#people will be like 'if the attraction is mutual then what about her dislike are you saying-'
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I’ve been thinking about the development of Elizabeth’s feelings for Darcy in P&P, and one of the things I find really intriguing is how incredibly careful Austen is in her handling of their physical attraction to each other.
A lot of takes on Darcy’s initial attraction to Elizabeth focus entirely on the physical element, but Austen’s description of it folds together his attraction to her intelligence, her expression, her body, and the “easy playfulness” of her manner. Of these, the earliest mentioned is his realization that her face is “rendered uncommonly intelligent by the beautiful expression of her dark eyes” and her eyes are the physical feature that he seems to dwell on the most.
At any rate, Darcy’s attraction to Elizabeth is established early on (Ch 6) and continues as a thread from that point on. And—I mean, even in 1813, it’s one thing to show a man in his twenties being attracted to the pretty heroine. Austen is a lot cagier about Elizabeth’s feelings.
The narrative is structured so that we know Darcy is physically attractive from his entrance in Ch 3, when the narrator refers to “his fine, tall person, handsome features, noble mien” along with his wealth. But we’re not in Elizabeth’s head at that point, and iirc, she isn’t shown as saying or thinking anything about his physical attractiveness until she blushingly agrees that he is very handsome forty chapters later.
Even there, Austen leaves the dialogue to stand on its own and tells us nothing of what Elizabeth actually feels about it. The conversation moves to Darcy’s personal virtues, which reveal the critical fact that Darcy is consistently kind and good-natured in the domestic sphere. So Elizabeth’s concession that Darcy is physically attractive is narratively linked to the suggestion that he would make a safe husband, emotionally speaking (although her concession comes first, which may be significant).
Between the initial, omniscient narrator-type description of him and Elizabeth agreeing in Ch 43, we do get references to his looks a few times, but during the period of Elizabeth’s dislike, it’s always either through implication or through someone around Elizabeth rather than Elizabeth herself. So Bingley, for instance, jokes about how Darcy is so much taller than he is, but the narrator only remarks on Elizabeth’s assumption that Darcy is offended by this.
We know that Elizabeth looks for a resemblance to Darcy when she first sees Lady Catherine, and finds it, but this isn’t explicitly linked to her conclusion that Lady Catherine might have been handsome in her youth.
Then there’s the introduction of Colonel Fitzwilliam, when he arrives with Darcy, as “about thirty, not handsome, but in person and address most truly the gentleman.” Obviously the contrast is with Darcy, who is handsome but has less gentlemanly manners, but this isn’t explicitly spelled out. Austen simply says that Darcy “looked just as he had been used to look in Hertfordshire” and moves to the manner of his compliments to Charlotte.
We do get an explicit contrast later, when Darcy, Georgiana, and Bingley come to Lambton (so, after the critical revelations):
Miss Darcy was tall, and on a larger scale than Elizabeth; and, though little more than sixteen, her figure was formed, and her appearance womanly and graceful. She was less handsome than her brother; but there was sense and good humour in her face
Austen breezes past this to Georgiana’s manners and Bingley’s arrival. There are a couple of discussions of Darcy’s appearance earlier at Pemberley, but entirely held between Mr and Mrs Gardiner, who admire his figure while Elizabeth is consumed by embarrassment. She mentions that it was obvious that he had only just arrived via horse or carriage, but not how she knows this or what she feels about it beyond repeatedly blushing.
Then they meet again, he interacts with the Gardiners for awhile, and Elizabeth and the Gardiners leave. The Gardiners discuss the encounter including Darcy’s appearance, and Mrs Gardiner—who at this point, still thinks Darcy has mistreated Wickham—first concludes that Wickham is handsomer, then immediately re-considers and decides that Darcy has perfect features, but not Wickham’s angelic countenance. She (Mrs Gardiner) goes on, “He[Darcy] has not an ill-natured look. On the contrary, there is something pleasing about his mouth when he speaks.”
Elizabeth does not opine on Darcy’s mouth, lol, and instead defends Darcy’s moral character as far as his financial dealings with Wickham are concerned. We don’t hear much more of it apart from that, and in general, we see Elizabeth’s reactions to Darcy more than we hear about them:
Their eyes instantly met, and the cheeks of both were overspread with the deepest blush.
She blushed again and again over the perverseness of the meeting.
The colour which had been driven from her face, returned for half a minute with an additional glow, and a smile of delight added lustre to her eyes, as she thought for that space of time that his affection and wishes must still be unshaken.
Darcy had walked away to another part of the room. She followed him with her eyes, envied everyone to whom he spoke, had scarcely patience enough to help anybody to coffee; and then was enraged against herself for being so silly!
The colour now rushed into Elizabeth’s cheeks in the instantaneous conviction of its being a letter from the nephew, instead of the aunt
She had only to say in reply, that they had wandered about, till she was beyond her own knowledge. She coloured as she spoke
I do not personally think there can be much reasonable doubt about whether Elizabeth is attracted to Darcy during this phase of the book. But the narrative does dance around it enough (for understandable 1813 reasons, I suspect, given that Elizabeth either dislikes or hates Darcy for a significant portion of the book) that it’s not at all clear when she begins to finds him attractive, especially given that she does not actually see him between receiving the letter and acknowledging his attractiveness at Pemberley. So I think there are multiple valid interpretations or headcanons one could come up with for that.
#fun fact: i started writing this bc i was like 'i want to make a post about something trivial i can be concise about'#rip me i guess#but tbh my personal headcanon is that elizabeth /is/ attracted to darcy for a lot of the book but NOT remotely 'secretly in love' or w/e#people will be like 'if the attraction is mutual then what about her dislike are you saying-'#nope! she hates him. in fact she only hates him more bc he's smart and hot and complicated.#in addition to her conviction that he's a terrible person morally#and then she finds out he's actually okay and then that he's actually GOOD and then that he's made himself even better#elizabeth: i tried infatuation at first sight with wickham. now i shall try grown-up feelings like respect and gratitude#three days later: alas... i could have loved him...#some indeterminate amount of time without actually seeing him later: ...oh. fuck.#(i paraphrase. but honestly while elizabeth's realization that half her sleepless nights are darcy's fault is sad it is also very funny)#but yeah i think elizabeth is extremely wary of where attraction to emotionally unsuitable people goes and just buries all that#but once hte brakes go off she falls FAST#also she's genuinely attracted to three different men over the course of one pretty short novel and i love that for her#anghraine babbles#anghraine's meta#austen blogging#elizabeth bennet#fitzwilliam darcy#otp of otps#pride and prejudice#jane austen#long post
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Some Odd Numbers are Even // CL16 & MV1
Pairing: Charles Leclerc / Original Female Character / Max Verstappen
Summary: Max knows that he's always been in love with his best friend, even if she was driving for the enemy, and he could live with that, but her dating the rival he has a crush on it's where he draws the line.
Warnings: Some angst, but they all take it like champs. Max kisses people when he's drunk. Some sexual comments.
Author’s Note: I had to work on this one a lot to make it fit the theme of the blog, but it motivated me to keep editing my stories, this is the beginning of everything. Rate: +18
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When Max Verstappen met Y/N he was the most hormonal 15 years-old on Earth, or at least that's how his father called him, always running around chasing girls instead of focusing on what was important. He has to admit that his head wasn't filled with the purest thoughts when they got introduced by their mutual friend, Pierre, but when she humiliated all the boys on the track winning by almost twenty seconds, he knew he fell hard. She called him her best friend the second time they hung out and, to Max's dismay, their destiny seemed to have been sealed. Best friends. He hated it, but he would take what he could get. With time, he learned to live with it. She was the first person he told he was feeling "confused", as he initially called it, and then the first he decided to let know that he was bisexual when he finally understood it. He was glad that she took it great and she was kind of surprised that he ever thought she could get mad about him liking people. They enjoyed gossiping around and sharing their opinions on the different people they liked, but he never dared to tell her how he felt about her. She has had at least five boyfriends and countless one-night stands since they met and everything always ended up in heartbreak for her. He spent years wanting to scream "I'm here, just look at me", but she never looked his way, at least not like he wanted. Still, he tried to be supportive, because she still was his best friend and his massive crush on her wasn't her fault. He was supportive when she dated that weird dude from Canada who was obsessed with her hair, when she told him that she wanted to learn how to play the guitar and when she decided that she wanted to drive for Mercedes in F1. He was still a little pissed off that she signed with Mercedes, but he took it like a big boy.
However, there was something they could never see eye to eye about and that something was actually a someone: Charles Leclerc. Max and Charles had quite the history when it came to their relationship, they were rivals above all but, unknown to Charles, the monegasque was also Max's bi awakening when they were 16. The dutch took his time getting there, but he ended up understanding that even though he was constantly wanting to rip Charles' head off, he also find him attractive. Of course, that didn't make Max like the other, he knew the difference between finding someone good looking and liking them at all. Would he have sex with Charles? Probably, in another universe. Did he stopped disliking Charles? No, definitely no. But his best friend adored Charles. Y/N could write a whole encyclopedia about Charles, she was in love with him, but Charles was that unreachable entity that never looked at her as more than Pierre's friend. He was always nice to her, attentive, charming, funny, even warm. He liked her, not the way she liked him, but he liked her anyways. The three of them were trapped in this weird triangle and Max hated it. He hated Charles for getting the attention he wanted and for getting even hotter with time. But for Max things only got worse.
They were all 24 and it was the first time in a long period that the three of them were single simultaneously. Charles had broken up with his girlfriend of two years before the start of the season, Y/N was on a celibacy run since the beginning of the year and Max broke up with his latest boyfriend who he only dated for three months. On the first race of the season he noticed that the Ferrari driver was a recurring character at the Mercedes garage. For a moment, Max thought that Charles was considering moving to Mercedes, but he soon found out that the Ferrari driver had other intentions.
"... And then I said "I'm coming on your camera, mate". Never felt so stupid in my life". Y/N laughed at Charles' story and Max could feel his blood boil inside his veins. "But well, at least I wasn't the one who suggested to milk the goats on Goat Simulator". He added softly looking at George Russell, Y/N teammate, and making the girl giggle.
"Good to know you're funny, Leclerc, now you can make a career in stand-up when you finally fail making one in racing". Charles rolled his eyes and then smirked.
"Look at that, Mr. World Champion is scared of a little competition". Charles taunted him. "What is it, Verstappen? Afraid of me stealing the title this year?"
"Okay, enough of the testosterone battle". Y/N cut them off before Max could reply. "Neither of you got the bigger stick".
"Are you sure about that, Cherie?". Max was five second away from murder. The wink was like playing with fire, but Charles did it anyways. The championship wasn't the only thing he was stealing from Max that year. "Never say things like that without proof".
That same night, around 4 am, Max opened his hotel room to an extremely happy Y/N: "You won't guess who helped me break my celibacy streak". Well... he could guess.
By summer break Charles and Y/N were officially the paddock's favourite couple, for everyone except Max. He was furious about it, and Charles fighting him the championship so closely wasn't exactly helping. Even the fans could see how much Max resented the relationship between his known best friend and rival. Every podium, cool down room and interview that included the two was filled with drama. Petty comments, eyes rolling, arms crossed and even once, Max calling Charles an idiot. But what Max didn't want to admit was that the more he was forced to spend time with Charles, the more he started to like him. He was funny and Max found himself having to suppress a laugh at one of his jokes more than once. He was also extremely good at racing and that was something that Max liked, it was the first thing that made him fall for Y/N in the first place. Also, his best friend was constantly telling him how nice Charles was to her: romantic, loving, caring. And even if Max didn't like it, he could see that Charles actually cared about Y/N, he could see that Charles was in love with her. It broke his heart, it pained him like anything before. He thought he could take it, that he was mature enough to let her go and be happy for her. But he couldn't, so he decided to put some distance, to take care of himself and protect his heart.
The second part of the season was intense. Max won his second championship, but he had put so much distance between him and his best friend that she wasn't there to celebrate with him. She was at the Ferrari garage, hugging a defeated Charles and running her hands up and down his back. The monegasque had the prize that Max wanted the most and, suddenly, the award on his hands wasn't that important. Not when she was there, supporting him. It hurt to watch, her kissing Charles and hugging him tight. Charles smiling at her, nodding his head as he accepted her words of encouragement. She was probably giving him the same speech she gave Max when he first started in F1. "You're more than enough". "Your time will come". "You have what you need to be a champion". He could remember it like it was yesterday when she would ran her fingers through his hair, his head on her lap, softly crying, the ghost of another DNF haunting him. It always worked though, her mumbled sweet words, fixing his broken ego and shattered heart. No matter the distance, Max just couldn't let her go and now he had nothing, not even his best friend. Around Christmas he had come to the conclusion that the main reason why he hated Charles and Y/N's relationship so much was because he didn't know if he wanted to be her to date Charles or be Charles to date her. He liked them both, and if learning he was bi was shocking back in his teenage years, addressing the fact that he liked two people at the same time was even more. So he did what he did best when it was off season, he got drunk. Shit-faced drunk, so wasted that he couldn't remember his own home address.
The red door in front of him was familiar and for a moment he wondered if he actually made it home. That door made him feel home, somehow. He knocked on the door a few times. His head was spinning and thinking hurt his brain. The door swung open, his best friend was looking up at him worried from the other side of it. He didn't think it through, he just grabbed her face and smashed his lips on hers. For a moment, he thought he could feel her kiss back, but as quick as the kiss started, it ended. With a mumbled "You don't know what you're doing" and sad expression on her face, Y/N led him inside and dropped him on the couch. Charles was sitting there, without a shirt and looking at him with a pissed off expression. Max had lost whatever self control he had and the words just started pouring out of his mouth like a river.
