#Sometimes it's bad as in shitty low quality and sometimes it's bad as in well done but still unrecommendable.

[g0reoz]

I ♥️ horrible media that i cannot recommend to anyone

[caligvlasaqvarivm]

Granted the possibility that Eridan, Vriska and Aradia could be friends, by extension, could Eridan have the possibility to become friends with Tavros?

Unfortunately, no 😔 and what it comes down to is this: Eridan is REALLY STRESSFUL to be around if you aren't Karkat (even for people who like him, which is why such an important quality in his platonic friend group is an ability to set and maintain hard boundaries), and Tavros is REALLY BAD at dealing with stress.

Tavros often gets mischaracterized as being really sweet and kind, and I think that's a little south of where he actually is. His main character trait is avoidance, not acceptance. When the going gets tough, Tavros gets going, either physically (leaving Vriska to bleed out, or ghosting Gamzee after being put off by his offer to make out a little, or blocking Dave after getting scared by his sexual remarks) or mentally (his reliance on his imaginary friend, and the way he turns to them for comfort while being tormented by Vriska). He doesn't actually LIKE Vriska at all, and is actually pretty vocal about DISliking her, but he's too afraid of real confrontation to actually mount a resistance until well after it's too late, resulting in his death.

He's still a lot nicer than most of the trolls, but it's a low bar. And he deserved to be treated better, but that's also all of them. Let's not forget that once he really grows a spine after being combined with Vriska for a little bit, he flips her off. Even then, however, his response to things he doesn't like is still, like. Leaving. Growing a spine just lets him actually do that, instead of meekly expressing that he would like to, and then getting bullied into not.

And Eridan is just stressful to be around. He's basically a weeping geyser of emotional sincerity and neediness 24/7. Even the people in his life that like him need to set and maintain hard boundaries with him so they don't exhaust themselves, and this is even true of his romantic interests (with the exception of Karkat). Even Roxy gets stressed by him, even if it's good stress (excitement, fun).

And the thing is, even at his absolute best, most therapized, Eridan is still going to be the team's Murder Advocate. More intimately than anybody else, he understands the connection between sacrifice, duty, and the greater good. A lot of people seem to think Eridan's ultimate character arc should lead to him refuting violence, but I disagree; there are times where violence, and even murder, are necessary (for an easy example, killing Condy, and for a very personal example, killing lusii/trolls so his species/friends could stay alive). He's the teammate that reminds the rest of the team that violence and murder are viable, and sometimes the only, option; who offers to do the dirty work himself and shoulder that burden; and who has a powerful driving force of duty, responsibility, and - that most hopeful of qualities - CONVICTION.

His character arc doesn't lead to him refuting his prior beliefs, but gaining clarity on them: exactly what he believes in and why, disentangling it from his shitty society and the expectations it placed upon him. This inevitably leads to him having a very strong personality that clashes with a lot of his teammates, even post-character development, and unfortunately, Tavros is one of them.

So if we're talking Tavros before he grows a spine - they would definitely not be friends. Eridan would be able to trap Tavros into conversation, but if Tavros already doesn't like Vriska for being an asshole with empathy problems, there's no way he'd like Eridan, who's that turned up to eleven. I mean, let's be real, do you think Eridan "refuses to have fun and is also a hipster and also phrases things in a hostile and aggressive way as a default" Ampora would not wind up 1) insulting fiduspawn, 2) insulting tinkerbull/bringing up that he kills lusii regularly and that Tavros is really lucky tinkerbull is so small because it made them not a target, and/or 3) insulting Tavros for his spinelessness in an effort to pitch flirt, or even just as a factual observation?

And if we're talking Tavros after he grows a spine, all that would change is that he'd voice outright that he doesn't really like Eridan and doesn't want to talk to him. And then leave, probably.

And that'd be a problem for Eridan, before or after his character development, because he desperately craves attention, and Tavros's whole thing is avoiding the stuff he doesn't like. This is also why he wouldn't get along particularly well with people like Sollux or Equius; they don't really give him attention, good OR bad, and either tell him to fuck off, or fuck off themselves. Let's remember how Vriska ghosting him on accident led to him having an anxiety episode where he beats himself up for being SO STUPID!!!!!!! People who don't really like him and simply withhold attention from him are the people he feels the worst interacting with.

And that's BEFORE Gamzee gets added to the mix LOL

[meixstar]

heyy, i saw that your requests are open and i was wondering if i could please request fluff with sukuna, comforting the reader when they have a bad mental health day if its okay, thank you🩵

❥ Synopsis In the end everything will be fine, if just for a moment.

❥ Pairing Sukuna x Reader

❥ Content gn!reader, mentions of mental health, some swearing, fluff, slight angst to comfort, Sukuna being Sukuna

❥ Word Count 905

❥ A/N Thank you for your request, Anon! :) I should have done more research about mental health but I still hope this comforts whoever needs it right now. I'm also still learning how to exactly write characters and their personalities so please be patient with me, and give me some tips if you like c: Take care of yourself and enjoy!

♡ Finding Comfort in the Storm ♡

It was clear that today hadn't been the best day - not after oversleeping, missing an important deadline, and then once again getting yelled at by your boss.

Why did these things always have to happen to you?

Sukuna could tell that you weren't feeling well. Or at least he knew that something must be bothering you by the look on your face. Was he annoyed that you won't tell him? Definitely.

"Oi, what is it with you today?" He speaks in his deep voice as he watches you flop down on the couch beside him, face buried in the soft material. You just shake your head, not daring to meet his eyes while your own fill with tears.

Today had been really stressful, and now you just want to let go and let everything out.

"Don't play dumb with me, I know you're upset over something," he says gruffly, pulling on your arm to make you sit up. His fingers wrap around your wrist like a vice as he examines your face, trying to figure out what's going on behind those tears.

"I'm not," you answer in a weak attempt to stop him from further investigating. "Today's just been.. shitty." Sukuna raises an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed by your half-hearted response. "Save it, brat. You think I don't know when someone is lying to me? What's going on? Did someone bother you?"

The grip on your wrist tightens ever so slightly as he leans closer, his breath hitting your forehead. Finally, the tears are being spilled as they run down your cheeks. You desperately try to dry them with the sleeve of your sweater but to no avail.

He lets out a low growl under his breath, his expression darkening as he watches you cry, his gaze piercing through the tears, almost as if searching for the root of your distress. "Tell me." his demand is soft-spoken yet laced with an underlying intensity that brooks no refusal.

"I-I'm tired," quiet sobs leave your lips as you lower your head to flee his piercing gaze. "All week I've been just so tired. I can barely get out of bed, shower or find the motivation to eat. Work has been stressing me out as well. I just.. want to sleep."

