#every other book in that series is worse and worse like. ugh

[vvyrmwood]

im going to make a tier list of all the sci-fi books i’ve read this year bc i read a lot including a lot of old classics and I have opinions

[unripe-lemon]

Since i know no one will see this:

1 note and i will email my therapist

ok so for this one,, like since then i have emailed my therapist?? that counts right????? tbh i dont even know what to talk abt anymore, but i do have a session with her so dw

2 notes and ill put my laundry away

ugh….. stupid. internet.. making me do things that will make my life easier…. gugh yeah i put my laundry away!!!!! everyone clap now

5 notes and ill try to brush my teeth more often

ok so like for this one i found this video https://youtu.be/pvutTiPY7q8?si=PASnBmUXZ0xiHzWM imma sing this song to myself every tike i dont feel like brushing my teeth

6 notes and ill try to put on cream for my dermatitis (anxiety hives!!! yayyy!!!!) more often

just did it hehe :) tho it is getting a little worse and my kitten scratched me on top of it 😭

10 notes and ill attempt to learn my timestables

11 notes and ill study for my exams

my exams are over!!!! so idk what to do for this one? maybe ill go do my homework instead

20 notes and ill try to go one day without using my pc/phone

30 notes and ill vaccum (more bc we just adopted kittens) my room entirely

40 notes and ill try to explain my depression to my mom again

50 notes and ill clean my locker out at school

imma do this tmr!!!

i forgot 😭 someone remind me

80 notes and ill fix the posters that are falling off of my wall and are probably going to rip soon

doing this rn! taking dinner break

100 notes and ill REALLY unpack everything with my therapist

maybe tmr?

we talked about medication and kittens, also exams so like success??

200 notes and ill ask my mom if we can go to my go and get! me! medicated!

ill discuss w therapist tmr

discussed with therapist, we are now getting the conversation started with my mom and are going to see what my gp says after that!! :) ty to everyone in the notes rooting for meds

300 notes and ill re organise my bookshelf

400 notes and ill clean all of the mold off of my wall

damn 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 ion wannaaaaaaaa

this is a weekend activity tbh, and idk if its even going to BE this weekend :P

500 notes and ill clean the mold off of my roof

600 notes and ill try sewing some new clothes

i crocheted a scarf!!! does that count?

700 notes and ill buy some new shoes

800 notes and ill check out dnd club at school (im scared)

900 notes and ill come up with more goals

edit: bro……. 😭

so im gonna take my time w these bc there is a lot to go thru!! i will try my best to remember to update!!! ty for notes :)

- random internet stranger

edit 2: WTF 1000 NOTES GUYS CHILL

ok so like i have to come up with more goals now???

1500 and ill start taking study notes with a study method (rb with study method that is your fav eg cornell method)

1700 and ill attempt to hype myself up enough to eat at school (long story, germs)

2000 notes and ill start whatever book wins this poll:

[bookishfeylin]

THIS THIS THIS

I'm so curious as to what your thoughts are on acomaf/Rhys. Personally, the reason the second book infuriated me was bc SJM completely shifted Tamlin's good traits onto Rhys, while erasing the fucked up things the latter did (like breaking Feyre's arm 😅), and thus clumsily erasing chances for interesting complex grey-morality characterizations for both characters. Also Feyre forgot about Tamlin so fast it almost made the first book seem useless lol. idk, I just liked Tamlin and feel he was done dirty with the weird lib-feminist makeover acomaf got. I did continue reading the series though. I'm not trying to make you uncomfortable speaking about this, so feel free to ignore this ask. Have a lovely day 💖

Phew! So my issues with the series are NUMEROUS and some day I will go into all the reasons I quit ACOMAF 3/4 of the way through, but for now, let me sum up my problem by comparing it to another modern phenomenon: Frozen.

Like ACOTAR, I have many specific dislikes about the Frozen series, but my main problem with it is the way it cynically uses fairy tale motifs against the audience, but then still wants to claim it is a fairy tale. Frozen's setup gives the audience absolutely zero reason to doubt or distrust Hans (other than the arrival of Kristoff). In fact, Hans and Anna have one of the best insta-love songs from the Disney collection, and it galls me TO NO END that it's a trick, a lie. And then the rest of the movie repeatedly mocks the audience for believing in fairy tale love ("You can't marry a man you just met!"), as if to say everyone who has enjoyed Disney fairy tales up to this point is a sucker. Yet then it expects us to invest in the Anna-Kristoff romance after punishing us for the Anna-Hans one. And meanwhile, Kristoff is about as interesting as stale bread (sorry not sorry, it's true. I love you Jonathan Groff, it's not your fault sweetie.).

So anyway, back to ACOTAR. Book 1 is a straightforward Quest For The Lost Husband. Taken on its own, it honestly rules as an example of this Cupid & Psyche tale type. It has the hunter-huntress motif, the jealous sisters, passage into the otherworld, hidden/cursed prince, supernatural helpers, three trials in the underworld, and even resurrection from death. It's literally perfect, other than Rhys marking her and just generally being creepy.

And then the next book PUNISHES the reader for enjoying that. HAHA you fool, you sucker, you got taken in by an abuser! Actually that whole book was a f*cking waste of time and a lie, and what Feyre really needs is this dude who's secretly perfect and who has all the aesthetics of a tormented prince but none of the actual psychological damage (like, say, Tamlin had). And who pursued Feyre not because of any natural affinity but because he knew she was his predetermined MATE (ew ew ew and I repeat EW). And who dictates every f*cking plot point and then magnanimously gives Feyre the OPTION of participating and we're all supposed to cheer because he says "It's your choice" before repeatedly using her and endangering her.

And to the extent that this is another Quest For The Lost Husband, why would I want the same story told again, especially when the narrative wasted my time and mocked me for investing in the last romance? I just... really resent the author using those motifs without signaling sooner that she's going to deliberately undermine them (which can be done, in fairness, but it takes more skill than SJM has displayed).

So yeah, that's my issue. It really seems to come from this faux feminism that has a lot of antipathy toward traditional fairy tales, but doesn't know how to critique them without mocking the protagonist and audience alike.

[luvly-writer]

Crimes of a Mother

Batfamily x Latina! Reader

—•—

Author´s note: Hello! Hope all of you are okay! Welcome to my new...whatever this is! (I have no idea if this will be a series or just a one shot...If it does become a series, it will definitely be a short one unlike the others) This is not in ANY of the universes of my other fics. Hope you enjoy!

Warning: None

General Masterlist:

Masterlist:

—•—

City lights. A scream. A dark looming shadow. A manor. Gun shots. It was the same dream every night. A city dark as night and curious as a cat.

Unraveling the never-ending mysteries that Gotham had to offer was one of my fascinations in life. For the longest time, I had held a certain obsession with the city. It always felt as if something was out there...calling me towards the magnificently mysterious place. Mom always tried to discourage it and would say that the city held secrets that would be unwise to uncover. It was a recuring argument in my household and it got worse the moment I told her I was striving to enroll on Gotham University.

SMACK

I snap out of my daydream.

-You know...normally, I don´t mind when you space out, Yn, but if we expect to make it out of here and straight to GU, we seriously NEED to study.

Taylor, my best friend ever since childhood, dropped a book on my desk, and looked at me impatiently. Charles, snorted from his place in my desk chair, watching the entire ordeal amusedly.

-You know it's bad when Tay is the one that wants to study and not you, Y.

-You know, you don't have to follow me all the way to Gotham. Brings out your attachment issues.

-First of all, you bitch, OF COURSE we have to go there. We are the iconic trio of Robinson Academy; we can't be separated. And second, Yn Salazar, you are forbidden of going into this mystery solving quest without your trusty sidekicks. How else is the documentary of your life supposed to be entertaining if you don't have the two dazzling, gay, and hilarious side characters who everyone will make edits of. Duh!

Said Taylor, throwing herself on my bed.

-It is the last Spanish test! Vamos a estar bien, chica! Mr. Soto will probably give out like a short quiz for us to be done with Senior year. Besides, we are ALREADY in! Forgot that piece of information?

Taylor opened her mouth and just shrugged, making Charlie and I laugh.

-Fair.

-Now, let's finish setting up and get started.

We move efficiently, setting up the camera on its tripod and strapping each tiny microphone to ourselves. We get settled on my bed and hit record.

