#(this is about the book burning btw)

[mayapapaya33]

I'm going to have to strongly disagree with Brennan's characterization of Caramelinda's stance as "paranoia" and instead call it brutal grim unflinching pragmatism. I'm really glad that everything resolved peacefully, and they can try to be a family, but that doesn't make Caramelinda wrong to once again be the only adult in the room and contemplate the terrible hard choices. Just like she's had to do for seemingly her entire fucking life while the people around her get to traipse around being happy and optimistic and carefree.

Caramelinda watched Saccharina declare a crusade, that she would drive the church from the land with zero nuance. NOT work to get the corruption out of the church, just obliterate it completely, like the church tried to do to magic. Saccharina's people sacked Port Syrup resulting in the death of Sir Morris Brie. She already clearly stated her intentions to go on a conquering rampage through all the lands wiping out the church. Caramelinda literally watched them throw a book burning party. Caramelinda's position is NOT paranoia. This is GoT Candyland. She is pragmatic and intelligent and made a rational, logical decision based on all the information available to her.

I love the message about vulnerability and family they were going for, I'm just sad Brennan fell into the trap of a less nuance take than I expect from him in this particular instance. Many things can be true at the same time.

Is it morally the right thing to do to risk the future of your nation on the hope that one person can change? To take a chance when what you are gambling with does not belong to you? Annabelle Cheddar said it best; She didn't know whether one person's freedom/happiness is worth the weight of a nation's prosperity, but the responsibility for what she did AND what she didn't do are both hers and she has to account for it.

(2:04:14)

[dw-flagler]

something that always bothered me about the worm fanfic scene is that they always try to cram everyone together. There's always the scene where taylor meets lisa in a coffee shop or whatever. I get it, it's a fanfic, you can't just make up a character for her to meet.

But one of the things i always liked about worm was that it stayed away from the comic trope of making everyone connected. Like, if Worm was a comic book, Armsmaster would be her teacher, She'd end up being friends with Kid Win, Cherie would attend Winslow, Annette would end up being still alive and a secret agent for Cauldron but with amnesia or something, over-the-top soap opera shit, right?

What I always liked was that in Worm, Taylor's just some girl. She only knows one hero out of costume, and it's the girl who ruined her life. Her dad's just the head of hiring for the union. Her mom was just a college professor. If you asked the mayor about Danny Hebert, he'd say "who?" A lot of fanfics have him be like seinfeldian rivals with the mayor, but like he just writes petitions. If you asked Lustrum about Annette Hebert, she'd have no clue who you're talking about, because Annette was just like a member of her organization.

What I'm trying to stress, is that in superhero comics, everything's connected. Everyone knows everyone. Everyone's a super genius, or met at The Science Expo, or their dad was a famous crime fighter. Comics have all these sorts of big dramatic irony reveals. In comic books, there is never a character who's just some guy.

This sort of thing is great for making everything feel connected, and it's good for keeping out extraneous exposition.

But Worm doesn't do that. It's all just like. They're just regular ass people. Of course they don't know each other. They live in a city with 300 thousand people, none of them would have ever met each other if it weren't for capeshit.

And, I mean, it does remove a lot of the potential for shenanigans but it really does a lot to make everything feel more real.

There's also something there about capeshit being a metaphor for shared trauma where like these people would not know each-other were it not for shared trauma.

The undersiders, the great team, the bestest friend team, they don't meet if not for capeshit. They have no connection to eachother outside this. These are kids who would have never met, they would never have come within 20 degrees of separation were it not for the fact they have powers. This is integral to worm's worldbuilding. It's maybe the closest you ever get to a positive aspect of gaining powers, and yet for so many capes there is no undersiders, just the fighting and loneliness and eventual violent death.

[ifyourereadingthisblinktwice]

just finished the poppy war trilogy what the FUCK WAS THATTTT

[fazgoo-connoiseur-1987]

Henry getting so absorbed by creative endevours he forgets to like have relationships is a very cool character trait and painfully relatable. Sorry Mrs Emily, he's converted your bedroom into a giant design board for the month. Not like he was going to be sleeping anyways. She goes to stay with her parents and he just doesn't even notice he's so busy making the most unsafe children's entertainment robot possible. He'll go through the motions of looking after his kids and stuff but his brain is fully in his workshop 24/7 nothing else in that skull.

[featherymainffins]

Can anyone who knows Uglies explain what the hell changed that just 10 years ago it was considered great and groundbreaking and now I see nothing but people saying that it's dumb and uninspired and has no point or meaning?

[cream-and-tea]

god it’s so good when you go into a book hoping for real moral ambiguity and it actually delivers

[cyanide-sippy-cup]

So, Book of Bill, huh?

[cassmouse]

DOOMED YURI?? IN MY CHARLOTTE BRONTË??

[acetheta]

why do hot people like harry potter

[garrettwrites]

I'm am so fucking tired of people not understanding tropes. No, it's not an enemies to lovers if the characters just kinda dislike each other. No, it's not enemies to lovers if the characters merely view each other as annoying. No, it's not enemies to lovers just because A is an asshole to B. Stop tagging your crappy book as enemies to lovers when it isn't I am so tired of getting excited for shit I think I'll enjoy only to be slapped with "lol they're in love 40 pages into this enemies business" shut up shut up shut up

[sob-dylan]

the great thing about physical media is, if you are inclined to do so, you always have the option of eating it. you can’t eat a file! a file won’t rip your throat on the way down! a file is nothing!

[emeritus-fuckers]

could i have so,e headcanons of repugnant members with a s/o that twitches, yells and squeaks due to Tourette’s :)?

Repugnant with a darling who has Tourette's

Mary Goore (they/them)

They don't really say anything unless one of your tics somehow ends up with you accidentally hitting them or calling them a slur.

