#another great example of the author also being the artist

[judgeitbyitscover]

Togo

Authored and illustrated by Robert J. Blake

Philomel Books, October 2002

Togo wasn't meant to be a sled dog. He was too feisty and independent to make a good team member, let alone a leader. But Togo is determined, and when his trainer, Leonhard Seppala, gives him a chance, he soon becomes one of the fastest sled dogs in history! His skills are put to the ultimate test, though, when Seppala and his team are called on to make the now-famous run across the frozen Arctic to deliver the serum that will save Alaska from a life-threatening outbreak of diphtheria.

[allaboutnayeli]

F.T.L | m.leon x reader / i.engen x reader

summary: you find out mapi is cheating, so you get revenge in the best way possible: getting a taste of her lover.

author notes: figure out what F.T.L stands for :)

contains: mapi leon x reader, ingrid engen x reader, mapi leon x ingrid engen, medical university student!reader, tattoo artist!ingrid engen, this is full of cheating & lying, cheating used as a form of revenge, everyone is sorta a piece of shit sorryyy, tons of angst, this is NOT smut so don't even, toxicity, a prime example of what NOT to do in a relationship, this is very long cause i'm not leaving yall on a cliffhanger, this is very insane so buckle in 🙂🩷

playing B.A.S by megan thee stallion 🎵

"are you sure she's cheating and you aren't just overthinking?" your bestfriend, daniela, says. the brunette is sitting right next to you on her couch. one arm resting on the back of the couch, her face resting in the palm of her hand and the other hand holding a glass of white wine.

"i wouldn't just accuse her of something this bad if i didn't have a reason to be suspicious," you respond. you take a sip of your own wine to shove down the anger and sadness that's bubbling in your conscience. not that daniela would ever judge you if you did let those emotions show themselves. the woman has been your pillar since you started having these suspicions about your girlfriend, maria.

my name is maria, but everyone calls me mapi. i would rather you call me yours, though, is what the spaniard said the first time you two met. you thought the pickup line was so cringe and dorky, but at the same time, so cute coming from the tattooed brunette.

and that one line led to nearly four years of a loving relationship. what can you say? mapi is one of the sweetest people you know. she remembers small details like how you prefer oat milk than any other kind, so she always makes sure to get it when she does the grocery shopping or the way you used to complain about how tight your hair ties were, so she bought you extra stretchy ones. she's the cutest cat mom with bagheera being absolutely spoiled. mapi was also protective, good with kids, and so many great qualities.

she is also a cheater.

sweet, caring, certified cat lover, super dorky maria is a cheater.

you sat on this suspicion for a short while before booking it to daniela's while mapi is at her favorite tattoo shop getting another inked beauty; that darned tattoo shop.

"after nearly every appointment, she goes out for drinks with her tattoo artist. at first, i thought she just made a new friend, but she always came back home looking messier than usual.. smelling like some perfume.. and when i ask her what they did at the bar, she barely tells me anything," you explain, "and you know how mapi is! she's the type of person who wouldn't be able to stop talking even if it was to save her life."

daniela nods in agreement. anyone who spends even a few minutes around mapi knows how much the spanish woman likes to talk. if there was a guinness world record for the "biggest yapper" mapi would be a record holder.

"okay, i would be suspicious too," daniela says. you let out an exactly that makes her playfully hit your arm. "anyways, back to what i was saying.. what are you going to do about it? even if she isn't cheating, something is going on."

you purse your lips as you take in her question. what are you going to do? confronting her right away feels wrong when you don't have concrete evidence. randomly accusing your girlfriend to her face wouldn't go over well; mapi is a sweetheart, but hates when people say she did something she's sure she didn't.

after some thinking about it, you come up with an idea.

"i need actual proof.." you start to say. daniela gestures for you to hurry up as you trail off.

"i have to get access to her phone."

it's around eight when mapi comes back to you guys apartment. you're feeding bagheera dinner when the spaniard walks through the door.

not wanting to seem suspicious and also just genuinely missing your girlfriend (even if you did suspect she was being disloyal) after a long day of basically not seeing her, you pet bagheera before standing up and going over to the front door. mapi has already slipped off her shoes when you walk over. she's smiles when you come close.

"hola mi preciosa," she giggles when you give her a welcome back home peck, "how was your day, hm?"

"good.. but better now that you're here," you say, pulling her into a hug. it's warm and makes your heart flutter like usual. those flutters go away as you smell that unfamiliar perfume on mapi, reminding you of what you talked about with daniela. you hide your frown in mapi's neck.

"aweee. you missed me that bad?" mapi says when you pull yourself out of the hug. still holding onto her as you two move to the kitchen.

you roll your eyes at her sudden cockiness. it's an annoying but charming trait of hers. now you wonder if that same charm is what made another woman fall for her hard enough that she didn't care that mapi was already taken; if the woman even knows.

you push those thoughts away. playfully teasing her as you say, "no, i just didn't want to wash the dishes after eating dinner. now you can do it."

mapi perks up at the sound of dinner and then groans at the talk of dishes. that was her least favorite chore by far.

"cmon, amor. you know you wash the dishes way better than i do," she pouts at you, leaning against the kitchen island. that pout makes you smile (something that you reprimand yourself for mentally) as you get the lasagna out of the oven.

you hear the meow of bagheera as she comes over to mapi. the brunette bends down and picks up the black cat right away. kissing the top of the cat's head like she always does.

"i swear you love that cat more than me," you joke.

mapi shrugs, "can you fault me if i did? just look at her, babe. she's adorable." she holds up bagheera so that the cat's face is facing you. of course, the black cat looks adorable per usual. you might not have been there from the beginning, but you love bagheera just as much as mapi does.

"yeahh.. the cutest one in the house," you say before turning your attention to the lasagna. you make two plates of lasagna and grab both when you finish.

"grab us some drinks, will ya?" you walk from the kitchen to the table in the 'dining room', which is really just open space between the kitchen and living room that needed something to be filled up with.

mapi says a quick okay before setting down bagheera back on the floor (she gives her a kiss before she does, of course) and goes over to the fridge. she grabs a pink lemonade for you and a pepsi for herself. she follows after you, setting the drinks down on the table, then sits down.

"gracias, mi amor," she says when you place her plate down in front of her. once you sit down across from her, you say, "de nada."

you two eat a bit before you bring up the tattoo shop. mapi is rambling on about the meetings she had to attend in the morning,

"-and all he does is go on and on about basically nothing. i don't get how someone can talk so much.." the spaniard says in between bites. you let out a giggle at the irony of mapi, of all people, complaining about someone talking too much. the nice atmosphere sours a little (at least for you) as you think back to what you need to ask; just to confirm, this suspicion of yours isn't something you made it due up to overthinking.

"he sounds annoying as shit," you chuckle, easily sliding into the topic you really want to know about, "beside all that, how was your tattoo appointment?"

mapi visibly gets less chipper than she was while rambling. the change is subtle, she bites her lip and starts to sorta push around the food on her plate as she looks down at it like she's thinking about what to bite next.

your eyes flicker down to her lips. why is she being hot at this moment? the spanish woman really has no right when she's acting like she doesn't wanna talk about something that should be her favorite topic. mapi loves tattoos. everyone knows she loves tattoos, so why wouldn't she yap about her appointments like she does everything else?

she takes a bite of her lasagna before shrugging, "it was alright. i didn't get anything done, but i talked with my tattoo artist about the design i wanted."

you nod, waiting for her to continue on like she usually would with any other topic, but no.

mapi just goes back to eating. obviously waiting for you to reply back to her.

"that sounds nice, baby. what design did you pick?" you ask.

"uh, just a design of bagheera."

"that's adorable."

mapi smiles at you, "i know. i already have a few of her, but i want more, you know. she's getting older."

"yeah, she's becoming a grandma." that makes mapi laugh loudly, going right into joking around about bagheera's age. you join in and don't even say anything when the topic strays away from the tattoo shop.

you two talk about practically nothing, finishing the rest of the lasagna. now both of you are washing dishes instead of it just being mapi's chore. what can you say? you aren't able to resist her puppy eyes even when all you think about when you see them now is if she ever used those on another woman romantically.

"are you ready for our date tomorrow?" you say, drying off a plate mapi handed you.

she smiles, "of course. i have been missing our date days. i'm so ready to spend the entire day with the prettiest woman i know." she turns towards you, puckering her lips for a kiss. you giggle and peck her lips a few times.

"you really think that?" you say. it comes out playful, but there is vulnerability lingering at its edges. in mapi's eyes is some concern, she knows you like the back of her hand. of course she would notice if you sound insecure.

mapi puts down the plate in the sink and dries her hands before pulling you close to her. she kisses the side of your face as her arms hold onto your waist, "why wouldn't i? just look at you. the love of my life."

usually, her words would reassure you right away, but not now. not when you are sure she's cheating on you. if you're so beautiful then why is she fucking around with someone else?

you don't let those thoughts influence your actions, though, as you hold onto her tighter. if you hold on a little longer, maybe you can pretend that mapi just really likes that tattoo shop and isn't doing anything strange. maybe you can pretend she's still all yours.

mapi lets you be the one to pull away, kissing you right away. then when that ends, she smiles, "i'm gonna finish up these plates, then shower. just go relax, okay?"

you nod, pecking her lips again before leaving the kitchen. you go to sit on the couch, bagheera coming over to sit on your lap. a cuddle session starts as bagheera snuggles up to you. the only sounds in the apartment is the tv playing, bagheera's purring, and mapi's humming as she washes the dishes as the woman can't even be silent when doing that.

soon enough, the sound of the water running stops. mapi says, "i'm going to go shower first. i'll be out in thirty. can you put my phone on the charger for me, amor?"

"mhm, sure!" this is finally your chance to check mapi's phone. you kiss the top of bagheera's head before letting her get off your lap, so you can go grab mapi's phone.

you reach the counter where she left the device on. your heart starts racing as you pick it up. just do a quick look, then put it on the charger you tell yourself as you start to type in mapi's password.

it doesn't work.

the password that mapi has been using since you two have been together isn't working.

