#if this isn't coherent then idk. ignore it. lmao

[alicedrawslesmis]

you know. this was a joke post. but I think I accidentally understood something about the book's relationship to virginity just now?

Because see Valjean, Javert, Enjolras and Fantine all died virgins (in the case of Fantine this is what Hugo says in the actual book so the virginity aspect is more metaphor in her case but anyway) and they ALL were social outsiders. Valjean becoming a convicted criminal and fugitive, Javert being born an outsider, Enjolras's own self-banishing from participating in regular society (aka the company of women, but also sentencing himself to death for participating in the violent uprising that will lead to the end of the need for violent uprisings), and Fantine not only being born extremely poor but getting a glimpse of social acceptability as a grisette and then becoming an unwed single mom, indebted, unemployed and then finally a street prostitute (which doesn't give you the status that a courtesan maybe could get).

All of the 'outsiders' have the choice to protect and uphold the institutions that made them outsiders, or attempt to undermine them. Rebel, as Javert calls it. But the key factor is that they're not allowed to participate in them. It's not really so much of a volunteering as much as it is a leash that keeps them from rebeling against the institution of marriage.

So like. Virginity is not here an individual choice, maybe someone just doesn't feel like doing it, but a social phenomenon. You can't participate in proper marriage so you can either be a virgin forever or refuse traditional marriage and fuck out wedlock. Virginity is a cage you put yourself in that keeps you on the 'good' and 'acceptable' part of the outside.

For Javert I guess the virginity leash is super real. He has no money, no family, no property, no prospects. What right has he to participate in a normal marriage (remember that by this point in France marriage is much more a merger of two families and super controlled by the parents and it's pretty much a transaction. There's nuance but yk) he keeps himself off of relatioships because the type of relationships he'd get would be 'rebellious' ones.

Valjean can't get married because he would need to forge the papers. By this very nature his signature would not be valid. Fantine is literally fired and forced into homelessness and prostitution for being a single mom

Idk what Enjolras is doing, but I think he considers marriage to be a duty and he couldn't go on sacrificing himself if he had someone waiting for him at home (the answer to that would obviously be bring your wife with you to the barricade, duh. But he's just using that as an excuse, I see you ya gay bastard).

(Obviously there's the actual fact that if you're a man from society you can fuck whoever you want basically whenever with no repercussions. That's the whole point of not being an outsider, getting to bend the rules for yourself. Rich men can fuck out of wedlock but Not Javert.) (So he thinks)

On the other end, yeah the patron minette are clearly all fucking other people. Everyone who's shitty in the book is having a better time sexually than most of the protagonists, excluding the amis

So. What did I mean to say by this incoherent rant again? Oh yeah

Javert is a dog son of a wolf, who keeps himself on a leash (virginity in this case) because he believes in upholding traditional marriage. Because unleashing himself would only lead to the predatory wolf part of him taking over (rejecting traditional marriage! fucking out of wedlock!! the scandal!!!) because he hasn't got the marriage option so these are his two choices

a dog in the streets a wolf in the sheets amirite ladies

[breathinlove]

sticky fingers ellie williams

read this

synopsis: you and your best friend got popsicles on a hot day, but ellie finishes hers first.

cw: swearing, dialogue heavy at first, homoerotic friendship i fear, hinted themes, dirty minded hoes who act oblivious, a whole lotta mouth and tongue but no nothang but slighhhhhttttlyyy nsfw.

a/n: idk what this is it just came to me as i had a popsicle in the morning lmao... i js missed writing.

you're walking home with one of best friends, ellie, after a day at the park. it was a boring and oppressively hot day. you had bought yourselves ice lollies to help survive the sultry weather.

"is it good?" ellie speaks, pointing to your yellow popsicle.

"yeah, ellie, it's good." you say, matter-of-factly.

"i love pineapple." she looks away from you as you come closer to the crossing, both you looking to the sides of the road in sync.

“i know, me too." you reply shortly, not giving her the time of day, rapidly crossing the street. ellie stays silent, but not for too long.

"well..." she mutters when she catches your trail.

"yes?" you know what she wants but you still play dumb. you're not gonna give it to her.

“just a taste—" she starts whining, and you cut her off.

“nope." that's all you say in response.

you turn the stick horizontally as you get to the middle of the ice lolly, you suck on it and she's snorts heavily. she seems to drag her feet along the sidewalk.

“please, it's so hot out here.” ellie insists on the subject.

"it’s not my fault you fucking gobbled yours." you giggle, flicking her forehead.

she lets out a cartoon-like ‘ouch’ and she pushes your arm.

"bruh, it was small." ellie complains before wiping sweat off her nape, where strands of hair stuck onto.

“doooon't caaaare.” you smirk.

you bite the ice off the stick and she looks like she's mourning its loss. ellie loves pineapple artificial flavoring, despite choosing not to eat too much actual pineapple because when you two ate a bunch of pineapple slices together, you ended up with prickled tongues and mouth ulcers. it wasn't fun.

you can read her expression well enough to let out a chuckle, almost choking on the juice that pools inside your mouth. she clicks her tongue at the sound of slurping coming from you, she focuses on the noise of lawn mowers on your neighborhood instead, but they're just as annoying.

