#physical book quote posting is very hard

[metamatar]

American documentation reveals that Washington was not easily deceived and even by 1967 they understood that what they had been told had little relevance to what was happening on the ground. On 25 June 1967 the President requested that the Israeli government should not officially annex Jerusalem. This was the first use of a formula that would be employed again and again, and, one should say, that would be perfected over time and it is still in use today: a firm American request not to annex or colonize is followed by an unequivocal promise to take this position on board, while the planned annexation or colonization goes ahead anyway.

The Biggest Prison on Earth, Ilan Pappe

[i-yap]

Can I ask for maybe a series on the batboys love languages? Them being down bad simps is so funny and cute

So i think all batboys sort of use all love languages, but in varying levels

Dick Grayson

 words of affirmation,- very direct and upfront with words, confident and very charming. Even him being vulgar is like charming . Its almost like practiced ease but its so personalized that it works. It is a little basic though. Likes it a lot when you do it too. appreciate that beautiful wonder boy please.

quality time,- He tries so hard but with his responsibilities its tough. He craves getting adventures or doing some activity together but after a really long time apart he just wants to cuddle with you in a park or hill and talk.

physical touch,- yes. no hesitation yes. he loves it , knows just how to use it. Its like he can read your mind because he knows exactly what you want and when you want it. prefers giving over receiving .

acts of service- also big yes. Since he cant give enough quality time, what is one strong way he can show how much he loves you. also very caretaker vibes..like a mother hen. Wants to tie your scarf, wash your hair, tie your shoelace to something like staying up making you food and giving you stress release hugs during exam time. "why would you want to do something when I can do it for you babe" . Will die if you do even the littlest thing gushing and telling you just how much he appreciates it.

receiving gifts- Second Best gift giver , its like a perfect mix of expensive and personal and he just loves spending on you. but prefers spending on memories more than materialistic stuff . Will cherish your gifts forever and very vocal about it.

Jason todd

 words of affirmation,- sucks at it, but he will quote you book lines when the mood is vulnerable and quiet in the night and he is really in his safe space. Which is unique and very personal . Also very vulgar and straight up in dirty talk. Will blush-glitch-brush off any sweet thing you say to him.

quality time- yes. like yes all the time just stick your skin to him will not leave you side. wants to be with you alone forever doing nothing at all just loving and its literally to an obsessive level

physical touch- made a separate post on this in detail

acts of service- its very subtle, he will never tell you about . may even deny doing it and for a while you probably thought it was a ghost. If you do anything for him, will just stare but inside his head its like an explosion...like imagines a loud screaming todd running around

receiving gifts-very sweet personal gifts . lowkey sucks at giving gifts on special occasion but gives awesome random gifts. Give him anything and its him malfunctioning ...like you saw him actually stutter 9times in a row" uh-wha-for me-why-uh-th-than-thanks-i mean- i-uh-i-uh-yea bye"

 

ill do a part2 with bruce and tim

[wrestlingwithlife]

COD Incorrect Quotes With Our Lovely Y/n

Warning gets a little spicy towards the end ;)

Price: Well, should I be worried?

Y/n: Not yet.

Price:

Y/n:

*loud explosion*

Y/n: Now you can worry

————————————————————————

Y/n: No, I don't want to talk about physics! I don't know anything about the laws of physics because they are hard and boring. I simply would like them to behave in a way that is most convenient to ME and MY LIFE! Is that really asking too much?

Gaz: Yes, as a matter of fact, it is!

Y/n: Well, guess what? Science is stupid bullshit!!

Gaz: You take that back!!!

Y/n: No. Magic is awesome. Science blows. The end.

————————————————————————

Y/n: What are you doing here?

Soap: I could ask you the same question.

Y/n: I live here. This is my room.

Soap: I should probably ask you a different question.

————————————————————————

Y/n: I just heard Ghost call the dog a “fucking liar” because he barked like someone was at the door and no one was there.

————————————————————————

Price: I am going to need you to swear-

Y/n: Fuck.

Price:

Price: ...swear as in promise.

————————————————————————

Price: *shatters a window and climbs through it*

Price: *turns around and helps Y/n through it* Breaking and entering is wrong Y/n

Y/n: Okay.

————————————————————————

Ghost: You read my diary?

Y/n: At first I did not know it was your diary. I thought it was a very sad handwritten book.

————————————————————————

Y/n: I like your new pants!

Price: Thanks, they were 50% off!

Y/n: I’d like them better if they were 100% off. *winks*

Price: The store can’t just give away clothes for free.

Y/n: Thats’s… not what I meant.

Price: That’s a terrible way to run a business, Y/n.

————————————————————————

Y/n: The real treasure was the memories we made along the way.

Graves: I almost died.

Y/n: That... was my favorite memory.

————————————————————————

Soap: You look good in that hoodie.

Y/n: You know where else I'd look good?

Soap, zero hesitation: My bed.

Y/n, at the same time: By your side- wait, what?

————————————————————————

Ghost: This bloodline ends with me.

Y/n: That's the fanciest way I've ever heard someone say "I'm gay".

————————————————————————

Y/n: Gaz, you do remember when we agreed we were better off as friends, right?

Gaz, naked in Y/n's bed: No, I absolutely do not.

Y/n, already taking off his clothes: Fuck... Me neither.

————————————————————————

Price: We should get you to a doctor for a check up immediately. What if it happens again, and there isn’t anyone around to help you? What if it’s congenital? Oh my God! Was it me? Did I hurt you?

Y/n: …You realize any other person that made their partner pass out on bed would simply feel really proud of themselves, right?

————————————————————————

Y/n: Well, Ghost and I finally did it!

The rest of the squad: *gasps, shocked expressions, etc.*

Y/n: That's right... We kissed!

————————————————————————

Y/n: There are 20 letters in the alphabet, right?

Gaz: Nope, there's 26.

Y/n: Ah, I must have forgotten U, R, A, Q, T.

Gaz: Aww, that's cute, but you're still missing one.

Y/n: You'll get the D later ;).

————————————————————————

Y/n: What are you in the mood for?

Ghost: World domination.

Y/n: That's a bit ambitious.

Ghost: You are my world.

Y/n: Aww...

Ghost:

Y/n:

Ghost:

Y/n: OH.

————————————————————————

Price: Know why I called you in here?

Y/n: Because I accidentally sent you a dick pic.

Price: *Stops pouring two glasses of wine.* Accidentally?

————————————————————————

Soap: You know my motto: carpe diem, carpe noctem, carpe coles.

Y/n: Seize the day, seize the night, what’s the last one?

Soap: Seize the dick.

————————————————————————

Hopefully these helped quench you guy’s hunger whilst I work on my next post.

- Author~Chan out ✌️

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA for reporting my sister’s teacher to the school admin?

Alright folks strap in this one’s a doozy. TLDR at the end.

My (19M) sister (17F) is a senior in high school and this year she’s taking AP English Literature and Composition (hereby abbreviated as ap lit). For my non American buddies, this is essentially the highest level English class in most public high schools. This is a notoriously difficult exam and my sister’s extremely nervous for it. However, her teacher (23F) is. Well. To put it bluntly, the most gen z #relatable tiktoker in the world. This is the first English class AND the first AP class she’s ever taught. The only other high school class she’s taught was physics (not even honors). Her only qualification to teach the class is that she got a 5 on the exam when she took it in high school.

She is demonstrably bad at her job. Her motivation to teach English this year was, quote: “Taylor Swift is SUCH a poet she’s one of the main reasons I wanted to be an English teacher” if that gives you the vibes. And yes, she spent two class periods making students analyze a Taylor Swift song.

To list some other offenses, she: encouraged the propagation of the Hellen Keller was fake conspiracy, recommended using Harry Potter as a resource for the AP lit exam (citing that it’s one of her favorite book series of all time), telling students she will not help them with college applications (despite this being a very common and expected thing for senior English teachers to do here), and telling students to watch the movie adaptations of recommended novels WITHOUT reading them, and then to use the Wikipedia summary to compare and contrast the two. She also regularly misspells things in class which is great for a language teacher.

And I wasn’t kidding about the tiktoker thing. That’s her main passion, posting outfit/makeup tiktoks. This includes doing it in her class about all her teachercore fits.

