#a scared guy who is [redacted for spoilers] and gets [redacted for spoilers]!!!!!!!!!!!

[armedwithapencilandpaper]

AOUGHAOUGH!!!! I LOVE EUINI SO MUCH??????

[individualentityinverydeepburrow]

Just finished episode 7 and 8 of Hazbin hotel!

These are not in order of appearance and I tried to make them vegue enough that someone with only the knowledge we've accumulated before these episodes would've know for sure any spoilers.

- Every song in these two episodes where so adorable and hopeful. I feel like if it was edited a bit it could have passed as another mlp:fim anthem (very positive)

- they made fun of the fact that episode 6's reveal is kinda obvious to the keen eyed ( which makes [redacted] the best person to point it out

- the explanation on how to kill an angel made SO much sense!

- noo they're dead :'( I knew it was most likely to happen but It still hurt

- Yes! They made it! I knew they where pure enough to be reformable! :')

- Why am I so hyped over a throwaway line? Why Am I Do Hyped Over A Throwaway Line?OMG YASSS ACE REP ACE REP ACE REP

- She gets excited about romance but still respects and initiates the agnolagement of the existence of the aroace!?!?!? Am I dreaming?? (positive)

- "This is only the beginning" I feel that's a comfort for the viewer as well who just got acquainted with these characters.

- Since our characters didn't get filler eps to breath and interact so far stopping now would feel really bad. Seeing this as a intro and not a full fleged arc feels comfier than seeing it as an ending for the viewer and a beginning for the characters.

- Ooo what's going on with Alastor The Fragiled Egoed Insecure Lil Guy? Is he feeling a lil frightened. A lil scared ?

- Ooo what's going on with Lilith after she when to buy milk and then never returned?

- Groop hug with lil big man! 🤗

- lol Vox is SO obsessed with Alastor. That's really embarrassing for him haha

[shadowynn]

so, just finished my first rewrite of ch. eight, and let me just say, i did not expect it take the direction it did, but something just sort of took a hold of me and the words just started flowing. i didn't plan on revealing as much as i am now when i first started, but i think with the direction i took, certain things needed to be explained. and then after how long it's been since ch. seven, i think it's only right that you get a little extra.

i make no promises, but there is a chance, depending on how things go, that ch. eight might make an appearance tomorrow. i added 4k more words in the rewrite, so it definitely needs some more time to be gone through. but, i've been digging the direction it's taken and am excited to get it out for you all.

with this new direction, i totally did not mean for it to get so angsty in one part as it did (and not in the way you might think) like, i had the base idea for some backstory stuff, but when things started developing, i didn't expect it to take the dark turn it did, but here we are and i think it works well with the direction things are heading.

on that note, i debated whether or not i would give you guys a snippet of things, not because i didn't want to, but because i had a hard time finding something that didn't give things away. but, i think i found a part that i think isn't too much of a spoiler, so it'll be under the cut below. hope you enjoy :)

~

“I’m aware that all of this is probably normal for you, but it’s not for me. It’s foreign, confusing, and more than a little overwhelming. Having a mate might simply be a way of life for you, but it’s not the way I grew up. Perhaps it’s a bit different for you than others, but Hongjoong has known about me my entire life and has had two decades to think things over and make a decision. And I didn’t get any of that. I had it forced upon me before I even knew what was happening, so forgive me, please,” you took a deep breath as your hands clenched from your rising emotions causing the nails to dig into the skin of your sides, “if I seem to have some reservations about it all.”

“Which are perfectly valid, however hard they might be to hear.” As you neared the city’s entrance, [redacted] reached out to you, pulling you to a stop next to him. “And though it may be wrong of me to ask this of you, could you at least give us a try? Things may have started off badly, but is there nothing we can do to redeem ourselves? If it’s time you need, we can give you that. All we ask, all I ask, is that you give us another chance before throwing it all away. Angel, please, I'm begging you.”

The desperation in his voice caught you off guard. The way his eyes pleaded with you in that moment made your stomach twist and you were unable to hold his gaze for more than a few seconds as the feeling of vulnerability hit you once more. Here was one of the Seven, one of the most powerful in your world, all but begging for your forgiveness for the wrong he had done you.

You didn’t know what scared you the most. The raw emotion buried within his words, the way he was looking at you as though you were the only thing that mattered, or the fact that it was working.

You didn’t want it too, still hurt and bitter about what they had done to you, but goddammit, he was right. As a healer, you fully believed that everyone deserved a second chance at life, no matter what they had done. It was why you had been so willing to save the injured daemons. It was why you had been willing to save Seonghwa. Because who were you to decide whether or not they died? Who were you to decide whether or not they deserved a second chance? People made mistakes and who were you to deny them that second chance when they seemed so willing to change. When they were all but begging you to let them redeem themselves.

[antiloreolympus]

10 Anti LO Asks

1. so wait ... demeter could have been a QUEEN (thus allowing persephone to have near equal rank to hades so there isn't a huge power imbalance), but HADES stole that chance from her??? hades is a confirmed misogynist. i hate him lmao. does rachel think that makes him look good? persephone look at what he took from your mother and yourself???

2. it's comical how badly rachel is writing this. persephone has negative agency now because she's just that scared of letting persephone ever have a single Bad™️ action, but in the process all it shows us that Persephone is not a character, she's a puppet being tugged along, quite literally now, by rachel and the other characters. at this point we're going to find out [redacted] is also behind minthe's demise, apollo's actions, even hades' infertility, because that's how bad this is written.

3. So are we gonna just gloss over how RS plagiarized Sleeping Beauty or…?

4. women should be allowed to be emotional or cry, but idk there's something about rachel thinking "empowering" an actual goddess involves making her a weepy mess who needs hera and hades to "fix" everything for her while she really does nothing just seems wrong? especially when her "strong" moments are just of some vague "feeling" taking over her so she's not actually in control. rachel is basically just neutering a literal godess of agency and power/intimidation and thinking that's better?

5. its not even the fact LO is Problematic™️ it's the fact LO just isn't very good?? Like if it was written well and had consistently good art we know it once was capable of then that'd be one thing, but the writing has gotten worse esp when RS puts everything in a moralistic lens so HxP always looks Good™️ (+retconning everything to make it UnProblematic™️) & it's badly drawn?? It's a good idea on paper but RS just doesn't have to writing skill to execute it decently and too lazy to fix the art.

6. To me I think issues like the height difference and age gap aren't inherently bad in LO, it's only in combination with P's characterization that it becomes an issue. If they were closer in age (say P being 200 or smth) and she was more confident/intelligent it would be a non-issue, but making her so childish and helpless (+even in universe the age/maturity gap is seen as creepy) is where the height/age gap becomes far bigger issues that RS self-imposed on herself. IDK what she expected?

7. it's ridiculous there's so many webtoons (including popular romance ones) that have all started AND ended before LO is even half way done, if even that. you guys cant tell me rachel planned anything out ahead of time and isn't putting in filler/dragging it all out when so much less has happened LO while other comics have well done and wrapped up stories in less time. Yeah her next work will not be as successful as LO, but you'd rather have a short, good story versus a dragged out, bad one.

-----FP Spoilers/Mention-----

8. Fast past mention of the mid season finale:

I don't say this with any malice but literally what the heck is that punishment??? It's not even that bad why did P&H react so dramatically. They're immortal, so they can't see each other for a few years, big whoop. Like is that really the best RS could come up with? like talk about anticlimactic and underwhelming. 

9. FP Talk: This is basically Persephone getting a smack on the wrist and being let go easily. Just like every yt person in court to their crimes. I’m sick and tired of it as a POC. Another women getting blamed for what is PERSEPHONES FAULT???! Nah. Nah. Dos not pass the code check. 

10. FP// So if Eris is behind the AOW, why hype Persephone up as the feared Dread Queen? Persephone now has so little power Eris can just control her like a doll, so couldn't some other deity or even Eris herself just overtake Persephone's body and run rampant in the Underworld and use her Fertility powers for their own wants? Because that's what RS has set up here with this stupid reasoning. How can she dare claim this is a story about giving Persephone agency when she's now entirely devoid of it?

[wozwaid]

Stands Being Affectionate With the Jojos’ Crush

its been a minuet. how are you guys! im working on a new ch of choose your own jjba so if you missed it (which i doubt you did) its coming back!

part 1: jotaro, josuke, giorno

Old-seph (old Joseph)

- what the fuck do u want me to do for this one it’s literally thorns with a hint of hamon

- i guess HP would be warm??? but also thorns

- if youre into that ur a masochist which is dope!

- joseph wont use his stand on u

- but he used it on a baby and she was fine???? I DONT FUCKING KNOW ITS THORNS HELP

Johnny 

- tusk doesn’t get that much screen time (page time? idfk)

- i GENUINELY DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO FOR TUSK IT DOESNT REALLY SHOW UP THAT OFTEN????

- ACT 4 HAS A BIG ASS BACK SO PIGGY BACK RIDES. BOOM DONE NEXT JOESTAR!

Jolyne

- ok so i whole heartedly believe that stone free is [redacted due to spoilers] so beware.

- so you’re in jail! good job!- and jolyne took a liking to you but being the daughter of joot, she’s not gonna show shit cuz emotions are for pussies- but her soul is soft asf

- but SF’s abilities can get you into.. interesting situations

- if jolyne misses you, stone free is like “dope. i can get them!” and SHOOTS THE STRINGY STRING, DRAGS YOU ACROSS THE PRISON, AND PLOPS YOU DOWN IN FRONT OF JOLYNE!

- but dont get me wrong. SF is a selfish bitch and extremely protective, so jolyne probably wont get to show you any physical affection, not that she would in the first place since PDA is weird.

- SF gives u all the kithes and back hugs! i feel like stone free’s skin would be metal-ish and cold so you would cuddle w/ SF on a hot day! 

-jolyne’s really fucking jealous but technically you’re cuddling with her so its fine????

Josuke

- my baby omfg-

- soft and wet isn’t soft at all tho

- since josuke is really paranoid since he’s still trying to figure out whos after him due to his past lives/who he really is, but he won’t show it cuz he wants to be strong for u!

- so soft and wet expresses his paranoia

- stands have feelings too!

- approach S&W slowly, because he might think you’re an enemy stand user and attack you.

- give him head pats and cheek kisses! that’ll calm him down

- hes a good boi, just scared!

- i dont think josuke likes to be touched that often, seeing that his body isnt really his alone?

