#i might show my different pov styles in another post actually bc i think it's SO MUCH FUN!! and funny to see

[knbposting]

im writing a vorpal swords era fic and i was going to keep it all aomine pov but then i changed my mind as a fun idea entered my mind and switched to kagz for this chapter. i just thought it would be cool to post the old aomine version of a paragraph starter:

versus the kagami rewrite:

and to talk about the differences in how i approach their pov?

here are my bulletpoint lists of things i like to pay special attention to in order to hopefully create distinctive internal voices (accessed via very close third person) for these two very similar stupid idiots

aomine:

analytical, much more aware of how other people are feeling and what they're likely to be thinking about

he is often wrong about others' feelings, but he isn't aware of it so it rarely comes up

especially obvious in APRIL SHOWERS., his perception of how kagami feels is pretty clear and understanding compared to kagami who genuinely doesnt understand what the fuck is going on (hence why he's so defensive)

he pays attention to the environment he's in and notices details about it (when he breathes out a cloud of mist in cold weather, the glow of street lights in the dark, the warm lighting of shops while he's outside in the rain, etc)

i think it comes as something of a surprise, but i write aomine to catastrophise considerably less. he jumps to conclusions, but he doesn't immediately assume the worst

he bitches about people SO MUCH in his head (constantly calling kagami a stupid idiot (affectionate), bitches about how satsuki thinks she's his secondary mother, complains about the weather as well, just bitches generally)

his vocabulary choices (still in close third person) are simple, but slightly more varied

he notices boobies

generally much more aware of how physically attractive he finds kagami

very prone to dismissive internal language after someone has said something he doesn't agree with

example: [kagami is apologising for having slipped and hurt aomine, and is speaking here:] "Like I did that on purpose!" Who said you did, stupid?! "Is your arm okay?"

example 2: "What?!" Kagami's surprise, as usual, descends quickly into anger. Daiki stands there waiting for it to happen. "What the Hell?!"

aomine's pov utilises all of his nicknames for people in his life, like tetsu, satsuki, mom, dad, et cetera. as in: satsuki said, tetsu said, etc.

aomine likes to stand back and assess things before leaping in

he's very confident in his fighting ability and this confidence does seep into his pov, because he rarely approaches situations without knowing that he can always dig himself out 

kagami:

kagami's vocabulary is extremely casual and often uses contractions

kagami's pov cusses a LOT more

very reactive. while aomine pov does have some use of "Ahh, this guy!" it's kagami pov where they're much more heavily used

he also has so many uses of WHAT?! in his internal monologue/pov. he consciously forces himself to slow down and think things through, but that's usually after he's just said something really loudly

kagami catastrophises ALL THE TIME

the fact that kagami refuses to address his abandonment issues and the pain that his personal life has inflicted upon him, means that all of that is quite close to the surface. it's linked with catastrophising, but as soon as something happens, he does tend to assume the worst

the only times that he pays any attention to his environment is when it's related to basketball, or his little romance with aomine. he feels that his senses are sharper in those moments

kagami thinks of himself more distinctively as TAIGA rather than kagami, because, please :) Mr Kagami is my father's name :) i'm kidding but when i started writing aomine pov, i was still using aomine's surname as the character name. i changed that fairly late in if i remember correctly

his pov is much more focused on feeling, usually centered around how HE is feeling because he can't read minds!!!

he is NOT a good judge of how other people are feeling, but he tries anyway

kagami has a really tough time reading aomine and how he feels, as is most evident in kagami's pov of APRIL SHOWERS. where he has no idea what daiki could POSSIBLY be thinking! also in THE LONG WAY HOME., kagami cannot see how much aomine genuinely cares for him in this. tragic

kagami doesn't spend a whole lot of time thinking about physical attraction, but it is mentioned occasionally

his respect for people is more evident in his pov versus aomine's respect for others in his, because kagami is constantly conscious of translation issues and not coming across formally enough

there are way more ellipses used in kagami pov because boy does this bitch ponder and then lose the plot, get distracted, and move onto something else

he's very easily distracted in general actually

[mcl38]

hi!! so even before i get into specifics, there's a couple narratives that show that landos tyre management is actually kind of at the core of his driving. one of them is the difference to oscar in race pace that ppl blamed on oscar being a rookie but that doesn't seem to be changing any time soon. another one is the public grumbling abt team orders w oscar and daniel, which often happens bc lando's gone longer in the first stint and is coming back through the field on fresher tyres. and then obviously in the same vein is the nickname last lap lando, where he'd do super long first stints and preserve his tyres in the second stint enough for his pace to be ridiculous compared to anyone else in the last couple laps of a bunch of races.

this is from mclaren's retrospective they did after miami and it's pretty clear that an insider's pov puts his tyre management at the forefront, literally the second thing they mention abt his driving style

and now lets get to the races<3

some stats from japan from my mutual over on twt shoutout ani <3

imola 2021, when lando was on a set of softs for 28 laps and still finished ahead of leclerc and matching his laptimes by the end of the stint (see fig. 6)

the race's analysis of paul ricard 2021, pointing out that he was barely losing time despite being on old tyres

miami gp pace comparison (thank u jolyon!!) showing that lando was faster than max on every lap after perez pits, including the laps where max has new hard tyres and lando is going on old mediums

lando's mclaren post-race report from styria 2020 - the race that solidified his reputation as last lap lando. his stint on the C4s was actually joint tied for longest first stint that race with antonio giovinazzi who had started on the C3s - thats how lando was actually that fast in the last stint

and as a bonus id also argue being able to warm up the cold hard tyres in silverstone 2023 and hold off hamilton on new softs is an example of lando's tyre intuition

these r just the examples i could personally think of and i forget a lot of things, but yeah lando's big driver strengths are tyre management and race pace, especially in clean air. thats his Thing. (well, and changing conditions too, but thats irrelevant to what we're talking abt). anyways to the anon who believes blorbo is 'incredibly uneducated' about the sport i recommend u watch the races once in a while? it might actually help<3

no wonder why you're getting flamed on f1twt, your opinions are so incredibly uneducated. as soon as you said lando was a tire whisperer I knew your opinions were completely wack and for someone who seems to have been into f1 for longer than 1 year or so, you're so incredibly uneducated on how anything in this sport works.

