpiece that is still thriving in the charts and still touches people's hearts because it comes from real and deep emotions that Jimin had in his heart. That emotion got us the moment we listened to it for the first time, even though verbalizing it, is never easy, no matter how many analyses and reviews we write.

#jimin #jikook #like crazy #analysis

[power-handmaiden]

Day 69: Fahrenheit 69

This somehow won by just a single vote and I voted in my own poll, so... I guess my choice was more important than I thought it would be!This was both my first lesbian tingler and my first classic literature tingler, both categories I've been really looking forward to getting into. It sure lived up to my hopes! This is now one of my favorite tinglers. Maybe my favorite? (It's hard for me to say while I'm still so fresh off of reading it)

As one might expect from the title and Dr. Tingle's general presence in the world, this one makes a statement about the censorship and forced repression of sexual art and expression in society. I think it's perfect to have a woman as the protagonist of this story, reflecting on the way that in our society, women are expected not to show sexual desire and take an active role in admonishing sexual expression. Gal Monty, the main character of this tingler, is noted right at the beginning to have an incredible level of skill at her job eliminating obscenity, that is passed down from her mother and her grandmother, a clear statement on the cyclical nature of passing down these types of attitudes.

Cycles are a major theme of this story; 69 is not just relegated to a body position in the climactic scene of the story. While repression can replicate itself, the freedom and positivity needed to combat it can do so as well when they are not stifled. Gal Monty discovers the possibility of fulfilling sexuality in a very Tingleverse kind of recursive way that speaks on the power of seeing art that reflects one's desires.

Also.... OK this is going to sound really weird from the person willingly posting publicly about erotica every day but: it is really hard for me to type right now that this story really turned me on! It was so hot (no pun intended) to read about a professional arsonist getting fucked so good by a sentient flame that her worldview changes! And I think it's incredible to read a story that both makes me feel that way, and also makes me question why I feel like I'm out of line or oversharing to mention that a work of erotica made me feel the way that erotica is intended to, in a space where people are EXPECTING me to talk about erotica and my feelings on it!!! This one really hit me somewhere personal. Thank you Dr. Tingle!

#2024 tingles my butt #chuck tingle

[svsss-fanon-exposed]

Exposing SVSSS Fanon: 15/∞

SHEN (YUAN) QINGQIU IS A MONSTER NERD

Rating: CANON

One of the most common character traits of Shen Yuan!Qingqiu is his fascination with the monsters and demonic beasts of PIDW. This portrayal is based in canon, as he is shown on multiple occasions to have a particular interest-- in fact, the monsters were the reason he decided to keep reading PIDW in the first place:

There was another important “it” factor. It was, in fact, the main element that had first compelled Shen Qingqiu to follow the novel until the end. The demonic beasts! ... As a cultivation novel, it was out-and-out filled with landmines, but as a monster handbook, it was pretty entertaining. (7 Seas, Ch. 4)

This passage implies that Shen Yuan found the monsters entertaining, and enjoyed them over most of the rest of the novel. However, he is often portrayed in fanworks as having an obsession, special interest, or hyperfixation on demonic beasts.

This also has basis in canon. A bit later on there is the following passage:

Shen Qingqiu wasn’t so pessimistic about his ability to handle demonic beasts. His confidence in his own cultivation and spiritual power aside, his interest in the demonic beasts of Proud Immortal Demon Way had far surpassed his interest in all those flavors of women. He might not have remembered where any given female protagonist liked to go stargazing with Luo Binghe after being slighted, and he sometimes was unable to match names to characters, but he definitely remembered every demonic beast’s attributes and weaknesses with exacting clarity! (7 Seas, Ch. 4)

Speaking from my own experiences, this certainly does sound like a hyperfixation. Remembering the variety of beasts, and perhaps even every single one, would be the same as a usual level of interest, but the fact that Shen Qingqiu had perfectly memorized every attribute of every beast in a novel several million words long certainly seems to fall more into hyperfixation territory.

When it came to Proud Immortal Demon Way’s demonic beasts, he’d really asked the right person. Shen Qingqiu spoke with great familiarity, like he was listing his family treasures. (7 Seas, Ch. 4)

Another instance here, where it shows just how highly he values his knowledge of PIDW's beasts and how familiar he is with them.

Of course, on some level, this knowledge of demonic beasts is expected of his position:

The walking demon encyclopedia—both the original and current flavor could definitively live up to this title. After all, there was that stack of records and ancient books in the back of Qing Jing Peak’s Bamboo House, the same ones that hundreds of generations of peak lords had to read in full before they were allowed to succeed the position. (7 Seas, Ch. 6)

But we must keep in mind that Shen Yuan was not originally the Qing Jing Peak Lord and had no intention on becoming the Qing Jing Peak Lord when he read PIDW-- and the knowledge he has originally comes from reading the novel, so he was not only learning all of this because it was required of his position. Where Shen Jiu might have learned these thing out of necessity, Shen Yuan did so out of passion and genuine interest from even before his transmigration.

This is further supported by a comparison with other readers of PIDW:

He could never have guessed that Shen Qingqiu’s interest in such strange creatures was equivalent to the average Zhongdian reader’s interest in the hundreds of flower-like maidens, each more beautiful than the last. (7 Seas, Ch. 5)

Now, I have noticed that fanworks will have a tendency to play up his obsession with demonic beasts-- while he definitely does have some form of hyperfixation with them, it is not as prevalent in the novel itself (at least, the events that we, the readers see).

My guess as to why this is? Well, it's simply because he is obsessed with the demonic beasts, but he is even more obsessed with Luo Binghe. It's just not as easy for him to admit that.

So in conclusion, Shen Qingqiu's internal monologue indicates that he has some level of obsession, special interest, or hyperfixation with PIDW's demonic beasts. Though it may not be quite as intense or all-encompassing as fanworks often portray it, it would still be perfectly in-line with his character to have him gushing (at least internally) over the beasts of the demon realm while traveling with Luo Binghe.

#fanon exposed #canon #svsss #shen qingqiu #shen yuan

[literary-illuminati]

Book Review 68 - Babel by R. F. Kuang

Overview

I came to Babel with extremely little knowledge about the actual contents of the book but a deep sense of all the vibes swirling around its reception – that it was robbed of a Hugo nomination (if the author didn’t outright refuse it), that it’s probably the single buzziest and most Important sf/f release of 2022, that it was stridently political, and plenty more besides. I also went in having mostly enjoyed The Poppy War series and being absolutely enamoured by the elevator pitch of an alternate history Industrial Revolution where translation is literally magic. And, well-

It is wrong to say I hated this book, but only because keeping track of my complaints and starting organize this review in my head was entertaining enough to keep me invested in the reading experience.

The story is set in an alternate 1830s, where the rise of the British Empire relies upon the dominance of its translators, as it is the mixture of translation and silverworking, the inscription of match-pairs in different languages on bars of worked silver and the leveraging of the ambiguity and loss of meaning between them that fuels the world’s magic. The protagonist is pluckted from his childhood home in Canton after his family dies in a cholera outbreak and whisked away to the estate of Professor Lowell, an Oxford translator he quickly realized is his unacknowledged father. He’s made to choose an English name (Robin Swift) and raised and tutored as a future translator in service to the Empire.

The meat of the story is focused on Robin’s education in Oxford, his relationship with the rest of his cohort, and his growing radicalization and entanglement with the revolutionary Hermes Society. Things come to a head when in his fourth year the cohort is sent back to Canton to, well, help provoke the first Opium War, though none of them aware of that. The final act follows the fallout of that, by which I mean it lives up to the full title of “Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution”.

To be clear, this was technically a very accomplished book. The writing never dragged and the prose was, if not exactly lyrical, always clear and often evocative. Despite the breadth of space and time the story covers, I never had any complaints about the pacing – and honestly, the ending was, dramatically speaking, one of the more natural and well-executed ones I’ve read recently. It’s very well-constructed.

