#our triangle is complete there no more space

[livetogether--diealone]

the father

the son the holy spirt (of mark)

#are we clear? #our triangle is complete there no more space #there rest of u lot find something original to do when u get gifted a pole #charles leclerc #sebastian vettel #oscar piastri #f1 #yes i'm annoyed at that still okay leave me alone #jo.text

[chrisevansonly]

𝒋𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒐 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏 | 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒄

☁︎ charles leclerc x female reader

☁︎ there is nothing better than carving pumpkins with your husband and your little girl

☁︎ no warnings just very sweet dad! charles content ahead<3

☁︎ i’m really excited for this, i love dad!charles so much you guys have no idea..i love this fall celebration fic idea idk why i didn’t do it before…

Across the table lay a sheet of fabric to protect the delicate cherrywood underneath from the pumpkin seeds and goop that was about to take up the space. You and Charles had taken your daughter Alia out to get some pumpkins to carve for Halloween. Of course, you had to take a little road trip to find only the best according to your husband, Alia had the time of her life that day.

“Maman is it almost ready!” your little girl shouted from the top of the stairs

“Alia, qu'avons-nous dit sur le fait de crier à l'intérieur”

Charles voice could be heard from the kitchen as little footsteps descended down the stairs, a shy smile on her face

“Qu'il est trop bruyant à l'intérieur…”

You smiled turning to see your daughter coming over to you, Charles leaning down to press a kiss to her head

“Oui c’est ça mon ange”

“To answer your question princess it’s ready now, do you want to pick your pumpkin?”

Alia’s face lit up as she nodded, carefully studying the three big pumpkins in front of her

“The middle please! So I can be between papa and you maman!”

It never failed to make your heart soar at just how much Alia loved both you and Charles, she constantly wanted to do things with the two of you.

“The middle one is yours then my love, Papa can help you clean out your pumpkin too if you’d like”

The little girl nodded, getting up onto her stool so she stood higher so she could reach everything she needed. Charles carved the top off of her pumpkin with a knife, knowing it was too sharp for her to grab

“So do you have your spoon bébé?”

“Oui papa! Can I start?!”

He laughed

“Yes, go ahead”

The three of you began to scoop out your pumpkins, Alia obviously asking for her dad’s or your help when her arms got tired, which seemed to be more often than not. Once they’d been cleaned out, you helped her trace the face she wanted to carve, her eyes watching you carefully, in awe of the soon to be carved pumpkin.

“Papa comment ça s'appelle déjà?”

“C'est un jack-o-lantern mon amour”

She furrowed her brows looking up at her

“Mais pourquoi?”

A smile tugged at your lips at your daughter’s curiosity, she always wanted to know the what, the why and the how, Charles says she takes on after you.

“Pourquoi ne pas demander à ta maman?”

“Maman?”

Alia turned to look at you, a soft smile on her face

“Yes baby?”

“Why is it called a jack-o-lantern…?”

You pressed a kiss to her cheeks before thinking for a moment

“I think because it reminds people of a lantern…you know when Papa lights a candle sometimes and the light flickers?”

She nods

“Well I think it reminds people of that..”

“Oh okay maman!”

Alia was quiet for the next while as Charles helped her carve out the shapes she’d asked you to draw in the pumpkin. His was already complete as was yours, both of you going with a traditional triangle eyes and smiley shaped mouth. Honestly you’d argue this was some of your best work to date.

While Alia was busy admiring the now finished pumpkin she had Charles came over pressing a kiss to your cheek

“We’re pretty good no?”

You leaned into his touch

“I think so, some of our best I’d say” you replied to which your husband was quick to agree too.

“Do you think she’s going to ask us to get more..?”

In hindsight maybe you should have picked up more than three pumpkins, this activity seemed to enrapture your little girl, and knowing her, she’d want to keep carving as much as she could.

“Well I might have picked up some extra…they’re out in the backyard”

You tilted your head enough to look at him, a gentle smile on his face

“You think of everything don’t you baby?”

“I just always think of my girls…knew Alia might want to make another one”

Leaning up to kiss him you sighed happily

“Worlds best husband and dad award goes to you, as always Char”

Before Charles could answer you Alia let out a few giggles

“Look at Papa’s pumpkin! It’s so funny!”

Charles feigned hurt

“Hey, it doesn’t look funny!”

“Yes Papa! It looks so funny!”

You couldn’t help but laugh softly along with your daughter as she poked at her father’s pumpkin. When stopped laughing she looked between the two of you, her eyes filled with joy

“Peut-on les allumer maintenant?”

This time you nodded, fixing her hair a little bit

“Oui, allez, petite citrouille, papa apportera les allumettes.”

As she took off towards the front door, you and Charles brought the pumpkins over, happy to get some time to spend all together as a family, especially with Charles being away at races or having other obligations with his sponsors. You had each other, and of course your little pumpkin herself, who now would want to carve as many pumpkins as her arms could handle.

Who were you and Charles to stop her, even if you two ended up being the ones who did most of the work.

translations:

Alia, qu'avons-nous dit sur le fait de crier à l'intérieur: Alia, what did we say about shouting inside?

Qu'il est trop bruyant à l'intérieur: that it’s too noisy inside

Oui c’est ça mon ange: yes it is my angel

Papa comment ça s'appelle déjà?: dad, what is it called again?

C'est un jack-o-lantern mon amour: it’s a jack-o-lantern my love

Mais pourquoi?: but why?

Pourquoi ne pas demander à ta maman?: Why don’t your ask your mother

Peut-on les allumer maintenant?: can we light them now?

Oui, allez, petite citrouille, papa apportera les allumettes: yes come on little pumpkin, daddy will bring the matches

#rueswrites #ruesanswers #ruesanons<3 #ruesasks #charles leclerc x y/n #charles leclerc x you #charles leclerc drabble #charles leclerc x wife reader #charles leclerc x female reader #charles leclerc x reader #charles leclerc fluff #charles leclerc au #charles leclerc fanfic #charles leclerc #dad!charles leclerc #dad! charles leclerc #formula 1 masterlist #formula 1 fanfiction #formula 1 fanfic #charles leclerc f1 #f1 imagine #f1 fic #f1 fanfic

[comicaurora]

Hey! So I have a trope question

Something I’ve noticed since I was little is a that a lot of media with a trio had the same make up of two boys and one girl, is this a trope or just some weird thing that just happens by random odds?

I think it's a little bit more broad and nebulous than a trope, although it does have a TVTropes page. It's not random odds, it's storytelling trends.

For a number of reasons, the majority of protagonist POV characters are guys. Starting from this premise, if you want to make sure your protagonist always has somebody to play off of so they aren't engaging with the story in complete isolation, you give them at least one character to hang out with. This minimum one character can have all kinds of traits (mentor, scoundrel, battle butler), but if you as a writer are taking the easy, normal approach, you will give this protagonist a friendly buddy/rival to team up and squabble with (and this buddy will also be a guy, because again, this theoretical writer is taking the easy approach to character dynamics), and as a second thought you will probably give our hero a theoretical love interest girl for him to pine after so you can (a) write/draw a Hot Lady as much as you want and (b) get Hero Boy to cover a broader range of emotional situations within the comfort of his friend group. Thus you have rederived the trope of Two Guys And A Girl, congratulations on your moderately successful mid-2000s gaming webcomic.

As the story continues you might realize Girl Who Exists So Protagonist Can Remember Girls Exist is not actually an appealing love interest for him, so you'll probably pair off Girl with Second Guy and leave Hero Boy to pursue other romantic avenues. Second Guy is liable to be rather more interesting anyway, since he's going to be a Lancer to the hero's Leader-ness and serve as his primary foil, meaning he has a little more personality and frankly a lot more romantic tension with the lead. In fact, if you want to be really lazy about it, you can take these three characters and snap them into a love triangle with absolutely no extra work on your part, and that's an infinite drama generator at no cost to you.

You might take a slightly different approach if you, the writer, are a lady writing a lady-centric romantic story, in which case Girl is liable to be the POV character while her buds Hero Boy and Rival Boy take turns having romantic subplot adventures with her. In these narrative structures you don't want to add another girl to the inner circle, because the presence of a Romantic Rival (which seems to be the only purpose Other Girls serve in these stories) would spoil the center-of-the-universe romantic fantasy, so your hands are tied and we're back to Two-Guys-And-A-Girl again. You might add a supportive girl best friend when it gets adapted for netflix though - she can pair off with whichever boy loses at no additional cost.

What we're seeing here is Easy Mode Storytelling. This is what happens when a writer takes the extremely well-traveled road and lets their wheels slide into the well-worn tracks and follow where they may. It's not good or bad, it's just easy. It's a story we can recite in our sleep. This particular character arrangement occurs with unusual frequency because there are a number of factors that make it easy, and when you take a broad approach, the easy approach will be statistically favored.

This triple arrangement can obviously be genderflipped - Hero Girl with her friends Rival Girl and Love Interest Boy - but this is less common just by the numbers, because in the space of fiction there are more Hero Boys than Hero Girls. All-boy and all-girl trios also happen, but because most people are straight, most writers will see this as depriving themselves of all the exciting romantic tension they could get from having One Token Character to be romantically viewed and pursued. Additional characters can be added to the group, leading to Four-Temperament Ensembles and Five-Man Bands, but broadly this three-person arrangement is the smallest possible Ensemble Cast unit a writer can easily construct.

#asks #writing stuff

[thestobingirlie]

Hiii I would like to ask you a questioni because I really likes tour point of view on stranger things. Objectively, do you think there's any chance stancy is endgame?

these two asks are pretty much exactly the same, so i figure i’ll just answer them both in one lol!

so, from an objective standpoint i do think there’s a chance for stancy endgame. the duffers have proven before that they are capable and willing to break up a couple and push together another within one season (two if we’re including the season of flirtatious behaviour prior). if anything i’d say stancy’s chances are slightly stronger than jancy’s was post-s1. if only because s4 very explicitly laid out all the issues with jancy, while pushing stancy as a couple. whereas with s1, there’s nothing that really outright tells us that stancy would be having the issues they did in s2 (s2 had to demonstrate those issues, then break stancy up, while s5 wouldn’t be as confined to that for jancy).

i also think bringing back the love triangle just to completely disregard it the following season would be very weak writing. and that’s not to say that the duffers are the best writers in the world, but generally they seem to know what they’re doing. there’s a reason stancy was a couple at the end of s1 — it wasn’t solely a way to drag out drama but a real attempt at thinking about what nancy would’ve done as a result of steve surviving the season.

jancy was very clearly the original endgame. however, the duffers have shown that they’re willing to adapt from their vision for the sake of better storytelling. steve was supposed to die in s1. but they enjoyed what joe keery brought to the show as steve too much! all this to say, they’re not completely rigid in their writing. jancy being the og endgame, doesn’t mean they will be now.

from a slightly more emotional and personal standpoint, i do think stancy is the better endgame option. steve represents hope for nancy. freedom from her trauma, all the stresses that have been weighing on her for the last four seasons. while, right now, jonathan is knee deep in it all. he hasn’t even begun to pull himself out of it! let alone contemplate how to properly help nancy. he thinks ignoring her and pushing away his problems is the best way to deal with it, but we can see that it isn’t (if s2 stancy taught us anything lol). could jonathan grow out of that in the space of, what, five episodes? i don’t know.

steve’s development up to this point has taken multiple seasons. but he’s grown as a person. he’s learnt. his relationships have helped him become a more well-rounded person. the kind of person willing to prioritise nancy. to help her heal.

none of this means that stancy will definitely be endgame! because ultimately none of us know what the duffers are truly going to do. the fact that they’re willing to deviate from their original plans, if anything, proves that we can’t necessarily put all our eggs in one basket lol. but i do think they have a chance.

