#imma read so many web novels

[tellonetellall]

When I finally get myself to be fluent in Korean it’s over for everyone!

[witchboyjimin]

What fandoms were you /are you still a part of aside from BTS? Did you actively write for any of them, and if so, which ships inspired you? How did you come across BTS and what made you stan? (Imma assume jimin? Jimin!) And on that note, what made you ship kookmin or what about them gave you inspiration to write about them?

Sorry if this seems intrusive sgdhdjf but Im genuinely just curious about your fandom and writing journey :)!

hello! this isn't intrusive at all so no worries at all!!

oh man, i started writing when i was 11? at least in terms of posting fic on the internet except back then i don't think i even considered it to be fic. it was just stories set in my fandom at the time (it was naruto...and then harry potter and emo bands. yes, it was self insert.)

currently, i only actively write for bts fandom. this will likely change once i finish reading omniscient reader's viewpoint (orv) because i am already RARING to write fic for my orv otp, joongdok, but i really want to finish the web novel before i spiral.

i find the best way to enjoy your bts fandom experience is to also have multiple other interests you're partially engaged in/with so that bts fandom doesn't drive you insane :) other interests i am invested in include but are not limited to: orv, tgcf, mdzs, svsss, jujutsu kaisen, demon slayer, a plethora of bl, the magnus archives, and i try to read published stuff but i've been slipping on that front the last few months.

i will put the rest of the answer under a cut because...this is already quite long.

in the past i've written for naruto (sasunaru), harry potter (drarry), a few other animangas, kingdom hearts (axel/roxas), and when i did start writing for kpop fandoms it went from beast to block b/bap to exo to ikon/got7 to bts.

but i've been part of like tons of other fandoms where i only read fic and engaged with other people's content. fandoms include (non-exhaustive): bandom, inception, merlin, marvel (i rly only cared abt stucky), star trek (spirk, MY BELOVED), teen wolf (sterek has everyone in their clutches), football (european) rpf, hannibal and a slew of animanga. there's definitely stuff i missed but my point is just: have lots of interests! and consume a variety of media! it makes you a better writer and person imo.

baby me was definitely obsessed with enemies to lovers (adult me still is) so i am always drawn to an otp that has the enemies/rivals to lovers dynamic because nothing satisfies me as much as tension and push/pull dynamics. i think once i got into rpf fandoms tho (bandom, kpop), i did start enjoying seeing two people that just love each other very openly.

SO ofc when i finally ended up in bts fandom, it was only a matter of time before kookmin ate me alive. i started stanning bts in march/april of 2015. i'd listened to their title tracks/watched mvs from their debut but i was an exo stan and i had tunnel vision and then exo was like, falling apart in 2014-2015 tgknfk and i got into got7 and ikon for a while but i guess they just didn't hit the same cause i started watching bts mvs one day and then binged SO many bangtan bombs and watched american hustle life and then 2 weeks?? later bts announced they were having a comeback and i've never looked back. bts are just incredibly funny and genuine (there is nothing manufactured about them) and back in 2015, no one was putting themselves out there the way bts were. they were super engaged with their fan base through youtube and twitter so even when they didn't have a comeback, they were still posting new content which is not what other groups were doing. bighit knew what they were doing, i guess.

and yes, jimin 100% drew me in. even before i was a fan, he was already my fav from the few mvs i had seen and then when i got seriously into them, i was obsessed with him. he's so fucking funny and BABY!!!!!!!!! and has just been the kindest person since day one??? and an incredible dancer, like just mesmerizing. also, he's the prettiest most gorgeous person ever. there is no joy or comfort quite like getting to stare at jimin's beautiful face.

i was actually a multi-jimin shipper when i started out. my fav ships were hopemin, minjoon, and yoonmin. rapline/jimin was everything to me and so was yoonseok!! jimin was just very baby around rapline and acted cute because he loves attention and praise and i love this about him jbsdjk i liked vmin and kookmin at the time, too, but i've always liked vmin as friends more than romantically and kookmin didn't take over my entire brain until may 2016 when back hug scene happened. up until then, i liked them because it was obvs jimin doted on jeongguk A Lot and i enjoyed what a tsundere brat jeongguk was but back hug scene rewired my brain cause all i wanted to do after that was write kookmin.

i think seeing how much they both love each other and how supportive they are/how they show up for each other over and over again (excellent song choice for gcf tokyo jjk) just makes it impossible for me to not ship them?? plus we got to see their relationship grow and develop and transform to what it is today...it's hard not to love them tbh. for me, it's the devotion and how much they clearly like each other as friends that keeps me writing for them. i love love love the ways they show how much the other means to them whether that be the grand gestures (the tokyo trip, jimin flying across the world to be there for jeongguk's birthday) or the little things (the way they baby each other and worry over the other's well-being).

also, i think the fun of writing an rpf otp is that you can really put them in any scenario you want. there is no canon we have to adhere to so you're really only restricted/limited by characterization and tbh you can take liberties there, too because we don't 100% know the boys. plus how you act as an idol may not be how you act in a dystopia au lol it really is like playing house and it lets me be as creative as i want so i find it easy to keep putting them in new scenarios! i do think that if they didn't love each other as much as they do, i'd have maybe lost interest but so far that hasn't happened so yay for me haha

anyways I'M SO SORRY THIS IS SO LONG!!!!!!!!!!! kudos to you if you read all the way to the end...

hope you have a great day anonie!

[shijiujun]

hey so uh, it's 110% Not Your Job, but can i ask for like a crash course on these chinese bl series that are everywhere around me but i don't know them. like i'm familiar with the untamed or however many names it has but i'm seeing two or three more???? help please if you can thank you

hello!! oh no worries, i happened to be looking for a distraction too so this was timely hahaha although it’s a pretty broad question since there are so many new live adaptations coming out (and some which have already come out which are featured as bromances), but let me see if I can like round this up for you a little. 

