#i like to think that goth counts as family to roots

[orisretr0]

*hands u yap card*

Please, tell me abt your characters! I wanna hear!!!

Hmmmmmmmmm, A-00, Floratale or simple intentions, hmmmmmmmm. floratale! Because I just doodled a thought recently that would fit this perfectly!

So, roots injects his soul with DT, right? Which causes him to nearly become like Gaster, but due to the flower seeds he is somewhat still kicking. Well, I also said that roots peeked into the multiverse, right?

guess what he saw?

…pfft! Ridiculous question! He saw everything! But reaper, ironically, was the first to try and see what the hell was peeping on him. Later on they become friends, so I like to think :] (the irony of death hanging around dudes who can’t die gives me daydream material, lmao)

if it’s anything, I also enjoy afterdeath, so geno meets roots too!

[vera-deville]

I told you I would send in a request, so here it is! This is an Obey Me one, if that's alright!

First off, have you ever seen Little Shop of Horrors? If not, please do! One, it's essential for this ask and it's also just a great movie! No pressure though!

Now, onto the real ask! So, if possible, I'd like to request a florist!MC. But a florist who's kind of like Seymour.

(Here's where the whole Little Shop of Horrors thing really comes in)

They come to the Devildom with Audrey II. It's got its roots wrapped around the MC's waist, and it's vines wrapped around their arms while snug. Of course, it's heavily off-putting because.. well. There's a humongous and terrifying plant just.. attached to this human.

But the brothers don't mind it, until months into the MC's stay as an exchange student when Audrey II starts talking. Then, they're all freaked out. They're even more freaked out when the MC is not only fine with it, but is willingly talking to it like it's normal!

(Bonus if they see the MC prick their finger and then just.. let Audrey II clean It off.)

(Yes, this came to me in a dream in the middle of a 20-minute-nap.)

So, what would the brothers think of this?

Feed Me Seymour!

05/17/2024 - 05/30/2024

Pairing: No pairing (you can think of the interactions as either platonic or romantic) Word Count: 3,351 Warnings: Reader pricks their finger, but they'll be alright; mentions of chapter 16 Gender: Gender Neutral (as it was not specified in the request) Tags: @g0dwat3r (if any of you would like to be added to my Obey Me taglist, please let me know)! Notes: Okay, I really love your brain Touya, because this is already a fantastic idea, but you know what I started thinking about? Morticia Addams. I don't know if you've seen the old Addams Family series, but Morticia has a carnivorous plant called Cleopatra, and I really wanted to include her in the story. I didn't, but I'm definitely thinking about writing it.

In which Y/N has a rather interesting plant friend(?)

"Congratulations!

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at the Royal Academy of Diavolo.

Please return this letter with your sign to confirm your participation.

We are looking forward to welcoming you as part of our new exchange program.

Yours sincerely,

Diavolo"

Huh? Royal Academy of Diavolo? Exchange Program? What was happening?

You tried to open your eyes, but there was nothing to see. Just pitch-blackness. It would have been more terrifying, but the soothing presence wrapped around your waist and arms helped. Quite a bit, at that. Clutching the stem of rice flowers close to your chest (although careful enough to not break the stem), you kept trying to see through the darkness for something, anything.

Soon enough, there was a voice. "We welcome you, human, to the demon student council."

The voice was stern, but pleasant, drawing your attention away from the darkness and to a room that was materializing in front of your eyes. It looked like a really goth courtroom, and you truly would have spent more time admiring the place if it wasn't for the ridiculously tall man who arose from the chief judge seat.

The man in question was handsome. Very much so. With burgundy hair, and a well-fitted suit, and skin so coppery sweet, it was no wonder that you couldn't help but stare.

And if you weren't so caught up in the man's appearance and the fact that you had no idea what on Earth was happening, perhaps you would have noticed that you weren't the only one staring.

You had to physically will yourself to pay attention not only to the man when he started speaking but the others in the room as well.

"Welcome to the Devildom, Y/N."

Astonishment enraptured your being for the simple reasons that this complete stranger somehow knew your name, and that every single person in the room was blessed with extremely good looks. The astonishment, unfortunately, did not go unnoticed.

"...Oh pardon me. Feeling a bit shocked, are we?" Asked the man with red hair. "Well that's understandable. You've only just arrived, after all." Arrived? Arrived where exactly? "As a human, it will probably take a little while for you to adjust to things here in the Devildom."

Okay yeah, this was some sort of really weird dream induced by your lack of sleep this past week. That's why there were really handsome dudes and that's why one was telling you weird stuff. Since it's a dream, there was no problem with going along with it, right?

"The Devildom?" You ask, feeling yourself relax a little more, now knowing that this is a dream.

"Yes, exactly, the Devildom. I see that you catch on quickly. Excellent." He replied.

Well, that didn't really answer anything.

You were about to ask for a better reply than that when he said, "I suppose I should start by introducing myself." Curious, you give him his moment. "My name is Diavolo. I am the ruler of of all demons, and all here know me." Cool. The dude's a demon king. Still not the weirdest thing you've ever dreamt. "And someday soon, I will be crowned king of the Devildom." Oh, he wasn't king yet. Then how's he a ruler already? You know what, it's probably best not to think too hard about it.

The so called ruler of the so called Devildom proceeded to explain about a school called R.A.D. and about a bunch of other stuff. The other demons (plus one that came in really late) introduced themselves as different demons of different avatars, and the more they spoke, the more you couldn't shake off a particular feeling.

It all felt too...real. You'd dreamt all sorts of things before, but a part of you somehow always knew that it was just a dream. But you didn't feel that this time. It felt far too real. The anxiety slowly crept back into your bones, a chilling effect settling over your being as your throat seemed to have something invisible lodged in it.

You tried telling them that you weren't meant to be here. That you were meant to be back home. You still had to finish your bouquet for Mrs. Harris, and you had a new shipment of peonies arriving in an hour. You hadn't finished watering all your plants. You hadn't cleaned up the shop. You still had so much left to do! You couldn't just be whisked away to some other world (that you still weren't entirely sure was a dream or not).

But alas.

You were told that there was no way they could send you back.

And if that wasn't bad enough, you had to go to school. You had assignments. You had tests. Oh and you were in what was basically hell.

Ain't that swell?

Throughout this whole ordeal, the plant around your waist remained dutifully wrapped around your figure, even nuzzling against your neck when she felt your discomfort.

Without much of a choice, you steeled yourself for the days in this foreign world that awaited you.

The latest human addition to R.A.D. was a little...odd. None of the brothers nor the demon prince in the room wished to point out the very large plant that had wrapped itself around the human like some manner of serpent, especially since the human was completely unbothered by it.

Most of the brothers found it odd, of course. Solomon never walked around with a giant plant stuck to him, but then again, Solomon wasn't necessarily normal himself. A few of the brothers didn't find it in themselves to keep their thoughts quiet. Mammon in particular straight up screeched when he saw the plant, and maintained his distance (both emotionally and physically) and still the human did not seem to mind the plant.

Asmo found the plant ugly.

That was really the only way he could describe it.

It was ugly.

Satan had read stories of plants like this. In one book he read, the plant ended up eating a whole bunch of people. He only hoped that this was not a case like that story.

Beelzebub didn't really have an opinion on the plant. He could eat it, but it didn't really look too appetizing.

Diavolo himself was worried at first, because he was sure that humans didn't simply walk around with giant plants attached to them. When he told Barbatos about this odd situation, the ever loyal butler offered to look into the matter discreetly.

He found nothing.

It had been many months since you had been whisked away to the Devildom (which you are now infinitely more familiar with). It was strange at first, and it took some getting used to, but you did it. Now, whenever you woke up to face the day ahead of you, you didn't do so in fear or anxiety or anything else.

You had grown accustomed to this new world.

In fact, you'd go so far as to say that you'd grown fond of the place.

Audrey II seemed to agree with this. Every morning, Audrey demanded a large meat dish to satisfy her hunger. The brothers assumed that you were a very hungry individual (Beel felt a deep hunger coming from you at all times), and didn't think much more of it. Every now and then, Audrey would crave a Backstabbing Sandwich (apparently it was particularly delicious), and you, having no other choice, entertained her food whims. What's the worst that could happen?

It was after the whole incident with Belphegor that you brought Audrey with you more often wherever you went. Though you and the brothers had slowly gotten past the incident, the trauma it left behind did not magically go away. Audrey II being the sweet thing she is, had no qualms to being carried around the Devildom (despite the lingering stares and questions that were thrown your way).

Today was a day that Audrey II would be coming with you. You were heading off to the flower shop you owned on Dogma Street. You originally were looking to open the shop at Silent Street, but Dogma Street caught your eye. The street itself was the biggest electronic district in the Devildom, and when you first proposed the idea to the brothers (and Diavolo and Barbatos) to open a flower shop there, they were quick to advice you not to. Why would you open a flower shop at a street primarily known for its electronics?

Still, you managed to push through, and you ended up becoming the quaint owner of a little shop next to an eatery on the street.

And wouldn't you know, it actually did pretty well.

Of course, since you were a student, you couldn't be at your shop full-time, and that's where two lesser demons come in - Terror and Dolor - a pair of siblings who often fought, but shared an interest in flora. They would take care of the shop in shifts, and seeing as you gave them the housing area right above the shop to stay in, you could make sure that they would be at your precious flower shop at (mostly) all times.

Today was planned to be their day off, which was fine by you, seeing as you hadn't been to the shop in a week and you desperately wanted to see your babies (plants) again.

You opened the door, causing a sweet bell to ring, signifying your arrival to your empoyees.

"Y/N!"

"You're back!"

Smiling, you greet your employees, Audrey still wrapped around you.

Terror and Dolor fawned over Audrey (they're really the only ones in the Devildom who do that apart from you) while you went inside to get your apron. Working at the flower shop had quite a few benefits. You could make your own money, go to work at your own time, and most importantly, you could be surrounded by the things that you love the most - flora (and Audrey).

Your flower shop was quaint (despite its large capacity). Many customers have complimented it, saying that it felt homely (which is exactly what you were going for, so mission accomplished successfully you supposed). Even Asmo loved the place, and oftentimes would post selfies from just about everywhere in your shop.

"Dolor, how's that order with the Bloody Acokanthera Oblongifolias going?" You asked the demon pruning Audrey II.

"Just finished it this morning! We shipped it along with the invoice for the flowers. The customer notified us that they would be making the payment by the end of today." Dolor replied.

Shooting a smile of satisfaction at him, you shooed the brothers out your shop, wishing for them to have a lovely day to do...well, whatever it was they did outside the shop. Right before they left, Terror told you that a certain demon butler had visited the shop earlier and left a letter for you, and how she placed it in your office.

With that in mind, you walked back into your shop, petting Audrey II as she sat on a table before walking into your office and grabbing the aforementioned letter.

Even without the knowledge from the siblings that Barbatos had delivered this letter to you, you would have been able to tell that it was he who wrote the letter. By this time in your adventures in the Devildom, you had come to recognize the handwriting of those you know. And while a few had impeccable writing (in cursive too), no one's writing was as elegant as Barbatos - not even Lucifer.

The letter read:

"Dearest Y/N, I am pleased to inform you that Lord Diavolo requires a fresh shipment of Dark Roses for an upcoming event at the castle. I sincerely apologize for the short notice, but please note that the master and I truly would have given you more time to prepare the notice had we been able to do so. We shall need enough roses to fill out the Crimson Room. I estimate that the number be around 50. We will need the roses delivered by tomorrow. Thank you, Barbatos"

You smiled, already having a good idea as to why the roses were needed. Some of the higher officials (not including the brothers you lived with) had been a little too finicky with their positions and though not a threat to the heir of the Devildom, they were starting to get on his nerves.

No matter.

Despite how sweet Diavolo seemed (and actually is), even the Crown Prince of the Devildom had his limits. Oh well. Those officials would get what was coming to them.

