#and it’s gotta be men writing it so it’s misogynistic

[starglaee]

The Cobra Kai writers searching for a creative insult a girl should call another gir- BITCH!

[alexandriaellisart]

So now i have migraines apparently 😭

[eternitariant]

Rattled

cw//tw//~ none, just mention of a wanker u worked with - non descript xx

You were at the front counter of the auto shop finishing a write up for a customer when two tall men came in. They looked like the typical type to hassle you but that wasn’t anything new so you pasted on a smile and welcomed them in,

“Good Afternoon, Can I help you two with anything?”

“Oh, I’m counting on it sweetheart.” The shorter of the two drawled with a charming smile as he looked at you like you were a candy bar and you rolled your eyes,

“Ignore him.” The other one said, offering you an apologetic puppy dog face and you kicked up the tiniest nod, “We were hoping you’d be able to tell us a bit about a guy who was working here. He-“

“Why?” you interrupted, shifting your gaze between them both in suspicion and the puppy awkwardly smiled,

“We’re working on an article for the local paper and were just hoping to shed some more light on what he was like… you know, day to day.”

“He was a misogynistic, self-serving pig. Anything else?” you jabbed, flashing a sarcastic smile at them both and the charmer’s eyebrows raised in something between surprise and impressed,

“So, he wasn’t a good boss I take it?” he sarked and you laughed,

“He wasn’t a good employee, sunshine. I’m the boss.”

“Wow, that is so ho-“ he was cut off by the other one clearing his throat aggressively and he swerved, “awesome.”

“How long had you worked with him?” Floppy hair asked,

“3 weeks.” You were curt, these two were definitely not journalists, “Look, I have a soft spot for misfits and strays but don’t tolerate people like him.”

“People like him?”

The taller one kept talking to you whilst the other was wandering around your reception area, fidgeting with all of the parts and knick knacks you had everywhere and then he dropped something. He jumped back and then scrambled to pick it up and put it back like no one would notice, despite your eyes burning a hole in the back of his head. As he turned back around he made a face like a caught child and you almost let yourself giggle.

“Thank you very much for your time, Miss.” He wrapped up as his clumsy sidekick made his way back to the desk and flashed that same butter wouldn’t melt smile at you,

“May we, uh, have a name? You know, to source for our article.” He slied, tilting his head at you as he leaned over the counter,

“Y/N.” you stated plainly,

“Thank you, Y/N.” he husked and you nodded. You followed his eyes as he realised that your name and number were in fact on a stack of business cards right in front of him and he sounded like a cartoon character,

“Aha, right. Well, I’ll just take one of these in case we have any follow up questions.” And punctuated his sentence with a wink

“Knock yourself out.” You sang and went back to work.

“Dean, you gotta stop with that whole heartthrob routine. It clearly doesn’t always work.” Sam chastised his brother as they walked back out towards the car and Dean scoffed,

“Dude, come on. It was totally working. She’s just more…” he gestured vaguely as he tried desperately to find the words, “restrained.”

“Uninterested is the word I think you’re looking for.”

“Not a chance Sammy.” And then as if on cue, you came out of the shop after noticing what they were about to get into,

“This is your car?” you asked, trying to stifle your excitement but it wasn’t really working,

“Yes, yes it is.” He nodded before turning to Sam and giving him an ‘I told you so’

“Sweet ride.”

“Oh, you have no idea.” He rasped and you very subtly raised an eyebrow at him,

“You should definitely call me…” you started and he perked up, “a klutz like you can’t be trusted with a beauty like this.” You teased and Sam could’ve sworn he saw Dean’s heart thumping out of his chest like a giant valentine. While his brother silently laughed to himself, Dean scrambled to find another line,

“What about a beauty like you?”

You scoffed out a brisk laugh and rolled your eyes, “Wow… you don’t give up do you?”

“Nope.”

“Okay boomerang… what’s your name?”

“Dean.” He smiled brightly with a smugness in your eyes that you wanted to smack out of him,

“Well Dean, you have my number. Use it wisely… if you think you can handle it.” You whispered the latter half of your invitation before turning your head to Sam and simply waving him goodbye.

Sam returned your gesture and then got into the Impala, waiting for Dean who was awestruck by you. It took for Sam to hit the horn and jump scare Dean into a little frightened dance for his daze to be broken.

“You’re a real jackass, you know that.” Dean grumbled as he got into the driver’s seat,

Sam was laughing out his whole response, “She rattled you. This is my favourite day.”

“Shut up.” Dean snapped before further muttering to himself, “no she didn’t”

But he knew full well that you had and it was a feeling he was ready to chase.

part 2??

[featheryminx]

hate post under the cut! this is so petty and purely a form of stress relief bc it’s finals season and i need some unserious venting. do not engage if ur a fan of buckt*mmy :) thanks

truly i have no words for this one. Girl what do you mean That Ship brought you so much joy you started watching 911 for them, and then stopped when they broke up? this isn’t like that egregious by their standards it just. it just boggles the brain.

why the fuck would chris meddle in this? these are grown ass men and he is a teenager who has a whole world of other problems, be serious. I also love how Those Shippers are so adamant that buck isn’t like that important or intertwined with Chris, up until they can use Chris as a plot point for their (bad) ship

okay so first of all—the 118 were never his friends. Like we gotta get that straight. He (can’t even say That Man bc that’s too ace attorney coded LOL) literally made chim & hens professional lives like, miserable? He was an active proponent of discomfort and harm and you think that the 118 is supposed to be on his side ever? no.

also like between Buck and Him, the 118 would never ever choose him. Like what the fuck does OP mean “the breakup has proven they aren’t his friends” as if there was something to disprove? There was no evidence suggesting that the 118 were his friends for that guy to even feel betrayed by. They just did not give a fuck about him.

you’re just making him italian to give him a cute plot point italian grandma? Talk about making him more and more eddie coded… like we already have Abuela we don’t need another grandma who speaks a diff language and has cute little names for buck. like this is literally just ripping off of eddies character bc you have nothing better to give this cardboard man who is Eddie Lite in every other way as well. (sorry to OP not a dig on your actual writing, it’s just the eddie-ification of your blorbo that bothers me)

WHAT IS YOU BITCHES OBSESSION WITH SAL? IF IM REMEMBERING CORRECTLY SAL WAS ALSO A WEIRD RACIST FREAK! are you weird and racist? is that why you’re obsessed with weird racists? grow up.

GET BUCKS NAME OUT OF YOUR MOUTH how dare you suggest that a song could apply to buck & temu and also sal/temu? gross. ALSO see above for my criticism of sal & temu obsessed weirdos.

so you think a racist, disrespectful clown is easier to stomach than someone having safe, sane, consensual sex? Like let me remind you—Temu was ridiculously paternalistic towards Buck all the time, and never respected him (first date, the way he talked about him to hen and karen) and is also canonically racist and misogynistic and also apparently has no remorse over the way he treated his beard or no respect for her as a human… and you think THAT is easier to stomach than a guy having casual sex? shows where your priorities lie.

GET MY GIRLS OUT OF YOUR MOUTH. he was so dismissive of their concerns in that deleted scene and u want more of those interactions? no baby. absolutely not.

el em ef ay oh. that’s all.

why the FUCK would he be involved, bffr. like practically, we know this is an athena plot. and also. DING DONG THE WITCH IS FUCKING DEAD and he’s not coming back. cope. seethe.

ugh i can’t add more images? okay i’ll just transcribe the post it’s short. basically it’s a snippet of a scene where Temu says “I’ve got your back”, because of course they have nothing better to do than steal from the buddie dynamic. like. that’s just embarassing.

