#The author has to always be present in the text but not in the fun way. In the hand-holding so you don't get lost way. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

lovelessrage · 2 months

Text

Loveless: A Loveless Review

[Plain Text: Loveless: A Loveless Review]

Trigger Warnings For: Discussion of sex, sex negativity, platonormativity, arophobic tropes, and anti-loveless rhetoric

Disclaimer/Disclosure: I couldn’t finish this book. This will factor heavily into the review, as it has to do with how some scenes, details, and the writing quality were just very hard to sit with and continue. I got about 50% through, so I didn’t just skim pages and get back to you on it.

You might guess I don’t think of this book highly if I had to put it down and stop reading. This would be correct. However, I have more in depth thoughts than that. If you like this book and don’t want to read negative things about it, that's fine, but I implore you to read it anyway. A lot of the problems in this book are present in a lot of creations I see and can be a valuable teaching lesson; loveless people aren’t out to ruin your fun because biases got questioned.

Alright. Enough disclaimers. Review under the cut.

The Bingo Card: Surprisingly, Not A Strikeout

People who have been following me for a while may remember I mentioned I went into reading this book with a bingo card in hand: Loveless and Tired Bingo, a sheet made by yours truly. I did not get Bingo with this book! I did, however, fill 17 spaces out of 25; it just didn’t happen to line up, not because the book passed with flying colors. We’ll return to the Bingo Card at the end of this post to see what it looked like. But, letting you know, that’s a rate of 68% of all squares ticked on Loveless and Tired Bingo. Not looking so hot.

Platonormativity, Envy, and The Loneliness Whirlpool

Let’s start with the meat of the post so nobody has to read it all if they just wanted my representation opinions. Other things like writing will be shuffled down for your convenience.

Edit: Past Scowl is a liar and a fraud and did not have maims glasses on, and misread the bingo card! I did get Bingo. Oops. Point still stands because the data is the same, I just gave this book a sliver more credit than it deserved for not getting one.

If this book had a full course meal, normativity would ironically be a key ingredient in every plate on the menu. Loveless has a platonormativity problem that confronts you from page 1, more realistically before that; the blurb!

[Text ID: From the marvelous author of Heartstopper comes an exceptional YA novel about discovering that it's okay if you don't have sexual or romantic feelings for anyone... since there are plenty of other ways to find love and connection. /End ID]

I promise not all my complaints will be raving about one sentence, but this kinda encapsulates the entirety of my problem with Loveless: Georgia Warr is not supported in her own novel. Loveless is a deeply insecure book that many can relate to, but, really… does it alleviate that insecurity, or just cover it up? There’s an unspoken “but” to every part of Loveless’ philosophy about aspec people [especially aroaces], where they must have platonic love to make them whole, to “fix” and “redeem” their lacking attractions. This has always bothered me, and it’s not an uncommon opinion in the community, unfortunately.

Aroaces aren’t allowed to simply “be” – they must be more. They must be so platonically invested you forget they’re aroace, because they have all this other type of love to give the world. It’s reflective of a view on a community sourced from hurt and exclusion, of someone trying to rebuild their worth on a new forefront. It doesn’t make it less of what it is, though: it’s a “yes they’re valid, but” statement that serves as the backbone for far too many aspec-focused media.

Georgia is a deeply unsure character, and there’s nothing wrong with her being this way; she’s a fictional character made to represent a journey of acceptance, not a real person with the ability to inflict harm on other real people. She does reflect the author’s biases in many ways and many points on the same token, though, acting as a mouthpiece. This often comes in Georgia’s insistence her friendships are simply stronger than other relationship types, as well as her reflexive tendencies to judge the friendless.

One of my many, many hurdles in this book had to do with Rooney [someone save her and half the cast from this novel, please], when the group realizes she’s only a socialite, not really a long-term relationship holder, and the entire room devolves into silent judgment. Georgia does not defend her newfound friend, simply noting she thought differently of her. What about Rooney not having many friends changes her outgoing personality? It doesn’t. It’s simply the fact that Rooney being friendless makes her weird, as with many things Rooney is unfairly demonized for in this novel.

The emphasis on friends doesn’t end here, and persists through the entire novel, practically. It is the main focus, when it isn’t talking about Georgia’s disinterests, and her friend circle is very important to her. All of this is fine. What isn’t fine is the expectation and casual enforcement of friendship being all you have, so you must seize it; this book, even though I wouldn’t recommend it, is often given as The Book on being aroace, but I wouldn’t agree [you’re free to tell me I can’t have an opinion on that if I’m not aroace, but at least read on before deciding anything, alright, official hear me out warning]. One, not all aroaces are alloplatonic, and two, this:

Why Is This Book Written Like A Workplace Safety Seminar

It’s a very… cookie-cutter way to be aroace, and cookie cutter aroaces exist in real life! The rep should exist, no doubt, and shouldn’t be taken away from anyone. It’s not my problem per se that the book is semi-stereotypical. What my problem is has to do with something I see a lot.

The book falls into many of the pitfalls of what I’m dubbing “the pamphlet effect”: when a novel, show, etc. continuously needs to halt the plot to remind the audience this character is different, and explains this to you in a way that resembles an educational pamphlet at a pride event. Georgia Barr feels like an example given to explain a concept more than a person, and I feel bad for her because of how little this book engages with her actual character when it shines through. I understand the book is primarily centered on her journey through the spectrum, but very little is given to make Georgia’s experience unique outside of one scene off the top of my head. Her interests, hobbies, and unique feelings only seem to play a role when it comes time to be an author mouthpiece on slutshaming for fun and sport; only one scene, the forced kiss with Jason when rehearsing the play, really blends her life experiences with her aroace experiences.

Georgia feels designed to be an everywoman, and it was very disappointing to say the least. Very little of the book actually feels like I’m with her, or learning about her unique take on being aroace as a theatre fan or young adult figuring things out; it just feels like Georgia [and the reader] are being dragged through the Cliff’s Notes version of what it is to discover being aroace, rather than a look at how a character like this might feel differently than others on a fuller, whole scale. She’s a hole that can fit most shapes into it, which makes her broadly relatable, but not as fun or engaging to read about if you don’t fit precisely in the demographic Georgia is for; even if you do, is there much to engage with beyond “I’m like that too!”?

This isn’t just a Georgia problem, either, as many, many characters in this book are walking stereotypes or very flat. But, we’ll get into that later [if you want to get into it now, skip to Writing Problems, Oh My!].

The Fingering In The Room: Loveless’ Weird Ideas About Sex

Alright, if you’re sex repulsed and braved the storm to get some insight, this next paragraph is just complete confusion about this book’s sex scenes and talking about some of the details within. If you want to skip that, skip the next paragraph.

Why is everybody fingering each other? Fingering is fine and it feels good, but it is basically the only sexual act this book knows outside of making out with tongue. Someone having sex in Loveless? They better have clipped their nails because at least two are going in. It feels like a point of research that was skipped because it was unimportant, which. Pretty much, yes. But when you’re someone who pays very close attention to sex scenes because you’re of the opinion they can have artistic value, as well as conveying the author’s views on sexuality, I come away with “is fingering what Oseman thinks young adults do?”. Anyways. Something I noticed.

[Okay sex repulsed people, you’re good. No in depth descriptions beyond this point, just the word “sex”.]

I should’ve titled this section “In Defense of Rooney Bach” because oh this poor girl. Oh you are just there to be gawked at.

First off, let’s begin in a good place: this book always has to clarify it isn’t slutshaming its characters, followed by slutshaming its characters. Rooney is, for the uninitiated, very sexually active. Georgia’s envy often leads to a judgemental, close minded view of Rooney that often pins her sex life as “too much” – something many sexually active women get villainized for. It strikes me immediately how Rooney is constantly picked on for her sexuality as a woman in ways no male characters who aren’t asexual either are treated. None of the men she flirts with or spends time with are reprimanded or “held to account” by the book; Rooney alone is breaking the rules. Rooney’s descriptions are often bookended with a disclaimer that she isn’t being called a slut, she’s just like one, which… This is slutshaming. You can’t just say you aren’t doing it to not be doing it.

Rooney is also a victim of a very arophobic trope, and one that is also misogynistic: the Broken Woman. Why is Rooney sexually active? A rough breakup that broke her heart and makes her fear intimacy on account of potentially being wrong again. Sure, sex feels good, but explicit focus is made on the fact she is only not engaging with romance because she tried and it didn’t work. For a few chapters, admittedly I was hoping for a book where an aroace and aroallo can get past some differences and expand each other's worldviews; what I got was Georgia thinking pretty poorly of Rooney through unaddressed envy and sex negativity, and Rooney being made to only like hookups because she’s messed up. Because of course a woman could only enjoy that if she had a negative experience that forced her on the path!

Also, another scene I didn’t like was Georgia and Pip watching Rooney have sex while she is completely unaware of their presence? Jason leaves as soon as he notices, but the two of them watch before Pip makes a comment on how disgusting it is and Georgia agrees. I’m shocked at how little this is brought up as being violating or creepy.

If it was a better book, I would have expected it to result in some kind of furthered conversation about boundaries; it could've been a place for Georgia to start establishing what she likes and dislikes, starting with Rooney preferably keeping her out of her sex life when she’s able. Instead, this event gets brought up solely for jokes, and for a motivation for Pip to start hating Rooney, despite her insistence it wasn't because of the hookup and she isn’t slutshaming. Always a great sign when that needs to be clarified. This is a PSA for everyone: you should not need to clarify you aren’t trying to slutshame. If you feel the need to do so, you are probably being sex negative.

This book isn’t very fond of sexually active people, nor is it kind to characters that are. I can understand why being asexual and sex repulsed is representation people would want, but I also think there’s many, many ways to write it without making it an exercise in shame.

Ironically Kinda Arophobic In Some Parts

This is a short section of a thing I noticed, hated, and had as a contributing factor for my ending early: this book loves aphobic tropes. There’s already the trope against aroallos of not needing romance because of being broken into only liking sex, but also the problem with Pip and Rooney.

I’m a lesbian, for clarification, and I’m saying from experience that I hate the archetype of the angry, jealous lesbian. It’s everywhere. It’s in this book. Pip, upon even the idea of being rejected, starts berating and demeaning the girl who turned her down, even if she was only turned down in her head. The book passes it off as a lighthearted, funny story that Pip got so mad at an ex-crush she was suspended for throwing an apple at their head. Why do I bring this up?

Is it not ringing any bells that this is arophobic? That a character so hostile to romantic rejection is treated as a joke? Many, many aros, and queer people in general, have experienced violence for turning down someone. It’s a serious issue for aros and a real fear in rejecting someone. I found it incredibly hard to read and sit through as everybody passes off Pip’s tendencies to do this to the women that reject her as a silly, funny Pip moment and not a major issue for the aspec community. I don’t care if it’s enemies to lovers, because it doesn’t really feel good to read at all. The only tension is built off the back of something I’ve experienced in real life and many others have as well.