"What are you looking at, Leclerc?". He asked, words slurred.
"You just kissed my girlfriend". Charles knew it was pointless to argue with Max on that state, but he was as angry as his face showed.
"Deal with it". Max rested his head on the back of the couch and closed his eyes. "And put on a shirt, for fuck's sake, or I'm kissing you too".
For Max, there weren't many feelings worse than a hungover. It was easily on his top 5, along with heartbreak, losing at basically anything, visiting his father and eating tuna, not in that specific order. He did the best he could to look around but the sunlight was burning his eyes off, figuratively, but he felt it literally. The feeling of the furniture underneath him was oddly familiar and the smell in the air was definitely Y/N's. For a moment, he closed his eyes and decided to go back to sleep, satisfied with the feeling of being home. Suddenly, he remembered that he shouldn't be there. Sitting straight up, he found himself ready to throw up from the sudden movement. He took a look at his surroundings, Y/N's home was different from when he last remembered, a few months back. A lot of Ferrari merchandizing adorned the living room and a few framed pictures on the walls showed Charles' smiling face. Max felt the pain in his chest when he noticed that she still had up all of their pictures together. He was the most horrible friend on Earth, she loved him and he pushed her away. A picture in particular caught his attention, it was a podium from the first half of the season, in Silverstone. The three of them got into the podium on that occasion and Max had agreed to take the picture without much drama. Y/N was in the middle and both Max and Charles had their arms around her waist. They all looked genuinely happy. Max couldn't help but feel like he messed everything up, he was the only one to blame for that being the only picture they all had together. The only one, and Y/N had it hanging on her living room like it was a moment as cherished as the other life changing moments hanging on those walls. He couldn't take it anymore, he had to get out of that house. He picked up his phone and wallet from the coffee table, but his keys were nowhere to be found. He searched the whole living room desperately for almost fifteen minutes.
"You're awake". Max stopped moving at the voice of Charles ringing through the air, deep and raspy from sleep. The dutch was currently kneeled in front of the couch, trying to see if his keys were underneath it, and his back was facing Charles. He took a deep breath before he stood up and faced him.
"Yeah...". Was the only thing that Max could manage. He wanted to spit a mean comment, say something sassy enough for Charles to go away, but after seeing all of the monegasque's belongings so naturally laying around the house he didn't have the heart to disrespect him in what was undoubtedly his home.
"You had quite the night last night". Charles walked further into the living room, looking at Max with a puzzled gaze. "Do you remember anything from it?"
"Well, the last clear memory is downing something that tasted awful". Max scrunched his face remembering the taste.
"You came here around 4 in the morning-". Charles stopped talking suddenly. His tone insinuated that he had planned to say more, but he backed out last minute. He was visibly tense.
"I'm sorry". It was the first time Max had ever apologized to Charles in over ten years knowing each other.
"For how long had you liked Y/N?". To say that Max was taken aback by the question would be an understatement. His hungover head tried to think of an excuse, something that could spear him from admitting the truth. Charles could practically see the gears turning inside his head. "Don't bother lying. We know".
"We?". Max was pretty pale, but he managed to get paler.
"Listen". Charles relaxed a bit, moving closer to the couch. "You may don't believe this, but I actually like you, Max. I know that we don't have the best relationship, I'm willing to meet you half way, but I can't do that if you're not honest".
"There's no point in that anymore". Max admitted plopping himself on the couch. "She hates me. I'm the last threat to your relationship, Charles".
"She doesn't hate you. She loves you. Which is kind of awkward because she's my girlfriend". Charles sat next to Max on the couch, the other looking at him with a confused expression. "You kissed her last night".
"Fuck". Max hid his face on his hands. "I'm so sorry, Charles". Twice in less than 30 minutes?
"She kissed you back". There was this tension between them, neither knew what to do with the conversation. "We talked about it when we went to bed". Charles shifted on the couch. "It was an interesting conversation though. We freely left out some things we were hiding". Max sat straighter and looked at Charles, trying to show him that he was actively listening. "Like the fact that we both have had a crush on you for ages". That was something unexpected. "I know that I hasn't been the kindest guy to you through the years, and this doesn't excuse it, but it was really confusing when all of this started happening and I wasn't sure of what to do with it". Max remained silent. "You can say something, you know?"
"I don't know what to say". Max was perplexed. "I guess I just have so much to say that I don't know where to start".
"Morning". Y/N's voice softly entered their charged atmosphere. She walked to the couch and sat down, reading their conversation on their faces. "Are we talking about it right now?"
"I hope you don't mind, but we started without you, mon amour". Charles grabbed her hand and lightly squeezed it.
"I don't mind". She sighed deeply. "Max, we've talked and we want to propose you something". Max nodded his head. "We both really like you, like really like you-"
"Already went through that, amour, he's still processing it". Charles chuckled.
"Oh, okay. To the point then?". She asked mostly to herself. "We know that this is kind of weird and you may not be into it, Charles himself is still working on the idea, but we'd like to know if you'll be interested into adding yourself to this". She pointed between herself and Charles. Max kept quiet.
They waited patiently for Max to gather his thoughts, they knew that it was a lot to take in and they weren't aware of his crush on Charles, so there was also this fear of him not liking Charles back. They spent the night talking, went through all the options: ignore it, break up, take some time, open the relationship, and lastly, they ended up with the only option that made them happy. They both liked Max, they both wanted to be with him, but they loved each other and hated the idea of breaking up so one of them could date Max. Charles had a few contradictions with the idea, he was too wired into monogamy and found the idea uncomfortable, but at the same time he felt like it was the right choice, the one that could make him feel complete. He still had a lot to think about but he wanted to give it a try. Y/N was more open to the concept, she was more in touch with her feelings and less into monogamy than Charles.
"I have been in love with you for so long". Max said softly out of the blue. His eyes met Y/N's when she looked at him. "You have no idea. No idea how much I dreamt about you saying that back to me". He clicked his tongue. "Do you remember when I was 16 and I told you that I saw a guy and felt weird?". Y/N nodded her head. Of course she remembered when he first came out to her. "It was Charles. We had had the most intense race ever, I was just so pumped up, the adrenaline so high. And he took off his helmet and all I could think about was punching his face and then kiss it". Chales, who had been looking at his lap since Max confessed his love for Y/N, looked up at Max.
"For that long?". Charles asked. Max nodded.
"It was my bi awakening". The three of them laughed softly. The air became lighter around them.
"I always thought it was Pierre, you know?". Y/N told Max.
"Oh God, no! I mean I love Pierre, but c'mon, you both are more my type". Max said with more confidence.
"Does that mean that you're in?". Charles asked. Max looked between him and Y/N a few times and then smiled wide.
"Yeah, I'm in".
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Okay! So, this is the beginning of the relationship. remember that none of these stories are published in chronological order. They are just short stories about different situations those three went though. I hope you like it!
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Astrology Observations♟
Please do not repost any of my work on other social media platforms 🤍
Edit: please note that I’m attempting to be very neutral and I have not stated my personal opinions on her. However, Nicki Minaj is the PERFECT example of the effects of having a Scorpio Midheaven! People are obsessed with her. For better or for worse. The ‘Barbz’ have literally stabbed people, and beat up someone’s mother over her. Whilst, many musicians, and people in general cannot stand her, because they feel like she’s a bully. She is someone who is extremely polarizing. People become unhinged trying to defend her , whilst others enjoy the fact that there are large groups of people who strongly dislike her. This is the result of having a Scorpio Midheaven in a nutshell.
Whilst having Venus conjunct the Ascendant is often associated with “good looks” I actually think that it really helps with your reputation, and how people perceive you. I will use celebrity examples! Selena Gomez has an Aries Moon (this isn’t shade to Aries moons) and her mercury makes very difficult aspects (squares Pluto/ opposes Saturn) Thus, one would assume she’d be controversial or well known for her temper/outbursts & tendency to attract conflict. But the opposite is actually true, anyone who is perceived to be “shading” her immediately gets attacked, as most people think she’s very kind and genuine. Whilst she has admitted that her relationship with Justin was mutually toxic, most people just can’t seem to see her as the aggressor. Her Venus makes a conjunction to her Ascendant. Beyoncé, Rihanna, Anna Nicole Smith,Angelina Jolie are more celebrities with this placement. What I’m essentially trying to say is, people tend to give you more grace when your Venus makes a conjunction to your natal Ascendant.
It’s common to see people who have the ruler of their 5th house placed in the 10th monetize a creative hobby. Their career often involves making use of one of their creative/artistic skills. Working in the entertainment industries is very common with this placement. Working with children in some way, is also a possibility.
Libra on the 9th house cusp can suggest you studied law, political science, or anything that involves diplomacy at college. Alternatively, you could have trained to become an esthetician or a cosmetologist.
Chiron, Pluto, Mars & Saturn in the 11th house culture is rarely feeling as if your ‘friends’ have your best interests at heart. Having any of these planets in the 11th house can be extremely isolating! It can cause you to feel alone, or perhaps as if you struggle to find a group of people that you resonate with (on a friendship level).
A solar return year in which you have many 8th house placements, will be a year in which you experience many “life changing” moments. Most people fear having planets in the 8th house in their solar return, so they opt to travel to a different location on their birthday. However, I feel like this isn’t necessary! Change and transformation doesn’t always have to be viewed as bad! Sometimes we need change to elevate us in life.
A while ago, an Astrologer on YouTube stated that whenever she sees a Gemini rising, or Gemini placements in a composite chart, she automatically thinks there is cheating involved. I don’t know how I feel about this sentiment. She explained that because of the Dual nature of of the Sign Gemini; it more often than not represents a third party, or external influences that are influencing the relationship. I see where she’s coming from, but I don’t necessarily think it’s wise to always interpret it like that. I personally believe the aspects that are being made in the composite chart will tell you a lot more about what it’s likely to occur in the relationship. If there are tons of squares to Mercury, Venus, Neptune, Saturn & the chart ruler, I’m more inclined to believe that there is the potential for deception.
People with Juno in the 12th or a Pisces Descendent, often have a subconscious “savior complex”. They are usually highly compassionate, and might find that they have a tendency to attract people who have been wounded by life or those who lack boundaries.
A solar return year, in which you have planets in the 2nd,8th, & 11th houses, also known as the “money houses” can suggest that you will earn or receive a large amount of money that year. Alternatively, you may experience a significant change in your financial situation. You want to look at the aspects of course! (Trines & sextiles are more likely to manifest positively, whereas the conjunction can go either way).
When transit Uranus makes a square to your Natal Ascendant or Midheaven, those around you may view your newfound behavior as being strange or erratic. You are likely to go through many unpredictable changes during this transit consequently, you will start to experience changes in your personality, which will impact your relationships. You may find that you no longer resonate with the people around you, and abruptly decide to move, or make a change in your friendship circle. This is a very unpredictable time in your life, and your behavior will reflect this.
Trigger Warning: Eating Disorders (please don’t continue reading if topics like this make you uncomfortable. My intention is never to harm anyone or make anyone feel uncomfortable 🤍)
I’ve noticed that any kind of Saturnian influence over the 1st, 2nd & 6th house can bring about poor body image or restrictive tendencies when it comes to food. For example, having Saturn in the 1st, 2nd or 6th house! Or perhaps Saturn is negatively aspecting planets in those houses. Capricorn over these houses can also bring about a food complex. Obviously not everyone with Saturn in these houses will have a restrictive eating disorder, it’s just an observation so please don’t make it apply if it doesn’t 🤍
On the other hand, a Jupiterian influence on the 1st. 2nd, and 6th house can manifest as binge eating or turning to food as a coping mechanism. This can be having Jupiter in the 1st, 2nd, or 6th house. Alternatively, this dynamic can also occur when Sagittarius is over one of those houses.
#astrology tumblr#astrology observations#astrology#astro thoughts#astrologyposts#astro posts#astrology blog#synastry#astro notes#astro tips#astrology content#astrology tips#astro blog#astrologyreadings#astrology community#aries#spirituality#astrology readings#sagittarius#explore
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I find your analysis' really fun and I love how JKR, unintentionally created a narrative where drarry somehow has more chemistry than ginny who's literally forgotten in the 3rd, 4th books???? Like mam, if you want to build a romance then make them have actual conversations? I, myself like ginny and like the concept of hinny but the way JKR sucked at writing them infuriated me.
But anyhow, I also love drarry, though as much as I like and agree with your assessment; there is something I'll have to disagree with, and that is I don't harry found draco attractive. Because the thing with Harry is; no matter who that person is, my guy is really honest with how he views that person. Each time as he saw Riddle grow, my guy was like; hot damn. Also Cedric. Sirius. Bro literally calls regulus "not as hot as Sirius" so we are know Harry has never once found draco attractive. As for the gleaming eyes, pointy chin; well I also like giving my characters good description so people would understand what to imagine; I'm not making everyone simp on about everyone. promise!!!!!!
( I just like them falling in love after the war, and Idrc if they found each other good looking or not, I just don't like how people just take basic description of a character and says oh he describes how he looks, he must like him!!!!! No guys, he is just saying bro has a pointy chin and his eyes glows because he probably is gonna do something!!!!!)
