#i hadn't done one in a while

[igotsnothing]

TAG GAME

I was tagged by @chaoticpixls, a fabulous and discerning moot who I discovered shares a passion for BOOKSESSES! We like several of the same authors and books.

Last song I listened to:

Favorite place: I'm a city person. Even in game, San Myshuno is one of my favorite worlds. I love big cities.

Favorite book(s):

That's so hard because I feel there are books that will be more meaningful depending on my mood/life circumstance. I'll share here some recent faves.

The Lights of Prague-Nicole Jarvis- It's such an interesting story about an aristocratic vampiress (NO, REALLY?? ME??) and a working-class vampire hunter and this underground world in Prague. It's got magic and science and politics and secret societies and intrigue and shady pasts....So fun. I keep hoping for a sequel.

House of Hunger- Alexis Henderson- Okay, okay- so this poor girl with a guilty conscience agrees to become an indentured servant of sorts to a vampiress' household. The power dynamics in this novel are super intriguing as well as the emotional developments. It reminded me a bit of Bluebeard-type stories. Really well written.

Certain Dark Things- Silvia Moreno-Garcia- This is one of my favorite authors. I love everything she's written. And this novel is abouuuut...*drumroll* A VAMPIRE (gasp). But it's a different take from the Dracula-esque vampires of Victorian gothic. This is a vampire of Mexican roots- Aztec, more specifically. Atl is the survivor of some vampiric cartel violence and she hides out in Mexico City, where she befriends Domingo, a lonely young man. It's such a cool, original take on a genre that can be very overdone. The writing is gorgeous- the story stays with you long after reading it.

The Daevabad Trilogy- S.A. Chakraborty- OMG, I inhaled this. I fell in love with the world building, with the protagonists, with the magic system...It's so beautiful and touching and epic. No vampires.

Deathless- Catherynne M. Valente- A retelling of Koshei the Deathless fairytale in the backdrop of Russia during the revolution and the rise of the Soviet Union- told mostly through Marya's eyes. It is just stunning and powerful.

Currently reading:

A Marvellous Light- Freya Marske

Thunderstruck- Erik Larson

Favorite TV Show: I watch very little TV. Recently rewatched the Devil May Cry anime and some documentaries.

Favorite Food: NoOdLeS!

Who am I tagging? I am tagging some interesting folks I am betting will have good recommendations: @lynzishell, @crabbeychick, @queeniecook, @eljeebee, @sirianasims, and last and never least, @greighish (I do this in spirit- I know you are busy and on hiatus, BUT HOPE IS EVERGREEN!)

[bebemoon]

{ superimposing my favorite images onto deckled-edged photograhs, cont. } original image(s): lily-rose depp as ellen hutter in "nosferatu" (2o24), dir. robert eggers .

[kirby-the-gorb]

[kebasnaek]

It's really Hope Clues.

Clip from @jame7t's stream of BalloonSMP Day 15. VOD is Here.

[sukibenders]

Me, watching some YJS fans justify what Shauna did to Mari by using clips of Mari and Jackie giggling in s1 (normal teenage girl things), or Mari speaking the truth and trying to take Jackie's jacket (even though it was the middle of winter and the group were already sharing clothes), with said fans saying that they've would've done worse to Mari in response, acting like that makes them any better:

[crowputer]

Cleaning in 7-S really gives you time to reflect on your atrocities. Like this TBH creature bloodstain that appeared after bashing several machines' heads in. As is the way.

[beanghostprincess]

It still amazes me the number of people who see the juxtaposition between Nami and Usopp during Wano and their fight against Ulti as "Nami's devotion to Luffy is unmatched, unlike Usopp's" when she isn't able to say he won't be the king of the pirates but Usopp is telling her to lie.

I think most people don't have in mind, either, that Usopp isn't the one being directly asked. He is looking out for Nami and begging her to lie to keep her alive because he is scared to death they might lose her for something as insignificant as lying. For him, lying is a form of survival and it is not that big of a deal because he trusts Luffy enough to tell Nami to lie about her feelings. It is something that will only stay between them because he knows it is better to lie than to die and Luffy would want it that way too.

And that doesn't mean he isn't loyal to Luffy or his dream. He is just looking out for Nami's safety. And as I said-- He isn't being asked directly, either. It is easier to tell others to lie about something of the sort than to do it yourself, and if the roles were reversed I personally think he'd have the most awful of times with it too.

Nami refuses to say Luffy won't become the king of the pirates because for her, even if lying has gotten her out of messes, she puts her trust and loyalty in Luffy before her own instincts of survival because lying is what got her to push them away when they first met and this is the one thing she can't lie about because it would hurt more than death.

Then again, I think she would do the same exact thing Usopp did if she wasn't being the one asked. It is the whole point of the scene, actually. They both know the most rational thing is to lie so the one witnessing the scene will always be cold-headed about it, but the one having to lie is the one suffering the bitter realization of how lying about this and saying it out loud is way harder than it seems from an outsider's perspective.

So I am tired of seeing people criticizing Usopp for his decision during the fight against Ulti as if it were that easy for him to see Nami being about to get killed if she doesn't lie. Sorry for the guy to actually want to protect the people he loves instead of letting her be reckless and basically kill herself freely for telling a truth even Luffy would tell her to lie about if it meant living.

[anti-marauders]

Its funny remembering that in a way Mulciber and Avery are more respectful than The Marauders.