- so if you notice him shaking out of fear, just rub S&W’s back! after all, stand users feel everything their stand feels

[sexyglances]

I read what's available of the Shadow Beauty webtoon and while i do think the drama handles the psychological suspense better than the webtoon, i do like the pov changes in the webtoon that really help show how everyone is fucked up in unique and yet universally human ways humanize the main 4 characters.

I do think the drama plot changes, like making haneul and genie online bffs and hoin more weirdly obsessed with aejin really help ramp up the tension. Also, the drama keeping the source of the nightmares secret (as of ep 6) and how that ties into aejin's fraught, secretive relationship with her mom is kind of brilliant. And in the webtoon, haneul didn't call bs on fake genie like that, so i'm interested to see how that plays out.

Spoilers under the cut

I wonder if we'll get to see the author of the book aejin is reading like in the webtoon, or if we'll even see her getting comfort in it at all. While i do like the drama pacing better than the webtoon, the additional shading the webtoon gives to aejin's changing inner monologue/character growth is super interesting.

There's a couple time jumps in the webtoon. One from second/junior year to the end-ish of third/senior year, and another to when they're 25. At the end of senior year, aejin ghosts hoin and because of redacted series of events, haneul and aejin become bff roommates by the time they're 25. Idk how the drama, which only has 7 20-min episodes left, will be able to cover all this territory, or if they'll just stop at hs. And this is only knowledge of the 75 english chapters available. There's another 50 chapters that haven't been translated yet.

Speaking of the time jump, when hoin is reintroduced he's shockingly normal?? And isn't obsessed with the psychology of aejin??? And instead treats haneul like his actual first love???? Who he's still in love with and wants to win back?????? Wtf??????????????? Like...they totally changed him just to give haneul a happier ending or sth i guess (idk, like i said, i haven't read the ending, but i can see where it's going) bc the first time he sees aejin he's just like nah, idc about psychology anymore since i went to college and the army and i'm totally normcore now and am going to a psychologist starting today (and he rly is). Uh???? Psychosis like that doesn't just get cured bc your one friend ghosted you and your gf broke up with you. Also personally, i liked him better when he was fucked up, lol.

Also i guess they changed hoin so aejin could have other viable love interests. One guy is the most boring man in the world, but he tries. And the other one of them is the author of the books she found comfort in (he's like the same age as her, so there's no creepy age gap), except she followed him from her genie account and they've been voice chatting for years. They haven't met up yet (he lives abroad) and every time he comes back to korea, she gets too scared to meet him bc she doesn't want to disappoint him bc she doesn't look like genie. But also in one of his pov eps he says to himself that he wants to eat with aejin?? He knows her real identity??? How does she keep getting these mysterious dudes on the hook who discover her identity, and yet literally no one else, not even her roommate bff (until like ep 75 when she borrows her computer) can piece it together?

Oh, also, back to hs: the fake genie is also a total bully in an even more fucked up way than haneul was. But aejin and hoin outsmart her, but the major players she manipulated in her scheme suffer in unintentional ways (including herself)

Redacted happens to haneul at the same time as the bullying and aejin saves her but hoin freezes in the moment bc he's unsure if maybe haneul deserves this after everything that she put aejin through. Even though he does help aejin break fake genie's ultimate plans, he seems conflicted as to why they're helping haneul. And they want us to believe he wasn't at least a little in love with aejin??? After calling her the most interesting person he's ever met?? And following her around and saying she's pretty enough to be genie on her own and complimenting her strong inner character and telling her to have more confidence in herself bc she's amazing??? Like okay???

Also back in hs, aejin ends up sending a letter with her pic to jinsung, it's one he cherishes so much he keeps it hidden and re-reads it for comfort. But other than him becoming a successful kpop star, he's never in the story again.

As of age 25/chap 75 they haven't revealed what was in jinsung's video yet, but i rly don't believe it was every actually anything raunchy/perverted.

Redacted (this is way too big to spoil) is why aejin creates genie in the first place and why basically she has so much self-loathing. It's rly sad but makes so much sense. Weirdly, this is introduced almost right away in the webtoon, but has only briefly been alluded to in the drama. That pain is also how she ended up connecting with both hoin and haneul on deep friendship levels. Oh, and fucked up expectations from their parents bc it wouldn't me a manhwa w/o fucked up parents, amirite?

[love-bokumono-fics]

Fresh Crops! Week of August 9 - August 15, 2021

The week’s newest fics and chapter updates posted on AO3!

Firsts - by tatertotarmy; Complete, 1/1, 1.5k

Rating: General Audiences; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: F/M

Fandoms: Story of Seasons (2014)

Relationship: Farmer/Fritz; Characters: Fritz, Raeger, Farmer

Additional Tags: Summer 2021 Bokumono Gift Exchange, First Dates

Summary: “Fritz.” Raeger shut his book and gave a hard look at Fritz. “You really just need to let things happen. Dates are half preparation and half enjoying your time. Unless the fireworks last a week, you’re seriously overthinking this.” “I just want to be prepared, alright!” Fritz sighed. “Just want to make sure that everything goes right by being super ready for everything! The most prepared boyfriend a guy can be on a first date!”

By Your Side - by EmeraldHaze15; Complete, 1/1, 1.1k

Rating: General Audiences; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: Gen

Fandoms: Friends of Mineral Town

Relationships: Popuri & Rick, Lillia & Rick, Lillia & Popuri; Characters: Rick, Popuri, Lillia the Shopkeeper

Additional Tags: sick parent, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Bad At Titles, Sibling Love, supportive family, Family Fluff, Family Feels, Crying, health scare, Alcohol

Summary: Rick and Popuri might not always see eye to eye, but they're united in their love for their mother.

What's In a Name? - by EmeraldHaze15; Complete, 1/1, 1k

Rating: General Audiences; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: Gen

Fandoms: Friends of Mineral Town, A Wonderful Life

Characters: Carter the Pastor, Ann the Innkeeper | Ran, Kai, Dr. Hardy | Paddock - mentioned, Carter the Archeologist - mentioned

Additional Tags: Names, Nicknames, Pseudonyms, Childhood Trauma, Bullying, silly one-shot, I'm Bad At Summaries

Summary: When Carter gets talking about the subject of names, an old secret comes to light...

Two in One - by PineconeTheKitten; WIP, 1/?, 1.3k

Rating: Mature; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Categories: F/M, M/M, Multi

Fandom: Trio of Towns

Relationships: Ford/Wayne, Female Farmer/Ford, Female Farmer/Wayne; Characters: Female Farmer, Ford, Wayne, Dessie, Inari, Witchie

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Magic Revealed, Gods, Goddesses, Spirits

Summary: Ford and Wayne were once two people. Now they aren't. Holly doesn't know what to do. As it turns out, Ward is pretty into Holly, and she into him.

Frozen Confrontation - by johulia; WIP, 1/2, 4k

Rating: Explicit; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: M/M

Fandoms: Harvest Moon DS Cute

Relationship: Pete | Jack/Skye | Steiner; Characters: Pete | Jack, Skye | Steiner

Additional Tags: Enemies to Lovers, Pining, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Smut, Boys Kissing, Swearing, Feelings Realization

Summary: Skye has been nothing but a menace to Jack since Jack moved to Forget-Me-Not Valley. Tonight, he's putting an end to it. -- In a world where we got Skye in Harvest Moon: DS not Cute.

Barriers - by krose13; WIP, 23/?, 165k

Rating: Mature; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: F/M

Fandoms: Friends of Mineral Town, Harvest Moon DS Cute

Relationships: Claire the Farmer/Gray, Ann the Innkeeper | Ran/Cliff; Characters: Claire, Gray, Ann the Innkeeper | Ran, Cliff, Kai, Karen, Popuri, Mary the Librarian, Rick, Basically the whole Mineral Town cast, plus Forget-Me-Not Valley

Additional Tags: Drama & Romance, Complicated Relationships, Sexual Content, Slow Burn, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Not for the kiddos, Fluff and Angst, Jealousy, Unplanned Pregnancy, trying to fit a realistic pregnancy in hm time is a challenge but we doin it, POV First Person, Mutual Pining, Drug Use, Dreams and Nightmares, Drowning, I’ll probably have to add more tags as we go along but

Summary: Unlike everyone else in town, Gray wants nothing to do with the new farmer. He can't stand Claire, despite all her attempts to befriend him. But when one small mistake leads to an even bigger problem, he might be seeing a lot more of her than they both had planned.

Winter's End - by ModernTsunami; WIP, 43/80, 220k

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: F/M

Fandoms: Friends of Mineral Town

Relationships: Claire the Farmer/Cliff, Ann the Innkeeper | Ran/Cliff, Claire the Farmer/Doctor Trent | Torre; Characters: Claire the Farmer, Cliff, Ann the Innkeeper | Ran, Carter the Pastor, Duke, Manna, Doctor Trent | Torre

Additional Tags: Slow Burn, Grief/Mourning, Slice of Life, Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Pining, Found Family, Eventual Romance, Love Triangles, Cliche, especially in the beginning, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags

Summary: Cliff's life in Mineral Town changes with the arrival of a new farmer in need of guidance. As his relationships grow more complicated throughout the year, he finds himself grappling with the doubts of his past and present.

Photograph - by EmeraldHaze15; Complete, 1/1, 1.6k

Rating: General Audiences; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Categories: Gen, Other

Fandoms: Friends of Mineral Town

Relationships: Cliff & Heather (OC), Cliff & Carter; Characters: Cliff, Carter the Pastor, Ann the Innkeeper | Ran, Doug | Dudley, Heather (OC)

Additional Tags: Family Reunions, Crying, Dead Parent, Mineral Town, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, I'm Bad At Summaries, Sibling Love

Summary: A simple meal at the Inn changes Cliff's life completely...

The Cauldron’s brew - by Thefallen1986; Complete, 1/1, <1k

*Link not provided as fic is Not Safe For Tumblr*

Rating: Explicit; Archive Warning: Rape/Non-Con; Category: F/F

Fandoms: Harvest Moon: DS

Relationship: Flora/Witch Princess; Characters: Witch Princess, Flora

Additional Tags: *some tags redacted to remain sfw* Lesbian Sex, Seduction, Drugs, Love Potion/Spell, Restraints, Kissing, French Kissing, Non-Consensual Kissing, Corruption

Summary: Flora is forced a sample from the Witch Princess's Cauldron...