My sister complains about her constantly, and as someone who’s has to deal with seriously traumatic harassment from teachers in the past, my first reaction was that she should report her. However, the problem is, last time she caught a student complaining about her, she punished the whole class by making them take a ridiculously hard pop quiz because “her feelings were hurt”. A very responsible and adult reaction /s. So, my sister is worried that if I confront her or the administration, the class will be punished.

While I understand my sister’s fear, I just don’t think the teacher should be allowed to get away with her behavior. I understand that the teacher is young (she’s barely 4 years older than me!) and should be allowed to make mistakes, but starting off her English teaching career at the highest high school level of English classes. My sister is now having to seek additional tutoring because the class is massively under preparing her for the exam.

TLDR: My sister’s English teacher is really bad at her job and underpreparing her for a difficult national test. I want to tell the school about this behavior but my sister is worried that she’ll punish the class.

So, WIBTA if I reported her to the administration? And if so, people of tumblr do you have other ideas because I’ve hit a wall.

What are these acronyms?

[infinite8revisions]

Marius de Romanus

This is gonna be a long 'en!

Warning: This post contains criticisms of Marius.

Warning: This post contains discussions of grooming and abuse.

Ahhh, Marius de Romanus! Everyone's favorite master of exposition! The harborer of "Those that must be kept" and one of the Ancients! Don't let his knowledge and aristocratic airs fool you! Marius is still...I want to say human...but let's go with...imperfect! Bro still gotta put his shoes on one at a time is my point. Let's break down some of his traits. I've got a few adjectives that I think fit pretty well.

Narcissistic, Pretentious, and Pedophilic.

I'll explain, but first, 3 things!

1. There aren't any official book-accurate portrayals of Marius (yet) so we're going to have to deal with the short dark haired Marius from the "Queen Of The Damned" movie (which portrayed his personality well imo). Honestly, I thought about using pics of Lucius Malfoy for a split second! I mean he's a pretty close fit! LMAO!!

"He was a tall fair creature whose yellow hair was almost white. He had hard blue eyes, and a delicate face, covered with a thin layer of blood and ash to make him look more human to the mortal eye....He had large hands but they were slender and the fingers were fine."-Thorne: Blood and Gold

Above: Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy.

2. Sorry in advance about all the quotes! It's just that Marius does a damn good job of making my points for me! I'm over here re-reading sections like-

3. Bit of a disclaimer here. Criticizing a character does NOT mean you don't like that character or the role they play in the story. I'm not sure why, but with Marius specifically, people can get a bit defensive about him. So this is the final warning: Not everything said in this post will be positive.

Now, where to begin with this man? Probably with the elephant in the room and the most severe of allegations. Pedophile.

Many people (including myself) call Marius a groomer. Sometimes there is pushback on this with people saying that while some of his relationships are viewed as inappropriate today, they were fine during the time. They also state that Marius is not a groomer, just someone who fell in love. I want to make it known that Marius himself admits to consciously grooming Amadeo (Armand).

"Never before had I wanted such a thing, to make a blood drinker for my own companionship, indeed to educate a mortal youth for this very purpose, and to groom him expertly that he might be the finest choice." Blood and Gold: Chapter 19

I debated on using the words pedophile, hebephile, and ephebophile when referring to Marius, but there's definitely a pattern. The fact is, when it comes to his romantic partners, his infatuation and lust for them frequently start around the ages 10-19. This is true of Amadeo, Lydia (Pandora), and Bianca. Let's take a look-

Above- Armand and Pandora: Queen Of The Damned (2002)

"Hebephilia is the sexual interest by adults in pubescent children who are in early adolescence, typically ages 11–15."

Marius claims that Amadeo was "no older than 15" when he rescues him, but I have to note that during their first sexual encounter soon after, Amadeo recounts that he "was too young for a wet pleasure" (The Vampire Armand: Chapter 3). This could still mean he was 15 and a later bloomer, but in general, it suggests (and I believe) he was probably younger.

Marius also insinuates that Amadeo was the only one of his boys with who he had a physical relationship, but I don't know how much I believe that. Especially considering he knew of the sexual play that went on between the boys at the palazzo.

Above: The Musicians Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi) Italian 1597

"Pedophilia is defined as a sexual interest by adults in prepubescent children.(This word is often used as an overarching term for an adult who has attraction to anyone under legal age.)"

For Pandora, Marius asks her father for her betrothal when he is 25 and she is 10, and again when he is 30 and she is 15. Of course, they don't end up together until she is older, not because of him, but because her father forbade it.

"Now to the specific recollection. I was ten years old,..." "I can calculate that he was only twenty-five. But I’m not certain." "He lingered. “Goodbye, little Lydia,” he said. He then spoke under his breath to my Father, and I heard my Father say: “You are out of your mind!”My Father turned his back on Marius, who gave me a sad smile and disappeared. “What did he mean? What happened?” I asked my Father. “What’s the matter?” “Listen, Lydia,” said my Father. “Have you in all your readings come across the word ‘betrothed’?” “Yes, Father, of course.” “Well, that sort of wanderer and dreamer likes nothing better than to betroth himself to a young girl of ten because it means she is not old enough to marry and he has years of freedom, without the censure of the Emperor. They do it all the time.”" Pandora: Chapter 2

"Ephebophilia is the sexual interest by adults in pubescent mid-to-late adolescents typically ages 15-19."

Lastly, Bianca is kind of an exception. He meets her when she is 19ish (Blood and Gold: Chapter 18) and, by most cultural standards (then and now), technically an adult. He held a fascination with Bianca much like Amadeo, but she was too old and tainted for him to groom. Sounds harsh and unbelievable doesn't it? This is what Marius had to say

Note: Marius is talking out loud to himself here. He's speaking as if he is talking to Amadeo, but Amadeo is not there.

"Except she was already a young woman when I came upon her," I responded, "educated and forced into life, indeed a murderess; yes, indeed, a murderess, a child woman guilty of dreadful crimes. And you, you were a helpless child. I could mold you and change you, all of which I've done." Blood and Gold: Chapter 19

Sounds like a lot of those toxic podcasters doesn't he? You need someone pure, young, and naïve to turn into who you want. Because it's not about loving them for who they are, it's about creating a companion to serve your needs. If they ever stop meeting those needs, you can throw them away and try again. -_- That's a convo for another day.

Above: Painting by Sandro Botticelli whose artwork was the inspiration for Armand's appearance.

On to the claim of Narcissism: Marius has a severe need to be needed. This theme is present throughout his relationships, romantic and otherwise.

Saying Marius wants to be worshiped may be a bit much, but I'm gonna say it anyway. At first, I shied away from calling him a narcissist at all (because it's such a buzzword now), but when really thinking about it...yeh, he's pretentious and narcissistic. The things he does, even the (seemingly) altruistic things, always lead back to Marius the heart of it. He loves to be seen as the grand benefactor. We see this in the parties he threw in Rome, with the boys in Venice, with Pandora, Amadeo, Bianca, and even Lestat. That man is an egoist with the need to be in control.

Above: Marius and Lestat- Queen of The Damned (2002)

Looking at his relationships, most of them have required the other to be submissive or subservient to him. He needs the power dynamic of teacher/student, master/slave, father/child etc. If he doesn't have it, fights start and relationships fall apart. Once he feels truly challenged (not taunted or teased as Amadeo would do) he runs or abandons. The moment Pandora became his equal, he abandoned her. The moment Bianca scolded him, he told her to pack her things.

Yes he sees it, and he's totally jelly! Above: Akasha talking to the ancient ones: Queen Of The Damned (2002)

I mean she (calmly) told him about himself ONCE (which he agreed with but couldn't handle hearing from someone else), so he abandons her in a random castle! Of course, he didn't leave her for long, he always feels regret and wants to reconcile these relationships, and it's always too late.

Even among other vampires such as Mael and Avicus, Marius still played the role of the superior, the all-knowing, the hero. This is where we see more of his pretentious side. Truthfully, Marius didn't know too much more than either of them, but you wouldn't know it by talking to him. When he figures something out, he's fit to burst at being the exposition piece for everyone.

You know what? That's really not fair.

