#dearest followers i am VERY aromantic

[green-day-unofficial]

Is that the weed pride flag /j

Companies trying to seem supportive during pride month: Love is love!!!! ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

My aromantic ass:

[pomgore]

Fanfiction Author Interview Game

many thanks to @locksnek for tagging me :] i'll follow your lead on starting a new post rather than a reblog chain lol, locksnek's interview here

~~~

How many works do you have on AO3?

nineteen :] i think i had twenty-one at some point but i have a nasty habit of deleting work i don't like anymore, which i hope hasn't devastated anyone who liked those fics 😭

What's your total AO3 word count?

210,658, hopefully will drastically increase once i finish my two major wips

Your top 5 stories by kudos/likes:

despite your good intentions, strange things happen for no reason, two young savage things, covet, and i adore you i do i do

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

yes! the type of people who enjoy what i write are usually people i can enjoy a brief exchange of kindnesses with :] plus, it always makes me feel good when my comments are replied to by authors

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

the hour of reckoning :3 gayer boromir death scene

What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

i suppose that depends on your interpretation of a good ending, but back when i was new to the hobbit fandom i liked to write bagginshield endings where it was implied that they got married and lived happily ever after, so i would say a tie between covet and dygi

Do you write crossovers?

no, i don't tend to enjoy crossover fics

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

yes, once, i screenshotted it because it made me laugh

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

yes i do, lots and lots and lots :] i am aromantic and asexual, so i tend to write smut to explore what interests me in a safe, for-fun kind of way. generally i would say that my smut tends to be very lovey-dovey, but my fic kismet is a bit more wild

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not to my knowledge

Have you ever had a fic translated?

no, but i have had one printed and bound! i was very honored :]

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

i have tried and failed 😭 i'm not very good at collaborative fandom events, sorry to the person who had to deal with me and my flakiness last year for a hobbit fandom event

What's your all-time favorite ship?

what a vast and impossible question :] the pairing i've written the most fanfiction about is bagginshield, but i don't know that i could consider them my favorite. it changes from fixation to fixation

What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

i have lots of half-finished wips that were never really intended for public viewing, i'd say that the one i wish i'd written was a fic where thorin survives botfa but fili and kili die, and he goes on a penitence tour. the premise was sad but ultimately would have ended well (or, well enough)

What are your writing strengths?

i'm told i'm very good at capturing the voices and mannerisms of characters

What are your writing weaknesses?

whenever i try to foreshadow it comes out feeling clunky and obvious lol, but i'm trying to improve on that front. i also struggle with staying "on topic" as it were, my thoughts go on meandering paths while i write

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

i like it when it serves a narrative function, i think a lot can be done with multilingual characters :] that being said, i think it is also a bit overdone

What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to?

i would love to write for the silmarillion and for legend of zelda in some capacity one day, i just haven't found premises i want to unravel yet

What's your favorite fic you've written?

honestly my favorite fic so far is one i haven't posted yet, a beren and luthien bagginshield au called sorrowless, but my existing favorite would probably be run for cover in the temple of love, i love how i wrote that one :]

~~~

tagging my darling dearests @jay-borb @abyssal-glory @mithrilhearts and @scyllas-revenge, have fun and complete at your own leisure

[sleepless-in-starbucks]

You and Me, We Don’t Make Sense (But No One Does)

Ao3

Summary: Roman loved the idea of romance, and everything that was attached to it. Romance itself, on the other hand... well, it wasn’t really his thing And, despite what anyone else might say, that was alright. Warnings: Kind of aphobia (of the aromantic kind), self-doubt (specifically of one’s romantic orientation) Pairings: QPR Royality Notes: Inspired by this post from @notveryglittery

    Roman loved the idea of romance.

    It was, after all, an extremely alluring concept. Buying great bouquets for those you love? Date nights tailored to your combined interests, spent just with each other? Grand tales of just what romantic love could overcome? Soft and sweet kisses filled with adoration? Roman loved all of it and more.

    Roman, however, didn’t care much for actual romance.

    It was to his benefit he wasn’t even certain what romantic love was, aside from what other people told him. It wasn’t like he necessarily had anything against romantic relationships, they just… never seemed right for him.

    The result of this collision of his love of concept but dislike of execution often resulted in his being almost excessively affectionate with his friends (of which he had many- he disliked romantic relationships, not people), family, and even strangers at times. Though he really should stop interacting with strangers like that. In his experience, a lot of them got the wrong impression.

    For an example, Roman had to look little farther than less than an hour ago. He had been buying flowers for his partner, Patton (they were cupioromantic, which had made them and Roman even more of a perfect match than they naturally were- though unfamiliar with romance itself, they were both very well-versed in the language of it) when he noticed two women giggling and clearly talking about him from a little ways across the shop. From what he could tell of their conversation, the giggling was nervous as they tried to convince the other to go talk to him.

