#if they just had a message they would write a book yknow???

[francesderwent]

anybody who’s trying to make a career out of spreading the Gospel without the prolonged, committed, relationship-building aspect that you’d have as a teacher or a pastor…I’m biting you

[mettywiththenotes]

It's actually fucking crazy how most of the league of villains are dead

I'll be honest, when Tomura died, I was very sad but I also thought that, narratively, if at least one of the other main villains were alive, preferably Toga or Dabi (because they are the only other two who have had more time invested in them by their heroes prior to the final war arc. thought was actually put into who they are as people), then the theme about everyone being saved including the villains who may need it can still mean something. Even with Tomura dead, something can still come from this

But then it was revealed Toga is dead. And then Dabi died too. Well, shit. Do we have any other villains left who can still make up the theme of "villains can be saved too"? Hmmm, let's see. Twice is dead. Kurogiri is dead. Stain is dead. Spinner is alive! Oh but there's no actual redemption for him and he's writing a book about the League's legacy. And maybe there's some hope there because he wished Shouji good luck, but, again, last we saw him he was in police custody, which doesn't really say anything good. Aaand Compress is in jail. Amazing (/sarcasm)

Actually, the only villains who could still carry along the theme of "everyone can be saved (villains too)" are Lady Nagant, Gentle Criminal and La Brava. They had redemption arcs and were somewhat saved by a hero, or at least they have a connection to him, and they survive until the end of the story

However, these are characters we don't know as well, aren't as relatable and don't show up continously like the League did. If you like these characters, that's great, but as characters who really only show up TWICE in the whole 430 chapter story (and remember, prior to the final war arc, they had only shown up once. ONCE. before being put aside for the end), it isn't as hard-hitting as it would have been with the League, and for a story like this that hinges on the implication of "but what about the villains who should be given the chance to have someone reach out and save them?", with an already full cast of main villains who absolutely had the narrative opportunity to be saved being killed off or imprisoned, it just doesn't. land well

Honestly it would have been all good and fine if these 3 were the only ones left to be saved, if they had had more appearances rather than just being one-arc opponents. Genuinely, if they had shown up more and had a bit more depth and insight into their characters or connections with the mc, I would have accepted it. Albeit sadly, since the lov would still be dead and I loved them, but I would still think "at least the theme still has meaning to it. at least there are still some villains who did get that redemption and tied it all in with reaching out for people who need it"

But that's not the case. With only having one other appearance before their last ones in the final war, in connection to the theme, it's just. weak. It's handled weakly, imo. Especially when, yknow, you kill off or put away most of the villains who could have been saved

And, actually, let's talk further about this. Because even though Lady Nagant is somewhat saved, survives and helps out the mc, she doesn't offer a good message at the end of the story. It's quite a shaky message tbh. To paraphrase, she basically says "I know I have the choice to go back into society now but honestly I don't trust it's not gonna be the same way it was again so I'm choosing to stay in jail and see what happens.". Which. I mean I guess it's something, in the face of her whole "AFO is bad but at least he means what he says" thing from before, at least now there's the implication that she's gonna wait to see how things go instead of jumping to work for a supervillain now that she has free choice again, but when the ending of your story is "things are going in the right direction" and you choose to have one of the only surviving villains who follows one of your themes stay in jail instead of returning to society or even just not living in jail but still watching what happens from afar is very. weird

And though it's a weird decision, I think the thing that would have made me feel better about it is seeing her out of jail in the future. At least just one panel of her, maybe somewhere in the background walking around the city or something. It would have made sense for her to initially be like "I'm nervous about the future and how things could change or not change at all" and then have her free in the outside world, showing that she overcame that fear of being used again after seeing how things supposedly changed. I get that this is probably something that's supposed to be left up to interpretation, but as a villain who actually made it and connected with one of the heroes, I think it would have meant something for her character, for what the heroes were trying (or saying they were trying) to achieve

Which leaves us with Gentle Criminal and La Brava. On the whole, these two are the only villains who get a redemption arc, survive the story and clearly go on to live their lives happily in society

And again, this would have been great if we had gotten more time with them. It would have been great if we had actually seen more of what their lives were like after the war, building their new business together instead of returning to villainy, instead of just having One (1) panel to show us they're alive. It would have been great if we didn't just have most of the villains, who we had more time with, who were pretty sympathetic (not that Gentle and Brava didn't have their moments but still) killed off or imprisoned without any deeper thought. But that's not the case, so it just sort of falls flat for me

Unless you're a Gentle and Brava stan and shipper, in which case congratulations. I like them too, they're cute! But it is insane to me, given everything

So I mean. Yeah. The only villains who really make it, who really add anything to the theme of "everyone can be saved even villains who may need help", are Gentle Criminal and La Brava

(and Nagant if we're giving the benefit of the doubt to the weird decision of her panels in jail being the last time we ever see her. I'm aware she's in prison just like Compress and such, but at least she has a choice whether she stays or goes, meaning she may get out in the future of her own will thanks to Hawks)

[lunatic-fandom-space]

Alright, I read The Vampire Lestat all in one go in 8 hours a few hours ago, I spent the whole day at the library just reading it (i brought food w/ me dw) and then I came home, tired ass balls legs hurting from sitting and stimming for that entire time and I immediately went to bed even though I had so many thoughts that I wanted to write about, and now its midnight and I cant sleep and Ive realized that my sleep schedule is just fucked now, so yeah its The Vampire Lestat Thoughts Time now

I wanted to start this post off by talking about the post I made immediately after reading Interview with the Vampire, which was a very short one where I think I basically just called Lestat a very pathetic abuser and I meant that in a very specific nunaced way but I dont think i did a good job conveying that. Anyway, the only person who ever interacted with it was a blog that was called smth like lestats-left-eye and they interacted with it like 8 minutes after I posted it and the reason I remember it so clearly is that I thought that was really menacing. Like, imagine you make a post calling some character a piece of shit and then within minutes you get a notification thats like "characters-no1-fan replied to your post". But they didnt say anything mean, they were basically just like "you need to read the vampire lestat STAT" presumably because they thought it would make me think differently about him but honestly all it did was make me more convinced of his patheticness, less so of his 'abuserness', for lack of a better term, but I think thats mainly because the Thing that would make me call him an abuser was his relationship with Louis and he didnt talk about that very much, and all his other relationships were just like, weird. so. At this point i feel like I should clarify that wben I call him that Im not doing that to moralize or to be judgemental of people who like him, I like him, i just feel like thats an accurate way of describing him and the particular way in which he was manipulative and demanded love

Anyway, the first thing that made him really pathetic in my eyes was the way he 'debunked' Louis' claims at the start of the Interview with a Vampire section because, idek how to describe it, but theres just something so annoying about it. Hes like "I mean, I suppose its true from his point of view, but i actually didnt indescriminately murder random people, I only killed the bad ones, and he also completely neglects to mention our romantic walks and our cute little shakespeare-reenactments for Claudia, and also he says Im stupid and dont know anything but I was actually just keeping the knowledge of our power from him because he seemed so burdened by what little he already had :(" like come on man. And obviously I understand that the power-thing in particular was a retcon because the first book was a standalone, but these books are really well-written and they dont break my immersion so I dont really feel the need to do like, extensive doylist-analysis, yknow what I mean

Like, Ive been reading the ACOTAR series by Sarah J Maas and Ive been critiquing and complaining about those books on a sideblog and authorial intent comes up a lot because theyre clearly trying to say one thing, convey one particular message in an honestly very annoyingly moralizing way, but what the characters actually do and say blatantly contradict it, and for all that the series' fans talk about all the characters being morally gray, theres a very obvious refusal to have them be anything other than paragons of goodness by both the texg and those same fans. And those are not issues I have with the Vampire Chronicles so far, so when i say that I find that Interview with the Vampire section annoying, Im not criticizing the writing, Im saying that Lestat seems like the most frustrating genre of person. I mean, I do have some criticisms of the writing, specifically of the story, but I'll get to that later

For now I wanted to elaborate a little on why I found Lestat so annoying, and its the fact that he spent this whole book talking big game about being evil and revolutionizing the evil-game but then at the end he seemed so unwilling to just let the general public actually think of him as such, even though most humans considered it fiction, like he had to soften the blow at the end. And I do think its him just wanting to soften blow as opposed to him actually wanting to set the record straight because he cares that much about the truth or whatever, because I think if he actually cared about that, he wouldve been a bit more specific instesd of just being like "yeah, Louis said a bunch of things that are wrong about me, but I can forgive him because I suppose they were right from his perspective, even though they arent really" like dude.