"what the fuck..?" you murmur, trying the password one more time before just accepting that she changed it. you already have some evidence just from this because why would she change it? this also foils your plans. how can you get in her phone?

you decide you need to call daniela later and figure out a different plan.

right when you set down the phone back on the counter, a text pops up.

ingrid 💕

wish you could have stayed-

only the start of the message shows, and when you try to tap on it to see the rest, it says you have to unlock the phone. your heart feels like it's going to beat out of your chest as you tap on the message again, reading it over and over again. who the fuck is ingrid?

you have to get into her phone and soon.

you realize time is ticking. mapi won't be in the shower forever. quickly, you go and put her phone on the charger. your heart beat is not calming down even when you pick up bagheera from her cat tree and start to cuddle with her again. the contrast of bagheera being so calm and sleepy to your internal panic and hurt is laughable, but the black cat is grounding in a way. in the same way that mapi once was.

you sigh as you think about what this all could lead to. definitely a break-up, but you weren't gonna just leave and let mapi live in peace with.. ingrid. whoever the hell that is.

you are still deep into the mourning the lost of your relationship when mapi comes out of your bedroom. she's dressed in her usual oversized white t-shirt and shorts so short it looks like she isn't wearing any at all.

cute is what you would of thought if this was a week or two ago when you weren't sure that your girlfriend wasn't enjoying the company of someone else behind your back.

however, just because you figured mapi is cheating or doing something wrong doesn't mean all your feelings go away like a switch. you still find mapi very cute with that freshly washed, sleepy look on her face. you still want to get up and go kiss her on your way to the bathroom like you always do,

so you do. when you get off the couch, you make sure to stop and give mapi a long kiss. "you're adorable," you say when you pull away. enjoying the way her lips are slightly swollen. the spanish woman giggles, pecking your lips once more.

"you're even cuter," she says before leaving your side to go to the couch. immediately cuddling up to bagheera just like you were earlier.

you go into your bedroom, grab your pajamas, and then go into the bathroom. whether to shower with cold or hot water is a battle for you. the cold will make you have goosebumps. it'll shock you enough that for a quick second, you won't even think about this. but the hot water will burn your skin and warm up your heart that feel like it's already melting from the outside.

hot it is.

as the first few water droplets fall down onto your body, you let out a sigh. the warmth of the water feels so good but makes your mind feel so hazy, you hate it but you love it and damn you wish this wasn't happening right now.

maybe it wasn't.

maybe when you finish doing this and walk out of this bathroom, mapi wouldn't be a cheater. her password would be the same. ingrid, whoever she is, wouldn't even be in the equation. you would just go out there and cuddle with mapi like you always do, then go to sleep together like you always do then you two would go on a date and everything will be perfect like they always been.

has it always been perfect? how long has this cheating thing been going on? has mapi been cheating on the entire time? is mapi even trustworthy?

and what about ingrid? who is she? is she hotter than you? talks better than you? has a better job than you? is she some fucking bombshell who you can't even compare to?

why? when? how? who? why?

why the fuck would mapi do this to you?

"amor!" the voice of mapi shakes you out of your thoughts. she knocks on the bathroom door. when you don't reply right away, she says, "can i come in? i need to piss."

your mind moves slower than it should as you take in what she said. would it be wrong of you not to want her in here? not when you feel so vulnerable that it's like your skin was stripped off of you.

"uh.. i'll be out quick. can you wait? please?" you say. stumbling to start actually washing your body instead of just standing under the water.

mapi doesn't reply but moves away from the door. concern overtakes her mind as she goes back over to the couch. you two have been together for almost four years now. you have seen her in every way, and she has seen you every way, so what's so crazy about her using the bathroom while you shower? she thinks back to earlier when you asked her if she really thinks you're the prettiest woman she knows. the insecure tone you had didn't escape past her. is it because of that? if it is then why are you feeling insecure in the first place? mapi thinks over the last few months and nothing comes up for why you would feel that way.

unless you knew about ingrid, but you couldn't know about ingrid because mapi has been careful. she still has been the most loving girlfriend towards you, so nothing would be suspicious. of course, mapi hasn't been loving just because she wanted to make sure you didn't catch that she's sneaking behind your back, she genuinely still cares for you.

you definitely don't know about ingrid. this is just one of those times when you need extra reassurance which mapi is fine with giving.

she loves you.

she swears she does.

"you can go piss now," your voice pulls mapi out of the chaos that is currently her mind. in the time of her panicking and being concerned, you had finished showering and changed. now you're standing next to the couch. she smiles as her eyes land on you. "look at youu. all clean and cute," she says after standing up. you slightly flush at the compliment (even though you don't want to. it's a natural reaction, okay?)

"shut up and go piss." you giggle, moving past her to sit down on the couch. mapi playfully blows you a kiss before leaving out of the room. the interaction between you two should make your heart feel fond, but how can it when in the back of your mind is the reminder that mapi is probably acting this way with someone else when you aren't around. you wish you could blow away all of these feelings you have for her, but you can't so you just let bagheera come cuddle you.

and when mapi comes back into the living room, a large blanket in hand, you still cuddle up to her while you two watch cartoons. this is something you will definitely miss when you leave her. the thought of leaving mapi is not one you want to think about right now, so you push it to the side and snuggle up more to the spaniard.

it's easy to pretend everything is the same if you don't think about anything.

an hour later, you're laying in bed, staring up at the ceiling while mapi cuddles you. her head is on your chest, her arm around your waist. you can feel the gentle exhale and inhale of her body.

it should calm you. right now, you should be rubbing small circles on her back under her shirt. you should be kissing the top of her head at random until you let the clutches of sleep take you.

but you can't.

your body feels frozen as you lay there. how many times have mapi been like this with ingrid? the thought fills you up with dread, anger, sadness, disgust. jealousy.

what about her makes her so much better than you?

you haven't been giving mapi all the attention she deserves, but only because you're trying not to fail your classes in pre-med. staying on campus until late doesn't give you the same whimsy feeling as sitting around with mapi doing nothing or going out with mapi or just existing alongside her.

if only you could detach yourself right now.

if only this was one big misunderstanding.

if only this wasn't happening.

you wish you was stuck in a dream right now and all you had to do was shake yourself awake.

why?

maria, why?

you lay there for another hour, just letting your thoughts trample you, then you slip away. the sight of mapi cuddling up to the pillow that's supposed to be you makes you smile and want to cry.

you do cry.

as you step onto the balcony attached to the living room, phone in hand, the sound of ringing joining in the busy sounds of barcelona's nightlife.

"it's nearly one am and i have a eight am class tomorrow so this better be-"

"i saw a text," you interrupt her. you don't mean to, but you have been keeping this to yourself since you saw it.

daniela doesn't speak for a few minutes. you hear the shuffle of her covers and the click of a lamp being turned on. then she says, "from the chick she's cheating with?"

"her name is ingrid. mapi has a contact saved with a heart, a fucking heart. i couldn't see the entire text, right?" daniela says a small right. "so i tried to unlock her phone and she changed her password! mapi changed her password and i swear she has probably had the same password since like high-school because you know she can be forgetful and-"

"slow the fuck down. my brain can't keep up with all that, and you are working yourself up. calm down, y/n," daniela says. you stop talking, allowing yourself to just breathe for a minute, but that doesn't mean your blood stops boiling.

"i am trying to calm down but dani, my girlfriend is cheating on me for fucks sake!" you don't mean to shout at her, but you do. thankfully, you're outside, so mapi couldn't have heard you.

"okay! okay. alright, sorry," daniela sighs, "so you saw a text from some chick named ingrid, tried to see the full text, and couldn't get into mapi's phone because she changed her password?"

"yes.."

"okay, listen. this is what you're gonna do."

the next morning, you wake up to the smell of bacon and the sound of jazz music playing. you slide out of bed and walk out into the living room to the sight of mapi looking pretty in the kitchen as she cooks. she's already dressed, unlike you. instead of immediately saying good morning, you just enjoy the sight for the few minutes that you do. this is something you will miss, so what's wrong with indulging a little?

mapi doesn't notice your presence right away, too distracted with the music, cooking, and her own singing. it's only when she turns to the kitchen island to change the song playing on her phone that she sees you. a smile blooms on her lips right away. "buenos dias, amor. how long have you been there?" mapi moves from in the kitchen to where you are in the living room.

"long enough to hear your horrible vocals," you say as she pulls you into her arms.

"they aren't," she pecks your lips, "horrible."

"i think our neighbors would disagree."

"they should be lucky i'm giving them a free performance. i could be the next-" you shut her up by kissing her. it starts off lazy, but soon you are more forceful; not for the usual reason, though. it's not passion driving you to press against mapi, but anger.

your almost make-out session is interrupted by the slight smell of burning. "shit, the bacon," mapi lets go of you before speed-walking to the kitchen.

she's able to cut off the stove before any of the bacon truly burns. thankfully, the fire alarm doesn't go off. your neighbors would really hate that. you walk over to the kitchen, going to lean against the kitchen island. you watch mapi as she plates breakfast for the two of you. now that you are actually standing in the kitchen instead of looking from afar, you can see mapi has cooked more than just bacon. there are toast and scrambled eggs as well. the warmth that suddenly blooms in your heart irks you and, at the same time, saddens you. this is a domestic scene that mapi and you have been in many times. the spanish woman loves to cook for you, but what's to say she doesn't love cooking for her little secret?