#stancy #steve harrington #nancy wheeler #stranger things #asks #anon

[morhath]

Oh I’m very very interested in your nonfiction book recs 👀

EDIT: ykw I'm gonna make this a little more organized

I listed a bunch in this post (the last question) but lemme see if I have any additions because I know I was kinda trying to keep it short when I wrote that. (But that being said, that post is the Top Faves Of All Time, so go for those first.)

Freaky medical shit I also liked:

The Fever: How Malaria Has Ruled Humankind for 500,000 Years by Sonia Shah

The Barbary Plague: The Black Death in Victorian San Francisco by Marilyn Chase (I just read this a few weeks ago and OOUUUGGHHHHHH IT'S LITERALLY JUST. LIKE THE RESPONSE TO COVID.)

The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic—and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World by Steven Johnson

Political shit I also liked:

Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century edited by Alice Wong

The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide by Steven W. Thrasher

Immigrants, Evangelicals, and Politics in an Era of Demographic Change by Janelle S. Wong

History I also liked:

Triangle: The Fire That Changed America by David Von Drehle

The Hamlet Fire: A Tragic Story of Cheap Food, Cheap Government, and Cheap Lives by Bryant Simon (between those two you can tell I was on a bit of a "workplace tragedies caused by lax regulations and bad management" kick)

The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore (I think everyone knows about this book, including it for completeness)

Promised the Moon: The Untold Story Of The First Women In The Space Race by Stephanie Nolen

The Women's House of Detention: A Queer History of a Forgotten Prison by Hugh Ryan

Butts: A Backstory by Heather Radke (this is nowhere near as fun and cute as you'd assume from the title)

Memoirs I also liked:

The Less People Know About Us: A Mystery of Betrayal, Family Secrets, and Stolen Identity by Axton Betz-Hamilton (I read this before I really got into nonfiction and it was WILD, I tell people about it all the time)

The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui (this one is a graphic not-novel-I-guess-memoir)

Know My Name by Chanel Miller

Other:

Playing Dead: A Journey Through the World of Death Fraud by Elizabeth Greenwood

A False Report: A True Story of Rape in America by Ken Armstrong, T. Christian Miller

Lost Feast: Culinary Extinction and the Future of Food by Lenore Newman

It Came from the Closet: Queer Reflections on Horror by Joe Vallese

AND here are a few on my TBR that I'm really excited for! I decided not to categorize them because they're almost all history:

Silk and Potatoes: Contemporary Arthurian Fantasy by Adam Roberts

Refusing Compulsory Sexuality: A Black Asexual Lens on Our Sex-Obsessed Culture by Sherronda J. Brown

All the Young Men by Ruth Coker Burks

The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara by David I. Kertzer (I am actually partway through this right now but in a bit of a dry/confusing section)

The Broadcast 41: Women and the Anti-Communist Blacklist by Carol A. Stabile

The Golden Thread: How Fabric Changed History by Kassia St Clair

A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II by Sonia Purnell (have just barely started this)

Time to Dance, a Time to Die: The Extraordinary Story of the Dancing Plague of 1518 by John Waller

The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyŏng: The Autobiographical Writings of a Crown Princess of Eighteenth-Century Korea by Lady Hyegyeong

Miss Major Speaks: The Life and Times of a Black Trans Revolutionary by Miss Major Griffin-Gracy

Too Hot to Touch: The Problem of High-Level Nuclear Waste by William M. Alley, Rosemarie Alley (I'm in the middle of this but it's surprisingly, um. not exciting.)

Going Postal: Rage, Murder, and Rebellion: From Reagan's Workplaces to Clinton's Columbine and Beyond by Mark Ames

Pressure Cooker: Why Home Cooking Won't Solve Our Problems and What We Can Do About It by Joslyn Brenton, Sinikka Elliott, Sarah Bowen

Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder

The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World by Virginia Postrel

Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times by Elizabeth Wayland Barber

Medieval Gentlewoman: Life in a Gentry Household in the Later Middle Ages by Ffiona Swabey

Hitler's First Victims: The Beginning of the Holocaust and One Man's Fight to End It by Timothy W. Ryback

I am soso normal and have very normal interests that are not at all grim :)

#long post #life #reading #books #tempestclerics #my book recs

[eleanor-bradstreet]

Hi Eleanor! Do you have any bridgerton fic recommendations? Love your writing!!

Hello Nonny!

I'm so pleased you enjoy my stories, that is sweet of you to say! Thank you! 💙 As for fic recommendations, build your blanket fort, get a beverage and prepare to never emerge because boy do I ever have some for you...

Do you want to feel like an artist is painting a mural across your heart, swirling colors of intense emotion from lust to anguish to redemption to joy, all of it blending perfectly into a sensation of bone-deep satisfaction? Then you need to check out the works of my dear friend @thebabblingbrookenook Masterlist here.

Brooke has crafted some of the most unique and heartfelt Benedict and Anthony stories out there, mostly modern AU and x Reader, delving deep into character psyches in a variety of breathtaking scenarios. I don't know if I can pick favorites, but don't miss:

If The World Was Ending - an apocalyptic Benedict love story

His First Muse - the most beautiful examination of Violet and Benedict's relationship you'll ever read

Wide Open Spaces - for some sultry Benedict friends-to-lovemaking

The Viscount Who Loved Me Too Much - an ongoing Anthony multichapter romance that is sure to surprise and delight

Or if your tastes are skewing a bit more...carnal, you must know about the incomparable @fayes-fics. Benedict smut queen and creator of the A&B manbread sandwich, her catalog offers so many steamy encounters with the two eldest Bridgerton brothers that you are at risk of developing bedsores while you enjoy them lefthanded 😉 But lucky for us, she plies her skilled pen to sweet romance and heartwrenching emotions as well. Masterlist here.

There are literally, literally too many jewels to highlight in the treasure trove of Faye's stories, but I highly encourage reading:

Lessons - the A&B throuple series of your dreams

Double Bind - an A&B love triangle series Faye sweetly crafted from my greedy little prompts

Second Son - a beautiful G-rated story of Benedict finding love and self-worth

The Things We Do For Love - Anthony. Benedict. Orgasms. Emotions. Just read it.

I have to cut myself off because I could list these forever...

Then if you're in the mood for some Viscount served up piping hot, pay a visit to our darling Bridgerton smut auntie @colettebronte My talented friend practices her own kind of alchemy, blending no-holds-barred kinks with fantastical settings and even a dash of history to create stories that are completely unique and entirely incendiary. The steam is....burning, the sweetness is real and the characterizations are always on point.

Her entire collection should be read, Masterlist here, but personal favorites for me include:

Lord Bridgerton's List - Thigh Riding - Just, read the whole List. Trust me.

The Queen and the General 4 - A powerplay threesome with Anthony and Simon. Need I say more?

Rise and Breathe - healing heartbroken regency Anthony through kink? I cannot wait to see where this series goes...

All The Time in The World - an apocalyptic Anthony series that I am salivating for more of!

I know so many talented fic authors, I could turn this answer into a novel. Search the #fic rec tag in my blog to see them all, but I would be remiss not to highlight these other incredible stories and authors:

@queen-of-the-misfit-toys is a stunning Bridgerton family writer, who knows how to make your jaw hit the floor, either from the delightful filth of her smut or the most heartbreakingly beautiful angst you could imagine. I recommend The End of All Things

@the-other-art-blog Just knocked my absolute socks off by imagining the most perfect origin story for My Cottage here

@fiction-is-life Is taking my prompts for angsty Benedict and delivering with a stunning series starting with Touchstone of Our Character

@urchintoast creates wonderful, lively imagery and has written some heartfelt and adorable Anthony and Benedict stories. I highly recommend Fear

And dear lord, the sweepingly beautiful, searingly sexy, deeply moving Don't You Remember by @captainbucky-yt is my most favorite Benophie retelling

I could type my fingers to stubs if I told you about all the fics I have loved, so please take this as a springboard and go enjoy everything these Bridgerbuddies have to offer 💙

Dividers by @firefly-graphics

#answers from el #fic rec #adore my moots

[nellasbookplanet]

Book recs: many worlds, portal fantasy edition

A typical portal fantasy follows a human from our world who steps through a portal into a magical land (think of narnia). But there are many fun variations of this trope! Sometimes it's the magical people who come to our world; sometimes we get to follow people who have returned from their adventures and are seeking for new meaning; sometimes our world isn't involved at all. As might be assumed, most portal fantasies are fantasy stories, but some lean more toward magical realism, others toward sci-fi. It's a fun spectrum!

I'm separating portal fantasies from alternate timelines/parallel worlds type stories (which will get their own rec post soon-ish). I also generally do not include stories where the character travels to fairyland/land of the dead/etc as those feel like a genre of their own to me, but the lines between them sometimes blur and this is, obviously, a subjective list.

(Titles marked with * are my personal favorites)

Other book rec posts:

Really cool fantasy worldbuilding, really cool sci-fi worldbuilding, dark sapphic romances, mermaid books, vampire books

For more detailed info on the books, continue under the cut.

The Magicians (Magicians trilogy) by Lev Grossman*

You may not have heard of this book, but you have probably heard of the scyfy series of the same name that crashed and burned a few years ago. This is the book it’s based on (pros: it doesn’t end in the same way; cons: it doesn’t feature the juggernaut ship of the show in any major way). For the uninitiated: features what is essentially a (secret) magic university for tormented geniuses. When he finds magic isn't enough to grant him happiness, main character Quentin goes digging into the truth surrounding his favorite childhood books searching for meaning, and finds out that the magical other world they describe might not be so fictional after all.

Stray (Touchstone trilogy) by Andrea K. Höst*

Young adult told through diary entries. Including this as a portal fantasy is a bit of a stretch, but essentially: Cassandra unkowingly walks through a wormhole and lands herself on another planet, where she has to survive on her own until she is rescued. Soon she finds herself embroiled in a war between creatures from dreamlike other dimensions and the people who saved her. Skirts the line between scifi and fantasy (it has psychic space ninjas!), but generally feels mostly like sci-fi. Absolutely fantastic worldbuilding.

In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan*

Young adult. Kids who can walk between our world and a magical one get recruited into a magical school that trains them either to be fighters or sort-of diplomats. Our lead decides that fighting is stupid and that he’s going to peacefully solve every conflict ever, all while being the most delightfully obnoxious little brat possible and getting incolved in the most bisexual love triangle imaginable. Very good, funny, and heart-felt coming of age story.

NPCs (Spells, Swords, & Stealth series) by Drew Hayes*

This one only counts as a portal fantasy on a technicality and on the fact that I love it and this is my list. Follows a group of DnD players whose characters immediately die, forcing them to make new characters, and, parallel to their adventures, a group of NPCs from the fantasy world who find themselves forced to take the place of a party of recently deceased adventurers. The two parties do cross path on occasion, but there aren't actually any portals involved as all characters (mostly) stay in their respective world. A fun and light-hearted adventure that turns a lot of the expected tropes of the genre and of character archetypes on their heads.

The Time of the Dark (The Darwath series) by Barbara Hambly

1982 classic. Medieval history student Gil and biker Rudy are complete strangers, but when they get mixed up with a wizard from another world the two must work together to survive and get back home. Fairly traditional fantasy with its fair share of issues, but! It has cool swordswomen, creepy lovecraftian monsters and also mammoths!

The Twelve Kingdoms by Fuyumi Ono*

Young adult, light novel. Yoko Nakajima is a regular high school student, or at least she was one until a strange man showed up in her school, swore allegiance to her and whisked her away to another world. As the two get separated, Yoko is stuck on her own in a strange world, hunted by humans and demons alike as she travels in search of a way home. Absolute high point of isekai literature, with an incredible main character and really cool and unique worldbuilding (also available as an anime, however I have yet to watch it and can't speak to its quality just yet).

