#just finished a short history today maybe i will post a short review at some point
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sorry if you've already answered this but i just read your post about whipping girl and found it so so so insightful!! i was wondering if you have any other recommendations for books/articles/etc. about transmisogyny and the lives of tma people. thank you in advance!!
I'm glad it was helpful! this is the second ask on the subject I've let pile up, because I want to do my best with it but I'm also far from an expert. I think half the work of answering "transmisogyny syllabus" questions is explaining why it's so hard to do so in the first place.
one of the tools of hegemony is the epistemic violence it works against its subjects; this is essential to transmisogyny, thru which we have historically been rendered unable to so much as record our existence, let alone theorize from it. it is incredibly difficult for a tma person to access the institutional devices of knowledge-making, most of all the university. even when we do it is typically for the institutions we work under to shoehorn our work into the hegemonic model, stymieing actual progress. so theories and histories of transmisogyny have had to progress in a patchwork, often informal fashion, upstream and at personal risk. I am not going to be able to give you books that I would recommend without criticism, because the epistemic violence of transmisogyny has made it virtually impossible to write such a book. but with that said, here are some recommendations:
- this post multiplied my understanding of transmisogyny manifold, and was one of the most clarifying things I've read on the subject
- hands off our lives, our stories, and our bodies, is imo essential to anyone interested in a theory of transmisogyny that actually engages with its manifestations in the global south
- I enjoyed My Words to Victor Frankenstein above the Village of Chamounix: Performing Transgender Rage by Susan Stryker for the vibes
- two historical excavations of transmisogyny: Trans Misogyny in the Colonial Archive: Re-Membering Trans Feminine Life and Death in New Spain, 1604â1821 by Jamey Jesperson and âSelective Historiansâ: The Construction of Cisness in Byzantine and Byzantinist Texts by Ilya Maude
- Romancing the Transgender Native is good for learning the trappings of ahistorical and idealist "third gender" attributions
- especially (but not exclusively) if you are yourself a trans woman/transfem/tma, consider reading fiction by trans women/tma people, like Serious Weakness by Porpentine Charity Heartscape (check tws) or LOTE by Shola von Reinhold
- Jules Gill-Peterson's A Short History of Trans Misogyny is great for some case studies in global transmisogyny, and a decent materialist approach. but I think she makes the same mistake serano made re: equivocation of transmisogyny with the oppression of femininity, and she would have done well to read the second article on this list. her histories of the transgender child is also good, though not especially focussed on transmisogyny
- follow @ bloomfilters on twitter
if this looks like a hodgepodge that's because it is on account of what I said in the first two paragraphs. I am really not an expert and I am sure there are others who could give you much more. but to echo a friend, you may be just as likely to get something out of a game or a song written by a tma person as you are an essay. every medium can be an opportunity to plunge the roots of our theorizing deeper.
#ask answer#transmisogyny#just finished a short history today maybe i will post a short review at some point#when my makes you sleepy meds stop making me sleepy
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Fight Club, by Chuck Palahniuk
This being a stock photo is very enjoyable to me.
âWe are God's middle children, according to Tyler Durden, with no special place in history and no special attention. Unless we get God's attention, we have no hope of damnation or redemption. Which is worse, Hell or nothing?â
"A bit 2edgy4u, but neat ideas about how angry men be angry. Didnât care a lot for the terse, repetitive writing style to start but I got used to it as the threads came together to the intense climax. And itâs short, so not like it was a huge investment."
Ok, so thatâs a pretty terse review. Ironically, considering that âterse, repetitive writingâ was one of my criticisms. That was, directly copy-pasted, the review I posted on Goodreads after finishing Fight Club early last year. For a proper Project Hipster post I ought to expand it. And yetâ I actually think that covers it pretty well. Letâs break my terse review of this terse novel down into its aspects, then, and see what I meant, in less terse words, and letâs see whether a year and a half to think things over has changed my thoughts. Terse doesnât sound like a word anymore.
A bit 2edgy4u, but neat ideas about how angry men be angry
The aspect of Hipsterdom that Iâve never gravitated so much towards is that which stems from angsty postmodern 90s Gen X disillusionment, and as I mentioned back in my first Radiohead review, Palahniuk is kind of the epitome of that. And he does do it well.
Maybe Iâm just too young to have lived through it, but I can empathize with it. The routine of life in a bullshit job under Capitalism Victorious is as mind-numbing now as it was then, I know well, and the now laughable late millennium rhetoric of the End of History must have added a particularly different sort of catalyst for mental illness. While today itâs the chaos of the world that fills us with anxiety, its seeming stability in the age of Fight Club must have created another sort of dread, living with the apparent surety that this world of fluorescence and linoleum was the ultimate aspiration of society, and now that it had arrived, it would carry on forever. I need the darkness, someone please cut the light!
Is it any wonder, then, that Palanhiukâs pointedly nameless narrator falls into a sleepless spiral of desire for chaos, wanting to âwipe his ass with the Mona Lisaâ and break beautiful things just to experience the thrill of change? That spiral leads the narrator into Project Mayhem, the anarcho-fascist cult of Tyler Durden, a mysterious, rebellious drifter who may be more than he seems, and promises an escape from monotony through rebellion, ascending over the short course of the novel from pranks to terrorism.
A lot of the discourse around this book and its adaptation centres on that always-crucial question â in stories about men lashing out in anger, how much are we meant to agree? The ending of Fight Club (the book, at least; weâll come back to that point) makes it pretty clear that Palahniuk is hardly holding up Tyler Durden as a role model. But he comes from a place motivated by genuine criticism of a heartless society. Palanhiuk says that itsâ âabout a lonely person looking for some way to connect with other people." Itâs a cautionary tale, then, about the fallout of loneliness and toxic masculinity, but whereâs the line that morality is transcended in favour of rage? For the narrator, itâs another characterâs death. For the reader, should it be the same? Or earlier? These are interesting, worthwhile questions! I have no definitive answers to them. There are interesting metaphors here, too, like how Tyler steals human fat from lipo clinics, literally the offcast fat of the fattening system, and uses it to make his weapons.
Palahniuk was himself a member of something called the Cacophony Society, which sounds a lot like Project Mayhem purely in name, but reading up on it makes it sound a lot less intense, given that itâs more of an unincorporated counter-cultural arts group. Cacophonists allegedly created Burning Man, paint Banksyesque street art, perform satirical Christmas carols, and disrupt the rush by blocking traffic to host picnics open to all visitors. Oh, and, uh, write edgy novels. Sounds fun, actually. Sounds like thatâs a much healthier response to the same things that drive the characters in Fight Club to violence. Apparently the Cacophony Society itself stems from an earlier San Fransisco secret society called the Suicide Club, which focused mostly on urban exploration and the benefits of thrill-seeking.
Didnât care a lot for the terse, repetitive writing style to start but I got used to it
Yeah, I still think this to some degree. I just prefer purpler prose, on a personal level. But I can respect Palanhiukâs stylistic choices, to the point that they seem to be impacting these very sentences as I type them. Quotes from Fight Club in my mind are right now bleeding into the way I tackle my own keyboard. One maybe generous interpretation of Fight Clubâs writing style is that itâs a window into the narrator's deteriorating mental state. When weâre working around sleepless nights, and when stress and anger are eroding reason into base fight-or-flight instinct, none of us are thinking in full sentences. It helps somehow to know that thereâs a name and history for this style as well. Palahniuk was a disciple of Tom Spanbauer, who in Portland, where lives the dream of the 90s, taught the style he called âdangerous writing.â Spanbauer defines the styleâs tenets as minimalism, realism, and writing from painful personal experience. In a way itâs very similar to Hemingwayâs âone true sentenceâ approach. Itâs another swing of the pendulum in the same direction, I suppose. As Hemingway was reacting against the Romantics, Spanbauer and Palahniuk were reacting to the maximalist âhysterical realismâ of David Foster Wallace and Zadie Smith (who I also like.) Itâs a style. Canât fault style for consistency. In terms of repetition, Iâm referring of course to the very prominent motifs, like the narrator's constant (and it is constant) reframing of the Readerâs Digest feature âI am JoeâsâŠâ
as the threads came together to the intense climax
And what a climax. I should preface by saying that somehow Iâve still never actually seen the movie. Through cultural osmosis, though, I knew the twist. If you donât, stop reading. Despite Publishers Weekly calling the twist âparticularly bizarre,â despite the use of then-obscure dissociative identity disorder to justify its mechanics, itâs fairly simple in concept. This character seems to be the characterâs secret ambitions manifested ad extremis. And it turns out thatâs exactly what he is. Itâs one of those devices that leads every scene to be read two ways, which is always good, and it makes the climax thrilling. I also know how the movie ends differently. I think in terms of themes I prefer the book version, but I understand why it was changed to a more visually dramatic ending for the movie. I also think itâs pretty funny that the Chinese release of the movie wasnât allowed to show Project Mayhem succeeding, so it cuts out the end in favour of essentially telling the book ending in captions.
And itâs short, so not like it was a huge investment.
Unlike this post. Sorry. Good thing I don't write these with the assumption that anyone will ever read them.
I give this hipster book four disillusioned white men out of five.
Project Hipster is a futile and disorganized attempt to dive into the world of things that the internet has at some point claimed "are hipster," mostly through ListChallenges search results.
This review comes from the ninth list, Essential Books For Hipsters.
Next up: a more lighthearted movie that can still make you cry.
Stay deck.
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đMarch 2024 Book Review (Part 1/2)đ
Well, March had been a draught so this post will be short. Even more so since I read He Who Drowned The World by Shelley Parker-Chan but will give it its own post with book 1 of the Radiant Emperor, She Who Became the Sun. Still there's some good books in here, starting with a classic!
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Basil Hallway has just finished the portrait of young, beautiful dandy Dorian Gray. The young man is just realising that he will grow old and become jealous of this picture who will keep its youth and charm; he starts to wish the portrait were aging in his place. The wish is granted and Dorian will go on living a life of hedonism and libertinage as his sins disfigure the picture hidden in his attic.
Chanson Douce by LeĂŻla Slimani
I can't believe I had never read anything Oscar Wilde wrote before but here we are! I had to remedy this.
I really loved it, it has the gothic atmosphere I love, Oscar Wilde dry humour which I loved from his aphorisms and a razor sharp critique of the society Wilde lived in and who put him to trial for this book.
Dorian is despicable but that what makes him compelling in this story: how far would he go thinking he would never be caught and what would he do when the spell would inevitably come to ium for its due? Those last few pages and the first moment when he realised what was happening where the most interesting to me. Maybe the rest seemed harder to read for me because I lack some context to understand it?
However what hasn't aged (ha ha ha) one bit is the theme: The fear of aging up is kind of understandable one, especially today with social media and the pressure of well-being corporation trying to sell eternal youth in creams, diets and yoga classes. Would the people who use and abuse of cosmetic surgery say no to a picture that age in their stead? I don't think so. Internet also participates in the feeling of unaccountability some people feel: behind a screen, a username and at most a vpn, no one can judge what I do or say (or so they think). No one has their Google search history or their last tweet written on their forehead, so no one will ever know what the computer in the attic hides. That's not exactly true but most Internet trolls act like it is.
In so many ways it reminds me of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde but the comparison is a classic one: two morally dubious characters, who found ways to give in to their basest desires without suffering from the social disgrace, their darkness manifesting itself physically on another form which catch up to them eventually. There is something deeply satisfying in seeing all of it crumble down and their true nature finally come to light.
TW for child's murder and attempted suicide
Inspired by the murder of the Krim siblings, the book opens on Myriam, mother of two, coming back home to find her two young children in the bathtub, stabbed to death by their nanny, Louise, who had then tried to kill herself. The story then goes back in time to explain how it happened, how Myriam and her husband Paul hired Louise and quickly couldn't do without her, how much the little Mila and Adam loved her, the way a disturbing codependant relationship is born and how it all fell apart.
This is getting redundant but once again I saw the movie before reading the book! I don't know why actually: I went to the cinema with some friends it is isn't the kind of film we usually pick. It was good!
Nevertheless I never picked the book because I had to much assigned reading at the time and in the meantime forgot about it. I found it back when I challenged myself earlier in the month to pick some prize-winning novels for the TBR to fight back my prejudice of Goncourt winning books being either too hard or too boring, as it won in 2016.
The book starts really abruptly with the nanny's murder-suicide and that short but awful "Le bébé est mort" "the baby is dead". I hadn't expected it, but it pulled me in: the author gives just enough hints of what the family+nanny dynamic was to pique my curiosity.
It all started when Myriam, the mother, wants to go back to work after their son Adam turned 2, even though they have no daycare and their daughter Mila is only 5: they need a nanny. There is the theme of womanhood and maternity throughout the book with the contrast between upper middle class Myriam who is a lawyer trying to balance work and family and lower class Louise walking the delicate balance of being a nanny, a trusted employee in the home's inner circle, treated "like she's family" without being part of it. At some point the couple take her with them on vacation but whatever they might tell themselves, it's so she will take care of the kids so they can enjoy their rest.
It creates some clashes (inner mostly) but also some very anxiety inducing scene: at some point Louise is so involved she tried to protest about how wasteful she finds Myriam and Paul; she picks up from the thrash the chicken carcasse they dumped and put in back on the table, bone clean. The film ends there if I remember correctly, a much more ambigous final than the book.
It pushed even harder in the horror as it continues after the murder with the police investigation. We see the female police officer putting herself in Louise's shoes to work out how she could have snapped like that. It concludes with the recomposition of the crime and the last, terrifying, sentence: "Les enfants, venez. Vous allez prendre un bain", "children, come here. Let's take a bath".
It is creepy, harrowing, but incredible well written. This one I know has been translated in English under the title Lullaby and the film adaptation dubbed under the title The Perfect Nanny.
SĂ©gurant, le chevalier au dragon by Emanuele Arioli
The adventures of a forgotten Knight of the Round Table, Segurant, famed for his strength and for his endless chase with a dragon.
To be precise, Emanuele Arioli isn't the author: he is a archivist specialising in medieval literature and in his research he found traces of a forgotten Round Table Knight SĂ©gurant. He traced his adventures back in several manuscript (even though most of the texts were written at least a century after the main arthuriana) and compiled the texts in this book.
I adored the arthurian mythology when I was a kid I although I started reading over genres, I never stopped loving it. At some point I even organised a tournament in here to elect the new King Arthur (if you are reading this and participated in it you are my Brother (gender neutral) in Arms and I love you forever, if you are just curious the winner was the little swedish girl who found an ancient sword in a lake back in 2018 and her seneschal (the runner-up) is Sonic the hedgehog) This means I was a little curious about this new knight and my father bought the book and shipped it to me in January or February.
Thankfully it was translated into modernised French but still the style was a little repetitive and hard to get into. I was expecting it, after all it is a 13th century text! Every thrice paragraph starts with "What's more to tell?" and it went from funny to endearing to slightly bothering.
SĂ©gurant himself is the most indulgent self-insert character I have ever seen - I say this with all the love in the universe, it is just so funny: he is the strongest knight ever, he beats every unbeatable adversaries he jousted, Lancelot du fricking Lac admires him, he meets every famous knights, King Arthur in person dined with him...
He is so good that the only way he was defeated is through tricks: an illusion was cast on him that made him see a giant dragon, and as the brave knight he is, he just had to chase after it (in vain since there never was any dragons). In doing so he meets even more characters (Palamedes the Saracen's fans, I know you are out there) and defeat even more enemies like they weight nothing until the spell was lifted (I can't remember by who and I lended the book).
Overall it was an interesting book that rekindled my interest in Arthuriana but it was a little repetitive: nobody is a match to Segurant in a joust and he can win a battle ten to one with one arm tied back and his eyes closed (only slight exaggeration on my part, he does battle multiple enemies at the same time and wins easily). Nevertheless, for the historical interest alone it was worth it!
#book review#bookblr#books#oscar wilde#the picture of dorian gray#leila slimani#chanson douce#french litterature#segurant le chevalier au dragon#arthuriana#arthurian mythology
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Beautiful Pain (1)
Chapter One- A post-Blip world
Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Enhanced!Reader
Summary: Post-Blip, you started to feel lost when most of the Avengers team are gone. Coping with your loss, you still find hope in the connection with your remaining friends. However, it is not easy as everyone is trying to figure their lives after the Blip.
Having a long history with Bucky ever since you both saved each other from Hydra, you were still glad you had Bucky after all this time. However, as you try to give Bucky space to find himself after being pardoned for his past, you start to wonder if you should ever cross the line of friendship before itâs too late.
That thought might have to be put on hold though, when you, Sam and Bucky find yourselves having to deal with threats that continue to rise in a post-blip world.
Chapter synopsis: Post-Blip, you find yourself more alone than ever as old friends are forever gone. You and Bucky struggle with finding life's purpose while trying to move on.
Warnings: Angst. A lot of guilt and self-blaming. Spoiler for ep 1 if you haven't seen it!
Word count: 2.4k
Notes: Here's the first chapter of the series! Check out the prologue if you have not done so! It gives you an insight into the OC's background and history with Bucky before TFATWS.
Hope you enjoy this read!
Opening up a tag list for the first time since I have gotten a request! Message or comment to let me know!
Leave a like, reblog or comment to let me know what you think! đ„°
Previous: Prologue | Next: Chapter Two |
-------------------------//---------------------------
Present-day
Bucky felt his heart stopped for a moment when he realised what he was about to do to the terrified man from his dreams. Before he could imagine the next scene, his eyes flew wide open and he immediately sat up.
Assessing his surroundings to see that the television was still on, he realised he was home and have woken up from a nightmare. Even though Hydraâs brainwashing has been removed, the memories from his dark past continued to plague him.
The summer blanket you got for him pooled around his waist, his right hand reached out to give it a soft squeeze. The soft texture of the fabric comforted him emotionally as he sat on the cold hard floor. As he regained steady breathing, he looked around to see that it was still the early hours of the night.
He reached out for his flip phone- the one you couldnât believe he insisted to buy over a regular smartphone. Pressing the buttons, he went to his inbox to see an unread message from you. Bucky contemplated opening it but decided to continue when he decided he wanted to hear from you.
Ever since the blip occurred, the days and weeks seemed to be a blur. Sooner than he realised, six months had just passed like that.
When Steve decided to go back to the past for good, all three of you including Sam were at a sudden loss. Bucky was disappointed but not surprised at Steveâs decision. Sam wanted the best for Steve and showed his support.
However, you were the most affected out of the group. He knew that despite putting a brave front, you were struggling with the loss of your friends in a short span of time. After all, you had spent a good amount of time with the Avengers and had a developed a close relationship with most of the team.
Bucky remembered how you immediately slumped to the floor when you heard the news about Natasha. You were at a loss of words before you started to break down when Steve went to comfort you. You always regarded Natasha as an older sister so her death hit you hard.
He recalled how you held back your tears at Tonyâs funeral as you did not want to further bring down the atmosphere when Pepper and Morgan were there. He remembered how Tony was like an annoying but endearing older brother.
When Steve was disappeared from his spot, you didnât think much of it thinking he would return in a matter of seconds after returning the stones. However, when all three of you looked to see an ageing Steve, you were the first to run up to him. Despite the astonishing expression that painted your face, you reached out to hold Steveâs hands to check if he was real.
Steveâs decision to pass Sam the shield was no surprise to Bucky. Even though Bucky found Sam irritating at times, Bucky knew he was a good man.
While you chose to accept Steveâs choice, it started to sink into your mind that the people once closest to you were gone or getting further. Bucky remembered how you were reluctant to let Steve walk away and Steve let you hold onto him longer.
You and Bucky decided to not let each other be alone that night. You two figured that at least you had each other and you wanted to cherish that.
-------------------â---//----------------------------
Moving forward, Sam had decided to find work with the U.S air force. Sam checked in on Bucky from time to time but Bucky contemplated to respond. After being pardoned for his past, Bucky found himself compensated but he still felt like a prisoner.
He was required to attend court-mandated therapy sessions to make sure he was doing well. You know that it was just a way for the government to have him under surveillance and in check.
He might be the oldest prisoner of war but he was still a super soldier and one with a vibranium arm. Bucky knew he was still deemed as dangerous in their eyes.
When you and Bucky discussed how to move forward, he confided that he wanted to make amends and you showed your support. When he asked about you, you seemed hesitant and a little lost for an answer.
The Avengers are gone. There was no more S.H.I.E.L.D.
Who were you now? What are you fighting for? What is going to be your purpose moving forward? These were all the questions swimming in your head.
You were reluctant to tell Bucky yet but a government official had paid you a visit while you were waiting for Bucky to finish his therapy session.
You were offered a position in a task force to maintain global security in light of a post-blip world. Given your abilities, you were viewed as an invaluable asset. However, you knew better than to take their words for it.
Revealing your hesitance, the official took a harder approach and laid out the truth. You were viewed as a potential threat if you were to not co-operate with the government. You are an unsupervised enhanced individual that is roaming freely. They do not want to allow that in the event that you were to do anything out of your own jurisdiction.
It was the Sokovia Accords all over again, you thought. The official added that you no longer had the Avengers team to fall back on. His words only added to the ache in your heart as you were reminded of your lost friends.
Additionally, he let off that Wanda had been involved in an event that caused the government to review their management of enhanced individuals in the country. Wanda was out of their reach but you were still around. They knew that you have been sticking by Bucky and thus decided to come for you.
Remembering Steve's words from the times of the civil war between the Avengers, you were not able to let yourself trust any words that the official said.
You didnât want to let yourself be controlled especially by the government whom you knew had hidden agendas that they would not reveal to you. Their words of praises of how you would be a great addition made you felt like you would be nothing more than a tool in their master plans.
âWhat if I refuse?â You spoke to the official. The official's eyes hardened and his jaw clenched.
âThen Ms L/N, we will have to view you as a threat to national and global security.â You scoffed at his words when you stared dead into his eyes.
âYou forgot that I was one of the many to help fight Thanos and brought the world back. This is how you decided to treat me after giving my service to this country? To this world?â You shot back in distaste.
You turned your back on the guy and walked off without giving him a chance to answer.
--------------------------//--------------------------
Hey Buck, I managed to find Wanda and decided to accompany her for a bit. She needs someone now.
I will let you know when I am back.
Donât miss me too much ok! ;)
Bucky couldnât help the smile that formed on his face at your last sentence. He missed you but he knew that you had things to attend to. He understood how much you valued your remaining friends. Wanda, being one of them.
-----------------â-----//---------------------âââ
Bucky sighed when he realised that he was not going to get away easy with todayâs therapy session. Dr Raynor was really trying to push his buttons and even took out her darn notebook again.
