#as beautiful as a well-executed 'i love you' can be it's also a bit generic

[bookshelfdreams]

friendly reminder that

"I love everything about you."

[painsandconfusion]

Writers, here’s your reminder that you should be doing warm-ups!

Athletes need to warm up. Musicians need to warm up. Artists need to warm up. Heck, I even have to play a few matches in video games before I get into a groove every day.

Warm-ups help you get into the right headspace, give you more control of your actions and word choice, get you comfortable in your physical setting (eg: with your keyboard, notebook, tablet, or whatever you're writing with), and spark creativity.

Even if you don’t think you have spoons to write, sit down and do a couple warm-ups. If you still don’t want to, that’s alright. But. I think you’ll be surprised how often they help break that ice.

5-15 minutes is all you need. I personally set a timer for ten minutes each time and do not stop writing until the time is up. Your warm-up can be anything at all so long as it gets you writing and starts nudging those creative juices.

Here's some common warm-ups:

Journaling. Just jot down some notes about your day. Feel free to really lean into something that you noticed. We're going for description and details -- try to avoid settling into a spiral or focusing on something negative that will upset your creativity.

Short story prompts. Type that into Pinterest and pick the most ridiculous, cliche thing you can. Write a little scene, story summary, or even a rant about why you do or don't like the prompt. Just write.

Vocab challenge. If you like a bit more critical thinking to get you in the zone, have a random vocabulary word generator spit out five or so words. Check their meanings and jot down a little story or thought that includes all five. You get more familiar with beautiful and descriptive language, and it gives you a much narrowed prompt (which is lovely if you're like me and suffer each time there's an open-ended task assigned).

Character moments. Try putting your character into a generic setting and write down almost meticulously what their thought process would be. Follow them realizing they've just stepped in mud or dreading the start of the day. Pick a mundane thing and describe them working through it. This will not only get your writing going, but it will wake up the character's voice in your head.

Ongoing storytelling. Did you know that Whinnie the Poo was A.A. Milne's warm up story? He would jot down a quick little story with those very basic characters and did so every day. Whatever came to mind. He kept writing little tidbits on the same characters and eventually it turned into a series. Having that ongoing plot with isolated scenes and simple characters can help you feel more motivated to sit down and write.

Get-to-know-you-questions. Google a list of basic first-date questions (there are a million out there) and answer one yourself. Go into specifics. Where do you most want to travel and why? Let yourself ramble until the question is fully answered.

Writer's block blues. This is a favorite of mine. If you're truly stuck, write about being stuck. Eg: 'I'm supposed to write for ten minutse, but that feels so stupid and impossible. No one is goign to read this anyway. I have no ideas and the page is so overwhelming when its blank. I used to be able to write on and on and nothing could stop me. it was like breathing. but now I have nothign and do nothing and I can't even do a stupid prompt-' Even the rambling and ranting got me writing. It made things easier. It made writing this post easier. Also -- notice the typos? Yeah, don't fix those. You're in writing mode, not editing mode when you're doing this. If you edit while you write, you're forcing yourself to stay in your executive and calculating headspace rather than falling fully into creativity and dream. Ignore the mistakes. That's for future you to handle.

I've officially rambled far too much, but I hope that helps even a little bit. Live well and write often, my friends. Best of luck to you <3

[ironteeth-fury]

👋 👋👋

Do u give ghoap fic recommendations? If so can u give us please 🙏 (iys alr if u don’t want to ^~^)

*rubs hands together* finally my time has come, the 436 cod bookmarks i have will be useful!

right so you didn't specify anything beyond ghoap so i'm gonna throw a bunch in here with different themes and lengths and settings and stuff.

Gonna try to keep it to one work per author as well, but generally check out the other works of these authors!

I'm gonna cover WIP's that i'm following and loving, canon ghoap, still military but au in ways that might be timeline or in the sense of magic or abo or supernatural or something. Also completely AU ghoap, and I also have a couple crack fics that i just think are really good and funny.

Buckle up there's a lot

WIPS

Acceptable Loss by MildLimerence. Limerence is one of my favorite authors, definitely check out all the other works as well. Acceptable Loss is post MWIII wherein Soap gets turned into an agent for Makarov. This has made me cry and scream.

But not to yield by monsterlice and toomanybats. Definitely also check both authors out, more good shit to be found!! post military service for ghost and soap both. Demi!Simon in an abusive relationship, absolute perfect specimen who will treat you right! Soap. Pretty sure this updates weekly on wednesdays or thursdays, i forgot sorry :/

There will be no tenderness by Simcoehole. Simcoehole is where I break the rules, there will be 4 of their fics in this list and I will not apologise (really you should applaud my restraint because i could've put a lot more in here). This is canon Ghoap with Soap on medical leave, stalker!ghost, a lot of angst and pining, and Simcoehole's specialty: idiots to lovers. has only one chapter so it's the best time to get into it! Updates on mondays, I think.

Crack fics

right so a couple shorter fics that are just generally funny

miannach by simcoehole. Right. Simcoehole fic #2. This is very much Crack Premise, executed super well and quite seriously as well. Premise: Soap cuts a hole in a bar of soap (lol) and it becomes a magical portal hole to his ass. So after fucking himself with it, he decides to leave it in teh communal showers. Which is fun but overwhelming. Then Ghost gets a hold of it. (this is just a lot of porn, but it's awesome)

Save a pony, ride a ghost - Jazzybot4 and naughtypixie. Soap has Stripper Skills and it is the perfect opportunity to show them off. the rest of the 141 is stunned <3

the divine and the blessed by ghost_throat. Soap finds himself being sacrificed to a god (believe me this will be 1000x better iwthout context. Don't forget to read the sequel)

Talk Too Much by achievement_huntresss. '22 ghoap who are in denial about their feelings run into '09 ghoap who, while not fucking (anymore) immediatly clock that the idiots are head over heels for each other, and decide to do something about it.

Russian Roulette by Red_Clegane. Just. Soap being a badass completely casual, as you-please. Love the attitude

Canon Ghoap

Up In Arms by eclecticscribbles. Ghost introduces Soap to BDSM so they can infiltrate a fancy exclusive bdsm club to find their target.

Any Time You Need Me by thirteenbullets. right so this is technically an entire series that i've linked, but, they all fall under what im gonna tell you: non-sexual intimacy, physical touch, a bit of angst and a lot of comfort. This entire series feels like curling up with a blanket on the couch in front of the fireplace with a mug of hot cocoa. it's comfy. (also has one of my favorite sentences ever that will live rent-free in my brain forever. He drew the ducks <3)

Seasons by StinglessWasp. the writing is breathtaking, it's a beautiful look at soap, ghost and their relationship and how they change over the course of four seasons.

What Has One Good Leg and Bleeds? by YmeMadarame. Soap gets his leg injured and betrayed and falsly confirmed KIA in the depths of hostile territory. He tries to make it back home. A classic case of it gets worse before it gets better.

Mission Briefs by BleedingTypewriter. What if ghost and soap hooked up before they met for the mission in al mazrah? Written as missing scenes between game cutscenes and missions. Beautiful, funny and sexy!

sometimes words have two meanings by Bluejay141519. beautiful take on the "the team accidentally massively hurts soaps feelings and trigger his inferiority complex" featuring a lot of hurt!soap.

its just a shot away by Bluejay141519. so another breaking of the rules by adding a second fic from bluejay, but both these fics are special to me. This is soap on a mission that went beyond FUBAR, trying to survive long enough for the 141 to come get him, and has been going on stims for almost 4 days. Soap reacts real bad to stims once he comes off of it. This is beautifully written and grabs me every time, and somehow manages to be one of the funniest things i've ever read while the tone of the fic overall is very serious and angsty.

Take a Breath by TAFKAmayle. Longg before the 141 started, we get Sergeant Simon Lamont (who will later be Lieutenant Simon "ghost" Riley) in charge of training the platoon of Corporal John "soap" MacTavish. There is tension. (turns out, it's sexual tension. who'da thunk it?) Includes them meeting again in game canon. (love this, its hilarious and i love it as a peek into Simon's mind)

can't keep johnny down by Wheezing_Joe. Soap loses comms on a mission. The 141 have to leave him behind. Soap makes his own way back to base. Turns out they missed him.

Bad Habits by NebulaGazer. I think this is the first real long fic that I'm linking, at 140k words. It's a mission fic of ghoap getting together. Soap gets thrown out of a couple of windows. It's great!

I Woke Up Underground by WispScribbles. this is a fun one!! we get wump, angst, buried alive trope, more wump, dad!price, and a lot of Feelings. (also definitely comfort at the end no worries)

Bait and Switch by Starlight_VLD. Another Soap gets turned into Makarov's assassin fic, this time with body doubles!! it's beautiful, it's sad, it's comforting, it's 141 as a family.

Oh, Brother by MeowMeowRiley. Ghost's family lives, and through some work civililan connections, both get roped into helping Soap's sibling move, unbeknownst to each other.

This is Ghost and Soap as Simon and John, seen through the eyes of their siblings, who do wonder 'why the hell are they not fucking yet?'

Military Ghoap AU's

faege by Simcoehole. #3 Simcoehole fic!! Soulmate AU following the MWIII storyline. Ghost and Soap wake up tied together by a red string of fate, declaring them soulmates. Both of them decide that, no, fate must have made a mistake, just because I'm hopelessly in love with him. He doesn't feel the same. I don't want to ruin our friendship. Let's see how we can get rid of this because he deserves better than being stuck with me for the rest of his life. (yep.) A lot of pining, angst, Idiots to Lovers (altho the idiots never really goes away with how fucking bad it is lmao). This is beautiful and it will make you yell at your screen and want to throw things but the worst part is that even though they're being big stupid idiots, when you're in their head you GET IT, you might not agree but you understand why they're comign to the conclusions they are (mostly). It's infuriating in the best way.

