#You know what I also like. Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice (knows that's a quote from Emma)

[starpros-sunshine]

If I loved Wataei less I might be able to talk about them more....

[weirdmorefics]

So Very Basic- Spencer Reid X Reader

A/N- This may have just been an excuse for me to infodump about Pride and Prejudice but I swear the fic is still good! Reader is also very Autistic coded but I am Autistic so that happens a lot when I write hope you don't mind.

Pronouns- She/her

Tooth-Rooting Fluff

Word Count- 822

Summary- Spencer judging your book tastes on the jet back home.

Spencer and I have made it a habit of sitting next to each other every flight home. We usually talk about the recent books we have finished or are currently reading. Sometimes we just sit in silence and read together. These are my favorite moments in my life I never feel calmer in the jet with Spencer by my side or across from me. This time it felt different though Spencer's eyes have not left me once I swear he hadn't flipped a page of his book.

"Hey Spence, What's your book about?" I say trying to hint at the fact that I can obviously see he has not flipped a single page.

He seemed startled by my sudden question but proceeded to tell me the entire synopsis of his book.

I slam my book shut and shout, "You have read that book already!"

He seemed perplexed by my reaction "There is no rule against rereading books I think authors would prefer you reread their works."

I groan, "There is when you spend the whole flight staring at me distracting me from my book."

Spencer flushes and I am one hundred percent sure I am right now.

"Hotch the children are fighting again!" Rossi shouts like a mother making me shake my head at him.

"Hotch Spence is poking meee," Emily teases in her best Y/N impersonation. JJ of course joins in playing the role of Spencer, "I am not Y/n." She draws out my name.

Spencer and I look as red as two tomatoes and my safe space has turned into an inescapable nightmare.

He leans in and whispers in my ear, "You know this is your fault for picking the most basic Jane Austen novel."

I gasp dramatically which of course just causes more stares from the team.

Derek sighed knowing this Y/n gasp all too well, "Pretty boy what are you doing offending Y/n? Do you want to listen to another one of her defensive rants for thirty minutes?"

"I quite enjoy them," Spencer smiles.

Rossi rolls his eyes, "You would."

I stand up, "Pride and Prejudice is beautiful from its book, it's movie, and it's BBC Special!"

JJ sighs," Here she goes."

"The drama in the book is spectacular as it delves into each sister's feelings about marriage and how at the time it was their only option. Don't even get me started on the twenty-seven with no prospects speech! Oh my goodness Darcy is the perfect match for Elizabeth with them both being so headstrong makes for the best enemies to lovers! Speaking of Darcy in the film when he does that hand-clench thing it was not even in the book! It wasn't even scripted! Which made me feel he was the perfect actor for Darcy he understood the role perfectly!" I ramble out putting my hand on my chest the rest of the team is annoyed at another one of my outbursts but Spencer is looking at me like I am the only person on the plane and I flush when I meet his eyes.

Hotch shouts at me, "L/N would you sit down we are about to go into a patch of turbulence." He of course says this too late and I embarrassingly fall on top of Spencer.

I immediately try to scramble off Spencer but he holds me there. I look away from him trying to hide my flushed face and he asks if I am alright.

"Yup, just mortified but everybody needs a good daily dose of that am I right." I smile trying to play it off but I play with my hair a common tell of mine that everyone in the BAU knows by now.

"You know I have never seen the Pride and Prejudice film," Spencer says slyly.

My eyes light up "You must see it! It's on Netflix I have seen it over a hundred times! I can probably quote all the words by now."

"I actually don't have Netflix I don't really watch television," He rubs the back of his neck.

"That's fine I could totally bring my laptop to you to watch it! Or we could watch it at my apartment!" I ramble out coming off more excited than I meant to.

"That sounds great," Spencer smiles, "Do you really know all the words you could recite some now?" He teases.

I turn the deepest red I think I have ever been in my life and of course, Derek has to jump in.

"Oh pretty boy has moves," he whistles.

Spence rolls his eyes "Shut up Morgan."

"Could we all shut up? Some of us like to rest so we can actually focus on work when we get back." Hotch says in his typical annoyed-with-us voice.

"I guess reciting Pride and Prejudice to you will have to wait," I whisper into Spencer's ear it was finally my time to make him blush.

[askinkiskarma]

Illicit Affairs | Chapter IV: Evermore

Pairing: Neteyam x Human/Avatar!Reader

Chapter I Chapter II Chapter III Chapter V Chapter VI Chapter VII Chapter VIII Chapter IX Chapter X

Synopsis: You and Neteyam both have to navigate a lot of painful memories on your first day in a new body

Warnings: angst, mentions of death, descriptions of ptsd flashbacks, cursing

Word Count: 6,2k words

A/N: Chapter 4 is the longest chapter I have written so far. There's definitely some fluff in there and some light hearted, beautiful moments, but it's also the darkest chapter I have written so far. There's some heavy stuff in there, so please read with caution! I wanted my characters to be well rounded and for there to be a good reason for every action they take; why the reader is a recluse, why Neteyam behaves the way he does, and why he left. There's layers to their story that will be unveiled through memories from both the main characters, so I hope you stick around to see where I plan to take this story <3 I never expected people to like it so much, and I hope you guys like what I have planned!

"I replay my footsteps on each stepping stone Trying to find the one where I went wrong And I couldn't be sure, I had a feeling so peculiar That this pain would be for Evermore"

“Am I allowed to be here?” Neteyam says, carefully taking in the new environment that he’s never wondered through before. It was small and dark, his eyes needing a second to adjust to the contrast from the bright neon orbs that illuminated the hallways. His nose scrunched up, trying to assimilate the smell, and realised it just smells like you. 

“Who is going to stop you?” you laugh, and the sounds reverberates through his body and settles deep in his soul. He’s heard this sounds countless times in the 14 years he’s known you. It never ceased to amaze him. 

You take off your Converse shoes and throw them carelessly to the side, jump on the bed and reach for the light on the other side of it, sitting on the bedside table. The lamp turns on and Neteyam finds himself having to adjust to the brightness once more. He settles on the chair that was accompanying a small messy desk, filled with papers, books and electronic tablets that had something you called a graph on it. The words “cell viability” were written on top of it, but Neteyam didn’t know what that meant, so he turned his attention to the many, many books that were displayed on the shelves above the desk. 

He’s seen some of them before, some of them multiple times, as you did seem to have your favourites. He picked one up he recognised. It was called Pride and Prejudice and Neteyam assumed it was written by a person named Jane Austen. He knew you loved this book, but he’s never asked why.

“I love that one…” you started.

“I know” he says in Na’vi. “I just don’t know why.”

“I honestly couldn’t tell you. My mum read me paragraphs from it growing up, and it’s just a book that brings me comfort. I’ve read it so many times, I’ve memorised it, so it’s like a blanket. It makes me feel safe.”

“What is it about?” Neteyam probed further.

You thought about it for a second. 

“It’s a story about two people who come from different worlds, and their journey of understanding each other and overcoming their feelings of, you guessed it, pride and prejudice towards one another and towards each other’s world.”  

He sat with this new information for a while. “So like us?” 

“Mmm, I don’t think it’s like us at all. I think it’s more about my mum and dad, or at least I think my mum thought of her and dad when reading it.”

Your words upset him, he realises in slight surprise. He looks at your figure sprawled over the bed looking up at the ceiling above you in contemplation and feels a pang of hurt as he considers the fact you didn’t think of him when reading a book so close to your heart.

“I have a quote from another book that reminds me of you, though.” Almost as if you read his mind, you turned your head towards him with a smirk and raised an eyebrow.

He didn’t look at you, a small pout erupting from his lips without meaning to. You laugh at him and smile endearingly, softly shaking your head. 

You jump from the bed, slightly wincing when your left leg registers the action, and click your tongue at him so he can move from where he was sat. He obliged and found another spot on the bed, which was now emanating the warmth of your body, and he slowly touched the blanket as if trying to commit the feeling to memory. You climbed on the chair with another small wince and found a book on the uppermost shelf. You jumped from the chair straight on to the bed and fell next to him. 

Patting the spot next to you, you signalled for him to lie down. He did, although his legs were completely off the bed, the tiny contraption barely able to accommodate his torso. You let out a small laugh, but seemed happy to have him so close. 

You placed your head on his chest, and he prayed you couldn’t hear the way his heart felt like it was trying to escape his ribcage at your proximity and warmth. You opened the book and looked for the quote. 

“Ah, there is it.” You cleared your throat, then continued. “He is more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” 

“Get the fuck out of my room, Neteyam.”

You had just finished washing the day off when you heard a small knock on the door. Still reeling from the fight, it was taking everything out of you to muster up the strength to open that door and deal with whatever was waiting on the other side. With a deep sigh, you did so anyway. It was surprising for you to find Jake peering at you from the other side of the open door, a curious look on his handsome face. 

“Hey kid. We’re going to get going now. I just wanted to talk to you for a second before hand. Can I come in?” 

You hesitated for a second, then moved so he could enter. 

“So..” He started awkwardly. “I don’t really know how to do this.” You saw his left hand reaching behind his head and scratching his scalp with a small laugh. 

His eyes drop to a little package he was holding, wrapped in the same sort of cloth as the other gifts had been. He didn’t look at you as he spoke.

“Your mum gave me this, a couple of weeks before she passed. She asked me to hold on to it and give it to your on your 18th birthday.”

Your breath stopped in your lungs. He peered at you with a sad look and handed you the little box. A small video camera, like the ones used to record the Avatar program video logs was now resting peacefully in between your hands. 

“I hope whatever’s on there will give you some peace of mind, kid. I know life’s not been kind to you, but it’s time… time to move on, you know?” 

He got up from his spot on the bed and silently made his way out of the room. “See you tomorrow?” 

With your back to him, you gave him a nod, and with that, he was gone, closing the door behind him.

You stood like that, in the same position, with the camera in your hand for a long enough time that your left leg was starting to ache, an ache that eventually overtook the one in your soul and with that, you took the camera and the bracelet you removed from Neteyam’s hands and shoved them both in the bottom drawer of your desk. “Pandora’s box.”, you thought to yourself, with a bitter chuckle. 

You woke up with a groan, and the meanest headache known to man. Yesterday felt like you did in fact have the biggest party this world has ever seen, and the hangover to match. You scrambled out of bed, still in the dark, and searched on top of your desk for the little bottle of Ibuprofen you keep for days just like this. Today’s the day…

Norm enters your room quietly, and is surprised to see you up already. “So nervous you couldn’t sleep?” He says with a tentative smile.

“Something like that.” 

“Hey…you’re happy about this, right? Tell me we haven’t done this for almost a decade for no reason, cause you know, we can’t just give someone else the Avatar.” he says, with an uncomfortable chuckle. 