"thank you for all this, babe," you say when she hands your plate to you. mapi laughs off your thanks, saying something along the lines of i'm your girlfriend it's my job inbetween bites of bacon. usually, you two would sit at the dining table and eat, but today, yall opt for sitting at the kitchen island.

your shoulders rub against each other as you eat. of course, mapi yaps in between bites. mostly about all the activities she has planned for you two the entire day, how she hopes you are impressed, and that yall should match since it is a date day today. you keep up with her good enough. she has been your girlfriend for nearly four years now, after all. just responding back from time to time keeps her happy. mapi doesn't really need a reply to continue talking anyway, just your attention.

you finish eating before mapi (to neither of yours surprise), so you go to wash the dishes and let mapi play with bagheera for a bit. that only takes ten minutes or so then you are off to the bathroom to get ready for the day, making sure to kiss both of your girls before you do. bagheera lets out a meow when you leave her eyesight, but soon her attention is redirected elsewhere as mapi starts to rile her up.

when you step into the shower, all the emotions you were putting behind a lovesick mask can show themselves. the bitter taste that feels your mouth, the betrayal that burns your throat, the guilt that grips onto your shoulders. you shouldn't even be feeling guilty right now. not when mapi is the one who betrayed your loyalty. still, the sting of guilt lingers around your skin, burning you. in a perfect world, you would be feeling like shit for even thinking that mapi, your sweet, perfect, mapi was cheating. your bestfriend would shake your shoulders and say, "are you stupid? that woman is inlove with you." instead, you were met with okay, i would be suspicious too. you try to lift that dread that pools in your stomach by thinking about how fun this day is going to be,

and how you should savor it since it's going to be one of the last.

author notes: this is an lesson on how you shouldn't trust anyone's words.. JK but fr sorry for the cliffhanger, this was just getting way too long. part two coming soon 🩷 (this is not grammar checked bare with me yall)

© ALLABOUTNAYELI

[wavyskies]

A post that's very much related to a separate post that's been going around the graphic side of Tumblr. (To the person that made the original, this is not in bad taste. I'm just stating opinions of my own and opinions that others may have in common with me. I genuinely have no intent on trying to make you look necessarily bad in any way. The first half is just kind of me rephrasing the original post because I thought it had a good point, but that point got lost along the way.):

Make a pretty blog because: you enjoy making it, having one makes you happy, looking at it comforts you, etc.

If making a pretty blog doesn't feel like something that would be worth your time or would make you happy, then don't.

Just have fun and be yourself, there is no standard to meet and you having a "non-aesthetic" blog doesn't reflect on you. People are here for YOU, not your blog aesthetic.

That being said, to anyone and everyone who DOES have an "aesthetic" blog, that's cool. I hope it makes you happy.

And I hope that some people realize that making and decorating a blog, even if it's super "aesthetic," IS a way to express yourself. Art is self expression, fashion is self expression, music is self expression, even book covers can be self expression. It doesn't matter if it follows a color scheme, maybe that's just what you like and what feels right.

And using myself as an example because I'm sure I'm not the only one, I don't make my blog appearance for ANY of you. I'm sorry. It's for me, because it brings me comfort. I like having a pretty blog because it helps with my anxiety, I enjoy looking at it, and it feels more like mine. And also, there are so many blogs I have made that I find "aesthetic" that are on private. They could not be less for followers or status.

"It's just copying" (<- paraphrasing here.) No idea is original. Listen to me: no BOOK idea is entirely original. Every story has technically been done before in one way or another. Does that mean the author has no personality? Does that mean the author has no creativity or is just trying to seem cool? No. There is no such thing as an entirely original thing. But they we're expressing their talent and what they like to do. Let people have fun, let people do what they want.

This same argument can and does happen in the artist community, the writing community, and every other form of art. This is not a new argument, it's just a slightly different context. If this was applied intensely to everything, no one would participate in hobbies anymore.

I love everyone who doesn't have "aesthetic" blogs. I love everyone who does. And yes, some people with pretty blogs get followers more easily, but those followers have minds of their own. If they realise "hey, this person isn't actually all that great of an individual," then they'll unfollow them. A color scheme and some pngs don't earn love and forgiveness. It's all for enjoyment and fun.

Please do be yourself. But be yourself in whatever way works for YOU. At the end of the day, it really is just pixels. So the appearance of your things or how cool you seem DOESN'T matter. But take that again with the context of this post: the appearance of your things or how cool you seem DOESN'T matter. So do what you want.

I am very aware that this post is much less than perfect. There are definitely parts that I could've phrased differently, and things I could've added to convey the message better. But I hope you can understand what I was trying to say. Thank you for your time if you read this far, and if you have any comments or things you would like to add on to improve this, please let me know. And it's more than likely that I'm wrong about a lot of this, and this entire conversation is up to debate. If you disagree, then please discuss it publicly because I think this is an interesting debate and I would love to understand more than my biased stances allow me to right now. Again, thank you so much for your time. Have a lovely day. <3

[phoenixtakaramono]

I believe Cheating Men must die is a great story

It adds wonderful twists in existing tropes and genres. The protag isn't perfect but she's great, she likes eliminating assholes, which is valid

It's also interesting how Su Luxia doesn't have an identity issue since she lives under so many identities but I guess she's hardened for the job

For everyone who hasn't read Cheating Men Must Die (comic "Wan Zha Chao Huang" (万渣朝凰) by Shi Dai Man Wang (时代漫王)), this is an open invitation for y'all to read it. Genre: quick transmigration, revenge story. Basically your ex-cannon fodder MC, Su Luxia, is a System agent who transmigrates (isekais/ world hops) into the bodies of women of each world who are wronged by the Male Lead, Female Lead, another canon fodder, author, etc and changes their fate. I forgot how many chapters of the manhua there are presently but I believe the freshest ones that are still being updated in Mandarin Chinese are over 700+ chapters of art. (The MTL offers English translation, but y'all can also peep at other sites for ENG fantranslations.)

There are a couple of different summaries but I love this summary the best:

Don't you think that all cheating sc*m need to die? Su Luxia, an intern pro working in a transmigration agency, doesn't believe in that. For her, all cheating bastards need to rot in hell before they die. Or else they won't suffer the taste of their own medicine! Using elaborate means, she beats up countless cheating bastards and b*tches. Su Luxia sneers... "People take everything they get for granted. The more they get, the more they don't strive for it. An unrequited love is an example. There is always a sc*m who takes advantage. Since they brought this upon themselves..." She studies her face in the mirror and smirks, "... let them have a taste of their own medicine." System: "You're making that scary face again!" Follow our female main lead, Su Lüxia, who is bound to the Female Lead Counterattack System and transmigrates to several small worlds beating up countless sc*m.

Art bait for y'all who are still hesitating (and some of my favorite arcs, and those that'd surprised me like the arc where she transmigrated into the Second Male Lead):

RE: I have to agree! Ty for the Ask, @bernkastel11! I had a response ready for ya the day I saw this in my inbox and literally typed a long essay with links, but lo and behold tumblr ate it. 😭 But finally I have the motivation for a take 2. Honestly the manhua is a guilty pleasure of mine. The art's great (we definitely see the artist improve over time with each arc...even with the obviously borrowed assets and sometimes janky perspective, hahaha) and I love how Su Luxia is a badass femme fatale (white lotus & green tea b*tch), as well as her friendship with her cute talking hamster System. I also love how the artist is giving variety; it's not all just kicking butt, chewing bubble gum, finding romance. She's become an empress, made a friendship with the exorcist Female Lead, become a mother, led revolutions, survived a death game, became a guy, made a Male Lead yandere and obsess over her to the point of trying to hunt her down in whichever world it is, has some...questionable sapphic overtones, transmigrated into a BL novel, revisited some worlds with reoccurring characters, etc. They satirize a lot of preexisting tropes, and I love it when artists and writers have fun with the meta. I also like how they're slowly expanding on the lore of her interest with previous System agent Zero (the whole reason why Su Luxia became a System agent).

"It's also interesting how Su Luxia doesn't have an identity issue since she lives under so many identities but I guess she's hardened for the job"

The thing about QTs in general is the artist or author usually don't put much emphasis on the consequences of transmigrating so many times into other people's bodies. It's just a staple of the genre (because they're usually portrayed as badass, cunning, and OP, what have you with a strong willpower to assume all these identities, overcome challenges, and not experience dysphoria). So far I think the only writer I can think of off the top of my head that addresses it is: The Exhausting Reality of Novel Transmigration (novel / manhwa). I highly rec it. So far it is one of the few works where they explore that concept of how mentally exhausting it is adopting another person's identity as well as the consequences of "the characters" finding out (it's not your usual "oh, you hopped into my dead daughter's body and assumed her identity? Well la de dah, guess you're my daughter now." No, we're talking about the mother suspecting, finding out, being horrified, and having a mental breakdown trying to exorcise "the evil spirit" who's taken possession of her daughter's body). It also touches on the danger of an ordinary woman transmigrating into the body of a Female Lead in an R18+ novel where the Male Lead is a yandere.

Since you'd mentioned CMMD, I can give you several other links:

Cheating Men Must Die animated audio version of the first few arcs (King of the Phoenix), comes with ENG subs

Mission in Parallel 2022 Chinese short drama (it's the late 1910s socialite arc where she transmigrates as the overweight nightclub owner & wife of the abusive husband who gets seduced by a singer who's also a transmigrator), comes with ENG subs

Cheating Men Must Die (2022)(it's the arc where she transmigrates into the world where she's the villainess and the CEO Male Lead is self-aware, and the author has signed with the evil System trying to kill off Su Luxia so that she herself can transmigrate into the body of her own FL), comes with ENG subs

[dearwriters]

Hi there.

I was wondering if you have any advice on balancing an ensemble cast? As in, how do you manage having, say, 6 pov characters without the reader getting bored, impatient, or forgetting a character until it's a chapter of theirs again?