[homeofthelonelywriter]

Drawn to you | Pt. 7

(A/N) Okay, writing alive!Alastor is a lot of fun. Also, I'll already put out a warning for the next part. It will be a though one.

Pairing: Alastor x bunny demon!Reader (no Y/N)

Warnings: some more murder, foreshadowing, kisses

Synopsis: He remembers you. Finally.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8

Alastor couldn’t deny that he was somewhat nervous. After all, he had just killed his boss. No matter how much he tried to concentrate on his work and script for tonight, he kept seeing the bloodied body of the man in front of him. And it made him smile. The rush he had felt…was addicting and in his mind, he was already choosing his next victim.

But before he could do that, he had a show to deliver. And knowing that you were among the listeners gave him the boost he needed to finish his script and slowly get ready. While he was in is office, doing vocal warm-up exercises, he thought of you, how you were probably on the bus at the moment, on your way to the tiny apartment that you called home.

If only you’d let him, he could offer you so much more. A house, with a nice backyard where you could plant your favorite flowers. He would build a swing for the two of you and maybe you could get a dog. Something to protect you while he was gone. You could finally quit your job here and escape this thankless, misogynistic place.

He would put the prettiest, little ring on your finger and wear his own with pride. He would take you to his mama and introduce you, sure she’d love you just as much as he did. He would brag to anyone who’d listen that you're his. His best friend. His lover. His wife. The mother of his children. Children…he would put as many in you as you’d allow. And he’d be a better father than his own ever was.

He could see it clear as day, his life with you.

“Al? You have two minutes until you’re on air?”

The voice of the radio host’s assistant brought him back to reality and he jumped slightly in surprise.

“Oh, of course, my apologies.”

With quick steps, Alastor rushed to the booth he was hosting from and quickly got settled, just in time for the red light above the door to turn on and the music to end.

“Welcome ladies and gentlemen to today’s late show. I’m your host, as usual, Alastor! What a lovely evening folks, gotta say, I’m kind of jealous that I’m in here, while ya’ll can enjoy the outside.”

He took a practiced pause before continuing his spiel, talking about some nonsense before he started the first song. As soon as his microphone was muted, he took a deep, relaxing breath and glanced out the large window into the room, where the assistant was supervising the show and taking phone calls from listeners. He gave him a thumbs-up to signal that everything was going smoothly and he nodded in return.

After the song was over, Alastor took the time to talk about the 19th amendment, knowing that you’d have to go to bed soon and he wanted you to hear him talk about it.

“All in all, it’s an important step in America’s history folks, and all I can do is hope that everyone in Congress sees reason and votes in favor. If not…well that’s just proof that this country is ruled by old, fat, ignorant men. And if you don’t agree with me, there is this handy little dial on your radio, you can use to switch to a different channel.”

He knew that he’d get in trouble for that little stab at his listeners, but the image of you giggling about the comment made it worth it. His own smile grew into a smirk that stayed on for the rest of the night until another host took his spot and Alastor could finally go home. On his way out of the building, he noticed the police presence. The body had finally been found.

Acting confused, he joined a small group of coworkers who were whispering to each other in the lobby. They nodded in greeting but continued with their hushed conversation until Alastor spoke.

“Do any of you know what’s going on?”

“Al…it’s your boss. He was found behind the building, dead.”

As if in shock, Alastor took a step back as his eyes widened. He even dropped his jacket which he had been carrying. He whispered his boss’s name, for once, no smile on his face.

“Are you sure? I just saw him a few hours ago. He…he can’t…”

The entire group nodded in confirmation that it was indeed his boss and Alastor blinked a few times while looking at the ground. He soon excused himself, keeping the act up until he was a few blocks away from the building. Even as he was walking away, he felt their concerned gazes on his back. If radio host doesn’t work out, he should consider becoming an actor. Or so he told himself.

On his way home, he felt his fingers itch, his eyes scanning every creature he came across, debating if he could kill them. But no, he had to be patient. After all, he already knew who his next victim would be. Maybe it was a bad idea to kill two people so closely connected, but he had wished death upon your boss from the moment he met you. The only thing he had to figure out was how to do it. But that could wait…for now.

Hell - now

“-stor? Alastor?”

You had woken up a few moments ago, confused for a second as to where you were, but as soon as you noticed Alastor next to you, you relaxed. At least until you noticed that he wasn’t moving. Or even blinking. He just stared ahead, eyes blown wide, his smile as low as you’d ever seen it. He looked…haunted.

You carefully sat up and reached for him. For once you didn’t wait for his permission before you touched him, instead just placing your hand on his shoulder and shaking him slightly. You began to whisper his name, getting louder when you noticed that he didn’t react to any of it. Close to panicking, you placed your other hand on his shoulder and started to shake him with more vigor. At least until his eyes snapped up to you.

With movements so quick it took you a second to realize what had even happened, he pulled you into a tight hug, pressing you against himself and whispering your name. No…it wasn’t your name. It was a nickname he used when you were both still alive. Tears gathered in your eyes at the realization.

“You remember.”

Alastor pulled you impossibly closer, just continuing to whisper your name. Your body started to shake as quiet sobs escaped your lips. You buried your face in his neck, wetting his fur with your tears, but at that moment, neither of you cared.

The demon continued to hold you, slowly shifting you so you were sitting on his lap while he still worked through everything he just relived. How could he ever forget you? The love of his life? His best friend? His girl?

Earth - 1920s

“Well, what can I say ladies and gentlemen, the killing spree continues as another victim was found earlier today. My source in the police department reports that there are still no leads to the identity of the killer, so I urge you: to stay in after dark and stay in groups. No one is safe when it comes to that one.”

Alastor took a breath and glanced towards the window, where the radio host’s assistant once sat. But now, there was you. It’s only been a few months since he had gotten you the promotion, but the excitement of seeing you there never subsided. After all, he’d never tire of seeing you. Especially not after you finally allowed him to court you.

You had said yes shortly after Alastor had killed your boss, not that you knew about any of that back then. But the stress relief it brought you, finally allowed you to even think about dating. And after Alastor asked you out, all you could do was say yes. It started with Alastor insisting on accompanying you home after he was switched to host the afternoon show, meaning that both of you got off at the same time. After all, how could he let you walk home alone when a dangerous serial killer was roaming the streets? Especially because back then everyone was still thinking that he was specifically after people who worked at the radio station.

Him bringing you home turned into you inviting him into your apartment for a cup of coffee, into the two of you getting dinner before going home, into the two of you going to a jazz club. And one night, after you had both gotten at the very least tipsy and you complained about your old boss and the misogyny at work, Alastor was so close to confessing. Instead, he admitted that he envied whoever did it, how he would’ve loved nothing more than to do it himself. And in that moment you kissed him.

You pulled him down and pressed your lips against his in a gentle kiss. The fact that he would kill for you made warmth spread through you. You truly loved this man. But you would never know that truth. At least not in this life.

The shy smile on your lips pulled Alastor from his thoughts. He had been staring at you through the whole song and it was almost over. Usually, he would pause to talk some more, but instead, he decided to just let another one play. You raised an eyebrow as you noticed the switch in behavior, but Alastor just waved for you to join him. So you did.

You entered the room and he extended a hand towards you, pulling you onto his lap once you were close enough. You giggled as you fell against him, feeling his chest vibrate as he chuckled.

“How are you doing, my love?”

You hummed, a coy smile on your lips as you gazed up at him.

“A little tired, the usual lately.”

That made Alastor frown. He had noticed that you seemed to have less energy recently, but he chalked it up to stress. With a worried look on his face, he pulled back and properly looked at you, and he quickly realized that you had lost weight. A lot of it.

How could he miss that?

“Love, I think you need to go to the doctor.”