    Roman was, in all honesty, flattered. He considered himself to be exceptionally pretty (a point wholeheartedly supported by Patton), and moments like these reminded him that he was not the only person with that opinion. He smiled smugly as he finished making his selection, waiting to see if the women would figure themselves out or not.

    It wasn’t until he had finished making his purchase that one of them did approach him. She tapped his shoulder lightly, and Roman smiled, putting on his handsomest grin before he turned towards her.

    “May I help you?” He asked her politely. At Roman’s attention, her cheeks coloured slightly, and Roman couldn’t help but feel proud that, yes, he still had it.

    She awkwardly gestured towards the bouquet of red gaillardias and blue freesias. “For someone special?”

    “They are.” Roman admitted easily. “Though if I gave them to you, I would still be telling the truth.”

    The woman giggled a bit, flushing even more. “You sure are a charmer.”

    “It helps that you are so charming yourself, ma’dam.”

    She smiled at that, looking down in a poor attempt to hide her ever-rising blush. “Hey, listen… I was wondering… if you’d like to maybe… go out sometime…?”

    Roman kept his own smile up, tone still light as he answered, “Apologies, for as delightful as that sounds, I do not date. I’m certain any man would be lucky to have you, however.”

    Normally, that was where it ended- the woman (or man or enby) would be a bit abashed at being turned down, but they’d still be smiling, and hopefully feeling very confident in themselves after Roman complimented them, saying thank you and wishing him a good day as they headed off. Roman would go on with his day as well, feeling happy himself at getting the chance to make someone’s day at least a little better.

    But this woman seemed as if she was looking to be an exception. “You don’t date?” She asked, sounding confused. “Are you… are you married?”

    “I am not.” Roman said (though he did hope one day his answer to that question would be ‘yes’).

    “Then… why don’t you date?”

    Roman forced himself to keep his smile up. Conversation rarely veered in this direction, but when it did, it was… uncomfortable. So few people actually knew what he meant when he said he was bellusromantic, and explaining it always seemed to take longer than it should. “Not my thing.” He settled on, knowing it sounded lame but not in the mood to truly get into it. “Now, if you do excuse me, I have somewhere to be. Have a good day.”

    He made his way to the door as quickly as he could without looking suspicious- uncomfortable questions aside, he didn’t want the woman to think he was fleeing her or something similar- ignoring the fact that he was almost certain the woman was watching him as he left. He was halfway across the shop when he heard the woman’s friend come over to her, their conversation quiet but just loud enough that Roman could hear it-

    “So, did you get his number?”

    “No… he said he… doesn’t date.”

    “That’s… weird.”

    “He was weird. He was being so romantic, too… it doesn’t make sense.”

    Luckily, for Roman’s sake, he had reached the door by then, and was out into the world, the women’s voices and conversation out of his hearing. The words he had caught, however, stuck in his mind, bouncing around in his head as he headed for his car.

    He wasn’t weird or nonsensical! Liking romance but not wanting to be romantic with anyone was normal, and real, and perfectly sensical, and he knew that because that’s who he was, and how he had felt for as long as he could remember, and there was a name and a flag for it and everything! Some random lady’s opinion didn't change that!

    So why did Roman have to spend five minutes just sitting in his car before he drove home, holding the wheel and lightly hitting his head against it as her words echoed in his head?

    ~~

    “Patton, sweetest, darling, dearest, I’m home!” Roman called out as he closed the door behind him, trying to infuse his voice with all the enthusiasm he had had before the interaction in the flower shop.

    Almost immediately, Patton was there, with bright colours from the entire rainbow and then some smeared across their hands, arms, and face, their apron even more colourful. They were smiling just as brightly, and despite his preoccupations, Roman’s heart would always lift at that smile.

    “You’re home!” Patton said excitedly, eagerly rushing up to Roman but stopping just an inch from him. They smiled sheepishly, raising their painted hands. “Guess I shouldn’t touch you, huh?”

    Roman smiled. “My clothes- and cheeks- are washable.”

    Patton let out a happy squeak, immediately squishing Roman’s cheeks between their hands and kissing him. “I missed you.” Patton said in between a second kiss. “Missed your sweetness and prettiness and handsomeness and loveliness and-”

    “Shhh, love bug, or I’m going to die before you get to see my surprise.” Roman whined, leaning his forehead against Patton’s, trying to keep them from kissing him again and completely stealing his voice.

    “There is no greater surprise than that of waking up every morning to find you once more beside me.” Patton said, hands slipping away from Roman’s cheeks to loop around his back instead, holding him close. “I am certain a vision such as yourself should have vanished by now.”

    Roman’s cheeks quickly turned a shade of red bright enough to rival the dash of red Patton had smeared on their cheeks. “For an angel, dearheart, you are being very impish.”

    “That’s. Because. I. Love. You!” Patton said, covering Roman’s face in kisses to punctuate every word. They giggled when Roman made a strangled noise at the affection, clearly satisfied at having broken their partner.

    “Take your surprise before I melt into a puddle.” Roman managed to say after a moment, pulling back slightly from Patton and moving the hand he had hidden behind his back in front of him to reveal the bouquet to Patton.

