#the conclusion was ‘he’s not good anymore’

[midnightsslut]

religion is one of the most prominent recurring themes on the album, and it has been present in some capacity for quite a few records now. taylor previously compared love to religion: her saving grace, her belief system, and a fated divine intervention (false god, cornelia street, and cruel summer are the best examples of this). ‘sacred new beginnings that became my religion’ and ‘we’d still worship this love even if it’s a false god’ are two of the defining statements about her philosophy on the lover album.

taylor doesn’t want to leave all of that behind on ttpd, at least not at the beginning. the first supernatural force she mentions is the spaceship on down bad, which she compares to a skylight of freedom in the epilogue. *something* has finally come to save her from her life of suffering. she doesn’t care if it’s a force of good at first; if anything, she’s just fine being taken away by aliens. she views this man as her destiny. it isn’t until guilty as sin? that taylor starts to ponder the moral implications of what she’s doing. is she guilty as sin for wanting to leave her previous religion and relationship behind? she comes to the conclusion that, even if she rolls the stone away and gets resurrected/redeemed, she cannot avoid the fallout. she is okay with the thought of having to wait, as long as both lovers vow to be together forever, just as she once did with someone else in false god. ‘I choose you and me religiously’ finishes the bridge of the song in a direct callback to cornelia street.

the next mention of religion has murkier imagery. she claims that she does not need the Lord’s help to save this man. she sees the halo that he has, and she can fix him herself. now that she feels free of her prior cage, she isn’t looking for divine intervention anymore. she wants control. she is their route to salvation.

when the relationship falls apart, she retreats back into the position of a believer rather than a divine figure. she compares him to a Holy Ghost who promised to save her and take her to heaven. instead, she is in hell in every sense of the word: she’s down bad and feels guilty for digging up the grave. he was a jehovah’s witness who promised that she could break free of the cage imposed by love without changing her religion altogether; she would’ve just had to switch denominations. she could still have a marriage and kids! she could still have a blue tortured poet! the man was different, but not the dreams they had together. the story of the first part of the album ends here. her faith has been broken, and she has only found any semblance of sanity by refusing to mention these belief systems altogether.

side b/the anthology blends the christian imagery of side a with goddesses, sorcerers, and prophecies. she bargains with these powers to let her have the future she wants (the prophecy). she doesn’t sound like someone believing in salvation. if anything, she feels cursed. she decides that the concept of divinely ordained timing will never work in certain relationships (‘the goddess of timing once found us beguiling / she said she was trying / peter, was she lying?’). this disdain extends onto her perception of other people’s faith (‘bet they never spared a prayer for my soul’). she does position herself as a prophet in cassandra, but even then, she admits that the role has hurt her. perhaps the pain in thank you aimee was meant to be, or perhaps she was just strong enough to build a legacy in spite of it, boulder by boulder. is she a martyr? does she want to be? or did she save herself?

the only real love song on this half of the album makes no mention of fate or any divine forces. it wasn’t meant to be. it’s not a supernatural invisible string or lightning in a bottle. she is just in love.

the album ends with the manuscript, which revisits an old story of a defining, formative heartbreak. as she sings ‘at last, she knew what the agony had been for’ while describing the legacy of her writing, she seems to revert to thinking about the purpose of trauma. the only exception is that, in this case, she is the one who found meaning in her pain by turning it into a manuscript. writing is her belief system now, and she proselytizes by telling her stories and thus giving up the manuscript.

ultimately, her belief in destiny has chewed her up and spat her out. she so desperately clung to her existing belief systems that she was fooled by a conman, which left her feeling cursed. religion is supposed to be with someone even in their darkest moments, but the album explains that taylor often felt abandoned. the only constant in her life was, well, herself. she’ll be okay, but her pen will be her saving grace.

#idk why I wrote this essay but it needed to be said #this could be taken further by actually unpacking each mention of religion on midnights and lover but i ain’t doing all that #the manuscript #cassandra #Cornelia street #false god #cruel summer #lover #the prophecy #the smallest man who ever lived #but daddy I love him #I can fix him #guilty as sin #ttpd #thank you Aimee #peter

[haleyusesherwords]

Why the Neighborhood is the best group this season:

Stress gives Iskall a cat

Iskall does not want a cat

In an attempt to not get anymore cats, Iskall tries to convince Stress that RenDOG wants a cat because he’s obviously historically a cat lover. I mean, it’s even in his name

Iskall sells VintageBeef an apartment with one of the cats he did not want from Stress already living inside

VintageBeef is very excited to have a cat come with his new apartment

Because the cat is tamed by Iskall, he needs another cat

In conclusion: Beef wants cats, Stress wants to give people cats, Ren is involved for no good reason, and Iskall somehow now actually needs a cat

#there’s a love triangle joke in there #if anyone wants to find it #Iskall #stressmonster #hermitcraft

[moonlightazriel]

Chapter 13: The past cannot be forgotten /// Azriel X F!Reader

Summary: Y/N finally opens up to Azriel about Ruvyn. They finallly go to Koschei's home.

Word Count: 1,6K

Warnings: Just the usual angst.

Notes: My dumb ass accidentally posted this before i even posted the first chapters ughhhh

Main Masterlist

Worlds Apart Masterlist

Azriel sat in bed, watching her squirming and groaning, her eyebrows furrowed and sweat coating her forehead. He reached to wake her up when she jumped out of her slumber, sitting in bed with a panicked expression, hands grasping for his arm, eyes frantically scanning him for any injuries. 

“They took you, I saw Ruvyn kill you.” She sobbed, tears streaming down her pretty face. He pulled her to his lap, allowing her to cry on the crook of his neck. 