•[Recording]

-Hi! My name is Yn Salazar. Born and raised in Puerto Rico. Currently, it is May 2nd, a week before my last day of high school and three weeks before my graduation. These are my best friends, Charles Martinez and Taylor Perez. Following today, we will be headed for Gotham University. Why Gotham precisely? Well, Gotham is a city full of mischief, madness, and chaos; and I plan to uncover it. From cryptic, to vigilantes, to rouges, this will be only the first of many time capsules. Beware Gotham, I'm coming.

—•—

A FEW MONTHS LATER

Unlike most college students, Charlie, Taylor and I had decided to not go on the dorms and find a three-bedroom apartment close to campus. Seeing as the three of us came from families that were economically well and rent was unsurprisingly cheap in Gotham, we had finally settled last week. Our apartment was fully furnished and decorated, and we still had a few weeks before classes began in September. I had just ended a call with my mom and headed for the living room, where Charlie was seated rewatching House of the Dragon. Taylor was in the kitchen trying out a new recipe she found on Pinterest.

-Ugh!

I say as I throw myself on the couch dramatically

-Your mom still thinks it is a bad idea to come to Gotham?

Taylor screamed from the kitchen.

-YES! I will never get it! What is in here that puts that woman in such a bad mood? All my life, my one dream has been to come to Gotham, I mean this is where every criminal journalist thrives! She is always so paranoid of this city and telling me that the secrets I would find here should stay hidden and for me to give it a rest. I think it is because my father lives here and if he does, who is he? Every time I ask, I get the same speech of powerful men and their ways...My mom has good judgement! I don't think she would have been with just anyone. For fuck's sake, she is one of the smartest and highest paid psychologists in Puerto Rico. I need to find out what this city is hiding...what happened to mom when she lived here.

-More like who happened probably

Muttered Charlie.

-EXACTLY! It is even worst that she sent me here with this letter to give to a Mr. Bruce Wayne.

-The Billionaire? (T)

-I guess...maybe I can interrogate him and see if that gets me a lead on this entire thing.

-When are you going? (C)

-After we drop you at soccer practice and T at rehearsal.

-FUCK I THINK I BURNT IT!!!

-TAYLOR!!!!

Charles and I got to her rescue laughing.

-Looks like we will be having takeout tonight

She said with a laugh

----

-That is one creepy ass manor...

I mutter from my driver seat. I press the button on the intercom near the gate. It buzzes and a voice with a distinct English accent speaks up,

-Good evening, with what may I help you today?

-Yeah...uh...hi! My name's Yn Salazar. I came to deliver a letter for Mr. Wayne...it's from Valentina Salazar.

-Oh dear...I'll let you pass straight away.

I hear the gate buzz and open. I drive in and park my car just outside. We had all pitched in and bought a car because we knew Gotham was not the best of places to walk around during the night. So, this is more convenient.

I take a deep breath and grab my bag, making sure my notepad is there, with my phone and wallet. I double check that the letter is there and once I see it, I get out of the car and lock it. I walk towards the entrance and just before I go to open the door, a man dressed like a butler opens it.

-You must be young Miss Salazar.

-Yn's just fine, and yeah that's me

The man takes a second to look at me, slight shock in his features. I observe him from head to toe and try to give him a smile. Top ten weirdest encounters ever. He moves aside and gestures for me to enter.

-Right this way, miss, Master Bruce is in his study expecting you.

I inspect everything around me as I follow the man. As we walk past one of the doors, I hear a bunch of screaming and I peak inside. Five guys, all varying in sizes and two girls, one blonde and another with raven hair are seen playing Mario Kart. I stay for second when one of them catches my eye and we make eye contact. He furrows his brow and I panic and leave, catching up to the butler.

We finally reach the study, and he knocks. A faint “Come in” is heard and I'm led inside.

-Young Miss Salazar

The butler announces and takes his leave. The man, Bruce Wayne takes one look at me and goes rigid. We stay a few seconds just looking at each other. His eyes show shock and disbelief. Mine I can guess show curiosity and uncertainty.

-This is for you!

I cringe at how awkward I sound. Great job, Yn, he already fucking knows that. He coughs and nods as I walk towards him and hand him the letter. I take a seat and wait patiently for him to open it and read it. I play with my fingers as silence engulfs us.

-You are Valentina's kid?

-That is corrrect

-How old are you?

-I turned 18 back in February.

-I see...

His face pales at the revelation and he continues reading. I didn't think it was possible for this man to get any paler, yet he does once he is done reading the letter.

-How did you know my mom?

I went directly to the point

-We were close friends

-How close? She never once mentioned this supposed friendship

He flinches at that statement,

-Valentina is a woman of many secrets

-On that we can agree, how close?

He observes me for a moment, and I harden my gaze on him. The corner of his tilts up slightly, clearly amused by me.

-Close

-How informative of you. Did you attend Gotham Academy together?

-Yes.

-Hmmm, have you any clue on why she left Gotham?

-I don't think it is my position to give that information

-How noble, have you any memory of who were her friends aside from you, of course?

-I may. Yn, is it?

-Yes.

-I suggest you follow your mother's advice and keep away from this. Your mother is a good woman and anything from the past should be placed at rest. Some skeletons are meant to stay in the closet.

-Did you know who was my father?

I push one last time and I see him take a sharp intake of air.

-Ah...so you do, wonderful.

-Yn...

-Thank you for your time today, Mr. Wayne. I can assure you this won't be the last time you will see me. Here's my mother's number. You can call her and tell her yourself that her plan to shoo me away from my investigation has been unsuccessful and that getting her “close friend” to deter me from it as well will do nothing. Good day.

I stand up to leave and Mr. Wayne just observes me as I take my leave. Alfred, who I just learnt his name, leads me back to the door. We pass by the kitchen where the group I saw earlier are gathered muttering. They see me and quiet down, just observing me. I raise my eyebrow at them. I hear a low “He got another one?” as I continue on my way. Finally, we get to the door, and I thank Alfred for him time. I get on my car and look up, seeing Mr. Wayne watching me from one of the windows and the group of people trying to be discreet from another window. “This won't be the last time they see me for sure”, I think to myself as I connect my phone to the car and play Running Up That Hill by Kate bush as I drive away.

—•—

Back in Bruce's study, Alfred interrupts his train of thought as he watches the car leave.

-Is that who I am to believe it is?

-And who might you think that is, Alfred?

-Don't play coy with me boy, I can detect a Wayne from a mile away. That girl is yours.

Alfred replied courtly. Bruce walks back and hands him the letter. His eyebrows raise high on his head as he reads.

-I have never met anyone with Wayne blood that was not troublesome, and it seems, this one will keep you with your hands full for some time.

-What gave her away?

-Her eyes, master Bruce. That scrutinizing and calculative gaze is one that can only be found in anyone related to you, blood or not. You have another young detective in your hands, and this one just as brilliant.

-That is what worries all of us.

-•-

Tell me what do you guys think about this draft? Should it be a fic? Are y'all interested? Should there be a taglist? Leave me a comment or a reblog :)

[camels-pen]

burning love

@sanusoweek Day 1 - Ice Skating / OT3

Summary:

Roses are red, Violets are nice, These guys are gay, Sanji falls through the ice.

Ao3 Link | sanuso week series | Day 2

Sanji skated a decently sized heart into the iced over lake, a tray of warm drinks in his hand as he called, “Usopp, my darling dearest beloved brightest—”

“We get it, Curly, what the fuck do you want?”

Sanji scowled. “I wasn’t talking to you, Mossy.” He looked around. “I’m looking for our angel of a boyfriend to deliver hot cocoa.”

“He’s busy.” Zoro jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. Sanji looked past him to Chopper in Horn Point, Luffy holding onto his antlers, and Usopp pulling Luffy backwards by his grip on Luffy’s waist. He had a big kissable grin on his face and oh, Sanji must’ve been struck by cupid’s arrow again because the wind blew just right through his curls and—

Zoro gripped his shoulder. “He’s busy.” 

Sanji rolled his eyes. If Luffy and Chopper couldn’t mess him up with all their loud laughter and squirming and Hurry up, Usopp! ‘s, then Sanji’s perfectly polite entrance wouldn’t do a thing.

“Thank you for your services, Mr. guard dog, but they’re no longer needed.”

“Don’t think you have the right to say that when you always look like you’re in fucking heat—”

Sanji slammed one skate into the ice, lifting the other into the air. “Be very careful with your next words.”

Zoro put a hand on his swords. “Or what? You’ll whimper?”

