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iguessweallcrazyithinktho · 10 months

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𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥...• 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐡𝐚𝐦

𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: Jude and the reader talking late at night because they barely got to talk during the day. They talk about the most random things, laughing at each other shitty jokes And stuff. Neither wants to hang up because they love to hear each other’s voice (they don’t confess they like each other just yet. I’m trying to make this a little series)

𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: fluff

𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠: none tbh

𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞: this is short. There will be more parts but I won't make it a long series. If you have ideas then lemme know

𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 800+

I'll be working on my Jude Masterlist

✿﹕ ︵︵✧₊︵︵ꕤ₊˚︵ ૮꒰˵• ᵜ •˵꒱ა ﹕ɞ

The silence was loud in your room as you laid in your bed. Your eyes were glued on your phone sitting beside you, waiting for it to ring at any minute.

Almost every night you would get a call from Jude who is your best friend and has been since the age of 15. You both were miles and miles away from each other.

Ever since he left for Germany a few years ago, you were empty without his presence. He was one of the first people to ever treat you like a human in school. That’s what made you grow so attached to him.

You didn’t want Jude to be so far away from you, but you sucked it up and dealt with it. You knew his career was important and you were always going to support him and never get in his way. You were only his friend anyways.

You were sure you both were going to drift apart but to your surprise you both didn’t. Jude made it his mission to call you and text you when ever he could. He never let you believe you were forgotten in his mind.

The phone rung snapping you out of the daydream you were in. You wait a few seconds So it didn’t seem like you were sitting and waiting for his call before picking up.

“Hi Judy.”

“Hi love, how are you?” you heard the deep, relaxing voice ask you on the other side. You smile to yourself at the word love he always called you and relax into your bed.

“I’m good. Happy I can hear your voice.”

“Good.” You heard Jude chuckle on the other end of the phone. Your stomach filled with butterflies at the sound. You don’t know what was coming over you but he always made you feel like this.

Jude began to tell you about his day and you telling him about your own. That conversation between you both went on for a good hour before it switched to another.

“I miss you.” Jude said making your stomach flip. It’s been a couple of weeks since he last saw you. He came back to Birmingham for his birthday and of course you were there. You didn’t know it but you were the highlight of his visit home.

“I know. That’s why we’re talking.” You laugh. You shut your eyes and wait for Jude to speak.

“No, that’s not what I meant y/n. I mean I miss you. I miss having you here with me being my biggest cheerleader. I’m happy to be following my passion but I miss having you around like the old days.”

Your eyes open at his words you weren’t sure what to say right now but your heart was fluttering in your chest. “oh” you exhaled. “I miss that too.” You say softly into the phone.

“Anyways, no more sad stuff. Me and jobe were fighting about this earlier. Who would win in a fight a lion or a shark?”

You snorted. “Jude really?” “I’m serious. Jobe was thinking so hard about it but I don’t get it. Why would a shark and a lion be fighting?”

You laughed. “Yeah that’s a good point. Jobe always comes up with weird stuff to bicker about.”

Jude hums agreeing with you.

You look over at your nightstand looking at the time. It was currently 12am. Later than Jude should be awake.

“Jude, it’s late. We need to end this call.” It hurt saying that but you had to. “Y/n, it’s fine. We can keep talking.”

“Jude you have to train tomorrow. You need to sleep and I won’t argue with you.”

You heard Jude sigh on the other side. “fine but at least stay on the phone with me love.”

A small smile filled your face. “Ok, fine. Good night Judy.”

Jude said goodnight right back. You both feel into silence and before you knew it you had fall asleep. Jude on the other hand was still awake.

He was up thinking of a way to tell you how he really felt for you. It took him a while of being away from you to realize he loves you in a way that was more than platonic. being away made him come to his senses. You were the one he wanted more than anything in the world he just didn’t know how to tell you that.

“Y/n.” Jude whispers. When you don’t respond Jude exhales. “Good night love.”

#Jude Bellingham x reader #Jude Bellingham #Jude Bellingham fanfiction #jude bellingham x you #Jude Bellingham fluff

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yamayuandadu · 20 days

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What is your opinion on the article "Mesopotamian or Iranian? A New Investigation on the Origin of the Goddess Anāhitā" by Alireza Qaderi?

He proposes that Anahita is possibly the syncretism of an Iranian Water goddess with Annunitum, and while it largely makes a lot of sense to me, especially with how it points out that we can't treat the Avesta as we know it as identical to the Avesta in Zarathustra's time, it also assumes the Central Asian goddess Ardokhsho comes from Aredvi Sura instead of Arti, and everything else I've seen just says Ardokhsho comes from Arti, although I haven't seen much literature on either deity tbh

Sorry it took me a few days to answer this ask even though it’s basically laser focused on my interests. I had some other stuff to read and unpleasant work duties to perform and couldn’t properly go through the recommended paper.

My feelings about the paper are mixed. I think anyone who remembers Annunitum was a distinct deity as early as in the late third millennium BCE deserves at least some credit. The notion of interchangeability of goddesses still haunts the field, fueled by Bible scholars, Helsinki hyperdiffusionists and the like. Overall the author shines in the sections dedicated only to the evaluation of the broadly Iranian material, but as soon as the focus switches to Mesopotamia things fall apart, sadly. More under the cut. Hope you don’t mind that I’ll also use this as an opportunity to talk about Annunitum in Sippar in general. I've been gathering sources to improve her wiki article further (don’t expect that any time soon though).

The Iranian material

Criticizing the vintage attempts at equating Anahita with Sarasvati is sound and sensible. Same with stressing that she is distinct from Nanaya and Oxus. The criticism of theories depending on lack of familiarity with the historical range of the beaver was a nice touch too, it demonstrates well that the author wanted to cover as much previous literature as possible. However, I also have no clue what’s up with “ΑΡΔΟΧΡΟ has an ambiguous relationship with Arədvī Sūrā”, I’ve also only ever seen this name explained as a derivative of Ashi/Arti save for a single paper trying to force a link to Oxus which was met with critical responses. It’s entirely possible this is an argument I simply haven’t seen though, I’m also not really familiar with this matter.

Overall the arguments against seeking Anahita’s origin in the east are perfectly sensible, and line up with the evidence well - no issues at all with this part of the paper. Following a more detailed list of Anahita’s easter attestations from Shenkar’s Intangible spirits and graven images. She appears on some Kushano-Sasanian coins, but this seems to reflect importing her from the west relatively late on since she appears in neither Kushan nor Bactrian sources. The coins are even exclusively inscribed in Middle Persian, with no trace of the local vernacular.

For unclear reasons Anahita caught on to a degree even further east in Sogdia, but attestations are limited to the period between fourth and sixth centuries. Since they’re largely just generic theophoric names, it is hard to call her anything but a minor deity of indeterminate character in this context, though. I’ve seen the argument that the popularity of Oxus in the east might have been the obstacle to introducing her. Oxus was a bigger deal in Bactria than in Sogdia so it could even explain why Sogdians were slightly more keen on her, arguably, even if they and Bactrians came into contact with her cult under similar circumstances.

Back to the article, the section dealing with the western attestations starts on a pretty strong note too. The need for reevaluation if it’s fair to talk about Achaemenid rulers as “Zoroastrian” is a mainstay of studies published over the past 10-15 years or so. I can’t weigh on the linguistic arguments because I know next to nothing about that.