“Shh, it’s okay.” He rubbed her hair, noticing how this worked to calm her down faster. As she stopped her sobs and looked at him again with her red puffy eyes, he pulled her in for a kiss, gently cupping her cheeks and brushing her lips with his own. “Whenever you need to talk to me, I'm here for you.” He said after they parted the kiss.

“His name was Ruvyn.” She spoke, her voice hoarse from both crying and sleep. He watched her intensely. “Before our people became one, Ironteeths hunted Crochans down, to kill them for what their ancestors did to us. I met him in one of my huntings, he was different from the humans I met, he was charming, and something in me came back to life when I saw him for the first time.”

Her face dropped to an even sadder expression, like remembering those things were too painful, and they were, but she needed to let them go, she couldn’t keep allowing that Ruvyn’s ghost haunted her and sucked the life and joy out of her anymore.

“I fell in love with him and I kept coming back to him. He showed me things that I never thought I would have the chance of experiencing. He taught me how to dance, how to live, and how to love.” She rubbed her eyes. “The night I finally got the courage to be intimate with him was like a dream come true. I told him I loved him that night and he looked me in the eyes, like I truly meant something to him and told me he loved me too. When I woke up he had turned me in, ready to burn me at a stake. He told me so many awful things that I still carry with me to this day, he said I was going to die alone and no one would ever love a monster like me.”

The pain in her eyes was too much for Azriel to handle. He understood perfectly how hard it was hearing such harsh words directed at him, but it was totally different coming from someone she trusted with her heart. 

“I was able to free myself, the people who snickered at me started to scream and run away, i was never a monster Az.” She promised. “But that day I turned myself into what Ruvyn believed I was, I became the monster he made me. I killed the man I loved with my bare hands, I ripped his heart out for what he did to mine. I’m not proud of this but I can't erase what I did.”

“And you had every reason to do what you did, I can't imagine a betrayal like this.” She looked at him with worried eyes.

“You don’t think I'm a monster?” Her lower lip started to quiver like she was going to cry again.

“I could never think that of you.” He reassured her, pulling her in for another kiss. “I love you.” 

And despite not being able to tell him that she loved him too, she opened her heart to that feeling, something told her that this time would be different and she was willing to believe. 

⋆˙⟡☾𖤓☽ ⟡˙⋆

After that morning, they got ready to talk to the rest of the house about their conclusions, finding the two males by the dining room having breakfast, Vassa was nowhere to be seen. Azriel and Y/N greeted them, sitting down to eat. 

“Did you two sleep well?” Lucien asked, always the kind host.

“We did, thank you Lu.” Y/N said. “But I guess the news we have for you isn't that good.” She sipped on her coffee. “Koschei is a Valg king.”

Her and Azriel shared all the information they gathered last night, including the one about Nesta, who according to the letter Azriel got late in the night, was being kept hidden at the cabin much to her dismay. Y/N couldn’t imagine what they had to do to keep Nesta locked against her will, and she wanted to end this soon so her friend would be free again. 

“So we’re basically fucked?” Jurian asked, biting a piece of toast with a smirk adorning his face.

“Precisely.” She motioned to Lucien. “Although our fire boy over there has a chance of killing him.”

“Me?” Lucien choked.

“Fire can kill a Valg, that’s how Aelin Galathynius killed Maeve, a Valg Queen.” She said it like it was obvious. 

“And you want me to Aelin my way into killing Koschei?” Y/N laughed.

“Yeah, she burned Maeve from inside out.”

“I don’t know if I can do that.” He protested.

“Then i suggest you find out very quickly cuz we need to kill him as soon as possible.” She shrugged. “But no pressure.”

“Yeah, no pressure.” Lucien mumbled underneath his breath, taking another sip of his hot coffee. 

“So who’s ready to have a tour of Koschei’s lair?” Jurian asked, excitedly getting up and clapping his hands, the groans he received as an answer just made him smile wider.

⋆˙⟡☾𖤓☽ ⟡˙⋆

The cabin was made from dark wood, ageing poorly with time, the roof was covered in pine needles and the yard really needed a trim to look decent, what connected the land with the island that held the big cabin was a very old bridge, and a dark lake surrounded the area, like the Mother had forgotten about that place too. 

“This smells so awful.” Azriel said, scrunching his nose in clear disgust, the smell was putrid, like death. Exactly like the Valg smelled. 

“Did it always have this smell?” She asked the males behind her. 

“Gets worse every day.” Lucien replied.

“Especially when he releases those things.” Jurian added, making her whip her head back to look at him.

“What things?” Jurian started to describe the monsters he saw coming out, a wide variety of horrors with long claws, sharp teeth and bloodthirst.

“We kill some, but others disappear. Maybe they get killed in the courts, we don't know what they want.” Lucien explained and she nodded. 

“Fuck.” She cursed. “If he's indeed after Nesta’s power, this is his way to guarantee an army before he can open that damned gate.”

“How are you so sure he has a key?” Jurian inquired, eyebrows raised in suspicion.

“He got here somehow, he has the original key he had before he was bound to that lake. He has to.” It only made sense that he still had the key, if he was trying so hard to free himself. 

“She has a point.” Lucien waved his hands and Jurian rolled his eyes, mouthing the words back to him in a mockery tone, prompting the male to crack a smile.

“Shhhh, someone is coming.” Azriel shut the conversation down and everyone turned to see.

It was like time had come to a stop, cold spread across her body, freezing her in place as she took the male in. Short golden-blonde hair, ivory skin, broad shoulders and a sculpted body showing through the thin tunic he wore. Beautiful, lethally beautiful like Erawan was. He took a look around, and shining against the sun, his gold eyes, just like Manon’s and just like his younger brother. The eyes of a king.

He stretched his muscles and turned his head towards the sun, letting it warm his skin. A lazy smile appeared on his face and he turned his head towards them, with his eyes closed and a very deep voice, he spoke. 

