#idc if i'm being messy at this point

[eddiediaaz]

how about you don't drag me with your trash opinion? "tOrTuRe PoRn FoR bUcK" buck is a grown ass 30-something man that made his own decision. no one tortured it out of him

[demodraws0606]

My thoughts on the latest episode (aka HU IS THE CULPRIT I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL)

Warning : My sassy attitude is not directed towards anyone else, I'm simply amusing myself and also I've only gotten barely 5 hours of sleep god save me.

This is gonna be very long and messy so strap in folks

It's so obviously not Eden or Ace it's painful (idc 'i'll die for my hubris). Not even just because Eden lying and being the culprit after all of that would be both underwelming and just...miserable. But also because of how the way we're getting the reveal in advance that it could only be Ace and Eden. The fact the cast was already on Eden's throat as well just makes this point even more clear to me.

This isn't like fucking Korekiyo in chapter 3 of DRV3, this isn't how a culprit reveal happens. Especially not when there's so much we don't know yet.

So who is the culprit ?

...

It's Hu, it's literally Hu.... and like 1 pourcent chance it's Nico but I think both of them are accomplices here.

The thing is, I don't buy any of the shit Nico is saying, their admission of guilt is strangely quick and detached. They also seem to go along with anything people say about them (like them framing Hu) which makes it even more suspicious, they could've just said they used Hu's weapon out of conveniance ? The only thing this episode has proved me is that Nico is an Active accomplice rather than a Passive one like I thought. For what reason ? I honestly don't know fully yet but again we don't know a lot about Nico anyways.

Hu's behavior really makes me think she did it and is acting out, mostly out of guilt. She seems really stressed this trial which while makes sense for character reasons, it also makes sense if she's the culprit and feeling guilty. It would explain her defending Eden and Nico mainly I think despite her probably being the culprit she doesn't want the perception that Eden/Nico has to be broken (especially not bc of her). I've already explained how Hu being the culprit makes sense from a character perspective so I'm not gonna get more into it.

By the way any arguments in this post being like "it would be out of character for Nico or Hu to do that" should honestly review their own hypocrisy if they think Eden did it, or even Ace for that matter.

Another thing that makes me even more convinced that it can't be Ace or Eden is that...you can't fucking prove any of them did it with 100 pourcent certainty. David fucking threw the BDA rule out of the window, so we can't be sure Eden didn't do it but like what decisive evidence would make it clear between the two of them.

The only pieces of evidence we have left is :

-The sticky ball of clothes (most likely turpentine because the soil of the relexation room would cause the ball to have stains on it)

-The alibi for the relaxation room water

-The missing glove (which I think i've changed my opinion on what it could mean here)

Eden did know about the ball of clothes (but that piece of fucking evidence has strings attached so we'll get to that) and Ace doesn't have an alibi against taking the water like Eden does.

The missing glove is the only evidence left untouched here and honestly I actually don't think it had anything to do with the glove having someone's hair or anything, mainly because first of all the culprit could've technically just removed any hair on the glove even if it was sticky.

And also there's something else that makes more sense.

I think they probably had to use the glove to avoid rope burn while trying to set up the mechanism to kill Arei. Especially with how high the playground's ceilling is, it wouldn't be child's play. I'm not really good at deciphering what could've possibly happenened directly in the murder but I'd argue it's just more likely that the culprit would be put in a situation were rope burn could happen. This murder set up would require a lot of physical effort, and if the culprit even slipped for a second their hands would end up being damaged from rope burn making them obviously look guilty (also ouchie), which I think is what happened.

It would also explain the scuffs on the floor, maybe the culprit was struggling to hold onto the rope leading to them causing marks with their feet while trying to pull on the rope.

The reason why I think the glove is missing is probably because it's damaged and the culprit wanted to avoid the cast knowing they used Arei's glove during the murder. In fact it's the only piece of evidence that is completely missing

But why ?

Has anyone realised something about, I argue, the three other main suspects here ?

Nico, Eden, Ace ?

They all have gloves.

"But a huge portion of the cast has gloves this doesn't mean anything, it's just a stylistic choice !!" Yeah, the majority of the cast has gloves.

I think now you can understand why the culprit wouldn't want the cast to know that the glove was used. Because if the cast did see the glove that was probably damaged, they would assume the culprit wore it and it would narrow down the suspect list to an extremely narrow pool. This forces them to basically take the glove and hope to fucking god the cast doesn't catch on which they clearly haven't yet.

You know who doesn't fucking wear gloves.

HU JING

My girl got no gloves on !!!!

So yeah, with the glove being untouched evidence yet I think it will be the main decisive thing to point out who the culprit truly is, and I just don't think it's just gonna be like "oh let's just search everyone to see which one has the glove !". For all we know the culprit could've fucking eaten the glove, I don't think we're getting another Min in trying to search shit on people's person.

Anyways I'm gonna transition to other stuff to explain how the Nico and Hu theory makes sense from a logical standpoint here.

Let's get on to the sticky ball of clothes.

First I want to get it out there that I do not think the ball being sticky is due to the soil of the relaxation room. Mono-TV's talk about the "special formula" was mostly to foreshadow the floor of the playground's properties, also the fucking ball would have stains on it.

For me this means the ball of clothes has to have been covered in turpentine especially now that we have confirmation from Ace directly.

This is extremely huge and I'm flabbergasted has no one has mentioned this. Pray tell where the fuck did that piece of cloth go, did it get isekai'd into another world ?

This question actually has multiple meaning here because that fucking ball of clothing actually has massive implications. It confirms a lot of things and also puts a lot of doubt in things that seemed to be confirmed.

Before that I also want to say that Arei 100 pourcent got knocked out with turpentine. I don't want to argue over and over again that it was used because I've done this before but I have to since there are multiple reasons why she had to have been knocked out.

The floor is extremely prone to scuffs, if Arei was struggling then we definitely would've seen more than just a few marks in one area.

The method of murder would have been extremely difficult if she was struggling, like to a ridiculous point. Especially with someone like Arei who has been shown to have been sneaky and very prone to attacking people in their weak spots.

The tape binding Arei's hand in hindsight actually probably wasn't to avoid her struggling, it was most likely due to how the mechanism of the murder work. Keep in mind how the murder had to have worked and imagine if Arei's hands were just loose and flopping around. There could have been possible injuries with her arms that would ruin the culprit's obvious plan to make it look like a suicide. It also just makes sense for weight reasons, again Arei having her arms flopping around would make moving her body even more difficult.

And even if you want disagree with all of that, the culprit could've just binded her tape to avoid the same mistake that happened with Ace with him waking up from the turpentine.

Now that I've made my case about Arei being knocked out, let's get on the actual new arguments I want to make.

First, we know for a fact that a piece of cloth was used to knock out Ace meaning it has to have gone somewhere, if you say "well they could've just thrown it away" I will personally come into your home and shit in your shoes. And you're also wrong because I've already proven that Arei had to have been knocked out.

This means the only piece of cloth available to us would be the sticky ball of clothes.

