#I really feel like it’s important to discuss why different people have different opinions on this kind of thing!
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In defense of retellings & reimaginings
I'm not going to respond to the post that sparked this, because honestly, I don't really feel like getting in an argument, and because it's only vaguely even about the particular story that the other post discussed. The post in question objected to retellings of the Rape of Persephone which changed important elements of the story -- specifically, Persephone's level of agency, whether she was kidnapped, whether she ate seeds out of hunger, and so on. It is permissible, according to this thesis, to 'fill in empty spaces,' but not to change story elements, because 'those were important to the original tellers.' (These are acknowledged paraphrases, and I will launch you into the sun if you nitpick this paragraph.)
I understand why to the person writing that, that perspective is important, and why they -- especially as a self-described devotee of Persephone -- feel like they should proscribe boundaries around the myth. It's a perfectly valid perspective to use when sorting -- for example -- which things you choose to read. If you choose not to read anything which changes the elements which you feel are important, I applaud you.
However, the idea that one should only 'color in missing pieces,' especially when dealing with stories as old, multi-sourced, and fractional as ancient myths, and doing so with the argument that you shouldn't change things because those base elements were important to the people who originally crafted the stories, misses -- in my opinion -- the fundamental reason we tell stories and create myths in the first place.
Forgive me as I get super fucking nerdy about this. I've spent the last several years of my life wrestling with the concept of myths as storytelling devices, universality of myths, and why myths are even important at all as part of writing on something like a dozen books (a bunch of which aren't out yet) for a game centered around mythology. A lot of the stuff I've written has had to wrestle with exactly this concept -- that there is a Sacred Canon which cannot be disrupted, and that any disregard of [specific story elements] is an inexcusable betrayal.
Myths are stories we tell ourselves to understand who we are and what's important to us as individuals, as social groups, and as a society. The elements we utilize or change, those things we choose to include and exclude when telling and retelling a story, tell us what's important to us.
I could sit down and argue over the specific details which change over the -- at minimum -- 1700 years where Persephone/Kore/Proserpina was actively worshiped in Greek and Roman mystery cults, but I actually don't think those variations in specific are very important. What I think is important, however, is both the duration of her cults -- at minimum from 1500 BCE to 200CE -- and the concept that myths are stories we tell ourselves to understand who we are and what's important to us.
The idea that there was one, or even a small handful, of things that were most important to even a large swath of the people who 'originally' told the store of the Rape of Persephone or any other 'foundational' myth of what is broadly considered 'Western Culture,' when those myths were told and retold in active cultic worship for 1700 years... that seems kind of absurd to me on its face. Do we have the same broad cultural values as the original tellers of Beowulf, which is only (heh) between 1k-1.3k years old? How different are our marital traditions, our family traditions, and even our language? We can, at best, make broad statements, and of inclusive necessity, those statements must be broad enough as to lose incredible amounts of specificity. In order to make definitive, specific statements, we must leave out large swaths of the people to whom this story, or any like it, was important.
To move away from the specific story brought up by the poster whose words spun this off, because it really isn't about that story in particular, let's use The Matter of Britain/Arthuriana as our framing for the rest of this discussion. If you ask a random nerd on Tumblr, they'd probably cite a handful of story elements as essential -- though of course which ones they find most essential undoubtedly vary from nerd to nerd -- from the concept that Camelot Always Falls to Gawain and the Green Knight, Percival and the grail, Lancelot and Guinevere...
... but Lancelot/Guinevere and Percival are from Chrétien de Troyes in the 12th century, some ~500 years after Taliesin's first verses. Lancelot doesn't appear as a main character at all before de Troyes, and we can only potentially link him to characters from an 11th century story (Culhwch and Olwen) for which we don't have any extant manuscripts before the 15th century. Gawain's various roles in his numerous appearances are... conflicting characterizations at best.
The point here is not just that 'the things you think are essential parts of the story are not necessarily original,' or that 'there are a lot of different versions of this story over the centuries,' but also 'what you think of as essential is going to come back to that first thesis statement above.' What you find important about The Matter of Britain, and which story elements you think can be altered, filed off or filled in, will depend on what that story needs to tell you about yourself and what's important to you.
Does creating a new incarnation of Arthur in which she is a diasporic lesbian in outer space ruin a story originally about Welsh national identity and chivalric love? Does that disrespect the original stories? How about if Arthur is a 13th century Italian Jew? Does it disrespect the original stories if the author draws deliberate parallels between the seduction of Igerne and the story of David and Bathsheba?
Well. That depends on what's important to you.
Insisting that the core elements of a myth -- whichever elements you believe those to be -- must remain static essentially means 'I want this myth to stagnate and die.' Maybe it's because I am Jewish, and we constantly re-evaluate every word in Torah, over and over again, every single year, or maybe it's because I spend way, way too much time thinking about what's valuable in stories specifically because I write words about these concepts for money, but I don't find these arguments compelling at all, especially not when it comes to core, 'mainstream' mythologies. These are tools in the common toolbox, and everybody has access to them.
More important to me than the idea that these core elements of any given story must remain constant is, to paraphrase Dolly Parton, that a story knows what it is and does it on purpose. Should authors present retellings or reimaginings of the Rape of Persephone or The Matter of Britain which significantly alter historically-known story elements as 'uncovered' myths or present them as 'the real and original' story? Absolutely not. If someone handed me a book in which the new Grail was a limited edition Macklemore Taco Bell Baja Blast cup and told me this comes directly from recently-discovered 6th century writings of Taliesin, I would bonk them on the head with my hardcover The Once & Future King. Of course that's not the case, right?
But the concept of canon, historically, in these foundational myths has not been anything like our concept of canon today. Canon should function like a properly-fitted corset, in that it should support, not constrict, the breath in the story's lungs. If it does otherwise, authors should feel free to discard it in part or in whole.
Concepts of familial duty and the obligation of marriage don't necessarily resonate with modern audiences the way that the concept of self-determination, subversion of unreasonable and unjustified authority, and consent do. That is not what we, as a general society, value now. If the latter values are the values important to the author -- the story that the author needs to tell in order to express who they are individually and culturally and what values are important to them* -- then of course they should retell the story with those changed values. That is the point of myths, and always has been.
Common threads remain -- many of us move away from family support regardless of the consent involved in our relationships, and life can be terrifying when you're suddenly out of the immediate reach and support of your family -- because no matter how different some values are, essential human elements remain in every story. It's scary to be away from your mother for the first time. It's scary to live with someone new, in a new place. It's intimidating to find out that other people think you have a Purpose in life that you need to fulfill. It's hard to negotiate between the needs of your birth family and your chosen family.
None of this, to be clear, is to say that any particular person should feel that they need to read, enjoy, or appreciate any particular retelling, or that it's cool, hip and groovy to misrepresent your reworking of a myth as a 'new secret truth which has always been there.' If you're reworking a myth, be truthful about it, and if somebody told you 'hey did you know that it really -- ' and you ran with that and find out later you were wrong, well, correct the record. It's okay to not want to read or to not enjoy a retelling in which Arthur, Lancelot and Guinevere negotiate a triad and live happily ever after; it's not really okay to say 'you can't do that because you changed a story element which I feel is non-negotiable.' It's okay to say 'I don't think this works because -- ' because part of writing a story is that people are going to have opinions on it. It's kind of weird to say 'you're only allowed to color inside these lines.'
That's not true, and it never has been. Greek myths are not from a closed culture. Roman myths are not sacrosanct. There are plenty of stories which outsiders should leave the hell alone, but Greek and Roman myths are simply not on that list. There is just no world in which you can make an argument that the stories of the Greek and Roman Empires are somehow not open season to the entire English-speaking world. They are the public-est of domain.
You don't have to like what people do with it, but that doesn't make people wrong for writing it, and they certainly don't have to color within the lines you or anyone else draws. Critique how they tell the story, but they haven't committed some sort of cultural treachery by telling the stories which are important to them rather than the stories important to someone 2500 years dead.
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*These are not the only reasons to tell a story and I am not in any way saying that an author is only permitted to retell a story to express their own values. There are as many reasons to tell a story as there are stories, and I don't really think any reason to create fiction is more or less valid than any other. I am discussing, specifically, the concept of myths as conveyors of essential cultural truths.
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My dear lgbt+ kids,
So, you have been in a relationship for a while and you’re ready and eager to take the next step - but your partner isn’t. What now?
The “next step” I’m referring to here could mean a lot of different things because relationships do not all follow one specific timeline (and also because my readers may be of wildly different ages and live in wildly different situations) but I am thinking of any “deepening our commitment” things here: for example introducing them to your friends or your family, moving in together or (if you are in a situation where that’s a legal possibility) even marriage or having a child together.
Whatever the step actually looks like, you may have this romantic idea of “If they’re right for you, you’ll always naturally want to take these steps at the same time”… but that’s not really how relationships work in real life. Even in the healthiest relationship and even if you absolutely feel like they’re your soulmate, you may still disagree on when to take those steps or even on whether you want to take these steps at all.
In fact, it’s uniquely frustrating if everything else is going well. If their refusal to meet your mom is just another point on the long list of behaviors that make you feel like they don’t really care about you, that’s also painful but it’s easier to give advice there: maybe you should think about breaking up. It’s tempting to believe that you can make them love you more if you move in with them or that they’ll treat you better once you get engaged, but that won’t work out. You can’t fix a broken relationship by deepening the commitment - commitment needs a stable foundation to grow. And this doesn’t only go for outright abusive relationships: they may be a wonderful person but you two just have entirely different goals and needs, and those won’t suddenly overlap more just because you moved in with them or married them.
With all that being said: if there IS a healthy and stable foundation, if you are happy in every other aspect and they’re just hesitant about this one specific step, then jumping straight to “break up with them” would obviously be pretty unhelpful advice. Differing opinions occur even in the most compatible couple, you are both whole people with your own individual feelings and those do not necessarily doom the whole relationship. It’s important to see this situation in the context of the relationship in general.
You may be able to guess that a big portion of the advice is just gonna be “Communicate with your partner” - but first of all, I’d advise you to have an open and honest conversation with yourself. Why is this step of commitment so important to you? What does it mean to you? Do you feel a sense of urgency in taking it and if so, why? Is this specific step the only possible path for your need to be met? Are you open to alternative approaches, are you open to waiting (and if so, for how long)? The purpose of these questions is definitely not to convince yourself to give up on your needs or to talk yourself into a compromise you’re not really happy with! The opposite of that, actually: It’s helpful to reflect on what exactly you want and why you want it, so you have the clarity you need to discuss it productively. You don’t want to agree to something that ultimately leaves you unsatisfied and bitter, but you also don’t want to push hard for something you later on realize doesn’t even mean that much to you.
When you feel confident enough about your own stance to discuss it with your partner, the most important thing to remember is: you’re on the same team. The goal here isn’t to “win” or to change their mind, but to see each others perspective better and find a solution you’re both happy with. Listen with an open mind. Try to understand before you try to influence. Remind yourself that your partner isn’t your enemy, they also want the best outcome for both of you - otherwise you (hopefully) wouldn’t want to commit to them!
Something you should get clarification on during your conversations: is it a hard no (do not want to do that at all ever), a soft no (open to alternatives or adjustments), a no for now (want to do it but not yet), a yes but (want to do it but only under certain circumstances or in a different way than your original plan) or a I don’t know? How does this affect your feelings on the situation? (I’m sure that even just while reading these different scenarios, some instinctively feel better or worse than others! But it’s still important to take some time to sit with any new information that comes up during those conversations. Neither of you should feel pressured or rushed here!)