The devil has my throat by Simcoehole. Hi, last but certainly not least (with over 400k words) we have the devil has my throat. THIS FIC is what got me into the author, and what got me into the community. This fic is the start of my tumblr account. So, yeah.

Vampire!Ghost and Previously-Traumatised-By-Vampires!Soap. Who has, obviously, not processed said trauma at all, but is also immediatly horny as fuck for ghost. Features: being idiots, a lot of kinky vampire sex (so blood and biting and also some fun surprises you'll love later) a supernatural plot, price who doesn't get told even 10% of what's going on, and my Favorite OC Of All Time Ever.

Thrown for a Loop by enter_fand0m_reference00. Time Loop Alone Mission!!!! need I say more?? no, no i don't. (check out the rest of the series for more time loop shenanigans)

Results May Vary by HigherMagic. HigherMagic is one of my favorite authors so definitely check out all the other works as well, but this is the one I picked out to go on this list. It's wolf shifter soap deciding to woo the shit out of dragon ghost. (with a lot of lore!!! we love lore!!!)

Wont you lay your hands on me by Kensington. ABO but make it make sense! Alpha Ghost, Omega Soap, courting, world-building, trauma processing. absolutely one of my favorite abo fics ever (it's #2)

Yes to Heaven by Apollos_Last_Prophet. Okay but what if Soap was "killed" and taken and been made into Makarov's assassin before the 141 is even a thing?? You get this. The Ghoap is absolutely gorgeous in here.

My heart in your hands keeps going on by FetteEule. Former Military Soap! Neighbours Soap and Ghost! Ghost being forced on leave and fucking hating it, and soap changing his mind on it <3 (also of course price knows soap too)

Collecting Strays by WhisperedWords12. Check out the author again, there are more!! Werewolf soap gets rescued from a werewolf fighting ring and, being military, gets kept by Price and the 141. Ghost does not trust Soap at all.

No Rest for the Wicked by WispScribbles. Retired Ghoap are called back in when Price goes MIA. Mission fic. Feelings. Established Ghoap (theyre marrieddd)

hell hath no fury by sunshowers_and_dandelion_wine. Dragon shifter Soap!! Who accumalates the 141 as his hoard and is super protective and possessive, while trying to keep his being a dragon a secret!

Varium Lupus Division by North927. Sort-of military, sort of not? Post 141, Simon sets up his own division where they rescue and rehabilitate shifters/hybrids. Soap is the latest rescue.

Take Me On by Monsterlice. this is the #1 abo fic. It's got traumatised omega!Ghost who does Not Trust Anyone who goes into heat, has put it off long enough that it might kill him if he doesn't get handled by an alpha. Surprise, Gaz and Price, the only alphas (people, really) he trusts in the world are not here!! and won't be back in time. So, Laswell calls in Alpha!Soap (who will start at the 141 in like, a couple weeks) Features Consent!King!Soap who is absolutely enamoured by this huge feral omega who will fucking kill him if he steps a toe out of line. I fucking love soap in this soooo much.

a patron saint for butchers, fools and living fire by ForgottenFrog. I dunno, don't really want to spoil it by telling too much about it. This is one of the fics that settled into my bones and refused to leave.

(are you tired yet, cuz we've got some more to go)

AU's!

Dark Eyes Meet Under The Sky by Aessedia. (gonna have another one of Aessedia because i could NOT for the life of me choose) University professor Ghost. Grad student Soap. Soap needs a reccomendation for ghost who is known for being grumpy and hating his students. Also, Soap begins talking to a Dom on a kink-related dating website. Wonder who that is.

The Aerialist by Aessedia. LIsten okay Aessedia is just fucking amazing and go check /all of it/ out, because these two are my favorites but all the others are super good as well. Also, happy birthday to The Aerialist!! Aerialistic Acrobats Soap and Ghost who starts as rivals but then suddenly have to work together. Beyond overcoming their rivalry, there is also seemingly someone out to kill or at least ruin the 141 acrobats.

Why Did The Cowboy Take Hay To Bed? by LawfulSlab. Definitely check out all the other works as well they're beautiful. Historical au. Omega Soap and Alpha Ghost are the only two survivors of a convoy ambush. They seek shelter and have to pretend to be married to save Soap's virtue (unmarried omega out all alone, gasp!!) and then they fall in love. It's domestic as shit, and beautiful and the convoy was definitely a plot device to get them here and not something that will come back later as more plot, nahh.

Head of Department by Goblin_Pudding. Professors AU! Rival professors who hate each other, Price forces them to work together and /shit fuck we're in love now/. Including the past coming back to haunt you and Feelings <3. Romcom!!

Yellow Card by eddie_dxaz and skerryB. Football players AU! of course our boys start out having a massive rivalry and then Soap comes on the team and they have to play nice. Featuring homophobia of the world of sports, shitty exes coming back to create chaos, alive Riley family (except Simon's dad).

a pirate's life, aye? by victorianankles. firstly, pirate AU is one of my favorites. WE need more pirate au. Just gonna quote my bookmark of this one:

Soap's voice is the perfect mix of melodramatic, sad, hilarious and that somehow humble cockiness that's all Soap. I laughed so fucking much reading this and everyone should read this too, it's beautiful and I love it and I'm gonna cherish this fic forever

for those who need more convincing; one of the epilogues has soap in lingerie that's made of fancy chains and shiny gems. (i might or might not absolutely need art for this fucking hell)

Spoils of War by WhisperedWords12. RIGHT losers of a war get kept as war prisoners until the losing party signs officially that they've lost or something. They get used as sex slaves by the winning party. This is considered normal by everyone involved, as long as you treat your (temporary) slaves well. Soap gets captured and falls under Ghost's care. They are both not prepared for how much they like the other. (a tag from the fic: Enemies to Something They'd Rather Not Talk About. Which I think is quite fitting.) I love the dynamic in this, it's gorgeous.

RIGHT so that's it. For now. I mean i'd assume it's enough for the forseeable future.

Again, like i said i have more than 400 bookmarks so if you want more reccs, reach out, tell me what you like and I'll dig through my bookmarks and brain to see what i can find <3

Also people dont forget to leave kudos and a comment on the fics. If you dont know what to comment, give 'em this one from me:

✨️✨️💕🫧❤️💀💕✨️✨️

[hcxiier]

I know I've only been posted the single profiles of each of these characters, but I haven't really gone into any depths about who they are as a team.

Nickname: "Wild Dogs of the court" Location: A coastal town with a mix of urban energy and natural beauty, known for its unpredictable weather.

The Wild Dogs are a volleyball team that thrives on chaos, unpredictability, and sheer instinct. Hailing from the fierce, coastal town of Kurotora, their playstyle is as wild as their name suggests—full of unconventional moves, surprise strategies, and a constant willingness to break the rules of traditional volleyball. Often described as a "living, breathing storm" on the court, they keep opponents on edge, unsure of what will happen next.

Their playstyle is difficult to pin down. They avoid conventional patterns, making them unpredictable in both offense and defense. They might switch from aggressive spiking to complex, improvisational passing at any given moment. The Wild Dogs' game is about trust in their teammates' instincts. Their players rely heavily on quick reflexes, often making split-second decisions that leave their opponents scrambling. They thrive in chaotic, high-pressure situations, where precision is sacrificed in favor of a more free-flowing, aggressive style. While their unorthodox style makes them formidable when things go right, it can also backfire. A well-executed surprise attack can leave opponents unable to recover, but an overly risky play might lead to a critical mistake, or worse, a point loss at a crucial moment. This balance of risk and reward is their hallmark—thrilling for fans, but terrifying for their own coaches.

While their chemistry is strong, the lack of a solid strategy can sometimes lead to frustration, especially for the more analytically inclined players who crave structure and planning. Their aggressive style requires immense energy, and when they get too caught up in the chaos, their stamina suffers. If a match goes to three sets, they often find themselves struggling to maintain their frenetic pace.

The team is based off of dogs, I tried to align each personality with their assigned dog but I kind of just put what I thought suited them best. Under the cut is the personality and general idea of each character. Of course there are more teammates off of the court that I haven't finalized quite yet who will make an appearance eventually - but this is the first string seven. If any of you have a favourite out of this lot I'd love to hear about it :) See the manager HERE see the coach HERE

Ishida is the team's charismatic, no-nonsense captain with a fiery passion for volleyball. A natural leader, his sharp instincts and unyielding determination make him an indispensable player. His somewhat high standards for himself and others sometimes make him push too hard, creating tension on and off the court. Despite his occasional frustration, Ishida has the respect of the team, and they always rally behind him when it counts the most. (German Shepard)

Dai stands at an impressive height with an almost frightening vertical jump, Dai is known for his devastating blocks that leave the crowd in awe, capable of shutting down even the most formidable attackers. Despite his intimidating presence, Dai has a playful side and is often the one cracking jokes to lighten the mood. His laid-back attitude hides a fierce competitiveness and an unshakable desire to be the best. Dai’s spontaneous nature often annoys Eiji, who prefers structure and planning. The two often argue over minor things, like being late to team activities or how to approach certain situations. However, their opposing personalities create a balance—Eiji helps Dai stay grounded, and Dai helps Eiji relax a bit.(Afghan Hound)

Jun is the team’s fiery libero with a reputation for his jaw-dropping reflexes and speed. He’s small in stature but makes up for it with his relentless energy and an almost supernatural ability to read the ball. Jun's enthusiasm is infectious, and he serves as the team's emotional spark, but he can sometimes let his overzealousness get the best of him, leading to risky plays. Jun is the team’s hype man, always full of energy and ready to keep the mood light. He’s the one making jokes, planning team pranks, and getting everyone to join in on silly activities. His enthusiasm is contagious, but it can be overwhelming to some teammates.(Pomeranian)

