about your question about harry potter, i think we do need a tw. literally scrolled past the post on my dash and was like ugh it's the terf franchise 🤢

since this is a kpop blog I think I'll put my thoughts in the tags so the post stays small, but yeah I get you

hiii could u write something about a baecation with jude? it can be a headcanon or a reg imagine whichever you prefer. and idk if you write smut but if you wanna add it in there i won’t complain 🫣

Synopsis: Jude takes you on a vacation for your anniversary.

Pairing: Jude Bellingham x fem! reader

Genre: romantic, short

Warning: Mention of sexual activity 🔞

"Maybe we should have gone to Thailand," Jude says while scrolling through his phone. You rolled your eyes and continued to read the book in your hand.

It had been one hour since you boarded the private plane, and Jude had been bringing up different destinations that he could've chosen only because he wanted to get laid in every country. During your first vacation as a couple, you guys went to Bali, and for your two-year anniversary, he chose Bali because it meant a lot to both of you. Jude has always wanted to visit different countries because it was his mission to have sex with you everywhere so that if you leave him, your mind will only be filled with him. It was his way of saying you can never escape him without sounding psychotic.

“Baby,” he whispers, sending shivers down your spine. You hate that he still has this effect on you even though you guys have been together for two years. “Let me eat you-“ You close your book and smack his head, causing him to wince. “What is wrong with you?” You hissed. Jude tilts his head back and laughs before wrapping an arm around your shoulders. “Do I need to answer that?” He asked and kissed you on the cheeks. You rolled your eyes and decided to lay your head on his shoulder. You felt him smirk through your hair. “Thank you so much for planning this,” you whispered. Jude lays his chin on your head while stroking your arm. “You know I would do anything for you,” he mumbles. You nod your head, knowing damn well he meant every word he said.

You guys still have a while until you reach your destination, and you are doing some work on your laptop while Jude is asleep next to you. His career had skyrocketed after the World Cup, and his schedule was hectic. He took on as much work as possible before taking this vacation, and it almost didn’t happen because he was getting so many business proposals. You had told Jude several times that you didn’t mind just spending it home and having a nice dinner, but he refused and wanted to take you somewhere special.

Staring at the beautiful man next to you, your heart filled with happiness and joy. When Jude first pursued you after you’d been part of a project he was in, you thought the relationship wouldn’t develop any more than a short fling. Football players were known to have brief relationships, and even though he was a perfect gentleman to you, you couldn’t help but be cautious. Jude proved you in many ways, and eventually, you had to give in and admit that he was the one for you; you couldn’t help but chuckle, remembering his smug face when you told him he won. “Huh, maybe Thailand wouldn’t have been a bad idea,” you mumbled after seeing Gio’s girlfriend post her vacation photos.

“You remember the first time we came here, baby?” Jude asked while your eyes scanned the beautiful resort and crystal blue water. “I remember the first time we made love here; gosh, it was amazing.” Your eyes widen at Jude while he smirks down at you. The translator awkwardly looked away while the employees smiled at Jude as if he had just said something angelic. If only they knew how devious he could be.

“Woah,” you said after arriving in your bedroom. It was huge, the size of an apartment. The bed was decorated with flowers and a gift basket with rich wine. The room has a large pool balcony with a perfect beach view, and it also has a dining area. “Jude, this is amazing,” you exclaimed while taking in the scenery. He has taken you on lavish vacations before, but this one has to be one of the best. “All for you, baby,” he whispered in your ear behind you and wrapped his arms around your waist. You chuckle after feeling something hard touching your skin from the back; he doesn’t want to waste any time. “Jude, we have to shower and get ready for dinner,” you mumbled, although you were rethinking it. “Dinner isn’t till an hour, babe,” he says, and you feel him tug at your waistband. You close your eyes and feel his mouth touch your neck; it is a gentle kiss to remind you that you can say no. Jude was a gentleman; he always has been. “It won’t take long; I’ll be quick,” he promised. You bite your bottom lips because you know damn well his definition of fast isn’t the same as yours. Jude needs more than an hour to be satisfied; he was a giver, not a taker, and it pleases him more than anything else to see you lose your mind because of him. “I’m so thankful for you,” he whispers before kissing your shoulders. “Thankful that you have always been there for me.” Another kiss. “Thankful that you’re patient with me.” Another kiss. “Thankful that you never give up on me.” Another kiss. “Thankful that you give me your heart just as you have mine.” Gosh, you were a goner.

He gently places you on the bed; your clothing is scattered all over the floor with his. The wine and gift basket was somewhere on the floor now, and the only thing touching your back was the pedal of roses. He smiled down at you before going in for a kiss. Jude was perfect in every way, and his performance has always surprised you in every aspect. How he turns a slow emotional kiss into a hot kiss filled with his tongue fighting yours makes you feel so many ways. His mouth remains on yours while his right-hand travels down to your center. Jude promised he’d be quick, but you knew this would take at least an hour and a half. He wanted to take his time with you; he wanted to cherish the girl that he had been in love with since he laid eyes on her. The girl that makes him want to be a better person, the one girl that never seems to fail to make him smile. You were perfect for him, and he wouldn’t want you to forget that in any way. “I love you so much, baby,” he whispers while sliding a finger into you. You gasp when he wraps his lips around a nipple sucking and tucking as if his life depends on it. “Jude,” you whimper while fisting the sheets. “I could never let you go,” he said while sucking on your chest. “You’re forever, my girl.” It was pretty clear how in love you both were, and although you guys were still young, no one would understand how this felt. Jude stared down at you, his eyes darker than before as you fall apart in front of him, screaming his name. He closes his eyes and smiles, cherishing the way his name spills out of your mouth; he could listen to it all day.

After catching your breath, you sit and reach for him, but Jude grabs your hand midway. You frown, but he smiles and places your palm on his chest. “You feel that, Y/N?” He asked. You nod; your heartbeat matches his rapid one. “This is what you do to me,” he says. “It’s just you, baby; only you can do this.” The both of you smile at one another, and he lets you lean in and kiss him. He drops your hand and pushes you back down on the bed. “Jude, I want to,” you whined while grabbing his shaft. He shakes his head slightly and pins your hands above your head. “We have all the time in the world for that. Right now, I need to feel you,” he says with pleading eyes. You nod and look at his suitcase sitting near the bed. Jude’s eyes follow yours, and he bites his lower lips before looking back at you with hesitation, "I need to feel you…without a rubber,” he says. You panicked a little at that because you knew the risk. You guys had raw sex before but stopped after a pregnancy scare that almost caused a breakup. “Baby,” he pleads. Jude must have noticed the fear in your eyes because he sat up and pulled you up with him. “Look at me, love,” he said softly while one hand rubbed the side of your face. You look at him, and he smiles; gosh, it is a charming smile. “I know what you’re thinking, but it’s me and you, Y/N. There is nothing to worry about. I want you with no barrier, and I know the consequences, but I wouldn’t want to do that with anyone else. I am always ready for anything with you. I love you, and it’s ok if you don’t want to but know that whatever happens, I am here.” You smiled and wrapped your arms around his neck, looking up at his face. “I love you so much, Jude, and I want you with nothing between us.”

This time, everything was better. There was no fear, and there was no alcohol in either of your systems. He pushed in without hesitation and let out a relieved sigh like he had wanted this for so long, and you were the same. There was nothing between you guys, and this was how it was supposed to be. Jude smiled down at you and kissed you softly. “You’re my everything.”

“Huh, Trent said he’s going to block me until I come back from vacation,” Jude chuckles while he types on his phone. “Why?” You asked while taking another sip of the rich wine. As you expected, Jude took his time with you and refused to get out of bed because he wanted to go for another round, so an hour later, you guys are having late dinner while watching the sunset on the other balcony. “He’s jealous. That’s what he gets for dumping his girlfriend.” You laugh, knowing damn well Trent will get another one in a couple of days. “Gio seems to be having fun in Thailand,” you said after seeing a photo he posted of him and his girlfriend. “Yeah, next time we are going there,” Jude says and sends a wink your way. You chuckle and shake your head before checking your DMS. Your eyes nearly pop out when a familiar name appears in the inbox. “What?” Jude asked after noticing the surprised look on your face. “Look who texted me,” you laughed and showed Jude the message. Jude’s jaw tenses, and he glares at your screen like he can murder the other person through it. “Why the fuck is that asshole texting you?” He asked angrily, but you know he wasn’t accusing you of anything; he was questioning the person's intention. “Chill, he probably wants me in one of his projects,” you shrugged. Jude frowns and chugs his glass of wine down. “Only you’re allowed to work with me,” Jude says. You roll your eyes and stare at the message; it is a simple hi and how are you? But knowing the person, you don’t think he wants any trouble with Jude. You close your phone and kiss a frowning Jude on the cheeks. “Come on; you know Pedri isn’t like that.” Jude’s lip twitched, and you giggled, “and besides, I prefer brown boys.”

The next day was filled with activities, from swimming to sailing on the yacht, but you guys had to go back to the hotel early because people were starting to recognize Jude. “Sorry, babe, but I promise I have a surprise for dinner,” Jude says and kisses your pouting lips. “Sometimes people forget that you’re human,” you whined. They didn’t even let Jude get in the car without pushing him and screaming for an autograph. It took at least thirty minutess for security to escort Jude safely to the car. “That’s the price I gotta pay, I guess,” Jude casually shrugged. You sigh and slump down on the sofa. You love his fans, but sometimes, it does it overwhelming. “Don’t stress about it, babe. I’m fine,” Jude says and lays his head on your lap. You smile and trace your finger along his jawline. “How come you get to win the genetic lottery? It’s not fair.” Jude laughs and grabs your hand before kissing the front of it. “And I thought my best accomplishment was winning you.”