    Patton’s eyes lit up at the sight of the flowers, shining so radiantly Roman was surprised the glare didn’t catch on their glasses. They gratefully accepted the flowers, smelling them before looking up at Roman once more, still smiling. “They’re so pretty!” They commented excitedly.

    “Just like you, sweetheart.” Roman said easily, relaxedly, watching as Patton’s cheeks blushed red immediately.

    “Now look at who’s making who melt.” Patton accused, holding the flowers up in a useless attempt to hide their blush.

    “I am simply telling you the truth.” Roman defended, grinning as he pulled the flowers down and returned the favor of covering Patton’s face in kisses (though he was careful to not kiss the still drying paint).

    Patton giggled, allowing themself to be drowned in Roman’s affections for a moment before they pulled back. “I need to put these in water.” They said hastily, quickly rushing off towards the kitchen to avoid Roman grabbing their wrist and stopping them for more kisses.

    He still followed them however, coming to a stop in the kitchen doorway and leaning against it as he watched Patton bustle about, pulling out a nice vase and filling it with water before working to free the flowers of their plastic sheath. He sighed as he crossed his arms, happy to watch Patton work. Their golden hair had been pulled into a ponytail, to avoid getting paint in it, but it was still stained with blues and pinks. They slid about the kitchen in mismatched kitten socks as they cheerily completed their task.

    It was all simple things that he noticed, Roman supposed, noticing how Patton’s hair was put up or how they moved or the fact that the back of their right arm had clearly been purposefully smeared with a gradient of colours from purple to pink that blended into lines of grey-purple-white-pink beside it. But he liked the simple things. He loved noticing them. He loved noticing everything about Patton.

    The vase full, Patton moved it to their table, Roman switching from the kitchen doorway to the one that separated kitchen and dining room, once more leaning on it as he watched Patton place the vase and drop the flowers in. Immediately after dropping them, Patton pulled two back out- one gaillardia and one freesia. Roman smiled as they immediately went to work at tucking them behind their ears.

    Roman had seen that coming- he always picked brightly coloured flowers for a reason. Patton loved the colours, would slowly pick through the entire bouquet, decorating their hair with one of each flower until there were no more and Roman was out to buy more. It was his favorite part about buying flowers for Patton- the sweetness and closeness of the traditionally romantic gesture was just an extra benefit-

    He was weird. He was being so romantic, too… it doesn’t make sense.

    Roman closed his eyes, grimacing at the memory as he pressed his head against the doorway. He really hoped that mental link wouldn’t last long. Because it was stupid, really, completely stupid, stupid stupid stupid.

    He looked at Patton again. Patton. His partner. His beautiful lovely gorgeous amazing partner, who he loved with more than all of his heart, who he loved to kiss and hold and shower in affection, who he had a perfectly sensical relationship with regardless of the fact that it was filled with romantic actions but no actual romance because romantic attraction was for suckers anyways-

    “Honey?”

    Roman blinked, surprised to suddenly find that Patton was in front of him, frowning softly and watching Roman with concern. He plastered on a smile. “Yes, sweet pea?”

    Patton tilted their head to the side, raising one hand to cup Roman’s cheek. “You’re distracted. Something’s wrong.” Patton commented. “What’s wrong, darling?”

    Roman’s smile softened at Patton’s worry, and he placed his hands on Patton’s shoulders reassuringly. “I’m alright, sunshine. Nothing’s wrong.”

    “You’re lying.” Patton said, frown deepening. “Something happened while you were out. Did someone say something to you?”

    Roman chuckled drily. “You’re too good at guessing games.”

    “What did they say?” Patton pressed, ignoring the weak joke.

    “Nothing important.”

    “It’s bothering you. It’s important.”

    “Just something stupid- an offhanded comment, nothing more, it’s really not anything to worry about, love-”

    Patton’s second hand came up to cup Roman’s other cheek, shutting him up and forcing his attention on Patton. “Tell me.” Patton begged. “Please, baby, tell me.”

    Roman tried to resist for a moment, really not wanting to burden Patton with anything, but his partner was very convincing, especially when they were using not only puppy eyes but worried puppy eyes on him, and soon enough he gave in with a sigh and, “Just a side comment at the flower shop- was just paying a woman some compliments when I had to tell her I don’t date- she called it- me- weird, said it didn’t make sense… it’s not like I haven’t heard it before, I just-”

    “I’m going to fight her.”

    “Dearest-”

    “I’m going to fight her so hard she won’t even-” Patton glared at the ground, their face looking adorably angry, before they looked back at Roman, expression now a mix of anger (directed elsewhere) and sympathy (directed just at Roman). “I’m so sorry, honey, you shouldn’t have had to deal with that.”

    “It’s nothing, really, Patton, I can deal with it-”

    “But you shouldn’t have to!” Patton exclaimed vehemently. “You were just trying to be nice and she was being rude and wrong. You’re not weird, you’re beautiful and kind and sweet and fun and absolutely lovely.”