“I’m happy, Norm. It’s just a lot to take in, you know? A lot is going to have to change, and I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I don’t tend to do well with change.” you response, laughing to yourself.

“Yeah, me and Max worried about that, but, Ace… you have weathered every storm life’s thrown at you like a champ and I think beyond this great unknown lays a future so bright it will be able to make this planet shift on its axis.” 

You throw your head back and laugh loudly, “Wow, that’s a lot of trust right there. I’ll try not to disappoint.” 

If only Norm knew… knew how you have not been able to brave any storm, and how the storms, in time, turned to tornadoes and then hurricanes and then bigger hurricanes and all you’ve done your whole life is just move further in to the middle of the shelter hoping that someday they’ll just go away by themselves and when they do, there’s still some walls, any walls, surrounding you. 

You put some of Grace’s old workout clothes on and made your way to the Avatar room and properly looked at it, probably for the first time in your life. You used to love coming here as a kid, looking at the scientists in their link pods, at your mum in hers, sitting in Max’s lap and watching the brain activity, bombarding him with questions with answers you couldn’t’ possibly comprehend yet. You’ve moved away from that fascination in time. Now here you stood, about to get your own linkpod and your own brain activity analysed. You peered in the room next to it, where on a big flat metal table lay a blue body, and you couldn’t help yourself from moving closer until your breath was so close to the window in was fogging up the glass. You placed a hand on the cold glass and stared at the new you, and a small smile appeared on your face. It was beautiful, more so than you ever thought your human form to be. Your heart picked up pace in your chest and you were shocked at the realisation that the nerves that you thought only reflected fear and anxiety, also reflected excitement. 

“It’s time.” Max said from somewhere behind you.

You turned and made your way with timid steps towards the linkpod. You climbed on it and the feeling of the green malleable foam woke up a memory inside you, that you fought to push back to where it came from. Now’s not the time. It was cold on your arms and thighs as you lay in it, but weirdly comfortable, like what you would imagine water mattresses you saw in old Hollywood movies to feel. 

Max placed a metal frame of sorts on top on your own and spoke slowly. “Okay, you know the drill, Ace. You have to relax and let your mind go blank. You will be disoriented when you wake up, so take your time in there and don’t rush. Please don’t do a Jake.” 

You chuckled at the story you’ve heard one too many times, but never seemed to get tired of it. 

“We will have to run tests to make sure everything is in order. This is new territory for all of us, and we don’t know how the Avatar will behave yet, so we will take our time and do it right.” 

“Aye aye, Captain.”

You did as you were told and found it hard to relax and let your mind go blank when it was running a million miles an hour with so many emotions, so many thoughts and worries. Still, with all your might, you sat there, and cleared your mind for a split second. It was enough. 

You woke up like from a dream, feeling groggy and tired. Your muscles hurt, a lot. You winced slightly at the gentle touch of a hand, which felt like that time you touched the inside of an electrical socket and got slightly electrocuted. You felt clothes clinging to your body and hated the way the synthetic fabric felt against your skin. You took your first breath and your nose crinkled in disgust at the overbearing smell of alcohol and chloride. 

“Ace? C’mon kid, there you go, you can do it.” 

You finally opened your eyes and groaned at the intense light on the ceiling. Your eyes took a while to focus, but when they did, you saw Norm staring back at you with a smile.

“Hi.” you said, with a deep frown and groggy voice. This was overwhelming. 

“Hi back! Take it easy, alright? Me and Claire will runs some tests to make sure everything’s a-okay. It will take about an hour, I know this whole experience can be a bit strange in the beginning, so hopefully this will ease you into it.”

Norm was a man of his word, and after about an hour of wiggling every part of your body, touching your fingers to your nose, remembering names of objects and repeating it to them, among other things, you were ready to go. You realise to your surprise that you’re excited about going outside. You couldn’t stand the sensation overload that came with being in this lab, in this body. You stood up gently and removed the chords that were still attached to you. You turned around to look at the glass that was reflecting your new figure back at you, and found yourself at a loss for words for the millionth time in 24 hours. It was such a strange feeling, and you knew it would take you a while to get used to looking in the mirror and be met with this. You smiled and waved, knowing Max would be watching you from behind the glass, even though you couldn’t see it. 

Norm handed you a bag, and you peered inside to find a beige loincloth and the top Neytiri gifted you yesterday. “Go change, I think you’ll feel better in these.” 

You did as you were told. Removing the white hospital garb you had on, you looked at yourself fore the first time, properly looked. You were tall. Very tall. And skinny, very skinny. Lean was probably a better word for it, as you couldn’t see an ounce of fat anywhere on your body. You started poking your body in different spots and let out a small laugh at the feeling: it felt like touching soft metal. You were strong. The thought made you happy. You looked again in the mirror at your face. Big yellow eyes looked at you curiously. They traced your nose, and your plump lips and your white freckles, beautiful like the night sky. Your eyes settled on your hair, long and soft and dark and your arm reached behind you to bring your braid into focus. You lifted it and looked in awe at the queue and the way the tendrils were moving on their own accord. Adrenaline was coursing through your veins like water breaking apart mountains to make a canyon of your mind. 

Neteyam’s words suddenly broke through.  “You’re not going to make it.” 

Adrenaline turned into rage and you hated it, hated the boy in that moment. Hated the effect his words had on you, even after so much time. You dressed slowly and tried to make sense of the “top” Neytiri gave you. Once you put it on, you looked back in the mirror and loved the way it looked on you. You also had a newfound appreciation for the soft feel of the feathers and the beads, and took note of the contrast between it and the unnatural feeling hospital gown you were in a few minutes ago. If it wasn’t for your eyebrows and your five fingers and your soft, straight hair, you wondered if anyone could be fooled into thinking you are, in fact, Na’vi. 

“You know nothing about the real world.” 

Dropping the clothes in the bag provided, you took one last look at yourself and saw something in your eyes that wasn’t there before. Determination. The sick, stubborn determination that has always made you push out all reason as soon as someone tells you you can’t do something. 

“Tell Norm no.”

You left the room smiling. You will make him eat his words, and you will enjoy every minute of it.

You reached for the mask packs by the entrance and dropped your hand. You will never have to wear that damn mask again, you thought with satisfaction. As you stood outside, it felt again like emerging in your avatar body for the first time. So many sounds, colours, sensations flooded your being and you couldn’t even register the voice yelling your name until the person that spoke it took you by the shoulders. You hissed at the sudden contact and it shocked you. Where did that come from? 

“Angel, you there?” 

“Give her a second, Lo’ak. This is bound to overwhelm her and you yelling at her isn’t going to speed up the process.”

“I can’t believe she just hissed at me.” 

The world slowly seemed to settle around you, and you focused you sight on the boy in front of you… the boy who was now your height.

“Lo’ak?” 

“Hey, you.” The younger Sully boy gave you a big smile and eyed you intently up and down a few times. “Damn, you’re hot this way, too. This is unfair, you know? But also somehow makes me feel better that it turns out I’m not into a different species altogether, just one girl.” 

You laughed, really laughed. Lo’ak was a charmer, another one of the many many traits he inherited from his dad. 

“You’re shorter than I thought you’d be.” 

“Ouch.” You knew he wasn’t really offended, so you blew a kiss towards him and shifted your attention to the world, that you realise you have never seen before. Not properly. Its beauty left you speechless. You don’t know how you were supposed to function when all you wanted to do is just walk around, smelling the flowers. 

“We have to get going, you’re going to start your training today, and your new boss is not going to be happy if you’re late.”

“My new boss?”

“Yep. Neteyam has been given the tough job of taking your lab ass and turning it into a Na’vi warrior. I have to say, I don’t envy him,  and I definitely don’t envy you.” 

“Lo’ak, shut up.” 

Well, this is going to be fun… You had a hunch Neteyam would have to train you, as Lo’ak is too young and restless and cares about the rules too little, or not at all, to do it, but hearing it as a fact made you shudder. You haven’t spent a whole day with Neteyam in years, and you didn’t particularly care for this new-and-improved version of himself. You wondered silently how this was going to go. If the last two interactions are anything to go by, you were not in for a happy time.  

“Lo’ak should be here any second. I want you to start training her right away. Maybe start with the Pa’li first, and do bow training when that gets too much. You won’t really have to teach her the language, but try to make sure you talk in Na’vi more than in English, and this way you’ll see if there are any gaps in her knowledge and address them. Neteyam, are you listening?” 

The oldest Sully sibling was only half paying attention to what his dad was telling him. In truth, he was scared half to death. He didn’t want to do any of this. This is not how any of this was supposed to go. He couldn’t be around you. He didn’t want to be around you and he most definitely didn’t want to have to teach you the ways of the Na’vi and have to put his own training and responsibilities aside for this. He has already had to teach Lo’ak whenever his parents had better things to do and he was getting so fucking tired of being used as soon as it was convenient for other people. 

He pushed the bitter feelings aside. His parents relied on him for a reason, he tried to remember. They relied on him because they trusted him, and because he fought hard to be worthy of that trust. He had no right to complain, not when he knew how much worse it could be… for better or for worse, at least he had parents to rely on him. The thought made him sad, and he felt guilt at the words he spat at you yesterday. He knew they were for the greater good, but he also knew they crossed a line, a line that he might not be able to cross back from. 

He didn’t have time to think about the consequences of his actions, as he heard a yell that pulled him out of his thoughts and he knew it was time to come face to face with his worst nightmare. 

“We’re here!”, screamed Lo’ak, and Neteyam suppressed the urge to roll his eyes at his immature younger brother. 

He made his way outside of the tent, picking up his knife and placing it on the sheath resting beneath his chest. He took a deep breath, one that got lodged in his throat.

Next to Lo’ak was a girl. The most beautiful girl he has ever laid his eyes on. Her stripes were somehow more accentuated than normal, and they reminded him of his own. It was something he was insecure about growing up, the deep contrast something his friends and even family teased him about relentlessly, but now, looking at it on her, he realised they were blind - he was blind - to have ever hated them. Her eyes were now yellow, a big departure from her human eyes, and although it was strange, just like the rest of her, they still felt familiar to him. Like no matter what body she inhabited, her soul would always shine through, always calling out to him like a moth to a flame. He knew then he’d always feel like this about her, for the rest of his life, no matter what she looked like. Fuck.

“Look at you, kid! You look like you belong already!” 

Jake’s voice cut through the tension that you felt sitting here, being eyed at like you were a new cub at the zoo. The stares made you so uncomfortable you felt like you were going to explode, and could not wait until this was no longer a novelty to anyone, including yourself. 

“Thank you, Jake. For everything. I cannot express how grateful I am that you and Neytiri, and the tribe, are so willing to accept me in the village.” 