Peter Darling by Austin Chant*

Novella. An older Peter Pan returns to Neverland after years spent in our world, only to find that everything is different. Before he knows it, he finds himself working with his lifelong enemy, Captain Hook. Very gay and very trans, with interesting takes on toxic masculinity. Made my heart ache in the best of ways.

A Curse so Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

Young adult. A retelling of beauty and the beast, where 'beauty' is a girl brought in from our world to a fantastical one and the narrative focuses a lot on what actually happens to the kingdom when the royal family suddenly disappears, and whether it’s even possible to fall in love with someone you know is deliberately trying to seduce you to break a curse. This is part one of a trilogy, however I'm only really recommending the first book as the second did not work for me at all.

The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials trilogy) by Philip Pullman

Young adult/middle grade, fantasy but has a lot of sci-fi aspects as well. Already well-known and for good reason, the His Dark Materials trilogy starts as what seems a pretty typical fantasy with some cool unique aspects (everyone has a soul-bound animal only they can speak to as their best friend!), and soon veers into a truly one of a kind story. It has magical portals, it has strange worlds with equally strange inhuman creatures, it has physics, it has god murder, it has gay angels, it has tragedy, and it’s very much worth your time.

Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children series) by Seanan McGuire*

A tumblr favorite, the Wayward Children novellas feature a school open to children who have returned from adventures in other realms and now have trouble adapting back to regular life. Some installments are set in our world, others follow children as they have their otherworldly adventures. The main characters vary between books, but are generally pretty diverse with among others asexual, trans, intersexual and sapphic leads. Both funny and dark, it takes a closer look at the trauma many endure growing up different.

Otherside Picnic (Otherside Picnic series) by Iori Miyazawa

Sapphic light novel with a surreal and episodic horror vibe. Following the directions of an urban legend, university student Sorawo finds her way to a reality populated by horrifying creatures from ghost stories and modern urban legends (of which I'm sure you'll recognize many). Here she teams up with fellow explorer Toriko, both to both find out more about this strange world and to help Toriko find a missing loved one. Also available as a manga and (one season of) an anime.

Last Bus to Everland by Sophie Cameron

Young adult. Brody is dealing with a lot, but it all gets a little easier when he meets Nico, who shows him how to access Everland, a magical land where he feels less out of place. But when the doors to Everland start disappearing, Brody must choose which world is really home. I'd categorize this less as fantasy and more as coming of age with a fantasy slant. It's also very gay.

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

Surreal and fairy tale-esque, The Starless Sea is stories within a story, following graduate student Zachary as he finds a strange book which, in-between other tales, tells a story from his own childhood. Trying to find out how this came to be, Zachary gets involved with a pink-haired woman and a handsome man who are doing their utmost to protect a strange, otherworldly library available only through magical doors. It's a book hard to put in words, but which I once described as "romantic without being a romance while stile having a love story at it's core", and which can be summed up only as "an Experience". It's also quite gay!

The Memory Theater by Karin Tidbeck

Listen, there’s a whole bunch of Swedish portal fantasies I read growing up that I'm dying to include here, but I'm not because they’re not available in English. The Memory Theater however is available, and is very good. Two children who were stolen into an otherworldly realm that wants them dead fight return to earth, and are followed by one of their captors across universes. The story has the feel of a dark fairy tale, and their captors, while not fey, are very reminiscent of them.

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow*

Historical young adult, more magical realism than fantasy. In the early 20th century, January is living under the care of her father's employer while he travels the world searching for valuables and secrets. But both her father and her caretaker are keeping something from her, something about her own family's history. When she one day stumbles upon a strange book, one that speaks of other worlds, she finally sets out to find the truth. However, there are those seeking to stop her and destroy the doors between worlds, no matter what.

The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher*

Horror rather than fantasy. After having divorced, Kara moves to stay with her uncle and help him run his museum of curiosities, until one day she discovers a hole in the wall of his house. The hole leads to a strange bunker, and beyond that, a dark and dangerous world beyond her understanding. In the company of a friend, she goes to explore this world, but quickly comes to regret her decision to do so.

The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood*

The sort of portal fantasy you get when all the worlds connected by portals are fantasy worlds, and none of them are ours. The portals themselves become simply a part of the worldbuilding that the characters use to travel between fascinating places, and it's all really cool. It follows Csorwe (lesbian orc assassin whom I love), who grew up in a cult, indoctrinated as a child sacrifice to a god. But on the day she was meant to die, she instead chose to follow a powerful wizard and train to become his loyal servant and sword. Aside from being an excellent fantasy, it's also a close look at the hard path of unlearning indoctrination and the search for love and validation where you'll never find it, and learning to live for yourself.

Odin's Child (the Raven Rings trilogy) by Siri Pettersen

Norwegian (vaguely Norse mythology inspired) young adult. Fifteen-year-old Hirka grew up thinking she simply lost her tail to a wolf attack, but one day she finds out she never had one: she's an Odin's child, a human, sent from another world and rumored to spread rot and ruin wherever she goes. To keep her secret safe, she goes on the run, but there are forces hunting for her, wanting to use her in their war. This reads mostly as a fairly typical epic fantasy, with the portal aspect not playing a major role until the second book.

The Barbed Coil by J.V. Jones

1997 classic. Tessa is a young woman with little going for her, until she stumbles upon a strange ring that transports her to a magical and dangerous other land. Here she meets Ravis, a mercenary who takes it upon himself to protect her, and discover her own special abilities, which she must use against an evil king whose mind has been corrupted and taken over by his crown, the Barbed Coil.

Skeen's Leap (Skeen trilogy) by Jo Clayton

1986 classic. While most portal stories are fantasy, this one has a distinct sci-fi flavour. Skeen is master thief wanted in a myriad solar systems, until her spaceship gets stolen and she's stranded on a backwater planet. Here she hears rumors of ruins leading to a strange other land. Hoping for treasure enough to get her off-planet, Skeen goes in search of this place, but finds herself stuck and unable to get back. This one has a unique, almost stream of consciousness prose that takes a while getting used to, but rewards you with a one of a kind experience.

Inkheart (Inkworld trilogy) by Cornelia Funke

German middle grade/young adult, in which the fantastical other worlds are those told of in books. Young Meggie's father has the ability to, when he reads, bring things and people out of the books, or put other people into said books. However, once having done so, he knows of no way to put anyone back where they belong. Now, years after he accidentally brought the terrible villain Capricorn and his henchmen out of their book, he and his daughter must evade them at all costs or be forced to bring further horrors out of the page and into the world.

Bonus AKA I haven't read these yet but they seem really cool

An Accident of Stars by Foz Meadows

A teenage girl accidentally follows a worldwalker from her world to a magical realm on the brink of civil war. I believe this on has both a major polyamorous relationship and ace/aro characters?

The Sleeping Dragon (Guardians of the Flame series) by Joel Rosenberg

1983 classic. A group of college dnd players find themselves transported to the magical realm they previously thought just a game.

The Wandering Inn by Pirateaba

Webnovel. After having been transported to a magical world, Erin decides to, rather than become a warrior or a mage, start running an inn.

Honorary mentions AKA these didn't really work for me but maybe you guys will like them: The Marked Girl by Lindsey Klingele, The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay, Child of a Hidden Sea by A.M. Dellamonica, Spellsinger by Alan Dean Foster, The Shattered Gates by Ginn Hale, The Awakening by Nora Roberts, Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor.

#extra bonus rec if you like critical role: #go read Things That Gods Despise by dawl_and_dapple #(and also maybe my fic The World's Between us) #i didnt includ neil gaimans coraline her bc i assumed most people know if it already #(and also i ran out of space) #but if you haven't heard of it consider this another rec lmao #anyway. i may be slightly obsessed with this genre #please recommend me more books (or fics!) if you know of any!! #nella talks books #book recs

[shannankle]

Color in DFF: Part 1

Okay so last week I made this post about Tee and talked about how he is often matching Non's red. I think after today we can more safely say this isn't trying to indicate him having feelings for Non. But then what work is color doing here? This will be equally observations, questions, and wild speculation 😆

This is part 1 of 2 posts cause there's a lot to look at. Here I'll talk about color in the past through episodes 5 and 6. Then the next one will be about color in the present.

Shout out to @slayerkitty for our long chats trying to unpack this!

Starting in the past we seem to have three main color groups: Yellow, Red, and Blue

The friend group is primarily blues and grays.

Non is coded with red.

But he starts to incorporate more blue, conveying his desire and attempts to fit into the group.

Even the phone Tee gives Non has a blue-ish case.

But he's not able to do this completely. Red always seems to peek through

Or he ends up in a green that doesn't quite fit.

And clearly trying to change himself is taking a toll. He's wearing blue, but it's making him sick and tired (quite literally if we account for his mental health).

On the bridge in episode 6 he is only shown in blue and brown, no red. But he has the red beaten back into him.

Tee also seems to oscillate between colors. Blue to signal the ways he is part of the group, and the way he conforms to the pressure of his uncle. But red perhaps to indicate the financial burden he shares with Non? Or the way that he hides a huge part of his life from the group emotionally making him an outsider of sorts.

Then we have Jin who moves between the blue of his school uniform and yellow. He stands separate from the group but in his own category from Non. Mostly...

At the end of episode 6, Non is wearing a very light yellow not disimilar to the shade Jin wore earlier in the episode. This is interesting because on the one hand perhaps it indicates the compatability Jin and Non would have had if Jin was the one to make it first. Or perhaps it is just another way the show wanted to visually mislead us in that moment.

Notice that Phi's has a matching red bracelet with Non, and his school uniform uses red lettering instead of blue. He is aligned with Non in contrast to the rest of these awful boys. This also means that in the scene Non is matching Phi's with red but Jin with yellow, capturing our potential love triangle.

In their photo and the previews we get for next week, it looks like Phi and Non are in purple and pink. Now Phi could be in blue but it looks more purple to me (we'll have to see and read more into that next week). In either case, while Non tries to become a different color for the friend group, that pressure seems to be gone with Phi, who brightens Non's red to a pink.

Then we have this walking red blue flag.

So from the past we gather that there are basically 3 groups of colors.

This could change cause we have Phi in purple? but here they are:

Blue=the friend group, conformity, those trying to harm or coerce others

Red=Non, poverty, outsiders and those with stigma

Yellow=A third category, not in lock step with the group, outliers

Notice the painting in the back, again our three colors. Though interestingly, Por is in more of a green, perhaps because he is in his own space and his own color comes out more. Por has a bit of yellow, perhaps foreshadowing the turn he'll take later?

Okay next post is on color in the present (episodes 1-4)!

#dff the series #dff the series meta #dff meta #my meta #my posts #dead friend forever

[olderthannetfic]

Re: the "they can still be bi!" Anon:

See, after some years I think that this behaviour is not that annoying, and I think it's because the fandom dynamics have shifted a bit. When I see M/F shippers say "this character is bi", it's almost as if they acknowledged your ship as important even if they didn't ship it themselves. I think this behaviour is partially a defense mechanism from the shipping wars era where many M/F shippers clung to the canonicity of their ships and used homophobia as an attack on gay ships they deemed "not canon". In a way, these shippers have looked back and gone "just because we ship the same stuff doesn't mean we behave the same!" and tried to compensate with the bi headcanon . As long as we keep to our spaces, we'll be fine.

However.

There is a specific type of shipper that annoys me to hell and back, and these are the evolution of the "righteous canon fan" from above: the "character has two hands!" poly shipper.

To me, it feels like they want to have their cake and eat it too. Nothing wrong with shipping poly ships but I feel like many people don't really care that much about these ships and they're just going with the flow because it's the right thing to do.

"If everybody shipped these three together there would be no more shipping wars!" "Love triangles are stupid, just ship them all together!"

Nah, sorry. Shipping is not about that. You ship stuff because you like a specific dynamic between some characters. You can't force people to get into a completely different dynamic just because it's got their blorbos, and expect them to be happy with the awkward, underdeveloped third wheel who sunk your ship down being stuck with them.