I’m not sure if I follow the argument that it makes no sense Iranian population wouldn’t need a royal order to start worshipping a new deity as long as they were Iranian, tbh - linguistic or cultural affiliation doesn’t come prepackaged with automatically updated list of deities one is obliged to instantly adopt as soon as they pop up into existence. Following this logic, why didn’t Sargon’s Akkadian speaking subjects in Syria just adopt Ilaba before being obliged to do so? You will find literally hundreds of cases like this, it’s a very weird argument to me.

The Mesopotamian material

The biggest problems start once the coverage of Mesopotamia begins. The rigor evident in the strictly Iranian sections of the article just… vanishes and it’s incredibly weird. Herodotus as a source is… quite something. The phrase “ a goddess with a Semitic character” is… well, quite something too (Reallexikon generally advises against defining anything but languages as “Semitic” in Mesopotamian context - Mesopotamian is a perfectly fine label to use, and accounts for the fact that Sumerian, Hurrian and Kassite are not a part of the Semitic language family). It keeps repeating later and admittedly I’m not very fond of this. Especially when it pertains to the west of Iran, where deities originating in Mesopotamia were worshiped since the late third millennium BCE - they were more Elamite than Mesopotamian by the time Persians showed up, really. The matter is covered in detail in Wouter Henkelman’s Other Gods who Are with Adad in the Persepolis Fortification Archive as a case study.

Cybele was by no means Mesopotamian (with each new study she keeps becoming more strictly Phrygian, with earlier Anatolian, let alone Mesopotamian, influence becoming less and less likely) so I'm not sure what she's doing here, Nanaya’s associations with lions is almost definitely an Iranian innovation and not attested before the late first millennium BCE; despite earlier sound arguments against ascribing strictly Avestan Zoroastrian sensibilities to people in the late first millennium BCE, that’s basically what happens here. Lions were evidently viewed favorably by at least some Persians and especially Bactrians and Sogdians.

The less said about the part trying to link evidence from Palmyra to Inanna and Dumuzi (what does a marginal spouse deity like Dumuzi, entirely absent from Palmyra, have to do with Sabazius, a veritable pantheon head equated with Zeus?), the better. Frazerian bit, if I have to be honest.

I’m not sure about the enthusiasm for Boyce’s argument that it makes little sense for Anahita to simultaneously be a river goddess and to bestow victory in battle. The latter characteristic lines up well with her elevation to the position of a deity tied to investiture of kings, which in turn is something which boils down to personal preference of a given dynasty. The character of deities isn’t necessarily supposed to be one-dimensional and having distinct spheres of activity because of historical factors is hardly unusual.

Stressing that it’s not possible to treat Anahita and Ishtar as interchangeable is commendable. However, I don’t think it’s possible to claim continuity between the religious beliefs reflected in the relief of Anubanini and first millennium BCE Media. The argument is not pursued further, to be fair, but it’s still weird.

The next huge issue is the treatment of the late “Anu theology”. A good recent overview of this matter can be found in Krul’s 2018 monograph (shared by the author herself here).

For starters, it’s completely baffling to declare Anu had no spouse at first; Urash and Ki are both attested in the Early Dynastic period already - and the former appears reasonably commonly in this role in literary texts and god lists. Even Antu might already be present in the Abu Salabikh list.

Attributing Inanna prominence in Uruk and in the Eanna in particular to identification with Antu is utterly nightmarish and one of the worst Inanna takes I’ve ever seen; the fact it’s contradicted by information of the same page makes it pretty funny, admittedly. Inanna’s ties to the city go back literally to the beginning of recorded history (some of the oldest texts in the world are demands aimed at cities under the control of Uruk to provide offerings for Inanna ffs), and probably even further back. Meanwhile, Anu for most of his history was an abstract hardly worshiped deity; Krul stresses this in the beginning of her book linked above. I’m not a fan of ancient matriarchy takes which are often lurking in the background when the cases of earliest city goddesses like Inanna, Nisaba and Nanshe are discussed but I do think the need to downplay Inanna’s prominence and elevate Anu which pops up every few years in scholarship is suspect and probably motivated by sexism, consciously or not, tbh.

Trying to make the “Anu theology” which developed in the late first millennium BCE an influence on the entirety of Mesopotamia and beyond is puzzling. Sabazius appearing in Palmyra with a spouse is tied to Anu, somehow? The fact that deities had spouses is? Atargatis ties into this somehow? I’m sorry, but I’m not following. Also, Uruk was no longer a theological center of the Mesopotamian world in the first millennium BCE. Babylon was, and before that Nippur. There is no need to speculate, there are thousands of texts to back it up. The late sources from Uruk in particular show that Babylon was somewhat forcefully influencing the city, not the other way around.

The Anu theology was a display of local “nationalism” of Uruk and had a very limited impact. There is evidence for some degree of late theological cooperation between Uruk and Nippur, and possibly Der as well (Der itself despite being located with certainty has yet to be excavated, though, so caution is necessary), but nothing of this sort is to be found in the late sources from other locations.

Annunitum = Anahita?

Finally, let’s look at the core idea behind the article.

Right off the bat I feel it’s necessary to stress Annunitum generally wasn’t regarded as an astral deity. In the Old Babylonian period, the Venus role was evidently handled by Ninsianna in Sippar; later on they aren’t even attested there but the regular Ishtar is. Seems doubtful it would actually be Annunitum who got to be an astral deity there at any point in time.

This claim is also highly dubious. There is no evidence that Antu was ever worshiped in Sippar, let alone that she was equated there with Annunitum; she doesn’t show up at all in Jennie Myers’ 2002 thesis The Sippar pantheon: a diachronic study. Paul-Alain Beaulieu stresses her lack of importance all across Mesopotamia save for first millennium BCE Uruk here. There is also no evidence that the late Anu theology impacted Sippar in any capacity. Shamash retained his position in the city until the death of cuneiform. Even in Uruk, Annunitum in the late sources appears only in association with Ishtar and Nanaya, not Anu and Antu. I will repeat how I feel about the need to assert Anu’s importance where there is no trace of it. Overall it feels like unrelated Mesopotamian and adjacent sources from different areas and time periods are used indiscriminately; which is ironically the criticism employed in the article wrt the treatment of Iranian textual sources by other researchers. The Assyriological sources employed leave a bit to be desired, too. In particular Abusch’s Ishtar entry in the Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible is a nightmare (he��s good when he covers incantations but his broader “theological” proposals are… quite something), here are some quotes from it to show how awful it is is a central point of reference:

Of the other authors cited, Jacobsen is Jacobsen and a lot changed since the 1960s. Roberts was criticized right after his study was published by researchers like Aage Westenholz. Langdon’s study from the early 1900s is an outdated nightmare, I guess we know what’s up with the Dumuzi hot takes now. Beaulieu is great but his papers and monographs aren’t really utilized to any meaningful extent, I feel.

Other criticisms aside, I’m unsure if Annunitum was important enough in the fifth century BCE to be noticed by Artaxerxes II as postulated here, especially since Shamash was right next door and definitely retained some degree of prominence. Most if not all cases of Mesopotamian deities influencing Persian or broader Iranian tradition reflect widespread cults of popular deities - Nanaya, Nabu (via influence on Tishtrya), Nergal (in the west, around Harran) - as opposed to a b-list strictly local deity. And it’s really hard to refer to Annunitum differently. Let’s take a quick look at her position in the twin cities of Sippar - as far as I am aware, the most recent treatment of this matter is still Myers’ thesis, and that’s what I will rely on here.

Annunitum is first attested in Sippar in the Old Babylonian period, during the reign of Sabium, though as a deity already locally major enough to appear in an oath formula alongside Shamash. In the Early Dynastic period Sippar-Amnanum was likely associated with an enigmatic figure designated by the logogram ÉREN+X who doesn’t seem to be related to her. When and how exactly the tutelary deity change occurred is not presently possible to determine and admittedly of no real relevance here.

