#oh their dynamic in diaries makes me ill

[mangotelevision]

I live and breathe for toxic ivylyn

[gallivantingheart]

Use Your Mouth as an Anchor

masterlist | previous | next

🍵 chapter 4: durian🍵

who?: soonyoung/hoshi x (f)reader

word count: 993

genre/s: fluff, humour, social media!au

warnings: some course language

genre: social media!au, princess diaries II !au, humour, romance, mild angst

warnings: none, as of yet

**please ignore the timestamps - they are not accurate**

a/n: so, we love crappy delusional family dynamics xx

Your uncle is an idiot. You’ll say it louder for those at the back who missed it, or over and over again to those who are late to the party. From his blotchy red face and the way he spittles a little when he talks, he makes you ill. Your cousin - his son - Minhwan had already made his paid sob story for the year to some South Korean tabloid for ten figures. So he would be funding a lot of his father’s silly campaigns and ventures. A portion of your own salary went towards the upkeep of the family, something you didn’t have the heart to get out of, even now. It was part of the reason why you lived in a rundown cottage from the late 60’s on the other side of the island. The other reason being freedom.

On top of this, you hated Saturdays. Mandatory appearance at the family estate or else someone would come by to escort you. Like a damn parole officer! You had tried getting out of it too many times before to no avail - no dog to eat your homework here, or flat tyre. Best to just bite the bullet and show up, if only for an hour.

Your uncle gives you a brief displeased glance over his tea. Chipped cup too. “Y/n. Glad to see you grace us with your presence.”

You reach for a biscuit on the coffee table. The room is always too dark. It’s not atmospheric or imposing, it’s musty. And an energy waster.

“My pleasure, uncle as always. How was your week?”

Your parents were on a round the world trip with some charity - very much not like the Chon family. But your mother was someone who married into the family, so she was a bit more altruistic. Your father, not so much. But he was weaker in will between the two of them, so she often made such choices.

“Fair, thank you. Minhwan is currently working with me to restore the estate. We have a roofer coming in the next few days to provide us a quote. Before you know it, the Chon Estate will be glowing with glory. Minhwan is trying his best to liaise with the royal family’s assistants for a place on the democratic council.” he preens.

Minhwan this - Minhwan that. You bury your smirk behind your chewing. Goodness they were all stupid. Democratic council…as if he could just walk in there and demand a spot that required a vote and a region to represent! Uncle will be saying that the sun shines from between his ass cheeks soon.

“I see,” you reply mildly, “Minhwan is quite busy.”

He hums content. “Yes, my son - the light of the Chon family. What about you? Minhwan’s wife had said you had made a…post? Of a very expensive dress on the Instant Gram. Where could you possibly get the money for such a thing?”

Your heart lurches and you curse her as you reach for your glass of lemonade. The ice clinks in the quiet. For some reason today everyone has eyes and ears on your conversation. Doesn’t make it easy to be nondescript.

“Oh, well the Genoa Post has an important event coming up. I’ve got the dress on loan from a friend of Wonwoo’s.” Not all a lie.

He sniffs, realising he can’t squeeze you for more money - probably for this place’s electric bill. “I see. That’s charitable of them. Please make sure that you set a good example as a member of the Chon family. I would hate to see a repeat of that Christmas party a few years ago.”

That actually makes two of you. No one wants to see you face down, ass up in the bushes of the Genoa Gardens Pavilion, throwing your guts up from a few too many glasses of champagne. It had put you off the bubbly drink for quite some time. Despite the mutual disdain, you take a sip of your lemonade, as nonplussed as you can.

“Of course, uncle. Would hate for my colleagues to air that out in the entertainment section the following news cycle.” You reply, like Wonwoo wasn’t your best friend.

He sneers a little but says nothing else.

You left no further room for discussion so he moves onto another member of the family who eagerly falls over themselves to talk about their half-baked connections to the Royal court. You’re glad your job in this house is seen as nothing more than frivolous tabloid gossip, severely unfounded (on a count of it being too nice about the Queen). You like to hide in shadows to save yourself from being used.

Finally, after watching the clock a little too closely, at one hour and one minute after arrival, you stand. Quite abruptly. Your uncle shoots you a look as you turn to return your glass to the kitchen - there was no hired help here on weekends so certainly no butler like “the good old days”. From there you returned and tipped your head in a bow.

“Thank you for having me. I need to get going - there was quite a bit of roadwork on the way here.” Absolute, shameless lie.

He levels you with a look, that sneer creeping back. “So soon?”

You nod firmly. “Yes.”

You made no opening for questioning or arguments. One hour, six minutes and counting!

“I see. Well, we will see you next week. Be sure to make enough time for travel in future.” He says. “Would hate to see you late in your busy schedule due to family commitments.”

It takes every ounce of your soul not to mock gag or roll your eyes. So you simper in contempt instead with puckered lips and squinted expression, turning on the heel of your boot for the foyer. You’re not even out the front door when you pull your phone out to scroll and block Minhwan’s wife from your profile - snitch.

[magratpudifoot]

I was tagged by @black-lodge-gatekeeper to do a retrospective of what I read this year.

Thanks largely to a couple of extended illnesses, I read:

- 53 print books

- 3 plays

- 1 journal issue

- 1 studio diary

- 2 zines

- About a dozen audiobooks (alas, I have not been posting those in my Ms. P Reads 2024 tag and have therefore not been keeping good track)

1) Best memoir:

The Big Reveal: An Illustrated Manifesto of Drag by Sasha Velour

I think perhaps memoirs/biographies were my most-read genre this year, although I haven't tallied up the numbers. I read a pile of them, and what put Velour's book on top is that it is really only half memoir, as she so gracefully situates her own life within a history of drag and activist art and glorious genderqueer vitality. Brava.

2) Most enlightening:

Freud: The Making of an Illusion by Frederick Crews

I don't think I will ever be over the time a professor told me I should read more Freud before I question the merit of Freudian literary analyses. This was long enough ago that that professor is no longer teaching, and I am gratified to report that even the film department faculty was pretty much done with Freud by the time I was in grad school. In fact, Frederick Crews was a Freudian scholar who ended up reading enough Freud that he found out the dude was way more unqualified to speak on...anything than even little undergrad me thought. So take that, professor who taught my undergrad Science Fiction class--Crews says reading more Freud makes you trust him LESS. This book was wild. Every time you think you have plumbed the depths of the wtf-ery, you find out about another absolutely bonkers, thoroughly immoral thing this creep did.

3) Best books I should have read by now:

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie & Textual Poachers by Henry Jenkins

Seriously, how had I not read either of these before? Please enjoy them, too, if you haven't already--they're classics for a reason.

4) Book that spoke most directly to my soul:

Siren Queen by Nghi Vo

Sublime. I'm afraid to reread it because I don't want to find out that I can't access that state of awed, devastated transcendence again.

5) My favorite horror novel I read this year:

A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

Kingfisher/Vernon is always a joy to read--so twisted and amusing and weirdly educational--and some of the family dynamics hit close enough to home that I felt a bit of my intergenerational trauma seeping out into the rose bushes.

6) Coziest reread:

Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett

If you ever find yourself wondering if you should be listening to one of the recent Discworld audio rereleases, the answer is yes. I have much of this book memorized, as many times as I have read it, and it was exactly what I needed this fall. Indira Varma does a spectacular job as the reader, so I could not have enjoyed this more.

7) Most unexpectedly good impulse buy:

Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places by Colin Dickey

I can no longer remember if I heard Dickey mentioned in a podcast, or if this book was recommended to me by some algorithm that knows I put on A Haunting as a comfort show sometimes. Having now read several of Dickey's books, I would think it would have been Jon Ronson's Things Fell Apart that recommended it, but I quite distinctly remember being surprised it wasn't the usual middling "true" ghost story anthology I assumed it would be. So maybe it WAS recommended by an algorithm, just an algorithm that knows I enjoy Jon Ronson and Oh No! Ross and Carrie.

I'll tag @peppermintquartz, @whatyoufish4, @muppet4muppet, and @nentuaby, and anyone who thinks this looks like fun! In the tradition of @black-lodge-gatekeeper, the categories are entirely up to you!

[chaosismybestie]

Do you think before everything went to hell that the Auditores were a close knit family?

oh that's such an interesting question! i thought about it since you sent that ask, and i have to say, it's not an easy answer x) scroll aaaaall the way down for the tl;dr if you don't feel like reading, because i definitely wrote a lot :')

close-knit looks different for everybody, i think. and the family i was born in was Pure Shite™ so i don't really have a nice reference for this x) but i don't care i'll answer this anyway hehe

starting with the siblings, i'd say they were indeed close. we don't see much before everything goes to hell, but we can already see that federico & ezio spend quite a big amount of time together, you can see it in their easy interactions, and the way they tease eo (like when federico says ezio's pretty face is his only asset). federico must have taught him all the basics of climbing and running across rooftops and seeing how complicated that is, it takes a while to master it so they definitely had to spend a lot of time practicing together x) especially if giovanni wanted ezio to begin his training as an assassin and made federico start with parkour stuff.

we unfortunately don't see claudia much before The Event (i won't even type it) but from what we gathered, she knows how to defend herself (she basically beat the sh*t out of one of her mates if i remember correctly), she was fierce and capable, and yet ezio still went to punch that duccio douchebag (aka ducciobag). ofc there's the obvious "big brother beating up anyone who hurts younger siblings" dynamic, but apart from that, i like to think it's part of how ezio used to show his support (acts of service using his fists fhdskjfhds).

i HC that every member of the family would be super protective towards petruccio, and have a soft spot for him. him being ill probably plays a big role in that, and him being the youngest of the family as well. he'd use his puppy eyes to get what he wants (feathers? yes! candies? ofc! random little items like the wooden doll leonardo liked so much? always!) and every member would be aware of him using it to his advantage but none of them would mind because at the end of the day, petruccio is a sweet kid with bright eyes and noone wants the light in his eyes to dim :) and also because they've all seen his bad days, and want to make life as comfortable as possible for him. they've all witnessed him being exhausted, him growing frustrated because he cant go out despite the spring having come early, bc he can't go explore firenze with ezio & federico due to his lack of energy. they've all heard the heavy silence in their home when petruccio's laughter doesn't resonate in the place, him being too exhausted to be his usual mischievous self. so ofc when he gets better days, ofc, they would indulge him, all the way.

maria had, to me, a complicated role bc she had to make sure the kids didn't notice something was odd abt giovanni's work, while probably getting worried every time he went away on a mission (not knowing whether he would come back alive). she was probably super soft with their kids, im sure she baked them the most amazing tuscan cakes, desserts & treats (since she used to have a bakery). plus, her keeping diaries probably was a great way for her to have tons of stories to tell the kids during long nights where they would wait for giovanni to come back home :) must have been so many precious memories created thanks to the time she would make to tell stories :(

but she wouldn't be *just* gentle, she's be sassy too, you can clearly see it in the way she interacts with ezio (about him finding other outlets, her knowing abt his fights and stuff) and i think she was a very no-nonsense kind of mother which makes all their interactions funnier and more genuine. ofc the kids would keep certain things secret, but maria's perceptiveness would make them all trust her much more with their issues/everyday questions and such.

giovanni probably struggled to be there much bc of his work in the order, he must have missed tons of important events and even more trivial everyday situations happening in the family and that probably broke his heart to see how fast their kids would grow without him being able to witness it. i feel like he'd bring souvenirs and random little items from his trips, because obviously he wouldn't be able to share his stories with the kids, wanting to shelter them from everything assassin-related, but he'd try to make it up to them by bringing little trinkets, treats/snacks from other towns, and stuff like that to share a bit of his own everyday life with his family.

oh my, this is getting way too long im sorry, you probably expected a waaaay shorter answer!

tl:dr : i'd say the auditore were probably a close-knit family in the way that *i* picture it. they'd all take care of eo in their own way, they'd also leave eo enough space to exist for themselves, they'd share jokes, tender moments, they'd bicker and argue, but in the end i feel like there's always been a lot of love in that family. it doesn't prevent one from making mistakes/assumptions abt the other members and everything, but in the end, they support each other and try their best to face things together.

not to mention the pride they have to carry the auditore name, but that's another story!

sorry anon you probably wanted something different T-T

im curious though, what's your point of view on the matter? i'd love to hear your opinions about this!

