#this is coming from a child who didn't read any of the major book series

[your-old-sins-tournament]

Also, in whatever Warrior Cats story I was writing, I made StarClan slightly more corrupt than they are in the books (which I mean, they're pretty corrupt in the books too so uh), and since Darktuft's apprentice just so happens to be the main character, it also ends up getting dragged into that entire thing. 👍

the more i hear about warrior cats the more confused i am (affectionate)

[the-wolfbats]

Thoughts on the Redwall Series overall 

What started as a walk down memory lane ended up being a multi month reading project. With notes!

A lot of how these books are stereotyped is not true. Only a handful of them end in Babies Ever After. There may be a riddle or a poem but it's not taking up most of the story.

The lack of immediate continuity after book 6 is a little sad but it gives a real sense of time to things, which I like. The Lord of Mossflower exists in Mattimeo, but hundreds of years later in Loamhedge, it doesn't. Brockhall is rediscovered twice! That’s kind of what I liked about Mistmantle, it was only 5 books but there were enough characters that yes, some became parents, but the young ones didn’t. It’s only at the end of the series where some even get married, and it’s not EVERY animal.

Until I reread these, I didn't look at these from the point of anti-colonialization. But, yeah it's THE recurring theme.   

colonizers (vermin) are harassing the people who already live there. Who are native to the land. They're trying to enslave or kill them.  

They're trying to take over either redwall, or mossflower, or basically any place mentioned. 

There is a minor fighting force but the majority just want to chill. A few outliers exist because they've lost families or communities. And they get stopped. This book series is essentially a minimally colonized world.

 Green Isle is a colonized area where the indigenous population fights back and eventually succeeds. Mossflower is eventually freed from the Greeneyes. 

Rhulain and Taggerung come at this from different angles, and while both are hampered by the series structure a bit, enough good shines through. (I lurked the r/Redwall subreddit and a lot of people seem to dislike Taggerung, maybe they were thinking about it from my angle initially - see my thoughts on Taggerung post in my Redwall tag for how my mind was changed).

There's also the heavy religion (Western Christianity) parallels which is why so many conservative kids and young adults attached themselves to this series. And yet they miss major parts of the entire concept. Ah well. 

 I did find it tiresome that as soon as a maid is mentioned to be pretty she's going to be the wife of the male protagonist. They all prove capable and varied but the immediate reaction of pretty is tiring. Note how Mariel is never referred to as pretty by Dandin, and they don't get married but remain partners presumably through their lives. Doomwyte is terrible about this. Come to think of it, Rogue Crew is like a homage but is done much better than Doomwyte, and it works on expanding the world in ways  we never get to see officially :( Maybe we should work on it ourselves. We could do that.

While the squirrels have no subculture, the shrews only have a subculture (arguably two worth pygmy shrews) There's not lone shrews simply existing outside of Redwall or the Guosim. 

Any headcanons about things in story?

I choose to believe Martha spent a time as Abbess after Fenna died. She would be the only noted hare ruler of Redwall. 

There was a squirrel society in Mossflower but it eventually migrated to the area where Sunflash and Skarlath stayed the winter with the mole and hedgehog families.

What books were your favorite?

I've ranked them in groups of 5 of published order (or in the case of the last 2, just 2.) 

*Lord Brocktree was my favorite as a child and frankly it’s still enjoyable. I won't include it in any ranking to keep it fair. 

The Pleasant Surprises

Loamhedge (probably bc I listened to the audiobook. I liked how there was quite a mournful tone throughout, from going to a place full of life to a dead Abbey.)

Eulalia!

The Long Patrol

Martin The Warrior (while it felt a bit long, it was so nice to see a different side of the continent. It wasn't just Mossflower.)

Taggerung.

The Rogue Crew

Side note; I’d love to see someone superimpose the map of some of the books on others. Like where did Martin wander in his book with Grumm, the hedgehog, and Rose compared to the Patrol in The Rogue Crew? He was born on the northern shores - are they the same shores as the Crew? 

The Disappointments

High Rhulain - It’s just not interesting outside of what Green Isle existing implies.

Mariel of Redwall - I think he got better at writing female characters, and it’s not as if Mariel is awful - she’s fairly well rounded, being headstrong and angry as well as needing support - her personality is just kind of There.

Half of the Bellmaker. The part with Southward is dull as dishwater the part with the seafaring is almost enjoyable. The Redwall part is, oddly, the best part.

The one with more than meets the eye lorewise 

High Rhulain 

The one with the best songs 

Loamhedge (the spring song)

High Rhulain (the honeybee song and the calling of the clans)

Marlfox (Mother Nature Dear)

The Long Patrol (over the hills)

Lord Brocktree (a hare is a marvelous creature)

The Rogue Crew (The song Lancejack Sage sings at the funeral)

The best

Mice: Rose, Lycian, Nimbalo

Hare: Maudie, Dottie, Boorab, Martha, Rockjaw

Squirrels: Fwirl, Song, Doogy 

Shrews: Basically all of ‘em, if I had to name one, Flib, if I had to name two, Dandy

Moles: again, most of ‘em. Though it’s funny how they’re championed as beings with good sense, but apparently not good enough sense to ever be elected as Abbott or Abbess.

Hedgehogs: The family of theatrical troupe hedgehogs in Sable Quean, Tansy, Posy

Otter: Mhera, Kroova, Skor, Ruggan, and Swiffo

Birds: Orocca and Tauroc, any bird from the North, Rocangus and MacTalon

Moles: any of the mole Dibbuns. 

Badgers: Sunflash, Cregga, Brocktree 

Major antagonists: the fractured groups of the Juskarath, Tsarmina, Ungatt Trunn, Slagar, Raga Bol, Razzid Wearat.

There was probably going to be more but I got a concussion and forgot

[booksandchainmail]

@the-yuri-librarian

Will someone please tell me if any of these series have lesbians

(in regards to this post)

Of the two web serials featured in that meme:

Pale Lights, by erraticerrata one of its 2-4 protagonists is a lesbian. There hasn't been much in the way of romance for her yet, but the series is pretty early on, and also romance-light. One of the other female protagonists is possibly bisexual, and the male protagonist is ace. Pale Lights is about new recruits to an elite god-hunting organization in a gunpowder-and-sail era world that is also entirely within a massive cavern full of strangeness. Ongoing

Twig, by wildbow umm. ok. so how do I put this. It has ambiguously bisexual girls in an situationship? It got a lot of submissions to a yuribait poll tournament. Also in the main cast is a trans girl. I cannot in good consciousness recommend this on the basis of lesbianism, but I do like it. Twig is about a group of child lab experiments/field agents of a biopunk empire. Complete

Other web serials that may be of interest to you!

A Practical Guide to Evil, by erraticerrata Protagonist is a bisexual woman, and almost all of her romantic interests are other women. PGTE has my favorite slowburn romance of all time. Also in the main cast are (at least) two more bi women, and an aroace man (there are more queer characters depending on how you define main cast). In a medieval fantasy world where narrative tropes have metaphysical weight, a new group of villains begin fighting smarter to overcome their narrative disadvantage. Forty years later, a teenage girl from a conquered country, seeing how heroes have failed, chooses to become the Squire of the empire's Black Knight. Tagline: Do Wrong Right Complete

Katalepsis, by HY Lesbian protagonist, largely lesbian supporting cast, including a couple trans women. Lots of romance, including an expanding polycule. A young woman tries to rescue her twin sister, who was erased from reality as a child by an eldritch entity. Tagline: A web serial of cosmic horror, urban fantasy, and making friends with strange people Ongoing, almost finished (with the first "book"/major overarching plotline)

Necroepilogos, by HY I think literally the entire cast of this one is queer women (including at least one trans woman) having homoerotic moments with each other all the time. A bioengineered supersoldier wakes millennia after her death to find the world a wasteland, populated by women resurrected from across history who must now kill each other to live. Tagline: Lost girls in the ashen afterword Ongoing

PGTE/Pale Lights and Katalepsis/Necroepilogos would be my primary recommendations. Some other webserials:

Some of wildbow's other serials have more lesbians than Twig, but it comes with caveats: Worm (and its sequel Ward) are, uh, controversial for how they handle lesbians. Pale is much better, but I'm also only 1/3 of the way through so I can't vouch for it entirely. Pact has a single important lesbian character.

I lost interest and didn't finish Heretical Edge, but it does have a poly lesbian protagonist.

Time to Orbit: Unknown is not particularly lesbian in specific, but it is largely queer and genderqueer.

Another option of thing I read is quests and original/fan fiction on the forum site Sufficient Velocity. The downside here is that they mostly have really irregular update schedules (unlike the above serials, which update 1-2 times a week on a fixed day) and are prone to being abandoned. I'd recommend looking at how often/recently thy update before starting. With that caveat, some titles with lesbian (or bisexual) females leads and queer romance: Petals of Titanium, The Last Daughter, Lieutenant Fusilier in the Farthest Reaches, Castles of Steel, On the Road to Elspar, Mercy (and Other Costly Mistakes), Pound the Table, and A Little Vice

[dvasva]

Tbh? I think the radiant emperor duology deserves more critique than it gets in its tag, so after stewing it over for a couple weeks and also discussing it with my friend, I have decided to do it myself.

So. Spoilers for She Who Became the Sun and He Who Drowned The World ahead.

First off, so nobody accuses me of hating the series, I liked the series. I'd say I'd give the first book a 4.5/5, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I like both books. I truthfully skipped the fisting scene, it triggered some dysphoria that I wasn't comfortable with personally but I don't have problem with it existing in the book, it's good where it is, no changes.

No, my critiques come mostly from the second book, hwdts. Which sucks because I absolutely loved Baoxiang in it, it's a well known fact that my ideal type is pretty, really mean, characters. ('What about Madam Zhang?!!!???!? Shes mean and pretty!!' I hear you ask. Give it a second cause i will get to my beloved madam zhang) So, my critiques are mostly organized as 'The first part I didn't like in Hwdtw that signals the thing that became my biggest issue, the bits in the middle that i did like along with the bits that I felt didn't really work well, and Act 3 which is where my issues really were exacerbated.'

By the end of book one, I had a general annoyance but acceptance that Ma Xiuying was a bit of a weak character, and not weak as in 'dang shes a woman and cant fight' or any other sexist way you may interpret that, but weak as in structurally, she didn't really have as much depth as other characters. I thought she didn't have as much time put into her character as others. And yeah you could have a million character analysis essays over Ma and her place in the story and etc, but for me, her setup for the next book as potentially having conflict with Zhu or her own morals was the most interesting part of Ma. In general I think a lot of people tend to overlook this flaw partly because Ma is a cis lesbian character and the main 'love interest' in a book that is usually marketed to people as sapphic, which yeah there is certainly a sapphic relationship in the book but I think saying it's a major part of the book is really giving the relationship a load bearing wall ot isn't strong enough to carry. The Radiant Emperor Duology is not a romance, first and foremost. To describe it as a wlw romance is gonna leave people who read ot specifically for that reason kinda dissappointed by the end of book 2.

