#But I'm already on page 150!

[frogcat7]

[saviourfinn]

I'm so happy I started The Fifth Season by N.K Jemisin, it's been a really long time since a book hooked me so much that I can't wait to have free time to read it lol. I took it with me to read in the subway even though i usually never do that because i don't like reading in noisy environments. But this time I really wanted to know what happened next so I read it during my commute.

[centeris2]

oh sweet jesus this Dark Core Day fic is going to be over 100 pages long isn’t it that wasn’t supposed to happen

[starsmuserainbow]

Today is a day where my mind is set on wanting to look for a FC for Mar'i in her older verse (which I haven't even defined yet), and I try to focus on my asks but I just can't get any ideas. Grr.

[merakimax]

First time reading The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation.

I'm only 150 pages in but I swear every single thought Wei Wuxian has of Lan Wangji is accompanied by some stray thought of how pretty and gorgous he is and how "his elegant lashes throw a shaddow on his jade like cheeks" or something like that.

I feel like that man is already in love and he just doesn't know it yet.

[thestormynobody]

Emergency comm situation has gotten a bit dire. Landlord left note informing me my rent is going up 150 dollars next month. Considering I already cant afford my bills (despite working full time) this is is a problem.

So im coming for help. I'm sorry, I'm just kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place til i can find a better paying job. Im having to neglect my health too because i simply cannot afford to see the doctor, ehich makes it both physically and mentally difficult to keep going as I have

So. Firstly commissions:

15 headshot

25 full body

I also have characters for sale here:

https://toyhou.se/GeekysTradeCenter/characters

Taking cash offers for characters here:

https://toyhou.se/TheGeekyNobody/characters?page=13

I am slowly but surely listing physical goods here:

https://www.mercari.com/u/thestormynobody?sv=0

And lastly, though i hate to ask for donations my kofi is here:

https://ko-fi.com/thegeekynobody

If you could share I'd very much appreciate

[shishanya]

I've never been interested in Lorgar but started reading his "primarchs" book AND I'M DYING poor baby, he was so sweet cute and innocent when old junk found him. The smallest meow meow, I want to steal him and kiss him on both cheeks

What destroys me is the fact that it wasn't Kor Phaeron who found him at first - Lorgar was found by other nomads, and this bitch only accidentally stumbled upon them and took the little kitten for himself and killed those nomads and began to abuse the poor guy almost daily

I read almost nothing (±150 pages...) and I'm already covered in snot and tears and smeared on the wall, HE'S SUCH A BABY, by the way, I like that his eyes are purple

Fuck u Kor Phaeron

[snek-panini]

Today I'm sharing my final book of Binderary, the fantastically good, unfinished The Art of Letting Go by Nekhen. I've loved this fic for years, my friends. It's a Good Omens human AU with a lot of very kinky dom/sub things that are actually baked into the worldbuilding (but not as omegaverse. No shade, but this is different). I never thought I'd read a bdsm fic for the worldbuilding but here we are. Mind the tags and author's notes if you do decide to go for it; it gets intense in places. If you're concerned about in being incomplete, know that it does leave some obvious threads hanging but we end in a very soft place.

Not to be totally self-indulgent but oh my god I am so in love with this bind. I keep looking at it and being surprised that it's mine, that I made it. I think it might be the prettiest thing I've done to date. That's black faux leather (ubonga black, from Hollander's) on the cover, and the inset is platinum silk moire with pewter foil htv for the lettering. It's a crisscross binding, also known as a Secret Belgian, and it's my first time doing this style but it definitely won't be my last. This project was a bit of a challenge to myself; I took it from unformatted text document to finished book entirely within the month of February, to see if I could. And I did!

Have a look under the cut for more images and process talk. I went all out on the details with this one.

Close up of the front cover, where it has mitered corners that don't photograph too well because the leather's so shiny. The silk moire I used was a pair of scraps from when I bound Persuasion last Binderary. The border is deeper than I normally go for because the silk pieces were too small and already cut, so I had to have a bigger overlap. I'm a big fan of the finished product though. Absolutely no regrets.

