#and seems to think Gatsby could do better

[sadrockandwaltzes]

Spoilers for the whole book ahead in case you haven't finished! So don't read it if you haven't.

Ok so I finished The Great Gatsby and. Why do so many people think it's gay?? This isn't me being argumentative, I just genuinely don't get it. I've seen some people bring up his frequent descriptions of Gatsby as evidence but also. He describes Daisy's voice arguably as much. I'd love anyone to explain their queer reading to me because I'd love to know if I'm missing anything!

[lovexjoe]

PENPALS

Imagine getting bored going on the internet to see which prisoner you can penpal. Every prisoner had a description to get a little insight of their personality but Armando? There was nothing but his name, his age and where he was. He was handsome, so handsome you didn’t think it was real. You decided to send your first message out of boredom. Clicking the box that says “write your first letter and we will forward it to Armando”

You stared at the blank box wondering what the fuck to write to a prisoner who has been in there for years and seems to be serving life.

“Do you have books there? If so what’s your favorite ?

- My name is Y/N”

With that you click send and went about your day. It’s been two weeks till your email got a response. Shocked didn’t even cut it. You read the message a few times just to confirm.

“Most of the books are damaged. I don’t get to fully enjoy the book. The Great Gatsby was enjoyable. No one ever writes. How are you?”

Armando didn’t want to press send, but he was honestly so bored of the same routine every single day that maybe talking to someone wouldn’t be so harmful. Plus it wasn’t going to be anything beyond this computer screen that he only had for an hour to himself in the library. He glanced at the clock and he had about 15 minutes left when his email got a response.

“The Great Gatsby is a great book. No one ever writes because you seem unreal. I didn’t think I’d get a response, I still think you’re an AI. Things are okay on my side, life could be better but it also could be worse so I can keep pushing forward.”

Armando positions the webcam and takes a silly picture to attach to the email. He wanted to make sure you had the reassurance you needed, plus it’s nice for him to look forward to something.

“Am I real enough for you?”

Holy shit. You sent one back and he couldn’t believe how beautiful you looked. What was a girl like you doing talking to him? From then on the two of you got completely engulfed with each other. When Armando had the computer you made sure you had your phone or your laptop on you to talk to him. He eventually got access to video chat and he asked you for your first video chat date.

“I have video chat access now. Would you like to see me?”

You agreed to the video chat and quickly fixed yourself up with some lipgloss and brushing your hair quickly. One last glance at your mirror to see your computer ringing with a notification. You answered to see Armando and his handsome face.

“Como estas mi amor?”

Armando hates to admit it but he thought it was love at first sight. He felt giddy. Alive when he talks to you. Your smile, your voice and your eyes could light up an entire room. He was a little green of whoever got to see you everyday. He hopes one day he gets to hold you. You hoped the same thing. He was everything you could imagine minus being a fucking criminal.

You were pen pals with a criminal ….

Part 2?

Taglist: @yeahnohoneybye @cardi-bre91 @onlysarang @romanreignsluver1 @minwn

@armandosbabymama @dyttomori @bbyplutosblog @vergilnelosparda @believeinthefireflies95 @ebsmind @hopetookourvibe

[kissingghouls]

Request to write a little snippet of Terzo comforting someone who’s a hot drunk mess?

Hello anon 💜 I'm so sorry for the wait. I know you asked for a snippet.... but... I started this and I kind of can't leave these two alone now. soo... sorry if this turns into a fully developed fic later ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

A Confession - Terzo x f!Reader 1300 words, drunk reader, comfort Terzo. div by @gothdaddyissues

Papa Secondo’s birthday party was the ministry event of the year, and this year was no exception. There was pyro, a champagne tower, and they turned the entire nave into a dance floor for fuck’s sake! It was an elaborate, Gatsby-esque affair that would be talked about around the abbey for months. If not until the next birthday party rolled around.

Not that you had seen any of it.

This time, you’d let yourself go a little too far. You were well and truly drunk two drinks ago—and you knew better, knew you’d be past your limit and better judgement. But you kept going because “fuck it, why not?” was basically the secondary theme for any of Secondo’s parties.  Before you knew it, you were lost in that blissful feeling of feeling nothing save for a buzz on your skin and the warm wave of contentedness that radiated out from your stomach.

That euphoric feeling was short-lived—quickly replaced by the need to sit down and close your eyes for a second. And maybe eat something. Or maybe never eat again.

That was how you found yourself on all fours under a random toilet, praying to every devil you’d heard of that things would just stop spinning. You had no memory of walking to a bathroom, no memory of sinking to the floor or letting the little hexagonal tiles bite into the skin of your knees. Even if you had remembered, things were too blurry to recognize exactly where you’d ended up.

At least it was clean.

Your friends were probably looking for you, if they’d even noticed you were gone. Or maybe they hadn’t. Maybe they were having a good time without you, laughing and dancing and maybe— Awful thoughts began to cloud your mind, a cruel, little voice pulling all your fears and insecurities to the choppy surface of your alcohol-soaked brain. Your stomach burned. Your eyes burned. And your mouth did that terrible tingly-watery thing, and you could feel each of your teeth.

Fuck.

“Oh! Uh, hello Sorella.”

You lost your balance as you spun around, landing your ass on the cold floor with your skirt around your hips. Looking up through teary eyes—when did you start crying? –you found a very confused and concerned Papa Terzo Emeritus standing in the doorway. He cocked his head, a gloved hand still over his heart from the shock of finding you.

Fuck, he was so fucking beautiful.

“Um, hi Papa,” you mumbled pathetically, desperate to gather the coordination to pull your skirt back down.

“Is everything—who did this to you?”

“Huh?”

He knelt beside you and placed a hand under your chin, urging you to look at him. “Which idiota has made you cry?”

“Oh, um…” You shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, trying to organize your thoughts. You didn’t remember crying—couldn’t remember if someone else had started it. If the world could just stop maybe you could concentrate. Maybe if it wasn’t stupid, perfect, beautiful Terzo asking you could think. “No one, well, I mean…I guess I did, but it’s not—I just—I’m drunk. Too drunk. I’m so sorry, Papa.”

“What do you have to be sorry about, stellina mia? Indulgence is kind of what we do, is it not?”

“Well, s-sure,” you hiccupped. “But this isn’t. This is…embarrassing.”

“Ah, well,” he began, shrugging his shoulders. “You’re in my private bathroom. Do you think I haven’t gotten drunk and cried in here? It’s happened at least twice. Maybe three times even.”

You giggled hard until your stomach began to turn. “Don’t make me laugh,” you whined before realizing who you were still talking to. “Please, Papa.”

He settled on the floor next to you. “How can I help?”

You shook your head and rushed to stand, ignoring the way the world seemed to tilt and shift under your feet. “You don’t—I should go. I’m so sorry.”

“Shh, shh, stellina. Please sit down, I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

“Okay,” you agreed and sank back to the floor.

To your surprise, Terzo pulled you closer and guided you to lay down. He didn’t seem to care that your head landed in his lap or that your wet, smudgy face was going to leave marks on his nice trousers. He simply began to hum and run his fingers through your hair, a soothing motion that made your eyelids feel heavy. The tune was familiar, something you knew but couldn’t place. It was soft yet heavy like the velvet curtains that hung in his office, warm like that secret sunny spot in the library. It worked like magic, the gentleness of his touch and the timbre of his voice calming your fears and your unbalanced thoughts as he hummed one of his songs—Yes! That was how you knew the song! How could you forget something so—

“This is better, sì?” he asked softly, his fingers still gently dancing through your hair.

How long had you been here? Did you fall asleep in Terzo’s lap? You had to admit it did feel pretty nice.

