#hate me is a banger go listen to it! but anyway

[ivorypool]

Andrew Davies, Othello (2001) // Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Manon, Ballerina // Richard Siken, The Torn-Up Road // Sue Zhao, I Still Loved You // Nerdy Girl, Hate Me // sadoeuphemist, The Scorpion and the Frog // Madeline Miller, Song of Achilles // The Mountain Goats, How to Love a Swamp Creature // New Order, Bizarre Love Triangle // Jane Heller Levi, Waiting for this Story to End Before I Begin Another // Lavalove, Luck in Love // Sea Ghosts, Cowboy Hat // Aka Akasaka, Kaguya-sama Love is War Ch 231

[burningcomputerpersona]

I don’t do well with options I’ve seen the same movie a hundred times I guess I find the comfort in having control of the storyline Cause I can't control mine I can't control mine I never wanted to fall right off the deep end Another morning stuck in coffee contemplation I never pictured this future I’m caught up in the humor and irony Saint of insincerity Keep me in focus As I’m starting to sink You never notice The self-defeating feeling Of giving it your best But falling short again It’s all too familiar Misery’s my best friend We fell in love again I never wanted to paint myself the enemy An early riser who knows all the words to brevity My younger self hates me What happened to you lately All too familiar You’ll never understand We fell in love again Keep me in focus As I’m starting to sink You never notice The self-defeating feeling Of giving it your best But falling short again It’s all too familiar Misery is my best friend We fell in love again I never wanted to paint myself the enemy I never wanted to I never wanted I don't do well with options I’ve seen the same movie a hundred times Keep me in focus As I’m starting to sink You never noticed The self-defeating feeling Of giving it your best But falling short again It’s all too familiar Misery is my best friend We fell in love again Keep me in focus You never notice Keep me in focus You never notice

[dragonowlie]

The more I get to know about totk's english localisation the more grateful I become that I did not play it in english

[an-absolute-ghoul]

My cramps are killer and I’m listening to silver springs it’s a fun time

[notoriousroar]

{ // .......

{ // Flame, don't make me start a playlist. Don't make me start a playlist. Don't make me start a

[lyriumsings]

listening to ghost town revisiting my obsession with them from when i was like 12 DJSJ and actually this is the perfect vc for my band if mc that doesn’t have a face yet SJSJS i’m gonna draw him i swear but i’m making burgers first

[devilcroc]

music chat in the tags if you're a cool weirdo who likes that stuff lookin at u my midi friends and gods who actually know how to produce without using a rocksmith cord

[usagibaba]

no, literally. i love opera, i have loved opera for more than a decade, deeply and truly, but i distinctly remember a time when i absolutely despised it. before my grandma taught me what to listen for--better yet, how to listen to it--it was just a long, boring session of indistinguishable screaming. you absolutely can enjoy classical music without any sort of formal training or initiation or anything ridiculous like that, but we should be clearer about the fact that there's only bangers because we have developed the taste for them. it requires patience and it requires a bit of an open mind. the bangers are just a treat.

the whole attitude of “get into classical music because it’s full of BANGERS and it’s COOL” is just like. a bit misguided imo. like yes there are bangers, but it also does in fact demand patience, and humility, and focus, from the audience. i think it’s more honest to admit that—and emphasize that the emotional payoff is absolutely worth it!!!—than to try and sell classical music as a theme park or whatever.

[goodluckclove]

I have a theory that being angry and complaining online is the default for most because it's inherently scarier to be earnest and vulnerable. So I invite whoever reads this to reblog and tell me about something you love un-ironically that doesn't make you look more intelligent or conventionally hip.

The rules are if I see anyone giving each other shit over a thing someone likes I'm going to send them an ask that's just a picture of wet, sad cat with zero context. Same if someone claims that they like to complain and it's their god-given right to do it as often as they like and wherever they want. Of course you do. It is not interesting to defend your right to talk about all the small things you hate when no one is really challenging them in the first place. You can complain forever until you die and that's totally fine.

Anyways I'll start.

I love Jimmy Buffett.

It's not because his music is so bad I think it's amusing. I actually think his music is really good. If he was still alive I'd absolutely spend money on a Jimmy Buffett concert because that sounds like a super fun time.

Fruitcakes is a fucking banger. Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On is only one of his many songs that give big Good Dad energy when shit is rough. People mostly only know him for Cheeseburger in Paradise - but honestly? That rocks too. Sometimes I also want a cheeseburger.