"ellie." you mutter with a heavy breath, she can hear what remains on your tongue moving. she hums in response.

you know ellie's annoyed. you were friends, but you were afraid that you had spoiled her. whenever you denied her anything, she'd catch an attitude. and you liked teasing her. you thought she looked cute when she'd look away from you with a serious face over something so small as a popsicle.

“lukami.” you say, he contorts her face in confusion, and you slurp at the juices to clear your words.

“look at me." you repeat, now coherently, grabbing her cheeks.

“yeah? what do you want?" she looks at you, and you take a disgustingly loud and final slurp.

ellie knows the pineapple stick is gone now, and she didn't even get to taste it. she pictured herself tasting it off your lips, or even your tongue. she wondered if she'd able to feel the refreshment if she sucked on your tongue after all the sucking you did on that popsicle.

“guess what?” you smile, she takes a little too long to answer and you wonder what goes through her mind.

but well, she's nasty, isn't she? she wanted it, no matter if it meant licking around one of her best friend's mouth. she's upset, but she knows it's silly.

“what?” she shrugs.

"i have popsicles at home.” you say excitedly and you look giddy, your sugary fingers still on her face.

“whatever," she looked away, forcing away from your hold. "get those sticky fingers away from me."

"that's a great album, by the way." you ignore her demand, chuckling.

you mess with her cheeks, smearing her with the syrup on your hand. you left a spot on her lips, she licked it. finally, she knows what it tasted like and she yearns for more.

“you're so messy, ya know?" she smiles wide.

you look at your hand as she grabs and holds it where it was, against her lips. you stop on your tracks completely, feeling her tongue stick out of her lips and coming in contact with the pad of your fingers, it tickles. you giggle.

she hums at the sweetness of it and looks up at you from your fingers, what a kid!

"ellie, please, what's wrong with you?" you laugh, and she does too. sugar puts her in a good mood.

“should've just let me taste it.” she speaks.

you would've thought she was done but ellie takes your index finger inside her mouth for shits and giggles, her warm as the day tongue massaging your finger as she sucks on it.

“you're so stupid.” you say, using minimal to no strength to push her face with the hand she entrapped. she smiles around your finger.

you feel the desire to slide your finger further into her mouth to wipe that shit-eating grin of her face. you imagined how ellie would look when she gagged on it, the shock in her eyes would be amusing, you assume. these thoughts run around your mind.

you think she might have an oral fixation by the looks of it,you look around, making sure no one was watching this seemingly obscenity.

"god, ellie.." you sigh in defeat when she flutters her eyes shut. you watch, mind running around her soft features and braking on her pursed lips, tainted red from her late watermelon popsicle.

then she releases your finger, after god knows how long (now that your fingerprint is practically part of her tongue’s muscle memory). you snap back to reality, freshly cut grass smell hitting your nose and unbearable sun hitting your skin.

ellie looks proud of herself.

"it really was good. what flavors you got at home?" she asks and starts walking again. you clean your now spit dirty fingers on your shirt and walk with her, enumerating the flavors of popsicles your dad had bought and stacked in the freezer.

[petrichor-idyllic]

Heyyy! How are you doing? Can you do a story where the female reader accidentally turns Minho on? Thank you

I'm doing good thank you for asking, and of course I can :))

Back on my Minho grind, lmao. Idk why I struggled with this one so much, but I must've rewritten it like seven times, bro.

INAPPROPRIATE WORKPLACE BEHAVIOUR

MASTERLIST | MINHO MASTERLIST

SUMMARY: See above. Reader is a Runner. Takes place before the arrival of Thomas. You and Minho have always had a tense relationship, but when you guys work in the Map room together, you start to wonder if there's something else. Especially when you get a new kind of reaction out of the Keeper. Kinda enemies to lovers if you squint a bit.

WARNINGS: Inappropriate language, spice and suggestive content, dumb teenagers and dumber teenage hormones

"Bro, I'm telling you, there's nothing new."

You hate nights like this. It consists of you and the other Runners meeting up and spending hours looking and comparing maps. Once a week.

Every week.

For as long as you've been there. Well, since you became a Runner at least.

And you've been there long enough for it to not be that big of a deal if another girl were to show up.

But tonight is different. It also happens to be Bonfire night. It happens occasionally that Greenie day and the meetings fall on the same day. Most of the Runners left early to go celebrate.

And you did, too, a couple of times. Joining in on the celebrations and congratulating whatever poor Greenie on losing to Gally in the ring.

But you felt bad, so you started staying.

Minho always stayed. It didn't matter what was going on outside; the boy had a job to do, and God dammit, he's going to get it done.

You don't know why you felt bad- or even why you feel bad now. It's not like Minho has ever actually been nice to you. He doesn't take you as seriously as the other Runners and it's not uncommon for him to blatantly ignore you.

Which is shit because the Keeper makes for some great eye-candy.