“Mmhmm,” you mumbled in agreement, unable to move from your new favorite spot.

“Bene. You relax now, stellina. I promise the feeling will pass and soon you will feel like yourself again.”

You groaned and folded your arms around your legs. “What if I don’t want to be myself anymore?”

“Oh? Who else could you be?”

“I dunno. Someone else, I guess. Someone you’d like.”

“What if I like you as you are?”

“Yeah okay,” you replied sarcastically.

“You don’t believe me? You would call your Papa a liar?” he teased.

“No! Of course not! It’s just…I dunno…why would he…” You shook your head as the train of thought left you completely. “Hang on, wait, what are we talking about?”

He laughed lightly, giving your arm a little squeeze. “We were discussing how I like you.”

“Oh.”

“Something wrong, stellina?”

“No…it’s just…” Your stomach flipped as your tried to find the words. It didn’t make sense. Nothing made sense. Your brain felt like three different jigsaw puzzles all trying to create a coherent picture—an impossible task that only added up to the one person you didn’t mind thinking about. His hair. His eyes. The soft kind smile he’d offer when he passed you in the halls.

“That’s really sweet of you, but I…I like someone else,” you finally managed.

“Ah, I see.”

“I’m sorry. I know it sounds so silly and juvenile and I probably don’t have a chance in the world, but I have a terrible crush on Papa Terzo and I—oh Lucifer’s balls! I’m so drunk. Fuck. You can’t tell him, ok? Promise me you won’t tell him!”

“Tell who?”

“Terzo.”

“I—You like Terzo?” he asked slowly. “As in more than friends?”

You pressed your face against his thigh and made a wounded sound. “I know, I know. It sounds so fucking stupid to say it out loud—”

“It’s not stupid, stellina. Perhaps you should consider telling him how you feel?”

“Maybe you should shut up,” you groaned as everything began to spin again. “Maybe I should shut up.”

“I promise not to tell him,” he assured you. “But what if he feels the same way, hmm?”

“He doesn’t. Why would he?”

“Why wouldn’t he?”

“Look at me. I’m a fucking mess.”

“You think he’s not?”

You sighed dreamily. “No, he’s perfect.”

“I don’t think that’s true.”

“Not like, perfect perfect. But he’s perfect, ok? Perfect in a way that only Terzo could be.”

“Stellina,” he whispered cautiously. “I can assure you I have many flaws.”

“Don’t care,” you mumbled sleepily. “Still like you.”

“Stellina, I like you, too.”

You let out a tiny “yay” and gave him a thumbs up.

“Would it be ok if I told you this again when you might remember it?”

You yawned loudly and burrowed deeper into his lap. “You can tell me anything.”

“Do you promise, stellina?”

You reached up, waving your hand around until you found his and hooked your pinky fingers together. “Promise.”

-x-

still working on all my other WIPs. Hoping to have some vampire Primo for you soon....[and more Mary Goore shhh] 💜

[marlsswrites]

Books and Red Hair

Ice skating AU, part 6!!

August 6th - words: 1109

First part Previous part

James would quite like to think he was extra welcome at a library, but that’s just not true. He’s clumsy, he knocks books over and can’t whisper to save his life. He’s always either too quiet or loud enough to get himself kicked out. Last time he came to this specific library, the local one to his university, he played full volume music on his AirPods - blissfully unaware that everyone around him could hear.

So how someone managed to get him back in here was a mystery, but here he is anyway.

He trailed behind Lily like a lost puppy, keeping his hands firmly to himself and not the bookshelves.

“James you look petrified.” Lily laughed out in a hushed tone.

“I’ve been told multiple times that I am severely not wanted here.” He hissed.

Lily blinked at him a few times, raising an eyebrow and flashed him an awfully unimpressed look. “What did you do?”

“Me, Rem, pads and Pete might have started a small fire in here last year.” He bit his lip to stop the smug smile from forming on his face, clearly the look still flamed alight in his eyes.

“Don’t look so proud.” She swatted his arm. “I only brought you here because you promised me a coffee after work.”

He and Lily worked in the same little record store down the street, well it used to be just records, now there’s comics, posters, collectables, CDs, everything like that honey. They’ll normally pop into a cafe after, treating themselves to a coffee before going home, but today Lily needed to grab some studying materials from the library.

“Stay here.” She said as she started to walk away.

“I’m not a child!” James protested.

“Sure!” She flashed a sarcastic smile over her shoulder as he went, leaving James with a frown on his face as he wandered through the tables of people studying, taking a seat at one of them without paying attention to anyone around him.

-

After about five minutes, he started to pick up some of the hushed whispering around him as the sound of a few people sitting in front of him hit his ears. Now he fiddled with the pages of the random book he’d swiped from the shelf and - innocently - eavesdropped after he swore he heard a voice he knew.

“Reg can you help?” A hushed female voice sounded after a few flicks of a page.

“Yeah.” A familiar voice responded. “One second Cas.”

His head slowly lifted, a smirk appearing on his face as he realised who had sat next to him.

“Hi.” He propped his head on his hands and drummed his fingers against his cheek.

The girl only gave him a confused look, she had dark shining skin, adorned with a couple of dainty tattoos and stacked jewellery that reminded him of the stuff that Lily likes to wear. But she wasn’t the one James was looking at.

“What are you doing in a library?” Regulus gave a raise of his eyebrow.

“Okay ouch, and actually I’m just waiting for my friend to finish finding - uh - whatever she needs.” He shrugged.

“So that’s why you’re reading The Great Gatsby - but specifically the blank page at the front?”

His eyes flicked down to the book, where the only words written were ‘The Great Gatsby.’

“It has some writing on it.” He proclaimed.

Regulus just hummed, no sign of emotion on his pale, blank face, yet it seemed to hold the world. His eyes like once grey clouds drowning in water, his skin as milky and smooth as a white silk pillowcase, his hair curled perfectly and dark as it hung around his face like Medusas snakes danced.

“I’m sorry, how do you two know each other?” The girl - Cas he thinks - interrupted. “Because I could swear that Regulus here doesn’t talk to anyone.”

“I talk to you!” Regulus bickered. “And Barty, Evan and Pandora.” He counted on his fingers.

“Four whole people.” Cas gasped.

Stifling a laugh, James simply watched as the two went back and fourth, clearly playfully as they argued. Still, Regulus looked beautiful with a scowl, even better with a smile though. Even better while he skated, face stoic and wondrous, face on full display and body moving like a puppet controlled by the god of love herself.

“And me.” James smiled and battered his eyelashes, Regulus pointed and nodded.

“You never answered my question.” Cas pondered, looking between the two boys suspiciously.

Stuttering out an answer, James realises he didn’t actually have just one.

“Tried to buy a book, stalked me, stalked me again, and is apparently friends with my brother and my coach’s son.”

“Hey now, I didn’t stalk you. I-“ But he cut himself off when he saw the slightly smiling face of Regulus Black - covered slightly by his baggy sleeve - but still there. The end of his pen was placed between his teeth and a silver glint on his tongue catching the sun and shining like the star the paler boy is.

“I know.” He shook his head, still smirking slightly as he moved the pen to his page, scribbling slightly and leaving James to stare at the way a ring was slid onto every single pale finger, shining bright and jewelled - as he said - like the star he is.

-

Stretches of comfortable quiet later, he felt a hand tap his arm as the silence surrounded him. “I’m done.” Lily smiled and held up the books and couple of bookmarks up with a squeal. “You owe me a coffee, let’s go.”

“Right.” He looked between the redhead and the other two, Regulus’ head still in his book but the once cal, expression had been covered by one of tension and thorns sharp as daggers. “Bye!” He waved as he and Lily left.