Reading that back I want to give Marius some grace. Given the times, his mortal life, and subsequent thrusting into vampirism, some of what I call "pretentious" is more so him just trying to help. People have always expected a lot from Marius, so it is only natural that he begins to give excessively. He loves to teach and that's not a bad thing. I mean the man was a chronicler and scholar before his "death"! To say that he played the role of the superior, the all-knowing, the hero isn't totally untrue, but it is slightly misleading. TO BE FAIR...people treat him that way. Mael and Avicus come to Marius for help. They ask him questions, and he tries to help and do what's right. They looked to him on their own, not because Marius wanted them to. Okay, I've convinced myself, I recant "pretentious." I think I just wanted a third word and it really doesn't fit.

Above: Marius- Queen of The Damned (2002)

On that note however, don't tell this man ANYTHING you don't want errbody else knowing! He's a bad secret keeper! If I had a dollar every time a Marius secret got out...I could get lunch at least! Like bruh, shush! Loose lips sink ships and you've sunken an entire fleet!

Back to him needing to be the superior in his relationships. An exception is The Scared Parents. He does bow down and worship them, but it's still consistent with what I've observed, that it comes back to him. When breaking down the (silent) relationship with Akasha and Enkil, I noted 2 main reasons for his dedication-

1. He doesn't want to die.

"How could I continue to harbor these beings who might menace it? But I didn't want to die. No, I have never really wanted to die. And so I did not destroy the King and the Queen. I continued to care for them, to shower them with the symbols of worship." Blood and Gold: Chapter 34

2. Say it with me now, HE NEEDS TO BE NEEDED.

In his mind, they need him, but realistically they don't. My mans gave himself the ultimate task. After Akasha asked for help he could have holed them up somewhere and f**ked off, maybe checking on them every 50 to 100 years (In fact, he does do that unintentionally at one point). I'm so sure they would have been alright, and if not they certainly could have called out to someone themselves.

Actually, if not for Marius and his need to be "useful", Akasha may have never woken and gone on her rampage. Think about it, he's the one who woke Lestat, he's the one who compulsively told him everything and took him to Akasha, and he bought her the TV that allowed her to hear Lestat's music and develop (some of) her extremist views.

Above: Lestat before and after drinking Akasha's blood for the first time-Queen of The Damned (2002)

TO BE FAIR (again), she is connected to every vampire, so even without Marius she could still see all and may have decided to get up at any time for any reason. However, in this reality, it's Marius and his friggin need to be needed.

Taking a closer look at his dysfunctional relationships, This is him talking to Pandora. Mind you, he hasn't seen her in more than a hundred years (because he took the parents and ghosted her after a fight). She created a fledgling (Arjun) to be her companion and protect her. He serves her with love and admiration, but upon first hearing of him, Marius IMMEDIATELY assumes she is being controlled and is a slave to him (projection much?). This is part of their conversation upon reuniting. He's horribly dismissive, controlling, and narcissistic.

(Pandora states) "Oh, you are so angry and it is so like our quarrels of old." "No, it's not!" I declared. "It's nothing like our quarrels of old because it's about nothing. Now I'm taking you from here. I'm taking you to my palace, and I shall deal with Arjun as best as I can afterwards." "You can't do such a thing," she said sharply. "Marius, I've been with him for hundreds of years. You think you can simply come between us?" "I want you, Pandora. I shall settle for nothing else. And if such a time comes that you want to leave me - ." "Yes, and what if it does come," she said angrily, "then what shall I do when there is no Arjun on account of you!" "....As soon as I had her in the carriage, I kissed her wantonly as mortals kiss and wanted to sink my teeth into her throat but she forbade it. "Let me have that intimacy!" I begged. "For the love of Heaven, Pandora, it's Marius who is speaking to you. Listen to me. Let us share blood and blood." "Oh, you are so violent in your temper," she said in a whisper. "Can't you guess what reduces me to this abominable weakness?" "No," I said. "I know only I love you with my whole heart. I've found you again and I'll do anything to keep you." Her eyes remained fixed on the palace. "Even give up the female companion," she asked, "who is inside this very house waiting for you?" I didn't answer. "I saw her at the ball," she said, her eyes glassy, her voice quivering. "I saw her and knew what she was, quite powerful, quite graceful. I never guessed she was your lover. But now I know that she is. I can hear her inside. I can hear her hopes and dreams and how they are pinned on you." "Stop it, Pandora. It isn't necessary that I give her up. We are not mortals! We can live together."

Oh! so SHE has to give up her fledgling and protector for you, but "it isn't necessary" for YOU to give up Bianca?

He does eventually say that he'll leave Bianca for her, but Pandora stands strong saying Marius hasn't changed and leaves with Arjun. Then Bianca (who heard everything) is like..."sooo you lied about the reason we came here AND you were ready to throw me away for the second time? But now that she's dumped you you'll stay right? NAH son!!"

Moving back to Marius' relationship with Amadeo. When I read his account of things vs. Marius', it made me hurt for Amadeo. Knowing that he was saved to be further used. To know he gave his complete and total love, devotion, and life to someone who merely saw him as a clean slate. To realize that Marius' obsession with Botticelli and painting played a role as well. Marius saw Amadeo's paintings in his mind before buying him and wished to have that talent at his disposal. To possess it the way he could not do with Botticelli.

"He had once been a painter, this bruised and young one. The face of Christ had been his work. He had once mixed the egg yolk and the pigment just as I mixed them." Blood and Gold:Chapter 18

"...he knew the magic of the color spread upon the wooden panel. He would remember; he would remember a time when he cared about nothing else." Blood and Gold:Chapter 19

"As we sat down to supper, Riccardo explained that Amadeo could paint nothing. Indeed, Amadeo was afraid of the brushes and the pots of paint" Blood and Gold:Chapter 19

Marius tried to get Amadeo to remember, even though it was clear he couldn't and (to an extent) didn't want to remember. But that wasn't what Marius wanted, so he persisted despite that, pushing Amadeo again and again.

"Meanwhile, Amadeo recovered nothing of his memory. He could not paint, he could not touch the brushes. It was as if the colors, when raw, burnt his eyes." Blood and Gold:Chapter 19

and again

"But I want you to remember," I said to him suddenly in his Russian tongue. It was a shock to him but he didn't understand it. "Amadeo," I said in the Venetian dialect, "think back to the time before you came here. Think back, Amadeo. What was your world then?" A flush came to his cheeks. He was miserable. It was as if I'd beaten him. Riccardo reached out for him with a consoling hand. "Master," he said, "it's too hard for him." Blood and Gold:Chapter 19

and again

"Bundling him like a child I took him into a Venetian church to see the wondrous paintings of robust and natural figures that had been done in these last few years. But I could see now it was hopeless. His mind would never be opened, never truly changed. I brought him home, and laid him down on the pillows once more." Blood and Gold:Chapter 19

"His had been a punitive world of austere devotion. Painting for him had been joyless. And indeed all of life itself in far-away Russia had been so rigorous that he could not give himself over to the pleasure that awaited him now at every turn. Beset by the memories, yet not understanding them, he was moving slowly towards death." -Blood and Gold:Chapter 19

then he finally admits it...to himself anyway.

Note: this is a party of the quote before. Marius is talking out loud to himself. Amadeo is not there.

"It's true, I thought you were a painter," I continued, "that you had the gift for painting, and I know that it's still in you, and that did sway me, too." Blood and Gold:Chapter 19

It opens another conversation about the effects of grooming and fetishization on its victims, but I won't get into it here.

Now, I understand the relationship between Amadeo and Marius changed over time. While Marius' initial intentions were self-centeredness shrouded in mercy, he did grow to love Amadeo. So much so that he regularly fought with and frustrated himself over whether to turn him at all, knowing what hardships would lie ahead and not wanting to subject him to it...Nah! I can't give him a break here! I tried, but abuse is abuse regardless of whether it takes place in a shady cell below a brothel or in a beautiful palazzo while showering the victim with gifts. What was done was done, and it matters not whether Marius did things out of love or if Amadeo loved him. A willing victim is still a victim and I HATE it when people discount abuse and trauma simply because of its setting or the victim's participation. Don't even get me started Marius sending Amadeo to the brothels...