It really feels like hes just using this evil-shtick as a crutch and as some kind of self-justification for being unlovable. Like, if hes evil and no one loves him thats fine because evil has no need for love, but if hes evil and someone does love him thats even better because then its a deep romance capable of withstanding anything, yknow what Im saying? But then he talked about the fact that demons in hell and vampires are capable of love and he talks a lot about his own capacity to love, so idk. I definitely feel like he feels a measure of resentment at the fact that Magnus, who was this horrifying stranger that immediately abandoned him, was able to inspire this great love in Lestat but his pretty self wasnt able to do the same with the fledgelings that he turned who were people that he knew and loved in life and/or that he spent decades of his undead existence with

Granted, maybe unlovable isnt the most accurate term to use here bc I dont think that exactly is what matters to him, but I cant think of a better one rn. Actually, now that I think about it, maybe its less about him wanting to convince the general public that he wasnt the pretty pathetic and despicable person Louis described him as, and more about him wanting to convince himself that Louis doesnt actually think of him that way. Or maybe 'cant' is a better word to use here instead of 'doesnt' because the way he says that Louis left out the less dysfunctional parts of their relationship kind of makes me think that Lestat thinks those parts being present makes his feelings and his view of these things unjustified, and I feel like theres a bit of an accusation there that hes purposefully trying to slander him, but the thing is, Louis has way less of an incentive to lie about Lestat than Lestat does to lie about Louis. Like Louis just kinda randomly agreed to do this interview from some guy decades after they last saw each other and then it got published. Even if you said that Louis was somehow masterminding the interview-guy, I just couldnt believe it because I dont see a reason as to why he would do all this and I dont think hes the kind of guy who just does shit for no reason. I also dont think hes nearly as spiteful as Lestat to do this. Also the idea that he would try to slander like this is stupid because who would care about this. Like, humans just see it as fiction and vampires are mad about him giving out the names and locations of vampires but I dont think they actually care about this niche insane relationship drama. And frankly, I feel like Lestat is just way more deluded. Like he calls Louis and Nikolas cynics but Im just like, no, I think those guys are realists and youre prone to delusions of grandeur. but then Im a pretty cynical person myself, so I would say that, wouldnt I

That actually leads really nicely to the second thing that makes me find him really pathetic, and its basically just the entirety of the last three or four chapters. Or, I guess I wouldve called them pathetic if it didnt look like they were at least kind of true ?

Okay so, while I was reading those last few chapters I was basically thinking to myself "okay, Lestat is obviously just making all of this up, I predict that the next book is gonna have a bit where Louis is like 'yeah, I read that autobiography of his and I guess i cant confirm or deny most of it bc he never fucking told me anything, but he just completely made that last bit up, I never went to come find him, and infact, now that hes done this ive decided that Im only communicating with him via passive aggresive autobiographies in which we continously debunk each others claims about our relationship'" because its just. come on, did those chapters not feel like a self-indulgent daydream? Like, "i was looking out the window the day before my big concert when my ex-boyfriend that I still love showed up and I went outside to see him and he was looking really bad in his jeans and sweatshirt but its fine bc i love him, and he hugged and kissed me just like he used to, like a lover <3, and he was sooooooo concerned for my safety and he asked me to just stay with him forever but this time I was the one to reject him, but then I still managed to convince him to go to my concert with me and we kissed before the show started and he was in the audience cheering me on after that, and it was the best concert anyone has ever seen and I felt so awesome standing on that stage, and then once it was over we were attacked by some of my vampiric h8ers but it was all good because my mom appeared out of nowhere to save us and she was wearing modern clothes obviously but otherwise she was exactly the same as when she abandoned me 200 years ago" hey buddy, i thought you were writing an autobiography not fanfiction about how you wish the people you love would stop abandoning you

Louis' behaviour for this whole section is the main thing that ticks me off because I felt that he was just so out-of-character. And obviously the characters that feature prominently in both books are quite different in both of them, but they are still recognizable as themselves which was not the case with Louis imo. And granted, there is a pretty significant gap between me reading the first book and me reading this one so my memory is a little foggy about everything that happened in it, but Louis was just way too outwardly-lovey-dovey for someone who, when talking about their relationship to an unrelated third party 11 years ago, decades after they last saw each other, at best seemed to look back on all that with complicated resentment. Like I just dont buy it at all.

But again, I was reading all that with the assumption that this would (at least partially) turn our to be made-up, and yknow, it still might I guess, hope is the thing that dies last and all, but Im a lot less convinced of that because of the stuff with Akasha

And now its finally time to talk about my criticisms regarding the story and theyre all linked to Akasha and her cringefail husband and honestly Marius too. Im curious if this is a hot take or if this stuff is something that a lot of people dont like. Like, if youre immersed in the book fandom please tell me if this is a thing where you read that I have some criticisms of the story and you immediately knew it was gonna be this, or if youre surprised because the majority of people find the lore very interesting. But when youre telling me, please do so without spoiling me, Ive come this far knowing a very minimal amount about these books and I would very much like to keep it that way and finish all of these books until I start to fully engage with the fandom but I am very curious. Also, I am open to discuss all of this if any of you would like that, just please respect that fact that I dont know anything that happens in later books and that I would like to keep it that way

But anyway. Full disclosure, I already didnt like Marius when Lestat met him in person, I thought he was interesting as a component of Armand's backstory but I really didnt want him to still be alive and I didnt want Lestat to find him and speak to him and then he not only did both of those things, but he was like super buddy-buddy with him in a way that bothered me. And as if all of that wasnt enough, he goes on this lore dump that lasts like 9 chapters that is so fucking boring I dont even have the words to adequately describe just how bored and tired I was reading it. And the things that were revealed in this loredump were just weird and baffling in a distinctly bad way, and I feel like usually when you get stupid worldbuilding in books that are trying to Say Something its to enhance the themes of the plot, but I cant possibly imagine how any of this stuff with Akasha and her cringefail husband and the demons who possessed them does that

Like, the main thing that I find compelling about Anne Rice's vampires is their humanity and the fact that their moral and existential dilemmas are fundamentally the same as the ones that humans face because theyre essentially just more durable humans, and while this origin story doesnt change anything about that on a deeper level, it still really bothers me. Because humans dont have this clean epic symbolic origin story where we all came from two people that can easily be named, we just kinda evolved into existence for no grand, religious, immediately-obvious reason, but we ponder our own collective existence anyway, just like these vampires. Hell, plenty of us even think lf ourselves as monsters of destruction who shouldnt exist for the way we hurt our environment and other creatures. And like, Im not saying that they should be talking about evolution in the 1700s or that I explicitly want it said that vampires evolved alongside humans because that would just be stupid in a new way, but idk. I guess what Im trying to say is that I really didnt need an explanation for how these vampires came into existence because I was engaged enough with their philosophical discussions and fucked up relationship dynamics that it didnt even cross my mind to ask any questions about their collective origin.

And just on a basic level, none of this ancient vampire history-bullshit satisfied me in any way. Also, the whole descriptions of everything in ancient egypt and whatever-that-keltoi-place-was-called just felt kinda off, like they were lacking the authenticity of all the other descriptions, and its not because we didnt spend a whole novel exploring those places because we only got a very brief snipped of Armand's backstory and that part wasnt lacking at all. I was initially ready to chalk this up to a classic combination of orientalism and racism, but honestly, given that the parts about the super-pale blonde people werent that much better in this regard, I think its mostly a case of us just not knowing a lot about these ancient peoples. Like, I dont know a lot about 1700s France or 1800s America but when I read about those places in these books I do get the impression that Anne Rice knows a lot about those places or that she did a lot of a research on them, whereas with ancient egypt and the keltoi-place Im just kinda like "well, this is obviously just a bunch of madeup bullshit innit". And it really frustrates me that I cant really tell if its meant to be made-up bullshit in-universe or if its meant to be true, but I guess Im gonna have to get used to that feeling if I wanna keep having a fun time reading The Unreliable Narrator Chronicles books

Regardless of the actual bullshit-status of Marius' stories though, I was quite surprised and very disappointed that Lestat seemed to just believe it with no issues. Like, 1984!Lestat didnt add any commentary to Marius claims, he just repeated them verbatim bc why not, and 1700s!Lestat didnt have any questions or doubts that I can remember. And like, even if it is true, why was he just okay with that being the truth, I feel like he should at the very least be a little angry at the revelation that theres these oldass vampires who have to stay alive or else all the other vampires will die. Again, to kindof tie this back to my previous point, humans arent like that, we dont have some kind of anker-point that needs to stick around or else we'll all die, so this doesnt feel like its adding anything to the existentialist themes of the series. Its also logistically kinda stupid because we're told all of vampire kind is tied to both of them but like, how does that work? What if you only killed one of them) Are all the female vampires tied to Akasha and all the male ones to her cringefail husband, or are all the vampires that Akasha bit connected to her and then all the vampires that were bit by her vampires are connected to her through their makers as well and so on and so on? Iirc we're told that if you killed one of them, you would kill the other or they would just kill themself or something so it wouldnt really matter, but like, if you could just kill one of them without the other one ending up dead, what would happen?