"I don't care," Minho huffs as you sit with your legs on the table, leaning your chair back, shuffling through numerous sheets of paper. "If you wanna leave, then leave."

"Dude, we've been doing this for literally hours." You try to reason with him but it's not going well.

Minho has been worse as of late. With the exploration of the outer sections coming to a close and the sinking realisation that there isn't actually an exit to the Maze- his bitterness is becoming exponential.

"You can leave." He simply repeats.

You don't understand Minho's problem with you.

In reality, Minho doesn't have a problem with you. All of his extra criticisms and harsh nature comes from a place he doesn't quite understand. You're the only girl in the Glade, and even if everyone else got used to you, he never did. He's had a thing for you ever since he saw you. How could he not?

Which is bad.

Because it's distracting.

So, you can imagine his dismay when Alby suggested you be a Runner.

You pout, letting your feet hit the floor and walking over to Minho. You lean in front of him and across the table, having to stretch further to try and grab more papers that are scattered across the table.

Obviously, this was an incredibly innocent action. You were literally just trying to do more work, but Minho's entire body freezes.

His eyes flicker to your ass as you bend over against the poor wooden structure. It doesn't help that you're still wearing your tight running clothes that leave very little to the imagination. The fabric clings to your ass, and Minho suddenly feels like a complete creep. You mumble something to yourself when you can't reach, but your tone and the lack of coherency just makes Minho's breath catch in his throat.

Ah fuck.

You stand back up, tilting your head slightly as you try to understand whatever pattern Minho swears there is.

He shifts uncomfortably in his seat. The problem here is that Minho is just as sexually repressed as every other boy in the Glade, but his one-track-mind and work ethic makes it seem like he isn't.

But he is. Boy, he is.

You say something. He doesn't even acknowledge it as he just blankly stares into space, questioning his existence for a second and silently praying that he can keep himself from being... physically affected.

"Minho?"

"Hm?" He looks at you, concern written on your face. Suddenly, he crosses his wrists, dropping them to his crotch. You obviously were not going to look, but as his pencil scatters to the floor and you watch him visibly cringe, your eyes flicker down and then back up. "You good?"

"Mhm."

"You sure? You ignored me, and now you're acting kinda weird."

"No, I didn't. I mean, I didn't ignore you, I was just thinking, okay?" Okay, so he's panicking. He doesn't really want to get caught because that's just going to make things incredibly awkward. He's literally your boss, and with the way he treats you, there's no way you like him back.

"What did I say then?" You cross your arms, looking down at him. He's acting super weird all of a sudden. He seems almost flustered and embarrassed, and with his hands covering up his dignity; you have your suspicions. It's not like it's the first time here you've accidentally given someone a boner. And it's not like it's hard to tell.

If you catch some of the boys on a bad day then they'll get hard if you so much as look in their general direction. But Minho?

Minho?

Always calm, always collected, always in control, Minho?

It's actually kind of entertaining watching Minho's confidence slip away. He's so cocky and self-assured all the time, and you've, what? Leant over a table? And he's lost all capability? Incredible.

You do admire Minho. For many reasons, mostly including his job- but also his self-control. The boy is athletic and confident and bold, all traits that you're attracted to and have been ignoring. But this is now a form of amusement, especially after being stuck in here for hours.

"You don't know, do you?" You ask after an embarrassingly long pause.

"Uh, yeah, no. I don't know what you said. Sorry." He adds the 'sorry' after you raise your eyebrows at him, and it is very clearly reluctant.

"Sorry you didn't hear me or sorry you were staring at my ass?" You cross your arms as you turn to sit on the edge of the table. Your expression is testing as Minho drops his head forward, hiding his face in his hands.

"I, uh, I mean- shit," he grumbles.

"Wow, okay," you scoff, "I was joking, but I guess you really were just staring at my ass."

"I didn't mean- I couldn't help it, alright?"

"That's bullshit, we both know you are beyond fully capable of controlling yourself," Minho suddenly feels like he's getting lectured. But he's your boss, and he really doesn't know how to feel about the sudden shift in relationship dynamics.

"Yeah," he sighs, "you're right, but you- you're just-" You stand up straight, stepping towards him with fake understanding. He shuffles uncomfortably as you stand in next to him, enjoying the newfound power. "You're hot, dude, what am supposed to do?" He sighs, giving into defeat since there's no good way for him to get out of this.

Minho's forward nature shines through, and the compliment actually takes you by surprise. "You think I'm hot?"

"Everyone here thinks you're hot."

"That's not what I asked."

"Yeah," he basically spits out, "I think you're hot. But I also think you're one of the best Runners I've got, and I'm your Keeper, so..."

"Wait, have you been being a dick to me because you're attracted to me?" Minho's guilty expression says it all. "Holy shuck. You have!"

"Alright, alright- slim it," he warns.

"How many times have you criticised me because you actually wanted me?" You lean further forward, one arm on the table, kind of trapping him.

"Listen, don't start-"

"Or the amount of times you've ignored me because I looked too good?"