“I don't like being watched.” He opened one of his eyes, looking directly into hers. 

She motioned for the males to keep quiet and stay in their place, kicking Azriel’s hands away when he tried to grab her ankle. She got up, climbing the hill they were hiding and started to walk in silence, stopping over the edge of the bridge. The male turned to her with a curious gaze. 

“You're not from here, you smell different.” He smiled sweetly at her. 

“I changed my soap yesterday, thanks for noticing.” She snickered and he openly laughed. 

“What a delight having someone so fun around.” He extended a hand to her, inviting her in, but she stayed rooted in place. “Aren't you here to see me?” 

“Yes.”

“Then come here, darling.” Azriel cursed as his shadows informed him that she started to cross the bridge, towards Koschei’ open hand. “What can I do for you?” His voice resonated through the trees.

“I've heard you can take all the pain away.” She replied, lies spilling from her plump lips. 

“You came to the right place, my sweet creature.” His hands wrapped around hers, and she almost flinched with how cold it was against her warm, sweaty and shaking hand. 

He pulled her hand towards his lips, kissing it with his eyes still locked with hers. He smiled again, pulling her closer to him, towards the open door of the cabin, exactly like she wanted.

“Allow me to properly introduce myself.” He bowed his head a little. “Despite the people of this land calling me Koschei, my name is Mantyx.”

She almost froze with the name, swallowing past the lump in her throat and forcing her legs to walk inside the cabin. Azriel watched in horror as she disappeared inside, the door closing itself after them, locking her inside with him.

⋆˙⟡☾𖤓☽ ⟡˙⋆

Taglist: @fieldofdaisiies @blackgirlmagicforever @a-frog-with-a-laptop @going-through-shit @asweetblueberry2 @roses-r-red54330 @mis-lil-red @sheblogs @hibye02 @impossibelle @glitterypirateduck @zeroangelo13 @sekiro1310 @nelapeach14 @annamariereads16 @just-here-reading @celestialend @donttellthecats @scatteredstardustt @snoopyspace @asterinblacksword @tsumudoll @georginat12 @skyjasper @anuttellaa @willowpains @quinzzelx @amysangel @fightmedraco @puttyly @lees-chaotic-brain @thisblogisaboutabook @esposadomd @stained-glass-eyes0708 @brujitafantomatico @a-cup-of-nightshade @faridathefairy @bubybubsters

#azriel #shadowsinger #azriel x reader #moonlightazriel #sarahjmaas #azriel shadowsinger #night court #velaris #azriel x y/n #acotar #azriel acotar #azriel fanfic #worlds apart fic

[moonspirit]

Howlonguntiltheykiss this and howlonguntiltheyholdhands that- NO! how long until Armin eats her out!? How long after seeing her thighs and having the primordial urge to stick his head between the?!

[N/SFW]

Not long at all, anon.

As soon as these two move past the vanilla kisses and shy, barely-there-barely-anywhere touches, and actually get down to having sex, I hc that it's quite impossible for Armin to not be thinking of eating her out as soon as he can. Annie's legs are nice. Like fucking nice, even in the most boring and baggy of pants or shorts - you think he's not gonna get insanely turned on once they're all bare skin and nothing more? That is so much of thigh, soft and hard and strong and weak , pressing hard around the sides of his hips. You think he's not dying to feel them in his fingers?? So it starts with a desire to just touch and feel her legs, and by god, does it feel soooo good.

What he might not have put into his calculations is all the soft airy whines and noises Annie makes, as he explores her. They're driving him crazy.

And hell if he doesn't want more of that.

The only reasonable line of thought he has then, once his lips are travelling down her body, is that perhaps she might be louder and more insistent with the pressure of her fingers in his hair, if he kisses her down there. It's only a hypothesis, but it quickly becomes a definite conclusion and a desperate need when he sees how she looks, all wet and inviting and every bit irresistible, along with the trembling of her thighs.

Of course he wants to stick his mouth there and eat her out until she goes blank in the head. After all, he's born curious and a born giver; he'd rather die than not please her to the point where she can't speak anymore.

But then again, that's how soon he ✨ thinks ✨ about it. Doesn't mean he might get to do it as quickly as he wants to tho.

#anon ask #aruani #headcanon #smut #attack on titan #aruannie #armin arlert #annie leonhart #armin x annie #arminarlert #annie leonhardt #shingeki no kyojin #aot #snk

[sl-vega]

✧.* DREAMS LOST, LOVE FOUND

pairing: Chigiri Hyouma x [IDOL!] Reader

genre: fluff, angst if you squint, oneshot, strangers to lovers, strangers to friends to lovers, pre-bluelock au, canon compliant

synopsis: in which two former geniuses bond over their potentially lost dreams (or in which two strangers develop feelings by making fun of cheesy news articles about themselves)

CW: potentially ooc chigiri, possible innaccuracies with vocal chord paralysis conditions/symptoms 

"(Y/N) (L/N): A Bright Star that Burned out too Quickly"

"Idol (Y/N) Retiring?!"

"ASRUN's (L/N)'s Career Over?! Get the latest scoop now!"

You scrolled through the magazines in the waiting room. So many cheesy tabloids talking about your latest concert, and possibly last. You froze up on stage, and your voice just didn't work. The gossip columns came up with so many reasons, ranging from fairly possible to completely bizarre. But they all seemed to come to the same conclusion.

Your career was over.

Ended, finished, decimated, completely and utterly over.

And deep down, you knew that. The doctors said that there was a chance that you could recover, even if it didn't occur naturally, surgery was always an option.

You had recently been diagnosed with vocal chord paralysis, which prohibited your ability to talk and sing. And no singing meant no concerts.

No concerts meant no more performing.