Yu is the teams ace with an unpredictable and sometimes reckless playstyle. He’s known for his high energy and even higher jumps, often catching opponents off guard with his unorthodox moves. Yu's spontaneity is both a strength and a weakness: he can pull off jaw-dropping plays in the blink of an eye, but sometimes his overconfidence leads to wild, unnecessary risks. Despite his tendency to go off-script, Yu’s teammates know he’s capable of turning the tide of a game with his sheer unpredictability. His enthusiasm is contagious, and his raw talent keeps the opposition constantly guessing. He is also the loudest and most stubborn player on the court; it's not unlike him to get at least one penalty each match. Probably one of the reasons why he's so fit is because he has to do the most punishment laps at the gym whenever they get back to training. (Husky)

Kota is the intimidating presence at the net, a tall and stoic middle blocker known for his near-impenetrable defense. His focus and discipline have made him an absolute wall for any opponent trying to spike the ball. While he’s quiet and doesn't say much, his actions speak volumes on the court. Beneath his serious exterior is a fierce loyalty to his teammates and a dry sense of humour that catches others off guard. Although he is probably one of the laziest of the crew, often sneaking naps off the court whenever he can. (Great Dane)

Eiji's the teams setter and the second in command to Ishida. Talent lies not only in his impeccable precision but in his deep understanding of the rhythm of volleyball. Every pass he makes is like a carefully composed note, setting up his teammates for the perfect attack. Eiji has a unique ability to keep his composure under intense pressure, often calmly making decisions in split seconds that seem impossible. His leadership style is less about vocal commands and more about setting an example through his fluid play and unwavering trust in his teammates. (Irish Setter)

Kishi is the unpredictable, game-changing blocker known for his ability to appear and disappear like a phantom. As a substitution player, he comes in at key moments to change the momentum of the match with his impressive blocking abilities. His timing is impeccable—he can read the hitter’s body language and jump at exactly the right moment, making him a nightmare for opposing attackers. Because he’s not always on the court, his sudden entrances often catch the other team off guard, giving his team a boost of energy and shifting the dynamic of the game. (Golden Retriever)

[thenamesblurrito]

so. Transformers ONE was a good movie

i HIGHLY recommend going in blind, i do think it's incredibly effective with as few spoilers as possible beforehand! seeing it on the big screen is really really nice too, i encourage you to watch it in theaters without reading up on it first if you can!

long full-spoiler review and dissection of elements below (i reached the text block limit a couple times oops):

general stuff:

gorgeous. just genuinely visually gorgeous. so many details, colors, textures, everything was so beautiful. the stylization itself may not be my favorite but it was executed so well that i ended up loving it. their optics! their colors! their movement! the way the visuals serve the lore and the story is extremely well done too, i felt like everything i was seeing was deliberate, relevant, and a treat for the audience instead of just "ooo visual noise look at how powerful our cgi rendering is" (which is how i felt about the "live action" Lion King prequel(????) ad they showed before). all the little cameos and repaints and everything in the background? mwah. GORGEOUS MUSIC TOO AAAA THE WAY THAT TFP'S MOTIF IS IN THERE AAAA

the visual effects and action, the way they USED their roboticness/transformation sequences/vehicle modes in fighting and moving and emoting, it was VERY GOOD. Orion grabs a Death Tracker and RIPS THEM INTO PIECES BY TRANSFORMING AROUND THEM AND FORCING THEIR FRAME TO SHATTER. insanity

this is ABSOLUTELY the origin story movie the fandom has wanted. even if it wasn't your preferred origin story, this movie SHONE with love and respect for the franchise and drew on so many influences to craft a powerful version of the beginning we all wanted to see

in some ways i wish we had more, i think it would've been extremely effective to see things expanded upon, especially D-16's emotional descent and maybe some more Quints. actually looking at the content and pacing of the movie though, and the audience it's aimed at, i don't think there's anything they should've cut in favor of other stuff. i understand why it wasn't dwelt on more, but hooooo i would've liked to see Dee breaking apart a little more thru the middle of the film. apparently the novelization has more scenes of this and i would love to read it

i had so much fun watching this movie. it was a rollercoaster. it was a TREAT. i was sitting there enjoying every second both times i saw it because it was a good film that rewarded me greatly for being a Transformers fan, giving me so many easter eggs and injokes, while also being perfectly understandable and fun for a complete newbie. excellently balanced appeal to old and new fans alike

there was no wink to the audience about how stupid and childish a movie about robots is, there was no lampshading of how silly sci fi is, there was no betrayal of the emotional tone of the film. so many stories now kneecap themselves by mocking their very concept, and the audience watching them, in a very cinema sins-style irony poisoned way. this movie never does that. its humor is fitting, its drama is real, its emotion is all SINCERE and i love how i was never mocked by any part of the movie for engaging with it sincerely

this movie loved being a Transformers movie

anyways. specific stuff:

love how Wheeljack managed to explode everything despite not even being a scientist. he's just THAT good

THE INJOKES AND REFERENCES. "you don't have the touch OR the power." calling them Gobots. the corny More Than Meets The Eye bits. "don't be a glitch" is a headcanon swear i've been using for years now and they canonized it!! "High Guard, eject". "paging doctor Ratchet." the new take on "all are one". the really interesting way that the term Transformers is an actual significant in-universe name, and how Orion and Dee ARE NOT Transformers at first!

the sheer number of cameos is ASTOUNDING. what an excellent mix of masc/fem designs too, they really made it normal on this Cybertron which i appreciate! apparently Blurr exists here, his name was on the leaderboard!!!!!! good job Chromia i am so proud of you for winning. and the shots of the bots getting cogs at the end was aaAAA!!! <<33 my HEART! Jazz's little smile looking at his new doorwings!!

I GOT ALL MY SILLY OLD DEMIGOD FAVES I GOT THE THIRTEEN EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM AAAAAA ALPHA TRION MY GRANDPA god i'm so sorry you're dead but i can't believe you showed up on the big screen <<333 you and your rockin rhino unicorn lion alt mode. and your superpowers. god you're so cool. "old timer" NUH UH HE'S STILL BETTER THAN YOU!!!!! using Zeta for the thirteenth was an interesting choice! i did think he was Overlord for a hot second. it's the lips. Solus wasn't fridged by virtue of everyone else died too yippee!! ALSO MEGATRONUS THE COOLEST ONE WOOOO HES NOT JUST A FIERY EVIL GUY!!!!

the way Dee himself was, in a way, the Fallen of this continuity.... 😭

the way Sentinel was handcrafting his downfall with each touch of the blowtorch. carving the sigil of the Decepticons into the one who will kill him. dooming Cybertron in a moment of petty mockery. AND HE DOESN'T EVEN DRAW IT WELL IT'S LIKE A MESSY CRAYON DRAWING CMON

planetformer Primus in a blockbuster movie? CANONICAL EXPLICITLY STATED PLANETARY ROBO MPREG BIRTH IN THE FIRST FIVE MINUTES???? THEY USE THE WORD BIRTH. BORN. we are never escaping the reproductive insanity in this franchise

Shockwave you whiny tantrum throwing wuss. let Elita beat him up more. it's good for him. also love how that could be construed as a ref to her G1 resistance force

CASUAL MIND READER SOUNDWAVE???????

Elita was perfect, no notes. i would not like her if i met her but i respect her so much. she really is better in every way and down to business. Best First indeed

so much cool implications and fascinating timeline confusion. 50 cycles since the Primes were slaughtered? the way Sentinel leveraged their reputation to make himself beloved, casting himself as their peer? the way he didn't choose to villainize them, the way he apparently openly admitted to the loss of the Matrix and how it impacted the planet? when did cog theft start, and how old is Orion since in the novelization it states his entire generation is cogless? who remembers the og Primes? who is in the know about it all?? hoooghhghhh fascinating.

the implication that the High Guard worked with the og Primes?? the possibility STARSCREAM was a loyal guard for Cybertron's DEMIGODS????

okay i was not expecting a backstory for STARSCREAM'S VOICE in this movie but holy. god. the shippers will be going insane over this one. hoogh holy fit. what is wrong with you. the utter contradiction of being both an instigator and a coward when he gets in over his head and immediately backpedals

also obviously this is the I Love Divorce movie and megop shippers will be having a field day but i DEEPLY appreciate just how solid a friendship Dee and Orion have and how badly they fall apart, even thru a strictly platonic lens. i also appreciate how there was no forced comphet attraction/romance!! i was dreading the possibility of it, i mean Oplita was RIGHT THERE but they didn't force it at all thank youuuuuu. i would rather have this dynamic with its zero intended romance than awkward, OOC attraction shoehorned in to detract from the plot

Bee was actually good! like yeah he's def the kid appeal character and i prefer it when he's in a younger gen and not OP's peer, but he was wayyyyy less annoying than i was expecting! i think he fit the movie and did his job in it well, and i absolutely laughed at him multiple times. "i get to work for the GOVERNMENT! :DDDD" bee. please. the fact that he's been going insane and desperate after isolation for so long really helps make his character work instead of being just irritating

Airachnid you are so cool. you are TOO COOL. PLEASE TONE DOWN YOUR COOLNESS. i adore how she is not good at facial expressions thank you evil autism moments. love how her signature move is stabbystabbystabbystabbystabbystabby

Sentinel. god. Sentinel. SENTINEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i need to draw him getting ripped in half. it's like they distilled the worst parts of every single iteration and combined them into a SuperBad version. horrifically realistic kind of guy. i love to hate him. real Metro Man from Megamind energy. and megachurch pastor energy. the IRONY that Orion and Dee were probably actually helping him, that he was probably being genuine in the medbay when he said he loved what they did by racing, that he may have been honest when he said he was gonna have them fixed up in his own facilities and had them tour the mines! because them racing increased energon production by 150% and Sentinel needed that!!! he needed that for the Quintessons!!! i think he was being genuine when he first met Dee and Orion and then Darkwing ruined everything!!!