WRONG!

@mcl38 pull the receipts

[t100ficrecsblog]

an interview with @ravenreyes-0g (she/hers)

what are you working on right now? I'm working on both my Bellarke fic for BLM and a personal fantasy story that I've written and rewritten from the beginning to about 5000000 times because my ideas keep changing. My Bellarke fic is a modern day COVID AU that is also the longest I've ever done so it's been taking a minute to finish! :) 

what’s something you’d like to write one day? A YA either historical fiction or realistic fiction LGBTQ+ romance. I have  a ton of ideas for plots, but I haven’t quite gotten the chance to sit down and try to plot them out. For historical fiction, I’m very interested in the 1900-1950s era, especially the Roaring 20s and WWI/II so I’d most likely set it there! I’m all in for the angsty romance, but I'd definitely want to end it on a happy note (unlike my current fantasy work) and I’m really looking forward to getting the chance to write a character driven story that doesn’t focus so much on heavy plot elements - something I can’t do as much in a fantasy setting!

what is the fanwork you’re most proud of? This one is actually pretty hard considering how my writing style has developed since I started writing fanfics. But if I had to choose, I’d probably say my FirstPrince (Alex/Henry from Red, White, and Royal Blue) fic on Ao3 called To Love Another Is to Cherish Life Itself. The title is a bit dramatic but basically it is an angsty/fluffy one-shot that I wrote really late one night and did minimal edits to before posting. It definitely feels like the most in character and honest fic I’ve ever done, and it broke my heart to write about some of the darker stuff, but in the end I’m pretty proud of it! 

why did you first start writing fic? Well, I’ve been writing fanfics since I was probably 10 or 11 years old (I had PJO phase that spanned close to a decade and I’m still not totally over it 😂) but I started publishing work on Wattpad literally the night I turned 13. That was actually my first Bellarke/the 100 fic! It started out as my predictions for season 5 and then evolved into a fix-it fic for everything I didn’t like about the season. I’ve abandoned it for almost two years, but I’m slowly coming back to it so...slow updates y’all :)

what frustrates you most about fic writing? Everything! Just kidding - I love fic writing! But if I had to choose, probably two main things tho. 1) Creating a plot for a long term fic - I’m sooooo bad at it because I always feel like I’m writing too much in line with the actual show/book/movie and it feels like copying. 2) Making sure that I stay honest to the character I’m writing about. I have a huge tendency to write my fics (ESPECIALLY my one-shots) from the POV of the character who was not the main character in the original thing (like my POV for my RWRB fic is Henry, the love interest of Alex/other main character). This means that the only look inside their head that we’ve gotten has been through the eyes of the main character - which can obviously be biased. I try to stay as honest as I can to my interpretation of the character drawn directly from the text - but sometimes that means that I can’t include scenes that I want to because it feels off/out of character and that’s always disappointing. (also dialogue is just...something I really need to work on)

what are your top five songs right now? Ahhh see it changes on my day/mood but right now it’s probably

1. The Last Great American Dynasty - Taylor Swift 2. The Garden - Dua Lipa 3. Mirrorball - Taylor Swift 4. Icarus - Emma Blackery 5. Betty - Taylor Swift 

(taylor really blessed us with folklore...I’m in love)

what are your inspirations? Ahhh - there are many. First and foremost, The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak. It’s my favorite book for so many reasons, but it teaches me so much about writing and character development. Also Liesel and Rudy melt my heart every time. I also love all the songs listed above for inspiration, and I listen to I Get To Love You by Ruelle (it’s the Malec wedding song for any Shadowhuners fans out there!) whenever I write a really emotionally intense romantic scene. If you’re looking for amazing fic recs, I highly recommend all of HMS-Chill’s works (multi fandoms), clarkesbell, and DracoWillHearAboutThis on Ao3. Though not all of them write Bellarke/the 100, if you are in any of their fic fandoms, I highly recommend checking them out because they are fantastic writers!

what first attracted you to Bellarke? what attracts you now? Honestly? #1 - their development. I love enemies to lovers with my whole heart, but I honestly didn’t see Bellarke as romantic until the 2x05 hug where I was just hit with a wave of OMG THEY BELONG TOGETHER!!! Seriously, though, the fact that they go from enemies, to grudging allies, to co-leaders, to partners, to friends, to best friends, to soulmates just makes my heart go !!!! - Also they have insane chemistry, and that certainly doesn’t hurt. What attracts me to them now is much the same, but also how much they care about each other. They’d go to the ends of the earth to save one another, and it just blows me away how powerful their screen time is, even when their scenes together have become so rare. I also don’t thinkI’m ever getting over 6x10. I swear my heart actually stopped beating when I watched it live the first time. 