Thank you for the work you do :)

How to Balance an Ensemble Cast

Hey, thank you for your question! While I personally do not have a lot of experience writing ensemble casts, I think the following points would be helpful to consider when planning/writing one:

Getting into the characters Point of View: Lenses and Distinct Voices

One of the most important things about Multi-POV-narratives is to give each character a distinct voice so they don't just bleed into each other. This concerns:

a) the content of their narration: Ask yourself: What is this characters "lense", their specific frame of reference through which they see the events? This can depend on their background, their interests, knowledge, viewpoint etc. How do they see the world differently than the others? Try to imprint the narration of the POVs with the characters personality, especially if you are writing in first person. A very sarcastic character would view the same events quite differently as a very optimistic, bubbly character. Different characters would notice different things. This can be established by something as simple as focus points: maybe an artistic character narrates a lot about the colours around them and a detective character is very perceptive about peoples body language or stuff like that. Maybe the soldier is focused on battle strategies and the details of their surroundings, all while their love-interest is focused on them.

b) the form of their narration: Best case szenario, you would be able to identify who is talking, just based on their voice. This should be noticable in dialouge but also in narration. A very academic character would maybe use a slightly different vocabulary than a character who's more about street smarts. How do their speech patterns correlate to their person and background? Another example: In the popular contemporary novel "The Flatshare" one of the POV characters isn't really talkative. The author chose to reflect that in their narration via a fragmented narration style, using as little adjectives and full sentences as possible, while still keeping things readable. You can find more information about Character Voice in this post.

Overall, when it comes to differentiating between POVs, ask yourself: How can the personality, believes and expertise of a character affect the way they see the world and thus the way they narrate?

Anchoring your Scene

This is a little tip I picked up from the YouTube channel of author Sacha Black (great writing advice, check her out!). Multiple POVs can be quite challenging, especially if there are time/place jumps between the POVS. Thus, to not confuse your reader, it is important to quickly establish who is talking, where they are and when they are. Person, place, time. This needs to be clear so the reader isn't lost (unless it's your goal to confuse your reader, which would certainly be a valid goal). In some books the chapter header indicates POV, which is a very quick and easy way to establish at least one of those factors, but there are other ways to do this.

Making every POV count

If you want to avoid your readers being bored or even skipping POVs it's important to actually have a distinct reason of evers POV to exist. Thus, everybody needs a piece of the puzzle for the plot. Just like in the point about lenses and voices, you can use the differnt personalities, backgrounds and knowledges of your characters to let them uncover and drive different pieces of the story. Every POV character needs a reason to be here and a way to contribute.

Having multiple POVs is actually a great way to create tension, because the reader will know a lot of information not every character knows. It's the old Hitchcock-principle of letting the reader know about a bomb under the table the characters don't know anything about. Use the distribution and retention of information to your advantage.

Furthermore, everyone needs their own character arcs. A compelling character is all abouts goals, motivations and conflicts (more about the whole "GMC"-concept in this post) that tie them to the bigger story as well as having their own wants and needs (check out this post if you like) plus having flaws and the corresponding concequences (more about that in this post).

Those are just some of the big things I'd recommend you to think about. I hope this helped!

Have fun writing!

[artist-issues]

What kind of music/which artists do you like?

This is going to be a long answer! Twenty One Pilots is the only band I can definitively say is my favorite. They're in a different league than all the other bands or artists rattling around in my brain, close to the same way C.S. Lewis is in a league of his own in my brain when it comes to storytellers. Theres another ask I answered on my blog where I talked about why and how—I've loved them for twelve years. I'll put a whole ramble about them under the cut if you want to hear more about that.

I love Kings Kaleidoscope. Same types of topics as Twenty One Pilots, but with more overt Christianity and worship. So much as I prefer and love TøP, I'll always recommend Kings first.

I also love the Gray Havens for all the allegories and Lewisian imagery. And Sarah Sparks' Into the Lantern Wastes, for the same reason! Some of my favorite songs right now are by Gable Price and Friends. My easy listening is Needtobreathe and The Oh Hellos!

I love that Twenty One Pilots' music is super genuine. And I don't mean it like everyone else seems to when they talk about, like, NF singing about his grief and anger or Taylor Swift singing about her femininity in the genre, or whatever. I mean, if you look at Tyler Joseph's background and then look at the specific way he chooses to word things, you realize he's not just being genuine about the way he feels. He's being genuine about the way he thinks, and how those two things connect—and how wrong he often is. And how silly our culture's patterns of thought are, too.

That's harder to do. Because essentially what NF and Swift and artists like them are doing is they're just sharing with you. They're telling you about themselves. And sure, there is a type of vulnerability to that. But it's one thing to make a statement about yourself—it's another thing to use a statement about yourself to make a larger, more important point. That's a type of self-sacrifice and honesty that actually helps others, instead of just shines a spotlight on you and how relatable or raw or great you are.

I mean, obviously, you can't have "a larger, more important point" without also having "a genuine statement about yourself"—because if the people you're talking to don't trust you or relate to you or feel like you understand them, on some level, then they don't want to hear your "larger, more important point." But the fact is, with Twenty One Pilots, it's not all about them. They're uncomfortably honest about themselves because they want you to be I comfortably honest with yourself, about yourself, to lead you OUTSIDE of yourself.

And to God. I believe to God.

Anyway. Examples of what I'm talking about from their work below, in case you care, and haven't heard them, and just thought they were the latest indie-emo My Chemical Romance or that I just like them for the teen-angst-nostalgia of it all—

"Hello, I've been traveling in the desert of my mind," (which is from Addict With a Pen, a song about doubt and a crisis of faith and apathy, and my unmatched favorite) is such a smart way to talk about what it's like in the human brain. And how morbid and dry and lifeless it actually is in there, when you keep turning to yourself and looking inward for answers.

It's a desert in here. The water/Truth you need to survive comes from outside of your brain—and you have to constantly be reminded of the Truth/water from the outside, because the more you keep it in your head and analyze it, the more prone you are to only analyzing it as a form of control over it, when all its power to help you in the first place actually came from the fact that the Truth is outside you, bigger than you, beyond your control. Once you measure Truth by what you can understand/control, you've stripped it of its authority over you, and its authority over you was what was helping you. It was where faith came in. So then it "drains." And you have to shake yourself out of your brain and go back to looking outside of yourself, humbly, for answers. Asking God to wash you, give you a feeling and a faith that you can't produce by willing yourself to have it or thinking as hard as you can about it.

Or, "Mindless zombies walking around with a limp and an hunch, saying stuff like 'you only live once.'" (Thats from Heavydirtysoul.) That's such a smart way to say that. Mindless zombies—zombies literally feed on living brains, they're happy to consume other people's thoughts, but they don't have any of their own—they're "walking around with a limp and a hunch," so first off, they're moving, but it's slowly, and haltingly, because they're dead. Not really going anywhere, just going through the motions of living. And then "with a hunch" not only adds to that visual of them going through decaying, useless motion, but "hunch" can also just mean a gut impulse, an idea that's not fully thought out. The zombies need to quit talking like they're "seizing the day" while they are actually just going through the motions of life, never thinking seriously about why they do what they do, or what they believe.

He says some of the same idea in Car Radio, which is all about the good and the bad of thinking, and he claims he "will try to come across like I am dying to let you know you need to try to think." But then at the same time, there are repeated themes through songs like Trapdoor and Migraine that "nothing kills a man faster than his own head," or "sometimes to stay alive you gotta kill your mind." And back to Addict With a Pen.

Basically what I'm saying is Twenty One Pilots is so genuine that they get to a place where they say, "it's important to pay attention to why you think what you think and feel how you feel —but never to let your thoughts or feelings control you. You control them. Let your thoughts and feelings lead you to what's true—which is that you're broken, and so are those thoughts and feelings—so what are you going to believe in, instead of them?"

At least, that's the core of what I love about them. And they used to seem much clearer, in their own way, about what they thought everyone should believe in: God. Who else knows your own head and feelings better than you do—but is still 100% more trustworthy as a compass than you are?

Nowadays it feels a little like they've fallen in love with analyzing the thoughts and feelings. Like that figure focusing so hard on the little drop of truth in his hand in Addict With a Pen, when what he really needs to do is realize he can't hold onto it and needs the Water to hold onto him. But that's okay. I mean, as long as they don't stay there.

[porcupine-girl]

Hello!

I saw on your AO3 profile your blanket permission to create further transformative works from your fic, but you don't mention typesetting and bookbinding.

I’m a member of the Renegade Bookbinding Guild, a collective of fanfic bookbinders. You can view examples of what we fanfic bookbinders do at www.renegadeguild.org/typesetting-bound-fic-exchange or renegadeguild.tumblr.com.

Part of the bookbinding process involves typesetting/formatting the works we bind, a process which can take a lot of effort and time. To make the process a bit more enjoyable, Renegade Bindery has set up a holiday gift exchange in which we format a fic for another member to bind and add to their personal library.

The recipient may print and bind a copy for themselves, and the finished PDFs will be available for all members to download and bind as well. (Copies of the finished PDFs will also be made available to participating authors, for their own files.)

My giftee listed your fic

"What Our Future Will Be"

as one of the ones they would like, and so:

Are you okay with having this fic bound? Each person listed 3-5 options, so it's okay if you would prefer not to have your work included in this exchange.

Hoping to hear from you!

Have a great day.

Celandine de Bergerac

Oh! Absolutely! As long as it’s as a gift and not being sold, that’s great! Could I get photos of it when it’s finished? (After the recipient has gotten it of course.)

One note: it’s a big bang fic, so it does have illustrations, and from two different artists actually - I have no idea if you would want to include those but if you do I can’t speak for them and I don’t know if they have any kind of blanket permissions. I am pretty sure I linked to their accounts either on ao3 or tumblr in the author notes, but if you need help getting ahold of them let me know.

[ira-scargeear]

For the time being, people tried to preserve and multiply two things: status and money. This led to division of societies into castes like priests, warriors, etc., and each caste guarded their circle closely, keeping their secrets and preventing people from the outside to join their caste.

With rise of numerous crafts and arts in Medieval Europe various guilds were formed. Many of them kept monopoly on their techniques for decades. One of the famous examples was a guild of glassmakers on Murano island (modern Italy). The artisans even were forbidden to leave the island, to preserve the secrets further.

