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p1utofairy · 6 months

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PAC🎱

“don't change i like the way you make me feel. can we take our time and do this for awhile?”

• what will their first impression be of you?

disclaimer ✩: 18+ mature themes. take what resonates, leave what doesn't. it's been a minute y'all <3 i've been a bit busy but here's something new to show my appreciation for the constant love and support. ILY!

PILE ONE.

hello, pile 1. i don't know why i have the urge to start your reading off so professional but i feel like your energy reads “come correct or don’t come at all.” OOO okay i respect it! i’m already picking up that your person may feel like you’re out of their league…or their friends might tease them and say that you are. ballin’ by partynextdoor is playing, “i’m out of your league, baby. baby 'cause i’m ballin' for a minute.” i can see your person watching you from a distance, you’re surrounded by your friends laughing and talking, and their friend comes up next to them and says “[Y/N] is totally out of your league!” this may not even be a friend of theirs lol this could totally just be a hater being annoying but people definitely deem you as the perfect catch. your beauty is otherworldly i’m hearing, people constantly steal glances and are in complete awe of your beauty/the way you carry yourself. majority of you that chose this pile are deeply in tune with your feminine side and you like the finer things in life. “diamonds are a girl’s best friend!” is what i’m hearing — also 7 rings by ariana grande/my favorite things from the sound of the music. yeah y’all are it girls for sure! i think they’ll be a bit intimidated and nervous to approach you at first pile 1…they'll definitely be in their head a lot. their thoughts will be so all over the place like “WHAT IF [Y/N] doesn't like me?! or WHAT IF [Y/N] doesn't give me a chance!?" lol but once they finally do muster up the courage to approach you?! it's a wrap! i think that you'll like the way that they try to woo you, it'll be different from the way other people try to get your attention. however, i think that it will take them a while to actually make a move because they fear rejection. once they get out of their own head and take the leap, they'll realize that there was no need to stress in the first place because they peaked your interest all along. they definitely see you as high-value and very classy pile 1. they'll treat you with the utmost respect and go the extra mile to court you the way that you deserve to be. they will not take you for granted. not only do they think that you’re absolutely stunning, but they also admire how you have the brains and wit to match. i also think that visually you two will look very good together, it’s giving power couple vibes. when you pop out with them heads definitely will turn cause i think y’all both match each other’s fly very well — ugh yes!

other channeled messages:

could be younger than you, mama’s boy, dream girl, g.o.a.t by eric bellinger ft. aroc, lil boo thang by paul russell, air sign venus, you make me feel so young by frank sinatra

PILE TWO.

hi pile 222! i'm ngl i keep hearing that tiktok sound of that flo milli song that goes "he speedin’ the wraith while his hand on my coochie, he touchin’ emilio pucci." LOLOLOL maybe y'all like that song or you keep seeing tiktok edits with it playing? idk that was random but i feel like it's also your vibe? you have this sultry/seductress vibe but you have such a cute face i'm hearing, i think people may not expect this from you. i’m picking up that some people project onto you a lot and have this expectation/idea of how you should be/should act which is weird…people may have started rumors about you or said you had sex with someone that you didn't. ugh you definitely have undercover haters and i'm also picking up that some of you get sexualized a lot :( you feel misunderstood a lot of the time and people don't realize that there's more to you than what meets the surface. i think that your person may hear of the rumors but won't pay them much mind…they want to get to know you for themselves. they'll think that you're very ambitious, kind-hearted and smart! you have big dreams and they admire how motivated you are to achieve them — it's inspiring to them! you have a zest for life and you know how to turn a negative into a positive, so despite what anyone has to say about you…you'll always succeed and have the last laugh. ngl this turns your person on??!?!?! OMFG I'M CRYING. your person is also very dedicated and passionate so the fact that you match their energy will have them feeling some type of wayyyyy like they want you bad pile 2. they definitely see you as the ultimate trophy like they want nobody else but you, this isn't in a superficial way either…they just love how you never fold under pressure. they love that you can hold your own and you don't need anyone to validate you, including them. they never met someone like you before pile 2, they feel like you're a rare find. like you by bow wow ft. ciara is coming to mind. YEAHHH IT'S VERY MUCH THAT.

other channeled messages:

nyc, baby it's cold outside, agora hills by doja cat, smoking weed, retail job, scorpio, fire signs (esp leo & sag), milkshake by kelis

PILE THREE.

hey pile 3! right away i’m already feeling that your person will think that you're hard to catch or too hot to handle…something along those lines. they'll feel like you’re hard to obtain, you might be very private/incognito so they don't know how to reach you. incognito in the sense that you don't post a lot on social media or you don't go out to parties/clubs much, you’re like a mystery. you value your privacy and personal space a lot (and there's nothing wrong with that) but just know this might make it a bit difficult for your person to approach you. i think that you have very high standards and you will not settle for less or compromise any of your personal needs/desires for a situation you know is not worth your time. i don't know…i feel like you might curve this person initially — you may not feel like you're in the right headspace or are in the right capacity to handle a relationship with this person at the time that they reach out or approach you. for some that chose this pile, this could be an old-flame trying to spin the block again but i don't think you'll be very receptive to the idea of giving them another chance. this person is willing to wait and give you the space that you need until you figure out if you want something more with them or not. i think you're more so focused on healing your inner child and pouring love back into yourself pile 3 which is absolutely beautiful, keep going! it's all going to work out in your favor in the long run. a similar dynamic that i pick up between you and this person is elizabeth bennett and mr. darcy from ‘pride and prejudice’ for those of you that watched the movie, you know how it took a good amount of time before they finally got together — but that slow burn/build up between them was sooooo worth it. i think that once you feel ready, this relationship will bloom into something so beautiful, passionate and intricate — something only you two will ever understand but ultimately it's up to you pile 3!

other channeled messages:

u with me? by drake, yearning for your love, long distance, passive aggressive, i made some mistakes, back and forth text messages, mind games

#pick a card #pac #pick a pile #p1utofairy

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iceunhie · 3 months

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love’s a whole new meaning with you.

summary: valentine’s day has got them thinking that maybe love has different forms; but it always leads them back to falling deeper and deeper for you.

featuring. zhongli, dan heng, albedo.

notes: danheng favoritism rlly showing here 😭, this is for @ecrin-de-litterature's kiss (don't tell) ! event; to @thexianzhoujade. happy hearts day !!

zhongli is a man who values tradition and the simplest actions—but he values you above all. when you tell him about the holiday called ‘valentine’s day,’ a day that's meant to inform the solidarity of of one's romantic relationship, he treats you akin to a treasure, as iridescent as fragile glass. you'd want for nothing with this man, seriously.

like the gentleman he is, zhongli can and will take you out on a classic yet wonderful dinner date catered entirely to your tastes (nevermind his penchant for forgetting price tags), the security of your relationship a stark imprint upon your mind forevermore. there is no greater desire he harbors than to be yours, always. he leaves you ever lovesick as before with his consideration, the way he's already gifting you bouquets of silkflowers, complete with a glaze lily to symbolize the lasting unity of your bond.

his valentine's gift is that of matching jade pendants symbolizing yin and yang. a liyue tradition deems that a gift of this design recognizes that the individual you've gifted it is the other half of your soul, your equal. and that is because you are. to zhongli, loving you is as natural as the earth beneath his feet, and with the passing of time, he silently makes a vow; a vow to be yours and you his till the end.

albedo grasps the concept of gifting one’s significant other to be both an arduous and thoughtful affair—when he hears talk of valentine’s day atop the lofty snow-studded peaks of dragonspine, his first instinct is to question himself. it's a bit of an oh moment, considering his personal belief that relationships, be it platonic or romantic, were rather taxing. is it elation, he wonders, at the fact that you and him have fostered such a fragile and precious bond to this extent that it is deemed celebratory? maybe it is. no, instead, you were the one that taught him otherwise.

he is not inherently romantic, even if you say he is. but he leads you with him to a vantage point during nightfall, when the city of freedom below rejoices in hearts day. there, watching the mesmerizing hue of the aurora borealis above you, he gifts you a portrait of, well, you.

it's rather simple, he thinks, but this was the most appropriate gift he deemed fit to give—even if he thinks that nothing could ever capture your entirety fully—because he simply wishes to convey the aspects of you he loves for you to see. to albedo, the strokes of his brush upon this canvas can only capture but a fragment of your splendor, your warmth that's like a fire on a cold winter day.

when you smile up at him with the reflection of starlight in your eyes, words of gratitude spilling from your lips, he thinks it's undoubtedly worth it.

to dan heng, valentine’s day reminds him of his past, as unrelated as these two concepts may seem. he's made his choice; to blaze a path of his own, with you by his side supporting him unabashedly. but for all his security in his relationship with you, does he really deserve this? when sins he once harbored lingers upon his life like a haunting shadow?

(“don't be silly, heng’er.” you'd chided him when he expressed his concerns about this once before, holding him as though you were everlasting—like you would never let go of him, no matter what. eyes tender, meeting his. “of course you deserve it. because it's you.”)

in any case, dan heng spares no time to waste, asking permission from himeko and welt for a stop-over in the luofu; he'd been quite flustered when she'd given him an encouraging pep talk, and welt musing about ‘young love’ and all… (the embarrassment of being outed as whipped for you was quite severe) but he takes you to the places you've always wanted to visit, and there's a sense of fulfillment in his heart whenever he trails after you hand-in-hand as you two spend the day together on a leisure date for valentine's day, eating dragon’s beard candy all the while.

young love, welt said. love that was fleeting, sweet. dan heng believes otherwise. this affection is all-consuming, and he thinks that him loving you will persist till even the last bit of stardust in the universe is no more. when he feels your lips brush across his cheek, that thought is solidified, a forever in the making.

[९] 2024 © iceunhie :: do not copy or use my works.

#꒰ �� ꒱ 𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓'𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒔 •°. *࿐#— kiss (don’t tell) !#genshin impact x reader #genshin x reader #zhongli x reader #zhongli x you #zhongli genshin impact #albedo x reader #albedo x you #albedo fanfic #albedo fluff #zhongli fanfic #zhongli fluff #dan heng x reader #dan heng #dan heng x you #𝑪𝑨𝑻𝑨𝑳𝑶𝑮𝑼𝑬 ★ GENSHIN . . .

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junkdrawerfics · 10 months

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Broken Pieces Put Back Together

Jasper Whitlock X Reader

Summary: You get turned by Maria a short time after Jasper. Life in the coven is not what you expect though, as Maria quickly realizes you have a useful ability and you end up outliving the other newborns. At least you have Jasper, though. Until you don't.

Word Count: 3361

Warning: Depression, a short bit of suicidal thoughts, canonical violence. It gets rough in the middle y'all.

Lots of hurt but it has a happy ending, I promise.

---

You and Jasper were close to fast friends when you were forced to join Maria’s army. At first, you were terrified of the blond and his scar-ridden skin. Word reached you quickly of all he’d done, the countless lives he’d taken. How could you not be scared?

But then one night you found him on his own, standing outside the abandoned barn you called home, looking up at the stars with such a broken expression. That night, something drew you to his side. The urge to comfort, the need to ease his pain, was the first feeling to overcome the overwhelming sense of bloodlust constantly burning in your throat.

