#fictional men who are mean to me my beloved

[doctor-vertigo]

Based off of this tumblr post

[silvrhxnd]

give me recs to add to this list :)

[seethewiredsouls]

I need to talk about Sweetpea. Particularly, AJ and Rhiannon. BIG SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE FINALE.

Y'all... I am fuckin sad. It's been awhile since I've been affected by a TV character's death like this, and I think it's worsened by the fact that I feel kind of... betrayed by Rhiannon. I'm still trying to process my feelings, so instead I'll look at it from a narrative standpoint.

It had to end like this. There was no other way to end it. Rhiannon was in a spot where it seemed like her life had overall improved, and she wasn't going to kill anymore. There was MAYBE a chance of her getting caught but for now, she was getting away with it. Murdering people had majorly improved her life.

That being the takeaway or moral of the story was obviously not going to work. The writers had a moral obligation to condemn murder, and I say this because of how clear Ella has been in her press tour stating "KILLING IS BAD." They don't mean to inspire young serial killers by sharing a successful I-killed-my-bullies-and-lived-happily-ever-after type of story. Meaning, there had to be consequences for Rhiannon in some capacity.

This could've been done by having her caught and arrested, or even left in a spot where it felt like she was right back where she started (where she loses AJ, Craig, Julia, her house, maybe even her job)... But instead they decided to rip our fucking hearts out and stomp on them. I hate it, but you know what? It was effective as fuck.

Rhiannon truly believed she was in the right murdering those three men because they were "bad" people. She had some remorse about the first victim until she learned enough information about him to justify it to herself. They were bullies, so she did a Good Thing. She's not a monster because the murders were justified in her eyes.

But AJ? The sweetest dork who noticed her when no one else did?? The one person rooting for her the whole time??? She chose her OWN FREEDOM over the life of this objectively GOOD man that she supposedly cared about. How can she possibly rationalize this murder and feel guilt-free?? Her reason for killing was entirely selfish, and she tries to delude herself (muttering "I'm not a monster"), but you can see the guilt. It completely broke her.

And that's her punishment, the consequence of murdering people - hurting the people that care about you. Being called a monster by AJ, the act of killing him and losing him at the same time, and ending up alone and alienated at the end of it all... It was more of a punishment than jail time could've ever been.

And frankly, it was very well executed. The story came full circle. Rhiannon's automatic response quoting AJ from their initial meeting ("nice piece of kit") being the trigger for his realization was done beautifully. You could FEEL the shift - her panic realizing she gave herself away, and him in stone cold fear and denial. And the initial stab... It was obviously coming, and yet I was hoping SO HARD that it wasn't. Like maybe, just maybe she'll let him go... And she doesn't. And it makes her completely irredeemable in my eyes. It was the one last step off the deep-end into psycholand.

It hurts, but it's goddamn good writing. RIP AJ, our beloved dork.

not me rationalizing the writing choices to numb the pain of a fictional character death

PS it's not working I think I need to write fic

[jesncin]

hi!! would you kindly tell us the comics you used for your passionate defense of martians' gender fuckery?? i would very much like to read more!

Haha sure! J'onn and the Martians are a case of "they're genderqueer coded through science fiction shenanigans but because they don't have the constraints to be Representation they get to be really fun and interesting in a way most Corporate Canon Representation don't get to be". With that, here's the comics I pulled from for queer readings of J'onn and the Martians:

Justice League Infinity Takes place in the DCAU world, where J'onn takes a break from the League to live a quiet life as Amrit Jessawalia. This one's cute, I like it- and the writing feels really intentional that it's meant to be a queer reading of J'onn as it's written very compassionately.

New 52 Martian Manhunter Solo: Epiphany The great Monkey's Paw of J'onn Queer Texts. The New 52 Solo is unintentionally the gayest and genderfunky story of all time for J'onn, at the expense of being extremely convoluted and edgy. It's about J'onn splitting himself into multiple identities to escape death, and all those identities need to unite in order to become J'onn again. This is where J'onn kisses Aquaman, and his heart is represented by a woman. This story is so queer that is spawned this write up on Screen Rant about it.

Martian Manhunter 2019: Identity While this solo is polarizing in the MM community, I still recommend it because it has a lot of merits as a J'onn take. This is written by Steve Orlando, a Jewish bi man who purposefully integrated his Jewish heritage and queer identity into his reimagining of Martian lore. While J'onn isn't technically queer in this story, his narrative is paralleled with that of a bi woman (a cop, barf. Very copaganda run unfortunately), and Martian lore is reimagined as nods to Jewish culture and customs (which is incredibly cool). Martian shapeshifting culture is more thought out in this run, down to Martian pro-creation/pregnancy being a thing both J'onn and his wife M'yri'ah combined do together. This is the most explicitly intentional J'onn queer allegory I've read so far.

JLA 1997 issue 63 This is where the iconic "J'onn identifies as asexual" panel comes from. It's real!! Definitely unintentional representation moment but I think it's funny that this canonized J'onn as "not a cis man" just because the writer wanted to avoid Diana calling out J'onn for being sexist lmao

Carl Lumbly's Interview with Watchtower Database Highly recommend this interview because not only is it rare to hear from Carl Lumbly (the beloved voice actor behind DCAU J'onn) but he speaks in a way that's so profoundly poetic, it's clear J'onn is a character that personally means a lot to him. His headcanon for Martian shapeshifting culture is my favorite of all time, and I love how his take in particular respects the identities J'onn shifts into (maybe I'm making a comic inspired by his take because it's that good). He talks about how he informed J'onn's characterization with his immigrant experience, which I adore as well. My hot take is that Black actors have contributed the most interesting and nuanced takes on J'onn :y

Those are the big holy grail of Queer Martian texts (minus the really cringey transphobic Joan J'onzz story)! The rest is me reading into/projecting onto other Martian characters which is incredibly easy to do when they're a shapeshifter alien species that swap into men and women casually, haha.

