once he's comfortable with you, he adores non-sexual physical intimacy
playing with his hair will calm him down almost instantly
he's protective and possessive, so he'll keep a hand on you at all times, usually on your back
loves when you initiate any kind of physical contact
always asks to do something before he does, in either a sexual or nonsexual context
he's easily jealous and can sometimes get very possessive; for the first time in 200 years, he has someone who genuinely loves him and he hates the possibility that he might lose you
that possessiveness is obvious when he marks up your neck with bites and hickeys
if he feels like his place in your relationship is threatened in public, he will not hesitate to touch, hold, or kiss you in front of whomever is making a move on you; after some bearing of fangs, whoever it is usually scuttles off very quickly
he definitely feels very undeserving of you and your love and has his days when he's convinced you're going to leave him for someone better when you get the chance, or that he's keeping you from; that insecurity lasts for a very long time
constantly buries his own feelings, so you have to coax them out of him and teach him how to set boundaries and stand up for himself
astarion absolutely LOVES bathing together; he can be very vulnerable with you without sex being expected when you bathe together and it absolutely helps him regain some control and bodily autonomy
he loves gifting you things: jewelry, clothes, weapons, little knickknacks he sees that remind him of you
his elven ears are so sensitive and he absolutely will whine involuntarily when you brush your fingers over them (either on accident while you're touching his curls or on purpose)
speaking of which, astarion loves having his hair played with, it's a huge comfort to him (and another form of physical touch that isn't inherently sexual, so it's one of the ways to ease him back into being intimate and physical)
sexually, he's very switchy; some days he wants to be in control and giving you all the pleasure you deserve, but other days he's more than happy to let you take the lead and love on him
he loves staying up late to have deep talks and watch the sky (sun or moon and stars, it doesn't matter which to him)
cuddle this man. all the time. he's absolutely a cuddle bug. if you don't cuddle him while you go to sleep, he'll be very huffy, and you'll wake up to him curled up around you anyway
he also likes to be the little spoon sometimes, once he's comfortable with you seeing and being wrapped around his back
he will sew everything for you instead of teaching you to do it; he likes being useful in some little way for you (inspired by @aethes-bookshelf's post here because I saw it and went "you are absolutely right")
he commonly speaks to you in Elvish whether you understand it or not; it's absolutely a comfort to him, especially when you start picking up words and understanding some of what he says
contrary to the performances he puts on, astarion is a very gentle lover when he can finally be comfortable and genuine with you. he's quieter, softer, he takes the time to learn you and himself, he lets himself enjoy it; he learns to become a taker, not just a giver
he likes to hold you, however he can, and at the very least always be touching you. an arm around your waist or shoulders, a hand on the small of your back, holding your hand or twining your pinkies together. he can't be touching you, he's standing so close to you that he could be touching you if he moved a centimeter more
he likes to hug you randomly; one of his favorite ways to do it is to come up behind you while you're cooking or talking to someone or looking at yourself in the mirror to get ready so he can surprise you by putting his arms around your waist and resting his head on your shoulder
astarion has a habit of kissing your neck whenever he can, sometimes it's a way to let you know he's hungry, other times when he wants to be intimate, other times just to remind you he loves you
on the same hand, he doesn't always say 'i love you' but instead makes it known through his behavior around you (and the fact that he's constantly looking at you like you are his whole world, because you are)
on the nights when you can't sleep, he reads to you until you drift off because he knows you find his voice soothing
he likes tucking his head into your neck and shoulder when the two of you sleep (which he finds out he actually likes doing every now and then)
the first thing astarion does when he wakes up is pepper you with little kisses on your shoulders, collarbones, cheeks, and forehead
when he's nervous and with people he's okay with knowing that, he'll reach for your hand and touch your fingers to calm down and ground himself. if you wear a ring or multiple rings, he'll play with those
astarion loves it when you call him by a nickname, either a shortened version of his name or a pet name. if he's fed recently and had enough blood, his cheeks will turn this adorable shade of pink when you call him "Star" or "my love" or something similar