Evidently Annunitum’s cult in Sippar was influenced to some degree by the Sargonic tradition she originated in, her temple was even called Eulmaš just like that in Akkad. It’s not impossible it was even originally founded by one of the members of the Sargonic dynasty, but in absence of pre-OB evidence caution is necessary. There is no shortage of later rulers who wanted to partake in the Sargonic legacy, after all. By the earliest documented times, it was the second most important temple in the Sippar agglomeration, and the only one beside the Ebabbar to have its own administrative structure. Annunitum was even referred to as the “queen of Sippar” (Šarrat Sippar; note that by the Neo-Babylonian period this title came to function as a distinct goddess, though). In Sippar-Amnanum there was a street, a gate and a canal named after her. A bit over 6% of the inhabitants of both cities bore theophoric names invoking her, also. Sippar-Amnanum was abandoned for some 200 years after the reign of Ammi-saduqa, but it seems the clergy simply moved to the other Sippar next door. Next few centuries are very sparsely documented at this site, but supposedly Shagarakti-Shuriash rebuilt Annunitum’s temple (the matter is discussed in detail here).

Inscriptions of Tiglath-pileser I dealing with the conquest of northern Babylonia affirm that Annunitum continued to be viewed as the goddess of Sippar through the Neo-Assyrian period. According to an inscription of Nabonidus her temple, and Sippar-Amnanum as a whole, were razed by Sennacherib (he also blames “Gutians” for it though by then this is a label as generic as “barbarian”). This might be why her cult had to be relocated to the other part of Sippar again. In the Neo-Babylonian period it returned to Sippar-Amnanum under Neriglissar, though her temple was only rebuilt by Nabonidus. It survived at least until the reign of Darius, though it was only a small sanctuary (É.KUR.RA.MEŠ) like those of Adad and Gula.

There is very little evidence for popular worship of her so late on: only two theophoric names have been identified…. For comparison, Shamash appears in 208 (out of 823 theophoric names, out of a total of 1243 total). Nergal, Gula, Adad and even Amurru are all more common. Aya is also absent, but unlike Annunitum despite her prominence in earlier periods she was actually never common in theophoric names, save for the names of naditu; and naditu ceased to be a thing after the OB period.

Offering lists complicate the matter further. From the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Annunitum started to lose ground to a duo introduced from Dur-Kurigalzu: a manifestation of Nanaya associated with this city and Ishtar-tashme. Why they suddenly appeared in Sippar and why they overshadowed Annunitum is uncertain, perhaps Dur-Kurigalzu just failed to recover from decline after the end of the Kassite period and eventually the decision was made to start transferring local deities to other nearby major urban centers. The process reversed during the reign of Nabonidus, who ordered an increase in offerings made to her. This might’ve been motivated by his general concern for Sin and any deities considered members of his immediate family - essentially, a display of personal devotion. This elevation is still evident in offering lists from the reign of Cyrus, though.

Overall the paper is quite convincing - outstanding, even - when it comes to the Iranian material alone, and between mediocre and nightmarish once the author shifts to Mesopotamia.

#mesopotamian miscellanea #hinadoll39

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ariaste · 9 months

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Hello hello! If it’s all right with you, I would like to vent for a moment: Back in the day, I used to be really into BBC Sherlock. I know it was bad, but it was “Be Gay (solve) Crimes” and I couldn’t resit. One of my favorite parts of the fandom was reading fan metas. I enjoyed reading your ridiculously long meta! I am not very clever and I enjoy reading people noticing things that I can’t. It’s fun watching people passionately pick up clues and put them together.

I don’t think I’m the only one getting superwholock flashbacks lately. Sherlock also tried an unreliable narrator in S4 and it was an absolute shit show. People thought thought the finale was fake, it was so bad. TBH, the entire show was a dumpster fire that thought it was more clever than it was. Moffat was a good writer for single episodes for DW, but a garbage show runner. And they called us crazy for picking up what they were putting down.

But Good Omens gives me a spark of hope. It is unashamedly queer, fun, drinks its respecting women juice, and, unlike moffatiss, I think Neil and the crew may actually be clever enough to pull something big off. I adore the Discworld series and Sir Terry, and I have faith Neil will to do right by him.

Good Omens is restoring my faith in nerdy queer fiction and reminding me why I love fandom so much. Please keep up the crackhead theories. I love them 💕

Thank you, that's very kind!

(Ended up writing a very long reply about the response to my essay and also about queerness in media. Idk why i am writing such long posts these days SORRY LOL. Anyway I'm putting it all beneath the cut so I can tag it without clogging people's dash or the tag pages)

It does make me sigh a little when I see people scornfully comparing my long essay to The Johnlock Conspiracy or saying that they're having Sherlock flashbacks, because the both the contexts of the shows and the methodology of the theorizing are VERY different. To my mind, a more direct comparison of methodology would be the Gravity Falls fandom's "Stan Has A Secret Twin" theory. Writers and showrunners DO like being sneaky and clever from time to time, and many of them are much better at it than Moffat is.

But whether or not my theory is right or not is... kind of irrelevant to me? I wasn't out to force anyone to agree with me, AND writing it was a really fun way to spend a weekend, AND I'm proud of the work I did and the story I told, AND it felt good to have a satisfying workout at the Brain Gym. So even if I'm proven utterly and completely wrong, I won't feel like I wasted my time. :)

Good Omens is a great show, and I am SO HAPPY to see it (and other shows!) embracing queerness, sharing the fans' enthusiasm for the story, and honoring and respecting the fans' love rather than punishing them for it. As more and more time goes on, I think we're going to see more and more shows like that, because some of the people who grew up reading tumblr discourse are going to be showrunners themselves one day, and they'll have learned serious lessons about what it feels like when the audience is met with love rather than disgust and disdain. In fact, we're ALREADY seeing more shows like that than we had 10 years ago! There is so much canonical queerness on-screen these days that the me of 10-15 years ago is ASTONISHED and feels wealthy beyond counting. Of course, there is so much further to go, but man... when i was a kid, we had to walk uphill in the snow both ways just to see two dudes making sustained emotional eye contact, and we were grateful for it. (Jokes but also.... kind of real tho)

We've seen the exact same thing happen in scifi/fantasy publishing in the last seven or eight years, too! (Went off on a long tangent about Queerness In Media from an insider perspective, continuing below a cut so I don't clutter everyone's dash)

Even as recently as 2013--ten years ago--you might not have even been able to get your book published if it was openly gay. Hell, you might not have been able to get an agent to represent it, even. It would have been labeled "unmarketable" and passed over; if it DID get published, the queerness would have been camouflaged and downplayed and hidden in the marketing as much as possible--you wouldn't have known by looking at the cover that it was queer, you wouldn't have been able to tell by reading the back cover that it was queer. In literally 2016, seven years ago, a few months before I got my first book deal, I remember having a conversation with a friend and being very very worried that if I wrote books as queer as I wanted them to be, I would be "pigeonholed" as "ONLY writing Gay Books", that I would be passed over for any of the publisher's marketing budget and publicity efforts, that I would be sidelined and ignored... In 2016, I thought I was facing a choice of writing stories with more "mainstream appeal" OR writing the books I wanted to write and potentially undermining the rest of my career.