But...like let me just explain everything that's mind boggling about all of this.

-This ball of clothes had to have been made for Ace's murder to knock him out

-The only people who knew about the old clothes were Hu, Teruko and Whit. Eden only knowing later on, way after Ace's murder was planned probably, because Hu told her about it.

-The culprit used this ball of clothing against both Arei and Ace

-The cloth is suspiciously absent from the murder scene, which makes no sense considering Nico's account rely on them not having left the gym while trying to murder Ace. Them leaving to chuck the cloth aside only to come back to the gym doesn't make sense with the timeline in how we discover things.

Yep, I'm making the claim that Nico didn't actually kill Ace here, I still think it's Hu. Again you can try and complain all you want about how it's out of character for Nico but the reality is...shit is not adding up.

It's really suspicious how silent Hu becomes when her weapon is brought up, immediatly clamming up and not defending Nico anymore. When Teruko makes assumption that Nico lied to Hu to get her weapon, she doesn't reply with a betrayed "Nico is that true ?" or even a sentence she responds with "That's...". The amout of ellpises both Nico and Hu give are extremely suspicious and just make me side eye both of them extremely hard.

I'm gonna go on another tangent here, on the subject of Hu being suspicious. Mainly because I do wanna point out a moment that both makes Eden seem a lot more innocent and makes Hu a lot more guilty.

The subject of Arei potentially committing suicide.

Now, it's very clear that the way Arei was hung was meant to make it look like Arei killed herself, this was very much meant to be the culprit's intention. Both to hide the true murder mechanism and probably to mislead the cast. The fact that it's only an incidental red mark of Arei's wrist that proves she didn't kill herself, proves that the culprit intended for it to look like a suicide.

However guess who argues against this...Eden, which, if she is the culprit I don't see why she would do something like that (and if you say "well why is Hu defending Nico and Eden" I already explained it). Clearly the Eden!Culprit theory relies on her being capable of manipulation so there's no reason why she would be so caught up in her own feelings to just ruin her own plan like that.

You know who seems to really be into the idea of Arei killing herself though, Hu.

That's all I have to say on that, now let's get onto how I think Nico actually helped Hu.

I do think there's still a 50/50 on them working directly together or just Nico catching onto Hu's plans and deciding on their own to help her.

I do think Nico directly helped her though in two major ways

First, the water, it's the obvious one. Nico probably ended up giving the water the Hu here weither they did so with/without knowing Hu's intention doesn't really matter since they're deciding to keep quiet about it now.

I also want to quickly mention how Hu getting water from the relaxation room makes a lot of sense. Hu was busy with Eden in the kitchen and Teruko had taken all the drinks from the gym, so it's likely Hu was forced to take the water from the relaxation room.

Second, the note

Oooo baby let's get into my favorite realisation in watching this episode.

One piece of dialogue has made me realize something

This made me puzzled too, because yeah, who would be listening in and how did Arei not notice when she went into the room ?

Let me take you all back to Chapter 2 Episode 5

Rose and Teruko have a conversation about Rose's secret and that conversation lasts a good while, until...

Nico was actually shown to have been there the entire time, Teruko and Rose were talking without noticing they were there.

Nico then explains themselves like this, pretty much proving this is something they just like doing casually sometimes.

This actually would explain everything on how the eavesdropping happened, Nico was on the literal fucking floor of the infirmary leading to them listening to everyone's conversation. Which tmeans they could have had the information to write the note.

This would explain the inconcistencies as to why would the culprit know to eavesdrop and how they didn't get caught by Arei when she was barging into the room (if they were outside by the door).

Now this leads to two possibilities with Nico and their relation to Hu.

Either they worked together with Hu and they both came up with the murder together. Which means either of them could've written the note.

Or Nico helped Hu without her knowledge, making the note to help her (edit : just realised this doesn't make a lot of sense ignore this).

I believe this is all I have so far and I'm very tired so you won't get a conclusion

Oh wait I hear something in the background...

"WHAT ABOUT THE TAAAAAAAAPE"

First of all, y'all gaslit me into thinking Ace couldn't have taken the tape so I'm already sick of this tape bullshit being used as decisive unshakeable evidence.

You know what I think probably happened ? Ace took the tape, after all it disappeared when he woke up and it's possible that he just then threw it away in the trash.

I mean Ace did say he was gonna "commit a murder of his own", it would be in line with him taking the tape.

Why isn't he talking about it then ? Because he'd be seen as the fucking culprit and also Ace is not really the most honest bitch out need i mention Ace witholding info about David and Arei's conversation.

[saguette]

What do you think Johnny's art looked like before he was stripped of his powers? This is something that bugs me a lot, and I'm curious about what you think.

ok i needed to draw a few shitty pictures to demonstrate cuz i wanted to talk about more than just his previous art but his art journey in general IDC if there's some canon tweet that proves something i said wrong or out of timeline these are my headcanons and projections so you either like it or not.. anyways I think his style pre-pre-JTHM (lets say 15-18) depicted many things, He was good at realism and fluctuated just fine between stylized art and big hefty works with a lot of detail. His stylized works looking similar to Jhonens and the whole 2000's artstyle cuz its fitting.

Of course he's like, a late teenager around this time so its GOOD but not perfect. If you pulled up a few of his drawings from this time he would probably be embarrassed by all the disproportionate limbs and goth girls he sketched and thought were badass. He probably has old sketches of friends in his style regardless if they asked to be drawn or not since his art was something he was proud of and people around him made him feel proud of. His old art also feels like it'd have anime elements unintentionally to add to that amateur artist swag. Johnny doesn't like anime copies but stuff he rips inspo from was anime inspired so it rubbed off on his work too. Moving onto PRE-JTHM (18-20) Is when his art started to get more serious and complex. In his happy era he took to drawing lovecraftian horror sometimes but it was always the secondary focus of any drawing.

Moving out and growing up was around the time his mental state started to worsen and he started using art to cope with emotions rather than just use it for fun, drawing complex monsters was a subconscious way to depict underlying mental illness that's out of his hands. He cant depict what he doesn't know he has, he can only scribble things that feel someone close to him because there is no physical appearance to emotions. He never liked his art around this time because it always felt unfinished or wrong or like it just didn't interpret what he wanted right. Overtime his art lost coherent appearance, quality, and meaning which made it feel worthless. It wouldn't be all that bad but it reached a point not even he knew what it was trying to be and it was frustrating. How can your own art not make sense to you? Its weird to let your hands go and do their own and you not recognize what they're trying to say. Which leads to SHORTLY BEFORE JTHM-and later.. Johnnys NEW preferred method for art currently is a little abstract, it became two extremes of the same thing; nothing. his art lost alot of what it used to be so he says he cant draw anymore.