And like, theres things about these vampires that dont really make any sense, like the fact that their fingernails look like glass or even bigger things like the fact that drinking dead blood is very harmful but drinking blood from other undead people has a healing effect, but those things dont put a huge damper on the series' themes so far so I dont care about them

But anyway, the thing that bothers me the most about all this is that Lestat didnt see or acknowledge the obvious similarities between what Marius was telling him and what Armand's coven used to believe. Like, what's the difference, really, between "vampires were created by the devil and are servants of the devil (aka demons)" and "vampirism was created by a demon and then given to two humans who them created other vampires"? I guess its the fact that Marius doesnt let his belief prevent him from enjoying life, but then it doesnt really feel like Lestat needed to talk to this guy, or like hes actually as open-minded as Marius said he was. Like, Marius basically told him "unlike most people, youre genuinely open-minded because youre listening to what I have to say about how to gain meaning in life" and Lestat, who basically already believed the same things as Marius when it came to that before they ever even met, said "yes i totally agree"

On a similar note, how fucking convinient that Lestat had this weird improbable idea about Osiris being a vampire god and then it basically turned out to be true. Like not literally, but the two people whose story directly inspired Osiris and Isis were both vampires and theyre like, the first vampires. what are the odds of that

Also Im pretty sure Marius said something along the lines "most people dont like what I tell them about the origin of vampires because they want a clean creation myth and thats not what happened" before he started talking about it, but then it was just a clean creation myth ? Like, in a previous paragraph I said that humans dont have an origin where everyone is descendet from two people, and as I was writing that I noticed that the story about Anasha and her cringeful husband is remarkably similar to that of Adam and Eve. or maybe not remarkably similar, but similar enough that I feel like Im not reaching when I say that

And of course this is a story with characters that are unreliable narrators on purpose so all of this might be 100% intentional and might pay off somehow at some point, but Im not really gonna know until I read the next one I guess and Im gonna have a hard time motivating myself to do that when the ending of this one was so bad (to me!!).

Idk, basically what Im hoping for right now is that this series will comtinue to deconstruct and retcon itself, both because that keeps me on my toes in a way thats fun (especially because Im going in completely blind) and because godddddd I really dont want to deal with any of the stuff involving Anasha, i think its all so stupid. I really hope that in the next book it turns out that atleast the stuff about all vampires' lives being tied to hers turns out not to be true and thats shes just gonna be a strong old vampire whos special because of her super strong psychic powers and because her blood makes other vampires strong (which is another concept I really dont jive with, the stuff with older vampires being strong and making strong vampires, but I dont really have much to say about it beyond that, so I'll just leave it at this). But honestly, Im really just hoping that in order to not disappoint myself too mucj, in my truest heart of hearts Im actually hoping that Lestat just decided to dip his toes into fiction writing 97% into his autobiography and then that Queen of Darkness is gonna be an in-uinverse fiction book written by Lestat de Lioncourt

But again, I probably wont feel like finding out for a little while, and as I think about it Im noticing that its mostly because Im not looking forward to having the same borderline-spiritual experience that I had with The Vampire Lestat, where I entered this monk-like state of mind and then walked through the city to the busstation feeling like I wasnt occupying the same reality as everyone else around me, with this book that I have a suspicion that I will not like it. And before you ask, yes, I know that I would have the same experience because it had basically nothing to do with the plot or themes of The Vampire Lestat, its just that my legs were hurting because I had been sitting on a wood chair with no pillow and continuously rocking back and forth because thats how I stim when Im sitting, and also my brain felt fried from how I forced myself to focus and read this book whose language is pretty challenging for a non-native speaker for 8 hours straight

Anyway, this ended up being way longer than anticipated but Im glad. Believe it or not, even though most of this post was just me complaining about one thing or another, I did like this book and I like that it made me think all this and that it made me feel passionate enough to write it all down, even though I do genuinely dislike the ending and am not really looking forward to reading the next one. But I definitely will do it at some point, so dont take this as a sign to tell me what happens in it, I maintain that I do not want to be spoiled. If one of my hopes ends up coming true and you want to encourage me to read it that way for some reason, please only do so in the vagues possible terms. like literally just tell me "ayyyyyy youre right 👍" without eleborating. And if you want to be evil, you can tell me that even though my predictions arent true and make my disappointment even more crushing that way ^^

Alright, thats it, I hope you enjoyed this. Also, I did end up managing to go to bed an hour after I originally started writing this, and then I ended up waking up again at like 4am and wrote some more and then I took a nap and wrote some more and then I took another nap, and it just kinda kept going like this and now its 3.30 pm so. you better appreciate that even if you think my takes are bad

[burst-of-iridescent]

You literally called aang an incel and constantly mock him, how do you not hate him.

well yknow if it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck... you are actually allowed to call it a duck.

aang kisses katara without asking for consent. aang nods when katara is called "the avatar's girl" in the ember island play, even though at this point they are not in an established romantic relationship. aang gets so angry at a satirized version of katara showing romantic interest in someone else that he outright says he would've gone into the avatar state if not for his blocked chakras. aang demands to know why katara won't enter a relationship with him. aang kisses katara without her consent, again, even though she has just explicitly said that she's confused. aang never apologizes for any of this.

that is exactly the sort of toxic, possessive, and entitled behaviour that characterizes an incel.

and that infuriates me, because book 1 and 2 aang - whose crush on katara was shy and harmless, who wore flower crowns and made necklaces and never once cared about gender roles - would never have acted this way. it's the writers who turned him into an incel and never had him learn and do better, and it is that very writing i am criticizing when i criticize aang. i truly don't know how much clearer i can make this.

loving a character doesn't mean that you never acknowledge their flaws, or missteps in how they were written. i love azula, zuko and katara, but i have discussed all of their flaws on this blog at one point or another. that's just what it means to engage critically with the media you consume. and sure, i criticize aang the most, but that's because out of everyone in atla, he got done the dirtiest when it came to his character arc.

ultimately, it doesn't matter what i say about aang, because it's never going to hurt him. he isn't real. but the messages about appropriate behaviour in romantic relationships that are being imparted through his character (in the latter half of book 3 particularly) to impressionable young children? those very much are.

and they need to be better.

[aemehhh]

Heya! I don’t usually wrote requests so sorry if I come off as awkward😅 I was wondering if you could write a small thing about gorino being with someone who’s insecure about their height

I’m 5’10 and sometimes I just feel down about it Yknow? I don’t feel desirable because guys prefer short girls or whatever, if this is to much you can completely ignore this. I do really enjoy your work btw<33

YAY!! I got my first ever request!!! :D

It's definitely not too much to ask, I think this is an amazing request! I had to ask some of my tall girlie friends about their experiences, because I am on the opposite end of the height-spectrum 💀 This is also a little rushed, so I'm sorry if it doesn't meet your expectations!

Also, I am so sorry I took so long to write the request! I hope you had a wonderful start to the new year!

Little message to the Readers in general; I just want everybody to know, you're absolutely gorgeous, no matter your height!!!

Giorno is ~20 and Reader and him are engaged, so it's an established relationship :3

Giorno with a tall! fem! Reader

Wc: 905, a short lil thing!

———————————————————————

This day was genuine ass. You went shopping with you friend and genuinely couldn't find a single piece of clothing that looked good or that fit right. Jeans that looked perfect on your shorter friend were way above your ankle on yourself and the long-sleeved shirts you tried, since winter is approaching, just looked so weird on you. You didn't even attempt to look for shoes, instead you told your friend you were going home because of an "emergency".

And there you were, sitting on your bed, cuddled up in a blanket and reading a book in order to distract you from the loud voice of insecurity that rang in the back of your head. Turns out the book wasn't helping, though.

It was a regular romance book, sappy as shit and a slow-burn. Usually you ate these up like crazy, but the main character was described as a short, beautiful woman. There it was again; having to lean up on your tip-toes to kiss your partner, your partner looking down at you, all those things that were considered super cutesy and desirable. You weren't that. You threw the book on the bedside table with a mad huff, throwing your blanket over your head.

Fuck, no, you're literally taller than your beautiful, angel of a fiancé. You lean down slightly when you kiss him, and you don't have to stand on your tip-toes in order to hug him. You just knew the nonnas on the streets send judging looks your way when they see you two holding hands.

Speaking of your fiancé, he entered your shared bedroom, seemingly home from whatever job he had today. You were aware Giorno most-likely already knew you didn't buy anything today; you've seen his subordinate follow you around the whole time. To be frank, you kinda signed up for constant supervision when you started dating the Don of Passione.

"Cara mia, are you alright?" Giorno spoke softly, he always does so with you. His voice held the upmost adoration for you; a tone nobody got to hear, but you. He knelt down on the floor by your bedside and lifted your blanket slightly to look at you. His beautiful, bright eyes met yours as he took your hand into his.

"Just a bad day, don't mind me, my love." You spoke and sat up. You felt Giorno's hand grasp yours just a tad tighter.

"I do mind, though. Something is bothering you, I can see that clear as day. Alessandro told me you didn't get yourself anything today either. What's the matter, amore? Please let me know so I can take some of the burden off of your heart." Giorno reached up and put his hand on your cheek oh-so gently. His touch was full of love, as usual.

You averted your gaze to your sheets. You felt stupid for thinking the way you do. You know all too well that Giorno loves you more than anything in this world, but you don't feel as desirable as other women. They would look so much better by his side, so why did he choose you?