You hold on to Jude’s hands as you guys climb the stairs to the roof. When he said you guys were going out for dinner, you thought a fancy restaurant, but apparently, the hotel staff set up a table on top of the roof. Your eyes glimmers when he opens the door to the roof. Rose petals are scattered everywhere on the floor while roses were lined up to create a path to the table. “Oh, Jude,” you said as you took in the beautiful picture. “This is amazing.” He guides you to the table and pull the seat out for you. The food was already here, but it was still warm, meaning the staff had finished preparing everything. “This is beautiful,” you said, looking at him and the view behind him. The sun was setting, and the beach reflected the sunset. “I had to make everything perfect,” he says. “Because it’s you.” You smile and place your hand on top of his. “Thank you for everything, baby.”

You guys ate, talked about Jude’s soccer future, talked about your job, and the future that you guys want. By the time you guys were done, it was dark, but there were lights lined up around the edge of the roof, and you knew Jude had come up with all these ideas. “Wanna dance?” Jude asked while holding out a hand. You smiled and grabbed it. Jude guides you guys away from the table, and suddenly, your guy's the song comes on. “This means so much to me. Thank you, Jude,” you smiled. He kisses your forehead, and you slowly dance to the song that holds a special place for both of you. “You know when I first asked you out on a date, I thought you hated me because you didn’t even look like you wanted to say yes,” Jude chuckles. You cringed at the memory, remembering how you I thought he was a total player. “But then you said yes after my constant pestering, and I thought I can’t fuck this up,” he says, making you smile. “After the date, I realized I needed you in my life. You were still questioning my intentions, of course, but I didn’t care; I was willing to take whatever you were willing to give me. Gosh, the months that we were just friends were draining because I had to hold myself back from flirting with you, touching you, reaching for you…but then I realized I needed to make a move before you became comfortable with us just being friends. I risked everything by kissing you even though I wasn’t sure how you felt about me. When you kissed me back, I realized one thing, I wanted you for the rest of my life.”

The song ended, and Jude pulled away. “I have another surprise for you,” he says. Another one? Jude wrapped his arm around your shoulder and turned, and in a second, The fireworks went off. “Omg, Jude!” You exclaimed while clapping your hands. Jude chuckles beside you, and you guys watch the magical firework. You were so mesmerized by the fireworks that you didn’t realize Jude’s arm had dropped from your shoulders. The next firework was brighter than the others and stayed up there longer. Your eyes widened, and your breathing tightened when you saw the words written on it. “Jude,” you mumbled and turned to him only to look down and see him on his knees with a ring in his hand. “Will you marry me, Y/N?” He asked.

Epilogue

One week later

“Bruh, I can’t believe you did that,” Gavi slaps Pedri on the back while laughing.

Pedri groans and wants to take back a whole week of his life. Who let him drink with his asshole teammates that forced him to message his crush? It was humiliating because you left him on seen. “I hate all of you,” he said.

“Relax she has a boyfriend that’s why she left you on seen,” Gavi said. His effort of trying to cheer him up wasn’t doing much, especially with the teasing and laughing.

“Fiancé now,” Pedri corrected and shows Gavi the photo you took on a rooftop flaunting a diamond ring with Jude kissing your cheek.

You’re his crush, but he would never hit you up because he knows you’re dating Jude Bellingham, but his friends thought it would be funny. He was also drunk, and out of it, so he hit you up without thinking.

“That’s harsh, dude,” Gavi says while staring at his friend’s slightly heartbroken face. Pedri shrugged and grinned at Gavi, “yeah, coming from the guy that got a marriage proposal letter from Spain’s princess.” Gavi makes a disgusted face and shook his head. “Never happening.”



AITA For insisting on not paying past due library fines?

When I (nonbinary) was about 7 or so years old, I had a book report due for school and I needed to borrow some books from the library to do it. My mom took me to borrow some. My mom told me when I was done we could go back and return them before they were due back (which would be the next day). My mom took the books when I was done, put them aside to bring back the next day, and then promptly forgot. I reminded her a few times and she said she'd bring them back after she got out from work while I was at school. I believed her, until a handful of years later when I was looking to borrow one of her novels to read in high school, and I saw them buried at the bottom of a box in her closet. I talked to her about it and she said "well it's too late now, it's fine they won't care because it's been years" and I believed her. I didn't bother again with the library until about last year or so (I was 24) when I wanted to replace my old library card so that my daughter (4 at the time) could borrow some books. I am VERY good at returning the things I borrow from anyone on time because I panic and get paranoid if I don't, so I wasn't worried about making the same mistake my mom did.

The library did not see it that way. Because the books when I was 7 were taken out under my name, those debts were not my mom's- they were mine. They told me I was not allowed to replace or use a library card until I paid off my fines. I owed about $200 apparently. I told them that I was only 7 years old when I borrowed those books and that I had no way of returning them on my own without a parent or guardian, and that my parent had failed to help me return them on time. That shouldn't be on me, because again, I was 7. And I didn't realize they were never returned until nearly 10 years later. They kept saying that I had to pay the debt, and that my daughter would never be allowed to have a library card until I paid my debt or she was an adult, whichever came first.

I'm 25 now, my daughter is 5, and I've still been trying to fight off this debt, because it doesn't seem fair. I especially can't pay it now, I live off of disability and foodstamps and live in a shared shelter agreement with a family member. But my daughter loves reading, and I want her to be able to utilize the library. I also would like to start reading again, and borrowing books is the easiest way for me to do so.

My family keeps saying how I should just either pay it off or let it go, that I'm a "Karen" for bothering the librarians about this so much. I don't like being rude to people, I've been about as polite (and apparently timid according to my partner) as I possibly can be about this, so I'm really worried that me fighting this has been making it harder and stressful for the librarians. Am I the asshole? Should I just stop and let it go?

What are these acronyms?

Hello dear 👋🏻 Nar. I love your perspectives on iwtv . And the books too . There's something I have some problems with & I wanted to ask so I understand it fully .

There are some interpretations that Lestat loves it when Louis throws him around & fights with him physically , although I believe Lestat loved when Louis fought back he could also mean verbally & literary . I think the meaning of fighting back can also be interpreted as Louie's will & Louie's way of dealing with hardships in his Vamparic nature & towards Lestat about his Vamparic nature . But everyone thinks it's physically too because of Lestat's reaction to be thrown on the wall by Louis . Could it be something that Louis believes about Lestat & it's not actually something Lestat would love Louis do to him ?

Now according to Lestat's past about his father & brothers behavior towards him & Magnus throwing him & him getting hurt . Are we sure that Lestat loves it when Louis does that to him ? I feel like when we get to Lestat's POV this is also gonna be a bit different . Like Lestat doesn't like getting hurt or thrown to walls by Louis if it's not something sexual that excites him he might let Louis do that because he wanted to do it to him because he was angry by him .

Ps I know that Lestat himself hurt & throw people on the walls too but isn't the notion different when it's done to himself?

Hey!

Glad you like!

Hmmmmm. so I would think that Lestat... loves any and all attention that Louis lavishes on him in and by itself.

Like, he hates being ignored. He hates people reading and paying him no attention (hello, Gabrielle...) And Louis canonically withholds to exert control (not just over Lestat, but generally, over his life, over his hunger, over his emotions, etc., though he later knows very well how to handle Lestat as well.)

That clashes, obviously, in a rather unfortunate way, to put it simply.

So when Louis focuses on Lestat (in whichever way!) and maybe even lets go?! That is what Lestat wants.

He wants Louis to be fully realized, using and accepting his powers, and his life... and (ideally) focused on him.

So that is what I would say plays more into the "being thrown around and enjoying it" than any memories of Magnus or his own upbringing might. (For example, in the above scene: there would be pride also, because Louis can use that power.)

And as per that scene we saw in the teaser: I think it is important to remember that this is likely in Louis' mind - and it is canon Lestat starts to laugh in the most improper moments^^ So it will really depend on what Louis is imagining Lestat to laugh about there... and why.

PS: BTW is it just me or are these the same clothes????

hi! thanks so much for all the resources you share here. i'm starting to reconnect with my culture and your blog has been so nice for finding info about slavic folklore! i have a question, and i know it can be personal so it's okay if u don't wanna answer, but what are some practical things you do with slavic spirits&deities? do you journal, meditate, or make spells and charms and use candles more? that type of stuff 😊 cause i am not sure where to really start

there are two important things to know as we get into this. one: what I do vastly depends on who it is I'm dealing with - and what I want. it'll be different depending on the deity or spirit, and it will be different whether the act is one of gratitude, devotion, recognition or demand - and it is something you will probably organically come into in your own practice, too. two: while what I do in my practice is most definitely not a good starting point (for many reasons), the underlying drive of it is something I share happily and openly. and that is the thrill.

this isn't science, one absolute truth, a neat list of prettily categorised ingredients and methods and associations and meanings and recipes that have an inherent and irrefutable worth and are more true or relevant than what any other person does or believes in. the main framework should be seeking, understanding, and experiencing the thrill - do what feels good, do what excites you, do what you feel expands you as a person. for some that's reading books and solving sudoku, and for others it's spiritual endeavours. it is art, and craft, and hope - and thrill. no absolutes and no clean truths.

but! there's still plenty to talk about in terms for practical tips to begin, of course: I would definitely start with recognising exactly what sort of act it is that you want to engage in - ask yourself what you want out of it, how do you want to feel, what do you want to say through it - and plan the activities in line with that, combined with understanding of who it is that you want to offer this act to. purpose is crucial - even if it very basic, like simply the need to express yourself, to ask for help, or just not feel alone. doing things just to do them will quickly drain your inspiration and start feeling silly, so always find the exact purpose why you're doing something, no matter how simple or small that purpose might be.

purpose will help you identify the tools, too: a demand or thanks require an offering, one of material or time or feeling. recognition and gratitude will require connection or meditation or action. if your act is multipurpose, so should be the means through which you go about it - a ritual can have many tools and many layers, and be as complex as you fancy in the given moment.

think of the other end of this act - the spirit, deity, ancestor, any sort of being in whichever way you see it or understand it - and think what sort of tools, actions, and outcomes they would want to see. bluntly - and sweetly blasphemously - put yourself in the place of the god you pray to or the spirit you seek. if you were in their place, what would you want to see? what would you want to hear, or be promised, or be given? what would be meaningful?

when I want to show my devotion to Death Mother, let us say, I go to a graveyard: I read the necrologies at the gate to honour the recently departed buried there, with their names and ages and sons and daughters; I walk the length of the place to have time for contemplation, and I clean a forgotten grave or pick up trash lying around; when I want to thank her, I make an offering - of food or blood or time or emotion. there's rarely incense and sage or crystals charging in the light of the moon - because these are not tools that bring me thrill, nor do I find the act of using them fulfilling. I seek to understand my purpose and challenge myself with finding the thrill and expanding myself in the most satisfying way I can afford at the given moment.

so those acts will have to be varied - and personal, intimate, ever-changing, ever-challenging - and the thrill is in the journey and the experience, much less the outcome or some absolute truth. build your own calendar of celebrations and rituals, your own framework of beliefs, your own offerings and spells and songs. you have all the time in the world - take joy and pleasure in discovering what you find truly thrilling in your practice.

and best of luck.