BESIDES Bellarke, what character or pairing do you like best on t100? Ha! Umm, I actually really like Murven, both platonically and romantically. Their journey might not be as well developed as Bellarke’s but it is still a powerful one hinging on love and forgiveness. I love how Lindsey/Richard play off of each other on screen - it’s such a joy to watch! I’ve also loved the Octavia/Indra dynamic, but it’s kinda been tabled in recent seasons which is sad :(

why did you decide to start writing for bellarkefic-for-blm? Two reasons - 1) I wanted to do everything I could for BLM and it was so amazing that I could do that, and write works for my favorite show! 2) I was super curious about the prompts people would send in. My work right now is a modern day AU COVID fic where Bellamy and Clarke have to share a room together in an overcrowded hospital until one day Clarke disappears. It’s so different than what I usually write - bc I almost always write canon compliant/in universe fics - so it’s a nice challenge!

what’s your writing process like? Honestly it depends. For long/multi-chapter fics I try to plan out as much of it as I can, characters, plot, important moments, etc - even though I am not very good at planning. But for one-shots I tend to go off of emotion or feelings. Usually when I write one-shots, it’s because a particular line or moment in a book/movie/show really spoke out to me, and spurred this idea in my head. I always start with the line I want to get to at the heart of the fic and then write around it from there. I am definitely much more of a panster than a planner- which is why one-shots work much better for me!

what are some things you’d like to recommend? 1. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Also, All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven, The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee, Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo, Red White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuinston, The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz. 2. Musicals! They can be amazing inspiration - my favorites are Les Mis, Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, Six, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Hadestown, Anastasia, Island Song, Newsies, & Tuck Everlasting! 3. TV Shows besides The 100 - Anne with an E, Shadowhunters (just pretend you haven’t read the books), French SKAM, Love Victor, HSMTMTS, Merlin, Lucifer, I think I’m just listing fandoms at this point 😂

Also, almost any Taylor Swift, Troye Sivan, Conan Gray, Dua Lipa, Emma Blackery or Harry Styles songs are amazing!

My handle is the same for everything - Twitter, Tumblr, Ao3, Wattpad (if anyone still uses that anymore), etc (RavenReyes0G). I also run a book review blog on Instagram which is @betweenthepagesandtea, so feel free to check that out too! Request a fic written by her via @bellarkefic-for-blm!

[iron-parkr]

for the Fun Meta asks!! - #1 and 16 ^_^

1. Tell us about your current project(s)  – what’s it about, how’s progress, what do you love most about it?

Oh gosh, I feel like I always have seven different projects going on at once XD I’m always working on the first drafts of The Spaces Between and that’s coming along really well. The main goal for that is just to get my ideas onto paper and go from there, but I really love actually seeing Maggie’s story come to life and start to take shape, even if it’ll end up changing a lot along the way. I need to go back and pick up with the 3rd draft of Chapter 4 so I can get that posted sometime soon, it’s just a matter of time and exhaustion from work.

I’ve also been working on my Harry Potter fic recently, which is a nice change, since I don’t focus on it much. It’s a retelling of the books from the POV of a female version of Harry. I’ve done a kind of vague outline, just to get an idea of what’s going to happen, for all of Book 1 and I started on Book 2, but I kinda got distracted by other fics, as usual. My goal is to at least finish the vague outline for Book 2 by the end of the summer (and maybe Book 3 if I’m lucky and I can focus)

Along with my HP fic, I actually just started looking at my Percy Jackson fic today for the first time in like a year. We’re listening to the audio book at work and of course I got inspired to work on it haha. This one is also a retelling of the books from the perspective of a female version of Percy. I should probably do the same vague outline process that I did for HP, but I might just write out as much as I can in first drafts of each chapter and figure it out from there. But that’s been fun to get back into!

I’ve got two other OCs I’ve been slowly developing and working on that I haven’t introduced yet on here. One is another Marvel OC (because I can never have enough lol) and the other is a Supernatural OC. The Marvel one is difficult for me to work on if only because I just don’t have the time to watch the movies and plan for her when I get home from work bc I’m always exhausted. The SPN one is easier, but more difficult from a plot standpoint. That one is pretty out there, but I’m really excited for it when I finally get around to actually writing it!

And of course all my other OCs are always in the back of my mind, it just depends on what I’m hyperfixating on at the moment. My Arrowverse OCs (Mallory and Mimi) are on hold for the time being because I want to watch all of Arrow and The Flash and the rest of those shows in their entirety before I start worrying about where my girls are gonna fit. I was working on my Gilmore Girls OC a few weeks back but you know muses, they have a mind of their own lmao. My goal one day is to fully and completely write every single OC I create. It’s a very slow process, but I’m hopeful!

16. Tried anything new with your writing lately? (style, POV, genre, fandom?)

I try to mix things up for all fics to keep them fresh and different from each other, whether that’s writing in 3rd person or 1st person or writing more in a more posh voice or w/e. I’d like to work more with 1st person in the future because I think it’s super fun and I don’t feel as much pressure for it to be completely perfect, in a way. I have two stories in 1st person so far, but I’m hoping to do more eventually. Other than that, just trying to work on some of the fandoms I haven’t touched in a while, like Percy Jackson, Gilmore Girls, Harry Potter, stuff like that

Thank you for asking!!

fun meta asks for writers

[boglog]

HoC Onion !

[TW mention of sexual abuse/violence]

I’m foregoing the pros/cons format here but generally-speaking my negative points are still gathered at the top w the highlights near the end.

Obviously, between letting a sex offender have a platform in mass media and potholes, I’d choose the latter. My below crits absolutely are not a demand for Spacey to be brought back and he can die in a fire for all i care. I just wish his character’s absence was not the nº1 reason for this season not making any sense

as far as i can gather, this season’s primary arc is as much about Frank’s death (in lieu of Doug’s) as it is Claire’s emotional and political divorce from Frank while she undergoes your traditional postbreakup analysis of who she was pre Frank and post Frank and were Frank actually there this idea might have legs

...but instead we have Doug ://

the level of intensity that the plot demands cannot be carried by forcing Doug into being a deeper character than he was intended, all the way until the end, he truly just reads as either a pitiful sadist or a henchman. It’s disharmonious and dangerously close to bad. 