“DON’T YOU FUCKING—” Nami cut herself off with a shriek. “Robin, catch me! And stop them, please!”

Familiar hands grabbed his calf and thigh. He spotted two more gripping Zoro’s arms. “You’ll crack the ice if you fight,” Robin said somewhere behind Sanji. “And the shock of the cold water could make you involuntarily inhale and drown as you start to slowly lose feeling in your limbs.”

Sanji let the tension bleed from his body. “Sorry, Robin dear.” Zoro grunted his own acknowldgement and the hands disappeared.

“No, Diable either Sanji-bro,” Franky added as he skated around, Robin perched on one of his shoulders, a book between her gloved hands. “You’ll melt the ice and it’ll be a hell of a lot worse.”

He waved a hand. “Yeah, yeah, I get it.” He quickly spun around and took off. “Usopp dear! I’ve made you hot cocoa filled to the brim with all my love for you!”

Usopp a noise between a squeak and a shout and he stumbled. His arms pinwheeled, abruptly letting go of Luffy and sending him flying.

“Oh no, Luffy!” Chopper yelled. “Usopp, you said you wouldn’t send him that far!”

“Blame Sanji, not me!” he said, still wobbling back and forth with a beautiful red undertone to his dark skin. “Quick, you and boss Jinbei get after him!”

“Right!” Chopper switched to Walk Point, picked up a confused looking Jinbei by the shore and took off after Luffy.

“Shit—!” Usopp fell with a loud smack and a groan. “Zoro, you were supposed to not let Sanji distract me,” he whined.

“My bad.”

Sanji wasted no time offering a hand and pulling Usopp up. He pressed a kiss to Usopp’s forehead and the bottom of his nose, where it had bent against the ice. “I should’ve listened too, I’m sorry, love.”

Usopp grumbled, then stumbled again. “Ugh, my balance sucks,” he said, accepting the affection—and hot cocoa—with a smile. “How did you pick this up so fast?”

“I can show you.” Sanji pulled him closer by the hand, his arm finding its place at the small of his back. “Let me teach you, give you some private lessons.”

A thick arm suddenly wrapped around Usopp’s shoulders. “Hey, I’m better at skating than you, I’ll teach him.”

“Fuck off, we both know you’d just let him fall flat on his face every time.”

Zoro raised a brow.  “Well yeah, how else is he gonna learn?” 

“Goddamn mossheaded brute,”—he tugged Usopp closer to him—“I’m going to teach Usopp.”

“No, you’re just gonna coddle him.” Zoro pulled Usopp back.

“There’s a difference between coddling and not letting him get hurt, moron,” Sanji growled.

“Not with this there isn’t.”

Sanji slammed his forehead to Zoro’s. “You wanna go, you shitty piece of algae?!”

“Anytime, shit cook,” Zoro said, pushing him back.

“Hey, hey—” Usopp wiggled his way out from between them. “You don’t have to fight!”

“Yes, we do,” they said in unison.

“God, you two.” Sanji couldn’t see what he was doing, but the next thing he knew there was a trail of soft kisses from his cheek to his jaw. He closed his eyes with a hum, a pleasant flush crawling up his neck. He heard another series of kisses and felt Zoro pull away.

Usopp huffed and Sanji blinked his eyes open to look at him. “Honestly, you can both teach me,” he said, arms on his hips and a smile on his face.

Zoro turned away, his ears dusting pink. “Yeah, alright.”

Usopp turned to Sanji. A grin split Sanji’s face.

“Oh, my dearest and most beloved boyfriend, how you bless me so! I, of course, will heed your wishes. Nothing compares to such a thoughtful gift upon my person.” He twirled around a few times. His heart beat rapidly in his chest, his burning love growing hotter and hotter all throughout his body. “In exchange let me regale you with a poem: roses are red, violets are nice—”

There was a crack.

Sanji fell through the ice.

[berrypass-de-murdler]

2 - 5 Death on the Low Seas

Things are... very difficult internally but this series is keeping me going somewhat, so I'm still at it lol

Ngl limiting myself to one case a day is slightly torture but it helps me focus on writing and I look forward to it every night

um... I'm just looking for people to talk to (not even to vent necessarily, I also love to rant about murdle and I just need company) so if anyone is willing to reach out, that would help a lot <3

DON'T READ THE EPISODES WITHOUT READING THE BOOKS!!

Logico takes a boat to the Violet Isles - with, of course, Admiral Navy as the captain. 

LOGICO: I guess I should be used to these teleporting suspects by now.

Some others are headed to the isles as well, namely the Duchess of Vermillion and 

U. MIDNIGHT: UNCLE MIDNIIIIIGHT!!

He picks up and noogies Logico.

LOGICO: I HATE YOU SO MUCH!! DUCHESS: My diamond is missing a necklace. I mean, YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!  LOGICO: FINE, I’ll look for it… although it’s not the most engaging mystery in the world.

First, Logico stumbles across the deck. No diamonds there! But there is the least threatening Midnight.

U. MIDNIGHT: Heheuhueh, I can see my house from here! LOGICO: That’s not YOUR house! That’s the VIOLET MANOR!  NAVY: No… we’re not there yet either.

Benjamin is leaning so far over the edge, Logico so badly wants to push him into the ocean. But he has a job to do.

DUCHESS: Found my diamond yet? LOGICO: NO, I’m still LOOKING. 

He gets a text from Irratino. “You never find a railing without a piece of dead fish.” He stares at it for a long time and firmly believes that these messages no longer have any meaning. 

DUCHESS: WHILE he’s busy… [encroaches on Navy] what are you up to after… suppertime? NAVY: Um… DUCHESS: [creepily massages his shoulders] What say we try something new for dessert?  NAVY: UM…

She entwines her tail with his. He gets so uncomfortable, he jumps overboard! AGAIN! Thank goodness he’s rescued by an adorable shark. 

U. MIDNIGHT: Pffffffhuhuhuhuh. He’s like, a seal, and he can’t even swim! LOGICO: You didn’t happen to find a diamond in the water, per chance? NAVY: [coughs up a sardine] No…

Logico takes him to the bedroom to lie down. Above the bed, there’s a painting of a nightmarish deer-like creature, stained with fear.

NAVY: Lord Violet.  LOGICO: N- THAT’S Lord Violet? NAVY: Yes… he once had a butler who was his best friend, whom he’d do anything for. But one day, that butler was murdered. Lord Violet took it upon himself to find the murderer… LOGICO: What happened? NAVY: He tracked down the killer for a month, until he finally found their location. And when he did, he speared them alive with his horns.

Logico tenses. That seems weirdly gruesome, even though he faces crimes just as bad on a literal daily basis. There’s no time to think about that, though, because he found the Duchess’ lost diamond! Except it’s right on top of a body…

LOGICO: I knew there couldn’t be a trip without a murder! DUCHESS!!! DUCHESS: UGH!! That bitch tried to expose my affair with Admiral Navy, I HAD to kill them! Now thanks to you, Deductive Logico, it will be revealed anyway! Therefore, I GO! 

She jumps into the ocean (man, it’s happening a lot). Being the queen of fish, she disappears into the deep. I wonder if she’ll find Dr. Crimson?

LOGICO: Like she even needed a boat in the first place!

Ben and Navy are distracted, because they’re finally approaching Violet Manor. It’s a gorgeous, intimidating silhouette in the fog, just right for a dramatic reveal. The three stare, mesmerized… Then Uncle Midnight vomits over the edge. (Alcohol poisoning.)

The end!

The murdle rp is so funny help they all look so stupid

It's like gacha but worse

Maybe it's not worse. I can't tell anymore

The power of Goat Lord compels you!

See you next time murdlers!

[savagewildnerness]

25 and 33!

Thank you for the asks!

25: Fave season and why?

This is actually a very difficult answer for me! Both as I don't hugely prefer one season over the other and as my experience of watching each season was really different!

I adored Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles from a child and teen and was excited to hear the show was being made... but I am also always equally terrified when any thing I love is adapted.

Sidenote: I saw a play on stage - a production of Amadeus a few years ago, a film I'd watched obsessively as a child... and I was initially excited it was going to happen and booked (1) ticket... but when it got close I felt like "I don't want to go! I'm not excited anymore because what if I hate it and then I not only hate it but it ruins my memory of the film I loved?!" Anyway, I saw the play and adored it so much I ended up seeing it like 40 times or something, LOL... I still wish I had a time machine to experience that play live again now. They incorporated live musicians (not dead ones hahahahaha) on stage too and OH MY, HOW I FELT THE MUSIC ALONGSIDE THE EXQUISITE ACTING. Oh, how I sobbed and sobbed and sobbed even watching it for the 35th time!!! I share to compare...