You were silent for a little while, but then you started to feel guilty. Not telling him would make him feel as though you didn't trust him, which you did. So, you took a deep breath and told him everything. You spoke about your shopping trip; how it made you insecure about your height again and then about how your book made it worse. All in all, your head really wasn't up in the clouds and by the end, you almost had tears pricking in the corner of your eyes, which you tried masking by blinking a lot and looking at the ceiling.

Giorno noticed, of course. He stroked your cheek gently and pressed a kiss to the back of your hand before he spoke again.

"Amore, you're the most beautiful woman that has walked this earth. I do not care about your height in the slightest. I love you more than I have ever loved anything ever before. If these measly, cheap stores do not carry clothes appropriate for you, I will hire the designers personally to tailor the perfect clothing for you. If someone looks at you the wrong way, consider them dead tomorrow. There is nothing that would stop me from making sure you're comfortable and happy. You're the light of my life, the ray of sunshine in the early mornings of a beautiful summer day and I wish, I so wish you would see yourself in the way that I see you. You're perfect to me in every way, my love. Just seeing you smile makes my heart fill with so much joy, I wish to scream it out to the whole world. Sono pazzo di te, tesoro." Giorno's voice was filled with sincerity as he put a hand to your chin, gently tilting your head to face his eyes again. He then smiled and gave you a gentle peck on the lips before getting on the bed on top of you to hug you tightly.

Giorno's words made you smile as you returned his embrace, croaking out a quiet "I love you" before burying your head in the juncture between his neck and shoulder.

In a world that doesn't see your worth, Giorno worships the very ground you walk on. He vows to do so until the day he dies.

[lactoesfreee]

not to defend Harlow, but his verse does not strike me as misogynistic AT ALL.

the line people refer to when they say that he is misogynistic says:

I had one girl (One girl), too boring Two girls (Two girls), that was cool for me Three girls, damn, dude's horny Four girls, okay, now you whorin'

People don’t seem to get that he’s calling HIMSELF a whore. He’s calling HIMSELF horny. Not the girls.

When I seen that body, you would think it was a dead body. The way I told my boys, come look

This lyric could definitely be said in a different way, but basics what he means is that the girl is so gorgeous it shocked him, like how how a dead body would shock a person. Like you’d think he’s looking at a dead body when you see the expression on his face when he sees her. It’s also a Boyz 2 men reference. Anyways, He’s so shocked at her beauty, that he tells his friends to come look and see for themselves.

Please don’t take this message badly, I didn’t mean to send this with the intention of offending you or anything, I’m just seeing so many people misunderstanding the lyrics it’s almost funny to me. Also, as someone who listens to a lot of hip hop, don’t ever take Jack Harlow seriously. He’s the most unserious rapper out there right now, so when I heard he was on the track, I already knew this song was gonna be campy.

Sorry for writing a whole book in your asks!

Ah, i figured theyd be talking about that line about being a whore hahah. for me, i knew he was referring to himself as a whore, but it grosses me out because he's collecting women like dolls because having just 1 is boring to him. and in the music video, theyre all wearing the same exact thing and following him around which feels like he doesn't care that theyre individuals, he just sees hot women to fuck yknow? thats my personal take tho, i assume its standard Jack Harlow stuff and he's not the only one that does it of course lol.

the dead body one surprises me, it doesnt feel misogynistic just a bad line skjdfsdf like i interpreted it as a play on 'drop dead gorgeous' but said really corny hahah.

i dont take it badly! i like having these conversations, and since i deleted twitter yesterday ive been dyin to know what people think of it so i've been seeking out opinions! im not someone that enjoys overtly sexual songs myself usually, so im kinda picky with the songs i listen to since it seems like so much mainstream music is sexual. but i respect people who make sexual music and listen to it! i think that theres better ways to go about it than how jack did, but i suppose it coulda been worse pff

[trashlie]

For the ILY pod have y’all thought of making bite size tiktoks or shorts for those who can’t really listen to two and four hour eps? Lots of ND listeners who can’t sit still for that long :(

Elle has been working on taking parts of our pod to shorten specifically for tiktok and shorts! But unfortunately we are... yknow... very verbose people who talk at length and sometimes it's hard to chop things down /o\ It turns out that youtube shorts have a very hard limit of one minute that tiktok does not (I didn't know this, I don't use tiktok myself!) so Elle has had to manipulate the audio a little to make it work for the shorts. As a fellow ND who cannot sit and listen to things (rip to audio books they just aren't for me) I get it! ;~; the pod isn't scripted, so we could try to explore how we might rehash some dialog? I know Elle tries to make more bitesize portions of our pod but with both of us working full time jobs it gets hard to dedicate a lot of time to doing a lot of splicing and dicing editing that I really wish we could do because I truly get it! (I'm constantly surprised that people actually listen to 2-3 hour episodes lmao although I tend to assume a lot of people don't do it in one sitting. I would actually be curious how people take those episodes in!)

But I'll pass this message along to Elle and we can try to get more edited bitesize clips for you guys! I promise it's not that we don't want to or anything; we're just very tired people who ended up doing a very low-rent podcast because it was, frankly, the least time-consuming way to blab about ILY lmaooooooooo compared to, yknow, writing essays back and forth but I totally get what it's like to be on the receiving end as someone who CANNOT focus on audio esp for extended periods of time!

This should be our tiktok account! (Please let me know if I linked wrong lmao like I said, I don't have an account and tiktok limits what you can do without one lol) I hope that helps a little in the mean time! <3

[twisted-tales-told]

5, 24, and 29 please <33

This ask game

5. My latest text message from someone is from Mot and it says: “if this ignites any sort of hockey interest I’m blaming Arik” which fair! I have in fact joined sophs Hockey goals of just spreading hockey love through artistic spaces!

24: do I have a collection of anything:

Well, I collect a lot of things. It’s kinda my pride and joy. I don’t want minimalism, and I see collecting things as a very beautiful self love thing of surrounding yourself in art and beauty for no purpose other than I deserve to live a beautiful life. My main things are, Books, Crystals, Prints, and scent-y things (oils, creams, perfumes, hair products) I am very fortunate that I have a little gift for finding good deals on things sometimes!

29. My biggest what it is, what if I’d decided to do my undergrad in Halifax at the university of Dalhousie. Id gotten into both their creative writing program and History program.

In the end it was a very good decision not to go, in my second year of uni my mother was diagnosed with both kidney disease and breast cancer, and I had to drop out of the program I chose to go with.

Now I’m back at Uni and I am in a great situation both academically and housing wise, but sometimes I wonder what my life would have been like yknow?

[hyenadon]

im just gonna type this post out bc no one will see it (dante and olivia might) but I just need these thoughts to be expressed. online. into the screaming void of the internet which is of course not a screaming void but whatever whatever

sometimes I feel so like. unbalanced in love. Like. its interesting and also maybe terrible? Its like I get love in giant hits but never consistently. And its all different types of love too and never at the same time, so it never like. it never really feels like i'm FULL on love. Like theres that one piece of writing from a cql fanfic, fuck, wait, let me find it

"Wei Ying has always had a heart that could swallow the universe whole, that would teeter over the precipice dividing love and war and leap blindly. He had resigned himself to the likelihood that no one would ever quite feel for him as he felt for them." I think thats by afterwords by silkwings but im pretty sure they deleted their fic

I just feel greedy for it sometimes, I feel starving for love, I feel like scrabbling at scraps for love. And sometimes (not all the time, sometimes) I feel like "no one would ever feel for [me] as [i] feel for them"

at the same time though i'm NOT scrabbling at scraps of love, i'm NOT.

I'm given love pretty consistently. When olivia and I have our silly little talks about dr who or er or temeraire thats just. well thats just olivia and I. thats the love we have. we talk and I love it and we can talk about the stupidest things but its just. its just a chance to hear each others voice and to say "hey I love you. talk to me about something that matters to you and I will listen."

and the same goes for dante but I feel like I am not sharing an interest with him and i'm seriously considering getting into lego boats or something just so we can share that. not out of guilt or anything like obligation. i just love talking to dante. I love sharing interests with him. I love when he talks abt the things he likes. and dante always responds to me with so much empathy and understanding. Whenever I have a bad time dante is like yeah bud I get you. I honestly feel like a tiny bit bad that i'm not into boats bc I can just see how much joy that brings dante and like...I wanna get in on that.

And like. again I am given love. Best example is mumma messaging me recently and just basically saying "oh, yeah, my first book is dedicated to you. You didn't know that? of course it was."

but in a way, way nicer phrasing, and in little shared pieces of jargon just between us. I cried on the train home yesterday.

I'm so rich in love from these people.

and sometimes my coworker lena, who cracks my back and hums "damn that sucks" when I complain about my rotten family. Shes brilliant she really gives as much as she can to love me its just.

But who else do I have? yknow? I know there are orher people who love me but who do I TRUST to love me? Who can I even LET love me? Certainly not my biofam. They don't even know me. It's never enough it will never be enough.