All that being said – allow me to apologize for how the rest of this is mostly just going to be a litany of complaints. But the book clearly believes itself to be an important and meaningful work of political art, which means I don’t feel particularly bad about holding it to high standards.

Narrative Voice

To start with, just, dear god the tone. This is a book with absolutely zero faith in its audience’s ability to reach their own conclusions, or even follow the symbolism and implication it lays down. Every important point is stated outright, repeated, and all but bolded and underlined. In this book set in 1830s England there are footnotes fact-checking the imperialists talking heads to, I guess, make sure we don’t accidentally become convinced by their apologia for the slave trade? Everything is just relentlessly didactic, in a way that ended up feeling rather insulting even when I agreed with the points Kuang was making.

More than that, and this is perhaps a more subjective complaint but – for an ostensible period piece, the narrative voice and perspective just felt intensely modern? This was theoretically an omniscient third person book, with the narrative voice being pretty distinct from any of the actual characters – with the result that the implicit narrator was instead the sort of person of spends six hours a day getting into arguments on twitter and for this effort calls themselves a progressive activist. The identities of all the characters – as delivered by the objective narration – were all very neat and legible from the perspective of someone at a 2022 HR department listing how diverse their team was, which was somewhere between a tragic lost opportunity to show how messy and historical racial/ethnic/national identities are and outright anachronistic, depending. (This was honestly one of the bigger disappointments, coming from Kuang’s earlier work. Say what you will of The Poppy War series, the narration is with Rin all the way down, and it trusts the reader enough not to blink.) More than that it was just distracting – the narration ended up feeling like an annoying obstacle between me and the story, and not in any fun postmodern way either.

Characters

Speaking of the cast – they simply do not sound or feel like they actually grew up in the 19th century. Now, some modernization of speech patterns and vocabulary and moral commensense is just the price of doing business with mass market period pieces, granted, but still – no 19th century Anglo-Indian revolutionary is going use the phrase ‘Narco-military state’ (if for no other reason than we’re something like a century early for ‘narco-state’ to be coined as a term at all). An even beyond feeling out of time most of the characters feel kind of thinly sketched?

Or no, it’s not that the characters are thinly sketched so much as their relationships are. We’re repeatedly, insistently told that these four students are fast friends and closer than family and would happily die for each other, but we’re very rarely actually shown it. This is partly just a causality of trying to skim over a four-year university education in the middle third of one book, I think, but still – the good times and happy moments are almost always sort of skimmed over, summarized in the course of a paragraph or two that usually talk in terms of memories and consequences more than the relationships themselves. The points of friction and the arguments, meanwhile, are usually played out entirely on the page, or at least described in much more detail. In the end you kind of have to just take it as read that any of these people actually love each other, given that at least two of them seem to be feuding at any given point for the entire time they know each other.

Letty deserves some special attention. She’s the only white member of Robin’s cohort at Babel and she honestly feels like less of acharacter and more a collection of tropes about white women in progressive spaces? Even more than the rest, it’s hard to believe the rest of the class views her as beloved ride-or-die found family when essentially every time she’s on screen it’s so she can do a microagression or a white fragility or something. Also, just – you know how relatively common it is to see just, blatantly misogynistic memes repackaged as anti-racist because it specifies ‘white women’? There’s a line in this that almost literally says ‘Letty wasn’t doing anything to disprove the stereotype of woman as uselessly emotional and hysteric’.

Also, she’s the one who ends up betraying the other three and trying to turn them in when they turn revolutionary. Which is probably inevitable given the book’s politics, but as it happened felt like less of the shocking betrayal that it was supposed to be and more just, checking off a box for a dramatic reverse. Of course she turned on them, none of them ever really seemed to even like each other.

As a Period Piece

So, the book is set in the 1830s, in the midst of the industrial revolution and its social fallout, and the leadup to the First Opium War (which is, through the magic of, well, magic ,but also mercantilist economics, make into a synecdoche for British global dominion more broadly). On the one hand, the setting is impeccably researched, recent and relevant historical events are referenced whenever they would come up, and the footnotes are full to bursting with quotes and explanations of texts or cultural ephemera that’s brought up in the narration.

On the other, the setting doesn’t feel authentic in the slightest, the portrayal of the British Empire is bizarrely inconsistent, and all that richly researched historical grounding ends up feeling less like a living world and more like a particularly well-down set for a Doctor Who episode.

The story is incredibly focused around Oxford as a city and a university. There’s a whole author’s note about the research and slight changes made into its geography and I absolutely believe its portrayal as a physical location and the laws about how women were treated and how the different colleges were organized and all that is exactly as accurate as Kuang wanted them to be. The issue is really the people. With the exception of a few cartoonish villains who barely get more than a couple pages apiece, no one feels, sounds like, or acts like they actually belong in the 19th century. The racism the protagonists struggle with all feels much more 21st century than Victorian, and the frame of mind everyone inhabits still comes across more as ‘unusually blatantly racist Englishman’ than 19th century scholars and polymaths.

This is especially blatant as far as religion goes. It’s occasionally mentioned, sure enough, but to the extent anyone actually believes in Christianity it’s of a very modern and disenchanted sort – this is a society that sends out missionaries as a conscious tool of colonial expansion, not because of anything as silly or absurd as actually wanting to spread their gospel. Also like, it’s Oxford, in the nineteenth century. For all the racism the protagonists have to deal with, they should be getting so much more shit from ‘well-meaning’ locals and students trying to save their (one Muslim, one atheist, one probably Christian but black and protective of Haitian Vodou on a cultural level which would be more than enough) souls.

Or, and this is more minor, it is a central conceit of the whole finale that if a few (like, two) determined revolutionaries can infiltrate Babel they’ll be able to take the entire place hostage with barely any trouble. This is because the students and professors there are, basically, whimpy bookworms who’ll faint at the sight of blood and have no stomach for the sort of violence their work actually supports and drives. Which – look, I really don’t want to defend the ruling class of Victorian Britain here, but I’m not sure physical cowardice is really one of their failings, as a group? I mean, there’s an entire system of institutionalized child abuse in the boarding schools they went to to get them used to taking and dealing out violence and abuse. Basically every upper-class sport is thinly disguised military drill or ritual combat (okay, or rowing). Half of them would graduate to immediately running off and invading places for the glory of the queen. I’m not sure two sleep-deprived nerds with knives would actually have been able to cow the crowd here, is what I’m saying. (This would stick out less if the text wasn’t so dripping with contempt for them on precisely these grounds.)

Much less minor are our heroic revolutionaries themselves. And okay, this is more a matter of taste than anything but like – the Hermes Society is an illegal conspiracy of renegade current and former Babel scholars dedicated to using their knowledge of magic and access to university resources to oppose and undermine the British Empire in general and the work of the school in particular. Think Metternich’s worse nightmare, but in Oxford instead of Paris and focused on colonial liberation (continental Europe barely exists for the purposes of the book, Britain is Empire.) So! A secret society of professional revolutionaries in the heydey of just that, with a name that just has to be Hermetic symbolism, who concern themselves with both high politics and metaphysics.

They are just so very, very boring. This is the age of the Conspiracy of the Equals, the Carbonari, the Seasons! The literal Illumanti are still within living memory! Where’s the pageantry, the ritual, the grandiosity? The elaborate initiation rituals and oaths of undying loyalty? They’re so pragmatic, so humble, so (and I know I keep coming back to this) modern. It’s just such an utter wasted opportunity. Even beyond the level of aesthetics, these are revolutionaries with remarkably little positive ideology – the oppose colonialism and racism for reasons they take as self-evident and so don’t feel the need to theorize about it (and talk about them with the vocabulary of a modern activist, because of course they do), but they’re pretty much consciously agnostic as to what world should look like instead. They vaguely end up supporting a sort of petty-bourgeois socialism (in the Marxist sense), but the alliance with Luddites is essentially political convenience – they really don’t seem to have any vision of the future at all, either in England or the various places they claim as homelands.