Wildflower - by EmeraldHaze15; WIP, 7/?, 14k

Rating: Mature; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: F/M

Fandoms: Friends of Mineral Town

Relationship: To Be Decided; Characters: Claire the Farmer, Harris, More to come, Basically the whole of Mineral Town, Ann the Innkeeper | Ran, Popuri, Rick, Mary the Librarian | Marie

Additional Tags: Tags Contain Spoilers, Abusive Relationships, Running Away, Bruises, Hurt/Comfort, mentions of prior abuse, Emotional Scarring, Trespassing, Domestic Violence, Pseudonyms, Tags Are Hard, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Mineral Town, Peril, No Smut, Panic Attacks

Summary: The world is a scary place, especially when Claire is all alone. But maybe she can begin to heal in a little place called Mineral Town... Rated 'M' for heavy, dark themes and emotional trauma

Sakura Sisters - by LuluRuru; WIP, 4/?, 12k

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: F/M

Fandoms: Friends of Mineral Town

Relationship: Ships will be revealed soon!; Characters: Claire, Naomi, Brandon, Cliff, Doctor | Trent, Gray, Kai, Rick, Elli | Elly, Jennifer, Karen, Mary the Librarian | Marie, Popuri, Ann the Innkeeper | Ran, Mineral Town Residents

Additional Tags: Family, Slow Burn, POV Alternating, Updating tags as I go

Summary: Mineral Town is the destination for these two sisters. Claire appears dainty and sweet but really is childish and a loudmouth. Naomi appears shy and uncaring but is perceptive and a go-getter. The two of them are here for different reasons, but both of them have to manage Sakura Farm together. Will Claire be able to find her childhood friend and the boy who saved her? And will Naomi be able to find her true calling in life? The road ahead will be tough, but these two can do anything if they put their minds together. After all, that's what sisters are for, right?

Stranded - by TheBeckster; WIP, 3/?, 7k

Rating: General Audiences; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: Gen

Fandoms: Trio of Towns

Relationships: Ludus & Siluka, Ludus & Iluka, Iluka & Siluka; Characters: Ludus, Iluka, Siluka, Tototara, Zahau, Caolila

Additional Tags: all aboard the childhood trauma boat!, Pre-Canon, Peril, Wilderness Survival, Mild Blood

Summary: Desperate for an adventure to break up the interminable boredom of a long summer, three kids set to the high seas and get way more adventure than they ever hoped for or wanted. AKA: Let's explore the Lulukoko Trio's shared childhood trauma!

[redstainedsocks]

So, you want to read my Weight of Earth series but you have no idea what’s going on or why? Here, let me help with that!

The players:

Adria

An immortal being, with powers of fire and earth, her touch burns—more when she’s angry, and less when she bothers to think about holding her power in check. She very rarely thinks to keep her power in check.

Centuries ago some annoying do-gooders took it upon themselves to rid the world of her wickedness and she was trapped in a cave for crimes of murder and demonic destruction being too sexy. Until she found a way to extend her powers outward and her followers were able to send sacrifices that give her the ability to leave as long as someone remains in her place. Now she lives in relative luxury in a cavern filled with beautiful things… and a little lovely human thing who begged to be her Good Boy, honest.

Jasper

Caught by Adria years ago and forced to be her current mark bearer. After hearing that the previous mark bearers never lasted long because she got bored with their dislike of the situation, he made a bargain to stay by her side and do exactly as she wanted. At the end of this bargained time she would offer his freedom, and he could go back to his life. He’s very good and obedient, an artist who uses his time to create, and to be, beautiful things for his Mistress.

He’s very lonely and touch starved, and this never bothered Adria much until oh, what’s this…

Alex

Just some guy! Literally just a random dude! Adria saw him, liked his face well enough, decided she was tired of her boy back home being sad and despondent all the time and thought “hey, this guy will do” and took him home to be a friend for her lovely pet. Alex is angry and scared and fighty and just as trapped as Jasper but with none of the leverage Jasper has to get in Adria’s good books.

[Redacted]

Some of you may have seen me tag some posts with this, and you’ll just have to wait and see, won’t you?

Background and other details:

Adria was born in Ancient Greece (though, y'know, it was just Greece back then) and has been causing havoc most of that time. When did she get trapped? Oh, a few centuries ago, time blurs together without sunlight to mark it by.

Jasper has been with Adria for ten years, but he’s fine, it’s fine. He’s okay, please don’t ask him to tell you how okay it is, he’ll make it very believable.

Adria expects Jasper to help keep Alex in line, so it’s a forced-to-whump situation at times. Everybody hates this. Except Adria who finds it very entertaining, actually.

At the point I’m writing now, Alex and Jasper aren’t exactly friends yet—especially if you asked for Alex’s opinion which he’s aware nobody is thankyouverymuch. He does have a grudging realisation that Jasper is his best chance of not going completely off the rails with boredom and loneliness and despair. But don’t touch him, he doesn’t want to be touched. Jasper otoh… really, really wants to be held by someone whose touch doesn’t hurt.

The transfer of the mark from Adria to her chosen human carries some benefits, a little bit of her immortality given to whoever it marks, so Jasper heals very quickly. He still scars but he heals quickly enough that he can, if needed, be hurt over and over again in quick succession

Because the cavern is contained underneath the earth (she had to be trapped by the thing her powers are drawn from, that's how magic works, I decided) only Adria has the means to—for want of a better word—portal her way out of it. She can bring other people with her as she comes and goes, but neither Alex or Jasper can leave on their own. They are Literally Trapped…. or are they? maybe the author knows something they don’t

The cavern is sort of a pocket dimension that sits out-of-time, so time is frozen there and neither Jasper nor Alex age or change. If their hair gets cut it won’t regrow, for example, which is nice for Adria because she doesn’t have to worry about shaving beards or giving them “weapons” to do so themselves

General warnings for the series: long term captivity, intimate whumper, implied noncon (which may change to explicit, depending on how writing goes), dehumanisation, torture, ongoing trauma and lots of other juicy things.

I’m open to answering asks and questions about the series or characters, past, present, or future—though I reserve the right to withhold some spoilers publicly, if there’s something you want to know before deciding to read, my DMs are open and I’ll do my best to answer!

[couchpotatoaniki]

The books that you posted about really intrigued me. And the books seemed really cool, I was wondering if you have any book recommendations? For any genre.

:0 Someone's asking me about book recs? This has never happened before I'm scared 😂😂 So, I suppose I should warn you that a lot of these are fantasy. Also, thank you for taking an interest 🥺🥺

This is gonna be loooooong, so continue to read more. Also, all the links are for the Goodreads pages so you could read the blurb and reviews if you're interested. Word of warning though, these are all of my opinions, so if they don't work for you--that's okay. Tastes are fickle :))

Also, if you have any book recommendations for me or want to talk about books, then please feel free to pop in my inbox because I LOVE discussing and getting excited about books.

Books that I've already read:

The School for Good and Evil series by Soman Chainani--there are six books in total (seven if you include the handbook), but this was one I read when I was around 13/14. It's kinda like a fairytale retelling, where there are two schools; one for good and the other evil. It has a lot of references to folktales and discusses the divides between good and evil, girls and boys, and young and old. It's a story about self-discovery and I just love the characters--especially their relationships and dynamics with one another. Netflix is actually making a movie about the first book and it's going to come out sometime in 2022. Hopefully they don't screw it up 😔😔

A Thousand Nights by E. K. Johnson--I know this may not be for everyone, but I love this book. There is a sequel that I haven't gotten around to reading, but this one specifically was one I enjoyed quite a bit. It's like a retelling of the folktale One Thousand and One Nights (commonly known as Arabian Nights) but with more a fantasy twist to it. It's slow-paced, but it has so much meaning behind it. It paints such a beautiful picture in your head with both the imagery but also has a subtle feminist strength to it through its deliberate choice of words and description--not to mention it has a very strong feel to the pre-Islamic Middle East setting as compared to other retellings like The Wrath and the Dawn, which is much more suited to be classed as YA than this (by no means is that derogatory to any of the books, but it's just to explain how they're so different despite being based off the same folktale). Just read it, it's honestly amazing.

The Sin Easter's Daughter series by Melinda Salisbury--Okay, funny story, I actually read the second book, The Sleeping Prince, first by accident. A problem I have with a lot series, is something commonly known as second-book syndrome--as in, I'm not particularly a fan of the second book in a trilogy series. Once I realised my mistake and read the first book, The Sin Eater's Daughter, I found that I wasn't as in love with it as I was the second, so I thought that might've been just because of the way I read it. But when I read the reviews, I realised that a lot of other people thought the same as me despite having read it in order; the second one was more loved than the first. Unfortunately, I haven't read the third book yet, but I feel like The Sleeping Prince was enough to put it on this list. Once again, this is fantasy with tones of the Pied Piper in it, and there is so much more I could say, but again it would be more about the second book than the first so I won't spoil it for ya. But just sayin', if you wanted to read the second book as a stand-alone, you can do since I myself kinda figured out what was going on and filled in the gaps by myself. This is probably because the first and second book follow different characters (and I assume it switches in the third book, but again, I haven't read it).

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller--now, this GODSEND of a book is one that I rate highly. It's based off the Iliad (so it's heavy on the Greek mythology), though it follows Patroclus rather than Achilles throughout the whole book. If you don't know anything about the story, then I won't spoil it--just know that I knew the story of the Iliad and was in this state of dread the entire time 'cAUSE THERE'S SO MUCH FORSHADOWING. All I can say is that I love the dynamic between the two guys and the story is so heartbreakingly beautiful. Bless 'em 😔😔 But a friend of mine found the writing a little bit confusing (she still loves it) since you kinda have to read between the lines--it isn't blunt. Also, one word of advise I'd like to give on good stories, and specifically plot twists, is that the shock factor may occur the first time you read it but what makes a good story or plot twist is the way it makes you feel--it should still be positive no matter how many times you re-read it. Shock factor isn't everything, so when I read this there was no shock factor for me (I knew what was going to happen from me previous knowledge) yet this book still kept me gripped onto it. I didn't loose interest--and that's part of the reason why I love it.

Caraval series by Stephanie Garber--I put this on the list because of the progression within the books, despite it being fast-paced. Book one follows one of the two sisters during the Caraval who is accompanied by a guy and the whole description was very magical--kinda alluding to the magic of Legend himself (the Caraval Master). In it, there is mentions of what kind of world it is, but it doesn’t really get explained until book two, which follows the other sister to find out Legend’s real identity for a certain reason that I won’t disclose ‘cause it’s a spoiler. This expands a lot more about how the present came to be as it was and also explains a little more about the background for the major characters. Although I’m in the early chapters of the third book and so can’t really comment on it, all I can say is that so far, it brings the two stories more together than they were before as it switches viewpoints between the sisters; I feel like that’s also why I don’t hate the second book in this trilogy, because the first one seems more like a prequel to set the scene while the second feels like the beginning of the actual story, and the third would be it’s conclusion. Okay, so, fair warning, there is a lot of metaphors which mix senses (for example, describing an action/emotion as a colour/image/taste) and I understand not everyone likes that writing style, which is completely okay; I just happen to like it.

