#hope someone out there gets some mild enjoyment from reading this rambling lol‚ but if not at least it's out of my brain o/

[melody-hxh-spamblog]

Sometimes I remember Melody was willing to give up her hearing ability to restore her body* and... not gonna lie, I hope she ends up changing her mind about that

(*this line sounds like it could also just mean "I wish none of this ever happened" vs. "I'd actually trade this ability to get my old body back," but the 2011 anime('s translation) explicitly mentions restoring her body no matter what it takes, so I'm inclined to think it's more literal)

Part of me does want her to get her old appearance back, if only because a) I'm curious to see it and b) those teeth must be a pain in the butt lol, especially for a musician - seems like she's managing with the flute somehow though

But also, considering we already have Bisky, who put a lot of effort into looking more conventionally attractive and cute to the point of suppressing some of her strength, I think it'd be nice to have Melody instead become comfortable with her new appearance to the point where she would choose to keep it along with the cool new power

(veering into wild speculation territory here, but the combination of hamsterifying her appearance while granting her an ability that lets her "see under the surface" and read people's emotions is an interesting one. Makes me wonder if she could have been a bit more shallow about looks before, and the sonata was kind of a Learning Moment? Though on the other hand, the leap from "having super good hearing" to "learning how to infer people's emotional states from their heartbeats" doesn't feel like something that necessarily Just Happens - seems like a very personal take on the ability, so maybe she was already quite an empathetic person beforehand)

(a little more half-coherent rambling about Melody, Bisky, & appearances under the cut because this post got long)

I do kind of wonder if Bisky's arc could also be headed in the direction of getting more comfortable with her buff looks (hi Vergei)... Originally I was going to say something like, Bisky's desire to look a certain way feels like an internally-motivated personal choice (which is fine - if she does it just because it makes her happy, then there's no real need to change), while Melody's feels motivated by external factors (so imo it'd be nice to see her overcome that and be more comfortable with herself).

But I'm actually not sure if that's true? We know Bisky hates her muscular body and Melody wants her old body back, but I don't think it's really clear for either of them whether that comes from insecurity, or simply from preferring a particular look (in Melody's case, the way she used to be before something horrible happened to her, which is totally understandable).

But while Bisky seems very confident and self-assured (with good reason), and I don't suuuper get the vibe that her decades-in-the-making choice of appearance is going to be undone by one very fervent simp lol, we did also see how she totally latched on to Kurapika's flattery, so. maybe needing external validation is more of a factor than it seems for her?

(and maybe that's a bit of a moot point anyway - I think external pressures can get pretty closely bound up together with one's own personal desire to look a certain way, something something We Live In A Society)

So maybe Bisky's actually the one who should embrace her true form, while Melody restores her body as a way of healing from the terrible thing that happened to her? Ooor maybe we get buff Bisky and keep hamster Melody and everyone is winning \o/

[theravenclawrevolutionary]

For those of you interested in my novel

So I’ve gained quite a few new followers recently and seeing as I post about my novel more often and more consistently than anything else I thought I’d provide some more information on it. @jefflion also said they’d be interested in hearing more about it, so this is also for them.

All posts about my novel are tagged ‘robespierre novel’ and starting today will be tagged ‘The Incorruptible Corrupted’.

There’s a lot I can ramble about here, so if you’re interested everything I feel ready to reveal right now is under the cut. If you don’t care pls go ahead and scroll.

As I’m sure you’ve noticed by my tags my novel is about Maximilien Robespierre. Just like everything else on this blog. To be more specific, I’m writing a biographical historical fiction that follows the course of his life from the time he’s born to his execution. I’m sure you’ve all seen those sort of books before.

I’m hoping to make it as historically accurate as I possibly can while still making it an enjoyable fiction novel. My book’s going to contain historical figures and events as well as original characters and events to fill in what we don’t know about Robespierre’s life.  As of right now it’s roughly 41,000 words long and I’m going to keep writing until I reach the end of Maxime’s life so the length is completely undecided.

Currently the working title is ‘Maxime’ because I have no better ideas and I already used the freaking awesome title of ‘The Incorruptible, Corrupted’ as the title of my most successful Wattpad work which is a 10,000 word novella also about Robespierre. So if anyone has any good ideas, please suggest them. I really need some.

The fancy little book description blurb reads as follows:

Revolutions change everything, especially the individuals involved in them and fate has a strange way of calling people.