Darkwing is the curly straw of this continuity

the Quintessons were hoooooooooooooooo. whoooooooooogh. hoohhhhhhhhhhhh. the biomechanical. the shapes. the textures. eugh. icky. creepy. excellent. the way their ships looked like the Nemesis. the way they're STILL a looming threat. i wanted to see more of them but i get why the movie wasn't about them. i hope we see more in the future

the way Orion is the kind of guy who, in an attempt to be selfless, keeps making selfish or thoughtless decisions was SO INTERESTING. it set up the dynamic of his and Dee's friendship very well, with Orion always wanting the best for his buddy but ultimately overwriting or ignoring what Dee says!! the way Dee clings to the social contract of protocol for safety because that's all he knows and his ANGER when it's broken, even when it's Orion breaking it, because that's not SAFE it's an UNKNOWN it has CONSEQUENCES WHEN YOU DEVIATE. and then it's revealed that the social norms have been a lie the whole time and Sentinel has "broken protocol" more than ever and Dee has no safety left because it was always broken. Orion wanted to be more, he could feel there was more. Dee just wanted security

Dee spent so much of the movie complaining and arguing and it was very funny and good characterization but it was also a hint at how much bitterness was under there the whole time. so much of his complaints were threats of violence. he always had Orion's back and then when he learns the truth he abruptly. stops. do you notice he doesn't really have Orion's back after this? he's no longer by his side? he's there, but he's not... there. he was the first to shoot an enemy and took joy in it. all of his emotions were so justified and then what he does with them is what makes it a tragedy. he didn't have to do this. augh

i really, really like the fact that they managed to pull off the ending without it fully turning into a "boohoo if we do anything violent we're as bad as the bad guys waaaa". the specific phrasing of "rebuilding cannot start with an execution" went HARD. and it's demonstrated in their actions too like, Dee was out for REVENGE and it was PERSONAL, Orion was fighting for JUSTICE and it was UNIVERSAL. Sentinel was beaten, everyone knew the truth. it was over. but Dee in his (very justified!) anger and broken trust was too overcome to back down. they were given the power to change their worlds, but Dee was thinking only of his world. Orion was thinking of everyone

ironic that as soon as Orion starts thinking of other people and considering what they need instead of forging ahead, Dee decides to center his own feelings and actions to the point of murder. even after Sentinel was dead, he just kept shooting, he did NOT AT ALL care that some of those shots were clearly hurting innocent civilians/going wide and shooting out into the city/damaging actual important infrastructure and not just Sentinel statues. i believe it's Bee who said "he's gonna kill everyone" and he proves it by attacking Elita and saying "I won't stop until every last one of his followers is dead". THE FACT THAT HE FELL SO FAR AS TO SEE ELITA, HIS PEER AND FELLOW FREEDOM FIGHTER WHO WAS THERE WORKING AGAINST SENTINEL WITH HIM FROM THE START OF THIS QUEST, AS ONE OF SENTINEL'S FOLLOWERS.... by the end of it, Dee really was nothing but blind anger

and the way kneeling was a common thread!!!!! aaaaaaa. Sentinel betrayed the world by kneeling to the enemy. Dee won respect by refusing to kneel. Orion gained followers by willingly kneeling to his peers. hooghh

Orion jumping and stumbling and falling this whole movie because he just THROWS himself into things because he BELIEVES in things, he's the one to take leaps of faith, to take that step out into the unknown! and Dee refusing to save him as one final nail in the coffin, so clearly feeling like Orion jumping in front of the blast was yet ANOTHER way Orion is forcing his hand, corralling him into doing something he thinks is best but did not consult him on, finally FINALLY saying NO and leaning in to the tragedy!! and in the exact same way Sentinel handcrafted his enemy in Dee, Dee has now handcrafted his enemy in Orion!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA and now that Orion took that last leap of faith and fell, now is when he RISES. ONE SHALL FALL AND ONE SHALL RISE. god. it reminds me of Spiderverse, the way they use falling and rising

the way the tragedy is worse for how well everyone was working together.... for one shining moment, the miners and the High Guard, the rescue mission, it was going so well. they were doing it. they were winning. it didn't have to turn to slaughter. if there was to be an execution it should've been by trial, by the voice of the people, not Dee deciding for Cybertron as Sentinel decided what truth was. augh.

in an abruptly different note, the way they have characters move and fly is so cool. i love the jetpacks. i love how flight is not "flyer" exclusive. it's fascinating and i think really fitting for the general city of Iacon itself. all those towers going up and down

THE TRAINS!! THE MOVING ROADS!! HOW COOL IS THAT!! LOOK AT THAT WORLDBUILDING IM OBSESSED WITH THIS CYBERTRON HOOGH. this movie was VERY good at building a rich, functional world of detail and making it very alien in a way i want to chew on forever. the moving mountains and greebled energon mines. the living planet. the deer!!! ooghghh. PRIMUS LOOKS LIKE A STAR

i do like this Primus actually, yeah it was a deus ex machina but that's the POINT. Optimus himself is an act of god and his presence heralds miracles. Dee couldn't bring justice to Cybertron because justice is restoration. justice is healing what was hurt and doing right by the wronged. yes that often means consequences upon the perpetrator but that's NOT what Dee was doing, he wasn't even THINKING of anyone else!! would killing Sentinel get ppl out of the mines? would it restore their cogs? would it bring equality to a clearly oppressive society? like he LIVED this (cogless bots with limited options, the talk of tiers as if they are social castes you can be demoted from, lower city levels where ppl can be banished, etc) but it was Orion who ultimately addressed this. i'm sorry if it feels like insult to injury to rub his Primacy in your face, Megatron, but stealing a cog just like Sentinel and declaring the age of Primes over, when it was the age of Primes ending that made you cogless and oppressed in the first place, is only an extension of your trauma, anger, and violence, and is not solving the problem!

a cog stolen from him at birth! and then he steals it from Sentinel in symbolic revenge, stolen again, but even that wasn't Sentinel's, it was stolen too! the way he discards the cog from Onyx, willingly gifted to him, to continue the trend of desecrating the dead! man. MAN. the name he took, the cog he took, the symbol he took, all from his hero, the one he looked up to, the coolest Prime, and THEN DECLARED THE AGE OF PRIMES OVER

the gilded pompous showmanship of it all was so gross, the way Sentinel's face was everywhere, the way he had instant access to everyone in Iacon via announcements that took over the media. but this was clearly derived from the previous Primes!! we see their statues, we see their stately tower, and unless Sentinel had all that built in "mourning" (which is totally plausible imho) he was really just setting himself up as an inheritor of that hyperwealthy standard! we don't know anything about the rule of the og Primes beyond that they're favorably remembered and loved (possibly because of propaganda but i think it was also genuine) and that they may have been losing the Quint war (considering that info was from jerkwad supreme i find it suspect) but just by comparison to Sentinel i think they HAD to be better rulers. there weren't cogless bots forced to mine for 20 shifts in a row back then!!! Sentinel is stealing their aesthetic as if that gets him the same power and acclaim. he's trying to steal their legitimacy. he paints himself across the face of Iacon to hide the fact the planet itself went into a coma because of him. he has ALWAYS been rejected. i call him a megachurch pastor but really symbolically i could say he's a fallen angel, and his visual design really fits too

i'm coming back to the deus ex machina thing bc i know it may be considered weak in a plot construction sense but i want to engage with it as literal. like, there is a literal in-universe god in the machine. they know it. they worship it, at least a little bit. i would consider this story to be analogous to Prince of Egypt, in that the deific is a real and tangible character with impact on the plot, and not a meta excuse to save the day. Orion made his choice, and as a result Primus made HIS choice. it's not necessarily a happy ending but if even Megatron acknowledges that GOD mandated this guy to be a Prime and the planet itself responds by COMING BACK TO LIFE.... i keep thinking of it like a cityspeaker, how they're the ones who commune with Titans to know their needs and tell them what needs to be done. is a Prime just the cityspeaker of Cybertron, able to help it remain healthy and functional?

the divine right to rule is REAL on Cybertron. you can like it or not but you have to contend with that when discussing fair leadership, political accountability, and representation of the masses re: Cybertronian government and Primacy

god i'm still so obsessed with the Thirteen i need to see them better i need to look at them. i love them. insane. i really need to invest in a chewtoy

also i know it may be a throwaway line but i'm very curious why Primus had to transform and sacrifice himself to save the universe. Unicron, maybe???

also how did Alpha Trion narrate the archival stuff telling the fake story of how the Primes died and the Matrix was lost. did Sentinel get a deepfake of his voice?? is that part of how he made the transition to power?? AUGH THE DISRESPECT KEEPS COMPOUNDING

Alpha Trion. my blorbo. my old man. holding you so tight. like an ancient rescue dog. im gonna groom you and give you treats and buy the biggest plushest dog bed from costco for you

anyways

good movie, guys

[pubbybutch]

i don’t know if this is a weird request but it’s also my first one.

but i had the idea of abby coming home from a long shift at work, and she finds reader trying to make themself cum?

it just popped into my head and i need it to come to life 🙏🙏

No anon cause I love this trope so much, thank you for trusting me with your first request (ur doing great sweetie!)

(Hope you don’t mind an AU btw <3)

Word Count: 1600 (technically not a drabble ig)

CW: Doctor AU, Abby is a sexy doctor, Strap usage (R! Receiving), AFAB reader, Feminine nicknames used, cowgirl position, tried to keep it race/ethnicity inclusive, mentions of Abby trying to keep you healthy and sleeping well.