That didn't happen, thankfully, because in the next couple years there was this incredible explosion of queer scifi/fantasy. You see, ten to fifteen years ago, a truly stunning percentage of my colleagues -- writers, editors, publicists -- were writing and reading fanfic, and they carried their tastes and story-hungers with them as they grew up and got Real Adult Jobs at publishing companies. And suddenly, as if out of nowhere, a lot of us came of age all at once and there was this absolutely enormous wave of queer SFF that in my opinion has brought us into a new golden age of the genre: The Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir, The Chorus of Dragons series by Jenn Lyons, She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker Chan, Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie, The Tensorate series by Neon Yang, Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon, Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki, The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders, the Birdverse books by RB Lemberg, The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickenson, The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri, Reforged by Seth Haddon, The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps by Kai Ashante Wilson, Ocean's Echo by Everina Maxwell, The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin -- and these only the ones I could remember off the top of my head in 30 seconds, and I have a flavor of ADHD that makes my brain go blank when people ask me to think of specific examples of things! It is harder for me to think of a SFF book published in the last 7 years that ISN'T queer.

And then almost exactly a year ago, my book A Taste of Gold and Iron came out with THIS COVER:

Which. Is not so much a step forward in openly queer SFF as it is a fucking gauntlet thrown down in challenge. I cannot impress upon you strongly enough how much I would not have gotten this cover 10 years ago, and that's if the book was even accepted for publication in the first place. This cover SCREAMS gay fantasy romance. There is no attempt to hide it or camouflage it. It is advertising exactly what it is, right up front.

I got the absolute privilege and honor of having this cover--and I do consider it an incredible honor--because of the work that all my colleagues put in with their own work. Each queer book that got published wedged the door a little wider for the next one, and then a little wider still for the next one, until finally someone could get their foot in the door and squeeze across the threshold, which opened it a little wider again. So when I look at this image, I don't just see a beautiful cover that I am delighted to have on my books--I see an entire history of slow, steady progress by so many incredible writers who risked damaging their careers just to drag us to a point where a book as gay as this one could get a cover as gay as that one and STILL get the full and enthusiastic support of both the publisher and the audience. And the most incredible honor and the most humbling privilege out of all of this is the fact that the success of this book meant that the door was wedged open another little bit, that I got to contribute in this small way to the efforts of everyone who came before me, so that ones who come after us will find the door flung wide -- or that there's no door left at all to block the way, because we've collectively torn it down.

So yes, @eyona, I think that having your faith restored little by little is a very good thing, and I am delighted that Good Omens is doing that for all of us. And what's even better is that even if Good Omens doesn't play out exactly how we want it to, that's... kind of okay? Because there is always the next one, and at the very very least, Good Omens is wedging the door open further so that the next one can have an easier time of it. We don't have to walk uphill in the snow both ways just to get a moment of emotionally charged eye contact anymore. We don't have to starve anymore, not like we used to back in the bad old days. And that alone is a wonderful thing. :D

#good omens #a taste of gold and iron #publishing #queer media

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yourdadsghoulfriend · 5 days

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Is it too late to request your All of Us Strangers rant? How much did you cry when watching it???

I cried 0 (zero) times. I looked like this tbh.

It was a stale, “gay is okay,” storyline a la “Love Simon,” that would’ve made a bigger impact had it released 10 or 15 years ago. To that end, it felt more like a gay movie for a straight audience. Sure there were boundaries pushed, but rather than anything meaningful, it felt like hollow attempts at pandering.

The novel the movie is loosely based on, “Strangers” by Taichi Yamaha, has a similar plot about a lonely writer who visits his childhood home to find residents that look eerily similar to his late parents, who perished in a car accident when he was 12. Convinced they are real, he revisits them often with gifts and offerings. While his parents are free of malicious intent, his girlfriend suggests they may be unintentionally sucking the life force out of him. Despite recognizing that his declining health is a result of the unnatural balance of the living consorting with the dead, he can’t help but continue to return to his parents.

While the novel and movie explore similar themes of grief, the supernatural, and reconciliation, there are little more than those similarities. I don’t mind the change of tone and artistic liberties the movie took from the novel; I lament missed opportunities for critical cultural storytelling.

How many more gay white man coming out or coming of age movies do we need?

Deriving the movie from a novel written by a Japanese man, this could’ve, and I argue it should’ve, been done with an Asian cast. It should’ve explored queer culture from a point of view seldom seen or talked about. It should’ve explored Eastern themes of homophobia, the struggles of family from the Eastern collectivist culture mindset, and what that looked like in the 80s. Especially how embarrassing and messily they shoehorned in with the briefest of mentions of the AIDS crisis, which, low-key key, I thought was offensive.

Speaking of messy, the damn logic of the movie is barely there. Is Adam seeing ghosts, or is it a pocket dimension of the past? We see him pass his house in the beginning, the daughter of the owner staring out the window, but later, his late father comes and takes him back to the house, so it is more like a pocket dimension. Later, Adam and his parents went to a modern restaurant, and the waitress couldn’t see his parents, so were they ghosts? There are so many moments like this where the universe's rules are broken unto themselves.

Oh, Jesus, and that reminds me of the bullshit twist with Harry. So he’s been dead the whole time, yet he can give Adam drugs that Adam physically feels in the club? He can order drinks at the bar so other people can see him, and he can levitate objects? He can interact with other living humans, and no one is the wiser he’s dead? He can see the ghosts of Adam’s parents, and they see him, but neither knows the other is dead? It's dumb and lazy writing. And what? What’s the moral once we discover he died after Adam turned him away? “You never know the battle other people are fighting” or some variation of an empty platitude? I say it again, 👏🏽dumb 👏🏽lazy 👏🏽hollow 👏🏽PAN👏🏽DER👏🏽ING. If you wanted audience sympathy, write your characters better. Write their struggle better. This easy way out of killing a character is so early in the 2000s that I couldn’t believe how utterly devoid it made the final movie feel.

To that end, there were so many more plot holes it was like looking at Swiss cheese. Or so many boring, obvious filler shots of Adam looking pensive as if reflecting on something profound. I think my eyes did a somersault how far they rolled back into my head.

I’ve already spent too much time writing this, but here’s the takeaway. The magic of media and the human experience is that we can consume the same thing and walk away with polar opposite takes. I’m no media expert, just a humble consumer. My opinion is my own just as much as anyone else’s is theirs. If they felt something that pulled at their heartstrings, I love that for them! The human experience is to connect with others, tap into deeper meaning, understanding, and form connections. But no media is above criticism; to me, it doesn’t meet that mark, and that’s okay.

In the dawn of today’s AI age, where studios are fighting to create devoid of creation by using AI images, voice bots and audio, actors’ images, and scripts, I feel it’s more important than ever to develop a sense of literacy and criticism. In our current political climate, it’s crucial to demand more opportunities for marginalized groups to have their voices heard and their stories seen. I believe in demanding better rather than settling for mediocrity. I do not suffer fools, and I pay no time to pander, so personally, I wish I remained a stranger to this movie and all its wasted potential.

#asks #anons #all of us strangers #rant

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thatbitchsimone · 10 months

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Ok, how do I meet older men without using dating apps/sites?