You shook your head and started to talk about how that was too expensive, but he quickly cut you off, assuring you that he would take care of that. After a bit of bickering, you agreed to make an appointment as soon as you were back at your desk.

After one more kiss, Alastor let you go and returned to host the show, while you walked back to your desk and picked up the phone, scheduling an appointment for the next day.

Neither of you had been prepared for what you were going to find out.

@impulsivethoughtsat2am @fanficwriter5 @wonderlandangelsposts @mo-0-o @xalygatorx @fairyv-ice @nixie189

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Hazbin Hotel - Masterlist

Master-Masterlist

[ot3]

I gotta know. What do you think of Sanji so far? He's my fourth favourite Straw Hat (first is robin, second is fuckin Franky baybeee that's my boy that's my fuckin boy third is luffy) but understandably a lot of people start to really dislike him around Thriller Bark

i really enjoy sanji i think he's plenty of fun. i do think pretending he's into men is copium from people who understandably want him incredibly far away from women i'm a heterosexual sanji truther but that's fine every friend group can have one token.

this arc is doing some deeply fucking annoying shit with him but it's pretty much impossible to read it as active decisions being made about his character and is just another instance of one piece's writing assuming it's audience thinks creeping on women is a Funny Bit. Sanji is undeniably a misogynist pervert weirdo but up until this bit he's been the overbearing patronizing pseudochivalrous Is This Guy Bothering You Queen Perhaps I Could Help-type about it so the whole wanting to be invisible to peep on naked girls thing doesn't really grok. he's more of a 'm'lady' incel than a 'females' incel IYKWIM.

But the important thing about sanji is that he is filling the critical niche of 'guy who sucks'. He and usopp trade off being the guy who sucks in any situation depending on the context because they suck in really different ways, but with this kind of cast you really have to have a guy who sucks to balance out the energy.

i think im willing to give him a lot of leeway i might not otherwise because of the cooking thing. if someone was making me bespoke meals all of the time i would let them get away with so much more shit than i would otherwise. whenever hes weird to nami or robin its like oh my goddd stop and then hes like well here's your fancy drinks and i have to sit and reflect that in their shoes i would forgive him too. hes got that dog in him so theyve just gotta keep him on a leash but its fine as long as you don't let him go around humping strangers

[thecountesstribe]

House of the Dragon 2x3 episode reaction. I have alot of thoughts, bare with me.

The episode was eh but that's mostly just because it's the calm before the proverbial shitstorm.

BAELA “I COULD SMELL BITCH FROM A MILE AWAY AND IT'S ON SIGHT” TARGARYEN, HOW I LOVE YOU!! MOONDANCER IS BEAUTIFUL! MY BRAVE GIRL DID HER THING. IKTR POOKIE!! HER SASSING RHAENYRA, 10S across the board. I know Rhaenyra is tired 😩

I'll always feel for Rhaena, she finally was able to speak although, I wanted more dialogue from her, it's fuckin owed atp HBO, but you could feel her resentment, her anger and her frustration during her scenes. I feel so bad for her cause the only people that are really looking out for her are Rhaenys and Baela. Daemon don't give af, Rhaenyra is trying to find a balance between being a mother and queen but you could see that there is a distance between her and Rhaena even though she lived with them instead of on Driftmark with Rhaenys. When Rhaena first accepted the “mission” and walked off you could tell Rhaenyra wanted to tell her something but it looks like she doesn't know how to talk to her, which is fuckin sad. So those headcanons of her probably only having her brothers to talk to and Luke by extension makes her situation even worse. The glass child fr. So she's most definitely claiming a dragon this season and honestly good on her. Although if they do write Nettles out I'm gonna be pissed. That scene with Baela and her warmed my heart though. Another thing Rhaenyra totally brushing her feelings aside and being like my sons, my sons, my sons is totally not helping her character either. I'm honestly mad they fumbled the majority of the team black relationship dynamics. Rhaena going to ward is literally foreshadowing her future in the dance so I'm not mad at her, she did become everything Rhaenyra wanted her to be, was literally the last of the Targaryen's future and history before Dany came along. I know one thing though they better give her Morning idgaf what they gotta do. That is one important part of the plot I won't forgive if they rewrite it.

Honestly I don't give a damn who gets pissed but fuck Corlys. I said what I said and I'm not taking it back. I don't ever want to hear another “Rhaenyra and her bastard boys usurped Rhaena and Baela”, Corlys is just as misogynistic as the rest of the men in the realm. In the books the succession of the Driftmark throne was up in the air but they rewrited it in the show and yes Baela and Rhaena didn't have a claim to it cause Laenor was Corlys firstborn in the show and he did legitimize his boys but he had an opportunity to make Rhaena Lady of the Tides, she would've been either way had she married Luke as intended but he didn't and you wanna know why? Take a guess, exactly. It goes without saying. I understand him not naming Joff, he's heir to the throne in case anything happens to Jace but he could've named Rhaena and he didn't. So fuck him. Also foreshadowing for the end of the dance.

I wish y'all could've heard the long drawn out exhale that I let out knowing we gotta be see Larys Clubfoot ( the old man was so real for that name 🤣🤣😭😭🤣) more on my television screen. So Crispin, Clubfoot and Gwayne and Aegon, I can't win. Battle of the incels and they're failing upward while we lose 💔. I'm sick. The only thing I like about Gwayne is him irritating crybaby Cole and immediately clocking that there's something going on with him and Alicent. He's messy, I could appreciate that.

Young Rhaenyra was a nice little surprise even though the context for the scene was dark. Daemon getting his death notice in Harrenhal (also foreshadowing) and his dream sequence was peak if you ask me.

I need Rhaenys to never ever in her life speak on Luke's name again. I understand what she was trying to say but even having the audacity to insinuate that it's Luke's fault the war even started cause he took Aemond's eye (he was literally trying to protect his brother and her granddaughters) and that Otto and Weak King Vizzy T council wasn't planning to usurp and kill Rhaenyra from the start is blasphemy to the highest degree. Her clocking Rhaenyra's council was good though. The men in this show are just so ughhhhh. Why did they give Rhaena and Rhaenys an off screen goodbye when she was one of the most important people in her life and especially since she's gonna y'know...

Helaena telling Alicent she forgives her is so gonna hurt when we remember in future episodes. This is gonna greatly contribute to Alicent's suffering especially when Helaena goes off the deep end. She's going to realize she had a hand in destroying one of the purest and greatest things in her life and we the viewers are gonna be hurt.

Didn't expect to get a full blown view of Aemond hanging out but okay I guess. There he goes again not addressing his problems (his bum ass older brother, his nuisance, his bane of his existence) and going to take it out in somebody else though 🥱.

Sept Rhaenyra had the same energy as Arryk pretending to be Erryk and you can't convince me otherwise. I know they were gonna do a reunion between the two but Rhae still trying to be a pacifist and not knocking Alicent's head about even a little bit was stupid to me. She literally tormented her and her children for years! What more was there to say? Get in the field Rhaenyra!! Do you guys really think Alicent didn't know Viserys wasn't talking about her son Aegon? Let's all bffr for a second. She knew and they wanna chalk up the entire dance to it being a mistake is rather irritating. Alicent being prideful and can't admit to her wrongdoings even after the fact that Rhaenyra told her the prophecy is not in the least bit surprising. It just cheapens the outlook on the whole “Dance of the dragons” honestly.

I hate the fact that the writers spun the show into an Alicent vs Rhaenyra situation when the whole gist of season 1 and the books was Rhaenyra vs Misogyny. Women not being allowed to rule because they're women y'know.