No more performing meant that you couldn't be an idol anymore.

You were told your worsened condition had something to do with your hectic rehearsal schedule, and how you pushed yourself to the point of self-harm during practice. Suzuki, the nurse that had been assigned to assist you, insisted that you come to the clinic for weekly check-ups and vocal warm ups.

Your agency managed to fund all of this because they wanted you back performing with the rest of your group members as soon as possible.

But you weren't sure if you could even continue to perform. You could deny it all you wanted, but you weren't in shape to be an idol anymore.

So here you are, rotting in a waiting room, waiting for your parents to come and get you. Once a musical sensation, once hailed as the pride of the idol industry.

Now I'm nothing more than a helpless patient.

You leaned back in your chair, a random sports article in your hand. You hadn't paid any mind to what it was about when you picked it up, all you knew was that it wasn't about you and your doomed career, and that was all you needed.

But your parents weren't coming anytime soon, and you needed to kill some time, so reading a couple pages wouldn't hurt. You glanced at the front cover. It appeared to be some local newspaper that covered soccer teams in the prefecture.

"Chigiri Hyouma: The Red Leopard!"

The front page had those words printed out in a vibrant pink font. You snorted, it would be one thing if this was about some world-class pro, but all this fuss over a high school kid? The picture on the front page wasn't the best either, it was a blur of bright red hair and you could make out what seemed to be a jersey.

But you couldn't discern a clear image of his face though. So naturally, out of curiosity, you had to flip the page.

Chigiri Hyouma huh? You heard that name mentioned somewhere before. You remembered passing by a few girls a couple of months ago that couldn't seem to shut up about him.

Please, he's probably just some amateur that happens to be somewhat good looking, there's no way he's actually all that-

But, it certainly wouldn't hurt to read about him a little more...

And so you did just that, flipping to the next page due to your insatiable curiosity about this Chigiri fellow.

Let's see what you're all about Mr. Red Leopard-

You finally flipped the page not expecting much, but then you were greeted by a very flattering image of the very subject that peaked your interest.

Holy fuck he's really pretty

Luscious red locks, bright pink eyes that you could get lost in, gentle, feminine features yet he still looked so god damn handsome?!

Your eyes widened as a blush crept up to your face. What was this guy doing playing soccer?! He could've easily been a model, or an idol, or a movie star, you weren't even that pretty what the actual fu-

You had to stop your train of thought. You weren't seriously crushing on a photo of some stranger were you?

Yet, against your better judgment, you continued reading the article, it listed a few details such as his stats, position, and his high school among other.

You were consuming all of this information at an oddly fast rate. Why was this guy so captivating to you?

Before you knew it you had sped through the article. And you had somehow memorized everything on those few pages.

God, I'm pathetic...

You rubbed your temples and sighed, you put the article down, and you were about to read a different magazine about something other than your new found infatuation, but as your hand was about to reach to some political newspaper, your gaze quickly shifted to another photo of a familiar red head.

Another article about him?

Looks like someone's local celebrity...

You moved your hand away from the previous paper you were about to pick up, and you exchanged the current article in your hand for the other one about your newest subject of interest.

Surely one more magazine about him wouldn't hurt....

The front cover was a clearer photo of Chigiri, but it wasn't the happiest. It was a picture of him leaning against one of his teammates for support as they escorted him off the field.

"The Red Leopard's Career: OVER?!"

It was from the same local paper that you were reading earlier, seemed the editors had a soft spot for him.

"Chigiri Hyouma damages his leg in his most recent match?! Further statements are awaited from his family, could this be the end of the genius speedster?"

You sighed at the writer's attempt to dramatize the situation, surely Chigri was in pain. Having something you're so passionate about being taken away my your own physical limitations. You definitely knew the feeling.

The feeling of your dream being snatched right before your eyes. The feeling of a critical condition with some complicated-sounding name being the only thing keeping you away from your goal.

He's just like me...

Wait- what were you thinking? First you ogle at a bunch of photos at him, now you're coming up with a bunch of weird parasocial fantasies about how the two of you actually have some things in common?!

I need to get a grip...

You absentmindedly flipped to the next page of article, somewhere you had made peace in the back of your mind about your attraction to the boy. You were like some little school girl, crushing on some cute actor or model that you saw in fashion magazines.

Of course you were soon snapped out of that trance by an unfamiliar voice.

"Didn't know I was such a big deal that a world-class idol would be reading about me."

You lifted your head to the source of the voice, standing in front to you was a young man around your age leaning against a crutch.

Of course before you noticed any of that, you saw the same red hair, gorgeous pink eyes, and soft features that you had been religiously staring at for the past hour.

Holy shit it's actually him.

Holy shit, he knows who I am

HOLY SHIT CHIGIRI HYOUMA KNOWS WHO I AM-

You had a whirlwind of thoughts about the situation. And you had made a countless amount of observations about him. His hair was longer than it was in the pictures, he looked a lot leaner too, but taller as well.

You were probably shamelessly checking him out right about now, but who could blame you? If it wasn't for the crutch, and the evident exhaustion on his face, you would've thought he was an angel rather than a patient.

And so you did what you always did when confronted by an incredibly attractive person.

You panicked.

Am I checking him out? I'm probably checking him out, I should look away. But what if that's rude?! Should I continue making eye contact? Or should I avoid it?! WHY DIDN'T THEY TEACH ME HOW TO TALK TO BOYS WHEN I WAS A TRAINEE?!-

"It's rude to stare you know."

He had nonchalantly said, snapping you out of your thoughts.

Oh god, even his voice was gorgeous

"Sorry..."

You muttered, looking down at the floor, averting his vivid eyes using any means necessary.

Great, now he probably thinks I'm a creep, nice going...