[cobalt-knave]

Whump Fic Recs pt. 1 (& a brief love letter and tagging tutorial)

Ah, whump, my most beloved genre of fanfiction. What is whump? Whump refers to stories prominently featuring injury or sickness and/or the care and recovery thereof. This is most often in the hurt/comfort category or the hurt no comfort category. It is a wonderful opportunity to shake up dynamics and reveal hidden character depths in a high stress situation. What do you do when the strong one is hurt? How does that call into question your feelings towards them? How does that call into question their feelings towards themself and their role? Who will care for the one who always caretakes? It’s a great tonal shift too. Just *chef’s kiss*. Plus, you know what? It’s sometimes just fun to run your favorite characters through the plinko.

How do you tag whump and why should you? The tags on ao3 to use are”

 “Whump” (not just “whumptober” or “whumptober 2022″ or other variations),

“hurt/comfort” or “hurt no comfort”

“angst”

“sickfic” if illness is the featured whump

“injury recovery” if such a thing is covered

“torture”, “car accidents”, “broken bones”, “blood and injury”, “blood and violence”, etc as relevant (start typing into the additional tags section to see what the common tag is to use.

“Character Name Whump” or “Hurt Character Name” if in a specific fandom whumping a specific character

all of the previous should be used in addition to the base whump tag.

if relevant, use the archive warning “graphic depictions of violence”

why tag? BECAUSE I WANNA READ IT AND FIND IT AND IT IS WOEFULLY UNDERTAGGED. It is also good to tag if someone wants to avoid it by excluding it from the search.

Alright. On to the recs. Multifandom including The Mechanisms, The Magnus Archives, King Falls AM, The Adventure Zone, Our Flag Means Death, The Murderbot Diaries, and Stargate SG-1.  There will be more whump recs to come.

On Account Of The Jonny Doll by NammiKisulora

Fandom: The Mechanisms

Ah, NammiKisulora knows how to make these immortals hurt in such twisted and unique ways.

 “Yeah. Get in, will you? I want to get going. Jonny keeps waking up. W-without skin.”    “Oh Yes! That Must Be On Account Of The Jonny Doll!”

Jonny is executed, which is a normal enough occurrence. It’s only afterwards things go wrong.

We Still Have the Radio - I. and  We Still Have the Radio - II. by luckjustkissedyouhello                

Fandom: King Falls AM

luckjustkissedyouhello writes some damn good, damn brutal whump!

The next thing he’s aware of is water against his face, wait no, all of him, where he lays on his left side. Water that is rapidly rising. He lays there dazed. Then a groan above his head has him jerking back into the moment, fear lancing through him, stealing his breath. Ben.

In which Ben and Sammy are in a car accident.

bleeding by Athina_Blaine

Fandom: The Magnus Archives

Martin goes and gets himself stabbed. It's inconvenient.

Re-Initialization by CompletelyDifferent

Fandom: The Murderbot Diaries

This Unit: Where is my owner, Dr. Mensah?

Dr. Yuen: Well, that’s the million dollar question, isn’t it? SecUnit, where did you last physically interact with Dr. Ayda Mensah?

Information Retrieval: Dr. Ayda Mensah last interacted with This Unit on Preservation Station at 08:27:22 on 4098-09-17 CRST.

This Unit: You do not have permission to access that information.

Dr. Yuen: You’re incorrect, SecUnit. We do. Answer the question.

(When the infamous rogue SecUnit of the Preservation Alliance gets captured, the corporate techs assigned to it expected to be able to get some juicy data, or at least some insights into its cracked governor module. They didn't expect something so... basic.)

trust me by gaysidecharacter

Fandom: The Adventure Zone: Balance

Everyone gets real sick and Lup is having a time.

Not an echo even by Hopeful_Foolx

Fandom: The Magnus Archives

They stop the Unknowing. There is an explosion. And trapped under rubble and panic, Jon wakes up. So does Tim. Three prompts, one story. Starting with Day 4 - Running out of Time

Friends in Strange Places by beesandcats

Fandom: Our Flag Means Death

"Steel in your side for so long was a weird feeling, Stede decided. It had actually been around hour six that he came to the conclusion, if anyone was keeping track. It had been around hour three, when he heard the snores from the other side of the deck, that he realized he should perhaps try to be friends with the steel in his side. Obviously, they were not friends."

A missing scene from Season 1, Episode 6. Stede's been stabbed and stuck to a pole all night. He's gonna need some help when everyone wakes up for the day.

Things Stay the Same by teyla

Fandom: King Falls AM

During blizzard season, Ben and Sammy, each for their own reasons, make an unwise choice. The experience that ensues should be life changing—though is it? 

In which there is a snowstorm, an accident, a soaked through jacket, and thoughts of revealing secrets.

Lifestock by NammiKisulora

Fandom: The Mechanisms

"Guys, you get what this means? It means fresh meat, every day for as long as we like." "The fuck are you talking about?" "Just sayin' we could leave his leg attached, tie him up, and bring him along. Carve off what we like at mealtimes instead. We dunno how long we've got to lie low for."

Tim is held captive for food after a battle.

Between A Rock And A Hard Place by Sam Walker

Fandom: Stargate SG-1

To save Daniel’s life, Jack has to do that hardest of all things: talk.

This fic is written from Jack's perspective. Daniel is involved in an accident off-world and the only thing Jack can do to help is talk to Daniel while everyone else works. I love this fic for the interaction between Jack and Daniel, and for the insights into Jack's motivations. Despite being mostly Jack and Daniel, you get a sense of camaraderie about SG1 and you can see just how much Jack cares about his team.

And if you read any of these, be sure to leave kind comments for the authors!

[summershouto]

for the ask game: nami?

oh yay! someone else also requested nami so this goes out to you too anon <3

Sexuality Headcanon: that girl is a lesbian I dont make the rules. im ace so I usually hc her somewhere on the aro/ace spectrum but I dont really have specific thoughts beyond that

Gender Headcanon: I view her as a cis woman but im always down for other people's hc and content

A ship I have with said character: namivivi! I adore them and need a reunion so bad (vivi I miss you pls come home)

A BROTP I have with said character: I mean really nami and any of the straw hats. I especially love her dynamic with luffy and usopp though

A NOTP I have with said character: nami x any man. Ill reblog cute ship art sometimes but ultimately can't imagine her with a guy. no thanks not for me

random headcanon: she keeps logs about what islands they've visited, what they've seen, what they did there, etc. Almost like a diary, but more organized and very detailed. It's mainly to keep as a reference for making her map, but she also includes personal anecdotes and memories in hopes that she can one day show it to Nojiko and share her adventures

General Opinion over said character: she's one of my favorite characters across any media. she charmed me right from her first appearance and ive loved her ever since. Her character design is so cute (especially pre timeskip), her backstory hitsss, and I just adore her whole personality and motivations. i love her so much <3

[coffeeandfaeries]

The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening - A book review

L. J. Smith

I have finally decided to read the Vampire Diaries book series. I started reading this about ten years ago, but gave up after a couple of chapters after realizing it’s nothing like the tv show. Now that I’m no longer obsessed with TVD I can admit I kinda like the books better. So far at least.

Our protagonist is Elena Gilbert, the most popular and the most beautiful girl in school. I think she was meant to be the same in the tv show, but book Elena kinda gives me Regine George vibes. She’s more like Caroline in the show. She’s pretty, tall and blonde. And to quote her All the boys want her and all the girls want to be her. Her parents died 3 years prior, when she was a freshman and her younger sister, Margaret, was just one year old.

Her friend group is also a bit different, Bonnie is still there, but she’s a pale, ginger Scottish girl. Her other best friend, the one she’s closer with, is Meredith. Elena is for some reason always really mean to Bonnie who just takes it. If you’ve seen the show you know Bonnie is sweet, but doesn’t take shit from anyone. Well this Bonnie is super bubbly and a bit air-headed. I have no idea why the author made her so stupid. She thought the Spanish Inquisition was a rock band… Another thing that’s a bit weird about Bonnie is that she’s so morbid? She’s constantly swooning over the concept of death and fatal illnesses. For example, her grandmother told her she will die young. And what does she say about that? This. I’m going to be young and beautiful in my coffin. Don’t you think that’s romantic? No, Bonnie, no, it isn’t.

Caroline Forbes is also in the books, but she’s not exactly friends with Elena. They’re rivals. (There was a bit of rivalry between them in the show as well, but Caroline in the show was fiercely loyal to Elena). I feel like this quote from the book describes their relationship dynamic very well:

Elena was taken aback. She and Caroline had been friends since kindergarten, and they had always competed with each other good-naturedly. But lately something had happened to Caroline. She’d begun to take the rivalry more and more seriously. And now Elena was surprised at the bitterness in the other girl’s voice.

Oh and another little detail. Caroline in the books has auburn hair, not blonde.

Now onto the plot. Elena just came back home from France and has realized she wants to break up with her boyfriend Matt. Apparently she loves him the way a cousin would love him. That’s always a lovely thing to hear from your girlfriend

It’s the first week of senior year and there’s a hot, mysterious, new kid in school. Stefan Salvatore. Who just moved to the US from Italy. Obviously, Elena is interested. It doesn’t matter that she broke up with Matt about 20 minutes ago. She’s ready to move on. Unfortunately for her he’s not exactly interested.

Alright, I’m gonna take a little detour, because this is really bugging me. This is the quote from the book I’d like to talk about:

Stefan was glad the school day was almost over. He wanted to get out of these crowded rooms and corridors, just for a few minutes.

WHY IS HE STILL IN HIGH SCHOOL.

I never understood why vampires in all of these stories spend their lives going through high school over and over again. In the books he is 520 years old. He most likely graduated high school over 100 times. Why would you do that? He was 18 when he was turned. Why not just go to college?? He could’ve gotten a Phd in every subject under the sun, but no, he’d rather take trigonometry 100 times. Makes sense. If I were a vampire I’d rather spend my time developing skills and learning new languages and not retaking the same history class over and over again, but you do you I guess.

Oh, and another thing. I don’t know how to feel about this Elena. It’s nice to have a protagonist who isn't frail and a people-pleaser, but she is always so mean to everyone around her. I was about 11% in when I said I find her annoying, but by the time I was done reading I just thought she was a bit cringe. You’ll see why…

After the classes are over we switch to Stefan’s POV. He’s having flashbacks of Katherine, Elena’s doppelganger, a girl he was in love with. Katherine was meek and gentle, a daughter of the King of Germany. She was often sick and looked like the slightest breeze would break her bones. The polar opposite of the Katherine in the tv show. A manipulative seductress who would do anything and kill anyone to save her own ass. TV show Katherine was a much more interesting character honestly, despite being evil.