Lovelessness: The Insecurity Unaddressed

This book, despite its title, is obviously about a loving character. Many people might not see this as a problem: first off, loveless doesn’t always mean the same thing, and second, many aroaces express feeling loveless when coming to terms with their identity. Here’s my rebuttal.

One: Georgia fits no definitions of the label. She subscribes to none of the beliefs. She loves her friends actively and sees their relationship as more than romance or sex, as something greater to her.

Second, this is because anti-loveless rhetoric is everywhere and all over this book. Not once is it suggested Georgia could live as loveless, or truly be without love. In the end, she is surrounded by it, simply learning to accept friendship instead. The way her insecurity isn’t met with “you’re complete as you are”, and instead with “you can still be complete if you simply fill the void with friends”, is anti-loveless. Nobody is allowed to be whole on their own without a subplot where their doubts are reinforced or they’re explicitly made to be broken inside.

This is shockingly common, and always sad every time I see it. Many aspects fear being loveless, as if it is a curse or blight they must cleanse. This book is one example out of many, but it doesn’t make it less hurtful when a book that runs against everything your community stands for [self-acceptance and the optionality of love] bears your name regardless. It is a book for people who are afraid of loneliness, and it answers their insecurities with “you’re right. You do need other people. You just need to find a way to still find and have a life partner!”. This is damaging to loveless people, especially those questioning an aplatonic identity.

Again, it’s not unique to Loveless. But, it’s reflective of a broader issue of aplatonics who may be seeking community constantly being presented with “you ARE broken, but friendship can fix you!”, a “solution” many can’t use, and often leads to even more self-hatred.

That’s about it from the aspec side of things. If you got this far, congrats! The rest is opinions on the writing, and the bingo card finale. You can drop off here if that’s all you came for.

Writing Problems, Oh My!

This is veering into heavy personal opinion, so, I will remind you: I don’t usually like YA, but YA can be a very good genre! I do not think this book is a good representation of what good YA looks like.

The writing quality is one of the hardest things to get past, because of a major problem I observed: Oseman is better at comics. This isn’t so much a vilification as a recommendation that it would’ve been much better suited for a different type of media. This kind of “media dysphoria” is present in many of the ways the book operates: many scenes would flow perfectly well in a visual piece. Georgia’s inner monologue has a tendency to jump suddenly into scenes and interrupt the action in a way that would be perfectly natural as a narration bubble put over a drawing of the scene around her. There are entire pages of just… text messages that would be much better suited to a visual medium where you could make these dialogue bits look much more interesting through different shots, or drawing what the background would look like on a screen [The Girl from the Sea does this well, for example].

There’s also the fact I cannot place in my mind if I'm too old for this novel. A lot of the jokes boil down to “hah! Sex!” in a way that instantly alienates me from the writing. The jokes can be pretty juvenile and repetitive, and serve to be the equivalent of a comedian saying “eh? Get it? That was a joke.” six times.

This isn’t to mention the fact many of these characters are complete cardboard. Sorry. Jason does not need to exist. When he appears in a scene, he is ignored or completely leaves it on his own. He really only serves to drive Georgia’s character forward, rather than have one of his own. I found myself forgetting he was present in a scene at all until he spoke again and reminded me of his existence. The book would practically be unchanged if Georgia temporarily dated Pip and Jason was never a factor, plus or minus the Shakespeare Soc plot.

Many interesting characters suffer from severe Pamphlet Effect syndrome. Most of the girls do. In a better novel, they would be more in depth, but Loveless doesn’t really afford them this luxury. I need to take the girls very far away from this novel, okay. I need someone to write a version of Loveless where they have personalities. There’s crumbs there. Please, someone make a loaf of bread out of it. They deserve it.

Another thing, but minor: the breakneck pacing at some points followed by slow slogs of not a lot happening contributes to the reading issues. You may thing something would be dwelled on, just for it to go flying away into the sunset as 3 more things happen and then one problem lasts for 2 chapters. I found it very hard to catch up with Loveless, while other parts I felt like I was constantly waiting for it to catch up with me instead.

The Final Frontier: The Bingo Card Returns

And without further ado, the Loveless and Tired Bingo Card for Loveless by Alice Oseman! Completed with help from other readers braver than I.

[Image ID: A bingo card made from a basic template. It has no title, and all the text is black on a white background. Some squares are marked with a blue X, while others are marked with a red scribble. The marked squares are: “Not prioritizing friendship treated as freak behaviour”, “Jab at loveless sex thrown in”, “Something about not being like THOSE people”, “Universal type of love is laid on thick”, “The answer to all your problems is finding some pals”, “Found family ending”, “Platonic-romantic binary”, “Love still treated as universal [free]”, “Friendship is more wholesome or pure”, “Amatonormativity BAD [platonormativity is my bestie]”, “Platonic love being more powerful or sumn”, “You still love your friends though, right?”, “Friendship saves the day”, “Still thinks you need dedicated people to survive”, “Being alone treated as worst thing in the world”, and “Friendships are more stable than partnerships anyways”. The unmarked, blank squares are: “Something about "players" and pickup artists where no commitment is villainized”, “Character fears being loveless and is kinda aplphobic about it”, “Aspec double standards [one is normal, one is weird]”, “You still love your FAMILY, right???”, “QPRs mentioned by no nuance given to their diversity”, “Friendship forced upon a character against their will”, “Comment about some people being inhuman gets brushed past”, and “Simply prioritise your family instead!!” /End ID]

Would I recommend this book? Uh. No! Well. Yes, but not as a good book for aspecs. I’d recommend it solely to read it yourself and form your own opinions. But, no, I would not recommend it to any aspecs I know, especially not loveless ones, aplatonic ones, aroallos, or if they're an aroace looking for support.

Ah, Loveless, how you vexx me. Never again. See you in the next, much shorter post.

212 notes · View notes

libraincarnate · 1 year

Text

astrology notes: 12 🏰

quick note: i'm absolutely not an astrologer. these are just a collection of some observations, thoughts, theories, and personal experiences. above all this is just for fun. lastly, these may or may not apply to you but you might find something to be true about your friends, family, or lover. enjoy!

➷ capricorn/saturn doms: they absolutely won’t be an enabler. they’re big on competence and aren’t too fond of overdependent people. it’s lowkey repulsive to them when people won’t even bother trying, choose not to put in the work, or they always want/expect people to do things that they’re capable of doing for themselves. they value independence so they don’t just encourage others to be independent but they expect themselves to be independent and competent as well. otherwise they’ll put in the effort to learn. they hold themselves to the same standards they have for others.

➷ gemini in the 7th house, especially with inner planets or a stellium: for these natives, the person they end up marrying must be funny. might even be a deal breaker for them if their partner isn’t funny. they love to laugh, like to joke with they’re friends/loved ones, so they have to be able to laugh and joke with the person they’re going to spend the rest of their life with. may desire someone with a similar sense of humor. they bring an upbeat & lighthearted energy into their relationships and they need to be able to express themselves or feel comfortable enough to be themselves. communication is also of great importance in their relationships. they may want to text and talk to their favorite people all through out the day.

➷ saturn brings difficulties and challenges but there are also rewards. so if your saturn placement has only brought you trouble or hardship stay tuned to see the blessings in disguise, how/where your hard work pays off, how/where you’ll reap what you've sowed.

saturn in the 10th house - you may experience conflict with your bosses, those who are superior to you or have more authority than you. they may be condescending, a classist, a megalomaniac, or they held you back in some way. but you endure that mistreatment and later on you receive a promotion, you obtain a leadership position, maybe you take their spot. but in your new position you don’t treat your subordinates like your bosses or mentors have treated you. you’ve learned from that experience, you know what it’s like. you treat all your employees or the people working under you with the same respect, you consider and value their ideas, you give them opportunities or bonuses when deserved, they feel like you’re a good leader, they learn from you and may consider you the best boss they’ve ever had. as a result, this can contribute to a good reputation and can benefit your career.

saturn in the 2nd house - you may experience issues with your self-esteem. could be the type to look in the mirror and pick yourself apart. may be hard on yourself or too critical. perhaps you’ve been picked on or you’ve been belittled by others. but then you may start a career in the fashion/beauty industry, perhaps you become a model. because you worked through the issues that saturn presented you with regarding your confidence or your beauty, you’re now impervious to the critics, their words don’t get to you because you know yourself, you know what you’ve gone through to become a stronger person. the people who teased you now look at you with envy or admiration. you’re confident in front of casting directors, you have tough skin, you don’t compare yourself to other models, your confidence oozes through your magazine covers, you have a strong presence on the runway. and perhaps there’s a sense of professionalism about you that makes clients or designers come back for more, time after time, leading to longevity or an impressive resume or portfolio.

saturn in the 4th house - you may have been your own parent, probably felt like you had to raise yourself and your siblings. may have felt more like a parent to your parents than they were to you. you couldn’t depend on your family or mom so you we’re only able to depend on yourself. you had to be an adult when you were just a kid. your experiences here can make you feel reluctant to have children of your own. but if you do have end up having kids, you could make a great parent. yes saturn can be strict, and you may be a parent that emphasizes rules, respect, hard work, etc. but you’ll also give them the childhood experience you didn’t get to have. your upbringing/family life was hard so you want it to be better and smoother for them. they don’t have to feel the burdens of life and responsibilities so early and so harshly, they have someone they can depend on, a parent that’s always there for them. raising them to be awesome human beings with good morals, passing on the wisdom & life lessons you’ve gained, giving them the affection you didn’t receive, making home feel like a safe environment. you’re patient with them. the difficult times at home gave you experiences and lessons that make parenthood easier to handle. and that child or your children may help you heal you from those emotional wounds. you might look back on those tough times and be proud of yourself when you see the family you came from and the family you’ve created.

the themes of saturn may not always be fun but they’re necessary. and depending on the way saturn plays out in your chart, it may present you with things that you’ll later look back on and be grateful for.

➷ leo in the 12th house: may struggle with the idea of fame or popularity, shying away from the spotlight but lowkey wanting it, you daydream about getting compliments, being on stage, displaying the talents you very much have, the crowd cheering for you & enjoying your performance. egotistical thoughts & desires. struggling with self-expression, you stand out but want to hide, reminds me of this emoji 🎭, you appear happy & sunny on the outside but you feel dead inside, could express your pain through music, acting, or art. aware of the activity in your subconscious, introspective, humble, not boastful or flashy, proud of how you’ve faced adversity or overcame the suffering you experienced, you could be like a light to others who have faced similar experiences, potentially leading them out of their suffering. seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, you may have the tendency to remain hopeful despite everything you’ve endured.