And I've noticed that many of the people who jump ship to ot3s when their ship is sunk do it cause they can't deal with being canon non compliant. They like their gay ship far too much but they don't want to be accused of being misogynistic or biphobic for not liking the new character (oh boy the accusations are wild) so they begrudgingly accept them into the ship as a way of being "semi canon" and "unproblematic".

(I suspect these accusations are usually related to parallel shipping wars with other canon ships trying to discredit them but that might be just the one fandom)

So yeah. If you get into a poly ship, do it because you like the dynamic, not because you feel forced to. And don't force others either. It's the easiest way to kill a fandom.

--

TBH, for most of my poly ships, I don't ship the constituent ships on their own.

[subastian-swallows]

Ominis Gaunt, Uncle Extraordinaire

CHAPTER FIVE: DAMAGE IS DONE

★ Chapter four

Chapter six ★

Pairing: Sebastian x YOU x Ominis - Love triangle?

Words: 3.3k

Warnings: Angsty, Forbidden love, rough SMUT

Summary: A series of fluffy, angsty, heart-breaking moments between you, the reader and Ominis/Sebastian — where you figure out that ever since that day, Ominis allowed you into his heart, he has been completely in love with you. Slight problem, you've eloped with Sebastian and are now raising your daughter.

Side note: Ominis and Sebastian became Aurors after graduating — let's just say they both had enough experience in that department to be great fits. You, the reader, are currently a stay at home mom — a housewitch if you will. BUT don't be discouraged, you are a great asset to supporting your husband in taking down those that deserve it.♡ •ᴗ•

Ominis hadn’t expected to see Sebastian that night, although truthfully, he never did see anyone. And yet, when the inn’s door slammed open, allowing the chilled breeze of spring to slip into the shabby building — Ominis already knew who it was, even before he was dragged from his chair and thrown against a wooden beam. 

“What do you think you’re playing at?” Sebastian asked, or practically hissed as Ominis simply lifted up a hand to the sudden chair screeches of those around them, unsure if they wanted to step in and when Sebastian scoffed and tightened his grip on the blonde man’s shirt, Ominis simply reached for his hand, “was this your plan all along? To try and steal her from me —”

“Sebastian, I must apologise — but, I have no idea what you’re talking about?”   

Sebastian responded with his fist first, connecting it easily with Ominis’ nose and when the blonde man’s head cracked against the wooden beam, Sebastian simply yanked him forward again — giving him little chance to react, “that’s all you’ve got to say? How pathetic, Ominis — you haven’t changed a bit.” 

“You’ve yet to explain to me, what I’ve done Sebastian?” Ominis said, lifting a hand up to wipe at the blood coating his upper lip and as if that only angered the brunette further — it didn’t take long to feel himself being dragged outside, “do you plan to just hit me, until you feel better? You and I, both know of a quicker way to do this —”

“You don’t deserve anything quick, you deserve to suffer.”

Ominis felt the ground first, before Sebastian was on him. And for the first time since their fallout, it was as if everything that had built up over their friendship — was coming out with each punch Sebastian threw. But truthfully, Ominis did have an idea on what had happened or perhaps, he only assumed it had something to do with you — and so when Sebastian finally let go of his shirt, letting him drop against the ground, all he could do was make sure he still had all his teeth. It was clear that Sebastian wasn’t finished. His short, rapid breaths had now cut through the silence that filled the space around them and as he moved to grab Ominis again — the blonde man, simply let it happen. 

“Why aren’t you fighting back?” Sebastian asked, his voice filled with hatred as he shook his once best friend by the shirt, Ominis continued to do nothing and although this only continued to anger Sebastian further — he wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of hitting him back, even if he did deserve it, “do you think this makes you better than me, Ominis? Perhaps you've forgotten why you’re here? Was it ever about Anne — or did you simply return into our lives to seduce my wife?”  

“Seduce…? What are you talking about, Sebastian?”

Sebastian scoffed and swung once more, hitting Ominis square in the jaw and when the blonde man spluttered and spat the blood from his mouth against the ground, Sebastian almost growled, “you can act dumb all you like Ominis, but I’m more than aware of what’s going on here. Just because you’re inside her head — doesn’t mean you’re going to take her away from me, I’ll make sure of that.” 

“Inside her…head?” Ominis asked, his thoughts trying to decipher what Sebastian was referring to and it was only after he recalled his morning with you, that it was as if a lightbulb had switched on and he couldn’t stop himself from chuckling at it all, “wait…don’t tell me, did she say my name? Did she say my name…while you were fucking her?”  

“Shut your mouth, Gaunt.” 

Ominis smirked at the venom that dripped off the way Sebastian used his last name, as if he was trying to use it as an insult and although Ominis hated being connected to his family, it wasn’t enough to cause him the pain — Sebastian had tried to incite in him and so he suddenly gripped the brunette’s hand, “I’ve hit a nerve? So, she did call my name? Now it all makes sense as to why you’ve stormed in here like a child, who's just lost their toy —”

“I said, shut your mouth,” Sebastian said, throwing Ominis against the ground now, before he stood up and pulled out his wand — his hand shaking and bloody as he raised it towards the blonde man, pointing it directly at his chest, Sebastian closed his eyes as if he was preparing himself for what was so close to happening, knowing well, in that moment a part of Sebastian truly did want to kill him, “...stay away from us, you hear me, Ominis? You missed your chance, you don’t get to come back now and ruin things for me. If you refuse this, I will kill you —”

“Sebastian, what do you think you’re doing!?”

You seemed to have managed to arrive just in time, dashing towards the scene unfolding outside of the tavern, but it’s only after you pushed Sebastian out of the way — catching him off guard, that you gasped at the sight of Ominis on the ground. You had left your daughter in the hands of Madam Davenport again, who would often step in when you had to step out — and as you quickly ripped the top layer of your skirt and dropped down to the blonde man’s side, you desperately tried to ignore Sebastian’s taunts.

“After everything, this is how you want to fix things?” You asked, twisting slightly to glare up at Sebastian only to notice just how bloody his hands were and you couldn’t hide the fact, that it scared you — his eyes quickly meeting your gaze, before he swallowed hard and looked away, “Ominis had nothing to do with what happened, Sebastian — nothing happened between us! I can’t believe you would hit him like this? Have you forgotten you were once friends?”  

“We are no longer friends after this, that’s for certain.” 

Ominis pushed your hand away from his face and stood up, leaving you against the ground—helpless and barged his way past Sebastian, his shoulder hitting the brunette’s with a purpose to show that he agreed, “I couldn’t agree more. Besides, can’t expect you to want to think of me now — knowing that your wife wishes to fuck me, right? I’ll enjoy knowing it’s lingering in your thoughts forever, Sebastian.”

“Say that again, Gaunt, I fucking dare you,” Sebastian said, his words practically a snarl as he twisted on his heel to grab Ominis’ by the collar and if it wasn’t for you jumping up and moving between them — he might have continue the fight, “so you’re defending him now too, are you?” 

“What I’m doing is stopping this madness! We are together for a funeral, for Merlin’s sake.”

Sebastian finally let go of Ominis’ collar and when the blonde man continued inside, you scoffed and looked away from Sebastian — dusting down your skirt, before you headed for home. It was impossible to deny that you were afraid of Sebastian in this moment and yet, the sight of his hands bloodied and bruised — ignited such a warm feeling inside you, that you were unsure of how to handle it. You hadn’t noticed Sebastian following you, until she reached home, simply wishing to change your clothing before you picked up your daughter, but it was only after Sebastian grabbed the back of your skirt and pulled you back towards him — that you gasped softly with the action. 

“Sebastian —”

“I don’t want you to talk — not about what happened or him, I just need you…” Sebastian said, spinning you around so that you were now facing him and it seemed that before you could even do anything — whether you would have denied him what he wanted or not, Sebastian gripped the back of your neck and pulled you into a heated kiss, “I’m going to fuck any thought of him — out of you.” 

In the next moment, Sebastian’s hands travelled to the top of your blouse and ripped it equally to either side of your body, making you cry out in a mix of pleasure and pain. He was not trying to be gentle, clearly still upset and although you felt nervous — there was a part of you that was so turned on, that you pushed forward to feel him touch you. Sebastian was perhaps being a little cruel, ignoring your silent plea to be touched as he crouched down to rip the rest of your skirt off you — leaving you completely bare and his for the taking. Biting back a moan as Sebastian directed you towards the sofa, your eagerness to be directed and ordered however he liked, seemingly doing nothing more than turning him on, you yelped softly — when he pushed over the side of it, your face now pressed against the cushions. 

You always enjoyed Sebastian roughing you around a bit, the excitement it sent through your body — felt like waves of electricity and yet, today felt different. It was as if he was needing to relieve the anger bubbling up inside him and when you choked back a soft cry in pleasure — you felt his knee part your legs. Sebastian often got overheated, work being the main cause for it usually and that always left you to be the one to help calm him down — in any way he needed. But this time, his anger seeped out and morphed into a mixture of pain and hatred — but not for you, for the idea that he could lose you and to someone he once treated as a brother, so he was simply losing it all together. Feeling his hand slide down between your shoulder blades, along your spine and towards your ass, Sebastian gives you no time to hesitate before he striked you harshly — the loud crack mixing quickly with your moans. 

“Is…there any truth to what he said?” Sebastian asked, but it was more of a growl as your back arched and your ass pushed towards him in response, his free hand now gripping unforgivingly against your hip — most certainly leaning his mark as you whined, before he strikes you again, making you cry out once more, “do you want to fuck Ominis?”

You feel your legs shudder at the impact as your face pressed harder against the cushions, Sebastian didn’t even allow you to respond or retort his question, before reaching forward to lift you up by your hair — his fingers tensing through it when you whimper out and shake your head, your mouth opening, “I-I…don’t, Sebastian — please, fuck me.” 

“You think you deserve that? After you looked at me like…I was a monster?” 

“I was just afraid — you scared me,” You said, breathlessly as he pulled your head back to see your face, your eyes looking up and noticing the intensity in his expression, so you moaned softly and swallowed the saliva — now building up in your mouth, “I just don’t want you to do something you’d regret...” 

Sebastian could see the shift in your gaze as you looked at him, a mixture of neediness and concern—almost as if you were worried that he would leave you to whimper about naked and desperate, Sebastian tensed his jaw and leaned down towards your ear, unbuckling his pants, “you think I’d regret hurting Ominis? Perhaps…but that’s none of your concern — in fact, I don’t want you to even think about him, do I make myself clear?”

“He’s still my friend, Sebastian…or was, I don’t want to lose him —”

“You truly think that’s all he wants from you? I didn’t realise you were so innocent, or perhaps…you’re more foolish than I thought?” Sebastian said, pulling your head back further and moving his free hand to place his fingers into your mouth, pushing it open — before you moaned and suddenly felt his cock pressed up against your ass, “trust me when I say he doesn’t want to be your friend. He wants one thing from you and it’s the one thing he’ll never get — not while I still have air in my lungs.” 

You had little chance to respond, with Sebastian simply shoving his fingers deeper into your mouth, inciting a wet moan to slip out and before you could squirm or do anything else — you could do little else, but cry out in pleasure as Sebastian pushed you back down against the sofa and slammed his cock straight into you. Your arousal from being handled so harshly, had done well to make you wet enough that he slipped in with such ease and yet, perhaps Sebastian might not have cared in that moment — except eventually he would and when you needed the aftercare you so loved, he’d give it to you, no matter how angry he was. The thrusting happened quickly and almost unkind as his movements pushed you roughly into the sofa — the action alone, forcing you to muffle your mewls of pleasure against the cushions. 

