#readerofthewilderwest

[smokestarrules]

what if. what if the title "thanks to them" is referring to how luz and hunter were manipulated into helping philip and the collector--as in, thanks to them, belos is back in the human world and the collector is free?

Honestly, that's the interpretation that seems to be the most logical. Thanks to Them as Hunter and Luz beat themselves up over mistakes that they were manipulated into making. But then, maybe, by the end of the episode, the tone will have shifted?

Maybe Hunter and Luz save the rest of the kids' lives, that's when they finally open up about the guilt they're feeling? The rest of the group, of course, will hear nothing of it, and I'm sure will do more than support them when they figure it out.

Thanks to Them will still mean Hunter and Luz, but maybe it'll be a good thing in their eyes by the end of it.

[adventures-in-anecdotes]

[catty-words]

Spike & dawn - “teach me to do that?” for the 3 sentence fic meme

Dawn creeps down the stairwell, her backpack full of neglected textbooks held out in front of her in case she needs to lob it at a demon and run, drawn out of her room by the persistent shiiing of...well she's not sure what.

Eyes halfway closed, she eases herself off the final stair, anxious to find: "Spike!? Oh, my god, what are you doing?"

He looks up from the broadsword in his lap. "Shouldn't you be asleep, Niblet?"

"Um, duh! Your breaking and entering woke me up, you freak."

"Noticed the weapons chest needed seein' to," he says, dragging a stone down one side of the sword, then up the other. "I won't be long. Go on back to sleep."

"No chance of that," she says, climbing up into an armchair and pulling her legs to her chest. "I haven't really been sleeping since... And anyway, you're being totally loud, so I'll just wait with you."

"Suits me fine."

She watches him finish with the sword, prop it against the other end of the couch, and then pick up an axe from the coffee table. She watches him wipe off the blade with a cloth, watches him drag the stone along the edge, movements sure and meticulous and lulling.

On the edge of sleep, she forces her eyes wide. "Hey."

"Yeah, Bit?"

"Teach me to do that?"

Spike grins at her, but it's lost its sexy, mischievous edge. These days, he just looks sad. "Yeah," he says, clearing space for her on the seat next to him. "Could do that."

send me a ship + prompt and I’ll write a three sentence fic

[incorrectbarbiequotes]

Barbie: Say no to drugs.

Raquelle: Say yes to drugs.

Stacie: It doesn’t matter what you tell drugs, because if you’re talking to drugs, you’re taking drugs.

[locktobre]

Will Erika’s children have powers? (For the spoiler asks)

Birthday spoilers!

The short answer is ‘no’ but the longer answer is... they might?

Erika has a different kind of magic than Anneliese, and it’s much more passive. Her parents were from the Land of Nod, which I explained a bit about here, but basically it’s a fairytale realm, so Erika essentially has... stories in her blood, I guess you could say. It’s why she ended up being in Princess and the Pauper, she’s just... a part of a story, from birth. (PatP takes place in reality, on Earth, but the fairytale magic comes with the people who cross over. It’s how I get away with having some fairytales play out on Earth like Rapunzel and 12DP.) Erika’s only real power is... looking like Anneliese.

So, if any of Erika’s children have any sort of powers, it would be related to a story that they were in, if that makes sense. Like, if her daughter were part of the Princess and the Pea, she would be super sensitive, that kind of thing. I haven’t decided if I want all of them to inherit stories, partly bc I gave her 8 children and that’s a lot of stories, and honestly, beyond The Tower, I don’t know if I really want to keep writing these characters, since I have so much else to do, and I’ve spent so long with them. 

Her eldest son was initially going to be a part of a Jack in the Beanstalk-esque scenario, but I’m debating if I want to keep that part, and also I changed his (nick)name from Jack, but I might go back to it bc I like the Jack in the Beanstalk thing... But I’m not sure if it still makes sense, since I’ve changed my mind about what I want to do for The Tower so many times.

I’m sorry if this answer is disappointing, but behind the scenes I have so much up in the air it’s embarrassing asdkjnsdf 

[the-knights-who-say-book]

98!

My 98th most listened to song was Need Nothing by Vérité! i love this song, i don’t know why it’s so low on the list. i feel like i listened to it a lot, but i guess not as much as some other songs on the same album

There's a crack in the ceiling where the light bleeds in here I feel you all around me, but I can't cave in I want to say I need you, but I need nothing I need nothing, I need nothing

[queen-erika-the-songful]

Your opinion on... pink shoes! (the barbie movie)

I actually think it’s kinda underrated! It’s got its story problems, but the animation is gorgeous, the music is great and overall it’s still a very entertaining Barbie movie. I  really wish Kristyn had become a choreographer at the end, though, because I really thought that was the direction they were going with her whole “There’s more than one way to tell the story” message. Like, she could have still wanted to be a dancer too, but after actually living the stories and changing them I feel like she would’ve also realized her calling as a choreographer and storyteller. Well, that’s what headcanons are for!! I like to think that post-movie, Kristyn decides to study choreography-making alongside her ballet training. 

I think the other reason I’ve really started to appreciate this one a lot more than I used to is because I have an emotional attachment to it as well. After the movie came out, my sisters and I finally convinced my Dad to let us do dance lessons. We all chose ballet, my sisters just because they thought it would be cool but me because I found myself full of nostalgia from my days as a teeny 5-year-old ballerina from this movie. Even though I had had no training or experience since then, I found myself copying some of the dances (mostly the Milkmaid dance) to the best of my ability and wanting to experience that again. In the end, I ended up in the jazz-funk class instead (my sisters moved on to hip-hop and musical theatre) but I never realized how much I actually did like to dance before that movie. It’s like what Princess and the Pauper & Beauty and the Beast did for me with singing. I don’t take lessons anymore (too expensive for me right now) but I feel much more confident in my dancing and I feel good when I do it. So, even with its problems, I can’t say that I “dis”-like Pink Shoes. I’d definitely re-write it a bit, but my dumb, sappy self can’t help but help but smile when I watch it.

[gossipgirldefined]

Oh my GOD. From Girl Defined's blog post "Normalizing What's Wrong Doesn't Make It Right: "Marriage is designed to be a covenant for life. Honoring this covenant, and honoring God, should be far more important than our own happiness." They're literally saying that YOUR HAPPINESS DOESN'T MATTER. God apparently doesn't give a shit about your happiness because you said magic words in front of a minister??? BITCH, THE FUCK?

Shouldn’t following God’s plan make you happy? Because that’s what they claim elsewhere. In an upcoming chapter of their book, that good ol’ sexual prosperity gospel is strong. They use “living this way will bring you ultimate satisfaction!” as a motivator, but then when it doesn’t, well, that wasn’t the point anyway. It’s not even about you.

Traditional Christians tend to define “happiness” in a shallow way. When I’ve made statements like “I just want to be happy,” it’s often met with contempt. I don’t mean “I want to be in a constant state of euphoria.” No reasonable person thinks that’s possible. I obviously mean, “I want to achieve a baseline level of contentment and stability in my life,” but they’re reluctant to acknowledge that distinction because anything approaching “selfishness” is demonized.  

The command of self-denial has its grips in some people so strongly that they can’t take a step back to see that a God who is honored by their misery would be an abuser. What would be the point of that? But you can’t ask that question, because that means questioning “God's” ways, thinking too highly of yourself, and trusting your feelings - all things you’ve been conditioned against. The way self-abnegation traps you makes it clear that it’s an abusive doctrine. It breaks my heart that it’s considered virtuous by so many.