[wrishwrosh]

hey, i find your posts about historical fiction pretty interesting, do you have any recs?

anon this is the most beautiful and validating ask i have ever received. absolutely of COURSE I have recs. not gonna be a lot of deep cuts on this list but i love all of these books and occasionally books do receive awards and acclaim because they are good. in no particular order:

the cromwell trilogy by hilary mantel. of course i gotta start with the og. it’s 40 million pages on the tudor court and the english reformation and it will fundamentally change you as a person and a reader

(sub rec: the giant, o’brien by hilary mantel. in many ways a much shorter thematic companion to the cromwell trilogy imo. about stories and death and embodiment and the historical record and 18th century ireland. if you loved the trilogy, read this to experience hils playing with her own theories about historical fiction. if you are intimidated by the trilogy, read this first to get a taste of her prose style and her approach to the genre. either way please read all four novels ok thanks)

lincoln in the bardo by george saunders. the book that got me back into historical fiction as an adult. american history as narrated by a bunch of weird ghosts and abraham lincoln. chaotic and lovely and morbid.

the everlasting by katy simpson smith. rome through the ages as seen by a medici princess, a gay death-obsessed monk, and an early christian martyr. really historically grounded writing about religion and power, and also narrated with interjections from god’s ex boyfriend satan. smith is a trained historian and her prose slaps

(sub rec: free men by katy simpson smith. only a sub rec bc i read it a long time ago and my memory of it is imperfect but i loved it in 2017ish. about three men in the woods in the post revolutionary american south and by virtue of being about masculinity is actually about women. smith did her phd in antebellum southern femininity and motherhood iirc so this book is LOCKED IN to those perspectives)

a mercy by toni morrison. explores the dissolution of a household in 17th century new york. very different place and time than a lot of morrison’s bigger novels but just as mean and beautiful

(sub rec: beloved by toni morrison. a sub rec bc im pretty sure everyone has already read beloved but perhaps consider reading it again? histfic ghost story abt how the past is always here and will never go away and loves you and hates you and is trying to kill you)

an artist of the floating world by kazuo ishiguro. my bestie sir kazuo likes to explore the past through characters who, for one reason or another (amnesia, dementia, being a little baby robot who was just born yesterday, etc), are unable to fully comprehend their surroundings. this one is about post-wwii japan as understood by an elderly supporter of the imperial regime

(sub rec: remains of the day by kazuo ishiguro. same conceit as above except this time the elderly collaborator is incapable of reckoning with the slow collapse of the system that sheltered him due to britishness.)

the pull of the stars by emma donoghue. donoghue is a strong researcher and all of her novels are super grounded in their place and time without getting so caught up in it they turn into textbooks. i picked this one bc it is a wwi lesbian love story about childbirth that made me cry so hard i almost threw up on a plane but i recommend all her histfic published after 2010. before that she was still finding her stride.

days without end by sebastian barry. this one is hard to read and to rec bc it is about the us army’s policy of genocide against native americans in the 19th century west as told by an irish cavalry soldier. it is grim and violent and miserable and also so beautiful it makes me cry about every three pages. first time i read it i was genuinely inconsolable for two days afterwards.

this post is long as hell so HONORABLE MENTIONS: the amazing adventures of kavalier & clay by michael chabon, the western wind by samantha harvey, golden hill by frances spufford, barkskins by annie proulx, postcards by annie proulx, most things annie proulx has written but i feel like i talk about her too much, the view from castle rock by alice munro, the name of the rose by umberto eco, tracks by louise erdrich

[katerinaaqu]

It's hard talking about the disrespect to Greek mythology and religion when every argument people brings to the table is "look at this original novel that is adapted into a movie that is turned into a tv show that didn't follow the original plot" as if the Greek culture is on par with fictional story instead of a tradition and heritage of real life people.

A media that is broadcast to the public and make accessible to everyone that erased the values and lesson of a cultural story still can do harm when it feeds misunderstanding and misinterpretion of the culture it originated from.

Greek people has the right to be upset when their culture keeps getting misrepresented, doesn't matter the good intentions behind it, why must it be at the expense of Greek culture?

You can create arts that is so beautiful and so praises by many, and years from now you could look back and see what an amazing experience and community you have created out of it. But at the same time you also continue feeding the distorted ideas and flawed understanding about a culture as a whole.

All because you took from a culture and want to tell your own story.

Retelling is telling back the story. Any addition or new ideas you bring is when there's part in the original story that is vague or open for interpretations. Even then, when you elaborate, you follows the already presented ideas that the original story already established.

If it so beloved to you and so meaningful to you, why couldn't you be faithful when adapting and retelling with the talents you have?

Shouldn't it be better if you created an original story inspired by it? If you feels that the values and standards are not to your taste, but you so loved the stories and could related to it, isn't it better to create original characters and settings with your own voice and narrative with the story inspiration as the backdrop?

At this point, what is greek mythology and lore to you? That makes you so passionate so inspired, that spark your imagination that encourage you to be creative but it is at the ruin of old age history that is meaningful for the Greek identity. Do you really appreciate the values and moral that you gained from the stories, or did you forget yourself along the way?

I couldn't have said it better! I agree to all that because that is exactly my sentiment as well! On one hand of course I am proud that Greek mythology contnues to inspire and people want to create stuff on them or that even now there are people who think the values of Greek Mythology are universal and they are!