That ticked Bucky off the most and he reluctantly gave in. He began to share about how he crossed another name on his list of amends. Dr Raynor then gave her opinion about how even making amends wasnât able to help with his nightmares.
Bucky continued to deny that he had any at all but he knew Dr Raynor was not convinced. Glimpsing down briefly with an unconvinced look, Dr Raynor looked back up to Bucky.
âLook. One day, youâre gonna have to open up and understand that some people really do want to help you and that they can be trusted.â
âI trust people.â Not all but maybe just one. Only one person came to his immediate thought.
âYeah, give me your phone.â Dr Raynor put aside her notebook before reaching over to take Buckyâs phone from him. As she searched up his contact list, she remarked that there wasnât even ten numbers in it.
âOh, and youâve been ignoring the texts from Sam. Look, you gotta nurture friendships.â She spoke before noting that she was the only person Bucky called all week and how sad it was.
Dr Raynor was going to continue before she stopped herself. She opened up the chat with your name and read your last message to Bucky.
âWhat about Y/N?â
âWhat about her?â Bucky retorted.
âSeems like sheâs someone you are close to?â Dr Raynor tried to imply something.
âSheâs a friend,â Bucky answered firmly. Dr Raynor gave Bucky a glance before probing further. âIâve seen her around before when she accompanied you at the beginning of your session. She seems nice.â
âShe is,â Bucky answered curtly once more before deciding to shoot back, knowing his therapist was trying to probe more than he was willing to share. âWhat are you insinuating, doc?â
âNothing. I am glad you at least have one friend. But you need to make more connections with other people.â Dr Raynor tried explaining. Bucky drifted off in his thoughts for a moment, thinking about how he didnât need more people. He was fine with just you but he didnât want to let on more than he wanted to.
He didnât feel the need to explain about his relationship with you when you knew you two were solid. Bucky sighed internally when his therapist asked him what he wanted. Bucky thought of the calm and peace he had in Wakanda, his mind replaying the moments of you and him living a carefree life on the farm.
When he was told that he was finally free, he questioned âto do what?â. Was he ever truly free? The memories from his past, the long list of amends he had in his notebook. Could he ever truly be free from the guilt that constantly plagues him?
As Bucky made his way back to his apartment, he spotted his neighbour, Yori arguing with another neighbour, Unique over the trash. He reassured that he could take care of Yori to this Unique fellow before catching up with the grumbling old man in the alley.
Bucky convinced him that he would give a treat at their usual sushi place and that managed to pacify Yoriâs mood.
-------------â-----ââ//---------------------ââ
When they were at Izzyâs, Yori mentioned how no one made it past 90 years in the obituary of the newspaper. The familiar waitress came up to the two and remarked if they were feeling adventurous since they did not order the usual.
Giving him a slight smirk, Yori suggested that Bucky should ask her out. Bucky immediately shook his head and gave Yori a bewildered look like he was crazy.
âWhy not? Are you seeing that pretty friend of yours that always come to visit?â Bucky knew Yori was referring to you and immediately tried to refute the notion.
âY/Nâs just a friend.â
âCould have convinced me otherwise. You two seem really close.â Yori scoffed at Buckyâs statement.
âSuch a pity. If I were 50 years younger, I would have made a move already.â Bucky chuckled at how Yori, despite being a grumpy senior most of the times, actually tried to make a witty joke. He silently agreed that you were indeed a catch and how it was crazy you have not been with anyone.
Well then again, you have always been with him all this while. Of course, as a friend, Bucky tried to convince himself that there was no way he would have a shot with you. You were too good for him and you definitely deserved someone better.
Even though he tried to convince himself, Bucky does not know what to do if you had managed to find someone and will eventually leave him to be on his own. He shook himself out of his inner thoughts and before he knew it, Yori spoke to the waitress.
âHe would like to take you out on a date.â Buckyâs eyes shot wide open when he realised what Yori had actually done. Bucky tried to apologise on behalf of Yori for his bizarre behaviour but the waitress did not seem to mind. In fact, she was game and agreed.
After she went off to attend to other customers, Bucky shook his head and couldnât believe Yori actually became his wingman. Yori then suddenly went silent for a moment. Bucky was nervous before hearing how Yori spoke of his beloved son who had passed away due to an incident.
Bucky listened intently with the guilt gnawing in his gut, his heart heavy with all of the weight of the world.
------âââ------------//------------------------â
Bucky convinced himself to go on the date with Leah. He decided to give himself the chance to make more connections as Dr Raynor had advised. The date was going well in fact. Leah seemed like a great gal but Bucky felt himself holding back.
There were just too many secrets he was holding in. What would she think if she knew who he really was? Would she even want to be in the same room as him then?
While he tried the whole online dating thing (much to your masked disappointment and amusement), he was not convinced if he could really make a romantic connection with anyone. Who was he kidding? Could he ever?
When the topic of conversation turned to Yori, the overwhelming sensation started to descend onto Buckyâs consciousness. Before he could stop, he immediately tapped out. Giving a pathetic excuse, Bucky rushed back to Yoriâs apartment and had the urge to tell him the truth.
However, when he saw the altar that Yori had dedicated to his son, Bucky withdrew himself. He did not want to lose a friend in Yori even though he was dying to say the truth.
Bucky pretended to come up with an excuse to a confused Yori by paying his half of lunch before stalking off. When Bucky returned to his place, he opened up his notebook and stared at Yoriâs name.
What was he to do?
A ring on his phone averted his intense thoughts and he reached for his phone.
Hey Buck, I am done on my side.
Would be back soon!
Canât wait to see you again, missed you!
Bucky clutched his phone tighter and brought it close to his heart. He started counting down the hours till he could welcome you back in his arms.
-------------âââ----//------------------------ââ
#bucky x reader#bucky barnes x reader#bucky x y/n#bucky barnes#thefalconandthewintersoldier#tfatws#marvel fanfiction#angstsfordays#beautiful pain
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saint. || soobin (2.9)đȘ
đ€âđ°đđŠđ«đ± . àłàŸàż đđđđđđđ: đđđđđđ đ đđđđđđ đđđđđ: đđđđ/đđ đđđđ đđđđđ; 2751.
yeonjun groggily wakes up, remembering that he had to pick you up. he couldnât see how soobin was waking up this early everyday. he was lucky this was a paid duty. yeonjun takes his morning shower and dresses himself in his uniform accordingly. he was sure to be in front of your house by 6 like soobin requested. yeonjun thought soobin was so accurate it was actually creepy. 15 minutes past 5:45 and here you were, walking outside. yeonjun beeps his car horn loudly. signaling you over.
âwhat are you doing here?â. you ask, you thought it was pretty odd.Â
âsoobin wants me to look after you. get in the carâ.Â
you blinked, âno thank you itâs fine Iâll walkâ.Â
yeonjun honks his horn louder and drives slowly beside you. âjust get in the car. youâre making this more difficult than it has to beâ.Â
you cross your arms. âwhy would soobin tell you out of all people to look after me anywaysâ.
âbecause heâs a fucking sucker. now please get in the car so I donât have to hear his mouth about it later onâ.Â
that was sweet of soobin, you thought. way too sweet.Â
âweâre only going to school right?â. you ask.Â
âyesâ. yeonjun replies. you sigh, making your way around his car and sliding in the passenger seat. yeonjunâs car was just as nice as soobinâs. oh the joys of being filthy rich.Â
yeonjun hears you sigh as he pull off. âwhatâs wrong with you?â. he questions. ânothingâ. you answer, but truth be told between exams and soobin you didnât know which one made you more stressed. it wasnât much long before you see yeonjun pulling into a parking lot of a small diner. you furrow your eyebrow. âwhat are you doing? you said we were going to schoolâ.Â
yeonjun unbuckles his seat belt, âyes, after we eatâ.Â
âyeonjun i want to go to school, take me to school. Iâm not even hungryâ.Â
yeonjun grips the staring wheel and closes his eyes for a brief second.Â
âthe school doors arenât even open yet. just eat somethingâ.Â
you cross your arms. âwhy? what do you think this is?â.Â
âfor fucks sake just get out the car so you can eat why are you making this shit a k-drama?â.Â
âi donât need you to feed meâ.Â
âIâm glad. Iâm happy for you but Iâm not feeding you. soobin is. so please, get the fuck out of the carâ. yeonjun made these his last words before he ejects himself out of the driver seat and slams the door shut behind him. you take a breathe and try to calm yourself, since soobin was the one behind this.Â
you finally get out of the car and walk into the diner, coldly sliding in the booth across from yeonjun who was already reading the menu. you plucked up the menu with hesitance. it was a disappoint when the waitress came, you didnât have the joy of making fun of soobin whoâd be ordering just about everything. you were disgusted at how flirtacious the waitress was with yeonjun. and of course he was flirting back. once the attention was on you though the mood shifted. she gained an attitude probably thinking you were with yeonjun.Â
you ordered your food with little to no regard for her feelings and crossed your arms once you were finished. she snatched the menuâs up and promised her return, giving yeonjun a small wink. you could just puke.Â
âis there a problem?â. yeonjun addresses.Â
âand if there was?â. you reply.
yeonjun shrugs, chewing on this inside of his cheek. âjust thought if theres a problem you can address that shitâ.
ânobody has a problem with you yeonjunâ.
âi mean if they did i wouldnât give a damn anyways. especially if they order shit like--a vegetarian omelette for breakfastâ.
you sized him up with your eyes. you didnât know why in such a short time frame yeonjun got on your last nerve like no other.Â
âsays the one ordering steak and eggs? what are you? on death row?â.Â
yeonjun chuckles a little. but not the kind of chuckle where you could join in with him, his laughs were cold and you can tell they werenât genuine at all.Â
âgod--soobin must have his head in the clouds for youâ.
âwhatâs that supposed to mean?â.
âarenât you a straight A student? Iâm sure you can figure that out for yourselfâ.Â
you roll your eyes. you couldnât think of a reply and you honestly didnât want to. you were glad when he picked up his phone until the food arrived. you just wanted to go to school and study. you ate your food silently. it was annoying though, you felt yeonjunâs eyes on you from the time you started eating until the time you were done.Â
âsomething wrong with your eyes?â. you replied.Â
âno but theres something wrong with your face, you pigâ. he responds. you sit up a bit hovering your hand over your mouth. why couldnât he just tell you that you had a smudge at the corner of your lips? why did he have to be such an ass? you wiped it quickly with a napkin before crossing your arms again.
âIâm ready to leaveâ. you sigh.Â
yeonjun chews, âthatâs cute. does soobin leave on your command?â.Â
âwhy do you care?â.
âi donât. thatâs the reason why iâm not getting up and leaving right nowâ. he says forking another piece of steak into his mouth. and this how it was for most of the day. you were glad to finally leave and get to school where you could pick back up on your studying and reviewing for exams. you had to admit you would miss soobin standing outside of your classroom door like a lamp post.Â
too bad you wouldnât be getting that today. instead youâd be getting the cavalier king. arrogant ass yeonjun. you walked out of your history and math class absolutely disgusted with the fact that yeonjun was there. he rolls his eyes.Â
âis your day going great? alright byeâ. heâd say before leaving and attending his next class. you wondered if it was too early to claim you hated him.
-----
âwas this his first incident?â. the officer badgered to kevin. the room was just as dark and cold as it was yesterday. but even colder to kevin now that he knew he might be in jail for the rest of his life.Â
âno it isnâtâ. Â
âtell me about the first incidentâ.Â
âsoobin hated mia. she always wanted him and soobin rejected her each time. he finally shut mia up by agreeing to go on a date with her. and--â. kevin paused for a moment trying to figure out the best way he could cover it. the boys had all agreed on blaming everything on soobin but they never decided on a story.
âhe took her to a hotel and raped herâ. he finishes.Â
âif mia wanted soobin so badly as you say she did, how would soobin rape her?â.Â
kevin quickly thought, âsoobin wanted to record her. but mia didnât want that. soobin got really mad at that. so instead of turning the camera off like mia requested he just did it right there and thenâ.
âand how do you know this is what happened?â.
âsoobin told us right afterâ. the officer nods.Â
âand do you have any evidence of this to show for?â.
damn it, kevin thought. he shakes his head,Â
âno sirâ.Â
the officer nodded once more before walking out of the room. kevinâs cell officer did the honor of escorting him out of the room and into the cells where he had been for the past couple of days. he walks past seongjun and michael who were in their cells doing a whole lot of nothing. the bars slam shut on kevin and right next to him here the interrogation officer was again, beckoning michael out of his cell.Â
--------
âcan you hurry the fuck up please? Iâm not going to be waiting for you all dayâ. yeonjun says behind you while you were at your locker now collecting your things.Â
âwhatâs your problem? you can wait for 5 minutes it isnât that hardâ.Â
yeonjun scoffs, to which you swiftly reply, âor you can just leave without me I really donât careâ.
âdonât worry if it wasnât for soobin i would. Iâm going to be in the carâ. yeonjun says before cutting through the crowd and exiting out of the school doors. you took a deep breath. to go from smiles and kisses on your cheek to this? you didnât know how much longer you could withstand it.Â
âhey donât worry about him. heâs like that to everyoneâ. you hear an unfamiliar voice say beside you. you close your locker door to see some tall kid youâve never noticed before. maybe you were always too late or too early going to your locker so you never even knew his locker was right beside yours. he sported a red bowl cut that was parted perfectly to the left. he was also dragging books into his backpack like you were.Â
âheâs so annoyingâ. you say. to which the boy laughs a little,Â
âyeah heâs an ass. but donât feel bad about it. when you have almost a million dollars to your name what can you be other than a dickhead?â.Â
you laugh a little. he smiles and drops his last book into his backpack before zipping it closed and shutting his locker door. he swings the backpack strap over his shoulder. âIâm Kang Taehyun by the wayâ. you give him a shocked expression before giving him your name in exchange.
âwhat? what is it?â.Â
âso youâre the kid who aces all of his tests and scores the highest internationally?â.
getting a bit flustered taehyun replies softly, âum-yeah thatâs me. why?â.Â
âyour name is always at the top scorer lists and things like that. iâve never saw you in person though. smart cookieâ. he nods and smiles a little. you could tell he was shy on the inside but played it off with confidence.
âsomething like thatâ. he responds before eyeing something behind you.Â
âI think thatâs your rideâ.Â
you turn behind you and see yeonjunâs car parked right outside of the school doors, he was honking his horn obnoxiously while staring at you. you rolled your eyes. âIt was nice talking to you taehyunâ.Â
âsame hereâ.Â
you stroll your way out quickly, âwhy are you honking your horn like some lunatic?â.
âbecause I been told you Iâm not going to be waiting for you all day. and then there you are, in there making friends and shitâ.Â
âI can make friends if I want to. Iâm an adult after allâ.Â
yeonjun scowls, âbarely. get in the carâ.
âI donât know if I want toâ.Â
âsuit yourself. youâre not going to see soobin then. ainât my problemâ.
âyouâre going to see soobin?â.Â
âyesâ.Â
âfineâ.
------------
âwas this his first incident?â. the officer re-asks michael.Â
ânoâ.Â
âtell me about his first incident thenâ.Â
âit was at his homeâ. michael began to lie.Â
âand what happened there?â. the officer badgers again becoming a little skeptical.Â
âsoobin has this temper where if things arenât done how he likes it he will get angry. thatâs what happened with mia. he got angry with her and forced itâ,Â
âdo you know what it is that got him so angry with her?â.Â
âno. soobin never told usâ.Â
âus?â.
âyes us. meaning his friendsâ.Â
âI take it that soobin tells you all most of the things he does?â.Â
âusually. yeahâ.
âand do you have any evidence to show for this incident?â.Â
michael shakes his head.Â
âno sirâ. the officer nods, walking out of the room again until michaelâs officer escorted him back to his cell.
----
âi donât have to eat if I donât want toâ.
âjust eat the damn ice cream before it meltsâ.Â
âIf it melts Iâll just throw it out the windowâ. you assure while yeonjun was driving. he huffs his breath again having enough of you. it was a bummer that he still had to be the one to take you home tonight. the both of you strolled into the police station and gave soobinâs name.Â
âiâll be back iâm going to the bathroomâ.
âi donât careâ, yeonjun shrugs before a guard lead him to soobinâs holding cell. it was official. you hated yeonjun.Â
âayo el chapoâ. yeonjun calls out. soobin snaps his head to the older boy standing outside his cell. heâd been so lonely in there he was actually glad to see him. he approaches the bars. âwhats up? wheres--â. âsheâs in the bathroomâ.
âhow was she today?â.Â
âannoying as fuck. she argued about me picking her up and had an attitude for damn near the whole damn day because i donât know, iâm not you. you need to stop spoiling that girlâ. soobin laughs in exchange. yeonjun kept a straight face.Â
âIâm serious soobin. Iâm not going to keep doing this with that bitchy ass attitude of hers. I donât know how you deal with itâ.
âcalm down. she doesnât usually give me attitude. maybe a little sass if anything, but I like it. Iâll talk to her thoughâ.Â
âyeah you need to. any updates today?â.
âthey took the boys in for questioning. Iâm just waiting for the verdict at this pointâ. yeonjun nods.Â
âi doubt theyâd have a story put together. donât worry youâll be out of here soonâ.
âI sure hope so. itâs boring as hell in hereâ.Â
âyouâre an inmate now. do what inmates doâ.Â
âwhat the fuck does that mean?â.Â
âmasturbate at the thought of your prissy ass girlfriendâ.Â
soobin laughs again, his eyes lighting up at the sight of you approaching him.Â
âhey princessâ. soobin greets and bends down to kiss your lips from the open space between the bars. you kissed back but soobin noticed you were more annoyed than usual.Â
âwhatâs the matter mama?â.Â
yeonjun scoffs beside you both, âgive me a fucking breakâ.Â
âyeonjun give us a minuteâ. soobin requests and already walking towards the door yeonjun shortly replies, âgladlyâ.Â
âwhatâs wrong? yeonjun told me you were giving him a hard time todayâ.Â
you crossed your arms and felt a pout tug at your lips. you didnât want to cry but you missed soobin and youâd been so stressed lately and yeonjunâs insults and behavior wasnât making it any better.Â
âheâs so disrespectful soobin. I wouldnât be giving him a hard time if he knew how to treat people. i donât expect him to be like you but he could at least have a bit more respect for meâ.Â
it hurt soobinâs heart to see you like that. he reaches his hand out and swipes the tear that was rolling down your cheek.Â
âdonât cry princess, okay? Iâm not going to be here much longer. i know yeonjun is a jerk but I needed someone to take care of you. Iâll tell him to tone it down alright?â.Â
you nodded your head. âi miss you, soobinâ.
âi miss you too. those boys donât have any common sense. Iâll be out soon. but you have to be good for me okay?â. you sighed. âfineâ.Â
soobin kisses you again. âstudy and sleep good. get yeonjun for meâ.Â
you nod, feeling weight lift from your shoulders. maybe seeing soobin was exactly what you needed.Â
before you waited in the car you told yeonjun that soobin wanted to speak with him. âare yaâll nasty asses done now?â. yeonjun approaches. âyo, dipshit. stop calling her names what the fuck is wrong with you?â. yeonjun widened his eyes.Â
âdid she really just come in here and--â.
âyes. and yeonjun iâm not going to be paying you if youâre going to be treating her like shit the whole timeâ.Â
âdid I not just tell you that she had an attitude with me the whole time?â.
âyeonjun iâm seriousâ.Â
yeonjun shakes his head,Â
âit be your own friends, manâ.
âcome on, I know how you be acting. just tone it down thatâs all iâm askingâ.
âfine soobin. fineâ. yeonjun agrees. âIâll come by tomorrowâ.
soobin nods. âthank youâ.Â
yeonjun turns to walk out of the door, once he was at the doorway he finally decided to yell, âstop thanking me you piece of shitâ. and soobin laughs behind him.
he slid back into the car were you were, pushing the key into ignition.Â
âsnitchâ. he mutters as if you couldnât hear it.
#choi soobin smut#choi soobin#choi soobin au#txt#txt smut#choi yeonjun#choi yeonjun smut#soobin x you#soobin x reader#bugsbinnie
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Mega Good Omens Fic Rec Post 5
What up, itâs back!
77 carefully-curated titles for your perusal today! As always, the fics are broken into the following categories: Jaunts through History/Canon, South Downs, Post-Apocalypse, Bus Ride/The Night Before/Heaven and Hell, AU/UA, Just Soft, Touch-Starved/Body Worship/Wings, Bonus, and H/C /Whump/BAMF. I donât read smut fics but sometimes there are sexual elements to the stories and sometimes you get invested and then suddenly the author drops a smut chapter, so warnings where applicable.
Mega GOmens Fic Rec Post MASTER
LET ME KNOW IF A LINK IS BROKEN OR MISATTRIBUTED AND I WILL FIX IT RIGHT AWAY.
JAUNTS THROUGH HISTORY/CANON
1.    Get Thee To A Nunnery â Owenjones (T, the one where Aziraphale is put in a nunnery and needs a bit of a rescue. More or less Ineffable Wives time, but warnings for Aziraphale being forced into a female corporation against his will, thatâs pretty icky (three guesses for who the offending Archangel is). Crowley is posing as a little lady known as Julie DâAubigny, which, if that rings no bells, you should Google her immediately and then go into this fic cackling like I did. Very sweet, a fun little adventure!)
2.   Bibliophilia â @wingedspirit (G, the one where Aziraphale has a book nemesis and Crowley always seems to have the perfect book as a gift, what a coincidence. This is so funny, you guys, seriously. We stan ONE (1) oblivious angel in this house. And when Aziraphale finally catches on, itâs so cute, I canât even. I cannot EVEN. Go read it right now immediately.)
3.   The Heart Goes To Heaven, The Head Goes To Hell â Dekkles (T, the one where Crowley has intentions of making an angel Fall and it kindaâŠbackfires. Guys fair warning, this oneâs version of Hell is really gross, if youâre squeamish tread very carefully bc WOW it can get a bit graphic. Yâknow whatâs also gross? The PINING (obviously not gross in the same way but the pining is awfully feelsy and part of it does happen in Hell). Watching this Crawly go from an honestly nauseating portrayal of Hell to watching Aziraphale and kinda awkwardly twitching in his light is so delightful and I hope for more in the future (though maybe less visions of Hell, I will be so glad if and when the fic leaves that place because yikes).)