I’m 21, crazily introverted and don’t have many friends, so I never go out. But I’ve been craving the affection of older men lately (I know, it’s fucking shameful) but I have no idea where the hell I can actually meet cool and interesting guys in their 30s/40s that aren’t creepy and perverse. Plus I look really fucking young for my age, so I feel like I can never approach a guy when I think he’s attractive, because I assume he’ll like I’m like 15, and I feel self conscious hanging around bars on my own. I’ve tried to avoid finding someone online because it seems so superficial and inorganic and it turns me the hell off tbh.

well its gonna be hard as fuck for u to find a non creepy older man if u look that young sorry to break it to u but its true. a normal man is already gonna feel very conflicted about dating someone that are 10+ years younger than them and if u on top of that look even younger than ur age they just wont be able to look past it. i dont judge women for wanting to date older men bc its understandable to me that guys in their 20s arent very attractive or interesting to u but i gotta admit i think u should wait with indulging in this until u hit ur mid 20s at least and on top of that i think in order to date older u have to be very skilled at reading ppl and be very good at ”knowing how to pick them” and have a very strong sense of self, confidence, solid legit resilient self esteem and know the ins and outs of emotional manipulation tactics and are quick at catching these tactics and having no fear of pushing back and standing ur ground and not let ur boundaries be pushed or comprimised and to be honest with u i am not sensing that in u from how u describe urself so im not gonna encourage this path for u bc that would not be in ur best interest. ur way too inexperienced rn (not a bad thing in general btw its just a bad thing in this very specific context bc its too risky and ur too vulnerable at this stage in ur life) like it takes a certain type of person to be able to properly handle being the younger part of an age gap relationship and most women ur age arent that type of person and should therefore not pursue it until they have gotten some more years of life experience and growth to back them up

#its not shameful btw. its a common and understandable desire #i just truly dont think ur ready to act on this desire at this time #u need to work on getting rid of ur shyness and self conciousness before even considering pursuing this #im not trying to sound harsh here u seem like a lovely girl but i have to be upfront and honest with this #im literally just looking out for u woman to woman here #im very passionate about that so i wont sugarcoat shit

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felizusnavidad · 4 months

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> "most people who used to love lin in the past are his biggest haters now"

> "maybe pjo fandom is not as terrible as i thought"

two things! one: i actually did used to hate lin, but that was a short phase, and i realized i actually was upset at my younger self, and was just taking it out on people and things i associated with who i was at that time

two: that really made me think, so i have some comments actually! they’re not super insightful or conclusive, but: (if you don’t mind)

i think lin and rick riordan (the author of the pjo books) are actually pretty similar? they’re both goofy older dudes with usually much younger audiences (or at least that was true when i was a big-time hamilton fan, things might have changed), and they’re guys who have certainly made mistakes, but overall are good people (and incredible creative geniuses, but that’s a little more lin than rick tbh)

i definitely can be seriously critical of lin, i definitely think he’s corny as hell, and i definitely lightly make fun of him, but only to a point. if it starts looking a little too hostile, i remind everyone (and it’s almost always universally true) that all of us do actually love his work, and if any of us saw him in public we’d all want to ask for a photo and tell him how brilliant hamilton is, or how beautiful in the heights is, or several other wonderful things he’s done. we’re all very eager to see any creative work he’s involved in because we know it’s going to be awesome, so we really can’t complain about him that much

i am much more seriously critical of rick and things he has previously said than i am of lim (also, a lot of pjo fans call riordan "uncle rick", which is, let’s be honest, INCREDIBLY CORNY! like i do it sometimes but it’s GOOFY as HELL!)

i jokingly bully rick as well — i have sent messages about him that are like "dear lord i one day i am going to kick that old man’s ass", or more often just "RICHARD. COME ON." — but it also doesn’t get too mean. when i see comments that stray from genuine criticisms that also acknowledge he’s grown as a person or like a little friendly teasing of a guy we all admire and towards shitty comments about a stranger, i am always the first in line to defend that old man!

a while ago my older sister asked me why "gen z hates lin manuel miranda", and i explained that 1. he did some stuff that isn’t great but also really seems to have grown from that point (and also probably the smallest problem people have with him), 2. a lot of gen z went through hardcore hamilton phases and now resent their past selves (this is a major factor), and 3. being earnest is the internet’s biggest sin (the most likely culprit and also the saddest answer)

making fun of rick is very common in the pjo fandom, and at least some pjo fans bullying lin are doing it in the same way, so it’s supposed to be more "teenage cousins are gently ribbing that one goofy uncle" than actual hate? i know that there are a lot of people that are just genuinely being mean, but i hope you can find some solace that it isn’t quite as much as it looks like

okay this has been weird and maybe a little scattered, i’m blaming it on my adhd medication being way too low of a dosage lmao

but i’m sorry you & other lmm fans haters, (and i’m extra sorry because there’s a decent chance one of them was 15 year old me)

ok, wow. i don't even know how to answer that (anon, this is super long, WHY)...

so first of all, i am not a part of pjo fandom, this is important - i've said this before, i'm gonna say it again: i've never read the books, i started watching the show only because of lin, i know nothing about rick & all those inside jokes you guys have, but if making fun of him is normal in this fandom, that's totally fine. silly jokes & actual hate are not the same thing for me.

"they’re both goofy older dudes with usually much younger audiences" - that is not entirely true & it comes from someone in their late 20s (& i know a lot of people from this fandom who are waaaaay over 20). being goofy & corny, those are not real reasons to hate on somebody like that... actually, everything you said here, i already knew. people are ashamed of their hamilton phase - oh, we should definitely blame lin for that, he's literally the worst because he wrote a musical once & we were super cringe about it... did he make mistakes in the past? yes, we all do, nobody's perfect. i've heard about much more problematic celebrities & people don't even talk about them but for some reason they have to shit on lin all the fucking time. he's done more good than bad (i could write a super long essay for you but it's late & i don't even know why i'm writing all of this), that is the truth & this is where i stand.

now, we are not talking about "making fun of him", we are talking about actual hate, examples:

"lin-manuel miranda should die/we should kill him"

"i would also turn evil if lin was my father/i would kill myself if he was my father"

those are real comments i've seen about him & it all comes from pjo fandom. this is the reason why i said this fandom is terrible. like, are you guys aware that he actually has kids? go outside, touch some grass & leave him alone (i'm not talking about you anon, you're ok, i'm talking about real haters).

#i could write more & more & more...#but you can just scroll my blog if you even want to read it #i've been defending him for weeks cause pjo fandom became insufferable after 3rd episode #so... yeah #it's literally midnight what the hell am i doing with my life #lmm #lin manuel miranda #pjo #anon #i saved every letter you wrote me*

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bihansthot · 4 months

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My little ham is being extremely cuddly tonight and I am very here for it, I was very sad earlier because I can’t remember what Jäger smells like anymore. I find myself smelling Denny often hoping I won’t forget him too. For some reason I’ve been thinking a lot about Jäger’s final moments lately which prompts trying to remember what he smelled like, what he felt like and I just can’t remember, all of those memories are wrapped up and laced with so much sadness and trauma I just can’t separate them. I don’t know what’s bringing these feelings back up lately, maybe because I haven’t been feeling well and have been unhappy because I feel unwell. I need a nice distraction and neither of the guys I’ve been seeing are providing it. Maybe I need a hobby? Writing seems too constricting lately and not fun. I’ve been thinking about crocheting again but a) I have to learn again which no biggie YouTube taught me when my niece was born 15 years ago, it can teach me again, b) I have no clue what to make? I’d make something for Denny but he has so many clothes lol I guess he can always use more? Maybe cute hats like Good Boy Ollie has? Denny deserves all the cute clothes and hats, he’s such a good baby. I don’t deserve him.