Not a single word was spoken that night. You didn’t know what to say, not to this man who had lived through so much more than you, and he didn’t offer anything in return. You both just stood there, still as statues, looking up at the stars.

That night you learned that Jasper Whitlock is not all that he appears to be.

It’s also the night Maria learned of your ability, and decided you might be of more value than she originally thought. You hadn’t even realized you were doing anything. In that moment, all you wanted was to keep him safe, hide him for just a little bit so he could breathe. And apparently you had done just that. You both disappeared, from everyone’s perception at least.

And so you lived. Outlived.

Your new reality was much crueler than you thought it could be. You realized that when your friend, a young girl changed the day after you, was deemed no longer useful.

That night, Jasper was the one who came to you.

“(Y/n).”

You don’t look away from the sky, the bleeding colors of the sunset dull in comparison to the flashing colors of fire behind your eyes. You can smell the smoke clinging to his clothes as he gets closer. It burns your nose, makes your chest ache as a fresh wave of pain sweeps through you.

“It was you, wasn’t it?” You ask quietly, voice like a broken set of bells.

Jasper sets his jaw, looking down at his hands. He nods slowly, an unfamiliar lump forming in his throat. He’s never felt guilty for following orders, he always thought it was for the best, that Maria knew better than the rest of them.

But then you look at him, your eyes swimming with tragedy, and it makes something inside of him ache. There’s no anger, no hatred, like he expected, just an ocean of grief.

It clogs your throat, burns behind your eyes, leaves you shaking. You rest on the edge of tears, suffocating in that horrible, sinking feeling, but always unable to cry. And you hate it. You hate it. You hate it. It’s like walking a tightrope, always off balance, yet never falling.

But you shatter when a hand rests gently on your shoulder.

A dry, ugly sob breaks past your lips as you turn into Jasper’s body. He curls his arms around you wordlessly, wishing he could hold all your pieces together. And even though his hands are the ones that did it, even though you know he’ll have to do it again and again and again, you can’t help but soak up every ounce of comfort from his rare embrace.

Slowly the sadness lifts, until it's bearable, not crushing you but not completely gone. His ability. Usually you’d scold him, tell him your emotions are yours for a reason, but right now all you can do is hold onto him tighter.

He’s all you have left, now.

Something changed after that night. You and Jasper got even closer. He protected you and was your rock when Maria turned your ability into a weapon. And on nights when she would go hunting alone, the two of you would perch on the roof of the barn and just look at the stars, talking about anything and everything.

You loved hearing stories of his human life. He would tell you about his time in the army, about the pressure he faced to join when he got old enough. His family didn’t have much, especially after the war started. You could tell he loved them, just by the soft smile he would get any time he talked about them.

You would take turns sharing stories. You told him about your siblings and their mischievous games. You were the oldest, so it often rested on you to watch over them, which usually ended with you covering up their shenanigans. You loved it though, taking care of them, teaching them.

That urge was still somewhere deep inside you, a motherly instinct you can’t quite shake. It made it all the more difficult to distance yourself from the fresh newborns in the coven. Before, you would take them in, calm them down, make sure they had something to drink to ease the pain of their thirst.

You couldn’t experience that again, though. That loss. So you kept your distance, spending most of your time with Jasper anyways. The man’s threatening aura kept most of them away.

Except one.

A newborn, a little too confident, a little too high on his new strength, decided he just couldn’t leave you alone. For the most part, you ignored him. In your human life, you dealt with more than enough unwanted attention, so you thought you were used to it. He was as stubborn as he was arrogant though.

Until Jasper nearly killed him for making a move on you (a little too aggressively).

Luckily Maria wasn’t there for that.

“Are you alright?” Jasper ushers you outside, red eyes frantically scanning over you, as if you could be battered and bruised.

“I’m fine, Jas,” you breathe, brushing the dust from your pants, “I’m more worried about that guy you just ripped the arm off of.”

“I should’ve killed him for touchin’ you.”

You glance at him, amusement quickly replacing the mild panic that filled you the moment that man laid his hands on you, “You know you wouldn’t. Maria would get angry if you did that.”

Jasper’s lips draw into a thin line. It shouldn’t matter. You’re the only one who treats him like he’s still human, his only friend. He wants to say that he will always protect you, even if he has to fight Maria herself. But the words don’t come. Deep down, a part of him knows they aren’t true, and that leaves behind a bitter taste in his mouth.

“Don’t look like that.” He blinks when you touch his cheek, your fingers soft and light, unlike Maria’s. You smile at him, just as gently, voice resigned, “I know how you think, Jasper Hale. You’re a loyal man, and that’s okay. You don’t have to explain yourself to me.”

As you say it, a sadness wraps around you, one that Jasper doesn’t understand. It doesn’t match your smile, or the soft creasing of your eyes as you look up at him. Why does it make you so sad?

You don’t let the feeling linger though, reigning it in the moment you notice the slight furrow of his brow he sometimes gets when he is trying to focus on your emotions. You don’t need him figuring out why. Why his loyalty to Maria makes your chest ache so painfully.

Falling in love with Jasper Hale was as easy as breathing, which says something considering you don’t even need to. Behind the tough, military face of his, was a man who was charismatic and gentle, who liked to laugh and remembered the name of every horse he’d ever ridden.

He was loyal to a fault.

That’s why he could not see Maria’s true nature for the longest time. It became clear to you rather quickly once you got closer with Jasper. Close enough that she took notice. Close enough that she decided to do something about it.

It started with small things.

Whenever you would go to talk to Jasper, she would call him over for something unimportant.

She started sending you on little tasks, just to keep you out of the barn.

Even on the days she would go hunting, the days you looked forward to most because you and Jasper could be completely alone, she started taking Jasper with her.

And each time, she would give you one of those vicious smiles. Like she won. It did not take long to realize it was all on purpose. In her own way, she was telling you loud and clear that she wanted you nowhere near Jasper and anytime you tried, she’d be there to show you just how little you mattered.

What hurt most, though, was how Jasper always listened to her. Every time, he would follow after her like a good soldier, casting you a guilty look over his shoulder. You didn’t blame him though. You couldn’t. Not when you knew the alternative.

So you got used to being alone for the first time in your life. The sadness, the one that Jasper kept at bay all that time, slowly crept back in, filling every nook and cranny of your being. Day after day, it got harder to stay, to listen to Maria’s direction. Even when you did listen, she treated you like a pest, contempt burning in her eyes.

You couldn’t bring yourself to leave though. The thought alone made your heart ache, because that would mean leaving Jasper. No amount of distance could dampen those feelings that came so quickly. They were branded in your heart, a part of you now and probably forever. A simple look from him and you would resign yourself all over again to stay.

Even if it got you killed.

Some days were too hard though, watching him follow on Maria’s heel, doing all she asked. It had been months since you talked, actually talked. Months since you heard him laugh or felt the comfort of his touch, no matter how small it was. And it hurt.

The pain made it hard to drink. You’d go weeks without blood, finding the burn of the hunger was better than the empty feeling in your chest. It made you weak, your skin turning almost translucent, the circles under your eyes growing darker and darker.

Jasper hated it. He had to watch as you fell into depression, your emotions like a dark cloud around you, so strong even the newborns walked on eggshells around you. He hated it, yet he could never do anything about it.

He wasn’t as oblivious as you thought him to be. He was aware of Maria’s resentment towards you. Jasper knew that if he showed his concern, even an inkling of it, she would lash out at you. At least by her side, he could temper her emotions and protect you.

His efforts could only go so far, though.

As you grew weaker, your ability weakened as well. And Maria noticed.

You wanted her to notice.

Leaving wasn’t an option, but the pain of staying was becoming too much for you to bear. Death seemed like the only way out of this eternally lonely existence. You just hoped Jasper wouldn’t have to be the one to do it.

Maria never liked the easy way, though. Loyalty must be proven.

You felt it as soon as you stepped foot outside the barn one night. The air was warm and dark clouds covered the sky, blocking out any light. Something sank in your gut and you just knew.

If you were going to die, you were at least going to die somewhere you could be surrounded by good memories. So you trekked to the hill where you first stood with Jasper, the one where you spent many nights watching the stars, and that’s exactly where he found you.

You perch yourself on a rock, watching as lightning flashes in the clouds. The air is heavy with static, but not a single drop of rain falls. It’s like the world can’t decide how it feels, a mess of storms not ready to break, but needing to, the tension rising and rising. Until something gives.

You hear Jasper before you see him. His steps are uncharacteristically heavy, the brush whispering as he walks through it. The air grows impossibly heavier when he comes to an abrupt stop just feet away from you.

It’ll be quick, you think. You hardly have the strength to keep yourself upright, the burning in your throat like hot coals. With what energy you have left, you keep your chin up and slowly turn your gaze away from the clouds to the man behind you.

And you smile. Because it’s Jasper. Your Jasper. Looking just as broken as the first night you stood by him.

Jasper’s knees practically buckle when you look at him, a wave of fondness warming the air around you. How can you still feel such a thing for him? After all he has done. You must know why he’s here. He doesn’t deserve it, he doesn’t deserve the trust in your eyes.

“Don’t look like that,” you murmur, smile going sad. You can’t stand the guilt twisting those features you love so much.

Jasper shakes his head, teeth gritting together so hard, his jaw creaks. He doesn’t want this. He can’t. Not with you looking at him like he’s hung the moon. No fear, no hatred. You should despise him.

“It’s not your fault,” you whisper, as if hearing his thoughts.

“Darlin’-”

He chokes on all the words he wants to say, everything he’s been waiting to say. How he wishes you could see the ocean, like you’ve always wanted. How he wants to be right there with you, just to see the way your eyes light up. How his eternal life finally seemed to have meaning when he met you.

“It’s okay, Jasper. I’m okay.” You reach for him, wanting nothing more than to just take his distress away. That’s all you’ve ever wanted. He gives in, allows you to take his hand, pull him closer. For you, he convinces himself, despite the selfish comfort he finds in your touch. “I know it’s not your decision. This has nothing to do with you,” you hesitate, squeezing his hands softly with a sad smile, “but I’m glad I got to talk to you one last time, at least. It’s not so scary if it’s you.”

“Stop.” His voice cracks like thunder, desperation bleeding into his eyes.

But there’s one last thing you need to say.

“I love you.”

Your eyes drift shut and you tilt your face back to the sky.

A drop of rain traces down your cheek.

Now you’re ready.

“I can’t.”

What?

You peek your eyes open, looking on in shock as Jasper kneels in front of you, face set in the most determined look you’ve ever seen. What’s happening?

“I can’t hurt you. I won’t,” he declares, red eyes set on you without a hint of hesitation.

You gape at him, head suddenly spinning, “But Maria-”

“I won’t let her hurt you either.”

“But Jasper- How- What-”

“Run away with me.”

You blink. And blink. And blink. If you had a working heart, it would be beating out of your chest at this point. Has he lost his mind?

“We’ll go to the States, to the ocean just like you want, leave all this behind.” The words spill out of him, the dam finally broken. Each word makes your eyes go wider, the sadness receding as hope sparks in your chest. “Please, darlin’. Give me a chance to make you happy.”