But despite the forcefulness of his thrusts and the grip his hands now had against your hips, simply keeping you attached to him as he refused to allow you a moment to breathe, you suddenly gasped — when he pulled you up by your hair and moved his hand to your throat, “do you feel that? Do you feel my cock inside you? That’s the only cock you should ever need…and I don’t want you to ever forget that.”

“S-Sebastian…fuck, please —”

“Yeah I feel good, don’t I? You enjoy how my cock fills you up,” Sebastian said, his grip on your throat tightening just enough to make you moan, but not enough to hurt you — his other hand now pulling your hips down hard against him as his thrusts grew rougher, “tell me you only want my cock…tell me Ominis means nothing to you or…I won’t let you cum.” 

You squirmed at his request, partly due to the fact that even Sebastian saying his name alone, caused his thrusts to grow so harsh — that you were sure your ass was now red and so you moaned as your fingers dug into the sofa, “Sebastian…I don’t —”

“Tell me…he means nothing or I’ll stop.”

“Please…don’t stop — fuck, Sebastian…I’m so close,” You said, or practically whined out as his thrusts slowed to almost a stop and when you attempted to push back against him, hoping to urge him to continue — his grip on your throat tightened a little harder, while his other hand striked your ass and waited for you to say it, so you did, “he…means nothing to me…nothing, now please, Sebastian — let me finish.”

The words were enough to drive Sebastian to continue his thrusting, to the point that he let go of your throat so your face now slammed into the cushions and your thighs hit roughly against the side of the sofa — and yet you didn’t care as your moans clearly showed how good it felt. Sebastian just needed you now, Ominis, the argument and the stolen moment, simply didn’t matter as he moved his fingers to tease your clit — only until the position grew unexciting. In a matter of seconds, Sebastian pulled out his cock with a low grunt and spun you around — only to pick you up quickly and thrust himself straight back into you, wrapping his arms around your waist as you squirmed, desperately for more. 

You welcomed the new position happily, so you could watch Sebastian’s face when he reached his climax — but more than that, you were desperate to kiss him, to feel connected to him in every aspect and so you leaned forward as his thrusts grew faster. When your lips collided with his, you whined softly, feeling him consider pulling away — before he gave into the love he truly felt for you and quickly deepened the kiss, his tongue hot and just as eager. Eventually his thrusts grew sloppy, his grip on your thighs as he pulled you down towards him as he pushed up — you cried out in pleasure, when you felt him pull his mouth from yours and pressed your head into his shoulder. 

“You’re mine.”

Feeling you gasp against his shoulder, Sebastian thrusted into you as deep as he could push himself inside you and dug his nails into your back as his release exploded — coating your walls and spilling out slightly, with the last few thrusts he did. You reached your climax shortly after, the feeling of his cock sliding his fluids against your clit — just hard enough to cause you to squirm as you cried out again at the sensation. Your body felt weak, the moment Sebastian stilled his movements and yet, refused to pull himself out of you, while you whimpered at your heightened sensitivity — the slight twitching of his cock still deep within you, causing you to whimper. You eventually tried to move, your legs growing numb around Sebastian’s waist, but he refused to let you go — his grip on you softer now and filled with that attention to the aftercare you always needed. 

“Are you hurt? The blood on you…isn’t yours right?” Sebastian asked, perhaps much too late, considering if he had hurt you, nothing could be done about it now — but you shook your head against his shoulder, kissing his neck as he hummed and caressed your back, slowly taking you towards the bathroom, “I let my emotions get the best of me...did I go too far?”

“No…Sebastian, you didn’t.” 

Sebastian kissed your shoulder softly and finally slipped his cock out of you, before he slowly supported you against the edge of the bathtub — his gaze looking over you as if he was checking how badly he marked you, only stopping when you pulled his face up to look at you, “I let him get to me, for that I must apologise for, but —”

“I promise you, Sebastian, nothing’s happened between us,” You said, leaning forward to kiss him softly, before he forced a smile and nodded, kissing you back — just enough that you felt satisfied and yet, when you whined, he couldn’t help but chuckle softly as you caressed his jaw, “you don’t have to believe Ominis…but I’d hope you believe me.”

“I just got jealous…and overheated, can you forgive me for that?”

You didn’t know what you felt anymore, the sensation of Sebastian’s body bringing you to your climax taking over every part of your mind, that should have been still upset with him for hurting his friend — and yet, all you wanted was him to hold you, to distract you from your lingering thoughts about another man, “can you stay with me?”

“I really should go get our daughter,” Sebastian said, his hands reaching forward to push the hair away from your shoulders — the action alone causing you to shudder, before he stood up and fixed his trousers, a soft smile forming on his face when you reached for his hands, “Madam Davenport will be wondering what’s going on —”

“Can’t you at least help me run a bath…please?”

Sebastian hummed softly and nodded, leaning down to kiss your forehead, before he rolled his sleeves up and reached behind you to turn on the tap — the soft sound of running water, now causing your body to relax completely, “would you like me to wash your hair?”

You can only nod as Sebastian helps you into the bath and you whimper softly, the warm water softening your skin — before you hummed happily, feeling his hands massage through your hair and so you closed your eyes. This is what your relationship was meant to be, what it was before Ominis came back into your lives and yet, now it seemed as if everything was changing — and you had no idea what was going to happen next.    

#hogwarts legacy #sebastian sallow #ominis gaunt #hogwarts #sebastian x reader #ominis x reader #sebastian sallow fic #ominis x you #sebastian sallow x you #ominis gaunt fic #sebastian sallow smut #hogwarts legacy smut #sebastian x reader x ominis #hogwarts legacy ominis #hogwarts legacy sebastian #ominis gaunt fanfiction

[nutastrology]

Astrology Degrees

Ever wonder what those numbers next to your zodiac placements mean?

If you’ve ever looked at your birth chart, you’ve probably noticed a set of numbers on the right of your zodiac placements. These are degrees and are quite specific based on your time of birth. Accurate birth times are imperative for applying degree theory when studying your natal chart.

Degrees are important in astrology for accurate interpretation. Just as in Geometry, every degree of an angle counts.

A good way to understand this is by thinking of triangles. Obtuse, acute, and isosceles triangles are all triangles. But you can easily recognize their differences based on the apparent angle measurements. These measurements impact the way we calculate geometric shapes and their formulas. We wouldn’t get an accurate result for an equation using the wrong information. This same logic applies to calculating a birth chart — and again, this is why an accurate birth time is SO important!

Looking at my placements below, I have most of my degrees between 12 and 29. This means that for me, this life journey has been set in motion for some time. I’m “picking up” in many ways where I’ve left off. Completing some cycles, ending others. Interestingly, I have the same Moon sign and placement (Aquarius in the third house) and Rising sign as my mother. Though at different degrees (mine later than hers), we enjoy exploring these “cosmic inheritances” when discussing our birth charts. You may notice I have two placements at the 29th degree, aka the Anaretic degree. This marks an evolution of the soul as it’s the final degree before the reset of a cycle, signified by zero degrees. We only see 0° when a planet first moves into a new sign.

Each degree represents a different zodiac sign and energy, some more specific, positive, or challenging than others.

The energy of each degree varies depending on where it falls from zero to 29 degrees. For example, the “earlier” degrees (i.e., the 4th and 7th degrees) represent an “early” stage of maturity and soul development. The middle degrees (i.e., 15th and 16th) represent deeper integration with these energies and processes. As we approach the end of the degree spectrum (such as with the 28th degree) we have reached a karmic “endpoint” based on energies already set in motion — we’ve finally made it.

Below you will find the list of each degree and a (simplified) meaning of that degree.

Keep in mind, astrology has many layers to explore. This is a brief notation of each degree.

0° - Marks the beginning of a new cycle, start “all over” with relation to planetary energies and meanings, critical degree. 1° - Aries / Mars: car engines, abuse, sports/athlete, military, weapon, anger, business person, speed/quickness, the color red, coming first, “in front” arguments, war.

2° - Taurus / Venus: containment/small spaces, wealth, forest, trees, food, luxuries, voice, singing, the color green, earth.

3° Gemini / Mercury: two of something, siblings, hands, double, local, small town, neighborhood, groups, birds, tea, friends, the color yellow.

4° Cancer / Moon: mother, home, public, crowd, water, in the home, the color white, critical degree.

5° Leo / Sun: strong, royal, leader, high school, fun, athletics, gym/working out, outdoors, top of a hill, family, mountain, view, hair, ego, children.

6° Virgo / Mercury: health, “ex”, sickness/illness, work, routine, pets, hospitals, doctors, manual service.

7° Libra / Venus: beauty, luxury items, earrings/jewelry, fashion, couples, music, art, marriage, justice, associates, legalities, courtrooms.

8° Scorpio / Pluto: secrets, death, sex, insurance, taxes, jealousy, pregnancy/womb, someone else’s “things”.

9° Sagittarius / Jupiter: college, borders, professors, foreign, travel, archery, having a plan.

10° Capricorn / Saturn: public office, public official, public-facing, coal, slow, delay, the color black, shadow side, depression.

11° Aquarius / Uranus: interruptions, divorce, high places, flying, airports, high tech, engineers, helping others, friends, networks, organizations, electricity.

12° Pisces / Neptune: swimming, near water, disguises, illusions, missing, rain, flood, out of focus, misplaced, unclear, “foggy”.

As you can see, degrees 1 through 12 align with the zodiac calendar. Once you reach the 13th degree, you reset in the sign of Aries as you can see below:

13° Aries: critical degree.

14° Taurus

15° Gemini: assassinations or killings.

16° Cancer

17° Leo: critical degree.

18° Virgo

19° Libra

20° Scorpio: jealously or revenge.

21° Sagittarius: large road, new places, critical degree.

22° Capciron: destruction, critical degree.

23° Aquarius: “to cut”.

24° Pisces

25° Aries

26° Taurus: critical degree.

27° Gemini

28° Cancer

29° Leo: kingdoms, critical degree.

#astro notes #astroblr #astroloji #astrology #astrology notes #zodiac signs #astrology degrees #asteroid

[yourmumsc0ck]

Friends?

Summary: Sabine gets a bit jealous when you run into an old friend

Sabine Wren x Fem!GhostCrewR (she/her used)

Word count: 2.2k

"When you said 'I know a place'," Sabine mumbles, looking around the back alley with a hint of wariness, "I didn't know you meant a place to get murdered."

"Never thought I'd hear a Mandalorian so worried for their own safety," I smirk, taking a few more well-versed turns and jumps to get through the cramped space.

"It's just that I saw a nice enough place out on the main square," she continues, "but instead-"

"-instead, I'm taking you to the best bar this side of the west spice triangle," I reiterate what I had told her earlier. Honestly, I'm taking her this far because I just wanted us to get away from the others for once.

She pauses, turning the final corner right behind me. Rapid blurs of holo-ads and brightly-illuminated signs envelope the small dead end. She appears uncertain at first, but her curiosity soon grows, "How do we get in?"

"No travellers 'find' this place, so the only ones who use the front door are Imps. The bell on the door may as well be an alarm siren," to our right, I push back a few weathered shirts hanging on a washing-line, before pulling a large metal panel (discreetly screwed onto hinges) aside. With the press of a well-worn blue button, the back door a few steps below slides open silently. I gesture her forwards, "After you, madam."

"Shut up," she lightly shoves me down the steps ahead of her, closing up the entrance behind us. As we walk through, she still appears sceptical, "I'm still not sure why we're here: it doesn't seem... safe."

"So, I'm sure you'll fit right in," I laugh lightly, as we navigate the small underpass, "Anyways, everyone in the system knows this place. It may as well be folk lore."

We approach a final door, which has another dented blue button. Above, hangs a small red and blue sign: 'FLAYZ DROID REPAIR SHOP, SPA RETREAT, EATERY AND NAVI-MAP UPGRADERS'.

"Business owners needed to diversify 'round here," I explain, before ducking slightly to enter. Immediately, we're hit by a wall of sound, flashing lights and the distinct smell of cheap alcohol. I lean down, basically yelling into her ear to be heard, "You needed to have some fun."

