#kinda funny how i was like ''huh i kinda relate to her a lot'' and then found out her birthday was the day before mine

[upathosarts]

[angel-kyo]

Pay it no mind

Part XX

In which reader confesses their feelings to Gojo, but it seems these are not returned (maybe?).

Warnings: reader is on the receiving end of rejection (kinda), and the fact that I'm obsessed with unrequited love is a warning itself. Mentions of injuries, marriage, and... Huh, that's it.

Previous: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII, Part VIII, Part IX, Part X, Part XI, Part XII, Part XIII, Part IV, Part XV, Part XVI, Part XVII, Part XVIII, Part XIX

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“Did you know [name] rejected a marriage proposal from the Zen'in?”

Satoru almost spat out the tea he was drinking upon hearing Ieiri’s words. Then he did his best to put on his nicest smile.

“And I thought you didn’t like cracking jokes, Shoko.” He laughed, but in reality, he could not find it funny.

“I wish I were joking,” she said taking her own cup to her lips.

Seriously, it’s not funny.

Why the Zen'in? Who among the Zen'in? Who was idiotic enough to…?

“I’m not sure of who exactly or why. All I gathered is mostly gossip,” Shoko went on, not allowing any more questions to form in Satoru’s mind. “But what I do know is that the rejection was not taken kindly.”

Of course, a rejection would not have been taken kindly by them, but it still puzzled Gojo, and by the look his friend had on her face, Shoko felt the same way. Was it even allowed to reject anyone from the Zen'in?

You did not come from a renowned sorcerers’ clan, for that reason you probably had no one who would fiercely push you into an arranged marriage, but it was also why it did not make sense that anyone related to the Zen'in had taken a special interest in you, someone who virtually had not a strong presence in the jujutsu world.

“When?” Satoru asked.

“Weeks ago, maybe more,” his companion stated.

Maybe around the time they started coming back with more wounds than explanations.

That led Shoko to the second half of her theory. Whoever you had made angry, had enough connections to keep stepping on your heels while you were out completing missions.

Shoko started digging into it after the last time you had come to her back from a battle. Your injuries had been bizarre for the simple routine mission you had told her you were going on that night, and after seeing the report of your mission, she noticed the curse you had fought had been misclassified. “That happens sometimes, it’s unfortunate it happened to them,” Ijichi had said, unaware that those misfortunes had been happening a lot with the missions assigned to you as of lately, as Shoko herself realized after looking at all reports from your missions of the last couple of months.

It could be someone from the higher-ups, but if I told that to Gojo, he might just go and kill them all.

Ieiri took a look at him. Judging by the thin line on his lips, he was in deep thought. Contrary to what Shoko had been expecting, she had surprised him, at least as much as one could surprise Gojo Satoru.

You did not tell him that either, huh, [name]?

“Don't think much of it,” Shoko said in an attempt to pull Gojo back to Earth, "[name] did not tell me anything, but if someone is holding a grudge and trying to do a number on them, I think...”

“I won’t let it happen,” Satoru’s voice sounded definitive. "I won't let anything happen to them."

I hope so, Shoko thought.

***

“Honey, I’m home!” Satoru cheerfully exclaimed upon crossing the door to your apartment.

You rolled your eyes in the kitchen. He had been doing that almost every evening when he came to visit you after work, and such visits had not been scarce either.

At this rate, the neighbors are really going to think he is living here.

“That smells good,” Satoru whispered in your ear, one of his arms already wrapping around your waist.

“You are just looking for a free meal.” You laughed and looked at him. “Why don’t you set the table?”

He nodded and was quick to leave your side to do as requested.

As you sat to eat together, you could not help but smile at how domestic it felt to have Satoru dinning with you any other night, even if he would sometimes leave for work or to sleep at his own place, it felt as if he was installing himself in your life more intimately.

You both talked about your day, your students, and overall, what you would be up to the following day. However, Satoru had left out his conversation with Shoko form earlier. As much as he wanted to know the details of what happened with the Zen'ins and ask why you had not said a word to him about it, he did not want to push for an explanation yet.

Maybe you had been coerced into not talking about it, or maybe you were trying to keep everything still given that the child Satoru (often with your help) was kind of looking after was also related to the Zen'in clan, and that had created discord between them and the Gojo families in the past.

The more Satoru thought about it, the more it appeared to him that the Zen'ins were trying to bug him with the idea of a marriage. He had always considered you family after all, and of course he would never allow his family to fall into a Zen'in’s claws.

***

It was unfair.

It was unfair how good Satoru looked after a shower.

He had taken a quick shower after dinner and changed into the spare clothes he kept at your place.

You were sitting in the living room trying to watch TV, but the man that had just walked in and taken his seat next to you was distracting.

“Like what you see?” he asked without looking at you as he browsed the channels on your TV.

When had he grabbed the remote? And why had you not realized you were staring at him?

“I… Don’t be ridiculous.” You turned your reddened face away from him and stood up. “I’m taking a shower.”

Satoru smiled as he watched you march away. He knew he was good-looking as a fact, but what he truly enjoyed was having that effect on you. It was only fair in his opinion; after all, you had the same effect on him.

Satoru looked at the screen in front of him but did not feel like watching anything, so he turned it off and walked to your room.

He heard the water running when he passed by the bathroom door, and he assumed you were still in there, so he went right to your bed. He sat down and that was when he noticed the drawer of your bedside table had not been closed properly.

He had no intention of snooping, but the cover of the book inside caught his eye, so he took it.

Pride and Prejudice.

Satoru observed it. It was a used copy but in pretty good shaped. His first thought was that you must have obtained it from a secondhand store.

Why would they put the book in the drawer and not on the shelf with the rest of their collection, though?

Satoru knew you read a little bit of everything, but he did not know you were a fan of romance, let alone of Austen, but he would not have teased you for it... Or maybe just a little.

He opened the book on the first page and the hand-written dedication under the novel’s name seemed to answer his question as it read:

"My affections and wishes are unchanged." – I.H.

Satoru immediately knew whom those initials belonged to.

He closed the book and threw it back into your drawer as fast as if it had burned him.

----------------------

Note: This part was initially going to be longer, but at some point, it got divided into two parts. Oh, well... I should get a breather for a couple weeks now that the semester is over, so hopefully I can upload that not too far away in the future.

Thanks for reading!

Next: Part XXI

@mavs-stuff @witchbybirth @crookedlyaddictedone-blog @tqd4455 @maybe-a-bi-witch @mo0nforme @maliakealoha @zacatecanaaaa @blushhpeachh @astriarose @missesgojosatoru @ba-ks @sukunasleftkneecap @songbirdlully @cole-silas @heijihattorisgf @chokesonspit @hersheyzzz @smolbeanzzz @luciledreamz @avidreadee123 @moonmalice @ratscandaler @sadmonke @allie-jay @username23345 @spin-garden @ashehateaccount @kayzens @blehtotheblehtothebleh @stellasloth @bloopsstuff @cheesemachine44 @tetsuski @rosellerinfrost @catowru @bi-narystars

[cosmerelists]

Ranking Various Cosmere Fantasy Swears

If there's one thing Brandon Sanderson likes, it's avoiding any real swear words in favor of Fantasy Swears. I am genuinely a huge fan of this technique. So here how I'd rank some of the ones I can remember! (And thanks to 17th Shard [here and here] and to Reddit for compiling some lists!).

#14: Colors (Warbreaker)

This one feels a little bit...lazy, I guess? Like yes, Warbreaker's magic is color-dependent, so colors are a big part of the world-building, so I guess it makes sense that people use it as a swear. But it feels like if, in fantasy USA, people swore by "eagles" all the time: "Eagles! I dropped my hamburger!"

#13: Moons (Tress of the Emerald Sea)

I mean same problem as with "colors"! Yes, the moons are a big aspect of the worldbuilding, but it just feels like a semi-boring swear. Although maybe that's just the swear that Tress tends to use.

#12: Shadows/Shades (Shadows for Silence/Sunlit Man)

Okay, maybe this one is a bit boring, but anything Threndy-related gets extra credit from me. So therefore I think this is one of the least boring of the "basically boring descriptors of world building elements" swears.