“Yeah, bye.” He heard dully before he walked away, the sunlight splashing in on him as soon as he stepped outside, blinding his eyes and burning into his skin.

“I bought my girlfriend this,” Lily waved up a little flowery pin that she’d picked up from the library store she’d insisted on looking in seconds beforehand. “Isn’t it adorable.”

“The cutest.” James winked with a smile.

Yet he still couldn’t get the anguished expression of a star from his mind, burning holes into the once bright irises of his eyes, stabbing into his once radiating heart. Oh what he would do to wipe it away with one quick swipe of love, leave that smile on his face that he seems to feel the need to hide.

Someone like Regulus Black shouldn’t be hidden, he’s much too special for that.

Next part

[queenlucythevaliant]

Okay, here we go. Rating literary allusions in Taylor Swift songs:

The Outside: "I tried to take the road less traveled by /but nothing seems to work the first few times/am I right?"--Starting off pretty well! She tried to take the road less traveled by, but it didn't make any difference. 8/10

Love Story: Whole song allusion to Romeo and Juliet-- All those 2008 jokes about Taylor not having read R&J weren't funny then and they aren't funny now. It's a fun, satisfying subversion. However, I am going to dock points for the fact that Romeo and Juliet aren't a prince and princess, just rich. 7/10

Love Story: "You were Romeo/I was a scarlet letter"--Is the Juliet character in "Love Story" being publicly shamed? Did she do something scandalous? There are zero other lines in this song to suggest that she did, and a fair amount of evidence that she didn't. This allusion confuses rather than clarifies and tbh this is the one people should've made fun of in 2008. 2/10

New Romantics: "We show off our different scarlet letters/ trust me, mine is better" --Hooray! She figured out what the book is about! This is a beautifully executed allusion, where "scarlet letters" represents a mark of something shameful which, in a fun subversion, is being shown off with pride. Fits the song really well. Most improved award, 11/10

Getaway Car: "It was the best of times, the worst of crimes" (A Tale of Two Cities) -- Goes in the category of "fun wordplay, but doesn't really mean anything deeper" 5/10

This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things: "Feeling so Gatsby for that whole year" --This is a perfectly serviceable allusion, but not a super interesting one. Sub "Gatsby" out with "nostalgic" and the song wouldn't change at all. She could've done a lot more with the reference, given the subject matter of the song. 6/10

cardigan: "I knew you/tried to change the ending/Peter losing Wendy" -- This works! You get a sense of Betty losing her innocence and choosing to leave James and of it being inevitable somehow. Plus, it imbues the song with a lovely fairy tale quality. 10/10

illicit affairs: "take the road less traveled by/tell yourself you can always stop" -- To take the road less traveled by is to do something risky, unpopular, or unfamiliar, not just to take a route through town where you won't run into people. Not totally egregious, but the regression from Debut is disappointing. 4/10

invisible string: "and isn't it just so pretty to think/ that all along there was some/ invisible string tying you to me."(The Sun Also Rises)--Ugggggh. Okay, so "Isn't it pretty to think so?" is this sad, tired, ironic note in The Sun Also Rises. Brett tells Jake, "We could have had a damned good time together" and Jake says "Isn't it pretty to think so?" because their whole situationship was never going to work. It's not a positive thing; it's pure, bitter Lost Generation irony. Completely out-of-place in a song about how two people we're supposed to believe will actually work as a couple. This one drives me nuts, and I don't even like Hemingway. 0/10

happiness: "I hope she'll be a beautiful fool/ who takes my spot next to you" (Gatsby)--Saying this about an ex's future SO is so... off. Like, the reason why Daisy hopes her daughter will be a beautiful fool is because it's easy. The two situations have nothing to do with one another, and not in an interesting way. 1/10

The Albatross: whole song allusion to "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," but most notably "She's the albatross/ she is here to destroy you"--The albatross in the Rime is a good omen. The Mariner shoots is for no reason, and the albatross's death is the ostensible source of bad fortune. I wrote a whole separate post on this here. That said, culturally "albatross=bad omen" is common enough, so whatever. 3/10

I Hate It Here: "I will go to secret gardens in my mind/ people need a key to get to/ the only one is mine" -- I like this one a lot. Exactly the right vibe for the song, trying to escape something miserable by going somewhere pleasant. The key is a nice touch. Poor Archibald. 10/10

The Prophecy: "I got cursed like Eve got bitten" --No Taylor, that's not what happened. Famously, Eve was the biter in that situation. 0/10

Cassandra: whole song allusion -- correct me if I'm wrong (I haven't actually read the Illiad), but my understanding is that Cassandra died fairly far into the Trojan war, and not by burning. 4/10

[welivetodream]

How much do you think Richard lied about the story?

Because I think he was lying about a LOT of stuff. I do not trust words that come from this man. He is sus.

Since he is talking about the past, it could all be misunderstandings and blurry memories (he was high half of the time) Or it could be just lies.

My favourite headcanon is that Richard was writing a book about his college life. He is a bit delusional and grandiose so when he went to college, he expected to have this main character vibe going on. But his college life was as normal as any of ours and he was disappointed. So, he tried to live vicariously through a book, which he wrote as an "autobiography" (he literally starts the book with "this is a story of my follies"). Richard is telling us, the reader, "his" story. He is acknowledging it as a "real" story. But that too is a lie. Richard made it all up. All the characters were written by him.

That's why Camilla was portrayed as an angel, she is the heroine, his damsel in distress, love interest. Henry was the mythical Jay Gatsby to Richard's Nick Carraway. Henry was someone he could obsess over and idolise. Francis is the gay one, he is another 'kind of' love interest, he is always making passes at Richard, he is snarky and a bit grumpy, that's his entire character. Charles is the mean villain, he is abusing Camilla and committing incest, his existence makes all of them appear better than they are. Bunny was homophobic to a degree that didn't make any sense, he was in a fucking Greek class and was friends with all these people with major gay vibes, what did he expect? If Bunny was sympathetic, we wouldn't have accepted the murder so quickly. And Julian is Julian, he is so out of reach and ethereal; depicted as a type of teacher we would love to have, the story's John Keating.

Now when we come to the ending. The only one who gets to live a "normal" life and has any success (at least graduating college) was Richard. Yeah, Camilla turned him down and all but, he doesn't seem that mad about it (he admitted he loved Henry too, which gives major Nick Carraway vibes) He doesn't really face any consequences of what they all did (he is an accomplice to murder after all)

Camilla is traumatised, she is still in love with Henry and he fucking died in front of her. Her relationship with Charles is ruined and that would be traumatising as well.

Francis is forced to stay in the closet with no choice in the person he dates. And he almost dies of a suicide because of that. He is done with life.

Charles tried rehab but then ran away with a woman in her 30s that was married. His life is a complete mess and he has no contact with his old friends or sister.

Henry commited suicide and Bunny was murdered by his own friends.

Out of all these situations, Richard was the lucky one. He still has ties to Camilla and Francis and they still are kind of friends. He graduated and got a job. He dates one of the most popular girls at college and moves in with her for some time. He is doing something in his life.

In the end, Richard got the best of all of them. Maybe because that's just his real life. He doesn't have a crazy backstory. He doesn't have a huge personality. He doesn't have many connections to these characters. He gets the best ending. He is always the outsider. He is the narrator. He is a liar. He is a storyteller.

It's Richard's world, we are all just living in it.

(I know this theory is not at all true. Donna Tartt was not going for it to be like this. But I find the idea of Richard faking the entire book for his own entertainment and delusion, fascinating. And it's even plausible because of his personality)

Just imagine if TSH happened in the present day. The afterward would be just Richard going to his desk job with four hours of sleep and revealing he was writing an OC self-insert fanfiction about a modern Greek tragedy in AO3.

