#But I decided on good old Les mis!

[reflection-s-of-stars]

mokita <3

mokita (kilivila): a painful fact everyone is aware of but which--out of compassion--no one mentions

And anyone I want? Okay, how about…

When the new Mme. Pontmercy showed up to her first ball as a married woman, she wore black. Not a stylish black dress, either. Mourning clothes, to a Paris ball. It came to absolutely nobody’s surprise that the Pontmercy boy would marry a woman just as solemn as he was, and with just as little respect for decorum. Mourning black, when rubbing one’s shoulders with nobility? Better just to stay at home, where nobody could see.

But Mme. Pontmercy smiled and laughed through the whole affair, as if she were wearing the prettiest cream satin. (Cream was in fashion this April.)

Of course, everybody had questions. Who had died in her family? What obligation did she have to wear black? Was she simply following in her husband’s lead, wearing the same plain, somber clothes as he always did? Why and how had such a cheerful girl agreed to marry Marius Pontmercy? Of all people!

But nobody said a word. Nobody wanted to be the one to admit they didn’t know what had happened to cause such a social conundrum.

There were other odd things about the new wife. It was quickly discovered, for example, that she ate with all the gusto of a starving gamin (a fact which, when pointed out to the couple by a very old lady, made Mme. Pontmercy flinch). She also very rarely strayed from her husband’s side. There were a few rumors as to why he wouldn’t dance, but if his own reasons were a black box, hers were perfectly clear. The object was to stick with him, to speak for him when he stammered and to coax him towards food in the manner of a cheerful mother hen.

No-one quite knew what to make of her, but all the same, everyone liked her. So when the partygoers learned that Mme Pontmercy’s father had died the night of their wedding, they didn’t say a thing. They all had more common sense and compassion than that.

It was far more spoken of the next month, however, when the woman in question showed up at some assembly or other in a gown of brilliant, bloody, revolutionary red.

[bookwormjust]

Suprising Theodore Nott (your boyfriend) with your skill in his native language, Italian

It's a quiet afternoon in the Slytherin common room, sunlight streaming through the tall, narrow windows. Theodore is sitting beside you on the green velvet couch, one hand idly tracing patterns on your leg while the other flips through a book. The room is calm, a few of his friends lounging around nearby, but none of them are really paying attention to you two. Draco is reading the Daily Prophet, Mattheo is deep in conversation with Lorenzo about something that sounds like mischief.

You glance up at Theodore, his sharp features softened by the warm light, and a small smile tugs at your lips. You've been practicing for this moment all week, and now feels like the perfect time.

With a deep breath, you lean toward him, your voice gentle as you ask, “Theo... che cosa stai leggendo?” (Theo, what are you reading?)

He freezes for a second, surprised, before his eyes widen slightly in delight. His gaze shifts from the book to you, a proud smirk appearing on his lips. “Che cosa ho sentito?” he murmurs, a teasing note in his voice. (What did I just hear?)

You feel a little shy under his intense gaze, but you press on. “Ho detto... che cosa stai leggendo?” you repeat, your accent not perfect, but you manage well enough. (I said... what are you reading?)

He laughs softly, the sound low and warm, before leaning in a little closer to you. “Sto leggendo un vecchio libro sulla magia antica.” (I’m reading an old book on ancient magic.) His fingers continue their lazy movements on your leg, but now there's a glint of pride in his eyes. “Sei stata fantastica, amore,” he adds quietly, his voice full of admiration. (You were amazing, love.)

You bite your lip, a little embarrassed but mostly pleased that he noticed how hard you’ve been trying. You glance around quickly—none of his friends seem to be paying attention, too absorbed in their own conversations. You lean into him, whispering, “Volevo sorprenderti.” (I wanted to surprise you.)

Theodore chuckles, his hand slipping up to cup your cheek. “E ci sei riuscita,” he murmurs, his thumb brushing against your skin. (And you succeeded.)

Feeling more confident now, you decide to keep going, asking, “Ti piace che sto imparando?” (Do you like that I’m learning?)

He presses a soft kiss to your forehead, his lips lingering there for a moment before he pulls back to look into your eyes. “Mi rende così orgoglioso di te,” he says softly, his voice thick with affection. (It makes me so proud of you.) He leans in closer, his lips brushing your ear as he adds, “Non c'è nessuno che preferirei insegnare.” (There’s no one I’d rather teach.)

Your heart flutters at his words, the warmth in his voice sending a pleasant shiver down your spine. You lean your head on his shoulder, feeling content and proud of yourself. “Grazie, Theo,” you say quietly. (Thank you, Theo.)

He smiles down at you, his fingers now threading gently through your curls. “Prego, amore mio,” he replies, his voice soft and full of love. (You’re welcome, my love.)

For a moment, it’s just the two of you, your little bubble of Italian secret conversations and soft touches. None of his friends can understand what you’re saying, and that only makes it more special. Theodore’s gaze stays fixed on you, pride and admiration clear in his eyes. He tilts your chin up gently, pressing a tender kiss to your lips before murmuring, “Sei perfetta.” (You’re perfect.)

You can’t help but smile, your heart swelling at the sound of his praise. “Solo perché ho un bravo insegnante,” you tease, your voice playful. (Only because I have a good teacher.)

He chuckles, his hand resting on the back of your neck as he pulls you closer. “Allora dobbiamo continuare le lezioni,” he whispers, his lips brushing against your temple. (Then we must continue the lessons.)

You laugh softly, nodding as you settle into his arms. “Sì, voglio imparare di più,” you whisper back. (Yes, I want to learn more.)

He grins, clearly pleased, and presses another kiss to your forehead. “Bene,” he whispers. (Good.) And as the day stretches on, you stay wrapped up in each other, speaking softly in a language that only the two of you can share.

[whumpthemusical]

Whump: The Musical Prompts!!

As stated before, this challenge will run from March 1- March 31, 2024. All fandoms are welcome to participate despite it being prompts based off of musicals. Once again, all types of media are allowed. This challenge has the standard "choose one for the day" style, but feel free to do all three prompts if that's what you want to do!! All types of whump are allowed, but please be respectful to your fellow audience members and properly tag it!! Some of these prompts are sensitive, so make sure you warn your readers correctly! There will be an ao3 collection and an FAQ post coming soon, so if you have any further questions or comments about this challenge, feel free to drop me a line. Happy writing, my beautiful ingénues, and enjoy the show :)))

The prompts will be listed under the cut for those who have difficulty reading fonts!!

Cats- Sabotage • Second Chances • "I Can Dream Of The Old Days."

Wicked- Mob Mentality • Propaganda • "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished."

Jesus Christ Superstar- Whipping • Betrayal • "Then I Was Inspired, Now I'm Sad And Tired."

Les Mis- Survivor's Guilt • Failure • "Drink With Me To Days Gone By."

Heathers- Poison • Reluctant Whumper • "Wanna fight for me?"

Newsies- Chronic Pain • Exploitation • "Let 'Em Laugh In My Face, I Don't Care."

The Last Five Years- Infidelity • Gaslighting • "I Will Not Lose Because You Can't WIn."

Hadestown- Deals • Doomed Narrative • "Doubt Comes In."

Sweeney Todd- False Imprisonment • Razors • "Have You Decided It's Safer In Cages?"

Rent- Substance Abuse • Poverty • "Feels Too Much Damn Like Home."

Bare: A Pop Opera- Outing • Religious Trauma • "Please, See Me."

Waitress- Unplanned Pregnancy • Abuse • "She Is Broken And Won't Ask For Help."

Tick Tick Boom- Atychiphobia • Working To Exhaustion • "Is This Real Life?"

Dear Evan Hansen- Deception • Broken Bone • "Words Fail."

West Side Story- Star-Crossed Lovers • Prejudices • "A Boy Who Kills Cannot Love."

Come From Away- Stranded • Aftermath • "Blankets And Bedding And Maybe Some Food."

Spring Awakening- Withheld Information • Suicide  • "I Don't Scream, Though I Know It's Wrong."

Hamilton- Hurricane  • Dueling • "I Will Kill Your Friends And Family To Remind You Of My Love."

Falsettos- Sickness • Identity Issues • "Death Is Not A Friend."

Into The Woods- Blame • Lost • "Nothing But A Vast Midnight."

The Great Comet- Abduction • Letters • "Did You Love That Bad Man?"

In The Heights- Grief • Homesickness • "I Know That I'm Letting You Down."

Be More Chill- Mind Manipulation • Panic Attack • "Everything About Me Makes Me Want To Die."

Moulin Rouge- Class Differences • Sex Work • "Come What May."

Chicago- Cold Blood • Trial • "He Had It Coming."

Six- Execution • Trauma Bonding • "Playtime's Over."

Ride The Cyclone- Unexpected Tragedy • Forgotten Whumpee • "I Hear The Anguish Of The Street."

The Rocky Horror Show- Obsession • Wrong Place, Wrong Time • "I've Seen Blue Skies Through The Tears."