“No problem, kid. Anyway, we will have plenty of time to discuss everything tonight at dinner, but for now I think you and Neteyam should head off. There’s a lot to learn.”

“Right.” You turned around and gave a half-smile to Lo’ak, who looked at you like you were a deer in headlights. Maybe you did look how you felt. 

You bid a small goodbye to everyone and suddenly found yourself face to face with the only person you didn’t want to see. 

He started walking without saying a word, and you followed him. You refused to say anything to him, there was nothing to say to him after yesterday. Before yesterday, you might have demanded an explanation, you might have demanded he told you what happened to him in the year he abandoned you, what lead to him leaving without a single word, how dare he forget about what he meant to you and what you knew you meant to him, how could he just forsake you like you were nothing; you would have screamed at him and told him you hated him without meaning it and hoped he would just hug you and told you he’s sorry, that he was stupid and that he’ll never leave you again. None of that came out. You were past that. He crossed a line and you knew it in your mind that no explanation would be enough, no excuse would justify his behaviour enough to satisfy you and make you forget. Not anymore. 

His back was to you as he was leading you away from the Sully tent, and for the first time in your life, you saw him for what he was. A leader, a warrior. He was lean and muscular, and his physique reminded you a lot more of Jake than a Na’vi man’s. His shoulders were broader and his arms were bigger, leading to a more accentuated contrast between them and his waist, and you hated yourself for how it made you feel, how your mouth filled with saliva you had to force yourself to swallow and how your pulse increased so rapidly it almost made you dizzy. He was taller than you, taller than Lo’ak and you knew that even in this body, he would still tower over you. You definitely hated how that made you feel. 

He stopped at the entrance to a tent. He opened the flap of the entrance and motioned for you to enter. You obliged without a word. He followed you in and closed the flap behind him. You didn’t like being in such close proximity, but you knew you’d have to get used to it, so you let it go.

“This is now your tent. Mum and Dad thought you would feel more comfortable with your own space. They also thought you’d like my old training bow. There’s a pouch for your knife that you can put around your torso and I have the knife, but I won’t give it to you until I make sure you won’t kill me with it.” 

As far as an attempt to diffuse an awkward situation goes, this wasn’t half bad. Still, not nearly good enough to matter. He sighed at the lack of response.

“Right. I think we have to get a few things straight.”

Your eyebrow raised, but you let him go on.

“I know you’re mad. I know you’re so mad you’re probably thinking of ways of sticking needles in my eyes. But I don’t care. I was given a responsibility to take care of you and to teach you. I know you think you know everything, but you don’t. I know you think you know this world, but you don’t. Not in the way you need to, to survive. There’s a reason no scientist living on Pandora has ever become one of the people. You can’t see. As my grandma always says, “you cannot fill a cup which is already full”. I know you. Your cup is overflowing. From now on, you do what I say. Pretend you don’t know me, pretend we’re not you and me.” 

“I don’t know you, Neteyam.”

He winced inside at the words. “That’s enough!” He said, forcefully. 

“You answer to me from now on and I want to make sure you understand that. Dad will skin me alive if anything happens to you. You will listen and you will do as I say. Whatever issues you have, you’re going to have to deal with them in your own time.” 

Another blow below the belt, you thought, and reminded yourself that you were here for a reason, you were here to make him eat his words, and if he wanted to play his game this way, you were more than happy to beat him at it. 

“Yes, Sir.” 

You made your way out of the village and walked in silence through the woods. You were looking at the bow in your hand, and carefully traced every mark and scratch on its surface. You couldn’t help wonder about what events in Neteyam’s life lead to each and every one of them, and vowed to yourself that you would take care of this bow with your life, if not for anything else, for the still untarnished memory of that little boy you once loved so much. Once you reached a large clearing, with beautiful lush greenery and a majestic waterfall, you thought this was definitely a much better view for training than the reagent-filled benches of the lab. You saw about half a dozen Pa’li peacefully feeding off the sweet nectar of flowers in the distance, and smiled gently at the sight. You will never get used to it, you knew. 

“First step to being a Na’vi, learning to form Tsaheylu and learning to ride the Pa’li.” Neteyam spoke in Na’vi over the soothing sounds of the forest.

“OK.” You answered shortly.

“In Na’vi. We speak Na’vi from now on.”

“Kurkung (asshole).” Neteyam shoots you a dirty look and you can’t help but smirk. “What? That’s Na’vi. Perfect pronunciation, by the way.” 

His mouth tightened in a straight line and he left you, busying himself with a Pa’li he called over. He caressed it gently and held his hand next to his eye, whispering. 

“Tam tam, Tirea, tam tam.” 

“Get on.” He spoke to you still looking at the Pa’li. 

Even in this body, the direhorse was significantly taller than you, and you shot Neteyam an incredulous look. Regardless, you made your way to the animal and with all of your might, willed yourself to get on top of it. It took a couple of tries, but you eventually succeeded. You were stronger than you realised, and you were excited to discover exactly how strong you could become in time. 

Neteyam gently took the neural whip of the direhorse and guided it to you. You took it in your right hand and stared at it in amazement. You have heard so much about this, you have seen it firsthand with Neteyam’s Ikran, but to know you will now have to make your own Tsaheylu, experience this deep bond you knew everything and yet nothing about, it was terrifying. You left hand went behind your head and brought forward your own queue. This was it. Slowly, you brought the two together, and held tightly on to the Pa’li as the new sensation overwhelmed all of your senses. It felt like all of your neurons were firing at the same time. It felt like you were being electrocuted. As the feeling subsided, you felt a breath that was moving at the same time as your own, you felt a second heartbeat that was going much faster than yours possibly could, and you tried to calm yourself down as you knew the nervousness the animal felt was mirroring your own. Neteyam allowed you a second to experience this for yourself with no interruption, and you appreciated that. He trusted you enough to give you some space, and with everything, at least this hasn’t changed.

“This is Tsaheylu. The bond. Take some time to feel her, feel her heartbeat, her breath. Feel her strong legs. You can tell her what to do, inside your mind. Remember that as you can feel her, she can feel you, too. Your emotions impact her, your thoughts impact her, so you have to calm your mind.Easier said than done in your case, I fear.” 

You felt your anger pick up and the Pa’li let out a scream and rose on its hind legs, throwing you straight in the dirt. Neteyam laughed, but came to help you get up. As you were removing mud from your face and hair and cursing all manners of profanities under you breath, you came to the bitter realisation this was going to be harder than you thought, especially with him as your teacher. 

He still knew you too well. You slapped his hand away and got up by yourself, indignantly. You jumped back on the Pa’li and tried your very, very best, to calm yourself before making the bond. The horse didn’t react as violently as last time, so you figured you were off to a better start. You calmed your mind as much as you could, like you did in the linkpod, and imagined her slowly moving forward. You smiled when she did just that, no words needed. It was hard to be able to maintain your composure when you were LITERALLY mind controlling another living being, but despite it needing active continuous effort, you felt you were doing a good job. You managed to make her go, sprint, gallop and turn, and despite the direhorse’s best efforts, you were somehow still tightly attached to its back. 

After a couple of hours, Neteyam told you to get off. He told you to follow him, and he took off, not sparing you a second glance. You followed him the best you could for a while, desperately trying to overlook how uncomfortable being barefoot made you feel. You didn’t like it at all, and more and more, you felt your heartbeat picking up in your chest and your knees shaking. You felt beads of sweat getting in your eyes and they stung, so you stopped. Your laboured breath became shallow, and your hands were shaking uncontrollably as you raised them to wipe your forehead. You felt your knees collapse under you, and you knew what was about to happen and that it was too late to stop it. 

“Neteyam, wait up.” You called after the blue boy, slight panic in your voice.

“I thought we were supposed to be racing.” 

“You win, alright? Don’t leave me alone in the woods.” 

You saw Neteyam jogging back to where you stood with a guilty look on his face. “You know I’d never leave you alone.”

He picked you up and placed you on his back. “After 16 years, have I ever left you alone?” 

“Well, you’ve been training a lot recently and I barely get to see you anymore, so I would say yes, you leave me alone plenty, more than I can say I care for.” 

“Well, I want to be strong and capable so I can always protect you. I mean look at you, Tuk’s gonna be stronger than you soon.” 

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” You pretended to ignore his first sentence and how it lit your entire body on fire. 

You walked like this for a while. You placed your head on his shoulder and peered up at the tall trees. Prolimuris were swinging on them, picking up fruits as they went along. You saw two infants following their mother and stopping on the same branch as her, where she passed them what you were sure was a tasty afternoon snack. You smiled contently at the scene, and at the feeling of warmth Neteyam provided. 

“Put me down, I want to walk! I came with you to exercise, not be carried like a tiny Pandoran baby.” 

He did as you asked, huffing at your forever mercurial temper. 

With your back still to him, you let out a laugh and started running. “Race you to the clearing in the distance?” 

He rolled his eyes, and with a laugh, stopped himself. He always gave you a head start. “Fine, but you can’t get mad when I beat you again!” 

You turned around to give him a smile as you were running and loved the feeling of the ground beneath your feet. The only place you could run around barefoot, the only time you still felt alive. 

You came to an abrupt halt when your foot touched something strange, something unnatural. You slowly looked at your feet and froze in place as the smooth pale object made your blood run cold. It couldn’t be. You stepped away from it, not leaving it from your view and slowly, deliberately knelt down next to it. You heard Neteyam coming to a halt behind you, but couldn’t bring yourself to acknowledge his presence. Your hands started digging in the ground with morbid curiosity and the sounds around you became muffled as your erratic heartbeat was the only thing you could still hear. You removed the ground around it and tears formed in your eyes at the realisation that this was indeed what you feared it was: a human skull. A human skull you just stepped on. Before you knew it, your hands were reaching for a glimmer of silver shining in the shallow grave. You lifted it to your eye line and heard yourself scream, wail louder than you ever had before. The panic that overtook you was primal, but not unfamiliar and you threw the dog tag on the ground, with enough force you hoped would bury it further than anybody would ever be able to dig. You couldn’t see properly anymore, the tears and dizziness flooding your senses and you prayed you passed out, prayed to make this stop, prayed you were back in your room where your Xanax always lay by your bedside table. In a blind rage, you were clawing at your feet, trying to remove the dirt, remove the skin that stepped on your dad’s dead body like it was a gum wrapper on the pavement. Soon enough, you could taste the metal taste of blood that was lingering in the air and by the grace of whatever spirit was out there still looking after you, you felt yourself collapse in Neteyam’s arms. 

Tag list: @nuhteyam @eywas-heir @fanboyluvr @mashiromochi

[notoriousbeb]

Lighthouse Keeper Tweets

Part Three: February 2024 - July 2, 2024

Back to Part One Back to Part Two

Feb. 5, 2024 (barely) 12 a.m.