People try to give me shit because he sold his likeness to the Margaritaville restaurants and hotels. I'm not even upset about this. The man struggled to be financially stable enough to play music in the beginning of his career, and sold his name to get money to make music and play concerts. He did a good handful of charity shows. He delivered tents to Haiti after the earthquake. He's not like known for philanthropy, but the vibe I get from him is that he's a pretty good guy who just wanted to make music and hang out with his loved ones.

He was literally in the middle of finishing an album when he died last year. He just made music as often as he could right up until it was his turn to go. His last words, according to one of his daughters, were have fun.

You can tell me you don't like his music, but you can't listen and tell me you don't think he'd be a fucking chill hang when the only real answer I got from searching "Jimmy Buffett controversy" is that he got caught with a bunch of ecstacy in '06 and paid a fine before being released. I don't even do ecstacy but holy shit my one exception would be trying it with Jimmy Buffett can you imagine??

Anyways. Your turn, friends.

[mammalsofaction]

I liked CATU, the songs are banger and there are a lot of sweet moments. That being said its not perfect, and I wasn't a fan of Isabella's and Doof's dynamic in the movie, being a disservice to both Isabella as a kid and Doof's character arc through the 4 seasons.

That being said, a lot of his actions and decisions while leading the kids through Feebla-Oot is like....correct, actually? Particularly for the song "Adulting"

The dynamic tone between Isa and Heinz throughout the whole movie was just them being condescending to each other. Which I guess makes sense, knowing them both--Isa hates to be belittled, especially by an adult figure she doesn't respect, and Heinz's general first instinct around children was to act as an overbearing overprotective father. Combined with the fact that this child was refusing to listen to him, groping around the spaceship and inventions HE created, and insists on looking down at him, he's going to act condescending right back. It backfires a lot, naturally, what doesn't, around Heinz?

I would like to repeat that while I can sort of wrap my head around it, I didn't like the way it portrayed Heinz as more childish and immature and again, not doing justice to the audience's perception of him through the 4 seasons. I didn't like how they were treating each other.

Condescending was the running tone in the back and forth of the song Adulting as well, which was what made it funny, frustrating and baffling to me. The joke is that...he's RIGHT. It sounds made up, but adulting is a real thing, a statement that can and WILL be validated by any adult who has ever lived independently. They WILL get it when they turn 18. The kids don't get it...because they're KIDS.

I think they assume he's pretending like it was to sound authoritative, sure, maybe. But he's still right. It's not about collected soft and hard skills, it's not about knowing how to read a compass or how to do your taxes or how to fight a bear or to buying a car. Adulting is about sucking it up and taking responsibility for yourself. It's ABOUT the flailing around and learning how to do what as you go, it's about crying and doing it anyway. It's about the mind numbingly, outrageously boring stuff, and it's about the minor milestones that scares people half to death.

Heinz is 48. He's been married, and divorced; He's had a kid. He's bought houses, cars, started and failed multiple businesses. Mind you, Heinz came to America as an illegal immigrant at age 16 with just the clothes on his back, nothing to his name and disowned by his parents. He, probably better than most people, know how it's like to take responsibility for himself somewhere completely foreign, entirely hostile, and with almost no backup or life support.

He wasn't lying. He's right. He could've been less condescending about it, but yeah. It IS about aching knees and keeping perfect medical records, bringing fungal cream everywhere. It IS being lost and asking around, putting up with fucking it up. It's about getting hurt so the people you're in charge of stay safe and healthy and keeping your kids entertained and fed. It's about having to take charge. It made him look incompetent, but I VASTLY preferred that the near 50 yr old man told Isabella off for trying to take charge of the team in a foreign jungle planet actually. Knowing Heinz, there was no way in HELL he would've let her think she was responsible if something happened (and many things did happen), and he was right to.

Isabella is going to hate it SO much when she turns 18 and finds out he was right, btw. Adulting IS a real word.