Daughter of the Pirate King series by Tricia Levenseller--the main girl, I feel, is either a love-or-hate character. Personally, I don't particularly mind her, since she's just fun to read. There are parts where she tells you just how awesome she is but can't show you because she would give her act away (she's pretending to be a prisoner on a ship to steel a map) but if it was in any other scenario, I would despise that. I suppose my plus points would be for how she reacts internally to what she's doing, you see the whole process going on in her mind--and it isn't perfect, mind you, but the fact nothing is perfect makes it better. Though I could see why people would think she was annoying or the romance was very fast-paced (I prefer a slow-burn, but I don't mind this either). One thing I will say is that there are two characters (one in particular) that I love the dynamics of. Also, there's pirates. I don't think I need to explain further on that point.

Books I'm in the middle of reading that seem pretty cool so far:

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black--I'm halfway through this book and so far I'm really enjoying it. The dynamic between the main girl and her nemesis is just unlike many enemies-to-lovers I've ever read (including online) because they just hate each other so much. Like, she's not gonna be seduced by him and get into a really toxic relationship where her feelings are being taken advantage of. She's grown into being smart, she's grown into being skilled, she's not a love-struck idiot that makes impulsive, nonsensical choices. There are two more books after this and apparently it gets better and the main characters find some ground to not be toxic (again, not sure since I haven't read it myself). Now, this is probably going to get me a lot of hate, but I'm not a fan of a certain popular YA author who has a very popular book series that involves fae. I find this a much more likeable alternative since the faerie are not humans with superpowers and pointy ears. There is actual description, actual difference between the humans and the fae, different rules they live by, two examples being that humans can't eat fae food otherwise [redacted] and the other being the fae are immortal (the kind that doesn't age, but can be killed). There's consistency in the world building and the characters are not too overpowered--and this itself just set above all the other faerie books I've read thus far.

Lost Boy by Christina Henry--this is a Peter Pan retelling that I'm still in the first half of the book. Not got much to say except for the characters are even at such a point are distinct with each other (I can already tell that Peter Pan is a Psychotic Asshole™). It's very impactful, but be warned, it's dark and violent too. I mean, when I say Peter Pan is a Psychotic Asshole™, I mean it with every fibre of my being. And it is a very good origin story to Captain Hook, who you begin to empathise with quite a bit even early on within the book. I also like a few other books from the same author since she delves quite a bit into dark fantasy and story-retellings which I personally adore, but I feel like this one is a good starting point. Either this, or The Girl in Red which is Red Riding Hood is bi and goes on a murder-spree.

The Archived by V. E. Schwab--I've actually got a couple of this author's books but I decided to put this one on because so far I'm enjoying it so far. The atmosphere of the story is very eerie and it gives beginning-of-a-horror-movie vibes. So far I haven't really gotten into the whole thing with the love interests, but there is some in there. I just really enjoyed the whole worldbuilding, the setting and feel of the story was awesome, the writing was really good, and I love the little anecdotes that are put in between Mac and Da (her grandfather). Though I can see why the switching from tenses would be confusing for some, I just really liked it. Again, not much to say because I haven't gotten too far into the story, but so far, it's pretty great.

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan--oh boy. Now, this book is one I would recommend so far but it needs to be said that it is hard to read. Not because the writing was bad or the plot was crap--no, the writing is really good and the plot is very interesting. It's hard because of the themes that are being addressed within it. I'm not gonna sugar-coat it, it mentions a LOT of sexual harassment, kidnapping, lack-of consent. However, although there are a few books in which this is romanticised, this is definitely NOT one of them. In fact, you feel really bad for the main character and I even felt like taking a break to come to terms with what was being said or described, but this is a story where the main girl does what she can to fight against it. Usually, I skip past the author's notes at the beginning but lucky I read this one because it gave me an understanding of why this was written--the author had been through a similar situation and wanted to raise awareness for any girls currently going through anything remotely close to this situation. It was nice to see that this was something that was being spoken about and I'm so proud of the author for speaking up about her experiences and encouraging others to speak up as well.

Circe by Madeline Miller--if you've already read Song of Achilles and enjoyed it, this was written by the same author and follows a character called Circe. She is actually a side-character from The Odyssey by Homer, so--again--Greek mythology is heavily present in this. I actually haven't gotten around to reading it but I've been promised that this was amazing, and speaks about feminism and females themselves in a world as patriarchal and oppressive as Ancient Greece (let's be honest, they were extremely sexist)

It's Not About the Burqa by various authors, edited by Mariam Khan--this is the only non-fiction book I have on this list because I don't read non-fiction all that much. Reading books, for me, is escaping from reality so reading this genre is going against the main reason I read in the first place. However, that being said, the topic it discusses is very near and dear to my heart as it is part of my identity, who I am as a person. This book, folks, is about Muslim women. It's a compilation of essays written by said women which each tackle different topics regarding Muslim women, ranging from religious dress, representation, mental health, stereotyping, feminism within Islam, expectations, modesty, sexuality, marriage and divorce, and more. One line that instantly hit me was "When was the last time you heard a Muslim woman speak for herself without a filter?" And I realised it was true--that most of the crap I heard about my own people, my fellow Muslim women, are either from men or non-Muslims or (in many cases) both. Reading these really opened my eyes to how we were actually being treated; how our hijabs were being used as a fashion trend rather than a religious observance; how our communities disapprove of behaviours that deviate from what we're expected to be, and the press and state being oppressive and racist towards us. I knew about most of this stuff but it really put into words (quite literally) how severe it is and had made me realise how some of the things I believed were good (like increased representation of Muslims in advertisement for beauty and fashion) were actually only short-term things at face value (like how barely any of the models or designers are actual Muslims and how the hijab, abaya, and other religious clothing were supposed to show how in Islam a woman is not valued by her physical beauty but for her personality, her intelligence, her love for her religion). This in and of itself is a bit of a rant from my part, but I really want people to read this book and understand our voices and our views from our own mouth than through someone else's interpretation off of some half-assed search on the internet. I would seriously recommend people to read it because it is such an important issue to at least try to understand.

There's so many more book that I've heard a lot of praise from that I have but haven't read yet or don't have and am planning to get in the future when my wallet recovers from me recent spending because boy is it HURT. I'll be posting about them

[if-the-crown-fits-translate-it]

Discord pt 36

[Date: 22/02, 06:52 AM - 07:29 AM GMT]

[Direct continuation of pt 35]

fetch: “so. let me see if I have this straight.

i was talking to crown about... something. i dont remember what. crown turns me into a court member. Knight? Knight.”

fetch: “knight does. things. I don’t remember anything I supposedly did as knight but it feels like I’ve run a marathon and this migraine is awful and this nosebleed is the worst”

fetch: “and then all of a sudden I wake up and I don’t know where i am and i don’t know why I’m here and I don’t remember where I’ve been or what I did I don’t remember”

Little-K1ng: “ yeah uh .. . .. .the taxidermy .... haha remember the opossum?? you kinda. brougth that up..”

fetch: “taxidermy right you do that don’t you”

[Redacted]: “fetch if you don’t know where you are you might want to leave crown might be near”

fetch: “no i need to remember. this is important it needs to be written down.”

[People express concern]

fetch: “obviously i’ll be careful. this is me we’re talking about.”

fetch: “I DONT EVEN KNOW WHERE I AM. I AM IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WOODS WHERE DO I GO FROM HERE. its fucking freezing.”

fetch: “no lights. phone’s at 56% i don’t want to waste battery by using flashlight. can only hear crickets and night animals”

fetch: “there’s a break in the foliage leading up to where I woke up. I might follow the trail. I had to have come from somewhere”

[People tell them to be careful]

fetch: “of course. watchdogs are always alert.”

jayyyyyyyy: “how did you get stuck in the damn woods--”

fetch: “wish i fuckin knew buddy”

fetch: “ugh my tail.

almost hurts worse than my head.”

fetch: “who the fuck bound it in a straight position it literally couldn’t move”

fetch: “i read the notes. knight sad he doesn’t have a tail. it was probably crown. sick fuck.

i am focusing”

fetch: “its so fucking cold.

editor wilbur irl I guess”

[People tell them to save battery]

fetch: “oh yeah i always have power saving on

a full battery can last all day”

[moon: “make sure to stay quiet and not leave a trail of blood too”]

fetch: “the nosebleed isnt that bad but its all over my shirt and tie and hands and face and hair at this rate I can dye my ears back with my blood lmao”

fetch: “i have nothing to stop the blood anyway”

[People suggest ripping off a part of clothing]

fetch: “I dunno the nosebleed is really uncanny. its only coming from the left side of my nose. reminds me of a nightmare I had a while ago. before all this crown stuff.

[Warning on next picture for talk of gore]

fetch: “i dont remember much of the nightmare. it was a couple weeks/months ago and my memory isn't the best. it gets nasty so I can spoiler it. but I rememeber that I was pulling my brain out of my nose. and part of it got stuck and every time I pulled it set my head on fire. I woke up and the rest of the day my nose hurt.”

emuhlee: “the brain part could have a bit to do with brainwashing? have you found anything by going back to where you came from?”

fetch: “it was just a nightmare. and it was before I found out about crown.”

fetch: “ive found a bit of a more worn trail. im just gonna follow it and pray.”

[People tell them to stay safe and with them good luck]

fetch: “a dog always finds his way back home right?”

jayyyyyyyy: i dont wanna hear ab dogs ever again in this server jesus /ic

fetch: “oh come on we aren’t that bad /lh”

fetch: “i mean I saw that knight was scared of dogs. I used to as well when I was a kid.”

kate: “..hm nah that’s a dumb idea sorry”

Ethan: “what’s your idea?”

fetch: “yeah whats up”

kate: “So what I had a thinky thought about, and this could be stupid because we've only gotten one thing, but Fetch just said that he was scared of dogs as a kid. I'm wondering if this... brainwashing more or less reverts you back a certain number of years? Like if you were scared of something as a kid, but now you're older and got brought into the Court, would you be scared of the same things you were scared of when you were younger? I have no basis for this idea because we've only gotten Fetch back, but if we somehow managed to get Pa- Max back, we could see if it lines up.”

fetch: “hm.

pretty plausible, maybe”

fetch: “or i guess i was just easier to appreciate as a younger kid. crown wants us to be happy. i definitely used to be happier”

wilboo soot: “Fetch? You’re back, as Fetch?”

fetch: “yeah hi boo”

wilboo soot: “MY ADMIN IS BACK”

fetch: “YEAH YR ADMIN IS BACK :D RETURN OF THE KING”

[People theorize more on Crown reverting people to how they were younger]

fetch: “I think crown just takes the mentality thats easiest to be happy. for me it was when I was a kindergartener with no worries at all and I just watched scooby doo and blues clues and I ate dinosaur nuggets on fridays if I was good in school and we had a trampoline in the backyard and I was just. just a kid.”

wilboo soot: “That checks out yeah...

