#i really want to write more also to flesh out Elle's character and my other girls but gosh one prompt a day feels like so much

[fheythfully]

I've been wanting to get back into writing more regularly, and to work on getting my skill in it back on track after failing to write (some years not at all) for almost five years now. Since I am doing NG+, I am considering challenging myself to doing a 30 prompt challenge for each game I do, using random prompt sets I find online. But that is... a lot of writing.

Should I do it? September ffxiv writes was a lot of fun but I also felt relieved when it ended, lol.

[frankiebirds]

started binging criminal minds, i was gutted when elle left & now watching the next couple of s2 episodes i really felt her absence. especially in 'the last word' when a women has to pretend to be dead so they can catch one of the serial killers (they so needed to have a frank convo about making elle relieve her trauma + this couldve been a great intro to that). i read your post, i agree it did make sense why elle left considering her background as a sexual offence specialist & what she says to reid but i found the writing lacking. her exit felt rushed + not final bc she only really shared scenes with hotch. also she also seems the type to not wanna give up the bau bc that would mean the fisher king wins + is a determined person so it would've been better to see her slow realisation she cant do the job she desperately wanted in s1. also the fact her relationships with the rest of the team + their reactions weren't fully explored is annoying since she was quite friendly with everyone particularly close to morgan, reid even gideon. especially since gideon inadvertently caused her get shot as he didnt want to follow the rules then said elle would understand?? so a confrontation w gideon similar to the one w hotchner wouldve been nice. i miss morgan's fun bantery friendship with elle in the later eps when she wasn't there to partner up with him (idk they seemed to be a go to partnership to me) & the elle/morgan/reid trio is sorely missed. ive largely enjoyed everything so far (just finished 2x09) but i wish they'd more deeply explore the characters' history. like the inclusion of reids mom was interesting & really liked how garcia respected reids privacy to keep her illness a secret. it was a missed opportunity i felt not to see elle & morgan not bonding over losing their cop dads or hotch and gideon talking about fatherhood when hotch is missing out on his babys key milestones (ik there was that bit in s1 when hotch tells gideon to get in touch w his son but more of those moments wouldve been nice). whilst i feel the team all like each other and there's some interesting/fun friendships (reid&gideon , garcia&morgan etc) id be nice to have some downtime scenes showcasing them as a makeshift found family (sorry i love that trope & c'mon they spend more time with each other than with their acc families). anyway sorry for the long rant this show is eating at my brain lord my brain mass will be equivalent to a pea by the time i finish this show. <3

thats fair and i get what you mean! there are definitely moments when i felt elle's absence and there are definitely things about her leaving that i would change if i had the power—i absolutely agree that the reactions from the rest of the team to her leaving and the actions leading up to it were sorely lacking, and a slower realisation that she cant do the job anymore would have been very cool to see, although i think the latter was less due to writing problems and more to the fact that elle left the show because lola glaudini chose to leave (ie they couldn't write a fully fleshed out leaving arc for elle because it was driven by out-of-show events and therefore not planned/they had limited time to execute it). the lack of reaction from the team is a writing problem though, so again i very much agree with that!

i hope you enjoy the rest of the show and get some of your wishes, and if you dont, you can find some good fics to fulfill them <3

[griseldabanks]

Andrael (an-DRY-ell):

Made specifically for a relationship: As usual, he's a dragon, therefore he was made for his relationship with Advent. But I feel like that's even more true for Andrael than any of the other dragon characters. Which leads me to my next point.

Who are you again?: Andrael is probably the least fleshed-out of all the characters in the story, and that needs to change. All I really know about him is that he's fiercely protective of Advent, and also kind of acts as his moral compass or conscience. If Advent really wants to do something unwise, the only one who can actually hold him back is Andrael. It's interesting to contrast Advent and Andrael's relationship with Shard and Shynael's, because Shard is the older brother in that relationship, whereas Andrael is the older brother between him and Advent.

I would run away if I met him in real life: I've always imagined Andrael as the scariest-looking one of the dragons. He has blue scales and red eyes, and he has a sort of fringe of narrow spikes around his head, sort of like a lion's mane.

I didn't realize how important he'd be: Andrael tended to get overlooked, and was just sort of there when Advent was. But when I wrote the events of the climax and how they affected Andrael, in particular, suddenly everything fell into place with Advent's character. I kind of changed my mind what Advent's deal really was as I was writing, and it was because of the way he interacted with Andrael. So really, Andrael deserves much better than to be pushed to the side.

Free space: There's an interesting scene halfway through the story that I think would be an excellent opportunity to explore the parallels between Shard and Advent, and Shynael and Andrael. Advent gets angry at Shard and goes to confront him when he's alone, on one of the rare occasions when Shynael isn't there. Andrael tells him to stop, but for once, Advent doesn't listen to him. He keeps going, and ends up hurting Shard physically. What I really want to bring out, if I can figure out how to make it clear to the reader, is how the bond between Advent and Andrael is fractured, and it's like Advent can't hear Andrael. But in the same moment, Shard calls out to Shynael, who hears him (or feels him?) through their bond, and rushes to Shard's rescue. So Advent can't hear Andrael because he's focused only on himself and what he wants. But Shard, even though he's the one in immediate danger, maintains that connection with Shynael and asks him for help, and it works because he's not just thinking about himself.

[mediaevalmusereads]

On a Sunbeam. By Tillie Walden. First Second, 2018.

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Genre: graphic novel, lgbtqia+

Series: N/A

Summary: Throughout the deepest reaches of space, a crew rebuilds beautiful and broken-down structures, painstakingly putting the past together. As new member Mia gets to know her team, the story flashes back to her pivotal year in boarding school, where she fell in love with a mysterious new student. Soon, though, Mia reveals her true purpose for joining their ship—to track down her long-lost love.

***Full review below.***

CONTENT WARNINGS: bullying, misgendering, blood

OVERVIEW: I enjoyed Spinning so much that I figured hey. Why not check out Tillie Walden's other stuff? And I'm glad I did because there was so much about this graphic novel that I loved. The colors, the found family, the world - it was all lovely. My only criticism is that I think some character aspects could have been fleshed out more, but I loved being in Walden's world so much that I didn't much mind.

WRITING/ART: The art in this book is similar in style to that of Spinning in that it's stylized and easy to follow from panel to panel. It differs, however, in level of detail and color. I liked that Walden didn't so much focus on making the world feel industrial or technical; there were some great architectural shots, but most of the panels felt very organic for a space-themed story (for example: the ship is shaped like a fish!). It was a nice change.

I also loved the colors in this book. While Spinning was largely purple with a bit of yellow, On a Sunbeam makes use of rich reds and desaturated blues. The effect is that the world feels colorful and magical without being overwhelming - I never felt like my eyes were being bombarded or my attention pulled in a million different directions.

PLOT: The plot of this book follows a girl named Mia in two timelines: in the past, we see her attending boarding school where she meets a mysterious student named Grace. In the present, we follow Mia at her construction job, which allows her to travel widely. We quickly learn that Mia has taken this job in order to search for Grace, who had to abruptly leave school 5 years prior.

The dual timelines were really effective for showing Mia's character and interiority. I liked how we learned about her motivations but also about her various quirks and flaws by seeing how she acted in the past.

I also loved how so much of this book is focused on connection. In the past, Mia and Grace fall in love amidst relentless bullying. In the present, Mia makes friends with her crew and grows to love them as family. In that, this book is less about worldbuilding or space politics and more about finding your people, which I loved.

That isn't to say the worldbuilding is unimportant, but it doesn't overshadow the human story. I loved the way Walden imagined space boarding school as well as the different sites where Mia is tasked with restoring old buildings or clearing out rubble. Even the area known as the Staircase was interesting and I appreciated that its politics didn't take center stage.

But I do wish some things about the characters and the world had been built out a little more. For example, Ell's backstory, which is gripping, felt a little like it came out of nowhere. I would have liked to see it thematically integrated a little better. I also would have liked to see the rationale for Grace's actions at the end, as it isn't too clear why she acts the way she does when 5 years prior, she seemed to be compelled to do something else (sorry for being vague - trying not to spoil things). But even with these things, I enjoyed being with the characters so much that I wasn't too put off by the things that bothered me.

TL;DR: On a Sunbeam is a dazzling graphic novel about love and family spanning the expanse of time and space, and it's perfect for readers who want a sci fi story without being too overwhelmed by worldbuilding details.

CHARACTERS: Mia, our protagonist, is fun to watch because she doesn't exactly follow the rules. She gets into all sorts of shenanigans, and at school, it's usually Grace that has to keep her on the straight and narrow. The most admirable thing about Mia, however, is the way the she cares for other people. Not only does she love Grace and spend years trying to find her, but she also supports the people on her crew and even extends compassion to her bullies.

Grace, Mia's eventual girlfriend, is mysterious without having too much of a dark past. I liked that her story was somewhat mired in the politics of her homeworld, but most of the focus seemed to be about balancing her love for her family with her desire to go to school and be with Mia. I also loved that Grace was a writer and wanted to tell stories, which Mia supported wholeheartedly.

Mia's construction crew is also delightful in all the best ways. I loved their dynamics, which ranged from admiration to annoyance, and between all the conflict and love, it truly felt like a family.

[findroleplay]

hey. listen, ok. i am very gay and very much regressing back into my musical theatre phase. specifically my legally blonde phase (which, who are we kidding, was never really a phase was it?) after seeing multiple people on both here and tiktok have the galaxy brain moment i wish i would have, i have the desperate need for a roleplay.

for reference, before we get too deep into this, i am 20+ and only looking for other 20+ writers. i write exclusively on discord and have a style that ranges from literate to novella. i am very chatty, so please be prepared to deal with that. also, big fan of sharing headcanons and music and musing. it's probably one of my favorite things to do in a roleplay, building character. especially with a musical-based chat because by nature of being play characters they're a little up for interpretation lol. (also note: i love the movie as well, but it has a totally different vibe. it's autumn, and for whatever reason that translates to the legally blonde musical for me lol.) open for nsfw content, but really want to emphasize plot, fluff, and character building. logistics done.

basically, i'm looking for sapphic elle/emmett with me writing as fem!emmett. i saw an alto version of chip on my shoulder i have been spiraling ever since. emmett is more masc presenting, a workaholic, and the type who's just constantly trying to make something of herself who helps elle become more serious while elle helps her loosen up a little bit. i just want to flesh out the main story a bit, with some minor adjustments here and there as we see fit. cram studying, the meet-cute, the take it like a man scene (!), the proposal (!!!) just little bits here and there. their love story is one that i just gravitate towards even in my outside roleplays, but it just makes so much sense as a sapphic pair. i love them, your honor.

i feel like this is both too long and too short, so i'll cut it off here. if this sounds like something you would like to plot, react and i'll reach out from there. much love 💕

-

[babygirlizz]

izzie’s favorite movies and tv shows of 2020 (aka the worst year ever)

another year, another movie and tv show review. this year has, to put it simply, sucked. 2020 has been so terribly awful that sometimes the only light you can see are the absolute bangers of movies and tv shows that came out this year. with that being said, some of the movies and tv shows didn't come out in 2020. if the are mentioned in this post it is because they either: had a season come out this year, i found them this year, or they became popular this year.

SPOILERS: it may not come as a surprise but just in case you didn't realize, there will be many spoilers ahead, read at your own risk.

tw // death, suicide, drug use, mild adult language. if any of these things might trigger you, i strongly urge you not to read this post.

there is no specific order of these shows and movies, i'm just writing as they come to mind. if you enjoy any of these movies or tv shows, or if you have any suggestions for me, please let me know!

TV SHOWS

1) Santa Clarita Diet

Okay, so I know this show doesn't have anything to do with 2020. But, I found this show in 2020. I put it off for a while, thinking it wasn't my style of a show, but boy was I wrong. I loved this show. Sheila Hammond (Drew Barrymore) is a normal suburban wife and mom. She is a real estate agent with her husband Joel (Timothy Olyphant). She struggles with the fact that she isn't very adventurous. This all changes when she throws up an insane amount at a house showing. She then finds herself craving adventure, and craving human flesh. Yeah, she's a zombie. Not only is this show super hilarious, but it also shows the growth that they have with their characters and their family. I'm also team Abby (Liv Hewson) and Eric (Skyler Gisondo).