Your job was to simply provide the best roses for such an event.

With a newfound vigor, you made your way next door (you had originally bought two plots in the street and simply joined them together to create one shop. This area was where you kept some of your best grown flora (the rest were in an undisclosed location only you and a few others knew about). Typically, you the plants you grew in this area were popular - loads of customers would buy them. The rest of your plants were grown in the aforementioned undisclosed location. Despite this, there was one type of flower you grew in your shop which was by no means popular, but rather extremely rare.

Dark roses.

You fondly recall you and Barbatos planting a fresh batch of dark roses at the Demon Lord's Castle, and how he had given you some seeds to grow for yourself. What started off as a few roses quickly became much more, and now you were the exclusive propagator of dark roses in the Devildom. It was a monopoly you gladly encouraged (something Mammon also did).

The first step was to cut the roses. The roses had to be cut in a specific manner - a 45-degree angle and they had to be put in water immediately. This same method was used with roses back in the human realm (and gardeners would use the stems to grow new roses out of), but there was one key difference between the roses from back home and the dark roses in the Devildom. One of them could actually survive a little while without having to be immediately placed in water.

The other could not.

And that's part of the reason why dark roses were so rare in the Devildom. They were ridiculously hard to grow in the first place, but cutting them was an even bigger pain.

Luckily, you had loads of experience with these finicky things, so you had this in the bag.

After some time, you'd harvested almost 60 roses (some extras, just in case), and it was time to remove the thorns from their stems. Removing the thorns from the roses could be done using one of two different tools you had available in your shop. The first one were rose thorn cutters (made specifically for that purpose) that didn't look too different from a pair of nail cutters. The logic was that you'd slide the tool up to the top of the stem, press down on the handles gently, and then drag it down the stem, thus cutting off the thorns.

Though very efficient, the second tool was your favorite - a simply knife. Roses were woody in nature, so all you had to do was simply slice all around the stem of the flower. Admittedly, this took a lot more time than the thorn cutters, but in a way, it was stress relieving. You were sure that you'd end up using the thorn cutters, but you'd enjoy using the knife for as long as you could.

And so you got to work - de-thorning all 60 something roses by hand.

You'd gotten through more than half of the roses when you heard the bell of your shop jingle. Turning around, you saw none other than the brothers you shared a house with. But in doing so, you'd accidentally run the blade of the tool you were using right across your finger.

Woops.

Hissing, you pulled your gaze from the brothers and back to your finger. You could see the cut, but it took a moment for the blood to come out. It was painful, and you weren't too good with cuts (a little ironic, considering your profession), but before you could whisk your finger away to wash off the blood, Audrey II yelled, "Feed me! I'm starving" before she chomped down on your finger.

Of course, she didn't actually bite off your finger, but she sucked the blood out, and it made your finger more sore than it was already.

It wasn't anything out of the ordinary, of course. You'd gotten hurt loads of times when working (and even when you weren't working), and if there was blood (which there usually was), Audrey would just lick it off for your. Same old.

The brothers had seen you talk to Audrey II plenty of times before, hell (literally), you'd talk to just about every plant you came across, but never had they seen Audrey II talk to you.

If that wasn't shock enough, you just wiped your hands down on your apron before turning back to face the brothers and greet them with a smile as though you hadn't just nicked yourself and had your plant(?) lick your finger for you.

Of course, the greeting faltered on your tongue as soon as you saw the faces of the brothers.

Asmodeus spoke up first.

"Sweetie, your plant just talked!"

"Yeah?" You asked rhetorically. "What about it?" You watched as the brothers tried (and failed) to come up with words to say, although you didn't really understand why they were struggling so. Even Levi was stunned. In an attempt to make a joke (and to stifle the stifling atmosphere), you said, "It's not like you guys didn't know that Audrey could talk."

One look at their faces, and you knew that you were wrong.

"Wait, you guys actually didn't know that Audrey could talk!?" You asked, stunned at this new revelation.

At last, Lucifer gathered himself. "Ahem. We were not made...aware of the fact that your plant was sentient." He sure looked uncomfortable trying to explain his mind without offending you or Audrey.

"What do you think all that meat was being delivered for every morning Lucifer?" You asked sardonically.

"Wait, I thought that yer the one eatin all that meat!" Mammon exclaimed. Bewildered, you shot him a look conveying as such.

"How the hell would I eat 2 whole pounds of meat every single day genius?" You retorted.

"We just thought you were hungry." Beel offered.

"I'm a human. I'd literally die if I ate that much meat every. single. day." You enunciated the last words.

"I'm rather fascinated by Audrey II. How did you come to meet? Was she always this size? Did she always have a deep carnivorous craving?" Satan asked consecutively. Before you had a chance to answer any of them though, he continued, "Actually, now that I think about it, it makes sense! I've been an utter idiot! All the signs were there, and I've read about these kind of plants in A Complete Guide to Carnivorous Plants and How to Care for Them!"

You didn't even bother reminding him that you were the one who recommended the book to him.

Belphegor seemed to be the most chill (although you could still see some semblance of surprise on his sleepy visage).

Figuring that this was probably going to take a while, and you had a whole bunch of Dark Roses to prepare, you invited everyone to grab a chair and sit while you worked.

It turned out to be a good choice, because you ended up finishing a few hours after you'd originally thought you'd finish, and by the end of the day, Audrey had made (official) friends with each of the brothers. In fact, you would say that Audrey and Asmo got along particularly well.

And yes, the roses turned out spectacularly, and the House of Lords were reminded once again of who was truly in charge.

Author's Note: I took some liberty with the Reader's personality in this fic. Seymour's a very timid guy, and (spoiler alert), that's what ultimately lead to his demise (in my opinion). Being thrust into a world full of demons, I think you're gonna need a little more tenacity that Seymour, so I made the Reader timid, but not Seymour-level timid (if that makes sense). The second thing I took a decent amount of liberty with is making Audrey II not entirely evil. She is after all a villain in the original story, but I made Audrey a little bit like Cleopatra. (Sorry if that's not what you wanted)! Masterlist

[lunatic-pudge]

Snake Headcanons Cause He Deserves More Love

• I'm with everyone with the idea of him becoming a tattoo artist. He def started out by doing stick and pokes and worked his way up. He only tattoos the other members of Gangreen Gang though. I can also see him doing mostly traditional Japanese tattoos, it's his way to connect to his Japanese roots.

• Will literally wear anything and everything, no matter what it is, and he damn well knows how to pull a dress/skirt off too. I like to believe that as he got older, he started going down a more alt-esque fashion. I'm not sure what but maybe a mall goth or some type of punk style. But what's gonna stop him from going gothic lolita?

• Also is a makeup pro. Always has a face of makeup on, with painted nails too! Though it can be rough with him having such rugged skin.Will gladly help the gang if they ask him for makeup help. I can see him and Arturo bonding over makeup.

• I see him as being the most cruel of the gang. Like Ace has more empathy than him. I'm sure Snake has a heart at times but I feel that being out on the streets commiting crimes has harden him and made him year for more. He will do anything and everything to get what he wants and to come out on top if that makes sense.

• So with that being said, any type of relationship with him I see as a Romeo and Juliette type situation, or maybe even a Bonnie and Cylde, depending on the S/O. He's the person your parents don't want you being with. There'd be lots of sneaking out, partying, petty crimes, ect. You ain't coming home til the sun starts rising. You'll be out doing all sorts of shenanigans but you'll be having fun regardless.

• Def a protective type, with the gang and a S/O. Will throw hands if anyone messes with the people he loves. He's kinda a weakling so he may not win the fight but it's the thought that counts, right? We love a protective Snek.

• But do remember that sometimes he's not the smartest person in the group at times. He tends to speak before he thinks and will act without realizing, which has lead to many punches from Ace. So because of that, he tends to expect getting hit for his mistakes. He'll love you forever once he realizes that you aren't gonna hurt him for acting/speaking out. Plz give him love :(

• If I'm Correct, in PPGZ his family is wealthy. So I'd like to think that during the summer, his mom would take him to Japan to see his family (no dad though, I just can't really see him having a dad). He hates having to leave the gang for a while but he always makes sure to stay in touch with them and bring them each a gift back so they feel included. And since he goes to Japan so frequently, he has a pretty good with speaking, reading, and writing Japanese (with occasional mistakes). Has probably tried to teach the gang Japanese but failed horribly. Would def teach them curse would and other offensive things.

• Is surprisingly a pretty decent cook. He may not be the best but he at the very least knows what he's doing. He and Billy would be deligated to cooking for the gang, and yes, pink frilly aprons will be worn.

• When it comes to sleeping, his bed is LITTERED with pillows and blankets. Has a heating blanket that is under his sheet he uses to heat his bed up. Will wrap himself in many blankets just to keep warm, since he's constantly cold. May or may not has a stuffed animal in his bed that he got as a gift from his grandma. And you best believe that you'll get a good nights rest in his bed cause of how comfortable it is. Sleeping for him is decent but he tends to have nights where he just can't seem to sleep. Those nights he'll spend with the gang causing mischef.

[texanredrose]

Prep and Goth

Day 1: Enemies to Lovers/Secret Library Time

---

Weiss stared at the clock, mentally urging the second hand to move faster. The transition between this period and the next always took the longest- or at least it felt like time slowed down around this point in the day. She hated how the end of the period never caught her off guard; she was always keenly aware of the clock, with her work done and backpack already packed and ready for her to leave the classroom. She was usually the first one out the door.

“Hey, if I give you five lien, could you get me a redbull?”

“No, Ruby; for the last time, I don’t have a release period next, I’m a library aide.”

“Oh, come on, everyone knows you just show up, sign in, and disappear!” Her fellow senior slumped in her seat. “It’s not like you’re going to get in trouble! Ms. Goodwitch knows you ditch and she doesn’t say anything!”

How she’d become friends- perhaps even best friends- with the school’s most energetic track star was beyond her; it involved an ill fated chemistry lab and the fire department but, honestly, she couldn’t remember specific details beyond that. While Weiss would love to say she merely put up with and tolerated Ruby, the truth was that she still hadn’t entirely adjusted to the concept of having someone who would be with her through thick and thin. She was being… persuaded to open up to the young woman but she still kept more secrets than she probably should from her best friend.

“I swear, Ruby Rose, if you keep spreading such slander about my character, I’ll be forced to take drastic action!” She tore her gaze away from the clock to glare at the woman. “I do not skip class!”

Rolling her silver eyes, Ruby rested her head on her desk and groaned. “Just because you’re the Valedictorian doesn’t mean you have to be perfect, Weiss. No one’s going to care if you ditch one period.”

“I care!” The bell rang a moment later and she forgot about the argument entirely as she quickly grabbed her pack and fast walked to the door.

The walk from her class to the library was a blessedly short one, made slightly longer by classmates and underclassmen getting in her way as other students emerged into the hallway for the passing period. A cold glare managed to persuade some of them to move but not all of them- those blessedly ignorant few she stepped around or nearly barreled through if she could get away with it. It probably contributed to her reputation of being a vicious, cut throat type of person like her sister but her patience had worn too thin and she needed to get to the library.

A few steps from her goal, a hand suddenly landed on her shoulder and spun her around, and only two people in the whole school would dare put their hands on her like that, and only one of them for no good reason. “YANG-”

“Calm down, Princess, this’ll be quick, promise!” With hands on Weiss’ shoulders, she guided them away from the throng of students to a small alcove next to the library doors. “Just got something I need to say real quick.”

“What could you possibly have to say to me?” Weiss scowled at the blonde, annoyed that she seemed to get taller every time they talked, and crossed her arms over her chest. “Last I checked, I didn’t have anything to do with the girls’ basketball team. Or the weightlifting team. Or the boxing team. Or-”

Yang clapped her hands together in front of Weiss’ face, smiling that do-you-really-think-they’ll-expel-me smile of hers. “Hey, do me a favor? Drop the frigid bitch act for, like, five minutes, okay? Because I really don’t have the time for it; if you wanna go toe-to-toe in the bitch-out-lypmics, we can schedule that another time, but right now, I need to have a serious talk with you. It’s about Blake.”