Frances Underwood makes more sense if Frank dies in episode 8!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She’s literally going to be his reincarnation!!!!!!!

literally...who cares if Doug gets stabbed by Frank’s letter opener? whomst?

Doug can’t be Frank’s proxy, but sans a certain pedoph*le, the plot will just have to suffer. 

Other side effects of Doug’s undeserved promotion include but are not limited to: 

forcing Doug to share the role of antagonist with the Shepards, yet another New Villain © that feels totally unnecessary and confusing (the Conways at least got two seasons)

Frank’s diary feels forced and out of character for someone decidedly so unsentimental  

How does Claire have a bun in the oven when she clearly didnt sleep with Frank for all of season 5 and locked herself in her room while he was being assassinated? How is a Dramatic paternity test not going to be insisted upon in the show’s universe?

fixation on Frank’s will as a McGuffin is really... I don't know boring considering no one cares for the guy? What property of his does claire stand to lose? I’m sure the rich people fandom can speculate but i honestly needed this manifested in the show via some examples instead of the grand abstraction that is The Will bc losing Frank’s assets would set Claire back but it would not directly threaten her presidency. Not to mention that i’m not entirely sure Frank’d have Doug of all people as his sole heir if it didn't serve as revenge against Claire, which just lowers Doug’s importantance even more

Frank never cared for Doug, a largely unlikeable character, which we already knew from the beginning, so Doug’s entire arc is pathetic at best as well as his tangential inclusion in the Cliare v Frank arc

My major problems with Doug’s character began as early as season 4. 

Did not understand why they didn't actually have Doug switch sides by joining the Dunbar campaign in earnest in season 4. Like... it’s such an obvious opportunity to Thicken The Plot © that it’s reached this gif levels of dropping the ball:

P much everything about Doug’s character since then is just so.... lacking, while for the last few seasons they give him depth when he magically has empathy for one (1) woman before she dies (possibly as a direct result of his actions). This entire plot about him evaluating why he was so loyal to Frank could've been unpacked whilst he avoids Dunbar finding out about the murders he did commit. I’d rather him having agency than be a flat, troubled underling.

Aright I'm going to stop complaining about Doug. In season 3 and 4, his insecurity over being replaced and his sacrifices for Frank (and subsequent guilt) came close to giving us a real Moment with him as we delve more into how colourless his life outside of work really is. But beyond that, when his character started getting repetitive, there’s very little to compensate for his alternating acts of extreme narcissism/violence versus his childish confusion / self pity when he doesn’t get what he wants.

Anyways I'm basically at a point where I’d be okay if Frank’s long-lost cousin replaced Doug replacing Frank 

I’m appreciating the writers’ distinct refrain from plot formats and that the seasons progressively move towards the Underwoods but what if just for circularity and added balance we return to having a full-on reporter B plot in s6? More emphasis on Janine and Tom’s sleuthing, culminating in Tom’s assassination and Janine publishing the tell-all expose against Frank---including a reference to Zoe---that becomes the magnum opus of her career (and Claire using that against Frank). I just think the season needed more balance that Doug, the Shepards and Tom were not offering 

The Shepards and Tom, meanwhile, are decidedly banal. First of all, I had a hard time even telling Bill and Tom apart esp given that they were introduced one after the other. All white guys are the same.

Bill just kind of sits around until he has a platform to reference his favourite action movies doesn't he?

Moreover what does Tom do!? he doesn't want power, he doesnt seem to want anything. He’s just kind of there?

Unlike the Conways, the Shepards don’t have a clear goal and are not often in direct conflict with Claire the way Frank and Conway were. They want to control the presidency for money and Claire is always bouncing back from reliving her girlhood to political rivalry w Anette, yes, but what does that mean? What are the consequences? The logistics are so indirect and complicated, what precisely does Anette want? And why does anyone care? The Shepards are extremely boring.

Frank’s asides were purple and long af so I appreciate Claire’s succinct style not to mention her fantastic screen presence. I’m left to wonder, though, if maybe hers and every other aside in HoC is a little too on the nose. Like, they didn't hafta spell it out that the bird in the wall was a representation of Frank’s shadow trapping her, I think we got that 

The artistic intercuts to Claire’s troubled childhood wherein a group of bullies coerce her into stripping naked through the forest, while visually stunning and clever for its self-explanatory nature, feel really passive. They don't visually show us any reason for her not to resist, the bullies even let her keep her clothes after cutting them off her so we’re left to wonder why she does nothing....

Claire was raised to be ~proper~ so her resistance (likely) comes in the form of biting, passive-aggressive poise which is hard to get across in a silent montage but it just feels.. weird

Frances Underwood is going to have a very sad childhood

nearly all the Claire flashbacks are cinematic masterpieces and as much i think Claire’s backstory deserves more attention, i also appreciate the minimalism and the choice humanising moments of her adolescence 

listen I'm sure we all agree Robin Wright is peak acting but the actor for young Claire, who has the arguably harder task of copying Wright is fantastic 

Of all the characters who crop up every season seemingly out of nowhere only to disappear once more once when the plot the Underwoods are done with them, Jane is one of my favourites and possibly one of the greyest characters alive. Smart, mysterious, worldly, a bit of a hippie despite her job, severe despite her sense of humour. Really loves her extremely pedestrian surname. We stan.

Secondary characters rarely get anything close to a backstory on this show, esp ones that were introduced so late. Still, her motivations seem more complicated then others (i.e. betraying Cathy, one of two people she cares about) and I wonder if they deserve a bit more of an explanation. Especially seeing as she has a relationship with every major character.

If anyone deserves a spin-off it might be Jane and her name-dropping career/social life

Cathy faking her own death with a terrible french accent? On stan !!!

Seth teasing Doug even while he’s completely undervalued by everyone around him is a power move

Impressed that they managed three characters named Tom, their distinctly different appearances and the fact that they're almost never in the same POV shots works to separate them.