The image on the back was a free image I found at the Noun Project, called "bound eclipse" (sic). I thought it looked a lot like wedding rings, and while there's no wedding in this fic there is an exchange of vows and an intense level of commitment, so it felt appropriate.

The recommended length for a crisscross binding is about 120-150 pages. As you see in these photos, this one does not fall within that range. It's 340, plus front matter, so maybe about 355-ish all told. It's chonky. Crisscrosses are glueless binds and I know gluing and backing would have helped with the swell in this one, but it's bdsm and unfinished. It had to be a crissscross. The spine piece in this style is held in place only be thread tension and that's the most bdsm thing ever. It's book shibari. I didn't trim the pages since there's not much point to it in a glueless bind (they shift too much) and I thought it would bother me but it doesn't. It's too pretty.

Let's open him up, shall we?The doublure is a cream colored lokta printed with metallic gold and silver ferns. Part of the trust-building process between our two leads involves refurbishing a dilapidated conservatory and bringing in new plants, so I thought some flourishing greenery would be appropriate, and it matches the color scheme very well. I also lined my spine with it, though this isn't very visible in the final product. I had a strip of bare board on the inside of the spine and was worried it would show. All you can see is that little peek at the very bottom, but better safe than sorry. Naked board would have made me very sad. The text block is sewn with regular linen thread, but the visible stitching on the cover is platinum embroidery floss. Fiddly to work with, slippery, but worth it for how well it matches the color scheme. It's also a little bit shiny, like the silk. Perfection.

All the interior ornaments are from the Noun Project. On the title page we have a collar (plot relevant. There's quite a bit of discussion and implication in the fic about collars). The scene breaks are all delineated with a little chain, which I thought was appropriate both due to some literal chains in the first chapter and because of the more metaphorical breaking of chains that goes on as our leads grow closer. The widget behind the chapter number is my favorite though. It's from the same set as the back image, but I made it a paler gray and layered it under the chapter numbers so they look like they're tied up. I was worried it would be too busy but it's perfect.

I chose the crisscross style for this fic for a couple of reasons. One is the thematic one about shibari that I mentioned above, and the other has to do with real-world considerations. I always bind unfinished fics as coptics, because they're glueless and have no spine piece, so in theory it would be relatively easy to come back someday and add more pages if the author ever updates again. However, I found out a couple of months ago that Nekhen had passed away unexpectedly in 2022. We didn't know each other, I just read their fics and was sad when there weren't any updates for a long time. I wanted to give some kind of acknowledgement of the fact that this one isn't finished and never will be, and having it be glueless but still have a covered spine felt like the right balance. We would always like more but we have to acknowledge that there's a period at the end of the sentence, you know? I wrote a binder's note about it at the end of the book (clearly marked, so you know it's from me and not the author) where I quoted the note from the Canterbury Tales that I talked about a few weeks ago: "Of this tale Chaucer made no more."

I just. I really love this book. I've loved the fic for years and now I can love it on paper. It's so good. It looks so professional. If I found this in a book store it would be out of my budget. I may never top it.

[nessieartss]

Seeing chapter 268 leaks and realizing that everything looks (mostly) good and happy and then realizing that we still have three more chapters to go is like when you're reading a book and everyone has their happy end and everything has been resolved... But there's still like 150 pages left and you're Scared™️

That's me btw, I'm scared of what Gege will do in the last three chapters, I'm here waiting being like, "Please for the love of GOD let them be happy" but also there's still that ONE Sukuna finger Nobara used anD I'M SO FUCKING SCARED

Just the fact that yuuji megumi and nobara survived is already enough for me, ill take what i can get

[tweenlove-n-hate]

Thanks for taking the initiative and time to organise the Gelphie Big Bang! Must be a lot of work behind the scenes to orchestrate this. I can’t wait to see all the amazing artwork and fics that will surely come from this.

I wanted to ask if we would be getting an update on the Scientific Study of Destiny anytime soon? Also, out of curiosity do you have any ideas for future Gelphie fics once the fic ends?

Hello hello!