Sorry, back to the plot. As I was saying, Elena wants Stefan more than anything, and she doesn’t like it when she doesn’t get what she wants. So, she walks up to him and tries to talk to him. Not only does he not respond he starts intensely staring at his desk, avoiding even looking at her. You’d think she’d take the hint and move on, it’s not like she’d struggle finding someone who does want to date her. But Elena isn’t used to being told no, or even worse, ignored.

Later she tried talking to him again, just for him to cut her off and say he doesn’t have the time. In front of the whole school. Girl, respect yourself. She then runs back home to cry, but goes to visit her parents instead when she realizes her aunt and sister are home. Meredith and Bonnie find her and try to cheer her up. Elena decides that she’s over him and she doesn’t care anymore. Fast forward about 2 minutes and the girls are making a blood pact swearing they’ll help Elena get Stefan no matter what.

On their way back home Bonnie freezes and stares at a gravestone. A voice that isn’t her own, but is coming from her mouth says: Elena, there’s someone out there waiting for you. Something seemed to move out in the darkness, the girls screamed and started running away. A few paragraphs later we find out Stefan was there with them that night. He too had felt that energy that scared the girls and made them run away. He wanted to know who or what the source was, but decided against it. It wasn’t explicitly stated who emitted that energy, but I’m pretty sure it was Damon.

The day after, Meredith and Elena go to Bonnie's house and her older sister, Mary, asks them where they were the night before. After they say they were down by the Wickery Bridge Mary tells them a body was found right next to the bridge. An old man was attacked, his throat ripped out. Somehow, the man survived, but he was in a coma.

Tyler Smallwood’s father believes the old man attacked himself. Good to know Tyler’s father isn’t smarter than his son. For those of you who don’t know Tyler is one of Elena’s classmates and comes from one of the founding families. Super rich and an even bigger asshole. In the TV show he’s a werewolf, I think he will be a werewolf here too, considering how often they talk about him being like an animal, or having animalistic, big, white teeth. Maybe it’s foreshadowing, maybe I’m reading a bit too much into it. I don’t know.

So we had a bit of a time skip, about 3 weeks and Caroline is acting weird, to quote Elena: In fact, I don’t know what Caroline is doing these days, and I don’t care. I never see her at lunch or after school anymore; she seems to have drawn away from her old crowd completely. I remember that Caroline started dating Damon in the show, I’m wondering if Caroline is withdrawing because she’s with Damon, because something happened to her, because she’s plotting or if this is just a red herring. (We do find out later why she’s been missing - she was following Stefan around).

Through Elena’s diary entries we find out she’s been spreading a rumor she’s dating some French guy or whatever. Doesn’t really matter, she just felt embarrassed that she was ignored by a guy. However, a more interesting thing we find out is that she’s been going crazy and overanalyzing every single instance her and Stefan make eye contact. And you might think, what’s so interesting about that? Nothing really, I just relate to it, that was absolutely me at 16 and I find it funny. This guy rejected her so many times, but when her friends tell her to move on she acts like they betrayed her.

Also, I quit watching TVD after about 6 or 7 seasons and I don’t really remember the lore on doppelgangers, but as far as I remember the girls were identical. In the books however, Elena and Katherine have slight differences in their physical looks. Elena’s hair was a shade or two paler than Katherine’s, and her eyebrows and lashes were darker. Katherine’s had been almost silvery. And she was taller than Katherine by a good handspan. So are they doppelgangers or does Elena just resemble her? Were the TV show versions of them supposed to be different, but we never noticed a difference because they were both played by Nina Dobreva? Or am I, once again, overanalyzing a book that wasn’t meant to be overanalyzed.

Alright, back to the plot. So, Caroline took Stefan to the Homecoming dance and, obviously, had to rub it in Elena’s face. Elena tried distracting herself by partying, dancing and flirting with anyone and everyone.

She ended up joining Tyler and his friends (Vickie and Dick), ditching Bonnie and Meredith, and the four of them went to the abandoned church in the cemetery, They tried opening a tomb but couldn’t. Elena leaned against it, it opened and she almost fell in. But when she turned around the slab was back in its place and no one believed her. She asked Tyler to take her back to the school dance. He said sure, but he wants to show her something first. He tries to rape her, I’m gonna skip that bit, and Stefan comes to her rescue. He offers to drive her home. She asks him why he hates her and he says he doesn't, she just reminds her of someone he knew, someone who passed away. They kiss and start dating.

The next morning she tells him she loves him. Average high school relationship.

One of my personal favorite quotes from this book: After a week of being with Stefan, she still felt a thrill of excitement just saying his name. Love how she’s saying “still�� as if they’ve been married for over three decades. Yeah of course you’re gonna be excited, you literally just met him. On the bright side, Elena does feel like a teenager. I’ve definitely had high school boyfriends who dropped the L bomb after less than a week of being together.

About 62% into the book we see Damon for the first time. We’re not told it’s Damon, but it’s pretty obvious. Elena, Bonnie and Meredith were in the school gym after classes, making decorations for the Halloween party when the lights suddenly went out. Bonnie and Meredith left the gym to go look for the janitor and Elena was left alone. Then a man appears and starts saying some mysterious, kinda cringy shit. He leans in to kiss her, but she just turns around and says she has to leave and that he should go and look for whoever he’s looking for. He says some cringy shit like Ooh I already have, Elena and disappears.

During the Halloween party the history teacher gets murdered, his throat ripped out. I think this happened in the show as well, but I can’t remember. Although, I vaguely remember Elena dressing up as a nurse, covered in fake blood? In the books she wore a custom made dress inspired by a dress from the Renaissance period. Venetian silk. Just like Katherine used to. Anyway the teacher is dead and everyone thinks Stefan must be the killer because he was the last person to see him alive. They also bickered in class which is apparently a motive for murder according to the students. Tyler in particular. I can’t help but notice both him and his father would make fantastic detectives. Tyler was also in a werewolf costume, a bit on the nose isn’t it, L. J. Smith?

Elena runs after Stefan, finding him on a roof with blood smeared on his face and a dead dove in his hands. Understandably, she freaks out and falls off the building. Stefan saves her and she asks him to talk to her.

Through a flashback we learn that Damon and Stefan were both in love with Katherine and told her she has to choose. She says she will. Later that night she sneaks into each of their rooms making them think she chose them. They both drink her blood. Finally she admits she wants to be with the both of them. To no one’s surprise neither Stefan nor Damon want to be in a throuple with their brother. And Katherine runs away, sobbing. The audacity. I suppose she’s just as manipulative as the Katherine from the show.

The chapter ends with Stefan saying he and Damon killed her. Again, to no one’s surprise they didn’t actually kill her, Stefan just loves blaming himself for everything.

Katherine decided to take her daylight ring off and let the Sun burn her to ash. The boys fight over her ring and end up stabbing each other to death. So while Stefan does say he killed Katherine with his pride and jealousy, he technically only killed Damon, with a sword. But that was deserved, Damon stabbed him first.

Elena kisses him and holds him as she tells him she loves him. They say they will be together forever. They just need to deal with this whole “angry mob is after Stefan” thing.

Stefan runs into Damon who reveals why he’s here. He came for Elena. We also learn a bit more about vampires from Damon. Human blood and life force make vampires stronger and give them powers. There are certain powers “old powers” that you can only get from drinking from a human until they die. Vampires can also shapeshift into other creatures, mostly animals.

Damon then demonstrates his power, what Stefan could be if he switched to drinking from humans. He threatens him and the chapter ends with Damon drinking Stefan’s blood.

Also I love the fact that Damon thinks that being able to physically overpower another vampire is gonna help him win Elena over. My brother in Christ, have you tried just speaking to women without being creepy.

Elena dreamt that Stefan read her diary and got mad at her over something written in it. She lost her diary. I’m assuming Damon was the one to steal it. I’m guessing he won’t try to just win Elena over, he’s probably gonna try and make Stefan believe she somehow betrayed him?

The next morning Elena goes to school and looks for Stefan, but can’t find him anywhere. She goes to class and asks Meredith if anyone has seen Stefan. Meredith then tells her that Stefan skipped town without telling anyone. Elena of course knows he isn’t guilty and wouldn’t just disappear like that.

So she runs out of the school shouting Damon’s name, and the book ends.

I’m gonna be honest with y’all,,, I really did enjoy reading this. I read it in one sitting. I don’t know if that’s because I’ve been craving something silly and fun or what. Sure I had my issues with it, but at this point my standards for books are “No annoying alpha-male, overprotective love interests” and the book didn’t have enough romantic scenes for that to happen.

The one thing I really hated was that barely anything happened in this book. It was about 250 pages long, but there were like 3 important scenes and that’s it. At least it got me out of a reading slump so bonus points for that.

There are 13 books in total, if I recall correctly. The first four are all about 200 pages long so I’ll definitely read those, I hope the story will be interesting enough to finish all 13 tho, I hate DNFing books/series.

Rating: ⛤⛤⛤⛤

[benthicbaetyl]

Blogoblag Intro and Overview Post

(This Barbie believes she is incapable of sin!)

Hi, Tumblr! You've stumbled onto a roleplay blog for the webcomic Homestuck. This is a small personal project - I need to be incentivized to take some notes for a fanventure somewhere, basically. It will eventually look like something of a cross between serialized epistolary novel, scrapbook, worldbuilding exercise and fever dream diary. There is a story and a tagging system to facilitate it, although it will be punctuated by (diegetically sort of plot-relevant, honestly just me rping) digressions into other worlds.

If you're not looking for that, here's a handy cut, and you're free to go!

(In the future, most of this will be replaced with a blog page, but right now I can't do that, so I want it out of the way here.)

Oh, you're still here! Well, hi, then! Please, by all means, feel free to peruse, but first let's get some basic things out of the way.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

The Way of Things

This is a sideblog, my hands are tied in all relevant ways. I will tell you my main if the need arises (but from there we'll probably be offsite friends first). Please don't tag it in things when I do!

I post when I post, and you post when you post! It's like roleplaying over message in bottle. It is not necessarily the case that either of our interactions will touch our little fanworlds in very big ways, but I cherish each, all the same.

I love to read about jerks, but be sure you're not trying to be a jerk ooc.

On this blog, there will be no nsfw -- this is by far not the character or the forum, and I want everyone to feel comfortable here. You may also be sure of a lack of gore, because I don't like it. Related topics will be described tastefully.

I won't post or interact with drama here. I will try to keep pure OOC to a minimum (tagged #ooc), but you may see OOC or meta footnotes like this. Green like Doc Scratch's asides, you see?

I have no restrictions or regulations about the way other people write with me. That ship sailed long, long ago, and now I'm a normal person who respects your time and your sincere effort. Please, whatever length and style you like! I only bite a little!

Canon-typical trigger warnings for Homestuck apply here. I'm going to umbrella-tag particularly heinous but normal trollisms under #canon-typical dead peacebeast, but I will granulate that into smaller tags on request, and update this post as more things happen to Talasa.

Muse-specific TWs (things relevant to Talasa personally that you can expect a goodly quantity of): familial abuse and harm to children (canon-typical or at least canon-expectable), unhealthy sibling dynamics, mental illness, classism, ableism, sexism, described insect and fish biology, described blood (I will also tag other things as they arise and people ask for them).