#11: By the Lord Ruler (Mistborn)

I mean...eh. This one is world specific, but it's basically like swearing by god only in this case the god is the Lord Ruler, right? It makes sense 'n' all but isn't as interesting as some of the later ones.

#10: By the Survivor's Scars (Mistborn)

This one is better because it's more specific--Kelsier's scars are rich with meaning, and swearing by them does feel like it carries cultural weight.

#9: By Harmony's Armbands (Mistborn)

Putting them all in a line like this...I just like how they get ever more specific. Now we're swearing by Harmony's feruchemical armlets? Okay!

#8: God Beyond (Shadows for Silence)

I mean, Threnody is, like, haunted by a god's corpse, so I think any of their god-related swears are more interesting as a result.

#7: Nights / Nights afire (Emperor's Soul)

I like this one because I just don't know what it refers to and it seems kinda creepy. What are nights on fire for??

#6: Rust and Ruin (Mistborn)

Frankly, the alliteration gets this one extra points. And "Rust and Ruin!" just feels like a good thing to shout when you've stubbed your toe.

#5: Storms/storming/Stormfather (Stormlight Archive)

I know this one SHOULD lose points for being exactly the sort of boring descriptive swear I maligned above...but I enjoy this one simply because it's such a clear linguistic stand-in for "fuck" and that leads to such amusing translations as "Kaladin Fuckblessed" or the "Fuckfather" and that just never stops being funny to me.

#4: Herald body parts (Stormlight Archive)

I didn't notice until looking at various compiled lists of Cosmere Fantasy Swears, but Rosharans really like to swear by specific Herald body parts, huh? From here: Kelek's breadth, Kelek's tongue, Ash's eyes, Ishar's soul, Nalan's hand, Pali's mind, Talat's hand...I'm a fan of this. It's interesting and feels culturally relevant.

#3: Glories Within (Stormlight Archive)

This one is just Szeth so far, but people speculate it's probably a Shin curse. That makes it interesting to me since we don't know a whole lot about the Shin. What inner glory are they using to swear?

#2: Starving (Stormlight Archive)

This one is pretty similar to "Storming," I suppose, in being a pretty clear linguistic stand-in for "fucking." But I just like that the food-obsessed Lift has her own personal swear relating to starvation.

#1: Lowly/Highly (Yumi and the Nightmare Painter)

I'm a big fan of the lowly/highly thing from Yumi & the Nightmare Painter, where words can be linguistically marked as meant in either a high way (complimentary) or a low way (insultingly). It's fun worldbuilding and leads to some comic beats in the novel. Plus, this post tickled me greatly: https://www.tumblr.com/cabinetcreature/722030379790401536?source=share. It's so true!

[luffyvace]

Hello first of all- Omg my new fav author I LOVE UR WRITING SM LIKE ???? APBDISBRQKOZ

I found your blog form the author!Reader the anon who ask haz a creative mind I loved the 2 post sm I already got addicted to it I hope u Dont mind me requesting sm form it

Imagine Kusuo getting a notification (he seems like the one has his phone on dnd but has his notification open for his s/o in all media) of her post sm in one of there public social platform saying "I'm turning into my emo phase if this writer block doesn't move on form me " and when checking her private acc (the it's only access for him and her older friend) she is all memes about her writer block and her saying "if I stop writing I give all my books and series to you my friend" just her and overreacting to her block writer

Hiii!! THANK YOU CUTIE!! It always makes me so happy to hear I can share my hobbies with others <3 ahhh I see! Of course I don’t mind dear :)

ohh so if I’m getting this right it’s Saiki finding readers second blog (in which she mostly posts unserious stuff about her writers block) I believe I get what ya mean :}

*･..°•*:.｡:3･.｡.:*･..*°.･

Lol if feel like almost every writer has they’re side blogs or blog where they not a writer they just read other’s stuff

and to me this blog seems like a kinda funny vent blog where reader can just complain about her writers block whenever she has it

LOL imagine going inactive on that acc for weeks and saiki’s wondering if you forgot about it or forgot the password but you just simply have had a lot of motivation lately

then all the sudden you come back and your rebloging all types of relatable author memes and making posts about how ‘your going emo because you have writers block’

honestly it’s kinda ironic to him

he likes your posts on both accounts to support even when your do have writers block

cuz who’s likes a guy who ups and leaves when you don’t have motivation?

the first time you threatened to give your books away he knew you were joking but at the same time he was like ‘wait don’t give all your books away they can’t write it as well as you can 😀’

’kusuo I’m joking’

🧍

‘me too I knew that’

(“Thank goodness..her books were the only thing keeping me sane from those nuisances..”)

- In Saiki’s head

he doesn’t get all the writer memes bc he’s not an author, obviously he’s not stupid so he does find some funny

i feel he doesn’t post on social media but if a post of yours does particularly good he’ll repost it

i think I touched up on him being supportive before but yeah I’m gonna say it it again bc it truly is an honorable mention

‘(Name/pen name) has posted!’

- notification

👆💥📲

- Saiki

the emoji combo was terrible but basically that’s him about to break his screen from how hard he clicked

he’s always the first one on your posts and interacts every way possible

except comments..

which sucks cuz it boosts it a lot but he just doesn’t interact online 😭

if it’s a social media where you can see who liked, aiura and torisuka always tease Saiki for being the first like every time

“Dang your a real simp huh? Your the first like on her every post!”

- Aiura

”MAN! You don’t miss a beat do ya Saiki? I can never beat you to it 😭”

- Toritsuka

“wow..you beat me once again. The second the notification pops up you’ve already liked, reblogged and shared before I can even click on it. That’s impressive I must say, but it’s also quite annoying because I would like to be the first one to support (name) one day. In fact you do everything first! You get the books before they publish! You like all her posts first! Satire or not too!- yadda yadda yadda..”

- Akechi

“you don’t even respond to me that fast! Sometimes you leave me on read or delivered for 2 days before you answer me”

- Kaido

Saiki also sees that your friend likes your second acc too

which he would figure since you two are close

ehehe..a bit short dearest but I hope it brings you joy regardless~ 😅💞

I have much to get out..need to be more active..

[chaifootsteps]

I'm really torn on Brandon's video because that's his style of humor. To be offensive and off the wall without actually meaning to be hurtful. It's what I like him and most of his content.

But no matter how you slice it, calling a 17 year old girl who legitimately wants her father's love a "slut" because "she hates me" and "cockblocks me from Stolas", as well as "her name should be cockblocktavia" is uhhh... very telling and inappropriate. Those words shouldn't go anywhere near a minor. Even for Brandon. Not to mention thinking of children like that is a very real thing and it's gross.

He even said he "kins Blitz" and that "I think Blitz would hate her, but that's up to Viv." It's kinda troubling that he said a fictional character hates *him*. I know he led into the Brennan Ragers thing, but that was an accident in the context of the show and meant to he a funny jab at Brandon? I have author friends who have been killed horrificly in books, and it's never a jab, it's all in good fun. Which is how I interpreted that scene.

In other interviews where he's being completely serious, he mentions multiple times relating heavily to Blitz... so that's why part of me thinks he's being serious here.

I know Via is fictional, but if this fanbase starts hating a CHILD because of these reasons....... yeah, no. I don't want to start seeing people calling her a "slut" or something because she "gets in the way of their love" or some dumb bullshit.

I uhm... like Brandon a bit less now. Seems that SH really corrupts or enables the worst in people who stay there long.

Also, fuck it. I'm stealing Via and Stella and they'll have a loving relationship and Stolas can be alone to fuck Blitz since that's what Viv and her fanbase clearly want.

They really hate women, huh?

Yeah, I feel like in the best scenario, the absolute most generous scenario, he didn't mean a word of it and it wasn't that deep. I'm not sure that's what's going on, honestly, but assume it is. In that case, this is absolutely going to throw gasoline on a problem that's been creeping up for a while, which is this fandom's misogyny turning around and villainizing a troubled teenage girl.

A lot of these people want an excuse to be misogynistic, to trash female characters just for existing, and Viv and Brandon hand it to them on a silver platter.

[allwormdiet]

Extermination 8.4

Armsmaster: I'm a genius! Armsmaster: Oh no!

Everything they do against Leviathan is insufficient. It's fucking horrifying.