"Nah it's fine, sorry if I startled you when I came over, I recognized you 'cuz my sister's a fan, and you looked so engrossed in that article about me so I was pretty curious."

You simply muttered a quiet "Oh" in return.

Why am I like this?! He's trying to make an effort to talk to me, and I'm not even contributing at all!

He moved closer to you, he sat himself down on one of the seats close to you, and pulled out another sports magazine with his face on it.

"I never quite liked that one author that you're reading right now, has a habit of exaggerating the least important details and not giving the full story."

He handed the paper he was holding to you.

"This one's one of my personal favorites."

He smiled and handed the magazine to you. Your hands brushed, and you felt your heart skip a beat. His hands were really soft and gentle.

You took the article from his hand and opened it, your eyes greeted by a huge headlines in all caps; "Chigiri; RISING STAR OF THE FOOTBALL WORLD!"

You couldn't help but snort at the title, these editors were really something else.

"Cheesy I know, but it's better than most."

You giggled again, flipping through the pages of the booklet in your hands. You had pointed to a paragraphs that you had found amusing, to which Chigiri had said "Not everyone is a famous idol you know, some of us locals have to take whatever we can get!"

Next thing you knew, the two of you were talking like two old friends, giggling over silly comments and misconceptions that the media had about the two of you.

You didn't know how, but much time had passed, and quite frankly, you didn't care, Chigiri was charming, and rather fun to talk to.

Now, you were showing him a tabloid about some dating rumour about you and some model that your agency had done a collab with.

"Seriously? One slightly suggestive photo and now they think the two of you are hooking up? Wouldn't your managers be scrambling to cover that up? Doesn't it ruin your "idol" image or somethin'?"

"The higher ups at my job were trying to cover it up before realizing that this sort of publicity was actually pretty positive for my image."

You laughed as you pointed to a few more photos of you and said model. It was nice, being able to laugh about this with someone, it was nice, letting the pain go away, even for a little while. But, Chigiri was a lot more than just a distraction at this point.

Suddenly your phone buzzed.

"Sorry, let me check this real quick."

You took your phone out of your pocket, and it turned out that your father was outside of the clinic waiting for you. You tried to hide the disappointment on your face. You didn't want to leave just yet, not when you were finally making some progress with Chigiri.

But, your dad definitely wouldn't take it well if you wanted to stay out later with a boy, a new boy no less.

You sighed, shoving the device back into your pocket.

"I take it that you need to leave now?" Chigiri asked, maybe your mind was playing tricks on you, or maybe you were just super delusional, but it almost sounded like he was disappointed that you had to leave.

"Yeah, sorry..."

"It was nice meeting you, by the way."

He held out his hand.

"Chigiri Hyouma, but you probably know that by now."

You were confused by the gesture at first, you certainly did know his name by now, so why was he doing this?

Oh right, I was too busy crushing on him, so we never formerly introduced ourselves...

You placed your hand in his, reciprocating the handshake.

"(L/N) (Y/N)."

He smiled as you got up, your hand still intertwined with his, you felt butterflies in your stomach, and you almost felt your heart jump out of your body."

You really have me under your spell, Chigiri Hyouma...

#chigiri x reader #chigiri hyoma x reader #chigiri hyoma #bluelock x reader #bluelock x y/n #bluelock x you #bluelock #reader insert

[hydrogen-jukebox]

i wish rick and morty wasn't mostly one of those long-running episodic kinds of shows cause rick's arc is so interesting to me but i can't watch it happen every season

#rick and morty #and with no solid conclusion cause he only Realizes he should change #he never acts on it #which on one hand i guess is good representation of how getting better isn't linear #except it's not it's actually just the structure of the show #and i can't watch it anymore because i am Tired

[muppet-on-a-spit]

a continuation of this post

Throughout the show Sokka has 5 weapons (important ones, anyway) His spear, club, machete, boomerang and space sword.


He loses the spear in "The Avatar Returns” when Zuko snaps it in half, and he learns that you can’t rely only on bravery and determination, you have to hone some skills. He isn’t quite sure what his skills are, but he’s going to figure it out. He tries to be the person who collects food ("collect" bc Aang is a vegetarian, so hunting won’t help everybody) but this fails again and again. In fact, it's a running joke that Sokka is always hungry yet bad at getting food. But then, in "Avatar Day", he loses his boomerang. At first, he’s ~distraught.~ (“I feel like I’ve lost my identity”) Then, Aang gets thrown in prison, and BAM he has purpose again! And what is that purpose? Using his brainy skills! Investigating! Cooking up plots to get Aang out of jail bc the pacifist monk doesn’t want to use violence (again). And as he’s getting used to this niche in the group, he becomes very possessive of it, basically telling Katara to stay in her lane (she has her waterbending! She has something!) He gets his boomerang back at the end of the episode, and boy is he happy to see it, but he has a healthier view of it now. It’s a tool that he’s very good at using, but he’ll be okay without it.

He loses the club in the desert when Appa is stolen. As we know, he immediately gets high on cactus juice, which doesn’t give us much to draw on. There’s something to be said about him falling back on his need to provide for his friends and get them water, but the important part comes when the gaang meets up with Suki. She helps him see that he doesn’t need to be The Protector, and he’s valuable to his friends, his tribe, his family, and to her even when he’s not doing anything. In the next episode (The Drill) he very excitedly and verbally takes on his role as the “plan guy,” and comes up with the idea for how to take down the drill. Bam! Purpose re-acquired. He’s starting to see that he doesn’t need the title of warrior, to justify his place in this group (or, like. in life in general). He has strengths outside of them.