Nerdy Prudes Must Die- Bullying • Ritual • "Who Will Pray For You?"

Jekyll And Hyde- Duality • Good Vs Evil • "If I Die, You'll Die."

Phantom Of The Opera- Disfiguration • Shunned • "My Power Over You Grows Stronger Yet."

[writers-advocate]

i know you guys want more aphrodisiac but pause for just a moment and consider the possibilities with miggy n the one he replaced

for all intents and purposes, in this case, gabriella’s miguel lived. but right now he’s gone, and 2099 miguel has smoothly taken his place. he knows it’s wrong. he knows what he’s doing is so wrong. but he’s clinging onto absolutely anything that even remotely justifies his actions. and almost every night, you are his unwitting enabler. mewling quietly into the sheets about how good it feels, forcing yourself to keep it down while he fucks into you like it’s the last thing he’ll do

at some point though, he wants a chance to really hear you. gabriel has the kiddo for the night and miguel decides to take you out. “anywhere, amor.” you settle on your usual bar, unaware of how miguel doesn’t seem to recognize it, and the bartender apparently gets too close to you for comfort. neither one of you sees the murderous intent in miguel’s crimson eyes

so of course it catches you off guard, when as soon as you’re out of sight, his hand tangles in your hair to practically drag you around to the alleyway. his lips on your skin searing, his words coming in a low growl. “no entiendes que eres mía?”

he intends to prove it to you, despite your little whimpers of reassurance, and before you know it, one thick arm is wrapped around your throat from behind while he drives his cock deep into your poor aching cunt over and over. you’ve lost count of how many orgasms he’s pulled from you and he hasn’t even cum yet, all you can do is cry about how good it feels, and how you can’t take it anymore, nails pressing into the corded muscle making you lightheaded. “hurts, mi- iggy please!” but you’ll wail if he shows any sign of pulling away

“ay pobrecita, le duele?” he simply angles your hips to brush that sweet spot inside you every time and his free hand drifts down from your tummy to circle your throbbing clit. you cry out, your legs give out, but it doesn’t matter when he’s holding you up to use like his own little toy. “it’s okay baby i know. i know, it’s okay, he could never fuck you like this. you’re gonna take everything i give you. me oyes? you’re mine. not his. shockin’ mine.“ and you agree, unaware he’s talking about your sweet miggy, not the old friend of yours behind the bar

he needs to feel justified. he needs reassurance. and if he has to fuck you stupid to get it, then so be it

i’ll continue in just a moment, i promise. after all, we can’t leave original miggy high and dry now can we

[fairlyang]

Eres mía 🕷️

you'll always be his and he won't let you forget it

w/c: 2.3K

pairing: crazyex!miguel x takenfem!reader

tags: 18+ smut. homewrecking & cheating (don't do that!), making out, teasing, dry humping, grinding, save a horse ride a cowboy, cow girl, unprotected sex, slight cockwarming

notes: I use to listen to romeo’s toxic ass back in elementary- like I was a CHILD listening to this man sing abt snatching someone’s girl - n e way his songs are iconic

Ya me han informado que tu novio es un insípido aburrido

Tú que eres fogata y el tan frío

Your friends had given Miguel the chisme that you found yourself a new boyfriend and that he was a boring cold piece of shit. Just based off that he knew that man wasn't going to be better good for you.

Or better than he was to you.

Let alone the fact that you'd actually forgotten about him.

Dice tu amiguita que es celoso, no quiere que sea tu amigo

Sospecha que soy un pirata y robaré su flor

After your breakup you decided to remain friends, which was a given because the relationship ended on good terms. You only didn't tell him because you had to tell your girls first and kinda told them it was fine if they gave him the news, which they did with ease.

Then came the problem, your best friend pulled Miguel aside and told him that he was already a jealous man. But when you told him your ex was still a part of your main friend group he flipped.

Said he didn't want you to still be friends with your ex but you laughed in his face and waved him off.

Then he laughed when your best friend told him that your man suspected that Miguel was going to act like a pirate and steal what's rightfully his.

No te asombres

Si una noche

Entro a tu cuarto y nuevamente te hago mía

A couple days after receiving the news Miguel went to your place unannounced. You weren't exactly surprised he showed, you figured you should talk about it.

But he had other plans.

As soon as you closed the door behind you both, he grabbed your waist and stepped towards you, making your back hit the door. You looked at him with new annoyance and rolled your eyes before looking up at him. "Just wanted to give you a little warning." He murmurs and leans down, contemplating if he should kiss you or not.

"For what?" You sigh and cross your arms against your chest.

"Don't be surprised the day I come into your room and make you mine again." He whispers and you kept a straight face.

But you couldn't help the way your heart began racing when he finished speaking. And the close proximity didn't help either.

Bien conoces

Mis errores

El egoísmo de ser dueño de tu vida

"Sounds like a threat to me." You joke and he just scoffs.

"Don't start." He warns and you just shrug giving him a sweet smile.

"You know all my mistakes.... But you also know how my ego can be.." he starts and brought a hand up to cup your jaw and stroke your cheek gently. "about needing to be a part of your life."

Eres mía, mía, mía

No te hagas la loca, eso muy bien ya lo sabías

You bit your lip and locked eyes with him, of course he was being dead serious. He was never able to let go.

But maybe you still hadn't either.

Especially with the way those butterflies appeared in your stomach. Just like old times.

"You're mine." He whispers and you want to look away but you simply can't.

Because of the way he was holding you, making you look at him, and because deep down you didn't want to.

"And don't act surprised because you already knew this." He whispers sending a shiver down your spine.

Si tú te casas

El día de tu boda

Le digo a tu esposo con risas

Que solo es prestada

La mujer que ama

Porque sigues siendo mía (Mía)

"If you get married, the day of your wedding I'll tell your husband, while laughing in his face, that the woman he loves is only borrowed, because you're still mine." He says starting to really shake you up.

Your mind was running wild, your body was also having a mind of its own. You knew you had to stop this from moving forward, but you didn't have the strength to.

Dicen que un clavo saca un clavo pero eso es solo rima

No existe una herramienta que saque mi amor

"Nothing in the world can take out my love for you." He whispers and leans even closer to your face, merrily inches apart.

No te asombres

Si una noche

Entro a tu cuarto y nuevamente te hago mía

He takes notice of how you're not pushing him away, yelling at him to leave. So he uses this as his green light and leans in, getting rid of the space between you two and kisses you.

Bien conoces

Mis errores

El egoísmo de ser dueño de tu vida

You kiss him back passionately and wrap your arms behind his neck as he brings his hands down to your waist again. He walks backwards, bringing you with him and knowing your apartment like the back of his hand, maneuvering around your couch and going to the front of it.

He then felt the cushion of it and sat down, pulling you on top of him as you positioned yourself on his lap. His hands already began wandering your body, knowing exactly where and how you liked to be touched.

One of his hands was on your jaw and the other on your lower back, trailing along softly. Yours were now playing with his hair, lightly tugging and earning yourself those groans that’d drive you insane.

Suddenly you feel a smack on your ass making you moan so he slid his tongue into your mouth, not wanting to waste any time.

But he’s missed your kisses so much, he couldn’t help himself.

Eres mía, mía, mía

No te hagas la loca, eso muy bien ya lo sabías

He then pulled away and gently moved your head to the side. His lips were now on leaving kisses on your jaw and slowly making their way down.

You closed your eyes and realized how much you missed him. He hadn’t touched you in over ten months, too much time for you both.

He sucked on your skin before softly licking it then peppering kissed on the bruise he left. “All mine.” He murmurs and moves down to leave another by your collarbone.

Si tú te casas

El día de tu boda

Le digo a tu esposo con risas

Que solo es prestada

La mujer que ama

Porque sigues siendo mía (Mía mía mía)

You let out a shaky breath and attempt to squeeze your thighs together, only to create some friction between you and Miguel’s growing bulge.

You whimper while Miguel moans against your skin, leaving yet another mark. “Miguel-“

He hums and grabs the ends of your tee shirt before pulling it up exposing your pretty tits to him. Oh how badly he’s missed them.

He got to work and squeezed them both between his hands then sucked on the left nipple. He pinched your right nipple earning himself a moan before then alternating and sucks on your right nipple harshly.

Almost as if you’d disappear out of his hands if he was gentle or let go of you.

Te deseo lo mejor

Y el mejor, soy yo

He plops your nipple out of his mouth and looks up at you, “I only want what’s best for you…”

“And the best just happens to be me.” He mumbles and goes back to sucking on your left nipple.

You cried out and you bucked your hips against his, feeling his hard on against your barely covered cunt. Only the tiniest pair of fabric which is what you called panties.

But for Miguel those specific kinds you loved wearing were practically g strings, barely covering any of your cunt if anything your lips were out to show.

He pulled away and looked down at your body, a smirk tugging on his lips as you looked down in embarrassment.

“Still wearing these huh?” He teases and you just nod.