Obviously oc friendly (people following a narrative will be able to filter asides, aus and dream meetings), though you'll soon see caveats - and Homestuck canon character writers might find themselves at a total loss in this AU, but I see no reason that it couldn't be worked out : )

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

.•° The Muse °•.

Talasa Rakhav

° Designed by @thecrews-shenanigans and received for a song and a dance. Here I am making good on things! Feel free to check in from time to time.

° May be written at a variety of ages. I will tag pretty consistently, for reference, and a coherent timeline will eventually emerge...

° The framing device of the blog itself is that it's all stuff she either wrote or received. How your muse came across it (found it drifting in the Ring, long-forgotten? Read about it on a tabloid website?) or came in contact with her is up to you! Time is not necessarily linear here.

.•° Talasa's quirk looks like this! She's a charming young lady and I think you guys will like her. Sometimes she'll make little meta comments or replies; treat them like old chatroom style rp posts if you like. °•.

The Mun

☆ Em, any pronouns, 22. I don't mind writing with the youth, and I know you guys are reading no matter what I say or do. I want to tell you, okay, we're all one big community and I'm looking out for you -- but since that's true, I should also say this:

I don't think young people rping romance with adults, or even anybody more than 1-2 years older than them, is a good idea. Still say hi! I'd love to chat and otherwise be a good neighbour. Just, you know, don't go there, not with me or any other adult. Remember to be safe and keep your information private on the Internet.

☆ My intersectional identities don't really directly arise in my Homestuck fanfiction, although they probably do inform the worldbuilding in some indelible way. Have fun sussing them out! I shan't be forthcoming! Not here for that!

☆ I live with a partner, special needs cat and ferret. It gets busy sometimes.

☆ I'm forgetful and, sad to say, not very bright. I will bungle much, and often. I'm doing longform hybrid epistolary fiction/poll game repository/tumblr rp blog stuff anyway because I believe in me, or if not in me then in my friends who believe in me.

☆ I draw sometimes. Talasa here (as an audience aid for a totally freehand fan universe) is about to be responsible for a significant upswing in that.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

That's all for now, folks! But someday this will be a section for navigating by. Stay tuned!

[reveriecorridor]

for the character thing give me ypur orange boys daxter and luke.both of them. right now

fucking vibrating like a chihuahua. thnakyou for my boys.

luke

Sexuality Headcanon:

also gay gay homosexual gay

Gender Headcanon:

hes got so much tboy swag you dont even knI JUST NOTICED YOU COULD JUST COLOR PICK THE MAVERIQUE FLAG OFF OF HIM. I HAVE TWO ANSWERS NOW I GUESS!

A BROTP I have with said character:

i think the whole main party dynamic makes me feel mental but like. luke/ion and luke/guy are like the relationships ever to me. what shenanigans can they get up to... fuck around and find out.

A random headcanon:

*thinking rlly hard* i think he likes to fidget w stuff actually. i think he writes down a lot more in his diary for Not Forgetting Stuff Again that rlly doesnt matter but like. he just does it. adhd moment. like hell write down fucking Whatever.

General Opinion over said character:

daxter

Sexuality Headcanon:

women dont want him men dont want him either but unfortunately theyre all stuck with him. hes jsut a little bi creature

Gender Headcanon:

also tboy swag. hope this helps!

A ship I have with said character:

i have to go get the fucking image again. I HAVE TO UPDATE THE IMAGE HANG ON.

A BROTP I have with said character:

dax and tess are actually r eally funny. like i get shes the Love Interest but naughty dog has no idea what they did to people (see: me) by making someone actually care about daxter. she would kill someone for daxter and i actually think thats pretty fucking funny. girl hinder. girl KILL!

A NOTP I have with said character:

if its not one of the two examples i literally just talked abt or showed off the mental illness picture over, it sucks. thank u for asking!

A random headcanon:

oh my god. okay. theres this thing in daxter (The Game) before u do the funny little dream sequence minigames where he spins and curls up into a ball before falling asleep and i love that. Anyway. My point is. forbidden timeline where he daxter Does go back to being human and he just keeps that up. like he has no reason to do it but he still does it. I HAD TO GO GET A GIF OF IT BC I FEEL LIKE IM HORRIBLE AT EXPLAINING.

General Opinion over said character:

daxterhe makes me feel absolutely normal i promise. he may be the comedy relief but hes my absolute beloved. no one gets him like i and only a handful few do

[supercorp-hosie]

My thoughts for Legacies 315:

1) for the Star Wars, I have no knowledge about it, I saw some parallels of characters after the episode, it seems accurate, but I still have no idea why Hope’s characters in it didn’t even have a backstory or name lmao. I’m just overall unfazed;

2) the background of the trio and Alaric! There are like so much to address and I don’t know how to fully share my thoughts in-depth organisedly. I’ll try;

3) facts first: so it’s canon that Lizzie’s mental problem is diagnosed at earliest 11, but specific time unknown;

4) Jed activated his curse earliest at 11, since Lizzie had a crush on him for two weeks. I mean who would’ve thought that, common headcannons seem to incline on Josie x Jed tho😂. That just doesn’t randomly cross my mind🤣. Anyway, it doesn’t deny that Jed and Josie could be a thing too, since the twins often have the tendency to crush on the same person? I’m feeling like 60% of the time? I mean they obviously have the same preferences for LI, bad girl or bad boy type, anyone? Rafael, Sebastian, Jed, Jade, Penelope, Hope, Finch. They kind of have this thing with new people to their lives, for Josie, Rafael, Finch, Jade(it’s arguable but I think people tend to have a whole new lens when reconnecting with a disappeared person in your life for years when you’re very young. The perspectives are not the same, like you’re meeting a new person especially you don’t really know them before);

5) especially Lizzie, she definitely has a thing for new people that seems like bad boy/girl. I emphasised on the new people here bc I don’t think ethan is exactly that type, it’s just how Lizzie imagine him to be in that AU. Raf, Sebastian, Ethan....(maybe Jed was new when she crushed on him too, who knows), more specifically, it’s Strangers to Lovers trope for her romance department, so she can imagine as much as she wants and have the wildest dreams (bgm intended). Maybe Josie’s it’s not as much like this considering we don’t know how Posie happened, and with Hope her crush is canon when she was 12, but we don’t know how long exactly the crush was and when did it started, I just have to count that not being new person into her life. But I do get that why Josie said Lizzie always get the boy/girl Josie crushed on too, mostly they have the same type and preferences. Though they can randomly blurt out characters that we all don’t even know as more solid examples.;

6) Alaric and the fact of him being quite an absent father since the twins were 11 is solid canon. I understand the need to care for Hope because the world can’t afford a tribrid went uncared for and went around killing people, but still, the different perspectives of Hope and Lizzie to Alaric are very sad. To think that your father would betray you for another child, is very sad, even for Lizzie, the more dramatic one. So I understand that Caroline wasn’t there for the twins either, another absent parent. About the mother figure being diminished here, I’ll address it in another point. What’s left for Lizzie? Josie.

7) So basically Josie had to handle herself and Lizzie’s all by her own? That’s very hard! My BFF is bipolar, we are not living together, but before, my whole situation [for being in love with her + her situation] had really been hard for me too. I couldn’t imagine what’s it’s really like for Josie. (Another point that I need to address is the real mental problem that Lizzie has) Sure Alaric might not always be absent, but the intensity of Lizzie’s perspective begs to differ. Josie had to understand what is Bipolar at a very young age; had to be there for Lizzie when she had her outburst; had to be the one constantly check on Lizzie whether she had taken her meds; had to digest the emotion impacts from Lizzie after the outburst; had to understand how Lizzie functioned when she was down. None of that are easy, and there’s no one there to ask of what Josie really feels. How Josie pent out? What does she need? Josie might feel the need to be not wanting things and always be good so that she can get the love from Alaric (I remember in season 1, Josie felt the need to lose the game to get on Alaric good side) . So she just started to suppress her voice and her needs, because Lizzie need them the most. Over time or years of suppressing in front of her dearest family, she most likely felt unneeded by her parents, and forgettable to her parents(the girl that’s so quiet that her parents forget about her, the girl that Penelope won’t fight for anymore). She needed to feel needed, so she just let Lizzie take all of her, from whom she felt needed the most. So all of these from Josie’s perspectives, it started a vicious cycle for the twins. And leads to how the twins dynamics and how Josie are in present days. But her problem was never solved, they just accumulated day by day, year by year, leaving the good and dark side from Josie being so separated and unbalanced. The inner turmoil is always there. These lead to the extreme polarity of Josie’s good and bad side. When she’s doing bad, Josie would be especially aggressive than she needed to be because that’s an instinct to compensate the lack of action before. After long suppression, once being released, the instinct would be stronger than usual and harder to get it under control. Under the influence of dark magic, Dark Josie felt like another personality inside Josie here to take over the whole Josie and protect their interests that true Josie are neglecting. Kind of like dissociative identity disorder but not really it?? It’s just an understanding that I’ve been wanting to express, but so hard to organise it, because it’s so complex. By this understanding, I do still think that Josie should still be held accountable for her actions, even when dark magic was influencing her, like even people with mental health illness should be instituted and lost their freedom. I just think that it’s not fair to think she’s straight up very evil and do nothing good for people. It’s not like she’s being dark for no reason at all. This just mean that the dog that doesn’t bark can be more harmful than people think. These doesn’t mean that when Josie goes dark, she doesn’t deserve any leniency at all while holding her accountable. (And it’s not like she’s not beating herself up for most of the things she had done) Oh and sure, Josie should do the healthy way of voicing out these needs and all, to encourage a healthy dynamics between them like she’s the only healthy one between them, but still the problem is, they both lack the environment and guidance to make a healthy working relationship between themselves. How could they know what is healthy when the environment was already lack thereof.

8) Reading Lizzie’s diaries is bad, I understand, because you literally need to understand what leads to what, to gain control when your life is a chaos, but still. It’s even worse when you have that need to confide in another person to get things out wrongly. (I was having a phone call during the diary sharing review, but this is what I vaguely get) a) Josie is confiding the contents very specifically to another person that Hope can somehow reconstruct a sequel to it? b) Josie chose the wrong place to confide it since when she gets emotional, people can probably hear what was shared. At least from what I guess I got, it isn’t stated that she spread it to the whole school nor it was spread to the whole, even if that’s the case, it may not be on purpose, and she chose the wrong person to confide in. Like about the reveal in 112, she made up that Hope talking bad about Lizzie to the whole school, but it doesn’t mean that she spread it nor the whole school actually knows. Another case is, even if the school knows, it could easily be known by any passerby to Lizzie outburst and spread in the school. From what we saw from 101, the kitchen is a public space, the utensils and cutleries breaking should be very alarming, and there are students with intensified senses in the school. By that fact itself, it doesn’t really help Lizzie in being discreet of her illness. Still, sharing your sister’s diaries after reading it is really bad. But I do get that, sometimes you really need to talk to someone that know some of the situation but don’t really know the person in question to recalibrate yourself. But that person have to be like the dead end of all school gossip but not close to Lizzie, so it can do no harm (because he/she/they literally have no use to talk to someone with all these, usually there’s this no name policy, but with Lizzie being her sister, it’s useless hiding, maybe) when you disclose something related to her pertaining your own issues. Josie should apologise for sharing Lizzie diaries, even if Hope was not meant to know that, despite her werewolf hearing. For the reading part, did we get the apology tho? I guess we had? If negative, apologies needed.;

9) From Lizzie perspective, we can see her does Josie wrong but didn’t apologise either. Like Lizzie being princess but Josie being her android, personalised valet? It just showed that during that period of time(specifically from when until when tho, that’s a question), after what Josie had been enduring, taking care of her, Lizzie thought of herself being princess but didn’t actually think Josie as her equal? Like how the Android was programmed to bow to Lizzie? That’s just the habit of the twins dynamic showing, also partly Josie mistake, but Josie does deserves to be perceived as more than that, even when she’s derogatory to herself, Lizzie should uphold that for her. Their dynamics is just sad because it’s not entirely the twins fault, it’s also due to the absent parents in the household, they didn’t know better, they can only depend on each other. They’re orphaned like Hope in a way when their parents are still present. Even though they have privileges as Alaric’s daughters, but that doesn’t help with their real situation. This is just a perfect example of how your family shaped you, but we can still fight to shape ourselves after the power that our parents have over us gradually diminished, like how they’re starting to shape themselves more now as they’re coming to age.