(okay, this turned out so funny. I get Richard, I want to escape from my boring life with writing too)

[roundandroundwegoagain]

Greetings Mr. Ms. Never-Got-Your-Name,

Welcome to New York and Long Island! I will admit I'm also somewhat new; I haven't adjusted quite yet, despite being here a few months already. I come all the way from the northwest, you know. Where do you come from? Are you doing well? I apologize for the.. somewhat cryptic message if you saw it. I noticed you were nodding off and it seemed like you hadn't slept in days so I slipped you a note to remind you to rest. Anyway, it's nice to see another fresh face here! I'd love to become friends with you and meet sometime, but for now...

-Still anonymous A.

To Anonymous A

Heyo!! Thanks for the concern, baby! Man, these postmen in NY can find anyone!! And I don't mean to be a Debbie downer, but I'm only here on holiday!as far as I'm aware! Sorry about that! I tend to float place to place, so I'm from all over; including other parts of the world! But I hope your adjustment is as swift as it is peachy keen! I know I can't adjust smoothly, but I'm sure you'll get on like a hot rod on an empty road! Your message was a tad... Puzzling. To say the least... But it's all in the past! A whole 4 hours ago! I can be a bit unorthodox myself, and peculiar chattin habits is my forte! So needless to say; I would love to pop on by and get to know you! Or you could suggest a place to meet up! If you can't conjure up a spot, may I suggest the beach? It is THE place to be! The sand, the tan, and it can be more private than one thinks! I heard the Gats-man had a beach right on his property! Imagine that! You know, I can't help but wonder... I always hear how generous this Gatsby fellow is, but I can't help but think he may not have been all too serious about me crashing with him! Well, if he is or isn't, I'll probably find out right away as these postmen are top notch! Any road, I'm still making my way there, but I think I've been getting better at navigating New York! Catch you on the fly, big guy!

-The Far Out Whatchamacallit Wanderer :]

[ash5monster01]

Perfect To Love Part 8

Pairing: Steve Harrington x FemReader!PlusSize

Warnings: fluff, mentions of bullying, body image issues, fat shaming, angst, trust issues.

Summary: Beth Walker was used to living in the shadows. She had only one friend and anyone else who paid her mind usually bullied her for her size. So she learned to keep her mouth shut, her head down, and her heart closed because she had to accept the fact that she would be nothing more than the fat girl to people. That is until Robin decides Beth needs more in life and that might just include a boy who she never would’ve thought could see her for who she truly was.

word count: 2,286

Part 7 ←→ Part 9

Masterlist

Beth wasn’t actively avoiding Steve. In a sense she was but not truly. She was still embarrassed about that night and not being home every time he called just happened to be coincidence. She wasn’t sure she was even ready to be honest with Steve about everything yet. He was used to confident girls and if he knew that she was so distant because of insecurities he’d never want to date her again. So she busied herself with school, marching band, and all the homework in the world. Which of course included more than just her own.

“I’m not doing the entire project this time Eddie” Beth shook her head as she walked out of last period, the super senior following her.

“Beth please, just this once” Eddie had been assigned as her partner in english. He didn’t like homework, and this was not the first time.

“Eddie, this is like the 30th time you’ve done this. What could be so important that you can’t read three chapters of The Great Gatsby and write an essay about it?” Beth questioned as she stopped at her locker to grab what she needed for homework that night.

“I have a huge campaign coming up in Hellfire and it needs my undivided attention” Beth snickered lightly as she heard this, she knew Steve’s boys were in Hellfire. More than likely their favorite thing about high school so far. Even though Eddie seemed like the furthest thing from those sweet Freshman boys it was cute thinking of them all playing games together.

“Look Eddie, I know those boys worship you. Especially Dustin who I happen to adore, actually I adore them all. So you can have this excuse but I need an hour of your time. You pick when and we’ll do it together. Sound like a plan?” Beth said, giving him a pointed look and Eddie sighed. It was better than nothing, and in all honesty he was thankful for Beth. She was the sole reason he actually hadn’t been flunking english for once. Maybe this would be his year. 86 would be here before he knew it.

“Fine, deal” Eddie put his hand in her own and Beth smiled before shutting her locker.

“It’ll be painless Munson. I promise” she told him and he nodded, shoving the sleeves to his shirt up, flashing some of his tattoos.

“Let me walk you to your car, who knows where Matterson could be hiding” Beth went to shake her head and inform him he had been leaving her alone but decided against it. It couldn’t hurt, it’s not like the harassment had stopped completely, and most people were scared of Eddie for being different. In a sense they were an unlikely pair and that was why she was comfortable around him.

“Thank you” she said instead and he nodded as they exited the building and approached the parking lot where the autumn sun reflected off the windshields of every car.

“What the fuck is Harrington doing by your car?” Beth looked up to see the boy clad in his tight jeans, a green sweater hung loosely over his shoulders, long legs leaning over the hood of her car. His lopsided smile once he spotted her was enough to make her melt.

“It’s okay, he’s safe, promise” Beth smiled at him but Eddie still had his guard up as they made the rest of the way there.

“Hey sweet girl” Steve smiled, eyes softening towards her. Beth gave him a small smile as he pushed some hair away from her face, missing her after the past week.

“Thanks for walking me Eddie” Beth turned to the raven haired boy and Eddie nodded, realizing Beth was somehow a thing with Steve The Hair Harrington.

“Anytime” he told them before walking away to give the pair some privacy. Now alone with the boy Beth began to get nervous under his stare, knowing she had avoided him for far too long.

“Hey Steve” she grinned up at him and his heart went at ease seeing she was still comfortable with him. “What’re you doing here?”

“I missed you, figured I’d stop by and see you after school” his hands settled on her shoulders, rubbing down her arms in a comforting way. He wanted to pull her towards him, hold her close.

“It’s good to see you, I’ve been flaky, I know” Beth told him, dropping her head to hide how ashamed she was.

“Hey that’s okay, take all the time you need. I’ll leave right now if you want” Steve told her, his finger lifting her chin to look up at him. When he saw the smile on her face he chuckled.

“I don’t want you to leave Steve” she told him and he smiled, ignoring his previous attempt of keeping her at a distance. He pulled her close, arms wrapping around her as he hugged her while still sitting on the hood of her car.

“What do you want to do then B?” he asked into her hair, noting how she always smelled like roses and strawberries. Beth’s stomach erupted with butterflies as his lips moved against her head.

“Go to our spot?” she asked, pulling away just slightly to look him in his eyes. She knew there were onlookers watching them. Confused why Steve was with Beth of all people. This time she wanted them to look though, to be jealous. To know she deserved it.

“Absolutely” he told her and she nodded her head at her car to indicate she would drive. Once both in she had the windows down and Silver Springs by Fleetwood Mac blaring on the radio. Steve grinned as her hair whipped around her face and she cruised down the back roads. They were now surrounded by fallen orange and yellow leaves as they headed towards their designated spot at Lovers Lake.

After a short scolding about being careful the pair found themselves laid across the hood of Beth’s car, listening to the wind blow the water, and shake fallen leaves from the trees. Beth loved Fall more than any other season, the weather cool but just warm enough to be comfortable, baggie hoodies to hide herself in, and Halloween. There was just so much to love about this time of year. Yet she was broken from her thoughts as Steve’s hand found her own.

“Did I screw up our date?” he whispered into the air and Beth turned to look at him, shock painting her features.

“No Steve, no. I messed up our date, not you” she assured him, hand squeezing his own and he finally turned to look at her, hair splayed across her windshield.