“That asshole doesn’t deserve you.” He murmurs and moves his hands to your hips, making you grind against him.

You know your heart is mine

And you'll love me forever

You gasped and started doing it on your own, still with his help because you knew how much he loved to grip your hips and watch at the same time. “You’re so beautiful baby.” He mumbles and you feel yourself clench against nothing.

He chuckles and smiles before letting go of your hips and grabs your hands, interlocking your fingers together as you continued your pace.

You could already feel your arousal soak through your panties and onto the sweatpants he was wearing. Way too fast but given Miguel always had you like that.

You know your heart is mine

And you'll love me forever

Your breathing was getting heavier as you grinded directly on Miguel’s length, you swore you could feel it occasionally twitch which just felt so good against your clit.

You gripped his hands and felt your eyes fluttering, “doing so good pretty girl.” He moaned out and felt his precum leak even more.

Baby, your heart is mine

And you'll love me forever

“Just missed you so much.” He mumbles and you open your lips to look at him, leaning in and leaving a peck on his lips.

He was going to kiss back but you wanted to prove a point so you pulled back and leaned your forehead against his, “I did too.”

Baby, your heart is mine

And you'll love me forever

His heart skipped a beat and he could feel his face grow warm. You smiled and then got off warning yourself a frown from him.

Until he noticed you were just taking off your soaked panties and dropping them to the floor.

You then leaned down and grabbed the waistband of his sweatpants, slowly pulling them down as he lifted his hips up so you can take them off.

No te asombres

Si una noche

Entro a tu cuarto y nuevamente te hago mía

You slid them down his legs and off his feet, dropping them to the floor before looking at his bulge, more so his boxers that were shiny from your slick.

You widen your eyes in shock then chuckle, it was more than normal…

You then went into his boxers and grabbed his cock, sliding it through the hole before once again getting on top of him. This time having the same thing in mind, except this time you’d be grinding your bare cunt on to his cock.

It was already swung up by his stomach so you sat down, positioning yourself directly on top of his shaft. You whimpered at the new feeling and slowly started to move your hips as Miguel laid his head back onto the couch. “Oh fuck baby.” He groaned and brought his hands to your hips, gripping your skin gently.

You felt your slick move with every movement and your cunt felt so good against his cock. It wasn’t like anything you’ve both felt.

Now you were left wondering why you’d never try that before.

Bien conoces

Mis errores

El egoísmo de ser dueño de tu vida

But you quickly remembered why when Miguel was giving you those eyes. Those eyes he gave you when he needed you.

All too familiar and you weren’t going to deny him the pleasure of finally being inside you after missing you for so many months.

And vice versa.

You missed his cock. And all of him in general. You just couldn’t get yourself to admit it.

So you decide to show it.

You lift yourself up and grab his cock, positioning him into your entrance then without a second to spare, you slam down onto him making you both moan.

You then brought yourself back up then slam back down making you whimper. It’d been so long it was as if it was a brand new cock inside you.

Eres mía, mía mía mía

No te hagas la loca, eso muy bien ya lo sabías

Not wanting to waste anymore time you continued fucking yourself into him as he moaned out praises and sweet nothings that were only bringing you closer to the edge.

You were practically edging the both of you so your orgasm wasn’t too far off, and you hadn’t been having the best sex recently so this was already having you going fast.

And worse that it was with Miguel of all people.

But end of the day it was going to be hard for you to turn him down.

He then starts thrusting up as you came down, ensuring he’d thrust deep inside you already. “Missed this so badly baby.” He moans and he slams into you harder.

“F-Feels s- fuck! Feels so g-good Miguel.” You moan and grab onto his shoulders to support yourself.

“I know baby, I know. Fuck I’ve missed you.” He groans and thrusts into you harder making your legs shake.

Si tu te casas

El día de tu boda

Le digo a tu esposo con risas (ha ha ha ha ha)

Que solo es prestada

La mujer que ama

Porque sigues siendo mía

He twitched inside you and your were clenching against him which only made him speed up. He needed you to cum around him so badly.

“Cum for me baby. I need to feel you cum around my cock.” He grunts and you nod vigorously before crying out.

“You’re all fucking mine.” He moans making you let out bundles of moans and whimpers for him. Your orgasm quickly approached you and hit you hard like a tidal wave.

Your whole body began shaking as he groaned and shot his load inside you. He sat his ass on the couch and let you sit on his cock as he filled you up to the brim.

You were both breathing heavily and you could hear your heart beat ringing in your ear. You brought your body down and laid your head against his chest as he wrapped his arms around you lovingly.

You felt him kiss the top of your head as you closed your eyes and calmed your breathing down. He did the same except with a wide grin on his face, he missed you so much and now he finally had you back in his arms for good.

[julianalvarez9]

work for it / mason mount

summary: you like mason too. but you decide it's funnier to make him work for it a bit.

request: hiii could i request a mason mount ig au where reader is messi’s daughter but they were lowkey at first :’)) and her brothers loooove mason too hehehe 👉🏻👈🏻

pair: mason mount x messi!reader

masonmount

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masonmount bring your niece to work day :)

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name_messi you should drop her off to play with mateo

masonmount any room for the cool uncle?

name_messi no

cmpulisic tell her uncle chris misses her :(

kepaarrizabalaga es más rápida que tú 😂 (she's faster than you 😂)

name_messi lo decís como si fuera difícil 😂 (you're saying it like it's hard 😂)

masonmount you can't come to my page to speak badly of me in another language name_messi 🙁

name_messi

Liked by masonmount, leomessi and others.

name_messi de vuelta en casa! extrañaba a mis tres diablitos 🤍 (back home! missed my three little devils 🤍)

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masonmount can i be in the middle? xx

name_messi no xxx

user1 3 kisses instead of 2? she's in love 😂

antonelarocuzzo 😂

user2 PLEASE mason is trying sooo hard

name_messi

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name_messi quién ganó, un nene de 7 años o un jugador de premier league 😂 (who won, a 7 year old kid or a premier league player 😂)

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masonmount a 7 year old kid with messi as his last name*

cmpulisic just accept that you got bodied by a 7 yo 😂

user1 did mason finally take summer to play with mateo? 😭 we need pics

name_messi

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name_messi babysitting 2 kids today, should be paid extra tbh

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user3 i love that her brothers are always with them it feels like they love him sm 🥹

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masonmount can you babysit me every day?

cmpulisic man you're embarrassing yourself at this point 😂

user1 mason winning by being so close to the messi's

user2 imagine if he marries her 🥹 messi-mount sounding real good

user3 please he doesn't have a chance 😂

antonelarocuzzo lindos!! ❤️ (pretty! ❤️)

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name_messi

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name_messi mason tried mate today this is a big deal !!!!

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masonmount we look good together, don't you think? ;)

name_messi we'll look better if you weren't standing so close to me

masonmount funny that you say that now

user1 MASON SPILL

antonelarocuzzo le gustó???? (did he like it?)

name_messi espero que sí sino no vamos a ser más amigos (hope he did, if not we're not gonna keep being friends)

user2 babysitting together

user3 they're ready to have kids of their own at this point

| ♥️ comment liked by masonmount.

user3 MASON WHAT THE FUCK

name_messi mason what the fuck?

name_messi

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name_messi me estoy arrepintiendo de haberlo traído (i'm regretting even bringing him here)

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cmpulisic nice view you've got there ;)

name_messi i'll ship him to you rn if you want him

cmpulisic he's all yours

masonmount you love me

name_messi we're friends

masonmount friends that love each other secretly

name_messi so you love me?

user1 it isn't a secret 😂

user2 okay bringing him to a FAMILY VACATION? they're together at this point

name_messi we're not

masonmount yet*

masonmount

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masonmount she finally said yes 🤍

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cmpulisic thought this was an engagement post for a bit 😂

masonmount that was the first question. she said no.

benchilwell again, how many times did you ask her to be your girlfriend?

masonmount she said no 7 times, 2 times that she'd think about it

kaihavertz29 so 10 time's a charm 😂

name_messi me engañó para que diga que sí 🙄 (tricked me into saying yes 🙄)

antonelarocuzzo lo hiciste trabajar 😂 (made him work for it 😂)

name_messi había que hacerlo transpirar un poco, no todo puede ser fácil solo porque es lindo 🙄 (he had to sweat it a bit, not everything can be easy just bc he's cute 🙄)

masonmount what does lindo mean?

[nickyroethemarinebiologist]

Hello this is my presentation on what animals Les Mis characters would be except I'm only 500ish pages into the book so it's very short list at the moment

I decided almost IMMEDIATELY that Valjean would be some sort of owl, despite what I believe is the most popular interpretation being him as a lion. I was thinking of that one chapter in the book where he's referred to as an owl (the one called 'a nest for owl and wren' I think??) and decided yes absolutely that is 100% it. So then my first thought was a snowy owl, since they're pretty fucking big and also white (I'm not too bothered for hair colours and what have you in the rest of these but for Valjean it seemed pretty important) but the snowy owl look just wasn't doing it for me!! (something about their look was a little too intense, I guess??) And then! I remembered the barn owl (which is, by the way, probably my favourite owl). And yeah I might be a little biased towards them but they have a sort of gentle look while still being, y'know, owls (notoriously pretty dangerous predators). And of course, owls are nocturnal.