4.   i like this place (it feels spooky) â @asideofourown (G, the one where Warlock manages to convince Nanny and Brother Francis to take him to a haunted house and itâs so cute. You guys. Itâs SO cute. You really get a feel for little Warlockâs personality and how he sees things (and he sees ALL). Just a really cute âfamilyâ outing, really, and someone gets spooked at the end and itâs not who you think!)
5.   Doubt the Stars are Fire â LilithReisender (T, the one where Aziraphale bails Crowley out of prison and they spend time together in an Italian villa. This one has cool history bits, really fun banter, and Crowley actively on the job while trying to pretend he isnât on the job. Itâs a delight, and itâs just getting started! Jump on this bandwagon, folks, itâs great!)
6.   The Hellfire Club â @amarguerite (NR, the one where greater measures are taken to make sure Aziraphale isnât promoted back upstairs. This one is so hilarious, you guys, I canât even tell you which bit is my favorite. And the cherry on top? Wing grooming! (I can also tell you that something highly unpleasant happens to Sandalphon, if that sweetens the pot for anyone.) If you have a Thing for Crowley and Aziraphale being melodramatic and overacting, then stay put, friends. Also continue reading this list, thereâs a few more thatâll catch your eye later on.)
7.    The Immortal Look â MickyRC (G, the one where Crowley puts Aziraphale in some kohl and itâs awesome. A written entry for the Prince of Omens DTIYS, and even independent from Prince of Omens this fic is a winner, in my book. Crowley going dewy-eyed over Aziraphaleâs looks in any capacity is always My Jam and this fic really goes for it.)
8.   Merry & Bright â @peppervl (G, the one where Aziraphale and Crowley go undercover as a married couple in the Regency. You like fem!Aziraphale but donât see it often enough? SIT DOWN, FRIENDO. Not only does this have a lovely Miss Fell for us to fawn over, but itâs a Miss Fell in possession of a fortune and surely in want of a husband, according to prim-and-proper London, and who better to help her out than one Mr. Crowley who happens to need some help on a temptation? Fun, romantic, and with a cute little twist at the end I shanât spoil but you should really stick around for.)
9.   Putting the Endearment in Dear â @joyandotherstories (G, the one where Aziraphale starts calling everyone âdearâ just so he can also call Crowley by endearments. This one is sweet and a little sad and has the softest possible ending, yâall donât even know. Read it, the point in time where Aziraphale doesnât have to hold back his mountain of endearments anymore is a sight to behold.)
10. Between the Lines â cyankelpie (G, the one where Crowley and Aziraphaleâs feelings are known but not spoken, at least not directly. This one is a historical jaunt where they have a lot of double-meaning conversations (and Crowley is very rightly lost through a lot of it, poor dear), and it aches, you guys, it just hurts. Not finished yet as of this review but WHEN ITâS DONEâIâm sure itâll be worth it. Hot dang.)
11. No Matter How the Stars Align (They Make Me Think of You) â silentsonata (G, the one that covers stars that Crowley and Aziraphale have met under. Every once in a while thereâll come along a fic that shakes the ground as it walks. I understand the Big Bang events usually churn these out, and there are quite a few on this list, but this fic here? A masterpiece. Pitch-perfect in every way, just a stunner. I want to tell yâall to pay special attention to certain chapters but they all took my breath utterly away and it would be unfair to single any out over the rest, the whole work is a monument. Just beautiful.)
12. Too Wise to Woo Peaceably â purewanderlust (T, the one thatâs five times they see âMuch Ado About Nothingâ throughout history. I love me some âMuch Ado,â personally, and this fic knows what itâs on about. Wonderfully romantic and ends with the single most perfect conversation, I swear 2 someone. Hits right in the feels.)
13. Just Another Sword Fight â DemonicGeek (NR, the one thatâs a 5+1 about Crowley swordfighting. If youâre here because Aziraphale taking on the role of the swooning maiden to Crowleyâs dashing hero makes you, in fact, be the one swooning, say hello to your new best friend. If you like to follow all that up with Aziraphale taking charge when needed, I might suggest building a home here, because ABSOLUTELY thatâs what youâre getting.)
14. A Few More Rescues â @poetic----nonsense (T, the one with, predictably, a few more rescues. If the previous fic had you reeling and begging for more, welcome to the buffet, children. These are some really fun rescues by Crowley on behalf of Aziraphale, and theyâre unconventional and historical AF (especially the bit with the dragon) (you bet your sweet keister thereâs a bit with a dragon). This fic is so much fun and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.)
15. Floriography â Frenchmeister (T, the one where Crowley doesnât get flower language. The premise is, Crowley slept through a large chunk of the Victorian era, so he doesnât know what Aziraphale keeps trying to say as they work at the Dowlingsâ estate raising Warlock. He does know that the philodendron is a menace, no matter what itâs supposed to mean. Funny and nerve-wracking and so, so sweet.)
16. The Interplay of Illusion and Magic â SoulJelly (T, the one where Aziraphale tries to join a magiciansâ society. This one has some delightful history and Aziraphale trying to perform sleight of hand magic to get in a secret magicians club and a surprising twist near the middle, all told; itâs a lot more exciting than I initially thought it was going to be (I was just expecting some fluff and that was not all I got; itâs always a good day when Crowley has to come to the rescue).)
SOUTH DOWNS
17. There goes the neighborhood â @bestoftheseekwill (G, the one where Crowleyâs retirement peace is threatened by construction. If youâre here for Crowley wiles, anti-capitalism, and flashes of protective Aziraphale, get ready to take a load off because this is primo.)
18. Teatime Revelations â Cardinal_Daughter (T, the one where God invites Herself over for tea. This one is strained and itâs emotional and itâs all the softer for it. Aziraphale being quiet and protective while Crowley has a come-apart in the face of God is iconic, tbh; pretty sure this fic inspired a lot of my own portrayals of the GOmens God, looking back on it. A wonderful and light-hearted take.)
POST-APOCALYPSE
19. Lose a Kraken, Gain an Angel â MistressKat (T, the one where Hastur has an expected friendship. This fic has everythingâHastur being a sympathetic character, the Kraken, Crowley pining after Aziraphale, the Antichrist, and is hilarious from start to finish. A fun and tonally accurate diversion, please read.)
20. Something Old, Something New â shippityshipship (G, the series where Crowley and Aziraphale are involved in weddings. Short and hasnât updated in a while but still excellent reading, I find; great characterization, some fun OCs, lovely atmosphere, oblivious pining while everyone else thinks theyâre dating, itâs amazing.)
21. The difficulty with disposable demons â @areyougonnabe (T, the one where Eric the disposable demon shows up and itâs a madhouse in Crowleyâs apartment. This is a really funny take on what happens to the disposable demons and why they are the way they are, and with the added bonus of driving Crowley up the wall and some mild miscommunications with Aziraphale that are all sorted out in the end.)
22. Care and Keeping â @arcafira (M, T, the series where Crowley is shedding and Aziraphale tries to help. Not rated M for anything violent or sexual, really more of a T than an M but there is a bath scene and a lot of self-loathing. Thereâs a lot of convincing Crowley to let Aziraphale care for him and a lot of working through Fall-related issues, but it leaves off in a wonderfully hopeful place.)
23. The Clockwork Days â redwinehouse (T, the one where the worldâs ending again. There are many fics that have tackled possible sequels to Good Omens and this is one of the more tonally accurate ones, I feel; itâs very tongue-in-cheek and matter-of-fact, and the little twist at the end was a genuine surprise to me. Whack in plenty of mutual pining and a Bentley that has had it up to HERE with these idiots and youâve got a recipe for a good little story.)
24. donât leave me here alone â Elvendork (T, the one where Crowley asks for holy water again. This one is a tense argument, right up until it isnât, and absolutely delectable, really. If youâre a fan of Aziraphale bringing up hellfire to go toe to toe with Crowley on the issue, BUCKLE UP BUTTERCUP, this one is dunking itself into Soft Town with that accelerant to really drive it home.)
25. The Next Time We Wed â seashadows (T, the one where a mix-up leads to marriage. If drunken mistakes and their aftermath is what youâre after, welcome to the party, folks, because this oneâs a whopper. Can people pine while being married to each other? The answer is yes. Can it have a soft ending? Also yes. Can it include the mothers of such characters as Anathema and Newt being wonderful characters in their own right? The answer, incredibly, is yes.)
26. You Canât Un-See A Dog â @holycatsandrabbits (T, the one where Crowley is summoned and thereâs shenanigans afoot. I wonât talk too much about the plot of this one bc I donât want to spoil it but suffice it to say that this one is hilarious and has some especially gratifying Ineffable Husband silent communication at play. If your entire reason for existence, like Crowleyâs, is seeing Bastard!Aziraphale at work, then bunk down here, friendos, youâve arrived.)
BUS RIDE/NIGHT BEFORE/HEAVEN AND HELL
27. Crowley, Big Bad Demon, Can Keep His Cool Around His Crush â @edennovik (T, the one where CrowleyâŠwell, see title, and then immediately disregard. Crowley cannot, in fact, keep his cool around his crush. Crowley is doing the opposite of keeping his cool around his crush. Crowley is a ball of anxiety and screaming pining gooey mess and Aziraphale might just like him anyway.)
AU/UA
28. If Not Now, When â @ineffablefool (T, the one where trans cafĂ© worker Crowley strikes up a conversation with fat pretty Aziraphale. Listen. Yâall know ineffablefool. Yâall know he is a force that cannot be stopped or reckoned with, when it comes to Soft Fat-Postive Asexual Romance. So I do not say this lightly when I say that this is possibly his masterwork. There is a lot of good, good content in his catalogue but the emotional work put into this makes the whole thing stand straight up and resonate. Itâs tender and respectful and handles conflicts of gender and sexuality with grace and gentleness and oh no Iâm tearing up pls send help Iâm DROWNINGâ).
29. Trip the Light â @summerofspock (M, the one where Aziraphale falls in love first. M for a sex scene near the end of the fic, second half of Chapter 17, so keep an eye out for that if youâre sensitive to it. Oh, yâall. This one goes through canon and a few scenes outside of it and the recontextualizing of those scenes as Aziraphale hopelessly in love and Crowley as oblivious is amazing. Even more amazing: once Crowley finally catches on and then it becomes Aziraphale once again in his role of holding back. Guys. Yâall. My DUDES. I am in the throes of agony. Itâs so good.)
30. one love (only for you) â @weatheredlaw (M, the one thatâs a vague Snow White AU. Itâs truly unfair how poetic and romantic this one is, how lovely. It has fantasy elements and ridiculous vengeful brothers and soft, soft boys in love. A sweet little way to spend an afternoon, tbh.)
31. in the house we remain â @commodorecliche (M, the one where Crowleyâs a ghost in the house Aziraphale has bought. M for masturbation, weird ghost sex, and a harrowing backstory for Crowley; if youâre squeamish about sexual things and not good at gauging how to skip them, or if you canât stand abuse stories, I would pass this one up. Yâall. YâALL. So thoroughly upsetting, this one; the horror elements are real but so is the romance and itâs a beautiful balance of the two. Whatâs wild is how believable it is; it could easily have been a story about Aziraphale just becoming obsessed with and romanticizing a dead person who used to live in his house but it feels like an actual love story, with Crowley learning how to trust Aziraphale, as well, despite their planar incompatibility. The ending is so unbelievably sweet. And thereâs art now! There wasnât, when I first added it to the list! Huzzah!)
32. pop! goes my heart â @areyougonnabe (E, the one thatâs a Music and Lyrics AU. E for a sex scene near the end of Chapter 6 thatâs a bit difficult to skip, since thereâs a couple of relevant paragraphs after it that set up the next chapter, but if youâre up for the challenge, godspeed. First things first: this fic has ORIGINAL MUSIC RECORDED BY THE AUTHOR AND ITâS AMAZING. Music and Lyrics is one of my personal favorite romcoms, and whatâs been done with it is not only accurate to the actual music industry, but accurate to the characters, as well. Itâs such a fun story, adapted well, and the writing style is just charming. Fantastic!)
33. For the First Time in Forever â @nicnacsnonsense (T, the one thatâs a Frozen AU. I am excited for this one, yâall. The adaptation is already so much fun and itâs only going to get funner. Aziraphale as Elsa and Crowley in an Anna-adjacent role (but not actually bc no incest) is amazing, the Olaf stand-in outshines the original, and the emotional toll is already pretty high. Absolutely worth a read.)
34. Sailorâs Omens â NeverNooitNiet (G, the one where Crowleyâs a pirate and Aziraphale is his prisoner. Thereâs a touch of historical homophobia but that doesnât matter much out at sea, really. If the boys being clever and bickering and also one-upping beloved series antagonists is something you enjoy, welcome to the party, friends. Itâs a good old-fashioned piracy romp thatâs sure to satisfy.)
35. Pomegranate Seeds â @nicnacsnonsense (G, the one thatâs a Persephone and Hades AU with Aziraphale as Hades and Crowley as Persephone. This one has a unique tone and is also romantic as all get-out; throw in genderfluid Crowley, love at first sight, and Aziraphale being a sweetie, itâs a story well worth its salt, imo.)
36. Laws of Gravity â @brightwanderer (T, the one where Aziraphale invents pining for Raphael. Listen. I think we all know at this point that brightwanderer, or Atalan on ao3, has earned her clout as a GOmens fanfic heavyweight. She didnât NEED to write an awkward and earnest Raphael trying to go incognito as Crowley into the Garden of Eden. She didnât NEED to write about how incredibly awkward Aziraphale is while heels over halo in love. She didnât NEED to have an engaging plot and a wonderful twist on the Temptation of Eve and also the most awkward and obvious besotted angels in the universe. But she did. And we are blessed. So go partake.)
37. Incubus!Crowley â GenericUsername01 (G, T, the series where Crowley is a sex demon and we get to see what that means. This fic threads the very specific needle I personally enjoy where sex is an element of the story and has bearing on it, but the story doesnât have any actual sex scenes in it. I love this writerâs style and where they take Crowley and Aziraphaleâs relationship; I love the view of Hell in the first bit; I love all of it, really. A+++.)
38. Everyone But You â @summerofspock (M, the one where Crowley is hired to seduce an angel. M for some saucy makeouts and some post-coital afterglow but nothing explicit. If yâall like stories where a conman is hired to do a job and starts to have complicated feelings about it, especially if those feelings are falling in love with his mark, then here you go. Itâs amazing as all heck and hilarious to boot; Crowley learning what falling in love is like is always a treat but omg. Poor Aziraphale. And the most DELIGHTFUL resolution, my goodness.)
39. In Mixed Company, or the Corporate Retreat of Heaven and Hell â @theoldaquarian (M, the one where Heaven and Hell have a joint corporate retreat every so often and Crowley and Aziraphale are doomed. M for some adult themes but nothing explicit. Yâall. TheOldAquarian must be stopped. They cannot continue to be so funny and engaging. They cannot continue to have the most corporate and hilariously mundane depiction of Heaven and Hell. They are a MENACE who, in the space of one fic, has packed all the pining of the ages in so tightly that when it finally bursts free, my shoulders physically relaxed and my spine uncoiled. This fic in particular is too much and too wonderful. I really must protest.)
40. Loosely Ballroom â marginalia_device, @mortifyingideal (T, the one where Aziraphale is a professional dancer and Crowley is a contestant on a show with him (for American viewers, think Dancing With the Stars). This fic is so good and so funny and so achingly in-character. I love Crowley as the washed-up old star trying to kick his career back up, I love Aziraphale as the put-upon dancer on his last legs, and I love that theyâre both the victim of a studio gimmick and then decide that malicious compliance is their best bet. Itâs still early in the fic (âŠat over 40k words wow itâs gonna be a monster and Iâm ready), but itâs going to be so good already, I can just tell. Thereâs already some art for it floating around by naniiebimworks for the interested.)
JUST SOFT
41. Repeat the Sounding Joy â @allonsy-gabriel (G, the one where they decorate a Christmas tree. This is a short and sweet look at what the holidays are like for an angel and a demon post-apocalypse and itâs so adorable, you guys. Crowley having FEELINGS and Aziraphale being fussy about his decorating, itâs just a treat.)
42. The Nesting Habits of Angelus Principalum â @obaewankenope (NR, the one where Aziraphale nests and is gently protective. This fic is quiet and understated and so unbelievably romantic without being over the top about it; itâs a quiet coming together that creeps up on you, much like how the realization of Aziraphaleâs nesting habits creeps up on Crowley. A lovely little thing.)
43. weâll get there fast and then weâll take it slow â @tonyhawksmovingcastle (E, the one where Crowley and Aziraphale wind up faking a relationship on a coupleâs cruise. E for Chapter 7, which is completely skippable without ruining any plot. This one gets a double whammy for both engaging plot and wonderful OCs that add to rather than distract from the story. Fake dating is fun enough but when youâre fake dating and also being wingmanned by well-meaning possibly supernatural sapphics, while also having fun in the tropics, itâs a recipe for a good time all around (at least for the audience). So lovely and sweet and that moment when Crowley and Aziraphale finally get together is magic.)
44. Road Trip Games and Love â rgfalso (T, the one where Crowley and Aziraphale go on a road trip together. This one almost takes place in real time, and has the most intense and emotional back-and-forth while these poor saps try to work out the Thing between them without actually talking about it for as long as inhumanly possible. Of course there are lots of road trip games, and of course those road trip games are a vehicle of conveyance for what theyâre actually trying to say, and cue all the misunderstandings in the world. Itâs frustrating and cathartic and amazing and the end especially is so, so sweet.)
45. The Most Stylish Wedding of AZ Fell and AJ Crowley â @leapoffaith1489 (T, the one where Aziraphale is determined to discard tartan for the wedding. Yâall. Omg. If relatively low-stakes cute wedding shenanigans are your thing, welcome home. If Aziraphale being pleasantly surprised is your thing, welcome home. If Aziraphale working through minor insecurities is your thing, welcome, truly, home. Featuring a lovely cast of side characters and a soft-as-butter plot.)
46. The Newlywed Game (Not What Youâd Think) â @heavenslittlehellion (NR, the one where a game of drunken truth-telling goes a little farther than anticipated. Hello, welcome to the emotional gut-punch fic, youâve arrived. The only thing that saves this from dunking into the last category on this list with the other h/c and whump fics is how low-stakes it is and how soft it is when they get past the unpleasant bit. People who love theories on what the Fall felt like, welcome to the table.)
47. On the Road to Love â Mizmak (G, the one where Crowley enters a motor rally race with the Bentley, with Aziraphale as navigator. While thereâs great fun in Crowley and Aziraphale needling each other, thereâs greater joy in their friendship and tenderness towards the other (and asexual bed-sharing fans, rejoice). Itâs a fun concept all around and definitely worth the read.)
48. Mr. Fellâs Bookshop ficlets â @holycatsandrabbits (G, T, the series where Mr. Fell has regular customers and they love the place as much as they love its weird and eldritch owner. For folks who love seeing the Ineffable Duo through othersâ eyes, this is a fun series to scratch that particular itch, and has spawned a number of spin-off fics, unless Iâm mistaken. Itâs a relatively low-stakes series, for people wanting something like that these days, too.)
49. Quiet Reflection â @shinyopals (T, the one where they have to duck into a church to avoid demons. If the phrase âspicy Jesus crackersâ holds any appeal whatsoever, go read this fic immediately. Itâs heartfelt and hilarious and really thatâs all you can ask for in a good fluff fic. Also Crowley being held. Really, thatâs all any of us want from life.)
50. Deck the Halls â forthegreatergood (G, the one where mistletoe should really not be this hard to get a hold of. Yâall you simply MUST stick around for the hijinks in this one. They are manifold and hilarious. Does it end in makeouts? Possibly. Youâll just have to read it, wonât you?)
51. The Secret Dress â GlitterSkullFairy (G, the one where Crowley has a secret wedding dress. This one is very dramatic and sadâŠand then Aziraphale pops in. Like with all things concerning these two, it immediately takes a turn from there. If putting Crowley in pretty dresses is a thing you enjoy, have a seat and enjoy the show, itâs a softy.)
52. WellâŠThatâs New â @almaasi (G, the one where Crowley doesnât realize heâs in love. If oblivious Crowley is more to your taste, this is the one for you. Takes the concept âwhat if Crowley was in love but didnât realize itâ and runs with it for all itâs worth. Hilarious and sweet and wonderful.)
53. serpent, serpent-bearer â @elsajeni (G, the one thatâs about horoscopes. I realize the Soft section of the rec list is for things that are Soft but hhnnngkk you guys. This one is so cute. My heart canât take it. Theyâre so gosh darned precious, with their newspaper and their horoscopes and their welcome invasion of each otherâs personal space.)
54. If Only You Were Mine â @somethingscarlet13 (G, the one where Crowley gets so drunk he canât remember who Aziraphaleâs husband is, just that heâs married. This is a little sugar shot for your day, folksâshort, sweet, silly, and did I mention sweet? It is so worth having a giggle at drunk Crowleyâs expense, please do read it.)
55. Cupboard Love â @copperplatebeech (T, the one where Crowley is a cranky snek. I would also highly recommend this for folks who enjoy Madam Tracy, especially Madam Tracy being utterly unaffected by being face-to-face with the supernatural and cooing over things like the wonderful lady she is. Fun and a little silly and a lot adorable.)
56. affirmation, appreciation â pearlwaldorf (G, the one where Aziraphale helps someone in need a little differently than expected. This one has Aziraphale taking on the persona of an interested male party looking to pick up the spirits of a woman on the tail end of a messy divorce and Crowley understanding but still getting a little jealous. Itâs so sweet and so lovely, both what Aziraphale and Crowley do for this poor woman and how Aziraphale reassures Crowley afterwards. Top notch.)
57. Forget-Me-Not â @dietraumerei (T, the one where Crowley gets amnesia. Not as dramatic as others, he just loses 200 years and itâs temporary, but itâs ever so sweet, watching Crowley fall back in love with the modern world and be gobsmacked that he and Aziraphale are finally together. Thereâs a lot of reassurance and tender sweet nothings thrown about and Iâm pretty sure I developed a heart condition just from reading this, itâs too good.)
58. They Shake The Mountains When They Dance â @copperbadge (T, the one where Crowley finds Aziraphaleâs scar. Operating on the theory that Aziraphale was injured in the War in Heaven and thatâs why he clutches his leg and limps when heâs discorporated, this is the sappiest, sweetest rumination on the subject I have ever read. Crowley gets so protective and defensive, and Aziraphale is so gentle in talking him down. On the whole, itâs just wonderful and so, so cute. Omg.)