But as you said it pains me to no limits when stories that were literally created from people based on their culture and religion to pass on messages are not only distorted beyond recognition but also to a degree where nowadays most people of Greek mythology liking spectrum know only how terrible villains some men are (in actual mythology they are complicated personas) and how weak women are (there are literlly figures in Greek mythology that are so strong personas that honestly I am shocked. See Helen for example how she is the most projected persona as a pretty face that does nothing when Helen literally taks back to Aphrodite, she is the only one who sees through Odysseus's disguise, she has knowledge of medicine and so much more for once) Mythology loses all its meaning, all its allegory and all its cultural spectrum because as you said people do not use it to retell the story, they use the word "retelling" as their excuse to just tell a story that fits them by using the popularity of greek mythology and yes as you said why cannot they say their original stories while using inspiration from Greek mythology?

Honestly I have nothing to add! You said it all dear Anon!

[hussyknee]

From the blog of K. J. Charles dated 19th April 2024, copy-pasted for Tumblr history nerds and historical fiction writers.

----------------------------------------------

Eponymosity!

A quickie blog post today, inspired by Benjamin Dreyer’s entertaining rant on the distinction between eponymous and titular (it’s in footnote 1 for a clearer explanation than I am inclined/able to provide), and also by the fact that one of these sneaky little bastards nearly got me in a recent book.

So. An eponym is simply a word taken from a person’s name. Obamacare is an eponym, so is Reaganomics. If you hoover your carpets, the verb comes from the eponymous brand of vacuum cleaner. (We do not use the capital letter, no matter what the Hoover corporation may think: that ship has sailed, as demonstrated by the fact that I hoover with a Dyson.)

If you write historical novels, eponyms are one of those damn things. They tend to be extremely and usefully specific in meaning, but they are also extremely specific in dates, meaning you can’t rely on the old “well it was probably around for decades before it made it into the dictionary” line.

Here for your advisory is an incomplete list of eponyms that may trip you up, depending on period.

Boycott: The name comes from 1880 (Ireland, Charles Boycott, a shitty land agent who was socially and economically ostracised). The practice is older: there was a widespread boycott in the UK of slavery-produced sugar starting in 1791, during which sales plummeted by something like 40%. It is totally historically plausible to have a consumer or personal boycott in your Georgian or Regency novel, but you can’t call it a boycott for several decades more.

Chauvinist: Named for a French vaudeville character. Meaning ‘blinkered nationalist’ it dates from 1840; you can’t use it for a male pig until 1960.

Fedora: The hat beloved of men who spend too long on the internet getting angry about Star Wars sequels actually used to be a symbol of female liberation and cross dressing. Comes from the 1887 play Fédora starring Sarah Bernhardt.

Fuchsia: You will be able to spell this if you remember it’s an eponym for Mr Fuchs. The flowers are so named in the UK in the 1750s, the colour not till the 1920s. Do not put your Regency heroine in fuchsia, is what I mean.

Maverick: Supposedly from a US cattle owner, Samuel Maverick, who let his calves run wild. 1880s US at the very earliest, more probably 1930s. Yes, that is irritating.

Mesmeric: He may have compelling eyes but they ain’t mesmeric before the 1860s. The hypnotist Mesmer flourished in the late 1700s, giving us mesmerism (hypnosis); mesmerise wasn’t a verb till the end of the Regency, and even then it still meant ‘to put into a hypnotic trance’.

Sadistic: Marquis de Sade, as you already know, but NB that sadist/sadistic aren’t in general use till the 1890s or so when sexology got going, along with masochism (also an eponym).

Sandwich: 1762 since you ask.

Silhouette: The outline picture is named for French finance minister Etienne de Silhouette. Used in France from 1760. However, despite there being a craze for silhouettes in England, the actual word didn’t come here till the mid 1820s, which is sodding annoying if your novel about a silhouette cutter happens to be set in 1819 I’M JUST SAYING.

Sweet Fanny Adams: This UK usage originally referring to something no good, now often used as an alternative to ‘sweet FA/fuck all’, came in from 1869 and cannot be used before 1867. You really don’t want to know where it comes from but here if you must (be warned, it’s genuinely grim). (My note: tw for CSA and child murder.)

Thug: Originally from India. Used to describe the Thuggee (as Brits then called it) sect from 1810. Didn’t become generalised to all violent lowlifes till 1839. You can’t be assaulted by thugs in a Regency unless they are actually Thugs.

Trilby: Another hat your Regency gentleman can’t wear. Comes from George du Maurier’s mega hit Trilby published 1894, which also gave us svengali (the name of the baddie in the book).

Feel free to add to this in the comments, there’s always something!

Death in the Spires, my Oxford-set historical murder mystery, is out now. The silhouette book, The Duke at Hazard, publishes in July.

----------------------------------------------

End c+p.

KJ Charles is one of my absolute favourite writers in the world and the contemporary star in the crown of the MM historical romance genre. Her blog is also worthy of following because she reads incredibly widely and diversely and posts book recommendations as well as good advice about writing.

Re: Dreyer's rant, I am absolutely a prescriptivist, and if you use the word "nonplussed" in that unholy way I'm blocking you. We colonized folk of the former Raj didn't learn the intricacies of this cussed language for you to change meanings on a dime because you couldn't be bothered to crack open a dictionary.