Skitter just like "ehh, I don't think Parian's hardcore enough tbh"

Also, God, it's just getting increasingly dire just in terms of who's standing, huh? They're down most of the forcefield users at this point, the Triumvirate is down or handling other shit.

Also also I'm so sad that Purity didn't drown in the middle of the street like she deserves

Taylor is so fucking funny, she's like "I'm not brave like these other capes, I'm just standing and working to combat an Endbringer even though my power does absolutely nothing offensively or defensively against it. oh I'm not an adrenaline fiend or anything, I don't live for the thrill of battle, I just have an unreasonably high pain tolerance and not a whole lot of care for whether I live or die"

So her power gets stronger in especially high-stakes situations. Something about her emotional state, or something about an innate response to extreme threats?

Taylor's life seems to involve constant rapid-fire vacillation between predator and prey. It can't be helping with her stress levels, regardless of how good she is at being both of those things.

So this is a tactic that will slow Leviathan down, but if he gets to keep moving for too long then it will immediately turn around and bite them on the ass. Dunno how good of an idea that is tbh.

Fucking automaton freak of a superhero, truly

Also does the wider world never find it alarming that the order goes "parahumans < Endbringers < Scion" because I feel like that would prompt questions about Goldilocks on the regular

New Wave is at 75% strength and the invincible Ward just got fucking vincibled. God that's rough.

Wooo! Nazi down! Yeahhh!

WOOOOOOO NAZI DOWN!

Hope the water slide chaps your legless ass on the way to Hell, Kaiser, you rancid fuck!

Also haha whoops I sure hope that dead armband isn't indicative of some kinda foul play

Well yeah, fuck, I guess it's a good thing she had those decoys after all

Credit where credit is due, if it was possible to actually kill an Endbringer, which I fucking doubt, this would probably be the best show of doing it.

According to Wikipedia, "hubris" describes a personality quality of extreme or excessive pride or dangerous overconfidence and complacency, often in combination with (or synonymous with) arrogance.

According to studies, hubris, arrogance, and pretension are related to the need for victory (even if it does not always mean winning) instead of reconciliation, which "friendly" groups might promote. Hubris is usually perceived as a characteristic of an individual rather than a group, although the group the offender belongs to may suffer collateral consequences from wrongful acts. Hubris often indicates a loss of contact with reality and an overestimation of one's own competence, accomplishments, or capabilities. The adjectival form of the noun hubris/hybris is hubristic/hybristic.

The term hubris originated in Ancient Greek, where it had several different meanings depending on the context. In legal usage, it meant assault or sexual crimes and theft of public property, and in religious usage it meant emulation of divinity or transgression against a god.

Hesiod and Aeschylus used the word "hubris" to describe transgressions against the gods. A common way that hubris was committed was when a mortal claimed to be better than a god in a particular skill or attribute. Claims like these were rarely left unpunished, and so Arachne, a talented young weaver, was transformed into a spider when she said that her skills exceeded those of the goddess Athena, even though her claim was true. Additional examples include Icarus, Phaethon, Salmoneus, Niobe, Cassiopeia, Tantalus, and Tereus.

These events were not limited to myth, and certain figures in history were considered to have been punished for committing hubris through their arrogance. One such person was king Xerxes as portrayed in Aeschylus's play The Persians, and who allegedly threw chains to bind the Hellespont sea as punishment for daring to destroy his fleet.

What is common in all of these examples is the breaching of limits, as the Greeks believed that the Fates (Μοῖραι) had assigned each being with a particular area of freedom, an area that even the gods could not breach

In its modern usage, hubris denotes overconfident pride combined with arrogance. Hubris is also referred to as "pride that blinds" because it often causes a committer of hubris to act in foolish ways that belie common sense.

Anyway I guess Armsmaster has to be called Armmaster now, s- oh, what's this?

Congratulations allwormdiet! You are the 4,000,000th Worm reader to make the "Armmaster joke!"

Oh boy what do I win

Nothing!

O-oh.

Tfw the teenager you deliberately attempted to sacrifice in order to get your moment of glory soloing the raid boss still tries to save your stupid ass

Fucking remarkable that Skitter is still contributing at all considering how hard she's been rocked through all of this

And she's gonna keep doing it, too.

Tfw the teenager you deliberately attempted to sacrifice in order to get your moment of glory soloing the raid boss is the only thing saving your life

Current Thoughts

Colin, Colin, Colin. We'll get into it more once the fight's over but you truly fumbled on this already rancid day. I hope like Hell this will finally get you to be a little humble.

So, some more bad losses in this chapter obviously, sad to see Aegis go for all he was kinda bland and I'm sure New Wave is going to feel their losses something fierce.

But hey, two more dead Nazi capes, so it's not all downsides!

[rabbiteclair]

more Girls' Last Tour thoughts, which are admittedly mostly thoughts I had for the first time about five years ago only to resurface today upon having a long conversation about the series with a friend. this one is fully spoiler-y

as far as emotional suckerpunches go, I personally think it's like... [the entire Silence chapter] > [Chito's breakdown after she realizes the Kettenkrad's bricked] > [the end of the Art chapter] > [the end of the Life chapter] > 'the planet will finish life's long work and go to sleep as well' > [the actual end of the series]. This isn't a criticism of it, since I really like the end. I just find it kinda funny.

similarly I find it funny that this series, where every named character is strongly implied to die either during or shortly after its events, which is about 40% ruminations on death, containing the line "currently, you two are the only surviving humans of whom we are aware," is categorized as an Iyashikei. H E A L I N G. I mean I don't even necessarily disagree but goddamn.

One of the core dichotomies of the series, I think, is... it repeatedly makes it clear that people have done horrible things here, and the amount of deliberate destruction that's gone on is absolutely monstrous. They stumble onto nukes and giant war robots that can blow up a city, and there are destroyed tanks and giant craters everywhere. Basically everywhere they go is a former war zone. But it takes a really positive view of humanity. Outside of the attack on their hometown in the flashback, every single person they meet is nice and helpful. Any time it delves into human nature, the message is 'actually humans are pretty cool most of the time, and our basic drive is to take care of each other, not this survival of the fittest bullshit.'

which is one thing that I think sets it apart from a lot of fiction in this space? It never tries any kind of 'humanity is doomed in the long run because we're all violent animals beneath the facade of civilization' message or anything. Humanity rules, and it's a genuine tragedy that things have come to this.

kinda related, the series does a lot to make it clear how all of this is an unfathomably large tragedy. There are tons of background shots of entire abandoned cityscapes, there's the chapter with the mass grave, the gigantic library full of books, and so on. The actual scale of 'no, really, everyone and everything has an end sooner or later' gets driven in repeatedly. At the same time, it spends a lot of time on how something as small as destroying a single diary can be a tragedy in its own right, too. I guess I'm just kinda used to media that takes that kind of grand high-level view dismissing the small stuff as trite and unimportant when we could be putting up another number with lots of zeroes to say how many people died.

there are a lot of different ideas floating around on things like what it all means in the end, and whether it's meaningful to leave anything behind. The AI is overjoyed when she gets her chance for oblivion. The people in the graveyard have a statue to watch over them. Chito's attempt to leave something in the form of her diary is ultimately futile, and while she learns to find other meaning, destroying her diary and the books still isn't portrayed as a good thing. Other people are recorded forever in images and videos, and it's wonderful. Ultimately I don't think there's any one answer or message. Keeping with the general existentialist kinda themes, what matters is what the people involved find meaningful in that context, but that drive to create and preserve meaning for the future is both universal and noble.

while there's a lot to be said about the visuals overall... the fact that basically the only thing on the upper layer is a spiral staircase leading up into the air with no destination sure is some symbolism, huh.

similarly, while it wouldn't change the events any, symbolically I think it's very important that their long, ultimately pointless meandering journey that ends in death was upward, not downward.

on another level, though, it's kinda implied that the higher strata are newer/more recently maintained. So it's also essentially them moving through (and revisiting a lot of) human history to take their position at the very end.