59. Familiar Care â ginger_mosaic (G, the one where the Ineffable Dads have to take their snabies in for medical help. This comes from the Wiggleverse, which on the whole I cannot strongly recommend enough, but this fic in particular centers around the most delightful OC veterinarian who handles Crowley and Aziraphaleâs strange family very well. Thereâs also a fun twist at the end, so absolutely keep reading to find out what that is. And also, immerse yourself in adorable snake baby shenanigans, because they are the best sort.)
TOUCH-STARVED/BODY WORSHIP/WINGS
60. Rituals (or the Seven Layer Bean Dip Approach to Sex) â SleepySelfLoathing (T, the one where no seriously metaphysical angel/demon sex is super weird. Fans of truly esoteric ethereal/occult mating rituals rejoice, for this is your new home. Itâs abstract but no less beautiful for it, I think; the imagery and emotional accompaniment are all lovely, even if they donât meet conventional human romance standards. You can really tell that it means a lot to Crowley and Aziraphale, the ways they show how much they love each other. A weird and delectable little dish, by all accounts.)
61. Under Pressure â @copperplatebeech (M, the one where Crowley steals kisses. M for sensuality and body worship but nothing too explicit; also could be construed as dubcon kissing, for those of you sensitive to that. Hhhgkk yâall. Crowley thinks heâs being sly getting away with smooching Aziraphale throughout history while theyâre both drunk off their rockers but does not count on Aziraphale actually remembering, and then once the Apocalypse is done with and theyâre On Their Own Side and Can Aknowledge These ThingsâŠwell. They do. Crowley is a mess and Aziraphale is a mess and they love each other so much. The writing is so tender and Iâm CRYING.)
62. London Calling â forthegreatergood (G, the one with slow-burn wing grooming. Thereâs so much crammed into this bad boy and it balances it admirablyâCrowleyâs relationship with Aziraphale, Crowleyâs relationship with Hell, Crowley thinking about retirement, Crowley getting preemptively banned from a certain European country for being a pest outside of its consulate, Crowley losing his cool over getting to touch Aziraphaleâs wings. Humor, aching tenderness, the kind of longing that feels like a high, quavering violin note, tension and release. A beautiful piece.)
63. Elmieâs Ineffable Fireplace Fics â @almaasi (G, M, M, the series that is completely unrelated except for the physical and also figurative appearances of warm fireplaces. M for sensuality but nothing explicit. The first two are mainly short fluff; the third is a long Regency-esque AU with some gender and sexuality shenanigans on top of Real Danger and Intrigue. True to the writerâs promise, all three fics are pretty comfortable and warm, even if the third has some action and tension. Theyâre absolutely lovely, imo.)
64. The Hands Applauded (And This Was No Sin) â @ticketybye (G, the one where Crowley as a preoccupation with Aziraphaleâs hands. Deals with both touch-starvation and touch-aversity in the same fic and weirdly enough it works. The fic is heartbreaking but it has a good resolution and thatâs important.)
65. Moult â @sameoldsorceress (T, the one where Aziraphale molts and Crowley doesnât. This is typical wing-grooming fareâŠright up until it isnât. I wonât spoil the twist but rest assured that there is absolutely a twist. Other than that, itâs supportive and sweet and lovely and lord knows we all could use some of that right now.)
66. never get to heaven on a night like this â RestlessWanderings (G, the series where the Ineffable Wives are touch-starved and pining. The only reason this fic goes here instead of in Jaunts Through History is because especially in Crowleyâs side of the story, the touch starvation is so horrifically visceral I very nearly bought myself a weighted blanket out of sympathy stress. They are both so afraid and so desperate for a bit of connection, the pining is absolutely ridiculous. And it helps that thereâs worldbuilding there thatâs both thematically appropriate and interesting to read. Engendered by lesbianism and catholic guilt, I believe the author said, and in this case what a delicious combination with an absolutely amazing ending.)
67. Strength in Modesty â flandersmare (T, the one where Aziraphale has a secret wardrobe. Yâall. I have a special love-hate relationship with clothes and my body and this fic somehow felt very soothing on both of those fronts. Corsetry is front and center, and itâs all very well-researched and well-presented. The story is so quiet and understated and is really told through excellent sensory details. The ending about broke my heart for tenderness. Itâs a double love letter to Aziraphale and to fashion throughout history and I love it.)
BONUS
68. Tales of the Them â @lyricwritesprose (G, the series where Crowley and Aziraphale are the Themâs godparents, too. This is such a fun series, with a lot of stories that are not just funny in bits, but also meaningful. For fans of the Them and people who like stories about children that arenât dumbed-down or grimdark.)
69. Stans in High Places â @doomed-spectacles (G, the one where thereâs someone in the Earth Observation department keeping an eye on Crowley and Aziraphale. Another take on the angel(s) in charge of Earth Observation, this time featuring a singular angel called Grigori, and boy is he a cutie. His friendship with fellow angel Pravuil is also blossoming and sweet throughout, and the amount of innocent cuteness throughout is just spectacular. What an adorable story.)
70. Anthony J Crowley, Retired Demon and AirBnB Superhost â @theoldaquarian (G, the one where Crowley turns his flat into an AirBnB. Told as if reading a comment section, it is hilarious and paints a horrid picture of what interacting with Crowleyâand Aziraphale!âis like for normal humans. I canât give you any more details than that, you are just going to have to read it and laugh your head off about it like I did.)
71. A Guide to Fame for the Enterprising Demon â @asideofourown (T, the one where Crowley writes a book and accidentally becomes a queer icon. This isâŠso funny. And so sweet. And like most fics where human bystanders try to piece together whatâs happening and come away with completely wrong conclusions, itâs utterly charming. You almost start rooting for the internet conspiracy theorists trying to unearth what exactly Crowley is from his (presumably) evasive or strange answers to interview questions.)
72. Hell Of An Angel â WaitingToBeBroken (T, the one where everyone thinks Crowley is a mafia family. This one is funny in a dramatic irony way; the way that every narrator in this is CONVINCED that Crowley is A. a family of redheads that all look eerily similar, and B. extremely dangerous, is entertaining all on its own. It helps that the writing is smooth and the characters are all fairly engaging, too. A fun little diversion for your day.)
H/C /WHUMP/BAMF
73. the only one i want â @qorktrees (T, Â the one where Crowley needs some convincing. The hurt in this one is real, folks. But so is the comfort. At last steps are taken to assure Crowley of how much he is wanted, of how much his love is cherished and his touch desired. If you cry while reading this, congrats and welcome to the club, we are all miserable touch-starved fools here.)
74. Always One More Time â boughofawillowtree (T, the one where Aziraphale has remaining psychological scars from Heaven. This one is tough, yâall, real tough. Aziraphale has a couple of abusive flashbacks and intrusive thoughts and his anxiety flaring up is a constant, so people sensitive to that should take heed. That said, this is a very healing fic, with a lot of underlying hurt that floats to the surface. But throughout Crowley does his best to be patient and understanding and even with a disagreement, it remains gentle and loving throughout.)
75. Smote and smitten â @nohaijiachi (G, the one where Aziraphale is a badass and we are ALL here for it. Screaming Hastur, briefly-sentient flaming swords, Aziraphale being amazing, and starry-eyed Crowley are all the ingredients chosen to make a wonderful little fic, and we are all grateful for it. What a guy, that Aziraphale.)
76. Nearly Romeo and Juliet â bisexual_dumbass (T, the one where Crowleyâs hiding his panic attacks. This one hurts, friends. This one has miscommunications and fear and boundary communication, all while being so tense even the gentlest touch will snap something. Itâs got learning to take care of yourself and value yourself and live FOR yourself. It is very important and I hope a lot of you read it because gosh dang.)
77. Pigeon Girlfriends With A Long Preamble â SleepySelfLoathing (T, the one thatâs exactly what it says on the tin. This fic has it all: humor! Torture! Terrible humans! Wrathful Aziraphale! Pain and suffering! Tenderness and care! Pigeon girlfriends! The Hurt and the Comfort are present in about equal measure, but fair warning that what Crowley is made to do just before his rescue is more than a little disturbing, both to readers and especially to Crowley.)
#good omens#good omens fic recs#mega gomens fic rec list#mega fic rec list#whoof#probably take a break for a bit#then start work on six and seven's reviews#and maybe start on compiling eight#why do y'all write so much fic#why is it all so good
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i discuss the classification of igneous petrology as you fall asleep during my lecture (PART 1) (ASMR)
Childe/Zhongli, Alternate Universe (read part 2 here) When Childe's younger sister tells him about the volunteer at the library, he does not make the connection between that and his new favorite ASMR YouTuber, Rex Lapis.
Childe has a very effective method of getting through college. His little sister, whoâs caught him making coffee at three in the morning on more than one occasion the past week alone, would beg to differ.Â
âYouâre the best older brother,â she starts off, and heâs sure sheâs trying to convince herself more than him at this point, âbut you need to fix your sleeping habits.â Then, because sheâs his little sister, sheâd flash him a smile and pat his shoulder reassuringly.
(The comment is not lost on him though. He understands his sleeping situation will eventually wear him down if it hadnât already, but he believes if heâll drink a coffee every morning and a Monster every night, heâll get through three days. By the third day, heâll hardly be coherent but that doesnât matter because heâll conk out for the next twelve hours and then repeat.)
âDonât worry, Tonia,â he says, trying to sound as reassuring as possible as he contemplates whether itâs worth it or not to swallow a pill of 5-hour energy with his morning coffee. âOnce break ends, Iâll get back to normal.â
âYou said that six seasons ago.â
Childe frowns, trying to remember if his sleeping schedule was this dysfunctional last year. âHuh?â
âThe Walking Dead seasons,â Tonia clarifies, as if sheâs not twelve years old and the show is for grown adults. He thinks. He hasnât checked Commonsensemedia ever since La Signora labeled him as a âhelicopter parentâ and his Netflix tab has been playing How to Get Away with Murder as background noise for the past few weeks.
Isnât it a show about zombies though? Toniaâs sheepish smile tells it all, because itâs the same exact guilty look he had when he got caught red-handed as a kid.
(Once he remembers later, Childe promises himself, heâll check out The Walking Dead.)
âOh. Well. I have a lot of shows to catch up on, you know. Not to mention a ton of my professors gave me reading for over the break.â
A half lie. They did give him a lot of reading because each professor assumed that their classes were his only one, and with seven days left, he still has a textbook worth of reading to go through. But there are no shows that Childe would sacrifice his precious sleep for. As a matter of fact, he would love to sleep. Heâs spent the majority of his classes back in high school sleeping and faking attention, saving his grade at the last minute â it was quite the extreme sport really, if he says so himself.
Whenever he tries to sleep recently, his thoughts run at several hundred miles per hour, and he spends several hours staring at the ceiling before succumbing to the computer at his desk and watching trashy movies. At this point, he must have gone through the entire romance comedy list on Netflix. (Not a proud point in his life but if anybody ever wanted him to give a list of best to worst romance comedy movies, he now has one.)
Tonia, on the other hand, isnât incredibly convinced.
Admittedly, the excuse was lame. Also, he canât easily lie to his little sister, whoâs far shrewder than he takes her for at times.
âYou never start your reading in advance. You like to speed read it right before your class or watch a five-minute video on the chapters while your teachers take attendance. But thatâs⊠uh, âa bad work ethic.ââ Tonia looks immensely proud of herself as she says this, finishing it off with, âZhongli told me that.â
âZhongli?â he repeats, trying to remember if thatâs one of her classmates or some stranger thatâs hoping to kidnap his sister.
âThe guy that volunteers at the library sometimes. He recommended me a loot of good books to read, but he talks like an old man.â
âHow old?â Childe can tell sheâs enjoying this â talking about her new friend at the library that heâll probably have to run a background check on.
âLike heâs in his sixties or something. But he looks⊠actually, he looks your age! And heâs a student too. I told him all about you.â
Well, that doesnât sound very reassuring coming from the mouth of a twelve-year-old. Heâs not sure if that translates to his social security number, his current dilemma, or just that heâs her older brother.
âLike all of the stories you told me when I was a kid. And then when Lumine came to pick me up, she stayed to show him pictures of you too.â
âOf course she did,â he mumbles, ruffling her hair. One of these days heâs going to move without telling his classmates and the twins wonât enter his apartment unannounced. (But Tonia adores their company and the stories they tell her far too much for him to actually do it. But that doesnât mean heâs above making threats when they tell his little sister about the bet he made about white-out and how it could dye hair. The jury is still out on this one.) âSheâs just mad because I get away with it and she doesnât. But donât do it yourself. Itâs a bad habit,â he adds, remembering that he should at least try to be a good influence on his younger sister when he can.
âOkaaay,â she says unconvincingly, before shaking her hair and running off to her room with lunch he prepared for her.
Watching her close the door and no doubt continue her binge of The Walking Dead, he takes out his phone and texts Lumine.
 Childe
12:35
ur a horrible influence on tonia
 Childe
12:35
and whos this ZHONGLI
 Childe
12:35
also is twd appropriate for 12 y/os
 Twin 1
12:37
a normal person would say hi
 Twin 1
12:37
also 1. me n aether watched it when we were 12 so probably and 2. some guy at the library that also goes to our school
 Well. At least heâs somebody they know. But The Walking Dead?
 Childe
12:38
thats not very convincing
 Childe
12:38
also dont ppl DIE? get BITTEN???? what if she gets nightmares
 Twin 1
12:39
isnt she 12 r u telling me u werenât watching R rated movies at 12
 Childe
12:42
thats very different from a 10 season long show that is hailed as âone of the greatest horror shows in historyâ and âpaved the way for post-apocalyptic horrorâ
 Twin 1
12:42
well if she has trouble sleeping she could always watch asmr. that helps me during midterms idk
 Childe
12:42
whats asmr
 Childe
12:43
asking for my sister btw
 Twin 1
12:44
A feeling of well-being combined with a tingling sensation in the scalp and down the back of the neck, as experienced by some people in response to a specific gentle stimulus, often a particular sound.
 Childe
12:45
wtf?
 Twin 1
12:45
people on the internet make random sounds or just talk into a mic n its supposed to be very relaxing. how have u never found out abt this?????
 Childe
12:45
idk the only thing on my youtube recommended r greatest stunts and chapter review videos
 Twin 1
12:47
⊠makes sense
 Twin 1
12:47
check out rex lapisâ channel he looks like ur type
 Childe
12:48
i thought we were talking about my sister????
 Twin 1
12:50
[message screenshots.jpg]
 Twin 1
12:50
ya she told me everything
 Twin 1
12:50
have fun i need to convince aether to not commit arson bc of his TA
 Childe
12:51
hope he does it
He opens his Youtube app, typing in Rex Lapis and expecting Lumineâs suggestion to be a joke. Despite them being friends for nearly two years now, sheâs never made any indication of knowing his type. And heâs sure heâs never been that vocal about it either, only shooting appreciative looks at history majors and paying more attention than necessary to the TA for âTradition of Justice and Law.â (Itâs unfortunate that those short-term crushes never led to anything, but maybe thatâs for the better seeing that Childe has never understood the appeal of relationships.)
It is an ASMR channel, judging by the ASMR playlist he finds as he scrolls through the account. The icon shows no face â only a microphone â which leaves him skeptical. Most of the video titles belong in a petrology lecture as well, which makes him even more convinced that itâs a joke. He finds a few readings of ancient literature and decides to pick âI discuss the classification of igneous petrology as you fall asleep during my lecture (PART 1) (ASMR)â because thatâs exactly what he needs. (Not the very moment â but ten hours later when heâs in the bed memorizing the pattern of his ceiling wondering why he stole from his fifth grade teacherâs candy jar during lunch.)
When Childe opens the video, he damn near gasps.
The man in the video is exactly his type. His eyes are a soft amber color, framed with long lashes, and itâs almost enough for him to lose his dignity and message Lumine a long thank you text about how she is always right and heâll pay for her coffee for the following week. Â He smiles at the screen, albeit a little sheepishly, dark hair framing his face with a long ponytail that Childe canât see the end of. On his right ear, there are a pair of earrings with a single feather that brush against his neck when he moves his head.
Even before he speaks, Childe is mesmerized, sure heâll already memorize his features from the curve of his nose to the way he tilts his head, displaying the expanse of his neck.
Really â he reminds him of actors in historical dramas, the way he sits regally, and how he speaks. His voice is low and slow as he adopts a careful manner of speaking, leaning into the mic.
âIâm Rex Lapis, and Iâll be discussing igneous petrology today, which is part one in a three-part petrology series. I apologize in advance, seeing that my knowledge is limited compared to many petrologists out there but my friend Venti said that many of my viewers are here for my voice, so Iâm very excited to start todayâs video.â
Holy shit.
For the following week, Childe learns less about petrology, the philosophy of economics, and historical revisionism concerning matters of war and more about Rex Lapis, who is not in love with his voice but often finds himself in the middle of long tangents without explanations. His favorite book series is the Legend of the Lone Sword, which he says heâll look forward to reading out loud for the channel. (Childe replays that part of the video again and again, captivated by his excitement as he mindlessly taps the mic while he speaks, his tangent cutting off mid-word â as it usually does, much to his dismay.)
His guilty obsession is not lost on Tonia, who realizes that instead of drinking Monster every night heâs been engrossed in his phone completely, often not noticing her or when the water starts bubbling. But because his sleeping schedule has been alleviated, she says nothing until Lumine comes over as she always does, not forgetting their weekly schedule of watching trashy movies while leeching off of Childeâs food.
Because he doesnât trust the twins with the kitchen â even if they can cook â she instead spends her time sitting next to Tonia and spreading more of her anti-Childe propaganda while they wait. This usually involves Tonia occasionally calling out Childeâs name and asking, âIs that true?â or âDid you really do that?â
This time is different though.
Worried that Lumine finally decided to show Tonia a video of last semesterâs presentation, he leans over, looking at the computer screen.
And heâs wrong. Unfortunately. Maybe it shouldâve been his presentation because even if he botched it and accidentally projected his work process â screaming notes and all â to the class instead of his actual presentation, it wouldâve been better than the two of them watching one of Rex Lapisâ videos together.
The âI read Erosion: Essays of Undoing to you as it rains outsideâ video, to be specific, which is where Rex Lapis is embarrassed by Venti mid video when asked if this was his idea of a date with a lover. (And then it ends with Rex Lapis asking for video suggestions from the commentors, his face still flushed from the previous comments.)
Oh God â oh fuck.
âSo he is your type,â Lumine says, her expression a bit too smug for his liking. Tonia looks half awake, scrolling through articles as the video plays, more interested in âTop 10 Glenn Rhee Momentsâ than Childeâs crush. Her expression is a bit guilty as she does so â sheâs biting her lip and avoiding his gaze, but he assumes that itâs just because they went through his YouTube history.
âI can neither confirm nor deny that statement,â he retorts, but the YouTube history she pulls up once Tonia hands the computer over to her says it all. (Itâs quite mortifying, really â even Tonia is giving him a look, but itâs not as bad as Lumineâs shit eating grin.)
âWell⊠he does have a nice voice,â Childe finally says, thinking that perfectly encompasses his most recent obsession. Because he does have a nice voice â itâs soothing and speaks to him without really speaking to him directly. (The good looks are a bonus, he assures himself. A fantastic bonus, but a bonus nonetheless.)
âHe does,â Tonia confirms, smiling toothily up at him, and he resists the urge to ruffle her hair with Lumine staring at him so skeptically. âBut I donât understand much of what heâs saying. He â heh â talks like an old man.â
âDonât worry, Tonia, your brother likes him because heâs attractive,â Lumine informs her, now fast forwarding on one of Rex Lapisâ videos. âDid you know that he lives nearby?â
âHuh?â
The knife heâs holding clatters to the floor, and the two look down and back up at him withâ hold on, why does it feel like theyâre in on a secret he doesnât know about?
âYeah, heâs working on his grad thesis I think⊠Aether told me it was about something on history,â she muses. âThatâs why I recommended his channel to you. Heâs a bit of a celebrity in his department.â Childeâs sure his jaw dropped now, trying to maintain his facial expression as he takes out a new knife to chop up the onions.
âReally,â he tries to say as calmly as possible, wondering how he should accompany Aether to his lectures without trying to seem as obvious as possible. His voice is a bit shaky he realizes but he canât quite make the connection between Rex Lapis and actual graduate student that goes to his university.
âYeah, actuallyâŠâ Lumine is definitely pretending to think now, enjoying this far too much. âHeââ
âItâs Zhongli!â his little sister yells excitedly, practically jumping up and down at this point as if she won the lottery. âZhongli runs an ASMR channel and he talks just like that in real life! Right, Lumine?â
âYeah.â
Childe sighs, holding a hand up to his face. The realization that heâs been obsessed with the same guy that hears about every stupid thing he did secondhand is way too much â and the fact that heâs been listening to his voice every night before he went to bed the past week is way too much. Heâs sure his face is redder than before judging by the amused expressions on Lumineâs and Toniaâs faces â really, theyâre mirror images of each other right now.
Not for the first time, Childe swears to himself that heâll never let her into his apartment without signing a contract ever again.
#Genshin Impact#Childe/Zhongli#Childe & Tonia#Childe & Lumine#asmr fic p1#fuck ao3 (holds head in hands)#asmr fic
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Final Fantasy Review
Year: 1987 Original Platform: Famicom Also available on: Nintendo (NES), GameBoy Advance (Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls), PlayStation One (Final Fantasy Origins), PSP (Anniversary Edition) Version I played: PSP
Synopsis:
The world is in danger. Four monstrous fiends, each corresponding to an element of nature, have wreaked havoc on the world, causing each of the four elemental orbs (in later remakes, crystals) to turn dark. Four Heroes of Light, each holding their own orb, meet and band together to take on these fiends and restore nature to its proper balance.
Gameplay: The original game introduced the Job System. The six jobs are Warrior, Thief, Monk, Black Mage, White Mage, and Red Mage. Each have their own stats. You are free to name each of your heroes. Later on the game, each job can be upgraded.
We are introduced to a classic setup of turn-based combat. Final Fantasy was notable for being the first video game RPG to show your characters on the right and the enemies on the left; all previous video game RPGs had a first-person view with the enemy directly in front of you.You choose your action between Fight, Magic, Drink, Item or Run. Then the enemy takes their turn.