[girlishwhimsies]

unfortunately i have to yap more on the economic divides.

just there are so many implications and complications when it comes to generational wealth vs cycles of poverty. cycles of poverty my beloved in fiction and beloathed in life

i yapped a lot in the tags of my last post so read those too but i will be yapping so much here too!!! the way it affects familial relationships consumes me, two bits father leaves and suddenly now his mom has to go work and she sure as hell can’t get a great job cause she’s a greaser so she probably doesn’t have much education and she’s an asian woman in the 60s!! she’s now a single mom with kids to take care of. so she ends up working as a waitress or something similar and uses that money to scrape by, food stamps were starting to become a thing in the 60s as well so she def used those. and then she has two children. she can’t get them through college and two bit knows he has to step up and be the man of the house and that means finding some way to make money so he has to drop outta school cause he needs to get a job. that’s what greasers do and that’s what was always gonna end up happening to him. the cycle didn’t start with him or end with him but it has to keep going l

ace and steve too. bounced around to different homes, never having one home with a steady flow of income, having to find ways to get through it. ace who didn’t trust any men, especially when money was involved, and only trusted those close to her!!! the cycle of poverty hits them all again as her and her brothers can’t rely on a father to bring in income. god plus the way that poverty creates addicts due to the stress of it all and then addiction further fuels poverty since you have to buy your vices. some addicts can’t hold a steady job which makes it even worse. all cycling in on itself over and over again. and that’s not even mentioning the clear redlining that tilly mentions in her ace backstory (this may even be a whole other post tbh) the town is designed to keep the poor poorer and the rich richer.

johnny who in my mind is clearly food insecure (y’all saw the way that boy snatched that food from dally and hid it away immediately right) never quite sure where he is gonna get food from besides the curtis’s since his parents spend most of the money on alcohol. the anxiety that would bring him and it impacts his story so hard cause he always is at a disadvantage due to that. there is a reason that boy looks so small

dally has always travelled, choosing to steal to get what he needs cause he never stays long enough anywhere to get a full job. he’s been labelled a hood since day one anyway and wouldn’t get a great job anyway cause of his skin color so he decides to lean into it and do what he has to do to get by.

then we have the curtis brothers. who were so close to getting out of tulsa. they were able to try to break the cycle and send darry off to college after he was one of the first to get through high school and make it out just for him to have to come straight back. no matter how hard darry tried he couldn’t ever end it but at least he can try to get pony through school and get him a better job that he can succeed in and love comfortably with

more various thoughts i couldn’t fit into any one greaser story- a lot of the kids were most likely mistakes and/or teen pregnancies that they really couldn’t afford to have but had to go through with it anyway. the cycle of addiction that runs through these families. the parents hopes and dreams of getting out never getting fulfilled. the way race plays into poverty as well

then you have the socs who have all the money they need, who have the opportunity to get out and choose not to take it cause tulsa is a source of pride for them. they benefit from the cycle too even if the kids don’t always realize it. just ugh. the way all of it comes into play with the overarching story

[incurable-cough-of-death]

I'm not defending Calypso. I don't agree with her actions either.

I'm just side-eyeing the way the fandom is hating on her and not all the other gods that have caused Odysseus pain and torment on his journey home. Why does she get the worst of the hate?

Yeah, trapped him on her island for 7 years. But this is also the musical that has:

God of Wisdom raising him to be a soldier since childhood (something tumblr is very wishy-washy about if it's good or bad in media)

Demigod Cyclops who kills his men after receiving an apology and a gift of wine

God of the Sea who creates a storm to keep him from going home, killed most of his men, tried to drown him multiple times, threatens to flood his homeland, stalking him for over 10 years to try and kill him for pride at this point

Daughter of a Titan/Witch who turned his men into pigs, tried to kill him with a chimera, tried to "seduce" him and then stab him

Thunder King of the Gods who put him on that island in the first place after killing the remainder of his crew and destroying his boat (there's no way Poseidon wouldn't have gotten to him otherwise), refused to let him go until God of Wisdom is near death

Most of those gods/demigods are either beloved by the fandom or the fandom at least finds fun to make fun of. All I've seen from people who don't like Calypso is downright loathing. And arguably, what the other gods did was far worse than what Calypso did. Why are they all getting so much love while Calypso is treated like a monster? Seriously, I've seen people thirsting after Poseidon more and more every time he appears, and he's actively trying to kill Odysseus! People thirst after Circe but she did just as bad, if not worse, than Calypso. So where's their hatedom?

What's the one thing that those gods don't have in common with Calypso? (Spoilers; Calypso is a dark skinned black woman).

Y'all don't have to like her. I certainly don't. But the level of hate for Epic's Calypso is seriously giving off "I hate black people" vibes more than "I dislike this character and character's actions" vibes.

this is a lot of lmao for me.

First off, it's not that serious, it's literally a fictional piece of media and people are allowed to like who they like and dislike who they dislike and there does not have to be some deep ideological reason for it. Second, as an actual Greek Mythology buff who read the Odyssey for school and drinks problematic fave juice in general not just for Greek Mythology, I have always hated Calypso and always will so that dark-skinned hater bullshit does not apply to me at least.

Big point here: all the characters in Epic are nuanced and have different motivations for their actions and they can all be understandable however it is up to the discretion of the audience to decide who they like or do not like based on their actions. PERSONALLY I do not like Calypso because homegirl heard the man say he was married TWICE and was just like "well that do not matter I want to keep you as my sex toy/'lover' forever" with no regard for his wishes OUT OF THE DESIRE to not be lonely. And that actually makes it worse for me than Polyphemus, Circe, Zeus, or Poseidon because they at least are acting out of defense of their name, dependents, etc. Calypso is just wantonly keeping Odysseus against his will because she can and wants to and believes she knows what's best for him.

(Also for the record, I hate Zeus and am not exactly fond of Poseidon although I enjoy the songs he sings and understand his motivation even if I don't agree with it. I do also enjoy Calypso's songs even though their content makes my skin crawl as a SA survivor.)

I UNDERSTAND Calypso's motivation but I do not sympathize with it, it is selfish and ignorant and entitled and i do not feel sorry for her at all for getting left alone again, she made her bed. She thinks that because Odysseus washed up on her island, that means he's destined to be hers regardless of what he's saying his wishes are.

I think the big thing you're missing here is that Calypso is a thief of autonomy; a BIG THIEF of autonomy. The shit that goes down with Polyphemus, Circe, Poseidon, and Zeus only takes up three years. Then Calypso takes SEVEN YEARS AWAY from Odysseus. She is the lion's portion of why it takes him so long to get back to Ithaca. She keeps him from even leaving the island. At least with the others, he had the ability to move around but Calypso makes even that impossible. Kind of make sense to hate her now?