*i may be giving you a bit more than you need or like irrelevant stuff, but i guess i’m bound to hit something hahaha

Okay so the chinese BL series you’re talking about is The Untamed, and since you said you’re familiar I won’t get into it in detail, BUT just for like flow’s sake:

The Untamed (Chen Qing Ling) is based on the danmei (BL) novel written by MXTX, called Mo Dao Zu Shi (and yes however many like English translations to this title there is), or MDZS for short. You watched the live-action, and there’s like a lot of other versions of it e.g. the anime, the chibi anime, audio dramas etc. etc. the list goes on. In case you still haven’t seen any of those, just glance through this masterpost made by @the-social-recluse​ - In any case, right now everything is sort of already out EXCEPT:

MDZSQ - chibi donghua, cutest shit you’ll ever see

More MDZS merch 

Some teasers from MDZS mobile game which has been one year and developing

Now moving on to other BL series floating around so frequently - MDZS is the second book that MXTX wrote. So there’s SVSSS (The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving-System), which is also called lovingly by others in the fandom by Scumbag System/Villain in short, this is MXTX’s first danmei novel. Right now if you’ve seen this on Tumblr, it’s the anime (donghua) version - 10 episodes only for Season 1, available on WeTV with subs, finished airing like a few weeks ago. Translations of the novel are definitely out in full somewhere.

An absolute mess, but an organized one

Tried to do a manhua but failed

Everyone thought the donghua wouldn’t air on time either (it has a history of dropping development halfway) but it did

Would probably be the most entertaining if ever dealt with a live-action

And then there’s arguably, the most beloved child out of all three novels (at least right this moment) - TGCF (Tian Guan Ci Fu, or Heaven Official’s Blessing). This is the third and so far last (???) danmei novel MXTX has written, main pairing invented love. Strawhat-wearing scrap collector smiley angel with devoted kid-turned-adult-turned-ghost-king who follows smiley angel for like many years because he loves him. Anyway, if you’re seeing this, once again on Tumblr a lot, it’s the donghua version you’re seeing. Still airing, I think we’re midway through the whole season, the yelling starts Saturday (Asia time zone) and then extends into Sunday, sometimes Monday.

There’s like a god-tier Eng translation in full for TGCF by Suika

There is a manhua for this as well, only like 45 chapters in, but the time Jan/Feb 2021 rolls around, the donghua would have overtaken the manhua progress on the storyline HAHAHA

Apparently the director/production team who did CQL/The Untamed managed to get the rights to filming its live-action, but heh nothing much about that just yet aside from casting rumours and fans worrying that the casting will be done wrongly and also that they won’t be able to do justice to the story.

Alright now that we’ve more or less cleared MXTX and what everyone is hyping over (for good reason), let’s move on to the other CHINESE BL stuff you could be seeing (although I feel like you might not actually be asking about this), and these will all be live-actions (I’m also only clearing SOME of this year’s stuff, so none from before 2020, don’t ask me why I didn’t leave Guardian or SCI up here):

✨✨✨ Already aired, done and dusted or maybe ongoing, just ones I see on my dash and notifs so I definitely am biased ✨✨✨

The Sleuth of Ming Dynasty (Cheng Hua’s Fourteenth Year) - Many episodes, much bromance, base novel is gay af, but live action is cute af. Read more here and full translation is not yet done I think

My Roommate is a Detective - THIS IS A SPECIAL MENTION. NOT BL. Doesn’t even have like a book to go along with it, it’s just I’ve seen people getting into this again and creating content, so idk, imma just leave this here. It ain’t BL but it got the most glaring BL-esque relationship I’ve ever seen in my life. You’ll get what I mean if you watch it

The Lost Tomb Reboot - AGAIN another special mention, because many handsome young-ish men who you know, head into tombs, much bromance. Based on a huge series of novels, totally not BL, but as always with like a lot of men put into one story, ships happen. This year as well, in case you’ve seen it floating around

✨✨✨  Upcoming Chinese BL live-action adaptations, confirmed + casting + filming. You may have seen some of these because like posters were recently released etc. - As far as I know these are all slated for 2021 ✨✨✨

Faraway Wanderers (Tian Ya Ke) - A danmei novel by Priest, filming wrapped up, should be airing soon. Leads are pretty cute, although I’m sure they’ll turn this bromance. One of the male leads is known for a lot of period web dramas, and Gong Jun, the other male lead, is known for more contemporary modern dramas, but damn Gong Jun’s jawline

Winner is King (Sha Po Lang) - Another danmei novel by Priest, filming wrapped up recently as well if I recall? Posters recently released, and this is arguably Priest’s most famous and popular danmei

Immortality (Hao Yi Xing) - A super popular danmei novel called 2ha or The White Husky and His White Cat Shizun by Meat Bun. Filming also... wrapped? I think, because posters came out the next day and everyone from Earth to Pluto went mad, definitely one you should look out for next year spring i think, but I’m pretty sure there’s gonna be a hell lot more teasers, posters etc. coming up and then half of danmei Tumblr will probably go into cardiac arrest

The Society of Four Leaves (Zhang Gong An) - Ehhhh I think this hasn’t yet been filmed but casting was recently confirmed (contentiously).  Concept posters are up though. This technically isn’t classified officially as a BL. There are no CPs officially in the novel, but apparently it’s very like idk flirty etc., also slated for next year

*There are a few more by Priest, e.g. Liu Yao, but no concrete news that I’ve seen (by now like at least 60% of her danmeis either have a live-action contract or a donghua contract or both lmao)

✨✨✨  Upcoming Chinese BL donghua adaptations (2021-ish). All by Priest✨✨✨

*Throwing this in just as a by the way thing, because these are also recent news (these two weeks). There might be more but I haven’t seen anything yet personally :D

Imperfection (Can Ci PIn) - Space AU, the novel won like two national literary awards if I recall like last year? Anyway a brief trailer recently came out last week I think, and main lead is handsome af, and once again it’s space and space wars so it’s pretty cool

