#i guess you could saw re-interest since i used to like it a lot in the past when i was young

[silksongeveryday]

Drawing Hornet everyday until Silksong comes out - Day 526

subtle/not so subtle reference to my current interest lol

(being a little but of self indulgent here don’t mind me)

[trashogram]

If you need any CharlieDust fic idea. Maybe there on a date and people mock Charlie for dating a whore. Or Charlie comfort Angel after he has nightmare of Valentino.

Hiya! Thank you for the ideas! I kind of did one where ppl mock Angel and Charlie’s relationship, written before the show proper came out. You can read it under the cut if you like! I might re-do it though, if people find that interesting. The nightmare idea sounds like sweet angst. ***

The suit he’s in is way too stiff. 

Angel huffed, bangs fluttering before his mismatched eyes. A demon or two glanced in his direction but he was otherwise left to loiter at the bar. It’s only been a couple of minutes since his partner excused herself, but Angel finds himself missing her presence. 

When did I get so fuckin’ soft? He wonders as a pair of bear-like royals pass by, snuffling and snickering together. It’s anyone’s guess who they are and if they’re a couple or siblings (or both), but whatever they are, they seem to be entirely wrapped up in each other. 

That seems to be the only way to survive this dull as fuck party. 

If he’d had his way, Angel would’ve blown off the ‘invite’ to this thing. Or blown up, if Cherri was game. They could’ve made a night of it, with a  couple glittery explosions, maybe a dildo or two launched at a particularly prissy glitterati. It’d do a hell of a lot to lighten up this hive of seedy royals and their toxic soirée. 

It’s just that…

Angel sighs again, before rolling his eyes at his own melodramatics. He swirled the glass of champagne in his hand and out of the corner of his eye saw a flash of candy apple red. 

Lucifer himself didn’t attend too many parties, even those in his own estate. His presence now was surely some testament to the importance of this shindig, even if Angel Dust couldn’t remember what it was for for the afterlife of him. 

‘Too busy’. Charlie had told him. And damn it if Angel didn’t read way more into the wistful look in his gal’s eyes when she told him. 

Apple Daddy didn’t like him, and didn’t make up any excuses as to why. No one would expect him to, not in the least because he was the ruler of Hell itself but because the disdain for his heir’s chosen partner was obvious. 

It made no difference to Angel Dust (or so he told himself when the doubts started creeping up). Lots of people didn’t like him, and really, who wanted to be liked by the Devil? 

‘Too busy for you, ya mean?’ Angel cut to the chase, wishing he could take it back immediately at the wounded expression on Charlie’s stark face.

Charlie had gotten moody as the night of the party drew closer. She was so introspective and miserable that she hadn’t responded to anything Angel had to offer, be it a snide remark about her Time of The Month or the classic ‘sensual massage’ to de-stress. 

It had left Angel floundering, with no choice but to admit to himself that he was at a loss. The reality was clear, even if he couldn’t completely admit it to himself: if Charlie was upset, then he was upset. 

‘It’s not really that.’ The princess sniffled. She was nestled in Angel’s chest fluff, held close like a doll. ‘I mean it used to make me sad, but I don’t need him around all the time.’

‘It’s just… nothing makes me feel like an outsider more than these parties.’

Just the reminder of that conversation coupled with the visage of Lucifer unperturbed, Queen Lilith at his side, left a sour taste in Angel Dust’s mouth. He sneered at the overly-polished floor before downing his glass of bubbly and stalking off from the safety of the bar. 

Whispers and cackles follow as he navigates his way out of the room. 

“Is that him? Or is it her?”

“Right?” A barely-restrained cackle answers. “How could you tell?”

“Can’t believe the King would allow him in here. It would be bad enough if he was just a common sinner, but -”

“It’s all the Princess’s fault. She’s the one embarrassing us all.” 

Angel can’t help himself. He never does. 

‘I hate the thought of being torn down while they’re right there. A-and of them just watching. Knowing I’m not strong enough.’

A quick, unnatural turn of his head lets him see the same bear pair, openly gawking at him. Angel Dust flashes his teeth and flips them the bird x6. 

He turns his back at their gasps and scoffs of disgust with a cackle of his own. 

—

The sinner finds his princess leaving the nearest restroom, forehead creased as she thinks. She doesn’t see Angel Dust until he’s wrapped all four of his arms around her from behind.

“Hey babe.” The spider demon lays his head against her shoulder, feeling the woman’s body relax and lean back into him. 

“Angel!” Charlie laughs. “You scared me.”

“Wouldn’t of happened if ya weren’t in your own head.” Angel replied. 

His arms busy themselves with different tasks, as he’s wont to do whenever Charlie’s in his grasp. He keeps them in the dim hallway for a minute, one arm around her waist, another skating along her bare arm, and yet another raised so that he can play with her golden hair idly. 

He turns Charlie around to face him, in time to see her sigh. “Ah, I know. I’m sorry, I’ve just had a lot on my mind lately.” 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Angel pulls her in and kisses her soundly, feeling giddy deep down as he pulls away and the princess is still standing there with her eyes closed and lips puckered. “You think too much.” 

A hand comes up to caress Charlie’s cheek, and Angel leans forward just to hover some centimeters from the woman’s face. “Let’s get outta here.” 

“Huh?” Charlie breathes. She blinks up at the spider as the daze clears from her gaze. 

“Let’s you ‘n me ditch this joint, go have ourselves a real ‘Fuck You Dad’ party.” 

Charlie pulls away with a gasp. “What? No! We can’t -!”

Angel moans in faux agony over her protests, not allowing her to escape his grasp completely. “Come onnnnn. We came, didn’t we? Wasn’t much of a climax, but we’ll fix it in post.” 

Charlie’s lips tremble until she can’t hold back a snort the longer he holds her gaze.

She rolls her eyes, but a genuine smile, bright enough to light up the palace halls, comes to life amidst her red cheeks. 

Her hesitance disappears. “Where are we going?”

Angel Dust grins.

[stromuprisahat]

i saw your evgeniy post and i totally agree that it wouldnt work out the same at all if genya was male, maybe he would work directly for the king but either way im willing to bet the fandom wouldnt be victimising him to that extent and the character probably would be allowed to stay morally grey instead of being forced to be "good".

as per your comments too: they probably gave ivan a love interest for "representation points" but if the show character was played more accurately to the book and looked more like book ivan people would probably ship him with the darkling a lot more and talk about him having unrequited love or whatever which is fine but certainly cheapens the characters motives.

also i dont think alina would have got on with genya if she was in a red kefta from the start as its like she saw genya in livery as "on the same level as her" as a servant and outsider, its my firm belief that if genya was introduced to alina as corporalki to start with her prejudice would kick in and she wouldnt trust her at all as she seems more prejudice against corporalki than any of the other orders (aside from the darkling)

(What if Genya were Evgeniy)

I don't think the King would require services of Tailor. The Queen remains the obvious choice for that, although there would be issues.

Regarding narrative-treatment... well, my guess is he wouldn't live long. Just look at Ivan- he wasn't easily brainwashed character, so he had to die to prop up brand new Good Guy™. Zhenya wouldn't be re-written into one-dimensional victim, because it would be easier to simply kill him off (preferably in a way emphasizing he picked the wrong side).

Fandom would simply ignore him, because he's a man in Aleksander's service. His backstory, missing sexual abuse "orchestrated" by the Darkling would also lose its appeal to antis. Loss of loved ones or torture just doesn't have the ring to it, when aimed at a man. Hell, if we'd make the King "fond" of teen boys, or came up with another molester, Evgeniy's story would include different variables. Women are easier to woobify, but then again, it could be "fixed" by making the boy gay, or better- headcanon gay. Everyone knows that makes you easier to exploit, so we can pretend lack of agency equals unfavourable circumstances etc. etc.

Since we know almost nothing about book!Ivan's personal life, I didn't mind his and Fedyor's romantic relationship, quite contrary- both actors used their minimal screentime to introduce the best romance in season 1 (in both, if I'm honest).

Ivan's in danger of simplification of his motivations no matter the looks. While book Ivan's described as good-looking, in show he's already canonically MLM. Both can work as a good enough reason to turn his loyalty into unrequired crush. Why delve into anything more complicated, if your view requires demonisation of the Darkling?

Absolutely agree on Genya's position and Alina's "friendship". Alina has been distrustful of other Grisha since the beginning. Sure, her belief she's a fraud played a part, but that would apply to Genya in red too. Grisha without colour didn't fit in. Useless Sun Summoner wouldn't either, once her incompetence becomes widely-known. Alina doesn't exactly believe in selfless unconditional friendship. Hell, she takes and takes from Genya, while offering little, with Malyen she assumes the opposite position.