"Hey!" Minho snaps, even his ears are burning now, "Quit it, alright? I get it. If you're just gonna be a slinthead about it, then go. I don't have time for this klunk. And you might not like me, but I was always respectful and gave you the same workload as everyone else. I can't help being attracted to you, (Y/N)."

His words sound suddenly sincere, like he's been dealing with this on his own for a while now.

"I.." You start, but your words get trapped in your throat, "I never said I didn't like you." You avoid his gaze as you kind of stand to the side of him. There's a scratching scound as he turns the wobbly chair towards you, his attention now peaked at your sudden bashful tone.

"So you like me?"

"I didn't say that, either, just... you're a good-looking guy, Minho. I'm not mad at you 'cause that'd make me a hypocrite." Minho's hands graze your hips, sparking a flame in you but making you flinch. So, he immediately moves away again.

"You think I'm good-looking?" Minho definitely does not need the ego boost, but then again, neither did you.

"Shut up, okay, you're being honest, I'm being honest. It's not a big deal."

"Okay," he holds his hands up, feigning innocence, "guess we're just two attractive people sitting in a room together then, huh?"

You scoff, shaking your head, "No, we're two people who are attracted to each other sitting in a room together. There's a difference." You meet his eyes, and the tension suddenly feels very thick.

This time, Minho puts his hands on your waist with more certainty, and you move closer, swinging your leg over his, straddling him. Suddenly, it doesn't matter that Minho is your boss, or that this could make things awkward working. You just want to feel good, and Minho's flustered confession is making you feel pretty decent all on its own.

"Bold, hm?" Minho mutters, your noses brush, and your foreheads press together. You can feel his breath on your lips, and you never expected this to happen when you came to work during the Bonfire.

"Learnt from the best," you almost speak into him, earning a chuckle. "Is that okay?"

"Mhm," he leans in, finally forcing months of frustration into you as your lips connect. His grip on you tightens and it barely takes anything for Minho to be hardening under you again. Your mouths move in unison, his tongue brushing against your lower lip.

You slip your tongue under his, making him hum as you buck your hips against his. Your hands come to the back of his neck and into his hair, taking the opportunity to ruin his permanently perfect hair style.

He pulls away, panting slightly, "Wait, what does this mean?" He seems anxious, but he's still trying to move under you. You've never seen him like this before, and deep down, you know all you want is to see it again.

"It means I want to fuck you." His body physically reacts to your boldness, almost whimpering under your touch.

"Yeah, alright, I'll take it," you're back on each other in seconds. Having a friends-with-benefits situation with your boss is probably not the best idea, but damn, is it hot.

Friction starts to pick up fast. His hands are under your shirt, papers are flying everywhere as you use the table to try and stabilise yourself and a string of unholy gasping and faint moans is escaping the private place.

That's until there's a cracking sound. Both you and Minho fall in a heap on the floor as the shitty chair breaks, one of the legs snapping off and sending you plummeting. You land next to each other.

"Gally's klunky shuckin' furniture," Minho complains.

And you just laugh.

Not going to lie, lads, this was, for some reason, a complete struggle. Idk why this one was so hard and took me so long, but here it is, and I don't even think it's good lmao. Definitely not my best work, but I'm trying my best.

I hope yall kinda almost enjoyed it :)

[haleigh-sloth]

"The perfect ending for the todofam is sitting together and having dinner without Endeavor. They would be all happy without him." sigh... I'm no fan of Endeavor but hardcore Dabi stans need to understand that the story not only wants Enji to atone for the shit he put his family through but also be present at the dinner table and like... be an actual part of the fam via participation instead of being absent. What good will it do for the Todofam arc if Endeavor is not even there for his family and is just... going around doing hero work? That would be just like earlier times lmao. Enji needs to step up as a dad yes but that can't happen if he's out of the picture. Moreover wasn't Fuyumi's dream to have a family dinner with all of them sitting together around the table including her father?? Are we really going to ignore her wishes?? And Shouto who wants to see Enji finally become the father he was meant to be? And most of all Touya who just wanted to be with his family and that also includes Endeavor bruh

Yeah I mean....I agree with both of these.

Granted, idk what'll happen 100% certain. But there are two things I'm convinced of:

I'm very very confident in Touya going home

Touya doesn't just want any specific family member to be there, he wants all of them, clearly as we saw

So....how that ends with Endeavor being yeeted out of the family picture, idk

I get it, I've been saying I get it for almost 3 years now. My opinions have changed damn near 180 in most things, but my understanding of why people don't want Endeavor in the picture hasn't disappeared.

But we're almost 400 chapters in and at this point it's literally not the manga's fault if people are unhappy. If people want an ending where the abuser, whose arc is about trying to do better--and actually doing better in some capacity--with some bumps along the way, is given absolutely 0 grace from the family he broke and for the family to tell him to fuck off and never come around again, well, I feel like it's been obvious for a very long time that this is not that. It kinda just feels like denial to cope because it went this direction. Again, I get wanting that and don't think that's wrong or a story that shouldn't be told, but this is not that story. Horikoshi isn't obligated to tell that story ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ he's just not. He doesn't owe anybody anything, but I feel we're blessed enough that we get a coherent, narratively sound story that actually follows through on almost EVERYTHING put in place, at some point, in some way, even if the pacing isn't the best suited for a weekly release.