Also, she is keeping him hostage with the intention of using him for sex out of a twisted notion of love and whether or not she actually does so is up to interpretation. But as one friend from the fandom put it, if the genders were reversed, the fandom would be in agreement that the captor is a terrible person and there'd be few to no fans. And it makes a lot of sense for the haters to just HATE her if she's at the very least a sexual harasser if not a sexual assaulter. End of the day, she's a sexual predator no matter how far she got.

Anyways this is fandom so I'm not genuinely upset if people misinterpret my reasons for hating a character but long essays of BS deserve long replies herego~ Also another fandom friend likes Calypso BECAUSE she's problematic so sit with that for a minute.

[lauralot89]

This post contains spoilers.

So.

I read The Blood of the Vampire by Florence Marryat, and as soon as I finish this review, I'm going to go take a shower. I mean that in all seriousness. I feel unclean.

This book, like Bram Stoker's Dracula, was published in 1897. Thank whatever deity you believe in (or fate or whatever) that Dracula is the one that became hugely beloved in popular culture, or else this might have done it, and vampire fiction would forever be tainted by the association.

Let me tell you what this book is about: It's about how the existence of multiracial people is a curse upon the world and they ought to just end themselves before they poison other people with their presence. I am not exaggerating.

These are the ending lines of the book: My parents have made me unfit to live. Let me go to a world where the curse of heredity which they laid upon me may be mercifully wiped out.

There are racist works, and then there are works that are racist on an insurmountable scale, and this is the latter.

Dracula, for example, is racist. The book is about the threat of foreign men coming and taking English women without even mentioning Stoker's casually racist remarks. But the thing about Dracula is that this thread does not permeate the entire rest of the tapestry. It is entirely possible to make an adaptation of Dracula free of Stoker's prejudices. Marryat's book is nothing but prejudice.

At this point you may be wondering why I bothered to read all of it? Simple. I realized it was going to be a hateful mess that no one should ever lay eyes on, and so I continued so I could write this post to persuade no one to ever lay eyes on it. If you can bear to reblog this, please do so to spread the word.

The plot is this: Once upon a time there was an evil scientist who performed horrible experiments on people and was thrown out of polite society. So he moved to a coffee plantation in Jamaica where he could experiment on animals and Black people without interference. He then impregnates a woman whose mother was enslaved and whose father was white, and has an illegitimate daughter who is the vampire in this story.

(The mother of the vampire, incidentally, also loves torturing Black people and tasting their blood because again, in this book, mixed race people are evil)

The vampire is a psychic vampire: by being in the presence of others, and especially through physical contact, she drains their health and vitality.

Now you might be thinking that this all sounds terrible, but that having a character who is mixed race and is blamed for other people's suffering because of her genetics could be maybe unintentionally poignant?

No. No it isn't. The vampire is also a terrible person. She happily brags about how she used to amuse herself as a child by whipping Black children on the plantation, and when her friend's baby, whom the vampire had loved to play with and dote on, dies, the vampire doesn't care. All she cares about is that the guy she was flirting with left to help bury his sister-in-law's dead infant without saying goodbye.

In fact, there's no one likeable in this book, except for the dead baby and an abused nineteen year old who dies of vampire contact. Oh, and a governess who is barely in the story.

The baby's mother is said multiple times in the narrative to be the nicest woman ever, but she has no qualms with hanging out with this woman who casually uses racial slurs and talks about whipping Black children. The vampire's love interest threatens to kill himself if she won't marry him, and talks about her "wild" beauty and "untamed savagery" like a gross fetishistic POS. There's a guy cheating on his girlfriend and a doctor who warns of associating with the vampire because her heritage means she'll destroy everyone she touches.

If you were wondering how she became a vampire, it's by being mixed race. That's it. That's the explanation.

Also another lovely lesson that this book teaches is that if you aren't constantly flirting with and lavishing attention on your partner, he will cheat on you because you're a miserable prude and you will have asked for it. This only applies if you are a woman, of course.

I may scrub myself with steel wool.

This book uses anti-Black slurs and horrific terms for multiracial people, and even if it did not, the disgusting racism still permeates the entire plot.

The only thing I enjoyed in this entire book was that it contained the sentence "I will take no refusal," which made me think of that same sentence in Dracula, which I wish I'd read instead.

Zero stars. Do not read. Do not pass Go. Do not collect two hundred dollars.

[crybabysunflower]

I am so fucking insane about kim yoosung. He has been my favourite mysme guy and he will always be. People who dislike him will always make me upset since i find most of them lacking compassion towards people dealing with grief and loss

But lately I find myself get very angry towards him. Especially after I played his route this April to get his Normal Ending and I happen to notice some things about him

Kim yoosung is a chronic people pleaser and that hurts my soul. It hurts me whenever I express my dislike towards some of the things he might enjoy and he decides to never touch that thing ever again...all because I said I dont like it. It hurts my soul because I dont want people to change themselves for me...and lose their individuality....I am someone who values individuality and seeing him lose himself for me is painful.

His tendency to self sacrifice and risk his life now makes me angry. My feelings towards the concept of sacrifice is very ambivalent. In my culture where women are always expected to put others before themselves I grew up feeling a sense of shame because I had been unable to do so. Yet this concept feels very toxic to me as I have watched mothers growing agitated and abusive towards their children when they dont feel like they have been "paid back" enough by them. From an early age I have learnt that self sacrifice often comes with strings attached and eventually becomes a tool of perpetuating abusive cycles.

