#as i read book 4

[mxtxfanatic]

Alright, I am allowing myself one (1) hater ass opinion that exists purely because I am a hater and nobody will change my mind about this until I leave my hater zone: Mu Qing is the catalyst for Xie Lian’s downward spiral in Book 4, and had he not abandoned and then subsequently betrayed Xie Lian, White No-Face would’ve had a hell of a tougher time getting a foothold in Xie Lian’s head post-fall.

Mu Qing’s abrupt departure and admittance that it is because of their current circumstances shook Xie Lian’s confidence in Feng Xin’s loyalty to their friendship. This causes him to seek reassurance that Feng Xin cannot give because Feng Xin doesn’t know the cause. Mu Qing then coming back and revealing to Feng Xin that Xie Lian attempted robbery shook Feng Xin’s faith in Xie Lian’s morality, which eventually led to his own departure. Before Feng Xin leaves, he throws doubt about Xie Lian’s mental state to Xie Lian’s parents. All of these actions isolated Xie Lian from his entire support group, leaving him alone and vulnerable to manipulation. White No-Face had to do next to nothing to get Xie Lian to this point.

And for all the “Xie Lian had to go through this to learn a lesson!” people: the only “lesson” Xie Lian got out of this whole arc was that the only person he could trust to support him (not his family or friends but a nameless ghost) is now obliterated and he can only rely on himself to be his own support because everyone else is too fickle to stand by him through his ups and downs. And he carries this with him until (re)meeting Hua Cheng 800 years later.

In short, Xie Lian is a saint cause I’m on Fuck Mu Qing time.

[egophiliac]

he did it! 🐍 and it only took...uhhh...well, there probably could've been less punches, but why hold back!

PUNCHES FOR EVERYONE

[hapalopus]

Animorphs really has a way to turn every scifi trope on its head. "Why do alien invasions always start in America?" Actually the body snatchers first landed in a Middle Eastern farming community where they kidnapped the first guy they saw, read his mind, and concluded that, since he was terrified of the US soldiers who had brutally destroyed everything he knew and loved, the US would be the ideal place to center their invasion. This is revealed in the spin-off "Visser" which is an excellent stand-alone book that can be read without any prior knowledge of Animorphs. And you can read it for free and with the author's blessing right here:

https://files.animorphsfanforum.com/ebooks/pdf/Visser.pdf

[obsob]

oooooooooough i love you i love you i love you!!!! hand in loving hand !!!!!!

[dyed-indigo]

believe it or not i am reading

[ID: A meme redraw of a quote-retweet with Scum Villain characters.

Luo Binghe @/shizunliker: you see me chasing you down wyd (Attached art of Luo Binghe running on Chinese rooftops while scowling)

Peak Lord Shen Qingqiu @/peerlesscucumber: Killing myself in front of you to forever change our bond and the trajectory of our lives. End ID]

[mulderscully]

Louis is in this story. The point is— you'll find precious little here about the others. Indeed almost nothing. Except Claudia. I was dreaming more and more of Claudia.

[seatokki]

I miss them already o(—(

[odetojupiter]

uhhh so the number four is associated with death in certain cultures, including japanese, which is fitting for the butcher’s son, yes but just remember neil was supposed to be number three and jean was supposed to be number four ,and in every draft but one jean dies. he is symbolically saved from that fate by dodging the number four (being given, instead, the number three which represents REBIRTH of all things - i made a whole post about that if ur curious) because it means he was never marked for death. so in this draft, where he’s number three, but was supposed to be number four, he comes so close to death - to the point where renee doesn’t know how he’s still alive - because he was supposed to die, doomed by the narrative, but that number three saves him. that number three represents resurrection, and so he doesn’t die like he was supposed to. because he’s not number four, he’s number three. he comes back. he transforms, he heals. he becomes number 29 (i will eventually make a post about jean and the 29)

neil, though, was marked for death. he had the number four tattooed on him, and he goes through his own narrative believing he will die by the end of it. his survival, however, is foreshadowed in the very moment neil thinks he’s about to die - when he is kidnapped. lola burns the number four - the signifier of death - off his face, leaving him scarred, yes, but not marked for death anymore. and so he lives. and guess what: the number 10 represents the start of a new chapter, that one cycle is coming to an end and a new life is starting, one that you’ve worked hard for. so for the number four to be burned off of neil, that tells us neil is going to live. and when neil becomes neil legally, he settles into the number 10 properly. and his new life begins.