    Roman smiled softly. “Thank you-”

    “And of course we don’t make sense!” Patton continued, on a roll and unwilling to stop. “No couples make sense! People say they do, but they don’t! Romance is weird! Relationships are weird! People are weird! None of us make sense! At all! It’s stupid to expect us to! It’s stupid that you had to deal with today, and that you’ll probably have to deal with it later!”

    Patton pushed themself even closer to Roman, pressing their forehead against his as they stared into his eyes. “What we have is beautiful and rich and wonderful and unique, and I love it and I love you and I wouldn’t ever trade it for something as boring as something that ‘makes sense.’”

    Roman’s smile grew at that, completely genuine, and he pressed his eyes closed for a moment to chase away the few tears that were trying to escape. “I love you.”

    Patton smiled as they tilted their head, moving so they could pull Roman into a sweet kiss. Roman’s arms moved so that he could embrace Patton while they kissed, and Patton willingly obliged him by stepping forward so that they were almost completely pressed up against him.

    Eventually, Patton pulled away, still smiley. “You’ve got paint all over your face, you know.” They said, already starting to giggle. “Makes you look adorable.”

    “You’re adorable too.” Roman returned. “But you don’t need the paint for that.”

    Patton laughed at that, a light and soft and pretty sound that made Roman want to kiss them forever. He knew he couldn’t get away with forever, to his greatest disappointment, but he did manage to get in another full minute of just covering Patton’s face in little kisses, fast little pecks that only made Patton laugh and blush more, both which were factors that only increased Roman’s need to kiss them.

    Finally, however, Patton pushed Roman away, still grinning even as they lightly scolded, “That’s enough out of you. We’re not going to get anything done if I let you keep kissing me forever.”

    “Oh, who cares about doing things?” Roman asked teasingly, trying to steal another kiss only to have Patton dodge him. “I’d be happy to kiss you til I couldn’t.”

    “I know you would.” Patton said, moving their hands to hold Roman’s arms as they leaned even further backwards. “Which is why I really have to be the one to stop this or we’ll be here until you fall over and I’m left to nurse you back to health.”

    “That sounds wonderful to me.”

    Patton shook their head. “You’re reckless in the pursuit of love.” They said.

    “No, I’m not.” Roman argued. “I am reckless in the pursuit of you. You just happen to be my love, and my heart, and my sunshine, and my whole entire world-”

    “This is what I mean by unique!” Patton said happily. “Sometimes love is the universe falling for the sun.”

    Roman blushed. “Oh, that’s not fair.”

    “I’d say I’m sorry, but I’m not.” Patton told him. “I can try and make it up to you, though.”

    “Hmm? How so?”

    “With food and entertainment and cuddles and if you’re very lucky I might even give you kissing rights back.”

    “I like the sound of that.” Roman admitted. “What are we watching?”

    Patton hummed. “Up to you. We could watch Moana, or some Masterchef Junior if you’re looking for something quicker.”

    “I like the sound of both.” Roman admitted, smiling at Patton. “Can I have both?”

    Patton smiled back. “Yes, but only because you’re so charming.”

    “I’ll take it.” Roman said. “What’re we eating?”

    “I was going to make pasta-”

    “Too long.” Roman cut him off with a whine. “Wanna get to cuddling.”

    Patton chuckled. “Snacks, then?”

    Roman nodded. “Yes, but only if we get them together so I don’t have to let go of you.”

    “You’re clingy.” Patton joked, but they still held onto Roman’s hand as they made their way back into the kitchen, quickly pulling a bag of chips out of the pantry and some sodas out of the fridge. “This good?”

    “If it means we can be wrapped around each other like we’ll never let go on the couch sooner, than yes.”

    Patton just laughed again and allowed Roman to tug them both over to the couch. He flopped onto it first, beckoning for Patton to follow, whining when Patton put Moana into the Blu-Ray first and set down the snacks before coming to sit down as well.

    Of course, they weren’t sitting long, Roman wrapping around them and pulling them over so that they could properly cuddle stretched out over the couch. He kicked at the blanket spread over the back of the couch, pulling it over so that it landed mostly over them. He nestled his head into the crook of Patton’s neck as Patton turned the movie on, dropping the remote and leaving it to play as they leaned back, getting closer to Roman.

    Soon enough, Patton turned their head to look at Roman’s face, smiling when they found Roman already looking at them, himself smiling softly and fondly.

    “Hey, Patton?” Roman asked, quietly.

    “Yes?”

    “You know I love you more than I have ever loved anything or anyone, right? No romo though.”

    Patton chuckled lightly, managing to bend their head just enough to press a kiss to the side of Roman’s mouth. “I know. And it’s okay. I love you just as much… and then some.”

    “Cheater.”

    “Oh, hush. I’m your cheater, and you know you love me.”

    Roman grinned. “Yes I do. And you know what?”

    He bent his head so he could return a similar kiss on the edge of Patton’s lips. “Loving you? It’s the most sensible thing in the world.”