Well, guess I know that I’m completely immune from being taken now! /hj”

kate: “Mood!”

fetch: “pff

I see a wider trail now.

looks like the forest is ending.”

fetch: “residential area? I think?”

fetch: “I hear cars. busy, so it must be a main road

I see houses.”

fetch: “I think I’m in a backyard.

yeah backyard.”

fetch: “oops. sorry to whose tomatoes these are.

wait.”

fetch: “wait i know this back porch.”

Little-K1ng: “oh tomatoes ?? how healthy”

fetch: “WAIT.

MONA.”

fetch: “LOOK AT YOUR BACK DOOR RIGHT NOW”

Little-K1ng: “huh??”

fetch: “MONA HEY

BACKDOOR

BACKYARD”

fetch: “MONA MONA :D”

Little-K1ng: “KNOCKING WAIT?? HANG ON IRL KNOCKING”

fetch:  “MONA HEY

HEY HEY PSPSPSPSPS LET YOUR DOGBOY IN HES COLD”

Little-K1ng: “WHAT HELLO JDFHGJKFDHGJDHJ”

fetch: “HI HELLO SORRY FOR BEEDINY ON YOUR PORCH”

Little-K1ng:  “💕 💕 💕 💕 💕 💕 💕 💕”

fetch: “MONA HI :D”

fetch:  “❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️”

Little-K1ng:  “HELL OOH YHEY HEY OH YM OGD FJHDJKHGJKDHJK JESUS THE BLOOD IS LIUKE. EVERYWHERE LMAO”

fetch:  “YEAH SORRYYY Y Y YY

INTOLD YALL IT WAS BAD

OKAY GUYS IN GONNACLEAN UP AND WARM UP AND HAVE A

SLEEPOVER LOL

ILL BE OKAY :]”

[People express concern, and tell them to stay safe]

fetch: “I care u all ! will be back to guarding the doc soon. for now I need other watchdogs to step in till I get back”

fetch: “just make sure crown or the court don’t touch it”

[Edit to the doc by fetch:]

{“Watchdog is back outside. get the fuckin squirrels out of the yard.”}

[snkpolls]

SnK Episode 60 Poll Results (for Anime Only Watchers)

The poll closed with 159 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Please note that these are the results for the Anime Only Watchers’ poll. If you wish to see the results for the Manga Readers’ poll, click here. 

Anime only watchers, beware of spoilers if you venture over to the manga readers’ poll results.

--

RATE THE EPISODE 130 Responses

And we’re back! An explosive premiere brings the series back. The vast majority seemed to enjoy the episode, with only 2.3% of folks giving it a score below a 3.  

I thought some of the directing in the action scenes was odd and the music didn’t feel as well integrated/utilized as in past seasons.

If this season is consistently as good as this first episode, AOT will indeed end as a perfect masterpiece

ARE YOU HAPPY ABOUT THE CHANGE FROM WIT STUDIO TO MAPPA? 127 Responses

The Studio change from WIT Studio to MAPPA was a subject of much scrutiny and debate before the season’s release. With almost 61% showing some form of enthusiasm about a new studio’s take on the series. The opinion is not uniform, of course, with just over 18% stating their preference for WIT studio. Slightly less (17.3%) can’t give an answer yet and the rest don’t seem to care at all.  

I wished MAPPA would make the latter episodes a little more vibrant and lessen the blur

mappa as some of my favorite shows (banana fish, yuri on ice, etc) so it was kinda cool to see they picked up AOT szn 4 ! i’m excitedly waiting to watch the next episode, (and with my ‘watch partner’ aka tumblr friend who discusses with me as we watch LOL).

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE CGI TITANS? 127 Responses

If there’s one thing that’s rather controversial about the series’ animation adaptation, then it’s certainly the use of CGI (particularly when animating Titans). The opinion of the fanbase seems to be rather positive, nonetheless. 72.4% of responders gave the CGI some praise (be it more open or more reserved), while 18.2% were more negative about the use of CGI. At the bottom was 9.4% who stated that they preferred WIT’s style of CGI to the one utilized in the episode.  

cgi wasn't bad but I was disappointed that it wasn't the 2d animation from the trailer

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE NEW OPENING? 128 Responses

When it came to the season’s opening, there was a positive response, with more than 72% expressing a favorable opinion. 21.1% didn’t seem to care for it and about 6% stated that they thoroughly disliked it. 

OP is WAY too overrated, nowhere near as good as the original, too much glorification of the kind of nationalism that led to Nazi germany's rise to power

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE NEW ENDING? 130 Responses

The new ending received very similar scores, with a similar figure of more than 72% expressing a positive view of the ending and a little over a quarter not caring for it. The proportion disliking it was much lower however, with only 2.3% of folks expressing those thoughts.

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE 4 YEAR TIME SKIP? 126 Responses

One of the grandest developments that came about in this episode is the fact that a 4 year time skip has occurred since the defeat of the Warriors in Shiganshina. Although there is a sizable minority expressing negative feelings (13.5%), the definitive majority is coming in with enthusiasm (70.6%). The rest are still thinking this change over. 

wtf is going on? Who are these new people? Why are we supposed to care about them if they're from Marley? Where are the main characters? Yeah, I suppose Reiner and Zeke technically count as MCs, but there is an appalling lack of 104th characters that needs to be fixed asap!

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE SETTING CHANGE? 125 Responses

In a similar vein, a remarkable new development is a change of setting. The majority (almost 61%) see it in a positive light, while 16% seem to dislike it. Just over 19% aren’t certain yet. 

After what Reiner and co. did, I am not at all interested in their side of the story and just want Eren and co. to completely decimate these people

Fun to meet new characters but I'm eager to know whats going on with the characters we know

It feels a little disorienting but it's a logical progression of the story

Strange

Wouldnt mind the change of setting if we at least had it from the 104th's perspective

I wasn’t expecting it to be so focused on new characters, and I was disappointed at first but I’m indifferent now.

Not liking the new perspective. At least for this new batch of kids. If Reiner and Zeke are going to be a major focus for a while, wouldn't a short series of flashbacks for their pasta work better than a completely new spin-off from the main story?

WHICH NEW CHARACTER IS YOUR FAVORITE SO FAR? 125 Responses

As this episode introduced a lot of new characters, we got a colorful pie chart for this one. The plurality of responses (40%) chose the kind-hearted Falco, while 28% went with passionate Gabi. 14.4% chose the caring Colt and 13.6% went with the cool Jaw Titan holder. The last couple of responses picked out the stoic General Magath and the quiet Zofia. Poor Udo didn’t get a single vote!

I loved it. I love the new art style, my favorite scene was Gabi destroying the train, she's awesome. I really love Falco as well and Colt. Galliard's titan design is sick

I literally don't give a shit about these new kids, I don't care about their story, just bring back EMA and the 104th already!

WHO DO YOU THINK WILL INHERIT THE ARMORED TITAN? 125 Responses

Another colorful pie chart! An almost even split for the (possible) future inheritor of the Armored Titan. 37.6% believe Falco will take it, while 27.2% went with Gabi. 33.6% do not see any of the cadets inheriting Reiner’s titan and the last couple of votes went ahead to Zofia instead.

WHO HAD THE BETTER GLOW UP? 127 Responses

When drawing comparison to Reiner and Zeke’s looks in the previous season, there was a clear favorite among the responses - Reiner, with 74%. Zeke had the preference of 15% and those who didn’t feel like either of them “went through a glow up” took 11%. 

can we acknowledge how good zeke, reiner, and [redacted] looked 😌🥰

REINER PLEASE FUCK ME

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE JAW TITAN? 126 Responses

New season, new setting, new titan! The vast majority of viewers seem hyped about the Jaw Titan and find its design really cool. 15.9% aren’t as thrilled about it, and 9.5% haven’t decided yet. Most of the write-in comments implied a connection with the Jaw Titan. But for the purpose of avoiding spoiling those who haven’t drawn the same conclusion, we won’t be publishing them. Just know we see you. ;)

i was lowkey scared lmao

CART TITAN - BETTER WITH ARMOR OR WITHOUT? 127 Responses

We are reunited with the eerie Cart Titan from S3, but this time flexing cool armor and machine guns on its back! The overwhelming majority of respondents prefer it better tricked out in its armor, over a small minority who appreciate its natural creepiness more.

MOST OF THE EPISODE FOCUSES ON GABI. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT HER? 124 Responses

Gabi appears to be a point of controversy among anime viewers already, with 38.7% viewing her favorably, 37.9% viewing her less favorably, and 16.9% not sure how to feel about her yet. Some comments feel she is similar to Eren in some ways, while others found her annoying. And yes, she did break international law. :P

Eren, but smol and female xD

I hate her already

I think she’s awesome

She's like Eren was

she passionately creepy but i like her lol

shes annoying

Gabi is SO annoying istfg really hope Falco gets more focus than Gabi, he seems nicer and more relatable

FALCO MENTIONED SOMETHING ABOUT “FLYING AROUND WITH A SWORD” AND “ATTACKING TITANS.” WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THAT? 126 Responses

Overall, no one seems to know what’s going on, though many are theorizing that this is related to the paths, titan powers/memory transfer, or Eren somehow. What could this mean for the future of Falco’s character?