Claire using the word “female” even facetiously is cringe

Whenever they use the cinema room, the movie they watch is always symbolic. Before the 2017 election, Frank and Claire imitate the characters in Double Indemnity, and this season a pregnant claire watches Rosemary’s Baby. Clever.

i liked the whitehouse tour guide’s inclusion and the cameo from _____ though this season was especially white without their usual token secondary character

So overall i liked season 6 as an exploration of Claire’s character even while it did v little justice to most of the other characters and unfortunately spacey’s absence did affect the storyline

and finally: that cinnamontography !

Not that the series should be pushed past its prime, but wouldn’t it be interesting to see Claire as a mother?

[lenfazreads]

My Manaconda brings all the fans to the yard

So, as you might know, some of us decided to read together this wonderful piece of literary art called Manaconda.

I don’t know who found the book originally-.- yeah, as if you’ve ever believed that one.

Here’s my take on Manaconda (under the cut for spoilers) 

The pain is real for Hunter *Manaconda* Jordan. He has it all: a successful band with a killer new album, a killer body, good looks and a great brother (we will come back to the brother, several times.) But yet, all goes down the drain when Rolling Stone decides to put him in the cover shirtless and with the caption of Manaconda on top of the bulge of his jeans.

Sales skyrocket, fans go crazy, and poor Hunter only wants people to see him for more than his large toolset.

Like I said, the pain is real for our hero. We have branded a term for this pain: cock angst.

Now queue in Kennedy McManus, go walks into the hotel where the band (Hammered, for crying out loud, there is no subtlety in here) is presenting it album. She walks in with high heel shoes, professional attire and an iPad with a pink case, all ready for business because Kennedy here is a career woman. Oh yes, all career, no fun for Kennedy. The only interest she has in Manaconda is how she can milk that buzz for all that is worth PR wise. She’s a PR Princess on a mission as she owns a favor to the owner of the record label, a guy that can totes make and break your career with just not naming you again. So yes, Kennedy needs to be in her A game in here, and she is as she checks social media accounts while doing a power walk and having everything under control as she finds the band manager, a woman by the name of Indie (Indie is a terrible manager, btw, but we will get to that later)

At this point we’re introduced to the rest of the band, whose names I can’t remember other than Keys (the only chick in the band) and Bats (who’s crazy as fuck, and we will go back to him over and over again). Then I think there was Wyatt, and an Irish guy… bc there is always an Irish guy (according to @winterbythesea ). Then I think there were two more, but they didn’t do nothing to be remembered… sadly, they had failed to stand out of the shadows of the manaconda long enough to grant them page-time (or their own book).

Now Kennedy has her first major task. Hunter has gone missing and she has to go fish him out of the kitchen where he’s cooking with his pal Tristan (we like Tristan, and we picture him as a cooler version of Chad Michael Murray in Gilmore Girls, as he defied his family and moved to LA to become a cool chef with blue hair.)

It all goes downhill from here. In a matter of 15 minutes between meeting him as he’s finishing putting together a bowl of pasta and the trek back to the stage Kennedy “I’m too professional so don’t call me Kenny, Mr Jordan” ends up making out in a dark corridor with the actual man of the hour after some really weird pasta eating that is supposed to be sensual but it only came out as someone had cut too many carbs out of her diet.

Of course, they get caught by a huge crowd. There are pics, social media posts and all that jazz. OF COURSE.

First plot twist: Kennedy doesn’t get fired on the spot. She actually stays for the show and doesn’t even get reprimanded by big tycoon that is supposed to be a hard ass career maker or breaker.

Sure, Jan.

Second plot twist: She kisses him again during the press conference because they are asking him about Bats hanging out with his ex-fiancee Victoria and poor Hunter is not reacting well.

She doesn’t get fired either. Actually, the suits decide she and Hunter now have to be a fake couple (fake dating!).

You can all imagine how they ended up that night… in his room. Yes, eventually. Before that there was some action on the back of a truck that was large enough for Kenny to pace (yes, I’m calling her Kenny from now on. Much like Hunter)

I’m going to stop in here and start with some bullet points because I think you get the idea.

The smut was subpar… he uses a rosary and she’s thinking more of that than what is happening in the bad. It’s a rosary, he uses it as a necklace, move on. We don’t care about the worn out walnut beads or the details of the crucifix… really, no.

He gives her six orgasms in one night. Manaconda can deliver. Point for Hunter.

Then he takes her to a breakfast buffet and tells her they had good coffee there. I have to put a stop in here. I can deal with unrealistic smut but this is too much. No breakfast buffet has decent coffee. Not unless they have a state of the art espresso machine and a well-trained barista. Let’s not lie to the people like that

The book is told in alternating first person PoV and it’s co-written. You can tell the difference in styles and it kind of makes sense if we think there are two different people, but is a rollercoaster.

The brother shows up. I’m immediately drawn to Liam Noah. His description only fuels for me to like him more. His first words to Kennedy make me want to go down on him on the spot.

Hunter and Kenny are a hot mess… they fuck and then they fight because he wants more and yet cannot deal with Bats maybe dating his ex (intro backstory drama of the cheating ex)

Kenny refuses to come second to anyone (intro backstory of her father having another family and her being a cast off) and that is why she’s a career woman, so she doesn’t end up crying over a man like her momma,

Hunter volunteers for a charity that helps people adopt dogs. He had several. Hunter is ready to settle down and he wants Kenny to play home with him and the dogs. Kenny is still figuring out how to get out of the tight professional clothes she wears

Kenny has an assistant called Carter. Carter wants to have a threesome with his girlfriend Felicity and Hunter’s brother bc Noah is that hot. I love Carter. Me too, Carter, me too.