2) Outer Banks

So, I'm from NC. And, watching this show at first bothered me because I can very obviously tell this show isn't actually filmed in the obx, and the geography isn't exact, but once I got past that, I loved it. John B (Chase Stokes) is a teenager that lives in the poor side of the outer banks. He has a friend group called the Pogues which consists of JJ (Rudy Pankow), Pope (Jonathan Daviss), and Kie (Madison Bailey). They absolutely hate the Kooks, which are the rich kids. A while after John B's dad gets lost at sea, presumed dead, the group finds some evidence that may solve the mystery, and make them rich. In the process, John B falls in love with a Kook names Sarah (Madelyn Cline) whose father Ward (Charles Esten) may have a little more to do with the mystery than he let on. Through friendship, murder, and secrets, the gang may just figure out what happened to John B's dad.

3) Love, Victor

Alright. I loved loved loved Love, Simon. I also really loved the book "Simon vs. the Homosapien Agenda." So, when I heard about this show, I was so excited. Victor (Michael Cimino) is a teenage boy that moved to Creekwood with his family. He meets Felix (Anthony Turpel) who lives in his building. He also meets Mia (Rachel Hilson) and they begin dating. But, he also meets Benji (George Sear). While trying to get used to a new school, new friends, and a new relationship, Victor finds himself questioning his sexuality. With the help of Simon (Nick Robinson) and his friends, Victor finds it in himself to finally come out, and he admits his feelings, for Benji. This is such a good show, but I was so upset when season 1 ended on a cliff-hanger.

4) The Haunting of Bly Manor

The sequel to The Haunting of Hill House. Now listen, haunting of hill house was an absolute banger. When I saw that Bly came out I nearly died. I was so excited. But, I was alone in my apartment and also a lil bitch. So, I had to wait a week until I was home with my family to watch it. Now, I was so excited to be scared, and there were a few jump scares and ominous moments, but this season was more centered around the story line of Dani Clayton (Victoria Pedretti) and her new life in a foreign country. When seeing an ad for a live in job as an au pair. When she gets there, she meets the two young children she’ll be looking out for and the other workers of the house, including the gardener, Jamie (Amelia Eve). Throughout her stay at Bly she begins to notice weird behaviors from both children and by the end of the series she sacrifices herself for the children. Sadly, this story is being told by Jamie who Dani had fallen in love with during her stay at Bly. Now I was somewhat upset about the lack of horror, but was still very intrigued and drawn in by this series.

5) Julie and the Phantoms

Alright, at first I was not gonna watch this show. I thought it looked a little too young and childish for me, but everyone was talking about it on twitter so I had to. I. Love. This. Show. This show centers around Julie (Madison Reyes). Julie is a teenage girl who, sadly, lost her mother. The one major thing she shared with her mom, was their love for music. Since her mothers passing, she gave up music. This is until, dead musicians from the 90′s show up in her garage. Luke (Charlie Gillespie), Alex (Owen Joyner), and Reggie (Jeremy Shada) all tragically passed away in the 90′s after eating bad street hotdogs. When Julie finds their CD in her garage, she decides to play it and they come back in ghost form. But, only she can see them. With their help, she finds her confidence to play music again. Also, she has to find away for them to stay because they’re slowly disappearing. 

6) Derry Girls

Bitch. I love this show. And yeah it didn’t come out in 2020. Shut up. I found this show recently after watching the cast on the holiday special of the Great British Baking Show. I loved the actors so I had to watch the show. This show focuses on Erin (Saoirse-Monica Jackson) a 16 year old girl that lives in Derry, Northern Ireland in the 90′s. Alongside her is her cousin Orla (Louisa Harland), her two friends Clare (Nicola Coughlan) and Michelle (Jamie-Lee O’Donnell), and Michelle’s English cousin James (Dylan Llewellyn). During these years, a lot of people in Ireland struggled, especially because it was during wartime. Even thought this show isn’t focused heavily around the war, it’s amazing to see these teens live a fulfilling life while struggling with the state of their country, and the lack of money that their families have. 

7) Elite

HA. This show did have a season in 2020 so leave me alone. But bro, I love this show. At first, I didn’t watch it because I thought I could only watch the dubbed version in English, which I hate. I hate dubbed shows they look so weird. But, once I found out I could watch this show in Spanish, I fell in love. But, sadly, theres too damn much to talk about in one little post. It’s crazy. But basically it just follows the lives of teens in high school that are trying to survive. And no, not in the “I’m surviving high school,” sense. No, people be getting murdered. 

MOVIES (tbh i didn’t find a lot of movies good this year lmk which movies u liked this year and maybe i’ll like them!)

1) All the Bright Places

After the death of her sister, Violet (Elle Fanning) is devastated. She closes herself off, and has her parents get her out of doing school work that involves working with others. But, as time goes on, they realize she may need to start to move on. Violet then meets Finch (Justice Smith) who is enamored by Violet. He suggests they do a project together. While finding and visiting some of the smallest wonders of their state, they begin to fall for each other. While you are focusing on Violet and her mental health, you tend to miss some of the signs that Finch’s mental health isn’t great either, but by the time you do, it could be too late. 

2) Dangerous Lies

Hmm. This was weird for me. I had only ever seen Camila Mendes in Riverdale, and honestly, not a fan. So, Katie (Camila Mendes) and her husband Adam (Jessie T. Usher) are struggling with money. Katie decides to take a job working for an elderly man, and eventually gets her husband hired there as well. Unfortunately, he dies, but for some odd reason, leaves the house and all of his fortune, to Katie. As they get comfortable in the house, they begin to uncover some very weird and dangerous lies. 

3) The Devil All the Time

Ok. Iconic. You got so many hot men in this movie. Bill Skarsgård, Sebastian Stan, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson. C’mon now. That’s crazy. But, this story is so long and in depth that I wouldn’t even know where to begin. This movie is a bit disturbing. It involves murder, sexual assault, killing of animals, and so much more so if that’s an issue for you please do not watch this movie. It was also quite long, but it was still good.

4) After We Collided

Okay just listen. I was that teenager. I read wattpad stories and was, embarrassingly, addicted to After. This was not a great movie per say, but it was After. This is a sequel to the movie After. This movie centers around Tessa (Josephine Langford) and her recovery after her breakup with Hardin (Hero Fiennes Tiffin). Theres sex, alcohol, bad acting. The whole nine-yards. But c’mon, they’re so cute together.

5) To All the Boys p.s. I Still Love You

Okay it was a good movie. I enjoyed it. This movie focuses on Lara Jean (Lana Condor) and her boyfriend Peter (Noah Centineo) and their relationship post the first movie. But of course relationships aren’t super steady, and John Ambrose McClaren (Jordan Fisher) shows up. Yeah, John Ambrose, from her letter. They become closer and Lara Jean has to decide who she wants to be with. Spoiler, it’s Peter. BOOOOOOO justice for John Ambrose McClaren, he deserved better. 

[bbnibini]

Hi! I really love your works but it gotten me curious if you also read fanfics? Do you have any fanfic recommendations?

Thank you, anon! That's really kind of you. 🥺💕 I do read fanfics, but not as much anymore. I'm assuming this ask is for Obey Me fics? But if not, I will include some of my absolute favourites in a future post. Fair warning: I gushed. A LOT hahaha. Please support the authors and their works! I included the fics in the hyperlinks~

NSFW fics are marked appropriately, so please click the links at your own discretion (some of them are in my public bookmarks in AO3).

Elle's Obey Me Fic Recommendations

🌸Your Coal by Angrish(LettuceBean)

Truth be told, I belong to the "forgive but don't forget camp" in lieu of what happened in Chapter 16; reading Angrish's YC and how their MC coped with the aftermath(+ how others coped along with them) felt really powerful, raw and so so emotional. It made me think and really think about how I processed the whole thing that happened. While it didn't really change my outlook on how I have forgiven Belphie for what he had done, Angrish shedding light to the unanswered questions and lingering doubts the main story have left most of its readers was done in such a thoughtful and poetic way that I found myself binge reading the whole thing.

Given that I read this whole coping with a lot of stuff as well (and may have contributed with sympathising a lot more to the vindictiveness of the MC), reading what Angrish had written was really cathartic. Their writing style is also beautiful--the way the words string together, simple, elegant, yet impactful really made MC's emotions a lot...tangible, real and sometimes, frustrating (in a good way, mind you). I also liked how they had fleshed out the other characters, especially Belphegor, Satan and the Purgatory Hall members.

🌸You'll Have to Ask Your Dad by DefenestrationProtestration

I remembered clicking on this fic because of the author's punny name, stayed for the pretty writing and reread a few several times for the characterisation and THE WRITING. I'm pretty sure I left a litany of praises and incomprehensible gushing on the comments section because of how much I've devoured this piece of art.

Even as I'm typing this review, I can't seem to organise my thoughts haha. You can tell by the writing style that the author had a lot of fun writing their prose; it permeates through the screeen...my "screen" of imagination at least. I am not joking--the writing is so pretty and vivid that I literally saw it as a movie in my head lol. I chatted with them a bit on the comments and they said the prose is more of something they had written subconsciously; it reminded me of James Joyce and how he had masterfully perfected the same technique. Of course, their writing styles differ a lot from each other, but I can see what they meant.

...as I'm typing this, I didn't realise how I haven't talked about the plot of the fic at all soz. This piece is the author's character study of Lucifer. It talks about how he was before, during and after the fall. He is a bit of an unreliable narrator, which I'm not sure if the author intended, but he has all these presumptions that miss the mark so so much, particularly at how his brothers, Lord Diavolo and the others perceive him--but reading the whole thing would make you understand why he had gotten to that kind of self-perception in the first place. And honestly? It really, really hurt to read. But was it bad? The total opposite of that, in fact! I loved how they had written the angst in this piece. So many things in the fic are "show, rather than tell" and I really really appreciate that.

Most of my brainrot about this fic is better to be explored on your own. Overall, 10/10: a definite, recommended read.

🌸Fairy Tales for the Fallen by indiavolowetrust

I haven't fully devoured all of the stories in the collection yet, but the ones I've read (Her Name Was Thousand Eyes is my favourite) was such a really good spin on dark fairy tales (Obey Me style!). It reminded me of my childhood Little Mermaid picture book for some reason. Probably the writing style(the author's writing reads a lot like a storybook) The one I had was Hans Christian Andersen's (aka the OG) version and the ending was rather...dark for a 5 year old lol. It was a big part of my life though and was probably the precursor for my affinity with sad stories haha.

🌸TieGuanYin by Taciturn

Like tea on a tiring day, Taciturn's writing style feels very homey, cozy and familiar. I love rereading this oneshot when I'm having a shitty day and imagining myself having tea with Barbatos haha. Ever had pieces of art or literature that just...relaxes you when you consume it? This one is one of my, as the youngsters say, "comfort fic" haha.

🌸glass half empty; glass half full by unagis

I love unagis' fics.♡ I also love her Childe fics. The concepts she comes up with, as well as how she delivers it is *chef kiss*. Admittedly, I read this one when I was still a Satan stan, with all the suspicions and doubts about Solomon's intentions still rampant within me. Reading him blush and become flustered is CUTE and aaaaa this whole fic is just really cute.🥺♡

🌸The Eternal Storm by @sondepoch

Sondepoch's Satan oneshot was the very first fic I read in the OM fandom so it has a special place in my heart~ I remembered how awkward it was to skim through the Satan filters, looking for a gen fic/SFW fic because around that time, most OM fics are smut (no shade on smut ofc, I'm just super uncomfortable reading them unless the writing is really pretty or there's something else going on in the story). Finding GEN AND A WELL-WRITTEN CHARACTER STUDY about my (former) favourite OM character was like I hit the jackpot. I remembered that feeling really well haha. My bias with one of my favourite forms of fic (char. study) aside, Sondepoch's writing is easy on the eyes and is definitely a great entry for anyone who wants to be in the OM fandom.

🌸Read Me by GENE515

One of my more recent reads and definitely worth a mention!♡ Read Me was a beautifully written, heartfelt two-shot about Lucifer's love, which he tried his best to express in penned words. Probably because of my own love letter-themed OM series, this one really stuck to me haha. The author is also really sweet. :3

🌸Schrodinger by fickleminder

I read this one around Halloween and it definitely fit the occasion. Schrodinger was such a great thriller/horror fic with how it set its unsettling atmosphere from the very beginning--the way fickleminder's writing just sucks you in and makes you bystand the whole ordeal between Belphegor and MC was just...so suspenseful? Nail biting? Creepy (in a good way ofc)? I won't spoil the ending, but the process and way they tackled it was a lot scarier than what I was initially bracing myself for.