My understanding kinda stops though when people just....straight up make shit up and ignore what's on the page. I mean I don't care what the opinion is at that point. If someone is deliberately ignoring images put on pages because they don't like them, well I don't care to discuss tbh. Also thinking about recent anons I've gotten, saying things like "if Endeavor is with his family it ignores everything he does", well, no it doesn't. That's just not true as the story has not ignored anything at all nor has his family, so that's just a blatantly false statement and I also won't take the time to discuss there either. Idk.

I agree with y'all though.

[televinita]

Goodreads Choice Awards but the nominees are just the books I've personally shelved

I have a lot of thoughts about the options as they exist (mostly not that bad, except when it comes to the total elimination of children's literature, about which I am furious), but per usual I can't really articulate them in a coherent way SO I sorted my shelves by publication date, ignored the GCA requirement of a minimum 3.5 average rating, and am doing this instead.

[update: oops this did not turn out coherent either. but it got typed!]

Important Reminder: These are not all books I consider equal contenders for "best." I simply wanted to highlight every possible option I actually knew about and have read or am interested in reading.

YA

After the Sirens - Sharon Farrell

Begin Again - Emma Lord (forgot to add this one before)

The Brothers Hawthorne - Jennifer Lynn Barnes (actual nominee and I'm gonna vote for it even though it seems like it may be more of a filler book. The Davenports is the only other official nom to intrigue me, and its lower average rating + hideous cartoon cover isn't enough to flip me unread so sorry, we're going Basic Popularity Contest Pick)

Cleaning Up - Leanne Lieberman

Five Survive - Holly Jackson (definitely not a winner)

Gather - Kenneth M. Cadow (edit: National Book Award finalist?? like with the adult fiction??)

Good as Gold -- Candace Buford (definite contender for fave so far)

Holly Horror - Michelle Jabès Corpora

The Island - Natasha Preston (lol. lmao even. but ridiculous fun)

The Lake House - Sarah Beth Durst

A Long Stretch of Bad Days - Mindy McGinnis

The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway - Ashley Schumacher (here on author loyalty only)

Three Rivers - Sarah Stusek (THAT'S RIGHT. HER.)

Summer Rental - Rektok Ross (why am I this aware of brand-new ya horror??) (because I love horror and it's usually better paced and spookier and less shock-gory than the adult brand? fair)

YA FANTASY / SCI FI

Dream to Me - Megan Paasch (I think it would go here, anyway. but maybe it's just regular YA)

The Eternal Ones - Namina Forna (I gotta remember this series exists)

FANTASY

Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries -- winner winner pick!! (no like officially)

Starling House - Alix E. Harrow (though this is a close second, and honestly, if they weren't both actual nominees I'd think The Unmaking of June Farrow has some potential intrigue)

ROMANCE

Hazel Fine Sings Along - Katie Wicks (no comment on its Wattpad origin. I didn't notice until just now. have not read it.)

Famous For A Living - Melissa Ferguson (popular enough for Once Upon a Book Club! but not for for an official nom, despite my hopes, in this fiercely competitive category. boooo)

Out On a Limb - Hannah Bonam-Young (damn I actually saw this one making rounds on BookTube, thought it might be here)

Something Wild & Wonderful - Anita Kelly (can't believe there's actually a queer romance I want to see show up and it doesn't)

(Bonus: legit nominees I am considering for validity include Happy Place; Yours Truly - I really need to figure out if Emily Henry and Abby Jimenez are in my wheelhouse or not - and Hello Stranger, though as much as I like Katherine Center this one does not call to me)

FICTION

This Bird Has Flown - Susanna Hoffs (might also have been under romance if picked for the actual GCA? feels more mainstream than that but idk. anyway HATERS 2 THE LEFT.)

^ also my pick for debut

The Lost Manuscript - Mollie Rushmeyer (dunno which category this would officially go in either. probably romance? maybe mystery? but it's got a lot more plot than the average romance)

HISTORICAL FICTION

The Echo of Old Books - Barbara Davis (holy crap this one's actually in the nominations?! Instant vote. Almost disappointing because there are some other candidates I would have felt fine voting for to block the worse ones, but this is the only one on my acute TBR. If I don't give at least 4 stars I will be shocked)

MYSTERY/THRILLER

Forgotten Trail - Claire Kells

The Hike - Lucy Clarke

The Only One Left - Riley Sager

Homecoming - Kate Morton (crisis alert! the latter two are both official nominees and I am equally interested in both/both have equally good track records with me) (probs. gonna vote Kate on the principle of female solidarity. even though this is really stretching the definition of "mystery")

HORROR

A Haunting on the Hill - Elizabeth Hand

(How To Sell a Haunted House is a hard maybe but also the only one I think I'd even consider trying from the official noms)

MEMOIR

Paris: The Memoir - Paris Hilton

The Woman in Me - Britney Spears

Grimoire Girl - Hilarie Burton Morgan

Tell Me Everything - Minka Kelly

If You Would Have Told Me - John Stamos

Goodbye to Clocks Ticking - Joseph Monninger (forgot I just stumbled upon this one recently! it's on my library list but not my GR account)

and one more except GCA put it in a different category hang on

Three of these - not Burton's, alas - are actually nominees. Britney is gonna win but not without a fight from me. Do I go with Paris, whose memoir impressed me even though I still don't care much for her as a person, or Minka, whose memoir I haven't read but whose reviews sound excellent and whom I like more?