If you was born in a proper family, or chosen by a guild, you could become an apprentice. There was a strict hierarchy: you mopped the floor, pounded minerals in a mortar, did all the heavy and dirty jobs. After several years you were allowed to do something more complicate. After another couple of years you could do a simple items all by yourself. So you moved up step by step, mastering the craft.

It was also a well known practice when a skilled apprentices painted parts of a huge painting, and the famous artist painted the central figures, taking all the fame to himself (yeah, it was always a male). It was a common practice in other arts as well.

Do you remember my post about Eastern vs. Western mindset? Basically, you're nobody until an outside authority approves you, and you have to climb a ladder of your craft for years to be approved. That's an "Eastern" mindset.

A "Western" mindset is: you post your craft on social media - and voila, you're the artist!

What?! Those who climbed the ladder for years, immediately feel offended. Oopsie.

Have you seen this behavior within art people, especially painters? I suddenly discovered it's a thing while researching some stuff on modern art.

Well. The art is not a result. The art is an act. Your art can be absolutely hideous aesthetically wise, have weird stylization and be poorly made. It's still art. So go and do more of it, if you enjoy the process. You know, practice makes perfect. Post it online. We already have enough controversy with rising AI issue to care about some outdated practices.

If I cared that much about authorities validation, I wouldn't reach my current destination. What I wanted to make is a BJD doll that is aesthetically pleasing, brings a message and has a great usability. I did just that. So push your goals and don't listen to anyone.

[therealvinelle]

How does Norway view it’s royal family I’m from Canada and lets just say that we are not big monarchy fans. But I wonder about other countries because commonwealth countries are kind of in a unique situation where their royalty is actually royalty of another country (Britain) and we just pay for it. (no seriously, we pay more for the monarchy in canada than the uk does)

I can't speak for everyone, but I personally am in favor of having a royal family and would find it disappointing and a change for the worse if we became a republic.

The monarchy in Norway came about the right way, when the country became independent in 1905 the people voted with an overwhelming majority in favor of getting the Danish prince Carl to become our king. It was in order words not something imposed upon us by a thousand years of feudalism, but a newly independent people's choice to have a king of our own.

King Haakon proceeded to, when Norway was occupied by the Germans, refuse to accept our government's formal request to disband (as they had been driven into exile and could no longer govern), as well as refuse to surrender. Did this lead to war, yes, but it also meant that through the war we remained an occupied country with a legitimate government overseas broadcasting to every citizen by radio that we could look towards in place of the occupying government imposed upon us.

After King Haakon there was King Olav, who took the bus during the 1973 energy crisis so as to lead by example, and went skiing in the woods like everybody else, he was an immensely popular king. Now there is King Harald, who married a commoner in Queen Sonja and whose children have made even more scandalous marriages (Princess Märtha married an artist and author, Ari Behn, while the crown prince Haakon married a single mother of a child out of wedlock who was and in certain circles remains viewed as very low class), but both Harald and Sonja are very loved. Harald famously is very witty, and more importantly he is a very inclusive and kind-hearted person who made it explicitly clear he is as much the king of immigrants and LGBT people as he is everybody else. He has also competed in the Olympics seveal times, we love an athlete.

The big eyesore is Princess Märtha, whose sins and scandals are money but in a nutshell, she made the choice to be financially independent (good!) only to then do so in the worst ways she could manage. There was the angel school, where you would go learn how to speak with angels (I once went to a party where we read her book and followed her instructions on finding your aura, great fun and I recommend this for a party game), which had everyone laughing at her, to the much less funny adventure she is now on, where she has... gone full Gwyneth Paltrow. As in, she is engaged to a shaman who says children with cancer must have wished the cancer upon themselves and he will also cleanse women's vaginas of evil if they've had too much sex, and she has toured the country with this man using her princess title (The tour was called "The princess and the shaman") which... yes. When they are criticized, they say it's racism because he is black, this has not endeared them to many either.

She can live her life how she wishes, the fact that what she wishes is to give a platform to a man who talks about being a lizard who contains ancient spirits and also the 5G net is bad is what makes people upset and lose respect for the monarchy as a whole.

Personally, I remain in favor of the monarchy because she'll never be on the throne, she is already irrelevant in every way that matters. The relevant royals we do have do their jobs well and responsibly, which is where my wanting to have a monarchy in the first place comes in: I believe in the constitutional monarchy as we practice it in Norway.

The people who make the decisions will be elected by the people, but the person representing the country, whose job is only to represent and better the country through charities and strengthened diplomatic ties, has an advantage if he isn't political and gains a continuity from not being replaced every time he loses the election cycle. In these times of rising populism I think the advantage to having an apolitical head of state and military is even greater. We could in theory vote a populist party into power but we wouldn't have a populist president, the way certain countries experienced not too long ago and stand to do now. As for how one should go about finding such a non-political, continuous leader of the country, I think inheriting the position is as good a way as any to keep the transferrance of power from one sovereign to the next from getting political. In other words, monarchy but keep it constitutional.

(I'm also colored by how King Haakon handled the occupation, as well as how the King of Spain as recently as in 1981 prevented a military coup in Spain by denouncing the military's actions. How relevant these events are to the present day can be debated, but I think the past couple of years have proven that we should not take the status quo for granted and our democracies can come under threat. When they do, I prefer to have every safeguard imaginable in place for them. If that safeguard spend their time promoting art and charity that's just a big bonus.)

[trashexplorer]

BLCD Review: Ikigami & Donor

Title: Ikigami to Donor (イキガミとドナー)

Author/Artist: Yamanaka Hiko

Shop: CD + Manga

Release Date: 2021/12/03

Cast: 

Nakajima Yoshiki x Saitou Souma

Yamashita Seiichirou + Kawanishi Kengo

Kobayashi Chiaki

Yashiro Taku

Komada Wataru

Hayashi Miho

Shiozaki Tomohiro

Higa Ryosuke

Abe Ryouma

Torashima Takaaki

Oota Kensuke

Nakashima Takuya

Fujita Mami

Miyama Mari

Souya Kazuki

Synopsis: 

"Your blood and flesh, all of it is mine." An ikigami and a healer, together their souls support each other, blooming into love...

In the distant future, ordinary teacher Yoshino learns that he is a "donor" for the strongest species, the "ikigami." These warriors are tasked with protecting the country. "The unique ability of a donor is to use their bodily fluids to heal ikigami." Yoshino learns this fact and is shocked. Thus, Yoshino is forced to live with Kidou... At first, he is like a beast, demanding Yoshino's bodily fluids, but slowly, the underlying loneliness begins to show...

"Someday, if I met a donor, could they come to love me? That thought is the only reason I survived..."

Review Proper

I can’t believe Yamanaka Hiko’s been terrorizing me for over twelve years now. OH MY GOD I’M SO OLD. And true to the Yamanaka Hiko brand, this turned out to be another fantasy masterpiece (read His 500 Years of Suffering Romance). This was definitely the type of thing that would do great even without the BL aspect of it. Now, I did have an issue with Kidou being an asshole (he's almost killed Yoshino more than once), so I’m not excusing it. But I do get how and why he turned out to be like that and I'm aware that it's important for his character development. The world-building was great, don't get me wrong, but it's definitely dubcon 2015. I would strongly advise you not to get into it if that's a deal breaker for you.

Anyway, onto the voice work.

Souma used a tone so close to Gucci's that I kept imagining Gucci being Yoshino. Yes, I didn't read the manga while listening to the BLCD. It was like after graduating Karasuno, Gucci went on to become a teacher, then a donor lmao. His Yoshino panics more like Honda-san, however, so my final verdict is that his Yoshino is half-Gucci, half-Honda-san.

This isn't Nakajiki and Souma's first rodeo, but I'm glad to say that their performance/dynamic here is different from Mikeneko and XL Size. I expected Kidou to be a mix of Amano and Anaconbayashi-kun 'cause the former was cocky and the latter was stoic, but Kidou was only 50% of that mix and 50% brooding, suffering, I'll-protect-you top. Am I even making any sense? Again, I listened to the BLCD first, but the sound direction they gave Nakajiki was very different from what I thought he'd sound like after I read the manga. It’s almost like what happened with OnoD’s expressive Hasebe-kun in the Kotonoha BLCD vs the more stoic Hasebe-kun in the manga. 

The voice work of our two leads was 👌. This might just be my fave out of their pairings 'cause the sex isn't over-the-top like XL Size and Mikeneko. I will say that I wasn't completely sold on Yamashita Seiichirou as Shibata-san 'cause I feel like he speaks too slowly, but I'm sure it'll grow on me by the time I listen to their spin-off. KawaKen was fine. My heart broke for him every time Shibata-san rejected him, so it's safe to say he's got Taki-kun down already.

Oh. I did have a slight issue with the sfx too. Why was it so watery??? Lmao. Even r18 otome cds aren't that wet. But it's not so glaring that it'll turn you off.

The BLCD was almost perfectly accurate to the manga. I highly recommend this to those learning mid to higher levels of Japanese. Futekiya has licensed volumes 1 & 2, so please try to support the official release if you can. I'd be lying if I said that I agree with how they translated it so... literally?, but I think it's also important to see how things are translated that way if you're aiming to dip your toes into translation aside from studying the language. For example, they used "Living God" throughout the manga instead of "Ikigami." It's correctly translated, but I personally prefer retaining the original title. You know, like how Viz uses "Kaiju no. 8" instead of "Monster no. 8?"

God knows if I'll ever survive the spinoff that I wanted to work on. I avoided talking about it for a reason lmao. Anyway, if y'all liked this, then please give 500 Years (Ono Yuuki x Suzuki Tatsuhisa) and Shortcake no Ichigo Sawaranaide (Nojima Hirofumi x Takeuchi Ken). These two are android bls and Ikigami to Donor is more guide bl, but they both share a futuristic vibe.

[miffy-junot]

Paul Gavarni and the Junots

A portrait of Constance Aubert, née Junot d'Abrantès, by Paul Gavarni, December 1839.