“Just, I thought it was going really well and you froze up” he told her and Beth sighed, eyes dropping to glance at the lips she almost kissed before turning back up to the leaves in the trees.

“I panicked” she whispered, letting the Fall wind carry her confession towards the lake.

“Why? I thought we were in a comfortable spot” Steve questioned, rolling on his side to face her better but Beth still didn’t look at him.

“We were, we are. I just-. I don’t know Steve. It’s just a lot for me” Beth started to explain, unsure where to even really start.

“I like you Beth, like a lot. I want you to be comfortable with me. What do I need to do to convince you of that?” he asked, hands reaching out to push away some fallen hairs on her face.

“I need you to remember” she told him, lips quivering as she allowed the terrible memory to return. A day she wished she could completely erase, a day that haunts her and he doesn’t even remember.

“Remember? Remember what?” he asked and Beth let out a nervous chuckle even though none of this conversation actually amused her.

“We didn’t just meet Steve. You knew me in high school, or at least knew of me. I can’t trust you when I know deep down that guy, the guy that hurt me is still in there somewhere, and hasn’t even apologized” Beth told him, a rogue tear falling down her face. Steve went to brush it away but she beat him to it.

“Beth I’m sorry, I will apologize right now. I swear I regret it-” but Beth was shaking her head, sighing as she looked at him, eyes glossy with tears.

“It doesn’t count Steve unless you really really remember. I don’t doubt you regret it. You’re a good man now, but I met you when you were different and I need that version of you to recognize what he did wrong” she told him, fighting with herself over loving and hating him all at the same time.

“That’s why you couldn’t kiss me?” he asked and Beth nodded, free hand rubbing at her eyes.

“I can’t kiss you unless I feel your true intentions behind it. A part of me will always have my guard up with you, think you’re going to hurt me, and that wall I’ve built won’t go away until that part of me is healed” Beth said, all her feelings somehow making sense. It wasn’t just about him thinking she was fat, it was about her always feeling like the one version him will look at her and see her for only that, and nothing else.

“God Beth I wish I remembered. I pushed so much of that out because of guilt. I promise I regret every second of it” but that wasn’t good enough. Beth allowed to boy to hug her, nuzzling her face in his sweater. Allowing the boy who hurt her to comfort her.

“I know you do, I wish I could change it for the both of us. Just sleep on it okay, I hate remembering that day too. I’d trade places with you if I could” she told him and Steve felt his heart break. He always knew in some way his past would come and haunt him but he had never expected it to be like this. Something he couldn’t remember at all but clearly meant everything to someone he now cared for.

“I’m gonna remember B, I promise. I’ll do it for us” he told her and she smiled as she stayed snuggled against Steves chest. The last place on earth she ever expected to be.

“I’m counting on it” she told him and he smiled, pressing a soft kiss to her hair while rubbing a hand down her back.

“Can I see you this weekend?” he found himself asking and Beth smiled, head tipping up to look at him.

“Of course Steve, we can go to the football game tomorrow night?” Beth told him, always wanting to attend one but being too scared because of all the bullying. She had only ever been to Homecoming games, shoved in a Marching Band Uniform, and forced to play during half time.

“Yeah, we can ask the group to go too” he told her, a soft smile on his face now that he knew he could still spend time with her even though they had to pause on their romantic relationship.

“Yeah, can we invite Nancy too?” Steve hadn’t expected the mention of his ex-girlfriend and Beth could see it on his face. “We’re kinda friends and I think she’s lonely with Johnathon in California”

“Yeah, of course we can invite her” Steve told her, not realizing Beth even really knew the girl. Beth left out the part of feeling bad that Nancy no longer had a best friend to spend time with either. A best friend that she reminded Nancy of.

“Maybe I’ll invite Eddie too” Beth muttered, head now turned to watch the water as she cuddled with the boy in the hood of her car. Jealously bubbled in Steves stomach just like it did when he saw her approach with him. Dustin had been going on and on about the Munson boy too. Before he knew it Eddie was going to steal all his favorite people.

“How do you two know each other?” Steve found himself asking, tone accusatory unintentionally. Beth grinned as she recognized the jealousy in his voice.

“Oh, we’ve been on a few dates” Steves eyes widened and Beth began giggling instantly, unable to follow through with her lie. “I’m kidding Steve. We’re english partners and I help him with his homework sometimes”

“Okay, good” Beth snickered at the response but accepted it anyway. She had never had anyone be jealous for her before. It was a nice feeling, it made her feel like a normal teenage girl. Something she always wanted. She wished she could kiss him for it. Maybe soon enough she could.

“Alright hot shot, we better get back to town. I have homework to do” Steve groaned but allowed her to leave his arms anyway, sliding down the hood of her car.

“Can I come?” he asked but she just laughed and shook her head as she climbed inside the car.

“No because I need to focus” she told him and he grinned, his normal cockiness returning.

“So you’re admitting I’m a distraction?” the sentence held heavy innuendos behind it but she just rolled her eyes and shifted the car into reverse.

“That’s because you are” she said now cruising back down the road the way they came and he smirked, arms crossing over his chest.

“As long as it’s the good kind of distraction” he said, eyebrows wiggling her way and she couldn’t help but laugh, happy that he was somehow now apart of her life. Something she never could’ve guessed.

“The best kind of distraction”

Taglist: @kindablackenedsuperhero @rinarecommends @starryeyedpoet17 @crustless-toast @loverofmarsss @alexa-33 @bethanysnow @middle-of-the-earth @princessadriana4-blog @mochminnie @legendaryhumandiplomatgoop @a-lil-bit-nuts @i-came-as-bostonian @krazyk99 @thunderstomp-and-tequila

Comment if you want to be added to the tag list :))

[secretmellowblog]

You know how Nick/Gatsby and Holmes/Watson and Enjolras/Grantaire are super popular gay classic lit ships? I’m genuinely surprised there’s not a slash-shipping community around Sydney Carton and Charles Darnay from a Tale of Two Cities…like. I get the reason Darnay/Carton isn’t popular is because no one cares about A Tale of Two Cities but their relationship is so bizarrely homoerotic for literally no reason! It’s like Built to be some Dark Academia tumblr ship! I think Carton/Darnay should be in the tumblr gay classic lit canon, repping Dickens and the way Dickens’ misogynistic inability to write convincing heterosexual relationships results in his characters seeming extremely gay.

I could write an entire essay on why A Tale of Two Cities makes more sense if you ignore Dickens’ intent and read Carton as gay (with quotes supporting my point) but like. Carton insists he’s in love with Darnay’s wife Lucie but spends much more of his page-time talking to/flirting with Darnay (to the point where he’s never had an on page conversation with Lucie until he “confesses his love” to her in a scene where he also immediately rejects himself for her, and insists that their relationship would be Impossible for Reasons and that his heart isn’t Capable of feeling things the way it should, as if he’s chosen to convince himself he’s in love with her because she’s unattainable and he will never have to be in a relationship with her.) Darnay and Carton have all these tense charged snarky interactions that feel like fanfic. Darnay’s thing with Lucie is pretty bland but there’s this huge emphasis on the fact that he and Carton are “counterparts.” Whenever Dickens tries to write Carton as being sad that Lucie loves another man it generally comes across as Carton being jealous of Lucie, because he’s almost never had a full conversation with Lucie and spends most of his time instead having these very sad clingy desperate pathetic conversations with the men who love her. Carton has a weird homoerotic thing going on with his jock law partner Stryver, who he sacrifices everything for and spends all his time with and lets invade his personal space/walk all over him for reasons he refuses to explain (all while Stryver repeatedly mocks Carton for being incapable of falling in love with women). Carton ultimately sacrifices his life for Darnay by forcibly taking off Darnay’s clothes and disguising himself as him….like?