➷ virgos remind me of cats because they’re always cleaning/grooming themselves. they constantly check their nails making sure they’re free of dirt & looking nice, they smell good, their clothes fit well and look presentable, primping their hair, making sure their skin isn’t dry/ashy, checking for nose/eye boogers, etc. idk about you guys but they’re the type of person i’d sleep with, like thank you for not being dusty and respecting me & my body. you guys know that saying “common sense isn’t so common” ? well neither is proper basic hygiene or cleanliness so i don't blame them for their tendencies.

➷ mercury dominants: probably good at typing and they type fast. may enjoy typing and testing their typing speed, trying to beat their previous wpm, and they may like writing by hand just because it can be calming. naturally good with their hands, sewing, cooking, building, doing hair, drawing, etc. random but probably good at untangling things like necklaces.

➷ mars in the 6th house: once they get going, they work nonstop. they want to get everything done at once. the type to do things one after another with short breaks or none at all. they may take on more than they can handle and force themselves to complete all their tasks but that’s because they can be so driven and hardworking. the types to take their work home with them. this can be detrimental for their health but for employers this is someone you’d most likely want to hire.

➷ your lilith sign may show you where you have scars (including surgery scars), where you often get cuts/wounds/pain, or the body part you obsess over because you see flaws:

gemini - hands, arms, shoulders

pisces - feet

capricorn - knees, joints

leo - heart, back, hair

cancer - chest/breasts

aries - head, face, eyes

➷ chiron in aquarius: may have experienced troubling friendships, or losing a lot of friends. loyal to a fault, you put great effort into your relationships, maybe you were more considerate, more eager to be their friend, and you’re probably a good, genuine friend but the love and energy you showed them wasn’t reciprocated or they suddenly turned on you.

➷ stewie from family guy has to have prominent capricorn & aquarius placements. he’s sarcastic, funny with a dry sense of humor, so damn smart, smarter than his peers, wise beyond his years, inventive, independent, ambitious, great with technology & he has so many cool devices & gadgets, he’s a baby but he’s mature, logical, and his personality makes him appear older than he looks. hmm, probably some scorpio or aries in his chart too because he’s also revengeful, holds grudges, strategic, driven, and can be violent. despite his possible aquarius placements, his main and constant friend has been the family dog brian who is mature and much older (56 in dog years) than stewie. he must have some stuff going on in his 4th house too, he basically hates his family & he's so mean to them, especially his mom 😂 maybe he has mars in his 4th house. he’s straightforward & tends to be condescending and harsh/rude. he also likes to be in control & he’s an initiator which may be due to the cardinal energy if he does any have capricorn and aries placements.

➷ gemini rising/mercury, sag rising/mercury: because you're so funny & sarcastic people may not take you or your words seriously because they always think you're joking. others can be shocked when you have to take it up a notch to show them you’re serious cause they don’t see that side of you often. your reaction is unexpected. but you also don't take life seriously either. with that being said, it’s rare to see these natives fuming especially with more reserved moon signs or those that like to be in control like capricorn, virgo, and scorpio moon.

➷ taurus in the 6th house: may be prone to procrastination and being messy. taurus is often described as lazy or not quick to act, so they might not be the types to put things back where they got it from or they clean up in a half-assed manner. and they’re stubborn so if they don’t want to do something or they want to do it later, it may be hard to dissuade them. i’ve also noticed they tend to have stable employment & this is partly due to their great work ethic and determination. they always have a job, if they’re unemployed it’s not for long, or they've worked at the same job for many years making it a huge part of their career and resume.

➷ pluto in the 7th house: may be possessive of their relationships. not just romantic relationships, but their relationships with those who are important or closest to them. best friend, family, etc. you’re their favorite person so they want to be your favorite person. if they have a best friend, they don't want that person to have other best friends, they want to be the closest person to them. i also think this stems from a place of control & fear. they don’t get close to a lot of people but they’ve opened up to a few selected people & shared some of their secrets with them, so they don’t want the people they’ve trusted to potentially share those things with others or to form stronger bonds with other people because they might leave them for someone else, and other reasons.

➷ 9th house ruler in the 5th house: sunday school teacher for children, arts/fashion school, may have played sports in college/university, a division 1 or 2 school maybe, a sports coach, possibly a hedonist, popular in school, interested in child development, learning could be something you enjoy, confident in your intelligence, creating and planning fun trips, proud of your academic achievements, lots of college parties & hookups, having a pleasurable and memorable college experience, the type to either put fun before their studies or to go to class late & still drunk from the night before but you excel anyways, inspired by different cultures, could be good at playing games like chess.

9th house ruler in the 8th house - religious trauma, a natural interest in the occult or esoteric spiritual practices, may study finance or business, well versed in psychology, may be a therapist, mortuary school, challenging the law, unpleasant or negative experiences with spirits, someone who possesses profound knowledge, people may ask you, “how do you know that stuff?” may teach others about sex & the reproductive systems like sexual education, sharing your knowledge about astrology, could have spiritual experiences with drugs or psychedelic plants like shrooms, cannabis, or ayahuasca.

9th house ruler in the 11th house - science over spirituality, studying politics, could like traveling or going on vacation with your friends, an atheist, could be the wisest one or religious one in your friend group, the friend people go to for advice, philanthropic/generous, might’ve gone to trade school, took online/virtual classes, received alternative education other than the traditional college/university, part of a sorority/fraternity, interested in astronomy, big dreams, wanting to make an impact in the world, possessing knowledge & ideas that could change the world in some way.

➷ empty 2nd house: may not have a lot of personal belongings, most of the things you have were given to you or someone purchased them for you, you can be low-maintenance, not really having any personal income, but you may have money from other sources like an inheritance or a benefactor, or you rely on your family or government assistant for your financial needs, others might pay your bills, may dislike shopping, might not cook often, a simple wardrobe, nothing too fancy, not materialistic, could be indifferent towards money, you’re not impressed by it.

if you read this until the end i hope you enjoyed it & thank you so much for reading. ♥︎♥︎♥︎, those hearts are for you.

#astrology #astrology observations #astro observations #astrology notes #astro notes #libraincarnate

1K notes · View notes

daisynik7 · 11 months

Text

Out of Time Part Two - Nanami x f!reader

Click here for Part One!

Rating: Explicit - MINORS DO NOT INTERACT

cw: PIV sex (doggy, cowgirl), cunnilingus, fingering, spit play, nipple play, cum-eating, dirty talk, cream pie, multiple orgasms, just downright filthy smut, alright?

Word Count: ~3.7k

Summary: Finished with your thesis, and a huge weight lifted off your shoulders, you can finally focus on the only other thing occupying your mind the past forty-eight hours: Kento Nanami, the man you met two nights ago at your favorite bar, the one you shared an unforgettable evening with. Through serendipity, and with a little help from your friends, two well-acquainted strangers reconnect for one more night. Author's Notes: The very smutty part two of this little fic! I had a lot of fun writing this, and I hope you enjoy reading it! Likes, reblogs, and/or comments are always appreciated! Thank you!

One last tap of your mouse on the Submit button and your thesis is complete. A week from today, you’re scheduled to present it in front of your faculty advisor and a few other professors, which you’re not concerned about considering you’ve dedicated hundreds of hours of research to this topic. A week after that, you’ll be handed your diploma, officially a graduate. With the written portion finished, you feel a giant burden lifted off your shoulders, one that’s been weighing on you since the start of the semester. For the first time in months, you’re free.

You collapse onto your bed, staring up at the ceiling, smiling. Besides ridding yourself of the dreaded essay, there’s another big reason why you’re giddy: Kento Nanami. You’ve tried your best to keep him in the back of your mind, at least until you submitted your paper. However, it’s been quite the challenge, especially after the unforgettable evening the two of you shared two nights ago. It’s a faraway dream you let yourself indulge in. Too good to be true, too perfect to be real. You said your goodbyes without exchanging phone numbers. Still, it doesn’t hurt to fantasize about it. Right?

You check your phone for the first time since yesterday, basically isolating yourself from the outside world. There are several texts from Gina, making sure you’re alive. A couple from other group chats, the usual collection of messages you’re used to seeing after staying offline for more than a day. However, one from an unknown number captures your attention. You’re almost certain it’s spam, ready to block and delete without a second thought. You check it anyways, unprepared for what you’re about to read.

~~~

Two nights ago

Nanami presses his palms together, almost in prayer, tapping his fingers to his nose. He stares at Gojo, who has that typical shit-eating grin plastered on his face, typing away on his phone. After several minutes of discussion, Nanami agrees to accept Gojo’s help to reconnect with the woman he kissed tonight, the one who left him with this odd fluttering sensation in his belly.

“Alright. I sent it. Now we wait,” Gojo says, stretching his arms out. When there’s no response within five minutes, he stands up, getting ready to sleep, leaving his phone on the bed. Nanami is too anxious to leave his current position, willing for a reply to come soon. Thankfully, the universe grants his wishes, the phone vibrating and flashing a notification with Gina’s name on it.

“Gojo, she texted you back,” he yells out to his friend, staring at the screen. He’s tempted to check the message himself, but Nanami is still a man of reason, not wanting to invade his friend’s personal property.

“You can read it,” Gojo says from the bathroom, sounding like he has a toothbrush shoved in his mouth. “Go ahead, buddy. I know you want to.”

With permission granted, he unlocks the phone, clicking on the familiar icon to view their conversation:

Gojo: Hey beautiful, can you give me your friend’s #? Nanami is smitten and the dumbass forgot to ask for it.

Gina: LOL I’ll give it but tell the croissant man to text her AFTER she submits her thesis.

Gina: so in 2 days

Gina: and tell him she’s smitten too.

Nanami can’t contain his smile at the last text.

~~~

You read the message, so surprised, you double back and do it again, this time more carefully.

Hi, this is Nanami. Congrats on finishing your thesis. If you’re free tonight, we should celebrate.

A rush of thoughts invades your mind. Somehow, he found your number, most likely from Gojo, who asked Gina. But it’s the fact that he wanted to find you, to contact you, that has your head spinning in a pleasant frenzy. You were convinced that after that night, you’d never see him again. You also assumed that him living in Tokyo, almost one hour from here, would be a deal breaker. But if there’s one thing you learned about Nanami that fateful night, it’s that he’s a man of many surprises.

His last sentence sticks out to you the most. He’s offering to celebrate tonight. Does that mean he’s willing to take the hour-long journey just to see you? Or is it possible that he’s here? Not one to entertain mysteries, you decide to give him a call instead of responding through text. First, you save his number under his name, resisting the strong urge to add a little heart emoji next to it, then you prepare yourself before dialing.

After two rings, he picks up. “Hello?”

“Hi, Nanami. It’s me.”

He chuckles softly. “It’s you.”

“I’d love to take you up on your offer. Maybe we can meet halfway so you don’t have to travel so far.”

“That’s unnecessary. I’m actually still here.” He hesitates before continuing. “I booked the hotel room for a few more nights. Gojo left and it’s just me.” Another pause. “I’m not trying to seduce you or anything, but I would really like to see you again.”

