#mean simon weeee

[opheliajupiter99]

Breakout

Alarms blared in one of the higher-risk floors of Arkham Asylum, the guards rushing up to the floor, and stopping at one cell in particular, the cell of Frank. The cell was in shambles, the ceiling cracked, and one wall completely smashed in, with the flimsy bed tossed aside, and even the metal toilet obliterated, as if the man had grown so immense that the cell simply couldn't hold him anymore.

While they rushed about in a panic to try and catch up to the behemoth of a man, Frank, in a panic of his own, bashed through wall after all, the ceiling in parts of the facility started to cave in as the foundation holding them up further compromised. He did this until he reached a low enough floor to safely bash out the building entirely, without plummeting to his death that is, ending up spilled out from the structure in a pile of rubble, waddling down to the docks to hide underneath one of them.

"I-I didn't mean to..." Frank mumbled practically shivering over the chaos that had unfolded. His strength and size had suddenly increased before, but that one...he -really- looked like Bane now, hell he barely fit under the dock. He hung his head, whimpering "W-Whatta we do, Simon?" He said, looking to what appeared to most as thin air, but what appeared to him as a skinny, shadowy humanoid creature, with a fang-filled smile and wide, pupilless white eyes.

"Weeee....haaave....fuuuun." The beast hissed, its smile widening. Frank's smile widened in turn. "Okay. You're my bestest friend, Simon!"

[mermaidsirennikita]

What was the Hello, Stranger controversy?

Hello, Stranger (or as I just found out despite owning this book in paperback, "Hello Stranger", comma is needed imo) is a Ravenels book that I honestly think is my least favorite Kleypas book I've read... which sucks! Because the heroine has an amazing name! (Garrett Gibson. God I love it. If I had a daughter I'd name her Garrett, but if I play my cards right my womb will be forever empty, so we've gotta just not do that.)

Anyway, Garrett falls in love with Ethan Ransom (another fun name, but honestly, this being a Ravenels book was soooo tangential... *SPOILER ALERT* he is a Ravenel bastard--I forget if he was West and Devon's brother or cousin, it seriously didn't check for me) who is a detective. I'll be frank. If this book was *better* I don't know if people would've clocked the issue as much. Which isn't right. But I know the romance community. They're clocking shit faster than they used to, but I think the combo of this being Lisa Kleypas and this being a weak Lisa Kleypas is what got it called out.

Smart Bitches, Trashy Books published this review which basically sums the issue up. Ethan talks to Garrett about an Indian woman he fucked while he was training to be a spy. She was a woman from Calcutta that taught him about sex and desire ("Kama".... I don't think he actually says AND THEN WE READ THE KAMA SUTRA, but anyone read this would think of it when "Kama" is mentioned) and allll the sexy shit that Exotic Women know. It's gross. It's flippant. It's dumb as shit.

Lisa then apologized publicly and pretty quickly that passage was erased from all digital copies of the book. I happen to own a (secondhand) paperback of the book that still has that scene, but from what I understand all subsequent printings have deleted it as well.

Since then (I mean, I think it's since then?) Lisa has made an effort to edit a lot of her older works. Most notably, It Happened One Autumn, which does have a scene that, yes, is genuinely problematic--but tbh, I blame her a lot less for that than I do the Hello, Stranger thing. In part because of how romance functions, and in part because of how long ago the book was published compared to Stranger--Stranger was a 2018 release while It Happened One Autumn is a 2005 release. As much as people want to pretend that we hit 2000 and everyone knew what was right and wrong in terms of sexual mores... I was 10/11 in 2005. That's not how I remember it. So Lillian getting blackout drunk and a sober Westcliff having sex with her and her being like "weeee, what a fun dream, oops it was real, oh well"... and neither Lisa nor the editor, both of whom were presumably women my mom's age clocking that as rape? Tracks. Personally, I enjoy the scene as is--I know what it is, and I'm not saying it's morally correct or anything we should do in real life, but I enjoy it as a flawed, dated piece of literature. I also think people should be able to access both the original text and the corrected version. However, Lisa and her publisher have basically been attempting to delete this kind of content--and the scene in Secrets of Summer Night when Simon kisses Annabelle without asking (just kisses!) in the dark. She has no question of who is kissing her lol. It's not a crazy scene. Similarly, the scene where Kev "kidnaps" Win as a sort of marriage ritual thing (she's totally into it) in Seduce Me At Sunrise has been edited.