In terms of screen writing HOTD IS WEAK and I'm blaming the writers for not reading the source material before putting pen to paper. Don't get me wrong I'm not saying they can't rewrite certain stuff, it's a given with the limited amount of episodes per season, sometimes you do need new plots to shock the viewers and you can't really get into everything but at certain points it's downright ridiculous. Spinning the conflict into a misunderstanding is stupid and I stand by that.

[shamebats]

I was reading the investigation you were doing on male loneliness, alongside doing a little of my own, and I just gotta say, the implications I see of what these dudes are saying...wow this whole thing is the BIGGEST and most densely packed can of worms I've seen in a LONG time.

Because what it looks like these guys are looking for is...EVERYTHING that MULTIPLE relationships have to offer - shared interests, interest in their lives, physical intimacy (sexual and otherwise), emotional release and exchange, FRIENDSHIP - and yet they're just...assuming that they can fulfill all those desires with sex.

We're all lonely, we're all having trouble building and maintaining community, and I really do feel it'd be disingenuous at best to say that the ways people experience the fallout of that aren't gendered - but they're not gendered in the way these guys think they are, either.

As a queer guy, one of the most alienating things for me is the way that theres a double-bind in play - where mainstream society treats reaching out for emotional connection as "unmanly"...but a lot of queer feminist spaces are currently so overrun with gender essentialist radfem bullshit, they often just REINFORCE that idea with different justification; just replace "unmanly" with "making it all about you". And, ironically, these dudes are only making the former worse by leaning on the assumption that they can solve all their problems with sex - because MEN don't NEED to process our emotions any other way, right? (They heavily imply with their proposed solutions, while everything they express about what they're feeling SCREAMS otherwise...)

And the fact that they've so thoroughly convinced themselves of this - and put out such a large volume of talk and writing about it - ironically makes it so much harder to talk about the ways widespread social alienation DOES interact with gender.

Absolutely bonkers tbh. I'm not sure how to even begin to contain all these worms.

Indeed, it's got so many aspects to it and the thing is, you won't be able to resolve it without involving (cis straight) men in the conversation especially those who have experienced first-hand how harmful patriarchy and gender essentialism can be and were able to learn from it. This is not something anyone can resolve by making up theories about why those men are the way they are. You can't theorize about a group, not involve them in the conversation and expect things to change.

It will require a lot of education, and since who they'll have to reach will be misogynistic boys and young men who have been brainwashed by masculinity grifters online and taught all the wrong things by the toxic men in their lives irl, to counter that the lessons will have to come from other cis straight men, they won't listen to anyone else, which means that we will need ally men on our side more than ever.

[garrettwrites]

Warning: discussions of homophobia; extremely negative rant over a popular lgbt book.

Post context: I waited a decade to read a certain retelling book that focuses on the development of an lgbt couple, one which has been discussed over the centuries. I'm doing my best to censor its title and characters, so this post doesn't show up in the tags for people who genuinely love this story. The title, one I now view as overrated, is something along the lines of a song about a certain popular greek hero with long blond hair and a particularly fragile heel. I wanted to read the original, the Iliad, first. I was so excited... and finally, I read the Iliad and other classical texts, I studied ancient history, and I was finally in the mood to start, paired with good knowledge of the characters that would feature in it AND the historical context... Only to find out I shouldn't have waited. 14/15 year old me would have loved this. Current me cannot. I find most reviewers must have either been high while reading, or have taken this book as teenagers, because there is no way an adult over the age of 25 with some degree of reading experience would have not seen the glaring problems with this book.

Disclaimer, if you care - I have no problem with story alterations. I can be critical of them, sure. But even that won't stop me from enjoying something. I think Percy Jackson should have followed a more greek setup, and I don't particularly fancy some of the worldbuilding choices, but those books were and still are among my favourite fantasy stories. Even though they're for children. Even though I've read Tolkien. I'm no elitist, nor do I believe shit can't be changed to make a compelling story. What I do have a problem with is how you present information, and how you distort it.

For instance, if you wanted to write a story about Ariadne and her godly husband set in the year of 1850 for some reason, and make opium play a role? I think that's a fucking weird setting. But it could work, if you stuck true to what characterises them, their relationship, and had a story with a beggining middle and end that tries to show something.

Going back to the retelling that inspired this "rant review". I'll let others more qualified than me to talk about the sexism. What shocked me here was the gay lovestory that reads so homophobic in how cliché it is that it hurts.

This story reads as "when you're so progressive you gotta turn a gay couple made up of two masculine, warrior like, war drowned men into "the hot warrior and his healer who hates fighting" so it fits into (the already sexist/misogynistic) heterosexual couple role".

Because god forbid you have a gay couple where you actually need to deconstruct masculinity without villainizing it. God forbid you actually need to write men into a gay story. God forbid these men are not good, and you need to get into their complexity. God forbid the pov character, who is written as a love struck maiden, has a life outside his strong warrior that helps contextualise his love for him.

Listen. Feminine men are amazing. Gay feminine men are too. I have plenty of original characters that fit within these labels. What I do not do is turn two ancient greek warriors into an early 2000s seme uke yaoi dynamic where one of them is a fragile maiden war tent housewife and the other a very hot but detached strong soldier god man. This is not the story to do that. And even if you play with gender roles and have a man take a more "womanly" role, it's not enough to just genderswap - a character is still badly written regardless of wether they're male or female.

If the housewife character here was a woman, I guarantee everyone who praises this book would be losing their marbles. A woman with no personality outside her lover? Afraid of fighting, of standing up, of speaking up, and this never changes? Who becomes a healer not because she studies it, but because her fragile soul has no other option? Who is passive as all hell in the story until the author remembers she has to die in an impactful manner to trigger her male love interest? That is two dimensional and no way to write a girl, and it's not suddenly okay just because this girl has a dick and is a him.

Yet cause it's gay it's okay to write such an insipid character. Praised even. Which is made even worse, because the original version was a man who yes - indeed - was kind to others yet an absolute beast on the battlefield. Who had opinions and gave counsel. This is not even an original character - I wouldn't criticise an original character as harshly, but this author changed a fighter with incredible skill, who killed a son of a god and was a hero in his own right, into this. A character who yes, was kind and beloved. But touched by war regardless. A character who was loved by those around him, but in this book is ridiculed by these very same people.

Why do you think that is.

And no, trying to make the story more anti war is not an answer. The Iliad is anti war. The Iliad literally comments on how war corrupts what it touches, how it fucked up the lives of everyone involved. This is not a modern take on an old story, because the old story in question already talks about it.

But what can I expect, here. I could call this a work that doesn't know how to write gay men without adhering to (already dated even for straight people) gender roles... but truth is? Author doesn't know how to write women either. The moment you unironically think Helen of Troy is just a vain little hot chick you should not be allowed to write an Iliad retelling, me thinks.

Oh, and let's not get into the fact both main characters are meant to be gay. They're not bisexual. Yet this book - a GAY ROMANCE - is not shy about shoving straight sex scenes onto you. Sex scenes with really no purpose, for they're never brought up again later, and have no story impact.

I am not kidding. Character A gets D pregnant, Character P barely reacts to it, and when D gets upset at P for whatever reason THE TWO OF THEM HAVE SEX TOO. NOTHING AS GAY AS FUCKING THE WOMAN IMPREGNATED BY YOUR BOYFRIEND, UH?! And it's never brought up again! Nobody forces Character P into this yet he willingly goes? Excuse me, if you wanted these characters to have sex with women so casually, why not just make them bisexual and open to banging outside their relationship?

It reads as so disgusting, to have an author clearly lean into a soulmate trope, then just pull some of the most uncomfortable to read sex scenes ever outside that soulmate couple (I love purple prose. Purple prose is probably the only reason I didn't hate this book - the writing was beautiful. But the way the sex with Character D goes... good lord it's written in such a puke inducing way). I'm not against poly in books, what I am against is leaning into monogamous tropes for a gay couple, where you write neither of them as bisexual (which, btw, bi-erasure of the original characters) but then have them bang outside their relationship EVEN when nobody is forcing them to. Never have I read a gay book where straight sex is pushed forward so much. And it's not just even weird for the gay couple, it's also written in a really odd way for the women involved.