On Empire and Industrialization

The story is set during the early nineteenth century, so of course the Industrial Revolution is a pretty core part of the background. The Silver Industrial Revolution, technically, since the Babellers translation magic is in this world a key and load-bearing part of it. Despite the addition of miracle-working enhancers and supports to its fundamental technology, the industrial revolution plays out pretty identically to history – right down to the same cities becoming hubs of industry, despite steam engines using enchanted silver instead of coal and thus, presumably, the entire economic and logistical system that brought this particular cities to prominence being totally unrecognizable. This is not a book that’s in any way actually about tracing how something would change history – which isn’t a complaint, to be clear, that’s a perfectly valid creative choice.

It does, however, make it rather galling that the single actually significant difference to history is that the introduction of magic turns the industrial revolution into a Legend of Zelda boss with a giant glowing weak point you can hit to destroy the whole enterprise.

On a narrative level, I get it – it simplifies things and allows for a far happier and more dramatic ending if destroying Babel is not just a symbolic act but also literally sends London Bridge falling down and scuttles the entire royal navy and every mill and factory in Britain. It’s just that I think that by doing so it trades away any chance for actually making interesting commentary on anti-colonial and -capitalist resistance. A world where a single act of spectacular terrorism really can destroy a modern empire is frankly so detached from our world that it ceases to be able to really materially comment upon it.

Like, the principle reason to not take the Luddites as your role models is not that they were morally vicious but that they were doomed – capitalism’s ability to repair damage to infrastructure and fixed goods is legitimately very impressive! Trying to force an entire ruling class not to adopt a technology that makes whoever commits to it tremendous amounts of money (thus, power) is a herculean task even when you have a state apparatus and standing army – adding an ‘off’ button to the lot of it just trades all sense of relevance for a satisfyingly cathartic ending.

(This is leaving untouched how the book just takes it as a given that the industrial revolution was a strictly immiserating force that did nothing but redistribute money from artisans to capitalists. Which certainly tracks as something people at the time would have thought but given how resolutely modern all the other politics in the work are rings really weirdly.)

All of which is only my second biggest issue with how the book presents its successful resistance movement. It all pales in comparison to making the Empire a squeamish paper tiger.

Like, the book hates colonialism in general and the British Empire in particular, the narrative and footnotes are filled with little asides about various atrocities and injustices and just ways it was racist or complicit in some particular atrocity. But more than that it is contemptuous of it, it views the empire as (as the cliche goes) a perpetually rotting edifice that just needs one good kick; that it persists only through the myth of its own invincibility, and has no stomach for violent resistance from within. Which is absolutely absurd, and the book does seem to know it on occasion when it off-handedly mentions e.g. the Peterloo Massacre – but a character whose supposed to be the grizzled cynical pragmatic revolutionary still spouts off about how slave rebellions succeed because their masters aren’t willing to massacre their own property. Which is just so spectacularly wrong on every axis its actually almost offensive.

More importantly, the entire final act of the story relies upon the fact that the British Empire would allow a handful of foreign students seize control of a vital piece of infrastructure for weeks on end and do nothing but try to wait them out as the national physically falls apart around them. Like, c’mon, there would be siege artillery set up and taking shots by the end of week two. As with the Oxford students, the Victorian elite had all manner of flaws – take your pick, really – but squeamishness wasn’t really one of them.

On Magic

So the magical system underlying the whole story is – you know how Machinaries of Empire makes imperial ideology and metaphysics literally magical, giving expert technicians the ability to create superweapons and destroy worlds provided that the Hexarchate’s subjects observe the imperial calendar of rites and celebrate its triumphs/participate in rituals glorying in the torture of its ‘heretics’? It’s not exactly a subtle metaphor, but it works.

Babel does something similar, except the foundational atrocity fueling the engine of empire on a metaphysical level is, like, cultural appropriation. As an organizing metaphor, I find this less compelling.

Leaving that aside, the story makes translation literally capable of miracle-working – which of necessity requires making ‘languages’ distinct natural categories with observable metaphysical boundaries. It then sets the story in the 19th century – the era of newborn nation states and education systems and national literatures, where the concept of the national-linguistic community was the obsession of the entire European intelligentsia. Now this is not a book concerned with how the presence of magic would actually have changed history, in the slightest, but like – given how fascinated it is by translation and linguistics you’d think the whole ‘a language is a dialect with a navy’ cliché would at least get a light mention (but then the book doesn’t really treat language as any more inherent or natural than it does any other modern identity category, I suppose.)

As an Allegory

Okay, so having now spent an embarrassing number of words establishing to my own satisfaction that the book really doesn’t work at all as a period piece, let us consider; what if it wasn’t trying to be?

A great many things about the book just fit much better if you take it as a commentary on the modern university with Victorian window-dressing. Certainly the driving resentment of Oxford as an institution that sustains itself and grows rich off the exploitation of international students it considers second-class seems far more apt applied to contemporary elite western schools than 19th century ones. Likewise the racism the heroes face all seems like the kind you’d expect in a modern English town rather than a Victorian one. I’m not well-versed enough on the economics of the city to know for sure, but I would wager that the gleeful characterization of Oxford as a city that literally starts falling to ruin without the university to support it was also less accurate in the 1830s than it is today.

Read like this, everything coheres much better – but the most striking thing becomes the incredible vanity of the book. This is a morality tale where the natural revolutionary vanguard with the power to bring global hegemony to its knees through nothing but witholding their labour are..students at elite western universities (not, I must say, a class I’d consider in dire need of having their egos boosted). The emotions underlying everything make much more sense, but the plot itself becomes positively myopic.

Beyond that – if this is a story about international students at elite universities, it does a terrible job of actually portraying them. Or, properly, it only shows a certain type; just about every foreign-born student or professor we meet is some level of revolutionary, deeply opposed in principle to the empire they work within. No one is actually convinced by the carrot of a life as an exploited but exceedingly comfortable and well-compensated technician in the imperial core, and there’s not really acknowledgement at all of just how much of the apparatus of international institutions and governments in the global south – including positions with quite a bit of real power – end up being staffed by exactly that demographic who just sincerely agree with the various ideological projects employing them. Kuang makes it far too easy on herself by making just about every person of colour in the books one of the good guys, and totally undersells how convincing hegemonic ideology can be, basically.

The Necessity of Violence

This is a pet peeve and it’s a very minor thing that I really wouldn’t bring it up if that wasn’t literally part of the title. But it is, so – it’s a plot point that’s given a decent amount of attention that Griffin (Robin’s secret older brother, grizzled professional revolutionary, his introduction to anti-colonialism) is blamed for murdering one of his classmates who had the bad luck to be studying while he was sneaking in to steal some silver – a student that was quite well-loved by the faculty and her very successful classmates, who have never forgiven him. Later on, it’s revealed that this is an utter rewriting of history, and she’d been a double agent pretending to let herself be recruited into the Hermes Society who’d been luring Griffin into an ambush when he killed her and escaped.

This is – well, the most predictable not-even-a-twist imaginable, for one, but also – just rank cowardice. You titled the book ‘the necessity of violence’, the least you can do is actually own it and show that violent resistance means people (with faces, and names, not just abstractions only ever talked about in general terms) who are essentially personally innocent are going to end up collateral damage, and people are going to hold grudges about it. Have some courage in your convictions!

Translation

Okay, all of that said, this isn’t a book that’s wholly bad, or anything. In particular, you can really tell how much of a passion Kuang has for the art and science of translation. The depth of knowledge and eagerness to share just about overflows from the page whenever the book finds an excuse to talk about it at length, and it’s really very endearing. The philosophizing about translation was also as a rule much more interesting and nuanced then whenever the book tried to opine about high politics or revolutionary tactics.

