#I’m obsessed with her and the eq

[namelessdisaster]

More eah art

[athena-xox]

So wait, what’s the range on how long EQ has been in prison for wonderland. 1 year? 5? 7? In the show the characters that escape seem the same age as we currently see them, but I vaguely remember in the books being implied for longer than that.

If you don’t have an answer that’s ok, your seemingly episodic memory of the franchise amazes me anyhow.

I mostly just reread the books all the time because I have them illegally downloaded on my phone and I’m planning on taking an English major so I just have a good memory / analyze text like crazy. Also like the literacy of teenage girls who have unhealthy obsessions? Is surprisingly good.

Anyways this is always something that confuses me!!!

BECAUSE THEY NEVER SAY HOW MANY YEARS

LIKE MAYBE I NEED TO REREAD BUT MOSTLY THEY TALK A LOT ABT PRECURSE/MIRROR PRISON IN THR SHANNON HALE SERIES AND THE DIARIES AND A LOT ABOUT DURING IMPRISONMENT IN THE SHANNON HALE SERIES / TV SERIES BUT WE NEVER GET A TIMELIME!!!

Anyways the best I can canonically get you is that Lizzie mentions being 3 and the curse not being there and we know that the og 3 wonderlandians had been in ever after since at least freshman year

So basically that’s like an 11 year timespan

I mean we can assume it takes place a bit later bc bunny thought Alistair would ask her out before the curse which implies she was older, but then also her dad probably made Bunny with a human so if things like beastiality work different in wonderland maybe typical dating ranges r different too

Ok now I actually want to analyze it more , I’ll probably reread the first 3 books on my plane ride tmr

[villanesus]

I would love to hear your answers to 17, 21, 24, 28 and 39 :)

You did the thing! ( weird asks ) Thank you! :D

17. an earliest obsession you remember?

As a toddler-ish, I was very invested in the mouthfeel of paper. To the extent that my parents had to stop putting books on the bottom shelves of our bookcases. I would just pull out any old book and gnaw the corners right off. Tore up and ate drawings, stole napkins. It was A Thing. My first fandom obsession was Xena. ⚔️

21. your first celebrity crush?

This is rough because I had hella crushes on actresses when I was little, even before I knew I was queer? I genuinely have no idea which one was first, but here’s a fistful. Pre-queer awakening crushes: Jennifer Connelly (because of Labyrinth, but really in anything—her in Dark City? jesus christ), Michelle Pfeiffer (specifically as Catwoman in Batman Returns), Mary Stuart Masterson (specifically as Idgie Threadgoode in Fried Green Tomatoes), Sigourney Weaver (because of Ghostbusters), Nicole Kidman (specifically as Dr. Chase Meridian in Batman Forever). And then the first celebrity crush where I actually understood what was going on: Angelina Jolie (as Legs in Foxfire and then just about everything afterward for several years).

24. what have you learned about yourself?

This is maybe not the most poignant thing, but I was chatting with my therapist this morning and I mentioned that much of my life people have told me I’m really patient and reassuring. (I promise this is not a humblebrag.) The thing that I’ve learned is that I’m massively patient because trauma taught me the best way to be safe is to be the quietest, calmest, least demanding person in any space. As a result, my ability to perform patience is huge, but it comes at an extreme cost to my emotional energy and well-being. So, I need to give myself permission to be a dick once in a while. Or, not even a dick, just to prioritize myself in more situations.

28. an unusual song that’s your favorite?

I’m not sure how unusual this is, but it’s not exactly a radio favorite. I really love And All That Could Have Been by Nine Inch Nails. The build that starts around 2:10 makes me emotional, and I go feral when the drums turn up around 4:15. I recommend it with headphones and a foolishly high bass EQ.

39. is there wise words you live by?

I imagine the correct answer to this is a pithy quote, but I think my life philosophy is best represented by the book I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew by Dr. Seuss (I know, nothing from my childhood has aged gracefully, including Seuss). The last page pretty much sums it up: Then I started back home To the Valley of Vung I know I’ll have troubles. I’ll, maybe, get stung. I’ll always have troubles. I’ll, maybe, get bit By that Green-Headed Quail On the place where I sit. But I’ve bought a big bat. I’m all ready, you see. Now my troubles are going To have trouble with me! Shit is absolutely going to happen. Just acknowledge it and bring your bat.

[thegothicarchitecture]

10,000 gecs - 100 gecs

10,000 gecs isn’t a perfect album, but it may be the ideal summer record.

That may be a strange declarative statement to start on, after all I’m reviewing the newest batch of tunes by snickering Hyperpop hooligans Lauren Les and Dylan Brady, who seem to not care at all what you think about them (or care deeply that you don’t think that they care what you think of them). 

But this album feels like Summer, or it at least sounds sunny. For as manic and colorful as hyperpop music has sounded for its first few years of existence, sonically a hyperpop album has never sounded this sunny.  Compare this with Brakence’s moody and self obsessed Hypochondriac last year, which seems to brilliantly evoke Autumn, or WhoKilledXIX’s misanthropic and boastful 19.  Even Food House’s debut, as much as I love love LOVE the production on that album, sounds like colorful and happy music you’d blast at in indoor rave in a cold, dystopian hellscape. The same way 90s techno was an escape for the queer clubbing scene from the masses but applied in a post Covid, terminally online world, Food House captures the storm before the calm.

The new attitude on 100 gecs latest release is just screaming “we don’t care.” The infusions of ska, hip hop, nu metal and bedroom pop are balmy and refreshing, and never feel pigeonholed by the hyperpop genre label floating over the duo’s head(s) since 2019.

In fact, this album branches far away from hyperpop at times.  I Got My Tooth Removed is a straight up ska song, no punches pulled and no apologies made.  The humor comes from the song itself, a funny melodramatic ballad about losing a tooth like a lover with all emotion snapped out of it under the weight of a heavy handed, ska laden chorus.

The Most Wanted Person in the United States is another hilarious song, Laura Les doing her best Kreayshawn impression with a bright and choppy rap verse.  The instrumental uses a glut of sound effects in a manner reminiscent of Aphex Twin’s Logan Rock Witch, utilizing a walky talky sound and a sample from “Insane in the Membrane” in lieu of the sounds of toys.  But also what might be the sounds of toys. It’s pretty crazy.  

The punches don’t stop coming for the fans of the original hyperpop “gecs,” as 757 might be one of the bands punchiest songs to date. I heard a leak of this song from concert footage, and got to see the band play this song at Outside Lands last year, but to my surprise the vocals sound even wetter and more reverb boosted on the album.  This might be one of my few nitpicks, but some of the EQ-ing choices make the vocals sound washed out (even for 100 gec standards) and contrasts with cleaner vocals at various points in the album. However, this doesn’t ruin what is, at the core, one of my favorite 100 gecs tracks from a song and lyric writing standpoint.  

The only song I didn’t really fall head over heels for was Billy Knows Jamie, which doesn’t seem to know how to get out of first gear.  The loud breakdown truncating the song at the end is interesting, but doesn’t seem to build off of anything preceding it and makes the song feel incomplete and a bit underdeveloped.  As a whole the song is still a cool Limp Bizkit pastiche, just doesn’t meet the high bar the group has set for themselves. 

Overall, if your looking to get into 100 gecs without the proper background this album is a great introduction. In fact it might be a better introduction than their last studio record, as there’s no obvious filler like I Need Help Immediately or gecgecgec to pad out the runtime.  This album is a lean 27 minutes to be blasted by the brave, fun loving and adventurous.  All killer, no filler.

Highlights:  Dumbest Girl Alive, 757, Hollywood Baby, Most Wanted Person in the United States, I Got My Tooth Removed

✮ ✮ ✮ ½ (Excellent)

[bananaofswifts]

By Paul Tingen

From sketches to final mixes, engineer Jonathan Low spent 2020 overseeing Taylor Swift’s hit lockdown albums folklore and evermore.

“I think the theme of a lot of my work nowadays, and especially with these two records, is that everything is getting mixed all the time. I always try to get the songs to sound as finalised as they can be. Obviously that’s hard when you’re not sure yet what all the elements will be. Tracks morph all the time, and yet everything is always moving forwards towards completion in some way. Everything should sound fun and inspiring to listen to all the time.”

Speaking is Jonathan Low, and the two records he refers to are, of course, Taylor Swift’s 2020 albums folklore and evermore, both of which reached number one in the UK and the US. Swift’s main producer and co‑writer on the two albums was the National’s Aaron Dessner, also interviewed in this issue. Low is the engineer, mixer and general right‑hand man at Long Pond Studios in upstate New York, where he and Dessner spent most of 2020 working on folklore and evermore, with Swift in Los Angeles for much of the time.

“In the beginning it did not feel real,” recalls Low. “There was this brand‑new collaboration, and it was amazing how quickly Aaron made these instrumental sketches and Taylor wrote lyrics and melodies to them, which she initially sent to us as iPhone voice memos. During our nightly family dinners in lockdown, Aaron would regularly pull up his phone and say, ‘Listen to this!’ and there would be another voice memo from Taylor with this beautiful song that she had written over a sketch of Aaron’s in a matter of hours. The rate at which it was happening was mind‑blowing. There was constant elevation, inspiration and just wanting to continue the momentum.

“We put her voice memos straight into Pro Tools. They had tons of character, because of the weird phone compression and cutting midrange quality you just would not get when you put someone in front of a pristine recording chain. Plus there was all this bleed. It’s interesting how that dictates the attitude of the vocal and of the song. Even though none of the original voice memos ended up on the albums, they often gave us unexpected hints. These voice memos were such on‑a‑whim things, they were really telling. Taylor had certain phrasings and inflections that we often returned to later on. They became our reference points.”

Sketching Sessions

“The instrumental sketches Aaron makes come into being in different ways,” elaborates Low. “Sometimes they are more fleshed‑out ideas, sometimes they are less formed. But normally Aaron will set himself up in the studio, surrounded by instruments and synths, and he’ll construct a track. Once he feels it makes some kind of sense I’ll come in and take a listen and then we together develop what’s there.

“I don’t call his sketches demos, because while many instruments are added and replaced later on, most of the original parts end up in the final version of the song. We try to get the sketches to a place where they are already very engaging as instrumental tracks. Aaron and I are always obsessively listening, because we constantly want to hear things that feel inspiring and musical, not just a bed of music in the background. It takes longer to create, but in this case also gave Taylor more to latch onto, both emotionally and in terms of musical inspiration. Hearing melodies woven in the music triggered new melodies.”