🌸Siberia by @polandspringz

Seeing another Obey Me mystery in AO3 really hyped me up! Polandspringz did a spectacular job in writing this series and I can relate so much with their experiences in writing for mystery. Their writing style is easy on the eyes--I also really liked how they characterised the OM characters I have read on their series so far. There's still quite a lot of stuff left in speculation (from my most recent reading at least), and I really look forward to see how everything unfolds!

🌸Tetris Syndrome by apocketfulofposies (NSFW)

I am very very uncomfortable with smut content, so the smut I've read can be counted on one hand. ;; That is to say, TS is one of the few smut that I really, really enjoyed. First of all, Levi's characterisation is on point. It was really really interesting to get in his head and read about his thought process. What is envy? And how much does the sin of envy really define him?

I really enjoyed Levi's internalisations, as well as the author's writing style. If you want smut with a brooding, jealous otaku boy, I really recommend this one!

[imagining-in-the-margins]

Hello! I just finished the show after postponing it in fear it was that bad the critics said, and oh god there were nice reviews compared to what I saw. BUT really it came to my mind how would you would’ve wanted it to end, like in general for all the characters. I personally hated the writers guy for the the whole jj love confession yuck Ps- thanks for your writing it has keep me sane during this quarantine times <3

Whew, Lordy. I have so many thoughts I wanted to respond to this on it’s own. The short answer is in my taglines for the characters, which would probably go something like this:

Rossi finally started taking all of his vacation days, plus a little extra, until he finally decided to retire… again. It lasted about two weeks before he signed on as a part-time consultant.

Emily continues to serve as Unit Chief of the BAU, but now with a wife and son waiting at home. Of all the roles she had to act in her life, she found Chief, wife, and mother by far the most rewarding.

JJ left the BAU after several years and has dedicated her life to consulting work for non profits and government agencies serving and protecting children displaced from traumatic events.

Spencer continued to go to school in both a professor and student capacity. He fell in love with both the opportunity to teach, as well as his partner. The day his first child arrived, he retired with Rossi, although he only made it one hour before he returned as a part-time consultant.

Tara is busy with her work at the BAU, fixing up her antique luxury cars like her father taught her, and continuing to learn more languages. Under her guidance, the BAU is able to schedule more interviews with serial killers, which she uses to regularly publish research articles.

Luke and Penelope continue to see each other with no rush for the finish line. Together, the two volunteer at animal shelters to pair animals with veterans and other victims of trauma. He also continues his recreational boxing career, although his girlfriend has to watch with her hands over her eyes.

Penelope continues to be the bright backbone of the environmental research firm she works for, but the BAU couldn’t get rid of her that easily. Between the constant virtual and in-person visits, it’s almost like she never left.

Matt finally finished and publishes the “Simmon Stories,” and he spends his annual leave on a book tour with Rossi that mostly consists of sight-seeing with his family.

Seaver was invited back to the team after making a name for herself in the Domestic Trafficking Task Force. She is no longer a ‘probationary’ agent.

Elle and Kate, however, do not return to the BAU. Instead, the two women establish a nonprofit that focuses on providing long-term care and support to victims of sex crimes. In their free time, the pair also teaches extensive self-defense programs.

Blake continues to be a full-time professor in Boston, although she is often joined at work by her adopted daughter, who happens to share both a name and an affinity for learning with her former coworker.

Hotch returned to Fredericksburg to be closer to friends and family again, and has stayed very close with the semi-retired Rossi.

Morgan had another son, who inspired him to establish a community center in the Fredericksburg area for at-risk youth. Him and his wife regularly foster teenagers and help them find their way after high school.

The long answer, starting from Truth or Dare… If the writers really wanted to do Truth or Dare, it could have gone one of two ways:

(Preferred, the way I would write it) It should have been Emily and JJ.

I never understood the fact that the unsub cared that JJ liked Spencer. He… doesn’t know them. Why would have cared? As far as he knows, the two of them were single or married to each other. He has no reason to believe that was a taboo at all.

Emily and JJ would make sense, as not only are they both women, but Emily is her boss. As much as I hate forced coming out stories, I think it would have made infinitely more sense.

(Alternatively) Either end with JJ dying (I really wouldn’t want this, but it is better than what they wrote) or JJ admitting that it was a lie.

JJ would end up having closure with the scene, reuniting with Will, and being happy.

This means Rossi’s wedding wouldn’t have been ruined by the awkward shitshow that happened. Him and Krystall would be happy. No more trauma would happen to Rossi, and he would decide that he enjoyed living the quiet life sometimes. Eventually, he would shift into a part-time consulting position.

As for Spencer’s ending, without the weird JJ bullshit, he would spend his time going to therapy about his mother and the HEAPS OF OTHER TRAUMA. I’d also cut Max’s entire storyline because it was stupid as shit. I would have Spencer spend that time, instead, dealing with his repressed trauma surrounding women.

He would work through his tendency to base his worth and purpose on the women in his life. Someone would FINALLY tell him that Maeve wasn’t his soulmate and he was idealizing the SHIT out of her, and that he is allowed to move on. He would get closure from Cat and recognize that they both played into each other, but that he also couldn’t base his life on her, either. I would want the story to end with him having hope for a future where he can be happy on his own.

From that point on, most of the stuff I would do would be related to wrapping up character’s lives. Emily would find love that was unrelated to work. Tara would focus more on publishing research and moving to eventually take Emily’s position one day. Luke and Garcia would have started flirting more openly and building a relationship way earlier (cut the girlfriend who’s name I literally don’t even remember). Matt would continue being an adorable happy bean. They did him well. I know they couldn’t bring Morgan or Hotch back, but I would have loved to hear about them, as well as Elle, Seaver, Kate, and Blake.

Basically, I would have fleshed out the ideas I listed in their taglines. I think the BAU is the kind of job you do for a long time, but eventually grow out of. I think it makes sense most of them would end up leaving or switching to part-time, especially those who showed extreme trauma responses to certain situations or had a robust family life.

I’m sure I have more thoughts, but I’ve talked for long enough, lmao!

[abortionado]

hi hello! a couple days ago i sent u an anon asking if i should write a fic that’s basically the prison spencer thing but with elle! anyways, i have only ever written original stories and was wondering if you could give me any tips? i’m kinda nervous hddgblvdasg

Yess!!

Sorry this has taken me a minute, I was gathering my thoughts, of which I have many!!

One thing that’s very, very important to me when I’m writing (and reading) is characterization! Keeping things in (or out of) character can totally make or break a story, so it’s important to understand a character when you start writing :)

A few important things to consider with characterization:

Speech! Let’s say, for the sake of the argument, that I am writing Spencer (but you can apply these tips to anyone).

Speech things that are unique to Spencer:

- He interrupts himself sometimes when he speaks (almost like he’s trying to catch up with the rate at which his brain is moving).

- He stammers a lot when he’s uncomfortable.

- He uses semi-archaic language that would sound unnatural in dialogue coming from anyone else (“it’s almost as though he were hiding something,” “when dealing with such a situation…” etc).

- He tends to ramble a lot (obviously).

- Hee trails off at the end of his sentences when he picks up on the fact that no one is listening to him (which, it’s worth noting he often does not).

These are all examples of small things I can pepper into my dialogue that will make Spencer sound more like Spencer, and will make it easier for my readers to hear his voice while reading what I wrote. I totally recommend rewatching a few episodes to see how Elle talks and what unique quirks she has that can make her sound more like her!

Body language/movement!

Here are a few nonverbal things I’ve noticed about Spencer that make it easier to bring him to life in writing:

- He sits lopsided, criss-cross, or with his knees propped up in chairs.

- He fidgets a lot. He’s rarely sitting completely still.

- He slouches. It’s the worst. I want to go full chiropractor on him.

- He tends to swallow really hard and press his lips together when he’s tense, aroused, or uncomfortable.

Keeping these quirks can help readers picture your character better while they read. :)

It’s a good idea to kind of pay attention to how a character sits, stands, walks, etc in a group, too, because that’s a great way to gauge their group dynamics!

Speaking of which:

Group dynamics/body language/etc.!

It’s super important that your readers understand the relationship your protagonist has with the other characters in your fic, and if you want it to mirror canon, you can pick up on these relationships by kind of watching their interactions onscreen and making note of:

1. Their body language in different situations.

2. How they speak to each of your other characters.

Continuing with the Spencer example:

- He typically has submissive body language in unfamiliar settings or when dealing with superiors. He keeps his shoulders tense, his legs together, and doesn’t look people who intimidate him in the eye. This is not just strangers—when he’s being reprimanded by Hotch or Rossi, he doesn’t go the imposing route that Derek and Emily tend to, but rather shrinks back and looks away.

- He feels protected and shielded by his teammates, and they don’t object to filling the roles of protectors. He usually enters an unfamiliar precinct or crime scene last and waits for someone else to introduce him. Hotch specifically (and also Morgan to a certain extent) tend to keep him behind them when they’re entering a dangerous situation.

So what about it?

I think these things tell us as viewers about his role on the team—he’s their colloquial baby brother, if we’re going with the family dynamic thing.

His teammates feel protective over him, and he feels comfortable falling into the role of “the protected” (which. Not everyone does, if you recall how Hotch reacted to the team trying to look out for him after Foyet).

Paying attention to how a character interacts in a group and then fleshing out that dynamic rather than trying to come up with everything on your own is HUGELY helpful!

Best of luck! I can’t wait to read this!

[battlingbooks]

book battles: geekerella

geekerella by ashley poston 

4/5

a lovely bundle of tropes tied together with a taste of fandom and lovable characters

[click to read more, there are no spoilers in this review!]

elle's favorite tv show is getting a reboot movie, but of course for the lead they cast a heart throb soap opera star that she can't stand. darien has landed the role of his dreams, but what if he can't fill the shoes of his predecessor? and also what if it's got a sprinkle of you've got mail?

geekerella had some extra hurdles to jump over for me. 1. it's a cinderella adaptation. 2. it's about fandom.

i love cinderella. i am not picky about cinderella— i have read and watched every adaptation i can get my grubby hands on and will find something to enjoy there. but that doesn't mean that i won't also rip it to absolute shreds if i don't think it does the story justice. and stories about fandom...i also love fandom. i've been part of it since i was eleven, but there's something about books about fandoms that never sit right with me. they always make me cringe and uncomfortable. maybe i'm too close it all, maybe fandom trends just move way too fast for a lot of authors to really capture the right feeling

so i went into geekerella cautious but needing a mood booster, and my mood was sufficiently boosted. i love me some tropes and this one was full of them in a way that was, while maybe not the most unique, were fun and engaging and felt like being wrapped up in nostalgia. i mean, it's a cinderella adaptation. we all know the beats. i knew which twists were coming and what was being foreshadowed, but it never took away from my enjoyment of the book, and in fact just stressed me out more because i knew people were messing up.

i loved all of elle and darien's dynamics, and their characters. even when i was frustrated with them (and boy did i get frustrated) i still understood their actions and motives for the most part. i thought their romance was sweet and believable, with a cute slow build that was incredibly satisfying. most of the side characters were fun and fleshed out, and some of my favorites in the story. while romance is a major drive, i'd say platonic relationships, found family, and community definitely are just as important to the story, which is exactly what i want in a book

there are some areas that i wish were explored more. cal for one, i know we were pressed for time but i'd have loved a little more depth to her. and the other thing i missed was more of darien's experience as a person of color in hollywood, acknowledging that, as a white person, that isn't exactly ashley poston's story to write. i think it could've been brought up a little bit more, since one of the few times the difficulties — opposed to just the awe darien had at being represented as a major character on screen — were mentioned was one of my favorite moments in the book:

“I’m Carmindor, and he’s not. No matter that I auditioned, that the casting director picked me, or that Calvin’s white and Carmindor definitely isn’t. Maybe none of that matters. Maybe Calvin Rolfe is the kind of person the fans would accept as their Federation Prince”

(i also think that that subplot could've been played out a little more). other than that my only gripe was some of the pop culture references. unavoidable in a book such as this, but i think i can safely say that some of these will be obsolete in ten years. star wars and star trek? safe. but as someone who watched nine full seasons of supernatural, i think i’m allowed to say that i don’t think the dean and cas reference doesn't hold the same significance or have the same longevity. but that's just me and not loving books filled with references

overall, geekerella was way more fun than i expected. more heartfelt than warranted and maybe i shed a tear or two. definitely would recommend for a fun read, especially if you're a cinderella junkie like me

[ghost-chance]

Fanfiction Recommendation: “Fat. Beautiful. Tasty. Ravenous” by MoofyKitten

Title: Fat. Beautiful. Tasty. Ravenous Author: MoofyKitten on AO3/FFN/Wattpad Fandom: BNHA/My Hero Academia Rating: M/MA for a reason. (Detailed sex in over half the posted chapters. Perv away only if you’re of age!) Pairing(s): Fat Gum [Toyomitsu Taishirou] / OFC Found on: AO3

Deets Expect some light spoilers and a mini-rant.