“Oh, Jasper.” You touch his face, drawing him just close enough to press a kiss to his forehead. Jasper’s eyes flicker shut, your love washing over him like the rain. Your next words seal the rest of your eternity, “You’ve always made me happy. We can go anywhere. As long as I’m with you, I’ll be the happiest woman in the world.”

And for the first time in forever, that smile slants over his lips, bright and warm and gorgeous.

You missed that smile so much.

That night, the two of you disappeared into the storm. You don’t know if Maria ever searched for you. If she did, she never found you.

Jasper kept his word. As soon as you crossed the border, you traveled to the west coast. You saw the ocean, which was more than you ever expected it to be, and that’s where you stayed for a while. Until you met the Cullens, at least.

You were nervous at first. Large covens were rare outside of the armies, so you didn’t trust them at first. There was no way you’d do that ever again. But you missed having a family, and looking at them, you couldn’t help but want for what they seemed to have.

“What do you think, Jas?” You ask your mate as you curl into his side.

He wraps an arm around you, lips pressing against your forehead softly, “Whatever you want, darlin’. They’re intentions seem honorable.”

“Would you be okay going vegetarian, though?” You love the idea. It’s always bothered you, having to kill innocent humans. Even feeding from the bad ones leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

“I’ll manage,” Jasper chuckles, eyes creasing.

“And the moving around?”

“We already do that, sugar.”

“Oh yah.” The Cullens move around far less than you, actually. You can’t believe they can stay in the same place for months, years even. The thought fills you with anticipation. Maybe you could finally settle down and have a normal life with Jasper.

“Maybe we could get a dog,” you hum, a slow smile spreading across your lips.

Jasper snorts, drawing you closer to press a kiss to your temple. You glance up at him, eyes bright with unrestrained excitement. And just like that, it’s decided.

“Let’s join them.”

“Alright! Oh! We could call him Cowboy! Can you imagine it? Cowboy the dog. It’d be perfect.”

“Anythin’ you want, darlin’.”

And that’s how you ended up with the Cullens.

---

“...wow.”

You grin at Bella, “I know, it’s a lot. But it all worked out for the best! I can’t imagine my life any different.”

“And I can’t imagine my life without you.” Your smile goes even wider when a familiar pair of arms wrap around your waist from behind.

You look over your shoulder at your mate, eyes practically lighting up with affection, “Good, cause you’d be hard pressed to get rid of me at this point.”

Bella watches the small interaction, surprised to see the blond vampire without his usual stoic facade. He’s like a completely different person, practically melting into your touch, and smiling. Actually smiling. And you look just as lovestruck.

“You guys make a cute couple,” she says, feeling a bit awkward when you turn your gaze back to her.

“Thanks Bells. You and Eddie make just as cute of one. I can’t wait to go to your wedding.”

The brunette flushes what must be the darkest shade of red possible, successfully mimicking a cherry. She shuffles away with some muttered excuse, and you can’t hold back a giggle.

“You’re evil, darlin’,” Jasper murmurs, shaking his head.

You flip around in his hold, arms wrapping around his neck, “What! You know it’s going to happen. Edward’s completely smitten with that girl.”

“Still doesn’t mean you have to torture the poor thing,” he chastises, though he can’t hide the mirth in his tone.

“Fine. I guess I can take it easy on her,” you sigh dramatically, earning another chuckle from your mate.

“That’s my girl.”

You tuck yourself into his chest, hiding a truly ecstatic smile in his jacket. To this day, you still can’t believe that this is your life.

You really wouldn’t change anything about it. Not the bad things, not the start, none of it. You like to think your love is stronger because of it. And it will only continue to grow stronger every day for the rest of your eternity together.

You can’t wait to see where the two of you go.

---

This was not meant to get so edgy, but here we are. I never really know what I'm writing until it's finished.

Anyways! I hope you guys enjoyed the angst, hurt and comfort! A really fluffy fic will be coming next, and I am SO excited about it.

#reader insert #x reader #reader #jasper hale #twilight saga #jasper whitlock #twilight #jasper hale x reader #jasper whitlock x reader #jasper x reader #hurt/comfort #angst #read with caution

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megu-meow · 7 months

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catnaps - gojo satoru

gojo satoru x fem. reader

Summary: Gojo naps with you whenever and wherever he wants.

Gojo Satoru, the Strongest, the Honored One doesn't sleep. There is a lot weighing on the shoulders of the epitome of power in the Jujutsu World that results in restless nights, barely squeezing in short naps throughout the day at random times in random places.

Satoru only rests at his breaking point, when fatigue takes over his body and his eyes unintentionally fall shut. It has been like that ever since he joined Jujutsu Tech and he was deemed eligible to take on missions without any supervision. Despite how it may seem from the outside, Gojo Satoru takes his responsibility as the Strongest very seriously, he knows how much the well-being of others relies on him, so he gives every task and mission all his might. When he's not out doing his job, he works on perfecting his technique for the same reason, draining himself even more. You often wonder how he manages every day like that. Every time you ask him about his fatigued eyes and the dark circles that slowly appear under them, he just shrugs and joyfully tells you how he's the Strongest and doesn't need any sleep.

After a few months of knowing you and developing a tiny, childish crush on you, Gojo Satoru has an interesting revelation after one of the campus hangouts Geto and Shoko secretly organized: he can easily fall asleep around you. Your friend group is sitting in his room, Nanami and Yu sitting on the couch, Shoko and Geto are near the window sharing a cigarette, you and Satoru are on his bed, you sitting with your back against the wall, and Gojo's sprawled out, limbs everywhere with his head in your lap. He's rambling on about Digimon and you try to listen to what he's saying carefully, but you simply don't understand due to the fact that you've never seen the show. Satoru is aware of this, but he can't help how flustered he gets around you, making him talk continuously about stuff no one cares about, especially not someone like you, a gorgeous, intelligent, gentle girl he has a massive crush on. But surprisingly you do, you are interested in anything he has to say, because unbeknownst to him, you find him just as intriguing.

He doesn't realize that his eyes are getting heavy and he falls asleep with his head in your lap, your fingers brushing his unruly, incredibly soft locks of white hair. You smile at the way he looks all calm and comfortable, his breathing even. He wakes up half an hour later at Shoko's laughter, the young healer is laughing at Yu, who decided to rebel and wanted to try smoking for the first time, which resulted in him coughing intensely from the first drag he took. Gojo looks around the room confusedly, his mind still fuzzy with sleep, but his cerulean eyes land on you, a wide smile visible on your pretty face as you enjoy the scene developing in front of you with your beloved friends. Your eyes drift down to the boy lying on your lap and you smile even wider as you realize he woke up from his little nap.

"What did I miss?" he asks cheerfully.

"Nothing, really. You can go back to sleep if you want, Nanami is already passed out on your couch."

"Are you sure, sweet thing? I don't want your legs to fall asleep or be sore tomorrow."

"Don't worry, Satoru. I can handle the Strongest taking a catnap on my lap." you say jokingly and he grins at you, content with your answer. He makes himself even more comfortable and he passes out in mere seconds.

Over time, Gojo begins to value the comfort you provide him more than anything, the mere thought of having you calms his heart and forever running thoughts. His mind is always preoccupied with analyzing his surroundings, residuals, and other techniques. When he's around you, he shuts down, he can be vulnerable and he is simply able to relax. That's why he makes it his mission to ask you out and then make you his girlfriend because he doubts that there's going to be another person that can make him feel like that in his life. You gladly accept, because you would be a fool if you didn't. Gojo Satoru is nothing, but adorable in your eyes, he can be a lot sometimes, but you know that there's no malice behind his unhinged behavior. He's a kind-hearted boy who's carrying a lot of weight on his shoulders, someone who deserves everything good that this world could offer. After the two of you make your relationship official, which is met with utter joy from all of your friends, he continues seeking you out whenever he feels in dire need of sleep.

He finds you in your dorm after a particularly challenging mission and he curls around your body, laying his head on your chest and putting your hand in his hair, demanding that you keep running your fingers around his scalp and between his unruly strands of soft white hair.

He has his first full night of sleep in years between your arms after his unfortunate meeting with Toji Fushiguro.

He cries himself to sleep while you try desperately to calm him down after his "break up" with Geto in front of the KFC in Shinjuku.

He calls you into his office on a random Thursday after a long debate over Okkotsu Yuta's fate with the higher-ups, expecting you to curl up with him on the couch for a quick power nap.

He teleports to you on the training field as you're keeping an eye on his students while sitting cross-legged in the grass. He sits down beside you, laying his head on your lap once again, relishing in the warmth and calmness provided by your body's close proximity.

You don't mind this adorable habit of his, because knowing that he's safe, sound asleep curled into your body provides you with just as much calmness as it does to him. Gojo Satoru deserves every moment of peace he can get and you will always grant him that, even if they only last as much as a little catnap.

#jujutsu kaisen #satoru gojo #gojo satoru #jjk imagines #gojo imagine #gojo fluff #jjk x you #jjk x reader #gojou satoru x you #gojo satoru fluff #satoru gojo fluff #satoru gojo x you #satoru gojo x reader #satoru x reader #satoru x you #gojo

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missingexaltation · 2 years

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How Eddie wins over Mr Harrington (by barely trying)

(in ten simple-ish steps)

Basically, how I imagine Steve's dad to be. I kind of think they have more in common than they don't, and maybe his son being queer is the *kick* that he needs to be a better human being (just like Nancy was for Steve).

Richard Harrington unexpectedly comes home from a business trip to find his son in flagrante delicto on his couch with an immediately antagonistic young man, (Edward, he later discovers), he waits in the kitchen, seething with disappointment and rage. Steven takes his things and leaves without a word, leaving the Munson boy to very purposefully throw Steven's house key at Richard's feet, keeping eye contact as he does so. The disrespect is blinding, and that night Richard drowns his anger in whiskey.

Days later his son comes home to collect his remaining belongings, supported by the Munson boy and his uncle. Wayne Munson is a enigma; on the one hand, clearly a soft liberal, but also a no-nonsense, sensible veteran with family values. Edward doesn't acknowledge Richard at all, too focused on guarding Steven from him. He watches his son cry like a child in the backseat, half listens as Wayne encourages him to keep in contact, and inwardly flinches when he sees Edward glare at him through the car window. He's not sure why his chest aches. Steven chose this path, he tells himself. Steven chose this.

Richard returns again to Hawkins, some weeks later, detouring past the store his son works in. He finds himself parked opposite, watching as Steven dances childishly with a female colleague through the shop windows. He's smiling and laughing and Richard's chest aches again. The passenger door opens and that boy gets in without permission. 'Stevie doesn't need you', he says, bold as brass in leather and covered in tattoos and chains, 'but he'll forgive you if you ask'. It hurts, and the only way Richard can breathe again is to invite them both to dinner later in the week. The subtle relief on Edward's face is immediate, and Richard hates himself a little less, though he's not sure why. He spends the drive home wondering at what point his son's life became unknowable.