My big critiques didn't start until book two, and a particular scene, though. Ma, at the start of book two, was generally filling the niche of 'nagging wife' to zhu, which yknow, is a fine place to start from. I was a little disappointed there was no further discussion of Ma's disapproval of the morality of Zhu's actions, and in fact the dead child was pretty much entirely forgotten by Ma in favor of being Zhu's wife. Which, yknow, sure.

The Scene I had issue with happened (Spoilers once again) after Zhu finally captures Ouyang and imprisons him at her base of operations. Ma, dressed in her empressly regalia enters his room with the intention of being the bigger person. She walks in, looks at the stripped down and humiliated general who killed her father and famously is also really a women hater, and tells him she forgives him for killing her father. And then she gets upset and cries when the prideful general who hates women gives her a dressing down and taunts her and is like 'I'm glad I killed your father'? She nearly cries because Ouyang was mean to her (notably only cause he was mean to her and didn't gracefully accept her forgiveness, not because he killed ehr father) and runs off to Zhu. And Zhu responds with 'Wow, he's just a weirdo, everyone likes you and everyone in existance immediately knows you're a good person and you change people.' Which, my friend suggested before she finished the book, was a case of Zhu placating Ma and dismissing her feelings which would be an interesting dynamic.

Really my hangups with this scene come from multiple parts.

1. Ma' few character traits including being observant and reading people really well (a thing she's praised for in book 1) and having good social intuition are completely thrown out by her thinking being alone with ouyang and forgiving him would be a good idea and then her being shocked and upset when he spat on her forgiveness. And

2. Zhu's response is never once treated by the text as her dismissing Ma and placating her, and Zhu's statement despite never being shown to be true before and that moment being the first time it's ever mentioned, ends up becoming Chekov's moral purity by the end of the book, where the plot hinges on Ma being able to magically heal a damaged character's mind enough for Zhu to win in the end. Which I will get back to. There's a lot of other stuff happening between here and the end.

So, before I get back to Ma and her role in the story, I'll address some other bits from after this scene. Both problems and things I enjoyed generally.

Madam Zhang and her parallels to Baoxiang and her being the absolute queen of dissociating really was interesting (before act 3). She was a very compelling character who I completely understood and felt positively about. She had a way more interesting relationship with gender imo than Ma did, especially in book 2. I didn't really like that she was overwhelmingly shown having sexual villence done to her, that felt weirdly like a punishment. But, I did like her a whole bunch, and I liked the look we got into her head. She was probably my second, maybe third, favorite character in the whole book until Act 3.

I really, really liked Ouyangs dynamic and relationship with Zhu. The weird sexual tension between them, their weird kinda nonsexual but also kinda very sexual S&M relationship. It was somehow the most sensual, sexual part of a book that featured Madam Zhang having sex with multiple people, and Zhu going down on Ma, and a lot of other mentions of sex or scenes involving sex. Tbh I feel like, in a way, Ma was left to the sidelines for most of the book because Ouyang became the primary 'love' interest for a hot second there and the only reason Ma could get her spot back was Ouyang and Zbu's separation. Also, from what I've seen when people talk about this book, they always kinda try to express Zhu and Ouyang's dynamic as very nonsexual and nonromantic, as platonic mostly. And there is no inherent superiority of romantic over platonic, but I think to insist that it is only platonic, and not a strange swirl of romantic, platonic, sexual, frustration and relief, and a swirl of familiarity and vulnerability all wrapped into one, is doing the dynamic a bit of a disservice. And ther is, imo, very clearly a subtle hint of romantic intent and interest on Ouyang's part before he realizes Zhu has a body he hates.

Which is also another point I didn't like. Ouyang and Zhu's relationship end felt off. The entire bit with the pirates felt off, but especially how Ouyang found out about Zbu's body, and how Zhu reacted. I think Ouyang finding out second hand, from a combination of being suspicious and from Jiang saying it, was a poor way for that to be revealed. I think there was a better way for that to happen that woyld have felt more like a betrayl to zhu than this did. The fact that Zhu and Ouyang were so in tune and could see each other perfectly, but this one thing was a blind spot for both of them because of how unaffected by gender Zhu was compared to how overaffected by gender Ouyang was is a really interesting thing to explore, an interesting disconnect between two character's whose entire basis for their relationship is 'like recognizes like'. I think Zhu seeing it as a betrayl would have been more impactful if she had presented this informatuon to Ouyang herself and been rejected than how it went down. And, I think her not realizing Ouyang would be disgusted that he felt connected and felt a sameness to someone with a body he found grotesque and that he feared would have been more interesting for zhu, who views herself outside of womanhood and didnt really think that other people would not see her outside of womanhood, if she was the one who told ouyang herself.

Also, less importantly, think going into Ouyangs annoyance that zhu kept moving his target further away was a good move but it wasn't expanded on as much for my taste. I also really liked it when (spoiler) Xu Da dies, and that entire part despite some minir bits, was extremely good in that Zhu finally has tasted loss. She had, up until that point, been riding a wave of positivity, she was the underdog who won over and over again despite all the odds and despite her own reckless choices. So I did appreciate that everything went wrong for her at least once. that would have been, imo if other things were changed, a good place to end a book two in a three book series. Which will make sense as to why I mention it im a bit.

I also didn't like how Ma was nonexistant unless the plot was like 'ok we need to remind people that Ma exists.'

And there's of course other stuff but those are the main points of acts 1 and 2 that i wasn't fond of or that i liked.

Act 3 is a wholely different behemoth which can be encapsulated with 'I wish it was longer but also different' (courtesy of the convo my friend and I had).

My friend and I both agreed that we liked this kind of courtly drama game it was playing. My friend doesn't tend to like the structure or writing style of a lot of the chinese wuxia, danmei, or courtly drama translated books i read, so it was nice to know that the genre content isn't the issue for her there.

The biggest problems I had with the ending though was 1. I think Baoxiang and Ma had an interesting dynamic despite it being really rushed and how distasteful I found the entire concept of Ma being such a good wholesome goody good good person that she could change Baoxiang, quiet his demons and fix him in some way. That was annoying in an otherwise interesting dynamic. And 2. I think Madam Zhang's character traits and cleverness and all that were wiped away to make her inexplicably jealous of Ma in a way that I don't think fit her character and just served to fit a trope of jealous empress who hates the favored concubine.

So, here's my major proposed changes.

1. Ma gets sent to Khanbaliq extremely early on. Like, act one maybe after ouyang is captured early. This serves three purposes. A. Ma has something to do and is more present in the story. this could be a good xhance to let her actually feel frustrated or upset at Zhu in some tangible way that needs to be resolved or talked thru eventually. B. she gets more time to build a relationship with Baoxiang, whose entire defeat hinges on him having a strong connection with her. and C. Her absence in the other parts of the book feel less like she's being ignored or forgotten. It makes Zhu's lack of haste more than just a way to annoy Ouyang, and turns it into an interesting moral choice. Should she rush to Khanbaliq to save Ma or trust that Ma will be ok in favor of gaining power? Her lack of haste means Ouyang leaves, depressed, and she loses Xu Da, all while she doesn't even have the assurance that Ma is ok, she is truly at her lowest point with nobody with her. If Ma is in Khanbaliq and that's explored, then Zhu and Ouyang can also explore their dynamic without Ma feeling a bit like she is battling for Zhu's attention.

2. Madam Zhang is suspicious of Ma, or feels actually tangibly threatened by Ma. In act 3, Madam Zhang's anger towards Ma feels really out of place. She got exactly what she wants, she is empress, her emperor isn't interested in removing her from her position and her position isn't threatened by anyone. Baoxiang won't get rid of her, he won't demote her, he has shown zero sign of ever even considering it. So, why is Madam Zhang jealous of Ma? Imo, especially since she very clearly has dissociated into oblivion and has no love or affection for anyone anymore, and no real desire or motivation to secure her position further aside from maybe producing an heir to make sure shes taken care of after Baoxiang dies, there's no reason for her to be inextricably jealous of Ma. It kinda just erases all of Madam Zhang's political savvy and cunning into jealous, petty woman, and that sucks. If she was suspicious of Ma's intention, or Baoxiang genuinely expressed spmething that actively threatened her position, her hatred of Ma would make sense, but instead she hates Ma cause Ma is ugly and spends every night with Baoxiang. She hated rice buckets concubine cause that concubine used a lot of funds and competition genuinely made her position less stable. She needs better motivation for hating Ma.

3. As I mentioned earlier, Zhu needs to be the one to tell Ouyang that she does not have a dick. That's just all around better, it feels more like a betrayl to bare your secrets and be rejected, etc etc.

4. The duology should have been a trilogy, with book 3 starting when Zhu is at her lowest, ouyang is dead, ma is in khanbaliq, Xu Da is dead, a new guy is the emperor. This is where a book three should have started. in a series that has so many important characters, i feel like it needs more space. she's in a 10 gallon tank when really she needs a 30 gallon tank. Lots of it, especially towards the end of book 2, felt rushed and the extra book will absolutely push that back a bit and make it less rushed.

Anyways that's my critique of The Radiant emperor duology. Once Again, I liked the series, its one of my favorites i've read all year. I don't dislike it, and having a critique or opinion about something doesnt mean I didn't like the book or understand the book (because obviously if i understood it i would understand why its flawless). I liked it, there are things I wish were different, that's it.

[mageofseven]

Okay first off, I wanna say sorry for how long it took me to get to this! I had intended to get to this quickly, but I got too focused and inspired with my ship series' I've been writing.

Better late than never though, right? 😅

Reminder for others that this continues off of this post. Since that post is from a point before I started writing for Mephisto, sadly my sweet noble tsundere won't be in here.

Now let's get started~

•▪︎▪︎◇°●♡●°◇▪︎▪︎•

Okay so I would like to start by organizing these men into their roles. Those who hovered, those who didn't but still were actively by her side and taking cave of her, those who took care of the pregnancy related issues not directly attached to MC's being (scheduling doctors appointments, paying bills, retrieving any med or vitamins she needs, etc.), those who heavily carried her via emotional support, those who accidentally would make her feel worse, and those who had a way of making her destress as if nothing has changed, maybe some others if I think of more as I go.