Johnnys lovecraftian horror art slowly engulfed itself over time and always becomes an abstract mess. Its purposely made to be incomprehensible by having too much, regardless if its creation is poetic, an outside view not being able to tell what it is or how much work went into it is on purpose. its metaphorical or whatever.. Johnnys fucked up or something.. Whereas Noodleboy i imagine was made by him drawing a stickfigure one day to see if he can still "draw" and overtime gave him his features like angry eyes and that big hair, creating his own sort of vent sona to replace the sketchy abstract art he used before. Noodleboys chaoticness is too sporadic to rip any meaning off of, he also purposely represents nothing. His existence uses up paper the same way, just without all the extra effort. SORRRYYYY long tangent thats probably super messy i just winged it. but i cant help myself ive thought about this for a while ik i didnt strictly answer the question but i had so much more to say

[guaxinimraccoon]

You've always been a talented artist, but lately I cannot get over just how much you've improved??? The colors and composition are incredible!

Any art tips you'd like to share?

AAAAAAAAA YOUR ART IS FANTASTIC TOO!! You're also so talented, thanks for being so wholesome 🥺❤️

OMG tbh I've been having a lot of free time since I graduated from college and that allows me to practice more, I've been studying art stuff that I like since then!

I've been trying to make more grayscale thumbnails and different color options for the most complicated pieces, they help a loooot but I'm kinda lazy with them ngl

Also, I used to be very attached to making a super polished lineart and coloring, now I've been focusing more on having fun you know? No specific art style, just freedom, fun and drawing the way I want to at that moment

BUT the coolest thing that has helped me to feel more satisfied with the final outcome of my art is to just play around more with colors. I want some blue here even if it doesn't make sense? Splash blue on this bitch. Oh some pink here would be nice? Pink them all, idc!! I love stylizing with colors in a messy and random way and I've been allowing myself to do that more without worrying too much about realism or strict lighting and shadow rules.

But of course, you need to have strong drawing fundamentals to break the rules, the first step to any artist is to understand how stuff works so then you can mess with them as much as you want

I'm also LGBT and smoke weed, that doesn't help me with anything, just pointing out how much of a walking artist stereotype I am

[pillowspace]

Hello! I know i'm a bit late now but i just caught up on Celestial Sundown and I love your writing! I was looking through the tag and saw the ask you answered about probably not continuing it but willing to answer questions. If you still plan on not finishing it could you share what you had planned for it? Specifically i'm curious about what eclipse was going to do (or at least what they planned on doing) with y/n in the next chapter, but if you feel like sharing what you had planned for the rest of the story I would love to hear that too!

Weather you answer this or not i hope you have a great day/night!

It's a bit hard to gather all the memories considering I lost my file with my plans in it when I switched phones (eh idc, it was all messy anyway), but let me think ummm!

Eclipse was going to drag Y/N off... they'd carry them towards Sun's general direction because Y/N's struggling to walk, but then eventually Eclipse would also start struggling to walk as they would get all goopy and just generally Unwell. So Eclipse would sit Y/N down somewhere by the trees and they'd talk. Ah-! Notably, I believe there wassss... a scene where Y/N asks if Eclipse is talking about "Sun," though by just simply asking "Sun?". Because Sunna (Eclipse's sun half) also technically went by the name Sun, Eclipse would sort of freeze up and Stare, before Y/N elaborates on what they're asking and Eclipse gets a little bitter to learn that the god of Day would go by the name "Sun" of all names. It feels a tad bit disrespectful, even if the children are the ones who nicknamed them that.

After a bit of tense conversation, they'd move on to walking again, and I think Sun was meant to find them. Things don't really work out for Eclipse due to the fact that Eclipse is currently more injured than Sun is, so in a last ditch effort, Eclipse brings Y/N to the Celestial Realm, which of course freaks Y/N out the second they realize what's happening. It wouldn't be exploratory though, only brief, as they would end up appearing in a dark room within the castle Eclipse resides in. Something about the air would feel different though, wrong. Eclipse would leave Y/N there to go recover or get something for them, whichever it was. Thennn... Vanny/Vanessa/whatever would have appeared, telling Y/N that they're not supposed to be here yet, they'd talk a tiny bit, and then she would send Y/N back home? Sorry, I don't remember much of the specifics of that conversation?? Upon appearing back home, Y/N would then feel nauseous and somehow deeply Wrong, like briefly being outside of their own realm then returning suddenly made them realize just how much it feels like the air is outright rejecting them. But that the Celestial Realm also didn't feel much better either. Y/N doesn't have much time to think about it before Sun is there at their side. From there, Sun would work on treating them for the next few days, in a bit of a mirror to how Y/N had treated Sun at one point. I... cannot recall if Y/N also grew sick or if it was just the injuries.

Oh! Right! During the conversation with Eclipse, I believe Eclipse mentioned the fact that um... gosh, I don't know, um um um. Either that they had intended to kill Sun, that Sun was injured enough that he would have died had Y/N not meddled with it, or that Eclipse would have returned after having woken up to deal a killing blow if again Y/N hadn't treated him. SOMETHING along the lines of "Sun would be dead if it weren't for you." Y/N would eventually bring this up to Sun after mostly recovering, and it would sort of unintentionally burst any wiggle room Sun had in physically being able to pretend that he had a normal debt and not a life debt. I've mentioned this once, but there's a very big difference between a debt and a life debt. If you have a life debt, the person involved sort of... Owns you. They can demand anything of you, and you wouldn't be able to refuse. A life debt is also extremely hard to get rid of. It's seen in Celestial Realm's cultures that having a life debt with a human is very bad and leads to gods being forced into their lowliest position, like a pet on a leash that can be demanded to do anything practically. Sun panics the moment they lose their little shield of "well I COULD have lived without you...!" Even if the two of them want to trust each other, they don't trust each other ENOUGH for a life debt to not cause Sun fear. Upon realizing why Sun is suddenly so freaked out, Y/N quickly reshapes their speech habits to not have any commanding language. Over the next little while, Y/N would build trust up with Sun again and assure him again and again that they would never demand anything of him, and that this life debt hasn't changed anything for them. They didn't want anything before, and they don't want anything now. No matter how easy it would be.

That's less just NEXT chapter, and more what the next few chapters would've probably been. Of course, there was way more plans for the general storyline, but I... I wouldn't really know where to begin with all that without a specific question, and this answer's gotten long enough already.

You have a great day/night too!!!

[emmitaaa4]

"As if the city view held some answer." On visions, heartbeats through stone, and the Dusk Court.

I'm but a procrastinating engineering student so this is going to be a bit of a messy post/theory, but here we go.

HOFAS spoilers:

Others have probably already theorized about this, but we know that Bryce ended up giving back TT and handing the Starsword (Gwydion) to the acotar folks... could it be that the Gwydion is destined to be Elain's? Or used by Elain, perhaps in the revival of the Dusk court? After all, as @bright-side20 and others have pointed out we already know that she likely accessed TT's powers in acowar (stepping out of a shadow to kill Hybern; if I am not mistaken TT leaked a darkness that even Az was surprised to witness in HOFAS).

sidenote: if you are curious about the link between Avallen & the Dusk court, I encourage everyone to go read this theory/breakdown!