Also, just look at them!! The vibe is perfect, I'm certain of it.

(And!! While most barn owls have that light brown colouring, there have been white ones!! So the hair colour problem is all good)

Javert was a LOT more trouble (which I wasn't anticipating, after the easy pick for Valjean). He HAD to be some sort of wolf/dog-adjacent animal, that was the one and only condition (though I did briefly consider a horse. Just because he has a horse in both the 2018 BBC series and the 2012 movie??). A hyena was my first immediate pick (yeenvert <3) but it wasn't QUITE there and I was struggling desperately for some other idea. AND THEN! I decided, if no horse, why not a vaguely horse-shaped dog? Which led to a short list of hounds (scottish deerhound, irish wolfhound, ibizan hound) which I sort of juggled in my mind for a bit before finally deciding I kind of liked the scruffy deerhound vibe. They're very sweet dogs, as far as I know, so in that respect maybe not so accurate, but they definitely have the capacity to be foreboding in the same way most hounds have. They're also pretty tall!

(And yes I KNOW I said I wasn't fussed for colours but the grey on these guys is actually perfect for my mental image of Javert so! It's a happy accident!)

I knew pretty immediately that the bishop would be some sort of rooster. I have absolutely no reason for this other than the vibe was too perfect to ignore (though I think I might have been inspired by some gif of the bishop an old Les Mis movie where there were chickens in the background). So then I went on Wikipedia and ran through a list of roosters until I found this magnificent little beast, a faverolles rooster. I found on my not-so-extensive research journey that these guys are super gentle and apparently very hilarious, which, yeah, that's absolutely him <3

The bishop's sister (Mademoiselle Baptistine?) also gets a chicken. Because yeah they're related but also I just think it really fits her. Or maybe I'm biased, idk, I do really love chickens. I don't really have much to say about her which I am so so sorry for because I do really like her!! But she's a swedish flower hen

And Madame Magloire was going to be a chicken (before I gave that to the bishop's sister instead) but I later landed on some sort of donkey. Again, I haven't got much reason for this but the vibe is there!! I promise you!! I switched between a bunch of different donkey breeds (all of which I had never heard of before but I absolutely love, by the way. Go check out a provence donkey) and then i found the bourbonnais donkey, which is just perfect to me. If I have ever been certain of anything it's this.

(There's a disappointing amount of donkey photos on the internet. Where are they all!!)

I was going to save Fauchelevent for a different post but i really like him so he's here too. I was pretty sold on him as a sheep at first, and I very nearly left it at that but then!! I learned of a cashmere goat, which was not only a lot closer to how I imagine him but also they look cool as hell!! So I thought, okay, that was easy, but something still wasn't sitting quite right. The goat idea was absolutely perfect, but the cashmere goat was too far in the direction away from the sheep idea (which I'm still very attached to). So instead I went for an angora goat! Which apparently do something pretty close to gardening for a goat (eating/destroying nuisance plants and improving pastures) so it was almost too perfect to pass up. Also their horns are pretty awesome

(It's very funny to me personally that Valjean is an owl while Fauchelevent is a goat. Yes, we are brothers, the bird and the goat. Makes perfect sense)

I was going to give Cosette one in this post too but I'm not 100% sure of hers yet!! So she'll have to wait. I apologise deeply.

[catholic-character-tournament]

Round 4 - Catholic Character Tournament

Propaganda below ⬇️

Paul

he's like if renfield from dracula was cool youth pastor.

He's also a priest, who essentially becomes a vampire due to an "angel" and tries to convert the entire town. He also runs an Alcoholics Anonymous group. I love him

Listen you've probably gotten this guy idk how many times but JUST IN CASE, I submitted him. He's a priest who fell in love and had a lesbian daughter. He becomes a vampire after his money-laundering fundie simp sent him to the Holy Land. He's so torn up over his lover having dementia and God allowing so much overwhelming death that he decides he's going to try to Cure Death Forever but oh boy is it a slippery slope and the man is surrounded by enablers.

so i binged watch the chosen (it's a drama series but it's the bible) and I needed to balance or else Id be insane so I watched midnight mass. It was good. Fuck this rat. I loved the ending though -- op

Jean

Everything he does is motivated by the grace shown to him by the bishop. I also like him. He’s a strong old man which white hair. Or Hugh Jackman, which is also a cool thing to be.

His whole conflict over the course of the show is do I follow God and be a good man or do I follow the law. He doesn’t like, break the law all the time, but he will if it’s to appease a higher mission i.e he’s wanted by the police but he evades arrest to save an orphan

There’s a lot of talk about god in Les Mis. In the musical, Valjean has plenty of songs where he’s praying or talking to God.

[deceasedream69]

Ignoring

Summary: Jake x reader. A little angsty but fluffy ending.

A/n: a lot of Spanish that doesn't really matter to the plot, so I'm not gonna translate.

Reader has scarlet with powers.

--------------------------------------------------

- "but then, le dijo que no quería estar peleando, y todos estábamos viendo y..."

I got carried away with excitement as I was telling a story I considered funny to Jake. I liked the idea that because he spoke Spanish I could just let myself lose in my own native language.

- "I don't understand a thing you're narrating my darling, but you look so beautiful today"

That cut me off and I turned to look at the same face, but different person now. Did Steven really planned to come out right now in the middle of my conversation with Jake? Was Jake bored and just decided to switch and let my rambling for another alter. Of course that alter was going to be Steven.

- "hi, love, I'm sorry for the confusion, I was just gossiping with Jake", I kissed him sweetly and lay down with him before falling asleep. I still had a lot of doubts in my mind that I was sure I had to attend later.

-

- "y luego...", I started my experiment again, there's no way Jake was going to switch so fast, he's been with me for like 10 minutes, it'll be too suspicious or exactly the answer I was looking for. "Pero, pues, no me quise meter porque ya sabes cómo es Tara cuando..."

His eyes looked hypnotized, paying full attention to my words, brows furrowed together for brief moments and his head supported by his hand while he nodded to my words.

- "Hi, Steven", I smiled, tho, inside it hurted knowing damn well what just happened.

- "it always amazes me how you can tell us appart without even saying anything"

I kissed him sweetly.

- "have a good night, my love"

- "you too, my darling"

I couldn't hold it anymore, I was so angry. I checked Steven, he was deep into his sleep, carefully I got out of bed and walked out of the apartment.

A sigh escaped my mouth before walking towards the window. I crawled out of it, the fresh and cold air of the night hitting my face and making me easen up, but not enough.

I flew to where I knew I could let myself go freely. An abandoned building.

I came crushing through the ceiling, all the way from the top, to the bottom. When I reached the bottom I grabbed the first thing that crossed my path, smashing it against the wall, repeating the same over and over and over.

How could he do that to me, was I boring? Where my stories boring? If it's not about sex it isn't worth it to even be out? Just spending time together at least, no, it wasn't enough for him, I wasn't enough.

I broke, smashed and exploded the whole building down, kneeling in front of it when it was almost just ashes. But the last line still ringed through my mind.

I wasn't enough.

Moon knight's pov.

I felt when y/n left the bed, I thought she was just going to the bathroom, but a fair amount of time passed and she didn't come back. Lazily I got out of bed and walked towards the bathroom, my eyes not fully open and my steps clumsy.

- "babe", I knocked on the bathroom door. "Are you okay?"

I yawned and scratched the parts of my body that suddenly were itchy, as I grew more and more sleepy.

- "y/n?" I opened the bathroom door but there was no one there. "Y/n?!" I checked the entire apartment and she wasn't there.

- "this isn't funny, mi vida" I tried calling her but her phone was in the house, that's when I really got worried.

Until a spark caught my eye, outside the window.

The red lights glowing wild and standing out in the dark and lights dead city.

I pinched the bridge of my nose and got changed into my suit.

Y/n's pov.

I couldn't take it anymore, my powers blinked as I lowered my hands, my legs were shaking slightly and my head was spinning, making my vision go blurry.

Moon knight's pov.

When I arrived I was ready to fight whatever y/n was fighting, but an old building wasn't really a worthy opponent.

- "y/n?" I knelt in front of her, turning her slightly, caressing her cheek, she seemed fine, just tired. Taking her in my arms, we came back to the apartment, quickly taking my suit off.

Y/n's pov

Cold.

It was very cold.

I didn't like it, just wanted to stop feeling that coldness. I angrily groaned and tried to move, but my head felt heavy, trying to keep my eyes closed in case the lights could hurt them, but I started to open the slowly, very slowly.

- "too cold", I hugged my own body.