"So you took me to a party?! We could've blown up few imperial transports and that would've worked too," she complains, her freshly-dyed hair flopping into her eyes. Looking around, she seems warily suspicious of anyone who even glances our way.

"Everyone in here is a name you would recognise one way or another," I ignore her previous comments, ordering us two drinks. The bustling floor moves constantly, never fixing in a constant position for more than a second.

Just as I do, a hand clasps my shoulder, "(Y/N)? No... it can't be!"

I turn, meeting the piecing eyes of a long-missed blonde, "Vel, it been so long!"

I immediately hug her, which is reciprocated warmly. We talk for a moment, until she looks over my shoulder and smiles warmly, "And I see you have befriended a Mandalorian."

"Oh, right, of course," me eyes widen, realising that I had completely forgotten to introduce them, "Vel Sartha, this is Sabine Wren."

She's usually the polite conversational type, but I see a firmly-set stare blazing Vel's way. She nods stiffly after a moment, only adjusting her deflector cuffs between her fingers.

"She's not always the most talkative, sorry," I lie, trying to relieve the slightly awkward tension which had momentarily settled.

"No worries, I- have you redone your hair! Again!" Vel reaches up, bringing my now shimmering blue hair - which is done up in its usual mix of plaits, interweaving braids and flowing loose sections - to the light. She admires it for a second, "It suits you. Better than that horrible red you did back at school, that's for sure."

"No, no that was your fault. You mixed the wrong amount of both sachets and turned half my hair a sludgy green!" a retort, laughing as the waiter hands us our drinks. She joins my laughter, placing a light hand on my forearm as she smiles humorously.

"So, what brings you two to this end of the galaxy? No less Flayz?" she questions as she takes a sip of her drink, looking up at me from the rim of her glass.

"Oh, well Sabine here needed to have a bit of fun for once," I turn and gesture to the Mandalorian beside me. However - despite her earlier amusedly sarcastic reaction to my almost identical comment - her face is set in a solid stone expression, her eyebrows narrowed above her darkened eyes.

"Your plan seems to be going amazingly," Vel smirks, watching the two of us closely with a light, mischievous glimmer shimmering in her eyes. She sets the glass down on the bar top and places a light hand on top of mine, finding the thick, painted band on my fore-finger and tracing over it lightly. Smiling, she says, "Well, sadly my transport back to Chandrila is here soon; you should really visit sometime. Bring friends: I'd love to meet who you run with now."

"Mhm, you'll love them. We're quite a... rabble," I smile, looking back to Sabine. Her thoroughly distasteful - bordering on almost loathful - look averts from Vel to me for a split second. However, in this short time her eyes soften slightly and her expression relaxes minutely at the mention of our family on the Ghost.

"I'm sure I will: you always had a knack for finding the right kinds of people," the Chandrilan states with a faintly knowing smile.

"And what's that meant to mean?" I quirk an eyebrow in questioning, taking a small gulp of my colourful drink.

"Oh," her eyes dart over my shoulder to Sabine for a moment, before she gives me a teasing smile, "You know exactly what I mean."

And with a short hug and peck on the cheek, she disappears out into the dense fog of drunk party goers. I smile to myself, happy that I had bumped into such an old and good friend.

"I think we should go," Sabine states, downing the last of her rather strong drink. I turn to face her, watching how she avoids all direct eye contact as she fiddles around with all of the clips and buttons on her armour.

"Look, I'm sorry, Sabine," my shoulders sag slightly as I reach out to her arm reassuringly. We'd known each other for enough time now that she was comfortable with these small tactile advances, yet she now intentionally moves her arm out of the way to scratch the back of her neck. My hand drops, as I look into the bottom of my empty glass, "I know this isn't really your scene."

"Everyone in here is a criminal," she states.

"Including us, don't forget," I point out.

"But we're not those types of criminals: we're not imminently dangerous."

"Those explosives on your belt say otherwise."

"She was dangerous," Sabine says, after a moment as she gestures to the third glass on the bartop.

"Vel? Vel's not dangerous," I huff, wishing I had another drink to 'sip' on, "impulsive and reckless maybe, but not dangerous."

"I know the eyes of a criminal," she says firmly, "and she... the way she looked at you... she..."

"How did she look at me, Sabine?" I ask, confused.

"With these narrowed eyes, and smirk that may as well have had fangs and a Loth-snake's tongue..." she insists, in the nervous way where she trips over her smaller words so they end up all in a garbled mess of almost indiscernible nonsense, "she just... she wasn't safe."

"So you care deeply for my safety now, hm?" I tease, a small smile playing on my lips.

"What?! No!" she says a little too quickly and rehearsed.

"No?" I repeat, quizzically.

"No, I do care, but she had her hands all over you, and you were all distracted by that smooth voice she had, and that look. She could've injected you with anything. Or maybe she would've stabbed you or slipped something in your drink. Or a tracker. Or on that ring that I made you that she was so obviously fascinated by-" she reaches down and begins to check the brightly decorated ring for any sign of tampering.

She continues to incessantly ramble and fuss, "-Or in your hair. Or when she kissed your cheek in that brief hug that she wanted to run from so quickly. She ran like she was like a criminal escaping from a crime scene. What if her lipstick had a chemical agent in it? Poison, toxins, nano-droids -"

Her hand was now resting on my cheek, as the pad of her thumb rubs lightly over my cheekbone as she checks for anything. As her jumbled and stumbling speech comes to an apparent end, she almost freezes at the moment she realises her position. Her eyes widen in alarm, yet her hand stays firmly where it is, as if trying not to startle me.

"You think the cousin of the Chandrilan senator... has nano-droids in her lipstick?" I question, a breathy laugh escaping my slightly parted lips.

"You can never be too sure. And we're rebels: we're not mean to trust people," she explains, slowing her speech to control what she says, "And I don't like her, no less trust her."

"Well, you trust me. So, maybe," I begin, knowing that a small - but definitely noticeable - smirk had emerged on my lips, "you're just jealous that I have other friends-"

"-Friends?!" she exclaims, earning a look from a pair of twi'lek party goers walking by. She swallows stiffly, glancing awkwardly to the side, "She didn't look at you like a friend. No one is that tactile with just a friend."

"Really? So, only like your hand, which is still on my cheek," maybe it's the rainbow liquor talking, or I'm just feeling bolder than usual, "and those looks you've been giving me for a while now."

Her eyes immediately widen and her jaw slackens only slightly. Her breath catches as she quickly pulls her hand away, readjusts a panel of armour and suddenly finds the rim of her deflector cuff immensely fascinating, "I... I haven't been... you're..."

"Sabine..." I trace my fingers over the bright paint work on her forearm. Her chest heaves steadily, still unable to meet my eyes, "it's okay."

Despite not specifying what was okay, we both knew what I meant: it was okay that we weren't just friends, even if we never said it out loud. She finally looks at me, her shoulders sagged and her fiddling ceased. She seemed relieved, as if a trade cart of spare parts had been lifted from her back. The inward ends of her eyebrows curve up, like the always did when she was wondering what to say.

I don't mind the silence: we've got other times to fill the gaps. Strands of her hair had fallen into her eyes, so I brush them away with a short tuck behind her ear.

Another pause.

Neither of us knew what to do now. Maybe I should say something. No, I should definitely say something, even if the silence was nice.

"I don't want to make things weird between us, but I do really like you," I admit, knowing backing down from those feelings was the coward's route, "and-

"-it's not weird," she interjects, her features suddenly becoming animated from their previously statuesque state. Reaching up to meet my hand, her fingers interlace through mine as she leans into my light touch, "because, I... I li-"

"-Spectre 2 to spectre 5, spectre 2 to spectre 5," the all too familiar voice of Hera cuts into both of our coms. The bubble around seems to pop, as the raucous rampage of noise around us becomes audible again.

Sabine sighs, eyes meeting mine with a humorous twinkle, "Copy, Spectre 5. What's going on over there?"

"Long story short, Ezra, Zeb and Chop went on a supply run into town," she knows she needn't say more, because we immediately exchanged a look of knowing, "We'll pick you up on the corner of sector B72."

"Copy that, Spectre 2. We'll be there."

"We? Oh, so you are with (Y/N)..." Hera replies, her voice teasing. After a moment, she continues, though her voice is a bit distant, "Pay up, Kanan."

"Seriously! They could just be getting supplies!" the equally distant voice of Kanan exclaims with exasperation.

"Spectre 2, Spectre 7," Hera comes back into clearer audio, "Where are you?"

Sabine's eyes widen, "Oh, uh, just looking for repair parts-"

"We're having a drink at a bar half a click south of the rendezvous," I cut in, rolling my eyes at her lame attempt at lying, "we'll be there soon, Spectre 2."

"I told you so, Kanan!" Hera exclaims, evidently proud of her accomplishment.

"Ugh, seriously!" Kanan grumbles in a way that I can almost picture his expression, "Maybe they're just there as friends."

"I thought the Jedi weren't meant to lie, love," Hera laughs, as the faint whir of the engines springs to life.

"I'm not..." Kanan responds, though evidently not convinced by his own words.

"At least I have the balls to admit I like her, Spectre 1," I laugh, pulling Sabine along behind me as we exit the bar into the alley, "maybe you should take a leaf out of my book."

#swr #rebels #hera syndulla #sabine wren #star wars #star wars rebels #Sabine wren x reader #sabine x reader #kanan jarrus #kanera #wlw #ezra bridger #garazeb orrelios

[im-just-a-br0adway-baby]

Encantober 2023 Day 29: Mask

One of the hardest things for Pepa and Bruno since they were younger was unmasking. Their mother drilled in their heads about how important it was to present oneself in a way that was appealing, and unfortunately, most of the village never found either of their behaviors to be appealing at all. They had to train themselves to pretend to be something they were not just so they could be accepted.

After Pepa and Julieta had their children, they did not want to tell them to please others like Alma told them. However, Alma insisted on making sure all of her grandchildren presented well to others like her children. That gave all the children mixed messages, but especially to Dolores, Mirabel, and Antonio. While Alma was telling them to make sure most of the village liked them, their parents encouraged them to be themselves, and the two were complete opposites of each other.

One sunny day in the Encanto, when Mirabel got home from school, she dropped her books on the couch in Casita’s living room and laid on the couch, on the verge of tears. She laid there for a half hour until Bruno walked into the living room to notice his youngest niece about to cry with exhaustion.

“What’s the matter, sobrina?” Bruno asked as he sat on the couch where Mirabel’s feet were.

Mirabel opened her eyes and looked at Bruno while still laying down. “Bruno, I want to ask you something.”

“Sure; what is it?”

“Do you remember when you were my age, and you had to mask yourself for an entire week? Was it exhausting?”

Bruno scooted closer to Mirabel. “I will tell you right now, it was. I remember when your mama, your tia, and I were your age, guiding adolescence was difficult enough as it was. But for Pepa and I, it was a lot more difficult. For a while, we didn’t know what was wrong with us, we tried so hard to fit in because our mama told us to, but we just couldn’t.”

“That sounds like how I’m feeling right now.”

“But you want to know something? Your mami was the one to give us a safe space to unmask. She would take us to the park and we would have an open space to be ourselves and let all of our emotions out.”

Mirabel sat up from the couch and gave her tio a hug. “Were you able to give Dolores a safe place to unmask when she was my age?”

“Si, Pepa wanted her daughter to not worry about her image the way she and I had to, so she would take her to the same park that Julieta took us to so she could let her own feelings out like she and I did.”

Mirabel scooted closer to her tio and gave him another hug. “If you don’t mind me asking, can we go to the park together? And maybe ask Antonio if he wants to go? I think he would appreciate the space too.”

“Sure, Mira; I saw Antonio go up to his room when you all got home. We can go get him and ask him right now.”