I am an unrepentant fanfiction addict; this is no secret. There are fics I read to wind down after a rough day, fics I read to put myself to sleep in hopes of pleasant dreams, and fics I read to tear my hear into teeny tiny fragments then build it back again better than before. THEN there are fics that don’t fit the mold – the kind that I become so invested in that I physically cannot put off reading that update. THIS, my lovelies, is one of THOSE fics, and it’s earned that place from the early chapters. This story has almost everything I need from a fanfiction, and I have a feeling the rest is just around the corner.

Let’s get the basics out of the way.

The Spelling, grammar, and punctuation are all excellent – I have yet to notice a single error, so either the author and her betas are a force to be reckoned with or I’m just getting so sucked into the story an elephant could sit on me and I’d never notice. The formatting is effective and easy to follow, and the chapters have all been of a nice meaty length, perfect for plowing through in a single sitting only to realize you missed a meal and it’s time for bed and your brain is hopelessly lost in ship-land daydreaming about what’s up next. ...wait, that’s just me? My bad.

Syntax – This one requires an entire section of its own. The fact that I’m having to actually think about how well the author’s varying their syntax says they’re effing nailing it. If a story’s syntax is at all static or the sentence even the slightest bit predictable, it’s easy enough for me to recall it because I’m mentally rearranging the bits that irk or don’t impress me as I read. I can’t even get through a bleepin’ news article or an online recipe without itching to push what I’m reading up to the standards my professors held. It sounds harsh, I know, but please take  my word for it when I say I’m not criticizing anyone. Suffice it to say, if my classes did anything, they made editing so instinctive I can’t turn it off. Confession: I have never found myself rearranging a single phrase in this masterpiece. Arguing with the characters? Encouraging the characters? Begging, pleading, and berating the characters for breaking my heart time and time again by stopping just short of the sugary fluff I can just smell right around the corner? Oh, Hell yes. I’ve done all of that and more, but I’ve never found myself with the urge to grab my red pen and strike out or scooch even a single word.

Something that strikes me about this story above others I’ve given the same rating (Spoiler: there are VERY FEW!) is the sheer variety of the scenes and environments. Sounds silly? Probably, but romances often develop a certain amount of location stagnation, and I know from personal experience how difficult it can be to bust through those patterns. (I mean, the majority of “A New Lease on Life” takes place in the Lair in some room, most commonly a bedroom, the lab, or the kitchen.) This story takes the couple off of familiar and ‘safe’ turf like homes and offices and drags them through countless other places without regard for their sense of comfort. Each scene feels real and multi-dimensional and directly or indirectly influences the characters’ behavior and reactions. It’s awesome. That’s a sign the author has done her people-watching!

Now, about that OC. I’ll readily admit, in the first chapter, I had my reservations. At first glance she seemed shallow, obsessed with appearances and her own view of the world, and – strange as it may sound – too skinny and too attractive. Yes, there’s some personal bias involved there, but the majority was practical rather than emotional. BUT! Because the writer of this story is the same who unleashed the beautiful Kacchako torment Hot-Headed upon me without a single breath of remorse, I gave Aiko a chance. Sure enough, my first impressions were entirely incorrect. The things that bothered me about Aiko? They all had explanation or purpose, and she’s turned out to be a pretty well-fleshed out character...pun intended. As the story progresses we’re seeing sides of her that I hoped for but didn’t expect and each chapter leaves me wondering what we’ll learn next.

Romantic connection. First word: “OOFTA.” The second word, I’d spell out, but it’s a shrill, wordless, begging whine that I cannot translate into English for the life of me. This pairing starts without any sort of romantic connection; it skips straight to the shenanigans and leaves hope that the snugglebunnies will follow eventually. Friends…if you’ve read any of my writing before, you’ll know that I. LIVE. For. The. FLUFF. The awkward mush, the sweaty palms, the am-I-gonna-barf-or-do-I-have-a-crush, the absolutely tooth-rotting sweetness capable of sending a reader headlong into diabetes with a dopey grin and heart eyes - they’re my crack and I love them. This story started with no fluff but it’s been slowly developing in the background. It’s an entirely new situation for me! I feel like I’ve gotten used to eating my dessert first then digging into an equally sweet dinner without a moment to cleanse my palate. This story? It’s like gorging on smoky, meaty St. Louie barbecue for weeks on end with literally just a smear of something sweet as an afterthought. Mind. Frackin’. BLOWN. It turns out I’m more masochistic as a reader than I ever suspected.

Another relationship I want to cover is the building friendship between Aiko and Fat Gum – because nope, she has not managed to mentally connect the half-starved Taishiro she’s climbing like a tree with the big-and-beautiful Fat Gum who owns the agency. Yep. She thinks she’s boning Fat’s beefy little brother. It’d be funny if my heart wasn’t whining for fluff. While frustrating to fluff-starved readers, Aiko not knowing the beefcake and the brother are one and the same provides an intriguing and natural way for her to build an actual relationship with him. This means none of the fetishistic bullarkey rampant in other stories pairing plus-sized male characters with OCs.

What sort of fetishistic bullarkey am I talking about? To name a handful: I love you so lose weight. I love you because you’re big. I’m fat too so it’s okay if we’re together. Blatant fat-fetish disguised as romance. Fat character’s life absolutely revolves around food and it’s gross/nvm it’s okay. Lastly, OC’s only chance at being loved by fat character is feeding them. Maybe to thin folks those don’t sound negative but to those of us who fit the description? NOPE. These don’t make healthy relationships. Using these can turn a well-meaning pairing toxic and frankly, it tends to piss off those of us who – GASP! - accept ourselves no matter our size. These...tropes, let’s call them, have made me hesitant to even try fiction involving plus sized male characters because I’ve been let down so many times. Finding plus sized female characters is easy, especially OCs, but appreciation for the chonky bois isn’t nearly as common. They need love too, dammit!

Ahem. Rant over.

As mentioned before, I ain’t seen any of that crap in this story. This author is treating Fat Gum like she would any other character instead of focusing on the fat. I wish with all my heart that more authors were capable of (and willing to) do the same with Fat Gum, and with other plus sized male characters. I can’t even put into words how much it means to me that she’s doing such a fantastic job portraying a character type that so many writers bungle without ever realizing it. I’ve needed this story my entire life and never realized it wasn’t there; I shudder to think of how long I might have been waiting for it if this author never found the inspiration to do so.

If I don’t shut up now, I fear I never will. I love this story that much. Moving on.

Warnings

Explicit sexual content – do NOT read this around your family unless you have a stronger will than I and can do so without creeping them out. (According to my husband, when I read smut I “look like a demented vulture staring down at a half-flattened ‘possum waiting for it to take its last breath,” complete with hunched shoulders and heavy breathing. Flattering, I know.) The smut scenes, while not my usual cuppa tea, wreck. My brain? Broke. Chapter four’s budding romance? It’s goin’ on my headstone ‘cuz I’m dead.

There are mentions of human trafficking and the future may include more about it. Slut-shaming comes up a few times because men are assholes and asshole exes are the ultimate assholes. Situational fat-shaming and lack of body confidence come up as Aiko comes to recognize Fat Gum for who he is instead of what he is; on the other end of the tag, Fat is also doing a lot of it to himself even when it isn’t spelled out. You can see it behind some of his reasoning in his POV chapters and since the writer is kickass at portraying thoughts and feelings without ever breaking out of restricted POV, you can also see hints in other chapters. That said, if the shaming was really bad without any redeeming purpose, I’d have noped my way right out’a that fic and never looked back. It has a purpose, and it’s not that bad. Give it a chance.

Recommendation level

This story lacks purple prose and excessive fluff, and I haven’t seen any signs of the pop culture, literary, and music references I love so dearly, but the rating remains the same:

Ten. Out. of. Farking. TEN!

YES! I’ve finally found another 10/10!!! A quick reminder for anyone who’s managed to not see my other reading recc posts, I don’t even need both hands to count off all the 10/10s I’ve read. Congratulations, Ms. MoofyKitten – your story rocks my world and I have an addiction I do not care to shake!

[coffeebased]

I won’t be the first or last person to marvel at how quickly February whizzed past, especially in comparison to January’s gauntlet. To be completely fair to February, it had the ongoing COVID-19 international epidemic, as well as the ABS-CBN shutdown crisis, the anti-terrorism bill, the reminder that historical revisionism re: the Marcos dictatorship is alive and well… and those were just the actual headlines.

I must digress before I spiral.

I read 12 books in February, half of which were newly released in this month. I’ve split my post up into three parts like I did last month: one-shots, parts of series, and re-reads. It seems to be working well for me.

  Prosper’s Demon by K.J. Parker

The unnamed and morally questionable narrator is an exorcist with great follow-through and few doubts. His methods aren’t delicate but they’re undeniably effective: he’ll get the demon out—he just doesn’t particularly care what happens to the person.

Prosper of Schanz is a man of science, determined to raise the world’s first philosopher-king, reared according to the purest principles. Too bad he’s demonically possessed.

After I read Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City last year, I knew that I wanted more by Parker. I considered delving into his back catalog, which I still will probably do, but I saw that he was releasing a new book in Feb 2020, so I jumped on that first. Prosper’s is exactly up my alley, what with the discussions of morality and the greater good with demons, and quite a bit of engineering. I’d admired the voice of the main character in Sixteen because he was dry and very caught up in doing what needed to be done, and the main character has the same appealing values. It’s a short read, but it sticks in the teeth and fills the belly.

  Paladin’s Grace by T. Kingfisher

Stephen’s god died on the longest day of the year…

Three years later, Stephen is a broken paladin, living only for the chance to be useful before he dies. But all that changes when he encounters a fugitive named Grace in an alley and witnesses an assassination attempt gone wrong. Now the pair must navigate a web of treachery, beset on all sides by spies and poisoners, while a cryptic killer stalks one step behind…

Kingfisher, also known as Ursula Vernon, tends to write capable and damaged characters falling in with each other and foiling plots. She also tends to write paladins very well, which is a personal delight. I always enjoy a Kingfisher story, because the characters do the sensible thing more often than not, and she deals with trauma very compassionately, from what I suspect is a personal viewpoint. Her books are also usually very funny, very disturbing, and no-nonsense, scratching that Terry Pratchett Witch itch when I miss him very much. Grace is along the same lines, with a good solid HEA that leaves everyone, including the reader, satisfied.

  Kindred, a Graphic Novel Adaptation by Octavia Butler, adapted by Damian Duffy and illustrated by John Jennings

I lost an arm on my last trip home.

Home is a new house with a loving husband in 1970s California that suddenly transformed in to the frightening world of the antebellum South.

Dana, a young black writer, can’t explain how she is transported across time and space to a plantation in Maryland. But she does quickly understand why: to deal with the troubles of Rufus, a conflicted white slaveholder–and her progenitor.

Her survival, her very existence, depends on it.

This searing graphic-novel adaptation of Octavia E. Butler’s science fiction classic is a powerfully moving, unflinching look at the violent disturbing effects of slavery on the people it chained together, both black and white–and made kindred in the deepest sense of the word.