"Oh you just don't get the theme! It was out of pity! It was-" turn this into a straight romance and tell me, with a straight face, that this story is well written. Bad character development, bad usage of tropes, terrible pacing, and the use of sex outside the main romance purely for reader self insertion (for it contributes with nothing but shoddy erotica, in a book supposedly about AxP) should not be excused just because a book is gay.

Honestly. "Let people enjoy things" well I propose let me be a hater. I went above and beyond to block the book and character names, let's hope it's enough. But I'm against not criticising things just because they're diverse. It's 2024. There's plenty of authors writing good stories with marginalised people.

And let's talk about LGBT+ worldbuilding, shall we? In the beggining of this book - set in Ancient Greece by the way - it's stated men could take male lovers on the side. Then it's not brought up again, until later a woman tells P many married men take lovers on the side. This girl was originally a sex slave by the way, and here she gets Stockholm Syndrome and falls for P. But then another character tells P he's too old to be into men? So, which is it? It's not even a thing about ancient greek men having that thing where it was accepted for an older man to be sexually involved with a young boy, because here the problem brought up is P being too old, not his lover being too old too.

Oh, and the love interest's (A's) mother. She hates their relationship. We are told she hates their relationship because P is mortal and she doesn't want a mortal to be with her son. Yet later on she arranges a marriage between her son and a MORTAL woman. So is the problem really mortality, or homosexuality?

Why is there modern day homophobia in a story that many praise for historical accuracy?

I honestly hate how people care about representation at the cost of quality. It is mind boggling to me that a woman in this century wrote a book more homophobic and misogynistic than greeks almost 3 thousand years ago did.

[that-disabled-radfem]

tw: rape

gyns I wanna be clear that I’m not out here to hate on Women Talking because it was a really really really great film and I love Sarah Polley and wish her nothing but the best. And even though I was confused by Toews’ choice to make so much of the book about August, I still love her writing and enjoyed the book. and I really think y’all would really like the movie and the book and you should definitely go see it if you have the chance

but we gotta talk what happens to Nettie/Melvin in the film adaptation!!

breif overview of the concept: Women Talking is loosely inspired by the events of the Manitoba Mennonite Colony in Bolivia - women were repeatedly drugged and raped in the night. they were told that they were making it up or that they’d been attacked by the devil as punishment but in reality it was the men of the colony. this happened between 2005 and 2009 but probably continued even after the men were caught and arrested

so in the book Nettie is attacked and she is impregnated and later loses her child. this is obviously traumatic. she changes her name to Melvin and begins dressing as a man. (obviously because she’s living in a traditional mennonite colony, she can never fully take on the role of a man - her job becomes caring for the children) it is very clear in the book that this (as well as her no longer speaking to adults) is a trauma response and Toews refers to this character as Nettie, Nettie/Melvin, and Melvin but settles on Melvin at the end though she ALWAYS calls Melvin ‘she’

the movie however, within like thirty seconds of introducing Nettie/Melvin the film explicitly says (via narration. like when I say explicit, I mean explicit!) that Melvin is not living as a man as a result of trauma. It was something along the lines of “Melvin was a man all along. He just couldn’t hide it any more after it happened.” So instead, being raped and losing a child act as catalyst events that make Melvin’s life as a woman untenable

and I just hate that they’ve taken the easy way out with this! it’s so much more interesting and truthful (!) to be like this character is living in an overtly hierarchical, misogynist society and on top of that she experiences a series of distinctly sex-based trauma in addition to living amongst this growing collective trauma that the women are experiencing and so she attempts to live as a man for her safety! like how can you not see that that is what’s happening

[inthedarkshadows000]

SneakPeak#107.......

From the story I might never write

[Iskaed au pt.1]

Those misogynistic pigs!!! They only wanted to meet today to try and intimidate me.

As if, I snorted and massaged the crown of my head with my pointers.

I did not work through blood and tears for half a decade so some self obsessed, greedy politicians could frame me for treason against my country.

To be an Indian foriegn secretary had taken a better portion of my life.

I had to completely flip my attitude to pursue the sudden passion I had acquired, no more parties, late night rendezvous, lack of routine and so on. Basically every rule that I had lived by for the 21 years, before I decided I wanted to be this.

I had the brains but not the discipline yet I did it, I got my shit together, proved everyone around me wrong, and cleared the exam with flying colours.

After that it wasn't still all fun as I thought, once in the system, I realised the reality of it all. The stinky politics, the I got dick so I gotta be a dick attitude, and so on.

I mean I wasn't expecting it to be rainbow farts and unicorn shit but you would think it'll atleast be a little subtle, being a bureaucratic job and all. Nope!! Not a chance.

It was so glaring obvious that currently one of my lovely ministers were on a tour to Japan, to, guess what?!!

Exactly!!! Intimidate lil ol'me into resigning, else, he would frame me for conspiring against india. Blah blah blah.

Not while I still breathe.

He thinks I don't know his simpleton idea. (it'll make him choke to death to realised a woman has more brains than him.)

Like hellloooo.... my job profile need me to be at my sharpest quite unlike their's. I rolled my eyes so hard at the thought, surprised they aren't stuck in my head.

Hence, why i was stressing and burning a path into my office carpets. That guy is a snake and if I don't play my cards right he might as well finish me right now.

Goooood!!!!!! Couldn't I have people like getou, gojo, Nanami or toji around me.

Like... yummmmm... I mean to obviously support and help me, no other reason *wink wink*, ofcourse.

Just imagine... daddy fushi. Drooooool !!!!

Alas not everyone can have hot men fighting for or protecting us. The injustice I tell you. I thought with a tiny pout.

I had only just finished my tiny prayer to manifest so when I heard a light buzz behind my back and whizzed around.

What. I stepped back to create space between the body wall that had suddenly appeared and hit something- one else.

The. I spun around again to keep the 2 intruders in my line of sight.

Actual. And hit the 3rd.

Fuck. And 4th.

Holy moly!!!! My eyes were probably the size of saucers as I tried to decide if I had seriously lost the last few screws that I guaranteed I had.

There were currently 3 angels- anime characters- right in front of me, and I really, really hope the one missing here is behind me.

I whipped around to check and yes, he is. In all of his 6 feet plus glory. Gulp.

I raised my hand to pull at the lock of hair on his forehead to make sure this wasn't a dream.

Hey!! I ain't hurting me. I might be crazy but got limits too, Babe.

"Owee!! What was-"

That's the last last thing I heard before a "fuck me" left my lips and I blacked out.

OK... so no I actually did not faint. I have a meeting with the devil, can't really let my defences down even if the sexiest of men namely... wait for it OK.... The greatest ever.... SATORU GOJO, KENTO NANAMI, TOJI FUSHIGURU and SUGURU GETOU had suddenly apparated infront of me from thin air.

However, I did get extremely light headed and tripped on my feet. Although a pair of hands were holding me up before I could embarrass myself.

"Thank you" I said straightening myself and moving out of suguru's grip. 

Really never thought I would do this, like move out of this beautiful specimen's arms. Kill me now. I hate being responsible.

"Any particular reason why 4 random men have just appeared out of thin air in my office at the most random and frankly inconvenient time" I continued with raised eyebrow and moved around.

Regain control!!! Regained control!!! Do not let yourself be seduced!!!

I walked out from the amongst them. The position making me feel extremely vulnerable due to sheer difference in height and stature between them and my 5'3", petite self.