At the namedrop, her blood ran cold and her heart lodged in her throat, eyes growing wide as a genuine tendril of fear began taking root in her chest. “Is she okay?”

“Well, that depends,” Yang replied, looking around at their classmates walking past without paying them any mind. “Look. I don’t get it, okay, the whole secret girlfriends thing, I don’t even know how you two got together… but what I do know is that Blake deserves better than someone who’s ashamed of her-”

“Don’t you dare put words in my mouth,” she hissed, worry turning to fury in the blink of an eye. “I’m not ashamed to be dating Blake. If it was safe, everyone would know!”

“Yeah, can you define ‘safe’ for me in this context? Because I’m having a real hard time convincing Blake you’re being sincere when you don’t want anyone knowing the two of you are dating.”

“You know we’re dating!”

“Because I refuse to let things go and I knew she was acting weird!” Yang growled in frustration, fingers flexing as if she was seriously debating throttling Weiss. “Listen, I figured it out and I bullied her into telling me weeks ago, but not even Ruby knows beyond that. Not a fan of keeping secrets but I’ll do it for a friend. Now, answer my question, please, because with the rest of the school convinced you two hate each other, this whole ‘don’t tell anyone we’re dating thing’ is clear as mud, and it’s really starting to get to her.”

Weiss’ shoulders fell as she looked away, her anger abating in the face of the situation presented to her. “It’s… complicated.”

“Then uncomplicate it for me.” Yang made a gesture with one hand. “Just give me a straight answer!”

“I can’t!” She stamped her foot, speaking before she could think about her word choice. “I can only give you a gay answer!”

Yang stared at her for a long moment. “So, that’s what Blake meant when she said you have the worst sense of humor.”

“I’m done with this conversation-”

Yang grabbed her arm and stopped her, expression turning serious. “Listen, you don’t wanna talk to me? Fine. But talk to Blake. If you really care about her, she deserves to hear that.”

As the blonde stepped away, the bell rang, making both of them late- not that it would matter. Ms. Goodwitch wouldn’t count her late and even if she did, a single tardy wouldn’t be much of a blemish on her record. There was a time when it would’ve bothered her but she’d grown past that a few years ago; perfection was, in some sense, in the eye of the beholder. Blake would notice, though, and she hurried to the library to keep her ‘secret girlfriend’ from worrying.

When she got to the library, she dropped her bag behind the counter and signed in, highly aware that Blake was somewhere among the rows reshelving books. 

The librarian gave her a small nod. “I presume you have good reason for being late but don’t make a habit of it.”

“Of course, Ms. Goodwitch.” With that, she grabbed a few leftover books that needed reshelving and went into the stacks to reshelve them. As soon as she was far enough away from the front desk, she spoke in a soft voice that Blake would be able to hear regardless. “Blake? I’m sorry I’m late.”

“Is everything alright?” She’d long ago grown accustomed to the faunus’ silent steps, which really shouldn’t be possible given the amount of glistening chains and bits of metal hung from her ensemble but it was one of those things Weiss had accepted about Blake at first and had grown to admire. “It’s not like you to be late.”

“I… got pulled into a conversation.” She debated, briefly, if she should mention who the conversation was with but ultimately decided against it. Yang would likely bring it up herself at some point but she didn’t want the distraction at present. “Blake… you know I care about you, right?”

“Yes, Weiss, and I care about you, too,” she replied, her voice holding that special lilt that Weiss used to think was snideness. Now, she recognized it as a gentle sort of teasing and, sometimes, a deflection. “What brought this on?”

“I’ve been thinking about some things… and I find myself curious about some… other things.”

“Truly, you have a way with words.”

“I’m trying to be serious!” Weiss whined, putting a hand to her head as she tried to think of a way to word what she wanted to say. In the next moment, Blake stepped up and wrapped her arms around her waist, resting her chin on Weiss’ shoulder in a silent show of support. This was, partly, where they differed, because even when words escaped Blake, the faunus could somehow find a way to convey what she needed; Weiss, in contrast, simply clammed up entirely if she didn’t begin insulting whoever was nearest. “You know the only reason we’re not dating publicly is because of my family, right? That, the moment I turn eighteen and gain access to my funds, I’ll shout it from the rooftops… right?”

Blake took a step back but one hand lingered on Weiss’ hip, a soft assurance that she wasn’t leaving but that they should probably have a conversation like this face-to-face. When she turned around, she searched shining amber eyes and found a touch of disbelief hiding there. “I’ll admit, I didn’t think it was the only reason.”

“It really is…” Weiss sighed, running a hand through her bangs in frustration. “I… I don’t know how to prove it, I don’t know if there’s anything I could say or do that would, but… I don’t want you thinking that I’m ashamed of dating you… that’s… that’s the furthest from the truth.”

Feline ears flicked towards one end of the row and both of them quickly focused on shelving the few books that remained as a group of students went back to one of the study rooms. Once the coast was clear, Blake sighed heavily. “I told Yang to drop it.”

“She’s trying to help.” Begrudgingly, she continued. “Ruby’s the same way. They meddle when they can but they have the best of intentions.”

“Still… she wasn’t too… forceful, was she?”

“She only threatened to throttle me, so no, she wasn’t too forceful.” Weiss tilted her head. “And, arguably, she has a salient point. I… I perhaps took it for granted that you would… that I made my feelings about you clear to you.”

Blake ducked her head, her ears flicking back briefly to blending into midnight black hair. As per her usual, the faunus was bedecked in all black save for the silver of the chains hanging from her pants and the snake bite piercings on her bottom lip. Whenever they were making out, Weiss found that flicking either of the piercings with her tongue would always result in a soft groan from Blake.

“So… when you turn eighteen…basically, when we graduate?” Blake took a step forward. “That’s… a long time to be a secret from everyone.”

“Well… not from everyone. Yang knows.”

“Uh huh.”

“And Ruby will know… when I tell her…”

“Right.” Blake came a bit closer. “I guess that means we won’t be going to prom together.”

Weiss raised a brow, then caught onto what her girlfriend was doing, a smile tugging at her lips. “You? Go to prom?” A soft chuckle. “I thought you said you wouldn’t be caught dead at… what was it you called it? A useless party for empty headed idiots?”

“And a waste of money. I said that, too.” Blake stopped just a hair’s breadth away and very nonchalantly shelved a book just behind Weiss’ shoulder. “But you’ve got a crown to win, right? Prom Queen to go with your other honors?”

“There’s only one crown that I care to claim,” she replied, reaching up to bury her hand in midnight locks between the faunus’ ears and pulling her down into a kiss. Normally, they didn’t indulge in such outside of Ms. Goodwitch’s office, which the librarian granted them access to once they’d reshelved all the books. If she suspected what they did in there, she remained silent, probably because while reshelving the books they would also fix what other aides did incorrectly and she appreciated the help more than she cared to curtail PDAs.

The kiss didn’t last too long- just long enough to drive her point home- but the look in amber eyes almost made her too weak to move.

Weiss gathered her courage. “I do love you, Blake.”

Not ‘care about’, not ‘fond of’, not any other arrangement of words she’d used over the past year to describe how she felt. Fear that caring too much would make her careless had prevented her from saying the words before. Now, though, she couldn’t go another moment without Blake understanding exactly how much she cared.

After the shock passed, Blake smiled softly, ears canting forward. “I love you too, Weiss.”

It took a moment for them to part but they returned to the counter and finished reshelving the books.

“Blake?”

“Yes?”

“Do you think I’d look good in black?”

---

Hi, yes, please join me in picturing Blake as a late 90′s/early 00′s goth girl.

[snowe-zolynn-rogers]

Pairings: None

Word Count: 1,547 Words

Summary: Kirishima finds a friend on a late-night hair dye run. Little does everyone know this new friend staying with 1-A temporarily is a deaged villain, who doesn't know what he turned into in his old future. Can they carve him a new future?

Chapter Summary: Kirishima takes home a hair dye buddy without either of them realizing the implications.

Warnings: Attempted Stealing Mention, Fighting Mention, Cursing, Injury Mention, Drunk Mention, Child Abuse Mention, let me know if I should tag anything else.

Notes: Thoughts look like ‘this’.

Hair Dye Buddies: Chapter 1

Kirishima really never thought he'd be in this position. But his roots were nearly two inches now and he'd made the excuse of wearing a hat far too often lately. It was better to just get it done. Just a quick run for some hair bleach and his usual red dye.

While there, he saw a boy his age looking at brown hair dyes, wearing a hoodie with the hood covering his hair. Hah! So he wasn't the only one on a midnight hair dye run. He looked like he was having problems as he read over the instructions.

"Find a good one?" He asked.

'Great way to start a conversation with the poor dude, Eijiro.' Big blue eyes looked up like he'd been caught doing something he shouldn't. Kind of like a kid in trouble.

"Huh? Oh, I um...I don't know which one will work." The other seemed more than shy, almost like he hadn't expected someone to notice him, or for everyone to ignore him. Like he was used to it.

"Sorry for buggin ya man. Ya know, that brand wears out easy. This one stays longer." He tapped the light brown box of dye of the brand he'd picked. The boy put back the other box and hesitantly took the brown box of dye he'd recommended.

He seemed rather skittish even while Kirishima checked out and he saw the kid putting the dye in his jacket. Oh. OH. He was skittish because he didn't have money for the dye. Kirishima went back to him and tapped his shoulder, earning a wince but the kid looked at him and scared eyes got impossibly more frightened.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'll put it back." The kid promised.

"Hey, it's no big deal. I get it, okay? Here." He stuck his hand out and the kid handed him the brown dye with bandaged hands. "C'mon." Kirishima led him to the registers and paid for the brown dye and handed it to him.

"Thank you." The kid whispered.

"No problem! I hope it turns out well, man." Kirishima smiled brightly and the kid headed out quickly and Kirishima followed, coming out to see a burly guy bugging the kid.

"You think you can just change your hair color to hide from me!?" Kirishima didn't quite think, setting his hair dye down and rushing to take the punch the kid was about to take with his hardening practically breaking the guy's hand.

"You've got an attack dog now!?" The guy yelled.

"Fuck off dude! He's a kid!" Eijiro snapped at the guy.

"He owes me!" The guy roared.

"He doesn't owe you shit, he's just a kid!" The hero-in-training snapped back.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." The kid tried to apologize for his new involvement.

"It's okay, kid." Eijiro assured him. "Why's this guy bothering you?"

"He hurt me after he said I could stay with him. I ran away. I was trying to hide." The kid told him.

"You're safe, kid. I won't let him near you." He promised.

"Gimme the kid! He got hurt because he owes me!"  Kirishima decked the guy and he was down for the count now.

"I'm sorry." The kid apologized again.

"It's okay. I'm a hero-in-training. It's my job to protect people like you from guys like him." The kid handed him his bag with his bleach and dye.

"You put this down." The kid whispered.

"Thanks, dude. You wanna walk this guy to the station with me and I'll get you home?" Eijiro asked.

"I should be fine."

"Come on, kid." He led him along to the station and dropped the guy off. "Now where do you live?" The kid looked around to find an exit and it hit him harder than he thought it should. The guy who hassled him had housed him. He ran away. He didn't have a home to take him back to.

"Come on, kid." He began leading him to UA, texting Aizawa that he had a friend coming over. "My name's Kirishima, by the way. Kirishima Eijiro." He smiled at his new friend.

"Todoroki Touya." The kid whispered.

"Huh, I didn't know Shoto had a cousin named Touya." Kirishima muttered.

"Shoto is my brother." Touya told him.

"Oh, then I could have Mr. Aizawa extend your stay as a family visit!" Kirishima smiled, hugging him close.