Cause The Marauders bully Lily's ex best friend Severus, despite James being in love with Lily and them claiming to be the good guys. Like bro if you want the girl befriend her best friend, damn.

And Mulciber and Avery, who are friends or acquaintances with Severus which is said by Lily, apparently don't do shit to Lily cause when she tries to get Severus to see how bad they are she only brings up the shit Mulciber did to Mary, someone Severus doesn't even know. Avery & Mulciber are clearly blood purists so they would obviously talk shit and I really think they'd talk shit about Lily wether they were friends with Severus or not cause she's a muggleborn and a gryffindor.

Yet Severus still hangs out with them and has no other issues with them especially cause he'd throw a fit if they talked shit about Lily. And if he did they'd clearly hex him cause they won't take shit from a half blood. Like wether they left Lily alone in an effort to keep Severus on their side to recruit him or not, they seemed smarter then the marauders. Cause while they didn't try to befriend her obviously, they knew if they wanted Severus on their side they didn't target the one person he truly cares about.

Now wether Mulciber and Avery were really close to Severus or not they still didn't target Lily or say shit cause I feel like they would considering how much James goes after her so they'd hear a lot about her. I feel like they'd attack her out of annoyance or berate her incase they thought she believed she was all that but apparently not cause Lily doesn't bring anything up and I know damn well she would have. Severus probably would have left them if they did.

[vaguely-concerned]

I feel that during the first coffee date walk through the market, rye has a fraction of a millisecond's kneejerk trauma freakout of '...wait. wait. am I really catching feelings for a rich boy again. with how that went down last time. am I truly that stupid' (once derogatorily referred to quite openly at a party as 'young master anaxas' pet mortalitasi' to which the young master anaxas only grinned and shrugged and STILL you don't break up with his smug controlling ass for good for six more months because you have a desperate bottomless yearning pit where your self respect should go, twice shy lol). and then he actually looks at lucanis standing next to him getting harding spearmint to help with bad dreams and generally being so quietly thoughtful and sweet through the prosaic yet necessary medium of grocery shopping it makes me feel a little unwell to truly contemplate. and rye is like '*the softest fondest eyes anyone has ever turned on anything* ...you know what. I suspect we don't have to worry about that repeating, I think we're probably safe. I am comfortable being this level of stupid. (slowly dawning marital intent even at this stage)'.

(part of the reason rye buys NONE of illario's bullshit at all right from the beginning is that he's basically vaccinated against this exact type of dude after that relationship lol. charming suave guy who in the beginning pays you a lot of lavish attention and takes pains to make you feel special every time you're in a room with him -- but shallowly and mostly, it slowly dawns on you, when there's something he wants from you (and he's often doing it at the expense of someone else, raising you up to put someone else down and you won't believe this... it can turn into a seesaw at a whim. yay). and beneath that there's just a seething pit of resentment and inferiority complexes and bitterness left to fester until he can make it everyone else's problem and that IS going to start to bubble up between the cracks with you too if you stick around for long enough. no thank you been there done that wasted my youth and potential on it and all I got was this lousy shiny set of new emotional intimacy issues haunting me for life! trust me illario I HAVE, as it were, chosen the wrong dellamorte before, which is exactly how I know I didn't this time. go get him lucanis I've got your coffee

hilarious mental image: rye and illario sitting quietly together while everyone else is busy milling about during a cursed dellamorte family dinner (the vibes are so bad. you know the vibes are bad. sitting as still as you can and hoping for calm skies is your best bet without lucanis or teia favourite child privileges to work with) and rye out of the blue gazing thoughtfully into nothing over the edge of his glass with half-lidded eyes to go 'you know. you remind me a lot of my ex. not in a good way' and illario with absolutely no shame and hilariously also something that's the closest he ever gets to real sympathy going 'yeah, I get that a lot'. best talk those two ever had, unironically. their bond leveled up to its final form that day. *soulsborne boss defeated text* MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING REACHED)

[doctorbunny]

Q.02 "Haven't you considered changing your job?"

No way I went through a lot to get into such a big company Even if its draining, if I work hard my efforts will pay off

Notes: Once again no pronoun is used The term used to describe the company he works for is 最大手 (saioote) which is specifically the largest company or industry leader This is now 2/2 questions where a form of the word 'ganbaru' (to work hard) is used. If you watch a lot of anime you've probably heard of 'ganbatte' which is sort of used in the way English uses 'Good luck!' or 'Do your best!" but has more connotation of putting in effort/perseverance/working hard I wonder if he's going to keep using it whenever his job comes up

[dionte-goethe]

I was inspired by that one scene in "more than anything" from Hazbin Hotel. Just thinking about the way Jiang Cheng had to face these sect leaders with a destroyed sect, no alliances (until Yanli married and even then...), and the fallout of Wei Wuxian's actions. He just doesn't want Jin Ling to have to deal with all the terrible things he had to deal with as a young sect leader, he's tried to protect him from all that, when JL wants him to step back because JC could tear himself apart protecting JL...

[ironical-ghosty]

Spooky season is approaching and a change of wardrobe is in order~

This Halloween theme for this year is Arachnid with a mix of spider lily~

[stormysunday98]

This tribute video 🥹😭🥰 (originally posted by Becca Genecov on Instagram: "from my POV")

[xcziel]

has anybody else thought about how jk could easily manage sofia's parts of slow dance or is it just me?

[binksbrew]

[steinbit]

aughhoug h h .. . .. i've been SOO sick since wednesday.. . .