In the appendix of a biography of Laure Junot sent to me by my friend @apurpledust, I found some poems and an article by the French writer and illustrator Paul Gavarni relating to the Junot family. Laure Junot and her daughters Josephine and Constance were all published writers, and inhabited the same artistic social circle that Gavarni did.

Article by Gavarni about the last volume of the second edition of "Memoirs of the Duchess d'Abrantès", published after her death:

Here we have arrived at the last page of these memoirs of a great lady written by a woman artist: a book in which two celebrities merge, each of which would have sufficed for many ambitions. And as struck as we are by such a rich organization, we are even more struck by the feeling of personal dignity which sustained and developed it. Madame d'Abrantés was a very rare example of this true greatness that events could not achieve. A storm carries away an empire around it, then the years come; she lost almost a throne; and yet she remained with her forehead raised above the crowd. This is what those who seek life in its beautiful aspects will first find in the books she wrote. Read! Sparkling in spirit, a pretty woman, with this great name, this ducal crown, all this gold, all this glory, with how many tributes, and with what tributes the young Duchess of Abrantés must have been surrounded! And she had to resign herself to losing all this, and, having lost all this, find in the superiority of her intelligence a consolation for so many regrets! and make a new life at fifty! another glory! Have we thought carefully about the true nobility in this courage? We cannot dispute this, we artists, born of the people, so proud of our aristocracy because it comes from us, but who see so much nobility in the work. Madame d'Abrantès worked as none of us could do. She not only wrote four times as much as a man of letters, she also drew, she acted, she composed music; or she dug the flowers in her garden, or classified her herbarium, or even embroidered a few tapestries. Must we add to these works the cares of the world, the visits with which she was besieged all day long, the long evening chats, a busy correspondence, to admire this existence so prodigiously active! These are the laudable things the second half of this life endowed with such diverse fame was filled with. The duchess's days had been brilliant, no doubt; but were these not also glorious for the author of the Amirante de Castille? Shouldn't she have seen with legitimate pride crowding around her this young swarm of artists of whom she had become the queen? These friends will say that it was a golden bee torn from the mantle of the Empire and fallen among us. Also the men who usually gathered at the Duchess of Abrantès' house were of two ages and of two kinds: white-haired men with names born from battles won, and men born with the century and becoming names with books, operas or paintings. We saw her smile at these two aristocracies who claimed her as equals, and by whom she was equally honored. Today I remember a charming remark that she said one evening about these double affections: old Mr. Suchet, the brother of the Duke of Albufera, had come unwell that evening to sit in the corner of a small living room where she runs worried about him, exclaiming: “It’s because I really like my old friends!” Then she turned to some of us, and holding out her hand, as if to stop us from being jealous, she added: “And my young ones too, at least!” We all loved him; young and old, we headed towards Chaillot to pay her a sad and last visit, a last procession, and we took her back to the cemetery of Montmartre: there, when we had a little earth thrown on this coffin which forever took this good friend from us, for every funeral oration we cried.

Below the cut are two poems written by Paul Gavarni on the album of Constance Aubert, the second daughter of Laure and Jean-Andoche Junot:

The first poem:

original French:

Les Rêves.

Quel autre monde rêvez-vous? Et que voulait votre âme errante? Loin d'un présent qui désenchante, Où sont vos pensers les plus doux?

Quels chants vous sont mélodieux? Qu'attend la foi qui vous est chère? Et de quel autel solitaire Voyez-vous le ciel de vos dieux?

Si, de beaux jours trop inconstants Vous avez vu venir l'automne, Pour les roses d'une couronne Regrettez-vous quelques printemps?

Où votre âme dans le lointain, Voit-elle un ange sur la route? La magique voix qu'elle écoute Lui dit-elle: "hier" ou "demain"?

Votre orgueil était-il jaloux Du faste des rois de la terre? Et sur un trône imaginaire En secret vous endormez-vous?

Livrez-vous de vastes Etats A des conquêtes idéales? Rêvez-vous l'éclat des cymbales, La palme ou la mort des combats?

Flattant de plus humbles désirs, Peut-être une muse pensive De quelque image fugitive Rajeunit-elle vos loisirs...

Mais, au charme du souvenir, Tout ce qu'on a se décolore: Le passé, que son prisme dore, Brille aux dépens de l'avenir.

Laissez le poète chanter Des plaisirs où son luth convie: Il prodigue à rêver la vie Le temps qu'il a de la goûter.

Dans les plis d'un manteau royal L'ennui s'enveloppe et se cache, Et, dans les combats, le sang tache Les panneaux du char triomphal.

Un moment peut éterniser Les regrets que laisse une idole Dont la scintillante auréole S'évapore au premier baiser.

Mais l'amour, ce léger sommeil, Ce rêve d'un jour vaut la vie... Et qu'importe à l'âme ravie Ce qu'en peut coûter le réveil?

English translation:

The Dreams

What other world do you dream of? And what did your wandering soul want? Far from a disenchanting present, Where are your sweetest thoughts?

What songs are melodious to you? What does the faith that is dear to you await? And from what lonely altar Do you see the sky of your gods?

If, beautiful days too fickle You saw autumn coming, For the roses of a crown Do you regret some spring?

Where you soul in the distance, Does she see an angel on the road? The magical voice she listens to Did she tell him: "yesterday" or "tomorrow"?

Was your pride jealous Of the splendour of the kings of the earth? And on an imaginary throne Do you fall asleep in secret?

Do you deliver vast states To ideal conquests? Do you dream of the brilliance of cymbals, The palm or the death of combat?

Flattering the humblest desires, Perhaps a pensive muse Of some fleeting image Rejuvenates your leisure...

But, to the charm of memory, Everything we have is fading, The past, that its prism gilds, Shines at the expense of the future.

Let the poet sing Of pleasures where the lute is suitable: He lavishes on dreaming of life The time he has to taste it.

In the folds of a royal cloak Boredom wraps itself up and hides, And, in the battles, blood stains The panels of the triumphant chariot.

A moment can last forever The regrets that an idol leaves Whose sparkling halo Evaporates with the first kiss.

But love, this light sleep, This one-day dream is worth life... And what does it matter to the delighted soul What can waking up cost?

The second poem:

original French:

La Pie de la Prison

Du grain qu'ils ont semé, laissez la fleur éclore. Allez! Margot; la loi leur a permis des fleurs. Eh! quoi, méchant oiseau, vous revenez encore De ce triste jardin becqueter les primeurs!

N'en privez pas au moins leurs jours que rien n'abrège; Les ans laissent ici de bien longues saisons, Margot, et de l'hiver ils n'ont eu que la neige; N'allez pas du printemps leur ôter les bourgeons;

Et qu'au moins du soleil un bouquet les console. Demain, le savez-vous! ils attendraient en vain Ce printemps qu'aujourd'hui votre audace leur vole. Margot, les prisonniers vous donnent de leur pain!

Comme cet oiseau noir il est une pensée Qu'ici le malheureux apporte avec ses jours, Qu'il nourrit et son âme et qui, toujours chassée, Dès qu'il voudrait sourire, hélas! revient toujours.

C'est le deuil qui le suit, c'est la voix qui le raille, C'est le regret qui veut de son moindre bonheur; Tourment qui de son lit a remué la paille Et out le bec aigu lui cherche au fond du cœur.

C'est la faim d'être libre. Un oiseau mord la cage; Vous voulez à la vôtre attacher un roseau, Souvenir des jardins dont vous aimiez l'ombrage, Amis, et vous coupez les ailes d'un oiseau!

English translation:

The Prison Magpie

From the seed they sowed, let the flower bloom. Come on! Margot; the law allowed them flowers. Hey! what, wicked bird, you come back again From this sad garden to peck at the early fruits!

Do not deprive them at least of their days which nothing shortens; The years leave many long seasons here, Margot, and all they had in winter was snow; Do not go and remove their buds in the spring;

And may at least a bouquet console them from the sun. Tomorrow, do you know! they would wait in vain This spring that today your audacity steals from them. Margot, the prisoners give you their bread!

Like this black bird, there is a thought That the unfortunate brings here with his days, Which he nourishes and his soul and which, always chased away, As soon as he would like to smile, alas! always comes back.

It is mourning that follows him, it is the voice that mocks him, It is regret that wants his least happiness; Torment which from its bed stirred the straw And the sharp beak searches the depths of his heart.

It's the hunger to be free. A bird bites the cage; You want to attach a reed to yours, Remembrance of those gardens whose shade you loved, Friends, and you clip the wings of a bird!

source

[bibibbon]

"Can we be friends or have moots with those who have very different views from us?"

What will your answer with that ask above?

Me, I have a friend (starts off as moot) who is a multishipper. I mean they can find ships from any fandom they're in, and once they love it, they'll make fics and arts of that ship.

About BNHA, they're die hard fan of BKDK, don't ask me, even I can't understand it (I'm also anti Bakugou and BKDK). But my friend and I can still talk about fandom stuff (minus the ships cause I'm not really into shipping).

Don't you think fandom have become more toxic these days? Like, even if I don't ship bkdk, but I never think to say rude things or send death wish to those who ship them. I feel sad when my friend receive those negative things just because of shipping fictional characters.

Thanks for bring positivity to BNHA fandom. My friend was surprised when finding out, you're anti bkdk but never say rude things to the shipper. You're the first anti bkdk blog that they followed and like the posts.

Even if BNHA end with disappointing last arc, it's a great journey overall, right? I don't get people who talked shit to the writer/artist of a certain work? Horikoshi-sensei have work hard all these years, we should appreciate his hard work, at least....(I can feel how hard writing is as a writer myself).

Now, at least I can see that BNHA near its ending from last year. But for JJK I did not see that coming. Is it true that JJK will also ending this year? What do you think the ending will be, tragedy or open ending? Can Yuuji defeat Sukuna?

As long as there's mutual respect between one and another I do believe that two people with different views can be friends. However, this honestly depends on the person for example I personally wouldn't be friends with someone who has a completely different set of morals than mine. Other than that( and maybe a few things I suppose) i think its good to surround yourself with people who have different views as it allows you to build a much more nuanced perspective on certain things and honestly talking to people who you have different views than can be fun.