One of their first interactions is Carton heroically saving Darnay’s life, then drunkenly calling himself Darnay’s “counterpart” and asking him on a date.

Like.

Hm.

This feels like the banter you’d find in an Enjolras/Grantaire fanfic:

Fellas is it gay to

But yeah! The main thing people remember about A Tale of Two Cities are the cool peasant women revolutionaries, who Dickens is trying to portray as villains but who are actually the best characters in the book. And if I’m going to be mean to my high school self (who was obsessed with ATOTC for some reason) I’d say that the central melodrama between Carton/Darnay/Lucie is a weakness of the novel because Carton’s arc has nothing to do with the political French Revolution stuff, so his sacrifice feels thematically disconnected from all the book’s attempts at political commentary. HOWEVER. I think it works better if it’s gay.Also the Vengeance and Madame Defarge are gay, but people aren’t ready for that conversation!

So yee!! people on tumblr love ships that are like “hot goody-two-shoes classic lit boy in a suit x hot snarky classic lit sadboi in a suit”, but so few ppl remember Carton and Darnay, who were repping that all the way back in the 1790s 😔😔😔😔😔

[where-is-vivian]

I'll Adore You

from @jegulus-microfic's prompt, freckle (675 words)

Regulus’ eyes have this little speck of yellow, like gold drops in the middle of a storm; his eyes are grey, and James could swear on that, but when he looks very closely, right before he kisses him, he sees them. They’re like stars in Regulus’ eyes.

Regulus has this little habit to always fold his unused parchment the same way, every time. First from right to left, then he takes the corner on the bottom right and he folds it so this corner touches the top right one.

Regulus has a very tiny strand of hair on the nape of his neck. Since he always has short hair, and he hides it under his curls, no one ever sees it, but when James kisses him there, he sees it.

Regulus loves his coffee extra sweet. And he pretends to hate it when James pretends to mock him for it. Truth is, James loves this detail because when he makes coffee for Regulus, it really gives him the feeling to make something with love for him, and not just plain coffee.

Regulus likes the little white flowers, the ones in bouquets that are always used to make the other and bigger and more colourful flowers pretty. He thinks they also deserve to be noticed. He says “they do all the work, so they deserve to be seen”.

Regulus’ favourite book is The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald. James has never read that book, but he knows the story by heart anyway, because he likes to ask Regulus to tell him the story with his words. James always ends up falling asleep, so Regulus often has to do it all over again. James pretends he still doesn’t know the full story, so Regulus does it again; because when he does, his eyes shine, and he smiles, and he looks so passionate, it’s wonderful.

Regulus is pretty. This is an important point. It seems he always gets more and more beautiful as time passes.

Regulus falls asleep first most of the time (unless he’s telling James about his favourite books). Then James puts a blanket over him, and he sits quietly next to him. James never knew Regulus would fall asleep so easily; he always seemed like a night owl to him. 

Regulus can talk to birds. He knows which one makes what sound, and James finds that amazing; Regulus said he learnt that during his childhood, because he was bored, and because it relaxed him to pause everything, and just… talk to birds.

Regulus always does this looping thing when he wins at Quidditch. Which is infuriating when he wins against James, and James’ team loses, but most of the time, James finds it endearing. He wants to join him. Actually, it never misses to make James smile, even if he lost. He wants to join him, when he does that, but he knows it’s his moment.

Regulus always taps his fingers on whatever surface he can (his knee, the table, his bag, an arm rest, …) when he listens to music. Sometimes, there isn’t music in the room, and Regulus doesn’t even have headphones on, but James guesses he has music in his head already. He wishes he could be there too.

Regulus’ hair is soft. James can never get tired of messing them a bit, stroking them, and then detangling them with his fingers. Regulus doesn’t mind. James is glad Regulus doesn’t mind.

Today, James can add another line to his list.

Regulus has freckles all over his body, and with the sun of summer, they get more visible, and James wants to kiss each one of them. As if they were targets just for him to kiss and adore; there’s this legend. That says that every mole or every freckle you have on your body is where your lover kissed you the most in your past life. Well, James has to do better than them; he will love Regulus more, so much that, in his next life, he’ll have even more freckles.

[romancomicsblog]

Who should play Omni-Man in a live action Invincible?

Whether you are an avid watcher of Invincible or not, at this point you probably know the character of Omni-Man through the zeitgeist, merchandise, or memes.

Since JK Simmons interpretation of the character, Omni-Man has sky rocketed into popularity. The incredible villain was a major part of Invincible's success, giving us a very violent, angry and conflicted performance from Simmons.

Given there will be a live action film, currently in the works from Allen the Alien actor Seth Rogen, I thought I'd throw some names in the mix who I think could be potentially great Omni-Men.

Warning: This will contain spoilers from Seasons 1 & 2 of Invincible so be warned!

Who can't be Omni-Man?

Before we get started into who could, I am gonna limit myself a bit. Let's start with the obvious, JK Simmons is too old. He's fantastic, and I love his version, but he can't be Nolan. Might I suggest Conquest, Art, or best of all, Cecil?

I also have no intention of picking actors who have played Superman. So Henry Cavill, Brandon Routh, etc, no dice.

Also in general, I'm gonna try to avoid actors who already have an iconic performance as a superhero character. So actors like Hugh Jackman, Ben Affleck and others won't be on this list either.

And finally, I've seen the fancasts of both Jon Hamm and Nick Offerman. Frankly I like both. But I think we can do better.

What are Nolan Grayson's Physical Characteristics?

Omni-Man needs to feel like the most dangerous man in the room AND the world's greatest hero. It's a very delicate balance to pull.

I'd prefer someone over 6 ft tall, with a background in both heroic and menacing roles.

Nolan is a viltrumite, meaning he could be any race or ethnicity.

If he can rock a mustache, even better.

I'm looking for an actor in their late 30s to early 50s. We have a little room to work with as his age is slower, but someone in their 40s is most preferable.

Let's get into it.

3. Colin Farrell

Starting off our list is the original Bullseye himself Colin Farrell. Though he is a little bit shorter than I would like at 5'10, Farrell brings experience, skill and likeability to Nolan, which is very necessary if we want to portray him as a good guy.

What really sold me on him is actually Saving Mr Banks, where he plays a sympathetic, problematic father who truly loves his children. That sympathy can go a long way for Omni-Man.

Where he doesn't sell me is the ruthlessness of Nolan, nor does he feel like he can be a very threatening villain. He did play a fun one, namely the Penguin in The Batman.

Really my main concern is The Penguin, as he is returning for his show and likely The Batman Part II. I'd prefer someone not as known for wearing the costume of such an iconic character.

2. Joel Edgerton

I feel like everyone forgets about good ol reliable Joel Edgerton.

If we want a villain with brutality, Edgerton can bring it. He can rock a mustache, he's played multiple convincing villains and could really make the role his own. He's held his own against power houses like DiCaprio and Maguire in Gatsby.

He's even played a few good guys, namely Uncle Owen in Obi-Won Kenobi.

The great thing about Edgerton is he falls so deep in the role, people forget it's him. It may be good to have an actor smaller than the role he's playing, but with a skill to match Simmons.

My main concern is very simple, he's 5'10". I'm sure we can make him seem bigger, but other than, he seems evil, untrustworthy. He often plays characters who are darker or troubled. Can he play 100% heroic? Or atleast faking heroic?

I think he'd do a fantastic job, but there's one more guy I'm itching to see put on the red and white.

1. Joel Kinnaman

Takeshi Kovacs. Rick Flag. Alex Murphy.

Joel Kinnaman is one of my favorite actors working today.