Amadeo/Armand never recovers from his abuse/trauma, that much is clear. Not the abuse he suffered in his homeland, with Marius, or with Santino's coven, and no one would expect him to. He went through a lot in his mortal life and he hadn't even reached 18 (in the books).

I intended to go on about Marius and how societal expectations and his mortal life play into his vampiric one, but this post is long enough and I KNOW it's going to cause me to jump to several other topics soooo to conclude...Marius got issues ya'll!

That's going to do it for this post. Marius is definitely one of the more controversial Vampires in the VC. At least of the ones who have biographies. I'd say Armand is a close second. Honesty, I might even put Armand above Marius if not for the grooming and child love. But again, that's a post for another day.

I you read this far, YOU THE GOAT!!

[incomingalbatross]

Thoughts on Ghost Days by Jim Butcher (and possibly the earlier books, if they spill over into this post)

All of this is, as Harry observes, absolutely typical of his existence. Of course he can't just die, he gets sent back as a special unknown type of ghost to solve his own murder. And of course he shoulders like three different new obligations, makes a new friend, and adopts a criminal teenager within his first 24 hours of unlife.

Kinda love how quickly and understatedly he's incorporated the very latest familial revelation into his narration. He says something like "I'd lost the scar on my arm that I got while skinning a fish on my grandfather's farm" and it's so casual it almost slips by.

(Side note: I need to see his grandfather and his brother find out about each other now. I realize there has been no opportunity and these aren't exactly Harry's secrets to tell anyway, but please.)

Mort going "all cats can see ghosts, they just don't usually care" checked out completely, of course, but it was also perfect setup for Mister's "HELLO YOU'RE BACK MY HUMAN HI." Which. Oof.

Ways you can tell it's really Harry Dresden: 1) Mister hits him in the invisible shins, 2) he opens the conversation with a Star Wars quote, 3) he's talking a teenager into turning his life around.

Love all the Bob content in this one. Harry got to see how the other half lived and everything. (Though his amorality credentials are slightly tarnished by that heroic last stand of his. Which he'd better have survived.)

Everyone here seems like they're an inch from cracking, and I'm concerned for all of them, but they're DOING THEIR BEST. (Butters isn't an inch from cracking. He seems to be doing great, I'm very proud of him.)

Very glad and also a little amused that the Super Secret Safe Witness Protection Home for Maggie is... the Carpenters. I mean it absolutely should be, but it's also funny.

Of course Mouse exists equally in the physical and spirit world. I'd be more surprised if he didn't.

I DID have several moments where I went what about Thomas. why isn't your narration even mentioning Thomas, but the payoff of "I couldn't stand to face even the thought of what I'd done to him" made it make sense.

More general/Thematic thoughts:

Uriel and/or the narrative really said "You're going to take a good, hard look at the unintended consequences of your actions. And you're going to do it disembodied so you can process a little better."

There was something that really struck me at some points in the Lasciel period, and it's back again now: I love that when Harry crosses lines, not only is he capable of seeing it, but the reaction of the people around him is, "yeah you sure did cross a line! you did wrong. so stop doing it and get better, because you can. this isn't a slippery slope unless you decide it is."

He has! Free will! Contrition is always meaningful! Change is always possible! Harry is never allowed to write himself off. He is always told that he's capable of picking himself up and doing better - because he is. He's alive and human and that means he has as much hope as he chooses to hold onto.

That said, I also really appreciated the weight his choices in the last book are given here. It's so easy to just go along with "it was for Maggie, it was his JOB" (and it was his job), but this book made Harry and us stop and linger on both the lines he crossed and the unintended harm he caused.

(Though he is taking too much weight on himself. Martin maneuvered a lot of this into play, not to mention the ACTUAL Red Court. And there is something to be said for the SG-1 approach of "stop worrying about ramifications and just kill the ancient evil first.")

(Oh, now I remember! I was also thinking of Hunger Games re: this. Katniss and Peeta's defiance of evil was personally motivated and sparked a lot of unintended harm to others - but it was also the only spark that could have destroyed the machinery of evil. Not quite the same but made me think of it.)

ANYWAY. Speaking of crossed lines and harm caused: I was NOT prepared for the murder reveal.

It DOES explain so much about this whole book, especially in combination with the (not as shocking :P) reveal that he's only mostly dead. He NEEDED to know this. He needed to know and understand all the choices he made, and their results - and the lie that influenced him - if he was going to be allowed back to his body.

First, he needed to know there was no outside killer to worry about. He also needed to know that HE did this. All of it. Part of accepting culpability and facing his choices meant facing that there was a third murder on his account - because that is how he frames it - what he did to Molly and what he did to himself and everyone who loved him.

He also, most crucially, needed his free will reasserted, both by the manipulation being revealed to him and by Uriel balancing the scales.

Because a Harry Dresden who had given up on himself as the Winter Knight is a nightmare the world's not ready for.

Instead he's ready to give Mab new problems. :) She gets what she paid for.

Closing thought: If, when he finally gets back to the world of the living, he does not make at least one "mostly dead" and/or "really most sincerely dead" joke, I will be very disappointed in him.

[creature-wizard]

heres a very simple explanation on what Law Of Assumption is because you seem a bit confused:

The way you speak to yourself has a powerful impact on your mental and emotional state. If you constantly tell yourself negative things like, "My life is terrible, I hate myself, I'm so unhappy," you'll likely feel exactly that—unhappy and insecure.

However, if you start to replace those thoughts with positive affirmations, like "My life is beautiful, I love myself, and I'm happy," you'll begin to see that positivity reflected in your life. This is essentially what the law of assumption is all about: your inner dialogue shapes your reality.

That's really all there is to it—it's simple. We all have thoughts that mirror our emotions and the state of our lives. The key is learning to shift those thoughts toward something that aligns with the life you desire.

I’m not sure how any of this—just thinking positively—could be considered a cult.

Oh, this is a simple explanation, all right. In fact, it's so simple that it's downright dishonest.

See, if this was really all that you people were teaching, I wouldn't have a problem with it. But I know, and I'm pretty sure you know, that the Law of Assumption goes a little bit beyond this.

Let's start with the concept of revision. In The Pruning Shears of Revision, Neville Goddard wrote about this whole thing he did, where if the day didn't go his way he'd go and imagine it happening differently. He basically claimed you could change your whole life with it. Now, lots of Law of Assumption bloggers are claiming that you can use this technique to change everything from bad grades to your ethnicity and the country you were born in. At least one person even claimed that you could use revision to bring back the dead.

Let's talk about Everyone Is You Pushed Out. In that very same book, Goddard claimed that "you are absolutely responsible for every being you meet in this world." That's an exact quote. He claims that you can change "evil" people with this. And now, there are Law of Assumption bloggers who take Goddard at his word and go around claiming that you can change literally anyone, including longtime abusers, and it's basically your fault if they don't change. (This is not to say that abusers can't ever change, but it takes a whole lot more than one person believing in it hard enough.)

Let's also talk about the numerous LOA blogs repeating the claim that the 4D (your imagination) is the true reality, or at least more real than the 3D (the physical world), and that "the 3D has no choice but to conform to the 4D." Literally how the fuck do you (general you) know this? You don't. You (still general you) just believe it's true because somebody said it to you in a really confident-sounding tone. Once you actually stop and think about this claim for a few minutes, it totally falls apart. Just for one example, if the "3D" actually worked like this, then we should all be living in a universe where the sun rotated over a flat earth, because nobody would have any reason to start thinking that the world was round and rotated around the sun. The fact that the physical world constantly behaves counterintuitively to our expectations is proof that the 3D doesn't really give a damn what you think.

Again, if all you people were doing was what you described in your message, then I wouldn't have a problem, and we wouldn't be here. But we both know that the LOA encompasses a little more than what you're describing, and that's why we're here.

To anyone reading this: If you are leaving or questioning the Law of Assumption and need help, please see this post.

[one-squash-one-end]

>1.6k words on bi Gansey

Hi! This belongs to my big Raven Cycle analysis, click here for the masterpost.

Today we are diving into all the reasons why I think Gansey is a bi king (and then some more). Enjoy!