Could this also be why the fact that Elain returned TT (which was an obvious action) was emphasized in ACOFAS, where SJM said she planted seeds for future bookS? Cause I find it interesting that it is Mor of all people that hums pensively as she points out that Elain gave TT back to Azriel: does she know/sense something with that power of hers? Does Elain perhaps See something too, given that she supposedly moved away from it very assuredly? After all, Mor was the one to say that "there is a reason that Elain is seeing these things" (acowar).

ALSO... I believe it's been pointed out already that the heartbeat through the stone that elain famously heard in acowar could have been a literal "beating, vibrant heart locked away far beneath"; i.e. the heart of the Dusk court (hofas). I find it all the more interesting, then, that Gwydion is described to have its light like a heartbeat (paraphrased from hofas, I dont remember the exact quote).

After all, it is looking away from Lucien, towards the windows, that she tells him--or rather, appears to be telling him:

“When I sleep,” she murmured, “I can hear your heart beating through the stone.” She angled her head, as if the city view held some answer. “Can you hear mine?” “He wasn’t sure if she truly meant to address him, but he said, “No, lady. I cannot.”

I repeat:

as if the CITY VIEW held some answer.

What if it did? And what if that answer is found in Gwydion's light and/or the Dusk court's beating heart?

In fact, what else do we know happens (or happened in acowar at least) when she sleeps? Visions, most likely: before she gained the understanding she needed to free herself from the murky-realm she was trapped in (thanks to my man Az), she was lost in a dream-like state. And those dreams often including the trashing sea...

"I can see so very far now. All the way to the sea." Indeed, the sea beyond the Sydra was a distant sparkle. (...) “I can hear your heartbeat—if I listen carefully. I can hear her heartbeat, too.” (who is her? is she hearing her sisters' literal heartbeats, or someone/something else's?)

“I can hear the sea. Even at night. Even in my dreams. The crashing sea—and the screams of a bird made of fire.”

These quotes have been dissected countless times already, but what I'd really like to add to the conversation is that there is something interesting from a passage from HOFAS I referenced earlier:

“And in that moment, the mountain—the island—spoke to her. Alone. It was so alone—it had been waiting all this time. Cold and adrift in this trashing grey sea. If she could reach out, if she could open her heart to it… it might sing again. Awaken. There was a beating, vibrant heart locked away, far beneath them. If she freed it, the land would rise from its slumber, and such wonders would spring again from its earth (…)”

I am about to make the mother of all reaches (call me delulu idc idc), but all this talk about Elain being “blooming spring” and “a promise of spring”… and here we have a slumbering, barren Island (not unlike the way she herself has been forgotten, has been lost in dreams) in the trashing sea (crashing sea, anyone?) which could spring anew.

Just to wrap this up, you cant tell me that this passage isn't extremely Elain "gentle-grower-of-life" Archeron coded:

Dusk, twilight—that’s what the island was in its long-buried heart, what her power bloom into, the lands rising with it. It was, as she said, as if the island had a soul that now blossomed under her care, nurtured by the court she built here.

-------

Voila :) Hopefully I didnt get things mixed up and this made at least a little bit of sense. Ok so done with my procrastination and now back to thermodynamics (send help)(please).

[therantsofawriterrr]

Alright so before i start writing my tua fix-it fic to keep my own sanity, i kinda wanna rant a bit coz this show is genuinely one of those which are very close to my heart. Emo talk/rant and spoilers underneath the cut

Alright so, the first season was released on 2019, right? I watched it on december 2020. There was a thing here where netflix kinda made the services free for two days, and i only got one day cause the first day, the seats were full or smn like that. my original plan for it had been to watch stranger things, but i ended up watching tua. it was the show that kind of introduced me to gore and dark humor and stuff, plus, its one of those shows which has perfect balance between all the genres.

Immediately in the first season, it was established that even if it has love stories for its characters, it's ultimately also a story of love between siblings. a love story of a son having love for his mother just because she was there. a love story of sisters. a love story of a brother keeping his dead one alive just cause he was needed and also cause he didn't deserve to die that soon. a love story of a bunch of people hating their situations and places in their world, but loving it enough to know that they have to save it. a love that made someone come back to his family even though he knew they were chaotic and shitty and idiotic, but his family nonetheless.

It kept being re-established in the next two seasons (yes, I'm counting s3 because it was just as fun as the other two) in various moments that I'm sure all of us can remember.

Five was the dearest character to me for just one reason. He was the kid who had that burden of growing up fast and the maturity that comes with it. He was always the one trying to save his family and there were many moments when he was just overwhelmed and struggling while his siblings were having their own struggles. But, ultimately he was lonely, because he had gone through too much all by himself, and its not really something that he can put into words. I related to that. I was and probably still am in a similar situation.

Then, the writers had to ahead and fuck it all to oblivion. They had to, first of all, ruin the sibling-coded besties dynamic between Five and Lila. Was it just me who got the ick watching that montage of them on the train? And the greenhouse scene? wtf. Neither Five nor Diego deserved that. Also, Five would never do that. Not to mention Lila wouldn't do that. They could've just left it with the fact that they were having a rough patch and were trying to work through it. Like i get it, you wanna make the timelines look messy and all but that was unwarranted and idc what anyone says.

Also, all the characters were just butchered this season and almost none of the plot points established in s3 were literally just forgotten??? Thats not vv nice. they just left us with more questions for this being a final season.

Anyway, imma start working on the fix it fic. I'm gonna try to be frequent with it, but just expect me to post drabbles for other stuff cause writers block takes a hold of me fast. but i'll still try to update.

[kikiwooo]

| • Falling hard for you

notes: sfw & nsfw, female & male reader, there are two different occasions, yeah I did write for the both genders.

© @/kikiwoo

| reblogs and comments are appreciated |

don't heart the post, I want fucking reblogs idc that I'm being rude, it's what I deserve.

[ Dyrroth ]

The most clueless one, legit thought something happened to him. Dyrroth can and will shamelessly stare at you from across the room. He needs to solve...why you are so attractive to him in the first place.

Refuses to get help from others, they'll tease him at the end of the day anyway. Especially Selena, that witch girl is just no-no. If you're someone that takes part in the matches, prepare to be his first of last target. You make him pretty light headed and the Abyss Prince doesn't like that. Dyrroth gets pretty snappy when he's light headed, no, not to you, he doesn't have the face to talk to you, but his teammates aren't safe from his curses.

The Abyss Prince loves to think about you, his favourite thing to pass time. Beneath him or pinned to wall, eyes wide...

If you're female

Dyrroth will take his precious time to bite into your gorgeous skin after he caught you in the enemy's jungle. He'll pin both of your hands, the more you struggle and let out cute noises the more excited he gets.

" Heh, stop struggling now. Do you see what you're causing? " Dyrroth says while pointing his bulge.

If you're male

Dyrroth specially gets more arousal if you're stronger than him by any chance. His bulge throbs painfully as he watches you fight. The little hearts in his eyes tells everything. His dick stands proud and ready to hump into you or you into him quickly. He doesn't care who's top or who's bottom all he can think about is sweet sweet relief.