Hunter and Bats engage in not one, but two fights in the span of three days and both times they end up with the cops. Funny enough Kennedy “you can’t call me Kenny but here’s my cop friend Remy who’s totally into me and let him call me Ken and I hug him” pulls some strings to get him off the hook. Him, not poor Bats who’s never given the chance to tell his side of the story. Neither does Vic, tho. She’s been labeled the bitch villain of the book.

Hunter then realizes he has to fight for Kenny, bc Noah makes him realize what is important after telling him he’s a good for nothing. I really don't understand why this book is not about Noah. He’d be a lot more fun than Hunter. He probably has the same equipment and none of the cock angst.

Hunter convinces Carter to let him into Kenny’s place and gets Tristan to cook for her. I like Tristan, he can slice vegetables while flirting… somehow Kenny still only has eyes for the Manaconda.

We gotta give props to Hunter for romancing the hell out of Kenny with pictures he takes while on tour framed in glass and little notes underneath, lovely texts and a plain old move out of Say Anything that almost bumped him with Noah’s on top of the list. Almost. Like I said, Noah still wins. A lot less baggage and a lot more game if you ask me (he works security and is an ex-Army. Go Noah. Come to mamma)

The words cock and dick are used as interchangeable... this is not good. is either one or the other... and it should be cock. I can’t with dick... it is used as an insult;  so if a dick is an idiot, a dick cannot be a wonderful specimen of a male organ

You know your novel has a problem when people are more engaged with your secondary characters than your main ones. That is not a bad thing per se if you are laying out the ground for the series (These things are always a series) but sadly, there are no books planned for Noah, Tristan or Bats. Next books are about Keys, Wyatt and Irish Guy.

Kennedy has a weird fixation on wood. The rosary makes another appearance.

“Pound” is used several times in the book, so much that I want to have a drinking game over it.

I still want to know what the fuck is going on with Bats and Vic.

Noah needs his own book.

All in all, at the end of the day, Hunter Jordan was just a guy with a huge bulge on his pants and a pack of adopted dogs, standing in front of a girl career woman, asking her to love him (and not just his manaconda).

[hogwartswelcomesyou]

For all the mods, but especially the Slytherins, how do you feel about the animosity towards Slytherins?And why was it there in the first place? What do you find to be the worst part of the Snake Hate?

Tori (Ravenclaw Mod): ooo nothing’s gonna get me heated more than this. I absolutely love JK and her writing style, but I think she let the HP series fall victim to the far-too easy trope of a completely black and white story in some aspects. In order to have a black/white story of good and bad, you have to have someone/something/a group to demonize. For HP, it was the Slytherins. Her interpretation, I’m guessing, is that ambition leads to corruption which leads to evilllll. While I don’t agree with this at all, I do think this is what she did for the Slytherin characters for the majority of the series. With nearly every character we saw their desire for power overcome their moral senses, which I don’t think is fair. I think Slytherins get an unfair reputation bc people like to paint them as the villains. I think the worst part is how LITERALLY EVERY BAD GUY gets sorted Slytherin. There are so many different motivators that cause someone to turn dark, not just power. Do better. (@ everyone who thinks If someone’s evil they gotta b a snake)

Jinxy (Hufflepuff Mod): (This is more of an analysis of the fandom’s role in the problem instead of the author’s role…I’m sorry if I hurt any feelings! That is not my intention.)

I hate the animosity towards Slytherins. It’s very unfair and very unjustified. A lot of people feel that there needs to be some sort of villain whenever they read a book/watch a tv show/watch a movie/e.t.c. so that they can have a place to vent their angers and frustrations. In the Harry Potter fandom, a lot of people have decided Slytherin house is that villain (despite the plethora of clear villains like Umbridge, Voldemort, or Rita Skeeter that they could go after instead.) Slytherin is treated poorly because people need a place to show their anger/annoyance/misgivings/whatever, and they think that Slytherin is the perfect place to do so (“Hey,” they think, “Someone else is being hateful to Slytherin. That means that I can too!”)

I think that this is ridiculous because, though a group of people can be villains, there is no reason for all of Slytherin to be treated as such. Yes, there were some villains in Slytherin. Yes, the main villain of the series was a Slytherin. But guess what? So was Peter Pettigrew, and without him, Harry’s parents never would have died. Peter was a villain, and he was a Gryffindor…but you never see Gryffindor getting the hate. Plenty of Slytherins were good guys, but they’re always overlooked. The worst part about this hate (besides everything that I’ve already mentioned) is the way that many people seem to think that Slytherin is dark, edgy, and nothing more. This alienates Slytherin from the other houses, who are often portrayed in nicer lights: as being calm, and warm, and flowery. I want Slytherins who dance in pretty flowy skirts, Slytherins who pick flowers, Slytherins who name their cats after food items. I want people to stop treating them like villains and instead write sweet aesthetic posts about how Slytherins smell like citrus and lilac, decorate skinned knees with too many bandaids, and like to read mystery novels late into the night.

Tory (Slytherin Mod): I think Jinxy and Tori have tackled the wrongness of Slytherin’s reputation pretty well, so I think I’m just going to put forward my own theory as to why it is there, at least partially.

Harry, our POV character, is a Gryffindor…and so is J.K. She’s said this on record. Therefore we have a Gryffindor writing mainly about Gryffindors – yes, J.K. created the whole universe and its rules and houses, but she will still clearly and perhaps involuntarily have the most favorable view of characters like her. When you have a writing perspective that’s this narrow, it is almost inevitable that things will be seen in a slanted, narrow way. It’s the same reason why it is often discouraged to write “self-insert” characters in fiction – because not only does it make it harder for you as an author to write this character as being in the wrong, but you are less likely to see opposing points of view with clarity and show good counterarguments, thus you will never be a truly omniscient narrator. This is not an inherently bad thing, but it can make for, in Tori’s words, a very black-and-white approach…which is tragic, because the books themselves embrace shades of gray with characters like Dumbledore, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin!