Yuu's gun is never used for anything but target practice, and then she chucks it aside as soon as it's too much effort to carry. They use an old tank for a shower. They find a working military sub with nukes inside, and it's only useful because there's chocolate and a way to look at the storage on a camera. The one time they really fire a weapon, it's horrible, and the one thing they kill is portrayed as a tragedy. Even their helmets are mostly a running joke of 'oh my helmet totally would've stopped that falling building.' For a series that includes a lot of military stuff, it regards military stuff somewhere between 'disdain' and 'indifference.' Very 'the world is ending and you think a rocket launcher is going to be useful? Put that thing down and help me look for food.'

that said, the choice to give them a vehicle from WW2-era Germany is still a pretty damn unfortunate one. Considering the series's consistent stance against violence, disinterest in war, and casually disdainful treatment of weapons and military stuff, I'm comfortable saying that Tsukumizu almost certainly isn't a closet nazi, but still. At best it gives the wrong impression to anybody who hasn't gotten about a dozen chapters in and started thinking about the themes, and there's nothing the themes do with it that wouldn't work basically as well with any other military transport anyway.

the fungus things apparently being the inspiration for the god statues is clear enough, but just what their deal is remains surprisingly undefined. I've always figured they were genetically engineered or something, made specifically to clean up the environment. Which is itself a hell of a thing if so, deifying the creatures that basically symbolize 'maybe we can undo the harm we've done, and if that takes longer than we live, at least we'll leave something behind.'

I really don't know how to feel about the whole Shimeji Simulation connection. (if you aren't familiar) On one hand I feel like it undermines a lot of the series' messages to go 'oh but just kidding, everyone's fine and nobody really dies for good.' On the other hand, as somebody who's read/watched through the series about half a dozen times and really marinated in the despair, my primary immediate reaction is 'oh thank god they absolutely deserve this.' And it isn't like I haven't written multiple stories about characters embracing their imminent demise only to turn out okay against all odds in the epilogue.

Yuu's gay little run. this is still a thought

[srslyscary]

heyyy, do u do x black reader if so could you do a fluffy lee know fic. where him and reader are just apart of a silly friend group with lots of mutuals and lee knows always kinda just had a lil thing for reader.

but then reader is kinda just noticing lee know is there and then just boom. fell in love immediately idk…

lowkey like mutuals to lovers if that makes any sense?…

a lover’s eye

| Contents: SFW , reader is written as she/her but can be considered gn, friends to lovers, made up friend names, black!reader, lee know is referred to as his biological name

tysm for the request anon!! I love this idea so so much. I’m not all that sure if you wanted me to add reader & Lee Know in a SKZ friend group or a random one so I just stuck with the random one! i hope this is okay! I had the idea of them both having feelings for each other but not realizing it till “now”.

I also hope you’re well and taking care of yourself! much love <3

“minho, dude… you’ve been staring at her for the past 10 minutes.” a voice spoke, pulling the male out of his small trance.

“…huh? staring at who?” He said, looking over to his friend. “YN— who else? you’ve been giving her googly eyes ever since she first arrived-“

Minho shushed him loudly with a glare on his face, looking as if he would smack the other male. “Ya- Injae! How many times do I have to tell you to keep it down? Loud mouth.” He sighed, looking back over to the female he was previously eyeing. “I wasn’t staring. I was just— admiring her!”

“Yeah— Kay. Dude If you have a thing for her It’s no biggie, I mean the whole friend group can kind of tell. Besides YN of course— I wouldn’t say she’s oblivious but.. it’s also obvious she doesn’t have a clue.” Injae stood up from where he was sitting, looking for the other members of the group. YN was currently talking to Jia, one of the girls of their friend group.

Their little group consisted of the silliest kids around the block. Jia, Injae, YN, Eunji, Rae, and of course Minho. They were all very close with one another, sharing memorable experiences with each other. YN was rather unique, some would say. Although all were Korean, YN was the only black female who could speak fluent Korean. To Minho… that’s what made her so special. Just her presence made his body and chest feel weird.

“Ya, Injae. Do you think the weird feeling I get when I look at YN.. relates to me having a ‘thing’ for her?” Minho tilts his head slightly, looking at the girl’s features as he waited for his other friend to talk. “Well yeah, I mean it’s just normal to feel that way when you’re crushing on someone.”

“You idiot. i know It’s normal. I just— i wanted to make sure. That’s all.” He looked down at his lap from where he was sitting, fidgeting with the rings on his fingers. Injae looked down at his friend, and chuckled. He looked back to YN, and all the friends that were surrounding them. They were all gathered around waiting for the Rae to arrive since they planned to have an ‘out day’ today.

“Just tell her how you feel man. I’m sure she’ll—“ “Don’t even finish that. It’s not that simple.” Minho leaned his head back , running his fingers through his hair. “And why not? It’s not like you guys aren’t friends. You talk to her everyday, and you’re both in the same friend group.” Injae sighed irritably, checking his phone. “Goddamnit.. where the hell is Rae? He was supposed to be here an hour ago..”

Minho took this time to think, to really think about what decisions he should make. YN was beautiful, stunning even. She had the face and voice of a goddess, she was funny, and never failed to make him smile at least a tiny bit.. even if the jokes weren’t directly to him. It wasn’t like YN hadn’t noticed him, part of what Injae said was true— he talked to her everyday, trying to spark up some conversations.

“Yo, Minho.” A finger tapped him, yet again bringing him out of his own little world. Looking up, he saw that exact goddess. She eyed him down with a blank look, her shadow against the sun made her look like a real angel. “Whatcha still doin’ sittin’ down? Rae jus’ got here. Cmon.” YN chuckled, smiling at the male with the softest eyes. Oh how he loved those eyes..

“Sorry. Got lost in thought.” He said, getting up from his place of rest. YN waved her hand as if dismissing him, looking at him one last time before walking ahead. Minho caught up to the girl, as the rest of the friend group walked together. “Soo..”

“Got sum to say say?” She said, taking her phone out to look at herself. “No, it’s fine.” “Aight.” Minho watched her trinket with the small features on her face adjusting whatever she needed. God, she was so beautiful. Her brown skin that shone in the sun, her perfect curves, her pretty face, she was simply so divine to him. “Minho, you’re staring.” YN was finished checking herself out, looking at him again as she noticed his looks a while ago. “What?— I wasn’t staring, there was just something on your shoulder.“

“Yeah right. You’re dog shit at lying. I caught yo ass in the act. Y’know you can’t hide shit from me, Min.” She shook her head, looking forward. In truth, she herself wanted him to keep looking. Everytime she looked at him, she felt a little spark go off somewhere in her. She enjoyed his presence as much as he did her, even if both didn’t know of it.

Soon the friend group arrived to their little destination, a small carnival next to a bridge. Water laid low under the bridge, the sun setting only slightly. “Hell yeah! The carnival! Let’s go!” Rae yelled as he ran ahead inside. “Rae wait for us!” Eunji yelled right after as she dragged Jia along. Injae laughed as he turned to Minho and YN. “You two coming?”

YN turned to the bridge with a blank face, “Nah. I think imma go over there. Take a look at the view.” She pointed back to the bridge, with a small smile and a hand on one hip. “Sure— Minho?” Injae turned his head slightly to the male, who looked quite conflicted. “I uh— I think I’ll stay with YN.”

Injae looked surprised but chuckled, shaking his head. “Alright cool. I’ll save some snacks for ya!” He waved, running ahead to catch up with the others. YN waved, turning back to the bridge with a smile. Minho turned with her, but kept his eyes on the girl. The sunset made her look as if she was in a movie, the wind blowing against her hair.

“Yo, Minho— cmon. I wanna go see the view.” She grabbed his hand, walking ahead with quick speed. Minho simply let her, realizing they were basically holding hands. His heart quickened— he was actually holding her hand? He was almost ecstatic, even if his face said otherwise. YN continued to pull his hand until they reached the bars of the bridge, keeping their hands held together and looking down to see the water.

“Ain’t it pretty Min?” He only looked at her, not giving her an answer as his hand tightened with hers. “Mmh— what was the question?” He looked out into the view, watching the sun set. “The view, dumbass. You’re supposed to agree that the view is fye.” She said shaking her head. “Fye?”