What I find interesting is that all of this sexual content has been edited... But I have yet to hear anything about the problematic, fetishizing shit surrounding Cam and Kev as heroes in The Hathaways being edited. I wouldn't know--I own paperbacks of their books, and I haven't been able to read more recent paperbacks or digital copies. I actually think that Mine Till Midnight and Seduce Me At Sunrise (especially Sunrise) are, aside from that fetishistic shit, super strong romances. Like, I won't lie about that. So idk. Why hasn't that been discussed?

To me... Idk, I think that romance as a genre has a wide range of sexual content, and it should, because the genre deals with the romantic and sexual fantasies of readers, which are WIDE RANGING. I think that dark romance should be allowed to exist, and if people want to read out their rape fantasies in a safe space, then have the fuck at it. I think that I should be able to read The Fires of Winter by Johanna Lindsey, in which the hero repeatedly rapes the heroine, and say "yeah, this is bad, but it's also a part of the sexual history of the genre and I do enjoy this book".

In terms of race, the genre has a whole other thing to reckon with, and imo the power dynamics of the genre being one that has been dominated by white women for decades make it different. We as women can pick and choose what we are comfortable with in terms of the sexual content of this genre, whereas people (primarily women) of color have not been able to safely read it, for the most part. So I'd like to see people like Lisa Kleypas reckon more with things like the Hello Stranger controversy, versus people complaining about a scene in It Happened One Autumn that sure, is now recognized as problematic, but at the time was very *normal*. I honestly don't really blame her for writing that scene in 2005--there are plenty of authors that write that shit today, and the only difference is that they slap on a TW for dubcon or noncon (I'm very pro trigger warnings in romance). Her writing the fetishistic shit in the Hathaways and Hello Stranger... is a different issue. And that's what I'd like to see the whoooooole genre focus on. I honestly feel like (my fellow) white people in romance focus so hard on what is "problematic" in terms of sexual content ("I don't like dubcon! I don't like dom daddies!") that they totally gloss over the shit that is done to make authors and readers of color feel fetishized and alienated on a daily basis in the genre. And then they beat the drum and go "romance is so maligned" lmao.

[sophiechoir]

Thoughts from Mass 11/10/19

“He is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.” Luke 20:38

>This, I think, is the most vital piece of Scripture from today. I have to meditate on it for a while

https://biblehub.com/luke/20-38.htm different translations; so many meanings

Martyrdom: the irrevocable choice of one reality/life/death over another

“On earth as it is in heaven” - As above so below

Seven brothers vs seven devils (Florence & the Machine lol)

So the visiting priest explained the seven brothers passage (Matthew 22:23) as from the POV of a different set of values: in those times, a woman who didn’t produce children was worthless; therefore the brothers marrying her and trying to help her generate offspring was a sign of their caring intent for the woman and so they’re all virtuous in the eyes of God. Unless that same set of values still applies today and women are to be judged by their breeding ability like fucking livestock, resting their moral worth and salvation entirely on the actions of men, this implies (among many other things) that God’s judgement and standards change with the times/cultural norms and there is no set divine standard for morality. Is this the correct interpretation/explanation? Or should the priest really have reread the whole passage and changed his focus? (for real, though, is that conclusion correct? I don’t know how I’d feel about it either way)

I feel stupid for not really thinking of this before, but what exactly is the resurrection (other than Christ’s resurrection)? Is it just the afterlife? But the Sadducees didn’t believe in the resurrection & yet still believed in the afterlife (or did they? were they just baiting Christ?). What about hell? 