After this, I will continue with the story of her pregnancy and how the men discover and react tor her carrying multiples. Unlike most of my pregnant MC stories though, I'm not going to give her some huge risk in this one. She...well, the poor woman is already under enough stress as it is 😅

~

The Major Hoverers:

Lucifer- No surprise here. This man is...well, he is stressed and anxious in general, but to see his love so anxious and in low spirits while knowing he himself might be a dad once more in the coming months...it's just a lot for this poor man. Does his very best to make sure nothing goes wrong and that MC is as comfort and healthy as possible.

Mammon- This dude is fucking terrified of screwing this up. He doesn't know if this is his kid or not and at this point, he can't let himself even think about it or he'll just get even more nervous. Right now, his Human is the priority and he's gotta take care of her--and try not to fuck up in the process.

Active Caretakers, but They Chill:

Simeon: Even once it finally occurs to this man that this child could be genetically his, he doesn't freak out; he simply doubles down. His Feather doesn't need him bringing her more anxiety after all.

Asmo: This sweet man is constantly giving her massages and whispering sweet words in her ears. Yes, his poor Dolly is very achy and emotional from the pregnancy, but he does his very best to make it easier on her!

Beel: Regardless of what he's eating or how much he has left, he will always offer some of his food to her. He can also often be found with his hand on her belly in some fashion, especially when she is the most upset. MC loves the feeling of having at least one of his big hands on her belly because it makes her feel so comforted and safe.

Satan: Unsurprisingly, this man was constantly reading pregnancy books to try and understand what her body was going through and what he could to make things easier on her. He would also read aloud to her any book she wished as a way of distracting her from the stress of it all.

Belphie: This man...he has glue himself to this woman out of a strong mixture of love and obligation. Yes, he hates every single thing about this situation, but this man has a moral debt to the love of his life because of the night he murdered her so you can bet your ass he's staying by her side, forgoing naps (that she doesn't join him for), and is doing anything she needs him to do.

Barbatos: This man barely makes it onto this list because he has an actual time intensive job to attend to, but he is so determined to be by his Dear's side that he makes it work. Barb has such a calming influence on MC and it seems that just by him showing up, whatever was upsetting her or whatever problem arose was suddenly not so bad because she knew Barb could fix things.

Handlers of the More 'Covert' Pregnancy Issues:

Diavolo: He paid for everything; literally everything. This man felt so guilty that he couldn't be with MC as much as he wanted to be. He visited as much as possible, but in truth, he wished desperately that he could be up on the list of Active Caretakers. Being a prince and the work load that comes with it acts as a barrier to this though so the best he can do for his sweet Queen is to shoulder the financial side of this pregnancy. Doctors appointments. Medications. Any tests she needs done. He makes sure they are all paid for and she doesn't need to worry about a thing in this regard. Also buys the bulk of the baby things. The clothes, the furniture, the toys. He went a bit over board, but the look on MC's face made it all worth it. She cried thick happy tears because her baby already has more than she ever had as a child and so it made her feel more secure about her child's future.

Barbatos: This man handles the scheduling of her doctor appointments and is usually the one the one to bring her to them. Some how makes sure she is never late no matter how the day originally goes or what bad luck my strike that day.

Lucifer: Is next in line to bring MC to her doctor appointments if Barb isn't available to. Tends to ask the doctor a million and one questions and wants copies of the doctor's notes on MC and the baby to go through during his limited free time. Also insists on being the one to pick up her meds and be the one to give them to her each day. Those vitamins are important, MC, and he needs to make sure you take them.

Emotional Support Supermen:

Simeon: Are you even surprised? This has been his role since the very moment he sensed the baby and he's not giving it up as long as his poor lamb needs him.

Asmo: The king of making others feel loved and important. MC is in good hands.

Solomon: Would love to be listed as an Active Caretaker of his sweet little Minx, but the others, most of the brothers to more specific, seem to resent it if he even tries to help out too much and so he tends to stick to the sidelines. Still, he always has a kind word ready and a new perspective to offer when needed. Soli is definitely a person to call when MC gets too overwhelmed and becomes too focused on a bad possibility.

Those Who Stress Her Out:

Leviathan: This man spend most of her pregnancy hiding from her; he takes it all really hard. In truth, he makes it up to her later after the birth, but for now, he hides away in his room like he does when anything scares him and MC is terrified for months that she has lost him over this 😢

Belphie: Believe or not, most of the time he's fine. Despite his opinion of the situation or the fact that he doesn't like kids, he doesn't let any of that control him. It's MC who knows how he feels about all of this who sometimes gets overwhelmed with her fears and worries, usually resulting in her heavily sobbing about how he's going to leave her (because why not, it feels like Levi already has), but it always ends with Belphie holding her tight and swearing to her "I'm not going anywhere, Butthead."

Lucifer: He mostly does fine, but she hates when he comes to her appointments with her because it feels almost like he harasses the poor doctor. Yes, she knows he does it out of worry, but that poor doctor doesn't deserve such criticism.

Her 'Everything Is Normal' Peeps:

Solomon: Honestly, most of the other men make a big deal about her baby and the upcoming changes and in truth, they are a very big deal. However, sometimes it feels like they don't treat her like they used to. Instead of treating her like the person they've always known and love, they treat her like porcelain with a belly. Solomon doesn't. He treats her no differently during the pregnancy than he did before it to the point that some of the other man scold him for it, believing he is too reckless with the pregnant woman. MC appreciates it though and feels like he sees the woman behind the big belly.

Barbatos: Unlike Solomon, he gives MC a similiar feeling without being reckless. He will often take MC out of House of Lamentation to give her a break from the other men, but usually not far; often just to the back garden. The two would sit and talk about just about anything, except the child she carried that caused her back aches and the men inside to go insane about her. Giving her time to focus on other parts of life helped her feel more like a person again and less strangled by upcoming motherly responsibilities and for that, MC deeply appreciated her butler boyfriend.

The Sweetie that Comes with Sweets:

Of course I'm talking about sweet baby Lukey! He's going to be a big brother after all so how could he stay back and not help?

And in truth, he is a major help to MC emotionally. His presence alone makes her whole day better.

It's cute seeing his face as he learns different things about MC's changing body (nothing graphic, just things like how the baby starts out smaller than a pea and somehow grows to baby size and stretches her belly along the way. It blows his freaking mind lol)

The moment he first felt the baby kick inside MC's belly, part of him swore up and down it had to be a prank because how can a baby who hasn't even been born do that???

MC has a lot of sugar cravings during her pregnancy so this kind little baker makes her a lot of sweets.

Simeon ends up having to gently ask the two to cut back on the baked goods--gestational diabetes is a thing after all 😅

That's ok because Lukey is the sweetest part about her day after all 💕

Now with that that all sorted, let's move onto MC's experience during the pregnancy!

The Story:

It was a very stressful pregnancy for her

Starting the very moment Levi hid away from her after hearing the news about her baby.

Right away, she lost one man that she loved and it killed her.

It was a very hard start to the pregnancy.

Luckily, the other men broke through the shock and stayed by her side, determined to take care of her and her child regardless of whether the baby's genetics matched theirs or not.

During the first trimester, the morning sickness was brutal, but the men comforted her through it.

It was mainly Lucifer, Mammon, or Asmo with her in the bathroom though, holding her hair back and comforting her as she cried and begged for it to just end.

She often had a headache during and after the morning sickness so the poor woman was just miserable.

She was also constantly in a pretty lethargic state, but this wasn't something that stayed in the first trimester, but lasted the entire pregnancy.

It seemed like no matter how many hours of sleep she got at night or how many naps she took with Belphie during the day that she was always still so tired and it was very upsetting to the poor woman.

This paired with her hormones made the woman extra sensitive during her pregnancy; the smallest issues would have this poor woman balling about how everything is going wrong in her her life.

Yes, they are sorry you dropped your lemonade and Beely totally feels empathy for you, but your world is not ending and these lovely men will get you another glass, okay?

To make matters worse, it didn't take long at all in her pregnancy for her boyfriends to notice that her belly was growing at a somewhat alarming rate.

Luckily, Diavolo and Barbatos already got her scheduled for her first appointment at the obgyn.

That was the appointment where MC learnt the truth--that she was having triplets.

The poor human sobbed. Triplets.

One baby was a lot of work and stressful enough but three? How were the other men going to react to three babies?

Barb gently shushed her and rubbed her back.

Yes, even he found this news surprising, but believed it ultimately changed nothing; he was going to stand by his sweet pet's side and if the remaining men have anything resembling a spine then they will do the same.

Poor MC was literally shaking when she came home and had to tell the others about the babies.

Lucifer and Mammon were scared shitless, but more devoted to this woman than ever.

Satan and Belphie were internally groaning, but keeping themselves in check.

Asmo and Simeon became anxious, but wasted no time in comforting her and trying to raise her positivity.

Diavolo and Beel were genuinely excited at this news and couldn't keep their hands or lips off of her for a good minute or two, which was good because it brought MC from near tears to a little laughing fit. Those men oozed positivity and to them, her carrying more babies was the best news ever.

Barb and Solomon just smiled comfortingly at their love. Neither was scared or anxious nor were they overly excited. They were merely assured that regardless of how many babies she carried, everything would work out well. It was just like Solomon said the day MC announced her pregnancy: it takes a village to raise a baby and she has quite an impressive village before her.

One thing MC didn't realize when she made this announcement though was that the question of the pregnancy changed, or rather, the form of the question changed from single to multiple choice.

To be more clear, the question changed from "Who is the baby daddy?" To "Who are the baby daddies?"

Every man in the room knew this, but MC did not.

In the Devildom, it is more common for multiples to be the results of from different second parents than all from the same. Like, you can have twin and triplets with the same father, but it is much more rare compared to each baby having a different father

With this news in mind, all of the men worked harder to take care of the sweet, worried human.

Her pregnancy progressed, her belly stretched, her body was in a lot of pain from the growth and extra weight.

Heck, for the last two months, poor MC was mainly on bedrest and carried around when she wanted to changed rooms (she's been carried by all of the guys at least once, but Beel was always the most eager to carry her.

When the day of the birth came, the exhausted and achy woman was both eager for it and dreading it.

She wanted them out and out now, but dear devil, she knew pushing out three babies was gonna take a lot out of her.

The contractions started mid morning, causing Lucifer call Diavolo and the others against her wishes.

The contractions were minor now. She was no where near labor for now so it simply didn't seem right to frighten the non-HoL men into coming over when it will be literal hours just for her to start active labor.

Still, they rushed and the poor woman had even more men hovering her.

She's fine, the babies are fine, now let her watch TV in peace 🤦��♀️

As a testiment to how fine she was in that moment, she even fell asleep against Diavolo's shoulder as they watched TV together.

However, it obviously didn't stay that way.

As the hours went by and the woman entered active labor, suddenly her tune was much different.