I just wanted to get this out and I am not really active on Tumblr, and don't like posting. This is just me wanting to discuss this one hc😞 but I hope u have a good day and I adore ur hcs and analysis.❤️
Thank you! And yeah I feel like JKR really did Ginny dirty with the way hinny happened. I like book 5 Ginny so much more than book 6 and 7 Ginny. She deserved so much better than to be reduced to a love interest who is "Harry's perfect girl" to use JKR's phrase rather than someone who got to be her own fully realized character with a distinct personality and interests (as she was in book 5 before JKR overdid it trying to make her the ideal Love Interest TM). I think it would've been cool if she ended up with Neville since they bonded during their year at Hogwarts in book 7 and fought side by side and mutually respected each other as equals.
It just says it all that after the Battle of Hogwarts Harry doesn't have a single interaction with her. He immediately wants to spend time with Ron and Hermione because he feels a deep bond with them but just vaguely thinks that there will be time to talk with Ginny later. He isn't even sitting by her at the table because it's Luna who is next to him and offers to create a distraction so he can leave.
As for Harry's descriptions of Draco, I'm going to push back on that although of course everyone is perfectly entitled to their own interpretations. The thing is, Harry is extremely judgmental about people's looks and insults the appearances of all the other Slytherins. A lot. But he NEVER does that with Draco. Ron does. Ron insults Draco's looks all the time. But Harry never goes along with it or agrees and his internal monologue and descriptions of Draco are notably lacking the insults he directs at almost every other member of Draco's House as well as other people he dislikes.
But that's not because he isn't looking. Because he is. A LOT. He doesn't just describe Draco's looks. He dwells on them. Repeatedly. We know SO much about how Draco looks because Harry CONSTANTLY notices and mentions it in his internal monologue. Draco's grey eyes are mentioned repeatedly in every book. As is his sleek blond hair. Harry doesn't even mention Ron's eye color once till book 7, but we get multiple descriptions of Draco's eyes down to the exact shade - specifically pale grey. And same for his hair - along with observations about how it gleams in the sunlight. Even when Harry's in danger he takes a second to check out how Draco's looking. And that is at odds with how he describes other characters.
He never calls Ginny pretty or beautiful either but he does seem to have at least some level of physical attraction to her and often describes her hair...and that's pretty much it. Yeah I'm pretty sure that relationship fizzles once the peace happens. (I've read very compelling metas on Harry being gay and I think there's a lot there though personally I do still read him as bi but with a strong preference for men).
Draco is someone that Harry would not get together with till after the war. And I don't think he wants to acknowledge, even to himself, that he is attracted to him. But he sure spends a lot of time repeatedly noticing and describing and thinking about Draco's appearance in a way he doesn't with other characters. Something is making him look. And I think that something is attraction.
Now obviously this was completely not JKR's intent. The problem is that she wrote the story from Harry's POV not from the POV of an omniscient third person narrator. So while she didn't mean to make Harry constantly notice all the cute guys and obsess over Draco's looks for 7 books that is accidentally what she did.
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Superman And Wonder Woman's Love Makes Perfect Sense — The Magnetic Attraction Between High Testosterone Men And High Estrogen Women Explained
Superman and Wonder Woman's romance may be fictional, but attraction between men with high testosterone and women with high estrogen is real.
Some things are meant to be — like Superman and Wonder Woman falling in love. Ever wonder why that is? Turns out, there's science behind this magnetism between high-testosterone males and high-estrogen females that makes Superman and Wonder Woman's romance more than just a fictional story.
Superman is the high-testosterone savior writ large.
An acute sense of justice and fairness are traits linked with the testosterone system in the brain. So Superman’s affiliation with the “Justice League of America” is an immediate tipoff to his personality type: a high-testosterone male, what I call the Director. He also looks like a Director.
Testosterone builds muscle—one of Superman’s outstanding traits. His angular jaw, high cheekbones, thin lips, and heavy brow ridges are also carved by testosterone. Oddly, these physical traits also signal his invulnerability—at least his imperviousness to disease. Testosterone is a caustic substance that jeopardizes the immune system; only men with a very strong immune system can tolerate high levels of this male hormone. Superman is among them.
Most importantly, this “Man of Steel” saves people he doesn’t know. Known as ‘heroic altruism,’ this willingness to confront severe danger to save a stranger is linked with elevated levels of testosterone. Directors want to be needed, to help, to “fix” the problems of the world. Superman personifies this primordial male role: the protector.
Wonder Woman exudes qualities built by estrogen.
She's what I call the Negotiator. This type is compassionate and nurturing; they seek peace and harmony, as Wonder Woman does. And I’m not surprised that she can talk to the animals.
Estrogen is linked with verbal skills, intuition, and the ability to read faces, postures, gestures, and tone of voice. All evolved to enable women to communicate with pre-verbal infants, even animals. Wonder Woman has these elevated estrogen qualities in spades.
Yet Wonder Woman is no doormat. She is highly independent, like many women. Moreover, with her social skills, she can be cunning. And she will fight. Indeed, when protecting their young, women can become far more dangerous than just about any man.
Wonder Woman seems to regard all good humans as her children. It is this genuine warrior spirit within a beautiful, tender-hearted woman that makes her the embodiment of all high-estrogen women–and a mythic creature to most men.
Superman and Wonder Woman are a classic match, the very high testosterone male and the very high estrogen female.
And they have many cultural and biological traits that will fuel their romance. People tend to fall in love with those of the same background.
Although Superman comes from a different planet, while Wonder Woman harks from an isolated island, both are aliens to our modern world. Both also have superhuman powers so each will understand the other’s strengths–including their mutual ability to fly. More importantly, Superman and Wonder Woman share the same values and goals–essentials to a good relationship.
They are both dedicated to truth and justice; both dislike wasting time on irrelevant, trivial, or boring matters; and both fight evil to save the good—traits shared by both the high testosterone and high estrogen types. Moreover, both value personal autonomy.
Each will find someone who is just as independent as themselves.
If their first kiss is novel and exciting, it might push Superman and Wonder Woman over the threshold toward falling in love.
A kiss is just a kiss? No way! A great first kiss can be thrilling—and trigger feelings of intense romantic love, due to the way the brain responds to novelty. Any kind of unique situation triggers the dopamine system. And dopamine is associated with feelings of romance.
The first kiss could also trigger sexual desire. Saliva has traces of testosterone, and men regularly like sloppier kisses, perhaps to transfer some of this male hormone and heighten the woman’s sexual response. Moreover, a woman’s breath and saliva change across her menstrual cycle, so with his sloppier kisses, a man may also be unconsciously trying to pick up this subtle hint of her fertility.
Is Superman a sloppy kisser? Perhaps we’ll find out.
In fact, the first kiss can be dangerous. In a study of 58 men and 122 women, 59% of men and 66% of women said that they had ended a romance after the first kiss. It was the kiss of death. Because as you kiss, you can see your partner clearly, as well as smell, taste, hear, and feel them.
Instantly these messages from your senses are picked up by five of your twelve cranial nerves and escorted directly to the brain. Here they detonate, providing vivid data about the person’s health, their eating, drinking, and smoking habits, and their state of mind–whether they are rough and impatient or tender and calm.
But if Superman and Wonder Woman like their first kiss, and turn into lovers, their kisses may trigger even deeper feelings for one another. Kissing among long-term partners raises oxytocin activity in the brain, producing feelings of trust and attachment.
Kissing a familiar partner also reduces the stress hormone, cortisol, contributing to this brain bath of pleasure, connection, and relaxation.
So kissing can trigger any one of three basic brain systems that humanity has evolved for mating and reproduction: romantic love, the sex drive, and/or feelings of deep attachment. And as Superman and Wonder Woman have their first kiss, they embark on one of Nature’s oldest—and most exciting–journeys.
But even Superman and Wonder Woman will have their problems.
She is a warrior, ready to kill her foes; he has killed and resolved never to kill again. Neither is likely to understand this fundamental difference in values.
Nevertheless, this is a natural complementary match.
Directors such as Superman want a mate who has the strength of character to stand up to their formidable personality. In Wonder Woman, the charming warrior, he has found his match. And in Superman, Wonder Woman will find a truly “good man.
Written by Helen Fisher Ph.D., a biological anthropologist and Senior Research Fellow at The Kinsey Institute and Chief Scientific Advisor to the dating site Match. She is the author of the book The Anatomy of Love: A Natural History of Mating, Marriage, and Why We Stray, among other titles.
#superman#wonder woman#superman and wonder woman#wonder woman and superman#dc comics#superwonder#supermanwonderwoman#power couple#clark kent#diana prince
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Adoration — kinkvember 2022
✦ pairing — roommate!Lip Gallagher x female!Plus Size Reader
✦ word count — 1.5k
✦ prompt — cheating.
✦ additional warnings — nsfw, slight angst, mentions of beverages, mentions of holidays, making out, dry humping.
✦ MINORS DNI
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You could see his lips moving and he could only possibly be talking to you. Lip often cursed at the TV for various reasons, but you could see on his face he was relaxed. Besides, the TV was off.
Tilting your head, you dropped the towel you were using to dry your hands onto the counter. “Sorry, didn’t catch the last part.”
He gave you a funny look as though he could see through you. Nodding upward, he asked, “What’s up with you today?”
You almost smiled at the question. Almost. “Nothing.”
“Was it Patrick?”
Lip always thought your boyfriend did something wrong. They barely interacted so you always assumed they just needed to get to know each other to get over their ridiculous suspicions. You had heard so many insane things from both, accusations so unfounded you worried you were going crazy and hearing them wrong, that you stopped counting.
“It was my sister,” you confided to him, hoping the explanation would ease his worries. Lip was convinced Patrick wasn’t good enough for you, whatever that meant. He furrowed his brow, staring at you and expecting you to elaborate. “I had lunch with mom today and the topic of the upcoming holidays came up… she said we wouldn’t do anything this year because I’m on bad terms with my sister.”
Amused, he motioned for you to go on with his hand. “And what did you do?”
“I called her, asked her to meet up and we kind of talked. Everything is supposedly fine for the family's sake, but I can tell she wanted to get something out of her chest.”
He pushed his tongue against his cheek, nodding as he walked behind you to reach a mug. “Maybe you should hear her out.”
Turning around so you could face him, you squinted. “You don’t mean that.”
He placed the empty mug on the counter and gazed into your eyes. “I hate when you fight with her, you get mopey.”
You twisted your mouth. “Mom’s ecstatic we’re cool now. I’m guessing you’re too? Oh, she said you’re invited, by the way.”
His semblance shifted, mood souring. “I hate third-wheeling.”
“Pat’s not invited,” you assured him. “You gotta find another excuse.”
Patrick could be invited, you were sure, but he would never attend. You were only dating and there was no reason for you to spend any holiday with his family or vice versa. It would have been sweet, but you had never talked about it even though you openly discussed your individual plans all the time. It didn’t help that your dad didn’t like him that much.
“It’s not an excuse,” Lip quickly defended himself. “ I like your family.”
“They like you too.”
“Too bad you hate me,” he teasingly said, taking the mug and moving it near the drip coffee maker.
You stuck your tongue out at him, making him playfully roll his eyes.
“You know I adore you, right?”
Lip was one of your favorite people in the entire world, you wished you had met him earlier in your life even though he insisted you would have disliked him back then.
“Yeah, yeah,” he jokingly dismissed your reminder. His hands rested on your shoulders as he added, “You know it’s mutual.”
This time you did smile. He gave you a short smile of his own and his eyes didn’t leave your face for a while. Eventually, you started to suspect he wasn’t really looking at you or at anything in particular.
Waving your hand in front of him to get his attention, you couldn't help but laugh. “What are you thinking about?”
“About fucking you into the couch,” he said, as though it was a normal occurrence.
As though he knew there were times you had found yourself wishing Patrick's hands were his. You loved your boyfriend, but you weren't blind, Lip was attractive, 'just your type' according to your sister, whatever that meant.
His voice made your skin warm in the mornings and at first, you blamed it on being used to his presence after almost a year and a half of living together. But as he said that, as he admitted he thought about fucking you —for whatever reason, a reason you didn't want to know, and perhaps not even entertain— his voice did more than warm your skin.
Your hands burned at the desire to touch him, to trace his shoulders and bury your fingertips in the dips of his body. More than that, your skin tingled, yearning to be touched by him.
You hated that you could see it clear as day, Lip pinning you to the couch, holding your arms to your head as he plunged in and out of you.
“What are you thinking about, huh?” he teased you.
“About you fucking me into the couch.”
Saying it loud didn’t make it less real, or shameful, and his lack of answer told you he wasn’t expecting that. He always had something to say, except when you needed him to talk, of course, except when you needed him to be reasonable and leveled about something both of you were old and mature enough to control.
You rushed to say, “We wouldn’t go through with it—”
He interrupted you with a smothering kiss, hands grasping your face. The shock wore off, perhaps too quickly, as you brought a hand to lay on his shoulder while the other rested at the base of his neck. Trying to match his intensity, devouring his mouth for a moment before relinquishing power, you found that going through with it was pretty easy.
Kissing him was easy, so fucking easy in fact that you should have done it sooner if only to scratch the itch.
Heat radiated from his lower body and seeped into yours as he pressed himself to you as his hands lowered to grip your plump waist.
He guided you away from the kitchen, forgetting about the coffee maker he never got to even plug in. You both clumsily moved into the small living room, lips still attached and hands holding onto each other as though the body underneath your hold would disappear if you were to let go.
Slipping your fingers into his hair, you found that it was softer than it looked which prompted you to tug on it. He groaned against your mouth, pushing you onto the couch.
You broke the kiss, looking up at Lip in a trance as he hovered over you. He gazed into your eyes, expectant — you wished you knew what he wanted from you, that he would outright say it. Instead, Lip crashed his lips against yours again.