──★ ˙ ̟ Blue Lock matchup No.5 @mooncakes-and-peaches

Hello! This is my last current matchup. I’ll be writing more soon as I have 3 shorter bonus ones planned for the few people who sent in after the cut-off. I’ll be opening them up again soon once I find I have more free time! I also have some special types of matchups planned so stay tuned!

So anyways, some of the things you noted in your matchup felt really refined and sort of sophisticated, in a way? So, with that, I decided to match you to Reo Mikage!

I know you’re anime only, and so matching you to Reo might not make much sense now, but his personality really shines through in the manga, and I might write a bit over my intended limit trying to prove that to you, so hear me out!

―୨୧⋆ ˚ “I'm a huge homebody. I enjoy watching TV… drawing occasionally.. writing ideas and characters for stories…” 

“…and working out (my goal is to look fit and I’ve actually managed to get some muscle!) I like playing tennis, but I have to be in the mood and the weather has to be right.” 

If you’ve read most of my matchups so far, I’ve said this same thing a few times, but most of your description sort of gave me Reo vibes (if that makes sense). We know that canonically, Reo is/was studious in school, achieved high marks and always performed well in what he did/does. Despite this, I feel as though he’d definitely enjoy staying home after a long day of training (as anyone else probably would). Though, Reo would definitely motivate you to play more tennis; he’d probably see potential in your skills despite you having specific conditions to be in the mood to play right! He’d also bring you along when he has training at the gym, and the two of you would train together, and this way, the both of you can meet your fitness goals together. Though on those off days when the both of you aren’t in the right mood to go to the gym, you’d stay home, and binge watch a TV show together, sharing a bowl of popcorn and different types of chocolates that he picked up from a super-high-end chocolatier earlier that day. I feel like Reo, being the rich kid that he is, is probably used to super refined tastes, like 95%+ dark chocolate. I’m not sure whether you like dark chocolate or not (personally, I absolutely love it) but if you don’t he’d try to convince you to try it, and if you do, the two of you would eat the box of chocolates together.

―୨୧⋆ ˚ “I'll let things slide here and there, but I've never been a big risk-taker/have been rebellious. At the same time, and I know this is contradicting, I'm a very lazy individual, but recently I've been doing better doing what needs to be done and more.”

Seeing as Reo is kinda a textbook spoiled rich kid, he also carries a little bit of a ‘look at me, I’m following the rules’ kind of personality, but not necessarily in a bad way. Seeing as you’re someone who seems to avoid trouble, he may see you as a ‘refined’ individual and take interest in that. We know that Reo is a huge business and stocks nerd, (duh) his family says it all. So, I’d imagine that he’d constantly yap to you about those types of things, asking you if you’ve seen the stocks today, and always telling you and about the shifting economic state of whichever country is on his mind today. I may be wrong about this, but in the case that you do know about those types of things (I def do not) I can imagine the two of you talking about it for hours. In the case that you don’t really know much about business-y type things, you’d listen to him talk and talk about something he read in a book he bought earlier that day, only to end his yap session by saying: 

“Well, I don’t really care since I don’t want my dad’s company anyway. I’ve got Nagi, and together, our soccer will…”. Congratulations, yap session number 2 is about to begin! Although, you don’t really mind, because seeing Reo finally have something to call his own brings a special type of warmth to your heart. His newfound motivation towards wanting to be good at something that he grew from nothing himself definitely makes you feel like you can motivate yourself to build your own skill at things that you already enjoy doing. 

I’d imagine that Reo would obviously bring you to meet Nagi. He’d take you along to watch him practice one time and introduce you to his closest friends (literally only Nagi, maybe Chigiri? – but I won’t spoil anything for you). Seeing as you didn’t mention soccer as one of your interests he might suggest that the three of you play a sport together one day, and you’d suggest tennis. With Nagi being the talented freak he is, his general skill in almost anything he does may physically exhaust you, with you opting to watch him and Reo go against each other in a match while you keep the scores. That’s not to say that you’re bad at playing tennis, of course. Nagi is (was) known to make these types of underhanded comments at another person who isn’t up to his skill level (😭). 

―୨୧⋆ ˚  “I don't have an aesthetic, I just like to wear whatever is comfy and don't really stray from my regular stuff (another thing I need to work on).”

Given his riches, Reo would obviously have expensive taste. If I’m not wrong, he wears designer clothes and all that jazz. So, seeing as you also have a super self-improving orientated mindset, (in my opinion) he’d always motivate you to do new things and open your avenues up a little. That’s why I think he’d pamper you with new clothes, or randomly take you ‘shopping’ where in reality he takes you to get one of those colour analyses, where the person would help you figure out what colour ‘looks best’ on you. He’d pay extra attention to it and buy you things based on what the analyst says. Of course, he takes it with a grain of salt, and lets his personal opinion seep through when buying you gifts. As for you, you’d give him a little ‘fashion show’ where you try on the clothes he bought you so as to not disappoint him, even if they’re not really your style. In the end, you’d pick out a couple pieces that you ended up liking a lot and scold him for splurging (just because he has tons of money, doesn’t mean he should spend it all!). He’d also take note of the types of things you ended up keeping and use it as reference for his next shopping haul for you. From personal experience, he knows that money isn’t the only thing that can keep a person happy, so he definitely tries to not overwhelm you with all his gifts and stuff. Seeing you smile and be content is one of the most important things to him, and he’d be absolutely torn if he was the reason for you to feel any sort of sadness.

I find it interesting that king boo and dimentio see luigi as the bigger threat or nuisance in king boos case seems like the most dangerous villains tend to focus more on luigi than mario also what are your thoughts on antasma?

I think King Boo in particular is interesting as he went from having no particular opinion about Luigi (you get the feeling that he would have captured whichever brother had entered the mansion first in LM1) to holding a festering hatred of Luigi by the time we hit the third LM game. You almost get the sense King Boo regarded Luigi as a someone laughable until he actually fought through the entire mansion and beat King Boo. And I think at that point, King Boo just fixated on Luigi as this seemingly cowardly, anxiety-prone, far less famous of the Mario brothers who brought down his ambitions Three Whole Times. By the time we hit LM3 (and I haven't played Dark Moon yet, have only watched some cut scenes for writing purposes), it strikes me that King Boo doesn't give a damn about Mario or Peach or the Toads, only their value in luring Luigi through what I would contend is a drawn-out, premeditated gauntlet of 15-ish levels of ghoulish battle. It's almost like he wants to watch Luigi beat these ghosts who he obviously holds zero regard for, only so he can finally top this nemesis of his and assert his dominance over the ghostly population. Wild stuff.

On the other hand, we have Dimentio, our favorite bastard magic man. Unlike King Boo, the minute Luigi came into his orbit, you get the feeling Dimentio was gunning for him. (Whether or not Dimentio had scouted out Luigi and the gang prior to the Chaos Heart's arrival is up for debate, but it does raise the interesting question of why Luigi was marked to be brainwashed while Peach and Bowser and Mario were left to their own devices. Now, was this the Count's own idea due to what was written in the Dark Prognosticus or was DImentio whispering in his ear? I'm not entirely certain, but by the time Luigi/Mr. L came to Castle Bleck, Dimentio would have been tracking him, to phrase it as Dimentio would, like a bloodhound denied his nightly dinner).

All this is to say, Dimentio was laser-focused on Luigi and worse yet, because Dimentio is a cunning, manipulative asshole, he read all of Luigi's insecurities that got blasted about in his Mr. L form like a child's picture book. For Dimentio, I think, he sees not only a tool but someone who could ultimately be swayed to his side, had he the time. A man of a terrible potential he doesn't even realize, anxiety masking a hundred and one other emotions Luigi either can't or won't recognize. (I've mentioned this elsewhere, but I am 100% convinced Luigi's anxiety is, to a degree, a coping mechanism so he doesn't have to deal with the more complicated, sometimes darker emotions and thoughts whirling around his head).

I have yet to play M&L: Dream Team, but I have seen some takes on Antasma and his relationship with Luigi, who seems play a pivotal role in this game. I'm excited to get to this one (it's one of the next on my list after I finish Thousand Year Door! That and Dark Moon!) so I'll have to report back once I've gotten into it.

But I would say to your assertion that the more dangerous villains are drawn to Luigi -

Let's think about it this way. Mario is a known variable. He's a hero, he's incorruptible, at least according to the stories. His role is to beat the bad guys, to stand in their way, to protect and be the guardian of the moral high ground. The villains want to defeat him.

Luigi, however, is a little more complicated. He shares the same desire to protect as Mario, to be the hero and stand on the moral high ground but...we see the way he acts in the Paper Mario series, the overblown language, the way he wants to be included, the way the Toads treat him, the way he's referred to so often as number two, the way his anxiety is out in the open. Luigi presents as someone a lot more malleable than Mario is, as someone who could not only be defeated, but exploited. And, of course, each time Luigi defies those expectations because he's a lot stronger and braver than he presents (although he's always complicated). And it's the type of thing where I imagine it's partially that the villains feel their egos are bruised by their defeat coming from the "other brother," on one hand, and on the other, there's that promise they see in Luigi, whether or not he'd actually betray his brother, but they see those shades of grey in him, see something they could use and it has to be alluring to them.