(I think there might be mild spoilers up to trk, nothing too bad though, more character interactions than plot)

b) Gansey

Alright hear me out. This man. There is nothing this rich boy can do to beat the fruit allegations. He is a bi king, through and through. Everyone but him knows, including you, because what I have to say is the absolute truth and I am great at convincing. I once saw a tumblr post that said “Gansey has to physically restrain himself from kissing all his friends” and there has never been anything more true.

And it’s important to note that this is really not only reader interpretation. Or, at least, reader interpretation includes other character’s interpretations, which are sometimes incredibly straight(lol)forward.

After doing Adam a big favor, Gansey’s sister Helen (who is aro-ace btw, because I said so) immediately assumes he is sleeping with him, which is a conclusion she jumped to way too quickly if Gansey has never previously shown any interest in Adam or other boys. Like, she seems to know him quite well, and for her to just think he’s in a relationship with Adam says a lot about the homoeroticism prevalent in Gansey’s friendships with both Adam and also Ronan.

Because then we have Kavinsky, another canonically queer character, who thus might arguably have some sort of gaydar, assuming Ronan and Gansey are in a romantic (but most of all, sexual) relationship. Admittedly, this has largely to do with Kavinsky assuming things about Ronan and his sexuality, as is explicitly mentioned in the book. However, you can very easily speculate about someone’s sexuality without knowing their (previous) partners, if there have been any at all, so to correctly believe Ronan is gay does not have to randomly entail relationship speculations. So somewhere, even from not interacting with them so much, Kavinsky must have gotten that idea. That somewhere is the deep affection the two of them share, which is absolutely palpable for everyone around. Yes, I know their relationship is described as brotherly (please note I do not condone incest!), but also somewhere within “they’re bros” lies the implication they are gay. Two bros chilling in a hot tub. They’re having a bromance. Let bros kiss.

Another person who seems to believe in a Gansey romance above bromance is Henry, who at that point of book three had only interacted with him at school very superficially. We can assume the way Gansey behaves with Adam and Ronan at school is very much homoerotic, or elsewise Henry would have no reason to be surprised about seeing Gansey with Blue (“a chick”). He can’t be surprised about Gansey pulling… someone, considering he is apparently super good-looking, he just never had reason to assume Gansey was anything but achillean.

Now this was mostly people who don’t know Gansey that well, or at least people not part of the inner circle, so it can’t mean that much, right? Surely there would not be anyone who truly, deeply knows Gansey, who would assume he is queer. Right? Wrong. I have since forgotten the context of that quote, but Adam, someone who is very close to both of them, thinks that Ronan and Gansey could date. Make of that what you will, but I will it to be homoerotic subtext. (Or text, as what Adam says is what he says, no room for interpretation there.)

Lastly, Adam’s father called him the f-slur. Ok, I will admit that it’s not completely confirmed to be that, but what else would a censored word with f stand for? Again, it’s hard to tell, because my two options would be the slur and just straight-up “fucker”, but both “f*g” and “fuck” are used directly in the following books. The f-slur was used directly in Ronan’s narrative though, in that of a character who talks very obscenely in general, so I have no trouble believing Gansey just wouldn’t have wanted to repeat that word, especially if it’s just a memory.

The line between romantic and platonic interactions is thin enough in this series as it is, but Gansey seems to blur it especially. I am going to touch on that at a later point, but platonic affection is given a very important role, so much that in some parts it carries as much significance as romantic actions do (as it should- relationship anarchy rules), if not more. With Gansey that seems to be especially strong, a lot of the things he does with his friends seeming romantic.

First of all, he is co-parenting with Ronan. Yes, it is a bird, but Ronan loves her like a human daughter so the point stands. The two of them even squabble about it like an old married couple, Gansey’s legendary “this is exactly why I didn’t want to have a baby with you” speaks for itself.

Then there is the insomnia quality time, as I like to call it. We, as the readers, are probably supposed to focus on the late night phone calls and drives with Blue, the fact that “she makes [him] quiet”, and that he can sleep after talking to her. But what I find equally important is the time he spends with Ronan at Monmouth during those sleepless nights, them getting orange juice at three a.m. While it might not be something super comforting that makes them both fall asleep, this routine they seem to have fallen into, just spending time while not expecting anything from the other, is something that means a lot to me; they are very much giving platonic soulmates, but also what if they kissed?

Of course I cannot not mention “While I’m gone, dream me the world. Something new for every night.” That boy is being unnecessarily dramatic about going away for literally one weekend. And why? Because “they had been a two-headed creature for so long, Ronan-and-Gansey. He couldn’t say it, though. There were a thousand reasons why he couldn’t say it.” What are those reasons though? Is it because he is actually in love with Ronan but admitting to that would make the friendship super fucking awkward so he whips out a dramatic, half-romantic metaphor quote? Yeah, that makes total sense.

Staying on my Ronsey bullshit, let’s not forget the glorious, deleted pool table scene. In case you are not familiar with it, or have forgotten the way it sounds (probably the reason it was deleted), I’ll just let two quotes speak for themselves. “There was something suggestive about how [Ronan] wore the suit” Oh yes, of course there was. Sometimes you wear clothing with a certain intention, and in Ronan’s case, that intention is to be bent over the pool table by Gansey. This becomes even clearer here: “Gansey was well aware that Ronan rather fancied the way he looked while he played pool, and the way he reached across the felt now, intentional and elegant and coiled, indicated that he was fancying himself at this very moment.” Once again, everything is super intentional, and Gansey wants to fuck him so badly. Not even kidding at this point, the way Maggie wrote this scene really makes it look like Gansey finds Ronan super hot; even as an aromantic asexual person I have to say, this is a lot more than “bro appreciating his best friend’s glow-up in a completely heterosexual way”. This iconic scene is gay brainrot, which is exactly why we did not get to experience this masterpiece within an actual, published book. The Ronsey shippers would have gone too wild.

[Speaking of which, I’d like to clarify that I do not ship Ronsey in the way some other people do, I do prefer them with their canon love interests, however I clearly see the potential of them having had some kind of mutual attraction in the past, I just think it makes the dynamic a lot more fun and interesting, sort of like how Jesper had a crush on Kaz in Six of Crows.]

Gansey has received at least one (1) dick pic of Ronan. The circumstances do not say anything about either Gansey or Ronan, but I think it’s funny, it builds character, so I chose to include it in this.

Perhaps the strongest evidence for him running with the lgbtq+ is the fact that he goes to an all-boys school. Come on, what is he supposed to do, surrounded by all those guys rich enough to afford good haircuts and a private trainer? Should he just not have gay thoughts? Impossible.

Now all this was mostly evidence for Gansey swinging that way, somehow, but of course he’s one of those doors that open both ways. Yes, he has a girlfriend, but there is even more proof for him being specifically m-spec, just you wait. To begin with, apart from his friends Gansey has two true loves. Henrietta (the town with a female name, who his sister refers to as his girlfriend- the same sister who assumes Gansey is sleeping with Adam; Helen is a bi Gansey truther) and Glendower, the dead, male king. Obviously, this is totally serious business. Additionally, I have talked through to a very full extent how he is in love with Ronan, but of course he is also in love with Henry, I do not have to elaborate on this. He is also very much jealous when Blue and Adam are dating, as is described multiple times, but we don’t find out exactly who he is jealous of. Yes, he likes Blue, and he is sad that his best friend is sort of being stolen away etc., but what if he also just wanted to hold hands. With both of them. At once.

It’s not only Gansey being in love with all of them, it’s also all of them being in love with Gansey. His bi swagger. It was this: Blue finding him irresistible. It was this: Ronan wanting to smash his fist through a wall because of how hot Gansey is. It was this: Henry saying Gansey is a “Caucasian with great hair”.

Bi Gansey is the truth and I will defend that until the day I die.

However, I will admit that he is absolutely a cis guy, no question. At no point in his life has he had to be afraid to take up space or anything, but that man supports trans rights of course. He would not wear a crop top on his own, but considering how he is in love with them, Blue, Ronan and Henry could bully him into it and he would rock it.

[comparativelysuperlative]

What was the book? With the Definitely Real Banishment

Spoilers (obviously) but it's the Lightbringer series. That villain was pretty good! The word-by-word writing is fine! The plot is, for several books' worth, aimed at being Very Generic Fantasy (for reasons that will make sense later). Incoming long post about its philosophy, with even more spoilers.