Anyways, I really can’t recommend the book in any real way, but it did stick in my head for long enough that I’ve now written 4,000 words about it. So at the very least it’s the interesting sort of bad book, y’know?

#book review #babel #r. f. kuang #sff #lesbian space atrocities #-ish #hatermode

[koinotame]

all yours and all mine

word count: 2.5K content warnings: unhealthy relationship dynamics, alcohol consumption (childe is drunk, but there’s no depiction of drinking itself), vague implication of breaking and entering and subsequent murder, dehumanisation/objectification (not at reader), they/them is used for reader

a/n: this a repost (lightly edited)! and a sequel to this. like the previous installments, you can read this as a modern au but (this one in particular) it'll make much more sense with the previous context. also on ao3! no intruders were harmed in the production of this chapter

"[nameeee]—"

the way he whines out your name, pulling you into stumbling arms before you can say anything in return, is more than enough to tell you ajax is almost definitely drunk.

he giggles when you wrap your arms around his back, then abrubtly stops. "ah wait, your name is sacred and I shouldn’t use it so casually…. I’m sorry, please forgive me, your grace~"

…your grace?

well. that confirms your suspicions, you guess?

"you don’t sound very sorry," you quip without any real malice, trying to close the door with him still wrapped around you. the guy who dropped him off (some friend of ajax’s you’ve seen once or twice before) snickers behind his hand and waves when you shoot him a grateful look.

ajax giggles into the crown of your head. "that’s because I love you~ and I love using your name… but not as much as I love you."

"mhm, I love you t—" you squeak when he suddenly throws his arms around your waist, picking you up and twirling you around. he responds to your protests with more laughter, but he does put you down swiftly and instead stuffs his face into your shoulder.

"they said they love me…. I’m so lucky, ahh." he keeps going before you can ask him about the title he used earlier. "you’re all mine, and I’m all yours."

come to think about it… didn’t he say something similar when he was proposing?

"but," he whispers into your neck like he’s telling you some secret only the two of you can be privy to, "even if you weren’t all mine, as long as I’m all yours, I wouldn’t mind."

he rubs his face across your neck and shoulder like a happy cat marking his owner, his hold on your waist tightening slightly. your hand comes up to cart through his hair, and he starts making some sort of rumbling noise.

is he… is he purring?

you try to push all of that out of your thoughts and focus on making sure he’s okay. "…hey, when’s the last time you drank water?"

he stays quiet for a bit, then speaks up just as you’re about to repeat your question. "I dunno."

you sigh, barely registering the whimper that escapes him. "could you sit down?"

he whines, his arms tightening even more. "I don’t wanna leave you…"

"don’t be like that. you need some water… and some medicine." when he doesn’t move, you decide it’s time to pull out the 'good boy' strategy. "I can’t carry both you and the water, so please be good and go sit, okay?"

he stays quiet for a bit again, before his arms hesitantly retract from you. "mmgh, okay…"

he obediently trots over to the couch (not before shooting you a sad look). by the time you come back, he’s discarded his jacket and shoes. you make a note to move them once you get him tucked in.

"I missed you," he whines out, making grabby hands in your direction.

"it’s been three minutes, you sap."

then, figuring he won’t mind too much, you hook your fingers into his mouth and gently pry it open. he makes some sort of choking noise and immediately propels backwards, covering his mouth with his hands.

for a second you’re worried you went too far, but looking at his face he seems more embarrassed than uncomfortable. his eyes look off to the side, his entire face flushed. "don’t look, I don’t want you to think I’m gross."

biting your tongue, you try to hold back your chuckle. "you’re so adorable I could eat you up."

he whines, hands still covering his mouth, and sinks down into the couch further. "I wish you would…"

it’s a weird thing to say, but you chalk it off to his alcohol-addled brain not being able to convey himself properly.

you reach out the pill to him and he takes it without complaint, swallowing it and then the rest of the glass you hand him. when he pats the space next to him and you sit down, he immediately slides his head onto your lap.

his hand comes up to play with your hair, his gaze wistful and distant.

after several moments of silence, he pipes up quietly. "I was made for you, you know."

"mhm," your hand cups his cheek. "and I was made for you."

he frowns, his hand coming down to press against yours. "no."

you tilt your head. "no?" you know he’s always been more focused on you, but there seems to be something deeper to this than just him having low self worth… but then again, you’ve never been good at reading others.

"no," he repeats, still frowning. "you never understand. I was literally made for you. without you, I wouldn’t exist." his hand drops and he sighs before you have the opportunity to really process his words. "it’s flattering when you say you love me and that you were made for me too, but…"

you don’t say anything, your hands suddenly feeling cold and clammy.

his gaze is intense when it turns to you again. "you should treat me like the tool I am… then I wouldn’t get all confused."

his hand clutches at his shirt, around where his heart is. "every time you treat me so gently, I feel like my insides are exploding. it makes me feel like I’m special…"

he stops for a few seconds, blinking blearily at you.

"…to you. like I’m special to you." he repeats the words as if they’re hard for him to believe, as if he can’t accept that you’d care for him even now. as if the idea of you loving him is entirely foreign to him.

weakly, you swallow. "…you should get to bed."

he groans suddenly, his hand coming to cover his eyes. "uugh, I don’t want to get up… I still need to clean up that pest that broke in…"

he needs to what.

"ajax." you shake him, urgency in your tone. "ajax, what."

he groans again, flopping around a bit. "don’t tell them, they’d just get mad 'nd never approve… if they get mad and hate me, I’ll die."

"no you won’t," you shake him again. he whines. "ajax, what did you do?"

"you don’t understanddd," he starts, dragging his hands down his face in a way that would be comical in any other situation, then rolling over and squishing his face against your tummy. "they’re the reason I was even born. if they get mad… my life is over."

and— you’ve always been aware your fiancé has some problems, and maybe didn’t have the happiest childhood, and has a bad tendency to put you first no matter what, but this is way beyond any of that.

is this… how he’s felt the entire time?

you briefly wonder if you made him feel this way, or if the idea of anyone loving him and treating him kindly is alien to him.

"I was so worried, you know," he starts before you can say anything, "when I first saw them, they didn’t recognise me… or any of the others. but the second I saw them, I knew. that was them. that was who I was born for. my whole life’s purpose."

your breath hitches. how… how are you supposed to respond to that? tears sting at your eyes. maybe it’s ironic of you to feel this way, but you can’t stand how fond he sounds.

"I’m so happy…" his arms tighten around you. "even if they only know me as their sweet roommmate ajax and not the ajax that would give up everything for them, that would take over the world and sacrifice his entire life for them…" he sighs dreamily. "I’m so happy."

the more he talks, the less his words make sense, and the more your stomach drops.

"ajax," you try shaking him again. "come on, get up. you should sleep."

he whines but dutifully unrolls from your stomach, blinking up sleepily at you. then he puts up his fist and goes "woof!"

and, despite everything, you stifle a chuckle.

"come on, big boy, get up." you pat his cheek gently, affectionately.

he makes some noise of complaint but sits up anyway, rubbing at his eye. it’s like he’s forgotten that he thought you were someone else just moments ago. "mmgh, good tools shouldn’t need help from their owners…"

your smile falls. "ajax, we’re engaged. I’m not your owner."

he shakes his head, still facing away from you. "no, you do own me."

nervously, you try, "…you mean your heart?"

his head lolls to the side. "mhm, that too." he adds it on like an afterthoughts, and the heavy feeling in your gut intensifies.