The pain was much harder, the contractions were much more consistent, and poor MC always needed to be gripping onto someone like her life depended on it.

Satan had read in a book that walking can help progress labor so each man took turns walking around the living room with the poor pained woman, stopping whenever she needed to.

Eventually, the pressure below became so severe, but her water still wasn't breaking. It had the labouring woman hysterically crying, refusing to make another step.

The men kept looking at each other, needing someone, anyone in the room to have an idea on how to help MC.

Satan bit his lip before stepping forward.

"I think I know what to do." He stated. "However, I need someone to get a stack of towels and we need to get MC to a bed."

Beel ran off to get the towels while Solomon, who currently had an arm wrapped around MC, scooped her in his arms since she refused to walk.

The group all headed to MC's room.

Soli laid her down gently, but MC gripped onto him tighter, refusing to let go.

The sorcerer whispered sweetly into her ear and kissed her cheek before the woman sniffled and slowly loosened her grip till he could step back from her and be replaced by Satan.

Beel came back just then and the blonde instructed him to lay a few of the towels on the floor by bed.

After that, Satan helped position MC at the edge of the bed and knelt in front of her.

"Okay, Kitten, I'm going to have to break your water--"

"Please!" She begged with every ounce of air in her lungs. "Please!"

With a guilty look in his eyes, the blonde did just that.

MC cried out as she felt her boyfriend slip his hand inside, only for her breath to hitch when she felt the water sack burst and the pressure dissipate.

The woman flung her head back in relief.

"Thank you..." She sobbed.

Despite her relief, poor Satan new from his books that he only helped her towards the most painful part.

MC had a minute or two of feeling okay and was able to catch up on her breathing before the contractions came back worse than before.

Immediately, Diavolo joined her on her left side, grabbing her hand and praising her, telling after months of waiting that it's finally happening.

Lucifer couldn't take it anymore. He joined her on her right and squeezed her hand, promising it will all be fine and they won't let anything happen to her.

Barbatos slips off his gloves and sets them aside before positioning himself between her legs, telling her to push with the contractions and focus breathing between them.

This went on for a while.

Breathe. Push. Breathe. Push. Breathe. Puuuuuush. Breathe.

Eventually, the human was crowning.

More pushing. The head was out revealing bright red hair, but small black spiral horns pointing straight up.

Barbatos raised an eyebrow at this, but the other men were too focused on the pain MC was in to notice what the butler saw as so strange.

After some more pushing, the first baby was pushed out into the butler's waiting arms.

"Solomon."

The sorcerer raised an eyebrow, but stepped forward and took the baby from the other man.

That's when he say it: the baby girl had Diavolo's red hair, Mammon's horns, and Lucifer's dark onyx eyes that reflected red light so well.

This is why they the butler entrusted the baby to him. The other men would only get confused and try asking questions at a point where MC was in no shape to hear them being asked.

Solomon turned away from the other men and grabbed a towel to clean off the newly born infant.

The other men were going to ask him about the newborn, but we're pulled back to their girlfriend by her cries of pain as the second one made its way down.

Honestly, the sorcerer was incredibly fascinated with this turn of events.

He finished cleaning the sweet girl off before kissing her forehead and gently laying her down in one of the cribs in the back of the room.

Meanwhile, the process was repeating though a bit quicker than before. This time, when the second baby crowned and revealed some of the hair on their head, the butler saw two colors.

Half the head filled with white and half the head filled with teal

...the same shade of teal as the ends of his hair.

Barbatos felt his heart beat quicken at this discovery, but he kept focused.

Once this second baby was able to slide out all the way, it was revealed that they also had a tail; a long black tail with a bright green tip.

Something Satan discovered right away.

The wrath demon intercepted the baby before Solomon could.

Instead of arguing this development, the butler simply accepted it.

"Please go clean her off and follow Solomon to the cribs." He said softly.

The blonde walked off with the baby, a confused look on his face.

He grabbed a towel and followed Solomon over to the the cribs.

It made no sense to him. This little girl had his tail yet share features of some of the other men. A mixture of Solomon and Barbatos' hair, Asmo's honey eyes.

What was going on?

Something clicked in his head however when he got a better look at the first baby in the crib, also a mix of three different men.

"A chiropteran conception?" He whispered to the sorcerer.

Soli smirked.

"Ah so you understand too, don't you?"

Satan stared down at his...daughter. well, not just his. Other than MC, he at minimum shared this little girl with the shady sorcerer in front of him, the butler between his girlfriend's legs, and the anxious lust demon in the crowd.

At most? Maybe every man here. They'll have to get these babies tested to see how far their genetic go, to see if it's a full of partial chiropteran conception. Either way, this will be an...interesting experience to say the least.

The blonde cleaned up his daughter and laid her in another crib as MC birthed the last baby, coming much, much quicker than the last two.

By the time the two men rejoined the group, the last baby was already born and in the butler's arms.

With it being the being the last baby and MC's pain being over, this was the first that the others truly focused on--and realized something was off with.

This baby was a little boy. What most of the people in the room found strange about about the child however was mixtures of features.

The dark blue-black hair with orange highlights, purple eyes, angel wings, a slightly dark skin tone and...well, he definitely took after Levi by having double the 'part' between his legs.

"I...what?" MC panted, staring down at her son, who gently cried down within the butler's arms.

Solomon handed Barb a towel, who gratefully took it and began cleaning up and the little boy in his arms.

"Beautiful, isn't he?" Solomon smiled at her. "I think all three of them are a beautiful mixture of us all."

MC laid their speechless as the sorcerer headed back towards the cribs, followed by Satan.

The sorcerer brought back the oldest daughter while the blonde brought back up the youngest daughter.

Dia raised his eyebrows.

"A chiropteran conception... fascinating."

While some of the men knew the term, most did not and MC most certainly didn't so the prince took the time to explain it to the group.

It was unclear at this point whether this was a the result of a full chiropteran conception (meaning all three babies carry the genetics of every single man in the room) or a partial chiropteran conception (each baby contains the genetics of the men whose genes they get their looks from). The latter is the most common when this many men are involved, but they will have to get the babies tested just in case.

At this explanation, MC was looking around at her boyfriends, looking for reassurance that everyone was okay with this

And sure enough, each man latched on like usual with sweet words and kisses, praises and reassurances.

In truth, this was a strange twist but no man present truly had an issue with it.

It will take some time to figure out what sort of dynamic the men should of adopt.

Also, Diavolo unfortunately has a lot of royal legal history to dig through to see what the laws say about chiropteran conceptions and heirs.

If this is a full conception than it doesn't really matter too much, but if it's a partial chiropteran conception then he worries his (and MC's and Lucifer's and Mammon's) daughter will be made to feel less than because of how she is biological will be bullied by the nobility. He would like her to be his heir less for the sake of having one but more to give her a social shield against the demonic elite.

The kids (in birth order):

Tatiana- a graceful and elegant but secretly sensitive and vengeful. Touch her siblings and you just might find a knife in your back. Sneaky, but even if she gets caught, she'll get away with it because she's spoiled and family comes first; her Daddies agree 100% 🥰

Selia- a very shy and emotional girl. Magical prodigy with Barbatos' future visions and Asmo's charming powers, two abilities she doesn't particularly even want. She's quiet and delicate, often found hiding behind her family or with her head down.

Milo- hyper, friendly, and troublesome (though never on purpose). This guy works off one superpowered braincell but once it's out of juice, so is he and he sleeps it off on the couch or in his room. He always have a kind word for everyone, but can be a bit naïve. Thinks fictions is perfect substitute for real life lessons and can be kinda slow to learn the true ones.

[pandor-pandorkful]

It's time for another ADHD-fueled ramble! This one is about Homestuck, kind of. Saw a post about someone never reading it in spite of being a tumblr oldie, and that lead to some introspective reminiscing. Maybe it's interesting, maybe it isn't.

I reckon a lot of folks who read Homestuck were kind of peer-pressured into it. I was no exception, though the pressure applied was relatively passive. And if my memory serves me, I started reading Homestuck on MS Paint Adventures before I was a regular tumblr user... sometime in 2011, I think? The year I took off between grad school year 1 and 2, or maybe just slightly before that...

Anyways, around that time I noticed most of my Silent Hill fan art buddies on deviantArt suddenly switched to drawing trolls pretty much non-stop out of the blue.

I felt confused, and kinda left out. I was already feeling like being so overwhelmingly distracted by grad school had permanently damaged my connection to those friends...

So in kind of a last ditch effort to not lose yet another friend group, I dove headfirst into the webcomic, hoping to understand why the steady stream of old man yaoi had been replaced by weird preteen aliens.

If you've read the majority of Homestuck, you know what an effort that was. Its first few chapters are incredibly long and slow paced. By the time I even caught up to the trolls actually being visually introduced, I think my SH-turned-HS friends had moved on to something else entirely. :B

(Later I'd learn that the majority of HS fans during the height of it's popularity were, uh, kinda "fake fans". In that they skipped directly to the troll chapters. :B)

Granted, I had taken the longest possible road to catch up with MS Paint Adventures. When it comes to comics, any comic, I am a completionist. Maybe it's the anxiety from feeling like I'm always missing out on CONTEXT due to ADHD... My brain is broken and I must read everything in chronological release order, so that nothing is missed. (This is a big reason I never got into superhero comics.)

Homestuck was only the current series on MSPA, there were several other completed or abandoned series as well. So I started at what seemed like the very beginning, with Jailbreak. By the time I was done with Problem Sleuth I was very hooked on the throwback to text-based adventure games meets forum shenanigans baked into a comic formula.

Homestuck itself was delightful, from an adventure game mechanics perspective. It had all the frustrating backtracking and plodding story of a classic hardcore adventure, as well as the wild traditional-format-breaking jankiness of the experimental web comics imagined in Scott McCloud's "troubled middle child*," Reinventing Comics. (*as he described the book to me when I asked him to sign my copy lol)

No wonder so many readers skipped straight to the troll chapters! You really had to have a very specific string of incredibly niche, nerdy interests in order to appreciate the slow-burn of the chapters leading up to the trolls... and apparently that's exactly what I had.

Like, to the point that it took me a long ass time to warm up to the trolls at all. Maybe it was because I was an older reader than the typical HS fan and had actually experienced more eras of the internet, but the trolls were just as annoying as the real life types of internet trolls they were based on.

I don't think I started to actually like any of them until the second set of trolls were introduced. The generational conflicts between old-internet and then-current types of trolling was fascinating and honestly hilarious.

By the time I was finally caught up, the comic was close to it's first ending. (And in my opinion, only ending. As I didn't bother checking in with Hussie's later attempts to rekindle the series.)