His grip on your wrist eases, his touch gentling as he reaches out with his free hand to brush away the strands of hair clinging to your damp cheek. "And you thought you could handle it all on your own, huh?" a hint of amusement creeps into his voice, accompanied by a raised eyebrow, though his eyes remain fixed on yours, probing deeper.

You shrug weakly in a feeble attempt to respond to him. "I have to," you answer in a hoarse voice from your crying session. "But at the same time, I feel like I can't even take care of myself sometimes. I hate that feeling.."

A fleeting glimmer of curiosity flickers across Sukuna's face before he masks it with a neutral expression, his gaze never wavering from yours "So, you'd rather exhaust yourself than admit weakness and ask for help?" his words are laced with a subtle, probing quality, as if he's digging deeper into the recesses of your mind.

You let out a quiet sniff and wipe your nose with your sleeve. "What?" With a slow raise of your head, you come once again face-to-face with him. His expression is cold, yet there lies something else.. perhaps tenderness? Care? Who knows.

Sukunas eyes seem to bore into you, "You're still not getting it, are you?" he whispers ever so slightly. His breath dances across your skin, sending shivers down your spine as he inches closer, his lips brushing against your ear. "You don't have to be strong all the time." that was.. unusual for him. Him? The King of Curses saying you should let your guard down?

Once again, your lips begin to tremble. But it's still so hard to do just that - being not strong when everyone, including yourself to be just that at any given moment. "Let go, just for tonight. Let someone else carry the weight of your heavy burden for once." his words are laced with a promise, a silent vow to be that someone who'll hold you together when everything seems to be falling apart.

"I'm tired.." a weak whisper into his ear as you slowly begin to calm down. Sukuna's lets go of your wrist, and he wraps his arms around you instead, pulling you close as he settles back into the couch, cradling you against his chest. "Then sleep. I've got you." his words are low, reassuring, and for once, devoid of any arrogance or condescension.

"Since when are you so good at comforting?" you let out a big yawn as the tiredness you so desperately tried to avoid comes seeping through.

A low, rumbling chuckle vibrates through his chest, making you feel the vibrations against your ear. "I'm not. I'm just good at manipulating people to get what I want." he murmurs, his hand stroking your hair in gentle, soothing motions. "And right now, I want you to relax."

A small smile forms on your face before you drift off into a peaceful slumber. Sukuna's gaze lingers on your serene face, his expression softer than usual, before he looks away. His eyes drift towards the window, where the first hints of darkness are creeping in.

♡ fanart from @xshuh90 on pinterest ♡

♡ divider by @benkeibear ♡

[anti-tenten]

TW for fictional nazis I guess???

Low quality scan of Rip is the only one I could find

Explanations under cut

Why two of them specifically:

Looks like a roach or a mosquito (therefore an insect (obviously))

Real treasure if you're into annoying stupid cocky bitches

Blue hair + ahoge

Nazi (adjacent)

German (adjacent)

Skinny bitch (gets called a man way too often)

Ranged weapon

Artificially buffed by a bloodthirsty boss

horny??? (not sure about Rip but there's something sus about her. Giselle is out of question here, cmon)

Fights a protagonist who is also a major cunt

Probably fun to draw but if you say you like them you will get a major side eye

And their dead set fans ARE really weird...

Rip Van anti/propaganda:

Pros:

Cultured

Can sing

Hirano put his entire ass into her design and it's noticeable

Satisfying death

Here to make Alucard look scary and she succeeds

Very androgynous which is uncommon in (semi-) mainstream anime (although seinen surprisingly has more diverse female designs overall in my experience)

We need more freckled characters ngl

65% legs which is funny

Cons:

Very much a real nazi. Like that's her fucking job description. Not some imaginary evil empire inc. A nazi that killed people during ww2 within hellsing universe

The singing gets annoying as fuck

Ugly ass outfit, sorry

Way too loyal to her shitty boss who's even more annoying and even more of a nazi. Sacrificing your life for white supremacy is fucking embarrassing

Giselle anti/propaganda

Colour scheme works well with the rest of her group

Part of a unique to bleach mean girl group dynamic

Interesting powers, especially the Vollständig design and the maho shojo transformation

Indestructible eyeliner

Indestructible herself, only killed at the last moment by a literal son of god (her boss)

Sometimes has funny moments that have nothing to do with harrassment or abuse of anybody (the keyword is sometimes)

Possibly bisexual???

Silly hat, comfortable outfit, the boots are very nice

Helps protagonists to kill her boss later

Regeneration abilities that work on herself and others

Cons:

Necrophile

Traitor. Both to her boss (based as fuck) and to her friends (gross)

Turned her friend into a zombie slave, sexually and physically abused her

Sexually harrassed protagonists

The childish behaviour mixed with very explicit sexual remarks are straight up revolting. Okay Belle Delphine

Smells bad according to one of said protagonists (possibly, maybe it was just to be mean and not true at all)

Loses most of her powers after getting debuffed.

No satisfying defeat. Fought by a creep who is just as bad as her and implied to be killed by her ugly ass boss

Only exists to make trans women look creepy and gross

[milkweedman]

hi, sorry if this is something you've answered before, but how did you get started with spinning? and do you have an reccs for beginners? i'm not a fiber arts person (yet) but i think the skills are mind-blowingly cool. i have a few friends that are into crochet also and while i don't do so i think it would be nice to be able to make them yarn etc :)! thank u <3

Hi ! I got started with spinning about 5 years ago now--I ordered a turkish spindle and some andean highland wool from knitpicks, tried it out, and really sucked.

Like. really sucked. couldn't even make bad yarn bc it just kept falling apart (due to undertwisting ! if your yarn is falling apart in your hands, it's undertwisted. there, i just saved you about a month of misery, if you're me lol). Put it away for a while, tried again, was still bad at it, rinse and repeat for about a year. eventually something clicked and i started being able to make more than like, an armspan of yarn before it became disastrous.

not saying it's that hard for everyone (i've watched some people pick it up in like... 5 minutes), or that it'll be that hard for you ! that's just how it went with me.

I do have some recs for beginners which will hopefully help ! (i didn't have this community on tumblr at the time, and didn't know there were forums on ravelry, so i had no community help or knowledge, which did not work in my favor).