"if we’re engaged… that means you can still return me, right?" he keeps going before you can ask about his word choice or rebuke his thought process. "then I gotta work extra hard to keep appealing to you…"

he starts counting off on his hands. "you don’t like it when I take care of our household, or when I cook for you, or when I get you stuff…" he trails off, then lights up just as you’re about to tell him you don’t dislike him when he does any of that, you just don’t want to take advantage of him. "oh! what about my body?"

his empty eyes stare at you as he brings your hands to the bottom of his shirt. a whine escapes him when you don’t move your hands.

"my body is no good either?"

"your body is fine," you let go of his clothes to intertwine your hand with his. "and I don’t mind if you do stuff for me, really! I just… you’re always so eager, and it makes me feel kind of bad. I don’t want to take advantage of you."

he tilts his head, looking genuinely confused. "why not?"

it’s your turn to blink at him in confusion. "wh… what do you mean?"

he squeezes your hands. "isn’t it good if I’m useful to you…? I’m all yours, you shouldn’t hesitate to use me. I…" he looks away, almost bashfully, though his eyes keep darting back to your face. "want you to take advantage of me. that means I'm useful and worth keeping around, right?"

"that’s, um, why." your throat is dry. "I don’t… I don’t want either of us to think of it as using you."

he stays quiet for a few seconds, and you almost think you’ve finally gotten through to him. "…are you worried about me?" a lovesick smile spreads on his face and he sighs sweetly. "ahh, you’re so sweet, I love you… but I can take it. if I couldn’t, then I’d have no right to call myself yours."

he brings one of your hands to his mouth and presses a gentle kiss to it. "being a weapon in this world is no good… but I can at least be a useful tool for you."

he presses another kiss to your other hand. "I want to be useful to you… it’s the least you deserve."

"I don’t deserve this much," you begin but trail off, unsure what words would fit best.

"you do." he insists, holding your stare. "you deserve so much more. if anything, I’m the one who feels selfish."

your throat runs dry.

"you should be living in a palace built especially for you, worshipped by everyone in the land… but here I am, selfishly keeping you to myself and cooped up in this small apartment. I’m greedy, insatiable, and I don’t feel bad about it at all…"

you almost don’t want to ask. "who else would even worship me? I’m really not that special."

"you are," he insists, squeezing your hands. "tons of people would. there’s those people I have the disgrace of calling coworkers, that haughty excuse of a dragon, and…" he trails off, listing some more people you don’t recognise.

it’s definitely not the most outrageous thing he’s said (a dragon? gods? worshipping you? yeah, he’s definitely drunk), but you can’t help but wonder. "aren’t you unemployed?"

he doesn’t say anything, simply staring at your intertwined hands.

"I wish our fates were intertwined like our hands," he says, and somewhere in the back of your head that sparks a small memory. "but the truth is my fate is like a string tangled up in your fingers."

you squeeze his hands in return, and he sighs. you can’t tell if it’s in fondness or something else.

"if I can’t be your tool, can I at least be your loyal knight?"

you hate the part of you that just wants to tell him yes, the part of you that wants to just surrender and stop fighting him. it’s clearly what he wants… but another part of you is just as aware that wouldn’t do any good for either of you.

instead of voicing any of that, you change the subject. "how about you go to bed now?"

he frowns. "just be’cuz my head is all fuzzy doesn’t mean I didn’t mean any of that."

I know, you want to say, and that’s the scariest part.

"ajax, please." he whimpers, but drops the topic.

it’s quiet for a couple more minutes before he pipes up again. "can we at least take a bath together before going to bed? I wanna wash your back and hair."

you sigh, dropping his hands and getting up. "fine, but no more talking about this."

he doesn’t make any noise of acknowledgement, and you’re halfway out the door before you notice. when you turn, he’s staring blankly at his empty hands. "ajax?"

his head snaps to you. "right."

he almost falls asleep while you’re washing his hair, and you’re worried he’ll fall asleep in the bath for real, but he wakes up enough to protest when you try to get out without him having had the chance to return the favour.

you try not to think too much about the claw-shaped scars on his side, about how his earlier comment about some dragon might not have been too farfetched. about how that would even be possible. about what that would mean for how he insists he was made for you.

he asks you if you really don’t like his body ("I’ve honed it for you for years," he insists! you can only hope that’s an exaggeration on his part) again while attempting to dry you off, then starts whining when you don’t answer him.

you usher him to bed while he continues complaining, but he falls asleep fairly quickly once you get him tucked in (and wrapped around you, a fact you’ve come to accept just comes with sleeping with ajax).

it takes you a while longer to clear your own thoughts and nod off. you just hope he won’t remember any of this tomorrow.

wait, your eyes snap open just as you’re on the verge of fully falling asleep, he never answered your questions about that intruder.

#yandere #yandere x reader #x reader #genshin impact #yandere genshin impact #self aware au #self aware genshin #childe #tartaglia #repost #i keep being like 'nah i haven't edited this that much' and then i check and i've added 2-300 words somehow 😭 #anyway. i'm done looking at this so it's getting posted and out of my mind

[sinswithpleasure]

Callout Post

I do not like doing this, and this is not the type of post I like to put on my platform. What this is NOT is a witch-hunt post, and is NOT a reason for any of those who view this post to send any sort of hate or malicious asks about this, across both mine, Smite's (@fillinforlater), and @idyllicidols's shared viewerbase.

There's quite a few fics that aren't either mine or Smite's too. Looking at @ot9snumber1, who's got me blocked but I found their work in the list below anyway.

This is a callout post specifically for @f1ddl3st1cks. While you have removed the fic you've plagiarized from me (Night Time Play [ft. Sakura & Chaewon]), on AO3, I'm not going to stand by and let you take Smite's or others' works and claim it as your own as well. I am on AO3 a lot. I can, and will find any more plagiarised fics eventually. So, based on your likes, they contain three specific fics: 1. The Pull (Ning2 x Hyewon x etc) 2. Night-Time Play (Sakura & Chaewon) 3. When Life Gives You Bandmates, Make A Mess Out Of Them (Kazuha x Yunjin)

Funny enough, based on what is on your AO3 page of the same name, what shows up?

Now, I know you changed "The Pull" to Ning2 x Giselle, and not Ning2 x Hyewon, but I mean, what do I know, this photo really speaks for itself.

Before you start going "Oh my God! Smite posted it later than me! He plagiarized me!", here's the post dates: 1. Your plagiarized posting:

2. Smite's post:

We're not stupid. Also, that's not the only one too, so I guess we have to put a line in here to limit the length.

Now, on to the next fic, titled "The Slick", which you said you wrote as per the excerpt here:

Fic here:

Guess what I found—nice attempt to mask the plagiarism through the title change. You can't defeat Google's SEO though. Smite's fic is below, exact same words.

Dates are as shown here: 1. Your plagiarized fic:

2. Original by Smite:

We're not stupid, mate. Now, on to the Yunjin x Kazuha:

I'm sorry, we're not fucking idiots. Seriously.

On to the last fic I could find:

Really, mate? Really? It's all a Google search away.

#kpop fanfic #kpop fanfiction #call out post #sinswithupdates

[lightwing-s]

saw your post about peter blurbs and i had to send an ask🤭🤭

imagine peter being protective at the royal balls even though you two aren’t official🤞🏻🤞🏻

he keeps an eye on you while you talk to princes from other kingdoms and while he’s stood next to you he keeps a hand around you waist omg i’m gonna pass out and susan notices and points out his behaviour making you both blush cuz your just friends right😧😧

sorry that was pretty long omg but PETER😍🤞🏻♥️🤭🫶🏻😘

If anyone asked if you preferred to fight three hundred soldiers on your own or attend a royal ball, without thinking twice, you’d pick the first option. There was nothing in this world that could make you more nervous, more anxious and scared than a ball room full of people ready to judge you for every small detail, from your hair to your shoes, and the way you speak and if you’re proper while eating and referring to the many royals in the room.