Kindred, the novel, is on my Next 20s list. I had meant to read it before I read the GN, but picked up the graphic novel based on a friend’s recommendation. The graphic novel is searingly painful, and I enjoyed reading it, but there are parts of it that feel slightly disjointed. I’m not sure if it’s because of the time travel, or if it’s an adaptation problem. It made me want to read the novel immediately, which is what I am reading right now. I don’t think that I’ll be able to properly synthesise my thoughts about this book until I’ve read the original.

    Mirror: The Mountain and The Nest by Emma Rios and Hwei Lim

A mysterious asteroid hosts a collection of strange creatures – man-animal hybrids, mythological creatures made flesh, guardian spirits, cursed shadows – and the humans who brought them to life. But this strange society exists in an uneasy truce, in the aftermath of uprisings seeking freedom and acceptance, that have only ended in tragedy. As the ambitious, the desperate and the hopeful inhabitants of the asteroid struggle to decide their shared fate, a force greater than either animal or human seems to be silently watching the conflict, waiting for either side to finally answer the question: what is worthy of being human?

Recommended to me by a new friend who’d heard I was into sci-fi and graphic novels, who absolutely hit the nail on the head with this rec. The art is beautiful, dreamy, and layered, and it keeps you tied to the story as the authors build what is a magnificent construction in your head. The authors do some really lovely things with timeskips that I have no idea how to talk about without spoiling anything, and I only regret that we weren’t able to linger through the second volume. I’m don’t know why there isn’t more of Mirror, but I do appreciate how they tied everything up as well as they could in two volumes. Looking forward to more like this in the future.

  Heartstopper: Volume Three by Alice Oseman

In this volume we’ll see the Heartstopper gang go on a school trip to Paris! Not only are Nick and Charlie navigating a new city, but also telling more people about their relationship AND learning more about the challenges each other are facing in private…

Meanwhile Tao and Elle will face their feelings for each other, Tara and Darcy share more about their relationship origin story, and the teachers supervising the trip seem… rather close…?

You can read all of Heartstopper and its future updates here. Heartstopper is a lovely slice of life comic, PG13 at best, that really takes me back to my own mid-teens. The story is centered around the developing relationship of two young boys, Charlie and Nick, and it really deals with it respectfully. It tackles a lot of teen issues without being too preachy about it, which is probably the least inspiring thing I could have written about it, and integrates it deftly into the story. The art style is adorable and really complements the sweet story. This volume, just released this month, revolves around a class trip to Paris, and there are some shenanigans that you’ll have to read for yourself.

  Sixty Six Book 2 by Russell Molina and Mikey Marchan

Kuwento ni Celestino Cabal. Kabebertdey niya lang. Mayroon siyang natanggap na regalo na ngayo’y unti-unti niyang binubuksan. Ika nga ng matatanda, “Huli man daw at magaling, maihahabol din.”

The story of Celestino Cabal. His birthday has just passed. He received a gift that he now gets to open, bit by bit. As the old saying goes, “Better late than never.”

This is the synopsis of the first book. There isn’t an official synopsis for the second book online, and I hesitate to write my own. Sixty Six Book 2 was released during February Komiket, and since I had been waiting for it for a few years, I had to go to the event even though everyone’s been iffy about going into crowded spaces due to COVID-19. I was excited to read this but unfortunately, I don’t think it capitalised on the foundation set in Book 1. The artist was different, and I admired their work on a technical level, as well as their humorous use of WASAK as a sound effect. I don’t know if there’ll be a third book, but the author has made themselves a little leeway for that possibility at the end of this volume.

  Thank You, Jeeves, Jeeves #5 by P.G. Wodehouse

The odds are stacked against Chuffy when he falls head over heels for American heiress Pauline Stoker. Who better to help him win her over but Jeeves, the perfect gentleman’s gentleman. But when Bertie, Pauline’s ex-fiance finds himself caught up in the fray, much to his consternation, even Jeeves struggles to get Chuffy his fairy-tale ending.

This book was in my next 20s! So I’m accomplishing one of my 2020 reading goals, yay! But hot damn there is some racist language in this book. Every time I was finally sinking into the story boom! Racist language! And I know that it was because of the time it was published, like I know that academically, but oof. That aside, the story is solid. It’s a comedy of manners AND errors with Jeeves ex machina, as per usual, but this is the first full Jeeves novel I’ve read, the rest were short story collections, and it was good to see the characters take more space. It certainly made the comedic payoff a lot stronger.

But oof.

  Die Vol. 2: Split the Party by Kieron Gillen, Stephanie Hans, and Clayton Cowles

No one can escape DIE until everyone agrees to go home. Or rather, no one can escape DIE until everyone who is alive agrees to go home. The second arc of the commercial and critical hit of bleakly romantic fantasy fiction starts to reveal the secrets of the world, and our heroes’ pasts. Yes, they can’t escape DIE. They also can’t escape themselves. Collects issues #6-10 of DIE

CHARACTERISATION. There’s a lot more breathing space in this newly-released volume of Die and I live for that! The first volume was a lot of the characters running from one place to the next and we, as readers, were being given the sense of setting. But volume two, you can feel Gillen just finally branching out and hitting us with their joined histories. I want to see more of how these older players will be dealing with the actions of their teenage selves, and I think the third volume will really show what the comic’s capable of. I’m really looking forward to that.

  False Value, Rivers of London #8 by Ben Aaronovitch

Peter Grant is facing fatherhood, and an uncertain future, with equal amounts of panic and enthusiasm. Rather than sit around, he takes a job with émigré Silicon Valley tech genius Terrence Skinner’s brand new London start up – the Serious Cybernetics Company.

Drawn into the orbit of Old Street’s famous ‘silicon roundabout’, Peter must learn how to blend in with people who are both civilians and geekier than he is. Compared to his last job, Peter thinks it should be a doddle. But magic is not finished with Mama Grant’s favourite son.

Because Terrence Skinner has a secret hidden in the bowels of the SCC. A technology that stretches back to Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage, and forward to the future of artificial intelligence. A secret that is just as magical as it technological – and just as dangerous.

The last Rivers of London book finished the first major arc of the series. It was a succession of explosions contained in a novel. So I was wondering what kind of tone Aaronovitch would be setting with False Value. Would it be all action, immediately? A filler story? I just wanted more Peter Grant. It could literally be an entire novel of Peter going to America to visit the Smithsonian museums and I would be on that.

False Value is a slow story but does a lot of table setting for the next arc. While the case of the book feels very small and contained, you can see that they’re being pulled into the larger world of magic. I did have a hard time with the first few chapters, but I’m not sure if this is a problem of the book, or because I sailed straight into it after the Jeeves book I had been reading.

I finished the book too quickly and now I have to wait for the next one. Bother.

    The Thief, The Queen’s Thief #1 by Megan Whalen Turner

The king’s scholar, the magus, believes he knows the site of an ancient treasure. To attain it for his king, he needs a skillful thief, and he selects Gen from the king’s prison. The magus is interested only in the thief’s abilities.

What Gen is interested in is anyone’s guess. Their journey toward the treasure is both dangerous and difficult, lightened only imperceptibly by the tales they tell of the old gods and goddesses.

It’s March now, so my friends and I are starting on the second book in our read-along of The Queen’s Thief. I wrote last month that I was worried about how my friends would take the series, but really I needn’t have thought about it at all. The book stands well on its own, and my friends all got into the story. I hesitate to say that they loved it because there are four more books in the series, but they were definitely into it. Some of them had a hard time sticking to the two chapters a day schedule because Turner’s prose really just pulls you in.

I still love Gen, and I’m excited to relive his character growth.

  The Farthest Shore, The Earthsea Cycle #3

Darkness threatens to overtake Earthsea. As the world and its wizards are losing their magic, Ged — powerful Archmage, wizard, and dragonlord — embarks on a sailing journey with highborn young prince, Arren. They travel far beyond the realm of death to discover the cause of these evil disturbances and to restore magic to a land desperately thirsty for it.

I’m reading Tehanu, the last book of the Cycle, now, and I’m scared of ending the series. It’s given me so much joy and peace these past few months. I slipped right into it after finishing The Farthest Shore, remembering that they overlap slightly, and that’s done a lot to soften the blow of the third book. Re-reading Farthest at this age, when things have been losing their colour and flavour, where I have to fight harder to keep myself honest and keep myself ‘good’, hits differently. I’ve been recovering, and the bitterness that Ged has over the loss of his mastery is too real to me. Of course, it’s a good book, but it hurts.

—

All right, that’s it for now. I’ll probably be popping in to post a little about Komiket and some other things I’ve been reading next week or so, so please keep a weather eye out for that next post!

February Reading Round-Up I won't be the first or last person to marvel at how quickly February whizzed past, especially in comparison to January's gauntlet.

[koressecretidentity]

A new future - Thomas Sharpe x Reader

Warnings: Fluff, bad writing, slightly heated moment at the end

Word count: 2229

Characters: Thomas Sharpe, Lucille Sharpe, (y/n) (l/n), (y/n)’ parents

Pairing: Thomas Sharpe x Reader

Reader gender: Female

A/N: English is still not my first language and I do have two beta readers but they are Dutch too so if there are any grammar mistakes, please forgive me. I also hope the usage of language is correct.

GIF is never mine unless stated otherwise masterlist

Nerves wrecked through (y/n)’s body. She had never met this man in her life before, how was she supposed to act in love and content if it would turn to be everything she feared.

Everything seemed to slow down. It was everything she wanted yet everything she feared. A marriage. That’s what she had always dreamed of. An arranged marriage. That’s what she had feared for so long.

Her father had decided on an arranged marriage if (y/n) couldn’t find a fitting

husband herself before she turned 18 and her 18th birthday came much sooner than she had appreciated.

So here she stood. (h/c) locks falling over her shoulders while other locks were neatly put up in a bun. A few pearls decorated her hair and shined brightly in the light that bathed on her back. (e/c) eyes met her father’s who held his arm up expectantly for her to hold. He’d walk her down the aisle and towards her new lover. Or the one that was supposed to become her lover.. So her parents hoped.

“It happened with us too,” her mother had said, “We fell in love while we were on our honeymoon and look where that brought us.”

Well apparently that had led to her birth and her own arranged marriage. (y/n) had heard so many stories of women who were basically a prisoner in their own house, stuck to the chores and the kids while the husband was out to work, earn money. And while that wasn’t new for her, she feared that her husband would be someone who wouldn’t give her one ounce of freedom.

For years (y/n) dreamed of such freedom and she had hoped her parents would’ve showed mercy and let her travel the world, explore new countries and everything. But that didn’t seem to be the case.

As (y/n) and her father made it down the aisle, the bride couldn’t help but notice that most guests were ones she knew or at least had seen once. Except for one woman. Dark long hair fell down her back and the look she held in her eyes was rather cold. It send small shivers up (y/n)’s spine. It was like that woman didn’t seem happy at all that her male relative was getting married.

Well, (y/n) figured it had to be a relative of the man at the end of the aisle for she herself couldn’t recall meeting that woman and she was sure she’d remember a cold look as hers

“Don’t stare, keep walking.” Her father demanded her and it was only then that (y/n) noticed that she had hesitantly stopped walking for a few seconds to take in the woman’s looks. She quickly made her way further down and then her hand met very soft ones. Probably the softest ones she had ever felt.

Then she had to turn her face to look at the priest that made them say their blessing.

Due to the thick veil covering her face, she didn’t get a clear look of her soon-to-be husband but she had seen the outlines of his face and she felt lucky that she didn’t get an ugly one. It sounded a little rude but she’d have to survive with that man for the rest of her life whether she wanted to or not.

So when the priest pronounced them husband and wife – the whole room cheered happily – and the veil got lifted, her breath hitched as her (e/c) irises met gorgeous blue ones. The man – Thomas if she recalled correctly – had the softest look in them and he cupped her face thus gently that she could’ve sworn that man thought she was fragile and breakable.

And then his lips were on her own. They felt a little rough in contrast to her own soft ones but she didn’t mind one bit. She even felt the fireworks every lovesick woman talked about when they kissed their lover.

Way too soon to her liking, they pulled away again and Thomas wrapped on arm around her waist, holding her close as they made there way down. Both smiling happily and when they were alone for a few minutes she heard him speak clearly for the first time.

Sure she had heard his voice at the altar but she hadn’t really paid attention. She had  noticed his accent was British though and that might’ve explained why he acted like such a gentleman.