In non depressing dog stuff I made some video game resolutions for the year that I’m not sure I’ll accomplish. If you’ve followed me for a very long time you know I also love Soulsborne games, I’ve beaten DS3 and Elden Ring but my resolution is to beat the DLC for DS3, I want to beat Malenia and Placidusax in Elden Ring and finally play Bloodborne. I’ve never played Bloodborne despite absolutely loving it. The problem is I haven’t touched DS3 since I beat it so I can’t remember how to play it and Elden Ring I’m reasonably confident I can beat Placidusax but Malenia woof waterfowl dance am I right? THB I had enough health to tank most of it if I could avoid at least one but it’s her stage two form scarlet rot dive bomb that killed me. Admittedly I’ve only tried Malenia 2 or 3 times, my partner got Let Me Solo Her themselves to beat Malenia for them. I don’t know where to start though, I have to restart them all from the beginning because I’m on PS5 now, I guess I should go in order? So Bloodborne first? I’m so scared though everything is so fast 😭 I’m a big dumb, clunky over level and use the biggest axe in the game type player and I’m afraid I won’t be able to keep up. I don’t know if I can do the DLC I don’t know if I can beat Lady Maria or the Orphan of Kos but I guess I’ll try. Wish me luck y’all, I’m not embarking back into Soulsborne until I 100% Season of the Cryomancer though and of course this will have no bearing on my MK lust/content or anything, I don’t really have Soulsborne husbandos/waifus though I guess there’s boy Anri and Vicar Amelia (yes I’m a monster fucker, deal with it) oh oh and my precious stingray boyfriend Lorian, I don’t write for any of them or self ship with any of them so there will still be lots of dumb egg jokes. Don’t worry I’m in no way taking a break from MK I’m just indulging in another franchise I love deeply too, multitasking. So I guess just a heads up that there may be an influx of rage posts about Soulsborne bosses lol Or me professing my endless love for Greirat and Boc lol Will I ever go back to Baldur’s Gate 3?? Who knows! Probably not tbh I don’t like anyone other than Gribbo and Scratch not to mention I’ve seen my partner put just hours into it. I’ve seen the game and maybe I’m just bad at it but it’s just not fun for me which is why I’m going back to Soulsborne games lol I’ll tag my posts with “Soulsborne” if you don’t wanna see my rambling about the games though but like I said I promise I will still be all MK all the time after all it’s my true love ❤️

This has been a pointless Sol rambles, thanks for reading 🩵

#dogs are the best #tw pet loss #we don’t deserve dogs #soulsborne #new year resolutions #gaming #sol rambles

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jurygarroth · 4 months

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I gotta know what others agecanon the characters after the timeskip, because yk 15 yrs n stuff! At least for your version would you have kept the timeskip, shorten, or take it out completely? ( I’m keeping it personally) I JUST WANNA know what you would age some of the new characters introduced and old! :3

hrm the 15 year timeskip. I think it's a bit too much to remove it because it really does a lot (but also absolutely nothing at the same time ? mcd perplexes me) I think they picked that length to get to see the kids as teenagers/young adults, and tbh there is just something about Levin and Malachi being pretty independent by the time Aphmau gets back (personal headcanon is 16 for Levin, 19 for Malachi) so I like to base all my timeskip thoughts relative to Levin’s age

soooo if Levin is born at the start of season 1, I don’t want it to just be one year of Aphmau knowing all these people before the dimension skip happens. i want it to be at least 2 (and thus 14 year timeskip?)

regardless. there is a silly thing I do about mcd where I don't really have a "rewrite" so I have a "reimagination" instead. where I just have canon mcd but put all my headcanons and reinterpretations into it. if I were to rewrite it I would probably end up shortening the timeskip but since I'm just reimagining it... I don't want to :3

anyways agecanons with the 15 year skip

Dante, Nicole, KC are going from 19-20-> 34-35

already mentioned Levin and Malachi. the other kids I forget them but Alexis and Kyle are 3 -> 18, and Yip is like 5 -> 20

Donna and Logan are 33 -> 48. still making babies.

Molly and Dale are 41 and 44 -> 56 and 59. not making babies.

shadow knight logic time.. Vylad is not immortal and everyone in the nether ages according to the overworld. he went 19 -> 34

however Zenix is immortal, and has technically not aged since 19, but shadow knight aging to me is like. how they age physically is based on how they want to be and they age mentally but also kind of not because it’s not real life anyways whatever. he looks late 20s and mentally is like 200+ and Vylad is also 200+ oh sweet heavens don’t think about it too much

Lucinda has lived for 26 years by the end of season 1. she’s physically still around that age after the timeskip

Travis has lived for 30 years and he’s mid 20s in the same way

#testimonies #mcd

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mkmoka · 6 months

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#HIIII and happy opening day to magickai! i’m lenny bringing you umeda moka (she/her, b. 2003) – she’s a new muse catered specifically to this verse, so i’m excited to start writing and developing her ☺️ check out her links here: about / biography (plz this is coming soon) and under the cut will be a rundown of her information. LIKE this post if interested in plotting, and i will be sliding into ur ims!!!!!!! ok. without further ado. let’s go.

INFO

moka is born on june 3, 2003 to magical lineage – her parents are both magi and so are many of her ancestors before her. she has an older sister, sora, so she’s the youngest in the family

growing up her parents were way more lenient with her than they were with sora bc sora was expected to be the heir and everything

girl sure did act like it too btwKWNDKEJDK she was way more loud and outspoken about her beliefs, thoughts, and feelings while moka was someone who would just. shut up and accept how things would go... not her best trait tbh but what can u do….

moka seemed a lot less motivated in life compared to other people growing up which is kinda sad bc ur like 13 girl why are u already so nonchalant about how ur future goes but i digress

sora always got more attention from people too. relatives, people who were interested in her, moka’s own classmates. moka never really minded however… bc she knew that she thrived in other areas

so we fast forward to when moka is 15 and sora is 17. sora wasn’t showing any signs of having any magical abilities at all so this was when she got more stressed as well as when their parents started putting their stress ON her… sora got meaner with her words and seemed more withdrawn during this time so this kind of strained the sisterly relationship they previously had where it was moka getting doted on

moka starts branching out during this year…. finds her passions and starts taking her hobby of volleyball more seriously, makes some good friends (some 4lifers prob)

in april, she comes into her powers of air manipulation and gets visited by an elder.

her companion is a hamster that looks like hamtaro strangely WNFMEJKEBSKD her name is yua and dont let her cuteness deceive u… shes always up to some shit..

an elder visiting moka made sora even MORE withdrawn from her like. and in blind rage she tried to kill moka like, she literally tried to kill her and this is the root of why moka seems so distant from everybody. this is when they come to terms that the magi gene probably skipped sora

in may, a month later, moka moves to korea to escape it all. her parents make her promise to keep what happened in april a secret, scared to seem like a broken family. they introduce her to their friends in jeju that allow her to stay with them

ofc she’s heard about lumera.. the people she stayed with encourage her to actually enroll in there and she studies her ass off for the written exam portion and since most of her parents circle are magi….. they help her out a lot regarding her powers. help her improve, help her find out what her limits and strengths are, help her with the evaluation section of the exam

she gets her acceptance letter in late june!!!! a few weeks after her birthday in a country she’s new to!!! yay!!! #Moka1stWin

now moka’s a sophomore and she majors in magical metaphysics and struggling with her own stress and trauma + controlling air manipulation bc it can be overwhelming sometimes… shes just a girl…

as for PERSONALITY….. she’s someone u have to get to know to love because her first impression isn’t that strong like. u’d just be like. “okay”. she’s distant and ends up hurting herself as well as other ppl in her process of retreat. moka is more shy and tbh i feel like she’d be a fun person to tease bc she wouldn’t be upset or do anything back just sit there. Probably embarrassed as hell probably would be like “uhhh” JWNFKSKDKNDJD