You may find that they just never considered that there may be multiple approaches to that step (an example for this would be that they are not actually opposed to the idea of being married to you, just to the idea of a wedding, and didn’t consider yet that eloping is also a possibility) - but don’t set yourself up for disappointment by expecting the conversation to 100% go that way. It may also be a hard no, and that wouldn’t make them a horrible person. People can deeply, truly love someone and still do not want to take certain steps with them. It’s a good idea to remind yourself that you’re not “in the right” or “the better person” for wanting to take those steps. While certain steps may be a big part of your own future plans or even of your identity and self-image (and that’s valid!), they are just personal preferences. It’s not a moral obligation to want them, and your partner isn’t mean for not wanting them. But, of course, at this point we also need to say: if you can not imagine a life where you never get married, you are not a horrible person for breaking up with a partner who can not imagine to ever marry. “Irreconcilable differences” are a common breakup reason for a reason.
So, to summarize: Building a strong foundation is crucial before taking big steps. Communicate openly with yourself first - understand why you want to take this step and if there are alternatives. When talking to your partner, remember you're a team; it's not about winning but understanding each other. Be open to different responses, from a clear no to conditions on a yes. Do not pressure your partner but do not completely give up on your own happiness either.
The journey of commitment should be a shared adventure - not a battle or a competitive race!
With all my love,
Your Tumblr Dad
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hi ! I love your gen z driver series so much !!
i have a request that she and zhou show up to the padock in the same outfit unplanned
like i feel this would happen - they both fancy showing up in something so different and the other would be wearing the same thing !! <3 fashion icons think the same 😌
THE HELMET BET
pairings: zhou guanyu x driver!reader / f1 grid x driver!reader
warnings: swearing. based on the 2022 grid. mention of sexism and racism. joke about doing an orgy.
author's note: idk if this is what you had in mind, but I had already written a small part of this fic and then your ask came in and I couldn't help myself. I love zhou so much, ugh thats my man fr. also, thank you for loving the series, it means a lot to me 💞
masterlist
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''We're gonna get in trouble.'' Zhou said, shaking his head.
Y/N frowned at his words. ''Why would we get in trouble? It's always super boring and our bet can at least spice it up a little.'' She reasoned, using a lot of hand gestures to show how serious she was.
''You know those meetings are about our safety, right? We should take them serious.'' The Chinese driver didn't want to get in hot water with the stewards.
''But this is a serious matter! We're putting an end to the debate,'' she retorted back, not seeing the harm in using the upcoming driver's briefing for their bet, ''lately, I've been seeing way too many people saying you've got better style than me and I've had enough of it.''
The female driver had seen the countless online discussions between fans regarding the most stylish driver on the grid, the winner usually switching between herself, Lewis and Zhou. In her opinion, Lewis had the best style, she didn't need to think twice about it. But it is important for her to know who his successor is, who is the number 2?
To answer that question, she had come up with a brilliant idea: her and Zhou wear their best outfit to the next driver's briefing, not some team merchandising, and they get the other drivers to vote on which outfit is the best and therefore, which person has the best style. The person with the most votes gets to design a helmet for the loser and they have to wear it at the next racing weekend.
''Okay, I'm in,'' Zhou admitted, shaking hands to commemorate the challenge, ''be prepared to lose, Y/N.''
''Don't worry about me, Guanyu.''
Y/N was confident in her win. The young woman knows she has style, her several brand deals with high-respected fashion houses being the proof of that. However, she knew not to underestimate her rookie friend, Zhou has had some killer outfits in the ongoing season.
They had known each other for some years, but it was only this year that the pair had gotten close. Y/N broke the ice by complimenting one of his outfits at the start of the season and the rest was history.
The outfit she had gone with was simple, but she looked good and she felt great in it. It was inspired by one of Michael Schumacher's paddock outfits (reference), knowing she would at least have Mick and Seb's vote with that one.
Y/N got out of her car, ready to make her way to the F1 paddock and straight to the driver's briefing. In the corner of her eye she noticed Zhou's car pull up, his performance coach waving at her through the window. She reciprocated the action and decided to wait for him, thinking it would be nice for the two of them to enter together. She was curious as to what her friend would be wearing, secretly hoping he had fumbled the bag really hard.
Her hopes came crashing down as Zhou got out of the car, observing the clothes he was wearing and noticing one clear detail.
They were wearing the same outfit.
Her eyes seemed ready to bulge out of her head, in complete disbelief. ''Are you fucking kidding me, Zhou?''
The Chinese man appeared to be much more amused by the situation, covering his laughter with his hand. ''You look very nice, Y/N.'' He giggled, greeting her with a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
''It's turned into a ''who wears it better'' challenge, what the heck.'' She commented, eyeing him up and down before glancing at her own fit.
Zhou chuckled. ''Well either way, I'm winning.'' A small smirk appeared on his face, still sure of his win over his friend. Y/N simply scoffed, grabbing her pass from her purse and walking to the entrance. Zhou and his coach followed her steps, still entertained by her annoyance.
As soon as the paddock reporters noticed the sight of the two drivers, their cameras were whipped out from their bags and they began taking candid shots of the pair. Zhou and Y/N played along for the cameras, pointing at each other's outfits and pretending to look annoyed.
Eventually they made it to the right room, already seeing most of the drivers waiting inside. Zhou went in and greeted the others, while Y/N waited outside, ready to lock the door as soon as everyone had arrived and was inside.
Lando had been the last one to walk down the hallway. ''Hurry up, Norris!'' She exclaimed, her hand motioning for him to pick up the pace.
''Why? I'm on time.'' He replied a bit agitated, it was a bit too early in the morning for him to be scolded by his friend.
Y/N didn't respond to him, simply pushing him into the room and locking the door, making several drivers look up from where they were sitting or standing.
''Y/N, what are you doing?'' Sebastian spoke up, curious as to what she was up to this time.
The young woman urged Zhou to get up from his seat and to stand next to her. The man felt a bit embarrassed, but followed her orders. Y/N stood in the place where their director normally sat when he answered the drivers' questions or listened to their concerns. She placed both her hands on the desk, looking like a teacher that was about to scold her students.
''As we all know, Mr. Hamilton over there is widely accepted as the driver with the best style,'' she pointed at Lewis, who nervously smiled as the other drivers glanced at him, ''but that's not why we are gathered here today! We are gathered here today to decide who his successor is. Who is the most stylish person after Lewis? That's a question that we will settle once and for all, here, now, in this room.'' She finished her monologue.
''Me and Mr. Guanyu found ourselves in a battle for the title of second most stylish driver of the grid, so I challenged him. We would wear our best outfits today and have our lovely colleagues vote for who had the best one. But as you all can see, me and Mr. Dior over here, are wearing the same exact fit.'' Y/N waved her hand between herself and Zhou.
''So, instead of you deciding who is wearing the best outfit, you'll be voting for the person you think is wearing the outfit best.'' She concluded.
The crowd had mixed reactions: some looked confused, some seemed entertained by what Y/N had told them and others appeared to not care.
Kevin was the first one to speak, getting up from his seat and walking towards the door. ''Y/N, this is not the time to do this, we're here to talk about the race.'' He was about to turn the lock when her voice stopped him.
''Magnussen, you're being a party pooper- do you want to be a party pooper?'' She looked at him sternly, trying to convince him to sit back down and go along with her antics. ''Don't pretend like you're not secretly enjoying this.'' The Haas driver rolled his eyes, but defeatedly put his arms up and went back to his seat.
''Alright, we'll go around the room and each person says either my name or Zhou's.'' She explained further, moving in front of the desk.
Checo's hand went up in the air. ''Can we also pass?'' He asked, looking at Y/N.
''If you refuse to choose, we will consider it sexist and racist as I am a woman and Zhou's Asian.'' She answered him, garnering chuckles around the room and a nervous-looking Zhou who hoped people took it as a joke, since he didn't want to be making enemies as a rookie.
Y/N clapped her hands together. ''Okay, we'll start with our party pooper, KMag! Me or Zhou?''
''Zhou, since he didn't yell at me and didn't call me a party pooper.'' He chose, making the female driver narrow her eyes at him. ''Alright, 1 for Zhou.''
The person sat next to Kevin was his teammate, Mick. ''Schumacher!'' He was about to speak, but the woman interrupted him. ''Before you choose, I took inspiration from one of your dad's outfits.'' Y/N tried influencing his decision.
''I was gonna choose you anyway.'' He told her, making her jump up as her and Zhou had an equal score. ''Thank you, Mickie.'' She smiled brightly at him.
''Valtteri?''
''I choose Zhou, I'm loyal to my teammate.'' He answered, smiling at the man in question.
''Lando?''
''Zhou, because he doesn't humiliate me in front of the entire internet.'' The McLaren driver said, referring to their regular back-and-forths on social media.
Y/N rolled her eyes. ''You're such a crybaby, Rumplestiltskin.'' Her words caused Lando to give her the middle finger, but it was all in good fun.
''Anyway, Daniel?''
The Australian pretended to think hard about his answer, looking in-between her and Zhou. ''I'm gonna go with Y/N, cause I'm kinda scared what she'll do to me if I don't choose her.'' His answer got a laugh out of the other drivers, some of them nodding their heads.
Y/N herself couldn't help but break a smile at Daniel's words, happy her friend had chosen her. ''Okay, next one.''
The voting was nearing its end and there was a tie, 9 people had chosen Zhou and 9 others had voted for Y/N. It all came down to one person.
Sir Lewis Hamilton.
Despite some of the drivers' dislike for the bet at the beginning of the meeting, everyone had gotten pretty invested. ''The maestro himself has to choose his next prodigy.'' Daniel joked, looking at the 7x world champion.
Lewis shifted in his seat, not too fond of having the last vote on the matter. ''Can't I just say both of you? The two of you look very good.''
''No, mate! You have to choose.'' George argued, the others agreeing with him.
Y/N was quite sure that Lewis would choose her. She was much closer to him than Zhou and the pair had talked about fashion before, discussing how it was a great way to express yourself. She was already designing Zhou's helmet in her mind.
''Well, then… I guess Zhou.''
Her mouth dropped open, shocked that the senior driver had chosen the rookie over her. She wasn't the only one that seemed surprised by his choice, Seb turned around in his seat and Pierre's eyes had widened, mouthing ''wow''.
The young man next to her, lightly slapped her arm. ''I'll send the design to your team next week, Y/N.'' He teasingly laughed, a big smirk present on his face.
''This is a joke, right? I can't be number 3!'' She dramatically stated.
''Hey! What's wrong with being the number 3?'' Daniel looked up, feigning being offended by her words.
She was about to give another monologue about betrayal and how men are all the same, but several loud knocks on the door interrupted that from happening. Y/N sighed, but took a few steps to turn the lock.
Their director didn't look too happy. ''Why was the door locked?''
''We were having an orgy.'' She sarcastically answered him, not planning on explaining to him why she had blocked the door from opening.
''Y/N!''
The actual driver's briefing began and soon enough most drivers were already dozing off, some of them even wishing Y/N and Zhou's bet had taken a bit longer. They wouldn't admit it to the young woman, but ever since she'd made her arrival to these briefings, her unserious antics had made them much more bearable. Some drivers had even started looking forward to the meetings, because the girl always had something up her sleeve.
As soon as the last issue was resolved, the meeting ended and everyone was out the door. When Zhou saw Y/N talking with Mick and Esteban, he swiftly moved next to Lewis. ''Hey, man,'' he patted the Brit's shoulder, ''thanks for that, I really appreciate it.''