[jujumin-translates]

Kasumi Hinamori | [SSR] Only On Blooming Days, | Papa’s Favorite Thing - Part 3

Announcement: “The play is about to begin. Everyone, please sit back and enjoy the performance.”

Kasumi: (It’s a little darker now, will they be okay?)

Girls: …

Kasumi: (Their eyes are fixed on the stage. They don’t seem scared at all.)

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Kasumi: (One short story already done. This performance is really catchy and easy to understand.)

Kasumi: (The production is really easy for kids to understand, the lighting is bright enough to not be scary, the costumes are cute, and there’s so many other kid-friendly things too.)

Kasumi: (And the girls…)

Sakura: Mmh… hmh…

Kaede: Yawn…

Tsubaki: Hnmh~…

Kasumi: (Oh no, they’re dozing off! I guess they ended up getting sleep after all.)

Kasumi: (They had a hard time sleeping last night because they were so excited, plus it’s dark in the theater, so I guess it was inevitable.)

Kasumi: (It just happened a little earlier than I expected…)

Story Traveler: “Oh? Are you all looking for a story too?”

Girls: !

Story Traveler: “What a coincidence. I’m on a journey to collect stories!”

Story Traveler: “It’s so great that we met like this. I’m going to share all my stories with you.”

Girls: Waah…!

Kasumi: (As soon as Sakuya-kun came out on stage, all three of them started staring at the stage with a sparkle in their eyes…)

Kasumi: (His ability to draw everyone’s attention to the stage… Sakuya-kun really is amazing.)

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Story Traveler: “Next time we meet, let me hear your stories!”

Story Traveler: “Bye-bye~.”

*Applause*

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Tsubaki: That was fun!

Sakura: It was really interesting~.

Kaede: Sakuya-sensei was so cool!

Sakura: Yeah! Especially when he was telling the story about the kitty…

Kaede: Yeah, yeah! I laughed a lot at that part~!

Tsubaki: Me too!

Kasumi: (I totally understand the feeling of wanting to go on and on about the show as the excitement doesn’t fade away~.)

Kasumi: Okay, everyone hold hands and come this way. Then you can all tell Sakuya-kun how you feel directly.

Girls: Eh?

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

*Knock on door*

Sakuya: Come in!

Kasumi: Hello.

Kasumi: (When I told him we were coming to see the play, Sakuya-kun said he’d love for us to come backstage.)

Sakuya: Kasumi-san!

Girls: Sakuya-sensei~!

Sakuya: Ahaha, girls!

Sakura: Um, Sakuya-sensei, so, the first story~…

Kaede: It was re~ally amazing when you did that spin-y thing! It was like magic!

Tsubaki: I wanna tell stories like you, Sakuya-sensei!

Sakuya: Fufu, thanks! I could see you in the audience. I looked everywhere to find you.

Kasumi: Sakuya-kun, I’m sorry… The girls have been like this ever since they saw the play. I don’t know where they get it from…!

Sakuya: Don’t worry about it, I was really glad to hear that you were coming.

Kasumi: I’m glad they all enjoyed themselves.

Sakura: The play was really fun!

Kaede: It was really fun to see a play!

Tsubaki: I love plays even more now!

Kaede: Yeah, me too!

Sakura: We’ve always wanted to see a play that Papa loves.

Tsubaki: We’ve seen one of Papa’s plays before, but we didn’t get it, but the costumes were really cool and Papa was really pretty!

Kaede: Yeah! We’ve always talked about how we wanna see more plans.

Sakura: Today’s play was really good, so we’re really happy we got to see it with Papa!

Kasumi: Girls…

Kasumi: Yeah, Papa’s very happy too… Snf.

Sakura: K-Kasumi-san!?

Kasumi: S-Sorry…!

Kasumi: I haven’t been able to go to see any of your plays lately because of work, Sakuya-kun…

Kasumi: So finally seeing one of your plays after so long, combined with the girls’ words, made me tear up.

Kasumi: Thank you for the wonderful play, Sakuya-kun…!

Girls: Thank you!

Sakuya: No, thank you for coming to see it!

Kasumi: (Fufu, I’d really like to go and see a play like this with my daughter again…!)

[ ⇠ Previous Part ]

[fromwhenceucame]

Today was Not Great so it’s time to make my first ever real post on here I guess !!

Shoutout to @thehardestwater for giving me that one post about turning your favorite characters into warriors, I did that and thought about them way too much

First we have Chaeya, let’s go !!

I very, very loosely used real warrior cat design concepts in the fact Kaeya doesn’t have an eyepatch but instead a big ol’ scar (in star-shaped format). A lot of their designs are inspired by aspects of their outfits, like how Childe has the darker ginger around his chest/neck like his scarf, and Kaeya’s white fluff is his actual fluffy thing (but this time on his body, wow). I had to make Childe’s stripes swirly like water and Kaeya’s spots like stars (also the moon-shaped ear fluff, that idea came to me from a warriors MAP I watched but I don’t remember which cat’s design it was anymore or which one it was :’) and also the fur on Kaeya’s back was inspired by another cat design of him I saw and I really wanted to include it)

In their warrior cats land, there’s 7 clans for each nation — so Childe’s in Snezhnaya clan (Snowclan) and Kaeya’s in Mondstadt clan (Windclan (very original)).

Childe is a highly respected cat in his clan, and they do things a little differently out there! There is no leader/deputy structure; instead, there’s the 11 Harbingers (“omens” instead, since “harbinger” isn’t a word I’ve seen in warriors as far as I know) who support their leader, the Tsaritsa… I don’t know off the top of my head if we know how many cryo archons there were before the Tsaritsa, but the original was definitely “Snowstar” and currently her name is “Icestar.” Childe is basically number 11 of Snowclan’s deputies…

As for Kaeya, he’s essentially Windclan’s acting deputy while the actual deputy (Jean) is the acting leader while the REAL leader (Varka) is away doing whatever he does. There’s a horseplace very close to Windclan (ironically similar to the real Windclan) that Kaeya knows everything about, the horseleader if you will, and he strongly enjoys watching them graze and gallop around when he’s not busy with clanlife. Pretty much everyone in the close-knit Windclan respects Kaeya because he is very cool (Kaeya does not agree with this, but okay). Also! The original “Windstar” (Venti) basically stepped down the moment Windclan was made, he’s not interested in that life.

And as for names !! They make me scream :]

Snowclan’s 11 Omens all have a new name based on what omen brought them to that position, that are formatted like the older clan names/tribe names, too. Originally, Childe was “Floodpaw” before he disappeared for a few days and came back a lil silly. After that, he was re-apprenticed to an Omen and given the full name “Floodripple” with his Omen name “Dark Waters of the Abyss” … sometimes I break my own rules (I don’t think “abyss” is a word warrior cats know) and that’s okay. Floodpaw probably still found a whale out there wherever he went to get trained by Skirk.

Kaeya would be “Frostwind” — the leader having honored him for his loyalty to the clan despite his loner roots (having been abandoned as a kit and taken in as usual, maybe Diluc is “Flametalon” for his fierceness because they definitely become warriors before The Incident) (Frostwind definitely doesn’t think he deserves that name, but okay).

Additional thoughts, Jean is “Dandelionroar” and has been acting leader for too many dang moons now. Barbara is most likely a medicine cat, but Albedo and Sucrose are also in that vein so maybe this Windclan does things a bit differently in regard to medicine cats. Dottore may be the medicine cat in Snowclan but he’s not. A very good medicine cat. Arlecchino’s Omen name could be “Flames of the Crimson Moon”

And yeah that’s all I got \o/ stay tuned for parts 2 and 3 when I post my other favorites from fe3h (Dimtiri + Sylvain + Claude) and hsr (Dr Ratio + Aventurine) my goal is to have a whole lot of them done before artfight next year — I hope they were neat, thanks for reading !!

[wavesoutbeingtossed]

Clara Bow outro thoughts:

The two main muses for Clara Bow are vital to the song. Clara Bow herself did not end up alright after Hollywood chewed her up and spit her out (there could be something to be said about her husband as well, but that is a different conversation). She was broken by the machine.

Stevie Nicks ended up alright. She is Stevie Nicks and is still doing things. However, I think there were times when she probably felt like she was not going to be alright.

Taylor dropping her own name is both a flex and a solid mix of the first two muses. The flex is she knows executives are now telling new artists that they could be her (I am guessing she does not think this is a good thing based on her experiences with fame). This is not about any single artist so people should shut up there.