"Okay." Touya quietly followed and looked up at the UA building before Kirishima faced him toward the dormitories across from it. Aizawa was waiting for them, cat in arms and looking quite unhappy.

"Heyo, Mr. Aizawa, here's Touya. Harmless as a fly." Touya looked at the Pro Hero and waved a bit.

"And you said he's your 'bestie' and 'hair dye buddy'?" Aizawa asked groggily.

"Yes, sir! He's just visiting for a bit. I also happened to find out he's one of Todoroki's brothers on the way here." Aizawa eyed him up and down.

"And I got a call from the station you turned in a man harassing him for a hold in the drunk tank?" Aizawa asked.

"Yeah, the guy was reeking of booze and Touya here is like half his size and I came out to see this guy buggin' Touya saying he couldn't just change his hair color to hide." Kirishima explained.

"What did that guy mean, Touya?" Aizawa was now leading them to the dorms.

"Well, I mean. My father kicked me out about a month ago and that guy found me and took me home two weeks ago but all he did was treat me like a maid and would hit me all the time. I thought maybe if I ran away and dyed my hair he'd forget about me." Touya was quiet, which helped with the dorms they were passing by.

"Shitty Hair, you're finally back. I wanted to ask you if you'd be willing to dye my hair brown next time you dye yours...red." Bakugou stopped when he saw Aizawa and Touya. "Okay, tell me why I see a goth Todoroki. And where's his scar?" Touya looked at Bakugou and looked confused.

"Bakugou, this is Touya, Todoroki's brother. He's going to be staying in the dorms temporarily until we reach a good decision of where he's going." Bakugou's brows furrowed.

"Alright. Anyway. Kiri, about my hair. Next time can you pick up light to medium brown and make my hair look like my dad's?"

"Yeah, sure!" 

"Bakugou." Touya piped up.

"What, Cotton Candy?" Bakugou asked.

"Here." he handed the box of brown dye to Bakugou. "I was going to dye my hair to hide from a creep but I guess I don't really need to anymore since Kirishima turned him in. It's light brown."

"I like this one. We're stealing him into our friend group, Eijiro." Katsuki announced.

"I had a feeling you'd like him." Eijiro smiled, dragging Bakugou along to his room with Touya and Aizawa following behind.

"What's up, Old Man, you wanna supervise or something?" Bakugou asked as he opened the brown box of dye.

"I'd actually like to talk to Touya about his father and what happened." Aizawa told him.

"Oh, it's okay if they know, I don't mind." Touya whispered.

"You said your father kicked you out. Why is that?" Aizawa asked. Bakugou looked furious now and Kirishima seemed mad. Touya shrunk into himself even before he answered.

"Shoto is his prodigy, he doesn't need me anymore. And, when he gets tired of his toys, he destroys them. He beat me within an inch of my life and threw me out. I survived on my own for two weeks and then that guy, Ryuu, found me and took me to his house. He kept me like a maid and would beat me if things weren't perfect. I ran away from him this afternoon and I was going to change my hair color and run away to somewhere else." Touya admitted.

"Alright. So we'll be keeping you here until we can find a suitable housing situation. How old are you?" 

"16, I turn 17 in January." Touya confirmed.

"So while you're here, I'll have you enrolled and you'll be staying with my class for the foreseeable future. Given you've already made friends on this level, there's an empty room next to Bakugou's that'll become yours and I'll put a chair in the classroom for you." Aizawa told him. "Now I'm sure Bakugou and Kirishima can help you with a lot for now, I need to sleep and so do you kids after you're done with the hair dye. If you have any injuries, follow me back to the teacher dorms to be healed by Recovery Girl, but, otherwise, you can stay here." Aizawa added.

"Get some sleep, Mr. Aizawa!" Kirishima called after him.

"Be quiet." Came someone's reaction before the trio burst out laughing and went down to the commons to do Kirishima and Bakugou's hair.

"Okay, so I need to bleach my roots first and you don't need bleach." Kirishima began and Touya, for the first time in his life, felt like he was home even as Bakugou sat with brown dye finishing in his hair and Kirishima was washing out the bleach and drying his hair out for his own color. He felt wanted, finally.

Taglist: @lgbtforeverything @rin-tanaka

[mercutiotakethewheel]

Halp! I read Crooked Kingdom and Spinning Silver in the same week. Is there any point in reading any other book ever again?!?!?!?!?!?!!!?!!! (Genuinely open to recommendations.) I am bereft at having finished them, and wondering how soon is too soon to reread Spinning Silver...

lmao god that’s a mood. I mean those are very much my two of my favorites, but of course I have recommendations.

Spinning Silver has a “mirror” novel called Uprooted that explores Naomi Novik’s polish roots and fairytale; it’s a twist on the classic girl gets sacrificed to be locked in a tower by a “dragon” but with wizards and a sick wood.

As for the grishaverse, I don’t know if you’ve already read the grisha trilogy or the Nikolai duology, but I certainly recommend King of Scars at the very least. Nina’s in it and Nikolai and Zoya are two of the best grisha trilogy characters (along with Genya, Tolya, and Tamar who are all also here). I haven’t about to read Rule of Wolves but I haven’t yet. Now the grisha trilogy is disappointing in general, but especially in comparison to Crooked Kingdom, Bardugo’s best novel, in my opinion. However, it’s also not quite as bad as everyone says. The worldbuilding established here is pretty cool, the politics in seige and storm are really fun, and there are really cool characters in it, even if the main protagonist… well. Alina’s not actually a boring or awful of a protagonist, or at least she has the opportunity not to be. She’s incredibly selfish to the point of moral ambiguity, and she’s terribly funny and combative. However, and this is my main issue with these books, she is very much punished by the narrative anytime she seeks agency or power or really does anything interesting, which leaves us with our magical girl chosen one just sort of passively shoved around the board.

Bardugo also wrote Ninth house, which I highly recommend. It’s an adult novel, so the violence -and there is a lot of it- tends to be described and gory and there’s a lot of talk about drug abuse so keep that in mind (plus the main character being abused and her best friend being killed/raped/drugged) so keep that in mind. The main protagonist is really interesting, and features Bardugo’s usual moral greyness. She’s angry, she can see ghosts, she’s traumatised, she has a terrible secret, and she does all of her fighting for abused women. The book has a lot of commentary on classism and elitism, as one should expect from a book about an impoverished women attending an ivy league with dangerous, poorly run, magical societies in it. The worldbuilding is a treat, but expect a lot of ghosts and a lot of rituals.

If you’re looking for more fantasy novels with fairytale vibes/retellings and strong female characters, that’s one of my favorite genres, so I have a few. I’m terribly fond of A Creature of Moonlight, which features a moving wood, a dragon’s daughter, royal court politics, and an uberindependent protagonist. The Cruel Prince is the only faerie book that counts along with the rest of Holly Black’s works, and if you’re looking for more enemies to lovers, you are in luck. The main reasons to read this book, though, is the political intrigue and the murder happy main character. The Once and Future Witches is a take on the suffragette period and witch fairytales. It’s not necessarily my favourite nor do I think it has the makings to be anyone’s favorite, really, but I do recommend it if only for the fairytale retellings and historical elements. Howl’s Moving Castle is an absolute delight, with lots of fun, bickering, main characters, and a very fairytale take on the magic system. I need to read Deathless so bad, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. I hear only great things about the retelling of the Russian fairytale, though, so I’ll go ahead and recommend it.

Revenge stories are also a favourite of mine, so if you want more of those, my main recommendations are The Count of Monte Cristo and Vicious. The Count of Monte Cristo features our antihero being wrongfully imprisoned due to the machinations of three people. After escaping and getting rich beyond his wildest imagination, Edmound seeks to utterly ruin all three of them, destroying a lot of innocent lives in the process, rethinking the ethics of his revenge plan a lot, and a lot of claiming he’s sold his soul to become Providence. The main drawback is that the novel deals handedly in Orientalism( though I have a lot to say about why discussion of Orientalism is important to understanding Edmound’s character and why he is percieved the way he is by the other characters) and that it features an enslaved woman falling in love with her captor, who is also our protagonist. So yeah, grain of salt. It was written in 1844. Vicious tells us the backstory and the mainstory side by side throughout the novel, featuring two ex-best friends who experimented with killing themselves in order to gain superhero powers. When one of them lands the other one in prison and devotes his time to killing other ExtraOrdinaries, what our superheroes/more-like-supervillains-usually are called, because he likes to play god, our protagonist, the imprisoned friend, escapes for a revenge quest. Along the way he forms an incredibly clunky, adorable found family. I love this novel so much.

If you’re looking for more historical fantasy, I have some recommendations here as well. Diviners is an occult murder mystery set in the 1920s, that really really spends time putting you in the 1920s. It features a fun ensemble cast that grows with each installation, though the main main character of the first book does take a while to grow on you and there’s a boring ass love triangle. Read it for the 1920s and the ensemble cast that really takes off in the second book. The Poppy War is based on the Second Sino-Japanese War with a very enthralling magic system, and a main character who takes moral greyness to whole new heights. It has a laundry list of trigger warnings you need to read before you pick up the book, but the two most important things to understand before getting into it is that there’s a section based on the Rape of Nanjing, which does not pull its punches and the first book ends with our protagonist committing magical genocide on an entire country. In general, this book absolutely refuses to pull its punches and that’s my number one reason for recommending it. London Calling is an exploration of fatherhood with themes on family and catholicism that features time traveling to the London blitz. It’s barely fantasy, and it’s again not a favorite nor will it become yours, but it’s very moving.

Also, this is more of a general recommendation, but I highly recommend Gideon the Ninth. “Necromancer Lesbians explore a haunted gothic castle in space.” What more do you need to hear? Our main character is a snarky butch swordswoman in the first book and the second book is her goth depressed over-achiever enemy turned sort of girlfriend turned mind pal. The fun villain behavior is off the chart, the worldbuilding is immaculate (there’s an in-universe essay in the back that finishes with someone’s snarky graffiti), and it’s funny as hell. The book is about necromancers so the gory descriptions of dead bodies is very much not for the faint of heart. Keep that in mind.

[arce-elliot]

Magnus Archives - First Impressions (151-175)

We’re almost there, gang. Out of the Lonely and into the Eyepocalypse we go! Blah blah I had 75% of the series spoiled and am jotting down my thoughts, you know the drill.