Silent Reading (Mo Du Zhe) - Novel is called Mo Du, and honestly I think the donghua has been like teasing fans for like idk years, but it looks like we’re finally getting to the donghua as the team previewed the first ep like... two weeks ago live to an audience? Modern crime thriller thing, there’s a masterpost going on Tumblr

Lie Huo Jiao Chou - Another Priest fan favourite, a historical + modern danmei combination. Much angst from what I’ve seen, but donghua teaser looked good also, released also last week

---

anyway hopefully some part of this or at least one part answers your question? if not, just send me another ask or like, DM me hahahaha

[vroomian]

(headdesk slam) Yes, that was 2/2 percent didn’t even realize I forgot to add it in the message until after I sent it and spent like 5 mins internally screaming at myself. I’m a mess of a human being tbh. Really? I’m surprised because it feels like Xi fits perfectly in this AU. Xi as accidental cryptid is the best thing, in both worlds. That’s a relief to hear. My anxiety and I don’t get along so I tend to go to worst possible scenario. You’ll probably regret that soon enough. 1/2

I’m like a magpie if something catches my interest and I’ll fuss over it and go all crazy. Especially now, seeing that you did that hob oneshot and mdzs that is two of the main three bl web novels that I now of. Like, of the three I’ve only fully read svsss and my mind immediately went to wonder where Xi would fit in that verse and at this point he’d totally be where the biggest amount of knowledge is and that my mind went ‘what if Xi was head disciple of Qing Jing Peak?’ 2/?

But that’s pretty unlikely given Xi’s desperate avoidance of feelings, plot, and responsibility. Though I could totally see him as a reluctant head disciple and desperately trying to avoid plot. Plus, definitely the first to notice that something would be off with this new Qingqiu. That said, bullying in his peak would not fly with him so I could see Binghe crushing on this unknown elder disciple.

3/3 I’m sorry I don’t want to make it seem like I want to push you to write another AU when you’ve got enough on your hands. My mind just just went ‘ooh what if this happened?’ And I wanted to share my thoughts with you because I think it’s interesting. So yeah, again feel free to ignore this. I’m like that guy from the meme with the pictures on the wall and red thread when my brain goes nuts lol.

long ask so this goes under the cut

okay there are a million different ways this question could go, because like. is yrz female in this universe? is he male? is he older than the main characters? is he younger? which sect is he living near? is his family nice or assholes? which version of the story is he in? the sssvs version or the actual original demon path novel (or whatever it’s been a while since i read the novel)??? does yrz get a system??? 

because the answers to those questions change the story drastically 

okay so lets do two versions 

one: it’s sssvs. yrz has a ‘background character system’ or something.  he’s gotta have a system otherwise he wouldn't get without a thousand li of cang qiang sect. so this systems chooses him (lets say he’s a guy in this universe) because its low key and yrz is low key and it was like hey lets be low key together!

lol system. 

lol. 

but the system and yrz get along pretty well, and they get into the peak they want -- which is Wan Jian peak, because if yrz can’t join the library peak because of Plot reasons, he’s going with hsi second love. Swords! plus i don’t think there are literally any named characters from the story, except the peak lord. 

so. timeline wise, i think that none of the peak-lords have ascended yet, so yrz does his natural thing --- he over performs and becomes the head disciple for wan jian peak  as consequence and it’s literally just in time for the former peak lords to ascend, so yrz is like. stuck. as a peak lord. 

both the system and yrz are horrified and confused as to how this happened. or, no, by then the system understands the Mistake it made in choosing yrz. on paper yrz is very unassuming! but in reality yrz has no chill. he’s never even heard of the concept of chill. he does everything at 110%.

I think that the bulk of this story takes place waaaay before the sssvs cannon, and lbh is sir not appearing in this fic. instead its -- liu qingge! and mu qingfang! both??? both is good! i think he meets lqg first, when he challenges yrz to a spar in the middle of a high stakes missing because lqg is a meathead jock at that age, and yrz is like. no? do your job? dumbass. (yrz has no idea who this shouty brat is, because the system is taking a nap. it wakes up and kicks itself for leaving yrz alone to do stuff.) yrz is older than lqg and kicks his ass because... well. because it’s hilarious really. so he gains a lqg shaped stalker. 

yrz has a lot of interest in both sparring and healing, and with lqg following him around, yrz spends a lot of time at the healing peak and meets mqf there. mqf gets a huge crush almost immediately but never said anything. it’s not surprising that yrz quickly bonds with these totally cool new disciples -- and then learns that both of the are the succeeding disciples for their peaks. oops. 

system gives up. 

version two: bing-ge edition! 

no system this time around and yrz stays far far away from the cang qiong. he joins a small sect to learn than fucks off to have adventures by himself as a rouge cultivator. so, male version again BUT yrz gets cursed or something and gets the ability to change gender at will because that’s funny and useful. also you know. porn world written by a “straight” guy. there are reasons for that kind of curse imma just gloss over. 

then the plot happens. all of immortal demon path’s many, many chapters are playing around in the background of yrz’s life, but she manages to stay out of it -- until one night yrz gets accidentally recruited by a cult dedicated to bringing down the evil demon lord lbh, because this cult has a book yrz is after. she ends up being used as bait for lbh (because he eats virgins now according to rumors. he’s up to wife number 249 by now so it’s not wrong !) 

yrz gets ‘saved’ by lbh, who’s kind of smirking and going ‘oh, no need to thank me, it was what anyone would have done,’ while totally expecting sex. yrz is like ‘oh, cool. bye then.’ and just. takes the book and leaves. 

lbh: *surprised pikachu face*

and by the time he registers no sex is going to be happening, yrz is long gone and enjoying her brand new book. 

after that, lbh and yrz end up seeing each other (mostly because lbh is trying to impress this woman and nothing is working) and yrz is like stop being a creep, i’m not interested in you. lbh needs to drink his respect woman juice and downsize on his harem a bit. yrz wouldn’t touch that with a twenty foot pool. 