So, with IWTV - I knew it was happening, but I didn't follow production of the show and I didn't follow when it aired in the US. Every so often I kept thinking *When is this show coming to my country, because I *do* want to watch it* and eventually it arrived in Autumn 2023...

But even then, I went into it, thinking "Maybe I'll hate it." My predominant feeling before watching was FEAR. Not excitement or curiosity. Fear.

Then, Lestat watched Louis as Louis pulled a blade and put it to Paul's throat and in that INSTANT I felt "THERE IS MY LESTAT!". I didn't even think it. I felt it in my blood and bones and soul. And what with wondrous Jacob too, I was sold. Like ugh - the church at the end of episode 1. The music. Oh MY! But I was way past the era of the initial online excitement or chat around the show. I just binged the whole series till episode 5. I actually then found episode 5 incredibly difficult... and it was worse because by episode 4 into 5 I had fallen so in love with the show and, since it wasn't too long ago, I can clearly remember myself sitting, watching episode 5 and getting to the end of it and thinking. Oh. It is RUINED. I do not even want to watch any more. And it was a few days before I could bring myself to watch the rest of the series.

Of course, I watched the rest of the series. But I actually needed to rewatch the whole series then one time, after a few week's break before I could truly enjoy episodes 6 and 7 in full. I really did find episode 5 in S1 that hard.

So, with S2 I'm obviously here with you all, utterly addicted! I watched in a very different way - able to discuss episodes afterwards and immediately process things with this wonderful community!

Hmm... I would say that I like both seasons relatively similarly, but for different reasons:

S1 - I think overall, the resonance of it as a whole works better for me, and obviously the delicious chemistry of Sam and Jacob; Lestat and Louis and the Romance of Louis' immortal turning, bookended with the Gothic Romance of Lestat's murder is Shakespearean exquisite beauty to be. And Lestat's speech on the balcony, speaking Anne Rice's words... I just adore it SO much. Like UGH. My heart - with Lestat knowing Louis plans to kill him, but not truly believing he will until the second it happens, because he could never do such to Louis and surely Louis can't either... but then of course he must and Lestat's acceptance of it as an act of love and mercy from Louis. Vibrate my soul!!

S2 - I just love the poetry of S2. The poetic writing in episode 1 and the music in E1 - the way S2 began was just so beautiful to me. I cried a lot more during S2, often as I found DreamStat unbearably moving and/or poignant (either in and of himself or in his relevance to and what he expressed from Louis... and in E1, towards Claudia.). The You & Me scene - scenes like this where there is such exquisite acting taking place without even the need for words to articulate it. Lestat's letter; when Dreamstat vanishes. Assad's Armand also often made me cry. In the Louvre! The ache at the heart of Armand wherein he has so much love to give truly, yet doesn't understand how to be loved or how to love and so this pure love instead twists into the most terrible, terrifying thing, like a knotted tree! Also S2E5. S2E5!!! OMG what perfect TV! And I adore in an abstract sense how utterly Anne Riceean that episode is, despite being mainly created for TV, with not that many of Anne's actual words in! (And I adore Jacob doing takedown of Lestat using Anne's words, especially that they used the bit that truly would wound Lestat most from the books - when he calls Lestat's playing emotionless!!!!!)

So in terms of emotion, I would give S2 the edge. In terms of overall arc, I would definitely say S1. I'm going to say it: I know a lot of people loved E7 & 8 the most in S2 and as you can tell by my 100-plus gifs, I adored the Loustat reunion... but The Trial didn't fully work for me. Which isn't a negative comment. It isn't that I didn't like it. There's just so much I don't understand about it. Which is fine - Louis doesn't understand the trial in IWTV... yet there is more feeling to The Trial in the book of IWTV from what he sees in Lestat - things he hasn't described before... Whereas here - I don't understand fully why or how Lestat is in Paris; how much is his own free will (before and after the trial); I don't fully understand Armand's feelings and motivations and desires. I don't understand what, if anything has gone on between Armand and Lestat. I don't fully understand Lestat and Armand's feelings or motivations or drives and so then it is hard to fully feel from it all. I also thought we'd get a lot more answers regarding memory with all the memory is a monster hints and it felt like all that was opening up in S2E5 only to... just not really happen much more or go anywhere big enough for me after that...?!

Yeah... a super-long answer to this question, in which I didn't really answer the question...

What do you all think/feel? I'm curious!

33: Any hobbies?

Well I guess I use music in my work, so we can't call it a hobby, but I have never done any personally creative thing with music and do not in any way consider myself a musician, so I do love to try to be creative musically, alone, as a hobby if I can drag myself from the pit of *you are an awful human who ought not exist* I obviously love film and TV and I love going to the theatre. I love to read. I used to be a dancer, aged 3-18. I really miss that. I don't dance now. I did ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, Romanian, modern and Scottish dancing!

I actually think there is something to be said for doing hobbies you are terrible at though! Then you can try to find the joy in a thing as you did when you were a child, with zero expectation, as you still have the skill level of a child too! I did like to draw as a little child (only till age 8-ish and that's where my skill-level ended) but I always hated painting, even in school. I was scared of paint and how you can't control it! Sometimes, now though, I find it fun to paint. There's no expectation as it isn't something I can do. But I really recommend to anyone to try a hobby you're terrible at - it can be freeing.

Pretty embarrassing to share this when there are so many actual INCREDIBLE artists on Tumblr (I am in awe of you all), but I'll share it in order to truly show you I cannot art and also to say - do these things - it can be the truest escape. Like, if I try to create music, I know enough to know how terrible what I am doing is. But I know I am terrible at art and that is FINE! It's just for fun!

Say hello to my wee ghost in the sky friend! This was actually inspired by the film A Ghost Story. Actually, you know, Daniel Hart is the creative involved in Interview with the Vampire whose work I have known the longest! I first heard (& ADORED!) his music in the film Ain't Them Bodies Saints.

Anyway, that's more than anyone ever wanted to read on these two questions, I'm sure!!!

[dragonmasterkaylz]

Teenager! Tangerine x Teenager! Reader- Highschool Sweethearts

This is a story about when Lemon and Tangerine were teenagers. There are some references to the actual film and I had to make up their real names since their actual names are unknown (for now, I want a series or a film about those two!)

Every teenage girl had her insecurities and in Secondary School, it only gets worse. Especially at the age of fourteen, which is exactly how old Y/N was. She did have friends who would tell her that she was perfect the way she was, but the other girls thought otherwise and would always give her shit for… well… absolutely nothing! They just liked to hate on her because she was prettier than them.

“Ugh! I honestly hate her! She’s such a bitch!” Her friend, Daisy, rubbed her back and said, “You’re better than her! You’re smart, friendly and funny! Boys do like that in a girl”. Y/N looked at her friends, who all nodded. Caitlin, Daisy and Laura were her best friends. “Yeah… I suppose. But I wish Ashley would stop making me feel like shit every chance she gets. It’s really getting on my nerves—?!”

Then they heard some arguing and looked behind them to find two very fit boys talking to one another. “If you talk about Thomas the Tank Engine one more time, I’m gonna punch you in the fucking face!” “Okay, okay… calm down! I won’t talk about it again… for today anyway”, the other boy said, following him. “Luke… you won’t talk about it, period! It’s bloody embarrassing!” “But Elliot, that’s how I read people”. “Does it look like I give a fuck?!”

“Oh wow! I heard about them!”, Caitlin said to her friends with a smile. “Who are they?”, Y/N asked. “Elliot and Luke from the year above. Apparently, they’re brothers in Foster Care. Elliot has a right soldier’s mouth and Luke is into Thomas the Tank Engine. But they are fit”, Laura said. Daisy then looked at Y/N, who was blushing heavily. “Ohhh… you like one of them, don’t you~?” “Shut it!!!”

While walking through school, Y/N sighed as she held her books to her chest, only for someone to push her shoulder. She dropped all of her books and she glared back at Ashley, who laughed at her. “Hey! Are you alright?!” She looked up and found Elliot standing there. “Um… yeah. That bitch just shoved me”, she growled. He frowned and mumbled, “I hate girls like that. Anyway, let me help you”.