Not long after Dessner and Low sent each sketch to Swift, they would receive her voice memos in return, and they’d load them into the Pro Tools session of the sketch in question. Dessner and Low then continued to develop the songs, in close collaboration with Swift. “Taylor’s voice memos often came with suggestions for how to edit the sketches: maybe throw in a bridge somewhere, shorten a section, change the chords or arrangement somewhere, and so on. Aaron would have similar ideas, and he then developed the arrangements, often with his brother Bryce, adding or replacing instruments. This happened fast, and became very interactive between us and Taylor, even though we were working remotely. When we added instruments, we were reacting to the way my rough mixes felt at the very beginning. Of course, it was also dictated by how Taylor wrote and sang to the tracks.”

Dessner supplied sketches for nine and produced 10 of folklore’s 16 songs, playing many different types of guitars, keyboards and synths as well as percusion and programmed drums. Instruments that were added later include live strings, drums, trombone, accordion, clarinet, harpsichord and more, with his brother Bryce doing many of the orchestrations. Most overdubs by other musicians were done remotely as well. Throughout, Low was keeping an overview of everything that was going on and mixing the material, so it was as presentable and inspiring as possible.

Mixing folklore

Although Dessner has called folklore an “anti‑pop album”, the world’s number‑one pop mixer Serban Ghenea was drafted in to mix seven tracks, while Low did the remainder.

“It was exciting to have Serban involved,” explains Low, “because he did things I’d never do or be able to do. The way the vocal sits always at the forefront, along with the clarity he gets in his mixes, is remarkable. A great example of this is on the song ‘epiphany’. There is so much beautiful space and the vocal feels effortlessly placed. It was really interesting to hear where he took things, because we were so close to the entire process in every way. Hearing a totally new perspective was eye‑opening and refreshing.

“Throughout the entire process we were trying to maintain the original feel. Sometimes this was hard, because that initial rawness would get lost in large arrangements and additional layering. With revisions of folklore in particular we sometimes were losing the emotional weight from earlier more casual mixes. Because I was always mixing, there was also always the danger of over‑mixing.

“We were trying to get the best of each mix version, and sometimes that meant stepping backwards, and grabbing a piano chain from an earlier mix, or going three versions back to before we added orchestration. There were definitely moments of thinking, ‘Is this going to compete sonically? Is this loud enough?’ We knew we loved the way the songs sounded as we were building them, so we stuck with what we knew. There were times where I tried to keep pushing a mix forward but it didn’t improve the song — ‘cardigan’ is an example of a song where we ended up choosing a very early mix.”

Onward & Upward

folklore was finished and released in July 2020. In a normal world everyone might have gone on to do other things, but without the option of touring, they simply continued writing songs, with Low holding the fort. In September, many of the musicians who played on the album gathered at Long Pond for the shooting of a making‑of documentary, folklore: the long pond studio sessions, which is streamed on Disney+.

The temporary presence of Swift at Long Pond changed the working methods somewhat, as she could work with Dessner in the room, and Low was able record her vocals. After Swift left again, sessions continued until December, when evermore was released, with Dessner producing or co‑producing all tracks, apart from ‘gold rush’ which was co‑written and co‑produced by Swift and Antonoff. Low recorded many of Swift’s vocals for evermore, and mixed the entire album. The lead single ‘willow’ became the biggest hit from the album, reaching number one in the US and number three in the UK.

“Before Taylor came to Long Pond,” remembers Low, “she had always recorded her vocals for folklore remotely in Los Angeles or Nashville. When I recorded, I used a modern Telefunken U47, which is our go‑to vocal mic — we record all the National stuff with that — going straight into the Siemens desk, and then into a Lisson Grove AR‑1 tube compressor, and via a Burl A‑D converter into Pro Tools. Taylor creates and lays down her vocal arrangements very quickly, and it sounds like a finished record in very few takes.”

Devils In The Detail

In his mixes, Low wanted listeners to share his own initial response to these vocal performances. “The element that draws me in is always Taylor’s vocals. The first time I received files with her properly recorded but premixed vocals I was just floored. They sounded great, even with minimal EQ and compression. They were not the way I’m used to hearing her voice in her pop songs, with the vocal soaring and sitting at the very front edge of the soundscape. In these raw performances, I heard so much more intimacy and interaction with the music. It was wonderful to hear her voice with tons of detail and nuances in place: her phrasing, her tonality, her pitch, all very deliberate. We wanted to maintain that. It’s more emotional, and it sounds so much more personal to me. Then there was the music...”

The arrangements on evermore are even more ‘chamber pop’ than on folklore, with instruments like glockenspiel, crotales, flute, French horn, celeste and harmonium in evidence. “As listeners of the National may know, Aaron’s and Bryce’s arrangements can be quite dense. They love lush orchestration, all sorts of percusion, synths and other electronic sounds. The challenge was trying to get them to speak, without getting in the way of the vocals. I want a casual listener to be drawn in by the vocal, but sense that something special is happening in the music as well. At the same time, someone who really is digging in can fully immerse themselves and take in all the beauty deeper in the details of the sound and arrangement. Finding the balance between presenting all the musical elements that were happening in the arrangement and this really beautiful, upfront, real‑sounding vocal was the ticket.

“A particular challenge is that a lot of the detail that Aaron gravitates towards happens in the low mids, which is a very warm part of our hearing spectrum that can quickly become too muddy or too woolly. A lot of the tonal and musical information lives in the low mids, and then the vocal sits more in the midrange and high mids. There’s not too much in the higher frequency range, except the top of the guitars, and some elements like a shaker and the higher buzzy parts of the synths. Maintaining clarity and separation in those often complex arrangements was a major challenge.”

[bloatsome]

Why R*wling failed to make Lily Evans a Mary Sue:

Moral superiority

Lily was a Gryffindor, and there is enough proof that everyone else thought less of Slytherins. The author has tried to convey that Lily was better than everyone else because she was friends with a Slytherin. However there is more than enough evidence of Lily being friends with Severus because they went way back and there is NO WAY they would be friends if they didn't know each other from their childhood. One, the Gryffindors didn't interact with the Slytherins and two, EVERY DAMN thing Snape did was questioned, and shown to be horrible by Lily. She didn't look at things from his perspective. (More on that later)

Lily also made it seem like she was doing him a favour by giving him her companionship.

She shows disdain towards Snape's likes and dislikes, and doesn't even treat him as a normal person should be treated. It was almost as if her friend was the scum of the earth and she was assigned to look after him for a bit.

Selectively forgiving

Plenty of instances of Lily being biased towards Gryffindor house in general, and the Marauders in specific. She tells Snape she can't ignore the fact that his friends used dark magic on Mary which we are not given context about (it could've been making her tap dance, for all we know). But what we are given context about is the Marauders sexually assaulting Snape. However that is okay with Lily, she even goes as far to smile (and possibly laugh) at it.

Maybe because they didn't use dark magic to choke and pantse Snape, or maybe, as the rest of the school would agree, it doesn't matter because it's a poor, ugly Slytherin.

Hypocritical

Lily says "I don't understand how you could hang around Avery and Mulciber" but befriends the Marauders (who were not just pranksters, they were BULLIES). She tells Snape to ditch his friends, the only people he could talk to without getting hurt, but cannot ditch her own friends to be there for him, implying a hypocritical and as mentioned, seemingly superior nature.

Not compassionate

Contrary to what is usually said about Lily:

"Your mother was not only a singularly gifted witch, but also an uncommonly kind person. She saw the best in everyone, even when they didn't see it in themselves"

Lupin's famous quote about Lily holds true, but only in HIS case.

Lily did not see the best in Severus. She was always telling him he was obsessed with the Marauders and he should be thankful James saved his life, after putting him in peril. She said he can't make her think otherwise (because she was always in the right, wasn't she?) and was mad at him when he said he wouldn't just leave it at Potter's version of the story. She deliberately ignores Severus' pain and worry.

Also the SWM incident. If Lily was really a badass queen who wouldn't stand for discrimination of any sort, then, after Snape called her a mudblood, Lily would NOT have retaliated with a low blow comment about his underwear, shaming his lower class status.

Not really intelligent

I'm not saying Lily was stupid, it's just that her intelligence is overblown in the series. We have several points that can lead us to believe this.

She was supposed to be a potions prodigy. However we know the text book was horse shit and you couldn't properly prepare a potion without diverging from the text. (As shown in HBP) Lily, like Hermione in HBP, couldn't have come too close to perfecting a potion practically, while she might be good at theory.

Maybe I could take her intelligence more seriously if it were in another subject.

Then about her non-academic intelligence, her street smarts, we see that Lily does not find out about James regularly hexing Snape, despite her having many friends and well, the gift of sight. Either she chose to be blissfully ignorant or she really did have no clue what went on around her.

She can't stay friends with someone who called her an offensive term, but can marry a guy who threatened to hex her? (Magical equivalent of hit) Not the smartest move.

Egoistic

Lily knew Severus respected her and held her on a pedestal. She didn't leave his side. James Potter, on the other hand, threatened to hex her and didn't treat her as she (or anyone, really) would want to be treated.

We see that Lily knows Snape's friends (and possibly Snape himself) call people of her birth "mudblood". She still doesn't leave. However, she does leave at a particular point, and that point is when Snape calls her a mudblood.

She befriends the Marauders soon after, as they treat her well enough now that the threat (her friend, Severus) is out of the way.

Superficial OR too deep

Why would Lily Evans, the "nice girl" agree to go out with the school bully? Two possibilities:

1. She thinks it doesn't really matter as he's treated her alright after the SWM incident. He's a popular Gryffindor guy, plays Quidditch, doesn't look bad either, stuff dreams are made of etc etc.

2. She thinks she can "change" him, what every teen girl thinks when you meet a bad boy type, shown in the lines "after he deflated his head a little bit".

Oh my god!! He did it for me! I'm gonna make him a better person and give him all my love.

Honey, spare us the swooning and realize people don't change because you agree to go to Hogsmead with them. But you wanna get pregnant with his child at 19/20? Oh okay then.

Straight up mean

This point only holds true if my one of my earlier ones about her low EQ and street smarts do not.

Lily Evans had an inkling to what went around in the Snape household, but couldn't conjure up enough compassion to be empathetic.

She thinks she can't trust Snape on his word about the werewolf incident when that's what friends do. Why? Because Slytherin = bad.

I don't blame her for leaving Snape friendless after he called her a mudblood (frustrated and humiliated as he was, it was wrong of him) but atleast she could have stopped herself from insulting him BACK. And then, idk, dating his bully maybe? Who threatened to HEX you miss?

It's never made sense to me to be badgered a person till you say yes and then actually falling in love with them.

What does make sense to me is that Lily Evans said yes to James Potter to get back at her former friend. And then fell in love.

All in all, Lily is not only a horrible "friend", but also a uncompelling character to me.

[intothewickedwood]

Once Upon A Time Rewatch: 6x19 The Black Fairy

Peter Pan! So weird to think they were married but I mean they’re both kinda obsessed with collecting children that aren’t their son which is a weird coincidence.