''No problem,'' Lewis smiled, ''we made a deal, I'm keeping my word.''
Zhou nodded. ''Yeah, you vote for me and I let you help me design her helmet.'' He recalled the promise they had made a day earlier.
''Great! I was thinking we just collect all kinds of embarrassing pictures of her and plaster them all around her helmet…''
''Great! I was thinking we just collect all kinds of embarrassing pictures of her and plaster them all around her helmet…''
''Great! I was thinking we just collect all kinds of embarrassing pictures of her and plaster them all around her helmet…''
#f1 fic#f1 fics#f1 x reader#formula 1 fic#f1 x oc#f1 female driver#female f1 driver#zhou guanyu x reader#zhou guanyu x oc#f1 grid x oc#f1 grid x reader
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Asexual characters getting laid
So, the recent discussion around a certain demon has brought a certain subject to the forefront of my circles. So, in this essay, let's talk about asexual characters getting laid, usually in fanfiction, but my advice applies to original work as well.
Glossary
As I discuss this, I will be using the relevant terms. For your convenience, I will define them here. Those in the community, you can skip this section.
Asexual: Often shortened to Ace, an asexual is a person who experiences little to no sexual attraction.
Gray Ace: Notice how I said "little to no" in the previous definition? gray Aces are why. Still falling under the field of asexuality, gray aces experience sexual attraction only on rare occasions or in specific situations.
Demisexual: A person who only experiences sexual attraction after a close emotional (not necessarily romantic) connection exists. It is a form of gray ace.
Aromantic: Often shortened to Aro, an aromantic is a person who experiences little to no romantic attraction.
Alloromantic: Alloromantic is opposite of Aromantic, being a person who regularly experiences romantic attraction. For this essay, I will use the abbreviated form Allo for this meaning exclusively. In more general parlance, Allo can also be short for allosexual, the opposite of asexual.
Sex Repulsed: A person who is sex repulsed has a strong negative reaction to sexual situations. This can manifest as fear, disgust, anxiety, etc.
Sex Favorable: A person who is sex favorable has a positive reaction to sexual situations. This shouldn't be confused with being sex positive, which is about your opinion regarding sex in society and sits outside the scope of this essay.
Opening Principles
The main question is this: Is it okay to write a story in which an asexual character has a sexual encounter or long-term sexual relationship?
The answer, in my opinion, is yes, if you do it right.
The question you need to ask is why are they doing this? You should really ask that question for any character getting laid, but it's really important when you want an asexual character to do the dance.
Asexuals and their relationship to sex
Now, as I start this section, I feel the need to drop my credentials... I am a sex-favorable aroace with an axe to grind. That's it really.
As far as a stereotype exists for asexuals, it's a sex-repulsed aroace who is usually so extremely repulsed they just about faint at the sight of a bare breast or is so naive they wouldn't know what a dildo is.
Now, both of these people exist, I'm sure. But, they aren't the only options. You can have sex-neutral or favorable aces, you can have allo aces, you can have gray aces and demisexuals. Asexuals can like kinky stuff or keep it vanilla. The options are limitless.
Libido is different from attraction. I'm sure you've heard of people who just need it more or less often. Guess what? Asexuals can get aroused just like everyone else; we just have less of an outlet for it.
A good but honestly overused analogy is food: libido is getting hungry while attraction is thinking something looks delicious. Some of us aces (like myself) are just sitting in the kitchen, hungry as all hell, but nothing catches the eye. We still might eat something and enjoy it, but it's a different process.
The only unifying factor for asexuals is experiencing little to no sexual attraction. That's it!
Reasons your asexual character might want to get laid
I'm going to run through a bunch of reasons why an asexual person might find themselves getting laid. I'll go over story ideas they make me think of (which you are free to steal; please steal them, I beg you) and potential pitfalls you need to avoid.
Do note the phrase "want to" in the title of this section. I'm only covering story reasons that are at least mostly consensual.
These aren't in any particular order; I'm just writing them as I think of them.
Personal Gain
Perhaps they benefit in some fashion from the arrangement. For example:
An asexual prostitute is an easy example.
A con artist, using sex to influence their victims, but not feeling anything real towards them.
This one is a great choice for dark character exploration. It's also one of the few options that works well if the character is sex-repulsed; put the reader in the shoes of a sex-repulsed character who needs to have sex for some reason and you've got something I've never seen before and really want to see done well. Tread lightly though, that idea is very easy to get wrong.
For a loved one
This one's for the allo aces out there. An asexual character could have sex for their partner's sake. Just like you, for example, might see a movie you don't care about because your SO wants to see it.
That's a fine reason... with a major caveat: it shouldn't be a transactional thing. Nothing in relationships should be, but I'm calling it out. Your ace character doesn't owe their loved one sex, but if they want to make their love happy, it's an option.
That said, if you want the audience to hate the loved one, get as transactional as you want. You don't have to write healthy relationships, just be aware of what you are doing.
For pleasure and fun
If your asexual character isn't sex-repulsed, they could just... want sex for its own sake. The only caveat here is treating the issue with respect. The characters approach to sex is different from attraction, being more something they want rather than a need.
Exceptions
You could explore an ace character drifting into gray ace territory, struggling with new emotions... or even just a character who already identifies as gray asexual.
My main concern here is avoiding invalidating the character's identity: they are still asexual, just with some shades of gray.
A common refrain from those opposed to asexuality is "you just haven't found the right person yet". Two things about that:
Don't unwittingly write a story where those idiots are right.
If a person experiences no sexual attraction, and then finds themselves doing so for a specific person, usually one they are close to, we have a word for that. It's in the glossary, starting with a D.
One-offs
Rapid fire time. These are all reasons an asexual character might have sex on a short term basis. If you're writing a short story, that might be all you need.
Peer pressure to stop being a virgin. Not a fun reason, but I'm sure it happens.
Curiosity about sex.
Manipulation by their partner. Be careful with this one, it borders on non-con... unless that's what you're writing.
They are trying to have a baby.
Some weird magic thing in your setting.
Fuck, they could lose a bet if you feel like it.
Conclusion
Just because you're writing about people doing the horizontal hula doesn't mean the few ace characters we have need to be stripped of their identity just to be stripped of their clothes. Keeping that identity in mind can help open new story paths, paths that are currently unexplored.
Side note: if you can find any well written smut featuring an asexual lead, please tell me about it. I want to read it.
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is Killua truly jealous of Palm?
Yes, I absolutely think he is!
It's never explicitly stated, but the subtext is so in your face in a few different ways that it's essentially not even subtext any more.
Togashi could have chosen so many different ways to portray the way Killua feels about the Gon/Palm date subplot, but making it clear over and over again how bothered Killua is by the whole situation absolutely reads as jealousy, especially within the larger context of the arc. Look at these especially!
Togashi puts so much emphasis on Killua's expressions and distress throughout the whole subplot. Of course it's partly intended to be comedic, but this situation with Gon and Palm does have serious emotional weight for Killua as well--pulling out the needle, his breakdown in front of Palm, what she ends up saying to him after that, etc. I do think the exaggerated and extreme ways Togashi expresses Killua's feelings are intended to make the audience go, "Oh, he's really jealous, isn't he?"
People can argue Killua's reactions are just because of who Gon is on a date with (someone unhinged/violent and much older than him), or that it's just "concern" about Gon because of his nen situation, and those are both definitely aspects of what's going on here--but to reduce it down to only that ignores those deeper emotional impacts it has on Killua. I think the protectiveness aspect is something Killua uses to veil some of the other things he's feeling about it even though of course he is legitimately protective of Gon in this situation (and he has good reasons to be so). I also think Togashi himself uses the ambiguity to his advantage here, because if he put in romantic jealousy that was any clearer, would Jump allow it?
The way Killua goes immediately from the topic of going on dates/being freaked out about the prospect of Gon having been on dates before to feeling heartbroken because he wants to be with Gon forever the next panel is telling, in my opinion... (The English translation is a little vague, seems like it was intentionally toned down. In the original Japanese version he says he wanted to be with Gon forever.)
Here's a post where @tjlnn22 and I discuss this weightlifting scene in more detail.
I firmly believe that a big part of Palm's role as a character is to get the audience to question the nature of Killua's feelings for Gon. Without considering this context, the way her character is set up from the beginning and what role she's intended to play in Chimera Ant Arc is confusing. But when if you look at her character as having been built for that role, suddenly her entire character and subplot makes sense. Here's an older post where OP talks about some of the framing of Palm's character, and then I talk in more depth about why Palm is written the way she is.
It especially makes sense when you consider that the date with Palm is one of the factors that destabilizes Killua's faith in his relationship with Gon, leading to him wondering if they're acting together as friends or just as teammates. Here's an awesome post @tjlnn22 put together and submitted to me on this topic, with specific details supporting this argument. I think this is an important part of the arc that gets overlooked, and I love how clearly it's laid out in the linked post.
Killua also acts dismissive of Gon worrying about Palm to the point where other characters comment on his behavior, which to me seems like another sign of jealousy and bitterness on Killua's part. Then when he encounters Palm again after her transformation, this is how he behaves towards her:
Hands on his hips, full sass mode here. Again with the jealousy...
...And then shortly after this he proceeds to have a total emotional breakdown when he admits to himself that he thinks maybe Gon cares more about Palm than him, and that Palm might be the only one who can help Gon, rather than Killua. Of course there are more factors than this behind his breakdown, including him getting pushed away by Gon prior, but this is DIRECTLY the thought that leads him to start crying and then sobbing on the ground.
The Palm subplot is one of the biggest things in the series that makes me confident that the romantic subtext around Killua's feelings is completely and utterly intentional. The way the whole subplot is constructed, the decisions Togashi makes around Palm and how she's presented as a character, the way Killua's reactions and emotions are emphasized with regards to it, and the significance of this subplot in the greater arc of Killua's character all show a great deal of thought and care, and it's hard to come to any other conclusion when looking at it carefully.
Thank you for asking!
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Okay. My thoughts on the Our Flag Means Death finale. Obviously I'm not very happy with the ending, though I'm also not as upset as some people are. I would say I'm discontent. Unsatisfied. Too aware of how it could have been improved, and a bit bitter that we didn't get a better version, but I also don't hate what we did get.
I know a lot of meta has attributed the problems to a shorter season, and absolutely I would have loved to get 10 episodes instead. I would have loved 22 episodes! Why don't we do that anymore? But I don't think the 8 episode length was the ultimate problem. A) The showrunner and writers knew they had only 8 episodes, so they needed to choose a story that fit into that length, but even more importantly, B) my problem is not that they had too much story for too little time, but actually that they had plenty of time and chose to fill it with too little story.
As I've sat with it over the last few days and thought more about the season's arc, it feels to me like we got eight episodes of filler. Filler episodes can be great! Filler episodes can have some of the funniest lines, the greatest scenes, the most intriguing ideas. But filler episodes do not progress character arcs or major themes, and that's exactly the problem this season had.
The only characters who got arcs this season are Izzy, and to a lesser and more rushed extent, Lucius. Which sure is a choice.
Ed and Stede and their relationship did not meaningfully change from S1. (Okay, yes, they had sex, they said I Love You – but these are external changes, not internal. They don't represent character growth. Stede realized he loved Ed and was telling everyone back in 1x10. Ed clearly would have slept with him in S1 if they'd had a little more time.) Ed and Stede in 2x08 are not different from who they are in 2x01. If Ed had asked Stede to be innkeepers in 2x01, does anyone think Stede wouldn't have immediately agreed? One of the big moments in 2x08 is Ed reading a letter that Stede wrote in 2x01! Stede's exact words from the very beginning of the season! What better way to underline that none of the subsequent seven episodes had important growth or changes?