So, honestly, it’s no surprise that J.K., in the beginning, showed little interest in exploring Slytherin characters (or Hufflepuff/Ravenclaw characters, tbh) – she was most attached to and interested in characters that were like her. As the book series went on, I would argue she suddenly realized how negatively the Slytherins had been depicted and tried to throw some bread crumbs our way (”See? Regulus found Voldemort’s Horcrux! And then died before we could actually meet him in canon…”, “See, Andromeda’s cool! Even though we barely see her…”, ”See, Snape was the bravest man Harry ever knew and named his son after him! Even though he was also a petty, immature bully who tormented Neville for years and loathed his one true love’s child because it resembled the other parent…”). But even in the case of “good Slytherins,” there can still be some shade thrown; Dumbledore comments that perhaps they Sorted Snape too early (because CLEARLY if he’s brave he can’t be in Slytherin, and if he’d be Sorted now he’d be in Gryffindor, the “RIGHT” house). Yes, this could hint to bias on Dumbledore’s part as he’s also a Gryffindor, but it’s not framed that way, as we never get a counterargument to the sentiment.

I don’t think anyone can deny J.K.’s disapproving attitude of Slytherin is all over the books and especially her Pottermore quiz (almost all the “negative” answers give you Slytherin points, for Christ sake) – and I wholeheartedly point to the fact that it can be very, very difficult to jump into another person’s shoes. J.K. is not a Slytherin, and as a Gryffindor (a house that can be known for solely looking inward for their code of honor and seeing things in a very black-and-white manner), it’s unsurprising that she might look at Slytherin‘s values – which in some ways are opposite to Gryffindor’s – and see them as at best  “not as important” and at worst somehow “incorrect.”

As much as we can debate Slytherin’s reputation in the books, though, I think the thing that irritates me the most is when HP fans insult and degrade RL Slytherins by comparing them to the Slytherins in the books. Guys: just because someone was sorted into Slytherin on Pottermore DOES NOT MAKE THEM RACISTS OR DEATH EATERS OR WHATEVER ELSE. Seriously. Even just being aligned with Slytherin does not mean that the person is aligning himself/herself with Death Eaters. If they’re wearing Dark Marks and crud, that’s one thing…but Slytherins =/= Death Eaters. There may be some overlap and correlation, but they are not and have never been synonyms.

Star (Hufflepuff Mod): Just gonna put it out there, Tory, one of the Slytherin mods, was my first (and one of my best) friends on tumblr. She defended me after I made a confession to a Disney blog saying I didn’t like the Lion King, and after loads of attacks from people, she told them all to shut up, and offered me her friendship. I took it, and we’ve been tight ever since. She has bought some merch from Disneyland on my behalf (and sent it to Australia!!) and I’ve bought her some Slytherin shoes! I have met and know some awful Slytherins (my cousins are mostly snakes and they’re awful people, though it’s not because they are from the snake house), but I’ve also met a couple rude and awful Hufflepuffs. Every house has its bad eggs, and JK definitely didn’t do Slytherin any favours by putting most of the bad people in it, but not every bad person is in Slytherin.

Abigail (Ravenclaw Mod): Since I sorta feel like my opinion has already been spoken by Tori, Jinxy and Tory, I just wanna say that any house can become evil, not just Slytherin. I’ve known Gryffindors that are absolutely terrible human beings, extremely mean Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws that I just do not enjoy the company of. I have also met Slytherins who have become my best friends and are some of the nicest people I’ve ever met. So it can go all around, your house doesn’t mean you’re mean or evil: it’s the person.

[rearima]

Many thoughts on :re 123

I wonder if Yoriko actually expected Mutsuki? Because her reaction does imply that she’s been expecting somebody. If she had a date with Bujin I’d expect her to already show a surprised reaction upon hearing the voice/before she turned around since I’m pretty sure Mutsuki’s voice is quite different from Bujin’s. Since Mutsuki said to Bujin that she might know Touka it’s very much possible that Mutsuki directly talked to Yoriko or wanted to meet her in person to help her find her friend. It’d easy for her to gain Yoriko’s trust and lure her to some place so she could attack her...

The hand doesn’t mean that she’s dead yet. She might very well still be alive. I see two possibilities here: 1)Mutsuki killed Yoriko (maybe even in Torso style since apparently she now also hates women and since Yoriko is the best friend of the woman that stole her man, all the more reason to brutally murder her). Also because the dead don’t speak. It might be troublesome if she’s still alive and someone somehow manages to rescue her. 2)Yoriko is purposely kept alive so she can be used to threaten Touka. You know Touka would pretty much do anything to save Yoriko... oh boi... Which one is more likely? You tell me.

(btw, taking a closer look at the hand, it seems like a bone is sticking out..? Seems like Mutsuki’s definitely wasn’t too careful handling Yoriko…)

(also, stay strong, Bujin. AND SAVE YOUR WAIFU! ugh, this gets so much to me bc Yoriko is the sweetest cinnamon roll in TG. If there’s one person that never did anything bad it’d be her. How the fck could you do this to such a kind person??? )

Now let’s talk about Mutsuki. At the beginning we see her being super happy n emotional, tearing up, clenching Kaneki’s shirt and begging him to come back. I won’t call this all just being an act Mutsuki put up. There’s no denying that she was happy and emotional and really wanted him back (it was sad really, the panel where she holds the end of his shirt and begging him to come back actually got to me).