Aww baby Rumple!

Malcolm looks so happy to have a baby. It seems it was the loss of Fiona that made him resent Rumple. Perhaps he could have been a father with her support but he just couldn’t handle being a single father. 

I wish we got to know more about fairy lore

Rumple was born in winter. He’s totally a Capricorn!

Aren’t Saviors meant to save realms from dark curses? But the dark curse wasn’t created yet. Maybe they retconned it and they’re just meant to save people.

That dragon egg is awfully convenient. What happened to the characters going on quests to find things like this? It’s too easy to wake Blue up.

Snow straight up strangling the Blue Fairy. I know it’s not her but I think Snow deserves that opportunity. 

Quick thinking Rumple with that cuff! 

Why does Emma have to have sleepy time too?

Is the shack Rumple was born in the same place he and Milah lived in? Probably not.

Yep. Really shouldn’t have given her that book of prophecies. What did they expect? Fiona to be overjoyed her son would die at the hands of a great evil?

Wait. It’s not possible for someone to turn themselves into a fairy? There must be something about Fiona. There’s something about that family, I swear. It seems they were all destined for great power and great evil.

Regina teaching Zelena to drive is the best thing ever but she totally could have escaped with Henry on her broom if things went wrong. If people in New York saw her and Henry flying high defying gravity they’d just think it was promo for Broadway’s Wicked.

Lmao! Omg Zelena! This scene is glorious!

Oh yeah, baby Robin could fit on the broom too. They’d make it work!

Regina: “I trust him to raise you.” Lol. So true but now I need all the fics with Henry raising his little cousin and Auntie in New York. 

The Black Fairy is so freaking creepy singing a lullaby to Blue.

The hatred emanating from the Black Fairy for Blue gives me shivers. 

And then she’s like “I’m so happy we get a chance to play,” and sits down like a child. Chills, I tell you! Like, Blue has completely destroyed who she used to be.

What was she going to do to the child if she’d found one with the crescent mark? 

Aww. Rumple breaking down and saying “I would do anything for you, son.” This man freaking loves his children. 

How did they end up in Rumple’s dream when Gideon was the first to be sprinkled with the night night sand?

Hook: “How do we know you are actually you.” Regina: “Because it’s me!” Sounds legit.

Aww, Hook just called Regina “love”. Are they getting along again, now? I saw a meta the other day that noted how Regina only started to dislike Hook when he got serious with Emma and I’m pretty sure that’s true. Interesting!

I wanted to see a proper witch fight dammit! For a show with so many sorcerers, we deserved more magical duels.

But omg Zelena suddenly running the Black Fairy over and her flipping over the car is the best thing in existence! 

Aww the sisters’ little smiles to each other. 

The sacred vault of the fairies? Are they, like, religious? 

This poor woman. I feel so sorry for her. She’s just desperately and feverishly trying to protect her baby. What did they expect from her? Most mothers would go to those lengths if they were told their child would suffer such a horrible fate. That would bring anyone to the end of their tether.

Omg wtf. “He’s destined to die so that other children may live.” That is a beyond cruel thing to say to the face of a mother. What the hell? Omg the pain on Fiona’s face. No child should be sacrificed for another. How heartless of the fairies.

So did Emma replace Rumple as the EF’s Savior or can their be multiple Saviors? 

Agggh this is so horrific. Poor Fiona finding out she is destined to kill her own child. She’s devastated. 

Oh, did she get the crescent scar when she was disarmed? 

Oh cool, the Black Fairy can project memories! That’s quite a unique power.

Blue could have saved a lot of people by remotely teleporting their hearts into her hands from the EQ’s or Cora’s and yet she didn’t.

She has a point. Even if she severed her destiny so she wouldn’t be the one to kill him, he could still be in danger from some other threat.

Blue, what the hell! Summoning a portal was absolutely uncalled for. What because she dared to upset you as you were so desperate for him to become the Savior for some reason? Probably part of her long-game evil plan. So what if he didn’t become a Savior?! Blue’s going on like that was the worst crime. She was just trying to protect him and you separated a doting mother who was no longer a danger to him from her child! You had no right! She is so self-righteous, I swear to god. It’s nothing to do with her. Who does she think she is?! Blue has ruined so many lives and gotten away with it because she believes she’s all high and mighty. She’s just as much of a villain as any other on this show. It makes me so mad. Poor Fiona. No wonder she hates Blue. 

Fiona: “I promise you son, I will spend every moment of every day trying to find my way back to you!”

I think she let Rumple hate her because it was too painful and she didn’t think she deserved his love. 

There are a lot of parallels between Rumple and his mother’s stories. They are much alike. 

Malcolm genuinely loved Fiona. He said she was the love of his life. Gosh I needed backstory with those two! After her he felt the only way he could be happy again was to return to childhood and Neverland so he didn’t have to think about Fiona. It was too painful. Easier to pretend he’d never loved. 

Malcolm must have lied to Rumple and told him his mother had abandoned him.

The fairies imply Fiona is dead to cover their own asses. They won’t say they banished her because they damn well know he’d fight them to get the love of his life back.

Lol. Sorry but calling your child Rumplestiltskin just to spite him is hilarious. What does it mean? Oh! It means “Little Rattle Stilt.” I mean it could have been worse it could have been “Little Sh*thead.” 

Also the Fairies hearing him blame the baby for his wife’s death should have rung alarm bells. They should have put him in a home where he’d be loved and cared for. Nope, just leave him with this guy who hates him.

Eww. They put a heart on the dinner table.

Giddy Up’s got his heart back! Yehaaaw!

“A seafaring man does not take superstitions likely.” So he is superstitious! He allowed a woman on his ship for years so maybe superstitions are different in the EF.

Oh my God, next week’s the musical episode!!!! I can’t wait!!!!

[kaemaki-enthusiast]

Hi! I saw you were doing Encanto matchups and well it’s my current obsession. So if you have time I would love of you could match me up with someone! Info about me: I’m 15 yo female (she/her but am totally comfortable with they/them). I’m biromantic asexual and I don’t really have a gender preference. I am chubby especially around the tummy area and my thighs. I am short 5’1 (158 cm), I have dark ashy blonde curly hair that either looks goldish or reddish in the sun depending on the time of the day, falls to a bit under my shoulders. I am really pale (I look like I haven’t seen the sun in years, being a night owl doesn’t help) and my eyes are blue with gold in the middle I also need to wear glasses. For my personality I am introverted (social introvert I like my small group of friends I had since kindergarten), really strong willed, stubborn, loyal and easily irritated. I will defend people I care about and if it means punching somebody than be it (I am very strong stronger than half the dudes I know). I have a high IQ but also a high EQ so I can give someone both a realistic and thought trough solution but I also to know when all they want to do is be hugged and cared for. I can spot the smallest details and remember them all. I don’t like large crowds as they make me claustrophobic. I have this thing where I need to eat at least every 4 hours or my stomach just tries to kill me by sending acid up my throat, it’s stress related. My interests include reading (ya and fantasy mostly), art, watching movies, traveling, horse riding, Star Wars (biggest obsession), animals, Roman and Greek mythology and acting. I own a dog named Loki that I would die for, I also have two cats and a fish. Sorry if I wrote too much I got carried away as I didn’t talk with my friends for the last few days because I was sick and needed to stay at home. Hope you have a wonderful day/night!

hola!! i’ve decided to match you withh

Camilo!!!

so so interested in greek and roman mythology, will make you tell him all about it!!

honestly you say you act, boom camilo is in love with you

makes fun of you bc your shorter than him, if it bothers you he’ll stop with no hesitation

adding onto that, even tho he’s not that much taller than you he will use your head as an elbow rest, looks kinda funny tho

i feel like he doesn’t understand why you enjoy reading so much, but loves that you do bc you talk with pepa about books you both have read, it makes his mama’s boy heart happy

if you ever get claustrophobic at a party or anything camilo will take you to the roof and sit up there with you till his papá comes looking for him

since you both are stubborn, you guys have “playful” arguments that get kinda heated until Dolores tells you guys to “shut up and kiss already”

will always eat with you, hes basically always hungry

will cup your face and cover it in kisses

hope you enjoy this ❤️❤️

@zoeyserpentluck

[onomonopetabread]

Declawing the Cat- Chapter 2

“ Can you believe that nerve of that jerk?”

Marinette was absolutely furious. Tikki watched her from the bed as she paced from wall to wall. It was really getting concerning; she’s been ranting for the past three hours. School ended about five hours ago, but Marinette’s little encounter with Felix never left her mind.

“What, did he think that a few thoughtless compliments would get me to trust him? Who does he think he is, the MaYOR?”

That last part was a particularly loud shriek, and if Tikki had eardrums, they would be completely shattered by now. It was time to stop this madness.

“Mari, I know that you’re upset, and trust me, I am too. But… don’t you think that you should calm down? You’ve been at this for a really long time.”

Marinette hardly heard her. “I really tried. I tried to just leave it alone. But nooo, he just had to go and rock the boat! Can’t the guy take a hint? I mean, if someone didn’t talk to ME after giving the third fakest apology given ever, I would know that they hated MY guts.”

“Why should we trust anything he has to say? He hasn’t exactly given us any reason to like him.”

“Yeah, how can you expect us to just become friends with us after what he did? He’s a liar!”

The group gathered around Felix. He’d just been introduced to the class by Adrien, and it didn’t seem as though they were very happy to see him. They were making so much noise that no one had noticed the lack of a certain blue-eyed class president. Unbeknownst to them, Marinette was crouched behind a pillar near the courtyard, watching and listening to the entire thing.

She had been uncharacteristically early to school and was chatting with Tikki in the locker room when she heard Adrien’s voice outside. Naturally, she'd begun to walk outside to greet him. The fact that she had decided to try to get over him out of respect for Kagami doesn’t make it illegal for her to talk to him; he is her friend.

When Marinette first stepped out of the room, her first thought was that there were somehow two Adriens. Then she realized that one Adrien looked like...Adrien, and the other looked like a sad old man somehow ended up in a teen’s body. In about 0.2 seconds, she was absolutely seething. What was he doing here? Why wasn’t he at his comfortable home in the ninth circle of hell?

“Guys, this is my cousin Felix. He’s going to be attending school with us for now on. I know you guys will take him in with open arms.”

Open arms? This clown? Marinette scoffed. She’d sooner swallow a cup of tacks than let that prick into her life. Her classmates however, aren’t as strong-minded as she was. It’d probably be better if she stayed silent and invisible for this and let them make up their own minds about this, just to see what they would do.

“Why should we trust anything he has to say? He hasn’t exactly given us any reason to like him.”