No Minors, Men, or general Cunts.

If you see spelling mistakes, no you didn’t. 💚

Abby is tired. And pissed off. But mainly she’s tired, with sore feet and a pounding headache, not helped by the wind howling outside the car causing the rain to beat down heavily on the wind screen. From having to prevent a kid with a broken arm from crying a flood as he called his mom to stopping the blood pouring out of a woman’s intimate parts in the emergency department. It was a very long day.

After running into the house from her now parked car, she pushes the trainers off her feet and takes in the dark hallway, walking back into the kitchen she notices a plate of chilli chicken and rice with a little sticky note attached to the cling film covering the food, ‘gone to bed, eat before you come up <3’ .

She smiled at the note and placed the food in the microwave, yawning as she watched the orange glow and the spinning of the plate in the little metal box. Bed couldn’t come soon enough, but she definitely wasn’t going to face the wrath of a wife scorned by her not eating her delicious food. Made with love, by her love. The blonde was always a bit love struck when sleep deprived.

Inhaling the food and making the executive decision to leave the dishes until the morning, the blonde trudges up the stairs with her feet heavy and her head even heavier. It’s not until she gets to the top of the stairs does she hear the creaking of a bed and hushed whimpers coming from your shared bedroom. She pulls her phone from her pocket and checks the time, ‘00:37’. You should be fast asleep by now.

Peaking her head around the door, not even having to push it open due to you leaving it ajar, she captures what can only be described as a beautiful sight. Abbys pretty little wife lays there. With one of your hands pumping her fingers in and out of your sopping wet cunt with such force your breasts and tummy jiggle lightly with each movement. Your other hand draped over your eyes, shielding you from Abby’s piercing blue gaze. She stands there and watches, leaning against the door frame, enjoying the view and appreciating every little huff and moan leaving your lips.

Finally deciding you’d had enough fun, Abby clears her throat. You jump. Your hand pulls away from your cunt, a shiver running through you as your body yearns to be full again.

“Mrs Anderson,” Abby starts, “you couldn’t wait for me to come home, could you?” Despite her phrasing, it is not a question. It’s an order.

The blonde continues, “Did I not tell you that you were to catch up on sleep, Mrs Anderson?” She tilts her head this time, prompting you to answer. “Yes, Abby…”

“And did you follow the doctor’s orders, pumpkin?”

“No, Abby.” The heat rising up your neck and slithering across your cheeks is a dead give away to Abby as she takes your face in one of her hands, her long, thick thumb rubbing soothing circles onto your cheekbone.

“Since you’re already up, it must mean you’re not tired? Am I right, sweetheart?” The blonde releases you face and takes a step backwards to take all of you in once more.

“Abby I-”

She interrupts you, “Well. Im tired. I’ve had a very long day, sweetheart so if you want to get off, it’s on my terms, we got a deal?” As she speaks she shrugs off her undershirt and undoes the button on her jeans. She watches as you nod and reach out for her, arms outstretched and hands making little grabby motions to try and get her close again. Be grudgingly she steps forward and out of the jeans pooling around her ankles.

Abby is left in her boxer briefs and a white cotton bra as she wraps an arm around your waist, lifting you away from the center of the bed and dropping you on the edge of the mattress. Gripping your chin and pulling your face so that your gaze meets hers, she smirks down at you. “Stay there. Don’t move okay, baby?”

You nod and watch as she goes to the build in wardrobe, her broad shoulders flexing as a hand moves to take the elastic band from the end of her braid, as her hand reaches into the drawer looking for something.

With her hair loose and a harness in her hands Abby slides the leather straps over her hips and into place. Turning back to you, you’re able to see the cock she’s chosen. As she walks forward you come face to phallus with nine inches of dark purple silicone. “You wanna get it wet for me, baby?”

Instead of answering, you slip a hand around the harness and pull her close enough so you can take her length into your mouth. Abby smiles warmly as she watches you only managing to get about half way down the strap, her blue eyes creasing at the edges as you wrap your hand around what you can’t fit in and start rubbing along the shaft. The sight sends a low moan rumbling from Abby’s chest. With a pop, your mouth lets go of the blonde’s cock as she takes a step back and watches as a line of spit connecting the silicone to your bruised lips breaks.

Abby kisses your forehead and sits down on the bed beside you, a blink and you’ll miss it ‘good girl’ falls from her lips as she situates herself against the pillows at the head of the bed. Her finger makes a curling motion, calling you over. Sliding up to sit next her, a hand grips your hips, “Get on top, sweetheart.”

“Abby, I want you to be on top-”

“And I want to go to bed, but since you’re being a needy little brat and not waiting for me to come home before fucking yourself.” She gives your hips a squeeze and continues, “And not listening to me when I tell you that you need more sleep. So now, you’re going to get to cum, but on my grounds. On doctors orders. Okay, baby?”

You nod and move to get straddle Abby’s hips, only to have her reach up and yank you down by the nape of your neck. “I said ‘okay, baby?’ It wasn’t rhetorical.”

“Okay Abby.” She kisses you square on the the lips and let’s you climb up on to her hips, she leans back and watches as you line yourself up with her cock and lower yourself onto the plastic. A tight smirk graces the blonde’s face as she listens intently on the hasty breaths you give out as you become re-accustomed to the stretch that this particular dildo always gives you. As you move your hips up and down, mewls and pants come flooding from your mouth. That knotting tension that never truly left your abdomen from your solo session had returned with what can only be described as a vengeance.

Bouncing up and down on Abby’s cock, you can feel yourself getting closer and closer. Blue eyes scan your whole body, one large rough hand resting on your hip as it helps guide your movements, the other holding one of your tits squeezing the flesh and every so often tugging the hardened nipple as her thumb ran over the sensitive flesh.

Abby’s hips remain surprisingly still, despite your pleas and begging, her stance stays unwavering. This entire session was most definitely on her grounds. Though her body remains relaxed yet unmoving, Abby’s eyes are burning with intensity you can clearly see it, the bubbling want and desperation underneath the stoney exterior.

“Abby-” you huff, exhaustion hits as your desperate moans are met with nothing but raised eyebrows and the occasional ‘yes, princess’.

“I wanna cum, please can I?”

“You’re asking permission, baby? And without being told, oh sweetheart, you can cum anytime you want.”

Without another word your hips slam down against Abby’s, the strap hitting impossibly deep inside as you cum, you rest on top of her. Folding over, you find your head resting underneath your wife’s chin as thick fingers come to the back of your head and her short nails give gentle scratches to your scalp, relaxing you further into the blonde’s firm, broad chest.

Pulling yourself away from Abby and off of her hips you see a creamy ring coating the hilt of the strap as you pull away from your wife. A heat rises to your cheeks once more as Abby sits up properly in the bed and yanks you down into her arms. “Thank you, baby. You did so good.”

Snuggling into her side, you kiss her cheek and strong square jawline as she loosens and slides the harness from her hips.

“Long day, doctor?” Your teasing brings a soft tired smile to Abby’s face as she lets herself yawn. “Like you wouldn’t believe, sweetheart.”

She turns to you, blue eyes staring into yours, deep icy pools that hold such love in them you can’t imagine them ever being cold, “I’m sorry if I was too pushy.”

You laugh and pull the covers up to surround the two of you, “Abigail. We have a safe word for a reason.”

“I know it’s just that-”

You shut her up with a kiss, and once you break it she seems to be content that you had enjoyed the evening, even before she got home. Content and with reassurance, Abby falls asleep and her little wife too.

☘️🦖☘️🦖☘️🦖☘️

Remember Reblogs make the World Go Round

REQUESTS ARE STILL OPEN 💚

[auguryofjellyfish]

This is the main blog of @misha-v and I just wanted to say that I really love the long commentary tags you leave on art reblogs complimenting all the little details, it means so much to me when ppl notice and appreciate those and take the time to point those out and explain why they like them, you especially. It makes me feel rlly good inside and it kind of keeps me going because I know for a fact that you love it to the point where you're willing to dedicate your time to leaving those long tags ^^

So thank you, thank you so much ^-^

hi!! thank you for taking the time to write such a long and kind message! i'm always blown away when people tell me they appreciate my tags, like fr, wow?? i'm so so happy to hear how they make you feel <3 the tetro community artists create a lot of things that i find pleasant, thought-provoking, impactful, or things that evoke feelings in general, which makes the words come to me more easily. i always like it when i find i have a lot of things to say about a piece of art! i'm glad that my words can brighten people's day too.

speaking of yapping, i hope you don't mind cuz i wanna do that right now :3c I LOVE YOUR ART!!! you have mastery over using shapes, the general "blockiness" of your style reminds me of those early 2000s cartoon network shows, which is nice to see because these artstyles aren't that popular nowadays. so that, + the smoothness and thickness of your line art makes your character artwork look really defined and sharp.

and your colour choices... i have no idea how you do it, but they're just sublime. like in your DRDT designs, for example, the cream + gentle red of okazaki's suit, the greenish black of hiroaki's, the vibrant orange of isono's hair contrasted with the bluish green, the beautiful purples, pink and white of tamba's outfit... bruh. this stuff almost brings me to tears. it's breathtaking how beautiful these colours are, and how well they go with each other. they make my brain go brrrr.... not to mention the designs themselves are fire too RAAHHH!!! lies down... i just think it's neat.

also i need, neeed to talk about your chap 3 au. it's so meaningful to me. i've seen people kill off wada as a victim in their AUs A LOT, it's like a staple at this point. usually, it's him taking someone else's place or just to have him die in general ig, and i don't find that very compelling. like, oh wow, victim wada?? definitely haven't seen that before lol. but in your au, he dies, but it was because he decided to strike back against his abuser, and i find that so beautiful.

disclaimer, ik okazaki is also a teenager and i'm not celebrating her death etc. but the fact still stands that wada is a victim, hers and in general, and you had him take back some of his power for the first time in his life. not only that, he also inadvertently saved a person he loved from being executed (whether it was a good thing for her is another matter). the killing game itself makes the participants inherently powerless, but he acted with as much agency as you can while being inside it.

i LOVE this wada. this is such a wonderful take on his character, a version of him that's a bit to the left, that values himself and his own dignity a bit more than in canon. and maybe one that holds onto bitterness/anger more, as well. but it STILL MAKES SENSE!! it doesn't feel OOC! this au just took the him that stabbed okazaki as self defense and turned that into more active and retaliatory force.

also, strangling a mf to death with HDMI cables is just iconic. pure king shit. anyway... i'm very glad that canon wada's survived this long, and i love him for who he is, but if he had to die, it wouldn't be so bad if it had gone something like this. thank you for creating such an awesome AU.