>looked this up after Mass, going down a rabbit hole of different eschatologies. weeee

>Why on earth is the resurrection of the body essential to (Catholic) Christian faith??

https://www.catholic.com/tract/resurrection-of-the-body

>but it sounds more like reincarnation rather than resurrection? because for most of us (humanity), our actual bodies will have long passed into dust - they’d have to be entirely made new. Christ’s resurrected body hardly seemed human in its abilities - and an immortal, painless body sounds quite inhuman - so if we are given a new body, one more spirit than flesh, how is that truly resurrection of the human flesh? and when we die, are we just dead (void) until this resurrection (and so to us resurrection seems to happen immediately after death), or do we go to heaven/hell/purgatory and wait for the resurrection there? does the resurrection happen in mortal time/in our mortal realm? doesn’t it have to, if it requires mortal bodies? could it be that the disintegration of the body on earth and its reintegration into the rest of creation is like this sort of resurrection? gah this all seems so strange and so very trivial. how can we presume to know any of this

I wonder what Erasmus thought of the idea of the Church as the body of Christ or of the resurrection of the body

“Jesus, in his weakness”

“The love of God and the encouragement of Christ Jesus”

Psalm 17

There’s nothing more embarrassing than a priest who misremembers a biblical passage (Simon of Cyrene) and bases most of his rambling homily off of that mistake. Father Chris, where did you go?

“The love of God permeates the very core of who I am and who I am to others.” I suppose even a fool can be wise in faith.

[milkcartlyn]

Wayward son playlist analyzation:

Eyes off you: It literally repeats “I can’t be sadddd. Sadddd” ITS SUPER DEPRESSING “I can’t take my eyes off you” “It’s dark it’s dark it’s dark” “Now you’re on your own” I’m guessing Simon thinks he can’t be sad? Like he’ll bring everyone else down?? Either way something isn’t right Also it’s a very good song 10/10 would listen again Afraid of nothing: Why is this so depressing wtf “I NEED YOU TO BE AFRAID OF NOTHING” WTH IS EVERYONE OK?? Omg what is happening is Simon like depressed or something???? IS BAZ DEPRESSED BECAUSE IF SO I WILL BE DEPRESSED AND NO ONE AND I MEAN NO ONE WILL HURT HIM OK This cannot be good for my mental health I’m crying while eating craft Mac and cheese someone send help Don’t stop believing: JUST A SMALL TOWN GURLLLL LIVIN IN A LONELY WORLLLDDDD Sorry I felt like i had to Yeah this is uplifting Hopefully the next song isn’t depressing like the first two... Lol what if Baz is trying to cheer up Simon or something Why did I say lol that’s not even funny what is wrong with me curse my sardonic sense of humor