“I’m such a lucky man,” Thomas whispered while now cupping her face again and leaning his forehead against hers, “I know we barely met but I can’t help it but feel for you.”

Well.. Now (y/n) at least knew he felt the fireworks too when they kissed.

“I understand that when we take our leave to my home country and when we get there you’d rather sleep on your own, in your own room and maybe even on our honeymoon. I know we’ve never met before and I shan’t force you into a more intimate relationship than we already have-“

“I don’t mind,” she interrupted suddenly and tilted her head a little, her lips brushing against his as she spoke, “Pardon me for the interruption but I don’t mind at all. I’ve never felt more safe with any other man than you and I am willing to give this a chance.”

Thomas smiled brightly, his lips still curled upwards as he pressed his lips once again against hers.

It was days before they went on their honeymoon. The newly wed travelled around the world and made various stops. But never once did they make love to one another. Mostly because they had to get to know each other still and let it build up to a healthy relationship before they could do such things. Despite (y/n)’s parents constantly asking whether or not she succeeded in getting pregnant. Whenever they knew where the couple was staying, they send letters that way with the same question and every time they did, (y/n) and Thomas send one back with the same explanation over and over again.

It had gotten thus much out of hand that (y/n) one night after receiving yet another letter – they were in Paris at the time – constantly kept apologising for her parents and kept on assuring Thomas she did not want to force him in such things much unlike them. Thomas had laughed good-heartedly and pulled her into his embrace. He assured her how it was alright and that he understood more than anyone.

He had gotten private letters too. Ones he hid from (y/n) and more often than not didn’t even open or respond to them. They were from Lucille, asking when he’d come back to get back to their usual routine.. A routine he didn’t want to repeat again. A routine he wanted to save (y/n) from for he had fallen in love with her. A routine that was thus disturbing he couldn’t tell (y/n).

“Whose is that?” (y/n)’s soft voice rang through the quiet room and her head was tilted down a bit, her eyebrows were shot up a little bit with curiosity.

Thomas had been reading a letter from Lucille for the first time in a while again and it was safe to say his sister became annoyed with the delay of the plans. Her handwriting wasn’t as neat as before and her words were less careful must one open up a letter.

“Lucille..” he found himself ready to confess everything. Everything he had done wrong. Every single piece of his sins.

“Come sit down with me and take a look at this letter,” he placed the letter next to his leg and held his arms out for his wife. (y/n) took his hands and let him pull her into his lap while she picked up the letter. As she read it, he kissed the exposed flesh of her shoulder softly, eyes closed as if that would make the truth less painful.

I’m tired Thomas.

Tired of waiting. You better come home soon again. I’ve been waiting long enough for the two of you. The poison is even starting to loose it’s power gradually. We better let her sign the papers and then kill her instantly. I took care of her parents, they are dead.

You better hurry up too, Thomas, because you know I will not harm you in any way if I can help it. I love you too dearly for that, but my patience is growing thin.

I expect to see you in three days.

Love Lucille

(y/n)’s eyes widened as she read the letter. She figured already who Lucille meant by ‘her’. No doubt it was her.

“And you.. Want to kill me too?” she whispered sadly. For some reason her eyes couldn’t leave the paper and Thomas had to place his hand under her chin and turn her head to make her look at him. He shook his head with a determined look in his eyes.

“My love, why do you think we’ve been away this long? The day we were gone, Lucille killed your parents so you inherited the riches but I don’t want to go back to the same old dance,”

Thomas sighed and pressed his lips against hers for a few seconds, surprised to find her kissing him back.

“There is so much more to this story than you think. But for now, I want you to know.. I want to stay here in Paris. We can buy a nice house, any house you’d like. We can start a family again and.. If you’ll still have me.. maybe grow old together.”

He saw the hesitation in her eyes. He couldn’t blame her. After everything he had done, he wouldn’t dare to begin a future with him either if he were in her place.

“First explain to me what exactly is going on.” She whispered after a few beats of silence.

Thomas nodded slowly and tucked her head underneath his own so he wouldn’t have to look at her as he confessed every single sin.

He told her how they killed their own mother in the bathtub and how had started something new. A mistake he could punish himself for every day. They had a baby but something was wrong with that baby and it died soon after Lucille had given birth to it. Or died.. Lucille had it killed.

He told her how he used several woman to their advantage the same way that they had been planning to use (y/n). It was all for an invention and Allerdale Hall.

After he had told her every single piece of his past he found himself in tears. He felt incredibly guilty and while he didn’t dare to look at his loved one when she pulled her head from under his. She turned her body, straddling his lap that should’ve led to intercourse if it weren’t for the moment. Soft hands cupped his head and her beautiful voice called out his name as her thumbs wiped away his tears.

“It’s.. It’s not okay what you have done but I am proud of you. I am proud that you dared to confess it all to me and told me the truth. Thomas I love you. More than anything. I forgive you for what you have done. I do want to start a family with you here, in Paris. We’ll go looking for a house tomorrow.. How does that sound?” she suggested. Thomas looked her in the eyes. Scanning them for any sign of disgust but he could find none. In fact, they were filled with love and adoration. For him.

“Please stop crying,” she whispered and pulled his head against her chest, holding him closely, “It breaks my heart to see you this sad.”

He calmed down, focussing on how her hand raked through his hair, massaged his scalp gently. He focussed on her heartbeat and her steady breathing. It calmed him down.

When the tears had also stopped he looked up and kissed her passionately, turning them around so he was on top of her.

His hands were at her sides, holding her close and he pulled away a little,

“I love you (y/n).. Please let me make love to you.”

A nod was the response that gave him the consent he needed and soon her kissed her again. Lips hot against hers, tongues in a passionate battle. Only breaking away when they needed air. His lips though didn’t stop moving. They went down her neck, kissing gently, showing how much he loved her as his hips rolled against hers in need of friction.

All the layers of her skirt were pulled up to her midsection. His head was in between her thighs as he kissed her gently close to her most intimate flower. Blue eyes never leaving the sight of her face as it contorted into an expression of pleasure.

Once they both were warmed up enough, he lined up and gently penetrated her. Careful so he wouldn’t hurt her too much for it was her first time.

Through the whole night, they made love to one another.

The next day, their life begun for real by looking for a fitting place to settle down together and live their own lives. No Lucille – for her letters were thrown away as soon as they got one – and no more lies.. A new future.

[indiacater]

Hiya!! I'm new to the trr fandom. Can you recommend some writers that you think are worth reading? Thanks ❤️

Let me break this down so it will be easier to navigate.

Read at you own discretion: (Seriously, the people listed here either have written stories that require a support group or will be getting a support group for their written content)

@drakewalkerwhipped

Her Autumn Blues story is literally the definition of glutton for punishment. Last weekend I started a support group because her latest chapter set really set her readers off. If you choose to read that story first read her Supposed to be series first. Also her polyamorous stories are very highly recommended.

@bobasheebaby

She is the Queen of Darkness and she takes great pleasure in that. Some of her stories I do need to warn you to read at your own risk. Like her From the wolves series and her Consequences of a fling. Her Crimson Rain series is wild.

Highly recommended

@ao719

The fandoms Queen of Angst. Her stories always involve drama. She could write full fluff to save her own life. She has been called the incarnate of the evil queen Regina. Aside from that she's a great writer and is apart of the CGW girls (Cordonians gone Wild)

@leelee10898

Another of the CGW girls. Hers are very Leo focused though, but do take place mainly in the TRR world. She's is literally Leo's Princess and her stories will back that up.

@speedyoperarascalparty

Another one of the CGW girls and Drake's little kitten or Drake's kitty mama. 🤣😘🤣. Trust me when you read her stories you'll understand that. Yeah her stories are Drake centered. Their sweet and funny, and sometimes a bit dark, but worth reading

@hopefulmoonobject

Her series Finding the one is beyond amazing. I can't stop reading it. It's so good. She and @ownworldresident collaborated on another story called Something Unexpected. Its amazing.

@ownworldresident

Her stories are amazing. Her series the Mark is on the edge of your seat amazing. There is also her first series You, the lion. Like @hopefulmoonobject is a shifter style story so if that doesn't draw you in I don't know what will

@elles-choices

Her TRR stories will stir up emotions in you. I'm saying that's a good thing. Her Godsend series is going into its third installment and if its anything like the first two it's going to a rollercoaster of emotions.

@cocomaxley

Another of the CGW girls. Her stories involve Rashad. In canon he's basically a background character but in these stories he's more fleshed out. The stories involving him are hilariously fun and it just leaves you smiling.

@riseandshinelittleblossom

The CGW group would not be complete with someone who loves Maxwell to the Max! Yeah that was corny, but I'm not changing it. Seriously her Maxwell stories are sweet and fluffy and very racy. She writes for other characters but Maxwell is always slipped in.

@syphaxs

If you love stories that involve drama, messy love triangles and overwhelming erotic scenes then her stories are what you need. Her Between a rock and a hard place series is award worthy and there is her Price of Love series is filled with angst, sexual tension, smut,drama. Seriously it's off the charts. She has another story called the Flower Prince and its amazing but she has yet to repost it (hint, hint). I encourage you to read it if she does.

@whenyourheartskipsabeat

If you're looking for wholesome, tug at the heartstrings angst and drama, then her stories will give you that. In a short amount of time she's become one of the more well known writers in this fandom and it's very deserved.

@a--world--apart--fic

Okay if you enjoy period pieces, love triangles and forbidden romance then this story will give you that and so much more. Written by the crack ship queen herself @boneandfur and another writer whose sadly no longer active on the platform. She bringing the story back with another writer, so in the meantime you can catch up on that and read some of @boneandfur stories. Her stories will throw you for a loop.

@blackcatkita

Her Consequences Of Secrets series is everything. Its erotic, dramatic, heartbreaking, rage inducing. So much emotions that will make you dizzy. Her drabbles and one shots are worth reading as well.

@katurrade

Queen of the Slow Burn. She has turn tension fueled slow burns into an artform, where when the characters are finally together you feel literal relief. Her mobster story serves as the example. Which had become so popular that other writers made their own mob style stories. I mentioned @bobasheebaby Crimson Rain, it was inspired by that story. (Again read at your own risk)

@barbaravalentino

Her stories are mostly erotic with a bit of fluff mixed in. They are the perfect stories to read if you just want to read something passionate.

@umccall71

Her stories are wild. Especially her Little Black Book series which takes you around the world and around the bedroom. 😉😚😂

@alicars

Her stories are sweet and heavily dramatic. Like her lies and love series. Her one shots are lighthearted and a joy to read. So you get the best of both there.

@sawyeroakleyscowboyhat

Currently has and ongoing series that featured Liam and tackles the stigma of wanting children, and the insecurities that having them can have.

@blackcoffee85

If you're looking for fluffy drabbles that will brighten your day then this talented writer gives you that in abundance. She's amazing.

@walkerismychoice

Her TRR stories are mostly NSFW, so I whole heartedly encourage you to read them. Her Queen of my Heart series is so random because it mimics the bachelor in a way and there so much more there.

@mrsnazario1223

Her stories don't come without warning. Her TRR stories are dark as abuse and murder, and manipulation, but they are just so good. I do recommend.

For now those are some writers I recommend. Hope you enjoy reading them. And I just also want to say

[readingwebcomics]

Analyzing Questionable Content: Pages 101-150

While I’m all for body positivity Dora, that’s kind of public nudity. Most cities tend to frown on that. Although this IS your personal business you’re doing this in… I wonder what the law for that is? Like, do you have to pay for a permit to allow public nudity in a location you own? Or do city laws take precedent?

…I’m thinking about this too much, let’s move on.

Hey, it’s Raven again! Hi, Raven! And you thought I was kidding when I said the no-name character who showed up for all of one comic would come back as a regular character. This is part of the reason why I enjoy Jeph’s style – he can, and does, very easily take bit players he made for a single gag or to fulfill one role and flesh them out if he thinks they can serve a purpose or if they entertain him enough. The most famous example of this will be roughly 2900 comics from now so… holy shit, I just realized Bubbles is 1000 comics old! That’s crazy awesome!

Right. Sorry, some of you might not understand a word of what I just typed. Nevermind, moving right along.