[sparrowlucero]

this is the iconic dinosaur horror jurassic park wishes it was

[strawberry-nia]

Ben has entered his teenage years, though in spirit, he’s still very much a child.

[potatosaresweet]

yes we all know how utterly depressing tgcf book 4 is but there's just something so funny about wu ming straight up manifesting with a very specific mask like

in those 2-3 days between xie lian returning home from the altar and *ahem* ruoye's creation hua cheng was like "aight okay how can i subtely show dianxia i am on his side no matter wha- oh 'lll wear a mask like him- but i am not conflicted about anything i just want to be there for hi-THATS ITS SMILING MASK yeah that'll symbolize my undying love" like dude

we got so much bigger issues here. and you actually spent time going hey what fashion statement should i make during my crush's meltdown

[deoidesign]

Thinking about vampires, death, life, and the space they occupy in between

[thewirewitch]

Made a silly low-effort thing

*PLEASE NOTE: I do like Moominvalley (2019)'s Joxter, but I decided to read Moominpappa's Memoirs today and boy howdy are these two different lol.

[paperbaacks]

༊*·˚ — 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝟻-𝟺-𝟹-𝟸-𝟷 𝚝𝚊𝚐

✧ — five books i love

the invisible life of addie larue - v.e. schwab

the seven husbands of evelyn hugo - taylor jenkins reid

yellowface - r.f. kuang

piranesi - susanna clarke

paper moon - rehana munir

✧ — four books on my tbr

the cinnamon bun book store - laurie gilmore

butter - asako yuzuki (translated by polly barton)

just kids - patti smith

the picture of dorian gray - oscar wilde

✧ — three books i recommend

babel - r.f. kuang

loveless - alice oseman

blue sisters - coco mellors

✧ — two books i've read recently

intermezzo - sally rooney

in the dream house - carmen maria machado

✧ — one book i'm currently reading

the pumpkin spice café - laurie gilmore

[obsob]

despite, despite, despite!!

[inkskinned]

it is all chaos and entropy. the thing is that the chaos and entropy make it beautiful and lovely.

yes, it's true that nature and the universe are uncaring and unspecific, and that is terrifying. i have lived through some of the unfairness - i got born like this, with my body caving into itself, with this ironic love of dance when i sometimes can't stand up for longer than 15 minutes. i am a poet with hands that are slowly shutting down - i can't hold a pen some days. recently i found a dead bird on our front porch. she had no visible injuries. she had just died, the way things die sometimes.

it is also true that nature and the universe are uncaring and unspecific, and that is wonderful. the sheer happenstance that makes rain turn into a rainbow. the impossible coincidence of finding your best friend. i have made so many mistakes and i have let myself down and i have harmed other people by accident. nature moves anyway. on the worst day of my life she delivers me an orange juice sunset, as if she is saying try again tomorrow.

how vast and unknowing the universe! how small we are! isn't that lovely. the universe has given us flowers and harp strings and the shape of clouds. how massive our lives are in comparison to a grasshopper. the world so bright, still undiscovered. even after 30 years of being on this earth, i learned about a new type of animal today: the dhole.

chance echoing in my life like a harmony between two people talking. do you think you and i, living in different worlds but connected through the internet - do you think we've ever seen the same butterfly? they migrate thousands of miles. it's possible, right?

how beautiful the ways we fill the vastness of space. i love that when large amounts of people are applauding in a room, they all start clapping at the same time. i love that the ocean reminds us of our mother's heartbeat. i love that out of all the colors, chlorophyll chose green. i love the coincidences. i love the places where science says i don't know, but it just happens.

"the universe doesn't care about you!" oh, i know. that's okay. i care about the universe. i will put my big stupid heart out into it and watch the universe feast on it. it is not painful. it is strange - the more love you pour into the unfeeling world, the more it feels the world loves you in return. i know it's confirmation bias. i think i'm okay if my proof of kindness is just my own body and my own spirit.

i buried the bird from our porch deep in the woods. that same day, an old friend reaches out to me and says i miss you. wherever you go, no matter how bad it gets - you try to do good.