- "are you kidding me? You want me to burn my fingers?"

- "this is hot for you?", I whimpered and hugged myself tightly, putting my knees to my chest level.

- "stop complaining and we'll finish faster"

- "it's too cold"

He sighed in defeat.

- "fine", he turned the hot water knob just a little bit, but enough for my taste.

His touch was slow and careful, my hair was already washed when I woke up.

After picking me up from the bathtub and carrying me to the bed, get got me underwear and lay next to me.

- "can you explain to me what happened today?"

This wasn't Jake, it was softer.

- "thanks for going for me, Marc"

- "anytime, love, but that doesn't answer my question"

- "I got mad at Jake", I wasn't really maintaining eye contact. Too nervous and tired to even try.

- "why were you mad at Jake, love? What did he do?", he lifted my chin with his finger, everything was quiet, the whole moment was just us, which made me even more nervous to talk about what I felt, what happened... and how I couldn't really control my anger at the end.

- " can I talk to him?"

- "I thought your were mad at him"

- "I need to... please..."

He hugged me, making us spoon, him behind me, his arm snaked in front of me.

- "talk to me, mi Cielo"

- "do you think I'm boring? Does something I do makes you feel the need to stop listening to me so desperately you have to change alter"

- "what?", he whispered. I turned around, now facing him.

- "if you're not comfortable listening to something I'm saying, or you just find me annoying, you can just say so, and not make me waste my saliva", I said turning again so he was facing my back.

- "didn't mean to make you feel that way"

- "how did you expect me to react when you just changed to stop listening to me"

He just stayed silent and hold me tighter.

- "I don't always have the best responses, Steven does"

- "I wasn't telling the story to Steven, specially when I'm speaking Spanish", I closed my eyes, making sure I didn't get angry again.

- "tomorrow we're going to that new restaurant you told me about, and you're gonna tell me everything you want, and I'll listen"

- "you can tell me anything you want too, you can trust me", I said facing him again.

- "I know I can... I'm just not sure I deserve..."

- "don't you dare say that, mi Cielo, te amo, I love you with all my heart, and I always will, that's why I love speaking with you and spending time with you, just like I love doing any of those things with any of you three, but when I feel like you love doing it with me too"

- "I'm sorry", he grabbed my hand and kissed it

- "I'm sorry too", I kissed his hand too and he laughed.

- "I don't deserve you...", he smiled, "te amo"

- "te amo" I kissed him sweetly as we fell asleep holding each other.

The end :)

[lunamagicablu]

C’era una volta… C’era una volta un’isola, dove vivevano tutti i sentimenti e i valori degli uomini. Il Buon Umore, la Tristezza, il Sapere, l’Amore. Un giorno venne annunciato ai sentimenti che l’isola stava per sprofondare, allora prepararono tutte le loro navi e partirono, solo l’Amore volle aspettare fino all’ultimo momento. Quando l’isola fu sul puntodi sprofondare, l’Amore decise di chiedere aiuto. La Ricchezza passò vicino all’ Amore su un barca lussuosissima e l’Amore le disse: ”Ricchezza, mi puoi portare con te?” “Non posso, ho molto oro e argento sulla mia barca e non ho posto per te.” L’Amore decise di chiedere all’Orgoglio che stava passando su un magnifico vascello: ”Orgoglio ti prego, mi puoi portare con te?” “Non ti posso aiutare Amore” rispose l’Orgoglio, “qui è tutto perfetto, potresti rovinare la mia barca”. Allora l’Amore chiese alla Tristezza che gli passava accanto: “Tristezza ti prego, lasciami venire con te”. “Oh Amore” rispose la Tristezza “sono così triste che ho bisogno di stare da sola”. Anche il Buon Umore passò di fianco all’Amore, ma era così contento che non sentì che lo stava chiamando. All’improvviso una voce disse: “Vieni Amore, ti prendo con me”. Era un vecchio che aveva parlato, l’Amore si sentì così riconoscente e pieno di gioia che dimenticò di chiedere il nome al vecchio. Quando arrivarono sulla terra, l’Amore si rese conto di quanto gli dovesse e chiese al Sapere: “Sapere puoi dirmi chi mi ha aiutato?” “E’ stato il Tempo” rispose il Sapere.“ “Il Tempo?” s’interrogò l’Amore, “Perché mai il Tempo mi ha aiutato.” Il Sapere pieno di saggezza rispose: “Perché solo il Tempo è capace di comprendere quanto l’Amore sia importante nella Vita” WEB ********************** Once upon a time... Once upon a time there was an island, where all the feelings and values of men lived. Good Mood, Sadness, Knowledge, Love. One day it was announced to the feelings that the island was about to sink, so they prepared all their ships and left, only Love wanted to wait until the last moment. When the island was on the verge of sinking, Love decided to ask for help. Wealth passed by Love on a very luxurious boat and Love said to her: “Wealth, can you take me with you?” “I can't, I have a lot of gold and silver on my boat and I have no room for you.” Love decided to ask Pride who was passing by on a magnificent vessel: "Pride please, can you take me with you?" “I can't help you Love” replied Pride, “everything is perfect here, you could ruin my boat”. Then Love asked Sadness who passed by him: “Sadness please, let me come with you”. “Oh Love,” Sadness replied, “I'm so sad that I need to be alone.” Even Good Mood passed by Love, but he was so happy that he didn't hear that he was calling him. Suddenly a voice said: “Come Love, I'll take you with me”. It was an old man who had spoken, Love felt so grateful and full of joy that he forgot to ask the old man's name. When they arrived on earth, Love realized how much he owed him and asked Knowledge: “Can Knowledge tell me who helped me?” “It was Time,” replied Knowledge. “Time?” Love asked himself, “Why has Time ever helped me?” Knowledge full of wisdom replied: “Because only Time is capable of understanding how important Love is in Life” WEB 

[bluedalahorse]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

I was tagged by @silvagrey! Thank you for bringing me into the game.

How many works do you have on Ao3?

Four so far! Heart and Homeland is massive and multichapter, though. Hoping to post two other fics this week—one old one for the Les Mis fandom, one new one for Young Royals fandom.

What's your total Ao3 word count?

254,916

What fandoms do you write for?

Primarily Young Royals. I do have one sort of experimental piece for a show called Merli Sapere Aude and am going to be posting an old Les Mis fic (that I’ve never put on AO3 before) for Barricade Day this Thursday.

Top five fics by kudos:

Heart and Homeland comes first, followed by Terrain Boundaries Territory. Peripeteia and Pieces That Make Up A Set are tied for six kudos.

Do you respond to comments?

Yes, absolutely! I came of age in the livejournal era when comments sections were buzzing with conversation. Please just come and chat with me on my fics, it’s so much fun.

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Chapter 32 of Heart and Homeland is the angstiest/most tragic ending of anything I’ve ever written and I am still proud of it. I made @heliza24 cry! But Heart and Homeland overall is going to have a happy ending, I promise.

Calculated Dust, the Les Mis fic I’m going to post, also has an anngsty ending.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I initially read this question and went ??? because I wasn’t sure how to answer it. I think this question might be better answered by my readers and what they might find happy.

Do you get hate on fics?

No. I suppose I get more indifference because I tend to write less popular characters and pairings.

Do you write smut?

Yes! I’m one of those aces who enjoys writing smut. My smut is not very explicit, admittedly. But I enjoy it as a form of character study (and also it is fun and hot.)

Craziest crossover?

I’m not going to tell you because I want it to be a surprise, but there is a blink-and-you-miss-it reference to a favorite childhood book series in my current WIP. I wonder who will spot it?

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge. I do not recommend stealing my fics, though.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

I haven’t yet. I suppose if I wanted to be a masochist I could translate some of my fanfiction into Latin.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! @heliza24 and I are the dream team! The great thing about writing with a co-writer is that we try to one up one another and it means our stories are full of all kinds of twists and turns. We also sometimes record ourselves reading new chapters and send them to one another in little “audiobooks.”

All time favourite ship?

Sargust aka MY SHIP OF ALL TIME. I will write them tragically, I will write them hopefully, I will write them in the 19th century, I will write them in an AU where August is also a girl and they are sapphic. Sorry not sorry but they are… so hot together actually. (Obligatory disclaimer applies.)

What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I have this unfinished series of Heartstopper vignettes where they all have to take care of “egg children” at school as a project about responsible parenting. With one exception (eggception?) people are not paired with their romantic partner as coparent. 

The most important part of the fic is Darcy and Isaac deciding to protest the coparenting assignment by arguing for a better, more inclusive sex ed curriculum. They pass out a bunch of pamphlets written by one Dr. Jean Milburn. Darcy and Isaac’s chapter is told entirely as a school email chain, including some very beleaguered emails sent by Mr. Farouk.

It would be fun to finish that but I don’t know if I will because I sort of forget about Heartstopper when it’s not airing.

What are your writing strengths?