You giggle to yourself, though you’re sure he hears it too, with the way you catch the hitch in his breath. “Me too. Let’s meet at the same bar then, tonight at 8. We can grab a drink or something.”

“Or something,” he repeats, the grin on his face audible through the phone. “That sounds wonderful. I’ll see you tonight.”

“Oh, and Nanami?”

“Yes?”

“Maybe I’m in the mood to be seduced tonight.”

With that, you hang up, smirking, heading to your closet to find the perfect outfit.

~~~

Nanami doesn’t get flustered easily, but whatever powers this woman possesses over him, it’s working. Because he is most definitely flustered.

Maybe I’m in the mood to be seduced tonight.

Her parting words replay in his head over and over. In all honestly, it shouldn’t surprise him, considering what they almost did inside that karaoke room. Still, he’s caught off guard by her boldness. And very much turned on. He paces his hotel room, checking his watch to calculate how much time he has until they meet. A couple hours to go. He’s tempted to call her and see her now, but he doesn’t want to come on too strong. He reminds himself that patience is a virtue, and tonight will be well worth the wait. There are a few errands he thinks of to distract himself, the day passing relatively quickly until it’s time for him to get ready.

He steps out of the hotel around 7:50 PM, dressed in his typical attire: tan suit, navy blue dress shirt underneath, and his signature spotted tie. His glasses are tucked inside his breast pocket for safe keeping. As he crosses the street to approach the bar, he feels the nerves jittering through his body. He doesn’t want this to end up being a big disappointment, for either him or her.

Upon entering, he doesn’t expect to see her yet. Nanami is used to being early to things; he prides himself in being punctual, and rarely expects that from anyone else. So when he does spot her, standing at one end of the bar, stunning in a black dress that accentuates her beauty in the most dazzling way, all his worries disappear. The only thought in his mind is that he wants this woman, needs this woman. And if it’s only for one more night, he’s going to make the most out of it.

She immediately notices him, a bright smile on her face as he walks towards her. With a wave, she greets him. “Nanami. You found me.”

“I found you,” he responds, returning her grin. “Congrats on finishing your thesis.”

“Thank you. I’m so relieved.”

There’s a slight pause as Nanami studies her, trying not to be too obvious. She does the same, her eyes slowly checking him out from head to toe. Deciding to be completely candid tonight, no holding back, he says, “You’re beautiful.”

She giggles, averting her gaze away from him, nervous. “Thank you.”

“Why did you have to wear a dress like this tonight?” he asks, leaning closer to her. He wants to touch her hand, hold it between his. The memory of them dancing together in the karaoke room the other night feels distant; he wants to remember the softness of her skin, the way their fingers lock together perfectly.

“Do you not like it?” she asks.

“You know I do.”

“So what’s the matter?” She bats her eyelashes, teasing him. She knows exactly what she’s doing.

Something in him snaps. He can’t control himself anymore. The desire to finish what they started takes over. Bowing his head, he whispers in her ear, “I’m trying to be good, I really am.”

With a wicked smirk on her face, she replies, “I don’t want you to be good. I want you to be mine.”

Minutes later, they’re stepping into the elevator of the hotel, hand-in-hand, Nanami’s face flush, anticipating what’s about to occur. Once the doors close, he remains still, desperately wishing she makes the first move. Seconds in, his wish is granted. She tugs at his tie, pulling him in for a kiss, hungry and eager. His hands roam to her waist, gripping her tightly, fingertips pressed shallow into her flesh through the fabric. He can’t wait to strip this off her, worship her bare body, touch every centimeter of her supple skin. Run his tongue along her most sensitive spots, make her whimper in pleasure. It’s all he’s thought about the last two nights.

Once inside the room, he gently pushes her against the closed door, kissing her deeply, tongue swirling around hers. His fingers reach for the zipper behind her dress, slowly pulling it down until it’s split, exposing her back. He feels for the clasp of her bra, undoing it in an instant. She undresses from the top, shoving the clothing off her shoulders and wiggling out, now naked from the waist up. He admires her breast before dipping down to wrap his lips around her nipple, tugging at it between his lips as she hums in pleasure. He’s gentle with her, unsure what her limit is when it comes to things like this. But he’s not sure how much longer he can hold back.

“You can suck them harder, if you want,” she whispers, watching him. “I like it a little rough.”

It takes everything in him to not growl on the spot. He feels like an animal in heat, lust fueling every carnal desire he possesses. Permission granted, he suckles at her peaked tits, his entire mouth surrounding her breast. His free hand grasps at her other nipple, pinching it between his thumb and forefinger, teasing her until she swears wantonly, “Oh fuck!” Her head thrown back against the door, eyes shut tight, fingers buried in his blonde hair. He flicks his thumb across her swollen teat when he relaxes his grip. He wants her sore and satiated when he’s done with her. Test out all the ways he can make her come, whether from his cock, his fingers, his mouth. Whatever he can do; he wants to give her his all tonight.

In a haste, he sheds his tan blazer, tossing it to the floor. The rest of his outfit follows, until he’s clad only in his briefs, with his erection tight against the fabric, a spot of precum leaking through. She makes her way to the bed, sliding the rest of her dress off, panties clinging to her, waiting for him. He hurries over, grinning as he positions himself beside her, caressing her cheek, kissing her slowly, relishing the way her mouth melts into his. His fingers gradually trail down, memorizing every curve of her body, in case they run out of time again. He’s unsure what the future holds for them. So he’ll spend the entire night if he has to, learning everything about her until he knows her like the back of his hand, until she’s familiar in his mind.

He breaks the kiss to latch his mouth onto her breast, cupping it in one hand, his other between her legs, silk panties already damp. Rubbing at the wet spot, his cock twitches, feeling her arousal on his fingertips. She spreads her legs wider, moaning, running her fingers along his tousled hair. “I love it, Nanami. I love it.”

He hooks his finger around the crotch of her panties, sliding it off completely. With a pop, he releases her from his mouth, kneeling beside her to study her naked form. “God, you’re so beautiful. I can’t believe how lucky I am.”

She sits up, wrapping her arms around his neck. “I’m the lucky one.”

“We’re both lucky, then,” he says, nuzzling his nose to hers.

Giggling, she presses her lips to his. “Didn’t think you’d be this lovey-dovey.”

“Do you want me to be mean? I can do that too.” He nips at her bottom lip, smirking.

She laughs again. “I’d like to see you try.”

“Oh, you’re asking for it, aren’t you? Naughty girl.” He grabs at one of her ass cheeks, squeezing at her plush flesh. “Always trying to seduce me.”

“Who, me? I’m innocent,” she teases, pouting at him. She palms the erection confined in his briefs. He bucks his hips at the contact, swearing, “Fuck, I can’t take it anymore. I need to taste you now.”

Leaning back against the pillows, she spreads her thighs wide with a wicked look on her face. “Go ahead, then. Help yourself.”

~~~

Your cheeks are hot with arousal, nipples swollen and sensitive from Nanami’s torment. His erection is strained beneath his underwear, unbearably uncomfortable. He slips his thumb beneath the band and slides it down his legs, boner springing free against his abdomen. Your pussy throbs, yearning for his thick girth inside you. Without wasting any more time, he positions himself between your legs, flicking his tongue at your clit. His lips surround you, sucking at your bud until it’s plump in his mouth, swishing his spit around it. Pleasure radiates from your core, causing you to spasm. He hums against your skin, amused at your reaction, his movements becoming sloppier by the second the deeper he dives into you. He teases his middle finger along you entrance. “Can I finger you?” he asks, voice muffled as his tongue continues to work on you.

You nod erratically, willing to agree to whatever he offers you. He slides in slowly, the lewd squelch of his thick finger against wet skin enough to push you close to the edge. He inserts his ring finger next to the middle, curling the tips as far as they can reach, brushing your sweet spot. That, in conjunction with the relentless slurping of your clit, has you in a fucked-out daze.

Without warning, he pulls out of you, causing you to whine from the sudden emptiness. He studies his digits, glistening in your arousal, and sticks them inside his mouth. You watch with your tongue lolling out of your mouth in a dumb expression, in awe as he slurps and swallows your slick like a treat he’s been waiting for all fucking night. He smiles at you, meeting your gaze, clearly enjoying your expression at the little stunt he just performed. “Are you okay?” he asks, lowering himself back towards your pussy, waiting for your answer before he resumes.

You nod once more, too bewitched by him to respond coherently. He spits on your pussy, thick and syrupy, smearing it over your puffy clit. He repeats this a few times, drenching you in his warm saliva. Suddenly, it’s all too much. There’s tightness in your abdomen, body becoming rigid as your reach your high. That doesn’t stop him; he continues to lap at your arousal, growling, “Come all over my face. Give it to me.” It’s not until your twitching from overstimulation that he slows down. With one last kiss, he pulls off, mouth and chin sticky with your cum. He licks around his lips, collecting whatever he can to swallow. You start to relax against the mattress, head dizzy from the aftermath of your intense orgasm. Still, you’re aching to feel him deep inside you.

“Don’t stop,” you utter. “I want you inside me.”

He looks at you, concerned. “Are you sure?”

You reach for him, tugging him close to you. “Absolutely sure. Don’t hold back on me.”

Chuckling in that low, sexy voice, he answers, “As you wish, princess.” He sits up beside you, rolling you on top of him so that you’re straddling his lap. “I want you like this,” he whispers into your ear, giving you a smack on your ass. You drape your arms around his shoulders, holding onto him securely, ready for the ride. He guides his cock inside you, slipping in smoothly. Breath hot on your ear, he asks, “Can you give me another one? Just one more before I come?”

You nod lazily without speaking, rocking your hips against him, hooked on the feeling of him buried deep inside you. He bounces you on his cock like his own personal sex doll, body pliant, slamming down easily on his dick. It’s addicting, the way he pumps into you, fucking your sweet spot like it’s never been fucked before. “Does this feel good? When I fuck this pretty pussy?” He scatters chaste kisses along your neck, dewy from perspiration.

“Yes, oh fuck yes,” you manage to say weakly, all your energy drained from being fucked into a frenzy.

“Make yourself come again. Want it really creamy,” he huffs, head bowed, watching his dick disappear in and out of your tight cunt. You moan at his filthy words, reaching between you, toying with your slippery bud. It doesn’t take long for you to come again, your sticky mess coating his cock with each thrust. “I’m coming!” you cry out, clenching his broad shoulders.

He follows, shooting his load inside you, thrusting until every last drop is released into your womb. You kiss him passionately, clinging to him closely, enough to feel the subtle thump of his heartbeat through his chest. It’s intimate the way your bodies meld to together, seamless and a perfect fit. Like it was truly meant to be.