Get a basic drop spindle with a hook on the end, if you can. Drop spindles come in many different forms, but the two main categories are top whorl and bottom whorl (meaning, where the circular whorl is placed on the shaft of the spindle). top whorl spindles spin faster but for a shorter period of time and can be more unbalanced. bottom whorl spindles spin slower but for longer, and are typically more balanced (physics, idk). everyone has their own preferences--i tend to recommend bottom whorl spindles to beginners because it kind of slows the process down, which can be helpful. if you've got a little extra money, buying a top whorl and a bottom whorl spindle could be a good idea. they're pretty cheap on etsy, esp if you get a very plain and simple one and just decorate it yourself.

spindle weight matters a lot. the heavier the spindle, the thicker the resulting singles will be. (singles are what you spin first, then you ply them together if desired). the lighter the spindle, the thinner the singles. this means if you get a very heavy spindle and try to spin something fine on it, it'll likely snap under the weight. and if you try to spin something thick on a light spindle, you'll be constantly flicking it and not adding very much twist (so it may just fall apart into sad fluff). my favorite all-purpose spindle for yarns that won't be particularly thin weighs about 2 ounces (55 grams). that will be too heavy for fine yarns, but works well for making like, worsted weight 2 ply. i would recommend a spindle somewhere in the 1-2 ounce range (30-55 grams) for a basic beginner spindle. once you get the hang of it feel free to go for the very light spindles or the heavier plying spindles.

don't buy roving for your first fiber. almost everyone does that, and many people end up with really low quality (and sometimes even compressed or partially felted) roving. roving can be great for spinning once you know what you're doing, but it's kind of... uniquely unsuited for beginners, in my opinion anyway. firstly because it is the most common preparation, it's not really treated with care by many companies when it comes to storage (hence the compression or felting). secondly, it's really easy to felt it in your hands when you're doing the beginner sweaty-hands-deathgrip-drafting-with-all-your-might thing (i'll get to that later). thirdly, again because it's the most common prep, there's a thriving market of garbage shitty roving, and it takes a little experience telling the difference between decent stuff and garbage stuff based on an internet page. I would highly recommend spending a little bit more money on a batt. this is like a large pillow of carded wool, which you pull strips off of to spin. they are sold in a far less-compressed state (which makes for easier spinning) and are, as far as im aware, made by humans with experience, rather than machines.

the breed matters a lot when it comes to spinning. some breeds have finer, more slippery wool, and some have grabby wool. grabby wool is better for learning (it means less of your yarn just slipping apart and breaking). some good beginner breeds are shetland, corriedale, jacob, romney, or other similar wools. the fiber market is inundated with merino (either a great thing or a source of misery, depending on who you ask), which is not a particularly good beginner breed (it's definitely on the slippery, finer side).

once you've got all your materials, it's spinning time ! find a youtube tutorial or a written tutorial (check your library for books on spinning. i have no recommendations--i did not learn from books). you could also check and see if there's a spinner's guild in your area. it depends on the guild (some are kind of, uh... snooty, for lack of a better word ? most seem pretty friendly and happy to help newcomers) but you might be able to show up to a meeting and get some help. ideally get some practice with the spindle first though.

lastly, some tips for spinning. A) keep the fiber supply held loosely in your hand, or better yet, draped over your hand so that the fiber you're drafting is only held in your fingertips. if you hold it tightly you won't be able to draft evenly. you may also compress and/or felt it by holding it, especially if your hands are sweaty. B) try spinning using the 'park and draft' method while you are learning. this is where you add a bunch of extra twist to the already-spun yarn (or leader, for the first length), pinch the twist to hold it in place, and draft fiber, allowing the twist to travel up the wool as you draft it. this is a good technique for learning because it isolates the actions of spinning, letting you focus on one part at a time. trying to keep the spindle going while drafting when you're brand new is not easy, and can lead to a lot of frustration and mistakes. once you've got the hang of drafting, then it's a great time to figure out how to do it all at once. C) work slowly and thoughtfully while you learn. what you're doing at first is twofold: you're figuring out the process and what works and what doesn't, but you're also building muscle memory, which is what spinners (really, pretty much everyone who practices hand crafts or hand work of any kind) rely on. i can get high af and zone out and spin and end up with a usable (sometimes even pretty good) yarn, because even when my brain isn't working, my hands know what to do. this is not the case for someone without the muscle memory. pay attention, step away if you get frustrated, and work slowly. as you build muscle memory, it will become easier and easier. D) your first yarns don't have to be good. they don't even really have to be yarn, as such--if you ended up with something thats rope at one end and thread at another, that's ok ! you're learning ! the purpose of your first yarns is just to teach you how to spin. if they look like shit, it's ok. (mine looked awful, for the record ! i don't think i've seen anything quite as bad as my very first yarn, actually. wish i'd kept it though xD)

hope this was helpful ! there's also this post about how to tell if your yarn is under or over twisted, which might be of use, and this post about finishing your yarn as well. and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask me or another spinner (the overwhelming majority of us are very happy to help a new spinner) for advice or help !

[eye-of-yelough]

philia 2 & 4, agape 3 & 5 for whoever you feel like!!

yippeeee answering philia for Leo Hawke and agape for Slater Adaar cos these questions are great for them…

Does your OC find it easy to make friends? Or are there barriers to them doing so? If so then are these issues of inclination, communication, or something else entirely?

making friends, leo doesn’t have much trouble with, it’s keeping them that’s difficult. just an angry person with a shitty personality that Will come out sooner or later. those she perceives as in need of protection, bethany, merrill, anders, or those she puts on a pedestal, isabela, anders as well, will be getting the full overbearing force of his guard doglike devotion and it’s . a lot. he drinks a lot and it brings out only the worst. he makes weird sexual passes despite not even being interested and riles up friend and stranger alike just to get a reaction when she’s bored. really not an easy person to get along with.

Is your OC able to build close friendships with people very different from themselves? Perhaps in terms of culture, age, or personality?

equally strong personalities, aveline or sebastian for example, don’t gel with her, especially with clashing viewpoints. he WILL be telling you every passing opinion with no regard for your feelings. so, generally, no, but there are exceptions. merrill is very different to her and has some traits he doesn’t like, but she’d do pretty much anything for that girl.

but most interesting is the varric dynamic cos they’re so weird about each other. she hates that little man but doesn’t hesitate to call him her best friend. i think they say things to each other that has them lying in bed at night, wondering what the fuck that meant and how they knew it would have such an impact. ironically they do it almost completely by accident. water and gasoline, those two, they just don’t fucking work. varric lives behind his mask, leo is authentic to a fault, etc etc. very different people. varric is one of the only people his saviour complex doesn’t trigger At All, to the point it’s the other way around. varric is very devoted to hawke regardless of approval, personality, and political views, and that disgusts and freaks leo the fuck out in equal measure because she just wants to punch him most of the time.

To what extent does your OC believe in the value (or even existence) of true altruism? Do they see an unselfish concern for the welfare of others as being naïve or foolish? Or as a moral quality to which people should aspire?

slater time teehee. there is definitely something to be said about wether she even believes in altruism, i’ll have to think about that. but ultimately, yes, it’s a worthy goal that all, particularly herself, should aspire to because uhhh. she struggles with it!

Does your OC find it easy to empathise with their enemies? Or do they see it as important to dehumanise them in order to combat them with sufficient determination?

that low empathy, black and white worldview autism stops that in its tracks. sometimes she can empathise with someone’s logic - like the mayor of crestwood flooding his village to purge the blighted refugees and protect the uninfected - but the emotional, the irrational, she finds difficult to grasp. she struggles not to dehumanise people, and feels relief that actually having bigbad enemies gives her an excuse to do so without feeling bad.