Having read through everything on MSPA that came before Homestuck, as well as stumbling into Andrew Hussie's even older comics, blog posts and Picard/Riker ST:TNG fan edits on youtube, I had built up maybe an unrealistic hope for the future of MSPA: I was excited for the next comic project to come once Homestuck was finished.

What a big assumption! I don't think anyone would have an easy time just moving on to "the next project" after making something that had garnered as big of a reaction as Homestuck did. So watching Hussie spiral into milking HS for all he could really shouldn't have surprised me.

In an ideal world, artists, writers, creators in general would be able to just move on from project to project. Creation to creation to creation. But we're not machines, and none of us exist in a vacuum. We need to survive somehow, and our feelings of importance and self worth can get so dangerously tangled up with the reaction others have to our work.

Some may find success and never work again. Some may find success and seek to recapture that high for the rest of their life. Some will never find success and give up creating altogether. Who am I to judge or hope for anything from any creator? I'm barely holding on by the whites of my knuckles and the skin of my teeth myself.

But part of me still grieves for the "Next MS Paint Adventures Project" I made up in my head. Something that scratched the itch for interactive comics in new and exciting ways. With brand new characters, settings and bizarre lingo to get used to. There would be references to prior projects, just as HS was peppered with references to Problem Sleuth and the other MSPAs, but on the whole it would be a self-contained work, as it's predecessors were. Another volume for the abstract digital bookshelf.

MS Paint Adventures is dead, the site is just Homestuck now. Flash, the format that made up the very backbone of the comic, is dead and banished. I haven't chatted with most of my old dA buddies in over a decade. We all move on, or don't, in one way or another.

[riverssongs13]

It's been a few hours since I had to witness Harrowhark lose the love of her life.. I didn't even notice I fell asleep from all the crying. Cliché, I know, but in my defence, I haven't been reading for quite a few years. One could say I dove straight to the deep end. I have you to thank for that, and I say that with so much spite.

But anyway. Know what, I don't even know what to write, really. I've been holding on to what you said, "going back" to those words when I finally finish the book, and finish the book I did. I tried to capture the moment when my heart got pulverised into the white stuff they all spoke of in the book but it felt too... Shallow. Performative. I tried to speak of the feelings that washed over me for the last few chapters but I found myself incapable of saying anything but Fuck. And Fuck is the only apt word in this instance.

Seriously, why am I writing all these? Streams of consciousness? Incessant yapping? For what? To what end? I really don't know. Maybe because I feel so utterly, utterly lonely and there isn't really anybody I could speak with about these things. The other D is no longer in my life and I don't even know if TLT is a book series she'd even care for. She's quite elitist and snobbish when it comes to books, you know. Typical English major/professor (fight me). But I'm going off tangent again. My gods, it's annoying how I NEVER speak but when I do start I never STOP. No wonder that Willow kid is so starstruck. I'm always game with all her queries and now she thinks I'm the best thing to ever happen to her online. Gods damn, M. Stop yapping.

I guess I just. I don't know. Poor Harrowhark. I could talk about the cerebral, intellectual things that are really great about the book, how its written, how the characters are written phenomenally... But I honestly don't have the brain cells willing to do that right now. If I talk about the technical aspects of the book it will feel like I didn't actually appreciate it enough to FEEL about it. It will feel like an insult. It will feel like Gideon threw herself to those iron spikes for nothing. Because after all, isn't the purpose of art to feel?

And feel I am doing, right at this very moment. I'm angry. I'm heartbroken. I'm upset (like, upset isn't even enough). There's so many feelings and the anger is catching up with me and it's making me feel silly for all the little words and my brain is telling me to delete all the yapping I've typed because who the fuck cares? Why should YOU care? I honestly have no answer to that. But I hope you do. Pathetic, right? Eh, I'm used to it. Raise a child to never have friends as a kid and when they grow up, they'd cling on to whatever looks at them with a second glance and worship the very air they breathe and kiss the very ground they tread their feet on. And I honestly do worship you. After all, you are more than Eru Iluvatar, and you have gifted me with your presence.

But worshipping you right now isn't exactly making the hurt go away. It just amplifies everything. Harrow's words have been playing in my mind over and over again and how Gideon ended has been on repeat in my brain it's making me nauseous. And Palamedes... Oh that sweet, gentle man. The very rare times I appreciate and love a male character and they just. Go. Thousands and thousands of words to make you fall in love with these people and they get taken away in the end. So what does it matter then? What's the point of love if it ends anyway? What's the point of all this?

I don't know. I really don't. Maybe there isn't any point. Maybe at the end of the day, you were just sent by the gods to make me fall in love with literature again, the way I was tossed into books when I was a kid. Merely an afterthought. Something to preoccupy a child wholly neglected by the society who was supposed to raise them. Something to obsess about, fall in love with, and be left by at the end of the day. Ha! As if. I'm not even worthy of a footnote in the story of you, yet here I am delusional about being left behind. What a waste of space. Seriously I should just end my entire existence silently and not bother the weird, beautiful person with the huge blue eyes reflecting the light of the Two Trees of Valinor.

I should really stop. Yeah, I should. Besides, what's the point of all this yapping? You'll never get to read all these words anyway! Hahahaha the things we get to say when we're screaming in the voids of our own existence.

I shall be getting the next book, Harrow the Ninth. I hope this one destroys me even worse. Wreck me like I'm the worst person to have ever stained this planet. Make me feel like my heart deserves to be shredded into flimsy ribbons like the pathetic garbage that I am.

Lady Harrowhark Nonagesimus, Reverend Daughter of the House of the Ninth, I see you. I am coming.

[shiverandqueeef]

dipping my toes into the alex rider fandom bc i like the actor who plays yassen in the tv show, and of course there is a significant contingent of fandom who ship yassen and alex. i expected that just based on the book series' target age demographic, along with the particular dynamic between the characters (not quite allies not quite enemies a secret history tying them together, he's a cold-blooded killer who makes exceptions for alex because alex is special. that shit is what teenage fanfiction dreams are made of).

there is also a not-insignificant pushback against shipping an adult and 14 year old. Makes sense! I get it. but the thing is. having only spent a day or two in the alex rider tag i can already say with confidence that the overwhelming majority of yalex fans are themselves roughly the same age as alex rider. It's a fandom that skews young. and when it comes to engaging with fiction as a young person, it's normal for teens to use characters their own age with whom they can identify as a method of exploring their own sexuality. imagining and writing about romantic and/or sexual scenarios between a character close to your own age and an older character you find attractive is pretty standard stuff.

the very first fanfiction i ever posted? rin/sesshomaru from inuyasha. for context if you aren't familiar with the show: rin's exact age is not given, but she is very clearly a child. sesshomaru is not only an adult but also her father figure. at the time i was writing fanfic of them falling in love, i was around 12. i romanticized the idea of a girl my own age being the most important person in the world to a handsome mysterious character i had a crush on. and it was fine. I wasn't an adult fantasizing about children, I wasn't supporting grooming or influencing anyone into thinking children and adults being "in love" irl is in any way okay. I was a kid trying to figure out why i was suddenly feeling nervous and shy around boys when just a year ago i didn't care about them one way or the other. and using these two fictional characters with a dynamic that appealed to me (morally ambiguous man who doesn't care about anyone or anything except for this one girl he protects and loves seemingly despite himself because she's special) was a perfectly healthy outlet for me to imagine what it would be like to hold hands or kiss someone i liked.

Obviously now as an adult, the idea of shipping rin/sesshomaru has zero appeal, and the fact that canonically they do end up in a romantic relationship when she's older quite frankly skeeves me the fuck out. but i just didn't see it that way as a kid, because of course I didn't.

I keep thinking about 12 year old me, in the early stages of discovering her own sexuality, and how upsetting it would have been to receive online harassment for trying to explore it within the safety of fiction. And while 12 is younger than what i would put the average yalex fan at - probably between 14 and 19 - the principle is the same, only with more explicit content than the hand-holding stage i was at as a 12 year old.

anyways. all im saying is maybe try to understand why a fandom comprised of mostly under 18 year old girls would be invested in writing/reading stories exploring their sexual and/or romantic fantasies using fictional characters as surrogates, alex and yassen in particular; a morally ambiguous man who doesn't care about anyone or anything except for this one boy he protects and loves seemingly despite himself because he's special.

maybe don't blame them for the existence of pedophilia (maybe that's something you should blame on pedophiles). and actually you know what maybe stop condescending to teenagers as though they aren't capable of discerning reality from fiction and understanding the nature of their own fantasies. maybe just leave them be and blacklist the appropriate tags so you don't have to see anything you don't want to.

[wifeysaremylifey]

Well, golly gee, here we go!

Comfort food(s): Very unfortunately, it is a dessert which I can never have with any degree of frequency: tiramisu. I don't think anything really comes close that is easy to make, and I just have that, like, once every several months? But if I do need a comfort item for consumption in general, it's always the next one.  

Comfort drink(s): Coca-cola, original flavor. Been very addicted to it for the majority of my life, 25 years at least. I'm able to control my intake properly now, but it was remarkably bad in my more depressive teenage years when I was downing multiple bottles a day. To this day, there's nothing else that just serves as an instant shot of happiness to me, and I find that to be really unfortunate.

Comfort movie(s): I don't think I have one, I very rarely watch movies willingly. And when I do, I don't watch them more than once. I imagine I had one as a child, since I know I watched stuff several times then, but it's been forgotten now.

Comfort show(s): ... Do those old Looney Tunes shorts count? If not, then- Yu-Gi-Oh GX is probably the closest one to it. It is pretty silly early but also fun- and kind of existential and sad towards the end. And I happen to like a mix of those.

Comfort clothing: Big coats. Yes, even in warmer days.

Comfort song(s): Now this one has too many to count, I have different playlists that fit certain moods. But I'll break it down. So far as regular music goes, I like electro swing in general, but specifically for comfort I listen to Swingrowers a lot. Also sea shanties have that effect on me too, it's easy for them to get me to sing and feel better afterwards. An album I tend to come back to is The Green Knight, by Heather Dale. And in it, The Maiden and the Selkie is my favorite song, since it's kind of a chant and a fairy tale in one and I kind of love that. Other than that, game music has always been with me, and the original soundtracks of both Ragnarok Online and Chrono Cross will probably follow me forever and be big sources of comfort. Out of those, even if CC is a bit old, the soundtrack is worth a listen to this day, if you're ever curious.

Comfort book(s): I think I mentioned in a previous meme that Alice in Wonderland and the Sherlock Holmes novels are favorites of mine. They're also definitely comfort books and I both read it and heard their audiobooks dozens of times each- not as much Through the Looking-Glass, but it's catching up nowadays, Other than that, the Andrew Lang compilations of fairy-tales are books I read back to several times.