As much as my Mumma will love every poem and every story ive ever written, and how she will shower me with praise, and be proud of me just for getting out of bed and staying alive, I want Sheila Monahan to apologize, fuck, I want her to BEG for my forgiveness for how she treated me.

just like in general:

(apologize for hitting me. Apologize for smacking a vaccuum cord around my knees when I was like. 10, idk. apologize for constantly calling me a bitch or a cunt when I was in high school. I deserve so, SO many apologies from her. apologize for the time you saw me do poetry in front of 4k people and asked "when can i leave?")

AND HEY, SHEILA, APOLOGIZE FOR HITTING AND CALLING ME A MEAN BITCH ON MY FIRST SLEIGH BELLS CONCERT. I've never been to a bells concert since them and my only memory of them is tainted by you calling me a cunt. Sheila. you suck.

but the apology I want the most is just. Sorry I never listened to your writing. I just want my biomom to tell me my writing is lovely. Bc its the thing im good at, i'm ALWAYS good at writing. And when I did yearbook she never even read it.

At least my dad read it. I still don't trust that man, I think he's a coward for allowing my mother to be terrible to me, but he read my words, and liked them.

yearbook was beautiful. yearbook was a work of art I will never replicate.

And the people that matter love it. Olivia and dante have seen it and read it and love it.

My biological father actually loves it very much. He says it's rockstar material. He was gonna show it to his coworkers.

But Sheila didnt even read it. She didnt even read the parts where i tried to commit suicie multiple times. bc if she did she might have cornered me.

But god. I just think.

what a horrible family I have that my father will allow my mother to ignore my attempts.

What awful people.

what deeply awful humans.

[cosmicanamnesis]

OOhhh I would love to hear about your hate for the Scarlet Letter!! I read Wide Sargasso Sea from the list in the post and it was okay. Written like a classic so not always the easiest to understand. And I had to read it for a class, which usually make me dislike the books more. Crazy as I am getting a degree in English and literature classes are my favorite.

see that was the only one on the list i'd never actually heard of so i might have to look into it. but yeah i was in the "I'm Here For English/Art/Choir And Nothing Else" camp in school. most of the classics we had to read i either threw my whole ass into (see: The Grapes of Wrath) or i'd give it a couple chapters and then sparknotes it from there (sorry Great Gatsby. baz luhrmann made a very entertaining movie out of u tho)

anyway this song is called I Will Raise Nathaniel Hawthorne From The Grave Just To Kill Him Again (under a read more bc this literally does not matter nd if u liked The Scarlet Letter u can just scroll right on by)

fair warning: this is not a scholarly essay, this is a shitty opinion piece that i'm writing while drinking cheap shit that might maybe qualify as whiskey. that's what you're getting here.

anyway.

my beef with TSL has... frankly very little to do with the actual content of the story, other than the story is just dead fucking boring.

puritans as a subject are boring, esp if you grew up as a person being persecuted by The Church(tm) in modern america (i say, making my first unfounded broad sweeping generalization of the night). like, yeah, No Shit they were religious extremists, have you seen the legacy they left? in that way i can understand how the contemporary or modern reader is supposed to feel sympathetic towards hester. the story is presented like "look at these crazies, look how they treat their women and their community," as if we're not doing the same shit in a different font to this day. pick a point in american history, you'll find hester and pearl there because as a society by and large we have barely progressed.

not to mention the focus of the story is on hester's relationships with dimmesdale and chillingworth more than, yknow, her own development as a fully realized person (rather than a representaion of Theoretical Complexity; a person can be both Sinful and Virtuous). because she isn't one. neither is pearl. pearl, willful and impish, is the personification of hester's sin. pearl is a prop.

does that all make the story timeless? yes, in the worst possible way.

hawthorne explores what it means to be ostracized in the most, like, affluent white boy way. like a frat bro doing shrooms and discovering empathy, hawthorne wrote the scarlet letter to show the concept of Sin And Consequences in a way that other affluent white guys might actually pick up on and say hey yeah that is a little fucked and make them realize other people are, in fact, people. if you are not in that specific demographic (which i can only hope was a purposeful target audience to teach them that message and not hawthorne himself realizing this for the first time) the philosophy is pretty fuckin weak. or. not so much Weak as it is Shallow, but ultimately it's both.

all to say, i was pretty clearly not the target audience here, and i think i have a pretty valid reason to not give a fuck abt TSL. that is not the reason why i so passionately hate this book.

the town i'm from has a pretty significant mormon population. i don't know if you know anything about mormons, but basically, LDS tradition has rules clearly outlining under what circumstances a person is meant to be shunned by the church. one of those conditions is apostasy, when a member officially leaves or is forcibly removed from the church and is declared an apostate by the temple. why do i know this? my best friend for a long time went through this process when they were 16 and living with me because their family kicked them out for being queer. not too long after this, TSL was assigned reading, and the class i was in was like 80% Assorted Christian denominations, the major one being... ding ding ding the fucking mormons.

so. put yourself in my spot. you are having Teacher-Lead Discussions about the topics and morals in TSL and on one side you have queer kids, atheists, Intelligent Troublemakers, etc, and on the other side you have a Protestant Army led by a Mormon Vanguard. nothing will make you hate a book like a dozen kids with absolutely no self awareness.

that segment pretty much boiled down to

"wow can you believe how CrAzY the Church(tm) used to be? :P"

"uh... yeah... you haven't changed."

"WHAT? pshhh OUR denomination is Nothing like /that/, women can wear pants outside of church activities now!"

"ok how do you feel about adultery when one's husband is presumed dead?"

"well. uh."

so to conclude: the Scarlet Letter is a very shallow criticism of early american puritan doctrine and the way that it's treated as a deeply profound classic is more of a reflection on the modern White Patriarchy than it is on the Puritans. and dont get me wrong, i think it's a pretty good subject for a high school lit class, if for no other reason than it teaches kids to recognize how morals and ideals are passed down even over hundreds of years. its a perfect example of that.

book fuckin sucks tho

[lemondropletters]

@nobody33333333 oh gosh i- T-T that was so awesome!! bro the reynie angst was just what I needed 😭 you have filled a part of the hole in my heart ajdhab I absolutely loved how you described what reynie was thinking in that scene (and curtains reaction to it).

first off I loved how you explained the whisperer and how it needed a emotional connection point so that the messengers can trust the machine and in turn be under curtains control,,,I’m not sure if I somehow completely missed that in the show but either way reading your explanation finally made it click in my brain it was just really well done!

“And it felt very good to say it. Bleak House had been a delightful book, and there was something about the way the Whisperer asked Reynie the question that made him feel appreciated and validated, though he couldn’t really explain why.”

crying he is so precious 😭

curtain every time he hears something slightly similar to his brother reminds me of that one meme like, “my brother used to call me that.” “that’s because it’s yoUR NAME??” (I know in this case reynie is really similar to Benedict so it makes sense why curtain would think that way but It’s still funny to me lol)

“The comfort of finally knowing he wasn’t alone was wonderful. Reynie wanted it, more than anything…if he needed to remain in Dr. Curtain’s inner circle, then, he should give in a little, right? Just enough to prove his loyalty. It would be good thing… right?”

reynie beloved ToT that whole section was angst but this part sucker punched me in the gut…me just being like “yes reynie it would be a good thing be happy you deserve it” ignoring that curtain is still trying to take control over the world ajdhshd (I am slowly realizing I would not survive in the whisperer 💀)

10/10 reynie angst would read again. I’m gonna say this is my favorite chapter and it can’t get better then this…but also I have been saying that for every single chapter so…yknow 🧍‍♂️

some extra parts that were my favorite (besides the whole thing)

Madge POV was something I really didn’t realize I wanted lol also number two kidnapping them from the zoo is very in character

I know this was in the show but it gets me every time when Milligan is just “everyone has the power to change” and Nicholas is just ‘yes great point absolutely right Milligan. one problem though. killer bird.’

the sticky and reynie/curtain and nicholas parallels 😭

curtain needs therapy x11 🫥

“Curtain and Sticky leaned as hard as they could into the Whisperer’s message. And it felt wonderful. To be wanted. And not just wanted, but home. Where they were valued. Where they belonged.”

also sticky. give him therapy too. (and reynie. actually everyone needs therapy what am I saying. )

garrison and curtain scene vs my anxiety 💀 not joking if you were to play this scene rn I would get really sick to my stomach. it’s always a good reminder for me that yeah curtain isn’t really a good person </3 I wasn’t sure if it was gonna effect me the same in writing but!! It did 😃 you did a great job at keeping the intensity of the scene while still adding some new thoughts.

(also I’m glad you added that garrison did in fact see the button. I was wondering how could they not notice Kate rolling over in the background or at the very least see the button so that was nice)

“She left to attend to her patient but made sure to leave her office door unlocked, just in case there was someone there who needed to make an exit. Garrison had brain swept enough people for one day.”

garrison 🙏

take a shot every time Benedict is anxious or is having a meltdown. he needs help 💀💕

“sometimes, it takes an outsider to let you see yourself.”

also another favorite line from the show 👌🏼

“With a little bit of judgment attached, don’t you think?” Curtain asked

man you can’t ask curtain nothing. he is so annoying 🥰

*slams fist* SQ wanting to go to art school 😭💕💕💕 bro just mail the letters don’t even ask

alrighht that’s almost everything…sorry I talked way to much 💀 I hope you didn’t mind. ^^ Wonderful chapter as always! and thank you again for the reynie angst you are the best 🙏😭 💕

Update: As promised, I have completed another S.O.S. chapter this week!