But the other part is she is begging the question: will I be alright (like Stevie) or not (like Clara). And it shows how much of a roll of the dice it is for anyone grappling with fame.

And then there is the great irony of "you've got edge, she never did" following her name. No, Taylor has had edge for years. Blank Space calling out the media and how they portray her. Her taking on Spotify and Apple Music. Her leaving BMR for Republic taking a leap of faith from the only place she knew. Her re-recording her catalogue so she'd own it all. And on her album with WAOLOM and other edgy songs. Just a lot of her guts is shrouded in politeness.

And then there is how her and her family have managed her career. They've done it with a few people hired on. Not all these career managers or whatever. For better or worse, they handled it and now they're saying that more singers are going to non-managers like family members to manage them. It is interesting to think how Taylor might have influenced that.

The other interesting part is the "we're loving it". Unless I am grossly mistaken, I don't think any executive has loved her planning long-term because they saw her as disposable like most pop stars: limited time warranty that cannot stick around long-term. See, Katy Perry (no hate, just a fact).

That’s a really interesting observation about how you see Taylor as a mix of the two inspirations that come before her in the song. I wouldn’t have pieced that together, but I can see where you’re coming from!

What I see as the through line in the song, from Clara Bow to the unnamed future successor of Taylor’s, is that ultimately, what “they” want out of the women is ephemeral and unknowable, because what makes them “it” changes with the tide of public opinion. But also, these women create their own waves that in turn get emulated, exhausted and discarded for the next big thing. It’s a never ending cycle and has been since the dawn of Hollywood.

These women are exalted only to be torn down and struggle in their personal lives to cope. Clara Bow was one of Hollywood’s biggest stars but ended up leaving it all after what I understand was more or less a nervous breakdown and struggled with mental health until her death. Stevie Nicks blazed trails in rock and roll, but struggled with addiction for years and had her love life (e.g. with Lindsey Buckingham, among others) splashed all over the gossip pages. (I’m old enough to remember when Stevie’s cocaine use was a punchline by comedians.) We all know what Taylor’s gone through, between the shame over her love life to the deliberate attempt to destroy her career with Snakegate. Whoever comes next will face their own battle in turn. To me, the message is that the cycle will always perpetuate itself, even if it comes in different window dressing. The scrutiny over these women’s sex lives and virtue signalling seems to never end. Nobody comes out unscathed, but it’s a matter of what price they’ll pay for it.

“You’ve got edge, she never did,” to me is sooooo telling and also like, a reflection of the whole cyclical process of it all. For instance, Taylor was held up as this role model in her teen years and early 20s, which she deeply internalized and as we know now, was probably quite damaging in a lot of ways when she started growing up and the standards to which she was held were impossible to reconcile with an adult woman. She was supposed to be girlish and chaste, but not so girlish and chaste that she didn’t also appeal to men. That’s a hell of a thing to deal with as a hormonal 16 year old, and even more damaging as a 20something woman trying to find herself and own her sensuality and sexuality.

Taylor was the fairytale princess love song girl, because that’s what people wanted out of her, but she was just as quickly turn down for that hyper-perfectionist image after 1989 and she had to rebuild her entire self from the ground up in many ways. But the line in the song is kind of ironic; the person is blaming Taylor (the image of Taylor, because Taylor herself is a character in this whole story) for being a goody-twoshoes, but it ignores the fact that that was an image projected onto her as much as the next girl might be extolled for being punk, or whatever, and how the pendulum of public favour swings violently and at lightning speed. Taylor falls from grace and then the next big thing is her polar opposite in appearance only, but the same mechanics operate behind the scene and that next person will get chewed and spat out as much as Taylor did.

(We know Taylor is a badass in all aspects of her career, but I think she’s always going to be associated with the image she had when she first became famous, no matter how many eras pass by.)

So by the time we get to the “We’re loving it,” again, it’s a commentary on how the industry will create variations on a theme with these stars, and say “yes this is the one we want,” but ultimately they all meet the same fate. Because it is a cycle, and there will always be someone in the wings waiting to fill the void.

[utopianparadoxist]

Hi! I'm most interested on reading your version of HS extension(?) continuation? re-adaptation? Ever since I first saw your analysis on Dirk and Jake I've considered you with amazing grip of the characters and the HS universe over all, Dirk is one of my fav characters of all time (if not the), and there is nothing I'd want more for him than a happy ending, the epilogues were truly heart breaking for him (even though I was more than willing to see where they were going with him in HS^2 in hopes of seeing him reach a happy end) Homestruck was and still is one of my fav properties ever and I'd love to see more from you, I'm sorry you had a hard time but I'm really glad you're back, here and in a better headspace. That said, I guess I'm just somewhat confused on in you have something written already or if it's in the works or from where in the timeline you're continueing from ? Maybe you have like, a master post with your list of essays and fics?

I also loved your youtube videos btw

Thanks! It means a lot to read this. As to your question:

The main project I've been managing since the Epilogues got posted is Pumpkin Path/Pumpkin Track, a sequel to the Meat and Candy epilogues focused primarily on Pumpkins and Vegetables as an alternative form of fan consumption.

The first installment of this arc is THE APOCRYPHON OF JAKE ENGLISH (2019), which follows Meat Jake immediately following Ultimate Dirk's desertion of Earth C. Brain Ghost Dirk declares Dirkjake cancelled and (trigger warning) self-destructs, unleashing the inner barriers in Jake's psychology that he always used his inner Dirk voice to maintain.

Thus Jake's own mind begins to lead him down a rabbit hole of speculatory metaphysics, esoteric spiritual symbolism, and esoteric magic theory that ultimately leads to his ascension to Ultimate Self as Prince English: Himself wearing Dirk's shades and orange hat and essentially larping as a Prince in imitation of Dirk proper.

Through the power he gains from this, he blasts off from Earth C and tracks down Ultimate Dirk for a no holds barred 8eatdown in which he reclaims their lost love and makes Dirk his prisoner with chains of love and mercy, cancelling his ability to die and comitting to becoming the vill8in of Homestuck, as well as its Her8, if it means he can keep Dirk safe and alive.

In the process he finally establishes Dirkjake as indisputable endgame canon, and becomes the equivalent of the I AM Christian God, the new existential equivalent to Lord English himself, with a will that predominates completely over everything else in Paradox Space. There may be some surprises that happen along the way, too.

Now, That much of the story has been written and published since 2019. You can read it on A03 right now and always could. In fact, I'd encourage you to do so and @ me, as well as maybe tag it with #Pumpkin Path, #Pumpkin Track, or just straight up #Homestuck for all I care. I want eyes on this thing, and I wanted them 4 years ago.

That said:

I am now nearing completion on the follow-up to the Apocryphon as an intermission piece between the Epilogues and Pumpkin Track proper, with what is essentially ACT 1 of Pumpkin Track: W(1)LDSCR1PT-B4R0QU3STUCK, a high-drama spectacle driven continuation of the plot of the Epilogues centering on a confrontation between Ultimate Jake English and Meat Jade Harley, who must duel for the right to decide if Dirk Strider dies.

In the process of their battle and Jade's necessary Ascension to Ultimate Selfhood in order to Rise uP to the level necessary to compete against a being like Prince English, deeply hidden truths will be unveiled; about the lives of Jade and Jake, about the moral logic that rules Earth C, and about the very nature and purpose of Paradox Space itself.

If I have it my way, if all goes as I Hope, then nothing in Homestuck will ever be the same once it's posted. The Apocryphon was setup. Now it's fucking Sh8wt1m3, and I can't w8.

The first half of Wildscript is written and has been being beta'd for several months, and I have a full outline written for the rest. Anyone who gets their eyes on the thing seems to come away pretty excited. Sometime in the near future, I'll post the first four Chapters of Wildscript on Ao3 or some other platform, and update the rest as I go. And once Wildscript is finished, I have future Acts and Intermissions planned for the foreseeable eternity, tackling off the top of my head: Ultimate Ascensions for Rose and Kanaya, Vriska and Terezi, Roxy and Calliope, Jane Crocker, and Nepeta Leijon and Tavros Nitram as they lead the twin charges of Nepetaquest 3033.

There is no endpoint to my ambition for the future of Homestuck save simply: 8. The only question is whether the fandom wants to come along for the ride with me in the long run. I think Hope Remains that we'll have a great time here if they do.

If not, I hope they have even more fun elsewhere.

Let's rise.