Another one of 2x08's big shippy moments is Ed and Stede running to each other across a beach – deliberately paralleling the dream Stede had in 2x01. What are we supposed to take from this parallel? My original thought was that we're supposed to see how different the real version is from the dream, but there's honestly not many differences. Neither one has a beard, now? The dream mocked how Stede knew they needed to have a conversation about their relationship that he wanted to avoid, but they don't have a conversation in the "real" version either. They exchange about two sentences (which includes Ed's I Love You, yes, which is a big deal but still isn't a conversation) and then they charge right back into the fight, without discussing anything like Ed abruptly dumping Stede to go be a fisherman, Stede killing Ned Low when Ed asked him not to, their differences of opinion on being pirates, if having sex was a mistake or if that's only a thing Ed said because he was panicking, etc etc. They have just as many issues to address as they did in the dream, but just like the dream they act like everything is magically okay without talking about it!
So I think we're meant to take the beach-run parallels as "here's what Stede's been wanting, and after waiting for so long he finally gets it". Which is fine, a very sweet take-away for a finale. But it underlines what I'm saying is the problem of the season: Stede has just been waiting for eight episodes for his dream to come true. Not changing. Not growing. Not doing anything to bring the dream about, other than trying to get himself and Ed into the same physical location. Just... waiting.
This is an extra surprising development, because the show was really good at giving Ed and Stede character arcs in S1! Ed and Stede in 1x10 are significantly different than they were in their first introductions. Also, just to preempt some criticism, by 'progressing' I do not mean 'wrap up literally every loose end and make a firm final ending' – S1's finale is an excellent example of both moving the characters forward and leaving a ton of room for future stories. I wasn't expecting for 2x08 to show us a Stede and Ed who were perfectly on the same page and would never again have a problem. I was expecting them to be somewhat different than they were in 2x01, and I just don't see that.
Instead of arcs, we got little pieces of single-episode growth here and there that never added up to an overall whole. The season brought up a ton of potential arcs for Ed – violence, piracy, guilt, suicide, daddy issues, self-loathing, apologies, redemption, his tendency to idealize escaping into a different life – but didn't do anything with any of these options. Stede had nothing resembling a season arc at all.
Stede works to improve as a captain! Stede kills someone and has regrets! Stede confronts Ed's dark side! <- All potential arcs, but none of which lasted for more than an episode or had consequences. We don't even know what the ending means for Stede: does he want to be an innkeeper because he failed as a pirate in 2x07? Because piracy was always just a displaced search for love, and now that he has love, he doesn't need piracy? What does the crew of the Revenge leaving mean to him? Stede's understanding of their new arrangement literally happens off-screen and we're left to fumble at guesses for its significance to him as an individual.
Ed and Stede's last big conversation in the season is their break-up fight in 2x07, which is a shocking way to send off your main couple in a rom-com. Yes, there's the I Love You on the beach (again: two sentences) and the brief 'let's try to be innkeepers' conversation at the very end, but that's it for them in 2x08, except for their inclusion in some brief large group conversations about their fighting skills and the plan for escaping the British. How can you end your rom-com with the main couple exchanging only a paragraph's worth of dialogue in the finale? None of the stuff was brought up in the fishing fight in 2x07 is ever addressed at all!
Again, I don't think this is solely a matter of time crunch. Instead of using the eight episodes to progress the two main characters, we got a bunch of filler episodes that used the time in amusing side tangents instead of forward progress. I don't think that's the inevitable result of having to work with eight episodes.
Look, I can come up with a better Ed/Stede relationship arc without needing more episodes, and despite only thinking about this for a couple days and not having an entire writing room to work with:
(Note: this only addresses the Ed/Stede relationship. It doesn't fix Stede completely lacking an independent character arc and Ed having about ten thousand of them, none of which went anywhere.)
In 2x05 to 2x07, I would make Ed's motivations in their relationship very clearly that he's pushing Stede away so he doesn't get hurt again. Basically play up Ed's comment about "I was all in" in 2x04, and make him determined not to get 'all in' this time around. This aligns the "let's take it slow" conversation in 2x05, the "sex was a mistake" in 2x06, and Ed running away to be a fisherman in 2x07 into a single arc. He wants Stede, but he's afraid of what that wanting will do to him. He's trying to find a way to have a relationship without making himself vulnerable. He keeps pushing off commitment and openness.
Then, in 2x08, I'd make it more explicit that Ed thinks/fears Stede is dead when he sees the pirate ships burning. I think it's subtext in the episode as-is, but give him a line or two to make it really clear. Ed and Stede still see each other on the beach, have their dramatic run to each other, and Ed says, "I love you". Now this moment is Ed acknowledging his love, exactly what he's been avoiding for the last three episodes.
Near the end of the episode, Ed and Stede have a conversation where Ed says something like, "I didn't want to get hurt again, I was afraid of the risk of falling in love and you leaving again, but thinking you were dead made me realize that never loving you would be worse" (but better written, ha, this is a tumblr post that's already too long). (Also possibly you could tie in Izzy's death here to underline both Ed and Stede not wanting to lose another person they care about, if we must have that plot point for some reason.) We actually get to see Ed asking Stede to come be innkeepers with him, paralleling asking him to run away to China (and paralleling NOT asking Stede to a fisherman), Stede voices some of his worries (paralleling him keeping them inside in 1x09, but also giving him a chance to explain what piracy and love mean to him and why he'd give up one for the other), but ultimately they agree that they at least want to try.
This both puts them into a much clearer place for a happy ending, has clear growth from S1 and the beginning of this season, but also leaves open a ton of room for S3, because welp, it turns out trying to have a relationship entails all sorts of problems! Especially with these two. It also would make me feel like they'd at least addressed some of the issues between them.
Right now I feel like S3 will have to spend at least the first few episodes running through exactly the same "don't talk – break up – get back together dramatically" arc that Stede and Ed have already done twice but have never discussed and never learned from. I liked it, but I don't need to see it yet again. That will – ironically – feel like yet more wasted time, more episodes that are just churning through beats without moving the characters forward. I wanted them to have new, different fights in S3, but now I don't even feel like they've made enough progress to have a fresh set of problems.
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❄️️Warm my heart pt. 5❄️️
Pairing: Aleksander Morozova/ The Darkling x fem! heartrender! reader
Summary: You're getting closer, closer, closer and closer... and noticed.
Word Count: 3,2k
Taglist:@aoi-targaryen @budugu @flostvs1508
~•♤♤♤•~ Aleksander Morozova’s Masterlist ~•♤♤♤•~
~•♤♤♤•~ Part 4 ~•♤♤♤•~ Part 6 ~•♤♤♤•~
"Something funny?" his question pulls you out of the letter. You glance at him briefly, slowly fold the letter, and put it in your pocket, still smiling.
"Nothing special. Can we return to further discussion?" you ask as he sits down in front of you and places two glasses of kvass on the table.
You didn't talk about… that night. Or previous events. There was a consensual silence between you regarding those events. A silence that was anything but peaceful. It was more like before the storm. But you both chose to ignore it. You had more important things on your mind.
"There is no need. I've already told you. Tracker and some of our people are going to haunt the stag until we won't get the bones. End of discussion."
"But it's Christmas. Is this stag that important? You don't have to send after this poor animal almost 30 of our people." you try to convince him, but he only rolls his eyes in annoyance.
"Y/N. I appreciate your opinion, but no one and nothing will change my mind. Not you, not Alina, not Zoya, not any women, do you understand?"
"Why didn't you mention Ivan or Fedyor, or any men?" you ask, crossing your arms, now as irritated as he was just a few seconds ago.
"Because they know too well to try to oppose me."
"Oppose you?" you huff, glaring at him defiantly. "With all due respect, you don't know what it's like when someone REALLY tries to oppose you. At least not in the last month." you see him take a breath to say something, but one look from him at you makes him change his mind and shake his head. He takes the glass and drinks it before deciding to answer you.
"Can we... can we just go back to read those reports and finally write the orders to units? Please." he asks. You sigh and take your pen in hand, continuing to write down on the paper, in a more logical way, notes containing some of your plans.
"If you insist." you mumble over the paper.
"No whining?" he asks in shock and you bite your lip to avoid saying something rude.
"No." you say, shaking your head and reaching for a glass of kvass.
"And you're not offended?"
"Since when do you care?" you snap at him, annoyed. Not only did he stupidly stick to his opinion, but he also made you look like an offensive brat.
"Y/N." he says it calmly, and you raise your gaze to him. He didn't seem like he was doing it maliciously, more like he was making sure everything was okay. Which only added to your irritation. You close your eyes and sigh before answering him.
"No. I'm not."
"Your tone of voice is telling me something entirely different." you narrow your eyes at him and he just shrugs his arms.
"Should I smile at you sweetly to make you sure about that?" you ask teasingly, and he nods, leaving you surprised.
"Yes, please." he says, wanting to see you smiling at him at all costs. He missed this view. You both had a lot on your minds lately, and dark circles under your eyes were starting to appear under your eyes as well as under his own. And he despised them terribly. He smiles, though, feeling a strange warmth dissipate in his chest as you giggle in amusement and give him a mischievous smile. "That's better." he mumbles, shifting his gaze to the papers.
He can't feel like this. He shouldn't want... you. Not after what he went through last time.
And after that night, where he almost gave in to his desires, he promised himself that you wouldn't be his second Luda. You'll end up better than her. He won't let anything happen to you because of him.
"You know... I got something for you." you say, snapping him from his thoughts.
"For me? On what occasion?" he asks, surprised, shifting in his chair. He dropped the papers on the desk and focused his attention on you as you nervously stroked the edges of the report, straightening the corners.
"When I was a child, we used to draw lots a few weeks before Christmas to choose a family member to give a gift to. You know, a small present before the big one. And since I spent half of December fighting for my life with a fever and swimming in frozen rivers, I didn't have time to give it to you earlier."
"Why did you..."
"We drew lots for whom we would buy a gift." you interrupt him before he has a chance to ask you a question. "Me, Fedyor, Alina, Mal, Zoya, even Ivan, and the rest. I had Mal, but since you decided to send him to hell knows where, I figured I might as well give you something."
"Whatever bribe you want to give me, tracker and others don't come back without a stag." he says, crossing his arms. You giggle softly at that.
"I'm fully aware, donkey."
"You're treading on thin ice." he says menacingly, but he can't help but tilt his lips upward slightly in kind of a small smile.
"It's good that you're close; maybe you'll save me again. Come on. Just open it. I promise, I didn't ask David to put any explosives in there." he rolls his eyes but takes the box from you that you left under his desk. He turns the small box over in his hand and shakes it gently, assessing the size and heaviness of the gift. "Are you really expecting a terrorist attack? From me?"
"You stabbed me with a letter opener."
"That was ages ago!" you shout, offended and blushing. "Besides, how was I supposed to know you'd just walk into the war room and stand behind me?!"
"Who normally throws a letter opener behind them?" he asks, raising an eyebrow. He slowly begins to unwrap the box.
"It was from my grandparents. You know how we get along. Besides, I've apologised to you a thousand times."
"And apparently my mental health has been damaged, and now I can't trust you around with any weapon or mistery presents." he teases; you whine at this, and he starts laughing. You smile at the sound and shake your head.
Suddenly, he stops laughing. He holds on to his breath as he carefully examines your gift. It's not a big thing. A simple, black pendant. What is more important is its content, which he stares at in amazement.