You carefully lift yourself off his lap, collapsing next to him. You’re spent, light-headed from pleasure, convinced that the both of you have hit your limit. But, as always, Nanami surprises you. “I’m not done with you yet,” he says, dragging you roughly to the edge of the bed where he stands, grip firm around your waist. “I want to fuck my cum even deeper inside you. Fill you up so it’s leaking out until tomorrow morning. Think you can take it?”

This switch in behavior doesn’t alarm you; in fact, it spurs you on, makes you instantly forget about your foggy brain and tired limbs. You crane your neck to look at him, meeting his lust-filled gaze. “Oh fuck, Nanami. I want it. Give it to me.”

He doesn’t hold back, per your request from earlier, and he does give it to you, fucking you feverishly into the mattress. Face buried into a pillow, biting to muffle the shameless moans spilling out of your mouth with each savage thrust. The bed frame starts to creak, his movements becoming more erratic as he approaches his second climax. He sputters nonsense, spilling inside you, too sensitive now to speak coherently. It takes a moment for him to calm down, pulling out slowly to watch his cum dribble out of you. With a pleased smile on your face, you crawl towards the middle of the bed, not caring about the mess, and retreat under the covers, closing your eyes. You feel the bed sink, Nanami joining beside you, arms wrapping you in a snug embrace, lips pressed to your forehead.

“I’m sorry,” he starts. “I got a little carried away. I’m not usually like this.”

You let out a small laugh, opening your lids halfway. “That’s what they all say,” you tease him, resting your palm on his chest.

“I mean it. If you feel at all concerned or offended by this, I – ”

You interrupt, placing a finger to his lips, shushing him. “Nanami, I liked it. A lot.” You hesitate before admitting, “I like you. A lot.”

His eyes widen at your confession. “What?”

Giggling, you repeat, “I like you, Nanami. I want to keep seeing you.” Suddenly, you feel embarrassed. You’re not even sure if he feels the same way about you. Quickly, you add, “If you don’t feel the same way, I understand. I can leave now if you want me to –”

It’s his turn to interrupt, this time with a kiss. It’s slow and smooth, no rush. When he breaks away, he whispers, “I like you, too. A lot. A whole lot.”