[thefloatingstone]

I wanna talk about one episode of the anime “Ore Monogatari!!” (My Love Story!!)

I’m guessing most people know this show by now, but in case you haven’t 1) you should watch it and 2) The story follows the start and growing relationship between two high schoolers. One is a young girl named Rinko Yamato who has a passion for baking and making sweets, is super feminine and sweet... and isn’t exactly the brightest girl out there (but like in a cute way)

And our main character, Takeo Gouda. Who is very popular with the other guys in his class, but not exactly popular with girls. He too, is not exactly the brightest guy out there

Their relationship is basically this;

Anyway. Watch the anime. It’s really really good. It’s also fucking hilarious and watching these two idiots being way too fucking cute together is honestly the best thing ever.

BUT ANYWAY!

Takeo and Yamato don’t go to the same high school since Yamato goes to an All-Girls-School a few blocks away while Takeo goes to a co-ed school. A little bit into the series, Takeo and Yamato’s relationship has gotten pretty established. Takeo has never had a girlfriend before and, frankly, has never had any girl show even the slightest interest in him. (Most girls talking badly about him behind his back. Calling him a gorilla etc). So he’s not exactly use to Yamato’s complete and utter devotion to him and he’s not entirely sure what about him she sees in him. He just accepts that she does because he’s way too in love with her (it’s so cute it’s disgusting).

Takeo’s school has a sports day, and to prepare for it, Takeo helps out a girl from his class who’s kind of really bad at sports leading up to the day, and ends up spending a lot of time with her after school. Takeo doesn’t really think anything about this, because he’s all about helping people and he’s dating Yamato. As a result, he completely misses that this girl he’s helping has, in fact, grown to find him very attractive. (mostly because he’s built like a house)

Yamato, however, is a girl herself. And she’s not that oblivious to the fact that Takeo is in a different school to her, and she has no idea who he talks to and spends his time with when she’s not around. She worries about this a lot.

And this is the part I want to talk about.

First of all, Yamato does NOT do the “jealous girlfriend” thing. She doesn’t comedically follow Takeo around trying to “catch him in the act” of flirting with another girl. She doesn’t ACCUSE him of anything at all. She doesn’t demand to know what he does when she’s not around. NONE of that. The most she does is try to give off the hint that she IS his girlfriend when they’re together, and, shocker of shocks, she actually tells him how she feels!!!

Most of the time, she just seems a little depressed and worried.

Takeo’s response it reassure her, every single time, that she has nothing to worry about because he’s not the kind of guy girls are attracted to. So she shouldn’t worry so much. She accepts this, but still looks rather unhappy about it, and it does not actually ease her worries. He continues to reassure her, but after a while her worry comes back.

Eventually, when Takeo learns the girl he’s been helping DOES actually find him attractive, it’s like a lightbulb goes off in his head and he immediately goes to Yamato. And this is where the episode gave me real pause.

Takeo tells Yamato “I am sorry for saying you shouldn’t worry because other girls wouldn’t like me. I should have told you not to worry because even if they did, I’m not interested in anyone else but you.”

I know on paper that sounds kinda obvious, but I just remember thinking that somehow this dumb shoujo show seemed to have a better grasp on how to handle this kind of situation than most real world people do. Honestly, I didn’t even CONSIDER that Takeo’s reassurance was “wrong”. I was just watching it like “Haha he says girls don’t like him because he’s so oblivious to this other girl’s attraction to him! What a silly miscommunication!” And I was expecting... I don’t really know? I knew eventually Takeo would realise this girl likes him too, and I guess I was expecting him to be flustered? Confused by her attraction to him? Blushing and stuttering and unsure what to do about it? And then I guess what I was REALLY expecting was that the confusion would be sorted out between Takeo and THIS girl.

But no. Instead, the show does the ADULT thing that should have occurred to me as an adult!!! Takeo doesn’t even THINK about “what it means” for this girl to also find him attractive! Hell he doesn’t even BLUSH. He just goes “Oh shit! If this girl likes me too then I’ve been saying something untrue to Yamato to make her feel better!! I need to fix it so my girlfriend isn’t so worried!!” and then IMMEDIETELY goes and talks to his girlfriend.

He actually COMMUNICATES with his partner. He essentially tells her “I suddenly realise that the way I was trying to reassure you is entirely based on the belief that there isn’t any OPPORTUNITIES for me to date other girls. Instead of letting you know that even if I had many opportunities to date other girls and could date whoever I wanted it wouldn’t matter at all because I am in love with you! You don’t have to worry because I don’t WANT to date anyone else. Not because I don’t have the opportunity!”

I think media in general, from ANY country, has so programmed me to see miscommunication between couples and jealousy be treated the same way. The guy is oblivious, the girl can see the signs and become possessive and bitchy because she feels threatened and she gets mad at her BOYFRIEND for it, the “other woman” makes her move and our male lead has to prove his devotion to his girlfriend by arguing with “the other woman” and tell her “no” until she goes away. Then he goes back to his girlfriend and goes “you were right, dearest. That other woman was bad news. I am sorry for not listening to you.” and then they’d make out or whatever.