You hated it, and couldn’t count the many times you sneaked out of a ball feeling your heart beating furiously and your sight getting blurring. The many times you had a panic attack for one interaction and Peter had to rush behind you to make sure you were okay.

And Peter was the sweetest. He’d sit with you for how goddamn long you needed to settle down your heart and mind, and he’d walk you to your chambers, tuck you in bed and kiss you goodnight before heading back to his High King duties. You were surprised it had been taking this long for people to figure out you two were more than just friends, but you were glad to still have your relationship just for the two of you.

In those few months you saw your friendship grow to be something more, you appreciated every moment you’d have just Y/n and Pete. No duties, no titles, just you. But if you wanted to spend the rest of your life with him, that meant getting used to balls, to festivals, to royal duties and diplomatic meetings. If he wanted you as his queen, which he’d constantly remind you with kisses and touches how much he’d want it, you had to get used to all of it.

Hence, there you stood on your own, talking with the prince of Archenland while your dress weighed you down, sitting tight around your body and making it difficult for you to breathe. Another two nobles joined in your conversation, and you started to breathe a lot faster, feeling your heartbeat join in on the speed race.

Suddenly, a warm hand sat on your waist, Peter's strong and imposing presence making itself known behind you. He looked you deep in your eyes, full of concern over you, sky blue boring into yours and a heavy dose of tranquillisers. Lowering his chin, he checked to see if you were alright, for which you gave him a soft smile, masking your nervousness to not freak him out.

For the longest time, Peter’s hand never left your waist, thumb caressing you through your dress. He held you too close, not that you would complain, but you knew it’d raise suspicion.

As your heartbeat had gone back to normal, your hand went to your waist, touching ever so slightly the tips of his fingers as a thank you for his presence.

“You did well, my love” he complimented you once you’re finally left alone, pulling you slightly closer.

“I wouldn’t have done it if you hadn’t arrived in time. I was about to freak out when he started talking about politics and trade.” Peter blew out a breathy laugh, hiding behind your head and sneaking it a kiss. Lowering himself a bit, he whispers in your ear.

“You’re going to make a great queen someday.” sneaking a glance at his handsome face, adorned with his heavy golden crown, you threw him a smile when you saw him playing on his face, a warmth climbing up your cheeks as his hand climbed a bit higher to rest just under your breasts.

“If you want to hide in a ball I suggest you do more than staying on the side.” Susan warned you as she appeared at your side. “You’re not doing your best at being discreet.” she said, glancing swiftly at where your hands met. “Peter, I guess the King wants to talk to you right at this moment.”

Noticing his sister’s insistent tone, he dismissed himself with a wave of the head and left you too alone, the place where his hands had been resting on your body feeling hollow with the sudden lack of warmth.

“I’m not sure what’s going on between you two, but I support it.” she whispered, pushing you playfully with her shoulder. “Tonight, in your room, for the full details?”

A large smile growing in your face, you nod your head, excited to finally share with her your love story

.

a/n: i’m so excited to finally be writing for peter, keep sending in more x

#peter pevensie imagine #peter pevensie x reader #peter pevensie fluff #peter pevensie blurb #peter pevensie #narnia imagine

[angsthology]

“when you said you were seeing someone i was kind of hoping a therapist” — or an alt title: roo sees things others can’t

theres been this uneasy feeling she feels on the back of her neck...

a/n fun fact i was possessed once as a kid. but anyway this came to me when i was reading the gamer episode of vr!!! so thank u noelle. but anyway let me explain this one: where im from the places here are kinda... "spooky" i guess and there are some people who can see otherworldly creatures and idk i just feel like bringing these in cause i thought it would be fun!

warnings; kinda creepy tbh i wrote this and imagined it a couple of times and scared myself (cause ik damn well it can happen to me 😭), this writing is kinda all over the place so uhh sorry

THE KANGAROO(KIE) VS. THE WORLD

alex had initially been unfazed by the girl beside him, having a hard battle against her drooping eyes. he definitely understood where it’s coming from. this meeting was so boring. plus, roo wasn’t a big fan of listening to words that came out of the mouth of men anyway so there’s no surprise there.

it was only then after several more head drops she seemed like she was more awake, her eyes quietly and cautiously scanned the room from every top corner to behind them.

he brushed it off as nothing, probably just gathering reality after her on and off nap.

after that it was smooth sailing and more... listening.

only, he sort of noticed how her eyes barely looked up from her lap but he fully knew that she was awake now. still, he thought, maybe she was just tired still so he didn’t bother bothering her.

when the excruciating life sentence had finally stopped, the entire room stood up and either made their way to each other or simply leave.

alex had a brief conversation with charles who sat on the right row behind him, he then went to speak to his friend that was just one second ago still sat silently beside him only to turn around to find an empty seat.

he then looked around the room to see if she had went to talk to someone only to find her lack of presence in the room.

weird. she always did like to mingle.

again, he shrugged it off, maybe she just went to take a nap elsewhere.

the next time they had a meeting in the same room, the alfa romeo driver had arrived with george russell by her side. they barely said anything and arrived in silence. well, that wasn’t true. the girl had arrived in silence, george was greeting everyone happily.

when they arrived, george occupied himself in a conversation with alex. when he looked to his right he found the spot empty where the woman once stood in. he then looked around to find her already sitting silently besides her teammate.

she had been fine this morning when she met up with george until they were called into the meeting that’s when her energy seemed to have shifted. george simply thought she just dreaded the meeting itself—as per usual, like any other meeting she didn’t like so it seemed pretty normal to the brit.

though, she was uncharacteristically quiet. like, she wasn’t exactly someone with a big dictionary on the daily but she was still as annoying as a twenty-something-year-old could be.

she had kept her head down during the entire duration of the meeting, only ‘listening’ to whatever there was to be said. every once in a while she could be seen looking up cautiously from her lap, though her eyes only seemed to be looking at repetitive spots.

after the meeting was finally over again, she was gone before anyone could reach her.

weird.

another day, another meeting everyone dreaded. seems like that’s all the agenda was the last couple of days.

but no one dreaded it more than the woman in metallic black.

she was currently walking along with zhou (who was now caught up with all the information). she was uncomfortable, she hoped that today she’s gone—that it was gone. she had been keeping her head down to avoid it but over the days she could feel her creeping in closer and closer to her.

roo was so close to entering the room until she felt the hair on her neck stood up in alert and she knew she couldn’t. she was so close to escaping today’s meeting but just her luck.

lando had seen her and she knew it was too late when he had beckoned her over.

she—like she has been the last few days—entered the room cautiously, not looking up to that spot for her own sake.

“hey, man.” the brit greeted, patting her back.

she tried to greet them all back in the same manner but her uneasiness were overpowering her social skills and she couldn’t find the power in herself to say anything coherent.

the rest of the men looked at each other in question giving the other only a shrug. they were about to ask when they were cut off by the meeting starting.

and, surprise surprise, roo had already disappeared again from their side.

she now sat on the far left just next to the opening isle where they could walk through.

the three british men didn’t waste time to occupy look at the other for confirmation and the empty seats beside her. usually that would’ve pulled a reaction from her, a comment along the lines of ‘everybody wants to get with roo’ but when she stayed quiet head down that really piqued their interest.

throughout the entire meeting she was still very quiet which wasn’t something out of the blue but something that was, is the heavy breathing coming out of her mouth. at first it was nothing but the more and more time passes it got heavier and louder. lando, who sat next to her had heard the entire buildup causing him to worry for his fellow driver. he nudged her with his arm to which she flinched at.