Dig at anime viewers returning to S4

He saw the memories of a survey corps member

I have a couple theories, regarding the memories that intelligent Titans share back and forth

maybe he had one of those flashback/forward things that erens dad had

WHO DO YOU THINK WAS BUYING THE NEWSPAPER AT THE END? 126 Responses

Nearly 90% of respondents are certain that this mystery character is someone we know, while just a small handful of people believe it’s someone new, and about the same amount not ready to make a call one way or the other yet. Some write-ins on the poll had guessed specifically who the character may be already. But we won’t spoil you just yet. 👀

The end credits guy is definitely someone we know, but I highly doubt it's Eren

The sharp-looking dude at the end just HAS to be someone we know on Paradis, there's no way they'd just throw us in to this new cast of nobodies without some connection to the main characters

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF ELDIANS BEING USED AS WAR FODDER? 126 Responses

The treatment of Eldians on the mainland is something that the majority of respondents see as detestable, with 87.3% finding the use of them as war fodder to be downright cruel. A smaller amount of people either felt it was a necessary evil, or didn’t feel strongly about it one way or the other. 

Literally waiting for the 104th to show up and fuck shit up for these inhumane monsters

That's what happens in the real world. The persecuted minority gets used as war fodder.

i d k 👀

DO YOU THINK IT’S POSSIBLE FOR RELATIONS BETWEEN ELDIANS AND MARLEYANS TO IMPROVE? 123 Responses

Colorful opinions mean more colorful pie charts! Most viewers feel that there is no way for the relations between Eldians and Marleyans to improve (30.1%) or that relations will never improve, with the exception of a rare few who are sympathetic to Eldians (22.8%). A smaller amount (totalling 32.5%) feel that it’s possible for things to improve whether it be due to a change in Marleyan leadership or due to the two sides having to come together for the greater good. 14.6% of respondents stand in the middle ground, unsure of whether relations can improve or not.

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE EPISODE?

Honestly at first it was very confusing but overall I enjoyed it

So when do we get to see the 104th again?

I figured there would be more modern technology involved in the story, but I'm not a fan at all of the direction it's going so far. Makes me worried the ultimate basement reveal was the peak of AoT's greatness.

it was action filled!!! although i was sad so see that there are 16 episodes n not like 24(i think), it means every episode is gonna deliver!!! off to a great start, op and ed are amazing. renier had a nice glow up and JEAN WAS THAT U AT THE END?? yessir!!! beast titan looked ugly asf but when was he not ugly?? LOL

Idk wtf that opening was but I kinda like the ending. Falco seems like a good kid. I just REALLY hope he doesn't end up doing anything to hurt the protagonists (I fully expect Gabi to, she's already a violent ax-crazy kid)

just give me some Armin

WHERE. IS. EREN?

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 124 Responses

Thanks again everyone for participating in the poll! We look forward to seeing your responses for next week’s episode!

[shotsbyshae]

Liar

Warnings: Language, Violence, Sexual Tension

Words: 1.1k

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Fem!Reader

Summary: You’ve kept your promise to keep your distance from James Barnes for as long as you can, but you’ve always been a curious girl. That often leads you into trouble and makes a liar out of you.

A/N: Takes place post Endgame, so spoiler-ish.

Song: Liar by Camila Cabello

I said I won’t get too close.

James Buchanan Barnes.

Stay away from him.

Simple enough.

So, you did what any normal, sane person would – you joined S.H.I.E.L.D.

You’ve always been the one to tiptoe around the rabbit hole when you’ve been told to avoid it.

Curiouser and curiouser.

You had always managed to keep your distance whenever Barnes and Wilson were around, with Fury’s help of course – only watching – trying to go unnoticed by the former Hydra assassin.

But James Barnes had noticed you.

There was something about you that seemed familiar. He saw how some of the other agents looked up to you in admiration, to them, you were a Rockstar. To others, you were a liability with your hit first, ask questions later, attitude.

Questionable morals, compulsive behavior, arrogant, lack of respect for authority.

Those were the comments in your file, but all of your personal information had been redacted, even your name. Written above the black line in sloppy red ink – Agent X.

***

You call Fury for an assist, knowing the undercover op you’ve been working is going to end in a fight – a big one. He sends the closest agents he has – Wilson and Barnes.

Sam does a perimeter sweep while Bucky enters through the front door carefully.

The place is empty with the exception of you behind the bar, restocking the liquor shelf and you turn, eyes wide with surprise at his presence.

“Hi,” you greet him.

How are you supposed to keep your distance when he’s the only other person in the room? Why does he have to be attractive? The short dark hair and those blue eyes you can easily get lost in.

Stay away from that rabbit hole.

“Hi,” he smiles at you as he takes a seat at the bar.

Tiptoe. Tiptoe.

“Fury sent you?” you question, placing a beer bottle in front of him.

“He sent Wilson,” he responds. “I thought I’d tag along.” Barnes stares at you curiously. “I don’t think we’ve officially met, I’m –”

“I know who you are,” you interrupt him, the corner of your mouth twitching slightly as you stifle the urge to reciprocate his smile. “And I think you know who I am.”

“I have an idea,” Bucky responds as you pour yourself a shot.

“Well, you should know to keep your distance,” you down the amber liquid.

He tilts his head, “Why’s that?”

“It’s complicated.”

“I’ve seen you,” Barnes says quietly after taking a sip from the bottle. “Watching me, like you want to talk to me, but you don’t.” You flick your eyes up at him. “At first, I thought you were scared of me, but that’s not it, is it?” He watches the way you clench your jaw. “There’s something else.”

Just say it, you think to yourself.  

The sound of the door flying open draws both your attention away from each other as a group of about fifteen men storm into the bar.

“That’s her,” one of the men states angrily. “That’s the bitch who’s working for S.H.I.E.L.D.”

“Friends of yours?” Barnes questions, glancing at you with a mischievous grin.

You shrug your shoulders innocently, “I’m very popular.”

“Looks like it.”

Sam comes in from the side door in time to join the fight that ensues. An all-out bar brawl, the thrill of which is intoxicating to you as the three of you take on the group. It doesn’t take long to diminish the mob immensely and you break a bottle of bottom shelf tequila over the head of a man who’s trying to get the best of Barnes as he takes on two other men at once.

“Thanks,” he says after landing a hard-right hook to his last guy.

“Anytime,” you reply coolly, having to tilt your head back to look at him. He’s standing close enough that you can feel the heat radiating off him.

Step away from the rabbit hole.

You don’t see the man on the floor behind you as he struggles with his weapon. Barnes does though, and he moves quickly, diving towards you. A shot rings out in the small room as the blue-eyed man knocks you to the ground beneath him, shielding your body with his. You hear the unmistakable sound of the bullet ricocheting off the vibranium before the two of you hit the floor – hard. Bucky trains his pistol on the man before you can catch your breath, and he fires two quick rounds into him.

He lays the gun down as he brings his attention back to you. The sheer weight of him on top of you crushes your chest. There are worse ways to go, you think as bright blue eyes full of concern stare down at you.

“You okay?” he questions, drawing your attention to his lips as you nod silently.

Soft.

Pink.

Curiouser and curiouser.

“Good,” he responds, and you can feel his heart begin to race through his chest. Whatever this is that you’re feeling – he’s feeling it too.

Staying away is easy until you get too close then –

Down you go.

Without a word you lift your head from the floor, pressing your lips against his and you feel the slight hesitation from him before his lips curl into a half smile against yours.

“I’m sorry,” you whisper pulling away, your head landing with a soft thud against the wooden floor.

There’s a roguish glint in his eyes, “Don’t be.” He stares at you for a moment in awe, unable to deny the pull he feels towards you, as if he’s known you forever.

He kisses you back – softly – tongue sliding against yours. You’ve thought about this moment before – his hands all over you. You should be ashamed, but you’re too far down this rabbit hole now to care. This tension between you is palpable and for a moment it feels like you’re the only two people left on the planet.

No one realizes Fury has entered the bar, until he speaks gruffly from close by, “That’s enough, Agent Rogers.”

Bucky pulls away at Nick’s words, his knees on either side of your thighs as he sits up.

“Rogers,” he nearly chokes on the name as it comes out of his mouth, his eyes blown wide at the realization.

“Wait – what?” Sam questions Fury, one eyebrow raised high.

“Cap’s granddaughter,” Nick responds loudly, glaring back down at the two of you in the floor.

There’s a multitude of emotions washing over Barnes’ face and you smirk, “I thought you knew.”

He runs a frustrated hand through his short hair, “No – I thought you were a Stark.” He sighs with a shake of his head. “Not Steve’s –” Saying his name is like a jolt of acknowledgement and he scrambles from on top of you, stumbling back a couple steps as he stands.

You prop up on your elbows, watching the man retreat as you say, “I tried to warn you.” Bucky looks down at the smug smile on your face, “Complicated.”

[all-souls-matinee]

Paranormal Activity

I went through ‘a very strange time in my life’ a few years ago where I watched every single Paranormal Activity movie, some multiple times, thinking that would have no impact on my psyche. So here I am, someone who thinks the the franchise is bad and yet can remember every plot thread and every scare, and I might as well do something with that. These will be graded on a curve (scale of 1-5 stars) and not by their overall worth as movies.

Paranormal Activity (2007)

★★★★☆

Today the first movie in the franchise is lampooned for being boring and amateurish, with unlikable lead characters and a plot that doesn’t really go anywhere, but how are those not points in its favor? Isn’t that what found footage is all about? Critics and scholars contend it’s singlehandedly responsible for the genre craze that swept the United States in the 2010s after a relative lull in the early aughts, and it’s easy to see why. I’m not going to go so far as to say Paranormal Activity is a good movie (it’s not), but it is a very easy and engaging watch. 

With a cast of only two people and hardly any outside characters the story plays out as a domestic drama; yes, there are long stretches of nothing happening but it ratchets up suspense in a way that was unusual and refreshing at the time. Using a camera to feel in control of an out-of-control situation was a theme broached by the much better Blair Witch Project, and Paranormal Activity leans into it as a central thesis, making sure it’s a white hetero rich guy that’s doing the recording and only subverting that expectation in later films. The movie was even supposed to end [mild spoilers] with Possessed Katie beating her obnoxious husband Micah over the head with his beloved camera and the film cutting to black, and I think it leaves the story weaker and more scattered for having left that out. 

Paranormal Activity 2 (2010)

★★☆☆☆

Before I get into why this one sucks, I’ll give it the benefit of being the most solid entry in the franchise by far. As a prequel to the first movie it does its job by introducing additional family members in a bigger house with more cameras. They have to contend with the same demon, so it’s the same thing we’ve seen before but with much higher stakes, and that’s a perfectly good idea for building a franchise. I admire it for that.

Anything beyond structure and pacing is so much worse it’s laughable. Where PA1 had some originality going for it PA2 throws in every horror stereotype it can think of, including an insanely awful running bit about how the family’s Mexican housekeeper is the only one who can sense ghosts. The most novel addition to the franchise is extensive lore about the demon wanting to own a baby because of a pact made with a coven of witches, which made audiences across America lean forward in their seats and say ‘... what?’ Decisions like that cost the movie any kind of levity, scares, or interest in the characters, which were kind of essential things for the movie to have.