[sardix]

WOTFI 2024 Bingo results

If you didn't know @midnight1nk created a bingo map! (You can find the original post here). With these peoples ideas: /midnight1nk, /Sardix (me), @34saveme34 , @time1srunout , @porschas-palette , @yullalightk , @Nicc

Anyway, here are the results (and yes i am aware the picture looks a little off with colors but it's a printed out wersion with stars as stickers) + screenshots from the moments that I felt counted or not. And a reminder I was going off of the description of spaces and not their names. (However, If I put something in the wrong place tell me and I will fix it :), I am also always up for discussion)

Sadly we did not get Bingo but there will be plenty oportunities in the future

1. Mario ruins the show! (He did the final blow)

2. Karma (they did beat him although he didn't become something like Leggy)

3. Mr. Puzzle having a grudge against Smg4 - (I think this counts?)

5. It's gotta be perfect (IGBP) - (it wasn't really mentioned BUT this monster was present + the whole hate Smg4 gets that played an important role in IGBP) (add Photos from IGTBP)

6. Freak Show - it wasn't really said but they all got a whole makeover for the carnival show

7. Carnival-themed rap - this one doesn't need explaining (also it was a banger, I cannot stop listening to it)

8. The Bell tolls - I don't know if this counts or not, but I decided to put it here because there is like A LOT of "death" during the minigames. (I could put all the moments in here because of the picture limit)

9. Merch - I mean, it was gonna be for 100%; this time, tho mostly Mr.Puzzle teamed, which makes sense seeing his popularity in and outside the fandom.

10. Sacrifice - Meggy getting saved by Smg4 by using Mario (also my theory about Smg4 after the IGBP whenever angry getting suddenly super strong physically works, because he was FAST and you could see in his eyes the determination to not let any of his friends die again)

11. Meggy confronts - she does, in fact, confront him but doesn't really scold him for his wrongdoings. Still, I think that the interaction counted.

12. Brand new look - as shown before most of the cast gets a makeover, which are new look carnival-teamed

13. Puzzle Tune - it appears at the very beginning of the first song that Mr.Puzzle sings as Smg4 and Mario are in the boat

Now the stuff that I think didn't count and why:

1. Past arc or trauma - the trauma from past arcs wasn't mentioned unless you count Smg4 hate comments. Or Mr.Puzzles past but that's not really mentioning past arcs.

2. Park destroyed - it wasn't destroyed like Wren's lab, just got closed

3. Puzzles backstory - we got a scene where what was already shown in the Didney episode was explained; we didn't get any new info from the one we already knew.

4. Not so different - sadly, a scene like this does not happen no matter how much I wished it did. ( it sounds too good to be true.) BUT it may happen in the future.

5. (Ending) twist - Mr.Puzzle didn't reveal that he was behind the 2023 WOTFI, and I don't think Leggy 2.0 counts as a character foreshadowing, although Marty the cardboard became an actual character, so we never know.

6. Star Rating system - suprisingly it is never out right mentioned, Mr.Puzzle only mentions the destruction of his show.

7. Tenner tunnel - which I assume is just the tunnel of fun, but since it never is really shown, we cannot know for sure. It only kinda appears in the background

8. Smg4 kids - they didn't even appear in the background, so...

9. Puzzles dies - it is not his time yet, and it appears he has yet to play some really important roles in the story.

10. You saved me - to probably a lot of fans disapointment with Smg3 under control we did not get to see them interact other than fighting (Smg4 and Smg3).probably becouse of the movie being a litle shorter than usual (less than 30 minutes if you take out the merch talk) we did not get a scene with them even reuniting after being freed from the hypnotic state.

11. Dynamic change - some people would probably say that the dynamic between Mr.Puzzle and Meggy changed but from the beginning, we could see that deep inside she wanted to help or a part of her, and I do not mean Leggy (although I suppose it could count but for now I'm leaving it here)

12. Leggy's flag - honestly I'm not sure if it even appears, but it definitely did not play an important role

Bonus: They remembered the video where Smg4 became the clown king, aka where it was never resolved, so I think now it is officially canon and not just a one-time joke. (Please tell me I wasn't the only one who joticed that)

Well, would you look at that? We got 14 out of 25, not a bad score, I must say! And I'm sure we can't wait for what will come in the future

[galakaz]

Some things i found notable in part 3 of canto 7 (also just an overview tbh)

That zewi story don told at the beginning sounds like fixer 300 ngl (i havent watched 300) Samcho remembering the name don by looking at the bottom of her boots is funny to me ngl that hana fixer has definitely been around the block if they had posters of her back then I predicted correctly that the silver haired don was the original don and made the amusement park it seems as long as dante can prove that they are accessing the situation and things are going well enough to plan it will calm outis' anxiety Surprised we never saw carmilla dispite seeing those distorted by it (rip funny blue haired guy and the west zwei) Silver haired don getting his idea for an amusement park and coexisting with a person due to a promise (for a "tomorrow") and the fact he fought her for so long he just got interested by her and her tales (to the point even samcho listened in) is interesting that duel between bari and silver haired don makes me ask what did fights in the library really look like cause theres no way those lot are dueling harder then some of the star of the city tier fights in ruina POV: fighting sancho phase 1