You kiss again, relief and glee swelling in your chest. The two of you fall asleep in each other’s arms, his chin tucked to the top of your head, your face nestled into the crook of his neck. Your steady heartbeats lulling you into a peaceful slumber.

~~~

Nanami can’t remember the last time he felt this kind of joy. In all honestly, maybe this is the first.

He wakes up in the morning, the sun streaming through the curtain windows, illuminating his hotel room with a brilliant golden light. Best of all, she’s snuggled into his body, comfortable and cozy, as if she belongs here. It feels right.

He watches her for a while before her eyelids flutter open. Catching him, she yawns, “Good morning.”

“Good morning.”

“What time is it?”

“Almost 10. We have to check out soon.”

Frowning, she says, “We’re out of time again.”

He nuzzles his nose to hers. “Just for today. But you and me, we have all the time in the world now, don’t we?”

She beams at him. “You’re right. You’re absolutely right.”

They cuddle in silence for a few more moments before she suggests, “Want to get some croissants?”

Unable to contain his smile, he responds, “I thought you’d never ask.”

#nanami kento #kento nanami #nanami fanfic #nanami smut #jjk nanami #jujutsu kaisen nanami #kento nanami smut #nanami x reader #nanami x you #nanami x y/n #nanami kento smut #nanami kento x reader #kento nanami x reader #nanami fluff #jjk x reader #jujutsu kaisen x reader #jujutsu kaisen smut #out of time

703 notes · View notes

takeme-totheworld · 4 months

Text

Aziraphale and Forgiveness, Pt. 2: The Source of Salvation

This series is now complete! Here's where you can find the other parts.

Part 1 here. Part 3 here. Part 4 here.

(This post ended up being way longer than I intended, oopsie! And no fun GIFs to break it up this time. Hope you like reading lots of words!)

So why would Aziraphale, an angel who has not fallen despite bending/breaking the rules many times, have so much emotional baggage around the topic of forgiveness?

Some disclaimers:

Disclaimer 1: I've seen enough of tumblr already to know that "does Aziraphale really have religious trauma?/how much does it motivate his actions?" is the subject of Discourse around these parts. I don't want to have that argument here. Aziraphale's experience with Heaven has strong parallels to my personal religious history, and those specific parallels are what I'm here to talk about.

Disclaimer 2: I am not a bible scholar or religious historian, if I mention specific church doctrines or bible verses it's only to illustrate the experience of growing up in my church. My actual biblical/theological accuracy may be sloppy.

Disclaimer 3: I haven't read Good Omens the book. I know there are differences, but I'm not addressing them. All my thoughts are about show!Aziraphale and show!Heaven only.

Okay. Here goes.

The next point I want to make is that Aziraphale has spent his life inside a system that has weaponized the concept of forgiveness. Because Heaven, in the Good Omens universe, operates a lot like a particular flavor of toxic Christianity that I happen to be very familiar with.

In the version of Christianity I was raised with:

Your only purpose is to serve God's will. Our own needs, wants, goals, etc, were all understood to be secondary to that purpose.

The specter of eternal punishment is always present. Like any self-respecting Evangelical church, we believed that if you weren't "saved" before you died, you would go to Hell and be punished forever. How do you make sure you're saved? Well...

The rules are not clear or consistent, so you're always left guessing. We were a Protestant denomination, so a foundational doctrine was "sola scriptura." (We weren't fancy enough for the Latin, though, we just called ourselves "bible-based.") The basic idea is that the bible is the word of God, it's infallible, and it's the only authority we need to follow. But the bible is a cobbling-together of texts written thousands of years ago, that have been translated multiple times. It's not self-evident to a modern reader what any given passage means. It contains internal contradictions all over the place. So...the bible is the only authority we need to follow, but it's confusing and needs interpretation. Enter pastors and other church leaders to help us interpret. Only...they each have their own pre-existing biases and preferred scholarly interpretations, so even within the same church, different pastors might have different ideas about things.

So, to summarize: Follow what the bible says! Don't understand what it's telling you? Ask your pastor! Different pastors give different answers? Ugh, you're thinking about this too hard. Go pray about it or something. Just figure it out.

New ideas and experiences are, at best, begrudgingly tolerated. Because doing God's will is your only purpose, remember? And the Bible (and your pastor) are the source of the only wisdom you need to fulfill the only purpose you have. So really, you don't need anything outside what the church has to offer you and it's all a distraction anyway. (...okay, if you really must, here's a watered-down, church-approved version of the thing, now shut up.)

This isn't just the church being a buzzkill. It keeps you dependent on them and ignorant of the outside world to whatever extent they monitor and censor outside influences. My church was not even that extreme about this, relatively speaking, but it was still enough to profoundly impact me and leave me confused and floundering in the larger world after I left.

No matter how hard you try to measure up, you're ultimately at God's mercy. So you spend your life trying to follow a bunch of confusing, opaque rules in the hopes that you can be "saved" and avoid eternal punishment. But here's kicker: none of it truly matters anyway, because we were also taught that everyone falls short in the end and that the only real salvation comes from God forgiving you for your sins. All you really have to do to be saved is accept his free gift of forgiveness...by...believing the right things in the right way and praying the right prayers about it. And then spending the rest of your life still trying to follow all the convoluted rules, because doing so is proof that you were sincere...in your acceptance of God's forgiveness...which you accepted by following even more instructions regarding what to believe and how to pray to ensure that you were accepting it correctly.

How do you know if you've done any of this right? You never can, truly, until you die and find out. Because God's not actually talking to anyone. So in the end, no matter what you do, you end up in the same place: at the mercy of God, who decides whether you're forgiven or not.

If you're thinking that sounds like an incredibly confusing and exhausting way to grow up, you are correct! It also has a lot of parallels in Good Omens.

If you are an angel working for Heaven in the world of Good Omens:

Your only purpose is to serve God's will. This one is obvious. If you're an angel, it's literally the only thing you were created for.

The specter of eternal punishment is always present. The eternal punishment that can happen to an angel is falling. We know it's a punishment, because we know Crowley's fall was painful and because we can see that Hell is a miserable environment for the demons. This isn't The Good Place, where demons gleefully sit around eating snacks in conference rooms and brainstorming new fun ways to torture humans. Hell in Good Omens sucks for everyone there. And we can assume falling is meant to be permanent, because if it wasn't Crowley and Aziraphale wouldn't have been so gobsmacked by the Metatron's offer to restore Crowley to angelic status. Because there's no precedent for that. Crowley himself says that being a demon has automatically rendered him unforgivable. As far as anyone in this universe knows, "fallen" is a permanent state.

So how does an angel avoid eternal punishment? How do angels make sure they don't fall? Well...

The rules are not clear or consistent, so you're always left guessing. Was falling a one-and-done mass exile of everyone who rebelled, right after the war? The way both Heaven and Hell talk about the fall and the "casting out" of the demons would seem to suggest so. But fear of falling is obviously ever-present among the angels, so they clearly don't know for sure one way or the other. And what would cause an angel who wasn't part of the original rebellion to fall? Aziraphale thought he would fall for lying about Job's children. The archangels threatened Aziraphale with falling for "consorting" with Crowley in S1. Gabriel expected to fall for saying no to Armageddon the Sequel in S2. But none of those falls actually happened. Clearly even the angels in the highest positions of authority don't know exactly what the rules are about falling. And who decides who falls? Gabriel says the demons were "cast out" after the war, but who did the casting out? Did God handle that directly? Was it the Metatron? Did the transformation just sort of...happen, leaving everyone unsure about the details? And what about present day? The Metatron said that Gabriel would have his memory wiped instead of falling, but does that mean the Metatron gets to decide if an angel falls, or was he covering for the fact that he doesn't know how it works either?

We, the viewers, don't know the answers to any of these questions. But it's fairly clear that the angels also don't know.

New ideas and experiences are, at best, begrudgingly tolerated. The angels know little to nothing about the world or humanity and are disdainful or outright suspicious of earthly experiences. In the case of the ones who have never been sent to Earth, this makes sense, although it begs the question of why there are so many angels who have never once been sent to Earth, the planet that is supposed to be central to the Great Plan.

It's obviously, at its core, about control and keeping the angels ignorant of anything that would broaden their perspective. But listen to how the angels themselves talk about it. When Gabriel sees Aziraphale eating sushi, he asks, "Why do you consume that? You're an angel." (Subtext: You don't need to eat, so what's the purpose of indulging in this experience?) When Aziraphale suggests he try the food himself, Gabriel starts talking about sullying the temple of his body or whatever. (Subtext: It's not technically forbidden but it would be a deviation from my function as an angel so I'm suspicious of it.) And look at Aziraphale himself. He lives on Earth for many hundreds of years before he can be persuaded to even try human food, and Crowley has to work at convincing him it's okay. He seems to know it's not forbidden but he's deeply distrustful of it anyway. (I have a theory that a holdover of this mindset is why he's so set in his ways, behind the times, and still more ignorant of humans that you'd expect in the present day, but this post is already too long.) The attitude cultivated among the angels is These things are not meant for us, we don't need them, and they are a distraction from our higher purpose, so it's better if we don't.

No matter how hard you try to measure up, you're ultimately at God's mercy. So, if you're an angel, you're meant to be doing God's will, and if you fail badly enough you can be punished forever by falling. But the rules are unclear, the way falling works is unclear, in most cases you're kept ignorant of everything but the bare minimum you need to know to do your job, God isn't talking to anyone, and the (seemingly) officially appointed Voice of God is also pretty remote and mysterious most of the time.

So the only time you'll ever know for certain that you've crossed the line is once you've already crossed it, when it's too late to do anything about it. At that point, the only thing that could save you from falling would be if God just...decided to be merciful, to grant you a pardon (i.e. to forgive you) and not do the casting out thing.

Believe it or not, I had to work really hard to keep this as short as it is. If you've read this far, I salute you. Now, what's the point?

Aziraphale and the other angels are part of a system where they understand very little, they have no real power, the stakes are eternal, and their only hope of escaping endless punishment if they fail is the possibility that God will decide to show mercy and forgive them.

Yes, in the real world this is all just bullshit spread by religious leaders to scare and confuse and manipulate people into compliance and in the world of Good Omens it's actually real. But the emotional impact of feeling that confused and powerless and at the mercy of a higher authority is going to be the same. Of course Aziraphale has some Big Feelings about the subject of forgiveness. Of course it's one of his favorite things. It's not just a nice thing you do for people. It's powerful enough to rescue someone from eternal punishment when nothing else can. Powerful enough to wield as a devastating weapon by withholding it. It's a tool of control in Heaven, but it's also the source of salvation.

I was going to segue from here into what I think the specifics of Aziraphale's mindset are, but it took me so many more words than I expected just to lay out the parallels between GO Heaven and (my experience of) real-world toxic Christianity so I'm gonna stop here. Next time I'm going to dig into what I think is happening in Aziraphale's head when he forgives Crowley, and also when he does things like shelter Jimbriel (a very forgiving action, even if the words "I forgive you" don't accompany it).

#good omens #good omens meta #good omens 2 spoilers #character analysis #aziraphale #religious indoctrination #religious trauma #forgiveness #i forgive you #i'm very normal about this #this post is so long i apologize

179 notes · View notes

natashaslittlegirl · 11 months

Text

Professor - WandaNat

DO NOT COPY ANY OF MY WORK. MINORS DNI +18 ONLY.

Summary: Wanda knew that she failed her last exam, she showed up without having studied, what she also knew, is that her favorite professor is disappointed, so she has to make it up to her.

Professor!Natasha Romanoff x Student!Wanda Maximoff

Smut, top!Natasha, bottom!Wanda, teasing, masturbation (W), vaginal fingering (W receiving), praise and degrading kink, choking (N to W), dirty talk, overstimulation, orgasm control, hair pulling, spanking (W receiving(just one))

Words count: 2300+

Wattpad Masterlist WandaNat's Masterlist

Wanda had shown up to take her literature exam without having studied, not because she didn't want to, she was one of the best students in the entire university and Miss Romanoff's favorite. She just forgot, disappointing her favorite teacher, feeling bad about it.

Natasha, in addition to being stressed by having to do more than ten lectures a week, her perfect student was failing her.

The student who always present her essays and exams on time, the one who helped her carry her things to her office and with whom she had wet dreams almost every night. It was no surprise to Natasha that she liked Wanda, the girl was totally beautiful and perfectly her type. In addition to the fact that she sometimes showed herself with those slightly revealing outfits that left a lot to imagination.

And she was always looking for a way to stay after class, either with a question or just to tell her some fun fact, which she found very adorable.

She knew that Wanda liked her, her looks weren't discreet at all, she shamelessly undressed her in front of the whole class. One smirk at her and Wanda was already squeezing her thighs, and this could be seen clearly since she was sitting right in front of her desk. Every time she goes with her short little skirts, Natasha can't help but devour her with her gaze, discreetly while everyone do her lecture.

One day Wanda had stayed after class to clear up some doubts, sitting next to her at the desk, her bare thighs almost touching hers, and Natasha couldn't resist placing her hand on them, squeezing it and listening to the sweet moan that scape out of Wanda's mouth. After that, she knew she had to be with her one way or another, how could a mere sound from her leave her so frustrated? How could a twenty year old girl have her like that? She didn't know if it was because of the fact that Wanda was younger or the interest she showed, the attention she sought or the simple fact that her beauty incited her to sin.

Today, a Friday like any other, in the last class of the day, Literature 101 of Professor Romanoff, Wanda was perfectly seated in her chair in front of her desk.