Comfort game(s): Hmm, I have to think about it a bit, since the games I find most worthwhile to play tend to make me actively uncomfortable and I kind of appreciate that. The clearest example in my mind is Pokémon. I just do a lot in that series, from replaying with small restrictions to active marked shiny hunting. Other than that, I do enjoy games where you have a contained gameplay loop that you can repeat several times, especially if they're co-op. Stuff like Payday 2 and Deep Rock Galactic. Lastly, if I've invested enough time in a gacha game, it tends to become a comfort game- potentially because of the whole habit-setting that they all covertly do, but still. Honkai: Star Rail is the main one I play currently.

tagged by: Someone who's called me out for not finishing Dragalia Lost *cough* @celestialprayer*cough* tagging: @iceiclehorned, @divinityunleashed, @puzzledmemories, @dragonknightsworn, @mysticallities, and whoever sees it and happens to want to do this (and potentially didn't finish Dragalia Lost either, don't let me be the only one to carry the burden--)

[mermaidsirennikita]

I was shocked they chose A Night to Surrender by Tessa Dare over A Week to Be Wicked, Any Duchess Will Do or The Duchess Deal. Obviously Tessa is incredibly talented but I don’t feel like that’s one of her best (or even most popular) books. What was the selection process like???

Lol yeah that was when I went "... hmm." It's like, they wanted to be approachable, and yet they DIDN'T, and it really comes off as so low effort. I appreciate the nod towards racial diversity (though it could still be better) BUT I also found that the queer representation was very lacking, and virtually everything is tradpub, and monogamous, and it's overwhelmingly cis.

Not only does this not reflect where romance is GOING (not just in terms of diversity, which it still needs a lot of work on and you get that work done in part by PROMOTING AND ENCOURAGING PEOPLE TO BUY DIVERSE BOOKS; but also in terms of the increasing presence of indie/selfpub influence) but it's not going to appeal to people who need to see themselves in the genre.

So yeah now I have to break it down

Cecilia, P&P, Friday's Child--I honestly find it very difficult to reconcile any book written before the 20th century with genre romance. Haven't read Cecilia, to be honest. P&P is social commentary with a romance subplot—a great one, but it's not genre romance, and tbh I wouldn't even call it Austen's most romantic book.

I struggle with Heyer, because her books are beloved and readable, and she is a huge influence. However, I first think that any "read romance right now" list meaning to get people to read the genre shouldn't feature books because they're influential. This is not an academic list lol. Recommend books that give people what the genre is more recently, what will HOOK them. And I struggle with Heyer because she was a major antisemite, so.

The Price of Salt--obviously very influential; would not consider it a romance despite that, and we could've recommended an explicitly sapphic ROMANCE. If this is about influence, where is Gaywyck?

Lord of Scoundrels--it's a classic, Loretta is one of the GOATs, I've never been in the right mindset to read this but I'll try again soon

Indigo--a mega classic and a great representation of what makes Bev so great, I'd recommend this to anyone

If Only It Were True--never read but ngl the summary makes me skeptical

Jewels of the Sun--Nora is another GOAT, but uh, this??? WTF??? Nora has written SO diversely in terms of subgenre, and you could pull from literally hundreds of books, and THIS is what you choose??? Okay lmao nah

The Viscount Who Loved Me--let us be real, it's a Bton book. Not the best in the series, but the second best, and if Bton had to be here (I wouldn't put it there whatever) this is one of the ones I'd choose. People who loved s2 might be startled.

Twilight--lmao crazy, not only does this not represent the genre well, but it's essentially Mormon propaganda that leads to a massively racist subplot that is even more problematic when you consider the history of Mormonism and indigenous people. Also, I say this as someone who considers Twilight a formative part of my girlhood.

A Hunger Like No Other--An amazing book, love it, a fab representation of early 2000s PNR, however I do think it will be a shock to the system for many readers due to how intense it is and how much Lachlain... doesn't respect consent. Nonetheless, I adore this book.

Devil in Winter--obviously a banger and a great representation of Kleypas's work. I think it's hard to recommend as a standalone as it functions better IMO after Autumn, BUT. Otherwise, no notes.

Lover Awakened--I've never been able to get into JR Ward, but I'm gonna try again someday, she's obviously very influential

Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh--a really good book and a great intro in my experience

All Through the Night--I've never read this so I can't speak to its romance quality, but it's so weird to me that the summary talks about it being one of the first romances with a gay main character and then discusses the protagonist and his female fiance as the main couple...? I am... confused. Is it a queer romance? It doesn't sound like it. Is it supposed to be a representation of queer people in romance...? Just recommend a queer romance.

Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake--great, awesome intro to MacLean

A Night to Surrender--I feel like they literally recommended this because it's the first Spindle Cover but you literally don't have to read them in order lmao read A Week to Be Wicked??? And I say this as a series reader? If you can only recommend one, recommend that?

Crazy Rich Asians--not a romance, basically satire, next

The Lotus Palace--haven't read this yet but I adore Jeannie Lin

The Luckiest Lady in London--a great intro to Sherry and a great book

To All the Boys I've Loved Before--YA coming of age girlhood with a romance subplot imo

All In--never read it

An Extraordinary Union--need to read

Wildfire--never read

Intercepted--couldn't get into

The Wedding Date--Jasmine Guillory's comments about being like... the first Black woman to write romance... make me upset... but also, her books are terminally unromantic to me

Ayesha At Last--haven't read, heard great things

Forget Me Not--haven't ready, happy to see Brenda Jackson here

Get a Life, Chloe Brown--love, great intro to Talia

Red, White, & Royal Blue--I get why it's here... I like the movie a LOT more

The Bride Test--this is very good, would definitely recommend The Kiss Quotient as your Hoang intro

The Flatshare--I didn't find this romantic

Xeni--I hate to say it, but I couldn't get into this

Boyfriend Material--I love Alexis Hall so fucking much. Glitterland was RIGHT THERE. A Lady for a Duke was RIGHT THERE. For the love of God, streeeetch a little

The Duke Who Didn't--haven't read, have heard great things

You had Me at Hola--I won't lie, I don't looove this, but I respect it

It Happened One Summer--apologies, I'm not a Tessa Bailey girly but I know how popular this is

Last Night at the Telegraph Club--Malinda Lo is a talented writer... I've never considered a book of hers romance so much as a book with a romance subplot... and I'm curious to see if this is different. If not, it's kinda depressing that this is one of a couple sapphic books here and isn't romance.

Seven Days in June--this is well-written and I get it, I could not get into it

A Caribbean Heiress in Paris--love this book, deserving, can't help but wish An Island Princess Starts a Scandal was here for more sapphic rep

Before I Let Go--this is so good and Kennedy should be here; I would've chosen Reel, personally, for several reasons

Book Lovers--y'all know I don't like Emily Henry's books

Dating Dr. Dil--haven't read, Nisha is very talented

Honey & Spice--have heard great things

Icebreaker--... choices!

Part of Your World--the one Abby Jiminez book I read was not for me

The Very Irregular Society of Witches--haven't read

The Vibrant Years--haven't read, Sonali Dev is very talented tho

Chef's Choice--I really like this book! It's so good. But I would've picked Triple Sec for a few reasons. If they were looking for their One Romance About People Who Aren't Cis... you still get it with that book...

Love, Theoretically--was my favorite Hazelwood until Bride and Not in Love! I get why she's here

[caseydundrich1]

is that ELLIOT FLETCHER? oh, no, that’s CASEY DUNDRICH, a TWENTY-SEVEN year old CHILDREN'S NOVELIST who uses HE/HIM pronouns. they currently live in QUILPUE, and the character they identify with most is WILL BYERS FROM STRANGER THINGS. hopefully they find their own little paradise here in el país de los poetas! (MAD, 27, THEY/THEM, PST)

Name: Casey Dundrich Nickname: Case Age: 27 Faceclaim: Elliot Fletcher Height: 5'7 Build: Slim Sexual Orientation: Homosexual Relationship Status: Single Education Level: College graduate with a degree in creative writing Occupation: Children's Novelist/Illustrator Vices: Alcohol, Cannabis, Gum Favorite Color: Blue & Green Favorite Halloween Candy: Kitkats

Quick Facts

Growing up an only child who didn't make friends easily, Casey quickly became drawn to the written word. An avid reader at a very young age it didn't take long for Casey to soon become interested in writing and jotting down the stories that his overactive imagination came up with. From the start Casey was destined to be a writer. He entered many young authors competitions and while he never won his second place and third place finishes were enough to continue fueling his passion. Along with writing Casey spent a lot of time drawing using that as a medium to get his ideas across when words failed him.

Casey went to college in New York for creative writing where he was absolutely ripped to shreds by his professors. There was always a child-like quality to his writing that was frowned upon by the courses he took. Distraught by the criticism Casey almost gave up on his dream but still finished out his degree even though it wound up with him taking his extensive knowledge of literature and working in a bookstore in NYC.

At the age of twenty-five Casey finally got the idea for a story about two brothers with a magical stone that transports them to distant lands (think of something along the lines of The Magic Tree House series). He pitched the story to some publishers and it became an instant hit amongst young readers which earned Casey a multi book deal.

Eventually Casey got fed up with the hustle and bustle of New York City. He knew he didn't want to return to Milwaukee where he grew up so he found himself in need of a new home. He always had a desire to travel and now that his book series is taking off he's no longer tied to any location to work. Casey decided on Chile for now but it's like they won't stay in the country for long. Right now they just project living there while he works on his current book.

He is currently working on the third book in the series and has hit a major bout of writer's block. He still has more to say in regards to the series he just doesn't have the words for it and deadlines are swiftly approaching.

When he isn't reading, writing, or drawing Casey is usually playing video games. He's a big fan of RPGs and fantasy games and still is an avid World of Warcraft player in 2024 (you should really see his mount collection).

Casey has never been in a serious relationship (though he desperately wants to be in one). He's had a few flings over the years but people tended to disappoint him or not be interested in taking things to the next level.

He's much more of an introvert than an extrovert. Making friends has never come easy to him but he's tried to put himself out there more after moving to Chile.

Casey is a DM for D&D and has been looking to start up a new campaign since moving to Chile. He goes quite over the top with his storytelling and hangs around the local game shop in search of new players (potential wanted connection!).