10) What really warms me from the Android situation, despite Josie feeling like she’s being degraded the whole time, a subject to Lizzie, is that from how Josie is the combination of two Androids, also shows that how Lizzie actually looked up to Josie. Maybe it’s not addressed, but I see that. For Lizzie, Josie can really do so much things for her, take care of her so closely that Lizzie can count Josie as her personal valet. Derogatory, yes, but that place is also very important to prince and princess, bc they can literally do nothing to take care of their daily lives themselves well, like Merlin for Arthur (I mean the actions, not the presumably romantic relationship). Without Merlin, Arthur life is a mess! And the knowledge for Android part, it means that in Lizzie’s mind, Josie actually is like the person who knows everything😂 usually that figure should be our parents😭, but for Lizzie, it’s Josie, like she knows the answer to all. It’s sad and warming at the same time. Just more appreciation will do! And the fact that the special sword that they’re finding the whole time was in Josie’s thigh, just show how the trust that Lizzie had in Josie, not even their parents can triumph it, because Josie was the one being there the whole time. So they really deserves each other despite all the shitty things they have done to each other.

11) about Lizzie mental illness, I was recommended a post informing people about how Legacies fucked up Lizzie’s illness. After my own research, I do agree with the OP, I think that Lizzie situation is more like borderline personality disorder rather than bipolar, but that doesn’t make the whole situation easy. I can provide the table I made the next time regarding that.

12) Hope being Lizzie’s villain is really fitting, lmao, the intensity of Alaric care for Hope is so much that even Lizzie thought that Alaric would betray the twins for Hope.

13) I like Hope’s look. Josie being the Android that malfunction sometimes is funny too, especially when Josie is angry the whole time, cuz it’s infuriating too🤣🤣

14) Hope and Josie during Lethan kiss is me. How they’re totally in the same team when Lizzie being like that? Hosie are both wary of their characters and backstory? Hosie rights. Hhhhhh, oh Hope might be jealous of Ethan😂 Hizzie rights.

15) Another Hizzie rights, Hope wrote a sequel to Lizzie fanfic. And..... is Hope officially a nerd too???? I can’t! Hhhhh but maybe not, or else Hope would have known who she was.

16) Lizzie says, maybe deep down I still feel that you’re the chosen one (IN HER OWN STORY)

17) Younger Hope kind of break my heart more. It’s so sad😭😭 how she’s in denial of their parents death, and blame it on herself.....no baby. How Hope just have to tell herself all that again. And about Hope being scavenger, I think it’s fitting too. Her life, like the twins, is in pieces too. She had to pick them up herself, and build a world where her heart and hope can rest safely, and that just make her not mad at Josie burning down her room gayer. She was so closed up to herself that her room is like another world for her. So forgiving Josie just because of her crush, is like Josie and her crush on Hope meant the world to her???? Hosie rights! Anyway, Josie still messed up with that.

18) Having Younger Hope saying those things to Josie, oh my heart! Josie is a protector for Hope! Hosie rights! And Hope knowing the truth to stop Lord Marshall! Malivore, and Josie just stop talking because she doesn’t want to encourage Hope to die😍😍 Younger Hope actually wants to be best friends with the twins!!!!

19) Hope literally just stop growing taller after 12/13 like I did, is fact! And I’m comforted by that, sorry not sorry, lmao!

20) For real I don’t understand why Hope is suddenly full tribrid at the end. When she fights with Malivore.

21) The gun fight and sword fight is so weird! It’s like the gunners don’t know how to shoot at all, like they’re in slow motion, difficultly level easy to the audience, it’s so fake. I’m for Hope being badass, but it seems like the show doesn’t know how to portray a good fight scene. The sword fight is like in slow motion. And if Hope is to combine magic with sword fighting, she should combine them more. I don’t feel she’s badass at all, cuz it’s literally level easy😑

22) Star Wars AU have brought up so many childhood unresolved for the trio to understand each other more and be a better team. I love them ended up being all supportive and the panda promise🤣🤣 I love that the twins just agree not to let Hope die like that. But they’re like promise that a little later than Cleo and Landon? My team Sowanby! Applause to Handon, but please don’t be together again! Strike three, no is no!

23) for MG, Jed, Kaleb, they really need to make up with each other, I’m glad that they finally made it. And Kaleb being jealous of Methan? Lmao! And MG didn’t even say Ethan name? I love Maleb bonding, and MG never left his man behind!! Another things is, what’s wrong with those boys fighting scenes? We saw them throwing valuables to distract the monster again?! What if the keys are damaged? How are you going to go home? Oh and Jed being useful!

24) Jed last name is Tien, 田/填 in Chinese, I’ve shared enough in my other post. But still WE DONT ACTUALLY HAVE JED FIRST NAME! Give us that!

25) Still, I don’t understand how the wendigo is not dead yet. And how come it’s defeated by fire this time??

26) I don’t quite actually know what’s happening with Dorian. Is he okay? I bet he is, so Emma is coming back, right? Based off what the conversation is? We need Emma, really.

27) regarding Emma, is the lack of mother figure that I want to address when stating the twins dynamic. I don’t actually know a lot from TVD or TO, I just happen to know some general things and snippets from edits. But I know Hayley’s words before she dies, like “I’m not going to teach my daughter it’s okay to let people she loves die” and paint art, have at least one epic love? But for real, in legacies, all I get for Hayley is 103, Josie paying her respects, but none other than that. It’s all Klaus. I believe that Hayley is an important figure to Hope too. But she’s not mentioned enough, it’s kind of erasing her impact on Hope?? Like Caroline too, we get her phone calls, the twins trip to Europe to treat their problems off-screen, the letter for Lizzie in 302, the recommendation for Lizzie to go to the witch retreat, but not vetted by Alaric.....yes she get all these and Jo Laughlin being there in 106 (I cried so hard). But still the mother figure is still being minimised. Like in Lizzie’s fanfic there’s never a place for Caroline? How surreal? It doesn’t make sense. (I understand the actress is just not returning). But still these doesn’t change the fact that the show is lacking a mother figure as a whole. Emma should be that.

28) Clarke!!! Like it’s predictable! But what’s unpredictable is that he went straight to shower🤣🤣🤣 I love his snarkiness! Clarke meeting Hope half naked! Holarke! Hhhhhh

I’m too tired, sharing this episodes thoughts is exhausting me. There must be something I left out, please feel free to remind me!

[blorbosexterminator]

1, 4, 15, and 23

Hello!

Fun meta asks

1- Tell us about your current project(s)  – what’s it about, how’s progress, what do you love most about it?

Ohhh that's gonna be a long answer! Other than my huge list of wips, the ones I'm actively working on these days: Other than the seventh chapter of Children, there's 'Through a Glass Darkly' and 'De cara al sol, caminaré'

Children is going nicely, I think. I've got a bit of burnout from it after chapter 5 and 6, but I returned to it and hopefully will finish it soon. This chapter is one of my favorites because it marks a big shift in Martín's arc and will set the scene for where the story will eventually go, it's also slightly more serious than the others, but it's still mostly a fun story and there's a minor OC who makes appearance in this chapter only that I find a pretty amusing guy.

Through a Glass Darkly is the mistborn AU I went on about ages ago, it's has been haunting my head lately and I wrote quite a bit for it. Mistborn is an Epic Fantasy novel, which amusingly enough features a group of thieves as the main characters who start a rebellion (alongside and by the help of stealing) so it's very similar to lcdp in only that regard. My fic features the lcdp characters trying to do the same years before the heroes of the novel do. I'm mostly trying to remember what even happened in the novel because I read it a long time ago. But what I really like most about it is its ending (I know how I want to end it, I'm just figuring out how to get there) and also the fact one of the main relationships in the story is Tokyo & Martín, which is A LOT of fun to play with. I loved their fucked-up dynamic in canon, and here it's very similar except the fact that Martín and Tokyo are the only mistborns in the story (basically humans with superhuman powers drived from them digesting metals and driving different powers from them) and Tokyo had just 'snapped', discovered by Sergio who wants to recruit her, and forces Martín to train her because she doesn't know anything about her powers. So Martín is her mentor and they spend a lot of time together, which they both hate and is very funny to me personally.

De cara al sol, caminaré is a one-shot au where everything is basically the same other than the fact that Andrés and Martín are strangers. Andrés, coming to terms with his illness and near death, goes to Florence one last time right before Sergio starts the preparation in Toledo. There, he meets Martín and they end up spending the day together before Andrés leaves that evening. It's a little bittersweet thing.

4- Share a sentence or paragraph from your writing that you’re really proud of (explain why, if you like)

Oh, I like this from The Last Supper:

Ten years his voice had been the most comforting, had been what he imagined childhood felt for other people, had been home. And Andrés is home now, and it’s burning to the ground with him trapped inside its walls

15. Which is harder: titles or summaries (or tags)?

Neither Titles nor Summaries are particularly that difficult to me. I prefer Titles. Tags however, I never have any idea what to do with them. Not just warning tags or so, just all tags.

23. What’s the story idea you’ve had in your head for the longest?

Uhm, I think the oldest WIPs I have now (static though) are Forsaken, almost human, where Andrés receives a prophecy of his death as a boy and the Vampire Diaries AU.

Thanks for the ask!

[rivkahstudies]

do you have any advice for a high school senior who wants to make the most of their last year of high school? asking for a friend :)

hi darling! I think the things I remember most from my senior year (though it was only two years ago that it started) can be summarized in, “crazy busy, crazy stressful, but at times, crazy fun.” Here’s to making the most of it, and maintaining health while you do so!

This is going to be combination masterpost and advice post, because I’ve accumulated a lot on this subject and I have a loooot to say. 

Also this is heavily based off of the assumption you’re pursuing higher education, but some of these things still apply/can be tweaked.

table of contents:

i. academics

ii. social life

iii. personal health

i. 𝓪𝓬𝓪𝓭𝓮𝓶𝓲𝓬𝓼

a. grades

They’re important for your future if your plan is to go to college or academy, but they’re not the whole world. (see social life and personal health)

I’m not a big fan of the “3-to-1 rule” or other such things that tell you “study for this amount of time no matter what” because it’s important for you to understand what comes naturally to you and what you need further clarification on. Some classes are going to take up less of your time than others.