" All alone.. all mine. I won't let you get away this time. Obey me and come here~ "

[ Badang ]

Badang would try to be charming while being a complete shy. Ironic. He would be more bold with males tho. He'd try to charm you in his own ways, Badang is a show-off like Lapu-Lapu. If he's got a crush on you, he's got it bad. He'd try to impress you w/ his skills, good job ignoring him.

Badang would enjoy you being on the enemy team more than being his teammate, don't mind him.. that will definitely lead to some interesting ' encounters ' he won't miss the opportunity to battle against you. Being defeated by you makes him feel some things...

Badang is really into make-out and you're so tempting. Badang would be more rough with a male partner while being more gentle with a female partner.

If you're female

Badang is touchy, expect him to be handsy. He'd grab you by arms and hold you in place, you move around too much and your sounds... someone can hear you y'know? The risk of getting seen turns him on.

" Shh... they're coming this way. " Badang says as he pulls you flush against his bare chest.

If you're male

He cannot avoid his bulging dick in his pants. Badang would probably be a little less horny to a male partner, however don't let this get you. Do you even know how much of a turn-on you are to him?

" H-ah! A-alright stop now! T-thats e-enough. "

[ X.Borg ]

X.Borg is a tricky one, he can be playful and is bit messy on the head. He wants someone who can keep up with his craziness, his..weird ideas to have fun. There's %50 chances that you two can be ally's or enemy's, who knows.

X.Borg isn't someone to let his guard down real quick. He will test you first, to see if you're the perfect one to him. However, he'll act a bit more warm to you. If you take part in matches, X.Borg would teasingly flick your head, not too rough not too soft, everytime you die in some stupid way. His way of telling you to not care about that, but of course as long as you don't bring the team down with you.

X.Borg is dirty minded, keep that in mind. He'll imagine all kinds of scenario(s) with you. You beneath him or on top of him, doesn't matter he's got the imagination going on.

If you're female

You'll be shorter than him and that's a plus. He can easily manhandle you, which means, lift you on a counter by your thighs and make out with you.

" Heh., not so confident now huh? " X.Borg says as he dives into your neck, letting out sloppy sounds.

If you're male

X.Borg would definitely want to be a top, but wouldn't be much against being a bottom. Of course, he won't go down without a fight. He's both biter and sucker, he'll try to leave as much as mark he can leave on your body. X.Borg is definitely a freak in bed.

" Giving up so soon? Come on (Name)! Entertain me more! "

[ktownshizzle]

k's WIP Update - 11.15

Just a status update on my now 7 WIPS (LAWDDD!!! What am I doing?!)

ALSO - There's a poll on L&L below, if you want to participate! •⩊•

˖⁺‧₊˚♡˚₊‧⁺˖ Love & Lullabies ˖⁺‧₊˚♡˚₊‧⁺˖

Part 1 is OUT - and y'all the support has been amazing. I am so thankful. 😍

Part 2 Status: 35% & is my current priority Notes: Fully outlined! Half of the major parts are written out already. Vibes: The angst will be angstin' mid-way ngl. But don't worry we will get the signature ktown tension and a bit of smut as well (pray 4 me).

So here's the weekly poll. Note this may or may not affect the story. I'm really just curious~

Question is on Haneul's Origin Story, basically. Do you want to know more bout it? Do you want to learn about the baby mama? Do you want to meet her? Do you wanna throw hands? Or you can't be arsed to care cos you just want Yoongi and Han to be happy?

˖⁺‧₊˚♡˚₊‧⁺˖ Terms & Conditions ˖⁺‧₊˚♡˚₊‧⁺˖

Chapter 6 Status: 10% Notes: Same as last week. TBH - I'm at a standstill here because 1 I've been working on L&L and 2 this was supposed to be where scootergate happens. As it is, I might not include it so, yeah, that's where we are at.

˖⁺‧₊˚♡˚₊‧⁺˖ Wild & Free ˖⁺‧₊˚♡˚₊‧⁺˖

Youth drabble - 1,000-notes milestone. Status: 30%  Notes: Same as last week. Note count at 832 so still have time.

˖⁺‧₊˚♡˚₊‧⁺˖ A HOLIDAY FICCC ˖⁺‧₊˚♡˚₊‧⁺˖

Status: 0.0005% Notes: Thoughts are being thunk

˖⁺‧₊˚♡˚₊‧⁺˖ Gratuitous Tiktok-inspired Story ˖⁺‧₊˚♡˚₊‧⁺˖

Status: 20% - ON PAUSE Genre: Fluff, Smut, Attempt at Comedy. Work rivals!au (non-idol au) - I’m writing another office/workplace romance - pretend to be shocked! Vibes: Busan! Yoongi / Manbun Yoongi is your work nemesis–one you’ve always wanted to fuck if he wasn’t so goddamn cocky. You see him in a club.. Blah blah… Drinks, dancing, and doing the nasty in a dingy club bathroom. Notes: Thankfully, I have calmed my tits over Busan Yoongi long enough to dole out L&L. I'm pausing this one.

˖⁺‧₊˚♡˚₊‧⁺˖ Fic request: Let Me Love You drabble ˖⁺‧₊˚♡˚₊‧⁺˖

Status: 20% Genre: Angsty, Neighbors!au, Reader Singer x Producer Yoongi (non-idol au) Vibes: A lil different from my other fics, reader is in an abusive relationship Notes: Moodboard done-ish. Writing same as last week.

˖⁺‧₊˚♡˚₊‧⁺˖ Fic request: Untitled Grumpy x Sunshine Fic ˖⁺‧₊˚♡˚₊‧⁺˖

Status: 10% Genre: Fluff, smut, idiots to lovers kinda, non-idol au Vibes: College, I believe. Friend group getaway with the maknaes, you, and Yoongi. Chaos ensues, obviously. You and Yoongi has always had that unspoken tension since you became friends, but you’re both idiots. This friend vacation becomes your tipping point. Notes: Same as last week. Narrowed down visual reference.

Honestly, if you made it down here, ILY. <3 Thanks for reading! I really appreciate your support and hope you have a good day!

My inbox is always open for random asks or whatever. •⩊•

[mrs-monaghan]

I ain't gonna lie. JK kinda being a bit of a shit stirrer today. Why is he posting pictures adding up to 13 like he's baiting Jimin, but posting the food in the same set of dishes that Tae owns? Tae already showed that dish set in his story not long ago. Kinda like that day JK said Jimin was his, but turned around and said Tae was his. JM's in NY minding his business, while JK's kinda being messy. Well, at least both sets of shippers are happy & fighting at the same time over who JK is really posting for.

Anon, come closer. Let me show you something.

Remember this?

Okay. Wonderful then I'm sure you remember that atrocity they did of photoshoping V on Jimin's face. See if u can find it among all these times where they replaced Jimin with V.

These assholes didn't even try 🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️ That's one of the most iconic Jikook moments of all time. If you're gonna try to copy at least put in some effort 🙄🙄

That's one.