Thanks for the ask and thanks for the well wishes on the event. It has been going very well. Over the weekend the @gelphiebigbang2025 surpassed 150 sign ups for the event. Which is 3x as many people as I thought would participate! If you haven't already followed the account(s), you should! Over the next 6 months there should be some cool things posted. The more people that follow the account(s), the further the posts will go for the writers and artists when the reveals go live in October!

Now, on to The Scientific Study of Destiny -- I will have an update sometime this week. I'm not sure when though. Might be over the weekend. Last chapter caused a little rift in my plans for Chapter 11 (aka Chapter 10). That I need to fix before it can go live.

Now for my Gelphie WIPs that I haven't posted but am working on:

Soulmate fics:

Elphaba's POV from The Scientific Study of Destiny - I have this mapped out pretty well and half a chapter written for it. But I need to finish the first story before I can commit to this one.

Soulmate Potion - an idea someone mentioned in a comment in The Scientific Study of Destiny. I've already got three pages written for it.

Blinded by Your Color - Seeing color for the first time Gelphie version.

Your Name on my Skin - Gelphie soulmate marks having the name of your soulmate on your skin.

A Magical Mishaps happen series:

Gelphie Magic Baby/Pregnancy Fic - where the characters and readers won't know WHO the baby daddy is till the end.

(Love) Potion Gone Wrong --- Galinda just wants Elphaba to love her too. But it goes terribly wrong. Not to be confused with...

Lust Potion Gone Right -- think of this one like "sex pollen" / "sleep together or die"

Double Trouble -- Elphaba accidentally cast a spell meant to multiply the practice coin, but is distracted by Galinda and now there are TWO Galindas. (Galinda and Glinda)

Random Ideas:

Defying Gravity but DARK - Movie verse

After Part 2 -- Elphaba's Gift to Glinda -- Isn't just the Grimmerie but a baby - Book and Movie combination

Never ending One Short Day - Groundhog day style

Matching Making - Galinda thinks she's the BEST match maker. She's not.

Fake Dating -- NOT who you'd think would be fake dating ;-)

Kidnapping -- May nix this idea as a whole, not happy with it thus far.

As a rule, I do not post a multi-chapter fanfiction unless I am 85% of the way done with it. If I never reach that 85% done, I never post them. (I have three unfinished Yennaia fics living in my google drive along with half a dozen SuperCat fics and MirAndy fics). So, I have a LOT of ideas and I hope I'll have the time to get to them but I won't post them till I'm sure I'll finish them. Thanks so much for taking the time to send me an ask and for supporting The Scientific Study of Destiny! <3

[petrssecrethideout]

"Bro, do you wanna hear about something crazy?"

"I mean sure, go ahead,"

"Alright, so I was just relaxing, scrolling TikTok,"

"Already a bad idea."

"I know, I got beef with that fuckin' algorithm let me tell you. I follow a couple of bodybuilders, post a couple of gym vids and suddenly my For you page is filled with the biggest assholes alive. Anyway, I'm scrolling, and I see this guy, he's doing that whole 'alpha top dog' thing even though he's not that big."

"Okay wait pause, how big is not that big?"

"I don't know, I have more muscle in my arms than he has in his whole body, real gym influencer type."

"Alright, for anyone listening to the pod at home, I should probably just say that this guy could be anywhere from 150-300 pounds from Dale's description of him, okay? He's not good at judging what normal guys look like anymore."

"Yeah, okay, you got me. Anyway, this guy keeps going on about his great advice, so I stick around to hear it. You wanna know what he said? 'Stop Cumming, its killing your natural testosterone' What kind of bullshit is that!?"

"I mean that is a big part of the current fitness world, these guys will say anything to get more followers, and a lot of their followers are so desperate for progress that they'll take whatever advice they're given."

"It's a shame, because he's also wrong! I tried that whole 'No Nut Whatever' and its been the only time in these last 5 years that I've plateaued."

"... Really?"

"Yeah! If I'm not cranking a load out every day I can kiss any potential gains goodbye."

"Wait,"

"Like after my workouts, when I got a huge pump going, I just have to crank one out, like what good workout would it be if I didn't"

"Dale c'mon,"

"And its not like I can just hit up a guy on Grindr and go to town every time I need to, there aren't enough guys on Grindr for that."