“Yeah, how can you expect us to just become friends with us after what he did? He’s a liar!”

Okay, so far so good. Maybe this time around, she wouldn’t be (almost) the only person that didn’t trust a liar. Oh, how great it will be to openly loathe for once! One by one, more and more voices were protesting letting the rat into their friend group. The entirety of the class was hanging Formally-Dressed Draco to dry, and Marinette was in ecstasy.

‘Yes,’ she thought. ‘Tear him to pieces!’

Just when things were really starting to escalate, the sound of someone clearing their throats cut through the noise.

“Hello, everyone. As Adrien just told you, my name is Felix Graham de Vanily. To answer your question, Mr. Le Chein, yes, I’m the cousin of Adrien’s that impersonated him and sent you a cruel response to your heartfelt videos. For that, I am deeply sorry. I have no excuse for wha-”

What. In. The. World. If Marinette was furious before, she was positively incandescent now. He really was another Lila! Not to mention the fact that he didn’t even have the decency to make the apology seem even slightly convincing. Anyone with an EQ of 3 could see that those puppy-eyes were rehearsed and don’t even get Mari STARTED on that pout. There was no way that her class would buy this, but by the looks on their faces…

“If you’re really sorry...”

…Of course. Of-freaking-course they would believe him. Marinette sighed and walked into the classroom. Once again, she was left to hold the class’ single brain cell, by herself this time since there was no chance in Adrien distrusting his own cousin. Now how was she going to go about this was the question. If he really is Lila 2.0, then her initial plan to outright hate him will boomerang her right in the eye. No, it’s better to just avoid him at all costs; you can’t hate what you never come into contact with.

“Are you really sure that’s going to work, Marinette?” Tikki asked once they were safe inside the room. “You can’t stay away from him forever, you know. He may be a nuthead, but he’s smart enough to notice when you aren’t fawning over him like the others.”

“I know Tikki, but I think I’ll cross that bridge when I get there. For now, I’m going to go above and beyond to make sure our paths never cross.”

“That’s a relief. I thought for a moment there that you were going to do the rational thing for once.”

“Really, Tikki? Sarcasm? That’s beneath you.”

“If you’re looking for a finger to point, blame Plagg. You pick it up after being with him for a few thousand years.”

Marinette stayed true to her word and made it her mission to never be in the same room as the Great Disturbance unless it was class time. Even then, she kept a compact with her so that she could see if he was coming up behind her. Whenever someone began to bring him up into a conversation, she would quickly but subtly change the subject.

After a few days of this, she seemed to really be getting the hang of it. Avoiding him was becoming second nature to Mari. It actually would have been way easier for her if the demon hadn’t kept trying to collect her soul. Like always, Tikki had been right. The little son-of-a caught on to her really quickly and didn’t hesitate to try to reach out to her. In fact, the other classmates would often tell her that he had been looking for her, and she’d had to act as though she didn’t have a clue what they were talking about. That part hadn’t been so easy.

“So, what are you going to make for the big competition, Mari? A dress maybe?” asked Alya.

“Actually, I was thinking about sewing up a pair of suits. I’m not sure what they’ll look like yet, but I really want to try something new this time.”

“Well, I know whatever you’ll make will blow their socks off, girl. Speaking of designers, Felix told me to ask you to meet him after school . He said he wants to talk to you.”

“Is that so?” Marinette asked, feigning surprise (see bane-of-existence, you’re not the only person who can act here).

“Yeah, he really seemed to have taken an interest in you. All he ever asks us is what you're up to. It’s almost an obsession. Do I sense a little romance here? Another blond-haired green-eyed love interest?”

“Not very likely, Alya. Anyways, I guess I’ll have to talk to him later. So, are you going to tell me about your new reporting piece or what?”

What? Don’t give me that face, it’s technically not a lie; Mari did end up talking to him later, didn’t she? Though, to be fair, she wasn’t planning on actually interacting with him until they both passed. No, not passing class. The other pass.

One thing that she had learned about the knock-off Five Hargreeves was that she had greatly overestimated him. For the love, the kid wasn’t fit to kiss Lila’s feet. At least her schemes were clever and thought-through; this amaetur just existed and everything was handed to him on a silver platter. The rest of the class has spoiled him into thinking that it would be easy to capture her attention with a tense grimace of a smile and two ounces of ‘charm’. Unfortunately for him, Marinette Dupain-Cheng wasn’t so easily bought.

So, that’s the way it went for a few weeks; a classic game of cat and mouse. He would try to catch her, and she would slip out of reach at the last minute. If she had to admit it, it was very fun, especially sneaking peeks at the frustrated faces the devil makes when he thinks no one is looking; the coward can’t be emotionally vulnerable for a second.

That’s why she felt so sure that he wouldn’t follow her to the park; the place was way too open for a stand-offish guy like him. She was very safe in the great outdoors with nothing but her sketchpad, a sharpened pencil, and a sleeping Tikki in her purse. She had been working on that design that she was talking about with Alya. Marinette really needed this design to be perfect. Perhaps a double-breasted suit would work? How many buttons would she have to buy? If she was any deeper into her work, she might not have noticed the distinct smell of leather and the tears of the innocents approaching her. She just barely retained her composure.

‘What is he doing here? Whatever, perhaps if I just stay completely still, he’ll go away.”

“Ah, Ms. Dupain-Cheng! How lovely it is to see you. We never seem to talk, do we? It is quite a shame really.”

‘It would also be a shame if you were to get punched where the sun doesn’t shine, Mr. Pied Piper’, Marinette thought. Alas, no matter how much she wanted to move her hand like so, she couldn’t let him win this fight. No, just silent-treatment it out and pray he either leaves or gets struck with a lightning bolt.

“I must say, that is a lovely suit you’re designing there. I love the use of gold thread on the pants. If I may make a few suggestions-”

Him? Give fashion advice? Marinette would rather NOT learn how to dress like an off-brand Crowly, thank you very much. Good grief, he really wasn’t going to stop trying, was he? Alright, no more Nice Marinette.

That’s when she finally snapped and, well, you know how that went. Had it been ANYbody else, she probably would feel guilty for talking to someone so blatantly, but it turns out that she left that situation with zero regrets. If she didn’t put a stop to this whole ordeal, she’ll probably have to carry around a tiny halberd with her for the rest of her life, and as much as she would like to use it, he really wasn’t worth the trouble. Ugh, he makes her absolutely Sick. He’s so slimy, terrible, arrogant, deceitful-

“MARINETTE JOSEPHINE DUPAIN-CHENG BE QUIET!!!!”

Marinette was so startled she tripped over her chaise and fell onto her bed.

“Geez, Tikki! Couldn’t give a girl a warning before you scream like that?”

“You’re one to talk, Ms. The Mayor. And for the record, I did give you a warning; I’ve been calling your name since for the past hour. Are you really going to get all worked up over this, Mari? You said it yourself, he’s just another Lila.”

“I know Tikki, and I’m sorry I’ve been rambling on for so long. It’s just- yeah, he’s a liar, a fake, and way too stoic to be real, but he’s different from Lila. I don't know what it is about him, but I can’t help but wholeheartedly loathe him. Just the thought of him makes a shiver run down my spine.”

“Loathing. Right. That’s it, totally. Is that why you haven’t said his name this entire time.”

“As a matter of fact, yes. I’m very happy you noticed, Tikki. I spent a lot of time thinking up all of those insult names.”

“I’m sure you did, Marinette,” Tikki sighed. “You really don’t like this kid, do you?”

“No, I definitely do not, and not a fiber of my being will ever so much as be happy in his presence for as long as I live.”

@ceres-zephyr here u go!

Chapter 3’s up!

https://qualityladybread.tumblr.com/post/632447827994411008/declawing-the-cat-chapter-3

[nightwingmyboi]

I have a massive amount of questions and hopefully you can answer them all. I wont ask all at once but first question. Dick and Tarantula. I know kinda what happens but like... All the titans took her side? Who were the titans and how did they react?

Alright, always happy to help out. Feel free to fire away! To start...I believe you’re thinking about Mirage, not Tarantula. 

Everything with Tarantula occurred in Bludhaven when Dick wasn’t currently working with the Titans. Dick hasn’t ever talked about what happened with Tarantula to anyone, so it’s likely that the Titans have no idea that anything ever happened...the only people who would have an inkling of what went down would probably be Bruce (who after the fact yelled at Dick to stop being suicidal and never looked into the matter further) and Barbara (who broke up with Dick...after seeing Tarantula force herself on him and knee him in the groin...okay). Yeah that’s a whole other issue :/ 

But I’ll explain the situation with Mirage instead. To set the scene: Dick was on the “New Titans” team, which included: Starfire, Beastboy/Changeling, Red Star, Donna Troy, and Pantha. Mirage came from an evil alternate future timeline, and in that timeline she was romantically involved with a version of Dick Grayson, later known as “Deathwing.” Because of this, she is obsessed with Dick and is convinced that they belong together. She’s come back with the rest of the “Team Titans” to the past to kill Donna Troy in order to stop her son from ruling over the world as a dictator. For some reason, she accomplishes this plan...by kidnapping Starfire, replacing her, and tricking Dick into having sex. Yeah, the plot is convoluted as hell. No time to unpack all that! 

Deathstroke (1991) #14

The team discovers that there is an imposter when Kory manages to break free of her imprisonment and escape. Dick realizes that he was manipulated into having sex with a stranger. Instead of Kory and Dick being able to talk about it alone, Pantha spills the beans in front of the whole team (sans Donna) and fuels the fire with several horrible, crude comments. 

The New Titans (1988) #90

“Details! From ten to one--how did she score compared to this one?”

Though Mirage had them all fooled, Pantha says that, seeing as Dick slept with her, he definitely should have been able to realize that she was phony. No one on the team comes to Dick’s defense or tries to shift the blame from Dick’s shoulders. Kory’s a bit pissed as well. She’s had a pretty bad couple of days. She wants an explanation from Dick, but Pantha can’t freaking shut up for five seconds so that he can give her one. 

Also, note the comments about how Dick’s hair has changed? And about “Starfire’s” new costume? I’m going to quickly side track to explain just how terrible Mirage is. 

The New Titans #88

So, while she was disguised as Kory, Mirage pushed Dick into changing his costume and cutting his hair into a mullet. Dick didn’t want to, especially because his discowing costume had huge sentimental value seeing as he’d modeled the look after his dead parent’s circus outfits, but “Kory” kept pestering him. He trusted his girlfriend, so Dick eventually agreed to follow what he thought was her lead. 

I can’t get over how horrible that is...that Dick’s rapist tried to own Dick’s body to the extent that manipulating him into having sex wasn’t enough, that she abused his trust to change his appearance to suit her needs too, specifically altering him in ways he wasn’t comfortable with. It’s disgusting, I don’t know why it’s so often glossed over, and it really gives a whole new reason to hate “Mulletwing.” And Nightwing’s not the only one whose bodily autonomy is completely thrown out the window.