It's not often that I read a book and immediately go "I can tell you what kind of middle school this author went to." In this case, it was drawing on the author's experience of exactly the theology I grew up with, which was almost eerie.

(I read book one years and years ago, and didn't retain much other than "cool magic system." Probably everything in this post is true about book one as well, but I wouldn't know.)

Google will tell you that the series gets gradually very Christian, to the point where the climax of the last book contains a sermon. But it's more specific than that. These books scream "Protestant, American, classically educated, does not travel internationally very often, male, straight, probably white, the kind of person who would vote straight-ticket Republican until that meant Trump at which point all bets are off." I did not bother confirming most of those. They're just obvious.

The loudest part--to me at least--was the "classically educated." (If you're not familiar, it's this thing.) The series would mention quotes from fantasy medieval Catholics or fantasy ancient Greeks or whatever, and I'd recognize the quotes or the names because they'd be real people I ran across in school. Sure enough, author went to Hillsdale.

Lightbringer is interesting for having an actual vision of a conservative society, not just about hating the right/wrong people. Not being on that team anymore I don't actually like this vision very much, but compared to current conservatives, credit for having one at all.

Differences between people obviously don't affect your value as a person, they just might make it easier or harder or mean you have to specialize differently to accomplish as much For The Group.

(That opinion makes perfect sense for characters in an elite military unit/training for that unit. But that context is mostly specific to book two, and the philosophy really isn't.)

This applies to everything. Physical condition, including strength/weight/gender. Color-blindness. Superpowers. Being straight. (I'm genuinely not sure if that part was intentional. Characters kept getting distracted at terrible times, and the narration outside their head sounded exactly the same as when someone can't run a mile without Trying Very Hard.)

It does not matter whether your mental illness turns out to be literally demons in your head. Either way you've still got to either work through it or specialize around it.

Tradition matters, even when we don't understand the reason behind it.

If you happen to be in a fantasy book and have access to magic, consorting with demons is evil but fancy physics is fine. You can just BET this author got into fights with other Christians about whether Harry Potter was anti-Jesus.

"Irredeemably bad" isn't really a thing. "Not in fact going to be redeemed" is, but it's worth trying to show mercy if you have the chance. If you don't have the chance, kill 'em. Don't enjoy it, though.

Forgiving people for actually-bad things is hard, can't just go "idk, they're good guys now," but it's also important. (I do think this is underrepresented in secular fiction, where it's either depicted as "how could you work with THEM" or "come on, get over it already and team up against the whatever.")

One of the big reveals at the end is "the Christian God is real." The answer to the problem of evil is indeed the popular answer in the denominations I grew up with. Human choices something something mumble free will.

Very incrementalist. You do as much good as you can as fast as you can, but obviously without overthrowing the entire order or anything. Only evil opportunists would want to do that. Yes, even if the existing order is corrupt all the way through.

Speaking of which, you know that organization/political entity claiming to represent God? Corrupt all the way through. God is more personal than that. Protestantism!

Personal morality matters. Your leaders absolutely must be good people, or at least trying to be, or you're screwed.

Personal morality matters. It is safe to assume you'll end up as exactly what your peers expect of you, so pick good peers.

A man should be faithful to one (1) wife. Viewpoint characters speedrun figuring out the philosophy behind this.

(IMO monogamy was a legitimate human rights win by early Christianity, relative to what came before, and I think something similar applies in this setting. But since the real-life alternatives today are so much better than women being property, giving this a lot of screen time sounded like the book is fishing very hard for things historical Christianity did right.)

Also, once you are married you Are Married. It's not that changing that would be unthinkable, just that if you do treat it as an option you're obviously doing it wrong.

Gay people don't exist. Any variety of non-straight, really. Nobody says that it should be that way. It just doesn't come up. Characters are written in enough detail that I can tell you how they'd react if you asked them, and it's mostly the "not my business" + "prefer not to think about it" kind of low-grade homophobia. A few would be explicitly okay with it. But it does not come up. If there were a gay relationship depicted, I'd expect it to be "coincidentally" problematic in some other way.

(I guess there's that one slaver-antagonist whose sexuality is just "sadist." Yeah, one might call that problematic.)

Practically dripping with Great Man Theory of History. There's a scene where the protagonist has a self-affirming/emotional moment about not relying on his family name and meritoriously earning his first kingdom. This is played completely straight.

Don't worry, he uses it for good. At least as much good as he can without overthrowing the existing order etc.

If there are end times prophecies, they might well be true but you can't trust any specific interpretation so it's wiser to just do your best without reference to the prophecy. (This is an interesting take! And not heresy but also not common! I bet the author's reacting against some interesting strains of fundamentalism there.)

A cool idea where angels and demons can be anywhere in any world at any time in history, but are very reluctant to actually do that because they can't pick the same time twice. You can just tell it's the author's Christianity headcanon.

You win by doing your best and having faith in God. The villains are very much a sideshow.

(I think if everyone followed this book's philosophy more it would be a mostly bad thing. Let's not do that.)

(But wow, I wish modern conservatives were only this bad.)

It probably sounds like I didn't like this series. But I did read five doorstoppers' worth. This post is just about the opinions, and the opinions sucked.

Anyway. This has to be on purpose, right, and 10 or 15 years ago I was pretty much the target audience for this. Guess I'm old.

I used to explicitly think "I'm Christian, but atheist fiction is more interesting," and this book is the kind of thing that...tries...to counter that. Fails, because resolving major conflicts with divine intervention is tricky to make interesting. But you'll see why it's going for Every Other Book, But Christian. (Also, the amount of sex in these books is much higher than you might think, given everything. I wish I knew less about what body types the author is attracted to.)

Anyway, I can't really say I would recommend it. But if you're interested in what would happen if Card or Sanderson tried to be Evangelical Lewis for adults, Lightbringer isn't bad.

[extravagantliar]

REPOST AND LIST 6 SONGS THAT INSPIRE YOU TO WRITE YOUR MUSE:

do better - say anything

Your life is always the post of something else / Where's the present? The way that you present yourself / And it's disgusting how little that you try / The existential equivalent of pink eye / Drink alone and watch TV / You're expecting harmonies /To tap your tune with silver spoons / The anthem of impending doom / Guiding Satan's steady hand / Forcing Beatles to disband /It's eco-freaks and drama queens / The young at heart know what I mean

i'm not calling you a liar - florence & the machine

I'm not calling you a liar / Just don't lie to me / I'm not calling you a thief / Just don't steal from me / I'm not calling you a ghost / Just stop haunting me /And I love you so much / I'm gonna let you / Kill me

as it was - prep ( a harry styles cover )

Seems you cannot be replaced / And I'm the one who will stay / oh In this world, it's just us / You know it's not the same as it was / In this world, it's just us / You know it's not the same as it was / As it was / You know it's not the same

pale white horse - the oh hellos

It was a pale white horse / With a crooked smile / And I knew it was my time / It was the raging storm of a foreign war / And a face I'd seen before

what's the use? - mac miller

All the way in with no exit plan / Already left and the jet don't land / Yeah, the time is ticking / Come take a ride, get inside, this is highly different / I'm talking fly, got the pilot with me / Can I mind my business? / Why you trippin'? / Give you somethin' that your eyes can witness / Ooh, too close / I don't understand why you doing the most

non stop - hamilton original broadway cast

Why do you assume you're the smartest in the room? / Soon that attitude may be your doom / Why do you write like you're running out of time? / Write day and night like you're running out of time? /Everyday you fight, like you're running out of time / Keep on fighting in the meantime / Non-stop

honorable mentions ( some are scores ):

northwest passage - stan rogers hey look ma I made it - panic! at the disco can you hear the music? - ludwig göransson thumbnail - louie zong & brian david gilbert he sleeps - james newton howard and macro velocci I'm a wanted man - royal deluxe

& LIST 6 QUOTES THAT INSPIRE YOU TO WRITE YOUR MUSE:

I am not a brave man. I believe I am starting to come to terms with that fact, but I am, in certain circumstances, a very stubborn one. - the magnus archives

People who claim that they're evil are usually no worse than the rest of us... It's people who claim that they're good, or any way better than the rest of us, that you have to be wary of. - gregory magurie - wicked

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear. - nelson mandela

So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past - f scott fitzgerald - the great gatsby

What is a champion? For me, I don't know when I was finally smart enough to understand this, but for me now, it's got less to do with gloves on your hand and how hard a punch you can take, than how great of endurance you have, both emotionally, psychologically, and physical endurance. - teddy atlas

I have read my books by many lights, hoarding their beauty, their wit or wisdom against the dark days when I would have no book, nor a place to read. I have known hunger of the belly kind many times over, but I have known a worse hunger: the need to know and to learn - louis l'amour

tagged by @hoboblaidd

tagging. everyone has done it so - @extravagantrook you're up.