Mirabel and Bruno went upstairs to see if Antonio was in his room. They saw him in his bed playing with Parce and Mirabel waved to signal him. Antonio stopped what he was doing to notice Mirabel and Bruno by his door.

“Hola, Mirabel and Bruno, what’s up?”

“We want to know if you want to go to the park with us,” Mirabel replied.

“I would love to! Let’s go!”

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

Once Bruno, Mirabel, and Antonio got to the park, they sat underneath a tree that the triplets sat under together, and later Pepa and Dolores together. They sat in a triangle together so they could talk together.

“This is where your tia used to take your mami and me when we were younger, Tonito. Your abuela would often make sure we were being presentable to the rest of the village, and it made us feel stressed. So, Julieta took us here as a space for us to be ourselves without the fear of being judged by the rest of the village.”

“Mami told me a little bit about that. She also said she took Dolores here when she was younger too?”

“Si.”

“So… what do I do here?”

“Anything you want. It’s your space to be yourself and let your feelings out in any way you see fit.”

Mirabel then laid on the grass and screamed at the top of her lungs. She felt like they were far enough from the village that nobody but Dolores could hear her. Antonio laid down on the grass and also screamed at the top of his lungs. Bruno decided to join in with his niece and nephew and laid down on the grass to scream with them. It turned into a screaming match until they felt like they were losing their voices.

“Didn’t that feel so good?” Bruno asked as he sat up.

“It felt amazing. I feel so much better already,” Mirabel replied.

“So do I,” Antonio added.

“That was how we felt when Julieta took us here for the first time. We felt like we finally found a place where we could be ourselves and we were so grateful that Julieta brought us here to give us that space.”

“What were some other things you did together?”

“We also found a big empty space to dance around together. Julieta would join in with us all the time too.”

Bruno, Mirabel, and Antonio stood up and ran from the tree to an empty space in the park where no one was and they held hands together. The uncle, niece, and nephew pulled each other in a circle and laughed together until they got dizzy and fell to the ground laying down, laughing together again.

“That felt so good!” Mirabel said as she sat up.

“Gracias, Bruno, for taking us here,” Antonio added.

“De nada, Mira and Tonito. But we’re going to have to get going. Julieta is probably cooking dinner as we speak and she’s going to wonder where we are,” Bruno said.

Bruno, Mirabel, and Antonio got up from the grass and started walking back home. Like Bruno and Pepa when Julieta brought them there, and Dolores when Pepa brought her there, Mirabel and Antonio were more than grateful that Bruno brought them to the park to help them find a space to be themselves and let their feelings out.

“Can you take us every weekend, Tio Bruno?” Antonio asked.

“Absolutely, Antonio; I’m so happy you and Mirabel had a great time today and I could have some fun with you both.”

#encanto #disney #disney encanto #disney's encanto #encantober #encantober 2023 #day 29 #mask #bruno madrigal #mirabel madrigal #antonio madrigal #unmasking #masking #park trip #autistic bruno madrigal #autistic mirabel madrigal #autistic antonio madrigal #encanto fic #encanto fanfic #encanto fanfiction #fanfic #fanfiction #la familia madrigal

[rorykillmore]

if you have been as intrigued as i am by oz perkins' LONGLEGS (2024), here is a very preliminary shot by shot breakdown of its teaser trailer! will we discover anything profound? probably not, but there are some spoilers and speculation/potential spoilers under the cut, so if you want to go in completely blind, be mindful

maika monroe herself in our opening shot, standing in front of her crime board. which seems to mostly feature a cipher (one of what appears to be several that this movie and its marketing are using).

are we to assume that something Bad is happening in this car? probably.

next shot is cut as though this little girl is reacting to whatever is happening outside. i was squinting at whatever is on her desk because i have a feeling it may be important (for reasons mentioned later) but it is difficult to tell.

someone (maika monroe?) is doing research on what appears to be demonology or something related to it. titles of the books are 'a guide to the nine circles of hell' and 'the dark lord's hand' (both books were presumably created for the movie as they don't come up in any searches). beneath the books are notebooks in which she seems to be attempting to decode that cipher (maybe the killer is leaving our protagonist coded hints)

this opening of the book is intercut with a shot i did not include (to save space/because i had little to say about it individually) of the investigators opening a door to a dark room (murder scene?), which is a cool thematic thing. it also precedes...

also this shot is more heavily featured in this teaser with a cipher that when translated reads "hail satan" (check out the decoding work this person has done). well! if we had any doubt that these killings have some kind of religious motivation.

this is the 'guide to the nine circles of hell' book, but i can't make out the text with any clarity. to the right, perhaps another decoding effort is happening -- but i actually think this is maika trying to figure something out about the victims here. the order in which they're going to die, maybe? their locations/how they are chosen? there's a list of people's names beside a field of numbers, and she's drawing a line through some of the numbers.

starting to notice something odd with the aspect ratio - pay attention to how it swaps between standard widescreen and this more voyeuristic type of shot (you also saw this earlier, in the winter shots of the car and the girl), and we'll see if there seems to be any logic to that.

our first look at nic cage! is it scenes involving him/related to him specifically which are shot differently? maybe to induce said voyeuristic quality surrounding him and his kills? regardless: he's busy in his little workshop here. there's a nic cage interview floating around that seems to indicate that his character kills via creating cursed dolls or puppets which drive families insane in a sinister-esque fashion, which would check out here

something wicked is afoot in this hardware store (?) (i can't actually tell what is being sold here)

in presumably the same store, we see an unknown figure offer this girl some kind of small figurine (???). possibly nic cage planting one of his dolls (this is also why i was paying attention to the other girl's desk in the earlier shots, to see if she had anything similar). does he work here? (worth noting however that this is shot in the regular widescreen aspect ratio)

maika is finished with her triangle recreation.... but perhaps she is not alone

few interesting things to note here. 1) woman is getting hit in the back with an axe (in her own home, seemingly not expecting it, lending credence to the killer's MO). her murderer (husband? unsure) appears to be covered in blood. 2) she bears a resemblance to this woman, from a promotional poster and the setting looks as though it's the same one from this teaser. (cipher reads: "stood upon the sand of the sea", referring to a quote from the book of revelation describing a HYDRA, hmm)

3) a change of aspect ratio again, which immediately intercuts with....

maika flinching backwards as though bearing witness to this. could be just some misleading trailer editing, but the implication here is that she is 'seeing' these murders take place somehow. actually, maybe THAT explains the change of aspect ratio? it happens when we're seeing her "visions"?

gonna cover these quicker shots a few at a time: a shadow stumbling/dragging itself through a house as though wounded (not sure if it's the axe-in-the-back woman, because the house looks a little more modern, plus - different aspect ratio), an eerie figure in the woods (feels strangely out of place), another shot of nic cage in his workshop(?) (again with the aspect ratio switch - so if we follow the theory that these are maika monroe's visions, she definitely has some kind of direct connection TO him and not just a voyeuristic connection to his victims).

a person (i initially thought a woman, but that could actually very well be nic cage with his long, scraggly hair) slamming their head into a desk. the shot has interrogation room vibes (to me) but is too bare bones to make out for sure. maika is either... watching/interviewing (that's a camera beside her?) or this is another intercut reaction shot implying their connection.

(i didn't capture it but these shots are also intercut with images of red, gurgling blood, which seems a bit more deliberate than just an edgy choice - if there is a ritualistic element to these murders, perhaps it has something to do with blood)

i think this is nic cage again, but why is he upside down? interesting. unless i AM wrong, they actually show him a lot more in this trailer than initially assumed.

we're in maika-vision (calling it that until further notice) here again, this time to look at some kind of demonic entity (the same one we saw in that earlier shot of the woods?). this calls into question the objectivity of this voyeurism-whatever-it-is, although... obviously this film does have very clear supernatural elements, so hell, maybe nic cage IS being instructed by a demon.

another very clear intercut between maika and nic cage. is that nic cage?! it REALLY does not look like him from this profile angle, but it is possible that they've done some prosthetic work on his face (which they have been very careful not to show in full quite yet - nor do i think they should, since he is such a well known guy. you don't want your audience getting comfortable with him in this role before they actually see him.)

but i digress: another moment where the editing is implying an important connection or parallel (maika seems to be losing it a little - which i would too if i could no longer separate my identity from a killer's and/or their victims)

going forward i would pay attention to how promotional material for this movie is edited In General because they are using it as a very deliberate communicative tool at least in this teaser!

another couple of notable shots. in the first one, a woman (a nun? she seems to be wearing a habit, similar to another woman we will see later) fires a rifle into what seems to be an already blood-splattered car. then (which i didn't include) we see Maika With A Gun (hi maika), and what appears to be a car chase.

in maika-vision again, a man who has seemingly just got done slaughtering all of his cows. probably safe to call an animal harm content warning for this one, pals

ah! that WAS nic cage in the car paralleled to maika -- look at how he's dressed here. yet again they are deliberately hiding his face (also note the background - it would seem that yes, he is working at some kind of paint/hardware store).

two more maika vision shots. the first is the woman we see featured in this poster. the second is a small child who is closing a door to avoid watching whatever they're looking at. neither is having a good day!

there is a targeted amount of religious violence here, which makes sense if our killer is demonically motivated

and last but not least, nic cage murdering a guy (gender neutral) (interesting though because i hadn't assumed him to be the hands-on type given his rather indirect MO).

anyway: that's the longlegs trailer! the most telling takeaway here, in my opinion, is: how much it does actually focus on this sort of duality between maika monroe and nicolas cage and some apparent connection between them. my instinct is that that's going to be the meat of the story (although there is clearly a deeper mythology to explore too -- the cipher, the demon, the nature of the kilings).

one more thing to note: this movie seems to take place over the span of several decades. the teaser posters/captions released by neon are dated by year and reflect as much, and if you're looking for it you can see the aesthetics shift around a bit in the trailer as well.

send me your theories/observations! eager to see if anyone puts some pieces together that i might have missed.

#longlegs #longlegs movie #horror

[raetoria]

Let’s talk about the Veil

I’m gonna start out by saying this fully theorizing, complete spinfoil, little evidence but big dreams.  This post is not going to be about the campaign, I have different post on my blog talking about it if you really want to know.  As you might expect, huge spoilers for the campaign.  Alright, it’s lore time babey!

Alright so the Veil is super mysterious.  As mentioned in the campaign, there is very little we understand about the Veil.  Osiris has never seen anything like it, the Neomuni really just use it as a battery.  We really only know three things:

The Witness used it to open a portal (of some sort).

In interacts with both the Light and the Darkness.

It powers Neomuna and specifically is integral to the operation of the CloudArk.

That is really not a lot to go on.  However, I do think it is actually enough to figure out what is going on.  I believe that the Veil acts as a gateway between the Light and Darkness, or more specifically the physical and the metaphysical.  Now that is a pretty wild claim but here’s why.

During the campaign, Osiris muses on the nature of Light and Dark.  Specifically, he mentions that the Light deals with the physical: causing things to grow, letting us bend the rules of physics, etc.  On the other side, the Darkness deals with the metaphysical: dreams and nightmares (Nezarec alert!), feelings of control, emotions, etc.  He notes that these two forces are fundamentally incompatible.  Frankly, I disagree, I think this is a case of Osiris purposely coming to the incorrect conclusion to have a reveal in Final Shape but that’s a different theory entirely.  For now, the important thing to note is that there are a lot of questions around what happens when Light and Dark collide (Strand, Tormentors, Savathun, both “sides” using both powers, etc). 

Now let’s look at the Ishtar Collective facility and Neomuna.  In the final mission, Nimbus notes that a device we see is a CloudArk prototype.  Later we see some wacky chairs that probably were part of that project.  I cannot fully remember but I also remember the implication that the Veil is used in part of the upload process to the CloudArk.  Here, we see minds crossing into a digital space, disconnected from their physical body.  They go from entirely physical to entirely mental.