"I... I know you don't believe in any saints or stuff like that, but... I noticed that every time we're in the chapel for some kind of celebration, you stare at the stained glass window of Sankta Ursula of the Waves. I found it in some flea markets while we were searching for a stag. I immediately thought of you."
"I…" he has no idea what to say. He didn't know you were watching him so carefully. That you actually care. But now… you didn't even know what it meant to him. Especially since the pendant you gave him and the portrait of Sankt were an exact representation of his sister. Not like that terrible stained glass window. "Thank you." he whispers shakily, because it's all he can do.
You took away his words. More than once. He should get used to this. I want to get used to it. But he can't. He won't risk losing you for a few moments... a few moments that are a young boy's dream.
"Anytime. May I?"
He nods. You stand behind him and take the necklace from him. You roll up the collar of his kefta so you can fasten it around his neck.
Your fingers brush against the skin of his neck, and he has to bite his lip (almost to the point of bleeding) to keep from letting out any embarrassment moan at the small touch.
He despised himself. His mother would mock him so much for weakness and vulnerability like this... but all he could do was sit quietly and appreciate your every little touch.
"Do you like it?" you whisper softly, still standing behind him. Your hands on his arms burn him, despite the thick layers of clothes he's wearing.
"I love it." he answers faster than he can think. He knows you can feel his heart beating wildly. He feels himself turning even redder.
"I'm glad you like it, Aleksander."
He feels blood on his mouth as he bites his bottom lip, hearing you whisper in his ear his real name. He was alternately regretful and glad that you knew it. In moments like this... he wasn't sure which feeling prevailed. Suddenly, he realises that he is gripping the arm of the chair so tightly that his knuckles are white.
Where was the fucking control he had spent years practicing when he needed it most? Where are the walls he painstakingly built around his stupid heart?
One heartrender was enough for all his composure to go to hell. And the worst thing was that, deep in his heart, he wanted to lose himself in you.
He stands up from his chair and turns towards you, looking down at you, trying to intimidate you as his shadows dance around you. But you just came closer. He holds his breath and tries to take a step back, but realises there's no escape as he slams his hips against the desk.
"Y/N."
"Aleksander."
You exchange whispers between the two of you, staring deeply into each other's eyes.
The sudden outburst makes you both shiver. Aleksander automatically grabs your arm and pulls you behind him, covering you as he listens.
"Stay here." he whispers as he takes a step towards the window.
You grab his elbow tightly and stop him. He turns to you, raising an eyebrow questioningly. You shake your head, staring at him defiantly. He rolls his eyes and grabs your waist, tightening his grip as you both walk carefully towards the balcony.
You see smoke rising from the Durasts' workshop.
"Damn it, 5th time in this year." Aleksander curses under his breath, and he releases his grip on your waist.
"They're working on transportation through the fold, be gentle with them."
He sighs and rubs his hand over his eyes. The tiredness becomes clearer on his face as he realises that he's going to have a long night ahead of him.
"I'll try my best. Go to bed, milaya. One of us should be rested." before he knows what he's actually doing, he walks up to you and kisses your forehead.
You stand frozen, feeling his lips on your skin, your heart racing at his gesture more than from adrenaline at the sudden outburst. And then he walks away quickly, leaving you alone.
You can't help but smirk as you watch him disappear into the shadows.
Aleksander is pissed. Nor. He is furious. Mad. Not because of the outburst that happened last night, but because he found out that you were getting more and more letters.
And he managed to intercept one. It was from Mal fucking Ortsev. The tracker you so desperately wanted back at the palace for stupid Christmas.
Everything made sense. Every kind gesture you made this month. And now he was storming through the halls of the Little Palace, straight to the kitchen where the guards had told him you would be, holding an unopened letter from your lover in your hand. A lover who, he will make sure, will never see the gates of Os Alta again.
He storms into the kitchen, and you almost manage to cool his anger when he sees you in an apron, baking some cake. You were singing something under your breath, probably one of those annoying songs that were played in every corner of Ravka.
And he almost melted, fascinated by the sight of you so... calm. A strange fantasy played in his head. You and him together, cooking something for the damn Christmas, decorating the house. He never had a real Christmas. Baghra wasn't sentimental enough to celebrate it, and she taught him the same, but with you... he would do all those stupid things.
Seeing you in this homey atmosphere almost took him off his warpath. Almost.
Until he remembered the letter he was holding and imagined the tracker doing all those things with you. He slammed the door loudly and waited for your reaction.
You screamed, spilling some of the flour you were holding onto the floor. You looked at him, and you were ready to yell at him for scaring you when you saw the look on his face.
"What happened?" you ask, brushing your hair off your forehead and getting flour all over it in the process.
In any other circumstances, he would have laughed; he would have been completely enchanted by your state. But now he was seeing red, imagining every single love letter that you could have written to that damn tracker.
"All these gifts, sweet words—all of it was for your tracker, right? You don't know this boy, you don't know what he is like, and yet you try to undermine my authority and change my decision just for some orphan from Keramzin! What does he have, huh?! What has blinded you, MY SECOND-IN-COMMAND, that you so desperately want this rash fool, who only gets into trouble because of his own stupidity?! Is he really worth risking my wrath?!"
"What the hell are you talking about?!"
"THIS!" he slams his hand with the letter on the table between you. He glares at you furiously as you look at him with an equally defiant attitude. You take the letter and look at it in disbelief and anger.
"Do you monitor my correspondence?!"
"I should have done this ages ago! At least you wouldn't make a fool of me! You can say goodbye to your lovely tacker; I'll make sure he never again sets his foot in Os Alta."
"SERIOUSLY?! Look at me carefully, because I'll only say this once: MAL AND I ARE NOT TOGETHER!"
"Of course." he laughs mockingly and is about to leave the kitchen. You run to him and grab his arm tightly, forcing the letter into his hands.
"Read it." you say it coldly and firmly as you control yourself enough not to scream at him in anger.
"What?" he asks dazedly at your command, looking between your furious eyes and the letter you're pushing into his hands with all your might.
"Do you want to blame me for something? Go right ahead. Read. Prove yourself right." he takes the letter from you.
Jealousy and rage were still present in him, as well as a hint of sadness and hurt. That's what it was. Proof that all of this, every kind gesture, smile, look, touch, kiss—well, not a real one—was intended to bring you closer to another man. A man whose insides he would feed to volcras.
"Here you go." he opens the letter and clears his throat dramatically as he begins to read. "Dear Y/N. Thank you for your help. Alina was overjoyed with her gift. I don't know how to thank you. I'd love to be there for her, but I'm glad that at least you can take care of my beloved while I look for some damn stag…" he falls silent while reading, looking for something more in the letter he has in his hands. He blushes with embarrassment, realising the mistake he has made.
"See?" you ask him and gently cup his cheek with your hand, forcing him to look at you.
"But... the other letters..." he whispers, confused.
"I exchanged them with my brother."
There is a long silence between you as he digests all the information and realises the mistake he has made. He turns even redder at the rashness of his actions. He, who boasted of his patience and the fact that he was never wrong. The slightest suspicion that your heart belonged to someone else was enough to make him want to spill some blood and commit murder. And not yours, but that damn tracker's.
"Oh... the youngest one I guess?" he asks, trying to camouflage his earlier behavior. Or at least forget about it for a moment and let his heart slow down to a normal rhythm. He already humiliated himself enough in front of you.
"Yes." you confirm, a stupid smile on your lips. He swallows, nervous.
"Umm... that's lovely."
"He asked me if I'm coming home for Christams." you tell him, and he holds his breath for a moment, looking at you in anticipation. You don't say anything further. So he clears his throat and prepares to ask the question.
"Are you?"
"No. I'm staying in the Little Palace this year." for some strange reason, these few words bring him more joy than anything else in his several hundred years of life.
"Taht's... that's good. That's good to hear." he nods, unable to look you in the eye. You lick your lips, shifting your gaze towards the kitchen for a moment.
"Do you want to join me?"
"I beg you pardon?" he asks, confused. You nodded towards the bowls and cake you were baking before he came in and… jumped to the wrong conclusions. "I haven't… I haven't cooked for a while." he admits shyly. And you smile fondly as you see him so… ordinary for the first time. Humanly.
"Well, it's the best time to do it again, don't you think?" you ask and are about to pull him towards the table and the ingredients you prepared to make a cake when you feel the urge to look up. And you see mistletoe.
He also looks up and freezes at what he sees. A shiver of excitement and anxiety runs through his body. It was late at night. No one in their right mind would come here. No one would interrupt you.
He unconsciously leans towards you. He slowly lifts his hand and brushes your hair away from your face, gently brushing the flour from your forehead with his thumb. You giggle softly.
You cup his cheeks with your hands, and Aleksander sees in slow motion how you pull him towards you. Your lips get closer... but instead of moving to his lips, you place a tender kiss on his cheek.
His beard tickles you a little, and he can't help but feel deprived and tricked when your warm lips are limited to just caressing his cheek. He almost growls, exasperated, when, as quickly as you cling to him, you pull away.
"Put an apron on. We don't want to have your black kefta covered in flour." you say and go back to the table. You smile evilly. He didn't deserve a kiss after his little act today, but next time...
You squeal as he grabs you from behind and dumps a bag of flour over your head.
"ALEKSANDER!" you shout, and he laughs loudly, not caring at all that anyone might have heard his name. He tries to get away from you when you throw eggs at him.
When you are laughing and throwing everything at each other, you don't notice that the kitchen door is slowly and silently closing. And someone's footsteps echo through the corridors of the Little Palace.
#general kirigan#the darkling#aleksander morozova#aleksander morozova x reader#aleksander morozova x y/n#darkling#shadow and bone#the darkling x reader#aleksander kirigan#miniseries#christmas#darkling x reader#the darkling x you#darkling shadow and bone#grishaverse#shadow and bone au#aleksander morovoza#general kirigan x you#general kirigan x reader#fools in love#hopelessly in love#crush#romance#the darkling x y/n#darkling x you#argument#almost kiss#mistletoe#kiss on the cheek#jealous darkling
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Christian Horner about Max in Formule1 magazine, October 2023 issue
You've worked with several top drivers. How does Verstappen compare to the 'greats' in your opinion?
As a team we've had a great and successful period with Sebastian, an exceptionally good driver. Of course there have been more extraordinary drivers. Since I saw guys like Ayrton Senna when I was a little boy, I haven't seen anyone like Max. Michael Schumacher did similar things at the time, but what Max is showing is truly phenomenal.
Did you recognise his talent from day one, like adviser Helmut Marko?
Max continues to amaze us. He's only 25 years old, but by now a veteran. He uses that experience, it gives him an advantage. He uses his head more, but he's still got that pure speed and skills that he had when he came here as a 16 year old boy. He's merged all those elements in a brilliant way. Besides that he's just a nice guy and fantastic to work with. Fame and fortune hasn't changed him at all: he's the same Max Verstappen. He's just a more adult version of himself.
A leader within Red Bull Racing.
Absolutely. Everyone looks at him, he's the leader in the garage, in the team. Because of how he drives, because of the results he gets. Everyone walks just a bit faster for him, goes just a bit farther. Because everyone knows there's usually a reward in the end. In that way, he's a great motivation for everyone. No, verbally he's not loud or exaggeratedly present in the garage. I mean: he's not giving a speech every five minutes or something. But when he says something, people listen. Max is just one of the guys, everyone appreciates that he isn't a diva. The British and the Dutch share a good sense of humour; there's a lot of laughter in the garage. Because you have to enjoy your work. And Max does, he fits perfectly in the team.