[pseudofujo]

The Summer (2021) (MOVIE)

(No poster this time, sorry, for some reason Tumblr doesn't like high res images, and I love this movie too much to use a low quality poster :( )

Summary;

That summer, a tiny bud of love bloomed between two 18-year-old girls. That moment, “one was a flower petal brushing against the other, a flow of water”. Bestselling author Eunyoung Choi’s short story ‘That Summer’ is being retold through animation, taking us inside the love story of two girls, Leekyoung and Suey, and the gentle changes their feelings go through. (SOURCE: Red Dog Culture House)

(NOTE: Red Dog Culture House calls the two mains Leekyoung and Suey, but for my review I will be calling them Li-Kyung and Sui, since that's what the subtitles on the rip I watched called them, and it feels more correct.)

Alright, this is the first ever shoujo-ai media I've ever reviewed, and what a choice it is! I'm writing this right after finishing the movie, so I'm sorry if my thoughts are disorganized, I'm just so excited to talk about this film that I couldn't even wait to let the feelings stew!

For starters, this film is amazing, I just need to get that out there right now. It's so, so very realistic, and every character in it feels *real*, like they could be a person you could meet in real life. Their emotions jump through the screen, and hit you right in the chest.

Both Li-Kyung and Sui are extremely complicated people, full of their own tragedies and faults, flaws and hopes, dreams, pure personality!

Li-Kyung is not a sympathetic protagonist, she lies, she cheats, and she fucks up. She, at least in my opinion, is the 'bad guy' in her situation. She tends to acknowledge it, but she doesn't make many strides to better herself, only digging herself further into a self-hating hole which eventually causes her to lose someone who truly, deeply, loved her, and hurt that person in the process.

Now, this may seem like a critique, but frankly I think its amazing. I think it's a good thing that Li-Kyung fucks up. It makes for an incredible story, and feels very human.

Sui, quite frankly, deserves better. And I think that's awesome.

Sui is a wonderful character as well. She has her own flaws as well, being withdrawn and seemingly uncaring, though it's later found that she just struggles with being open to people. She's hardworking, she's honest when she has something to say, and she seems to be bettering her life, all the while wanting to support Li-Kyung and cultivate a successful relationship with her.

It's quite clear that Li-Kyung struggles with seeing things from other's perspectives. She acts as though Sui doesn't care about her, and to be fair to Li-Kyung, Sui doesn't often say that she cares about Li-Kyung with words, but Sui works hard to show her care through actions. Li-Kyung never asks Sui "Do you care about me?" Because she's already made up her mind that Sui doesn't.

It's beautiful, in every sense of the word, and it's the first thing I've reviewed to genuinely, wholeheartedly, make me cry. There's a scene where Sui breaks down crying, and I nearly cried as hard as she did. The voice acting, while the audio quality could be a bit... okay, the audio quality is shitty sometimes, but I can forgive it, the voice acting is still awesome, despite their sometimes-horrible microphones.

All in all, watch this movie. Now.

Overall Score:

5/5

[studioboner]

out of curiosity, what's the difference between different qualities of watercolors when you draw with them? and how much the type of paper matters?

the type of papers matters THE most out of all aspects of watercolor. you can paint with shitty brushes or shitty watercolors adn still get something nice. but if you use bad paper it's pretty hard to achieve some cool stuff..... regular paper doesnt really absorb water that well, you want something that is 140msg or higher

my watercolors that i have none are professional, the one i used cheaply is those for like, lil kids maybe 5 years old or something, and then the one i usually use is called "student grade" which is more for amateurs or begginers

professional watercolros ar quite expensive and i have none yet, if i were to get some i think only the 3 primary colors, everntually i may get some

as for the brushes, theres tons of fitting brushes for watercolor you cna find, synthetic is SUPER okay and good to use dont feel bad about those "huh this expensive brush says it's made of squirrel hair should i use it??" bc that usually means those brushes can hold more water... BUT that also means it'll be harder to control the ratio of pigment and water in your strokes so even if u have the money for one, i dont recommend a pure animal hair brush....

also i think those plastic watercolor brushes with the built in water tank are FINE at most.... btu you should have one that is just the bristles bc then you can have a mixture that is more pigment than water in case you want some heavy saturation!

oh i nearly forgot to reply, the difference in quality varies alot! the most common ways to see the differences are:

the grain, good quality will look smoother and and less grainy

how opaque or transparent they are [watercolors are transparent media, they shouldnt be TOO opaque, NOR too transparent bc that means low saturation]

the saturation, how much "color" the color has

THE MIXING... this one is so important.. bad watercolors when you try to mix them togetehr sometimes will just create an unappealing muddy color, this isnt the case for ALL of them but i cannot vouch for every brand....

[punisheye]

Late enough so it's basically the 7th, the low hum of a bike and the sound of a text being received may disturb the priest. [text] happy birthday On the porch there are two items in a paper bag. The first isn't wrapped, and is a brand of cigarettes from Noman's Land. Something...Well, low quality, and kind of bad, but nostalgic. The second is wrapped, and is a long thin package. There's a note attached to it that reads "Miss Melanie used to use something like this to cut tougher meat. This one's probably better quality than we could get back there, but I figured it'd be useful in any case." Inside is a knife - not the prettiest, but clearly a good quality blade.

Not a lot of people ride motorbikes down this street this late at night. It's not a super busy street to begin with; mostly quiet, with a lot of couples and families. So he blinks out of his doze when he hears the soft hum of the bike outside, accompanied by the text notification on his phone.

He lifts his head from Vash's chest (slowly, as to not wake him) and rolls over to grab his phone.

"Huh."

Surprising. Or is it?

The sound of the bike fades off into the night. Wolfwood pulls his sweatpants on and pads out of the bedroom, down the stairs, to the front door to unlock it.

Cold air rushes into the house, making him shiver. Should have pulled on a sweater, too. Wolfwood picks up the bag and gets back inside quickly, taking it to the kitchen island and plopping it down. There, he sits on a stool and stares at the bag for a long time, deliberating.

He's got no idea what kind of gift the undertaker could have gotten him. Part of him expects it to be some kind of gag gift, a prank, something.

...Ugh.

Wolfwood reaches over and opens up the bag slowly. Like he's scared a worm or something is gonna pop out. Except, it doesn't. The first thing he grabs is the cigarettes and that makes him huff out a laugh; they're shitty and cheap, he kind of wonders where the hell the undertaker found them, but it's a nice reminder of home.

He reads the note, tilts his head. The paper is removed carefully (he's trying not to make too much noise so he doesn't wake Vash up, really). He weighs the knife in both hands. It's good make, great for meat, he can tell. He can remember Melanie in the kitchen with a knife like this, one she never let the kids use—except, well, little Nico. He got to use it sometimes.