I think Kinnaman has both the intensity and heroic nature to be a perfect Nolan. At 44, he is in the perfect age range we want. He is 6'2", and while I admit he is leaner than I would like, bulking up to play Nolan I think is very possible.

He's got a great voice, can rock a mustache, play a convincing father, and has never truly donned a cape. He'd make a fantastic villain in a movie, and an even better hero once he joins the Coalition of Planets.

I think he'd add a different enough performance while being able to stand up to a great actor like Simmons. Joel Kinnaman is my ideal Omni-Man.

Thank you so much for reading! Please consider following, and check out my socials and other sites here! And let me know: Who do you want to see play Omni-Man in a live action Invincible?

[wearethekingdom]

Tell me about your trip bro >:3 seems like you got some really cool stuff!!

RAHHHH GNAWING. AT THE BARS IF MY ENCLOSURE RIGHT NOW!!!1!!!! i was hoping someone was actually interested in what i was saying cuz sometimes posting on here feels like talking to the wall. this is gonna be like really long sorry, you dont have to read it

ANYWAYS YES. So me and a couple other people went up to the north of ireland for a few days which was so so awesome sauce because i love drives. see i never say long drives because once someone got needlessly mad at me for calling it a long drive and started indirect posting about me but 4 hours is like the longest you could drive from one place to another here. so. its long for me kind of (ignoring my copious weeks-long US roadtrips)

we got to the place where we were staying at, the beds were so uncomfy think i wouldve slept better on the floor tbh BUT it's fine. we went to the shop because everything is like cheaper there and i got this blanket with ghost dogs on it for my dog cuz he likes covering himself in a blanket when he sleeps, its really cute so i had to get him a new blanket. then we tried to go out for dinner but told us we werent allowed in to the place we booked the day before because no minors were allowed in at that time like lad put that on your damn website then 🙏🙏 so we ate the random snacks we had bought earlier in our room, which was kind of way too delicious

DAY 2?!?!

We went to the Titanic museum cuz i like history and raujerng um it was fucking awesome, some of the workers there spoke irish which was so cool, i took some photos of stuff and i learnt so much about the titanic that i didnt know about. I also cried in the middle of one of the exhibits because i realised just the sheer amount of people who died and. yeah. but nah it was a great experience

then we went to some shitty science museum cuz it looked cool on their website but we were the oldest people there everyone was like FIVE. so we left quickly.

Then we went on a walk and it was super duper pretty, we also went swimming there, sea swimming my favourite thing EVER!! did some diving off the rocks, realy enjoyed that

For dinner we went to this like dinerish thing, it was really cool and the food was so tasty, we didnt get kicked out of this place (fuck yeah) I tried dumplings for the first time and they were actually really good like i didnt think i would enjoy them but yeah! i also got strawberry lemonade which i thought i didnt like for whatever reason but now ive tried it again i do!

DAY 3?!?!?

last day cuz i have school soon. SO we woke up super late and totaly overstayed but like womp womp owners didnt give a single shit. We went to the 2nd hand book shop where i got The Great Gatsby, Batman The Dark Knight, Lost in Translation, and even more than i showed so i also got Will Grayson Will Grayson, Catching Teller Crow, The Honest Truth and Wayward. They were all like 2 pounds which is so good cuz every book is atleast 11 euro back home cuz idk they dont like doing 2nd hand bookshops down there for some reason. Then we went to the vintage store where i got my postcards cuz i loveeee collecting old postcards with messages on them, the 1958 one is now the oldest postcard i own and its SO COOL LIKE AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA, im actually so happy i found it. Also got those 2 ceramic guys, the hippo and the bunny, if you got a name suggestion JJ let me know cuz i havent named them yet. Then we got on the road back home where we listened to shitty drill rappers and irish rebel songs all the way back

it was such a good trip and i am yet again sorry this is so long

[joprompts]

the great gatsby (2023 musical) starters. part two. *starters from the musical. slightly edited for rp purposes. adjust as necessary.

better hold tight or i might fly away.

do you know what i did when my baby was born? when i found out that she was a she? i prayed that my beautiful child would be the fool that i could never be.

if that's the plan, you can count me out.

only four hours left and there's too much to do. i don't know what to wear, what to say, how to stand when i'm standing inside the foyer!

can justice be done? what a joke!

soon, we'll share in what i've done.

when the party's over, can you find another party somewhere?

we live for today.

one way road, is that what this is? have i traveled down it from a very early age?

it's tea, it's only tea! no need for such commotion!

today is never over if the party never stops.

god sees everything, but is slow on his commands.

i wonder what [she'd/he'd/they'd] do, if i walked through.

what if i turn into her?

she should know that i mean business, but i also mean causal, with teeny tiny sandwiches!

i'm sure you're the second-best she's ever had!

with only a nickel to my name, i've but it all to get in the game.

even for you, that was a scandal for the ages.

it took no time to love her, just to be worthy of her.

this could turn for me and i can guarantee when all this is done i'll be forever in your debt.

i wouldn't trust myself.

i kissed her and knew i'd ever stray, but then the world got in the way.

can you see through the mist? look out this way. can you see the green light, just across the bay? sometimes, it's blinking, sometimes it's warning, blinking it's message to me until morning. it's a lighthouse.

none of this was made to last.

i will be a rich man's wife with a rich man's baby and be set for life.

will she see i've made my world in the image of her dreams? the closer that i get, the farther that she seems!

i've become the man her world demanded me to be.

they want me to come in while the killer roams free.

better listen to that man. people say he takes the world seriously.

can you believe we now have a child?

she never loved you and she never will.

i built the perfect place to stay locked away.

we pay off the cops.

there must be some justice! someone has to pay!

how's the view from up there?

i spoke those words to gain security. it was maybe a mistake and the only choice to make.

i think you two are birds of a feather. i must find ways to fling you together. lock you both up in a closet for tea, charter a boat, push you right out to sea!

i've always known what i was fighting for.

to have and to hold. til death do us part.

only we know what we're going through. if i save you, will you save me too?

i'm gonna walk into the ocean!

we had to give up all the parties and drinking.

the party's roaring on.

marriage is more than vows and devotion. it is a ferris wheel of emotion. lifting you up, right after you fall. marriage is not what you picture at all.

i'm not going anywhere.

but now, today i see an open door at last that could lead me to a future i gave up in the past.

she eats and sleep and it is utterly wild!

i'm paralyzed with happiness.

i built a home beyond my childhood dreams.

breathe, i can't breath! can't hold it together! i try to inhale and my head starts to swim.

when i saw him walking down the aisle, he actually looked cute.

i've come so far for her.

if we don't go now, we might never know what this could be! who we really are!

i'm smart enough to know i'd lose everything if i ever strayed.

and boy, was i a sucker.

we'll be living back in time, just as it was before. only now she will have everything and more.

i've always liked swinging at little white balls.

it's time for tea!

can we stop for a moment and just look around. look at us all and the joy we have found.

i can't run away.

at the end of the night, i'm going home with him.

can you see through the mist, across the bay?

i let him put a ring on me.

but don't you think that every newlywed believes their marriage will endure and that somehow will escape their fate? is that every wedding's curse?

everyone can stop tip-toeing.

money can't buy happiness, no sir, but it brings you closer.

am i chasing a dream?

[more-than-tender-curiosity]

hi ok so. sorry to be dense but like. is there much reason to hate robert? like we’re in a whole Robert hate train here and I’d love to join but uh. I don’t understand. I’ve gone back and read all the Robert parts in your fic multiple times, and I don’t hate him?