Does that make working with him easier?Max is one of the most straightforward drivers I've worked with. No bullshit, or anything. You know where you stand with him. He's a professional, comes in and does his job. He gives a hundred percent and expects the same from others.
[…]
What specific things does you appreciate in Max Verstappen as a person?
With his family and Raymond (Vermeulen, his manager) he's got a close-knit group of people around him. And the team as well, I think. I think he feels safe and at ease in that environment. He's the same boy he was when he joined us. Whether it's at our home for a barbecue or at Silverstone: he always enjoys playing with the kids. Max is genuinely a really nice guy for whom family is the most important thing, too.
Demanding, difficult to work with?
Totally not, Max is actually very predictable. You know exactly what you've get with him. Max doesn't do politics, just does what he says. And he expects the same from the people he works with. He's direct and clear, that's how he was raised. He's always on time. I've worked with drivers who kept to their own time-table… Not Max, he knows why he's here and he always delivers craftsmanship.
Do you often have discussions with him?
To be honest, no. And if there is a point of discussion we talk openly about it. I don't believe in the conflict model. If there's something you need to get off your chest or have an issue, you sit down together, talk about it and try to resolve it.
Is your relationship with Verstappen different from his with Marko?
Helmut is a bit like Max's grandfather, the older wiser man. Their relationship is bit more personal, I'd say. They get on well, are both straightforward. Max is just less traditional in his thinking. Helmut is Red Bull's adviser, responsible for the talent program and obviously very proud of Max's achievements. My relationship with him is a bit more operational in nature: how the whole team functions, how Max functions with in the team.
#idk you guys. i think he likes him#🥰#f1#christian horner#max verstappen#a 'read more' yes or no? idk
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Sex Education season 4 thoughts
The good
Aimee’s journey. As I’ve discussed online no end, I have complex PTSD. While I was never sexually assaulted like Aimee was, her avoidant trauma responses were very relatable to me. To see her taking the power back this season, especially when the burned the jeans she was assaulted in and did the photoshoot with them, made me feel a bit less alone as I try and heal. I cried my eyes out, so much so that I had to take a break from watching to collect myself!
“Even when I’m doing something I love… it feels like I’m still wearing them, like it never goes away”
Cal’s story as a non-binary person is very different to mine (and for the record, that doesn’t make either of us any less valid, because there is no singular way to be non-binary). Nonetheless, hearing someone I love as much as I do Gillian Anderson affirm our shared gender nonconformity meant the world. I’m sick of facing transphobia from society, but especially from people that I once considered idols. So knowing that Gillian embraced a role where her character supports trans youth healed something within me. It’s not the first time she’s showed up for our community though - she always makes a point to include non-binary people, for example in her Dear Gillian announcement video. I don’t mean to undermine the real hero of the story here: Dua Saleh, the actor who played Cal - it’s just that I had already formed such a deep connection with Gillian, so it hit me doubly hard from her.
The funeral scene. Just… the funeral scene. I really lost it when Mr Hendricks played With Or Without You on the piano and everyone else joined in.
Other people have spoken about this better, so I won’t get into it as much, but by god, the representation. One example that really struck me was the sex scene between Abbi and Roman at the end, where she said “I love being inside you”. It wasn’t a big deal, their transness was completely normalised.
This might be an unpopular opinion, but I loved the Motis ending! Maeve made the right choice going back to America, and long distance relationships are really hard when you have no plans to reunite, so I get why they called it off. Also, relationships at that age don’t usually last, as much as I hate to say it, and yet via Maeve’s letter, the show managed to honour that they can still shape one’s life and be really important.
The bad
If it wasn’t clear, I’m a Jean Milburn stan first and a human second. Unfortunately, I was disappointed in how they handled her storyline this season. Firstly, I’m tired of every single female character on television having an arc that culminates in motherhood. Not knowing who the father was felt like bad writing for Jean specifically, like very out of character, because she’s a sex therapist, so she’s all about safe sex and communication around those things. By no means am I suggesting that they should’ve kept Jakob as a character (if you don’t already know, his actor sexually assaulted hundreds of women which, by the way, was public knowledge before he was ever cast), but they could’ve come up with a better workaround. Maybe I’m biased because Jean is a comfort character of mine, but I wasn’t very pleased with the fact that they didn’t allow her to be happy for a single second this season either! That being said, I do think it’s important that we don’t gloss over the postpartum depression representation here, which could mean so much to so many. I wish they’d brought Maureen in to help Jean though, because their relationship was so special and yet we didn’t see them interact onscreen once this season.
I haven’t heard anyone else mention this, but I was disappointed with how they handled sapphic relationships this season. Not only were Ola and Lily erased entirely, but the writers fucked up the storyline for the only established sapphic couple remaining (Roz and Sofia Marchetti). Like, why was the Big Plot Twist™️ that there was, in fact, a man intimately involved with their family? Our lives don’t have to revolve around men, you know? The show didn’t explicitly acknowledge the fact that genetics to not make a family in my opinion either, because Roz and Sofia’s conversation with Jackson was just about how his biological father was missing out on raising him.
The… mixed? Idk!
I deserve to be sent to horny jail for this, but Jean breastfeeding initially drove me insane. I quickly changed my tune though, because breasts are not inherently sexual and breastfeeding shouldn’t be sexualised, so it makes me feel a bit icky to see people thirsting over that.
I’m not sure how I felt about the development of Adam and Michael’s relationship. On one hand, I thought it was beautiful to see them both grow and reconnect. On the other hand, I was slightly concerned that it was veering into “you have to forgive your abuser” territory. I don’t have parental trauma, so I don’t have the authority to comment, but I’d be interested to hear other people’s perspectives.
I really appreciate how they tried to explore toxic relationships with the introduction of Beau as Viv’s love interest. However, I don’t feel that it was given the weight it deserved, because there was so much else going on.
In summary
I’m not disappointed with how this season turned out overall. Although it definitely wasn’t perfect, I thoroughly enjoyed watching it, and it made me very happy. I do recommend checking trigger warnings before watching it though, because it is a lot darker than previous seasons.
I’d missed this show and these characters more than I’d realised, and I can’t believe I’ll never see them again. It was really hard to say goodbye!
#yes I binged all of season 4 in one day but I was too lazy to post about it until now. love that for me#miscellaneous thoughts:#gillian anderson is a phenomenal actor jsyk#this season is confirmation that ncuti is gonna be an amazing doctor#I may be becoming a hannah waddingham stan what of it#also this is personal so feel free to skip#but I’m so so proud of myself#because this season would have been too triggering for me to watch not long ago#but I’m ✨healing✨ now#sex ed season 4#sex ed s4#sex education season 4#sex education s4#sex ed spoilers#sex education spoilers#sex education netflix#sex ed netflix
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Can I request tengen with a short wife who is also always mad, eats a lot, and gets teased by her height, (5'1 😭) reader is a hashira!
Hmmm so basically a shorter, meaner Mitsuri? Hehe! Okay! Let’s try it out!
Uzui Tengen
Tengen is a innocent teaser of a husband. He teases you, just like nearly every other man you’ve met does! But he doesn’t mean it maliciously, he means it playfully. He likes how cute and short you are
Shorter women is Tengen’s favourite. You’re 5’1 and his whopping 6’6 statue intimidates you everytime. He views you as a perfect size to cuddle with! You’re small and he feels like he could hide you in his pocket, he simply adores the size difference. Yes, he is one of those men!
Tengen finds your continuous temper and tsundere-like traits very adorable. He loves that you refuse his attention and push him away stubbornly, it has his heart jumping. It makes him want to try harder to get your love
Tengen notices your insatiable appetite and buys you lots and lots of bentos so you’ll eat as much as you want. You never be affectionate towards him but your soft thanks is a improvement and he feels proud of himself
Hinatsuru, Makio and Suma also cook for you as your beloved cowives and it’s has been wonderful practice for them to elevate their own cooking skills. Unlike with Tengen, you’re a bit more responsive and nice to them
Tengen is a protective husband by nature towards his precious spouses, so when it comes to you and your Hashira career, he will drop everything he is doing to keep you safe from demons. He may not be the strongest out there but he outspeeds everybody by a landslide
Tengen will never treat you differently then his three wives. You may be a Hashira like him, but doesn’t mean his values and opinions on them don’t apply to you just because you have a different profession than them. The most important things are all four of you, the people then him
Tengen is very romantic and he doesn’t plan to let go of this anytime soon. He gives you all kinds of luxurious gifts, delicious tasting foods and silky clothing with the motive that you deserve it for willingly marrying him, for accepting his love despite how flawed he really is
Tengen, like with Hinatsuru, Makio and Suma, confides to you about his own issues whilst contently listening to yours. It’s equal and fair but he prefers to fix you and his beloved wives’ issues over discussion about his. You may have his surname as your own but you shouldn’t have to listen to him trauma-dump
Tengen has a habit of treating you like you’re a grumpy and irritable child. Even when you give him kisses or hold his hand, you pout and curse under your breath as you hide your blush. The way you blush over him makes his spirits fly to the heavens. He is getting closer and closer to breaking open your shell
Tengen knows why you married him. You do genuinely love him, you’re just too stubborn to admit it since you grew up needing to hide your emotions from everybody. You don’t mean to be hatefully rude, it’s your instincts and he understands that fully
He, in-fact, couldn’t ask for you to be anything but your current self
“Aww~ don’t be so grumpy, Doki-baby~! I’m just joking, you’re cute and your skilled, okay? Hmm? Are you happy with me now? No? Well, I’ll have to work even harder”
#kimetsu no yaiba#demon slayer#anime and manga#kny imagines#headcanons#kny hashira#tengen uzui#uzui tengen#tengen x reader#tengen uzui x reader#kny tengen#demon slayer tengen#kimetsu no yaiba tengen#tengen fluff#kny#kny fluff#kny headcanons#demon slayer headcanons#demon slayer boyfriend stuff#boyfriend#boyfriend headcanons#kny cute stuff#cute stuff#husbando being a husbando
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re: WC misogyny
This is solely to get my thoughts out abt this bc I’m probably not gonna be able to articulate this to the best of my ability but I feel like it’s incredibly important to say that these books are pretty damn misogynistic and so was the fanbase for the longest time.
Not saying that to be "throwing the word around without knowing what the word means", because misogyny is defined as a dislike/contempt against women. This can also absolutely be an unconscious bias (which is primarily what I see anyway!) I've seen far more people dismiss these characters while holding up male ones that do similar/worse things (i.e. Thistleclaw primarily but a lot of the MV characters to an extent)
The reason why discussion about sexism usually ends up against cats like Mapleshade, Squirrelflight, Frecklewish, and Nightcloud is primarily due to how the universe of the books is written to chastise these characters while their male counterparts go thru barely half of the shit thrown onto the girls.
Mapleshade gets her kids and herself exiled for breaking the code while Appledusk literally gets a slap on the wrist for breaking the same code she did? The Riverclan leader just tells him "well, you'll not do it again so you don't need to be punished" while Mapleshade doesn't even get to bury her kits. Even if she's the Warrior Cats evil woman that's still really fucked up!? And this goes to Frecklewish as well, who does not watch them drown oh my god. The flood that kills Maple's kits is incredibly loud--saying Freckle would have been able to do anything else OTHER than watch dismisses the fact going to the flooded stones was an idea doomed to fail (of which Mapleshade has a lot of in MV specifically.)