"Uggggh dude, we are never getting a sponsor with you talking like this."

"What, so all the straight alpha dudebros can talk about semen retnetion and get a ton of followers, but I get censored for talking about jacking off and getting tons of ass?"

"Yeah, we will."

"Well then, listeners, go subscribe to the patreon so that I can talk about my actual tips for growing, and so that you can help Mark get bigger. I'm telling you, I'm gonna make this boy huge with your help. Audio listeners make sure to check the videos so you can see this boy get huge. Now bro, help me out here. You don't want those Tiktok gymfluencers to win do you? How often are you jerkin off?"

"Oh god I can't believe I'm answering this... A couple of times a week maybe?"

"A week? That's fucking crazy. My average is like 4-5 times a day. More if I'm really feeling horny. If I'm being honest I jerked off a few weeks ago on the pod, like I forgot to before I came here. One of the comments mentioned something about my grunting that episode."

"Jesus christ dude, how do you even manage that?"

"Well, you gotta work up to it. I couldn't do that starting out, but once I started growing I was so horny I had to do something about it. I think that's what these guys don't get. You gotta get those balls working, give them a reason to keep making that sweet testosterone. How are you supposed to do that if you aren't jacking it? Honestly dude, I feel like I gotta prove these guys wrong now."

"What, you're gonna be a cum warrior?"

"Hell yeah man, I'm gonna be fighting the war on jerking it, on the side of jerking it!"

[mopiii]

I don't have an acceptable sketch for the 21st day of Aladariustober, actually October is already over and so is my challenge...

but I have something to show you)

these are my old/unfinished sketches and one that I hate, today is Halloween and what could be scarier for an artist than posting this

1. hand in hand day was ninth, but for me this sketch looked horrible, I come back to this idea at day twenty and see some progress (or better said, return to the skill I had two years ago, before my greatest art block)

2. meme in progress: draw me like one of your french girls

3. old aladarius in development, sketched them about three month ago, idk why I didn't draw pupils, looks scary, so it's perfect for Halloween

4. OMFG I forgot that I already sketched aladarius french kiss haha and cute flight together on Alador's stuff (Hi, Ratador!)

5. babygirl Darius and his cute flying head, later I will use this hairstyle for his old version

It was fun experience, thanks for support everyone :3

I continue to draw these two cuties, not so often, but still

maybe if I fix my graphics tablet I'll draw a comic about aladarius days in Hexide, a little about after Hexide and life after the epilogue I already have 150 pages of script, I'm serious!

[copperbadge]

Ho Bisogno di Aiuto, Per Favore

Okay, I give up, I cannot find this on my own.

I'm reaching a point with Italian where I can move away from Duolingo into more independent learning. It's not that I'm good at the language, it's that I understand the theory well enough that I now just need practice, and the best way to do that is to find Italian texts and start translating them. Finding them is no issue; Archive Of Our Own has Italian-language fanfic, which has the benefit of sometimes having translations already posted so I can check my work.

But what I'm looking for is a program that will help me structurally, and all the keywords I can think of are just returning 1. software that does the translation for you, 2. language learning apps I don't need, and 3. professional translation software that is far beyond what I need and also very expensive. What I want is simple and yet I don't know if it exists or how to rig a homebrewed version if it doesn't.

I want a program (preferably with a mobile app but I'll take what I can get) where you can paste a page of Italian text into it and it will automatically put a line beneath every line of Italian where you can write an English translation. Basically I want the digital version of this, but for grownups learning a language instead of kids learning handwriting:

and I really just have no idea how to source that.

Anyone got any ideas? Fanfic translators, what do you use? Professional translators, are there basic free or low-cost programs that will do this? I've got a budget of around $150 for a one-time purchase or I'm willing to pay up to about $10 a month for a subscription. Or if there's a way to rig this myself in Office or Drive, I'm willing to do the work. I just don't know how to find this. Which is embarrassing to admit as a researcher, but sometimes being a good researcher is knowing when you have to ask a human instead of continuing to bang your head against the internet.

[skyfallscotland]

Powerless, by Lauren Roberts 🗡

This was an interesting one because I'd heard such mixed reviews before starting it! After my library loan expired three times, I finally made the time to read this one, so strap in! (Spoilers ahead, as always!)