Okay Witness time.  We see the Witness carve a giant triangle into the Traveler and then open a Veil portal, passing beyond it.  I am reading this as the Witness has entered the Traveler. I’ll come back to that.  But again, the Witness has passed into an unknown space, Darkness goes into a space that is ostensibly defined by the Light.  Furthermore, the Radial Mast is specifically identified as a source of Light during the campaign and our ghost (a creation of the Light) is used to channel the Veil’s power with Osiris telling us to get our ghost away from the Veil.  Again, the convergence of Light and Dark.

Alright let’s bring it all together.  In all of these cases, we see the Veil being used as a sort of translation layer between physical and nonphysical states or more specifically, Light and Dark.  I think the Veil allows for Light and Darkness to coexist in a way that is otherwise impossible.  This is why Strand is present on Neomuna (our Light powers getting reflected into a metaphysical state), this is why our ghost can be semi-hijacked by the Witness, this is why Neomuni can be uploaded to the CloudArk which really feels a lot like the VexNet, and this is why the Radial Mast / a source of Light (us) was needed for the Witness to interact with the Veil.  It plays really nicely on the phrase “beyond the Veil” which, while often used in conjunction with death, actually just refers a mysterious division between worlds.  Again, plays really nicely with the ideas I mention here about moving between worlds, and moving between the domains of Light and Dark. 

So that begs the questions, what the heck is going on with the Witness and the Traveler?  Well take a trip with me into deep theory territory here cause I’m moving from little evidence to zero evidence.  In the final cutscene, we see the Witness send its Pyramid ships into the portal before following.  We know a couple of things.  According to Osiris, the Light deals with the physical.  We also know the Pyramid ships respond, at least in part, to our thoughts and desires.  What if the inside of the Traveler is a massive space, able to fit in the relatively small Traveler ball Tardis style because of the physics warping nature of the Light like the thought warping nature of the Darkness in the Pyramids?  The Witness needs some way to enter that space, but literally cannot because it is such a channeller of the Darkness. So, to get its ships and forces inside, it needs a translation layer.  Something that will allow it to enter this space and allow the Darkness and Light to mix.  That’s why it needs the Veil, to pass beyond, to actually get to the heart of whatever the Traveler is, whether that’s a Witness-like creature or of something more abstract. 

Also, I am wondering if the reason why nothing we do gets past the Veil is because we are all physical and Light based.  Would explain why the Witness converts its ships into smokey wisps to pass through.  So perhaps the answer is we have to become heavy on the Darkness side or... think our way through?  Not sure about this one tbh XD. Either way, I am sure we will see more about the Veil in the lead up to Final Shape. 

#destiny #destiny 2 #destiny spoilers #destiny 2 spoilers #lightfall #lightfall spoilers #I mean look in reality we have no idea what the veil is and neither do the characters #and maybe the raid and nezarec will have some more info but it really is a situation of like #well maybe this 10 seconds of video content will explain a giant mystery and the entire next campaign hmmm yes #I do think the idea of it acting as a gateway is sound though given the cloudark of it all #we have the gate just gotta figure out the key #and maybe the key is some sweet loot #or a god in a gun given destiny's track record

[7rus7m3]

BIG 101 PENTAGON THEORY // SPOILERS FOR CANTO VI, DEMIAN (book), LITTLE PRINCE (book), LEVIATHAN, LIBRARY OF RUINA, a little bit of Divine Comedy too

RG - Red Gaze, PT - Purple Tear, LP - Little Prince, DC - Divine Comedy. Grammar mistakes can appear due to me not being very fluent in English.

So… After the new Demian scene appeared, I found it convenient to finally unleash my Dante=Sinclair pentagon theory, based on some assumptions I made from reading the source books of all of these characters. Before I start, I need to aknowledge some other things:

1. I don’t find this theory as something that actually will happen, since it may be based on my own biased opinions towards some of the characters included

2. Most of my assumptions are made through reading into intertext of the source books and how it would look more cool to potentially appear in a game. PM interpretation of books may be completely opposite from mine, so ig we will see how close I was later

3. I don’t use other sinners for my theory, since most of them are not marked, can’t use shin from what we know and/or mostly have finished self-centered story. The only one that probably will be added to pentagon is Faust, since her source is too important for Hesse as a writer and the motif of soul duality exists as an important topic in both Demian and Faust books. Also she knows too much about the Stars from what we can see in the prologue and later in her dialogues with us.

Part 1. Purple Tear

PT=Demian’s mother feels like canon already for me, but maybe just because I discussed it too much with my friends. So the main point of this theory is that Demian and PT appear to have the same main themes as characters and have similar powers, so him being Iori’s son will be natural. For example, the snake theme being introduced to us with Iori’s snake eyes in Leviathan manga or with the blue snake representing Demian on LCB Sinclair art. Multidimensional traveling powers, Shin being mostly PT’s disciples thing etc etc. Also Demian had purple eyes on his first promotional art and even though it was changed later, it is still an important thing that was planned by PM. For me it's an obvious moment for a lot of reasons, but in reality they just feel like relatives and the more you think about it the more it becomes obvious. 

As Demian’s mother, she becomes frau Eva naturally and potential Sinclair milfhunter’s interest. 

Also I believe in Iori as a higher-up person in Limbus Company assumption. As a person, who sees countless possibilities, her choices on sinners of LCB feels natural and the fact that Vergilius out of all people becomes our guide just approves it to me. 

So I added ‘Demian’ to her as a source just to start, but we can also add ‘Little Prince’ as I believe that she also represents the snake from the start of Prince’s adventure on Earth and his end on it. The Snake claims to have some sort of space-traveling power after all and while representing Birth and Death of Prince on Earth, she's a good pick for a mother figure representation.

Part 2. Red Gaze

Not too much to say here, but the obvious things we know. The Shin user triangle, even though Verg and Demian probably ain’t ever met each other once, still exists in the context of this theory. We can or can not draw a line between Demian and Vergilius, but I like to do it for the sake of making a point how they both are PT’s disciples. 

The christmas trauma line here is mostly for funsies, but it’s obviously not a coincidence on how the whole Sinclair’s family killing incident happened at the same time as Vegilius’ orphanage incident and how both suspicious shin users just watched them suffer to mentor them later. 

Dante and RG are connected through Divine Comedy, which is told directly from the game. 

Part 3. Demian

The most interesting and most intertextually written character in the game.

Sinclair being the rose became more believable to me than him being the fox after a new scene, but I still think both can be true. As we know from Demian book - Sinclair is final destination of Demian’s journey, from whom Max parted for unknown reasons (basically not answered his letters while doing his own fun stuff ig) and even tried to adapt to live in the world ignoring his marked nature (the “I am actually a lieutenant” scene in the 7th chapter). He is meeting Sinclair at first to part with him later just to end up becoming a metaphorical part of him at the end, probably dying physically. The same happens with Prince and Rose relationships in the LP. From them meeting suddenly to part later because of Prince’s complicated feelings to Prince finally coming back to her after learning how to love her and realizing her importance for his existence as a person in the metaphysical form, leaving his physical body behind. The story is too similar for Sinclair to not be Rose. The main counterargument here is the fact that we don’t know when Demian started his journey and Sinclair quoting dialogue of LP with fox. I still believe that Sinclair-Rose theory is more likely though, but Sinclair-Fox is still leading us to doomed yaoi in the end.

The Demian-Beatrice part comes from ‘Demian’ as a source too. Sinclair met Beatrice as his muse and basically Demian’s replacement as an image of his own ideals in life, she became a reason for him to stop his self-destruction path. Young love for Sinclair here is more of a reason to keep moving forward to become a better person than actual loving feeling. She is a mythological muse, but not a romantic interest fully. And in an attempt of engraving her image (haha engraving aspect), he accidentally draws Demian instead. We can put it as a direct equation of her to Demian and as a method of inserting an androgynous archetype into Demian’s character. I think of Demian-Beatrice as a cool way to introduce us to Paradiso later with him being our new guide instead of Vergilius. It will become a more logical guess later, in the context of the main part of this theory.

Part 4. Dante and Sinclair

So… Dante is a book version of Sinclair with part of Demian’s soul inside him theory… The main thing from where we should start to think about this is the whole number dilemma within Sinclair’s coat. He should’ve been the 10th Sinner before Dante appeared, but then got changed to 11th. Which is funny since 1.0 and 1.1 is a funny version number calambour. So, questions that theories answers:

1.Demian having sudden interest in Dante and giving him riddles that mostly answers the nature of more of a Demian himself as a person, than giving Dante actual usable information

2.Dante seem to have mark 

3.”What will become of me who have been robbed by me”

4.Sinclair is the only sinner we resonated with out of his Canto

5.Sinclair Canto only focusing on the first two chapters of the book, but not taking it as full. His Canto takes not even half of a book, but focuses on a really small part of it. Moby-Dick is a pre-story in Canto V, same basically for Canto I and Canto IV, we are close to the ending of CaP in Canto II and we have seen the true ending of WH in one of the Mirror Worlds with Cathy and Hareton.

6. Why they aren't changing numbers on Sinclair's coat for six Canto already

7. How Demian is able to understand us and how we are able to deeply understand Demian's feelings

8. Why we have any connections to Demian in the past and why we owe him a drawing of all things (Sinclair was a painter in the book)

9. Star is the main motivation of Dante

10. The whole engraving aspect thing. Again, Sinclair was a painter in the book and used drawing as a way to analyze his instinctive feelings

11. Dante having religious motifs and powers associated with either Tree of Life or Tree of Knowledge. Sinclair’s EGO “Branch of Knowledge” naming based on that

12. Dante’s White Night motifs. White Night is basically an Antichrist, but also a God, which connects it with the concept of both god and demon and connecting it with an Abraxas

Maybe some other questions are answered too if you think about it for a little. This is just a very solid assumption that will explain why Demian is so important for us and why Dante seems like a descendant of the Star in the prologue. As a character having another big source book I also believe in him having his own Canto and if he is a part of Dante's character then we should have the duo Canto for both Dante and Demian.

Main thing is how it happened. It's mainly fanfiction from now on. We know that there are Mirror Worlds where the whole book plot is already happened at some point (Cathy and Hareton scene in C6). So one of these basically is the one where Sinclair journey happened some other way. Maybe it was the one, where Demian helped him before the whole Kromer situation happened. After that moment in book Sinclair fastly falls back to his family and stops questioning their beliefs, so in my theory he could after all have a prosthetic operation that he was destined to before incident. That way we have his life going more calmly and as a son of prosthetic factory owner he could become a big and rich person. That would explain why Panther, Lion and Wolf were very excited over killing him. So, Sinclair of this universe goes over his way just like book Sinclair and participate in the whole June-985 thing. What else happened in June? World War 1 start. Sounds stupid, but WW1 is the main thing to change the world in Demian as a book. So the start of new world is destined to be in June-985 in the City setting, which represents WW1 starting in the Real World. The whole thing happens, and Demian either dies or merges with Sinclair to become some sort of part of him. To prevent the whole June-985 thing from happening, Sinclair travels back in time (which basically not the same, but another Mirror World) using Golden Bough and tries to engrave something that is a key to preventing the whole mass death thing. Limbus World Demian is pissy with Demian from future trying to stop the new World from happening, so he confronts us, but tries to do it in his own way. That way Dante is Sinclair from future from other mirror world and is partly a Demian himself.

In the LP, Pilot also is a child-like adult, really similar to Little Prince in some way. I personally like to read his journey with Prince as a metaphor for himself maturing and letting go his childish side, which Is again connects Dante to Demian.

So, Dante=other Sinclair=Pilot=partly Demian.

#limbus company #limbus theory #sinclair lcb #demian lcb #lcb #dante lcb #vergilius lcb #iori lor #library of ruina