Dinner starts awkwardly. Steven barely speaks, but Edward refuses to be quiet. He's a vocal young man, argumentative and strangely principled. They have polar opposite opinions on politics, and while Edward's not shy about his opinions, Richard is more than his equal on the topic. It's the sort of conversation Richard enjoys, trading viewpoints and internalising their differences. The evening ends on a warmer note as both Steven and Edward shake his hand as they leave. Formal. It's only a few steps to the car, but he notes that the boys hold hands nonetheless, as his wife tightly holds his. Middle ground, he thinks. They're not condoning the relationship of course, but accepting it for now. There's time for Steven to come to his senses.

Richard next meets Edward when he has to visit Thatcher's. His driver side tyre has a slow puncture, and although Edward's working on another customer's car he swaps with a colleague so he can see what the issue is. A simple 'he's Stevie's dad' gets him a family discount, and Edward changes the tyre himself when it's deemed too damaged to repair. As he works, Richard learns through his unending monologue that this job is temporary, as Edward's internship at the tattoo parlour doesn't pay, and won't for at least another year, that he needs the money now, as he and Steven are saving for their own place. Richard's immediate instinct is to give them the money himself, but knows it wouldn't be accepted. He takes comfort that Steven's in good hands at least. The Munsons seem to be a practical, friendly people.

Weeks later, when he's back in Hawkins again, he bumps into Edwards uncle, who's insistent on getting coffee and clearing the air. Richard guiltily confesses he's not comfortable with the idea of his son being one of them, that he's not sure he ever will be. Wayne simply points out that at least he's trying, and to keep trying. Apparently Edward's father didn't even do that much. Richard later relays the encounter to his wife, of how overtly proud Wayne is of Edward (my Eddie, he'd said). Richard's not felt proud of Steven for a few years now, only infuriated that he's intent on throwing his life away, but Wayne had plenty of happy stories of him too. As parents, they feel equally guilty and spend the evening drinking and reminiscing on Steven's childhood. It feels like they're reminding themselves of their son more with every day that passes.

He's still in town on the following Tuesday evening, and decides to take Wayne up on his offer and visit the bar that he recommended. He discovers that Edward's a talented musician. Even if it's far too aggressive and loud for Richard's own tastes, there's dedication, commitment and passion in each of the boys on the stage. He remembers his own music idols, how passionately they preached against the war in Vietnam, and he wonders when exactly it was that he stopped noticing the injustices of the world, when it was that his business suits became a comfort instead. He's quickly cornered by Wayne, Jim Hopper and David Jones ('my son's on the drums', he says, proudly). But they're all proud of their boys, he adds, and equally appalled by their music tastes. He goes on to say that the parents take it in turns to keep an eye on the boys each week, after what happened earlier in the year. Richard's in utter shock after hearing that there was a murderer on the loose not long ago, and plans to stay in town more after hearing that both boys were involved. He's clearly out of place and out of touch, but they're kind enough to not mention it. He buys the drinks for the remainder of the night, as penance. He has nothing else to offer, but hopes that's enough to start. His son could have died.

As is habit now, when he's in town, Richard drives past the video store to glimpse his son through the window. Further down the street he catches Edward balancing takeaway coffees whilst trying to open the door to the tattoo parlour. It takes moments to pull over and offer his assistance, and it hurts when Edward is surprised by the gesture. Richard's invited into the shop, and although Edward's busy, 'of course he has time for his father in law'. The phrase knocks him emotionally off balance, but Edward doesn't notice, simply updating him on their house hunt, and inviting them to the house warming, pending Stevie's approval. He shakes Edward's hand when he leaves, and when he turns back to his car, notices Steven quietly watching him from the window of his store. He waves, and after a moment his son waves back. He's alive, and there's hope, at least.

He and Kathleen invite the boys and Wayne over for dinner. He sees Steven smiling in the car as they arrive, and although it's faded by the time Richard opens the door, it returns tenfold when he shakes Edward's hand and greets him with 'hello son'. Richard's still very much uncomfortable (especially with how 'hands on' Edward seems to be) and if he finds himself in the kitchen knocking back a few more drinks than usual then it's his own business. It's worth it at the end of the night, when Steven invites them to their housewarming, and actually seems to want them there. He feels Wayne's approval through their goodbye handshake, and it makes him feel as though he's on the right path.

Jim Hopper lets them in through the front door. It's a small house, clean and characterless, and full of people Richard doesn't know. In the yard, Steven's at the grill with some other boys his age, and Edward is in the middle of the lawn, spinning a curly-haired teenager around like he weighs nothing. They look happy. Settled. Edward spots them first, waves them over and starts introducing them to the other adults. Steven brings them drinks, is beaming behind his sunglasses. (He can't remember the last time Steven smiled at him.) Hours later, when they leave, Edward shakes his hand and thanks them for coming (for trying, but that's unspoken), and Steven hugs him for the first time in so, so long, burying his head in Richard's shoulder like he used to as a child. Kathleen cries on the drive home, and he's not much better, but they're happy tears. He's a slow learner, Kathy too, but they're learning.

#steve harrington #eddie munson #steddie #i dunno...i just like the idea that both Steve and his dad are passively bigoted until their beliefs are challenged...then they change #season 1!Steve was an ass...if he hadn't had his lightbulb moment he could have ended up just like his parents IMO #Eddie is the catalyst...the opposite of what Mr Harrington stands for & challenges every one of Mr Harrington's principles just by existing #might actually write this one out long style as i have so many thoughts #wayne munson #Wayne Munson carefully 'gentle parenting' the Harringtons is also kinda hilarious ngl #tw: mild homophobia #i also don't know why Richard fits...maybe because it's usually shortened to 'Dick' and he really does seem like one in canon

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gwenllian-in-the-abbey · 1 month

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i think Helaena can be autistic but also a happy and joyful girl , autism ≠ depression. the way the portrayed the only neurodivergent character on screen as unstable, shunned depressed, and with no importance to the plot feel very ableist and weird , but then they're the ones who made the guy with a foot disability a feet fetishist 🫠

Hi OP, finally answering this because the trailer dropped and still the only Helaena shots we have are from her Jaehaerys' funeral. There is also one still photo of her. If you haven't seen it, here she is, apparently sewing the funeral shroud for her little boy:

So it seems like season 2 is going to continue on this trajectory for Helaena as a character who exists in order to suffer beautifully.

Don't get me wrong. I am glad that the show is going to wring the full emotional effect from Blood and Cheese, not just shock value. The audience will feel the real horror of a six year old child brutally murdered in his own home and the psychological torment of Helaena. It should be terrible, it should be devastating, and I hope they do not pull any punches.

What's disappointing about how the show has handled Helaena is that they didn't really put any effort into building up her character before her tragedy. It's all well and good that she likes bugs and she's touch averse, but what are her opinions? Who is she closest to? How did she react to becoming a mother so young? To what extent does she understand her visions? What does she value? She can be happy and cheerful, or she can be frustrated and angry, and hell, she can be depressed too, but I need to know why. It's telling that I can describe the basic internal motivations for each of the male children, including Luke who was a glorified plot device, but I cannot for Helaena. Aegon wants to feel loved, Jace wants to prove he's as worthy as any trueborn heir, Aemond wants what his brother has, Luke wants to be free from his family's expectations. Helaena? Fuck if I know. I guess she wants not to die horribly.

The ableism is an issue. F&B is full of women who were deemed "simple" -- Gael, Daella, Jaehaera-- without being given much else to define them, and HotD adds another (there's something, I think, to the way the "simple" Targaryens are always women and how disability kind of used as a way to remove them from the narrative and shunt them aside, often tragically). And while it's great to see an autistic person represented on screen, the show consistently has an issue with treating representation as characterization. "Autistic girl who likes bugs" is not a personality. Autistic people, (even those with horrifying prophesies I assume), do have hopes and dreams and feelings about things. The one peek we get into Helaena's life is at the in episode 8 when she roasts Aegon and even that scene is open to interpretation (and gets taken wildly out of context). Now, I can read a lot into the actor performances, but ultimately, lines that could have given a glimpse Helaena personality were cut. It's as if they're afraid that if they give her an opinion on anything she would lose that (frankly kind of infantilizing) "pure cinnamon roll too good for this world" "i would die for her" sympathy from people who are not inclined to be sympathetic for her family as a whole.

(And anon, you're right about Larys. And let me say, turning Larys' clubfoot into the punchline of an OnlyFeet joke also does not inspire confidence that they'll handle Aegon II's eventual disability with any sensitivity either, especially when Mushroom's accounts of his last few months are incredibly mean spirited. We need to start that discourse now so they get the memo).

Sadly, I don't think the show really has any intention of course correcting with Helaena in season 2. I imagine at most we'll have her try to warn Aegon and/or Aemond about Blood & Cheese but they won't understand her warning, and then this will be a vehicle to further their guilt and grief. And while we do need to see Aegon's guilt and his grief, I also want to know if Helaena blames herself, if she wishes they'd run away when they had the chance, if she thinks Aegon could have done something, if she is angry at Aemond for killing Luke, if she wants revenge. I do think, with the public funeral for Jaehaerys, they are going to show that the smallfolk are fond of Helaena, and hopefully that will be expanded upon this season and in season 3 because her death is the catalyst for the revolt that sees Rhaenyra driven from the city, and we should understand why her death has such an impact before she actually dies.

#asks #helaena targaryen #hotd critical #hotd ableism #team green

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sparklecats2009 · 5 months

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Strange digital artists in the new modern internet are cast aside..

The only curation you get is what you can achieve through premade UI systems decided for you. You only get what a websites algorithm gives you and the amount of small reach you may have through Internet friends or family. It has become an addictive spiral machine that makes you lose all empathy for others, so now you have to sell your work to people who hate you.

It doesn't matter if the work is web-based or not before. It is now. A video, illustration, painting, sketch, it is now all online through the web and you don't get much choice in the matter. Adapt or don't

Artists who have a social media following are seen as outsiders, a special gift. If you can make a living with fans online alone, you are not the majority. This rhetoric hurts.

Gallery systems and traditional art calls don't know how to handle any digital art whatsoever. Digital artists may not be familiar with printing, packing, or mailing, and these requirements become burdens for any newcomer.

. ... see any work relating to any internet subculture or video games and it is immediately deemed unworthy to be on the wall.

These short days have caused me to stay up thinking too much. I am grieving the future of young artists like me and younger than myself. There's not too many artists at all, but people are too closed minded so new and fresh work is brushed off.

The writers / animation strikes because our work is no longer valued. ..

You can order lots of stickers from your favorite artist and put them around your town. You can volunteer them to family members who need graphic work done. You can send and comment a nice message to one of them , it might make their day just a little easier.

The work has to be made. It has to be done. Someone must do it. So let the artist work. Fine.

#sparklecats2009 #words #text #art discussion

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mechadria · 5 months

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I'm watching Todd in the Shadow's evisceration of James Somerton and - I'm sorry, I'm gonna have to slightly disagree with a general sentiment.

I know a lot of Somerton's audience is apparently young, and a lot of them took it all at face value. HOWEVER. After seeing some more clips from Somerton, I'm disinclined to agree with the sentiment that it's really not viewers' fault and they couldn't have known. (And it's fine if you disagree, but I swear I'm going somewhere with this).