Firstly, I want to address the plagiarism talk—I've seen a lot of people all over the internet saying Lauren Roberts outright copied Victoria Aveyard's Red Queen, Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games, and Kiera Cass' The Selection. Of these, I've only read The Hunger Games, so while I can speak to any similarities there, I can't address the breadth of the whole plagiarism debate.

I generally find claims like this to be overblown—people quite often say everyone and their dog is copying Sarah J Maas as if she created wyvern and fae, so I was skeptical to say the least, but the talk online has grown so loud it's impossible to ignore so there might be more to it than just a rehash of tropes. Regardless, I wouldn't know, so I'll leave that to you guys.

Ok, onward!

In general, I found Powerless formulaic and predictable, but an easy read. It's a dystopian YA and as a millennial who lived through the last round/influx of these, it's all very familiar—but that's fine! In my personal rating system, this one is currently filed under "fun reads, but you won't miss anything if you skip them" ☺️

An aside: my copy had American spelling, but Australian punctuation, which was possibly the most irritating thing ever. I hate single speech marks. ABOLISH THEM.

I enjoyed the first part of the story well enough, despite some eye-rolling at the initial set-up (which I'll get to). The middle was boring, so boring I considered DNF'ing, but I was audio-booking at the time so I persisted. It picked up and became more interesting for the last 150 pages or so for me, typical fantasy series stuff, right?

Overall, it reads like a debut novel. The prose can be sometimes cringeworthy, like this line in one of the opening chapters,

Her eyes are the color of the Shallows Sea’s deepest corner, a clear sky as it begins to drift into night, the subtle shade of a forget-me-not. And like the hottest flame, her eyes are blue and full of fire.

leaving me thinking oh god, what have I gotten myself into? I mean...

I drown in her blue eyes. Every time our gazes meet it’s like ice meeting the hottest fire, like gray mist rising on the deep blue ocean.

Alright, we get it, shhhh already. As an aside, why is the male POV often worse for flowery prose in these books?

At other times, it was just generally clumsy, with some really....weird word choices.

I slide my father’s ring onto my middle finger and send a hard right hook to her temple, hitting that sensitive spot on her head with very little sensitivity.

Our two main characters are interesting enough. I didn't mind Paedyn and I got over the name choice quickly, thank god, though there were times I got Kai mixed up with his brother Kitt for a moment or two before mentally correcting myself—they need not have had names so similar, honestly.

I like that he was as interested in her off-the-bat as she was in him.

With my attention finally on the coin pouch at my side, I suddenly notice how much lighter it feels than before— Before her. Why that little—

Cute.

There were a few moments in this first third of the book however that had me rolling my eyes. The Purging Trials are introduced, which...yeah whatever, I was warned, and then there's Paedyn and her background...

‘I can do this,’ I say softly. ‘I was made to do this.’ Adena nods numbly, knowing this already. Knowing how my father began training me when it became apparent to him that his little girl was an Ordinary doomed for death.

Of course.

After three long days of training, my body is sore and screaming at me to stop. My years of living on the streets have taken their toll, leaving me weaker than I realized despite my regular running from Imperials and scaling chimneys.

Yeah, here we go, I'm thinking: classic poor-girl-starving-but actually hella strong starter pack. I was having Quicksilver flashbacks 😂 Why are they all like this?!

Anyway, I was hanging for the whole 'trials' thing to actually eventuate. The whole:

Welcome, fellow Ilyans, to the sixth ever Purging Trials!

thing, along with the interviews was very Hunger Games, we could have done without that part, honestly. The whole voting system was kind of...unnecessary. Who really cared about that? It kind of screamed 'this is a fanfic and I had to bend things to squish them in here somehow' except...this wasn't a fanfic...I don't think? ANYWAY this also happened later:

There’s movement flickering across the crowd as the audience around us presses their pointer and middle fingers together, the symbol hovering over their hearts. A diamond. Ilya’s image of strength, power, and honor.

after the 'audience' watches how some of the contestants died and that also felt unnecessary. It's like, please scratch some more serial numbers off PLEASE idk girl why are you making life harder on yourself? 😭

Anyway, there were some moments before the trials where I enjoyed Paedyn and Kai's exchanges, but I was really just waiting for them to get into the action.