(Not to mention Luigi's penchant for magic - the Thunderhand, his weird negative dimension thing in the Smash Brothers series, his dream capabilities - unlike Mario, Luigi's abilities tend to fall into the more fantastical and in tandem with his engineering skills, have the potential to make him so, so powerful. If He Ever Tapped Into That Side of Himself.)

Jesus Christ.

This. This is why we can’t have nice things! 😭😫

Sending disrespectful messages just to criticise someone’s hard work is not constructive criticism! It’s just spiteful, pity hatred! It’s so fucking immature.

And to do it on anon? If you have something to say, either say it with your fucking chest (your profile visible, so that you’re standing by your “statement”) or shut the fuck up!

I will fight every last one of you for being gutless little weasels that think it’s okay to treat anyone this way! Seriously, come into my inbox and we’ll have a little chat.

Because it’s really very simple. If you’re seeing something that you don’t like, if you’re reading something that you don’t like, then guess what?

YOU DON’T FUCKING HAVE TO!

You can always just click out of it. Hell, you could even unfollow Em or block her if it’s sooo difficult for you to see her work.

Emily is completely free to write whichever kind of story and character that she wants. All of her incredible writing is not actually for you. She wrote, she owns it, and it’s for her! It’s for her creative fulfilment, it’s for her entertainment, and yet, she has decided, very gracefully, to share it with all of us.

So either be grateful of that fact or get fucking lost.

P. S: Hi sweet Em, I’m sorry to dump this lecture in your inbox, but since your haters are all on anon, I can’t reach them in any other ways. So I hope you’ll forgive me ❤️

Hey, Laura! It's always a pleasure to hear from you. Thanks again for the amazing book list you compiled for me to help me with this fic. I still have the tab open on my computer. I do think I'm going to need your help coming up with a few more before the series ends, but I'll hit you up later for that.

Have you heard about Disney’s a tale of..?

It’s a perspective flip/prequel book series from the villains POV, only it makes them much more tragic and sympathetic.

For example, the first book, fairest of all makes the evil queen a victim of abuse and manipulation from her father (who is the slave in the magic mirror in this continuity) with a little help from the odd sisters, original characters who are Snow white’s cousins.

All this to say that if they made a tale of.. for Wish, it would just be everything the Magnífico stans/defenders are saying, like word for word.

Hi!

I just read up on a summary of Fairest Of All and it really is really interesting! I haven’t heard of the series until I got your ask, and I might get the Evil Queen book now because I love tragic stories that turn people into antagonists of another story. I don’t know if they’re canon to the movies, but canon or not I’d accept it whichever way Disney says.

Before I start, I’m just gonna say that I’m not exactly sure if you’re a Magnifico stan/defender or not, lol. I’ll just answer honestly as usual!

So regarding your last paragraph, I kind of agree with that. If there were a book for King Magnifico since he was Wish’s ‘villain’ then it could be similar to what Magnifico stans/defenders are saying. Unless they’ve got it all wrong and Disney was intending/leading it to something else, like his backstory being a lie (which is what I believed until the movie subtly proved otherwise). There’s still a chance for Disney to either divert his past story or put more into it, because they really kept it vague and only mentioned it twice. At this point, we can assume anything about him but we’d need to consider how honest he was with what he said.

For instance, in the graphic novel of Wish he mentions to Star on why it took Asha for them to meet or why wasn’t Star there when he needed him. Or how he put passion into his voice when he pointed to the burnt tapestry during that one scene. Those just tell us he has some sort of trauma that stemmed to his past, but the movie barely does anything to go into more detail about it. Disney knew that if it did, then they’d create another obvious sympathetic villain—but they already did that anyways. One hint at a bad past and you get a character whose trauma overwhelmed him to the point of doing villain stuff with an evil book (which is oddly similar to the Queen in Fairest Of All in a way). Then afterwards you get defenders and stans.

Which, hey, I’m a stan. 🤷🏽‍♀️ I would also say defender but not in an Asha is evil and Magnifico is a pure angel kind of way, personally. I wouldn’t bring one character down for another, because honestly the thing we should bring down is the bad writing. No one’s truly evil unless they’re taking pleasure out of being sadistic and intentionally hurting/killing others, and no one is a pure angel period. Asha’s a good-hearted girl who’s heavily naive, and Magnifico is a good man who lets his past haunt him to the point he commits to unreasonable decisions. Both are misguided. None of these make them a bad person. Just flawed—and that’s human. I suppose that’s why I love movie Magnifico so much because he chooses the worst decisions for himself out of pure emotion and desperation. That’s human! That’s relatable! And it’s fine, until they decided to not redeem him. They could’ve had a nice lesson if they did so, but anyways.

I just like to see every aspect, detail, perspective, and more before I decide to villainize a character (which is never) over the other or whatever. This isn’t targeted to anyone btw, I’m just saying my truth. Because in honesty, I’m tired of holding my tongue and trynna people please (this is a personal grievance- it’s not directed at you lol, I just wanted to mention it).

But anyways—again and finally—I agree that a book about Magnifico’s past could be what stans/defenders are saying. But it could also not be, because his past is so vague that it can be easily altered by Disney, its sole creator. Whatever they say about the character is the truth. If stans/defenders (me included) don’t like it, then we could just leave. We can’t deny the truth about a character that isn’t of our creation, but we can choose to acknowledge it or even dissect it to make it something more. And also not complain about it, haha. If the book were to actually be what stans/defenders say, then hooray we can celebrate I guess.

I don’t really care whichever way it goes as long as it is interesting and worth my time. I’d rather a unique investing story of a Magnifico book than a story that caters to and pleases my own interests (even as a Magnifico stan/defender and even as someone who’d like to see Magnifico rise up again and be proven as right with the movie product we have now), which is what I see a lot of people doing nowadays. I could elaborate on that but I don’t want to make this too long—

If Magnifico was telling the truth about his past and it is as traumatic as he says it is, then so be it. If Magnifico was actually lying about his past because Disney confirms it, then so be it.

Besides, Jennifer Lee mentioned in an interview that she could write a whole book about Magnifico’s past or just something about him that led him to who he is now. I hope she does even if she grossly gave a good man the fate of a villain’s. I’d give the book a chance.

Thanks for the ask! ❤️

I’m sorry I love this meme so much- it’s a running joke with my siblings. 😂

Hey lovely. Wanted to ask you this as you work in the industry but who funds Louis’ tour? Is that the record company or is he doing it himself? And who pays his band, manager etc? I’m just curious as to how much support he’s getting from his record label or if he’s really doing a lot of self funding.

Hello, my love! I’m gonna try and explain this the simplest way possible so I don’t get into too much jargon and make you read a 3,000 word essay hehe. Also, contracts can all vary, but this is the most standard way of touring when it comes to big artists. Let’s goooooo!

Okay, SO, when a big artist (or band) go on tour, they will 99.9% of the time have a contractual Agreement with a concert promoter, this includes the likes of Australian exclusive promoter TEG (who Niall is touring Australia with this year), international promoter Live Nation (Harry toured worldwide with them, Louis did Australia/Asia with them and probably worldwide too because of global deals), Australia/NZ exclusive promoter Frontier Touring (T Swift for Australia, but she was with Live Nation in the US) and there are many other promoters worldwide too. You’ll see on some specific marketing material that the artist and promoter put out, it will have their logo at the bottom of the tour poster, and shows they are what is called a “sponsor” or the concert promoter for this tour. See examples of this below:

^ niall’s Australian tour with TEG live on the bottom right

^ one of Harry’s US posters with Live Nation at the bottom

^louis’ Singapore tour poster, also with Live Nation at the bottom

So basically, what these concert promoters do, is sponsor the artist. That means, the booking agent/tour manager will sign a contract with whichever promoter offers the best deal, and will tour with them. The reason why they sign up for a tour with a promoter, is because the promoter provides a safety net, and takes care of a lot of the things that come with touring that the artist and their team don’t wanna think about organising, and so they let them do it for them. This includes stuff like paying and organising crewing teams and riggers and those guys, work Visas to get into the country, marketing, venues and available dates for shows, catering, sound/lights/backline/LED, rent costs for the venue, security, flights, accommodation, etc., which is negotiated per the contractual Agreement.

The tour manager of the artist also works really closely with these guys to approve any staging, catering, or locally rented lighting rigs and all that specific fun stuff that the artist doesn’t travel with, but is particular about to make the shows/tour exactly how they want them (this will be in their production rider and hospitality rider that they supply the promoter with).

Let’s say, for example, Niall really wants to stay in a specific 5 star hotel in Brisbane, he wants a flight to Aus at a very particular time on a very specific date, he wants to bring 40 crew members with him, he needs a specific set of lights and a particular sound desk at each show (bc he’s my little drama queen). Him and his team are super busy on the other side of the world, they just don’t have time to organise all of that. It would be constant emails and phone calls back and forth with quotes, availability, submitting 40 work Visa applications, multiple suppliers saying “yes we can do that” and “no we can��t”, time zones, etc., so why not sign up with a promoter and let them do it for him?

So now, we get into the money side of things. Sure, niall knows he will make money if he tours without a promoter, he knows he’ll sell tickets in Aus, and he knows that he’d probably come out with a profit. But apart from not wanting to organise and spending a heap of money on all of this stuff, is it worth touring if he doesn’t think it’ll be sustainable and he’s basically lost money from doing it? No, it’s not. SO promoters know this, and they all fight for artists to sign with them, by offering up the biggest guarantee they can. This is often a guarantee vs ticket sales scenario.