EP 151 (Big Picture): - OH SIMON??? - okay okay Simon's kinda funny, you go you funky little sky grandpa - Martin Tell Her The TRUTH EP 152 (A Gravedigger's Envy): - oooh another ancient one - hey that's terrifying wtf - can someone please comfort jonny boy good lord EP 153 (Love Bombing): - Idk why the cult ones freak me out, maybe because cults are real? - oh god what's gonna happen to that dog - I literally just made my dinner with white wine vinegar that's a little old are you sHITTING ME - GIRL GET OUT OF THERE WHILE YOU HAVE A CHANCE YOU KNOW SOMETHING'S OFF - AYYY THE HUNTIN' GANG - tbh it was weird that they helped him even though they knew he wasn't human actually - DAISY!!!!! - Jon can you chill w/ the sass if you're not gonna help - Okay I'm gay but Daisy Growl Hot - Two dying monsters trying to reconcile their humanity, this is sad I hate it here EP 154 (Bloody Mary): - oh god it's This Episode I've been dreading it poor Eric - g o d Gertrude sounds so upset - I would die for Eric - "Eric I'm gonna count to ten and you're gonna tELL ME HOW YOU QUIT" - I'm already crying good god - "he needed me" o w - MARTIN GOT TO SAY FUCK!!!!! - O U C H - i am so upset FUCK this podcast - the catalogue of the dead is just the Delano-Keay family album EP 155 (Cost of Living): - CALL HER OUT JON - Tova, to this doctor's heart: it's free real estate - A FUCKING C H I L D?????? - ah yes, some more DIY surgery, who needs doctors when you have knives? EP 156 (Reflection): - ayyyy adelard how are ya - oh fun flesh time - oh? extinction? - also that was gross what the fuck - M A R T I N EP 157 (Rotten Core): - go save Martin before I cry - ADELARD!!! - ah no, I'm gonna miss this dude he was kinda cool - this hits different in corona times - okay this is actually pretty gross wtf - Martin's lonely because he chose to be, Jon is lonely because everyone hates him, poetic cinema EP 158 (Panopticon): - Ah Shit Here We Fucking Go - OH WHAT THE FUCK NOT!SASHA???? - AYYYYY THERE'S JONAH MAGNUS WELCOME HOME RAT BASTARD - uh oh bye bye Gertrude Time - mom and dad are fighting to be Martin's favorite parent lmao - no not the promise :C - Martin is the brain cell, he really just played both these men like kazoos - gdi Peter give me my boy back EP 159 (The Last): - hi I am Sad - Marto blease just go with the tired eyeball man - "i see you" MY B O Y S EP 160 (The Eye Opens) - oh lord here we go - at least we get some Jonmartin conversation - Monologue Time! - Jon: can I just say, from the bottom of my heart...my bad EP 161 (Dwelling): - welcome to the apocalypse bitches - FINALLY i've been waiting for these tapes for my entire life - TIMMMMMM! SASHAAAAA! - Elias being a normal person is unsettling - ALL THE EYE JOKES gdi I refuse to simp for eyeball man - THE JARRING "ARCHIVIST" I SWEAR TO FUCKING GOD - "If I wish for all of you to go away do you think it'll work?" well it worked on Tim and Sasha - Elias: I'm a cool boss, I can drink wine - the image of Jon just huddled on the couch with a bag of tapes and listening to them over and over is so sad - sorry Gertrude no Sasha, just a sad little man - thank u for the powerpoint Gertrude - JON DON'T SNAP - i love them so much your honor EP 162 (Cosy Cabin): - GERRY GERRY GERRY - okay Gertrude and Gerry are adorable I love goth boy and his badass grandma - Gerry, ever the pragmatist: but what about TAXES gertrude - Tim and Sasha interacting is the sweetest thing ;_; - oh this is AFTER the hookup lmao - OH WAIT Sasha canonically knew about Danny??? I didn't know that oof - Oh Jon's getting a phone call I suppose - Jon's trying so hard to be dramatic and Martin's like "okay bitch grab ur backpack and lets go" EP 163 (In The Trenches): - "Tell everybooooody I'm ooon my waaay, new frieeends and new plaaaaces to seeeee" - YESSS LET MARTIN CURSE OVER THE GUNSHOTS AND BAGPIPES - "Martin can you stand over there and cover your ears while I cast Eldritch Ramble" EP 164 (The Sick Village): - another one that hits different in corona times - I hate the word soupy - what in the midsommar - if you can't find your own statements, DIY your own - Martin: fuck u Jon, Helen's my friend now - Martin: can I get an Uber, can I PLEASE get an Uber EP 165 (Revolutions): - this is my friend's favorite episode so I'm excited - oh circus music gross - THE RHYMINGGGGG OH I LOVE THIS - my arms are sore from happy stimming at this audio oh my god - SHUT UP JON IT WAS A GOOD POEM - GET HER ASS JON - is that our first "Ceaseless Watcher"?? I think it was! - Jon: Level Up! - Martin: that's hot EP 166 (The Worms): - HELL YES JON SAID FUCK - oh worm? - Martin answer your damn phone - awww Martin don't doubt yourself :C EP 167 (Curiousity): - Fiona: lmao watch this -passes out- - oh I didn't realize Eric was one of the OGs, their conversations make more sense now - Michael :c - Gertrude you got played like a fiddle damn EP 168 (Roots): - jealous Martin lmao - Jon just tell him why you woke up that would probably solve this - As someone who also freaks out about every little twinge this episode felt targeted EP 169 (Fire Escape): - desolation time? desolation time. can't wait to walk through hell - so aside from Smirke's 14 we have the 3 additional fears: the Extinction, the Scotland, and the Landlord - oh this one is terrifiyng i love it - OOOOH the "jons" slowly fading in was really clever - G O D martin sounds so defeated poor boy EP 170 (Recollection): - Martin finding tape recorders is the cutest thing - Oh fuck are we in the Lonely oh shit - this is so disconcerting i love it - someone get this man a better chair EP 171 (The Gardener): - Martin: damn that's a lot of bones - oh not THIS dude again I can barely understand him oh my GOD - well that was interesting EP 172 (Strung Out): - oh web? - oh this is sad shit - I think this is one of the worst domains yet for me personally this sounds like hell - g o d the web makes my brain hurt blease Jonny I'm stupid EP 173 (Night Night): - oh dark? - oh so the darkness is just the apocalypse daycare? nice - oh and this tween runs it, nice - Jon: are you SURE you want me to kill this middle schooler? - wow this is depressing EP 174 (The Great Beast): - oh hunt? - oh vast? lmao that's what i get for assumptions - Martin just wants to kill a man is that too much to ask someone give him a gun EP 175 (Epoch): - ex...tinct...ion? - “Peter was right” no FUCK YOU I refuse to give Peter any credit LOOK ADELARD WAS RIGHT, Adelard Decker laid the BLUEPRINT - poor Jon he's gettin these hard-hitting google searches - Basira and Daisy?????? OH WAIT THAT MEANS OH NO

[fnaf-sxc]

What's your thoughts on each of the animatronics from fazbear frights series & the humans that had interacted with them so far?

Imma answer with the stories I know enough to have an answer

Into the Pit: I love Spring Bonnie so much oh my god?? He is the best, being creepy by doing nothing wrong or evil til the very end im disbsis second row of teeth and he cam DRIVE???. Oswald its fine, a lil bit of a brat but he is like 12 in the story, understandable (also their standarts of being short of money felt a lil weird to me but hey i barely know how my economy works). Their dynamic was the best thing of the book, the ending got me ":O" I enjoyed myself.

To be Beautiful: Elanor is... okay, is just Baby but skinny, both have the "uwuuwuw im innocent uwuwuw i lied i killed you uwuwuw bur people still love me uwuwuwuwu" trope I dont like. Sarah felt like a 90's american movie protagonist, a movie that didnt age well. Their dynamic was sweet but damn... I dont really like this story

Count the Ways: I love French Freddy I cannot WAIT for DHeusta and Dawko to release their song-- ok so he had the Ft Freddy happy go lucky personality but say creepy things- loved it. Millie its fine, she serve her purpose as a goth teenager, reminded me to Daniel from Amnesia TDD, where we slowly get all the pieces of her backstory. Their dynamic was fun, creepy or course but fun to read... the ending was brutal

Fetch: Good dog, best dog! I loved how he texted Greg to help him, im a fan of "looks so innofensive its creepy" vibe and Fetch had that. Greg was fine, I didnt get the whole plants read your mind stuff but he seem like a good kid. I liked the evolution of their dynamic, from curiosity to surprise, shock, the climatic anger (poor dog) and the pure sence of fear at the end. Instructions unclear.

Out of stock: Oh, my god, Chaser is pure nightmare fuel I loved what they did with him, from the looks to their mechanism, he was so cool. As for Oscar, he is one of the BEST protagonists this far? Likeable, loveable, easy to empatize and you care so much for him that you fear for his life. Their dynamic was fun, spooky! And the climax was awesome, gaming night with the boys went wrong (?

Step Closer: Foxy? Never heard of them... man this story lack from animatronic focus, it felt more like a Final Destination movie idea. Pete was fine, a brat but again theyre all minors this far is okay, the ending was sad. I dont think thet had a dynamic? Foxy was almost inexistent, never there, I didnt liked that dmskkss

Dance with me: Tfw you forget Ballora is mom material, this story is a guilty pleasure for me and I like Ballora's role, judging you from afar and their presence being important enough for you to change. Kelsey its fine, poor girl, im glad she had her redemption and the ending was cute... at first I didnt felt a connection with her? But whem she tried to steal the shoes and she confront it I root for her. Their dynamic was nice, story more present on the human but Ballora was consistent, i liked it.

Bunny Call: Ralpho is so BIG IM... and im intrigued in his whole being? I liked that trickster aura it give, never giving up til it completed their task. I didnt like Bob when I read the short resume, the whole "i hate my wife and kids" trope is a big nono for me.. but that changed when nightime came and he admit he loved his family, and the ending where he hug his kids melt my heart. Their dynamic was nice, they did the whole fnaf thing for one hour and it was entertain to read, Ralpho will revenge that eas only day 1 at camp (?

In the Flesh: ...alright, Springtrap was ok, idk WHY Matt program him to have knife to kill but alright, i'll take it... then he proceed to ruin this perfectly good AI by giving them no purpose in life so Springtrap enter a cyle of birth and murder, life and dearh that is just...BOI MATT CLOSED HIS EYES WHEN HE FOUND HIM DEAD??? Matt on the other half was so unlikeable, big irremeduable asshole,I didnt care about him til the moment he was agonizing, then and just then I saw a spark of something interesting... and then rip. Their dynamic was mmeeh? Springtrap was coded after Matt's anger and frustrations, and Matt blamed them for the stress he was going through when it was his own fault? The ending was good, I enjoyed that part because for one parragraph Matt though it was NICE to be resting in somebody's lap and being called Daddy (most likely he allucinated that), oohh what it could have been of his life if he wasnt a prick. The lil baby Springtrap was a surprise, the last spawn of VR Springtrap, I have nothing against it, im taking this baby-

I havent read or know enough about the other stories to comment properly

[datawyrms]

Structure

Dannymay 2020 Day : Bones Bones were a foundation. A constant one could rely on when making assumptions about a species. Humans had theirs inside, the small insects of the world electing for the reverse. 

Ghosts did not have bones. The ectoplasmic entities could vary and change immensely, even when found in similar habitats. So of course they did not feel pain, they were closer to large glowing slime molds than any living creature. To be so flexible and be so vulnerable to changes in state simply wouldn’t work if they could not do so without painful feedback.

Which sounded logical enough, but Danny was pretty sure he still had bones, or more importantly still felt the pain shuddering up his spine when slammed particularly hard into an unforgiving building.

Yet they insisted ghosts did not feel pain. The screams and reactions were fake. A ghost could only pretend. They might even fool themselves, but every ghost could be forcefully condensed to fit in a thermos and not be in agony, so all the pain was an illusion. They expected pain, so they ‘felt’ it.

Did it matter if the pain wasn’t real, if it was real to the ghost? He struggled with that argument, both wanting to bring it up and possibly have Jazz back him up with all her focus on psychology.  Yet he knew it would be waved off as a silly optimistic take. Ghosts were just monsters, and not very bright ones at that. Worrying about how his parents would be ‘hurting’ the ectoplasmic fiends should be put aside for more important things.

Would they consider the heavy choking weight that fell on his chest when he heard his parents had found another ghost to experiment on fake too? Maybe it was, if he couldn’t decide if he felt that way out of pity for whatever ghost it was, or if it was only selfish terror that hissed that could be him. Would be him, if they caught him. He just had to be more cautious, act faster.

He noticed the muted sounds more often now. The bones in their fleshy prisons, moving and sliding so people could move. The cracking snap of tendons, or the audible pop of gasses escaping when he cracked his knuckles. The way his Dad put too much strain on his knees at times, forcing the half ghost to bite back warnings. A human wouldn’t be listening for that, wouldn’t notice that. He couldn’t hear a difference between his own and his family’s. They felt real enough when curiosity had him probing inside his own arm in ghost form. He was only half ghost, maybe the others were different. Yet the argument hinged on how malleable ectoplasm was. He couldn’t explain where his leg bones went if he formed a ghostly tail. He couldn’t refute that being crammed into a thermos was only terrifying, not painful, and he doubted he had any structure like that. He couldn’t be that different. Not in a way that would matter.