[gothicprep]

even better, re: the cut: the ‘I think my husband is trashing my novel on goodreads’ article is the first of a NEW advice column by the same author of the disastrous ‘lure of divorce’ personal essay from last week.

lol i was debating talking about emily gould when that essay came out, but i figured "nobody cares about your weird interest in gawker media lore" and decided against it. but i'm going to interpret this as permission to just go crazy on main.

context for readers who don't know: emily gould, on valentine's day, published an essay that's ostensively about divorce, but it's actually about a lot of other things. not even *a* divorce, because she decides against getting divorced at the end of the essay. i wouldn't bet on anything that comes after the end of this essay, but that's a separate question.

it's probably important to establish who emily gould is for what i'm about to say to make any sense: she was a media darling in her 20s. she was one of the first people to get Very Famous from blogging, an editor at gawker, and probably the best known writer there during the mid to late 2000s. very american apparel indie hipster sleeze era personality. could probably be described as a "literary sex symbol" insofar as the literary world has those things.

there were two things that she was famous for in this era. one of them was this post she put on gawker about how she had broken up with her boyfriend and it was a massive success. if you comb through old archives, people were talking about this like it was the brangelina split. i want to say this was a dam breaking moment for a particular kind of personal branding/internet personality that involved revealing things about your personal life, which eventually took over more broadly and gave rise to the culture we have now online. the other thing was this very unfortunate appearance she had on larry king live or something after she'd been taken to task for the "gawker stalker" feature on gawker, where people would send in tips about celebrity sightings around the city. someone sent in a tip about jimmy kimmel being drunk and obnoxious in a bar, and because kimmel is the world's biggest baby, he flipped out and went on this whole tirade about how it was a threat to his safety. in reality, he was just mad that someone saw him drunk in public and said something about it. kimmel and a few other guys confronted her about this on larry king. she looked like a deer in headlights and either wasn't prepared/hadn't been prepared for what was coming. like kimmel told her she was going to hell on live television. mess. there was also some really public drama she had with lena dunham but i don't really remember the details.

she never really disappeared between then and now. she's been writing for the cut for a while, which i guess you could say is her aging into a different kind of women's journalism. she's published a few books, but she hasn't really found her footing since her breakout success in her 20s didn't turn her into the established writer she probably hoped she would be. there was a time where it seemed like she was positioned to be this generation's joan didion, but that didn't end up happening.

so that brings us up to this essay, which was preceded by the last little bit of gossip that i need to get out of the way, even though she mentions it in the essay. in her personal newsletter, she made a crowdfunding request for money to "taking an infinite hiatus from hetero marriage and monogamy. they are a trap for women, full stop. sometimes a trap can be cozy. mine was, until it wasn’t." she does mention she's having a manic episode. she's upfront about the fact that something is going on with her.

anybody who's at all familiar with gould and her financial challenges must question the wisdom of giving money to this, but she presents it very much in the spirit of "men are pigs. men are trash. divorce that man now." and as we learn later, gets money from lyz lenz, who has a book out that's basically the feminist case for divorce and being a single mom.

so gould is not just neck deep in this divorce literature, but producing it to some extent. maybe a crowdfunding request isn't truly a literary form, but it's written in a persuasive way that fits with other writing in the liberate yourself through divorce canon. but the valentine's day essay, while i don't think it's great, i do think it's interesting how it breaks from form. it's not an anti-man personal essay, and these always are. so it was nice to read something a bit different. well, maybe not different, but retro.

i've never been a fan of gould's work, but it did get me wondering "what itch are people trying to scratch when they read essays like this?" because it's like the reader wants them to be an explicitly moral fable, but they want it to be racy and spicy. like one of those mid century pulp novels with a painting of a woman on the cover looking kind of slatternly with a lot of makeup on. it'd be called something like "wild trash" and the subtitle would be "she couldn't wait for her divorce". it's smut about a woman who's sinning gratuitously and flouting society's expectations. and usually with these books, there'd be some kind of cosmic comeuppance for her where she'd get syphilis and die in a pauper's prison or whatever.

and i think people come to stories like this because they want to read something like that. you're gonna read about a woman who was debauched and all the naughty behavior in graphic, titillating detail. and at the end, you get served up a nice, neat conclusion. her husband divorces her and finds love with a kindergarten teacher from iowa. so it flouts the "rah rah divorce him" essay and the pulpy personal essay that some people want. if you're going to write a 3,000 word apology, at the very least, it is a novel take on it.

but i think what the problem is with an essay like this is that it's very... dated in its style. the expected thing with personal essays in the 2020s, the thesis of them usually boils down to something about what a great person the essayist is. most of them do this. that's why you get privilege disclaimers in them – the point of the essay is how the essayist is sensitive and kind and wonderful. even when there are flaws, they're overcome, or something systemic lead this to happen. a flawed woman is because patriarchy made her thus.

to give a better example of the kind of thing i'm talking about, you'll see an essay in the atlantic or new york times magazine and it follows the same formula. Woman Has Personal Life Grievance. Step Back. Here's Why This Is A Big Issue In Society, Bolstered With Statistics. Here's Why If This Woman Was Black Or Poor Or Gay Or Trans, It Would Be Even Worse. Back To The Personal Anecdote... you know what i mean? it's a very well established formula, but you can't have that with "also i'm a dirtbag". once you're talking about society and societal issues of which you're just a little representative – because those are the stakes. it has to be universal – you can't just be talking about yourself.

and then there's this question of personal writing more generally. you aren't a fictional character, you're yourself. and whether you want it to be or not, every personal essay is going to function like a cover letter. it's presenting you to the world. and i don't like these, but i don't want gould's style of personal essay to come back either. it straight up ruined a lot of women's lives who wanted to get their foot in the door in media, got $75 from xojane to write something lurid about their personal lives... and their career never took off. so now this is just on the internet forever.

this old piece in slate sheds a light on just how exploitative that whole thing was.

"don't make life decisions based on emily gould's writing" is useful advice for more reasons than one.

[lemotmo]

I feel like something has to have happened behind the scenes. I don't know if it has anything to do with anyone being told specific story arcs, because I have no idea how 911 does those things in the off-season so I don't want to assume any of the actors have been told anything. The radio silence from Oliver is not abnormal or unexpected this is kind of his routine. I feel like the interviews that came out with Ryan immediately following the season finale you could tell he was not thrilled with the storyline. He's had time to rest, reflect and maybe been given some ideas about the upcoming season and this interview came across much more positive. I do think he was comfortable with the interviewer as well, which is always noticeable with Oliver and Ryan.

The absolute radio silence from Lou across the board is the big mystery here. First he completely shuttered his cameo account. He went from multiple daily posts about 911 and Tommy to absolutely nothing. He's no longer liking posts. He's no longer replying to Twitter messages. Absolute silence. I know some people are saying it's because he was 'attacked' and is just taking a break but I don't buy that at all. You don't go from being a complete attention seeker to dormant because a few people called you out on Twitter. Now you have his goon squad talking about how they're being blocked by people who work on the show, and the jounos who cover the show have started publicly calling them out, which they've never done before (as far as I can remember?) to Tim flat out saying it was a mistake to have ever engaged in the first place even out of politeness.

I don't know but it's weird how sudden it was. I saw one post on Twitter this morning where one of his fans (gag me) said they were getting a little concerned because not only did the BTS videos show a clear separation between him and Oliver when they're not rolling but now Kenny, who I guess was the one cast member who 'liked' Lou's posts had stopped doing that shortly before Lou went dark. Ryan pretty much debunking all their nonsense in one interview didn't help their cause either. I don't know, this got rambly but it's noticable and it's odd so I'm very curious what happened.

Hey Nonny. I must admit that I'm a bit hesitant to post your message on my blog. Mostly because I always try to stay respectful towards people. But I really wanted to reply to this, so I decided to go for it.

For anyone coming across this: Me replying to this message is not an invite to send hatred my way. I myself am not hating on anything or anyone. I simply want to give my input and opinion on this message that was sent to me, since it's an interesting topic. Remember, every opinion is valid and it's okay to post about your opinion on your own blog.

Ryan did seem so much happier doing this interview. You could see that he wasn't struggling to look for answers that were 'acceptible'. So yeah, I do think something shifted bts. I can't know for sure, but to me it seems that he got a YES for the storyline he has been wanting to do for a couple of seasons now. So yeah, I choose to believe that this is about queer Eddie's journey.

As for Lou. I have no idea what happened there. It's possible the showrunners talked to him about the cameos or his recent behaviour on social media. I don't know and I also don't want to spend too much of my precious time speculating about a man I really don't like. Ultimately I don't think it matters. I don't see him lasting very long in season 8.