Now I know.... I am not dumb but I can't just throw myself on the extremely trained, assassin level skilled people who literally have the worst trust issues ever. I'll probably be declared a crazy stalker bitch and dead meat even before I get a hand around them, especially with the stunt I just pulled.

"You pulled my hair. Why did you pull my hair?" Suguru asked with a little tilt to his head.

OH! MY!!! GOD!!!! AS ADORABLE AS A PUPPY!!! . I had stop my self from squishing his face, he looked so cute.

He followed my form as I sat behind my desk and motioned for them to take a seat on the 2 chairs in front as well as the couches placed on the right side area of the desk.

"She probably found it weird suguru" snickering the white haired baby, Satoru.

"I apologise, I wanted to make sure you were real. Now if you could all please answer my question" I said completely ignoring the menace.

I wasn't actually apologitic. Do you KNOW how soft it was.

"And you wouldn't pull your own? That's what people normally do, you know" satoru said.

"You really wanna talk about normal?" I questioned back, and motioned towards all of them and waving my hands around.

"Touché"

However my comment did make them glance at each other. There movements uncomfortable in there own way.

Toji was the first to release a long sigh, shrug and move towards the long couch. Sitting down with a manspread and head thrown back, like he really didn't care about the fact that he isn't a 2-D wetdream anymore but a real person. I knew from the show it wasn't so. He was as alert as a watch dog.

Suguru too gave a sigh of defeat, scanned the office like making sure nothing was about to pop up and attack or maybe just analysing. He seems like a person who would. Then his eyes met mine, gave that sweet smile which I had swooned over millions of times, and walked over to me with his hands in his pocket. He seemed awkward. No. Just unsure, I think. The smile was a facade to hide whatever he was feeling.

Satoru stood straighter, I thought he would fall back with how backward bent he was however he just walked towards me with a surprising grace for someone as tall as him. Swinging his arms around, his aura of confidence which had almost slipped at my comment, maintained. Seeing his body language I knew some weird comment was on its way. Probably to redunce anything I had noticed, if I had.

"You were about to faint because of how handsome I am, weren't you?" He came into my personal space and bent over me. His forefinger pulled his black glasses a little lower so he could hold me with his piercing eyes.

And held I was, no animation or device in the world could do his eyes justice. The blue in them was nothing an ordinary person could describe. It wasn't just a colour but a melange of different shades of blue that almost seemed...... alive.

The closeness, like i have never felt before made me panic and I blutered the first thing that came to my head "Are you an alien? You definitely seem like one."

"Huh-" there was a two second lag in Satoru as he tried to comprehend my question and suguru chuckled, hiding his face behind his hand to try and control it.

He had taken a seat on one of the chairs. Atleast someone was ready to have an adult conversation with me.

"An angel actually" satoru replied recovering but so had I and simply rolled my eyes at him.

I pushed his face away from mine and said "Sit the hell down. Just because I am not screaming and going crazy does not mean I am all normal here. I need answers, and want them as soon as possible."

"I am Nanami Kento, these are my colleagues gojo satoru and geto suguru. The one over there is Fushiguru Toji. I apologise for the sudden intrusion in your office....and your space" Nanami said the last part looking at satoru.

He had taken the other seat while satoru had been talking to me. Sitting with his arms crossed and back as straight as they come. His classic stoic expression was hawt.

Satoru rolled his eyes at Nanami like an insolent kid. I bit the inside of the cheek to control the smile that threatened to escape, seeing their antics in real life is definitely much more entertaining.

"Satoru sit. On the couch." Suguru rubbed his eyes when satoru moved to sit on the handle of my chair.

"We really don't have the energy right now." He was finally tired of his best friend's attitude.

Surprisingly toru actually listened and sat down on a single couch, beside the one which Toji had taken, his legs crossedamd head thrown back. He was a spliting image of one of the scenes from the show.

During this time, I noticed that they all seemed to belong to different eras of the anime. Not only that, there was a mix of all of there styles.

Toji looked like right before he died in season 2. With his compressed shirt and those lose pants. The creators really didn't do his boobies justice. The trust he had on that shirt is what I aspire to have in my relations.

Gojo when he was a teacher but with thise sexy rectangular shades. Kento, the sexy suit.

Suguru seemed like he was in jjk season 2, without his traditional monk clothes. His hair were shoulder length. Both him and satoru wore jjk uniforms for teachers, which were similar to the ones they had as students. The baggy pants and all.

Wanna guess what those hide ;"

"I am y/n. Officer in the Indian embassy here" I moved my hand towards kento first and then suguru. There hands were soft and warm, engulfing mine entirely. Of course they had to have the most beautifully crafted hands ever. I sent a silent prayer to thank for my skin tone which never reveals my blush.

I wasn't usually the one to be conscious about physical appearance but I gotta tell you my ego was taking continuous hits being in their presence.

"I don't know how to entirely explain what just happened. I think we aren't from here yet came here. Its all extremely absurb for us too.... obviously the transportation doesn't help either." began suguru. He kept pausing and looking at nanami and others as if answers would randomly appear.

Poor thing. I could probably solve half of his issues by telling him what I knew of them but looking at him so unsure was getting fun now.

"We Basically died and got reincarnated" Piped satoru, his hand over his eyes, glasses kept on the coffee table. Babe..what?!?!

"We need to know where we are and maybe then we will be in a better condition to link our circumstances." Nanami said trying to find a starting point of their story.

At this point I realised how truly stressed they all were. Even though they sat carelessly, a tightness in their body was visible. Their eyes shifting everywhere as if trying to find some clue to make sense of.

Nodding my head I switched on my laptop, which was kept in front of me on my desk and opened up chrome, typing up their anime I turned it towards them. I stood up a little to pass it.

"I think this will help you make a little more sense of the situation" I mumbled and pulled back my fingers, sitting back in my chair.

I forced myself to not bite my nails as I saw there face become more and more confused. The creases on there forehead increased. Suddenly a loud voice made me jump in my chair and I let out a squeak.

"What the actual fuck is this!?" That was nanami cursing. OH god! I can happily die now. Hearing this sophisticated creature curse in front me made all kinds of delirious before I shook it off.

Suguru turned towards me when he heard my voice and instantly asked nanami to control his temper. My sweet, sweet sugar.

I am going to assume he was talking to himself and avoid any communication till I absolutely had to.

The fact that Nanami cursed made toru and toji curious too, who quickly scrambled over.

The more they kept looking through the more I kept sinking into the chair, regretting this, I don't even know why though. I figured it was due to four steroid infused men who might be angry at me, in such close quaters.

Suguru had been continuously shifting his gazing between the screen, his mates and me. I really wonder what he was thinking.

Toji had been standing tall, next to nanami with his hands crossed and looking into the screen with a nonchalant attitude, we all know he was anything but. I was sure of it when I caught his side glance in my direction which almost felt like it was sizing me up.

Sir please.. my Size is fragile- handle-with-care.

Satoru was between nanami and suguru leaning all the way in, totally engrossed into the screen. He suddenly shouted pointing at the screen with one hand and shaking suguru like a toy with the other "Look suguru, they got the perfect click. oooh dayuumm babay.... I look so pretty."

Toji suddenly turned towards me fully and put his both hands down on the desk and leaned forward and in the the most intimidating tone said one word that had my blood freeze.

.

.

.

.

And rush into my nether regions.

Psycho woman.

"Explain"

The rest of them looked up me too. Toji continued to look at me like he couldn't decide if letting me answer was worth not killing me. I was after all their only hope, of sorts.

"I.. you.. I me.. ..an" I stammered. I knew they wouldn't actually kill me. I hope. Even then, with how rattled they seem I couldn't let my gaurd down. Toji was a wild card here. He did not have the same way of handling situations as the others did.