how he wakes up from a nightmare changes constantly. the worse the nightmare, the worse his reaction when he wakes up. sometimes it's just a little gasp and his eyes flying open, sometimes it's a yelp and tears, sometimes he's crying before he even wakes up; but every time, his biggest comfort is to cling to you until the panic fades and then curl up in your lap (you've learned to light a candle or summon lights with magic when he wakes up from a nightmare; the shadows make him feel worse)
when you fall asleep outside of bed, he picks you up and carries you to bed and tucks you in—all without waking you
if you are injured at any point and there is no certainty that you'll pull through, he panics. he stays at your side the entire time, even if the smell of your blood is driving him mad, and holds your hand and talks to you, often begging you to wake up, to come back to him, to stay with him; more than once, you've woken up to find him with tears streaked down his face
every time you wake up from an injury and he realizes it, either because he's watching you or because you say hi to get his attention, he smothers you in kisses
once he's no longer starving, he likes to feed from you very slowly, to take his time and enjoy your taste; now that he's promised food, he doesn't feel the need to rush. feeding becomes very sensual, intimate, and personal for the two of you after that
he also loves leaving bites and drinking from you in places the others won't see; it makes him incredibly giddy to know that you let him bite you in places only he will ever see
if he's taller than you, he loves to kiss the crown of your head whenever he can
he will sew up your injuries whenever you need his help with it, even if the sight and smell of your blood makes him salivate
he loves touching your body to see how you react and lets you do the same to learn his own likes and dislikes
matching. outfits. he loves it, loves seeing people realize that you wear the same material and colors and realize what it means. he's very smug when people come to the realization that you're together
he frequently gives you his shirts to sleep in
if you are apart from him for any amount of time, expect to be tackled with a hug the minute you are reunited again
when you have the time, he likes to just lay in bed with you and relax together, half-asleep and cuddling and sometimes mumbling to each other pt. 2 coming soon
I know we're ignoring canon right now, but can. Can we just talk about Dabi's ending for a second? Because like. What the fuck? This guy's been suffering his entire life. From being abused by his father, to being kidnapped and experimented on while he's in a coma, just to escape and go home to find out his worst fears have come true, his family abandoned him, they never really cared. Then, he spends the next 8 years homeless, where he damages his body so much to the point he's being held together by staples? How painful was his daily life?? No wonder he wanted to die. His life was hell. And now, he spends his last days alive trapped in a fucking fish tank, in excruciating agony (you cannot tell me he isn't in any pain. He has no fucking skin left, along with his other injuries. Not to mention the emotional and psychological trauma once again inflicted on him). He doesn't get to choose whether or not he wants to keep living through this nightmare. He doesn't get to choose whether or not he wants Endeavor to visit him every day. No one asks him his opinion on any of this. They decide for him, and he doesn't have the strength left to protest. He can't move, can't talk, can't do anything. All he can do is sit there, watching on helplessly, with the knowledge that after his death, his family will once again leave him behind and forget all about him. He'll never see the League again, the only people in the world who actually loved him unconditionally and never saw him as a problem or a mistake. He has to die with the knowledge that he failed. His family won't ever truly see him as a person, and he never, not once in his life, got to be happy.
TBH I was hoping for Touya to die. So, he won’t suffer anymore and I really don’t want him to be stuck in prison for the most of his life or for rest of his life. He do not need that. He once died and should have stay die. Now it’s like all over again for him to “come back from death” and probably still don’t want to do anything with his family. Damn.
Your thoughts on wolfstar? I did not find anything in your marauders master post on it. It's just... such a weird pairing for me. I don't understand why it is weird for me, and at the same time I don't understand why people ship them.
I address them somewhat here.
As for asking me about pairings, well, I'll give my two cents but keep in mind that you're better off asking a shipper. If you want the how's and why's of someone loving this pairing, then it's best to go to the source.
I'm just here for the heresy of it all.
Thoughts on Remus/Sirius
Regardless, I don't see it. Or, rather, if I do see it then it's a toxic wasteland of a relationship that is terrible for all parties involved. (I'm about to get flogged for this, I'm sure.)