I’d honestly give it 1 star if it weren’t for the extensive drama over the automated pool cleaner. We spend so much time watching this thing I think I developed an emotional bond with it.

Paranormal Activity 3 (2011)

★★★★★

Paranormal Activity 3 is another prequel that takes us back to when the leads of the first two movies- Katie and Christie- were little girls experiencing demonic activity in the 80s (their stepdad is a videographer, which gets us past the question of how anyone in the 80s would have tens of video cameras skillfully set up around their home.) Objectively it sounds like even more of a pathetic cashgrab than PA2, but, and this might be the hottest take I will ever have when it comes to horror movies, it does its job it in a way that’s such a prefect mixture of original/bizarre content and safe bankable boringness that it’s the best movie in the franchise. It certainly cemented it for what it is today.

Movie no. 3 drops the ‘this really happened’ show the first two movies put on in trying to be like other found footage horror (read: The Blair Witch Project.) No more actors and characters sharing names, no more title cards thanking the police for footage, we’re all in on the game at this point and you don’t realize how much of a relief that is until it’s happened. Instead of trying to make the characters realistic and falling flat, they let them be a little more like characters to great success. Everyone plays their role in the story and makes the shaky plot work. It’s not good writing, but it has people react to things in interesting ways and builds up the lore of the franchise more effectively than either of the first two movies (helped along by a batshit insane finale that makes no sense but is so much fun it doesn’t actually matter.) 

This is also by far the ‘scariest’ movie in the franchise, and I think it’s a combination of practice and not taking everything so deadly seriously. Comedy helps balance things out (my favorite is a sex scene that folds into an earthquake scene that folds into a shot of earthquake dust landing on a ghost), and they’ve gotten tension-building nothingness down to a science. Using a camera attached to a slowly oscillating fan and a camera trained on a mirror in a dark room? Perfect ideas for freaking your audience out.

Paranormal Activity 4 (2012)

★☆☆☆☆

Paranormal Activity 4 was the long-awaited actual-sequel to the events of the first movie, using the hours of information and lore given to us by the prequels as a backdrop, and it... really flounders under that responsibility. We’re introduced to an all-new cast of characters, with a teenage girl taking the lead for a change of pace that doesn’t really go anywhere, and spend the first half of the movie wondering why the family we’ve spent so much time with was pushed to the side (it must be important.) The reason we’re given is that this new family has an adopted son who is (twist!) the witch-stolen-demon-proxy baby from movie two.

PA4 has the opposite problem of PA2; it’s not awful, but is so shaky and has so much lost potential it seems to drop all of the pieces at once. It does some cool things with suspense an xbox kinect, and the acting is fine, but while no one is watching a Paranormal Activity sequel for the screenplay this one needed good, grounded writing and didn’t get that. The loose plotting of the third movie was saved by its characters and by being a little more tongue-in-cheek, but 4 doesn’t have that to fall back on and has way more moving pieces than 3 ever did. The ending is especially egregious, bizarre even by nth-sequel-in-a-horror-franchise standards, and is never brought up again. Points for a convoluted weird plot that makes no sense, points redacted for a convoluted weird plot that makes no sense.

Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones (2014)

★★★☆☆

Paranormal Activity 5 is so off-the-rails insane that it gets the coveted 3 stars, deserving or no. After back-to-back prequels and a disappointing long-awaited sequel, no one was sure exactly what this was going to be, and the movie seems to feel the same way.

Gone is the lore-heavy and tension-heavy stuff from the preceding years of footage. For the first half of the movie we follow a first-gen high school graduate named Jesse, who breaks into a mysterious neighbor’s house with his best friend. He gets bitten by a ghost and infected with ghost superpowers, then he and his friend group + love interest have a grand old time doing skateboard and levitation tricks using the ghost superpowers. I’m not exaggerating for comedic effect; it’s so dumb I love it ardently. Why aren’t all sequels like this??? 

Obviously the ghost superpowers turn out to be A Bad Thing tenuously connected to all the witch/demon stuff, and we have to get back to jump scares (now with added body horror), but the ways in which it does eventually tie back to the franchise are so ridiculous it’s delightful, and the twist ending, for once in this entire nightmare, is fantastic.

Paranormal Activity 6: The Ghost Dimension 3D (2015)

This one came out after my original paranormal activity run, and I considered watching it for the sake of being able to finish the article in good faith but I just can’t you guys. I couldn’t do it. Look at this.

That said, the thing about these movies is that none of them are a complete waste of time; even the worst entries in the lineup are entertaining and fun in a reality-tv-trainwreck sort of way, and that’s all very calculated. No matter what your opinion they earned the right to make this a franchise with too many movies and extensive lore. Happy halloween.

[brookelynndyke]

let’s talk... snatch game!!! (spoilers)

Maxi Challenge - Snatch Game

Runway: Frozen Eleganza

TOP TWO OF THE WEEK

Gigi Goode: girl when I tell you I was scared for her after that walk through... but she turned it out!!! she was so funny and honestly you could tell ru liked her snatch game more than any of the other judges. she did something original and I think that’s the main reason she won this week. now, her ice cream lady look was a bit basic but the concept and execution were flawlessly done. i’m so happy she opened up about her fluidity with gender this episode, a few tears were shed. she deserved her win. 

Jackie Cox: god I’m soooo glad Jackie is finally standing out to the judges, it’s what she deserves!! jackie did Lisa Rinna, and you could tell she came so prepared and knew her shit! the only reason I think she didn’t win over gigi was because the housewives are quintessential snatch game and very easy to make funny. but when it came to her runway omg i loved it, it gave me very that fairy thing from legend of zelda, if someone knows its name please tell me. overall this was a great episode for jackie.

REDACTED: i understand editing her out of the episode as much as possible,, but i feel like her designer worked so hard that they should atleast show her runway...

SAFE

Heidi N’ Closet: heidi did leslie jones which was- a choice, i still can’t tell if it was a good one... but it wasn’t horrible. she got a few laughs but most of them fell flat. but then on the runway she turned it out in this glamorous all white fluffy giant full realized snow queen moment and i loved it.

Jaida Essence Hall: jaida did cardi b, which i thought was very her. she knows her personality she knows her character, jaida never had low points... its just that the laughs she got weren’t major just a few giggles here and there. on the runway she was serving you the cold never bothered me anyway realness cause those cutouts... girl amazing! 

Jan: i was really hoping jan would do well in the snatch game but she kinda disappointed. she did Bernadette Peters and it was funny for like 5 mins and then i guess she just lost it. BUT SIS HER RUNWAY... jaw on the floor it was so amazing. this elsa to whitewalker fantasy was so well done.

Widow Von’Du: widow did Tina AND Ike Turner which was interesting,, personally it just wasn’t very consistent but she had some very good moments during snatch game. and now this might be unpopular but i LOVED HER RUNWAY SO MUCH, like that was an amazing concept and the dress had an amazing silhouette, i wish we could have seen it better with less of a life preserver and, more icicles on her face and around her body. thats what wouldve made it that much better.

BOTTOM THREE

Crystal Methyd: the scream of relief that came from my body when she was safe was unbelievably loud. Crystal’s, Poppy was crazy accurate and it was sad that Ru didn’t know who she was. Despite the accuracy she struggled to make it funny. BUT THEN ON THE RUNWAY, ugh i loved it sm, this mr freeze pyjama fantasy,,OMG! it was like so well made and fit her so well.

Aiden Zhane: so aiden did Patricia Quinn and long story short it was bad, she didn’t have an accent and landed no jokes, idk if you guys have seen but patricia quinn actually replied with her opinions bashing aiden, which is kinda rough because she said herself she looks up to her. but then aiden did well on the runway, it was a cute yeti moment and probably the most glamorous we’ve seen her yet.

Brita: ugh im so tired of brita she gets on every single one of my nerves. her jennifer holliday was bad and not funny literally ever. i also have a bone to pick with her runway because it wasn’t giving me frozen at all, more of a iridescent eleganza. don’t get me wrong she looked beautiful but in my eyes it didn’t fit the theme.

THE LIPSYNC

honestly don’t waste your time watching it if you haven;t already, it was boring and a very tight race until brita has her little magic moment. instead go watch jan’s jukebox and do yourself some good.

OVERALL

the episode was very good, with great performances and horrible performances. it was lowkey an emotional rollercoaster tho, 10/10 would watch again 

[mozartwasajungkookstan]

An Analysis of @markswoman’s ‘Touch’ - The art of blameless tragedy

Spoilers ahead for ‘Touch’ by @markswoman (the first couple paragraphs are just a explanation into why angst exists and the problems with it but you should still read ‘Touch’ all the same)

In order for any piece of fiction to be entertaining, something has to go wrong. Conflict between characters, tragic accidents, misunderstandings, anything where characters are forced into unpleasant situations will do. Writers are sometimes reluctant to write unenjoyable events for characters that they’ve grown attached to, but without them their work simply won’t be interesting. Why is that?

It’s not because audiences enjoy fictional suffering - quite the opposite really. Many people read things with the knowledge that it will probably make them cry, only stopping because their tears are damaging the pages source: me reading the last Harry Potter book. Miss you, Dobby. Our curiosity really gets the better of us despite all the negative emotions we feel because we want to see things get better for our beloved characters, so we read on.

So writers decide to throw in this thing called “angst”. Shake things up a bit. Pull in the audience. Throw the characters of their rhythm. Character A thinks Character B has feelings for Character C, so Character A becomes distant. However, Character B actually has feelings for Character A and is hurt and confused that Character A cold and distant now. This is a common trope that when done right provides a satisfying moment when the characters finally get together. However, when done not-so-right, there can be many problems, with the main one being the audience constantly screaming at the screen/book saying “Jesus Christ just communicate like normal people!”. The writer is trying to create conflict so the story is interesting, but the way that it develops is too unrealistic - the audience has already thought of 5 different solutions to the “problem”, so watching the characters struggle can become irritating. It’s as if the whole “he’s behind you!” thing that they do in theatres was the entire show. Just 2 whole hours of “Where is he?” and getting an increasingly angry audience to shout “Right behind you!”. Not fun.