At the beginning of his life, it would have been impossible to know that Maximilien Robespierre would go from a small-town scandal to the most powerful man in France. The quiet boy born in Arras with his mother's green eyes and none of his father's flightiness showed no early signs of a relentless revolutionary leader, determined to overthrow the oppressive monarchy. Yet by the actions of others, his own skill, and his intelligence Maximilien finds himself navigating the dangerous and everchanging world of revolutionary France, thrust onto a fragile pedestal of leadership, handcrafted by his ideals.

It’s very character driven (I mean it really has to be because all of Max’s choices are legit the plot.) and it’s insanely fun to transform Max from a carefree little boy in Arras to someone stressed, broken, and thrust into awful situation after awful situation! That low key sounds kinda sadistic, but it’s fine... right? Lol. But I feel like I’m able to really develop my characters and give everyone fully fleshed out personalities and everything. I dunno. I just feel like it’s helping me understand the time period and historical figures better. Also I get to learn all kinds of cool stuff I never would have needed to research without trying to write this book.

It’ll probably end up being a book for high school kids and older seeing as some of the topics in it are suited to slightly older audiences, including but not limited  to:

Swear words, mild gore, mentioned suicide attempts, (possible) implied sexual content, scenes containing violence, time-period typical prejudices, mental illness, and death.

I plan on handling those topics as carefully and respectfully as possible to remain as accurate to history as I can while respecting those who have issues with these subjects.

There’s also average stuff though. It talks a lot about family, friendships/loss of friendships, romance, crushes, and growing up, all stuff you would find in non-historical books.

As a member of the LGBT+ community I want to make sure that my books have adequate LGBT+ representation. History wasn’t straight 100% of the time so representation will definitely be included in my interpretation of some historical figures and the original characters. Currently I have a few characters who are asexual, bi-romantic, bisexual, and gay.

 Highlights include:

Max with motion sickness (especially him throwing up on Charlotte during a carriage ride as a kid)

Augustin getting bit by one of his brother’s birds and having a scar for the rest of his life

Camille being nicknamed Cami

At least three people being in love with Max throughout the book and him being oblivious every time

A friend-group consisting of an inelegant girl and her just as chaotic twin brother, a red head and his British cousin who lives in France now, two quiet geniuses, and occasionally the twins’ older brothers who have nothing better to do

One of Max’s aunts straight up telling him his mom is dying and regretting it as soon as she says it

Max making a friend on accident while hiding at school and being an absolute icon for not being a racist (said character is mixed, but has a light enough complexion to attend school during the time period)

The number of times Maxime has a panic attack or almost faints

Six year old Max chasing four year old Charlotte with a worm, falling in the mud, and losing a tooth

The time eleven year old Max gets KISSED and doesn’t realize the girl kissing him likes him

Max being upset that an eleven year old isn’t allowed to take classes with fourteen year olds for developmental reasons

Camille and Max accidently hating each other, becoming roommates at school, and becoming pretty much best friends all in one day

The most boring school in the world

I legit could talk about my book for ages, but this post is long enough already so  I’ll chill out a little. if you guys have anything to ask about it that I haven’t covered here please lemme know. And of course as usual, the same goes for any other questions pertaining to the French revolution in general.

~Dara

[notsoguiltykpop]

The Tenth Floor Extra(1)

This happens in the Tenth Floor Universe, after part 20-21ish--reading previous parts would probably make this a lot more interesting haha. If you’ve been curious about Yoongi and Taehyung’s relationship, this might answer a few questions! 

Min Yoongi had gone through 34 secretaries in the past 24 months, and each one of them left in tears. This fact alone should have warned you against taking the job, but the pay was too good to pass up. Surely you could put up with a billionaires temper-tantrums, right?

Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21

(This is what I wrote for my Creative Writing class btw! It was written as a stand-alone short story, so that’s why it doesn’t really have anything to do with the plot of TTF other than the fact that it’s about Yoongi and Taehyung (with different names in the official version, of course lol). 

Yoongi wanted to argue. He wanted to tell the droopy-eyed, yawning employee that he didn't have time to hang around in some strange-smelling tire store for two whole stupid hours. Even if he did, he wouldn’t want to. But he could tell by the man’s flat, disinterested tone that arguing wouldn’t change anything; the car would be ready by the end of the day, and him acting like a child about it wouldn’t make it go any faster.