The New Titans #93

When Mirage was disguised as Kory, she went around and did a bunch of porno, nude photoshoots. I don’t think I have to explain how awful it is that Kory’s appearance was used like this without her consent, especially in such a public way (people were literally stopping her in the streets to talk about it and she was invited onto a news show). Kory is rightfully pissed. Mirage also changes Starfire’s costume as well, to have big cut-outs on the sides. 

Mirage is absolutely horrible. Cannot say that enough.  

Back on the plot: Dick and Kory still have a lot to talk out, but they are on a mission to save Donna, so both of them put their feelings aside for now to help their friend. Later, while Starfire is busy chasing Donna in space, Nightwing runs into Mirage, and she reveals that she was the imposter. 

Team Titans #2

DICK YOU SLUT! So tell me, who was better? Huh? Huh? Huh? 

Mirage laughs about raping Nightwing with zero remorse. Pantha calls Dick a slut and once again asks who is better. Also like last time, the rest of the team (sans Donna) is standing right there...and doesn’t care or help him out at all. 

Dick is forced to put his feelings aside once again to deal with the threat to Earth. This means working with Mirage to the point where she is just...part of the team for some reason? My reaction is pretty in line with Kory’s here: 

Despite Kory’s protest, Dick focuses on the mission, and says that they need the manpower and the knowledge of the future that the Team Titans (including Mirage) have in order to defeat Donna and her son (long story, just ignore the plot honestly). But really, they need Mirage...so that she can cause unnecessary, contrived drama between Dick and Kory. 

I’m just going to say it: Kory and Dick are both pretty wildly out of character. Putting aside how stupid and cliché this plot is in the first place, Dick lets Mirage get away with way too much crap, when he’s always been very up front about dealing with bullshit in the past. One of the absolute worst things about having Mirage stick around (and at one point literally go on vacation with the Titans) is how she just keeps acting like her and Dick are together. It’s gross and Dick needed and usually would have put his freaking foot down about it. They also have Kory flipping from acknowledging that Mirage tricked Dick and is at fault for what happened: 

Team Titans #2

The New Titans (1988) #90

To having her think that Dick genuinely...loved Mirage and would rather be with her? And blaming Dick for being tricked? Even though Dick and Kory are both victims here? 

The New Titans (1988) #90

The New Titans (1988) #97

Starfire has an incredibly high EQ. She and Dick have always been very communicative. To see her completely unwilling to hear him out (and blame him for being raped) is shocking. She acts like an immature teenager, changing her mind all the time and then storming off to go party with random guys in clubs for the next couple days. She has zero of her previously demonstrated emotional maturity and trust. Meanwhile, just as Dick loses his girlfriend, he also loses his apartment, and, to top it all off, Roy swings by to tell Dick that the government is going to shut down the Titans because of all the property damage that happened in their last fight. Nightwing literally can never catch a break. 

The New Titans (1988) #99

Eventually, the two do make up...and Dick immediately proposes to Kory out of nowhere. She accepts, despite being pissed moments before. They have a wedding the next issue, but it is interrupted by villains from the alternate timeline, including an evil Raven and Deathwing. Afterwards, Dick and Kory’s relationship is never quite the same. 

Seeing Dick and Starfire’s relationship sour, when it was built up over so many years of comics (and with neither of them truly being at fault for the split), is freaking depressing. And Mirage never does get punished really...I’m pretty sure she’s even part of the honor guard that escorts Superman’s body to his tomb when he dies, which is dumb as hell. But that’s how it all went down. 

Just to clarify, since you specifically asked how the team reacted, I kept saying “(sans Donna)” because while most of this was going on Donna was a) giving birth or b) going crazy with power. Later, Donna is shown to know about what happened with Mirage, but she doesn’t really give it much thought. She does comment that Dick is acting strangely and she’s concerned about him, but she also doesn’t seem to connect the obvious dots that Dick is acting off...because he’s still shaken about being raped and tricked. Roy also appears later on to lead the Titans. Mirage is a member of that group, and Roy isn’t really shown to have any strong feelings about it. 

Honestly, I wouldn’t say that the Titans “took Mirage’s side” as you describe. Pretty sure none of them liked Mirage. But, they didn’t stand up for Dick, certainly. There was a lot of victim blaming. Dick’s rape wasn’t given the narrative weight that it deserved, probably due to the time period the comic was made. His teammates mostly didn’t care enough to take sides, used him being raped as a joke, or blamed him for being tricked. 

The whole story arc is convoluted, the characterizations are terrible, and overall it just sucks that this was written. 

[ouatsnark]

Killian vs Regina pt 9: Henry

This is part of a How They Treat Emma Comparison

The way they treated her in regards to Henry

Regina Mills spent the first season trying to turn Henry against Emma

She often used anti-birth mother rhetoric (accusing Emma of being jealous in 3x10, being safer with her in shattered sight curse, S5 finale over Henry & Violet’s favorite song & the sEQ calling herself his real mother).

There is not 1 incident of Killian Jones believing that Emma isn’t a great parent. Nor does he ever insult or degrade her in front of Henry (like Regina did in S4 with the “savior needs saving” or how she wouldn’t stand up for Dark Swan). In fact, we know he thinks that Henry is lucky

First off, I don't care if you're scared or hurting... you do not intentionally hurt a child! And all of this is Regina doing specific things to hurt Henry and make Emma look bad in front of him.

That's bad parenting. It's abusive. It's bullying.

Regina: Oh, I’m sorry. You didn’t want people to know you cut his cord with a shiv? Emma: I don’t care what people know, but this hurts Henry.

What a true gem. This is what she thinks of teenage Emma who grew up on the streets, was abandoned by her much older boyfriend, left to take the fall for his crimes and ended up having his kid... and Emma wouldn’t have gone through all of that if Regina wasn’t seeking revenge on a child that only wanted to help her.

And maybe, just maybe, he wants me when he's frightened. You forget—I have ten years of soothing his nightmares under my belt. He's fine. Emma: It's not about you, Regina. I just have a gut feeling. Regina: Well, maybe you can use that gut feeling to find the Shadow instead of obsessing over who's going to comfort our son.

More brushing away of her abuse of Henry. Lady, you CAUSED his nightmares! But that's another discussion altogether.

Regina is insisting Henry is fine because she doesn't know Henry as well as Emma does! And this proves it right here. She won't even listen to Emma! And worse, she says this in front of whom they believe to be Henry.

And yes, this can be considered anti-birth mother rhetoric since she throws Henry's childhood where Emma was absent back in her face as a way to silence her.

This is still Regina. The EQ is Regina. And this is how Regina really feels so this completely counts.

Emma wasn’t around because she was 17 years old and in jail for someone else’s crimes. She gave Henry away to give him his best chance otherwise he’d have been bounced around from home to home waiting for Emma to 1) get out of jail 2) be granted custody of him again which might have taken a while considering that she had no job, no money, no place to live and no family.

She doesn’t even listen to Elsa who tells Regina that she’s doesn’t think that’s true since her and Emma might be immune.

No, she just sticks to the fact that she's better for Henry.

Ok Regina. Whatever. You're only about to sequester yourself in your vault for the safety of everyone when you decide to go nuclear.

By the way, this was also said in front Henry.

There isn’t a single instance of Killian tearing down Emma’s role as a parent or questioning her motives or her parenting skills. He offers nothing but praise.

Continue to a few extra comparisons

[dilirebas]

I like 88 enough but I just wanna say Qiao Jing Jing character in YAMG is problematic too, and I wonder is it really just me. Some main red flags:

- She essentially "manipulated" Yu Tu into coming to her place by lying to him that her air purifier broke down. She did that without knowing how far he lived and even though it was already pretty late in the day.

- she asked him to come to her place every day, from morning till 9pm? Lol that's worse than full time jobs. And again, she did that without checking where he lived. It's 1.5 hours of travel each way, so he would reach home at 10.30pm?

- most cringey thing was that she purposely tried to "test" him a few times, even before officially getting together: making up excuses to use his phone and use his Wechat (I would run if I were YT 🙄), asking him to carry her boxes even though the driver could have done it (and she was just playing game while he went to carry her boxes...)

Essentially to me the writing feels rather uneven. Sometimes she was very sensible, high EQ, smart etc but sometimes she was so self centered I couldn't stand it.

I'm really glad when 88 said she's different from Jing Jing 😅

Tbh I didn't watch all of YAMG so I can't comment on everything. I did have some frustrations with QJJ as well but I'm not sure I agree on everything.

On the first point, if I were YT I would have just offered to go the next morning lol. But he was willing to go to a stranger's house so I don't really see that as QJJ's fault. She wasn't forcing him. On the second point, he did also agree to this. These days, jobs in China tend to be 996 (9am-9pm, 6 days a week) so the hours are on par with standard employment (and much better than his actual job). Idk what the payment situation was, but aside from that, it seems like a pretty sweet deal. He scored a job that he's totally unqualified for, he's basically coaching her on his hobby, and they spend a lot of the time just relaxing. In terms of how far away he lives, I think that should be for him to communicate, because that's information that he knows and she doesn't.

Snooping on someone's phone is a big no for me. I have no memory of the boxes (maybe it happened after the point where I stopped watching?) but it seems pretty in-character. She works really hard on her career but she's clueless in her personal life, like when she didn't know how to use her own coffee machine. This was one of the points that Dilraba strongly emphasized as being different from herself.

My main frustration with QJJ was how she, as a strong and confident young woman, was so lovesick over a guy who didn’t treat her particularly well, and it felt like she never stood her ground. Like at the start of the story he really doesn't have that much respect for her and he has the same prejudices against her that Xia Qing does, and his attitude towards her only changes after she cheers him up and does things for him. Then he got mad at her for such a dumb reason (essentially his own insecurity), so she sat around questioning her own self worth, and she just forgave him after such a a disrespectful apology. All the efforts were on her end, and he was basically enjoying her attention and sending her mixed signals without any intention of dating her. I think her persistence and obsession is something that a lot of girls can relate to when thinking back to their high school crushes, but at some point you really need to have some self-respect and look for a relationship where the respect and admiration is mutual.

But yeah, Dilraba is a very different person. Anyone who says she's basically QJJ simply doesn't know her well enough and is underestimating her acting abilities.

[selfinserttothestars]

you wanted meowrails headcanons, here we go, come with me on this incredible journey, which honestly, at this point is turning out to be a minific...