WANTED CONNECTIONS

moka… needs… a friend… who she can open up to about everything. she’s dismissive at first so a muse that’s extroverted and encouraging to what she wants to do would be all she ever needs like. seriously. or an unlikely friends situation would be very cute too!!!! either way, this muse would have to sign an nda contract so that her parents don’t come for both her and them…

i feel like she needs somebody to see as a sibling here especially because she’s been lonely these days… someone she’s met since her first days at lumera and made her feel right at home somehow. moka is always looking after them to make sure that they’re not pushing themselves harder than they need to, too

people she gets off on the wrong foot with… like yeah her usual state might be idgaf-ism but she also needs some spice in her life…. this muse might’ve gotten frustrated at moka’s lack of ambition, and i feel like moka wouldn’t work well with those with too much of it, as well as cocky personalities

japanese childhood friends that drifted apart from each other and they recently get to reconnect.. how their friendship would look like now would be up to us :3

someone who’s been tutoring her korean. she’s advanced level at the language now because of highschool year determination and has been living in sk for like. a year but she would still appreciate help! maybe they met at korean literature club or smth

MOKA WORKS AT BUBBLING BOBA…. her regulars that she doesnt remember by name but by their boba order WLMDMSNDK if they end up meeting on campus she’s just gonna be like. “omg it’s you milk tea boba with 50% sweetness and light ice”

she’s still bitter abt being kicked out of volleyball club. so. friends she made at volleyball club that she now is “mad” at for stealing her position… friends she still plays volleyball with outside of the club.. etc etc

unrequited crushes that moka makes so obvious that she feels something for them yet she thinks it’s the opposite and is still “hiding” it like. and maybe this time she’s getting distanced from.. let’s see how she reacts to that.. LFMDJDJJS

in that same vein, old exes bc i feel like she wouldn’t be the best in a relationship 😭😭😭 i wanna explore her being guilty regarding it plus… i’m sure it’ll make fun threads!!!!

people to help her get on track, get her motivated with “saving the world” and everything else that has to do with it. moka will be like “uhhhhh” at first but at the end of the day she’ll be the most grateful

i also do prefer figuring things out 1 on 1 and bouncing off on each others ideas so.. let’s brainstorm!!! 🥹 i will appreciate all of the plots u hit me with 💓

#mk:intro #i just got the yass meal

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lyanth-publishing-house · 1 year

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"A dragon and a demon? Together? no way." Headcanons

A/N: or just canon since they’re mine…. anywho Hi! I got overly excited and wanted to gush about Monica and Verioth on main so here we go!

And if u saw the other post? No u didn’t.

Warnings(?): Somewhat yandere tendencies…?, casually glossed over death threats and violence, vaguely mentioned dragon shenanigans, scary monster x even scarier monster (guess who’s who)

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Ah, Verioth

My sweet, 7’7, dragon shifter…

He loves his wife.

His scary, dream demon wife.

That’s it, that’s the post.

No but for real though he’s absolutely whipped—

And tbh? Monica is no better.

She’d do anything just to see him smile really. Even murder.

Especially murder.

They’re a bit…unhinged.

It’s fine.

Despite all of that, they didn’t get off on the right foot exactly…

With Monica appearing on the Isle suddenly, and Verioth nearly killing her…

“I should’ve killed you when I had the chance.”

“If I wanted you dead? You’d be dead.”

And once she said that? Demon eyes and all?

He. Was. Gone.

Forever.

Developed the absolute worst crush that got even worse once they were out of the eternal enemies stage and into the “we hang out sometimes” stage.

Verioth is a dragon, what do you want from him? He likes his women violent.

There are also other, more lore-heavy reasons for that but spoilers people spoilers.

But yeaaahhh before they got married (among other things) he was down bad.

Again they went through the whole enemies to friends to lovers pipeline he was in it deep for a while.

And he didn’t even realize it half of the time tbh.

“What are you talking about? She lives here of course I’m going to be nice.”

“We hang out sometimes it’s not that big of a deal.”

“I don’t— I’m not staring at her—”

When he does finally acknowledge it he’s a nervous wreck btw. He avoided her for 2 weeks, much to her confusion.

“We had movie night…”

He felt awful and came right back :’)

And btw Monica didn’t have it easy either.

She also didn’t realize she had a crush on him until it was too late.

They were just hanging out one day and she told a stupid joke and he laughed

She watched as the corners of his lips quirked up a bit before he finally broke down and it did something to her.

She just wanted to hear his laugh all day for the rest of her lif—

Oh nO–

They were besties with a lot of feelings

A lot of pent-up feelings that they refused to address.

Much to the distress of the others.

“She likes you back.” “You’re seeing things.”

“He’s been in love with you for months!” “I’m pretty sure I’d have noticed.” “You two are lovestruck idiots, of course, you haven’t!”

Oblivious little dummies.

And then one day they went out on a “not date”, got cornered by some mercenaries who were wildly unprepared, and then one major adrenaline-fueled makeout session later—

Yeah, they dating.

And they didn’t tell their shared friend group for about a year (15 months their time) because they knew they wouldn’t hear the end of it.

“Heyy Monnie, have you seen Verioth anywhere?”

“Nope, haven’t seen him since yesterday.”

A few moments later…..

“think he bought it?”

And once the cat got out of the bag? they found out they placed bets.

One half thought Monica was gonna fess up first

The others thought Verioth would crack under pressure

And only Oz, our other resident giant of a man (dragon technically) said they’d probably figure it out at the same time

Safe to say his collection of gold got bigger that day.

They’re a mess. But they absolutely love each other and that’s all that matters.

————-

A/N: I just love them sm dude ;-; thanks for reading!

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toads-treasures · 11 months

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Fifteen questions for fifteen mutuals!

(It will probably not be fifteen I am too scared to tag too many people)

I was tagged by @galaxycunt weeks ago, and I finally got around to answering.

Tagging @hereforthehaunts @cactme @plasticdodecagon @iwanttobecomeavoid @mars-colony no pressure tho!

Also, feel free to skip any questions you don’t wanna answer.

1. Are you named after anyone?

My great grandpa Tora. But he went by Tory. He was apparently a grumpy ol sonofabitch according to my dad, but it was also his idea to name me after him so 🤷‍♀️

2. When was the last time you cried?

Prolly like two days ago but I don’t know for sure for sure. I cry all the time. I think this time I was crying in frustration at packing for my last camping trip lol

3. Do you have kids?

Nope, and I don’t know if I want any tbh. It would really cut into my time of being the Weird/Fun Aunt who lets my nieces and nephews stay up too late and helps them dye their hair

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot?

Not nearly as much as I did when I was younger. We call that Growth 😌 but sometimes I can’t help myself

5. What sports do you play/have you played?

Ha. I am so uncoordinated I don’t play any sports. I played tennis for one year in high school and hated it. I’ve gone rock climbing once and really enjoyed it even though I was scared shitless, so I’d really like to get back into that. I’ve also been kind of wanting to play tennis again just for funsies with my husband and not actually pay attention to any rules or anything and just have fun.

6. What’s the first thing you notice about other people?

I think height? Because I’m pretty tall and if someone is taller than I am I definitely notice

7. Eye color?

Hazel is the least pretentious way to describe it. Or green…ish.

8. Scary movie or happy endings?

Why not both? I will say I like things to end happily, because I need to have some semblance of hope in the world lol, but also bittersweet endings will stick with me for the rest of my life.

9. Any special talents?

I am freaky good with names and faces. I will remember people who I had one college class with but never actually personally interacted with them. I can also like, trifold my tongue so it looks like a clover.