So, if TEG were like “hey niall, we’ll guarantee you $800,000 to tour with us, or, 80% of ticket sales, whichever amount is higher”. A guarantee means he’s not relying on ticket sales alone. He knows that if none of his shows sell out and less people come than he thought, he’s still gonna get $800,000. Or, if he sells a heap of tickets, he gets more than that, yay! But if Frontier Touring were like “nah, come with us, we’ll give you $700,000 vs 90% of ticket sales, he’d have to consider the fact he might not make as much money, unless he really trusts that all of his shows sell out. So they usually go with whoever can give a higher guarantee.

Now, within these deals, sometimes the higher the guarantee, the more the artist has to pay for themselves (I’m keeping this at like… what a Harry/Niall/Louis level deal would kind of be, not like an Elton John level or something, because that would probably vary entirely). So, Niall has been guaranteed this insane amount of money, but TEG are then like “well… we’ll do all of this and you know you’re making money, but we do have a budget. So you can pay for your flights and work visas, and everything that you want that is above our budget cap, but we will try to keep everything under budget unless you approve to pay more for a specific thing you want”. Ya know? So yeah, Niall is like “hell yeah dudes, sounds good. Sign me up”. And then it’s all a bunch of finance organising etc., but yeah. Usually the smaller the band, the more they’ll pay for if they go with a promoter, because the promoter doesn’t want to take too many risks on them and still needs to make money. They’ll still get a guarantee, but will have to sort out more by themselves, and not treated exactly like royalty like Harry would be.

So long story short, the concert promoter funded Louis’ tour, and probably organised just about everything. The concert promoter sends the money to Louis’ agent (whether it be the guarantee or higher due to ticket sales), and they divide that amount to him, his manager (which is usually 15-20% but can differ with how famous the artist is), anyone else involved in contracts for % of touring, and then happy days. The tour is over and everything has been a lot easier than the tour manager(s) having to organise it all by themselves, and risk losing a bunch of money in doing so.

Thanks for the q, anon! Let me know if you need clarification on anything xx

The Untold Romantic Stories of Renowned Witches of Hogwarts Vol. 1 (F!Ravenclaw x Seb Sallow)Pt. 1

The reason why I wrote this little story, It was 2 am, browsing through tumblr seeing S.S. x Hufflepuff, S.S. x Slytherin and so on. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen S.S. x Gryffindor or S.S. x Ravenclaw that much. If there are stories about what I mentioned before, if you don’t mind me troubling any of you who somehow stumbles upon this post, would you please redirect me to the stories T_T I honestly would rather read other people’s hard work and imagine what was happening rather than me trying hard using all of my brain cells to come up with more descriptions.  Author DC: All characters depicted in this story are over the age of 18+ as you might’ve noticed that in game where they start as a fifth year, they were somewhere between 14-16. and I’d really not appreciate it I wrote a possible explicit love story about a 14-16 y/o. FBI would defo come to my house and mess me up fr fr.

It has been 2 years since I first attended Hogwarts, though I started as a 5th year student, I must say I feel like I’ve been here since Year 1. Year 7 and after this it’s either be an Auror or a researcher. Whichever works best for me. In the Ravenclaw Common Room, the newly sorted first-years are admiring the place, making me reminisce about the time when I first got here. I always rethink about the time when the sorting hat said ‘Ravenclaw!’, there were moments when I felt like I didn’t belong in Ravenclaw, when I was duelling Sebastian I felt something. Something that made me want more of it, that lust didn’t stop there; when I saw Isidora’s memories it happened again. I wanted power more than anything else. It’s as if my ambition sparked when those events happened. I walked out of the Common Room to head up to the Astronomy Tower, and to my surprise Sebastian was waiting for me. “Fancy seeing you here.” he says smirking. “And you too. It’s rare to see you in this part of the castle. You’re usually in the Defense Against the Dark Arts tower or the Library.” I said back. “Well, you didn’t show up in the Great Hall for breakfast so I decided to pick you up, assuming you’re on your way to the Great Hall.” “Ah well I was planning on going up the tower to return a book to Amit. I borrowed his book about constellations and their mythological stories.” I said tracing the book’s spine with my other hand. Sebastian looks down at my hands and sees the book. “Oh. Perhaps I should accompany you.” he said. For some odd reason I felt a hint of jealousy in his eyes. But I disregard it. We walked up the tower to find Amit adjusting his telescope, “Good Morning Amit.” I said. “Oh Y/N, great timing. I was going to wait to ask you later in class but now’s a perfect time too.” he said looking up. “Ask me what?” I asked. “You see, I found an Astronomy Table with- don’t freak out. With a telescope attached to it. I’ve tried removing the telescope but I couldn’t, it was as if it was fixed on the thing. The telescope is beautiful, however, it’s almost as if it was made for you!” He exclaimed. “Huh, how can a telescope be much prettier than y/n?” asked Sebastian his arms crossed and his left eyebrow raised. “I-i mean, Y/N is beautiful! The telescope is just pretty and an inanimate object.” Amit says. I chuckled because it was the funniest comeback I’ve heard from other people. Sebastian was going to say something but he refrained from doing so, instead I heard him mutter something under his breath that I can’t quite hear well. “You’re damn right, she is.” “But anyway! You didn’t come all the way up here for stargazing, right?” Amit says. “Ah right! Here’s your book back. I’ve already finished it and made some notes about it. Made an essay about Andromeda, the chained lady.” I said. “An interesting story. Oh, your friend’s leaving.” Amit says as he tilts his head to the side, I turn around and see Sebastian descend the stairs. “Well then, if you’ll excuse me.” I said I bowed down to Amit and chased after Sebastian. “Wait for me! I know you’re hungry but you could’ve said something-” As I catch up to him, Sebastian stops in his tracks and slams the wall behind me, trapping me. I can feel the warmth his body emanates and his breath on my face. He was kind of breathing heavily. “Sebastian..?” I said, afraid of looking up at him, afraid of looking at his eyes. Is this the Sebastian I knew? “Don’t go.” he said almost angrily. “I’m not going anywhere?” I said, confused at the situation I am currently in. I summoned every courage I had and looked at him. Back then, I didn’t realise that Sebastian was really taller than me, with him being this close to me I felt somewhat afraid yet somewhat safe. His brown eyes are really enthralling, and his scent smells like paper and earl-grey tea. It’s a scent that I like.

His lips softly curled upwards, he was smiling. He pulled away and took out his hand. I was lost there for a moment, I was dumbfounded with what just happened. I placed my hand on his hand and our fingers intertwined. We used the Floo System to get to the Great Hall. Normally, I would be sitting with my Ravenclaw friends, but for some reason, my hand is still intertwined with Sebastian’s. So perhaps this is what he meant by ‘Don’t go.’? He placed our joined hands inside his coat and he whispers “Your hand’s cold.” “Ah! I brought my own gloves. Let me jus-” “No.” he said while gripping a little tighter. While I was eating my toast, Sebastian’s reading something. “I thought you were hungry.” I said. He ignored my comment. “Oh! That’s it! My hand is-” I can feel his grip tighten again. “Perhaps I should feed you?” I asked. “Like a mother bird to her baby bird minus me chewing the thing and basically vomiting it to your mo-” “Say less. Please. Please for the love of Merlin, say less.” Sebastian groaned as he reluctantly let my hand go. I study his face to see what he’s feeling, usually I should be able to read him like a book like I specifically have Legilimens that only work on Sebastian. Ominis often joked about how he couldn’t read him and that he needed me to read Sebastian’s mind, and of course I played along. But that happened a long time ago. Sebastian finally ate the cold toast that had been sitting idly on a plate. As for me, I tried to get out of my seat only for Sebastian to ask me “Where do you think you’re going?” he asks one hand on my sleeve and the other on the toast. “I was just going over to the Ravenclaw table to say hello.” I said. His brow slightly furrowed, he finishes up his toast and grabs his book that he had been reading and “Let’s go then.” He says. “You sure you’re not going to leave me like before?” I jokingly asked. I saw his cheeks puffed and I can visibly see the freckles on his face. We were on our way to the Ravenclaw Table when “Hello Y/N. Sallow. I have a question for you, Y/N.” Leander says. I slightly tilt my head. “Of course, what’s your question?” I asked. “Are you perhaps free this Saturday? I was hoping we could catch up and-” “I’m afraid she already has made plans with me, Prewett.” Sebastian said walking in front of me, I never realised that Sebastian’s back is big, like a wall. “We do?” I quietly asked. He nodded and smirked. “Oh. another time then, perhaps?” Leander asks. I peak out and say “Of course!” I said. As Leander walks away “Of course? Of course??” his voice was angry but he said it low so as to not raise any commotions. “What’s wrong with that? I haven’t spoken to Leander over at break an-” “So you usually speak to him, then?” He says he folds his arms and his brows are furrowed. “I don’t understand why you’re mad about that.” I said. “I- you know what. Never mind.” he says as he stomps off. “Sebastian, wait!” I tried running after him but I was stopped by Garreth who was carrying a new concoction he made. I bumped into Garreth and his potion, the potion bottle cracked due to the impact and the contents of the said bottle has been poured all over my robe. “Ah! Y/N I am so sorry! I was too engrossed with my potion and- Oh um… ah.” “It’s alright, Garreth. It was my fault, I wasn’t looking.” I looked up at Garreth to see his face, for some odd reason he was flustered and he was looking to the side. “Garreth, are you alright?” I asked, concerned if he was hurt during our little accident. “No I am not.. Um your cloak…and uniform…” he said quietly. “My cloak and unif-” I looked down and saw that most of it was disappearing. I quickly cover myself with my hands. Garreth removes his cloak and covers me up and helps me off the ground. “I- thank you, Garreth.” I can feel my cheeks burn due to the embarrassment. Luckily none of the students saw what had happened. As Garreth escorts me to the Ravenclaw tower, we encounter Sebastian, “I take my eyes off of you and this what happened? What exactly happened?” his voice was back to normal, good it seemed that he has calmed down. “I bump-” “It was my fault, I was just admiring my new potion, I didn’t know that the potion would do that.” he says, I can see his face get flustered again. “I’ll take it from here, Weasley.�� Sebastian says, his tone was something I’ve never heard before. It sounds like he’s angry but somehow not. I can’t understand this man sometimes. Sebastian takes off his cloak and drapes it over me. He removes Garreth’s cloak that has been keeping my dignity intact. “Here.” Sebastian shoves the cloak back to Garreth’s hands. “I’m really sorry, Y/N. I’ll make it up to you!” he says. Sebastian took my hand and we hurriedly walked towards the Undercroft. Still holding my hand, we stopped in the middle of the room. He slowly turned around.”Are you alright?” his voice was soft, he wasn't staring at me directly but for some reason I could feel his gaze, I blush. “Gods, you don’t know what you do to me.” He says. “You’re driving me nuts, Y/N.” he continues. He pulls me close, hugging me. I can hear his heartbeat, it’s beating way too fast. “Sebastian, you need to calm down. Your heart… it’s beating way too fast.” I said. I haven’t got a clue on what’s exactly happening. But I can feel his emotions through his actions. After all, Sebastian’s the type of man to be straightforward with their feelings: the type of person I like. I tap his back signalling him that I can’t breathe, “My apologies.” his face, still flustered. He stared down at me, “That stupid Weasley. I can’t believe he-” “It was an accident. It was my fault that the potion’s contents spilled on me.” I cut him off, making sure that Garreth doesn’t enter Sebastian’s list of people he would duel to possible death. 