The solution seems pretty simple: don’t create angst from misunderstandings that can be cleared up in a single conversation... Easier said than done. Using car accidents and terminal illness is almost cliché and conflict between characters is difficult to create. Hell, even Shakespeare had a difficult time solving this because the characters in pretty much any of his plays could have just talked to each other to solve their problems (he found a little loophole because he made ‘Much ado About Nothing’ so frustrating it turned into commentary on society on how many problems could be solved by talking it out instead of acting impulsively). But a way I found was to have no characters at fault, so the audience sympathises with them. That’s where ‘Touch’ comes in.

FINALLY. I’ve gotten to the main subject at hand: a god tier fic. Now, you might be wondering why I just spent a few paragraphs babbling on about plot devices and common problems people have with them. But it’s important; it wasn’t just an excuse to complain, I swear. Markswoman does an incredible job of handling conflict and angst in ‘Touch’ - in all their work, in fact. But ‘Touch’ in particular deals with a source of angst that is normally irritating: miscommunication and a misunderstanding between characters. But this time one is mad at Jaemin or the main character for it.

Markswoman does this by showing the reader that this miscommunication can’t be solved by a simple conversation. Jaemin’s thought process right before the main character touches him for the first time makes it clear that Jaemin has so many doubts about telling our character about his seemingly cursed hands that a simple conversation that normally would’ve solved any problems is now a risky move on Jaemin’s part and we understand why he’s so reluctant to reveal anything. It also makes us sympathise with the poor guy. Is this the first time he’s had these thoughts? Our character isn’t at fault either. Logic and reasoning would’ve never brought her to the conclusion that Jaemin is basically modern day King Midas, so her reaching out to him is perfectly understandable. The idea that neither character is to blame makes the ending so much more tragic because there’s none of what I’ve coined as “The Friar Lawrence Feeling” - Friar Lawrence being the only character in ‘Romeo and Juliet’ who could’ve saved everyone by sitting them down and having a little chat. The characters in ‘Touch’ couldn’t have been saved by a little chat, so the Friar Lawrence Feeling isn’t there and all that is left is undiluted sorrow. The reader knows that the characters took what would have normally been rational and more importantly, the correct decisions. Jaemin tried his best to protect the girl he loved and the girl he loved tried her best to help and understand him, but it still ended in Jaemin’s ‘murder’ streak going back down to 0 days. There’s nothing more heartbreaking than doing everything you can for the one you love but it all being futile in the end anyways.

But of course, ‘Touch’ is so much more than just a fic that isn’t irritating. It’s so much better than “not bad”. For one, it really gets the audience on Jaemin’s side (although Jaemin’s adorable personality in real life definitely helps). At the beginning, the descriptions of the unlucky people that Jaemin accidently touches almost have a sense of innocence, as if it’s from child Jaemin’s perspective because he doesn’t quite understand what’s happening. The focus is on something else - the teacher’s smile, the chocolate bars and daisy chains - and the narration almost sounds hopefuI, like when the narrator suggests that “maybe she’s making more daisy chains”. The idea that he’s the one unintentionally causing these deaths doesn’t cross his mind at his point, so he doesn’t focus on it too much. He’s still hopeful and naive, but as a reader, we already know what’s happening and the fact that it starts off with Jaemin being young and oblivious makes us feel terrible for him because he’s just a child. We just want to give this poor boy a hug and tell him it’s gonna be alright. But we can’t. Mainly because we’d be lying and also because... well...

What this shows is Jaemin’s childhood being tainted by this ability. Moments of joy in a normal life have been ruined. Making friends as a young child, celebrating with people he loves and his first love now all have bad connotations with Jaemin and when he finally realises why, it’s particularly heartbreaking. He’s absolutely disgusted with himself, to the point of being physically sick, despite the fact that he didn’t even know about his strange ability himself. This, coupled with the language choices - his hands are “bloodstained” and he sees it as “murder” - makes it clear how disgusted Jaemin is. He views himself as a murderer even though he has so little control over these deaths. It’s not really his fault but he has no one else to blame.

Then he meets our character. The chemistry between the 2 is there almost instantly but with the knowledge of Jaemin’s past, you can’t help but feeling a sense of impending doom. For good reason as well, because unfortunately, you’d be right. He tries to be cautious, he really does, but our character gets too close. He wonders what would happen if he just told you and he asks himself rhetorical questions that have answers he doesn’t have or necessarily want. He’s torn between telling you and keeping a safe distance from you. For good reason as well, because he desperately wants for there to be an exception to this rule and for there to be a happy ending. We do too and some of Jaemin’s thoughts have a tinge of hope to them, but the sentence “he’s so scared” after it’s too late to go back fill us with fear too. For good reason as well, because unfortunately, there is no happy ending.

But who’s to blame? No one, that’s who. For such an unhappy ending, there is no villain. No one rubbing their hands together nefariously in the background, no one plotting the downfall of the pair, no one to truly blame for the tragic ending and Jaemin’s aftermath. Except for the writer, I suppose.

‘Touch’ is many things, but a happy, feel-good fic is definitely not one of them. I love it for that. “All’s well ends well” is a perfect description for it. Nothing is well from the very beginning, so it makes perfect sense for it to not end well. I suppose I got what I was expecting, but goddamn, I’ve never wanted to be wrong more in my life. Thanks for destroying my heart.

10 leather gloves out of 10 (go read ‘Touch’. Your heart WILL be in pieces by the ending, but you won’t regret it.)

- [redacted]

[goose-books]

Bro talk about all of the damn characters for the prompt thing I care abt them so much (Rhama tho do Rhama plz)

victor you said this and then i posted the rahma ask and then i dm’ed you to ask who ELSE you wanted to see and then i was ALMOST done writing up the ask and i accidentally refreshed the page. which is why this has taken so long because that defeated me. i would die for you tysm

anyway! i am going to do this for reuben (rahma’s best friend; benvolio character; king of skateboarding places) and hawk (isaac’s best friend; horatio character; objectively the best character in AMT but it’s not like i have favorites-)

(the WIP) (the ask game)

REUBEN

B A S I C S

full name: reuben felix katz

gender: cis guy

sexuality: gay

pronouns: he/him

O T H E R S

family: it’s just reuben and his mom; his dad passed when he was young. reuben would die for his mother and so would i. perfect parent. they also have a cat named smokey who is approximately three thousand years old.

birthplace: like most of the other characters, reuben grew up in the fictional town of ellisburg, wisconsin. unlike most of the other characters, reuben’s family is decidedly not on the “rolexes and boat shoes” side of the wealth spectrum in ellisburg, and that’s something he’s very aware of (even if he often feels his friends… aren’t).

job: he canonically works at a papa murphy’s which is one (1) throwaway line in the middle of an episode and exists because i used to work at a papa murphy’s. gang gang

phobias: he doesn’t really scare easily or have a lot of common phobias (would definitely keep snakes and rats as pets; type one diabetic so he got over any potential fear of needles; canonically played pokemon during a school tornado drill). probably he’s not so into heights, but he wouldn’t show it.

guilty pleasures: watching golden girls with smokey (”he’s like seventy in cat years; he’s the target audience”)

M O R A L S

morality alignment?: neutral good

sins - envy. he’s very conscious that he’s had to deal with a lot of things his friends have not (medical stuff, monetary stuff, the loss of a parent, a lot of responsibility as a child), and while he’s not resentful, he can get bitter about it.

virtues - diligence (he works very hard at everything!!); humility; kindness (at least he tries; he doesn’t think he’s as nice as he could be, but he wishes he were); patience (kind of a given when your best friends are rahma “zoned out or in love or both” ashiq and bitty “complete goddamn wild card” chopra)

T H I S - O R - T H A T

introvert/extrovert

organized/disorganized

close minded/open-minded

calm/anxious

disagreeable/agreeable (he’s very much not a fan of making waves)

cautious/reckless (in any other group of people reuben would be the Chaotic Friend. as it is. he’s in the only trio where he could possibly end up the responsible one)

patient/impatient

outspoken/reserved

leader/follower (bitty pretty much calls the shots in their trio; reuben can only try to be the voice of reason)

empathetic/unempathetic

optimistic/pessimistic (he wishes he were more optimistic! he hides his pessimism very well. he would probably call himself a realist.)

traditional/modern

hard-working/lazy (very much so)

R E L A T I O N S H I P S

otp: reuben x bitty but only with the caveat that they’re sixteen and have some relationship issues to work through

ot3: …reuben somehow dating hawk as well as bitty would be. an incredibly healing concept. hmm. i will keep this in my mind

brotp: reuben and rahma!!

notp: isaac and reuben used to be friends and now they are not! and their dynamic is very tumultuous and bad for both of them! and if AMT by some miracle of god had a fandom people would ship them and that makes me want to break things

HAWK

B A S I C S

full name: hawk damon stevens

gender: cis guy

sexuality: gay

pronouns: he/him

O T H E R S

family: he’s an only child with two dads! they are very good parents and thus don’t come into the story much at all. oops.

birthplace: hawk was born and grew up in milwaukee! he lived there until he was about ten, at which point [redacted] [redacted] and his family moved to ellisburg.

job: N/A

phobias: he does not care for needles at ALL.

guilty pleasures: buzzfeed unsolved and documentaries. (mostly he watches documentaries about ancient rome and whatever else is on the history channel, but, like, if he’s left alone long enough he will eventually get really deep down the true crime rabbit hole and end up feeling like that cursed emoji with the bloodshot eyes.)

M O R A L S

morality alignment?: lawful good

sins - sloth (as in, inaction and a lack of standing up for himself or telling people no)

virtues - charity (sometimes to a fault. he gives too much of himself to other people); diligence (especially in school); humility; patience

T H I S - O R - T H A T

introvert/extrovert

organized/disorganized

close minded/open-minded

calm/anxious (i mean. yes. but most of the time he’s very level-headed)

disagreeable/agreeable (to a fault.)

cautious/reckless

patient/impatient

outspoken/reserved (reuben is reserved because he’s a private person; hawk is reserved because he gets anxious in social situations)

leader/follower (side-eyes isaac farley)

empathetic/unempathetic (sometimes too much!)

optimistic/pessimistic

traditional/modern

hard-working/lazy

R E L A T I O N S H I P S

otp: …well he and isaac do have a Situation going on but i’m not sure i can uncritically call them my otp because of the way their dynamic shifts and [redacted as we go into spoiler territory]

ot3: again i will state hawk and reuben somehow dating each other is a high quality concept

brotp: hawk and ginger’s friendship doesn’t get a lot of page time but it is so very sweet i love them

notp: hawk and ginger. they’re a gay man and a lesbian don’t even LOOK at them romantically or i’ll stomp you to death with my hooves