It's a surprisingly thoughtful gift. Wolfwood feels something warm in his chest. He sighs. The knife is slid into an open space in the knife block, and he carries the cigarettes upstairs to set them down on the nightstand before he climbs back into bed. He grabs his phone again.

[ text ] Thanks [ text ] Come over again soon i can thank you in person

He places the phone down and closes his eyes.

After five minutes of attempting to fall asleep again, he opens his eyes and grabs his phone again.

[ text ] also so I can show you something

Vash sniffs in his sleep, snorts, and mumbles. Wolfwood places his phone face-down on the nightstand and rolls back over, planting his face back on his chest. He'll think about all of... that, later.

[cherry-pop-soda]

okay, i basically never make addons to posts but i have Thoughts about this subject, so.

im gonna add that the requirements to be a teacher are often very low and teachers also get paid like shit so you get a lot of teachers who aren’t prepared to do their job. and you also get a lot of shitty fucking people becoming teachers. for example. i learned nothing in the entire year of my seventh grade english class because my teacher spent the whole time being creepy to girls in the class rather than teaching. i learned nothing in math that year because my teacher played favorites, gave us nothing but busywork meant for kids several years younger, and rarely actually gave lessons. this was because she had a lot of health issues that made it hard for her to show up and be energized to teach, but the school probably couldn’t easily find anyone else. neither of these two teachers was fired even though every student knew they both sucked because administration did not care. even worse, in like 5th grade there was a teacher who supposedly got so mad he CHOKED a student (different stories flew around about what he did, but it was something violent in every single one) and was not fired.

and if you’re visibly neurodivergent? teachers will probably just decide you’re a lost cause and give up trying to work with you. i mean, my behavior throughout my early years of school was visibly indicative of abuse and instead of anyone ever wondering if anything was going on at home my teacher just hated me and had no patience for me. and by third grade i got thrown in a separate class once a week where they basically told us euphemistically that it was for “troubled” kids, the ones who were “different” or something like that. all it probably did was isolate me further from other kids my age.

the shitty staff also causes the quality of the teaching itself to be bad. throughout elementary school i don’t think i learned almost anything useful in any subject aside from math. in english i never learned grammar until grade 8. i NEVER. NEVER ONCE remember learning world geography in all of my school years. i taught it to myself, on my own time, with a mobile game. i learned very little about science until high school and what i did learn before high school was taught in such a disorganized way that none of it would stick. i even knew a kid in grade five who im fairly sure literally couldn’t read. and instead of anyone helping him learn my teacher just continued to pressure him to read aloud and sound it out in front of the whole class.

they teach you very biased information in history classes sometimes too. they tried to tell me the vietnam war was a tie when i was in grade 8. and although i cant remember if mine did, many states also try to teach that the american civil war was about states rights when any american in their right mind knows it was about slavery. they also cram world history into one year while also teaching you the same shit about american history over and over again, so i ended up going over the american revolution more times than i can remember well enough to count but because of how much was crammed into the singular year of world history, i spent ONE DAY on something like the russian revolution, an event extraordinarily significant to world history.

so yeah. the american education system is an absolute failure. and this isn’t even covering the racism and classism involved in the system, or the bullshit legislation, the book banning, or the censorship on what can be taught. often it seems like the people who make decisions about education aren’t even well educated themselves and they don’t even care about kids either.

and the kicker is that i went to elementary and middle school at a school in a neighborhood full of three story houses with fountains in the front yards, and the place was still grossly underfunded, and these stories are still what happened. if that’s what it’s like for middle and upper class people, then imagine what it’s like for people in poverty, and what it’s like in states even more conservative than mine. it’s insane.

i don’t mean to be preachy or anything and i apologize for writing so much, especially because making addons to posts freaks me out, but this subject really gets me going. this system fails not only students but teachers too, and it creates ignorant, biased, or even traumatized adults. and instead of trying to make it better, politicians do whatever they can to make it worse.

for non-usamericans who wonder why we're so stupid: our education system sucks in many ways. Two fundamental ones are funding education exclusively with local property tax (absolutely crucifying impact in many ways that closely track racial and economic discrimination) and two of the largest states having textbook market-makers (long captured by right-wing christian extremists, like "fluoride in the water is the antichrist" "qanon doesn't go far enough" extremists) who will have textbooks shitcanned for mentioning abortion or HIV or evolution or whatever in anything but exactly the right way

[modgirlyreposts-revamped]

Here’s a thought.

Sonic is the kind of kid you expect everyone to like, but it turns out the general populace is neutral at best towards him and his popularity is just an appearance created by the waves of weird outcast kids that flock to him. He’s a nice jock, a scene kid, and surprisingly enough a skater, even though it’s slower than his running. His skateboard is easy to pick out, covered in stickers and signed by many friends. It’s been broken a good few times, too.

He comes off as dismissive and disrespectful despite having a good heart- he’s the kind of person to laugh at his own jokes and sit with his shoes on the table. He’s not super vocal about being queer, and he laughs off most people trying to put him down, but if he catches you picking on any other queer person, he becomes the walking pride flag and you’d best fucking pray cause he’s gonna send your ass to god. He has stickers and marker drawings on his shirts and pants, and wears beaded bracelets his friends make him. The people who don’t like him think he’s arrogant, irreverent, annoying, but those who do swear by it that he’s the best person you’ll ever meet in your life.

Shadow is both the outcast punk/emo kid and the ptsd poster child. He hunches his shoulders and gets pissed when people startle him. He’s not as tough a nut to crack as people assume based on the surface level of his persona, but he can be difficult. His hobbies include hyperfixating on wikipedia articles, helping out at animal shelters, and staying up too late. Despite his seemingly totally tough front, he actually skates as well, though. His spiky black, white and red platform boots are actually heelies, and he swears by them as the fastest way to get around. He has hypermobility in several joints which leads to him overextending them and hurting himself often. He’s always chewing on something, insisting it’s a bad habit, but never stopping. It’s almost never food. People worry he has an ED, but really it’s just that strong smells and tastes make him nauseous and he eats mostly bland foods. He wears headphones everywhere, and always has some sort of mp3 player on him to listen to metal through. If he passes you on his skates, sometimes you can hear a moment of very low quality “THE RECKONINGGG!! THE SICKENING!!! PACKAGING SUBVERSIOOONNNN! PSEUDO-SACROSANCT PERVERSION!!!” through his crunchy ass earbuds as he rolls by.

Most people expect he’s all talk, some self righteous douche who thinks he can get away with anything just because he looks scary. They don’t expect him to have such a just attitude, a kind heart, and the will to fight for his beliefs.

Many people will attest to the fact, however, that it is MUCH scarier to see Sonic coming at you for being shitty than Shadow.