Hope that you sort of enjoyed my work. I drank some caffeine while I was writing this and I must say that it wasn’t pleasant, guess I should stick to tea leaves or what-not. Cheers!

"i'm sorry did you just call my birthday my 'womb escape'??" for the Greater Polyphantoms Polycule?

"I'm headed to the mall, you wanna come?' Carrie asked the assembled group.

"Hard pass," Luke mumbled around the guitar pick in his mouth. "But will you bring me back a soft pretzel?"

"If you can remember your manners and ask nicely," Carrie replied.

"Please?"

"Fine. Any one else?"

"I've got a dentist appointment, otherwise I would, sorry," Alex said apologetically.

Julie barely looked up from her book and shook her head, and since she was using Reggie as a chair, he just shrugged with a 'what can you do' expression.

"I'll come, I need to get some new socks," Willie replied.

"I'm down, Flynn piped up, grabbing her purse. "I gots gift cards to spend."

"Oh yeah from your..." Willie stopped, the word on the edges of his brain, but unable to make it to his lips. "Womb escape!"

"I'm sorry did you just call my birthday my 'womb escape'?" Flynn asked, hands on her hips.

"Birthday! That's the word!" Willie said with a snap. Then he looked at Flynn. "Sorry, my brain no words good today."

"Another shite in nining armour situation?" Carrie asked.

"Yeah."

"Okay, now I'm double confused," Flynn said as they climbed into Carrie's little pink Bug.

"We were watching Ted Lasso," Carrie explained. "And one character had a brain fart. So they said shite in nining armour instead of knight in shining armour."

"And my brain does that sometimes. Mostly when I read, thanks dyslexia," Willie explained. "But sometimes when I'm speaking too."

"Sounds awful," Flynn replied.

"Eh," Willie replied with a shrug. "I usually just laugh it off, but it's the first time I've ever said something as dumb as womb escape."

"I mean, it is apt," Flynn conceded. "Just please never say it again."

"Seconded, I think I'm traumatized," Carrie joked.

"I'll buy you a PinkBerry to make up for it," Willie said. "Or an Orange Julius."

"What I'm hearing is that you're thirsty and magnanimous," Carrie stated. "But I will glad accept."

"Me too," Flynn stated. "Then I am hitting LuLuLemon cuz mama needs a new set of yoga pants."

"Fine by me, I think they have a sale on now anyways," Carrie replied. "Where do you wanna get socks Willie?"

"Figured I'd look around the GameStop, they have new Pokemon socks out and I wanna see if there's a Gengar pair," he said. "Plus I promised Alex I'd pick up the game he pre-ordered.

"Honestly I never would have thought of Alex as a gamer before now," Carrie said. "Reggie yes, but Alex?"

"It helps relax him," Willie said. "Plus he can kick Reggie's ass any day of the week at Smash Bros. Not Carlos' though-that kid is a killer."

"I think he'd resent you calling him a kid since he's nearly twenty, and taller than you," Flynn said.

"I've known him since he was twelve, to me he'll always be a kid," Willie stated.

"How do you think Flynn and I feel? We've known Carlos since he was in diapers!" Carrie interjected.

"Anyways, I told him I'd stop calling him kid when he could legally drink, or when he stops referring to me as his cousin Throckmorton, whichever comes first," Willie said.

"Guess he's kid for another two years then," Flynn giggled. "He's never gonna stop calling you that."

"There are worse things he could call me I guess," Willie finally said.

"Alright losers, let's go shopping!" Carrie said as they pulled into the mall.

They all barrelled out of the car, Willie leading the way, because as much as he loved the girls, and shopping, he wanted to get his smoothie on first.

Ascendance of a Bookworm Part1 vol.1 Prologue lets talk the foreshadowing and about the growth of Myne/Rozemyne

Urano was even interested in old tales and myths from foreign  countries, as she felt like they gave her a glimpse into different cultures of ages long past. They were rich with history and she couldn’t count how many hours she had lost to unraveling their mysteries.  

this is why Myne/Rozemyne is so good at learning about the culture she was reborn into so fast because she already find that stuff to be interesting, that why she was so good at just accepting too believe in the gods when she was an atheist at the time because she notice things in the world that when she was Urano there was no magic.

It not only too keep her alive by fitting in it also help her in making books, she had too figure out what was already made like with the ink she did not know what type of ink was made at the time.

Urano she would always head straight for the back rooms of whichever libraries she visited. 

Urano loved the smell of new paper and ink. 

In order to survive she always kept a book close at hand, whether she was taking a bath, using the bathroom, or even just walking  around. She had lived this way from childhood to her college graduation,  clinging to books with such fervor.  

when Urano woke as Myne and she kept failing at making paper so she could make books she wanted to just give up and die.

it was Lutz who give her the will to keep going because she made a promise too him.

“Urano, c’mon, that’s dangerous. Stay close to me.” “Mmm...” Urano pushed up her glasses and gave a lazy response, focusing more on the words in front of her. She noticed that her rustled hair was getting in the way and quickly brushed it aside. An exasperated sigh drifted into her ears and she felt someone pull on her arm, a little hard. Her brows furrowed. “Shuu, that hurts.” “Complain all you want. A little pain is a lot better than getting hit by a truck and dying, yeah?” “That’s true. I wouldn’t want to die from anything but an avalanche of Books.” 

who is this Shuu (Shuu is Lutz if you stop to think about) when we first meet Lutz he was the one too take care of Myne he was the one to know her the best he is the one that could tell if she is about too get sick , he also was the one who could control her the best, he was also someone who would make sure that she was kept safe.

Urano wanted to live her entire life surrounded by books. If possible, she  wanted to spend her whole life inside a book storeroom .

Myne and Lutz made a promise Lutz will make anything Myne thinks up and Myne will have so many books that she could not read all of them. and when Myne become Rozemyne and got engage Lutz had to remind Rozemyne there promise they made as kids.

Even if people said her skin was gross and pale and laughed at her for being weak due to lack of exercise, even if her mom yelled at her for forgetting to eat, she had no intention of ever letting go of her books. 

When Urano got born as Myne, it seems like she was already weak from the start and this is when we first see when Urano/Myne say they forget too eat when they read books. and how she also said she will never let go of books.

If she had to die somehow, she may as well die getting crushed by an avalanche of books. That’d make her a lot happier than a slow death in a hospital bed. Urano sincerely believed that. 

is it not funny that Myne has the Devouring which can cause something call the crushing, but she did not want to lay in a hospital bed but she ended up in a very sick body which make her spend a good about of time resting in bed.

“I’m always telling you not to read while you walk. If I weren’t here, you definitely woulda walked straight into the road and died in no time. How about a little thank you?” “But I say it all the time. I’m so, sooo thankful.” “That don’t sound too sincere to me.” “I am, I am. It’s thanks to you that I can read books while doing chores, Shuu. But even if I did die, I’d ask a god to reincarnate me so I can keep reading books in my next life. Isn’t that smart? Ahaha.” “Life ain’t that convenient, moron.” 

If not for Lutz keeping Myne on a short leash when they first started going too the woods, she would have not make it, like how Shuu kept Urano on a short leash she would have died by getting hit by the truck.

but both Shuu and Lutz did something that most people would not they stick with a person when most would have left them. because they care for them

and just As shuu, Lutz was the Reason why Myne was able to read, but she was the reason why she got adopted by the nobles which made her get a third death even if it's fake.

Shuu entered with her rather than going into his own house next door. As they were childhood friends and went to the same daycare, they had been raised like siblings practically since birth. He always referred to Urano’s place as home, and nobody questioned that. “Mom, here’s what you wanted. I’ll be in the book room. Call me whenever dinner’s ready.” “Right, right. What about you, Shuu? Is your mother planning on making anything?” “Nah, I’m eating here tonight. She’s got work.

Just as Shuu who Grow up with Urano, Lutz Grow up right beside Myne they know each other for ever.

Urano smoothly sat onto the desk chair without looking up from her book, and kept on reading. Suddenly, her vision shook. She concluded that an earthquake was happening and kept on reading as always. The shaking was harder than usual, which made it difficult for her to read. Her brows furrowed and she looked up, frustrated at the earthquake, only to see books dominating her vision. “Hyaaah?!” 

This is the first time we learn that Urano/Myne is not aware of things when she is reading, she feels a earthquake taking place but she kept on reading till it started to getting harder which was making it hard for her too read.