“hey, you alr—” before he could finish she was already jumping off her seat and mumbling a small ‘excuse me’ as she sped-walked in front of them, circling her way out of the row and exiting the room.

a moment later, her teammate excuses himself out of the room leaving the three british men to give each other a look.

after they were all dismissed, the three had made it their mission to find the alfa romeo driver(s). everyone knew how random roo’s (behavioral) pattern is, but even they knew that was weird and out of the blue.

but somehow, it was not really a big surprise when they saw her walking along the paddock with fernando, smiling as if nothing had happened.

when she saw them, her smile grew and she waved at them happily as they went and approached her.

“hey, how was the meeting?”

“fine. —are you alright?” lando didn’t bother to hover around the topic.

she shrugged, “yeah, just, things, y’know.”

george furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and quite frankly, taken aback, “what things?” he asks, his tone almost sound accusing.

she sighs, slumping her shoulder a bit, “it’s stupid.” she states.

“if it made you bolt out of the room like that, not really.”

she rolls her eyes, “i kinda… have been seeing a woman.”

they were so taken aback the three furrowed their brows in sync, only making her realize the mistake in her words.

she shook her head as if to refresh her thoughts, “let me rewind—i uh, i can… see spirits.”

still—hell, probably more—confused, their response to her words were tilting their heads like a puppy dog (though george and lando had a sort of shift into a more judgy look).

she clicks her tongue, “every time i look up in that room i see this woman with long hair—hair that covered her entire face down to her chest. and– the first time ‘round i thought that was it and that when i come back the next time she’d be gone. but… i guess it seemed like she got closer every time i come back. and today– today she went to the point where she was near my face and i guess… i guess i was finally feeling her presence getting too close instead of just seeing.”

when she finished talking, the three drivers in front of her stayed silent and she almost regret saying anything. she felt really stupid despite how real it was for her. she turned to whine to nando next to her when one of the three brits finally spoke up.

“that’s awesome!” exclaimed alex.

roo, still standing facing in fernando’s direction, only side-eyed him—judgy and  confused, right on-brand.

“…i was terrified.” she somehow thought she needed to clarify.

“no, yeah, sorry you had to go through that, whatever—you can see ghosts!” alex re-states excitedly.

the older man out of the four of them couldn’t help but be amused by the entire conversation. he put both his hands on each of the girl’s shoulders and laughed lightly, shaking her a little in the process, “good luck, niña.”

“man, i don’t need luck. i need new friends.”

taglist; @treehouse-mouse @disneyprincemuke @yansbolobao @leilanixx @judespoision @vellicora @bborra sorry for this mess 😭😭

#f1 x reader #f1 fanfic #f1 imagine #formula one x reader #formula one #formula 1 #formula 1 x reader #formula 1 x you #formula 1 x female reader #formula 1 x oc #fem!driver reader #female reader #female driver #driver!reader #tine’s roo vs the world

[duskyashe]

CAMP NANO DAY 12

[AO3]

============·^·^·^·============

Danny could have cried in relief. All of his hard work (and Jazz's pointed words with the more friendly of his rogues) had paid off—Danny could finally, finally take a nap. His homework was caught up, all his chores were done, his parents were off terrorizing yet another ghost hunters convention, and the only ghost he'd had to deal with the entire day had been a blob ghost making itself at home in the neighbor's trash can. With Jazz and his friends on deck for emergency ghost wrangling, Danny couldn't find it in himself to feel anything but relief as he buried himself under his blankets on his rarely used bed.

As the sixteen year old half ghost started drifting off, eagerly looking forward to catching up on his sleep, a familiar green glow appeared over his bed and a bone chilling gasp got stuck in the back of his throat, startling Danny awake. "No, no, no, come on!" Danny cried out in frustration. "Just one undisturbed afternoon nap, is that too much to ask?!" Half expecting Wulf to come tumbling out of the dimensional tear that was suspended above his bed, Danny changed forms and sat up against his headboard. If the Esperanto speaking ghost showed up, Danny wanted ready access to his ghost half's innate understanding of all languages spoken by the dead and the NeverBorn.

Instead of Wulf, however, the person who fell through the unstable portal and onto his bed was wearing an armored costume. A very familiar armored costume. What was Nightwing doing in his bedroom?!

The Gotham vigilante quickly rolled off his bed and landed in a crouch, visibly taking the situation in. It was something Danny, himself, had done many times over the past two years, and personal experience had him raising his hands and carefully holding them away from himself as a peaceful gesture. Even though Danny was hella confused, he let Nightwing dictate when the questioning began.

He wasn't even going to think about the kinds of questions his bedroom would raise or the deductions that one of the superhero community's greatest detectives would be able to make from this experience. That way led madness.

Apparently satisfied with his visual scan of Danny's room, Nightwing turned the majority of his attention to Danny and asked, "Who are you?" Overall, definitely one of the better questions to ask in this situation.

"I'm Phantom," Danny replied, then cringed at the remembered lecture from Pandora about titles and using them and amended his statement. "King Phantom, I guess."

Nightwing's attention narrowed in on him at that, feeling almost like a laser. "King Phantom? Ghost King Phantom?"

Danny scowled at that, suddenly understanding the gist of what had happened. "Let me guess, some hoity toity big wig fruitloop kidnapped and sacrificed you to the Ghost King, either for favor, power, immortality, or all of the above?"

His reaction seemed to have set Nightwing off balance somewhat, as the man hesitated slightly before responding much less hostilely. "Yessss? I mean, the Lazarus Pits have been growing less and less potent over the last two years, and Ra's seems to be getting more than a little desperate. Apparently he did the same ritual once before, about four hundred years ago, and ended up with the Lazarus Pits. The same Pits that are losing potency at a frankly astonishing rate."

"Of course," Danny mumbled with a curse and a facepalm. "Here's the problem. Two years ago, there was a different Ghost King. He was very much not a good dude, very power hungry and very evil. He probably received that sacrifice four hundred years ago and decided it was a good investment, and so created those Lazarus Pits as a show of favor. They probably granted inhuman power and the ability to cheat death, right?" At Nightwing's nod, Danny continued. "Yeah, see, there's no real way to cheat death, not like that. Death comes for everyone eventually, you can just prolong the inevitable. Ever since I defeated the previous King in ritualistic single combat, all favors, spells, and curses put in place by the former King have been dissolving without the power of the throne behind them. Unless the new King, me, reinforces those favors, spells, and curses, they will eventually wither into nothing." Danny saw Nightwing start to pale and hurried to reassure him. "Luckily for you, I have no intention of doing that. You'd become my thrall and effectively die right here and now if I did. I really don't want to do that, you're one of my favorite heroes ever, so instead what I'm going to do is basically quicken the process of those Lazarus Pits drying up. Anyone willing to sacrifice one of the heroes of the world for a little bit of power and prolong their death will never find favor from me," Danny declared, feeling his eyes flash silver as his Royal Decree was written in the very fabric of the universe. "Now! How about we get you back to where you belong!"

============·^·^·^·============

So sorry for missing yesterday, my boyfriend flew in from out of state, so I had to go pick him up from the airport, which was almost three hours one way, and I ended up with hardly any time to write. I also forgot to write for a good portion of today, so this was a bit rushed and not at all what I was originally planning on writing (⁠^⁠～⁠^⁠;⁠)⁠ゞ but hey! Another prompt from the Batpham server has been written and published! (⁠ノ⁠^⁠_⁠^⁠)⁠ノ

I'm trying to finish Cryptid Crash Course chapter 3 for y'all, but I can't quite get the opening to work the way I want it to, so I'm letting it sit and marinate in the back of my head (⁠；⁠^⁠ω⁠^⁠）don't worry, I'm planning on finishing the entirety of Cryptid Crash Course this month! I just don't know when that'll actually be ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠⊙⁠_⁠ʖ⁠⊙⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

Once again, if anyone wants to add on to this, please feel free! I fully intend for this to be the only time I touch on this world, so it's free game, y'all (⁠｡⁠•̀⁠ᴗ⁠-⁠)⁠✧ have at it!