Leisurely, he dropped his weight onto you, making you feel every ripple of his muscles as he shifted to a comfortable position, overwhelming your senses in every single possible way.
Lip humped into you with soft rolling motions, rubbing you through your leggings and thin panties with his hard cock. You wished he wouldn't, you wished he would try to be rougher, to make it hard for you to think this meant something different.
You bucked your hips, desperate for more friction, grinding into your roommate at a frenzied pace. Lip's hands gripped at your hips, squeezing hard, meeting your movements by grinding against you almost in a rush.
Every shared kiss was sloppy, short and breathless, with teeth clashing in between in attempts to keep groans and moans in. You didn’t know whose hands wandered first, but your skin was set ablaze when his cold fingers slipped under your top.
Delighted with the feel of his bare back under your fingertips, you pulled Lip closer to you, pushing his cock to poke your thigh. You whined the exact moment he groaned, pulling away from your needy kiss with a thread of saliva still connecting your mouths.
His blown pupils as he slowly brought his eyes up to meet yours were more sobering than anything else he could have done. His lustful gaze, turning his sparkly eyes into a deep blue you couldn’t afford to get yourself lost in, made you shiver.
“We shouldn’t,” you panted.
He hummed and gave your body another squeeze for good measure.
You suppressed a moan, afraid you would cross yet another line if he did it again. “I have a boyfriend.” The reminder hung in the air and no matter how long you tried, you just couldn’t let it settle, not between you and Lip, and not within yourself.
“I don’t give a shit about your boyfriend,” he simply stated. You didn’t even pretend to be surprised. “‘m not forcing you, though. I’ll stop if that’s what you want.”
Squeezing the back of his head, you admitted, “I don’t know if I want you to stop.”
“I’ll stop, then.” He kissed your forehead. Your hands dragged down his body, almost in slow motion, as he pushed himself off you.
You stared up at the ceiling, chest heaving up and down as Lip walked away from the living room and into his bedroom. The door closed behind him.
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Wanna Be Yours | Modern Aemond AU
Aemond x Best Friend Reader
Warnings: literally just fluff, Aegon being Aegon
As always, thank you to my bestie @arcielee for beta reading this for me. You are the best & ilysm
Aemond, the cool, mysterious guy on campus, completely different from his loud and obnoxious brother, Aegon. Aemond's not shy, but he isn't talkative either, only making the conversation needed, never going out of his way to make small talk.
That’s how he became your best friend, sitting together in the library, enjoying the comfortable silence.
You’d occasionally help each other with essays, as you’d both realised after a few months that you took similar classes, they just happened to be at different times due to Aemond being the year below you.
You’d know of him for a while, often crossing paths with his annoying - but ridiculously hot, frat boy brother Aegon, who’d taken the same photography class as you.
The pair of you bonded over your mutual dislike for Aegon and his lifestyle. Distancing yourself from the party side of campus and enjoying the peace and quiet of the library on a Saturday evening.
That was until your friend Baela convinced you to go to the end of term frat party, begging you to keep her company. She wasn’t much of a party girl either, but apparently missing the ‘party of the year’ was a disgrace.
You rolled your eyes and reluctantly agreed, dragging Aemond along with you for support. At least you’d be miserable together.
Upon arriving, you instantly regret your decision. The house was packed and your anxiety through the roof. You didn’t know these people, and from the events in front of you, you didn’t want to.
Everyone had clearly been drinking for hours before you got there.
Forcing your worry at bay, you grabbed Aemond’s hand and made your way towards the kitchen for drinks, losing Baela to her long term crush Jace on the way. You rolled your eyes at Aemond who smiled back. “Are you really surprised?” He spoke, smirking. You shook your head in response, making your way into the kitchen.
The smell of alcohol hit your senses as you walked into the room, various concoctions abandoned over every counter. “You came!” A voice you both knew all too well bellowing behind you. Now it was Aemonds turn to roll his eyes.
“Aegon,” Aemond responded to his brother grumpily.
“Let me make you some drinks,” Aegon grabbed two red cups before you could refuse. Aemond sighed, already planning to pour whatever Aegon would make down the sink as soon as he was out of sight.
“Looking good tonight Y/N,” Aegon smiled, making you blush heavily.
“Not too bad yourself, Targaryen,” you replied, making Aemond want to throw up in his mouth.
Although you’d always thought Aegon attractive, Aemond was the brother you’d fallen for. Not that you’d ever admit that.
Aegon handed you a shot each, grinning with already hazy eyes.
“Fuck it,” you spoke as you downed your shot, wincing at the burn in your throat.
Several shots later, you began to feel the buzz of alcohol settling in as you took in Aemond’s features.
You couldn’t help but stare as the alcohol pushed away your previous anxieties, Aemond’s lips looking all too inviting.
“Hopefully that will give you some confidence with your girl, brother,” Aegon teased, making Aemond glare at him.
Your face immediately went red, staring at Aegon like a deer in headlights. Aegon looked at you, confused for a moment. “What, you mean she really doesn’t know?”
“Aegon,” Aemond warned his brother, anger filling his eyes.
“Wow, guess she’s free then, I don’t have to worry about doing this” Aegon retorted, grabbing your hand and pulling you away from Aemond before you could register what was happening.
You held Aegon's hand as he walked you through the party, with everyone’s eyes on you and the frat king.
Registering what had happened, you pulled your hand away from Aegon’s angrily. “Aegon, what the fuck,” you shouted, your outburst causing more people to stare.
“Shut up and come with me okay” he spoke, grabbing your hand once more. “I’m doing you a favour.”
You looked confused but followed along with whatever plan Aegon had, the shots clearly clouding your judgment.
Within a few moments you were on a quiet deck at the back of the house, free from loud music and drunk college students.
“Aegon, what was that,” you demanded as he flopped down on an outdoor sofa.
“You don’t know?” He questioned, clearly amused by your confusion.
“Enlighten me,” you sat down next to him.
“My brother has been in love with you for as long as he’s known you.”
Your cheeks instantly heat up at Aegon's words. Shaking your head involuntarily. “No he doesn’t, we’re friends, best friends,” you insisted.
Aegon laughed unkindly.
“Y/N, the way my brother looks at you does not imply he sees you as ‘just friends’,” Aegon states, almost spilling his drinks at the air quotes he imitates.
“Then why wouldn’t he tell me,” you almost whisper. You feel confused, embarrassed that you didn’t notice all this time.
“Because…he’s a pussy,” Aegon spoke nonchalantly, making you hit him gently.
“Wait, if he likes me, why are you making him think we’re getting together right now?”
Aegon only shakes his head in response, disappointed at your naïveté.
“I’m making him jealous,” Aegon looks directly at you, “it’s the only way he’ll confess his true feelings.”
Instead, you stand up to find Aemond, to apologise to him for everything, for making him think that you’d choose his brother over him.
“Wait,” Aegon pulls your arm. “Give it a couple more minutes, you need to get him really riled up, trust me.”
You sit in silence with Aegon, watching the clock on your phone as you wait.
“I’m going,” you state after five minutes. Aegon only smiles. “See ya sister-in-law,” he shouts as you walk away.
It takes several minutes before you locate Aemond. He left the messy, people covered house, and was sitting on the curb outside.
“Aem,” you try to shout, suddenly feeling awkward about the situation.
Aemond turns around immediately at the sound of your voice, standing up from his seat on the pavement.
You look beautiful, your dress showing your figure perfectly, your hair cascading down your shoulders.
Your eyes light up from the glow of the party indoors and he wonders why he hasn’t done this sooner.
He walks towards you quickly, meeting you in the middle of the driveway as he immediately cups your face, taking a moment to look into your eyes before crashing his lips into yours.
You immediately mould into him, the taste of sweet alcohol on his lips and you can’t help but smile into the kiss.
The pair of you pull away for a second, both grinning. You don’t need to speak, your eyes say everything you both feel.
“He’s still a twat,” Aemond breaks the silence, the smile not leaving his face.
“Yeah, but I guess he was right just this once,” you reply.
“Let’s go home,” Aemond says, before taking your hand in his.
#aemond x you#house of the dragon#modern aemond#aemond x oc#aemond targaryen#aemond fic#hotd aemond#aemond fluff#aemond x fem!reader#house of the dragon aemond#aemond x y/n#prince aemond
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"What, like partners?"
din djarin x male!bounty hunter!reader
Genre; yeah
Summary; Y/n L/n is a skilled bounty hunter desperate for work, which brings him to Nevarro looking for a job. He's met with a surprise when Greef Karga has him working with a man in shiny armor and fast reflexes.
Warnings; violence, implied PTSD, enemies to friends (sort of), implied mutual attraction
Author's Note; I tried writing this in 3rd person, I don't know how I feel about it, but if you guys like it this way let me know and I'll try writing like this more!
When Y/n L/n was truly desperate for work, he would turn to Greef Karga; magistrate of the Bounty Hunter's Guild on Nevarro.
It wasn't that Y/n didn't like Greef Karga - even though he didn't - he just had a strong dislike for the planet in general. It all annoyed him: the uncomfortably warm temperatures, the ashen ground that stuck irritatingly to the soles of his boots, and the Mandalorian that walked around with his shiney head held high like he was all the shit.
So, when Y/n found himself in a particularly tight debt, he was less than pleased when Greef Karga reached out to him, offering what he claimed to be the bounty of a lifetime. But, seeing that he had no other options - and was rightfully considered skint broke - he swallowed his pride and set his course for Nevarro City.
The people in the city were nice enough, considering they mainly stayed to themselves - aside from the Jawas, of course. It was ones that stayed hidden that Y/n had a problem with. He had caught glimpses of them before; their white, dulling armor flashing in the shadows. He held a great hatred for them, especially since he had fought so hard for so long, and lost so much, to rid the Galaxy of their kind.
At times, it did seem as if it had all been pointless, because Y/n had fought fiercely for peace, and ended up with nothing but a missing piece within him and a huge bounty on his head.
So Y/n L/n no longer went by his true name, instead, most knew him as N/n L/n: a name that Y/n had come up with when he was drunk in the corner of a cantina one time.
In fact, Y/n found himself drunk in the corner of cantinas as often as he could. Something about temporarily forgetting the pain and horror he'd gone through years ago was so seductive to him.
But he never let himself get drunk while he was in a cantina on business terms, as he presently was.
This cantina in Nevarro City was one where Y/n found himself regularly meeting Guild Magistrate, Greef Karga. Walking through the entrance, Y/n did his routine glance around the room, checking for threats, and seeing none deemed too harmful, as a large majority of them were fellow Guild members. Coming down the steps, he was greeted by Stacia, a regular Twi'lek waitress that continuously got on Y/n's nerves with the way she hovered around him like he was a thirst trap.
"N/n." She said in her breathy, flirty voice. "I was wondering when I'd see you here again."
Y/n offered a thin, painful smile. "You know me, Stacia. Always here on work." He attempted to step around her, but she was quick to block his path.
"Here, please, have a drink." She said, holding up her silver tray of drinks between them. "You look like you could use one.
"I don't have money on me." Y/n dismissed.
"Oh, that's not a problem." Stacia smirked flirtatiously and leaned forward. "Its on the house, sugar."
Restraining himself from from frowning, Y/n sighed quietly. "Fine." He snatched a fluke off of the tray. "Now, if you'd excuse me, I've got a fob to collect."
Without waiting for Stacia to reply, Y/n pushed past her and continued on his way through the cantina. After dropping the fluke of alcohol on a table filled with gamblers, he was quick to head towards the table where the Guild magistrate normally dealed out bounties.
Upon arriving at the table, Y/n found that the seat across from Greef Karga was already occupied. He stopped a few feet away from them hesitantly.
Greef looked up from his conversation and grinned upon seeing the bounty hunter lingering near them. "N/n! I was wondering when you'd arrive! Come, come sit." He pulled up another chair and gestured to it.
Hesitantly, Y/n approached the table. He looked down at the bounty hunter who occupied the usual seat. It was the Guild's own Mandalorian, the one that Y/n wasn't ever very fond of for reasons even him himself didn't really know. Y/n and the Mandalorian had never conversed much, besides the occasion greetings and farewells. The longest conversation they'd had was when Y/n overheard him complaining of a complication with the thrusters on his Razor Crest, in which Y/n had suggested a trustworthy mechanic there in Nevarro City that was worth checking out. Something had compelled Y/n to speak to the mandalorian that day, and the mysterious man had since been on his mind, though the bounty hunter didn't know whether that was a good thing or not.
"Mando." Y/n nodded in greeting.
The Mandalorian did the same. "L/n."
Y/n sat down in the third chair and looked over at Greef. "Was I interrupting anything?"
"Oh, not at all." Greef assured, but they way Mando's helmeted head cocked made Y/n glance his way.
"Um, I understand you wanted to offer a job?" Y/n asked Greef.
At that, Greef suddenly became a but tense. "Yes, about that..." Y/n narrowed his eyes questioningly. "I was just speaking to Mando here, he's coincidentally interested in the same job."
Y/n sparred a slow glance over at the Mandalorian. "How much could this job possibly pay?" He asked rhetorically and skeptically.
For a moment, Greff deadpanned. "More than you could imagine."
Y/n smirked slightly. "Well, I can imagine quite a lot."
"You get my point." Y/n let out a small sigh. Once again, he glanced at Mando, who he found to be doing the same.
"There's two of us." Mando said. "And one bounty. So, how's this gonna work?"
Cautious and discreetly, Y/n eyed the hand holding his forked long-range blaster in his lap. Then he temporarily became distracted due to the strangely alluring build that was the Mandalorian's thighs. He had really nice thighs. Greef looked between them both, and Y/n snapped his eyes up as he started speaking.