Now, Hakoda briefly replaces the club in "The Guru”: when Sokka is planning to join his father’s crew for a mission, and be a warrior like he always wanted. But, Aang interrupts him; he needs him to help save Katara from uncertain peril. Aang doesn’t need him to be a warrior in that moment, he needs emotional support, grounding, and a plan (a plan!! from the plan guy!) So, Sokka returns the club to his dad, and he doesn’t fulfill what he thought his destiny was, but he does rescue the Earth King from Azula.

The machete is interesting, because he uses it often, but almost exclusively not for fighting. He chops the vines in the swamp, he cuts that valve in the drill, he uses it to hunt, and he holds it up a few times like he *might* use it to fight you, but usually doesn’t, or just uses his boomerang. Even when he uses it in a fight, it’s in a clever way, like when he uses it to cut ropes off of his wrists, or when he cuts the saddle off of that rhino in “Avatar Day.” But, even the machete is holding him to the ideal of who he thinks he needs to be. & that's why it has to be taken from him when he, Toph, & Momo try to warn the Earth King about the coup, and they are thrown in jail. In this episode, he does almost no fighting. He has that moment with Ty Lee, but he’s just dodging her, never even reaching for the 2 weapons on him. Toph does most if not all of the heavy lifting, while Sokka leads the way and does the talking.

It isn’t until “Sokka’s Master” that he confronts these losses. He doesn't *mention* the lost weapons, but he feels their absence. Although he's gotten closer to accepting himself, it’s hard. He’s in the Fire Nation, and he’s been waiting his whole life to fight these people, but now that he’s here, he’s doing a lot of standing to the side and waiting. He can’t even use his boomerang since they’re undercover. The planning stage is pretty much done for now; they’re just moving into position. Aang can bend 3 out of 4 elements, Toph has invented metalbending, Katara continues to fight and heal as a master waterbender... and he’s just kinda here. He’s lost all his weapons, and what does he have to replace them? Not much, as far as he can see. Even his friends can’t put what makes him useful and important into words.

But then he goes to Piandao, and even though the guy is supposed to teach him how to use a sword, Sokka learns about his other strengths, and not just because Piandao is nudging him in that direction. Sokka purposefully changes the tasks to better suit him, just like he's been doing for the past 6 months. He has always wanted to be a warrior, but when he gets the chance, he still does his own thing!! So, this episode isn’t about Sokka finally becoming a warrior, like he thought, but coming to realize that his destiny is just as real as everyone else's, it just lies where he hasn't yet thought to look.

Then, of course, he loses his boomerang and space sword when he and Toph are hanging on the edge of the war balloon. It's the end of the war, so his time when he has to be a warrior for his sister, his family, his tribe, and the world is coming to an end. In the past, he heavily tied his identity and self worth to his ability to use his weapons to fight, but now he knows himself free of the duty he has to others. He’s good enough as he is. And since he knows that, losing his boomerang doesn't even matter to him (unless he could’ve found a way to save himself & Toph with it). The space sword hurts a little more, bc making it was when his hard work as an inventor, a tactician, and an artist was finally noticed and validated by someone he looked up to, but he doesn't need the sword to prove it anymore either.

At the very end, he’s sitting and painting, something he learned with Piandao. And yes, he learned to paint in pursuit of wielding a sword, but by the finale, he paints for the sake of it. The sword is gone, the war is over, his leg is broken, and here he is: painting a picture of his friends, who are all gravitating towards him.

#in conclusion: sokka is not a jock #this is a longish one but sokka deserves it #sokka #sokka avatar #atla #avatar the last airbender #by the way. this was in the drafts for. longer than i've had this blog #this is my thesis paper for this blog ok?!!!? #& i don't even have the right url for it anymore. i miss it actually #gray speaks #oh & also i remember mourning that space sword every time i watched the finale #i still do in a way #but it's a really good thing 😭 he's changing to become the person he was meant to be #not the person the war forced him to be #and whatever emotion that is (satisfaction? excitement?) feels a lot stronger than the grief

[quietwingsinthesky]

I stand by the fact that the archangels have a single braincell between the four of them, and Gabriel is the one who has custody of it.

#he’s the only one here who makes (relatively) good choices #the bar is low but. he’s got his niche in the world. Thee Trickster #he’s like. mostly happy with the life he has. sure haunted by the one he lost/ran from #but also had the capacity to realize that getting the hell out of dodge was his best option and he was RIGHT #to anyone who sees this and goes: ‘no but isnt Raphael-‘ shut up silence shush #you don’t understand them like I do. you have been fooled by their regal demeanor and terrifying grief. #need I remind you. blew out the eastern seaboard for kicks. had to make sure Chuck didn’t accidentally kill himself falling down the stairs #every other day. saw that the apocalypse didn’t work and decided the logical conclusion was to just Do It Again But Better This Time #THEY HAVE WINGS MADE OF LIGHTNING PURELY FOR THE FUCKKNG DRAMA OF IT. #if you gave them both the same task. you might not be able to predict how either of them would solve it #but you could work back how Gabriel came to his conclusion and go yeah okay that probably made sense to you #raphael is going to return whatever problem you asked them to solve to you. and it will be solved. sure. but it will probably also be #unrecognizable as whatever you handed over. if you gave Raphael a pickle jar to open. well. it would be open. somehow it would not have #pickles in it anymore. you should probably not eat whatever is in there. it might bite you. #whereas if something in Gabriel’s pickle jar bites it’s because he thinks you’re a dick and it would be funny if a pickle bit your finger #I’m losing control of this metaphor #Michael & Lucifer aren’t even in the running btw. og bad decision bros. #supernatural #spn

[raziraphale]

I don't necessarily support the reading that Crowley somehow wasn't aware of his own romantic feelings at all until confronted by Nina/Maggie but indulging for a moment bc it's really funny to imagine a reality where Aziraphale has known about his own feelings since 1941 and thinks they're on the same page of mutual unspoken agreement not to do anything about it while Crowley has no idea. Like Aziraphale truly said "you go too fast for me Crowley" with all the devastation of someone who knows what he's really saying and it went clear over Crowley's head. Can you fucking imagine. What did he think they were talking about