In one of her short skirts, her thigh-high stockings, and a black shirt, she was beautiful and fucking hot.

Natasha's first thought was how good her student would look tied up and bending over on her desk. Not very appropriate of her, but that only stayed in a little place of her mind. It wasn't strange for the two of them to share those lustful glances, Wanda never thought that she could go beyond a simple flirt or a bit of tease. Miss Romanoff seemed untouchable, with all her authority and her tight suits, with her rasping voice and her serious look.

All this little game between the two was consuming them, there were countless times that Wanda had to go to her room practically running to touch herself thinking in her professor, or the number of times that she daydreamed in class wishing that Natasha could take her anywhere in the room.

"Afternoon everyone, let's begin in page 57, who wants to read?" Natasha started class promptly at six in the evening.

Carol Danvers raised her hand for Miss Romanoff to give her the word, then beginning to read a text by Alan Poe. Wanda boiled with jealousy every time Natasha gave her a smirk or preferred the blonde instead of her. She already knew that Carol wanted to be the teacher's pet, which irritated her even more. She fixed her eyes with frowning brows on her professor, who didn't spare her a glance, concentrating on what Carol was reading.

So she decided to fiddle with the buttons on her shirt, undoing one by one until she reached her breasts and that's when she got the attention she wanted. Natasha's gaze fell on her hands, as her fingers ran up and down the fabric, watching her teacher swallow and clear her throat.

Wanda also knew that Natasha must be angry with her, for failing her last test and taking into account the looks of her teacher towards her today, she thought about taking the next step. With her provocative outfit already planned and without wearing panties she was going to convince her.

The two hours of the lecture passed, ending the class, a class in which Natasha was left frustrated trying not to pay attention to her student.

Everyone was leaving while Wanda stayed sat in her chair, crossing her legs feeling how wet she already was. It was time to go home since all classes were over. Once the last student left, Wanda got up from her chair and walked over to her professor's desk.

"Miss Romanoff, can we talk?" she said innocently as Natasha turned, looking her up and down.

"Let's go to my office, Miss Maximoff." She speak to her in an angry and harsh tone, making Wanda shudder. She took her things and followed her to her office, her gaze glued to her body until Natasha sat down behind her desk. "What do you want, Miss Maximoff?" Natasha didn't want to look at her, she was angry.

"Talking about my exam but, are you not going to call me Wanda anymore?"

"It's the same, I call you by your last name."

"Yeah, but I like the way you say my name more," Wanda sat in the chair opposite, starting to play with the edge of her skirt, which had risen up exposing almost all her skin, "why are you angry, Natasha?"

"I'm not mad, I'm disappointed in you, how could you fail the exam, you're the best at everything" She let out a snarl, finally looking up to her eyes but quickly drifting to her thighs.

"Let me make it up to you." a smirk appeared on Wanda's face as she got up to lock the door.

"What are you doing, Wanda?" She walked slowly over to where Miss Romanoff was, sitting down at her desk putting her legs on each side of Natasha's chair.

"Tell me what you want and I'll do it." Natasha's eyes were dark and a thousand possibilities flashed through her mind.

"This is wrong." She growled, trying not to look at her student, who was spread-legged sitting in front of her.

"We both want it, I see how you look at me and you know the reaction you cause in me, Miss Romanoff, don't play dumb." Wanda's hand went to Natasha's chin, forcing her to look into her eyes, "you want it as much or more than me."

"Touch yourself." Natasha leaned back in her chair with a smirk on her face, watching as Wanda's hands began to unbutton her shirt, revealing that she was not wearing a bra.

She squeezed her breasts, her fingers pricking her already hard nipples, stealing a moan from her. Wanda was dripping on the desk, she was sure, Natasha's gaze was burning her. Without being asked, her hand went under until it was between her legs, lifting her skirt to revealing her that she wasn't wearing panties either.

"Such a slut you are, Wanda." The raspy voice of her teacher made her walls clenched to nothing, beginning to rub her already swollen and neglected clit, "Who knew, the perfect student would be such a little slut."

"Fuck." Wanda sighed, running her fingers over her folds, gathering her liquids to then inserting a finger into hers.

"Slower." Natasha was beginning to guide her, never taking her gaze from her dripping pussy, as her finger disappeared inside her so slowly that Wanda could cry from it.

"Please." A small blush appeared on her cheeks, she wanted to go faster, but she couldn't disobey Natasha. She couldn't disappointed her, again.

"No." Wanda let out a whimper, trying to keep up the same speed.

"I need more, please."

"Another one." Wanda quickly inserted another finger inside her, curling them, touching hers G spot. "Faster."

She began to speed up her movements, feeling the knot in her stomach under her, moans coming from her mouth as her fingers moved in and out of her.

"What a pretty sounds you make, let's see what others I can get out of that beautiful mouth of yours."

One of Natasha's hands went to her neck, grabbing it and squeezing it, ripping a strangled moan from Wanda's throat.

"I-I'm gonna cum" the grip on her neck tightened.

"No, you are not allowed to cum." Natasha stood up, staying between her legs to now whisper in her ear, "I'm the only one who's going to make you cum, understand?"

Wanda agreed without stopping moving her fingers inside her, until the hand that was on her neck went to her wrist, making her stop, taking it out to put the wet fingers in her mouth. Natasha licked her fingers clean, their dark eyes locked as Wanda was panting for air with her parted lips.

"Get down and bend over on the desk." She did as she was told, now she was with her stomach pressed against the wood table, her arms around her head and her legs slightly spread.

Natasha positioned herself behind her, pressing into her hips causing Wanda to push back. Her professor's hands lifted her skirt, leaving it coiled around her waist while one of Natasha's feet hit her legs to separate them from her.

"Such a dirty girl you are, coming to university without panties, do you think that's a good thing, Wanda?" She reminded silent, a hand slammed into her ass, "Answer me."

"Yes," she let out her answer with a sigh.

"Look how wet you are, pathetically dripping like a slut, does it turn you on? Does the fact that I'm about to fuck you turn you on?" Natasha put her index finger at her entrance, not thrusting it in or moving it.

"Yes, so much, you turn me on so much, please." Wanda couldn't handle so much arousal anymore, she needed her to touch her now.

"You don't deserve it, you fail your exam, you have an attitude towards me, you come without panties and on top of that you spent all your time teasing me in class."

"You want this more than me, Miss Romanoff, we both know it. I know you want to touch me until I can't handle it anymore." Natasha lets out a laugh, in fact, Wanda is right, she wants to fuck her until she doesn't have a drop of cum anymore.

"On top of that, do you have the nerve to talk back to me? Oh, little girl, you don't know what you're getting yourself into."

She was about to answer when two of her fingers entered her suddenly, stealing a dry moan from her throat.

"You make a noise and I'll stop." Natasha inserted her fingers hard, making the desk move and making it increasingly difficult for Wanda to hold back her moans.

She leaned over, laying on top of her student to grab her hair with her other hand, forming a ponytail to pull her up, Wanda tried not to make a sound, but it was impossible when Natasha curled her fingers inside her.

"Oh, looks like we'll stop here." She feint to remove her fingers.

"No, no! please, I'm so close, please!" Wanda literally cried out.

"Then beg for it, beg or I won't continue." Natasha's lips were glued to her neck, sucking on it without caring if she left marks or not.

"Please, Natasha, keep fucking me, do whatever you want to me!" Wanda was desperate, tears began to form in her eyes, trying to move her hips down against her teacher's hand.

"Such a needy slut, you're being pathetically desperate, Wanda," Natasha sucked on her earlobe to whisper in her husky voice, "and I fucking love it." She began to move her fingers again, grabbing her neck pressing her body with hers.

"Let me cum, Miss Romanoff, pl-" Natasha squeeze her neck, cutting of her words.

"Shut the fuck up." Wanda was about to pass out, the pressure in her lower stomach was becoming unbearable. Tears rolling on her face, her part lips panting for air and Natasha still thrusting in her was too much.

And then, she stopped. Her professor stopped.

"What the f-" Wanda was about to protest when Natasha pulled her fingers out to turn her around, sitting her on the desk and putting them back inside her. "Oh fuck fuck." She moaned at the sight of Natasha's lustful eyes looking at her.

"I want to look at you while you fall apart, so pretty." Natasha let her know that, she always told her that she was pretty, but this context was totally different.

"Please let me."

Natasha nodded, watching how Wanda tried to keep the eye contact but was impossible for her, shutting her eyes and leave out a loud scream, her professor's name was rolling out her mouth. Her body started to shake, the overstimulation taking her as Natasha keep thrusting her fingers in her.

The proud smirk on her face, like a child whose mischief turns out well, finally claiming her student's body.

Wanda was trying to recover, her chest raising and falling sharply. She opened her eyes to meet Natasha's intense gaze in her, her cheeks blushed and a light layer of sweat on her forehead.

"That was.." she said giggling.

"Yeah," Natasha took out her fingers to lick them, tasting her again. "you taste so good, I can't wait to eat you properly."

#wanda maximoff #natasha romanoff #natasha romanov #black widow #elizabeth olsen smut #elizabeth olsen #wanda maximoff smut #lizzie olsen #natasha marvel #natasha romanoff smut #natasha romanoff x wanda maximoff #wandanat smut #wandanat #scarletwidow smut #scarlet witch #scarlett johansson smut

355 notes · View notes

freakbullet · 2 months

Text

youtube

so this video (it's pretty good, worth a watch) basically saved me having to clean up the big word salad post I was drafting but I'm gonna reiterate a few points -

firstly, this isn't mentioned in the video but I think it's so, so important: unlike the valentine author, Gaster has never, ever used a single contraction. Toriel is another character who never uses them, no matter how casual the context. for something like this to suddenly change for no reason makes no sense. Toby is meticulous. I genuinely believe this is a HUGE strike against it being Gaster, yet almost no one mentions it. next, the valentine author speaks as if they don't know us: "you seem reliable", "you are very odd". and as we know, Gaster's well acquainted with us by now, so it'd make no sense for him to speak to us this way. (but what it does lend credence to is this being a character we either haven't met before, or haven't extensively interacted with.) additionally, in all instances so far, Gaster's been keen, focused, sharp. why would he suddenly be so addled and confused? the author saying they forgot who they're supposed to help, and it possibly even being themself, doesn't point to Gaster either - in fact, just the opposite - because the idea of him being forgotten is pure fanon. the game explicitly states that Asgore took so long to hire a new royal scientist because Dr. Gaster's brilliance was irreplaceable. how would the king know that if he didn't remember? fictional characters, by their very nature, are presented to us in a deliberate and finite way; our interactions with them have specific purpose. this means that when we try to hold them to real-world standards like "I, a real live person, write differently depending on the occasion", it won't always hold up. we have to go by what precedents have already been set by the creator, in the context in which these characters exist. on occasions when characters in UT/DR have spoken in a different way than usual, the fundamental, anchoring traits of their speech still remain intact (see: contractions), which would not be the case if Gaster were the valentine author.

(and of course, this doesn't even touch on the Japanese translation highlighting how wildly different the speech styles are, which I personally put more stock in than they do in the video.) the last 3rd of the video is more opinion/headcanon-oriented but he makes his point well. even if you disagree with his perception of Gaster (I do to an extent), it's true that there's already no shortage of whimsical, silly, lighthearted characters in UT/DR, and surely, if Gaster were meant to be one of them, Toby wouldn't reveal it in a way that's so out of left field. I love silly goofy wingding man as much as the next guy, but I also agree that attributing this personality to him out of nowhere, when it's incongruent with everything we've seen so far, would only serve to undermine his character and the uniqueness of it. none of this is to knock anyone whose opinion differs from mine! I'm just laying my thoughts out, for whatever that's worth. I've seen an unfortunate tendency in the community to lump the valentine in with the tweets and gonermaker text as all being on the same level of "obviously Gaster", and then tout it as proof that their headcanons are real. (we all have our headcanons! just don't be a dick about it eh?) at the end of the day, personally, I try to absorb and cling to as much canon evidence as possible, scant though it may be. because what I really really want, is to know who Gaster is. in the truest sense, as he is intended to be by his creator.

(but isn't it wonderful how much we all love this character, no matter how differently we may see him? I mean ultimately if we're not having fun here, then what's the point, right?)

but yeah, give the vid a watch! it goes into more detail and makes more compelling points than my sleepless brain can atm. :p

#all this said i absolutely love all the adorable gaster fanart that came out of it 😢🖤#plus the renewed interest in discussion and theories in the fandom is really fun #gaster #long post #freak speak #the great valentine debateTM #edited this after a nap to hopefully be more coherent

35 notes · View notes

renegade-chaos-druid · 4 days

Text

"The original book certainly combined a dystopic and violent universe with humour – perhaps the irony was rather heavy handed and maybe the humour verges on the silly in places – but I was writing a book about wargames for wargamers and not aiming for literary credibility. And just as well, you might reasonably say! My approach has always tended to combine high and low styles together. Sometimes that was to evoke a deliberate clash intended to remind us that this is all pretend and we should not take it too seriously. I probably couldn’t resist the gag. I did cheerfully plunder some quite serious literary references. If I read or saw something that "would work well in 40K" I used to just jot it down and it would be re-worked into the text.

I think that approach did colour the way other authors at GW presented the universe; especially in the hands of Mike Brunton and Graeme Davis because we shared a sense of humour (and often the odd pint or two at the Salutation after work). It was fun coming up with all the imperial mantras and nonsense sayings, and I think we were quite competitive about it, trying to make each other laugh whilst riffing on different ideas. We were quite an educated bunch. At a time when most people didn’t go to college we were all graduates – Phil Gallagher studied Russian at Cambridge – and both me and Graeme (and Nigel Stillman for that matter) had studied archaeology so we brought a lot of broad cultural and historical references into our worlds.

As 40K evolved, and other writers took over the job, it did get increasingly po-faced, which I always thought missed the point a bit – but what can you do?"

Interview with Rick Priestley (https://grognardia.blogspot.com/2020/11/interview-rick-priestley-part-ii.html?m=1)