The best you can do on a given day isn’t necessarily 100%. Sometimes your best that day is 90%, 80%, 60%. “try your best” isn’t “your best ever” so don’t push yourself for 100s every time for the expense of categories ii and iii.

A lot of people (at least in places like where I went to high school) who are hung up on the stress of competition and the need to be The Best™ are going to ask you for grades. It’s going to be everywhere. Assignment grades, test grades, SATs, ACTs, (if you’re not in the US, the equivalents of your state, regional, or national standardized tests), entrance exams, et cetera, et cetera. I know it’s tempting to fall into the anxiety of whether you measure up, but here’s a quick tip: even if you think you did well/above average, you can keep it private. It infuriated my classmates when I wouldn’t share, because I was comfortable with how I competed with myself and didn’t care what my peers thought of my scores. 

When you’re someone as dedicated to studying as I am, you might get a lot of “oh, you got that grade because you’re you” (the underlying implication being that it’s natural or the work is easy for you, which was not the case for me) or “ha! I got higher than (name)! I measure up!” This is a lot of their own biases and insecurity talking and the best way not to be affected is not to buy into it. Again, this is based on my own experience.

 I really cannot emphasize extra credit enough because some of my teachers threw it around like candy and some of them barely drizzled a little in at intervals, but either way it really saved me when it came to rounding my grades up.

It never hurts to have a grade tracker if you’re concerned, you don’t get graded by total points accumulation/have a weighted system, and/or don’t have an easy way to access your grades online throughout the year.

find your study strategy/ies for each class and stick to it/them. It won’t necessarily be the same. I’m a primarily visual learner, and it really, really helps for most things, but I still need rote memorization for subjects with a lot of vocabulary, like medicine or languages.

further resources

studying without notes by @fuckstudy . 

prioritizing that crazy to do list (the abcde method) by @eintsein

a comphrensive guide to anki (flashcards online) by @studyingstudent

a stash of tiny study tips by @acalmstudiousfirecracker

and much much more on my #studyref tag.

b. extracurriculars

These I think matter (though I’m biased) more than grades, because they’re what shape you and your experience. Most of the students at my university had grades like mine, but it’s the places I frequented and the people to whom I devoted my time that formed my sense of self. I have so many skills, anecdotes, and ideas that I’ve gained from my extracurricular work.

If you have any you’ve stuck with since early in high school and you still like, keep ‘em. Quality over quantity. Show jobs or universities you can be dedicated and disciplined, and have stamina to see projects to the end. (I was in 7 and held leadership positions in 4 and it was probably part of the reason why I spent all of senior year on three hours sleep… besides my IB classes of course.)

If you’re not pursuing college immediately or at all (or even if you are), participate in ones that pull you out of your comfort zone and teach you something new.

ii. 𝓼𝓸𝓬𝓲𝓪𝓵 𝓵𝓲𝓯𝓮

Treat this category as you would anything else in your schedule–requiring time and being a significant priority. Not always at the very top, but still demanding its own attention.

See friends outside of school, for however long or short a period, at least once every week to two weeks. This can include extracurricular time if you’re pressed.

Schedule time with your family (especially if their lives are also cluttered and hectic) do something dynamic, and also something separate that’s relaxing. One week your family time might be reading in the same room and having gentle conversation or a family dinner; the next might be going out to the movies or taking a hike together. It can be easy to feel taken for granted or to take family for granted.

By the way, this includes “chosen” family if you’re not on great terms with some/all of them. I have experience with this too.

Get. Out. Of. The. House. This plays into “personal health” too! You need a change in rhythm/routine and exposure to the outside. Especially in your winter season. 

I’m one of those people who has to have things scheduled way in advance, so family/curfew/etc permitting, do something a little bit spontaneous, say with only a few hours or a couple days notice. It will make you feel more alive if you’re in a stressful slump.

Communication is really important, especially if you’re stressed. Don’t be afraid to tell people “I am sensitive/hyperreactive to X because Y is putting me on edge right now” or “this triggers X insecurity because I’m anxious about Y.” This goes doubly if you’re struggling with mental illness. Talk to someone you trust. (See “personal health.”)

Don’t give in to peer pressure if you’re spent the time you need with friends and have to excuse yourself for other responsibilities. Balance!

No is equally as important to respected as Yes, no matter what the case.

Respect boundaries but invite people to challenge their comfort zone at their space.

Don’t be broken up if a romantic relationship doesn’t last. It’s senior year. Everything’s changing. Let it.

Also, please don’t be like me and let your summer/your school year be eaten up with relationship drama. I thankfully ended a difficult relationship early (late September) so it wasn’t a huge issue, but I watched people close to me struggle with while also battling the stress of the year.

iii. 𝓹𝓮𝓻𝓼𝓸𝓷𝓪𝓵 𝓱𝓮𝓪𝓵𝓽𝓱

mentally

If you’re struggling with mental illness, be aware of your own limits and pace yourself.

Sometimes we feel dull because we need to break routine/stimulate ourselves in a new way. You should have a structure/routine, but it should be flexible enough for you to adapt to changes and listen to what your mind and body are telling you.

The path to self-love must first begin with self-acceptance. If you struggle with self-image or self-esteem issues, you can’t build positivity off a foundation of negativity. You must first level it to neutrality.

Perform check-ups with yourself. This may be in the form of meditation, a diary, therapy, etc. None of these things are a “last resort” but rather a healthy part of building good mental habits.

physically

Exercise! You don’t have to be a star athlete to bring about the benefits. Even a 15 minute jog, 30 minute walk/hike, or 10 minutes of stretching can give you benefits.

On that note! Take! Frequent! Breaks! And please, please google stretches for certain body parts like hands if you do repetitive motion like drawing or writing for a long period of time! You don’t want to push yourself!

Listen to your body and don’t ignore pain, hunger, nausea, fatigue, etc. Respond patiently and with what’s appropriate.

Don’t forget about diet. It’s easy when you’re busy to reach for the quick and nutritionally poor snacks/meals, but it’s really important to set aside time to cook/meal plan or even just throw together a quick snack tray of fruits/crackers/cheeses/etc. It doesn’t have to be instragrammable but you should have a balanced diet that factors in your specific needs, if you have any restrictions, etc.

Change yo pillow case frequently kids, it does wonders for acne.

I cannot stress enough! To! Stay! Hydrated! My goal is eventually eight glasses a day but my minimum is 4-5. I try to have one every meal, especially in college.

Bedtime is important! But more than that, wake up time is important. If you’re trying to adjust your schedule and can only keep one consistent, choose the time you wake up. Eventually your body will naturally become fatigued for the bedtime to match it. It’s how I turned my sleep schedule from 12:00 AM to 8:00 into 9:30 PM to 5:30 AM over the course of one winter break! 

If you’re a morning person, you’re a morning person. If you’re a night owl, you’re a night owl. There’s research now to prove that forcing yourself into a rhythm too extreme for your tendencies can make you feel awful either way.

At the end of the day, you’ve got one goal and one goal only: to look back on this year and be proud of what you’ve achieved and how you’ve grown. You shape your future and choose what matters most in your life!

If there’s anything else you think I’ve missed or you’d like me to cover more in depth/link more posts to, please ask me! I’d be happy to clarify/continue this series! I want to make sure you’re completely satisfied.

[hwu-adventures-blog]

So considering we are getting to the probable end of the Desire and Decorum in the next chapter or two (and I really don’t want it to end, it’s a very close second favourite series only beaten by Bloodbound because I love vampire myth and lore not sparkly Twilight vampires and believe me it is very very close between the series), I’ve decided it would be actually quite fun to properly introduce the future Sinclaire clan (the children of my MC, Beatrice and Ernest) as I have alluded to in most of my Desire and Decorum fanfics so here they are:

In order of birth:

Vincent Harry Sinclaire:

the eldest of the biological children (biological because the MC and Ernest could adopt Percival at the end of book 3).

Named for his grandfather, Vincent and his uncle Harry.

His godparents are Briar and Edmund.

he was born two months early in 1821 (unless Pixelberry pull a oh and the MC is pregnant at the end of book 3 or the Christmas special, which I am half expecting because Pixelberry need something to happen in the Christmas special and considering contraception was literally non existent in regency times the chances of MC getting pregnant soon after the wedding are high) in which case his birth year will be moved to like 1817 or 1818 to keep with the cannon of the book.

almost killed his mother in the process due to her Hemophilla (I headcannon that my MC has Hemophilla but is just extremely lucky and doesn’t get hurt very often despite the fact that she does some risky stuff that could end up getting her hurt in Desire and Decorum) but they were both perfectly fine in the end.

He is a very intelligent and strong willed boy with the same sullenness his father had as a child

protective of his younger siblings

Seriously don’t touch them or you will die

There was a rumour going round that he was illegitimate due to his early birth (probably spread by Henrietta) which were constantly called into question right up until Ernest had enough and presented the birth certificate of his son to a court and got that to verify that Vincent was his at some point when Vincent was about to question it himself in his teen years (the plan was not entirely fool proof but still this was the 1800s)

Probably bisexual

Has his mother’s dark hair and his father’s blue eyes

Doesn’t want to be heir to Edgewater but does become the earl in the future.

Mary Lydia Sinclaire:

Born after Vincent in 1822 with her twin brother George.

Older twin by twenty five minutes

Named after her parent’s mothers.

Her godparents are Annabelle Parsons and Luke Harper.

Very loud and Rambunctious child

She could rival lady Theresa Sutton (her probable aunt considering where book 3 is going with Harry’s romantic attention) in her loudness

At age six she goes almost mute with grief only talking to her mother, father and close friends for years

She’d probably be a Gay idol in today’s world, and she turns out to be gay but she does marry for convenience (although her mother does know about her daughters sexuality and is completely accepting of it, shocker for the time, I know but remember she’s friends with Mr Chambers and Mr Konevi and was accepting and supportive of them so why should it be any different for her daughter?)

Has her father’s hair and mother’s green eyes

Idolises Annabelle Parsons like she’s a godesss (she is her godmother after all)

Inherits Ledford Park From Ernest after his death (breaking the tradition of properties going to the first born son or any sons before daughters) which is a surprise that nobody but Ernest and Beatrice were expecting to happen.

George William Sinclaire:

Born 25 minutes after Mary in 1822.

Named for King George (III) as that name was a very popular name at the time anyway and being the Championess of the Realm his mother needed to honour the crown in some way and William Shakespeare, the playwright who’s play, ‘Much Ado about Nothing’ was the first book she read upon arriving at Edgewater.

His godparents are the same as Mary’s.

Quiet boy

Follows his sister’s lead a lot of the time.

Has a teddy he loves more than anything (except from his twin sister of course)

Very close to his uncle Harry

Enjoys playing sword fights with his brother Vincent

Looks like Ernest. Like a lot. Split image of him.

Becomes ill with yellow fever during his father’s birthday celebration

Passes away days later at the age of six

Doesn’t get to say goodbye to his twin or other siblings as they are at Hazelvale with Annabelle at the time.

His parents are there though

Impacts the entire family dynamic forever.

Eustace Fitzwilliam Sinclaire:

Born in 1823.

First of the unplanned children.

Named after Fitzwilliam Sinclaire (the guy who’s initials are engraved in the family gun) in his second name. He is also named after St Eustace (the patron saint of difficult situations)

Godparents are Viscount Harry and miss Theresa Sutton.