And just.... why is this version so rare in media???? The version where the girlfriend is NOT possessive and bitchy. Just insecure and vulnerable. The version where the “Other woman” is NOT a massive homewrecker bitch, but just another girl who can’t help that she’s attracted to this guy and, knowing she’ll be turned down because he has a girlfriend, wants to admit his feelings to him anyway and make herself vulnerable and accept rejection so she can move on. The version where the guy fixes the situation NOT by chasing away this slutty temptress in a hilarious and sexy manner because “oh no! SHe’s appealing to his lust! and we all know what MEN are like! It’s so hard for them to say no to sex with anyone!” and his predicament is instead “I misunderstood my girlfriend’s insecurity! I need to fix that with open communication!”

Why is this version so rare????

In all seriousness, after seeing this episode, I was actually upset that I had expected the “man gets flustered by his own libido when temptress shows up and it’s hilarious” setup. Like that was the DEFAULT RESPONSE to this situation. As if that was the ONLY way you could handle this situation. As if it was the truth, that men are nothing but walking sex drives and every woman except the grilfriend is a hussy out to steal your man.

I just.... I HATE that even someone like me, who doesn’t even really LIKE romance stories (until very very recently) has had this drilled into my head so completely that even Asexual borderline Aromantic me didn’t even consider open communication. That NOT all “other women” are sluts and some of them CAN actually just be confused and vulnerable girls with feelings too. That this kind of misunderstanding should be talked about and fixed between the COUPLE, and NOT the man and the temptress.

Why did it take a dumb shoujo romance about high schoolers to point out to me how fucked up relationships are portrayed in basically every other media in existence?

Anyway... I’m not sure what my point was, really, apart from “Ore Monogatari is really good and you should watch it.”

It also features Takeo punching a dude on a subway when the guy said Yamato was asking to be groped because of the way she was dressed.

☕️Buy me a Ko-fi ☕️

[lothiriel84]

And these fingertips (Will never run through your skin)

And those bright blue eyes Can only meet mine Across a room filled with people That are less important than you

A Good Omens ficlet. Aromantic!Aziraphale.

Crowley smirked fondly at the ‘closed’ sign and let himself into the bookshop, humming a cheerful tune under his breath. It had been just a little over two weeks after the world hadn’t ended, and as far as he was concerned, he was having the time of his (extremely long, at least by human standards) life. They had been pretty much living in each other’s pocket ever since, he and his angel – dining at the Ritz, feeding the ducks in St James’s Park, getting sloshed together in the back of the miraculously restored bookshop. And yes, there might have been a couple of separate occasions – well, more like a few dozens, actually, but who was counting? – when he’d had to fight the overpowering urge to lean forward and kiss that radiant smile off the angel’s face, but he couldn’t honestly say he minded. The warm, adoring fondness Aziraphale was now wearing openly on his sleeve made it all worth it, and if all they ever did was going out for lunch and laughing at each other’s jokes, that was still billion of light years better than anything Crowley had ever allowed himself to hope for in all the millennia they’d known each other.  

“Afternoon, Angel,” he drawled as he finally spotted a familiar head of pale blond hair. “I happened to find myself in possession of one of the finest bottles of twenty-five year old Talisker, and I thought I’d run that past you – you know, just in case.”

The startled sniffle, unmistakable in the silence that followed, very nearly made his (for all intents and purposes, purely decorative) heart quite literally leap out of his mouth. In two steps, he was kneeling in front of his angel, the bottle of expensive whiskey dropped unceremoniously to the floor – although it knew better than to smash itself to pieces just yet.

“Angel? What is it? Has anything happened? Is it – did you hear something from – Upstairs?”

Aziraphale shook his head, ineffectively patting his pockets for his handkerchief. “Nothing’s happened, my dear. I’m afraid I’m making a bit of spectacle of myself, and I’m truly sorry about that.”

Crowley handed him his own handkerchief, which earned him a tremulous smile that only sought to worry him even further. “Angel, please. Don’t lie to me, not – not now, not after all this time.”

“I’m not,” another sniffle, quieter this time. “Nothing has happened, I promise.”

“Right. And you’re sitting here alone, crying, because – ?”

“Oh, Crowley,” the angel murmured tearfully, staring down at the handkerchief crumpled between his fingers. “Why must you always be so good to me?”

He winced, and started to withdraw his hands from where they were resting on Aziraphale’s knees. “I – if you’d rather be alone, of course, I could – go and be somewhere else? No big deal, hey.”

The next thing he knew, he found himself with an armful of angel clinging quite forcefully around his neck. “Please. Don’t go. I know I’m being quite selfish, but – don’t leave me.”

“Wasn’t planning to,” he muttered carefully, sneaking his arms around the angel’s waist. “And I’ll have you know you’re not even in the same star system of being selfish, Angel.”