Itâs a simple system that at the time was already well-known. It was really the Job System that intrigued players. Black Mages perform destructive magic, White Mages heal and restore, Warriors are the powerhouses, Monks deal damage without weapons, and Thieves can run from battles successfully (they cannot steal, as later games would introduce that). The game can be quite difficult on the original Famicom and NES. It was made at a time when technology was limited, so developers had to make the game harder so that people spent more time playing it. Thereâs a gaming term that Iâll be using in many of these Final Fantasy reviews called âgrindingâ. Grinding is when you end up having to run around and fight monsters for the sake of leveling up your characters. There is a lot of that in this game, as well as the early Final Fantasy games in general. Unlike games today, the direction isnât fully laid out. You are thrown into the world and wander about from town to town to figure out where to go next. Instead of games like today where other non-playable characters (NPCs for short) tell you what to do in cutscenes and whatever, you actually have to approach the NPCs and find out the information. The overall effect is more open-world. You walk across fields and oceans and deserts. There are caves and other secret places to find more items. From a modern gamerâs perspective, the exploring can be quite bare and â for lack of better word â boring. The remakes, like the PSP version that I played, brightened it up with updated graphics. They also added a couple extra dungeons. I actually spent time in those extra dungeons believing they were part of the story, appalled by how difficult they were, when I later found out they were extras put in for the PSP version. That has happened a lot to me with remakes of old RPGs (Chrono Trigger for the DS, another example). A little more obvious sign would have helped to make me realize that I didnât need to finish those extra dungeons. The pace is definitely slower than the other Final Fantasy games. Most of your time is spent grinding. Grinding can sometimes be a wary word when talking about video game RPGs. If an RPG is too boring or tedious, grinding is the last thing you want to hear. But even when an RPG is fun, grinding means that you need to spend time battling enemies, and that means hopefully you donât have a huge backlog of other video games. It's probably why I never got around to finishing the original NES version on an emulator. Once and a while I'd be pumped up about going through with it but then as I played I just. . .got distracted by other video games that I wanted to finish.
You definitely need time and patience. The most aggravating thing about the original version (Famicom/NES) is that if your character is set to attack an enemy but another one of your characters defeats it first, that character attacks nothing but air when it's their turn. It was a very annoying issue that they fixed in all subsequent remakes. When comparing the original to any other version, the original always is the best way to experience the game. It can also be the hardest and most time-consuming. You would need to pay attention to this game entirely and not be distracted by anything else.
The PSP version is watered down. I found it infinitely easier than the NES version. I actually played them side-by-side to figure out at what point the difficulty branched off. Right away when you venture to save Princess Sara, I realized that the PSP version gives more XP per battle than the NES version. Hence, you have to grind more in the original version.
Graphics:
Everybody loves some 8-bits, but letâs be honest here â thereâs a whole lot of black empty space going on when you battle.
But hey, that was due to the limitations at the time. Battles may seem more boring to you due to the lack of detail to catch your eye.
The later remakes added a floor or ground where appropriate. The PSP remake did a good job of giving a facelift to the original, as shown below. It has this cute, rounded feel to the characters.
(My favorite battle background was in the final battle.)
The opening FMV sequence is ripped straight from the Playstation One remake. That didnât age well. Itâs awkward as hell. Want to see how awkward it looks? It looks mad awkward. Donât say I didnât warn you. Just look it up. I donât want to sully this post by posting a screenshot. In my opinion, they should have created a brand new opening FMV sequence for the PSP version.
Story: The first several minutes of the game acts as a prologue. The Four Heroes of Light save a princess - Sara - from the clutches of Garland, and then the King of Coneria allows a bridge to be built for them to enter the world and save it. Itâs not until that bridge is built that the game truly starts and the title screen actually displays â much like a late opening title in a movie. In retrospect, saving a princess probably seemed like the most common trope in video games throughout the '80's. Gamers would have been used to it by then. That short prologue acts like a trope-breaker. The average gamer would have probably expected the game to be like Mario or Zelda. Oh yeah, save the princess from some evil fiend, okay, got it. They would have then maybe been perked with interest when they "defeated" Garland so quickly, and then when the King of Coneria lets them pass into the world and the title screen opens up with the theme song, they maybe were like, "Ooooh. NOW it starts." Final Fantasy then plunged them into a wide open world.
The bulk of the story is mostly comprised of self-contained incidents. You run into someone who needs help with a thing so you do that thing and then youâre on your merry way again. You know what would be a great adaptation of this game? A Netflix series. Itâs very episodic. First you deal with these pirates led by Bikke, then get a ship to sail across the land and go on a sort of delivery quest for a crown, a crystal eye, an herb, a magic key, until the main story picks up with defeating the Four Fiends and bringing light to the darkened orbs. There's no real huge spoiler other than the time travel paradox at the end, which had me wracking my head a bit. It's quite admirable that a game this early in video game console history produced a higher concept plot involving time travel. Music:
Composer Nobuo Uematsu created a legendary score that immediately became on par with the Mario and Zelda theme songs. Â The Prelude/Crystal theme â the harp-like scale that we are all familiar with â was actually composed last. Uematsu had complete the score when Sakaguchi approached him at the last minute realizing they needed music for the gameâs introduction. None of them had any idea that the theme would become a staple for Final Fantasy.
Due to the technical limitations at the time, you can imagine that the soundtrack is limited, but even so it was still quite expansive for its time. There are several individual tunes for dungeons, for sailing your ship and for flying your airship. The map theme will have you humming it without realizing it.
Uematsu drew his inspiration from two sources â classic rock and living in Shikoku, an island off Japan. The melodic world map theme in Final Fantasy (and the rest of the series) derives from the picturesque memories he has of the island. The town theme is reminiscent of the sleepy villages â as he was never a city person. Meanwhile, the battle theme has undertones of rock music.
Thereâs only one battle theme, even when fighting bosses and the final boss, but the amazing thing is that it never gets old.
Final Fantasy games are known for their great battle songs. The opening bassline always gets you in the groove to fight. Youâre fighting but want to sing at the same time. Maybe thatâs the brilliance of Uematsu; because of the fact that you need to grind many times in these old Final Fantasy games, he created a tune that you wouldnât get tired of because itâs not so serious or mundane.
Not to crap on other great developers, but other video game RPGs at the time of Final Fantasy didnât quite have memorable battle music. Just look up the battle theme to the first Dragon Quest game (released before Final Fantasy). You can imagine how that simple tune could get old really quick. I could be pulling this out of my ass, but after Final Fantasy, it seemed that battle music in video game RPGs suddenly got better. If you listen to the Dragon Quest IV battle theme, there is a portion that sounds similar to the battle theme of Final Fantasy.
The PSP version adds more tracks, specifically to the boss battles, and I like how they incorporate the original battle motif thrown into the new battle songs. The original battle theme has a guitar and drums added, which is the style that Final Fantasy battle music was known for by then.
There is one last thing to note about the score that I found very interesting for its day and age. You see, in a movie score, you have themes and motifs, just like a video game score. But in a movie score, other tracks reference those themes and motifs. For example, you have The Raiderâs March in the Indiana Jones films; thatâs the theme for the character Indiana Jones. Then in the movie, whenever Indy does something badass, you hear his theme blare in that instance. Obviously the entire theme doesnât play, but it is incorporated in snippets throughout.
Uematsu actually does this with the Town Theme. He incorporates it at the ending music in the epilogue. It took me a while to try to understand why. Then it hit me. The epilogue mentions the heroes becoming legends as people talk about them. Legends are told and spread in towns.
Itâs a very small detail. Itâs such a small detail that it could be nothing but if it is what I think it is, then itâs cool that he was already in the mindset of passing on themes and motifs throughout the game, treating it like a movie.
Notable Theme:
I already posted the main themes in the introduction, but hereâs the original battle theme:
youtube
Verdict:
A strong debut to the Final Fantasy series. To a modern gamer though, you may be spoiled by the fast-paced, eye-catching video games of today. When console games first hit the market, developers had to create games that took longer than the average arcade game to finish, or else kids would get bored with their games in minutes and gee, wouldnât that be a waste since they paid way more than a quarter? Thus, thatâs another reason why old games are harder. Given the technical limitations at the time, developers couldnât expand much on the game, so thereâs a lot of leveling up and grinding because what else could you do? You know? Ultimately, playing a video game back then was all about honing your skill with that game.
Ideally, you could play through every Final Fantasy game in order of their release, and that would give you a greater sense of the evolution of the gameplay and the series as a whole. However, most people reading this (and me) are probably more modern gamers â and as such, our perspective is biased on what feels âexcitingâ and âremarkableâ. The first Final Fantasy game could feel boring and tedious to you now, but if you put it in the context of when it was made, this was entertainment for hours on end. This is basically like watching one of those silent adventure films starring Douglas Fairbanks. Yeah, youâve been spoiled with more amazing stuff like The Matrix and Star Wars, but golly â this stuff blew peopleâs minds back in the day.
Direct Sequel? No. However, there have been multiple remakes, which I have already listed above.
#final fantasy#final fantasy nes#final fantasy famicom#nobuo uematsu#square enix#square#squaresoft#final fantasy i#final fantasy origins#final fantasy psp#final fantasy anniversary edition#onvideogames#video games
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116. gold diggers of â49 (1935)
release date: november 2nd, 1935
series: looney tunes
director: tex avery
starring: tommy bond (beans), joe dougherty (porky), bernice hansen (kitty), billy bletcher (villain)
oh man, where to begin? this is probably the most important review yet, arguably more important than i havenât got a hat. youâre seeing that right! this is tex averyâs directorial debut. some history before we start (yes, this is going to be one of those LONG posts, but itâs certainly worth it):
tex had worked at walter lantz before working at warner bros, where he suffered an eye injury. he was horseplaying in the officeâthey had a game where one would shoot a rubber. and or a spitball at someone and hit them in the back of the eye, yelling âbullseye!â with each successful shot. the game evolved to using paper clips, and someone told tex to look out. he turned around just in time for the paper clip to strike him in his left eye, losing vision in said eye. many have attributed his poor depth perception to the wackiness and bizarre nature of his cartoons.
avery applied for warner bros, bluffing his way through and telling leon schlesinger he was a director. tex is cited as saying â'hey, iâm, a director'. hell! i was no more a director than nothing, but with my loud mouth, i talked him into it.â with hardaway gone, freleng and king were the only directors there, and avery was graciously accepted.
yet, the staff was growing in size, and averyâs unit was beyond the limit for a single studio. thus, termite terrace was bornâa shoddy five room bungalow affectionately dubbed termite terrace as a result of their termite houseguests. he was assigned animators bob clampett, chuck jones, sid sutherland, and virgil ross. instead of animators swarming around to whatever director needed them, avery now had a solid unit, a model that would continue on and distinguish the animators/units as we know them today.
tex is attributed to birthing the studios greatest stars. daffy duck, elmer fudd, and bugs bunny (it could be debated whether he created bugs or ben hardaway created bugs, especially since bugs was hardawayâs nickname and literally named bugsâ bunny. however, for simplicityâs sake, tex is virtually the creator of bugs. he solidified the voice, the personality, and the design, which differed greatly from the hayseed loon that was hardawayâs bugs.) he had a relatively short career at warner bros, leaving in 1941 after a dispute with leon schlesinger over his cartoon the heckling hare (which weâll cover in depth once we get there). he moved to mgm, where his potential as a director really exploded. he spawned the iconic yet austere droopy, as well as red hot riding hood, the inspiration for jessica rabbit in who framed roger rabbit. this man is responsible for a LOT, including holding the title as one of my favorite directors (the others being, of course, bob clampett and frank tashlin. coincidentally, all of them left sometime in the 40s. maybe thatâs why i love the 40s cartoons so much)
iâll run my mouth more at the end of the review, soap boxing on why this cartoon is so important, but letâs actually SEE the contents of the cartoon so we can interpret it. itâs 1849, the heart of the gold rush. beans and porky wish to hit it big by digging for gold, but a nefarious villain snatches their findings, resulting in trouble.
tex avery loved to play around with words, whether it be sign gags or narrating captions as we see here. open to a remote western town, rife with cacti and dry land. âTHE TIMEâ is proudly displayed on the screen as we pan to a covered wagon, a calendar inside clueing us in that itâs july of 1849. âTHE PLACEââwe pan to a saloon titled âGOLDVILLE SALOONâ. and, of course, âTHE GIRLâ.
little kitty comes bounding out of the general store, joining a crowd congregating around a bulletin board. the newspaper article posted details beansâ gold digging ambitions: âYOUNG PROSPECTOR TO HUNT GOLD IN RED GULCHâ. a picture of a proud beans, posing with his pickaxe and his mule. below it: âBEANS â local boy to brave hazards of red gulch for goldâ.
absolutely ecstatic, kitty snatches the paper from the billboard and rushes away. bernice hansenâs delivery is on point and absolutely hilarious as kitty gives her breathless monologue: âoh, thatâs my sweetie, and iâll bet heâll find the gold, and he loves me and everything!â
porky makes his second major (i use that term loosely, since his appearance in i havenât got a hat wasnât REALLY a major role but more of an acknowledgement) appearance, this time as a fully grown adult, father to kitty. genetics work in mysterious ways. he fixes himself a giant towering sandwich, including a whole fish, a block of cheese, sausage links, and an entire roasted turkey. sustenance! he scarfs the sandwich down and gives an ecstatic âWWWWHHOOOOPEEEE!!â, a catchphrase of his that thankfully never returned outside of this short. still extremely amusing. as i said before, i donât find doughertyâs porky âpainfulâ like how some other people find it, but i definitely think this is his most awkward performance, and itâs not even because of his characterization, but the decision not to speed up his voice. dougherty had a very deep voice, and in this cartoon his voice isnât sped up at all. itâs a bit jarring, but this WAS his second real appearance. texâs next porky cartoon, the blow out, would have him back as a (much cuter) plucky child.
kitty rushes in and shoves the paper in porkyâs face, continuing her breathless babbling. âlook what my sweetieâs gonna do! iâm so proud of him! he loves me and everything! heâs gonna find gold and weâre gonna be married! and right this minute, heâs way out in the mountainsââ kittyâs breathless narration continues as we get a shot of the mountains. a long, exposed tunnel goes right through one of the mountains, where we get a distance shot of beans hacking away at a mountain. âand right now he might be discovering gold!â
a closeup reveals beans picking away at the side of the mountain, carving a little hole. just above it are some slots. beans plucks a button from his shirt and feeds it into the makeshift machine, pulling a branch as a lever. he spins, and lands the jackpot. a plethora of gold coins rush out of the slot, beans collecting the loot with his hat. if only it were that easy!
rightfully gleeful, beans cries âgold!gold!â and leaps on his trusty steed. a giant âGOLD!â zooms into view on the screen as beans gallops along on his mule, rushing into town. he bursts into the saloon and declares âi found gold in the gulch, boys! gold in the gulch!â
all of the patrons echo âGOLD?â incredulously, deserting their post at once. even the bartender leaps over the bar, leaving behind some ice cream and other desserts on the counter. a bit of an awkward shotâthereâs a still frame of the food on the counter, and youâd expect someone to come in and take the food with them, but thatâs not the case. it just sits there and goes onto the next scene. i wonder if there were any cuts, or if didnât have time, or what. nevertheless, itâs slightly jarring but a menial thing to pick at.
one by one, the patrons leap on their horses and follow beans to his site. a man flops to the ground where his horse rides HIM insteadâa regular gag in the looney tunes universe, but one that tex avery seemed to enjoy in particular. canât blame him.
beans alerts everyone in townâa dog in the bathtub, the dog taking his bathtub with him as he runs, two stereotypical chinese men at the laundromat (yeah, not a good way for tex to start off. just blatantly racist.), and a barbershop quartet singing âsweet adelineâ outside of a barbershop, animation by bob clampett. beans alerts them, and the quartet runs off... until they rush right back to finish their song. a great gag as they run right back to find the gold.
next stop, kittyâs house. beans rushes inside and exclaims âi found gold!â, holding kitty by the hands. porky pokes his head out from the kitchen, wielding a fork and spoon, where he repeats âgold?â incredulously. no time is wasted as he jogs right out the door, donning a ten gallon hat and a pick axe. beans excuses himself, kitty refusing to let go. he runs out the door, and kitty reflects on her sweetie. good, snappy timing as beans unexpectedly zooms right back inside, dipping kitty and giving her a rather passionate kiss. he leaves once more as kitty collects herself.
porky has his jalopy all ready to go, and beans jumps right in. porky gives another âWHOOPEE!â as they barrel on. more blatant racism as they pass the chinese men traveling via rickshaw. porky and beans zoom right past them, and a cloud of exhaust cover the men. predictably, theyâre now in blackface, talking in a stereotypical accent (as if they werenât before). obviously, it goes without saying why or how this is disgusting and wrong. i love tex avery as much as the next person, but this isnât a good start. youâre better than this, tex! it bears mentioning regardless. although weâll explore a ton of beautiful, great cartoons, weâll also be examining cartoons that are equally nasty and grotesque. both are important and deserve equal attention.
fade out and back in to the site where beans struck it rich. porky gives another âWHOOPEE!â and strikes his axe into the ground, as do the siamese twins and beans. porky sticks his hand in his hole, where he pulls out a shiny coin and yells âgold!â so far, his dialogue has been three âWHOOPEE!âs and two variations of âgoldâ. what a complex character! he stores his find in his back pocket for safekeeping. a highly amusing gag as he sticks his hand down again, this time his hand extending through another hole near his pocket. he fishes his hand into his back pocket (unknowingly) and grabs his find, reaching his hand out of the hole and admiring his ânewâ loot.
the process repeats until beansâ voice stops porky in his tracks. heâs found something. porky tosses a rope down into the cavernous hole that beans is in, and with a few good tugs, beans pops out of the hole, perched on top of a heavy treasure chest.
everyone crowds around as porky and beans lift the chest. inside is a tiny little book, covered in a thick layer of cobwebs that reads âHOW TO FIND GOLDâ. beans opens the book, and the answer is right there in the print: âDIG FOR ITâ. texâs strong sense of humor brings the cartoon much needed liveliness and fun. tex was definitely a gag man more than an artist, and he has said so. not that his cartoons are badly drawn at all, but itâs clear he has a priority in humor, which is a great priority to have. porky and beans exchange gobsmacked looks.
enter the villain, creeping along furtively with his horse. he peers through his binoculars, surveying the site. pan past porky and beans scratching their heads over their instructions, past a bag of gold, past a pickaxe... the villain goes back to the bag of gold, exclaiming âah! gold!â he fires his gun, a wonderfully strange hybrid between a gun, a fishing rod, and a grappling hook. as he fires, a lasso extends down to the gulch, tying conveniently around the bag of loot. the villain reels in his catchâsome great added detail as he struggles, as if fighting a big one, and even scooping it up in a net.
porky and beans spot the bandit. porky stutters âif you get that bag for me, you can have my daughter.â beans is delighted and eagerly shakes his handâitâs a deal. he jumps into porkyâs car and rides off, winding up the twists and turns of the mountain as the bandit makes off with his gold. visions of grandeur fill the bandits head as he imagines a long, fanciful, costly limo, a driver touting him around as he chuffs on a fat cigar, donning expensive clothes.
his fantasy is interrupted by gunfire. beans wields duel pistols, firing back and forth at the bandit. bullets reduce the banditâs hats to shreds, the hat a shadow of its former self as it plops back on the villainâs big head. great contrast. beans continued his fire, shooting a giant hole in the banditâs pants. a makeshift buttflap falls open, revealing a giant tin pan covering the banditâs ass for protection. bullets ricochet off the pan, much to the delight of the bandit.
frustrated, beans opts for a rifle instead. a gunfight ensues, and tex averyâs need for speed begins to break out. itâll climax soon, but texâs strong point in his cartoons is definitely speed and timing. he can drag out gags or make them ensue in a blink, so much so that those scenes leave you breathless and exhilarated. some great examples that weâll see are in this, the village smithy, and porky the wrestler. the bandit slings his guns back at beans, his arms whirling around at impossible speeds, so much so that he turns into a literal blur, rising and falling back on his horse.
beans ducks, retaliating. the force of his fire is so strong that his car is propelled back multiple feet with each shot. however, trouble boils when his car stalls out. empty. beans pours a jug of moonshine directly into the engine (instead of the gas tank), and the car explodes to lifeâparallel to the same scene in you donât know what youâre doinâ! but on steroids. the car turns into a giant blur, stretching out to vaguely resemble a race car. with amazing force, the car barrels into the villain, who is thrown into the air with ease. this is where texâs speed is magnified and used to a great amount of potential, a potential we havenât seen yet in a cartoon. itâs exhilarating and breathless, and above all, believable. you feel like youâre right there with them, a must see scene.
the car defies gravity as it speeds along the walls of the caverns, a lovely angle of the car headed straight towards the camera (that would be recycled in one of texâs cartoons at mgm, dumb-hounded). beans now barrels whence he came, knocking into the villain once more. instead of being propelled into the air, the bandit is dragged into the car, reduced to nothing but a mere blur. around another curve they speed, the loose bag of gold that was thrown into the air with the bandit now landing in the car.
a forlorn porky paces anxiously, awaiting the return of his beloved gold. he, too, is wiped into the chase, again reduced to a mere blur as he falls into the car. the car zips into town, right past kitty, who sweeps outside her house. sheâs spun around like a top as the shanghaied racecar whirls past.
finally, the car screeches to a halt. the villain is slumped over inside the car, whereas porky and beans are unharmed. kitty reunites with porky, who lifts her up lovingly. he places her down in front of beans. âwell, hereâs my daughter!â beans graciously accepts kittyâs hand as he thrusts the bag into porkyâs hands, replying âand hereâs your gold!â
a lovely twist as porky stutters âgold be derned! thatâs my lunch!â sure enough, he stuffs his hands inside the bag and lifts out a giant towering sandwich, identical to the one he scarfed down at the beginning of the cartoon. he gobbles it up with ease, giving a contented smile as we iris out.
whether you love this cartoon or hate it, itâs historical significance canât be denied. this and i havenât got a hat are probably the most important cartoons weâve seen thus far, and the two, in my opinion, rely on each other for success. had friz not created porky, who knows what would have happened in this cartoon. same goes the opposite way. had tex not come aboard and used porky in a suitable role, porky may have continued to exist in cameos, but how far would looney tunes have gotten before inevitably getting canned?
i personally love this cartoon, and is probably my favorite one so far. tex avery was such a pivotal element to the success of looney tunes. albeit this isnât his most polished work (and the blatant racism with the chinese twins and the blackface gag canât be overlooked or dismissed), this cartoon is fun, exhilarating, and happy. texâs sense of humor is on point, and his timing/speed is impeccable. it leaves you wanting more, almost as if you arenât satisfied. the whole cartoon revolving around porky reuniting with his giant sandwich is another plus. beans is endearing, though bland in personality. kitty is equally endearing, her breathless excitement indescribably amusing and contagious. porky is also amusing, but hardly endearingâbut, again, second cartoon, still trying to figure things out. without comparing his appearance here to other cartoons (which is very difficult to do), he fits just fine as the bumbling comic relief character.
this is a major turning point in the world of looney tunes. thanks to tex, cartoons are going to get snappier, funnier, wittier. i may be biased since heâs one of my favorite directors, but itâs hard to argue with, especially since this is the man who made daffy, elmer, bugs. if anything else, i definitely recommend this for historical significance. aside from that, itâs fun, happy, energizing, and a great relief to the drab cartoons weâve been seeing thus far (though friz deserves much more credit than he gets for his merrie melodies). obviously, express discretion at the racist gag of the chinese twins/blackfaceâthey arenât too exhausted, but definitely prominent enough to constitute a warning. this is a cartoon worth watching.
link!