YN looked at him, laughing. Her pretty lip gloss on her plump lips, her skin that was nearly sunkissed, her smile— he noticed it all. The girl stopped laughing, looking at him with a soft smile. Her heartbeat quickened at that moment, swallowing with the little shallow breaths she let out. “Min—“

“I love you.” He interrupted quickly, eyes widening as he realized what he just said. “Wait wait I- i didn’t mean to say that—“ he quickly said, letting go of her hand to back up slightly. He looked down at his shoes, frowning as he looked flabbergasted. And so did she, shocked that those 3 words even came out of his mouth. Minho didn’t even know why he said that, it was just the spur of the moment and he felt like he should say something, but not THAT. She shook her head again, looking at his head.

“Funny.” She grabbed his hand again, intertwining them. “That’s real funny coming from yo ass. Never thought you wouldeva say that to me.” She said smiling at him, as she waited for him to look up. Minho looked up, his eyes met with YN’s. And there that feeling was again, his heart was racing— the world seemed to slow down for that slight moment.

“Love you too Minho.” She tilted her head, her hair blowing in the wind once again. “wait really?” She nodded, smiling even brighter. “Thought it was obvious? I liked you for a while. You’re just my type I guess. You’re fine as hell, and I’m always smiling with you. I thought maybe you didn’t like me like that, ‘s why i’m kinda iffy on having conversations with you.” Minho held her hand tight, looking at the view. “So.. you’re saying you wanna.. be together?”

“If YOU wanna. I’m aight with whateva—“ “I want to.” She looked at his side profile, watching him gaze out at the last rays of the sunlight. She chuckled, or really giggled. “Now i can officially call you my man.”

“…hm. I guess I can call you my girl now.”

[chuckeroo777]

Dungeon Meshi Volume 6 Part 1

Welcome back to my liveblog! As a reminder, this is a re-read, so expect plenty of spoilers!

Don't intentionally spoil people or get thwacked in the face.

Huh. So they have been here for about a week. Makes Rin's exasperation even more understandable.

Wow, rude. I feel like if you actually knew her, that's kinda the last thing she would do. She hates eating weird stuff.

Batting 0 for 3 Maizuru. Honestly, I originally thought she was kind of a jerk, but between this and "Ninja Art: Babysitter", I think her observational skills are just really bad.

See? She doesn't have a clue why this is an atrocious idea.

I mean, it was an elf who was around during Delgal's day, and was using exceptionally potent ancient magic. Who the heck else would it be? Plus the orcs confirmed his identity. And of course Laios thinks Thistle is mad about the food.

Asebi is not amused.

Hmm... another depiction of the winged lion with horns. Also, there was no need to bring up the black magic. Marcille used a regular resurrection spell, just using ancient magic to boost the power level. If the dragon hadn't been soul-bound by Thistle, it would have gone without a hitch. People like to joke Marcille did nothing wrong, but in this one case, I think she was totally in the right. There is plenty of time for her to commit war crimes later.

Chilchuck: Gasp! You were drugging him!

Kabru is here for ALL the hot goss. From a distance.

I love how the canon explanation for why Faligon has feathers is that Dragons = Dinosaurs. It's like an atavism or something. Idk, it looks cool. Stop asking questions.

God. Marcille may be my favorite, but I relate so much to Laios. This chapter and the next are painful. (And I'm not talking about the part where everyone dies)

If only Chilchuck won the coin toss, we could've avoided this drama. (At least until Shuro saw Falin)

Now that's a trustworthy face if I ever saw one.

Well well well. If it isn't the consequences of my actions.

I know I just got done explaining that her actions were fine. Just let me be funny.

Eh, it's worth a try. It works in at least one alternate universe.

She's beauty, she's grace. She's gonna eat your face.

What's all the more heartbreaking is you get little moments where Falin shines through. She wants to pet the doggie! But then the dragon reasserts itself.

Even freakier, I think this is actually Falin too. You can see her pupils oscillate throughout this scene between normal, and elongated.

Like, I don't think it did that on purpose, but the dragon is more than happy to exploit the opening it creates.

Holm? Holm, are those golem cores? Have you been holding out on us?

Man, no wonder she freaks out. Imagine you've been a dragon for who knows how long, covered in scales of iron, and suddenly this dude manages to stab you five times like it's nothing. Heck, Laios just stabbed her in the foot with a normal sword. This dragon must be fearing for it's life like crazy.

Obligatory Whoa Hey!

An important image.

No you dummy. This is standard dungeon procedure. There's a reason healers like Holm and Falin wear those silly robes. So that they get priority resurrections.

Hold up a sec. My drama senses are tingling.

I am genuinely curious what this insult was in the original Japenese, if only because I can't see that coming from either of them.

You know, when I first read Dungeon Meshi, I kinda glossed over the secondary cast a lot. Hard not to when you have my attention span, and like two dozen characters. I didn't even notice the Asebi stuff.

I know people dunk on Toshiro a lot, but I really have to question his relationship with his retainers if a simple thank you and sorry elicits this sort of reaction. Honestly, I mostly get the impression that his dad isn't great, and Maizuru is too loyal to do anything about it.

I also have to wonder why he left Asebi behind. Did he just not want to bother? Or is he rethinking his whole relationship with his retainers, and is offhandedly giving her her freedom?

Like brother like sister.

Image limit reached! I'll be back in a bit. Need to get some meshi!

[noramthe]

HELLO IM HERE TO SCREAM ABOUT MY OPINION IN CHAPTER 1 OF PROJECT:EDANS GARDEN

OBVIOUSLY SPOILERS DON'T READ IF YOU DIDN'T FINSH

OMGG THIS CHAPTER WAS SOO GOOD??? EVERYTHING THAT I WANTED AND MORE???

KAI FANS HOW ARE WE FEELING??

I’m SO PROUD of my pookie kai for how much screentime he got!!!🥹🥹 BBABBYY I LOVEE HIMM SMM YOU COULD NEVER MAKE ME HATE HIM

I thought he will be a side character that isn’t as important and doesn’t appear much BUTT AGAHAHGH IM GLAD HE DID NOT AND I LOVED HIM EVEN MORE THIS CHAPTER AHSJAKSKA

For context

From before the game was released and my three favorite were always these three in order

1-damon

2-kai

3-mark

THE FACT THESE THREE ALL APPEARED TOGETHER A LOT DURING THIS CHAPTER MAKE ME JUMPP AYAHJAKAJSJ IM SO HAPPY

I really love damon man people always say he’s an asshole and while it’s true especially with the way he feels superior then others for his talent

But i still love him and i feel like he has good intent but really bad way of saying it??(he doesn’t sugar coats it that’s for sure LOL-)

(Edit: i forget to mention but the fact in this chapter he felt really more squishy and adorable to me!! They showed a lot of his really adorable side shahaksu he alao blushes quite a bit WHICH MAKES ME SQUEAL AHAHAHAHAHAH)

I honestly love how he’s different from what you expect from a protagonist and found his way of thinking most of the time really relatable (i would click on random unimportant stuff just to see what he says about it😭😭)

I feel like he’s really interesting this chapter! Their were a few moments where i felt like his way of thinking is going to get challenged in later chapters(like him saying “i will only rely on myself to solve this trail” or when he realized eva betrayed him and began thinking about how she actually felt about him and how he shouldn’t have trusted her)

His interaction with kai was literally the highlight for the hole chapter for me OMGG THESE DUO ARE SO FUNNY HOLYY—😭😭

They are so silly god bless thank you for making me see two of my favorite characters interact with each other Gahahagahah

Kai was also really smart at some points and observant i was so proud of him the whole timee MY BABYY (need more x reader fics frfr tho)

Really loved how almost everyone of the cast was important in the trailer and contributed in some way or another! It kinda highlighted everyone's personality it was so fun to watch!!

Alright all my gushing about my favs done let me talk about things related to the trial

Let me just say i really didn’t expect it to be wolfgang?? I was literally shook to my core when i saw his body (which btw. Can we all agree the sequence before they find the body was literally so creepy omg😭 i was kai at that moment just shitting myself the whole time☠️)

The way he died was just too brutal?? God I didn’t care that much about him and he actually annoyed me a bit in this chapter because of how he took the leadership position and seemed a bit controlling (to me)

But i still felt really bad for him omg they really had to do him like that huh😭😭 i gotta say though it’s GENIUS!!

Not only because the killer realized his threat to them in the class trial. But also it gives other characters time to shine who wouldn’t have had the opportunity to if he was alive!!