“What if I paid extra?” Yoongi couldn't quite stop himself from asking, seeing Taehyung out of the corner of his eye helping himself to a cup of coffee.

“First come first serve,” He said flatly, then added, “Look, we'll do the best we can to get you and your friend--”

“We're not friends,” Yoongi cut in.

“You and the guy traveling with you,” The man said, not in the least bit phased by the interruption. “Back on the road, but if it's really that urgent, you might think about Uber’ing there or something.”

Yoongi rested his elbows on the counter as he leaned forward. “Do I look like someone who Uber's anywhere, ever?” He asked, but the man wasn't really listening anymore. He grabbed some headphones from a drawer and a pair of gloves from the counter before standing and making his way to the door that read “Employees Only” in big red letters.

“We'll let you know as soon as it's done,” He called over his shoulder.

“I guess I'll just take a seat, then,” Yoongi grumbled.

Taehyung was way ahead of him. He had settled himself down into one of the obnoxiously bright-red chairs, his coffee in one hand and phone in the other. His feet rested on an end table, crumpling the magazines on it under his shoes.

“Cheer up, Yoongs,” He said without looking up. “There's free Wi-Fi; things could be worse.”

“They could also be better,” Yoongi replied dryly, sitting on the other side of the room from his stepbrother. It didn’t do as much good as he had hoped--the room just wasn’t that big to begin with. “You know, if you hadn't hit that rock and ruined my tire.”

“It wasn't my fault!” Taehyung shot back irritably.

“You're right, it was mine for trusting you to drive.” If Yoongi was honest with himself, he knew that if he had been the one driving when the raccoon ran into the road, he probably would have swerved and hit the same rock. Logic didn't stop him from blaming Taehyung, however; ultimately, Taehyung was the one driving, after all.

“Don't you get tired of being such an ass all the time?” Taehyung scoffed.

Yoongi pretended not to hear him, turning his attention to the TV in one corner, where the local news was talking about the weather. It looked like the snow storm was moving faster than originally predicted, and they were advising people to stay off the roads if possible.

“Have you called your dad yet?” Taehyung asked suddenly.

“No,” Yoongi snorted. “Why would I have? He won't notice if we're there or not.”

“Maybe, but my mother will.”

“So why don't you just call her, then?” Yoongi wanted to ask, but he already knew the answer. Taehyung didn't deal with grief, or anything else for that matter. When things got complicated, he bailed. Simple as that. His mother was the only exception to this rule, as far as Yoongi knew. Now, Taehyung was caught between wanting to run like hell, and being there for his family. Taehyung wouldn't call his mother unless he had to, Yoongi was sure.

It wasn't that Yoongi was looking forward to arriving at Taehyung’s grandmother's farm in upstate New York to see a bunch of grieving relatives he didn't know. He wasn't looking forward to seeing his father, or getting asked “how's the business going?” and “have you met the one yet?”

Truthfully, under any other circumstances, he would have welcomed the excuse to get to the farm a day later than everyone else. But Taehyung was there, which made it significantly less enjoyable.

Yoongi sighed deeply, turning his gaze to the ceiling and noticing a large water stain there. “Even if we left now, we wouldn't beat the storm. I think we'll have to stay somewhere tonight.” He hated the idea but didn't see a different option. Taehyung just nodded idly in agreement. “I'll call your mother, you make the hotel reservations.”

Explaining to Mrs. K that they were going to be late went about as well as Yoongi expected. She wanted to know why they hadn't checked the weather, that they were both okay, and then apologized for getting in his business and telling him what to do. Yoongi didn't listen as much as he probably should have, eyes glued to the window where snow was gathering quickly. It wasn't that he disliked her, or didn't care about what she had to say. He just didn't have the energy to argue that he really didn't mind, and that he understood she was stressed. After letting her ramble for a few minutes, occasionally saying “Mhm,” and “It’s fine,” he made the lame excuse of the phone cutting out to get off the phone with her.

“So where are we staying?” He asked, turning to his brother. Taehyung just smiled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I called every hotel in the area,” He started.

“And?” Yoongi pressed.

“And they're full. But--” He held a finger up as he took a step back. “It's completely fine!”

“Damn it, Tae--”

“There's a 24-hour diner just up the road. We can hang out there until the car is ready, or the storm passes. Whichever comes first.”