anyway i think it comes to a head when they both get doused in pa pa pa juice and lbh is like oh this is more familiar, shall we? and yrz is like bitch. and goes to a brothel in the city instead. at this point yrz and lbh are more like antagonistic buddies than anything else. lbh has too many wives and zero friends. 

lbh starts developing some squishy feelings and is like what the fuck is this?? gross?? but he says nothing because he doesn’t get it. 

then the cross over happens, bing-ge vs bing-mei!!! and after than happens, yrz is just chilling at home and lbh shows up at her place like really fucked up and subdued. he’s like ‘why him? why did he get the good teacher? what did he do right?’ 

yrz is like... hm. emotions. ew. she trys anyway because she’s finally ready to admit that she does like this trash goblin at least a little. so she takes care of him while he’s being depressed. lbh cooks for her and she’s like. this is so fucking good. thank you. 

and lbh is just in love now. it’s nothing like he feels for his wives, but yrz makes lbh feels safe and accepted. it’s a comforting and comfortable love. yrz’s stupid little house is more of a home than lbh’s stupid palaces. 

look. i stand by the head cannon that all lbh wants is to be a househusband, no matter what version im talking about. 

lbh vanishes for a whole night. yrz is like hm, my house feels empty now. weird! and then lbh comes back and announces that he just divorced all his wives. he doesn’t want to be powerful anymore so can i stay herer with you. 

yrz is like... sure. 

and then there’s a long, long courtship and lbh marries yrz and archives his dream of just being fucking happy. the end!

[wangxianficrecs]

How I pick and present my MDZS/Untamed recs

I started reading fanfiction in this fandom after being intrigued by all the gorgeous fanart and gifs on my dash... everyone (and the scenery) was just so goddamn PRETTY.  So I looked it up on AO3 and just bullheadedly dove into all the fic without any idea who was who or what the plot was.  It took me a while to figure it out.  (After about 3 months I actually read the novel, and I only finished the web series last week!)

I usually start a new fandom by reading the high-kudos AUs, to form an idea of characterizations before getting bogged down in canon-specific plot details.  My first story here was These Things Stay the Same by notevenyou, read on October 23, 2019, omg, that’s how new I am, only 5 months in!

But I have so many stories bookmarked, and I really wanted to share them, so six weeks ago (precisely!) I made this blog.  (My ‘real’ blog is mojoflower, feel free to join me there as well, it’s a dumpster fire.)

Because of the way I started, I don’t make any distinctions between The Untamed/CQL, MDZS, the dongua, the cartoon, and I dunno, any and all other formats.  They were just all part of “fanfiction”, with differing details minor enough that it didn’t trip me up.

I always, always assume an author can see my comments (even if I couldn’t or forgot to tag them).  I am an author myself, and I know how easy it is to be hurt, so you won’t see me saying anything like, The story was great, but the grammar was execrable or Lots of intricate plot but disappointing sex.  Those things may be true, but I’m not gonna say them out loud.

I rec because story, not technical proficiency.  (That is particularly true in this fandom, which has many young people and many non-native speakers.)  If a story hits the spot, if it has all the tropes I’m dying for at that moment, Imma throw that sucker on my rec list.  If it’s written like pure poetry and I’m riveted from the first paragraph, it’ll show up here.  If it’s entirely pointless and dorky but I laugh out loud, you’ll see it recced.  If it could win the next Newberry if only the characters were original, you’ll see it here.

I will fearlessly and greedily dive into an unfinished/abandoned work if it seems to be offering the trope or storyline that I’m craving.  If it has 74k words (like this one) of THE MOST AMAZING STORY I’VE EVER READ and the author hasn’t updated in a year, that won’t stop me... because I still get to spend several hours living in that world.  This is something I’ve acquired a taste for after being involved in fandoms and fics for the past 8 years.  You miss out on so many hours of enjoyment if you’re scared away by a x/? in the chapter count.  So I implore you all to try these fics, too.  At worst, you’re left thinking about it.  And at best, your enthusiastic comment might inspire the author to churn out more.  Or hell, you might be inspired to fic your own ending to it.  It’s win/win as far as I can see.

Sometimes my comments are lengthy and detailed.  Sometimes I finish a story waaay after midnight and they’re essentially nothing more than a lol.  Sometimes my cat is sleeping on my right arm and my comment is all lowercase, lacking punctuation and pecked out with my left forefinger.  So don’t judge a story by the complexity of my comments.

I love fanfiction because everyone gets to be their own filter:  there’s no gatekeeper.  Let’s say I read a story that has one of my favorite tropes (#animal transformation is always a go-to, for example;  in this fandom in particular, I seek out #time travel fix-it), and while an English teacher might have given it a C-, I’ll still rec it because SOMEONE WROTE THAT DAMN STORY I REALLY WANTED TO READ.  It is out there in the world because someone took the time and effort and did half the work of my imagining for me, and I’m grateful for that.  And a lot of you will feel the same way.

Thank you for following me.  Somehow, there are more than 500 of you now, which I find pretty staggering and also, incredibly validating and motivating.  Thank you!  I hope you find some stories that speak to you and make you (and also the author!) happy and fulfilled.  Um.  I also hope you like my graphics!  I’m having fun learning photoshop, and playing with pictures of all these beautiful men, and I like to think y’all enjoy that, too.

[As a technical aside, could you please tell me -- from whatever device you use -- which format you prefer:  a text post like this; or a photo post like this?]

I’d also like to remind you that if you reblog a post as well as like it, you give me more exposure (which I actually don’t crave too much, I think 500 followers is plenty), and more importantly, you give the author and their story more exposure, which I strongly encourage.  (Again, as an author myself, I know how exciting it is to see your stuff circulating around.)