I'd say I'm a mix of both Sonic and Shadow, do I even need to say why for Shadow and with Sonic idc really what people say about me unless they're lying about me, and becoming "the walking pride flag" if anyone tries to mess with another queer person around me

[yewordered]

.

[mick-mundy]

self-indulgent tf2 punk headcanons (kind of modern au)

scout, sniper, and demo are all punk fans. you can’t convince me that they don’t all dress up and go to dingy venues together to see shitty bands play. besties 4 life

scout

- loves pop punk, skate punk, anarcho, oi!, and ska. really just the anti-establishment and angsty young adult my-dad-and-girlfriend-suck shit.

- he likes most other subgenres as well but the previously mentioned bullshit is his go-to. definitely a huge reel big fish, less than jake, and blink-182 fan.

- despite his favorites being super fuckin popular (nothing wrong with that!), he has a plethora of knowledge about underrated bands?? he could literally spout off facts about the most random of groups at any given moment if asked.

- “oh yeah, the fartz? fuckin’ wicked seattle-based hardcore band from ‘81, they were one of the city’s first well-known blah blah blah-“

- also loves talking about and listening to boston bands such as gang green, the mighty mighty bosstones, street dogs, and negative fx. he’s a proud bostonian, of course he’s gonna hype up the hometown gigs.

- if you want to get into punk, he’s your guy to talk to :]

sniper

- this fuckin guy.

- ugh i love him so much he’s just like me i wont him so bad

- ever the professional, he listens to that sweet, sweet hardcore shit. i’m talking thrashcore, crust punk, d-beat, noise punk, and grindcore. hard. core. shit.

- he likes the noisiest garbage (affectionate, i love that shit, too) because it’s sort of an outlet for his anger that isn’t shooting people in the head or slashing them to bits. most of the time you can’t understand what hardcore punks are saying in their music and sniper appreciates that.

- he’s not the most verbal person already and he’s especially stunted when it comes to talking about his emotions. when he’s alone in his camper, driving down the endless desert roads to wherever the hell he’s going, he can scream his heart out and nobody will tell him to quit it. he’s looked up a lot of the lyrics to the songs he likes so he knows what they’re about, but also so he can make a playlist specifically for when he needs to go yell off some steam.

- some bands he likes are negative approach, anti cimex, wolfpack, discharge, disarm, minor threat, and crass. crusty bands for a crusty man <333

- he’s definitely got an… acquired taste. he’d absolutely love to have someone, whether a romantic partner or just a close friend, ride along with him on one of his emotional screaming sessions. that’s one of the most intimate things to him <333

demoman

- god what a man

- he’s really down for any kind of punk. part of the charm of going to punk shows is getting drunk on cheap beer, but you KNOW this guy is smuggling that good scrumpy into the venue (ask him nice enough and MAYBE he’ll share.) punk means alcohol, alcohol means a good fuckin time for demo.

- huge celtic punk fan. street dogs, flogging molly, the pogues, blood or whiskey, roaring jack, dropkick murphys; you name it, he’s fuckin into it.

- he likes to make fun of pop punk lyrics but he gets it, y’know? especially scout’s love for it. i think all the mercs except scout know that spy is his dad, so that definitely influences demo’s perception. yeah, the kid’s dad left him and he never knew why, of course he’s gonna be into shitty “punk”, it’s all good. demo sticks up for scout’s choices when it’s somehow his turn to control the stereo. sometimes.

thank you for reading <333 i highly recommend listening to punk, there’s so many different subgenres, i’m sure there’s one for everybody :]]] nothing is more freeing than screaming at the top of your lungs to some low quality bullshit ^ ^

[wonderlandleighleigh]

Can you please do another follow up on the interview drama? Pretty, pretty please with a cherry on top

"Guys I'm really gay."

They've been drinking for a number of hours. Drained a few bottles at this point, sprawled out on the floor and couches in the living room.

"Wait, you thought we didn't know you were gay?" Esther asks, confused as she lifts her head from the floor.

Lan lifts his own, looking panicked. "What?"

"We know you're gay," Lily tells him.

"Smokey and the Bandit," Ethan chimes in.

"Wh-"

"I took you to see Smokey and the Bandit," Ethan goes on, laughing from the couch. "Lan, you were smitten."

Lan stares around at his siblings.

"No one could blame you," Kitty assures him. "Burt Reynolds is really sexy."

"It's the mustache," Lily agrees.

"Honestly, I'm a little jealous," Esther chimes in again. "I wanted to be the gay one."

"You-"

"Men are terrible," Esther cuts him off.

"Wait, does everyone know?" Lan asks, still completely flabbergasted.

"None of the grandparents guessed," Ethan tells him. "And lucky you, you only have to tell one of them. Unless you wanna tell Sally. I don't think she'd care much."

"But you're being safe, right?" Lily asks worriedly. "The Aids thing isn't getting better, and Reagan is still choosing to ignore the problem."

"I only have the one partner," Lan assures her. "And we've both been tested a couple of times."

"Don't die please," Lily says.

"Doing my best," Lan tells her. "God, I can't believe you all knew all this time. Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because you didn't say anything," Kitty shrugs with a giggle. "What were we supposed to do, point at you and announce it at Yom Kippur dinner?"

"Not that you've been to Yom Kippur dinner in the last couple of years," Esther comments. "Busy movie star that you are."

Len sighs heavily. "Do you think the parents know?"

"Oh, Daddy definitely knows," Lily tells him. "Your dad once mentioned a matchmaker and Daddy blew coffee out his nose."

"Ow," Lan flinches.

"Many, many worse things have gone up and come out that nose," Kitty comments. "He was fine."

"Pop is gonna lose his shit," Lan mutters, pressing the palms of his hands to his eyes. "It's times like these I wish I was a Weissman-Bruce. Midge would not care."

"She'd wrap you in cellophane and ask for the sexual history of everyone you know," Ethan comments. "She's terrified for Uncle Shy right now."

"I'm really fine, you guys," Lan grumbles.

"Keep being fine, please," Kitty insists. She sits up and huffs. "Who wants more whiskey?"

Ethan's hand shoots up, as does Lily's.

"Five people, all aware that addictions runs in every branch of their family," Lan jokes.

"Wait, Mei's family, too?" Esther asks.

"Opium, back in China," Lan explains.

"Well, here's to bad habits," Kitty states, as she refills everyone's glasses.

*****

When Lan opens his eyes again, sunshine is streaming through the smudged windows, and he can smell French toast from the kitchen.

He feels like a little kid again, slumped around with his siblings, delicious smells in the air, and Midge and Lenny's voices - low and soft - coming from the other room.

The aroma of coffee has him pulling himself to his feet. He thought he'd be more hungover, but he actually feels okay. The combination of a handful of aspirin sometime in the night, and good quality liquor making things feel a little easier, most likely.