He helped her with her books and asked, “Where were you heading?” “The library. I need to study for the upcoming test”. He nodded and rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, if you want, I can help you”. Y/N’s eyes lit up. “Really?” Elliot smiled and nodded before saying, “Yeah… I need to study as well. What are you studying?” “Maths, my worst subject”. He smiled and said, “Well, I’m quite good, so I can help you”.

While the two were studying, Caitlin, Daisy and Laura all walked in to see how it was going. “Why did they have to add the alphabet? I just don’t get it!”, Y/N complained. Elliot laughed and then leaned over to show her how to solve a problem. “I think he likes her…”, Daisy whispered. “You’re telling me, and look at how pink her cheeks are”, Laura giggled. “Y/N are those your friends over there?” She looked over and sighed. “Just kill me now”.

“Hey… what’s got your knickers in a twist?”, he asked. She sighed and mumbled, “It’s Ashley. She likes to think she’s better than everyone else because she comes from a rich family. But… she’s just a fucking slag”. “Yeah… ‘slag’ is right. And she’s so fake it’s… fucking mental. You should see her in class”, he said before looking at her. “Sorry, I’ve got a bit of a sailor’s mouth…”. She shook her head. “It’s okay. I don’t mind”. He smiled back at her.

After school, Elliot and Luke were walking home together. “So, who’s the girl?” Elliot gave his brother a confused look. “What?” “You can’t hide anything from me. You have a small on your face, which means you have a crush on someone. So, who is she?”, Luke asked. He gave up and rubbed the back of his neck. “A girl from the year below. Her name is Y/N. We were studying together… that’s all”, he told him, when he saw her with her friends.

Luke waved a hand over his face and smiled. “Oh, you’re definitely in love. Just ask her out already!” “I barely know her… I don’t want to make a mistake. Especially after that last bitch a dated”, Elliot said sadly. “Yeah, she was definitely a Diesel”. Then he glared at Luke before asking, “What did I say about talking about Thomas?” “That you’d punch me in the face. But am I ever wrong?” “… No”.

During the weekend, Y/N decided to go to the park to walk her dog, when she saw Elliot playing football with a few of the other boys from school. She giggled and continued walking when her dog started growling, while staring at the ball. “Hey… don’t you dare—! Woah!” She fell to the floor and watched her German Shepherd interrupt their game. “Oh, for heaven’s sake! Get back here!!!”, she shouted.

Elliot gently calmed the dog down and Y/N ran over before saying, “I’m so sorry! He goes mad whenever he sees a ball!” He laughed and said, “It’s okay”. “Yeah… but you might wanna keep that dog under control”, one of the other boys said. She sighed and mumbled, “He’s trained”. “Yeah! But it just ruined our game!” Elliot stood up as soon as Y/N held onto her dogs leash again. “Back off, alright! It’s just a game! Come on… I’ll take you home Y/N”.

While walking to her house, Y/N said, “I really am sorry about this one”. “It’s alright… don’t about it. Has he always been like that?”, Elliot asked. “Yeah, ever since he was a puppy. If he saw a ball, he would go straight for it! We tried to train him out of it… but nothing seemed to work”, she told him. He chuckled and then looked away before holding her hand just when they arrived at her house. “Th-This is me”.

He nodded and looked at her, before letting go of her hand. “Well… I’ll see you at school then”. “See you at school then”. She watched as he walked away, making her pout. “Hey! Y/N!” She looked back at him and he ran back before gently taking her face into his hands. Then he kissed her, causing her eyes to widen in shock. But then she closed her, kissing him back. He pulled away and asked, “You wanna go out?” “Sure… I’d love to”.

That Sunday, he waited for her at the park and found her wearing a sundress. “H-Hi…!” He stood up and smiled. “Hi. You look… beautiful”. She giggled and he held her hand before kissing her head. “Alright lovely, where do you wanna go?” She giggled nervously and said, “Nowhere really… I just want to get to know you a little better”. He nodded and smiled before saying, “Well, my name is Elliot and—!” “Don’t start from the very beginning!”, she told him, making him laugh.

Present Day…

“And that’s how Mum and Dad met and fell in love~!”, Cherry said happily to her children, Peach, Apricot and Clementine. Her girls were both fascinated, while her son just gagged. “Mum! That’s gross!”, he complained. “No it’s not! It’s romantic!”, she said happily. Lemon, who just so happened to be in the room, sighed and said, “I agree with Apricot. And I was there. You two were so sweet, it almost made me vomit”. Tangerine then hit him over the head.

“At least she didn’t go any further—!”

“No one needs to hear about your wedding or honeymoon! That’s just straight up nasty!”

END

[mayakrish08]

Percy Jackson And The Olympians: The Series

Alright fellas, buckle up for the rant. I can’t believe it’s week 4 already and that we are 5 episodes in. I’m gonna start with the current episode. The story is slowly picking up pace, and BOY I loved this episode. The fact that this episode has the FIRST HUG and the FIRST SEAWEED BRAIN are good reasons for that. Another being the way Annabeth dealt with the situation, and how she admitted that Percy was better than her. It must have taken a lot. It’s been… what, a couple of days, and that guy is tilting her world from its axis. Being a self righteous daughter of Athena, and finding yourself with an impulsive guy like Percy? Ha. The most unlikeliest pair, but let’s not forget their parents, hmm? At least their kids don’t have the emotional range of a teaspoon. And I remember thinking that Percy has made Annabeth cry in a matter of few hours. ANNABETH and CRYING do no go in the same sentence that easily. I also remember thinking that Percy was sooo… Percy! “Where is our ride?” And “You think you know me, but you don’t” and ohh, the ultimate, “It’s… smelly.”

Ares was a douche, but I loved his aesthetic with the black leather jacket and the motorcycle. Felt like he jumped right outta the book.

But but, can we like talk about Grover? Ma Man SLAYED it! IS SLAYING IT actually! The way he dealt with Ares, holy gods!! RESPECT!! He was such a SMOOOOTH CRIMINAL! “Pottu vangardhu,” we say in Tamil. That’s exactly what he did with Ares - getting the information he needed from Ares, but in a way that satisfied Ares’ ego. Ah Grover is such a badass. “So, thank you for the emotional abuse and the cheeseburgers. We will take you up on the ride too.” DAAAAMMNNN DUUUDDEEEE!! Ah I feel in love with him right from the consensus song. {Muttering “Oh Golly, the road’s gettin’ bumpy}

Speaking of, that episode was really good too! I loved how Grover kept deflecting every question, how Percy kept questioning the hierarchy, and how Annabeth was constantly rolling her eyes at Percy, BUT they still didn’t give up on each other, and Grover snapped, and hey! They are finally bordering on the friend zone.

Ah, I wish current Percy and Annabeth could revisit their initial years. Or, I keep thinking, how would House of Hades be, with this cast? *Snort* Ironically, when I think about that, it feels like we are JUST five episodes in. It also makes me feel awed because… We may as well be watching these kids grow up! Like, sure, there will be PLENTY of new characters (Personally, after seeing Hephaestus, I can’t wait for Leo), but Percy and Annabeth are going to be constants, even more so than Grover! So, that means, we will be watching Leah and Walker grow, and we will have a chance of coming back to the first few episodes and coo at how small they are. Gosh, watching the cast interviews now makes me see the difference already!

There is one thing with this series: I keep forgetting the book! It feels like that, certainly! I mean, I don’t remember the Golden Throne thingy, nor did I remember the way Medusa was killed! While the scenes fit the series’ storyline, it is making me doubt my demigod-ness 😭 I also think Gabe is too… decent in this series. He is… MUCH worse in my head. Ugh.

All in all, I think they are doing a good job. At first, I was a bit skeptical, but after watching a certain review of a certain YTber I follow, my perspective changed for the better. Like, she is the perfect Demigod and Witch! Finally, someone I can totally relate to!! Check out her content!

Alright, I am gonna wrap up the rant for now. But I am planning on posting a review every Wednesday, because I NEED PEOPLE TO TALK TO ABOUT THIS DAMMIT!!

[11queensupreme11]

have you been to twitter recently. ppl are accusing gege of things and they're even bringing up the mei mei and lil bro scenes from a long time ago..💀 reminds me of something that happened in one of your other fics

stop i get pissed just thinking back on it 💀🤚

ooooooh my god they're so annoying 😭 ppl are seriously accusing gege of incest because of what he put in his fictional works?? not only that but did you see them attacking myamura too???

context: one of my fic series has dark content in it and I explicitly warned my readers about the kind of stuff to expect. Fast-forward some chapters later, I get readers accusing me of supporting that shit and even complaining about the dark stuff... THAT I ALREADY WARNED THEM ABOUT. SO MANY TIMES.