[blindmagdalena]

Seeking writing advice from one of the best. Please, share some of your tips, tricks and general wisdom (if you feel comfortable ofc). :))

you're so sweet! i'm no professional but i'll do my very best to offer something helpful!

the unfortunate reality is there's no one universal trick to writing. you just gatta Do It. and do it frequently! write badly. write out of sequence. write streams of consciousness with no mind for how the sentences read.

the most important thing you can do with your ideas is get them OUT of your head. you can't polish a gem before you've mined it.

don't delete the things you write! if you find a fic or a scene isn't flowing right or just doesn't fit where you've written it, put it aside. there's a good chance it'll come in handy later, or you'll be able to utilize it better at another time with a fresh perspective.

i have a whole doc called "odds and ends" where i hold onto moments or bits of dialogue that i've written but don't have a use for yet.

don't be afraid to seek validation! to paraphrase this tessa barron article, writing is performative. your story isn't finished until someone reads it. you'll never be done with it until it becomes real and complete to someone else. that's just part of the art! we write for ourselves, yes, but we also write to connect with each other.

read!!! in order to write well you must read. learn from authors who have more experience, more mastery over the art of storytelling and structuring their sentences. audiobooks count as reading, btw! it's so important as a creative to imbibe stories. i got back into reading published books around the time i started getting serious about writing again, and the impact it had on my style is SO obvious to me any time i go back and read my older pieces.

writing is fire and reading is fuel. feed your creativity!

PLAGERIZE. now ofc i don't mean this literally. but you absolutely SHOULD be freely taking inspiration from everything and everywhere. the reality is that there's only so many stories and concepts out there. what makes something original is the execution. don't ever be afraid to tell your version of a story you love. ESPECIALLY in fanfic! there's a reason fandoms are rife with stuff like beauty and the beast au's.

i hope that helps! 🖤

[mitternacht]

I’ve still been trying to gather my thoughts and it hasn’t quite processed that it’s over! But what a beautiful last chapter, and such an emotionally fulfilling series that has come to mean so much to me in such a short period of time.

(some final thoughts under the cut for spoilers!)

The parallels and fulfillment of this finale to the first chapter and Loop 100 in general…… were so beautifully executed. This was such a wonderful fulfillment of UU’s themes and I am so appreciative that it stayed true and faithful to its characters and their happy endings until the very end.

While I do still feel that the final Ragnarok arc was lacking in some areas, at no point was there any betrayal of the story’s core values and message which is more than I feel a lot of series can claim.

(And there’s not to mention the bigger conversation of the uncertainty of continued serialization by Jump which is likely why some corners were cut near the end, but it’s clear despite that Tozuka was able to tell the story that he wanted to even if he didn’t quite have the time to flesh everything out as much as he would’ve liked)

Anyways! I wanted to talk a little bit about these guys and their final appearances because they mean everything to me genuinely.

What a perfect conclusion for Rip! At his core he has always only ever wanted to help and heal everyone around him, and what a great way for him to continue doing this for those who desperately need it completely non-profit. To be completely honest I was never the biggest fan of the idea of him going back to Iseult after everything was said and done, because he’s never seemed the kind of person who would only help those who could afford a big fancy hospital, and this choice for his character is so faithful to who he truly is and I adore it more than words can describe.

And him and Andy remaining so close at the end as well! They both had such a significant impact on each other throughout the series, and it makes me so happy to see them working so close like this. It’s such a lovely showcase of the lasting bonds that were forged through every hardship and accomplishment for the characters in this series.

All in all, I couldn’t have wished for a better endgame for Rip. He’s happy, he’s doing what he loves, and he’s got so much support around him. Enough to make a guy cry, genuinely.

Latla, Leila, and Akira!! The fact that Akira has stayed such a close family friend makes me 😭😭 I’ve already talked about it in a previous post but the impact Akira had on Rip and the fact that they’ve stayed so close is so special to me…… And Leila becoming a writer!! That wasn’t on my bingo card but honestly it makes so much sense for her, thinking about it she probably picked up writing as a hobby to keep herself occupied while she was bedridden. And the fact that her and Akira can bond over that as well!! It’s so. It’s so good.

ALSO LATLA GREW HER HAIR BACK OUT !! I’ve been crying over that also, it’s such a significant thing for her character. She initially cut her hair in Loop 100 after Leila had died, which in my personal opinion was a way for her to feel just a bit closer to Leila (I have…. A whole other essay I could write about the pain of losing a twin and how the survivor likely sees them in their reflection all the time but that’s a whole other post). And Latla growing her hair back out after regaining her memories of Loop 100 is very symbolic of her healing, of her not needing that physical tie to Leila because she’s still here!! And Leila cut her hair short again so she looks more like her Loop 100 self, which makes me very emotional too.

And they’re such a cute happy little family !! It looks like Bunny’s hair is kind of a split between Latla’s and Leila’s to show her connection to both of them in this loop 🥹

Overall what a beautiful conclusion to this series. I’m so happy over the endings for each of these characters, and couldn’t ask for more (except my Rip/Latla kiss….. damn you Tozuka for not giving me that in the end).

Let’s continue living, and enjoy what life has to offer!!

[highly-flammable]

Sunrise on the Reaping Reaction: Chapter 7-8

All parts here

Previous: Chapter 3-6

Spoilers ahead!

Chapter 7:

* “And while Lenore Dove will forever be my true love, Louella is my one and only sweetheart.” The sound you hear is of my heart breaking into pieces. In her eyes, Haymitch felt like someone who was admired, and losing her is not just losing a piece of home and a source of strength, but also that. Haymitch is so loved, and he is going to lose everyone who loves him and he loves in return, one by one. What it must have done to him when Katniss came into his life reminding him of his little sweetheart. No, I’m not okay. Next question.

* Louella’s blood is on his hands until he takes the bath. Ugh. This is too painful because these people were family in every way that mattered.

* I’ll be honest, reading about pre-games training bores me at this point. It’s a necessary part of the journey, but whatever. The only interesting thing is Haymitch and the female tribute whose name I have already forgotten contemplating whether to use their weapons to make a break for it, but I knew it wouldn’t go anywhere.

Chapter 8:

* Why is someone as crafty as Plutarch having a philosophical debate over the districts’ submission to the Capitol’s regime with a tribute out in the open?

* “I wonder what they did with Louella’s body. I hope it’s been sent home to the McCoys. Their family plot’s right next door to ours, so Louella and I will be reunited soon enough.” - He loves Louella so much, I’m in tears again.

* Ampert is Beetee’s son?! Oh, poor Beetee, having to mentor his own child. This is actually the first time it doesn’t feel contrived that one of the victors we met in Catching Fire is showing up in this book. I remember Katniss talking about victors’ kids being reaped, and it happening too often to be mere coincidences. All that being said, I didn’t imagine Beetee being this much older than Haymitch’s generation. He is basically a grandpa to Katniss and Peeta.

* And we immediately get the confirmation that Ampert’s reaping and Beetee being his mentor is completely deliberate. I am surprised Beetee is talking so candidly to Haymitch, though. Maybe he feels like he has nothing to lose. And I suppose Snow doesn’t mind people knowing all this so that they would be afraid to act out? I don’t know, it sort of feels to me like we are occassionally on a Y/N adventure reading this book, where characters we already know come up and give exposition because we as the reader must know it, not because they would realistically tell Haymitch these things, at least at the point. It’s possible I’m being too critical.

* I’m a very nitpicky person so I am not completely comfortable with how it’s executed, but I do like Haymitch thinking about ways to outsmart the arena. It won’t come wholly out of nowhere when he uses the force field to win the Games.

* Ampert wanting Maysilee to be his sister and Maysilee agreeing is so sweet. Sorry to everyone else, Maysilee’s my favourite so far. She reminds me of Peeta, Katniss and Johanna but there’s also something that feels uniquely her own.

* These kids forming alliances and friendships among themselves which cannot last is so bleak. But maybe it’s not just about lasting. Maybe it’s still okay to get attached even though only one will survive. It’s about having the good moments while you are still capable of having them, being human together as long as you can.

* Oh, Maysilee. Trying to put just a little bit of beauty into the world. She’s artistic like Peeta, which I love. I adore Katniss and feel for her tremendously (she gave me a headache as a teenager but as an adult, I can say that is MY GIRL), but I make no secret of the fact that Peeta’s my favourite character in the main trilogy and as I have said before, Maysilee is so far my favourite in this book.

* Well, let’s see what kind of depraved punishment Snow has in store for Haymitch, but I will say this: Snow is the bloody president and he at this point should not feel the need to get personal with every individual who does something rebellious on a big stage. He should have enough resources and enough likeminded lackeys to get them in line. Even with his history as a gamemaker, these things feel forced. So far, this book has been far too contrived for my liking, an issue that has carried over from TBSOAS.