2) Remember when Jimin said the best part that represented him was the timestamp 1:23 on the One Day MV?

Remember how JK started recommending songs to army and pausing the songs at 1:23? He did this continuously without fail. (Manilla fight)

Even when sometimes the part made no sense. More on this here.

When Jikookers started celebrating this guess what the vermin did? They took the 123 theory and decided to relate that to Vkook. Even though they never would have done that shit, if Jikookers didn't point it out. According to them, 123 was about Tkk because V was born on 12th December 🤦🏽‍♀️

Shouldn't it have been 1230 then?? Why did they get rid of the 0? For convenience as always. 🙄🙄 Well, joke's on them, because JK stopped doing this. This is one of the earliest moments of JK debunking Tkkrs.

3) When Jkkrs noticed the JM and started talking about it.

The vermin said the tiger was about them. Because V's animal is a tiger.

Fuck the fact that the tiger and Korean culture go hand in hand. But guess what JK did when he met Poly C? He👏🏾covered👏🏾that👏🏾shit👏🏾up! Sure the man and the rest of BTS hated how the SK government were treating them. Sure he hates how he can't even show the world who he's in love with due to his homophobic country, so he decided the Tiger didn't mean that much to him after all. But I bet he saw a chance to kill 2 birds with one stone and he did. Fuck SK and fuck Tkkrs. Boom! Done.

4) When Karmy nick named Jikook the Sun and Moon duo because satellite Jeon is always orbiting Jimin like the moon orbits the sun, The vermin also started calling Tkk the Sun and Moon duo. Their reason? Don't ask me. Idk and idc. Too bad though, coz even BH knows who are the REAL Sun and Moon duo

5) While we are on the "mine" topic. Karmy already explained the difference between JK saying Jimin is his Vs when he said (warning RIP your algorithm if you click on this) V is his. According to Karmy, with V it came off more like a statement. With Jimin it was possessive, AF. And I agree. Not just because I'm a Jikooker, but because you don't need to be Korean to hear the difference.

For context: An army asked JK to give Jimin to them and JK was like; he's mine. But here is what u have to keep in mind. The V one came way, way, waaaaaay later than the Jimin one. As soon as he said Jimin was his, the vermin kept pestering JK with the same thing the former Army asked about Jimin. So going by JK's tone, it seems to me like he said what he said about V, to shut them up. 🤷🏽‍♀️ The difference is in the tone, guys. U don't gotta be Korean to hear it.

These are just a few examples. And now you're telling me, even though our numbers theory makes more sense, Tkkrs are claiming what JK is doing on weverse for themselves because of a plate?? A plate? Really.

This is just like when they decided Tkk went snowboarding because of a pair of shoes. Like no one else owns those shoes apart from JK and V 🤡 Again, someone please explain to me how people take them seriously. Please. They want what we have soooooo bad. They have always wanted what we have.

Jin can grab V's balls or whatever tf this was. Taejin what goes on??? 🧐🧐

And the vermin did not bat an eye. Not one fucking peep from them. But in the same memories 2021, Jimin gets embarrassed and does the simple act of hiding his face in JK's neck (something he has done for years BTW)

And ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE!!!

You cannot tell me these people don't know Jikook is real. If they didn't see what we see they wouldn't want what we have so bad. And they certainly wouldn't feel so damn threatened.

So anon, JK owning the same plate as V, cannot even be compared to JK making a post on Jimin time. It ain't and will never be the fucking same. Please.

[eastgaysian]

do you think that a lot of s4 critique (esp on tumblr) is coming from the tomgreg “field”? bc i mean - they all seem very disappointed with the way this season is playing out and, without meaning to be patronizing, i’d say unmet expectations like that can cloud (or at least colour) one’s general opinion on a piece of media immensely. we’ve all had it happen to us in some way at some point, so i get it but also…don’t shit in everyone’s müsli just bc a specific relationship didn’t happen in the way you’d envisioned :( alsooo tomshiv is much gayer than tomgreg could have ever hoped to be idc idc

it's something i've been avoiding saying directly, because it feels slightly dickish, but We Can All See With Our Eyes that there is a correlation between people heavily invested in tomgreg and people who are expressing dissatisfaction with s4. it's also fairly obvious that i stopped giving a shit about tomgreg over the course of the year+ of getting harrassed and finally getting my blog terminated for expressing mild criticism wrt patterns of misogyny in fandom. which i think entitles me to a little bit of dickishness.

the thing is, you can have whatever opinion on a show you want for whatever reason you want. it's fine to say you're disappointed in the relative lack of tom and greg this season, because that's what you were personally invested in. your emotional response to the season is your emotional response. full stop. a big part of why i've been enjoying this season so much is because i started watching this show after my dad died, and it's very cathartic for me to watch such a realistic and thoughtful depiction of grief in all its messiness and complexity. i'm connecting to these characters more than ever because i've been there. that's personal! that's subjective! that's okay!

what irritates me is: a) being disingenuous about the reason you dislike the season, b) in a way that implies disliking the season is the 'correct' opinion to have, either on a moral basis or because this season is objectively and uniquely bad writing/directing/editing, c) to the extent that it creates a noxious and unpleasant fan environment to participate in.

i understand where the urge comes from to defensively say "no, it's not just about my businessman yaoi, there is actually a high-minded, intellectual reason for me to spend all my time bitching." because yeah, there are people who are delighted to go fuck you anyone who cared about tom and greg, you were watching the show wrong, and that's aggravating.

deliberately misrepresenting your opinion as something with a more "rational" basis doesn't make you any better off, because it's laughably obvious when that's what you're doing, and it undermines your initial position, which was not inherently invalid in the first place. it's fine to be sad that the thing you personally wanted to happen did not happen. you can say that. you can call people dicks for being rude about it. it's fine. it's literally okay. we are all just saying shit online.

but you are just not going to be able to convince me that season 4 is overall badly written, or that it suffers from unique mechanical issues that were not already present throughout the show. it's not going to happen! d*sha redscare was literally in s3! the fact is that in a season where logan dies in episode 3, and if anybody tries to say that was a bad writing decision you know they're pulling it out of their ass, it simply Is Not Possible for tom and greg (who barely had a relationship with logan and so has fuck all to do in the wake of his death) to spend 15 minutes an episode engaging in slapstick routines. is it an awkwardly truncated storyline? maybe! but succession is littered with those, and that's because it makes the choice to prioritize its main story, which in s4 is more focused and thoughtfully written than ever.

i won't even touch on the queerbait discourse because i do not think queerbait has ever been a useful term and the idea of trying to apply that kind of analysis to succession is too idiotic to even bother engaging with. the virgin representationcel vs the chad [i will not talk about my politics on tumblr but i am a trans fag of color deeply disillusioned with most of the discourse on 'representation']. representation win! the chair of fictional fox news cheated on his wife with her cousin #gayrights. Be serious.