I think I have a good grasp of how to select telling details that show what’s going on in a scene. I also am very good at getting into a character’s brain/mindset and bringing the reader close to them. 

What are your writing weaknesses?

Writing quickly. Knowing how to end scenes. Being concise. (I’m hoping to get into a workshop this summer that will help me with the “being concise” thing.)

Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

It’s cool? I like it? I read a lot of YA books that do that, so I’m used to reading it.

First fandom you wrote in?

If being a little kid and writing stories based on stories I like counts, probably Disney’s Robin Hood or The Wizard of Oz.

Here’s some Wizard of Oz “fanfiction” from when I was about four or five years old:

Favourite fic you've written?

Definitely Heart and Homeland, but the current one I’m working on (tentatively titled Swell the Numbers) is fixing itself in my heart too.

No pressure tags: to my roommate and bestie @coruscantrhapsody!

[carriagelamp]

I think I accidentally hit my reading quota in July because in August I ended up doing every else except reading! And then September just got too busy. But I managed to scrape up a handful of books for the pat few months a few quite good and some rather overwhelmingly lacklustre...

The Alchemy of Moonlight

Well, we’re off to an auspicious start because this book was genuinely awful. It was a complete impulse purchase and gave me a very sharp reminder about judging books by their covers. After reading A Marvellous Light last month I was in the mood for more queer period romance and this one had ALL that plus a werewolf to boot! Sounds fun! I could use a fun summer impulse read! But sadly it committed what is, in my opinion, the single greatest sin a historical fiction novel can do, which is that it read completely and entirely like a modern novel. 

There was almost zero effort to make the vocabulary or cadence fit that of novels from that time period (and like, I’m not expecting perfect, I'm hardly an expert, but I regularly read fanfiction written in better pastiche than this. Les Mis and Sherlock Holmes fandoms, you guys have spoiled me). The characters also don’t act in historically appropriate ways, they were allowed to get way too familiar with each other way too quickly with zero regard to social class. And I can’t believe I’m saying this but I could have actually used a touch more homophobia -- guys, just a bit of internalised homophobia, even just the acknowledgement that societal pressures affect people. 

(also this getting described as a gothic horror? fuck off gothic horror is more than a spoopy house, where is the absolute overwhelming terror of the vast Sublime?? i was not forced to read frankenstein three fucking times for school to accept something this lame trying to describe itself as "gothic".)

I tossed this one in my local little free library and I hope it goes to someone who is less of a picky bastard when it comes to historical narration.

American Girl: Kaya and Lone Dog // A Spy on the Homefront: A Molly Mystery

Two more American Girl novels that I’ve read, one about Kaya, an indigenous girl form the Nimíipuu tribe in 1764 and the story about her missing her sister and befriending a lone dog who gives birth to puppies. Like the other books I’ve read from this series, I thought it was quite well done. It didn’t shy away from challenging topics (her sister being enslaved and how that loss has affected Kaya) and drew me along for the entire plot of the book. It was charming.

The other one I read was another from the Mystery series of books. Sadly I’m thinking that the entire Mystery series of American Girl books may just be lacklustre. Like the Kit Mystery I read a while back, this one had a decent concept, explored the time period (WWII) in an interesting way, but had abysmal pacing for a mystery novel. It was not very good at creating or maintaining tension, and minimal effort to actually give a reader any clues to track. It wasn’t a bad story, especially for a kid, but it was nothing special.

Annie: An Old-Fashioned Story

After rewatching the musical Annie I decided I needed to read the novel, because I love a novelization! Me and my girlfriend have been slowly reading this together over the past few months and it’s been really enjoyable. Annie is a spunky orphan girl during the Depression is eventually taken in by billionaire industrialist Oliver Warbucks. This book gives a lot more backstory to Annie, and really stretches out the time between her running away from the orphanage and her meeting Warbucks. It was a pretty interesting and unflinching look at the hardships suffered by a parentless child like Annie during the Depression. It added a lot that the film didn’t have, and was well worth the read.

Camp Damascus

Possibly my favourite book from this review. I’d never read a Chuck Tingle book before, since I don’t tend to veer overmuch into erotica, but since this was his first “traditionally published” novel I thought now was the time to give it a go. And I have to say, I was genuinely amazed! Chuck Tingle is an incredibly compelling writer, his narration is just beautiful, I wanted to sink into it and get lost. I’m going to have to read more of his books now.

For those who haven’t heard of Camp Damascus, it’s a queer horror novel that’s based around religious horror. Normally religious horror doesn’t do it for me (I have zero interest in or fear of possession) but this one had a very different twist on that narrative. Though demons still featured in the story, the entire premise was built around the concept of religious trauma as horror, and the metaphors created by the demons as it explored themes of leaving religion, self-identity, indoctrination, queer identity and conversion therapy was honestly just breath-taking. My biggest recommendation this time around, I could hardly put it down.

Doctor Who: The Clockwise Man

Another fun Doctor Who novel with an enjoyable mystery about a mysterious political prisoner from space. It wasn’t a world changing novel, but it was a very solidly written 9 and Rose adventure, I enjoyed having the audiobook on while I drove.

Delicious Monsters

Another severe disappointment, unfortunately. I went in really wanting to like this book! I was in the mood for another horror novel after Camp Damascus, it was touted as being like The Haunting of Hill House (superb novel) with a House As Metaphor For Our Trauma And Horror which is a bend to horror I really enjoy. Sadly, despite a fairly interesting premise, the pacing and narrative voice was… rough. It was told from two different points of view, one in the future and one in the past that was slowly piecing together the mystery of what happened at this house, but the narrative voices were so similar it didn’t feel like two distinct entities. Neither made me excited for POV changes. The narration was also very heavy handed in the messages it was trying to send — all good messages, but with no faith that the reader would be able to interpret them on their own without it being repeated explicitly over and over. It all felt very bogged down and repetitive and frankly a little insulting to the reader's intelligence. I gave up on it about halfway through despite really liking the first quarter of the book.

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation comic v2

More Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation! Because I’m hooked! Very much enjoying the comic version that’s been coming out, the art is very nice and it's fun to re-experience the beginning of the novel now that I know the characters and all the background information that was so mysterious the first time around.

Heaven Official’s Blessing v1

I have finished the main series of Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation so I’ve decided to move on to another series by the same author since I’ve been enjoying the style. This series starts off with a “Laughingstock” of the gods, someone who has ascended to godhood twice already and been cast out of Heaven twice as well. The story starts with his third ascension and everyone in Heaven is pretty over it, especially when his third ascension ends up causing chaos in Heaven. He’s chronically unlucky but has an attitude that’s largely willing to go with the flow so when he's given a job to help repay the debt his ascension acrued him he agrees to descend to the Mortal Realm and investigate the disappearance of brides.

Along the way he picks up a couple junior officials who are reluctantly sent along to help and lend him spiritual power, since his own is sealed, as well as a strange youth in red who seems to know more than he should and is perhaps the only person who doesn't treat him scornfully.

The pacing of book one was interesting… it drew me along and had me chuckling frequently, especially with some of the interesting characters that are introduced, but I definitely didn’t feel fully “connected” with the characters or plot just yet. Still, I’m intrigued for book two and trust the author enough to go along for the ride until things start clicking!

James and the Giant Peach

Roald Dahl’s classic story about James Henry Trotter who, after the death of his parents, is forced to live with his two horrid aunts. Isolated from any potential friends, all alone at the top of the hill with his aunts and forced to slave away for them, James eventually meets a mysterious old man who offers him a glowing bag of crocodile tongues… something he claims has the power to grant happiness to whoever possesses them. Unfortunately before James can use them he trips and spills them at the roots of the old, dead peach tree… and awakens the magic regardless.

Just a fun September reread, I haven’t read James and the Giant Peach in years. It's definitely one of my favourite Dahl stories. I’m going to have to rewatch the movie now…

Monster and the Beast v4

The last volume of a yaoi series I’ve been reading for a while. This is a story that follows a rather callous, mysterious man known as Liam and the soft-hearted monster, Cavo, who he meets and befriends. This final volume wraps up Liam’s strange and somewhat sinister origin story and reveals what exactly the powers he wields are, and it lets Cavo come into his own. Honestly an excellent book for all the monsterfuckers out there. Overall it was a sweet ending and I enjoyed the series — honestly I wouldn’t mind one more volume of short stories that just explore the relationship dynamic they achieved by the end of this volume.

The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich

The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich is a graphic novel about a young noblewoman who has to disguise herself as a man if she is to inherit her late father’s estate. So she dismisses the old servants save for a single trusted one, changes her appearance, and moves to a city far away from where she grew up. From there, “he” begins making waves in a way that draws the attention of the princess… 

It was a… fine graphic novel. I’m not sure I have a lot to say besides that. It was a comedy, but it’s not the sort of comedy that I find particularly interesting… it definitely felt like a youth graphic novel. It was also very anachronistic (part of the humour) which I’m not always in the mood for and didn’t really land for me. Over all I don’t regret reading it, and the art was enjoyable enough, but I’m glad I got it from the library. When I had first heard of it I had been expecting something a bit… more.