But at the same time she came with a fully thought out plan and she most likely knew how he’d react and what to expect. She acted super innocent but we know she wasn’t shocked or anything when she saw fake Kaneki getting beheaded (like pls, she seen and done worse than that). But  although she knew what to expect she still tried, still took the chance and when she got her answer(or so she thinks) you could see the hurt on her face nonetheless.

(^ that’s some Furuta style acting, Mucchan...)

What’s Mutsuki’s perception of Kaneki/Haise atm? The official statement of the CCG is that Haise betrayed them and killed Arima. There are some doubters and Urie is one of them. But not Mutsuki. She wouldn’t care much about why/how this really went down as long as he came back. It’s not about the CCG. But what might be interesting to point out here is that she did not only mention herself but also briefly mentions others (Suzuya, Itou and the Qs). I have wondered about this a long time ago: Aside from Haise, what are her feelings towards others, how are their relationships, how important are the others to her?

(putting the rest under the cut bc this gonna be long bc I’m just putting everything in one post muhahaha)

Just like how Kaneki doesn’t know that much about Mutsuki, Mutsuki doesn’t know much about Kaneki either. She genuinely thinks that she (and the other friends) don’t mean much to Kaneki, she thinks he betrayed them/their feelings, that he chose stinky ghoul over them (tho she’s a ghoul herself now) - just that plain and simple (but we know it wasn’t that simple of a decision and that there were many difficult circumstances and that they actually still mean a lot to Kaneki, despite him ultimately choosing to side with the ghouls).

And Kaneki, he doesn’t know just how (mentally) dangerous Mutsuki is now. Even after getting relentlessly attacked he’d think it’s just that they want to capture him and Mutsuki is being so aggressive bc she feels betrayed and hurt. Mutsuki having major psychological issues (and how it came to) and her having an unhealthy obsession over him - it’s something no one except herself and Uta (and to an extent Shinsanpei) know about. In his eyes, even now, Mutsuki isn’t that different from how he last remembered her. She misses him and she’s feeling super hurt and angry because he betrayed them - all still quite understandable in Kaneki’s eyes.

Scene shift to Urie, the package, Mutsuki’s room: First of all, I still wonder if she’s even trying to hide her not so normal side anymore. She should know that such display would lead ppl to suspect and start doubting her. Then why is it that this is the first thing one sees upon opening the door (which is conveniently not locked)? (and yeah some sarcastic part of me found it funny how she made dozens of copies of the same picture just so that she could stab Touka’s face some more…)

How’s Urie gonna react? He’s been in much denial until now but this? This is getting way too much outta hand and he really should do something about it. And I’m sure we’ll get that confrontation between them since Ishida especially loves to mess with Urie’s character lol… Also, I think it’s no conincident that just two chapters before we had this little meet up between the Qs (expect Aura and Mustuki) and Juuzou & Itou (bc I was kinda suprised that Mutsuki also mentions these two here). It’s likely a setup for a confrontation between Mutsuki/Aura and Urie/Qs/Juuzou/Itou. No idea how this will play out atm as we have so many different sides in this upcoming battle/arc and we’re just one chapter in. Will Urie boldly confront Mutsuki about this? Will he rather further investigate this himself? Will he seek out Saiko and the others?

(It’s probably nothing but I had thought that there might be bodyparts in the package, but then again, Urie’d smell that and it’s way too suspicious and dangerous from Mutsuki’s pov.)

Regarding the RC suppressants, the two translations are quite different.

In ms translation he flat out states that he won't be able to use his kagune now while in jaimini's translation he says "if this keeps up" whichs implies that he's not completely done for for now. It's unclear how much of suppressants is needed to make him completely unable to use the kagune or even to knock him out. Nonetheless, it will already have effect on his overall abilities of regeneration, agility etc. Ofc I want Kaneki to put up a good fight and not end up like a punching bag for Shinsanpei and get themselves in more danger than necessary. So yeah, part of me is kinda salty about how he was (not) holding himself up so far. But analytically speaking, him not being able to block another hit after realizing that there are suppressants incorporated in the weapons, it probably also has a lot to do with the effect already kicking in. I'd expect him to put up at least a better defense and be especially careful about the weapons but at this point we don't know how much he's already handicapped. Without his kagune and no physical advantages of a ghoul it's looking really bad for him... And well, he’d also have to be more determined going into this fight against his former student (even though it’s cruel to always put him in such position). (Ayato needs to get in here and repeat what he told him back in the lab about how dangerous being an half-ass is for the group.)

Touka is handling it better so far avoiding the blades. Although it's probably not consciously done as I don't think she's realized about the suppressants yet. Not sure about Touka's exact full strength atm but maybe she’d be able to get both herself and Kaneki out of danger - if she can still pull herself together that is... Will she be able to remain calm and focused? It’d be quite incredible if she can tbh... 

Mutsuki really planned that one out well. She's probably even waited for everyone else to leave the cafe before she entered (since it was shortly after Koma and Kaya left).

Also, Mutsuki's power level: When she dodged Touka's projectiles (which are super fast) we see that she's wearing a completely bored expression. That’s just... incredible. (and no, I don't think she’s got the Sharingan xD) While Mutsuki looks unchallenged Touka seems already about to go all out... Mutsuki probably only went into this after she made sure she’d win this battle.

Oh yeah btw, what the hell is your problem Shinsanpei? Your aunty-issues just came from out of nowhere. There should be more behind it imo since otherwise it doesn’t make too much sense to me, not to the extend his hatred towards Kaneki goes. (It was actually kind of Kaneki letting them live and not cutting limbs or anything. Normally, a ghoul would kill anyone who’s seen their face but Kaneki is a soft boy so he didn’t want to kill.)

(there also this whole issue regarding Mutsuki and gender in this chapter. maybe I’ll put some thought on this in another post...)

(sry about much bad english, i haven’t checked/reread this.)