Click Here to Read the Chapter

Chapter 11 Summary: Curtain evaluates the potential of his new messengers while Milligan and his friends encounter a new visitor at their campsite. Meanwhile, Garrison finds a concerning abnormality in their data, and SQ thinks about his future.

Side Note: Yes, I have included the remaining quote from my WIP game! And I was able to get this out so fast because I already had most of it ready to go, might be a while before the next one (but I'm crazy inconsistent, so who knows). But in the meantime, I look forward to hearing your speculations on my Miss. Perumal and Dr. Garrison backstories.

Once again tagging everyone who originally expressed interest in the fic: @oflightningandstars @myfairkatiecat @mvshortcut @kneeslapworthy @serial-serializednovelreader @sophieswundergarten @itsgoghtime (as always: please let me know if this is annoying, because I know that while the tumblr-only people find it helpful, some people might not like or need the notification, especially when they have an AO3. And let me know if you aren't tagged, but want to be!).

Also @lemondropletters, you requested a Reynie angst fic. This chapter isn't entirely about Reynie, but I am especially excited to publish it, because there is a section of Reynie angst, which I hope you enjoy!

[miumura]

MY PENPAL — WAIT WHAT?!

39 - lets date? (written)

WC : 1.3K+ ; NOT PROOFREAD!!

warnings : kissing (more like a peck), sunghoon and yn being lovey dovey 🤷‍♀️

since hari left, you and sunghoon have become closer. you didn’t know why you were so distant from him before—maybe you were just afraid of hari ruining something again. now with her out of the way, everything went back to normal. you guys were still competitive with each other but this time you were “friends”.

i guess you can say you guys are in the “talking stage”. whenever he sees you, he always compliments you and gives you paper hearts with little messages in them.

“me + u = love”

in the heart, there’s picture of two stick figures holding hands

“this could be us”

“you’re the only one i need”

pretty romantic, yet cheesy. but hey, who wouldn’t get so giddy over notes such as this? you’ve collected over 50 of those notes by now. that’s what crushes do to you.

you weren’t gonna lie—you waited for sunghoon to confess. it’s been a while, all these notes weren’t going to be enough. you wanted to be in a relationship despite your ups and downs with him. but you totally understand if he would want to take it slow, after hari entering your lives out of nowhere.

you didn’t mind waiting for him.

as usual, sunghoon meets you in front of your locker. he’s been sticking around with you lately, it makes your other friends scowl at him sometimes.

not to mention, your friends and his friends are pretty much sick of you guys already. it’s like you’re basically doing a couple things but you aren’t even dating yet.

but that didn’t matter. as long as they were supportive, that was more than enough. it just means that they approve so you wouldn’t pay that much mind to their comments.

“morning yn” sunghoons voice made you smile.

“morning hoon”

he watched you put books into your bag. it was kind of heavy—sunghoon noticed it as well.

“i can carry your bag for you” sunghoon reaches out to get your bag. now your stomach flipped upside down. him? willing to carry your bag? just for you? unbelievable.

its all because of these small actions that make you fall for him even more.

“oh um yeah sure go ahead” you awkwardly said. you swore you mentally slapped yourself in the face for being so nervous like that.

“let’s go to class then?”

“alright! but also geez what books are you carrying everyday to make this bag so heavy?”

it was the end of the day—the bell rang. you planned on walking home with sunghoon but unfortunately you had a club meeting today.

you tapped sunghoons shoulder, “i can’t walk with you today. yknow, club meeting. sorry!” you wore an apologetic expression.

he pats your head, “it’s fine no worries. have fun in that club meeting, yeah?”

he waves goodbye to you as he grabs his bag to leave. he seemed like he was in a rush but you let him be.

as you were bored out of your mind during your club meeting, you suddenly remembered about your penpal, sunghoon.

you wondered if he knew. he hasn’t told you anything about his penpal, which was understandable. you thought of ways of possibly trying to tell him. maybe you’ll write him a letter and say you’re his penpal? or you’ll send that love playlist again?

you continued to think until a voice brought you back from your thoughts.

“and that concludes our meeting! you may leave now, have a great day!”

you rushed out to check your mailbox. he still wrote you letters everyday, which makes you kind of blush a bit. a matter fact, you almost blush at everything he does. it’s a problem, you knew that.

as usual, you saw the blue envelope. you smiled to yourself, putting it into your bag. you planned on reading it once you got home. you immediately rushed back to your house.

wasting no time, you quickly got out of your school clothes into your pajamas. you opened the envelope carefully—you didn’t rip the heart sticker.

as you saw the letter, your eyes widened.

���to luvvie. . or should i say yn?

you must be surprised, i know. how did i find out? well, i found out a while ago. i remember seeing you with a blue envelope in your hand while you went to your locker to read it. you had such a huge smile when you read it—it made feel happy too. i think that was the first time i realized i liked you.

i know we both like each other but we are too scared to take the first step. so, i’ve decided to do so! if you still want to take it slow, i understand :)

here are some reasons of why/how i fell for you <3

1. your smile

- whenever you laugh at my silly jokes or anything really, i start getting butterflies. i would do anything to see you smile like that.

2. our arcade “date”

- i remember how i got you so many plushies there. you laughed and smiled so much, i was really proud of myself. i would definitely clear out the whole arcade if it means i get to see that beautiful smile again <3

3. random pics you would send

- you would send me sm pics, whether it be your ootd, where you’re at, or just selfies at a funny angle. those always bring my mood up so continue what you’re doing <3 ps: i save every single selfie you send, i even have an album ^^

4. our bond

- despite us hating each others guts in the past (or did we?), we got along with each other really well. we had the same interests and you were just an easy person to talk to. i just feel very comfortable around you !

i can go on and on but the letter would eventually get too long </3

if you’re reading this, you’ve reached very far! now that you’re here…

lets date?”

lets say, you were shocked. i mean, you were waiting for this for a while yet you still can’t believe it. he knew all along, no wonder why he didn’t bring it up.

you smiled. you automatically went to get some letter paper and wrote something back.

“to: SH..or sunghoon <3

your letter made me smile very much—i think thats a crime! you didn’t even have to include the reasons of why you fell for me—i would have been okay with the “lets date” part only ^^

since you’ve included 4 reasons, i should do the same!

what made me fall for you <3

1. your presence

- theres something about it. its very comforting, you make me feel like im at home. i can’t believe we argued so much last year. but, i guess that rivalry helped us become even more closer!

2. you at our arcade date

- i still have all the plushies you got me from that day. i did get butterflies when you said you would clear the whole claw machines for me. i’ll be looking forward to that day again, yeah?

3. your gifts

- to get me on your “good” side again (ps: i forgave you already), you kept getting me gifts. sometimes they were not much, but i still appreciated them. the paper hearts, i still have them! they are kept in this small box of mines. i hope you don’t stop giving me those <3

4. how caring you are

- you always looked out for me. when i got sick, needed notes, forgot my lunch, etc, you always got my back. i loved that <3

just like you; i can go on and on. but that would make my letter too long, right?

anyways ^^

of course, let’s date :)”

you finished up your letter and this time, you included the playlist you were supposed to give him.

you gave him this letter in person, and let me tell you, he smiled so hard.

he gave you a big hug and even a peck on your forehead. in return, you gave him a peck on his cheek. maybe it was a little too fast—but hey, you guys took too long to get together.

“took us long enough” you giggled at him.

“it took way too long. let’s go on our first date, shall we?”

“i’d love that.”

besides the obstacles that came along both of your ways, he was finally yours, you were finally his.

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A/N : why am i so lonely

ENHA PERM TAGLIST OPENED !

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[lynreiii]

-Use me to get over him-

High school AU-Mysta Rias x reader-pt2 of 'As you wish'

In which your friendship between you and your classmate gets confusing. With your crush showing mixed signs and your classmate makes his move.

(Please do not take this seriously. This is for fun and fun only. If any streamer comes across this I apologize! Anyways please enjoy!!"

--Recap--

"I see I see, did you get their number?Hehe"

"Shit,I didn't"

"Ah it should be fine, you could always get it tomorrow yknow"

"Yknow what, I actually will"

-The next day-

Munching on your favorite meal for breakfast is the best thing that has happened to you all this week. Other than the news of what your crush had brought upon you, you still couldn't help but still like him. Human emotions were something confusing to everyone, you knew that you would find yourself eventually.

With your headphones on the table and your textbook at the side, you decided to take a small break from reading the book and look on social media. Ignoring the irrelevant people like your annoying cousins you realize that you have like 7 messages from the same person. Your science lab partner, Shu Yamino.