10. Where were you born?

Ha nice try fbi. Just kidding, it’s just a small town (like, less than a thousand people) in southern Utah and I highly doubt anyone would know the name or where it was, but if perchance they do, it probably means I know them in real life and I’d rather not risk it.

11. Free space

Ummmmm I love hiking and camping, and I’d love to get into photography and videography to be like a nature photographer, I think that would be cool. But I’m also Very Bad at taking pictures. I always forget to take them, or I frame it really bad or the lighting is really bad, I’ve got a lot to learn with that hobby lol. Also I wish I could just wear my crunchy/granolaey/outfits all the time business casual my absolute beloathed

12. Do you have any pets?

No 😔 I want one, either a cat or a dog, but honestly I have so much anxiety around it because there’s this CREATURE in my HOUSE and it needs me to live! And what if it eats my plants and what if my plants are toxic and what if it chews a hole in the floor or the door and we get kicked out and and and (you get the idea).

13. How tall are you?

5’10” 😎 my husband insists I’m 5’9” but he’s wrong

14. Favorite subject in school?

I’m still recovering from the god complex that being in English class gave me so, we’ll leave it at that.

15. Dream job?

I do not dream of labor, but I have a few ideas of what would be preferable than being a receptionist for the rest of my life lol. I’d like to open an online sticker/print shop and just draw and design cute silly stationary and stickers. I’ve also always dreamed of being an author, but seeing as how I can’t finish any of my wips that will probably remain a dream lol.

#toad rambles #I had to stop myself from rambling a few times with this lol

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stereopticons · 11 months

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oversharing on the internet

Thanks for the tags, @jettestar @celeritas2997 and @mostlyinthemorning ! Sorry this took me a minute, I just got home from traveling.

ONE: Are you named after anyone?

No, though I do have the same middle name as my mother. Her primary reasoning for naming me what she did was that she always wanted people to call her a “boy’s” name growing up but no one did and so she made my initials a “boy’s name” so that people would call me it (no one ever has). I wish someone would have told her you can ask people to call you whatever you want.

TWO: When was the last time you cried?

About twenty minutes ago when I stepped on the pointy end of a toothpick that was stuck in a blanket on the floor (welcome home, I guess).

THREE: Do you have kids?

david rose absolutely not dot gif (I searched for it but tumblr hates me)

FOUR: Do you use sarcasm a lot?

I do, but sometimes I feel bad using it because I know many people struggle to understand it but it’s so deeply ingrained in the way I talk

FIVE: What sports have you played/do you play?

For an un-athletic person, I seem to have tried a lot of things: soccer (grades 3-5), swimming (ages 6-15, this is the only one I was actually ok at but quit because it interfered with band), dance (ballet, jazz/modern, ballroom), tennis (one brief summer that my parents were trying to keep us occupied), fencing (college, this was so fun but it was too expensive to keep going), gymnastics (it was called tumbling actually because we were very small), yoga, weightlifting

SIX: What's the first thing you notice about people?

I…don’t know. Is this a thing people know?

SEVEN: What's your eye colour?

Hazel-ish

EIGHT: Scary movies or happy endings?

This is a false dichotomy (and I’m bi so that exempts me from choosing between things)

(for legal reasons that’s a joke)

NINE: Any special talents?

Not unless you count making every conversation awkward.

TEN: Where were you born?

In a town that I still have to google to make sure I’m spelling it right.

ELEVEN: What are your hobbies?

Theoretically, reading, writing, baking, crochet, playing music, staring at large bodies of water but tbh my brain has been so broken lately that I haven’t been doing much of any of them

TWELVE: Do you have any pets?

Three small monsters of the cat variety.

THIRTEEN: How tall are you?

Completely average.

FOURTEEN: Favourite subject in school?

Does band count? Instead of taking calc my senior year of hs, I took three band classes because I was sure I was going to be a professional musician and insisted that all the math I needed I had learned by fifth grade (jokes on me, I ended up in a v math heavy field!)

FIFTEEN: Dream job?

Sometimes I still fantasize about quitting everything and opening a bakery/coffeeshop/bookstore/bar. Or going to work with the otters at the Monterey Bay aquarium. My ultimate dream musician jobs (see previous question) were to be a Broadway musician and/or own my own recording studio. Sometimes I miss that person.

I’m way late to this but if you didn’t get tagged, please consider this your tag.

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shurisneakers · 3 months

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Okay before I start I just want to say that I love you and I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve read Harmless. I literally just finished rereading it last week and I miss it already. BUT THEN I FOUND OUT YOU POSTED THE FIRST TWO CHAPTERS OF UNSOLVED AND I AM ALREADY ADDICTED!

Also FYI this is gonna be a long ask and I’m sorry 😬

But hear me out, okay. As soon as I read the first two chapters of unsolved I thought of this story. A couple years ago my mom and I had this ghost show craze and the things people claim to have gone through is insane (I’m not really sure whether I believe in ghosts and stuff or not, tbh) But anyway this one show (which I can’t remember the name of) did a segment on this graduate student who was renting an apartment from her professor at a discount rate sometime during the late 90s/early 2000s. She moves in and starts being followed and watched by a shadow person/poltergeist who does poltergeist shit like open cabinets, steal keys, bang on things, etc. Most notably though, it steals a whole block of cheese which she was using to make mac and cheese. She tears the kitchen apart to find it, knowing that she just had it on the counter beside her, but cannot find it. Weeks later she opens her utensil drawer and there’s the block of cheese, molded. (I don’t know if you’re looking for actual cases or making them up or a bit of both)

So anyway, I had some thoughts on how Bucky and his partner would potentially respond to this story (all of which is potentially very lame and cringy so I’m sorry in advance for that, too.)

Okay, so my thoughts are that Bucky asks what kind of cheese it was and the reader thinks ‘why the fuck does this matter?’ But she replies something like “idk, she’s a poor college student so probably velveeta or some shit.” He says “that shit doesn’t mold! It’s got enough preservatives in it to kill and mummify a horse!” and she’s like “well maybe it was some other cheese, then” already exasperated at the frivolous line of questioning. But he continues to be a little shit and says something like “maybe she didn’t look for it in the utensils drawer” and she responds, incredulously, with “she would have had to get a fucking fork at some point” and he says “maybe she got ’em from take out” and she’s like “she’s a poor grad student?!” And he’s like “it’s called living beyond your means. Maybe she didn’t care about her credit score.” And the reader is sure that she’s gonna have an aneurysm. Also I know he would steal cheese or some other food item from Sam or Clint or the reader later just to fuck with ‘em.

Thanks for putting up with my rambling 😊

HIIIII VIOLET ❤️❤️ I just wanted to say that I see your reblogs all the time in my notifications and i appreciate it so so much. Thank you reading my fics, it really means the world to me!!

I do make up the cases in Unsolved! i didn't want to accidentally disrespect anybody or beliefs, and that becomes a tricky area to navigate when you're using IRL cases so i thought that fiction was the best way to go about it

Why did I think you were going to tell me that the professor was living in the dorm and just screwing with her. Like those other cases where food disappears from kitchens and the homeowners realise that there's someone else living in the home with them

you're absolutely right, he would call out the stupidest fucking details and the kind of cheese is most definitely at the top. i LOVE this exchange you've written-- it really does feel like them especially the whole "she's a fucking grad student??????" part lmfafhfhf

I'd love to turn this or something similar into a mini drabble one of these days, if you'd be okay with that!

thank you so so much for this ask. i loved it and read it like 15 times today. and thank you for the time and effort you spend in reblogging my nonsense, i appreciate you so much ❤️❤️❤️

#ari answers #unsolved fic #obsidianvibranium #long post #unsolved headcanons

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