His parents had pretty much called time on having children after the surprise of twins but obviously weren’t calling time on having fun 😉 (lack of sexual education and communication at the time meant most people didn’t have a clue that not having protection meant more risk of conceiving) and therefore he came into existence.

Inherited Hemophilla from his mother (the only one to do so)

Age 4 he fell down the stairs and had an uncontrollable bleed in his leg. Doctors were able to save it and him.

But he is stuck with a often painful limp as a result and using a crutch or something to walk.

He’s basically the tiny tim of the family (apart from the dying)

Quiet and clingy child. And is another child with the sullenness his father had as a child.

Mummy’s boy

Has Ernest’s eyes and his mother’s hair

Headcannon that he is my bloodbound mc’s great grandfather and he married into the the bloodkeeper line.

Moves to America in the future

Clementine Briar Sinclaire:

Baby of the family

Born in 1828 a few months before Ernest’s birthday

Named for Pope Clement I, patron saint of Marines and Stonecutters (which is very relevant) and her step-aunt and mother’s best friend, Briar.

Her godparents are Bartholomew Chambers and Viscountess Lavinia (I headcannon that Beatrice becomes very good friends with the Viscountess after the whole wedding and nobody can tell me otherwise)

She also wasn’t planned 😂

Was born early due to stress from a incident involving Mr Richards and her mother (Richards being a d**k, basically asked to see her on his deathbed and then was a arse to her causing her to become stressed and go into labour- I have a fic in the works about it)

Often Feels left out as she’s the youngest

Especially when her siblings are remembering about George since she was a baby when he died.

Daddy’s girl

Ernest is very protective of her because of the whole Richards thing and because he feels guilty about it.

Has her father’s eyes and her grandmother Mary’s hair colour (genetics are funny).

Probably Autistic but because autism hasn’t been identified yet, she is undiagnosed.

Gets lost in her own world quite often

Enjoys stories and make believe

Loves pretending she is on the sea sailing off to far off lands.

Transcribes her mother’s diaries into a published book when she’s older- becomes a best selling author under the pen name, Clemence Bartholomew Smyth.

Marries a navy officer and sometimes travels to different countries with him in the future.

List of Fanfics they appear/ are alluded to/ mentioned in:

Family Life Series (series ongoing but very slowly and does have some cannon inaccuracies as it was started before book 2 ended)- part 1 (first part is a little hard to read due to dialogue being not spaced out so sorry part 2 is easier to read), part 2, part 3, part 4

Late Night Visitation- (this is now an AU and for some reason it wouldn’t let me edit the fic so I couldn’t change a mistake in the writing back to the way it originally was)

The Next Great Adventure

Goodbye, my Ernest

[kyufiber-moved]

i meant western shows lol sorry for not being specific enough !!

dw about it uwu !!!! 

- skam ; ok so the original is norwegian but it has remakes from italy, spain, france, the netherlands, america, belgium, and germany !! personally i would recommend the original bc . you can’t beat the original!!! but some of the remakes are rlly good !! 

- the vampire diaries ; ok yes. i know i KNOW. it is cliche and cringy sometimes but once you get into it ((which doesn’t take very long at least in my case)) it’s rlly good !!!! i may have watched four seasons in five days when i first came across it and like . lemme tell u . i didnt leave my room except to eat and shit for an entire week that shit was addictive af

- teen wolf ; A CLASSICCC . the character development in this show i just . oh MAN . just like,,, take note- it gets darker and darker every season and by the last season like,,, any trace of the lightheartedness and comedy that made s1 so cute is like,, nonexistant so :/ but it is a rlly good show 

- avatar: the last airbender ; ok so this is technically an anime but it’s originally in english and idk . it doesnt rly seem like anime?? it’s not japanese i’m pretty sure . but anyways this is seriously an amazing show. it may seem like it’s for kids and yeah kids can enjoy it but watching it as an adult just hits different :’) the character development, dynamics between characters, and themes of the show are just outstanding wow . but uh . fuck legend of korra tbh . only the original avatar show deserves rights OOPS

- the good place ; ok so for years i thought this show was so stupid and i’d hate it n stuff um . but then i watched an episode out of boredom and binged a season and a half KSFKJE it’s actually rlly good??? and funny af??? and the plot is super original too we stan

- brooklyn 99 ; OH . MY . GOD .p L EASE DO not SLEEP ON B99 . literally one of my all-time favorite tv shows ever. it’s HILARIOUS, has awesome themes, has the cutest romances and friendships, and never fails to keep me interested tbh . pls PLS watch

- friends ; if you haven’t seen at least an ep or two of friends,,, u got me worried . but anyway im including this out of obligation bc this is a Classic and i know like . every episode and all the dialogue by heart

- riverdale ; so i was like “ill never watch it its so cheesy n cliche” but i said that abt tvd too and look where we are . the third season is trash i won’t lie, and the second season is ok ig?? anyways yeah i rly only like the first season LOL kefjwke uh . stan cheryl that beautiful asshole

- the flash ; i’ll be honest i’ve only season season 1 and a little bit of season 2 but!!!! this show is rly good owo . stan barry allen ! although i rly wasn’t into the ships of this show tbh . i didnt like anyone with anyone yikes

- arrow ; again, ive only season 1 and one ep of s2 but ! quality shit ! also it’s in the same universe as the flash and there are some crossover eps on boths show how cute !!! anyways yeah watch it

- terrace house ; this show is a japanese reality show about 6 people (3 girls and 3 guys) that they get from all over japan (non celebs) and basically put them in a house and encourage them to fall in love LOL . there are like . so many seasons and each season is a different mansion house in a different place - usually in japan but one time it was hawaii ?? and there are hosts that watch the footage and comment on it n stuff . it’s quite cute

- sherlock ; yea . i went there. make sure its the benebumble cucumberpatch one though :’)

- on my block ; OMG ok so i’ve only seen a few eps of this but i rlly liked it !!!! pls watch !!

- new girl ; AHHHH ZOOEY DESCHANEL MY ABSOLUTE BABIE . this show is hilarious while also managing to be poignant ! pls watch it ! 

- comedians in cars getting coffee ; so this one isn’t a fictional tv show but if you wanna wind down or maybe watch something while sipping tea on a sunday morning, this show is IT. 

sorry for giving so many omg !!! i hope you binge to your heart’s content !!!

[jamieisnotrich]

Heathers UK: A Review by an OG Heathers Fan

Some of you may know this already, but the Heathers UK Cast Recording came out recently. I have been a fan of Heathers since the original Off-Broadway version in 2014 and after listening to this new cast recording, I have some OPINIONS. If you are an original Heathers fan then you probably remember how weird it was to go from almost everyone knowing what Heathers is (pre-Hamilton) to no one knowing anything about it (during Hamilton) to having a whole new ‘generation’ of people who love Heathers (post-Hamilton). In this review I will be breaking down each individual song and character portrayal in the new-ish version of Heathers and giving my overall opinion at the end. 

Beautiful

OOBC: 10/10

UK: 9/10

Now, of course, the original song is iconic. Not just because it introduces each individual character and future concept, but also because it has the iconic line “September 1, 1989.” It’s filled with laughs and relatable lines galore. We start by feeling bad for this main character while at the same time being intrigued by what is going on in her life. I feel like the West End does a great job at respecting the original song while at the same time giving their own flare. My only complaints are, of course, some of the language used. Not only is it painfully obvious that Heather Chandler can’t do an American accent for shit, but it’s also slowly revealed to us that they have changed some of the lyrics. Now, of course, it is expected, given that this is a whole new production, it’s just that some of the lyrics that they chose to change make no sense. It’s a great song, and I love Carrie Hope Fletcher’s energy toward the end, but it does not in any way compare to Barrett’s original performance. 

Candy Store

OOBC: 9.5/10

UK: 7.5/10 

Now, don’t get me wrong. I LOVE the original Candy Store, I just believe that in some ways, it could be improved (VERY minor). However, the West End’s rendition of this song is frankly not great. This is the first song where the Heathers really get to shine, and I feel like they’re more a little dull in this song. The belts aren’t great, the American accents are very noticeable, and let’s be honest, Jessica, Alice, and Elle are the best Heathers ever. A very minor complaint that I had that you cannot even see in the cast recording is that they switched Duke and McNamara. It really messed me up while looking through pictures of this production. I appreciate the drama and energy put into this song, but it’s just not as strong as the original. 

Fight for Me

OOBC: 8/10

UK: 7.5/10

Personally, I never really enjoyed the original version of this song. It’s a great song, but it doesn’t really stand out amongst all of the other songs in this musical. To me, it seems just like some kind of love-sick song that doesn’t really mean anything in the end. The West End does a great job of mimicking the original song, however, the arrangement of the music is not that great compared to the off-broadway production. 

Freeze Your Brain

OOBC: 10/10

UK: 6.5/10

I freaking LOVE Ryan McCartan’s original production of this song. No matter how many JD’s I watch perform this song, no one is as good as Ryan. When looking at a picture of Jamie Muscato, he seems like the kind of guy who would be perfect for the role of JD. In other words, he ticks all of the boxes, almost like an off-brand Ken doll. However, his rendition of this song is absolutely terrible. He sounds like he’s trying, he really is, but he just BARELY has the range for this song. This ultimately translates into him sounding more like a weird theatre kid and less like a mentally ill teenager. I appreciate the effort, but the payout is not great. 

Big Fun

OOBC: 10/10

UK: 7/10

When thinking about all of the obligatory ‘party’ songs in theatre (Halloween, The Dual, Revenge Party) ‘Big Fun’ almost always turns out to be my favorite. The energy, the craziness, the feeling of no regrets coming off of these teenagers. I just love every minute of the original song. However, this version does not in any way feel like the original. It starts off with the chords from the original that we all know and love, but they are being sung by the cast. Instead of just having the orchestra play them like a normal musical, they have the cast practically scream them at the top of their lungs. Although most of the original dirty jokes are still in the song, the high voices coming out of the cast through the entire 3 minutes and 42 seconds sound like they tried to make a Kidz Bop version. They really did try to create a good song, but it does not convey well at all. 

Dead Girl Walking

OOBC: 10/10

UK: 6/10

I love, love, love Carrie Hope Fletcher, but this was nowhere near her best song in this musical. She tried to do her best, but it’s really not a good song. They changed several of the lyrics from the original song, which are very awkward for the energy of the song. Jamie Muscato does a terrible job at acting like a teenage boy who just a (kind of) random girl bust into his room through the window. The harmonies are almost ear-shattering and compared to Barrett and Ryan’s original chemistry, these two have close to none. This song was not as bad as it could have been, but I just had very high hopes going into this song.

The Me Inside of Me

OOBC: 8.5/10

UK: 8.5/10

Believe it or not, I don’t particularly love the original version of this song. It’s a good song, I just don’t find it to be one of my top favorite in the musical. In my opinion, the West End production does a great job of keeping true to the original song. There was nothing that really stood out to me as being worse than the original song. It was pretty much the same as the original.  