(we learn so much about her in just a prologue

that people miss, and there still some people who think she has no growth,

she started out just thinking about herself, she was not thankful for all the things her best friend did for her or how she talk about just being around books and never letting go of books even if she should die she wants books to be the reason why she die.)

but as we read and grow with Myne and then Rozemyne we start to see her start to care about people, start to put people above books, how she was willing too choice her family over books, and how she give up her happiness with her family to save them so the nobles will not kill them.

how she willing to start a war for person she cares about, that is not a person who only thinks about themselves that is a person who learn to care about others and learn to also love books at the same time.

I watched the live action One Piece because of you and your excitement over it and I really loved it, so thank you! Wondering if you have suggestions of where to go next? Read the manga or watch the anime? It honestly seems a bit overwhelming, so not sure where to start.

That's awesome! I love inspiring people to try One Piece, it's a really fun ride! It's always great seeing new fans coming in to enjoy the series! 🤗

I wanted to be as informative and thorough as I could for anyone wondering about this, so this might be long, but I'll provide a summarized version to start then include the long version under a readmore if you want more info in order to decide. Sorry if it gets a bit rambling lol.

So the answer to the "anime or manga" question is not necessarily complicated, but it is a little more nuanced than some fans will lead you to believe (a lot of manga-only elitists have a hate boner for the anime to a degree that imo isn't warranted) . There are a few major factors.

Summarized version:

1) this one's obvious, but bears saying; if you prefer manga, go with the manga, if you prefer anime, go with the anime. If you like both, go with both, unless you only want to consume one. Some people tend to gravitate towards one over another, and that's fine.

2) if you're interested in consuming both, I recommend starting with the anime, then going to the manga after, to avoid tainting your experience with the anime by comparing it to the manga all the time. If you only want to consume one, stick to the manga, because it is the better version. If you're on the fence or haven't decided yet, start with the manga then decide if you want to also try the anime later.

3) if you want to consume the anime, then determine how much of the original experience you want to be retained. There's not many filler episodes, but they do exist, and there are watch lists that explain which episodes to skip if you don't want to watch them. Otherwise obviously the manga is the true original and is the best version of the story. The anime isn't terrible, I still enjoy it, but it does have its flaws compared to the manga. That said, it does also have some benefits you can't get from the manga such as the top notch voice acting (at least in Japanese) and incredible soundtrack. Also the animation in Wano has been sending One Piece fans to the emergency room with priapism lately so do with that what you will.

4) determine how much time you're willing to invest. The manga is going to be the fastest way to consume the series, but there is a fan edited version of the anime that speeds up the pacing to match the manga, and thus takes a lot less time to catch up on. You can also read the manga then look up your favourite scenes in the anime as a supplement without investing into watching the whole anime, either shorter or longer version. The only thing to keep in mind is don't ever skip any canon arcs, you WILL regret it later. Oda never forgets.

Where to watch/read:

If you want help finding a good place to read or watch the series, for free or otherwise, let me know and I can provide some links! I can also provide recommendations for which movies to watch and when if anyone is interested in those, or even just OP fanfic recs if there's a market for that lol.

Now, for:

The long version (oh god I'm so sorry this got so long I am incapable of talking about this topic succinctly):

1) what type of media do you prefer and have an easier time consuming? Comic or animation?

I have an anime only friend who struggles with reading comics for some reason (he can read books just fine, but he struggles with comics and he doesn't know why), but he loves the anime, and is even currently rewatching it so we can catch up on watching Wano together since that arc is ending soon and we like to wait and binge entire arcs instead of watching weekly. If you prefer one over another, then whichever that is, is fine fine to go with. If you don't have a preference, then your next factor is:

2) do you want to only consume one, or are you open to consuming both?

I read the manga and watch the anime. I get a slightly different experience from both, I prefer the art and pacing of the manga, but I love the voice acting and music of the anime, and some moments just hit harder for me in the anime. I haven't cried very often reading the manga, but I have cried quite a bit more watching the anime when seeing the same scenes, like full on sobbing at some points ngl. It's not that I think the moments are done better in the anime or that they're not just as sad, but I have an easier time crying when seeing something in motion with sound for some reason. I rarely ever cry when reading books or comics. It happens, but not as easily or as often. Also while the animation throughout most of the series is middling (not bad but not amazing) for most of the series, aside from major fights, the most recent arcs have seen a huge upgrade in regards to the animation, WCI to some extent but especially Wano. The animators have just been going HAM on the animation during Wano. Like, it's all but impossible to find good examples without spoilers because of just, how many spoilers there are at that point in the story, but I'll at least show Luffy being pretty lol:

That said, the anime isn't without its flaws, but I'll get to that in a bit.

If you do want to consume both, then personally I recommend watching the anime first. I find people who read the manga first are more prone to comparing everything in the anime to the manga and wanting things to fit 1:1, which I think puts the anime at a disadvantage and makes people a bit more hypercritical of it. But ultimately this is up to you. Maybe you don't know yet if you'll try both, in which case the manga is probably better because it's the version that, by its nature, is the best version, and will give you the original experience, and you can decide later whether you want to supplement that with the anime as well.

If you only want to consume 1, at least mainly, then the next factor is:

3) How much of the original experience do you want to stick to?

The One Piece anime doesn't have nearly as many filler arcs/episodes as other long running shounens have had in the past, and past Enies Lobby there's almost no filler arcs whatsoever, aside from the rare 2-5 episode arcs, usually ones that advertise the movies that came out not long after they aired. But there are some full filler arcs earlier in the anime, and the general consensus is that most are pretty meh. Not horrid, but nothing special, and many of them ended up accidentally contradicting canon when new information about the world or certain in-world systems came out later. There are watch guides for skipping these widely available, and most OP fans do recommend watching the G8 filler arc because it's viewed as the only one that is on par with, or at least close to, canon content. I enjoy it myself as well personally.

That said, one of my biggest gripes about the anime, especially after sabaody up until Wano, is how it takes Odas more mild level of sexualization in comparison and dials it up to 1000. At its worst it has taken scenes where a female character is introduced with a full body shot and a name/title card in the manga, and turned it into a scene where the camera zooms in on her boobs, thighs, waist, butt, and then slowly pans up her body starting from the feet, including boi-oing noises or weird many sound effects with each zoom in shot. It also increased the boobs sizes and decreased the waist sizes constantly, put a lot more effort and attention into boobs jiggles than was necessary, and at least one point they even blatantly zoomed in on Nami's boobs bouncing isolated on the screen while she was running for absolutely NO reason. Oda doesn't do this in the manga. He doesn't introduce women in bits and pieces focusing on their body parts in an oggling manner, he doesn't put their boobs front and centre unless it's maybe by accident because of necessary framing. Even when he has sexy shots of women, they're usually full body shots that also even manage to serve as establishing shots most of the time. I also often get the feeling that a lot of it is also him being aware of his target audience in Japan, which is teenage boys. You can see a lot of how his approach adjusted when he has a different audience in mind in the Live action, not only regarding stuff like diversity (which WAS present in the original, their real life equivalent ethnicities have been said to be diverse for a long time, but Oda himself, as much as I love him, only has one skin tone marker in his whole house apparently and he uses it for every single character in colourspreads and covers, including the characters that are supposed to be black, and the anime isn't much better on that front, so it's nice to really see the proof of the diversity visually in the live action in a way that doesn't come across as clearly in the anime or manga), but also in regards to adjusting shounen tropes to better fit a live action setting. You can see in a lot of his SBS answers that he takes his target audience and what he wanted to see as a young boy into account a lot even if he might otherwise explore different tropes or depictions or structures in a different medium or genre.

BUT the anime does have its flaws. I won't pretend that Oda doesn't draw his female characters sexier as the series goes on, and while he also does with the men (Zoro canonically has the biggest bust size on the crew according to Oda lmao) it's not to the same degree as the women. This is especially concentrated around Nami, possibly because Oda's wife is a Nami cosplayer and iirc he met her while she was cosplaying Nami. It's the most overt in certain later arcs, but not too present in earlier arcs up to, say, Sabaody. But, while he does draw the women sexier, he's not... Idk the right terminology to use but he doesn't employ an oggling pov towards the women very often. Not never, but compared to the manga you relatively rarely get much particular purposeful focus on body parts like boobs or ass, there's also never any panty shots (seriously, not a single one in the entire series). That's not so say that the series is always perfect in this sense, but rather that's to compare it to the anime. And while there are some things One Piece doesn't do perfectly sometimes, there are also a lot of things it definitely gets right about how the women are written as complex multifaceted people with conflicts and motivations just as deep and diverse and complicated as the men. They mostly just look extra seggsy sometimes, at least the main ones do. And YMMV, but personally I'm okay with some sexiness, so long as it doesn't compromise the characters story and personality and doesn't go overboard to the point of being softcore porn, which Oda doesn't do in the manga. And I also don't like how often criticism of sexiness turns into shaming any clothing that shows more skin. There's a difference between disliking fanservice and going full conservative prude.

Now from what I've seen this has gotten significantly better in Wano in the anime, probably because Oda himself purposefully played down even his own horniness during Wano because of the focus on traditional Japanese aesthetics and dress. Idk if it will get bad again after Wano, but a lot has changed regarding the way the anime is animated and directed since the last time it was bad, so hopefully not. But this can be a significant barrier to the anime for some people. If that's the case, then I definitely recommend the manga. It's the original, and in comparison it is practically chaste. It's not prevalent throughout the entire anime, it's mostly bad for the stretch from Fishman Island to the end of WCI, which consists of 3 big arcs and 2 smaller in-between arcs, but improves significantly in Wano, and isn't too bad in arcs before Fishman Island. Still more egregious than the manga, but not to the same degree. So it's possible you can tolerate it for that stretch since there are still lots of good moments in the anime in these arcs too. Though I'll note that there's quite a bit of censorship in the anime compared to the manga, Zeff eating his own leg for example, while included in the live action, was not included in the anime. Instead he lost it when it got caught in some ship debris while he was rescuing Sanji from drowning. Stuff like gore and blood are also tones down a lot. The live action honestly isn't any more gory than the manga is, even at the beginning. There's even less blood in the live action, the wound Zoro got from Mihawk was nastayyyy in the manga. Bro nearly got bisected fr.