I do believe Yoosung is not the type who would engage in hurting others for his self sacrificial tendencies- not in the way I talked about because he chose to be that way. Men are not really expected to do things Yoosung usually engages in (being a helping hand to your partner in domestic activities, cooking and putting himself and his own well being before your partners most of the time).

But it still does not stop feeling painful to me. He risks his life and loses an eye. In one bad ending he gets tortured and God knows what else happens and takes the abuse with pride. I cannot see my partner in so much pain. I dont want to be widowed within the first six months of marriage. It hurts me that he feels the need to constantly prove to deserve my love. It hurts that he will never see how much he means to me as much I mean to him. "I just wanted to protect you-" SHUT UP SHUT UP.

Going back to the point where I mentioned how he takes the abuse in his 3rd Bad Ending with a smile. Him being so vulnerable to get into abusive relationship and even being prone to tolerate abuse and romanticise the abuse he tolerates makes me so upset. The Bad Ending 1 is a clear proof of that and how much he easily forgives people who hurt him all the time albeit being well intentioned is also another proof. Zen himself says "yoosung is too nice to make jumin suffer the consequences of his actions".

This very much drives me insane. His overall tendency to neglect himself for a crumb of affection and his fear of being abandoned makes me so angry at him. It ignites an urge in me to protect this boy from every danger. Perhaps I am projecting a bit since I feel like being able to protect Yoosung or someone like him will heal my inner child (who has been failed by most adults around them).

Its past 2 am at night and I am crying over my beloved fictional boy.

[respectthepetty]

I started to watch Kiseki last week thanks to my dash. My original plan was to bingewatch it after it`s finished if it has a happy ending which might have been wiser. However I am obsessed with Ai Di and Chen Yi. I think it`s interesting that Chen Yi tells Ai Di that they have to be quiet during their first night because Ai Di would get angry if he heard. I am not sure how he wouldn`t recognise Ai Di even if he is drunk because they have always been together but that`s not the point. He clearly cares about Ai Di and doesn`t want to upset him. But how does he know that Ai Di would hear them? Has he heard Ai Di with another man and has he been mad? Even though he calls Ai Di brother at that point he seems awfully upset when Ai Di is with other men and drags him away from them.

Anon, you didn't know this when you sent it, but I am the wrong person to ask.

I'm stressed.

I'm spiraling.

I'm laying in a field of lavender trying to snort the stems in an attempt to chill the fuck out.

All because Kiseki: Dear to Me's finale is so close that I feel it, yet I'm terrified the scene we are all clinging to from the extended trailer is a fake-out, and we are about to be MODC-ed all over again.

If this doesn't make sense to you, GOOD! Stay innocent, anon. Three episodes ago, I was worried about the same thing as you, but here I am on the eve of the eve of the finale, and I can't bring myself to fathom the show will kill someone, even though IT ALREADY KILLED SOMEONE!

But if you do know what I'm writing about, Anon, HOW ARE YOU SO CALM RIGHT NOW?! At least calm enough to send me this ask on the eve of the eve of the finale?! How is Laws of Attraction the only show to know the value of a bulletproof vest unlike all these mafia BLs WHERE IT SHOULD BE A GIVEN?!

And you're just as cool as a caterpillar on a leaf. I'm the caterpillar in the cocoon dissolving into liquid mush freaking the fuck out about death and bulletproof vests, while you are munching on the good bits of this story. Teach. Me. Your. Ways. I'm over here praying to all the santos about a FICTIONAL CHARACTER! My ancestors are judging me right now. So is God.

So due to divine shade, I'll try to answer your question - Chen Yi admitted he was always jealous of Eddie being with other people which is why he was dragging Eddie's ass out of places, (so I can't imagine him being on your level of chill if he heard Eddie having sex with someone else), but Chen Yi didn't realize that it was jealously and possessiveness until Eddie was . . .

Until Eddie WASN'T THERE!

See, I'm already detouring again! Because what will Eddie do if Chen Yi ISN'T THERE?!

I don't care if this chick is Zhang Teng's sister avenging his death or just has a crush on Baker Boy. She is the sole female character, and as a feminist who supports female wrongs, if she is the shooter, Mortal Kombat "FINISH HER ASS"

I support the gays, the goths, and the girls, but in the words of a woman who got it, Jane Austen,

Had not my feelings decided against you, sus high school girlie— had they been indifferent, or had they even been favorable, do you think that any consideration would tempt me to accept the woman who has been the means of ruining, perhaps forever, the happiness of a most beloved menace?

She better have really gone to the dumpster to throw that glass she just conveniently broke and helps step in to save Chen Yi when she witnesses the shooting because if not . . .

"FUCK"

[mochinon-yah]

I just realized we all technically have the power to ask any questions on this site, and I never got to doing it. So....

[Points S.E.E.S evoker at you]

Who are the fictional characters you ship your mutuals to? Doesn't have to be necessarily their self-ship. I am deadass curious. Spill the tea, Imbibitor's lover—

We can lower that down, brynn- no need to get all aggressive now-

*cough* ANYWAY!

I'll list them down below, and if they're not accurate or you're actually gonna fight them rather than making out with the characters that i chose then yeah, that is probably my plan 😀 /silly

Oh and! I'll mostly be using genshin and hsr characters because yeah-

@beloved-brynn -> heizou and ratio. NGL, YOU + HEIZOU, OR YOU + RATIO, OR EVEN THE THREE OF YOU WOULD TOTALLY BE SO FUNNY AND CHAOTIC 😭☝️ they can counter your wild statements while also being the (somewhat) saner one but could also say smth wild as well. I could see you and one of em (possibly ratio) be like "oh yeah, the other day, i was eating my lunch while watching that gorey movie-" "what." "yeah, i was hungry at that time, so like why not yk-" (this is based on my real experience guys, guess which dialogue is me lmao)