"Go together."
There was a moment of silence it which Y/n and Mando stared at Greef, who seemed awkward in the situation. Finally, Y/n let out a scoff, which turned into a chuckle.
"What, like partners?" Y/n said. He sniggered again. "Yeah...I don't do partners."
"Neither do I." Said Mando, his voice devoid of much emotion.
Greef sighed. "Boys, hear me out." He said. "From what this client has told me, it's not a one man job." Y/n narrowed his eyes slightly and leaned forward to listen. "He claims the target is heavily guarded, that it has many guards, close to fifty, maybe more. If what he says is true, one bounty hunter facing down all of that security wouldn't make it out alive." Greef shrugged. "So, when the client told me this, I thought, who better to trust then my two best bounty hunters, N/n L/n and the Mandalorian?"
Y/n didn't particularly like the sound of his name in the same sentence as Mando's, but he found it enticing at the same time.
"If you both decide to take this fob - and if you come back alive - you two can split the bounty. From what I've heard, the payload will be enough for you both to be set for a long while."
Y/n took every one of Greef's words in, considering them carefully. A bounty of this size, even when split in half, would be enough to pay off his debt, which was his main concern at the moment. On the other hand, he didn't know this Mandalorian, and couldn't trust whether or not he wouldn't just kill him the moment they collected the target.
Before Y/n was able to consider this proposition any further, the Mando spoke.
"I'm in." He said. "If L/n is joining."
Then Mando, and Greef, turned to look at Y/n, who sat under their stares, thinking intently, wiping his sweaty palms on his pants - he really wished the Mandalorian would stop saying his name with that deep voice of his. But then he remembered why they other two men were staring at him, and was faced with the decision of what to do. With the way things were going with him, he didn't have much a choice.
So, sighing in surrender, Y/n gave his answer. "I suppose I'm in as well." He turned and nodded at Mando, who returned the gesture. He focused back on Greef. "Well, let's see the puck."
Greef, while seeming pleased with the arrangement, pursued his lips. "No puck. Face to face. Direct commission." Seeing Y/n's raised eyebrow, Greef nodded, confirming his suspicions. "Deep pocket."
"Underworld?" Asked Mando.
"All I know is no chaincode." He sighed - so quietly that it was almost inaudible - and reached into his pocket to pull out a small white card with a barcode and other information on it. He held it front of them. "Do you want the chit, or not?"
Both bounty hunters stared at the card for a moment. Then, Mando reached out, and quickly took it from the magistrate's hand, then he stood up.
"Are you coming?" Mando asked Y/n, looking down at him.
Y/n glanced at Greef, then stood up. "Wouldn't wanna miss this." He muttered to himself, ticking his eyebrows and huffing in exasperation, and turned to walk out of the cantina with his new partner.
Almost immediately, Y/n wasn't very sure what to think of the Mandalorian. He barely spoke, and was always on guard. And not to mention how he seemed to be a mysterious person by nature. Y/n didn't like mysterious people. There was always something to fear from them. But on the other hand, there was always something so alluring about them, and maybe that was why Y/n kept seeing the Mandalorian tilt his helmet sideways, as if he was glancing at Y/n out of the corner of his eyes and trying to being discrete about it. Well, if that was the case, he was failing miserably.
The two of them didn't speak the entire time they maneuvered through the small crowds in the city's center, and slipped down a barren alleyway. Y/n was alright with their silence, though. It gave him an opportunity to think their situation over.
He thought it was suspicious that they were going to see the contact in person. It was alarming as well. It meant that there was more information that they required for the job, and that there would be certain conditions that they would have to meet. Y/n didn't like when there was rules.
They arrived at the building where the direct commission was supposed to be held roughly ten minutes after Y/n and the Mandalorian left the cantina. It was in a very secluded part of the city, which was never a good sign.
They stopped in front of the blank, grey door and stared at it. Y/n would by lying if he claimed he wasn't on edge.
The Mandalorian reached out and knocked on the metal door. Then not a second later a hatch on the side of the wall opened and a security scanner popped out.
Startled, and whipping his head to face it, Y/n's hand slung his blaster out of its holster, ready to shoot. Before he could raise the weapon, the Mandalorian's hand shot out and caught Y/n's wrist, keeping it down.
Y/n tensed, partially because he realized it was only a scanner, and partially because the Mandalorian had stopped him so quickly and calmly.
The scanner quickly spoke in Huttese, demanding a barcode for access. Letting go of Y/n's wrist, Mando pulled the chit from Greef out of his pocket, and held it up in front of the scanner. After scanning it, the scanner disappeared back inside the wall. Y/n sighed and quickly put his blaster back in his holster.
"You have fast reflexes." Said the Mandalorian to Y/n as they stood there waiting for the door to open.
Y/n glanced at him out of the corner of his eyes. "So do you."
"Are you alright?"
Y/n hesitated. Then he lied. "Yep. Just startled me, is all."
The Mandalorian wasn't stupid. He knew a lie when he heard one. But now wasn't the time to confront Y/n about it.
The door in front of them creaked rustily as it was opened for them to walk inside. The two bounty hunters exchanged a look, and then Mando stepped into the doorway.
Y/n hesitantly followed him inside and sighed. He had a bad feeling about this.
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-- bitchin n bustin <3
#Star wars#star wars fanfiction#Star wars fanfic#the mandalorian#the mandalorian fanfiction#The mandalorian fanfic#Mando#mandalorian x y/n#din djarin#din dijarn#din djarin x y/n#Din djarin x you#Din djarin x reader#din djarin x male reader#mando x you#Mando x male reader#Mand x reader#mando x y/n#din darjin#din djarin fanfiction#Bitchin-and-bustin
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Not Going Anywhere
Pairing - Jade Leech x Reader
Synopsis - Through a mishap on a school trip, you and Jade end up stranded in the middle of nowhere and are forced to stay the night at a local B&B (you know exactly where this is going).
Genre - (take a wild guess) enemies to lovers, fluff
Notes - this is very slightly based on the movie Leap Year because i watched it yesterday and if you haven’t seen it, you should, its super cute.
"This is all your fault, Leech!"
You crossed your arms and huffed as you turned away from Jade. He scoffed in disbelief and pinched the bridge of his nose in an attempt to alleviate the headache that was you.
"Oh, of course it is," he snarked, rolling his eyes at your stubbornness. “Though, it really does seem like we would never be in this situation if not for your ignorance.”
Your cheeks puffed up in annoyance and it took every ounce of self-control not to punch him outright. He always managed to get a rise out of you with his calmness when you knew that he was really just as unhinged as his brother.
You and Jade Leech had hated each other since the moment you met eyes. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. You had been immediately captivated by his patience and intelligence and you had marked him as the object of your attraction for about two minutes. As soon as you spoke a word to him, he told you he thought you were dull and not interesting enough to get to know. After that, you took every opportunity to show him how interesting you could be.
You made it your personal goal to annoy him as much as possible. It aggravated you how he always managed to deflect your quips so easily. If you hadn’t hated him, it might’ve only made you fall further. Your mutual dislike had evolved into a full-blown rivalry and because of it, you were now stuck in the middle of nowhere.
It was all Jade's fault. It always was. During the second year school trip, you had caught him sneaking away from the group suspiciously and followed him, determined to catch him in the act. He had spotted you and started arguing about why you were there and before you knew it, the whole group was gone along with your only way back to campus.
"What is your problem?" you laughed exasperatedly and turned back around to stare Jade down. "You always mess stuff up for me!"
"You are so arrogant, you know that?" He matched your intense gaze and smirked with his signature smugness. "Not everything is about you, Y/N."
You opened your mouth to retort but were interrupted by a heavy rumbling in the sky. You groaned upon seeing the grey clouds that had moved in during your argument. Jade blinked out of reflex as a wet droplet hit his cheek. The dark speckles slowly accumulated on the road, eventually building up into a downpour of rain. You raised a hand to shield your face from the rain as Jade started running for the nearest building. Upon seeing your lack of movement, he rolled his eyes and grabbed your hand, pulling you with him towards the closest light he could find.
Jade pulled you under the porch awning of what appeared to be a small B&B. You peered in the frosted glass windows, only making out the outlines of people against the warm light. You clicked open the door knob and, relieved to see it was open, pulled Jade inside with you.
The warmth immediately enveloped you like a blanket, washing away all your previous anxiety from being stranded. You and Jade stood there, catching your breath against the door frame until the clerk cleared her throat.
“Are you quite alright, dears?” She examined your sopping wet figures with concerned eyes. You smiled at her kindness as you walked up to the counter. “Are you needing a place to stay?”
“No, no, thank you,” Jade immediately responded, earning a jab in the arm from you. He turned to you with a look of confusion on his face.
“What?” he whispered under his breath while assuring the clerk that all was well. “We don’t need somewhere to stay.”
“Does that rain look like it’s going to stop anytime soon?” you whisper-yelled back at him, gesturing to the window, darkened by storm clouds. Jade rolled his eyes before taking a deep breath to regain his composure. You interrupted him before he could retort. “And before you say anything about going back to school, why don’t you take a second to remember why we’re here in the first place?”
He rolled his eyes, trying not to give away the fact that he was about to say exactly that.
“We would love to stay here for the night, ma’am. Thank you,” you smiled t the woman, ignoring Jade’s comment of “suck up”. “Just charge our room fee to Mr. Dire Crowley. This is all probably his fault anyway.”
The woman smiled and nodded before tapping something into her computer and leaning under the counter to fetch you a room key. She handed it to you and you took it graciously, expecting her to get another for Jade. You waited a bit too long before realizing she didn’t have two keys.
“There’s only one key,” you brought it to her attention and she nodded politely. You gestured to yourself and Jade. “And there’s two of us.”
Her eyes lit up in recognition and she waved a hand dismissively.
“I’m very sorry, we don’t have any other rooms available,” she smiled at you sympathetically as you stared at her in shock. "It shouldn't be problem for you kids though. You make such a cute couple!"
Your shoulders tensed up and you became painfully aware of Jade's hand in yours. You never even noticed that you hadn't let go. You pulled your hand away as quick as you could and glanced at Jade, trying to ignore the heat on your neck.
"We're not- I would never-" you stumbled over your words, trying to alleviate your embarrassment while not looking stupid in front of your arch-nemesis. You still managed to look stupid though, as he was completely calm through the entire endeavor, his crimson-tipped ears the only thing giving him away. "I wouldn't date him in a million years."
"Oh! I'm sorry then!" The woman averted her eyes in embarrassment and waved her hand at you. "We really don't have any other rooms though."
"Thank you, ma'am," Jade spoke up. You had to suppress a scoff at his fake kindness reserved only for victims and teachers. "We really appreciate your kindness."
The lady offered you a sympathetic smile as you practically shoved Jade up the stairs to your room.
---------------
You flopped down on the bed as soon as you had finished with your shower, relaxing into the cushions. You were about to fall asleep when you heard someone clearing their throat.
Jade raised his eyebrow at you from the end of the bed.
"And when did we decide that you get the bed?" he chastised, making you raise your head to meet eyes with him. You flipped him off and he laughed bitterly as you collapsed back into the pillow. "How about we flip a coin for it?"
You groaned and sat up on the edge of the bed. You ran a hand through your wet hair and glared at Jade, not noticing how he averted his eyes at your movement.
"Fine," you reluctantly agreed, ignoring the dropping of your stomach at his smirk. You recognized the smile from whenever he was about to swoop in on some innocent prey. You pulled a penny from your front pocket and held it in your palm. "We'll flip."
"Heads I win, tails you lose," said Jade as you flicked the penny upwards. You caught it in your palm and flipped it onto the back of your other hand. Heads. Jade flashed a toothy grin as you scowled. "Looks like you're sleeping on the floor, Y/N."
You pouted and grabbed a few spare pillows and a blanket from the closet, trying to make yourself comfortable on the floor. It was only then that you realized what Jade had done.
"Heads I win, tails you lose?!" you fumed at Jade, watching his expression change to playful laughter. It would've made you blush to see him so off his guard if you weren't already hot with anger. "You're a dirty cheater!"
"If I'm being honest, I didn't think that would work," Jade laughed into his hand, covering the smile you had only ever wished to see directed at you. "I thought you were smarter than that."
"I am smart! You're just... dumb," you grappled to come up with a good comeback while your embarrassment grew by the second. You composed yourself and put your hands on your hips demandingly. "Cheaters forfeit so I get the bed by default."
Jade barked in laughter at your declaration.
"Now who's cheating?"
"Don't dish it if you can't take it."
He rolled his eyes and sighed before plopping down on the floor and making himself comfortable. You wanted to feel proud of your victory, but you couldn't help but feel bad that he was left on the floor while you sat pretty in your queen size.
"You know," you started, causing Jade to look up at you. You couldn't bring yourself to look him in the eyes out of fear you would see his repulsion at you. "It is a pretty big bed."
"So it is," he offered gingerly, almost afraid to break the atmosphere you had created.
"And I'm not going to use all of it, you know?"
"Of course."
"I was just..." you stuttered the words, the anxiety building as you wondering how he might respond. "Do you want to share?"
Jade smiled in a way you had never seen before. It was teasing but not like the malicious smirks you had seen before. No, this was more playful, almost like... flirting?
"I thought you'd never ask."
He jumped onto the bed, making you laugh hysterically. He propped his head on his hand and stared at your face lit up with laughter. Eventually, you calmed down and looked over to see his tender gaze. It only lasted for a second before he resumed his normal, politely sarcastic smile.