Have a good morning/day/night wherever you are!

#danny phantom #batman #dp crossover #dpxdc #fanfiction #danny fenton #dick grayson #nightwing #ghost king danny #ra's al ghul #well #the dude is mentioned #but that's it #poor danny #can't catch a break #or some z's #camp nanowrimo 2023 #camp nano 2023 day 12

[untoldstar]

Hello, I really loved your Yan butler OC

What if a princess reader actually became queen of their country and now she has to face an arranged engagement?

male! yandere butler x fem! royalty reader

warning: fem reader obsessive tendencies, yandere themes, murder, death, mentions of blood,

y’all guess who’s back from the dead! please excuse my rusty writing it's been a while</3

"Corsets are generally known to take your breath away but I can't help but think the added pressure is your doing Charles" You let out a breathless chuckle, he pauses, his hands halting in the air until he hesitantly continues tying your corset, relieving some of the pressure "My apologies..I seem to have gotten lost in my thoughts" he murmurs and clears his throat, you stay quiet for a beat as your initial worry grows "You've acting strangely for some time now, Charles. I'm growing worried" your eyebrows knit together as you look at him through the mirror in front of you, his eyes glance up to meet yours before returning them to his task "I suppose I've been slightly worn out, after all our schedule has been hectic as of your..latest decision" his voice deepens towards the end of his sentence "I know that's not the true reason, tell me, what has been bothering you?" you ask, unable to conceal the concern laced in your voice, you were so incredibly kind, even at this moment when he's dropping your title while speaking and avoiding your gaze you only offer him your kindness and that only causes him greater pain because that kindness will be for another man from here on out.

His hands drop to his side "Tell me, your highness" his eyes meet yours in the mirror and you nearly flinch at the sight, his face is entirely devoid of emotions and his eyes are dark sending shivers down your spine "Do you truly believe that this engagement is a wise decision?" he asks in a low voice, his eyes never leaving yours, you furrow your brows "of course I-" your words are caught in your throat as he lowers his head next to your ear, his voice dropping to a whisper "And do you believe it's..safe?" un uneasy feeling pools in your stomach at his question "..Why wouldn't it be safe?" he stays quiet for a few seconds before replying "Oh, no reason for it to not be safe I'm merely..concerned" he steps closer "After all this is a man who we don't know much about except what he chooses to show" you stay quiet "And who doesn't know much about you either..are you certain he's suitable?" your eyes harden, irritation consuming you at his endless questioning "There's no reason to question my decision, I know what is right for me and my kingdom" you train your eyes on his "Are those all your concerns?" he smiles flatly "yes, your highness" "good" you nod, a firm expression set on your face, Charles stays quiet for the rest of the time that he helps you get ready.

Later that evening you share a drink with your soon-to-be husband, Christopher Alpin, a very handsome and powerful king whose alliance with will benefit your kingdom greatly.

You both talk over the details of your wedding as the crowd enjoys itself with dancing, drinking, and mingling. Amongst that crowd is a certain unhappy butler who watches you with burning intensity, paying attention to where your fiancé's eyes drift, where his hand touch, the smiles you're sharing, watching you with him is slowly killing him and the thought that soon this man will be touching you, waking up next to you and spending every moment with you is too much for him to bear, it's completely wrong, that man in your future is out of place so as your loyal butler it's his duty to make everything perfect to you.

Just as the king excuses himself from the ballroom Charles wastes not a single second in following him quietly through the halls.

minutes pass and you grow worried, you decide to search for Christopher fearing he got lost in the castle, you search all the rooms until one room is left, your bedroom, as you near the bedroom you see your door slightly ajar and catch a glimpse of a few droplets of blood. your heart starts racing, you stand still for a few seconds, the fear of what could possibly be in your bedroom grounding you in place. You take a deep breath and move closer to the door, slowly opening it wider, you gasp and a sob breaks out of your throat at the sight, mere inches from you is your fiancé lying in a pool of his own blood with a large slit on his throat "ah your highness!" you flinch at the cheery voice, Charles is sitting on the edge of your bed, a smile plastered on his face, you attention drift to his usually white gloves covered in red, adrenaline and fear picks up in your chest as you turn on you heal to run before Charles is up and holding you back in a few seconds, he shuts the bedroom door and locks it, trapping you against it "I..don't understand why you're running away, I fixed it all can't you see?!" you swallow, your voice barely able to come out as steady as you want it to "Charles..what have you done..what are you talking about?" he presses himself against you "you don't have to marry him anymore, he was filthy! he didn't know anything about you, he didn't deserve you!" you don't reply, you stand stunned as you see Charles ramble with a manic expression "now it's finally just the two of us once again" he wraps his arms around you and burries his head in your neck inhaling deeply "I feel much more at ease now with you in my arms, don't worry I shall take care of everything.."

"won't you let me serve you?"

#fem reader #male yandere #yandere oc #yandere blog #yandere x reader #obsessive yandere #yandere #yandere fanfiction #yandere themes #anonymous ask #yandere butler #yandere butler x reader #yandere Charles #yandere Charles x reader #royalty reader

[lovecomedy]

If you need any convincing that Noel and Liam Gallagher are incestuous freaks (affectionate), here's the basic information you need

First of all. The kisses

Loch Lomond kiss, where they just... made out on stage in front of cameras. Cool. There's a gif with every photo from every angle.

Another kiss, this time in Japan. Here's the actual video.

And here's the same video but together with nice quotes from their 2016 documentary:

Here's a 2005 award event where they kiss again and also look quite in love

And here's Liam straight up groping Noel during concerts:

General stage antics and more groping:

Ok. Let's talk about the music, then

Oasis has a song that Noel wrote called "My Sister Lover". The title speaks for itself, really. It includes amazing lyrics such as "You're my lover, I'm your brother"

But there's more! Noel used the same chorus of this song (with different lyrics) for a song he released in his solo album, 20 years later. It's called "Lock All the Doors". The very first line says: "She wore a star-shaped tambourine, prettiest girl I’d ever seen". And guess... guess who famously played a star-shaped tambourine? Liam! And Noel was the one that gifted him the fucking tambourine!!

Liam wrote a song for Oasis called Guess God Thinks I'm Abel

I'll just link everything that's been said about this song, because it really is batshit insane that this song exists

(It's common in the north of England to refer to things and people as "our". When either Liam or Noel say "our kid", they're talking about each other)

Liam has the tendency of thinking every song Noel writes is about him, including the love songs

Here he says "I'm his muse", along with some other interesting quotes

Ok, now we're on to suspicious quotes!

They had sex last night, according to Liam

This one is my favorite:

Of course this one is just all the weird quotes jammed in one post, you can feel yourself going crazy as you read it

Noel assures us that Liam knows about his arse

Other people confirming that they act like a couple

This one, it has Noel saying Liam is deeply in love with him. At the bottom, Liam's tweet.

Actually Liam always tweets things that basically confirm they're relationship. Like when somebody asked him if he ever rimmed Noel. Yeah.

This radio interview is where the most lovely quotes come from. Only Noel was supposed to be interviewed but then they both showed up PISSED DRUNK. Transcription in the same post

Even More weird quotes

This one involves the word impregnate

Noel making a suspicious comment about his daughter and son, Anais and Donovan

I think to be convinced you really just need that, but I'd like to add some niceties.

Just genuinely enjoying each other’s company

This is from the Oasis; 10 Minutes Of Noise and Confusion documentary. As Noel is kissing Liam's cheek, Liam is saying "He’s a fucking cunt and I hate him and I love him and he twists my melon, man. He’s the best songwriter in the fucking world.”

Some sweet quotes, and some not some less sweet ones as well

From the Supersonic documentary

Hugging after playing football

Just being silly

To finish off, two wonderful video edits with endearing moments

#gallaghercest