What's worse is that I cross-post on wattpad and wattpad has a feature that allows you to comment on every paragraph. When I went back to my warnings, I noticed that the ppl complaining about the dark stuff had commented on my list of warnings in the past.

They knew what was gonna come. But had the audacity to act shocked and bitch at me for the stuff they were already warned about 💀 Even worse, they had so many chances to stop?? They read my warnings, if they didn't like it, they should've stopped reading ugh. Some of these guys continued to even read the sequel books??? like i thought they hated it??? pls stop omg???

On twitter I see ppl doing the same thing rn.

Even though Myamura translated Sukuna saying that he plans on killing Yorozu/Tsumiki to break Megumi, ppl somehow deluded themselves into thinking that they're gonna do some "freaky" stuff in the next chapter 💀

Sukuna literally said he was gonna kill her. Not fuck her. And they weren't even flirting in the last panel so wtf

There's no incest because Tsumiki and Megumi aren't related so pls stop calling it incest because ur just lowering the seriousness of that word (and I know some Americans have the tendency to do that with other serious words too smh)

And when they get called out, they're like "you can't blame us because gege has a history of writing problematic stuff all the time like mei mei and her brother, the maki and mai kiss, etc!!! it's gross!! he clearly likes it!!"

those instances happened like... almost 100 chapters ago. Why are you still reading if you don't wanna see problematic content??? We're literally on ch 216 rn, you ppl had SO many chances to stop reading. Pls stop pretending to be "moral" about fictional content that you deem problematic and continue to read said problematic content while also complaining about that problematic content.

They clearly enjoy the manga if they're still reading it and keeping up with the leaks 🤭 idk why they gotta pretend to hate stuff about it in order to look "moral"

[inawickedlittletown]

Finished Reign, the 4th and thankfully last American Royals book. Had low expectations and still, it was even worse than I expected. I think I rated it 1/5 stars on goodreads because oh boy was this awful.

-

Spoilers below

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Book 3 left at such a cliffhanger that there was no way I wasn't picking up book 4 and yet the way things get resolved didn't do much of anything for me. The book felt all over the place and kinda like it was just thrown together to give every character a good ending. The romances and pairings were like a second thought and worse off was character development. Even the plot itself felt like a rehashing of the other books.

And to have a detestable character like Daphne get away with all the crap she pulled on Nina and Jeff and get off not only with no consequences but in a better place was very very annoying. After book after book of Jeff being blind to her manipulations there is no moment where everything comes to light. She doesn't even admit to lying about being pregnant...and then when it seems like she will get hated by the media suddenly there's a way to resolve it so that doesn't happen. Ugh.

I am so glad I don't have to give this series even a moment of thought now I finished this last book.

[cto10121]

Twilight Clown Takes—Part 5

Featuring not only fan dumb but anti fan dumb, which is arguably worse, Team Jacob dumb, and just another whole set of clownery. Without further ado, let’s get to it.

Anti Fan Dumb

“I own all the Twilight books and movies and have made custom T-shirts but also Twilight is garbage and it’s not hypocritical or bullying to say so!!1!!1 😡”

(Also, Twilight’s themes and even plot are anything but simple. There are so many interpretive lens you could apply, even critical lit crit ones, it’s dizzying. Like R&J, it only seems to be that way because people assume romance = dumb. Because they think romance = women, and women are inferior. It’s Sexism 101.)

This is going to sound truly crazy, but hear me out…if you don’t like something, just don’t engage with it? Ignore it???? Go be a fan of literally anything else????Out there, I know.

“I got what I wanted and I still hated it!!1!!11 😡”

Meyer Is Racist Round ♾️

…You know, I honestly can’t tell what this comment is supposed to aver. “Meyer’s portrayal is racist but also her series was ahead of its time in its portrayal of NA characters”????? Idek.

Anyway, it’s canon that Forks is neutral territory for both Cullens and the werewolves, so them looking after Charlie should be fine (I know Jacob says differently in New Moon but I have a feeling it is because of Alice’s presence—there is definitely a “we won’t be anywhere near you” component to the treaty). In Midnight Sun Edward says specifically it’s a five mile radius from the Cullens’ house.

There are so much wrong with this one sentence, it’s breathtaking. As in, I can’t breathe from choking with laughter.

1) “Despite its”—Because of, you idiot. It was Meyer’s success in tapping into ancient and nigh universal tropes and modernizing them without diluting their power.

2) Just because Twilight doesn’t have sex doesn’t mean it is chaste. There is nothing chaste about the erotic and sexual tension Meyer builds. It is literally off the charts.

3) “Forbidden love” and “steep imbalance of power” are not opposites. On the contrary, they are complementary. Literally every forbidden love romance has that aspect. Even Romeo and Juliet with its beautiful relationship of equals has Romeo’s privilege raised as male vs. Juliet’s raised as female. And yes, it does affect their tragedy.

4) “Damsel—” She is a human amid vampires and werwolves, idiot. Of course she is not going to girlboss her way out of danger. That would have been a one-way ticket to literal death. And she would have deserved it, for being too stupid to live. But Bella is not an idiot; she has more wit in her elbow than any of her antis combined.

Team Jacob Dumb

Ugh, kill this fanon with fire.

Meyer makes it clear that Bella is not attracted to all vampires the same way she is attracted to Edward. She isn’t taken in by James, she isn’t fooled by Laurent, and the vampires in Breaking Dawn are referred to in fairly basic terms. Even the way she describes the Cullens’ beauty differs—Carlisle’s and even Rosalie’s beauty (!!) she likens to Hollywood and Sports Magazine respectively. Very clichéd and emotionally empty descriptions. Most tellingly of all, she doesn’t describe other vampiric scents at all.

Meanwhile every little thing Edward does makes this girl cream. His voice, his scent, his crooked smile, his windswept bronze hair…because she’s in love with him, duh.

You may have had a point some years ago, Clown OP. Unfortunately for you, we now have Midnight Sun. There Edward does correctly guess Bella’s thoughts and feelings around 80-90% of the time. The only time when he’s consistently off is her attraction to him. He, like Bella, just sells himself short, as he relies on his mind reading too much.

Even if it were true that Jacob just naturally gets Bella better…in actual practice it’s mostly due to the fact that they are much closer in age. So their brand of humor (the running joke about ages, banter, the Simpsons allusion in Breaking Dawn) and style of communication are not that different (hence why Bella thinks he is so easy to talk to). Bella can truly be a regular 17-year-old with Jacob, and that is understandably attractive for a parentified teen.

Aside from that, though, Bella/Jacob don’t have much in common. Bella’s tomboyishness begins and ends with her truck and stretches to its limit to motorcycles. Otherwise she is a parentified class-conscious bookish Austenite and Jacob is your basic mechanic native boy who by all accounts is perfectly fine at the rez. He takes care of his father, but his situation is far from being as parentified as Bella.

Overall Edward is much closer to Bella in personality and likes than Jacob—he just has the disadvantage of being born in a different time and living a hundred years. Also, Jacob’s understanding of Bella doesn’t translate very well into respect for her—see forced kiss and manipulative second kiss.

Edward Hate Dumb

…I’ll give it to this one, this clownery almost sounds like a legit criticism. Almost.

First of all, it is clear beyond the shadow of a doubt that Edward would have never given up on Bella. Even when he left her he always planned to return and see how she was doing. In Midnight Sun he confesses that had he seen New Moon!Bella in her screaming nightmares he would have woken her up and stayed with her. And in Eclipse he tells Jacob explicitly that even if Bella did choose him he would always “be waiting in the wings,” seeing if she was okay and happy and watching out if Jacob imprinted on someone else.

So no, Edward would always be there for Bella, if just in his stalkerish way. That’s the problem with Edward, or what he feels is a problem: He wants to be this noble hero, but he is a simp at heart. He and Romeo could go neck to neck just on love clownery alone.

For fuck’s sake—

1) Edward telling Bella he cannot live without her is not and never was manipulative. For such a thing to be manipulative he would have said it in order to convince Bella to stay with him. He never does; he says it only as a simple statement of fact. Actually, Edward preferred Bella living her life as human—with or without him—so long as she is happy. That was literally his original plan except for Bella’s horror of growing older.