Frecklewish absolutely ended up in the Dark Forest over Oakstar or Ravenwing (who both condemned the kittens to their fate instead of?? idk punishing Maple and not the kits who didn't even know they were half clan?) because of the way the fandom perceived her at the time. Freckle's a lot like Squirrelflight where fandom opinion only recently shifted to people defending those characters--she's pretty awful for calling the same kits she doted on half-clan creatures! But I don't think she deserved to go to cat hell forever when the cat who actually caused those kittens to end up dead (and every other cat in MV!) ends up in Starclan without even so much of a trial.
Speaking of trials--Squirrelflight and Leafpool literally end up almost being sent to CAT HELL for following Starclan's orders. Leafpool ends up having forbidden kits but Starclan goes "it's okay!" until it isn't. Brambleclaw almost being involved in Firestar's fox trap murder never gets mentioned or brought up while both of the girls are questioned about if they even belong in Starclan because they "broke the code and lied"?? There's a pretty damn big bias towards the toms for doing bad/worse actions but Bramble never went to Starclan and had his ticket for heaven almost revoked. Oakstar didn't get put in the Dark Forest because he exiled 3 innocent kits.
I think it's important to note the fandom has a lot of say over how characters like these get interpreted (which is why Nightcloud ended up being hated a lot despite the fact Crowfeather is just. actually abusive to Breezepelt.) That's why I brought up unconscious biases, because I think generally a lot of WC content creators tend to stick to presenting the stories in a more radical/black and white way.
I think the discussion really should be that the books and the stories ARE pretty misogynistic but unconsciously so? A lot of the story beats I mentioned weren't written by just one person, and the Erins have different opinions on these cats than the fans do. That's not me stating an opinion, that's just me saying recognizing that it's very male-oriented IS an issue these books have.
Anyways this got way too wordy, Ashfur is one of my favorite villains so I don't even know why I typed all of this up /j.
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do you have thoughts on the ff7r devs changing it so Hojo actively taunts Aerith with Ifalna’s death in Remake as opposed to the original game where he doesn’t even know Ifalna’s dead until the party runs into him in Costa?? bc he seemed oddly pensive about in the og and it kinda stuck out to me + you seem like the person to ask for Hojo opinions
IN FACT I DO.
trust you me i have opinions on everything, especially hojo, but i tend to actively keep my mouth shut unless someone asks directly. so thank you for asking directly!
as usual, not laying down my word as law or canon or anything, but just to give folks another perspective to think on if they haven't already:
if memory serves, in og, hojo only ever refer to three people by name: sephiroth, gast, and ifalna (and jenova i suppose but does she really count as people). everyone else he has a moniker for, even people who should be important to him. lucrecia was 'the woman'. vincent was 'the turk'. cloud was 'the failure'. nanaki 'the specimen'. and dear sweet aerith, she was 'the ancient'.
they change this trait around a bit in the compilations i believe (it's been a while), but it's mostly consistent. aerith herself brings this up in costa in og, insisting that the least he can do is remember her name. the reverse of this, interestingly, is aerith referring to 'my mother' and hojo himself conjuring her name - 'you mean ifalna'. i've inferred from this (and you're all free to disagree) that the only actual people in hojo's life were sephiroth, gast, and ifalna. everyone else is either nonexistent or reduced to just their role to play.
i'd say aerith, in og, wasn't actually important to hojo even as 'the ancient' - and why i think that is a slightly different discussion. but suffice to say that if someone isn't important to you, you wouldn't spend time and energy taunting them, or deliberately and maliciously trying to make them uncomfortable, as we see hojo doing to aerith in remake.
(as for what ifalna was to hojo - what i have on that is pure headcanon, but feel free to ask if you're interested)
there's no doubt hojo's always been cruel, but in og his cruelty to aerith - and the main cast in general - was a dismissive sort. harm inflicted on them was thoughtless and not at all personal - again, none of them even counted as people. comparing that with the consistent bitterness with which he evoked gast's name, the contrast was almost charming. i'm sad we seem to have lost that in remake, along with a lot of hojo's more human characteristics. remake hojo feels to me a lot like a predictable combo of tropes - a puppet playing to audience expectations, but hey i'm still hopeful for something else interesting as the game goes on. we shall see.
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Epistemology and Why It Matters for Witchcraft
Epistemology, as one of my professors articulated, is "the study of truth." It's the theory of knowledge, investigating what we consider to be fact/truth and how we decide what constitutes reality. The scope goes way beyond just spiritual/religious belief, but that's what I'll primarily be discussing here.
That's really vague and esoteric, so to give a more concrete example: think about Hell. To many folks, Hell is entirely fictional, just a theory used to scare people into submission. Others believe the existence of Hell is a cold hard fact. To them, taking steps to avoid going to Hell is a very real and legitimate thing to be concerned about, because that's a part of how they perceive reality. Both "sides" have equal conviction, because both consider their belief to be the truth. Epistemology asks why that is. How do we get two equally-strong, opposite beliefs?What makes people consider something opinion vs. fact? What makes people change their mind? How do we decide these ways of measuring "truth" are accurate? How do we decide what's accurate? This keeps going indefinitely. Don't give yourself an existential crisis over it.
A lot of arguments debates pop up in spiritual/religious communities when people butt heads with opposing beliefs, both considered fact by someone. Someone believes that intent is the only thing that matters when practicing witchcraft just as much as I believe that's bullshit. Both of us have our reasons why, also based on things we consider fact. We might even have the same beliefs backing our opinion, just arranged differently. Neither of us have any way to prove our belief is "true."
This is important to keep in mind for many things.
Interacting with the community in general. Is that person an idiot or are they just coming at it from a different perspective? Are you bothered because they're actually being rude, or because it's in conflict with your own beliefs?
Analyzing resources. What beliefs and assumptions does the author hold beyond the specific thing they're conveying here? How is it influencing their take? Is it congruent with how I believe the world works?
Analyzing yourself. What do I believe?How did I form these beliefs, what's behind them? Do I feel like I need to update anything? I'm allowed to decide I was "wrong" about something before. Are my actions in line with these beliefs, or holdovers from an old way of thinking?
Assessing the results of your craft. How do I measure when something was effective? How much faith and skepticism and I comfortable putting into the process? Am I coming to this from a perspective I consider balanced and rational?
It's honestly helpful for way more than just spiritual practices, but it's especially important when dealing with things as esoteric as, well, esotericism, mysticism, the occult, and spiritual practices. It may not be healthy to constantly question yourself and everything you know, but an occasional, compassionate check-in can really elevate a person's work. That's my belief, anyway! What's yours?
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In the dungeons
Judge Claude Frollo x fem!reader
Smut. I might got carried away.
You were standing in the hall of Palace of Justice, nervous and shivering. Not only it was cold there but also you never liked this place, it made you feel uneasy. Maybe it was the thought about all the people who were tortured and sentenced to cruel death in this building that caused your antipathy. In normal circumstances you would never come there but you needed to see your husband. He wasn't one of the poor prisoners - but who knows if it wouldn't be better for you. Your husband was no other than the infamous judge Claude Frollo.
Honestly, you wasn't worried when your parents decided that you should married him. Though his old age, in your opinion judge was still handsome and his authority and coldness somehow only made him more attractive to you. It was hard to decide whether you're friends were more frightened or disgusted when you told them about who's gonna be your husband but you always had a thing for older man. Well, maybe there was something wrong with you but at least you had fun.
I mean... for some time.
You shouldn't complain about your marriage. Frollo provided you safe, wealthy and comfortable life. You lived in grand mansion in Paris, without any duties, large group of servants helped you in everything and they were at your command. You could have almost anything, Claude was very lavish with you and he was willing to fulfil your every whim. He was smart, handsome, he cared about you and treated you with respect... your life was almost perfect. Except for one little detail. You felt lonely.
It sounded stupid but that's how it was. Your husband was very reserved and he rarely showed you any affection. He spent most of the time at work and when he came home, he was talking about his job. This... you could even understand. Due to the difference of age and passions between you, there was little amount of topic that interested both of you. But you talked with your friends. You always found yourself something interesting to do in your free time so you didn't need your husband to accompany you at the day. But at night - there was the problem.
Claude didn't avoid his marital duties, he probably enjoyed them but you couldn't stand how boring and conservative your love life was. Sometimes you noticed a glimpse of desire in Frollo's eyes. You knew you were beautiful and your husband wasn't made of stone. But the bigot in him looked for sin in any pleasant activity and that's why sex between you always was so modest. And dull.
You were young and hungry for life - that's why you decided to visit your husband in work. You hoped that you'd be able to convince him to going home earlier than usual.
You knocked to the door of Frollo's office. Hearing cold "Come in", you entered the room with a bit of a worry and a bit of excitement mixed in your heart. He was sitting behind a desk, reading documents but when you came, he stopped working and looked at you surprised.
"Y/n? What are you doing here?" Frollo asked with a note of irritation in his voice.
"I, uhmmm...." your throat became dry as you wondered what to say. Your husband had another disadvantage (though it was certainly very useful skill during interrogating prisoners): in his presence you always felt litlle and insecure, as if Claude was not your husband but an inquisitor arresting you.
(Fact that it was turning you on didn't help)
"I just wanted to see you" you finally said, immediately realizing how stupid it sounded.
Your husband raised an eyebrow.
"You saw me at morning and you would see me at evening when I come home. Is it not enough of my company for you?"
Oh God, it was bad idea. You tried frantically to find a good explanation for your visit.
"am I bothering you here?" You asked.
"No, not really" Claude steepled his hands "I simply thought you had an important reason to visit me"
You blushed. Well, this discussion was already awkward so you decided to be absolutely honest. What bad could happen? (Probably a lot of things but you didn't want to think about this now)
"So, I know this isn't the best moment to talk about this but I feel like I don't attract you"
(That wasn't actually true but it sounded better than "you're a goddamn prude and I want you to pound me as if your life depended on it")
"What?" Judge asked in a shocked tone.
"When we're together you seem so distant and cold... I understand that you have a reputation to uphold but... even when we are in bedroom-" God, you could feel your cheeks getting redder and redder "you... you don't seem interested and sometimes I feel that if we didn't spend nights together, it wouldn't make you any difference"
You felt silent, waiting for answer. Probably your husband would scold you for talking about such things in his work.
Claude looked at you, full of thoughts and inner turmoil. To say he didn't desire you was a complete lie. Since the very first moment he saw you, he thought you were incredibly beautiful and he looked forward for your wedding night. And after it, his feelings only intensified but he tried to hold back his desires and restrict his love life to make sure that he doesn't commit sin of leacherousness but the sight of you standing in front of him, blushing, made him forget about his doubts. Suddenly he had a wicked idea. If you felt that he doesn't desire you.. maybe it was a good time to show you what he fantasised about?
"I think that I can fulfill your needs" he said, getting up. "Just come with me".
You followed him, titillation and impatience seething in you, especially that you went down the stairs to the floor where prison cells and torture chambers were located.
When you entered one of the dungeons, Claude hanged the torch on a wall and locked the door.
"Why-" you wanted to ask but he interrupted you.
"I'm making sure that no one will find us. I have a reputation to uphold"
His stern voice and a little smirk on his face when he looked at you, made you shiver. Though you weren't sure whether it was a caused by fear or by excitement.
"Are you absolutely sure you want to see what I dream about when I look at you?"
You replied without hesitation.
"Yes"
"Then take off your clothes " he ordered. You blushed as you always made love in darkened room, under the sheets, but you began to take off your dress. You weren't going to disobey your husband, especially not now.