[nalyra-dreaming]

No criticism or offense, just my honest opinion. I think too much is made from that one quote of Hannah's interview. She never said Lestat is "pure evil" or randomly commits acts of violence without any reason or remorse. But rape is violent and bad, no matter the context. I don't think 1x05 was added for shock value but fits into a larger narrative (and was always meant to be revisited which Hannah couldn't say yet at the time of the interview). It is different than in the books, so I get it why people are upset. But this is the story they are telling in the show. The fight in 1x05 is not a random act of pure evil intention, but has context. I think Akasha's blood will also play a role here. And tbh Lestat did a lot of bad things in book 1, which was more emotionally manipulative, but I don't think that is "morally better" than physical violence. Lestat will get all his nuance in s3 and further. He already has more nuance in the show than in book 1. I'm sad to see Hannah constantly criticized over one thing, while she is such an amazing writer and we are lucky to have her. This is just my opinion, everyone is free to disagree of course.

All good.

That is why I say it was a “season one current“ statement. I also expect Akasha’s blood and Amel (actually) to play a big part in further reveals of that fight, something which might be in s3 and s4 actually (bit by bit).

This is a touchy subject. I did say in the other ask (the one before) that she also wrote other scenes (and I posted other asks where I commented on that as well), she is a great writer! I do get why that quote would make people (including me) uneasy though.

The future will tell :)) Even bringing up the possibility of there being more to this than just Lestat being “abusive and evil“ got me labeled as abuse apologist after s1. No matter the clues we already got. Emotions are very high on this subject and some proverbial wounds have been festering (and those wounds were intentional by the show!). And then there’s Sam, sneaking in lines, and having long, long calls on the subject of Lestat and Levan asking if he’s just “evil“ (after supposedly having read the books?!) So… More nuance? Maybe. But what kind of nuance^^

I know… they are trying very hard not to give the whole game away ^^ But it all comes together rather… messily, especially fandom-wise.

Again, as said in the other ask, I‘m happy to be proven wrong.

I hope I am :)

[sophaeros]

I think I'm hf in the exact same thing as you rn I just found your blog I am also obsessed with band rpf and Casablanca's/hammond jr do u have a kind of manifesto or anything I can read

dude did one of my irls send this or smth..i was literally Just talking about putting together a masterdoc and they were egging me on BSJFJWBS. i mean i'm kinda working on one but no promises bc im terrible w long term projects and also theyre very difficult to figure out

BUT i Will say (and i've seen other random people online agree w me) i think the general timeline is that during the seven years they lived together from 1998 to 2005 jules was down bad for albert but albert didn't realise his own feelings, so the most that might've happened is some fooling around physically. (this is mainly going off of this page from the meet me in the bathroom book where jules says "albert, you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone, baby!" insane quote. i could talk a little more about their full quotes but that's another post)

sometime between 2005 and 2013 (possibly 2011 tbh, comedown machine is The gay situationship album but angles touches on it a lot too) they dated twice and broke up both times. im not sure who broke up w who but tentatively i would say the first breakup was more acrimonious while the second breakup might've been mutual.

it's difficult to say anything for sure because most of their songs have songwriting credits shared with other people, so looking at lyrics for clues has a pretty big margin of error since a line might've been written by someone else and not them, yknow? i mean rpf is never a "for sure" kind of deal i could be entirely wrong and that would be fine but. you get what i mean

also one way trigger is the lynchpin for me. i physically cannot imagine a platonic explanation for this poster that uses a screenshot from thelma and louise of all films. not to mention the lyrics like even my Mom raised an eyebrow at "get dressed in your bed while she's asleep." and also it's one of two strokes songs albert has ever played solo with the other being elephant song (at least according to setlistfm, im still trying to find a video of it) (edit 12/08/2034: setlistfm lied to me he did not play elephant song 💔💔💔💔) which was written, surprise surprise, by albert and julian in 1999.

i mean i guess the poster could be them fucking around and having a little laugh but come on what an insane ass joke to make man. i'm gonna make a post later about one way trigger being their specialest little song because it really is

soo like..theres still more i could talk about like one way trigger being written by the albert julian nick trio (which makes me laugh imagining nick mediating their lovers quarrel) [EDIT: ACTUALLY WAIT NO ok it's hard to find definitive information on who wrote what bc different databases have information of varying precision but the canadian site socan which is the most precise so far says only albert and jules wrote the lyrics for one way trigger i'd misremembered. albert julian nick trio Did do call it fate tho which is still kinda crazy !! also jules and albert being the only ones to do one way trigger makes me crazier jesus christ why is this depressing ass song Their Song !!!!] which is the same trio as games from angles. theres a lot i've been thinking about them nonstop for like, what, a month? give or take? my poor friends have to deal w me sending dozens of messages at a time much love and light to them if they read this muah

and thank you for the excuse to be insane on main anon 🥰

[lillipad72]

Emily of New Moon Book Club ~~ First Time Reading

Chapter 3: A Hop out of Kin, Part 1

This post will be slightly different from my previous ones, a little less like an essay and more of my personal thoughts but I hope to provide some analysis as well!

Emily's Grief

"Emily thought they were the most precious of her memories. They were beautiful weeks--beautiful and not sad."

This quote comes from the narrator, who tells the reader how Emily looks back on the weeks before her father died years later. It is a beautiful and accurate depiction of grief and the grieving process. Yes, she felt pain, but after some time, the pain lessened, and one could see the beauty in that person's life.

2. Ellen Greene

I tried really hard to like Ellen. At the very beginning, she reminded me of the character archetypes of Mrs. Lynde and Susan Baker: a little loud, brash, and physically on the larger side. However, unlike Ellen Greene, Mrs. Lynde and Susan quickly became beloved characters who care deeply for others. I waited for Ellen Greene's big redemption moment, for it to never really appear. While I do give her credit for physically taking care of Emily and making sure that her relatives come for her and try to help Emily make a good impression, she does nothing for Emily's emotional needs, which she needs deeply because her father just died. With no big moment for Ellen, I had to finally take a negative opinion, so unless she has a surprise return where she changes, that is where I stand on her. But, I do believe that Emily and her father were overly harsh and, to a point, mean to Ellen Greene, so maybe her grumpiness was somewhat well founded.

3. Emily's Sense of Identity

"I don't want to learn sense and be done a world of good to . . . I--I want somebody to love me."

After losing her father, the one person who truly loved her, all Emily wants is someone to love her for who she is, not the 'perfect' child that Ellen wants her to learn to be by living with Aunt Ruth.

"The fact is, Emily Starr, you're queer, and folks don't care for queer children."

"I don't reckon the New Moon people will want to be bothered with you."

Here is Ellen Greene once again destroying Emily's feelings. She just lost her father and here is someone telling her that she is a 'bother' and 'queer' and not worthy of being taken care of.

I would not be surprised that after moving in with the Murrays she has to deal with a rigorous upbringing that tries to shape who she is into a 'perfect' child. I predict a struggle with her sense of identity in response to this new life.

This book has many topics to discuss, and I can only do so much at once! Expect another post tonight that covers what I think about our introduction to the Murrays!

chapter 3, part 2

[doll-elvis]

Hey I was wondering what did Arlene Cogan say about the sleepovers with Elvis, that they were fairly innocent right?