Here we see the beginnings of Dora’s next character arc, if you’d like to call it that. I do have some questions about this as far as the in-universe time-scale goes, but I’ll touch on that later. Faye also invites Dora along to hang with her and Marten to indoctrinate her to the Hipster Lifestyle™ to serve two purposes: First, that their relationship as a boss and employee is relaxed enough that they’re comfortable doing this, telling us a lot about the way these two work together and the way this coffee shop is run without saying a lot. Second, this serves as the perfect in for Jeph to incorporate Dora into the main cast. From this point forward, Dora becomes a main secondary character, arguably a main character in her own right. The fact that she takes on a much more prominent role in this next batch of 50 comics and skyrockets to fourth-most frequent character is proof enough of that on its own, but we’ll touch on all that when we get to the data analysis at the end of this post.

Back with Marten, Steve is encouraging him to apologize to Faye. He offers a… novel solution to keep Marten from being the center of attention.

Seriously, the sheer, raw confidence on this guy alone is attractive as hell. And I’m only mildly ashamed to admit that to myself!

I hope you understand why I don’t need to explain why I should, nay, must provide this panel without any other context.

Same deal with this one.

And this comic puts me into hysterics every time I read it. I swear, this isn’t going to devolve into me just posting comics and saying “this is funny” or whatever. I just really, really like this progression of events right here. I wish we could see more of this Marten more often in modern QC – able to read a room quick enough to defuse the situation with absurdity or dry wit. It reminds us that, despite all evidence to the contrary, the boy does have a spine somewhere in that body.

And as immediate contrast, we jump here. This? This isn’t funny. This makes me not like Faye. This is actual abuse. And I know I talked about in the last post how including Faye retaliating against Marten physically and actually showing it happen in the comic rather than implying it with backfilling is the better method of storytelling but… Maybe it’s because she created a visible bruise, maybe it’s because of how candid she is about it, maybe it’s because of my own personal fucked-up past relationships (which admittedly never got physical but still), but this feels infinitely different than the Faye Jeph is trying to set up. He’ll have to do a damn good job in later comics to win me back to thinking Faye’s a likable character again.

Also Dora is definitely a woman of her word. I hope the coffee shop was empty right then. Actually, I hope it’s been a slow day from the point Faye started chasing her around with a dildo. Otherwise news might travel for all of the wrong reasons.

Faye tries to invite Dora over for festivities both as a friendly gesture because she expects her boss doesn’t get out much and because she wants to drag her from the dark abyss of Goth into the light of Hipster, only for her to turn the invitation down.

Not that it’s going to deter Faye, of course. Also, QC is in wide screen now. I have NO idea how that’s going to be represented on Tumblr considering how narrow my current theme at the time of writing is. Maybe I’ll change it, I dunno, I’m shit with this sort of thing. If you’re reading this and the page doesn’tlook like some faux notebook shit, I pulled myself together and fixed things. Go me.

Dora is being incredibly chill with this whole situation. Personally I’d be a hell of a lot more pissed. Although this does provide us with further insight to Faye’s character – someone who sees her next step, bulrushes her way towards it and has zero plans where to go after that until she arrives at her destination. She is aggressive and decisive, but to a fault as she doesn’t ever seem to really plan ahead. I’d say this makes her the perfect foil to Marten as someone who plans obsessively but never has the spine to go forward with anything but… Marten doesn’t really do much future-planning himself. He obsesses over little things and gets stuck in his own head, but he never really seems to look any further than maybe next week. Hm… I want all of us to keep this in mind for an offhand comment like, 500 or 600 comics from now. Trust me, it’ll make sense when we get to it.

And yet despite Faye’s self-assurance and aggressive nature, here she shows an outright refusal to accept or face the reality of the developing relationship between herself and Marten. Not just being coy, not just dancing around the issue, but straight-up not allowing herself to even consider what’s going down. Maybe I’m reading too much into this little exchange due to what I already know about her character, but this is an extremely unhealthy trait that speaks a lot to Faye’s character that she doesn’t want the world to see. We’ll be touching on this later.

I mostly like this comic for Marten and Pintsize’s reactions on the last panel. Marten makes a good straight man, and it’s not often we see Pintsize share that role either.

Faye you’re really not helping your case right now. Although it is interesting how hard Faye is showcases how into him Dora is, considering she has her own feelings for him and I highly doubt she’d be 100% cool with the two of them going off to make out.

So here we establish Anthro PCs relationships with humans – namely, they’re basically glorified pets. Pets that have human-level sapience. Don’t worry, Jeph comes to understand the unfortunate implications of this as well, and he goes on to change this in future comics. And by “change this” I mean “completely re-incorporate how AI works in this universe and establish QC as a near-future sci-fi setting.” But that’s not going to be for quite some time. For now, despite my poking fun at the horrific implications here, Jeph’s doing a good job taking the “funny robot sidekick” that’s supposed to be in every webcomic and creating proper lore behind it, making it feel like it belongs in this world rather than be used as a comic relief character and only a comic relief character.

Granted the Anthro PCs as a collective are going to be used as just comic relief right now but, y’know. Baby steps.

As said before, the fact that these guys are all fully sapient creatures makes the implications of this downright horrific. Also, that’s Ell. I have no idea if he ever comes back – I don’t remember him coming back at all – but I’m marking him down in the character statistics because he’s named.

This… actually has some interesting implications. Marten mentions needing Steve’s help with a date “the other day.” Does that mean he and Faye have known each other for an extremely short period of time? I highly doubt it, we’ve seen a number of times the time has moved from day to night, and the comic itself certainly implies at least a few weeks have passed. So unless by “the other day” Marten means “a month ago” then Marten has been dating women on the side while Faye’s been staying with him. That… seems extremely out of character for him considering the circumstances we’ve seen established in the comic thus far. Considering nothing else really comes from it and the fact if Marten was dating anyone on the side it would definitely be Dora, I’m going to go on the assumption Jeph simply made a mistake here and meant to say Marten was seeing someone a month or a few months back.

She’s cut off by Pintsize’s destructive laser that he’s using to assert himself as King among the Anthro PCs, don’t worry about it. What we should focus on instead is… well, this second panel here. On paper, this is really good. We’re getting some insight to Faye’s character here, the cracks in her mask are showing. We’re addressing the issue of her assaulting her friend and roommate, what she thinks about it, her current mindset and addressing that this is an actual problem. She’s openly apologizing, sincere in her conviction and clearly wants to fix things.

The problem with this is of course the fact that this is rushed as fuck.

Part of this, of course, has to be the fact that Jeph’s comic by nature is married to the structure of a four-panel comic. We have to set up Faye’s conversation, allow her to continue, but due to narrative convenience she needs to be cut off before she can finish what she’s saying. So the laser cuts her off and after the panel of action, we follow-up and end with the punchline of Pintsize having been made King among the Anthro PCs. And I get it – interrupt Faye before she can finish so you can keep the romantic ambiguity of “boys whom I…” Classic RomCom stuff. Problem is, this isn’t the time or place to do it. Keeping to the structure traps them into a situation where unfortunately Faye doesn’t have the breathing room to stretch this out and make it feel natural. This feels contrived from every angle and every sense of the word.

Easy way to fix this: Have this conversation take place while they’re walking home. Establish she feels bad, have her bounce off Marten and have this conversation naturally. Then either you can have Pintsize cut her off at the end there or maybe even she stops herself when she realizes she’s saying too much. There are ways to make this feel natural. This isn’t natural. Still, credit where it’s due, they’re at least touching on this topic here. Part of me wonders if Jeph had, like, a mental map of where he wanted Faye’s character to go but because he writes these page-by-page it ended up stumbling along and falling flat. A written outline of events can, and does, REALLY help in situations like this.

Then again I’m giving writing advice to a version of someone who existed fifteen years ago. I’m sure he’s got this all down himself nowadays, right?

Payoff to the previous comic.

Not only does this crack me up every time I read it, it also shows that Faye and Marten have gotten onto the same wavelength of humor. They’re also comfortable enough with each other that they can imply for a moment sexual favors before completely derailing the implication with the absurd. This is a far-cry from when Faye was trying to burn Marten with her mind back when Pintsize merely implied the two of them share a bed with each other.

Granted, it does kind of fly in the face of Faye’s reaction back at the LANPark. Still, good moment.

Speaking of Faye’s character…

Here we have Faye’s explanation for why she hides her southern accent. Makes sense.

And here, her explanation as to why she doesn’t use contractions… I’ve already said my piece on why I feel this makes zero sense, let’s move on.

And here we properly draw attention to Faye’s scar and establish the fact that her scar is a sore spot for her… was that a pun? It felt like a pun. Anyway, more and more it’s becoming clear that despite her outgoing nature, Faye has a LOT she keeps close to her chest.

Okay now I know that one was a pun, I’m sorry.

Point being, there’s a lot to Faye’s character we haven’t found out yet, plenty yet to explore in future comics. And I’d also like to point out, this? This is an extremely natural way to establish things about Faye, right here. This feels like something that would actually come up in a conversation rather than planted there for the sake of the audience, and I appreciate that. That said, this in conjunction with the last few moments makes this feel more like it’s time for Jeph to introduce and explain aspects of Faye’s character all at once, which deters a little bit from the natural feeling of this moment in particular. Or maybe I’m just being pedantic, I dunno. In a bubble, this comic works.

And here we get a flash of the personality we’ll see in Raven in the future. Just a spark though, the flame hasn’t risen up quite yet. Also a little detail about Dora that… again, doesn’t quite make sense given the timescale Jeph has established. I’ll touch on it later in this post when we find out exactly how old Dora is.

This… is an aspect of Marten’s personality that we never really touch on. Actually, this kind of goes toe-in-toe with his interest in Final Fantasy. Is Marten a fantasy buff? Does he enjoy escapist literature and media? Would he be super into Game of Thrones when it comes out as a series? These are questions that… unfortunately, don’t really get answered. I don’t know, I feel like these aspects of who Marten is ends up getting forgotten on the cutting room floor later on in the comic. Maybe they were only included as an off-handed joke, maybe Marten just developed as a character differently than what Jeph originally envisioned him as. Either way, these are parts of him that I think would be wonderful to bring back, especially with his current job and relationship in present-day coics.

Again, like a LOT of things I’m bringing up, we’ll get to that later.

In case you forgot that Faye is genuinely interested in Marten, a reminder and an assertion: She isn’t just interested in the skinny boy. She’s got it bad for him.

But, like a lot of things involving her personal life and feelings, she openly refutes them – not just to Dora but to herself.

Having gone out to give Dora a new look and indoctrinate her into the Cult of Hipster, Dora McPalerThanWhiteBread ends up sunburnt. Marten’s home, he has the lotion, we all know where this is going.

Heaven holds a place for those who pray… I wanted to follow this up with a clip of Sonic from Tails’ story in Sonic Adventure saying “hey hey hey” but surprisingly enough, that particular soundbite isn’t available anywhere. There are plenty of Let’s Plays that poke fun at it, but nothing with that line in particular.

Anyway, let’s talk about time frames. Dora said she got into the whole goth and coven stuff in High School and only now gotten bored of it. She’s 26. Let’s be EXTRA generous and assume she got into it in Senior Year, and she graduated at 18. That’s eight years this has been her life style, almost a third of her life. This wasn’t a phase, this was a genuine life style choice. Either Jeph got the timing wrong, or this is genuinely an identity crisis on Dora’s part because seriously, when something’s been a part of your life for so long I don’t blame you for not knowing where to go from there. I’m just surprised it took 8+ years for her to get sick of it. Then again, maybe that’s normal. I dunno, you can tell me if that’s a normal human thing. I’m literally autistic so I genuinely don’t know.

Setup… and also begging the question why you would give a libido to an AI, or how one would develop it naturally seeing as robots are incapable of sexual reproduction.

I haven’t really mentioned it until now, but Dora’s like aggressively bi. I can dig it. Guys and gals are both pretty in their own ways.

Ignore the lack of color for a second, Jeph wrote up this comic when he had like zero time and couldn’t color it in before he uploaded. Again, we have the HINT of something that Faye’s on the cusp of admitting that says more about her character only to be cut off once again. This feels a bit more natural than the situation at the LANPark. Still contrived by nature of Jeph introducing a conflict to purposefully cut her off, but an understandable narrative contrivance.

Also, remember when I mentioned the joke about the government level laser would come back as an actual plot point? Did you think I was joking? No, here we have Agent Turing (I can’t tell if that’s clever or if I should roll my eyes at this) here to take Pintsize in, dismantle him and take the dangerous laser back.