It's only then that they give you an amused look and question you on it in a jokey tone.

They don't mind, it's all cool. You can't help it.

They might make a few jokes about it if you're cool with it.

Not much happens with it, honestly.

If anyone mocks you, their throat ends out ripped out.

DD Sars (he/him; fwb, not s/o)

Oh, he loves it. He thinks it's hilarious.

He doesn't really mock you, but if any of your tics are funny to him, he will snort at them and tease you.

If you have echolalia, he will be sure to randomly say slurs in hopes you pick it up and they become your new tics.

He's a dick, but he's a fucking protective one.

He's allowed to bully you. Strangers aren't.

DD will not hesitate to bring out the knife.

And give the other bully, as Connor once said, twenty-eight stab wounds.

G. Grotesque (he/him)

He makes you feel so comfortable about your tics it's incredible.

Whenever you have a verbal tic, he mimics it with a sweet smile.

He's got echolalia, so he repeats noises you make.

And with how cute and cuddly he is (I love him), it just... feels like an absolute safespace.

You two just chill together, your tics and his echolalia almost creating music together with all your noises.

If any of your tics hurt you, he kisses the hurt place and cuddle you.

You're free to use him as your anti-stress plushie!

E. Forcas (he/him)

He tries to read about it a little so he knows how to help you.

He tries to create as stress-free environment as he can for you, making sure you actually enjoy it.

So if you want a pillow fort on his couch, that's what you get, even if his need to keep his place clean and organized is suffering. It's a small sacrifice for your happiness.

He never comments on your tics, only asks if he can help when he notices they're getting more intense.

If he sees anyone stressing you out, you will actually get one of the very few chances to see him get violent.

And he's a big boy, he can knock a bitch out with a singular punch.

Tom Bones (he/him)

Tom doesn't even bring it up or say anything unless he notices it getting way worse than usual.

He only asks if you're good and if you need anything.

He trusts you can handle it yourself, but he's there if you need him.

He read somewhere that beer helps and while he never bothered to fact-check it, he fully believes enough beer can help with any issue, either by solving it... or creating another, bigger issue that lets you forget the original problem.

He gets new drumsticks if anyone dares bully you.

Sid E. Burns (he/him)

Sid is a chill dude. He doesn't really question people.

If you have tics, you have tics, who is he to judge?

If he can still cuddle you, he's cool with it.

If he notices you getting stressed, he will simply pick you up and carry you away from whatever is stressing you out.

No stress allowed, it's cuddle on the couch time. Fuck anything else, he needs his nap buddy.

If anyone else makes you stressed out about your Tourette's, though?

Let's just say those cuddles will include just a bit more blood covering him and his knuckles will be ruined from all the punching.

Carlos Sathanas (he/they)

Carlos likes scaring people. If he sees anyone stressing you out, they will simply sneak up behind them (he walks scarily quietly) with a wide, cheshire cat-like grin.

Considering he almost never removes his corpse paint (he's a Kesha girlie), he is scary as fuck.

When it comes to you, though? He genuinely doesn't care.

Carlos follows the beautiful logic of "if I can steal someone's food, that's all that matters", so they don't pay much attention to things like that.

Hell, they probably don't notice at first.

He might copy some tics he finds funny or adorable, but he drops it if you wish it so.

Chris Piss (he/him)

The nerd. The horror maniac. The creepypasta kid.

He will infodump to you about Ticci Toby. He even suggests you go to some cosplay event as Ticci Toby and Clockwork (with him being Clockwork, of course!).

He might call you his ticci darling if you're okay with it. He's very welcoming to your Tourette's and puts in effort to make sure you know he's always gonna be your safe space.

He doesn't want you to be ashamed, he believes you should embrace it and be proud of yourself.

Chris is your personal hype man, darling. Because in his eyes, you're the coolest.

And he's sending anyone who disagrees to the hospital.

~

Written by Nosferatu.

[despair-tea]

that book was pretty good, yea. glad I came back around and finished it.

the (part 1 - end) at the end is so funny - you mean after they resolved all the problems in the story, that's just the beginning? The beginning of the rest of their lives? lmao

[iwanttobepersephone]

I know I avoid cursing as much as possible on this blog but I saw this on pinterest while looking for a good base to use for my Nightly Rangers Apprentice Meme™️ and I just HAD to

Anyways gn y'all don't pull a Crowley

Or a Will

[paperconsumption]

i think i can finish this book in the next 2 days. after 3 freaking weeks

[submarinerwrites]

do you have any book recs?

ofc! these’ll be pretty general, but they’re all books i’ll recommend to basically anyone. for nonfiction and theory:

thomas nail, marx in motion (reading marx through new materialism. especially recommend ch. 1, 3, and 5)

henri lefebvre, writings on cities (it’s poetic praxis babes. always obsessed with this tbh)

karl marx, early writings (from penguin classics—i find this a lot more approachable and clear than capital)

jon levenson, sinai and zion (this book made me become a religious studies major, and it’s an incredibly clear and insightful look at early judaism. i personally found it really affecting)

georges bataille, erotism (duh)

for fiction (these are just my favorite books of all time lol):

matthew gregory lewis, the monk (this is the subject of my thesis so im a little biased)

t.h. white, the once and future king (funny and heartfelt and it makes me cry)

c.s. lewis, the screwtape letters (not to overstate things but this is one of the central works of contemporary christian thought. to ME)

charles brockden brown, wieland (seminal text of the american gothic my beloved)

chuck palahniuk, choke (ive said this before but people read this way less frequently than fight club or invisible monsters and i love it)

patricia grace, potiki (holy shit this book is so good)