"Hey, we have a life one," Lenny comments, grinning at him.

"Well, that's one less funeral to plan so soon," Midge jokes, zooming by and kissing Lan's cheek. "Hi, sweetie."

"You guys don't look mad," Lan says, frowning.

Lenny snorts. "Do you know how many times people have said I'm gonna die soon? You're far from the first, and you won't be the last."

"You just have to learn how to give less shitty interviews," Midge tells him, handing him a cup of coffee. "God, this place is not in good shape anymore. Every since Paulie retired..."

"Maybe we should just buy the bungalow," Lenny suggests. "Fix it up nice, give it some love, have a good place for vacations and whatnot."

"It's not the worst idea," Midge grins, before looking at Lan. "How are you? How's LA?"

"LA is good. I'm...I feel awful about that interview," he tells her. "The stuff they said about Mama, and Lenny and Ethan...and then they did a deep-dive on Maisel and Roth and..."

"There are just some journalists who will do anything to get ahead," Midge tells him. "There was this one woman who used to trash every show I ever did."

"Ah, L. Roy Dunham," Lenny muses. "When she trashed Midge's first Gordon Ford appearance, she got so much hate mail, they had to fire her from the Daily News."

"And she died last year," Midge adds. "Food poisoning. Bad pork."

Lan frowns as he sips his coffee. "So...if you're not mad..."

Midge takes a breath and smooths out her dress. "There's a lot of stuff that you kids don't know, that...well..you're all adults now... Lily is nineteen for god's sake, so...it's time. Once your parents get here, and everyone's been fed and given hangover cures, we'll all talk."

Lan nods.

"You know the best thing about being the first up is first dibs on the shower," Lenny tells him.

Lan lifts an playfully eyebrow. "Lenny, are you telling me I smell?"

"I absolutely am. Go."

Lan laughs and takes his coffee upstairs.

[dolugecat]

On some Japanese social issues I had learned about at uni and abroad):

(Rb ok!)

Legit had an epiphany about the true hidden meaning of the last arc of Mob Psycho 100. It’s hella projection but for real there is nothing neurotypical about Mob or Mob Psycho. I do not wish to enforce my interpretation on others (ironic bc I do that all the time but this is a serious social theory). There are some interesting and very sad social issues in Japan that the west really doesn’t understand but would I think help people understand a lot of context behind not only Mob Psycho, but also a lot of other anime. I learned this at my shitty university (prestigious but horrific) and while studying abroad in Japan and talking with Japanese peers. Get ready here we go (and tw for bullying and darker things):

Unfortunately in East Asian education systems, bullying can be extremely intense. Growing up I assumed it was over exaggerated extremely in anime for drama but it really can be so horrific. From what I’ve heard, there is often a single kid or so who is just shit on by everyone else, even the teacher. Mogami land *is* the reality of some Japanese kids. I’ve read that in Korea, this social punching bag sometimes is just the darkest skinned person (yayyy colorism /angry) and or someone who does not fit in. I mean, we have that in America too, but maybe not as common for the bullying to be as focused on one misfit rather than several. These kids just can’t escape the stigma too, kids from other schools find out they were a major victim at their old school and it starts anew. Thus there is so much stigma and incentive to join in on bullying so you aren’t the one. Sadly, this also ofc leads to higher suicide rates. That’s where the “shoe on building roof” anime trope comes in, bc somehow taking off shoes is relayed to death (I forgot why sorry)

There is a difference in how intense in general high school vs college is too. In the West, commonly college is the more intense curriculum and is harder than high school, but in Japan it’s usually the opposite. Grind suuuupppeeerrrr hard for entrance exams (huge standardized tests that determines what college you can qualify to) bc unlike the ACT or SAT here, that test is by far the most important factor for college admission. Then chill and relax a bit in college. Can’t relate. Name and prestige is very critical for job application, more important than here. That’s why planning out your future is sooo much more intense for Japanese high schoolers than in America, and why there is sooo much more pressure to excel in high school than here. Japanese school years and holidays are done different than ours, I’d suggest looking it up.

Social prestige of going to an American high school or college is nuts. Like whyyy do you value our shitty education, Japan’s is much higher quality (it’s bc we neo colonized them). Being able to speak English is very, very highly valued and any association with Americans make you cooler. From my experience, some Japanese students got very excited to practice speaking English with us, and their biggest issues with learning it is pronunciation, lmao. Wasai english is unique slang that is indeed English words but it’s kinda different and it’s kinda jarring to remember lol. So, Teru having parents that are working overseas isn’t too uncommon, idk about leaving him absolutely alone, but I did have a ex-friend who just came from Japan in middle school who’s situation probably wasn’t too far off from that. Empty wealth with no love, it’s no wonder those kind of people can end up being huge bullies (minori?)

I did a presentation on 引きこもり(hikikomori) for which means “shut in”, (like Serizawa) and it’s fucked up. It’s a social phenomena where according to some Japanese researchers a mix of undisciplined parenting, guilt/not living up to expectations, and hopelessness makes an alarming amount of youth/ young adults literally never go out side their house/room. Often a parent is “enabling” the behavior by supporting them, but idk the articles seemed a bit victim-blaming to me when I read it, but I don’t think I should make a judgement too hard, not my place. I will say I do suspect and believe I read something to support that ASD might play a role in hikikomoris (there is pitiful resources for autistic people in Asia, much much less support than even here, to the point I don’t think most know it exists). Like come on, with the other points I laid out my personal opinion as an Asian American with autism is that it really seems it’s unknowing ableism against autistic classmates, but I didn’t grow up in Asia so I don’t want to say.

Mental health in general is tragically quite abysmal in Japan, and with it being so hyper competitive and brutal work culture, it’s no surprise birth rate in Japan is so low; some Japanese young adults say it seems unethical to bring a life to such hostile world. Suicide rate is of the highest in the world. It’s fucked, I’ve interacted with some of the locals in Tokyo and they were so nice, but the business men just looked dead inside, it’s so sad.

Relationships between child and parent is also strained bc of this intense work and school culture. Quality time is too scarce when you gotta work so much. And the pressure from parents to do well in education or else you might end up socially stigmatized is rough. Bc your job is who you are, it’s hyper capitalism (thanks us for making them do this)

With autism being so unknown, support for parents in raising autistic kids is almost nonexistent. What happens if the “darker” side of ASD shows up in kids? I used to be a menace when I had meltdowns, I felt so bad but really just became so indiscriminately violent. See where this is going? Legit, I think ESP is a sort of metaphor for neurodivergance to ONE. There is so much stigma around it, and even less way for kids to understand why they are different than the others. My Korean family can’t admit we all got ASD, too much fear and internalized shame.