2) Edward actually does accept—deep down, but he does—Bella’s desire to be a vampire, even if he disagreed with it. He even accepted his family’s vote to turn Bella into a vampire quite fast. That’s because deep down, despite himself…Edward actually does want Bella to be with him forever. He just thinks it’s selfish of him to pursue that especially when he believes that humanity would be so much better for Bella. How do we know this? He admits this explicitly in Eclipse when Bella says she is afraid Edward doesn’t want her to become a vampire because he doesn’t want her to stick around for a millennia.

3) “Coercion” For fuck’s sake, it was just a proposal. Bella was free to reject it or negotiate (which she did! And Edward accepted her rejection!). Y’know, what actual irl couples do.

4) Ugh, I’m sick of these clowns whining about Edward dismantling her truck. Yes, it was shitty!!! Bella was annoyed and angry!!! He apologized for it!!! He said he was wrong to stop her and would not impede her from going to La Push from then on!!!! It’s called character development!!!!

Clown OP knows Twilight is horribly written because they’ve never read it. Works for me! Into the clownery bin you go.

[arainmorn-art]

I'm in a mood to talk about my art As I still have this artist ask .

1. Show your most recent wip

2. 5 favourites of your own work?

Hmmmmmmmmmm. That's a tough question. I guess we should exclude Deciphering x)

This spread page from Facade. It was cathartic to draw.

Steelhooves sketch portrait from 2015, Fallout Equestria fanart. I still don't know how I made this undead ghoul eye so cool only with white marker and felt pens x)

My old OCs, Bates and Luvi. The longest project of my own, about 10 years in the making - aaaaaaaaaaand if I'll return to it, there should be tons and tons of revisions.

Another OC, a chubby android girl Genivieve

Centaur deer 3. Least favourite things to draw?

Legs, ugh. I try to draw them as quick as possible and stop thinking about them.

4. Favourite things to draw? Answered it twice already: bing and bang

5. Anything you haven’t drawn yet but want to?

Actually it would be nice to draw a classic medieval fantasy. I also like an idea about drawing Slavic folklore.

6. Which artists inspire you right now? Oh gosh, Riccardo Federici. This man, oh, he is a master of academic classic drawing and painting in dark fantasy comic book. Just take a look at his Saria series.

7. Favourite works of all time excluding your own?

Ooooooooh man, this question is even worse. I love so many artists... okay, let's try to find out. ...And I think I know what I should show you. Art is not only pictures, isn't it? - Arcanum OST

Words can not describe how much I love this OST. I love the game too, of course, but gosh, this music. This somber feeling of a slow dying. Echoes of a long gone past. Faces, feelings, thoughts lost in time. It takes your heart, fills it with a fading magic and crumbles it in its old metal hand.

- The Longest Journey I love this game to death. I played it when I was 15 for the first time - and since then I replay it almost every year. It's magical. I don't care how old it is, I don't like sequels, I hate what creators made with my beloved April - this game is so deep in my heart it will never go away. I love it with a burning passion.

8. What do you like most about your own work?

Answered it here

9. What are you currently trying to improve?

I really should improve my anatomy, but it's soooooooo boring to me. What I'm currently improving is background painting. I work as concept artist right now, so I need it.

10. What’s that one thing that inspired you to make drawing your consistant hobby?

That one thing... Creating a feeling in my art - and sharing this feeling with others. There also is a storytelling, but, I guess, feeling comes first.

Other 13 questions will be next time.

[semper-legens]

135. Tempted, by PC and Kristin Cast

Owned: No, library Page count: 319 My summary: Zoey Redbird's life is going from bad to worse. Soul-bonded to the evil Kalona, Warrior-bonded to Stark, and Imprinted to Heath, her love life has imploded in her face. And her best friend is keeping secrets from her. One of the Raven Mockers is alive, and in her base. But Zoey needs to stop Kalona from taking his place as 'Erebus' alongside Neferet as 'Nyx Incarnate'. And she has no idea how... My rating: 0/5 My commentary:

Ah, House of Night. I'm still determined to not let this series break me, but it's trying very, very hard to make that happen. Each book just sinks a little bit lower into the pits of despair in which hope goes to die. Hope for good storytelling and characterisation, that is. This book continues to not really be about vampires - well, Stevie Rae has more vampire traits, but apart from Zoe drinking a bit of Heath's blood every so often you could be excused for not remembering that this is, in fact, a vampire thing. It's pretty terrible, and I am going to waffle about it under the cut.

First of all, for about the first half of this book, nothing happens. Characters bitch at each other. Zoe isn't dead. Boyfriend drama. Nothing of consequence, really, no tension. I know I've said this about the last book, and probably literally every book before, but it bears repeating. Cast has no idea what pacing is. The first half to two thirds of every House of Night book are the characters meandering around not really doing anything, until you hit the climax and suddenly it's all go. There's not a lot of narrative tension, and not really much that's gripping. And things go round in circles a lot. Yes, Stevie Rae, you feel bad for keeping secrets. Yes, Zoe, you're the centre of the universe. Oh, and this is a small thing, but for the first time we're out of Zoe's strict first-person narrative voice. We've got a series of third person limited sections from other characters, like Heath and Stark and Stevie Rae and such. Not bad in and of itself, but the chapter breaks will insist on naming the characters before their section, when it's perfectly clear in the prose who's talking. Not a major thing, it just irked me, especially as Cast actually did an adequate job distinguishing character voices. I mean, they're all annoying-ass teenagers, but that's in character for this lot.

Zoe continues to flirt with the Worst Romantic Fiction Trope Of All Time. Say it with me, kids - "I can save him!" Sure, Kalona's a rapist and murderer who has invaded Zoe's home to fight and slaughter her people. Sure, he's allied with the woman who wants to lead all the vamps into a giant war against everyone. Sure, he's definitely playing Zoe by only speaking in very selective truths about his past and who he is. But there's a heart of gold underneath! I can change him, I swear! Ugh. Yes, despite being a monster, Kalona is worth saving because Zoe wants to bang him - was predestined to want to bang him, even. In the hands of a more skilful author, this could have been an exploration of soulmate tropes, and what happens when your soulmate is terrible. But no. Forbidden love. Because it's soooooo hot.

And then there's the stupid birdman. Stevie Rae rescues a Raven Mocker who turns out to be Kalona's favourite son. His name is Rephaim. Now, if you're like me, you will look at that name and frown. It looks far more like the name of a Biblical angel than anything relating to the Cherokee people. And you would be half right! The Rephaim are from the Bible, and are either ghosts of the dead or a race of giants, depending on where you're reading. Nothing to do with the, I cannot stress this enough, real stories of Raven Mockers in real Cherokee belief. I keep thinking Cast has found the absolute depths of disregard for Cherokee people, and yet she sinks even lower. In addition, there seems to be some sort of 'all myths are true' thing going on with Kalona - turns out he's not actually Cherokee originally, he was Nyx's warrior and got cast down for loving her too much, then wound up becoming a Big Evil Dude among the Cherokee. So, once again, this supposedly Cherokee figure isn't actually that Cherokee. This compounds with the revalation that Zoe is definitely the reincarnation of A-ya, the woman made by the Ghigau Women to trap Kalona. (Not only is she Special and Perfect to Nyx, she's also Significant to the Cherokee.) But again, Zoe's Cherokee heritage is mishandled. Zoe is consistently portrayed as being pretty pale, and doesn't seem to have any meaningful connection to Cherokee culture, largely because Cast seemingly didn't care to do the research. It's both lazy and disrespectful.

And finally, my constant complaint about this series. All of these characters are terrible. The Twins continue to have no personality outside shopping, and at one point refer to Aphrodite as 'Aphrodykey', which isn't called out as being homophobic despite Zoey's whole 'we love and support the gays' thing. Aphrodite still refuses to grow an interest that isn't being a rich bitch and liking sex. Jack is still Emotional and Gay. Damien's personality boils down to acting like vocab words a ten year old knows are obscure. Stark gets the new trait of Likes To Read, and Zoey's immediately acting like he's a huge nerd for it and that it's amazing that he reads, despite the fact that he only reads high school English class books and nothing individual. Zoey herself is back down to one boyfriend, breaking up with Erik, who immediately goes and gets with another girl out of spite, because you are either with or against Zoey. Stevie Rae gets feelings for Rephaim for no real reason despite how dangerous he is and almost dies because of it. I'm just not interested in the lives of any of these characters. They're all too callous or annoying or both for me to feel any investment. Hopefully things go back to being entertainingly bad soon.