He didn't wait to hear Yoongi’s reply, hurrying out the door before he could poke holes in his plan.

The diner was small and a little cramped. Yoongi guessed that other people might call it “cozy,” but to him, it just felt claustrophobic. It appeared they weren't the only ones hoping to wait out the storm, and they had to wait a few minutes before a small table shoved into the corner by the kitchen freed up.

“Doesn't this remind you of that time when we were sixteen in Waffle House?” Taehyung asked, elbowing Yoongi gently as they made their way over to the table.

“No,” Yoongi replied flatly, thinking that maybe he should have just stayed at the tire store.

“You had that nasty fake spider you were going to leave in Miss Marley's desk,” Taehyung’s smile was growing as he spoke.

“Are you going somewhere with this?” Yoongi snapped. His chair wobbled on the uneven flooring, despite his best attempt at adjusting it to make it stop. Taehyung’s smile dropped, and he folded his arms as Yoongi picked up a menu and pretended to read it.

“I know you remember,” He said. “You ended up leaving it under the check because the waitress made fun of my hair.”

Yoongi nodded reluctantly, waving a hand for Taehyung to stop talking. “Just because I remember, doesn't mean I like thinking about it. We were awful children.”

“We enjoyed life,” Taehyung argued. “You can't say we didn't have fun.”

This, at least, was true. Despite how much Yoongi cringed looking back on the things they did in their teens, even he had to admit they were some of the happiest years of his life.

“We were terrible children,” He repeated with a sigh. Leaving the fake spider for that poor waitress to find was one of the more mild shenanigans they got up to in those days.

“Do you ever miss it?” Taehyung asked quietly, and Yoongi almost missed it in the buzz of the diner.

“What?” He replied, raising an eyebrow and peering at Taehyung over the top of his menu. “Being a stupid teen? No.”

“I meant, do you ever wish we were still that close?”

Yoongi couldn't remember the last time he looked at Taehyung and thought he was being sincere about anything, but in that moment, there was something about the hesitancy in his voice that made Yoongi pause, biting back the snide remark that came to mind.

“There's no going back to that,” He said after a moment.

“Why not?” Taehyung seemed determined not to let this go now he'd brought it up, and it made Yoongi wonder how long Taehyung had thought about it. “I mean, it's ridiculous, right? We live in the same city, and see each other maybe once a year? That's stupid! Isn't time to forgave each other for the stupid things we did in our teens and moved on?”

“I have moved on,” Yoongi cleared his throat, looking back at the menu so he wouldn't have to look Taehyung in the eyes.

“Like hell you have,” Taehyung muttered.

“I didn't say I forgave you,” Yoongi slammed his menu down, trying to ignore the waiter who started to approach the table and seemed to have thought better of it. “I said I moved on. Big difference.”

Taehyung fell silent for a moment. “I can’t believe you’re going to hold a grudge after all these years…” He muttered.

Yoongi shook his head. He wasn’t even sure if he was mad anymore, if he truly asked himself. He was, however, positive that things couldn’t go back to how they were before all of the family drama. They couldn’t get back all those years wasted fighting because Taehyung hated Yoongi’s dad and despite everything, Yoongi took over his father’s company and became just like him. Too much damage had been done, for too long.

“I’m sorry,” Yoongi sighed. “Honestly? I miss those days, too. And maybe you’re right--that we should move on, I mean. But it’ll never be like it was. Not really.”

Taehyung nodded slowly, eyes on the table. “I guess.”

“I do wish we’d seen her face, though,” Yoongi couldn’t help a smile pulling at his lips.

“What?” Taehyung looked up, confused.

“The waitress,” Yoongi clarified. “We were so scared to get caught, we didn’t stick around to see her face when she found the spider.”

Taehyung grinned. “Hearing her scream was pretty great though, wasn’t it?”

A/N And there it is! That’s what my teacher is going to grade, lol. I was originally going to make it about all-new characters, but as I developed the setting, I realized that TTF Tae and Yoongi were the perfect people to end up stranded in a snow-storm together, plus it gave me a chance to talk about their past. Btw, I think I’m going to re-write the last several chapters of TTF, so if they disappear for a bit, that’s why lol. Thanks for reading, and let me know what you thought! Did it answer any of your questions about them? Do you still hate Taehyung? Based only on this, my classmates have informed me that Yoongi is an ass, and were all on Tae’s side. <3