That only has her pressing the blade harder against my throat, threatening to draw blood. Vicious little thing, isn’t she? ‘Careful, Highness. I wouldn’t want to spill royal blood.’ She’s mocking me and it’s an adorable attempt. I lean towards her, letting the sharp steel of my own blade bite into my throat, drawing a thin line of hot blood. ‘Careful, darling. You forget that spilling blood is what I do best.’

Their banter is fun. I enjoyed little exchanges like this one:

He finally turns, making his way across the ballroom as I watch his retreating form. Then he calls over his shoulder. ‘Do me a favor, darling?’ ‘And what’s that?’ ‘Promise me you’ll stay alive long enough to stab me in the back?’ I laugh loudly. ‘That’s been my goal all along, Prince.’

Unfortunately, once we actually got into the trials, I was really, really bored. It was just very boring. Please don't make 'trials' the centre of your work if the trials themselves are going to be tired and boring, with little to no action. The first one also went on so long I began second guessing myself, thinking I'd misunderstood and there wasn't going to be separate trials, just one big one.

They of course had to injure themselves and nurse each other back to health, bond over their lives with the creepy camera-powered people watching them, with no regard for the fact clearly what they were saying was being recorded, but anywhooooo.

I just didn't find their 'getting to know each other' or their relationship here really that interesting. I don't feel any tension, which is a shame because they have some great one-liners and dialogue between them, but I feel like I'm sleepwalking through their 'chemistry'.

It picked up a little at the end of trial one with the whole:

‘No!’ The word tears from my throat as disbelief and disgust claw at me, threatening to rip me to shreds. Jax doesn’t make a sound, his eyes wide and locked with mine. Silent tears slip down his cheeks, clinging to the thick lashes that surround those big, brown eyes. He looks at me, horrified as he begins to tip backwards on his knees, unable to stop himself from falling in his final moments.

Kai killing his brother by accident?

My voice breaks just like I am about to. My little brother.

That makes for a compelling story. Unfortunately it was a fake-out which I personally am conflicted about. I did enjoy Jax as a character later in the book, so I can't be too mad about it, but I do think it would have made the story a lot more powerful if he'd actually died.

Here is another example though of lines I think are kind of fantastic amidst the otherwise clumsy prose:

The throwing star is embedded deep into his chest, blood oozing out from around it. Dark, heavy blood that isn’t stopping, isn’t slowing. The type of blood that accompanies a goodbye.

Something about that use of language I just really like.

Anyway, the trials continue on, quicker than before, thank god and at some point they're like:

And there are only seven of us left.

And I'm like?? Oh...I don’t even remember how many there were originally, at this point.

Anyway at some point Paedyn meets up with the resistance and finds out her dead dad was one of them—surprise! (Not) 💀

‘We weren’t intending for the kingdom to learn of the Resistance that night, or in that way, but it seems fate had other arrangements,’ Calum says softly. ‘Sadly, sometimes it takes martyrs to show people that there is something worth fighting for.’

The guy leading it now recruits her and honestly, he's sus as hell from the get go, SHAME ON YOU Paedyn for not seeing that. I don't know anything he does past this book so if it's nothing I'll look paranoid as hell but SUS SUS SUS. He's fucking weird, ok? Red flag 🚩

Anyway, there's more balls and dancing and shit, and the princes get drunk which...why are you getting rip-roaring drunk pls, have some decorum babe??? But it does give us this gem:

But upon arriving at Plummet, the first thing I noticed was the pen scribbled on my hand. My slanted, hasty handwriting is scrolled across my palm, relaying a very important message: She said I could touch her when I’m sober.

lol

Anyway, there was one scene at the end of trial two that sold them as a couple to me. Is it consistent with their characterisation up until this point? Absolutely fuckin' not, but I ate it up anyway. Way to channel Xaden and Remi babes-