WANTED CONNECTIONS

Friends

Crush

Fellow coffee shop regulars

Love interest

D&D campaign members

Gaming friends

[caseydundrich]

Welcome to Aurora Bay @aurorabayaesthetic, [CASEY DUNDRICH]! I couldn’t help but notice you look an awful lot like [ELLIOT FLETCHER]. You must be the [TWENTY-SEVEN] year old [CHILDREN'S NOVELIST/ILLUSTRATOR]. Word is you’re [EMPATHETIC] but can also be a bit [INTROVERTED] and your favorite song is [THE GARDEN GOBLIN BY KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD]. I also heard you’ll be staying in [FISHER'S COVE]. I’m sure you’ll love it! 

Name: Casey Dundrich Nickname: Case Age: 27 Faceclaim: Elliot Fletcher Gender: Trans Man Pronouns: He/Him Height: 5'7 Build: Slim Sexual Orientation: Pansexual Relationship Status: Single Education Level: College graduate with a degree in creative writing Occupation: Children's Novelist/Illustrator Vices: Alcohol, Cannabis, Gum Favorite Color: Blue & Green Favorite Halloween Candy: Kitkats

Quick Facts

Growing up an only child who didn't make friends easily, Casey quickly became drawn to the written word. An avid reader at a very young age it didn't take long for Casey to soon become interested in writing and jotting down the stories that his overactive imagination came up with. From the start Casey was destined to be a writer. He entered many young authors competitions and while he never won his second place and third place finishes were enough to continue fueling his passion. Along with writing Casey spent a lot of time drawing using that as a medium to get his ideas across when words failed him.

Casey went to college in New York for creative writing where he was absolutely ripped to shreds by his professors. There was always a child-like quality to his writing that was frowned upon by the courses he took. Distraught by the criticism Casey almost gave up on his dream but still finished out his degree even though it wound up with him taking his extensive knowledge of literature and working in a bookstore in NYC.

At the age of twenty-five Casey finally got the idea for a story about two brothers with a magical stone that transports them to distant lands (think of something along the lines of The Magic Tree House series). He pitched the story to some publishers and it became an instant hit amongst young readers which earned Casey a multi book deal.

Eventually Casey got fed up with the hustle and bustle of New York City. He knew he didn't want to return to Milwaukee where he grew up so he found himself in need of a new home. He always had a desire to travel and now that his book series is taking off he's no longer tied to any location to work. Casey decided on Aurora Bay for now. Seeing what it might be like to live on the other side of the country. Right now they just project living there while he works on his current book.

He is currently working on the third book in the series and has hit a major bout of writer's block. He still has more to say in regards to the series he just doesn't have the words for it and deadlines are swiftly approaching.

When he isn't reading, writing, or drawing Casey is usually playing video games. He's a big fan of RPGs and fantasy games and still is an avid World of Warcraft player in 2024 (you should really see his mount collection).

Casey has never been in a serious relationship (though he desperately wants to be in one). He's had a few flings over the years but people tended to disappoint him or not be interested in taking things to the next level.

He's much more of an introvert than an extrovert. Making friends has never come easy to him but he's tried to put himself out there more after moving to Aurora Bay.

Casey is a DM for D&D and has been looking to start up a new campaign since moving to Aurora Bay. He goes quite over the top with his storytelling and hangs around the local game shop in search of new players (potential wanted connection!). He's also a big Magic the Gathering player but isn't as committed as he used to be in college (and is now saving a lot of money). You can still catch him heading to bigger cities for prerelease though when a set intrigues him.

[officialauthorofanotherworld]

ROAW Stuff - Weekly Writing Post #1 (spoilers)

Hello!

Since this is just the first real post i've made that isn't an introduction, I won't talk about any lore stuff this time. The reason im doing weekly is because having a schedule feels better than doing it randomly, and also because i didnt know what to title this post. Maybe I will do it randomly anyway, we'll see. It just depends.

For future context, the series title is Record of Another World, abbreviated as ROAW. The "collection" title (encompassing the "main" series) is Party of Three. The first book will likely also be called Party of Three. idk if that makes sense.

So I suppose like how you have A Song of Ice and Fire - Game of Thrones, or A Song of Ice and Fire - A Tale of Dunk and Egg, you have Record of Another World - Book 1, Party of Three, Party of Three(?) idk lol

In any case, in this post I wanted to go over who the people in my book are in a bit more detail, as that feels like an appropriate first "real" post, to me.

Taka

Starting off with our main POV, we have Taka. When he was born, his parents didn't want to deal with the burden of a child, so they gave him up to a lizardfolk who had been a part of their party for a very long time. This lizardfolk, named Dane, became Taka's adoptive parent. At the beginning of book 1, Taka has just turned fifteen, the age of majority in Kommodia (and the age one is allowed to register as an adventurer) and wants to experience the world for himself.

He may have seen a lot of the world traveling on Dane's ship (Dane is a captain with his very own port, and at a certain point became responsible for the Advent Route, which is the sea path from ports to adventurer-centric towns.) but he wants to see it on his own two legs, of his own volition. He wants to explore, and meet new people, try new things. He wants to live, and satisfy the intense wanderlust he'd harbored for so long.

Even still, he is very young at fifteen, and has a lot of anxiety and worries.

Taka is neurodivergent, like most people in my book are in some way. He has ADHD and Autism.

Soon enough, Taka finds himself wrapped up in a world of adventure, surrounded by people he never thought he'd meet, friends with people he never could have possibly thought he'd befriend.

Beriyl

Next up is Beriyl! He is a half-elf who hails from a very prestigious noble family. While he can come off as abrasive and even incendiary at times, he has his moments of genuine caring and warmth. He connects with Taka on a very deep level, I think.

Beriyl is probably one of my favorites to write because he's a know-it-all, he possesses a very large vocabulary and REALLY wants to show it off. He's spent so much time cooped up reading, his brain is a literal vault of random tidbits and facts. He is a textbook bookworm, and he *will *make sure you know it. He's very snarky and sarcastic and I find some of his exchanges with Taka really funny. Their dynamic, although it softens with time, is one of my favorite things ever. Not unlike Taka, I believe Beriyl also has Autism.

Arthur

Last of team Lucky Seven, Arthur.

When we first meet him, he's incredibly depressed, giving off this awful vibe of a man who has all but given up. He hasn't slept in days, probably hasn't eaten or drank much either. His eyes dark pits of horrible despair, but gradually he learns to live again, to love and forgive himself.

The rest is a bit spoiler-y, revealed within the first half of the book. I will be spoiler marking it, but just so you all know! (The stuff at the end about Rend is never revealed, so that counts as lore i guess)

Anyway, pretty big spoilers actually, and i cant hide them because tumblr doesnt have a spoiler text feature for some reason, and i cant figure it out with html or anything. All of this is revealed at roughly 55% through the book or so, so i guess it is pretty massive spoilers. Don't read the stuff about Arthur, skip down to the Advent Route if you don't want to be spoiled on Arthur's backstory and my read on his mental state.

Arthur is a sufferer of extreme PTSD, he likely has DID. When he tells Taka and Beriyl of his past, of how he felt when his friend and family died, when his town was razed to the ground, I believe it's really hard for him to really stay "present". I think he probably suffers from an extreme emotional block, he feels very absent and er, numb, I think is the right word. When he was a mercenary, I don't imagine he was truly himself. I do think he created a separate persona who didn't think or feel just so he could get through it. At that point I think he was just biding his time until he died, only truly happy when he was able to do things that reminded him of his parents like train or cook. Yet, we see that when he meets Taka and Beriyl, he starts to look better. He starts to sleep, to eat. He makes Taka and Beriyl his life's goal, his one true priority. He becomes unhealthily co-dependent on their safety and existence, so I think that reflects in how overwhelmingly overprotective he is, how quick he is to justify violence in the sake of defending Taka and Beriyl. Without them, he never would have had the "color" restored to his world. He'd still be wandering in a storm without a light. Taka and Beriyl are that light-- without them, he would be dead, most likely.||

Hell. He says it himself: how he tells them he'd become an adventurer to die helping someone, so he'd have an excuse for Rend in the afterlife.

(little does he know, Rend died young enough, and as a person who was isekaied to Tamalnh without his memories from Earth, the Gods allowed him to reincarnate again. He is the Spear Warrior that Taka asks for directions to the guild in Chapter 1.) I will elaborate more on how this works, how the afterlife and things like that work, and summoning and blablabla, all will be explained in a future post.

some minor adjustments 8-26-24. Rend cannot be the Spear Warrior, iirc Arthur was a merc for about 10-15 years, from 18-26? i think? Smth like that, anyway, that means Spear Warrior would have had to have been born the instant Rend died, so... it makes more sense to believe he isn't the Spear Warrior, but someone else. Arthur will probably meet him (whoever rend reincarnated into) towards the end of his (arthur's) life.

Now, about the Advent Route...

The Advent Route, to be better explained, sort of works like this.

On Kommodia, the most popular starting town at present is Leln, a town named after the legendary hero who felled a Dark God several thousand years prior.

Each port runs along a prescribed route and anchors on the coastline. From the coast, adventurers are taken via carriage to the town of their choosing.

Simply put, the Advent Route is a searoute chosen specifically to maximize safety and efficiency, seeing all those who'd wish to become adventurers to their destinations with relative safety, barring extreme circumstance. It is conducted at a time of year (the book starts as summer ends.) where the water in the sea becomes cold enough that sea monsters like Krakens and such go into a state of hibernation.

I'll do a follow-up post talking about the people Lucky Seven meet at the end of ch1 and their incredibly important role in the overarching story, also with spoiler tags soon. I will also elaborate on the afterlife/reincarnation process and what that really means, how people were summoned from another world, their role, and about what a "starting town" actually means.

[canonicallysoulmates]

New episode got me thinking about the books and made me realize I never shared my thoughts about the rest of them; I finished the series while I was on my hiatus which is why I didn't make posts about them. Usually, I would make an individual post for each book but I'm just gonna cover them all here with my rating and a quick summary of my thoughts/feelings.

If you have not read the books there will be spoilers ahead from Merrick all the way to Blood Communion.

Merrick

1 ⭐️

How are you going to write a book where one your main characters, one of your most important characters, a character that is part of your foundation is depressed and attempts to commit suicide because he is still grieving the loss of his daughter a major event in your own series and have it all from the pov of a different character that has no connection to that situation (meaning the events from iwtv) or the child, and have the focus be on this and another character and their relationship?

Louis looking at Anne like Am i a joke to you?

Here's what's funny, I don't hate this book as much as i despise TOTBT but I have to rank it lower because at least that piece of garbage gave me something. In totbt we get some exploration of Lestat being haunted by Claudia and his thoughts and feelings on this and towards his daughter. In Merrick we don't get any exploration of Louis's inner thoughts and feelings, we don't get to see what led him to this point after so many years, we don't get to see his and Lestat's conversation afterward, we don't get to see his emotions when it comes to Claudia- this could have been great if Anne hadn't decided for some reason to hate louis cause I can only assume Anne wrote this during her Louis hating era.