I’ll wrap up with apologizing for the growing number of messages languishing in my inbox.  While it is evident that the coronavirus isolation thing is giving many people significantly more creative time, I’m not one of them.  I used to be home alone all day, but now I’m home all day with a husband and two ADD sons and they keep me busy enough that it’s been a struggle to get 3 posts a day and stay a little bit ahead.  My priority is to keep a slight cushion in my Queue, followed by trying to read at least a story a day.  The problem with the messages is that it takes so much time to answer one, because I have to search through all my bookmarks and tags and try to remember specific parts of fics and then create and format a compilation....  I dunno, that will probably pick back up after I find a little more time.

I’m glad you’re here!  I’m so happy to be a part of a new and very active fandom.  I’m amazed by all the creative effort and talent being put into it, and pleased to be doing my small part to contribute to it.  Kisses to you all, and happy reading!

--Mojo

[papa-1-rights-activist]

Papa I - Headcanons

ok since Papa I doesn’t seem to get nearly as much love as his brothers imma list a bunch of headcanons i have:

[only slightly NSFW]

he’s the only Emeritus who doesn’t like Abba, and his brothers give him a lot of shit for that

he often twists english idioms, so for ex. instead of “I played you like a fiddle” he says “I played you like a needle”. He claims it’s on purpose, but everyone knows it’s really not. His youngest brother makes fun of him for that

his actual name is Flavio

a true bookworm

he’s way more introverted than his brothers

bc of that he doesn’t go to many parties, unless Dante (Papa II) drags him there since he thinks that Flavio is too old to waste his remaining time away in his room

in his younger days he used to have long, brown hair that he would tie in a low ponytail

he went completely bald in his late 40′s. mostly due to genetics, but also bc of stress

a hopeless romantic, his favourite genre of books is romance, next to horror

tends to get very invested in fictional relationships

which is a direct cause of him going to his brothers and going on angry rants about “that bitch Cecillia who gets in the way of MC confessing her feelings for Robert”. Both Dante and Alessandro (Papa III) are so tired of this, but will listen anyway bc they love their big bro and support his interests

anyway, when Flavio discovered so called “web-novels”, Alessandro almost had a stroke

he always had been supportive of his younger brothers, even if they weren’t at first

he’s the kind of person who helps others in need, but doesn’t notice his own suffering. Even if he’s in the similar situation as the person he just gave advice to.

he taught his brothers how to growl and now they’re better at it than him (or at least that’s what he thinks)

Dante and Alessandro started calling him “goblin” once he lost all of his hair

(it got a bit long so i’m putting the rest under the cut)

he and Alessandro often as a joke threaten other people to send Dante their way if they won’t consider changing their behaviour

and sometimes they do

his brothers didn’t trust him at first, as he was introduced to them as this authority figure that will teach them the ways of papacy, so they’ll be ready when their time will come (and you know how they hate authority figures, having their father be one as well)

it wasn’t until Flavio helped out Alessandro when he was in a vulnerable situation that he and Dante realised that maybe he’s not all bad

it took Dante a lot longer to get to that point, but eventually he came to a conclusion that if his younger brother trusts him, he should at least give it a try

his superpower is getting past people without them noticing

“i just went past the security and no one gave a shit”

“um, i’m sorry to bother you, but i just wanted to make sure that the doctor is still available bc i’ve been waiting here in line for 2 hours after all patients had their turn...just making sure”

he just doesn’t really talk to people if he doesn’t need to

he’s like a criptid, on a daily basis no one seems to encounter him besides his brothers

it might be correlated to him staying in his office and reading books all day, but who knows really ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

anyway he’s about 17-18 years older than his brothers

he’s good at logical games, puzzles and such. maybe not as good as Dante, but he often manages to win when they play cards

he might come off as a nice fellow but really, he can be pretty nasty if he doesn’t like someone

you would think that he and Copia would get along considering how both of them are kind of awkward. HA! wrong!

it’s not clear why exactly he doesn’t like him, or what did he do to Copia to get on Imperator’s nerves, but as of now he’s considered the biggest asshole from all three papas according to Sister and Cardinal

Imperator: ...and this is Papa Emeritus I

Papa Emeritus I: *bullies Copia*

Imperator: ok guess what, new fucking idea

and this is how “super asshole first emeritus” was born

he hasn’t been in a lot of relationships. again, he doesn’t socialise a lot

but he sure fucks if he wants to lol

ofc not nearly as much as his bros (or anyone in their church for that matter)

just to be clear, he hasn’t been in a lot of relationships not bc of anxiety or sth. he’s a bit awkward, yes, but he doesn’t spend much time with people not bc of anxiety - that’s just how he chooses to be. He just doesn’t spend enough time around people to click with someone

despite all of this, Alessandro felt more confident asking him for relationship advice than Dante when he was younger

sometimes it was good, sometimes it was bad, but it sure was advice

also also, Flavio was the first person that Alessandro came out to as bisexual. he was very supportive about it and encouraged him to go and also tell Dante (to which he replied “yeah no fucking shit”)

he has absolutely no fashion sense (outside of what he is required to wear as papa) but worry not, bc Alessandro is here to help

also, he doesn’t drink alcohol outside of rituals - like at all.