[curio-queries]

Mona Lisa : An Unconcluded Journey

So...Hobi's song Mona Lisa has taken me on an unexpected journey. But I want to be clear, I have not yet arrived at a destination and I'm not sure that there will actually ever be one. My thoughts are purely about my own reaction and I'm not trying to persuade anyone else that they should feel any sort of way about this. I'm also not making any statements regarding the value of this music or those that enjoy it. So for any of you that decide to read through this post, just keep that in mind.

If there's any reason you haven't listened to the song yet, please do so and have your own impressions with the song without my viewpoints skewing your experience.

BACKGROUND

To set the scene, I just want to share a few thoughts on where Hobi's music sits in my life. Generally, I don't love it or hate it. I absolutely love when he focuses a little more on musicality but his rap usually doesn't speak to me. I love the concept and execution of JitB but none of the actual songs made it into my regular playlists after pushing streams. HotS was a little better but still nothing stuck with me long term. There are a few exceptions but overall I didn't have many expectations going into the post-ms music releases for Hobi. I didn't love or hate Sweet Dreams. I was starting to build a QuickCombo for it (maybe I'll finish it one of these days) but I didn't like the mv at all. I specifically avoided all opportunities where I could have heard either song before their mvs released.

INITIAL REACTION

As I've mentioned a few times, it' very rare that I know right at first listen whether I will end up liking a song long-term. I usually have a bit of an adjustment period unless there's something truly astonishing (RM's Wildflower is still probably the most instantaneous reaction I've ever had to a first listen). But I have to tell you, I did not even make it to the first chorus before I knew that I was going to have problems with Mona Lisa. I was immediately filled with such a sour feeling. Just an instant dawning that something was wrong.

I had a thought continually circling my head: this is objectification on display. (From some minimal research I've done since this songs release the exact term I'm associating is Instrumentality). I don't want to go too in depth here on why/how this song conveys this meaning to me. This will always be subjective and like i said above, I'm not interested in convincing anyone to my viewpoint. And that's not the reason why this is continuing to sit so heavy with me.

Anyway, I immediately had an internal conflict. The BTS and specifically the Jung Hoseok that I know, would not be putting out a message celebrating objectification. So I had to shake myself out of that thought process and try to come at this song from what I expect to be the intended viewpoint: a catchy song celebrating how attractive a romantic/sexual interest can be whilst incorporating a fine art spin.

I tried...I really did.

I tried just listening to it without the mv. I tried focusing on other people's reactions and hype posts.

I actually really enjoy the actual composition of the song itself. It speaks very well musically to the viewpoint of celebrating beauty in a more modern way while also carrying a hint of reverence expected in a museum setting.

But listening to the lyrics make me feel like my insides are shriveling up. That I'm screaming in a quiet room about something being wrong but no one will look up. Am i the only one seeing this? Is it just my specific flavour as an aro-ace that's causing this reaction? I'll be sharing this post with @aspec-kpop . Any of you have a similar reaction?

JUST MOVE ON, RIGHT?

I tried mentally shelving the song as one that's just not intended for me. There are PLENTY of those. I don't like every song released by BTS or the members and I'm typically fine just filing them away and moving on.

It was whilst trying to switch to this viewpoint, that I happened to get 3D recommended in my Youtube feed again. So I watched that mv for the first time since we were streaming it. Do y'all remember 3D? In my mind, this is definitely one of the most vile songs I've had the displeasure of listening to since my BTS journey began. As I watched the mv again, I knew the instant disgust I would feel once JH's verse started...But that actually made me reflect for a moment. I have no lingering dislike for Jungkook with this song. Even watching the mv right then and hearing the lyrics he was singing. They were also not particularly to my taste, but they didn't BOTHER me.

I genuinely don't mind the guys wanting to release songs more clearly about sex. I unironically really like SEVEN (except Lotto's verse but that has more to do with how I don't really enjoy listening to women's music very much and how I value clever sexual innuendo over blunt vulgarity). I want the members to feel the freedom to talk about the important things in their lives and it seems that this is a topic many of them are wanting to include right now. Go for it.

Anyway, 3D is an easy pass for me. It's not to my taste musically or lyrically. I shoved it out of my mind and moved on. But I think the interesting part here is that my perception of Jungkook was not called into question AT ALL whereas with Mona Lisa, i was instantly conflicted. Is it because the worst part of 3D came from the mouth of someone else? An artist that I have no investment or interest in? While Hobi's song doesn't have a collaborator for me to mentally shove the burden toward? I don't have an answer.

WAR OF HORMONE

We can't talk about this subject without bringing up the biggest kerfuffle in BTS's history with questionable lyrics from this perspective. I was not part of the fandom when this happened live and it was pretty far into my journey before I found out about it. Musically, I don't mind the song, I definitely don't hate it but I don't think I've ever had the thought 'I really want to listen to WoH right now.' When considering WoH against Mona Lisa, there are two possibilities I want to explore:

Am I more okay with WoH because it all happened in the past? Not being in the fandom at the time means I didn't have a period of confusion where I was trying to dissect my thoughts along with the discussion. There has already been a conclusion to that story. The members have seen how ARMY was impacted and we've seen the proof of them growing from that experience. They were all also much younger when this happened. Still learning who they were and what they wanted to become.

Or does WoH get a 'pass' because of the language barrier. Everytime I listen to it, I don't actively read the lyrics. It's completely on my 《failing》 memory to remember how problematic some of the lines can be. Mona Lisa does not get that advantage. It's completely in English so every line that doesn't sit well with me is reinforced with every listen.

There's also a small point that I can't help but think about regarding WoH. I don't see this discussed anywhere but I can't help but remember anytime I do watch the WoH content, the members are absolutely in the middle of an industry designed to sexualize and objectify them as Idols. It's honestly something I end up thinking about anytime I encounter WoH.

SO WHAT?

This is exactly the reason why I've labeled this post as an unconcluded journey. I don't know where I really sit or where to go with this song. I'm not comfortable with where I am right now with it but I don't know where I'm going. I just wanted to share my thoughts with y'all.

I really do hope Hobi achieves whatever success he's looking for with this. I'd be lying though if I said i didn't wish the lyrics didn't cause such conflict for me though.

[volturiprincess]

Not sure were this energy to post stuff is coming from but here is another post🤗

In the scene in BD Pt2 where Carlisle is talking about the immortal children and the Volturi, I always wondered where the hell Alec was at. Im all thinking "damn the Volturi as always are just serving with their outfits except Alec". Until I rewatched that scene and for a couple of seconds you can in fact see Alec. Why couldn't they have him stand next to Jane?

Again the Volturi can just swoop in with style. We only get small scenes of them through out the saga and yet they got better style than everyone else🤭 (in my opinion). I wonder how they come up with there outfits though. Each outfit they wear is a representation of them in a way. I get it there like really old but I mean who tells them what's in style or not (they rarely go out and about but I can totally see Caius being in charge of the style because well he is a man of art after all). But they also coordinate in a way, the guards outfits have similarities yet they are still different.

Like look at my man and my casanova

Not sure what those things on Felix shoulders are but he is looking fine as always. Demetri as always as elegant, he knows he looks good. Like who gave these two permission to look this good, I just love this duo. Why do they need to look so good when they are about to execute someone (I mention this to a mutual but every time I see Felix execute someone he always does a face).

But Caius cannot be forgotten

I always say that him in gold is just 😍, but in red, fuck thats his color also. I just love Jamie in general, its funny how I forgot he was in Twilight, I was watching Stranger things (could not get my eyes of him to be honest, its the whole "I can fix him" mode instantly) and I was like hold up who is this beautiful man (I was right away finding out what other stuff he was in and saw he was in Twilight). He's one of the reasons how I started to get into this fandom (I remembered some bits and parts of the movies when they came out but I mean I was a child at the time).

Anyways enough ramble for today😁.

[scifiandthedoctor]

"So I think it's beautiful that people could read that relationship in other ways. It was never the the intention. But also, we can't get into Loki's head and Loki as a character is bisexual and gender fluid, and I don't know. But it wasn't something that we were ever exploring, I would say."

There’s a lot of stuff in this article but this one quote backtracks a mile away from the rest of the article. I’m sure there have been “talks” because the lokius tag worked like a wildfire marketing machine when the actors couldn’t promote. Nothing else broke through the social media scenery like lokius. Even the official accounts did their own “heartbreak” posts in lieu of the tag. It was the reason I continued watching the series even though the first season didn’t really stick. I wanted to see some romance that’s been building for a bit because it’s a pretty bleak reality out here right now. Also the sci-fi stuff - I loved. My favourite combo. In general, I go for ALL romance, the chemistry just has to be there. And you know it’s there if a fandom tag is on fire. Lokius definitely was, it was everywhere.

But besides the romance - over a DECADE and Loki has never been allowed to be bisexual or gender-fluid on the main. I fear Loki will always be hetero rep on the main.

And also, if you’re out there shouting the shippers just want everything to be gay. Just go have some fresh air. What? The world needs love in all its forms, because it’s out in the world it should be in our screens as well. You give me a well built romance with chemistry and an actual riveting plot to go with it - I’ll watch it, I’ll read it. The characters can be whomever.

Also everyone go see Marvels we don’t need another set of “marvel has too many women that’s why MCU is dying” haters. At least we have some rep in Marvels even if “the main” doesn’t allow anything else.

This rant took a few turns.

[atangeledskein]

A cracky Yizhan idea

I get so bored re-reading the same collection of stories to my kiddo every night that I've started fantasizing fic ideas into the scenarios to cope. Most of them are simple retellings of fairytales and I like to give them the 'ole LGBTQ twist now that I'm back into writing -- it's a female soldier that gets together with the princess, or it's a poor but handsome servant who gets the wish granted to go meet the prince. And then a few nights ago this idea spun out of my head...