No seriously who taught that women how to box i thought she would start by using her blood weapons not by going left right goodnight at the first sinner who loses a clash

This image really be kinda how i feel about don after all the time (she did grow on me i didnt hate her at first but i did start finding her more enjoyable as time went on

Ngl my first reaction to reading this was "people self shipping when you tell them their ship is evil", also shows that dante is starting to get a lot more considerate of the sinners and willing to accept them no matter who they are if they are willing to change (also probs why they are called SINNERS) Mili banger as usual BINAH! I just realized we are actaully for once doing the kabbalah in the right direction this time starting from the top and going to hokma, binah ect rather then malkuth Row Row fight the power (i havent watched gurren lagann i really should though)

The qte grabbing me by the throat and going "NO YOU ARE HELPING HER DREAM TOO START MASHING"

HERO IM GOING TO PROVE MY VERSION OF JUSTICE IS MORE JUST THEN YOURS UNO REMAINING ON THIS STAGE I AM THE ONLY ONE I AM MY BIGGEST FAN I AM MY BIGGEST FAN I AM MY ENEMY AND MY FRIEND

Felt uncomfortable (not in a bad way) some of the ways this canto touched me personally (also unbreakable coins are a pain), canto is amazing though (crying samcho now don did get me

Also what the fuck does his blue ass want anyway he keeps popping up

The barber is hotter then dulcinea

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 7/16/2024

how your backyard hurricane go, the houston area? pretty good it doesn't seem

to be clear other than losing everything in my fridge and developing some mold around the windowframes IM personally fine and so are the girls and so is the lair. we lost power sunday afternoon and got it back friday morning (upside down smiley emoji x16)

listening

THREE CANONICALLY BISEXUAL CLUB BANGERS!!! also, trying out a new thing with spotify and youtube videos for songs bc my readership is about 70/30 and i want to streamline the process of actually listening to new music for ppl. it must be really annoying this week but that's bc there's three songs. sorry. it will rarely be this long

anyway.

ANXIETY by Lilyisthatyou is new to me, off the spotify autogenerated dance playlist. a chiller groove in the spelling-things-out genre of dance music. VERY flashy-lights music vid fyi

Why do I feel so alone? Does it show That I'm dancing to fill the void with pretty girls and pretty boys?

i know about kesha's joyride bc i happen to be an alive queer woman. im SO happy kesha is also alive and making music more regularly. this one is canonically bisexual bc kesha is bisexual. also a really flashy-lights lyric video. the most classically recession-pop/early KESHA sound of all three tuesdaysongs this week. im always fascinated when an accordion shows up.

Rev my engine ’til you make it purr Keep it kinky, but I come first Beep-beep, bitch, I'm outside Get in, loser, for the joyride

thank u new releases spotify playlist. also canonically bisexual bc the singer is, also an early KESHA feel but she is a metal artist first and foremost. very fun to headbang to at a stop light. i don't totally Love how it's an emasculating song but given how dudes in the metal scene generally are? i think she should make it more emasculating actually

Take you down a peg (And peg and peg and peg) If you're a macho man then beg (And beg and beg and beg) Bend you over the bed (The bed the bed the bed) It's time to take you down a peg (And peg and peg and peg)

-

reading

fun fact i still haven't seen this movie. i got this from the library the day before the hurricane proper and it gave me a really lovely two hours of not thinking about the active hurricane the day after. enormous format photographs! full-length shots of every look! ithe little personal notes from each designer were so fun to read, and i think this genuinely healed my heart a little. everyone was so excited to go into detail about what choices they made and what inspired them, and even though i would have loved more specific construction details, specific fiber types, and full-length shots of the Back of every look, i recognize i am a freak.