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BnHA Smash!! 01 and 02: Smash!!Might is a Fucking Menace
okay, so. I have about a million other things I should be doing instead, including (1) responding to asks and/or finishing in-progress metas, (2) reading Vigilantes, and last but not least, (3) actually making a dent in the ever-increasing backlog of Actual Work That I Really Should Be Doing Instead.
so naturally Iâm procrastinating by taking my first stab at reading BnHAâs cute 4-panel omake spinoff series, BnHA Smash!! IT JUST MAKES SENSE. look, I have exactly one thing I felt like actually doing and not procrastinating today, so I might as well do the thing. basically itâs my attention spanâs world and Iâm just living in it.
anyway! so apparently this series was scanlated by good olâ Fallen Angels. thatâs right; prepare yourselves for some very creative cursing, fellas. other background info for anyone who, like me, is unfamiliar with this spin-off: this series debuted on November 9, 2015, a little over a year after the original series. said original series was currently at chapter 66, meaning the Final Exam arc was just wrapping up.
so now that weâre all properly oriented, let me go over a few disclaimers real quick and then weâll get started!
all comments are my unspoiled reactions from my initial readthrough of the chapter. I did a quick edit for grammar and clarity afterward, and added a few ETAs in the process, but aside from that there are no changes.
Iâm aware that not everyone may be familiar with Smash!! even if theyâve read/watched the original series, so Iâve tried to make this recap comprehensible even if you havenât read the spin-off. that being said, itâs probably more enjoyable if you have, so you can either purchase the first volume from Viz here, or read the chapter online (I donât want to link directly, but the spin-off is available on most of the usual sites. literally just google âread mhaâ and youâll find some good options).
this readthrough contains a handful of sorta-kinda spoilers for the BnHA manga, although there are no direct spoilers. just an indirect reference to a joke in chapter 242, as well as a reference to a theory which as of now is in no way canon. but just to be on the safe side Iâm posting a heads-up.
and I think thatâs it! so here we go.
so weâre opening with a brief summary of the series. people have superpowers and shitâs nuts. you know the drill
thereâs also a brief description of the way that the superhero economy works, complete with Mt. Ladyâs employees unionizing and demanding better pay
...what
guys I keep staring at this and thinking that surely, SURELY it doesnât say what I think it says. sidekick... what... manager??
you know what? Viz unfortunately doesnât include this series as part of their subscription package (WHAT AM I PAYING YOU FOR, VIZ), but it does at least include a free preview of Smash, and I bet you that this, the first fucking page of the series, is a part of that preview. so... letâs see...
okay, see, this actually makes sense! so did the FA scanlating team collectively all have a fucking stroke?! just, what??
this is one of the reasons why I had difficulty reading Vigilantes too, tbh. those early chapter scans were, uh. but at least Vigilantes has a Viz scanlation too. I donât want to spend 10 bucks just to read one volume of this, but weâll see. anyways
so now thereâs a strip about baby!Izuku watching his favorite clip of All Might saving one hundred people from a bus accident or whatever
lol Inko you should not have left your shrewdly calculating four-year-old son unattended omg
TWELVE MONTHSâ WORTH OF TEXTBOOKS HOW CAN THIS EAGER YOUNG MIND RESIST
and this is why you donât leave your credit card info saved on the computer when you have kids. life lessons learned today
this is the first indicator we have ever had that baby!Izuku wasnât perfect and was, in fact, capable of being a little shit and giving his mom plenty of gray hairs in his own special way. ngl, I fucking love it
also 12,800 yen is about $118 USD, which is honestly a really good deal for a yearâs worth of textbooks. he got three boxes of books! I just googled the average cost of college textbooks, and the google article said the average student spends about $1200 a year. so this is a fucking steal tbh
OH MY GOD INKO HOW MANY TIMES MUST HISTORY REPEAT ITSELF BEFORE YOU LEARN
at least install a fucking adblocker ffs. youâre lucky quirk supplement ads are the worst of the ads heâs getting! PARENTAL CONTROLS
now we are cutting to a comic about baby!Izuku defending another boy from my problematic fave, as seen in page one of the original series!
lmaooo
Iâm not clear on how much of this spin-off can actually be considered canon. my understanding is that it is Horikoshi-reviewed and approved, even though he doesnât actually write it. but itâs obviously a humor series, so a lot of it is just going to be jokes. that being said, I think my approach is going to be âif itâs not completely ridiculous and doesnât contradict the actual manga, go ahead and consider it canonâ
(ETA: I might change this up after reading the first two chapters. most of these strips would have terrifying implications if they were actually canon sob.)
anyhoo, this actually does contradict the manga in that we saw this encounter play out very differently. but I kind of wish it was canon regardless because looool. these cocky preschoolers and their fucking Battle Tears
the next comic is Mt. Lady accidentally stepping on a guyâs face and the guy being way too fucking happy about it (read: having a fucking nosebleed and taking an upskirt shot). weâre just going to skip this entirely. this is another problem I was having with Vigilantes too. you know, for all my complaints about Mineta and such, BnHA as a whole is so much tamer than it could be, and I need to give Horikoshi credit for that. he mostly knows where to draw the line, and to his credit heâs also much, much better about this kind of thing than he was when he first started. maybe Minetaâs standings in the character poll results are helping to clue him in
anyway, Iâll mostly just skip past the iffy stuff because I donât have patience for it and thereâs still plenty of other stuff to cover. so on to the next strip
which features a bunch of reporters fawning over Mt. Ladyâs flashy quirk while Kamui Woods laments in the shadows
and yet we know this kid will have a prominent rise within the next six months. itâs so strange to revisit the start of the series and see how much things have changed in such a short time
oh my god
no one who dresses up as a giant mushroom could possibly have good intentions. I. just
and look at the fucking disappointment in Dekuâs eyes. KAMUI WOODS HE BELIEVED IN YOU!
now some strange man is coming up to Deku and is all HEY YOU, YOUâRE A HERO OTAKU, TELL ME WHAT TO BUY MY SEVEN-YEAR-OLD SON FOR HIS BIRTHDAY. better not ask him unless youâre prepared to shell out $120 bucks for some fucking textbooks
hey, what!!
WE DIDNâT EVEN GET TO SEE WHAT HE BOUGHT HIM? unless itâs the action figure the kid appears to be holding? but Iâm just going to go ahead and assume Izuku recommended the number one best gift that any seven-year-old child would love, i.e. a giant sword
now itâs a sludge monster omake!
so Izuku is trudging home all depressed after CERTAIN INCIDENTS, and Sludgey is glooping his way out of a sewer towards him
oh no All Might
my biggest takeaway from this is the fact that the entire second half of chapter one takes place after All Might has emerged from a fucking sewer. I forgot all about that somehow. or maybe it never fully processed until just now. but omg. this entire chapter must have smelled so fucking bad. these poor kids
wow All Might
sure called that one wrong. ah well nobodyâs perfect
looooool
lmao, Smash!!All Might appears to be quite a bit more vain than the original. wow dude
btw, friendly reminder (and I think this is something that was actually pointed out to me after one of the recaps; thatâs one of my favorite things about doing these) that All Might, after saving Deku, actually read his notebook before signing it. super-fast, I guess, because heâs the best. but yeah, so he knew exactly how smart and observant Deku was, and how much he wanted to be a hero. his decision to pick him as his successor didnât just come out of the blue; even before the âmy body moved on its ownâ thing, there was a lot Deku had going in his favor. this is one of those little details of which BnHA has so many, and which I love
lmao what the fuck
ngl this version of the series would have been amazing in its own way. but yeah. so this is why we clearly canât assume everything in Smash!! is canon lol. but I can already tell I am going to enjoy the shit out of this series
now weâre cutting to Deku running at Sludgey in order to save Kacchan, oh shit. the most dramatic part of chapter one. clearly no moment is sacred
sob what
I donât understand this strip at all. is this supposed to be a serious moment inserted unexpectedly among this multitude of joke strips? or did I miss the punchline? heeeeelp
(ETA: okay so. my best guess is that All Might wrote all over Dekuâs life-saving advice, and so the joke is that Deku no longer knows what to do when assaulting sludge men because HIS NOTES ARE RUINED. idk. what does 25 P mean??)
now All Might has Done The Thing and saved my boys, and now Mt. Lady is helping with the cleanup. scooping up all the bits of sludge and putting it in trash bags
oh my god
nope nevermind. nope. nope
-- shit. okay, you know what? this first chapter has been a real in-your-face reminder of the fact that the sludge monster was not made of cute sparkly 2018-trending-fad slime, but was in fact composed of RAW FUCKING SEWAGE. (ETA: to be clear, Iâm pretty sure the joke in this strip is that she accidentally picked up dog-doo during her clean-up. but still, the fact that it was indistinguishable from the rest of the gunk speaks for itself.) I think I forced myself to gloss over this fact originally due to the nope factor. but just. Izuku and Katsuki were both choking to death on this shit?? and just, how the fuck did they make it out of this not traumatized
and also, like. All Might was straight up going to leave Izuku alone afterwards, just, âwell enjoy your autograph, fine citizenâ and blasting off out of there. and everyone fucking saw Katsuki almost suffocate to death later on, and after giving him a pat on the back they fucking let him go off on his own too? and you canât even make the argument that this was Just Another Day In Quirk Society either, because more than a year later, Katsuki is still a bona fide fucking celebrity from the media coverage of his attack. it clearly was not something that happens every day. in conclusion, these kids are resilient as fuck, and thank god for that because people apparently just do not give a shit, holy christ
anyway. at least Mt. Lady had gloves
OH MY GOD
I FUCKING KNEW IT OH MY GOD. THE ROIDS. MUSCLES LIKE THAT DONâT JUST GROW ON TREES, I DONâT CARE HOW MANY LBS OF GARBAGE THIS KID HAULED OFF THE BEACH. THIS BOY BEEN HITTIN THE JUICE
Smash!!Might is so fucking shady omfg. probably sells cheap counterfeit electronics on Amazon
oh shit and thatâs the end of the fucking chapter lol. thatâs it?? that was only eight pages. fuck it, letâs read another. but first hereâs Horikoshiâs note on the spin-off
so he really feels that Neda gets the spirit of the series and understands him. thatâs very encouraging. the best spoofs and parodies are done out of love. I really think Iâm going to enjoy this series
so! onward to chapter two
so hereâs All Might dressed as Mr. 2 Bon Clay from One Piece, I guess??
âyou know whatâs funny? dressing a man in girlâs clothes LOL.â guys can we grow the fuck up. and also acknowledge that All Might can look good in anything, so this questionable gag wouldnât have even landed anyway. you work that tutu All Might
lmao check out the past users of OFA here
All for One for All theory fucking confirmed lol. just look. thatâs him in the back of the conga line. clearly
so Deku is all âhell yes why would I possibly say no??â but then
HIS LIMBS. lmao. sign here
in all seriousness, given the shit this kid has been through since the part of the series, All Might probably should have gotten him to sign a liability waiver of some sort. not that it would have stood, since Deku is underage! anyways Deku you totally have grounds to sue the shit out of the Symbol of Peace should you ever choose to do so. and the trend of Smash!!Might being shady af continues yes please give me more I love it
so now All Might is giving Deku his fitness plan which has a really elaborate name
given that this is Smash!!Might, I canât help but wonder if this plan is in actuality some sort of MLM scheme. All Might are you trying to get Deku to do Herbalife
lol what in the fuck
the original series skipped right over a hell of a lot, it would seem. like the time Deku traveled to Arizona and fought coyotes in a poncho
Iâm starting to suspect that Neda-sensei might be on some sort of substance. âletâs see what jokes can I make about chapter 2 of BnHA. I know, Iâll send the protagonist to a fictionalized version of the American Southwest in a sombrero, and then turn him into a 65-year-old oil tycoon.â naturally
lmao thatâs really it, thatâs the strip. moving right along. okay??
now Izuku is staring at the intimidating piles of Beach Trash and is all âI HAVE TO PICK ALL THIS SHIT UP?â
omg Deku no
somebody call Marie Kondo. Deku none of this is salvageable. not even to reuse in a color page photoshoot spread four years from now
OH SHIT
PROVED ME WRONG OH SNAP. SHOWED ME RIGHT WHERE I COULD PUT THOSE SASSY TAKES. MY BAD DEKU IâM SORRY
anyways I donât know what Smash!!Might is so upset about. he probably wove some kind of clause into the contract Deku signed that allows him a percentage of the profits. unless Deku already spent it all on textbooks
what the fuck is this fucking series lmao
time for a round of âwhat is All Might casually crushing in this panel?â is it (a) a cardboard box, or (b) like, a mini-fridge or some fucking shit. IT COULD BE EITHER. IT MAKES EQUALLY AS MUCH SENSE EITHER WAY. âHEROES THESE DAYS ARE [FLEEEEEEX] OBSESSED WITH BEING FLASHYâÂ
holy shit no wonder he ran away to the Sierra Nevada. itâs only a matter of time before this freak fucking kills someone
NOW WEâRE CUTTING AWAY TO KAMUI WOODS DRESSED LIKE A DAFFODIL, IN THE SAME FUCKING COMIC STRIP, BECAUSE REASONS
my jokes about the mangaka being high as a fucking kite when he wrote this are gradually becoming less jokes and more serious inquiries??
lol so he coincidentally just stumbled across All Might and Deku at this exact moment
AND IT WAS A FUCKING REFRIGERATOR OH MY FUCKING GOD
do you guys remember during the final exam when All Might beat the everloving shit out of Deku and Kacchan, and everyone was all âJESUS CHRIST WOULD YOU LEARN TO FUCKING HOLD BACK A LITTLE THEY ARE CHILDREN YOU MANIAC.â but now we can see plain as day that he was, in fact, holding back. anyways Smash!!Might is terrifying as shit and if this had been the main series I would have already pegged him as the final villain by this point
here he is now wearing an old-timey bathing suit but looking more like an escaped convict than anything else
this panel is actually canon. Iâve decided. this 100% definitely happened at some point. especially the swimsuit
now two bikini babes are walking up and theyâre all âIS THAT ALL MIGHT??â with excited sparkly eyes because they donât know that heâs actually a deranged con artist who crushes refrigerators like empty soda cans. this spin-off has truly opened my eyes
LOOK AT THIS SKEEVY FUCK. JUST LOOK
AND NOW HEâS RUNNING OFF AND LEAVING DEKU TO DROWN IN EXHAUSTION, SON OF A
âSUDDEN BUSINESSâ KSJLDKF SMASH!!MIGHT IS A FUCKING MENACE TO SOCIETY AND ALSO DOES NOT GIVE ONE SINGLE FUCK. NOT ONE!! HEâS OUT THERE FUCKLESS, AND NO ONE IS SAFE
now Deku is approaching his mom all serious and says he wants to change up his diet
and sheâs looking at the menu he prepared all impressed and thinking that she might join him. as long as itâs for your health, Inko. if this manga starts making jokes about your weight, I will beat it over the head with Dekuâs textbooks
OMFG
THIS WENT IN THE EXACT OPPOSITE DIRECTION I WAS EXPECTING, AND THIS IS THE MOST AMAZING THING IâVE EVER READ WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK. the whole fucking family is on the juice. and the fucking mangaka is on some special juice of his own oh my stars
now weâre cutting to Mt. Lady stomping on a car
thank fuck no one was actually in there. also does she not wear shoes
and also, it only just occurred to me that she must be another person with a special quirk costume, because her suit shrinks and expands along with her. Hagakure and Momo are really getting shafted by the costume design team here. they need to fire some people
anyway so Mt. Lady slipped on this carelessly placed vehicle and fell down and crushed an entire building whoops
bruh, you think youâre âow.â letâs hope that building was empty too
and now sheâs toppling another building just fucking because, I guess. and saying she canât do urban areas
lmao and now the sidekick [CENSORED] manager from chapter one is back to guilt-trip her omg
I need this man to show up in every freaking chapter. please. respect my wishes
and now Izuku is standing on top of his collected pile of garbage screaming in victory
I only just realized that thereâs still a big old Pile Oâ Trash on this beach, though. someone needs to haul all of this junk away. or else get All Might and Mt. Lady to crush it all with a combined effort
oh shit here it comes yâall, the famous âeat my hairâ scene. potential comedy gold right here omg
lol what the fuck
this man is a fucking billionaire and heâs out here clipping coupons and deleting pictures of his son in order to make room for them smdh
okay now weâre doing the hair scene
oh. oh no. I know where this is going sob please keep this comic rated PG for the children Neda
motherfucker they really --
Smash!!Might is a straight-up felon. this man has no fucking scruples. thatâs okay Midoriya-shounen, if you donât want to eat my hair we could just try some REDACTED, jesus christ I am going to need some bleach for my eyes after this
OR LETâS JUST STRAIGHT UP GO THERE WHY NOT
lmao sob. well, two chapters in and weâve established that no territory is off-limits here. itâs a brave new world. wow
 so thatâs it! our introduction to BnHA Smash!! I enjoyed it a lot and I will definitely be reading more! Iâm not sure what kind of schedule Iâll keep, but this is a really good procrastination manga thus far, so knowing me I might actually work my way through this relatively quickly. especially since the Manga At Large is on break this week. anyways my deepest apologies to the many people who have been requesting for me to start Vigilantes instead. I just need something lighter right now, and this is a good fit. one of these days Iâll get my shit together with the other two spinoffs as well.
#bnha smash!!#boku no hero academia#midoriya izuku#all might#midoriya inko#mt. lady#kamui woods#bnha smash!! 01#bnha smash!! 02#makeste reads bnha#the pile o' trash is a legit plothole though you guys#are we just supposed to pretend it magically vanished#they really drew deku standing shirtless on top of a heap of garbage#and in the very next panel declared that the beach was spotless??#so what is the truth#someone#answer me
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Obsession - Chapter 2
Again, to the people who donât know how tags work, this is Starker. If you donât like this pairing, then do not click on this story.
Thanks a lot to everyone who has liked, reblogged and reviewed the previous parts.
Which are here: Prolouge
and here: Chapter 1
Please inform me if you want to get tagged for the next part.
Tony is in a bit of denial in this chapter, which I have tried to indicate with this. If this striking through words makes it too hard to read for you, plese let me know, and I will try to think of something different. Though there arenât too many sentences like it.
Obsession â Chapter 2
33 year old Pepper Potts was positively surprised, when her former boyfriend and current boss, dutifully read and then signed every paper she put in front of him.
After his little disappearing act the day before (something that happened quite frequently, if she were honest), she had expected him to be just as difficult as he normally was. Which wasnât to say that Tony didnât take his responsibilities seriously; but the genius had a rather extensive history of locking himself away in his personal lab, whenever company matters started to bore him. And since everything that didnât directly involve his tech or other fields of his expertise usually bored him, Pepper really had her work cut out for her.
But today, Tony seemed to be in an exceptionally good mood, almost eager to get all the dreaded work done.
âDid something happen yesterday?â She asked, as he signed the contract before him with a flourish.
âWhy do you ask, Pep?â
There was a chipper tone to his voice, that seemed fairly out of place considering he was doing paperwork.
âYou just seem to be in a very good mood.â
Tony nodded, while reading through a proposal for a joined project with Hammer Industries. He was going to decline, of course, but it was always funny to see what Justin offered this time in hopes of enticing him into working together. Tony mentally scoffed. As if he would ever put his name on anything that amateur had had his hands on.
âI met someone.â Did it count as a meeting when Peter hadnât even been aware of his presence? No matter, he still couldnât contain the little smile at the thought of the brunette.
Pepper sighed. âDo I need to prepare the PR-Department for an upcoming sex video?â
Tony cringed. âOuch. ⊠Though, fair, I guess. But no. Donât worry. We were fully clothed the whole time and all that happened was talking.â Peter had done all the talking, and if one wanted to get technical about it, it hadnât been directed at Tony, but, whatever. Details.
He turned just in time to catch the surprised look on Pepperâs face, and grinned.
âStarting to believe my bad press, Miss Potts? Contrary to popular believe, I donât sleep with everyone I meet.â
The strawberry blonde woman shook her head.
âI know that, Tony. Itâs just⊠no, you are right. Iâm glad you enjoyed yourself, though Iâm still angry at you for just running off like you did. There is a reason we employ personal security guards.â She finished and pinned him with a penetrating expression. He just grinned wider at her.
âI know. This new batch is actually pretty good. What was the team leaders name again? Bates? Balm? Anyway, it took me a whole hour to distract him long enough for me to put on my Non-Important-Person disguise, for short: NIP-d, if you will, and get out of the tower. He even found me when I was halfway on my way back. Pretty impressive. Maybe we should give him a raise.â
Pepper just sighed in defeat. âBarnes, Tony. His name is James Barnes. Natasha personally recommended him for the job. And he was not impressed with that stunt you pulled to âdistractâ him, by the way.â
Since Natashaâs job as head of security contained some 'extracurricular activitiesâ, which often times took her to various locations, someone else needed to be in charge of the security in place not only at Stark Industries, but also to all of the people in higher positions and of course, Tony Stark himself. James Barnes had come highly recommended by Natasha, and if a woman who could kill you 27 different ways with a toothpick recommended someone to you, you didnât ask questions and just fucking hired them.
Tony hummed in acknowledgment as he started on the last paragraph of the proposition. A few seconds went by in silence.
âIt suits you, you know? Being happy. Are you planning on seeing them again?â
Hopeful anticipation filled him at the thought.
âI am.â
Then he grabbed Hammerâs proposal and handed it back to Pepper.
âShredder this and send Justin a 'Better luck next timeâ E-mail, would you? Anything else on the agenda for today?â
She accepted the papers and after a quick glance at her phone, shook her head.