"'I have been used to consider poetry as the food of love.'"

Now THIS is interesting. First, this is a Jane Austen quote (from Mr. Darcy of Pride and Prejudice [see 11/28 tweet, as well]). In the book, Darcy goes on to say, "Of a fine, stout, healthy love it may. Everything nourishes what is strong already. But if it be only a slight, thin sort of inclination I am convinced that one good sonnet will starve it entirely away." What Darcy is saying here is that he formerly thought pretty words and declarations were enough to sustain a relationship, but he now knows that's not enough. The underlying bond has to be strong first, or it's all for naught. Interesting. Because, my second point about this post is: this is the date of the Grammy's, and the date Taylor announced The Tortured Poets Department.

Feb. 16, 2024 1:30 a.m. BST

"You don't mess with love, you mess with the truth."

These are lyrics from Ellie Goulding's "On My Mind." Someone can't stop thinking about someone!

Feb. 18, 2024 10:45 p.m. BST

"The dirt on my jeans from the mud on the Heath feels like karma to me"

Perhaps someone is starting to realize he fucked up.

Feb. 23, 2024 4:50 p.m. BST "A tangle on the television and the magazine."

These are lyrics from The Arctic Monkey's Teddy Picker. Perhaps, and this is just a guess by me, obviously, but maybe a shot at TK, who was riding around in a rented sportscar, speeding and blowing red lights in Australia while following Taylor on tour?

Feb. 26, 2024 12 a.m. BST

"I've let love be free, and I've let it go. I've let it fade and I've watched it blow."

Sad.

March 20, 2024 5:35 p.m.

"You go back, Jack, do it again, wheel turnin' ' round and 'round"

These are lyrics from Steely Dan's "Do It Again."

March 22, 2024 1:41 a.m.

"One to remember A spill to reflect on High in your bedroom Will you still remember?"

He mentions in his replies that he's "feeling creatively inspired by the people [he's] surrounded with." Perhaps in the studio? A little poem for someone. Reminds me of the "you smoked then ate seven bars of chocolate," line from TTPD song. So, maybe, yeah, she did remember. Gah, these two exhaust me.

March 28, 2024 1:10 a.m. "If you're gonna try and walk on water make sure you wear you comfortable shoes."

These are lyrics from The Arctic Monkey's " Piledriver Waltz. Could be nothing, but it could also be a few things.... Anxiety about the impending TTPD release (thinking about the line "you're gonna shoot me out of a cannon" here). Pics of TK and TS at Nobu that had just popped up where TS looked annoyed as hell. Also there were all those pics of them from their beach vacation. Also, a few minutes before, he'd posted something about the stars, and then deleted it and proceeded to gaslight everyone on his timeline who asked about it. smh.

April 5, 2024 12 a.m. BST

"Would you hear of an old-time sea-fight? Would you learn who won by the light of the moon and stars? List to the yarn, as my grandmother's father the sailor told it to me?"

This is a bit of the Walt Whitman poem "Song of Myself." Has the tell-tale moon and stars, of course. What is he fighting for, I wonder. And who will win?

April 8, 2024 10:35 p.m. BST

"I looked around then for a reason When there wasn't something more to blame it on But, if time makes a difference while we're gone Tell me now, and I won't be hanging on"

These are lyrics from The Eagles' "Train Leaves Here This Morning." Maybe feeling defeated? He's about to leave to go to Japan with TR. When someone mentions in replies that this isn't a happy song (it's not. it's about one of the band members going through a divorce), LK replies: "Or, you could see it as a gateway to happiness. Sometimes the path to joy needs some pruning, and leaving things behind." Then someone else replies, "This is how it has to be though, right?" And LK responds, "I mean... no? Nothing really has to be anything; new things wash up on the shore, seasons pass, gardens flourish and die. Life is ever fluctuating. But also, it's just a great Eagles song." That's some true blue Aquarius shit right there. LOL. Another tidbit from the replies, he likes "Idaho" and "Words" by Gregory Alan Isakov.

April 12, 2024 8:30 p.m. BST / 4:30 a.m. JST

"Take a second, take a minute, take a mile Run the routes, light it up, enjoy the highs"

Probably in Japan?

April 19, 2024 12:31 p.m. BST

"Certified member of The Tortured Poets Department now."

And so it begins, again. Comments in the replies that he's feeling "tortured and poetic." Says he can't pick a favorite track yet.

April 25, 2024 7 p.m. BST

"I won't sit here and wax poetic to try and untangle the way we've crossed each other's firing range"

Sure, Jan. In his replies, he says he's currently inspired by "my life, my fears, my loves, my losses, in no particular order." Also says his current favorite TTPD track, "Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus" "has [his] heart."

April 26, 2024 12:35 a.m. BST

"Love is no more Than the wide blossom which the wind assails, Than the great tide that treads the shifting shore, strewing fresh wreckage gathered in the gales"

Already wrote about this here. My dude here is IN IT. He sarcastically says he's feeling "dazzling," and when asked who he's dancing with he replies, "Myself, my closet skeletons, and my wandering mind!" Cool night, LK. Sounds like a blast!

April 29, 2024 10:55 p.m. BST

"I used your old toothbrush to clean out my keep cup I suppose that's the way things are right now"

A keep up. So, who's toothbrush we talking about here?

April 30, 2024 1:01 a.m. "What are our vices for today?"

I've already posted about how very, very well he's doing.

May 3, 2024 12:30 a.m. "When the garden leaves blow and you jump out your skin once the shock starts to go that's when solitude sets in"

Already posted about this one, too. Tayrry no more?

May 9, 2024 10:40 p.m. BST

"I should think most of my problems are solvable by feeling the sun's warmth and the sparkle of the stars."

He did pop up in a couple spots in London (a cab, dinner and the ballet) the next day with a nice tan! I'd hoped he'd been to Paris, but it was overcast and not very warm there. Maybe he was just laying out in the Heath taking it easy (and maybe texting someone??). In his replies, he seems in quite a good mood and talks about getting high to write. He also replies to a commenter who asked, "Are you watching TTPD livestream from Paris?" LK said, "I had hoped she would come to Eroda. Granted, it would be a lot more intimate than she's used to..." Cheeky, bugger.

May 17, 2024 3:25 p.m. BST

"Would you be angry? At the cruelty of history Fading away the stories we penned For slamming the dot at the end.

Here's how I interpret this: LK is asking the muse, would you be angry at history if it decided this was it for us? If this was where it decided our story ended? In his replies, LK also mentions he’s been doing some “embroidery.” This reminds me of the line in “loml,” “we embroidered the time of when I was away, stitching ‘we were just kids, babe.’” Perhaps LK is musing about memories today. He also says in response to the question “May I ask you what you would change about your past, what do you like about your present and what would you like get in your future?” “I guess there's not much point in thinking about changing the past, and I love the love I have right now, and in the future l'd like to keep that love.” In Haylor news, rumors are that Tayrry has split. Taylor is about to play night one in Stockholm after spending time with TK in Italy and Harry is unseen (rumor is he's out of London doing a photoshoot--perhaps for HS4, I hope!).

May 19, 2024

May 23, 2024

June 5, 2024

June 8, 2024

June 15, 2024

June 16, 2024

June 16, 2024 (2)

June 20, 2024

June 25, 2024

July 2, 2024

[bethanydelleman]

Hey Bethany, this is in response to you saying you would like to read "Emma" from the perspective of Jane Fairfax. Do you know the book "Jane Fairfax", by English writer Joan Aiken? It tells the story of Emma from Jane's perspective, starting in her childhood, and it was published in 1993. It stood next to Emma and Pride and Prejudice on my parents' bookshelves and was actually my first contact with Jane Austen's body of work, because its language is easier to follow for a child or teenager, but as much as I love Jane Austen's other works, it made it hard for me to get through Emma because I already liked Jane Fairfax so much. It's been a few years since I last read it, so I don't remember the plot so very well, but I think it mirrors quite accurately what happens in Emma (I am not completely sure about that, though, because my view on Emma is skewed by this book, so don't quote me on that). It also made me understand better why she marries Frank Churchill and it also gives a deeper insight into the differences between Emma and Jane, both character-wise and regarding their upbringing. If you already know this book or if you ever get around reading it, I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on it. I also really enjoy reading your blog and your opinions, analyses and interpretations on Austen's books. I have loved her books for a long time and your posts often open up new perspectives that I hadn't considered before, which I really appreciate. Take care!

I'm always interested to hear about someone's journey to Austen! Starting with fan fiction is probably an usual one. And thank you for the compliment!

I've been asked about this novel before... I'll quote myself: When it comes to FF of Emma, I have a cardinal rule: Mr. Dixon and Jane Fairfax cannot be in love. This FF breaks my cardinal rule and for that reason I haven't read it. This doesn't mean it's a bad book, the sample seemed fairly well-written, but it's probably not for me.

Also, from what I've read in reviews, this book ascribes to the theory that Jane Fairfax didn't love Frank Churchill and married him to escape poverty. I have toyed with that idea myself, but Jane's actions in the novel just don't fit with a mercenary marriage, mostly because when Jane thinks Frank doesn't love her anymore, she lets him go. Lucy Steele would never! She clings to Edward like gum until she has a viable and secured second option. So for me, it's unlikely that Jane wasn't also in love.

[rabbits-of-negative-euphoria]

Two questions; is your current fixation still Shingeki no Kyojin?

Secondly, if you have time, I want to hear your thoughts about a recurring thought I have. Would you agree that men don't tend to take media made for women seriously? Doesn't matter if it's made by a woman, but media or things in general made for girls. The two main things I think about is the Barbie movie and anything by Jane Austen. A lot of conservative bros I see have a legitimate hate for both of those things and ...Why? I think they're both really important for different reasons and I don't understand the perception of "silliness" around them. I mean, Barbie obviously is silly in a lot of ways but.... It's a Girls Girls movie, like how Braveheart is a Mans Mans movie and also is a bit silly in the way that men are (but it's still one of my, a girls, favourite movies).

Maybe it could be said that girls don't generally understand media made for men either, since a lot of girls hate reading Charles Dickens or Mark Twain. But neither of those author's really made them "for men," it's just that men seem to gravitate towards them -- and at the same time, you don't hear women saying they want to take Mark Twain's jawbone and beat him over the head with it (quote from Ben Shapiro about Jane Austen. He was joking but it still rubbed me the wrong way).

Yes, in the sense that I'm not fixated on anything else, but no, in the sense that I'm avoiding SNK content until I can reread/rewatch before (finally) viewing the finale.