HUMOR

Being Henry - Henry Winkler (there is absolutely no reason for this not to be nominated in memoir btw. I hope it wins Humor because nothing else appeals in that category and I have multiple vendettas (SAMANTHA IRBY), but it would be as misplaced a win as the Office Ladies book was last year. fully deserving of an award! actually the best of the given nominees! but also like an adult beating a bunch of children in a footrace.)

MIDDLE GRADE

(no longer a GCA category but it fudgin' should be)

Just Gus - McCall Hoyle

Falling Out of Time - Margaret Peterson Haddix (actually glad I don't have to choose between these two because like. dogs - but also boy MC - or author loyalty ft. sequel to my childhood fave??)

Rosie Frost and the Falcon Queen - Geri Halliwell The Spice Girl (no. 😔) (and yet it is still on my shelf)

I have no strong opinions for any categories I skipped.

[jihopesjoint]

i have once again lost a night of sleep to a series. i resisted the urge to reblog every single chapter and instead went directly to the source for yelling

godDAMN hali i’m never going to get over how impressive this is. this was a BEAST of a story, and the execution is just 🤌🏻🤌🏻🤌🏻 and idk how to tell you that you reached into my tiny, shriveled, delusional, rotted little brain and pulled out all of my jimin wishes and put them in one series? i’m not even a fantasy girlie by nature but when this level of TALENT and ARTISTRY are put into it i’ll read goddamn fucking anything (see boy blue: both you and harrow owe me a therapist EACH) okay now let me see if i can give you anything coherent, spoilers under the cut, etc etc

this is like my fourth time redoing this and it’s taken me like 3 days i am just such a mess LMAO

i don't even know where to start but i think it's with how your descriptions of physical sensations made me actually feel them too. there were so many times that i actually felt the pain in my chest and my anxiety for 0.5 seconds was like "are we having a heart attack" and i had to be like baby no that's just good writing causing phantom symptoms

i think your characterization is PHENOMENAL. each member and their place in faerie (including namjoon who is in and out and fascinated by humans) makes SO much sense with regards to what we know about the members in real life, like down to which court they belong to.

i want to talk about y/n being instantly comfortable and attached to hobi when it turns out her father is a descendant of a prince of the summer court. FUCK IT HURTS. hoseok i miss you come back baby you've served enough

AND Y/N IN GENERAL. i love this take on a human being inserted into a fantasy world because she isn't completely ignorant. i think it strikes a good balance between "i can hold my own here" and "what the fuck is going on in here on this day."

and her grandmother being an anti-hero and the whole thing about her having to reconcile with the woman she knew and looked up to versus everyone in faerie hating her for the actions she took is just DIFFERENT you know? it shows the main character's role model and mentor as not a perfect person/creature which is very realistic and not always what you see

i just loved this whole series. i know it was a fever dream for you but regardless it had to have taken SO MUCH WORK and planning and fantasy writing is just another skill entirely. it’s truly incredible and admirable

UGH THERE’S SO MUCH MORE I COULD GO ON ABOUT BUT I HAVE TO PIN IT FUCK. i’m in love with this jimin. and i’ve read that last part of chapter 3 multiple times already 🌚 do not perceive me

I CAN’T WAIT TO KEEP READING YOUR WORK THANK YOU FOR SHARING AND WORKING SO HARD OK LOVE YOU BYE

The Iron Ring | Series Masterlist | pjm

→ Pairing: fae prince! Jimin x human! female reader

→ Summary: After finding a mysterious ring while cleaning out your late grandmother’s attic, you receive the unlikeliest of visitors: a fae prince who claims you have something that belongs to him. Discovering the fairytales your grandmother told you are true is the least of your problems when you’re taken to a world dangerous and unfamiliar.

→ Series Word Count: 92,681

→ Type: Mini Series - completed

→ Genre: fantasy au, strangers to lovers, enemies to lovers

→ Main Masterlist: here

→ Rating: NSFW & 18+ Minors are strictly prohibited from engaging with this content. Any minors discovered interacting with adult content will be blocked immediately.

Disclaimer: All members of BTS are faces and name claims for this story. This is entirely a work of fiction and by no means is meant to be a projection, judgement or representation of real life people. Any scenarios or representations of the people and places mentioned in works are not representative of real life scenarios

Chapter One

→ After the passing of your grandmother, you inherit a strange ring. After putting it on, a very angry faerie prince ruins your day.