The whole thing was so sad and fucked up poor diana bro had to watch her friend not only try to kill her and going insane. But also DIE in front of her while not being able to do nothing.

And eva also dismissing diana being nice to her agahhh🥹

About eva: this chapter my feelings for her were in emotional roller coaster fr😭😭

I have never been surprised, happy,hurt,betrayed,sad and in emotional reck about a character in a few hours before

It first I didn’t care about her in the prologue. I really just thought she is this stoic cold character that is smart and that’s about it.

And then when her talent get revealed and everyone mocked her for it while she was mortified. I felt really bad for her🥹 really wanted to hug her so badd

And then her interaction with damon made me MELTT AGHAHAGHH they were SO CUTE!!!😩😩(not in a shipping way btw i don’t like shipping)

God every time they talk to each other it was always so so enjoyable the way they (at least thought) that they understood each other and always by each others side🥹

The whole time i had a feeling that it was her but i was so much in delusion😭😭 IT HURTSS

i really feel bad for her even if her actions are unjustified and the way she dealt with everything was really really bad I couldn’t help but cry so hard during her execution

She tried so hard to live it just felt so human it hurts so bad AGHHAGAH MY HEARTT🥹

The fact that they brought this much emotion from me and it’s ONLY the first chapter just makes me look forward to the other chapters sm hakajskakalx

Hoping to see my trio favs more (even though I’m already satisfied hehehehehe)

[cinemautism]

Who do I think would be the favorite vocaloid of each community character because mixing special interests with hyperfixations is funny: part one

Jeff Winger - Hatsune Miku

Funniest shit I've ever said in my life

Anyways!! he would lie and say he thinks vocaloid is stupid

But he's actually a big Hatsune Miku fan

He would admire all the fame that she has and how versatile she is, and he would think that she is iconic (she is)

Favorite song? for some reason I think it would be Rolling Girl (by: wowaka - R.I.P)

Abed would be playing the song because he's a vocaloid fan and Britta would be like "Jeff ARE YOU CRYING??" and he would be like "😭😭😭😭 no"

Abed Nadir - Kobayashi Matcha

He would be a VOCALOID nerd so he would be a fan of a really unknown vocaloid

He likes Matcha because of her colors and sweet voice!

Also he would relate with her ("Matcha is described as being a bit of an introvert who is cool, calm, and collected. She hides her emotions and is quite blunt as her words are sharp and hurtful. In her spare time, she likes making fanzines/dōjinshi")

He has official merch, you can't change my mind

He went to an official show and a nico nico fes

His favorite song... I don't fucking know why but I think it would be Lower One's Eyes (by: lanndo)

Troy Barnes - Vflower / Masaoka Azuki

He would like Vflower because most of her songs are rap

Also he wouldn't know she's a girl 😭

"Oh my god I love Vflower he's so good and-" "... she" "huh" "SHE is so good" "... VFLOWER IS A GIRL??? ABED WHAT"

Also, he would be a Masaoka Azuki fan because she's Matcha's bestie and because she's kinda like him ("Azuki is described as being cheerful and positive unlike Matcha. She's very open towards her feelings and tends to act first and think later (...) she is awfully forgetful but eccentric person and somewhat impatient. She is also affectionate, effusive, and "clingy", often showing exaggerated displays of affection.")

He would find amazing that her name is a bean and he would understand her fear of kites

His favorite song would be "VIVA HAPPY!" (by: Mitchie M) but he acts like is "Egoist" (by: Oonuma Paseri) because he thinks it's cooler (everybody knows he's a Mitchie M fan but yeah Troy whatever!!)

Britta Perry - Megurine Luka

Doesn't know a lot about vocaloid but she likes it enough to be here

It's like when you show vocaloid to your mom and she is like "awww they're pretty ☺️" but instead of your mom is a bisexual pathetic millennial

"You guys don't get it, she's A GIRLBOSS and SHE'S PRETTY"

She would be angry everytime she finds a sad break-up song by Luka ("WHY WOULD SOMEONE BREAK UP WITH HER ????")

She would name one of her cats after her (as she totally should)

Her favorite songs is "LUKA LUKA NIGHT FEVER" (by: samfree - R.I.P) because she can dance with it

extra: if she was a vocaloid nerd, she would like teto because you don't have to pay for her

Annie Edison - GUMI

Thinks that the concept of vocaloids are amazing and cute

Loves GUMI and cried with her songs (especially the ones made by Circus-p)

She loves those "X vocaloid character singing X Taylor Swift song" videos

She acts like she is normal about vocaloid (she isn't)

Lesbian Gumi believer

Her favorite songs are Just Be Friends (by: Dixie Flatline) and Gimme x Gimme (by: Hachiouji-p and Giga-p) (but she would never say it outloud)

[creamflix]

omg before i go to sleep I NEEEEDDD to tell you how obsessed i am with unscripted. p.s. your writing speed scares me

i just---he's so HOT? and reader being such a loser is SO REAL like we need more of loser!reader in this world.

this is deffo my comfort series, and i am so obsesed with how you write. when they met at the bar for the first time, you kept referencing "dancing queens" and it almost felt like you were describing a movie scence (specifically rom com :')) where there's music playing in the bg and they're like FALING INN LOVEEE. it is honeslty so unique u are SOO good at writing.

not to be a hornball but omg when they finally do the devil's tango his dirty talk is literaly gonna be top tier. like reader being her virgin self is literally going to DIEEEE. i feel like she's going to be literally melting but i also think that toji might be so in love that HE might be the pathetic one. regardless of whatever you write just know I AM HERE FOR IT AHHHH.

i was literally fighting sleep yesterday because i wanted to continue reading it and lo and behold it was like 4am :[

AAASHI MY LOVE 🥹🥹 reading this ask made me so happy 🩷🩷 im glad you’re enjoying it as much as i am!

as i said in one of my other asks, i write reader’s personality with me/my friends in mind [SO self indulgent i KNOWW], but i guess that’s what makes it real and relatable! like, how else are you gonna react when you need to put all your writing into practice HUH!! and it doesn’t help that it’s TOJI of all people

this is an ode to all the smut writers on here, i see you <3 and this fic is for all of us !!

writing the dancing queen scene/s is always my favourite 🥹 i literally have that song on loop right now and averaged 100-ish plays in this week alone, do not regret it one BIT. it’s kinda funny how i chose dancing queen of all songs, but it just fits !! i agree about the rom-com thing as well, initially it was going to be a lot more smuttier but that’s BOOOOORRRIIINGGG, and besides, who doesn’t like reading more fleshed-out stories and characters anyways? seeing everyone’s reboots and comments make me smile so much as well, i don’t regret the change one BIT 🫶 i hope the next (and final) chapter really brings that out!! 🩷🩷

i kid you not, i was thinking about the actual freaky scenes SO much…like it’s gonna be a pretty big deal for reader, not because “oh she’s a virgin 😂😂” but….you’ve been writing about something for SO LONG and now you’re FINALLY getting to experience it. is it as good as you write, or worse? or something different entirely? this is a snippet i just had to share, i feel like it captures their dynamics a lot LMAO

as for pathetic toji….you read my mind. because i fear that might happen 😳 like are you kidding me!?** with the way i’ve been showcasing his character — or atleast my attempt to — you’d think he’d be super cocky and would show reader a good time, because he “knows what he’s doing.” he does!

but i really wanted to highlight that he’s so in love with reader that he just lets it happen 🥹 “brain empty no thoughts just my loving wife” kinda feel <3 i feel like that’s kinda reflective of his personality as well, because toji IS and will FOREVER be a lover boy to me. once he’s locked in with you, he’s LOCKED IN FOR LIFE.

thank u for sending in this ask bby !! i may have ended ranting a lot but i just love it when people appreciate my work as much as i have <3 this series has been such a blast to write and i cannot wait to explore the other character’s stories as well! (especially gojo & gojo-sonic hehe)

but PLEASE never sacrifice your sleep 😕🙂‍↔️😢 my works are always here for you!! <3

**[snippet under the cut]**

[crisalidaseason]

Second reading of Fourth Wing - My complete sincere and silly thoughts

Fucking spoilers below

First...goofy title. But who am I to judge...Have you seen my fic titles????