Next, I think men do have a hard time taking women's media seriously, but part of the reason is that media geared toward solely men or solely women isn't generally setting out to be the most serious thing in the first place. I don't know anyone, male or female, who takes chick flicks and action movies seriously, and if we get the sense that a new film leans toward one or the other (even if it doesn't strictly fall into that genre), we reach a conclusion about it in that moment because there's only so much time in the day and money in the pocket we can devote to entertainment.

But then, not taking something seriously is very different from legitimately hating it. I can understand why a man would hate the Barbie movie, especially if he hasn't seen it. Like all feminist media, it's going to be about how all men are oppressors and all women are their victims, right? And that's obviously a despicable message worthy of hatred. And if he's already decided that's what it's going to be about, he's probably not going to change his mind when he watches it, because as I've previously explained, Greta Gerwig failed to send a consistent message, as she has failed to do in all her blockbuster movies. I've described her to my mother as "a conservative trapped in a liberal's body." She just can't reconcile the two belief systems that drive her. (Conservative men aren't the only people who hated it either, I know plenty of conservative women who hated it. And I know conservatives of both sexes who enjoyed it immensely.)

Very rarely do I see a man's film morally disparage women the way that so many women's films do to men, and this probably contributes to more men hating women's films than vice versa.

I think it's true that neither men nor women can fully understand the appeal of media made for the other, but because we are complementary, I do think we owe each other at least an attempt to understand. Which, by the way, is never going to work for you if you've accepted the premise that we are fundamentally the same in spirit and our differences are merely social constructs.

Finally, as concerns Ben Shapiro and Jane Austen, he actually was quoting Mark Twain in that segment, and this is a delightful background of Mark Twain's self-proclaimed--but spurious--hatred of Jane Austen. But for any guys out there who do think Austen is "chick lit," just about every homeschooled boy or homeschooling father I knew loved Jane Austen's work and considered Pride & Prejudice an invaluable tool for the raising of honorable men. Here's an article about why.

[readabookknightly]

When I was looking for an image to post today, I came across this this mock-conversation Mr. Darcy and a hypothetical interviewer, it's been placed atop an image of Matthew McFadyen in a conversation he had during the filming of the 2005 Pride and Prejudice film. And I think while humorous and certainly an ironic representation of a conversation that might have happened between anyone and Mr. Darcy, it's also a perfect rendition of why Darcy is beloved.

This idea, which is likely impossible to imagine from this quote alone, is founded in Darcy's genuineness. Mr. Darcy is admired by readers, more so than any other of Jane Austen's love interests, I believe because he does nothing by halves.

Indeed, the very thing which draws the reader's eye to Darcy initially is his honesty, even as it is cruel. As the novel develops, Darcy does little to hide the direction of his thoughts in every interaction, and this is where he's most intriguing. In comparison with what we know of 19th century romance, especially given the other tales written by Austen, it is in this way that Darcy is an outlier. For the majority, love is a game played with cards kept close, up until the last moment. Indeed, even in Northanger Abbey where there was but one potential suitor in which Catherine felt a genuine interest, the likelihood of a marriage between her and Tilney was slim until its very occurrence.

In contrast, Darcy's emotions are worn on his sleeve. And while, from an initial review the reader would not notice his peculiarities in Pride and Prejudice, with every re-read one takes into Austen's pages, they find that he was even more overt with his emotions. Caroline Bingley, his best friend's sister was aware of his attachment to Elizabeth from the start and would tease him about it because it was so obvious to those who knew him.

Darcy, though his faults are many, is Austen's most loved male because he is also the most relatable. Darcy falls over himself constantly in his words. As the image above describes, Darcy's not always thought out in what he does (such as insulting the girl you wish to marry's family as you propose). And to many readers he is so intriguing because he is a character that feels the most real. While yes, he is a single man in possession of a good fortune, Darcy is also not without other flaws and an incredibly tactful ability to learn and forgive those who have done him wrong.

[filmfunction16]

Emma- an iconic period drama (10)

Emma, is the fourth novel written by Jane Austen and personally one of my favourite Jane Austen movies, right after Pride and Prejudice. The movie starts with the life of a spoiled rich girl named Emma, and her matchmaking quest. She tries to set up everyone with their so called perfect- pair, and in the process hope she could find her own happiness. But what exactly makes this movie so influential? Aside the fact that it was written by Jane Austen, known for her AMAZING romance novels. It has some of the most poetic and comedic lines I have seen in a period drama! Let's first talk about some of the most poetic moments in the movie. First the most ICONIC scene every!

" If I loved you less, then I might be able to talk about it more" I kid you not the first time I heard this I near fell out of my seat! The simple yet deep meaning to this one line add so much to the move in my opinion. And honestly this scene is so beautiful it keeps me up at night! It such a simple confession, that manages to get his feelings across. The part of this line that really hits me the most, it's the fact that this is something that we can all relate to. Being so in love with somebody, that even talking about it seems so difficult, and we're at a lost for words. The reason this scene means so much to me is because, it real speaks to my romantic side. I remember the first time I watch the movie in the theater, and it came to this scene. I was so moved especially since at the time I was in a situationship. And this was exactly how I felt about the person at the time. You just feel so much for a person that you're not even able to speak about what they mean to you. Another reason I really connected with this movie, especially this scene is how it really discribes my personality. I feel like I'm usually the one that cares more in a relationship. So hearing this really touched my personality and that emotional side to me. While this quote made me realize I was more in love that I should be, it also make me realize that I deserve better.

Now for the comedic part, I absolutely love the comedy in period dramas. They're very subtle yet, but I still feel like the comedy is relevant. I think I mainly find it funny, because it's reminds me that they're still human and we're people like me. Like Mr. Elton, confession scene to Emma. They've just come back from a ball, and Mr. Elton misread the signals and thought that Emma was in love with him. He decides to confess to her and is immediately rejected. What makes this scene especially funny, is Emma's bluntness. Giving that she grew up rich, and is extremely spoiled her reaction to normal stuff is absolutely hilarious. She will make the most out of pocket remarks and will have no hesitation to tell it as it is. Her snide remarks literally carries the movie. When I watching movies specifically comedy's, I always look for this kind of humor. Not one where the jokes are put of there plainly. But ones that the comedy derives from the fact that the characters are taking this situation serious, but we as the audience knows it not that deep. I personally think that Emma did an amazing job at this.

Scene such as Mr. Eltons new wife, stopping her husband from eating all the deserts, and his over reaction to it. To us as the audience it's a silly scene, but to the characters it's really important. Or another good example is Harriet ( Emma's friend), being completely clueless at all times! She falls in love with almost anyone that looks her way. When she was posing for an art piece, drawn by her friend Emma. She thought Mr. Elton was complementing her on her looks and was extremely faltered. Meanwhile, he was really complementing Emma and was telling her that she has a skill for making the ugly things pretty.

Another thing I love this movie is it's pastel like colour pallet. Not only is it easy on the eyes but is aesthetically pleasing. I've always been a fan on these they of colour pallet , because it gives this nostalgic feeling. My mother was always obsessed with that colour scheme, and even my childhood home had the same colour scheme. Which honestly ties to why this movie is so important to me and is one of my favourite moments in media. Growing up, my mother was obsessed that royalty scene. She would always have me and my sister dress up in those extravagant ballgowns and have mini tea parties. So when I was watching this movie, it strangely made me miss that time in my life.

Beyond Nostalgic reasons, I love this movie since it really touches my romantic side. I love the enemies to lovers, that happens between Mr, Knightly and Emma. And even though early on in the movie it's obvious that they are going to end up together it's still nice seeing the development. I also feel like compared to most movies that try to do this troop. Their reasons for hating/disliking each other seemed genuine. I felt like their hate was real and wasn't so forced. Mr. Knightly hated Emma because she was always trying to set people up and was extremely spoiled. Emma hated Mr. Knightly because he was stuck up and cynical. Which is what makes their love story different. Unlike most movies they didn't just accept their flaws and move on. Both characters tried hard to remove those flaws in their personality and work hard to make themselves better people. With or without the possibility of ending up together. Which I feel like that something almost everyone should do. Truly work on themselves with out without the possibility of ending up with who they want. But is doing it for themselves so that their partner can benefit.

To critique I have for this movie is the pacing. The movie is 2 hrs and 4 minutes long. And giving that it's that long because there is more than 1 main character. The actual plot between Mr, Knightly and Emma started off strong in the beginning of the movie, and later switch the focus to Harriet. Than the last 30 minutes of the movie returned back to Emma and Mr. Knightly. Which at that point I always forgot all together about them and their love story but was more interested in the side characters. That awkward pause between their love story made returning to it weird. I feel like they could've continued both romantic plots without interrupting each other and leaving that gap. Because I personally lost interest and when it returned back to them I just wanted to skip ahead to the end to see what happened. Since the development was paused. I think in movies especially period dramas, it's important to not leave gaps like that in the pacing. In most period dramas, there are more than 1 main character and a lot of names and events that are happening. So abandoning one character plot to focus on another can leave the audience confused on what's really happening. But since, the plot of Emma is truly simple, it wasn't hard to come back to their romance.

To conclude, I absolute loved Emma, apart from some pacing issues, I think the film is the second best adaptation of Jane Austen's novels. It still manages to get the comedic part of the novel despite it being written almost 208 years ago! And created some relatable character and iconic lines that I still quote to this day! Emma will probably always remain in my Top Ten favourite moments in media especially when it comes to rom-coms. I rate this movie an 8.5/10. And think that it's a movie that a lot of film makers can learn from not only for it visual settings and placement. But character development, especially when it comes to romance. Having the characters change not to please each other, but to become better people and hoping that the other will notice. To end this blog post we'll end it with the most popular and one of my favourite lines in the movie.

"You must be the best judge of your own happiness." -Emma

xoxo

~ filmfunction

[youritalianbookpal]

Ten Questions Book Review - Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

What is it? Man dies and leaves his second wife and three daughters to the only son he had during the first marriage - and his awful wife. Thank God his first daughter is smart and pretty and the second is charming and even prettier, or things would be much dire than first thought.

Who should read it and why? This is the perfect approach to Jane Austen (in my very humble and probably wrong opinion), but I would also suggest you read it if you have a sister that you love and can’t live without, if you have a thing for shy men, if you dream to be chaperoned by an old family friend in London’s society during the season, or if you just really can’t stand Hugh Grant in Bridget Jones. 

Which genre(s) is it? Classic, a bit of social satire and a lot of romance.

What is the setting? The main settings are mainly Barton (Devonshire) and London, around the 1790s.

How are the characters? Elinor and Marianne are two well rounded, great characters. And you know what? I appreciate how their mother, Mrs Jennings, and Willougby are portrayed too, while I remembered Colonel Brandon and Edward Ferrars as a bit less bland than they seemed to me now. Which doesn’t mean I wouldn’t marry Edward Ferrars in a heartbeat, just that probably I preferred him when I was 16 and home from school with a fever (meaning, the first time I read S&S). Most of the side characters are there just for comedic reasons or for satire, although I remembered most of them as less nuanced than they appeared to me now that I’m old(er) and not sick.