I was actually gonna make a post about this but this is a perfect opportunity to talk about it so thank you so much for asking 💗!!

so I’m about 3/4s through her book (“Elvis: this one’s for you by Arlene Cogan”) and the only explicit thing that has happened so far was the panty check that I posted the excerpt of earlier this week

Absolutely nothing physical has been described besides a few kisses/general affection like hugging and cuddling (also the girls never actually slept over, they were always driven home)

I am really getting the vibe that their relationship with Elvis was more brotherly/sisterly, in fact Elvis even told them he always wished he had a little sister. He was extremely protective of them and didn’t want them paying any attention to other guys (he wanted them all to himself and basically kept them like nuns 🤧)

They even got into a few petty arguments like brothers and sisters do but I really think Elvis enjoyed having these girls around him because it gave him an opportunity to be completely unguarded and just have innocent/childish fun, like swimming, going to the roller rink, playing with firecrackers and other mischievous things

Anita Wood was dating him at this time and tbh I think whenever he needed a break from her, he would go hang out with these girls to get away and that’s why he wanted them around so often👀

here’s a little song that Frances, Heidi and Arlene sung/wrote for Elvis right before he left for army training💀:

“Oh, we’re the girls of Graceland, And we don’t give a damn, We’re out to have a helluva time, And get into a jam, The hell with Pat Boyd, Anita Wood, too, If you don’t like our little song, To hell, to hell with you”

“Elvis rolled over laughing and clapping his hands. He loved it. The laughing calmed down a little and I noticed there were tears in his eyes. “God knows how much I am going to miss y’all,” he said, “I don’t know what I’m going to do without you. I love you”

Though they were always with Elvis as a group I think they all had their own special relationship with him and it was all very sweet and innocent

also since this book is so hard to find and is so disgustingly expensive, I’m gonna be working on scanning the book and posting it as a pdf so everyone can read it !! (don’t worry it will be for free, I’m not charging people like that one girl did for the Kathy book smh👀)

sorry but I love these quotes 😩

“Honey, what you’ve got to realize is that I’m a human being just like everybody else. I want you to treat me like you would anyone else”

“Love me”, he said, “but don’t worship me. I’m not a God”

I think that is what Elvis wanted out of every woman he was with 😭 like how he told Larry Geller he could never know if a woman loved him for who he was or if they only loved Elvis, the performer/star

[nephilimcursed]

Bella & The Boys Headcannons~ Reiji Edition

"I go crazy 'cause here isn't where I wanna be, And satisfaction feels like a distant memory, And I can't help myself, All I wanna ever say is, "Are you mine?""

Reiji and Bella had a connection and shared interests from the beginning.

Some people forget this about Bella, but despite how she was brought up, she is very intelligent. In English and writing, not math and science as much.

But she, during her training, would read classics and educational novels.

It was escapism from her harsh training.

So Reiji actually notices how smart she is with novels and stories. He then takes the opportunity to help her in maths and biology/chem.

Because she struggles, Reiji is frustrated at first. When she gets things wrong, he slaps her on the hand.

But then he notices how she's really trying, and giving it her all. He really appreciated that. So he becomes a little more gentle when she asked questions.

"Rei? How do I...?"

"Firstly, look for the like terms. 5 times 'y' and 8 times 'y'."

"Those can be combined?"

"Yes, to make 40 times 'y'... Good job."

He loves that she's read so many classics, Emily Bronte, Charles Dickins, etc.

They have these moments where they'll quote from one of those books to each other.

OOH, you guys these two have debates too.

As in something will come up and the two will politely bring up points to try to bring their view to make sense in the other's eyes.

Surprisingly, Reiji starts to understand Bella's point of thinking after a while. And they stay very respectful while doing this.

Oh god, it's time to get to the super romantic stuff-

So Reiji takes Bella to balls very often.

Allowing her to dance with him. Which she is talented in due to classes and runes she has.

Although she does end up feeling bad after- because with her eating habits, she'd either not eat at all. Or lose control and overeat.

The first is more common, of course...

If she doesn't eat at all, he normally takes her to a restaurant after and makes her eat.

Or if he's feeling more sentimental, he'll take her home and cook for her himself.

Of which he knows she'll feel guilty, putting him through that work, when she won't eat it.

Kanato isn't the only boy to buy her clothes, you guys.

He gets her Gucci, Prada, Dior, and his personal favorite, Chanel.

You can expect to see her wearing Chanel when they're out and about.

No, but Kanato and Reiji both make sure this girl is SPOILED.

Later on Laito too, but that's in his post lol.

Bella is the girl who has to tell her boyfriend to take breaks not over work when it comes to Reiji.

So she normally uses the 'come spend time with me' method to get him away from work.

And it works 80% of the time.

Now y'all might be wondering why I used R U Mine for Reiji.

It's because Reiji has a hard time sharing Bella.

Seeing her with Shuu? Yeah... nope....

Ya'll she knows not to be too openly affectionate with EITHER in front of the other.

Because Reiji just can't stand it, it hurts him too much.

So Bella normally goes to Reiji and makes up for it in the form of physical affection, like cuddles and kisses, etc.

Reiji constantly asking himself if Bella really does belong partially to him...

When she dies, this man...

Breaks down so hard.

And is actually the first person to charge after Karl.

Like runs after this son of a bitch, and is about to pull his hair out-

It's emotional.

He's sobbing in pain the whole time.

In their individual narratives, I explain the pain as piercing hot agony through their hearts. I think that's accurate to what Reiji feels.

Beats himself up for not finding out what the poison was before the light faded from her eyes.

[little-mouse-adventures]

Character asks: Maia - 12; Felix Harrowgate - 31; Butler - 17 and 35 please :D

12. Crack headcanon (Maia)

Boy's tall. Idk if that's canon or not, or how much of a crack headcanon it is, but like. His grandfather apparently towered over everyone, and I think it would be funny if Maia also becomes incredibly tall and no one really notices. He's still very quiet and polite and shy, so he just kind of looks like an awkward and adorable beanpole and no one thinks much of it. And then one day he goes full Edrahasivar VII and just dominates the entire room. Suddenly everyone is very aware that their Emperor is at Hozier-levels of tallness, and can very easily look down on damn near anyone he pleases. (After Maia is done putting the fear of the gods into whomever irritated him, he looks around and everyone is staring at him wide-eyed, suddenly remembering that this is the Emperor and not just some stand-in, and Maia has no idea how to react except to very politely ask Csevet to fetch everyone some calming tea)

31. If the had a tumblr what would it look like? (Felix Harrowgate)

Oh god. At first, before the events of the series, it's a collection of holier-than-thou vagueposts and long essays about obscure magical texts, and some length arguments about how wrong some of those texts are. Occasional vanity selfies, the kind where he pretends it wasn't a selfie and was just a casual picture someone happened to take of his best angle, while he was wearing his best jacket and had his hair just so.

Then shit goes down for him, and while he doesn't use tumblr much during his bout of madness, the few times he does it's to post borderline incomprehensible ramblings about the animal heads around him and what that means and the fantome in the tower and other such things, that those who followed him are all like. "Uh. you good, bro?" (he doesn't answer and disappears for another three months before his next post about the ghosts in the maze).

After the Troia adventure, there's a lot of the same kind of long-winded magical essays and arguments, but now they've shifted from being obscure topics to being slightly taboo topics. Lots of aesthetic pictures where he wonders if anyone else can see the ghosts or the noirance, and people start to think he's trolling.

In exile, again, long bout of ghosting. When he starts posting again, it consists of a lot of aesthetic pics of foxes and the Corambis countryside. There's yet more magical essays (he cannot shut up for the life of him) but they're not nearly as aggressive now, and seem more like someone wanting to share cool information rather than prove how much better and smarter he is than everyone else.

He's blocked anything to do with rubies.

17. Quotes, songs, poems, etc. that I associate with them (Butler)

Honestly it really depends on what AU/ fic I'm fixating on. There's not really a hard-and-fast "oh yes this is The Blorbo through-and-through!" thing for him. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

35. Their idea of a perfect day (Butler)

April 25, not too hot, not too cold, all you need is a light jacket

Sorry. Anyways. Early morning, bit of time to himself to enjoy his coffee while he makes plans for the day. Bit of work to keep the mind occupied, interspersed with some cooking or gardening (or both, getting veggies from the garden to cook with). Someone decides to fuck around with his Principal in the afternoon, so he has a chance to be threatening and punch someone and generally engage in his dramatic side, but nothing that involves actual physical harm to his charge or himself. Then some meditation to calm down, and a chance to read his book before bed.