@meimeimeirin -> hmmmm, koh zhongli maybe? Okay, let me tell you the reason why... it's simply because she NEEDS someone who can pamper her! I don't know where that conclusion came from, but yeah. Anyway, if we're talking about other characters, then i think welt, or even zayne from lnd could fit. Basically: "I need someone older, just a little bit colder." lmao (oh, mochi, did this conclusion came up because you know rin's the youngest in her family and now you ship her with men older (and more experienced) than her? whaatt... ofc not, haha-)

@leftdestiny-posts -> absolutely cannot see them with anyone other than dottore. Cute and kind but is secretly crazy "i want to watch the world burn" x The human version of the word 'crazy' "as you wish, my love" would be their dynamic, i suppose...? WAIT OH! I can actually see shiro with ayato or maybe sunday! I bet they would like such a cute, innocent-looking darling to control, but then they would get so surprised and maybe super interested into trying to control the darling despite how crazy the darling actually is- (shiro ily, if ur crazy then we can be crazy together 💐)

@navxry -> arlechinno, and maybe black swan. Yeah, that's it. No explanation needed.

@jessamine-rose -> hmmm, would it be weird if i say capitano? I don't know why or how did i get to that conclusion, but yeah. And maybe blade? IDK WHY I'M PARTNERING HER WITH CRAY CRAY MEN- SORRY JESS, I (subconsciously) THINK YOU CAN LIKE CALM THEM OR SMTH AJFIAWOF-

@stardust-for-your-soul -> funnily enough, i can see her with aventurine. They'll say sweet words that probably have a double meaning and also probably have a teeny tiny bit (maybe a lot lmao) of 'enemies to lovers' moment. (wow, cherry, your new bf is a gambler- /smack). But anyway, i could also see her be with march 7th who is so bubbly and sweet, and i'd think cherry would love to tease march hehe

@teabutmakeitazure -> ACTUALLY NGL DAN HENG????? He would listen to her ramblings and also help her write her fics. It just sounds so cute in my opinion lol. Other than dan heng (who is obviously the best choice), zuri would probably look into red flag charas, like... yeah, aventurine- but still tho, dan heng! But i get what zuri is thinking tho, red is such a sexy color- /smack

@harmonysanreads -> ngl alhaitham or kaeya would be cute if paired up with her! Idk where did kaeya come from, but when i thought about it, instantly "cute!". I think, harmony has this really 'weird' calming aura that could make those two charas just fell in love with how comfortamble she can make them feel. BUT LIKE IDK THO-

@fishanonishere -> Albedo...... i think? Fish, i know what you are- i mean like as in how chaotic and just how 'what in the world is this person thinking???' you are. With how calming and 'would jump into any interesting topic' he is, i think fish and him could be such a cute duo. Fish's ramblings and their drawings are some of the things that make him really interested in fish

[millietalksra]

Okay so like before I can get into the au I have to really explain that Horace Altman is, always has been, and always will be my knight in shining armor in every sense of what that may mean.

Like have you ever seen that trend where it like “imagine you’re alone in a room with man, real or fictional, and you feel completely safe, who’s the man?” Literally it’s Horace, all day every day.

And It’s literally just because for me he is the picture of women respecting masculine protectiveness if that makes any sense. Like Horace would be the type of man that would sit and listen to women’s issues and actively be anti-misogynist and do what he can to make the women around him feel comfortable because he knows that he’s this big muscular warrior and that could be intimidating and make a woman feel unsafe in his presence. Like intentionally offering his hand to someone who might need it to steady themselves, but not grabbing them, those sort of things.

Horace would be the man that would check how other men behave towards women. Like “locker room” talk among the knights and warriors? Absolutely fucking not, If you can’t speak respectfully you won’t speak at all, and he would break someone’s jaw to make sure they shut up for good. You want to grab at the serving girls or girl around the towns and villages? You suddenly do not have hands to grab with.

Like I just need you all to understand that everywhere Horace goes, he acts like a guardian protector for the girls and women who do not have protection. When the knight of the oak leaf visits EVERYONE can walk safely in the night because no one is willing to risk his wrath, and this continues long after he leaves.

And this is all mostly because of our beloved Horace’s own morals and personality, but what if something had happened in Gallica that had triggered this?

[mybreadsmybutters]

top 10 men?

LONG long list with extensive explanations under cut. you are forewarned.

1. aidan gallagher. continually charmed and enchanted by whatever is deeply wrong with him and the weird fucked up shit he has going on with his clinically insane dad. he wrote rpf about HIMSELF. who is doing it like him. who COULD do it like him. he needs to come out as gay immediately. at least bisexual. to improve his image. he even makes BAD terrible music. incredible guy all around. i watch his content the way people watch isis beheading videos.

2. my real life actual grandpap. he is so definitely in hell one of the worst people ever. his number one political philosophy was being a hater and fighting anyone who looked at him wrong. i miss him everyday. perhaps the most insane person i will ever meet in my entire life.

3. idk if you wanted real men but the rest of this list is probably gonna be fictional characters due to the fact that i know about ten people. anyways number three is my beloved best friend seasons 1-3 five hargreeves of the umbrella academy. WHAT a character. what if you were a cis guy who could time travel and definitely liked killing people but also were obsessive and crazy and also had a fucked up weird thing with the woman who dragged you out of the apocalypse after you spent 50 years alone and also your body wasn’t your own because your dna got swapped with that of the most prolific murderers of all time and also you were stuck in the body of a child that might’ve been You at some point and everyone is patronizing and doesn’t believe you AND you watch your family die over and over again across every timeline as you constantly fail the ones you love. what a guy. five hargreeves you will never be replicated. also homewrecked his brother with the woman whose parents he murdered like 4 timelines back and then immediately convinced everyone to kill themselves but he did that in season 4 so i dont Really count it but it was still awesome. he’s experiencing types of body dysphoria that i cannot ever fathom i projected onto this guy so hard as a little in denial 13 year old. also when i was 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 and 21 he just kind of lives in the back of my mind perpetually.