Chapter Two

→ You begin to adjust at the Night Court, but after a vicious attempt on your life, Jimin takes action. Your trip to the Winter Court does not go as planned.

Chapter Three

→ After barely surviving a run in with the others, you flee to the Winter Court. Jimin and you must come to terms with the tension between the two of you, and you must decide the next step.

Chapter Four

→ You decide to go through with the reaping, putting your fate in the hands of Yoongi and Khione to save Jimin and his court. However that isn't the only fight you must face in your journey to right your grandmother's wrongs.

Epilogue

→ Life looks a little different now that you've taken your rightful place in the High Court, but it's not without some changes.

Mood Boards: | Jimin | Reader | Hoseok |

[mikelogan]

OK now I'd love to see what headcanons or whatever you have for Turk, cuz you bring up interesting points. I was actually thinking the other day about how they had him be religious for like, an episode. Plus, the song they used in that ep about 3 O.D.'s, 2 shattered skulls, and a drunk who drove into a tree got stuck in my head lol

lmao that song is gold 😂 still mad it's not on spotify tbh

anyway, as far as Turk hcs go, I typically follow two separate trains of thought. The first (and my favorite and most likely) is either Turk gets JD out of a Bad Situation OR walks in on JD giving himself a T injection and JD can't not tell him. He and Turk end up sitting on his bed while JD tells him absolutely everything bc once he starts, he can't stop until he gets it all out. And he just hopes with everything he has that Turk isn't going to be weird about it. He doesn't expect Turk to Get It, but I figure this is during their second semester at college (and in my own canon, JD gets top surgery during the summer between their 1st and 2nd years of college and Turk is there with him through everything). Anywho, Turk definitely doesn't get it right away and ends up making some stupid comments out of ignorance rather than actual hatred. Things are a bit strained between them for a while before JD happens upon this stack of books by Turk’s stuff and it's all about sexuality and gender and he realizes Turk is trying to understand?? And it means the world to him. Idk if he'd tell Turk he saw the books, but things gradually get better and it's not like JD is adverse to answering Turk’s questions, but sometimes they're a little off-base or make him a little uncomfy. But it helps knowing that Turk isn't doing it to hurt or upset him. He's asking bc he wants to learn and understand and avoid saying the wrong thing bc he already knows JD is his best friend for life.

Second option is much angstier and I explored it in my fic My Heavy Meddle -- which I loved writing, but it was something I probably won't do again. Mostly bc I love Turk being distrustful of Perry at first bc of who he is as a person and how he's treated JD in the past -- not bc it's a guy x guy thing. Like it's very much canon that Turk isn't exactly comfortable with the Gays TM (though will be in heaven drinking milkshakes on the lesbian cloud 😒), but that fic took it a step further. JD never told Turk that he was bi or trans and kind of operated on an ignorance is bliss sort of thing, and everything escalated and ended with Turk almost getting Perry fired and he and JD no longer being friends. So while I enjoy Turk presenting a bit of an obstacle at first for JDox out of protectiveness for JD, this was a bit of a foray into basically leaning into the homophobic aspect.

So hopefully its obvious why I prefer the first option WAY more, but once again, it was interesting to write it another way and you know how I love my angst 🙃

As far as the religious aspect, I think a lot of what Turk thinks about The Gays TM is stuff that he grew up hearing? Idk if we ever hear anything about his dad now that I think about it, and we only saw his mom once (minus the Morgan freeman freckles comment courtesy of Elliot 😂) but I don't get super homophobic vibes. I think a lot of it was just pure ignorance on his part and the fact that he'd never been exposed to anyone who wasn't straight until JD -- at least as far as Turk knew a that point. And JD just knocked it out of the park by being trans AND bi 😂 we stan a king

ANYWHOMST I hope this is at least somewhat coherent bc I've been having a v v rough time and I just like to talk about this show lol

[hermitw]

Ok so I've explained most of this in previous posts/reblogs but ik my blog is not organized so I'll try to be succinct and coherent (masterlist someday? I hope). Ik this post was vague bc I was trying to keep it short and not repeat the same things every day.

yes, imo all of Yuuji's suffering is little compared to Sukuna's (we have to look at his life during the Heian era, and the way that he acts because of it in 2018). Links to this at the end!

The fight with Mahoraga - I'm not saying that this was against his will or a trauma response. Do you feel that it was wrong of him?

Sukuna knew where Megumi was. Other people were hiding away. Sukuna doesn't have the six eyes (though I used to suspect that he did tbh). Shibuya was full of curses, curse users, and transfigured humans. Even if we pretend that Sukuna had some way of being aware of each individual non-sorcerer's location... He had a limited amount of time to defeat Mahoraga. If Sukuna had wasted time luring him away to a 100%, no doubt, secluded area first, Yuuji would have been thrust into that fight, and he was no match for Mahoraga. Sukuna also needed to make sure that Haruta stayed alive until it was over. Megumi would have died if these things were overlooked.