I think maybe Dan Cody being so… Dan Cody all the time like got to me. Like I was so on edge with every Dan Cody scene I read that whenever another character showed up to talk with Jay, I felt a huge sense of relief. So these recent chapters are kind of like a reprieve that I’m taking from all of Dan Cody’s shit and also as a chance to see Gatsby start to get better, but I keep seeing all this “I hate Robert!” stuff and I don’t understand bc Robert seems basically fine (if not a bit off) to me, so basically I am asking for a Reasons Why We Hate Robert list if you don’t mind? Thank you and sorry for misinterpreting your work 😭

n o no no non o no no anon i. actually agree completely. every time i look at the poll results I'm like. really? because I'm very purposefully writing ole bobby to be Much Less Bad Than He Could Be, especially compared to other people jay's been with in the past (not just romantically, but in terms of his parents and father schwartz as well). like I think about what 'poor sweet dan' would have done in a LOT of these scenarios and it's like. are we sure? Are we Really Sure rob's so bad................... ..............................for right now? dan wasn't exactly out here patiently teaching jay how to tie his shoes and pushing him to get an education. handing him the tools to build his future. and most importantly not taking advantage of him when he very very easily could have, which—SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER—was originally going to happen there at the end of 1913 before I decided to go with the ending that's actually in the chapter. I'm giving this old man COMPARATIVELY redeeming qualities left and right. he's just...a little peculiar, that's all...... I think some of the misgivings may come from people who know me too well to trust ANYBODY I write. Especially older men in this poor daddy issue riddled baby's life. but no I completely agree. as of 1913 I really don't expect such intense vitriol from people who don't know what's coming next. i had intended to put out a poll like this last one for each chapter and thought there would be a very specific pattern but. i was completely wrong. we'll see what changes. can any of the Robert Hate Squad weigh in with why you voted robert. what specifically did I do to make you hate this man? is there a specific scene or line or is it just...general distaste

[fiercynn]

was in bed all day so i watched the entirety of the fall of the house of usher. i'm mixed about it overall, but i think it may have actually been the best plot-wise of the mike flanagan shows i've seen?

spoilers for all the mike flanagan tv shows except the midnight club (which i started and was intrigued by, but fizzled out on when i found out it had been cancelled) beneath the cut

my problem with both hill house and bly manor is that i think that plot-wise, they set up interesting stories and then can't stick the landing and go out with a whimper out at the end. they do an okay job with emotional arcs, but you can't entirely divorce the emotional journey from the bones of the story - at least, not in these kinds of stories - so the plot still matters, i think.

(imo midnight mass does not do that, it tells exactly the story it wants to tell and constructs it decently; i just found that story really boring lol.)

so while i think bly manor was still the most enjoyable of the shows to watch, the fall of the house of usher might be the best in my book at plot, and i enjoyed the way it used poe stories amd poetry with its own twists on them. and i think with a few changes could have been really good overall! here's what i would have changed:

less racism. i mean it was probably average amount of racist for both a flanagan show and, generally, a majority-white cast & crew american show, and i know the whole thing was about how horrible rich people are, but there was still so much casual racism, sigh

like 40% less monologuing. i know, i know, that's flanagan's whole deal, but it's still too much even when it's performed by actors as enjoyable as bruce greenwood and carla gugino, and isn't all about catholicism (sorry midnight mass fans)

pretty early on i thought that the reveal about what happened on new year's 1980 would be madeline and roderick killing rufus griswold. but then after roderick betrayed auguste at the deposition i was like "wait no that's too obvious, they must have killed annabel to keep her quiet about roderick's perjury" and honestly i think that would have been a better twist??? like even the bells they were hearing behind the wall made sense to me because her name was annabel! and it would have been a murder roderick felt guilty about on a personal level, and it might have made sense that he would take the deal from verna if her pitch was "you already sacrificed your wife who you loved. don't you want to make it worth it by having some certainty for you and your children for at least a number of decades?" so i was bored when my original predictable guess was right. i guess it fit better with the cask of amontillado to have it be rufus but still, less compelling

the scene with arthur showing pictures of verna throughout history was SO silly and hamfisted, i'm sorry. also the lemons speech, the worst kind of example of a flanagan monologue which thinks it's brilliant and is just...goofy

i thought maybe there was going to be a twist where lenore didn't die because her mom had actually cheated on freddie and i was upset that didn't happen :( i know it was meant to be a lesson, that roderick and madeline's deal had to apply even to the not-horrible members of the family, but i still hated it! sigh

i thought that both lulu wilson (child madeline) and willa fitzgerald (mid-20s madeline) did a much better job with the character than mary mcdonnell (senior madeline). idk something about her just didn't seem as ruthless and collected and cold?

also not a change exactly but why did no one comment on the fact that roderick and madeline usher, who are twins, one of whom was married at the time, decided to do a couples' costume as jay gatsby and daisy buchanan for new year's 1980. why

[wildernezz]

you only just followed me but i saw your bio, so:

analyse me lol

finally got around to doing this. man, i really gotta get back on my analyzation grind. anyways this is the most i was able to think of. not sure how accurate it'll end up being, but hopefully i'm able to get some things right lolll. and if not, hopefully you at least enjoyed reading through it:

autism. that is the very first thing that strikes me when scrolling through your blog to analyze stuff and i just needed to get that out of the way as soon as possible. the autism is undeniable. and if you're not autistic it's some sort of flavor of neurodivergent. i'm putting my bets on autism though.

you're a very honest and straightforward person. you're very clear about your boundaries and what you're trying to express when talking about things. it's incredibly respectable and a really good trait to have, but i feel like sometimes you question yourself for it. it's hard to describe but i'll try touching more on it later.

i feel like you're not a very talkative person in real life. considering you have a lot of deltarune posts, a large part of me feels like you relate to kris. you also just give off those vibes of someone who's a little monotone, not extremely talkative, but can definitely ramble about the things you're interested in. i also feel like the story arc of kris is something you probably relate to. i haven't analyzed kris enough to feel solid in describing their trauma but i know something in that is something you relate to. especially with the conflict of identity and knowing who you are. i have no idea how to describe that in kris terms but i know it's there. 

rolling along with the deltarune ball, there's a whole lotta noelle in there too (which based btw, noelle is awesome). it makes me wonder if you relate to her too. maybe it's the overall anxiety she has, but i feel like it also ties into the idea of identity, losing yourself, or not completely knowing who you are. it's weird to describe because i feel like you do have a solid sense of who you are, it's just that every now and then you probably have some sort of moral crisis or existential crisis and it can send you spiraling if you think about it for too long. you seem like somebody who lives life the way that you want to, but there is still a slight underlying fear of both yourself and the world.

oh i just know you've questioned your gender a few times. maybe you haven't particularly dwelled on it for a long time, but i feel like you've def had that "maybe i'm not entirely cis" thought pop in your head every now and then.

this is honestly a tougher analyzation for me to pinpoint, but it's not because i can't tell anything about you, it's more like i could point at a character and go "that one's you" but i have no idea how to back it up lmaoooo. so here's some characters that i feel fit you but i have no idea why: Kris from Deltarune (duh), steve minecraft (idk why either), L from Death Note, Nick Carraway from The Great Gatsby, both Danny Saunders and Reuven Malter from The Chosen (1987 movie specifically), and also a weird mix Twilight Sparkle, Starlight Glimmer, and Maud Pie from MLP:FiM.

hopefully this provides something insightful and is at least semi-accurate. i usually do better analyzations on my @analyzing-people-like-hell account where i'm given a list of characters to work with, so if you want i'd gladly redo an analyzation over there. however i have been way off my analyzation grind so i make no promises on how long that'll take lolll. either way, my bad if this isn't all that accurate, but it was super fun to look through so thank you for the content B))