So, what's the trouble?
First, Sirius never seems all that interested in Remus. Throughout canon, and the glimpses we have in the past, he is far more interested in James. Remus is... the charity friend, it was James who was actually Sirius' best friend by far. This, obviously, is a big obstacle for the pairing.
Second, the werewolf incident. Sirius uses Remus, nearly causes him to become a murderer or else ruin Severus Snape's life against his will, and isn't sorry about it. Remus, had Dumbledore not covered for him, would have been expelled and likely imprisoned if not executed/banished. And Sirius did this for a laugh, because it was funny.
Remus knows all of this, and I imagine he never truly forgave Sirius for it. Certainly, when it looked as if Sirius betrayed the Potters, Remus didn't question it. Because, in retrospect, Remus could say he wasn't that surprised. Look what Sirius did before.
I doubt Sirius and Remus could ever truly be friends again after this. Oh, they pretended, but the friendship was broken. Shortly later, Sirius and James believe Remus is a spy. Remus has to live with everything that has happened. Given friendship's not on the table, romance certainly isn't.
Third, and somewhat related to the werewolf incident, but Sirius doesn't take Remus' condition seriously. He and James treated it as a joke, a cool quirk Remus has. And yeah, it's great they're so accepting, but Remus is living with a chronic condition that leaves him in agony every month, that will deny him employment for the rest of his life, and leave him destitute. And there's James and Sirius calling it his 'furry little problem'. There's this self-congratulatory air about it, that the Marauders thought they were so progressive because they were friends with a werewolf, without ever having to understand what it means to be a werewolf. And then, of course, Sirius using said chronically ill best friend to nearly murder a classmate.
And then of course there's Sirius. He spent ten years in hell on earth, comes out a broken and barely functioning man, and one who has to confront that his best friends are either dead, traitors, or believed he was the scum of the earth. I don't see Sirius ever truly forgiving Remus for believing he was a Death Eater, never mind Sirius thought Remus was a spy, but to me Sirius would never truly be able to forgive that. If Remus had fought for him, then perhaps Sirius never would have been sent to Azkaban. Remus didn't, and what does that say about how Remus views Sirius?
There's nothing left between them by the point we reach canon except barely restrained hostility, bitter feelings, and empty nostalgia for a time that will never return to them.
And if they did have a romantic relationship on top of all of this? It would be to make the other suffer, to take out all the rage over lycanthropy, the imprisonment, the werewolf incident, every little thing that stands between them after all these years. It would be thinly veiled hatred in the form of sexual intercourse.
Why Does Everyone Else Ship It?
They're Harry's cool gay uncles. The movies softened Sirius a lot and made him a lot less unhinged, they also made Lupin generally more pleasant, which makes them easier figures to ship. And with them you get the idea that Harry can have his found families (without the Weasleys).
He can have these two cool uncles who were his parents best friends and they can have breakfast together and eat waffles and wouldn't it be wonderful? They can tell Harry it's okay to like Draco Malfoy, not everyone's like those repressed muggles, and everything can be jolly and good in the world.
People adore this and they desperately want to fix Harry's situation, fix his world and his family life. More, everyone loves Sirius, he's the funny character, and Remus having such history with him, being a friend, is the obvious character to throw at him.
Which is why we get Remus/Sirius in many fics, even as just a secondary pairing to whoever Harry's chasing after today.
it’s always a good day to complain about English speakers
I'm not sorry...
shovel, Kraków / potato, Biesiekierz / bull, Osowa Sień / cucumber, Kalisz Pomorski / elephant, Nieciecza / cow, Stare Pole / homogenized cheese, Radom / yarn ball, Łódź / paprykarz szczeciński, Szczecin / radiator, Stąporków
At the beginning of the full scale war, there were scary news about russians preparing 45k body bags, mobile crematoriums and new massive burial methods.
But they never take their dead soldier’s bodies.
Those body bags were for us. For the civilians.
Those mobile crematoriums were for us.
Those massive burial methods were for us.
Just because we are Ukrainians.
Bakhmut: before and after the arrival of the "liberators"