One version of equius and nepeta open up a small teashop together on Derse, somewhere private, away from the prying eyes of the narrative. usually Derse is a harsh barren place with stones and metal, and purple everywhere, but this one spot has green vines growing all around for some reason. 'tis a small hidden grove. that's why one of the ghost of eq is wearing a full maid outfit. he serves the tea, as gently as he can,he surprisingly doesn't destroy everything.

Nepeta knows ALL the tea strains and types, she's been hunting long enough in the wilds to be familiar with all kinds of herbs. the little teagrove and their shop doesn't get much traffic, which suits both of them just fine. nepeta likes to tease equius saying he looks really cute and pretty in a maid outfit, but of course, he takes it 100% seriously. He says it makes him look subservient but elegant, fit for an indigo like him and all that bs, but they both know it's just pretense.

At the end of the day, they close the shop and just take a casual stroll through Derse. Guess I forgot to mention this isn't necessarily the actual moon of Skaia, but a memory of it, in the dreambubbles. I need to establish this because I headcanon that after death, Eq's STRENGTH goes away, mysteriously. So they're holding hands throughout the entire walk, her hand smaller than his, so she's basically holding unto his palm and like 3 fingers of his. She's humming some kind of song and she swings their hands a little bit.

From time to time, she stops, brings Eq closer, basically pulling him by the hand, into a nice warm hug. He has never been as happy in his life as he is now, because now he can reciprocate Nepeta's gestures and affection without the fear of hurting her. The ability to interact with everything around him without breaking them... To hold her hand, and hug and caress her whenever he would want to, and plant soft kisses on her head, to finally be able to show her how much she means to him, is the absolute best thing that could've ever happened to him.

The fact that he can actually share something with the outside world, that is really him, not a farce, like his...obsession with the hemocaste. His entire life in the comic is a lie. But this. This 100% real. Nepeta couldn't be happier. Her big blue broody meowrail is happy, and hugging her back. They pull away but they keep holding hands though.

Every dersite that they meet turns their head. How could they do this? In broad daylight on the city streets! Derse is a kingdom of darkness and crime, not this fluffy cutie business! Preposterous!

Not like they care. They keep on walking, holding hands, proudly. They share a living quarters on Derse, so they walk home to a lonely tower, somewhere apart from all the others; they change into their pjs, and snuggle up with each other in bed, falling into a peaceful slumber. Tomorrow, they'll open up shop again, on the other side of Derse.

—

OH MY GOODNESS IM

God bless this entire post I’m so happy this exists. While tragic that it takes death for them to find a happy home they’re finALLY HAPPY AAAAAAAH! I love the idea that Nepeta knows so much about tea through her hunting escapades. I’m imagining she started out like “Leaf water???” and just stuck any old leaf into hot water hoping for the best, and now she has so much tea knowledge through trial and error (mainly error). I have also loved the concept of Equius learning gentleness and getting better at it with time, but the idea that he just one day has it and doesn’t know what else to do with it but to hug his moirail is s o f t. He probably picked a teacup up for the first time and just stared at it for a bit like “impossible... I’m STRONGER than you...” he says to a teacup. Also having an Equius e%planation for the maid dress is so good. We all know his pretty game is STRONG. Let him flaunt it even though he’ll never admit that he’s rocking it. Also also I’m so soft for them rooming together rather than having separate towers. On a sadder note it’s probably solidified that they don’t want to lose each other again so they just always stay as close together as possible.

My ramblings aside, I love this post and everything it stands for and also you. God bless.

[paradise-creator]

OwO when u have time,, can I have a haven box for BNHA?? But just when you’re free and not working on prior works!! >:( I’m watching u bish

You can use my name in the result if you want to lol I already know it anyway!!

She/her, Taurus, INTJ, slytherin (pretty freakin’ queer but I usually lean towards boys/enbies more)

Personality: the first thing people notice about me is that I am less of a feeler and more of a thinker. I do have an IQ of 125, but my emotional intelligence is quite low, so I have trouble sympathizing with others. But I learned through experience, so I don’t SEEM emotionless. I can (and will) help my friends through tough times if they need me. I’m pragmatic, so I always go for the facts instead of the feelings during decision making or tough situations. I hold a lot of perfectionist traits that make it really hard for me to be satisfied with my results if they aren’t higher than the norm. I also have a slight issue with saying no, so sometimes I’ll offer my help or enrol myself in long-term projects while knowing I legit do not have time for more stuff on my schedule. Being a bit smarter than average, I sometimes feel like I’m obligated to help others so that they can do good too (however, I do like helping people with their hw to a certain extent). I’m working on those issues though!! I’m also an introvert, and I can get rlly tired if I have to be interacting for more than four hours straight with people, especially if their persona isn’t rlly compatible with mine.

However, when I’m surrounded by friends (or generally people who aren’t my superiors), I’m very energetic, loud, silly and I have a sharp tongue. I’m also insanely competitive, like someone please stop me?? My sense of humour goes from absolute nonsense to almost mean spirited sarcasm, but it all depends on who I’m talking to. I’m a MAJOR memer, I have a bunch of files filled with them, and I couldn’t bear be with people who didn’t understand my meme references. When I start liking something, I can get easily obsessed. I’m stubborn, therefore very passionate about the things I care about. I also have a slight case of the Endorphin Junkie, meaning that I really, really like the high you get after sports so I do crossfit training like five to six times a week. I’m unapologetically myself, and I will not ever change who I am to fit within the norm. I’m sometimes told that (that I’m odd, I mean), but I usually thank the people who tell me. I have a really, really big love for music and I have a tendency to break into song sometimes when people say a line from a song I know. I also cry sometimes when music gets really good ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ whoops

Appearance: I’m around 5’6”, with hazel eyes and brown hair that goes around to my shoulders. It gets curly out of nowhere. I can either wake up with straight hair or wake up with a freakin perm, it’s funny. My body isn’t exactly the lean type, I’m somewhere around the buff area of the scale instead, but as long as I seem visibly strong, I’m satisfied. When I’m not going anywhere significant, I usually just wear sport shirts and sweats, but I have a penchant for Dark Academia so I like /looking/ like I’m smart sometimes. And I have glasses bc apparently my eyes are assholes and they work too hard and it hurts my brain all the time

Likes: music (DavidBowieDavidBowieDavidBow-); I have a really wide range of music that goes from early 2000’s pop to 1700’s requiems(my faves are Bowie, Queen and Pink Floyd). I enjoy studying theoretical fields, reading, and I like talking about Absurd Theories About Reality That Make Little To No Sense. I like sports, and I love joking around with friends in the most exaggerated ways. I also love the colour green and I’m more of a cat person

Dislikes: dogs (they’re cute but keep them away pls), ignorant people, irresponsible people, spiders, things I’m not good at from the beginning, having to deal with strangers being upset, crying (me. I don’t like crying; I mean me, I’m fine if my friends cry)

Other fun facts!!

- my goals for the future are all over the place; I want to work for Disney, I want to get a musical composition degree, I want a biomedical engineering bachelors degree, I want an astrophysics doctorate, I want to study languages, I want to be a foreign English teacher... I can’t ever decide.

- I have a long history with getting crushes on guys who turned out to be gay. It happens so often and I HATE IT, it makes me feel terrible.

- I!!love!!70’s!!music!!so!!much!! I was raised on that stuff, my dad wouldn’t let us listen to anything else

- Lol my favourite playlist name is Drugs Playlist But I Don’t Even Do Drugs it’s just a bunch of Pink Floyd and David Bowie songs

- My favourite movies are 80’s or 90’s comedy classics!! Like Wayne’s World, or Airplane!, or Night at the Roxbury. I keep quoting Wayne’s World and no one understands :(

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Hello and Welcome my Starlight!

The Haven box includes:

- Match up

- Sun drop

- Flashes of memory

- Truth or dare gone wrong

───✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰*.:｡✧*.｡:｡*.｡✱ ───

I'd match you up with

Sero Hanata, Cellophane

───✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰*.:｡✧*.｡:｡*.｡✱ ───

Sun drops

The reasons I paired you

- It me awhile to think about who to match you up with

- I was thinking of either Bakugou or Denki

- BUT THEN I REMEMBERED SERO

- Sero is such an underrated character smh

- BUT THIS DYNAMIC IS WHAT I LIVE FOR

-At first, you might be annoyed at his lack of knowledge but you over past that

- His EQ can help you grow as a person as well

- You have the IQ he has the EQ, BALANCE!

- You two would often have laughing sessions at class

- No cap tho, you two would be the most interesting couple

- You guys would have a matching necklace or a Keychain (IDK why but I feel like it-)

- You get along well with Denki, (IT TOOK A LONG TIME)

- But you would rather hang out with Bakugou (He tolerates you more than the others).

- BRO, please give him love. He craves your attention

───✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰*.:｡✧*.｡:｡*.｡✱ ───

Flashes of memories

Sero: Hello there hot stuff!

Eve: Hello there Soy sauce

Sero: NOT YOU TOO

Eve: Just kidding, Hello babe

Sero: ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?

Eve: Yes, killing you with love

Sero: Dang that's smooth

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Sero: He-

Eve: I didn't take your Pocky, Denki did

Sero: How-

Eve: You've been yelling about it for the past few minutes

Sero: Oh-

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Sero: Can you help me with studying?

Eve: Struggling again?

Sero: Yes...

Eve: Why did I date you again?

Sero: Please?

Eve: ...

Also Eve: Fine

───✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰*.:｡✧*.｡:｡*.｡✱ ───

Truth or dare gone wrong

The class 1-A were all gathered in their common room, even Bakugou was present. The class was having a truth or dare session, it seemed interesting. “Sero, my man! Truth or dare?” Denki asked as he looked at Sero. “Truth! I choose truth,” Sero said. “Who have you been talking on the phone to this past weeks? The one I keep hearing is my pumpkin?” Denki asked. Sero’s face then turned a light shade of pink. “O-Oh- ummm,” He started as he looked away. “Does our Cellophane have a girlfriend?” Mina teased as she poked Sero. “Y-Yeah,” He stuttered. “OI THAT’S NOT FAIR?!? WHY CAN YOU HAVE A GIRL BUT I CAN’T,” Denki sulked as he placed his head on the table. “If you weren’t such a perv then maybe you can get one!” Hakagure responded.

“Don’t be shy. Tell us more,” Mina said. Sero’s blush darkened and he looked away. “We are playing truth or dare! It’s my turn to ask,” Sero then said. “Actually, I am quite curious as well. We can always continue later,” Momo said as she smiled. Everyone agreed and they then looked at the nervous male. “C’mon now guys, this is unfair,” Sero said as he looked at everyone. “But you have a girl and we want tea,” Mina then said as she sat in front of him. “I- um, you guys really want to know about her, huh?” Sero said as he chuckled. Everyone nodded and stared at Sero intently. “Just tell us already, Soy sauce,” Bakugou growled as he glared at Sero. “Don’t listen to him, bro. He is just jealous,” Kirishima said. “WHAT-“ Bakugou was about to counter but was silenced. “Fine! Fine! You got me in a corner,” Sero then said as he chuckled. “She should be coming here,” He added as he looked at the door. “Three, two, one,” He then said as he pointed to the door.