#this point has probably already been made but im having feelings this morning and need to post about it. sorry #like i said it's not my take on it #i think crowley was aware but just surprised at how their relationship is viewed from the outside? #like I don't think him and aziraphale have spent so much time together in front of the same humans before as they did in the S1/S2 gap #and I just don't think it occurs to him that people could come to that conclusion y'know #wish i could find the meta post I'm thinking of that basically says Crowley is having a 'why are we even pretending anymore' epiphany #like (as far as he knows) they're free from heaven and hell. the humans already assume they're together. truly what is the point #in pretending any longer #(here comes the metatron with a steel chair) #reilly.txt #good omens

[irregularbillcipher]

going over old fic notes and outlines and character talks with friends and it's always really funny when i get to the stuff i was developing early-mid 2019 where bill just literally kept kryptos around to rag on, and he genuinely just. did not like the man. like was just completely annoyed with his general existence. boy have things changed

#for anyone curious: i came to the conclusion that no amount of 'this guy sucks but he's fun to bully' would get bill to keep someone around #for like literal eons. bill gets bored of his toys too quickly. he'd break 'em. plus the fact that bill decided he was worth saving to begi #with. there was at first an element of 'i owe the guy' because [FIC SPOILERS] and a grudging 'if i had a gun to my head i'd say he was my #best friend i GUESS but do not tell him that' but no real genuine friendship or anything more #before realizing that with the specific story i was going to tell it just made the most sense to have these assholes still be like. #bad people for sure but to actually care about each other. it also just felt too easy to write bill off as someone whose cruelty is just #a lack of certain emotions. like that doesn't automatically make a bad person and a bad person doesn't automatically lack emotion #(there's a character that'll be introduced sometime soon who is aroace and doesn't make friends easily and she's lovely because...) #(idk man. i'm aroace and why shouldn't she be. a lack of affection doesn't make you bad and the ability to feel it doens't make you good) #so bill can and does love people-- even if actual vulnerability is near impossible to get from him-- and kryptos is included in that #it's just that he still sucks really bad and hurts and even kills people that he loves because again. bad person who has no idea how to #navigate relationships healthily because of his own baggage and the environment he grew up in #(also in canon he usually does not want to navigate relationships healthily because. again. he sucks!) #so the only lasting relationship he's ever had where he isn't trying to hurt someone is still just... messy as hell #(and to be fair kryptos is also a p. bad person by adulthood it's just that they're pretty young at this point in the fic) #(so there's less avenues to show that) #kryptos being desperate for any scrap of attention and bill providing the only attention he's ever gotten was always the vibe #but it really was much more of a 'bully and bulling victim who he lets hang around him because said victim' #'is like the only one willing to talk to him' dynamic which is... very much not the case anymore #as said in the tags of my fic. these awful shapes care about each other as best they can care about anyone #anyway sorry idk how much anyone really cares about these tag essays but theyre helpful for me to get my thought process like... down #and track how different the story used to be

[wingsofhcpe]

if rwby is cancelled I sincerely don't know how I'll move on with life

#just heard abt roosterteeth shutting down and i want to cry. fuck capitalism #rwby means the world to me. it's the source of so much happiness and safety and good memories and just a safe place for me to go to #and monty oum deserves to have his story told even if he's not here anymore. these characters deserve a proper conclusion #there's still so much to be done with the show and the characters....

[rithmeres]

you guys should read this thing my friend wrote

“Your thoughts about Marcus Aureulis’ Meditations are just as valid as the thoughts of a PhD in philosophy and the Amazon delivery driver on your street, as long as everyone can provide evidence in the text for what they think. Maybe that is an obstinate, anti-intellectual thing to say, but I hold it to be true. Critical thinking has no educational barrier, and education comes with no obligation to instill critical thinking in its recipient.”

#media consumption #i just find it so interesting that he & i have been having similar thoughts on similar topics at similar times #despite him moving to the east coast and us not really talking anymore. and we were just work friends lol we weren’t even that tight #lots of people just. idk expect someone to tell them what to think about a certain thing #instead of reading the thing for themselves and discovering what it says through their own interaction with the text #and sometimes people will come to wrong conclusions and sometimes they will come to right ones #but most of the time conclusions are not right or wrong they are just different #because they are informed by the reader's biases and experiences #and sometimes people read what they want to into a text instead of taking it on its own #and sometimes that's good and sometimes that's bad #but i think telling someone they have to read a text through another person's predigested lens is a far more anti-intellectual practice

[wygolvillage]

every so often i remember people think that the reveal of shadowsight not having a connection to starclan is like, a tragedy or a "kick him while hes down" moment, and im just taken aback

#Sometimes... Things That Make A Chosen One Protagonist 'Less Special'... Are Freeing: The Movie #like idk considering he's had his whole life with a particular spirit singlehandedly turning him into a medium and chosen one and using- #-that to manipulate him to follow his whims- ruining his life in the process. #the revelation that he doesnt have to be The Chosen One Who Talks To Spirits Anymore and the weight of responsibility is off of him #is extremely cool and i was like. cheering when i got to that bit in a light in the mist #it was such a good conclusion to his arc

[theotherace]

currently just a walking crisis, really wish nobody could perceive me.