Some claims in these videos are too shocking for /anyone/ to just take them in, shrug and move on with their lives. Hbomberguy's video had quite a few clips, but from the way it was edited, it wasn't quite as glaring as it is to me now, with Todd's video, how little Somerton includes any quotes or evidence of any of his really wild claims.

I'm sorry, did I somehow miss a period in history where you stopped learning at school that sources are a thing? Did teachers stop being jerks about using Wikipedia as a source despite its lengthy citations and the fact that we know it's pretty accurate nowadays??? Anyone who makes so many fact-based videos (those aren't opinion pieces in the slightest) should be quoting left and right and providing sources by the truckload. If you fell for it, I'm sorry - it has to feel terrible, but you have to take a long, hard look at yourself and consider how exactly you consume information and how you deem a source reliable. That's something that's learned, and you have to make the effort - otherwise you'll be very vulnerable to propaganda, and most likely harm people along the way.

And that's without even mentioning the /content/ of the claims Somerton makes. I'm sorry, you heard a guy say pirates were leftist philanthropists who built schools and just accepted it? When that goes against pretty much anything you might have heard about pirates, even in sources that severely deviate from "the norm"?

And finally- how could you listen to a gay man call AIDS CRISIS SURVIVORS "boring" and not stop in your tracks in shock and disgust? How could you listen to that man talk about the AIDS crisis and subsequent queer efforts for marriage equality and just accept the vitriol he was vomiting??? How could you listen to his sexist rants, badly disguised as complaints against "white" or "straight" women and not start to maybe, i don't know, think for yourself and doubt whether he was a credible source??

There's a time where we have to stop, look at ourselves and wonder what information we consume, how we consume it, and how thoughtless consumption might be harmful to both us and others. No matter what excerpt of Somerton's I see, I see blatant lies, shocking bigotry and a hard-on for literal Nazis. If you need someone else to tell you that it's bad and not trustworthy, then you need to stop consuming so much media, and start learning a little more about media literacy, media consumption and fact checking.

If you fell for it and you felt bad reading this, I'm sorry, but it doesn't change the fact that the lies and bigotry were poorly hidden at best, and that simply feeling sorry for yourself is neither going to stop you from falling for another James Somerton, or stop other James Somertons from gaining an audience. Mistakes, and even ignorance, aren't some lifelong sentence with moral currency that you can never change and have to carry all of your life - but you have to put in the work yourself if you want to change that.

#hbomberguy #todd in the shadows #james somerton

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oaxleaf · 1 year

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Could you possibly talk about Melanie King please she’s so interesting and you’re really good at analysis

of course i can talk about melanie king. i can talk about melanie king all day long

in the past year or so, i've seen a lot of people talk about "female rage" in media. which is neat and all, i love seeing women smash some shit, but the thing is that... i've never been able to resonate my own anger with that of any character i've seen

except melanie

when women are allowed to be angry, they are divided into two camps regarding how the narrative treats them: "psycho bitch" and "girlboss". a hysterical, overreactive, and cruel woman, or a woman scorned out to bring herself justice, maybe with an aesthetic breakdown or two, but ultimately cold-hearted, single-minded, and justified. if their anger is seen as valid, it still needs to adhere to the very specific mold of "smashing the patriarchy" and, regardless of how bloody her rampage is, it's clean and neat with all threads tied up and never straying from the path, never hurting herself any more than she's already hurting, and never hurting anyone except the people who hurt her. it's... emotionless

melanie is not that. i think that when looking at her, you need to keep in mind both that her anger is valid and justified, and that it's hurting both her and the people around her. it's one of the most acurate portrayals i've seen of extreme anger, because for once, there is more than a single-minded want for vengance, more than a smirk when the people who hurt you burn. anger is so often born of pain, and when that pain is, like in melanie's case, born of a system you can't do anything about, you can never really seperate the two emotions. anger doesn't replace pain, and it doesn't make it go away, but if you don't have it then all you have is hurt, which is the state we see her in after the bullet has been removed

and i think it's more than the bullet. i think it's more than the institute. she herself says that she's had to fight her entire life, and yes, she references ghost hunt uk specifically in that sentence, but i don't think you can seperate that from that fact that she grew up female, queer, and lower class, with a mother who must have died when she was quite young and a father who developed dementia early. that's hard, and more than anything, there is nothing you can do about it. and when society has deemed you lesser for something you can do nothing about for no valid reason, you become hurt and you become angry

and then, she learns to live with it. she manages to find something to love, to fight for, and in turn fight for a place in a world that doesn't value her. and then the slaughter and the institute comes along and crushes it all

let me say one thing: melanie could not have been written as a man. she could not have been written as straight or upper class. melanie's anger would never have been as impactful if it came from a man who's never had to experience the struggle and pain of a world that is, very objectively and systemically, against you

#this post got so long and yet i could keep going on #god i love her so much #thank you for the ask!!!#melanie king #tma #the magnus archives

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bluegekk0 · 1 month

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does hallownest have pride parades?

Oh that is a pretty interesting question, I'd love to ramble about this. I'm going to say that no, they don't, but not because their society would be against it. Quite the opposite, actually.

The way I imagine it, their culture is far more animal-like than ours in many aspects. They do have morals, obviously, and more complicated social structures and views that distinguish between those who break the law and those who follow it. That being said, it's far from what you see in our society - they don't have an elaborate justice system, so for example, a murderer will simply be executed for their crime without an extended trial, and killing someone in a fair duel doesn't raise any eyebrows. Death is a part of their life and it's not as big of a deal as it is for us, humans. Though things like murder and other serious crimes are frowned upon. The laws are in place to maintain order and peace between different species that coexist, and embrace progress, even if many of their values do not overlap with ours (for example, in some cultures, eating other sapient bugs isn't even considered a crime, though naturally that wouldn't fly in most places).

I mention this, because those kind of animal-like views also contribute to how they see concepts like gender or sexuality. While reproduction and having offspring is an essential part of an animal's life, individuals that engage in behaviors outside of the norm aren't ostracized, discrimination simply isn't really a thing. And I think this aspect would carry over to those living in Hallownest and many other lands in their world. Relationships between different species are generally widely accepted (as for how that even works when it comes to producing young, I won't get into the biology. "It just works" as Todd Howard would say) And similarly, a same-sex couple or someone who explores their gender in ways that go against their biological sex would not be frowned upon, it would simply not be a big deal for most.

I say most, cause I do imagine there are some species/cultures where such behaviors would be questionable at best and treated with hostility at worst. Perhaps some of them put great value in relationships that result in offspring, maybe their mating rituals are so essential in their culture that couples that can't perform them the way it's intended are seen as outcasts and shunned. As an example, I actually have lore that touches on similar concepts with my Lurien interpretation - his species is extremely rare, encouraging relationships only within its kind that can produce children, and its quite unique wedding traditions put a massive emphasis on their sexual dimorphism, which unfortunately leads to discrimination against those who don't fit those norms.

But those would be a minority, and I think most of the communities living in Hallownest would have a much more accepting view on same sex couples and so on, in many ways thanks to FPK's accepting and open nature. Ever since he became the king, he encouraged peace between different communities and believed in a united society, where bugs reject their brutal beastly instincts and instead live as one big community (though unfortunately that part backfired, leading to hostility towards those deemed as "beasts", propagated among the upper class of the City). A naïve view, perhaps, but the bugs still followed the ways of their king.. While he himself struggled with his own sexuality for many years, primarily due to his lack of experience with relationships, he's always been supportive of those who openly embrace their identities.

And because their society has never dealt with substantial discrimination, there was also no need for events such as pride parades - to them, love is love no matter what, so there is no need for specific holidays. If there is a day dedicated to love, then love of any kind is celebrated.

I hope this makes sense. I think their society being so much more accepting than ours despite its animalistic ways is quite interesting. Not to mention, there's a lot of comfort to be found when exploring a world that simply welcomes queer identities as part of life. You might get stabbed and robbed by a bandit in the City if you're alone at night, but at least you can hold hands with your partner and not get called a slur. Love wins ♡

#ask stuff #feral pk au #au worldbuilding #save

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msfbgraves · 2 months

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your posting about the disparity in portrayals of cobra kai and miyagi do reminds of the vibes of how redditors and those even here say that anybody who LIKES sam must be privileged rich women, or even posts preaching daniel was the true bigot even as a kid who provoked everyone and fought hate with hate and DESERVED to be beat for spraying johnny. the goalposts for the good kind of poor kid/rich kids move a lot with the show and the fan reactions.

The Karate Kid is about a hotheaded boy who, through respect for his elders and hard work, wins the respect of his peers and causes them to choose a less aggressive path for themselves as well -

And this bothers people!

It tells you a lot about what we value as a society, hm? And apparently it's violence in boys, and yes, always looking away from the consequences. Miyagi interfered because these boys were very close to beating Daniel to death. Something they may have been too young to recognise (though Bobby didn't let himself get blinded), but he would have recognised from his time at war. And in Cobra Kai, I had such mad respect for them showing the natural consequences of that No Mercy attitude - Miguel getting seriously, almost irreversibly hurt.

Except, no - we don't want to face that. The Cobras do not deserve to be called out on nearly killing another boy, because he, well, he deserved it 😒 We can't accept that this is bad behaviour! Because we don't want it to be! And violence ultimately does not have consequences for Miguel because we don't want it to! Miracle spinal injury cure it is!

As for Sam, who has no redeeming qualities in the narrative because she doesn't face any hardship, well, of course the default opinion is dislike. She's a white teenage girl. What good can she possibly do? And what is clever about Cobra Kai is that Sam knows this in-universe. She can't do any good, but she can do plenty wrong: she's not supposed to be too smart, so she ditches Aisha, who is her best friend but not white and not girly pretty. She can't be as hard as Yasmine or as soft as Moon, or she will be deemed a bitch or laughing stock. She's a rich white girl so she has to date a jock, cue Parker. She can't do karate, who does karate? She can't be sexually available, she'll be punished, but she also can't not be, she'll be punished. And then Miguel defends her honor, so she has to be with him, he's earned her.

She knows she'll be basic if she follows the rules but she's terrified of not doing that. And well,with reason, cue Reddit. She picks out the girliest, pinkest Prom dress that looks absolutely hideous, but at least showcases how she is still a good girl, and not a psycho karate bitch -

And then there's Tory, who so unapologetically is a psycho karate bitch it makes her blood boil. She's so angry that Tory gets away with it that yes, it turns her into a catty bitch - the only aggression she's allowed - until Tory gives her permission to let it all out. But for Chrissakes, she's punished for being a catty bitch by nearly getting murdered twice. But that too is justified to us. Daniel wasn't allowed to be a whimp and she's not allowed to be a bitch, or anything but what she is and even if she's just a basic white girl, following the script to the letter, it'll never be enough.

Makes you appreciate how insanely brave Ali Mills is. She goes for the poor whimp. She's unapologetically into soccer. She defies her parents in rejecting Johnny. She drives Daniel's car, and anyone who dares comment can kiss her ass. Sam wishes she was as brave! But as we can see, Sam is so perceptive to what other people demand from her that she doesn't know who she is anymore. Yes, karate gives her an outlet - but she still hasn't figured out she isn't into Miguel, or Robby, or perhaps any guy. Because forget getting hate for being basic... imagine the hate for being gay!