Next, the other series I'm rereading - we're back to CHERUB.

[azuisreading]

Ritual Income by B.L. Brown

Every witch has her Way. Milla is a witch who wants to hide. Grieving the loss of her mentor, she retreats to St. Augustine where her only goals are to run her antique store and tend her demesne into obscurity. But C.R.O.W. has other plans for the formerly wicked witch. As if being saddled with a new apprentice and trying to get rid of the Aural Insurance Adjuster sent to observe her isn’t enough to deal with, a pack of multi-level marketing huns sets their sights on Milla, intent on burning her store to the ground. When a threat to the demesne, and the witches and mortals under Milla’s care, raises its ugly head it is up to her to decide: Is living out her days as a nothing witch in a nowhere demesne what she truly wants, or is the formerly wicked witch ready to rejoin the witchy world of C.R.O.W.?

Review

Thanks to BookSirens I was able to be part of B.L. Brown’s ARC team and, honestly, it has been a while since I had this much fun so I’m writing this review due to that experience.

I love witches, and magic, and things going from bad to worse so quickly that not even the characters can follow what’s happening (I figured the last one here, heheh). I liked Milla from the first second (and won’t lie, Darkly too), all gothic, sarcastic, and generally dark in comparison to everyone else. Not all the characters that start being that way continue being that way at the end of the story, so this detail was really a breeze.

My favorite character, though, is Diego. For a lot of implications. It was surprising, and fluttering, for me as a native Spanish speaker to find Spanish in an English book due to a character. And not only that, to find my country specifically in lenses not particularly black in perspective. I have found my country before in media, movies and series mostly, but we were always depicted as the bad people. Diego… Diego gave me a respite, and felt almost moved to tears by all his details and everything that could tie him to me (not a lot, but even that little things are A LOT in comparison with what I found out there).

The story is complex and rich. It tries to confuse you, but I personally believe it only tries to confuse Milla, because when I received the correct information I knew where everything was going, what was happening, and who was the culprit. Kind of. I’m not the type to follow up on all the evidence, I just prefer to enjoy the ride and let the story unfold itself and find myself surprised with whatever outcome, but really! There was a detail SO evident in there that uuuuugh, Horned God damnit! It was frustrating! But, uh, we are frustrating. It’s normal. It made the characters more human. It made it easier to feel them close. I felt them close.

(I didn’t remember what we were forgetting either until the Epilogue, hahahah I’m so sorry, darling.)

(That ray of sunshine was so bright in comparison to Milla that it hurt my eyes every time it appeared, ugh. It should have been a hint.)

Four out of five stars because I unfortunately have a sharp eye, noticing everything even when I don’t want to. There were some missing commas and little details that made me stop here and there on my ride to write down a note, but they didn’t block or diminish my joy. It was a delight, and I hope to be able to be part of future installments of this series. Wanting to know more about Milla, Darkly, Diego! Even Julie, and maybe Morgen. Whatever happens in that universe filled with that kind of magic.

Phrases that I liked so much that I marked them while reading

«To Oliver - for telling me to shut up and write the damn thing. I wrote the damn thing.» — Dedication.

«She took another small sip, let the sharp tang roll over her tongue, and swallowed her annoyance. “What.” Okay, so maybe she wasn’t so good at swallowing her annoyance.» — One.

«“Excuse me?” The woman’s eyebrows arched, which was a feat. Milla honestly did not think eyebrows drawn with Crayola could arch with such disdain. “You’re excused?”» — One.

«Milla prodded the torn seam and tried counting backward from ten. She made it to seven which, truth be told, was an achievement.» — One.

«She was no doubt crafting a rude post of her experience for Yap! Reviews, which was fine. Milla didn’t need in-person sales to survive, the store was mostly a way to fill her days and keep her mind from wandering. Not that it was working very well.» — One.

«Diego had spotted the collar on one of the many occult boards he trolled. Milla didn’t know how he selected the gold from the veritable sea of pyrite that was online browsing, but he always knew which pieces to bid on, their essence speaking to him through the computer. Or something.» — One.

«“I feel like I owe you a drink,” he mumbled, staring into the middle distance. “Only if I don’t owe you anymore chit-chat.” “Chit-chat.” “Small talk. It’s a skill all Southern women are supposed to possess. I suck at it.” “Do you?” “Absolutely.” “You’re certain?” “No,” Milla deadpanned. “I’m Czechian.”» — Four.

«“Soup and salad at a bar-b-que restaurant? I hear they revoke your Southern Charm for that.” “I don’t eat meat,” Milla replied. Darkly straightened in his chair, coughing into a fist. “Sorry, I didnae ken—” “How would you?” She cut him off, not wanting to have this conversation. Not wanting to care that he was embarrassed for bringing a vegetarian to a restaurant known for its poorly smoked meats. “I never told you.” “I could have asked,” he retorted. Milla braced herself for a snide remark inferring it was her fault he didn’t know. His sunglasses were still on, so she couldn’t see his eyes, bus his mouth frowned and he squirmed under her scrutiny. “I should have asked, I’m sorry.” “You’re sorry?” “Aye.” He scratched at his collarbone.» — Seventeen.

«Altogether a disgusting experience. Zero out of five stars. Would not recommend.» — Twenty One.

«“Now that almost feels too obvious.” “Thank you,” Milla deadpanned, “for the opinion absolutely nobody asked for.” “Only here to help.”» — Thirty Two.

«Milla shot him a narrow-eyed glare, silently willing him to kindly shut-the-fuck-up.» — Thirty Three.

[iloveabunchofgames]

#JakeReviewsItch

And All Would Cry Beware!

by Tales of the Renegade Sector

Price (US): $9.99

Included In: Indie Bundle for Palestinian Aid, Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality

Genre: Shooter

Pitch: A story-driven first-person shooter on an alien world, with a bit of exploration and backtracking.

My expectations: The Itch page calls it an "old-school-style" shooter. I'm mildly skeptical of that claim. It looks like a basic Unity shooter with low-resolution textures. Whatever. I love shooting and Metroid-ing. The game and the developer both have names that sound like your high school's most audacious bands. Expectations are high.

Review:

You have a gun. You get a new gun. The new gun offers different advantages in combat and can open routes blocked by obvious barriers. These routes lead to new guns.

And They All Would Cry Beware! Is a competent, playable shooter that offers nothing special. It handles exactly like every other indie shooter made in Unity. (Though you’ll need to go through something like Steam if you want to adjust aim sensitivity on a controller.) Enemies types are all distinct, but their movement and attack patterns are uninspired, as is their abstract, geometric shape design. Likewise, the small, alien world’s regions are varied enough that you won’t get too lost while backtracking, but it’s never exciting to step into a new biome. There’s no atmosphere.

The path is littered with transcribed audio logs that fill in a story that’s Stargate meets The Book of Genesis.

I got stuck right at the end and had to look for hints in the Itch comments section, where someone mentioned rocket jumps. I’d previously shot a rocket at the floor and died, but I guess the two were unrelated, and I was just supposed to know I could safely hop on explosions. Ugh.

+ A complete, reasonably passable passable game that can be finished in an hour or two. + Breezing through old areas with powerful new weapons is satisfying. It helps that everything has unlimited ammo. + Different areas look and sound different, easing in navigation. + The most Biblical shooter since Super 3D Noah's Ark.

– Doesn't excel at anything. – Bad UI. Just a bunch of flat, garish rectangles. Worst of all are the Health pips, which so small they're practically invisible. Poor feedback in general. It's hard to tell when you're taking damage and from what direction, made worse by the aforementioned Health indicator. Enemies flash and shake when hit, but they can be hard to see around your own bullets, and guns have a deceptively short range, so what looks like a perfectly aimed shot might not be doing anything. – Very few hidden collectables. Just enough to trick you into thinking exploration is important. It's not. – Did I miss something? I thought I was paying attention. I read every written word I encountered. How was I supposed to know that jumping on an explosion (which, again, I thought had killed me because I couldn't identify what had actually killed me) was necessary to reach the end? Hiding collectables to reward players who have Quake on the mind is great, but if a move as illogical as rocket jumping is part of the critical path, you better make sure I know about it.

🧡🧡🧡🤍🤍 Bottom Line: While I didn't have a bad time with And All Would Cry Beware, and I was charmed by its poetic aspirations, it's hard to recommend a shooter that's this thoroughly average.

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