Basically the truth is that we don't know for sure what is going on. He could just be on a vacation for all we know. I think the guy earned enough cameo money over the last couple of months to afford a trip to the Maledives. :D

As for all the other stuff... again, I don't know. Did it seem like he didn't get along with the rest of the cast? Yes. Is it true that Ryan talked about a lot of subjects that were used against him by certain people in the fandom? Yes.

Are some of the BT fans really 'passionate' about the ship and do some questionable things because of that? Yes. But please keep in mind that not everyone is like that. I know some perfectly reasonable fans that just like the BT ship dynamic. I might not understand it, but it's their take and it's valid. We need to keep them in mind as well when we speak about the BT fandom. It doesn't do any good to lump everyone together in one big general heap of shippers. Everyone is different. It's the same in the Buddie fandom.

So, look... am I curious about what is going on bts? Hell yes. But mostly in function of how they are planning Eddie's coming out and the eventual Buddie of it all. The rest is really not that important anymore.

All we can do now is focus on the things we do know: the possibility of queer Eddie Diaz in season 8? BIG HUGE YES!

[amirazat]

Saw your post about the Avatar state vs Katara’s anger at Yon-Rha, it was so civilly handled and well written! I’m scrolling through your blog now, and see you mentioning that you got ideas for how KA could have been written differently. Care to share? I am starved for fan content where Aang gets actual character development instead of being either perfect or the devil.

Thanks so much for your ask!

I actually have a lot of ideas for re-writes and additional scenes to help bolster Aang’s character development and, relatedly, the development of Kataang. I’m happy to share more of them if people are interested, but I figure I should probably start with something (relatively) short easy to digest. I hope I deliver on your expectations!

Since I was on the topic of “The Southern Raiders”, let’s start there. I think there’s a lot of nuance in the way that Aang approaches his discussion with Katara that’s easy to miss (which I expand upon at length in I this post) and I would have loved to have seen a scene at the end of TSR where Aang actually talks to Katara about what happened, and they become closer as a result. In my opinion, this would have made their romance arc a lot better, since I think one of the biggest problems with the way Kataang works out in canon is that even though they get on well for most of the show, they seem to spend the last few episodes having unresolved fights… then they kiss.

I had three main goals when writing this scene

1. Allow Aang and Katara to reconcile after their fight, showing a healthier friendship and making it seem more natural when that friendship transitions to romance.

2. Flesh out Aang’s motivations in this episode, and allow him to reflect on his mistakes

3. Write Katara showing an interest in Aang in a context where the text indicates to us (part of) why she’s interested in him romantically. We hear a lot about why Katara loves Aang, and we see that she’s interested in him romantically, but these scenes don’t tend to coincide so it ends up being difficult to relate to Katara in the romance.

Here’s what I’ve got:

(Some lines are taken directly from the show because I wanted to keep things as consistent with canon as I could while keeping to my goals.)

Instead of having Katara talk to Aang and Zuko on the dock after they get back, we instead have Katara and Zuko reconcile with a “thank you” and their hug while they’re still alone. Later, when Zuko brings the others to Ember Island, Aang approaches Katara by herself on the dock, giving the two of them space to have their own reconciliation.

Aang approaches Katara on the dock, sitting down next to her.

Aang: Katara, Zuko told me what you did. Or what you didn’t do, I guess. Are you alright?

Katara: I’m getting there.

Aang: I want to be here if you need me. I know that forgiveness isn’t easy.

Katara, sharply: I didn’t forgive him. I will never forgive him.

Aang looks at Katara in surprise.

Aang, tentative: But you let him go? I thought you needed closure.

Katara, staring out over the water: I did. And when I saw him, I wanted to do it. I wanted to take out all my anger on him, but I couldn’t. I don’t know if it’s because I’m too weak to or because I’m strong enough not to.

Aang sort of wilts in on himself.

Aang: When I saw you that angry, all I could think about was how I acted after I lost Appa. I yelled at you all. I went after the sandbenders. I wanted to…

Aang takes a deep breath and refocuses.

Aang: I wasn’t strong enough to not take my anger out on those around me. I needed to forgive in order to move on. Like the monks taught me. If either of us is weak, it’s me.

Katara, turning towards Aang and placing a hand on his shoulder: Aang, no. You’re one of the strongest people I know. You lost your entire culture to the Fire Nation, but you’re still here, still loving life, and you’re doing everything you can to save the whole world. That’s amazing.

Aang blushes and looks at Katara shyly.

Aang: I think you’re pretty amazing, too.

Katara also blushes, and leans her shoulder slightly against Aang. We fade out as the two watch the sunset together.

[maskedteaser]

hii i just saw the rdr2 matchups you did and i love them AND HOLY SHIT APEX FAN‼️‼️ i love how detailed you are!! love your writing!! so if ur not too overwhelmed with requests id like to make one :3 and honestly if ur doing matchups for apex id love that too there's so little apex ffs, especially x reader </3 no pressure tho!!

anyways as for me. uhh. i don't use labels (aside from being asexual) but am pretty masculine in gender, and my love is for any gender. my pronouns are he/him :3

more about me,, im vegetarian, my favorite animal is the octopus, im chronically ill & disabled, which means i have chronic pain and have pretty bad sleep (literally writing this at 10 am after not being able to sleep all night) but despite that i have a weird paradox where i am kinda strong? like i can pick ppl up. but can't have much activity for a long time lest i cast spell 200 bpm on myself. but for the sake of the ff i could totally bench press arthur morgans 180lb of pure muscle. its true <3

in apex i main wattson and bloodhound! but i also like crypto, octane ofc (who doesn't), loba, and... im sorry.. wraith 😭 i got wattsons heirloom after. a very long time of opening packs AND I LOVE IT SO MUCH no regrets!! french girl with giant nessie plush!!!!! tho i haven't played in forever (and honestly may keep it that way with how much they're nerfing bloodhound.. like.. c'mon man.. not my main.. they've already been nerfed so much 😭)

i recently started playing rdr2 cause im visiting family that has it (theres actually been a lot of funny stories being on an unfamiliar console, like playing 22+ hours and reaching chap 2 without knowing how to save.. and i didnt know how to tell arthurs weight so i kept him underweight for so long my poor starving man </3) after playing rdr1 quite a bit. i also vibed with john hard in 1 but i lowkey thought he was an angsty young adult in rdr2 and not a FATHER. my favs are arthur and javier tho i can barely see the latter cause where tf is he on the map?? same with charles where IS HE??? but anyways i also vibe so hard with kieran.

tho i could talk forever about my interests, other than that for personality: id describe myself as actually kinda confident around strangers, i love to compliment ppl i come across. for friends, much of the same, i like using improv as humor if that makes sense, ive been told im easy to talk to, i consider myself intuitive (also contributed to me being a tarot reader i believe), but i am the type to have a veeerryy hard time expressing negative feelings im having, and never crying in front of people, so no shortage of bottling emotions. im also rather rigid on cleanliness and WILL start tweaking if me/my space goes too long w/o cleaning. i really, really care about people (i would want to be a paramedic!! if my body could allow it..) and i so want to make peoples lives better!! but also can rather easily stop people from walking over me, should they try. i care about kids a lot, and get very peeved when other ppl dont know how kids brains work and mistreat them because of such, and cause they just have no respect for children. honestly with thinking like.. about formulating matchmaking requests i never really seem to think about what id want out of a person. honestly, just when someone cares (wow, such high standards) but should the time come, mmmost times im not afraid to make a selfish ask. most. maybe. sometimes. and im very, very empathetic and it SUCKS i take psychic damage every time someone even remotely, even HYPOTHETICALLY feels bad. this is not a virtue.

for hobbies, i like to play video games as you may have guessed, i also like to read (non fiction, classic lit and danmeis especially), make art of all kinds but mainly physical sketches, and im always looking to add more shows/movies to my watched list.

i love to visit restaurants and cafes and interesting places surrounding food!!! my idea of a good time is eating with people, even if its in a crappy chuck e cheese. i love to try new foods (but it's a bit hard since becoming vegetarian), and i love matcha! i also love visiting just interesting places in general. why go to disney when you can see a beautiful spot in nature, or an art exhibit, or a park, or just the lively downtown? but other than that, i love my dedicated space 💗

i dont like rude people. mean people. people mean to kids and animals. bigots. assholes. any synonym for that. but honestly, not much else. there are other things that sure tick me off but can be pretty easily taken care of or compromised for.

i hope i didnt write a damn essay. half of it was geeking out over interests but. im guessing the brainrot is shared. but thank you so much for even reading my request this far!! (*˘︶˘*)

hii! sure thing! i love doing matchups especially when you guys give me lots of details :) let's get to it :) THIS IS NOT PROOFREAD!!! I'M REALLY SORRY FOR ANY MISTAKES!!!

okay, first things first - let me tell you why I didn't choose other characters :)

❝ im chronically ill & disabled, which means i have chronic pain and have pretty bad sleep ❞

Well, I need to be honest with you, I believe that despite your strenght, REVENANT would just make fun of your disability, he would NOT care at all, he'd probably pick on you and be REALLY rude. I hope it's not offensive (i'm sorry if i'm insensitive, it's not my intention), but I know he'd want to offend you. You could actually have a good hate-ship (if you know what i mean), where the only thing you guys do is fight with each other but I don't think that's what you want.