Faye takes it well.

Can you guess what consequences she suffers from assaulting a government agent? I’ll give you a hint – it’s about the same as the consequences she suffered from burning down an apartment.

Payoff.

And finally, we round off this batch of comics with Faye’s expert lying skills to fool Agent Turing…

Ah yes. The ever-deadly Space Owls. Not nearly as scary as Space Bears, though! They’re horrifying!

…not buying it? Yeah neither did my professors back in college.

As per usual, let’s compare a panel from the first and last comics in the batch to see how Jeph’s art style has improved.

It looks like he’s trying to get the proportions more… realistic? They’ve moved from “cartoons” to “cartoon versions of actual people” and it’s… eh, alright I guess? Personally I’m more of a fan of the more cartoon-ish style in the beginning of this batch, but beauty and eyes of beholders and all.

So overall, what did I think of this batch of comics? Personally, I think the humor is improving dramatically, this batch had the most comics that had me laughing aloud so far. And bringing Dora further into the limelight was a smart move on Jeph’s part – she’s just so likable, I want to see more of her. But as for the inter-personal conflicts… eh? It feels weaker than last batch. More is happening, progress is being made, but it feels… contrived. Artificial. It was the worst in the LANPark, but because that drew my eye I kept seeing every other piece of exposition as just that – exposition. Maybe I’m biased, I’ll fully admit that. I’ll also admit that the bit about Faye’s chest-scar was a well done piece of exposition without feeling like exposition.

I’ve said exposition way too much now, let’s move onto the stats (and for the record, Scarlet Manuka on the QC forums was kind enough to remind me that the name of Dora’s cat is Miéville, so while we haven’t been introduced to that name yet I’ll be using that in my stats from this point forward because it’s better than “Dora’s Cat”).

Faye: 47/50 – 94%

Marten: 41/50 – 82%

Dora: 31/50 – 62%

Pintsize: 18/50 – 36%

Turing: 3/50 – 6%

Steve: 2/50 – 4%

Raven: 2/50 – 4%

Ell: 1/50 – 2%

Grand Total:

Marten: 132/150 – 88%

Faye: 130/150 – 86.7%

Pintsize: 45/150 – 30%

Dora: 39/150 – 26%

Steve: 16/150 – 10.7%

Sara: 7/150 – 4.7%

Raven: 3/150 – 2%

Turing: 3/150 – 2%

Jim: 2/150 – 1.3%

Scott: 2/150 – 1.3%

Miéville: 1/150 – 0.7%

Ell: 1/150 – 0.7%

Faye is climbing up the ranks and getting closer to perfectly equal screentime with Marten across the whole series. Speaking of Faye, in this batch she pulled into first as the character in the most comics, the first time she’s been in more than Marten since the beginning. And Dora’s been in so many this last batch, she jumped up to fourth-most reoccurring character juuust behind Pintsize.

I’ll catch you next week for the epic conclusion to the Pintsize laser saga! And yet more insight on Faye’s past – hope you like ice cream! See you then.

[lilyjcollins-news]

Lily Collins :“I want to dig deep, tell the truth and be more brave” by Jane Mulkerrins.

(click here to see the photoshoot and here to go to the website.)

The day before we meet, Lily Collins had what felt like a breakthrough encounter. At the end of a short, on-camera interview, the journalist had asked where she lived. Los Angeles, she told him, where her mother was born and raised, and where she has lived since the age of five, when her parents divorced. He then asked where her father lived. England, and partly in the US now, too, she answered. And what did her father do for a living? After some stifled giggling from the crew, Collins, who has just turned 30, gently explained her parentage. “And the guy just looked at me with the biggest eyes,” she laughs. “He’s like, ‘I’m sorry, what did you just say? Oh God, now I feel silly.’”

She insists that she was very grateful for his ignorance. “I’m so proud of my family, but I have also worked really hard to carve my own path and to not have that define me.’”

The daughter of superstar musician Phil Collins and his second wife, Jill Tavelman, she admits that her famous surname has inevitably opened doors, but insists that nobody has ever “made a phone call” for her. “I did get told that I could have other ways in,” she shrugs, when we meet on a rainy New York afternoon. “but I never wanted to give anyone the opportunity to say: ‘Well, she only got X or Y because of that.’ I knew it would take longer to do it on my own, but it would be so much more worth it.”

Collins’s insistence on carving her own path is now paying off, with two high-profile films – Tolkien, and Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, and the US launch of the BBC miniseries Les Miserables, for which her performance as the tragic Fantine is already creating some early awards buzz.

Tolkien, a biopic of the author’s early life, stars Nicholas Hoult as JRR Tolkien, the philologist and author of The Hobbit and the Lord of the Ringsseries, while Collins plays Edith Bratt, his childhood sweetheart and, later, his wife, who was the inspiration for Lúthien Tinúviel, the elvish princess in Tolkien’s Middle-earth. “I had auditioned to play an elven character in one of Peter Jackson’s movies, and I didn’t get it… but I’ve ended up playing the woman who inspired the elven princess,” grins Collins. It is her most mainstream, highly anticipated film to date, and a world away from the romcom roles she was getting five years ago. While there’s a heavy focus on Tolkien’s male friendships – the inspirations for his “fellowship” in his books, Bratt is fully fleshed-out and three-dimensional, too, not some flimsy, token love interest. “She was very creative and very passionate and driven, and he was intellectually stimulated by her,” says Collins. Bratt and Tolkien were both orphans. “At that time women of her status and in her position weren’t really afforded the opportunity to seek higher,” says Collins. “But she encouraged him to continue on his path. It’s very selfless, and, at times, heartbreaking.”

She sees a similar selflessness in Fantine, her once-vivacious character in Les Miserables, who becomes a prostitute and sells her hair and teeth in order to feed her child. “I died on day two of filming,” says Collins, with a laugh. She sent a picture of herself in character to her mother, who replied, “No one should have to see their daughter like this.”

“My choices have tended to go quite dark,” admits Collins of her recent roles. Just three days ago, she finished filming Inheritance, a forthcoming thriller in which she stars alongside Simon Pegg. “That’s incredibly dark, too. I really enjoy playing these characters that, under the surface, have so much more going on than they are saying, or who seem like they are barely keeping it together.

“I’ve always believed that asking for help is not a weakness, it’s a strength,” she continues. “I have a tattoo that says: ‘True delicacy is not a fragile thing.’ You can look delicate, but it doesn’t mean that you’re fragile.” I surmise, from her having it made permanent in ink, that people have, perhaps, underestimated her in the past.

Undoubtedly the darkest of her recent projects is Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, about the serial killer Ted Bundy, who murdered more than 30 girls and women in seven US states in the 1970s. The title comes from the judge’s summation of Bundy’s acts when sentencing him to death. Collins plays Elizabeth Kloepfer, the killer’s long-term girlfriend who is convinced of his innocence, with Zac Efron playing a charismatic and persuasive Bundy.

While preparing for the role, over the Christmas holidays, Collins recounts how she would wake every night at 3.05am. “I would go downstairs and have a cup of tea, trying to figure out why I had woken up again.” Then, she says, “I started being woken up by flashes of images, like the aftermath of a struggle.” She went to the internet to investigate. “I discovered that 3am is the time when the veil between the realms is the thinnest and one can be visited.” She began to believe women who were murdered by Bundy were, perhaps, trying to contact her. “I didn’t feel scared – I felt supported. I felt like people were saying: “We’re here listening. We’re here to support. Thank you for telling the story.”

Collins tells me all of this in a completely matter-of-fact manner, as if receiving messages from long-dead murder victims were a perfectly normal part of preparing for a film. It’s pretty much the only moment in our time together when she seems more Californian than British. Even her looks – porcelain skin, dark hair and dramatic eyebrows – are eminently more London than LA. And, while in person her accent is pure California, on screen in Tolkien, her clipped, turn-of-the-century English consonants and vowels are flawless, as are her more working-class ones for Fantine. She looks deeply relieved when I tell her so. “I did worry that people were going to be like, ‘Well, she is actually British, her accent should really be better,’” she laughs. “There’s an extra level of pressure. I worked with a dialect coach as I needed it to be absolutely spot-on.”

Collins was born in Guildford, Surrey, at the height of her father’s success – six months later he would release Another Day in Paradise. Is it true, I ask, that Elton John used to babysit her? “I’ve really got to sit my parents down and ask them questions about that. I’ve been hearing it for so long, but I really have no idea,” she says.

After relocating with her mother to LA at the age of five, following her parents’ divorce, she attended the prestigious Harvard-Westlake school, where former pupils include Maggie and Jake Gyllenhaal, and began auditioning for film and TV roles. “I was getting told ‘no’ all the time,” she says, which she puts down simply to a lack of experience. “I’d done musicals and plays at school, but I hadn’t studied acting or anything, and auditioning for film and TV is very different.”

At the same time, journalism held an appeal, too. “I wanted to be the youngest-ever talk show host,” she says. After pitching ideas to magazine editors, she began writing for Teen Vogue and Elle Girl, and scored a job as a reporter for the children’s channel Nickelodeon, covering the 2008 presidential election and Obama’s inauguration. “I was 18 and I could just vote, so I was like, ‘Oh great, I get to ask all the questions that I don’t know the answers to.’” What she liked less, however, were the questions she had to ask as a roving reporter on the red carpet. “I would think, oh, that’s not what I really want to ask this person, I would hate to be asked that,” she recalls. On the other side of the microphone now, there are questions she simply doesn’t answer, about her personal life, or about politics, on which she refuses to be drawn.

She studied broadcast journalism at the University of Southern California, but dropped out in her second year when, in 2009, after several years of auditioning, she won her first film role, as Sandra Bullock’s daughter in The Blind Side. Soon after, she was perfectly cast as Snow White in Mirror Mirror, followed by Rosie Dunne in Love, Rosie, the adaptation of Cecelia Ahern’s novel Where Rainbows End.

Though acting has clearly won out over journalism and talk show ambitions are on hold for now, Collins is still a keen writer. In 2017, she published Unfiltered: No Shame, No Regrets, Just Me, a collection of personal essays in which she opened up about her struggles and self-doubts, her relationship with her father, with partners, and with her own body, writing about the eating disorders she battled for some years. “A lot of young women write to me on social media [she has more than 14m followers on Instagram], saying, ‘I just wanted to let you know that this is my situation and my insecurity, not that you would ever be able to relate to it…’ and I’ll always be like, ‘No, I really can relate,’” she insists.

Collins describes in Unfiltered how, as a child, she had only positive associations with food, but that changed when she turned 16. Her father was separating from her stepmother, his third wife, while Lily was juggling school, a budding modelling career, a social life and trying to break into acting, too. “My life felt out of control,” she writes. “I couldn’t handle the pain and confusion surrounding my dad’s divorce, and I was having a hard time balancing being a teenager with pursuing two different grown-up careers – both of which I’d chosen myself, but which also focused heavily on how I looked.” She began starving herself, exercising obsessively and became addicted to diet pills and laxatives, habits which continued well into her early 20s.

She pitched the book proposal during a dry spell in acting. “I hadn’t booked anything film-wise for a while, and I was itching to do something. The idea for the book had been at the back of my mind for a while, and I thought, well, maybe now’s the time.” Soon after, she was also sent the script for To The Bone, a film about a young woman with chronic anorexia. “It was too big a message to ignore,” recalls Collins. She attended group therapy sessions with recovering anorexics. “I didn’t want them thinking that I was just coming in to be nosy. I wanted them to know that I actually could relate. It encouraged me to really dig deep and tell the truth, to be more brave. And it was freeing,” she says. Collins sent a copy of the book to Michelle Obama “on a whim. I wanted to reach out to certain people and just thank them for being an inspirational woman, someone who I look up to,” she says. “I certainly never expected to receive a letter back thanking me and saying the same thing. I need to get that letter framed.”

This summer, she’s heading to France to film Emily in Paris, the new comedy-drama from Sex and the City creator Darren Star. “I knew I had so much baggage that I needed to get rid of in order to take on the baggage of all my characters,” she says. “And the second I did that, my career and my personal life opened up in a whole new way.” Collins, it seems, having been drawn to the darkness, professionally and personally, is now heading towards the light.

vía The Observer Magazine.