-

watching

watched a truly bonkers assortment of films at my bestie's house this week. her husband is big into godzilla and i sat down not really paying attention or planning to pay attention to Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024, dir. Wingard) but found myself actually paying attention. i unfortunately was a character i hate, Person Who Stops The Movie Halfway Through To Demand A Recap. loved these guys, whatever the fuck they were

the most fun thing about this movie is that it is not a silent film but it acts like one. there are long, long stretches of movie without dialogue bc all the political action is happening between a bunch of giant monkeys. this is going to sound like im damning it with faint praise but they really thought carefully about directorial and artistic choices here! there was a vision and they executed it! it's fun to look at and not just because there's a big monkey in most of the shots!

-

playing

got a look at characters for the new fire-themed land coming up this fall. ppl are understandably big mad that the land is based on Ring of Fire cultures and everyone is paper-white. i think it is correct to be mad and ask them to do better, and they have tweaked designs before release before, however, i don't think this will bring about a sea change in gacha games.

i am rolling along clearing out map markers and achievement hunting and my GOD are there a lot of time-gated achievements in inazuma (electricity-themed legally-not-japan). so so so many of them i originally got halfway through or did 1/5 and then wandered off bc i didn't realize there was a quest or achievement locked behind doing something for three or five days in a row. i now have a post-it on the corner of my monitor with nine different things i have to keep checking in on this week. please someone give me a REAL JOB!!!!!!

-

making

cross stitch progress. this was the only thing i did last week aside from shake like a chihuahua and sleep. very slow going! may have to ship the package off to my brother with an IOU bc it is already stressfully late.

made the bean influencer soup (creamy miso coconut butter beans). i made a batch before the hurricane last week so most of my notes are from then. the grocery did not have canned butter beans so i made the same thing (big lima beans) from dry. i have not made beans from dry since i was very small. these beans were so large, so pale, so aggressive.

changes: i was able to find a little carton of straight coconut cream at the grocery but they were out of miso paste. i did have miso soup mix and plopped that in. i also used frozen spinch bc it’s cheaper and i felt better about it than the somewhat questionable fresh spinch on offer. also used two onions instead of one and a hearty dollop of minced jarred garlic bc who do u think i even fucking am. i would have loved to use fresh dill, bc i did plant some and it was growing very well, but the caterpillars were very intense and ate almost everything on my balcony.

going in the rotation! im making it AGAIN as im typing up this post! pretty cheap, very tasty, i don't regularly keep butter beans or coconut cream in my pantry but that can change!

[the-bloody-sadist]

please I wanna hear more about your thoughts on sweet pool, it was such an odd vn to me but at the same time i'm so happy I played it

DUUUUUUDE!!!!!! THAT SHIT WAS SO WEIRD!!! (POSITIVE)

Lmfao so first of all, I'm a huge audiophile (and I say that to mean any audio, most of all voices and VA performances and sound design), and JESUS CHRIST THE CAST THEY GOT FOR SWEET POOL????? HELLO??? God, I adore Youji's VA, and I'll never NOT be impressed by his ability to play both the character for Sweet Pool as well as Doumeki in Saezuru wa Tori Habatakanai TO SUCH PINPOINT ACCURACY....

I'll ramble too much if I let myself. But the ART, the MUSIC, the ROUTE CHOICES, the PORTRAYAL OF CHRONIC DEPRESSION, the HALLUCINATIONS, the BODY HORROR...THE PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLS!!!!!!!!! DAMN!!!!! It just had everything I hoped for, EXCEPT FOR LIKE ONE GOOD ENDING WITH TETSUO. CRIES EXPLOSIVELY. COULD I NOT JUST HAVE ONE. FOR HURT COMFORT'S SAKE.

It's been YEARS since I played that game but damn I was fucked up for weeks after finishing all the Tetsuo routes especially, and Sweet Pool I think was the only Nitro+Chiral game where I liked every character's route and enjoyed playing through them. Makoto a bit less so, but he made up for it in the end because WOW WHAT A BANGER on his bad route.

Again, it was my first Chiral game, so everything I played after was like "oh...this is just a copy of Makoto's type in a new setting. Oh....this is the same outcome as Zhenya with a new face. Oh...Chiral just really likes these tropes and uses them over and over again....okay." BUT HEY, I LIKE THOSE TROPES SO AT LEAST THAT.

I think my favorite part about SP though is, ironically, the fake omegaverse rep. Since I'm such a hater of A/B/O, you'd think I'd hate SP, but it's actually exactly what I'd want instead of the real omegaverse stuff I see. Please miss me with that shit on slick and pregnancy and alpha scenting, I want blood and freaky organisms living in your stomach like parasites and hallucinogens from the weird stalker guy at school. IF ONLY ALL OMEGAVERSE WAS PSYCHOLOGICAL HORROR! AH....SO SAD.