The boy beneath me tried to kill his brother, tried to get Kai to do it for him. And as I stare into the gray eyes of the prince, the future Enforcer, the deliverer of death, I know that he has been patiently waiting to kill him. Patiently waiting for revenge. And yet, he is simply standing there, dripping with blood, and doing nothing to stop me from ripping his revenge away from him. This is not my life to take. ‘I would kill you…’ My voice is stern and strong, loud enough for Kai to hear. I see Ace’s eyes light up with the assumption that I’m too weak to go through with ending his life. How very wrong he is. ‘But you are not mine to kill,’ I finish, watching as his eyes darken, hatred replacing hope. My gaze finds Kai’s again, his eyes bright in the moonlight and smoldering like smoke from a fire. A muscle ticks in his jaw, his hands twitch at his sides. I give him a single, slow nod. And then he is striding towards us, shadows clinging to his silhouette.

I don't know if there is something wrong with me, but out of the whole book, it's this that had me giggling and kicking my feet.

I watched Paedyn meet my eyes and grant me a gift. The gift of a life. The gift to take a life. She handed Ace over to me despite wanting to dole out his death herself. She let me have my revenge without even knowing that it was partially for her. Because before I wanted to kill Ace for nearly killing Jax, I wanted to kill Ace for nearly killing Paedyn.

The whole 'not killing this guy so you can kill him' thing really did it for me, that's what sold them, sorry not sorry!

His deep chuckle cuts me off. ‘God, you’re stunning.’ Rough fingers have never felt so gentle against my skin as he brushes a strand of wet hair out of my eyes. ‘But so damn stubborn.’

Cuteeeeee.

Unfortunately...

Those eyes betray the horror he feels, looking like they did the night I saw him take his first life. I did this to him. I killed his father. But he killed mine first.

Oops. Not gonna lie, I actually didn't see that coming? I'm not that mad about it but I'm squinting and tilting my head because how old are they again??? I'm unclear on these timelines.

At least you kept your promise. You stayed alive long enough to stab me in the back.’ He laughs bitterly, remembering the attack after the first ball when I tended to his wound. ‘And now I promise to return the favor.’ His voice strains with emotion. ‘Run, Paedyn. Because when I catch you, I will not miss. I will not falter. I will not make the mistake of feeling for you.’

TRUE LOVE! 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

Anyway, so the last hundred pages sucked me back in, enough so I want to see what happens in the next book, anyway. I'm not super interested in the novella (why should I be? She's DEAD???) but apparently it's required reading, so I guess I'll try it. I won't be buying these though, I'll wait for them to come up as a library loan I think. I want to know what happens, but it's a want, not a need at $15 a pop.

Special mention to this line at the end:

Thick, hot liquid runs down my brand, my body, my very being. Honey. That’s what I tell myself. It’s just honey.

Which was a brilliant callback to the opening chapter, she can have some applause for that.

Let me know if you read this one and what you thought! I am generally pretty easy to please if I have the right expectations going in and so this for me, was an alright book—meets expectations, job almost well done, I suppose! 🌟

[princessofwallachia]

Analysis: Who are the Mikaela subjects? Are Ferid and Crowley brothers?

Are Ferid and Crowley brothers?

This matter has been discussed before on tumblr, but I'm gonna speak about it again. If you already know what I'm talking about, you can skip and get to the next part where I explain the Mikaela subjects.

We know of Ferid's older brother in his flashbacks when he was a human. Well, what if I tell you that his brother was actually Crowley before he got reincarnated?

Ferid's plan has remained for centuries, even until now, to stop the reincarnation cycle. When he killed his brother, he headed towards Romania, where in another flashback Rigr is shown to be in Romania. I suppose Ferid met Rigr on his way towards the east.

In the light novel, ferid refers to crowley as a brother (or even in the manga, I'm not sure but he definitely called him that) and he even said that he has been waiting to see what his brother looks like TO CROWLEY. Ferid mentions that he has waited 150 years for Crowley. Ferid mentioned that this plan which is ongoing currently in the manga has been planned for a millennium, from when he turned Crowley. Why do you think he turned Crowley into a vampire and especially targeted him before he was even born, and why do you think he turned him from Rigr's blood?