Overall a very bingable - bingeable? - book. The writing is simple enough - a bit similar to fanfiction to be honest - and despite the amount of pages it did not require much effort reading (although I am biased when talking about speed reading since i am a historian and reading stuff is my job). Not the best or consistent vocabulary and sometimes the writing was a bit cringy, but nothing overwhelming. Some dialogues were really funny though, I enjoyed the humor.

A bit too much foregin words during exposition at the start. I get it, you want to build the world the story is set in, but having Violet rant that on parapet was a bit tiring to read through. Don't get me wrong, is a good way to introduce world building by having the main character info-dump to calm down, but there were many names that we would forget anyway...it could have been more simple.

Violet is an okay character. I usually hate romantasy main characters from the start because their personality is just so bland...but Violet did surprise me a little. I could actually care for her after reading more about. Her being disabled helps a lot because I felt seen and understood in many aspects of her own thoughts about her disability. Also, broke my heart whenever Dain or Mira talked about Violet as if she was a bag of fragile pieces...kinda dehumanizing to have your disability be the only thing people see about you. Even if they were worried, maybe trust the girl a little bit, huh? She knows her body and limits like nobody else.

Wonderful side characters. I loved Rhiannion and Ridoc so fucking much!!!! They deserve the world! Also, Liam was such a sweetheart. Imogen really grew on me, girl is an icon in my humble opinion. Dain was okay, just a bit too repetitive on the entire I-wanna-protect-but-I-don't-want-to-listen-your-opinions! I wish we had a bit more insight on those characters, like Ridoc and Sawyer, but most of them I was able to really enjoy.

Xaden is alright. A bit underwhelming and clichê, but he grew on me by the end of the book. Maybe we could get more POVs from him, because I started to like him more when I got to read his only POV chapter.

The dragons are awesome. I love Tairn so fucking much, he is my spirit animal, the grumpy ass protective dad trope, but it's a dragon. Also, his dynamic with Andarna is so sweeeet. But I wish we could see more of him and Sgaeyl interacting, I barely know her - but she is iconic anyway. Also, Tairn never calls people by name and that is fucking funny because my dad is always calling people nicknames - hence why I think Tairn is just a grumpy dad. Andarna is soooo cute and corageous, I love her.

The plot of the book is quite simple at the start, but fuck if those names did not confuse me! Assessment, Challenges, Gauntlet and etc. Sometimes I got confused as fuck with the timeline of those events! Also...why some people have super simple names and some have like...unreadable names?

How do you pronounce Xaden? Because in my language "X" has a soung of "SHH" and I fucking lost it while trying to pronounce it.

Our girl Violet is very brave, I'll give you that! She does not back down at all, and the poisoning her enemies was really fun to see. It was good to see her win opponents without poisoning too, because I am sure the girl is capable.

Violet is a horny woman, I can relate - even if I am no girl. A glimpse at Xaden and she was DOWN BAD! Funny as fuck but at the same time...get a grip, Violet!

The bad guys in the book were a bit too cartoonish, not gonna lie...Jack, Oren. They were a bit goofy sometimes because of that. I get it, you need an asshole, but maybe tone down a little? But nothing too agravating - aggravating??.

I'll give it to you, the tension around the romance is nice! The steamy scenes - although not something I really care for - were not nearly as cringy as other I've read. Although I kinda laughed hard at how those two wrecked the entire room, must be so awkward the next day when everyone knows what were ya'll up to. I enjoyed their interactions and banter too, it was fun to see but sometimes I felt second-hand embarassment at some of their attitudes. Those two need a room!

The venin/wyvern foreshadowing was strooooong and predictable. Also, the whole smuggling-weapons-to-help-fliers was pretty detectable too! I knew the marked ones were up to something ''good''. The whole rebellion discussion was screaming 'history distortion'. All the hints were very obvious and I think maybe it was the authors intention? The hints were all there, and they were not bad in my opinion.

The rebellion needs its own story, my historian ass demands it.

I liked the battle scenes. It wasn't that out of pocket or so unrealistic. I get that Violet is a badass, but we pretty much see her fail and loose Liam due to her untrained power. Sometimes we get too much of the main girl just mastering everything easily. Violet is really good at stuff, but she also needs to be bad at something to the point it costs her something. I like the balance of her abilities, made me relate and like her more.

I knew Liam would die the moment Rhiannon said he cheated death twice...fuck I hate it when authors kill the sweetest guys!!!!! WHYYYYYY

I knew the rebellion never vanished. It's typical in books like these, but I don't think is bad. As long as it's well developed, there are good chances that it becomes an interesting political arc. I love political arcs. The first book has a good base to make this interesting.

I give the book a 3,5/5 stars! Good enough to not drop it and it gets better after a while

[mekatrio]

ANYWAYS before i do um whats apparently the good end?? true end??? aka doors 5 -> 8 -> 6, this is what i think of every character..

1 -> FAWKINGGGG WEIRDO like seriously seriously ok first i thought maybe ace is a weirdo scientist who knows more than he lets on maybe hes an insider for zero or something but also like.. he has said some very weird stuff like during the search for ace hes like 'why wouldnt you think snake and clover are siblings? oh yeah bc they dont look alike' and also ohhhh my god i swear hes said something else that was rly weird but i cannot for the life of me recall what it was. but essentially the two weird things hes said gives off the air of like. a dude who knows jackshit abt the world.. like hes a test tube baby fresh out the tube or something idk. which again is even more weird considering how like... how to say.. like hes manipulated the events of the game a lot yknow like he was adamant in making sure that ppl dont suspect one another of being zero 🤨🤨🤨 and then he goes and drugs himself so we go in doors 3 7 or 8 without him, and if i go into door 1 he'll reveals that he knows junpei's trick w the paper and just then he went off somewhere with lotus leaving me to be SLAUGHTERED by clover like hes sooooo weird whats his deal. hes also really funny too HAH like an old man loser but srsly i dont completely trust him in the slightest i still think hes involved w snake's disappearances somehow mmhm

2 -> snake is cool as fuck like such a chill guy im sooo sad i can only do two rooms with him b4 he fawking disappears so i really am suspecting that he is inside of that coffin and ill get to do room 9 with him clover and seven pleaseee please please. other than that like I dont knowww i dont know why he disappeared.. his outfit is kinda similar to the man w the 0 bracelet so like Maybe that means something yknow i think it might mean something hmm both him and clover were previous subjects of the nonary game 9 years ago so maybe he knows his way around the ship and knows like secret passages or whatever? and also like... if he is in that coffin then whos the dead person in the shower room?? so mysteriously mysterious

3 -> funny as fuck guy who BETRAYED ME but really i wonder whats his deal huh. shockingly learned that he had a sister in the prev bad end and also hmmm its seems veryyy likely that he was another test subject too just like clover and snake. but yet they dont recognize one another as such which is ? alsooo just theorizing but i feel like him + clover + junpei + june are the same age and related to those missing children somehow and also i wonderrrrr if his sister is the girl who died hmmm? ive said multiple times like what if the one who died is akane's twin or something which yeah i think is still plausible but santa has had a few random instances of being pretty melancholic which makes me wonder if he was close to the girl who died or something yknow... also like what was that whole thing abt the black and white santa like seriously What was that it made me laugh but also ???? to me it feels like its continuing the theme of theseus' ship that has been recurring in this game 🤔

4 -> im still befhwefbjfe from the latest ending like myyyy goodness i was genuinely surprised by her tenacity to kill people cold bloodedly like goddamn. its not too surprising but its still??!? pretty surprising?!??! i still think shes a kind and cute girl but like yeah idk what else to say abt her umm i wonder if her and snake are actually siblings yknow... hmm......

5 -> THE PRESIDENT OF WEIRDO CENTRAL like seriously he might be the weirdest one of them all he reminds me of phoenix wright in the way that theyre both protagonists who i play as and yet i barely know a thing abt and i have a feeling that junpei knows more abt things that r going on than i as the player do.. cuz like firstly hes had all those rando joker moments and also hes kinda had like???? weirddd reactions to things?? like these

and not just that but also like jfc i barely know anything abt his past.. ive already said this but it bears repeating but srsly why did he grow apart from akane! they both like each other so... what happened!!! OH and also in room 8 him and lotus have a weird exchange where junpei is like 'What The Fuck Is A Wireless Display' and honestly idk whose the weird one in that situation like is it lotus for working w wireless displays or is it junpei for not knowing what that is. idk when this game was released and whether bluetooth was a thing yet. whatttt is with this dude

6 -> vice president of weirdo central... kinda not really. but yeah ive already commented on her a lot and i dont rly wanna repeat myself so to keep it brief maybe shes got a twin who died + shes probably one of the kids who got experimented one + her random fevers might be her remembering something the way seven remembered shit (or maybe shes like junpei and is also in whatever this time travel thing is??)