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the novel? I absolutely love Elinor and Marianne and their relationship. To me, this (and Austen’s quick wit) is the best part of the novel. The only thing I can think of as a weakness is that most side characters are, at best, caricatures. But the social commentary that comes out of these caricatures is something I greatly enjoy, so i won’t complain about them.

Did I cry and/or laugh? Listen, I did shed a couple of tears towards the end, though I didn’t expect to do that this time around. Some good natured chuckles came out of this novel too.

Who shouldn’t read the book? I don’t know why someone shouldn’t read this book but, at the same time, I rarely suggest it to people, despite it being one of my favorite books ever. I’m probably a bit overprotective of it, because I’m always afraid people won’t like it - since I don’t understand why someone wouldn’t. I especially wouldn’t recommend it to the Pride and Prejudice girlies, who I know will never suspect there’s Austen books which could be even just slightly better than P&P.

Any random comment? In my teens I hoped of becoming Elinor. In my late 20s, I am sitting here scheming on how to become Mrs. Jennings, ‘cause it sounds way more fun.

Which quote stuck with me?

Elinor could sit still no longer. She almost ran out of the room, and as soon as the door was closed, burst into tears of joy, which at first she thought would never cease.

[triviareads]

i just came by to say that i absolutely love love love charlotte! i went scrolling thru ur tumblr for crumbs of anything she says and i realised the reason why i love her so much is because she's me if i was 10x better lol. the quote where she says "i simply learned to think faster'' is extraordinary—i was also a quiet kid when i was younger, not because i was shy, but because i was cautious. however, unlike charlotte, nowadays, my tongue is more thorny than silver (in the wise words of taylor swift, "my words shoot to kill when i'm mad").

i also really love charlotte's pragmatism (i am nothing in my soul, if not a realist) which is balanced by her determination. she knows what she wants (literally cannot wait to see charlotte x clairmont again) and i've always regarded ambition quite highly. i like that she is almost a medium between the two groups that women invariably seemed to be placed in. she is not a "menace" to the ton because she understands, quite frankly, the uselessness of being one. nevertheless, she is not a "simpering debutante" either but nor does she discredit them (there's a lovely quote by the actress who plays mrs bennet in the 2005 pride and prejudice where she acknowledges the general dislike for her character in contrast to the love for mr bennet but she reminds the audience that he will never understand the issue with his daughters being unmarried because the issue only arises after his death (also what are your thoughts on romances written during that era? i.e. jane austen, charlotte bronte etc)).

bridgerton tends to lean into the very optimistic idea that marriages are only made on the basis of love (or in many cases, lust) and all loose ends tie themselves up - while i do love that idea (however unrealistic), it is so refreshing to see someone talk about the more realistic aspects of why marriages transpired in that era. honestly, even if i was as highly ranked as charlotte, i'd still be looking to marry a duke (or even, a prince lol). (i also find it quite interesting that you mention that amelia has a "rake" for a husband because it never even crossed my mind that some "rakes" may never "reform" - look at the delusions hr novels have me believing lmaoo).

i am very intrigued by politics, especially the intricate machinations of royal courts (if you've got any ya fantasy court/political intrigue recs, send them my way!), so i love the idea that a historical romance mc (she's not very HR, i must admit, but still) dabbles in politics. we do, of course, see a lot of suffragette-y feminism in novels but i echo your sentiment that systemic, stable change can be wrought in different ways. i also really enjoy your interweaving of historical facts and events - i feel like i learn a lot when authors do that, simply because my curiosity must be satiated and i end up spending a lot more time in wikipedia than the actual book lol.

sorry this was so long, i ended up ranting jksfghk but in conclusion, i love your characterisation of charlotte a lot.

(if you have any next gen bridgerton fics recs or know of any characters like charlotte (dont mind genre), tell me - i have a chasm in my soul to fill!!) OH AND if you have a charlotte snippet, i am ready to eat it up

Wow, first off, thank you. And bear with me, I'm about to give a rant in return 😂

So the backstory on Charlotte is that my first iteration of her was written in the summer of 2021. I was in a period of being annoyed by "relatable" heroines and just how unremarkable they came off as. Obviously I'm not pro-#girlboss but I wanted more... knowing heroines? Or a heroine who recognized that the full extent of her capabilities would never be appreciated in this era (in this case because she wants to be a politician) so she finds workarounds to exert her power and influence. So I wrote Charlotte due to a combination of spite for existing headcanons about her, as well as some influence from Gore Vidal's character, Caroline Sanford. Since then, I've read a lot more historical romances beyond Julia Quinn, and it's really opened me up to all kinds of HR heroines, ones who neither fall into the "menace" bucket nor the "simpering debutante" bucket.

Regarding Bridgerton's optimistic viewpoint on love and marriages, I mean, that's generally the hallmark of the HR genre. It's just, the Bridgertons come off as particularly sanctimonious about it, like making only love marriages makes them morally superior to the rest of the ton. That being said, Charlotte is not... really the exception to the rule. By the last chapter of The Courtship of Charlotte Bridgerton, you'll basically read them admitting that it was something like love at first sight. The difference is, Charlotte doesn't go into her marriage blind about her husband's sexuality, and nor is she entirely unaware of her own, and by virtue of the agreement she and Clairmont come to before they marry, she is able to explore her sexuality after marriage as well.

I actually think a character like Charlotte could be very HR, except I personally haven't read books with heroines quite like this, particularly in the sexual sense. I've read a couple politically aware heroines (most recently in Ana María and The Fox, and before that in The Duke Gets Even), as well as a few who had never married but not virgins (see: Sarah MacLean's Hell's Belles series, in which Sesily and Adelaide both had prior sexual experience before meeting the heroes, as well as Nellie from Joanna Shupe's Fifth Avenue Rebels series and Sera from The Rakess by Scarlett Peckham). What I think we could stand to see more of are unapologetically scheme-y heroines (the heroine in Sherry Thomas's The Luckiest Lady in London came the closest), and also heroines that are generally less apologetic about their sexuality and expressing themselves sexually. Possibly not just with their hero either.

Regarding the whole reformed rake thing, I mean, some authors do it better than others. Lisa Kleypas's St. Vincent is, to me, a masterclass on how a rake is "reformed" without Evie basically having to beg him to or chase him down. Grace Callaway does a few of them well, although I wonder if they'd even qualify as rakes, or just men with strong sexual appetites. When I wrote Amelia's depressing backstory, I was very much in my "the reformed rakes make the best husbands thing is bullshit" era. I'm a little more ambivalent now since I've read better HR.

As for my thoughts on Austen and the Bronte sisters and whatnot, I mean, I've read a handful of Austen books, which I enjoyed (honestly, Northanger Abbey was the most fun to read, Persuasion made me cry in a good way, and Pride and Prejudice had its moments but I think I like the movie more lol). I've read Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights for class, and didn't particularly enjoy them. Like I'm not going to moralize on the *dastardliness* of Rochester or Heathcliff, but they didn't super do it for me either. I'm more of a North and South girlie because I liked it was a little more explicit about the romance of it all compared to, say, P&P. And genre-wise, this makes sense. Austen wrote very genteel novels of manners, and N&S was an update in some senses, and I liked exploring this new setting of an industrializing England. Which echoes my feelings on historical romances in many ways, namely, I feel like setting historical romances in the Victorian era during this period of industrialization really allows authors to branch out of ballroom stories. They can also interact with a wider world (thanks modernized modes of travel and also, imperialism), and the potential for exploring feminist and multi-racial/cultural themes is greater.

Regarding the politics and feminism of it all, another part of what drove me to write Charlotte was just me being irritated by the faux-feminism characters like Eloise Bridgerton, and to a lesser extent Evie Dunmore heroines espoused. For Eloise especially, her ambitions to attend university will never be realized and quite frankly it's anachronistic, and as for Evie's heroines, it feels like their "feminism" only goes so far before the romance supersedes it. Charlotte is aware of her limitations, but the problem is, even the time period I'm writing her in doesn't allow for her to do a lot of work, but a generation later, I imagine she would be a bit more outspoken about women's property rights and divorce and custody rights and whatnot. Suffrage would basically be seen as a goal to slowly work towards because compared to the other things, I doubt many women would see it as an *immediate* right.

Anyway so, recs. None of these books really have heroines who want to be politicians or political hostesses, but they all have political causes they care about. Also, note how all of these are set in different periods of the Victorian era rather than the Regency:

Ana María and The Fox by Liana De la Rosa: Ana María's father is a part of the Juarez government-in-exile during the French invasion of Spain, which is why she's sent to England with her sisters in part to act as goodwill ambassadors. The hero in this book wants to expand the Seward-Lyons Treaty in order for Britain to more forcefully disavow slavery, something Ana believes in strongly as well.

The Duke Gets Even by Joanna Shupe: Nellie actively distributes contraception to lower-class women who can't afford it in direct defiance of the Comstock Laws. She (somewhat unwittingly) becomes a poster child for pro-contraception advocacy by the end.

Glory and the Master of Shadows by Grace Callaway: Glory's father trying to pass anti-opium legislation, or legislation that would make trading for opium illegal. This is during the period in between the Opium Wars in China, I believe. Glory also believes strongly in this, and the hero Wei's work is largely centered around helping those with opium addictions.

As for unapologetically scheme-y heroines, I don't think you can do better than The Luckiest Lady in London by Sherry Thomas. Louisa's scheming thought process to get the richest husband possible is refreshing to read, and the chemistry with the hero Felix is pretty damn great in part because they both recognize similar qualities in one another right off the bat (in that, they are the schemers, and kind of the worst. A little).

Also, if you want a political romance (based on Lady Cowper/Lord Palmerston), I recently wrote an original short story called Interregnum.

I... honestly don't have any Bridgerton next-gen fic recs only because I have very set ideas on what I want to see in them so I don't really venture outside this particular bubble. That being said, if you want to read a short fic from Clairmont's point of view the night he meets Charlotte, I wrote Where I may feel the throbs of your heart or rest upon your hip a couple months ago.

[explodingsilver]

2022 book recap

(Based solely on books I’ve actually finished, not ones that are in progress)

Favorites (in the order that I finished them):

Tehanu by Ursula K. Le Guin

Now this is how you have a series mature alongside its reader, and not just in the sense that Earthsea actually acknowledges that interesting things happen to adults as well. It’s probably the most grounded book in the series, showing what life is like for normal people in a fantasy world, while still managing to have an actual plot and conflict, plus themes that aren’t dumbed down. You know Le Guin’s quote about disliking the cult of women’s knowledge? This book is kind of like a novel-length exploration of that concept. (She even says in the afterword, written years later, that she finds it funny how people always quote one particular character talking about how women are more in tune with mysticism and never include the protagonist’s reply that she used to be surrounded by that mysticism and it’s actually a terrible way to live.)