I got finally diagnosed with ASD as an adult and I’ll tell ya, I relate too much to Mob hurting Ritsu. I felt so bad, but also not in control, I knew what I was doing but not how to stop. Luckily, is was blessed in that my hyperfixations involved science and logic, so I did well at school. Sadly, our boy Mob just don’t got the passion or ability to do well at school. His kanji is very bad, even to point of not being confident he wrote a kanji (世) they learn when they are 9, in elementary school (thanks @katyatalks). Him being a bit berated by his parents for having bad grades and bending spoons seems harsh to Westerners I think, but IMO it’s pretty tame from what I’ve seen of some Asian parents (I get to say that lmao). Ofc, however the shaming is very real and Mob just agreeing with them about how weird and stupid he thinks he is so sad. There is even more pressure for the eldest to be better than here, I feel from some interactions. Nonetheless, it’s implied Mob is quite emotionally detached from his parents, even though he loves them, which also adds to his emotional complex. Combined with originally fragile self esteem and feelings of worthlessness, we got one emotionally stunted boy. However, contrary to common belief people with ASD are sometimes hyper empathic and experience emotions very intensely. We are prone to having “meltdowns” which if not assisted with can be quite violent if very intense. For me, my worse meltdowns as a kid came from when I didn’t understand why I wasn’t getting what I wanted, it seemed selfish and cruel of me but I couldn’t control it. I wanted to be a good kid, so why did hit my moms leg at target when she refused to buy me Pokémon toys? I couldn’t come up with a good reason for why my mind just commanded my body to do bad things, just a single thought was controlling me, I want I want I want I want I want ____. Which I argue could be what ???% represents… bc well…. Yeah….. hmm….. not in control of self (mob unconscious), selfish (not actually, I’ve forgave myself but my “normal” kid self was so ashamed), destructive, hurt family, wanting to stop but can’t, that’s kind of…. Too relatable.

But legit, since realizing my new HC, I’ve started to think of the last chapter of mp100 when I “explode” and it helps me feel better and I do gain “control” a bit easier. I don’t feel so bad anymore either, Mob!

[oliviermiraarmstrongs]

mid year book freak out tag

thanks @bloody-wonder!

1. Best Book You’ve Read So Far in 2022? it’s a toss-up between the robber bride by margaret atwood and in the dream house by carmen maria machado. I'm leaning more towards the former because I just can’t stop thinking about it.

2. Best Sequel You’ve Read So Far in 2022? Ruin and Rising, by virtue of being the only sequel I’ve read this year. I liked it! I think it’s the best one in the trilogy. I love a good team dynamic, love a globe-trotting (country-trotting?) adventure, love all the saint stuff. I have a lot of feelings about the ending, some good, and some…I wouldn’t say bad, I think I was just really broken up about it.

3. New Releases You Haven’t Read Yet, But Want To? I don’t even know if the ophelia girls by jane healey is good or not, but “psychological female character study about girls who are obsessed with the pre-raphaelites” is 100% in my q-zone and I am obligated to check it out.

4. Most Anticipated Release for Second Half of 2022?

5. Biggest Disappointment? I was gonna say Ariadne, but tbh that would’ve required me to have had high hopes for it in the first place. Female-centric mythology retelling are like trashy romance novels to me; I know they will be formulaic and low-quality, but they scratch a certain itch. Sometimes you get a Til We Have Faces or even a Circe, but other times…well, you get Ariadne. An actual disappointment might be The Tiger’s Daughter, even though I’m not done with it yet. I read the first couple of chapters a few years ago and was pretty excited about the concept of an Asian-inspired epic fantasy centered around wlw, but after picking it up again I can’t quite get invested in it. Maybe it’s the second-person past-tense narration resulting from the framing device – I might connect to the characters and story more if I could actually experience them happening in real time instead of killing any sort of dramatic tension (the fact that I’m supposed to care about Shefali and Shizuka’s relationship before I even know who they are is bad enough; even worse is that it sets up Shizuka’s uncle as a major villain and then not even halfway in just off-handedly mentions that she already overthrew and banished him in the present day. stakes!) But maybe it’ll surprise me by the end.

6. Biggest Surprise? Honestly, the robber bride surprised me as I read it. I experienced a rollercoaster of emotions throughout; midway through (I think around tony’s portion) I became concerned about the way the book would turn out. Was this a commentary on the ways women tear each other down while at the same time absolving men of any wrongdoing, or is it just doing exactly that? I think at the time, I wasn’t really catching on to the unreliable narration from all three women, but the ending did really well to re-contextualize all the disparate ideas into coherent themes.

7. Favorite New Author? I wanna look into other stuff by carmen maria machado; she managed to write about her own life in such an imaginative manner. her being on you’re wrong about only makes me like her more. also shout out to ocean vuong, I’m not done with on earth we’re briefly gorgeous yet, but by god is it tugging at my heartstrings.

8. Newest Favorite Character? I went from thinking “god, zenia from the robber bride is such a two-dimensional caricature of misogynistic stereotypes” to by the end being like “zenia is an ever-shifting narrative mirror. zenia is everyone and no one. zenia is a secret mentor helping the three protagonists to become truer versions of themselves. zenia is a dealer of hard lessons and ugly truths. zenia is a guardian angel protecting women from shitty men by exposing how inadequate they really are. zenia is the other woman, both in the traditional relationship sense and in the sense that she represents the Other, cast out by her fellow girls for being the “wrong” type of woman. zenia is a martyr, allowed back into the bonds of female friendship only after her death. I am zenia. we are zenia.”

9. Newest Fictional Crush? If I were toni, charis, and ros, I would have simply seduced zenia myself. rip to them bu

10. Book That Made You Cry? on earth we’re briefly gorgeous is getting me very close and I’m afraid every time I pick it up again bc I’ve been on vacation the past few weeks and I don’t want my family to see me cry fichxjdjd

11. Book That Made You Happy? I don’t read happy books…..maybe the ending of the robber bride where the three women sort of accept zenia for the mystery she is after she dies and spread her ashes in the toronto harbor. that’s the closest I got ashddhshs

12. Favorite Book Adaptation You Saw This Year? I haven’t seen an adaptation of anything I’ve read this year, but I did finally knock bram stoker’s dracula (the coppola film) off my list. iconic. it understood the assignment. the crimson peak of the 90s

13. Favorite Review You’ve Written This Year?

14. Most Beautiful Cover? I found a lovely leatherbound edition of the aeneid at an antique store. I’d upload a photo but I’m not at home now, so take my word for it

15. What Books Do You Need To Read By the End of the Year? I was gonna say on earth we’re briefly gorgeous, but the tiger’s daughter was boring me so much I already started reading it to cleanse my palate between chapters. god knows what else I’m gonna read this year; future sophia is an unpredictable creature. I probably should finally read six of crows and the rest of that series. beyond that, well I’ll see.

tagging @illuminaticns, @betweenironyandsilver, @antema, @trckstergods, @borispavlikovskys, and @palamedesthesixth, if y’all wanna!