But who cares, right? She's just a basic teenage white girl, even though that's all she's allowed to be...

And who else would care to think about what that's like for two seconds, but indeed other basic white girls?

#daniel larusso #samantha larusso #samtory #expectations #misogyny #toxic masculinity #cultural values #tkk #cobra kai #ali mills

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photogirl894 · 4 months

Text

"Mirrors in the Force"

Chapter 2

"The Master"

A "Rebels" fanfic!

Pairing: Kanan Jarrus x fem OC (blasphemous, I know 😜)

A/N: Here's the next chapter of my new fic where you'll get to know Elaré a little bit more! This one was a fun one that I enjoyed writing and I hope you all enjoy reading! 😊

Taglist: @dragonrider9905 , @scarlettrose9901 , @darthzero22 , @reader6898 , @moonstrider9904 , @techs-stitches , @ilikemymendarkandfictional

《 Chapter 1

》 Coming soon!

All chapters

Explanation: Elaré's different abilities are tested by a great and powerful Jedi Master.

Elaré was in quite the hurry as she ran through the halls of the Jedi Temple. She had to get where she needed to be and fast.

"I can't believe I did it again!" she thought to herself as she went.

Her feet carried her swiftly through the temple until she was just around the corner from her destination. However, as she turned the corner, she saw a group of younglings coming out of the room.

She was too late. Again.

Right then, she was going to backtrack behind the wall and out of view, but a couple of the other Padawans spotted her anyway.

"Oh, look who decided to not show up to lightsaber training again," cried out one of the boys named Mag, causing Elaré to halt.

"Seriously? When are you ever going to be responsible and actually come to class?" a girl called Sani then chided her.

Elaré just looked away, embarrassed and ashamed as the rest of the Padawans goaded her while they walked away. This was definitely not the first time she'd been irresponsible and either been late or missed this class entirely. Despite the fact she already had a Master, it was deemed that Elaré was still a little too young to be brought into battles, so whenever Master Gallia was away on a mission, she was still to attend lessons with fellow Padawans who hadn't been assigned to Masters yet. However, she had a bad habit of missing said lessons, even more so in the few days that had passed since Caleb had left on a mission.

Once the others were gone, she quietly walked into the large room where a single Jedi Master stood in the middle of the room, his back to the door as he looked out of the large window in the room at the horizon of Coruscant.

She got down respectfully onto her knees, bowed her head and spoke up timidly, "Forgive me for intruding, Master."

The Jedi Master replied without turning around, "Late again, you were, young Padawan. Lost in your meditations, were you?"

She sighed with defeat. "Yes," she answered, lifting her head back up. "I know, it isn't an excuse, but I have no other reason for my tardiness. I know I should be more responsible with my time and actually come to class on time."

It was then he turned around to face her and the kind, wise face of Master Yoda; the greatest Jedi in all the Order appeared, looking at her.

"Hear such things, where did you?" he inquired.

"From my classmates," she told him.

He leaned forward slightly on his cane. "Ever hear such reprimands from me, have you?"

She blinked a couple times, puzzled. "Uh...no, Master," she said.

The small Master chuckled good-heartedly, which the Padawan wasn't expecting. "Believe they are the teacher, your peers do, which is why they think they can chastise you. Wrong, they are, to behave in such a way. Nothing to be ashamed of, you have."

Elaré's jaw slackened. "I don't?"

Yoda shook his head. "Trouble me, it does not, when you arrive late to training due to meditating and losing track of time. To learn proper meditation, also a good Jedi skill, it is."

"The rest of the Padawans my age don't seem to think so. They tease me for it," she said.

"Value their opinions over mine, do you?" he questioned her.

She panicked for a brief moment, blurting out, "No! Of course not, Master Yoda."

He took a couple steps closer, the tapping of his cane echoing in the empty room. "Important, it is, to learn to wield a lightsaber and fight in battle. To meditate and connect deeply to the Force, an even greater lesson. Without the Force as our ally, rendered useless, our lightsaber training is." Then he grinned proudly. "Already well ahead of the other Padwanas in that regard, you are, Elaré. Learn something from you, they could."

Elaré couldn't believe what she was hearing. Instead of being reprimanded for missing the lesson, she was being praised and by Master Yoda, of all people. For a moment, she was speechless.

Noticing this and still with a grin on his face, Yoda asked, "Nothing to say, have you?"

When she found the ability to speak again, she said to him, "Sorry, Master. I just was startled by your words, but they do mean a lot to me."

"Tell me, young Padawan. The Force...what do you think it is?" Yoda then asked her.

She responded, "The Force is an energy that binds everything and everyone together. It's created and sustained by all life in the universe. It's a part of all of us, but the Jedi have a stronger connection to it."

All of a sudden, she was poked in the shoulder by the end of the Master's cane and she yelped in both surprise and slight pain.

"Textbook definition, that is," he stated. "Think not with your mind...but with your feelings. Reach deep, you must, and find your own answer. Now, rephrase my question, I will. What is the Force to you?"

That was a different question than she was anticipating. Her gaze lowered in contemplation as she took a moment to think of the best way to answer. What was the Force to her? How could she accurately describe it? There were so many things she could say, but nothing seemed right.

Then finally, she settled on an answer. Her head lifted and she said to the wise Jedi, "To me, the Force...is a guardian. It's there no matter where I go or what I do. It's where I find peace, knowledge and protection. I know I won't ever truly be alone because the Force is my constant ally, shielding me from the dangers and influences of the Dark Side. It's what I call upon to guide my saber in a fight and my feet on the paths I take in life. It's there for me when no one else is; it's my constant companion watching over me."

Yoda looked impressed at her answer. "Wise beyond your years, you are, Elaré," he praised her. "Most other students your age, unsure how to answer, they would be. Exceptional, your explanation was."

Once again, Elaré couldn't believe that the Master Yoda was speaking so highly of her. "Thank you, Master," she replied, unable to hold back a wide smile.

"Another small test for you, I have," he then said. "Stand up...and your lightsaber, activate it."

The young lady did as she was told. She got up to her feet, withdrew her lightsaber and activated her golden blade. As she did so, she saw one of the large, half-dome shaped helmets the students usually wore during training floating in the air towards her. She realized Yoda was using the Force to send it her way.

"The helmet, put it on," he told her.

Even though she was a little perplexed at what he was asking of her, she did as she was told and placed the helmet on her head, the front of it tilted just a bit forward so it covered her eyes. Then she heard the beeping and whirring of a training remote Droid being activated.

"Raised, the difficulty programming in the remote has been. Better to test your combat level," Yoda explained.

She gave a nod of her head and then took a defensive stance, raising her lightsaber. She tapped into her connection with the Force, willing it to help her sense the remote and block its attacks. Right away, she sensed it a few feet away, readying its first attack.

Then she inhaled deeply, letting the Force flow through her as she whispered the ancient Jedi words, "I am one with the Force and the Force is with me."

The remote fired and she knew where to block, her blade absorbing the shot. A few seconds later, it fired again and she sensed it coming from her right side. She parried again, swinging her lightsaber out. Then she sensed a rapid-fire wave of shots coming at her as the remote seemingly moved to the left. Quickly, she swung her blade back and forth to block each shot.

Just then, there was a secondary presence behind her, which surprised her. A second remote. Since it caught her by surprise, it managed to land a hit on the back of her shoulder, making her yelp. The laser bolt stung a little. Master Yoda was really testing her now. She spun around and blocked the next shot, but she could still sense the first remote that was now behind her. If she kept flipping back and forth, it would make her disoriented. Instead, she leapt back a couple feet so now both remotes were on either side in front of her. The Force continued to serve her well as she went on to block more shots. A couple of them came rapidly and she took a hit to her thigh and her arm, but luckily, these laser bolts weren't all that powerful. If anything, they just stung, but didn't do much damage. Her blade almost seemed to move on its own, even though her mind was conscious of her actions. This was the Force at work, guiding her every move and helping her see what couldn't be seen. It felt incredible! If this was what it felt like using the Force now, she wondered what it would be like when she was older and had more training.

Then there was one more twist to her test Elaré hadn't anticipated at all. There was movement behind her, a lightsaber igniting, and when she whirled around, she sensed Master Yoda's blade clashing with hers.

"Good. Very good," Yoda commented before stepping back and using the Force to pull the helmet off of her head, sending it clattering to the floor. "Hinder you now, the helmet will," he said, "but keep your eyes closed, you must. Face me through the Force."

Elaré trusted in his instructions and closed her eyes, readying her weapon for his next move. Despite his old age, he was quick and agile. He senses told her he was moving to the side, jumping through the air before going in for another strike. She parried his attack and then did so a second time before being bold and lunging in for hit herself, seeing him in front of her in her mind. Yoda effortlessly fought off her attacks or leapt in the air from side to side to dodge them. At one point, she thought she'd give the old-timer a taste of his own medicine and flipped over his head to his other side when he came at her again. However, she only heard him laugh in amusement and he started hopping around again when she thought she had him. Then finally, he landed and she sensed he was going to use the Force on her, so she threw up a hand at the same time he did to try and counter it. However, he was immensely stronger with the Force than she was and her resistance only lasted a couple seconds before she was launched backwards, rolling across the hard, marble floor. She supposed she should've seen that coming. She was going up against the great Master Yoda, after all.

As she sat up, Elaré could hear his weapon deactivating before he told her, "Performed well, you did." When she looked up, he was holding out her lightsaber hilt to her, which had gone flying from her hands a moment before. She took it from him and got up to her feet.

Resting both three-fingered hands atop his cane in front of him, Yoda gave his judgement: "Needs more discipline, your form does...but your bond with the Force, put you ahead of your classmates, it has. Need to attend this class anymore, I feel you do not."

A half-grunt, half-gasp escaped Elaré's throat. Master Yoda really deemed her that skilled that he didn't think she'd need to be a part of the class of peers her own age?

He continued, "Impressed, I am, with your skills, young Elaré. Two learning alternatives, I have for you. Attend a class with older Padawans, you may, or...have private training sessions with me, you can."

Hearing those options made her legs shaky and nearly give way. "Master Yoda...I don't know what to say!" she cried.

He grinned, seeing how shocked she was. "Need to make your choice right away, you do not. Take time to ponder your answer. Let the Force guide you. Strong, you are, with the Force. Lead you down the right path, it will...and offended, I will not be, if you choose the other class." Then the small Jedi gave a hearty chuckle.

As he turned to walk away, Elaré asked him a question that was on her mind since this whole situation had started: "Master Yoda...of all the Padawans you could choose to gauge their talents...why me?"

The wise Master stopped and turned once again to face the Padawan. "Prefer to study the Force and its teachings; its secrets not through text or lessons, but through personal meditation, you do, yes?" Yoda inquired of her.

She nodded. "That's true, yes," she said.

"Then know the reason behind your kyber crystal, do you?" he then asked.

"Um...actually no, I don't," she admitted.

He hummed again. "A golden yellow crystal, you have. Very rare, that particular crystal is. Signifies strong warriors and associated with knowledge, it is. By Jedi who deeply study the workings of the Force, they are often used, and represent deep understanding and commitment to using the Force for good. Symbolize loyalty and creativity, they also can. Extraordinary, it is, to see a young Padawan your age worthy of such traits."