Raptor Red by Robert T. Bakker

This was written by an actual paleontologist and was originally meant to be a sort of educational novel, but isn’t really useful for that anymore, as a lot of the information is now outdated. You should read it anyway, because it made me cry over a dinosaur. Despite this book containing no dialogue because it takes place in the Cretaceous, the characters all have unique personalities and even the ones that show up for only one chapter are incredibly lovable.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Much like Foucault’s Pendulum, I read this to acquire a bit of culture and was surprised by how funny it is. Austen understood obnoxious personalities in a way that few other people do. As for the actual romance, given how uncomfortable I am when people try to play matchmaker with me, I loved the fact that absolutely no one was rooting for the main couple to get together.

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

I read this one in one sitting, and the moment I finished I felt the need to immediately reread it. The writing style is more poetic than a lot of actual poetry, and the plot comes together beautifully. It’s also one of those books where the world actually feels much bigger than what is shown on page.

Off to Be the Wizard by Scott Meyer

This one ended up on the list by the sheer force of how fun it is. I mean, the central concept is “reality is a computer simulation; programmers exploit this to become actual wizards”. Kind of scratches a similar nerd itch as Ready Player One but is actually good. And if you like Chekhov’s Gun as a trope, this book has an entire Chekhov’s Arsenal.

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

Eco was so damn smart that reading his books makes me feel stupid in comparison, but I’m too busy being fascinated by his knowledge to mind. Ostensibly a murder mystery, but the theology and history are what really shine here. Plus, the ending made me feel like I needed to just sit down in the backyard and stare off into the distance for a few hours. And as I’ve said before, the postscript convinced me that I really need to read Eco’s nonfiction stuff.

Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

The only book I read this year that was actually release this year. Definitely the odd one out in the series, but having a story that shows what life is like for regular people outside the Nine Houses is something that I didn’t realize the series needed until I read it, plus the flashbacks to pre-Resurrection Earth provided some much-needed context for why Jod is like that.

Fevre Dream by George R. R. Martin

Kind of a shame that you only really see this book recommended in the context of “spooky vampire books for Halloween!” and even then it often gets overlooked. I’m someone who can usually keep my emotions level while reading (my reaction to a lot of notoriously heartbreaking moments in books is usually “yeah, that’s pretty sad” said with a blank face), but this book actually gave me adrenaline rushes at certain points. I was guessing all the way up until the end whether it was going to have a happy ending or not. (I also suspect that Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Vampire: the Masquerade, and The Dresden Files all took inspiration from this book, but I don’t think I can prove any of that.) If A Song of Ice and Fire is written like this, I can see why it got so popular.

The Age of Darkness series by Katy Rose Pool

I mentally describe this series as “YA fantasy that subverts the genre by being good instead of bad”. Which is needlessly inflammatory, but it really is nice to read a YA series that goes out of its way to avoid all of the things I dislike about the genre (ex. the second book contains the setup for a love triangle, and then the author just makes it a non-issue). Also, and this will surprise no one, I appreciate how apostatic it gets in the third book.

Worst of the year: I read all of Onision’s books. Do not do this. (I did so in a way that did not involve giving him money, for the record.)

Did not finish: On Beauty by Zadie Smith. To be honest, it’s now my go-to example of “good as in well-constructed, bad as in I hate it” (though hate might be a bit too strong of a word for it). It really is well-written, but about halfway through I realized that this is the least I’ve ever cared about a book’s plot. (I still plan to read something else by the author in the future).

Goals for 2023:

5 nonfiction

3 books that were originally written in a language other than English

3 books that I’ve been meaning to read since middle school

[worrywrite]

Okay, hold up. Before we go Orwellian here, I want to actually take a look at Elizabeth Ann West and her work.

Elizabeth publishes on amazon, itunes, google play, nook, kobo, and scribd. She's diversified. She's doing this as a profession. I have no problem with this.

Most of her work is, in fact, Jane Austen (it looks like exclusively pride and prejudice) variations. P&P is in the public domain, so that's fine. And working exclusively on variations of this one text shows either a fondness for the work (story, characters, etc.) or a recognition of where the money goes for variation novels (its all name recognition; it's the only reason we all remember that pride and prejudice and zombies exists, even though I don't know anyone that's actually read it, but that could just be a me problem) or both. This is all just to be clear, the core of her books doesn't bother me. She can write and publish as much of this as she wants.

Let's look at her actual catalogue of writing. Her website states that,

"Elizabeth Ann West is the author of 8 novels and 11 novellas, 18 of which are story variations of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice."

Which is a weird way to put she's only ever authored one piece of original writing. But this also seems a little out of date compared to her twitter bio, so let's check her goodreads (note: I hate goodreads conceptually, but because many authors obsess over their works on the platform it is fairly reliable so far as what the author wants you to see).

Elizabeth has 30 credited entries on goodreads. 1 is yet to be published. 1 is a boxed set of 3 works that are listed separately on her page. 1 is a bundle of 2 other works that are also listed on her page. 1 is a 13 page "essay" (so the cover claims), and so not a novel or novella and I can't actually see any evidence she actually wrote it (it's purchase pages no longer exist). 1 is an anthology she is credited as a contributor to which I no longer believe is available and I cannot discern what her contribution work was–it may have been a story published elsewhere. That leaves exactly 25 works, 26 when her next novel is published.

She has published 5 works since January 2021. All of which (including the 6th one yet to be published) are Austen variations. None of these titles bear any mention of AI writing assistance. So, perhaps Elizabeth has not used it to a considerable degree—or perhaps she knew that tacking "AI assisted" onto the amazon description would damage her sales numbers. Regardless, it is difficult to see what AI has done and what Elizabeth has done.

But wait, let's look at the other thing in her bio. FutureFictionAcademy.

This site is a course sales site. They sell courses on how to use AI, primarily OpenAI's GPT models to

"Streamline your outlining process and create solid story structures, and develop rich, captivating characters using AI-driven techniques."

and

"Generate engaging and coherent prose effortlessly and craft attention-grabbing marketing materials to sell your book using AI."

Now, I don't particularly mind using AI as an organizer. I think there are better tools for organizing things like characters and plot points, but I don't there are any quite so good as filling out forms for you. That's the big draw to GPT, I think, and that is what I tend to use it for (when I use it at all). Things like copying in a character profile, asking it to reformat the information into something that can be copied somewhere else. I don't think this is a good idea when it comes to original ideas, because it gives OpenAi rights over it, but if you are writing variations of characters that are in the public domain that's not a problem.

But that second quote up there, is the real problem here. I do not think that you should sell AI generated prose. Because you can't sell something that you didn't create, but you can say you created it and sell it that way. And that is dishonest, and lazy, and weak. Your prose will have a lot of issues. I'm not going into why AI prose sucks, at least not here. And I'm also not going into why AI generated prose sucks for AI, again, at least not right now.

Do I think Elizabeth is a bad writer. Haven't read any of her work, can't say. Do I think she's using AI to make money? Absolutely. Is she writing her own original work? No clue. She won't say what is and isn't her own original writing. I actually tend to think she probably hasn't used AI to write anything substantial, based on my overview of her pages she seems to be the type that likes to be in control more than that. I think she's trying to sell subscriptions. Is that also skeevy? Yeah.

“Author of 25+ best-selling Pride & Prejudice variations”

Yeah, no.

[pazodetrasalba]

Catherine Morland

Dear Caroline:

As of today, I have only read two Jane Austen novels: Emma (probably around 2004, in a university course) and Pride and Prejudice (a couple of weeks ago). I intend to go through the whole lot, both because they are standard English classics and because I know you've read and liked them, but I am not in a particular hurry about it.

I have just checked a little bit about Catherine Morland, who seems to be the protagonist of Northanger Abbey. I didn't read much -spoilers! -, but I did read enough to see that she belongs to the group I like to call 'Quixotic characters': those that are led, by a passion for literature, to see reality from a broken glass and make very mistaken assumptions about the world.

I suspect behind these narratives is a very conservative suspicion about books in general and reading in particular as a source of knowledge and information at odds with oral tradition and social beliefs. Reading in its modern form -as a private and silent act, whereas in the past it was done aloud and for a group- is very individualistic, and shows a capacity for breeding pedantry, vainglory and arrogance among its practitioners. It is also an easy enough character type to make fun of.

One of my favorites is a person I suspect it unlikely that you have heard of: Takasue's daughter, also known as lady Sarashina. She was a real-life courtier in Heian Japan who has left us a lovely diary (and you have two English translations from which to choose from: Ivan Morris's and Sonja Arntzen's). In it she tells us about her youth, and how she lost her wits and becoming enamoured with the romantic fiction of her day, mostly Murasaki Shikibu's Tale of Genji, which depicts an idealized world of rich and refined, dancing and poetry-making courtiers who flirt and seduce the ladies and live in an atmosphere of passionate romance. In wikipedia's apt summary, 'When her life does not turn out as well as she had hoped, she blames her addiction to tales, which made her live in a fantasy world and neglect her spiritual growth'.

I don't know if one could describe these tendencies as 'autistic', but they definitely fit with a certain prototype of dreamy, bookish, socially awkward and smart woman that I adore above all the other creatures of this earth. If heaven were to exist, it would have to include a disproportionate amount of these ladies to be worthy of the name.

Quote:

I lived forever in a dream world. Though I made occasional pilgrimages to temples, I could never bring myself to pray sincerely for what most people want.

Lady Sarashina

[zoueriemandzijnopmars]

hoi

a question to consider

What is the most memorable book ending you’ve ever read? Did it leave you satisfied or wanting more? 

(there will be more)

Maybe it's because I finished it Monday but I am not over the ending of An Unauthorised Fan Treatise. Like I won't spoil anything because I want people to read it and while I will reread it, I think people should go in blind the first time. Just. The main narrator, Gottie, is very unreliable and lies a lot. The ending was WILD and raises so many questions that I want to bring out my imaginary detective kit and comb through the story again for clues about what is the TRUTH.

Oh oh wait. I think my favourite ending of all time was from And Then There were None by Agatha Christie, because the mystery there kept me on the edge of my seat all the time and the ending clarified everything and was so perfect with the tone of the book.

Also shout-out to This Woven Kingdom which I read last month and ended with a dragon showing up in the last chapter (there were no dragons mentioned before), the main character flying off on it and the final sentence. Was. That she fell off.

I didn't like it but it is memorable.

(I pasted your other questions here for convenience)

What fictional world would you love to visit and explore if given the chance? 