Red, White, and Royal Blue

I was very skeptical about Red, White, and Royal Blue. I thought it looked tacky when it first came out and I resolutely ignored it. However as the Netflix film was due to come out I decided I had better bite the bullet and figure out what the hype was about. And I can admit, I was wrong! It was honestly a delightful read!

The politics are a bit Rough, as I expected, but the relationship was genuinely delightful and I really liked all the side characters they introduced. You really have to go into it like you would a Hallmark romcom because that’s exactly what it is — and you know what, the queers really do deserve some simple, cheesy (and occasionally surprisingly touching) romantic comedies. Contemporary romcom is normally REALLY not my genre but I highly enjoyed this book and am willing to eat my words.

[beheamothscreamoth]

TWST Characters as the Cast of Les Misérables

So recently, I’ve been getting back into the Les Misérables musical, but I’ve also been having heavy brainrot for Twisted Wonderland,, So, of course, I got the random thought of combining these two fandoms, and for the fun of it, I decided to match characters from TWST with people from Les Mis - Who matches the vibe with this other character the best? Who would be who? This is all incredibly self-indulgent, but what the heck, why not?

You’ll see a few repeated TWST characters under some Les Mis people, but that’s because I think that character would fit them too! If you’re also confused about the question marks, that’s because I’m a little unsure of the TWST character’s placement in that role,, The more question marks, the more unsure I am- Again, I’m mostly basing my choices on pure vibes and delusions-

(Warning: Book 6 and 7 spoilers [There’s a pretty heavy implication for 7 + spoilery vibes, and I basically spoil the premise for 6] below! They’re under the ‘Read More’ section, but still, be careful when proceeding! And of course, I’m essentially spoiling the entirety of Les Misérables, and if you haven’t watched the musical, please do! It’s really good :D)

Jean Valjean:

Lilia Vanrouge

Trey Clover???

Inspector Javert:

Riddle Rosehearts

Rollo Flamme

Fantine:

Lilia Vanrouge???

Malleus’s mother-

I’ll be honest, I’ve debated a lot on who would fit Fantine, but I’ve come up with a lot of mixed results,, What do you guys think?

Cosette:

Malleus Draconia??

Silver

Yuu / MC

Marius Pontmercy:

Yuu / MC

Deuce Spade

Enjolras: 

Ace Trappola?? (It’s mainly because he gives off a lot of main character energy,,)

Sebek Zigvolt???

Silver??

Éponine:

Ace Trappola????

Jack Howl

Epel Felmier???

Monsieur Thénardier:

Ruggie Bucchi

Azul Ashengrotto

Fellow Honest

Madame Thénardier:

Ruggie Bucchie again

Floyd Leech

Jade Leech

Gidel

Gavroche:

Grim

Grantaire:

Cater Diamond (/lh)

Rook Hunt (even for me, this is a WILD reach,,)

Other Thoughts + Random Quotes from the Musical

I definitely feel like Kalim would be the bishop that houses Valjean after he gets out of prison! 

I was a little unsure about Jack's placement as Éponine, but the more I thought about it, the more I liked it? There was something funny about someone with a strong sense of justice living with such scammy people like the Thénardiers- And that moment where Éponine turns on her father, and takes the gunshot to protect Marius? Yeah, Jack betrayed his dorm to do what he thought was right, and I can see him getting in harm’s way to protect the person/people that he loves,,,

I’ll admit, while Azul does fit with the more “scammy” category of Monsieur Thénardier, I have to say, I think he’s a bit too,, “clean,” for him if that makes sense??

I do like the image of all the TWST characters fighting side by side and saving the world,, Technically that already happened in Book 6, but still,,

While I did slap Sebek with the role of Enjolras, a part of me thought that the army officer who sings to the student revolutionaries that they “have no chance at all,” would also fit him, considering Sebek is serving a royal,,

‘Little People,’ but with Grim,,

Okay but why does Deuce kinda match with the pipeline of Valjean so well though. Valjean used to be a prisoner and stole from a bishop, but he became a better man and a mayor. Deuce used to be a delinquent, but he became a better person and aims to be an honour student. Deuce doesn’t really match the old man energy Valjean has, but do you see how deep my delusions go??

Ace/Sebek, to a pining Deuce/Yuu: Who cares about your lonely soul?

Sebek: Diamond, pUT THAT BOTTLE DOWN

Ruggie: At the end of the day you’re another day older, and that’s all you can say for the life of the poor.

Ruggie/Azul: Nothing gets you nothing. Everything has got a little price!

Sebek: You have no friends. [Wow, thanks.]

Grim: This only goes to show what little people can do!

Ruggie: It’s a world where the dogs eat the dogs, where they kill for the bones in the street... I raise my eyes to see the heavens, and only the moon looks down. The harvest moon shines down!

Riddle: I am the law, and the law is not mocked!

Rollo: And if you fall as Lucifer fell, you fall in flames. And so it must be, for so it is written on the doorway to paradise - that those who falter and those who fall must pay the price.

Malleus: How strange, this feeling that my life’s begun at last. This change - can people really fall in love so fast? ...What’s the matter with you, Malleus? Have you been too much on your own? So many things unclear, so many things unknown...

Lilia: Dear Malleus, you’re such a lonely child. How pensive, how sad you seem to me. Believe me, if it were in my power, I’d fill each passing hour! How quiet it must be, I can see, with only me for company.

Yuu / MC: Get out before the trouble starts. Get out Ace, you might get shot!

Ace: I’ve got you worried now, I have! That shows you like me quite a lot!

Yuu/Deuce: As for you, take this too! *PUNCHES AZUL/RUGGIE AND THROWS MONEY AT HIM* God forgive us the things that we do!

Ruggie: Paris at my feet, Paris in the dust. And here’s me breaking bread with the upper crust!

[oblivionrecords]

Fred McDowell: The farmer who emerged from the woods and made a masterpiece

I thought it might be good for newbies to Mississippi Fred McDowell –like I was when I recorded “Live in New York”– to find out about where Fred came from, recording wise. This article in the UK webzine, Far Out, lays it out pretty well. You might want to dig deeper into folklorist Alan Lomax, but more importantly, you'll get a glimpse of the ambition that drove Fred from a Mississippi farm to his well deserved worldwide acclaim. -Fred Seibert.

By Tom Taylor @tomtaylorfo Far Out Magazine   Sat 18 November 2023 22:00, UK

Some blues players can get their guitars to tell a story; Fred McDowell could get his to sing an opera akin to a southern Les Mis. “With Fred McDowell, I just love the way he articulates the notes,” fellow blues guitarist Bill Orcutt explains. “I’m hardly unique in that, but there’s just something about that that I love.” He’s not alone in that love either; everyone from Keith Richards to Bonnie Raitt have cited him as a star that they have attempted to emulate.

However, the one element nobody could ever copy was the humble backstory that brought him to the world. Long before he earned the prefix of Mississippi and became a big attraction at juke joints, got swamped backstage at folk festivals, or had his track covered by The Rolling Stones, he was just strumming away to an audience of nearby wildlife on his porch after a long day at work. Occasionally, he’d find himself in a situation where someone might toss him some loose change, but any notion of fame seemed unfamiliar.

But his skills were profound all the same, and fate would drag him towards another American numen on his travels. Alan Lomax was a roving ethnomusicologist, which is a big word for a curious fellow with a portable recording device that could capture the nation’s true folk on the move. One day, during Lomax and Shirley Collins’ great Southern Journey expedition, they rocked up in Como, Mississippi. They were intent on capturing the music at a local dance and the Young brothers’ fife and drum ensemble.

It was 1959, and McDowell was a 54-year-old wondering what his legacy would be beyond the farm he kept. So, without much fanfare and no warning, he decided to pick up his guitar, weave his way through the local woods, and rock up at Lonnie Young’s porch, where the recording was said to be taking place. Lomax and Collins lent him their ears, hit record, and old McDowell began to play.

Half a century later, if you close your eyes while listening to the masterpiece now known as The Alan Lomax Recordings, you can almost see the overalled maestro on the creaking porch ahead of you, hear the rustle of the southern breeze through the lowering tupelo trees, and smell the dancehalls buffer in the air. Of course, some of that is due to the suggestion of the cover art on the Mississippi Records pressing, but what I’m trying to convey is the dogeared sincerity that renders this authentic tape so beguiling.

Even at the time, Lomax and Collins were so flummoxed by the humility and skill of this unknown farmer that they quickly whisked their tapes off to a blues label, and in his autumn years, McDowell became an internationally renowned star, typifying what was best about the blues when the revival movement had somewhat muddied the waters — he was the new (old) find that the kids were craving.