When you were finally naked, Frollo stood there for a moment in silence, eyeing you up as if he wanted to note every inch of your body in his memory. He probably still tried to hold his mask of a pious judge, but his face, his eyes, were barely hiding his desire and long tamed lust.
Finally Claude came closer and grasped your hands, then handcuffed them above your head. Position was highly uncomfortable but you didn't make a sound, wondering what would happen next. You could see a lot of different torture devices around the room (honestly you didn't even have idea how some of them worked) that only increased your fear.
You weren't able to turn your head much and see what's happening behind you, you could only hear footsteps of your husband so first lash of the whip was unexpected. You screamed loudly as ineffable pain pierced your back. You still couldn't see Claude but you had an impression that you heard a pleased gasp.
"I want you to count strikes while I'll be punishing you". And after a moment of consideration, he added "ehm, if you feel that you can't take it anymore... and you want to already stop, just say 》red《. Nothing else will stop me. Crying, groaning, whining, begging for mercy will be ignored. You understand?"
"Yes" you whispered. Your back felt as if it was in fire and you had no energy to speak but somehow... You wanted more.
"Speak louder, I can't hear you. And call me 》Your honor《. Clear?"
"Yes, your honor"
Then another strike hit you.
"Two!" You shouted, tears streamed down your face. Your voice was shaking, your back was burning, your arms ached because now you were almost hanging on them.
Another strike.
"Three!"
Now you openly started sobbing and whimpering.
"I am s-s-so sorry, your honor... I beg you, have m-mercy on me... I will d-do whatever you w-want!"
Frollo put bat aside and embraced you, with no regard for your hurt back. His one hand caressed your skin, wandering from your thighs, belly and spending longer time between your breasts. He buried his face in you hair, enjoying the moment. After a while he rested his head on yours, pressing cruelly his body to your suffering back.
"If you're begging so desperately... I will have mercy"
He stood in front of you and freed your hands. You fell on your knees, too sore to stand.
Frollo smiled, enjoying the feeling of power that punishing people was giving him. He took of his robe and pants. Standing naked in the light of the torch made him feel uncomfortable but thought of having sex in clothes was simply unappealing for him.
He put his hand in your hair, stroking it gently.
"I'm lucky to have such obedient wife" he murmured.
You raised your head and looked up at him, with tears streaming down your face.
"Will you..." you gulped, unused to talking openly about intimate things with your husband. Ironically, you talked about it with your friends, especially before wedding, trying to guess how your married life's gonna look like - but never with the one person it concerned. "Will you take me now... your honor?"
He crouched and took your chin if his hand.
"I thing you deserved it" Claude leaned over and kissed you. He never did it so passionately, aggresively even, before. At some point he bit your lip. You pulled of, surprised with sudden pain. You touched your lip. After seeing blood on your fingers you looked at your husband who was observing you carefully, and smiled. God, honestly you used to think about Frollo punishing you and having sex in dungeons but it felt much better than you could ever imagine. You wrapped your hands around his slender waist and sank in his lips. His hands were roaming your body, causing a pleasant shiver. You could barely breathe but you didn't want to interrupt the moment. After a moment you tried to pull Claude on the floor but he stopped you.
"No" he said standing up and grabbing your hand "there's a better place"
He led you to a massive table - or rather a rack - in the corner. As far as you were concerned, prisoner's hands and ankles were fastened to rollers on devices ends and executioner was stretching victims body until it caused excruciating pain.
"Get on it" Frollo ordered and you obediently followed his command. He began tying your hands to the rack.
"Are you gonna use it on me?" You asked jokingly but with a bit of anxiety. After all, you didn't know how far Claude wanted to take this game. Well, he told you that you can stop whenever you want and you supposed you can trust him.
"Maybe another time" he replied in a serious tone and kissed your neck, sucking on a delicate skin. Then he crawled on the top of you and stroked his member a few times until it got hard. He didn't fasten your legs to the table so you wrapped them around his hips.
"Are you ready your honor?"
He nodded with cocky smile and entered you.
It wasn't painful like the first time. For a long time it was awaited moment and you loved feeling him inside you, thrusting, feeling his warm breath on your neck and hearing quiet moans, proving that as much as he doesn't like to show this, your husband enjoys what you're doing. Usually your hands were wandering along his back, sometimes scratching it, but this time you were restrained and you could only arch your back when pleasure was too overhelming.
Finally, Claude came and fell on your body, breathing heavily. You wanted to move hair from his wet forehead but with tied hands, you could only raise your head a bit and kiss his cheek. Frollo kissed your lips and smiled.
"I love you, y/n. You know it right?" He said and you felt surprised. Of course, he was your husband but Claude rather avoided talking about feelings so you had to guess if he has any affection for you. This confession made your heart warm.
"I know, Claude, I know" you smiled. "And by the way, we need to do it more often"
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People seem to forget that transmasc people can still dress feminine and vice versa. Men can wear wigs and dresses and women can cut their hair and grow beards. I think Charlie is transmasc and discovered this early so since he transitioned and looked like a male Bonnie dressed him femininely and he felt fine with it. some people are acting like men cant wear dresses and its annoying
It's definitely absolutely insanely accidental, but RCG really wrote Charlie as the most gender character of all time.
The Bathroom Problem is kinda the best example you can give anyone as to how you can have an infinite interpretation of gender: "cis man who poops transgender," I give you transman who can still enjoy wearing a dress in a certain environment, transfem whose closet is a bathroom stall, genderfluid in the place of bodilyfluids (okay, wait. WAS it definitely accidental?)
We're all on Tumblr, we all know anyone can look and dress any way and be any gender (or, if you don't understand that, I encourage you to explore and talk to trans mutuals!), which is why I think it's quite nonsensical to spend time arguing over a headcanon being dismissive of another. Charlie can be anything! Or nothing! (TY Charlie Day for my favourite line in Right to Chop "I don't really identify..." <3)
People aren't required to share the same interpretations or agree on what is a good or bad headcanon, and I think if you're getting upset by someone's own personal preferences or their interpretation for character analysis, you're just not supposed to be in the same circles of the fandom, and that's okay! You can share your own opinions, you can post your own content, but you can't keep people from personally disagreeing or expressing why they dislike a certain interpretation in their own, personal spaces online.
A lot of Sunny is pretty deep and also, very heavy. It's not surprising that people end up pulling a lot out of it, often projecting, and then find themselves very personally connected to their own interpretations and feel extremely validated when others agree with them, or feel upsettingly thrown when they see conflicting ideas. I feel all of that constantly, about many different aspects and characters, and a lot of the time I need to talk about it! I spent two years trying to do that on the SUBREDDIT and that's why I made this blog (and why my Twitter account is all but overrun by Sunny, lmfao). I think that's why most of us are here? And a lot of the time we're going to very heavily, crazily, completely agree with each other, but other times we're going to disagree as well.
Sometimes disagreement is something you can shrug off and move past (yeah, there are very clearly multiple interpretations), something you can just get over by venting more privately or one-on-one, but sometimes it's something you think is genuinely important to address/speak about, and I think that's actually how we can end up having very interesting and meaningful discussions and learn from each other.
(But if that's no good, just unfollow and block if you need to. Some people just don't get along or come from too-far distant places to agree on certain things, and that's a fact of life! This show has thousands of fans who think The D.E.N.N.I.S. System is actually a genius method, and a couple thousand more who think he is genuinely a killer ladies man)
#ask#wtf happened to this lmfao im sorry anon#idk i think i made some points#ive been in enough fandoms to learn that not everyone has to get along#and thats fine but just stop interacting with accounts or people you genuinely dislike lol#this is not twitter theres no good system in place for being a hater#(this is a joke about being able to private quote tweets on twitter)#youre just gonna make yourself miserable in the long run#find people with like minds make posts create stuff share things you love#thats how you enjoy yourself online#fandom shit#sunnyblr
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Sorry but... but why andrey and block???? i reeeaaally like ur work but and they somehow work together but why them??? /nbr
ohhh this question.... I don't want to be that person who writes an essay in response to a question but who cares what I want right? going to brutaly use your question to talk about them
(sorry for the repeats and mistakes, eng is still not my first language)
In short: because I want to.
In long: actually blockdrey is a thing that was born year++ ago from a silly idea (they do have a couple of interactions, so it was fun) I told my girlfriend and she really wanted to support me at the time because of my job-killed state. a lot has happened since then but we still love them very much.
It's an explosive combination that's either fire or, suddenly, harmonious resonance. Interesting perspective.
First of all, they are two independent and NOT codependent adults. andrey and block are as equal as possible, even if they disagree on some points. block is stronger and tougher physically, andrey is more agile and strong-willed.
andrey demands a "deterrent" for himself. he brings harm to everyone with his own personality, and the people around are not the kind of people who can stand it. andrey is too strong, freedom-loving, too impetuous, and destructive.
block is a deterrent by profession. a major-general undertakes to be the commander-in-chief of his unit's actions. and he is so in character: restrained, logical, rough…. and he's clearly going through things that the average man can't. he's got a strong inner core.
They'd be looking for equal partners.
there was no situation that andrey was interested in people weaker in any way (primarily in spirit) and, as it seems, all those who interested him have great willpower. yes, eva yan too. and block has proven himself over a hard and rough life. a man capable of answering both a blow and a word. what he needs from another person is freedom
block comforts himself with hopes for a miracle. i love the way he warmly treats the polyhedron without disliking either side. he is caught between the hammer and the anvil of events.
If you remember the conversation between stamatins and dankovsky, then you know they are not so different in their positions. polyhedron needs the city, without it it's confined in formalin.
block with all honesty can close the gap in andrey's "inferiority complex" so to speak, which by the end of the story goes completely over the edge. he doesn't feel real without maria and peter, doesn't feel whole. "he's done everything that was asked of him".
block is a pragmatist. he knows who invented the polyhedron and whose hands made the miracle stand. and this understanding is important to andrey as a person. and he really needs that faith (especially in this situation with Powers).
The matter of miracles is their personal way of finding common ground, even in the fire.
block can be admired for andrey's courage and determination in achieving goals. he himself gives in return stability and reliability, the necessary restraint, deterrent, a stick in the wheel. and yet he does not suffer from it. this helps andrey to focus his energy on achieving constructive goals. in independent self-realization. overcoming the stagnant crisis!
for both of them life is a never-ending struggle for a place under the sun.
block is used to making rules, andrey is used to breaking them. block wants to control his environment, andrey hates control. a fight in this situation is more like what they both need in the context of repressed anger in one and open aggression in the other, which no one can resist. andrey finds an equal opponent, block finds an opportunity not to be judged for this breakdown, as andrey will only support this. a fight that is a need for both is not always about destruction.
I like this combination because they are equal and… They can talk about what they both want... they can discuss their positions! opinions!!! each other!!!!
im chose to be happy with fireworks and presentation. and being chill.
their maneuvering on the edge, where there's fire on both sides, I like it. it's interesting and gives me more space. I need a normal (as possible) "plate breaking", where everyone will understand the position in the end and won't go crazy. where the quick burnout of one and the neurosis burning life of the other will give them an opportunity to look at it differently.
i mean... relationships are always about passing on and gaining new experiences, it's mutual help, trust. you are two self-sufficient people, able to speak with words through your mouth and without using each other (even if they CAN but they don't and thats the thing). and not denying a different outcome in their case at all lolol but im interested in other things
i just like to analize life and everything and show it through stuff. that's why it's them. that's just how the stars aligned yk
#pathologic#мор утопия#andrey stamatin#alexander block#how it ended up being so damn long...#your (it seems) daily spanish inquisition in the mailbox is here again! take heart#pochta time
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