"We should get to bed," Jade affirmed. You nodded your head, anxious to disperse the tension. You turned away from Jade, cursing your traitor face for showing the blood flooding your cheeks.
He turned his back to you and glanced over his shoulder, hoping to catch one last glimpse of you.
All your earlier exhaustion came flooding back to you as you snuggled into your blanket. Sleep came so quickly you didn't even feel the arm snaking around you waist.
---------------
Your eyes blinked open as the light from the window flooded your vision. You sighed and relaxed back into your bed. You rolled over and smiled as your head fit perfectly into Jade's neck.
Wait a second.
You jolted awake as you remembered where you were; the rain, the B&B, Jade Leech, it all came flooding back to you. You didn't process the stirring figure next to you until Jade was already partially awake and pulling you closer. You tried to escape his grasp but his arm held firm around your stomach.
"Stay," he mumbled, soft and drowsy enough to make you shudder. He was vulnerable, exposed in a way you had never even imagined was possible. You relaxed into Jade's touch and closed your eyes again.
"Okay," you whispered, barely loud enough for him to hear. You took a deep breath and felt your head sink into your pillow. "I'm not going anywhere."
#twisted wonderland#twisted wonderland x reader#twst#twst x reader#disneytw#jade leech#jade leech x reader#octavinelle
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Jihyo (TWICE) - Kinky Tarot Reading
Disclaimer:
All celebrity readings have purely entertainment nature
I don’t know any of the celebrities personally
Don’t base life decisions purely on tarot readings
I can never guarantee any of what’s said in the reading
Feedback: Feedback is very important for content creators and for me it’s even more important. Please, let me know whether the tarot readings resonate. If there’s anything you dislike or find off about my readings (like wording, topics, focus), just tell me. I don’t want you to write 1000-word feedback, very simple comments will do for me to stay motivated. I don’t know why I have to keep repeating this but this is something I do for you, guys, and when I don’t feel motivated to do tarot readings, I have many other things to do. The more motivation I get, the more readings you will get to read. The logic is very simple but it’s two sided.
Reading Info:
Rating: 18+
Reading Type: Single - Couple
Requested: Yes - No
Requester: /
Deck(s): Tarot of Vampires
Spread: Kinky
Questions:
Position
Libido
Turn On
Kink
Dirty Secret
Celebrity Info:
Full Name: Park Ji Hyo
Stage Name: Jihyo
Group: TWICE
DOB: 01/02/1997
Blood Type: O
MBTI: ESFP
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Chinese Sign: Fire Rat
Life Path Number: 2
Masterpost: TWICE
Jihyo (TWICE) - Kinky
Spread / Question: Kinky
Deck(s): Tarot of Vampires
Position - XVIII The Moon
This particular card depicts the legendary Rusalka - a beautiful maiden luring people (often men) into lakes or rivers where they drown. The connection with Jihyo might be that she’s actually pretty deceptive in a relationship. It might be caused by her being deceived and lied to many times in the past and so she learned not to show her cards to her partner right away. She might play a certain type of girlfriend role in the beginning, portraying a gorgeous woman like the Rusalka on the card but under the surface, there are the bare bones of her true personality. Her true self might actually be much more beautiful than what she shows but she is likely to be reluctant to share. Jihyo might be a bit detached and secretive in a relationship, keeping her partner in suspense. That can make them feel like stumbling in the dark and it’s probably not going to build a solid base for a mutually rewarding relationship. Jihyo might need to first renew her trust before she is able to genuinely bond with someone.
Libido - IV The Emperor
There’s no other card in a tarot deck that would signal dominance this powerfully. The Emperor card is likely to tell us that Jihyo is the dom in the bedroom. She has trust issues with her partners so it’s not surprising she wants to be in control. She is likely to keep things in order and even structured so there is no space for improvisation. Her wild nights are likely to be scheduled and she expects her lover to attend or have a really good excuse at least 24h in advance so she can schedule her backup activity for the night. Jihyo is likely to have high standards and expectations and it’s also possible that she hasn't been satisfied every time with her lovers in the past. She’s very likely to be prepared for that, too and once her lover fails, she’s pulling her toys out of the drawer to finish the job properly. The underperforming lover is likely to be asked not to show up again. Jihyo is a busy woman, she’s got tight schedules and she’s responsible and highly efficient, she’s got no time to teach her lovers how to do their job. She might instinctively pick mature looking people as lovers in hopes they have some significant experience. Jihyo might seem pretty cold or maybe analytical to others but the fact is that her libido is very strong, she can get very passionate and lustful only if she could find a lover who would match her.
Turn On - 6 of Pentacles
Jihyo is likely to feel attracted to someone who’s generous and selfless, someone who gives more than they take. She might feel instinctively pulled towards a person who could heal her trust issues, someone reliable and true. The card might suggest the person works in a medical field, maybe Jihyo feels attracted to people who can actually heal others and are even more responsible and hard working than she is. She’s likely to admire high morals and high work drive in others. Jihyo is likely to also consider the financial stability of her crush as she’s not willing to support someone’s idle lifestyle.
Kink - II The High Priestess
The High Priestess card is all about intuition and secrets and all that’s behind the veil. As an answer to a kink question in the spread it might mean that Jihyo is not willing to reveal her preferences to anyone. It’s possible she’s not still sure herself, maybe she’s still in search of her favourite thing when it comes to bedroom activities. I’m afraid the card doesn’t really reveal anything much in this case. It’s literally undecided, a secret and standing on a crossroads with countless paths ahead.
Dirty Secret - V The Hierophant
Jihyo might truly be in search of a mentor figure, someone she could trust and rely on when it comes to the most intimate sides of her life. The Emperor card could also point to a certain level of daddy issues she might have and the Hierophant card continues with the theme. It’s possible Jihyo didn’t have the type of support she needed from male father figures in the past and she might still search for someone she could truly trust with everything and who wouldn’t judge her nor belittle her. She might have spent a large portion of her growing up being self-sufficient and carrying more responsibility than a young person should and she might feel insecure about asking for help and guidance now. She is likely aware of this and craves a person she would naturally trust enough to drop her resilience and let them support her when needed.
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Alright, here we go. I'm doing this.
So, if you like Gwuncan or hate it; I'm pretty sure most of us can agree the way they got together was contrived and poorly written with the icing on top being Courtney.
So here I go; how I personally think Gwuncan SHOULD'VE gone. Or at least a better way of getting them together. This is also a minor analysis of them. Long post under the cut.
So let's begin. Starting with action and how it goes into world tour.
In action they have an established friendship. Whilst they were acquainted in Island, they never really had an actual friendship. They respected each other, had a few moments of banter and closeness but were otherwise not close friends. Action, however, lets them get closer. They have fun banter where they can riff at each other without it feeling like genuine hatred. Their shared common interests also giving them more to talk about. Their bonding is just way less toxic than him and Courtney's. Even if Duncan likes it, their relationship is doomed to fail.
And now we have the Courtney problem.
While Duncan, being attracted to Courtney physically; does really not seem to like her. He finds their bickering fun most of the time; but as it later goes on, it feels less like bickering for fun and bickering in an unhealthy way. I don't even HATE Courtney! I've warmed up to her
But like I said, their relationship was doomed to fail beyond Island. It was NEVER meant to work long term. Their mutual attraction gets them far, but it doesn't make them GOOD together. If they did not find the other attractive they would not even be friends, or even acquainted. At all.
Courtney likes being in control of her surroundings and the people ahead of her, she likes being a winner and being competitive. And her relationship with Duncan in action brings out the worst part of her, especially with this.
It's not a shocker that Duncan wouldn't like this. Let's skip to World Tour, though.
Courtney and Duncan are back together for some reason. But now we have the love triangle. Courtney and Gwen already have a mutual dislike of each other, Courtney's is especially strong considering her assumptions that Duncan cheated on her with Gwen in action.
The first challenge arrives and they've been bickering the ENTIRE time. Leading to Duncan's annoyance and him willingly getting himself off the show.
Now we're here without Duncan, what now? Well, Gwen & Courtney end up making a friendship. Personally; I don't like this decision. It feels forced and it's just the lead up the 'betrayal' of Courtney's trust with Gwen.
I think Gwen & Courtney would be much better as not friends, but bond over their hatred of Heather the same way they do, while still not being friends they can come to a mutual agreement on a person.
I See London would be essentially the same; but I have a few changes at the ending.
I think this scene should've led to them breaking up. Duncan is clearly frustrated with Courtney here, and even though Courtney says she's 'not mad', she clearly is, at least a little.
I feel like Duncan at this point should've snapped and broken up with her. Having Gwen walk in on Courtney getting angry over their breakup and seeing Duncan look at her.
The bathroom scene can still stay the same, yes, even Tyler.
Gwen's guilt would not be the fact that she kissed Duncan who's still dating Courtney, but that she feels kind of guilty about it BECAUSE they just broke up and is getting the guy on the so called rebound.
Courtney is still bitter about the break up; and hearing him move on so fast would hurt her ego a ton. So they decide to not tell anyone, except, well, Tyler saw it. Most of it is the same as well, Courtney still throws a fit but its about Gwen taking her sloppy seconds so soon after they broke up.
A lot of the show after this point can stay the same, just with the situation changing minorly to make it still true to the show and keep most of the plot points flowing in ways they already would've gone.
Duncan is still annoyed with Courtney, still throws a shoe at her, they still make out on the boat to ROTI, etc. All Stars doesn't exist either <3
#gwuncan#total drama analysis#?#total drama rewrite#gwen x duncan#and for coutney stans this post isn't for you. sorry. I'VE WARMED UP. and even liked courtney but idk#this post is my magnum opus and ive wanted to write it for a long time and i figured now would be the best time to do it :)
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My Thoughts on
ESME SHELBY
*spoilers ahead for S1 - S6 of Peaky Blinders*
Ah Esme, how I wish I’d seen more of you. When compared with the other Shelby wives (Linda, Grace, Lizzie), I don’t think Esme was really used as much within the story. She was left more in the background for some reason.
When we first see Esme, she’s being married off to John, apparently because she was a “bit wild”. I love the scene at the wedding when John and Esme first see each other. You can see the pleasant surprise on both of their faces, and this is the beginning of their mutual attraction, because as we see throughout their time together, they really fancied each other.
Was the marriage the right thing for Esme? No. I don’t really think so. Through the marriage, John gains a wife and a new mother for his four children who have been running wild since their birth mother died, an alliance with the Lee family (which Tommy wanted), and if I remember correctly, a car from Esme’s father.
What did Esme gain from the marriage? Well, I suppose we could say that she gains the security of a husband (which was an important thing in that time), albeit John is also quite wild, cheats on her, and is a criminal. She loses her freedom, which was clearly what her family wanted because they didn’t agree with her actions. In that time, going “a bit wild” is probably very tame compared to what people do nowadays. She also gained four young children, that she was now in charge of raising, along with the rest of the Shelby family as her new relatives. I’d never say that she didn’t love her stepchildren - she clearly did, and she took them with her when she left in S4 - but it’s a lot to suddenly become a stepmother to four young children.
The interactions we see between Esme and the Shelby clan (from what I remember) are never overly positive. Sure, she could get along with them decently enough when needed, but she didn’t seem close to anyone.
Her interactions with Polly range from Polly holding a knife to her neck in season 2, to them seemingly getting along well enough to work together - and strike together - in season 3. We don’t see what their relationship was like in the years between S3 and S4, but they clearly never got any closer, as Polly didn’t seem devastated when Esme left after John’s death.
Another Shelby that she shared a few scenes with was Tommy, and I think it would be generous to say that she disliked him. In S2, she seemed to respect him, and spoke at the family meeting about not wanting them to start expanding the business into London. Her reasons were understandable; she was afraid for her husband’s safety and she knew how dangerous London would be. And yet, everybody just brushed her off like she was an idiot.
All she wanted was for her family to go on the road or live in the country and be safe. She tried to convince Tommy that it was the best course of action, and in return, he grabs her face and tells her that if she talks about it again, he’ll cut her from the family. It’s overly harsh and personally, I wanted Esme to slap him when he did that, but of course she didn’t, so oh well. 🤷♀️
It seems like she properly hated him after the end of S3, when he almost got John killed. As we see, Esme is always loyal to John and anyone who crosses him, crosses her. She’s protective of the ones she loves, so it isn’t a shocker that she hates Tommy for mistreating him. She even charges at Tommy in the morgue after John’s death, grief riddled and furious.
I can’t remember much about Esme’s appearances in S6, probably because I did not like that season, so I’m not going to speak much on that time or her scenes with Tommy. She doesn’t really have a relationship with Arthur or Ada, so I can’t really say much about them either.
Her relationship with John did seem to become genuine, despite it starting off as an arranged marriage. I’ve seen some people say that John and Esme never loved each other because they didn’t choose each other and they were basically forced to marry each other, but I would say that from what I saw, I do think Esme loved him. (I’ll talk about John’s side of things if I make a post about him). She tried to keep him safe, despite his lifestyle, and when he died, I feel like no one can say that she wasn’t devastated by the loss. That scene right after John is shot dead outside their house where she runs out and lays her head on his shows how heartbroken she was.
Ironically, after wanting to escape to the country for a while because she believed it would be safer and better for her family, their country house is where John dies in S4. I don’t think that she would’ve ever found peace or safety as long as she was married to John and connected to the Shelby’s. She only managed to get the life she wanted for herself and her family after John’s death.
Esme was a strong woman for making that decision to leave the Shelby family. Perhaps it would’ve been easier for her to stay within their circle as John’s widow, but staying would’ve meant being around the family and Esme clearly didn’t want any of them around her children. So, she packed up all six of her kids - not that we ever get an official number or even the names of their kids, but I’m pretty sure that they had six altogether - and went away.