Elaré looked down reverently at the sleek, black lightsaber hilt in her hand. She'd never known any of that about her gold crystal. Admittedly, she hadn't seen any other gold sabers around the temple, save for the temple guards, but she hadn't fully realized how special that made hers...and her by extent.

Master Yoda took a couple steps closer to her, gazing up at her proudly. "Great potential, I could sense in you, the day you were brought to the temple. Then when you found a gold kyber crystal, knew you were a unique child, I did," he told her. "Over the past twelve years, have you lived up to the potential I sensed in you. Learned, you have, to harness the Force in ways many do not until they are older. Continue in this way and even powerful enough to see the future one day, you could be."

"See the future?" she repeated in awe.

He bowed his head in affirmation.

"You're able to see the future, aren't you, Master?" she then asked.

Once more, he bowed his head, humming low to himself as he sometimes did. "It took me many years to master such an ability. Much training, patience and discipline, it requires," he answered, "but always in motion is the future. Seen so easily, not all things can be."

"I see," she said, her voice lowering.

"Disappointed in that, are you?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Maybe a little," she confessed. "I just thought, if I could learn to see the future, then I could see the end of the Clone War and how things are going to go. I could see what could happen and know how we could potentially save more lives, even save more Jedi."

Yoda hummed again in understanding. "While good, your intentions are...dangerous, it can be, to try and change the future, young Padawan. Do such things, even I cannot."

"I understand, Master," said Elaré.

Then, with a tap of his cane on the floor, Yoda declared, "Now finished, this lesson is. Go now, youngling, and enjoy yourself. Return to your meditations, if you'd like, or perhaps enjoy some quiet in the library. Earned it, you have."

With a grateful smile, Elaré bowed to him and replied, "You honor me, Master Yoda, with your teachings and your words of wisdom. I'll let you know what I decide on your offer hopefully soon."

"Await your answer eagerly, I will," he said.

She flashed him a happy smile and then walked out of the room, her mind reeling from everything that had just happened. She had expected a scolding, not a test and then a recommendation for higher learning. That had all caught her quite by surprise. Master Yoda had even told her she could maybe one day see the future through her use of the Force. Knowing that, she really wanted to make it happen. Even though the Master had said it would be difficult and take a lot of time, she was determined to make it a reality.

"If I can learn to see the future, I can help a lot of people," she said to herself. "I'm sure I can figure out when this war will be over. I'll help save lives. Master Yoda said it can be dangerous to change the future, but I know I can do it! I'll show him that I can. I'll make a difference in this war, even if I can't fight in it. I'll show him...I'll show everyone."

A couple days later, Elaré was back in her usual place, sitting in front of the Great Tree, resuming her meditations. In the calm recesses of her mind, she continued chanting the mantra she'd used before.

"I am one with the Force and the Force is with me."

In times of stress or when she wanted to meditate deeper than usual, those words helped her a lot. They seemed to bring her comfort and made her feel calm.

Or, at least, she was calm until she heard an angry voice yell at her from across the grounds. She groaned with irritation. It was a voice she knew all too well and didn't care to hear right now.

When her eyes opened, there they were, standing before her and scowling down at her. It was the two bullies of her class that had scolded her before; not only that, but had been unkind to her for some time, Mag Amaj and Sani Oten. Mag was a human boy with dark skin, short black hair with a Padawan braid on his left side and red eyes. Sani was a Mirialan girl with light green skin, a shaggy pixie cut of dark brown hair with her Padawan braid hanging down her right side, emerald green eyes and a tattoo in a "V" formation made of several diamond shapes going across her face.

"Mag. Sani," Elaré flatly greeted them, annoyed at their interruption.

"What's your deal, Drenda?" Mag angrily demanded, addressing her by her last name.

Elaré raised her eyebrows. "You wanna be more specific?"

Displeased at her supposed innocence, Mag blurted out, "Master Yoda told the rest of us you weren't gonna be in class anymore because you're moving up to a higher level. What, do you suddenly think you're better than us now? How did you even swing that anyway?"

She rolled her eyes. The nerve of this boy. "I fail to see how you think you're entitled to that information after how you've treated me," she fired back.

As Mag grimaced at her, Sani spoke up in a nasally, bratty voice to him, almost as if Elaré wasn't even there, "I think she must've used a Jedi mind trick on Master Yoda to try and get out of coming to class."

Elaré gawked at her in disbelief before asking her, "How stupid are you, Sani?"

The Mirialan girl gasped in offense.

Then Elaré went on to say, emphasizing certain words so maybe what she said would get through their thick heads, "I'm not dumb enough to even think of using a mind trick on any Jedi Master, let alone Master Yoda, the head of the Jedi Council, of all people."

Both Mag and Sani just glared at her, unamused.

She propped her elbow up on her knee and leaned into her palm, seemingly bored with the whole conversation. "Besides, mind tricks only work on the weak-minded, so it would never work on a Master...but I'm certain it would work on you two."

That statement didn't sit well with the other two. Mag took a step forward, questioning, "Are you calling us weak?"

Elaré shrugged and stood up, figuring she wasn't going to get back to her meditating anytime soon. "I didn't say that at all...but if the shoe fits...," she replied with a sly grin.

Right then, Sani snapped and shoved Elaré hard, pushing against her shoulders and making her stagger back.

"Don't touch me again," Elaré warned her.

"Fine, then," Sani replied snidely. "I don't have to touch you to get back at you." Then she held out her open hand and used the Force to summon Elaré's lightsaber to her hand, snatching it midair.

"Hey! Give that back!" Elaré shouted. "You have no right to touch that!"

Sani just smirked connivingly, waving the lightsaber between her fingertips at Elaré. "What are you gonna do, Drenda?" she taunted.

Her anger taking over, Elaré moved to tackle Sani to the ground, but Mag was quicker. He grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back, eliciting a cry of pain from her.

"Good luck getting away," he said in her ear, tightening his grip on her arm.

Sani snickered in amusement. "Who's the better one now?"

"Well, it's definitely not either of you bullies."

Elaré's lightsaber was suddenly whisked away from Sani's hand and they all watched as it flew to someone else's hand; the same someone who had just spoken.

"If I were you, I'd get out of here before things get ugly. Leave Elli alone or else."

Then Elaré's face broke out into a smile as she recognized the newcomer.

Caleb had returned.

#star wars rebels #rebels kanan jarrus #kanan jarrus #kanan x oc fic #mirrors in the force fanfic

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impunkster-syndrome · 4 months

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I've decided to make a post explaining the difference between purity culture and cultural christianity. I'm writing this from the perspective of someone from the US and was raised fundamentalist (southern and northern) baptist/nondenominational christian and a survivor of purity culture as someone who was raised female. I'll be talking about my own upbringing and sexual trauma in the purity culture section.

TL;DR of under the cut: Purity culture is a specific form of religious abuse mostly experienced in fundamentalist religions that prioritize virginity as the worth of an assigned female at birth person before marriage and treats anyone raised female as property of men in their lives. Cultural christianity is the widespread assumption that (often fundamentalist) christian values should be held by a whole culture and must be held in order to have a moral society even if people are not christians. Use "sex negativity/negative" and "anti kink" to accurately describe the stigmatization of sex and kink. The use of "purity culture" to mean "stigmatization of sex on a systemic scale via cultural norms" ignores that this is a term for a specific kind of religious abuse often experienced by children waters down the original term and there is a better term for you to use.

Content warnings for under the cut: Fundamentalist christianity, misogyny, rape and martial rape, incest, grooming and indoctrination, sexual abuse, christofascism

Just so everyone is on the same page, I'm going to explain fundamentalism and how the US' party on the political right is now defined by the views of fundamentalist christians. It's relevant, I swear. I added wikipedia links to terms that people may need more information on if they did not grow up as a fundamentalist through the information below.

The name "Fundamentalist" (often shortened to "fundie" by snarkers and ex-fundamentalists) comes from a collection of essays called The Fundamentals. These essays are the foundations of the present Religious Right. For the people who don't want to read, here's a list of common fundamentalist beliefs:

The Bible is to be read as a literal interpretation and is the inerrant word of God. (Typically the King James Version, New King James Version, New International Version, and English Standard Version are all used as common translations of the Bible.) Yes. This means creationism and believing the world was literally created by God in six days. It views the Bible as a historical text that we know is 100% accurate.

Complementarianism, the view that men and women are inherently different. The "separate but equal" view of gender. This often results in women being unable to hold leadership positions over men, especially in the church. Women are viewed as homemakers and to be submissive to men, while men are pushed to be the leader of the family and church and always be strong. Also trans people do not exist according to this view, neither do nonbinary people. They break the gender roles seen as inherent to one gender based on their birth and being made in God's image.

Conservative lean politically. This is especially after the 1980s and the creation of The Moral Majority despite The Fundamentals being published between 1910-1915. They did include that, but over time the Religious Right became dominated by Jerry Falwell Sr and his kind, to become what it is currently.

The reason why this is important is that these are all a basis for cultural christianity and purity culture, with both being connected to christofascist ideas.

Purity culture is more than the popular misconception that it is merely having negative attitudes about sex, kink, fetishes, paraphilias (the umbrella term for any attraction deemed abnormal, but not all paraphilias can fit into kinks or fetishes and there is more nuance to that topic while still being impacted), and NSFW media. It often includes indoctrination and grooming from a young age to teach that sex outside of specific contexts is bad, that sex is a chore you are obligated to do for your husband or you are not fulfilling your role as a wife, and more. As a child, your father is made out to be the person that holds the most love for you out of your family, and in some cases even attend special father/daughter bonding ceremonies and events intended to show subservience to your father and to God. When you hit puberty, your parents may not even teach you about sex or how to have safe sex. Your own anatomy is an alien world that you aren't sure how it works. If they did tell you about sex, it was likely in a way to try to scare you out of having sex through talking about STDs and physical pain during sex (Which, vaginismus is a very common result of purity culture and makes your vaginal muscles try to contract to protect you, making intercourse painful). Both ways, you are forced into complete abstinence. You may or may not be told that masturbation is even a thing. If you are a CSA, COCSA, or SA victim, you will likely be battling with the trauma and feelings of shame at this point. Not being able a chance to recover by reclaiming your own body or learning about it. As you get older, the sexual and/or romantic repression from the common part of your father needing to approve of your partners, possibly being required to have a chaperone on dates, the rhetoric of "dating with purpose"/courting, and the years going by while you are in a religion that expects you to marry young and date as little as possible, it all starts to take a toll on you. When you do marry, the wedding night is often hyped up to the point where the expectations skyrocket past what it will likely be in reality, but you can't get a divorce if things don't get better in your sex life. Some groups even teach that martial rape is not real and that the wife is the one in the wrong if she refuses sex. This isn't even getting into the idea of the "Jezebel spirit" that is a boogeyman to claim that women who talk back or act/dress "provocatively" need to be put in their place and act submissively to not tempt men.

Purity culture, is at its core, long-term sexual abuse and grooming justified through religion. Often church news that a pastor or other leader in the church was finally caught after exploiting their power over those they could abuse only scratch the surface of the normalized abuse and isolation. Even if you escape it, the trauma and indoctrination can lead you into abusive relationships after if you do not start working on that trauma and start deconstructing.