4. JOE GOLDBERG FROM HIT FRANCHISE YOU. oh man i love that fucking freak and his mommy issues and the fake woke feminist facade and nightmares in the suburbs and the Knight in Shining Armor carried out to its most horrific prolific potential UGH. i want to pin him on my wall and frame him in glass like a butterfly. he means everything to me. EVERYTHING. so many neurotic tendencies and problematic behaviors spawned from exposure to his character at a critical age. wow i love that guy forever.

5. stefan salvatore vampire diaries. first ever vampire with a binge eating disorder (kills people pathologically) THAT is intentionally narratively framed as an addiction. ALSO in some weird fucked up forced-fated-cursed love triangle forever when his soulmate is clearly just his brother. my number one favorite vampire forever. did i mention he has no sense of humor. oh MAN i love that guy.

6. FICTIONAL ANIME BOY LIGHT YAGAMI. I LOVE SERIAL KILLERS WITH AN ABSOLUTELY FUCKED MORAL COMPASS WHO HAVE A WEIRD THING WITH THE DETECTIVE INVESTIGATING THEM. also see the entire death note musical. where is the justice when the guilty all go free… what would it be if i saw the world like him like a synonym… he is ensouled in the same way JD heathers is

7. fictional anime boy kusuke saiki… man where do i even begin. he’s blonde. he’s a sadomasochist. started world war 3 in an alternate timeline. weird fucked up thing with his brother that is ambiguously sexual. holds a gun at one point. wears a labcoat. wears his hair in a PONYTAIL at one point. foundational to my adolescent sexual awakening. also the entirely fanonical dynamic he has with fellow anime boy makoto teruhashi is world changing to me.

8. mildly famous comedian gianmarco soresi who i am parasocial with. i hope to be as mentally weird about things and be an attention whore and obsessive weirdo when i am 35 too. also first ever visibly gay straight man i think which is just endlessly fascinating to watch.

9. CHARLIE DAY

10. perhaps my most controversial and vaguely revealing choice for this list but one i stand by… porn star and tik tok influencer noahwaybabes. voice of a generation. also i think he’s so stupid hot like in a way that pisses me off. also i find him vaguely annoying but i think that’s because he’s funny and hot which is a REALLY unfair combination. also because he just is annoying due to being a tik tok influencer. probably steals off twitter but i dont use twitter so i dont care.

HONORABLE MENTIONS!!!

youtuber pyrocynical who was not included in this list due to the fact that i hate him and he sucks.

jd heathers who JUST barely did not make it on. im sorry that annoying tik tok influencer who i jerk off to sometimes won out but when it comes down to brass tacks i thought including even more fictional characters would make me seem like a huger massiver loser than the other option

[i-who-has-never-had-a-name]

Books I will never read

1. Anything by Haruki Murakami, but especially Norwegian Wood.

I've read Kafka on the Shore halfway through and stopped. Also that one handjob scene....no. why. He's a huge misogynist who I do not want to support. I've heard about that one scene in Norwegian Wood with the father's picture...yikes. I like literary fiction the most, which means I want well-written characters meaning all of them should be well-written and have a soul, yes even the female ones. I saw that one picture of pseudo intellectual Harry Styles being in bed reading Norwegian Wood...at this point why? Why do we not question this? I sometimes wonder if this is all an inside joke I'm not into.

2. Any CoHo/Emily Henry/Tiktok romance book

No explanation needed. I'm in a happy relationship and I don't have a son with big balls.

3. Any splatterpunk book (Eric LaRocca's books, Playground)

I like disturbing books, I have nothing against brutal/disgusting scenes and such, but it has to have a purpose. You cannot write such sick, twisted things just for shock value, because you are a writer and should at least be a good one. Splatterpunk writers don't care about that. They write the most sick, twisted things that a human could come up with. It's not revolutionary but tasteless shock. Those people don't love literature, they love gore. It doesn't help that the vast majority of those authors are men and that they let their female and their younger characters experience a lot of pain. They get away with their blatant sadism and sexism by categorizing it as "splatterpunk".

4. That Icebreaker book

Not just bc it's a tiktok romance book, but specifically bc it reminds me of that one tiktok named Kierra I think who was widely sexist and rude and evil to a hockey player's wife just bc she said she didn't want her to make anymore sexual comments about her husband and the father of her child. Wild. You should definitely look into it.

5. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

Torture Corn really. Straight women writes queer male characters are tortures them. We've all seen it, really.

6. Any self help book

Pure Scams. It is capitalist propaganda that your problems are based of your material conditions but are purely isolated from the rest of the world and as long you buy my book in which I give you a list of what to do, you won't be happy. When you give me your money, you'll be happy, really!

It definitely doesn't help that most of those authors are white, male and rich.

7. Books with queer male romance written by straight women

I'm not saying straight women don't have the capability to write well-written male queer characters, I'm just saying that there's a pattern...

I've come to this conclusion after reading the beloved "Song Of Achilles". There's a lot of critique I have with this book, mainly it's portrayal of queerness.

8. Any Books by J.K Rowling, including Harry Potter

Transphobic asshole and not that good of a writer.

9. Tolstoi's works

I'm sure he is great writer. Sometime when I'm old and grey I'll try reading War and Peace. But now, I'm too dumb for that.

10. Any of those celebrity authobiographies

I have my own life. I truly don't care and if I do I'll just watch some YouTube video instead of wasting my money. They're so painfully ghost written. Hate ghost written books, they can be so soulless. You can't really get an objective look at things bc the books are obviously biased. Look at that Prince Harry biography. You feel bad for him bc his wee-wee got frostbite without him actually addressing his partaking in the iraq war.