Anyway, Zhenya had my favorite route at the time I played it (I cannot escape the kidnapping trope...Shiki from TnC was why I played TnC and he's my favorite Chiral character aside from Youji....), but looking back, I think all of Tetsuo's are my favorite, now. Once I got over the crippling depression of how sad all the endings were, I remembered how fucking intriguing Tetsuo's character was to me. I really like the types that are freakishly alien with their emotional expression and you never know if they're trying to hurt the MC or harm him until several layers into the story. And even then, you still don't know, because they just come off as creeps either way. It's terrifying.

I think the only element I didn't like was the fact that made the meat babies and whatever ACTUALLY REAL. I didn't want the supernatural shit or the annoying ass priest or whatever he was (I wasn't listening to DOUKA....DOUKA!!! every scene) confirming the reality of what was going on with Youji, I just wanted the psychological insanity and for Youji to actually be experiencing all this because of mental illness. I just hate supernatural or religious shit in my horror, though, so that's my own pickiness.

ANYWAY. OTHER THAN THAT! Sweet Pool will always stand out for me because it was my first, and it truly disturbed me because I didn't know people could make VNs that catered to exactly what I wanted, and at the time I was a baby to yaoi, so imagine my surprise when I discovered there was a whole world of people making the exact content I thought only I wanted to see.

THERE, WAS THAT ENOUGH OF MY THOUGHTS FOR YOU??? YOU'LL NEVER WANT TO HEAR FROM ME AGAIN!!!

[imissthembutitwasntadisaster]

I 1000% percent agree with your take on enemies to lovers! Like yes they need to have an actual REASON to hate each other 🙄. Do you have any recommendations for books that do this trope well?

UNFORTUNATELY NOT MANY because so many people SUCK at writing enemies to lovers! Also I am sorry if you don't like fantasy because these are basically all fantasy. However I will recommend

I recently read the Miss Dark's Apparitions series, which is a sequel series to the Miss Sharp's Monsters though you don't really need to read that trilogy first but it adds context. Anyway it's like Enemies But They're Forced To Work Together, I wouldn't say it's true typical enemies to lovers because they never really hate each other? But there's a real tension between the mistrust that they have for each other vs the genuine respect and friendship growing, and Molly the protagonist is so great she's so funny and she has so much self-respect from like the get-go she's like yeah I find this guy hot. I find a lot of people hot. Doesn't mean I'm gonna make out with him when he SUCKS. Huge fan.

Listen I will defend the Folk of the Air trilogy because YES it's a little YA (derogatory) at times and YES there is a bit too much equating attraction and lust with love and I'm like hmm no. But a. Jude my beloved girl makes up for a lot of that, b. they have a genuine reason to hate each other, and c. I believe they like each other by the end! I believe they get along as people and as friends! I'm like ok I can get behind that actually!

Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge they could never make me hate you!!!!!!!! also honestly most Rosamund Hodge is some form of enemies to lovers and also it ALL makes me cry her romeo and juliet-based story that has basically nothing to do with romeo and juliet made me sob so hard I'm afraid to return to it. Shout out to Cruel Beauty also!!!

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik is not my favourite NN novel but there IS some banger enemies-to-lovers in there huge fan of that.

Listen. I haven't seen the My Lady Jane amazon show but I've seen fans of the book say it sucks and is nothing like the book so if you saw the show I promise it's nothing like the book and the book is a delight. I was delighted. It's silly. It's rompy. It has a male protagonist whose Deep Dark Secret is that he writes poetry. It's a frothy YA fantasy that is so FUN. Fails a little bit in the reason behind being enemies thing in that it's a little bit of miscommunication but in context it's not like one of them was inexplicably like wow I hate your whole vibe for Absolutely No Reason I promise there's a reason for it.

Taking a break to say wow a lot of these have arranged marriages in them and then taking another break to say I do think arranged marriages books often overlap well with enemies to lovers because it forces characters to spend time with each other and have Real Conversations.

I'm not going to deny the flaws of these books, but I would argue they have a more fundamental respect for the reader than a lot of etl books I've found in that they attempt to create fully-formed characters rather than just hitting two hot barbie dolls together. And I also think importantly that they are all so much beyond the romance, and have depth and layers and interesting themes. I would reread all of them.