“Danny, maybe you should consider telling them? Even Mom’s starting to catch on that you’re always on edge lately.”

He could only stare at her. “I can’t.” Can’t she see he’s not human enough to tell them? That the green that was ever present in his blood could be justification that he wouldn’t feel real pain?

“Danny, you know they love us too much to hurt you, if they knew they were scaring you-”

He shook his head “Ghosts don’t feel pain, remember? I can’t really be scared.”

She frowned at him, trying to catch his eyes as he instead focused completely on the tiles of the floor. “You know that isn’t true, you can’t let them get to you like that,”

“What if I’m wrong?”

“You aren’t,” She forced him into a hug, ignoring the seeping cold and how he muttered a number before hugging back. “You haven’t changed that much, little bro.”

How could Jazz know how much he’d changed? She wasn’t an expert. Yet the genuine warmth was comforting, even as it reminded him how cold he’d been lately. At least his movement had made as much noise as Jazz’s had. Something normal, even if counting the sounds of bones was distinctly not.

A ghost acts instinctively. It will do anything to accomplish whatever post-human desire caused it to form. A ghost’s structure does not depend on it’s formed body, instead it’s catalyst or ‘obsession’ will be reflected in how it takes shape. In this way, it is the closest thing these beings have as a ‘structure’, and it is as chaotic, messy and twisted as one would expect from a ghost.

It was strange to him that they could say a ghost’s mind had the most influence on them, while still stating they did not truly think or feel. Didn’t they feel the obvious itching contradiction in that? Though thinking ‘the bones are in your brain’ would probably be weird. He had always checked what his ghost form looked like after the incident with Clockwork, a habit that soothed his nerves when he awoke in the middle of the night with the reminder ‘I am inevitable’ ringing in his ears. Checking more often now, wary of changes he might not notice wasn’t that weird.

He wanted to be rooted, to be grounded. Stable, consistent. Firmly in line with the bones he had always had as a human.

Even if he knew he wasn’t all human anymore. He wasn’t even sure how human he was anymore as his powers grew. He could use more, do more without changing shape. Getting punched by Dash was almost reassuring. A real pain, a noticeable if not long lasting bruise. Still human. Still terrified it wouldn’t be enough when he was found out.

Tucker was the one who noticed the change to his ghost form first. One he had not even considered, not even thought of as an option.

“Are you really okay? How deep did he cut you?” his voice was higher than usual, rushing to his hybrid friend bandage in hand.

Danny had furrowed his brow at the question, removing his hand from the gash on his shoulder. It wasn’t leaking that much ectoplasm, his glove wasn’t that stained. “It probably looks worse than it is. Doesn’t really hurt, promise.”

Tucker had still looked disbelieving, but kept quiet until the wound was out of sight. Yet something was obviously still bothering him.

“Is something wrong Tuck?” His silence basically confirmed it, leaving him to fret over what sort of thing he’d managed to do to weird out one of his best friends now.

“Well nothing’s wrong.” The stress on the word ‘wrong’ was the opposite of encouraging. “Just uh. How long’s your skin been missing?”

“What?” he searched Tucker’s face for the hint of a joke, but wasn’t able to find one.

“Under your suit, I mean.”

That didn’t help. He looked down, grabbing the edge of one glove and pulling it up, barely managing to keep down the strangled cry of shock. No wonder Tucker had thought he’d been seriously hurt, with only bright green ectoplasm clinging on to cracked, faintly glowing bone in place of a layer of skin. He pulled it back sharply, not even wanting to think about how that had happened. No idea Tuck.” he forced out, trying to suppress the panic with a laugh. “Guess I’m really oblivious.” 

“You want to just go chill? I can put homework off if you need a goof off bud.”

“No, no. I’m fine.” He wasn’t fine; he had barely felt that because he didn’t have any skin,  what was wrong with him? “Just another weird ghost thing!”

“Danny. I can tell when you’re freaking out dude.” Tucker grabbed his shoulders, apparently oblivious to how completely gross his friend was for having a hazmat suit for skin. “You need anything?”

“My skin back would be a start but I don’t know where that is. Guess I left it in my other costume.” He couldn’t change back fast enough, one hand instantly on his arm as if his human skin would run off if he didn’t keep a hold of it.

“Sam would approve. Very goth.”

“Gross. The word you’re looking for is gross.” Or more like a ghost. Ghost’s bodies didn’t need to make sense. Only having skin on his face absolutely qualified as not making sense.

Tucker shook his head, dragging his friend along so he wouldn’t just stress out in the middle of nowhere for hours. “It’s not like anyone can tell, if you’re worried about that.”

“I didn’t even notice! That can’t be good.” His parents were right, he didn’t feel it because of course he doesn’t feel his suit taking damage and if they’re right about that-

Tucker snapped into his thoughts, clapping his hands. “Danny, look at me.”

He did, trying to keep his fingernails from digging further into his skin.

“You know we’re your friends no matter what, right? So focus on that for me, okay?”

Tucker had been there since the beginning. Same with Sam. Even after the future that didn’t happen. His breathing finally slowed, though he couldn’t get himself to relax his hand. His friend was still waiting patiently, though he’d somehow guided them out of the way of any other sidewalk traffic without him noticing. “I’m okay.”

“Dude, it’s okay to not be okay sometimes. You need another minute?”

“...Another wouldn’t hurt.”

“Cool.” He leaned against the building, glancing upward. “Games or movies tonight?”

It was just a distraction, a way to keep him from going back down the mental paths again, but it was genuine and it helped. “Should probably play something, dono what.”

“I’ll find some new thing so we can suck at it all night.” Tucker fished out his PDA “I’m vetoing horror, since I’m a wuss.”

The half ghost managed to crack a smile. “I guess I can survive that.”

His parents might be right about ghosts. About him, not having his own structure or bones. He did have people that provided that structure though.  It would have to be enough, for now. Though he did not care to dwell on what would happen if those ‘bones’ broke.

[arcanalogue]

ON TYRANNY - An Unsolicited Tarot Tour, pt. II

In my initial post groping for symbolic parallels between the Major Arcana and Timothy Snyder’s ON TYRANNY, we covered The Fool and The Magician. 

In the few days then (just to show how fast time seems to move during a budding oligarchy), video has surfaced of the President speaking to rich donors at one of his own hotels, in which he says: “The European Union is a group of countries that got together to screw the United States, it’s as simple as that.” He goes on to explain why this is surprising: “We’re all sort of from there, right?”

He also tweeted a thinly-veiled threat suggesting that Adam Schiff, the US rep who gave a rousing speech in the impeachment trial the other day, “has not paid the price, yet, for what he has done to our Country!”

There’s also video of his pick for Special Advisor to the White House Faith and Opportunity Initiative, Paula White, working this bit into a sermon: “We command all satanic pregnancies to miscarry right now.” 

And just for fun, a case of the Wuhan coronavirus was detected near Los Angeles, and today officials are reporting that, as feared, the disease is contagious before the appearance of symptoms. There are still plenty of good folks left at the CDC, right? The lights are on, at least?

But if we let paroxysms of fear induced by bad headlines stop us from going about our day, pretty much none of us would have made it through 2017 — and yet here we are, two full years beyond that point, still rallying, still cracking jokes, still helping each other get things back on track. And sure, my beard and chest hair are suddenly growing in all white, but that’s fine! The sharper contrast will be dazzling against all of my goth attire. How’s that for a silver lining? 

Anyway, on to the cards.

The High Priestess represents everything we take for granted about our own awareness. She’s the source of our inspiration, the dream we awaken from that colors our perception of the day; she’s the vapors sighing from a crack in the earth, and she’s also the Pythia who hears and interprets those whispers. 

Most of us realize we’re more than just our cognition, or our memories, but it’s still quite easy to lose track of the various pillars our interior world is formed around... until one of them is suddenly swept away.

And it’s the same with our exterior life, because “interior” and “exterior” are only matters of scale, baby. Your mind is your own (for now), but how did it become what it became? What unseen protections was it afforded? 

Most people probably think of libraries, or organizations, or certain publications when they hear the word “institutions.” But so many different things fall under this category, it’s actually mind-boggling! It really makes you ponder about the particular framework of your community. Some are more fragile or less corporeal than others; to LGBTQ people, a bar can serve as an institution. Hell, in Brooklyn a taco restaurant can be described as a “mainstay” if it manages to last 15 years.

Some institutions are really only useful to those who created them, and others or who are well-adapted to them, and are bound to crumble naturally with time. A lot of what history has thought to provide will be useless to people in the coming century and beyond; their needs are evolving drastically, right in front of our eyes. This is why we also need to create safe and fertile territory for new institutions to be formed, and try not to take it too personally when the world just moves on. Memento mori, and all that.

But this entropy is not what Snyder’s talking about: he says DEFEND institutions, implying they are under attack. And some of this is very easy to watch for, because we think we know what an attack looks like. But as Snyder’s chapter points out:

“Sometimes institutions are deprived of vitality and function, turned into a simulacrum of what they once were, so that they gird the new order, instead of resisting it. This is what the Nazis called Gleichschaltung.”

You know, like appointing industrial tycoons to manage the EPA and the Department of Education, or leaving countless government positions unfilled so that none of the departments can function quite as they used to.

No one can look after all of them, and none of us knows which we’ll depend on most in a key moment. That means we all have to fan out and each claim a different piece of the puzzle. But which one? And how?

Reflect on the mental architecture that contributed to the formation of your own mind, and then let the Priestess guide you. 

The tarot-ticklers of antiquity may have determined that The Emperor’s power trumps that of The Empress (as the cards are ordered so that each one “triumphs” over the one that preceded it), but he can’t exist without her, and everyone in the kingdom knows it. 

In this chapter Snyder invokes the popular saying “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty,” adding:

“When we think of this saying today, we imagine our own righteous vigilance directed outward, against misguided and hostile others... But the sense of the saying was entirely different: that human nature is such that American democracy must be defended from Americans who would exploit its freedoms to bring about its end.”

In readings I often explain to people that The Emperor represents the outward-looking ruler, the conqueror, the prospector, the warlord. The Empress is the inward looking ruler, tending to the needs of the people, governing, presiding over everything that gives life meaning. 

I mentioned above that the very concept of interior/exterior is only a matter of scale. Those terms are used very flexibly, aren’t they? There’s the interior of my body, and the interior of my home, and the interior of my apartment complex, and so on. At some point it stops being “my” anything. Suddenly we’re looking beyond my town, or my state, or my country. Sometimes others draw those lines for us, and other times we have to be The Emperor, pushing back against that line, drawing one of our own, defending what’s rightfully ours. 

Regarding our own interior as a nation: in case you hadn’t heard (HAHA!) we’re about to stagger through a series of important elections. The one thing we know for sure is that the results of these elections will be disputed, no matter what they happen to be. If we can no longer trust the outcome of an election — due to internal fiddling, not just foreign — then what’s the point of having them at all? You can already sense everyone’s fatigue, ripe to be exploited.

The GOP is already slavering for it, canceling primaries left and right so that Trump will run unopposed for reelection. A “one-party” election suits them just fine. Debates only raise questions, and give a platform to challengers. In order for Trump 2020 to seem like an inevitable choice, he has to be the only choice.

Ruining the public’s faith in American democracy is part of the strategy, because of course it is. Later in Chapter III, Snyder offers yet another popular saying: “Where annual elections end, tyranny begins.” 

The work required to protect the upcoming election, and make sure people still care about the outcome, can only be done by Americans organizing and working together on every level: personal, local, national. The fatalism and cynicism everyone’s feeling is understandable, but it ought to drive one toward active participation in preserving what little democracy we have left. 

Otherwise, what’s the point? If it’s more important to have your worst fears confirmed, to be able to say “I told you so,” to bargain with the inevitability of fascism, then you’re rooting against The Empress and the rest of us. You’re part of the rot in your own kingdom.