Aziraphale only sobbed, pressing his face against the fabric of Crowley’s jacket.

“None of this. Aziraphale, Angel – look at me.”

“I’m so sorry, Crowley, I never meant for you to see this. I had promised myself I would handle this properly, only it seems I wasn’t quite as ready as I thought I would be.”

He struggled to ignore the sinking feeling lurking in the pit of his stomach, and valiantly tried to crack joke – or at least, he fervently hoped that was all it was. “If you’re planning on breaking up with me, you just have to say the word. I’m a big demon – I can take it, I promise.”

When the silence stretched longer than either of them would have anticipated, Crowley slowly peeled himself from the angel’s embrace, and (painfully, blankly) stood up again. “Oh. You are, aren’t you? Fair enough, I – it’s okay, Angel, I understand.”

“I never said that!” Aziraphale burst out at length, frustration now apparent in his voice. He ran a hand across his face, still clutching at Crowley’s handkerchief as if it was the one final scrap of comfort he was allowed. “I just happen to think it’s not fair – the way I’m imposing you, without ever being able to give you what you want, or – or need.”

“Angel. What, in Someone’s name, the Heaven are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about me! The way that I am, and the things that I can’t – I can’t even feel. I love you, Crowley – more than I’ve ever loved anything or anyone ever since the Beginning, yes, even more than I’ve ever loved Her, and yet – I know it’s nothing to the way you love me.”

“Angel –”

“Crowley, please, let me finish. I know you’re – in love, with me, and I swear, if I could, there’s only one being in the entire creation I would fall for, except it seems that I – cannot. Not for lack of trying, believe me. And, and it doesn’t matter how much I adore you, it’s not even close to the way you deserve to be loved back.”

Laughter bubbled up in his throat, unbidden. Bless the ridiculous, stubborn, beautiful fool of an angel. “You love me?”

“I – yes, of course I do. What part of the last six thousand years did you miss?”

“The one where you told me as much, you idiot.”

“Didn’t you listen to a word of what I just said? It doesn’t matter how dearly I love you, it will never be as a – lover, or whatever it is an angel and a demon could be, together. You will always be my best and dearest friend, Crowley, and nothing more.”

“That’s good enough for me,” he grinned, quickly giving up on trying to conceal the gush of pure happiness springing from his chest. “Idiot,” he added, affectionately, gathering the fretting angel into his arms.

Aziraphale sniffled one last time, and buried his face in the crook of his neck.

[sahibookworm]

The original tag was created by ReadLikeWildfire and Earl Grey Books!

I’m not someone who is fond of doing wrap-up posts, but I also feel that giving some sort of update about my first half of the reading year will make me happy. And hopefully, all you friends of mine are also interested to know about all the wonderful books I’ve read these past six months. And before I get started with the tag, let me give you a tiny overall update about my reading year and goals.

Goodreads Challenge: I’m upto 91/130 books.

1000 Followers on the blog: I’m at 982 right now, so hopefully I’ll reach my goal soon.

80% on Netgalley: I’m going steady at 85% and hope to keep it up.

Stars and Sorcery Book Club: I have actually read all our BOTM’s and I am very proud of it.

Around the Year in 52 Books: I’m at 44/52 but the remaining prompts are gonna be a bit tough.

Year of the Asian Challenge: My goal was to read between 21-30 books for this challenge and I’ve already finished 28 books, so I count this as a win too.

I’ve also never used charts and graphs to show my updates before, but everyone seems to be using them and they look awesome and colorful, so I’m gonna give them a try too.

As you can see, majority of my reads have been romances (which also tend to be contemporary) with fantasy coming closest second. I think I will also be happy if I can maintain around 10% for non-fiction till the end of the year.

This one definitely makes me feel very proud because almost half my books are ownvoices and I only hope this count increases as the year goes by.

This is definitely a bit unexpected because I love YA, but I seem to have gravitated towards reading more adult romances this year. Hopefully I can make similar inroads into adult fantasy in the latter half of the year.

This chart totally reflects me because I love reading ebooks and have also been trying to listen to more audios. What I didn’t realize was that I have been reading a lot more ARCs and I hope I continue to be approved for them.

A majority of my reads being 4 star and above surely shows that I have become a bit better at picking books that suit my taste. I surely hope I read many more 5 stars before the end of the year.

Now…. Let’s get started with the tag…!!!!!!!

💨 1. Best book you’ve read so far in 2019:

Well, it was a given that Red, White and Royal Blue was gonna be here because it was such a delight to read. But an unexpected addition to my best books of the year is the finale of the Bone Witch trilogy,  The Shadow Glass because it’s one of the most emotional and satisfying conclusions I’ve read in quite a long time.

💨 2. Best sequel you’ve read so far in 2019:

I just couldn’t choose between Soul of the Sword and The Heart Forger because both of them are excellent and very action packed than their predecessors, and we also can’t help but fall in love with the characters more.

💨 3. New release you haven’t read yet, but want to:

These were some of my most anticipated book releases from the first half of this year. Now, I just have to find time to read them all.