--

Shu.YaMinion69: Mysta has something to ask you later

Shu.YaMinion69:*insert meme*

Shu.YaMinion69:Also I need help with the science homework-

Shu.YaMinion69:BTW C/n texted me to tell you that he will meet you in the 'place where he pulled you last time'

Shu.YaMinion69:I think he is a weirdo but like he could have texted you instead of me

Shu.YaMinion69:You need to tell me about whatever he meant, we have science tomorrow so yes

Shu.YaMinion69:Look at this

Shu.YaMinion69:*insert reel*

--

Reading the texts, you found it also odd that C/n texted Shu instead of you. You follow him on nearly every social platform there is and you guys also did text before because of projects and homework. It was truly weird to you but in reality, this guy was only using you to get closer to R/n. He just didn't want to be in your dm's because he knew that R/n was the jealous type. She would accuse him of cheating even if the texts shared between the two parties were from just two weeks before they started dating. She was that delusional.

Noticing the time, you replied to Shu quickly and shoved your books in your bag. Plugging your headphones in and slid on your shoes. You began your cold morning to school. 'how enjoyable.'

--

The day was going far too normal for your liking well that was until you were pulled into the janitor's closet. 'this is definitely C/n's doings' You thought to yourself but only to be proven wrong when you heard the unique voice of Mysta Rias himself.

"Heyy um Hi Y/n" The grip on your wrist was bearable but still it was tight. You gave him a confused look before opening your mouth.

"Mysta? Why did you pull me in here-hehe I thought that you were c/n"You chuckled to yourself at the thought of your crush but remembered again about what he told you the day before.

"Well, that's kinda the- actually no. I wanted to ask you for your number" His tone set you off, he looked a bit frantic but what he was asking you was something much different. You saw a pen in the pocket of his buttoned shirt so you took it. Next thing Mysta knew, you were scribbling the digits of your number on the back of his hand.

The fox-like boy kept looking at the door but the grip on your wrist had loosened a bit."Why are you so scared?"You questioned Mysta while you finished writing the last three numbers.

"There is something I wanted to ask of you and I did?"He scratched the back of his head with his other hand. Seemingly that he was still nervous around you, you let go of his hand.

"Why so unsure? anyways I want to eat my fo-"

"WAIT! Uh I mean I saw two students making out in the classroom beside and I just don't want you to see that cause they were getting into it. All SLOPPY yeah- and it just was a stomach-churning scene hehe" It was like Mysta was lying between his teeth cause he latched onto your wrist once more.

"We've both seen Shoto and Vox get all sloppy at that one party before, I think I can take thi-" He squeezed your wrist tighter.

"Trust me, it is bad, let's just wait another 5 minutes please.."He was really begging you to not go even though he got your number. Sighing in defeat, you just gave in to him.

"Okay Mysta, you win" you smiled at him and the male student in front of you returned the favor, letting go of you once again.

There were still 15 minutes of lunch left so both you and Mysta decided that the coast was clear now. Mysta even double-checked by looking both left and right as he poked his head out of the janitor's closet.

--

As you parted ways, Mysta whipped out his phone and Dm'ed Shu.

MystariasRias: I found C/n and R/n making out in the spare, empty classroom beside the janitor's closet and Y/n was gonna walk by.

Seen

--

There were many incidents where Mysta had to pull you aside to prevent you from seeing R/n and C/n kissing, hugging, and doing couple things in the open. This was happening for the rest of the week and you questioned it after the second time Mysta did it.

You were going to the canteen/cafeteria but then you were stopped once you saw Mysta across the hall. This just made you turn to face the other side and walk the longer route.

He was speed-walking to you but you honestly didn't want to be pulled aside once more. 'Not this again' You internally groaned to yourself because you knew that you would end up being in a secluded area with Mysta and miss out on half of your lunch again.

"Y/n wait!-" you were tugged into the embrace of the fox-like boy but your eyes met with familiar ones. It was C/n but looking down, you saw R/n holding his hand, fingers interlocked.

"Oh Hi Y/n, uh we have to get going, goodbye" You were devastated, you found your own rival with your crush. Well, now ex-crush. She always takes whoever you liked in the end. 'How tiring' They were heading in the direction you came from, looking at the as they passed by. R/n looked back and waved while smiling at you then she continued to follow C/n.

Pulling into a hug, Mysta stroked your hair while you just stay there in shock. You were still processing what just had happened. Thinking that all those times, Mysta was protecting you from seeing your own crush with your rival. The person who betrayed you.

Once the information processed in, you began to tear up and cry. Your arms tightened around him, pulling you in by the waist as you let all your emotions erupt. It was comforting as it lasted, you wanted to stay in his warm embrace but he pulled you into the classroom where C/n and R/n had come from. It was where your next class was.

"Use me to get over him"

Mysta,who was hugging you. It was all friendly as you let go of all your frustrations. His hands were wrapped around you like he was protective of you. Then and there,you realised that Mysta was the one who like you for you.

In a whispered tone, the fox like male hushed you with his welcoming voice.

"as you wish"

In all honesty, this was really short and not really well made because I have been sick for the past 2 weeks . I hope you guys enjoyed it regardless <3

--Use me to get over him-pt2 done--

taglist: @yukkitosposts , @gh0stwrl , @hisanory2702

[zouisalbums]

my essays today were OH MY GOD got to school got the exam it was all set up i open it up. the topic is assigned from the government of alberta and no one is allowed to know what it is until we open the book at 9 am when the exam starts. and i’m thinking oh it can’t be THAT bad yknow they release a few past topics that i’ve seen and they usually follow the same formula yknow something about perseverance the effect other people have the effect loneliness has something along those lines. can connect it to human connection wham bam thank you ma’am. NOT THIS TIME!!! THIS topic was SO DUMB it was like. discuss the ideas in you selected text about the effect generosity has on an individual’s process of recovery. like WHATTTT does that even MEAN. literally when we opened our books you could sense when everyone finished reading the topic bc the air literally shifted and you could see people start to panic. like. we had to write something about something we covered in english so like a selection of short stories, 1984, or tim burtons big fish and NONE OF THEMMMM NONE have ANYTHINGGG to do with the topic literally in any way. one of the short stories we read KIND OF applied to the topic but we read it wayyy back in november literally like november 15 we read it so i don’t remember ANYTHKNG from it. so i ended up writing on 1984 bc it’s the one i know best and i wrote like. ohhh ingsoc in 1984 twists language and the definition of generosity to fit their own narrative and tortures people to ‘recover’ them from the wrong side and bring them into the warm embrace of big brother and it’s all very generous. basically writing from the perspective of the party bc WHAT ELSE AM I SUPPOSED TO DO i literally sat there for 40 minutes staring at the topic trying to think of what to write and that’s the best i could come up with. i’m really pushing my luck turning that heap of GARBAGE into the government i just hope my use of big words and ability to reword the same sentence 400 times in a row carries me to a big fat w

ok HELLO this was a journey . omg this is interesting though i’m not familiar with these kind of tests I WOULD LITERWLLY DIEEEEEEEEEEE like right there. this message made me realize how easy i have it

[fairytaehl]

ah we're getting into a lot here so im gonna start doing what ure doing LOL

This to me, is way more serious than Liu Fuyi being oblivious that the princess has a crush on him.

imo, to put it simply, i think its related to her knowing how the ending of the book goes. at that point, yao is devastated and cant trust anyone, which stems from all the lies and deceit and fuyi and his ~love calamity~. but, just to correct, she doesnt accuse him of stealing the map in that scene, she asks if he ever loved her.

maybe miaomiao thinks that if she changes the love calamity issue, it will create a different outcome, since thats what yao was most upset about there. we arent given a lot about everything in catching demons, so thats just my educated guess.

And, I think the drama is maybe trying to also do this, but its not distinct enough because after ep 13, we're not remind of the original Mu Yao and Liu Fuyi.

Hope my rambling makes some sort of sense. My messy thoughts make it sound more complicated than it is. Easy to understand when reading the novel.

yeah, exactly. it wouldve been nice if we got a little more of that. because we do see how miaomiao becomes part of the story rather than someone just playing with dolls, so i think we lose out a bit, but the effect is still present. miaomiao describes yao in such a good light, and sees fuyi as a himbo, basically, but as we get scenes of them, i think we see that fuyi is much more than that, especially in regards to keeping ziqis secret when he finds out. and yao, i think she basically lives up to her saintly description, but we also see shes very childish when it comes to love and rather harsh towards ziqi, to the point where i think the viewer truly would believe that she wouldnt accept him for his demon form even after all theyve been through with cuicui and fuyis belief that demons can become good.

LOL same here. my rambling is crazy to the point where i dont even know what message i wanted to get across.

Lol. Amazing they didn't break out of character.

i know right?! i love those behind the scenes people, they make the magic.

I thought I was the only one. The travel montage is pretty (everything about the show is pretty), but I want more substance!

SAAAME. ive nothing thought up yet but i want to write some stories for that time.