Honestly depending on the websites or platforms your in different fandoms vary in their level of toxicity and all. I have found it that the most popular fandoms are the ones that have the highest levels of toxicity and Iam completely against it. People should be allowed to like or dislike or comment on whatever without recieving death threats or hate by others because at the end of the day these are simple pieces of fiction and the person you're hating/harming is a real being behind the screen.

I would like to thank you for your comment as I actually wasn't aware that I had such an impact on your friend and if the anons friend is seeing this I would like to apologise for whatever you went through as no one deserves to get hate or death threats for expressing themselves and making content for things they like.

Giving an author hate/death threats is completely inexcusable and shouldn't happen at all. I want to clarify that criticism (which is something that my blog is heavily centered around) is completely different to hate and while I think MHA has had a lot more downs than ups it's still a series with a lot of potential that has captivated me to be honest.

Also, I do want to bring to light that the manga industry in Japan is incredibly competitive and has put a lot of it's artists in tough, exploitative and outright inhumane positions so great works may lose quality overtime due to that or other external factors. In the end horikoshi is an amazing artist with potential to do much more but the writing ends up lacking in various aspects.

I have seen the posts saying that jjk will come to an end but I honestly doubt that gege will wrap up the manga at the end of the year. As of current the manga is in its last act and probably has one or two more arcs to go through before wrapping up to a conclusion. I used to be somewhat optimistic in hoping that jjk will follow the story of the younger generation overcoming and breaking the flaws and problems of the older generations so we would get somewhat of a bittersweet/happy ending but I do see a bad/open ending much more plausible in the current direction ths manga is heading in.

[ariel-seagull-wings]

@themousefromfantasyland @piterelizabethdevries @thealmightyemprex @the-blue-fairie @professorlehnsherr-almashy @stickypersonaearthquake

Do you know the conflict between Autheur Theory vs Art as Collaboration?

Basically, Autheur Theory began between French critics and filmmakers, as a way of analyzing the film industry: originally films were clearly a collaboration, and it was common to have more than one director on the same project until the final edit of the film was reached (Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz being famous examples).

But the Autheur Theory presented and popularized the idea that, to have the same prestige as, for example, a classic novel, it is necessary to have a figure defined as "the Author of the film", and the chosen figure was the director.

And this vision became dominant from the 60s onwards, when a wave of directors grew up who exercised strong control over films, and whose names became the brand that attracted people to watch. Before, you went to watch a film expecting to be entertained by the fiction, and to see the actors and characters who were the Stars. You would go by Judy Garland, Gary Cooper, Vivien Leigh, Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, etc. From the 60s onwards, you will see films by director Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, Ingmar Bergman, Federico Fellini, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Copolla, etc.

And there was the simplified idea that "the director is a visionary genius who is a champion against the oppression of producers and studios who care only about money." But decades passed, and after some box office failures of films made using the Autheur model (Heaven's Gate directed Michael Cimino being the most famous), the cult of Autheur began to be questioned, as it denied the fact the role of all the team collaborating to make a film, often this personality cult of the director encourages abuse practices in the name of the "vision of genius", the fact that just because the director has a style and trademarks common to his films, it does not This means that it is automatically good, just that it repeats themes and subjects, the study of the history of cinema showing that Autheur itself is also a brand to be sold, and that it is not the "great champion against the studios", but in fact, he becomes prominent because when he makes a film that is successful and the studios see that it makes a profit, the studio will support him to do what he wants in the hope of always replicating that success, and the prestige of his name is it works as marketing in the same way that the face of the Actor who is a Star works.

I bring up this discussion because I think a similar conflict applies to the American comics industry: American society is obsessed with the idea of ​​the Great Man, the Visionary Genius. Originally, artists drew the character, and then he became part of the publishing house (Detective Comics, Fox, Timely, etc.).

Those who originally created them continued drawing for a while, then went to work on other titles, and then another artist would take care of drawing the Phantom, Mandrake, Flash Gordon, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Society of Justice of America, the Blue Beetle, Namor the Sub-Mariner, Captain America. Another artist could expand the universe and increase the lore and create a new villain, but he did not compete to erase what the previous artist had built and only establish what their idea was as "the true version".

It was the old collaboration model in which the name of the artist didn't matter, what mattered was telling a good story about those characters. Not everything was rosy, obviously: with the publisher being the owner of the character, the artists were often screwed and left in the cold. poverty. Siegel and Shuster suffered from poverty after creating Superman, and it was the fact that other cartoonists came together to demand decent pay that helped them in their old age.

But narratively, there was a focus on cohesion and collaboration.

But in the 60s, as in the film industry, things changed: the idea of ​​control and authorship grew.

And now you had Marvel (former Timely) selling the image of Stan Lee as the creator of his entire Universe, Steve Ditko defending the view that the Artist should be considered the author of the work, names like Alan Moore, Frank Miller and John Byrne becoming stars, and it all comes back to the idea that the Author should have all the control.

And when a name and work become popular and make money, remember what companies do: they let you do whatever you want:

You are the Autheur.

And readers bought into that idea: His redesign and rewrite of Daredevil and graphic novels The Dark Knight Returns and Year One made people for decades venerate Frank Miller to the point of denying everything that came before as the "version wrong" of the characters and that Miller "fixed" them, no one heard of Swamp Thing and Miracle Man until Alan Moore's name was on the cover, no one remembers that one day Sandman was a masked guy with a sleeping gas gun before being portrayed as the embodiment of the concept of Dreams in the graphic novels of a certain accused of sexual abuse Neil Gaiman.

Now, imagine you are an artist or writer who becomes known as a star in the comic book industry, whose name becomes prestigious and helps sell the magazine, and then you are given the job of drawing an existing character.

Everyone worships you, your word is considered law, you are a genius who can do no wrong, and then you think:

"Why do I have to follow rules, because I have to think about what has already been established as a characteristic of that character, when I can use it to represent what is MY artistic VISION of what a hero SHOULD be?"

And as a result. ..comic crossover events where a bunch of characters die horribly or turn evil for no reason, weddings you've followed developing for decades erased from continuity, characters committing horrible acts without any idea on how to examine the consequences.

We, as the public, created the cult of the genius, the comics industry responded to this by thinking it was a viable economic model in which to profit, and art suffered in the process.

Recognizing the importance of collaboration is the solution to dealing with this problem.

And there are other comic industries outside the US where collaboration, rather than competition between "visions of genius", is encouraged:

In France, more people came to draw Asterix and Obelix after the passing of Gossiny and Uderzo, building the stories based on the work they established.

In Brazil, Maurício de Souza's publishing house produces both Classica Mônica and Friends and Monica's Teen Manga series magazines with several artists and scriptwriters working together as graphics novels in which individual artists reinterpret characters, but without wanting to impose their interpretation as the only correct one.

And the Japanese manga industry has the model of one or two artists working on a story with a beginning, middle and end, which allows other artists, often fans, to develop sequels or spin offs that expand or complement the previous title, without ever trying to erase what was done before.

[bigsoftmarshmallow]

Hi! I just wanted to give you more things on Calypso now that the Vengeance Saga is out.

Again, this is more so my interpretation of Calypso.

First off, I'm going off the idea that “gods” & “goddesses” is less of a species & more of a job title or role. This is due to the fact that the big 3 of Olympus hadn't had their domains until after overthrowing the Titans. At which point, they discussed who should take on which position. Because of this, I'm gonna stop thinking about their species as being “gods” &, instead, will be referring to their species as Immortals. Now, that doesn't mean that Immortals can't be born into their roles, but it does mean that it's more complicated than you'd think.

For example, I have always been artistically inclined. I loved to draw growing up. My favorite class was art. I am artistic. However, now I am going into a career that specifically focuses on art. Maybe not drawing, but art regardless. It's what I like, it's what I do. It's just that, once I do, I'll officially become recognized as being a form of artist because now, it's my profession. As such, more are likely to come to me for my opinion on things from an artistic perspective. In this way, you could say that I'll have a degree of authority when it comes to art. Not much, but it's there. I have a small gift for art, one that I have nurtured over many years, & now I am about to go into a profession where that skill can now be used.

I’m going about gods & whatnot in that way. So, you could see Calypso as one of those generational professionals. Think of it as her mother having been in the business & she has taken on that same profession. For her, being a sea goddess is now a legacy business.

Anyway, along with being a mid-tier sea goddess & a maritime water nymph. Specifically, she was a third generation Titaness. I say that she is mid-tier because there seems to be some debate over whether she is a minor or major goddess, so I’m just splitting the difference.

Likewise, I’ve also seen it disputed whether she’s a nereid (sea nymph) or an oceanid (ocean nymph). Regardless, she is a water nymph of a maritime variety & I'm thinking of making her an oceanid due to how the ocean is far larger than a sea. And, nymphs were known to be “spirits” with a very deep connection to nature. Thereby making oceanids nature spirits of the ocean & nereids nature spirits of the seas.

Some sources refer to her as a goddess of concealment & another says that she is a goddess of “mysterious power.”

Due to her association with the seas & ocean, she often symbolizes the ebb & flow of life, the tempestuous nature of emotions, as well as the unforeseen challenges that shape the journeys of both mortals & Immortals alike.

Based on her depiction in the Pirates of the Caribbean, “Calypso's powers were only eclipsed by the great god of the sea Poseidon himself, and only Zeus, chief amongst all gods, could command her. As with all beings of great might, she was both a nurturer and a destroyer. Calypso had dominion over all the seas, and all sailors everywhere both loved and feared her.”