[fabuloustrash05]

hold on I just remembered that I sent you, like, an essay on Karai Being Cool Actually I'm So Smart And Impartial while I was recovering from dentist anesthesia the other night. but I don't know what was actually in it. like my memory's garbage even when I'm not high. so like,, what did I say????? was it coherent or did I just kinda cry about her in your inbox lmao

Imma just copy and paste it all for you:

tbh I like how stubborn Karai is; in my mind, it's a core character trait, right up with Raph's anger issues (emotional disregulation and lack of healthy coping skills), Don's... creepiness (communication problems, fear of rejection, and lack of role models to teach him how healthy relationships work), Leo's reckless self-sacrificial streak (BIG time parentification and self-esteem reliant on perceived worth to others), and the messy, conflicted emotional rollercoaster that is April's life (idc what the writers were trying to do, she is SO accurate to how it feels growing up autistic as a girl shouldered with unreasonable expectations). Sometimes the most interesting thing about a character is what's "wrong" with them, and... Personally, I have kind of a nihilistic view on people, so that's what I tend to focus on, as the starting point from which they can grow as individuals and learn to deal with their issues. To me, Karai's stubbornness and repeated "obvious" mistakes read as her desperately trying to maintain control and comfort in an unfamiliar situation that isn't getting better and will never be what she used to know and has adapted to survive in. It will get better eventually, sure, but she doesn't know that. To make matters worse, after everything that happened with her adoptive father, her ability to trust her elders who could warn her of what's ahead has been compromised, whether she acknowledges it or not; essentially, this means she has to find out everything the hard way before it sticks, and even then, it might just be a fluke, so she still might not get it the first few times. Soon, it becomes a pattern. There is a certain level of comfort in knowing you are wrong and will be hurt for it, if that's what you think you deserve. It's... Familiar, I guess? It feels very real, when you've been through a similar process of fighting your own growth and healing, especially at that age. So personally, although it is frustrating, I think it makes sense this way because that feeling of frustration is the point, y'know? It's ugly, it's uncomfortable, and it is so earnestly human.

[broodwolf221]

i have been thinking about the evanuris so much since that trailer dropped. this is gonna be rambly, long, and kinda heavy

bioware critical

i dont find criticizing the things i like to usually be very useful or good for my overall mental health, but seriously, im still very, deeply upset with the way dai handled the evanuris. i wish they had gone almost any other direction. making the extremely oppressed dalish's gods into a) not gods and b) actually awful slavers! is like. well. points for finding the most fucked up path forward and dedicating yourselves to it, i guess

bc of that, i can't help but hold out a sliver of hope for a bit of a retcon with da4. i'm not talking issues of likelihood or implication here, just desire and the fact that retcons of standing game canon are obviously possible. it's happened a number of time - solas dropping the big Actually The Evanuris Are Monsters thing on us was one of the bigger retcons of everything we'd ever learned about the creators, in fact

and if they don't change the slavery aspect entirely, i want them to at least... idk how to say this. diversify opinion on it within the evanuris? make it more complicated? the evanuris are presumably at war with the forgotten ones and the titans. could they also be at war with themselves?

how old is their history of slavery? how did it begin? why wait for fen'harel's rebellion to address it? who's telling the story of the evanuris? the dread wolf? obviously i love solas but i'd honestly rather see him as a liar and a bad guy who twisted the whole thing and the evanuris as the creators. or maybe he's just someone who doesn't remember things as clearly as he thinks he does, someone for whom his "millennia of dark, dreaming sleep" distorted his recollection of arlathan

flemythal is obviously fucked up. there's theories about her being a spirit, or part-spirit, theories i've also entertained, in which case i could see her being justice -> vengeance. maybe becoming vengeance is what made her 'bad' - like being abusive to morrigan, possibly sorta grooming kieran, etc. but during arlathan, was she the only 'good' evanuris? are they all irredeemably evil? i hate irredeemably evil arcs. i don't want every villain to be redeemed, either, that's not my point at all, but i hate the You're Evil-Bad And Obviously Can Never Change arcs. i hate black and white dynamics like that.

it's messy af to make slavers sympathetic. they managed decently with dorian - he grapples with the reality of the situation he was born into and never had cause to question, and comes out the other side with a changed opinion.

idk what i want. i want to give the dalish people their gods back. i don't want their hard-won and harder-maintained faith to be usurped by such an ugly reality. i want to redo the ending of trespasser to make it that the Maker is real and just a massive piece of shit. that'd be fine.

and if they can't retcon it, i want some of the evanuris - idc who, rly - to be opposed, to have grown, to return in humility to the dalish who have spent all this time honoring them. not as gods, but as people. if they can't have their gods, let them have the reality of those 'gods' working towards something better than their grim history. let dalish wear their vallaslin with pride instead of calling it a naive attempt to clutch at the branding of slavery. ugh. it's just so ugly and complicated i hate it.

[candyskiez]

Steven Universe! And She-ra

Fair warning, I haven't watched either of these in a long time

For SU:

Favorite female character: Pearl. I love her so much. Her grief is just so damn realistic and I really like how they went about developing her. A big strength of the show to me is how even the characters who are meant to be undeniably very good people still do awful shit sometimes. Pearls a big example of this. She's so human and the whole sardonyx plot is what made me start liking her and she only became a better character as the show went on. She's just so good man and I really like that her arc isn't about finding another lover or anything. Maybe she gets another in the future but idk. I'm glad they didn't include it in the show? It's nice to see her be able to heal and be single at the same time. Yknow?

Favorite male character: Steven! Another huge selling point of the show for me was the show exploring how common cartoon things would shape a characters mental health and development. Steven feels exactly how a real person in that situation would realistically develop and it's very interesting to me. I want to study him under a microscope.

Favorite season: Season three! Idk a lot of my favorite episodes are from there. Definitely a highlight of the show for me.

Favorite episode: A Single Pale Rose. Sorry. Other favorites are alone at sea, back to the kindergarten, volleyball, Mr Greg, Friend Ship, now we're only falling apart, Log Date, and monster reunion.

Favorite ship: Pearlrose, by far. Only ship I got properly invested in from this show. They're just so interesting and messy and complicated. Their situation was so fucked up and kind of doomed them to be on unhealthy footing with each other but they tried so damn hard and maybe if they'd just had more time, maybe if Rose had just chosen to live, maybe they could've fixed it!!! Aaaaagh!!! It drives me insane, man.

Character I'd die defending: Rose. What can I say that hasn't been said already man

Character I just can't sympathize with: I'm not poking the discourse bears

A character I grew to love: Amethyst but honestly most of the cast. The vast majority of the cast started out pretty unlikable and then just grow on you.

Anti op: Bellow diamond. I just don't like it, nothing personal.

She ra:

Favorite female character: Adora!!! I love her!!!! She's so much more interesting than people give her credit for. I will always wish we got more episodes centered around what her time in the horde was like + her own personal experiences with shadow weaver, as well as more of her feelings on the big split, because what we got was so interesting ad aarvhhhhh.