I knew that the other three wouldn't be able to stop him, if they wanted to, that is, and that 'if' was a huge one right now.

Suguru suddenly got up from his place and came towards me. I stood up and shifted to step away from the chair in a way that it created a shield between us, in case they all decided that they had no use for me anymore.

He put his hands up in a way of showing he meant no harm and walked closer in slow steps like approaching a scared animal.

I probably looked like one. I loved these fictional characters but exactly as that, I would be a fool to forget what they were trained as. killing machines. They had been so traumatised that distrust for a stranger was only natural.

Therefore, I wouldn't be off my gaurd either till I gained their trust. I made sure to keep an eye on all of them in which ever place I stood. Especially now that I could feel Toji's patience running thin.

"Guys relax. Y/n, could you please explain what's all this. It's been a rough couple of..... I don't even know how long. The fact that our entire lives are splayed across your screen Is really not looking very good. We just want to know why?" By the time suguru had finished, he was in my personal bubble. So close that I had to take a step back, and shift the chair again, to not break my neck looking up.

"Also if you got anymore of my perfect moments captured, I need them asap. The quality is like really good here." Of course the strongest sorcerer of all time had a different priority.

I took a deep breath and shifted I to my bureaucratic role. Fake it till you make it. Right? Squaring up my shoulders, I gave a tiny nod to suguru and turned towards the rest. Going with the easier question first.

"Yes. I got amazing pics of you, and the rest of you too. Not because I stalked you, well I do but not physically. You do realise that's impossible with the abilities you all possess, don't you?" My tone sassy with the last sentence.

Satoru actually hummed, with his face between his thumb and fore finger, in a thinking pose.

"In my world you all are actually characters of an anime called jujutsukaisen. Well, the charac- people in there have huge Fandoms because of your looks and strength and story. I just coincidentally happen to be one too." I finished and shrugged shoulders, absolutely covering my obsession with them like it was a teenage crush.

I raised my chin with an attitude of go fuck yourselves and took my place back on the chair. Suguru had moved to stand at the side of the desk. I was partially thankful because if anyone decide to jump me, I was running behind him like this chic on fire.

"If you wanna know all that I know, then I can just start the anime in here and open the link to Mangas." I said as an after thought.

"I want to apologise for my behavior earlier, it's not like me to curse. We would really appreciate it if you could show us whatever there is." Nanami said with a guilt and rubbed his tired face.

A genuine smiled spread on my face. "Don't worry, I know how you are and actually always wondered what you would seem like losing co- I mean angry." Quickly corecting myself I waved him off.

No need to sound perverted, because let's be honest I did mean it in a perverted way.

"Don't say it like that. You sound like you know everything about us when we don't know shit about you. It's weird" that was Toji with his impeccable manners.

I looked at him smiling and scratched the back of neck awkwardly, "Right.. My bad. I'll try and be mindful of it."

Suguru took his place back on the chair. "So we are .. like just characters here, Nothing else?" He seemed kinda disappointed.

"Sir please, dont insult yourselves like that." I said dramatically with a hand on my heart. "Wait till you see the obsession and love people have for you here. I am surprised there isn't a petition for  jjk to be a religion yet." I giggling because like seriously!! Wait till they see the extend of it.

I prayed my theatrics would bring a smile to his face, it wasn't made to be disappointed and like hell would I ever let him or any of these people be any less than happy. Thankfully it worked and he gave a tiny smile.

"Anyway here is my phone with everything open and if you really wanna see the reality of your Fandom, I am sure you know how to use net." Passing the phone to them.

I suddenly realised it was about to be time for my personal favourite person to enter, Mr. Shah. Note the sarcasm.

Which meant I had to hide them before he saw all of this and added 'slut' to his list of adjectives for me.

"We need a bigger screen, can't expect us to see everything on this. Are you poor?" Satoru seemed genuinely aghast at the idea.

OK. Judgemental much, pretty boy.

"No i am not but that is the only device I can spare for public use right now." I said sharply and continued. "Actually its perfect, you cannot watch it here, right away in any case. Remember how I said this is a very inconvenient time, although my literal fantasy was coming true." I motioned towards them and satoru smirked.

"I have a meeting with a snake, and I can't have you lot loitering around." I continued before he could make a remark.

"Snake like a literal or figuratively?" Now you would think that this was something Satoru would ask but it wasn't. Personally, I never thought I would have to clarify something like that.

"I mean it figuratively but once you see him you'll be amazed how much closer he is to the literal sense. So as I was saying, I'll have to lock you guys in the washroom" I answered after waiting a beat to see if Toji was serious or just pulling my leg. He Stood straight, with his hands crossed and those buldging biceps. Squish my head and call me orange juice.

Wait....My god he was serious about the question. What kind of deals HAS he gone through.

Add to the THINGS TO ASK.

"With these idiots- You cannot hide my pretty face like that!" Nanami and suguru didn't really say anything. They sat on the chairs mostly observing and listening. I looked at them and gave a helpless smile with I-seriously-got-no-other-option shrug. They glanced at the other and then relaxed a little. I was gonna assume they said-

"very well."

OH they actually did. Thank god atleast half the population had some brains.

Ring.ring.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!!!!

Next

[angelfic]

I thought this would be a fandom where people could stan and ship whoever they wanted without being attacked for it, but all the fandom seems to care about nowadays is Regulus and WolfStar and if you like anything else, it’s “shame on you”. I feel like there used to be more variety of who people stanned from the early days of the Marauders fandom up to 2021. And the way a lot of them do that thing fans of gay ships do where they ship the female character that “gets in the way of their gay ship” with another female character in order to get her out of the way is not lost on me. Like yeah, you can ship MaryLily and Jegulus, but you don’t gotta be an asshole and hate on Jily’s relationship and Jily stans for simply SHIPPING THEM! Or make up lies about Lily to make it seem like she’s a bad person that is undeserving of James and his love.

omg not confession time whsjwiskwkkff yessss ok i agree🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️ however i do i hate jegulus sorry. i do in fact judge people

Like im a diehard wolfstar truther and a jily truther. I rlly don’t like jegulus i think it’s stupid because so many people use it as an excuse to be misogynistic to lily. like im number one jegulus hater. on the other hand i actually don’t dislike marylily, they did nothing wrong. maybe I just have negative feelings towards men <3

also I could write an essay on the correlation between the rising trend of fujoshing out more publicly and without shame vs jegulus fanfics like omg relax ..

why can’t we allow some men to stay pathetic and lonely and sad and dead for the plotttt it’s sexier

[mermaidsirennikita]

ARC REVIEW: Twisted Knight by K. Bromberg

4.5/5. Releases 9/24/24 (in audio).

The Vibes: Succession but make it romance, highKEY revenge, legit enemies to lovers in contemporary, match my freak etc etc

Heat Index: 7.5/5

The Basics:

Raised in a privileged but misogynistic community, Rowan Rothschild is determined to pick up the pieces after her grandmother's death and take her spot in the family business... whether or not her family actually supports that. Just as she's about to do so, her brother, Rhett, stabs her in the back with a plan to sell the majority of the company to the mysterious Holden Knight, a man who came out of nowhere to make his money in tech. So what does he want with the Rothschilds' spirits company? Rowan hates him off the bat, and he delights in it—while seeing something in her that the other men in the company don't. As the two enter into an untrusting—and very physical—alliance, both Rowan and Holden hurtle towards a clash with a price neither one is ready to pay.

The Review:

Well. That was a surprise.