💨 4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year:

There are many many books on my most anticipated list for the upcoming months and I even listed many of them in this post, but one very recent announcement that has me excited is Rachel Maddow’s next. I really love watching her show and was pretty impressed by her other book Drift, so I’m very sure this one will be amazing too.

💨 5. Biggest disappointment:

I have other books which I gave lesser ratings to, but The Women’s War was more of a disappointment because I was expecting so much more from it, and it just didn’t have a lot of substance. On the other hand, I suddenly got the ARC for The Seduction Expert (which I wasn’t expecting) and read some rave reviews, so decided to give it a try – it turned out to be just downright awful.

💨 6. Biggest surprise:

While I was very excited to read We Set the Dark on Fire, I just didn’t expect to fall in love with it so much, and the world building was so amazing too.

I decided to pick up Magical Women on a whim because I wanted to know more about the sci-fi fantasy landscape in the Indian publishing industry and was pleasantly surprised by so many talented authors masterfully blending SFF tropes with Indian mythological elements.

The Priory of the Orange Tree was too intimidating and I didn’t think I would read it, but decided to take it up as a challenge and was very surprised by how easy it was to read. Definitely worth the size of it.

💨 7. Favorite new author (debut or new to you):

While I read some awesome debuts this year, I want to mention a new-to-me author Rin Chupeco. I knew the Bone Witch trilogy was supposed to be good but I was amazed beyond expectations because it was such a different kind of fantasy but highly impressive in all aspects, and also gave me one of my favorite OTPs of this year.

Reviews: The Bone Witch / The Heart Forger / The Shadow Glass

💨 8. Newest fictional crush:

I had to think a lot for this because apparently I don’t seem to have crushed on many characters this year. But one who comes closest is Zavier Demos, the pansexual aromantic rockstar drummer from Syncopation. He is talented, sexy and has a very cool head on his shoulders and I really enjoyed reading his story.

💨 9. Newest favorite character:

In this case, I actually couldn’t choose again because I have a lot of favorite characters this year but one who’s definitely impressed me the most is Yumeko from Shadow of the Fox. She is sweet, trusting, loyal and very brave and I completely adore her. Another one is Lady Tea from The Bone Witch. She has one of the best character developments I have ever read and she is the most loyal and loving person ever.

💨 10. Book that made you cry:

This is so easy to answer because there is no book that could make me cry more than The Song of Achilles. I remember sobbing in anticipation even before the inevitable happened. Another book that made me very emotional was Ghosts of the Shadow Market because it’s about Jem and he is one of my favorite characters from that universe, and reading his journey through so many tumultuous times made me weepy.

💨 11. Book that made you happy:

While Book Boyfriend might not make it to any all time favorite lists of mine, it made me very happy because it featured a romance author hero and a romance blogger heroine, and had so many relatable situations. The Candle and the Flame was a quiet and atmospheric fantasy but it made me happy because of it’s very inherently desi elements and reminded me a lot of home.

I don’t need any particular reason to love The Red Scrolls of Magic other than it being about Magnus and Alec and them being together makes me extremely happy. Sandhya’s books are always a delight to read but There’s Something About Sweetie is special because it features a happy fat brown girl and I could see so much of myself in her.

💨 12. Favorite Book to Movie you’ve seen this year:

I haven’t seen any movies but I eagerly awaited and watched the final season of Shadowhunters and wept when it finished. Whatever the detractors say, I really enjoyed watching this show a lot.

💨 13. Favorite post you’ve written this year:

I love writing reviews but I know I’m not that good at it like my other lovely blogger friends whom I’m in awe of. But a couple of reviews which I poured my heart into are Red, White and Royal Blue and Good Talk. I also loved writing the post about the Books that define my reading life.

💨 14. Most beautiful book you’ve bought so far this year (or received):

I mostly rely on my library and other subscriptions for reading books but one among my kindle purchases that is gorgeous is King of Scars – I adore the golden aesthetic. And after resisting all these months, I finally bought the paperback of Foundryside in June because it’s amazing both inside and out.

💨 15. What books do you need to read by the end of the year?:

There are obviously many new releases I want to read but these are two backlist books I wish I am able to read sometime this year. I feel I have put them off long enough.

💨 16. Favorite book community member:

I am actually very happy to have many book community friends these days, especially my dearest ones in the Book Dragons India discord group, but a very recent friend I’ve made is Liz @ Lost in Literature with Liz. Both of us have quite a few things in common and we love lamenting about the fact that we can never pick our next read or find the right motivation to continue. Do checkout her blog for amazing reviews and more interesting bookish discussions.

I am not tagging anyone but if you wanna give an update about your reading year, please consider yourself tagged and link back to me so that I can read all about it.

Half Yearly Check-In AND Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag The original tag was created by ReadLikeWildfire and Earl Grey Books! I'm not someone who is fond of doing wrap-up posts, but I also feel that giving some sort of update about my first half of the reading year will make me happy.