âNo, you are done for now. Wow, that was quick. Do I get to meet this person who apparently inspires you to actually do your work?â
She asked with a playful grin. Tony couldnât help the smile that stole over his lips as he imagined introducing Peter to her. The younger man would be pressed into his side, with Tonyâs arm around that narrow waist, and probably blushing.
âSure. One day. If things go well and all.â He did need to introduce himself to Peter first, after all.
âIâm looking forward to it. Enjoy the rest of your day, Tony.â
And with those parting words, she left his office. He waited until he couldnât hear the sounds of her heels clicking against the tiled floors anymore, before he addressed the room.
âJarvis, commence project 'Baby Boyâ. Letâs continue where we left off this morning.â
âCertainly, Sir.â Came the voice of the artificial intelligence Tony had created and installed not only in Stark Tower, but all of his other properties as well. âAlso, I would like to inform you, that I have decided against reminding you that you havenât slept ever since you started with your research, 22 hours and 18 minuets ago. Which makes it a total of 33 hours and 37 minutes that you have been awake. As previous instances have shown that trying to encourage you to keep a healthy sleeping schedule, have been ultimately futile efforts on my part, I will decline from further fruitless endeavors.â
Tony blinked in slight surprise. âSince when were you so passive-aggressive? You have been listening to Pepper too much. How about this then? We will give it another hour and 23 minutes, make it an even 35 hours without sleep, before I go and lie down like a good boy.â
The A.I. seemed to agree with his terms, as all around him, different holo screens popped up, all displaying various information about one Peter Benjamin Parker.
It had started smaller.
Innocent.
Only one screen, displaying Peterâs student credentials on Berkeleyâs web page.
When Tony had made it back to his penthouse in the tower, after numerous promises and assurances that he would inform someone if he wanted to go for a stroll again, (all of which were lies, naturally) he had started with his research right away.
He had just wanted some facts, a point to start at. Full name, age, address, marital status. (It wouldnât be completely unheard of for a college student to be married already, after all.) Peter wasnât!
However, after he had gotten the answers to these most prominent questions, he had still felt⊠unsatisfied.
Just because Peter wasnât married, didnât mean that he wasnât currently in a relationship. Though would it really matter if he was?
He had shaken his head then, thinking that he was getting way ahead of himself. He had only spent a little more than an hour in Peterâs presence, of which the other hadnât even been aware of, and he was already contemplating how to deal with possible rivals? It was ludicrous!
Yes, the younger man was attractive (and smart, and empathetic, and insightful, and charming, and witty), but that didnât mean that Tony wanted to start a relationship with him. (Oh, who was he kidding?)
Didnât even mean he wanted to sleep with him. (No, really, who was he fucking kidding?)
So after this blessedly short mini meltdown, Tony decided that he needed to acquire more information to properly deal with his infatuation situation. And thus, Project Baby Boy was born.
After all the official records, it took no time at all for him to find Peterâs Facebook, Instagram and Tumblr accounts. Social media was a glorious thing. It made you bare some of your innermost, private thoughts and feelings to a world of strangers, without you ever realizing that you were doing it. Every post, every like, every picture and every comment the brunette made, slowly unveiled who Peter really was to Tonyâs hungry eyes. As the hours had gone by, the genius billionaire found himself more and more enamored with the (single!) 24 year old. Between dorky science jokes, geeky Star Wars and other sci-fi posts, and a truly astounding amount of dog and cat pictures, Peter was revealing himself to be quite an intriguing individual.
He studied bio-chemistry as a main field, with a bit of bio-engineering and health and medical sciences on the side. There was a clear indication of the type of profession sweet Peter wanted to get into. Thinking back on the conversation in the diner, Tony wasnât surprised. The younger man had been incredibly enthusiastic about the future of medicine and how he would one day be able to help people. It definitely explained why Tony Stark was only number 6 on Peterâs tumblr list of âThe 10 greatest scientists alive todayâ. Since Peter was more into the squishy sciences (Tony wasnât squeamish - he had had someone elseâs blood on his person far too often for such sensitivities - but he preferred a circuit board and wires over organs and skin tissue any day), it made sense that the billionaire, genius mechanic Tony Stark, wasnât on the top his list. (Still a bit of a blow to the ego, though) At least Peter had placed him before that insufferable ass, Reed Richards!
(And hey, it was a ranking based on corresponding interest in scientific avenues. Tony would soon be in the first and only place of âScientist who regularly rocks my worldâ)
He was also a bit of a hobby photographer, it seemed, as Peter had uploaded many photos taken of friends, animals, sunsets, buildings and plants. Sometimes a photo would showcase a particular play with lighting and shadows, other times special camera filters would highlight different focus points in a picture. Tony may not be a great artisan, but he could appreciate talent.
He also found a short video clip in which one of Peterâs friends (the internet handle was âguy-in-the-chairâ) had filmed Peterâs, frankly adorable, reaction to being served some monstrously sugary kind of dessert. The videoâs caption had read 'Orgasm by Marshmallow stuffed chocolate Cupcakeâ, and to the inventors utter delight, it included 11 seconds of Peter taking his first bite and actually looking like he was having a tiny orgasm right then and there. Complete with eyes widening before rolling back into his head, and a moan that couldnât be described as anything else but sinful. (Tony might have re-watched those 11 seconds more times than he cared to admit, while imagining the younger man lying naked and stretched out underneath him, on the silken sheets of Tonyâs bed, moaning for a very different reason.)
He found only a few other videoâs similar to this. Apparently Peter had a major sweet tooth â which Tony could think of various ways to exploit â and his friend had obviously thought it great fun to film him eating things that would send any diabetic into an early grave.
He had Jarvis save every one of those videos into a private folder, for his personal viewing pleasure. (Oh, and what a pleasure it was. Though the cupcake video was definitely his favorite, the one in which his darling Peter all but went down on a deep fried Mars bar, was a very close second.)
While Tony certainly would have liked to add even more to his collection, he was grateful that only a handful of such videos existed.
He didnât like the thought of others seeing his Peter like this.
While most of the comments beneath the videos were obviously from friends and acquaintances, who either teased the brunette about his sweet tooth, or commented on the foods themselves, others had been⊠less PG.
Other people shouldnât get to think about him like that.
Thinking back on it now, Tony contemplated if maybe he should take the videos down himself. He had already saved away his own copies of them.
Keep him them to myself.
Maybe later.
Right now he wanted to keep going, there was still so much to learn about the cute college student.
Tony knew that life hadnât been very kind to Peter. He had been orphaned at six, mother and father dying in a plane crash. Taken in by his aunt and uncle, May and Ben Parker. Seven years later, Ben Parker had been shot in a robbery gone wrong, and if the police report that Tony had hacked was to be believed, Peter had been an eyewitness to the murder.
It was humbling in a way, to think that someone who had been forced to endure so much trauma at a young age already, could grow into the bright 24 year old man that the genius had met just yesterday.
Jarvis had also pulled some older records, that showed that the two remaining Parkers had been left in quite a lot of debt after Benâs passing. (Well, Tony assumed the amount of debt was a lot for regular people. His bed had actually cost more than the number presented to him.)
May Parker, Peterâs aunt, was a nurse in Queens General Hospital. (Which could have possibly inspired the boyâs chosen field of study) Peter had taken on two part time jobs as soon as he was out of highschool â which Tony concluded were used to help pay the bills, since he was a scholarship student at Berkeley and still lived with his aunt.
âJarvis, run a calculation. Considering the regular costs of rent and other living expenses, how long will it take the Parkers to pay back what they owe?â
âKeeping in mind the expected rise in interest rates, taxes and insurance, it will approximately take May and Peter Parker 31 years to eradicate their debt. This number is likely to change if Mr. Parker pursues a higher paying profession after finishing his education.â
Tony nodded thoughtfully.
âStill, thatâs not for a few more years yet, especially if Peter wants to go for a Master and Doctor degree after he has finished with his Bachelor.â
This could work in his favor.
While Tony loathed people who wanted to use him only for his money, he liked to spend it on the ones he cared about.
Liked taking care of those who deserved it.
He let his gaze be caught by one particular screen, that displayed a photo of Peter Jarvis had pulled from the youngerâs Instagram. In it Peter was outside, the sun shining brightly above him, in only a loose t-shirt and cut off jeans. A black cat was cradled in his arms, and he was smiling brightly at the camera. Tony re-read the text underneath the picture. 'This gorgeous lady decided to join Ned and I on our walk to A heart has four paws shelter today.â (Because despite his two jobs and being a scholarship student at one of the tier universities in this country, Peter still made the time to volunteer at an animal shelter. Tony was starting to worry if the precious boy even slept anymore)
Peter most certainly deserved to have someone take care of him.
âYou have received a text message from Miss Romanoff, Sir.â Jarvis voice interrupted his thoughts jarringly.
âWhatâs it say, J?â He didnât think she had encountered any problems with her mission.
âIt states âMission accomplished. On my way back.â, Sir. Do you wish to give her any further instructions`?â
âNo. Tell her good job and to treat herself to some sight seeing if she likes. Not every day one getâs to visit Rome. Well, unless you are me, of course.â
âOf course, Sir.â
Would Peter like to go to Rome? It was said to be one of the most romantic cities in the world, wasnât it? Maybe keep that in mind for a second date.
âIt has now been 35 hours since you last slept. As per your own-â
âYes, yes, I know. Stop yapping at me, J.â He threw his hands up in surrender. âSave everything we have so far into my private folder. Separate the videos and photos of Peter into their own. Also, make sure I have some free time tomorrow when Peter is on his way back home from that restaurant he works at. I plan on running into him, completely coincidentally, of course.â
âOf course, Sir.â
For the first time in a long time, the idea of sleeping didnât seem like a necessary inconvenience. He was looking forward to what his imagination could come up with, after those videos.
What sweet dreams he was about to have.
The next morning, the news were overflowing with reports of Norman Osborns demise. The business man had been on vacation in Rome, and suffered a fatal heart attack. He had apparently mixed up his medication. It was a tragic accident.
tbc..
@itfeelssogoodmrstark @starkravingspiders @spadestorm696 @diamondheart31 @the-neon-demon @unknownshadyperson
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journal 1/ chapters 1-4 /Â the prologue to graphic design
initial thoughts
When I first received the textbook, the 6th edition of Meggs' History of Graphic Design (written by Philip B. Meggs and Alston W. Purvis) in the mail, I was immediately stressed out. I was unfortunately gifted the trait of being ultra stressed about a lot of things, but school always won first place in amount of stress. (My freshman year of high school I was so stressed I was getting a lot of gray hairs...so embarrassing!) In general, history has been my least favorite subject, and therefore was the subject I struggled with the most. Although I am passionate about graphic design, I wasn't super psyched to be reading about its history. Sorry Professor!
1 / the invention of writing
These terms! I believe I have only heard of pictographs and hieroglyphics before reading this. To read that there's petroglyphs, ideographs, cuneiform, and rebus writing. Wow.
"The symbol for sun...began to represent ideas such as "day" and "light"." (pg.9, Meggs.): You know, I never considered that. On my essay in quiz 1, I discussed how there were would be too many characters to represent every word, and that is why having an alphabet is more advantageous. Though I agree with my argument, I wonder how many symbols would have dual or more meanings, as that is the case for many words in the modern English language. For example, the word "die" could mean the verb of ceasing to exist, or it could mean the noun of a dot-marked playing cube / singular form of dice. So in cuneiform terms, would the symbol for "die" [noun] represent the idea of death? Probably not, but maybe with crazy English it might.
Whenever quarantine ends, I wonder how hard it would be to make my own cylinder seal. After reading this portion, I found the urge to make one. Obviously with modern technology, making a personalized stamp wouldn't be that hard, and I have seen some DIY artists make their wax seals. I think it would be fantastically ridiculous to have an obnoxious stone seal to go around "marking my territory" on.
Ah papyrus. I feel stupid for admitting this, but I didn't actually know papyrus was a plant. I didn't think it was not a plant, however I just never thought of it that deeply. I'm going to look up what it looks like right now. [...] Oh, okay. I suppose today is the appropriate day to say that it sort of looks like thin marijuana? Anyway, speaking of papyrus, the reason I never gave it much thought to it being a plant is because I have been too focused on everyone's hatred for the Papyrus typeface. Why does everyone hate it? I haven't found myself wanting to use it (yet), but I definitely feel this social pressure that I'm not allowed to use it.
I find superstition fascinating. I think if I could meet anyone from the past I would want to meet the illustrator of the Book of the Dead. That would be a morbidlly cool job to have, just feeling that some random guy named Bob has had enough days lived. AND WITH THE POWER OF THE PEN you kill hi- I mean let him enter the afterlife.
2 / alphabets
The definition of an alphabet is definetly something I have not thought about in depth. This definition makes sense, but I always took it for granted in terms of- well I know English, there's an alphabet. I tried to learn Spanish, there's an alphabet... it's almost the same except they're pronounced differently and there's another n- ñ. I tried to learn Japanese, and there's almost twice as many characters (as English), 2 for each sound.
Fascinating to learn that Hebrew and Arabic writing was the evolution of the Phoenician alphabet. I can very much see the resemblances. But it's crazier that different cultures took it in one direction, and then the Greeks took it in another direction, and the Romans took that alphabet in a completely different direction. It blows my mind to see how far we've come.
Ah yes, serifs. I love the whole argument over whether they originated at cleanup marks or sharpening-the-brush-tip marks. Can't we just be glad they exist? (I want to believe it's the sharpening origin, it sounds more efficient.)
Vellum paper feels amazing; no wonder it has to be made from that smooth baby skin. Yikes.
Scrolls are also an obnoxious thing I'd like to have. For instance, I probably will have my will written in a large scroll to represent how dramatic I am.
As someone who used to be obsessed with Kpop, I think it is absolutely amazing that Hangul is such a technical alphabet. It reminds me of how humans have that disk they threw into outer space teaching aliens how to speak English via the shape of your mouth and lips and what position your tongue should go for certain sounds. Obviously this is the origin and is way more impressive especially at such an early point in our history. It makes me appreciate the language and those that write in it much more.
3 / the asian contribution
I appreciated that this chapter starts off crediting the Chinese with creations forcertain things that I remember throughout middle school and high school, history class always seemed to gloss over. Like where did these Europeans know which way was north and to figure they could kill others by putting some powder in their guns. Paper also always came out of nowhere, but I'm glad I learned its origin sooner than reading this.
I have learned that Chinese calligraphy was more important that painting before, but in a different way. As I'm in a lot of art classes, I was taught that Chinese painters would usually also be calligraphers and viewers could tell that the same person who painted the painting wrote the calligraphy as the style of the strokes would match. Thinking about it more now, it would make sense why it would be more important as calligraphy was something you had to memorize AND learn where as with painting, anyone could technically learn how to visualize.
Referencing my earlier rant about cylinder seals, chops are also something I enjoy and would want to have one of my own. Personally I like cooler colors better, so maybe I would choose to have a blue ink instead... but I know that's not the point. I think this would make more sense to be the origin of printing as it is constructing something once and being able to reproduce it over and over just with the use of ink.
The Chinese also invented playing cards! How interesting that they were called sheet dice and a unique aspect of graphic design that you never realize until you actually think about it.
I agree with the authors, it is odd that languages with thousands of characters would decide to use such a tedious method like movable type. On the bright side, we wouldn't have our lovely lazy Susan's if it weren't for this tedious type!
4 / illuminated manuscripts
As someone who appreciates shiny things (my weakness is holographic) it was exciting to learn about illuminated manuscripts. I'm just imagining the gold leaf making the page glow from a couple meters away. Those kind of things make me like to pretend stuff is magical. And for your title to be an illuminator? Yes please. AND to learn that these were insanely portable for a lazy human like me? Perfection.
Earlier this year I learned about ascenders and descenders in typography, so it was nice to know their origin as well as how lowercase and uppercase letters came from minuscule and majuscule.
I am thankful for the Celtics for deciding to put spaces between words. Reading (especially something I'm not interested in) would be a much more painful task ifeverythinglookedlikethis. No wonder humans were evolving so slowly before this point. Howdoyouknowwhenonewordendsandanotherbegins?
All of these illustrations next to the text on the manuscripts make me wonder if they were still using hieroglyphics, would they even bother to illustrate these giant paintings or would it seem (or at least appear) to look repetitive? I particularly enjoy the page from Ormesby Psalter, a Gothic manuscript on page 61; it's very beautifully done.
While I'm not a religious person, I think the concept of aniconism is very interesting. Also how you could view illustrations of living things, but only inside. Can't deny that their commitment to an intricate and complex design in the Islamic manuscripts were not short of beauty.
The Limbourg brothers' story was interesting to me: how they were all illuminated book designers, how they all died before finishing their most well known project, just short of when the duc de Berry died.
This chapter was the roughest for me. I feel that it was a bit long for my tastes and it gave me a bit of anxiety that with it being so long that the professor told us to focus more on chapter 1 than this chapter. That's my issue though and it was still pretty insightful.
post thoughts
I understand the reviews for this book that I read, about how the writing is something I'm going to have to get used to. It is definitely informative, but oh my it is a lot. Will definetly not be doing this journal so late on Sunday night. Sorry professor...
Source: Meggs' History of Graphic Design, 6th Edition, Philip B. Meggs and Alston W. PurvisJohn Wiley & Sons publishers.
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What do you do to get motivation? I have a fic that's been going on for years now. I have the whole thing drafted, I mostly know what I want to happen, though I sometimes get stuck on side details.
Motivation works differently for everyone. I wish I had one universal answer to simplify it, but it really depends on who you are and what drives you.
To help, I can give you some tools that I use to help inspire me, and maybe from that, you can find your answer as well.
Short version for that would be the following:
Books, Media, and Other Stories
Music and Art
Unexplored Territories
Rewinds: Re-read and Remind
Audience
Friends
Research
Creating Goals
Slightly longer blurbs will go under the cut to explain things.
Ok, let me explain some inspiration sources a little more. (And because each section is longer, this now is a very long post.)
Books, Media, and Other Stories: This is usually a good place to start, since you can help engage yourself to your work by getting into other things. Books get a particular special mention because writing and reading go hand-in-hand. This can be extended to comics and manga though. Media is the umbrella term for tv shows, movies, video games, and other forms that entertainment take to portray stories of different kinds. Other stories themselves are meant for the less conventional venues to explore, like articles or history, or even other fanfics as well. Each source has their own story to tell you, and by looking into things, you can find how storytelling flows from each of them.
It doesnât have to all be good stuff either. Maybe you hated the latest episode of your favorite cartoon or tv series. There was a book you finished last week, and it just completely fumbled the ending into a mess. Perhaps history was duller than dirt. Think you can come up with something better to tell? Great! Then fire up and get into writing how youâd do it better.
Music and Art: Another good spot to rouse creativity. Music and art tend to help bring about some life into you that stoke your creative fires well. Both are broad to describe, but they each have a lot of forms to them, so you should go with what you like to delve into. For example, art doesnât strictly have to be fan art for fanfics; maybe there was a cool painting you remember from a museum that you wanted to recapture or explore. That can be useful. Same goes for music, as maybe thereâs a songâs lyrics that you want to elaborate on, or take into a story of your own.
Personally, I prefer music that doesnât involve lyrics. Classical music and media soundtracks (movies, video games) are usually super helpful, because they can have dramatic flares to them, and donât always have people singing with lyrics that you end up associating with the song, which becomes a story of its own. If you can get the right tune that you can relax to, it can then help you want to create a story that goes with the atmosphere. There are all kinds of feelings that songs can stir in you, so experiment and see what you like.
Unexplored Territories: Stories are mostly not quite groundbreaking in what they tell, but rather how they tell it. Nevertheless, there are numerous less explored resources that can be immensely helpful to get into. Most people go for realistic stuff, like cultures that arenât as primed for media representation. Itâs good when youâre doing grounded things that deal with people mostly. For those more engaged in fantasy, though, youâd want to get into stuff thatâs not tied for cultures, or extract it from them. Maybe you look up a list of mythological creatures and want to write about something that isnât the woefully tiring trend of wizards/witches, vampires, werewolves, or clowns. Even changing it up in simple ways, like establishing a difference between sorcerers and witches, or having werewovles, werecats, and werebears all in one story that operate differently.
But donât be afraid to turn to real life stuff too, especially for less explored spots. I tend to use LGBTQ+ stuff (mostly gays) to both give representation to groups that I identify with, as well as use character dynamics that mainstream media is too afraid to touch. Those two main male characters that are best friends? Make them boyfriends. That lady who seems like sheâs super sexy? Sheâs actually asexual. Iâm not telling you to specifically use this stuff, mind you, but this is an example of less explored territories that you can have a little more flexibility with. Heck, it can even simplify the story you tell with minimal changes: Beauty and the Beastâs titular characters are both female. The rest of the story plays out as follows, but it now gains brand new angles to be explored by a small change. Thatâs part of why I also like shipping and going for ârare pairsâ for romance stories: theyâre not as explored, and therefore, prime for new content that can be exciting just by existing!Â
Rewinds (Re-read and Remind): A simple concept, but sometimes you can help stir some motivation by looking back over your old work. Checking back on things can help remind you of whatâs going on, or can help create the desire to continue what was going to happen next. Itâs basic, but sometimes just the smallest trick to help start some sparks you lost.
It doesnât have to be a lot, either. Maybe you just wanted to write up this one scene, but you havenât gotten there yet. Write it anyway, and then work on how you need to get there. While youâre reading over something you wrote, donât focus on editing, but on the content. Maybe thereâs this one line of dialogue that you really loved, and itâs this excellent one-liner that defines your character really well. And then that can make you want to give more to them. When you rewind and recall things you had ideas for, sometimes reviewing them can help you expand on them.
Audience: Has anyone read your stuff yet? If not, ask a few people to do so! An audience can help you immensely, because their reactions help gauge what works and what doesnât. By giving them content to look over, and interacting with your readers as well, you can end up helping drive yourself to want to deliver more to them. It keeps things flowing nicely! (And this is why writers cry a lot about wanting feedback: it super seriously helps out in a great big way!)
Make sure to look for readers too, not just other writers. Sure, other writers can give you tips and tricks, but theyâre looking at it from a similar perspective to yours: the creatorâs. For readers, theyâre specifically interested in consuming the content, and therefore, have different interpretations and interests for the story. They can give you opinions that other writers canât quite so easily offer, because they can be more to the point of entertainment engagement. (Writers do typically double as readers, though, so it works out either way.)