“Hello, is Sero Hanta here?”A feminine voice said. “ARE YOU A PSYCHIC?” Denki said as he looked surprised. “I’m right here pumpkin!” Sero then said as he smirked. His nervousness melted away as he saw the 5’6ft girl. It was his girlfriend, Eve, and he was overjoyed. “Hey there babe!” She then said as she smiled. “DANG YOU GOT A FINE LADY!” Denki then yelled as he checked her out. “Keep your eyes above for I’ll gorge them out,” Eve then said as she glared at Denki. Soon enough, Mineta tried to touch her as well but his efforts were at vain. Sero used his tape as to stop Mineta from getting closer. And Eve kicked him away, far away from her. “Get your filthy hands away from her,” Sero said as he stood up. He then wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead. “Woah, that was so manly!” Kirishima said as he smiled.

“GIRLS! GET HER-“ Mina said as she tackled the girl. They didn’t fall down but Mina was laughing and hugging her. “Girl! How long have you been together?” Mina asked as she pulled away. Eve was a bit uncomfortable but she merely had a stoic face. “A few weeks,” She responded bluntly. And soon enough, the truth or dare session was forgotten. It was replace with the class 1-A trying to pry out the tea from the couple. Did they succeed? No, not really. Though the class seemed to love Eve and her antics. The class even tried to make them forget about the date they have planned. But either way, Sero and Eve got manage to get away to have their small movie date at his room.

───✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰*.:｡✧*.｡:｡*.｡✱ ───

Author's note

Hai bb! I'm sorry it took so long. But thanks for requesting again~

[peterstanslizzie]

Re-watching Lizzie Mcguire: Episode 1.26 (Scarlett Larry)

I know Lizzie and Gordo are meant to be together but Lizzie x Larry were pretty cute too. At least better than Lizzie x Ethan lol

- It’s P.E. class and Coach Kelly is having her students perform an elaborate square dance routine. During the routine, Kate tells Lizzie that someone has a crush on her. 

And she feels ecstatic by the good news

- Miranda and Gordo begin to speculate who that person might be, from a boy named Quinn, who’s an athlete to another boy named Winston, an exchange student from Mali. However, Lizzie thinks it might be Ethan Craft and she even says it out loud enough for everyone, including Ethan to hear. Rule number 1: Do not speculate out loud.

The cat’s out of the bag and the person who is crushing on Lizzie is the one and only, Larry Tudgeman. So, Lizzie is devastated. Oh well, tough grip Lizzie. 

A Guilty Feeling

- Still reeling in from the revelation of Larry’s crush on her, Lizzie just doesn’t feel the same way towards him and most of it comes down to his appearance. I get it; He always wears the same shirt to school and he’s a little weird. But I don’t think he’s as bad as Lizzie is making him out to be. 

- Larry calls Lizzie and asks her if he could talk to her for a bit. He proceeds to ask her out on a date on Sunday afternoon. Lizzie hesitates at first but she musters enough courage to politely reject him by giving him the classic excuse of “I kinda have this thing”. And obviously, this makes Larry feel sad.

You can tell she feels really guilty for turning him down. 

- In my humble opinion, every person has the absolute right to reject someone’s request to go out on a date with them. But it’s important to do so in an appropriate manner, which Lizzie has done so. As the saying goes, “It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it”. 

- Back at home, Lizzie asks her mom for advice on her recent predicament. Jo tells her daughter that you won’t know what you like until you try it, which is sound advice if you ask me. Plus, she believes that “some of the best boys come in strange packages” and references her husband, Sam lol. 

Lizzie really doesn’t want to go out with him

- But in the end, Jo essentially tells Lizzie that she can’t tell her what’s the right thing for her to do but also tells her that boys are sensitive. Jo seems to be giving her very mixed messages but I’m leaning towards her encouraging Lizzie to just go for it. 

- Lizzie tells her friends that she will agree to go out on one date with Larry. Gordo seems fine with it but Miranda is totally against it. She thinks that it will ruin Lizzie’s reputation in school if she’s caught going out with Tudgeman. Miranda hasn’t annoyed me for quite some time now but I can sense that I will dislike her a lot in this episode. 

Lizzie Says Yes

- Lizzie bravely phones Larry herself and inform him that she has since changed her mind and has agreed to go on a date with him. And his reaction was super adorable:

Touchdown for Tudgeman lol

- It’s now Sunday afternoon and Lizzie is bracing herself for Larry to pick her up from her house to take her on this date. And surprise surprise...It turns out Larry actually wears different clothes on the weekends. Thank goodness. And he even brought some flowers for Jo. Aww, that’s sweet. 

You can never go wrong with a black buttoned up shirt

- Larry takes Lizzie to the Science Museum and luckily for Lizzie, it’s most likely her classmates won’t be there because they wouldn’t voluntarily spend their Sunday afternoon at a museum. We then get a cute little montage of them interacting with the different displays at the museum. And turns out, Lizzie is actually enjoying her time with Larry. 

This part was particularly memorable to me after all these years

- They head over to an exhibit that features a huge model of the human heart. He explains some really cool facts about the human heart to Lizzie and she is very impressed with him and his confidence. Larry reveals to Lizzie that he doesn’t care what people think of him and he says this amazing line that will probably stick with me for a long time, “Boybands are a trend, circulatory systems are forever”. 

That was really deep 

Misread 

- The next day in school, Miranda is still disappointed that Lizzie went out on a date with Larry. Homegirl needs to chill out; It’s not like they kissed or anything. Lizzie thinks that karma will serve her well with her chances with Ethan after going out with Larry. I really don’t get why they are still obsessed over Ethan?!

- But just before she could properly talk to him, Larry catches hold of Lizzie and holds onto her like she’s his girlfriend, which he thinks it’s actually the case. Like I said, Lizzie’s date with Larry was cute and all but it’s only one date. Plus, for me, it seemed more like an outing with a friend or something.

- So, Larry has been telling the whole school that he and Lizzie are an item. Lizzie comes up with an idea to pretend like she’s dating him so that she can later break up with him in private to avoid humiliating him in front of the whole school. 

- But all of a sudden, we hear Kate’s voice over the speaker along the school hallway and she announces that Lizzie and Larry are officially dating. It looks like her initial plan isn’t gonna work. Cue ‘Get Another Boyfriend’ by the Backstreet Boys:

Lizzie is better than me; I wouldn’t have played along and pretend to be Larry’s girlfriend at all

- Lizzie has gotten to the point where she cannot tolerate being his fake girlfriend any longer and she really wants to end things with him. However, they’re at gym class and they are about to learn ballroom dancing. How romantic...

- They have to pick partners and Larry obviously chooses Lizzie. Whilst dancing, Lizzie tells Larry to meet her at the lunch patio after school. We fast forward to the patio and Lizzie tells Larry that she doesn’t feel a strong connection with him and they aren’t the right fit for each other. 

This is why I look up to Lizzie; Even if she doesn’t like Larry that way, she has the decency to be upfront and honest with him in a polite way. 

- Unexpectedly, Larry agrees with Lizzie because they don’t really share anything in common. Larry is passionate about Science and Lizzie is, well....she’ll figure it out lol. I mean, based on past episodes, she did care about the environment a lot. So there’s that. 

- We get this touching moment between the two where Larry tells Lizzie that she’s the nicest person that he knows. OMG that’s sooo sweet. And he’s not wrong about that.

One of the best moments of the show so far

- And the episode ends with Larry jokingly asking Lizzie if he has a chance with Miranda. I hope he’s not being serious lmao

B-Plot: Soapbox Racer

- Jo Mcguire interrupts Sam and Matt’s afternoon gaming session because she tells them that their things are piling up and preventing her from parking her car in the driveway. She wants for them to clear their things in the toolshed so that all the excess stuff can be stored in there.    

- As they start emptying out the toolshed, they discover Sam’s old soapbox racer. Sam then comes up with an idea to polish and re-work the car to make it seem brand new so that they can make money from selling the old-fashioned vehicle. 

- They start working on their project and Gordo is even there to help them. They test the car out a few times but to no luck. If I’m being honest, I really don’t like how they structured the B-plot here. They put chunks of it at the most random times in this episode. For example, they show 20 seconds of the plot then it moves on to the A-plot for like 6 minutes, then going back to the B-plot again. It’s really distracting. 

- Anyways, this storyline ends with the three of them about to showcase their racer to the public but Sam gets into a bit of a sticky situation when he tries to catch a frisbee but he lands on the car and it start to roll itself down a road. 

Poor Sam; He always has to be the one to get hurt. Plus, their car was unfortunately destroyed in the process

Overall Thoughts

- This is one of my favourite episodes of Season 1 so far; And we only have 5 episodes left. The main highlight of this episode is how Lizzie treated Larry like an actual human being instead of some gross weirdo he was made out to be in past episodes. 

- Lizzie is definitely a character that has superior EQ (Emotional Intelligence) compared to her peers because she could have easily dismissed Larry’s feelings and reject him straight away. But instead, she chose to give him a chance because she’s aware he has feelings too.

- Larry was somewhat oblivious to Lizzie’s feelings towards him but the moment when Lizzie directly tells him they’re just not meant to be, he immediately gets the memo and acknowledges the same as well. Also, the fact that he even told her that she’s the nicest person that he knows, shows me that he appreciates Lizzie for being honest with him and for not making fun of him.

- I’ve already given most of my opinion of the B-plot. It’s just all over the place. I really don’t like it being scattered all over the episode; I would prefer it if either they group these scenes to make them longer or just not include this storyline at all. I get that Matt, Jo and Sam are also main characters but I wish they were better utilised on this show. 