DONT STOP BELIEVING (Again, I’m sorry) Plot twist: this is all during finals week at university It would be accurate tbh Sim Sala Bim: I have no idea what to think It’s so...weird??? Uh oh So reading up on the meaning or whatever  (wow great language skills) I found out it’s apparently suspected to be about someone leaving another person relationship wise??? Long story short they leave because they are only thinking of themself and then leave a mark on the other person but then feel terrible and like they ruined their own life Aleister Crowley, this is not good. ITS ABOUT A BREAKUP AND FEELING EMPTY AFTERWARDS *hyperventilates* I really hope either A) this is about Micah and penny or someone other than snowbaz but still really not Micah and penny because I would die for them and they deserve better (please let us meet micah rainbow!!) Orrrrr B) it’s actually not about a breakup in the story and everyone is happily committed in a relationship and no one breaks up and everyone gets married to their respected partners and lives a joyful and fulfilled life Pleaseeeeee rainbow WHYYY Chicago: Seriously SERIOUSLY “I fell in love again. All things go, all things go” *dramatically sighs* I really hope this is in here because they go to Chicago in America since rainbow said they were gonna go to America Ok so after reading up on the song, yeah it’s not *as* depressing as I thought so phew It’s literally about being in Chicago and exploring and having fun while being free Finally some good news A Horse With No Name: Um it’s a travel song about being in a desert? I’m really not 100% sure what this is about but it also said something about rehabilitation for being a drug addict? Pretty sure that’s not gonna be in Wayward Son If anyone has anything to add on this please do I’m kinda sorta really confused Sonsick: So it’s about wanting a child? Maybe?? WILL SNOWBAZ WANT TO ADOPT?? Wait It’s about someone being with a guy and then he wasn’t far enough ahead in their relationship and she just wanted a child while he wasn’t that committed in the first place... Not a good sign (Good song tho!) Middle Cyclone: *sighs* Of course It’s about wanting love Why am I somehow not surprised Get out the map: Very country Don’t really know what to think Lol maybe they are lost and need to... “Get out the map” Thank you, I’ll be here all night Why do also I have a feeling simon is the one who refuses to stop for directions while baz is the one constantly pestering Simon to pull over and get directions? It’s alright now: Happy song yayyyy “It’s alright now” Let’s hope so because right now I’m not alright Sun shy (acoustic): Happy love song Yay It’s about a happy loving relationship and wanting to be there for each other and to come close to one another That’s a good sign right?? I’m desperate ok? Watch me: Happy song again “I’m falling but not so far” This could be about Simon or baz For Simon, it could be about him doing better since killing the mage since he’s obviously had a lot of support (from baz, penny, and his therapist)

For Baz, it could be about him recovering his self esteem and starting to truly except himself for who he is no matter what Natasha would have thought. Maybe his dad even starts to acknowledge his queerness, who knows? Sinnerman: It was a song Not much to say It was good tho Please help add more The Partisan: French* It has a sad vibe Makes me sad Now, Now: I’m worried “You don’t mean that...say you’re sorry” This could mean that maybe a fight occurs between two characters but it’s hard to say Lawyers, Guns, and Money: It’s a rock song Not much I mean I guess it’s happy? Give out: Sad songggg Very saadddddd How Shall I Love Thee?:

RED ALERT WEEEE OOO WEEE OOO THIS SONG IS SAD I THINK SOMEONE IS DEAD IT SAYS: “How shall I love thee when you are gone?” THATS NOT GOOD DEFINITELY NOT GOOD FAR FROM BEING GOOD

Can’t find my way home: This song... It’s about someone dying... And they don’t have much time left Ugh this book is gonna make me cry my eyes out Carry on my wayward son: As sad as ever... I hope this doesn’t end in flames _____________________________________________ After thoughts: This book will be the end of me I want my grave to cool though “In memory of the person who literally spent 4 hours going through 20 songs on a Spotify playlist” Originally there was a song on the playlist called Mother by Tori Amos that said “he’s gonna change my name” which I thought to be a proposal from either Simon or baz but she took it off the playlist sadly It was also a very sad song and number seventeen on the playlist All in all I’m gonna die because of this book If you would like to add to this, please do! I would like to hear everyone else’s opinions and theories on the playlist and Wayward Son! Also sorry this is so long

[syoddeye]

ghost likes captive audiences.

or rather, he likes you.

the pretty shop girl who always has a smile for a brute like him. soft-spoken and sweet. he has no clue that it's simply part of the gig. that the polite act is just that. an act. he doesn't know that the small talk you exchange—how he's always tired and you're always broke—doesn't actually mean anything. he convinces himself you're into him. that despite the mask hiding the lower half of his face, you must be attracted to him.

so imagine his surprise when you pitch a fit after he acts on it. he doesn't understand. he waited until the shop emptied so as not to embarrass you. his offer is sound. take off your panties, put them in with his shopping, and he'll match whatever's in the till in cash. what? was he supposed to ask you to dinner first? it's disappointing to learn you're such a stuck-up brat. guess he'll have to sort you out and learn who you really are under that stupid apron.