Things that Sukuna did wrong, are killing Nanako and Mimiko - this was a trauma response (and for a long time, I held it against him. Tbh I do still have a lil theory that they're fine, but I'm getting distracted).

I've posted a little about Sukuna becoming the monster, just like Gojo, on the other side of the same coin - there's probably more to elaborate with there, but for now I'll just say that Sukuna becomes the monster in a desperate grasp for his own autonomy.

About Sukuna's first impression - I speculated that was foreshadowing of the merger. He doesn't seem to enjoy killing helpless people, or seeking out a fight.

Ripping out Yuuji's heart - yeah, a desperate grasp for his own autonomy. He tried to talk to Yuuji, but Yuuji ignored him from the beginning. I think that if Yuuji and Sukuna were able to relate to each other, then they could have had a symbiotic relationship like Hana and Angel. Though in defense of Yuuji, Sukuna might have been speaking like an ancient poet, and not making very much sense to him.

I'll add a few links to this, I tend to be lazy w uploading manga panels so I'll find some that go deep with receipts and context. My own blog isn't rly organized, I'll own up to that. Just be aware that these links have links, there is a lot to read, and I love it so much. I love that we can find out about the villain if we just put the details together.

A short summary of Sukuna's life is that he was starving - the way he came into this world, and the way that he left it.

He was deeply alone, his birth was like an affront to God, he was demonized and enslaved and deified and always used as an object.

I know my interpretation of JJK is unconventional, I've been through it so many times and my favorite characters and theories have changed a lot. Yuuji was my first favorite character and I don't think I could ever hate him, I'm just. Unable to shut the fuck up about my thoughts and feelings lmao.

I love this post so much, here is part 1 of Sukuna's loneliness, it goes into his name, trauma, discrimination, etc. It was super enlightening, and of course worth reading the whole series.

Actually, their masterlist has a section of links about Sukuna.

I tend to blame everything on Kenjaku (maybe he didn't hit Rika w his car, but I can't prove that 😤) because I think he really is plotting and responsible, and sukuna feels like his scapegoat. I mean, Gojo scheduled a date to fight Kenjaku, who made Sukuna substitute for him. It seems like the reincarnated sorcerers are coerced and uncomfortable with Kenjaku, but agreed to something for another chance at life. Idk man I'm just rambling now but here's a link to Sukuna's relationship with Kenjaku and the other sorcerers, etc.

@thepersonperson is far more in-depth and coherent and citing sources, their posts take time to read but are so enlightening it's unbelievable.

I've found that most of the time I read or see something and don't get why it's there, that's because I'm missing some cultural or historical significance.

The majority of the hills that I choose to die on, my theories and headcanons can align with the above... Sometimes I know my beliefs are a bit off the rails (mostly that Geto did nothing wrong, and Kenjaku drugged him into saying weird shit w Toji's worm).

I hope this makes some sense, I'm going to post before I get too distracted ok bye

Tumblr pls stop suggesting posts wishing that Sukuna will suffer as much as Yuuji when Sukuna has suffered more than anyone in jujutsu kaisen, I beg (being an unwanted child, a slave, an object, etc).

Maybe I'll go through and make a master post to link the history bc a lot of it is easy to miss (I suck at finding posts on my own blog), you have to be familiar with trauma and history and translations but everything harmful sukuna has done was against his own will or a trauma response. Sukuna is just trying to grasp for his own autonomy. he's constantly being restrained, neglected, and challenged. He doesn't even want to reverse the roles. He exists for leisure like Nanami, he just wants peace. To be left alone. And it's too much to ask for.

And if Yuuji had actually listened to Sukuna (he listens to everyone and matches their energy but not the spirit who is trapped in his body, so it's weirdly out of character) then Yuuji's suffering could have been almost entirely avoided. They could have had a symbiotic relationship.

Kenjaku thanked Yuuji's friend from the occult club for being good to his son - and Yuuji's grandpa saying "you had it too easy". The thing is that for Yuuji to be a functional cage for Sukuna, they couldn't be able to relate to each other. Yuuji spent his life with superhuman strengths, but he blended in. He was never demonized nor deified for his differences. Yuuji was a loner by choice, and he had the freedom to choose his own path. To uninvite himself from school clubs, the strength to beat up bullies that didn't even involve him.

Even the choice to consume Sukuna's finger had to come from Yuuji's own free will - and despite the manipulation that Kenjaku put into this (having Mimiko and Nanako plant it at the school, etc), it was a choice that Yuuji made on his own. He wasn't really coerced into it - Fushiguro told him not to do it. Yuuji consented to sharing his body, whereas Sukuna did not.

it seems like irl Sukuna has a shrine and is remembered as a hero, but regarded more as a criminal by the government. Sounds a lot like Gojo. And if the higher ups were still around a thousand years later, how do you think he would be remembered? Or spoken of in history lessons to sorcerers?

I've already rambled or reblogged everything that I have to say but ughhhhh

Yuuji is the last person who could teach Sukuna about love. He might be capable of a listen-no-jutsu, though it's kind of late for that.