While the loss of her husband was awful, in the end, I’m happy that Esme finally got to make her own decisions about her life, and get her freedom back. When we last saw her in S6, she was on the road with some of her kin, living freely, and I would say that out of all the characters, she probably got one of the best endings.
#Esme x freedom#a little ramble about Esme#peaky blinders#esme shelby#John shelby#tommy shelby#polly gray#my posts#my thoughts on#peakywomen
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what's wrong with book!Min (gave up on books right now because i can't anymore, i'm on 4th I think? she is just not there)
book 5 is exactly when she started sucking haha so you stopped at the right time! i do get into some spoilers here, though i tried not to say anything too specific that you wouldn't have already known from the first few books (such as the fact that rand has multiple girlfriends and min is one, which her viewing revealed in book 2). also, maybe you won't even want to read this if you'd rather let your opinion of show!min continue on untainted, because i will say that 90+% of the things i'm about to complain about are very unlikely to be a thing in the show.
basically she just gets hit with an abysmal case of Men Writing Women: out of the blue she decides to throw her whole life away to chase rand down and make him love her, she changes her whole personality and style to try to cater to what she thinks rand would find attractive (i'm all for wanting to look hot for your man, but min herself doesn't seem to enjoy her new clothes or find them comfortable, and that's a problem), she stops having any relationships or connections outside of rand, she barely has scenes with anyone but him and in ensemble scenes she's just there to cling sexily onto him while having 0 dialogue because she has nothing to contribute to the plot-relevant discussion going on, she has no storyline besides barnacling herself to his side and being on tap for sex 24/7, she has no narrative role or in-world obligations besides Being Rand's Girlfriend, etc.
and on top of all that, you have fandom calling her ~Best Girl~ and saying that she is the only one of the 3 women who deserves to be with rand because she Puts Her Man First like a Good Girlfriend should, and fuck the other two for having the audacity to have responsibilities outside of being his girlfriend. fuck them for actually being complex, well-rounded characters with independent storylines and character arcs, right? we only like female characters who exist to serve men's storylines!
and on top of all THAT, she DOESN'T EVEN serve rand's storyline! she literally doesn't do anything! she always makes me think of the "let me ask you a very fair question. what DO you do successfully?" vine. you could cut her out of the entire series and very little would change. min fans claim that she was integral to keeping rand anchored during dark times because min and rand claim that is the case, but the actual scenes between them in the text do not back up that claim. i can think of ONE scene where min actually makes an effort to have a serious conversation with rand about what's worrying him; every other time she just stops his doom-and-gloom talk by punching him or waving knives at him or distracting him with sex. and the way people put her up on a pedestal for taking care of rand at his worst (which she doesn't actually do anyway) is a romanticization of the shitty idea that it's a woman's job to be the sole emotional dumping ground for her male partner. i guess it could simply be that Dating Your Therapist is a romance trope i personally dislike, but ugh, i HATE that vibe of their relationship and especially of the way the fandom talks about their relationship.
and on top of all THAT, their relationship is totally logic-breaking at times because rand will go "i'm so isolated and alone! i'm going to go snuggle up in bed with my live-in girlfriend and think about how isolated i am." he will go "i am so dangerous, i have to push away everyone i love! come on min, i'm taking you into the most dangerous magical event of the age during which many channelers will show up to attack us, even though you're a defenseless civilian and there's no reason you need to be there." it feels like RJ wanted to give rand an isolation arc but also wanted him to have a sexy mistress on his arm at all times, and could not understand that those two things are mutually exclusive (unless said mistress is just no-strings-attached sex, but that was not intended to be the case here, although the cognitive dissonance often makes it feel like rand DOES see min as just no-strings-attached sex rather than a real person whose safety he needs to worry about).
her behavior about the whole romantic situation also drives me nuts because she is SO possessive and jealous, which i personally absolutely hate in romantic relationships, though some people do find it attractive, including min herself - there's a scene where she tries to make rand jealous because she thinks it makes the sex hotter and i was like girl wtf? get some dignity. actually "girl wtf? get some dignity" is my attitude towards all her behavior about the relationship because listen, i fully support girls being silly over their crushes, but christ alive the way min comports herself brings me so much secondhand embarrassment. she'll be like "i'm sooooo mature and worldly, i will never lose my head over a man like OTHER women do, because i am Not Like Other Girls, i'm superior to them" (the Not Like Other Girls vibes is another huge annoyance about her character & fandom reception of her character) and then she'll proceed to go plop down into rand's lap and dandle herself on his knee in the middle of a political meeting to show off to everyone present that he belongs to her. girl, you are a grown-ass woman! get some dignity! she also has a shitty attitude towards the polycule situation, i won't say more since the details of that are beyond book 4 and this post is also getting super long, but suffice it to say that, surprise surprise, possessive and jealous people do not work well in polyamorous relationships.
but most of the above is the fault of the author (or the fandom), not the character. i can't exactly separate the two while reading because "RJ is writing min badly" very quickly blurred into "i feel super annoyed every time she is onscreen" very quickly blurred into "i can't stand this character," but it does mean that the show has a good chance to fix most or all of these problems with her because they aren't necessarily intrinsic to her characterization, they're just symptoms of RJ's weird ideas about het romance and gender norms. the show making her a world-weary 30-something-year-old who takes no shit and who is GNC in a queer-presenting genuinely-doesn't-care-what-straight-men-think-of-her-looks way rather than a not-like-other-girls-tomboy-who-still-caters-to-the-male-gaze way is already a HUGE step in the right direction!
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may i ask why ppl hate caleo so much? I'm reading ToA rn so idk if it's based on stuff that happens there, but in HoO I didn't really catch anything that would make it this "don't touch with a ten foot pole" ship, yk?
/gen
Hi !! Thanks for sending this in. I feel like I and others have kinda gone through some things in the anti-caleo tag, but I'm gonna go through some of the reasons with as much textual evidence and objectivity as possible. (minus my inevitable unorganized rambles, they're contextually relevant, stop looking at me--)
That being said, this is completely a matter of opinion, as all shipping is. I don't mean to say that you are "allowed" to ship or that you're "stupid" for shipping xyz, I couldn't care less what you ship--let's all just be nice to each other.
That being said, let's start with the two most common reasons why most people dislike caleo:
1.) the age gap
2.) their "bickering to lovers" dynamic is not written well/they seem to dislike each other/etc
The easier one to start with would be the age gap. Now (warnings for rent-lowering gunshots around my blog), I meant what I said when I said I don't care about ships. Most of my beloved mutuals ship the nastiest shit imaginable, and I am very anti-censorship (but that's several other posts). I generally have preferences for healthy ships when it comes to a Fluffy Endgame (dark fics with toxic ships are different to me).
That being said, I don't typically enjoy ships with a large age gap, and most other people find them unappealing as well. I could be persuaded with some (nipollo and rachel/apollo, i'm looking at you), but caleo just kinda grosses me out in this regard, probably due to other aspects of their relationship.
(Some people say she's "mentally fifteen", but I don't really buy that--if she were like a faerie or something, maybe, but I see her more as Edward in Twilight--looks young but has wisdom beyond her years. There's no definitive answer on this so it's not something I would like to debate (none of this is lol) but I thought I would mention it anyways.)
Although your question is about ToA, I'm only going to cover HoH through the first ToA book, because I'm still reading through the ToA books (though I know the big spoilers). I know caleo takes on a bigger role in the second book so i might come back and do a part two to uh...complain about their dynamic more? lol
so, without further ado--
The House of Hades
So, this is the first impression we get of Calypso from Leo's perspective--the highlights to keep this from being 1 million years long (it still will be lol)--
"She looked maybe fifteen, about Leo's age, and, sure, she was pretty; but with that angry expression on herface she reminded Leo of every popular girl in every school he'd ever attended—the ones who made fun of him, gossiped a lot, thought they were so superior, and basically did everything they could tomake his life miserable.Leo disliked her instantly.
---
The girl clenched her fists. Leo was pretty sure she was going to march down the crater and punch him in the face.
---
"Show yourself!" the girl yelled at the sky, completely ignoring Leo. "It's not bad enough I am exiled? It's not bad enough you take away the few good heroes I'm allowed to meet? You think it's funny to send me this—this charbroiled runt of a boy to ruin my tranquility? This is NOT FUNNY! Take him back!""
--pg 213 of The House of Hades pdf.
Now, keeping in mind that I read this for the first time at 13 and he was my book boyfriend (Or Whatever), I was not a fan of this, but even now that I've grown out of that, this still rings unfavorable to me.
He compares her to his bullies, the ones who made fun of him and created insecurities within him. And, making no effort to clear her name from this association, what is one of the first things she does? Screams at the gods for sending someone so conventionally unattractive. One of Leo's biggest insecurities in the books is not being as conventionally attractive or built as the other guys in the seven. One of his other insecurities is not having a girlfriend when everyone else is coupled up. So the solution is not to have him learn self-love and/or the love of friends, but to instead give him a girlfriend--the build-up time of which is short and intense. Not only that, but his love interest insults one of his biggest insecurities.
We're off to a great start.
Of course, I can't really blame Calypso for being pissed about the wreckage and about being sent another hero instead of being freed from the island. I would be pretty pissed, too, but she still treats him pretty badly, seemingly because he's not the "right" hero.
(For this next bit I am going through their time together in House of Hades and just noting anything that rings as a red flag to me--which is not a stretch as it's pretty much every other line lol. The brackets [] add context for dialogue, the parentheses () is my commentary, though most of these speak for themselves imo)
""Oh-gee-gee-ah." The girl pronounced it slowly, as if Leo were five years old.
---
She looked like she was about to answer but stopped herself. "It doesn't matter. You'll be gone soon. You're obviously a mistake."
That was harsh, Leo thought.He'd spent enough time thinking he was a mistake—as a demigod, on this quest, in life in general. He didn't need a random crazy goddess reinforcing the idea
---
"What am I supposed to do, then? Sit in the sand dunes until I die?" [Leo asked]
"That would be fine...." The girl threw down her trowel and cursed at the sky. "Except I suppose he can't die here, can he? Zeus! This is not funny!"
---
She looked the same age as him, but he wondered how old she really was. (age gap thing, delicious!)
---
"Would you be sweet," [Calypso said], "if they laughed at you by sending another hero, but a hero who looked like—like you?"
---
"Three thousand." Leo's mouth felt tingly, like he'd just eaten Pop Rocks. "Uh, you look good for three thousand."
---
"And now...the worst insult of all. The gods mock me by sending you." [Calypso said]
Anger bubbled in Leo's stomach.Yeah, typical. If Jason were here, Calypso would fall all over him. She'd beg him to stay, but he'd be all noble about returning to his duties, and he'd leave Calypso brokenhearted. That magic raft would totally arrive for him. (heartbreaking to hear about leo's insecurities but also...he is so gay for jason jdskjfs--)
But Leo? He was the annoying guest she couldn't get rid of. She'd never fall for him, because she was totally out of his league.
---
Despite the gifts, Calypso obviously didn't want to see him. One time he poked his head inside the cave and she freaked out, yelling and throwing pots at his head. (how to treat an abuse survivor 101)
Yeah, she was definitely on Team Leo. (this honestly just reminds me of the Echo scene and, honestly, I'd ship him with Echo Big Time over calypso)
He ended up pitching a more permanent camp near the footpath, where the beach met the hills.That way he was close enough to pick up his meals, but Calypso didn't have to see him and go into a pot-throwing rage.
---
"They are completely fireproof," Calypso promised. "They'll stay clean and expand to fit you,should you ever become less scrawny." (the prev part about her repairing the clothes was actually sweet in a platonic way...could have gone without the body-shaming !)
---
Then he remembered that this annoying fifteen-year-old girl was actually the immortal daughter of a Titan."
--pages 214-227 of The House of Hades pdf
Now, at this point I'll say that their relationship actually becomes quite sweet once they get past the frankly horrible section of time where they want each other to die. They're both lonely, they come to some understanding...I suppose this is a matter of opinion, but the romance aspect does feel forced. Time is different in Ogygia so it's hard to say how long Leo was there, if I were to estimate I'd say 3 weeks, but given that it's like 19 pages (and the text is larger on the pdf copy lol), it does feel rushed. Man do I wish they went for the platonic angle, but Richard could never.
The Blood of Olympus
Everyone's favorite book! lmao.
Now that our lovebirds are in Lovebird Territory (i guess), the amount of toxicity dwindles, but let's bite:
"'Sit tight, Sunshine,' he told Calypso's picture. 'I'll get back to you, just like I promised.'
Leo could imagine her response: 'I am not waiting for you, Leo Valdez. I am not in love with you.And I certainly don't believe your foolish promises!' The thought made him smile. (I guess this is supposed to be sarcastic, but way to reintroduce the concept of her really not liking him?)"
--pg 64 of The Blood of Olympus pdf
So, most of this book has mentions of Calypso from Leo's pov, and I gotta say (forgetting entirely that this doc is supposed to at least try to be subjective)...they neutered my boy. I often don't reread past MoA because of the caleo content, though what glimpses I've seen shows that his pov has experienced a massive shift. I think having so little page time and such an intense relationship buildup causes some readers to dislike how fundamentally she alters Leo's pov.
Additionally, I've seen some posts about Leo's suicide ideation. That is not something I want to go in depth about on this post, but I did want to draw attention to this excerpt I caught:
"Now the Argo II was approaching the end of its voyage. Leo's whole life – his childhood with Tía Callida; his mother's death in that warehouse fire; his years as a foster kid; his months at Camp Half-Blood with Jason and Piper – all of it would culminate tomorrow morning in one final battle.