he got drunk once and he regretted it the next morning. he decided it’s not for him

his brothers won’t let him forget about it

on occassion he makes an exception when being drunk seems like a better alternative than being sober in the moment

he’s a cat person, though he doesn’t own one

he has nothing against dogs - they’re just a bit too overwhelming to him

loves flowers and knows flower language fairly well

if you want to increase your chances with him - bro, just buy him a bouquet of flowers (even better if you arrange it to say something nice...or naughty kljhdgh)

anyway, ritual sex is his favourite kind of sex (which he doesn’t get much these days, as his brothers get more attention)

he has a weird fascination with blood (these rituals sure awakened sth in him)

not in a “i will purposefully hurt ppl just to satisfy my lust for blood” but more like...when he sees it he’s more curious than terrified compared to most ppl

as in, if he had a S/O he wouldn’t mind licking blood off from small cuts n’ stuff (and by “he wouldn’t mind” i mean he offers it himself lol)

one would say that he even looks at blood as something beautiful

anyway, he loves horror with lots of gore (books, movies - doesn’t matter)

sometimes he insults people via flower bouquets (this is the most vulgar he will ever get)

his brothers already learnt certain flower combinations bc they’re the ones who get those the most

well until Copia showed up. he was veeery confused at first

Dante and Alessandro hate it to bits, bc they always end up looking irrational to ppl around them when a ghoul delivers them one. and also it’s annoying when your oldest brother is smugly showing off like that when the last time you talked you ended up fuming with rage

he’s the ebodiment of “still waters run deep” - he’s a calm, asocial old man who loves the smell of flowers and reading cheesy romantic novels, but then you remember he likes to taste some blood from time to time

one time he and his brothers were casually walking in a park when suddenly they encountered some bloody corpse of a bird. while Alessandro was freaking out, he decided to put it on the side and make a proper burial. his brothers were completely on board, until they realised that by burial Flavio meant “let’s make a flower bed and put the massacred corpse on top of it for all to see”

it was supposed to be artistic. and he kind of wants the same treatment when his time will come

boi did that go well

[lucasseliott]

rules: tag nine people you’d like to get to know better

thanks to @lepetitepeach for tagging me!! 😘

top ten songs/pieces i can’t stop listening to

(as you know i am v into my starred playlist on spotify, which is what i normally listen to on the walk to work, so this is just the ten latest songs i’ve added to that playlist)

Cut My Lip (40.6782°N, 73.9442°W) - Twenty One Pilots

On A Roll - Ashley O

Chlorine (19.4326°N, 99.1332°W) - Twenty One Pilots

Joy - Bastille

Spirit In The Sky - Keiino

Fading - Alle Farben, ILIRA

Breadwinner - Everything Everything

Vossi Bop - Stormzy

Doom Days - Bastille

Satellite - Two Door Cinema Club

favourite ships

so many wtf ermm, so obvi eliott/lucas, matteo/david, isak/even, martino/nico, like the four skam horseman hahah. 

not skam: aaron/robert from emmerdale, even though one of them is leaving at the end of the year and im gonna be depressed af forever, its cool its fine...

ronan/adam from the raven cycle, the ronan trilogy is coming out soon so imma be back on that maggie stiefvater bullshit.

magnus/alec from the shadowhunter chronicles (also from the tv show, but im sorry i prefer the book versions more, dont hate me, theres just more content and literally a shit tonne of books and i just love that whole universe h2g)

logan/veronica from veronica mars, im so excited for the new episodes next week, like you dont understand.

mickey/ian from shameless, okay so the show literally ruined them for me for years, but noel fisher AND cameron monaghan are both back on the show next season which means im also back, oh god help me.

also a non romantic ship but my fave irl friendship is tyler robert joseph and joshua william dun, the iconic duo known as twenty one pilots, no i will never shut up about them in these tagged asked thingys, they are part of my brand/aesthetic, also they are literal friendship goals. 

lipstick/chapstick

i dont wear makeup, like ever, (much too lazy for it tbh) so gotta say chapstick, especially in those winter months...

last movie

yesterday (the name of the film, not when i watched it), the beatles movie, it was p good, few weird plot holes but overall i liked it!

currently reading

lol fanfiction lol, also im currently reading king of scars by leigh bardugo, but havent gotten v far.

i also just went to the book signing for alice osemans web comic/graphic novel heartstopper volume 2, its v popular on tumblr! i guess i can say im currently reading that as well cause she updates it a few times a month.

AND im going to london film and comic con/ young adult literature convention in kensington next weekend, so im probs gonna be buying a shit tonne more books i dont need to add to my reading list, as is always the case...

IMMA TAG: @saphy-supernova, @mickey-milkovich, @starcassstic, @srodvlv, @isakvaltrsen, @cottonskfr, @lifeisevak, @chelou-mecs-in-love, @eliottlallemcnt (ive seen a load of these on my dash, and im shit at remembering who has already done it so sorry if youve been tagged before!)

[teacher-lavin]

Shawn’s Story*

Shawn’s fable unfolds along the banks of the rivers that authors, Langston Hughes and James Joyce traveled. Also, here to be found is the River Delaware as it flows through Philadelphia and environs. Among other themes, this is a tale of incarceration and deportation. Waiting at the story’s edges, readers will notice that we also meet with a lot of homework,  –and a very discerning librarian.

(Above) Image Taken from Salmon Ireland’s web site (Salmonireland.com), is a landscape photograph of the River Foyle.

The Letter

Hi Pops, thanks for your letter. Too bad, the prison blocked a lotta words out. What I got was that you’re getting to go out with work crews to pick up trash on the highways. It must be weird being chained together like that and having guards with shotguns and such watch over you guys  while you’re just basically cleaning the roadside. I really like the part where you said that you all go up to the highway right next to the river and that you always take a minute from sweepin or whatever  to look out over the riverwaves and see the sun reflect on the swelling banks and feel the breeze. So, that was a really good idea where you said if after work some day I walk to the far end of the Wal-Mart parking lot on Delaware Avenue where it comes up on the river that I’ll be looking out over the same Delaware River as you seen earlier, and I’ll be seeing the same waves, and the same currents, and the same mists and breezes playing off the wave- tops, hearin the same sounds and tasting that little bit of sea salt that the river has from its trip out to the ocean. Imma do it. I miss you, Pops. If I go down that parking lot where it looks across to  Camden on the opposite bank on the same day maybe when y’all been out on the highway cleanup crew in your orange prison suits, I’ll be able to catch up with your spirit, at least. And, I’ll say all the stuff you used to listen to me carrying on about. How muad I get at everything and how sad and sorry I feel about other stuff. Remember? I ain’t seen Mom or Dad at all for a long time. But Aunt Helen came down from the convent last week and helped me clean the place. So, we scoured the joint from “stem to stern” just like you always used to say. “FROM STEM TO STERN.” I kept repeating that and then Aunt Helen and me was laughing about the way you used to say it and about how you talk and your Irish accent, “From Stem To Stern,” like a pirate or something. Haha. Don’t get mad. I miss you. Pops. Love You. Shawn.