So when the terminally online tourists, fan haters and posers tell you "iTs AlWaYs BeEn PoLiTiCaL"

Just remind them that the old boys made this game for shits, giggles, laughs, and just dumping random world experience into it, while making it as pointlessly fun as possible.

Wargames for Wargamers. :)

#warhammer 40k #warhammer #Rick Priestley #Interview #Origins #Creation #Writing #World building #No it's not political #It never was

11 notes · View notes

pip-n-chips · 1 year

Note

Everyone been talking to you abt Harper so I want to do it too. Although sorry for not being horny lol

What do you think about one dialog with a patient in asylum that says that Harper was a patient? I think about it a lot… Perhaps one of the main reasons why I like them

The text in question: "That Harper isn't a Doctor," a person mutters. "Not really. When I first came here Harper was a patient like the rest of us. But now suddenly Harper's our Doctor. THEY all play along, and everyone who might remember has conveniently forgotten. Or disappeared."

omg hi!! I love your art a lot kdhd, and no worries! I enjoy the non horny parts of the game just as much lmao

Harper isn't a real doctor, never has been. But he's clever, and knows how to work in the shadows to get what he wants, and he wants power (COUGH control freak COUGH)

The details are fuzzy for what got him landed in the asylum in the first place- maybe he went somewhere he wasn't supposed to go, maybe he saw something or someone* he wasn't meant to see. Maybe his facade was easier to break down in his youth, maybe he reached his breaking point.

*I'm a fan of the headcanon that Harper met/saw the Ivory Wraith at some point, even if it was just for a few seconds, and he couldn't get them out of his head no matter how hard he tried. Harper craves knowledge, so I wouldn't be surprised if his little obsession with the figure in the lake got taken out of hand as he tried to find out more. I can also see him having an encounter with the tentacles in the mirror, because I feel like it connects well with his experimentation later on. Either way, his mind is strong, but he can only hold on for so long until it slips from his grip.

ALSO a bit of an unrelated thought but I would also like to mention that while he was still mansplain manipulate gaslight girlboss in the past, he was less put together and less calculated like present day Harper. Part of it probably chalks up to teenage hormones since he'd probably be like 18 or 19 when the asylum thing happens, but also inexperience. (He's had less victims, and I like to think that's because a lot of his peers in his hometown thought he was a little fucking freak and avoided him like the plague lmfao, but other people- more specifically authority figures like therapists and teachers- were easier because they either recognized his talent or were wrapped around his finger. He told people what they wanted to hear.) He also had less control over his emotions and that caused more slips in his little facade + more impulsive decisions

Anyway, he gets himself landed in the asylum and he does NOT like it, because his sense of control is stripped from him. The treatment works, at least they all think it does. And maybe it does genuinely work at first, but it's hard to say where the line between it being real and him faking it lies. But either way, it builds up the trust of the staff according to plan

I headcanon that Harper turned the tables on his original doctor, and I wonder if he would have practiced hypnosis on fellow patients before making a move :0? Though I could just see him doing it for fun lmao,, Either way he sees it as a game and a way to get out of this god forsaken place.

He's subtle enough to not arouse suspicion, and he plays around a bit because while he's done this stuff before it's never been this big, but he's still confident in his abilities. He begins by sowing the seeds, putting ideas in his doctor's head, and it just escalates and escalates until he can make a big change.

I'm unsure if he'd act like he's always been a doctor here or transfered to the area, but I do know he'd make sure to delete any evidence of his previous,, position. If any staff speak up instead of turning their pretty little heads, Harper has a chat with them to clear up the confusion <3 (gaslighting and hypnosis xoxo). He doesn't pay as much attention to patients because they're crazy, they don't know what they're talking about. But if they're insistent then, well, it's off to the quiet room-

Hey, wait a minute!

What have you got me talking about? Those are just rumors, there's nothing to look into. And the patient who fed you lies is crazy, look at how paranoid they're acting. Why do you think they're here in the first place? Harper is a real doctor, always has been.

#degrees of lewdity #dol #harper the doctor #dol harper #ask #anyway *cough* yes i think about it a lot too #i actually have an art wip of asylum!harper i wanna finish at some point but straitjackets are so hard to draw ack #thoughts-n-hcs

87 notes · View notes

the-owl-tree · 7 months

Note

The xenophobia thing is so frustrating, like the amount of characters who the authors present as “well he’s a little racist but he’s a good guy!” as if bigotry is just this fun little opinion some people have. And sorry for ranting but the way they won’t let it reflect on any other aspect of their character, like-

Any good ideals a xenophobic character has aren’t really all that good because even if they don’t say it, there’s the implication of “except for Those People.” If a xenophobic character says everyone deserves to be cared for even if they can’t contribute, they actually mean everyone Except Those Nasty Outsiders (rip Daisy). This is most relevant to the Erins’ stock character of “good and loyal warrior who always says the xenophobic things at clan meetings” but I feel like it DEFINITELY applies to bramblestar too

i love Darktail but this book makes me wish avos was obliterated. It is wild that he has been used to multiple times to JUSTIFY the Clan's wariness and downright hatred of rogues (because that's how the authors see it! they think bigotry has some real tangible root and not that is illogical and hypocritical system of beliefs). Why is everyone so mistrustful of the rogues? Well, those EVIL and BLOODTHIRSTY outsiders almost destroyed the Clans so now we have to sympathize with the Clan cats because this ideology has been "justified". Outsiders can be bad and therefore we can't fault the Clans for being wary.

Like Bramblestar is openly spouting pretty evil rhetoric in this. He is emboldening a faction in ThunderClan that was fighting to let a cat die on the basis of them being a rogue, and Bramblestar is pretty blunt that reason he thinks they should drive the Sisters out is because they're rogues and are therefore inferior to the Clans (which is then reinforced as not a horrific thing to say/believe by Squirrelflight thinking "he's noble in his own way" no I am not kidding). I'm repeating myself at this point but like...this is bad! It's BAD that Thornclaw can say they should let a cat die and he doesn't get the shit kicked out of him, it's bad that Bramblestar can espouse the idea of Clan superiority and STILL have the text fawn over him.

like at least Crowfeather's Trial was enjoyably bad, this is just downright frustrating and depressing.

#deer reads squirrelflight's hope #i will say it has given me my ammo i need for tigerheart defense #every leader is acting like an irrational jackass dont get me wrong #but out of all of them i'd say tigerheart's motivation and logic is the most understandable

30 notes · View notes

canirove · 1 year

Text

Best friends… forever? | Chapter 15

Author’s note: Half way there 👀

Previous chapter | Next chapter

Masterlist

“Remind me again why I said yes to this?” Mila asks her agent.

“Because it is a great opportunity. One doesn’t get a Women’s Health cover, and on her own country, every day.”

“Yeah, yeah…” she sighs.

After a really tough beginning of the season where they’ve had to play against the best teams on the league, and somehow coming out alive from it, her agent had presented her this deal, suggesting that it was a good way to relax and forget about it all. Mila had always enjoyed photoshoots and had lots of fun doing them, but this one was different. She wouldn’t be posing on her own, she would have a partner. And that partner was Rúben.

The Portuguese issues of Women’s and Mens’ Health had decided that they wanted them both on their covers. Each of them would have an individual one, but also a shared one, and she couldn’t say no to it when everyone knew they were best friends. What excuse will she give them, that she couldn’t do it because they were falling in love with each other and things had gotten awkward between them?

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“Ok, so this is how it is going to work” the photographer says. “We will start with Rúben while you Mila get ready since it takes you a bit longer, and then while he changes, we’ll take your photos. We’ll mix you both so you are ready and feeling more relaxed for the photos together.”

“Sounds good” Rúben says.

“Ok” Mila mutters.

When they met at the studio, they somehow managed to make it look as if they had seen each other the day before, no one suspecting that it actually had been weeks, and that they had only spoken through texts messages. Because not even their agents knew what was going on between them.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“How is it possible that she looks even more hot now than before the summer?” Rúben’s agent whispers to him while they watch Mila work in front of the camera. She had always been a natural, and watching her move was almost hypnotizing.

“Careful with what you say.”

“Sorry, sorry” his agent laughs. “You know I’ve always fancied her. But sadly, she doesn’t feel the same.”

“Yeah” Rúben whispers, his eyes following every move Mila makes and thinking that it is actually true. She looks way hotter than the last time he saw her for more than just a few minutes, and he wouldn’t mind help her taking off the few clothes she was currently wearing.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“God, summer suits Rúben” Mila’s agent says to her while they watch him pose. It had been a while since she had seen him topless, and he may look even better than she remembered. “Do you know if he is seeing anyone?”

“What?”

“I don’t know, I thought I may shoot my shot” her agent shrugs. “I wonder if that’s the way he looks at you when is about to…” but Mila doesn’t hear the rest. She is too focused on the way he is tying up his joggers, on how low they are on his hips, on the way he is looking at the camera. He had looked at her like that before, and just the thought of it was making her feel very hot despite only wearing a crop top and a pair of shorts.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“Mila, I’m gonna need you to move closer” the photographer says. “Yes, that’s perfect.”

They had been shooting together for just a couple of minutes, but they both couldn’t wait for it to be over. Being this close, wearing barely any clothes, and touching the other, was torture.

“Rúben, put your hand on her waist. A bit lower… Good.”

“You ok?” Rúben whispers.

“Fine” Mila says. Though she wasn’t. She could feel her skin burning under his touch, the temptation to touch him back being almost unbearable. “You?”

“Good” he says, trying not to focus too much on how close her leg was to his, on how if he moved his fingers just a tiny bit, he could touch her butt.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“That was wonderful. The chemistry between you two is amazing” the photographer says once he has finally finished. “Now we are gonna have a very difficult time trying to pick which photos will make the cut.”

“Sorry about that” Rúben chuckles.

“Is there anywhere where I could shower?” Mila asks, looking for an excuse to leave. “I need to get rid of all this make up, I’m not used to it.”

“Oh, yes” the photographer says. “Lottie, could you please show Mila the bathroom?”

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“Rúben!”

“I am so sorry, Mila. I saw your agent leave and thought you had already finished showering.”

“She had to leave for a meeting. But I’m done, I just have to take off the make up on my face. You can shower if you want.”

“You don’t mind if we share?”

“We’ve seen everything that is to see, so” she shrugs, Rúben’s eyes not being able to stop looking at the way the tiny towel she is wearing moves up her legs, being too close to show more than it should.

“Ok then” he says, clearing his throat and closing the door behind him.

Once Rúben is inside the shower, Mila can’t help but look at him on the mirror’s reflection. The shower’s screen is completely clear, it doesn’t hide anything while you are inside, and she can see the way the muscles on his back are moving, whishing that she could run her fingers over them while he… “Ok, focus” she whispers to herself before washing her face with very cold water.

While he showers, Rúben can’t stop thinking about Mila wearing that tiny towel, on the fact that she is behind him. Slowly, he turns around just a bit to see her. She is leaning against the sink to see herself better on the mirror, the towel going up and showing enough of her butt to make him want to get out of the shower, move behind her and… “Ok, focus” he says to himself, turning around and opening the cold water.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“Everything alright?” Rúben asks Mila when they leave the studio.

“Yeah… It’s just that Ella is having a last minute date with Joe at her house tonight, and I can’t go back.”

“You can always come back home” he shrugs.

“You don’t have plans today?”

“Nope. Just eat something and watch tv.”

“Ok. I actually need to pick up some clothes, it is starting to get a bit chilly.”

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

"Rúben, where do you keep the extra tooth… Oh my God! Rúben!"

"What the fuck, Mila?"

"Jesus Christ, what are you doing?"

"What are you doing?" he says, covering himself with a pillow. "This is my room, you should have knocked before coming in."

"I'm sorry, I just never do it and I didn't expect to find you doing... That" Mila says, her face burning.

"What did you want?"

"Just... I just... Do you need a hand?" she asks him, completely forgetting why she had come to his room.

"A hand? What are you... Oh" Rúben says, his eyes growing wide when he realizes what Mila just implied.

"I'm sorry, I don't know why I said that. I should probably go" she says, starting to close the door.

"You said that because after today's shoot and that encounter in the bathroom, you are as horny and turned on as I am."

"I'm not..." But she is. She is very horny and turned on, and she can't stop thinking about him and his body on hers.

"You are not..." he smirks.

"Fine, yes. That's why I offered to help you with what you were doing. We clearly were going to relieve ourselves on our own, so why don't do it together?" she shrugs.

"I thought you were still figuring out things, that that’s why you are staying with Ella."

“And I am, but…”

“But?”

“But if I don’t get this out of my system, I won't be able to focus on what matters, so we better do something about it."

"Ok. So you give me a hand, and I give you..."

"Whatever you fancy as long as I get what I want."

"I'll think about it while you give me that hand" he miles.

"Oh please, stop saying that. It was embarrassing enough when I said it, I don't need to hear it again and again."

"Sorry" Rúben chuckles. "Take off your clothes, you'll be more comfortable."

"You can also stop covering yourself with the pillow” Mila says, closing the door behind her and starting to undress. “No need to hide anymore."

"We’ve seen everything that is to see” he says, quoting her own words from earlier today. "Come here. If you keep standing there looking beautiful and naked, I don't know how long I'll last."

"So demanding" she smirks, her eyes focused on his as she kneels at the end of the bed, slowly moving towards him.

"If you tease me, I'll tease you."

"I don't mind" she replies, moving her hands up his thigs, his body tensing.

"That's what you say now. But once it's my turn, you will definitely complain like I am doing right now."

"I won't."

"You..." but he isn't able to finish that sentence, a moan scaping his lips the moment Mila touches him.

#ruben dias #ruben dias fanfic #ruben dias imagine #football fanfic #football imagine

74 notes · View notes