You’re Welcome/Blue

OOBC: 2/10

UK: 9/10

I know this may not be the most popular of opinions, but I absolutely LOATH ‘Blue’. Frankly, it makes me feel extremely uncomfortable, and it doesn’t really add much to the story in the long run. The West End version replaced the dumpster fire of a song with a little number called ‘You’re Welcome’. Now I LOVE this song. It’s a perfect replacement for the original song, and it does an amazing job of showing the personalities of Veronica, Kurt, and Ram. I fell in love with Veronica’s new diary entries, and I believe that they did a great job of making it clear that Kurt and Ram are just two dumb white men. This song is the first in the musical that they completely replaced/added and it shows that maybe they should have just replaced the entire musical. The musical style is vastly different than all of the previous songs and, while the original musical is a classic, this song is absolutely amazing. 

Never Shut Up Again

UK: 8/10

This is the first song in the musical that is completely new. It’s a glorious number that really truly shows Heather Duke. Now, I don’t particularly love the casting choice for Heather Duke; T’Shan Williams’s voice is not what I imagine for Heather Duke, but I do love the energy she puts into her performance. I love how this song gives Heather Duke a small spotlight for a moment and really puts a light on her opinions about her friendship dynamic. I also love how in this song we also get to see Veronica’s slow descent from her short moment of fame. Another thing that I noticed is that the style of this song is very similar to that of ‘You’re Welcome’, which just further proves my point about maybe just completely re-writing the musical. The style is similar to that of another West End musical ‘Six’, which I’m not complaining about, given how good that musical is. 

Our Love is God

OOBC: 9/10

UK: 7.5/10

How much do I have to say this? I DO NOT LIKE JAMIE MUSCATO. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure he’s a great guy, but I cannot stand his performance as JD. He tries his best, he really does, but Ryan McCartan is just 100 times better. The original song leaves you with a feeling of, ‘oh shit, what’s gonna happen next?’, but this version just kinda makes you think ’huh, cool’. It’s not completely terrible, but I just wish it were a little bit better. 

My Dead Gay Son

OOBC: 10/10

UK: 9.5/10

This song is actually surprisingly really good. It just feels kind of awkward in some parts, but it’s pretty dang good compared to the original, despite the massive lyric change. 

Seventeen

OOBC: 9/10

UK: 9.15/10

Yup, you read that right. I actually think this one is better than the original. Even though I absolutely adore Barrett Wilbert Weed and think that she is still the best Veronica of all time, Carrie Hope Fletcher makes this song just slightly better than the original. The passion and energy she throws into her performance makes Muscato’s performance bearable and is even better than the original. I don’t particularly love this song, given how boring it is in some ways, but this song made me truly believe in Veronica’s view on everything that had been going on. Carrie made me want to just help these poor teenagers and take them out of this terrible situation before it gets worse. Now, if Ryan McCartan were in this instead, I might consider making the rating a 10 (MIGHT). 

Shine a Light

OOBC: 8/10

UK: 6.5/10

I don’t really like this song in the first place. It’s kind of awkward and makes me feel kind of uncomfortable. However, this does not mean that I don’t have some small part of my heart saved for this song. The West End took this song, completely ruined the arrangement, and added an actor who does a slightly okay job at playing an awkward high school teacher. This song kinda made me hate this song more than I already did. 

Lifeboat

OOBC: 10/10

UK: 2/10

I had to listen to this song on repeat for like 10 minutes and I honestly don’t feel that great about that. I LOVE the original of this song; it shows that not all of the Heathers were completely terrible, and it’s absolutely beautiful in the long-run. I could listen to the original for hours, but I could barely listen to this song once. Sophie Isaacs’ rendition of Heather McNamara is really bad, and I’ll talk about that later, but I just really hate how she did this song. Heather McNamara is supposed to be the quiet, unsuspecting one, but Sophie Isaacs tries to make a big show of this character’s personality. I loved how in the original song, you could feel just how lonely Heather M felt, and in this version, felt none of that. 

Shine a Light (Reprise)

OOBC: 10/10

UK: 5/10

I absolutely LOVE the original. It’s perfect in showing just how far Heather Duke has gone, and while this song does certainly show that, I just do not like this rendition at all. There’s something OFF about it that I don’t really like, and I really wish that they didn’t ruin this song. I mean, how do you ruin a 40 SECOND song?

I Say No

UK: 10/10

I FUCKING LOVE THIS SONG!!!! I’ve been listening to this song ever since they released the single weeks ago, and it’s absolutely perfect. I love how it shows Veronica’s personality, it gives her a voice, and it is just a REALLY good song. I love Carrie Hope Fletcher’s voice. I love the beat. I love the lyrics. Everything about this song is perfect for the story being told in this musical. I could listen to this for forever, and that’s not an exaggeration. This is yet another song that was added to the musical and is somehow perfect in every aspect. 

Kindergarten Boyfriend

OOBC: 8.5/10

UK: 8.5/10

Frankly, I don’t really love the original version of this song. I don’t really have anything against it, it’s just kind of boring. Jenny O’Leary does a really good job at mimicking the original song, while also making it her own. The arrangement for the music is a great tribute to the original as well. To me, it doesn’t really seem all that different from the original. 

Yo Girl

OOBC: 10/10

UK: 7.5/10

WHY??? WHY DID THEY REPLACE ‘MISERABLY’?? What was the point of that??? The original line is pretty freaking iconic and does an amazing job at lowering Heather Duke’s voice and staying within the original language. That lyric replacement was so random. The song overall feels kind of like a joke compared to the original. Even though it still gives the same feel as the original, I believe that the original feels a little creepier. It isn’t a great rendition, and honestly, the original is MUCH better. 

Meant to be Yours

OOBC: 10/10

UK: 5.5/10

Have I mentioned how much I hate the UK’s JD??? This was actually my favorite song when I was listening to the original cast recording, and this version is just so bad in comparison. Muscato is really trying to seem creepy, but it feels really forced. If anyone in this goddamn song could act for two seconds, then maybe I would take it a bit more seriously, but it’s so bad. 

Dead Girl Walking (Reprise)

OOBC: 10/10

UK: 7/10

What the heck, Carrie? I had so much trust in you! I’m sure a lot of other people feel this way, but the original version of this song is amazing. It does a great job at conveying just how frantic and vital Veronica’s actions are. I love Barrett’s original performance, and I also really love Carrie’s previous performances, but this is not her best. At all. I’m not even completely sure what’s wrong with it. It’s almost if the entire song is flat. 

I Am Damaged

OOBC: 9/10

UK: 8/10

I’m really confused about all of the lyric changes in this song?? None of them make any sense whatsoever. The song isn’t all that much different than the original other than the fact that I still hate UK JD. 

Seventeen (Reprise)

OOBC: 8.5/10

UK: 8/10

Eh, it’s not that bad. I don’t really like the original in the first place, just because I’m not usually a fan of the final songs in musicals, but the UK version isn’t that different from the original. It was fine, but not really what I expected. It’s a pretty fitting ending for this musical production. 

Characters

Alright, so now I’m going to give my opinion on each individual character. This is not necessarily a criticism as much as it is a criticism of the way this production portrayed this character. This is assuming that all of the original characters are a 10/10. 

Veronica: 9.5/10

JD: 3.5/10

Heather C: 8/10

Heather D: 7.5/10

Heather M: 5/10

Kurt: 8.5/10

Ram: 8.5/10

Mrs. Sawyer: 6.5/10

Final Verdict

8/10

While I did not really like this production, I did appreciate all of the time and effort they obviously put into its outcome. Just from watching their social media, you can tell that the entire cast does have some kind of chemistry. The new songs may even be better than the originals. This does not, however, excuse the fact that the original is still much better. Nothing can every replace Barrett and Ryan’s chemistry on stage or Jessica, Alice, and Elle’s perfect comedic timing. As much as I’d like to say that this production did a great job at honoring the original, it was in and of itself its own thing. And that’s not really a bad thing. It just gives the production a weird feeling at the end. I enjoyed revisiting this musical and seeing just how much my opinions have changed on some of these subjects. Overall, this entire cast recording is one major bit of nostalgia for the original fans and something to scream over for the newer fans. 

[signstrust]

Letterbox lyrics

#Letterbox lyrics free

Don't offer resistance, try to figure this music out and enjoy the emotional flow. I would consider Brandtson a band that you don't listen to, you experience it. It's amazing how a band can make you absorb in their passionate and varying post-hardcore music. Their voices are dragging you along to dreamy dimensions of sadness and joy. You can try to resist, but it's a fact that you will succumb under the emotional pressure of the hypnotizing emo-pop-rock tunes and the magnificent harmonious interaction of the voices of Jared Jolley (drums, vocals) and Myk Porter (guitar, vocals). I don't even know who wears these things. Actually, no it's the, we've got these three days ago. JL: Was that Danny or was that the teleprompter guy We got these things now.people can have private communications with- JF: Yeah. To me Brandtson is such a band and just grabs you emotionally without any problems. Dan/'Teleprompter Guy': Letterbox JF: Letterbox. Intro A A A A A A A A Verse 1 A D Are we still. Discover The British School in The Netherlands - SSVs top songs & albums, curated artist radio stations & more.

#Letterbox lyrics free

"There are some bands that play with your heart and soul like if you're a toy doll that can't offer resistance to anything. Free printable and easy chords for song by Banner Pilot - Letterbox. "Slow, deliberate and darkly passionate." - Punk Planet Brandtson can bash out a righteous wall of noise." - Magnet "A maelstrom of dense, tight emo with fire and real darkness. Brandtson are gonna be THE biggest." - Fracture "Angry, melodic and powerful although they occasionally do let up. Mighty and infectious.the business." - Kerrang "Damn near untouchable rock and roll blasted out from battered amps. "Blindspot" continues the favorable impression with a six-eight groove seemingly borrowed from Weezer's depressed twin brother. The album's first track 'Round 13' commands the listener's attention with an attack slightly reminiscent of early Social Distortion. Song titles like 'Nineveh' and 'Glutton For Tragedy' show that the band also possesses a poetic sensibility. "Letterbox features all the hallmarks of the emo sound: the approach is moody, the dynamics extreme, and the lyrics painfully honest. I'll never know what you'll find When you open up your letter box tomorrow 'Cause a little bird never tells me anything I want to know, She's my best friend, she's a sparrow And I'll never never know what you never never never want to know When you know what you are, O. Unreleased song "Holly Park" on Emo Diaries 2. Letterbox Lyrics Verse 1 The bell is ringing - get up and open Try to move - I'm loosing ground I'm feeling slack and scratch the surface Sending invitations round Verse 2 I'd better keep. Somber yet spirited with introspective lyrics, Brandtson is thoughtful, inspirational and mature beyond their years. Thick, driving, emotional guitars that are sometimes pretty, sometimes surging, sometimes chaotic. And they proudly wear their post-hardcore and dare we say pop influences like a badge of honor. Alright, so here we go.Dark, melodic and hauntingly beautiful, Brandtson explodes with shredding intensity on Letterbox. JF: Just for slickness sake, I should tell him now that you're not. So, um you're not, are you going to play the accordion on this one or no? I think I told Iggy you were going to play accordion so. This was just like, a song that was from the original issue of stuff. If I had a pair of eyes on the back of my head for each time. And Ill never never know what you never never never want to know. And Ill never, never know what you never, never, never wanna know when you know what you are, oh. Cause a little bird never tells me anything I want to know, Shes my best friend, shes a sparrow. Ill never know what youll find when you open up your letterbox tomorrow, Cause a little bird never tells me anything I wanna know shes my best friend, shes a sparrow. So, um this song is, uh, actually I think we actually recorded this song 5 years before we did the Flood album. When you open up your letter box tomorrow.