#read these tags or don't but be warned they get pretty personal #walking home from grocery shopping googling am i trans #how normal is it to have a guy name picked out for myself? #maybe i should just more fully embrace being nb because i did come to that conclusion a while ago #also my dad's still dying and so much is happening at the same time #didn't think i'd ever worry about how we'll pay for a funeral if he doesn't make it til december #like that's six months #my father might be gone in six months #it really didn't feel real at all until i realized that he might not be around for new year's anymore #also on a less terrible note i went clothes shopping this week and cried in the store because buying clothes as a fat person is impossible #it's humiliating #just straight up not having a good time #personal #delete later

[jessielefey]

One should play the Drakengard/nier games in reverse publishing order in order to get the most out of them. Like how Bloodborne can be said as to "teach you how to play Souls games", Automata followed by Drakengard 3 followed by Replicant teaches you how to read Drakengard as a metacommentary in a way that conceptually proves "just starting from the first game in the series" is doomed to leave you confused and angry and heartbroken; in this essay I will...

#but seriously: thing that seems to have been lost by new kids jumping on from automata... the meme used to be 'cavia hates you' #or to give it more context: cavia got sorta notorious as like evil!Kojima games; cavia *loves* games but *hates* players #yoko taro doesn't hate us anymore but he remembers when he did #and it's all over the newer games this... sorta step-by-step guide on how to read theme into game mechanics #if you just go from Automata -- a love letter -- to the first Drakengard -- an active sneering declaration of war... #it's not hard to see why people just bounce off like 'wow this game is shit'; bad-on-purpose/bad-for-a-purpose is sketch ground to pick #but the both necessary and entirely unnecessary ten thousand automata endings? that's a lesson. #drakengard 3 going so meta its plot implodes and all you're left with is the symbolic story? another #nier literally mocking you for doing unnecessary side quests and the only good ending is to literally not-play? now you're almost ready #if you can appreciate *what the game is saying* in nier by the easy gameplay doing just about everything to get you to the end #the same end that tells you your effort was less than pointless and then lights it on fire as it makes you watch #*now* you're ready to look at drakengard's maliciously jank gameplay and story that actively punishes you for digging and understand #(reason why nier both is and is not a drakengard game is in the difference between the maliciously too-easy gameplay #and 'we're the bad guys' this was all futile conclusion and drakengard's maliciously too-hard gameplay #and 'we're the bad guys but from the opposite angle' we as devs are literally laughing at you conclusion) #(and you can see that best in drakengard 3 which *is* a drakengard game through and through even with less jank mechanics) #heh hot take: drakengard and pathologic are kissing cousins #also also: Drakengard is to NIN's Hurt as Automata is to Cash's Hurt #(((but where's the essay OP? in the tags apparently; keep up :-p)))

[jytan2018]

I read the comic in one sitting less than an hour after finishing the movie, and wow I have many Thoughts™.

- It's very obvious the two versions were meant to cater to different audiences AND tell different messages. I don't get why people are going "But the comic was better! It had more nuance!" just because Nimona was easier to root for in the movie.

- The comic was written back when ND Stevenson was still trying to process a lot of stuff, so all the characters are morally grey/straight up evil and the climactic battle is between a Ballister who regrets turning against Nimona, even if it was to save others vs. a Nimona who's too hurt to care if her lashing out was going to hurt innocent people.

- By the time Nimona got a movie adaptation, ND was a lot more secure in his sexuality, so the climactic battle was Nimona vs. the Director, the symbol of religious oppression and bigotry. It's not just about your friends turning on you because you're "too much" for them anymore, it's also about a society that would rather bring itself to the brink of ruin than coexist with you.

- (I totally get why people were upset about Ballister's surname change, though. Like come on, the media dubbing him Blackheart just to be mean was RIGHT THERE).

- Nimona's metaphor for not shifting is such a neurodivergent thing. Even in the comic, Nimona's parents insisting she's a monster who replaced their daughter is reminiscent of the changeling myth, which is what many parents thought their neurodivergent kids were—changelings who replaced their "real" children.

- Ambrosius being trained to cut off HIS BOYFRIEND'S WHOLE FUCKING ARM instead of merely disarming him is a very cop thing to do. As much as cops claim they're trained to de-escalate situations, their training still teaches them to treat everyone as a potential threat, and that level of constant vigilance can turn anyone into a trigger-happy/arm-choppy bastard. Even the Director, who can use a sword but probably hasn't actually fought someone in ages, STILL can't see Ballister reaching for the squire's phone without assuming he has a weapon.

- And on that note, the Queen getting killed simply because she was trying to reform the Institution and allow commoners to become knights? That's the best "no such thing as a good cop" metaphor I've seen. Because even if there ARE good cops and they ARE in leadership positions, the system will crush them before they make any meaningful change. It's not a good institution that turned rotten, it's an institution that only exists to spread its rot and refuses to be good.

- That's why Ballister's characterisation is so different in the movie vs. the comic. Comic Ballister had 15 years to come to terms with his trauma and the Institution's evildoing, while Movie Ballister is still freshly traumatised and hasn't found a way to define himself beyond the role he was assigned by the Institution.

- Not to mention Comic Ambrosius was not very noble to begin with and genuinely believed Ballister was better suited to villainy than heroism, while Movie Ambrosius never wanted the glory that came with his lineage in the first place and only antagonised Ballister because of indoctrination he needed to unlearn (which he did, all by himself, after witnessing the lengths the Director will go to just to kill Nimona).

- It really shows how important it is to surround yourself with loved ones who are open to change. Comic Ambrosius can love Ballister all he wants, but he'll still blast his arm off because he thinks Ballister deserved it anyway. Movie Ambrosius will stop to question what "the right thing" even means, even if he didn't love Ballister enough to defend him unconditionally.

I have so many more thoughts bubbling beneath the surface, but I'll probably address them some other day. In conclusion:

[ID: A pink-haired Nimona grinning evilly while holding up a knife.]

Watch Nimona. This is not a request.

Edit: Added more thoughts!

#nimona #nimona meta #nimona comic #ballister blackheart #ballister boldheart #ambrosius goldenloin