[fallingin-like]

november 27

thick skin, an elastic heart by @badacts ​ [requested by @foxsoulcourt​ and @sig66​]

see which other fics i’m reviewing this month! / my review request post!

an incredible jerejean fic that focuses on jean’s transition to the trojan’s and how jeremy struggles with falling in love with him. this fic is funny and emotional and includes a lot of really interesting introspection.

this is an amazing amazing fic, i wish i had read it sooner (but i don’t read many jerejean fics). i was immediately invested and could not stop reading. you provide a lot of valuable insight, and it was really interesting seeing these characters that i’m not too familiar with interact and grow closer and further and closer. i love the song elastic heart and it fits the story you’re telling.

parts that stood out to me:

”it’s unspoken trojan policy that everyone keeps their doors open during the day” this is so interesting! no wonder the trojans work so well together. although i suppose the ravens have a similar rule, but for a different purpose

”while the trojans can be a little too much to deal with en masse, it’s better than the alternative” oh no are the ravens the alternative? jean, your standards are too low, that team was really messed up

”jean, rustiness or no, is very good at what he does” i bet he is, and i bet that, under these better conditions he will be able to grow and be even better than before

”your stamina needs work” interesting, i wonder how long he used to play with the ravens? i would have thought that the brutal practices were enough that jean has pretty good stamina (although game situations are often more intense than practices… well maybe not for ravens)

”he’d been bedridden for weeks after everything, and had spent most of his summer in palmetto running to get his fitness back” oh this is rough, at least jean has had time for a full recovery, likely a luxury he never had in the nest

”that version is a pretty sharp contrast with jeremy right now, though” woah for a second i forgot about the conversation that they were having, it was so easy to get sucked into jean’s thoughts along with him

”jeremy goes from flushed to dead white in a few seconds” LOL

”but had been heavy on the literal slavery” AHHHHHH JEAN

”jean is a survivor, but he was a rebel first” i wonder if jean considers surviving itself an act of rebellion?

jeremy blushing so hard and being so flustered is the biggest mood every

”less because of the obvious parallel, and more because of the fact that by now jeremy’s used to jean inviting himself straight in” oh i love the way you did this. it introduces the familiarity between jean and jeremy and that they’ve had this sort of interaction enough times that there’s an expected behaviour of jean

”they’re - friends, now. they’re definitely, definitely friends, after months of jean adjusting to the trojans and jeremy as his captain, hard-won and satisfying. though jean’s watching him right now from an angle like he’s doubting all of it” woah this is a great paragraph. has jean ever had friends before? surely teammates yes, but people he’s considered friends? not sure. also love the subtle pov change.

”jean, jeremy has found, has very little interest in the opinions of other people” INTERESTING

”jean’s stare is penetrating. jeremy has to wonder why he’s so intense. it becomes obvious when he says, ‘you’re being weird’” i like this. but have no reason (that i can put into words) why

”jean goes on like jeremy hasn’t spoke. jeremy feels it like a shot to the gut, and tries to keep that off of his face” oh i think i missed something. such an intense reaction

”just as jean claims to know jeremy, jeremy knows him back” !!!!

”’you’re imagining things,’ jeremy says, which is perhaps not the nicest thing to say to jean moreau, a survivor of years of gaslighting” oh

”who is still and stoic and takes every step forwards like it might be the one to send him hurtling back to a place he desperately doesn’t want to go” woah. imagine being this well read by someone, gives me shivers. also i love this description

THEY KISS AHHH

”it’s kind of hard to think when he’s getting so little oxygen to his brain” LOL

”the reason becomes suddenly and brutally clear when it swears in french and gropes for the phone, shoving it into jeremy’s chest” LOL

”jeremy feels cripplingly awkward by comparison, knowing that jean will leave and this will all be done” nooo jeremyyy ;-; (also, cripplingly awkward is what someone would say if asked to describe me in two words lol)

”but jean is so beautiful he swears his heart might stop at the sight” ahhhhhhh

i forgot that jean also has scars!! i wonder what jeremy thinks of them…..

”the trojans have their record of avoiding red cards because they’re smart, not necessarily because they’re nice” this is true. they are also one of the best teams, and you don’t get to that point just by being nice.

JEREMY KNOX JUST GOT A RED CARD OHMYGOODNESS

”he acknowledges them with a raised racquet, but jean knows without seeing his face that there’s no smile there. that’s less surprising than people might imagine it to be” i’d love to know what’s going through jeremy’s mind in that moment

on chapter 5: i love the way that you write this, how immersed i become in jean’s thoughts and how the game only seems to be going on in the background. the way that outside events happen (siren going off) and break apart paragraphs, but jean’s thoughts continue. it puts me in a certain mindset and establishes tone in a really interesting way

”his life really should have removed any idea of fairness from him, any concept of justice and valor. he can’t explain why it hasn’t” this is so interesting to me. in a way, i can understand this.

wait ohmygoodness, what number is jean on the trojans?

JEREMY MAKING MISTAKES AHH

love the lines you have on jeremy avoiding jean

SEEING WHY THE RED CARD WAS GIVEN AHHHH

”the feeling of losing a friend is unfamiliar” and “he shouldn’t really call the feeling unfamiliar, anyway. pain, for jean moreau, is anything but” broke my heart, how dare you write that

dang, i have never really thought about laila, but the way you write her, wow i love her a lot. knows exactly what to do “her voice is soothing, which is an indicator of how jeremy must look right now”, as a person with a negative EQ, i want to understand people like she seems to

JEREMY JUST BLURTING OUT THAT HE SLEPT WITH JEAN AND ALSO THAT HE’S BI I LOVE IT

THE CONTRAST BETWEEN JEREMY AND LAILA’S SOFT CONVERSATION THAT ENDS WITH HIM ASKING HER NOT TO TELL ALVAREZ AND ALVAREZ BARGING INTO JEAN’S ROOM YELLING IS AMAZING

”’please, keep yelling,’ jean replies without looking up from his book, voice dry as sawdust” ooo i like the way that you write jean

”he stands. his height and size forces alvarez back a step more by necessity than any actual threat, but she looks like she doesn’t like making the concession.” i’m really impressed by this because i could picture this so well in my head (doesn’t happen often) and not just the scene and the actions described, but the tone of their body language too, the way that jean stood up and alvarez moved

”it’s what he wants. just like her leaving is, just like her closing the door more gently this time than a wall-rattling slam is. it makes no sense that it makes him feel worse. or maybe it does. it’s been a while now since he really felt alone” uhm excuse me i thought you broke my heart before but now you really just took the pieces and smashed them up even morE. THESE PARAGRAPHS HURT TO READ

”jeremy has always had a little problem with acting first and thinking later - jean once unfavourably compared him to the foxes’ resident rebel, neil josten, which jeremy thinks is pretty rich but perhaps not entirely untrue” LOL and also i love the wording you chose here

JEREMY CAN PICK LOCKS WHAT ARE THE LONG LIST OF REASONS

oh, the nightmare scene is so perfect, exactly the kind of thing i like (not kidding, i live for angst). this part? “the lock reengages before he can get back inside his room. it’s like a gunshot in the quiet” oh it’s so good. both sides are so understandable. jeremy’s reaction, his desire to help and recklessness. jean’s mistrust, disgust, he’s so used to having his privacy disregarded and this time he thought it would be different but it’s not and that makes it even worse, especially after a nightmare

”that means jeremy has to obsess over the only things he can control - how he acts, and how he feels” this is a lot easier said than done (says me, a person who has spent a lot of time trying to repress their feelings)

”obviously riko is never going to play again” THIS IS THE UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE CENTURY. RIKO IS NEVER GOING TO DO ANYTHING AGAIN (except maybe rot lol)

”maybe one day he’ll realise he’s playing for himself. maybe neil josten, another one of their kind, will teach him how” oh this is good

”jean is a survivor, but that’s muscle memory too, learned the hard way just like he learned most everything else. underneath it all, his natural tendency is not caution” wow, i don’t even have the words to describe these sentences. i’m learning so much about jean. i feel like often times he’s seen as in between kevin and neil (coward vs instigating coward), but i’m starting to appreciate more and more who he actually is. jean was playing the long game, and it looks like it’s starting to pay off

“it turns out that survival and rebellion have one intersection - they don’t produce nice people” this!!!!

THE SHOWDOWN BETWEEN JEREMY AND JEAN. definitely reminds me of the beginning of the series, with neil blowing out his arms against andrew, although this time it ends in success on jeremy’s part.

”then you’re nothing like riko moriyama… and don’t assume you understand what i’m afraid of, or what hurts me” THIS WHOLE SCENE IS AMAZING. jean has been through so much, i don’t think jeremy can even begin to imagine the suffering, the pain

”doing the wrong thing by you. hurting you. you hurting me. losing you” i think that jeremy should understand that being afraid of these things already makes him way better than riko and everyone who has hurt jean before

”’i’m in love with you!’ jeremy says, because he can’t listen to this, and because he’s always been terrible at restraining himself when he gets emotional” WHAT. EXCUSE ME WHAT

”jean pauses, almost a double-take” YEAH ME TOO JEAN

hello i cannot belieVe you ended the chapter like that!!!! how dare yoU

”do i seem like the type of girl who holds a grudge? honesty, my attention span is like twelve seconds long” ME TOO

alvarez!! i need someone like you in my life!!! “so tell me about your problems, white boy.” LOL

”it’s not jeremy he’s doubting” ooooooh

”don’t agree with me. prove me wrong” THIS IS GOOD

”jean forgets that, as part of the ‘perfect court’, he’s famous too” that is true. he’s mostly stayed out of the media’s eye, but he was just involved in everything as the rest of the ‘perfect court’

”i say that because you’ve been playing terribly and i was surprised” JEAN!!!! I’M LAUGHING SO HARD

”of jeremy saying, ‘you never cover your scars,’ and jean replying, honest, ‘i’m not ashamed of what people did to me.’” oh this is amazing

”’how do you know… that you’re in love’ ‘experience’” i have no words

jeremy waking up, it’s so soft ;-;

oh no jeremy is back to being terrible on court BUT HE’S SO HAPPY IT’S ADORABLE

”i do know what broken ribs feel like” ohmygoodness, jean, you’re killing me

”are you sleeping with a lamprey now?” I HAD TO GOOGLE WHAT A LAMPREY WAS BUT WHEN I SAW A PICTURE I LAUGHED SO HARD

the nightmare, jeremy comforting him, these boys are so good for each other :”)

LOL I LOVE THAT JEREMY KEEPS BRINGING UP HIS RED CARD

ah, i have read probably one jerejean fic before this (yeah yeah terrible i know) but i really should not have expected anything less than amazing writing from you. you did an amazing job balancing out the push and pull between jeremy and jean, the alternating support from the girls, and how long conversations and dialogue contrasted the action of exy. i am so impressed by your exploration of this relationship, and the detailed introspection you included. you were able to integrate the thoughts of jeremy and jean so well into the flow of the story and i learned a lot and thought a lot. there is still so much that i wasn’t able to cover in my review.

i loved the characterization, jeremy’s uncertainty and his blushing, jean’s somewhat stoic and confident on the outside appearance. the way that both their pasts shaped who they are and influences their actions and how they make decisions, and how their personality types affect those as well. it was so interesting for me to see such an in depth study of jeremy, his sweetness, but also thoughtful in a more serious way, how jean is so much more than what happened to him in the nest. that he is a rebel and isn’t afraid to stand up for himself after so long of not being allowed to do that. i laughed and i hurt and i was comforted. thank you so so much for writing this!