Y'know? I think Narnia. I'm currently rereading the books and honestly it's a world with honestly very few problems and TALKING ANIMALS! Do you think they would have talking Elephants and Dolphins too? Like in Prince Caspian it is suggested that all talking animals only live in Narnia so maybe not as the climate doesn't seem to be ideal for them, but I would want to find out. Like almost all other cool fantasy worlds have war and monsters and are just scary overall, but Narnia is fun and save for children I wanna be there.

What quote from a book resonated with you deeply?

I cannot choose so have a selection (roughly from less to more serious):

"Het is moeilijk te geloven maar er zijn mensen die immuun zijn voor de aantrekkingskracht van chocolade. Je moet het zien als een van die dingen waar de wetenschap geen verklaring voor heeft." (David Grossman, Het Zigzagkind) (It is hard to believe, but there are people who are immune for the attraction of chocolate. You should see it as one of those things science doesn't have an explanation for.)

"Kijk daar doe je het voor, die zes jaar Latijn: wijzen op je pinpas" (Paulien Cornelisse, Taal voor de leuk) (Look, that why you take six years of Latin: To point at your debit card)

"It is enough - I think it is no sacrifice to join occasionally in evening engagements. Society has claims on us all." (Jane Austen, Pride & Prejudice, the most relatable sentence Jane Austen ever wrote)

"No, you don't understand. Most of all I'm afraid that the more I fight her and the stronger I become, the more I'm turning into her." (Marissa Meyer, Cress)

"I so totally missed class the day all required information was handed out." (Jandy Nelson, I'll give you the sun)

“If you accept others as equals, you embrace them unconditionally, now and forever. But if you let them know that you tolerate them, you suggest in the same breath that they are actually an inconvenience, like a nagging pain or an unpleasant odour you are willing to disregard.” (Arthur Japin, In Lucia's Eyes) (I read this in Dutch but didn't find my note of this quote, but I found it in English on Goodreads)

Thanks for asking!

[arwainian]

Reading This Week 2023 #5

Welcome to the second week of my school reading heavy life and the weirdness of formatting this when i have to read things for class in chunks instead of all at once

Started and Finished:

fe3h fic (all on ao3)-

The Short Side of Eternity by wanderlustt Vexing by DistractedSiren What Never Was by HTFNoelle Smiles That Reach the Eyes by Recipe The Moon Behind Clouds by printers_devil yours is my spring by northofkites Let Your Heart Hold Fast by wearwind Tanaras by wearwind Agabhainn by wearwind Architects of Heaven, chapters 1-8 (all currently published) by wearwind things we cannot recall losing, chapters 1-3 (all currently published) by wearwind The Signet of His Lords by queenlua Deer Among Cattle by queenlua

can you tell i had a long trip back to my dorm this past sunday? the majority of these are fics on the shorter side that i read on the plane and train ride, and then the last two i read early on in the week. really enjoyed Deer Among Cattle since I just met Judith in my playthrough

Batman/Superman: World's Finest #11 written by Mark Waid, illustrated by Dan Mora

this was my sunday morning read before i left home, and i am just so enjoying this comic even though i have not read the superman stories that it is apparently referencing and building on (according to my dad, who very happily explained what the Reveal was)

"Base and Superstructure in Marxist Cultural Theory" by Raymond Williams

school reading! this will reappear in the coming weeks as the class instructed me to read through it all together once, and then read it again in chunks taking note of specific parts. this was for my 19th c. pop culture class

"Women, marriage and the family" by Tanya Evans, from British Women 1700-1850 edited by Hannah Barker and Elaine Chalus

always enjoy some evidence based social history, this is for my Jane Austen class

Ongoing:

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

the reread for class continues! i fucking love the first proposal scene and i read portions of it outloud to my boyfriend

The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen edited by Edward Copeland and Juliet McMaster

read a section of this about what Economic and Social Class of people are represented in Jane Austen's works which was very enlightening

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, translated by Constance Garnett, narrated by Frederick Davidson

audiobook my beloved, i love reaching parts and quotes that ended up in The Great Comet bc i just become a pointing meme every time

Sam Patch, the famous Jumper by Paul E. Johnson

this dude is fucking legendary and also reading about him makes me sad because he does not seem to be having a good time

Started and Ongoing:

The Gentleman's Daughter by Amanda Vickery

more for my Jane Austen class, this one is about like landowning but untitled women in Austen's day and Wow the chapter on pregnancy and childbirth and motherhood was heartwrenching

Oathbreaker by quandry on ao3

another fe3h fic, this one is multichapter and i'm getting through it slower. unsure if i'll continue it or just abandon it to pursue other reading, but i think it's an interesting trait on a character changing sides/getting recruited post-timeskip

Beastars, Vol. 4 by Paru Itagaki, translated by Tomoko Kimura

i started reading the first chapter yesterday and then remember that there's another book that I want to be reading during my free time because I know my dad is waiting to talk about it with me so then i felt guilty and. stopped reading this? i will power through it once i have read at least one chapter of that other book

[psychologeek]

part 2 - masterpost:

@troiastar

#Jason: how did you know it was mine?#Bruce: why wouldn't I know#Bruce: I've read your fanfiction#Bruce: I'm your father

@guesst

#ok but also gothamite ao3 wroters would be so funny. 'hey guys sorry bout the late update got caught up in a hostage situation yk#how it is'#and non gothamites are all like NO???? R U OK and gothamites are all like haha nws thanks for updating anyway#sjdjs imagine if someone clocks the second robin is this ao3 writer just because of that a/n. djdh#dc

@oatmealcrisp-freak

#abruptly finding myself relating to jason from DC#when the reviews ask if i've died and every day is spent ill and in pain and in worry for what havoc the medications i take to function are#wreaking on my internal organs nevermind the state of my hair 'oh don't tempt the world dear the next person who tries to kidnap me might#be successful'#jason your luck will improve if you stop leaving your house i know thats gonna be hard for you but just commission a jason-bot or a clone#or something and superhero long distance i know your dad would approve. he's DC's tech guy after all#there'll still be an ass-outlet we have only fans now

@adjit

#he’s part of the JAFF community I believe it in my heart#dc

@willtheartist

#this week ive been dealing with a flood and i finally understood Those Ao3 Writers#smth smth about escapism and the more stressed and/or busy u are the more u wanna go write your silly lil words or draw your silly lil guys

@jasontoddswhitehairfluff

#he was so devoted as a kid that he unconsciously kept writing during his zombie days#I doubt that the league had internet#but that’s not important#he posts under a completely different account#cause if you can’t remember your password while alive you sure as hell can’t when you’re half dead#most of the works are bland with repetitive phrases from his previous ones#he gets a notification from the account after going to Gotham#has the same reaction as adults looking back at their teenage cringe works#he actually wrote those??#zombification is no excuse for misunderstanding character motivation!!#bruce still finds out from getting the notification from the other account#jason had to update something of substance to make up for that mess#crack#jason todd

@brandycranby

#jason todd#gets back to Gotham with three things in mind: destroy the underworld kill batman and finish his 30+ ch fic#batfam

And the he'd check out the account and see a brand new, shiny, Pride & Prejudice & Zombies self-insert crackfic 😂

@chilli-onmy-wieny

#he updates the 400k pride and prejudice zombie au that inspired the movie and is hailed as the bible of the jane austen fandom#you feel me ?#jason todd#jason todd headcanon

@littledead-ridinghood long post:

@stuffsforl8r

#jason is one of those writers who just churns fics out quickly and yet they’re always amazing polished masterpieces#jason is just the most productive person#jason todd

@liavidge

Stephanie quotes one of his fics on patrol and the world ends Superboy Beta style.

@mightyneteyam

#stephanie subscribes to jason's acc#at first she has no idea who's behind it she just likes the author's sense of humor#but the additional notes made her.. squint and connects#Two and Two so she has her suspicions#jason on the other hand has one fav reader who leaves long-ass comments#and absolutely has 0 idea that's steph's acc#this is how stephanie became jason's beta reader#jason todd#stephanie brown

@swugflower

“Hey guys! So sorry for the long pause, got murdered by the joker lmao. Anyway as a sorry have an extra long chapter!”

#I once read a fic written by two authors and one of them actually died#and the other one finished the story#and like that’s horrible but I was so shocked I just had to laugh#like it was in an authors note or Smth#yea she died in a car accident#BRUH

@stvlti

#not sure about Bruce hanging out on ao3 *cringe*#that would be the worst nightmare for everyone involved#but Jason totally writes historical aus#dc txt

@the-lunar-warrior

#jdbsodhdjs JDHSODB#first thing he does after climbing out of the lazarus pit is not go into murderous rage its go update his sonic fanfic

@idek-dood

#help im obsessed with this idea#a/n: sorry guys i had to foght some dinosaurs this weekend so the update is two days late#a/n: my idiot brother was almost killed last night but i was determined to get this chapter out on time! hope theres not too many errors &lt;3#funny#batfam#jason todd#red hood#queued up

@child-of-the-sea-and-sky

#djskalfhlsdkjfh#Now I need a Red Hood short film where it shows someone reading his A/N's and then cutting to the eventsReblogView post

@interplanetary-redacted

#prev youre so right he DID stalk jason's internet use as a kid and got updated via ao3 update emails to discover he's alive#alrernatively he's currently in the LoA updating like ''so i like. died. got adopted by my adopted dad's ex and live w her now in#not-america and my toddler brother helped me write this via babbling and crawling over me and also listening to me read it out loud as#a bedtime story (mom-approved dw) [it has an E rating for the gore] and in general just being cute i suppose :/#here's what he has to say about it: *incomprehensible keysmash* Anyway thanks for still reading if youre here#i appreciate it a lot and im sure i'll have more updates soon between my training and babysitting''#and bruce meanwhile is reading this like EXCUSE ME WTF! TALIA?!#he works on his own arabic translation as homework for talia as well#jason todd#dc

@redrobin-detective

#lmao jason would be the one to be a FF author#him and Tim maybe but Tim is the one posting detailed complex meta thats like a vague story#Jason meanwhile is writing novel length and deeply detailed stories

[i'm up to Aug 29, 2022. It's 5 AM. i'mma go to sleep. good luck and thanks everyone!]

Jason as those AO3 authors who have the worst tragedies happening to them and yet still continues to pump out his new chapter every week

Some poor, unbeknownst Gothamite: “My favorite fanfic writer hasn’t posted or updated any of their fanfic in like four years. I don’t want to bug them but I’m always hoping for them to come back. I hope their okay :( ”

Jason, in between cutting off right hand mens heads and antagonize black mask, like Really Living It Up: “hey, sorry, guys! I know it’s been forever! I literally died and clawed my way back from zombiehood, but I’m back now! Hope you enjoy this new chapter!”