I've never read K. Bromberg before, and in truth I kind of just went off the "enemies to lovers with angst" vibe. This was at the time (and maybe still is) categorized as fantasy romance on Goodreads, and the title and cover made me feel like it was? But it's very much not—this is a contemporary, Rich People Problems book. And I am... good with that. Because I gotta say, this kind of knocked it out of the park.

The problem with a lot of billionaire~ romances (and I'm not sure anyone is here—the Rothschilds definitely have a LOT of money, but not that money, and Holden is mentioned to be a multimillionaire but later appears to have more cash than Rowan expected) is that there's a lot of 'em.... and they have become very tropey, I've found. An enemies to lovers book theoretically set around the corporate world would often end up feeling like the heroine is just stomping her foot and saying HMPH, never actually opposing the hero on a serious level. The business is barely noted.

And billionaire alphas? So hard to write well these days. They don't talk like... people. They say the types of things I expect real life men who consider themselves "alphas" to say. But I don't want a real life "alpha male", I want a good one! (A fake one. From books.)

Twisted Knight seems to completely understand these issues and sail over them with ease. Rowan is a FABULOUS heroine. In a way, she gave Shiv Roy, but way more competent and way less of a horrible person (I say as someone who does love Shiv Roy, for the record). She's defiant of her family, but not unrealistically so. She's aware of her privilege... most of the time. But that doesn't mean she wasn't raised in it and doesn't unconsciously (or consciously) indulge in it. She has heart, but she also has her own goals, her self-centered aims, a willingness to, ultimately, be ruthless to get what she wants. And she's QUITE bratty.

Holden, on the other hand, has a more tragic backstory than Rowan... But he's also lost the plot, and the book paints him in a way that's hot and impressive but also HUMAN. Bromberg doesn't write him as if she's fawning over him, as if we should all just be sooooo impressed with this dude. He's a smug bastard. But the book is not smug ABOUT HIM. It's something that's kind of difficult to explain, but you can feel it in the writing. The writing is just... better.

Also, I felt like this guy was one step ahead of everyone for most of the book. But I never felt like he was INFALLIBLE. He could be aggressive with Rowan, but I never felt like she couldn't throw it right back at him (and she usually did). It felt to me like both of them were weakening in the face of love, not just her. Additionally, while they definitely have a caustic dynamic for the first half of the book or so... It's never over the top. Never did I feel like he was BULLYING her. Fucking with her head, yeah. However, these were evenly matched adults going to bat, and that, along with the higher stakes, put this in the category of enemies to lovers versus the softer rivals to lovers or the (in my opinion) dumber bully romance.

(All this being said, he does have a very classic but good revenge motivation, and you know. I supported those wrongs. Mostly.)

The thing is that I actually felt like I could see the progression of Holden and Rowan falling in love. The physical attraction is there off the bat... But even once they start hooking up? It's not love just yet. It's one of my favorite things, when done right: a physical fast burn and an emotional slow burn. And yes, this does it perfectly. These are sharky people, and they don't STOP being sharky people because they're falling in love. They're BOTH deeply uncomfortable with their feelings, not just him (how refreshing!). Rowan being like "oh no ew" to this man being SOFT and HUMAN in the afterglow? Amazing. Holden internally screaming while sitting in his car and watching her turn her lights off after she kicks him out for the night? Fabulous. GIVE ME IDIOTS WHO DON'T KNOW HOW TO EMOTION.

At the same time, you have an interesting set of dynamics informing their relationship. There's the pressure from Rowan's family, who want her to settle down, marry the very stable and very boring CHAD WILLIAMS (that name...), there's here delightfully complex relationship with her douchey brother Rhet... I really appreciated that just because Rowan knows her brother is the worst, doesn't mean she doesn't love him. Because what else are you gonna do?

In a way, Holden's frustration with Rowan's loyalty to her family only made me feel like he truly LIKED her more. He respected her enough to know that she could do better.

I will say—while this book isn't a dark romance by any means, it IS angsty in the best possible way. And you do end on a cliffhanger. And as I realized this wasn't going to wrap up in one book, I was so hoping she wouldn't pull the punch, as I'd seen other authors do in the past.

Dude. She did not pull the punch. AT ALL. I was grinning as this ended.

READY. FOR. THE NEXT. NOOOOOW.

(On an audio note: very well done, both actually performed it, and if you like a male narrator who... gets into it.... Patrick Zeller does the work.)

The Sex:

Oh, also, this was stellar. Numerically there are 4 full scenes and one that comes... very close... but stopped short. And not because it was fade to black. Because someone Deserved It. Rowan runs Holden RAGGED, and he's fully aware.

There's a great variety here, not so much in terms of what is done, but in terms of the emotionality. You have the "get it out of our systems (but not really)" vibe, the fun vibe (uhhhh this book has sexy hide and seek, and it was the hottest thing I've read in a contemporary in a while), the "fraught intensity where we can't own our feelings" vibe, the "oh nooooooo we've gotten twisted up in the game" vibe.

Holden is very "I'M IN CHARGE" in the beginning, and as delightful as that was, I did kind of go "maybe this is where the book starts to slip and Rowan just becomes his willing little doll". NAH. She owns him. If you enjoy a scene where the hero gets so worked up that he basically embarrasses himself... YEAH.

I loved all of it.

Look man, I am STRAPPED. IN. Delighted to have found a new author, and excited to gobble up what else she has to offer (her backlist is expansive). Absolutely recommend this, especially if you're trying to find a billionaire romance that WORKS.

Thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[lockandkeyhyena]

gotta interject with misogyny does in fact exist in warrior cats, the cats just don't acknowledge it. it's shit like bluestar needing to give up her kits to become deputy when whitestorm having kits was never even considered. it's the women always suffering all the consequences of illegal relationships (bluestar, leafpool, mapleshade, silverstream, yellowfang) while the men get away with a slap on the wrist. it's the literal "having kits is our duty to the clans as queens" (not exact phrasing) line in yellowfangs secret. sorry ik u probably didn't mean no misogyny in this way but autism insisted I say this

ur right i didnt mean it like that. misogyny pervades every aspect of clan life, but the authors clearly thought they were making a society without misogyny- even though their own internal biases inadvertently add it back in. the thing is that the books see nothing misogynistic about the writing or system so in-universe there is no misogyny even if the books are sexist af

[romanarose]

As I write more x men content I need to make it clear I am a certified jean hater and Scott summers lover

No I have not read the comics and I might not ever

This is just who I am

No, this does not make me a misogynist, as an ex friend would call me for not liking a female character

Yes I have much more attachment to the male characters idk what to tell you but I love rogue and storm (I don’t know a lot of X-men okay)

I am trans masc and yes I mostly write fem reader but I’ll be straight up. I found a lot of discovering myself through queer fandom content, esp with triple frontier. So a lot of my content is make centered. Not always! But a lot.

I like to just write what I like.

If you think I’m fetishizing mental illness, fetishizing m/m relationships, or writing female torture porn (all criticisms I’ve received) then you don’t gotta read my stuff

Jean will probably always be an unlikesble character. Scott will probably usually be in the right. Other characters will probably have more nuance like Logan and Remy and Laura.

Idk what my point is here? This was just gonna be about Scott and Jean lolololol

Anyway-

[firecrackerhh]

Lmao “Viv can’t write female characters well so that makes her a misogynist!”

You’re a retard. By that logic when men make stories about other men and those stories suck, that must mean they’re like total misandrists right? They gotta hate themselves or something right?

What about people who plain suck at writing? Are they misanthropes? Y’all don’t gotta look at my writing to know about my utter burning contempt for humanity as a whole.

How do these people even know how to feed themselves, much less go online?

🧨🔥~Firecracker out~🧨🔥

I’m not intentionally calling Viv a bad writer or something I’m just making a point. These people always assume Viv is fucking malicious and it’s like…fucking weird?