Yizhan... but its Rapunzel...??

Wang Yibo, handsome prince and heir to a small kingdom. Restless, full of wanderlust to see the world around him, which is a fine way to escape the doldrums of court intrigue and the endless bickering.

Xiao Zhan, devastatingly handsome and blessed with a beautiful singing voice, thought he was finding a better life for himself but ends up getting kidnapped at a young age and locked away in a tower.

(Wajijiwa plays the evil witch? Or just a generic (yes this is a metaphor for the idol industry) character has Xiao Zhan trapped in his tower?)

Wang Yibo is riding through the forest one day and hears the most alluring but saddest singing voice through the trees. Follows it to the biggest tower he's ever seen. Circles it a hundred times trying to find a way up, listens to the stunning voice go through several heartbreaking songs, but eventually it becomes too dark and he has to give up and go home.

Comes back, day after day, lounging in the tallest trees near the tower, hoping for a glimpse of the owner of the voice. Is already half-way in love just listening to this person singing.

Finally witnesses the famous moment -- old witch comes out of the woods, stands at the bottom of the tower and calls up: "Zhanzhan, let down your hair!"

(Would I keep the hair trope? Not sure. We all love XZ with long hair though...)

WY watches the whole thing, about to vibrate off the tree in his excitement. Watches the witch leave. Goes back home to his castle and MAKES PLANS for operation "Meet Zhanzhan" that he will execute asap the next day.

WY goes back, calls for Zhanzhan, gets up into the tower. It's a giant mess of meet-cute with a splash of canon-typical violence when XZ starts throwing punches at the sight of a stranger coming over his window sill. Of course they eventually calm down, WY is charming and ready to woo, he's even brought gifts for his favorite singer. XZ is embarrassed his singing can be heard so well, but also flattered, and warms up quickly to having a new friend.

They talk for ages but eventually WY has to leave. XZ gives him a rough idea of the witch's visiting schedule so WY knows when its safe to come back.

Lots more clandestine meetings happen over the course of a month or so. WY is heavily smitten now that he's got the real thing in front of him, XZ is in love but (as typical) a bit slower to get with it. It's scary to have big feelings for the first person you've met since being locked up in a tower when you were twelve.

Eventually they have their first kiss/make-out session, and now when WY asks XZ to come with him he's all on board and ready to blow this joint. Tower life sucks when you've got a hot boyfriend that wants you to come live with them for the rest of your lives.

They make plans, all seems to be going well... until XZ accidentally drops the ball and lets his new relationship status slip to the witch during a visit.

Witch does witchy things, banishes XZ to some far off place. WY comes back to the tower and goes up the hair, only to get a face-full of ugly witch and then- then----- I can't even write it. Ugh. 🥺

So much angst. WY is blind and miserable and depressed and wanders around for what feels like forever and all he has left to go on is his love and devotion and conviction that he'll find his Zhan-ge again somewhere in the world.

One day WY hears a beautiful voice singing that makes his heart soar with happiness and rushes to find the arms of his love once more. They embrace, lots of ugly crying, some of XZ's tears get on WY's face -- bam, blindness cured. Turns out the witch was even more of a jealous prick than WY realized.

And they lived happily ever after 😁

[literary-illuminati]

Book Review 43 - Even Though I Knew The End by C. L. Polk

Oh this was fun. Never would have heard of it if it hadn’t been nominated for a Hugo, and devoured it in the course of a computer-less Sunday afternoon. It wasn’t exactly reaching for the stars, but it knew what it was about and it executed it well; there’s a real virtue to that. Also I adore slightly cheesy but self-serious noir and the early 20th century really is the ideal setting for classical urban fantasy.

The story follows Helen, a private investigator and warlock in 1930s Chicago. Ten years prior to the story, she sold her soul to a demon to resurrect her younger brother from a car crash that would have otherwise killed her entire family – for her trouble, she was cast out from the magical brotherhood training her as a mystic and forced to make a living as a cut-rate diviner and gumshoe in Chicago. The plot kicks off three days before the deal comes due and her soul’s forfeit, and she takes one last consulting job to add a bit more to the nest egg she’ll be leaving for her girlfriend Edith when she’s torn from the mortal coil. And then, of course, she finds out that a) her employer is a demon, b) the case she’s consulting on is someone ritually murdering other poor souls who’ve made deals, days before they come due, and c) if she solves it she’ll get her soul back, along with enough money to make to San Francisco with Edith and start a new life free and clear.

So this is not a book that sets out to surprise the reader. The storytelling is efficient and the foreshadowing is reasonably honest – you can guess just about every twist well ahead of time with even the slightest bit of effort. I’d say the book isn’t trying to break any new ground, but actually it’s the only example I can think off hand of this sort of genre emulation period piece that both has a queer protagonist and doesn’t either elide or edit out the homophobia of the their environment, so there is that. Anyway, ‘genre emulation’ is the right term I think – snappy, tightly written noir plot that doesn’t outlast its welcome (this was absolutely a novella-sized story).

I really don’t know the author or their work well enough to know how intentional it is, but the ending very much felt like a comment on the whole Bury Your Gays/Tragic Lesbian trope. Essentially, Edith gets herself heroically sacrificed saving Helen’s life in the climactic showdown. Then, once the dust has settled and Marlow (her demonic client) has given Helen her soul back she…immediately sells it again to bring her back. Better ten years of Californian bliss with her true love then an eternity in heaven (and besides, that brother she’d saved the first time had just killed an angel, so someone’s going to need to keep him company in hell). The book’s title is in no way subtle or metaphorical, it is a line of the protagonist’s internal monologue.

The story’s universe is a folk-Christian one, and it is absolutely imperative that when reading it you don’t poke at the underlying metaphysics at all. Angels and demons are real and magicians are the distant descendants of Nephilim and some of the Grigori still haunt the earth, and we have it on good authority that God doesn’t actually care about being gay and everyone seems very frightened of the idea of summoning the Archangel Michael to earth, but start asking any followup questions about angels and world events during the Roosevelt Administration and you’re ruin the story for yourself. Just don’t worry about it.

As a final note, I really did love Marlowe – or properly, she’s one of my favorite types of demons in these sorts of stories. Epitome of high class beauty, lives in a palatial penthouse waited upon handed and foot by layers of servants, eats the best food and wears the best clothes and has the best lovers, even a generous employer and creditor as long as you do what she wants and give her what she’s owed. The sort of demon who seems like falling out of heaven was worth it, and one you can imagine actually convincing someone to sell their soul. She’s fun!

[syrupsyche]

Today's chapter has some of my favourite quotes from the Brick— both about Enjolras and the book in general. This is going to be a long post so I shall segment this into parts!

Hugo's realism

First, a bit of meta-analysis. Hugo creates a sense of believability REALLY well, not only by name-dropping real historical figures and events but also by inserting the ambiguity of historical retelling:

This man, whose name or nickname was Le Cabuc, and who was, moreover, an utter stranger to those who pretended to know him, was very drunk, or assumed the appearance of being so [...]

[...] We will add, that if we are to believe a tradition of the police, which is strange but probably well founded, Le Cabuc was Claquesous.

Why not state outright that Le Cabuc was pretending to be drunk? Why make it ambiguous that Le Cabuc was Clasquesous? To create that sense of realism. One might think that it's counterintuitive to admit that one doesn't have all the details, but that is what makes a piece of fiction seem more 'real', for what sort of historical event has ever had a 100%, completely truthful depiction? Hugo purposefully makes it so that his retelling of the June Rebellion has bits and pieces missing so as to replicate all other pieces of history: which that is unable to cover every aspect of the truth.

The Paradox of Enjolras

Hugo's description of Enjolras is contradictory in certain parts. He is a "frail young man of twenty years", but he also possesses "a superhuman hand". He is framed by many metaphors of purity (his "pale...woman's face" and "virgin lips") but is also undeniably terrifying. He is both "executioner and priest, composed of light, like crystal, and also of rock." Even Enjolras contradicts himself:

It is a bad moment to pronounce the word love. No matter, I do pronounce it. And I glorify it [...] Death, I make use of thee, but I hate thee.

Why? Well, Enjolras' paradoxical nature has been a long time coming (see: charming young man who is capable of being terrible), and his character is thus used to emphasize the unfortunate reality of revolution and of justice (which is what he Represents). Justice is a charming notion, with a terrifying execution. Justice is the young beautiful man, as well as the ruthless killer. By presenting Enjolras as both pure and horrid, readers can see the horrid reality of justice: that it is no glorifying matter; it takes a TON of sacrifices and terrible actions.

Enjolras has to kill Le Cabuc because he is Justice, and he exists in a world that still needs Justice, so he must play his part to the end. And Hugo perfectly portrays Enjolras/Justice well by crafting him with this paradoxical personality.

Love, The Future is Thine

The Quote of All Time. It also gives us an insight into Enjolras as a character rather than a symbol: I've mentioned before that he obviously detests the violence he has to commit, but he ultimately accepts his role as Justice. Still, he yearns for a world where he does not need to exist as an executioner of Justice anymore, where "no one will kill any one else, the earth will beam with radiance, the human race will love".

Here, he resembles Valjean quite a bit: he martyrs himself ("I have judged myself also, and you shall soon see to what I have condemned myself.") for others, similar to how Valjean sacrifices himself for Champmathieu. He would rather condemn himself to death, to non-existence, if it meant he could usher in a world that is peaceful and free. What a tragic character! And we shall see, once more, his views on this in 5.1.5, where his speech is full of hope for the future! So contradictory once again: this man who has only known violence is so full of love.

-

Sorry for the long analysis but this is one of my favourite chapters ever. Please share me your thoughts on this as well because I had to cut things out from this post bc it was seriously getting too long so I would gladly infodump once more if anyone wants me too haha