Saturday Morning: The Library

Shawn:  Did you see a piece of paper with writing on it? … like a letter?

Librarian: (Curtly, not looking up from her desk.) No.

Shawn: I was in here after work last night trynna do my homework, and wrote the letter, and now I can’t find it.

Librarian:  (Still not looking up.) Why don’t you check around the table where you always work.

Shawn:  Where’s the maps of Ireland. They say my grandfather might have to go back there even though he doesn’t want to.

Librarian: (Still looking down. Staccato.) Geography. Under Great Britain.

Shawn: (With an angry edge.) It’s not in Britain.

Librarian: (Looking up.) Yes, It is. Aisle 4, Shelves 10 through 17. Clearly labeled Great Britain including Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Shawn: (Pointing to the green tattoo on his forearm) Just remember, 26 Plus 6 equals ONE.

Librarian: (Loudly, Pointing Finger at Shawn.) Quiet.

Shawn: (Louder.) No!

Franklinville High School

I had already found the letter on the floor in the back of the classroom while grading papers and cleaning the room on Friday evening. That’s when I read the letter and realized that Shawn must have dropped it that day during class. Shawn was new in our school. His body language was terse. He seemed beaten and bent inward. He refused to make eye contact. He never talked in class. When I asked him why he slept on his desk everyday, he said that he worked most nights and that he was exhausted all day. That���s all I knew about Shawn. But then, I looked at the address on his file and recognized that the neighborhood where Shawn lived was near the  block where my grandfather owned a bar many decades ago. Jimmy’s Pub opened at 7 in the morning for guys coming off the night shift at the Stetson factory and for other graveyard workers. And some 7 a.m. drinkers were guys on their way out to jobs they hated in center city offices and, then, there were the guys who had been out all night drinking and wanted one last shot before they did their daily perish. Cousins right off the boat from Ireland lived above the bar. I worked there while I was going to college. It was a hole of a place where I learned the codes of the Belfast streets thousands of miles away, streets that I’d never actually seen. I could imagine Shawn’s grandfather, his aunt and the way that prison must have  shaken them up and spit them out emotional wrecks fractured by fear, frustration and anger, fractured people living fractured lives.

Over the weekend, I read the letter over and over and wondered how Shawn would feel about my seeing his message to his grandfather. I put it in an envelope and wrote a simple note, “Found on Floor of Classroom” and, then, I noticed that I had planned for our class had to read Modern writers like Langston Hughes and James Joyce. So, I decided to begin on Monday with with a meditation. I planned for us to read the Langston Hughes poem that begins, “I’ve Known Rivers.”

Before class, when I gave the envelope to Shawn, he tore it open and sat down immediately in one of the desks at the front, disclosing the letter’s folds and smoothing out the page while he read it, running his fingers along each line as he read. Class started and he looked at me and I smiled at him hoping to silently say, “yes,” with the smile, yes, I read the letter. Shawn hesitated, looked down, then looked up again and smiled back, nodding. Then, I handed out a worksheet asking the entire class to meditate on the lines that Langston Hughes wrote as a young poet, traveling along the Mississippi River in a train headed South:

“I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the

flow of human blood in human veins.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.”

I played the music that the jazz musician, Gary Bartz composed to accompany the Hughes poem. I asked just one question beneath the poem’s lines.

“As you read, how do you connect the poet’s rivers to his soul?”

After class:

Shawn:  Mister, thanks for finding the letter.

Me:  I felt lucky to read it, Shawn.

Shawn: I’m not sending it cuz I just learned that my granda is going to the prison’s hospice which means that he’s very sick.

Me: (Pausing, lump in throat.) He must be very proud of you. I think you should send it to him or give it to him when you visit.

Shawn: I ain’t got the time or the money.

Me: Still, he must be proud of you.

Shawn: I don’t know if they’re gonna send him back to Ireland or keep him here cuz he’s so sick. My aunt told me about this hospice thing on Friday night when she visited from the convent in Allentown where she works.

Me: The worst part must be not knowing what’s gong to happen, right?

Shawn: (Crying, as he looked away as if he were seeing the far shore of a river through his tears, and quoting the poem.) And My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

Me: It’s quite a poem, Shawn.

Shawn: I’ll think about it at work. It’s really good.

Me: Don’t forget your homework. (Smiling, ironically).

Shawn: I never forget my homework.  (Smiling back, ironically).

Homework

Translate the following passage from James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake into your own words. Remember that this excerpt is taken from the end of Anna Livia Plurabelle’s section of Joyce’s novel. Hint: The River Liffey is the scene of this passage, all of which occurs not during the day but at night deep in the language of a very long dream about all rivers.

Monday Evening: The Library

Shawn: Do you wanna hear my homework?

Librarian: I’m busy. Don’t you work today?

Shawn: I skipped work to do my homework first then walk up to the Wal-Mart parking lot to be on the river for a minute.

Librarian: (Smiling). Aren’t you very organized, Shawn?

Shawn: This guy from Dublin’s book is all rivers. You wanna hear my translation of his story about rivers?

Librarian: Yes. But quietly.

Shawn: I’ll whisper it. It’s even better that way.

Librarian: You are a very strange young man. Have you been told this?

Shawn:   (whispering)

I can barely hear you with the waters of the river.

The waters chitter. The bats flitter.

Are you not going home alone?

Think of the waters of the River Liffey in Dublin?

Think of the waters of Lough Neagh near Belfast?

I feel as old as that Elm Tree over there.

This is Shawn’s story. This is Seamus’s story.

Good Night, Grand farther, the farther away you go.

Shawn means John.

Seamus means James.