If you’re someone who does Empress-related work, this is your new practice: she is calling you to serve as guardian and minister of the interior. Whatever inspiration you manage to muster, your role is to imbue others with it, and resist whatever negativity you may encounter as you do so.

Are your friends and family registered to vote? Are they sure? Do your representatives in Congress have a plan in place for when Trump refuses to concede? What communities near you could use a leg up in terms of outreach? Ask questions. Get creative. Be a constructive part of the pressure. 

What you manage to accomplish on your own may seem meager, but pouring energy into these concerns will remind others why this fight still matters, and it will encourage those who never forgot. We need everyone in this fight.

Our last “real” election can’t already be behind us. The Empress is counting on us to make sure of it. 

This is Part II in a series of posts about Timothy Snyder’s ON TYRANNY, which can be purchased via your local bookstore, and also here. 

[silver-soliloquy]

COMC week I don’t even know anymore but here are some Notes

XLIV

o   Edmond, do you…do you know anyone who isn’t connected to this whole revenge nonsense? Have you ever spoken to a single person without a sinister ulterior motive?  You might try it sometime, it’s fun o   That said, Edmond Knows Nothing About This Backstory is always a hilarious game o   So I think this is the first time Edmond’s used two disguises on the same person without being caught, as the Abbe Busoni and the Count?  Mysterious Stranger level-up! o   I also love that all his aliases apparently KNOW each other, half his social circle is actually just himself in different wigs o   Oh, Caderousse.  Yikes.

XLV

o   I have no comments for this chapter except WHAT LADY MACBETH NONSENSE EVEN IS THIS o   “I like ghosts” okay you goth weirdo

XLXI

o   A retreating forehead!!  Edmond, how did you not realize Danglers was evil when you first met him! o   Edmond spying on people from his window with binoculars like a stereotypical suburban housewife on the hunt for gossip is the most amazing image ever, thank you Dumas o   The whole horse theft thing is just SO PETTY. Like I know it’s part of a Scheme, but…sooooo petty. o   The politeness mind games Edmond plays with people is honestly the most enjoyable part of the book so far, why can’t we have less obscure chess mastering and more clever social maneuvering?

XLVII

o   The baroness Danglers is Terrible and kind of hilarious in her utter lack of chill o   I’m not sure which headcanon I like better—Edmond actually spending the timeskip years hanging around theatres and annoying the actors into giving him lessons, or Edmond being super obvious and overacting literally all the time but everyone assumes it’s just part of his ~eccentricity~ and never calls him on it o   He gave the horses diamond earrings.  What the hell, Edmond. o   Okay again, Edmond the shadowy figure pulling the strings of some mysterious grand plan isn’t that interesting of a character to me—Edmond the petty, passive-aggressive verbal sparer using rich people’s own societal convention and etiquette laws against them is FANTASTIC and I am totally rooting for him in those moments

XLVIII

o   Not really sure how much of this Edmond actually believes and how much he’s just saying to weird out Villefort, but what the hell anyways o   Nortier :(((((

XLIX

o   Haydee!!! o   …question, was Greece actually included in ~The East~ from a 19th century French standpoint?  I don’t think I’ve ever heard it lumped in with orientalism before, but Haydee being Greek also seems to make her Turkish and generally ~Eastern~ as far as her wardrobe and interior decor is concerned? o   Haydee definitely needs some friends, but she is awesome regardless

L

o   The Morrels are adorable and I’m really glad they’re doing well o   Watch it Edmond, you’re on the verge of making a friend o   Edmond BLUSHED oh my god let’s keep Julie around always o   Edmond’s identities are getting a little precarious here—if Maximilien ever talked to Franz about the whole Sinbad saving his family thing Franz would be only too happy to tell him that Monte Cristo goes by that name sometimes and “oh uh no there’s TWO Sinbads running around and the one who helped you is my weird English friend who just happens to look a lot like me” would be a pretty flimsy excuse o   But possibly that would require a higher level of friendship than Edmond would expect, especially since he had no reason to expect Max’s social circle to overlap with his enemies’ kids’ o   I would laugh so hard if all his castle of lies collapsed from a couple friends chatting though, oh my god o   WAIT A SECOND, didn’t Albert talk about Franz’s Arabian Nights adventures with the Count at the breakfast that Max was AT?  Come on dude, put it together, there can’t be that many people running around with that ridiculous an alias o   Also, so far Mercedes and Julie are the only two who have even looked funny at the Count so far!  A+ perceptiveness, ladies! o   Also I’m so glad that part of Edmond’s disguise routine is tight corsets o   I had to put down the book to go OOOOOOH at Morrel attributing his salvation to Edmond Dantes’s ghost, DANG Dumas I was not expecting that o   Edmond: oh well I have no idea who that is but I have to leave right now immediately for totally unrelated reasons

LI

o   At least twice this chapter I found myself thinking “wow, this is really Pyramus and Thisbe!” before remembering that that is, in fact, the title of the chapter, so well done Dumas you got me o   Also side note last time I read a thing where the heroine had an evil dad and the name Valentine was involved it belonged to the dad, so my brain keeps trying to autocorrect “Valentine” to “Valentine’s Daughter” o   Be quiet, brain, we can reread Mortal Engines later o   Valentine also really needs more friends!  Can she make friends with Haydee, please? o   @aporeticelenchus​  okay now it definitely makes sense that Edmond would have sought out Franz separately from Albert—I wonder what exactly he was hoping to find in his enemy’s future son-in-law, and if Franz met expectations? o   Marking this down as another class-as-costume moment, now for romance purposes! o   …I wonder what Franz did to make Villefort want him as a son-in-law so bad, since he doesn’t seem to like most people—maybe just being rich and titled, of course o   I’m so sad about Valentine and Nortier’s friendship already :( o   VALENTINE NEEDS A HUG o   I’m glad she at least had a good relationship with her mom?  Her mom was a good, from the little we saw of her :( o   I love how much literally all the kids hate Danglers.  He has a creepy laugh!  Thank you, Valentine

LII

o   This whole chapter is just…very extra.  There is absolutely zero subtlety happening here. o   Valentine is also definitely right to be scared of her stepmom, jeez.  Now I want to hug her even more! o   AU where Edmond’s grand vengeance is actually just raising all his enemies’ kids better than they ever could like in Maleficent o   “this domestic pest answering to the name of Edouard” man I love it when the narrators get judgey o   Once again Edmond pulls two disguises on the same person and gets away with it!  although the fact that he admits it makes me want to think he actually hired someone else to play the doctor in Italy, just to be contrary o   Edmond judging people’s parenting skills is also hilarious o   (Maleficent au!!!) o   EDMOND IS THE DREAD PIRATE ROBERTS, THE TRUTH IS REVEALED AT LAST

LIII

o   Eugenie!!! o   Albert is so rightfully terrified of her, this is amazing o   I would actually kind of love for the two of them to get convenience-married and then just ignore each other forever? o   Eugenie checking out literally every woman in the opera house is incredible, girl wouldn’t know subtlety if it bit her on the nose—but Haydee is a musician!  Eugenie should invite her over for jam sessions with her and her singer girlfriend! FRIENDSHIP! o   Please just give Haydee friends okay o   Also the slave/princess thing Haydee’s got going is making people uncomfortable and unsure how to treat her, class as costume but the other way around maybe! o   AT LEAST HAYDEE IS PAYING ATTENTION TO THE STAGE o   Haydee backstory!  Excellent!

LIV

o   “ADORABLE” o   Franz’s comments about the count in his letter to Albert—PLEASE CHILL??? o   Unless Albert is making this up as an excuse to compliment the count himself, in which case YOU chill o   Oh so Franz’s dad was a royalist!  That would explain that arranged marriage o   Albert’s really making a fuss about this marriage thing, Eugenie seems mostly indifferent?  Well, maybe it’s just because she’s a lot scarier than he is

LV-LVI

o   These are…a weird couple chapters o   It’s interesting to see the behind the scenes of Edmond’s chessmastering though! o   Also, these two are really terrible actors and I would not be surprised at all if they gave the game away o   At the very least, we should get to see Edmond judging their acting prowess which should be ENTERTAINING o   Again we have ~Andrea~ meeting Edmond in various identities without being any the wiser!  I really want to do a comparison with Fantomina tbh o   They’ve already broken character??  STANDARDS, guys

LVII

o   I’m sad that Eugenie and Valentine aren’t friends, but at least they can talk to each other? o   I do get the feeling that Eugenie wouldn’t have a ton of patience for Valentine’s woe-is-me spiel though, so okay o   …did Nortier murder Franz’s dad, because I would scream o   Honestly, all the next gen boys are so hearteyes about Edmond it’s hilarious o   Sweet of Edmond to get Max that horse he wanted, though!  And…he actually exercised subtlety for once in his life instead of just sending it to Max’s place with diamond earrings??  INCREDIBLE

[lookingglasstheatre]

1. What are you listening to right now? “Kill V. Maim” by Grimes

2. What song makes you sad? I have a whole playlist called “I Used to Know You, But Now We’re Strangers” composed entirely of songs that remind me of exes or old friends I’m not longer in contact with..

“Gimme Danger” by The Stooges is a big one, along with “Everlong” by The Foo Fighters, which both remind me of very specific relationships. But, my pick for this is “Farther” by Third Eye Blind.. it could apply to a lot of different people..

“And I think about you dying years from now never having known who you are […] All I think about is waiting and all the people we are fading into Farther from you every day..” - “Farther” Third Eye Blind

3. What is the most annoying song in the world? Songs aren’t usually annoying to me unless they’re overplayed. I don’t know, no song is annoying me at the moment. Maybe that song “We Are Young” by fun. I’m not even sure it’s annoying, I just hate it.

4. Your all time favorite band? The Birthday Massacre, probably. That would be the most unique pick. Or Elliott Smith, if that counts.

5. Your newly discovered band is? The Regrettes. It’s amazing to me that Lydia Night is like 16 years old. I hope those kids keep killing it. Good luck to them.

6. Best female voice? Hope Sandoval of Mazzy Star has an amazing voice. I wish I sounded even a little bit like her.

7. Best male voice? So, I don’t think he’s the best.. but holy shit, Ville Valo from HIM has a sexy voice. It’s so sexy as to almost make you forget how cheesy HIM lyrics are. Almost.

8. Music type you find yourself listening to most? Pop music, probably.. and shitty punk rock, lol.

9. What do you listen to, to hype you up? Depends on what I’m getting hyped up for. “Bubblegum Bitch” by Marina and The Diamonds for going out and looking pretty. All of Enema of the Sate by Blink-182 for energy in the morning. Kanye for working out. Aesthetic Perfection when I’m about to hit up a goth club, hah.

10. What do you listen to when you want to calm down? Belle and Sebastian, Slowdive, Radiohead, Lana Del Rey

11. Last gig/concert you went to? My friend’s band, Sleepsnack.

12. Band you find yourself listening to the most right now? My taste shifts once the weather gets warm so; Blink-182, Fountains of Wayne, Sufer Blood, Wavves, Third Eye Blind, My Chem’s Danger Days record.

13. Most hated band? I don’t listen to music I hate unless it’s inflicted upon me by other people against my will. So I’m not good with naming bands I don’t like. As far as bands I hate for personal or political reasons.. I hate ANY band that harasses or condones the harassment of women or minorities.

14. Song that makes you think? “Romeo’s Distress” by Christian Death. It’s such a great fucking track, but I want to believe that it’s anti-white supremacist, instead of the other way around… I have read the lyrics over and over trying to figure out if Roz Williams was actually just racist. I want to believe it was written mostly for the shock value and ultimately a song just telling a story and issuing a kind of warning.. but who knows for sure.. [sigh]

15. Band that you think the world should love as much as you do? I’m always kind of surprised more people I meet aren’t more familiar with Sneaker Pimps or IAMX’s early records. Chris Corner is kind of a hero of mine.