He opened the access panel. Festus's voice creaked over the intercom.
'Yeah, buddy,' Leo agreed. 'It's time.'
More creaking.
'I know,' Leo said. 'Together till the end?'
Festus squeaked affirmatively.
Leo checked the ancient bronze astrolabe, which was now fitted with the crystal from Ogygia. Leo could only hope it would work.
'I will get back to you, Calypso,' he muttered. 'I promised on the River Styx.'
He flipped a switch and brought the navigation device online. He set the timer for twenty-four hours.
Finally he opened the engine's ventilator line and pushed inside the vial of the physician's cure. It disappeared into the veins of the ship with a decisive thunk.
'Too late to turn back now,' Leo said.
He curled on the floor and closed his eyes, determined to enjoy the familiar hum of the engine for one last night."
--pg 224 of The Blood of Olympus pdf
I'm not going to draw any definitive conclusions on the subtext of this or his plan with the physician's cure, but I will say Leo definitely needs therapy and the support of his friends over his want of a girlfriend. (And I'd say this regardless of ships--even if it were my beloved valdangelo. If Leo's mental health isn't addressed, it just makes it seem like a lazy fix-all)
I'm not going to pretend to be the best writer or understand character arcs better than our good friend Richard, but I think one of the reasons why Leo's character arc failed in this final installment is that Leo got what he wanted instead of what he needed. The best character arcs will display what a character wants, but by the end of the journey, a character will realize what they really need.
For example, in Gravity Falls (great show btw), towards the end of the series, Mabel wants to stay in a magical bubble created as a trick by Bill Cipher so she can stay in Gravity Falls forever. In the end, however, she realizes that what she really needs is to go back home to California with her brother, where they can get through high school with the support of each other.
If Leo had undergone an arc in which he really wants a girlfriend, but later realizes he needs to love himself first, that would have been really great and nice for kids to see that they don't need a significant other to make them whole.
Additionally--surprisingly--there were no glaring red flags for the rest of this book. They have a general vibe of "she doesn't really like him and he's a silly little guy" that I feel like is just rick pulling a "can I copy your homework?" with percabeth but it came out Wrong, but that's a matter of opinion.
ToA: The Hidden Oracle
""Here you go." Leo handed her a glass of lemonade. His expression seemed darker and more anxious, as if...Ah, of course. Leo had rescued Calypso from her prison island. In doing so, Calypso had lost her powers. Leo felt responsible."
--pg 239 of The Hidden Oracle pdf
This seems like something they'd have to work through, which is possible, but also a very intense thing to put on a relationship between an already traumatized 16 year old (and his over 3000 year old girlfriend, etc.) I suppose if this was written through in a thoughtful way I'd understand, but it's kind of one of those things that makes me look at them and go...realistically, at best I see them lasting 6 months to a year.
(tbh a lot of the ships outside of percabeth don't seem to have that...well, percabeth longevity--i mean just look at how jiper broke up. not that Richard would break caleo up atp, of course...unless...)
Final Thoughts (unless I return after finishing ToA but no promises)
And so, we conclude. I think I learned some stuff by revisiting canon instead of just remaining amongst online fandom & my memory of canon. Honestly, I can see why people would like this ship--I still hate it the most out of any pjo ship, but I gotta admit it had its sweet moments. Just as I pointed out red flags and had opinions stated as subjective, other people could point out what they consider green flags and why they think the ship is great.
To conclude (my English teachers quaking in their boots rn), myself and other caleo haters dislike the ship due to the age difference, the rushed nature, and the enemies to lovers dynamic being written in a way that ultimately gives the energy that our love birds do not like each other. I hope this dive into the foundation of their relationship clarifies some of these things for you, and thanks for the ask!
#anti caleo#pjo#leo valdez#i didn't send this to my editor and think a lot into it what are you talking about#rose's asks
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Hi, I Just read Devil in Winter and OMG what a book, I wasn't expecting the level of care taking Sebastian was doing with Evie but I absolutely loved it, can you please recommend books with that kind of dynamic? Of the hero being like that?
And also now that I have the courage to así lol do you have books with the classic he's a super grumpy man but has a soft spot for her?
Hiii Devil in Winter is an amazing book! It's one of those novels where you totally get why it's a classic. Hot, romantic, well-written, and yes! I agree, the caretaking is something you don't expect and frankly don't get from a lot of rake books especially.
And also, don't be worried about asking me for recs, I have anon on for a reason, if I have recs to give I will always give them!
Caregiver Heroes:
When a Duke Loves a Woman by Lorraine Heath. Historical. Just read this, and it actually has mutual caretaking! The heroine is a lower class tavern owner who begins by discovering the hero (a duke lol) after he's basically been mugged and is badly hurt. She nurses him back to health (not like breastfeeding nursing despite his best efforts but you get me) and he can't quit her so he comes back and ends up taking care of HER after she gets a concussion and is very like "you deserve nice things, let me show you what it's like to not have to take care of yourself all the time".
Between the Devil and Desire by Lorraine Heath. Historical. One of Lorraine's best, about a widow and a lower class scoundrel who becomes the guardian to her son (a baby duke). Olivia is super in charge and though her husband wasn't mean he never gave her the attention or care she needed. Jack really takes over (while not undermining her) and becomes this loving father figure to her son, and she's resistant at first because they dislike each other, but she gradually caves and lets him care for them--and when she gets sick??? Oh, dude. He is CARING for her, including a scene where he has to put her in an ice bath and it's sooo good. TW for discussions of childhood sexual abuse.
Surrender to the Devil by Lorraine Heath. Historical. Follows the previous one, is more about psychological caretaking. The hero is a duke who wants to take the lower class heroine as his mistress, but she has a lot of trauma (TW: childhood sexual abuse) and is super independent. It's another one where he has to basically convince her to let him care for her, and it's big on recovery and tenderness.
Never Seduce a Scot by Maya Banks is a medieval romance with these vibes, for sure. The hero and heroine are in an arranged marriage, and she's deaf, so a lot of people think she was set back mentally by an accident she had years ago (which actually just caused her deafness). The hero is super gentle with her, and though he's attracted to her he initially is resistant to being with her because he doesn't believe she has the capacity to consent. He's actually a very sweet guy, despite being a warrior lol. They develop this very tender relationship where he takes such good care of her and understands her in a way nobody else does.
Reel by Kennedy Ryan is a contemporary I wanna recommend because the heroine has lupus and the hero is her director (she's an actress, and he's giving her her big break). He is soooo caring, and he was actually a caregiver for his mom before she died. The heroine is resistant about being vulnerable about her condition, but man, it's lovely.
Seduce Me at Sunrise by Lisa Kleypas is a historical, came after DiW. The hero and heroine were childhood friends, and he actually took care of her when she had scarlet fever, while she took care of him after an incident that made him super ill. His issue is actually that he doesn't want to hurt her, and he thinks he will if they have sex, because her body is still weak after she recovers. So he rejects her, and she comes back from Europe after a couple of years much stronger. So you get a different take--he's so caring, but that makes him hold himself back from her physically.
Waking Up with The Duke and The Earl Takes All by Lorraine Heath are two of her more well-known historicals (the "local mask asks hero to impregnate his wife" book and the "hero pretends to be his identical twin to spare twin's wife the shock" book). They're both, as Lorraine often writes, focused on heroes who sort of try to show the heroine a different side of life, a different level of tenderness. The hero of Waking Up with The Duke like, rubs the heroine's back and feet. The Earl Takes All has a hero who gives the heroine this different level of affection and tenderness than what she got from her husband, etc.,
Forget Me Not by Julie Soot, again if you're open to contemporary, is a second chance romance between this driven wedding planner heroine and the florist hero who just really wants to take care of her and give her a soft place to land--which is hard for her to accept.
The Rakess by Scarlett Peckham has a heroine who's super independent and controversial, and she begins an affair with this lovely single father widower intending to love him and leave him, but he wants to show her tenderness!!!
Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage by Jennifer Ashley is a second chance romance between an estranged husband and wife, and he wants to rebuild the marriage while she doesn't trust that he can, essentially, give her the emotional support she needs. He spends the book trying to prove it to her!
As for the grumpy hero, absolutely! Try:
What I Did for a Duke by Julie Anne Long. Classic, lol, he's so grumpy and he initially is trying to seduce the heroine to get revenge against her brother, but quickly develops a major soft spot for her.
After Dark with The Duke by Julie Anne Long. Another "he's starchy. and grumpy and withholding" book--and initially, he's that with her too, but he gradually softens and she becomes like, the light of his gloomy life, etc.
The's Perfect Wife by Jennifer Ashley has a hero who's so known for being grouchy and aggressive, but when his ex-fiancee comes back into his life he is immediately so into her again, and she's the only one who can really stand up to him and break down his walls. An all time favorite!
In Which Matilda Halifax Learns the Value of Restraint by Alexandra Vasti. This has a very shy yet very horny heroine who runs afoul of the stern hero, who everyone finds scary--but she doesn't. So good!
The Duke Who Knew Too Much by Grace Callaway. Stern, cold hero who everyone basically thinks committed a murder, lol, but while he and the plucky heroine are initially at odds, she quickly worms her way into his heart.
Managed by Kristen Callihan is a contemporary, but I'd so recommend checking it out. The hero is the uptight manager of a rock band everyone is kind of scared of--the heroine is the whimsical photographer he hires to chronicle the band's tour. They begin this weird arrangement where she sleeps in his bed platonically because he needs her to help with is insomnia lol.
The Truth About Cads and Dukes by Elisa Braden is a marriage of convenience book with a hero who's super stuffy and stern, but ends up falling for his wife despite his best efforts. And becomes OBSESSED.
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Hello hello ophe 👋😇
How are you doing so far?
So yeah I have an another crack idea
Lindsay and Alejandro rivalry
That it’s that’s the ask
Alejandro is over there losing how someone as dumb as Lindsay dear can outsmart his ass
While Lindsay is here doing all that shit by accident and crap
-Ass Stars anon
Hello hello, A.S. Anon! 👋😁
I'm still pretty sick though I'm slowly getting better, but otherwise I'm doing well! How are you?
NOTE: I'm gonna put this under a Read More because I got a bit wordy with my reply. 😅
I like the idea of a one-sided rivalry between Alejandro and Lindsay, where Alejandro is just dumbfounded by how someone so objectively dense can "manipulate the competition" as efficiently as she does.
Meanwhile, Lindsay is just A Nice Person so people actually like her and as are willing to do things for her/do as she asks. There's no hidden meaning to it; Lindsay's just a kind and friendly person (she doesn't have an intentionally mean bone in her body). Alejandro, however, interprets this as her using her looks and 'feminine charm' to 'beguile the competition' or something because Of Course He Does.
So he seethes over how she must be some sort of hidden genius, with how her dumb blonde 'act' always seems to generate results in her favour (it's not an act, and things working out in Lindsay's favour are always just happenstance), and he hates how he's being outplayed in a battle of wits by someone so outwardly ditzy even if he knows it's all a façade (again, it's not, but Alejandro doesn't know that).
And he spends a concerning amount of time scheming between/during challenges, trying to figure out a way to expose Lindsay for the mastermind she is (she's totally not), but she always seems to find some way to dodge his carefully laid out plans- yet more proof that she's outwitting him! (It's all coincidence.)
Lindsay is oblivious to this whole situation, our Unbothered Queen. 💅
OR
It could be a mutual rivalry between the two of them, but for different reasons?
Alejandro still has his "Lindsay is a secret mastermind whom I must outplay for the million" mindset, but Lindsay also just Can't Stand Alejandro because he's (seemingly) effortlessly well put together.
His hair is so healthy and glossy whilst hers is still kind of straw like from all the bleaching, and in all the time they've shared on the Jumbo Jet he's never looked anything less than perfect, even when he'd just woken up? Not even the slightest bit of acne on his naturally tanned (which Lindsay, who goes through a bottle of fake tan a week, is so jealous of), perfectly smooth and even skin? It's so unfair! Every time she's tried asking about his skincare routine he's shrugged her off- which, rude! She's so mad about how he's gatekeeping his beauty tips that is eventually evolves into the two of them beefing for completely different reasons.
Of course, Alejandro sees Lindsay's shared animosity as her acknowledging a fellow Manipulator™ and disliking how he has 'seen through her bluff', meanwhile Lindsay thinks Alejandro is just kind of a jerk who hates her for trying to 'steal his beauty secrets', so any attraction she might've felt for him plummets into nothing because she Doesn't Like Mean Guys (further proof of this is the fact that Tyler is a sweetheart who has done nothing wrong, and she was immediately infatuated with him).
Side note; She also probably doesn't get along with Justin for this same reason, as I can't imagine him humouring Lindsay with all of the restrictions and beauty routines he has to do as a model, which she'd also interpret as him gatekeeping industry secrets from her. (Man's got literal contracts outlining what physical activities he can and can't do in order to preserve his looks. That's wild.)
I like this idea a lot. Any idea that has Alejandro near enough tearing his hair out by being 'outplayed' by someone who presents themselves as a nonthreat/incompetent whilst the person in question really is just Some Average Joe who isn't even trying to ruin all of Alejandro's schemes, has me hooked. He's totally paranoid enough to always assume the worst in people, even when they're totally innocuous.
#got a bit carried away there. oopsies 🤭#total drama#td alejandro#td lindsay#silly ideas#others' ideas#long post#ass stars anon#replies
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