Who were John and James sons or daughters of?

Goodnight, Pops.

Tell me another story about plants and rocks.

Please tell me.

Beside the waters, there hither like the Delaware River.

There thither like the Liffey, the Shannon, the River Erne,

The River Boyne, The River Foyle.

Now, I’m with you beside the rivering waters

The hitherandthithering waters of

Goodnight ……..

Librarian: (Looking up, mouth open in astonishment.) And you wrote that based on the passage in James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake?

Shawn: (Nodding. Smiling. Agitated). And now I have to get over to the Wal-Mart parking lot to listen to see the river and tell it what I can hear and telepath it all to my granda who’s up north waiting for the words to echo their way up and back to him.

Librarian: You seem relieved.

Shawn: Of course, it’s sad but I have to say good bye.

(Above) Clinton Cahill’s exhibition “Illuminating the Wake,” which are Cahill’s interpretive drawings on the text of James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake, synthesizing his encounters with the novel’s dreamscapes. Taken from the web site of the James Joyce Centre in Dublin (https://jamesjoyce.ie/illuminating-the-wake-no-31/).

(Above) Image from web site of Monica and Tyler Aiello’s gallery exhibition titled, “I’ve known Rivers,” which are images based upon the poetry of Langston Hughes (http://www.studioaiello.net/).

*All persons mentioned in this story are fictional (and bear no connectin to actual, historical persons) with the exception of Langston Hughes and James Joyce. All places, also, with the exception of the Wal-Mart parking lot overlooking the Delaware River also are fictional.  

(Below) Youtube Musical Composition by Gary Bartz, based upon Langston Hughes’ poetic lines, “I’ve Known Rivers.”

[kumori-zora]

RIGHT

I don’t normally reblog with comments but I understand this completely

some of this might not be related to what OP said but aaa

also I haven’t really gone back and re-read the manga so most of this is based on first impressions 

I love Eve’s music and characters, don’t get me wrong, but the pacing of KnK has been pretty. . . slow. I feel like it would’ve been better if the story had started “after the fact,” or after Rei started seeing all those zingai (doesn’t matter how long after it happened, though too long would be hard to work with methinks). 

Starting a story from the middle is a thing I’ve seen multiple writers do, since it’s a basic (and successful!) way to catch a reader’s attention and keep them engaged. It keeps us from sifting through loads of information that can be revealed later on (hopefully not in an info dump). And being confused is good sometimes!! Asking questions keeps you interested in the story, and as long as those questions are answered later on then it’s a-ok with me

> MVs Maybe the MVs serve as an introduction to the world?? Or maybe it provides background info for the characters/general worldbuilding. Or it’s the drafts of the story (idk something along the lines of the Re:Zero web novel and light novel and how they influence the anime???)

> Pacing With the whole Nagi corruption arc thing, I feel like, compared to the rest of the manga it’s been pretty fast-paced. It just seemed . . . kinda thrown in there imo? I mean it was bound to happen eventually but 

 There have been good chapters in term of pacing (the coffee shop chapter was cute), but when it comes to like uhh the serious events/minor climaxes, it’s either rushed or drawn out. I know this is Eve’s first time writing a manga and all, and this is to be expected. I do think it’ll even out as the manga goes on. That being said, I’m hoping for something short and memorable, rather than long with too many events to remember. 45 chapters? 90 chapters? that sounds ok with me but like if it ends up being 300 chapters or more imma cry 

> Storytelling With a supernatural theme I feel like the right moods/atmospheres are crucial. If the story starts out with supernatural things being commonplace and the MC is used to that then I think yeah you don’t really need to add a mystery factor since it’s the usual; but with KnK and Rei being introduced to a whole new aspect of reality that was revealed to him all of a sudden, then him just being like “oh ok” when some dude comes in and starts info dumping - I feel like he shouldn’t be so accepting of what Tobi tells him since uhh fuck I forgot where I was going with this  idk he’s not asking enough questions for my liking, and Tobi is giving too many and not enough answers if you catch my drift

> WITH ALL THIS BEING SAID I love this manga. The characters and the worldbuilding and the links with the MVs is just *chef’s kiss*. The current plot is interesting, though the questions I’m asking aren’t the questions I’d like to ask. However, it’s still imo really good and I’d definitely recommend it to strangers on the street if I had the balls to 

god I am so sorry for throwing this all up in a reblog 

it’s almost 11 pm so if anything doesn’t make sense then feel free to lmk

Before anything pls keep in mind I write most of my posts at very unhinged hours of the night and then save them as draft to publish later. Why am I telling you this? 2 reasons: 1) so you can finally understand the true nature of whatever the fuck I’m on most of the time and 2) this particular ramble makes no fucking sense at all but I know you kinda like that so I guess it’s ok

Anyway

Listen I’m not saying I’m a better story writer actually far from it but I think knk would have had a better start if it began at least 2 months after the story was set to begin. For example we know the beginning of the story takes place in April right? I think June would have been a better start bc think about it: we start the story with this kid we don’t know but we see Tobi is living with him for some reason; why is he? He wasn’t in the MV as far as we know? Are they working together? Related?. Then we have two main antagonist being Yuu and Nagi (we still don’t know if he gets the bad end path but let’s assume he becomes besties with Yuu) and we can see that Rei somehow knows Nagi on a personal level and tries to convince him everything he’s doing is wrong; what was their relationship? They knew each other? What happened to Nagi then?

Anyway you see where I’m going with this. To me this seems like more engaging idk I personally like to be confused and ask questions and I’m not saying what we have currently is bad actually taking this approach it could be used as a flashback mini arc or something. I’ll say it again (as I did in an ask some time ago) I don’t think what we have is bad actually far from it! I think Eve and Newo are doing a good job but I think if you are gonna make a supernatural story there should be some mystery going around and yeh we have a lot questions we can ask with the current state of the story but I think these come more from confusion and not having any idea of what will happen rather than from connecting the dots with what is going on