He would soon rub shoulders with the next generation, teaching Raitt how to play slide guitar, touring with the likes of Big Mama Thornton and John Lee Hooker, and embracing the flattery of being covered by rockers despite declaring himself that he did not play rock ‘n’ roll. He left the farm behind and enjoyed a good 13 years of fame until his death in 1972, aged 68, but his old porch was never truly that far from his artistic thoughts, so even beyond the masterful Lomax Recordings, he’s the bluesman who can capture the earthiness of the South with more verity than anyone.

[shadowgast-recs-weekly]

Shadowgast Recs: Pre-Episode 97

This week, we went back before the Essek traitor reveal to look at older characterizations (and spellings) of Essek. Look behind the cut for a dozen stories published before Campaign 2, Episode 97 aired! And if you liked them, don't be afraid to make someone's day by commenting or giving kudos on someone's 3+ years old work!

a study in attraction by invoked_duplicity (1105,Teen) Warnings: none

Caleb asks Beau about how long she's liked women.

Reccer says: It's a sweet interaction between Beau and Caleb, and a very interesting characterization of Caleb as demisexual and attracted to a man for the very first time with Essek.

stay a moment or two by renquise (1999,Teen) Warnings: none

Caleb gives Essek a practical demonstration of Empire spellwork - for haste and slow

Reccer says: The tension is palpable, and I like the Beau interjection in the beginning

call it a human plea by flammablehat (1586,Explicit) Warnings: None

Caleb seeks out Essek to ask about the Volstrucker

Reccer says: It features a very early version of top!Essek and Caleb being turned on by Essek's magic

Dunamancy by jakia (7062,Teen) Warnings: Major character death

Caleb learns a spell from Essek to travel to other timelines, and explores three different versions of "what if?"

Reccer says: Each universe is beautifully realized, but it's Essek's reactions that really make the fic IMO.

components: v, s, m by renquise (2784,Explicit) Warnings: None

Essek is tutoring Caleb in magic again, and asks him to demonstrate some of his skills; the lesson quickly takes a turn for the sexy

Reccer says: If you like your Shadowgast smut to feature heavy doses of the wizards showing off magically, you will like this

ALTER SELF by Mikkeneko (2059,General) Warnings: None

A sweet little fic where Essek is trying his damnedest to hit on Caleb, only to be stymied by Caleb's obliviousness and ignorance of Kryn courting rituals.

Reccer says: A very sweet little fic, and the headcanons on Kryn flirting rituals are fun (pomegranates! blatantly on display! le gasp!)

the risk i took was calculated, but man am i bad at math by the_littlest_goblin (7529,Teen) Warnings: dubious consent

After the Bright Queen forbids Essek from teaching Caleb any more spells, Caleb decides to try to secude Essek instead.

Reccer says: It's cute and fun, and there's a good conversation about how fucked up the premise is (and good characterization on how Caleb goes through with it anyway)

Overheard Conversations by jakia (2674,Teen) Warnings: none

The M9 scry on Essek and learn about his crush on Caleb, the fic

Reccer says: Peak "trying to set your friend up with the hot mysterious guy you all just met" vibes. Also love the original character here.

(Mis)Trust in Me by MoonwalkingCrab (31429,Explicit) Warnings: none

After the failure in the Lotusden, the Nein heads back to Rosohna and Caleb tries to patch things up with Essek.

Reccer says: There's the post-Lotusden mutual manipulation and mutually unsure of their attraction going on, and it's delicious.

A Handful of Possibilities by Tromper (2883,Teen) Warnings: None

Post Episode 79 (the double teleportation request and forearm touch), Essek checks in on the Nein and Caleb

Reccer says: One of the things that first attracted me to this ship was the mutual manipulation and suspicion, and it's definitely on display here! I love how they they're testing each other out.

Two Halves of a Coin by DotyTakeThisDown (7427,Explicit) Warnings: none

A soulmate AU where Caleb and Essek are soulmates, but Caleb had his mark removed by Trent

Reccer says: I like the extended amount of time spent on how Caleb feels about having a soulmate and having it removed - and the evolution of those feelings.

would you stay for just a while by eldritch_beau (3937,Teen) Warnings: none

Essek sees the ocean for the very first time. He and Caleb talk.

Reccer says: It's very tender, and definitely interesting to read in retrospect (as this was clearly written before we knew about the treason)

Aeor is for Lovers is an 18+ Shadowgast Discord server. The above fanfic recommendations were pulled from our community for this weekly event. All fics, unless otherwise specified, will primarily feature Shadowgast. And hey! Don’t forget to leave comments and kudos for the lovely authors!

Have any questions about what this is? Check out the FAQ! Next week’s theme is going to be focusing on Eiselcross and Aeor fics, so keep an eye out for that!

[la-pheacienne]

What are your thoughts on Eponine? (I haven’t read the novel, I have only watched the Liam Neeson movie (which didn’t have Eponine) and a recording of the musical).

Thank you for the ask I love getting Les Mis asks 💖

So keep in mind that I have read this book 13 years ago so I don't remember a lot of details. I remember the core idea of her character though and she was one of the most badass characters in the book, I loved her.

So Hugo initially had another named planned for her but changed it after Baudelaire dedicated a poem to him (Les petites vieilles from Les Fleurs du mal) that goes like this:

These dislocated wrecks were women once,

Were Eponine or Lais! hunchbacked freaks,

Though broken let us love them! they are souls.

And that is a very good introduction to her character.

Her first trait that needs to be mentioned is hunger. Eponine was a hungry, very hungry young teen, starved, to be more exact, she had a horrendous appearance, some teeth missing, she was extremely dirty, her clothes had huge wholes, she walked barefoot I think. Hunger was so absolute and omnipotent in Eponine, as in a lot of characters from the book, that it seemed to completely erase any hint of personality, or agency, or personhood really. She seemed to not even be a human being at all, she was just a starved girl who resembled a starved animal more than a person. And that's the thing with hunger, it's so catastrophic and definite that it completely annihilates a person. You can't have free will, you can't have spiritual autonomy, you're just that, hungry. Hunger in Les Mis is the ultimate and most substantial form of violence, and Eponine embodies that.

"The grace of her youth was struggling against the hideous old age brought on by debauchery and poverty".

What hunger also does is it gives birth to the lowest, most debased, most inhuman form of monster. That's Eponine's parents, les Thenardiers, and I honestly cannot recall a single literary character that is more appalling than them. They were appalling people before they became so poor, but poverty turned them into actual vultures. So in this "cocktail Molotov" of moral depravity plus extreme poverty and hunger, what chance does Eponine have of becoming something more than a vulture herself? A vulture, or a living, lifeless, soulless corpse, like her sister.

Yet that's not Eponine's arc. Eponine starts as a bully to Cosette while she was a kid, then becomes this hungry street smart kid, then an accomplice in a gang of criminals (burglars, thieves etc) then she goes to prison for a short time. She is in love with Marius, and so she's torn between her jealousy and the desire to make him happy, that is why she helps Marius find Cosette's house and leads him there, then she observes them every night they meet in the garden. She even prevents her gang from entering Cosette's house, because she knows that Marius would be destroyed if anything happened to Cosette. That's the part of the book where she stops them :

"Please yourself, you won't get in. I can't be the daughter of a dog seeing as I am the daughter of a wolf! There are six of you. What's that to me? You're men. Well, I'm a woman. You don't frighten me, that's for sure. I'm telling you, you won't get inside this house because I don't want you to. If you come any nearer I'll bark. I told you, I'm the 'cab'. I couldn't care less about you. Now be on your way, I've had enough of you! Go anywhere you like, but don't come here, I won't let you! You use your knives, I'll use my feet, it's all the same to me. So come on, then!"

And then, after this very selfless act, she actively manages to separate Cosette and Marius. She scares Valjean so he decides to move, and takes Cosette's letter for Marius with no intention of giving it to him, then leads Marius to the barricades so that they can die together there. And then, she dies for him after giving him Cosette's letter :

“She let her head fall back upon Marius' knees and her eyelids closed. He thought that poor soul had gone. Eponine lay motionless; but just when Marius supposed her for ever asleep, she slowly opened her eyes in which the gloomy deepness of death appeared, and said to him with an accent the sweetness on which already seemed to come from another world:

"And then, do you know, Monsieur Marius, I believe I was a little in love with you."

She essayed to smile again and expired.”

So Eponine was a morally ambiguous person but an exceptional character, moving from debauchery, spite and depravity to bravery and love. She doesn't believe in the Cause, but she loves Marius and she dies for him in the barricades, thus her death is as honorable as any other person that gave their lifes in the barriades. I think Eponine's function in the narrative is to show that it is in fact, possible, for an exceptional character to be born out of total material, moral and spiritual decay. It is possible for a human being to preserve the quality of a person, even an exceptional person, and rise above theIr horrendous circomstances. She's a tragic character but the underlying message is ultimately optimistic, in a way.

Of course she was not presented accurately in the musical, she was sexualised in a way that the supposed "conflict" between her and Cosette looks like the conflict of a the popular high school girl vs the high school underdog which is SO not the case in the book.