If you logically think about it, even the way Crowley lived his life in the LN was another answer to him being his brother in his past life. Since the manga has now taken a turn and has made us focused on reincarnation with Ferid's flashback, let's think what kind of life his brother would have gotten.

Because of his pride and ignorance of people who served him while he was wealthy and lucky enough to get the throne, he would have gotten unlucky in his next life and not very wealthy. Crowley mentions that his family wasn't that poor, yet since he was one of the youngest siblings, he didn't get to inherit anything from his parents and had to work for his money more.

The Mikaela subjects

Kagami said that each name meaning of the characters in OnS have a meaning. I don't think people realized that he LITERALLY meant that and it's not a simple word answer that google gives you. I've looked deeper into Rigr's name meaning and the discovery I made kinda blew up my mind. (I already knew two mikaela subjects + mika himself but I didn't expect Kagami to get so inspired by their names.) 🤨🤨 My friend will also make a post about Lest's actual name meaning and a general analysis of him (I hope so @l1va22 🙄😡) so check it out (if she posts it 😒)

When you search "Rigr name meaning" you get that the meaning is simply "King", but if you open the page below, from the source which gives us this information, it leads you to a page about Rígsþula, a norse mythology myth.

«In Rígsþula, Rig wanders through the world and fathers the progenitors of the three classes of human beings as conceived by the poet.»

Hmm, sounds a little familiar, doesn't it?

«Rígr was walking along the shore and came to a farm-hut owned by Ái (great-grandfather) and Edda (great-grandmother). They offered him shelter and poor, rough food for a meal. That night Rígr slept between the pair in their bed and then departed. Nine months later, Edda gave birth to a son who was svartr (swarthy, dark). They named him Þræll (thrall, serf, or slave). Þræll grew up strong but ugly.»

This made me think of Guren, (because of his constant appearance within Guren's presenve in the LN. Rigr is a perfectionist and doesn't waste his time on matters which don't make him gain something.) implying that Rigr also implanted his adn in the ichinose family. Guren has dark hair and in the LN was considered to lack power and like 'a slave'. As far as I know his family wasn't wealthy, though I don't think there was any mention of him being poor. (correct me if I'm wrong)

«Traveling further, Rígr came across a pleasant house where a farmer/craftsman, Afi (grandfather), lived with his wife Amma (grandmother). This couple gave him good food and also let him sleep between them. Nine months later, a son, Karl (churl or freeman), was born, who had a ruddy complexion. Karl married a woman named Snör or Snœr (daughter-in-law; sometimes anglicized as Snor), and they had twelve sons and ten daughters with names mostly suggesting a neat appearance or being of good quality. One of the names is smiðr (smith). These became the ancestors of free farmers, craftsmen and herdsmen.»

Who was good-looking, hard-working and middle class? Crowley was. He's also often described as being very beautiful like Krul and Ferid.

Now this one, is surely not a coincidence ⬇️

«Traveling further, Rígr came to a mansion inhabited by Faðir (Father) and Móðir (Mother). They gave him excellent food served splendidly and, nine months later, Móðir gave birth to a beautiful baby named Jarl (earl or noble), whose hair was blond and who was bleikr (bright white in color). When Jarl grew up and began to handle weapons and to use hawks, hounds, and horses, Rígr reappeared, claimed him as his son, gave him his own name of Rígr, made him his heir, taught him runes, and advised him to seek lordship.»

Who was a noble with very light hair, blue eyes and very attractive? FERID!!!

When I first read the manga, when Rigr appeared (before his asiatic surgery...) I thought that was literally Ferid with shorter hair. THEY LOOK LIKE LITERAL TWINS!! Why? Because Rigr is really his father and whenever Ferid calls him that, it isn't a stupid silly name.

Only the eye shape is different. Ferid is confirmed to have more elongated eyes, while Rigr had rounded eyes.

So, these are the mikaela subjects and I don't think their wealth class is prominent in the manga, yet I think Kagami made their personalities to appear different the way the wealth of these people in the myth is.

Idk surely about Guren being a mikaela subject, but that also explains why Ferid was keen on making deals with him. Crowley and Ferid are surely Mikaela subjects though.

[two-cat-hods]

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