Though I will say that I think one thing that helps make the more sexualized aspects of the series feel more balanced and a lot less center stage is that Luffy himself, the main character, is completely and totally 1000% gender blind. He's not blind to stuff like masculinity or femininity, but he's blind to whether masculinity or femininity is something that is only applicable to men or women. He likes plenty of manly things, there's a gag about him not wanting frills on his shirt because he doesn't think they're manly and he doesn't like that, but he doesn't think that it makes a man less of a man if he wears a frilly shirt, and he's not opposed to wearing other clothes that might be more feminine coded like his fuckin cute li'l dress thing in Egghead, or the literal dress he wears proudly for all of 3 seconds in Film Gold lmao. There are plenty of men in the series who wear frilly shirts. There are also men who wear makeup, wear pink, crossdress, etc. Luffy could not give less of a shit what men, or women, wear. He does not discriminate between women and men in how he treats them in any way shape or form, his awareness of gender expression is limited entirely in how he personally expresses *his* idea of *his* gender. If a woman pisses him off he'll beat them up just as easily as he will a dude. If a trans man says they identify as a man, he'll refer to them as a man, even if they have a more feminine appearance, and vice versa. He does not blink an eye at non-binary/genderfluid/queer characters, etc. That's one of my favourite things about his character, in part because I'm aroace and identify with him and his gender blindness a lot (among other things, he is an aroace icon for a reason lmao), but also because it's nice to have a 100% gender blind character as the main pov throughout the series.

Then there's the final factor, which is

4) How much time are you willing to spend?

The anime is undoubtedly the longer time investment. Which can be good or bad depending on your view. I know when I caught up sometime after episode 505, I was devastated at not having any more episodes to watch. I started out thinking "this will take me forever and I probably won't finish it", then shifted to "damn those 100 episodes went by fast, but that's okay, I still have 400 episodes left" to "200 episodes already? Well I'm not even halfway yet, that's fine" to "300... Oh God I'm already more than halfway" to "400!? Where are they all going?? Why aren't there more?!?" to "well I HAVE to read the manga now because I can't stand to wait for the episodes to come out weekly" then I banged out the rest of the series in the manga in a few days like I was a drug addict trying to hide my stash from the police by snorting it all at once. So to some, the length can be a blessing rather than a curse lmao. But if you are worried about length, the manga is a lot easier to go through without taking months and months to catch up, unless you take your time reading it. There is a fan edited version of the anime called One Pace, which takes out all the filler and adjusts the pacing to be closer to the manga, which might also be an option if you want to watch the anime but still want a less exhaustive itinerary to watch. They. Might even edit out a bunch of the excess sexual shots and editing in the anime though I haven't watched it myself to determine that. The main issue is that One Pace hasn't completed every single arc, but it is an option for watching the arcs it does have. I know Dressrosa is one of the longest arcs and might benefit from some trimming. I also recommend, if you choose the anime, to watch episodes in batches rather than weekly. While the pacing of the manga is quite a bit faster, so it lends itself to weekly updates better, the anime does suffer from being watched weekly. I've always binged arcs all together and I find that improves the experience a lot.

Aside from that, you can also always just read the manga then only look up and watch particular scenes you wanna see in the anime to get the experience with the voice acting and music and animation, without having to invest as much extra time into it. I may not be a dedicated anime hater, but I do agree that the manga is undoubtedly superior to it as a whole, so while I don't think there's anything wrong with being anime only, if you are open to both, but only want to choose one to consume, it's the manga all the way. You only have to start at chapter 1 and go from there. Or episode 1 for the anime.

I hope this helped, and wasn't too confusing or overwhelming. I know how daunting the series can be to get into so I wanted to try and be comprehensive and objective, and provide some approachable options for people new to the series by explaining some pros and cons of each approach.

helloo! i love ur work and was wondering if i could request your last leo work with izumi and natsume? thank u have a wonderful day/evening<3

hellaur hellaur! im so glad you liked it! ofc you can dear, please enjoy!

[ leo ver. ]

bandaids - s. natsume & s. izumi

he was reading one of his spell books when you stormed into the house in tears, which was surprising in itself.

naturally, he got up to follow after you and find out what had you at your wits end. hopefully nothing a little magic trick couldn't fix.

when you agreed to tell him he made you both a cup of hot chocolate (or tea, whichever you prefer) and sat you down in the living room, ready to listen to whatever troubles could have possibly dimmed your shine.

you told him about your day and how shitty it was and mans was flabbergasted

what do you mean your boss mistreats you??? he couldn't believe what you were saying. this random dude with a company was being sexist towards his s/o? by what right??

"now now, kitten. if it was so, you should've told me sooner. this is nothing the mighty sakasaki natsume can't possibly fix with a little di-"

"you can't make him disappear, sume."

"what do you mean i can't?"

good job, now he's the one grumbling.

"i still don't like you working there anymore. don't you want to look for a different job? you could manage switch, though i don't trust tsumugi near you either. he's not as bad as your boss of course, but he's... tsumugi. either way, if anything like this happens ever again, please let me know sooner. i want to be able to help you. however, my offer of managing switch still stands. if you ever decide to accept it, we'll welcome you with open arms."

izumi already knew how bad your work space was from when he visited you one time, he never told you to quit because of how happy you seemed when talking about your coworker and how you were happy your paycheck was big enough to help him with paying the bills so it didn't feel like you were using him for his riches.

which, by the way, nobody thought in the first place. izumi wouldn't mind paying everything himself, he would never use that against you. he had tons of cash he didn't even know what to do with, it would honestly be the least he can do.

anyway, he figured one day you'd also realize you need a better job, and he's prepared for when that day comes. when today you weren't replying to his messages, he thought maybe the day has finally come. oh how right he was. he just wishes it didn't involve you having a mental breakdown.

"it's alright dear. come, let's sit down and talk about it, alright? please don't cry."

with each word that came out of your mouth his anger increased. he knew it was bad, he just didn't think it was to this extent.

"hm. your boss and coworkers need someone to talk some sense into them. what? oh, quit looking at me like that. i won't do it myself of course, i have a reputation to uphold. doesn't mean i don't know people who will do it for me. now you're glaring at me, but if you had listened to me and applied for that other job i told you about, this could've been avoided. ow! i'm just saying!"

if glaring fails, simply elbow him. always works. he may sound condescending or whatever but i promise he means well. he just wants you to be happy.

".. shi .. you 'nt..."

"what?"

he sighed, "i said i can't offer you a job since we just got a new manager- leo's girlfriend or whatever- but arashi mentioned she needs a manager or something like that. the other agency i told you about have no offers anymore, but since it's arashi i'm sure she'd hire you in a heartbeat. if you want, that is."

he's a little hard around the edges but he loves you more than anyone, and you can bet on that.

ੈ✩₊˚TAGLIST : @hugs4shizu @mikctp @meiquipo @ibaraluvr @venusflwers @tokusaatsus // ask/comment to be added/removed! (if you’re in bold i can’t tag you)

So could you please give your TED talk about Meredith Stannard and why you want to rip her throat out with your teeth?

ahhh yes lmao i forgot i said that! disclaimer as i get into this that i think she's an amazing character and a great antagonist, and i'm by no means saying that anybody shouldn't like her. (idk, i just don't wanna get rude asks or anything if this post makes the rounds!)

okay so i mean, aside from the basic black and white thinking that, combined with the paranoia and other issues brought on by the red lyrium, made her behave tyrannically and commit ethical missteps with the mages under her charge, i have serious problems with the way she treats Cullen. let's just take a tally of how that goes, yes?

the kid is no older than 20 when he arrives in Kirkwall, and he is immediately made Knight-Captain, as far as I can tell. he was 19 during the events of Origins, and he says in Inquisition that he took his vows at 18, so he's just plain old 'knight-templar' when shit goes down in Ferelden. that's a leap of two ranks by the time he gets to Kirkwall. and granted, after the events with Uldred and all he probably gets promoted to Knight-Lieutenant out of sheer necessity, but still! 20 years old. second in command of one of the largest circles in Thedas. and yes, i think she did that on purpose. being younger and less experienced makes him easier to manipulate.

i also think it's likely that she chose him based on what happened in Ferelden. (and yes, i do think she chose him. i don't think he would have ended up in that position without Meredith's express approval.) i think she probably saw in him something of a kindred spirit based on his disapproval and hostility towards mages at that point in time, and wanted like-minded people on her team as she sought to exert power and control over the circle there. because let's be honest: the red lyrium made her faults worse, but it didn't manufacture them. otherwise, we would have seen the exact same mage panic in Bartrand, but his paranoia took a very different form.

we know she kept things from Cullen. 'things he wouldn't approve of,' he tells us in Inquisition. it was his job to keep her in check, relieve her of duty if she got out of control, and so she concealed things from him that might have led him to do so. if those first two weren't red flags, this one should be a dozen red flags plus neon lights plus sirens.

okay, so with that in mind, i'm going a little off book now, away from the canon and into speculation based on my understanding of the world. as Knight-Commander, Meredith would have directly overseen the lyrium rations of (if not most/all of Kirkwall's templars, then certainly) Cullen. he answered directly to her and no one else. that's one hell of a tool to use to exert power over someone. and i believe she probably did. i think she probably utilized her control of his access to lyrium to control his behavior, either by reducing his rations or increasing them, whichever suited her needs. as a recovering addict myself, this thought makes my stomach turn.

so all in all... this list makes me sick. it disgusts me to think of the ways she must have been manipulating him, playing on his fears and trauma and addiction and naivety to get what she wanted. this list reads to me like abuse, and i hate that for Cullen. sure, he wasn't a great person at that point in time, and that's partly due to trauma and partly due to anger and prejudice.

but how much of it is due to Meredith?