Friends: I wanted to add a special distinction for friends as opposed to audience. Friends are nice, but are infinitely less likely to read your work. Online pals, irl friends, whichever youâre comfortable with talking to, theyâre still not always the people youâll go running to so you can grab a new reader. But thatâs ok, because you have other ways they can help!
Sometimes, just telling a vague summary of things that are going on in your fic can help you get interested in telling more about it, and to others that might understand it more. Telling your friends puts you in a spot that helps you come up with ways to break down your story to its bare bones, and then what you want to do to help build it up. Another way to go about it would be to listen to stories that they have to tell you. Maybe theyâre not writing, but sometimes just interacting with others can help you with developing dynamics that people can share in stories. Or events that are so out there, and you can come up with a way to create a related scenario. (No, Iâm not telling you to write your friendsâŠunless they make good characters, lol.) Even just being with friends to take your mind off of things and relax? That helps out too, more than you realize in the moment or immediately after.
Research: It kind of goes with some stuff above, because by viewing media, other stories, unexplored territories, music, and art, youâre doing a type of research. Each one presents a different medium that lets you get to know about them, and the more you look into it, the more you learn.
But the cool thing about research is that it takes you places. Websites like TVTropes and Wikipedia can take you to all kinds of weird places, but thatâs what makes them great! You end up learning new topics and angles to explore, and they can help inspire new ideas by doing so, or help you restructure ideas you might think are too clichĂ© or simply donât work. Delving in deep can be time consuming, but also can lead to major payoffs.
Creating Goals: This one Iâm not quite as sure about, because it depends on what youâre looking for out of stories. Still, it can be a helpful boost in its own way, so Iâll include it. Goal creating isnât just something like, âToday I want to write a sentence.â Thatâs good to do in general, but Iâm talking a little more along the competitive lines.
Youâve got a fic written up, but youâre looking to keep it rolling. Maybe youâre exploring two neglected characters from a movie and giving them a new life. But, guess what? Someone else tried something similar about two years ago. Heck. Are you going to let that stop you though? Heck no! What you do with that is see what that story nets for ratings, and plug away at trying to match them. Donât overwhelm yourself by trying to outdo them entirely, especially the top ranking stuff. You donât have to be the best. But you want to compare as well, so see how your content measures up. If they have bookmarked readers that stack to several hundreds, and you can net half after writing about the same characters? Thatâs pretty great stuff on your part! Even if you donât have something specific to go up against? Tackle the archives or stories in general! See how highly rated you can get your stuff to be, and duke it out to be visible among everyone elseâs content.
This one is really dependent on your personality type, so if youâre not competitive, donât put stock into it. But if you get fired up about a challenge? Bring it on!
âŠ
âŠ
Thereâs a bunch of different avenues that you can look into, and different ways to help bring some motivation and inspiration into your creative mind. These are some suggestions based on angles that Iâve personally attempted, so they may or may not work for you. But thatâs ok, because you might be able to come up with more ideas as well.
It just depends on what you like, what you want to do, and what stories you want to tell. From there, just let loose and explore.
But, please do keep in mind to keep yourself (yes, you) in check and feeling good. Tired? Get some rest! Hungry? Go eat! Overwhelmed? Decompress and relax. Know your five senses? Engage them all! Your mood definitely matters as well, and itâs little things that can sometimes hold you back in major ways. Take breaks, and when you come back, things might flow a little easier.
No matter what though, make sure youâre having fun! Thatâs what really counts in the end, above all else. Do stuff thatâll make you happy, and youâll flourish in ways you might not even realize. These may be typical lines youâve heard in countless places before, but theyâre pretty helpful.
Again, go for it, and have some fun with the writing!
#askecho#echo's writing advice#writing tips#writing#fanfics#motivational#inspirational#motivation#inspiration#bobosmith01
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âIn My End is My Beginningâ: the Post-Camp Novel Effort
Now that the frenzy of Camp NaNoWriMo has passed, itâs time to figure out whatâs next! That could be anything from taking a break from your manuscript to diving right into edits or revisions. Today, participant Susan Tait shares her plan for post-Camp noveling:
I feel stunned. In the afterglow of âI really did write 52,000 words in a month!â the post-Camp effort of organizing my writing feels like trying to unload hastily-packed boxes after moving to a new house. Thereâs all this stuff that got crammed in during the fury to finish. Â
Advice was never-ending and contradictory, so I stopped reading it. It mostly amounted to this:
âDonât edit while you write! Just get it out!â
âEdit while you write, or youâll just have a big mess at the end.â
I think theyâre both right. The novelâs gotten âout,â but whatâs gotten out has more obvious problems than strengths: outline fragments, broken dialogue, zeroes filled in for oâs the week I switched keyboards (how did I forget to review my spelling and grammar more often?), a fantastic idea I remember having but canât find, paragraphs that âseemed like a good idea at the time.â Acknowledgement for source quotes and research notes is so far behind that it feels like another book. Plus the dawning realization that some of my cardboard characters spitefully defied their assigned roles and did what they wanted to.
Now, in the aftermath, I could:
Put the whole binder in the drawer as evidence of effort, and write a short story that I resist titling, âAnd Now For Something Completely Different.â
Wax philosophical about what I learned, writing a personal development essay that will make it clear to me what I know now that I didnât then.
Rewrite, revise, review. I can do the other two things any time. Perhaps a character with the worst character arc needs a short story to clear things up. Maybe a decision diagram on tracing paper superimposed on a generously sized timeline would show me where things went wrongâor if Iâve actually written some alternative history.
To my surprise, I like what I have enough to pursue polishing the messy draft that I started last month. To pick the advice thatâs going to work for me, I need only remember one thing:
Maintain my engagement with my characters while re-engaging with my readers.
Some of my characters are based on real people, others completely invented. They all have a real relationship with me, something like the relationship of befriending people online that you never meet in real life. My characters make me look at how I engage with people and what I project onto them.
It doesnât matter in what order I fix all the problems with my draft. What matters is that I start a process that will create a community larger than the sum of my novelâs parts: that place where characters and readers meet. The only way to build that is to start where I am, regarding my dirty draft as clean compost.
I adopted my writing motto (and the title of this post) from Mary, Queen of Scots: the end of the dirty draft is the beginning of a new chapter.
Recommended Links:
Looking at a fresh start for content that will integrate easily? Try L.E. DeLanoâs suggestion in her recent Swoon post on why you should know what changed for you and your character last month.
I donât write what I know; I write to find out what I donât. Sounds like you? This Atlantic column on the value of fiction shores up exploratory writers.
This FAQ with award-winning novelist John Scalzi goes much wider than science fictionâterse, kind, and some of the comments are also pretty funny and helpful.
Susanâs first novel collapsed into a short story that she round-filed. It taught her enough to succeed at her second novel, which she wrote during NaNoWriMo 2017, and finished during the Now What? Months in February 2018. Fountain pen fiend, amateur painter, past winner of two Writerâs Digest competitions, and a certified scrum master, she lives in Oregon with her husband, son, and three cats. See more about her on LinkedIn.
Top image licensed under Creative Commons from Sandy/Chuck Harris on Flickr.
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If you had to choose 10 marxian econ books for someone who has only read marx, what would you recommend
by âmarxâ i have to assume you mean capital because that really is the root of âmarxian econâ. it wonât suffice to just have read the manifesto or something like that and i donât want to recommend books that will be saying things that youâre totally unfamiliar with because youâre skipping straight into the secondary literature which already largely assumes a reader which is familiar with capital. anyway, heres a list, which isnt in any particular order and which includes a few things that iâm still working through for myself:
1. essays on marxs theory of value - isaak rubinÂ
hugely important book which essentially all value-form theory derives from. written by an extremely knowledgeable marx scholar who had a much better idea of what marx was doing in capital than most marxists today. last month brill published a book called âresponses to marxs capitalâ which includes some of rubinâs other writings, most of them being published in english for the first time. hes a huge figure in the literature and definitely worth looking in to.Â
2. marx, capital, and the madness of economic reason - david harvey
i was obviously going to put something of harveyâs in here and i think his last book is a fairly good summary of the best of what hes done up to this point with some welcome additions (the visualization of capital, the stuff on anti-value, etc). not perfect but he definitely provides a good framework for how to understand the geography of capital which doesnt require necessarily agreeing with him on everything. honestly, if you keep up with harvey at all youâll be able to tell that its mostly just typical harveyisms with the inclusion of some stuff from his recent talks (which have all been almost exactly the same).Â
3. in the long run we are all dead - geoff mann
maybe this looks more like a book on keynesian rather than marxian econ, but its real argument is that keynesianism as a long historical project (meaning long before and after keynes himself) has been an immanent critique of liberalism and revolution and that keynes is to us what hegel was to marx. a really great book that covers a lot of ground which isnt always explicitly economic, but definitely worth the read if you have the patience. if you want a longer review, i left a pretty lengthy one on amazon a few months ago where you can get a better idea of what i got from this book, what its limitations are, and why i think its so important.Â
4. monopoly capital - paul baran & paul sweezyÂ
an older book which hasnt exactly aged well, but its thesis has become extremely popular again since the crisis. written by baran and sweezy, the fathers of âthe monthly review schoolâ of economics, its played a huge role in the direction of marxian debates from the 1960s up until today. the authors were both tending in the same intellectual direction in their earlier works (sweezyâs theory of capitalist development and baranâs political economy of growth, the former still being considered one of the best introductions to marxs work and its relevance to the 20th century, with much controversy of course) and this was the result of them coming together to talk about what they saw as a monopoly capitalism which was fairly different in character than the âcompetitive capitalismâ of marxâs day and therefore had to be dealt with differently.Â
5. capitalism - anwar shaikh
probably the most ambitious work the left has seen in a long time which tries to thoroughly critique neoclassical theory and develop an alternative economics which is rooted in what shaikh calls the âclassicalâ school (âclassical-marxianâ would probably be more appropriate but i think hes trying to downplay his reliance on marx). in it, shaikh takes a good look at many of the competing schools of thought (neoclassical, post-keynesian, sraffian/neo-ricardian, etc) and sees how they stand up analytically and empirically, taking issue with their underlying assumptions and the inevitable problems which arise from building a theory on false foundations.Â
one of his bigger points is that the neoclassical theory of âperfect competitionâ is nonsensical but wasnt thoroughly combatted by heterodox economists, who only made it so far as asserting the âimperfectâ nature of competition, which, in shaikhâs eyes, is to simply add imperfections after the fact into the theory which necessarily begins with the absurd assumption of perfection. the bookâs argument is that the theorists of âimperfect competitionâ still rely on the theory of âperfect competitionâ as their starting point and never really manage to escape the latter because they havent actually created an alternative way of thinking about competition, theyâve just inserted a complication into a theory which was a completely unrealistic assumption to begin with. much of his attack is directed at the monthly review school and the idea of a âmonopoly capitalismâ which is supposedly different in form than the allegedly âperfect competitionâ of capitalism during marxs life. in this sense, this book serves as a counterbalance to the MR approach and is also probably the most successful attempt at situating marxs TRPF within an empirical study of kondratiev waves.Â
hes also got a website with a bunch of resources and a lecture series from a course he did on the material in the book which is pretty interesting, but it assumes a good deal of familiarity with economics.Â
6. a history of marxian economics - michael howard & john king (2 volumes)
this is a pretty thorough history of the internal debates among marxian economists ever since the death of marx all the way up to 1990. it covers a lot of ground and doesnt shy away from controversies where marx didnt come out on top. of course, a good amount of this is subject to the interpretation of the authors and they definitely have a great deal of input, but its a very impressive work which i frequently use as a marxian encyclopedia of sorts.Â
7. the making of marxâs capital - roman rosdolsky
despite some problems, rosdolskyâs classic book on the development of marxâs critique of political economy is easily one of the most important marxological works ever written and it still holds a lot of sway. taking the grundrisse as its starting point, the author unpacks marxâs project and constantly asserts marxâs method and in particular his explicit reliance on hegelâs logic, pitting marx (as he was in his drafts) against the then contemporary thinkers and critics which were prone to misusing or misunderstanding the arguments in capital. as a disclaimer and partial criticism of rosdolskyâs portrait of marx, i dont believe that we can simply say that marx in the late 50s was identical to the marx of the 60s and 70s that wrote and published capital, but i also dont think that means we necessarily have to discount the grundrisse (or theories of surplus value, etc) simply because they werent written at precisely the right time for marxs thinking.Â
i only just got my own copy a couple of weeks ago so i cant say too much more but i have skimmed through chunks of the pdf and its totally unavoidable in the secondary literature so im not totally unfamiliar. its one i plan on tackling in full very soon.
8. moneybags must be so lucky - robert paul wolff
another marxological one, this tiny book is a literary analysis of capital and in particular the first part of volume 1. wolff does a great job of deconstructing the arguments in chapter 1 to try and clarify what marx is doing and why with a lot of humor and philosophical tangents. one of his biggest points is that marxs heavy reliance on irony was the only adequate way of capturing the contradictory nature of capitalism and is therefore part of the theory itself, rather than simply being a way to dress up the theory and make it more palatable to readers. i approached this book after id already âread marxâ too, but it was extremely useful because it wasnt until i read it that i finally started to actually understand marx. for that reason, i dont feel particularly bad about recommending it to anyone thats already familiar with capital because it does a great job of making the most difficult part of volume 1 infinitely more exciting and comprehensible â especially since its never enough to just read capital once.Â
9. the production of commodities by means of commodities - piero sraffa
against my better judgement, iâm putting this on the list knowing full-well that iâm going to be harassed by an anon which has been on my ass for about a year now ever since i first recommended sraffaâs book in a reading list despite the fact that ive never finished it (barely even read it to be more precise). i do, however, know that its had a huge influence on the trajectory of marxian thought since 1960 and that many of the thinkers are still trying to recover from the theoretical displacement implicit in sraffaâs thesis.Â
its a math-heavy book (which is why i havent been able to wade through it) and its status as a work coming from the âmarxianâ approach is hotly contested, but its certainly had its way with the marxian school (not to mention the neoclassical school, which has an easier time simply ignoring sraffa entirely), generating countless debates among scholars, many of whom simply wish that this book had never been written. for a short summary of the debate and whats apparently at stake, ive got an old post where i worked out some of the initial responses to sraffa and how this has snowballed into the controversy that it is today. ive got it on this list because of how unavoidable it is. you cant go into the secondary literature at anything resembling an intermediate level without knowing sraffaâs name and why everyone feels so strongly about him.
10. an introduction to the three volumes of karl marxs capital - michael heinrich
i dont quite like that im ending this list with a book that presents itself as an âintroductionâ when weâve already established that this is a bunch of recommendations for someone thats already acquainted with capital, but sadly this is the only full-length book that heinrich has in the english language and its reading of capital is so unorthodox that it feels totally alien against all the traditional interpretations of marx. honestly, it doesnt feel like an introduction in the first place, reading more like a challenge and an intervention into the secondary debates about what marx is saying in capital which derives from the german debates which constitute the parameters for the âneue marx-lektureâ, or âthe new reading of marxâ, which sits uncomfortably among the more typical marxisms that surround it on all sides, especially among non-german theorists/readers.Â
as far as the dominant reading of marx goes, nearly everything this book says betrays marxâs project, but heinrich knows marx very well, better than most of us (as even his biggest critics readily admit). this may be considered reflective of a ânew readingâ, but that doesnt mean the old ones are any better or that this one is necessarily a ârevisionistâ project as many claim (or at least, i wouldnt consider it to be revising marx even if its guilty of revising âmarxismâ, which is by no means necessarily a bad thing). on the contrary, i think heinrich has the best understanding of marx out of pretty much everyone else right now and thats why i wanted to end with this one. yes, you should read all of the others, especially since you cant understand the way we read and think about marx without coming across the work of people like sraffa and sweezy, but that doesnt really change the fact that heinrich points to a big problem with the way we read and think about marx, that the debates have been getting it wrong all along and largely misunderstanding marxs actual project, miscontextualizing it and falling into dogmatism for various political or academic reasons.Â
what heinrich does is to show how the way marx is read and interpreted often misses or downplays the most crucial elements of what marx is actually trying to get across. marxs critique of political economy simply gets converted into a newer, more correct political economy which simply builds on the classical school (shaikh), or it suffers in the hands of those that believe its foundations need to be updated as if it isnt all that relevant anymore (sweezy and baran), or that many of its categories are lacking utility and can simply be done away with (sraffa). rubinâs work plays a big part in establishing the NML reading and harvey draws on heinrichâs scholarship a lot, but nobody really does it as well as heinrich himself and i genuinely think hes lightyears ahead of everyone else. a lot of people are starting to agree and i was one of the most recent converts on the heinrich hype train which has been growing for the last couple of years.Â
any day now, we should be getting one of his older books, the science of value, in english and i plan on devouring it as fast as i can, but sadly its been in limbo for several years, with its initial release scheduled for 2014 (if i remember correctly). in the mean time though, weâve only got his introduction to capital and a bunch of shorter pieces/videos. Â
so i guess thats my list of 10 things to read after marx with some explanations on why i think theyre important, culminating in ideologically correct heinrich-worship. this was sorta fun and if you have any other questions feel free to ask.Â
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Admin Cadeâs June â18 Wrap Up
I was supposed to post this last night, and I suppose I could have put it in the queue now that I think about it...but I was dead tired after my first day at work. Here it is now, though! Lmaoo...my July TBR should be up today as well. Btw, Admin Inky is currently on vacation, so she may or may not be able to upload for a little while. Thanks for understanding! As a general warning, this post could possibly include spoilers, so ya know, spoiler alert.
The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchinson (The Collector #1)
Year: 2016
Genre: Horror/ Psychological thriller
288 pages
Goodreads rating: 4.07/5
Personal rating: 4/5
   **WARNING- this book is very graphic and disturbing, and I do not recommend it being read by anyone underage or easily triggered by any form of abuse.
The Butterfly Garden is written in changing POVs of FBI agent Victor Hanoverian and an 18 year old female victim known as 'Maya'.
When I say that the POV changes, boy does it CHANGE- there are no actual 'chapters', only page breaks. It flows back and forth seamlessly from the interrogation room after the discovery of the 'Garden' and Maya's flashbacks of her time before and during her kidnapping.
The 'Garden' is a place where the kidnapped victims of the Gardener are held- essentially a greenhouse with rooms. As the girls are taken in, the Gardener tattoos each of their backs with intricate butterfly wings.
I was up until 3am trying to finish this book, because it reads in such a way that I HAD to know what was coming next. I'd recommend for anyone that likes reading books with (extremely) darker themes, and who can stomach some really twisted sh*t.
Quote: âSome people stay broken. Some pick up the pieces and put them back together with all the sharp edges showing.â
The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey (The 5th Wave #2)
Year: 2014
Genre: Science fiction/ Dystopia
320 pages
Goodreads rating: 3.92/5
Personal rating: 3/5
   **I'm going with slight spoilers because I suck at writing reviews
Let me just start with this: if you've read The 5th Wave, chances are you're already aware of the COMPLETELY ANNOYING point of view changes. Personal opinion, of course, but seriously?? It was so frustrating to me trying to read this simply because when I felt that I'd finally built up to a point where some new plot info was about to be divulged- IT STARTS OVER IN A WHOLE DIFFERENT CHARACTERS POINT OF VIEW.
That aside, I did enjoy this book. I read The 5th Wave last year (it was 1 out of 2 that I read the entire year), and I had The Infinite Sea sitting in my closet collecting dust since around winter of last year.
I love that this book focuses more on Cassie being with the group, however I found that Cassie was slightly more nausea inducing than in the last book. Not inherently bad, but I felt that Cassie and Evan's relationship was maybe a little too...prioritized? Considering it's literally supposed to be an alien apocalypse (side note: the movie casting of Evan was a big no for me, just not what I had in mind). I also have to note that the pace of The Infinite Sea is different from The 5th Wave. More violence and revelations seem to happen back to back in this one when compared to the first book.
I'd recommend (obviously) to anyone that enjoyed The 5th Wave as well as anyone partial to dystopian settings.
Angelfall by Susan Ee (Penryn & the End of Days #1)
Year: 2012
Genre: Paranormal (Angels)/ Dystopia
288 pages
Goodreads rating: 4.18/5
Personal rating: 5/5
Where do I even start with this one?? Angelfall is one of those books that I thought would be a nice concept in synopsis but poorly executed in reality. I was SO WRONG.
It isn't a new concept that Angels are darker and meaner in spirit than what people assume from biblical stories- I can't think of any titles, but there are several movies and books portraying them as such. While the Angels in Angellfall are as far from guardian angels as you can get, they're also at times sarcastic bundles of fluff (ok that might be stretching things a bit, sue me if you like pocket lint).
Exhibit A: Raffe. While it's apparent from the beginning that the general census of Angels is that they're evil, murderous creatures (seriously, who kidnaps a disabled child from a wheel chair?), Raffe shows that they don't all share the same opinion of humans. As Penryn and Raffe interact on their way to save Penryn's sister from the evil, kidnapping Angels, you can observe the humor and care Raffe shows (albeit in a backhanded way at times) that helps to prove that point.
I'd recommend to pretty much anyone. It's a relatively short read and absolute oddness of some of the characters paired with humor helps break up the serious bits.
Quote: âSometimes, as weâre stumbling along in the dark, we hit something good.â
I chose not to use so many good ones simply because I feel that the humor of them would be diluted if read before reading the book.
The Heretic Queen by Michelle Moran
Year: 2008
Genre: Historical Fiction
383 pages
Goodreads rating: 4.21/5
Personal rating: 5/5
This books follows Nefertari, the niece of the heretic queen Nefertiti. From a young age Nefertari has to face the ridicule and hate that comes with being the last living relative of a queen that turned away from the ancient Egyptian deities for the monotheistic views of her husband. She grows up with the kindness of only her nurse and two friends, Asha and Ramesses (Ramesses II, the crown prince and future Pharaoh of Egypt). Nefertari leaves for a period of 12 months after Ramesses comes of age and marries his first wife, both with sadness and a determination to better herself.
The detail that the author put into writing this book is obvious, and I feel that it must mean extensive research or an intense love of history. The way that she describes the day to day interactions of the people and the items and customs of the society is mind blowing. The attention to detail is absolutely lovely and paints what I feel is the perfect backdrop and visual of the time period.
I'd recommend for anyone that enjoys detailed writing and historical fiction.
Note: while there aren't any 'scenes' necessarily, there are blatant allusions to sexual themes.
#june wrap up#the butterfly garden#dot hutchison#the infinite sea#rick yancey#angelfall#susan ee#the heretic queen#michelle moran#book review#glassdollreviews#admin cade
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