❝ im also rather rigid on cleanliness and WILL start tweaking if me/my space goes too long w/o cleaning. ❞

I'm sorry, have you seen OCTANE'S room? Let me remind you of that...

Can you see what is happening on his floor? This guy would probably drive you insane with how messy he is and I know he wouldn't care if you tried to ask him to clean it up... It would probably lead to many arguments and fights between you :(

❝and im very, very empathetic and it SUCKS i take psychic damage every time someone even remotely, even HYPOTHETICALLY feels bad. this is not a virtue. ❞

I have this feeling that Loba would see you as an easy target to manipulate, she'd think that she could use you after seeing that you feel really bad when someone feels bad, so she'd probably talk about her past a lot around you - trying to make you feel like you need to help her with everything. I doubt that it could work out :( I hope you see my vision and I'm not weirdly delusional with my ideas.

BUT NOW FOR A RESULT... (NGL I HAD A BIG PROBLEM WITH THIS ONE SINCE YOU SEEM TO BE A GOOD MATCH FOR AT LEAST 2 LEGENDS, BUT I DECIDED TO PICK...)

VANTAGE

I feel like you and Vantage could have a really good relationship! You both seem to aim high with your ideals and I just think that you both are really empathetic, a little bit emotional even... You share the love for animals. She has her Echo and she'd probably die for him. Vantage would never let any animal be mistreated when she's watching.

" why go to disney when you can see a beautiful spot in nature, or an art exhibit, or a park, or just the lively downtown? " - I think she thinks exactly the same! She seems to be a big fan of nature and she is an explorer. Born on a cold planet where everything wanted to kill her, she knows that nature can both be beautiful and deadly. She is also really nice, and I think that when she gets closer to someone, she actually CARES, like...A LOT. You'd probably be treated really well. I think that Vantage would be really patient when it comes to you and expressing your feelings, she'd never let you just walk away if she saw that you were upset, I think that communication and trust is a priority in every relationship.

She'd listen to you when you tell her that you have chronic pain and she'd do exactly the things you ask her to do, always trying her best to help you and she'd make sure you're not pushing yourself too hard.

Thank you for reading 👽👽👽

[stoopid-turtle]

I've seen people theorize as part of the devil's timeline (which I don't really subscribe to, but am curious about) that ggdd were pretending not to know each other beforehand when they started filming CQL and that that would explain why they got more familiar over time but also so quickly in the BTS. To me this would explain a couple things (like sharing phones so soon) but creates so many more questions that I have a hard time buying it. Mainly: I 100% understand why they wouldn't want to tell fans/the world at large any more details about their personal lives/relationship, since it's not our business, but I can't figure out why they'd like... act in front of the whole rest of the cast as strangers. I don't *think* it would make it seem like one gave the other any advantage in the casting process, but what do I know? And I can't think of a lot of other reasons for acting that elaborate/long-term. I was wondering if you had any takes on this?

Also! I wanted to say thanks again for your posts so far and I respect that it's not something you plan to keep doing, but I was (hoping) wondering if you were thinking about sticking around in the fandom as more of a spectator? I'm also a new turtle as of like 5 months ago so it's nice not to be the only one still going 🤯 over some of the BTS in 2023 when it's ancient news to everyone else. Thanks again for your hard work on your posts and timeline!

Hi!

Do they share phones really early? The earliest I saw was 7.7, though I'm not especially eagle-eyed. Beyond that instance and dd using gg's phone while the cast ate lunch on 8.2, I didn't notice either of them sharing phones in the videos I saw.

I guess I'm the odd one out bc I don't think they became familiar unusually fast. It seems like a reasonable timeline for the age they're at, from my experience. So I don't see the need to have an explanation for that since I don't see anything out of the norm in how their relationship progresses.

That's probably why I take the Devil's Timeline as interesting speculation but not much more.

But your main point is definitely a sticking point for me too.

Spitballing it, maybe they wanted to hide the nature of their relationship at first until they realized it was a gay-friendly set. But even then, why act like they don't know each other at all? They have a reasonable explanation for how they'd be acquainted: they met on DDU a year before. I'm not sure why they'd play coy.

Of course, behind the scenes industry stuff is always a wild card. We don't know what we don't know, and maybe gg and dd had a good reason to pretend they didn't know each other at all. I'm not well-versed enough in c-ent to even have a guess as to what that might be, but I assume it's possible.

At the same time, they later seem open about their relationship on set, even having couple fights and flirting while surrounded by cast and crew. So why hide things at the beginning?

I've been watching through some more of the daily bts on another playlist, and gg and dd act how I'd expect 2 reserved people to act on the first few days of working together. Of course, that's real subjective to assess, so somebody else could come away with a completely different impression of how they're acting. But, personally, I don't see anything that needs any explanation.

re: your second para: I'll probably go back to lurking. I have a primary tumblr acct that I use to lurk on a bunch of fandoms. I already followed the bjyx tags and a lot of the turtles on that acct before setting this up. I definitely plan to keep up with the boys, but I don't foresee posting that much in the future.

(I reserve the right to give in to my impulses and hunker down for the long-haul, though.)

I always get to a fandom late! I missed all the excitement when the bts first came out, but I still feel hype when I come across new-to-me stuff. I'm happy to enthuse with others!

[shrimplymoray]

Hiya! I saw you were taking twst writing requests and liked rarepairs...I might have one for you. I will go down with this ship...but how about Vil x Trey? Superstar model with just a "normal" guy, girlboss/malewife, the amount of interaction in vignettes? SO SLEPT ON!

General hcs are cool, or if you want a writing prompt...maybe the two of them trying to understand each other more? Poke around and find out their hidden quirks?

Ooooo! I never heard of them together, and also I have basically no Trey or Vil cards, so I haven't seen their vignettes either. But I dig a girldboss/malewife relationship, I gotcha covered, anon!

Vil Schoenheit X Trey Clover - Hidden Quirks

Meanwhile, while dating, Vil and Trey felt so comfortable in their relationship that they didn't really have any curiosity about what could be hidden.

They were getting used to this relationship, and as two of the most level-headed people around them, they wanted to make the other feel comfortable with sharing when he wanted!

... But it was taking a while, and curiosity did peak, after all.

The first to prod was Vil, asking about Trey's family. Trey seemed happy to share about them, and how as the oldest sibling, he took care of his younger sibs a lot.

It did reach a weird point about how Trey knew a LOT about brushing teeth, but Vil could only chuckle, imagining a little Trey brushing his baby sibling's teeth.

As soon as that convo happened, we had an interesting one coming from Trey. Asking when Vil started to be all sappy for him.

Both knew when they fell, but not how the other fell, really.

It was certainly an interesting way to see Vil lose a bit of his pristine composure, as he explained the Housewardens and Vice-Housewardens unbirthday party Riddle threw after the Interspelldom competition.

And especially how Trey seemed so handsome while he served everyone's tea and complimented their dorm uniforms.

It was only during the time Vil judged for the Culinary Crucible he found out that those delicious treats were made by Trey himself, and not bought from somewhere.

At the mention of his baking, Trey got even a tad bit bashful at the many compliments, even though he didn't enjoy being called out for how many calories they held.

This questionnaire turned into a sleepover in Vil's room on Pomefiore, where Trey and Vil shared not only their experiences in life but what they wanted to achieve.

Trey was almost embarrassed to say that he only really wanted to continue the lineage of bakers in his hometown. Baking and Pastissery are his passions, and even though he likes the idea of being a powerful mage, he is just a guy who wants to keep a warm house smelling of fresh bread.

While that, Vil stated how he wanted to be finally a good guy in a show or movie. And show that besides this pretty face, he can and is a great guy. To see children look him in the eyes and not feel scared he will curse them, but feel happy that he will protect them. It is what would make him happy and show he succeeded.