Whereas the drama is about these stunningly picturesque scenes, grand gestures, amazing chemistry between Esther and Ding Yuxi that can't be captured in words. Its incremental progress vs leaps. I like both types of developments, but it would have been nice if we could have both in the drama version.

yeah, i think if anything, that totally was the oneeeeee thing im missing. im not Upset because i do believe ziqis character is 100% a "fell first and fell harder" type, so it wouldnt take much for him to fall in love, but it doesnt mean i didnt want to see him being like "shes different than i thought." though the way the story flows, thats kinda the only way for it to go, yknow? she sees his demon form and accepts him, and thats all it takes for him to start falling, disregarding his previous grievances with her basically. there was nothing for them to "work through" in this sense here.

Ep 7 and 8 uses a lot of dialogue and scenes from the novel that show why they needed a friendship period even though they find each other attractive, and she shows that she's not scared of him.

yes and no. they definitely shouldve had one, but how things flow in the drama (i didnt read the novel so feel free to educate me!), between all that happens in ep 7 and ep 8, it almost felt like there was no time for that to happen. if anything, maybe instead of his percent going up from being jealous of seeing her with fuyi, they couldve done something there, but the version of ziqi theyre trying to portray is one who is already beginning to like her romantically, skipping over the friendship part and just wanting to Be Together. like a desperate lovesick puppy.

He takes off his robe, so she can treat his chest wounds. No romance or tension there. Just her being sad for him when she sees his old scars.

oh dont worry i understood it wasnt romantic, but the tension wouldve been imposed on by me, the reader, LOL. ooh la la, if i may.

I think this is Miaomiao's misunderstanding though. When it comes to physical stuff, he doesn't want to do anything that would make her uncomfortable or scared. If Miaomiao was shyer, they probably never get past chaste kissing, lol.

LOL for real. its very sweet how gentle he is, and how her touches mean something to him because shes not rough like he is when he grabs someone, shes just a physically affectionate person.

She insists that next time will be the charm. They're meant to be.

oh ive been there. i just had to cut off communication atp.

I wonder if this is the same reason the drama removes her friendship with Liu Fuyi.

i dont think i realized this until you mentioned it! thinking back, she really doesnt have friendship moments with fuyi. its just her driving the plot in a different direction. dang! thats sad!

Comments to lgief rewatch ep. 4

@fairytaehl

I wrote my comments as a post so I can format it for easier readability, and the reblog was locked for your post.

"which is nuts because why the fuck are you a demon catcher? "

He's a demon hunter because this is what Mu Yao wants. The drama hand-waves away the hardship and pain that comes with being a demon hunter.

In the novel, its clear that he doesn't want Mu Yao to be in a profession where she gets hurt and might die, but this is what she wants to do, so he can only support her despite the physical cost. He is often badly injured and comes close to dying in order to save strangers because he doesn't want to disappoint Mu Yao. It's Miaomiao that says while she finds it admirable that Mu Yao and Liu Fuyi are altruistic saviors, it's fine that he doesn't want to sacrifice himself to save strangers. He's not wrong for feeling that way. That she also feels this way.

"i know hes in the wrong. i know it was his fault and he had bad intentions, and his words in response to her were also not very kind. but… placating her and telling her he doesn't like arguing with her, that sister knows best, just because he cant deal with hearing her say these hurtful things anymore, and he cant handle it if his sister has such a negative view of him, all while hes trying to smile. its genuinely hurting him internally, as we see in a moment. "if you think it was me, then it was me." it was basically you, and it makes me frustrated to see him so upset over his own doing. i feel bad but i dont. hes trying so hard not to cry, but goddammit, you had this coming you bastard."

I love how you phrase it! I thought their conversation was so, so good. That Mu Yao is being too harsh, but Mu Sheng did do something wrong, and they both know it. Their complicated, messy relationship is so interesting, and I wish we saw more of it.

"crushing the flower in front of her and smirking as he does so… sir. please have mercy. a silent "this is what i do to fresh, pretty flowers" a.k.a. Her."

"crossing your arms across your chest is a physical tell for defensiveness and closing off yourself to the conversation~"

Your observation skills are so good! You catch so many little details. I love all the body gestures and movements that Esther and Ding Yuxi do in the drama. I wonder how much was improvised vs part of the script.

"i wont lie, this whole bit about how she knows about the ledger and letting it slide confused me"

Agree, and I thought it was weird he doesn't ask her why she wants to burn the Mu's ancestral map. 

In the novel, it's because she read the original work and she has nightmares about it after she transmigrates (I don't think this is shown in the drama), so she knows what he's going to do. BUT, she doesn't directly confront him about it. Unlike in the drama, she's very cautious and tries her best to not reveal any information that Lin Yu wouldn't know in front of Mu Sheng.

"ok, i need to ask, anyone understand these heart lake things?"

My guess is they're supposed to visually reflect the change in his emotional state. For example, in ep 18's script.

"△ The lotus in Mu Sheng’s heart lake suddenly turned completely black, leaving only half of the petals still red.

Demonized Mu Sheng: (Chaotic electronic music) I want... to kill him."

"the one where she throws him off entirely by acting all obsessed had him pause as to why she was going to such lengths to lie, and what her goal was. yes, he wanted to get her out because he doesnt like her at all, but that was so nefarious-seeming that he just… walked away. also, it was weird."

On one hand, I thought that scene was hilarious. Its my favorite scene in the drama, and I'm entertained enough to not think too deeply about it. This scene doesn't exist in the novel, but there are ones where he reacts similar-ish if you want an explanation.

In the novel, she constantly seeks him out to increase his favorability % and shows concern and for one reason or another will end up hugging him, and this leads to him letting her off each time. It's easy to see that he's touch-starved and longs for affection. Once he likes her even just as a friend, he can easily be bribed to look the other way with hugs or agree to her requests.

On the other hand, I think it would make way more sense if the drama followed the novel's scene order and had them playing 5-in-a-row games all night early on, and we heard his thoughts so the audience knows why this marks a shift in how he views Miaomiao.

How this is the first time he's learning something that's not for Mu Yao's interests, how he's been pretending to be bad at Go (and his skills as a demon hunter) to get Mu Yao's attention, etc. Its easy to see that he and Mu Yao haven't outgrown their relationship dynamic from their childhood, which was fine then, but has become an unhealthy codependency as adults.

If that happened before Miaomiao's fake confession scene, his response to it would feel less weird.

---

Some random thoughts after reading your post. We eventually find out that Mu Sheng has always known that the Resentful Woman is hiding inside Mu Yao, so what was his long-term plan? Instead of letting her know so they can work together to get rid of the Resentful Woman, he's deciding that he knows what's best for her. And, this isn't a problem that can go away if he hides it. The Resentful Woman will only grow stronger and be harder to defeat. So frustrating.

This is like Guo Xiu unilaterally making the decision to tamper with the villagers' memories. He's playing god, and there's no consequences to him other than his guilt. The script's narrative pushes the idea that this is for their own good and he makes up it up to them with his building talisman, but all he's really done is rob them of seven years. It's extra bad because the median lifespan for people in ancient times is low.

These villagers can't emotionally move on. In practical matters, this is an ancient world, and it would be harder for women if their husbands die and they don't remarry. The author set the novel to take place in a fantasy version of the Tang Dynasty, where it was fine for women to remarry. Had Guo Xiu been honest with them or just done nothing so they know people are disappearing, they could have chosen to move away from this dangerous place.

Maybe, some villagers would choose to throw their lives away to look for their loved ones, but that's their choice.

---

Your recap and the timing of your screenshots for their expressions are so good, especially Mu Yao and Mu Sheng's conversations at the beginning of the episode!

[transphilza]

i logged onto hypixel for the first time today :)

i’m more of a singleplayer sort of person, lol. but i knew if i didn’t put something in the book of condolences i’d regret it so i went on and saw the memorial

sharing some images mostly for myself so i can keep them. it was a really cute area they did a lovely job! such a lovely job in fact that i immediately started bawling my eyes out the moment i spawned in and saw it

i wandered around the lobby for awhile trying to think of what to write and when i did i put my technoplush on my lap and cried silently for a solid fifteen minutes, yknow, as you do. i waited for one song to play and then sat and listened to the piggies oink for a little bit and that was all

it doesn’t feel like it’s been a month, feels closer to just a few weeks, maybe. sometimes it feels closer to just a few days, and it’s gotten easier but hasn’t gotten easy, i don’t think grief ever does. i really really hope his family and friends are doing alright — i doubt his family will ever be able to get around to reading the entirety of the massive amount of messages they’ve been left but i hope they can rest easier knowing so many people are carrying on his memory in their hearts. i know it helps me

life is not fair sometimes and i wish of all people it didn’t have to be him who faced that so harshly, but in the short time he had he did so many wonderful things to change the world for the better and i’m grateful. i’m grateful he had the time he had and i’m grateful i was around and in this community to adore some of it while he was still alive

i need to stop typing now because i’m ruining my shirt with tears and he would tease me and everyone else for being so sentimental anyway. i miss you loads pig boy but don’t you worry cause i’m giving you just as much ad revenue since you’ve been gone as i did when you were still around. thank you for everything ❤️