The potential was there, the execution was not.

Blood and Gold

3 ⭐️

I'm just gonna say it, I don't like Marius. I don't hate him. But I don't like him.

Marius is the type of man who if he met a woman with a PhD he would mansplain her own field to her. He can't handle not being "the smartest" or "the wisest".

I've said it before I don't like Marius and Armand's romantic relationship and this book kinda solidified some opinions I had regarding it but I'm not gonna get into that- as I am writing this, however, I am just now realizing that even though this book is like 5 chapters too long (seriously there was no need for this book to have so many pages) I never got Marius reasoning for turning Armand's kids Beni and Sybelle which was the thing that pissed me off the most about him in TVA....the one thing I actually wanted his POV on....

Anyway, I did like reading this book more than I thought I would even though as I said I did find it too long and I'm not particularly a fan of the character. That being said, and this might come as a surprise, but-

Fam, how we feeling about Marius x Pandora??? Because I like them together a surprising amount which is funny because I don't think he's good enough for her but at the same time I am a sucker for devotion and pinning and longing and this man was hardcore pinning and longing like everything came back to her every single time and their reunion was the highlight for me (well that and Bianca leaving him because that line delivery? 🔥). so if anyone reading this feels the same way and likes them together let me know, am I alone in this boat or not?

Blackwood Farm

4.5/5 ⭐️

I loved this book. There were times when I forgot that I was reading a Vampire Chronicles book because it didn't feel like the series I don't know if that makes sense and I feel like that should take points away from it but I got so sucked into this story. The mystery of Goblin was easy to figure out but the rest of the Blackwood family history, and the other mysteries, and the atmosphere it really drew me in and got me hooked. Very enjoyable read. Really liked the character of Quinn too.

Blood Canticle

2.5 ⭐️

RIP Anne Rice you would have loved booktok and insta romance 😂

I don't know if by this point I had just read so much of this series that I had gotten used to Anne's writing...or if the writing in this is really more simplistic. Cause the writing felt off, it felt more simplistic than the rest of the books in the series and Lestat speaking modern was weird- I was not a fan of the writing style in this one.

I won't go into Rowen and Lestat's relationship, but I will say what that girl needed was orgasms and therapy, not a vampire lover. But it was really lovely Lestat's final point about having learned from her and it showed maturity and growth on his part to let her go.

Prince Lestat

4.5 ⭐️

Is my rating partially influenced by Lestat and Louis saying "I love you""my heart is yours" to each other and the book ending with Louis deciding that he will be joining Lestat? yes, and it's going to stay that way

It's also partially influenced by the fact that after what felt like a million years Louis was finally being acknowledged as being important to the story again. I greatly enjoyed this book not just because of the shippy moments but because I love Lestat and I feel like in this book we see him display maturity and growth and he's learned from the shit he's done in the past and I'm just so proud of the man he's become I love him so much he's my baby 🥰

also, i have a love for my favorite characters having to become leaders for their people i don't know how to explain it but yeah

Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis

3.5 ⭐️

I am here for the Loustat, and the Loustat only.

I didn't particularly care for the whole alien thing, it's kinda dumb. I would have been good leaving Amel as just a spirit but it is what it is. What I did really enjoy about this book- like the main things that I enjoyed were the things that had to do with the court, seeing Lestat deal with the responsibilities of being a Prince, the Loustat moments that we got were top tier including my favorite quote/moment ever which is when Louis accepts to join Lestat at the Court and tells him:

"He leaned close to me, and he put his hand on my arm. “ ‘Wither thou goest, I will go, and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people’; and because I have no other god and never will, you shall be my god.”"

I need the show to give me this.

Blood Communion

5 ⭐️

The stress that I felt when Gabrielle got taken I was ready to burn it all down if she had died. I felt all the character's emotions to the point where I even felt bad about Marius being taken because he's so important to Lestat and Armand and their grief over losing him and the others was so palpable. And the sense of danger could also be felt.

It makes my heart so happy that Lestat got his happy ending and everything he wanted. just thinking about it makes me so emotional to think about the man he has become leading his people with his family and friends and loved ones by his side, and accepting himself, and learning from his mistakes- I'm so proud of him like I genuinely feel pride when I think of him and how far he's come 😭💕

It was a great way to end the series. There are some pet peeves but they don't matter, I loved it. You know when you finish a book that's so good that you have to sit in silence and reflect for a minute? this is one of those books for me.

[brightbeautifulthings]

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

"'To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.'"

Year Read: before 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2016, 2024

Rating: 5/5

Thoughts: Can you believe in almost eight years of blogging, I've never re-read these books? There are a few significant reasons for that. The first was that I read Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and it was so awful, it effectively killed any enthusiasm I had for this universe for years to come. The second was that J.K. Rowling has proven to be such a toxic transphobe that I simply didn't want to invest any more energy in this fandom. Generally, I'm pretty good at separating authors from their work. If we only consumed art by morally upstanding people, there wouldn't be a whole lot left, and cancel culture has had a detrimental effect on the critical thinking skills of social media users. Just because some rando on Twitter says such-and-such celebrity liked a problematic Tweet six years ago doesn't make it true (or even relevant-- character growth is a thing). But it's a little different with Rowling, who has repeated, documented, and on-going bigotry and more influence than the average B-lister.

It really killed my love for this series for a long time, and it took years and effort to come back around to it. I wasn't positive it was even possible at times, and I thought maybe Harry Potter would fade out of my life forever, which is a real shame. I have so many deeply important, happy memories based around this series. I waited every summer for these books to come out and binge-read them for three days straight with my best friend. I read and re-read them out loud to my parents before bed. I was eleven when the first film came out, just as Harry was when he first went off to Hogwarts. I saw the sequels multiple times in theaters and went to midnight showings in costume (Ginny Weasley, obvi) with my friends. I drank frozen Butterbeer and gasped over the Hogwarts castle in Orlando when the theme park opened up. I obsessed over the fact that Remus and Sirius never get together in the books, and Wolfstar was one of my first forays into fanfiction, my first major non-canon ship, and, I'm convinced, a pipeline to Steve/Bucky and Dean/Castiel shipping. Why should Rowling get to take all of that from me?

Rereading these books feels like a final step in reclaiming my love for this series, and I'm really happy that I was able to do it. I was afraid all of the above would color my opinion of them, but they're just as delightful as they've always been. These first books have a more middle grade feel than the later ones, and they're ideal for reading out loud with all the distinct character voices (Hagrid and Fleur gave me so much trouble as a kid, and listening to me try to pronounce Hermione is still a running joke in my family). I know the narration practically by heart in places, and they're well-paced for younger readers without sacrificing plot or humor for older readers. There are so many reasons Harry Potter is universally beloved, most of them well-deserved.

Not surprisingly, I adore the characters too. Harry pretty much sets the standard for main characters in younger fantasy novels. He's not the cleverest, the richest, or the most popular, but he's brave, humble, and kind, and he always tries to do the right thing. Ron is the loyal best friend, and Hermione is the know-it-all bookworm that every book-loving little girl wanted to be growing up. There's a reason they're called the Golden Trio, and their friendship sets the foundation for the entire series. The plot is fairly simple here, with the clues well-timed to keep us turning pages, but it's also nicely tied into past (the deaths of Harry's parents) and future (where will Voldemort surface next) plots. Book three will always be my favorite, but this first one has a special place in my heart.

[selfproclaimedunicorn]

Fic writer asks: 31/32 as one question, 46, and 50 :D

Thank you for your service in sending me distractions 🙏🏻

31: What's your ideal fic length to write? | What's your ideal fic length to read?

Bestie, I literally cannot answer this. The length of my chapters is all over the goddam place, & I've only ever committed in a serious way to fic one (1) time & that's with my current project(s?). I think that, like, if I am pushed to think about it, just in terms of Longfic-Chapter-Length, I really hit a sweet spot with my early chapters in SOTF where I hovered around 8-12k, & everything after that has been...IDK me literally being insane & not knowing how to shut up because I committed to my formatting. I haven't finished any fic since...I wanna say high school (& even then it was all written out in longhand in spiral notebooks) & I only finished one or two of my innumerable projects. So I guess longfics get there when they get there, final word count be damned. Who TF knows with my shorter stuff, those all exist on vibes & vibes alone, & they're done when The Spirit Of Writing tells me they are. Shorter stuff does tend to top out at 2k (or thereabout), though.

In terms of reading, tbh I've never read a lot of fanfic. IDK, I just never really thought about it because I tend to be very isolated & "I can entertain myself" when it comes to fandom experience. I also sort of read fic like I read books (see: it takes me forever), so you could set me down with something of pretty much any length & I'll eventually get it done. There is no length determination, only if I fuck with the writing style & plot.

46: Do you prefer writing on your phone or on a computer (or something else)? Do you think where you write affects the way you write?

I definitely prefer writing on a computer, my mom was kinda militant about me learning how to type when I was young so I have a really high wpm now & it's just faster. That said, I'm not opposed to writing on my phone. I wrote the vast majority of the currently published chapters of my HOTD fic on my phone because I didn't have a laptop for 3 years, & I'm not going to write "cunt" on a work computer, even if it's during my lunch break. So I'm writing hybrid phone/computer even though I do have one now. I got good enough at writing several thousand word chapters in the app version of google docs with naught but my thumbs that I'll go with "whatever is convenient for the location I'm currently in." Computer is definitely where I'm thriving, though.

50: Answer any question of your choice, or talk about anything you want to talk about!

There's only 2 that are currently in the fic, & then there's one planned one, but no one talked about the 2 that were there at all & so I have to just get them out there. Also my Patented Misa Foreshadowing That Makes Me Giggle And Kick My Feet But No One Picks Up On Because My Thought Pattern Cannot Be Reproduced.

Chapter 6 has a minor "right in front of my salad" reference

I named the brothers of Borros Baratheon's wife after Peter and Edmund Pevensie from the Narnia series & gave them the same age gap. I foreshadowed Yorick's dragon by having his personal arms be a black dragon & have him get assigned to play at having one that color when he played with his cousins. I foreshadowed Ella's betrothal/husband by having her wear a dress with roses on it at a tourney, & the favor she gave her dad was yellow roses (the real-world equivalent to the heraldry exclusive gold of House Tyrell). But no one mentions these things. They make me happy, but I want someone to point at it & be like "oh hey!"

I have an upcoming easter egg with Ella's son/first child. I'm naming him Griffith because, sure, actual Griffith from Berserk sucks, but his name fucks & I like Berserk so why shouldn't I co-opt his name? It's mine now. Yoink. Enjoy being a footnote in the list of "media Misa likes that can be referenced in something else"