That sleepover, where they shared their good and bad, their loves and hates. That was when both made a promise that they would help and cherish the other, till he reached his goal.

Vil even said that if they were lucky, he could come home after a rough day of memorizing lines and re-acting a scene, to find a comfortable home smelling of delicious pastries, handmade by the best baker in town.

Isn't love so cute? Some could say their love is tooth-rotting because of how sweet it is. (Rook. Rook said that. Many times actually)

Hope you enjoy it! It was fun writing for them since I'm still learning a lot about Vil. I guess Schoenheit is growing on me lol

Have a great Day/night!

[chloesolace]

Book Review: "Tender is the Flesh" by Agustina Bazterrica

Spoiler-free

Genre: dystopian, science fiction, psychological • Word Count: 62k • Triggers: extreme gore, cannibalism, animal cruelty, uncomfortable sexual scenes?? • Year of Publication: 2017

Plot: ★★★★★

Characters: ★★★

Writing Style: ★★★

Re-Readability: ★

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General Thoughts

In a world where a virus has made all contact with animals dangerous to humans, cannibalism has been legalized and institutionalized as a means to survive.

This premise sounds extremely promising for a work that aims to criticize not only society but human nature as whole, and offers a unique setting for an interesting novel.

I like to think of myself as someone who is not easily shocked. This book shocked me. Saw is one of my favorite franchises, so is The Silence of the Lambs series. I consume horror and gore on a daily basis, however this book did something to me that made me put it down multiple times. I found myself unable to continue it until I finally finished it a few days ago. I left it on my bookshelf untouched for a few months since I started reading it. But let's get into the detailed ratings.

Plot

I like the plot, a lot. I gave it five stars because it is unique, it is thought-provoking, and it is controversial. I have never read anything like it before and most likely never will, and that alone is interesting and worth quite a few stars to me. It challenges the authority we have given ourselves over animals. I am not vegan, I am not even vegetarian, but that book almost turned me into one. It is not a book that you pick up and read while humming to yourself by the pool with the sun shining above you and birds chirping around you. Let's look at the blurb.

"Working at the local processing plant, Marcos is in the business of slaughtering humans—though no one calls them that anymore.

His wife has left him, his father is sinking into dementia, and Marcos tries not to think too hard about how he makes a living. After all, it happened so quickly. First, it was reported that an infectious virus has made all animal meat poisonous to humans. Then governments initiated the “Transition.” Now, eating human meat—“special meat”—is legal. Marcos tries to stick to numbers, consignments, processing.

Then one day he’s given a gift: a live specimen of the finest quality. Though he’s aware that any form of personal contact is forbidden on pain of death, little by little he starts to treat her like a human being. And soon, he becomes tortured by what has been lost—and what might still be saved."

Going into it, I knew it would be graphic from what I had already read about the book, but I never would have imagined just how graphic it would get. All the processing that is done is described in greatest detail, and the dehumanizing name - "heads" - used for the people that are being slaughtered makes it all the more uncomfortable. Marcos, our protagonist who works at one of these processing plants, is then gifted a female head, one born in one of the breeding centers. He does not kill her, though. Instead, he begins an affair with her, which is one of the worst crimes one could commit in this society. The narration treats 'Jasmine' - as he later calls her - like an animal, using verbs and adjectives one might not necessarily use to describe human action. It is Marcos who humanizes her, in a way, giving the novel hope for a happy ending despite the fact you can already guess how this story will conclude.

Marcos was married before to a woman named Cecilia, but after their child passed away as a baby they went their own ways. The death of his son weighs heavy on Marcos, and in Jasmine he sees a second chance at being a father; she becomes pregnant.

It is the ending that shocked me. This is a spoiler-free review, so I only aim to give you guys recommendations for books without taking away all the fun, so I won't get into it more. However, it is an ending that leaves the reader sitting in silence, staring at the pages and thinking to themselves "what the hell even happened here?"

Characters

Marcos is written to be quite human and realistic, with many flaws which made him both unlikeable and at times unbearable. Except that one time when he played with some puppies he found, because I would have done the same, to be honest. Dangerous virus be damned.

There is not a single character in this book I would consider good-natured on a moral scale, but perhaps it is exactly what makes it so engaging to read. The characters in the book serve as a substitute for animals not only in the meat industry; an animal's prime aim is to secure the preservation of its own species. Marcos is doing exactly that, both biologically and socially.

One of the most important settings in the novel is an abandoned zoo, yet it almost feels like the characters in the book are the zoo animals themselves, and the reader is observing them destroy each other. I did not like the characters, but I did not have to like them to enjoy the story for what it is.

Writing Style

Now, before I get into this, I would like to say that I acknowledge that every writer has a different writing style and that it is entirely subjective whether I like it or not. Personally, I like descriptive, sometimes even a bit flowery prose with long sentences. But this would have been out of place for this book.

The sentences are direct and straight to the point. There is nothing hidden behind metaphors, it is exactly like the processing farm portrayed: honest, raw, and uncensored.

It is not my favorite style of writing, hence the missing two stars, but for the type of novel this is, it is more than fitting.

Re-Readability

For this point, I simply have to say this is not a novel I will ever re-read. Reading it once has left enough of an impression to let it stay on my bookshelf and never touch it again. For me it is too uncomfortable and too disturbing to do so. Still, it has left a huge mark on me and I will most likely be thinking about this book for quite a while. The one star is by no means intended to be negative.

Conclusion

All in all, I would say if you're a horror fan or a fan of stories that criticize society, this is the book for you. However, do keep the trigger warnings and extreme graphic descriptions in mind when choosing to read it. And perhaps do not have that steak beforehand.

[apocalypticavolition]

Let's (re)Read The Dragon Reborn! Chapter 24: Scouting and Discoveries

Spoilers. Unending spoilers. Don't look.

We have the dice icon here because it's a Mat chapter. Not a lot going on luckwise, except a particularly chance encounter.

Two serving women came bustling with hot water and a tray heavy with food, laughing and telling him how much better he looked already, and how soon he would be back on his feet if he did what the Aes Sedai told him.

Mat is a rather compulsively defiant guy at times, so I don't think he'd like hearing this about any group, let alone one that he's naturally suspicious of.

Opening the door, he peeked out. More doors paneled in pale, golden wood lined the hall, with colorful tapestries between, and a runner of blue carpet ran down the white-tiled floor. But there was no one out there. No guard.

Probably best for Mat to learn now that just because there's no one around doesn't mean there's no guard.

She’s a pretty one, even if she does have her nose in the air half the time.

Thus was born both the more straightforward fandom polycule where the various canonical romances take place but also Mat and Elayne hook up, and the gayer one where Mat joins the polycule (often outright replacing Min, since I guess his losing an eye makes him a better fit for the crone). I'm not a shipping type but I could see it I guess.

As they worked they talked and laughed among themselves like men after the harvest. Now and again one of them looked curiously at Mat as he strolled among them, but none challenged his right to be there.

Mat does not clue into the fact that he's interesting to them because they all know who he is and how unusual his circumstances are.

“Whitecloaks do be poking their noses into every village for ten miles. They have no hurt anyone yet, but them just being there do upset the folk. Fortune prick me if I do no think they wish to provoke us, for they do look as if they would attack if they could. No good for anyone who do want to travel.”

This guard almost certainly has the right of it. The Whitecloaks would love an excuse to scream about Aes Sedai brutality.

But you do have the look of the fellow who did try to sell me the Horn of Valere three days gone. So he did claim it did be, all bent and battered as it did be. Do you have a Horn of Valere to sell?

If Mat could sell off his connection to the Horn, he absolutely would.

He had simply meant to find out how well his description had been passed around. If only the officers among the bridge guards had had it, he might have been able to slip by. He had always been good at slipping into places unseen. And out. It was a talent you developed when your mother always suspected you were up to some mischief and you had two sisters to tell on you.

If you think this is oddly bad luck on Mat's part, it isn't! It's good luck that he didn't have a chance to try and sneak out across the bridge or he would have missed Thom altogether and would never have made it to Caemlyn or Tear in time.

A girl in novice white appeared ahead on the path, striding purposefully toward him. Wrapped in her own thoughts, she did not see him at first.

No, it's Lanfear who's having bad luck, because this is her in disguise.

Her manner was not as he remembered, either; he thought she could give Elayne lessons now. “I have . . . work to be about. Let me by.”

Lanfear's surprisingly bad at this. Of course, she probably picked Else on the grounds that no one would know her all that well or care if they saw her.