For my own experience, I am a survivor of incest. My biological father raped me as a child at least once and also exposed me to porn and his own privates at least once before the age of five. I never had the chance to be "pure." I even knew this as a child, moreso in middle school. My sexual trauma was one part of my sex repulsion and complete lack of interest in sex as I was going through puberty. In sixth grade I broke down crying due to a sex ed class triggering me so much. My family started going to my friend's church. Her older brother who hadn't even graduated high school at the time was already courting a girl and planned to marry her. I was going to her youth group, where I was taught that all anger towards my rapist was immoral, that I as a child could tempt my spiritual brothers to stumble through how I dressed. Men were made out to be monsters that were always out to take advantage of me while women were made out to be the "safe gender." Eventually I learned my friend was telling others the trauma I told her, trusted her enough to tell her because I felt so broken due to the fact that I was supposed to be pure. She said it was my sin. That it was my fault and that I had tempted my biological father as a toddler. That was the end of that friendship. I get my first purity ring and promise my stepdad to not have sex before getting married also in middle school. With that on my left ring finger, that was already broken through no choice of my own. I stopped wearing it out of shame and feeling like it just constantly reminded me that I was not pure. I knew I wasn't ready for any relationships, but I also forced any thoughts of romance out of my thoughts lest they make my mind impure. Fast forward to ninth grade. My interview to get into the school features me feeling spiritually broken and distant because of all my trauma and I cry during it. I'm attending a private school that is fundamentalist. A teacher accepts questions about God each week and has assignments about letters to God. The week he answered my question of when divorce was okay (The answer was only in cases of adultery and abuse, but with a mandatory marriage counseling before and needing to do anything to stay together with divorce as only a last resort), he stopped me after class and asked me if I was okay due to sexual trauma and feeling so spiritually broken due to that and abuse I was at the time going through. I attended a group called My First Love from my church that was about getting ready for dating and staying pure in dating with knowing God should be the first man in your life always. My mentors I got assigned all would talk about staying pure while knowing that I wasn't able to. Then I got touched inappropriately by my step uncle, and so did my little half sister in the same night. Another nail in the coffin of my purity. I get a bracelet of "firsts" (First kiss, first hug, first "I love you," etc) that I am supposed to give all the charms to partners to, showing that those firsts are special and should only go to the "right" person and another purity ring from my parents. In tenth grade to eleventh I am in an abusive relationship with a transgirl who is telling me that sex would fix me and forcing her tongue into my mouth despite me saying no. I'm groped several times and she blames it on me and how I dress, but I do not dare stay angry for long when she is around or tell anyone because everyone else would know that I'm being more and more tainted by someone who is telling me that she wants to marry me and loves me while pressuring me to undress and touching me when she knows I have trauma. She got most of the charms on that bracelet. An abuser was the person to take all those firsts from me and show that to others. I only learned what masturbation was at 17/18 years old, when I had been doing it compulsively since before puberty due to CSA. It took me until I was 21 to buy a external vibrator and start trauma work.

Even more nails in the coffin like the one that youth group forced me to nail shut for any anger being immoral and how so many people supported that. Stay quiet, stay modest, stay submissive, and hopefully someone will save you one day and fix everything. But you know that won't happen. You're the princess in the tower, the sleeping beauty to keep locked away for the right time, but anyone who does get in may actually violate you and you cannot defend yourself.

Now, I'm hypersexual and probably have vaginismus. Masturbating is triggering to me at times though I need to do it because of being compulsive from trauma. The message that sex is bad has ingrained itself into my body enough to control my muscles to try to protect me involuntarily. This term is not for your fandom discourse. This trauma and long term abuse for most of my life has altered my body's muscle contractions without my knowledge. There are better terms for you to use. Sex negativity, cultural christianity, anti kink. All those are better than stealing and misusing a term for normalized sexual grooming and abuse in a religious setting.

If you are describing the idea that the culture is largely considered to have christian values despite not everyone being religiously christian, use the term cultural christianity. There is a legitimate problem with this, especially in the US. While fundies see the problem as people not being religious enough for their standards, there is a big problem with christian norms being viewed as the default to have a "moral" society. It leads to christofascism. Christianity is so baked into the US that once you start digging and trying to confront it, you end up in weird rabbit holes. Like how we have the Christian Science denomination to thank for religious exemption laws for medical care because of their beliefs. Just take a look at US history and how all that impacts things we deal with today through the lens of what someone's religious beliefs here.

If you are describing views that are stigmatizing sex or kink, use sex negativity or anti kink. Those are more accurate descriptors of the behavior.

My trauma is not the word for your online discourse. Stop hijacking terms and ignoring what trauma survivors tell you. Both sides do it or use us as your scapegoats for why you believe xyz. Knock it off. You're being ableist.

For further reading/listening (If one is paywalled, DM me for a way to view it, please! Information should be free):

The Thing About Purity (Article)

The Botkins - Vision Forum's royal family (Youtube video)

Purity Culture Is Rad - ically Dangerous (Youtube video)

The impact of Christian purity culture is still being felt - including in Britian (Article)

The Flaw at the Center of Purity Culture (Article)

@deconstructingpurityculture on instagram

The Elephant in the Closet: A Male Perspective on Purity Culture (Article)

My First Kiss at the Altar & Vaginismus After Having Sex for Marriage | Purity Culture (Article)

'Purity' Culture: bad for women, worse for survivors of sexual assault (Article)

Surviving purity culture: How I healed a lifetime of sexual shame (Youtube video)

There is plenty more out there to illustrate the harmful impacts of purity culture and how it is traumatizing.

#madpunk #neuropunk #traumapunk #purity culture #proship #antiship #long post

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diazfox · 9 months

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I have a lot of thoughts about Red, White & Royal Blue (both the book and the movie). If you manage to read through the whole thing, I would love to hear your thoughts and feelings! Please feel free to interact. If you don't feel like reading through the brain dump of a random girl from nowhere, here's a summary: movie was great, but the book remains undefeated, plus a pathetic attempt at rallying for a petition to make this into a series.

I first read the book in january 2023 (I was very late to booktok I'm sorry) and have been obsessed since then. I have re-read it multiple times and have pages of annotations in my pdf copy. as a huge literature nerd, thematic expressions, plot and character development mean so much to me. While it's not a crime to interpret this book as an idealistic and purely romantic piece of fiction, I think there is plenty to value in the way family, politics and self-discovery is illustrated in the novel.

To me, it's really the intricacies that give so much to life to many scenes and characters. June standing up for Alex even when he never outright asked for it, staying in the white house for him instead of pursuing her own dreams. June feeling trapped and chained down being born into a life of politics, while Alex, entirely optimistic and determined, revels in it. Nora being introduced as a tech junkie who gives it to him straight while June is the more soft-spoken one, but Nora being the one to deliver the most important cold hard truths that wake Alex up multiple times throughout the book. How Alex is who is because he has these 2 girls who provide him with 2 different support systems - June who understands the struggles of the public eye, the divorce of his parents, being biracial, and Nora who understands the realm of queerness and shares his passion in politics. Rafael Luna's story arc and the triple-crossing. How Alex looked up to him so fervently, how Luna has his own dark past that made him who is today.

and Henry... (cue BIG DREAMY SIGH) The harrowing reality that someone so special not only to him but both Bea and his mom as well left all of them so bereaved that his mom completely shut off and Bea turned to a life of drugs. His father who symbolised everything that the crown frowned upon, and stole his mother's royal-blooded heart anyways. How Henry was probably brought up to be fearless and strong just like his parents but his entire family was snatched from him at such a young age that it left him stranded and lost, leaving him no choice but to follow the path of royal traditions, being pushed and shoved around however they deemed fit. and when he did get older and privy to his sexuality, it was too late to turn back and stand his ground to say "No, I don't want this life." The pills, the insomnia, the piece of himself that's been lost forever, that nothing and nobody will ever be able to replace. Percy being his only escape from the royal lifestyle, how he was willing to share a part of his life's works for Henry to experience outside his mundane royal duties, something Henry chooses to do instead of being forced to. Bea stepping up after realising how she needs to do better not only for herself but for her brother as well, that all they have is each other and she needs to fight for them. Bea being the protective sister who explains to Alex how Henry misses his dad, and that he needs to be comfortable with the fact that there will always be a part of Henry that Alex might never be able to reach. Henry's mom stepping up in the end, not willing to lose her son the way she lost her husband, how Henry is the closest living reminder to the love of her life, born with his heart on his sleeve.

Their emails. Henry and his beautiful monologues depicting grief and love. How he has never bared his heart out like that to anyone, yet when he finally found the right person, everything was leaked to the entire world. The multiple references to historical figureheads and literature that actually give "History, huh? Bet we could make some" all it's meaning.

The tension in the confrontation with the queen. The nervous wreck that election night put me in. The political journey of this book further helped to solidify the idealistic, fairytale-like nature of the novel and its ending. It left me with such an overwhelming sense of comfort, like coming back to my childhood home (quite literally in Alex's case).

Ellen and Zahra's relationship, Oscar and Luna's relationship, Oscar saying Ellen will always be the love of his life... the list is literally endless. I could go on forever. I laughed, I cried, I screamed into my pillow, I stared out my window wistfully, wondering how people can feel so much so deeply.

All these details that bring so much colour and dimension to the plot convinced me that it would be a crime not to make a live action of this book. But that is not to say that the movie was bad. I had already prepared myself beforehand to handle the disappointment of not getting all 500 pages verbatim, and I understand the directional choices made to focus solely on Alex and Henry's relationship, not having the luxury of time. Viewing the movie as something separate from the book, it was beautifully executed and I have already watched it 3 times now.

But... just to put it out there...

Imagine a live action with everything I mentioned above, though. Wouldn't it be lovely to go on all these journeys with all these people together with Alex and Henry? And it's not something completely impossible is it? I think even an animated series would be sublime but is it really too much to ask for the novel to be made into a proper series? I feel like Casey has given us such a wholesome and never-seen-before story that deserves every nook and cranny to be explored and made into film. We have had so many versions of Little Women and Pride & Prejudice, so I'm holding out hope that a rwrb series is not an impossible feat. Taylor and Nick will always be Alex and Henry in my head, but that's something I'm personally willing to trade for a longer series made with even more people and further explorations that the movie couldn't afford to make.

My sister asked me last month why I kept losing my marbles everytime a new photo or clip dropped. Said that "it's just a random book, get over it". I think this book means a lot to many different people from different walks of life. Minority race, being biracial, coming to terms with bisexuality, dealing with divorce, dealing with the public eye, being born into a family that you don't entirely identify with, losing a loved one, dealing with mental illnesses, dealing with grief, standing up to authority, being outed, letting yourself love and be loved. This book encapsulates such a vast array of experiences and emotions that I'm confident that I'm not the only one who feels this strongly about "just a random book".

Casey really did make history, didn't they?

#alex claremont diaz #firstprince #red white and royal blue #rwrb #prince henry fox mountchristen windsor #alexhenry #prince henry rwrb #rwrb movie #nora holleran #zahra bankston #casey #casey mcquiston #history huh

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