Favorite male character: Bow. He is underrated (partly due to wasted potential.) He was so interesting in season four and man. Man. I wish we got more episodes with him? Man we couldve had it alllll. The world if Bow had an episode focused on him. I wanna know more about him! Arrghfhhfhfhf.

Favorite season: Season four, hands down. It's a really really good season. I don't think I dislike a single episode from it they're all bangers. Also protocol is underrated. The insight we get into Light Hope and the horde trio was so good and added so much to the show and Glimmers arc in it was top tier idc what yall say. Also YAY BOW DEPTH!!!! I loved him being bitter and messy and burnt out!!!! I loved the guy who fixes everything not being able to fix it and being hit with it because he is the only one trying! He wants everything to be okay and nobody else wants that! Everyone else just wants to be right! And nobody wonders how bows doing! Idk bow really gets to shine in that season I loved it.

Favorite episode: Fractures. It's a really, really good episode. But im torn between that and princess scorpia? They're both just so so good man.

Favorite ship: Do you even have to ask (catradora. It's catradora.)

Character I'd die defending: Glimmer. Yall don't know her like I do. Also Adora. I would defend her in court.

Character I can't sympathize with: Once again, I am not poking the discourse bears.

A character I grew to love: Scorpia. She's one of my favorites, unexpectedly. If I actually dissected why I love her I'd be airing out my deepest emotional traumas publicly.

Anti otp: Glimmadora out of nothing but pure spite. I have no problem with the ship itself but the discourse got so bad that everytime I see it I die a little. Like it's a good ship! But the fucking discourse man. Terrifying.

[godsfavdarling]

october 2024 book wrap up

Where The Dark Stands Still by A.B Poranek ☆☆☆☆☆

My Throat an Open Grave by Tori Bovalino ☆☆☆☆☆

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë ☆☆☆☆☆

Normal People by Sally Rooney (reread) ☆☆☆☆☆

Intermezzo by Sally Rooney ☆☆☆☆☆

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson ☆☆☆☆

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro ☆☆☆☆

My monthly book wrap ups

My goodreads

(Why do I keep giving out 5 stars left and right, like I'm Oprah handing out cars or something? You get 5 stars! You get 5 stars! And you get 5 stars!)

October has been a fantastic reading month, somehow. Yes, despite starting my final year of uni—wild, I know. But the secret? Reading on the bus (my commute is about 1.5 hours), and reading during class (sue me idc. it's often boring, and I don't have the brain capacity to listen to all of that).

Anyway... Gothic vibes dominated the stack, and I gotta read something silly easy now because my brain is starting to melt from all the intense, haunting reads.

Where the Dark Stands Still by A.B. Poranek kicked off the month. This was a buddy read with a friend, and since I’m Polish, the Slavic elements felt like home. Even though we read it in English, it was funny (and kind of charming) to see Polish names and folklore mixed with English prose. The main character was so down-to-earth and relatable, and the magic had this Howl’s Moving Castle feel to it. Slavic-inspired fantasy is definitely something I need more of—absolutely go read this if you haven't!

Then came My Throat an Open Grave, which got its own post because it just spoke to me. It’s intense, unsettling, and has those Ethel Cain vibes that feel like the book was tailor-made for me!!! Every time I stumble upon a book like this, it’s like some idk... secret, twisted bond. It's haunting, something to linger in, long after the last page. Go read it if you like "weird girl" eerie shit!

Wuthering Heights... what a ride. I knew it was going to be intense, but I didn’t realize how much. Everyone in that book is fucking insane, and I love it! I'm confused a bit about it being a romance, but I can see it... in the most disturbing way possible. Do I want a boyfriend obsessed enough to dig up my grave? Possibly. Was I horrified? Absolutely. Emily Brontë really went all in, especially for her time—it's no wonder this book has lasted as long as it has. She's an icon, and I’m obsessed. I won't say anything that adds to the conversation, unfortunately. Nothing of value. I'm glad I finally read it.

Next was Normal People—a reread from 2021, which I originally rated 4/5. Back then, I actually preferred Conversations with Friends, but after three years, it just hit differently. It’s amazing how much 3 years can shift your perspective!

Then there was Intermezzo. Honestly, I’m not sure what to say. If you’re into Rooney’s style, you’ll probably vibe with this. It’s packed with unlikable, layered characters and endlessly messy relationships. I am already planning a reread to untangle my thoughts. Ivan was giving Spencer Reid, and Margaret's job is what I'm probably going to be doing in the future because my studies are related to management in culture. It was kinda weird.

Now that I’ve drained my soul on gothic intensity, I'm on the lookout for something lighter.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle—a brilliant, short gothic classic that was the perfect finish to a month of eerie reads. How bad is it if I say Merricat is kinda just like me fr?

I've wrapped up the month with Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. To be honest, the beginning was confusing, so I was pissed off and kind of hated it. I was very invested towards the end once I understood more. I get why it's considered quite an important book. For sure, not for everyone. Obviously it's all kinda fucked up and what's even worse is we might get to a point in science when things like that will be possible and I just hate to think about it. We already went too far, I fear. We should all just stop.

Fret not!

November is still reserved for some creepy shit! I wanna read Jane Eyre next! Maybe Mexican Gothic! Also, The Secret History!

[selfproclaimedunicorn]

Writing Patterns

Rules: Share the first line of your last ten published works or as many as you are able and see if there are any patterns!

I literally only have 2 published things on AO3 because I purged all my old stuff (due to it being tied to a fic that I'm replotting), but I have a couple of fully edited things I haven't posted (one of them will be at some point, though), & something I haven't cross-posted so I'm sharing those too just to give a bigger sample size (because two things tells us literally nothing)

Sins of the Father

Ella didn't remember King Jaehaerys very well, she had only been four when he died after all.

I am Restless and Harsh, Make Me a Gentle Creature

Aldreda closed her eyes as she sank into the tub, trying to imagine that she was back home and that the activity of some mainland maid was the quiet working of one of The Farwynd’s thralls.

Dreams

Mother stood in the middle of the valley, her arms reaching out towards him as he ran to meet her.

Overture to the Sun [to be published]

He eyed the carved metal door warily as Brother Tyranus questioned his latest choice for someone who might know something: a mercenary by the name of Yngvar.

The Cakening

Hana looked down at the boxed slice of strawberry shortcake on the table in front of her, back up to the oversized clown of a man, down at the cake, and finally back up to him.

Road Trip

A final, dramatic and messy, gush of blood gurgled out of the jagged puncture wounds at the juncture of the man's neck and shoulder before the wound was hurriedly licked to make the flesh stitch back together.

Ah, yes, I see. I like just dropping readers (hypothetical & actual) just in the middle of things & expect them to pick up the context or perish. At least that's what I'm getting from this, if somebody else sees some other pattern lmk I guess ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Tagged by: @emilykaldwen

Tagging: @haephestuscrex, @toxicjayhoo, @jotterjots, @nyctophilic0vitnir, @godswood-girl, & anyone else who wants to. Simply claim I tagged you, IDC