He was not the only audience. Not ten paces from him, half a dozen women with ageless Aes Sedai faces and as many more in the banded white dresses of the Accepted stood watching one pair of students, bare to the waist and slick with sweat, under the guidance of a Warder shaped much like a block of stone.

Get a grip ladies! It's just two sexy and half-naked twenty-something dudes beating the shit out of each other- Excuse me. I need five minutes.

The golden-haired man met every lightning attack, turning it away before the bound strips could strike him, and even launched an occasional attack of his own. But the handsome fellow countered those attacks and flowed back into his own in the space of a heartbeat.

This ends up being foreshadowing for who survives the Demandred duels and who doesn't, I suppose.

“You can rest till I finish my pipe. But rest fast; I am almost in the dottle.”

"Dottle" is the stuff left over in the pipe after you've smoked; the ashes and anything that didn't fully burn.

Egwene blushed whenever Galad was mentioned, though she seemed to think no one noticed.

Another orphaned reference to the intended man Egwene would end up with.

“I do have a sense of humor, Gawyn,” Galad said with a frown. “You only think I do not because I do not care to mock people.”

I wonder who it is that Gawyn tried to mock with Galad. Of course, since the answer is ultimately, "the palace staff or the people", it doesn't paint a great picture of Gawyn regardless.

Perhaps it was that they both clearly thought he was making a wild boast. Perhaps it was because he had mishandled questioning the guardsman. Perhaps it was because Else, who had such an eye for the boys, wanted nothing to do with him, and all those women were staring at Galad like cats watching a jug of cream. Aes Sedai and Accepted or not, they were still women. All these explanations ran through Mat’s head, but he rejected them angrily, especially the last. He was going to do it because it would be fun.

They're all true. Mat does want to have fun because he's feeling so thwarted and cooped up, he's jealous of the positive attention the boys are getting, and he wants to show off.

The Warder eyed Mat up and down doubtfully. “Are you sure you’re up to this, lad? Now I take a close look at you, you ought to be in a sickbed.”

Hammar might be down to shame the fuck out of these princes, but he's a good enough guy that he doesn't want to send Mat back in for more Healing if it can be helped.

Hammar gave him an odd look. “You speak the Old Tongue, lad?”

Mat's subconscious Old Tongue usage treats this practice fight as exactly as serious as a pitched battle against Trollocs and that's fucking hilarious. Also I'm pretty sure that this is the first usage of Mat's catchphrase, "Dovie'andi se tovya sagain," except of course we only get the translated version this time.

Galad hesitated a moment more before growling, “Done, then. Let us put an end to this farce.”

Even Galad has a point where he won't stick to his niceties.

But he could feel it creeping back in, the wobbly feeling, the hunger as if he had not eaten for days.

The Wheel's pretty clearly trying to teach Mat not to be the hesitant type, considering how many circumstances he's going to end up in later on.

With a groan, Galad folded over, fighting not to fall. The staff quivered in Mat’s hands, on the point of a final crushing thrust to the throat. Galad sank to the ground.

Again, Mat is taking this fight far more seriously than he really should be. Normally he's not the guy who has trouble restraining himself against opponents he shouldn't be killing.

“During his lifetime, Jearom fought over ten thousand times, in battle and single combat. He was defeated once. By a farmer with a quarterstaff! Remember that. Remember what you just saw.”

This theme that nothing and no one is truly unbeatable comes up a bit in Jordan's work - Rand might be the Dragon Reborn and the savior, but that doesn't mean he'll win all his campaigns, the Seanchan's Ever-Victorious Army runs into its own problems, everyone who gets into combat runs into someone who can kick their ass.

“Not as good as my da. He’s won the quarterstaff at Bel Tine every year as long as I can remember, except once or twice when Rand’s da did.” That interested look came back into Gawyn’s eyes, and Mat wished he had never mentioned Tam al’Thor.

Mat will never learn to control his tongue, even though this is a great object lesson in why he should. I don't think the Wheel was trying to prep him otherwise though, more like giving him a foreshadowing of the problems that will haunt him all his launt.

“It doesn’t matter. Just rest assured that the worst Galad has to worry about is finding himself Warder to a Green Aes Sedai before his head clears.” He laughed. “No, they would not do that. But I will wager you those two marks of mine in your hand that some of them wish they could.”

This sets up how messed up it's going to be when Alanna takes Rand as a Warder, though Gawyn is rather flippant about it. He's in the right demographic to be flippant about sexual assault though, so that's just in-character.

“Manetheren.” Mat froze when he heard the name come out of his mouth. “I mean, I’m from the Two Rivers. I have heard too many old stories.”

Considering that Mat probably recently had a different life in Manetheren... Ah well. Boy couldn't even control his mouth if he wanted to.

[game-boy-pocket]

Today, I beat Super Mario Wonder

I'll do my best not to mention any spoilers.

I just don't know what to say. You know how I say I complain a lot because it's easier to voice what I wish was better than to explain why I already like something? Well that's what's going on here. This game has very little to complain about. At least in my eyes. I already see a lot of people being contrarian about this game. Far be it from me to say anyone's opinion is invalid but I just don't know what these people want.

The most ridiculous things I hear is that it's still just more of the same, both visually and mechanically, and to those people, I frankly think they don't actually want a Mario game. There's wanting things to be more creative and shaken up, and then there are people who want things to be too different, they don't even want it to be recognizable as Mario anymore and like... I get that indie platformers are doing a lot of crazy cool things with mechanics and art styles, but I just don't know where we got to this point of brain rot where platformers need to have very weird and experimental art styles to be considered worth a damn, as if Mario Wonder's art style isn't already fantastic, these people won't be happy until the game looks like Ori and the Blind Forest or Hollow Knight or Baba is You or some shit. As for it being "more of the same", again, what do they want? A story heavy survival horror game? No more power ups? I just don't get it.

This is probably the only 2D Mario that could go toe to toe with the NES and SNES games in terms of quality, NSMB games were good but very much "paint by numbers Mario" that not only didnt' do anything new or interesting, but cut out good things from past games or brought those things back but in a worse form. This legit could compete with some of the 3D Mario games, imo. I just don't know what the hell people could possibly want that this game doesn't do.

To me, there's not much I can think of.

Here are my biggest complaints that I would have liked to be done different....

!!SPOILER WARNING!!

The bosses. There are only two bosses in the whole game (arguably three but it's difficult to count what you find on airships as a boss ).... isn't the lack of boss variety one of the main things people don't like about the Koopalings? Ironically the Koopalings would have added aw whole lot of variety here. They also would have got some dialogue, since this is the first 2D Mario game that actually has dialogue. Koopalings being in Wonder would have fixed a huge issue with Wonder, and with the Koopalings themselves, as not only would they be able to display a little more personality through dialogue, but the Wonder power would have made their battles a lot more interesting than what we're used to. Mario has never had strong bosses but this feels like it was their chance to change that. I'll say this, the Boss battles in this game are pretty good, even though they re-use Junior over and over.

Yoshi being baby mode doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would but I still would have preferred and option to just ride a Yoshi without having it tied to multiplayer. The only way you'll experience Yoshi, is if somebody plays as him, there are no yoshi eggs out there like in Super Mario World for you to find and ride on a Yoshi who runs away if you get hit. Seems unfair to lock one of Yoshi's features to multi player, especially to people like me that enjoys playing alone more.

Nabbit still sucks and feels like a forced character. I swear they better have a pay off in mind for Nabbit if they're going to insist on him sticking around

That's all I got... level designs are solid, music is mostly good, ideas are great, I guess a flying power up would be cool but I don't care that much. There are a few enemies I wish I saw more often but I also wouldn't want them to be less special and oversaturated. This really is the best Mario game in a long time, I would probably even say it's the best one on Switch.

I have not yet 100 percent completed the game, I missed a few wonder seeds and badges in the second world. But I got everything in every other world, including the Special one. That's another point in this game's favor, they didn't lock anything behind post game as far as I can tell. You could challenge the harder levels in the game before you fight Bowser, and I appreciated that, though it did spoil some of the wonder flower events in the final act of the game, but it's no big deal.

I don't like giving number ratings but this really is as close to 10/10 as a Mario game gets. I'd call it 9.5 outta 10, if the things I listed in my bulleted complaint list were different, I'd maybe give it a perfect 10.

The game is wonderful. If you like Mario, don't sit on the fence.

This might be my last post about the game for a while, I'm gonna try and get the few wonder seeds I missed and all the standees ( even tho I don't use them ), if anything significant changes, I'll come back, but for now, consider these my final thoughts. Great fuckin' game.