7 -> similarly to akane ive kinda already said everything i find weird abt this guy the main thing being that its kinda suspicious how the doors he leaves unlocked are the ones that lead a trail to a dead body w a bracelet like Hmmmmm okkk

8 -> these are getting shorter cuz im getting hungry LOL but shes also another person ive commented a lot on. i started off thinking she was a weirdo scientist involved w the nonary game and while i still think shes a scientist of some sort, the torture room revealed she didnt know abt the nonary game her children went thru which makes me change my mind. wait also omfg why the hell is there a torture room on this boat. i guess this is the gigantic (war ship) huh. ALSO who killed her in that ending huh! i feel like its ace tbh cuz the game said 'the person who would gain the most from getting lotus' bracelet killed her' and seeing ace has the lowest number while lotus has the highest like doesnt that make senseee. but yeah as of rn i think her outfit means she has some sort of connection to alice (maybe shes researching her?) and i still think shes a #LadyInSTEM

9 -> and whats this dudes deal huh..... he probably knows zero well in some way.. but other than that i dont know a thinggg. but also yknow considering that clover (and meee) think that snake is still alive somehow in spite of that exploded body, and that i think snake is the one banging on that coffin, this would then mean that body in the shower room is a "fake" somehow.. and wouldnt that mean that the body of the 9th man in the 5th room corridor also be a faked one somehow?? and maybe just maybe the 9th man is the one who killed us in some endings... maybe.. idk... itll be very junko enoshima if thats the case lol. but yeah i still have my thoughts on him.... HMMMM

[likeadevils]

Thinking about the deleted scene from the Tim McGraw video... I understand it's not THAT risque, but it feels odd for the time. Do you have any thoughts on that as a TS historian? Because as someone who has done my best to research (mainly with the help of blogs such as yours <3) I feel as though there was a slight push to make her *slightly "cleaner" during the Fearless era.

It feels like she "naturally" gained a good girl reputation during the debut era, and then when Fearless came around, she was REALLY pushing it. Like they talked about it in EVERY interview to the point where it did not feel genuine.

Then a lot of the long-form Speak Now stuff is either "waiting for her to crack" or, "huh, she acts like a normal person in their early 20s. What a novelty." The Vogue, and New Yorker profiles strike me as particularly prooding on the topic of her "good girl" rep. Like that whole part about her asking for cursing to be left off the record.

Red onwards, she definitely started portraying herself as more "adult" in a way that felt natural, and slightly less fixated on the "good girl" thing, until rep of course.

Long ask, I know. But I find it interesting as a topic.

i do think there was a shift in the fearless era where like. she wasn’t courting people her own age as much? like, debut era the narrative was like, “country album made by and for teenage girls” and then during the fearless era it kinda shifted into “america’s older sister taylor swift with her hordes of 8 year olds”. and i think part of that was just how the cookie crumbled (like, a, she is to a certain degree just kinda like that, and b, she dated a jonas brother and that’s gonna come along with some young fans) and part of that was a buisness decision to like, get on radio disney and do hannah montana, and then there’s the kinda in between stuff of inviting a bunch of kids to t-party. and with that marketing to young girls comes a push for a squeakier image.

i think the interesting thing about red is she starts really marketing herself to people her own age again. like, the harvey mudd performance is fascinating to me, because it’s the first time since like, those tour bus shows with debut that she was playing to an audience exclusively her age. and she’s funny as fuck! she’s charming and relatable, but in a way we rarely got to see her— she’s not making long speeches giving advice, she’s telling funny stories about the mistakes she made. and like, i love her long speeches of advice, but the harvey mudd concert has me so paradocial in a different way

i don’t know i could probably talk about this forever but if i do ill be late to work

[stabbyfoxandrew]

I know you're a voltron lover ny friend so which fox would be which paladin and why?

okay so i got this ask like as soon as i woke up and i was like HUH bc i forgot about last night :'))

after some consideration, of the monsters:

Kevin would be Shiro, Neil would be Keith, Nicky would be Lance, Andrew would be Hunk, and Aaron would be Pidge. (none of these assignments has anything to do with shipping purposes. like i'm not saying neil and nicky would be klance? i just wanna make that clear?)

Anyhow you can think otherwise, i don't mind! But to me, these just make sense.... I will explain myself below.

long, sort of insane ramble under the cut. you have been warned.

Kevin is the slightly older mentor to Neil (the shiro to neil's keith) who is very traumatized by his time with a Bunch of Evil Shits and has gray hair and had his hand (arm) ruined by the enemy! He learns and grows and tries to make his team the best it can be. He never wants to stop until the ravens (galra) are defeated! He's scared bc he's far from home but he's brave as hell anyway! Braver than he should have to be, he's just in his 20s. PLEASE GIVE THIS MAN A BREAK (and also he's separated from his bf. ik kevjean isn't canon but let me make this connection anyway bc they're canon to me)

Neil is the hotheaded asshole who actually sorta wants to be friends with people but has the social skills of a raccoon who was shoved into a trash can and shaken around for, oh, ten years or so. He looks up to Kevin, wants to be like him, but knows he could NEVER fill his shoes! And he doesn't want to! He wants to help Kevin, not be Kevin. (getting the quote wrong for sure but the 'one of us should make it and i want it to be you' kinda mindset is so keith? keith literally almost died to KEEP EVERYONE SAFE!!!! LIKE NEIL'S STUPID MARTYR ASS)

Nicky is the sweet, funny one who cares deeply about everyone and who gets the least consideration from the rest no matter how he tries? (the man willingly moved away from his family (ERIK) to take care of people who don't give a shit about him (supposedly), like lance who was taken from his family to fight to save the world? like... come on.) he's unapologetic about who he is and tries to get along with everyone, for the most part. but he has no problem biting back one someone starts smth. (ie. his beef with Seth and Allison) He is misunderstood, bc while he's outgoing and friendly he also has another side that's just straight-up Traumatized. Like... he's not all jokes. He's just hiding behind them.

Andrew is is strong and is largely a Protector. People misunderstand him because of things outside of his control, by this I mean Andrew is 'evil and crazy,' but it's because of the drugs that he's on bc he was fiercely protective of his cousin. He cares about his people and wants to protect them. (Like Hunk is rightly scared and Andrew acts apathetic, but they do care. That's the important part.) I'm not saying Andrew has a secret heart of gold and he's a Sweet Lil Cinnamon Roll or all the shit people used to say about Hunk (bc let's be honest, making the fat brown character into a uwu baby is rage inducing) but he cares. OH ALSO THEY BOTH HAVE A FEAR OF HEIGHTS!!!! (or hunk did at the beginning anyhow!) Also this is unrelated but I think Andrew would enjoy having a bayard. It could turn into lots of different knives? sign him up : )

Aaron is green. (i was gonna leave it at that to be funny but that would be mean to aaron) So... Aaron is Andrew's everyone's annoying sibling who's actually really smart but also is a dumbass at the same time. He's got ulterior motives to be there. (Aaron plays exy to get his education, Pidge is part of voltron to find her dad and brother.) And Aaron is going into the medical field which is science related, thusly... assigned green paladin by Moi.

Anyway, it just fits. I could probably go into even more detail but I'd rather be dead than discuss this show at length bc I'm not a really voltron fan. I love the characters and the first three seasons. that's where it stops for me. the rest of the show makes me wanna die. lol i couldn't even tell you what happens after s3. i've blocked it all of that shit from my memory. :')

ahhh sorry for this novel. i just apparently had a lot of thoughts. i was gonna go and do the upperclassmen as well but... this is too long and they're not my Pookies so.

(ps: sorry this is so badly formatted. i didn't feel like making it look nice :'))