This part, I made up: Calypso is a goddess of astronavigation (the use of stars to navigate) at sea, is associated with rain, & is known to protect sailors. This is due to her parentage: Her father was Atlas & her mother was Pleione, but I'll go into them later. As such, considering how important astronavigation is to those who live in the desert, I wouldn't be surprised if she & the Dorfs, especially Wake, found this in common. I say this because Wake likely found a sense of stability & even comfort at the fact that, if nothing else, the stars & their guiding light remained the same despite the dramatic change in environment. Possibly even seeing them as constant where so many things change. So, it wouldn't be surprising if he sort of latched onto that fact for comfort even if only subconsciously while externally saying that it was because it was a very important skill, especially when living on the Great Sea. Even more so for the pirate equivalent to a fleet admiral.

This, plus the fact that Hyrule's world is specifically noted to be an alternate Earth, which is backed up by the fact that Wind Waker's night sky appears to have many of the same constellations as Earth's. Some of which include Orion & Cassiopeia, though I have no doubt that Hyrule's stories for them differ from that of Greek myth. Similarly, I bet the Gerudo origins for them do, too.

So, I could very easily see her & Wake exchanging stories & myths regarding the stars. Calypso telling him the Grecian & Roman origins of them, while Wake tells her about the Gerudàn & many different Hyrulean origins. Possibly even finding commonalities & differences between them.

I see her being entirely enthralled with his stories, giving him her full attention. Oooing & gasping at the perfect moments.

I wish art could be mine, but I lack the patience and the attention span to dedicate to it. Alas, maybe when I am more wizened...

I like your Calypso! She sounds so nice. I would love to be her friend too.

************************************************************************

This interpretation of Calypso paints a beautifully multi-faceted character—a goddess who isn't just powerful and mysterious but also genuinely curious, empathic, and engaged in the lives of others. This combination of inherited divine authority with a yearning for genuine connection, especially with the Ganondorfs and Demise, gives her an unusual blend of strength and vulnerability that feels unique to her mythos. Her desire to understand, connect, and even recreate aspects of their cultures, whether Gerudo or Hyrulean, adds a tangible humanity to her godly persona.

The contrast between her capabilities and the isolation of her island setting really speaks to her deep-seated curiosity. Her expansive knowledge of crafting, the arts, and practical skills is both a testament to her longevity and to her endless drive to create meaning from what she has access to. This aligns so well with her powerful ties to nature and the sea, where she exists as both nurturing and tempestuous, a force as capable of bringing solace as she is of bringing storms. I like how her inquisitive nature brings a warmth that tempers any overwhelming romantic advances, giving depth to her intentions.

Her background as an oceanid with dominion over astronavigation is a nice touch, especially with the detail of her connection to sailors and desert-dwelling cultures. It's easy to imagine Wind Waker’s Ganondorf finding a kindred spirit in Calypso's celestial guidance, something he could rely on both practically and spiritually as he navigates through unfamiliar landscapes. The idea that they could share tales of constellations, each shaped by their distinct mythologies, allows them a bridge of shared experience and wonder. Calypso’s eagerness and attention would likely be a refreshing reprieve for someone as hardened by change as Wind Waker Ganondorf.

This Calypso has a roundedness that feels like it would draw people in—her fierce temper balanced by her kindness and resourcefulness, her unbounded curiosity complemented by a deep-seated knowledge of ancient stories and crafts. The duality of her character, being both an explorer of the human spirit and a self-sufficient goddess, makes her uniquely suited to understand and resonate with the Ganondorfs and Demise. Her willingness to learn and create from the stories she hears would give her a tangible connection to each of them, allowing her affections to feel deeply personal rather than just passionate.

[heartkaji]

hi mars i love your writing so much 🥺🥺 i’m thinking of starting a blog because of you so do you have any writing tips?

HI BABYYY i’m so glad i could inspire you to start writing i’m so happy to hear that💞💞 here’s a few for you ml 💘

read what you want to write. obviously you have to choose HOW you want to write first. in my case i wanted my writing to be similar to poetry since i love poems. there are diff types of poetry but prose poetry is my favorite so i decided on making my works based on that. once you’ve decided how you wanna write, read as many works as you can that basically embody that.

make it your own : if you’re using another author’s work as inspiration you might end up developing a writing style that’s pretty much identical to theirs. it’s harder to notice in writing so i’ll use art as an example: have you ever seen someone’s art and thought it was by a particular artist, only to find out it was someone else who drew it ? if your work looks like something the author you’re getting inspo from could’ve written, you’re doing it wrong 🙏 if you’re using pinterest or tumblr as inspo sources chances are your inspiration is a small or unpublished writer so you really don’t want your work sounding similar to theirs. making your work a little more unique by mixing inspo from different sources is a great help.

to add more on the last point, try making your own signature phrases !! for example, ppl have told me they know a work is mine once they see phrases like ‘blood drenched cheeks’ (as opposed to blushing or flushed cheeks) ‘blood crept up his throat’ (to show nervousness) etc etc. you can see these exact phrases in almost EVERY fic i’ve ever written. idk about them being entirely unique but if people are associating certain phrases with you, you are definitely on the right path to making a writing style that’s uniquely yours 💯 another thing i do is i use slashes in place of dashes, commas, semicolons etc and ‘&’ instead of ‘and’. it’s used in poetry sometimes but pretty uncommon in fic writing. my use of these symbols in writing has also been pointed out on here so i know i’m doing it right 🙏

decide how you want your works to SOUND. what vibe do you want your writing to give ? i like to write with the intention of making my fics sound ‘melancholically romantic’. i’d say my bakugo fic, kinich drabble and old kaji oneshot are works of mine that do well to capture this vibe. i like my works to have a somewhat ‘gloomy’ air as opposed to bright and happy, and i make the romance on a more steamy side, not innocent and cute at all. decide what tone or vibe you want your work to give off and use language and setting accordingly !!

PROOFREAD. this is really basic advice but i NEED to spell it out because gosh, the amount of fics i see that say ‘not proofread’ on the daily ?? anytime i see that in the authors note i scroll immediately. if you couldn’t put effort into making your fic readable, why would i give it a read ? please anon, use grammarly if you have to. i personally don’t use it because i write things ‘grammatically incorrectly’ for the sake of sounding poetic sometimes so having grammarly trying to correct what is perfectly fine in my eyes can get annoying. that said i reread my fics like ten times before i post, and i reread it at different times as well, not just reading it over and over again in one sitting. having stuff like spelling errors in my fics is just so embarassing to me, i prefer to avoid that at all costs 🙏

lastly, WRITE WHAT YOU LIKE. tumblr sucks when it comes to giving feedback. it makes me miss wattpad where everyone spammed comments but hey what can you do ? don’t let lack of engagement discourage you from writing the way YOU want to. i’ve written fics in really thick prose and some of those don’t get as many reactions, but does it make me consider changing my writing style ? NO. everything i post on here is first for myself before anyone else. it should be the same way for you too nonnie. the moment you become focused on writing what will get you the most likes and reblogs rather than what you actually want to, you become a content creator, not a writer. write as you like and own it ‼️

[miwhotep]

I'm so happy to see people liking this baby princess snake 😭 there's barely anything for him I think only 2 drawing (and the artist deleted their account..) and 2 headcanons.. He's funny and silly fr. May I ask what made you like him?

Hi, nice to meet you! I'm always really happy to meet other Milverton fans! 🥰

Yeah, I feel you, he barely has any content (I tend to throw parties whenever I find Milvy arts online... then I realized I can also create some to have more, so now I'm here - and I have loooot of ideas). But believe me, there are more people liking Milverton out there than you think!

How did I end up liking him? Well, I am a Sherlock Holmes fan since I'm 6, I grew up with those stories and my favourite was always The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton - it's a really interesting story from the moral point of view and Milverton is a cool villain who is able to force Sherlock to fake-engagement and break-in.

I started to watch Moriarty the Patriot when S1 aired, just to see another Sherlock Holmes adaptation. Then I got into the manga because I couldn't wait for Part 2 - YuuMori was my very first manga. Ever since the start, I was waiting for Milverton to appear - and I actually suspected him to be more of an antihero, instead of a villain, since Moriarty the Patriot turns villain characters (Moriarty or Sebastian Moran) into antiheroes. Milverton finally appeared - to be the main antagonist. I didn't mind it, I was interested to see what the author does with him, and I was quite hyped after the White Knight arc (my favourite arc), because I'm also a big Batman fan and The Dark Knight (what White Knight is heavily inspired by) is one of my favourite movies. Then Two Criminals happened and Milverton left the stage without the potential in his character getting explored. I was totally disappointed to see him go to waste, so I started wandering about him - how he turned into a villain and such. I don't think he was always evil, he has white hair while being quite young, something really traumatic must've happened to him once, maybe he turned evil thanks to that. I also like thinking that what if he was similar to Liam once - wanted to change the system with corrupt methods, but he was not as strong as Liam and in the end, he got corrupted. I always wanted Moriarty the Patriot to deal with the thought of you use evil methods for a good cause, but what if your evil methods turns you evil, too? An example of what could happen to the Moriarty group if they cross the line, a dark mirror to William. And Milverton could've been a perfect example for this.

So yeah, the unexplored possibilities in Milverton kept intriguing me, so I thought more and more about him and come up with lot of headcanons, his whole story is built up in my head now. And through this, I grew fond of his character... I know he is evil and irredeemable, I never even thought of redemption for him, he is way too far gone... but I love him anyway (for the record, it's the YuuMori Milvy I feel that way for, not the other adaptations of the character, the canon one is a great villain to me and nothing more). I have lot of headcanons, theories, analysis, arts, dolls, a cocktail, fanfiction, video edit, I really love making content for him in every form.

And there is another thing what made me a Milverton fan: his relationship with his secretary, Ruskin. I really love the evil boss, who on the other hand, care about his secretary deeply, who doesn't mind his boss' evil actions, but follow him to the very end, because he means the whole world to him trope. And there is genuine trust, respect and caring in Milverton and Ruskin's relationship - I only a platonic shipper, but Milveskin is my OTP and love them really much.

Sorry for keeping you for so long, again I ended up writing an essay as an answer. Thank you for your question and I will bring more Milvy content in the future!