16. Coolest music video? Marilyn Manson’s “The Beautiful People” and the video for Death Cab for Cutie’s “Title and Registration.” “All I Full of Love” by Bjork. There are probably a bunch more I’m forgetting. All Grimes music videos.

17. Music video with the most watch? This question is phrased weirdly. But if you’re asking what music video I’ve watched the most… Malice Mizer’s “Illuminati.” Definitely. LOL. Along with Velvet Eden’s “SAD MASK.” Oh god, KALM flailing around in awful CG fire is what I LIVE for.

18. What do you play/would you play in the bedroom to spice things up? Souvlaki by Slowdive. With candles lit, after smoking together.

19. Ever been in a mosh pit? No. I would die. Look at the fucking size of me. I am a delicate doll.

20. Are you in a band? Nope. Someone start an all-girl Ramones and/or Blink-182 cover band with me.

21. Ever dated a musician? “Dated” would be kind of a strong word for it, but I had an ongoing casual thing with a guitarist in a band.

22. Do you wish yourself that you were a musician? Yes, but only because I wish I were any good at playing one of the myriad of instruments I’ve tried to learn. I wouldn’t want to be famous though.

23. Best all chick band you know of? Sleater-Kinney.

24. Last song that you heard on the radio/cd…etc…? I haven’t listened to the radio in a long, long time. I haven’t bought a CD in many years. If you’re counting any kind of physical media, I’m spinning an LP on my turntable right now; it’s Blink-182’s Enema of The State and “Anthem” just finished playing.

32. What do you think of Classical music? Eh, I can understand why some people find it boring. My mother was a classical pianist and I grew up listening to a lot of classical music. I just developed a taste for it after many years, I guess.

33. What do you think of Country music? It reminds me of growing up in Texas. There will always be at least one or two country songs I like - a lot of which reminds me of middle school dances and crying in the bathroom alone because my crush didn’t like me back. And everyone likes at least one Johnny Cash song.

34. What do you think of metal? I like it. I can only take so much screaming, to be honest.. but some bands I really love can be classified as metal.

35. Last BIG band that you saw live? Blink-182.

36. Are you a groupie? Nope.

37. Do you listen to music in foreign languages? I used to listen to a LOT of J-Rock. I also listen to music in Korean, German, Romanian, and French.

38. What famous musician would you like to “spend the night with”!?

Woman; Lauren Mayberry of Chvrches. She’s a great front woman and so, so cute.

Man; I’d say Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance, but I feel weird about it because he’s also married to another super-crush of mine; Lindsey from Mindless Self Indulgence… so maybe Elliott Smith when he was still alive. I get a strong impression that he respected women.

39. Worst concert moment? Any time someone drunkenly falls all over me and/or hits me. It always seems to happen. Also when I saw Kaya live with my sister there was a guy trying to hit on her the entire time and I felt really bad that I didn’t exactly notice until we were out of the show.

40. Funny concert moment? When I went to see Marina and The Diamonds there was a guy next to me with his boyfriend and right in front of us was a woman with her teenage son. At some point they lit up a joint and offered some to the mom (who honestly looked kind of square) and she and them got high together. It was pretty amusing watching them chill together.

41. Sad concert moment? I went to see IAMX with a boyfriend, who I loved very much, but he didn’t really know the band. A few rows back, my ex (who I had just recently broken up with) was there with a coworker. I was sad we’d gotten to a point where we couldn’t go together or hang out anymore because we have really similar taste in music and that concert was amazing and I was sad not to be able to hang out with him during it.

42. Best local act you can think of? King Woman is originally from this area, I think.

43. If you were a musical instrument what would you be? Vocalist. I suck at everything else. In a perfect world I’d be the guitarist or keys.

44. Do you listen to the radio? Honestly, no, and I haven’t since grade school, really.

45. Do you watch music TV? I don’t have cable.

46. Do you follow the music charts, like the top 40? I did in grade school, but I haven’t really paid attention to music charts since then.

47. Have you meet any famous musicians? Met Kaya at an autograph session at Anime USA. It was at the peak of my Kaya obsession. He told me I was pretty. It was awesome.

48. Are any of your friends/family/etc. musicians? My mom was a piano teacher. My dad is basically tone deaf, haha.

49. Song that best describes your feelings right now? “I Really Like You” by Carly Rae Jepson.

50. Song that describes your life? The ENTIRE record Froot by Marina And the Diamonds. ESPECIALLY “I’m a Ruin” “Blue” and “Forget” and “Weeds”.. and “Immortal” Yeah, I can’t pick just one song… The whole record. Just listen to the whole thing and you’ll understand me, haha. Which I realize, does not paint me in a very flattering light.. but it’s accurate.

“Gimme love, gimme dreams, gimme a good self esteem” -Blue

“Cause I have lived my life in debt I’ve spent my days in deep regret Yeah, I’ve been living in the red But I wanna forgive and forget” -Forget

“I miss all of my exes They’re the only ones that know me And God knows that sex is A way to feel a bit, a little bit less lonely Yeah, I tried to keep it covered up Yeah, I thought I cut him at the root But now I think my time is up Cause he keeps growing back Like weeds” - Weeds

51. Do you know the names of all the band members that you listen to? Not even remotely. There are some exceptions, but for the most part, no.

52. Does a musician’s physical attractiveness play a part? A part in what? I think it plays a role in how popular they become. As far as it playing a role in how much I like them, I appreciate bands with a strong aesthetic, but it’s hardly necessary. Some of my favorite bands I wouldn’t even be able to recognize if I saw a photo of.

53. What famous musician do you want to marry? I don’t think someone’s musical output is a good way to gauge their marriageability..

54. Favourite movie soundtrack? The Scott Pilgrim vs The World OST.

55. Any musician pet hates? Any time musicians are arrogant enough to insult other musician’s work just for their own credibility. Like, you’re not cool for hating pop music, my dude. >_>

56. What do your parents listen to? My mother listens to mostly classical music, my dad likes James Taylor and Joni Mitchell

57. What are you listening to right NOW? Private Affair by The Virgins. I fucking love this song.

58. Do you wear band etc T-shirts? I hate wearing band t-shirts with a fiery passion of a thousand suns with VERY rare exceptions.

59. What do you think of people who do? I’m usually pretty.. not into those people. Like, hate is a strong word… but I’m really into fashion. Band t-shirts are like a really lazy way of expressing yourself to me. And they’re almost always printed on really boxy, non-soft material. Everyone wants to fight me on this.. I just don’t care for them.

60. What music sub-culture do you feel like you belong to? None? I always dressed too goth to really feel like I belong in the punk scene even though that was primarily what I was listening to in high school. I guess goth, but I don’t get along with or have much in common with most of the generic goths I know and I listen to too much pop for them. Is the indie-synthpop scene a thing..?

61. What song is stuck in your head right now? The theme song to Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

62. Do you sing in the shower? When I was a kid I would drag my giant boom box in the the bathroom with me and listen to it while taking a bath; mostly audiobooks, but sometimes music. I usually didn’t sing along though.

63. If so, what? If not, why not? Not sure? I sing in the car a lot. If music is on and I know the words and I’m alone, I’m singing.

66. How important is your partners taste in music to you? I’m really open about music, so whatever they are into I’ll probably get into as well. If we already share a taste in music we can discover more together, which is really fun. As long as they don’t HATE my music, it’s fine.

67. Hanson moves in next door to you, do you go introduce yourself, or do you arrange to beat them up? I’d probably just update my facebook status like, “Hanson lives next door to me. So, there’s that.” And invite them to my next barbecue.

68. Sex, drugs, and rock ‘n roll, you dig? Yes, sometimes, and yes.

69. Do you cook to music? Sometimes, I no longer have speakers right next to the kitchen.

70. Do you sing in the toilet? Nah.

[sinceileftyoublog]

Rina Sawayama Album Review: Sawayama

(Dirty Hit)

BY JORDAN MAINZER

When it was first released late last year, “STFU!” felt like a one-off stylistic shift for Rina Sawayama. The person behind whip-smart pop songs like ��Where U Are”, “Cyber Stockholm Syndrome”, and “Cherry” had released a blistering, nu metal-inspired kiss off to the microaggressive haters. “I’ve been done and been through more friends / Than I can count on my fingertips,” she sang, looking back with no remorse or regret. But in the context of Sawayama, her maximal debut studio album, both the aesthetic and the theme prove to be part of something greater. Centered around her family and her identity--as a person of Japanese and British descent, as a queer person, and as a culture-consuming-20-something--Sawayama is a remarkably and consistently personal, yet universal affair. 

“I’m a dynasty / The pain in my vein is hereditary,” Sawayama belts on huge opener “Dynasty”, an Evanescence-inspired dramatic goth pop song that purportedly almost used over 250 tracks in Logic. The words “dynasty” and “hereditary”--and their follow-up question, “Won’t you break the chain with me?”--essentially get at everything she’s referring to on the album. Western colonialism and imperialism, inherited genetic and behavioral traits (namely depression and anxiety), Sawayama wants to get away from it all. But she doesn’t hold herself on a pedestal: “And if I fail, then I am my dynasty,” she declares. She then spends the rest of the album not necessarily separating herself from others, but trying to be the best version of herself she can be, by using the styles and modes of thought which with she’s familiar, even if she’s never used them before.

“XS”, for instance, a track about how capitalist excess has ruined the world, effectively inhabits over-the-top production, buzzsaw guitars alternating with click-clack pop beats and gentle strumming. Importantly, Sawayama doesn’t consider herself innocent: “Oh me, oh my, where did it go awry?” she wonders, “When all this time, heaven was in our eyes.” I think it’s the way a lot of us feel right now during quarantine realizing we’ve taken outside spaces for granted. On a similar note, on “Fuck This World (Interlude)”, she cuts through the bullshit, admitting her nonplussed attitude towards climate change: “Let’s start a new life on Mars / Forget it, let’s get fucked up.” But there’s plenty of empowerment on Sawayama, too. Standout “Comme des Garçons (Like the Boys)” sounds like an early 2000′s club banger that chides masculinity as a measure of success. “Elevate your vision when you put me on the cover,” she advises to the fashion magazine world. And “Love Me 4 Me” is a finger-snapped, hand-clapped, Ru Paul’s Drag Race-referencing New Jack Swing ode to, well, loving herself. 

On the surface, the samples and cultural references--closer “Snakeskin” interpolates both Beethoven and the Final Fantasy victory song, plus dubstep--might seem random, or perhaps disparate. But when Sawayama succeeds, they truly come full circle. The best example of this is “Bad Friend”, inspired by a time Sawayama saw that a friend with whom she had lost touch had given birth. She goes on to recall a night they spent together, during which they and a group of others danced naked, in the same karaoke room that appeared in Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation, to Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe”, whose producer, in a wild turn of events, ended up producing “Bad Friend”. 

The connection goes deeper than coincidence, though, as Coppola’s film has been accused of Orientalism, which Sawayama outwardly grapples with throughout the record but combats using the same pure honesty she gathers to tell her stories. On “Tokyo Love Hotel”, she doesn’t want to be like the Westerners who treat the city like a Friend With Benefits, but eventually decides that the culture is part of her: “Your fascination’s my world,” she sings. On “Akasaka Sad”, Sawayama admits that when she visits Tokyo, she stays at a hotel instead of with family, avoiding the familial depression and strife that’s plagued her all her life. Plus, you can’t help but root for her rebellious spirit on “Paradisin’”, where her mom discovered she was a groupie (her words) for a band at age 15 and threatened “to send me to boarding school for the seventh time.” “I know we can’t afford that, so I’m fine,” she hilariously sings. That Sawayama’s allergy to bullshit for both others and herself gives her all the more logos. Perhaps the ultimate, and most straightforward outcome, though, is that on an album detailing Sawayama’s struggles with identity, she achieves an artistic one rooted in genuine expression and conscientiousness.